10 of the Most Controversial Incidents in Pro Wrestling History

4. The Road Warriors gouge out Dusty Rhodes's eye

In pro wrestling, it's accepted that the performers will attack each other with steel chairs, baseball bats, two by fours, and garbage cans.

But all of those instruments have one thing in common; they are all blunt weapons. Use of an edged weapon is normally completely off limits in the ring, partially because of concern for a wrestler's safety but also because of the fear the children watching might imitate what they see on television.

That's why it was shocking when the Road Warriors ripped off a spike from their ring gear and used it to gouge out Dusty Rhodes's eye on national television. The incident was so graphic JC Productions used a mosaic to partially obscure the action. What was equally horrific to the act itself was Dusty Rhodes's screams of agony, which he sold to the hilt. The NWA received a lot of flak from the angle, and after the obligatory revenge match between Dusty Rhodes and Sting against the Road Warriors, it was never mentioned or referenced again.