Ian Rotten

"Ian gets a lot of shit because of the stuff he did outside the ring. As a fan, I can't lie, I don't care. I recently rewatched the 2 OG Taipei Death Matches and Ian was the stronger worker in both, no disrespect too Axl, RIP bud. I've heard the guy sucks to work for, and that may be so. But he's a pioneer of the hardcore. Deserves his chops for that alone. Crucify me. ?"

[0.0] "To be as blunt as possible, Ian is horrible in every way, his matches are bad, slow and messy, and it's clear that he will be the one who comes out more unscathed (this is in IWA Mid-South, although everywhere else he is still bad, bad and messy). As a person he is even worse, and to tell you that he paid one of his wrestlers with drugs (sadly it was JC Bailey who received the drugs), that already says a lot about Ian Rotten in general, the end of Ian Rotten came too late, but we should still be grateful that he is far away from here."

[0.0] "I am someone who doesn't really have a problem with deathmatch wrestling. In fact, it's something I love, and I have nothing but respect for any person who is willing to sacrifice *that* much for people's enjoyment. However, I don't know what is with hardcore / deathmatch wrestling promoters and being at best sleazy, and at most absolutely beyond scummy. Ian Rotten is definitely one of the worst, for he undeniably exploited the lives and safety of all the people he booked. Yeah, of course he was involved in helping several talents in the indie scene make a name for himself, and his promotion definitely had some great matches, but that's not even *close* to excusing anything that happened under his watch. Two names. J. C. Bailey and Mike Levy. Need I say more?"

[1.0] "An exceptional deathmatch wrestler. A terrible human being. Genuinely, you paid an addict in drugs, shot on a rookie to drive him out of the company, scammed people on multiple occasions. Fuck Ian Rotten."

[5.0] "I would love to give Ian an 8 because I think he's a great deathmatch competitor (most of the time) and had a decent promotion under his belt, but he is a very controversial guy. I think Ian's career peak was between 2001 and 2007. IWA Mid-South was a pretty good promotion, giving a platform for guys like Chris Hero and CM Punk to make a name for themselves while also being a deathmatch company. Stuff like the Mike Levy incident and JC Bailey's death (amongst other examples) have just shit on his reputation for anything. I'm doing my best to be fair but I will acknowledge his mistakes."

"[0.0] the shit on the bottom of my shoe is more valuable to society and the pro wrestling world than ian rotten is"

[1.0] "Ian Rotten is a stain on the wrestling business, plain and simple. In an industry full of sketchy folks, Ian stands tall as being particularly scummy. Put aside the deathmatches and just look at his standard matches. Slow. Sloppy. Lazy. I would also prefer to just have someone hit me in the head with a blunt object over having to watch anything Ian has ever done."

[3.0] "Ok, I know Ian is a pos but he did have some great matches with Axl in ECW and of anytime he fought Mickie. Also IWA was a iconic promotion for fans of deathmatch wrestling(maybe not so much the wrestlers). But his horrible track record for actions inside and out of the ring is way to long for this man to be respected, but I do think he is abit over hated in the iwc. Hes actually a solid worker so he's gotta get atleast 3."

[0.0] "you can give him props for ecw run. even then pretty fucking mid. a shitty wrestler (admittlety very very few flashes in pan like I can count em on one hand and that says alot for a 31 year career LOL) and an even worst promoter. was an abusive piece of shit to mickie knuckles and paid a drug addicted wrestler in drugs. he then went to said wrestlers funeral and asked his family for gas money. I guarantee you his matches do not need to be sought out, nor his promos. only 1 good thing was the promo where mickie knuckles wanted to do death match wrestling and that was carried by mickie as he came off as just boring. and also you cant even look back on that without thinking about the abuse he even admitted to! if anyone needs a source, I shit you not, the dumbass did an interview where he was called out on all of this. im not religious but lets pray this motherfucker stays far far away from the wrestling industry."

[1.0] "Yeah, uh, absolutely not. Scumbag behind the scenes, couldn't wrestle worth two shitsticks, and cut some really lame promos back in the day. One point, and that's generous. I hate to say it, but Axl Rotten was better. A WHOLE ONE POINT BETTER, but better..."

[0.0] "Deathmatch wrestling is a bunch of garbage for the most part and this guy epitomises the worst side of it. Scumbag promoter, pays his workers in drugs and purposely injuring people. Hopefully he will be blackballed forever because he is a completely garbage human being who seems proud of it."

[1.0] "Total shit in the ring, best at doing garbage mud show hard core death matches and is a miserable turd in public because he thinks he's a main eventer in the WWE, instead of a next to no talent hack who wrestles at carnival grounds where people earn $20 for falling face first on an upside down lawn mower."

