The Complete History Of Wrestling Cage Matches

[@joshhale9355]

I love Cultaholic in general, but these video essays are my absolute favorite things on the channel. The lists, the countdowns, and “what happened to” videos are a lot of fun not to mention all the one off videos and podcasts. But these documentary style videos are what really sells me on this channel being one of my absolute favorites.

[@RBAGU]

i agree. They do great work

[@Mizfit100880]

Totally agree, they’re the best!

[@metalmaniaclukeuk]

Agreed excellent scripts and the delight that is out tom

[@leafdude1395]

I love the what happened to series the most. And that might have to do with the intro lol

[@babarazamsucks]

Okay I’m not surprised I don’t understand what I’m talking like that to do that anyway and then why you can’t

[@WSK9002]

The Cage Match will never not be over in Pro Wrestling. I think the best use of it is War Games and it's Variants Blood and Guts or Lethal Lockdown.

[@MSI-]

WCW War Games and Blood and Guts is the same thing nxt wargames is just the same thing without a roof

[@monarched]

Agreed. When I was a ref in a local fed, I referred two cage matches on back to back nights, the first time I was actually inside the cage itself(It was pin or submission only). It was a cool experience even 16 years later.

[@DFloyd84]

GLUD AND BUTTS!

[@monarched]

@@Panama_Red Thanks

[@nichhodge8503]

I think 5ft high Chicken Wire Match sounds more dangerous than War Games, Hell In A Cell, Lethal Lockdown and Blood & Guts Match! There’s absolutely no way any wrestler can escape from 5ft high chicken wire especially Rey Mysterio

[@talonthehand]

Having your first name in wrestling be "Champ" is a power move, you love to see it.

[@PlatinumRoseLady]

I used to call the old WWF cages the "graph paper cages". Awesome series, keep up the amazing work!

[@jessica.reed1986]

The instant flash back to grad school math class. 😬

[@BigPhillyStyle1982]

They always had that look to me, right down to the blue ink.

[@thomasedge8438]

The Flair-Koloff-Dusty angle occurred when Dusty was trying to save Flair from the Russians, not Koloff. Nikita's face turn took place a year later, after Magnum TA's car accident. In fall 1985, they spent a few weeks building this angle, with Flair telling Dusty to mind his own business after he tried to help Ric from attacks. They then had the Andersons and Flair attack in late September to set up the main event at Starcade 85. It also hearkened back to Ole Anderson's attack on Rhodes in the Omni a few years earlier.

[@jasonbouracee8687]

yup i was gonna say the same thing. 100% accurate

[@karlepaul6632]

Yeah, I just commented on that myself. 👍🏻

[@antiembishop07]

I'm glad it wasn't just me. Lol

[@TheThird1977]

This was an excellent history lesson. My one gripe? Talking of the Hogan era and not mentioning the greatest cage moment; Hogan superplexing Boss Man off the top.

[@justafanofnerdculture7602]

I will never, ever forget that moment! I remember all of the flashbulbs going off when that happened too.

[@LTKK]

Wow 😯 in all these years off retro footage, I don't think I've ever seen that moment. Gotta look it up after this vid. Thanks!

[@smactork]

Steel cage culture was actually codified when Spider-Man fought Bonesaw

[@Unclebarry94]

Bonesaws ready!

[@junblazinofficial]

Your 5 year anniversary is coming up and I gotta say…this channel has made it sooooo far. Proud to have joined from the very beginning ❤️

[@freakfoxvevo7915]

Would love to see documentaries like this on more types of gimmick matches like Battle Royales

[@ajmorley1519]

These series are absolutely fascinating. Love the range of them all from weirdest Wrestling, to the history of....fantastic work guys keep it up!

[@ryyanhyyland9020]

Love the video. You forgot no way out with the barbed wire cage!! Much luv!!

[@coleymissions]

I'm glad that the Fight Pit got a mention. that thing was lit. I even forgot what it was called, only that Thatcher and Riddle were in the match😂😂.

[@JKimma8080]

My first ever live wrestling experience was at 8 years old seeing Hulk vs Macho Man in the blue cage at the Bradley Center I wanna say in the fall of '89. Same building where Macho cut the "lust in your eyes" promo on Hulk before coming to his senses and turning on him and decking him with the belt earlier that year lol.

