A history of the WWE Iron Man match

October 29, 3:09 AMPro Wrestling ExaminerMark Satrang

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This past Sunday night at the Bragging Rights pay per view, World Wrestling Entertainment dug out one of their most rare match stipulations – the 60 minute Iron Man match in order to settle the years long rivalry between John Cena and Randy Orton.

Iron Man matches generally operate under the same rules as any other professional wrestling bout, but instead of a match going to just one fall, the Iron Man match goes for an allocated amount of time, with the wrestler gaining the most falls or victories in the allocated time wins the match.

In WWE, the Iron Man is usually set with a one-hour time limit. In its history only five of these hour-long matches have been publicly promoted on WWE television and pay per view. They have been used to settle long-standing rivalries and to prove ultimately who is the better man in true one-on-one competition.

Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels – Iron Man match for the WWF World Championship (WrestleMania XII)
Michaels had won the 1996 Royal Rumble and guaranteed himself a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania XII. Hart had defeated Davey Boy Smith, Undertaker and Diesel in the months leading up to WrestleMania, and the stage was set for the two old rivals to meet again. This time it would be on the biggest stage of them all, for the biggest prize of them all, and in the biggest match of them all – a 60-minute Iron Man match. The weeks leading up the event showed the two rivals training in each man’s own unique way. The event hype really made the match seem like a big deal and legitimate contest. At the pay per view itself the ending seemed telegraphed from the onset as Hart, the champion, walked out the usual way, while Michaels used a zipcord to make his way into the arena to much fanfare. According to Michaels’ autobiography Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story, each man booked half of the match on the fly while they were in the ring. The two men went the entire sixty minutes without a fall being registered for either side. After the decision was made to make the two go to sudden overtime to determine a victory, Michaels hit two superkicks on Hart in just over a minute over overtime to walk out as WWF Champion for the very first time.

The Rock v. Triple for the WWF World Championship (Judgment Day 2000)
The build up to WrestleMania 2000 saw The Rock win the Royal Rumble, last eliminating Big Show, while Triple H “retired” Mick Foley after a series of brutal matches. After many convoluted set-ups, the WrestleMania main event ended up being Rock, HHH, Show and Foley in a four-way match. Triple H walked out still as Champion, making him the first villain ever to leave WrestleMania as World Champion. This really just all built up Rock-HHH, round four of their rivalry. The pair met for the championship at Backlash 2000, with The Rock finally winning the belt back after over a year without it. A rematch was set for Judgment Day, this time a 60-minute iron man match.

Many were skeptical that these two men would be able to put together an entertaining Iron Man match, especially with the only template to follow was from two technical masters like Hart and Michaels. But thanks to some great storytelling, some creative finishes and help from Michaels, who was referee for the match, these two became made men after enduring the fabled Iron Man. The two men were tied at five falls a piece with one minute left in the match when The Undertake made a surprise return to the company and attacked Triple H. Michaels saw the whole thing go down and disqualified Rock for the interference, giving Triple H the WWF Championship one more time.

Kurt Angle v. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship (SmackDown, September 18, 2003)
In the first Iron Man on free WWE television, the battle of amateur wrestling athletes raged on as Brock Lesnar against Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle. Lesnar and Angle were the main event of WrestleMania XIX in 2003 in a fantastic match that showed a new breed of athlete was in charge. The two dominated WWE Championship scene in 2003 and the Iron Man was the perfect way to see which “legit” athlete was the top dog.

Lesnar proved his dominance by going to a 5-2 lead with fifteen minutes left in the match. Angle racked up two quick falls to make it 5-4 in the closing moments. With just seconds remaining, Angle locked in the Ankle lock on Lesnar, but Lesnar avoided tapping out, and the big man became the new WWE Champion.

Chris Benoit v. Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship (RAW, July 26, 2004)
Benoit and Triple H had a long-standing rivalry, stemming from Benoit’s first day in World Wrestling Entertainment in January 2000. His first match in the company was a loss to Triple H. From then on, Benoit and Triple H crossed paths a variety of times through Benoit’s career in WWE. Their ultimate match was an Iron Man on the July 26 episode of RAW. The winner would meet Randy Orton for the World Championship at SummerSlam ’04. The match was ultimately fairly boring and easily the most forgettable of the series. Benoit got the 4-3 victory and retained the World Title, with the deciding victory coming from interference from Eugene.

John Cena v. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship (Bragging Rights ’09)
After a singles matches at SummerSlam, a submission match at Breaking Point and a Hell in a Cell match, it was determined that this rivalry (or this stage of it anyways) would have to end. The Iron Man was the perfect way to cap it off.

Only to add a new twist, this Iron Man would be “anything goes,” which took out much of the legitimate athletic component of the match that guys like Michaels, Hart, Benoit, Angle, Lesnar and Helmsley brought to the match. The two men started fast with quick falls on each other before interference, crowd brawls and over-the-top theatrics carried the match through its middle portion. Then with Orton up 5-4 he went into stall mode in order to run the clock out. Unfortunately for Orton with about ten minutes left Cena tied it up. Then with mere moments left, Cena locked Orton into the STF and got the sixth and deciding submission to win the match and the WWE Championship.