Necro Butcher

Our resident philosopher profiles one of the hardest of hardcore wrestlers. Necro had a significant role in the film, The Wrestler, and has been one of the most popular guys on the indy circuit.

When people talk about wrestlers who are willing to do the most dangerous of stunts, several names come to mind. New Jack, the Rotten Brothers, Sandman, etc... Perhaps the sickest of them all is the Necro Butcher. The West Virginia native has bloodied himself almost as much as the others that he's faced. He was the guy in The Wrestler that was using a staple gun on himself and "Randy the Ram". His wild antics make him long over-due to become Wrestler of the Week.

From Military Man to Madman

Dylan Keith Summers was born in Morgantown, West Virginia in 1974. He grew up watching the NWA and other smaller promotions in the area and wanted to be a wrestler from early in life. In 1998, Summers began wrestling at small shows. To pay the bills, he enlisted in the United States Army. He got special permission from the military base to work small indy shows in and around Texas. During his early days, he did a military gimmick under the names Pvt. Dylan Summers and Pvt Dylan Sanders. Summers was introduced to Black Bart, who agreed to further train him. Eventually, Summers would adopt his Necro Butcher character. The Butcher "surname" was a tribute to Abdullah the Butcher. The Necro, according to many sources, was a nod to the Evil Dead films. Necro continued to work in the Texas markets, even after finishing his stay in the Army. He worked for the TCW promotion until getting into a heated confrontation with the company's promoter. Necro received further training from one of his early rivals, Jay Diego.

IWA = Insane, Wild Action

After his split with TCW, Necro moved on to become a key player in the IWA Mid-South promotion. In 2002, he defeated several men on his way to winning the King of the Death Match Tournament. Necro would work with the company, off and on, through 2008. He would feud with numerous top stars, like Samoa Joe and Low-Ki (WWE's Kaval). Necro would eventually form a successful tag team with Toby Klein that would be known as "The Tough Crazy Bastards". Necro and Klein ripped through IWA in 2007 and 2008. Necro would split with Klein to go on and win the company's Death Match title in 2008. He would drop the strap to Danny Havoc on March 1, 2008. Necro would take some time off to film his part of The Wrestler.

CZW

Thanks to his work in IWA. Necro Butcher became very popular as a Hardcore performer. By 2002, Necro was recruited by Combat Zone Wrestling. He worked the annual Tournament of Death Tournament. Necro lost the first three tourneys before finally beating Nick Gage and John Zandig. By winning the Tournament of Death, Necro became the only person to win both the Tournament of Death and the King of the Death Match tourneys. Necro left wrestling for a few months to take part, as mentioned above, in The Wrestler. He returned in 2009 for the Cage of Death IX supershow.

Not just clowning around -- JCW

Necro made his Juggalo Championship Wrestling debut in 2003. His first battle was a vicious Light Tube Deathmatch against "Hollywood" (Chuck) Hogan. The entire card was pulled from video release due to the number of injuries suffered, as well as the out-of-control fans. Both Necro and Hogan were nearly blinded by shards from the shattering light tubes. Necro moved on to first feud, then team with his greatest rival, Mad Man Pondo. They would win an 8-Team tourney to take the tag belts. They would hold the belts until Necro left to join Ring of Honor. Necro would return to JCW in December, 2009 to team with Pondo to battle the Thomaselli Brothers.

Ring of Honor

Necro Butcher was part of Chris Hero's CZW Invasion force in 2006. Necro served as a member of Team CZW in several high-profile singles and tag team battles. After the CZW Invasion storyline came to an end, Necro left ROH for several months. He would return in 2007 as part of the clique known as The Age of the Fall. At the Man Up PPV, Necro showed up with his arm and first wrapped in barbed wire. He attacked several ROH stars, that night. Necro would feud with the Briscoes, Jack Evans, Bryan Danielson and dozens of others in some of the most vicious matches in ROH's history. Necro would eventually split with AotF and feud with both their members and members of Prince Nana's The Embassy group. He has been scouted, several times, by TNA and WWE while working for Ring of Honor.
Necro Butcher has also surprised many of his critics by having numerous non-gimmick matches in Ring of Honor. He and Jay Briscoe have gone back and forth with wins in their long-running feud. While many have been brutal and crazy battles, several have been scientific matches that they have split victories in.

The Gentle Side of the Butcher

Many see Necro Butcher as nothing more than a sadistic brute that tries his best to slice and dice his opponents into burger meat. In reality, Dylan Summers is the father of two infant girls who has been happily married for some time. He does a lot of charity work and is beginning his career as a trainer of other wrestlers. In 2008, he played himself in The Wrestler. He sent "Randy the Ram" into cardiac arrest after a Staple Gun Match. Summers has also written a series of articles that have been collected into two volumes called "Choose Death...The Necro Butcher Story".

In Conclusion:

Dylan Summers has worked as a clean-cut military character and the scruffy Necro Butcher that stapled himself and Randy in The Wrestler. While Necro hasn't been picked up by TNA or WWE, yet, he could likely show up there at any time. Clickwrestle.com is just over-flowing with great clips of Necro Butcher in action. Some further great biographical material, as well as some seriously bloody photos are available over at OnlineWorldofWrestling.com.

Peace

--Jay Shannon
Jade89512@yahoo.com