MOST VIOLENT MATCHES
The term “Violence” has been a very broad word in the world of Professional Wrestling. Many say that it depends on how many weapons are used, others say how much blood is lost, and how high are the stakes in the matches.
Many wrestling fans get some sort of high when these things happen. We’re completely engulfed in the substance of what the wrestlers are doing. We cheer and scream when someone gets whacked in the head with a chair. We awe when someone is thrown onto a table.
We especially go wide-eyed when someone starts to bleed.
All these things that the wrestlers put themselves through just for our entertainment is breathtaking. It’s our escape from reality. It’s our way to get over the stress at work.
One thing is for sure…once we see that drop of blood or hear that famous chair hitting a human skull…it’s a complete overdrive of emotions for all of us!
Here I’ve compiled a list of what I believe to be one of the most violent matches in the history of wrestling.
10. Bret Hart Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
This was a match ideally made for Wrestlemania. It happened at Wrestlemania 13. This 22 minute match was completely actioned packed. This match has lived the test of time. A match that everyone talks about to this day. There’s still video montages of the match shown to this day.
The blood started to flow once Bret Hart whipped Stone Cold to the guarding rail around the ringside. Stone Cold bladed while he was down. Once he got up we were introduced to a trail of blood that ran down his face.
Bret Hart targeted the cut for the remainder of the match which only made it deeper.
Now, the ending of the match is what quite frantically everyone talks about to this day. Bret Hart locked Stone Cold into a sharpshooter. Stone Cold was visibly in tremendous pain as blood poured out and started to cover his face.
Eventually Stone Cold passed out from the pain. He never gave up or tapped out.
The aftermath of the match is in fact the forefather of the Attitude Era. I do agree with that statement.
9. Triple H Vs Ric Flair — Steel Cage Match — Taboo Tuesday 2005
One of the most infamous steel cage matches to grace our presence. The year was 2005, Ric Flair was just starting to get his mojo back from coming from WCW in 2002. from 2002–2004 he was unsure where he stood in the company. He didn’t feel like the old Nature Boy that he was.
In this steel cage match, it only took Ric Flair 3 minutes to get busted open. Seeing ric Flair bleed has always been a treat for me and fans. With his blonde hair and the blood getting mixed in, it always created a more dramatic picture.
Triple H bleed as well after getting nailed in the head with a steel chair.
This is honestly one match that no one talks about until its mentioned by someone. Which is kinda sad. This match had everything that Ruthless Aggression Era had to offer.
The most shocking part of the match was seeing Ric Flair actually getting a win over Triple H. It was shocking because during this time, Triple H rarely lost a match. Let alone a main event match. Triple H famously always wanted to get over in these years.
After the match, Ric Flair certainly found himself again. He became the Nature Boy we all know and loved. He “Woo’d” his way in WWE for many years after.
8. Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels — Hell In A Cell 1997
The first ever Hell In A cell match. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels definitely gave us one hell(all puns intended) of a match.
The amount of blood in this match was almost scary, at least in the time that it happened. The first sign of blood was when Undertaker smashed Shawn Michael’s face to the cell fence. The funny thing about the spot is that if you look closely at Shawn Michaels before he gets whipped to the cage, you could see him plainly see him blading on his forehead.
For the most part of the match, Undertaker took over the match after Shawn Michael’s started to bleed.
Now, the most famous part of the Hell In A Cell match isn’t Shawn Michael’s bleeding or Undertaker doing some deadman stuff. It was the debut of Undertaker’s brother, Kane. Kane walked down to the cell and with brute strength strength he pulled out the cell door.
Undertaker and Kane stood face-to-face. Undertaker sold their first encounter with a face that looked like he just seen a ghost.
Kane ended up giving Undertaker a tombstone and that allowed Shawn Michaels to score the victory.
7. Sgt. Slaughter Vs Pat Patterson — Alley Fight — 1981
WWE has claimed that this was the first time they ever went “extreme”.
Both men battled in front of a sold out crowd in Madison Square Garden. Sgt Slaughter called this match “pure war”.
Sgt. Slaughter suffered a laceration to the head after being catapulted to the ring post by Pat Patterson.
The lack of a referee made it even more difficult for the match to end. But, The Grand Wizard threw in the towel to stop the match,
Pat Patterson got the win over Sgt. Slaughter that night.
Mind you, this was considered “extreme” way before ECW even existed. A lot of people could argue the fact that this was a violent match. I’ve matched it more than a handful of time and I could say that this was a violent match.
6. Triple H Vs Shawn Michaels — Royal Rumble 2004 — Last Man Standing Match
The rivalry between Triple H and Shawn Michaels is legendary. Both men always put everything on the line when they stepped into the square circle.
I’ll admit that their encounter 2 years prior to this match at Summerslam 2002 was also quite bloody. Triple H ended up hitting Shawn Michaels in the back with a sledgehammer and it “paralyzed” Shawn for a few months.
The first bloodshed in the Last Man Standing match was when Shawn was thrown over the announcers table. What followed was Shawn Michaels hitting Triple H with a chair to the head. From that point on both men were profusely bleeding.
Most of the match really took place inside the ring. Both men laid on the mat in a pool of their blood. They tried their best to get up before the 10 count.
To say that the ring wasn’t a pool of blood is an understatement. The ring was covered in their blood. It looked as if buckets of blood was poured on the. That’s how much blood they lost that night.
