10 MORE Wrestlers In Situations That Scared The Sh*t Out Of Them

2. Welcome To The Business, Kid

Bob Holly could probably fill all ten spots in this list if a) more wrestlers were willing to share their petrified past with him and b) it wouldn't put your writer in a situation that scared the sh*t out of him. This one, grisly as it still is to watch, was infamous from the off thanks to the bruising impact it had on late rookie sensation Matt Cappotelli on the original MTV incarnation of Tough Enough.

"When I first saw Bob Holly, I stood up a little straighter", said Matt, with Dennis Reynolds-levels of implication, before other talking heads from the future Johnny Nitro, Nidia and others express the terror they experienced watching Hardcore's decimation of the trainee from the other side of the ring. The trainees speak of being "confused" and being "taken off guard", but the quivering lips betray their loose composure.

The footage was divisive at the time, but industry insiders then were supported by fellow wrestlers in the future - it was nothing they hadn't experienced, or at least weren't willing to discount the value of the battering. Times have drastically changed in this regard - if Performance Center footage mirroring this sort of physicality hit the internet, it'd be a privacy leak beyond any gross personal intrusion.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett