All language subtitles for Dark Side of the Ring s07e04 Necro Butcher vs Samoa Joe.eng

?

When people say,

"What's the roughest match
you ever saw?"

[Crowd] Oh!

That's the one,
that's... man.

If I could describe
that match in one word...

- [screaming]
- Oh!

It was real.

It was
shocking at times.

It's personal.

It was unbelievable.

[Narrator] One of the most
brutal wrestling matches ever

took place far from
the big leagues.

This wasn't on
national television.

This was in Philadelphia,
in the arena.

[Narrator] It happened on
the independent wrestling

circuit in the
early 2000s.

They were two guys
at the tops of

their own mountains.

Samoa Joe was
carrying the flag

of pro wrestling.

Undeniably a world
champion level talent.

I'm Samoa fucking Joe.

I know how to whip
somebody's ass.

And then you had
Necro Butcher, man...

who was king of
the deathmatches.

Necro Butcher was
the wild-eyed monster

of deathmatch wrestling.

When he'd just
punch the guy in the face,

the fans heard
the punch connect.

[Announcer] Oh!

Necro would just
plain kick your head in.

He was also in this movie
called The Wrestler.

There's a fine line
between madness and genius,

and that was Necro.

[Necro] The mainstream
wrestlers,

they thought I was
beneath them.

So, when I got
Samoa Joe to fight me,

I wanted to show the
world what I could do.

[Narrator]
For Necro Butcher,

it was an opportunity
for redemption.

This match
had an air of danger.

This is not fake.

They just beat the
shit out of each other.

The energy
was like, you know,

somebody's gonna
die tonight.

[Announcer] Holy!

[Narrator] Decades later,
those who were there

reflect on
the legacy...

Oh, my God!

[Narrator] ...of one of the
most violent matches

of all time.

This is a fight,
but it got pretty crazy.

Forearms.
Suplexes. Punches.

Chairs thrown.
Power bombs.

[Announcer] Holy shit!

This is
fucking nuts.

[Necro] That was the
breakthrough moment

for deathmatch wrestling.

Whatever he was going to
do to me would not stop me.

?

[Crowd chanting]
Holy shit! Holy shit!

?

[Necro] The world's a
dark place sometimes.

The world can be
really mean.

I've had so many horrible
things happen to me

when I was young.

And wrestling
became my escape.

It was a false reality.

A place where no one
can hurt me.

You know, that's why
I get into wrestling.

Maybe I could be
somebody else's escape.

[Crowd] Holy shit!
What the fuck?

[Necro] But I wanted to
make it more believable.

[Announcer]
[indistinct shouting]

[Necro] I take incredible
amounts of punishment...

[Announcer] Oh!

[Necro] Because the
more believable that is,

the more they're
going to get into it.

[Announcer]
Someone call 911!

You know, and forget
about what's bothering them.

My name is
Dylan Summers.

But you probably
know me better as

the "Necro Butcher".

[Crowd] [Chanting]
Necro! Necro!

[Dylan] I got into
deathmatch wrestling

because I wanted
to test myself,

and I saw the guys in
the main event

doing deathmatches,
and I said, alright,

I want to be in
the main event,

so that's what
I have to do.

- Agh!
- Oh!

A deathmatch is
death defying wrestling.

My name is Dave Prazak,
and I was one of the

commentators for
Necro Butcher

versus Samoa Joe.

Necro Butcher developed a
reputation as one of the

very best at the deathmatch
style of wrestling.

He was very reminiscent of
someone like a Bruiser Brody,

with the crazy hair,
a wild demeanor.

You never knew what he
was going to do next.

[Announcer]
He's got barbed wire

wrapped around his fists!

I've seen that guy do
things to his body

that I couldn't
ask a man to do.

Glass, thumbtacks...

[Announcer] Oh!

Mousetraps.

Fluorescent light tubes.

Anything that
might cut you.

[Announcer] Jesus!

Night after night,
he volunteers himself

and he will
always be the

king of the death
matches to me.

- That hurt, man.
- Jesus!

I'm Mad Man Pondo.

Me and Necro, we wrestled
each other for years and

always left a statement
anywhere that we went.

[Announcer]
No, he's not!

[Dylan] I want people
to believe

they're watching a
physical confrontation.

- Agh!
- Oh!

[Dylan] That psychology
comes from a very real place.

[Narrator] As a child growing
up in rural West Virginia,

Dylan Summers
excelled in school,

setting him apart
from those around him.

[Dylan] West Virginia
isn't exactly known

for academic excellence,

so I'd face the
wrath of my schoolmates.

That was like a daily
thing when I was in school.

If I had a bad day
in school,

I was going to
watch wrestling

with my dad on
the weekends.

You know, that's what
I looked forward to.

My dad was my
best friend.

And then I woke up
one morning and

my mother said
there was a fire.

?

[Dylan] My father
was burned up.

So...

you know, didn't even get,
didn't even get to

see him at the funeral.

Had a
closed casket.

I just really dove deeply
into wrestling because

it's something
I did with him.

After that, I was by
myself all the time.

It was super tough.

Through my entire
school years,

bullying is not the word,
like it was way worse.

I mean, punched, kicked,
knock you down stairs.

I couldn't tell you
how many times

my head was in toilets
in high school.

You know, and I just
learned to flip that switch.

You know, I'd just act
like I was fine,

and I just didn't want to
let them know

they were hurting me.

That's why
sometimes I can take

incredible amounts
of punishment.

