Ranking The 10 Greatest WWE Matches That Lasted An Hour Or More
It’s unusual for a wrestling match to run for over an hour. Past the fifteen to twenty minute mark, even great performers risk losing a crowd, besides getting tired out themselves. WWE has historically been especially conscious of these dynamics and tends to cater to casual fans.
Related: WWE: The 5 Longest Women's Matches Ever (& The 5 Shortest)
However, there are times when matches have extended up to or even beyond the hour mark. This article takes a look at ten times, between Iron Man Matches, Royal Rumbles, and Gauntlet Matches when WWE Superstars went the distance.
10 Chris Benoit Vs. Triple H, Raw, July 26, 2004
When WWE announced an Iron Man Match between Chris Benoit and Triple H for this summer 2004 Raw, it felt like a dream match scenario. This was two of the best in-ring workers of the day working in a full hour format, though, which promised to be interesting.
The general consensus was that this match didn’t quite live up to the hype. Nonetheless, two guys performing at such a high level cannot have a bad match either, and they went on to a respectable outing that further solidified Benoit had won their rivalry.
9 Royal Rumble 2006
Royal Rumble matches tend to run long, if only for having thirty performers coming in with staggered entries. The 2006 Royal Rumble was one of those occasions with longer intervals to facilitate a longer match, ultimately stretching to the 62-minute mark.
Related: 5 Times A Royal Rumble Match Win Made A New Star (& 5 Times It Didn't Matter)
A big part of the match’s success was iron man performances by Rey Mysterio and Triple H. The pair started the match and lasted all the way until the final three, which firmly sold Mysterio as an underdog for always being the smaller, less established wrestler in the ring relative to The Game. From there, Mysterio last eliminated Randy Orton, who had the advantage of having come in at number thirty.
8 John Cena Vs. Randy Orton, Bragging Rights 2009
The 2009 feud between John Cena and Randy Orton was a long one. They blew off their issue in an anything goes, falls count anywhere version of a 60-minute Iron Man Match.
This was a fine outing from Cena and Orton, in which they each played their parts of the hero and dastardly villain nicely. The Street Fight-esque variation on rules helped them differentiate the action, which included a memorable spot in which Orton attempted to destroy Cena with pyro on the stage.
7 Gauntlet Match, Raw, February 19, 2018
In the build to the 2018 Elimination Chamber PPV, an episode of Raw featured a gauntlet match for the right to enter the match last. Far from a throwaway match to build to the gimmick bout, this match was excellent in its own right and probably better than the Chamber match itself.
Clocking in at nearly two hours, the match was highlighted by a Herculean performance by Seth Rollins in which he lasted an hour and five minutes, to set a record for the longest ring performance ever on Raw. That run included him eliminating both John Cena and Roman Reigns.
6 The Rock Vs. Triple H, Judgment Day 2000
Judgment Day 2000 was headlined by The Rock and Triple H squaring off in a one hour Iron Match.
RELATED: 10 Things In Wrestling Triple H Never Got To Do
The Great One and The Game lived up to the considerable hype through cardio and showmanship that made the match engaging all the way through. The bout ended when a returning Undertaker showed up in his new biker gimmick to go after Triple H. While the schnozz finish undermined the match in a sense, it’s also arguable that the debut of this new variation on an icon’s character felt like a suitable pay off in its own right.
5 Royal Rumble 2004
The 2004 Royal Rumble was all about Chris Benoit’s journey to the top of WWE. Unfortunately, Benoit’s real-life decisions have made it difficult to celebrate his work. Nonetheless, when it comes to performances from bell to bell, few were better than Benoit at his peak.
Benoit did, indeed, go bell to bell, entering the 2004 Rumble first and lasting over a full hour. He beat the odds in not only going the distance but overcoming a huge size disadvantage to single-handedly wrestle The Big Show over the top rope for the finish.
4 Brock Lesnar Vs. Kurt Angle, SmackDown, September 18, 2003
Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle were up to the physical demands of a one hour Iron Man Match and put on an instant free TV classic.
Both of these guys were accomplished technical wrestlers and Lesnar was more prone to show off his amateur grappling chops in this initial WWE run. The two told a diversified story that included elements of technical prowess and athleticism, but also brutality, including the subplot of heel Lesnar eating a DQ fall in order to incapacitate Angle, and steal more falls on him afterward.
3 Gauntlet Match, SmackDown, February 12, 2019
The WWE Championship landscape took a huge turn on February 12, 2019. After Ali had to withdraw from the upcoming Elimination Chamber Match for the title, Kofi Kingston got the nod as his last-minute substitute. The New Day’s high flyer went on to a positively iconic performance that won over fans in a big way.
Kingston’s marathon run in the match delivered excellent action in its own right, and the match also benefited from putting over Randy Orton as a strategic heel for picking his spot and effortlessly winning as the last man in, immediately seizing victory with a surprise RKO. The real story was Kingston going on to be the sentimental favorite in the Chamber, though, and riding his momentum to a victory over Daniel Bryan for the title at WrestleMania.
2 Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania 12
When fans think of hour-long matches in WWE, and particularly the Iron Man format, the first bout that tends to come to mind is Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 12. In a time when WWE was relatively lean on star power, WWE had the good fortune to find itself with two of the best in-ring workers of all time, more or less peaking simultaneously.
Related: 10 Backstage Stories & Facts About Bret Hart That We Can't Believe
Hart and Michaels delivered for a full hour. The end of regulation saved HBK from Hart’s Sharpshooter and helped The Hitman save face for not losing in the allotted hour time. Michaels, of course, would actually win the match in overtime for a career-defining moment.
1 Royal Rumble 2001
When fans debate which iteration of the Royal Rumble was the greatest of all time, 1992 and 2001 tend to come up the most frequently. For the purposes of this ranking, the matter of time makes things easier. 1992 never crossed the hour mark, whereas the 2001 version ran just under 62 minutes.
More than simply being a long match, this Rumble benefited from big-time star power, featuring the likes of eventual winner Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane, The Big Show, and Rikishi all-around their peaks. It was a fun, tumultuous match as WWE made the best of a late Attitude Era roster.
