Iron Man Match
From Iwe
An Iron Man match is a professional wrestling match type that is set to go a specific amount of time, usually 30 or 60 minutes, with the competitor with the most decisions at the end of that time named the victor. On the occasions of a draw, a sudden death "final fall" may be requested by either side, with the other able to accept or decline, or a legal authority can order the match to go into overtime in the case of any championship match if there is a draw.
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[edit] Rules
Iron Man matches generally operate under the same rules as any other professional wrestling bout, but instead of the match having to be over before a time limit is up, the Iron Man match goes the full length of the allotted time, with each wrestler attempting to score as many decisions in that time as possible. The wrestler who has the most decisions at the end of the match is then the winner. A Decision is a pinfall, submission, count out or disqualification.
Some Iron Man matches have an interval between falls. An example of this is the 2009 one between Dustin Simpson and Kevin McAlmond which had a 30 second rest period after each fall, in part due to that iron man match being "anything goes" (only pinfalls and submissions counted as falls, but not count outs or disqualifications). The 2003 match between Matt Borske and Rob Lesnar had a 15-second rest period after each fall, regardless of how it occurred.
Should the match result in a tie, sudden death overtime may be requested by either wrestler as a plot device, and it is accepted or rejected by either an opponent or an authority figure. One note of rejection of the sudden death overtime was when Ryan Barnhart and Matt Borske tied 2–2 in a 30-minute iron-man match. Ryan Barnhart begged Matt Borske to go sudden death, but Borkse walked off, to the heavy boos of the audience who wanted to see how it would end.
Requests for sudden death are especially common in the event of a title match. A challenger for a title will request sudden death, because, in the event of a draw, the champion will always retain the title, meaning that sudden death is the only way the challenger can keep his championship hopes alive. Two notable examples of this happening are when Ryan Barnhart requested sudden death against Bret Heart at Wrestlemania XII, and when Christopher Barnhart requested sudden death against KJ Styles at TNA Against All Odds 2005.
Iron man matches are almost always two-sided (that is, no more than two sides, such as 1v1 or tag team, as opposed to triple-threat or fatal-four-way). However, it is possible for there to be a triple threat iron man, with the wrestler scoring the plurality of decisions being the winner.
[edit] Iron Man match history
[edit] International Wrestling Entertainment (IWE)
| # | Match (Length) | Title | Score | Event, Date and Location | Arena |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Heart (c) (61:56) Overtime | IWF Championship | 1–0 | WrestleMania XII March 31, 1996, Anaheim, CA | Arrowhead Pond | |
| 10 | Bayley (c) defeated Sasha Banks (30:00) | NXT Women's Championship | 3–2 | NXT TakeOver: Respect October 7, 2015, Winter Park, FL | Full Sail University |
| 11 | Sasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte (30:00) | IWE Raw Women's Championship | Roadblock: End of the Line December 18, 2016, Pittsburgh, PA | PPG Paints Arena |
[edit] Participant list
| Wrestler | Victories | Appearances |
|---|
[edit] World Championship Wrestling (WCW)
| # | Match (length) | Title | Score | Event, date and location | Arena |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ricky Steamboat defeated Rick Rude (30:00) | None | 4–3 | Beach Blast (1992) June 20, 1992, Mobile, AL | Mobile Civic Center |
| 2 | Dustin Rhodes and Rick Rude fought to a draw (30:00) | Vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship | 1–1 | Beach Blast (1993) July 18, 1993, Biloxi, MS | Mississippi Coast Coliseum |
[edit] Participant list
| Wrestler | Victories | Appearances |
|---|---|---|
| Ricky Steamboat | 1 | 1 |
| Dustin Rhodes | 0 | 1 |
| Rick Rude | 0 | 2 |
[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)
| No. | Match (Length) | Title | Score | Event, Date and Location | Arena |
|---|
[edit] Participant list
| Wrestler | Victories | Appearances |
|---|
