E-mail comments and questions about this column to Trophar@Lycos.com and I will post some of your thoughts in the next mailbag section.
Read the archives of Beauty in Wrestling at LeonThomas.Net It will be updated in full over the weekend.
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*WARNING*
This column contains graphic images of excessive blood. I don't like it, but it needs to be seen to make a point about hardcore wrestling. If you do not want to see it or are easily offended, turn back now. Otherwise, here we go.
THE HARDCORE LEGACY
When Extreme Championship Wrestling died, some fans thought it was the end of hardcore wrestling in America. Some rejoiced that this dangerous content was fading into obscurity. Others cried as their favorite promotion went bankrupt and feared that their style of wrestling was through. They were wrong. It was only the beginning. When ECW died, it also indirectly gave birth to other wrestling promotions trying to duplicate the product, and in some cases, improve upon it. By "improve," I mean turn up the violence to a disgusting degree. ECW was not all hardcore. It had a lot of quality wrestlers in the promotion, including Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Tajiri, Chris Jericho, Rhyno, and even Bret Hart for one night.
When ECW died, whatever good there was in having a hardcore promotion died with it. The independent hardcore wrestling promotions that emerged decided rather than give hardcore in moderation or at least tone it down so that they can continue to do proper business and not have the athletic commissions on their case, they would become so-called "outlaw" promotions and make their name as being infamous. The Big Two (WWF/E and WCW) went the opposite route during and shortly after ECW's reign and gave a hardcore product so watered-down, it was neither hardcore nor wrestling. This is the story of ECW's hardcore legacy. What it gave to the American professional wrestling scene for better or worse.
I'll not try and cover every little independent hardcore wrestling company. The focus is on that of what is becoming mainstream for reasons I'll explain at the end.....
--COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING--
CZW may be the perfect example of hardcore wrestling gone wrong. I have seen CZW, and for research for this column, I have seen some more. CZW features trash wrestling including but not limited to putting empty plant pots over a wrestler's head and crushing both it and the head with a chair, crashing through flourescent light tubes, a dangerous amount of blood loss, throwing wrestlers off balconies and scaffolds, powerbombing through ironing boards, fire, and a lot more. Nearly every major independent wrestling promotion has one or two of these dangerous stunts every so often. CZW does this every show to their wrestlers. They are indy wrestlers, after all. Desperate to make a buck.
Let's look at the history of Combat Zone Wrestling and delve deep into this mess. CZW appeared during the height of hardcore wrestling. When ECW folded, CZW took their ball and ran with it to ridiculous extremes that would make many ECW fans cringe. They went too far and too often. So much, in fact, that the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission actually had to ban use of certain hardcore tools such as barbed wire and the aforementioned light tubes. Forced to pack up their implements of destruction and move elsewhere, CZW showed up in Delaware. Dover to be specific. Frankly, it did not take too long before the citizens of Dover could not handle CZW's brand of "wrestling." Minors could attend. Deathmatches were common. Blood was everywhere. I can't say that I blame Dover for not taking to CZW. In early September of last year, the town council in Dover passed an ordinance (eight in favor, one against) against CZW. If I am reading the report from the Delaware News Journal correctly, the ordinance was amended to allow professional wrestling but not "ultra-violent" wrestling. The ordinance goes a step further than the previous one in Pennsylvania that banned barbed wire and a few other nasty weapons. Dover's law states that the only foreign object that can be used is a boxing glove.
As a long-time wrestling fan, I know it's a shame when town councils actually have to go to legal lengths to stop this madness, but the alternative was simply worse. The fact is that CZW was doing more to hurt professional wrestling than the Dover council ever did. A promotion can only bring Cage of Death matches to a city for so long until the citizens get squeamish. What's the "Cage of Death?" someone might ask. It's one of the CZW matches I forced myself to watch recently. Basically, it is a combination of a steel cage (not too bad), a scaffold match (very dangerous but not too graphic), a plethora of weapons in the cage (we're getting there...), and an entire ring covered with thumb tacks with almost no actual canvas showing. There we go. Way too much at once. I don't blame you, Dover. Frankly, I think CZW owner and wrestler John Zandig just can't get enough blood. Even if it is his own. Fetish, perhaps? I don't know. What I do know is that a few days after Dover banned his product, Zandig took part in a match in which meat hooks were shoved into his back.
