Safety and the casket match.

[Ferbian]

Currently I'm watching Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker Royal Rumble 1998, the time Shawn broke his back, hitting the casket when he was thrown outsite of the ring.
And it got me thinking, should the casket be placed elsewhere? placed at the other end of the entrance way, as the Buried Alive matches usually has the "grave" on the other end too.
Placing the casket at ring side allows bigger chances for injuries, which as the above mentioned match ultimately caused, causing Shawn Michaels 4 years of his career, in a period where Shawn Michaels could've been an absolutely great character with his D-Generation X antics, but that's not what this thread is about.

Placing the casket somewhere else out of the ring area where wrestlers obviously couldn't get injured by being thrown outside of the ring, where injuries are potential no matter what (Randy Orton's collarbone injury) and would therefore mean that the chances for athletes to have a smaller chance of career ending injuries that the casket match obviously brings along as a risk.

So I ask you, should the casket match (in case we'll ever see one again, I bet we will, but still) have the casket placed at ringside, or should it be placed by the start of the entrance ramp like buried alive matches?

 

[Rhonda Rousey's Sports Bra]

I personally don't think that there will be anymore casket matches unless Taker wants to stay true to his character and end his career that way, which is a good possibility seeing that he hardly ever breaks character.

I think that it might be safer to move the casket but it wouldn't make much sense, seeing that the object of the match is to basically knock out your opponent to get them into the casket. If you move the casket then you would have to drag or carry the other wrestler to the casket before putting them inside it.

 

[Mr. TM]

I like the casket where it is, it keeps it visible to the ring area, and it gives bigger guys a better chance to lose. Would be hard to take Mark Henry up to the top of the stage to put him in the casket, instead of just rolling him off the side of the ring.

The most important thing is remembering your place in the ring, especially when you are leaving it by force. Shawn Michael's injury was pretty severe, but I think it could have been prevented if he knew where he was better.

 

[Ferbian]

I agree with both your points, it would come off strange having to drag a big guy, even for a guy like Undertaker who managed to tombstone him, but still, I'm just thinking in the direction of protecting the wrestler, seeing as yes Shawn is the only one I know of that has been injured from the casket match, and I can't exactly know what Shawn was thinking, seeing etc. when he hit the casket, and I'm surprised he managed to go the match onto Wrestlemania.

But even though Shawn is most likely the only one to be injured in the match, I still think the possibility is still there, and after all I think the "dragging" could've been done, considering as I said the buried alive match has it's ending on the other end of the entrance, so I don't see why brawling towards it shouldn't have been a possibility in a casket match too.

 

[Rhonda Rousey's Sports Bra]

But even though Shawn is most likely the only one to be injured in the match, I still think the possibility is still there, and after all I think the "dragging" could've been done, considering as I said the buried alive match has it's ending on the other end of the entrance, so I don't see why brawling towards it shouldn't have been a possibility in a casket match too.

Yes it could be done but it is also the fakest thing in wrestling, I mean when the guys are both walking up the ramp one holding the other kick them or punching them weakly every 20 or so steps and you can see them calling their spots, to me that is the fakest thing. Thats what I'm trying to avoid with moving the casket, the whole thing is made to make you think it is real and if you have the stuff where they walk hand in hand it makes it look really fake.