"THE BRUTAL TRUTH: The Current State of Garbage Wrestling"

by Jonathan Barber

WRITTEN: Tuesday, December 31, 2002

WARNING: The following text contains descriptions and references to bloody and graphic violence that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. If you are easily squeamish in relation to blood and/or gore, it is not recommended that you continue reading.

"If I don't mind telling you, this may be the hardest match I've ever had to watch, let alone call. What you're watching is - it's not wrestling. It's - it's not ultimate combat. It's - it's inhuman."

"What we have just witnessed defies professional wrestling. It defies ultimate combat. It defies description. It defies logic. How much hatred must these two men have for one another to - to subject themselves to that?"

- Joey Styles, while commentating the famous Sabu vs. Sandman "Stairway To Hell" match (ECW House Party '98; 1/10/98)

I'll be the first one to admit that I am regularly awed when watching some death matches, particularly those from companies like Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, and Xtreme Pro Wrestling. The pain that some of the participants absorb is incredible. The standards of the violence showcased in death matches, which some refer to as "garbage wrestling," has recently risen to unseen levels, with everything from barbed-wire to broken glass to lightbulbs to even scissors and weedwhackers becoming commonly utilized weapons in these types of contests.

However, not everybody is as fond of death matches as I am. As Stuart Max of WRESTLING Viewpoint! astutely pointed out, "Every fan has a line he or she will draw when it comes to garbage wrestling. Some won't even watch it, offended by what it stands for. Some will accept chairs, tables and blood. Some will accept barbed wire, light bulbs and other dangerous materials." However, what many garbage wrestling fans fail to - not realize, but fail to fully comprehend and interpret - is that the participants in these competitions are human. Although a case could be made that they have an extra "something" in them that allows them to take the agony that so commonly comes with participation in garbage wrestling matches, it comes down to the facts that they are human beings, and even they have limits.

Within the last year, the danger that regularly comes with participation in death matches and the sort has become very apparent. We've witnessed a surprising amount of serious - and sometimes even career ending - injuries. To start off, let's explore some of the most recent injuries and near serious injuries encountered throughout the garbage wrestling industry.

About a month ago on December 4, Coliseum Championship Wrestling held a hardcore tournament that featured barbed-wire, light tubes, a stable gun, and even fire. In the final round, JC Bailey and Necro Butcher engaged in a violent contest that saw Necro rip the mat that covered the ring off and litter in charcoal fluid. A few minutes later, he ignited the plywood that once supported the wrestling ring, causing the entire center of it to go up in flames. Necro lifted JC back up and powerbombed him into the flames. JC's white tanktop shirt was immediately covered in the flames and JC became a human fireball. Part of the flaming shirt blew up into JC's face and burned him.

Then, when JC was somehow able to rip off the shirt and throw it away from him, it landed in Necro's face and stuck to it for a few seconds before Necro knocked it off and sent it flying into the ring ropes as it still continues to burn. A security guard then doused both men with a fire extinguisher. While both were left gasping for air, Necro draped one of his arms over the body of JC, who had collapsed to the plywood which was once covered with the ring mat. As both men lay motionless in the ring, breathless and suffering from burns, the refere The referee counted the 1-2-3 pinfall in favor of Necro.

A hush had fallen over the fans and silence filled the arena. The fans weren't quite sure what to think as they saw JC roll out of the ring and slowly make his way backstage. Soon afterward, Necro rolled out the ring and was treated with cold water and ice for about five or six minutes before he too slowly made his way to the back, gasping for breath due to the excessive amounts of fire repellent he was sprayed with.

Necro, besides having a burnt lip (from when the flaming shirt burned his face) and some breathing problems that were quickly dealt with backstage, was fine after the incident. About 25% of JC's back suffered from second degree burns caused when he was engulfed by the fire and burned by his flaming shirt. However, he too was able to recover considerably quickly and even worked a show on Friday, two days after the incident.

About a month and a half ago on November 9, IWA Mid-South Hardcore Wrestling held a show with a main event that pitted Ian Rotten (the company's owner and promoter) & Necro Butcher (the same one involved with the CCW fire incident) against Bull Pain & Corporal Robinson. During the bout, Bull attempted a diving topè through the ropes, but Ian caught him with a steel chair shot while he was in midair. Bull's feet got tangled in the ring ropes before he dropped out and landed headfirst on the concrete. He was knocked unconscious.

Ian immediately pinned him and Bull was taken to the hospital. There he received several stitches and was diagnosed with a concussion, a shoulder injury, a separation of his clavicle, severe swelling on his head near the cut that was formed when his head hit the floor, and severely bruised (and possibly cracked) ribs. He'll need to see a bone specialist to determine if the shoulder and/or the clavicle need surgery. Due to the swelling surround them, x-rays weren't able to conclude whether the ribs were broken. Bull will be out for a minimum of a few weeks and possibly as much as a couple of months.

On June 15 in Clarksville, Indiana, IWA-MS presented "No Blood, No Guts, No Glory 2002." An incredibly violent 200 Light Tubes death match between rivals Madman Pondo and Necro Butcher highlighted the show. The two had previously engaged in Four Corners of Pain matches and Fans Bring The Weapons matches, but the violence contained in this contest far outdid any of their previous encounters. The bout saw Pondo superplex Necro onto a ladder and a pile of light tubes. The light tubes broke upon Necro's impact, but one broke in half and cut up vertically into Necro's arm, causing blood to instantly begin flowing out. Pondo, realizing that Necro was legitimately hurt, immediately pinned him and won the match.

Within about 15 seconds, former-ECW wrestler and IWA-MS owner Ian Rotten was in the ring to examine the injury. Upon seeing the gash, he yelled, "Call a f*cking ambulance, now!" Ian and some other IWA-MS officials helped to wrap a towel around Necro's arm and took the necessary precautions to keep the wound covered. An announcement was made for the fans in attendance to exit the arena so that the ambulance would be able to enter the building without any problems. The ambulance eventually arrived and took Necro to a nearby hospital, where he received a skin graft and some other operations on his arm. The seriousness of the wound was later made public and it became known that the doctors seriously considered amputating the arm before it started to recover.

Necro stayed on the shelf for slightly less than one month, making his IWA-MS return as a participant in the King of the Deathmatch Tournament (7/12 - 7/13/01 [it was two nights long]). After competing in three different death matches that featured barbed-wire, broken glass, and other dangerous weapons, he made it to the final round, in which he pinned "Spyder" Nate Webb in a No-Rope Barbed-Wire Spider Net Glass death match to win the tournament, making for a very successful comeback. Since winning the tournament, he's continued to compete in very gory death matches in IWA-MS, MAW, and CZW.

In a CZWFans.com interview, Necro was asked if he had any heat with Pondo over the incident. He responded by stating that he doesn't have heat with anybody that he's ever gotten in the ring with and that everything he has doen in his career was his choice.

