The card for Extreme Rules is taking shape. So far WWE is offering a cage match, a ladder match, a last man standing match and a street fight. I’m sure some others will be added in the next 10 days but I kind of feel cheated. None of the aforementioned matches are really extreme or hardcore especially with WWE’s current family friendly direction. Makes me miss the days of unpredictability. That brings us to this week’s Greatest Video Ever!
Title: Biggest Wrestling fail ever!
Views: 5282
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9oX1Mf2KIU]
“I need a chair!” My oh my that simple request created one of the most memorable moments in the history of pro wrestling and a perennial ECW highlight. Was this dangerous? Absolutely. Public Enemy, Funk and/or Foley could have easily gotten a concussion or had an eye poked out or God only knows what. It’s funny to watch Foley slightly panic and Funk sell a chair shot perfectly a few seconds into the video.
The ring announcer, who sounds A LOT like Chris Jericho, demands that fans stop throwing chairs in one of the most unique pleas you’ll ever hear. That sums up ECW. It wasn’t even the violence or the blood, it was the unique nature and unpredictability. I’m not condemning Extreme Rules before the full card even takes shape, but as a fan who has seen real extreme wrestling, I don’t foresee King/JR vs Cole/Swagger ending up on any highlight reels or being remembered for anything hardcore.
The Conclusion
That era of main stream extreme wrestling is dead. It’s a shame but I guess I understand. Vince has begun to protect his wrestlers the way the NFL is protecting QBs and the NHL protects its stars. When you’re paying these wrestlers $100k a year (that seems to be minimum wage in WWE) I wouldn’t want them busting themselves open and risking their lives on a weekly basis. We just saw the effects that hardcore matches can have on shortening a career with Edge’s retirement. With that said, ECW guys rewrote the wrestling history books and padded their hospital records for almost nothing. Heck, sometimes the guys weren’t even paid. They did it for the love of insane. They don’t make guys like Funk and Foley anymore and that’s disappointing for fans. On the other hand, they don’t make fans like ECW fans anymore and that’s fortunate for guys like Funk and Foley.
