10 Times Wrestlers Ate Thumbtacks
King Of The Ring 1998 wasn't the only time Mick Foley tasted tacks...
Steel chair shots are met with a good reaction, as is the familiar sight of seeing someone crash through a table, but few things come close to the visual of thumbtacks in wrestling. There's just something about seeing a performer spill those spiky little pins all over the ring canvas that makes those watching 'ooh' and 'aah' in anticipation.
Everyone knows what's coming when thumbtacks are brought into play. Seldom are they introduced without at least one wrestler landing painfully on top of them in a crumpled heap. It takes a special kind of person (and an extremely high pain tolerance) to even contemplate such a bump.
In one of his autobiographies, Mick Foley stated that the tacks don't hurt as much as people think. They're sore, but so long as a performer lands on a large surface area (such as the back), the pain is spread out. For a normal person, hearing such a sentence said so casually is truly frightening.
Thumbtacks must hurt, despite Foley's words. Along with the 'Hardcore Legend', let's look at 10 other unfortunate souls who have felt their flesh punctured by the pins...
10. Balls Mahoney (ECW Hardcore TV, 1999)
In 1999, the original Extreme Championship Wrestling was fighting hard to make more of itself and grow as a company. A TV deal with TNN (later Spike) was signed, almost acting as a golden ticket for Paul Heyman to fulfill his dreams. Sadly, both the WWF and WCW were watching, waiting to cherry pick ECW's best talent.
On their way out of the hardcore promotion, The Dudley Boyz were nonetheless portrayed as ruthless killing machines by Heyman. Right before joining the WWF, Bubba Ray and D-Von traded the ECW Tag-Team Titles with Balls Mahoney and Little Spike Dudley. During one of last matches in the organisation, they also slammed Balls through a table.
This was no ordinary Powerbomb spot as the wood was covered in dangerous thumbtacks. Mahoney not only suffered the bump through the table, but his back became a literal pin cushion, too. There's no way the whole ordeal didn't leave him in pain, even if he had already taken similar moves before through tables.
With any luck, some of the tacks rolled off the table rather than piercing his skin.