A similar event occurred only a few weeks ago when Naoki Numazawa suffered a near life-threatening injury during a Barbed-Wire Board Fluorescent Light Bulb death match on a 9/10 Big Japan show. In front of a crowd of 1,200 at the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Numazawa received a large gash to his body after being hit with a light bulb by former-CZW and IWA Mid-South wrestler Madman Pondo. Part of the glass became entrenched in his side. After somehow finishing the match (Pondo pinned him at 20:28), Numazawa was taken to a nearby hospital in Tokyo for medical analysis. It was decided that he was suffering from severe bleeding, so he was given a total of 300 cubic centimeters of blood, and then had his five centimeters long cut stitched up. He is said to be in good spirits now.

On February 22, 2002, XPW presented, "Free Fall." Headlining the show was a "Free Fall Match" between New Jack and Vic Grimes. The match occurred 40 feet up in the air on a scaffold and the winner of the match was the man who knocked his opponent off of the scaffold and sent him crashing down through a bunch of tables that were piled on top of each other several feet high in the ring. The bout was hyped to end the real-life feud between the two men. The animosity of the two stemmed back to an incident that occurred live on the ECW Living Dangerously 2000 Pay-Per-View. From then on, it seemed that - although it had been reported that they had worked out their differences - they both had mutual animosity toward one another. Their feud would come to a nearly tragic end at Free Fall.

Before the show, Grimes had the ring moved over three inches so that it was more accurately centered under the scaffold. Doing so probably saved his life.

The match began with both men cutting each other open in the ring with various weapons. They eventually brawled their way out to ringside, and eventually began climbing the scaffold, finally meeting at the top. After a few more minutes of brawling up on the scaffold, Jack pulled out an electric stun gun (a.k.a. a Taser), and may I mention a real one. He zapped Grimes a few times, who was instantly stunned. Jack then grabbed Grimes and hurled him off of the scaffold. Grimes plummeted downward in an incredible spot. While in midair, did a full 360º front flip and grazed a few of the tables, just barely breaking them. The first part of the ring that he touched was the top ring rope, which he bounced up and off of a good six to eight feet high in the air. He then landed hard on the ring mat, and a matter of seconds, a crowd of medics were in the ring and tending to his injuries.

About a minute after the fall, XPW ring announcer Ron Head, after announcing Jack as the winner, told the fans to clear the building so that it'd be easier for medical personnel to attend to Grimes. Reports surfaced that Grimes was alright after the fall and was even walking around backstage on his own, but he did suffer some fairly severe injuries: a badly bruised kidney, two compressed vertebrae, a ruptured spleen, some neck problems, and a few more injuries. He missed very little ring time and returned to in-ring competition approximately a month later.

Surprisingly, Grimes insists that he has not suffered any fears from heights or anything of that nature from the incident. When asked by Sean McCartney in an XPWTV.com interview if he would ever consider doing another scaffold-type match again, Grimes responded, "Of course, but raise it twenty more feet and make it (an) exploding scaffold (match)." This bout succeeded in becoming the blowoff to the Jack/Grimes feud - it placed a stamp of finality on the memorable rivalry.

CZW star Wifebeater shocked CZW fans by capturing the world heavyweight title in just his second match ever in the company when he pinned Nick Gage on September 18, 1999. He held the title for about five months before losing it to Zandig, who - along with Lobo, Nick Gage, Madman Pondo, and others - became one of his main rivals. These battles produced some of the most ultraviolent moments in garbage wrestling history.

Wifebeater's history of injuries and involvement in gory contests dates all the way back to 1999 and his early wars with Zandig. The two had a "First Blood" match at Cage of Death (10/16/99) and an I Quit Barbed-Wire Strap match at The War Begins (11/20/99) and their war just recently came to an end last month at Night of Infamy.

At They Said It Couldn't Be Done on June 25, 2000, Wifebeater battled Nick Gage in a 200 Light Tube & Glass death match. Early in, each men broke multiple light tubes over the other's head and - just a few minutes after the bout began - Wifebeater's back was severely cut open with the white of his bones and tendons visible. Later in the bout, he was powerbombed through a plate of glass.

At Stretched in Smyrna on May 12, 2001, Wifebeater and Zandig clashed in a very gory "Ultraviolent" death match that saw hot candle wax, broken glass, light bulbs, broken glass, and even a weedwhacker be used as weapons. In fact, it was the weedwhacker that Zandig used to lacerate Wifebeater's back. The match was so bloody that a representative of the local fire house who was in attendance called the police during the match to put a stop to the show, but the officials arrived after the show had ended, so there was nothing that they could do.

At Breakaway Brawl on June 9, 2001, Wifebeater, Madman Pondo and Nick Mondo battled in a violent three-way match. A variety of weapons were utilized and after the match (which Mondo won), medical personnel hosed down Wifebeater to get the the thumbtacks that were stuck in his head out of it.

During a six-man, Fans Bring The Weapons, tag team match at H8 Club: Dead? (7/14/01), Wifebeater was press slammed out of the ring and sent crashing through a barbed-wire-wrapped table, a pane of glass, and two chairs. A few minutes later, Wifebeater had several light bulbs and light tubes broken in both his back (which was a bloody mess) and his hand.

Fans witnessed an ultraviolent 200 Light Tubes death match between Nate Hatred and Wifebeater at They Said It Couldn't Be Done...Again on September 22, 2001. Both men were covered in blood by the end of the bout and it was unquestionably the most ultraviolent that Nate had ever competed in to that point, and probably still is to this date. Wifebeater's back had numerous pieces of broken glass stuck in its flesh by the bout's end. Both men were tended to backstage after the show.

The wear and tear on Wifebeater's body continued at Cage of Death III (12/15/01) when he and Justice Pain squared off in a Cage of Death weapons match. After the match, Pain, who had already won the match, added an exclamation point by dropping Wifebeater off of the scaffold that sat on top of the cage and to the hard ring mat below with a Pain Thriller. The bump saw Wifebeater land on his already injured left shoulder. Falling right on it obviously didn't help matters and he was kept out of the ring for a total of seven months.

Wifebeater participated in a non-sanctioned match at Best of the Best 2 (6/8/02) in which he brawled with rival Lobo. The two fought up onto a balcony and Wifebeater suplexed Lobo off of a balcony, causing both men to spill down through a table and several light tubes that sat on the floor below.

Wifebeater made his in-ring return at Déjà Vu on July 13, 2001 and wrestled Lobo in a No-Rope Barbed-Wire death match, but a lesser known fact is that - about a week before the show - he reinjured the shoulder while training for the bout. He decided to fight through the pain and appear for his match against Lobo, but this turned out to be a bad idea because the shoulder didn't have enough time to properly heal. Only a few minutes into the bout, Lobo slammed him through a barbed-wire-wrapped table with a death valley driver, causing him to reinjure the right shoulder again. The match was declared a No Contest at 3:55.

