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It is the wish of the Squared Circle to provide a strict, yet loose rulebook that encourages wrestling. To this end, we are different from other federations based on what we can and cannot allow. The rules below are to be strictly followed by all referees and wrestlers working in the Squared Circle, and no exceptions or quarter shall be given.

QUICK LINKS
ARTICLE 1: GENERAL RULES
ARTICLE 2: TITLE BELT RULES
ARTICLE 3: SPECIAL STIPULATION RULES
ARTICLE 4: REGIONAL RULES

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 1: ROPE BREAKS
  1. The Squared Circle uses a special "rope break" rule, which gives a wrestler only a limited number of rope breaks in any one match.
  2. Rope breaks count for any time a pinfall or submission is broken with the ropes.
  3. Wrestlers are normally given three rope breaks per match.
  4. Title holders are given four rope breaks per match.
  5. Wrestlers in tag matches have to share three(or four, if they're the champs) rope breaks.
  6. Once a wrestler uses up their rope breaks, the referee is instructed to not break a hold on their behalf if they make the ropes again.

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 2: TIME LIMITS
  1. Normal matches have no time limits. They go until a decision is rendered.
  2. Only an Evolutionary title holder (below) can set a time limit for his/her matches.
  3. Also, only Iron Man matches end up with any sort of time limit, but the likelyhood of having many of these matches is slim at best.

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 3: INTERFERENCE
  1. Interference(also known as run-ins) is STRICTLY forbidden in the Squared Circle.
  2. Only a manager (or trainer) is allowed to accompany a wrestler to the ring. No stablemates, allies, or family members are allowed at ringside.
  3. If a person does run-in on a match and successfully disrupts things, both he and the person he's running in for are punished severely in some manner of form.

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 4, CHAPTER 1: THE REFEREES; BOTH REFEREES
  1. All matches, unless otherwise noted, readilly have two referees involved. One inside the ring, and one outside the ring.
  2. If both referees are incapacitated in a match, the match is declared a draw, and all wrestlers involved are punished.
  3. Referees are NOT to be touched.

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 4, CHAPTER 2: THE REFEREES; THE INNER REFEREE
  1. The inside referee is the one who makes the pinfall counts and calls submissions.
  2. The inside referee has every manner of authority inside the ring, but has no real authority outside of the ring.

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 4, CHAPTER 3: THE REFEREES; THE OUTER REFEREE
  1. The outside referee's job is to stop run-ins from being successful and to be the authority figure outside the ring.
  2. They also have all authority outside of the ring. They can disqualify people if they fight outside for too long. The outside referee does NOT count people out. In fact, they can be loose towards how long people stay outside of the ring, but they will order a wrestler back into the ring under threat of disqualification if they try to take advantage of the "no countouts" rule.
  3. The outside referee has NO authority over what happens in the ring.
  4. They also keep the managers in check.
  5. More importantly, they replace the Inner Referee if he/she gets incapacitated. Should this happen, the Outer Referee gains full control over both the inside and outside of the ring and his/her role is pretty much the same as any normal referee in any other federation (except that he can't count them out).

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 5, CHAPTER 1: ILLEGAL TACTICS, GENERAL
  1. Weapon use is strictly frowned upon. If someone is even SEEN with a weapon, they're disqualified.
  2. A wrestler using a closed fist(ie: punching, fist drops, Uraken, etc.) will be docked a rope break as if they had just used it to escape a submission hold. They will not be disqualified for the constant use of closed fists, but they WILL regret the decision if the match stretches out.
  3. Low blows are also frowned upon, though we're pretty loose about the rule in comparison to most federations. If a wrestler uses a low blow, they lose one rope break. The second low blow will dock the wrestler the rest of their rope breaks, no matter how many they may have left. The third one(or the one that occurs whenever a wrestler has no rope breaks left to dock them by) is a disqualification.
  4. We have no rule against eye pokes, but we don't like them anyway.

• ARTICLE 1, SECTION 5, CHAPTER 2: ILLEGAL TACTICS, DISQUALIFICATIONS
  1. Getting disqualified in a tSC match is NOT a good thing to have happen. It's greatly frowned upon.
  2. Any wrestler who's disqualified may have to be punished in some way (ie: having to wrestle their next match with no rope breaks, paying a fine, etc.).

• ARTICLE 2, SECTION 1: CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES
  1. The Squared Circle has three championship titles in its possession.
  2. As a general rule, title holders can't challenge for other people's titles. We are aware that being a double champion is a desired thing in this business, but it lowers the amount of real title matches and we don't want that.
  3. A title can only change hands through pinfall, submission, knocked out, a referee's decision(ie: wrestler no longer able to continue), or however a special stipulation match's rules go.
  4. There is a thirty day rule for title defenses. If a wrestler is unable to defend their title within a thirty day span of time, they are IMMEDIATELY stripped of the title and the title is put up in a four man mini-tournament amongst the top contenders for the belt.

