Wrestling is a tough business that requires wrestlers to put their bodies through intense punishment on a day-to-day basis. If that wasn’t bad enough, there are brutal gimmick matches like cage matches and hell in a cell matches, but no match is as tough on wrestler’s bodies as the ladder match.
Ladder matches have brought us a plethora of wonderful moments over the years – from the iconic WrestleMania X match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels to Jeff Hardy almost upsetting The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk finally shattering the proverbial glass ceiling with his two Money in the Bank wins.
With the Money in the Bank ladder match coming up this weekend, let’s take a look at some of the risks wrestlers take during ladder matches. Here are 5 times wrestlers bled during ladder matches.
5) Chris Jericho - No Mercy 2008
Chris Jericho was in the middle of his famous heel run in 2008 when he took on Shawn Michaels in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship on 5th October 2008. Jericho and Michaels took each other to the limits. When it finally looked like Michaels was going to win, Lance Cade came out and distracted him for long enough for Jericho to take out Michaels and steal the win.
As he lifted his head, a part of it was crimson,- covered in his blood. The price of victory.
4) CM Punk – Money In The Bank 2013
CM Punk looked set to win the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2013 when Paul Heyman unexpectedly turned on him and smashed him with two ladder shots to the back while he was climbing the ladder. After he was knocked down from the ladder Heyman hit him with another ladder shot, this time to the head.
This shot split CM Punk’s head open and the camera panned away for him for the last few moments of the match as Randy Orton won his first Money in the Bank ladder match.
3) Ric Flair – Monday Night Raw January 16, 2006
Ric Flair was already Intercontinental Champion when he took on Edge in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The match took place in Flair’s native North Carolina and the crowd was massively behind him. Ric Flair’s daughter and future WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte was at ringside during the match and was seen on camera and mentioned numerous times on commentary.
Flair and Edge slugged it out in the ring, and the spectacular match had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Halfway through the match, Flair’s face was covered in an crimson mask of blood but he relentlessly fought on against his much younger opponent. Flair would have won the match had it not been for some very timely interference from Lita.
2) Joey Mercury – Armageddon 2006
It was December 2006 and MNM were one of the top tag teams in WWE. At Armageddon 2006 they were defending their tag-team titles in a Tornado 4-Way Ladder Match featuring Paul London & Brian Kendrick, The Hardy Boys as well as William Regal and Dave Taylor.
During the match, Joey Mercury and Matt Hardy were grappling each other adjacent to two ladders when Jeff Hardy leapt off the top rope onto them. The ladder smashed into Joey Mercury’s face driving into his orbital bone and cracking his nose and shattering several bones in his face. Blood gushed out of Mercury’s face and the results were gruesome.
1) Triple H and Shawn Michaels - Armageddon 2002
Okay, technically this match was a Three Stages of Hell match, the last stage of which was a ladder match. I just wanted to get that out of the way first.
Triple H and Shawn Michaels was in the middle of their intense feud in 2002 and it eventually led to a Three Stages of Hell match at Armageddon 2002. Triple H and Shawn Michaels fought one of the hardest fought battles of the year and took each other to hell and back. Both the WWE icons were already bleeding before the ladder match began, so was Ric Flair, and the ladder match didn’t help matters.
The long-time friends turned bitter enemies gave each other everything they had, turning in one of the best performances of their respective careers. Even though Triple H won, both contestants ended the match in a bloody heap earning the respect of the fans for their performance.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
