The Pain Game

I love to push the envelope. Give me an inch and I will definitely take more than a mile. Wrestling has been doing this to some extent for years with different levels of success. As different territories began to fold and the juggernaut known as the WWF/WWE continued to grow new organizations and federations knew that had to come up with "new and innovative" ways to bring in the fans. The traditional " Texas Death Match" had been around for years and normally ended when one wrestler could not continue and was counted out. Todays death matches can be summed up with a simple statement I myself have used in previous posts, "buckets o' blood". Today's death matches have a cult-like following and if you can't stand the sight of blood, then you are at the wrong freakin' show dude. Groups like CZW, IWA Mid-South,FMW, and Big Japan have used things like barbed wire, mouse traps, pains of glass, millions of thumbtacks, plastic explosives, tables, chairs, alligators, and , in Mad Man Pondo's case, a stop sign to put on some of the most brutal shows (you gotta remember that this is all still a show) seen in a wrestling ring. IWA Mid-South even had a Drunken Death Match which makes it difficult to hit you opponent with a trash can if you are too busy puking in it. Men like John Zandig, Necro Butcher, Hyabusa, Mr. Pogo, and Ian Rotten have been pioneers of this type of show for years and have organized annual Death Match tournaments for their respective organizations. These shows are double edged swords and makes on wonder if the increase in crowd size and fan base is worth all the scars, all the blood, all the pain, and the increased potential of having to pull, a number two pencil out of your ass. Sorry Pondo, had to throw that in there.