WWE Match Reviews

July 14, 2004

What's your favourite WWE match? Is there an underrated classic in your collection, or do you want to remind everyone of some of the all time greats? Maybe, however, you think that some of the most remembered matches are overrated and want to point out some of the flaws.

If you want to write about a match, then give a small review. The more detail you include about the match (when it took place, any relevant background and so on) the better.

If you disagree with someone's review or think that a match should not be included, do not debate or argue. Simply write an opposing review. This thread will NOT get bogged down with drama or bullshit. If something is really retarded, as in "Orton vs. Jericho was 7 million stars and if you disagree you're an idiot", then it will be dealt with.

Try to stick to the following format:

Participants, gimmick, date / show (if known / applicable)

Review

Stars: *** (do not feel obligated to give a star rating)

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Thanks to LordOfTheCurry for suggesting this, and we really hope that it takes off.

EDIT: Since it needs stating explicity, this thread is just for reviews

Edited July 15, 2004 by nikjohns

The Mandarin · July 14, 2004

If you'd like to comment on one of the matches I've already reviewed here, feel free to do so in this thread.

One fall- WWE Undisputed Title- Kurt Angle © vs. Brock Lesnar
Date/Place- Seattle, Wash.- 3/30/03

Ref- Brian Hebner

Commentators- Michael Cole and Tazz

You can find my recap/review in the match reviews link.

This is generally regarded as the best match in their series, which also included SummerSlam '03 and the Iron Man. You'd think that was quite odd, being that Kurt Angle's neck put a limit on what they could do in the ring and Lesnar completely blew the ending to the match.

Lesnar and Angle had a lot of pressure on them as the match was built up for a long time on-screen and even longer off-screen. Since they were known as two great amateur wrestlers, the general idea was that it had the chance to be a classic-- until Angle got hurt. Incredibly, Angle risked further injuring his neck rather than cancelling their planned main event.

So to spark up some discussion,

modnote: please don't spark it

Edited July 15, 2004 by nikjohns

July 14, 2004

I'd definitely say it was the best of the series. The Summerslam match seemed a bit boring compared to the WM XIX match, as well as the classic repeated spot that should never ever be done. The Iron Man match completely sucked until the last 20 minutes, but the spotty selling won't save it from the crapper.

I would also say it was better than I expected because of the "Angle could die" story Meltzer or whoever reported, and with Angle injured I expected a quckie 10 minute match or something with a lot of stalling.

DangerousDamon · July 14, 2004

The wrestlemania match is the best of Lesnar and Angle's matches. Their other matches were also pretty good but I don't think they had the drama or build up that this one had.

Their Wrestlemania match would be just that much better had Brock hit the Shooting Star Press for the finish.

Lord of The Curry · July 15, 2004

Even if Brock had hit the SSP (which I would've MTFO for) the match itself was lacking in basic construction. I've watched the match a few times it's just a ton of moves strung together, thrown in with some amateur work and some suplexes. The easiest storyline they could've worked into the match was Old Guard vs New Guard and they chose to do neither, instead focusing on.........well........nothing. Brocks bumping was ace in the match though, specifically the german into the turnbuckle and I give props to Angle for gutting it out and doing the match but I can't in good conscience praise a match that didn't mean anything.

***

July 15, 2004

Since it needs stating explicity, this thread is just for reviews.

July 15, 2004

By the way, I've done some WWE match reviews in my Random Match Reviews if any of you haven't noticed. Cheap plug sorta.

DrVenkman PhD · July 15, 2004

"The Rock" vs. The Big Bossman - November 1998 - Opening Round of the Survivor Series Deadly Game WWF Title Tournament.

Rock heads out first to a big pop. Then the DX music hits, as HHH was announced as the opponent before hand, but it turns out he's still injured list, so Patterson and Brisco come out instead complete with DX chops and what have you. They verbally run down Triple H, which at the time made some wonder if there was any validity to rumours Trips was headed South to be with his boys. 5 1/2 years later, those rumours were clearly false. Anyhow, it's announced Rock still does have an opponent, and it's none other than the Big Bossman! JR goes nuts on commentary due to the fact Bossman was eliminated earlier in the night and has no business in this match, and even accuses Vince McMahon of making up the rules as they go along! The dastard! Bossman runs in, but is caught in a Rock Small Package! 1! 2! 3! IT'S OVER! Rock advances to the next round of the Survivor Series Deadly Game WWF Title Tournament and receives a huge pop from the crowd, clearly unaware that their hero will turn on them later in the night.

Arguably Bossman's best match of 1998, he and Rock really put out a lot of effort and good timing on this night, and the crwod response showed it. A big hand to both men for their fine work.

July 15, 2004

Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind, WWF, 9/22/96

The name of the show is "Mind Games", and that is essentially what this match is. Mankind attempts to confuse, frustrate and annoy HBK throughout, in an attempt to beat him psychologically. Even before the match has begun, Mankind comes to the ring contained in a coffin. This may seem small, but it shows he is comfortable in something linked so closely with death. Mankind goes on to attempt to lock Michaels into the casket later on, at which point Michaels freaks and attempts to get out as fast as possible, perhaps showing he is not as psychologically strong as Mankind.

Mankind works some simplistic brawling early on, but manages to put enough energy into each shot to make it seem believable. They quickly brawl around the ring (which seems something of a Foley trademark – moves are apparently more brutal looking on the outside.) Some vicious shots from HBK, including stamping on Foley, who is between the protective mats and concrete floor. Shawn takes a risky splash from the top rope to the outside, showing off his cocky character. It does pay off, as Mankind hits the concrete with his head. He's soon back up though, coming back to his resilient nature. This seems to have the desired effect on Michaels, as he angrily returns the brawl with Mankind – looking extremely pissed off.

Another moment of HBK arrogance shines through, as he attempts to end the match just minutes in, with his Sweet Chin Music. This is effective at showing not only his character, but also Mankind, who dives out of the ring and cradles the urn in his arms. This childlike state is another attempt to psych out Michaels – how the hell do you deal with someone like that?

This is the point where Michaels very much snaps, and resorts to Mankind's own brawling offence, hammering away with anything he can. This leads to him losing any gameplan, and resorting to taking silly risks in any attempt to get at him. The effects of Mankind's mind games are shown through HBK pushing the referee away in an angry moment, and leaping recklessly over the announce table.

There's a period of leg work on Foley, after a snap-suplex onto the ring-steps injures his knee. The suplex was born of Michaels' anger and frustration towards Foley. He follows up on the suplex with an immediate series of moves onto the leg, including some submission holds – a figure 4 leglock and a single leg crab. Existing moves are modified to capitalise on this injury, such as a dropkick direct to the knee. Mankind shows us more of his character as he attempts to stab the feeling back into his leg, which is a nice touch. Sadly the leg work is forgotten all too soon.

HBK shows his ring presence and ability to outspeed the sluggish Mankind several times, dodging several of his attacks, and causing the reckless Foley to cause himself injury. This is best shown when Foley attempts a suplex from the top rope through a table on the outside. Michaels is able to counter the attack mid-air, getting Mankind's body between himself and the table, absorbing none of the damage himself.

There's some further excellent psychology later on in the match. Mankind manages to lock the Mandible Claw onto Michaels, who immediately goes to work on disabling the fingers of Foley. Pulling on his hand, even biting and stamping on it show a logical series of moves to stop Mankind's finisher. This is especially effective as it's an area of the body that is often ignored, and the moves themselves looked vicious – the close up camera angles show Michaels legitimately hitting Foley's hand, after jumping from the second rope. Repatedly.

Mankind shows an unpredictable edge, as he throws a tantrum outside the ring, and begins throwing chairs around. This is further excellent characterisation by Foley.

The ending to the match is the only real low point. Mankind stands on the top rope, helpfully holding a chair directly in front of his face for Michaels to superkick. At this point, Mankind is dead on the floor – there's no way that he would kick out of anything. Sadly though, Vader runs down for the cop-out ending, and is soon followed by Sid. This ending greatly detracts from what occurred in the ring. The plan was for Foley to win the title here, with the lame ending only written in during the day. With more time, they could have come up with something much better.

