David Arquette On Reaction To Deathmatch Injury, Why He Returned To Wrestling

David Arquette is still feeling the effects of his Deathmatch with Nick Gage. The actor suffered some terrible lacerations and there was a lot of backlash surrounding his involvement in the bout and whether or not it was all handled properly. Arquette spoke to Sports Illustrated about the incident and why he returned to wrestling in the first place. Below are some highlights:

David Arquette On The Deathmatch & Luke Perry Looking At The Cut:

“I’m very grateful,” said Arquette. “I’m super lucky to be alive.”

“It was crazy,” said Arquette. “I got cut in a part of my neck muscle that was really close to my jugular. It’s in an area called ‘the box’ in your neck, and if you get hit there it’s pretty deadly.”

“Luke is a dear friend of mine, and his son, who is a fantastic wrestler named Jungle Boy, was wrestling on the same show,” said Arquette. “We’ve been friends for over 30 years, so Luke is the one I went to see to look inside the wound.”

“He looked and said no, so I knew I didn’t cut a main artery or vein,” said Arquette. “I could feel something was wrong with my neck, but I wanted to finish the match and tell a complete story.”

“I was in the hospital and had to have surgery to sew up my muscle and clean up my wound. It is what it is. I have no hard feelings with Nick Gage and I hope he doesn’t have any with me.”

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David Arquette On Why He Returned To Wrestling:

“My main reason in doing it is because I’ve been bullied for 18 years about being a punk who came into wrestling,” said Arquette, referring to his WCW title victory, which was a failed publicity stunt that some, albeit erroneously, claim was the final blow that caused WCW to fail. “I’m not a punk and I don’t like being pushed around, so I wanted to show people that I can hang.”

David Arquette On The Documentary Chronicling His Return:

“The main idea of the documentary is to let people know who I am. For me to meet the fans, to get to know the fans, to prove myself to the fans. The death match was a big part of it. You’ll always have your haters, but I’m glad they’re getting to know who I am, and I can go out and entertain them, because that’s what it’s all about.”