This year, I am told that CZW cut back on some of the hardcore insanity but is still plenty sleazy. In a recent show, one of CZW's women appeared in the ring dangerously close to having her breasts completely exposed. Local wrestling promoter and wrestler known as Rockin' Rebel received many complaints and pulled out as CZW's promoter in Pennsylvania. CZW is said to have a back-up promoter and will continue as planned. CZW is, to some degree, becoming mainstream now that they are presenting Pay-Per-View events. It doesn't look like they will be stopping any time soon. Whether one considers that a good or bad thing depends on blood-lust.
--WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION--
While WWE was still WWF, they were in a constant and sometimes bitter ratings battle with rival WCW. Particularly on Monday nights. In an attempt to shock the audiences and put on a memorable and historic show, WWF Monday Night Raw featured ECW talent. Jerry "The King" Lawler used his commentary time to call out what he called Extremely Crappy Wrestling and Paul Heymen's band from the Island of Misfit Toys responded with an invasion. It was all a work, of course, but it had the sense of being more "real" than what we were normally watching. With ECW on Raw, it was all very unpredictable. It was so different. Raw featured a Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam altercation and lots more mayhem that most WWF fans weren't accostomed to seeing at the time. How times would change.
In late '98, almost a couple years after hardcore wrestling invaded Raw, Vince McMahon presented Mick Foley (Mankind at the time, if memory serves) with the WWF Hardcore Championship. In reality, it was patched together from a previous belt with duct tape. To Foley, it was special. It would not stay with him long, though. About a month after receiving it, he lost the belt in a match with the late Big Bossman. In the months that followed, it mostly floated back and forth between Al Snow and the newly-renamed Hardcore Holly. Some decent hardcore, falls-count anywhere matches resulted. That all changed when the belt was handed to another recently-departed wrestler, Crash Holly. There was a new twist given to the Hardcore Championship as Crash, believing himself a larger than life cruiserweight, declared he would put the belt on the line twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Meaning that anyone could pin Crash at any time. It sounded absurd, and frankly it was, but while it certainly wasn't hardcore, it was funny. Notable Crash Holly ambushes included being jumped in his hotel room and the assault at the children's playroom. Slides, rubber balls, and all. In total, Crash Holly won the Hardcore Championship about twenty times in the course of two and a half years. The exact number is in dispute due to his losing the title and winning it back at house shows, which generally aren't counted on WWF/E television.
There were more serious Hardcore Championship reigns. Most notably, Raven. His matches against Rhyno, Kane, and The Big Show were actually fairly good. Also, Steve Blackman's reign was somewhat eventful even though it was difficult to buy plastic trash cans as "steel." His work with kendo sticks, however, was impressive. In the Summer of 2002, the Hardcore Championship was winding down. It had served its usefullness but was starting to feel unnecessary and insignificant. Title reigns were very short and often very boring. In an attempt to remove the title, then-champion Tommy Dreamer faced Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam in a unification match. It was a little strange. It was under hardcore championship rules but the winner, no matter which champion won, would be Intercontinental Champion as the Hardcore Championship would, as they explained it, merge with IC title....even though the IC title would not become hardcore in any way. I know, I know. I didn't get it either. Basically, they wanted to say goodbye to the Hardcore Championship and that was accomplished. RVD won the match.
WWF became WWE and hardcore was mostly pushed aside save for the occassional Hell in a Cell match or appearance by semi-retired Mick Foley.
--AND THE REST--
There are/were many other forms of hardcore wrestling in America. Xtreme Pro Wrestling was the first to challenge ECW as the top hardcore promotion. They even crashed an ECW event to take the fight to them in an outlandish attempt at free publicity. XPW went very far in their product, including Vic Grimes falling off a scaffold and through four or five tables. XPW always wanted to be the next ECW. They finally realized that dream by following ECW and going bankrupt. Then there was Juggalo Championshit Wrestling. No, that is not a misspelling. Once upon a time, the Insane Clown Posse of Violent J (the fat one) and Shaggy 2 Dope (the other one) decided to start their very own professional wrestling promotion. They must have had some time between writing lyrics for one bad album and the next bad album. ICP actually tried to wrestle.
