Hello everyone and welcome to the eleventh edition of the column that is squeezed fresh and dry every single time you read it. I am Julius as you should know by now and I will be your host for this afternoon's festivities. Today we will be taking a rip roaring' roller coaster ride into the extreme amusement park that is Pulp Wrestling! So watch out for those big ugly f***ers in the stuffed suits as they are really just out of work employees of WCW. So with that being established let's begin our journey.
Hardcore Homage
There is a chant that used to echo out at the ECW arena quite fervently in the mid 90's. It went something like this.... "He's Hardcore! He's Hardcore!" or if it were a woman competitor then it would be altered to "She's Hardcore!! She's Hardcore!!" The reason for this chant was that the fans of ECW wanted to show the hardcore competitors of that promotion just how much they respected and appreciated their extreme efforts. While the ECW fans could be absolute assholes at times with chants like "You f***ed Up" and "You Fat f***" there were times when they could also be flat out touching with offerings like "Welcome Back" and "Please Don't Go!" (directed to wrestlers either coming in or going out of ECW)
In recent years and in the years before the word 'hardcore' has come to have with it some very negative connotations. When most wrestling fans think of the term the most immediate thing that comes to mind is probably shattered tables and baseball bats entwined in spools of barb-wire. For those who were only exposed to WWE's version of 'hardcore', the word probably only conjures up the mildly amusing memories of the wild falls count anywhere days of the WWE Hardcore Title. The apex of this style of 'hardcore' probably being in my mind the match between Al Snow and Hardcore Holly that actually at one point spilled into the Mississippi river. ( With all due respect to RVD's stellar hardcore title run of course, although he did try to do the unthinkable and make that title legit. which is why it was scrapped.)
While it was an entertaining style of wrestling for some fans, (and yours truly) this kind of wacky gimmicked wrestling was more akin to a fake fight scene from a bad amateur film than an intense and compelling contest between two skilled grapplers giving it their all for the sake of the sport and the fans entertainment. Finally for the more perverse among us the image that might come into your head when you hear the term 'hardcore' is that of hardcore pornography. That stigma combined with the almost zealot like hatred of the 'Garbage Wrestling' by those fans who are more appreciative of the classical style of sports entertainment is what truly makes hardcore a dirty word to alot of wrestling fans these days.
None of these things that I have said so far are the true definition of hardcore in my mind though. To quote the man whom my last column was composed around (Joey Styles) "Hardcore isn't a gimmick to us (referring to ECW), it's how we live, it's what we do, it's who we are!" Wow, pretty deep stuff huh? I for one feel that is the most accurate description that exists in reference to this word in professional wrestling. The word hardcore implies in it's own context 'hard' meaning "Not easily broken" and 'core' "The center of something." Otherwise known as the pivotal position from which all other things in relation to that one central thing revolve around. When combined it would then go on to receive the perception of something with a very hard inner core. To give it a more humanistic feel, you can also think of 'hardcore' as an apt adjective to describe a person who is so dedicated to something that no matter what awful perils he must go through, he will stick with what he believes in up to the point of his own final demise if that is what is required of him. In wrestling though, like I said before, when most people think of the word hardcore, the main thing that comes to mind is broken bodies and ruined careers. While that's a price many wrestlers pay, it's not the total point at all.
Lots of people probably wouldn't consider Kurt Angle to be classified as a hardcore wrestler, although to me that's exactly what he is. He's probably in fact the hardest of the hardcore wrestlers in existence today. In Kurt Angle, we find a man who is so committed to this 'sport' (and yes I do still think of wrestling as a sport) that he risked the condemnation of all of his fellow amateur wrestling protege's just to become a part of it. On top of that, he has worked many long grueling hours in the gym and in the ring finely tuning his craft so that he may perform to the absolute best of his abilities each night out. In each and every match he showcases his hardcore attitude by leaving everything he has in that ring. In this sense he is the true epitome of hardcore. Also the fact that he once wrestled with a broken 'freakin' neck is a pretty damn nice feather in his cap as well. And let us NOT forget he is a former Hardcore champion (although just for a second or two). Okay so I've already established that holding the Hardcore Title has absolutely nothing to do with being hardcore. But dammit, I wanted to throw that in there. (and so I did)
Other examples of wrestlers who epitomize the word hardcore would be for me, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, Steve Austin and Bret Hart. All of those aforementioned guys have suffered through countless injuries for the sake of our entertainment and for the sake of the sport and all of them for the most part take this profession very seriously. To them this is more than just a way of making a living. It's their driving force. It's the reason they get (or got) up out of bed every morning. Now the opposite of hardcore in my mind would be people like William Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. Both of these men truly showed just how little respect they have for this industry and it's fans when they had that absolutely sub-par suck-fest of a match at Wrestlemania 20.
