article

Hardcore wrestling (also called garbage wrestling) is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted. Although hardcore wrestling is a staple among wrestling promotions, where they are used at the climaxes of feuds, some promotions (such as Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling) specialized in hardcore wrestling, with many matches performed in this matter.

Garbage wrestling became acknowledged as a major wrestling style first in Japan with promotions such as FMW and W*ING. It then became successful as hardcore wrestling in America with Extreme Championship Wrestling. The World Wrestling Federation capitalizing on the success and introduced the WWF Hardcore Championship. The WWF was not really committed to hardcore wrestling however and soon began to turn the matches into over the top comedy skits with third-rate wrestlers. Hardcore is in sound contrast to traditional mat-based wrestling, where solid technical skills are preferred over stuntwork and blood.

The term garbage wrestling is attributed to Japanese wrestler Giant Baba who used it to describe a style of wrestling which required little wrestling athletic ability and often involved no wrestling at all.

Rules

The main rule behind hardcore wrestling is that there are no disqualifications or countouts. However, in many promotions such a match can have various connotations. Thus, hardcore wrestling is often separated into distinct "levels" based on the graphic nature of the match:

  • A 24/7 Title Match describes a situation where a hardcore wrestler must defend the title at all times. The match (and the title) can be won by pinfall at any time and in any place in the presence of a referee. The match has no fixed location, timeframe or even opponent. This is one of the most severe forms of hardcore match given its unpredictablility. This was initially a self-imposed stipulation of Crash Holly's WWE Hardcore Championship but afterward became a general rule of the title. During the time Crash defended his title, he did so in such locations as his hotel room, at the airport and even at the circus.

  • A No Disqualification match tends to be less severe, with action taking place mostly inside the ring. Usage of foreign objects is typically minimal, with run-ins (another form of disqualification) being frequently used. The match is often contested between valets (where they may lack wrestling skills), or between a wrestler and a valet (in which a wrestler is expected to run-in and defend their valets). Because of the low-key nature, few consider a no-disqualification match as hardcore, although there is no semantic difference.

  • A Deathmatch tends to be the most severe, with a heavy emphasis on the usage of foreign objects to induce bleeding. The types of foreign objects and the nature of the foreign objects are used so as to be extremely graphic and violent in nature. In more recent years, some state athletic commissions in the US have cracked down on the types and frequency of weapons used in these matches.

  • A Hardcore match tends to be somewhere in between, with emphasis on the brutality on the attacks and the extreme physical toll on the wrestlers involved.

Because of the nature of hardcore wrestling, hardcore matches are often remembered for their dangerous spots (to the point that some deride it as "spotfests") rather than their actual outcome. The hardcore style has even extended to non-hardcore matches (that is, matches with disqualifications), especially into those where disqualifications are uncommon, where the rules allow or encourage the use of certain foreign objects, or where the rules of the match are ambiguous with regards to disqualification. It is not uncommon to have certain types of matches be no-disqualification affairs to avoid the issue of dealing with suspension of disbelief.

Common weapons

Hardcore matches tend to emphasize the use of certain weapons or the physical toll on the wrestlers, and thus many euphemisms for these matches are employed. For example, Street Fights and Bunkhouse Brawls are hardcore-style matches which emphasize that wrestlers need not be in typical wrestling gear when they are battling, while the No Holds Barred match emphasizes the no-disqualification rule. In World Wrestling Entertainment, ECW rules matches are hardcore-style matches that emphasized the spirit of its former competitor. Other euphemisms, such as the Good Housekeeping match and Full Metal Mayhem, emphasize the use of certain foreign objects as being legal (the former with kitchen implements, and the latter with metallic objects). In a Fans Bring the Weapons match, wrestlers fight with "weapons" that members of the audience bring to the venue. An Anus Explosion Deathmatch was an FMW special deathmatch where the loser or losing team were abused either by objects or fireworks.

There are several weapons that are used commonly in deathmatch wrestling:

  • Fluorescent light tubes
  • Barb wire
  • Fire
  • Thumbtacks
  • Staple guns
  • Broken glass
  • Chairs
  • Tables
  • Ladders
  • Beds of spikes or nails
  • Trash Cans
  • Weedwhackers

Hardcore wrestlers

Many well-known deathmatch wrestlers are from Japan. In addition, most American wrestlers who participated in deathmatches made their mark in Japan.

Hardcore wrestling promotions

See also

Professional wrestling

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Hardcore wrestling".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world