10 most controversial moments in the history of the professional wrestling outside WWE
Controversy creates cash, and the history of pro wrestling is littered with moments where the provocative antics of the protagonists have left fans with their mouths wide open in shock. And whether it’s positive or negative, wrestling fans love controversy.
Over the years, there have been countless controversial moments in WWE, but here we will look at such moments from the world of pro wrestling outside of WWE.
The incidents discussed in this article are some of the most brutal and jaw-dropping moments in wrestling history to have happened outside WWE. Some of these moments have become infamous and are still widely talked about today amongst hardcore fans, while others are a little less well known, but no less controversial.
#10 Bruiser Brody’s death
Bruiser Brody was a big star during the territorial days of wrestling. He was a controversial and outspoken wrestler who often rubbed bookers the wrong way by refusing to do jobs and going back on promises.
In 1988, he was wrestling at a show in Puerto Rico when he was stabbed in the shower of the locker room by local wrestling agent Jose Gonzalez. Gonzalez had met Brody in the shower in order to talk, when wrestlers at the venue heard a scream and Brody stumbled out of the shower, with multiple stab wounds and blood all over him.
He was taken to a hospital where he passed away the next morning. Gonzalez was found ‘not guilty’ in the trial that followed, and he shamelessly recreated the incident in an angle in Japan a few years later.
#9 Shane Douglas throws down the NWA title
‘The Franchise’ Shane Douglas made history on August 27, 1994, when he threw down and disowned the NWA sanctioned Eastern Championship Wrestling title which he’d just won. He threw down the belt title his post-match promo in the ring and spoke about how the NWA was a dead organization, before unveiling the ECW championship.
Eastern Championship Wrestling changed into Extreme Championship Wrestling soon after that, and the company moved to a much more hardcore and extreme style that was frowned upon by purists and which eventually gave birth to the madness of the Attitude Era.
#8 Fritz Von Erich fakes a heart attack in the ring
It was 1987 and the legendary Fritz Von Erich was in a tag-team cage match with his sons on his side, against a group of heels. That was when the Von Erich family patriarch was savagely attacked by Iceman King Parsons, causing Fritz to clutch his chest and fall down.
Everyone thought that Fritz was having a heart attack and he was carried to the back, while the audience was shocked and in tears.
Of course, the whole situation was a tasteless piece of work. The angle was one of the lowest points in WCCW history and a desperate attempt to sell tickets to their shows.
#7 Chris Dickinson vs Kimber Lee
I’m not a fan of inter-gender matches because they’re generally booked in tasteless ways (other than Lucha Underground), and the match between Chris Dickinson and Kimber Lee at Beyond Wrestling was an excellent example of that.
Dickinson predictably pulled off the win but the horrific sequence of spots in the lead-up to a pinfall caused uproar amongst fans and critics alike. Everyone complained that at a time when Sasha Banks and the rest of the Four Horsewomen were lifting women’s wrestling to new levels, this match sent indie wrestling back to the dark ages.
Dickinson started off with a chair shot to Kimber Lee’s head and followed that up with a rough turnbuckle powerbomb. She narrowly escaped serious injury as her head almost hit the ring-post, before Dickinson dragged her and pinned her in the middle of the ring.
Lee would go on to sign for WWE NXT in 2016 but did not make much of an impact before she was released in 2018.
#6 Sandman canes Tommy Dreamer
Sandman and Tommy Dreamer were locked in a deadly feud in ECW in the summer of 1994. Things came to a head during the ‘Singapore Cane’ match between the two at Hardcore Heaven, where the loser was to be caned.
Sandman won the match and proceeded to cane a young Tommy Dreamer mercilessly. The crowd, which had been previously bloodthirsty, became silent with every shot Sandman inflicted upon Tommy Dreamer’s back.
Dreamer soon got busted open but continued getting up after every shot dealt to him, earning him a new level of respect from the fans.