When I flick that switch,
you can't hurt me.

You can't hurt me.

No matter what you do,
you can't hurt me.

[shouting & screaming]

[Dylan] And once I showed
'em what I could do,

I was the main event
to stay.

[Crowd] [Chanting]
Necro! Necro!

[Eddie] Necro Butcher, man,
my dude was

carrying the flag for
deathmatch wrestling.

I'm Eddie Kingston,
pro wrestler,

and I was there
when Necro and Joe

decided to go at it.

In the early 2000s,

there was one
company, folks...

WWE.

[Announcer] Here's how
we're kicking it off!

[Eddie] That's on TV.

Then you got guys over here
killing themselves

doing independent
wrestling.

We wanted to show we're
different from WWE.

Doing it our way.

[Narrator] Dissatisfied with
mainstream wrestling

on TV,

hardcore fans flock
to the independents...

where performers
push the limits.

[Eddie] Almost
every company,

there was some type of
deathmatch in it.

-Oh!
- That is not right.

[Eddie] But some people
considered it

garbage wrestling.

Then Ring of Honor
came out.

You know, hold for hold,
hard hitting, all that stuff.

The Ring of Honor
set a standard for

independent wrestling with
guys like Homicide,

Low Ki,
Bryan Danielson,

Christopher Daniels,
CM Punk.

Then you had Samoa Joe,

who was carrying the flag
of pro wrestling.

[Announcer]
Samoa... Joe!

[Narrator] Although
Samoa Joe is a top star today,

in 2005, he was
still making his name

on the indie scene.

There was never a
doubt in my mind that

I was one of the best
wrestlers in the world.

Once that curtain
brushes past my face,

and we're out there
in front of the crowd,

the switch is turned and
we're ready to go.

Agh!

My name is Nuufolau
Joel Seanoa.

And I'm one half of
the war that was...

Joe versus Necro.

My whole life is pretty
much been on stage

with my family's
Polynesian show.

I probably did 2 or 3 world
tours before I ever

stepped foot in
a wrestling ring.

You know, it definitely
prepared me for this career.

In entertainment,
you need your hook.

And, at my core,
my style is...

walk you down,
smash you in the face.

- Ah!
- Oh!

[Nuufolau] The Ring
Of Honor, at the time,

I had
become champion.

I've had a two-year run
with the

heavyweight championship,
and the rest is history.

- [grunting]
- Oh!

[Dylan] At the time,
I was a consistent

main eventer doing
deathmatches. I said,

"Alright, now what?"
And I wanted to test myself

against the best
in the business.

But, what had gotten
to me was that

he didn't want
no part of that.

[Narrator] At the time,
Ring Of Honor wrestlers

had a reputation
for dismissing

the deathmatch style.

So crossovers were rare.

[Nuufolau] I always
saw this with a lot of

deathmatch wrestlers,
they always felt like

they were kind
of looked down upon.

The truth of it is,
you know,

guys in ROH,
we had our style.

You know, we had what
we were proud of,

what we were doing.

It's a very
different world.

I mean, me personally,
you know,

I'm down to
wrestle whoever.

That's never been
an issue for me.

But as far as, like,
wrestling Necro Butcher,

you know, it was never
brought up to me

or ever brought
up ever.

?

[Nuufolau] I think the fans
probably have more

to do with this than
anything else.

[Rob] Before social media,
we had message boards

where super hardcore nerdy
fans like me would go,

and they would just
talk to each other and

talk about matches
they've seen.

If you went to the
Ring of Honor board,

it was a little bit like
noses up in the air,

like all of the
wrestling was beneath it.

My name is
Rob Naylor,

and I worked at places
like CZW and

NXT and FCW, and I
at the time went on

the Ring of Honor
message board,

and I was like,
"I want to see

Samoa Joe wrestle Necro!"
And then, oh my God,

the barrage of other angry
other wrestling fans.

"You're an idiot!
He sucks!"

They just didn't want big
bad Necro Butcher to

sully their wonderful
organization.

But then,

there was an
incident at Chikara!

[Announcer] Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen,

and welcome
to Chikara!

[Narrator] Stepping out
of the hardcore scene,

Necro Butcher and
Mad Man Pondo

enter a family friendly
tag team tournament,

putting Necro on a
collision course

with Samoa Joe.

[Rob] Chikara was,
bring Grandma,

bring the kids,
you're gonna have

a fun time watching
the wrestling,

in this lovely,
little cafeteria.

[Dylan] It might have
been a bit weird on paper.

But I could not say no
because that was

my only source
of income.

I didn't care who
these guys were.

I was just gonna
beat their ass.

It just so happened
that two of them were

Ring of Honor students.

[Announcer] Matt Turner
and Anthony Franco!

[Rob] Ring Of Honor didn't
want to send someone

they were gonna beat.

They just sent a couple
of their students.

[Anthony] I was nervous
'cause I didn't really know

who Necro Butcher was,
and he's like,

"We'll just go out there
and we'll just brawl."

I didn't really learn
that in, in school.

Tonight,
it's gonna be

nothing but curtains
for you two.

[Andrew] We were definitely
a little nervous,

but we figured, hey,
we got this, we got this.

Boy howdy,
we were wrong, buddy.

[Mad Man] Agh!

[Announcer] Not even waiting
for the ring introductions

to make them bleed.

[Dylan] You had to try to
make a believable match with

someone who doesn't
know what they're doing.

Agh!

[Dylan] And when they start
stinking the place up,

I'm just gonna
beat their ass.

[Anthony] Oh!
[Announcer] Oh-ho!

[Dylan] I do what I do
because this is my job

and I need the money.

What package are you
offering to promoters?

You have to offer
something different.

I think I'm pretty
darn different.

- Oh!
- I can hear the thud!

[Eddie] Some people were very
concerned and believed that

Pondo and Necro took
advantage of the students.

The Ring of Honor board,
forget about it.

They were really mad
at Necro Butcher.

It was only another reason
for them not to like him.

'Cause it was just like,
"How dare he?" you know?

"That's breaking
the code."

"Oh, he's unsafe."

[Announcer] Goes for a
suplex off the apron!

[Rob] "He's reckless."

[Anthony] Chikara, you don't
really do that stuff.

[Dylan] Who cares?
[laughing]

?

[Announcer]
Gets his head taken off!

[Dylan] I think people
found it entertaining.

That's what I do.

I beat people up in an
entertaining manner.

[Andrew] He was knocked
out from the clothesline.

I got knocked out
twice in the match.

His chest looks
like hamburger meat.

I have no idea
where I'm at.

It was just survival.

[Anthony] Yeah,
it was a little rough.

[Andrew] Yeah.

[Dylan] Turns out I
got the last laugh.

That's how I got Samoa Joe
to fight me, you know.

[Eddie] After the match,
message boards

had their little
rumor mills going.

The rumor was that
Joe was not happy.

[Dave] Because Joe was
one of their mentors

coming out of
Ring of Honor,

and I think he may
have felt ROH was

disrespected
by these guys.

And it perfectly set the
stage for Joe to

face Necro to get
some revenge.

[Announcer] Getting a
standing ovation!

[Rob] The fans bought
into it and they're like,

all right, like, he's going
to get dealt some justice

via Samoa Joe.

[Narrator] As discussion
on the internet heats up,

promoter Ian Rotten
sees an opportunity.

[Ian] Ian Rotten here,
owner,

promoter of IWA
Mid-South Wrestling.

[Dave] As an independent
wrestling promoter,

Ian Rotten had to come up
with unique matches.

There is no television
program to try to really

build a story, you have
to use the internet.

And Ian Rotten was gearing
up for his first event

in Philadelphia at
the old ECW arena,

and he needed a big
match to fill the seats.

[Narrator] The match
that had long seemed

impossible suddenly
became inevitable.

After the Chikara incident,

Necro Butcher and Samoa Joe

signed with Ian Rotten
and the match is set.

[Eddie] This was the first
time that I remember that

this legit went down between
a deathmatch wrestler

and a pure
pro wrestler.

Here we go.

[Dylan] For one night
in Philadelphia,

I'm gonna have the fight
of my life against

the baddest dude
of all time.

I have a chance
to show the world

a deathmatch wrestler
could compete with

the biggest, baddest
in the world.

[Announcer]
Face to face!

[Dylan] Which is all
I wanted all along.

[Announcer]
Here we go!

[Narrator] With Necro Butcher
versus Samoa Joe set,

Joe takes to the mic to
go after his opponent.

[Dylan] I don't agree
with being called a bully.

[Mad Man] You have
no idea how

intense Necro was
about that promo.

He would recite
sentences to me

about that
promo every day.

That affected Necro.

[Dylan] I thought
to myself, wow,

so he thinks I'm not good
enough to be there with him.

Okay, fine,
I got this.

And now is my chance
to make a statement.

[cheering]

[Announcer] Making
reference to Necro Butcher!

[cheering &
applauding]

[Nuufolau] So, you know,
dude, can I be honest?

Dude, legitimately, I look
back and I literally

knew nothing about all
these moving pieces

that were a part of it.

Like, yeah, I never
trained a kid at

ROH's school a
day in my life.

Like I never
watched the match.

It was mentioned to me for
a promo about, "Oh yeah,

he roughed up a couple of
kids at the ROH school

so you're, like,
gonna get revenge.

Are you cool with that?"
I was like, "Yeah, sure."

It's part
of the show, man.

But, the more I hear
and the more I realize,

old Ian Rotten may have
been telling people

a lot of different tales,
trying to get

certain reactions
out of that.

[Dylan] Well, I mean,
there was gossip.

You weren't talented.

You were doing something
that was beneath them.

I don't know if it
was true or not.

I said, "A lot of people are
gonna watch this."

So I just knew I had to show
them what I could do

so they did not deny me
any longer.

?

[Nuufolau] For me
personally, my wife,

then girlfriend at the time,
she lived close to Philly.

So like I had literally
took the booking...

because I was trying
to get some ass.

[Laughing]

We were definitely
different mindsets,

walking into this match.

Until I got to
the arena, then,

I realized it was
something different.

[Narrator]
On June 11th, 2005,

hundreds packed
the ECW Arena

expecting a bloodbath.

This is IWA
Mid-South wrestling.

[Nuufolau] As I get
to the building...

you know, the boys
are standing outside.

And I'm just like,
"What's up, fellas?"

And then they go,
"Yo, what's up, man?

I've been waiting for this."
And I'm like,

"Alright, you know, cool,
homie." You know,

what the fuck is going
on here, man, like...?

[Dylan] I had just
come back from Japan,

having flown all night, drinking.

[Laughing]
I'm gonna sober up.

I'm gonna get in my
'72 Ford pick-up and

drive to Philadelphia and
fight Samoa Joe.

I had arrived within
an hour of showtime.

Went down to my little
secluded spot and,

just waited my turn.

