WARNING: The following text contain graphic descriptions and references pertaining to bloody occurrences in professional wrestling. So, it is not recommended that the easily squeamish read on. Read on at your own risk.
AXL ROTTEN vs. IAN ROTTEN
A bloodlover's dream and a technical guru's nightmare, the Rotten brothers' feud was one of ECW's bloodiest. Both Axl and Ian are regarded as two of the worst pure grapplers in ECW (and pro wrestling) history, past or present. Before they began busting eachother wide open, though, Axl and Ian Rotten comprised the tag team known as "The Bad Breed." They worked in the USWA (United States Wrestling Alliance) for a year or so (a few years before it went out of business in '97), and then came to ECW where they kept their partnership and took on duos like The Pitbulls and Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock).
In early '95, The Bad Breed got into a brawl with The Pitbulls (#1 and #2) (after 991 chokeslammed them), so the two teams went at in a "Losers Must Split Up Match" with The Pitbulls ECW World Tag Team Titles on the line. The Pitbulls won the match via pinfall, causing The Bad Breed to have to break up. Each brother blamed the other for the loss, though, and it was Ian who made the first step by turning on his brother, Axl. This sparked one of the most unpopular feuds in the business' history (in most minds who've viewed their matches). Nonetheless, that's the Spotlight Feud I'm going to review in this edition. It is (<ahem>, is) one of ECW's bloodiest feuds ever, and, afterall that's what ECW is (<ahem>, was) known for.
- The first match between the two took place at the ECW Arena on February 4, 1995 at the Double Tables card. Within the first 15 seconds, Ian's bladed, and Axl soon uses a stop sign to smash across his brother's head. The two start brawling into the crowd, where Ian again blades (he's juicing fairly badly by now). He bashes Axl across the back with a stiff chairshot, but his advantage doesn't last long, as Axl grabs the ringbell and uses it to cut open a good part of Ian's arm.
Ian surprises many in attendance by connecting with some roundhouse kicks and a dropkick, but when Axl nails him with a chairshot, he heads toward the corner and starts begging for mercy. The younger sibling, Axl, begins taunting Ian, but soon finds himself being taken down to the mat and pinned for the three count (6:41), thanks in large part to Ian using the ring ropes for leverage. The older brother had won the first match of the rivalry between these two bros'.
- Later that very same night (2/4/95), once again at the ECW Arena, ECW held another event, that being their "Return of The Funker" supercard, the two went at it, this time in a "Barbed-Wire Baseball Bat Match." A barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat is hung on a pole, and the object of the match is to retrieve it and use it on your opponent. Ian grabs it before it can be put up, though, and the two exchange raking it across one another's heads for awhile. They're juicing badly, as they're about a combined .75 on the "Muta Scale." Ian eventually halts the seemingly unending torture, spiking Axl with a Piledriver, getting 2. Axl, though, soon pancake tosses Ian onto the bat, getting the easy three count (12:17).
- At a March 13, 1995 ECW Arena house show, Axl defeated Ian in a "Strap Match."
- On April 8, 1995, at the ECW Arena's Three Way Dance card, the two went at it again in a "Hair vs. Hair Match," where the winner would have to have his head shaved. The match starts off with an expected brawl at ringside and in the crowd, where the two use various weapons to cut eachother open. By the time they again enter the ring, both are bleeding pretty badly (worse than in their previous match). Ian charges the corner, but eats a boot from Axl, who grounds his older bro' with a lariat. Like their previous match, he takes the ringbell and uses it to cut open Ian's arm and, this time, head. Ian soon hits a swinging neckbreaker, and, within minutes, they're brawling the ECW Arena once again.
Axl suplexes Ian on the concrete floor, but, back in the ring, he's soon spiked with Ian's Piledriver. He misses a second-rope flying elbow drop, though, and is soon bashed across the head with a chair, allowing Axl to gain the pinfall win at 9:56 and, according to prematch stipulations, forcing Ian to have his head shaved. Axl does the honors, and once he's done, tosses the locks into the crowd. However, Ian grabs some nearby scissors and attacks Axl, digging them into his forehead. This prompts the fans to start a hilarious "Sid" chant, referring to the infamous Sid Vicious-Arn Anderson scissors incident that occurred in the early '90's.
- One week later at the ECW Arena's Hostile City Showdown (4/15/95), the two competed against one another in a "Bad Breed Deathmatch." Ian starts the match by choking whipping Axl with a strap. A barbed-wire baseball bat comes into play, and they use it to hit and cut open eachother with. They're both bleeding fairly badly by now, and it doesn't get any better for Axl once Ian wraps him in barbed-wire (which includes some around his head!) and bashes his head with a steel chair. 1-2-3 (9:07).
- At the Enter The Sandman supercard, which took place on May 13, the two went at it in a "Barbed-Wire Baseball Bat and Chair Match." It begins with the typical brawling, with the two juicing fairly badly (about a combined 1.5 on the Muta Scale). A steel chair is wrapped in barbed-wire. Ian is first back bodydropped onto it, and then gets smacked in the head with it. The two scrape the wire across eachother, thereby cutting one another open worse. Ian eventually leaps up for a splash, but lands crotch-first on the wire-wrapped bat, allowing Axl to backdrop suplex him onto a chair for the three count win (6:15).
- Both didn't wrestle at the next Barbed-Wire, Hoodies, & Chokeslams supercard (6/17/95), but at Hardcore Heaven (7/5/95), they went at it in the first-ever "Tapei Deathmatch," where glass was glued to the hands of each competitor. Barely a minute in, Axl connects with a punch, which busts open a small cut on Ian's forehead. Obnoxious heel Bill Alfonso who was forced by Tom Gordon to referee the match, stops the match just to get heat with the fans. Suddenly, The Gangstas (Mustafa Saed & New Jack) and Public Enemy come out and start brawling with eachother in the aisle. Ringside security break them up and escort them backstage (Alfonso follows) and face commissioner (and first official owner of ECW) Tod Gordon enters the ring and orders the deathmatch to be restarted, which it is.
The two charge at one another and exchange blows. Both are really juicing pretty badly (Ian's hair and t-shirt is bloodsoaked by now). Ian drills a DDT, and then climbs out of the ring and gets a small bag. He brings it into the ring and sprinkles what end up to be thumbtacks in the middle of the ring. This turns out to be a bad idea, though, as his attempted powerbomb onto them results in him getting big back bodydropped onto them. Axl then backs into the corner, charges, and hits a splash for the pinfall win (7:10). Ian probably needed a good number of stitches after that match, as he was opened up pretty badly. This was easily the best match of the two's rivalry, which isn't much to say, as it was about 1/2*
As I basically stated in the first sentence of this section, this feud is only appreciated by those who are huge fans of hardcore wrestling, which I don't consider myself to be. These are two terrible mat grapplers going at in a competition to see who can juice first and who can juice the most. Don't get me wrong, some like the feud, but the majority of fans find the two brothers' matches together repulsive. It was a great hardcore feud, but on a scientific level, it was on about the "0" mark. Their last bout against eachother, the glass match, was probably the best they produced outof their entire feud against eachother, which doesn't speak too highly on their parts.
One-On-One Match Results (all at ECW shows):
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