Toughest Athlete?

[WCSox]

Fake really isn't a good word to use for wrestling, scripted works out better because those guys get the s*** beat out of them every day. You're right about one thing though, for the most part they are juiced up freaks but most of them are tough as nails.

 

And that's why I don't watch wrestling.

 

I'll throw Mario Lemieux's name into the ring. He fought through severe back pain throughout most of his career, yet still managed to be one of the Top 5 hockey players ever. He was shelved a herniated disc (which also became infected and had him bed-ridden for a while) in the early '90s, came back for the playoffs, and won a Cup with such agonizing back pain that he couldn't lace up his own skates. Despite the pain, he was still the best player on the ice during the playoffs. He then fought through Hodgskin's lymphoma a couple years later, going through two months of chemo. On his last day of chemo, he caught a flight to Philly and scored a goal and an assist that evening. He may not have been the "toughest" athlete ever, but his ability to excel while fighting those ailments is miraculous.

[The Beast]

I'm going to go with the great MJ, as I remember when he was feeling flu-like and sick and basically won a playoff game for the Bulls.

 

Aaron Rowand. Aaron f***ing Rowand.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

The thread was about toughness. I am sure there are tough guys in the wrestling circuit. but I also think that its a lot easier to handle scripted, rehearsed, known events (which are designed to reduce the chance of injury), than it is to put yourself on the line in unkown, rough situations. That is why I don't see those wrestlers ever being as tough (in my book) as the tough players in a sport like football, or rugby, etc.

They can be scripted but it doesn't make it hurt any less. In the Hell in the Cell vid I posted -- in the end, the match left Foley with a dislocated jaw, a dislocated shoulder, a bruised kidney, 2 broken ribs, one and a half missing teeth, a concussion and 14 stitches for the cut beneath his lip. He took 2 months to fully recover.

 

The 2nd fall in that vid (the chokeslam through the top of the cell to the ring) was not planned for him to fall that far. The cell had given way somewhat and he crashed through unexpectedly. After the 1st throw off the top of the cell (a couple of minutes in), he continued the rest of the match with the separated shoulder (including pulling himself up the top of the 16 ft. cage so he could get dropped through it)

 

Just taking Foley's injuries through his career -- two thirds of his ear ripped off, 8 concussions, 2 broken noses, broken jaw, dislocated left shoulder, 54 stitches in his arm, fractured left shoulder, broken left thumb, 5 broken ribs, bruised kidney, broken toe, 325+ total stitches, torn meniscus, torn abdominal, broken right wrist, bone chips in elbow, 2 herniated discs, second degree burns on arm and shoulder, separated right shoulder, broken cheekbone, four front teeth knocked out...and that isn't even counting the scars from barbed wire, etc.

 

Even if they aren't to the extent of Foley, they're still taking bumps on the mat/floor/crowd/chairs etc. 270+ nights a year with little to no time to relax and really recooperate. They really take a f***ing beating day in and day out -- and can't lose a step because they're constantly on the road with house shows, TV and PPV dates.

 

Even if it has staged plans for spots, etc., the sheer number of nights that they have to consistently go out there and look like they haven't missed a beat is pretty damned impressive.

[Drew]

Haven't had any hockey people yet so...

 

You've got Probert in the early 90's, Stu Grimson of the same era, Bryan Marchment is a BAMF, and then the greats like Howe and Hull.

 

King Clancy.

 

Played a Stanley Cup final on a broken ankle, IIRC.

 

Glenn Hall got a skate across the face that opened his cheek up so that he could put his tongue through it and finished a game, back before Jacques Plante pioneered the goalie mask. The Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken combined of hockey, with 502 consecutive games played.

 

I'd put Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, and Steve Larmer up there as well. I remember JR's rookie season when he took a skate in the nose and was talking to the press afterwards, sitting in his locker with a big, gnarly gash across his face. A lot of the enforcers like Tie Domi and Joey Kocur are up there but do not have the longevity of guys like Glenn Hall and the aforementioned because usually they get beaten up or are just not good enough to stick around the league for long (ie, Grimson), save Bob Probert whose own career was cut short by drinking and drugs. I personally think that toughness over the long haul carries some weight.

 

As far as Football players go, Mike Singletary played through a severed fingertip, and Dan Hampton played a couple of seasons with no cartilage left in his knees, but I have to second whomever suggested Jack Youngblood.

Edited June 13, 2006 by Drew

[jenksd]

Dwayne Wade

[Punch and Judy Garland]

Jeff Bagwell. Amazing threshold for pain. True gamer

[santo=dorf]

Outside of the ring you didn't f*** with Meng (Haku.) IIRC, before he wrestle, he was hired to collect money from the deadbeats from wherever he was from.

[Milkman delivers]

Outside of the ring you didn't f*** with Meng (Haku.) IIRC, before he wrestle, he was hired to collect money from the deadbeats from wherever he was from.

 

I read recently that someone, maybe Hogan, said he was the toughest guy he's ever met.

 

EDIT: Bret Hart might have said it.

Edited June 15, 2006 by Milkman delivers

[Gregory Pratt]

In wrestling, Tommy Dreamer broke his neck and wrestled for years not knowing that it was broken until a doctor told him, and he still hasn't gotten the surgery he needs yet wrestles.

 

He's Hardcore!

[Felix]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Allen Iverson. He's probably not the toughest athlete, but he should definitely be mentioned in a discussion about it. He's one of the smaller players in the NBA, yet consistantly goes into the paint and gets knocked around by people twice his size. He still performs day in and out, despite probably never playing a game during the year without some sort of injury.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Mike Tyson.

[White Sox Fan For Life]

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

 

I agree with you on that part that! Mick Foley had his ear torn off in a hard core match in Japan which at that match the ropes were made out of barbed wire!

 

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.

 

It was Germany! I thought it was Japan.

[GoodAsGould]

Isnt there a difference between tough and stupid... because playing in a wrestling match rather than get your ear re-attached comes off to me as more stupid than tough.

[Gregory Pratt]

Isnt there a difference between tough and stupid... because playing in a wrestling match rather than get your ear re-attached comes off to me as more stupid than tough.

 

Is boxing stupid, or is that okay because it's "real" and wrestling is a fake something that you play at?

[GoodAsGould]

Is boxing stupid, or is that okay because it's "real" and wrestling is a fake something that you play at?

 

when did i ever say boxing was any better than wrestling...... they both are sports although a course id say boxing athletes are tougher athletes than wrestling ones... but if you lose your ear in either sport and decide that the fight is more important than your ear its stupid.

[Milkman delivers]

Isnt there a difference between tough and stupid... because playing in a wrestling match rather than get your ear re-attached comes off to me as more stupid than tough.

 

I'd probably use the term crazy rather than stupid. You have to be a little nuts to do some of those things. And the money probably doesn't hurt. Most of those hardcore guys don't see too much cash, but Foley has gotten pretty wealthy, I think.