The evolution of Hardcore Wrestling is just like the evolution of the wrestling business in general. The action that used to be slower-paced is now faster and the violence has been turned up big time. The risks on some of the spots are riskier and far more dangerous; the fighting spirit of blood and guts wrestling is certainly alive and well.
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One of the pioneers of the genre, ECW, might be the most famous as well as the most influential when it comes to the hardcore style. But long before the promotion took off and redefined what Hardcore Wrestling is, plenty of promotions and matches took place to showcase how violent wrestling could be.
7 Roddy Piper Vs. Greg Valentine - Dog Collar Match (Starrcade November 24, 1983)
Two of the toughest men ever in the business brought blood and guts to the inaugural Starrcade event. Why have a traditional strap match when you and your hated foe can be attached by a dog collar and you can swing away at them with a chain? This match was and still is one of the most influential in NWA history. It left both men bloody with bruises from the chain and Piper was left with permanent hearing loss in one of his ears from the match.
6 Sgt. Slaughter Vs. Pat Patterson - Alley Fight (WWE At MSG May 4, 1981)
Before becoming an American hero, Sgt. Slaughter was a despised drill sergeant. Pat Patterson, now an announcer, actually answered the challenge of breaking out of Sarge’s Cobra Clutch, leading to a big brawl; an Alley Fight inside of Madison Square Garden.
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The two legends left each other bloody and Patterson was able to get the victory by wailing away on Slaughter with his cowboy boot until Sarge’s manager, The Grand Wizard, heaved in the towel to stop the barrage.
5 Buzz Sawyer Vs. Tommy Rich - Last Battle Of Atlanta (October 23, 1983)
Over the years, matches that were this good but supposedly not filmed or lost to time wind up gaining a big reputation. The Last Battle Of Atlanta is one of those matches. Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer fought inside of a steel cage with a top (yep, the basis for Hell In A Cell) and bludgeoned each other. Like many cage matches of the time, this one got really bloody and with a bleached blond like Wildfire Tommy Rich, he looked like a horror show even in victory.
4 Bruiser Brody Vs. Abdullah The Butcher - The Final Battle (WWC/Capitol Sports Promotions, July 13, 1988)
Before his murder in Puerto Rico, Bruiser Brody was amongst the most feared pro wrestlers alive. The man was exactly as his name suggested - a bruiser and a brawler who would take the fight to any opponent. That made him the perfect match to stop the rampage of the Madman From The Sudan - Abdullah The Butcher. The two violent superstars were immediate icons all over the world and the two brawlers drew each other's blood all over the world. In what tragically became Bruiser Brody's last recorded match, he and "Abby" tried to maim each other yet again, with Brody practically hanging the Butcher in the ropes! Sadly, four days later he would be stabbed to death by a fellow wrestler, Jose Gonzalez.
3 Magnum T.A. Vs. Tully Blanchard - I Quit / Steel Cage Match (Starrcade The Gathering November 28, 1985)
Back before WWE introduced escaping the cage as a way to win, there was no escape! A cage match usually meant the end of a blood feud that would end in a blood bath. The war between Tully Blanchard and Magnum T.A. reached a boiling point for the US Title. The two met at Starrcade (1985): The Gathering in an I Quit match inside the cage!
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The cage didn’t stop weapons like a microphone from being used or a wooden chair from finding its way into the match. That's the chair that Magnum used to try and blind Blanchard before he would quit and Magnum would win the gold.
2 Cactus Jack Vs. Big Van Vader - Texas Death Match (Halloween Havoc October 24, 1993)
Because of how stiff he was in the ring, some wrestlers legitimately didn’t want to face Big Van Vader. That just meant he was the perfect opponent for the sadistic villain Cactus Jack to become a sympathetic babyface against the hard-hitting mastodon.
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When they met at Halloween Havoc 1993, the wheel decided that a Texas Death Match was the brawlers’ fate. The two men brutalized each other in ways that were shocking for the WCW audience at that time, no pun intended to how the match eventually ended with Harley Race using a stun gun on Jack.
1 Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee Vs. Larry Latham & Wayne Farris - Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl (June 15, 1979)
According to some, this wild brawl is one of the inspirations for Atsushi Onita in creating FMW. The future Honky Tonk Man (Wayne Farris) and Moondog Spot (Larry Latham) took the action to bitter rivals Jerry "The King" Lawler and Bill Dundee all over the building at the Tupelo Sports Arena. The building owner just begged the boys to not destroy the popcorn machine, but other than that, anything goes and anything did. All four men traded blows and smashed through condiments after their initial tag team match. Naturally, according to Lawler, this is the birth of hardcore wrestling in America.
