5 Best Parking Lot Brawls In Pro Wrestling History
Will Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream reach these heights at NXT TakeOver: In Your House?
At Sunday's NXT TakeOver: In Your House, champion Adam Cole and challenger Velveteen Dream will throw caution to the wind in a "Parking Lot Brawl" that is all but the blowoff to their rivalry. Compared to cage matches, ladder matches, and other popular gimmick matches, the idea of duking it out in the car park doesn't traditionally inspire the same sort of awe. And yet, it's the logical progression to a feud that cannot be bound by conventional rules.
In most scripted circumstances, one fighter asking their foe to step outside for some old fashioned fisticuffs can only be a good thing - except for Rocky V, which I prefer to pretend never existed. But in wrestling, such an environmental brawl is generally an exciting proposition. Creative uses of weapons and surroundings, plus the opportunity to more accurately demonstrate hostility, generates a fitting blowoff to a long-simmering grudge.
There have been many parking lot brawls in wrestling history, some better than others. Here are a few of the better ones we've seen.
5. Ken Shamrock Vs. Steve Blackman (1999)
This "Iron Circle" match from the 1999 Fully Loaded was too short to be a classic or anything, but it had the right idea. Martial artists Shamrock and Blackman had been rivals for roughly a month, and matched up together in this match where they were surrounded by cars.
Various wrestlers honked the horns as Blackman and Shamrock put on what may be best described as an action movie fight sequence, mixing occasional weapon shots with various strikes, while making use of the relatively compressed environment they were in.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
