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117-408: In a two-ring variation on a battle royal, the wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into the second ring, after which they can be eliminated by being thrown out of that ring. The last remaining wrestler in the first ring can rest until only one wrestler is left in the second ring, after which they fight in both rings until one is eliminated and a winner is declared, in similar fashion to

234-428: A Mortal Kombat -style cinematic match that saw The Karate Man "kill" Page in what would be Page's last appearance with Impact before leaving for AEW. Some matches have a container stationed in or near the ring, with the object of the match being to trap the opposing wrestler in it. All of these matches are fought under hardcore rules, and many of these matches take the name of the container, such as Ambulance match and

351-628: A TNA Knockout Championship match and the loser has her head shaved . A women's battle royal may allow women to be eliminated by being thrown through or under the ropes as well as over the top rope, although WWE's first official women's Royal Rumble match in 2018 used the same rules as the men's version. Created by World Championship Wrestling in 1995, the World War 3 battle royal had three rings and 60 competitors. 20 wrestlers started in each ring, where they wrestled under regular battle royal rules. When 30 competitors remained (except in 1997, where

468-425: A Winner Takes All match , but in some cases each superstars' title is not contested in the match or only one title is on the line. During WWE's second brand extension , this type of match was frequently used at Survivor Series , with both titles not defended, up until 2021, with the champion vs. champion matches being replaced by WarGames . This type of match has now been used at Crown Jewel since 2024 , with both

585-616: A double elimination tournament . The two-ring version was held in World Championship Wrestling's 1991 Starrcade event. Subsequent Battlebowl matches occurred under normal battle royal rules. This format uses any number of wrestlers in a standard one-ring, over-the-top-rope elimination, but includes tables covered with barbed wire, thumbtacks, and light bulbs around the ring's perimeter, onto which losing wrestlers may be thrown. The National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) Bunkhouse Stampede involved wrestlers wearing what

702-429: A single-elimination tournament , in which only one defeat results in elimination. One method of arranging a double-elimination tournament is to break the competitors into two sets of brackets , the winners' bracket and losers' bracket ( W and L brackets for short; also referred to as championship bracket and elimination bracket , upper bracket and lower bracket , or main bracket and repechage ) after

819-478: A " Boiler Room Brawl " that was largely pre-taped, incorporating props and unorthodox camera angles. In 2016, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling) held a match entitled the "Final Deletion" between brothers Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy for the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling , which was filmed at Matt Hardy's compound. It was a hardcore wrestling match with falls count anywhere. The sequel

936-678: A House of Horrors match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. Similar to the "Final Deletion" match in TNA, this one was held at an abandoned house, but instead of falls count anywhere, this match had to end in the ring in the arena that the event was held in (the House of Horrors scenes were pre-taped, while the in-ring portion was live). The next cinematic match would occur on the March 19, 2018 episode of Raw , which featured Matt Hardy, who had returned to WWE and became "Woken" Matt Hardy, against Bray Wyatt and

1053-558: A briefcase that entitles them to a match for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship at any time and place of their choosing for up to one year, after which it becomes invalid (like WWE's Money in the Bank briefcase). Major League Wrestling 's "Rumble" style battle royal. Participants enter at one minute intervals and are eliminated via pinfall, submission or by being thrown over the top rope. Aztec Warfare

1170-569: A cinematically produced singles match between Edge and Randy Orton at Backlash (billed as "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever") also in June, and a Wyatt Swamp Fight between Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules in July. Following the introduction of the WWE ThunderDome and Capitol Wrestling Center (CWC) staging arenas in August and October, respectively,

1287-453: A competitor to lose (perhaps multiple times) while still remaining eligible to win the tournament. Of course, having multiple games in each series also requires considerably more games to be conducted. It is also susceptible to bad seeding. Another is the modified single-elimination tournament which guarantees at least two games per competitor, but not necessarily two losses for elimination. The brackets are similar to double-elimination, except

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1404-431: A double-deep, double-wide casket, sometimes specially designed for specific opponents The Undertaker takes on), ambulances , dumpsters , hearses (known as a "Last Ride match", also connected to The Undertaker gimmick), and stretchers . An Ambulance match is fought under hardcore rules, no pinfalls, no submissions, no disqualifications, no countouts and the only way to win is for one wrestler to force their opponent into

1521-640: A later time, typically for a pay-per-view event. They are also usually filmed on-location or at a custom built set. While not considered a cinematic match at the time, the Hollywood Backlot Brawl between Roddy Piper and Goldust at WrestleMania XII in 1996 is considered an early cinematic match by the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE ), as it used techniques now featured in cinematic matches. Unlike future cinematic matches (which typically air during one segment),

1638-414: A modified double elimination bracket, combined with a preliminary group stage. Double-elimination brackets are also popular in amateur wrestling of all levels, whereas in professional wrestling, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) were the only professional wrestling promotions to date to use the double-elimination format. WCW used the format for a tournament for

1755-425: A new team enters every 90 seconds. When all three members of a team are eliminated, then the team is ruled out of the match. The winner (or winners if more than one team member is remaining) receives $ 300,000 to be split amongst the team. Established in 2022 by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on their Rampage program, Royal Rampage takes place on the same night as their Dynamite : Blood and Guts event because of

