Worst in the World: The Shark Cage Match-Big Time Wrestling (1976)

(Special thanks to Jorge Dueñas and an anonymous user for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.)

There have been many attempts to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the Steel Cage match. Easily one of the most notable match types in the history of professional wrestling, many a promotion has tried to take the match and twist it in their own way. Sometimes, you get things that are great, like getting Hell in a Cell by increasing the size of the cage, WarGames by adding a second cage & ring, or even Combat Zone Wrestling's Cage of Death by adding weapons for an ultraviolent match. However, there are also times where trying to be different just led to a bad time all around. Matches like the Kennel from Hell, the Doomsday Cage, and the Electrified Steel Cage (don't worry, we'll get to that one day) have gone down as not just some of the worst cage match types ever, but as the worst gimmick matches ever. And today, I'll be taking a look at one of those terrible cage match variants, one that takes us all the way back to 1976 for the oldest match covered on the Worst in the World. This is the infamous Shark Cage match.

Now, when you read "Shark Cage match", you're probably thinking of matches where a standard match takes place, only with the heel wrestler's manager, teammate, or lackey locked in a cage used for shark diving, whether it be at ringside or suspended above the ring. What I'm talking about is a lot dumber. The rules of the Shark Cage match are that two wrestlers fight in a cage match, only instead of a standard cage that surrounds the entire ring, they square off inside a shark cage in the middle of the ring. Immediately, you can tell why this is a problem; shark cages are not very spacious. The ones used in wrestling (and the one used in this match) can only barely fit two people in it. Two people who are now expected to have a professional wrestling match in it. I have no idea how anybody thought this would work. This match was held by Detroit-based promotion Big Time Wrestling (not to be confused with the promotion of the same name that would become World Class Championship Wrestling or the one that runs in Massachusetts today) owned by the Original Sheik Ed Farhat (also, Sabu's uncle), and pitted Chief Jay Strongbow against Bulldog Don Kent. Strongbow was a mainstay of the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation around this time, but still made occasional appearances in BTW and feuded with Kent, a BTW regular best known for his time as one of the various members of the Fabulous Kangaroos tag team. The Shark Cage match was held in 1976 (I've never been able to find an exact date) and has gone down as one of the worst gimmick matches in history. Even if you've never heard of Big Time Wrestling, you've probably heard about this match. Let's see what it's all about.

Before either man is in the cage, Strongbow starts by tipping and slamming the cage onto Kent. As this is happening, the ring announcer lays out the rules; the winner is the first man to escape the cage. Again, for reference, this is the cage:

They have to literally, actively, try not to escape the cage. That's how small it is. But still, that's probably the best way they could've come up with for the match to end. It's impossible to do pinfalls, so that's out question. I guess submissions are possible, but the limited space means there are a limited amount of submissions you can go for. One of Strongbow's signature moves is the Indian Deathlock, but there's no way he can lock that in inside a shark cage. All they can really do is strike eachother This is why you don't book something like this. It's so fucking dumb.

After Strongbow throws Kent into the cage and enters himself, the referee closes the door. The two lock up in the cage before Kent rakes Strongbow's eyes before throwing his head into the wall. He then presses his face into the bars. He does this for 20 straight seconds before the two trade punches. Again, as you can see, there is nothing stopping Kent from just walking out of the cage, but if he did that, the match would be 30 seconds long. Strongbow does probably the most innovative thing he can do in, grabbing the top of the cage and pulling himself up to choke Kent with his boot.

Strongbow goes back to the punches and tries to leave the cage, but Kent stops him and throws him head first into the cage. At this time, Kent bumps into the cage door because the cage is really fucking small and there's no room to move around in it, and the door opens.

Even though he's standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT, he makes no effort to take one step backwards to escape, and the referee walks over and pushes the door closed. This is hell.

Kent then tries to open the cage door. Even though we JUST SAW IT OPEN WHEN HE BUMPED INTO IT, Kent struggles & fails to open the door. Strongbow grabs Kent from behind, only for Kent to punch him. With perfect comedic timing, Kent brushes against the door when he turns around, and the door flies open. This is essentially a shoot-Three Stooges skit. As Strongbow shoves Kent into the cage wall, Big Time Wrestling actually makes the choice to cut backstage to the locker room completely. Not a split screen, but just cutting to backstage instead of the match. What are we fucking doing here? This is actually pertinent to the match, but following the prior match, Kent had attacked Mark Lewin with a chair. We see backstage that Lewin is very bloody as the Islanders (Afa & Ska, the future Wild Samoans in the WWF) and medics tend to him. Back to the ring, where the commentator tells us that the cage tipped over onto the ropes while they cut away. The two trade punches before Strongbow locks in a sleeper hold. Kent breaks the hold by grabbing an object out of his trunks and tries to leave the cage, but Strongbow holds onto him and pulls him back in. Kent keeps punching Strongbow down and trying to leave the cage, but Strongbow keeps him inside before lifting him up, causing him to hit his head on the cage ceiling. Credit to Chief Jay Strongbow, he's trying to keep the match interesting by doing different moves, regardless of how limited he is in the small cage.

