As a child., what was the most shocking or disturbing thing you ever saw in Wrestling

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I'd have to say Taker/Foley HIAC. I'd never watched wrestling before and i flicked through the channels, and i stopped on the channel 2 seconds before Foley flew off the cell, and then i was hooked.

The next example would probably be Austin getting run down at Survivor Series '99. The guy had only JUSt come back from his leg injury at SSlam, and then roughly about a month after getting back in the ring around NM time, he got ploughed down by a car and wasn't back in the ring as an actual wrestler until about a year later. Now THAT was shocking.

 

[8five]

I went to a house show when i was 5 at nassau colliseum and the main event was Hulk Hogan v. Earthquake in a stretcher match and all i remember is not being able to sit through the whole thing and having to leave. Thinking back on it, and seeing earthquake as the shark in the dungeon of doom makes me feel ridiculous to this day, but back then that guy freaked me out and how he came out to that music with all that base was just too much for me a as a youngin.
As for WCW I remember something with a monster truck going off a rooftop. But then hulk came back during the show so i was like wait why did i care.

 

[8thwotwATG]

Probably the most disturbing thing I ever witnessed as a kid watching wrestling was the face turn of Jimmy Snuka by being assaulted by Cpt. Lou Albano and Ray "the Crippler" Stevens. I remember thinking how realistic this particular beating looked, especially when Stevens delivered not one, bu TWO piledrivers to Snuka on the concrete floor, after Capt. Lou had pounded Snuka's face into a bloody smear using Snuka's own puka shell necklace. The chemistry between all three of the performers involved, in particular Stevens and Snuka, sold me right then and there into thinking that a genuine bonafide ass whupping had taken place. Snuka could sell like no ones buisness, and even at a relatively advanced age at the time, Ray Stevens was still a solid in ring worker. Definitely one of the most shocking things I ever saw as a kid.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Man, a lot of mine have already been mentioned.

Jake's Snake biting Savage, Shango cursing Warrior, Quake crushing Hogan.

I have a few more.

Bob Backlund flips out, puts Lou Gianfrido in the Chicken Wing. I was at the end of my short "Santa Claus is fake but wrestling is real" phase, and a heel-turning Backlund flipped out on scrawny WWF Magazine writer Lou Gianfrido. Lou sold like a freaking champ for all 5 minutes Backlund held him, and I was outraged. I was so pissed, I sent an obscenity-filled letter to the WWF, asking them to forward it to Backlund. Incidentally, this incident did make me root for Bret Hart 10x harder at Survivor Series that year.

Undertaker locks Ultimate Warrior in a coffin. Again, Vince McMahon is a genius. Taker attacks Warrior on an episode of The Funeral Parlor and locks him in a coffin, which Vince repeated says on commentary was "airtight" and that Warrior "has a limited Air Supply." Officials run to the site, shooing away Taker, and frantically drilling holes in the coffin "in hopes that Warrior can still breathe." I was terrified. I thought he was dead when they opened it.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

One of mine hasn't been mentioned. It was a few years ago and I was still pretty young. Kane had put a chair around Shawn Michael's throat. He jumped off the top rope and stomped on the chair, crushing Shawn's throat. I was a huge mark for him, so to see the blood come pouring out of his mouth and his writhing in pain was terrible. I couldn't watch that more than once. Every time they replayed it, I changed the channel.

 

[Mr. TM]

No Fate hit this one. Onle because it was actually real, the day Owen Hart died while doing his job, entertaining the fans. I myself did not watch the pay per view, as we usually rented PPV's a few months after they came out. But I do remember being on the school bus, when the 8 o'clock news came on, and broke my heart. Owen Hart was dead. I will never forget that, and if anything, it made me watch wrestling more. That Raw was incredible, and still makes my eyes water up. They day wrestling became real, the day I will never forget.

 

[J Fine]

I didn't watch wrestling religiously until the end of 2002, but I remember when I was younger I watched wrestling here and there and I distinctly remember the whole thing with Big Boss Man and Al Snow. The scene where Boss Man served Snow his dog Pepper for dinner and then brutalized him in a hotel room was so disturbing. I was maybe 10 at the time and I still thought that all of that was real. That scene really messed with me.

 

[stampede dude]

for me i was at stampede wrestling dynamite kid vs bad news allen in a street fight bad news threw coffee in dynamites eyes during an interview they were doing he rammed his head into the wooden doors dynamite was busted open bleeding everywhere when it was time for the match dynamite came to the ring with the toilet paper around his headand kick the shit out of news flying every where i was standing on my seat and couldnt believe whati was seeing course i was only 8 or 9 at the time but it was the best i wish i had those moments on video

 

[thisisatest]

Two that got to me, from slightly different eras but having the same undertones, were African-American Rocky King in the old NWA being hanged with a chain over the top rope by I think Ivan Koloff......and then a few years later in WWF The Big Bossman, resplendent in his guard garb complete with Confederate flag on the sleeve, handcuffing African-American Virgil to the ropes and beating him with a nightstick. For me those two things shocked me as a youngster.

