If you wanna go way back to the days of Gorgeous George & the like, there used to be these things called “1 hour broadways”. For those of you who aren't historians (or just don't know kayfabe), a 1 hour broadway meant the match had a 1 hour time limit. More often than not, they'd reach that time limit without rendering a victor via pinfall or submission. This continued into the WCCW, Georgia Championship Wrestling, original WCW & WWF days, and then suddenly stopped around the early 90's. Was it the change in culture (the “instant gratification” age we live in today)? Did promoters & bookers just feel the concept was outdated, and essentially do away with it?
I had the privilege of attending my first TNA house show over Wrestlemania weekend. Prior to EVERY match, save for the main event (which was No Holds Barred), every match had a 20 minute time limit. And I thought to myself: why the fuck would they announce that when we KNOW the match won't go that long? Have you ever seen a pro wrestling match in recent memory reach the time limit? And if so, how many were there? One? Two, if you're lucky? It just doesn't happen. Wouldn't it be great if someone SWERVED everyone with a match reaching a time limit draw? Wouldn't people go fucking nuts wondering how the hell it would work?
Just imagine the booking possibilities of having a time limit draw in a key spot. For example: Ryback vs Mark Henry in a #1 contenders match for John Cena's WWE championship. In this example, Ryback and Henry reached the 20 minute time limit before either man got a pinfall or submission. What do you do? Who's the #1 contender? Do you have a rematch? Do you have a triple threat match? Do they BOTH lose out? More importantly than anything, wouldn't every dirt sheet on the FUCKING PLANET be talking about it? Time limit draws could create fucking chaos in big matches, and yet we always have to have a finish.
Answer me this, readers: If the WWE title was retained on a draw (like they nearly did with The Miz at Wrestlemania 27), would you really be upset? Would you feel like WWE just wasted your time? Or, would you embrace the different booking and realize that there are a bunch of different ways that WWE could go with it?
(Author's note: Steve wants to know your thoughts on the time limit draw! Send him your thoughts on twitter @sdemon99, send him an email at [email protected], or leave a comment below!)