A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing , professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience.
118-445: In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts, introductions occur after both fighters have entered the ring or cage. Along with each fighter's name, the announcer typically also announces their height, weight, town, nickname, win–loss record and any current or past titles the fighter has won. In MMA, the fighting discipline is usually announced. In professional wrestling, wrestlers are similarly introduced, though usually before or as they come to
236-428: 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
354-654: A ratings competition against the flagship program of the WWF, Monday Night Raw , in a period now known as the Monday Night War . From 1996 to 1998, WCW surpassed their rival program in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. Beginning in 1999, WCW endured significant losses in ratings and revenue due to creative missteps and suffered from the fallout from the 2001 merger of America Online (AOL) and Turner Broadcasting parent Time Warner (later WarnerMedia, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)). Soon thereafter, WCW
472-419: 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 is obtained by pinfall , submission , knockout , countout , or disqualification . One of the most common variations on
590-478: 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
708-405: A "family-friendly" orientation, and drop the reforms that turned around the company's fortunes. Concurrently to WCW beginning to struggle under the weight of its own momentum, the WWF began to turn the corner on its own reforms. Having been caught flatfooted by the total reconfiguration of WCW and the success of Nitro in 1996 and 1997, by 1998 the WWF was building its own momentum. Taking most of
826-678: 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
944-484: A botched move at Starrcade 1999 , followed just days later by Goldberg very seriously injuring himself during an angle on Thunder , and Hollywood Hogan seemingly quitting the company live on PPV at Bash at the Beach 2000 only seemed to further a sense that the company was spiralling out of control. By July 2000 Bischoff had walked off the job. In 2000, several potential buyers for WCW were rumored to show interest in
1062-514: A championship match, the announcer specifies that the winner is either still the champion or the new champion. Professional wrestling match types Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Many types of wrestling matches , sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in 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
1180-569: 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,
1298-431: 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
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#17327830333241416-570: A duo. The pairing was not cohesive and frequently chafed over the direction of the company. Creatively, the year 2000 saw WCW attempt numerous publicity stunts to gain traction, such as making actor David Arquette (who then had no professional wrestling experience) the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. These moves only served to push traditional wrestling fans away from WCW. Events such as Goldberg forcing WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart into retirement following
1534-766: 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 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
1652-640: 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),
1770-471: A low ebb. To counter this, Bischoff felt that WCW was in need of radical reform; to this end, Bischoff sought to modernise WCW and move its image away from that of a Southern-based " rasslin " company. To achieve this, Bischoff increased WCW's production values, avoided unprofitable house shows , increased the number of WCW pay-per-views (PPVs, which were profitable), decreased the number of Southern accents on commentary, and began recruiting top stars away from
1888-477: 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 a Winner Takes All match , but in some cases each superstars' title is not contested in the match or only one title
2006-656: A notable exception for almost a decade and a half. After the Invasion storyline concluded, the WWF divided the roster into two brands which was originally intended to revive WCW under the WWF umbrella but was instead divided into Raw and SmackDown! brands, named after two WWF's top programs at the time. Many other WCW wrestlers moved to the World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) or the XWF and then Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) which all started after
2124-481: 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
2242-504: 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
2360-526: A reunited nWo in the widely panned " Fingerpoke of Doom " angle. By September 1999, the rapidly declining ratings of Nitro (now half that of Raw ), drastic dropoff in revenue, and the increasing antagonism between Eric Bischoff and Time Warner executives prompted the head of Turner Sports , Harvey Schiller , to relieve Bischoff of his position. Almost immediately Schiller found a duo to replace Bischoff: former head writers for Raw Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera . Russo had just weeks prior walked off
2478-646: A subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) (which had aired its programming on TBS ). For all of its existence, WCW was one of the two top professional wrestling promotions in the United States alongside the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), at one point surpassing the latter in terms of popularity. After initial success through utilization of established wrestling stars of
