10 Wrestling Moments That Literally Made You Jump

2. New Jack Nearly Kills Vic Grimes

OMEGA GIF
XPW

Proper, hands-to-mouth, shrieking, nope nope nope is he actually dead sh*t here.

Jesus Christ. It looks like something from Faces Of Death.

The story goes like this: New Jack, a few years removed from a botched balcony bump - in which he was crushed underneath Vic Grimes' weight and suffered brain damage - sought revenge. There was no ECW in which to do it, but there was XPW: an ostensible tribute promotion ran by an actual mud-show element in Rob Black with no corporate ties nor pretence of functioning as a responsible major league.

New Jack worked Grimes again to no controversy two months after the original incident at Hardcore Heaven. This creates a hole in the story, and is consistent with the idea that New Jack was more of a worker than he allowed his reputation to convey. Then again, he was prone to legit carving people up, so who the f*ck knows.

Analysing the footage is equally difficult to draw a conclusion, because New Jack was always more of an awesome presence than a worker of any renown at all. Perhaps he just overshot the aim, and was happy to cultivate the myth that followed it.

But up in the rafters, you can make him out turning and walking immediately away, not concerned at all to see whether Grimes moved after repelling against the ropes.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!