History Main / UnnecessaryRoughness

* In the opening game of ''KickingAndScreaming,'' a player on the opposing team sticks his arm out in order to knock a defender down as he rushes past him.
* The entire football game in ''The Longest Yard'' has lots of Unnecessary Roughness going on, on both sides. The opportunity for Unnecessary Roughness is really the only reason the prisoners agree to play the game in the first place, and the warden instructs the guards' team to humiliate the inmates by pounding them into dust.

* ''Escape to Victory'' (AKA ''Victory'' in North America). During WorldWarII, a team of Allied prisoners of war plays the German national team in an exhibition match. The German team commits many violent fouls against the Allied players, which the referee doesn't call. The reason is that the referee has been ordered by the German Army officers to cheat and help the German team win.

* In ''FinalFantasyX'', the Luca Goers play this trope almost stereotypically in their effort to prove themselves as {{Jerkass}}es.

** Sportswriter\comedian Sean [=McIndoe=] wrote [[http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/51459/the-seven-levels-of-dirty-hockey The Seven Levels of Dirty Hockey]], where the lowest is annoying the adversary (i.e. skating close to the goalie to cover him in ice) and the other six deal with fighting - with the top one being an assault that has no reason than "I am going to try to end that guy’s season" (he includes the aforementioned 1972 Valeri Kharlamov game as an example "at the risk of permanently losing my Canadian passport").

* The entire premise of ''[[SuperMarioBros Mario Strikers Charged]]'' is this trope. Tackling your opponent into electrical fences, lobbing bombs, Koopa shells, banana peels, and unleashing Chain Chomps onto the field is very common. They've turned soccer into something so intense the players all wear body armor. Even Bowser.

* Film/TheLastBoyScout takes this to its logical extreme when a football player (who was threatened to win the game or "he's history") gets high on PCP and then ''pulls out a gun and shoots 3 opposing players'' to score a touchdown before killing himself.

* Film/TheLastBoyScout takes this to its logical extreme when a football player gets high on PCP and then ''pulls out a gun and shoots 3 opposing players'' to score a touchdown before killing himself.

* DwayneJohnson (yes, The Rock) was recruited by the University of Miami to play football, but injuries kept him out of the starting lineup for most of his college career. His biggest moment in a game was when he became involved in a bench-clearing brawl (Miami vs. San Diego State) and was shown on ESPN chasing the San Diego mascot screaming "I'll kill you!"

* ''TheBlindSide'': The defensive lineman of the [[OpposingSportsTeam Lions]] deliberately kicks Michael when he's down and after the play has already ended, and the referee not only ignores the kick, but penalizes the Wingate Crusaders after [[PapaWolf Coach Cotton complains]].

* Team [[CardCarryingVillain Evil]] from ''ShaolinSoccer'' deliberately attempted to injure enough players of the eponymous team that they wouldn't have enough replacements to fill the required spots and thus be forced to forfeit. This strategy included such odd tactics as deliberately kicking the ball straight at the goalie. They get away with it because [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney the referee is on their boss's payroll]].

* The film ''SlapShot'' is largely a subversion of this trope, focusing on a team that is in a huge slump until they recruit three brothers who basically just skate around beating up the other team, allowing the other players to score. The climax pits this team against a makeshift bunch of the roughest players in the sport, and the game quickly degenerates into one huge brawl.
* Probably one of the worst offenders is ''LittleGiants'', where the assistant coach of the OpposingSportsTeam tells his son to injure the quarterback by any means necessary. He does so ''well'' after the whistle. In real life, not only would he be ejected, but he'd likely never be able to play in Pop Warner again (these are 12 year olds, by the way). In the movie? Just 15 yards, and the assistant coach getting dressed down by the head coach. Also, the impetus for the [[YouGoGirl star girl football player]] to come from [[TenMinuteRetirement cheering her team on]] to getting back on the field and kicking some butt.

* In ''SororityBoys,'' the Tri-Pi Sorority girls play the role of the OpposingSportsTeam in a football game against the protagonist Delta Omega Gamma sorority. The DOG sorority's advantage comes from having [[DisguisedInDrag three guys in drag]] on the team, but this advantage is neutralized when the Tri-Pi sorority girls perpetrate a GroinAttack against each of the disguised frat boys.