July 15, 2004

Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

November 17, 1996 - Survivor Series

Madison Square Garden - New York City

The Tale of the Tape

Bret “Hit Man” Hart

Height: 6'0

Weight: 234 pounds

Finisher: Sharpshooter

WWF Career Highlights (up to that point) : Three-time WWF Champion, two-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time Tag Team Champion, 1993 King of the Ring winner, co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin

Height: 6'2

Weight: 252 pounds

Finisher: Stone Cold Stunner

WWF Career Highlights (up to that point): 1996 King of the Ring winner

The Match Begins

The match begins with Hart and Austin staring each other down. Austin shows his disrespect for Bret by flipping him off, which leads to both men exchanging blows. The match then shifts to wrestling, with Hart and Austin exchanging hammerlocks and working the arm. Austin switches gears and returns to brawling to take the advantage. Hart briefly manages to make a comeback, but Austin stops it with the Stun Gun. A slugfest soon ensues with Austin gaining the edge.

Bret rallies back

Despite coming out on the losing end of the slugfest, Bret manages to make a comeback, hitting an inverted atomic drop and clothesline. Bret rolls up Austin from behind for a two count. Bret follows up with a Side Russian Legsweep, which gets another two count. Bret goes for a bulldog, but Austin counters, leading Bret to take his trademark chest-first bump into the turnbuckles. Austin sets Bret on the top rope and attempts a superplex, but Bret counters, sending Austin face-first to the canvas. Bret hits the elbow from the top rope, instead of the middle rope like he usually does, for a two count. Bret then goes for another one of his trademark moves, a pendulum backbreaker (or side backbreaker, depending on what you like to call it). Austin knows this as well and counters by raking Bret’s eyes.

Austin brings it

Austin sends Bret to the outside, then rams him into the ring post. They brawl into the crowd, with Bret managing to gain the upper hand, knocking down the guard rail in the process. Jim Ross on commentary, says that nobody wants to see this one end in a count-out, and tells the ref to “bear with them.” Austin takes control again by slingshotting Bret onto the announcer’s table in a cool spot. Austin climbs onto the table and pounds away relentlessly, which ends with both men brawling under the table. Austin slams Bret back onto the table, then drops an elbow from the ring apron. The elbow from the apron works well here, since Bret’s upper body had been weakened earlier by Austin’s Stun Gun and the chest bump from the bulldog counter. Austin suplexes Bret from the apron back into the ring. Austin takes a page out of Bret’s book and hits an elbow from the second rope for a two count. Austin continues to work on Bret’s upper body, then locks on an abdominal stretch. Austin uses the ropes for leverage, but referee Tim White catches it and forces Austin to break the hold. Austin displays his disdain for authority, shoving White. White responds by threatening to disqualify Austin. Austin backs off, which normally, would be uncharacteristic of him. However, it works in this case, because it shows that Austin wants to beat Bret.

Austin vs. Hart, round two

Another slugfest ensues, but this time, Bret comes out on top. Bret attempts an Irish Whip, which Austin counters, but Bret counters that, and nails Austin with his own Stun Gun. Bret follows up with an Oklahoma side roll for two. Bret hits a nice piledriver for another two count. Bret goes for the pendulum backbreaker, and gets it. Bret attempted the backbreaker earlier in the match, but Austin countered. Austin didn’t have the wherewithal to counter this time, because he had been sufficiently weakened by the Stun Gun and piledriver. Bret goes to the top rope, but Austin stops him. Remembering what happened earlier, Austin weakens Bret with a series of chops. Austin climbs to the middle rope for a superplex, but changes his mind. Austin releases the suplex position, then further weakens Bret by pounding on him. Austin climbs to the top-rope and hits a perfectly-executed superplex. With both men laying on the mat, Bret cradles Austin for two.

Beating the legend

Both men get back up and Bret walks up to Austin from behind. Austin reaches back and hits the Stone Cold Stunner out of nowhere! Bret’s close to the ropes, so Austin pulls him into the middle of the ring and hooks the leg...for a two count. The few seconds Austin took to pull Bret away from the ropes may have cost him the victory. However, Austin’s rationale in pulling Bret away made sense. Austin felt the Stunner would be enough, but he realized that Bret was too close to the ropes, so he pulled him away. However, Austin didn’t count on the possibility of Bret kicking out, since no one had ever kicked out of the Stunner before. Austin pounds Bret a few times and covers several more times, only getting a two count each time. Realizing that he can’t pin Bret, Austin switches to a new strategy: make Bret submit. Austin locks on a Texas Cloverleaf, but Bret manages to get to the ropes. Austin whips Bret into the corner, but Bret’s legs give out, sending him under the bottom rope and back-first into the post. Austin pulls him towards the middle of the ring and covers for a two count. Austin tries a bow-and-arrow, but Bret manages to fight out and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Austin gets to the ropes before the hold is locked on.

Austin’s persistence costs him

Bret catches Austin in a sleeper, but Austin tries to counter by backing Bret into the corner. That doesn’t work, so Austin breaks the sleeper by countering into a jawbreaker. Austin gets to his feet first and sneaks behind Bret, measuring him up for an apparent submission hold. Austin pulls out the one hold he hasn’t tried yet...the hold that he used as his finisher upon entering the WWF, the Million Dollar Dream. Unfortunately for Austin, Bret’s been in a similar situation before. Bret, remembering WrestleMania VIII, walks to the corner, kicks off the turnbuckles, lands on top of Austin in a pinning predicament and gets the pinfall victory. Austin made the same mistake that Piper did...he didn’t let go of the hold. Austin exits the ring and glares at Bret in the ring, as if to say "You beat me this time, but it won’t happen again."

In my opinion, this is one of the best WWF matches of all-time. There weren't any noticeable blown spots, the crowd was into it, the psychology was sound, and it had a clean finish. Austin pulled out everything he had in an attempt to beat Bret, including his first WWF finisher, which he hadn't used for months. Austin's persistence in beating Bret was played off pretty well, with JR noting that Austin's refusal to release the Million Dollar Dream cost him the victory. An absolutely tremendous match which I highly recommend to any wrestling fan.

DangerousDamon · July 15, 2004

AJ Styles vs The Hurricane w/ Mighty Molly from an episode of Metal.

This match took place in January of 2001

The match begins with Hurricane doing his goofy handshake/thumb raise thing. Styles pushes him and gets booed by the crowd. Hurricane locks Styles in a headlock, but AJ fights his way out. AJ whips Hurricane to the ropes and gets knocked over by a shoulder block. Hurricane does more of his super hero poses and runs off the ropes. Styles leapfrogs over Hurricane and hits him with a shoulderblock. Styles mocks Hurricane and does some of his poses, only to get booed by the crowd again.

Styles hits the ropes and gets leveled by Hurricane's leaping clothesline. Hurricane hits a hiptoss on Styles, and he sells it like death. Hurricane nails a nice headscissor takedown as he gains the upperhand in the match. Hurricane throws Styles into the corner and throws some right hands while doing his thumbs up pose. He then wraps Styles' arms around his throat, kicks his legs out and locks in a Straight Jacket Camel Clutch. Styles manages to stand up and throw Hurricane over his head. Styles, whose arms are stilled locked up by The Hurricane, delievers a nasty knee drop to get his arms free. Both men are stunned for a moment until Styles picks Hurricane up and drops him on his head with a brainbuster. Styles only gets a two count as Molly looks on worried. Styles locks in a chinlock on Hurricane until Hurricane elbows out of it. Styles clubs Hurricane in the neck and hits him with a stiff right hand. Styles whips Hurricane off the ropes and goes for a roundhouse kick. Hurricane ducks under the kick and goes for the Hurricane Chokeslam. Styles elbows out and goes for a back suplex. Hurricane flips out and hits a jumping neckbreaker.

Hurricane gets up and poses AGAIN as Molly looks on very pleased with Hurricane's comeback. Hurricane hits Styles with some right hands. Hurricane sends Styles of the ropes and tosses him with a BAAAAAAAAACK BODY DROP~! Hurricane only gets a two count off the move. Styles counters a Hurricane irish whip into the corner. Styles charges and gets an elbow for his trouble. Hurricane goes up top and hits the OverCast neckbreaker. Hurricane poses more as he waits for Styles to get up. Hurricane sets up for the Eye of the Hurricane. Styles counters with knees to the head. Styles gets whipped to the corner and Hurricane runs right into a kick. Hurricane turns around and gets a super kick. Molly does not look too happy about Styles' comeback. Styles goes up top and goes for the Shooting Styles Press. Hurricane rolls out of the way and Styles airballs the move. Hurricane stalks Styles as he comes to. Hurricane kicks him in the stomach. And he hits the Vertebreaker. It does the trick everytime and I hear it'll bend your spine. Styles ain't gettin up from that. 1-2-3 and Hurricane picks up the win.

This is a decent match from one of the many shows WWF used to have on the weekend. And it's a good match to see AJ Styles before he became, "Phonomenal".

JN News · July 15, 2004

modnote: If you're posting "The match: Didn't see it, because I was busy washing the dishes. (damn parents)" , then don't do it here Edited July 15, 2004 by nikjohns

July 15, 2004

ECW Television Title Match

ECW on TNN 11-26-99

Rob Van Dam with Bill Alfonso Vs. C.W. Anderson

After both men make their way to the ring, C.W. Anderson starts the match off quickly with a kick to RVD's midsection which is quickly followed up with a side headlock. Anderson uses the headlock for leverage as he drives Van Dam into the adjacent corner head first into the top turnbuckle. C.W. then connects with a big left hand and a open hand chop before throwing RVD into the other corner with an Irish Whip. C.W. Anderson charges in and catches Rob Van Dam's foot right in his mouth. The ever persistent Anderson will not be thwarted so easily and attempts to charge Van Dam a second time. This time Van Dam counters with a Split-Legged Sunset Flip which gives Van Dam a two count.

Rob Van Dam, now in control of the match, catches C.W. Anderson with a deep Japanese Arm Drag. Anderson makes it to his feet quickly and ducks a spinning round house kick attempt by RVD. Anderson wasn't so lucky on RVD's second roundhouse kick attempt however. Anderson gets a swift kick to his gut and RVD slaps on a side headlock of his own. C.W. Anderson manages to escape the sidehead lock after he connects with a series of forearms to RVD's ribs, which C.W. Anderson then follows up with a standing arm bar. After a little bit of arm selling by RVD, which dropped him to one knee, he manages to make it back to his feet and uses the second turnbuckle to backflip out of the arm bar and connects with another arm drag on Anderson.

RVD connects with a spinning wheel kick next and follows it up with a cartwheel moonsault for another two count. RVD helps Anderson to his feet and delivers another kick to the midsection followed again by a side headlock. That's the third time these two have used that transition in this match, and it's only about two to three minutes into the match. This time the side headlock is not so easily escaped as the wrestlers get tangled in the ropes. Referee A.T. Huck attempts to free both men as C.W. Anderson uses the opportunity to catch RVD with a vicious left hand. RVD tries to fight back with a forearm, but that is promptly "no sold" by Anderson as he connects with another midsection boot. An Irish Whip attempt by the "Midsection Mauler" is thwarted and reversed by Van Dam as Anderson is shot off the ropes instead. Rob Van Dam goes for the split legged leap frog, but Anderson holds onto the ropes and catches Van Dam with a beautiful super kick. The superkick gives Anderson his first pinfall attempt in this contest and only gets a two count out of it.

Anderson, still on the offense, connects with a swinging neck breaker for another two count. C-dub then sets RVD into position with a scoop slam and heads to the ring apron to ascend the top turnbuckle. Anderson takes too long however and RVD manages to make it to his feet and catch Anderson with jump kick which sends C.W. crashing down to the ring apron. RVD now makes his way to top turnbuckle and connects with what I can only describe as a "face buster" which sends both men to the concrete floor below. RVD manages to make it to his feet first and puts Anderson over the security guard rail with a sloppy looking stomach first suplex. RVD then returns to the ring apron and connects with a corkscrew guillotine leg drop. RVD then rolls Anderson back into the ring and connects with a slingshot leg drop which gives RVD another near fall.

An Irish Whip by Van Dam is followed up with a second attempt at a Spinning Wheel Kick. Obviously Anderson learned from the first one and not only manages to dodge this one, but connects with the Anderson Spinebuster after dodging it. Somehow RVD manages to get a shoulder up however, and the contest will continue. Anderson hoists RVD back to his feet before flooring him with the patented Anderson left hand. Anderson picks up RVD again and sends him off the ropes once more. RVD manages to duck Anderson when he attempts a clothesline. RVD goes for another midsection kick and FINALLY Anderson catches on to it and grabs RVD's leg. RVD seizes the moment and attempts a "ghetto blaster" ala "Bad News" Brown. Anderson ducks the first attempt but didn't see the second one coming as RVD managed to counter the counter. A foot sweep sends Anderson to the mat in an "indian style" position. RVD hits Anderson with another spin kick to knock Anderson flat.

Anderson, still a little bit stunned from the last offensive flurry by Van Dam, manages to make it back to his feet. Once on his feet, Bill Alfonso throws C.W. Anderson a steel chair. Anderson catches it, which turns out to be more "bad news" as Rob Van Dam connects with the "Van Daminator" C.W. Anderson is out cold. RVD makes his way to the top turnbuckles and leaps at Anderson with the Five Star Frog Splash which connects and ends the contest at the 5:31 mark. Rob Van Dam continues his reign as the ECW Television Champion, but his victory is short lived as Sabu comes out from backstage and he wants to fight. RVD & Sabu are going to get it on right now!

I'd say this match was a solid **. It sure wasn't anything special, and the redundancy of the match along with the short time the two men received obviously held them back. Nevertheless, it had a clean finish with several spots that I enjoyed. C.W. Anderson was also made to look like a competent challenger to Van Dam's title. The post match shenanigans with Sabu were also held off until after the pinfall had already occured. You have to give Paul Heyman credit for letting the match end clean before the Sabu run-in.

EDIT: You know, after typing that all out, I realized this is the WWE folder and an ECW match *slaps head*. At least RVD is in WWE now. Oh well, it was a throw away TV match anyway. That's what I get for making posts at 3:30am. Nik, my bad man. I promise it'll be WWE next time! Good thing I wasted time.

EDIT 2: I'm awesome.

EDIT 3: You're not.

July 15, 2004

Underrated, eh?

Davey Boy Smith © vs. Shawn Michaels - Saturday Night's Main Event 11/92

The first thing you notice here is how amazingly over Davey is. The crowd goes nuts for his entrance and every time he makes a comeback in the match. Some surprisingly good storytelling here, with Davey's power established early and continued throughout the match. Shawn is clearly weaker so he uses tricks, cheating (raking the eyes...removing the turnbuckle pad), speed, and takes advantage of an injury (Davey was trying a little too hard to show off his power, and "injured" his back trying to lift Shawn while he had an armlock applied...this injury comes into play several times later) to gain the upper hand. Shawn's bumping is really great here. It makes Davey's offense look great and solidifies the "Davey is stronger" story, without being over-the-top. Some nice counters/outsmarting the other guy things too. Shawn works over Davey's back and puts him into an abdominal stretch. Davey hip-tosses out of it and tries to drop an elbow, but Shawn roles out of the way. I love how they repeat this right after, with Shawn going back to the stretch. Davey counters the same way and is about to drop the elbow again. Shawn remembers this and rolls, but Davey has him scouted and hesitates, then takes a step forward to drop the elbow. Such a cool spot there. Later, Shawn whips Davey into the exposed turnbuckle, further injuring his back. Onto the finish, Davey tries a superplex, but his back gives out in mid-air (they do a slow-mo shot of this afterwards...Davey does a great "oh shit" facial right in the middle...gotta love that) and Shawn lands on top of him for the pin. Great crowd, neat storytelling, clean finish...a forgotten classic.

July 15, 2004

modnote: I'm sick of doing this. REVIEWS. ONLY. Even if I did take something Scott Keith said at face value. Edited July 15, 2004 by nikjohns

The Mandarin · July 15, 2004

Royal Rumble '00 Streetfight Recap + Review

The Mandarin · July 17, 2004

Over the Edge 1998's main event is there as well.

