{"id":131710,"date":"2025-03-04T01:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T06:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=131710"},"modified":"2025-03-04T01:02:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T06:02:43","slug":"wwe-unsanctioned-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/03\/04\/wwe-unsanctioned-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Unsanctioned Matches: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night, at WWE Elimination Chamber (<\/em>read the results here<\/a>), Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens faced off in what was only the tenth Unsanctioned Match in the WWE history.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, some rivalries become so heated, and the animosity reaches a point that not even Hell in a Cell can contain all the bad blood. Sometimes, the promotion itself distances itself from the rivalry and wants nothing to do with an impending match. These are Unsanctioned matches, where the promotion is not responsible for the fate of the wrestlers. I<\/p>\n

n other words, WWE agrees to have this match take place at their event and provide the referee, but they want nothing else to do with it because it’s just too dangerous. Because, for sure, there will be blood.<\/p>\n

A bit of history<\/h2>\n

Over the last 23 years, only 10 Unsanctioned Matches have taken place in WWE history:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Shawn Michaels vs Triple H – SummerSlam<\/em> (2002)<\/li>\n
  • Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels – Unforgiven<\/em> (2008)<\/li>\n
  • Randy Orton vs Shane McMahon – WWE Raw (2009)<\/li>\n
  • Seth Rollins vs Triple H – Wrestlemania 33<\/em> (2017)<\/li>\n
  • Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa – WWE NXT TakeOver: New Orleans<\/em> (2018)<\/li>\n
  • Drake Maverick vs Mike Kanellis – WWE 205 Live (2019)<\/li>\n
  • Randy Orton vs The Big Show – WWE Raw (2020)<\/li>\n
  • Adam Cole vs Kyle O\u2019Reilly – WWE NXT: Stand and Deliver<\/em> (2021)<\/li>\n
  • Grayson Waller vs Johnny Gargano – WWE NXT: Stand and Deliver<\/em> (2023)<\/li>\n
  • Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens – WWE Elimination Chamber<\/em> (2025)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    As you may have noticed, Triple H, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, and Johnny Gargano all took part in 2 Unsanctioned Matches.<\/p>\n