10 Wrestling Matches So Brutal They Hurt To Watch

10. Cactus Jack Vs. Big Van Vader (WCW Saturday Night, 1993)

April 17, 1993 is likely an evening that Mick Foley can't really remember. Naturally when analysing brutal wrestling matches, the 'Hardcore Legend' features a fair few times. He may pepper the list, but only some of his more choice (violent as all hell) encounters have been featured.

Some have referred to Foley in the past as someone who would often take things too far. If the violence presented in many of Mick's matches seemed real, that's because it most definitely was. When facing Big Van Vader in WCW, it was far from uncommon to see strikes so stiff that they would seem more at home in the UFC's Octagon.

During one edition of WCW Saturday Night in 1993, Foley was on the receiving end of some shots that almost instantly split open his eyebrow. Hearing Foley document the horror on his WWE-produced 'Greatest Hits & Misses' DVD is a painful experience. 

Making things even more shocking, Foley is then staring blankly at the venue's ceiling, following a brutal Powerbomb on solid concrete. The whole occasion is simply one which dodges the idea of wrestling pretending to stage real violence. It is real violence.