10 Most Painful-Looking Wrestling Matches Ever
3. The Belfast Bruiser Vs. Lord Steven Regal - WCW Uncensored 1996
Again: painful-looking is something of a misnomer.
There's something almost pointless about the sheer extent to which Finlay and Regal stiffed one another here. The near-silence to which the action was received magnified the lip-pursing pain of it all. This wasn't an endorphin rush shared between performers and audience, one that allowed us to reconcile the violence in some way. This wasn't two wrestlers finding a cushioned sweet spot with which to create only a slight illusion of audible pain. This was two men exchanging potato shot after potato shot which, in addition to the laborious hold after laborious hold, distanced themselves from the audience that could barely see the very real violence to begin with. Only on the pay-per-view stream was the stiffness apparent - but those actually watching at home, with no heat, couldn't immerse themselves in it either. It endures as a strange curio.
It's also really long and arduous, adding to the headache, resonating as a stubborn and self-indulgent attempt to bring British wrestling to the U.S. that undermines itself.