Monster's Ball match

A Monster's Ball match is a professional wrestling, hardcore match type that originated in and is primarily staged by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA - known as Impact Wrestling from 2017–2023).

The key premise of the match is that all contenders are (in storyline) sequestered alone in a locked room without light, food, or water for 24 hours before the match, to induce extreme feelings of aggression in the competitors. Once released, the wrestlers fight one another in a no disqualification match, with the usage of weapons encouraged. Victory can be achieved by pinfall or submission, with the match ending as soon as one wrestler is pinned or submits (there is no elimination format).

There have been 60 Monster's Ball matches conducted by TNA, with several unaffiliated independent promotions hosting the match type as well. It was the signature match stipulation of Abyss. Before his retirement in 2019, he had appeared in 48 of the 50 Monster's Ball matches held by TNA to that point and managed in another.

Match history (TNA)

#	Match	Event	Date	Location	Notes	Ref
1	Monty Brown defeated Raven and Abyss	Victory Road	November 7, 2004	Orlando, Florida		[1]
2	Rhino defeated Abyss, Sabu, and Jeff Hardy	Bound for Glory	October 23, 2005	Orlando, Florida		[2]
3	Samoa Joe defeated Abyss and Rhino	House show	June 10, 2006	Wayne, New Jersey
4	Rhino defeated Abyss	House show	September 29, 2006	Richmond, Virginia		[3][4]
5	Samoa Joe defeated Brother Runt, Raven, and Abyss	Bound for Glory	October 22, 2006	Plymouth Township, Michigan	Jake "The Snake" Roberts was the special guest referee
6	Abyss defeated Raven, Black Reign and Rhino	Bound for Glory	October 14, 2007	Duluth, Georgia
7	Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode & James Storm) (w/Jacqueline) (c) defeated Abyss & Matt Morgan, Team 3D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon), and The Latin American Xchange (Homicide & Hernandez) to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship	Bound for Glory IV	October 12, 2008	Hoffman Estates, Illinois	Steve "Mongo" McMichael was the special guest referee	[5]
8	Taylor Wilde defeated Daffney (w/Abyss & Dr. Stevie)	Sacrifice	May 24, 2009	Orlando, Florida	First ever Knockouts Monster's Ball match	[6]
9	Abyss & Taylor Wilde defeated Raven & Daffney (w/Dr. Stevie)	Slammiversary	June 21, 2009	Auburn Hills, Michigan	First ever mixed tag team Monster's Ball match	[7]
10	Abyss defeated Mick Foley	Bound for Glory	October 18, 2009	Irvine, California	Dr. Stevie was the special guest referee for the match
11	Abyss defeated Rhino	House show	November 9, 2009	Nashville, Tennessee
12	A.J. Styles defeated Abyss	TNA Impact!	May 3, 2010	Orlando, Florida
13	Abyss defeated Desmond Wolfe	Slammiversary VIII	June 13, 2010	Orlando, Florida		[8]
14	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	House show	July 2, 2010	Brooklyn, New York		[9]
15	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	House show	July 23, 2010	Bloomington, Illinois		[10]
16	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	House show	July 24, 2010	LaPorte, Indiana		[11][12]
17	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	House show	August 13, 2010	Baton Rouge, Louisiana		[13]
18	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	House show	August 14, 2010	Thibodaux, Louisiana	Mick Foley was the special guest referee	[14]
19	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	House show	September 16, 2010	York, Pennsylvania		[15]
20	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	House show	September 17, 2010	Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania		[16]
21	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss	House show	September 23, 2010	New York City, New York	Mick Foley was the special guest referee	[17]
22	Abyss defeated Tommy Dreamer	House show	September 25, 2010	Rahway, New Jersey		[18]
23	Rob Van Dam defeated Abyss	Bound for Glory	October 10, 2010	Daytona Beach, Florida		[19]
24	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss	House show	October 15, 2010	Racine, Wisconsin		[20]
25	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss	House show	October 16, 2010	Dubuque, Iowa		[21]
26	Tommy Dreamer defeated Abyss	House show	October 17, 2010	Hoffman Estates, Illinois	Mick Foley was the special guest referee	[22]