 

[Punk13]

I'd Have to say the Survivor Series 99' when my favorite wrestler of all time Austin was struck down in the car. I thought about that for sooooo long. It was a shock.

Another was when Kane got crushed inside the limo Shane chased him in.

Those are the ones that come to memory.

 

[The Rob]

The first really violent match I remember watching was Brock Lesnar v.s Undertaker at No Mercy 2002 inside Hell in a Cell. As an 11 year old, watching that, I was really freaked out come the end. Taker was bleeding a stupid amount of blood, Lesnar looked completely battered and beaten up. When Michael Cole said "what a fight! A career altering event. Will these two men ever be the same?" it really made me think that the two actually ever be the same. The most disturbing thing from the whole match was when Lesnar and Heyman double teamed Taker with Heyman's tie and Lesnar kept repeatatly hitting Takers broken hand with the chair. That messed me up and I ended up taping over that PPV cause I didn't wanna be reminded of just how violent that match was.

But not long after I remember a friend forced me to watch the Mankind v.s Undertaker Hell in a Cell match from King of the Ring 1998... and that full on freaked me out! The cell for a while was the only thing about professional wrestling that actually freaked me out.

 

[DeadMan5000]

I dont remember what or when it was. I remember once watching a hell and a cell. After it was over, someone got hung. I was so young i didn't care who it was, or when it was. I just remember seeing him get hung. My dad made me leave the room once they dropped the rope, assuring me it was fake. But man, i was crying and screaming, it was right after my grandmother died. I just didn't understand the meaning of death, or why it happened so much. I was 5-6 give me a break?

Yeah, you're talking about Big Boss Man being hung, by The Undertaker and WrestleMania 15. That defenitely was a shocking moment.

 

[The Great Gouki]

I'll post a few that were mentioned earlier that I remember.

Jake's cobra attack on Macho Man. Being the nerd I am (but being a kid and not knowing anything about milking snake venom at the time) I was SURE Macho Man was being murdered in the ring.

Papa Shango....really nothing else to mention. Guy was creepy.

Warrior in the casket. My little brother LOVED the Warrior, and I hated him...but I thought the Undertaker thing was too much...once again attempted murder=freaky. Looking back on it though, it was kinda hokey...and just got worse as time went on lol!! But Old 'Taker was just as scary as Papa Shango.

Owen Hart. Now I was in High School when this happened, and my cousin was AT the show in Kansas City...but I though..."man no one REALLY dies in wrestling...do they?" Changed my perspective on the business, and really bummed my mom out that I wanted to wrestle still.

Eddie Guerrero. Now I actually have 2 things about this here...first his elbow getting dislocated. I didn't see Sid's leg break as it happened but a few years later, so at the time Eddy's arm was the grossest thing I'd ever seen on TV. Second,even though I'm an adult now, Eddy dieing REALLY bummed me out. It double sucked since my friend called me at work to tell me about it...Benoit dieing later, and the situation surrounding it were crazy too.


And finally something no one mentioned, but messed me up for a while...or at least enough for me to remember it....Rick Martel spraying "Arrogance" in Jake Robert's eyes...and him having those REALLY FREAKY contacts in.

 

[Canadian Knight]

The one I remember was Macho Man nailing Steamboat with the ringside bell. Remember this was a while ago so when you see that I mean I was worried about him. Of course there have been worse things since then.

 

[Shorty]

Owen Hart. My brother and I was watching that PPV and I was 13 and I knew wrestling wasn't real, but I wasn't jaded by it either. It was just so fun to watch and then that happened, but you really couldn't tell it happened so fast and they panned the camera away to just a crowd shot and the people were all confused and I don't remember if the announcers said anything, but it was confusing to us and it gave you that bad turn in your gut when you KNOW something bad has happened. That was the worst for me, I wasn't his biggest fan but I loved watching him wrestle and it was just so sad when I heard he had fell and died right there.

 

[smalltownfan]

The most shocking thing I ever saw was when Hulk Hogan turned heel and formed the NWO. Also, any attack by the Ministry of Darkness left me chewing my nails. The druid-like version of the Undertaker scared me to no end. Going back even further in time brings me to when the Road Warriors turned on long-time friend Dusty Rhodes and drove a spike into his eye. In fact, Dusty Rhodes was on the receiving end of more heinous attacks than anyone, I think.

 

[JerryvonKramer]

In the run up to Virgil's heel turn when DiBiase made him clean fungus from between his toes and do all sorts of degrading stuff. The 9 year old me was just incensed at that. It was just SO unfair and wrong. Hell, I was probably the only 9 year old in the world who was a Million Dollar Man mark, but even I couldn't help hating him for that, what a complete bastard. Even then I had enough awareness to know that a white rich man getting a black man to clean his feet for him was all kinds of wrong. It was shocking.

