Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher
June 11, 2005
IWA Mid-South Something to Prove

They say styles make fights. The high flier vs. the technical master. The workhorse vs. the charisma machine. The bruiser vs. the pretty boy. These clashes and differences lead to unique and fun matches. They stick out on the page or on any card. Interesting and out-of-the-box matchups are the lifeblood of wrestling.

What happens when you take the most insane brawler in wrestling, a man with nothing to lose and no regard for his own body, against the biggest name on the independent circuit, a man known for his no-nonsense, hard-hitting style? You get one of the most fun and, frankly, ridiculous matches of all time, a surefire 5-star match that breaks the mold of what people think of as a great match.

If you’ve never seen a Necro Butcher match before, his name in of itself says it all. Imagine everything you know about the excess and craziness of the 2000s – the Fast and the Furious franchise, the market crash, the Malice at the Palace, The Wrestler the movie (in which our subject appears), just take the entire decade and throw it onto what you know about Mick Foley, and that is Necro. If Foley didn’t care about his own well-being, Necro cared less. If Foley wanted to maim his opponent, Necro wanted to absolutely decapitate them. He was the guy walking along the highway midafternoon on a blazing hot day, tweaked out on trailer park meth; the guy you don’t know much about, but that you know you need to stay away from.

Joe was the opposite. No nonsense. When the indies reinvented themselves in the 2000s Ring of Honor, Joe was at the forefront. He focused on a hard-hitting, brutal style that featured minimal weapon use and shenanigans. Joe and his cohorts marketed themselves as true, pure wrestlers and looked down on the other side. The fanbase followed suit, the pure wrestling fans against the hardcore fans, eventually leading to the famous CZW vs. ROH feud.

IWA Midsouth pitted both men against each other in the old, now-renamed ECW Arena. A buzz reverberated through the building. With such clashes, especially of this magnitude and star power, audiences don’t know what to expect. Will these two work well together, or will the match fall apart in an awkward mess. That expectation and unknown is what makes them fun. Even announcer Dave Prazak questioned, “Is this match going to turn into an all-out fight? Is it going to be a deathmatch like Necro is used to or will it be a deathmatch like Samoa Joe is used to?” “IT’S GONNA BREAK DOWN!” exclaimed CM Punk. He was right.

Joe and Necro Butcher delivered in the best way possible. The match is absolutely brutal. Joe throws the ref out of the ring immediately, setting the town for the entire match. They each destroyed and decimated each other every step of the way. They punched and headbutted each other maliciously. Necro was busted open within minutes, throwing chairs at Joe’s forehead. Joe power slammed Necro’s face into the concrete (you read that right). The thump will make you nauseous. More chair throws. Joe feels like he has a real chip on his shoulder. Necro is below him, and he must pay.

There is so much chaos, so many crazy spots that it isn’t worth going into or spoiling them all. But your jaw will drop multiple times. Wrestling is at its best when it is unpredictable and wild. This is THE most unpredictable and wild it can ever get. This is one of my favorite matches of all time. A true classic in the most unconventional way, a match I’ve seen countless times and never gets old. A match that is perfect to show to people who know nothing about wrestling. Their lives will never be the same after watching.