Wifebeater returned to the ring at No Excuses on August 10 and fought Lobo in a Fans Bring the Weapons match. Barbed-wire, broken glass, thumbtacks, and other weapons were used and, in the end, Wifebeater defeated his opponent in a fairly bloody contest.

Wifebeater then went on to win the Tournament of Death on October 31 after competing in a total of three ultraviolent death matches and pinning Nick Mondo in the final round match that match that featured the weedwhacker spot. Both men's bodies were covered in blood by the end of the bout.

A few months later on September 28 at Sanctioned In Blood, Wifebeater came out to the ring and announced to the fans that he'd be retiring after CZW's next show. He said that his doctors had been recommending that he retire for awhile now due to the shoulder and back injuries that he had succumbed to during his CZW tenure. He would wrestle his primary rival, Zandig, at the next show in a No-Rope Barbed-Wire Fans Bring the Weapons I Quit death match.

CZW's next show, Havoc In Hellaware, occurred on October 24 and its main event, as hyped, was a No-Rope Barbed-Wire Fans Bring the Weapons I Quit death match between Wifebeater and Zandig. It had been hyped as Wifebeater's retirement match. The match occurred and was very bloody and violent. The barbed-wire ropes, light tubes, and other weapons were used by each man to bloody his opponent, but the bout ended as a No Contest at 23:00 when Lobo and his "army" of heels interfered and attacked both men. An announcement was made that the match will continue at CZW's next show and would in fact be Wifebeater's retirement match.

Wifebeater's retirement match did in fact occur on at CZW's next show, Night of Infamy, on November 9 of 2002. The bout had the same stipulations as that at the previous show - it would be a No-Rope Barbed-Wire Fans Bring the Weapons I Quit death match and the final showdown between the two arch-rivals, Zandig and Wifebeater. The match was as violent - if not more violent - than their match at the previous show was. Both men obviously gave it everything they had because of the bout's historic nature, that being that Wifebeater would be retiring after it.

During the bout, both men brutalized each other with barbed-wire, light tubes, and other weapons. Zandig retained the advantage for much of the time and even put Wifebeater through two tables with a dive off of a stage. However, Wifebeater would gain the advantage and use a weedwhacker a few times to burn open Zandig's chest. After doing that, Wifebeater had his manager, Big Mac Smack, pour salt into Zandig's wounds, which caused Zandig to shout that he wanted to quit. Wifebeater was awarded the bout and afterwards, The Backseat Boyz entered the ring and lifted Wifebeater up on their shoulders as the fans chanted, "Wifebeater!" Those in attendance noted the post-match salute to Wifebeater as a very emotional moment.

During his stay away from the ring, Wifebeater will be getting surgery that will hopefully repair, or at least help in healing, his injured left shoulder.

The story of Lobo, a fellow CZW performer of Wifebeater, is eerily similar to that of Wifebeater. Lobo has been with CZW since their very first show back on February 19, 1999 and, until recently, has showed no signs of backing down from ultraviolence. He is probably CZW's worst pure mat wrestler ever, but - with the exception of Wifebeater and possibly Zandig - is arguably their most hardcore competitor of all. His feuds with men like Justice Pain, Madman Pondo, Nick Gage, Wifebeater, and especially Zandig have produced some of the most hardcore bumps and bouts in CZW history.

At Pyramid of Hell (8/21/99) during a tag team match pitting Ric Blade & Lobo against Nick Gage & Zandig, eight tables were set up on top of each other and Lobo was laid on the top one. Then, the bottom table was lit on fire and Justice Pain, who had interfered, leaped off of a balcony about 15 feet above the top table that Lobo was on and splashed Lobo through the tables. Both men landed in the fire that engulfed the lower few tables, but they were luckily able to quickly roll out of the mess as the tables were extinguished.

On October 16, 1999, Justice Pain and Lobo fought in the first-ever Cage of Death weapons match. The bout occurred in a half-mesh/half steel bar cage with barbed-wire. Weapons like trashcans, panes of glass, and even light tubes were stuck to the ring ropes on one side. Some sides were rigged to explode and there were tables and barbed-wire boards surrounding the outside of the cage. A scaffold sat on top of the ring. During the match, Lobo was knocked off of the scaffold and crashed through a table several feet below. Mankind's bump off of the top of the Hell in the Cell cage at King of the Ring '98 looked like children's play compared to Lobo's fall. Lobo eventually won the bout and, while he did have a few cuts, he'd engage in far worse violence many times later in his CZW career.

On September 9, 2000, Lobo and Justice Pain fought in another Cage of Death match. Midway through, the two were brawling on top of the scaffold when Pain tossed Lobo off, sending him crashing through a barbed-wire-wrapped table with pieces of glass also littering it. Pain finally picked up the win when he delivered his Pain Thriller, slamming Lobo through a pane of glass that was laid up against the ring ropes.

During a match at Crushing the Competition (2/10/01), Lobo become engulfed in burning flames for about 10 seconds before he was able to escape the fire.

Lobo suffered a setback on June 8, 2001 at Take 1 when he competed in a four-way match that also featured Justice Pain, Nick Gage, and Ric Blade. During the bout, Gage suplexed Lobo through some tables, but Lobo fell incorrectly and tore his ACL (Achilles tendon). Since Blade had also suffered an injury during the bout (just a few minutes before Lobo's injury), Gage and Pain finished the match because, but this didn't change the fact that Lobo was injured, and he was kept out of the ring for eight months.

Lobo finally made his return at This Time It's Personal on February 9, 2002. He and Zandig fought in a No-Rope Barbed-Wire & Canvas, Falls Count Anywhere death match with the stipulations being if Zandig won, Lobo would have to retire, but if Lobo won, he'd win ownership of CZW. The sickest bump of all came during the match's latter stages when both men plummeted off of the approximately 10-foot high entrance stage and through a pile of flaming tables. They both hit the concrete hard and were on fire for a good few seconds before escaping the flames. The finish saw Lobo slam Zandig off of the ring apron and through a ringside table with a Death Valley Driver and pin him to win ownership of CZW.

Exactly one year after tearing his ACL, Lobo brawled with Wifebeater at Best of the Best 2 (6/8/02). The climax came when Wifebeater suplexed Lobo off of a balcony and both men crashed through some tables and a pile of light tubes.

When Wifebeater legitimately reaggravated a shoulder injury during a match, Lobo and Zandig were forced to compete in an impromptu No-Rope Barbed-Wire rematch at Déjà Vu on July 13. Both men were severely bloodied during the bout. At one point, Lobo was whipped into the barbed-wire ropes and accidentally got himself caught in them. He ended up with his body hanging upside-down in them in a gory sight. On more than one occasion, Lobo was whipped into a barbed-wire board.

