Top 5-10 Hardcore wrestlers

[MTH15]

Just wanted to get some opinions. My top 5

1. Cactus Jack/Mankind: Not my favorite but gotta give him his props
2. Shane McMahon: After Backlash I loved him and the street fights with Kane and HBK were good.
3. Jeff Hardy: Hes been in about 10 ladder matches and has almost commited suicide in all of them. Or most of them
4. Sabu: Hes pretty damn amazing plus hes in ECW
5. RVD: He does a lot of high flying moves and shit and pretty entertaining

[NoRoolz]

Depends really, you've just said hardcore wrestlers not 'best' hardcore wrestlers so all the backyard guys would win this. Plus people like New Jack.

Presuming you meant best hardcore wrestlers it's still too hard to do, there's so many considering like 90% of the old ECW roster were 'hardcore'. Guys like Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Sandman etc could all be mentioned. Even guys like Spike Dudley have done some insane hardcore stuff.

[.44 Magdalene]

BALLS

BALLS

OOOOOOOH BALLS

[Slow]

Raven and the guy who went through 5 tables and a big pane of glass win it for me

Oh what the hell, Edge and Christian as well!

[Dave Youell]

Guys who do hardcore well, in no order:

Cactus
Terry Funk
Raven

That's all I would consider

[Chavo Classic]

Great idea for a thread!

New Jack - absolutely hopeless wrestler and apparently a pretty nasty guy too, but his matches were enjoyable simply because you knew you were going to see some stupid shit. Helped especially by playing his theme music 'Gangsta Killaz' all the way through his matches, and his tendancy to enjoy a good flight or two from balconies.

Balls Mahoney - actually a pretty good grappler and again very entertaining. Not especially known for his high intensity matches or psychology, but his chair shots and high impact moves look so devastating (notably because the majority of his chair shots were). His match with Masato Tanaka at Hardcore Heaven 2000 is in my top twenty matches of all time, leading on to...

Tanaka - high intensity, crazy spots and just a tough son of a bitch. When he stepped through the curtain you knew you were going to see a bunch of spine-shattering crazy spots and a stiff roaring-elbow or chairshot. One of the few ECW champions in the later days to actually carry some credibility.

Taz(z) - ok ok, he's not known for garbage wrestling or even hardcore wrestling, but he had such intensity and was willing to put his body on the line to put his opponent and the company over. His program with Bam Bam (including an insane bump through the ring at Living Dangerously 1998) was awesome, and if he had been treated with a little more respect and pushed as the animal he was, he could have been a number 1 heel in the WWE.

Rhyno - high intensity, high impact and a genuinely scary heel. This is how you push a monster!

Steve Corino - He didn't have to incorporate too many crazy spots into his matches, but his performances were always very credible and entertaining. A great heel who wasn't afraid to interact with the crowd and showed a good understanding of ring psychology, timing and how to put an opponent over. Also, he loved to bleed...

Sabu - the very definition of a spot monkey, but when put in a match against a willing and capable opponent, the two could draw a very good reception and create a believable encounter. The innovator of various chair spots and created a great aura without ever having to speak a word.

Abyss - If only the WWE could push a monster in the way that TNA have created Abyss. He's transcended from a poor-man's Kane imitation into a guy who has a tremendous fan-base and puts on a decent show with various opponents. Very willing to take a sick bump or two and as a result, one of the few TNA guys who I think would do well in the WWE (remember the internet buzz a couple of years ago?). Put him in the ring with AJ Styles, Sabu or an X-divisioner and watch the sparks!

[thecc]

Out of guys not mentioned, i'd have to go with Ian Rotten. One of the few Hardcore/ Death match guys who always tried to incorporate a story into his matches.

[BigDaddyCool]

1. Sabu
2. Funk
3. Mick
4. Sandman
5. Steve Blackman - greatest hardcore champ of them all.
6. Dreamer / Raven - it is hard to think of one without the other.
8. Jeff Hardy
9. RVD
10. Shane McMahon - sure he hasn't been in nearly as many hardcore matches as the others, and even some people that didn't make the list. But mother fucker never fails to deliever the biggest spot on a ppv and he is set for life. He doesn't need to be do that kind of shit, but he does it any ways.

[The One]

Before I get to the list, I wanted to point out that I considered New Jack, but then I remembered he isn't a wrestler just a breathing crash dummy. I also thought about guys like Raven, Sandman and even some more obscure choices like Al Snow, but they just didn't measure up in my eyes...

5: Rob Van Dam
I debated with myself if I should put RVD in here or not. I mean in trust he wasn't the most insane hardcore guy out there in terms of weapons and the likes. He be brought something else to hardcore atmosphere, the mix of his high flying with the accented use to weapons was original. He more or less perfected the art of Hardcore High Spots. For that, he get my #5.

