Over the past couple of weeks on Monday Night RAW, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton have been going back in forth in the form of mind games. It all game to a head this past week when Randy Orton placed Bray Wyatt into a box and set the box on fire. This set the grounds for their TLC encounter to become an Inferno Match, but what exactly is an Inferno Match and what can you expect to see?
The Inferno Match is a very unique stipulation match and has only been officially done four times. The aim of this match is to set your opponent on fire. This is aided by the fact that the ring is surrounded by fire, making it easier for the opponent to be set alight.
The four Inferno Matches to have taken place are:
Undertaker vs Kane: Unforgiven 1998
This was the first-ever Inferno Match to happen and was spawned from the mind of Paul Bearer. At Wrestlemania 14, Kane and Undertaker squared off in a singles match, with the latter coming out on top. This then sparked the idea for an Inferno Match, with the thought being it would hand Kane the advantage, due to his history with fires.
Right out of the gate, we see Undertaker perform the Last Ride on Kane, a move which is greeted by rising flames, a common theme of these matches. We see, during high impact or important moves, that the flames on the outside of the ring shoot up, adding to the ambience of the match. We see many a spot in this match, including chair shots to the head, interference from Vader and a no-sell from Undertaker following a Paul Bearer chair-shot.
The ending to the first-ever Inferno Match comes when Undertaker simply kicks Kane into the fire, Kane’s arm falls flat onto it subsequently setting him alight and thus meaning he loses the match.
Undertaker vs Kane: RAW, February 22nd 1999
The second Inferno Match just so happened to be a rematch, as it pitted the Brothers of Destruction up against each other once again. This time it was ordered by Vince McMahon as a way to undermine the Undertaker, who had been getting under the skin of the boss.
This match was seemingly more focused about what was happening on the outside of the ring as appose to the action in the ring, as we saw Vince on commentary for this match. The pair in the ring ran through their usual schtick before Paul Bearer handed Vince McMahon a black box, which inside was a teddy bear. From here on out, Vince had lost all focus of the match, handing the advantage to Undertaker who could focus more.
The brothers are fighting on the outside of the ring when Kane tries to kick ‘Taker into the fire, somewhat mirroring the first match, but the Phenom grabs Kane’s leg and places it into the fire, making him 2-0 in Inferno Matches. Undertaker proceeds to walk up to Vince McMahon, grab the Teddy from him and also set that alight.
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Triple H vs Kane: WWF SmackDown, September 23rd 1999
This episode of SmackDown saw Triple H compete in five stipulation matches in order to get the main event match at Unforgiven. He had to face The Rock, Kane, Mankind, Big Show and Viscera & Mideon. The stipulation matches were chosen to favour the opposition meaning we got Kane and Triple H in an Inferno Match.
This match didn’t go too long because Triple H had three more matches to compete in after this, but it did have its own unique story to it. Earlier in the night, the former partner of Kane, X-Pac, had just returned to SmackDown. It was early into this matchup that we see a beaten up and bloodied X-Pac laying on the entrance ramp.
The Undertaker, Viscera and Mideon then all walk out essentially saying they put the beatdown onto X-Pac. As Mideon and Viscera were nearing the ring, we see Kane dive on to the pair and then the trio starts brawling. It is during this brawl that Viscera pushes Kane’s hand onto the fire, meaning Triple H gets the win. But as previously stated, this was more storyline focused and Kane didn’t care about losing, he just wanted to beat everyone up.
Kane vs MVP: Armageddon 2006
The most recent of the Inferno Matches was in 2006 and saw Kane take on MVP. Kane, who has featured in every Inferno Match and lost all of them, was coming into this match having used MVP’s cocky attitude as his hamartia. MVP had been building up victories on SmackDown when he demanded tougher opponents and they didn’t come tougher than Kane, at the time. MVP had actual beat Kane in a Street Fight Match and a Cage Match, so although this stipulation at Armageddon was meant to favour Kane, momentum wasn’t on his side.
We see funny spots when MVP decides to climb the top rope but ultimately jumps back down again as he’s scared to go near the fire. There is another cool moment when Kane takes off the turnbuckle pad, sets it alight and tries to hit MVP with it; MVP hits Kane with a low blow instead. There is many a near fall for MVP, leaning into his cocky yet petrified character which makes for hilarious viewing.
The match ends when Kane has MVP in the chokeslam hold upon the steel steps, he leans MVP into the fire and MVP catches alight on his rear end. A funny way to end the match and very fitting with MVP’s character at the time. Furthermore, Kane secured his first win in a match designed for him.
Essentially, expect the unexpected with an Inferno Match. There are so many chances to be creative, from the shooting up of the flames, to unique near fall situations. With the creative mind of Bray Wyatt, I am sure there will be some great spots within their Firefly Inferno Match. You can maybe expect to see Alexa Bliss pop up, or maybe some of the Fun House puppets. The realm for creativity here is endless. Hopefully, this Inferno Match can do justice to what is a very intriguing storyline.