The finish came when Wifebeater interfered and cut open Lobo's forearm with a weedwhacker, allowing Zandig to pin him and win the ultraviolent bout. Believe it or not, the bout has gone down as one of the most memorable death matches in history. This wasn't just because of it's ultraviolence, but also because of the load of psychology and emotion that it included, as both Zandig and Lobo had been feuding for more than two years and this bout acted as what was supposed to be the blowoff to their amazing feud. However, there ended up being one last showdown between the two competitors. It was in a Cage of Death weapons match at Cage of Death IV on December 14, 2002, only about a week ago.

On the line was the "ownership" of CZW. To win the bout, the competitor would have to climb a scaffold and retrieve a contract (which hung from the ceiling directly above the scaffold, which in turn made a bridge across the top of the cage) that documented full ownership of the company. During the bout, both men cut each other open with a cactus, a steel chair, an electrified fence, and trashcans. The two eventually brawled up onto the top of the scaffold. Below them in the ring, there was a table that had two steel chairs set up on them and those chairs held a sheet of glass. Zandig slammed Lobo off of the scaffold, sending him crashing through the table, chairs, and glass, and with his opponent out cold in the train wreck below, Zandig easily grabbed the contract and regained ownership of CZW.

The bump was made to look just that much more amazing because the ring was purposefully rigged to partially collapse when Lobo made contact with it. This also helped to partially break Lobo's fall because, in the previous year's Cage of Death match, Wifebeater took a bump off of the cage that seriously injured his shoulder.

Rumors of a possible retirement or something to that nature for Lobo were sparked when, after the bout, Zandig cut a promo that put over Lobo and Wifebeater and - in essence - thanked both for their irreplaceable contributions to his company. Then, to add to the suspicions, Lobo took his shirt off after the match, laid it in the ring, and saluted - or at least that's what he seemed to be doing - the fans, almost like a last hoorah or sendoff. The rumors are running rampant about a possible retirement for Lobo, or, at the least, a long rest from in-ring action. An early retirement is very likely, but a long-term stay away from the ring is confirmed. It seemed that the bumps and injuries that Lobo had taken during his CZW career had reached their boiling point and may have exploded.

In an Internet interview with CZW, Lobo discussed the punishment that he's taken and the toll that it's had on him:

"A lot of it is haunting me now. My knee needs total reconstruction and they tell me I need surgery on my back and neck. I knew that someday I would have to pay a price for the things I've done. It was my own decision and it was something I wanted to do. It was a sacrifice - pure and simple - (and I have) no regrets."

The reconstructive knee surgery that Lobo mentioned will probably occur within the next few months, during his absence from in-ring action. Doctors have been recommending that he undergo the operation for several months now and it seems long overdo that, for his own good, he now receives the medical help. The back and neck surgery also may happen during these next few months of rest for him.

A few days before his Cage of Death match with Lobo, Zandig received a cortisone shot.

Fire has become a considerably often used weapon in garbage wrestling, and - as expected - nobody is unaffected by it. Death match stars like Jun Kasai, Lobo, Zandig, Supreme, Shadow WX, and many others have felt its wrath before. Undoubtedly the sickest of all of the fire incidents occurred on a BJPW show on February 27, 2000. During a "Lights Out Lightbulb & Barbed-Wire Board" death match between Mike Samples and Shadow WX, Samples was put on a table in the center of the ring. WX lit his shirt on fire and dived off of the top turnbuckle splashing Samples through a table. Believe it or not, this wasn't the first time WX did this "flaming splash." He had actually done very similar stunts where he lit his shirt on fire and leaped onto an opponent, but each time he'd usually rip off his shirt immediately.

This time, though, he didn't and the fire quickly grew. Flames engulfed WX and caused him to fall to the mat. Within a few seconds, the ring was also on fire. WX rolled out of the ring and erratically ran around it, desperate for any sort of help. Ringside fans scurried away from him as the ring crew had terrible trouble putting the fire out. WX remained a human fireball for 20 whole seconds before the ring crew finally succeeded in putting the fire out and WX did the seemingly impossible by somehow managing to re-enter the ring and finish the match. He ducked a lariat, but Samples relentlessly attacked with another lariat and caught WX. Samples made the pin and WX was tended to in the ring.

After the bout, WX's wounds were dealt with and he took a few months off before returning to BJPW in April.

Supreme's introduction to it came at XPW Rapture on July 7, 2001 when he and his real-life nephew, Kid Kaos, squared off in a bloody death match to determine the number one contender to The Messiah's King of the Deathmatch Title. During the bout, a heel stable that Kaos had been feuding with - The Enterprise - came out to ringside as Supreme climbed up to the top turnbuckle with a steel chair, presumably looking to squash Kaos.

The Enterprise entered, attacked Supreme, and set up a table in the ring. As she was supposed to do, Veronica Caine (an Enterprise member) poured lighter fluid onto the table, but accidentally ended up pouring out all of the bottle's contents, thereby dousing the table with the fluid. The table was ignited, but the flames were larger and hotter than anybody had predicted, but The Enterprise still tossed Supreme off of the top turnbuckle and through the table.

Supreme immediately rolled out of the ring under the bottom rope and began running around at ringside, flailing his arms in the process in a desperate attempt to escape the flames. The guy at ringside who was supposed to put out Supreme instead entered the ring first and quickly extinguished the burning table before climbing back out and extinguishing Supreme. The local fire marshal, emergency medical team, and LA Fire Department arrived at the building and tended to Supreme. They eventually wheeled him out of the arena on a stretcher. He was brought to a nearby hospital where he was treated for second-degree burns. The chaos that ensued caused the show to halt for about 10 minutes until Supreme was out of the building, which, at that time, it continued.

Supreme made a non-wrestling appearance at XPW's next show on August 25, 2001, and finally made his in-ring return at an October 13, 2001 XPW show in Pico Rivera, California.

XPW didn't air the bout on their weekly television show and it was only recently made available to the public through XPW's recently home video release, "Best of The Enterprise." It should be noted, though, that the version aired on that tape doesn't feature the entire match, but rather many clips from it. The match itself was said to be very good by those who saw it live and it is regarded as one of XPW's best death matches ever. It was very violent but most of the bumps occurred via actual wrestling moves. Highlights included:

Kaos back body dropping Supreme out of the ring and through a ringside table; Kaos' plancha onto a ringside Supreme, Kaos using a springboard super huracanrana that sent Supreme through a barbed-wire board;Supreme powerbombing Kaos onto barbed-wire; Kaos T-bone suplexing Supreme onto light tubes; Supreme twice slamming Kaos with a uranage (rock bottom) (the first onto light bulbs and the second onto thumbtacks); Supreme twice suplexing Kaos (the first onto thumbtacks and the second through a table); and, of course, the fall that Supreme took through the burning table.

Another lesser-known incident that included fire occurred at IWA-MS Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better on May 26, 2001 during an insane "Mean" Mitch Page vs. Necro Butcher match. During the bout, Necro lit his pants leg on fire and delivered a flaming leg drop, but just a few minutes later, Mitch - not to be outdone - placed a rag in hhis head, lit it on fire, and delivered a flaming diving headbutt drop to his opponent!