27	Abyss defeated Sabu	House show	October 21, 2010	Grand Rapids, Michigan		[23]
28	Abyss defeated Sabu	House show	October 22, 2010	Cadillac, Michigan		[24]
29	Abyss defeated Sabu	House show	October 23, 2010	Saginaw, Michigan		[25]
30	Abyss defeated Sabu	House show	October 24, 2010	Port Huron, Michigan		[26]
31	Abyss defeated Tommy Dreamer	House show	April 9, 2011	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania		[27]
32	Abyss defeated Bully Ray	Genesis	January 8, 2012	Orlando, Florida	As per stipulation of the match, had Abyss lost, he would have had to rejoin Immortal	[28]
33	Joseph Park defeated Judas Mesias (w/James Mitchell)	One Night Only: Hardcore Justice 2	July 5, 2013	Orlando, Florida		[29]
34	Joseph Park defeated Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels & Kazarian)	Impact Wrestling	December 26, 2013	Orlando, Florida		[30]
35	Abyss defeated Eric Young	Impact Wrestling	February 6, 2014	Glasgow, Scotland		[31]
36	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	One Night Only: #OldSchool	February 7, 2014	Poughkeepsie, New York		[32]
37	Eric Young (c) defeated Abyss	Impact Wrestling	April 17, 2014	Orlando, Florida	Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship	[33]
38	Magnus & Bram defeated Abyss & Willow	Impact Wrestling	June 26, 2014	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania		[34]
39	Bram defeated Abyss	Impact Wrestling	August 7, 2014	New York, New York		[35]
40	Bram defeated Abyss	One Night Only: Turning Point	January 9, 2015	Charlottesville, Virginia		[36]
41	Jeff Hardy defeated Abyss	Impact Wrestling	January 30, 2015	New York, New York		[37]
42	Eric Young defeated Abyss	One Night Only: Rivals	February 6, 2015	Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina		[38]
43	Matt Hardy defeated Abyss	One Night Only: Hardcore Justice 2015	February 13, 2015	Orlando, Florida		[39]
44	Abyss defeated Grado	One Night Only: Live!	January 8, 2016	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania		[40]
45	The Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) (c) defeated Decay (Crazzy Steve & Abyss) (w/Rosemary)	Impact Wrestling	February 16, 2016	Manchester, England	Match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship	[41]
46	Decay (Abyss & Crazzy Steve) (c) (w/Rosemary) defeated The BroMans (Robbie E & Jessie Godderz) (w/Raquel)	Impact Wrestling	July 28, 2016	Orlando, Florida	Match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship	[42]
47	Rosemary (c) defeated Jade	Impact Wrestling: Genesis	January 26, 2017	Orlando, Florida	Match for the Impact Knockouts Championship	[43]
48	Abyss (w/James Mitchell) defeated Grado	Bound for Glory	November 5, 2017	Ottawa, Canada	As part of the story line, since Grado lost, his work visa is terminated and must leave the U.S.	[44]
49	Kongo Kong defeated Abyss	Impact!	March 22, 2018	Orlando, Florida		[45]
50	Eli Drake defeated Abyss	Homecoming	January 6, 2019	Nashville, Tennessee		[46]
51	Taya Valkyrie (c) defeated Jessicka Havok, Rosemary, and Su Yung	Slammiversary XVII	July 7, 2019	Dallas, Texas	Match for the Impact Knockouts Championship	[47]
52	Savannah Evans defeated Alisha Edwards, Jordynne Grace, and Kimber Lee	Knockouts Knockdown	October 9, 2021	Nashville, Tennessee	Shannon "Daffney" Spruill Memorial match	[48][49]
53	PCO defeated Jonah	Impact!	May 5, 2022	Poughkeepsie, New York	Starting with this match, the original premise of Monster's Ball returns where the participants are locked away for 24 hours beforehand.	[50]
54	Sami Callihan defeated Moose	Slammiversary	June 19, 2022	Nashville, Tennessee	Event also serves as Impact Wrestling's 20th Anniversary Show	[51]
55	Masha Slamovich defeated Allie Katch	Impact!	September 29, 2022	Nashville, Tennessee		[52]
56	Trey Miguel (c) defeated Crazzy Steve	Impact!	February 4, 2023 (aired February 23)	Kissimmee, Florida	Match for the Impact X Division Championship	[53]
57	PCO defeated Steve Maclin, Rhino and Moose	Bound for Glory	October 21, 2023	Cicero, Illinois		[54]
58	PCO defeated Kon	Impact!	March 23, 2024 (aired April 11)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania		[55]
59	PCO (c) defeated Matt Cardona	Bound for Glory	October 26, 2024	Detroit, Michigan	Match for the TNA Digital Media Championship and Canadian International Heavyweight Championship	[56]
60	Xia Brookside defeated Rosemary	Impact!	May 24, 2025 (aired June 5)	Brampton, Ontario		[57]

