10 Times ECW Was The Most Insane Wrestling Company In The World

5. A Taipei Death Match

Rotten by name, rotten by nature.

ECW had a lot of ridiculous gimmick matches, but few were as intentionally barbaric as the Taipei Death Match. What it actually had to do with the capital of Taiwan is anyone’s guess, but that is another question for another day. When Axl and Ian Rotten went toe-to-toe in this most bloodthirsty of environments, nobody was booking flights to Taipei City.

The rules were gory enough. Before the match, both men taped their fists and dipped them in glue, before placing them into broken and crushed glass. The Rotten brothers were not exactly renowned for their technical wrestling prowess, so one would be safe in expecting both to throw a lot of punches in the match. ‘Safe’ is not the right word, and the blood was soon flowing. The match itself was every bit the voyeuristic pitiless romp you’d expect it to be, and once again showed just how insane ECW was.

But it also showed how little difference there actually was between ECW and the two bigger, safer promotions. This was a carny match put on by carnies, sacrificing performer well-being in the name of notoriety, complete with passive-aggressive staff punishment in the middle of it all. And it all came about because the company had desensitised its audience to the violence and was having to come up with ever-more-ridiculous stipulations to top whatever came before.