8 Most Brutal Hardcore Moments Of WWE's PG Era
5. Jericho Takes The Tacks
Even during the bloody heights of the Attitude Era, WWE never really used thumbtacks. Unless your name was Mick Foley, drawing pins (as we call them in the UK) were mostly reserved for dirty indie promotions or ECW.
That all changed at Extreme Rules 2016. Chris Jericho was battling Dean Ambrose in an 'Asylum' match, which was essentially a steel cage match with a bunch of tat dangling from the walls. Alongside kendo sticks, nunchucks, and Mitch the potted plant (don't ask), another tool at the wrestlers' disposal was a mysterious little bag.
If you hadn't already figure it out, this bag contained thumbtacks. Ambrose was the one to lay out the little buggers, which usually means he'd be the one to take them. This time, however, he who set it did not in fact get it. Ambrose countered a Jericho Codebreaker by dumping the multi-time world champion back first into the tacks. Jericho's selling was almost comical, but this was still a wild thing to see in PG Era WWE.
Dean wouldn't get another chance to get this violent in WWE. As for AEW, however, that would be an entirely different story.