EVERY Wrestling Gimmick Match Ranked From Worst To Best

35. Submission

Shockingly, a match that sacrifices near-fall drama is only really worth the compromise when contested by two technical specialists - or at least, in the case of Bret Hart Vs. Steve Austin, a submission doyen versus a man who'd rather bleed out and die than give up. WWE in later years often used the match as pretext to do sh*tty Montreal finishes, though the Submissions Count Anywhere match between Daniel Bryan, John Morrison and of all wrestlers the Miz was a fun, novel take on the genre. Even a theoretical Submission match between Danielson and Zack Sabre, Jr. however would undermine the dynamic: a great technical can wrestler can and should use the weight of their rival against them to lock in a flash pin attempt.

34. Loser Leaves Town

A huge draw and convincing attraction back in the territory era, when wrestlers did actually leave towns and didn't spend decades in WWE winning the Intercontinental title six times in matches few actually remember, in the internet age, the stip feels now like an obligation to "do business" on the way out. Fans already know who has one foot out of the door, undermining the stakes - so much so that wrestlers often lose their last match in a promotion without the stip being attached. A generally nicer industry these days, recently, Tama Tonga was allowed a tearful farewell from NJPW and wasn't beaten out of the territory to juice up the next pushed heel. Nice as that moment was, New Japan missed a trick: the Elite started life very strong as a sub-unit with their unceremonious betrayal of AJ Styles. Similarly, Andrade el Idolo wasn't beaten into an unrecognisable gloopy pulp by Miro at AEW Worlds End.

Not to be all Bully Ray about things, but what's wrong with a little heat?

33. Triple Threat / Three-Way Dance

Used mostly when a booker/promoter wishes to "save" a match of real consequence - in modern times, you usually see the Three Way/Triple Threat when there are no plans for a wrestler to drop a title early in the reign - the match is usually exciting in a compromised way. The turn-taking aspect is irritating, since the wrestler doing the selling on the outside would have popped back up 10 seconds later having absorbed the exact same move in the context of a singles match. Get some creative minds in there, however, and they can take your breath away with some breathless, complex sequencing - but more often than not the Dance is a booking crutch that has aged out of fashion.

32. Multi-Competitor Elimination

The great aspect of the multi-competitor genre will be explored in the very next entry, but while the Elimination variation is often almost as fun, the white-knuckle series of out-of-nowhere saves is sorely missing in the final stretch - although the recently-rebooted ROH Survival of the Fittest match was positively awesome at Final Battle last year. Better than the trademark convoluted TNA offering that was Deadly Draw, certainly.

31. Multi-Competitor One Fall To A Finish

Basically any multi-man match that isn't the Triple Threat or Three-Way Dance, for all the tedious talk of storytelling etc., it sure is incredibly fun to watch four or more wrestlers get creative in a crazed melee of a fight to the finish. It's easy to construct, yes - big move, save, big move, big move, big move, save - but it's just as easy to watch the unadulterated action unfold. Remember the awesome monster mash that was the WWE SummerSlam 2017 main event? That match absolutely rocked, and again, it's ironic: for the apparent "psychology" promotion, WWE is quite incredible at the gratuitous spot-fest. They specialise at it, in fact.

30. Battle Royale

One of the most enduring stips in the history of the sport, the first half is invariably boring and messy and difficult to track, and, sometimes, the second half is an electrifying scene of pure suspense. It exists because it allows many acts a spot on the card, rather than being paid to sit around and do nothing, and it endures, still, because the genre is compatible with modern athletic advancement and stylistic evolution. In a world of apron spots, the AEW Battle Royals are urgent and breathless half the time. Jack Perry in particular is fantastic at the high-risk near-elimination spot.

Seeing that many wrestlers in one ring remains a daft spectacle, the match at its best is a decent vehicle with which to advance subplots, and in a well-booked promotion, the winner often isn't telegraphed.

29. Strap

It makes a wonderfully satisfying noise, the strap, but the real reason it works so well will be covered in the upcoming Dog Collar entry - and that genre is ranked higher because too many Strap matches suffered from the weird insistence on the touching the corners approach. It's meant to be a hate-fuelled brawl, not a game of Duck Duck Goose or whatever goes on in your "kindergarten". Truly excellent noise though. Welts rule.

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