{"id":68083,"date":"2020-05-10T18:07:35","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T22:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=68083"},"modified":"2021-01-08T17:42:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T22:42:00","slug":"history-of-the-ladder-match-in-pro-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/05\/10\/history-of-the-ladder-match-in-pro-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"History of the Ladder Match in Pro Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Money in the Bank<\/strong> is on Sunday night<\/a>, as WWE presents one of its marquee events of the year. Started in 2005<\/a> as a gimmick match and becoming its own pay-per-view in 2010, Money in the Bank features multiple WWE Superstars in a ladder match, trying to secure the briefcase suspended above the ring that contains a guaranteed contract for a World title match anyplace, anytime, anywhere. While Money in the Bank wasn’t the first ladder match by a long shot, it’s arguably become the most famous iteration of the gimmick match. But the ladder match as a concept didn’t originate in the WWE Universe – in fact, it didn’t even originate in any of the major promotions. Here’s a quick glance at the evolution of the ladder throughout history.<\/p>\n

Stampede Wrestling, 1972, Dan Kroffat vs. Tor Kamata<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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The first ladder match in history actually took place in 1972 in Canada with Stu Hart<\/strong>‘s Stampede Wrestling<\/strong>. One of Stampede’s wrestlers, Dan Kroffat<\/strong>, was a fledgling star looking to find a more prominent place on Hart’s roster. Stu Hart was always willing to listen to new ideas from his talent, and one day in 1972, Kroffat approached Stu with an idea of his own. “The idea was to \u2018challenge\u2019 a guy to get in the ring,” Kroffat told The Cochrane Times<\/a> in 2019. “I would hang a bag of money from the light and put a ladder outside. I would say that if he wants to fight, he has to come in, fight me, get the ladder, climb up and get the money. You hung it like a bone for a dog, it was the idea of dangling the money there, the \u2018greed\u2019 in the bad guy\u2019s eyes was the storyline.” On September 27, 1972, Kroffat finally got that match, when he faced Tor Kamata in the first-ever ladder match in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The use of a ladder would go on to become a staple gimmick match with Stampede Wrestling, with rising young star Bret Hart<\/strong> having a few of his own, including a 1981 ladder match against the Dynamite Kid<\/strong> and in 1983 against Bad News Allen<\/strong> (later Bad News Brown in WWF), shortly before he headed to the WWF himself.<\/p>\n

Kendo Nagasaki, UK, Mid-70s<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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During that year in 1972, Kendo Nagasaki<\/strong>, the character portrayed by English wrestler Peter Thornley, toured Canada, working a lengthy run with Stampede Wrestling. Upon his return to the UK, he brought the concept of the ladder match to British wrestling, having multiple ladder matches in the UK starting in the mid-70s. His 1986 Disco ladder match against Clive Myers<\/strong> in 1986 remains one of his best-remembered matches.<\/p>\n