8 Ladder Matches That Redefined Wrestling History

The bag of money hung fifteen feet above the ring, and two men were about to tear each other apart to reach it. What began that night in a Calgary arena in 1972 would become one of professional wrestling’s most enduring gimmicks, the ladder match. From its earliest days in a small Canadian territory to its place as a WrestleMania tradition, these are the eight ladder matches that redefined the format and changed the course of the business.

1. Dan Kroffat vs. Tor Kamata: The First Ladder Match

The origins of the ladder match began in 1972 in Calgary.

In the early days of his career, “Cowboy” Dan Kroffat was recommended by his trainer, former Mr. Universe Earl Maynard, to move out to Calgary and wrestle under the tutelage of the legendary Stu Hart.

It was a good move, as Kroffat won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championships with Bill Cody in 1971 and then went on to pick up his first Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship after defeating American Canadian veteran Tor Kamata. After that, Kroffat and Kamata battled back and forth, and it was during this feud that the ladder match was conceptualized.

Dan pitched the idea of having a bag of money hanging from above the ring, with himself and Tor fighting each other to retrieve it.

So one Friday in September of 1972, at Calgary Stampede’s Victoria Pavilion, Kroffat and Kamata tested the idea. They knew the match concept was a good one almost instantly, as Kroffat revealed in an interview with CBC.

“I had erected the ladder, and Tor Kamata was on the outside of the ring, and I was slowly climbing up. The crowd was deafening. I knew we had control of the evening.”

Kroffat continued, “As I reached for the bag of money, it was a noise that I had not heard before. The people were going crazy, and when Tor came in and pushed the ladder over, and then he hit me over the head, and he put the ladder up and started climbing up, the crowd went crazy again. And right there and then, I knew we had something that could be successful.”

Bruce Hart credits Kroffat as the innovator of this style match.

“We had a revolutionary thinking babyface Dan Kroffat, the guy who came up with the idea of the ladder match, and the first one happened around that time with him.”

Like all good ideas, it was not long until the concept caught on, and soon, the spectacle was seen on an international stage.

Kendo Nagasaki, portrayed by British grappler Peter Thornley, took the match back with him to the United Kingdom after finishing his run with Calgary in the mid 1970s. Verne Gagne ran ladder matches in the American Wrestling Association throughout the 1980s, and Dusty Rhodes, who loved a good gimmick match, used it in multiple promotions.

2. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, First WWE Ladder Match

It was not until the mid-1990s that the ladder match made its way to WWE, thanks to Calgary’s favorite son.

In 1983, Stampede Wrestling fans saw Bad News Allen take on Bret Hart in a ladder match. It must have stuck with the Hitman, because he found himself pitching the idea to Vince McMahon a few years later.

“I was the one that had been trying to get Vince for years to let me have a ladder match, and somewhere back in the months earlier, he had me do a ladder match with Shawn Michaels,” Bret Hart recalled, speaking to WWE’s The Bump, as transcribed by 411 Mania.

“I could pick anyone; I picked Shawn. So I went to Shawn and explained what a ladder match was. It was a TV taping, but we had a dark match, and we did this ladder match, and it was all to show Vince what the concept was.”

It may have been the first ladder match in WWE. Still, it was not shown on television or released on home video for some time, and as such most credit Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon as the innovators of the World Wrestling Federation’s newest attraction, since their WrestleMania X classic was the first such bout WWE broadcast on air.

This understandably does not sit well with Bret Hart.

“Had I known at WrestleMania X that Shawn and Razor were going to steal my ladder match idea, which they did, it was just a flat-out theft, and I was always kind of disappointed by that because it was my match, and I just wanted Shawn to demonstrate it.”

3. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, WrestleMania X

So Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon may have stolen history from the Hitman’s grasp, but that does not make their match any less beloved.

In September of 1993, Shawn Michaels was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship for failure to defend the title within 30 days, though the actual reason was that Shawn had failed a drug test and was suspended.

Shawn refused to give his title back, and the storyline mixed with reality. By the time Shawn did return, title and all, WWE had crowned Razor Ramon the new champion, and the stage was set for a WrestleMania showdown with two belts hanging high above the ring.

Shawn Michaels shared his memories of the match with Sports Illustrated.

“Back then, we did not even think we would possibly break the ladder or that we would need a backup,” Michaels said. “There was only one. We were so used to calling it in the ring.

