Can someone explain the appeal of tubelights in hardcore wrestling?

[GearSolidMetal]

I'm an Attitude-Era wrestling fan and loved ECW.

Chairs? Ladders? Tables? Barb-wire? Flaming tables? Sledge-hammers? Flaming barb-wire baseball bats?

I'm all into it, because I know how they work. Practically in every single one I mentioned there's an illusion to it that doesn't hurt the wrestler as much as you'd think.

The chairs are aluminum, same with the ladders.
Tables are made of balsa-wood, or something very weak so landing on wood is softer than just landing on concrete. With fire the wrestler is quickly extinguished so avoid serious burns.

So.... but I am completely clueless about tubelights.

First impression - They're retarded. Too many things can go wrong with the small pieces of glass thrown everywhere and the dust is an eye/inhalation hazard.

But then I know that can't be right or else there'd be far worse injuries and the threat of bits of glass flying over the audience. But these bottom-barrel wrestling orgs apparently use them more often than suplexes.

So please, explain it to me.

 

[Patrick Jane]

They are usually popular in bottom of the barrel garbage wrestling promotions like BJW, XPW and CZW or even backyard promotions. They're popular because they're fairly versatile in how you can use them in a wrestling match and impact with them gives a nice visual and sound feedback. The little glass pieces also tend to be less painful than thumbtacks or barbed wire for instance and because light bulbs burst easily, there is also less danger when landing on them. The exception for this is if you land sideways on them, because in this case they slice you up really bad and can cause seriously dangerous bleeding.

That being said, smarter promotions use light bulbs with fake contents and not real ones, because what's inside a light bulb is a bigger danger than the glass itself. Nick Mondo had some serious issues with mercury poisoning because of the light bulbs used in the unsafe shitshow called CZW.

 

[The Clinch]

It’s an indicator of stupidity.

 

[GoldenAzazel]

 

[HereticBD]

From an entertainment aspect, you can set them up for all sorts of spots, they look cool when they explode, and make a big crashing sound when you break a bunch. I remember throwing those fuckers out at some warehouse way back, and we'd have fun breaking them, because they make a pretty loud pop when they burst.

But yeah, it's pretty fucking stupid. It's also just played out, too. I'll never understand these hardcore guys who make like five bucks a match(if they're lucky) to mutilate themselves in front of 16 people.

 

[Francis Rossi]

Cos idiots. Tiny shards of glass everywhere that can't realistically all be cleared up for the next match. Just use Lego like a real man/woman.

Mind, there have also been guys rushed to hospital after using weed whackers and (seriously) grandfather clocks in garbage matches, so rthere are even stupider people out there.

 

[White Whale]

People like Nick Gage thinks it makes them look crazy and tough.

 

[Frank23]

"Da marks are in the ring now, bro."

 

[Thrawn33]

The correct answer.

 

[Herwald]

From an entertainment aspect, you can set them up for all sorts of spots, they look cool when they explode, and make a big crashing sound when you break a bunch. I remember throwing those fuckers out at some warehouse way back, and we'd have fun breaking them, because they make a pretty loud pop when they burst.

But yeah, it's pretty fucking stupid. It's also just played out, too. I'll never understand these hardcore guys who make like five bucks a match(if they're lucky) to mutilate themselves in front of 16 people.

This, basically, sums it up. They're fun to destroy, but it's kinda retarded to do it on a hoomin bean.

That said, if people wanna do it and other people wanna watch them do it - go ahead and do it. I'm not one for restrictions like that.

 

[Clark Rogers]

I've always kinda hated the light tube stuff. especially some of the ridiculous contraptions they build out of them... I would have to find some clips as examples, but it's just dumb.

those contraptions totally kill any suspension of disbelief... like hey yeah I'll be right there for the fight just let me finish taping together 40 light tubes into a big cube first!

I liked ECW type hardcore, but not a fan of most of these garbage shows.

 

[D.R.H.]

 

[Dead Spirit of MMA]

Serious injuries from light tubes are few and far between. I think ranting against them from a safety perspective on an MMA forum is a bit much. There are enough pearl-clutchers in this world as it is.

They're used because they provide a nice visual when they explode, they make a loud sound when they pop, and each tube adds to the amount of broken glass in the ring, which increases the amount of blood from bumps as the match progresses.

I've been to BJW shows where they gave out plastic sheets for the entire front row to hide behind. That might sound stupid and dangerous but I think it's the kind of interactive theatre which only pro wrestling can provide. It's like a ghost train in that you feel dangerously close to the action but are still pretty safe. I like that kind of thing in pro wrestling, like Stan Hansen swinging his rope at fans or the Leatherface guys running around through the audience with chainsaws. I wish there was more crossing of that line, not less of it. I like a bit of danger in pro wrestling.

 

[sleepyguard85]

Outlaw mud show fuckery

 

[Mbetz1981]

The stupidest thing about the BJW and IWA promotions were all the pillow soft pitter-patter worked punches in-between the thumbtacks, tube lights, etc. I'm more offended by the horrible striking than I am of the gratuitous blood/violence.

*As a side note* I like some of what FMW and W*ING did because their main focus was always on wrestling with usually only the main events being the hard-core gimmick matches.

 

[BadMoneySlim]

Neck beards like them

 

[rzombie1988]

They make a cool sound, they look dramatic with the debris spraying everywhere and they are relatively safe. They also are lightweight enough that you can do more things with them than other weapons.

Like everything else though in wrestling, it's how you use them. When you are multiple matches in on BJW or ICW NHB shows and you've seen dozens of light tube shots, it gets boring and the effect wears off.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I just realized I haven't posted in this thread since I created it.

After watching more of these underground deathmatches, I can say that tubelights haven't grown on me.

Its complete overkill. The maximum effect with weapon-props is when they're used sparingly, setting up the anticipation for when they're actually used.

But with tubelights in these underground deathmatches, its like damn near every move is using a tubelight... hitting with a tubelight...suplex onto tubelights.... throwing onto a stack of tubelights... it completely kills the illusion of the significance of tubelights. A deathmatch with tubelights might as well be a regular match without tubelights.

 

[moonwolf]

I just realized I haven't posted in this thread since I created it.

After watching more of these underground deathmatches, I can say that tubelights haven't grown on me.

Its complete overkill. The maximum effect with weapon-props is when they're used sparingly, setting up the anticipation for when they're actually used.

But with tubelights in these underground deathmatches, its like damn near every move is using a tubelight... hitting with a tubelight...suplex onto tubelights.... throwing onto a stack of tubelights... it completely kills the illusion of the significance of tubelights. A deathmatch with tubelights might as well be a regular match without tubelights.

see david arquette vs nick gage*