timing of a match

always wondered how do the wrestlers/superstars know how much time they have in a match? i think they have the ref tell them when to finish the match because he is told in his earpiece but in the mean time do they have a plan of what to do by whatever time in the match? e.g by the 5 minute mark you need to have hit me with the singapore cane or done that suplex or whatever or do they not plan it out and just make it up on the fly?

it always seems to go smoothly like with cena he always has time to do his running shoulder block, suplex, five knuckle shuffle and aa it never seems rushed like oh crap ok finish it now. anyone care to enlighten me (yes sandow gave me lessons ) on how they keep track of time in the ring?

Usually for TV shows, most of it is done on the fly, with some set moments talked through before the match backstage. In these cases, the two wrestlers will get together and try to figure out ways to make the match "memorable" (as the Rock put it). Those that have had many matches together would probably only talk briefly to one another. Those that have had few, or are on shows like NXT where the prime aim is to get noticed, may actually plan it out in more detail.

The referee and VM in the gorilla position (think of him being a film director) have a lot of impact during the matches. The referee will constantly talk to the wrestlers and remind them of key moments in their matches and also relay instructions from the gorilla position. A good referee is one that is hardly noticeable but is still on hand to help like a conductor instructing an orchestra - He will keep them "in time"

For PPV's, especially the main ones, the matches are longer and usually more important. Therefore, the wrestlers involved will usually plan their matches out step by step in the ring, days before the event. The referee is usually present for this as well, so he has an idea of how things are going to happen. Certain experienced road agents and VM may offer suggestions. The key aim is to tell the story in the ring exactly how creative want it to go down, so as to expand storylines or up coming events.

In a lot of cases they'll lay out the entire match beforehand. If the participants have worked together many times in the past then they might just work out the finish and a few 'high spots' and make up the rest as they go along in the ring.


If the wrestlers are facing each other for the first time, or if one or more of them is very inexperienced then they might actually do a run-through of the match in the ring before the show.


Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels' Iron Man match at Wrestlemania 12 was laid out in its entirety beforehand. Seemingly HBK came up with the first 30 minutes and the Hitman laid out the final half hour. Bret has said that when they were talking about the match that with 5 minutes remaining he would climb the turnbuckle, when he went to do it during the match he looked up at the clock and it said 4:59 remaining. So they were a second out and therefore can't be labelled as great wrestlers!

agree with the above

Apparently Randy Savage was big on planning down to the last detail hence why some of the best wrestlemania matches were his eg. Wrestlemania 3 and 7

theundisputedY2D2 wrote:
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels' Iron Man match at Wrestlemania 12 was laid out in its entirety beforehand. Seemingly HBK came up with the first 30 minutes and the Hitman laid out the final half hour. Bret has said that when they were talking about the match that with 5 minutes remaining he would climb the turnbuckle, when he went to do it during the match he looked up at the clock and it said 4:59 remaining. So they were a second out and therefore can't be labelled as great wrestlers!

that was mentioned on the HBK/Hart greatest rivalries DVD wasn't it?

I do believe it was dallym. Pretty impressive to have wrestled for 55 minutes and only be a second out on the timings they worked before the match.