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Deathmatch interest thread


Richie Freebird

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I remember being shocked several years ago when I was into watching some of this stuff and I read that CZW doesn't do any blood testing at all. I'd be shocked if any of them bother.

 

Sharing blood with a bunch of drug addicts who've probably got ripe STIs from the local ring rats. The folly of being a garbage wrestler. Well worth the $25.

 

How much do they charge tickets for these things? I was watching an IWA-MS card before in what looked like Plas Madoc Community Centre with a crowd of about 17, and there was about 12 people working on the show. Surely some of them are working for free which really nails them on as total cretins, or the crowd's paying about $20 a ticket which would really nail them on as total cretins. So how does that work then?

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On average, what do these guys get paid for doing matches like this? What's the going rate for a deathmatch?

 

Fuck all really. I'm sure I remember hearing Trent Acid before he died was on like $25-$50 a match or something like that. And didn't Ian Rotten end up working at Taco Bell last year?

 

Then why do they do it? I'm not having any of this nonsense about 'for the passion'. I don't doubt there are one or two guys around that are mental like that, but how do they afford the medical bills?

 

I genuinely do not understand how or why they do this stuff. I really don't. If they were getting even maybe TNA wages, I would understand it more. But for a couple of hundred people in a field in the middle of nowhere for $50 a pop? I'm not getting it. But I am intrigued by why they do it.

 

I'm sure I once heard Sabu say in a shoot that he wouldn't do a barbed wire match at any point in his career for less than $1000.

 

Drake Younger did say in a shoot that he wanted to try and move away from death match wrestling but kept working them because of 'the money' so, I would imagine, the pay is better than your average shitty indy pay-out.

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Then why do they do it? I'm not having any of this nonsense about 'for the passion'. I don't doubt there are one or two guys around that are mental like that, but how do they afford the medical bills?

 

Deep South drew 100 tops to that tournament I reviewed on the first page, and I can

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Seriously, if you are squeamish, do NOT watch this - http://youtu.be/IbXcFPhfEsY

 

AAAAAARRRGH!!!!

 

That is so grim, I thought it was rough when I saw the photo but I didn't realised they'd been fucking hammered into his head with a chair.

 

Deathmatches are rough, no doubt about it, having said that though I'd rather take these spots than be punched & elbowed in the face 10 times by an MMA fighter.

I'd rather take the elbows in MMA, in a reputable competition you would either get stopped before 10 elbows and you get the chance to fight back. These guys are letting their lives into someone's hands. I'll be getting a couple of hundred quid for my fight on Sunday and I know win or lose unless I'm very very unlucky I'll be alright to go out on the piss the day afterwards, maybe a slight black eye or a bit of a cut that might need gluing up, which will heal in a week. Letting someone stab you is fucking stupid no matter what.

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Richie, is there a current Death Match Darling? On the show you reviewed, that was the time Thumbtack Jack was getting his US exposure, and was all over the likes of TOD, KOTDM, Carnage Cup, Master of Pain etc, just wondering if there is an equivalent of the moment? The likes of Younger, Havoc, Vortex have all been doing them for years now, whilst I am guessing Necro has moved away from them. How about Brain Damage? Though last time I saw him, he had piled on the weight round his gut.

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Does anybody know what the pay was like for this stuff in Japan in its FMW heyday? Does Foley mention what he got paid for doing that stuff? The crowds they got were pretty fantastic so I would imagine the payouts would have reflected that to a certain extent.

 

I can understand Richie's point about these guys wanting to emulate their 'heroes' by following on in the deathmatch tradition, but that still doesn't answer the question about how they are actually able to survive considering the piddling wages and medical bills they have to foot?

 

Also, has anyone actually died from doing deathmatches that anyone knows of?

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Deathmatches are rough, no doubt about it, having said that though I'd rather take these spots than be punched & elbowed in the face 10 times by an MMA fighter.

I'd rather take the elbows in MMA, in a reputable competition you would either get stopped before 10 elbows and you get the chance to fight back. These guys are letting their lives into someone's hands. I'll be getting a couple of hundred quid for my fight on Sunday and I know win or lose unless I'm very very unlucky I'll be alright to go out on the piss the day afterwards, maybe a slight black eye or a bit of a cut that might need gluing up, which will heal in a week. Letting someone stab you is fucking stupid no matter what.

 

Fair enough man, good to hear a point of view from someone who does MMA on my post, I was purely going on superficial bloody wounds vs getting your head battered in but if you say it's not like that then fair play.

 

I think people talking about pay are getting the wrong end of the stick with this, no one would do this for the money, the only reason anyone would do it is because they're insane/want a bit of glory/don't care about their safety. I agree with what Ritchie said, these guys are just guys who are into it, as someone who doesn't even enjoy watching it you could never understand why someone would do it for no money but these guys love it and nothing makes them happier than to do this sick shit that the fans love.

 

I'm sure they'd like it more if they made 7 figures and TODs were held in stadiums but that's not the case.

 

I'd find this stuff a lot easier to watch if that were the case, sometimes seeing these dudes nearly kill themselves for 12 Deliverance extras in a parking lot is depressing

Edited by Steve 'Big' Jobs
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I agree with what Ritchie said, these guys are just guys who are into it, as someone who doesn't even enjoy watching it you could never understand why someone would do it for no money but these guys love it and nothing makes them happier than to do this sick shit that the fans love.

 

That

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Does anybody know what the pay was like for this stuff in Japan in its FMW heyday? Does Foley mention what he got paid for doing that stuff? The crowds they got were pretty fantastic so I would imagine the payouts would have reflected that to a certain extent.

Mike Awesome started at around $1,000 a week whilst working for FMW (in 1990) and even after 8 years of full time work with them, never got past $2,000 a week. He would work about 30 weeks a year in Japan, but I don't know how many shows per week that would be.

 

Credit The Wrestling Observer Newsletter from their obituary on Mike Awesome.

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Does anybody know what the pay was like for this stuff in Japan in its FMW heyday? Does Foley mention what he got paid for doing that stuff? The crowds they got were pretty fantastic so I would imagine the payouts would have reflected that to a certain extent.

Mike Awesome started at around $1,000 a week whilst working for FMW (in 1990) and even after 8 years of full time work with them, never got past $2,000 a week. He would work about 30 weeks a year in Japan, but I don't know how many shows per week that would be.

 

Credit The Wrestling Observer Newsletter from their obituary on Mike Awesome.

 

Cheers, MM. That's pretty good considering that's the 90s as well.

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