Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "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 a storyline. Throughout professional wrestling's decades-long history, some gimmick matches have spawned many variations of the core concept.
Singles match 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 the singles match is to restrict the possible means for victory.
Blindfold match 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. It is also known as a Prince of Darkness match.
Pure wrestling rules match A type of match contested in Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH), usually for the ROH Pure Championship; 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 the first offense (if seen by the official) results in a warning. A second offense results in disqualification.
Bloodsport/Underground match This event consists of a unique ruleset compared to a traditional pro wrestling event, in that every match must end in either a knockout, submission or referee stoppage. The traditional wrestling ring is replaced by a ring canvas with no ropes or turnbuckles.
GCW Bloodsport 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 a feel of classic Shoot-style wrestling fights.
Raw/NXT Underground In August 2020 (amid its shift to the ThunderDome studio due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Raw introduced a new segment in its third hour known as Raw Underground. Hosted by Shane McMahon, It was a Fight Club inspired concept taking place in the basement of the WWE Performance Center. The matches were held in a ring with no ropes and a black canvas, and 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.
WWE's NXT brand then adopted the concept beginning on the July 4 episode of NXT between Eddy Thorpe and Damon Kemp. Unlike the Raw matches, these took place in the show's main studio, with the ring ropes being taken down and a black canvas covering the ring. 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. Vice, whose real name is Valerie Loureda, competed in professional MMA in real life. That match would be her standardized signature match defeating Natalya, Shayna Baszler, Jaida Parker and Kelani Jordan. Her winning streak ended on the August 4, 2026 episode of NXT, where she was unable to regain the NXT Women's Championship against Kendal Grey as she lost by submission due to a modified leg-trap armbar.
Shoot-style wrestling rules The inspiration behind Bloodsport, Underground, and Pure rules, derived from multiple companies that cropped up during the Japanese shoot-style boom of the 1980s & '90s. While they still all emphasized victories via knockout, submission or stoppage, and typically did not count pinfalls, the exact rules varied from promotion to promotion. Also, the traditional wrestling ring, ropes & turnbuckles were retained, as they played into a common "points" system.
Newborn UWF The revived UWF of 1988 originated the a proto- point system that multiple subsequent companies followed. In order to reward overall dominance during a match, they dictated that a wrestler could also win a match via 5 "knock downs" (wherein the opponent did not return to their feet immediately). Furthermore, three rope breaks to escape submissions counted as one knock down.
UWF International UWF's successor, the UWFi, kept the rule, but reformatted them as 15 explicit "points" that either wrestler would start out with, and lose after knock downs (3 points) or rope breaks (1 point). The wrestler won the match when his opponent has zero points. They also added successfully performing an overhead bridging suplex on one's opponent as reducing that opponent's points by 1. UWFi also promoted tag team & 6-man tag team matches, wherein the points would be increased to 21 and 30 for either side, respectively.
Fighting Network Rings Matches in RINGS adhered to a 30-minute time limit and were winnable via a 10-count knockout, submission, TKO (as ordained by either the referee or ringside doctor), or judges should the time limit be reached. Competitors were both allotted 10 points, and would lose one should they grab the ropes to force a submission break, or two should they be knocked down. Should the time limit be reached, the winner would be he who lost fewer points. Should points be equal, judges would decide.
Pancrase Pancrase equated one rope break to one knock down, and began its existence with a 5-point limit on competitors. As time went on they changed the specifics multiple times. In 1996 they lowered non-championship matches to 3 points, whereas in 1998 they delineated points by the match's time limit (3 for 20 minutes, 2 for 15 minutes, 1 for 10 minutes).
Battle royale-based variations The battle royale 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.
Battlebowl
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 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.
Battle Zone The battle zone features any number of men in 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.
Bunkhouse Stampede 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 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.
Last Blood battle royale 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, a predecessor to Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Reverse battle royale 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 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.
Semi-final battle royale A semi-final battle royale consists of a battle royale where when a specific number of wrestlers are remaining, 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 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.
World War 3
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 was left standing.
Cinematic match 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 a later time, typically for a pay-per-view event. They are also usually filmed on-location or at a custom built set.
On October 4, 1987, Antonio Inoki defeated Masa Saito in a Ganryū-jima Island Death Match in a shoreside ring with no referee which lasted for two hours. Inoki billed the match to pay homage to the island's famous duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō. The match was captured by a multi camera setup by a ground crew and from the air via helicopter. The action mostly took place in the ring and only occasionally spilling out to the area around it. As the match drew on into the evening, torches were placed in order to illuminate the surrounding area. Inoki would defeat Saito with a sleeper hold. Despite the match title having "deathmatch" in the name, it was more of a submission based match. This match is considered to be the first ever cinematic match.