1872-481: A one-ring, over-the-top-rope elimination. A typical battle royale, except this one features tables covered with barbed wire, thumbtacks, and light bulbs on the outside of the ring, which may catch wrestlers as they are thrown out of the ring. The National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) Bunkhouse Stampede involved wrestlers wearing what was described as "bunkhouse gear"—cowboy boots, jeans , T-shirts—instead of their normal wrestling tights and not only allowed but encouraged

1989-466: A particular player will vary individually.) The NCAA Division I baseball and softball tournaments make heavy use of the double-elimination format. In both tournaments' regional stages, four teams contest each regional in a double-elimination bracket and the survivor advances to the best-of-three super regionals. The format recurs in both the Men's and Women's College World Series (MCWS and WCWS), where

2106-504: A predecessor to Extreme Championship Wrestling . Generally used in TNA / Impact Wrestling , a reverse battle royale begins with wrestlers surrounding the ring instead of inside it. At the start of the match they battle for half of them to get into the ring, at which point a standard last person standing wins the battle royale. The Cage Reverse Battle Royale is another TNA variation of this match type. This actually has three stages; It begins

2223-411: A seeded draw. Double elimination overcomes this shortfall by allowing a strong team which loses early to work their way through the L bracket and progress to the later rounds, despite meeting the strongest team in the early rounds of competition. Another advantage of the double-elimination format is the fact that all competitors will play at least twice and three quarters will play three games or more. In

2340-451: A single-elimination tournament with no byes , half of the competitors will be eliminated after their first game. This can be disappointing to those who had to travel to the tournament and were only able to play once. A disadvantage compared to the single-elimination format is that at least twice the number of matches have to be conducted. Since each competitor has to lose twice and since the tournament ends when only one competitor remains, in

2457-445: A singles competitor, with the final two in the ring named joint winners, earning the right to challenge for the promotion's tag team championship later that night. Double elimination tournament A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament 's championship upon having lost two games or matches. It stands in contrast to

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2574-552: A style that mimics the early days of MMA and catch wrestling . It is common for Bloodsport competitors to have some knowledge in other combat sports and/or MMA, as well as professional wrestling, as these one on one matches often appear stiff and have a feel of classic Shoot-style wrestling fights. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic wrestling promotions were forced to hold events behind closed doors from March 2020 onwards. WWE introduced Raw Underground in August that year. It

2691-494: A team has one loss, or no losses, that team would be eliminated with a loss in either the U.S. or international championship game. The two respective champions then play a single elimination game for the World Series championship. Many esports competitions, such as The International use a variation on the double-elimination format where, after the initial group stage, the first round of the L bracket begins pre-seeded with

2808-415: A tournament for n competitors there will be either 2 n  − 2 or 2 n  − 1 games depending on whether or not the winner was undefeated during the tournament. This may result in a scheduling hardship for venues where only one facility for play is available. However, the number of matches is still lower than what is required by a Swiss-system tournament or round-robin tournament . If

2925-701: A tournament to become the number one contender for the AEW World Championship , also held by MJF. It was in turn decided that at Winter Is Coming, MJF would defend both the AEW World Championship and the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring against Starks in a Winner Takes All match . MJF defeated Starks to retain the championship and ring. The fifth match was moved up to the October 18, 2023, episode of Dynamite . Like

3042-645: A traditional double-elimination tournament. However, many events that employ this format also schedule the event so that the W bracket teams have advantageous scheduling, with L bracket teams often having to play additional series on the final day, and W bracket teams getting considerably more time off to watch opponents. Variations of the double-elimination tournament include: Other common tournament types are Winner Takes All match Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Many types of wrestling matches , sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in

3159-650: A wrestler has gone over the top rope and both feet hit the floor; a team is eliminated when both members of the team have been ruled out of the match. The match ends when one wrestler or team is left. The winning tag team earns an AEW World Tag Team Championship match. A variation for three-man teams (referred to as trios by AEW) has also been established, called the Casino Trios Royale . Debuting in December 2022 on Rampage , this version features eight trios teams (24 total wrestlers). Two teams start, and

3276-457: A year as part of their weekly television program, Dynamite —the inaugural match took place in November 2019, and then from 2020 to 2022, it was held in December to coincide with the annual Winter Is Coming television special , but moved up to October in 2023. The original rules featured 12 wrestlers competing in a standard battle royal, but ended when there were two wrestlers remaining, with

3393-427: Is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until only one is left. Typical battle royales begin with 20 or more participants all in the ring at the same time, who are then eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and having both feet touch the venue floor. The Battlebowl is a two-ring variation on a battle royale. In these matches, the wrestlers start in one ring and try to throw wrestlers into

3510-568: Is a singles match in which both competitors can stay outside of the ring without being counted out. A well-known example is at Vengeance (2003) between Stephanie McMahon and Sable , which Sable won. A pure wrestling rules match originally appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH), and still exists as the "official rules" for the ROH Pure Championship . Under the rules, each wrestler is allowed only three rope breaks; once they are all used,