Copper Feel · July 17, 2004

the rock .vs. the big bossman. survivor sieries 98. bossman run at rock who immediatly small packages him for the 1 2 3. i could give you a hundred reasons why that was the right move however the match was still a dud.

UseTheSledgehammerUh · July 18, 2004

From WWF Fully Loaded 1999:

WWE Intercontinental Champion Edge Vs. Jeff Jarrett (with Debra McMichael)

MATCH BACKGROUND: Edge won the Intercontinental Title at a Toronto house show the day before. Footage of this (2 still photographs) are shown, with Edge winning the title from Jarrett via a spear. The Monday before on Raw, Jeff Jarrett received a "Bloodbath" from someone, not Edge. Edge made his way down and brawled with Jarrett.

PRE-MATCH: Edge comes out through the crowd. Jarrett comes out with Debra, in her special "PPV" outfit (shiny thong, bra, and suitcoat). Jarrett calls himself "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time" before the match.

THE MATCH: Jarrett repeatedly takes Edge to the mat to start, but Edge keeps escaping. Half-nelson into a cradle gets Edge 2. Backslide gets Edge 2. Sunset flip off the second rope gets Edge 2. Jarrett runs to the floor, grabs IC Title, and goes to leave. "Puppies!" chant as Jarrett & Debra stall.

Back in, and Jarrett pulls Edge to the floor, throwing him into the steps. Jarrett stomps the champion, inside the ring. Edge blocks Jarrett's punches and executed a Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Edge hurts his knee avoiding Jarrett in the corner, and Jarrett kicks it out from under him. Flair uses the bottom rope to jump on Edge's knee, "Flair-Style", twice. Jarrett attempts the Figure-Four, but Edge rolls him up from behind for 2...and then gets pushed shoulder-first into the ring post. Single Arm DDT by Jarrett. Jarrett straddles Edge hard into the second-rope and then does the "strut". Jeff then pulls Edge's arm against the second rope, working the shoulder. "nWo!" chant.

Jarrett with a sleeper, but Edge runs him head-first into the top turnbuckle. Edge runs at Jarrett, but Jeff executes a flapjack for 2. Sleeper by Jarrett Crowd starts clapping, but Jarrett (still with the sleeper) holds Edge on the canvas. Arm drops twice...but Edge keeps it up on the third try. Edge shoots Jarrett into the ropes and executes his own sleeper, but Jarrett tries a back suplex, which Edge flips out of and rolls him up for 2. Modified sunset flip by Edge for 2. Jarrett sends Edge into the turnbuckle, but Edge falls head-first into Jarrett's crotch and both men are down. Edge gets a cover for 2.

Edge with right hands, and then a leg lariat. Kick by Edge, followed by a swinging neakbreaker. Small package for 2 by Edge. Edge comes off the turnbuckles and hits Jarrett with a Tornado DDT. Edge "screams" and attempts a spear, but is thrown over the top rope by Jarrett. The "Bloodbath" music plays as Gangrel runs to ringside and attacks Edge, with the lights out. When the lights come on, Edge stands over Gangrel, who is knocked out. Jarrett attacks, rolls Edge in and hits a top-rope bodypress, which Edge rolls through to get 2. Jarrett tries a sunset flip, but Edge grabs the legs and gets 2. Jarrett tries a high dropkick, which Edge catches and hits a powerbomb for 2. SPEAR by Edge...Edge hurts the shoulder...and Debra has the attention of the referee and Edge. A right hand from Jarrett sends Edge into Debra, who falls to the floor. With the referee distracted by Jarrett, Gangrel climbs on the apron, grabs Edge by the head, and drops him neck-first onto the top rope. Jarrett executes the "Reverse Russian Legsweep" (aka The Stroke) to win his (then) record 5th WWF Intercontinental Title at the time of 13:23.

AFTER-MATCH: WWF Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, having been attacked by The Undertaker on Sunday Night HeAT, angrily runs to the ring and easily disposes of Jarrett with a "Stone Cold Stunner".

July 18, 2004

I don't know why I'm posting this, but....

Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon - Wrestlemania 10

For such a widely known and frequently discussed match, I'd certainly forgotten many of it's details. I actually liked the opening wrestling sequence quite a bit. That's something that's always overshadowed by the ladder. The trading wristlocks, the hiptoss, Shawn's eye poke, Razor's chokeslam. I liked how that all flowed together. I'd forgotten how Razor removed the floor pad, which came to bite him in the ass later as Shawn felt the Razor's Edge coming and dumped him over the ropes onto the exposed concrete floor. What impressed me most though, was how well they fit the ladder into this match. There's never a moment where I felt they went out of their way to do a ladder spot. Unlike so many other ladder or TLC matches, where it's painfully obvious that they're ignoring the flow of the match to set up a spot. Never see that here. The ladder is also used as a fantastic transitioning tool. The reversed irish whip into the ladder was just wonderful. Shawn's heel character is also great here. He doesn't hesitate to cheat (eye poke~!) when Razor has an advantage, and he gets cocky as heel when he gets an advantage on Razor. I love the finish. I loved how Shawn, being so damned cocky, took far too much time to set up the ladder and climb it, and how this allowed Razor to recover and knock him off. Unlike other ladder match finishes, I never felt that Shawn was trying to not get to the ladder. Really great match, and I'm glad that I re-watched it.

With that said, this is NOT better than Bret vs. Owen from the same show. That match has a deeper, more meaningful story about brothers and jealously and disappointment. It's these wonderful, emotional, human elements that push it clearly above the excellent ladder match.

KingPK · July 18, 2004

Not really a review per-se, but more of an analysis of the '92 Rumble:

The thing that makes it for me is the fantastic (yet simple) way Flair was booked. He comes in at #3 and Gorilla immediately jumps on the "no one who has drawn #1-5 has ever been there at the end" fact, establishing Flair as a longshot right then and there. Flair mixes it up with everyone as the ring fills up, dishing it out just as much as he takes it, not afraid to go after everyone, despite people thinking he's all talk. The match goes on, and Flair keeps going, not cowering in the corner like people would think. He dumps out a few guys (including Bulldog), and is alone in the ring for a few seconds, but Roddy Piper (who he was feuding with) comes out, so he's right back to getting his ass kicked. More guys come in, including the more established stars, and Flair is still going at it. When the Undertaker comes out, who goes after him first? Flair, to the chagrin of Heenan (the commentary really adds to this match, by the way. Gorilla and Bobby were ON.)

Towards the end, as guys like Hogan and Savage come in, Flair STILL won't take a breather, even though he had been in for over 40 minutes at that point. As Flair nears the longevity record, the guy who held the record (Rick Martel) comes in, which was a really nice little touch, I think, but they didn't really build on it much. The only thing I didn't like was the ending with Hogan being a whiny bitch and pulling on Sid's arm. I would have just had Hogan distract Sid while Flair came up from behind and dump him.

The gist of my arguement is this: Flair was pegged as an underdog from the start (even Heenan had his doubts when Flair came out), but he stood up to anyone and everyone that came in, no matter who they were (the Undertaker is a great example, since he was being booked as indestructable at that point), and that performance earned the respect of everyone who didn't see him wrestle in the NWA.

July 18, 2004

Note: This is something I wrote over a year ago on the DVDVR message board about my favorite Steve Austin match. I think it paints a good picture of what was going on at the time. So yeah.

The most memorable for me was the Bret Hart match at Wrestlemania 13. It was interesting to watch a promotion reinvent itself by the week, pushing the envelope further than it had ever done before (in particular, Hart's interview where he said 'goddamn' and 'shit' a million times on the air), changing the paradigm of good and evil overnight. They had an arduous task in attempting to pull off the intended double turn, as even though Vince tried for all he could to manipulate the meaning of each man's reception through his commentary, it was patently obvious that the fans were solidly behind Bret. Perhaps Bret's actions 6 days earlier augmented that reaction, which was ironic considering the babyface rebel character, in this new era of grey, was earmarked for his opponent.

