10 Wrestling Matches Never Meant To Be This Good
7. Beulah McGillicutty Vs. Bill Alfonso (ECW As Good As It Gets)
Wrestling's rather unique architecture resulted in Bill Alfonso bleeding for his job as well as his art in this cult 1996 classic with fellow non-wrestler Beulah McGillicutty.
An intergender match very much of its own time rather than the present day, the contest existed in order for the whistle-blowing lunatic to get a level of comeuppance the ECW faithful had waited years to see. His role as a referee that first tried to enforce the rules in a lawless land (before using them to his own advantage alongside Taz and later Sabu and Rob Van Dam) earned him furious disdain from the Philadelphia natives, and Tommy Dreamer's much better half was ready to kick that f*cking whistle of his down his throat as a measure of revenge.
He'd probably rather have gone through that than the bloodletting he actually endured, but it was a vital performance for him at the time. Outed as a figure helping sort colleagues out with WCW contracts, the sustained and brutal beating was part-performance part-apology to the locker room. Fans didn't need this bit of the story to hate him, but it added even more spice when he seemingly took delight in battering Beulah too.
Judged now, it's a strange and slightly difficult watch. In the context of the time, it bordered on the sublime.