Published: 3 minutes ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 14 hours ago by Dave Adamson
Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.
AEW
Clockwork Carnage is coming to AEW WrestleDream, courtesy of the mind of Will Ospreay, and there’s every chance it won’t be a one-off.
Having had a successful outing with the match type at Pro Wrestling Eve, Will Ospreay brings the Clockwork Carnage to AEW WrestleDream.
The match was explained during AEW Collision, with a social media post confirming that Clockwork Carnage is “for the AEW World Championship”. Thus far, of the eight wrestlers set to compete, Will Ospreay, Samoa Joe and Mike Bailey have already qualified.
While its first outing is just days away, the future for Clockwork Carnage depends on its success:
The Clockwork Carnage stipulations
Just in case there was any doubt as to what Clockwork Carnage entails, the stipulations for the match are:
8 wrestlers, two stages
2 wrestlers start the match, selected at random
Every 3 minutes, another wrestler enters at random
Until all 8 wrestlers enter the match, any wrestler pinned or submitted is eliminated
Once the final wrestler enters, all remaining wrestlers have a 15-minute scoring period
Every pinfall or submission in the 15-minute scoring period scores one fall
When the time expires, the wrestler with the most falls is the winner
WWE fans may recognize aspects of the match, with the last stretch akin to the Iron Survivor stipulation used in NXT, aside from a lack of a penalty box. While some may question the creativity of AEW in this context, modern match stipulations are rarely truly unique, with the twist on what has come before being a way to keep it fresh.
Clockwork Carnage after AEW WrestleDream
Tony Khan is clearly very much aware of recurring tropes in AEW, beyond the annual pay-per-view offerings, with match stipulations also finding their way onto the calendar.
Along with Anarchy in the Arena (a brawl of a match that spends much of its time outside the ring), Blood & Guts has been a regular feature, delivering a much more violent WarGames match style since 2021, with its name coming from a Vince McMahon quote about AEW.
Less goretastic, the Continental Classic has become an annual tournament, with the Casino Battle Royale (or Gauntlet) also being a tradition.
If Clockwork Carnage is successful in its first outing at WrestleDream, there’s every possibility that the stipulation match will become an annual event, ideally offering another opportunity to showcase a number of stars with the top prize on offer.
Can Will Ospreay make success a reality?
There is an argument to be made that Ospreay wouldn’t have suggested the match stipulation if he didn’t see it working. Indeed, it was used as Pro Wrestling Eve and should translate to AEW quite effectively.
With Pro Wrestling Eve being an all-women promotion, it would be a surprise if consideration hadn’t been given to potentially running it for the AEW Women’s Champion at some point in the future.
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