Who is/was the most CRAZY wrestler in the history of wrestling?

[Waylon Mercy]

Apparently Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer was crazier than a shit house rat, both in and out of the squared circle. To say he was intense would not do him nearly enough justice. Another one who comes to mind is Dino Bravo, who decided that the money he was making in professional wrestling needed to be augmented by entering the cigarette smuggling business. The only problem was that he was cutting into a lucrative trade established by the Montreal mafia at the time. He himself knew it was suicidal, even claiming to people that he was going to end up dead if he continued. He did, and was found shot in the head in his apartment.

 

[HBsam31]

My vote goes to Shane-o Mac. The guy had it made, he was a multi-millionaire who never had to lift a finger if he didn't want to, but he made the conscious decision of his own free will, to take INSANE bumps like that one against Big Show at Backlash in 2001.

I had to give this answer some credit. Shane never had to do any of the things he did, and that man did some crazy shit. Talk about love for the business. Shane took bumps that some of the full time guys wouldn't have taken. Hell the dude went coast to coast into his dads face with a chair. There have been other more consistently crazy, but I would put my money on Shane any day in this category.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

I see huge hardcore names in here, but no names that have literaliterally made me I'll. I've saw raven hang sandman in ECW, some of abdullas more bloody matches, new jack's fall, and the transit incident. Granted, all gory and pretty extreme. But none of them made me more than cringe.

Just browsing a few month ago onYouTube I found a match that I had to turn off. If you want to see a scary match look up freedom's 2012 pain limit finals between Masada and Jun Kasai.

I have ended up finishing that match, and quite a few more from Jun. But a man like that really makes me question how many brain cells he can have. How is that enjoyable? He's missing teeth, he has more scars than hair on his head. Most wrestlers legit have scarred up foreheads from legit blading. But this guy takes the cake, he legit has a huge chunk missing out of his back.

I know how to pull punches in wrestling, but in every match the dude takes legit stiff punches, kicks, elboes straight to the head. Broken glass, razor blade boards, anything that can make you bleed, and he just smiles about it and keeps going on.

Watch a few of his matches and you'll see why i think Jun is the craziest wrestler ever. Peroid,...

 

[LascoX]

There have been a lot of crazy son of a bitches in the wrestling world (lol) I'm glad to see Buzz Sawyer got a mention , Bruiser Brody was always an imposing crazy bastard, Abdula the Butcher of course is near the top of the list. I am a little surprised no one has given Maniac Mark Lewin an honorable mention, I remember seeing him go at in in the Omni in Atlanta against Abdula. Maniac Mark brought a pen and Abdula had his traditional fork and the match turned into a serious hardcore blood bath. Nobody has mentioned George the animal steel either much to my surprise. He had the crazy persona down to an art form. Raven and Kevin Sulivan brought their own brands or intellectual insanity to the ring. Props to Shane for his crazy stuff, the time it took Angle two times to toss him threw the glass and the first time he landed on his head was awesome - I do remember Shane making the comment that he wasn't going to ever ask a wrestler to do something that he wouldn't do himself , so there was method behind his madness. All the names brought to the table by everyone have a legit claim to crazy and have made for some of the most entertaining moments in wresting history. I agree that the topic of Crazy needs to be defined more to be specific on the answer of THE Craziest but its the people like Foley who are willing to take a dive off a steel cage threw an announcer table , then get up and take an unscheduled bump threw the top of the cage that have made for the most memorable moments in wrestling. For that moment in wrestling history I vote for Foley as the crazy hardcore legend that can make you laugh and cringe for the top of the heap.

 

[8thwotwATG]

I see huge hardcore names in here, but no names that have literaliterally made me I'll. I've saw raven hang sandman in ECW, some of abdullas more bloody matches, new jack's fall, and the transit incident. Granted, all gory and pretty extreme. But none of them made me more than cringe.

Just browsing a few month ago onYouTube I found a match that I had to turn off. If you want to see a scary match look up freedom's 2012 pain limit finals between Masada and Jun Kasai.

