Following on from the DOG CHAIN MATCH Thread!!-Another 'Innovation' brought into
Wrestling Bouts in the late '70's-'80's was The Ladder Match!!
For me a ridiculous 'Concept' which reduced the 'Bout' to a Brawl and the ONLY Tactic of
pushing the Opponent off the Rungs lest he manage to Capture the Prize first that was
Dangling in the Rafters!!-The only other method employed seemed to consist of clobbering
the Opponent WITH the Ladder and smashing it down on the prone Adversary as he lay
flat on the Canvas!-This ISN'T Wrestling at all!!
I really started to get annoyed with this 'Innovation' when KENDO'S much-vaunted Return
after his 7 Year lay-off from the Ring was announced to be a Ladder Match' against
IRON FIST-CLIVE MYERS!-But there's Worse!!
This whole Charade was played out with DISCO MUSIC Blaring and PSYCHEDELIC
STROBE LITES Search Lighting the Hall!-For me Totally Cringeworthy and a complete
travesty for KENDO'S First Match back!
It seems most Top Wrestlers of the time 'indulged' in these 'Ladder Matches' and Years
before the above 'DISCO' Fiasco even JOHN QUINN was getting involved!-Top of the BIil
Fayre-Thank Goodness I'd stopped attending Live Shows in the main by this Time!!
A Big Guy like Quinn could have got away with a short step ladder!...
Poster to follow
MAIN MASK
I agree with above comments that Ladder Matches were dreadful.
However, I must confess that, at the time, I was captivated by Ladder Matches when I saw posters featuring them, invariablt at venues I couldn't get to. I bet they were a great draw to fill seats and equally left a lot of punters going home feeling cheated.
A lot of good promoting was in the wording of the bills. "No Time Limit" seemed sensational; likewise "A fight to a finish". "No Rounds". In each case the wrestlers could still cosily do their 25 minutes.
The promoters could have made a lot more of return bouts and "eliminators" even for regional titles. But these all seemed far too complex to plan .... the result was so many meaningless bouts.
I'm fighting Big Daddy for the super heavy weight doughnut belt Adrian, my fighting strategy is just to run at his gut and bounce off and look like a total fool. Don't be late as the build up will last far longer than the match. Do you know any kids who might want to come? and don't forget to add a token disabled person too ...
Another way of extending/milking the John Quinn / Tony St. Clair feud. I think i read somewhere that even Shirley and Kendo Nagasaki had a ladder match way back in 1977.
Mostly it was, but there were certainly some weird n wonderful anomalies. And that is one daft idea for a picture.
Hope all is good Mate. :)
Erm … What's with the picture of a woman holding a wrestler in her hand ?????
Amazingly Giant Haystacks was not averse to the odd ladder match. I think these were before his weight really ballooned, but possibly offered something different from his one dimensional matches. I read a report of him meeting Tom Tyrone on a ladder match and Tyrone taking the win after knicking Haystacks to the floor.
The Nagasaki match to launch All Star on TV was dreadful by his own admission and i think he is credited with bringing the gimmick back from the states. I was no fan of cage matches either, these gimick matches distract from the wrestling.