10 Wrestling Mistakes That Made Matches Better

A dirty, grimy fight befitting the build, Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson was set up when Sarge called the former Intercontinental Champion "yellow." Slaughter then bullheadedly challenged Pat to break his Cobra Cutch submission for a $10,000 prize (double the usual total) and Patterson came within a hair of doing so in their first match, prompting the heel to let the hold go and destroy his foe with a chair. Broken up by Dominic Denucci, Tony Garea, and Rick Martel, its lingering heat led to the Alley Fight.

Watch this match. It's the kind of brawl largely lost to time in wrestling's athletic evolution, with the lack of referee hammering home that this was a scrap, not a wrestling match, and this was reflected in the work. Patterson and Slaughter brought a bar fight to Madison Square Garden.

Sarge's accidental gusher raised everything a notch. He flew into the ring post, flopping back down with one of his trademark theatrical bumps. His face was cloaked within seconds. Later, dizzy from the blood loss and with plasma seeping into his eyes, Slaughter's blind brass-knuckle flailing was that of a desperate, dying fighter, and there was nothing fake about it.