The match ended in a draw. Shawn was close to getting up but ultimately ended up falling down.
5. Chris Jericho VS Shawn Michaels — Great American Bash — 2008
The match that ended blading in WWE. Shawn Michaels bleed so much that the referee was forced to stop the match. It later said that Shawn was suppose to go over.
Shawn ended up blading too deep just above his eye.
The match ended with Chris Jericho repeatedly beating Shawn’s bloody face till Jericho’s knuckles were the color of Shawn’s face.
From this point on, Vince McMahon banned intentional cutting. Thus, bringing us to where we are today. The PG Era.
4. Brock Lesnar Vs Undertaker — Hell In A Cell — No Mercy 2002
This was Brock Lesnar’s first ever Hell In A Cell match. This was also the first time Brock Lesnar and Undertaker fought with such rules. Man, did they deliver one bloody match.
The match was full pf physical and violent affairs. Lesnar used the steep steeps to hit Undertaker on the head. Fans could actually see Undertaker remove the blade from his own sleeve and cut himself.
The problem with Undertaker blading in this match was the fact that he did it just above his right eye. This caused Undertaker to bleed more than intended. If he would’ve just cut in the middle of his forehead, he would’ve been just fine.
This was honestly the match that showed everybody that Brock Lesnar could hang with the big dogs. He was so young, yet he could wrestle with the most experienced people. He also proved that if you lock him in a cage he will find a way to kill you.
Brock Lesnar ended up defeating Undertaker to retain his championship.
3. John Cena Vs JBL — I Quit Match — Judgement Day 2005
John Cena’s first title defense after winning his first WWE championship at Wrestlemania 21 after beating JBL.
The blood came once JBL hit John in the face with a steel chair. When the camera panned back to John we saw his head split open. The blood flowed with like an angry river. It was a lot.
I have always said that he bladed way too deep in this match. It seemed like he stabbed his forehead with the blade. The blood just rushed out like a tsunami. One thing to mention too is that this was the first time John Cena ever bled. So, It might’ve been a rookie mistake.
Even though the tsunami of blood gushed out of John’s forehead, John was able to push through all the obstacles JBL put in front of him. John Cena ended up retaining his championship after JBL yelled out the words “I quit”.
The ending of the bloody encounter was one for the ages. John Cena ended up ramming JB: with the muffler of his truck which sent JBL through one of the titantron stands. Breaking the glass.
2. 6-man Hell In A Cell Match — Armageddon 2000
As you may have yet. Hell In A Cell matches have been a staple in this list. It has always been one of the most violent and bloody matches ever in WWE.
This match in particular was one for the ages. A match that will never happen in my lifetime or maybe ever again.
For the first time ever there was going to be a Hell In A Cell match that invovled 6 of the biggest superstars of the Attitude Era. Kurt Angle defended his WWE Championship against Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, The Undertker, and Rikishi.
This was a hard match to watch. The amount of action that happened here was just too much to handle. All the wrestlers were on either ends of the cage battling against their opponents. Kudos to the camera men who really did their best to capture every single spot that happened.
Once the cage door got ripped opened thanks to Vince McMahon coming out in a pickup truck. They tied a rope to the door and ripped it out.
The action spewed all over the arena. So much so, that the production team had a hard time keeping up with the action.
Every single person in this match bleed. Every single one of them!
Car windows were broken, chairs were flying, bodies were breaking, tables were broken. Everything in sight was used by one of the talents.
The biggest spot of the night was when Undertaker and Rikishi were on top of the cell structure. Undertaker ended up choke-slamming Rikishi off the top of the cell to a pickup truck. This spot is still in rotation to this day in WWE. The crowd reaction was intense. Everyone thought Rikishi was actually dead.
That was a fall of about 27 feet!
- Eddie Guerrero Vs JBL — Judgement Day 2004
The day the earth stood still. The day in wrestling history that is both gory and histroric. The match that WWE highlights will never show unless it’s in black and white.
The heated rivalry between Eddie and JBL came to ahead when JBL slammed a chair to Eddie’s head.
Eddie bladed underneath the timekeeper’s table. From this point, you know that blood is a norm in wrestling. It makes the matches more dramatic and forwards the story. So, we all expected to see the blood come down Eddie’s face once he turned around to the camera. But what we got was one of the scariest moments in professional wrestling history.
Eddie ended up cutting an artery in his forehead when he was blading.
Eddie was completely drenched in blood. I mean it looked like he didn’t have a face. All you could see were his eyes. The blood poured out so much that it made him blind for a few moments. The blood came out of his forehead like water pouring out from a faucet. It was that bad.
Eddie ended up losing the match due to a disqualification after hitting JBL with the title belt.
What we as wrestling fans remember the most from the match was ending. All hell broke loose once the match ended. Eddie hit JBL with the same chair he got hit with. JBL then started to bleed.
The amount of blood lost that night was just incredible. I was just about 9 years old and was watching this and thinking that one of these men are going to need a blood transfusion or something in that nature. The images are branded in my mind.
Eddie had to be rushed to the hospital. When he was backstage, he just kept losing too much blood. WWE officials even said that there were trails of blood everywhere Eddie went that night.
This one was truly the bloodiest match in WWE history. It’s one for the books.