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#17327830333242596-490: A three volume series hosted by Diamond Dallas Page called The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro . WCW's library content would be made available with the launch of WWE Network in 2014. WWE would revive several of WCW's events, including Great American Bash in 2004, Starrcade in 2017 and Halloween Havoc in 2020. WWE also utilized the Night of Champions name and theme used on the last episode of Nitro beginning in 2001, which
2714-481: A unique and popular identity by integrating and mixing wrestlers from all around the world and from vastly different wrestling styles, particularly Mexican luchadores such as Rey Misterio Jr. , Psicosis , and Juventud Guerrera , but also Japanese "Super Juniors" such as Último Dragón . North American wrestlers, such as Chris Jericho , Eddie Guerrero , Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit , who had travelled abroad to Mexico and Japan earlier in their careers and learned
2832-524: 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 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
2950-427: 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
3068-541: 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, the wrestler cannot use the ropes to escape pins or submissions. Closed fists are illegal, and
3186-404: Is by forcing your opponent into a dumpster and closing the lid. The first match occurred was at WrestleMania XIV , pitting The New Age Outlaws against Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie . World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System , through
3304-439: 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 the men's and women's world title holders facing each other for a commemorative Crown Jewel Championship. This event consists of
3422-539: 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
3540-491: 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
3658-549: The USA Network . The meeting led to Turner greenlighting the creation of WCW Monday Nitro , which would air on TNT on the same day and in the same time slot as Raw . Nitro would debut on September 4, 1995, and directly lead into the Monday Night War era of professional wrestling, in which WCW Nitro and WWF Raw would fiercely compete to beat each other in the Nielson ratings each and every week. The struggle between
Ring announcer - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-767: The X Division . Throughout the 2000s, WWE would incorporate elements into their shows formerly associated with WCW. Former WCW Championships such as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , the WCW United States Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship would be reactivated in WWE, with their WCW lineages acknowledged. The Cruiserweight division concept was introduced to WWE in 2002 and since then has been used intermittently throughout
3894-445: 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
4012-723: 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
4130-542: The 1980s, the company appointed Eric Bischoff to executive producer of television in 1993. Under Bischoff's leadership, the company enjoyed a period of mainstream success characterized by a shift to reality-based storylines , and notable hirings of former WWF talent. WCW also gained attention for developing a popular cruiserweight division, which showcased an acrobatic, fast-paced, lucha libre -inspired style of wrestling. In 1995, WCW debuted their live flagship television program Monday Nitro , and subsequently developed
4248-580: The 2000s, 2010s and 2020s from 2002 onwards. Some WCW mainstays such as Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho were able to achieve long-term top positions within WWE by the mid to late 2000s. Similarly, promotions such as Total Nonstop Action would also make use of former WCW talent when possible and also continued the legacy of the Cruiserweight with their X-Division. WWE has since released various WCW documentaries, anthologies, and compilations, including The Rise and Fall of WCW , and
4366-463: The Beach series of shows with AEW Bash at the Beach on January 15, 2020. However, a lawsuit by WWE prevented further reuse of that branding. Beginning in 2021, AEW began presenting their own version of WCW's WarGames match , held at the AEW Blood & Guts event. Who Killed WCW? , a four-part documentary series based off the downfall of WCW premiered June 6, 2024 on Vice TV . The series
4484-461: 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
4602-588: 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
4720-534: 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
4838-759: The Hall and Nash debuts as it gave the show an unscripted, "anything can happen at any time" feeling to the television audience. The start of the nWo angle, which immediately proved immensely popular and intriguing to wrestling fans, was part of a wider shift in the WCW presentation still being pursued by Eric Bischoff. As part of his overhaul of WCW, Bischoff wanted to grow WCW's audience amongst 18 to 35-year-olds . To that end, he alongside WCW's booker Kevin Sullivan began grounding WCW characters and storylines more in reality, utilising real names and darker themes in contrast to
Ring announcer - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-445: 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
5074-472: The NWA and becoming a standalone wrestling promotion. In February 1993 former commentator Eric Bischoff was appointed as Executive Producer of WCW, and by 1994 he had been promoted once again to Senior Vice President, a position which gave Bischoff both creative and financial control of WCW. At this point, the promotion was struggling financially and was widely perceived within the wrestling industry to be at