[Bryce] Typically in
a pro wrestling match,

a referee will check
in with opponents.

"What is the
planned finish?

Is there anything I need
to know about?"

There was none of
that on this day.

My name is Bryce Remsburg,
and I was the referee for

the infamous Samoa Joe
- Necro Butcher match.

The conversation that
I might have had with the

two of them was definitely
shorter than 30 seconds.

[Dylan] My mind was
made up beforehand.

Whatever he was going to
do to me would not stop me.

Not in that building,
not on that night.

[Nuufolau] I know what
I'm going there for.

I'm gonna get cracked.

He's gonna get cracked,
and it's gonna be a brawl.

[Dave] Everyone in the locker
room had the same questions

as the wrestling fans
did about,

do they really
hate each other?

Is this going to turn
into a real fight?

What's going to happen?

[Nuufolau] All that shit went
into creating an atmosphere

and a vibe
where it was like,

somebody's
going to die tonight.

[Announcer] And we
are ready for a

long-awaited match up.

[Bryce] I recall being
in the ring before

the match started,
looking up

and seeing pretty much
the whole locker room

lined up around
the commentary table.

[Dave] I did commentary
with Eddie Kingston

and CM Punk.

We weren't doing
professional commentary

by any means.

It was just us reacting
to the spectacle

that we were seeing.

[Eddie] I walked up with
a hot dog, sat down,

and I said,
"Let's do this."

[Announcer] This is the
match everybody's

been waiting to see!

[Rob] By that point,
everybody was

foaming at the mouth to
see this thing.

[Mad Man] I went up to the
balcony to watch this

and was like,
holy shit,

the whole building
was chanting.

[Crowd] [Chanting]
Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe!

[Nuufolau] Then as I'm kind
of walking around the

ring here,
you started to hear,

"Fuck him up, Joe."

"Necro's gonna
fuck you up."

[Rob] Philadelphia is
just very bloodthirsty.

They wanted to
see violence.

They wanted to see blood,

and they wanted to see
Joe kill Necro Butcher.

[Announcer] There's the man
right there who wears

the shirt that says,
"Choose Death"!

[Eddie] There he is,
look at this. Ha-ha!

[Rob] All the combustible
elements were there.

They were just primed
and ready to just

kick the shit out
of each other.

[Announcer] Face to
face they come!

[Nuufolau] You obviously
know they didn't

come here to see any
goddamn wrestling.

They came here
to see a fight.

Let's let everybody know
what this is really about.

The easiest way to make
sure everybody knows

it's a no-rules brawl
without announcing it is,

you know,
take the rules and

throw them
over the top rope.

[Announcer] They don't
need a referee!

?

[Bryce] There was
already, like

a bunch of gunpowder
in the keg.

With no referee,
it's chaos.

[Nuufolau] Now we've got
everybody where we want them

and now we take them
on the journey.

[Announcer]
Here we go!

Break it down
in Philadelphia!

[Dylan] These forearms
were I'm telling this guy

how this match
is gonna go.

[Nuufolau] He wanted to
establish that's

how hard he wanted
to throw? I said, "Alright."

You have now just set your
punishment gauge.

He could've done it
much easier. [Laughing]

[Dylan] It's all
about believability.

I want them to think
he's trying to kill me.

If I'm going to have any
chance of beating him,

I want to fight with him
on the floor.

I want to brawl.

[Announcer] Oh!
[Indistinct screaming]

Upside the head of
the Necro Butcher!

[Dylan] And that is a way
you can suck in the crowd.

I want him to hit me.

I was gonna fly
over the guardrail.

But he hit me so hard,
I couldn't go

over the guard-
Oh, Jesus!

[Announcer] Oh,
here comes Joe!

Down goes Necro!

[Dylan] I'm gonna just
calmly walk over

the guardrail now.
[Laughing]

I'm gonna sit down and
compose myself

for a minute after that.

[Announcer] All these
fans are moving!

They're parting
like the Red Sea!

[Nuufolau] Trying to beat
the deathmatch wrestler

with pro wrestling.

Using my body as a weapon
to try to break you up.

It was meant to accentuate
that contrast of styles.

[Announcer] The Necro's
back to his feet

with a head butt!

[Eddie] And oh,
there's the head butt.

You don't head butt
a Samoan.

That's like a rule
you're taught.

[Dylan] I had a very
bad cut on my head.

I knew a stiff breeze
would bust me open,

let alone a
Samoan head butt.

[Nuufolau] Any deathmatch
wrestler will tell you,

if they've already
got something open,

they can't wait
for you to work it.

And, we got that
fucker open.

[Laughing]

[Announcer]
Necro's busted open!

[Rob] Authentic head butts,
and then Necro's bleeding.

So, the fervor only
grows from there.

[Mad Man] Necro learned
a secret from me.

If you want a
standing ovation,

you knock their chairs
out from underneath them.

[Announcer] Everybody in this
building is on their feet!

[Mad Man]
Standing ovation.

[Dylan] I don't think
Samoa Joe was really

enjoying himself at this
point in the match.

I was having a grand
old time, myself.

[Nuufolau]
[Laughing] I mean,

it's not the best
feeling, but...

[Dylan] I was trying to
get him to a place

where we could safely to
do the power slam,

or so I thought.

You know, when you make
people get out of their seat

and move around,

you run the risk of
spilling drinks.

[Eddie] You can see it
all over the floor.

There was just
wet spots everywhere.

