As Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre gear up for a brutal Three Stages of Hell, a steel cage showdown awaits if the match goes to a third fall this Friday on SmackDown.
In WWE, a cage match can be won in three
ways: pinfall, submission, or escape — either by climbing over the top of the cage or exiting through the door, with both feet hitting the floor.
Thanks to Hulk Hogan, climbing out of the cage created some of the most iconic visuals in company history. But not every escape follows the hero’s playbook.
Last May, Jesse Ventura was outraged when Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre on Saturday Night’s Main Event by simply walking out the door.
“Wait a minute,” Ventura exclaimed. “How do you win it going out the door? I thought you had to go over the top. What kind of BS is that? He can just walk out the door?”
Ventura wasn’t done, blasting Priest for his method of victory: “He walked out like a coward.”
Despite Ventura’s protests, exiting through the door is a legitimate path to victory — one that has produced some of the most memorable moments in WWE history. With that in mind, here are some of the company’s most unforgettable escapes.
Bye, Bye Bruno
In the spring of 1976, Stan Hansen legitimately broke Bruno Sammartino’s neck on an errant body slam. In kayfabe, the injury was blamed on Hansen’s devastating “Lariat” clothesline.
That August, Sammartino got his revenge, embarrassing and bloodying “The Bad Man from Borger, Texas” in a steel cage at Madison Square Garden. During one of Hansen’s attempts at escape, Sammartino yanked him down by his trunks, exposing his backside to the crowd.
Not stopping there, Sammartino stomped Hansen in the groin, repeatedly blasted him with Hansen’s loaded elbow pad, and then casually walked out the door to the thunderous cheers of more than 20,000 Bruno fanatics.
Four years later, Sammartino repeated the humiliation against his former friend and pupil, Larry Zbyszko. Meeting at Shea Stadium, then the home of New York’s Mets, Sammartino battered his betrayer before walking out the cage door to secure victory.
Roman Retains
During his 1,316-day reign as Undisputed Universal Champion, Roman Reigns’ most persistent challenger was Kevin Owens. Amid the pandemic, the two clashed in three grueling matches, including a steel cage bout on SmackDown in December 2020 that nearly ended Reigns’ march toward history.
After a missed spear sent Reigns crashing into the cage, Owens capitalized with a Stunner that flattened the champ. But as Owens lay recovering, Jey Uso appeared and, from outside the cage, grabbed Owens’ hand and handcuffed him to the chain-link fence.
Even trapped, Owens fought with everything he had, managing to get his body through the cage door — but his feet hovered just inches above the arena floor. Owens’ struggle drew a sly smile from Reigns, who strutted toward the exit, savoring every moment.
As Reigns closed in on victory, Owens yelled, “Your kids should be ashamed of you!” But shame was not in Roman’s game. He mocked his challenger step by step before finally touching the floor and ruthlessly retaining his crown.
Magnificent Escape
Sometimes, guts have nothing to do with how one exits the cage. Sometimes, it all comes down to luck.
On Oct. 17, 1983, the rivalry between Jimmy Snuka and Don Muraco reached its boiling point in a steel cage match at Madison Square Garden, with Muraco’s Intercontinental Championship on the line.
The bout was a bloodbath, but Snuka was firmly in control as the match neared its end. After staggering Muraco with a crushing headbutt, Snuka went in for the kill. Bouncing off the ropes, he launched himself and drilled “The Magnificent One” with a flying headbutt.
The impact was so violent that it sent Muraco sailing over the ropes. As his body hurtled toward the cage door, the referee outside swung it open — and Muraco’s momentum carried him straight out of the ring, sealing one of the luckiest victories in WWE history.
Furious, Snuka stormed after Muraco and threw him back into the cage. With Muraco sprawled on the canvas, Snuka climbed to the top of the structure and, in one of WWE’s most awe-inspiring moments, leapt from nearly 20 feet in the air, crushing Muraco with his legendary Superfly Splash.
Cody and Drew Prepare for Hell
Should this Friday’s Three Stages of Hell match reach its third and deciding fall, Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre could etch their names into WWE’s record books with a memorable steel cage finish.
In a potential preview of what’s to come on SmackDown, Rhodes recently defeated McIntyre in a steel cage match at a WWE live event in Worcester, Massachusetts, escaping the structure the same way countless heroic babyfaces have before him — by climbing over the top.
Rhodes could repeat that feat, provided McIntyre doesn’t beat him to the door. While the match could technically end by pinfall or submission, the stakes suggest WWE may opt for an escape finish, allowing the loser to remain strong in defeat.
If that’s the case, fans should brace for high drama as the next chapter in the saga of former friends and partners raises the stakes even higher.
