10 Harrowing Wrestling Matches That Are Incredibly Difficult To Watch

9. The Rock Vs. Mankind - WWF Royal Rumble 1999

Eddie Guerrero MUTA
WWE

The Rock Vs. Mankind I Quit Match from Royal Rumble 1999 was intensely dramatic and disturbing, even by the wild west standards of the Attitude Era. Watched in retrospect, with the knowledge we now have of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), it is terrifying.

The opening act is an awesome fusion of literally amplified violence and comedy, with Mankind cutting off Rock’s continued “You can kiss The Rock’s ass!” protests by walloping him in the face with a microphone. It’s when Rock assumes control that things turn ugly - and that is after Rock strikes him with a low blow and sends him flying from a raised seating area and into an electrical circuit board.

Rock drags Mankind back into the arena and handcuffs his hands behind his back. Mankind by this point is a defenceless punching bag. There’s a great hope spot within this sequence, when Mankind uses his knees to bludgeon Rock’s strudel, but the brief catharsis recedes into a gut-punching lowlight reel of head trauma.

Unprotected chair shots to the forehead were commonplace back then. Chair shots to the back of the head were not because they are considerably more dangerous. Rock transgresses on the agreed upon sequence and multiplies his already unsettling assault, rattling Foley’s brain with countless chair shots - before denting the back of his head with one gruesome, match-ending shot to Mankind’s occipital lobe.

We’ll never see its like again, thankfully. Even that comforting notion cannot quell the disgust.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!