[Dylan] So maybe a power
slam wasn't the best idea.

[Laughing]

[Nuufolau] He ran at me.
I went to scoop him.

Now, I don't know
if his foot slipped

or whatever, but like
as we went for the lift,

I felt him grab me
real tight.

He was just
stuck to me.

And then,
pushed my hips through

and he was going over.

[Announcer] Power slam
on the floor!

[Nuufolau] That didn't
quite work the way

he wanted it to.

[Dave] And we're wondering
in the commentary position,

how is that
physically possible?

[Announcer] I've never
seen such a thing!

[Nuufolau] And I
turn around, I go,

"Jesus, you good?"
And he's- [groaning]

[Bryce] I hear that sickening
thud of skull on cement.

That right there is,
is a sign of danger.

That's something you're
not gonna see on

Monday Night Raw.

[Crowd] [Chanting]
Necro! Necro!

[Nuufolau] You know, in
today's wrestling world,

that match shouldn't
continue probably.

But that match and that
night, that atmosphere...

that energy from the crowd,
it was like,

now we're in the flow,

and it just got more violent
and more fucked up from there.

[Chanting]
Holy shit! Holy shit!

[Narrator] Just two
minutes into the match,

Samoa Joe drives
Necro Butcher

face first onto
the concrete.

[Eddie] At that that time
we didn't stop.

We go until the
wheels fall off.

[Dylan] Maybe a normal
person would have been hurt.

But I was fine.

[crowd shouting]

[Eddie] Oh, that boot
definitely did not tickle.

[Announcer] Oh, Joe's
wiping the blood off him.

[Rob] Oh, that's a
great touch.

Wiping the blood
off his head

and wiping on his chest.

The fans are such an
integral part to all this.

They're so into it.

[Crowd] Oh!

[Nuufolau] If you look
at that floor right now,

it could be any number
of bodily fluids, so...

when things got
to the outside,

this was Necro's
environment.

But anytime we're inside
the ring, you know,

that was my domain.

[Announcer] Over the
rail and back they go.

[Nuufolau]
Body language is,

"I don't think
much of you."

Arrogant pin, you know,
elbow on the chin,

not really
scooping the leg.

But in the face
of that, you know,

here he is
fighting back.

[Announcer]
Necro kicks out.

[Rob] He is not giving up.
He is continuing to fight.

He puts the arm up.

And then the very
pro Joe crowd,

you start hearing more,

"Necro, Necro,
Necro," chants.

[Crowd]
Necro! Necro!

[Rob] And it's
because of Necro's

selling, selling, selling.

The fans get
louder and louder.

[Crowd]
Necro! Necro!

[Rob] And now you
have that dynamic,

the fans fighting
with each other.

They're turning.

[Announcer] Wait 'til you
hear all these fans

right here in a chorus.

[Nuufolau] I understood
what role I played in this.

This is somebody fighting
against all the odds,

you know, fighting to
break out of his box

in the face of this
insurmountable entity.

[Announcer] Off the
ropes comes Necro!

Connects with the boot.

[Dylan] Joe's weapon
is his killer instinct

and his ability.
Those are just tools.

For me,
the opponent,

the guardrail,
the ring itself.

Those are the
tools of my trade.

You don't really
have time to be hurt,

because you gotta
think, okay,

what am I doing next,
what am I doing next?

Oh, yeah, I was
trying to find

a piece of guardrail
I could rip off.

I'm going to smash you
with the guardrail.

[Dylan] No, no.

[Laughing]

He was a
good sport about it.

[Crowd] Oh!

[Nuufolau] Yeah, it sucks.

It's not pleasant, you know,
it's not pleasant.

[Laughing]

[Crowd] Oh!

[Nuufolau] What
people don't realize

is that Necro
is blind also.

Very blind.
[Laughing]

[Dylan] I have
my glasses here.

I can't tell who's who.

There's a red light there,
red light over there.

But I can't see nothing.

[Announcer]
[indistinct commentary]

[Eddie] [Laughing]
He did that

and I was like, Jesus!
I did not expect it.

[Nuufolau] This guy just
swings for the general

fuzzy mound that's
in front of him

and he hopes
that it connects.

[Dylan] I hit him with
the perfect punch.

Like, I felt all of
my knuckles

hit him right in the jaw.

[indistinct shouting]

[Dylan] And I thought,
I'm gonna do it again.

?

[Nuufolau] That's the
worst thing you do for me.

Now the switch turns an
extra couple degrees.

And I have come
to destroy worlds,

and this is the
world before me

which I must
lay waste to.

[Dylan] Before I could
do it a third time,

I went flying through
the air. [Laughing]

[Announcer]
Did you see the...

holy shit!
Ah! [screaming]

Holy... fuck!

[Rob] Good God.
This is...

it just...

[Eddie] Look at that
blood everywhere, man.

This was wild.

[Mad Man] That was the one
where I was like, holy shit.

That one made me stand up
in my chair and,

I was thinking about
going down there.

[Announcer] What the
fuck is happening?

[Dylan] Not me, not the kid.
A normal man, perhaps.

[Dylan] That's not
gonna hurt me.

I know what I'm doing.

[Nuufolau] You know,
everybody talks about

his face hitting
the floor.

What they don't talk about
is his shoulder

coming down on
top of my face

and the back of my head
being driven

into the cement.

[Crowd] Oh!

[Nuufolau] Thought my
nose was broken.

Thought I'd
shattered my orbital.

I broke my nose
a billion times,

so it wasn't
uncommon.

