The King of the Mountain match is a professional wrestling match exclusive to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It consists of five competitors competing for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship or the TNA X Division Championship as of Slammiversary 2009. The match is a staple of the annual Slammiversary pay-per-view event in June. In June 2009, the first three King of the Mountain matches were shown on the television show TNA Epics in the UK to hype the King of the Mountain matches which would take place at Slammiversary 2009.

[edit] Match format

The competitors in the match start out as "ineligible" to win. In order to become "eligible", a wrestler must score a pinfall or submission on an opponent. The opponent who submits or is pinned is forced to spend two minutes in the "penalty box" cage. More than one wrestler can be in the cage. This often results in wrestlers fighting inside the cage or forming some sort of alliance.

Once "eligible", the wrestler may win the match by retrieving the belt and hanging it on the hook suspended above the ring with the aid of the ladders. A TNA official maintains possession of the belt and circles the ring, staying out of the action as much as possible. When a wrestler wishes to hang the belt, he must retrieve it from the official. Once the belt is in play, any other wrestler who is eligible may attempt to steal the belt and hang it. Once the belt has been dropped and no wrestler is attempting to hang it, a referee returns the belt to the official.

The matchup is similar to the more common ladder match, which has the belt suspended above the ring and the winner is the one who retrieves it with the use of a ladder. The King of the Mountain match is considered backwards in nature to the ladder match, as the competitors attempt to hang the belt instead of retrieving it.

[edit] Match history

No.	Match	Event, Date and Location
I	Jeff Jarrett defeated Ron Killings (c), A.J. Styles, Raven and Chris Harris to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship	TNA pay-per-view June 2, 2004, Nashville, Tennessee
II	Raven defeated A.J. Styles (c), Monty Brown, Abyss and Sean Waltman to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship	Slammiversary 2005 June 19, 2005, Orlando, Florida
III	Jeff Jarrett defeated Christian Cage (c), Abyss, Ron Killings and Sting to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship	Slammiversary 2006 June 18, 2006, Orlando, Florida
IV	Kurt Angle defeated Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, Christian Cage and Chris Harris to become the first TNA World Heavyweight Champion	Slammiversary 2007 June 17, 2007, Nashville, Tennessee
V	Kaz defeated Chris Sabin, Curry Man, Jimmy Rave and Johnny Devine to earn a future TNA World Heavyweight Championship match[1]	Impact! Zone June 5, 2008, Orlando, Florida
VI	Samoa Joe (c) defeated Robert Roode, Booker T, Rhino and Christian Cage to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship	Slammiversary 2008 June 8, 2008, Southaven, Mississippi
VII	Suicide (c) defeated Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley to retain the TNA X Division Championship[2]	Slammiversary 2009 June 21, 2009, Auburn Hills, Michigan
VIII	Kurt Angle defeated Mick Foley (c), Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship[3]	Slammiversary 2009 June 21, 2009, Auburn Hills, Michigan

[edit] References

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