I was having a little debate with my roommate tonight about who (any sport -- even pro wrestling) was the toughest athlete to lace up and work their ass off on a field/rink/ring.

 

I didn't want to make it a poll but I'm interested in seeing peoples' answers.

 

I'll start -- and I'll throw out kind of an obscure one. He's a pro wrestler by the gimmick name of Sabu. First off, he came back to wrestle after breaking his neck (botched back body drop landed him on his head). Secondly, during the famous/infamous Born to Be Wired he tore open his bicep which started to bleed badly. He taped it up haphazardly with athletic tape and finished the match for another 5-10 minutes. A third time he broke his jaw during a match. Instead of stopping and rushing the finish, he duct taped his head to keep his jaw shut and continued the match. Most recently, he wrestled with a broken arm, numerous cuts and part of his finger missing. He refuses to miss bookings to reccoperate from injuries.

 

I'd say he's one badass athlete -- yet one of the more obscure. So who else should get added to this illustrious list?

If your talking wrestlers, can anyone beat the grittiness of Mankind Mick Foley?

 

Also, from what I have read and seen, Ty Cobb was one BAMF. Others that come to mind: Pete Rose, Ronnie Lott, Jack Tatum, Jack Lambert, Brett Favre, and Deacon Jones.

Edited June 10, 200619 yr by SoxFan1

I was having a little debate with my roommate tonight about who (any sport -- even pro wrestling) was the toughest athlete to lace up and work their ass off on a field/rink/ring.

 

I didn't want to make it a poll but I'm interested in seeing peoples' answers.

 

I'll start -- and I'll throw out kind of an obscure one. He's a pro wrestler by the gimmick name of Sabu. First off, he came back to wrestle after breaking his neck (botched back body drop landed him on his head). Secondly, during the famous/infamous Born to Be Wired he tore open his bicep which started to bleed badly. He taped it up haphazardly with athletic tape and finished the match for another 5-10 minutes. A third time he broke his jaw during a match. Instead of stopping and rushing the finish, he duct taped his head to keep his jaw shut and continued the match. Most recently, he wrestled with a broken arm, numerous cuts and part of his finger missing. He refuses to miss bookings to reccoperate from injuries.

 

I'd say he's one badass athlete -- yet one of the more obscure. So who else should get added to this illustrious list?

Ya, that's pretty tough. To be honest, it's pretty hard to beat the overall toughness of professional wrestlers. Those guys are on the road day after day putting their bodies through hell.

If your talking wrestlers, can anyone beat the grittiness of Mankind Mick Foley?

 

Also, from what I have read and seen, Ty Cobb was one BAMF. Others that come to mind: Pete Rose, Ronnie Lott, Jack Tatum, Jack Lambert, Brett Favre, and Deacon Jones.

 

Yes, and LCR named him. Foley is nuts, but I don't even know what to call Sabu. I saw that barbed wire match, and I still can't believe that he tore it out of himself and continued that match.

I guess I'm going to go with Cal Ripken. Pound for pound John Stockton was pretty tough too.

Yes, and LCR named him. Foley is nuts, but I don't even know what to call Sabu. I saw that barbed wire match, and I still can't believe that he tore it out of himself and continued that match.

I guess he was before my time. I know some stuff about him but don't remember much. From what LCR says, the guy is a beast.

I guess he was before my time. I know some stuff about him but don't remember much. From what LCR says, the guy is a beast.

 

He's still around. His time is pretty much Foley's time. He was just never in WWF, so he's not known as well.

He's still around. His time is pretty much Foley's time. He was just never in WWF, so he's not known as well.

There you have it. I stopped watching wrestling in about 2002 and when I did watch, it was WWF and WCW.

Dick Butkus was always my personal favorite hard ass SOB.

I was having a little debate with my roommate tonight about who (any sport -- even pro wrestling) was the toughest athlete to lace up and work their ass off on a field/rink/ring.

 

I didn't want to make it a poll but I'm interested in seeing peoples' answers.

