DIRTY BASTARDS That Made Wrestling GROSS! ?
Characters that stunk, left stains and made you SICK. Who booked this (literal) sh*t?!
You'll often hear a wrestler share their story of how they fell in love with the in-ring action they saw on television and knew they had found a way to do it for a living too.
The romantic version involves chasing dreams, never giving in and riding up and down the roads for handshakes, hot dogs and reps. The brutal reality is a life of intense physical and emotional pain, exhaustion and stress and undulating adrenaline that requires a chaotic balance of diet, medication and exercise to go along with the known highs and lows of performing in front of live audiences. And that's if your schedule is manageable enough to fit anything beyond bumping, sleeping and - if you can afford it - eating.
The level of sacrifice is ultimately what separates those who watch and do, and those who are content to view the action from afar. But beyond that, have you ever considered just how...gross a lot of it is? Lots of body parts where they shouldn't be, lots of sweat, lots of manky rings and godforsaken sights and sounds in locker rooms - these are things wrestlers love, let alone tolerate.
They are not normal humans and we all get the benefit. Even if "benefit" is sometimes a stretch...
10. The Godwinns
The Godwinns were pig farmers who routinely brought a bucket to the ring that was full of various waste produce from catering and - per various shoot interviews - vomit, faeces and urine if the locker room knew an unpopular figure was getting it over their heads.
This is gross enough, but why speak in general terms when one specific disgusting act sticks out above all the rest, and is now available in lovingly restored medium definition on the WWE Network/Peacock. March 2nd, 1996; look it up if you dare.
In what's got to be one of the most bewildering debuts of all time, Vince McMahon elected to reboot The Rockers with Marty Jannetty and Leif Cassidy, then have them work like bumbling doofus heels and lose in their first match together.
Henry and Phineas were the victors on the other side of the ring, but the match never stood a chance of mattering, because one of the small dogs they brought to the ring took a shoot dump in it. The referee booted it out of the ring, horrifying those who had paid for front-row tickets, but the joke was on them - they had to stay for the four bumping on skidmarks in the aftermath.