"I Quit" Match - History

History

The first "I Quit" match was in the NWA/JCP at Starrcade on November 28, 1985. Magnum T.A. defeated Tully Blanchard in a very bloody match (with a cage around the ring) in a match for Blanchard's NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. Near the end of that match, Magnum used a piece of wood with a nail in it to pierce Blanchard's forehead. At that point, Blanchard screamed "YES! YES!" into the microphone, indicating that he was quitting the match, and Magnum won the U.S. Championship.

One of the most famous "I Quit" matches took place on January 24, 1999 at the Royal Rumble between The Rock and Mick Foley (as Mankind) in the World Wrestling Federation. The match lasted just over 20 minutes and was especially brutal, ending after Foley took eleven unprotected and undeflected chair shots to the head while his hands were handcuffed behind his back. The Rock eventually won the match, but it was later revealed that Foley was completely unconscious and The Rock had played a tape of Foley saying "I quit" over the PA system. During that time the Rock was the heel and Mankind was the face.(The trick did not escape Foley's attention, however, because in the buildup to his "I Quit" match with Ric Flair in 2006, Foley avoided saying the words "I quit" during any on-screen appearances or promo spots—taking to instead spelling out the words—to prevent Flair from taking advantage of his words the same way The Rock did.) The match the following evening between Triple H and The Rock ended in a completely different way – Triple H was extorted into saying "I quit" because Kane was about to chokeslam Chyna.

WWE's only intergender "I Quit" match was held on October 19, 2003 at No Mercy between WWE owner Vince McMahon and his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, with Vince getting the victory when Stephanie's mother, Linda McMahon threw in the towel for her daughter. John Cena retained his WWE Championship by defeating John "Bradshaw" Layfield in an "I Quit" Match at Judgment Day on May 22, 2005. At SummerSlam, Ric Flair defeated Mick Foley in an "I Quit" match by threatening Foley's valet (Melina) with a barbed wire bat, forcing Foley to quit. An "I Quit" match on the October 20 edition of SmackDown! between Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero saw Mysterio lose when Chavo repetitively hit Mysterio's legitimately injured left leg with a steel chair, forcing him to quit. A second "I Quit" match took place between Mysterio and Chavo on the September 7 edition of SmackDown!, with Mysterio hitting Chavo's left knee repeatedly with a steel chair after Chavo was crotched on the turnbuckle and hung over the apron in a Tree of Woe variation-in a similar manner that forced Rey to quit the first time around-forcing Chavo to quit.

At One Night Stand 2008, for the first time in history, WWE featured an "I Quit" match contested between Divas, when Beth Phoenix defeated Melina. At Backlash 2009, Jeff Hardy defeated his brother Matt Hardy in an "I Quit" match after threatening to jump off a ladder onto Matt, which he did after the match. On the May 14, 2009 edition of TNA Impact, TNA Wrestling put on their first I quit match, where Booker T defeated Jethro Holiday after an axe kick. TNA had another I Quit match on May 24, 2009, where A.J. Styles defeated Booker T to retain the TNA Legends Championship, after Jenna Morasca threw a towel into the ring for Booker. At Breaking Point, John Cena faced Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. Cena won the match after he handcuffed himself to Orton and applied a modified STF, forcing Orton to quit. The next I Quit match would take place at "Over the Limit (2010)", where Cena would face Batista in an "I Quit" match for the WWE championship. Batista would eventually say "I Quit" when Cena threatened to throw him off a car into the entrance ramp. However Cena would still do the latter which led to Batista quitting WWE on the next night on Raw. On the July 12, 2011 edition of TNA Impact, Brian Kendrick defeated X-Division Champion Douglas Williams in a non-title match. The I quit match returned to TNA September 5 at No Surrender, where A.J. Styles defeated Tommy Dreamer.

At Over the Limit, John Cena defeated The Miz to retain the WWE Championship after The Miz quit due to the STF submission hold. John Cena is the only wrestler who has won four I Quit matches and recently three in a row. He is the most successful wrestler in "I Quit" matches.

The most recent "I Quit" match occurred on October 16, 2011 at Bound for Glory, when Christopher Daniels submitted in the "I Quit" match to AJ Styles after being threatened with a screwdriver.