As the years went on, though, something changed. It seemed like as more fans learned that wrestling wasn't on the level, wrestlers felt more compelled to make it "real." While many old-school wrestlers still continue to pride themselves on their ability to work "light" and make it look good, strong-style wrestling emerged as an avenue for ultra-physical (and frankly, less safe) forms of combat. Really, it's all about personal preference.
This is a list of the 10 stiffest wrestling matches of all time. While I've intentionally omitted matches that turned into actual fights, in many of these bouts, the participants might as well have been out for blood - the end result wouldn't have been much different.
10. Brock Lesnar Vs John Cena - Extreme Rules 2012
What fans didn't expect was just how physical the bout would be. Lesnar jumped Cena in the early goings, bloodying him with elbows and nearly forcing the referee to stop the match. Cena fought back with weaponry, eventually bludgeoning Lesnar so hard that he drew blood from "The Beast."
The bout was hard-hitting and reckless, with John Cena taking a beating like few other top stars in wrestling history would allow. In the end, Cena hit Lesnar with an AA on the ring steps and scored the pin. It was far and away the most brutal main event in WWE history, and a stunningly excellent contest.
The physicality took its toll on Cena. After the bout, he cut an impromptu promo about how he might need a vacation, which apparently didn't sit too well with management. He ended up not missing any time.
9. Samoa Joe Vs Low Ki - 2002
That bout came in 2002, when Low Ki was feuding with The Prophecy, who brought Joe in as a hired gun to take out their foe. The two had an MMA-style bout filled with stiff kicks and submissions, which then gave way to really hard slams and powerbombs. Low Ki hit a vicious backdrop driver on the massive Joe at one point, and both men took down their kneepads to hit super-stiff strikes. Low Ki ended up scoring the victory after several shots to Joe's head.
The match brought some of Japan's style to the U.S. indy scene. After the bout, Low Ki and Joe shook hands and picked up a Zero1 Wrestling flag, endorsing the Japanese league in which they both competed.
8. Fit Finlay Vs Steven Regal - WCW Uncensored
Unfortunately, the first Uncensored turned into a big mess (it featured the King of the Road match, one of the most infamous bouts in WCW history). The following year was just as bad, but the show produced one of the most underrated and brutal matches in WCW history - The Belfast Bruiser versus Lord Steven Regal.
Despite the fact that he usually played a snobby heel, Regal is one of the toughest men in wrestling history. The same can be said for the Bruiser, who soon started competing under his old name of Fit Finlay. In this match, they didn't use any weapons besides their bodies - they just hit each other really, really hard.
WCW had a "no blading" policy at the time, but according to both men, officials approached Finlay and Regal beforehand and told them it would be "great" if they could have some blood in the match. To deliver, Finlay hit Regal so hard he broke his nose, causing recurring problems that would eventually cause him to need surgery in 2002.
7. Katsuyori Shibata Vs Tomohiro Ishii - G1 Climax Tournament 2013
Naturally, the two men have had some of their most dangerous matches against one another. Their contest in the 2013 G1 Climax tournament was insanely physical, and they managed to outdo it at this year's Wrestle Kingdom show with the NEVER Openweight Championship on the line.
The match opened with Shibata hitting a big kick to Ishii's face, and from there, the two just tore into each other with strikes. For about seven minutes there were almost no wrestling moves, just forearms and kicks. Both men took turns sitting on the mat and letting their opponent kick them in the spine, only to get up and shrug it off. The lariats were cringeworthy, as well.
The most memorable spot in the bout, however, came when the two traded headbutts. As much as lariats and kicks can hurt in the moment, they're ultimately safe. The same can't be said for two heads colliding like bowling balls, creating audible thuds. Many spectators rightfully criticized that particular spot, scared of the long-term effects it could have on both men.
6. Mike Awesome Vs Masato Tanaka - November 2 Remember 1999
Such was the case with Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka, who first worked against each other in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, an ultra-violent 1990s outfit in Japan. The feud found its way to ECW in 1998, with both men taking each other on at Heatwave in front of a crowd that was receptive to the new stars.
In late 1999, Awesome and Tanaka had another series of matches, this time with the ECW Title on the line. Their best and most violent match, in the eyes of many, came at November 2 Remember 1999. Brutal powerbombs, reckless dives, and tons of chairshots ensured that both men left the battle feeling like they'd been hit by trucks.