5192-590: 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
5310-489: The WWE immediately and participated in The Invasion storyline as part of The Alliance which lasted until the end of 2001, however many of WCW's top stars had contracts with AOL Time Warner rather than WCW itself that the WWF did not acquire, and most choose to sit out the length of their contracts rather than breaking them in order to work for the WWF. Most would eventually find their way to WWE, although Sting remained
5428-529: The WWF free to acquire the key assets of WCW through its new subsidiary W. Acquisition Company, which was renamed WCW Inc. afterwards. AOL Time Warner sold the rights to the World Championship Wrestling name, branding, championships, and all other remaining assets aside from the talent roster and video library to WWF for $ 2.5 million in March 2001. Shortly afterwards WWF paid an additional $ 1.8 million to cover costs to AOL Time Warner in
5546-498: The WWF in January 2000, an incident which resulted in a number of firings amongst WCW management. With shakeups to WCW management becoming more and more frequent, the WCW talent began to lose any sense of leadership or direction, which in turn caused them to form bickering political cliques amongst themselves. In April 2000, WCW attempted to resolve its creative issues by asking Eric Bischoff to return but work alongside Vince Russo as
5664-564: The WWF seizing back the ratings lead as well as WCW's own internal problem caused tension amongst both the on-screen talent and management. By November 1998 Kevin Nash had become head booker of WCW, overseeing the creative direction of both Nitro and Thunder . Nash's tenure was fraught with unpopular decisions, such as the move that saw the popular undefeated streak of WCW Champion Goldberg ended by Nash himself, who then became champion, only for Nash to then lay down for Hollywood Hogan and reform
5782-742: The WWF throughout 2001. The storyline began proper at the WWF Invasion pay-per-view, which received 775,000 buys and became one of the highest-grossing wrestling pay-per-views of all time. Although WWF was able to recruit many of those on the WCW roster at the time of the purchase, it was unable to secure the use of most of its top-level stars, as they were signed to long-term contracts with AOL-Time Warner rather than WCW. As such, these stars could remain inactive but still continue to be paid, and were not incentivized to join WWF until those contracts expired. It would not be until 2002 onwards that headline WCW stars such as Goldberg or Scott Steiner would join
5900-453: The WWF to fight a proxy war. They also alleged that they would soon be joined by a third major figure; this "third man" was eventually revealed to be Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 1996 . A major advantage WCW Nitro initially had over WWF Raw was that Nitro was live-to-air every week, while Raw alternated between live episodes and ones taped in advance and aired the following week. Nitro ' s live atmosphere enhanced segments such as
6018-428: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF). This led to marquee names such as Hulk Hogan and "The Macho Man" Randy Savage joining WCW's ranks and helping to supplement its business. In 1995, during a face-to-face meeting with Ted Turner, Bischoff was able to convince Turner that in order for WCW to become competitive with the WWF, WCW would require an equivalent to WWF's new flagship cable show WWF Raw , which aired on
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#17327830333246136-624: The X-Division was considered a direct spiritual successor to the style developed in the WCW Cruiserweight division and became influential in its own right. WWE and TNA/Impact have continued to experiment and use the Cruiserweight/X-Division concept on and off throughout the 2000s and 2010s and into the 2020s. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s WCW
6254-529: The acquisition of WCW by WWF/WWE in 2001, WWE revived the Cruiserweight division in 2002 to be a feature of its Smackdown brand, with the WWE Cruiserweight Championship being deemed by the promotion to be the direct lineal successor to the WCW title. Simultaneously, the newly formed Total Nonstop Action wrestling promotion heavily featured their X Division , which did not limit participants by weight but rather by style. Nonetheless,
6372-423: 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
6490-416: The announcer may have to explain significantly more to the audience. When an MMA or boxing bout concludes, the ring announcer announces the winner, time of finish and method. If the fight lasts all scheduled rounds, the announcer will read the fight judges' scorecard totals, before announcing a unanimous, majority, or split decision victory for one of the fighters, or a draw. This is typically done from inside
6608-407: 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
6726-496: The battle for the largest television audience. However, in June 1996, Nitro would begin a streak of 83 constructive victories over Raw , initially sparked by the start of the New World Order (nWo) storyline. The start of the nWo angle saw former WWF talent Scott Hall and Kevin Nash unexpectedly leave the WWF to come to Monday Nitro on consecutive episodes, and each time insinuate that they were there on behalf of
6844-577: 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
6962-696: The circuit. WCW also had a presence in NASCAR from the mid-1990s to 2000, sponsoring the #29 team in the Busch Grand National Series full-time and the #9 Melling Racing team in the Winston Cup Series part-time. In 1996, Kyle Petty 's #49 car in the Busch Grand National series was sponsored by the nWo, and Greg Sacks briefly drove a WCW-sponsored for Galaxy Motorsports. Several WCW video games were made in
