Cageside Fave Five: The best gimmick matches in pro wrestling

After last Sunday's WWE TLC pay-per-view (PPV), I got to thinking about how backwards it was for WWE to center entire events around gimmick matches. They do the same thing with the Hell in a Cell show and down in Florida TNA is just as guilty every year when they put on Lockdown.

Gimmick matches were supposed to be part of the natural evolution of a feud. Trying to get the belt off a cowardly rulebreaker whose friends keep running in and interfering? It's time for a cage match. Have a bitter feud that is tearing the promotion apart? A Loser Leaves Town match would certainly seem fitting.

But now guys step inside a Hell in a Cell simply because they happen to be feuding when that PPV comes up. No evolution, no natural progression, nothing.

So to celebrate -- or mourn, maybe -- the gimmick match, here's my top five in pro wrestling.

OH! But before we begin, I was totally remiss not to include this in my Fave Five entrance themes list.

Even my special lady admitted this song was the jam.

5. Tables match

If I told a non-fan the concept of a tables match, for sure they'd be interested. "How do you win?" "You can to put your opponent through a wooden table."

Hot damn, I'm excited just thinking about.

4. Cage match

I should preface this pertains to "escape only" cage matches. Like Tables and Ladder matches, I love matches where there can only be one way to win. In this cage, you have to climb a 10 foot or so high chain-link fence before your opponent can get his hands on you.

I also love the element that no one can interfere, making it the perfect match for that rulebreaker who always finds a way to win through nefarious means.

3. Ladder match

Why ladder and not TLC? Well, when you break it down, a TLC match is still just a ladder match. You can't win by doing anything with the tables and chairs, you still have to climb up and snatch the title that is hanging above the ring.

The inclusion of a ladder into match pretty much guarantees that you'll see something insane. All the way from WrestleMania X to a more recent classic like the one at No Mercy 2008 -- both involving Shawn Michaels -- the ladder match has become a fantastic way to end a title feud.

It's also a cool way to determine a number one contender like Ring of Honor (ROH) did at Death Before Dishonor or TNA does with its Ultimate X matches.

Just make sure something valuable is suspended above the ring, not something nonsensical like say, a sledgehammer. Ahem.

2. I Quit match

Hands down, the best blowoff match -- the ending of a feud -- has got to be Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard at Starrcade 1985. Not only was it an I Quit match but it was also inside of a steel cage! The ending came when the fan favorite was jamming a wooden shard into Blanchard's forehead, forcing the Horseman to quit.

Watch this match and listen to how unbelievably hot the audience is. It's nuts. An I Quit match is probably the best way to end a rivalry that has so much hatred behind it. Forcing your foe to actually quit, actually say it is sold as the most satisfying experience for a wrestling long embroiled in a seemingly neverending feud.

1. Iron Man match

And this applies only to the 60 minute variety, not these half hour and even 15 minute abominations (although the FCW 15 Minute title is pretty cool).

For the most part, companies will only agree to an hour-long match if they know the two wrestlers can sustain excitement for that long. For me, an hour long wrestling match between two guys that can work is just about as good as it gets in wrestling.

There you have it, folks. What do you think? And happy holidays!