• ARTICLE 2, SECTION 2: THE CHAMPIONSHIP
  1. As the highest honor a wrestler can achieve, the Championship's matches are usually main event level matches unless otherwise noted or requested by the management.
  2. We have a rule that states that anyone can really challenge for the title, just to keep the Champion a little busy.
  3. The Championship can only be fought for on Squared Circle shows. We will not allow a title match to occur in another federation unless it's a cross-promoted event.

• ARTICLE 2, SECTION 3: THE EVOLUTIONARY TITLE
  1. This title is named after Edward Olmstead's LCW Evo, and its rules are based on Evo's Madhouse Title.
  2. The champion, upon winning the title, can establish a certain theme with their titles upon winning them. For example, they may add a time limit, or add a weight limit. In this way, the title takes on many shapes, forms, and identities from champion to champion.
  3. Furthermore, the Evolutionary Champion reserves the right to make any individual match into whatever stipulation he wants... within reason. (in other words, this is a "ask Renner first" sort of thing)
  4. The Evolutionary Champion IS allowed to defend his title elsewhere, but if the title changes hands in another federation, the new champion is contractually obligated to defend his newly won title here in the Squared Circle until he loses it again.

• ARTICLE 2, SECTION 4, CHAPTER 1: TAG TEAMS
  1. As stated in Article 1, Section 1, tag team members have to share three rope breaks, and four if they happen to be the champions.
  2. Tag teams that have either the Champion or the Evo Title holder will also get four rope breaks to share instead of three.
  3. As they're tag matches, only two out of the four wrestlers involved should be in. If a tag is made, there is a five-ten count(depends on the referee) to bring the match back down to two people instead of three/four.

• ARTICLE 2, SECTION 4, CHAPTER 2: TAG TEAM TITLES
  1. We would PREFER that all champions win the belts as a tag team instead of a single wrestler, but Hiro Kitagami seems determined to kill that rule off of the starting block. :-)
  2. Like with the Championship, the Tag Team Titles are not allowed to be defended on other, non cross-promoted shows.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 1: SPECIAL STIPULATION MATCHES
  1. I'm sure you're all quite familiar with special stipulation matches. This article will discuss them at some length.
  2. Unless otherwise noted, the Squared Circle does not play host to "unrealistic" stipulation matches. I define this as "anything that hasn't been seen on television before", and will only allow few exceptions.
  3. Stipulation matches only occur on major, heavilly-hyped Tuesday Night Wrestling cards and pay-per-views. Do not bother asking me about undercard stip matches on minor TNWs. You will be hit with a stick.
  4. Also, unless I actually expressly say so, assume that all of the Circle's rules still apply.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 2, CHAPTER 1: CAGE MATCHES: REGULAR
  1. Just for the sake of reference, the "Hell in a Cell" and "Elimination Chamber" cages do not exist here. We just use the regular kind. There IS, however, the War Games match, which will be discussed later on.
  2. We use the old blue cages that the WWF used to use. The hard to build ones. So, when I say that cage matches require a big blowoff to be used, I mean that in my most full of capacities.
  3. The only way to win a Squared Circle cage match is to escape the cage. There are no "additional" rules that we fail to tell you about.
  4. Escapes are registered when one of the competitors touch both feet on the floor.
  5. Tag team cage matches require both stars to escape before the win is registered.
  6. Cage matches only require one referee; the one on the outside that declares who touches their feet on the floor first.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 2, CHAPTER 2: CAGE MATCHES: WAR GAMES
  1. This will be written in a way so that people unfamiliar with War Games will know what it's about.
  2. The show these matches are booked on will have two rings set up as opposed to one.
  3. A giant mesh cage that spans the two rings will be used. This cage has a roof on it to prevent anyone from just climbing in.
  4. The match is pitted between two teams of either four or five. One wrestler from each team will start, and they'll fight each other for five minutes inside a locked cage.
  5. After five minutes, there's a coin toss, and the winner of the coin toss sends in another person of the team, and the cage is locked again for five minutes. When the five minutes pass, the team that didn't win the coin toss will send in their next man.
  6. This will go back and forth until all wrestlers are in the match. There will be no way to win the match until everyone is in.
  7. From that point on, the match will end ONLY end when one wrestler from either team is forced to submit.
  8. There aren't any disqualifications, but you can't bring in any weapons.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 3: LADDER MATCHES
  1. Again, for referencing purposes, just assume that "Tables, Ladders, and Chairs" matches don't exist with us.
  2. The ladder can be used in any capacity that the wrestlers see fit; weapon, climbing device, or the painting of houses.
  3. While there are no disqualifications in ladder matches, we sure as heck don't like having weapons other than the ladder being used.
  4. A victory is only registered when one of the competitors climbs up the ladder and retrieves the object hanging above the ring(ie: title belt, money bag, monkey, etc.).

