Men of Iron”¦
All of pro wrestling’s “gimmick” matches are really variations on a theme, however, one type of match has always held a unique interest for me: the Iron Man Match. Most Iron Man Matches are scheduled to continue 60 minutes, with the wrestler who scores the most decisions either by pinfall, submission, count-out or disqualification declared the winner.
TODAY’S ISSUE: The Iron Man Match
The Iron Man Match is a great blow-off concept, as long as the two performers have the conditioning to pull it off. Much like a seven-game series in baseball, basketball, or hockey, the iron man match eliminates the chance of a fluke win. This format ensures one man will truly earn his victory. When two grapplers are relatively evenly matched and of similar size, the iron man match can be a thing of beauty for wrestling fans to behold.
Two of my favorite Iron Man Matches, and two diametrically opposed matches in and of themselves, were WWF championship matches. WrestleMania XII featured a showdown between champion Bret the Hitman Hart and The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels. At Judgment Day 2000, WWF champion The Rock defended against The Game, HHH.
The beauty of the WrestleMania match was the subtle adjustment of each man’s role and strategy. Hart was the technician, the accomplished wrestler, yet his game plan was to beat Michaels into submission rather than attempting to outwrestle HBK. Michaels, on the other hand, was known at that time for his quasi-lucha libre style, as his training under “Supersock” Jose Lothario was featured prominently in the build-up to the event. But during the hour-long match, Michaels used much more mat-based wrestling than expected, and even outwrestled his supposedly technically superior opponent on several occasions.
Hart and Michaels battled to a standstill, with neither man securing a decision during the 60-minute regulation period. In any set of rules and judgment outside our favorite one-ring circus, this would have meant that Hart retained, since we all know (sing it with me, boys and girls) the champion doesn’t have to defeat his opponent to retain his gold, but the challenger must pin or submit the champ to win the title.
But that was not to on this night. “WWF President” Gorilla Monsoon insisted the match continue in sudden death overtime, and I’m sure you’ll recall how that turned out for the Hitman. Michaels hit 1.5 superkicks for the victory and the title, a job that he never returned to Hart. But that’s a topic for another day. After 62-plus minutes, Hart and Michaels were the owners of an epic match which was the best effort in their long, storied rivalry.
At Judgment Day 2000, the approach to this Iron Man Match went in completely the opposite direction. HHH and The Rock each scored decisions aplenty. The Game defeated The People’s Champion by a score of 6-5 in somewhat questionable fashion after the BikerTaker debuted his new character, cleaned house on the McMahon-Helmsley Faction, and caused The Rock to be disqualified when he choke-slammed HHH, even as special guest referee Shawn Michaels practically begged ‘Taker not to do it.
For my money, there’s never been a segment in which a pro wrestler was allowed to look smarter than HHH did mid-match. With a one-fall lead, the challenger drilled The Rock with a chair right in front of the referee. This cost him a decision due to a disqualification, but since the match continued from that point anyway, Triple H simply allowed the score to be tied momentarily, covered The Rock (who was still reeling from the chair shot) and regained the one-fall lead. The score remained the same, plus one fall each. The difference? HHH got the chair shot in on The Rock, proving he took a long-term approach to the match, and was willing to give up the DQ in order to scramble the People’s Brains. Simply brilliant.
I also truly appreciated the logically commentary in The Rock/HHH match, as Jim Ross and Jerry the King Lawler explained how defending champ The Rock could afford to “play for a tie”, since the decision had been made pre-match that if the contest were to end in a draw, then the champ would retain. In my opinion, that should have been the case at WMXII, but there’s no sense crying over spilt milk. This approach to the action gave the announcers a credibility and realism while calling the match. Many of you know that realism is a quality I truly enjoy in pro wrestling (at least, as much realism as you can get out of such a unique form of entertainment, that is).
In 2005, current NWA Tag Team Champions “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles and “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels battled in two fantastic 30-minute iron man matches over the X Division crown.
Against All Odds: On February 13, the first of their two Iron Man Matches ended in a 1-1 draw (with Styles scoring a win with a roll-up and Daniels scoring a win following his Angel’s Wings Finisher). Christopher Daniels demanded Sudden Death overtime, and then-TNA Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes granted his request. Unfortunately for Daniels, Styles hit his patented Styles Clash finisher only about 90 seconds later to retain the title.
Bound For Glory: In October, Daniels and Styles in an Iron Man rematch. Styles once again successfully defended the X Division title, scoring the only pinfall of the match with only 2 seconds left on the clock. This match was every bit as exciting and intense as their previous Iron Man outing, as well as anything and everything these two amazing competitors have done together, or with anyone else.
When two great performers need to settle a score, the Iron Man Match is a great way to do it. There are no cheap victories. There’s nowhere to hide and no easy way out. One man must lay it all on the line in order to win. It’s a true test of endurance, pride, ability, guts, and determination. The Iron Man Match is not for the lumbering big man, but instead, it’s a wrestling match that only real wrestlers can pull off.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality.
p.s. — Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp? Who likes their toast that way?