* Pretty much the entire plot of ''TheWaterboy''.
* There's a famous scene in ''TheKarateKid'' where Evil Sensei orders his charge to sweep Daniel's already wounded leg. The kid is reluctant, but ultimately goes along with it.

* In ''MillionDollarBaby,'' Maggie's opponent for the final match repeatedly takes cheap shots and hits her after the bell rings, which should disqualify her, but she only gets points deducted.
* The rival baseball team in ''[[ThreeNinjas 3 Ninjas: Kick Back]]''.

** Odd-vehicle races on ''TopGear'' have strict no-contact rules -- which are always forgotten before two laps.

*** Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}, the following ''Wrestling/SurviorSeries'' of that year (2012), hits Wrestling/TheBigShow with '''''31''''' chair shots. ([[DesignatedHero And Sheamus was actually the]] ''{{Face}}'' [[DesignatedHero in this feud...]])
* Wrestling/NewJack has literally made a career of this since moving from SMW to ECW in the early 90's. Prime examples include The Mass Transit incident, where he brutalised a 17 year old wrestler and left him requiring fifty stitches after slicing his forehead open with an X-Acto knife; The Gypsy Joe incident, where he brutalised an old man with various weapons, including a baseball bat during a match; the 'stabbing' incident, where he pulled a piece of sharpened metal out of his pocket and used it to stab a local indy wrestler 17 times with during a match (he was later arrested for aggravated assault); and the Vic Grimes incident, in which he attempted, by his own admission, to kill a fellow wrestler at the conclusion of a scaffold match ("I wanted him to ''die''. I ain't got no love for Vic.")

* In ''Film/NecessaryRoughness'', "Flat-Top," the linebacker for the No. 1 team takes a cheap shot at kicker Lucy Draper (played by the lovely and talented Kathy Ireland). She gets even.

[[quoteright:300:[[FIFAWorldCup http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Unnecessary_Roughness_3050.jpg]]]]

* There were a few instances of the ''AmericanGladiators'' and the contestants mixing it up in the heat of competition. Once, Turbo actually punched a contestant during Sling Shot.

* From [[DwayneJohnson The Rock's own page]], there was his unprecedented 10 chair shots in a row to MickFoley.
** The funny thing is, the PG era is supposed to be LighterAndSofter, and yet DanielBryan once hit Wrestling/{{Kane}} with '''''26''''' chair shots.
*** {{Sheamus}}, the following Survior Series of that year (2012), hits TheBigShow with '''''31''''' chair shots. ([[DesignatedHero And Sheamus was actually the]] ''{{Face}}'' [[DesignatedHero in this feud...]])
* NewJack has literally made a career of this since moving from SMW to ECW in the early 90's. Prime examples include The Mass Transit incident, where he brutalised a 17 year old wrestler and left him requiring fifty stitches after slicing his forehead open with an X-Acto knife; The Gypsy Joe incident, where he brutalised an old man with various weapons, including a baseball bat during a match; the 'stabbing' incident, where he pulled a piece of sharpened metal out of his pocket and used it to stab a local indy wrestler 17 times with during a match (he was later arrested for aggravated assault); and the Vic Grimes incident, in which he attempted, by his own admission, to kill a fellow wrestler at the conclusion of a scaffold match ("I wanted him to ''die''. I ain't got no love for Vic.")

* In ''BloodBowl'' (itself a Fantasy version of AmericanFootball), this trope is {{inverted}}: the roughness is the only thing necessary, ''everything else'' is situational, at best.

** Page image is Nigel de Jong of the Netherlands kicking Xabi Alonso of Spain during the 2010 FIFAWorldCup Final. A highlight on a game that on {{Twitter}}, inspired ''ShaolinSoccer'' and ''MortalKombat'' to be Trending Topics.

** Similar to American football, ice hockey has a catch-all penalty for dirty play, "roughing." This penalty can range from "callous disregard of safety when skating into your opponent" to "intentionally firing a piece of vulcanized rubber[[note]]That would be the puck[[/note]] at your opponent's face." There's also the similarly intentionally vague "game misconduct" penalty, which is basically the hockey term for being ejected from the game.