[@RyanParreno]

Great video, interesting that you ended up not talking much about ECW, CZW, FMW, IWA Mid-South, or other hardcore wrestling promotions and their cage matches. Of course those companies dealt with other kinds of matches more, like death matches, but would that be fertile material for a part 2?

[@xavierwirt7198]

Yeah CZW Cage Of Death was always crazy

[@joedanger88]

Watching the Snuka/Don Muraco cage match is my earliest wrestling memory. Snuka flew 3/4 of the way across the ring and I was hooked

[@Brando-Lee3725]

That Nikita angle was killer !! I had just started watching wrestling that year religiously . Id watched wwf and memphis and nwa when ever i could and loved it . But at 7 i could finally track it down on my own !!! This was one of them

[@cuxoquijano6739]

Hell of a job by the cultaholic team in general, but specially from Tom. The dude knows how to deliver this kind of "essays" and you actually learn a lot of things from it. Amazing job as usual!

[@ReverendRaff]

This could possibly be the greatest ever video Cultaholic has released. 5 stars in all categories. Love your work legends

[@robw5741]

While the mesh fencing may have been more giving, I'm sure the blue bars had much more support for the highspots they had at the time

[@MrSheckstr]

It was also easier on the cameramen to get clear images without getting blurred by the fencing mesh Edit: that’s also why on the new cages, their are foot holes cut into the mesh….

[@salparadise7412]

Really digging the video essays. Loving all the details. Keep ‘em coming!

[@AK47Gang100]

Tom’s alliteration is off the charts

[@TheNath87]

Watching this just makes me remember how Hell In A Cell used to be a big deal. The one that springs to mind is the Jericho vs Triple H feud where Jericho has his submission in on HHH and Vince screaming at him that his match with Jericho at Judgment Day would be HELL IN A CELL.

[@nichhodge8503]

I remember seeing the first Hell In A Cell when the Undertaker faced Shawn Michaels, I was 16yrs old and had never seen anything like the cell as all I had seen was a cage match with those big thick blue bars. I remember thinking when they put a chain through the door and locked it with a padlock that unlike a cage match no one can climb in or open the door to help the heel and for Shawn Michaels DX couldn’t help him nor could he escape the Undertaker so in my opinion Undertaker just had to win. Here in England there were no wrestler dirt sheet magazines and I didn’t own a PC with a connection to the internet. (My older brother did but he is on the autistic spectrum and was on the PC all the time and didn’t let me use it, not to mention it was dial up modems back then and to go on the internet we had to unplug the phone to use the internet which my mum didn’t like him using as she ran (still does run) her own business out of her house and customers used the landline to book appointments) so I didn’t know Bret Hart was leaving for WCW and that he was gonna drop the belt at Survivor Series to Shawn Michaels (well that’s what Vince wanted Bret to do) so he had to win against the Undertaker. We all know that Kane came down ripped the door off Tombstoned the Undertaker for Shawn Michaels to get the pin & the victory. The second HITC at King Of The Ring Mankind faced the Undertaker where they started the match on top of the cell and we all knew how that match went and it was legendary! 2 HITC matches and they were awesome but you knew the cell was the last resort in a feud and not all feuds needed to end in the cell just the main event blood feuds! But now they’ve lost their meaning by having a HITC PPV

[@TheNath87]

@@nichhodge8503 I'm from England aswell. Think i was probably about the same age when I saw Michaels vs Taker HIAC. I used to have the Badd Blood ppv on VHS.

[@oldschooleddie2057]

I was at the 89 Bash Wargames, RWs/Dr Death/Midnites vs SST/Freebirds. It was pretty good, but IIRC no one got color. The hangman finish was pretty cool tho. It also wasnt the main event, that I know for sure, as it was Flair/Funk with Flair as a babyface for the first time in a longggggg time. The pop was INSANE. Probably one of the very best shows I have ever been to in my 50 years of living.

[@stoozdee]

Such an astounding array of amazingly agile alliteration 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@patrickjspoon]

This is incredible just a couple of minutes in, more please!

[@kitramseysbrother]

My favorite reason for a cage match is when its September 2023 and its time for WWE Steel Cage Match on peacock. 6 hours of cage matches

[@DeaDGoD_XIV]

So.... TNA Lockdown?