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 4: BATTLE ROYALES
  1. Like all battle royales, these are matches with twenty to thirty wrestlers involved.
  2. Elimination occurs when a wrestler goes over the top rope and hits the floor. Period.
  3. When there are only two people left in a battle royale, there will be a match that immediately follows to determine who wins the match. This match will be contested under normal match rules, rope breaks included.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 5: LAST MAN STANDING
  1. These are matches that require one adversary to completely knock out another wrestler to win.
  2. A wrestler, when knocked down, must get back up by the count of ten, or lose the match.
  3. There are no disqualifications in a Last Man Standing match, but as it has been stated before, weapon use is still frowned upon.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 6, CHAPTER 1: MULTIPLE FALL MATCHES: TWO OUT OF THREE FALL MATCHES
  1. These are matches that require a wrestler to win two falls to win. These rules will also apply to three-out-of-five fall matches and so on.
  2. All rules that apply for a normal match also apply here; including rope breaks.
  3. When a fall is decided, both wrestlers will get one rope break back. They may only have a maximum of three(four if they're a champion), though.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 6, CHAPTER 2: MULTIPLE FALL MATCHES: IRON MAN MATCH
  1. These are, of course, matches that go for a predetermined amount of time, during which an unlimited amount of falls may occur.
  2. Iron Man matches are either fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, or an hour in length.
  3. Unlike the Iron Man matches you may be used to, the scoring of the Circle's Iron Man matches are slightly different. Pinfalls/submissions/disqualifications count for one point, but you lose a point if you're disqualified.
  4. After each decision is rendered, both wrestlers get one rope break back. They may only get a maximum of three rope breaks(four if they're a champion), though.
  5. Whoever has the most points at the end of the match wins.

• ARTICLE 3, SECTION 7: OTHER MATCHES
  1. In a No Rope Breaks Match, both wrestlers have no rope breaks and thus cannot break pins or submissions.
  2. In all cases of the below three matches, there are no disqualifications. Even then, weapon use is STILL greatly frowned upon.
  3. Submission Matches go until one of the competitors surrenders or submits.
  4. First Blood Matches go until one of the competitors bleeds.
  5. "I Quit" Matches go until one of the competitors says the words "I quit!".

• ARTICLE 4, SECTION 1: REGIONAL RULES
  1. The Squared Circle has a unique trait to actually take on the rules and stipulations of a specific region should they differ. This usually applies to certain areas of the world, and not to America.
  2. Unless otherwise noted, assume that the Squared Circle's normal match rules still apply.

• ARTICLE 4, SECTION 2: CHICAGO
  1. This applies only to one match in a Chicago card, provided that they're agreed upon by all parties.
  2. There may be a "Chicago Street Fight". These work exactly like a street fight in the WWE. There are no countouts or disqualifications, no tagging needed in tag matches, and pins only count in the ring.
  3. There are also no rope breaks in a Chicago Street Fight, for simplicity's sake.

• ARTICLE 4, SECTION 3: TEXAS
  1. These are only for shows held in the Squared Circle's home state of Texas. Like with Chicago, this rule only applies to one stipulation match.
  2. In a "Texas Death Match", once a wrestler is pinned or forced to tap out, they must answer a ten count to get up. If they get up, the match continues until the next fall. If they don't, they lose.
  3. Again, for simplicity's sake, there is no rope breaks in a Texas Death Match.

• ARTICLE 4, SECTION 4: MEXICAN LUCHA LIBRE
  1. These are only for shows held in Mexico.
  2. Mexico has a "Mexican Death Match" which works just like a Texas Death Match.
  3. Piledrivers in the regular, unleaded, and Tombstone varieties are ILLEGAL in Mexico and are as frowned upon down there as weapon use is here in the Squared Circle. They will result in an INSTANT disqualification.
  4. In tag matches(of any kind), a wrestler does not need to tag in/out of the match so long as one of the wrestlers rolls out of the ring.
  5. Tag matches that have more than four participants have no rope breaks, because it's hard for the inside referee to keep up with the number of rope breaks with everyone coming and going as they please. Singles matches, however, maintain the rope break rule.
  6. Title matches, hair/mask/title v. hair/mask/title matches, and six-man tag matches are two out of three falls-based, and they're run under the same principles behind them as our two-out-of-three falls matches.

• ARTICLE 4, SECTION 5: JAPANESE PURORESU
  1. The only thing you should know here is that we operate under All Japan rules in Japan.
  2. Generally, that only means that there are actually no disqualifications, but weapon use is once again still frowned upon.