3627-846: Is also used in table football tournaments. In contract bridge , the English Bridge Union Spring Foursomes, first contested in 1962, uses a double-elimination format. It is also used, in modified form, in the All-Ireland Senior Gaelic Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship . It is also used largely in Esport competitions such as Counter-Strike , League of Legends , Dota 2 , Street Fighter V , Rocket League and numerous others. Four-team or four-player groups using double elimination are called "GSL-style groups" in reference to

Battle royal (professional wrestling) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-505: Is based on a random draw of the cards. The 21st and final entrant is the wrestler who drew the joker . The winner receives a world championship match of their respective gender's division—either the AEW World Championship or the AEW Women's World Championship . The first Casino Battle Royale, which was a men's match, was held at Double or Nothing in May 2019. A men's tag team variation of

3861-404: Is credited with inventing this variation. WWE 's Royal Rumble is the original battle royal to use this format. It begins with two wrestlers in the ring, with the remaining participants introduced one by one at a set time period, usually 90 seconds or two minutes. Elimination occurs in the normal way with the last person standing as the winner, after all participants (traditionally 30) have entered

3978-536: Is getting a championship match at the time, the place, and for the title of the winner's choosing. Square Go! is Insane Championship Wrestling 's (ICW) own hybrid of WWE's Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank matches, and is named for the Glaswegian term for a street fight. It features 30 competitors that compete in an over-the-top-rope battle royal, with the winner earning the Square Go! Briefcase. It has mostly

4095-519: Is obtained by pinfall , submission , knockout , countout , or disqualification . One of the most common variations on the singles match is to restrict the possible means for victory. In a blindfold match, the two participants must wear a blindfold over their eyes for the entire duration of the match. A well-known example of this match is the WrestleMania VII match between Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Rick Martel . A no count-out match

4212-539: Is one in which the object is for one wrestler to throw his opponent into a grave dug out of a large mound of soil placed outside the ring. Once in the grave, the wrestler must bury his opponent in dirt and soil to the referee's discretion. Equipment ranging from shovels and wheelbarrows to bulldozers are often made available to completely bury the opponent. The Buried Alive match is one of three of The Undertaker 's signature matches (the Casket and Last Ride matches being

4329-491: Is reduced to two, and there is a subsequent episode where the final two compete, in this case, "AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring". In New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the 2021 New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 15 was conducted as a semi-final battle royale. Chase Owens , Bad Luck Fale , Tetsuya Bushi , and Toru Yano were the final four that competed in a championship match the next day. The tag team battle royale consist of designated tag teams of wrestlers with two members on

4446-467: Is the Lucha Underground version of the "Rumble Rules" battle royal. Upwards to 20 participants enter every 90 seconds and elimination occurs by either pinfall or submission and has to take place inside the ring. There are no count-outs and no disqualifications. As of April 2019, four Aztec Warfare matches have occurred—one in each season of Lucha Underground . The Casino Battle Royale

4563-413: Is usually set up to be a possible two games, with the second referred to as the "if game". In this structure, the L bracket finalist needs to win both games of the final round to be the tournament champion, while the W bracket finalist wins the tournament by winning either game of the final round. If the final round is scheduled as only a single game, as in the 2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship ,

4680-421: Is utilized by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a modified rumble rules battle royal that features 21 entrants. It begins with a group of five wrestlers, and every three minutes, another group of five wrestlers enters, while the 21st and final entrant enters alone. The wrestlers are grouped based on the suit they drew from a deck of cards —spades, diamonds, clubs, or hearts—and the order of when each group enters

4797-533: The Global StarCraft II League in Korea, which historically has used such a group format. The FIRST Robotics Competition began using the double-elimination bracket starting with the 2023 season. In judo , players that end up in the L bracket can finish in third place at best. The winner of the W bracket will win the tournament, with the losing finalist finishing second. The other losers of

Battle royal (professional wrestling) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-459: The jargon of the business , are performed in professional wrestling . Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline . Throughout professional wrestling's decades-long history , some gimmick matches have spawned many variations of the core concept. The singles match is the most common of all professional wrestling matches, which involves only two competitors competing for one fall . A victory

5031-469: The "Rumble" style of battle royal on their shows, billing it as the Honor Rumble . New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's annual "Rumble" battle royal takes place on the pre-show of the first night of the two-night Wrestle Kingdom show on January 4. Participants enter at one-minute intervals and are eliminated via pinfall, submission, or by being thrown over the top rope. Typically leaning towards light comedy,

5148-445: The "footage looked awfully familiar"; in reality, repurposed footage of Simpson's infamous Bronco chase was actually used as part of the match.) The match eventually ended in the ring live, when Piper stripped Goldust down to women's lingerie and kissed him as part of "making him a man". WrestleMania XII featured a second cinematic match between " The Huckster " and " Nacho Man ". At SummerSlam 1996 , The Undertaker faced Mankind in

