King of the Mountain match

The King of the Mountain match is a professional wrestling match exclusive to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It consists of five competitors competing for the World Heavyweight Championship of TNA. The match is a staple of the annual Slammiversary pay-per-view event in June.

Match format

The five competitors in the match start out as "ineligible" to win. In order to become "eligible", a wrestler must score a pinfall or submission on an opponent. The opponent who submits or is pinned is forced to spend two minutes in the "penalty box" cage. More than one wrestler can be in the cage. This often results in wrestlers fighting inside the cage or forming some sort of alliance.

Once "eligible", the wrestler may win the match by retrieving the belt and hanging it on the hook suspended above the ring with the aid of the ladders. A TNA official maintains possession of the belt and circles the ring, staying out of the action as much as possible. When a wrestler wishes to hang the belt, he must retrieve it from the official. Once the belt is in play, any other wrestler who is eligible may attempt to steal the belt and hang it. Once the belt has been dropped and no wrestler is attempting to hang it, a referee returns the belt to the official.

The matchup is similar to the more common ladder match, which has the belt suspended above the ring and the winner is the one who retrieves it with the use of a ladder. The King of the Mountain match is considered backwards in nature to the ladder match, as the competitors attempt to hang the belt instead of retrieving it.

Match history

Variations

At the June 05 2008 iMPACT! edition there was an X Division King of the Mountain Match. For this match, the big red "X" usually associated with Ultimate X matches was used as the object to be hung over the ring.

References