Mick Foley - A madman with a penchant for violenceWe all know wrestlers from all over the world have had their fair share of hardcore matches in their careers. Today we might see them less than we did years ago due to the medical knowledge we now know regarding head shots and body pains caused by matches like these.However, CZW is known for doing them similar to ECW but slightly different enough to keep talents a bit safer. When I say a bit, I am stretching it. The hardcore world truly got started when Paul Heyman took over a small promotion called Eastern Championship Wrestling and relaunched it as Extreme Championship Wrestling which would feature hardcore matches of all kinds with most of their matches. Few times did we see actual wrestling here barring the years of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Dean Malenko.The promotion was hot, and since everyone loved these types of matches, the entire idea of the promotion was great in theory. Sadly WWE was able to compete as well as ECW and the company would eventually fold completely in 2001. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon would buy it and continue the hardcore idea for his talent the next number of years before medical advice came to him and he decided against these matches from happening as much if at all at times.Before all of this however, there were many wrestlers known for this style of match, well before the term of hardcore was ever known. Those men would only continue it when they entered a world where people knew about it. We decided to count down the top 5 best hardcore wrestlers who were hardcore well before the term was born. Enjoy.
#1 Abdullah The Butcher
WWE Hall of Famer and man of big controversy Abdullah The Butcher was never ever known for his great in-ring ability. He was great at what he did well, hardcore matches. In fact, it might be difficult to remember a time when he didn’t get into a hardcore brawl with someone. It might even be hard to even call him a professional wrestler. Very little was fake with Abdullah.
He was known for stabbing opponents and beating them up in his matches all across the AWA, WCCW, and WCW. Of course, he was known for his work in Japan and Puerto Rico as well.
Everyone who paid Abdullah to come into their company or territory knew what they were getting. He was not going to be a guy you wanted your company man to face, and he was certainly not the guy you put in the ring with people you cared about. Everyone knew what Abdullah did and what he came to do every time he stepped foot in a ring.
If you didn’t know before, you did by looking at his head with very deep wounds from years of hardcore matches. The cranial wounds happened to be so deep that he could stick quarters in them, which he loved to do as a party trick.
If there is a man who is the actual definition of the word “hardcore” it would be Abdullah. Interestingly, he was this well before we even coined such a term.
#2 Dusty Rhodes
The American Dream Dusty Rhodes will go down in history not just for his great promos and wonderful matches, but also for his great creative mind. However, one thing people do forget about the WWE Hall of Famer is that he was quite a hardcore wrestler well before the term was truly coined. He could get absolutely vicious in a ring and brawl with the best of them.
He is the man responsible for creating War Games, one of the most legit hardcore matches of all time. On top of this, he had barbwire matches with people as well. Perhaps the match he is most known for is the Texas Bull Rope match which works like this,
Two wrestlers are placed on opposite ends of a restraint - in this case, a rope. The restraint and anything tied to it can be used as a legal weapon. Because the restraint can be used as a way to choke the opposing wrestler, submissions are typically not permitted. A disqualification occurs if either wrestler gets free from the restraint before the match is won. Usually, a pinfall can win the match or in an alternative version we’re familiar with in WWE, a person must touch all four corners consecutively.
The matches are known for being barbaric and Dusty was not shy about being involved in them.
While he was known for his sweet dance moves and fights with the Four Horsemen, no one can say that he couldn’t handle working in an ECW ring, where it was all hardcore all the time. Dusty may have truly helped to invent the term we use today for it.
#3 Bruiser Brody
Bruiser Brody clearly had a name to be feared, but he didn’t get it from being a light ring worker who sold like a champ. Rather, he beat people up in the ring and you knew every time you wrestled him that you would be in a fight, far less a wrestling match.
He was known for being world traveled with his punishment as well, truly making a mark in Japan where few Americans went before him. It was there that legend began to spread that whenever he went to a promotion, you knew things were going to get serious very quickly. He would swing chains around the ring and if you were one of the people dumb enough to get in the ring with him, you left with a few bruises and scars. Did you think he got his name from anything else?
Brody was known for his fights with Abdullah The Butcher and the two fought each other all over the world truly showing the world how to get a bit hardcore.
Brody never fought lightly and was always known for giving people their money’s worth. While Brody is forgotten for his hardcore tales and more so known for his brawls, the brutally hardcore side of him was certainly there well before the term was ever coined.
#4 Mick Foley
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley was WWE’s first ever Harcore Champion and actually his last when WWE retired the title. The championship was created in both WWE and WCW to counter ECW’s affect on the world of wrestling.
WWE needed a hardcore title to make sure they were doing similar things to ECW, but also staying true to what they do well. The Hardcore Title was a chance for them to really create something big and help other lower card stars out. Some like Raven, Crash Holly, and Steve Blackman will be known for their Hardcore Title championship matches.
However, no one seemed to do hardcore in WWE like Mick Foley.
Originally brought in to be a realistic rival to WWE Superstar The Undertaker, WWE wanted Foley to work in the world where he could shine and other stars could get over by working with him. Foley was never known as a fantastic in-ring technician, but the man never said no when it came to putting over a talent in a huge way. He helped make The Undertaker, The Rock, Steve Austin, and Triple H all legit stars in the 90’s and 2000’s because they had long, drag-out, and legendary matches with Foley.
Some were street fights, others were Falls Count Anywhere, and some were simply hardcore. Regardless of the match, Foley was the man who ruled them all and was able to help put over everyone including himself.
He was doing this well before WWE however, as he was known for his hardcore traits back in WCW as Cactus Jack. His signature move was an elbow from the ring to the arena floor onto his opponent. It was quite a dangerous move that would hurt Foley every time he did it.
#5 Terry Funk
Terry Funk may go down as one of the greatest hardcore wrestlers who ever lived. For most of his career, this was all he was known for. In fact, he helped many like Ric Flair get into their real brawler side to help him in his career.
Like Foley, Funk was used to make a wrestler legit much of the time. He helped to truly make Ric Flair a threat in the 1980’s when he faced off with him in a memorable “I Quit” match after of course piledriving him into a table. Because you know, that’s how things went then.
Terry came from a wrestling family, being the son of Dory Funk, Sr. and brother to Dory Funk, Jr. While neither Dory were known for the style Terry was known for, Terry was by no means a slouch when it came to wrestling. While he certainly was a good hardcore worker, he made sure you knew you were getting in the ring with someone who could go toe to toe with the greatest workers ever, which is why his match with Flair stands out to people so much.
Perhaps the match Terry is most known for is his match with Mick Foley in Japan that included barbwire, explosives, and more. Later on in a match similar to this, Foley lost his ear.
Funk was a veteran of the hardcore world years before ECW’s new 90’s idea about a hardcore promotion was even considered or thought of. He wrestled before Paul Heyman was even born in fact. When Funk was open to working with ECW, it made all the sense in the world. He went to the promotion he sort of created without ever doing it. He ended up becoming the ECW World Champion while he was there and even had matches with some of the legendary ECW wrestlers we know today.
Funk would go to WWE and wrestle as well in matches he was well known for. He was the man who happened to be at Mick Foley’s side when he went through the Hell in a Cell ceiling in fact. While Funk has retired more times than anyone can count, it does appear that his wrestling days are over at age 71. Of course, you never know in wrestling these days. Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan also claimed to be retired too.
