Steel Cage Match

In professional wrestling, a Steel Cage Match is a match fought within a cage formed by placing four sheets of mesh metal perpendicular to the edges of a ring.

Related Topics:
Professional wrestling - Ring

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Traditionally, the steel cage match is used to settle the most personal and vindictive of feuds, or in instances when a series of matches have been fraught with interference. The cage is used as a barrier to keep the competitors inside, and keep the interference on the outside. The cage is an open-topped enclosure, with sides often made from sturdy plastic or chain-link fencing. Traditionally, the only way to win is to escape from the cage either by climbing over the top of the cage or through the door that the wrestlers enter at the start of the match, and having both feet planted on the ground. However, it is not uncommon for cage matches to permit pinfalls or submissions - in such a case a referee is also placed in the cage, and escape remains only possible winning method should the inside referee be knocked out.

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According to some historians, the first "cage match" on any kind took place onJuly 2, 1937 in Atlanta, Georgia, future home of World Championship Wrestling. This match, between Jack Bloomfield and Count Petro Rossi, took place in a ring surrounded by chicken wire, in order to keep the athletes inside and any potential interference out of the action. While exact details of this match are sketchy at best, it is entirely possible that this match represented the earliest form of a steel cage match in recorded history.

Related Topics:
July 2 - 1937 - Atlanta, Georgia - World Championship Wrestling

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There are those who credit late promoter Paul Boesch with the idea of the steel cage match. Author Joe Jares wrote in the 1974 book Whatever Happened to Gorgeous George?, "...Texas wrestling is just wild and nutty enough that it is possible he's not kidding me", joking about creating the cage match concept. The roots of the cage match can be traced back to Galveston, Texas, where officials wrapped a ring in fishing net for a match between Wild Bull Curry and Dirty Don Evans. The concept was not well received, but the idea did, however, pave the way for something more attractive: the fence match. The fence match predates the steel cage match, but was similar in style and execution to the cage matches seen in later years.

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The idea behind the classic steel cage match known to fans today could also be traced back to Los Angeles, California, and the famous Grand Olympic Auditorium. In the late 1960s, the late Freddie Blassie, with promoter Mike LeBell, created and promoted the "Blassie Cage" to blow off his feuds with wrestlers like John Tolos and The Shek, which was a one-of-a-kind idea at the time, . It is believed the winning concept of escaping by climbing over the top or exiting through the door was indeed, the brainchild of Fred Blassie himself.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles, California - Grand Olympic Auditorium - 1960s - Freddie Blassie - The Shek

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The World Wrestling Federation originally used a chain link cage but later switched to a thick, grid-like cage as part of a storyline between Hulk Hogan and King Kong Bundy leading up to WrestleMania 2 in 1986, but then switched back to the chain link in 1999 which had more give. World Championship Wrestling would often have a roof on the cage, and only allow victory by means of pinfall or submission. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling use a six sided ring and, thus, have a six sided cage, which they refer to as the "Six Sides of Steel". Normally fought like a regular match like in WCW, Six Sides of Steel matches that have classic escape-only rules are called Escape Matches (X-scape Matches in the X Division).

Related Topics:
World Wrestling Federation - Hulk Hogan - King Kong Bundy - WrestleMania 2 - 1986 - 1999 - World Championship Wrestling - Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

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