4: Masato Tanaka
I am NOT a fan of Japan wrestling. HOWEVER, their hardcore stuff is something that's out of this world. For a lot of you, the only exposure you got of Tanaka was in ECW. Well let me assure you that this man is hardcore to a scary degree. Been at times in shock when I've seen him work. You know I would never endorse investing time and interest in things that weren't American is it wasn't the absolute shit, but find some of Tanaka's Japan stuff. Do it.

3: Sabu
The man's a freak. Plain and simple. Anyone who breaks their jaw and has someone tape it closed to finish out a match with The Sandman deserves some kind of note. It's hard to think of anyone of the face of the earth who's endured more hardcore matches than him. Barbwire, fire, anything that can be swung at someone's head, I mean it when I say I am legit terrified of the person that Sabu is. Anyone who does what he does for entertainment is kind of sick in my opinion.

2: Cactus Jack
Let's be fair, the man is an icon. And not only because of what he's done, but think about it; he's probably made more people into hardcore contenders than anyone. King of the Death matches, Hell in a Cell, Rumble Street Fight, Hardcore matches up the yin-yang...he's built his legacy on being one of the few truly hardcore workers who happens to over flow with charisma and can work a mic. But regardless, no hardcore list could ever be complete without Cactus on it. Just couldn't be.

1: Terry Funk
I don't need to explain this choice. Anyone who doesn't put the Funker on top of their list of most hardcore is wrong. Plain and simple. He was hardcore before there was such a thing. He made is popular around the world and he made it huge in America. Without Funk there would be no ECW and no 90's wave of hardcore atmosphere. Terry Funk is hardcore. Fuck me, they could rename the entire style of wrestling from "Hardcore" to "Funk" and I'm pretty sure it'd be more fitting. Anyone who's ever done a hardcore match is basically going out there trying to do what they think Terry would do. The man isn't a hardcore icon, he is more like the god of the style. He more or less created, shaped it, and as far as I'm concerned he is the end all be all of hardcore. End of story.

TOVO Fact: Tovo doesn't like Chirstmas shopping.

[BigDaddyCool]

Funk, Foley, and Sabu should be at the top of anyone's list.

[Loose Cannon]

I would probably include guys like Hansen, Brody, Abdullah and even Vader among the guys above

[BigDaddyCool]

Yeah, I never saw them and never going to either. I refuse to go back and research wrestling history. There is simply too much of it and I have other things to do than waste my time on carnies...more than I already do.

[Innovator]

-Terry Funk
-Mic Foley
-Raven

Those 3 are in their own league for the sole reason of being "hardcore" (weapons and blood and guts, oh my) but at the same time making their weapon use have meaning in their matches

-Sabu

No real explanation needed, but too spotty to be put up with the other 3

-The Shiek

Hardcore before it was a term. If you can find any of his work, do it

-Stan Hansen
-Bruiser Brody
-Vader
-Terry Gordy

Who says you need weapons and tables to be hardcore?

I'll add more when I think of some.

[Innovator]

Terry Gordy's debut in ECW vs. Raven

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[FourFifty]

A few in no real order.

Cactus Jack
Sabu
Terry Funk
Raven
New Jack
Masato Tanaka
The Messiah
Road Dogg Jesse James
Rob Van Dam

[redoneja]

I would probably include guys like Hansen, Brody, Abdullah and even Vader among the guys above


Especially Abdullah the Butcher and Bruiser Brody. :y:

[Chuck Jones]

It is scary how much Morishima looks like Terry Gordy.

[Innovator]

I wonder if Terry had some fun with a japanese girl twenty-something years ago

[Fox]

Terry Funk should be #1 on every list. Crazy god damn old son of a bitch. I think he's still wrestling, too.

Rob Van Dam made hardcore more than just chairs and tables; he made it frog splashes onto chairs and flying across the ring to dropkick chairs into people's faces, through a table.

[Savio]

I disagree BDC Undetaker was the greatest hardcore champ.

[LoDownM]

Crash Holly.

[Russenmafia]

Cactus Jack
Raven
Terry Funk
Sabu
Sandman

[MTH15]

Shane McMahon. Jumped like 70 FT at backlash

[Theo Dious]

Top 5-10 Hardcore wrestlers

5) My penis
4) My left testicle
3) My right testicle
2) My scrotum
1) My taint

They are all more hardcore than anything or anyone.

[MTH15]

Your gay and that really failed at being funny

[My Final Heaven]

My #1 hardcore wrestler would probably be Bam Bam Bigelow. I know he didn't really get considered as a Hardcore Tables+Trashcan kinda guy, but his stuff in Ecw's always been my favorite Garbage wrestling. My fav hardcore match of all time is the Raven vs Bigelow vs Sandman/Hak from WCW in '98. Can't remember which PPV it was at tho, but the one where Raven's "sister" turned on him at the end.

[The Lone Wolf]

if you are judging purely on how hardcore they are you have to give it people like funk, sabu, cactus, and even necro.