Months of frustration and tension between these two had been built up to a degree unlike any other feud in recent company history. A series of key events spurned a great deal of the hate here, notably Austin costing Bret the Rumble by coming back in illegally and tossing him out - winning a match that the company itself had planted in the fans' minds that Bret was taking through subtle actions on its TV shows (Vince Russo flat out saying it on Livewire, which was uncharacteristic for a heel to put over a face in that way, but again, ideas were changing, and things were going in another direction). The Shawn Michaels controversy with him forfeiting the title due to an alleged knee injury threw another curveball in an already turbulent period for the WWF - a company that was leaning further and further away from its formulaic approach, towards one that was more suited to fit the landscape of what WCW had been doing with their angles and TV. Bret ended up winning the Final Four match to decide the new WWF champion, but it would only be a one day affair, as Austin continued to wreak havoc the next night on Raw, costing Bret the title in his match against Sid. Bret's failed attempt to win the cage rematch a month later set the stage for this match, which didn't have any titles on the line; those were irrelevant at this point. There was one thing and one thing only at stake - pride. However, achieving victory here would have to come by submission, which was a stipulation that added a layer of drama to what would turn out to be one of the more famous finishes of all-time.

The phrase 'sense of urgency' could aptly describe the opening stages of this. Hart attacked Austin with an uncanny amount of vigor, which spilled outside and into the fans, who couldn't have expected anything less considering the build-up. The rules had changed, and amidst the intensity of the brawling, which included some absolutely vicious chairshots by Austin, came a rare use of the blade, which did a tremendous job in conveying Austin's fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude all the way to the end. The spot where a bloodied Austin stomped away at Bret in the corner repeatedly, with the cheers of the fans becoming more and more audible, was something of a symbolic 'fuck you' to everyone who didn't think he could reach this level; not just in terms of work, but in being capable of carrying a promotion on his back and reaching the level of greatness that only he could've imagined. Little did we know what this match would do for the careers of both men - for Bret Hart, extraneous circumstances and bad luck such as injuries, would make this his final moment of glory in a WWF ring. But for Steve Austin - the will to win that he demonstrated, not giving up despite the pain, because that would compromise everything he ever worked for in wrestling - it was only the beginning.

Anthony a.k.a. 'wolverine'

UseTheSledgehammerUh · July 18, 2004

From Fully Loaded 1999:

WWF European Champion Mideon Vs. D'Lo Brown

MATCH BACKGROUND: Mideon found the European Title, which his "Corporate Ministry" founder Shane McMahon abandoned, and began defending it. D'Lo Brown was a natural as one of the first challengers, given his history with the belt.

THE MATCH: Slugfest to start, but D'Lo dominates and hits a big clothesline. D'Lo does "10 punches" in the corner and then clotheslines Mideon over the top rope. Baseball slide kicks Mideon to the ground, and D'Lo then hits a tope (suicide headfirst dive) through the ropes onto Mideon! Mideon reverses D'Lo irish Whip and sends Brown into the ring steps. D'Lo dropped chest first onto the guardrail and thrown into the ring. Mideon with sloppy clotheslines, and gets a 2 count. Gutwrench into a powerbomb gets Mideon 2. "You Shut the Hell Up! Go to Hell!" is yelled by Mideon to the dead crowd. Sloppy sleeper-type move grounds D'Lo.

D'Lo's arm drops twice, but he fights back. Mideon blocks a clothesline with his forearms, and drops D'Lo with a neckbreaker. D'Lo shrugs off Mideon's punches, and chops the champion with his palm three times. Mideon regains control by shouldering D'Lo into the corner. Running sunset flip gets D'Lo 2, but Mideon kicks out and delivers a clothesline. D'Lo hits the WORST TORNADO DDT EVER on Mideon, and man, this is getting bad. It's also almost the exact same match as Edge/Jarrett from earlier in the show.

D'Lo ducks a punch and hits the "Sky High" powerbomb. D'Lo with the posing legdrop. He climbs up and connects with the "Sky High" powerbomb to win his 3rd WWF European Title at 7:12.

POST-MATCH: Brown holds the title belt high & proudly.

Aero · July 23, 2004

2004 Royal Rumble Match

January 25, 2004

Wachovia Center

Philadelphia, PA

Commentators: JR & Tazz

Background:

It's the second Royal Rumble during the brand extension, meaning 15 RAW guys, 15 Smackdown guys. Usually, Rumbles have only a few key main event wrestlers who have a chance of winning, if not just one obvious wrestler who will win (Shawn Michaels in 1996, Steve Austin in 1998, The Rock in 2000). RAW had a heavy favorite in Goldberg, as well as longshots like Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Randy Orton, Booker T, and Kane. Smackdown had three favorites in Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and John Cena, with a longshot in the Big Show.

The previous week on RAW, there was a battle royal to determine who gets to enter at # 30 in the match. Obviously regarded as the biggest advantage in the match by WWE, but the fans, mostly smarks, think of it as an automatic loss. However, when Brock Lesnar entered at # 29 at the 2003 Royal Rumble and went on to win, it got some thinking that Goldberg could actually win. Another one of RAW's feuds heading in was between non-active wrestler Mick Foley and Randy Orton. The night after Armageddon 2003, Foley was set to face Orton for the Intercontinental Title. If Foley lost, then he would lose his Co-GM spot and would be fired. At the last second, Foley walked out on the match, and Orton spit in his face. For a month, Orton and the world called Foley a coward. Co-GM Steve Austin invited Foley to the Royal Rumble tonight with a front row seat saved for him. The empty seat is shown several times during the PPV.

Smackdown's key storyline heading into the Rumble was a feud between General Manager Paul Heyman and Chris Benoit. In early December 2003, Benoit was granted a title shot against WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar. Benoit nearly won the match several times, but in the end, Brock attacked Benoit's knee with a chair, and Benoit submitted after the "Brock Lock". Apparently sensing a threat to Brock's title reign, Heyman tells Benoit that he will never get another shot at the title again. In other words, Benoit's last oppurtunity is to win the Royal Rumble, if he could get in. John Cena, another enemy of Heyman, is given the oppurtunity to gain entry to the Rumble by facing the FBI in a 2-on-3 handicap match with a partner of his choosing. He chooses Benoit, and together, they beat the FBI and are in the Rumble. When Benoit gloats about it being in the Rumble, Heyman enters him at # 1. Meanwhile, Kurt Angle guarantees a Rumble win and dedicates it to the US forces in Iraq. It should be noted that Angle was actually playing the face role heading into the Rumble, but there were signs of his heel turn later in February. He had been getting involved in the Eddie-Chavo Guerrero feud, and he encouraged Eddie to face Chavo at the Rumble, seemingly only to remove Eddie, a possible threat, from the Rumble match.

The Match:

Just to note, me and my brother are in the front row, to the side of the commentary tables. As Chris Benoit comes out as # 1, the camera zooms to our sign, "BENOIT IS GOING TO WMXX". What made it even cooler was that they showed it again in the video package for the Triple Threat World Title match at Wrestlemania XX. # 2 is RAW's Intercontinental Champion, Randy Orton. Just about everyone compares Orton's push to The Rock's from 1997. In the 1998 Royal Rumble, the then-Intercontinental Champion, Rock, lasted from # 4 all the way to the end, being eliminated last by Austin. When Orton came out as # 2 and lasted up until # 21, I got a Rocky vibe from it.

The first half of the match establishes Benoit and Orton as the serious contenders to win, as if they already weren't. Both eliminate a number of guys. Benoit's first elimination comes when Bradshaw, still in the APA, enters the ring and immediately hits Orton, Mark Henry, and Tajiri with Clotheslines from Hell. When Bradshaw attempts it on Benoit, it's countered into the Crossface. Bradshaw powers out and nearly throws him out, but Benoit holds on and tosses our current WWE Champion out with his own momentum to cheers from the crowd. Within minutes, as Mark Henry staggers near the ropes, Benoit charges and shoulderblocks Henry out to the floor. Other notable eliminations in the first half by Benoit include Matt Morgan, Rhyno, and A-Train.

