Loser Leaves Town - Television Tropes & Idioms

So, a Professional Wrestling feud has gone on for seemingly ages, with constantly escalating acts of violence on both sides, and a regular blowoff just doesn't seem appropriate. Where do you go from here? Well, you have one final match to settle the score, and just to make sure it's really final, the Loser Leaves Town.

A Loser Leaves Town match originated in the old "territory" days of wrestling, where a common tactic would be to bring in a new wrestler, establish him as a monster heel through Squash Matches, then put him in a series of matches against the promotion's top face. After the heel had served his purpose, the face would cap off the feud by defeating him in a Loser Leaves Town match. The heel would disappear forever (usually just to one of the many other wrestling territories that existed in that day) and the face would move onto the next contender.

The more modern version is often called the "Loser Leaves (the promotion)", "Retirement", "Pink Slip", or just "You're Fired" match). As the name implies, a match where the loser goes away, never to return. Supposedly. Due to abuse of this trope, and subsequent use of the Reset Button, the joke in pro-wrestling fandom is that the average pro wrestler's retirement lasts about three months.

So, why have a Loser Leaves Town match? Sometimes, it's to explain the absence of a wrestler who's left the promotion. Other times, it's to give a wrestler time off to heal an injury, film a movie, or spend time with his family. Still others, it can be used to set up a Charlie Brown From Outta Town angle. And yet still other times, it's simply the only way to end a feud that's just gone on entirely too long and consumed the characters of both wrestlers. In the WWE world, with its three separate "brand" rosters, it can be used to move a wrestler from one brand to another. Rarely, if ever, does a Loser Leaves Town match actually quit wrestling; however, Gorilla Monsoon's last wrestling match was a Loser Leaves Town match that he lost.

Examples

For the last eight months or so of his career, Ric Flair wrestled under a stipulation that should he lose a single match, he would be forced to retire — thus turning all of his matches into Loser Leaves Town matches. He finally lost at Wrestlemania and did indeed retire, making this the rare example of the wrestler actually quitting wrestling when he lost: Flair's real life intent to retire was what sparked the storyline in the first place. It was the WWE's way of giving him a big sendoff.
- It is also worth noting that after losing a Loser Leaves Town match to Mr Perfect in 1993, Flair did not return to the WWE until 2001 - and then only because he had (kayfabe) bought a 50% share in the company.
The Undertaker lost one to Edge at One Night Stand 2008. This removal was for the purposes of recovering from injuries. And now, not even three months later, he's already back.
A stranger example occurred in 1999, where Vince McMahon was banished from the then-WWF for several months as a result of Undertaker losing a match to Steve Austin. What makes this strange is that the time period was essentially the exact time surrounding the WWF's IPO, making many suspect that Vince took himself out of the limelight to comply with SEC regulations.
William Regal also lost weeks ago this kind of match. Regal failed a drug test and the WWE needed a kayfarbe explanation for his suspension that followed said test.
Kevin Nash & Goldberg both lost Loser Leaves WCW matches to Scott Steiner in 2001, which actually stuck due to the company going out of business before they could be brought back.
One particularly egregious example from WCW featured Curt Hennig losing to Buff Bagwell in a Retirement Match, only to return to the ring THE NEXT DAY. Needless to say, this was booked by Vince Russo.
Video Game Example: Def Jam: Fight For NY has Crow challenge D-Mob to one of these, with the stipulation "Loser goes to Jersey".

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