History LoopholeAbuse / ProfessionalWrestling

* Classic ProfessionalWrestling trope. The most obvious is the loophole that a title (usually) can't change hands unless the victory is 'clean'; if a heel were to, say, disqualify himself by hitting an opponent (restrained by his allies) in the groin with a foreign object while outside the ring over 10 seconds, he'd retain it. Then there's the classic No Holds Barred/Street Fight/Hardcore match, where there Ain't No Rules. Aside from 'win via pinfall or submission'.

** Turns out that although the Rumble winner ''may'' challenge any champion they choose, there ain't no rule saying they ''must'' challenge a title holder. When [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]] emerge as the victor of the first ever Women's Royal Rumble, she was given her choice of: [[Wrestling/CharlotteFlair Charlotte Flair]] (RAW Women's Champ at the time), [[Wrestling/AlexaBliss Alexa Bliss]] (the SDL Women's Champ) and as a surprising [[TakeAThirdOption alternate choice]], the debuting-in-WWE [[Creator/RondaRousey Ronda Rousey]].

*** Those who aren't entrants can do this to just as long the referees don't see them. At the 1999, The Undertaker simply had the room darken in order to have [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield The]] [[Wrestling/RonSimmons Acolytes]] and [[Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness Mideon]] to go get Mabel [[spoiler: in order to turn him into Viscera]].

** Four: Elimination by going over the top rope only, through the ropes or under them doesn't count. Many wrestlers had this happened and they were safe because of it.
*** A famous example of this was in the 1999 Royal Rumble when both Steve Austin and Wrestling/VinceMcMahon went through the ropes and returned later on, though the latter had help in hopes of keeping the former from return in order to have him eliminated since that can be happened if the wrestler isn't able to return. [[spoiler: It didn’t work, as Austin was able to return by driving an ambulance while The Undertaker was taking Mabel]].
*** However, holding on the top rope and getting back in is considered safe. Wrestling/SantinoMarella thought he got Wrestling/KofiKingston, Wrestling/ChrisJericho, Wrestling/DolphZiggler, and Wrestling/CodyRhodes by throwing them over the rope, as the rule states, only to discover all the men held on and who can guess who's next.
*** Hiding underneath the ring, provided you were tossed through the ropes, can help you avoid elimination just as long you'll be able to return. Wrestling/JerryLawler tried in 1996, only to be caught and later eliminated by [[Wrestling/ShawnMichaels another]] who was thrown the through ropes and knew where to find Lawler.

*** Wrestling/JakeRoberts brought one in 1989 in order to deal with Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes who's afraid of snakes]]. He did it again in 1996 and 1997, though Steve Austin wasn’t going to let that happened. The snakes were later removed and [[ObviousRulePatch hopefully this is changed]] to only allow humans, though dressing up as an animal like a bull is still okay--we're looking at you, El Torito.

** One loophole that was considered, but never actually played involved Zach Gowen, a one-legged wrestler--the script said he could not be eliminated because he doesn't have "both feet".

* There ain't no rule saying that whoever wins the Wrestling/MoneyInTheBank briefcase can't cash it in during the same pay-per-view in which they won it -- Wrestling/{{Kane}}, Wrestling/DeanAmbrose and Wrestling/AlexaBliss have all done this succesfully.
** Also, although the title match is a "normal" match -- the usual rules about foreign objects and cheating apply -- there's nothing preventing the briefcase holder from confronting the champ in the ring, beating the stuffing out of them in all sorts of underhanded ways (often using the briefcase itself as a weapon) and ''then'' cashing it in to score an easy victory over a wounded opponent.
* At ''[=WrestleMania=] 31'', Wrestling/SethRollins cashed in his briefcase on the champion, Wrestling/BrockLesnar. What's unusual about that? Lesnar was in the middle of a championship match with Wrestling/RomanReigns at the time. Apparently there wasn't any rule saying that he couldn't cash in ''during'' a championship match, thus making it into a triple threat, which he then proceeded to win.

