Lumberjack Matches

Welcome back to Reading Wrestling, your encyclopedia on the art of pro wrestling. Today’s entry takes us to a classic match format, the Lumberjack Match. When a feud comes to fever pitch and needs a resolution devoid of scurrilous escape attempts, there are a couple of options. One is the technology of the steel cage, which we spoke about in a previous episode. The other, more manual option, is the good ol’ Lumberjack Match. For these special matches, the ring is  surrounded by a dozen or so other wrestlers, some of them bias, some of them brutal, some of them looking for a reason to dole out some punishment. Should a wrestler find themself outside the ring, voluntarily or not, they will meet with a swift form of Lumberjack justice. While, on the surface, the Lumberjacks are there to serve as an impartial, gentle reminder to stay in the ring, savvy wrestlers have thought to weaponize the flannel army by throwing their opponents out to be pummeled. Of course, it would be an oversimplification to think of the Lumberjacks as a cohesive, coordinated body. While they may engage in some collective pummeling, they are just as likely to turn on each other. Today, on Reading Wrestling, we’ll try to keep our discussion as expansive as possible without getting outside the ring. 

We come at this topic from a number of different angles, including asking the question "why use lumberjacks and not a steel cage to keep the action in the ring?" We also discuss how the perceived value of this aging match type has changed over time. We conclude that, while the lumberjack match used to be an important way to showcase a range of wrestlers, it's become another mechanism for setting up high spots. We also discuss some memorable matches.