This wasn't the last bout between the two men - they traded the ECW Championship in December of 1999, then had one final, excellent match at One Night Stand in 2005.
5. Vader Vs Ken Shamrock - In Your House: Cold Day In Hell
Shamrock refereed the Steve Austin-Bret Hart submission match at WrestleMania XIII, famously taking Bret down when "The Hitman" tried to inflict post-match punishment on Austin, but he wouldn't make his in-ring debut until two months later, taking on Vader in a Pay-Per-View match.
That bout was a submissions- or knockouts-only match in the style of the old UWF, and it was a hard-hitting war. Though Shamrock did have experience as a pro wrestler prior to getting into MMA, he wasn't being paid to wrestle like a pro wrestler, he was being paid to wrestle like a fighter.
He and Vader had an ultra-stiff match that saw Shamrock break Vader's nose and Vader, one of the stiffest wrestlers ever, twice ask "The World's Most Dangerous Man" to lighten up. Eventually, Vader fought back in kind, leveling Shamrock with one of the most devastating lariats in wrestling history. Shamrock eventually won the match, which has gone down in history as WWE's most hard-hitting bout.
4. Takeshi Morishima Vs Bryan Danielson - ROH 2007
Morishima came into Ring of Honor in 2007, losing a dream match to Samoa Joe but capturing the company's World Heavyweight Championship the next day. He proceeded to take on all comers for the belt, but the best match of his ROH run came that summer, when he defended the title against former champion Bryan Danielson.
Danielson may have been ten inches shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than Morishima, but he could hit just as hard... well, almost. Morishima mauled Danielson with strikes, and while "The American Dragon" fought back with kicks and submissions, the ROH Champion actually hit a lariat so hard that Danielson suffered a detached retina. Morishima won with a Backdrop Driver, and Danielson was forced to miss several weeks of action.
This was the first (and best) match between the two men, but they'd battle four more times in incredibly brutal contests. In one, Morishima won by stoppage after pummeling Danielson repeatedly, and in another, "The American Dragon" was DQed for repeatedly stomping on Morishima's crotch. All in all, these two men had one of the stiffest feuds in wrestling history.
3. Vader Vs Stan Hansen - 1990
Vader and Hansen met on a New Japan-All Japan supershow in February of 1990. Given the competition between the companies, stakes were high in their battle, and neither man wanted to give anything less than his best. At the very beginning of the match, Hansen hit Vader with a bullrope, breaking his nose. From there on out, Vader worked his typical stiff style.
Not long into the match, Hansen accidentally gave Vader one of the most gruesome injuries in wrestling history - a misjudged punch to the face accidentally knocked "The Mastodon's" eyeball out of its socket. Vader popped his eye back in the socket, then continued with the match.
Following the bout, Vader needed surgery for a broken nose and orbital bone, with a steel plate being placed behind his eyeball.
2. Steve Williams Vs Kenta Kobashi - 1993
One of the most infamous - yet beloved - bouts during that era came in 1993, when the then-26-year-old Kenta Kobashi battled American Steve Williams for the rights to get a shot at the Triple Crown Championship. Despite his age, Kobashi was already considered one of the best pure talents in wrestling history, while Williams, like most of the foreigners who succeeded in Japan back then, was a hard-hitting tough guy.
The bout was filled with the stiff action that typified the era, but the most memorable part was the finish. Williams used a high-angle back suplex called the Backdrop Driver as his finisher, but the ones he nailed Kobashi with in this bout were unbelievable. He dropped the future legend directly on the top of his head more than once, inexplicably not causing permanent injury to Kobashi.
The third Backdrop Driver put Kobashi away, ending one of the most insane matches in wrestling history.
1. Vader Vs Nobuhiko Takada - 1994
There were many stars in the UWF throughout its existence - including founder Akira Maeda, legend Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and original Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama - and one of the legends of the league in its later days was former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Nobuhiko Takada. Takada's early '90s feud with reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader (known in the UWF as Super Vader) was a huge moneymaker for the company, and resulted in what was possibly the stiffest worked match in wrestling history.
On August 18, 1994, at Budokan Hall, Vader defeated Takada for the UWF's Real Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. The size differential meant that the bout was a precursor to the Danielson-Morishima match, but this was even more intense - Vader was absolutely mauling Takada, and the kicks that the champion threw in return were rib-breaking in their intensity. In the end, Vader beat Takada so badly that he couldn't get to his feet, and a new champion was crowned.
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