** Similar to American football, ice hockey has a catch-all penalty for dirty play, "roughing." This penalty can range from "callous disregard of safety when skating into your opponent" to "intentionally firing a piece of vulcanized rubber at your opponent's face." There's also the similarly intentionally vague "game misconduct" penalty, which is basically the hockey term for being ejected from the game.

* The Creator/PGWodehouse Literature/JeevesAndWooster story "The Ordeal of Young Tuppy" has the eponymous UpperClassTwit getting involved in the yearly [[RugbyIsSlaughter rugby grudge-match]] between two rival villages; the event quickly proves to be an excuse for the participants to beat on each other.

*** {{Sheamus}}, the following Survior Series of that year (2012), hits TheBigShow with '''''31''''' chair shots.

* The entire football game in ''The Longest Yard'' has lots of UnnecessaryRoughness going on, on both sides. The opportunity for UnnecessaryRoughness is really the only reason the prisoners agree to play the game in the first place, and the warden instructs the guards' team to humiliate the inmates by pounding them into dust.

*** The UU team are amateurs so the professional players of A-M United have every advantage. The smarter pros realize that and are also aware that the opposing team are actually ultra powerful wizards who will likely enact their own UnnecessaryRoughness after the game. The Librarian alone is known for beating people to a bloody pulp for calling him a monkey (he is an orangutan).

** One of the various Unofficial roles in a Hockey team is the "[[TheBrute Goon]]" or "[[TheBigGuy Enforcer]]" who's entire job is to stop UnnecessaryRoughness by the other team, mostly by the threat of beating anyone who tries into a paste, especially if said roughness was directed at a star player.

*** NSW Waratahs fullback Duncan [=McBride=] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj-F0NyHt7c punching]] [[KickThemWhileTheyreDown Lions flyhalf Ronan O'Gara while he's down]], in a match between the Lions and the regional team New South Wales Waratahs during the 2001 tour of Australia. It was so vicious, it spawned a rumour that [[YourCheatingHeart O'Gara had slept with McRae's wife]]. [=McRae=] received a red card and a 7-week ban, but he didn't miss any matches since it happened during the off-season.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' has Matrix and Bob[[hottip:*:actually Megabyte]] in a Pokemon-variant game. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Being Cheating Bastards]] they ignore the "mon vs mon" rule and go straight for the User handler, ending the game when Bob (as [[RentAZilla Bobzilla]]) crushes him under his foot.

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

** The funny thing is, the PG era is supposed to be LighterAndSofter, and yet DanielBryan once hit Wrestler/{{Kane}} with '''''26''''' chair shots.

* Most auto-racing depicted on TV features more contact between cars than a demolition derby. In reality even slight damage to a race car can result in such a huge performance loss that drivers usually avoid contact at all costs. Anyway, every major organized motorsports competition has strict rules against deliberate vehicle contact, and will disqualify, and even ban from competition, an offending driver who's being reckless.

** According to the spinoff book ''Literature/QuidditchThroughTheAges'', there are 743 separate fouls in the game... including "Attacking one's opponent with an axe". A recurring gag is that every single foul on the list occurred in the first Quidditch World Cup, as well as several nobody thought to put ''on'' that list (such as one team captain sending ''bats'' after the opposing team).

*** It's also mentioned that about 90% of the fouls can be prevented from ever happening by just not letting anyone use their wands while on the field.

* On the verge of losing the 1972 Summit Series to the Soviets, the Canadians, who were made up of professional NHL players, simply resorted to dirty play, such as deliberately injuring the Soviets' best player Valery Kharlamov, in order to win the series. This is partially averted because in North America, very few people will admit Canada's dirty play helped contribute to their victory.

* There's an old joke about Hockey's general level of violence: "I went to a brawl and then a hockey game broke out"

** in a later game:

** And of course, the actual fistfights, which happen quite often, and in fact, are considered a major part of the game. The penalty for a fight is five minutes, which applies to both players. It's rather telling that there's rules for just ''how'' you fight in a hockey match.