 

I'll start -- and I'll throw out kind of an obscure one. He's a pro wrestler by the gimmick name of Sabu. First off, he came back to wrestle after breaking his neck (botched back body drop landed him on his head). Secondly, during the famous/infamous Born to Be Wired he tore open his bicep which started to bleed badly. He taped it up haphazardly with athletic tape and finished the match for another 5-10 minutes. A third time he broke his jaw during a match. Instead of stopping and rushing the finish, he duct taped his head to keep his jaw shut and continued the match. Most recently, he wrestled with a broken arm, numerous cuts and part of his finger missing. He refuses to miss bookings to reccoperate from injuries.

 

I'd say he's one badass athlete -- yet one of the more obscure. So who else should get added to this illustrious list?

 

dude sounds like a friggin idiot. maybe he was so jacked up on stuff he couldn't feel pain...

Dick Butkus was always my personal favorite hard ass SOB.

 

This automatically eliminates Butkus from the argument.

The cast of "Hang Time"

Shawn Michaels.

 

dude sounds like a friggin idiot. maybe he was so jacked up on stuff he couldn't feel pain...

He's only about 5'11, 210.

As far as wrestlers go, there's Terry Funk, Sabu and Mick Foley.

Let's not bulls*** ourselves, though: Foley was hardcore, especially in Japan. So was Terry Funk, though he had a LOT of nasty matches in ECW, too. Sabu had them everywhere. (Foley was hardcore in ECW, too, but much of his time there was spent on his "Sick of being Hardcore" storyline.)

 

Foley, however, had different incidents that are well known. Foley is primarily known for being thrown off the hell in a cell, and I tend to think that he's the toughest for it. The man was thrown sixteen feet of the hell in a cell, through a table onto the ground, and then climbed right back up the cell to get thrown through the cell and have a chair hit his face only to continue the match and be tombstoned on thumbtacks.

 

Funk was a beast from what we're saying, too, but bleeding is a much different thing than being slammed. Which is worse, and takes a tougher man? I'm not sure. I've had gashes and cuts -- big nasty ones -- before, and I've had tendons torn. It's rough, but there's nothing quite like a blow to your body's structure -- to your very core.

 

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As far as non-wrestlers go, how about Mark Prior? Or that Michael Barrett fellow?

 

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I like Cal Ripkin, Favre. But I don't really think about it THAT much, as most atheletes ARE tough guys, in their own ways.

 

Though very few match up to Mark Prior!

Kerry Wood and Mark Prior

Kerry Wood and Mark Prior

 

You stole my gig!

Rex Grossman

This isn't even close, Jack Youngblood in a landslide. Played 14 years for the Rams at the brutal d end spot, missing only 1 game total, playing in a team record 201 straight games, and making 5 pro bowls. But most impressive, the dude played the entire 1979/1980 playoffs (leading the Rams to the Super Bowl) on a broken leg. If that's not tough I don't know what is.

He's only about 5'11, 210.

 

i was speaking of narcotics not steroids, etc.

As far as wrestlers go, there's Terry Funk, Sabu and Mick Foley.

Let's not bulls*** ourselves, though: Foley was hardcore, especially in Japan. So was Terry Funk, though he had a LOT of nasty matches in ECW, too. Sabu had them everywhere. (Foley was hardcore in ECW, too, but much of his time there was spent on his "Sick of being Hardcore" storyline.)

 

Foley, however, had different incidents that are well known. Foley is primarily known for being thrown off the hell in a cell, and I tend to think that he's the toughest for it. The man was thrown sixteen feet of the hell in a cell, through a table onto the ground, and then climbed right back up the cell to get thrown through the cell and have a chair hit his face only to continue the match and be tombstoned on thumbtacks.

 

Funk was a beast from what we're saying, too, but bleeding is a much different thing than being slammed. Which is worse, and takes a tougher man? I'm not sure. I've had gashes and cuts -- big nasty ones -- before, and I've had tendons torn. It's rough, but there's nothing quite like a blow to your body's structure -- to your very core.