“When he lifted the pad, Scott remembered calling that heat spot outside the ring. Everyone could not believe we called so much of it on the fly. But we had worked with each other for long enough to know where the other was going and never had to say a word.”

Shawn continued, “We were not aware, at that time, of what we were creating. We wanted to create something unique and tear the house down. But we never had the depth to think it would be historic or stand the test of time.”

The match ended with Razor Ramon grabbing both belts to the roar of an audience in awe of what they had experienced. They had stolen the show, and the ladder match was here to stay.

The two teams did not return to the back with a heroic celebration.

The match had overrun, forcing a ten-man tag team match to be bumped to Raw the following night, and the wrestlers involved were not happy about it, as Jim Ross revealed on the Grilling JR podcast, as transcribed by Inside The Ropes.

“Guys got bumped from the biggest match of their lives. So, of course, you are going to get upset. So here is the deal. In that match, they just had spots laid out. They wanted to get them in; they thought the spots that were building to the end of the match were imperative. So, with that said, they torpedoed and steered the course; they went so long that I guess you cannot justify getting a whole match bunked. We are going to go to hell with it. You cannot justify it being good.”

Ross further said, “If it were them and they were in an advertised match that got cut completely, they would still be yelling and screaming, raising hell. It was a good match, but it would have been good on time. Just as good. And I thought they stayed a little long, but it was a negative experience that did not do any favors for Shawn and Razor. They were looked upon as selfish and just defiant.”

It may be one of the many stories of The Kliq annoying other wrestlers, but it is also one of the many stories of The Kliq changing wrestling history for the better.

The match was well received enough that Michaels and Ramon did it again a year later at SummerSlam 1995, this time with Shawn Michaels picking up the win.

With a new millennium approaching, it was time for the ladder match to evolve, and it would do so with the tag team scene.

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4. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz, No Mercy 1999

At No Mercy 1999, The Brood members Edge and Christian were set to take on The New Brood, The Hardy Boyz, with Terri Runnels’ managerial services on the line.

The four wrestlers pushed each other through a punishing match that night and raised the bar for all future ladder matches to come.

With high-impact ladder collisions and dramatic falls to the outside of the ring, there was a sense of change in the locker room regarding what was now expected from the rest of the roster.

As Matt Hardy recalled on his podcast, “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy,” the two teams were shown considerable respect once they made it backstage, as transcribed by wrestlingnews.co.

“As far as I know, there was not any pushback, but I definitely could sense some of the top-tier talent guys thought, ‘Oh, you have all these young guys out here, and maybe they are doing too much. This is going to kill the flow of the show.’ So I kind of had a bit of that sense. I remember very well that Mick Foley congratulated us when the match was over.”

He further added, “It was just the most heartfelt congratulations. He is a guy who made such a name doing death matches and taking insane, crazy bumps. He saw us go out there and do this amazing match that was a breakthrough scenario as far as ladder matches go.”

Hardy continued, “The other person that stands out to me is Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Steve was the hottest person in the industry at this time. One of the biggest draws and biggest attractions ever.”

“He approached us at the very end and said, ‘Hell guys, I have to tell you. You cannot lie about this one. You guys stole the show tonight.’ To get that compliment from him, that was mind blowing. We cheered with Edge, Christian, and Steve and had a beer after the match. Considering Steve was the top guy who could put a thumb on somebody if he wanted to, or say these guys did too much, they needed to scale things down or tune things down a little bit, he did not. He was cool and was like, hell yeah, full speed forward.”

The Hardy Boyz picked up the victory that night, but the real winners were the fans in attendance.

Little did either team know, there was still one more team needed to help catapult each other to ladder match immortality.

5. Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz, WrestleMania 2000

This three-way battle for the tag team titles was only the second ladder match at WrestleMania, six years after Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels.

After showing the world how exciting a ladder match could be with four men, it was time to raise the number to six, and few teams suited the hard-hitting stipulation better than one of the most hardcore tag teams of all time, The Dudley Boyz.

The Dudley Boyz had won the tag team championships from The New Age Outlaws at the previous event, No Way Out. Edge and Christian had battled The Hardy Boyz at No Mercy, and The Dudley Boyz had faced The Hardy Boyz in a tables match at the Royal Rumble a few months prior. Everything was set for a three-way feud, one that would ultimately have led to the breakup of Edge and Christian, as Christian revealed on Matt Hardy’s podcast, via 411Mania.

