10 Wrestling Matches So Brutal Promoters STOPPED Them Early

7. Jeff Hardy vs. Sting (Victory Road 2011)

The Jeff Hardy and Sting main event at Victory Road for the TNA World Championship goes down in history as an embarrassing and distressing moment for the company. Jeff was struggling with his addictions at the time, becoming heavily under the influence before he went out for his match that night. TNA should have had more awareness of Jeff’s state and wellbeing at the time, never allowing him to step through the curtain in the intoxicated and drugged state he was in.

After Jeff stumbled to the ring, executive producer Eric Bischoff called an audible and went out to the ring to instruct Sting to hit his finish on Jeff straightaway and for the referee to hit 1-2-3 without hesitation, which resulted in the match being a minute and a half in length. The match was supposed to be a lengthy affair, but Bischoff wisely put an end to it as soon as possible.

TNA had to undergo damage control afterwards, with it releasing a statement claiming they were "falling short of their standard" with the Victory Road event and offered six months free access to TNA’s on-demand library for anyone who bought the PPV.

Bischoff has said on his 83 Weeks podcast of the match:

“I was concerned about the show, I didn’t want Sting to go out there and try and have a match with a guy who was completely f***ing wasted. I wasn’t worried about Sting getting hurt but the match would’ve been the s**** and I didn’t want Sting to be in that position. Sting had no idea that Jeff was going to show up f***** up.”