An iron man match is a professional wrestling match type that is set to go a specific amount of time, usually 30 or 60 minutes, with the competitor with the most falls at the end of that time named the victor. On the occasions of a draw, a sudden death "final fall" may be requested by either side, with the other able to accept or decline, or an authority can order the match to go into overtime in the case of any championship match.

Rules Iron man matches generally operate under the same rules as any other professional wrestling bout, but instead of the match having to be over before a time limit is up, the iron man match goes the full length of the allotted time, with each wrestler attempting to score as many falls in that time as possible. The wrestler who has the most decisions at the end of the match is declared the winner. Iron Man matches can also be contested with specific win conditions. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit competed in a 30-minute Iron Man match at Backlash 2001 where only submissions were counted, which was termed an "Ultimate Submission match".

Some iron man matches have an interval between falls. In 2009, a match between John Cena and Randy Orton had a 30-second rest period after each fall, in part due to that match being billed as "anything goes" (only pinfalls and submissions counted as falls, which can also be done outside the ring, but not count outs or disqualifications). The 2003 match between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar had a 15-second rest period after each fall, regardless of how it occurred.

Should the match result in a tie, sudden death overtime may be requested by either wrestler as a plot device, and it is accepted or rejected by either an opponent or an authority figure. After Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle tied 2–2 in a 30-minute iron man match, Michaels begged Angle to go sudden death, but Angle walked off.

Sudden deaths are especially common in title matches. This is because, in the event of a draw, the champion will always retain the title. Commissioner Gorilla Monsoon ordered sudden death (after onscreen president "Rowdy" Roddy Piper had stated that there "must be a winner") after Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart failed to score a decision at WrestleMania XII, and Christopher Daniels requested sudden death against A.J. Styles at TNA's Against All Odds in February 2005.

Iron man match history

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Several Iron Man matches have taken place at house shows. The Rockers faced off against The Fabulous Rougeaus several times in 1989, when the match was previously known as a "Marathon match". Bret Hart wrestled one in 1993 against Ric Flair and four in 1994 against his brother, Owen Hart. John Cena and Seth Rollins faced off in a 30-minute Iron Man match for the WWE United States Championship at a house show in October 2015. Kevin Owens and AJ Styles faced off in a 30-minute Iron Man match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at a house show in March 2016.

#Match (length)TitleScoreEvent, date and locationArena 1The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (1:00:00)None3–2WWF live eventAugust 4, 1989, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaMontreal Forum 2The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (1:00:00)NoneUnknownWWF live eventAugust 6, 1989, Rosemont, IllinoisRosemont Horizon 3The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (1:00:00)"Marathon match"NoneUnknownWWF live eventAugust 19, 1989, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia Spectrum 4The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (1:00:00)"Marathon match"None3–2WWF live eventSeptember 9, 1989, Boston, MassachusettsBoston Garden 5The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (1:00:00)"Marathon match"NoneUnknownWWF live eventOctober 8, 1989, Washington, D.C.D.C. Armory 6The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (1:00:00)"Marathon match"NoneUnknownWWF live eventOctober 20, 1989, Uniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 7The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) defeated The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau) (1:00:00)"Marathon match"None3–2WWF live eventNovember 17, 1989, West Palm Beach, FloridaWest Palm Beach Auditorium 8Bret Hart (c) defeated Ric Flair (1:00:00) WWF World Heavyweight Championship3–2WWF live eventJanuary 9, 1993, Boston, MassachusettsBoston Garden 9Bret Hart (c) defeated Owen Hart (1:00:00) WWF World Heavyweight Championship3–2WWF live eventJuly 8, 1994, East Rutherford, New JerseyBrendan Byrne Arena 10Bret Hart (c) defeated Owen Hart (1:08:23) OvertimeWWF World Heavyweight Championship3–2WWF live eventJuly 9, 1994, Uniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 11Bret Hart (c) defeated Owen Hart (1:00:00) WWF World Heavyweight Championship2–1WWF live eventJuly 29, 1994, Los Angeles, CaliforniaGreat Western Forum 12Bret Hart (c) defeated Owen Hart (1:00:00) WWF World Heavyweight Championship2–1WWF live eventAugust 6, 1994, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia Spectrum 13Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart (c) (1:01:56) OvertimeWWF World Heavyweight Championship1–0WrestleMania XIIMarch 31, 1996, Anaheim, CaliforniaArrowhead Pond 14Triple H defeated The Rock (c) (1:00:00)WWF Championship6–5Judgment DayMay 21, 2000, Louisville, KentuckyFreedom Hall 15Chris Benoit defeated Kurt Angle (31:51) Overtime"Ultimate Submission match"None4–3BacklashApril 29, 2001, Rosemont, IllinoisAllstate Arena 16Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle (c) (1:00:00)WWE Championship5–4SmackDownSeptember 18, 2003, Raleigh, North CarolinaRBC Center 17Chris Benoit (c) defeated Triple H (1:00:00)World Heavyweight Championship4–3RawJuly 26, 2004, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaMellon Arena 18MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) (c) defeated Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly (15:00)WWE Tag Team Championship2–1SmackDownJune 2, 2005, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaRexall Place 19Kurt Angle drew with Shawn Michaels (30:00)None2–2RawOctober 3, 2005, Dallas, TexasAmerican Airlines Center 20John Morrison and The Miz (c) drew with Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore (15:00)"Fifteen Minutes of Fame match"WWE Tag Team Championship1–1ECWJanuary 8, 2008, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaWachovia Center 21John Cena defeated Randy Orton (c) (1:00:00)"Anything Goes Ironman match"WWE Championship6–5Bragging RightsOctober 25, 2009, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaMellon Arena 22Bayley (c) defeated Sasha Banks (30:00)NXT Women's Championship3–2NXT TakeOver: Respect October 7, 2015, Winter Park, FloridaFull Sail University 23John Cena (c) defeated Seth Rollins (30:00)WWE United States Championship3–2WWE live event October 17, 2015, Lubbock, TexasUnited Supermarkets Arena 24Kevin Owens (c) defeated AJ Styles (30:00)WWE Intercontinental Championship2–1WWE live event March 12, 2016, Atlantic City, New JerseyBoardwalk Hall 25Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks (c) (34:45) OvertimeWWE Raw Women's Championship3–2Roadblock: End of the Line December 18, 2016, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPPG Paints Arena 26Cesaro and Sheamus (c) defeated The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) (30:00)WWE Raw Tag Team Championship4–3Great Balls of Fire July 9, 2017, Dallas, TexasAmerican Airlines Center 27Dolph Ziggler (c) defeated Seth Rollins (30:10) OvertimeWWE Intercontinental Championship5–4Extreme Rules July 15, 2018, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPPG Paints Arena 28Finn Bálor vs. Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano ended in a draw between Bálor and Cole (1:00:00)