[@kitramseysbrother]

@@DeaDGoD_XIV when it’s time for the blindfold cage match I’ll wear one myself in a show of support.

[@DeaDGoD_XIV]

@@kitramseysbrother not gonna lie, I legit laughed out loud reading that

[@elc1960]

Koloff vs Bruno in December 1975 was the first MSG cage match, but WWWF had used them in Boston, Philly and other towns prior to that. In 1969 at Boston's Fenway Park on the undercard to the Kowalski-Bruno stretcher match, Bulldog Brower and The Sheik had a cage match, with Sheik coming out on top. Bruno and George "The Animal" Steele had memorable cage matches in Philly and Pittsburgh in the late '60s and early '70s.

[@dizzy1369]

I had so much fun with that wrestling ring with cage match accessories, loved the blue bar cage. 🤣

[@unstablebrother]

These history videos are one of my favorites beside the Tier lists, Weird wrestling shows, and Pitches

[@nothingislogical]

Excellent video. A criminally underrated cage match I'd suggest people look up is BLKOUT (featuring a young Eddie Kingston) vs Team Cash at CZW's Cage of Death 6. It's pretty much the modern NXT War Games/AEW Blood & Guts match about a good 13 years before NXT ever brought the war games match back. It's got high spots, some weapons, and it's just as chaotic. If you see CZW and immediately think death match, don't worry, this one isn't super death matchy. It's probably more tame than the most recent Blood & Guts match but still brutal in it's own right.

[@undisputed_54]

That match is absolutely incredible. One of the best Cage of Death matches ever and the craziest thing that they used was thumbtacks. The rest were hardcore weapons like chairs, ladders, tables, and trash cans.

[@gunnardsippert4094]

This was super good. Wrestling Curiosities type topics in video form is an awesome idea.

[@eyzzquare7811]

Great enjoyable content!!! Though I think you forgot to mention TNA's Asylum cage matches. But that's fine since it was also yet another crazy TNA stipulation that involved cages.

[@PhilBertran]

Not a huge current wrestling fan, but I really enjoy looking back with stuff like this. I was at there for the Kennel from Hell match. If you think it looked bad on TV, imagine seeing less of the 'action' live from the cheap seats.

[@jerryjanik480]

Love this history thing about the steel cage matches I bought wrestling for over 30 years now 2 steel cage matches live in my entire life one was with Brett and Owen Hart at a house show in Niagara Falls New York and the other one was between Sean Spears and Wardlow on Dynamite before double or nothing both were completely different matches

[@oldschooleddie2057]

IMHO the greatest individual steel cage match of all time is Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard, Starrcade 1985, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina. And WarGames I (7/4/87, Omni) is still the best team cage match.

[@StevenKluber]

In an alternate universe where pandas are plentiful, Vince McMahon created the PANDAmonium Pressure Cooker Match. Combines the Punjabi Prison and the Kennel from Hell, but replaces the dogs with pandas who could at any time chew through the bamboo bars. It... went just as expected.

[@Josh-t4l4w]

Love these videos any and all of them true story of, the history of, all of them wish you guys could do more!!!! 👍✌️✌️

[@RandomnessTube.]

The blue bars painted black will always be my fav.

[@gamekeeper777]

One of my favorite vids in a long time, great work.

[@Jamessmith-xk3fh]

I haven't started the video. I was wondering if the WWE blue cage was used because it was easier for the bigger guys to climb than the traditional cages the NWA used

[@gregsky01]

Can we get a shoutout to the electrified steel cage match at TNA Lockdown in 2007? As far as I know they never used that gimmick again but it was supposed to be 10,000 volts and it led to a lot of overselling fake electrocution

[@LTKK]

I like to give you guys a hard time for your (at times) biased reporting. BUT these type of videos are what makes Cultaholic very important to the IWC and they deserve their spot in the community. Good stuff!

[@bad-people6510]

The Steel Cage Challenge video game came out about a year and a half into an almost 3 year period of the WWF not putting any cage matches on TV.

[@PJ_TheAverageGamer]

We are getting absolutely spoiled with specials at the moment. Love it.

[@SheriffOutlaw]

Mr. Campbell's History Lessons! Today's Topic: Steel Cage Matches! Let's Do this!

[@bradmilne4961]

Great work as always Mr. Campbell.