* The ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' match is technically inter-gender because it's open to ''all'' divisions, including [[Characters/WWEDivas female wrestlers]], and there have been four female entrants so far[[note]]Wrestling/{{Chyna}} in 1999 and 2000, Wrestling/BethPhoenix in 2010, [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Kharma]] in 2012, and Wrestling/NiaJax in 2019[[/note]]. Since the winner is given a chance to challenge the current champion (in this case WWE World Heavyweight Champion), but there ''isn't a rule it has to be a guy'', if a woman enters and wins the Royal Rumble, she could, in theory, challenge the current champion.

*** Wrestling/JakeTheSnakeRoberts brought one in 1989 in order to deal with Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes who's afraid of snakes]]. He did it again in 1996 and 1997, though Steve Austin wasn’t going to let that happened. The snakes were later removed and [[ObviousRulePatch hopefully this is changed]] to only allow humans, though dressing up as an animal like a bull is still okay--we're looking at you, El Torito.

* The ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' match is technically inter-gender because it's open to ''all'' divisions, including [[Characters/WWEDivas female wrestlers]], and there have been three female entrants so far[[note]]Wrestling/{{Chyna}} in 1999 and 2000, Wrestling/BethPhoenix in 2010, and [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Kharma]] in 2012[[/note]]. Since the winner is given a chance to challenge the current champion (in this case WWE World Heavyweight Champion), but there ''isn't a rule it has to be a guy'', if a woman enters and wins the Royal Rumble, she could, in theory, challenge the current champion.

* When it comes to the [[GimmickMatches Elimination Chamber Match]], there is no rule that forbids one for a chance at any other Championship matches. Considering, this type of match is offered for those who failed to win a chance for a match up at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' via the ''Royal Rumble'' for a chance at another title match and the World and Heavyweight have been unified, there’s a chance to allow Intercontinental Championship or United States Championship to be offered this way, same goes with Divas.

* At ''[=WrestleMania=] 31'', Wrestling/SethRollins cashed in his briefcase on the champion, Wrestling/BrockLesnar. What's unusual about that? Lesnar was in the middle of a championship match with Wrestling/RomanReigns at the time. Apparently there wasn't any rule saying that he couldn't cash in ''during'' a championship match, thus making it into a triple threat- which he then proceeded to win.

* Really, anything with Wrestling/KofiKingston will definitely have him use LoopholeAbuse somehow. At the ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XXX'' Andre the Giant Battle Royal, he was hurled over the ring post, with his feet landing on the bottom ring step, to avoid elimination.

* At ''[=WrestleMania=] 31'', Wrestling/SethRollins cashed in his Wrestling/MoneyInTheBank briefcase on the champion, Wrestling/BrockLesnar. What's unusual about that? Lesnar was in the middle of a championship match with Wrestling/RomanReigns at the time. Apparently there wasn't any rule saying that he couldn't cash in ''during'' a championship match, thus making it into a triple threat- which he then proceeded to win.

*** Look closely during the 1997 Rumble and you can catch Austin diving under the ropes after Ahmed Johnson eliminates Farooq.

** Although Wrestling/ChrisBenoit did take advantage of a different loophole due to the brand split that divided wrestlers between the Raw and Smackdown shows. Benoit was a Smackdown wrestler when he won the Rumble, but after he earned a world championship match it was pointed out that no rule said he had to challenge for the ''Smackdown'' world title. Instead he turned up on the next Raw to challenge for that belt.
* In recent years, ''the commentators themselves'' have been eligible to be named as Royal Rumble participants, which can lead to surreal scenarios such as that of the 2012 match, when Wrestling/JerryLawler, Wrestling/BookerT and Wrestling/MichaelCole were all entered and at one point were out of their seats at the same time (actually, Lawler and Booker had already been eliminated, but the Rumble is a No-DQ match so ain't no rule an outside party can't get involved), so for a very brief period of time ''nobody'' was calling the match!

* LuchaUnderground wrestler Pentagon Jr. gets around his contract's television/PPV exclusivity clause to promote himself by having a friend or fellow wrestler film a fan cam version of his matches and then live streams them onto Facebook.

** Although ChrisBenoit did take advantage of a different loophole due to the brand split that divided wrestlers between the Raw and Smackdown shows. Benoit was a Smackdown wrestler when he won the Rumble, but after he earned a world championship match it was pointed out that no rule said he had to challenge for the ''Smackdown'' world title. Instead he turned up on the next Raw to challenge for that belt.

