Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted. Although hardcore wrestling is a staple among some wrestling promotions, where they are used at the climaxes of feuds, some promotions (such as Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling) specialized in hardcore wrestling, with many matches performed in this manner. Terry Funk and Mick Foley are often seen as the "Kings of Hardcore".
Hardcore wrestling became acknowledged as a major wrestling style first in Japan with promotions such as FMW and W*ING. It then became successful in America with Extreme Championship Wrestling. The World Wrestling Federation capitalizing on the success and introduced the WWF Hardcore Championship. The WWF soon began to turn the matches into comedy skits, illustrating the ridiculousness they involved. Hardcore is in sound contrast to traditional mat-based wrestling, where solid technical skills are preferred over stuntwork, blood, and sheer shock value.
The term garbage wrestling is attributed to Japanese wrestler Giant Baba who used it originally to describe a style of wrestling which required little wrestling athletic ability and often involved no wrestling at all, which is rather common in much of hardcore wrestling. Some in the United States consider it a derogatory term.