As you've probably realized, IWA Mid-South has showcased some insane moments, but one could easily make a strong argument that they are the most hardcore of all promotions, Big Japan, CZW, and XPW included. Ian Rotten launched IWA-MS back in 1996 with the goal of "the East Coast style of wrestling to this area (the Midwest area)." He says that the company was greatly influenced by ECW, the old Memphis territories that featured names like Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler, and the gory death matches of Japan, specifically those from the International Wrestling Association (IWA). He wanted to bring the "faster-paced style of the East Coast," but also balance this with "the light tubes, the no-rope barbed-wire, all the - what we like to call - Japanese danger matches like (the) 'Caribbean Spider' death match."

A fan attending an IWA-MS show is basically guaranteed to see a very good mix of solid mat and aerial wrestling, along with one or two bloodbaths that use barbed-wire, broken glass, thumbtacks, and other dangerous tools as weapons. They've used up-and-coming names like Corporal Robinson, Madman Pondo, "Mean" Mitch Page, Necro Butcher, and others (including even Ian himself and his brother, Axl) who aren't hesitant in the least to participate in gory bloodbaths. IWA-MS has held some of the goriest deathmatches ever, with stipulations such as "The Burning Coffin," "The House of Horror," "The Four Corners of Pain," and "The Pool of Leeches" matches, among other very violent contests.

Former-ECW star and hardcore icon Axl Rotten discussed the current trend of garbage wrestling and how he and his brother, Ian, are responsible for much of its popularity in a mid-2001 interview with RF Video's Gabe Sapolsky:

"...Ian and I innovated a lot of stuff. There were a lot of things that we did that no one had done up to that point or, if they did, it was not done correctly. So we went out and threw caution to the wind and said 'let's just go out there and kill each other.' What has happened now is that guys have never learned how to wrestle. So they just decided, 'I’m going to get hit in the head with a light bulb tube, so I don’t need to learn how to wrestle.' You have a whole group of guys that are wrestling now that aren’t really wrestlers. When you go out there and say, 'let’s have a match and learn some spots,' they don’t know how to do it. So what they do is go out there and do as much violence as they can. I think that it’s a little overdone these days. I think if we had more wrestling and pick and choose where we do the violence stuff it would be a lot better off for the business. A lot of these guys are going out and killing themselves for no apparent reason and there is no future in it."

Axl does bring up an interesting point. There's a saying that "sometimes less is better." Up until early-to-mid 2001, CZW averaged three or more violence-based matches per show before they were smart enough to cut it down to one or two. XPW, even during its first year, never really had that problem and has always managed to keep the matches centered strictly on violence or brawling to one and at most two matches per show. However, the problem that occasionally comes up when a promotion that boasts itself to be "hardcore" decreases the amount of garbage matches per show, then a few of its performers aren't able to compete at their highest level. This doesn't go for many, but it does nonetheless go for a couple of wrestlers. Madman Pondo, Wifebeater, and Lobo would be sufficiently challenged if they were forced to compete in a strictly scientific wrestling match. Neither one has enough experience in basic mat wrestling to produce a decent indy level wrestling match.

That's not to say that these men aren't able to work well in death matches. They've all had their fair share (especially Lobo) of very good death matches, but if forced to stay strictly to mat wrestling, they'd be very hard-pressed to prove any better than borderline decent or watchable. It'd be like Celine Dion and Eminem switching places and trying to perform each other's compositions.

Celine, who grew up in a small French town in Montréal, Québec, Canada, was blessed with a beautiful voice that is able to sing at many different pitches. Her songs are meant to and effectively cause one to become overcome in a specific emotion, whether it issadness, anger, happiness, inspiration, comfort, or something else.

Meanwhile, Eminem is an incredibly talented artist who has a very creative mind and a voice that allows him to rap very well. Growing up on the mean streets of Chicago, IL, he developed a unique ability to take a small theme and use it to create a complete story and then incorporate that into his raps. He doesn't worry about the controversy that he brings and in many ways survives by its presence. His raps cause whoever is listening to feel all sorts of different emotions, but in the end, they rarely receive a positive feeling. His voice almost always reflects anger, malevolence, dissatisfaction, or shock.

When one reminisces about the memorable death matches of the early '90's between garbage legends like Onita, Matsunaga, Mr. Pogo, Nakamaki, Tarzan Goto, and others of BJPW, FMW, IWA Japan, W*NG, and other companies, it's sometimes hard to realize why their matches are regarded as such classics. Nearly all of the bouts consisted of virtually no actual wrestling moves and many bladejobs performed hardway using barbed-wire, broken glass, and other weapons. It was very rare to see a Boston crab submission hold, a German suplex, or another common wrestling maneuver in one of these matches because the participants were busy slamming their opponents onto piles of broken glass and thumbtacks or raking barbed-wire across their forehead.

For instance, the infamous 1995 IWA Japan King of the Death Match Tournament that featured the epic Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) vs. Terry Funk Exploding No-Rope Barbed-Wire Time Bomb death match featured virtually no mat wrestling. The finishes to some of the matches that night featured a pinfall that came after part of the ring exploded (which was part of the stipulations of some of the matches), and a submission that came when somebody was choking them with a metal chain. That is hardly garbage wrestling, let alone actual wrestling.

Today, promotions like CZW, IWA-MS, XPW, and others often feature violent death matches, but are able to include more than a few sequences of basic mat wrestling in those matches. Stars like Altar Boy Luke, "Spyder" Nate Webb, "Sick" Nick Mondo, "Vicious" Vic Grimes, and - most notably - The Messiah are able tto balance sound mat and aerial wrestling techniques with violent stunts in their deathmatches. Since XPW hopped over to the East Coast on August 31, 2002, Angel, Supreme, and Luke have engaged in an entertaining series of bouts over XPW's King of the Deathmatch Title belt. All of these bouts have been rather technically sound, and with the recent ban on death matches in Philadelphia, that trend looks to continue as long as those grapplers continue their rivalry.

Until August 2001 when he had a falling out with the promotion's upper management, The Messiah called XPW his "home." Before he left, though, he was one of XPW's greatest death match wrestlers, even holding the company's death match title. His feud with Supreme is among the most storied rivalries in XPW history. Their incredible death match title bout at XPW's one-year anniversary show, Go Funk Yourself, is regarded as one of the most amazing death matches in not just XPW history, but in all of U.S. wrestling history. However, they're lesser known one-on-one bouts at XPW's first annual King of the Deathmatch Tournament (entitled, "My Bloody Valentine" [2/26/00]), Vengeance (6/17/00), and Dismembered in November (11/11/00), all of which featured not just hardcore brawling and bumps, but pretty solid technical wrestling.

