Top 5 Wrestlers who were 'hardcore' before the term was born

Mick Foley - A madman with a penchant for violenceWe all know wrestlers from all over the world have had their fair share of hardcore matches in their careers. Today we might see them less than we did years ago due to the medical knowledge we now know regarding head shots and body pains caused by matches like these.However, CZW is known for doing them similar to ECW but slightly different enough to keep talents a bit safer. When I say a bit, I am stretching it. The hardcore world truly got started when Paul Heyman took over a small promotion called Eastern Championship Wrestling and relaunched it as Extreme Championship Wrestling which would feature hardcore matches of all kinds with most of their matches. Few times did we see actual wrestling here barring the years of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Dean Malenko.The promotion was hot, and since everyone loved these types of matches, the entire idea of the promotion was great in theory. Sadly WWE was able to compete as well as ECW and the company would eventually fold completely in 2001. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon would buy it and continue the hardcore idea for his talent the next number of years before medical advice came to him and he decided against these matches from happening as much if at all at times.Before all of this however, there were many wrestlers known for this style of match, well before the term of hardcore was ever known. Those men would only continue it when they entered a world where people knew about it. We decided to count down the top 5 best hardcore wrestlers who were hardcore well before the term was born. Enjoy.

#1 Abdullah The Butcher

WWE Hall of Famer and man of big controversy Abdullah The Butcher was never ever known for his great in-ring ability. He was great at what he did well, hardcore matches. In fact, it might be difficult to remember a time when he didn’t get into a hardcore brawl with someone. It might even be hard to even call him a professional wrestler. Very little was fake with Abdullah.

He was known for stabbing opponents and beating them up in his matches all across the AWA, WCCW, and WCW. Of course, he was known for his work in Japan and Puerto Rico as well.

Everyone who paid Abdullah to come into their company or territory knew what they were getting. He was not going to be a guy you wanted your company man to face, and he was certainly not the guy you put in the ring with people you cared about. Everyone knew what Abdullah did and what he came to do every time he stepped foot in a ring.

If you didn’t know before, you did by looking at his head with very deep wounds from years of hardcore matches. The cranial wounds happened to be so deep that he could stick quarters in them, which he loved to do as a party trick.

If there is a man who is the actual definition of the word “hardcore” it would be Abdullah. Interestingly, he was this well before we even coined such a term.