* In a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Ring of Fire]] Match, having a wrestler set on fire no longer will result in a win unlike its predecessor [[note]]the Inferno Match, set in a ring surrounded by fire[[/note]], but it can only be won by pinfall or submission. The fire is to prevent outside interference, but there’s no rule barring anyone from simply putting down a fire-resistant blanket to create a path to allow it. Wrestling/LukeHarper and Wrestling/ErickRowan resorted to this to help Wrestling/BrayWyatt deal with Wrestling/{{Kane}} at ''Wrestling/SummerSlam 2013''.

* On the 2/5/01 edition of Raw Is War, Vince [=McMahon=] announced a Three Stages of Hell match between Steve Austin and Triple H at ''Wtestling/NoWayOut'' to settle their differences. [=McMahon=] then instituted a "zero tolerance" decree and said that if either man attacked the other before No Way Out, Austin would lose his WrestleMania match and Triple H would be suspended for six months. After Austin signed his name on paper, Triple H struck him in the back of the head with the clipboard and assaulted him. He then revealed to an irate [=McMahon=] that he still had to sign the contract, which he then did.

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Misterio ''Jr.''[[note]]The "i" is the correct Spanish spelling; it was changed to be spelled with a "y" in WWE to make the connection to the English word mystery more apparent[[/note]], and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV [[note]]His The original Rey Misterio, was unmasked in 1988 and had never re-masked. Enough time had passed, however, so he was allowed to re-mask if he ever so chose, which he did as part of the plan.[[/note]]. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Misterio ''Jr.''[[note]]The "i" is the correct Spanish spelling; it was changed to be spelled with a "y" in WWE to make the connection to the English word mystery more apparent[[/note]], and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV [[note]]His uncle, the original Rey Misterio, was never unmasked[[/note]]. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Misterio ''Jr.''[[note]]The "i" is the correct Spanish spelling; it was changed to be spelled with a "y" to make the connection to the English word mystery more apparent[[/note]], and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV [[note]]His uncle, the original Rey Misterio, was never unmasked[[/note]]. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Misterio ''Jr.''[[note]]The "i" is the correct Spanish spelling; it was changed to be spelled with a "y" to make the connection to the English word mystery more apparent[[/note]], and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV [[note]]His uncle, the original Rey Misterio, was never unmasked[[/note]]]. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Misterio ''Jr.''[[note]]The "i" is the correct Spanish spelling; it was changed to be spelled with a "y" to make the connection to the English word mystery more apparent[[/note]], and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV [[note:His uncle, the original Rey Misterio, was never unmasked]]. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Misterio ''Jr.''[[The "i" is the correct Spanish spelling; it was changed to be spelled with a "y" to make the connection to the English word mystery more apparent]], and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV[[note:His uncled, the original Rey Misterio, was never unmasked]]. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Mysterio ''Jr.'', and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)

* When it comes to an "open" championship match (which is "open" to anyone standing in the ring when the opening bell chimes), you can run across the ring upon the bell being ringed and stay underneath until the right moment; the match would still be valid. A [[Wrestling/{{Hornswoggle}} certain leprechaun]] was able to get the cruiserweight by doing that at ''The Great American Bash'' in 2007!

* Rollins also invoked (he never actually mentioned it, but the commentators did) a particularly sneaky one in his WWE Championship match with Wrestling/RandyOrton, where he was granted a stipulation and he chose to set the rule that "the RKO is banned." The beauty of this rule (which Rollins may or may not have been aware of when he made it, but he was certainly aware of it when the time came), is that signature moves are often just standard, classic moves named after the Superstar using them; in this case, the RKO is merely Orton's term for the "jumping cutter" move. So...an RKO is only an RKO if ''Randy Orton'' performs it - or, at its broadest, if someone whose first name begins with the letter R performs it. "Seth" does ''not'' begin with an R; therefore, he was able to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard use a jumping cutter on Orton and call it an "SKO."]] (Of course, Rollins had the backing of Wrestling/TheAuthority anyway, which meant that [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem he could just have them invalidate the rule]] even if someone had found a way to close the loophole.)