There was even hardcore in World Championship Wrestling. WCW gave hardcore a chance, much like WWF/E, with its very own Hardcore Championship. In November of '99, Norman Smiley became the first WCW Hardcore Champion after defeating Brian Knobs of Nasty Boys fame. Right from the start, the Hardcore Championship was not going to be taken seriously. If there is anything that comes close to being as bad as excessive blood-less mortally-dangerous hardcore, it has to be what I can only refer to as "stupid hardcore." Norman Smiley was a comedy character with a title that should not have much comedy to it. WCW, seeing the "success" of Crash Holly as a comedic WWF Hardcore Champion, went a similar route with Norman "The Wiggle" Smiley. However, to WCW's great credit, they did put the championship belt on hardcore legend Terry Funk three times, tying him for most WCW Hardcore Championship reigns in the short history of the title. In the Summer of 2000, we could all tell the belt was rarely going to be about hardcore. Lance Storm, during his huge singles push in WCW, won the belt and renamed it the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title.
Backyard wrestling. Thankfully, not all backyard groups and matches feature hardcore wrestling. Some people must have taken Mick Foley's advice in Foley is Good and left that aspect of wrestling to the professionals. For that, I thank them. Unfortunately, not all have. Many local backyard wrestlers are still lighting each other on fire, getting their young (and generally not what you would call prime physical conditioned) bodies crashed onto steel ladders, and leaping off rooftops while their parents watch and applaude. The hardcore part of backyard wrestling is, sadly, also the key ingredient to its recent popularity. If you stay up as late as I do, you will even be able to order the Backyard Wrestling DVD over the phone. The commercials generally take place around one in the morning between a phone sex commercial and an advertisement for Girls Gone Wild. There is even a Backyard Wrestling video game. What a novel idea. Produce a video game about an unsafe practice that is actually occurring and market it to the age group that is trying to perform it. As I understand it, the game features the Insane Clown Posse. The rap duo sure does love to show up in crap, don't they?
IWA-Mid South is a case of an originally hardcore promotion that has recently cut back on death matches and have tried to produce a more wrestling-based product. Beginning in the mid-90's during ECW's rise, Ian Rotten provided the Kentucky area with his own brand of hardcore wrestling. From their own website, they describe a match from their first night in business: "Who can forget Bull Pain vs. Flyboy Rocco Rock that resulted in Bull Pain splitting his head wide open and needing alot of stitches to close up-- providing some of the most gruesome video footage ever." Due to the graphic nature of their live shows, IWA-MS moved from Kentucky to Indiana to avoid the athletic commission. I've watched some of their matches from last year and have heard from others of more recent shows. It isn't all about blood anymore. It's about wrestling. I am told, though I have not seen personally, that their Ted Petty Invitational Tournament a week ago was incredible. IWA-MS is giving a lot more in terms of wrestling and a lot less in terms of shock value hardcore. I think a careful balance will probably be reached to bring in fans of both.
--THE HARDCORE PROBLEM--
There are three main problems with hardcore wrestling but not all are intrinsically attached to it. Often, the problems are with the way it is booked.
Injury. Obviously, one can only fall through a flaming table and crash through light tubes so many times until injury begins to take its toll. How many wrestling careers have been cut short by taking huge risks? Careers more often that not, however, end through wear and tear. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that have one's skull crushed time and again by chairs or diving off scaffolds can speed that long. Even something more common to professional wrestling like blood loss can be dangerous. Eddie Guerrero bladed so deeply that he sufferred a case of anemia earlier this year. Terrible. If debilitating injury is not enough, more superficial injury is frequent as well. Mick Foley greatly burned his arm during a match in Japan once. In his first book, he notes how only through very careful wrapping did it not leave a permanent scar. Others are not so lucky. Constant forehead blading can leave a hideous mark. It often is not that noticeable due to the natural folds in one's forehead. Although, in a case like Steve Corino, scarring is a huge problem. His head has been busted wide open so many times that massive scarring is plain to see. In wrestling, hardcore is bound to happen, but when used and abused so constantly the way some indy promotions do, it risks serious injury far too often.