[@hk43xx]

I always enjoyed watching cage matches, and I got to see one in person in October 1983, when Tommy Rich and Pistol Pez Watley fought Buzz Sawyer and Paul Ellering in a steel cage. Rich and Watley won the match, but Buzz and Paul attacked them before they could leave the cage. Brett Wayne ran out and covered Tommy and Pez, and Buzz stopped attacking and just backed up to a corner. Paul tried to urge Buzz to just attack Brett, but Buzz shook his head no, so Paul started kicking Brett, and Buzz attacked Paul. Paul conceded, and they both left the ring.

[@karlepaul6632]

7:35 Dusty Rhodes hit the cage to save Ric Flair, not Nikita Koloff. After clearing them out, the rest of the 4 Horsemen hit the ring, with Ric Flair locking the cage, "shattering" Dusty's ankle, with a near riot taking place.

[@lazerbladebrennerpurdy8314]

My absolute favorite cage style match has to be between War games/Blood and Guts and the Armageddon Hell in a Cell

[@Nbflowers1989]

Great job, as always Tom!

[@duanedorman6134]

If this is supposed to be complete, I have heard no mention of the brutal cage matches of the AWA.

[@kevinwilliams6889]

Brother! Brother! Brother! That just kills me. ROFL!!!

[@nintenskull1540]

Dont forget the Black Cage that was once a Blue cgae. Black Cages were a pretty cool during the early attitude era.

[@RagingRambo]

13:22 shows a picture of Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy "Macho King" Savage at an MSG house show on 1/21/1991. Not Warrior vs. Rude at Summerslam 90.

[@pelago_]

You sold that cafe match merchandise perfectly. Where can my parents get it bc they don’t hate me?

[@dylanogg347]

I tell you man, I miss Six Sides of Steel and Lethal Lockdown.

[@hvywghtheaver]

The poster for Bruno vs Zbysko has Andre vs Hogan being for the belt. Backlund was the champ. Must be a reproduction with an error.

[@antiembishop07]

Also want to show love to CZW, FMW, and UWF/IWA-MS for their cage match contributions as well.

[@joonermichael]

Well done, gentlemen. Excellent video

[@alexcobden4205]

Can you please do a video on the history of the relationship between AAA and CMLL with the brilliant Forbidden Door PPV there lot of comments about AAA wrestlers not being allowed to be on the event as CMLL is in a working relationship with NJPW and I have personally never actually known much of the history between these two top tier Mexican promotions so for me it be something that I would be interested in hearing about it if you would like to do the video on it

[@brandoncochran5318]

Where's Bonesaw vs Spiderman?! Great video guys thank you for all the hard work, love you Tom

[@Nbflowers1989]

Something I didn't know I wanted! Very cool.

[@mittinedkitten]

Awesome history lesson. Anyway you can maybe think of doing an essay on Canadian wrestling? I've noticed lately thay alot of famous wrestlers and matches came out of there

[@effarrjay]

I think WWE even used the old blue bar (now spray-painted black) steel cage as late as Rebellion 2001, for an Intercontinental Title match between Edge and Christian.

[@brendan7030ify]

Really just glossed over the most well known cage match moment ever with muck foley

[@zacharythomas8105]

Love this hope it becomes a new series

[@WSK9002]

Wow, 1937, Captain America was Four Years Away from getting Published.

[@bloodywolf9317]

Brilliant thanks Tom, love this stuff :)

[@ArcherSuh4721]

This is a great video from Cultaholic, but unfortunately they skipped the historic cage match between "Raggedy Man" Max Rockatansky and Master Blaster Blaster with guest referee Auntie Entity. So much for history...

[@youngche8226]

It’s wild to think these gimmick matches were thought up by a promoter. Cage/Cell/I Quit/Last Man Standing/Ladder/Royal Rumble/2 out of 3 falls/first blood/inferno/casket/buried alive/elimination chamber/tables/submission/handicap/fatal 4 way/survior series 10 man tag/scaffolding matches/Barbwire/exploding ring/hair vs hair/evening gown/ Iron man/ I mean so many that are wrestling staples and how much they’ve changed in reality over very short periods. Think of HBK vs Razor ladder match compared to WM2000 and WM17 TLC ladder matches. How much the cage match changed or turned into a cell later on. Even the rules. Growing up it was almost always it seemed you had to escape. Then they started doing the pin/submission and or escape.

