In the wake of WWE’s TLC pay per view, we thought it’d be a great time to talk about ladder matches.  Most wrestling fans think the first ladder match took place at Wrestlemania X.  It was a classic battle between Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) and Shawn Michaels.  However, did you know that the origins of the ladder match go back over 40 years?

The ladder match could have been invented by either Dan Kroffat of the Stampede Wrestling organization out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada or British wrestler Kendo Nagasaki. In September 1972, Stampede Wrestling held the first ever ladder match between Dan Kroffat and Tor Kamata, where the object to be grabbed was a wad of money.^[2] In 1987, Kendo Nagasaki competed in a ‘Disco Challenge’ ladder match against Clive Myers on the popular World of Sport. The aim of this match was to retrieve a gold coloured disco record suspended above the ring.^[3]

In July 1983, Stampede Wrestling held a ladder match in which Bret Hart faced off against Bad News Allen. Hart went on to join the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, and, in the early 1990s, suggested this type of match to promoter Vince McMahon, years before the gimmick achieved its eventual popularity. (Wikipedia)

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