Back in 2015, professional wrestling veteran Chris Hero — Kassius Ohno in NXT — would participate in an Infinity Gauntlet Challenge for SMASH Wrestling based out of Ontario, Canada. This gauntlet would be wrestled under standard rules, except for featuring the unique stipulation of regardless if Hero would win or lose, he would move on to wrestle the next opponent. The gauntlet would only end when the overall time limit, decided by fan donations, had officially expired. The match would be as long as fans wanted it to be.
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Chris Hero Was Wrestling For Charity
Months before the actual match, Smash Wrestling would raise money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research via ALS Canada in the name of this Infinity Gauntlet. Smash fans looking to donate, would add time onto Hero’s Infinity Gauntlet Challenge with their monetary contributions, and the gauntlet would in total end up over three hours long, and raising over three thousand dollars. Smash had specifically chosen to target ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and anybody who donated would also be given a download of the match at the time. Donations over ten dollars also unlocked a special meet and greet bonus incentive at the time.
During the over three-hour gauntlet match that featured nine other wrestlers, Hero would wrestle 17 different falls, including a few rematches from earlier in the Infinity Gauntlet. Fans would see appearances from Facade, Tarik The Great, and current Impact Wrestling standout Rich Swann. Swann would beat Hero early in the gauntlet and then would return to wrestle at the very end, being the one in the ring against Chris as time expired. This would be the sportsmanlike way in which this ultimate test of endurance would end, or so fans thought.
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This was all followed by Tarik, who had lost to Hero in a series of very quick KO losses throughout the Gauntlet, donating extra money to personally get ten more minutes with Hero. Tarik would make the scene with $180 out of his knee pad, and hold the Smash Wrestling Heavyweight Championship despite not being champion at the time. Johnny Gargano was actually Smash Champion at the time, however, that did not stop Tarik from using the championship belt in a series of DQ decisions against Tarik, which eventually would lead to some pinfall victories for Tarik over a beaten Hero. The commentators would explain that clearly, Tarik did not understand the concept of Charity.
A Weekend Of Fundraising For ALS Canada
This would cap off a three-hour journey of wrestling that showed off the endurance of Chris Hero, as well as the charitable nature of Smash’s fans. This event would be a special follow-up to another ALS fundraising show Smash did open to the public the day before. The gauntlet would end up raising $3440 dollars with the weekend of events leading to a donation to ALS Canada for over five thousand dollars.
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Hero has remained fairly off the radar since being released from WWE and NXT UK during the early pandemic releases. He had a short-lived run with Ad-Free Shows with a podcast entitled “Can Chris Hero Save Wrestling?” and also posted a tease on his Twitter not long after being released that seemed to indicate that Hero was not yet done inside the wrestling ring. Before being released Hero was enjoying his second time around with WWE and had seemed to find a home on their NXT UK brand. Only time will tell if Hero will return to the ring and continue to give fans historic moments like the famed three-hour gauntlet for charity, but it's safe to say that the world could always use a hero.
