10 Big Bumping Wrestlers Who SUFFERED For Their Art

There is a certain irony that Matt Hardy, the man who popularised cinematic matches that allow veterans to go at it despite their limitations, is still putting his body on the line as his career approaches its third decade.

With his brother Jeff, he was instrumental in creating and setting the standards for Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. A stipulation built around crazy bumps and high-flying athletic feats.

Hardy never slowed down.

His Broken Rules match at AEW All Out 2020 caused concern and invited criticism when a bump went horribly wrong. When his opponent Sammy Guevara speared him from a scissor lift, both men overshot the table below, and Hardy cracked his head on the concrete. Controversially, the match continued. Adding to this was Guevara botching a chair shot the previous month which required 13 stitches to Hardy’s head. Even Hardy’s daredevil brother Jeff admitted he was terrified watching All Out, commenting “That was scary, man, with Matt – flesh on concrete, it was scary.”

But even Hardy’s most painful bumps would be preferable to his feud with Edge and Lita, with the world being voyeurs to his personal turmoil used as a pro-wrestling storyline.