WWE Steel Cage match: Rules, stipulation & everything you need to know

Steel Cage matches are one of the most interesting matches

Nothing nearly compares to a Steel Cage match in professional wrestling. When two wrestlers are encircled by four walls of steel, every outside influence is eliminated, and victory is determined by their ability to survive the punishment they will face.

The exhilarating action within the cage has resulted in several versions, each with its own set of regulations. The Steel Cage Match is one of wrestling’s most historic stipulations, with the inaugural match taking place on June 25, 1937, between Jack Bloomfield and Count Petro Rossi. Here’s all you need to know about the many types of Steel Cage matches and the regulations that apply to each of them.

What is a Steel Cage match?

A Steel Cage bout involves two or more opponents battling it out to escape the cage and be named the winner. However, the rules can be amended to allow the winner to be determined by pinfall or submission, which varies according on the promotion.

Over the years, there have been several unusual Steel Cage bouts, such as a Barbed Wire Steel Cage and an Electrified Cage.

How to win a Steel Cage match?

Typically, this bout can be won in a variety of ways, including pinfall, submission, or escape from the cage. For an escape to be declared genuine, both feet of the athlete must be on the floor outside the ring. A referee can open the door at a wrestler’s request, but it will be closed again if the wrestler is unable to leave.

Steel Cage Match regulations vary. Some matches only allow for pinfall or submission victories, barring escape (as shown in TNA’s Six Sides of Steel matches), while others only allow for cage escape (“Escape only”).

Because this match takes place within a cage, count-outs are not applicable. Disqualifications are also not in place, therefore wrestlers can use the cage as a weapon, do illegal maneuvers, and employ foreign items (frequently brought in by an ally outside the cage). Even with the cage present, external influence is possible.

Every stipulation in WWE Steel Cage match

The cage’s design altered throughout time. It began with a tiny mesh similar to those used in chicken coops, progressed to blue bars (debuted at WWE WrestleMania 2), then black bars, and eventually adopted the present form composed of metal mesh.

This stipulation may be fought in a variety of match types: in Tag Team Steel Cage Matches, just one member of a team must escape or achieve a pinfall for the bout to terminate.

Here are various match-type variants that use the Steel Cage structure:

• Asylum Match: A Steel Cage Match in which weaponry, including mental asylum-themed artifacts, dangle above the cage. Victory may only be earned by pinfall or submission.
• Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match: The top of the cage is wrapped with barbed wire, but the standard Steel Cage Match rules apply (escape, pinfall, or submission).
• Cage of Death bout: A vicious CZW steel cage bout armed with electrified cage walls, cactus, tables, light tubes, glass, thumbtacks, and barbed wire. CZW’s Cage of Death show has always featured a main event, with some matches taking place under WarGames rules with two rings.
• Dixieland Match: A TNA-exclusive mix of a ladder match and a steel cage match (named after Dixie Carter). Wrestlers must first escape the cage before using a ladder to obtain a title belt hanging from the stage.
• Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match: Wrestlers wrestle in a barbed wire-topped cage, and the winner must pin a bleeding opponent.
• Electrified Cage Match: The cage is electrified, and victory can only be achieved by pinfall or submission. The purpose of AAA’s version is to escape the cage, which is made possible by briefly deactivating electricity.
• Fight Pit bout: A steel cage bout without ropes or turnbuckles, with a catwalk at the top (and a chain-link fence around the outside edge that wrestlers may climb). Wrestlers may only win via submission or knockout, making it a cross between professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. The first bout with this stipulation (an adaptation of the Lion’s Den match) took place in NXT in May 2020, between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher.
• Electrified Cage Match: The cage is electrified, and victory can only be achieved by pinfall or submission. The purpose of AAA’s version is to escape the cage, which is made possible by briefly deactivating electricity.
• Fight Pit bout: A steel cage bout without ropes or turnbuckles, with a catwalk at the top (and a chain-link fence around the outside edge that wrestlers may climb). Wrestlers may only win via submission or knockout, making it a cross between professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. The first bout with this stipulation (an adaptation of the Lion’s Den match) took place in NXT in May 2020, between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher.

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