 

Foley and Funk in Japan definitely did have their hardcore matches in Japan, and Foley especially with the infamous Hell in the Cell in Pittsburgh against the Undertaker.

 

Sabu vs Funk (Born to be Wired -- WARNING NSFW AND GRAPHIC) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYRbsrmzi3I&search=sabu

 

Foley in Hell in the Cell that was referenced

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_83gn8AQyU...0cell%20mankind

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l4BtJjEHqA...0cell%20mankind

 

Foley was amazing in that match. I still can't believe that he asked to be thrown off the top of the cell. And lest we forget, losing an ear in Germany after getting stuck in the ropes + then deciding to go to the PPV and win the belts instead of surgery to attempt to get it attached. The powerbomb on concrete. There's so many instances to choose from there.

 

And that's not to give the Funker short shrift. He's put his body through Hell to entertain fans and was one of the first gaijins to be popular in Japan. His doctors even told him that he shouldn't even be able to walk without intense pain from all the bleeding and bumps he's taken.

Foley and Funk in Japan definitely did have their hardcore matches in Japan, and Foley especially with the infamous Hell in the Cell in Pittsburgh against the Undertaker.

 

Sabu vs Funk (Born to be Wired -- WARNING NSFW AND GRAPHIC) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYRbsrmzi3I&search=sabu

 

Foley in Hell in the Cell that was referenced

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_83gn8AQyU...0cell%20mankind

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l4BtJjEHqA...0cell%20mankind

 

Foley was amazing in that match. I still can't believe that he asked to be thrown off the top of the cell. And lest we forget, losing an ear in Germany after getting stuck in the ropes + then deciding to go to the PPV and win the belts instead of surgery to attempt to get it attached. The powerbomb on concrete. There's so many instances to choose from there.

 

And that's not to give the Funker short shrift. He's put his body through Hell to entertain fans and was one of the first gaijins to be popular in Japan. His doctors even told him that he shouldn't even be able to walk without intense pain from all the bleeding and bumps he's taken.

 

Foley said it was either his ear, or he gets strangled by the ropes. Kinda like that guy who broke and cut off his own arm under the boulder, except not as extreme.

Foley and Funk in Japan definitely did have their hardcore matches in Japan, and Foley especially with the infamous Hell in the Cell in Pittsburgh against the Undertaker.

 

Sabu vs Funk (Born to be Wired -- WARNING NSFW AND GRAPHIC) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYRbsrmzi3I&search=sabu

 

Foley in Hell in the Cell that was referenced

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_83gn8AQyU...0cell%20mankind

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l4BtJjEHqA...0cell%20mankind

 

Foley was amazing in that match. I still can't believe that he asked to be thrown off the top of the cell. And lest we forget, losing an ear in Germany after getting stuck in the ropes + then deciding to go to the PPV and win the belts instead of surgery to attempt to get it attached. The powerbomb on concrete. There's so many instances to choose from there.

 

And that's not to give the Funker short shrift. He's put his body through Hell to entertain fans and was one of the first gaijins to be popular in Japan. His doctors even told him that he shouldn't even be able to walk without intense pain from all the bleeding and bumps he's taken.

 

 

I luuuv other wrestling fans.

Man those are some great matches.

A few good ones (especially guys like Jack Youngblood and Jack Tatum). I can't believe no one has mentioned Walter Payton yet. He was extremely tough on the field, taking and dishing out some poundings, and amazingly only missing one game in his career. He also worked very hard in the offseason. He was a nice guy, but you don't get too much tougher than him on the field.

A few good ones (especially guys like Jack Youngblood and Jack Tatum). I can't believe no one has mentioned Walter Payton yet. He was extremely tough on the field, taking and dishing out some poundings, and amazingly only missing one game in his career. He also worked very hard in the offseason. He was a nice guy, but you don't get too much tougher than him on the field.

Yeah, and the game he missed was because his coaches MADE him take the game off.