[2.0] "I think the guys that gave him a 0 are all you need to read. Tho, I will give him 2 points for being ALMOST unbearable but not really unbearable"

[4.0] "Okay wrestler, good deathmatch wrestler, good booker, terrible promoter, terrible person (according to most people anyway). As an in-ring wrestler alone I think he's overhated but he's gotten away with so many horrific things in wrestling that just can't be overlooked."

[0.0] "Quite possibly, one of the most despicable human beings that didn't commit murder or sexual assault on anyone. Nevertheless, he's still a detestable, reprehensible human (and I use that term loosely) and good thing he retired. Otherwise, he may have been blackballed."

[0.0] "A peace of actual shit in human form had the same amount of wrestling skill at his peek as his sun had when he was nine aka zero. I and no one should forget the Mike Levy incident. Sure he brought deathmatch wrestling to the states with Axl, but he also brought the redneck-outback-hicks kinda wrestling to the states as well, which is ass compared to Combat Zone, Big Japan, Game Changer, Frontier Martial Arts, WING, IWA Japan, or Extreme Championship."

"Ian rotten is hated by many but he has help many future wwe legends when they was young. IWA Mid South above average company with lot of legacy."

[6.0] "Ian Rotten the wrestler is not very good, Ian Rotten the Deathmatch wrestler is better but nothing worth mention as he is just generic. Ian Rotten the promoter is both somehow both great and stupid, he can put on great shows for low money, or no money because apparently he doesn't pay his workers. What a jerk."

[10.0] "You've never actually seen Ian wrestle if you don't think that he can't wrestle. His ability in hardcore matches speaks itself, but his mat-based work is phenomenal and simply feels like a style from another era entirely. A candidate for the most underrated "technician" in wrestling history."

[0.0] "Not a wrestler and an absolute dick of a human. Seeing him cut that promo on Peter B Beautiful (who's also not a wrestling) as if he was some kind of tough guy was cringy as fuck. I would give a million quid to have seen Minoru Suzuki hell even Tay Conti to fold him in half."

[0.0] "It's difficult to leave my honest thoughts on Ian Rotten without coming off as insulting, and to apply an apt rating, I need to leave a comment. Most of me wants to be insilting, but I also don't want to be banned--that should give you an idea on how I feel about this guy. Ian Rotten would make for one hell of an episode of Dark Side of the Ring; similar to the New Jack episode in it's own right. I have liked, even loved, IWA here and there, but I could live without it, and both professional wrestling and the ghost of JC Bailey would have been better off without Ian Rotten, of course in my opinion. I'll leave it there."

[2.0] "I love deathmatch wrestling, but I never understood the hype or push for Ian Rotten over other deathmatch wrestlers. He had some awesome matches with Axl Rotten, but haven't cared for most of his matches after that. He runs IWA Mid South, has brought in a lot of big names and put on great shows, but also paid wrestlers with pills, and shorted wrestlers money, and not given fans merch that they were owed. IWA MS was once one of the biggest and best hardcore promotions, but not anymore for IWA MS or CZW. GCW, ICW No Holds Barred, and H20 are the best now, followed by ICW Milwaukee and maybe Lro Wrestling Trainwreck and Horror Slam was getting up there. I sometimes heard him called the King of the Deathmatch. Sure he won IWA MS King of the Deathmatch twice, but he is nowhere near the deathmatch wrestler Necro Butcher is, or Madman Pondo or "Mr. Insanity" Toby Klein was or Deranged, Brain Damage, Cpl. Robinson, JC Bailey, Zandig, Wifebeater, Nick Mondo, Nick Gage, Masada, and others. The problem with Ian as a wrestler is that other than being slow in the ring, every match his opponent is the one taking 95% of the damage. After his matches with Ian and first King of the Death, he's probably had 100s of deathmatches and every single time, his opponent takes the biggest bump, his opponent bleeds the most, his opponent takes the damage. Ian hardly takes anything. I specifically remember him facing JC Bailey, and JC though the better wrestler, took every bump in the match and it was one sided for Ian even though JC was much better. Ian's deathmatches aren't that much fun to watch because they are always one-sided with his opponent taking all the damage. He gives but needs to take in matches, which he does not do."

[6.0] "King Of The Death match! Enthusiast of the random shootstyle/battlarts type matches in-between the death matches. Booked and promoted one of the more predominate promotions of the mid 00s. Undying legacy. Sure Ian Rotten is a scumbag of a person, and I don't have to even mention why BUT as a wrestler he is so.... Ian Rotten. A league of his own."

[10.0] "One of the best promoters in wrestling. Founded IWA Mid-South one of the only hardcore promotions in wrestling today other than CZW. Great in the early days of ECW. He is 50 now and is slowing down but still can wrestle."

