10 Most Death-Defying Matches In Wrestling History

The world "fake" soon loses all meaning when you're a wrestling fan. The sport's critics take great glee in pointing-out that professional wrestling isn't a "real" sport, but while wrestling's heavily-scripted nature can't be denied, the toll it takes on the performers is far from fake.

Few wrestlers leave the business with the bodies intact, and wrestling history is littered with performers who've ground themselves to dust for the fans' entertainment. Bumps and falls soon mount-up, and while certain steps can be make to mitigate the damage, even the simplest, most straightforward match can result in horrific injury (see: Tyson Kidd, 2015).

Despite the escalating risks, pro-wrestling organisations have made numerous attempts to up the ante over the years. Weapons, cages, and huge dives became commonplace in the 1990s, and if you weren't willing to take things to the extreme, you'd be left in the dust. Things aren't quite so violent in 2016, but wrestling's infatuation with danger remains intact, and history is littered with matches that the participants were lucky to escape alive.

It's shocking enough to see such matches happen for a grimy independent company or on the Japanese deathmatch circuit, let alone WWE. However, while it's true that most of the world's most violent wrestling matches take place on smaller stages, such bouts are hard to quantify, and thus, we present this list with a mainstream American tilt.

Here are 10 of the most death-defying matches in wrestling history.

It’s remarkable that Jeff Hardy is even able to walk on his own accord in 2016, let alone maintain a high-profile wrestling career. The younger Hardy brother’s reckless tendencies have seen him not only participate in some of America’s most dangerous wrestling matches, but throw caution to the wind and perform dozens of career-shortening spots.

This match from TNA’s Lockdown 2015 pay-per-view might not be one of Jeff’s most famous, but it was certainly one of his most dangerous. He and Matt took-on James Storm and Abyss in the event’s signature cage match, but things took a turn for the worse when Jeff scaled the wall.

Jeff lost his balance when Abyss pushed the door out from under him, slipped, and was crotched on its top edge. If the death of his manhood wasn’t enough, however, Hardy found himself attacked by a chain-wielding Storm. He fell from the door and landed right on the steel steps, head and shoulders first.

The initial fall was planned, but the steps were not. Jeff was unsurprisingly KO’d by the fall, but he should count himself lucky: the fall and landing could easily have left him paralyzed, or worse. It’s one of the sickest falls you’ll ever see, even by Jeff’s standards.