While not a major part of the match at all, you can't overlook the mat sequence by Randy Orton and Scott Steiner. While The Hurricane is being eliminated by Matt Morgan, Steiner lays on top of Orton for a little over a minute in a number of positions. It looks like they're having some gay sex in the middle of the match. Quite disturbing. One of the more memorable moments from the match occur when Kane enters at # 12. He immediately cleans house, chokeslamming and taking down everyone in the ring, but not eliminating anyone. When the countdown for the next entrant stops, the lights go out and Undertaker's familiar gong sounds throughout the arena. The crowd goes balistic. I remember marking out, there live. I'll note that the gong fittingly goes off at # 13. Kane freaks out, screaming, "I buried you alive!" as he did at Survivor Series 2003. The distraction allows Booker T to come from behind and toss him out. Immediately after the elimination, Spike Dudley, who Kane destroyed the previous week on RAW, officially enters as # 13, but is unable to compete after a chokeslam by Kane on the ramp.

Randy Orton's first elimination of the night is Rikishi, and he follows up by throwing Booker T out. After each elimination, you see the same cocky smurk or Orton's face. As Benoit was fighting and eliminating A-Train, Orton fought Shelton Benjamin. He ducks a superkick, which lands Benjamin on the top rope, and easily tosses him out. The only lowlight of the match I see happens when Orton and Benoit, alone in the ring, both knock heads and fall to the mat. # 18, Ernest Miller enters with the introduction by Lamont. Miller runs into the ring and just dances along with Lamont to ZERO crowd reaction. Benoit unofficially eliminates Lamont, although his afro goes first, while Orton throws Miller out. The match commences as Kurt Angle enters at # 19. Angle immediately goes after his long-time enemy, Benoit, and they trade suplexes. Meanwhile, Orton takes a breather sitting down in the corner of the ring. Angle actually glances over at Orton, who's basically sitting back and watching the match between the two. He obviously wants no part in the match at this point. This helps in adding to Orton's cocky character. When Rico enters next as # 20, he's gone before the next entrant, as Orton RKOs him and easily eliminates him.

One of the most exciting parts of the match happens when Test, that's right, TEST, is set to enter as # 21. His music sounds throughout the arena, but no Test to be seen. Cameras take you backstage where apparently he's been knocked unconsious. Co-GM Steve Austin yells at the assailant (unable to be seen) and declares that he's # 21 since Test can't make it out. It should be noted that the live crowd didn't see the backstage footage on the Titantron. Back to the ring, you hear the screeching of car tires blare throughout the arena, and out comes Mick Foley to a monstrous ovation! Orton looks like he's seen a ghost. Foley runs in and trades blows with him. He knocks Orton toward the ropes and follows up with a Cactus Clothesline to eliminate both him and Orton! The fight continues outside the ring, as Foley chokes Orton with a cord. At that point, you can see my "Where's Steve Blackman?" sign pop up in the distance. They fight up the ramp, where Foley takes out Socko. While all this happens, Nunzio comes down the same ramp as # 23 and gets a Mandible Claw for his troubles. Wrong place at the wrong time. This allows, Orton to kick Foley low and escape. Nunzio, by the way, doesn't enter the match for another few minutes as he hides crouched down in the corner of the guardrail outside.

With Benoit, Angle, Christian, and Nunzio (outside) in the match, the Big Show enters at # 24. Tazz establishes that he is indeed his pick to win. Big Show was booked tremendously in 2003 on Smackdown as a monster, and this match continues that booking after his horrible run as US Champion. I'll elaborate more, later on. After Big Show, the bigger stars begin to enter: Chris Jericho, John Cena, Rob Van Dam, and of course, Goldberg as # 30. Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn, and Nunzio, who was forced to enter the ring by John Cena, are all just in there this late to be eliminated by Goldberg's monster run. They all go as soon as Goldberg enters. Earlier in the night, Smackdown's WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar, interrupted a Goldberg interview and was made a fool by him. As Goldberg sets up Big Show for a Jackhammer, Brock runs into the ring and F-5's Goldberg as retaliation. Goldberg is quick to get up, but the distraction allows Kurt Angle to eliminate him from behind (his only elimination). That leaves Benoit, Cena, Angle, RVD, Jericho, and Big Show. At that point, everyone has inadvertently banded together against Show. Jericho hits him with a Lionsault, RVD with the Five-Star Frog Splash, Cena with the Five-Knuckle Shuffle, and Benoit with the Diving Headbutt. Before any fighting commences, Angle leads an attempt to throw Show out. They all try to pick him up but are unsuccessful. While a great idea in theory, it's hard to believe that five guys can't pick him up when we've seen Cena, among others, FU Show several times before and after this. Big Show fights back and quickly tosses Cena and RVD. That leaves one hell of a Final Four: Big Show, Benoit, Jericho, and Angle.

With both Benoit and Angle down, Jericho keeps coming back at Show despite being thrown away many times. He hits a bulldog off the top rope and locks in the Walls. After Angle takes him down, Jericho is eliminated when Show chokeslams him over the top and to the floor. Angle gives both Benoit and Show an Angle Slam and polls the crowd on who gets an Ankle Lock. Show is chosen, and he fights to the ropes screaming in agony. Show manages to climb over the top rope, and using his own weight, he falls over to the apron and pulls Angle over and to the floor, leaving only two. Benoit has been in over an hour and is alone against the monster Big Show, that not five guys could eliminate together just minutes before. After an unsuccessful Crossface, Show chokeslams him and tells him, "It's all over son." Odd thing to say, considering how much older Benoit is than Show. Show lifts Benoit over his head in a gorilla press slam position, and he walks toward the ropes to throw him out. Benoit tries to fight out and ends up hanging on to Show's head with a guillotine choke. He placed over the top, but he hangs on to the bottom rope with his legs. As Benoit keeps tugging on his head, Show begins teetering on the top rope. The crowd comes alive, as finally, Show falls right over and to the floor, giving Benoit the win at 61:38!

Analysis:

For years I, along with everyone else, said that the 1992 Royal Rumble was the best. After seeing the 2004 Rumble live and in person, I have a new favorite. It's not just the live factor for me either, because I've watched the Rumble on tape many times since then and still love it. Many have complained that Benoit wasn't the focus of the match in the middle portion like he should have been. I disagree with that for a number of reasons. JR & Tazz were always mentioning Benoit, updating us on his times constantly, and he always had an elimination here and there, up until Angle came in. He did lose more of the focus from then on, but the match isn't only Benoit's match. We saw the beginning of Undertaker's return as the gong sounded and had every fan in the place marking out. The Foley-Orton feud was furthered in a big way with the elimination and brawl outside. Then, guys like Big Show, Jericho, Cena, RVD, and Goldberg all entered. Minus Big Show, every one of them is very popular and couldn't be ignored. Considering that WWE actually had Benoit last over an hour in a Royal Rumble and winning it, I wouldn't be complaining about camera time.

Even though the Big Show story in the match is so simple, it worked brilliantly with Benoit's struggle to win. Five of WWE's best wrestlers joined forces to try and eliminate Show, but they weren't able to. Even after taking four finishers from them, Big Show still managed to eliminate everyone except for Benoit. Show's elimination by Benoit was smartly executed and was very believable. Sure, Show was eliminated in the past years by a Rock clothesline and Kane picking him up and dropping him over the top, but Benoit was smart enough to figure out a way to eliminate the monster in desperation of trying to escape Show eliminating him. I call this Rumble one of the best, if not THE best Rumble. It's hard to give Royal Rumbles star ratings, but if I were putting it on a separate Rumble scale from other matches, I'd give it *****.

After the Show Went off the Air:

Benoit celebrated for another minute or so, and Steve Austin came out. He toasted Benoit and called him "one tough son of a bitch". Benoit gave a victory speech and basically said that winning the Rumble was one of the major steps in his career. They drank a few more beers. Throughout the entire celebration, me and my brother held up our Benoit signs. When Benoit was on the top rope, he actually did acknowledge us by pointing. The whole celebration was a great moment, and I wish it makes it onto a DVD sooner or later. It's too bad it's not on Benoit's upcoming DVD.

July 23, 2004

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart - 1994 (house show)

WHOAAAAAAAAAA LOST CLASSIC!!! This is fantastic. One of the best WWF matches of 1994 and it's at a damned house show! I would even say it's near the level of the Wrestlemania 10 match.