5265-723: The 1970s fought between Dusty Rhodes and Ivan Koloff . The coffin match was revived as one of The Undertaker 's signature matches and first appeared on television at the Survivor Series as the coffin match against Kamala . Prior to that, at a house show on July 14, 1991, the Ultimate Warrior defeated the Undertaker in a casket match in St. Louis, Missouri at Busch Stadium. There have been 17 casket matches, 11 of which have been won by The Undertaker. The 20th edition

5382-461: The Casket match. A similar type of match aims to restrain opposing wrestlers somehow, and the match often takes the name of the restraining device – for example, the Stretcher. None of these matches can end in a pinfall, submission, countout, or disqualification. Common containers used for these matches are caskets (connected to The Undertaker 's Deadman persona, either using a typical coffin or

5499-532: The Firefly Inferno match between Orton and The Fiend at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December, where Orton set The Fiend's entire body on fire, and an intergender match between Orton and Bliss at Fastlane in March 2021, where Bliss used supernatural powers. Since the resumption of live touring in July 2021, WWE ceased producing cinematic matches. AEW also incorporated cinematic matches during pandemic restrictions in 2020 and 2021, most notably

5616-534: The Grave Consequences (subsequently Graver Consequences) match. Another toned-down version of the Casket Match is when a victory is not obtained by placing the opponent in the coffin but by pinfall or submission. However, the defeated wrestler is then placed into the coffin. The Last Rites match is a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling variation where a casket is lowered into the center of the ring, and

5733-445: The July 4, 2023 episode of NXT between Eddy Thorpe and Damon Kemp , for which Thorpe sought the help of Gable Steveson (Kemp's real life brother) to train him. Thorpe won the match. On the December 26, 2023 episode of NXT, Thorpe defeated Dijak in the second NXT Underground match. The first women's NXT Underground match took place on week 2 of NXT Spring Breakin' (2024) , where Lola Vice defeated Natalya . The battle royale

5850-425: The L bracket if the player they lost to wins their match of the second round. If a player loses to a second round loser, they are eliminated from the tournament. Another variant, called the (third-place) challenge , is used, particularly in scholastic wrestling. The winner of the L bracket may challenge the loser of the finals in the W bracket, if and only if the two contestants had not faced each other previously; if

5967-400: The L bracket is conducted in two stages: a minor stage followed by a major stage. Both contain the same number of matches (assuming there are no byes) which is the same again as the number of matches in the corresponding round of the W bracket. If the minor stage of an L bracket round contains N matches, it will produce N winners. Meanwhile, the N matches in the corresponding round of

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6084-590: The Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing 2020 , which was a 5v5 empty arena match in the TIAA Bank Field stadium. During that period, AEW featured at least one cinematic match at each of their PPVs: a "Tooth and Nail match" at All Out 2020 between Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Big Swole at Baker's real-life dental office, a match entitled "The Elite Deletion" at Full Gear 2020 , featuring Matt Hardy against Sammy Guevara and similar to

6201-444: The W bracket finalist will be eliminated from the tournament if they lose this match, meaning the tournament is not truly a double-elimination tournament. The double-elimination format has some advantages over the single-elimination format, most notably the fact that third and fourth places can be determined without the use of a consolation or "classification" match involving two contestants who have already been eliminated from winning

6318-413: The W bracket will end up in the L bracket, which will only be played to the minor stage of the final, resulting in two players placed third. Thus, compared to double elimination, there is no major stage of the L bracket final played, and there is no game between the winners of the W and L brackets. Another aspect of the system used in judo is that losers of the first round (of the W bracket) only advance to

6435-402: The W bracket will produce N losers. These 2 N competitors will then pair off in the N matches of the corresponding major stage of the L bracket. For example, in an eight-competitor double-elimination tournament, the four losers of the first round, W bracket quarter finals, pair off in the first stage of the L bracket, the L bracket minor semifinals. The two losers are eliminated, while

6552-423: The adjacent Daily's Place . The audience in attendance watched the first half of the match on video screens before the action spilled into the amphitheater. This would be AEW's final cinematic match produced before the company resumed live touring in July that year. Impact Wrestling would also return to producing cinematic matches in 2021 when Ethan Page wrestled his alter ego "The Karate Man" at Hard to Kill in

6669-407: The back of an ambulance and close the door. The first ambulance match took place at Survivor Series 2003 where Kane defeated Shane McMahon . The second one took place at Elimination Chamber (2012) which also involved Kane as one of the competitors. His opponent was John Cena, who won the match, where an additional rule was added in that the ambulance has to leave to win. The third Ambulance match

6786-416: The battle royal. The two faced each other at the second annual Winter Is Coming special episode of Dynamite the following week. For this third year, the ring's design was updated with a new net worth of $ 150,000. MJF defeated Martin by submission to win the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring for the third time. The fourth match took place on the December 7, 2022, episode of Dynamite , but with a slight change over

6903-626: The bringing of weapons . In 1988 the NWA named a pay-per-view after the Bunkhouse Stampede , headlined by a Bunkhouse Stampede match held inside a cage . Recently, the match has been revitalized by Ricky Morton of the Rock n' Roll Express at his wrestling academy in Chuckey, Tennessee. A battle royale with hardcore rules (no disqualifications and no count-outs) involving several competitors in