“I think maybe a few days before we actually sat down to put this together, we did not even know what the finish was. Somebody else was winning at one point, and Edge and Christian were splitting up after this. So we kind of started talking a little bit before or after this, and then we turned.”

“They told us to say whatever we wanted, and Adam and I started dropping F-bombs. We were not supposed to, we were supposed to lose, which changed their minds. They were like, ‘Oh, these guys are not done yet. There are more layers, as a tag.’ Then they decided to have us win the match and then turn heel because they saw some personality there when we were doing that promo. Then, we did a couple of things on commentary, which saved Edge and Christian as a team because we were going to split up after this.”

Just when the pace seemed to reach its limit, spot after extraordinary spot drew reaction from everyone in attendance, with the audience’s response audible to commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

Although Edge and Christian won the match, all six competitors emerged from WrestleMania as bigger stars.

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6. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, SummerSlam 2000

Rather than wait to see who could top their WrestleMania feats, the three teams decided to raise the stakes themselves at the first Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match.

The stipulation suited these six competitors specifically. The Hardy Boyz favored spectacular dives from elevated positions.

The Dudley Boyz had been putting opponents through tables for years, and in the months after WrestleMania, Edge and Christian had begun using a new, dangerous move, the Conchairto, in which they sandwiched an opponent’s head between two steel chairs.

It was left to then commissioner and hardcore veteran Mick Foley to declare the first Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match official.

The only difference between a TLC match and a standard ladder match is that chairs and tables are already positioned at ringside, making them easier to access. The WrestleMania ladder match series became the foundation of the trilogy.

Edge recalled the match in an interview on Busted Open Radio, via Fightful.

“We all were trying to figure out the sequence of events and how it should go. I think the debate was do we do the spear or do the crash and burn with Bubba Ray Dudley and Matt through the tables,” Edge said. “It was really the only time the six of us were at a standstill, and it got heated but not in an ‘I hate you’ heated way, but in a ‘we care about this, we are passionate, and we want this to be the best it can absolutely be’ way. Because, at that point, there was a lot of pressure on us. I think that was the boiling point where we all went, a lot is riding on this, we have to make it perfect, which is never possible. But that thing was as close to perfect as you can possibly get.”

In the same interview, host Bubba Ray Dudley recalled Jeff Hardy missing his ladder run spot, an unusual occurrence given that Jeff Hardy was typically the one willing to attempt the riskiest moments.

“The only person who screwed up in that match is Jeff Hardy, who is the last person ever we expect to screw up, because when we would put the matches together, we would always say, what is Jeff going to do? Then we would book it out backward because we knew Jeff would have the most spectacular of all the spots.”

TLC 2 featured the memorable spot where Edge dove off the ladder, spearing a dangling Jeff Hardy and knocking himself out.

It was the final match featuring the original six competitors, but not the last TLC match. The concept began to feature new competitors and moved beyond the triple threat tag team format, expanding into single and multi-man matches.

It eventually earned its own annual pay-per-view.

7. The Money In The Bank Ladder Match, WrestleMania 21

The ladder match, in one form or another, had become an unofficial WrestleMania tradition.

One week after No Way Out 2005, the road to WrestleMania 21 was underway, and Chris Jericho announced a new WrestleMania stipulation: a six-man ladder match in which the winner would receive a guaranteed championship match at any time or place of his choosing.

Although the storyline credits Chris Jericho with creating the Money in the Bank match, he revealed to ESPN that he had assistance.

“From a storyline standpoint, we always say I invented it, but from a reality standpoint, if it was a song, I co-wrote it with Brian Gerwitz, the head writer at the time. We were looking for a WrestleMania match. It was one of those years, nothing was going on for a lot of us, which was kind of a drag. There were a few ideas thrown around. Just a lot of fairly big name guys that did not really have much to do.”

Jericho considered what could feature everyone left off the WrestleMania card that year, and the idea came to him on the drive home from a show.

“So I said, ‘What if we do some ladder match where the winner gets a title shot the next night on Raw?’ And Brian said, ‘What if you can cash it in for a year? So you can have a title shot whenever you want at any point in the next year.’

“It was not created when you could cash it in five seconds. That evolved. So, Brian and I honed it, and then Brian pitched it to Vince, and he called me back and said Vince loves it. He said the only thing that Vince insists on is that the contract has to be in a briefcase. All right, if that is what he wants, put it in a briefcase.”

