Wrestling death matches became famous in America in the mid to late 1990’s thanks to the rise in popularity of companies like ECW, but they were actually around longer than that. In fact, Wrestling Historians point to the origin of the death match coming from Puerto Rico in the late 80’s. These matches were made famous by the likes of Abdullah the Butcher, the Sheik, Atsushi Onita and Terry Funk.
So, lets take a look at some of the most insane matches in wrestling history!
FMW NO ROPE ELECTRIFIED BARBED WIRE SWIMMING POOL DYNAMITE DOUBLE HELL DEATH MATCH
Yes – you did read the title of this match correctly. In July of 1989, Atsushi Onita founded FMW (Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling) which specialised in death match wrestling. This first ever electric swimming pool match was set in 1994, with the participants boated into a ring in the centre of a swimming pool.
The match itself featured: Atsushi Onita, Mr Gannosuke & Katsutoshi Niiyama vs Mike Awesome, Mr Pogo & Hideki Hosaka. In this match, barbed wire was featured in place of ropes, and just to make this match even more dangerous – electrified barbed wire was used.
Scorpion and Cactus Death Match
In 1996, BJPW (Big Japan Pro Wrestling) devised this absolutely insane match. The ring posts were replaced by 6ft cacti. On the opposite sides of the ring were wooden boards full of cacti, and on the other side were – yes, a glass tank full of live scorpions.
Do you want to have a guess how one could win the match? Yes – its exactly what you would think: to win the match, the opponent had to be placed inside the glass tank full of live scorpions. The match involved Mitsuhiro Matsunaga taking on Shoji Nakamaki. You can check out the full match below, as well as some of the other best moments BJPW has to offer.
Fish Tank Filled with Piranhas
Again coming from BJPW, this match was as simple as it sounds. To win, the competitor must place their opponent in a tank full of flesh eating piranhas. This match once again involved Mitsuhiro Matsunaga who completely made his name competing in some of the deadliest matches in wrestling history. This time he took on Kendo Nagasaki.
Of course, this form of wrestling isn’t for everyone and none of these matches would ever be rated as 5 star matches, even if they took place at the Tokyo Dome. But, it’s worth stating that these people deserve credit putting their bodies on the line for these kind of stipulations. Wrestling is an art and is subjective, and that is what makes it such an amazing and entertaining sport, with so many different styles to watch.
Have you seen a more insane match than these? Feel free to leave it in the comments below for everyone to enjoy!
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