The other one that springs to mind is Perfect and Flair's BRUTAL beat down on Savage at Summerslam 92. I'd never seen a proper, sustained heel beat down where they try to break someone's leg with a chair before.

 

[Bernkastel]

I've only been to one live WWE event, when I was a child, my mother disproved of the product and really didn't like me watching it. For years I would beg her to take me to an event, but she always refused. Finally, when I was 14 I convinced her to take me to see RAW when it came to Nashville at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. For those of you that do know your wrestling history, the WWE debuted something historic that night, something historically awful. The Katie Vick video, the one where HHH in a Kane mask has mock sex with a mannequin in a casket. I had the displeasure of getting to see the uncensored version of that tape they showed live.

The experience wasn't so much disturbing as it was shocking, but I think It left my mother way more emotionally scarred. The video got so intense that she had to leave halfway through it. I really don't blame the woman for personally hating the product after that show.

 

[KillBill]

The other one that springs to mind is Perfect and Flair's BRUTAL beat down on Savage at Summerslam 92. I'd never seen a proper, sustained heel beat down where they try to break someone's leg with a chair before.

Wasn't there one also on SNME before Summerslam where they attacked Savage and warrior during their match with the Nasty Boys. I remember Warrior being attacked by perfect and flair, while Savage got destroyed by the Nasty Boys. I remember Savage getting whacked with the motorcycle helmet so hard I thought he was gonna get killed.

 

[HEEL Blazy]

Owen Hart's death. I was like 7 at the time and watching the PPV it happened at it upset me as I was an Owen fan. I was hoping he would win the title that know(this was before I found out it was all scripted) I just knew there was no way the Godfarther could beat him. Now I know Owen was set to win the IC that night. But yeah that has to tbe the most shocking and disturbing thing I saw in wrestling.

 

[NOLUBEZ]

Bossman/Nailz
Nailz is released from "prison" and swears revenge on Bossman for locking him up it even came with vignettes of Nailz showing the prison and how it ruined his life. Nailz had this fucked up/altered voice that they give people to hide their real voice. So after a few weeks of this Bossman beats some jobber and out of the crowd comes this huge guy in an orange prison suit and he proceeds to beat the ever loving shit out of the Bossman I didn't think he'd ever wrestle again

 

[SavageTaker]

I have 3:

Even though he is my favorite superstar today,I was terrified of him back in the 90’s I was just still very young I cant remember what age I was because I don’t remember what year this happened in but anyways it was during his ministry days and I remember him crucifying Austin on the undertaker symbol and Austin being motionless.I thought he had killed him but now that I look back at it it doesn’t look real lol.

Another disturbing one for me was when the Sandman got crucified,I saw the Rise and Fall of ECW, and I actually thought it was real what had happened to him, as a matter his whole storyline with raven was just kind of disturbing IMO,especially seeing Sandmans son join Raven,I just thought it was so real.I was never a fan of sandman but watching this on the DVD made me feel kind of sorry for him.I was only 10 or 11 when I saw this on the Rise and Fall DVD.

Also during his time on the ministry I thought Viscera was freaking scary especially those contacts he wore,of course I didn’t know that back then,but just looking at him scared me.

 

[Razor Blade Dream]

The thing that stuck in my mind, like a lot of folks here was Damien being crushed by Earthquake then Earthquake came back a week later and served "Damien Burgers" to Lord Alfred Hayes. Looking back on it, it was total crap but as a kid I was like, "Man that's screwed up!"
One that made me feel weird as a kid was when Sgt. Slaughter turned Iraqi sympathizer. I grew up watching him wrestle and being an All-American Hero on the G.I. Joe cartoon and their he was waving the enemy's flag! I was totally flabbergasted and hurt. And when Hogan got burned during their one match I was fuming!
And I agree with an earlier poster that seeing Hacksaw Jim Duggan being Banzai'd, spitting blood and being draped with the American flag was crazy. It was pretty powerful actually, it's a shame something like that couldn't work today.

 

[SquareSix]

I first started watching wrestling when I was pretty young, I can't remember an exact age, but it was when Sting was doing the whole crow thing and trying to take out the NWO. I used to get so pissed and sad when they would beat him up. But man when he would get one up on them and lay like 8 NWO guys out with his bat I was pumped up!

I first started watching WWE(WWF at that time) when Taker had the whole ministry thing going on. I just knew that everything about wrestling was real - it didn't matter what anyone said. I remember being so scared when they had Stephanie on that symbol, and when they put Stone Cold on one because he was my hero at the time. And I was really scared shitless when they were going to reveal who the leader (the greater power they called it) was. Turns out it was just Vince and I think back now "oh yeah cause that was really a suprise". But that was all terrifying as a little kid.

Then when Kane came around and was pointing at people and it would set them on fire I was freaked out. The first house show I went to the lights turned red and his music hit. I way up in the crowd, but I was shaking thinking he was going to set someone on fire lol.

 

[SavageTaker]

Another one that comes to mind is when steve blackman threw shane mcmahon down to the floor.i thought shane was really badly hurt.