7080-423: The closure of WCW, several new professional wrestling promotions would launch featuring former talent associated with WCW. The most prominent of these, Total Nonstop Action (TNA), was founded by Jeff Jarrett in 2002 and would attempt to take over WCW's market position in the mid-to-late 2000s using some former WCW stars such as Sting. TNA would also adopt their own version of the Cruiserweight division, branded as
7198-454: The company initially less dependent on the nWo storyline for ratings. However, beginning in Spring 1998, WCW began an angle which saw the nWo split into a heel faction, nWo Hollywood (centered around "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan), and the rival face nWo Wolfpac (consisting of stars such as Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Luger and Konnan ). Speaking in hindsight in 2023, Eric Bischoff has said the angle
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#17327830333247316-567: The company solely as the NWA, reasoning that "it has become apparent that the NWA and the World Championship area are one and the same." By late 1988, JCP was financially struggling after further territory acquisitions. Ted Turner , the namesake principal owner of Turner Broadcasting System, formed a new subsidiary in October 1988 to acquire most of the assets of JCP. The acquisition was completed on November 2, 1988. While initially
7434-496: The company went from struggling financially as late as 1995 to generating $ 55 million in profit in 1998. December 1997's Starrcade pay-per-view (PPV) event became the highest-grossing PPV of all time for the company, thanks in large part to the show being billed as the culmination of a year-and-a-half feud between Sting and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. 1996 and 1997 had been banner years for WCW, with profits and popularity soaring. 1998 saw profits continue to rise. However, maintaining
7552-671: The company. At the No Way Out pay-per-view in February 2002, WWE began their own version of the new World order centered around Hogan, Nash and Hall, but later incorporating former WCW stars the Giant (now known as the Big Show) and Booker T as well as WWE talent such as Shawn Michaels . Throughout the early 2000s, many former WCW headliners found it difficult to integrate into WWE, as there continued to be legitimate tensions between
7670-457: The company. Ted Turner, however, did not hold influence over Time Warner before the final merger of America Online (AOL) and Time Warner in 2001, and most offers were rejected. Eric Bischoff, working with Fusient Media Ventures, made a bid to acquire the company in January 2001. One of the primary backers in the WCW deal backed out after AOL Time Warner refused to allow WCW to continue airing on its networks, leaving Fusient to take that offer off
7788-505: The cruiserweight division and the talent represented therein probably had as much to do with the success of Nitro as the nWo storyline and Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash. I don’t think people recognize it. The talent in that division not only helped Nitro consistently defeat WWE...that talent forced WWE, as much as the nWo, to change the way they were presenting the product. The Cruiserweight division would continue to directly influence North American wrestling for many decades. Following
7906-479: The end of WCW. In the spring of 1996, WCW introduced its "Cruiserweight division", a segmented portion of the roster featuring smaller, faster and more agile wrestlers that contrasted starkly, both visually and stylistically, with their heavyweight counterparts. Although weight categories were not a new concept in wrestling or even WCW, the WCW Cruiserweight Division was quickly able to form
8024-660: The events that became known as Black Saturday , in which GCW and its television program briefly came under the ownership of the WWF, the promotion was eventually purchased by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), the promoter of the Mid-Atlantic territory immediately north of Georgia. Influential wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications thereafter habitually referred to JCP as "World Championship Wrestling", "WCW" and most commonly "the World Championship area" and continued to do so until early 1988 when it began referring to
8142-512: 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 the title, so the title doesn't change hands if the champion loses the match. It can be announced by name, as
8260-440: 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,
8378-546: The innovations WCW had implemented and reapplying them to their own presentation, WWF began its " Attitude Era ". Building around newly emerging stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock , as well as WWF promoter Vince McMahon becoming a major on-screen character himself, the WWF finally ended Nitro ' s 83 weeks of ratings victories on April 13, 1998. For the next four months, Nitro and Raw would trade wins until October 26, 1998, when Nitro scored its last-ever ratings victory over Raw . The combined pressure of
8496-441: The job at the WWF after a dispute with Vince McMahon over work hours, and Ed Ferrera soon followed. Russo and Ferrera were heralded at the time as the main drivers in the turnaround at WWF over the previous two years with their writing philosophy of "Crash TV", a presentation style that emphasized Soap opera style storylines, lengthier non-wrestling segments, frequent heel/face turns, an increased amount of female representation on
8614-436: The local styles were also able to thrive in the division. The division as a whole became a showcase of a fast-paced, aerial and athletic style of wrestling which became highly influential in both the short and long term in the industry. Eric Bischoff has credited with the division as becoming a defining feature of Monday Nitro that was as fundamental to the late 1990s popularity of WCW as the New World Order faction: I think
