What If The WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match Had Flopped?

There are few matches from the last twenty five years more profoundly influential on WWE and the wrestling world at large than the Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 10.

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The match has not necessarily aged well—fans who watch it today tend to feel underwhelmed in comparison to more recent Ladder Matches with more dramatic high spots, greater carnage, and more creative maneuvering.

Nonetheless, the WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match charted a new course for wrestling. Ladder Matches had occurred in Stampede Wrestling, and for a house show match between Michaels and Bret Hart, taped for Coliseum Video. But, Michaels vs. Ramon was the first Ladder Match aired on a mainstream WWE broadcast, let alone at the biggest show of the year, emanating from the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.

The spots the two did execute, and the drama they built—particularly by 1994 standards—started the popularization of Ladder Matches and a more hardcore, plunder-oriented style in WWE in general. That’s not to mention its impacts on HBK and The Bad Guy’s individual careers.

This article speculates what might have been had this match not been so well received, but rather flopped.

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#5 No TLC

TLC Matches like the Shield's comeback match in 2017 have done big business for WWE.

The success of the WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match was a springboard to other Ladder Matches like the Michaels vs. Ramon rematch at SummerSlam 1995, and The Rock vs. Triple H proving their mettle when they battled over the Intercontinental Championship years later.

If the match type had not been well proven, however, we never would have seen variations and experimentation built from the gimmick. It’s highly unlikely that, six years later, The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, and The Dudley Boyz would have had a three-way, six-man Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000.

Without that match—and particularly the Hardys making breath-taking use of ladders, we wouldn’t have seen TLC matches between these same three teams at the following SummerSlam and ‘Mania.

The greatness of the original TLC matches, in term made TLC a recurring gimmick match, and a staple of the WWE landscape to the point that world title matches would be competed under its rules. Finally, in the ultimate compliment for a match type, the gimmick earned its own annual PPV—not exactly a highlight on the WWE calendar, but nonetheless an annual feature for nearly a decade running.

#4 Shawn Michaels’ main event status is in jeopardy

Would Shawn Michaels have won a world title at WrestleMania 12 if he hadn't performed so well at WrestleMania 10?

Shawn Michaels didn’t necessarily have main eventer written all over him in the early 1990s. Yes, he was a sensational athlete and, once he got a singles push, proved himself as one of the top in-ring performers of his generation. Nonetheless, he was relatively small in an era when big men were favored for headlining positions and, according to Bruce Prichard’s comments on Something Else to Wrestle With, Vince McMahon didn’t see him in the top spot.

Michaels won over McMahon and other WWE brass through the sheer quality of his performances. This amazing match with Ramon—largely attributed to Michaels’s work rate and willingness to take big bumps made a huge statement, and all the more so for happening at the biggest show of the year.

Would HBK have wound up a main eventer anyway? There’s a real argument that talent like his couldn’t be denied, not to mention that he was known for shrewd politicking. Still, it probably would have at least taken him longer to reach the top without this performance.

#3 Shawn Michaels vs Sid at SummerSlam 1995

Sid was originally scheduled to work Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 1995.

SummerSlam 1995 is a bit infamous nowadays. It wasn’t a very good show and drew particularly strong criticism for the underwhelming main event match of Diesel vs Mabel. On paper, this showdown between the seven-footer booked at the top of the company and a 500-pound monster heel more or less fit the times. Unfortunately, Diesel wasn’t yet in his prime as a worker, and Mabel was in no way equipped to work at the top of the card.

The rumor goes that Vince McMahon saw the writing on the wall that this would likely be a stinker. So, while a blow-off to the Shawn Michaels vs. Sid rivalry was originally announced for the event, WWE shuffled the deck to instead have a WrestleMania 10 rematch between Michaels and Ramon in a Ladder Match. WWE saw the latter as a sure thing great match that could help save the show—a testament to just how highly the company regarded the original match.

#2 No Money In The Bank Ladder match

Without a legacy of great Ladder Matches before it, Money in the Bank may not have taken off.

Besides a number of great Ladder Matches and TLC Matches that the WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match opened the door too, another profound part of the match’s legacy is Money in the Bank.

Chris Jericho takes credit for pitching the original idea for the first Money in the Bank Ladder Match, not necessarily foreseeing the world title implications, but rather suggesting a large scale Ladder Match featuring under-utilized talents with no clear directions set for WrestleMania.

Perhaps a concept similar to the Money in the Bank Contract would have come about anyway, but the fact that it’s rooted in Ladder Matches that are more often than not great in their own right went a long way toward immediately lending credibility to the briefcase.

Take away Michaels vs. Ramon, and maybe Money in the Bank would be contested under battle royal or tournament rules. You can thus erase a number of great WrestleMania matches that resulted, and likely the concept getting its own annual PPV spectacular.

#1 Edge may not have reached the top

Edge built his name on Ladder Matches.

Edge achieved one of the greatest careers in WWE history, racking up double-digit world title reigns, main eventing a WrestleMania, and generally going down as one of the most universally well-liked and respected wrestlers of his generation.

The Rated R Superstar may well have taken any number of routes to the top, but one can’t understate the importance of Ladder Matches to his career.

Triangle ladder and TLC matches were key to getting Edge and Christian over at the highest level in their longstanding feuds with the Hardys and Dudleys, highlighted by Edge leaping from a ladder to spear Jeff Hardy at WrestleMania 17.

From there, Edge would become the first-ever wrestler to win a Money in the Bank contract. It was fitting that winning one of the biggest, best Ladder Matches in history was his vehicle to the main event. Once Edge arrived as a world champ, he had his first successful title defense in a TLC Match with Ric Flair. Later, he’d have terrific TLC showdowns with John Cena and with The Undertaker, not to mention a Ladder Match with Jeff Hardy for world title gold a year later.

Ladder and TLC Matches are inextricable from Edge’s success story and his legacy. Had the first one, years before his WWE debut, not worked out, it’s difficult to imagine what his career would have looked like.