But yeah, this one put
another fracture in my nose.

I'll give him this,
at least he looks

worse for wear for
the whole deal.

[Dylan] There's an old
Johnny Valentine quote.

He said, "I can't make
you believe in wrestling,

but I can make you believe
in Johnny Valentine."

No one is ever gonna watch
that match, and say,

"Yeah, that's,
that's all fake."

I'm tough enough that
I can take that shit.

Let's exploit
what we have.

the legendary ECW Arena, eaf

Samoa Joe and
Necro Butcher

leave everything in the ring
and on the floor.

[Dylan] Now see this
is what you call

long-term
storytelling, guys.

Remember they had
that Chikara match.

[Announcer] ...goes for
a suplex off then apron!

[Dylan] I suplexed
the kid off the apron.

[Announcer] Off the
apron to the floor!

[Dylan] And then,
a month or two later,

the master suplexes me
off the apron.

[Announcer]
Holy shit, ah!

[Dylan] Long-term story
telling at its finest.

[Nuufolau] You know
what sucks?

I wish I could've said
I planned all this shit,

but- [Laughing]
Happy accident.

[Dylan] Yeah, happy
accidents, here we go.

[Laughing]

[Bryce] The way Necro
is moving and selling,

he's definitely hurt
and he's banged up,

but he's with it.

[Eddie] Just to see Necro
get up, we were like...

He's like rising
from the dead.

[Nuufolau] I'm not a guy
that'll ever dictate to

somebody what
dangerous things

they should do to
their own body.

I put the ball in his court,
and I said, you know,

"You tell me how far you
want this to go."

But,
he had a vision.

[Crowd] Oh!

[Nuufolau] It's a
more primal vision.

It's definitely not
eloquent in its execution.

[Dylan] I think here
I was telling him,

"Put the guardrail up
on the turnbuckle."

There's so many
times in this match

where I just said
some shit that could

easily be
misinterpreted,

but every time I told him
to do something,

he did exactly what
I wanted him to do.

[Nuufolau] In those
circumstances,

I will default to the
masochist and

let him paint
his picture.

[Dylan] His ability to
dish out punishment,

and my ability to
absorb punishment

is what I based
the match upon.

[Announcer] ...power bomb
coming up!

Wah! Oh!

Somebody's gonna die!

[Bryce] In some
form or fashion,

they were reading
the same book.

I'm not sure they're
in the same chapter,

same page quite, but to be
done even remotely safely

involves a breed
of cooperation.

[Mad Man] The way Necro's
looking at it right here is,

the more he gets beat up
and still stands up,

he's becoming
a bigger star.

Back in the day,
before that match...

me and Necro, we was
in a light tube match.

We were just
bloody as hell.

I suplex Necro
and one of them

went in so deep
in his arm, it just,

it just cut a whole
chunk out of there.

I start yelling out.

Fucking ambulance!
Ambulance!

And I'm just feeling terrible
that this happened to Necro.

And finally Necro looked
over to me, and he said,

"Pondo, would you chill out
and cheer up?"

You know, he just never
complained about it.

This was his chance to get
his name out there and show

the world exactly what
the Necro Butcher can do,

and he just kept
on going and...

here he is today.

[Eddie] It's a very
old school way of

getting somebody over.
It, it works.

People can register that.

People can respect
an underdog.

[Dave] Is he going to
get back to his feet?

The drama
continues to build.

It's great storytelling.

[Announcer] Joe,
with the cover. No!

[Dylan] It has to be
one-sided for

the story I'm
trying to tell.

Too many matches today,
they're too back and forth.

The fans don't buy the
comeback because

the guys don't take the
time to set the heat

the way they need to.

[Nuufolau]
The whole point was,

in my head was like,
we're going to

put this guy through this
carnival of torture

that he's wanted
so badly for so long.

We're going to give him
everything he asked for.

[Crowd] Oh!

[Dylan] That could have been
a paralyzation there had

somebody been an inch this
way or an inch that way,

that could have easily been
a paralyzation there as well.

[Announcer] Cover!
[Crowd] One, two!

[Announcer] He kicked out!

[Bryce] The look
on Joe's face is like,

"What do I gotta do to put
this guy, this guy away?"

[Dave] They're chanting,
"Necro!"

He's earning the
respect of the crowd.

[Announcer] The fans of
Philadelphia are

going nuts right now.

[Rob] All the punishment
Necro Butcher takes,

he's gonna
make it matter.

He's not just gonna blow
off any kind of damage.

[Announcer] And they're
showing their support

for Joe as well.

Chop across the
chest of Necro.

[Dylan] I wanted to
look really feeble

and barely on my feet.

So that's what I was
trying to do here.

A man doesn't win
when he's relaxed

and thinks he's in control.

A man wins when he
thinks he's losing.

[Crowd] Oh!

[Rob] There it is!

He's fighting back,
boom, boom!

Oh, my God.

[Nuufolau] In the moment,
I'm annoyed at that.

Like, what the fuck, man?

[Announcer] But Samoa Joe
with the palm strikes!

[Nuufolau] Classic pro
wrestling technique,

the open-hand
palm strikes.

Bro, put your hands up.
That's the first rule.

[Dave] With each slap you
could see a mist of blood

coming off the face
of Necro Butcher.

[Nuufolau] If I had to
pinpoint a time when

my girlfriend at the time
had left the match,

it was where the blood was
visibly flying into the crowd.

She said she
almost threw up

and then she
decided to bounce.

