10 Stiffest Wrestling Matches Ever
5. Vader Vs Ken Shamrock - In Your House: Cold Day In Hell
When WWE signed Ken Shamrock, it was a major coup. Even though UFC was seen by many as an underground organization, it still had enough press that people knew the main stars. Shamrock, one of the company's early champions, had been profiled on ABC News and given the title of "The World's Most Dangerous Man."
Shamrock refereed the Steve Austin-Bret Hart submission match at WrestleMania XIII, famously taking Bret down when "The Hitman" tried to inflict post-match punishment on Austin, but he wouldn't make his in-ring debut until two months later, taking on Vader in a Pay-Per-View match.
That bout was a submissions- or knockouts-only match in the style of the old UWF, and it was a hard-hitting war. Though Shamrock did have experience as a pro wrestler prior to getting into MMA, he wasn't being paid to wrestle like a pro wrestler, he was being paid to wrestle like a fighter.
He and Vader had an ultra-stiff match that saw Shamrock break Vader's nose and Vader, one of the stiffest wrestlers ever, twice ask "The World's Most Dangerous Man" to lighten up. Eventually, Vader fought back in kind, leveling Shamrock with one of the most devastating lariats in wrestling history. Shamrock eventually won the match, which has gone down in history as WWE's most hard-hitting bout.