Tough Crazy Bastards: Still Tough, Still Crazy

By Kayjel J. Mairena

Kayjel Mairena is a talented multimedia journalist and we are very proud to have him contribute to the Ten Four. You can support his work via Venmo here

More than a hundred parishioners gathered at the LA Church on East 15th Street in Los Angeles on July 24. Rather than prayers, revered deathmatch wrestling duo Tough Crazy Bastards delivered a Friday evening masterclass in old-school brawling.

Deathmatch wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where people use weapons to fight. It’s where theater, violence and mettle meet. Blood isn’t just common in deathmatch wrestling; by the end of most nights a distinct iron smell fills the air. Even audience members often end up with bloodstained clothing.

“It’s for the love of the game, and not for anything else,” said Sydne Santiago, a deathmatch wrestling fan.

“It’s a rush for the people who are in it, and for the people watching,” Santiago said. 

On an almost monthly basis, hundreds of people pack themselves in the LA Church for professional wrestling. It’s a small gallery with white walls, a patio bar and graffitied front gate. As soon as the fights are over, the cleanup crew wipes blood off the walls and prepares the building for Sunday sermons and other community events. 

Tough Crazy Bastards, a legendary tag team consisting of “Mr. Insanity” Toby Klein and Necro Butcher dominated the underground wrestling scene from 2002 to 2008. The duo decided to separate almost 18 years ago but reunited for Ruthless Pro Wrestling’s “Under New Management” event. 

Ruthless Pro Wrestling billed Tough Crazy Bastards as the night’s co-main event. They faced professional wrestlers Buddy Badcock and Michael Krueger in a no disqualifications tag-team match. 

Tough Crazy Bastards entered the church as heavy favorites in the brawl. Many attendees had watched Necro Butcher on VICE News’s “Dark Side of the Ring” on Tuesday and wanted to witness him in person. The episode details Necro Butcher’s unwavering clash with professional wrestler Samoa Joe where both fighters engaged in a dogfight and cemented themselves in wrestling history. Many wrestling fans refer to the battle as the “roughest match ever.” 

Tough Crazy Bastards set the tone for the fight early. Real American, a theme song popularized by wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, blasted through speakers. The two deathmatch wrestling pioneers waving U.S flags. With adoring fans surrounding him chanting his name, Necro Butcher proceeded to rip off his red “Hulkamania” tank top, putting him in a mental state where he is impervious to pain and almost undefeatable. 

Hogan, legal name Terry Bollea, contributed heavily to the rise of professional wrestling, but his career is marred by controversy. He was caught using then apologized for racist remarks, including racial epithets for Black people, on multiple occasions. He also played a role in preventing wrestlers from unionizing. In his last appearance for World Wrestling Entertainment in January 2025, Hogan was heavily booed by the crowd inside LA’s Intuit Dome. 

Fans cheered seeing Necro Butcher enter a “state of Hulkamania,” and many shared concerned looks after he launched an attendee’s chair into the ring incapacitating the referee. A second projectile hit Krueger in the face.  

Klein started the match by kicking Badcock in the stomach. A few strikes passed Badcock’s guard before he responded with a flurry of his own punches. 

Every punch Badcock threw had conviction and bad intentions. Badcock pressed, cut the ring, and left no escape for the veteran brawler. With Klein trapped, Badcock battered him, but Klein refused to fall. 

Klein later attributed his superhuman durability to a combination of adrenaline and the crowd’s support. 

“The fans kind of guide you through the pain,” Klein said afterwards. 

When Badcock tagged Krueger into the ring, Krueger entered with ire. Krueger wrapped his hands around Klein’s windpipe and nearly choked him unconscious. 

Klein struggled as his face became more and more red as he reached and gasped for air. With Klein quickly fading, Necro Butcher rushed in the ring to remove Krueger from the nearly lifeless body. 

Krueger and Badcock controlled a large portion of the fight. They wreaked havoc inside and outside of the ring with untethered aggression and youthful mobility. 

As the beating prolonged, “Necro” cheers died down and support for Badcock filled the room. Necro Butcher laid on a pew outside of the ring helpless as Krueger and Badcock delivered thunderous blows and skull-crushing chair shots. With Klein injured, it seemed like the new generation of wrestlers would spoil the Tough Crazy Bastards long-awaited reunion.

Krueger and Badcock moved Necro Butcher back into the ring, and the beating continued. It’s unknown if Necro Butcher was conscious or if he was running on pure bodily instinct but he wouldn’t quit. Half-awake, Necro Butcher would raise his guard, head bobbling behind his closed fist, and invite more punishment. 

Blood poured from Necro Butcher’s head onto the canvas. A regular man would almost certainly have quit. Withstanding such gruesome levels of violence that’s how the Tough Crazy Bastards earned their name. 

Klein freed a screaming Necro Butcher from Badcock’s clutches with a volley of kicks and punches. A momentary sign of life from the Tough Crazy Bastards switched the momentum but it wasn’t long until they both once again found themselves on the canvas, immobile. 

Badcock grabbed two chairs and placed them in the middle of the ring. He sat Necro Butcher atop his shoulder. Krueger climbed the second rope. 

Krueger stood tall on the turnbuckle for a second then jumped directly into a fierce counter punch from Necro Butcher. Badcock stumbled, lost his footing, and Necro Butcher capitalized. 

Necro Butcher dove head first in between Badcock’s legs and rolled him up. In the blink of an eye, Badcock found himself pinned to the ground, unable to move. The referee slammed his palm to the ground three times in rapid succession, and signaled for the bell. 

The crowd erupted. “Necro, Necro, Necro” reverberated through the place of worship. Necro Butcher high-tailed it out of the ring, and dove onto the cold, sticky concrete where fans swarmed him. Tough Crazy Bastards had won.

According to Badcock, a couple factors contributed to his pair losing: a lack of chemistry with Krueger, the Two Crazy Bastard’s vast in-ring knowledge, and what he said was a biased referee with a slow moving hand.

Badcock seemed mostly upset about the officiating. “We just fucking whipped their ass the whole time, and then I just got rolled up and pinned. I feel like the ref counted faster for them,” Badcock said. 

“They need to give us another shot, and we need a different ref. The original ref got hit in the face with a chair, and he was the better ref. The other guy, I think he’s partial towards Necro and Toby,” Badcock added. 

Santiago described Necro Butcher’s match at RPW: Under New Management as “fucking amazing. Necro always puts on a show. I just watched his documentary, so I was extra excited to see him.”

“They all did so great,” Santiago said. “Anytime someone’s willing to take pain like that, I’m very proud of them.” 

RPW: Under New Management event ended with professional wrestler Rickey Shane Page defeating Joe Dred in a Light Tube Shark Cage match. After his hard-fought win, Page grabbed the microphone and called out Necro Butcher.

Necro Butcher walked out in his briefs, and accepted Page’s challenge to a fight. Match date and location to be announced on RPW’s social media page in the upcoming weeks.