The Yokohama Piranha Deathmatch

The Yokohama piranha deathmatch.
A pro wrestling match where in a tank of live piranhas were used for the finish.
The year was 1996 and hardcore promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling was looking for ways to compete with the bigger more successful wrestling promotions of Japan.
The answer: The Yokohama piranha deathmatch. It’s two guys - Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Kendo Nagasaki in a standard deathmatch EXCEPT there’s a 50 gallon tank of live piranha’s in the middle of the ring. To win, you have to dump your opponent in the tank and hold them there for 10 seconds.
Obviously the highlights of this match all revolve around the tank. It’s not a very memorable match OUTSIDE of the piranha thing. There are standard deathmatch items used like barbed wire boards, tables chairs, that sort of thing, but nothing worth remembering.
At the end of the day they had one thing to get right, ONE THING. And they did.
There are false finishes where the crowd oohs and ahhs as someone’s head comes an inch from the water. And at one point one of the wrestlers blades and the blood drips down and saturates the water.
Obviously we all understand that piranhas in real life don’t eat whole humans alive in 10 seconds or anything like that, but it’s still an absolutely wild gimmick.
Big Japan didn’t stop here there though, they did a scorpion deathmatch, a crocodile deathmatch, something called a fire stone death match.
Oh and one note here: One this is not the British Kendo Nagasaki, this is a Japanese guy who took on the name and was actually a founder of the Big Japan promotion. He also helped train Bret Hart, believe it or not.
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