The referee puts a screwdriver in the slot to keep the door closed. If the point of the match is to escape the cage, why is the referee actively trying to stop people from leaving the cage? What the fuck are we doing? Strongbow immediately pulls it out and tries to jab Kent with it. Kent takes it from him and jabs Strongbow before the referee takes it away and puts it back in the door. And then they cut backstage again as the Islanders have to restrain Lewin from going back out to ringside. Back to the ring again, where Kent continues to beat down Strongbow before the show goes to a commercial break. When it comes back, Kent is keeping Strongbow from leaving the cage. Kent starts choking Strongbow, and the referee starts picking up and dropping Strongbow's arm even though I don't think you can win this match by submission or knockout. This choking spot goes on for A MINUTE AND A HALF before Strongbow starts overhead chopping away at Kent's head. Strongbow fires up which, because it's a STUPIDLY TINY FUCKING CAGE, is really funny because he just kind of jogs in place. Strongbow tosses Kent into the cage wall and tries to exit the cage, but Kent drags him back in and goes back to the choke. Another extended choke spot ends with Kent punching Strongbow as we go backstage AGAIN to see Mark Lewin breaking free and running out of the locker room. Back in the ring, Kent chokes Strongbow again as Lewin enters the ring. Channeling his inner Agent 47, Lewin takes a piece of rope and wraps it around Kent's neck, holding him in place while Strongbow escapes the cage for the win. Lewin then starts to attack.

The Verdict

AWFUL. Worse than you could even imagine. Like I said at the start, there's not a ton of information about this match online, like the match length, so I was not aware this match was almost TEN MINUTES LONG. I had assumed that this was like two or three minutes long because of how little you can do in a shark cage, but no, TEN FUCKING MINUTES of just punching & choking in the same spot over and over and over again. Nothing about the match works. Practically, the cage is too small to do anything, and is so small that the door flings open half the time, making Strongbow & Kent look like absolute idiots for not just leaving the cage when it's that fucking easy. An absolute & complete failure in every single possible way. 

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco vs The Perfect Event-Halloween Havoc 2000
3. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
4. Wrath vs Glacier-World War 3 1998
5. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
6. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
7. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
8. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
9. The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
10. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
11. Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
12. Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
13. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
14. The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
15. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
16. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
17. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
18. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
19. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff
20. Tyson Fury vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2019
21. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
22. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
23. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
24. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
25. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
26. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
27. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
28. General Rection vs Lance Storm & Jim Duggan-Halloween Havoc 2000
29. Chyna vs Ivory-WrestleMania X-Seven
30. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
31. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
32. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
33. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
34. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
35. EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
36. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
37. Toru Yano vs Great O-Khan-New Japan Cup 2021 (Day 6)
38. Glacier vs Wrath-The Great American Bash 1997
39. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
40. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
41. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
42. Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle-Mae Young Classic (Episode 2)
43. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
44. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
45. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
46. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
47. The Undertaker vs King Mabel-In Your House 5: Season's Beatings
48. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
49. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
50. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
51. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
52. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
53. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
54. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
55. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
56. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
57. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
58. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
59. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
60. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
61. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
62. The First Blood DNA Match-Halloween Havoc 2000
63. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
64. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
65. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
66. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
67. The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
68. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
69. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
70. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
71. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
72. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
73. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
74. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
75. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
76. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
77. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
78. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
79. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
80. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
81. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
82. Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
83. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
84. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
85. Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
86. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
87. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
88. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
89. Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
90. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
91. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
92. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
93. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
94. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
95. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
96. Diesel vs King Mabel-SummerSlam 1995
97. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
98. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
99. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
100. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
101. Goldberg vs KroniK-Halloween Havoc 2000
102. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
103. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
104. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
105. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
106. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
107. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
108. Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
109. Glacier vs Mortis-Slamboree 1997
110. Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
111. The 1997 World War 3 Match
112. The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
113. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
114. Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
115. The 1998 World War 3
116. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
117. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
118. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
119. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
120. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
121. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
122. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
123. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
124. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
125. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
126. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
127. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
128. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
129. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
130. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
131. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
132. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
133. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
134. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
135. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
136. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
137. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
138. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
139. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
140. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
141. Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
142. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
143. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
144.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
145. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
146. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
147. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
148. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
149. Mabel vs Savio Vega-King of the Ring 1995
150. Monty Brown vs Trytan-Destination X 2005
151. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
152. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
153. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
154. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
155. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
156. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
157. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
158. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
159. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
160. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
161. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
162. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
163. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
164. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
165. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
166. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
167. Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
168. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
169. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
170. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
171. Mike Sanders vs Ernest Miller-Halloween Havoc 2000
172. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
173. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
174. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
175. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
176. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
177. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
178. The Countdown to Armageddon Match-WCW Thunder (10/18/2000)
179. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
180. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
181. Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
182. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
183. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
184. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
185. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
186. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
187. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
188. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
189. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
190. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
191. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
192. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
193. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
194. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
195. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
196. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
197. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
198. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
199. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
200. Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
201. Konnan & Tygress vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson-Halloween Havoc 2000
202. The Fabulous Moolah vs Ivory-No Mercy 1999
203. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-Living Dangerously 2000
204. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
205. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
206. Eddy Steinblock vs One Warrior Nation-DWA Wrestling Legends Tour 2010 (Day 2)
207. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
208. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
209. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
210. "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
211. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
212. Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
213. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
214. Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
215. The Evening Gown Pool Match-Armageddon 1999
216. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
217. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
218. The 1996 World War 3 Match
219. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
220. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
221. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
222. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
223. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
224. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
225. The Shark Cage Match-Big Time Wrestling (1976)
226. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
227. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
228. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
229. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
230. The 1995 World War 3 Match
231. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-XPW Freefall

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. In two weeks, I'm going to try to cover the match I had originally planned to cover last week from Against All Odds 2012, but if that doesn't work out, I've got something else lined up. Stay tuned.