10 Most Death-Defying Matches In Wrestling History
7. Terry Funk Vs. Sabu (Barbed Wire Match, ECW Born To Be Wired)
What happens when you take two of the craziest wrestlers on the planet, place them in a wrestling ring, then replace the ropes with barbed wire? Exactly what you think.
Terry Funk vs. Sabu at Born To Be Wired is one of the bloodiest matches in ECW history. The match was so bad, in fact, that on the “ECW’s Most Violent Matches” DVD, Paul Heyman vowed to never do another barbed wire match again. It didn’t feature an image as starring as Sabu taping his broken jaw closed against The Sandman, but that doesn’t diminish its barbarism.
One spot saw Sabu slice his arm open after botching an attempted top rope move. The cut was so deep that it threatened to call the match to a premature halt, but Sabu and Bill Alfonso had a solution. They duct-taped the wound closed so the match could finish, and for 20 gruelling minutes, the hardcore legends went to war.
Sabu walked-out with the ECW World Championship, but there was no real winner here. At one point, the duo became so badly entwined in the barbed wire that a gang of technicians had to come down and cut them loose without causing any further damage. Both men lost a lot of blood, and should be thankful they didn’t catch an artery.