The match proved to be a significant success. Not only did the bout itself entertain, but the anticipation continued for a year afterward, with audiences wondering when and where the briefcase would be cashed in.

Edge made history by winning the inaugural Money in the Bank match. He defeated Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Christian, and Kane.

He later cashed in on a beaten John Cena, who had just survived an Elimination Chamber match at New Year’s Revolution 2006. It was Edge’s first world title win, notable given that he initially wanted no part of the Money in the Bank match.

“There was some convincing for me to be part of this match. It was just sold to me as, hey, we got this ladder match, and it will be a briefcase over the top and six guys, and the winner has a contract that he can go for the world heavyweight title anytime within a year. It was not a great sales pitch. And I went, ‘Nah, I am good.'”

Edge explained why the idea initially did not appeal to him. “I truly took the mindset that if this is my only way onto Mania this year, I do not need to be on Mania. I go from one ladder match to another, and then I have two years off from a broken neck. And I am back in a ladder match again. So it just felt like I had not made any kind of traction in that time. Not only that, I got a double fusion in my neck. So by that point, ladder matches probably are not the healthiest thing for my neck.”

Edge changed his mind once he learned what was at stake and the prize awaiting the winner.

“The concept of cash in anytime, anywhere, none of that was talked about initially. That, to me, was the key selling point because now, that makes it really interesting. Now it is not just me challenging John Cena; it will take place at the Royal Rumble. So when they told me anytime, anywhere, I was sold.”

Money in the Bank occurred at every WrestleMania for the next five years before becoming its own annual event.

8. The Women’s Ladder Matches That Changed Wrestling History

In 2017, further history was made when the first women’s Money in the Bank contest was held and won by James Ellsworth, who handed the briefcase to Carmella.

Nearly ten years before that, at TNA Sacrifice 2008, a TNA Knockout Battle Royale was held. The match consisted of standard battle royal rules until the final two competitors, Gail Kim and Roxxi, remained.

The contest then switched to a ladder match, in which the winner was named number one contender, and the loser, in this case Roxxi, had her head shaved. TNA arguably could have claimed to hold the first women’s ladder match in mainstream wrestling had the stipulation not been buried under additional gimmicks.

According to Cagematch, the first true women’s ladder match occurred in Ohio Valley Wrestling on December 23, 2006, when Katie Lea Burchill defeated Beth Phoenix.

So while Edge can claim to be an innovator of the multi-man ladder match and the first winner of both the first TLC match and the first Money in the Bank match, his wife Beth Phoenix has her own place in ladder match history as one of the first female competitors to compete in such a bout.

Further Ladder Matches That Deserve Spotlight

This article mostly covered WWE matches, and even then, there was far more territory left untouched, since a complete history of these matches would fill an entire book.

WCW also produced several notable ladder matches, including a triple threat between 3 Count, The Jung Dragons, and the team of Jamie Knoble and Evan Karagias, likely inspired by the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches happening in WWE that same year.

Fans of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn who have not seen their work outside WWE should watch their emotional clash for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Final Battle 2012.

Another memorable Ring of Honor ladder match saw The Young Bucks defeat The Hardy Boyz at Supercard of Honor in 2017. Although The Young Bucks won that night, The Hardy Boyz returned to WWE 24 hours later at WrestleMania and won the WWE tag team titles in another ladder match.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has held four documented ladder matches in company history to date: Manabu Nakanishi versus Hiroshi Tanahashi versus TARU at NJPW Wrestle Land in 2007, Kenny Omega versus Michael Elgin at NJPW Dominion in 2016, Taichi versus Tama Tonga at Dontaku in 2021, and a four-way Tokyo Terror ladder match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 19 in 2025.

The Legacy of the Ladder Match

The ladder match remains a fixture across professional wrestling promotions worldwide, having long outgrown its origins as a regional novelty.

As the ladder match evolved, it brought professional wrestling with it, with more high-risk and intricate spots that allowed smaller wrestlers and hardcore performers to entertain a crowd in ways larger main event stars often could not.

So the next time a wrestler signals a leap from twenty feet in the air, or crashes from the top of a ladder through a chorus of broken tables, it is worth remembering the performers who pioneered these spectacles by taking considerable risks along the way, beginning with two men and a bag of money in a Calgary arena in 1972.

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