And that's the whole
point of what I was doing.

When you're dog
walking somebody,

it's not a pretty affair.

And that's what that
whole sequence was about.

I've had enough.
I'm done with this.

It's time for you
to die now.

[Announcer] Ah! God!

[Narrator] The match
between Necro Butcher and

Samoa Joe barrels toward
its violent finish.

[Announcer] Look at the
blood on the body of

Samoa Joe
from Necro!

?

[Bryce] This was not any
ordinary wrestling match,

so it wasn't gonna
end any ordinary way.

Joe's here 'cause
he wants to be here.

Necro has nothing to lose.

So, the story
of Necro...

calling these spots that
lead to his demise...

[Announcer]
Stay down!

[Bryce] He's saying that,
"I'm gonna lose,

but I'm gonna go
down swinging."

[Dave] The lasting
image of that match

is the final strike.

And Samoa Joe effectively
wins the match

by knocking Necro out.

[Bryce] What is unique about
this finish is that it's,

in essence,
a technical knockout.

[Dave] He didn't just
have to pin him for

three seconds, he kept
him down for ten.

[Rob] He just could not
take any more beating.

[Announcer]
He's getting up though.

No!
And that's it!

Samoa Joe gets
the knockout!

Knockout win
for Samoa Joe!

[match bell ringing]

[Nuufolau] Your great
messiah of hardcore death

has been stricken down.

All justice has
been served.

[Dylan] What a mess.

[Narrator] Though the
match may be over,

Joe gives Necro one
last parting shot.

[Announcer] Oh,
he's not done.

[Nuufolau] Brother was
down there selling so long,

so I went over there
and I gave him like

the little kick
in the head.

Just like I knew he would,
he popped right up

and started swinging
for the fences.

And the monster rises
again from the dead.

[Dylan] Really? Really?
Get out of here.

[Laughing]

[Announcer] The hardcore
Jesus is pissed.

[Nuufolau] I'm like, well,
I can't leave you

laying in a puddle,
I mean, like,

I thought it was
important to leave

the arena with him at
least standing, you know.

[Announcer] What a war
between these two men!

[Nuufolau] If there's no
fight in somebody then

there's nothing really
there to care about.

So, it was imperative to me
that we left Necro

with the right kind of
perception on him

of being just one of the

toughest motherfuckers
on planet earth.

[Crowd chanting]

[Dylan] Match of
the year, huh? Wow.

[Crowd] [Chanting]
Match of the year!

[Dave] Everyone in the
building knew that

they had just witnessed
something great.

And when the fans
finally got a chance to

see it on video,
it just intensified

the buzz about the
match on the internet.

[Dylan] How ironic that
that event was called

"Something To Prove"

because that's exactly
what I was trying to do,

and I think that's
exactly what I did.

That night in
Philly was special.

I knew I'm never
gonna make it to

Madison Square Garden.

That was my Madison
Square Garden.

After that match,

I was a made man
in that building.

And that's all
I ever wanted.

[Nuufolau] You know, coming
through the curtain in

the post-match, it couldn't
have been more...

I mean, docile.
[Laughing]

You know, like...

Necro came back,
dapped him up.

[Dylan] I went to Joe
immediately and thanked him.

I obviously had tremendous
amount of respect

for him as a wrestler.

He trusted the vision
of what I had,

and helped me
follow it through.

Well, after the match,
I had another show to do

that evening in
the same arena.

So I had to go back down
to the catacombs and

put my skull back together

and catch my breath,

and get ready to
get out there and

do it all over again.

[Announcer] And here
comes the butcher!

[Dave] You'd think maybe
he'd be tired, but no.

He just kept going.

[Announcer]
Excuse me!

[Rob] He never went 80%,
you know,

he was always 110.

It's a very heavy price,

taking suplexes
to the floor,

taking these bumps,
and he did it because

he had pride in
what he was doing

and he wanted to
get to the next level.

It certainly seemed to me
that there was almost like

a before and after for
both of those guys.

[Dave] It eventually earned
Necro a regular spot

in ROH for a
couple of years.

[Dylan] Ring Of Honor could
not deny me any longer.

[Announcer] That's the
Necro Butcher!

[Dylan] I was on every
show for like four years.

[Chanting]
Necro! Necro!

[Bryce] He goes on to be
in the movie

"The Wrestler" in 2008.

[Mickey]
Talk to me about it.

What do you want
to do tonight?

[Necro] Are you cool
with the staples?

[Dylan] Maybe it was
a mainstream moment.

[Necro] Staple gun?

[Dylan] But, at the time,
I had more wrestling to do.

[Announcer]
The Necro Butcher!

[Eddie] We were
in this together

as independent
wrestlers.

We were all trying
just to set

the world on fire with
our wrestling.

We were misfits,
all of us.

Even Joe was.

We saw Samoa Joe's
name getting

bigger and
bigger over time.

It was a sense
of pride.

If any indie guy made it,
we were all proud.

[Nuufolau] I finished
up with ROH,

I moved on to TNA Wrestling,
then moved on to WWE.

And now I currently find
myself in All Elite Wrestling.

[Dylan] It was
obvious back then,

what sort of trajectory
that man was on.

This was a
trajectory that was

closed to me.

[Dave] Necro Butcher never
got his WWE run

probably because he was
such an outlaw.

His home was
independent wrestling,

and so it's honestly not
much of a surprise that

that was where he
really excelled.

[Nuufolau] Many independent
wrestlers have gone on

to have lauded
careers...

all around the world.

