Texas Deathmatches

A Texas Deathmatch is a “last man standing” style fight with extra brutality and usually relaxed rules. Anything goes, so strikes, weapons, brawling around the arena, and fighting on the floor are usually allowed, and countouts are often waived. In many classic versions, you must first pin your opponent, which makes it different from a regular last man standing match. After that pinfall, the referee starts a 10-count, and if the wrestler who was pinned cannot stand up by the count of ten, the match is over. If they manage to stand, the match continues and the cycle of punishment, pin, and 10-count can repeat several times until one wrestler stays down. Different promotions and eras change the rules a bit, and some modern Texas Deathmatches skip the pinfall and work just like a standard last man standing match but with the Texas name. The core idea, however, is always the same: it is a no-rules, high-violence match where the winner is the one who can still stand at the end.