WrestleMania 41 is almost here, with the biggest wrestling show of the year scheduled for two nights in Las Vegas.
The event at Allegiant Stadium has been built around the ‘heel turn’ (villainous personality change!) of John Cena, who is set to compete at WWE’s showpiece event for the final time – before he retires in December.
Cena will challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Title in the main event of Night 2, while CM Punk, Logan Paul, Roman Reigns and Rhea Ripley are among the other big names competing.
But what are the general rules for WWE matches? That depends on the match type. So, let’s get into it...
How is a wrestling match won/lost?
Most WWE matches are decided by one of the following means: pinfall, submission, countout or disqualification. A pinfall occurs when a wrestler pins their opponent’s shoulders to the mat for a three count – as counted by the referee – while a submission occurs when a wrestler taps out or passes out while in a chokehold or a limb lock.
A countout occurs when a wrestler cannot re-enter the ring before a count of 10, and a disqualification occurs when a wrestler uses an illegal strike – for example a low blow, or using a weapon like a chair to attack their opponent – or doesn’t heed the ref’s warnings over certain behaviour.
These rules apply in one-on-one matches and tag-team matches (which typically pit teams of two against each other, though sometimes teams of three or more).
But what about multi-person matches? There are a few of those this year...
Rules for triple threats and fatal four-way matches
This year, there will be two triple-threat matches. In the Night 1 main event, Reigns faces CM Punk and Seth Rollins (three competitors, thus ‘triple threat’), while Iyo Sky will defend the Women’s World Title against Ripley and Bianca Belair.
The only fatal four-way, meanwhile, sees Bron Breakker defend his Intercontinental Championship against Penta, Dominik Mysterio and Finn Balor.
In these matches, there are no disqualifications or countouts. The bout ends when one competitor pins or submits another – and in a title match, the champion does not need to be directly pinned/submitted to lose their gold.
Other stipulations
Thus far, there is only one ‘gimmick’ match announced for WrestleMania 41. Damian Priest will face Drew McIntyre in a ‘Sin City Street Fight’. In that contest, there will be no countouts or disqualifications – so expect plenty of weapons to be involved. These kinds of matches are often simply referred to as ‘No DQ’ or ‘No Holds Barred’ contests.
And what of other stipulation matches? Although the below aren’t listed for WrestleMania 41... A table match is won when an opponent is driven through a table, and a ladder match is won when a wrestler climbs a ladder and claims the prize hanging above the ring (often a title belt). The latter example was relevant to WrestleMania 40, because Night 1 involved a six-team ladder match for the Undisputed Tag-Team Titles.
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