Professional wrestling tag team match types
Much like singles matches, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder match and variations are also frequently used as a title feud blow-off match. Stipulations, such as "I Quit" or "loser leaves town" may also be applied.
The following are match variations that are specific to tag team wrestling.
Multiple man teamed matches
Tag team matches can range from two teams of two fighting, to multiple man teams challenging each other. Such examples are six-man tag team matches or eight-man tag team matches, in which two teams of three or two teams of four fight in a standard one fall tag team match.
Relevos Australianos
A six-man tag team match between two teams of three wrestlers. Each team has one wrestler designated as team captain. To win, a team must either score a fall against the opposing team's captain, or one fall each against both of the other wrestlers. These matches are often two out of three falls and rules about tagging in are often stretched. This match type is called Relevos Australianos ("Australian Rules") in Mexico and is most often seen in lucha libre promotions such as Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) although some non-Mexican promotions have used them as gimmick matches as well.[1]
Elimination-style matches
Elimination tag team matches
Elimination tag team matches are the same as a normal tag team match except that a wrestler who suffers a loss is eliminated from participation. The match continues until all members of one team are eliminated. WWE uses the term "Survivor Series match" to denote an eight or ten person match held during their yearly Survivor Series pay-per-view. Lucha libre wrestling promotions use the term Torneo cibernetico (cybernetic tournament) for multi-man elimination matches. Sometimes in these matches, there can be only one winner, so after the other team has been eliminated former teammates face each other in an elimination match. A further variation is where teams of four or more are composed of tag teams, and once a member of a team is eliminated their partner is also eliminated.
Three-way tag team elimination match
In a three-way tag team elimination match, three teams compete as tag teams with two or more members per team. One member of two teams start. Anyone could be tagged in by anyone else and can be subject to immediate disqualification for failure to accept a tag. When a wrestler is pinned, the entire team is eliminated and the last team left of the three wins.
Four-way tag team elimination match
Much like in a three-way tag team elimination match (see above), a four-way tag team elimination match (also known as a Fatal 4-way tag team elimination match, and at times has also been called the Raw Bowl and the Superstars Bowl), four teams compete. Anyone could be tagged in by anyone else and can be subject to immediate disqualification for failure to accept a tag. When a wrestler is pinned, the entire team is eliminated and the last team of the four wins.
Tag team turmoil
Tag team turmoil is another version of an elimination tag team match. The match has a team in each of the four corners to start the match, but as each team is eliminated another team takes its place, similar to a gauntlet match. Another variation of tag team turmoil took place at SummerSlam in 1999, Night Of Champions in 2010, and Night of Champions in 2013. Two teams start, when one is eliminated a new team comes to the ring until all teams have competed, the remaining team is the winner. This would again be used on the May 31, 2011 episode of NXT, with a team consisting of a WWE Pro and his NXT Rookie. Two teams start, but as each team is eliminated another team takes its place, as stated above. The winning team would earn 3 Redemption Points for the Rookie in this version.
Mixed matches
Intergender tag team match
This tag-team match features mixed-sex teams. It differs from a Mixed Tag Team match in that men and same time and face each other. Six person Intergender Tag Team matches are also common, popularized in the early 2000s by Team Extreme.
Mixed tag team match
This type of match features either mixed-sex (male and female) or mixed-size (midgets with a normal sized wrestler). Each wrestler is designated by category, which are male or female with mixed-sex teams and normal or midget with mixed-size teams. Only wrestlers in the same category may be in the ring at the same time. For example, if a woman tags her male partner, both women leave the ring and both men enter. If a midget tags his normal size partner, both midgets leave the ring and both normal size wrestlers enter.
Parejas Increibles Match
In this match the teams are composed of enemies or rivals. It is meant to illustrate the tension between the desire to win and the hatred for one's rival. As the name suggests, matches with these pairs are used more frequently in Mexico than anywhere else.[1] Since 2011 Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) holds their CMLL Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles.[2]
In the United States, however, this type of tag team format is used sometimes used in WWE, where it is called a "Strange Bedfellows" match. The now-defunct World Championship Wrestling referred to this type of tag team format as the Lethal Lottery, with the members of the winning tag teams advancing to the Battlebowl battle royal.
Parejas Suicidas
Another lucha libre variation of the tag team match, this one begins as a regular tag match but the two members from the losing team are forced to face each other in a Lucha de Apuestas, or bet match where the loser would be forced to either unmask or have their hair shaved off.[1]
Scramble
Primarily associated with Ring of Honor, a Scramble tag team match has one difference from the normal rules: when a wrestler goes out of the ring either of their own volition or by being forced out, a partner can come in as a replacement without being tagged in. This format is most commonly used in either four corner tags, or with teams of more than 2. The Scramble match can also be done as a six-man scramble where anyone can tag in anyone.
Scramble Cage
A match held inside a cage with wooden platforms in each of the corners for "high risk" moves. All men are allowed inside and outside of the cage. The match begins with two teams with another entering every two minutes. The match cannot be won until every team is in the match.
Tag team battle royal
This match is conducted similarly to a battle royal. If a wrestler is thrown over the ring ropes, both they and their partner are eliminated from the match. In most cases both wrestlers are considered active at the same time and there are no tags, as in a tornado tag match. Another variation of the tag team battle royal was used during the 2011 WWE Draft, where the wrestler's team has to eliminate all members of the opposing team, much like an elimination tag team match where the losing wrestler of a team, who just got thrown over the ring ropes, must return to his locker room. In this variation, the team consists of more than 2 men.
Tornado tag team match
Originally known as the Texas Tornado match. In this match, all wrestlers involved are allowed to be in the ring at the same time, and thus all wrestlers are vulnerable to having a fall scored against them. Whether or not it is truly a "tag team match" is debatable, as it involves no tagging, but it is contested between tag teams. The first match of this kind was held on October 2, 1937, in Houston between Milo Steinborn and Whiskers Savage against Tiger Daula and Fazul Mohammed. It was the brainchild of promoter Morris Sigel.