Professional Wrestling Match Types - Falls Count Anywhere Match

Falls Count Anywhere Match

A Falls Count Anywhere match is a match where only pinfalls can take place in any location, negating the standard rule that they must take place inside the ring and between the ropes. As such, this also eliminates the usual "countout" rule. As the match may take place in various parts of the arena, the "Falls Count Anywhere" provision is almost always accompanied with a "No Disqualification" stipulation to make the match a hardcore match, so as to allow wrestlers the convenience to use any objects they may find wherever they wrestle.

A variation of the rules state that once a pinfall takes place, the pinned wrestler will lose the match if he is unable to return to the ring within a specific amount of time—usually a referee's count of 10 or 30. If the pinned wrestler makes it to the ring in this time, the match continues. Under these rules, all pinfalls must take place outside of the ring, technically making the match no longer falls count anywhere. Occasionally, this stipulation is listed as having a specific territory in which falls count (e.g. the state, county, or general location the match is in).

A new variation of the stipulation, Submissions Count Anywhere, debuted at WWE Breaking Point in a match between D-Generation X and The Legacy.

Generally, falls counting "anywhere" still has a de facto limitation that the falls occur somewhere inside the arena (due to the legitimate legal ramifications of having a wrestling match on a turf where the owner doesn't give his consent), but at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, an extreme example occurred where Hardcore Holly pinned Al Snow literally on the banks of the Mississippi River.