10 Times Wrestlers Went Into Business For Themselves In The Ring
As repugnant as it was, Sexy Star's shoot wasn't the first of its kind.
Professional wrestling is an inherently dangerous sport.
The risks can be mitigated, but injuries are inevitable. The margins are fine, and there's no way of accounting for every single slip-up, no matter how major or minor. Accidents happen, and while incidents like that which recently befell Japanese legend Yoshihiro Takayama are tragic, they're going to happen from time to time.
It's a wrestler's duty to not only take care of themselves, but look out for their opponents too. Performers legitimately place their lives in each other's hands when they step into the ring together. The risks mean they're supposed to place a great deal of trust into keeping each other safe, and while incidents where wrestlers go off-script and violate this protocol are rare, they're far from unheard of.
Bad things happen when performers go into business for themselves. In-ring shoots invariably result in chaos, and while many end without serious injury to the victim or attacker, others bring far graver consequences. Either way, such incidents should have no place in a scripted artform built on trust and good faith.
From over-applied submission holds to full on beatdowns, here are some of the worst examples.
10. Rick Steiner Meets His Match
The Steiner Brothers carried an infamous reputation back in the day. If you were working with them, you were going to get beaten up, and there was almost nothing you could do about it. They wrestled excessively stiff all the time, particularly in Japan, and Rick carried this habit over to his singles career, taking liberties with the likes of Hugh Morrus and Lash LeRoux during WCW's dying days.
2005 saw 'The Dog-Faced Gremlin' bite off a little more than he could chew. Teaming with Dustin 'Goldust' Rhodes to face Erick Stevens and Vordell Walker, he got a little too stiff with the latter opponent, booting him hard in the face early on.
Steiner attempted to shoot wrestle him to the ground, but a busted open Walker decided to unload on Rick with a few strikes of his own, before locking him in a chokehold. He took Steiner's back, enraging the former WWF Tag Team Champion, who tried to powerbomb Vordell later on. Walker wasn't co-operative, however, and Steiner took a fit, screaming that his opponent didn't know how to wrestle, and refusing to work with him for the rest of the bout.