It's obvious that the competitive aspect of wrestling isn't real, but that's not to say that the pain and injuries that wrestlers endure are not real. In many of the smaller promotions wrestlers must earn their place in the sport by participating in brutal matches and doing things such as blading (cutting your self and allowing the blood to spread around making the injury appear severe.) There is also a phenomenon referred to as the "death match". These brutal competitions used to be incorporated only into major feuds and bitter rivalries. Now they are a standard in many federations worldwide. These matches often include barbed wire in place of ring ropes, C-4 explosives, bricks wrapped in barbed wire, tables, metal folding chairs, or trays of glass/nails/tacks for people to be thrown in. These matches are real and the participants suffer real injuries. To make his mark in the sport Mick has had to endure endless pain and injuries in brutal hardcore matches in federations like ECW and IWA in Japan. Mick even won IWA's "King of the Death Match" tournament. His hard work eventually paid off when he realized his dream of becoming the WWF Heavy Weight Champion in early 1999.

Cactus Jack in the brutal "King of the Death Match" tournament.

Terry Funk uses his branding iron on Cactus

According to Mick, when his career is all said and done he will probably be best remembered for the 16 foot fall he took from a cage in 1998. The match was called "Hell in a Cell". Mick was also choke slammed through the cage by Undertaker (which was unplanned) and then back dropped into thumb tacks in what became one of the most famous matches in wresling history.

the aftermath.