When Messiah left XPW, he experienced a short tenure in Southern California's Millennium Pro Wrestling before he found a new home on the east coast in Philadelphia's Combat Zone Wrestling. There, he competed against the likes of Justice Pain, Adam Flash, and most notably, "Sick" Nick Mondo. The two have had three one-on-one matches to date, the first occurring on February 9, 2002 at This Time It's Personal. The match wasn't much of a death match (although it did feature Messiah taking an Assault Driver back first onto a pile of thumbtacks and Mondo), but in terms of ring work and psychology, it was pretty solid overall.

Their next one-on-one bout came on July 14, 2002 at EPIC's second show, "Pain and Suffering," in Southern California. The bout was a Fans Bring The Weapons match, but the crowd's interest was sparked when they saw the two begin with a perfectly acceptable mat wrestling exchange, and this sequence lasted for a surprisingly long while. It wasn't until about halfway through the bout that the two began to use weapons. The match ended up being great and, in their official monthly rankings, SoCalUncensored.com ranked it as the second best So-Cal match of that month, and that ranking wasn't due only to the violence it included, but also the sound technical wrestling sequence that about half of the match consisted of.

Their most recent one-on-one singles occurred in the second round of CZW's Tournament of Death match tournament on August 31, 2002. It was a Fans Bring the Weapons match, just like their EPIC bout. The first half of the match saw both men were fairly bloodied after attacking each other with light tubes. At one point, Mondo knocked Messiah off of the top turnbuckle, causing him to front flip out to ringside through a huge pile of weapons that included some light tubes, some steel chairs, and a table. A few minutes later, Messiah tossed Mondo off of the top turnbuckle and through a table in the ring that had many light tubes on it.

The finish came when Mondo planted Messiah in the middle of the ring on a broken glass-covered mat with an Assault Driver and pinned him. Mondo advanced to the finals, where he beat Wifebeater and won the bout (read above). The match itself is regarded as - like Messiah vs. Supreme at XPW Go Funk Yourself - one of the most talked-about deathmatches in U.S. history. However, this isn't only due to the brutality of it, but also because of the back body drops, dropkicks, facebusters, forearm smashes, and powerbombs that included.

Even before Messiah debuted, though, CZW had showcased its fair share of exciting death matches, and probably the most notable occurred on April 14, 2001 at Un F'n Believable. It was a tag team Fans Bring The Weapons match that pitted Jun Kasai (a Big Japan star) & Nick Mondo against Justice Pain & Johnny Kashmere. The match was very violent, which is very surprising that none of CZW's major garbage wrestlers, Lobo, Wifebeater, or Zandig, were in it. The fans supplied some of the weapons in the match and some of the tools used to bloody the participants were a barbed-wire board, a barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat, broken glass, fire, an ironing board, light bulbs, tables, and more.

Kasai took far more abuse than anybody else did during the bout. He had several light bulbs and a pane of glass broken on his body, landed on a barbed-wire board when he missed a flying somersault senton, and was lit on fire for a few seconds. During the bout, he had to have his arm bandaged, but after it were far more graphic scenes. The commercial tape of the event features post-match backstage footage. It sees a doctor wipe some blood off of his back (which was severely cut open and had loose skin hanging from it). However, when the bandage on his arm was removed, the cut on his back was easily outdone by a wound too disgusting for even some garbage wrestling fans to look at was unveiled. The bone was visible and skin was hanging off of it.

One would probably be surprised to know, though, that this bout wasn't just plain old garbage wrestling like Nakamaki, Onita, Pogo, and others did it. It obviously wasn't at the technical level of a Bret Hart match, but it did feature some decent mat sequences, with some dropkicks, lariats, suplexes (two standards, a german, and a brainbuster), a DDT, a powerbomb, a sunset-flip, and even an STF (stepover toehold facelock) being used.

XPW has also had its fair share of solid hardcore/death matches. The match between Supreme and Vic Grimes at Scene of the Crime on April 21, 2001 saw a pizza-cutter and a steel chair be used as weapons. However, it also featured several decent technical and aerial exchanges from each men, including some lariats, some suplexes, some bodyslams, a flying lariat, and a flying somersault senton by Grimes and some lariats, a somersault pescada, a super huracanrana, and a flying splash by Supreme. Supreme eventually pinned Grimes to win the bout between the two behemoths.

At Redemption on May 26, 2001, Kaos and "White Trash" Johnny Webb fought in a brutal death match to decide the number one contender to The Messiah's K.O.T.D.M. title. The contest was very bloody, especially considering that both men involved weren't regular death match competitors. Although it was very hardcore, the bout featured several solid mat and aerial wrestling spots. Highlights include Webb suplexing Kaos onto barbed-wire and then onto a bed of light tubes, Webb powerbombing Kaos through a table littered with thumbtacks, and Kaos missing an attempted flying moonsault splash when Webb rolls out of the way and landing in a pile of thumbtacks. The bout is regarded as one of XPW's most exciting death matches ever.

The deathmatches in Japanese promotions like BJPW and FMW also were amazing. In BJPW, the feud between Ryuji Yamakawa and Tomoaki Honma has produced three of the most memorable deathmatches ever. Instead of raking barbed-wire across their opponent's forehead, they brought the spots to a whole new level by mixing in mat and aerial maneuvers in the matches. Their June 20, 1999 and January 23, 2000 death matches helped in many ways to forever change the formula used in deathmatches. The 6/20/99 match was violent and bloody, but also consisted of several brilliant mat and aerial exchanges. Highlights include Yamakawa's tiger driver onto a pile of steel chairs, Honma's somersault topè con hilo, Honma's super huracanrana that sent Yamakawa crashing onto a ringside barbed-wire board, and Honma's tombstone piledriver off of the ring apron through a light tubes board.

Their 1/23/00 rematch was great and was arguably better than their previous bout, but it is often regarded as more of a "wrestling" match than a "death" match. Although it did see a barbed-wire board, spikes, and nails be used as weapons, the ratio of wrestling sequences to death match spots was relatively large. This is not to say that the bout was not excellent, to say the very least. It consisted of several solid mat and aerial sequences and some very nicely-executed spots (including some elbow and forearm smashes, some powerbombs, a somersault topè con hilos, and some suplexes) that will forever make it remain as a very memorable ****+ match. However, since it didn't follow the traditional formula of other death matches and consisted of such a large number of wrestling exchanges will keep probably keep it from being regarded in quite the same light as their 6/20/99 match.

FMW has produced several very solid death matches, with arguably its most amazing being between two women. The No-Rope Electrified Explosive Barbed-Wire death match occurred on May 5, 1996 and was to be Combat Toyoda's retirement match, although she would end up spoiling this by wrestling one more time on a mid-1999 Osaka Pro Wrestling show. Toyoda's opponent in this bout was none other than her former tag team partner and arch-nemesis, Megumi Kudo. Toyoda's FMW Independent Women's Title was on the line. The ring's barbed-wire ropes had explosives attached to them.