If you ask me why
maybe Necro wasn't

a part of that pantheon
of people...

[sighing] you know,
at the end of the day,

it's just hard to put on a,
on a cereal box, you know?

[Mad Man] That's the
thing about deathmatches,

and people just
don't understand.

They say that we make
hotdogs and handshakes.

I do believe
that for Necro,

the crowd would chant
his name and...

to a wrestler, having a
crowd chant your name,

sing your song,
that means,

that means more to us
than anything.

You're not gonna talk
him out of what he loves.

He loves wrestling.

[Dylan] I was going to
Japan like six times a year.

I'd got to Mexico a
couple times, Puerto Rico.

And then in 2020,

I had just come back
from Japan and I-

I didn't know what
was going on,

but I knew I
was really sick.

[Mad Man] So...
I remember when

I first seen him,
thinking to myself,

look at the weight
that he lost.

[Announcer] Butcher!
[Crowd] [cheering]

[Mad Man] He had
lost a lot of weight.

Like a lot of weight.

And, ah...

I, I didn't understand.

I didn't know
what was going.

[Announcer]
He's passing the torch!

[Mad Man] Shortly after that,
I went to visit him.

Took us out to eat.

Right before I left,
that's when he said,

"Hey, man, if I...

if I don't talk to you
from this day on,

just realize I always
appreciated everything

you did for me."
And I'm like,

"What are you
talking about?"

And, ah...

I'm telling him,
I'm like,

"If you want me to stay,
I'll stay."

And he's like, "No."

So, that's when I found out
that Necro had cancer.

[Narrator] Diagnosed
with stage three cancer,

Necro Butcher
fights for his life.

[Dylan] Turns out I
had Hodgkin's lymphoma.

I was in a hospital bed for
about nine months

and had no energy
whatsoever.

Everything hurt.

Laying in bed for nine
months gives you

plenty of time to re-evaluate
things, you know.

Over the years, I've beat
so many guys up it's not

even something I keep
track of anymore.

And after a while,
they just blend together.

Looking back,

the Samoa Joe match,
let's be honest,

that's what people are
gonna remember about me.

Quite honestly,
I'm baffled sometimes.

People talk about
this match that

weren't even alive
when we did it.

I'm still very
flattered by it.

It is one of the greatest
brawls you will ever see.

[Eddie] It's a
time capsule, man.

If people want to know how
the independents were

from 2000 to 2010,
that was it.

They made a moment.

For all of us on
the indies, man.

Because I'll tell
you right now,

more people started booking
those kind of matches.

They were the spark.

[Dave] Just how believable
that brawl was

is something that young
wrestlers now draw

inspiration for what a
fight could be like.

[Nuufolau] It's wild that
so many people have loved,

and enjoyed, and taken
pleasure from watching this.

I just never would have
imagined it would have

taken on the life
that it has.

It's cool that...

that was part
of my journey.

It's neat.

[Narrator] As he wages
his battle with cancer,

the Necro Butcher
discovers a new outlook.

[Dylan] When I was in the
bed I found something

that was unshakeable.

And that was myself.

In the game of life,
you're not in charge

of where you start
on the boards.

The only thing you're in
control of is when you quit.

It's gonna hurt,
you're gonna suffer.

But you have to
believe in yourself.

If you can't believe
you can do it,

then you're suffering
for nothing.

We did three cycles of
chemo with no improvement.

And they said, "Alright,
if we don't see

improvement
on the fourth one,

we're gonna quit and
that's gonna be that."

Wouldn't you know it,
that fourth one took.

[Chuckling] And then,
got back into wrestling.

?

[Mad Man] This is
the guy that

I've seen go
through the craziest bumps

that you
could ever think about.

And walk away
unscathed.

But, look at him today.
He beat cancer.

His hip exploded,
he beat that.

Still punching people
in the face.

[Announcer]
Good God!

[Mad Man] That puts him
solid in

the bad
motherfuckers club.

[Dylan] You know,
I'm not moving around

great right now,
but I'm moving around

pretty good
for age 52.

I'm still out there
on the road.

I'm motivated.

I just had a rough
match last week...

about died.

[Announcer]
Oh, my God!

[Dylan] I understand the
way we look back at things,

the further they get
in the mirror.

[Announcer] And it's
June 11, 2005

here in Philadelphia!

[Dylan] That night
in Philadelphia,

it was my most immediate,
important event in my life.

Oh, wow!
[Laughing]

That was better than
I thought. Wow!

What does any artist
want but for

his art to be
remembered fondly?

And I think we're past
the point of this being

remembered more
than fondly so,

thank you, Samoa Joe.
Thank you.

[Nuufolau]
The feeling is mutual,

the thanks is mutual.

He managed to take a random
afternoon that I was

not expecting would be
what it was.

And it's become kind of a
touchstone for inspiration

in the great zeitgeist
of wrestling.

You know, to me,
I think that's when

pro wrestling can be
at its very best.

[Announcer]
...to the crowd!

[Dylan] I won 'em over with
my ability to not quit.

And that's the message
I try to tell people.

I haven't quit, so
you better not either.

I've had so many horrible
things happen to me

when I was young...

I just wanted to belong
and not be by myself.

[Crowd chanting]
Necro! Necro!

And I wanted to connect
with other people

that had the same
passions I did.

Just appreciate
the fine art

that is professional
wrestling,

and then to contribute
to that fine art, well,

what more, what more
could a man ask for?

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