NXT General Manager William Regal called the match a tie after both Cole and Bálor scored 2 falls, and they both had a match with each other the following Tuesday on NXT Super Tuesday II for the vacant NXT Championship. Vacant NXT Championship2–2–1–1NXT Super Tuesday September 1, 2020, Winter Park, FloridaFull Sail University 29A-Kid defeated Jordan Devlin (30:00)None2–1NXT UK August 5, 2021, London, EnglandBT Sports Studios

Participant list Males WrestlerVictoriesAppearancesShawn Michaels89Marty Jannetty77Bret Hart56Chris Benoit22John Cena22Brock Lesnar11Joey Mercury11Kevin Owens11Cesaro11Sheamus11Dolph Ziggler11A-Kid11Triple H12Johnny Nitro/John Morrison12Ric Flair01The Rock01Charlie Haas01Hardcore Holly01The Miz01Jimmy Wang Yang01Shannon Moore01 Randy Orton01AJ Styles01Jeff Hardy01Matt Hardy01Finn Bálor01Adam Cole01Johnny Gargano01Tommaso Ciampa01Jordan Devlin01Seth Rollins02Kurt Angle03Owen Hart04Jacques Rougeau07Raymond Rougeau07

Females WrestlerVictoriesAppearancesBayley11Charlotte Flair11Sasha Banks02

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) #Match (length)TitleScoreEvent, date and locationArena 1Kenny Omega defeated Pac (31:01) OvertimeNone2–1 DynamiteFebruary 26, 2020, Independence, MissouriSilverstein Eye Centers Arena 2MJF (c) defeated Bryan Danielson (1:05:02) Overtime AEW World Championship4–3 RevolutionMarch 5, 2023, San Francisco, CaliforniaChase Center

Participant list WrestlerVictoriesAppearancesKenny Omega11MJF11Pac01Bryan Danielson01

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) / Impact Wrestling #Match (length)TitleScoreEvent, date and locationArena 1A.J. Styles (c) defeated Christopher Daniels (31:37) overtimeTNA X Division Championship2–1Against All OddsFebruary 13, 2005, Orlando, FloridaTNA Impact! Zone 2A.J. Styles (c) defeated Christopher Daniels (30:00)TNA X Division Championship1–0Bound for GloryOctober 23, 2005; Orlando, Florida 3Kurt Angle defeated Samoa Joe (30:00)To determine the No. 1 contender for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship3–2Final ResolutionJanuary 14, 2007; Orlando, Florida 4Douglas Williams (c) drew with A.J. Styles (15:00 + 5:00 sudden overtime)TNA Television Championship1–1TNA Impact!December 23, 2010; Orlando, Florida 5Bobby Roode (c) drew with A.J. Styles (30:00)TNA World Heavyweight Championship3–3Final ResolutionDecember 11, 2011; Orlando, Florida 6Bobby Roode (c) defeated A.J. Styles (5:00 + sudden death overtime)TNA World Heavyweight Championship1–0TNA Impact WrestlingDecember 15, 2011; Orlando, Florida 7The Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) defeated Dirty Heels (Austin Aries and Bobby Roode) (30:00)Vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship2–1TNA Impact WrestlingJuly 1, 2015; Orlando, Florida 8Lashley defeated Eddie Edwards (c) (30:00)TNA World Heavyweight Championship3–2TNA Impact WrestlingJanuary 26, 2017; Orlando, Florida 9Deonna Purrazzo (c) defeated Jordynne Grace (30:00)Impact Knockouts Championship2–1EmergenceAugust 25, 2020; Nashville, Tennessee Skyway Studios 10Josh Alexander (c) defeated TJP (61:55) overtimeImpact X Division Championship2–1Before the Impact / Impact!June 3, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee 11Nic Nemeth (c) defeated Josh Alexander (60:00) TNA World Championship3–2EmergenceAugust 30, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky Old Forester's Paristown Hall

Participant list

Males WrestlerVictoriesAppearancesA.J. Styles25Kurt Angle11Davey Richards11Lashley11Nic Nemeth 11Josh Alexander12Eddie Edwards12Bobby Roode13Samoa Joe01Douglas Williams01Austin Aries01TJP01Christopher Daniels02

Females WrestlerVictoriesAppearancesDeonna Purrazzo 11Jordynne Grace 01

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