10 Wrestlers Who Didn't Care About Kayfabe
6. Joey Janela
Joey Janela came up in era in which there was no ground left to break; just a lot of pieces to reassemble however he wished.
With no restrictions to limit his creativity - not, you suspect, that he'd give a f*ck - he used a world of possibility to create even more of them, approaching the industry with the flair of a maverick. After almost losing the use of his hand in one of the most demented death match bumps ever - think of the ground that covers - Janela pivoted towards the avant garde to prolong his career, getting his first taste of the intoxicating heat/acclaim cocktail that would get him over as an iconoclast.
To viral buzz, he wrestled an invisible man, showing a strong grasp of craft behind the initial visual gag. And, as a vastly underrated storyteller, his opponent eventually developed a mythology that resulted in murder and meta masterpieces. His transgressive approach - not that there is anything to transgress upon anymore - predictably drew the ire of the old guard and its most vocal gatekeeper.
Janela responded by ridiculing the idea of using a tennis racket in a hardcore match - an insult all the funnier and cleverer for how contrived it was.