7020-541: The challenger (the winner of the L bracket) wins, they are awarded second place, and the loser of the W final is dropped to third place. This system is used particularly where the top two places advance to a higher level of competition (example: advancement from a regional tournament to a state tournament). Another is the balanced variant which is a bracket arrangement that is not strictly divided into two brackets based on number of losses. Players with different numbers of losses can play each other in any round. A goal of

7137-442: The championship final has two matches scheduled (as typical of a double-elimination tournament), should the winners' bracket winner defeat the losers' bracket winner, the tournament ends. It is therefore unknown, until this match has been concluded, whether the second scheduled match will in fact be required. This can also be seen as a disadvantage of the system, particularly if broadcasting and ticket sales companies have an interest in

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7254-405: The championship. Some tournaments, such as in tennis, will use " seeding " to prevent the strongest contestants from meeting until the later round. However, in tournaments where contestants are placed randomly in the draw, or in situations where seeding is not available, it is possible for two of the strongest teams to meet in the early rounds rather than a final or semifinal as would be expected in

7371-407: The co-winners then facing each other in a singles match on the following week's episode for the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring. The winner of the championship ring held it until the following year's battle royal. Since 2022, there is now only one winner of the 12-man battle royal, who then goes on to face the reigning ring holder from the prior year. Four such matches have taken place so far. The first

7488-512: The field of 8 teams is divided into two double-elimination brackets and the survivor of each bracket advances to the best-of-three championship series. While the two brackets remain completely separate in the MCWS, there is a crossover feature in the WCWS, by which the loser of the second-round game in each bracket moves to the opposite bracket to play an elimination game. This format means that any two of

7605-450: The first round. The first-round winners proceed into the W bracket and the losers proceed into the L bracket. The W bracket is conducted in the same manner as a single-elimination tournament, except that the losers of each round "drop down" into the L bracket. Another method of double-elimination tournament management is the Draw and Process . As with single-elimination tournaments, most often

7722-440: The first stage as an inside-out battle royale with 15 or more wrestlers involved. The first seven to enter the ring over the top cage will advance to the second stage which is a gauntlet match. When it gets down to the final stage, only two wrestlers will battle in a singles match which is decided by pinfall or submission. A semi-final battle royale consists of a battle royale where when a specific number of wrestlers are remaining,

7839-488: The interim champion. Whoever held the title at end of the time limit was declared the winner and official champion. A Last Blood battle royal is essentially a multi-competitor First Blood match . The winner is the last wrestler in the match not bleeding. Generally used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, a reverse battle royal begins with wrestlers surrounding the ring instead of inside it. At

7956-428: The lower-performing teams from said stage, rather than all teams starting in the W bracket. Additionally, the finals are a single series regardless of winner, without any chance of a bracket reset if the L bracket winner wins the series. Much of this is due to time concerns, with some esports games taking upwards of an hour per match in a series, and the schedule not allowing for the additional time costs of scheduling like

8073-465: The match aired during several segments in between matches inside the ring, and featured both pre-taped segments outside the Arrowhead Pond of the two fighting as well as Piper "chasing" Goldust's solid gold Cadillac in a white Ford Bronco in an obvious reference to the then-ongoing O. J. Simpson murder case . ( Vince McMahon mentioned on commentary without completely breaking kayfabe that

8190-592: The match and the official champion. The most famous example is the Hardcore Title Battle Royal from WWF's WrestleMania 2000 . A last blood battle royale is essentially a multi-competitor First Blood match . All competitors start at the same time and wrestlers are eliminated when they start bleeding. The winner is the last wrestler in the match not bleeding. This match was held in the Tri-State Wrestling Association,

8307-402: The match ends, and those that remain are placed in a standard wrestling match for the prize at stake. An example of this occurred on a January 2024 episode of NXT , where 20 women competed in a battle royal that became a Fatal 4-Way once there were four competitors remaining. In All Elite Wrestling (AEW), it is known as a Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale , as twelve competitors compete until it

8424-557: The match includes past stars as surprise entrants. It is also known as the "New Japan Ranbo", the Japanese word ranbo meaning "to run riot". Similar to NJPW Rambo match, its sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom also uses the same concept, as well as traditional Royal Rumble matches. On March 3, 2021, Unagi Sayaka won the inaugural "All-Star Rumble" at Stardom All Star Dream Cinderella . The first "Stardom Rambo" match took part on November 20, 2022, during Historic X-Over , which

8541-505: The match, called the Casino Tag Team Royale , was first utilized at Revolution in March 2021. Instead of being contested between 21 individual singles wrestlers, the match features 10-15 tag teams (for a total of 20-30 wrestlers). The rules in terms of entrants also differs. The order of entrants is based on a lottery. Two tag teams start the match, and every 90 seconds, a new team enters. Individual eliminations occur when

8658-443: The match, with the prize being a future championship match. Team variations of battle royals consist of designated tag teams of wrestlers, usually two to a team. There are different types of such matches, and though most follow normal battle royal rules, teams may be eliminated when either one or both partners are eliminated from the ring. One notable version was the battle royal prior to WrestleMania XV , where each wrestler fought as

