Remember when wrestling matches had "time limits?"

Greenlawler said:

Time Limits should be gone with very few exceptions IMO from a logic standpoint, kayfabe is a thing of the past. In an era where the audience knows it's scripted it feels irrational unless they are just trying to build a better story. In that case, like with Superclash 1, it helped along the rivalry. In days of kayfabe it made a lot of sense and we got a steady diet of these, especially so neither guy lost any heat.

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My first instinct was "Yeah, I wish they'd bring time limits back," but thinking about this, knowing that it's pre-determined it just feels like a copout or the writers got lazy when there's a time limit draw.

I think that, in specific instances, it's okay. For instance, if there was a Television Title today, it would be an accepted part of a TV Title match that it could end one of four ways: Champ wins, Challenger wins, dq/double countout, or a time limit draw. Same thing goes for iron man matches. It's an accepted part going into that match that it could end in a draw, or that it will end when the clock runs out.

I don't know if I ever liked it with the NWA/WCW World Title. It had its moments (Sting/Flair at the Clash, most notably), but to invest 60 minutes in a match where the champion would always retain never really worked for me. Mostly because they did that finish far too many times. Sometimes the journey was worth it, but the destination was always a disappointment.

But, it worked great for the TV Title. I seriously wouldn't mind seeing that back or some variation of it. Maybe they have a title where it's a 15-minute Iron Man Match, or a 10 minute Beat-The-Clock Champion.

It's all about expectations.


EDIT: Another place where a time limit draw works pretty well is in a tournament setting, like King of the Ring, where the result of the match actually effects another match on the show.