Wrestling fans may be widely tuned into the fact that kayfabe exists now, but few fans in the 70’s and 80’s had no idea that the action in the ring was scripted. Even though pro wrestling is considered a dangerous profession today, it was even more dangerous in the period when the fans thought what they were watching was completely real. Emotions at these shows could run high and the wrestlers often faced the very real possibility of getting attacked by members of the crowd.
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In the 70’s and 80’s, wrestlers getting seriously attacked at shows was a real danger. Over the years many wrestlers have been seriously attacked at shows by audience members and even fellow wrestlers and promoters.
Let’s take a look at 5 wrestlers who got stabbed at wrestling shows.
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5: Blackjack Mulligan
Blackjack Mulligan was a big name in professional wrestling during the 70’s and 80’s. He’s also the grandfather of current WWE Superstars Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt.
Mulligan was a huge star in his day in his own right. He was a WWE Hall of Famer and a former WWE Tag Team Champion along with Blackjack Lanza. In 1971, Mulligan was set to take on popular WWE Champion Pedro Morales in a singles match when Mulligan got attacked and stabbed in the thigh even before the match could start. Mulligan bled profusely and needed over a 100 stitches to close the stab wound.
4: Killer Kowalski
Killer Kowalski is best known today for training Triple H and Chyna and as a WWE Hall of Famer. Back in his day however, Killer Kowalski was one of the most hated villains in American wrestling.
Kowalski often spoke in interviews about how fans often threw things at him ranging from cartons and chairs to pig’s ears. Kowalski has even been stabbed by fans more than once, including one time when a woman came up to congratulate him before stabbing him in the back, literally.
After a while, he started getting police escorts to and from the ring.
3: Ole Anderson
Ole Anderson is most famous for being one of the founding members of the founding members of The Four Horsemen. He was also a booker for WCW in the pre-Eric Bischoff era.Ole is also famous as a hated heel in the Minnesota Wrecking Crew along with his brother Gene.
He was so hated during that period that in 1976, Ole got attacked backstage by an elderly gentleman who stabbed him viciously and repeatedly in the arm and chest with a small knife. He was lucky to escape with his life and required a four-hour long surgery to repair injured tendons and stitches to close stab wounds.
2: Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper is a wrestling legend today and one of the most famous bad guys in the history of professional wrestling. He was also one of the most hated people in wrestling in the pre-kayfabe era. Piper was no stranger to getting attacked by fans and had his life threatened by irate fans at least four times.
Piper’s claimed to have been stabbed numerous times with the worst of them coming within inches of his heart. Piper even had guns pulled on him once in the Dominican Republic.
1: Bruiser Brody
In the most shocking and infamous attack on this, Bruiser Brody was stabbed by fellow wrestler Jose Gonzalez in Puerto Rico. Bookers found Brody difficult to deal with and the office in Puerto Rico sent wrestler and agent Gonzalez to deal with the situation.
Gonzalez walked up to Brody after a show and asked him if he could talk to him in the shower. Other wrestlers in the vicinity heard a scream a few minutes later and Brody scrambled out, blood gushing out of a wound in his stomach. It was obvious to everyone that he has been stabbed.
Brody died in the hospital the next morning and Gonzalez fled the scene with the murder weapon. Courts acquitted him of the murder later after he’d claimed self-defense even though there was an overwhelming amount of evidence against him.
