10 Wrestlers Who Are Way Too REAL For WWE

When a non-wrestling fan proudly tells you that wrestling is "fake", it can be very hard to resist locking them in a Boston crab.

While the industry is built around pre-determined results and opponents working together, it's still full of real athletes putting their bodies on the line in an attempt to look genuine. Still, when watching WWE, that doesn't always ring true.

The company - particularly in modern times - is so filled to the brim with heavily scripted promos, over-the-top moments and leaps of logic that it feels far more like a soap opera than wrestling at times. For the most part, this works, as it can be fun to see how creative the performers can get, but not everyone would thrive in such an environment.

The wrestlers within are rugged, brash and rough around the edges. They are fighters who thrive on realism and creating something genuine, either through being true to life, or laying into more aggressive wrestling styles. Whatever the case, there's no doubt they wouldn't fit WWE's overly fabricated style.

Pro wrestling may be "fake", but these performers make it seem realer than taxes...

When watching a match with the indie wrestling icon Nick Gage, it's understandable to think that you aren't watching wrestling, but instead a gladiator match between two people genuinely trying to kill each other. The leader of the MDK gang is a master of making his wrestling look real, and that's because it is.

Hardcore wrestling might not be everyone's cup of tea, but there is a devoted audience for it, as people love to see some bloodshed inside the ring. Gage caters to this niche perfectly, as he takes his brutal deathmatches to the next level, with blood, weapons and light tubes galore.

Anyone who has watched the recent Dark Side of the Ring episode dedicated to him will know just how seriously he takes the business and how dangerous his matches can get. If you were to strip the realism and barbarity away from this performer, then he wouldn't be the wrestling icon he is today.

Seeing Gage in WWE is an impossibility, not only because of his dangerous reputation but because he wouldn't work at all in a scripted/safe environment.