10 Most Bizarre Hardcore Matches In Wrestling History

2. Judy Bagwell On A Forklift

Chamber Of Horrors
WWE

Vince Russo was obsessed with poles. 

Weirdly, the pioneer of the Kennel From Hell match was obsessed with watching wrestlers climb. He famously deemed traditional wrestling a boring pursuit, one in which he didn’t believe the “casual fan” held much interest. He did not think wrestling fans would enjoy wrestling watches, but he did think they’d enjoy watching them climb and retrieve an object from a pole. Climbing is one of the least-watched sports globally. To determine something equally as unpopular, as a comparison, burrow through Russo’s TNA pay-per-view buy amounts. 

At New Blood Rising - the most infamously terrible mainstream wrestling show of all-time - Buff Bagwell defeated Kanyon in a ‘Judy Bagwell on a Forklift’ match. 

You see, the joke here was that Judy, Bagwell’s shoot mother, was a rotund lady. And could not, therefore, fit atop a pole. 

It was less a ‘hardcore’ match and more ‘a stunningly mediocre chinlock fest masquerading as a mean-spirited fat joke’, but it gets no weirder. 

It’s more bizarre than Davey Boy Smith. 

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!