8775-399: The men's and women's world title holders facing each other for a commemorative Crown Jewel Championship. This event consists of a unique ruleset compared to a traditional pro wrestling event, in that every match must end in either a knockout or submission. The traditional wrestling ring is replaced by a ring canvas with no ropes or turnbuckles. This event features worked shoot matches in

8892-540: The middle of the ring for the victory. This was one of The Undertaker ’s early gimmick matches; he had one of these matches in 1992 against The Ultimate Warrior at the Madison Square Garden . The casket match (also known as the Coffin match ) has a casket near the ring, with the objective of the match being to trap the opposing wrestler inside. The casket match began its life as a one-off coffin match in

9009-408: The number of competitors is equal to a power of two (8, 16, 32, etc.) so that in each round there is an even number of competitors and never any byes . The number of games in a double-elimination tournament is one or two less than twice the number of teams participating (e.g. 8 teams would see 14 or 15 games). If the standard double-elimination bracket arrangement is being used, then each round of

9126-441: The number was 20), all competitors entered the center ring and continued under regular rules until only one was left standing. In this version - unlike traditional battles royal, where all wrestlers begin the match in the ring - only the first two competitors begin the match. The rest enter at timed intervals, according to numbers they draw, until the entire field has entered. Former wrestler and longtime WWE official Pat Patterson

9243-407: The objective is to get your opponent into the casket, which is raised to the ceiling following the match. The first Last Rites match was done between Sting and Abyss . Vince Russo came up with this match; it was perceived to be a disaster because neither wrestler could work properly due to the placement of the casket in the center of the ring, which limited and obstructed their workspace. The match

9360-469: The other "Deletion" matches involving Hardy, and a tag team street fight pitting Darby Allin and Sting against Team Taz ( Brian Cage and Ricky Starks ) at Revolution 2021 , which was held at an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Atlanta , Georgia. At Double or Nothing 2021 the Stadium Stampede match was a hybrid cinematic match with the first half recorded at TIAA Bank Field, then concluding live at

9477-416: The others). A cinematic Buried Alive match was held between The Undertaker and AJ Styles for WrestleMania 36 , referred to as a "Boneyard match" . The match took place outdoors in a cemetery-like setting near an abandoned warehouse rather than in a traditional ring. A Body Bag match is a no-disqualification match where the objective is for a wrestler to put an opposing wrestler in a body bag situated in

9594-496: The participating teams can advance to the championship series, which the current MCWS format does not allow. The Little League World Series switched from round-robin to double-elimination formats for each of its pools starting in 2010 in an effort to eliminate meaningless games. The World Baseball Classic used a double-elimination format for its second rounds of the tournament in 2009 and 2013 , as well as in its first round in 2009. The 2020 Olympic baseball event also used

9711-415: The previous three iterations. Due to MJF being the only winner of the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring, he was given a bye with there instead only being one winner for the 2022 Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale who would go on to face MJF for the ring at the third annual Winter Is Coming special episode of Dynamite the following week. Ricky Starks won the battle royal. Prior to the battle royal, Starks had also won

9828-520: The previous year, there was only one winner of the battle royal, who would then face reigning ring holder MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring on the following week's Dynamite . Juice Robinson won the battle royal. MJF subsequently defeated Robinson to retain the Dynamite Diamond Ring for the fifth consecutive year. A WWE women's battle royal with the addition of fetish outfits, such as french maid , lingerie , nurse and schoolgirl. Often

9945-410: The ring at the same time. The match could last for either 15 or 20 minutes. All participants are not eliminated by being thrown out of the ring and both feet touching the floor. Pinning or forcing to submit whoever was current Hardcore champion would result in the victorious participant becoming the interim champion. Whoever the person held the title at end of the time limit would be declared the winner of

10062-447: The ring. There is both a men's and women's Royal Rumble match, with the winners getting a world championship match (in their respective divisions) at that year's WrestleMania , which is WWE's biggest annual show. Deviations from the traditional 30 wrestler field include the original 20-man Royal Rumble in 1988 , the 40-man 2011 Royal Rumble and the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018. Ring of Honor (ROH) also periodically features

10179-438: The same outcome. The differences in the number of matches for a given stage of a double-elimination tournament, especially in the later stages, could result in an uneven level of preparation or energy between competitors; a player in the winners' bracket may have a long wait between matches, while losers' bracket players have to play multiple games in a comparatively short timeframe. (Whether either situation will be an advantage for

10296-407: The same rules as WWE's Royal Rumble, where two competitors draw the numbers 1 and 2 and the remaining participants enter the match one-by-one every 2 minutes. There are also five random numbers that allow those entrants to carry a weapon of their choice into the ring. As with battle royals, participants are eliminated when thrown over the top rope with both feet landing on the floor. The winner receives

10413-540: The second ring, after which they can be eliminated by being thrown out of that ring. The last remaining wrestler in the first ring can rest until only one wrestler is left in the second ring, after which they fight in both rings until one is eliminated and a winner is declared, in similar fashion to a double elimination tournament . This was held by World Championship Wrestling at the 1991 Starrcade event, but future Battlebowl matches were contested under normal battle royale rules. The battle zone features any number of men in