[@walterreed7639]

More like this please. Historical stuff rules!!!!

[@royb5820]

Excellent work as always

[@Ry-uz2kv]

You should do every cage match on ppv ranked worst to best!

[@A-Man79]

The main event at Rebellion 1999 was the Rock vs HHH in a *black* bar cage.

[@JaKaJaEm]

Wwe used the black bar cages on European ppvs during the attitude era when the mesh came back! Great video other than that!

[@jefferyjones8399]

I have always liked the black version of the barred cage that Austin fought McMahon in

[@agrylls]

I'm one of the tiny minority who actually like the Punjabi Prison match. I love the spectacle of it. Same reason i like the WC triple tier and doomsday cages. Every once in a while, it's just fun to have something big and silly. The match quality is largely poor, but i always get a kick of it. The ideas are often so audacious, that despite them being bad, it's just cool to see something so visually striking, and so out of kilter with the general format. Not every week, but once in a while throw me a Dungeon Of Doom triple cage, or a Wargames 2000, or a Punjabi Prison and i'll be all in on it. I think wrestling is the greatest performance art in the world, but Wrestling is also inherently silly, and as much as i like quality pro-wre, i also love when it's self indulgent, grandiose, and larger than life. It's just fun.

[@Bandana_Boi]

I'm not sure about any other fans, but my brain separates WWE lore from generations. Capitol Wrestling 1953-63 WWWF 1963-82 WWF 1982-02 World Wrestling Ent. 2002-22 WWE 2022- present I can go through and watch matches from any of those years and each feels so significantly different than the last. Booking philosophies, rosters, management and ownership has changed across all those iterations. Capitol Wrestling is WWE, but I can appreciate each on their own.

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

The first Hell In The Cell was at Badd Blood '97 (The Undertaker Vs Shawn Micheals)

[@travisfields157]

BROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHER!

[@SalvadorSalcido]

I’m mildly disappointed the black cage from St. Valentine’s Day Massacre 1999 wasn’t given any love.

[@SalvadorSalcido]

@@tomcampbell2279 no worries, Tom, I still love you. *hugs* 🤗❤️

[@leiflohne3096]

well written. well done. i laughed often and well

[@lincolnwright7896]

Ground Zero wasn’t the PPV of the Hell in a Cell. That one was HBK and the Undertaker in their first singles match. First Hell in a Cell was Bad Blood

[@Vatogouki]

12:00. I had both I bought 10 brother brother brother🤣

[@codyboyle8336]

Thank you Tom

[@Ozzie_1986]

you should do the history of the ladder match next

[@Teeheehee093]

I wish wrestling was as important now as it was back then, and the crowds were more passionate then

[@michaeldennistooley4271]

Bret Hart versus Owen Hart forever my favorite cage match ✊👊

[@daedaethomas47]

3:46 I didn't know Conrad Thompson was a wrestler.

[@mhorton34]

I for one certainly cannot wait for the Punjabi Kennel Prison match.

[@Hawkeye26]

14:12 Hell in a Cell was Badd Blood, not Ground Zero...how am I not seeing any other comments on this?? (okay, I found one, but it wasn't quite specific enough)

[@BigPhillyStyle1982]

I miss the old cage style. There were more maneuvers that used the cage as a platform or to hurt the opponent. The fence style cage gets used less throughout the match and looks awkward to climb. And if you throw someone into a fence, it's simply less damaging than steel bars. Yes, we can see the match better now, but it's not the same

[@flyingferron]

I wonder how many dogs Adam Pacitti could lift if Adam Pacitti was in the Kennel from Hell match

[@johnpatmore7169]

Just needed a regal war games at the end

[@MikeyFelixx]

Champ Thomas is Tomasso Ciampa backwards.

[@Seth_lee]

Good shit!

[@axesofebil]

Oh the Punjabi Prison. I ALWAYS wanted to see a cage to cage RKO. Or any move that had one wrestler rip another wrestler off the structure

[@Aj-wt1sv]

Also Curtain Call happened after a blue cage match at msg.

[@violagreene4643]

I hate, Hate, HATE the "escape to win" style of cage match. Running away should never result in victory.

[@AbdulPaniagua]

Great video! But no mention of the Fight Pit in NXT? -Edit: Whoops, I spoke too soon!