7 War Games Match Variations WWE Fans Should Know About

WCW wasn't renowned for much by the time its doors closed for the last time in 2001, but, beginning in the summer of 1987, 'The Match Beyond' gave WCW something to boast about. The War Games match was a deft creation from the mind of Dusty Rhodes, pitting two rings symmetrically placed inside a roofed steel cage. From there, the (war) games began.

Now operated by WWE, first as a winter NXT tradition and now as a Survivor Series staple, the stipulation concept remains largely unchanged from its initial form. Numerous other promotions, though, have taken inspiration from the War Games match, adding different twists to the iconically inhumane WCW structure.

Vince Russo Was Out For Revenge In 2000

The Final WCW War Games Match Was On Nitro

• WCW hosted its final War Games match on Nitro's September 4, 2000 episode.
• It was fought for Kevin Nash's World Heavyweight Championship.
• The cage was three-tiered, akin to the Ready to Rumble cage.

Not every take on the War Games match came externally to where it was inaugurated, as, in 2000, WCW turned the intensity up a notch when they wheeled out the Ready to Rumble cage - also used at that year's Slamboree, where David Arquette dropped the World Heavyweight Championship - during the September 4 transmission of Nitro.

Combining the traditional War Games rules with those used in the aforementioned Slamboree match, wherein the combatants would have to scale the tiers of punishment, the match fulfilled another WCW tradition of being an overbooked shambles. Kevin Nash, the defending WCW World Heavyweight Champion, maintained his grasp on the title following interference from Bret Hart, Ernest Miller, and Vince Russo.

CZW's Cage Of Death Has Been Heavily Inspired By War Games

The Fifth Installment Implemented A Treacherous Walkway

• Combat Zone Wrestling debuted the Cage of Death in 1999.
• It has been an evergreen stipulation, with numerous changes being made to it.
• The 2003 version featured a ring covered in one million thumbtacks.

Fancying themselves as an ECW equivalent, the 1999-founded CZW has maintained its hardcore stance on hardcore wrestling. Weed whackers, barbed wire, and panes of glass are among the instruments of destruction oft-used in the company, but for 2003's Cage of Death V event, there were an estimated one million thumbtacks that caused pain inside the War Games-esque cage.

The match housed several of CZW's most iconic spots from the era, including a two-man Death Valley Driver from atop the cage onto some tables down below. For a young Nick Gage, though, being kicked off the metal scaffolding over the ring and landing in the thumbtack abyss was a more memorable spot, his back soaking the tacks up like a sponge to soap.

The Philadelphia-Based PWU Debuted A New Variant In 2007

• The War Games match has made its way to numerous promotions around the globe.
• Very few independent promotions added to the stipulation, opting to use it outright.
• Philadelphia's Pro Wrestling Unplugged applied a cuffed to the cage elimination format.

The War Games match is ostensibly a universally acclaimed stipulation, given that international promotions of all sizes (Japan's NJPW, England's Pro Wrestling: EVE, et al) have adopted 'The Match Beyond' for their own use. Elsewhere in North America, too, the match has stood the test of time.

Pro Wrestling Unplugged, a Philadelphian promotion that operated between 2004 and 2010, made a notable addition to the cage in January 2007. They not only allowed eliminations via pinfall and submission for the match between Teams PWU and JCW, but also by handcuffing your opponent to the cage wall. So effective was this stipulation, TNA would adopt it for a Cuffed in the Cage match at 2008's Lockdown.

Ultimate Jeopardy Was One Of ECW's Greatest Creations

Everyone Had Something To Lose Inside The Cage

• Extreme Championship Wrestling got in on the War Games action beginning in 1994.
• The Ultimate Jeopardy match featured a penalty for each combatant.
• TNA adopted the stipulation for their 2009 Sacrifice event, sans cage.

Around the time of WCW's - and War Games' - rapidly increasing popularity came ECW's War Games equivalent. Dubbed Ultimate Jeopardy, Paul Heyman's 'Land of the Extreme' contested a series of tame War Games-adjacent offerings, but where the matches lacked intensity and ferocity, they made up for in value.

With the standard weapon-based steel cage affair, ECW's version of 'The Match Beyond' featured a penalty for whoever lost the match for their team, ranging from mundane losses, such as the possibility of Hawk losing his Road Warrior prefix and The Sandman being caned, to more lucrative deals, with the ECW World Heavyweight Championship regularly being defended inside the cage.

TNA Introduced Several War Games Adaptations

Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday Was A Lesser Celebrated Example

• TNA has followed the WCW mantra of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.
• They have created a handful of War Games-inspired matches.
• Their first came in 2023, dubbed Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday.

Though they haven't promoted a Steel Cage match since October 2019, TNA is infatuated with the idea of such a stipulation, having not only created a gluttonous horde of caged variants but also promoting an all-steel cage pay-per-view, aptly named Lockdown. Before that, though, came Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday.

TNA's first attempt at replicating the majesty of War Games, the bout featured one steel cage-enclosed ring, rather than two, and maintained the staggered entry system. Adding to the match's convoluted-ness, poles adorning steel chains were placed above the ring posts, allowing weapons to hang down from them. This, it would seem, was the genesis of what was to follow at Lockdown.

TNA's Lethal Lockdown Is The Most Renowned War Games Tribute

It Was The Staple Match Of TNA's Lockdown Pay-Per-View

• TNA introduced the Lethal Lockdown match in the spring of 2005.
• It follows the majority of War Games' rules, including a staggered entry.
• Once all competitors have entered, a weaponized roof descends onto the cage.

Indeed, the Lethal Lockdown match is the War Games tribute. Introduced by TNA in 2005 and held regularly until 2016, the match followed much of War Games' traditions; the primary difference was the lowering of a roof cased in weapons once all competitors had entered.

The match provided myriad memorable moments, the most notable being AJ Styles belly-flopping himself through the roof of the cage onto The Main Event Mafia below.

Xtreme Pro Wrestling Tried To Enter The War Games Market

Their Version Hilariously Fell Apart In Front Of Them

• XPW hosted their solitary Genocide War Games match in 2002.
• The match was ambitious, with an 18-foot steel cage.
• The cage wasn't correctly constructed and began falling apart mid-match.

Not the best offbrand War Games, certainly, but the funniest? Most definitely. Xtreme Pro Wrestling, operated by Rob Black and best known for a promotional feud against ECW, put together plans for the Genocide War Games match in 2002, and the match indeed went ahead, with ECW icon The Sandman being on the winning side, while Vic Grimes, an ECW victim, was on the other team.

The match didn't quite go to scratch, though, as the ambitiously built cage began to fall apart mid-match. An 18-foot steel cage, designed to cover the top and allow for death-defying spots back into the ring, was poorly constructed, resulting in several planned spots going amiss. Luckily, the cage didn't break while anyone was atop it.