Wrestling in its purest form is one of the most dangerous acts an individual can ever put his body through. Whether in front of 20,000 people or 20, the risks wrestlers take in the ring are nothing short of amazing.
All around the globe, the sport of wrestling and the art of sports entertainment are being performed with high amounts of risk, but once in a while, a wrestler feels the need to put his life in even more danger.
For whatever reason, there have been multiple occasions where wrestlers have entered a ring and performed whilst being intoxicated, yes intoxicated. Let’s take a look at some such wrestlers:
#1 Jeff Hardy
In 2011, the bad boy of wrestling Jeff Hardy experienced the lowest moment of his career. In a once in a lifetime dream match, Jeff Hardy was advertised to step into the ring with WCW icon Sting in a world title match on PPV.
This main event had all the hype and promotion that TNA needed to finally gain some momentum on the WWE and what happened? Jeff Hardy threw it all away. In a shocking turn of events, Hardy stumbled his way down to the ring completely wasted, like completely. He swayed from side to side and took a good three minutes just to enter the ring.
His state forced officials to re-book the match on the spot. After the official introductions, Eric Bischoff came down (unscripted) to "shake both competitor's hands," but in reality, he was relaying the new format of the match. A format that would see Sting go over in less than a minute. Here’s a video of the whole incident:
If you ever wanted to see an example of a performer completely dropping the ball this was it, talk about unprofessionalism. The main event of a PPV and you roll up to the ring intoxicated? Jeff Hardy's incompetence shows why TNA will never ever supersede WWE.
#2 Andre the Giant
Yep, the legend, the myth, the original giant himself once made a mistake too. Before he came to the WWE Andre The Giant had a ‘do what he wanted’ attitude. Back in Japan, Andre wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling and dominated all in his way.
In a match against another household name 'Akira,' Andre turned up to the ring intoxicated and proceeded just to have fun. In a bout that lasted for 30 minutes, Andre persisted to belly flop on his opponent time and time again whilst infuriating his opponent the more.
In parallel with Hardy's match, the owner of the company came down to talk to both wrestlers during the match in order to re-book the finish but to no avail. Andre joked around and asked Akira to pin him several times. The match ended with a mass brawl and boos from the crowd.
#3 Road Warrior Hawk
A wrestler best known for his outlandish attire and aggressive stance, Road Warrior Hawk was a serial substance abuser. Many attributed his substance abuse as a coping mechanism for the stresses of the wrestling world. Being one-half of the infamous duo Legion of Doom had its perks and of course downfalls.
The duo was overworked, sometimes overlooked and always stressed out. In probably their most high profile match Hawk and the Animal faced off against Ted Dibiase & IRS at Summerslam in 1992, instead of grasping the monumental opportunity in front of him, Hawk instead decided to get drunk and turn in a horrific performance on a massive stage.
Dibiase & IRS complained after the match to officials but Hawk was not punished.
#4 The Sandman
In perhaps the most bizarre and most dangerous act of stupidity on the list, The Sandman once decided to wrestle a match whilst high on acid. Part of his gimmick down in ECW involved him drinking beers during his ring entrance.
What many didn't know is that even before he went out to the ring he often drank multiple beers, so by the time he got to the ring he was fully drunk. But in a match in 1997 The Sandman took it one step further by taking a pill of acid before a match with Sabu.
The match was so bad and disjointed that both men have since then apologised for the showing, it's believed that The Sandman was hallucinating throughout the match and had no idea of his whereabouts.
#5 Scott Hall
Probably the most notorious drinker of the lot. Everybody knows that through the 90s, Hall suffered from serious drinking and drug issues. It was often suspected that he wrestled whilst intoxicated but his laid back character often perhaps disguised his drunken state of mind in the ring.
However, in 2011 his substance use was there for all to see. In an Indy show back in 2011 Scott Hall disgraced himself and his profession by wobbling to the ring obnoxiously drunk with not a care in the world for the safety of anyone around him. Here’s a video of the incident:
It'd be one of the last matches Hall ever wrestled, talk about leaving a lasting impression.
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