Steel Cage Match

The Steel Cage Match is one of the most historic stipulations in wrestling, with the first match taking place on June 25, 1937, featuring Jack Bloomfield against Count Petro Rossi.

In this stipulation, the ring is surrounded by a steel cage that extends from the apron and has no roof, preventing either wrestler from escaping or outside interference.

Winning Conditions

Typically, this match can be won in several ways: by pinfall, submission, or escape from the cage (either by climbing over the top or through the door). For an escape to be considered valid, both feet of the athlete must touch the floor outside the ring. The door can be opened by a referee at the request of a wrestler, but it will be closed again if the wrestler fails to escape.

There are variations in the rules of a Steel Cage Match. Some matches allow victory only by pinfall or submission, excluding escape (as seen in TNA's Six Sides of Steel matches), while others allow victory solely by escape from the cage ("Escape only").

Since this match is contained within a cage, count-outs do not apply. Disqualifications are also not in effect, meaning wrestlers can use the cage as a weapon, execute illegal moves, and utilize foreign objects (often passed in by an ally outside the cage). External interference can occur, despite the cage's presence.

Formats and Variations

The design of the cage has evolved over the years. It originally featured a fine mesh similar to that used in chicken coops, later transitioned to blue bars (debuted at WrestleMania 2) then black bars, and has later adopted the current version made of metal mesh.

This stipulation can be contested in various match types: in Tag Team Steel Cage Matches, typically only one member of a team needs to escape or secure a pinfall for the match to end.

Here are some of the match-type variations that involve the Steel Cage structure:

• Asylum Match: A Steel Cage Match with weapons, including items themed around a mental asylum, hanging above the cage. Victory can only be achieved by pinfall or submission.
• Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match: The top of the cage is covered in barbed wire, while maintaining traditional Steel Cage Match rules for victory (escape, pinfall, or submission).
• Cage of Death Match: A brutal CZW steel cage match filled with various weapons, including electrified cage walls, cacti, tables, light tubes, glass, thumbtacks, and barbed wire. Always featured as the main event of CZW's Cage of Death show, with some matches done under WarGames rules using two rings.
• Dixieland Match: A hybrid of a Ladder Match and Steel Cage Match, only seen in TNA (the match takes its name from Dixie Carter). Wrestlers must first escape the cage and then use a ladder to retrieve a title belt hanging on the stage.
• Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match: Wrestlers compete in a cage topped with barbed wire, and to win, they must pin a bleeding opponent.
• Electrified Cage Match: The cage is electrified, and victory is only possible through pinfall or submission. In AAA's version, escaping the cage is the goal, with electricity deactivated temporarily to allow it.
• Fight Pit Match: A variation of a steel cage match without ropes or turnbuckles, featuring a catwalk at the top (which also has chain-linked fence surrounding the outer edge, which the wrestlers can climb up). Wrestlers can only win by submission or KO, making it a hybrid of pro wrestling and MMA. The first match with this stipulation (an evolution of Lion's Den match) was in NXT in May 2020 between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher.
• Xscape Match: A signature match of TNA's Lockdown pay-per-view. A variable number of competitors (between 4 and 8) are eliminated by pinfall or submission until only two remain, with the winner being the first to escape the cage by climbing out and reaching the floor.

For other match-type variations that involve different types of cages, check out the Other Cage Structures page.

Steel Cage Match: Info

Steel Cage Match: Main Variants

Elimination Chamber Match

Hell in a Cell Match

WarGames

Lethal Lockdown Match

Other Cage Structures

Punjabi Prison Match

Thundercage Match / Steel Asylum Match

Steel Cage Match: List of Matches

Below you find the list of the Steel Cage Matches included in our database, along with dates and events. You can switch between the match list without spoilers, or view the results with all the winners.