Both women took several bumps into the wire and were each engulfed in explosions, but the bout also featured solid mat exchanges. Toyoda used a surfboard stretch, a backdrop driver, a sitdown powerbomb, a thunder fire powerbomb, and a double-arm powerbomb. Kudo, meanwhile, used a choke-sleeper submission, a stretch plum submission, a DDT, a northern lights suplex, a brutally stiff head drop powerbomb, and finally a Spinning Kudo Driver (Vertaebreaker), which she used to finish off the retiring Toyoda and pin her in her last match. This bout is regarded as not only very violent, but also as a brilliant display of the ideal balance of mat wrestling and bloodletting in death matches. Until the famed 1/23/02 Honma/Yamakawa BJPW match described above, this bout was generally viewed as the greatest death match of all-time.

So, it seems to be blatantly obvious that one doesn't have to end up with scars like that on the head of Abdullah the Butcher just to produce an innovative garbage match. The Messiah, probably the best example of a hardcore brawler who is able to wrestle very soundly, has produced death match classics in XPW, EPIC, and CZW. He, along with Supreme, Nate Webb, and others, shows no signs whatsoever of slowing down due to the cuts and scars that they've suffered in garbage matches. Rumors that the injuries may be adding up have become associated with Necro Butcher, Zandig, and even Nick Mondo, but they too show few signs of slowing down.

When CZW's loss of Lobo and Wifebeater first became public, talk was sparked that CZW's ultraviolent reputation may be gradually disappearing. However, even with arguably its two most hardcore superstars disappearing from the scene, CZW still has an extensive roster of guys who are willing to participate in death matches. Nick Gage, Nate Hatred, Zandig, Mondo, Messiah, and even Justice Pain all are no strangers to the smell of blood. Also, over the past year, CZW has brought in hardcore stars like Arsenal, Green Phantom, The Hardcore Ninjaz (#'s 1 & 2), "Mr. Insanity" Toby Klein, and Necro Butcher from other promotions (especially IWA-MS and IWS [Internet Wrestling Syndicate]).

XPW doesn't have quite as many garbage competitors, but much of their roster have at least participated in a couple death matches. Supreme is XPW's most important garbage wrestler, as he's been there since XPW's debut show back on July 31, 1999 and has won two of their three annual death match tournaments. Vic Grimes wrestled Supreme in a few violent garbage matches in 2001 and has shed more than his fair share of blood in his feud with New Jack, which lasted from early 2001 to mid-2002.

Altar Boy Luke and Angel both recently engaged in death matches with Supreme and - when necessary - are able to bleed. G.Q. Money, Kaos, The Sandman, have also wrestled in death matches during their XPW tenures and have shown that they're not afraid to bleed. Since they presumably plan to continue having at least one death match per show, XPW would be safe to pick up a couple more garbage wrestlers, but for the short run, they're probably safe.

IWA Mid-South, like CZW, have even more competitors on their current death match roster than CZW has. Cash Flo, Chuck E. Smooth, Corporal Robinson, Dysfunction, Ian Rotten (the company's owner), Madman Pondo, Nate Webb, Necro Butcher, and a few others all are able to absorb amazing amounts of pain from barbed-wire, light bulbs and light tubes, thumbtacks, and other dangerous weapons.

One can't help but ponder about where garbage wrestling will be a few years from now. ECW undoubtedly is responsible for introducing the term, "garbage wrestling," to American wrestling fans. While they borrowed much from the angles, styles, and violence used by the classic Florida and Memphis indy shows and Japan's FMW, ECW will always be credited for bringing the hardcore style into the U.S.

Back in its heyday (circa 1995-'96), ECW's chaotic tag team brawls, the high-risk aerial stunts of Sabu, and the unbreakable spirits of Cactus Jack, The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, and others were considered to be hardcore, or as ECW called it, "extreme." The Pitbulls' superbombs through tables, one of Sabu's suicidal dives, a Singapore cane shot that somebody absorbed, or the outrageous bloodletting by Axl or Ian Rotten in one of their gory Barbed-Wire-Wrapped Baseball Bat or Tapei (glass) death matches often sparked a "Holy Sh*t!" chant from the fans.

Now, however, all one must do to view a superbomb through a table is turn on RAW and watch the Dudley Boyz do their thing. Sabu's high-risk aerial style has been borrowed and - at the same time - reinvigorated by the likes of Nick Mondo, Devon Storm (a.k.a. former-WCW wrestler Crowbar), and Rob Van Dam, among others. Tommy Dreamer recently had a series of Singapore Cane matches on RAW against Steven (Stevie) Richards, Brock Lesnar, and Al Snow. Also, as is probably pretty evident by now, The Rotten Brothers' bladejobs, while still considered to be the epitome of hardcore, aren't quite as graphic as the bloodletting of some of today's garbage wrestling elite.

It's too bad that ECW had to go out of business. Even up until its bankruptcy filing in March 2001, it was producing violent garbage matches and brawls with men like The Sandman, Rhino, Balls Mahoney, New Jack, Da Baldies (Tony DeVito & Spanish Angel), and others. They lost a key star in Sabu when he left the company and soon thereafter showed up in XPW. While some jumped to conclusions and called his actions "selling out," it was anything but because the facts are that Paul Heyman was not paying him his salary for his house show appearances, his ECW on TNN aired matches, and his pay-per-view bouts. So, it comes down to the fact that Sabu had no other choice but to leave ECW because he wasn't able to make a sufficient living in the company. Also, let's not forget that a wrestling company can't function without a promoter who pays his talent for their partcipation in shows, something that Heyman wasn't very fond of doing during the dying days of ECW.

Of course, Heyman's negative habits of not paying talent would eventually come back to haunt him when it was revealed that he owed more than 8 million dollars to various creditors. These included the state governments of Connecticut and New York (from whom he withheld taxes in relation to ECW shows), various cable and pay-per-view companies, other pro wrestling promoters, and over 35 ECW employees.

When Sabu jumped to XPW, he had several very solid matches that featured some bloodletting and brawling with legendary rivals like Abdullah the Butcher and Terry Funk, other former-ECW stars like Chris Candido and (John) Kronus, and new rivals like The Messiah. He had several bouts with Messiah that are regarded as XPW's most exciting ever.

When ECW went out of business, several of its wrestlers were picked up by WWE (Tajiri, Dreamer, Rhino, Van Dam, Credible, Lynn, etc.) within a few months, and those who weren't that lucky were forced to take up careers on the indy circuit. Most of ECW's premier garbage wrestlers are among that group and are currently working the indy circuit. New Jack debuted in XPW and feuded with Vic Grimes. Balls Mahoney worked several different promotions, most notably USA Pro Wrestling (formerly Impact Championship Wrestling), whose World Heavyweight Title he won and where he brawled with the likes of Tommy Dreamer, Norman Smiley, Steve Corino, Gangrel, Bam Bam Bigelow, and several others.