They also display their lack of enthusiasm for this sport when they openly dismiss wrestling in public interviews. Both Lesnar and Goldberg would have probably in a perfect world have rather been successful professional football players instead of successful world champion wrestlers. But sometimes in life as they say, that's just how the cookie crumbles. Another wrestler who frequently shows his lack of 'hardcore-ness' is Hulk Hogan. Part of being hardcore is being humble and having respect for your fellow athletes. When you refuse to job to absolutely anyone (even though realistically they are half your age and are in much better shape than you) You mainly just show yourself to be a hardcore jackass.
I can sense some of you here are waiting for me to bring up the classic legendary hardcore icons that are Terry Funk and Mick Foley. Well, here you go, these are two men whom I feel probably represent hardcore right down to a tee. Both men have absolutely maimed themselves over the years for the sake of our measly entertainment. Both have produced many classics on their own and also with each other. Terry Funk right now I believe is somewhere in the vicinity of Sixty Three years old. Yet he continues to wrestle on the indy circuit and in the Hardcore Homecoming series. Why you may be asking yourself right now, would a man his age still subject himself to that kind of continued abuse after all these years? Because quite frankly, it's his passion.
Why doesn't Mick Foley just stay at home and enjoy his career as a best selling author rather than continue to come out once a year and give us at least one memorable performance in hardcore wars against the likes of Randy Orton and Edge? Does he really need the money that badly? Is he just appearing to pimp out his latest book release? Well.. I guess I kind of stuck my keyboard in my mouth with that last one. But mainly I believe the reason Mick Foley has always been so willing to help put over the stars of the future instead of himself is because he has a deep rooted love for this business. And also because he knows that for it to continue to exist, it needs new stars. That kind of self sacrifice right there is what hardcore is all about. Much more so in my mind than just taking a big dive from the top of a cage.
Now, contrary to popular belief one does not actually have to be a professional wrestler to be deserving of the title of hardcore in my eyes. Chances are if you are reading this then you are probably a pretty big wrestling fan yourself. If you have a favorite wrestler or promotion that you have stuck with for many years then you might just as well classify yourself as a hardcore wrestling fan. Also if you are a big enough fan to have registered at this message board add two thumb tack sharpened points onto your hardcore flare vest as well. Multiply that addition by ten if you happen to be devoted enough to write an actual column about our beloved sport of kings here on TWV. There are indeed many ways for us fans to show just how 'hardcore' we are. Some of the more popular ways of doing this would be through purchasing merchandise at live events or making out a sign to hold up in front of the entire world.
Among the more absurd and absolutely moronic ways of showing your hardcore-ness would be 'Backyard Wrestling'. This little quasi sub-cult of professional wrestling is probably one of the most mind boggling things I have ever witnessed. Seriously it's OK to love wrestling, but when you take it to the extremes of letting your best friend take a buzz-saw to your forehead, then you're exiting the realm of hardcore fandom and entering into the world of hardcore stupidity. The wrestlers you see on TV have all undergone years of training to get to where they are today ( well the good ones anyway). In that sense backyard wrestlers are probably the least hardcore wrestlers on the planet. These are people so uncommitted to the sport that they refuse to even take the first step to becoming a better performer. They are an abomination to every thing the wrestling business stands for. On the other hand, men like Samoa Joe and even everybody's least favorite rapper John Cena at least were hardcore enough not to forgo this essential part of any wrestlers career.
To end this little rant here, I hope that you will all take a moment now to reflect on the crappy treatment we have given to this term 'hardcore' over the years. Hardcore in it's truest essence has nothing to do with blood, guts and gruesome violence. It is a frame of mind, an attitude that reflects, commitment, dedication and loyalty. Wrestlers who really deserve to be called this are the ones who have been around forever like The Undertaker and Ric Flair. Also just about any wrestler that goes out there and busts his ass to put on a five star match up for the fans deserves to be called hardcore in my mind. Furthermore anyone who knocks these wrestlers accomplishments deserves a hardcore beatdown. So to steal a line from JBL at last years One Night Stand... Yeah... I'm Hardcore!
Deal with it.
Before I leave you all now, I would like to present a youtube video that I was originally going to include in the column somehow, but just couldn't figure out how. Alas, though looking back I think it's more than hilarious enough to stand up on it's own two feet.
Enjoy
That's all for this edition folks. Hope you enjoyed it and feel that I have not completely wasted your time here. So until next time my friends, Be good to yourselves and to one another.
Jules.
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