5 insane gimmick matches that we will never see in the WWE

PG era or not, the WWE generally adopts an approach that keeps its product within the realms of sports entertainment.

A lot of these other pro wrestling promotions around the world, however, don't subscribe to the same ethos.

Some of them enable the wrestlers in their employ to take insane health risks in pulling off death-defying spots while others even promote brutally violent matches with insane stipulations.

It's during these moments that the line between sports entertainment and sado-masochism is well and truly crossed. And for those who've been exposed to the more conventional and social accepted form of scripted contest that the WWE promotes, it can all be quite extreme and distasteful.

But such is the bizzaro world of pro wrestling. And despite its many flaws and shortcomings, we can at least be thankful that the WWE doesn't resort to promoting senseless content like this.

On that note, here is a list of 5 absolute insane gimmick matches that we will - thankfully - never see in the WWE.

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Taipei Deathmatch

Although the name suggests mysterious origins from the Far East, the Taipei Deathmatch was an idea that gained traction in quarters much closer to home.

And despite being inspired by the Japanese version - called the Ancient Way Deathmatch - it shot to global infamy only in ECW when the crazy Axl Rotten embraced the idea.

It involved taping one's hands, coating them with superglue and attaching broken glass pieces to them, practically ensuring that blood is drawn with every punch that lands.

And in case you weren't aware, former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose once wrestled a similar match known Drunken Taipei Deathmatch in his Indy days...which was like the normal one except that both the wrestlers had to down shots at regular intervals during the match.

You know, just because dipping your hands into a jagged glass and applying them onto your opponent's face wasn't weird enough.

Piranha Deathmatch

'Yokohama Amazon River Piranha Deathmatch' or just 'Piranha Deathmatch' in short, is a sickening gimmick match that was created by Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in 1996 and contested by Kendo Nagasaki and Mitsuhiro Matsunaga.

It involved all the usual stipulations of a regular deathmatch (barbed wire ropes and boards, tables, chair etc.) but with a sting in the tail: a human-sized tank full of piranhas in the centre of the ring.

To win the match, one wrestler would have to submerge his unfortunate opponent into the tank for ten whole seconds.

The match itself delivered on many levels, quite surprisingly. There was solid ring work done in building the match as a contest before the eventuality of the finish, including a tantalising spot when Matsunaga's blood was allowed to drip into the pool, thereby visibly exciting the piranhas and the audience.

And when the finish came, a writhing Matsunaga wasn't just submerged into the pool but was also prevented from escaping by his opponent, who sealed off the tank using a barbed wire board and lay on top of it.

Yikes!

Fire deathmatch

Mr.Matsunaga makes another well-deserved appearance in this list, this time as a part of a sadistic and blood-curdling match known as the Fire deathmatch.

And like the name suggests, it had to do with fire. Duh.

Now, it was normal to have the ring ropes replaced by barbed wires - sometimes with explosives strapped to them - in a deathmatch.

But what made the Fire variety particularly gnarly was that ropes were removed on two sides of the ring and instead replaced with poles that were doused in fuel and set on fire.

Matsunaga and his opponent, Mr.Pogo, would then take turns using said poles to light one another up.

And they said pro wrestling was fake.

Evening Gown Hardcore match

Okay.

On to a match that did, for a change, take place in the WWE.

And unlike the other entries on this list, this match isn't as sadistic as it is just plain bizarre.

Normally, an Evening Gown match would involve two ladies battling it out to see who can relieve the other of her clothes first. The first woman to strip her opponent down to her bra and panties wins.

Not only would this match have no place in the WWE today, what with the Women's Revolution and all, but it may also behove you to know that this particular encounter that made the list didn't involve women at all.

Instead, it was contested by Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco - wearing bras stuffed with copious amounts of cotton, colour-coded panties and wigs to boot - under 24/7 Hardcore Championship rules.

It was so tone-deaf and downright bad that the audience spent most of the match booing the two men...although that could be explained away by the pop that Crash Holly got when he interceded and pinned Patterson to win the Title at the end.

Still, it's safe to say that his gimmick match is not making an appearance in the WWE again. Ever.

The Chamber of Horrors match

Sometimes in wrestling, you have unforgettable matches that transcend the clutches of time because they're so damn good.

And sometimes, you have matches that live on in inglorious recollection because they're just so damn terrible.

The Chamber of Horrors match that WCW put on at Halloween Havoc 1991 was one such travesty.

Featuring two teams of four participants each, it was a match set inside a convoluted steel structure with various 'instruments of torture' available for use and a lever-operated electric chair in the middle of it all.

The team to which a wrestler belonged lost if he were to be strapped to that chair and electrocuted. Yes. In the same way murder row criminals were executed in prisons, in case you're still wondering.

Featuring some really big stars like Sting, Scott Steiner, Cactus Jack and Vader to name a few, the match did initially attract a certain level of intrigue on paper.

But as soon as it started, it was all downhill from there.

Devoid of any real match psychology, with random masked dudes popping out of caskets and a general feeling of un-coordinated chaos, everyone was glad when the trainwreck was brought to an unceremonious end by Abdullah the Butcher's electrocution.

Yes, the match was so bad that a wrestler had to actually kayfabe die for it to end.

The irony is inescapable, is it not?