8732-465: 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
8850-592: 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,
8968-402: 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
9086-412: The match's conclusion and will relay that information to the audience as well. Even further to this, some professional wrestling matches will stipulate a time limit, within which a wrestler must win if they wish to avoid a time-limit draw. In cases like this, the ring announcer may inform the audience of how much time has passed (and will ordinarily do so every five minutes) and how much time remains. In
9204-540: 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
9322-453: The more cartoon-like presentation which had dominated wrestling in the 1980s and early 90s. An example of this shift in tone was seen in the transformation of top WCW star Sting over the course of 1996 following the start of the nWo angle, whose persona shifted from a colorful and cheerful clean-cut face to a dark, depressed and brooding antihero inspired by the 1994 film The Crow . Another major innovation occurring concurrently in WCW
9440-419: The negotiations, bringing the final tally of WCW's sale to $ 4.3 million. AOL Time Warner maintained its subsidiary, which reverted to its original legal name of Universal Wrestling Corporation, to deal with legal obligations and liabilities not acquired by the WWF. The UWC was listed as a subsidiary of Time Warner until 2017, when it was merged into Turner Broadcasting System. Some of the WCW wrestlers joined
9558-430: The network for the first time since WCW's closure. On January 5, 2022, Dynamite moved to TNT's sibling network, TBS, marking the first time TBS has aired wrestling programming since the March 21, 2001, episode of WCW Thunder . TNT has also broadcast AEW's second show, AEW Rampage , since August 13, 2021, and added another AEW show with the June 17, 2023, debut of AEW Collision . In 2020, AEW revived WCW's Bash at
9676-407: 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
9794-469: 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
9912-421: The other trucks is most prominent with Goldberg. Driven by to great success by Tom Meents (including Monster Jam World Finals championships both years the truck ran), after the end of the sponsorship Meents continued to run the truck as "Team Meents" in 2002 before debuting its new name Maximum Destruction in 2003. Max-D continues to compete in the series and rivals the legendary Grave Digger in popularity on
10030-416: 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
10148-513: The quality of the shows became difficult, particularly after WCW's owners Time Warner Entertainment (who bought Turner Broadcasting System in 1996) ordered the creation of a second live cable WCW program WCW Thunder , to air on Thursdays on TBS Superstation starting on January 8, 1998 , as well as ordering a third hour to be added to Nitro ' s runtime. Nonetheless, the creation of new major headline babyface stars such as Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg were causes for optimism, making
10266-427: The ring (the weight of each female wrestler is unannounced in most promotions). In-ring introductions are sometimes used for title matches or other major bouts, to add a "big fight feel". The ring announcer often states the rules of the match. In boxing and MMA, this is usually limited to the number of scheduled rounds and the length of each round. In professional wrestling, the variations are much more numerous and so
10384-410: 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
10502-405: The ring or cage. In professional wrestling, the announcement is usually performed outside the ring, and typically doesn't mention the time or method of victory unless it is from disqualification, submission, or knockout; however, as professional wrestling shows do incorporate an official timekeeper at ringside, much like boxing and MMA, some ring announcers may be informed of the time of the fall at
10620-540: 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
10738-555: The show, expanded storyline depth, frequent title changes, and a greater focus on developing mid-card talent. The tenure of Russo and Ferrera at the creative helm of WCW was short-lived; by March 2000 the pair had been suspended from their positions as their provocative and edgy angles caused constant protest from AOL Time Warner executives. AOL and Time Warner had merged in January 2000 and, according to Bischoff and Russo, headquarters′ eagerness to tone down WCW had only grown more intense because of this. Mounting frustrations amongst
10856-517: 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 is a singles match in which both competitors can stay outside of the ring without being counted out. A well-known example
10974-509: The subsidiary was incorporated as the "Universal Wrestling Corporation", following the purchase the decision was made to utilize the familiar "World Championship Wrestling" as the name for the promotion. In late Summer/early Autumn 1993, a behind-the-scenes dispute between WCW and the NWA Board of Directors over who had the right to authorize NWA World Heavyweight Championship title changes ultimately resulted in WCW formally withdrawing from
11092-523: The table while it attempted to bring a new deal around. In the meantime, Jamie Kellner was handed control over the Turner Broadcasting division in 2000, eventually succeeding Ted Turner on March 7, 2001. Along with AOL Time Warner, Kellner deemed WCW, along with Turner Sports as a whole, to be out of line with its image and saying that it "would not be favorable enough to get the 'right' advertisers to buy airtime" (even though Thunder