The Sandman worked for XPW, FOW, ICW/USA Pro, PWF, and other companies and dueled it out with brawlers like Supreme, Pogo the Clown, Steve Corino, old rival Sabu, and others. Jack Victory has worked for PWF and Dusty Rhode's TWA. John Kronus, after stays in CZW and XPW, now works assorted companies, most of which are on the East Coast. Steve Corino has worked in several different promotions since ECW folded, including NWA, ROH, JAPW, ICW/USA Pro, PWF, and even Japan's Zero-One and has bled with men like The Sandman, Homicide, Jack Victory, and others.

Tony DeVito became a regular in Ring of Honor and, along with former-ECW referee HC Loc, formed The Carnage Crew and challenged other brawling duos like Da Hit Squad (Mafia & Monsta Mack) and The Natural Born Sinners (Boogalu & Homicide). Speaking of Da Hit Squad and The Natural Born Sinners, their feud has transpired in both ICW/USA Pro and ROH in Weapons matches, Bunkhouse Brawls, Boston Massacre matches, and Streetfights.

Looking back at some of the serious injuries and near serious injuries of the past few years, it seems that garbage wrestling is in a precarious position. Many of the ECW pioneers of garbage wrestling are nearing the end of the line, including New Jack, John Kronus, Sabu, The Sandman, Shane Douglas, Jack Victory, and, of course, Terry Funk. Ted Petty, better known as Public Enemy member Rocco Rock, recently passed away, leaving his partner, Johnny Grunge, who's also basically finished, as he's in his 40's now. Japanese death match legends like Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, Shadow WX, and Atsushi Onita all have only a few more years - if that - left in them before retirement.

Therefore, it's up to the new generation of brawlers, like Madman Pondo, Necro Butcher, Zandig, Supreme, Vic Grimes, Nate Webb, and others to keep the tradition of garbage wrestling alive. However, when one compares these men to Lobo and Wifebeater, the future doesn't look good. Lobo and Wifebeater both debuted in CZW and began performing in ultraviolent death matches in 1999. Pondo, meanwhile, has been doing ultraviolence in IWA-MS since 1997 and over those more than five years, he has arguably taken even more abuse than Lobo and Wifebeater. Lobo and Wifebeater just retired from active competition after about three-and-a-half or four years. Pondo has been doing ultraviolence for more than a full year longer than both of them, so it looks like he possibly may be looking at a long break - if not a retirement - from ultraviolent competition.

Any fan of professional wrestling knows that all aspects of the business are constantly evolving, and that includes the death match side of it. Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Onita, and others awed fans by piledriving, powerbombing, and DDTing their foes into beds of barbed-wire, nails, thumbtacks, etc. Hayabusa, while he will be remembered for his graceful high-flying, was the first to included aerial maneuvers into death matches. Now, Altar Boy Luke, Nate Webb, Nick Mondo, and others are utilizing high-risk aerial moves like corkscrew moonsaults and 450º splashes into their death matches, and when they miss those moves, they willingly land in piles of barbed-wire, light tubes, and thumbtacks.

Masato Tanaka, Ryuji Yamakawa, Kanemura, and others became stars in Japan due to their ability to scientifically wrestle soundly and also take heinous amounts of pain. They became the first to, instead of just raking a sharp object across an opponent's forehead, pull mat wrestling maneuvers like death valley drivers, powerbombs, suplexes, and other moves out of their hat once in awhile during death matches to add to the drama or flow of the bout.

Now, The Messiah, Nate Webb, Nick Gage, Supreme, and the rest of the current garbage wrestling roster have taken what Tanaka and his companions pioneered and added to it. Instead of just using german suplexes, sitdown powerbombs, flying splashes, sideslams, and other moves just onto the ring mat, they perform these moves, but drop their opponents into barbed-wire, light tubes, thumbtacks, etc. They've taken the violence that Foley, Funk, and Onita pioneered and combined that with Hayabusa's aerial tactics and the scientific wrestling of Tanaka, Yamakawa, and Kanemura to form a new type of garbage wrestling.

New gimmick matches featuring scaffolds, weedwhackers, staple guns, and log cabins of glass have been invented and have produced innovative - yet entertaining - combinations of the aspects that Funk, Hayabusa, Kanemura, and others first came up with. The key is staying fresh. The fans are looking for new things. It's not so much that they're looking for more violent bumps than they've already seen, but rather new combinations of spots, gimmick matches, weapons, and wrestlers.

The concept of "sports-entertainment" first came into full effect around late 1997 when Vince McMahon Jr. conceived the idea of a clique called, "D-Generation X." Bad asses, comical and wacky stunts, etc. came together and produced a faction that fans hated with a passion, but - at the same time - couldn't get enough of.

What must be realized is that risks will always be present. McMahon took a risk when he transformed into the evil "Mr. McMahon" and plotted against Stone Cold Steve Austin, a character who had such a mean-spirited attitude and "obey and trust nobody" philosophy. He had no idea how the fans would react to Austin. He held all of the prinicples that society preached against: obscene language, violence, and non-obedience. At the same time, though, society was changing and he reflected all that its new values were: freedom of speech, standing up for yourself, taking no crap from anybody, and most importantly of all, controversial.

Austin's persona was very controversial. Bret Hart, at that time a more than 20-year veteran of the sport, took the stance in his documentary, Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows, that the fans had turned on the good guys - that they were now cheering for the bad guys, which in many ways they were. Many parents didn't allow their children to watch WWF TV because they deemed its new "attitude" was derogatory and inappropriate. McMahon ignored the complaints and, within less than a year, the WWF had taken over WCW in the ratings war and, in March 2001, bought their arch-rival out.

There will always be those who are disgusted by just the thought of two human beings slicing each other up with barbed-wire and glass. They view it as inhuman - as barbaric. That's fine. Those critics will never budge from their perspective and there's nothing that can be done about it. These critics must be ignored. Today's premier garbage wrestlers will need to invent new ways to put on an exciting death match that are both safe, creative, and new in order to keep the fans' interest. That responsibility will lie on The Messiah, Nick Mondo, Nick Gage, Nate Webb, Supreme, and many others and, for the sake of the continued success of garbage wrestling, let us hope that they are successful.

Information from the following websites was used to write this column:

- ColiseumWrestling.com
- CZWWfans.com
- CZWwrestling.com
- IWAMidSouthWrestling.com
- Wrestling VIEWPOINT!
- Pro WWrestling Between The Sheets
- SoCalUncensored.com
- XPWrestling.com
- XPWTVV.com

I'd like to give a special thanks to the following for their contributions to this column:

- Bob Magee
- El Hijo del SHILL
- Josh Rumbin
- Daan
- Rico
- ssXe Dan

I hope that you've enjoyed this month's edition of, "The Brutal Truth." Until next time, be safe and have a happy new year!

Jonathan Barber
AIM: HHH4LifeDX69
E-MAIL: [email protected]