10530-411: The start of the match they battle for half of them to get into the ring, at which point a standard last person standing wins the battle royal. The match begins as a multi-woman over-the-top elimination battle royal. Participants are eliminated as they are thrown over the top rope and both feet land on the floor. When two competitors remain, they face each other in a ladder match, where the winner receives

10647-414: The team. This match uses the normal battle royale rules, teams may be eliminated when either one or both partners are thrown over the top rope with both feet touching the floor. This match is conducted similarly to a battle royale but in these cases, both wrestlers are considered active at the same time and there are no tags using the tornado tag team stipulation. This variation of the tag team battle royale

10764-470: The title, so the title doesn't change hands if the champion loses the match. It can be announced by name, as a non-title match or as a singles match. It was also used in a tag team format. World TV Champion Arn Anderson vs. Paul Orndorff at Clash of the Champions XI was one example. Though Orndorff won the match, Anderson remained champion. A champion vs. champion match can also be referenced to

10881-445: The tournament. Another disadvantage of the double-elimination format is the fact that some games are played by competitors that have completed an unequal number of matches so far in the tournament. For example, in a tournament with sixteen players, one needs to win four games to qualify for the final through the winners' bracket, whereas the finalist from the losers' bracket could have played anywhere between five and seven games to reach

10998-464: The two finalists from the L bracket (each with one loss) face the two finalists from the W bracket (neither with a loss) in a single elimination semi-final and final. The Little League World Series began using a modified double-elimination bracket in 2011. Eight U.S. teams and eight international teams compete in respective double elimination formats until their respective championship games, which are single elimination. That is, irrespective of whether

11115-425: The two ring setup used for the eponymous match. A modified Rumble rules battle royal, Royal Rampage involves two rings and 20 competitors. It starts with two wrestlers in each ring, with a new wrestler entering every 60 seconds to their assigned ring, until all 20 wrestlers have entered (10 in each ring). The two final wrestlers from each ring then consolidate into a single ring, where the last wrestler remaining wins

11232-491: The two that occurred at WrestleMania 36 ; a Boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles , which was a Buried Alive match held at a custom built cemetery set in the Orlando area, and a Firefly Fun House match between John Cena and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. (Although the match ended with The Fiend pinning Cena in a ring, the match itself was a dream-like sequence of Cena's career, showing his perceived character flaws;

11349-427: The two winners proceed to the L bracket major semifinals. Here, those two players/teams will each compete against a loser of the W bracket semifinal in the L bracket major semifinals. The winners of the L bracket major semifinals compete against each other in the L bracket minor-final, with the winner playing the loser of the W bracket final in the L bracket major final. The final round of a double-elimination tournament

11466-416: The type of outfit is chosen by an audience poll. A battle royal with hardcore rules (no disqualifications and no count-outs) involving several competitors in the ring at the same time. The match could last for either 15 or 20 minutes. Participants are not eliminated by being thrown out of the ring and both feet touching the floor. Pinning or forcing to submit the current Hardcore champion made that participant

11583-524: The use of cinematic matches was greatly reduced, as these new staging arenas allowed fans to attend the events virtually. To go with the Halloween -theme at NXT : Halloween Havoc in October, a Haunted House of Terrors match was held between Dexter Lumis and Cameron Grimes , which was similar to the House of Horrors match from Payback 2017. Matches involving Randy Orton, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, and Alexa Bliss have also used cinematic techniques, such as

11700-493: The vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship in 1999. On the June 26, 2002, weekly Asylum PPV , TNA used a double-elimination match to determine the TNA X Championship in a four-way match featuring AJ Styles , Jerry Lynn , Low Ki , and Psicosis . Pool , surfing , windsurfing and kiteboarding freestyle competitions, as well as Curling bonspiels (where triple-elimination is also used), Hardcourt Bike Polo are all known to sometimes use double-elimination formats. It

11817-433: The variant is that no player sits idle for more than one round consecutively. The added complexity of the brackets is handled by using "if necessary" matches. The flexible approach allows practical bracket designs to be made for any number of competitors including odd numbers (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, etc.). A possible alternative is a single-elimination format where each match is a best-of-5-or-more series. This format still allows

11934-459: The various segments were filmed at WWE's Titan Towers headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut ). Following this, cinematic matches occurred at Money in the Bank in May, which was the event's eponymous ladder matches that occurred at WWE's headquarters, a Backlot Brawl between Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream in the parking lot of Full Sail University at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in June,

12051-497: The wrestler cannot use the ropes to escape pins or submissions. Closed fists are illegal, and the first offense (if seen by the official) results in a warning. A second offense results in disqualification. The wrestlers must shake hands before and after the match. A special challenge match was often used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to refer to a singles match in which the champion is not defending

12168-404: Was a brawl between The Broken Hardys and Decay titled "Delete or Decay". The Broken Hardys and Decay continued their feud at Bound for Glory , where Decay lost their TNA World Tag Team Championship to The Hardys in "The Great War". The Hardys issued an open tag team invitational at their compound on the December 15 episode of Impact Wrestling , titled Total Nonstop Deletion . The main event