11210-399: The talent resulted in many leaving WCW for the WWF; The Giant and Chris Jericho were the first major talent to "jump" to the WWF in 1999, but they were soon followed by many others. Chris Benoit (WCW World Champion at the time), Dean Malenko , Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn , who performed together on WCW television as " The Revolution ", all collectively walked out of WCW and over to
11328-414: 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
11446-432: The two groups. Former WCW performers such as Diamond Dallas Page (who had accepted a WWF contract in 2001) were perceived to be intentionally poorly used as part of a "victory lap" by WWF. In turn, this dissuaded some WCW stars from trusting WWE; for example, Sting choose to remain out of WWE until 2014, and even when he did join, WWE was criticised using Sting to perform yet another victory lap at WrestleMania 31 . After
11564-467: The two promotions, each one attempting to produce the best television show possible each week, led to an explosion in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States and in hindsight is widely considered a golden era. WCW Monday Nitro proved a success for the company, which was immediately able to create a television audience of an equivalent size to WWF Raw . Between September 1995 and May 1996, Nitro and Raw regularly traded victories in
11682-491: 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;
11800-524: 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
11918-559: 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,
12036-404: 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
12154-471: Was a television show produced by Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) since 1982. Jim Barnett (who had briefly owned the Australian promotion of that name ) came to Atlanta in the 1970s during an internal struggle for control of GCW. Barnett ultimately became majority owner of the promotion, and began using his previous promotion's name for GCW's weekly Saturday television program in 1982. Following
12272-464: 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
12390-416: Was extremely influential within professional wrestling in the 1990s and several elements innovated and introduced by WCW would continue to be used in professional wrestling decades after its closure. In the immediate aftermath of WWF's purchase of WCW, a significant portion of WCW's active roster was integrated into the WWF. These former WCW talents would be used as part of a "WCW vs WWF" storyline that ran in
12508-632: 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
12626-578: Was later known as Clash of Champions , similarly named from WCW's Clash of the Champions . In 2017, WWE held its first annual NXT WarGames event for its NXT brand , with that's year's event featuring the first WarGames match since the September 4, 2000, episode of Nitro . In 2019, new promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) formed a partnership with WarnerMedia to air their flagship show, AEW Dynamite , on TNT, returning professional wrestling to
12744-601: 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
12862-570: 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
12980-486: Was presented by Dwayne Johnson and featured former WCW personalities including Bill Goldberg , Eric Bischoff , Bret Hart , Booker T , Kevin Nash , amongst others. From 2000 to 2001, Monster Jam had a series of monster trucks based on wrestlers' names. These included the nWo , Sting , Nitro Machine, Madusa and Goldberg . Following the end of WCW, Debrah Miceli , the only one of the truck's namesakes to actually drive them, remained in monster trucks. The legacy of
13098-487: Was rushed, ill-conceived and had no long-term direction. By this point, many critics began to argue that WCW was now completely overreliant on the nWo storyline and unable to pivot to a new grand concept. Additionally, beginning in the summer of 1998, Bischoff has claimed that Time Warner Entertainment management began to increasingly micromanage WCW and meddle in its presentation. Executives at Time Warner Entertainment began to increasingly advocate that WCW should pivot to more
13216-583: Was shut down, and the WWF purchased select WCW assets in 2001, including its video library, intellectual property (including the WCW name and championships), and some wrestler contracts. The corporate subsidiary, which was retained to deal with legal obligations and reverted to the Universal Wrestling Corporation name, officially became defunct in 2017. Its headquarters were located in Smyrna, Georgia . "World Championship Wrestling"
13334-465: 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
13452-505: 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
13570-515: Was the highest-rated show on TBS at the time). As a result, WCW programming was cancelled on TBS and TNT . Another factor in Kellner's decision to cancel all WCW programming was the terms of the company's purchase deal with Fusient, which included giving Fusient control over time slots on TNT and TBS even if those slots did not air WCW programming. WCW's losses were then written off via purchase accounting. The cancellation of WCW programming left
13688-532: Was the introduction of the Cruiserweight division, which saw the introduction of smaller, more agile and more athletic wrestlers performing fast-paced, high-flying dangerous matches on WCW shows. This added another unique element to WCW shows that helped propel their surging popularity. The combination of a more adult-orientated presentation, live and unedited television, more reality-based storylines, new top-level talent, new and intriguing characters, and more varied in-ring action saw WCW's fortunes dramatically shift;
13806-564: 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
13924-425: 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
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