Jake Roberts believes WWE killed the Steel Cage Match.
The Steel Cage Match is one of the oldest gimmick matches in professional wrestling history. While nobody knows the exact origins of the Cage Match, they have been used for decades to settle scores between rivals when a basic match just will not do.
Through the years, many variations of the Steel Cage Match have appeared in various promotions. Whether it be Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, or War Games, many different cage matches have a merge with many different sets of rules.
However, WWE has always had a rule in their Cage Matches that the match can conclude when both feet of any participant hit the arena floor. Jake Roberts believes Vince McMahon, in introducing this rule, killed The credibility of the cage match and the reasoning for the gimmick match, to begin with.
As he explains on the most recent episode of his podcast with Diamond Dallas Page, DDP Snake Pit, Jake Roberts never felt right about the WWE style of Cage Matches.
"Vince McMahon, for all the good he did in wrestling, he ruined the cage," said Jake. "When he made the Cage Match finish, you had to escape the cage — That was the whole reason you had the cage! You had the cage to keep that chickenshit in the ring with you so you can get even with him and so you can keep other people out."
He continued, "Vince ruined the whole damn thing and says the one who escapes the cage is the winner. Are you serious? That blows off all the heat! Sorry, Vince, you really — throw a flag on that, two flags. Throw you out of the game. I remember all the years that I worked I went up there and they change that. I was like, 'Oh my God, what are you thinking?' I still don't get what they were thinking and I don't think I ever will."
Today, WWE Steel Cage Matches have pinfall and submission as a possible victory method in addition to escaping the cage. Most recently, WWE hosted their Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia. You can see the full results here.
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