I have ended up finishing that match, and quite a few more from Jun. But a man like that really makes me question how many brain cells he can have. How is that enjoyable? He's missing teeth, he has more scars than hair on his head. Most wrestlers legit have scarred up foreheads from legit blading. But this guy takes the cake, he legit has a huge chunk missing out of his back.

I know how to pull punches in wrestling, but in every match the dude takes legit stiff punches, kicks, elboes straight to the head. Broken glass, razor blade boards, anything that can make you bleed, and he just smiles about it and keeps going on.

Watch a few of his matches and you'll see why i think Jun is the craziest wrestler ever. Peroid,...

I got a chance to check out a little bit of this match(I couldn't bring myself to watch the entire thing) and, I now see what you mean about this guy Jun.
Definitely a guy that lives his gimmick, or so it would appear. I stand corrected, Abdullah is nowhere near as nuts as this guy. I'm amazed about a couple of things; That this guy isn't crippled yet, and that this is even legal...

The guy needs to have his head examined.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I HAS to be New Jack. The man has justifiable HOMICIDES! He is a fucking lunatic, but when you listen to him in interviews, as mad and dangerous as he is he actually comes across as a likeable guy, which is the craziest thing.

On the Beyond the Mat documentary, the guy making the film ends up bonding with Ne Jack and even admits he was the last guy he expected to get on with. I used to have New Jack as a friend on Facebook and spoke to him a few times, he was pretty cool although some of the shit he did in the ring was sickening.

I cant watch some of his matches (if you can call them that), stabbing people isnt wrestling to me. But for banter/chatting he is pretty cool.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

How do you define crazy?

Is it someone who risks the safety of other wrestlers? If so then New Jack, Abdullah would all be candidates.Is it someone whose antics got them the rep like Brian Pillman, Shiek, Haku or Bruiser Brody? Or is it someone who stayed on far too long, risking their body/safety to do so like Terry Funk, Ric Flair or Gypsy Joe?

In my eyes anyone who knowingly risks other workers safety aren't "crazy" as they know what they are doing, New Jack knew what he was doing all of those times, Abby knew he may have Hep C and still bled over everyone. Their acts aren't crazy, borderline criminal but not crazy. He also wasn't the only one to have justifiable homicides, Bam Bam Bigelow had one too...

A lot of guys with "reps" often use them for their own purposes rather than actually being "crazy". Promoters feared Brody because he put out the image of a wild man who would a) rip their head off or b) no show - both being equally worrying for them and thus he always got favourable deals. Pillman is someone most accept now was working the boys, but at the time even his best friends couldn't say he wasn't genuinely crazy. Sheik has built a successful post-ring career for his "crazy persona" but from what I have read of him from others, he is more clever than crazed and everyone has a "Tonga" story about Haku and a fight he has been in, it's almost become urban legend and they all seem to be him defending a friend rather than actually being crazy.

So then you have the guys who genuinely might be a little unbalanced or self destructive. Terry Funk has come close a couple of times to sheer lunacy, the fire incident in ECW being a prime example but again, he like Foley in those situations had a motive - to entertain so you can't say he completely spaced out or was out of control.

Many stated Randy Savage was genuinely bi-polar backstage and that it affected him. Buzz Sawyer, Gino Hernandez and Louie Spicoli all had that self destructive streak and genius spark that could be called crazy... some like Kurt Angle have also shown it at times.

For me, I think the award if you want to call it that would be Dynamite Kid. He was never the same after Jacques Rougeau cold cocked him (totally justified by the way) but here was a guy who did a lot of nasty, spiteful and downright crazy stuff backstage and in his private life. It's ironic that the guy who idolised him most ended up going the step further and actually killing his family...as Kid is said to have threatened to do.

 

[Reno Riggins]

I'll chalk up another vote for New Jack. There are tons of stories out there about him doing crazy shit, which would only mean there is just as many stories that we don't know about.

I didn't see anybody mention Nailz. The guy supposedly choked out Vince over a few bucks.

Wacholz was released from his WWF contract in December 1992, after he allegedly attacked Vince McMahon in his office over a financial dispute while John Nord watched the door. Bret Hart recalled in his autobiography that Wacholz "cornered Vince in his office and screamed at him for fifteen minutes". Hart claims he was just down the hall from the office when he heard a loud crash, which was Wacholz "knocking Vince over in his chair, choking him violently". The incident led to a series of lawsuits between Wacholz and the WWF.

