Hardcore wrestling started by who?

[Ruien]

Was it WCW or WWF that first started doing the regularly hardcore matches. WCW may not have even had a hardcore title (Can not remember), but they had people like Crobar who were their hardcore wrestlers.

Understand completely that ECW and independent federations were doing hardcore matches first, but wondering who brought it mainstream first (Once again, not including ECW).

Thank you for your time.

[CSL]

WWF were doing 'hardcore' stuff by mid-1997. Don't think WCW 'caught on' until a while afterwards.

[The Destroyer]

WCW did a bit of it with "Raven's Rules" matches in 97/98, but their own hardcore division didn't appear until at least 1999 I don't think.

[Ruien]

Thank you both.

[parkmania]

Wasn't the first WCW Hardcore title actually a trophy? I think I remember Fit Finlay holding a trophy that had gears and stuff coming out of it.

[The Destroyer]

Nah that was for the Junkyard Invitational. You know, the match in a junkyard that racked up a ridiculous number of legitimate injuries.

The actual Hardcore title came a few months later.

[CSL]

I think that was just from winning that match in the junkyard that just about every guy involved got legit hurt in. Good ol' WCW.

[CSL]

Oh I see, like that is it

[The Destroyer]

For what it's worth, your post was better. :(

[CSL]

:cool:

[Lock Jaw]

Much like cruiserweight wrestling, hardcore wrestling was started and pioneered by Kevin Nash.

[JimmyMess]

Much like cruiserweight wrestling, hardcore wrestling was started and pioneered by Kevin Nash.

:y:

[Seth82]

Atsushi Onita really kinda invented that in Japan with his FMW promotion

[MoFo]

Abdullah The Butcher was forking people in the face back when Foley was still a fetus.

[BollywoodSingh]

WCW was doing hardcore matches every now and then by 1997 with the Raven's Rules matches like someone said and also Benoit and Kevin Sullivan had a few hardcore style matches.

[Vastardikai]

It depends on who you ask.

Late '70s-Early '80s had the "Brass-Knuckles" title in various territories that was more or less the precursor to the "Hardcore Division."

Abby of course was mentioned above. One can also make an argument for pioneers as the Original Shiek and Fred Blassie. Harley Race was one of the first to go through tables.

[Rammsteinmad]

CZW created hardcore. Don't argue with it, I'm just stating the facts.

[Stickman]

I remember Public Enemy with the tables in WcW being pretty bad ass.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Fuck, that Junkyard match.

When going through 1999 WCW, I had just assumed that the match was so awful, they didn't use a lot of the guys for a while and blamed them.

[Stickman]

I'd like to see that match.

[Theo Dious]

The first hardcore wrestling match took place the first time a man wrestled a bear.

[Jura]

http://live.onlineworldofwrestling.com/pictures/n/normansmiley/15.jpg

[VSG]

I'd like to see that match.

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Still wondering why Finlay didn't just walk out of that huge gap in the gate instead of climbing over it.

[weather vane]

Norman Simale