Top 10 TWF Xtreme Match Types

When the TWF introduced the ill-fated Xtreme Championship in 2002, it was to be contested in a match type only known as "Xtreme". These matches were supposed to be the ultimate test of how far a TWF superstar would go to win the championship. Although the championship was abandoned (twice), the match types seen on that list remain spectacles in TWF history. The following list celebrates these match types.

Matches that almost made it into the countdown… 

  • Ambulance
  • Barbed Wire, Ladders, Tables (BLT)
  • Buried Alive
  • Last Ride
  • Shark Cage
#10 Hell in a Cell
Best Known Match: Mr. BIG vs. The AshTaker (June 2002)
The Cell match type forms a basis for many of the matches on this list, which means it deserves it's place here. The ring is surrounded by a steel cell that is almost 20 feet tall and weighs five tons. The TWF's first Hell in a Cell match was between MikeA and Owen Carl in September 2000, but the match between Mr. BIG and The AshTaker at Against All Odds in 2002 is considered among the TWF's greatest and is the match that catapulted the TWF into mainstream attention. The most recent HIAC match was at Against All Odds in 2007, when Mr. BIG and The Assassin had their famous first meeting on the roof of the structure in another memorable match.
#09 Gates of Hell
Best Known Match: Jason Davies vs. The Black Demon (November 2007)
The Black Demon was a mysterious figure from the TWF's past and when Jason Davies caught his attention, there was only one way to settle their differences. The match took place in a specially built ring at Dangerously Serious 2007 in the intimate TJS Centre. The ring featured turnbuckles, but no ropes. In the middle of a ring was a "Hole to Hell" which would open for 45 second intervals during the match and the aim was to send your opponent down the hole. Davies was sent packing to the underworld below. Holly then attempted to look inside, but followed her boyfriend inside. The Demon then took his own form, setting himself ablaze before going down to hell himself. All three have not been seen in a TWF ring since.
#08 Pyramid Cage
Best Known Match: Hawke vs. The Bandit (July 2003)
The Pyramid Cage is a creation of Mr. BIG, like some of the other matches on this list. When matches between Hawke and The Bandit were strewn with controversy and run-ins a plenty, BIG devised a cage that would allow nobody to get in. With sides so steep it would be unable to crash down the walls, once you were inside the Pyramid, the only way out was with your arm raised in victory when the cage was being raised to the rafters. A match so brutal it has only ever been held twice in TWF history, both times it has been for the richest price in professional wrestling, the TWF World Championship and both times the championship has changed hands.
#07 Southside Scuffle
Best Known Match: NJS vs. The AshTaker (July 2003)
On the same night that the Pyramid Cage was lowered for the first time, the famous feud between NJS and The AshTaker took another twist when the two competed in a Southside Scuffle. The two men fought in the back lot of the Embassy Coliseum in Bridgend, surrounded by crushed cars and other objects that prevented interference. It was another brutal encounter between the two who had already fought tremendous battles in the past. Neither man was truly the same after this night, and it remains the only example of the match. An Iron Circle match debuted in 2007 with a similar concept, but relied on escape rather than pinfall to attain victory.
#06 Devil's Den
Best Known Match: The DeathStars vs. The SuperStars (December 2008)
Introduced by Sophie, the Devil's Den match is one of the most incredible wars ever seen in the Total Wrestling Federation. Two teams fight over two steel cages (one filled with weapons) under a simple premise - to be eliminated you must either Submit or Surrender. The Devil's Den was described by many wrestling journalists as the spiritual successor to the WarGames match, one of pro-wrestling's most famous spectacles of the 80s and 90s. One image remains on the minds of the fans who watched last year's encounter, and that was Deadman's refusal to surrender to NJS's Laws of NJS, passing out in the hold rather than giving up on his team.
#05 Rage in the Double Cage
Best Known Match: S.I.N. vs. Z-Pack (October 2004)
The moment that reminds TWF fans that anything can happen in professional wrestling was the second ever Rage in the Double Cage match between S.I.N. and the Z-Pack. NJS fell through the cage after losing a serious amount of blood and would not return for two months afterwards. The Double Cage structure is best known as the House of Pain, but the first Double Cage match took place in 2000, almost two years prior to the first House of Pain match. NJS took part in both matches and won both times, although NJS did consider retirement shortly afterword, such were his injuries. Proof that these matches can be very brutal indeed.
#04 Revenge
Best Known Match: Joey Davies vs. Matthew Wright (September 2007)
One word in the TWF means everything: revenge. The Revenge Match has been a staple of the TWF since the very early days. Whilst it was originally just another name for a hardcore match, in 2003, the rules were changed. To win the match you must exact the ultimate revenge on your opponent by making them submit or making them not answer the referee's count of ten. It was under this guise the match reached it's current status as must-see, especially after the drama surrounding the Davies-Wright break-up in 2007. Wright was sent through a pane of glass and did not answer the referee's count, exacting the ultimate revenge for the jilted Davies.
#03 Tables, Ladders, Cell
Best Known Match: Mr. BIG vs. The AshTaker (September 2002)
Although it's first appearance was not in the TWF, the tlC match (as it has come to be known) strikes fear into the heart of every wrestler who must step inside the cell, where tables and ladders are not just legal, they are encouraged. Another match to come from the twisted mind of Biggie, the first TWF incarnation saw him on the losing side, The AshTaker gaining his revenge for the beating he was given at Against All Odds three months earlier. Other memorable moments include Stephen Dimmock gaining the crowd's backing in the third edition, High Voltage sending Frekishi crashing down onto a golf buggy in the fourth and The Assassin's tremendous Assassinator to Marz in the seventh. The eighth edition of the match saw two legends contest another battle in their storied feud: Marz and NJS.
#02 Gas Chamber
Best Known Match: Team EV vs. Z-Pack (April 2005)
Only one Gas Chamber match has even been contested in TWF history, but it was an instant classic and remains one of the most talked about matches in TWF history. From the way the set of the No Way BacK pay-per-view incorporated the chambers to the incredible reappearance of The Last Laugh, it summed up the TWF into one word: drama. With Holly and Louise, both team's respected managers, strapped by their wrists and ankles to chairs inside the chambers preventing them from escaping (and helping their teams), the winners would be the team that placed their opponents inside the chamber of their manager. The Z-Pack ended victorious, and whilst NJS and Lita got to know each other a little better in victory, Biggie's victory speech on top of the Team EV chamber became the subject of a best selling t-shirt.
#01 House of Pain
Best Known Match: House of Pain I (December 2002)
The House of Pain gets TWF fans excited every year when combatants each try to scale the two steel cages and claim the gold placed on top. All but one match has been for the TWF World Championship, making this match prestigious, yet still extremely brutal. The champion tosses a coin for "Champion's Advantage" whether he will enter first or last. Once the last man enters the ring, the fight is on as to who can reach the top of the cage and claim the prize. In the first match, participants could be eliminated by pinfall or submission but this rule was abandoned by the second edition. The House of Pain borrows principles from the Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble and WarGames matches and marries them into one package that sets TWF fans (and superstars) pulses racing every year. There are many memorable matches to choose from, but one moment that stands out is High Voltage's vicious Electric Shock to The AshTaker in the first match, that sent The AshTaker crashing to the arena floor from over 20 feet in the air.