* On the 2/5/01 edition of Raw Is War, Vince [=McMahon=] announced a Three Stages of Hell match between Steve Austin and Triple H at ''Wtestling/NoWayOut'' to settle their differences. [=McMahon=] then instituted a "zero tolerance" decree and said that if either man attacked the other before No Way Out, Austin would lose his WrestleMania match and Triple H would be suspended for six months. After Austin signed his name on paper, Triple H struck him in the back of the head with the clipboard and assaulted him. He then revealed to an irate [=McMahon )=] that he still had to sign the contract, which he then did.

* The ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' match is technically inter-gender because it's open to ''all'' divisions, including [[Characters/WWEDivas Divas]], and there have been three so far[[note]]Wrestling/{{Chyna}} in 1999 and 2000, Wrestling/BethPhoenix in 2010, and [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Kharma]] in 2012[[/note]]. Since the winner is given a chance to challenge the current champion (in this case WWE World Heavyweight Champion), but there ''isn't a rule it has to be a guy'', if a diva enters and wins the Royal Rumble, she could, in theory, challenge the current champion, even if it's an inter-gender since the WWE Divas Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, nor WWE United States Championship is mention... it used to be the WWE Championship or World Heavyweight before it was unified.
* Others have pointed out that nothing in the rules explicitly states that the winner must challenge for a ''WWE'' world championship (which is assumed to be a given); all it says is that the winner gets a championship match at ''[=WrestleMania=]''. Thus, the winner could theoretically jump promotions by challenging for the Wrestling/{{TNA}} Heavyweight Championship, necessitating [[CanonWelding a cross-promotional main event]] at ''[=WrestleMania=]'' (although this has, of course, never actually happened).

*** Those won't aren't entrants can do this to just as long the referees don't see them. At the 1999, The Undertaker simply had the room darken in order to have [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield The]] [[Wrestling/RonSimmons Acolytes]] and [[Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness Mideon]] to go get Mabel [[spoiler: in order to turn him into Viscera]].

** Three: The feet have to be on the mat to count as an elimination, but there are no rules against any method to avoid elimination.

*** Most famous example of this was in the 1999 Royal Rumble when both Steve Austin and Wrestling/VinceMcMahon went through the ropes and returned later on, though the latter had help in hopes of keeping the former from return in order to have him eliminated since that can be happened if the wrestler isn't able to return. [[spoiler: It didn’t work, as Austin was able to return by driving an ambulance while Wrestling/TheUndertaker was taking Mabel]].

** Nine: Speaking of which, size doesn't matter: much like Divas, those with dwarfism are also allowed, such as Wrestling/{{Hornswoggle}} in 2011 and El Torito in 2014.
** One loophole that was considered, but never actually played involved Zach Gowen, a one-legged wrestler that, the script said, could not be eliminated because he doesn't have "both feet".

* This is the main reason why Wrestling/ReyMysterio was allowed to keep his mask in the WWE in spite of the fact that he was unmasked in WCW. He was unmasked as Rey Mysterio ''Jr.'', and by dropping the "Jr." In his ring name, he was representing his uncle's image on TV. At least, that's the ''official'' ruling -- the reality is because Wrestling/EricBischoff's handling of his unmasking was extremely disrespectful, especially when his reasoning for doing so was that masked wrestlers weren't "marketable" (which, as the thousands of Rey Mysterio masks amongst legions of WWE fans can tell you, is the ''farthest'' from the truth). This angered the commission enough to allow Rey to re-mask without any repercussions. (Even then- Mysterio would wrestle under the mask in the United States and in most countries, but wrestled unmasked in events in Mexico, either past WCW's closing or in the WWE, until 2006, passing the time period given before a unmasked wrestler is allowed to re-mask.)
* On the 2/5/01 edition of Raw Is War, Vince McMahon announced a Three Stages of Hell match between Steve Austin and Triple H at No Way Out to settle their differences. McMahon then instituted a "zero tolerance" decree and said that if either man attacked the other before No Way Out, Austin would lose his WrestleMania match and Triple H would be suspended for six months. After Austin signed his name on paper, Triple H struck him in the back of the head with the clipboard and assaulted him. He then revealed to an irate McMahon that he still had to sign the contract, which he then did.