Perception. One of professional wrestling's biggest hurdles (in general and not just hardcore) is that of public perception. Standard stigmas attached to wrestling are "it's all just fake" and "anyone watches is a dumb redneck." If wrestling did not have enough problems in the mainstream public, the overuse of hardcore hurts perception by a great deal. Think about it. When do you hear about wrestling in the news? Usually around two times. One being Wrestlemania. The second being controversy over someone going against the often-used phrase of "Don't Try This at Home." Not only that absurd trial in which the lawyer unsuccessfully attempted to blame wrestling in a child's death but also the media coverage on backyard wrestling. 20/20 did a feature on backyard wrestling that also took aim at Vince McMahon.
Overdose. You know when The Undertaker has an opponent or two outside of the ring and leaps over the ropes and crashes into them? It happens. Not a lot, though. 'Taker saves it for special occassions to a huge pop. If he did it every night, people would lose interest. Much like his old school rope walk these days. This, in principle, is also true of hardcore wrestling. If it is done rarely and only under certain circumstances, it can actually be very good. The problem with some indy promotions is that it happens all the time. Not only is this a problem for injuries but also because the more it happens, the less interested people become, which leads to them upping the violence that much more in order to get a rise out of the fans. It's a terrible snowball effect. I always have my criticisms of WWE, but right now, they're doing hardcore mostly right. Saving it for that very rare once-a-year Hell in a Cell match. Of course, they did just do something very stupid with a dart gun on Smackdown...
--CONCLUSION--
Earlier this year, the big rumor was that WWE has planning on creating a third brand after Raw and Smackdown. The project in question? The renewal of ECW. Vince McMahon bought the rights to the name and the footage a while ago, so the franchise is just sitting on the shelf. Much like WCW. However, it never came to be. Ratings for Raw and Smackdown were still not stellar. Pay-Per-View buyrates were dipping. A third brand would spread WWE too thin, so the plan, assuming it existed in the first place, was scrapped. Maybe that is for the best. WWE would make ECW much like their hardcore division of a couple years ago. If would be neither hardcore nor wrestling. Just a big brand of nothing. Besides, as I said before, WWE is doing hardcore the right way for the most part anyway.
Rampant hardcore wrestling is, at present, an underground phenomenon. It may not stay that way, though. ECW is long gone, but CZW is following in its footsteps and trying their hand at Pay-Per-View. Others will likely follow. As a fan of wrestling -- real wrestling -- that scares me just a little bit. When people refer to ECW head Paul Heymen, they often call him "the Dr. Frankenstein of wrestling." It is fitting and not only because of the bizarre nature of ECW and its wrestling characters. It is fitting because in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory, he created something far more mad than himself. A unnatural beast who became out of the doctor's control.
ECW's hardcore legacy is that it created a monster far more violent than it ever was......and that monster is still alive.
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MAILBAG -- THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
Steven Richards. Now, perhaps the whole "Right To Censor" angle was "okay" at best for his career. But if that's his only WWE claim to fame (and mind you, he barely wrestled while he was part of it), then it would be a complete sham of a career. See, I've always thought (and have read from other fans and reporters) that he was to be the next Shawn Michaels. He is one of the most talented, entertaining and underused athletes in the WWE (the whole angle with him and Victoria is, in my opinion, a joke). Does anyone remember his hilarious stint with Raven and the Blue Meanie/Boy in ECW? How about when he was headlining some of the shows as "leader" of the "Blue World Order?"
-Chris S
I definitely think this is cruiserweight syndrome like those in your column, but Helms is a very good wrestler, can work a cruiserweight style, a technical style, or even a power style to a point. (How many people can you say won a cruiserweight title with a chokeslam? Also, how many cruiserweights can say they chokeslammed Billy Gunn and or Chuck Palumbo) He is also pretty good on the microphone as well, but you'd never see him taking down a Triple H a Chris Jericho, or even a Rob Conway apparently. He's considered little more than a comic relief jobber... wasupwidat?
-Dan Chernauskas
