The Righteous are open to bringing a little more violence to TNA, ya dig?
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard recently spoke with The Righteous, aka Vincent and Dutch. The latter is known for his work in deathmatches over the years, including an infamous one that took place at WrestleCon New York in 2019. Dutch explained how his appreciation for the violent match stipulation began, crediting an IWA Deathmatch tournament tape for sparking his interest.
“I’ve been a Deathmatch fan for a while. I was born in Brooklyn and moved upstate in New York, but I’d go down to Brooklyn every weekend to visit my grandparents. There was an anime store down the street from my grandfather’s place, and that’s where I found the IWA Deathmatch tournament tape,” Dutch explained. “I bought it, and I was hooked — barbed wire, fire, explosions, blood — it was awesome.”
The Righteous is down with TNA hosting deathmatches
TNA featured deathmatch and hardcore content over the years, with names like Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards being prominent competitors in that match format. More recently, TNA has featured bloody and brutal barbed wire and dog collar matches featuring its men and women, but it’s been a little toned down in recent months.
TNA didn’t outright ban heavy blading and bleeding, but instead encouraged an emphasis on more brutality. The company is open to using blood if it makes sense, and The Righteous shared that they would be open to competing in a deathmatch if the situation arose.
“I’d be 100% in for some kind of Deathmatch stuff for TNA,” Dutch said. “Actually, going back to that match at WrestleCon, they originally wanted us to do a comedy Deathmatch. I thought, maybe it would be funnier if we just did a regular Deathmatch instead, especially when people were expecting something more comedic.
“I can’t remember all the details of what was used,” Dutch continued. “But the buildup was perfect: ‘Okay, this is funny, a little uneasy’ — and then, ‘oh my god, here come the skewers, the barbed wire, the mouse traps.’ Yeah, I’d definitely be down. I’d be down.”
Skewers look cool, but they hurt!
Vincent shared his partner’s sentiment, although they noted it looks cooler than it feels.
“I love a good hardcore match. I’ve taken the skewers one time from Atticus Cogar, who I’m a big fan of. He’s great — he was fantastic when I got to work with him,” Vincent said. “He’s the only person who’s ever used skewers on me. He knew exactly what he was doing, which is why I trusted him. So yeah, same as Dutch, I’d definitely be open to that for sure.”
“he thing about the skewers is they suck no matter what,” Dutch added. “It hurts — a lot. But they look really, really cool.”
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