 

[harrythem]

I'm going to have to vote for Atsushi Onita....the originator of FMW over in Japan, the creator (and participator) in numerous barbed wire exploding death matches. The man that, after winning one of said matches, with cuts all over his body, jumped into an extremely polluted Japanese river and was off ill for over 4 months....

He ended up being elected as a Japanese politician as well....those crazy Japs!

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I'm gonna go with Necro Butcher.

What this guy has put his body through over the years... while never coming close to being someone who could make any real money to somewhat compensate for the abuse he takes... simply can't be all there upstairs.

 

[dWs]

Glad to see Stan Hansen mentioned. Has anybody mentioned the original Sheik, Ed Farhat? Sheik's arguably the "original originator of violence", to paraphrase an ECW slogan.

Two names I'll add to the pile:

-"Exotic" Adrian Street
-"Rowdy" Roddy Piper

Street was sort of the original Goldust, but with a much more hardcore tint to him. His character was more than a little odd and it wasn't unusual to see him wearing the crimson mask.

Piper's antics are well-known, but you have to admit he's more than a little out there. He's done some things that make you question his sanity (like painting half of his body black, interviewing himself, locking himself in Alcatraz). But he was also fairly "hardcore" in his pre-WWF days. There's a clip floating around from MACW, where he breaks a beer bottle over his head. His feud with Greg Valentine was fairly intense, too (remember, he supposedly lost hearing in one ear from it).

 

[shalliin]

I just read the first page and find it hard to believe that 10 posts in and no one even mentioned Abdullah the Butcher. Stabbing people in the head with a fork is bad enough, but this guy does it to himself. not to mention that there have been health scares caused by his reckless blood letting.

as a few mentioned, there are several variations on the term.

Character- original Mankind, Missing Link, Festus, even Eugene could fit the position for their characterizations. Of Course Kane wasn't exactly sane for his run either, and many others had this type of role at various times.

Real life- Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior for believing their own hype and thinking they are above the wrestling world. Brock fits here too for similar reasons. Oh, Jesse Ventura and his crazy conspiracy theories.

most unfortunate: Chris Benoit and Verne Gagne. don't think i really have to explain why,

 

[shalliin]

I can't believe I forgot Kevin Sullivan, Sycho Sid, and Raven. With Raven you have to add in most of his flock as well. let's not forget Ahmed Johnson either since like others before him he started to believe his own hype and basically talked himself out of a major push and angle, though he did have some injuries just as he really started getting hot.
Real life crazy, I forgot Bischoff and Dixie Carter.
And lest we forget the ladies, Luna and Dafney are up there, but let's not forget Big Bertha, Mae Young and Moolah. You have to have a little crazy in you to go as long as though two did and to even start as a women back then is crazy.
Most recent crazy diva also one of most entertaining in a long while is AJ Lee.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

The Original Sheik has to worth a mention too. The man made a long career out of slicing and dicing himself and his opponents, using fireballs, blading in every match and remaining in character so much that even at his funeral he was referred to as "The Sheik" not his real name, as was his wishes. That is dedication to your character!

His opponents were scared of him, the fans were scared of him, and even the wives of his opponents were legitimately terrified of what he may do, and his matches were nothing more than just bloody wars, the scars across his forehead were proof of that.

If we are mentioning The Sheik, then surely we have to give his nephew Sabu a mention. The homicidal, suicidal, genocidal, death defying maniac of ECW has been in some of the most brutal matches in wrestling history. The thick scars across his body and arms are horrific...and it's well known that he tore off his bicep in a barbed wire match against Terry Funk in ECW...AND TAPED IT BACK ON SO HE COULD CONTINUE!!! Just think about that for a minute...Sin Cara stopped a match because he hurt his finger, Sabu wrestled on with a rip from his elbow to his shoulder in his bicep, helld together with athletic tape. The man is crazy as hell. He must live every day in extreme pain after the bumps he has taken throughout his career, his matches are like a car wreck.