Participant list

In TNA, 56 wrestlers have taken part in Monster's Ball matches. Abyss holds the record for most participations, having competed in 48 such matches, and the record for most victories with 19.

Superstar	Victories	Appearances
Abyss/Joseph Park*	19	48
Jeff Hardy/Willow*	9	11
PCO	4	4
Tommy Dreamer	4	6
Bram	3	3
Samoa Joe	2	2
Taylor Wilde	2	2
Eric Young	2	3
Rhino	2	5
A.J. Styles	1	1
Davey Richards	1	1
Eddie Edwards	1	1
Eli Drake	1	1
James Storm	1	1
Kongo Kong	1	1
Magnus	1	1
Masha Slamovich	1	1
Matt Hardy	1	1
Monty Brown	1	1
Robert Roode	1	1
Savannah Evans	1	1
Taya Valkyrie	1	1
Trey Miguel	1	1
Xia Brookside	1	1
Crazzy Steve	1	3
Rosemary	1	3
Allie Katch	0	1
Alisha Edwards	0	1
Black Reign	0	1
Brother Devon	0	1
Brother Runt	0	1
Christopher Daniels	0	1
Desmond Wolfe	0	1
Havok	0	1
Hernandez	0	1
Homicide	0	1
Jade	0	1
Jessie Godderz	0	1
Jonah	0	1
Jordynne Grace	0	1
Judas Mesias	0	1
Kazarian	0	1
Kimber Lee	0	1
Kon	0	1
Matt Cardona	0	1
Matt Morgan	0	1
Mick Foley	0	1
Steve Maclin	0	1
Robbie E	0	1
Su Yung	0	1
Brother Ray/Bully Ray*	0	2
Daffney	0	2
Grado	0	2
Moose	0	2
Raven	0	4
Sabu	0	4

• Abyss competed as Joseph Park in two Monster's Ball matches, the rest as Abyss.
• Jeff Hardy competed as Willow in one Monster's Ball match, the rest as Jeff Hardy.
• Bully Ray competed as Brother Ray in one Monster's Ball match, the other as Bully Ray.

Non TNA Monster's Ball matches

A Monster's Ball match was announced by John Cena Sr. (father of John Cena), president of the Massachusetts-based Millennium Wrestling Federation on its MWF Xtra online show to take place at their Night of Champions show on June 21, 2008. Todd Hanson defeated Abyss, Rick Fuller and Brian Milonas to win the match and retain his MWF Heavyweight Championship.^[58][59] Through TNA's working relationship with Mexican promotion AAA, Verano de Escándalo on July 31, 2011, hosted a Monster's Ball match, where Chessman defeated Abyss, Extreme Tiger, and Joe Líder. On June 7, 2014, at House of Hardcore V, Abyss defeated Tommy Dreamer in a Monster's Ball match. On November 14, 2015, Abyss would face off against Sabu in a Monster's Ball match at House of Hardcore 11 in a losing effort. Abyss has brought the Monster's Ball match to several other independent promotions throughout the world. For example, in June 2018, Abyss was scheduled to face Jimmy Havoc in Melbourne, Australia in a Monster's Ball match at a World Series Wrestling event.