The Art of the Ladder Match

Wrestling is full of many different types of matches. Hardcore matches, last man standing matches, Judy Bagwell on a pole matches, but my personal favortie type of match, is the ladder match.

Ever since I was a kid and saw my first ladder match (WrestleMania 22 Money in the Bank) I was fascinated with the concept. The match is not necessarily about beating your opponent, it’s about climbing up a ladder, putting yourself in a dangerous position to grab a physical object, often the actual title belt, adding a layer to championship matches.

There are two main ways one wins a ladder match, one is by beating someone so bad they can’t stop you as you climb and win, and the other is by finding the right opportunity to sneak in and climb up and get the belt, this one works particularly well in multi-man ladder matches. Which brings me to talk about the two main types of ladder matches: the singles ladder match and the multi-man ladder match.

The singles ladder match is about brutally beating your opponent down, you often see the ladder used as a weapon in numerous creative ways. Chris Jericho put Chris Benoit in a submission hold on the top of the ladder, driving the top of the ladder into Benoit’s back.

Singles ladder matches only actually have one ladder that the two wrestlers fight over, despite the way you win the match, most of these matches primarily take place on the ground, and only the last few minutes are about actually climbing the ladder.

The end of singles ladder matches have creative potential. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose had a very creative finish to their ladder match at Money in the Bank 2015. Rollins and Ambrose were fighting for the belt on the same side of the ladder. As they pulled, the belt eventually came loose, both men fell to the mat and after the impact, Ambrose lost his grip on the belt and Rollins maintained possession, making him the winner.

The other type of ladder match is the multi-man ladder match. This is your Money in the Bank and tag team ladder matches. These ladder matches are all about the high spots, these matches are often stunt shows and man are they entertaining. Think of ever Money in the Bank match with Shelton Benjamin in it, he always does something unbelievable, like when he ran up a ladder that was leaning on the ropes and dove outside the ring to land on a group of wrestlers, only in a ladder match could that happen.

Multi-man ladder matches have their fair share of creative finishes too. At WrestleMania 21 in the first ever Money in the Bank match, it appeared to be down to Chris Benoit and Kane, eventually Benoit got the better of the big red machine and was climbing the ladder on his way to victory. When all of a sudden, in comes Edge, the ultimate opportunist, to strike Benoit with a chair, causing him to fall and allowing Edge to sneak up when nobody expected it, and win the match.

No matter the type of ladder match, if you put two or more wrestlers in a ring with ladders, I will be very happy to sit back and watch the carnage.