It starts with a five minute segment featuring some amazingly smooth technical exchanges, similar to the opening of Mania 10, but a bit longer. Then Owen gets a knee to Bret's gut off a whip, and thus begins a great control segment from Owen. He starts off with a chinlock, but Bret almost escapes with a wristlock counter (twice). Owen sells this as very dangerous. Next he goes into a side headlock, which he *tightly* applies. I mean he cranks that thing on and won't let go. Bret tries to escape by running the ropes (twice), but Owen holds on for dear life and falls to the mat, keeping the headlock on. He almost lost control of the match twice when he casually applied the chinlock. He's not letting that happen again. Bret escapes eventually by getting up and elbowing him in the gut. Then hit hits the ropes once for a sunset flip pin attempt. Owen kicks out and Bret starts nailing him with stiff european uppercuts. Irish whip attempt is reversed by Owen and Bret takes his trademart stiff turnbuckle bump. Owen goes up and nails a swank missle dropkick, and gets pissed when the ref doesn't count three. He pushes the ref, then drags Bret over to the ringpost and starts slamming Bret's knee into it. Then he viciously attacks Bret's knee with various moves, leading to an indian deathlock~! Which was surprisingly heated. Many "let's go Bret" chants during this match. Bret gets out by grabbing Owen's head and headbutting it. Owen works over the knee more and leads to a figure four, which is also a fairly heated and believable nearfall (they guy filming it thought Owen was about to win the title there). Bret rolls over like everyone does to counter the figure four and now Owen hurts his knee a bit. They get to the ropes and the hold is broken. Back up, Owen tries to whip Bret into the turnbuckle again, but Bret remembers and is able to turn around before the impact, and gets a foot into the face of the charging Owen. Bret makes a big comeback (selling that knee like a king the whole time) here with a second rope clothesline, then he runs through a series of near falls with his standard offense (the crowd buys many of them too). Bret gets him up and tries a german near the ropes. The ref's looking at Owen reaching the ropes, giving Owen the chance to low blow Bret! Outside the ring shortly after, Owen picks him up and slams his back into the ringpost. Owen gets back in the ring and decides to taunt the crowd with jumping jacks, but he lands on his hurt knee from the figure four and grabs it in pain, which gets a good laugh. I loved that. The ref starts counting Bret out, then Owen realizes he won't win the title if Bret is counted out, so he bails and goes after Bret with a chair. Big mistake though, as Bret was playing possum a bit (maybe letting himself get counted out, being so damn smart and knowing he would keep the title and wanting to protect that injured knee?) and rolls back into the ring. Owen goes up for another missle dropkick, but Bret sees it coming a crotches him on the ropes, leading to a big superplex and a two-count. The crowd is rabid by this point. Bret tries the sharpshooter, but it's blocked by Owen with an eye rake. Owen tries a german rollthrough pin, but Bret's one step ahead and counters into his own pin for the win. Around 25 minutes long.

I was blown away by how good this was, especially since it's a house show. If this had been on TV or PPV, it'd be pimped to the moon. It's all wonderfully executed with very good roleplaying (Bret being older, wiser and outsmarting Owen. Owen being a cocky little ass, showing off and using a ton of dirty tricks.), hard work, very good transitions, and great heat. A truly overlooked classic. A must for any Bret or Owen fan. And I don't think I explained half the awesomeness of this.

So yeah, my review might suck ass, but you NEED to know about this match. Mania 10 is widely considered to be a top five WWF match, and this is almost as good.

Aero · July 28, 2004

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

Ground Zero: In Your House

Louisville, KY

September 7, 1997

Background:

This is probably one of my favorite feuds of all time. Back in 1997, I wasn't much of a smart fan at all and didn't have internet access. Sure, I knew wrestling was 'fake', but after Shawn Michaels cost the Undertaker the title at Summerslam 1997, I was PISSED and hated Michaels for basically the rest of the year.

Summerslam 1997: Undertaker is defending the WWF Title against Bret Hart, with Shawn Michaels as the referee. If Bret Hart didn't win the title, then he would never wrestle in the US again. If Shawn favored Undertaker in any way, he would never wrestle in the US again. In the closing moments of the match, Bret used a chair behind Shawn's back. When Shawn saw the chair in the ring, he confronted Bret about it. Bret responded back by spitting in his face. Fed up, Shawn swung the chair, but Bret ducked, and it hit Undertaker. Bret covered, and Shawn was forced to count, giving Bret his fifth and final WWF Title.

For weeks, Shawn claimed it was an accident, but on the 8/18 Raw, there was no accident. In the main event, Undertaker & Mankind fought Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. When Taker was threatening Shawn's insurance policy, Rick Rude, Shawn came at Taker with an intentional chairshot, bloodying the Deadman. When Taker got to his feet, Shawn hit him a second time, completing his heel turn. This was also the unofficial formation of DX, as it was the first time Michaels & HHH teamed up. The match for Ground Zero between Undertaker and Michaels is their first meeting ever.

The Match:

As soon as Undertaker enters the ring after banging the lights back on, Shawn is ready to piss his pants. Taker is quick to take off his robe and starts walking quickly over to Shawn's who's hiding behind the referee. When the referee gets in Taker's way, Shawn calms down, but when Taker punches the ref out, Shawn jumps out of the ring and tells Vince McMahon that there will be no match. He walks toward the ramp, only to meet Commissioner Slaughter, who orders him back. When he turns back around to the ring, Taker, from inside, throws the ref from before at him. Shawn retreats up the ramp and onto the stage, where Taker proceeds to follow and press slam him. He even throws him into the plants on the In Your House set. Shawn is so afraid that he literally is on his knees knocking at the door on the set for help. Right away, the tone for the match is established: Undertaker is royally pissed and will go to any lengths to kick Shawn's ass, even if it means getting disqualified.

When they return to the ring, the bell sounds to officially start the match, with a new referee. Shawn gets the advantage from behind, but Taker just swats him away after each attempt at offense. At one point, Shawn does manage a neckbreaker, but Taker basically no-sells it and does the deadman sit-up. Shawn panics and gets a chair, which is what started the feud in the first place. Taker blocks a shot with a kick to the face. With Shawn begging for mercy in the corner, Taker prepares to nail him with the same chair, but the referee grabs it and his knocked out by Shawn knocking Taker onto him. Shawn manages to hit a few flying elbows, when his insurance policy, Rick Rude, comes out and tosses him a pair of brass knuckles before leaving. Shawn gets a shot in, while Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna drag another referee out to make the count. It only gets two, so HHH pulls his ref out and beats him down. Shawn, realizing the potential of having HHH and Chyna out there with him, helps the second referee up, only to bash his head into the turnbuckle.

Again, there is no referee, and it basically becomes a 3-on-1 handicap match. Every time Taker is thrown outside, HHH & Chyna double-team him, and he's able to get very little offense in. I would not remiss in mentioning the rowdy, southern-trash women in the front row, who, when Taker is lying against the railing in front of her, gets too involved and yells, "Yeah, in your face!" constantly at Taker. Back inside, Shawn tunes up the band but misses Sweet Chin Music. Taker chokeslams him and knocks HHH off the apron. He grabs the brass knuckles from out of Shawn's tights (which Vince at first thinks is Taker pulling out his belly ring) and KO's him. The referee that was bashed into the turnbuckle by Shawn recovers and counts a slow two count, so Taker responds by chokeslamming him, too. Finally, the man, referee Tim White, runs out and calls it a No Contest, at about 22:00, including the pre-bell fight.

The crowd hates the finish, but the fight continues inside as Shawn and HHH trap Taker in the ropes. Shawn charges with a chair, but Taker kicks it back into his face and fights them both off as more officials try to stop it. HHH gets a tombstone, as all the wrestlers (Legion of Doom, Brian Christopher, Sultan, DOA, The Rock, Savio Vega, Godwinns, Faarooq, Jesse Jammes, Billy Gunn, and more) pile in the ring to separate the Shawn and Taker. Everything seems calm, with about ten wrestlers inside with Taker and ten outside with Shawn and HHH. Suddenly, Taker runs and dives over the top rope for a tope on EVERYONE, including Shawn, who's quick to retreat immediately after getting up. The show goes off the air with Taker in the ring, visibly pissed that he couldn't get the job finished.

