5 most dangerous WWE match formats
What's the story
When professional wrestling began it was just two wrestlers in a ring who used to fight until one wins by submission or pinfall. With the increase in popularity came disqualifications, tag-teams, followed by other stipulations like ladder, handicap, and triple-threat matches. Here are the 5 most dangerous formats of WWE where wrestlers put their bodies on the line to entertain the audience.
TLC
Tables, ladders and chairs
Originating around the tag teams of the Dudley Boys, Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian, the TLC matches have become a fan favorite. The matches use tables, ladders, and chairs as weapons to jump on the opponents, beat them up with and involve great risks. Wrestlers have fallen from high ladders on chairs, breaking their backs and injuring themselves in the process.
Inferno match
Wrestling on fire!
This is a themed match especially for Kane, who wrestled The Undertaker in the first match of this format. Set in a ring with fires ablaze all around it, the objective of the match is to set your opponent on fire. This dangerous format has only seen 4 editions, all featuring the demonic Kane.
Elimination Chamber
6 men inside an unforgiving steel structure
Jim Ross described the Elimination Chamber as having "the brutality of Hell in a Cell" and the "unpredictability of War Games". Making its debut at Survivor Series 2002, this is one of the most dangerous encounters in WWE history. 6 men are locked inside a steel cage made of chains on which they hurl each other, thrash opponents' faces until one emerges victorious.
Hell in a Cell
A piece of hell within the arena
Hell in a cell was an Undertaker-themed match but has become so popular that many wrestlers have fought in it over the years. The cage is bigger than that of a steel-cage match and wrestlers can reach under the ring to bring out weapons. Started in 1997, the format has many iconic moments, especially the one where Undertaker choke-slammed Mankind through the structure's roof.
Barbed-wire match
The bloodiest affair in the business
The barbed-wire match is surely the most brutal format in wrestling. A match of Mick Foley against Randy Orton saw the two wrestlers slamming each other on board pins spread across the canvas. The match involves wrestlers using barbed wires in various ways, sometimes wrapping it around a piece of wood, spreading the wire on a table and throwing opponents over it.