12285-464: Was called the "Ultimate Deletion;" this was just like the "Final Deletion," including being held at Matt's compound. Cinematic matches became more frequent in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ; the pandemic began affecting the professional wrestling industry in March that year, forcing promotions to hold events behind closed doors . WWE would hold several cinematic matches at their pay-per-views between March and August, being highly praised for

12402-399: Was described as "bunkhouse gear"—cowboy boots, jeans , T-shirts—instead of their normal wrestling tights, and not only allowed but encouraged the bringing of weapons . In 1988 the NWA named a pay-per-view after the Bunkhouse Stampede , headlined by a Bunkhouse Stampede match in a cage . The Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale is utilized by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is held once

12519-632: Was held at Halloween Havoc and the first following the retirement of The Undertaker involving Grayson Waller vs. Apollo Crews in which Crews won. WWE held its first women's casket match on the October 29, 2024 episode of NXT involving Tatum Paxley and Wendy Choo in which the Paxley won. In addition to WWE, the casket match has been adopted for use in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , All Elite Wrestling , and Lucha Underground , with Lucha Underground denominating it as

12636-469: Was hosted and commentated by Shane McMahon in Raw's third hour and didn't take place in the arena, but rather in a warehouse environment, with only wrestlers and dancers present. The matches were short work shoot style and could end by knockout, submission or McMahon's call. Raw Underground segments aired from August 3 to September 21, 2020 in 8 episodes of Raw. The first NXT Underground match took place on

12753-601: Was left standing. A cinematic match is not technically a match type itself, but rather, it is a term used to refer to matches that are produced with various cinematic techniques . The rules vary from match to match, but generally have a basis in hardcore wrestling. Unlike a normal wrestling match, which is done in one take and typically in front of a live audience, cinematic matches are shot over several hours with various scenes filmed, similar to filmmaking, with higher-budget production involved. The final product (the complete match) generally lasts from 20 to 40 minutes and airs at

12870-405: Was on the November 20, 2019, episode of Dynamite, where Adam Page and MJF were the cowinners of the inaugural battle royal. MJF then defeated Page on the following week's episode of Dynamite to win the inaugural AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring. Wrestling veteran Diamond Dallas Page presented the ring to MJF. Then-AEW Executive Vice President and wrestler Cody Rhodes stated that the original ring

12987-570: Was part of Three Stages of Hell match at WWE Payback on June 16, 2013, in Rosemont, Illinois between John Cena and Ryback for the WWE Championship . The most recent was at NXT Halloween Havoc in October 2024, between Ridge Holland and Andre Chase . The famous 2017 Lucha Underground "Hell of War" bout between Dante Fox ( A.R. Fox ) and Killshot ( Swerve Strickland ) was that promotion's only ambulance match. A buried alive match

13104-465: Was such a failure that during the match, the enraged crowd screamed "Fire Russo!" so loudly that the commentators had to yell into their microphones to be heard. In 2023, TNA Wrestling brought back the Last Rites match, but modified it to be more of a basic casket match. A dumpster match is a no-disqualification, no-submission, no-countout, no-fall hardcore match in which the only objective to win

13221-505: Was the "Tag Team Apocalypto" where The Hardys last defeated Decay. Although not contested as a match, WWE followed this up shortly after and filmed a cinematic-style brawl between The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston , and Xavier Woods ) and The Wyatt Family ( Bray Wyatt , Erick Rowan , and Braun Strowman ) that was held at The Wyatt Family Compound and shown on the July 11, 2016 episode of WWE Raw . WWE then taped their own cinematic match for their 2017 pay-per-view Payback , called

13338-507: Was used at the WrestleMania XV as well. Created by WCW in 1995, the World War 3 battle royale involved a three-ring setup and 60 competitors; 20 wrestlers started in each of the three rings, in which they would wrestle under regular battle royale rules. Once there were 30 competitors remaining (except in 1997, where the number was 20), all competitors would enter the center ring and continue under regular rules until only one wrestler

13455-425: Was used during the 2011 WWE Draft on April 25, 2011; where the wrestler's team has to eliminate all members of the opposing team, much like an elimination tag team match where the losing wrestler of a team, who just got thrown over the ring ropes with both feet touching the floor, must return to their locker room. The team winner receives a #1 draft pick for their respective brand. Another notable version of this match

13572-474: Was valued at US$ 42,000. The second match occurred at the inaugural Winter Is Coming event, which aired as a special episode of Dynamite on December 2, 2020. MJF and Orange Cassidy were the co-winners. They faced each other on the following week's episode of Dynamite, where MJF defeated Cassidy to win the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring for the second time. The third match occurred on the December 8, 2021, episode of Dynamite , with MJF and Dante Martin cowinning

13689-602: Was won by Mirai . The Call Your Shot Gauntlet (originally called Gauntlet for the Gold) is the "Rumble" style battle royal used by TNA Wrestling . In this version two wrestlers begin in the ring, with additional wrestlers entering on a set time period. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and to the floor until two wrestlers are left, at which point a standard singles match begins. The prize for winning this match (which in recent years has become intergender and held at Impact's biggest annual show Bound For Glory )

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