[10.0] "You can say what you want about Ian Rotten but truth be told, he & Axl brought deathmatch wrestling to America. Sure, you had barbwire matches & stuff of that nature before them but no one was doing thumbtacks, barbwire bats, taipei death (which they innovated) before them. Is he a great business man? Not at all & he'll admit that but he's bred more talents in IWA that's gone on to make a name for themselves in wrestling than almost any other indy wrestling promoter."

[1.0] "Putting all his real life drama aside, Ian Rotten is a trash wrestler, as well as a piece of shit human being, who appeals to the lowest type of wrestling fanbase on earth. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for hardcore wrestling, but the type of wrestling Rotten partakes in and promotes borders on assault. He also could have ended Mike Levy's life in that horrendous incident a few years back. What redeeming qualities does this guy have other than the fact he bleeds a lot?"

[2.0] "Ian Rotten is an abject failure as a human being. As a wrestler, Rotten's best move was mindlessly slicing his body up with a razor blade. Ian Rotten's only positive contribution, either to wrestling or to society as a whole, was that IWA Mid-South, was, for a while, one of the best independent promotions around, and provided a place for aspiring wrestlers to gain experience and improve their craft."

[2.0] "Its hard to say who's worse between Ian and Axl since they're both pure hardcore guys (I. E. Trashcan wrestlers) who only ever got over because they were dumb enough to split their heads open for a cheap pop. Its hard to give Ian more credit for being the father of IWA, which was pretty much ECW 2. 0, when he was such an a hole to his talent, but its still more then Axl ever did. That being said Axl was the better in ring talent. That's like saying getting punched in the crotch is better then getting a brick to the back of the head but that counts for something."

[0.0] "The fact that Ian Rotten has a higher rating than Axl Rotten is just crazy. Not that Axl Rotten was the greatest of all time or anything, but Ian Rotten is garbage. Untalented and lazy as a wrestler and a total scumbag as a promoter."

[6.0] "theres alot of bad people that wrestle... some guys murder... some rape... alot of them father children they then abandon... steal, lie, cheat... if you get into the dirt most these guys are basically carnival sideshow acts... we shouldnt be giving out zero ratings for being a bad person. we should be grading these guys in what quality show they can give us fans. wrestling is about connecting to the fans. ian was a one trick pony in the ring... he bled and he made his opponent bleed. it was all junk wrestling. its not everyones cup of tea but ian did it ok. i wouldnt go out of my way to see his match but he was ok when he happened to be part of a show i was watching"

[0.0] "Ian Rotten gets a ZERO for being a scumbag. The inability to pay his wrestlers is just one thing in a long list of things that makes him a scumbag. I have no respect for someone that does the things he does (Mike Levy Incident, et. al. )."

[0.0] "Fired from ECW because they didn't need him, in case anyone wants to put him over for being in ECW. Deathmatch promoter who seems to care very little about wrestlers' well-being. Owes A LOT of wrestlers money. Apparently always has BS excuses about not being able to pay people. Booked an untrained kid who was horribly beaten by Ian's lackeys in front of a very small crowd. See "Mike Levy incident"."

[0.0] "Pretty poor reputation as a promoter. Dangerous ring, cheating the boys, etc. His whole schtick was wrestling in death matches, but he was never particularly good at it, in my view. That's why he gets a 0 from me."

[0.0] "You can watch ECW clips where this guy's standing blading in full sight, that says all you need to know about him as a worker. As a promoter, he had a hot little indy for a while with IWA:MS but ruined it with lazy, inept and at times sadistic booking. He takes advantage of his talent at any opportunity he can and is just a generally vulgar human being."

[0.0] "Poor, poor, poor wreslter. And the Mike Levy incident? Bah"

[4.0] "Guy booked some fun stuff in IWA:MS, but that seemed more a result of him having a good pool of talent to choose from than him being a visionary or a remarkable storyteller. Terrible ambassador for the sport near the end of his career, participating in bad, 'shock rock' type match-ups that he truly didn't belong in."

[9.0] "Former (and current? ) promoter of companies such as IWA Mid South, IWA Midwest, and American Rasslin Association, Ian Rotten has booked some of the greatest matches in wrestling history. From CM Punk vs. Chris Hero to lesser known great matches like American Kickboxer vs. Tarek the Great, Rotten is a fantastic booker. What many people don't know is that he's a great wrestler as well. Yes, wrestler. He had many great and disgusting death matches, but he can go hold for hold with anyone. One needs to go only so far as to see some of his matches with people like Bryan Danielson to see proof. Ian Rotten is certainly well past his prime, but never underestimate "The King of the Death Matches". He can flat out go."