Analysis:

It's not a technical masterpiece by any means, but it is one of the best brawls, ever, in the WWF, in my opinion. This match was just a warm-up for their Hell in a Cell at Badd Blood the next month, but it made you believe that these two actually despised each other. This match should be a requirement to watch before you see HIAC. Neither was afraid to risk disqualification, displayed by each constantly attacking the referees. Shawn screwed up at Summerslam, and he would pay the price, not only here, but the next month in HIAC. Sure, the No Contest seems like a lame finish on paper, but it was necessary to keep both strong for a rematch the next month. The tope by Taker to the outside after the final bell was amazing. I remember watching live on PPV and marking out like crazy. Shawn came out of this match looking like a heel that was terrified but could hang on with a little help from others. Taker came out looking like a bad ass that shouldn't be messed with. Bottom line, this is still one of my favorite matches of all time, as I loved every second of Taker-HBK feud. I give the match ****1/2 for the intensity and action that the match displayed. With all the referee bumps, interference, and lack of rules, the next step would be Hell in a Cell, in which the two would settle their differences... until January. It seems that many people tend to forget about this match and remember HIAC instead. Personally, I like this match on just about the same level as HIAC. I would recommend this match to anyone.

Australian Pride · July 28, 2004

The match - Shawn Michaels (with Sherri) vs Tito Santana

The event - Wrestlemania 8

The lead up

Several months prior to this night, Shawn Michaels had memorable turned on his longtime partner Marty Janetty. Since then he had been establishing himself in the WWF midcard as a cocky, arrogant heel. With the exception of his participation in the Royal Rumble, this would be his PPV debut as a singles wrestler.

Tito, a multi-time tag and Inter-Continental champion, was a mainstay of the WWF midcard and was one of the better workers the company had in the late eighties/early nineties. There was no real program between the two, this match was basically just here to showcase the future HBK's talents in front of the biggest audience of the year.

The match

Tito out first, and he shows he's a gentleman by giving guest singer Reba McIntyre a helping hand. The original 'Sexy Boy' then hits and here comes Shawn/Sherri.

Staredown as the ref gives instructions, and then Shawn talks some smack. The predictable shoving match occurs, and we have a quick start and early pinfall attempt by Tito off a bodypress.

Tito starts the old-school weardown routine as he automatically locks on a side headlock. Shawn punches his way out, but Tito leapfrogs on the whip and clothelines Shawn over the top and to the floor. As Shawn stands on the apron, Tito grabs the headlock again and drags him back inside. Shoulderblocks in the corner by Shawn, but an Irish whip to the far corner is reversed, and Shawn suckers Tito into the corner. Another Irish whip, but this time Tito wont be fooled, and Shawn ends up back in the side headlock again.

After a break, Tito rolls Shawn up with a small package for 2, and then he goes straight back to his friend the side headlock. Another break and Shawn throws Tito over the top. Back inside he hits a nice looking backbreaker for 2, and then he takes a leaf out of Tito's book and locks on a reverse chinlock. Elbows to the gut break the hold for Tito, but Shawn quickly hits the move that would eventually be know as 'Sweet Chin Music'. Seeing as that isn't his finisher at this point in time he doesnt make an effort to cover, and instead goes for his proper side-suplex finisher. Tito blocks and follows with an Irish whip and the lethal flying forearm, which sends Shawn all the way to the floor.

Tito follows and rams Shawns head into the ring steps, before rolling him back in the ring. Tito hits a slingshot shoulderblock, some punches, a kneelift and an inverted atomic drop. With shawn groggy, Tito his finisher to the back of Shawns head, but it unfortunately sends Shawn outside again. With Shawn on the apron, Tito tries to bodyslam him back inside. Shawn holds the top rope, and eventually the drop to the ground, where Shawn hooks the leg and the ref counts 3, much to the disgust of Gorilla Monsoon. Bell-to-bell time of match 10.37.

The wash-up

This was the perfect start to a PPV - a match between a popular babyface and an up-and-coming heel. This also did a great job of putting Shawn over as a legitimate IC title threat, and in the following months he would help Bret Hart introduce the Ladder match to the WWF (house show) audience.

Match rating - 7/10

UseTheSledgehammerUh · July 28, 2004

WWF Raw is War - June 11, 2001 - Richmond, Virginia

Chris Benoit Vs. Kurt Angle - Steel Cage Match

Announcers: Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, & WWF Champion Steve Austin (guest commentary)

Backstory: Benoit and Jericho are the WWF World Tag Team Champions, and less than 2 weeks later would face Austin at KOTR '01 in a triangle match for the WWF Title. Austin and Angle are dueling for Mr. McMahon's appreciation, and do not like each other. Both, however, are now the top heels. Benoit & Angle had been seriously feuding since 6 days before WrestleMania X-Seven.

The Match: Angle immediately spears Benoit to start. Angle with an overhead belly-to-belly...and a second! A third is reversed into three seperate attempts at the Crossface by Benoit, but Angle instead throws Benoit head first into the cage wall. And he does it again! Angle works Benoit over in the corner, Benoit fires back with knife-edge chops! After five chops, Benoit runs at Angle, but the Olympic Champion flapjacks Benoit into the cage wall. Angle utilizes the cage again, running Benoit's back into it.

Benoit still fires back, with chops and two snap suplexes. Angle mounts a recovery, with a gutwrench suplex. Second gutwrench by Angle. Neither man can seemingly take the true advantage. A third gutwrench puts Angle in control. Angle climbs the cage, using the ropes, but Benoit catches up to him. Benoit with his german suplex attempt? But Angle blocks...Angle finally breaks Angle free....GERMAN SUPLEX OFF THE TOP ROPE ONTO ANGLE! Angle lands on the shoulder.

Benoit climbs up...but Angle is miraculously able to catch him and throws him to the mat. Flying Elbowdrop by Angle! Trading right hands, and Benoit launches Angle into the cage headfirst! And again! A third time, shoulder-first! Benoit climbing the cage, but Angle sneaks up and punches him in the groin, sending him to the mat! ANGLE SLAM by Angle! Angle puts Benoit in position and climbs to the top rope...now up to the top of the cage!! Wide-angle shot....it's A MOONSAULT OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE!!!!! Angle misses perhaps the most beautiful moonsault EVER and lands stomach-first!

Benoit stomps Angle, and a running knee takes Angle down! A second running knee flips Kurt over and to the mat. Angle reverses an Irish whip and launches Benoit into the cage! Ehh...too quick a recovery for my tastes. Angle should be dead. Angle picks Benoit up and throws him head-first into the cage wall. Loud "Angle Sucks!" chant. Benoit sneaks out of a slam...GERMAN SUPLEX by Benoit! "2!" "3!" A fourth! Five! Six! And Benoit lets go. Crowd applauds!

Benoit goes to escape the cage via the door, but Angle jumps and misses him, and crashes into the cage! GERMAN SUPLEX NUMBER SEVEN! Eight! Nine! Benoit climbs to the top rope...he's at the top of the cage! He can escape right here. Steve Austin leaves commentary and has a chair. He threatens Benoit to climb down, wildly slamming the chair into the cage wall! Benoit standing on top of the cage...FLYING HEADBUTT FROM THE TOP OF THE CAGE CONNECTS WITH KURT ANGLE'S HEART!!!!!

Both men lay down, hurt, for a short while. Austin attacks the outside referee...he won't allow Benoit to escape via the door. benoit dropkicks the cage door into Austin's face! Angle sneaks up...ANKLE LOCK applied to Benoit! Benoit on one foot...enzuigiri to Angle! Benoit crawls to the door, and Austin slams the door on Benoit's head! Angle goes to the opposite cage wall and climbs up...Angle to the top of the cage....over the top.....and he...drops to the floor and wins!

Winner: Kurt Angle via cage escape at 14:29

After the match: Angle brutalizes Benoit with chairshots and by driving the chair into Benoit's mid-section about 15 times. Six chairshots follow as the WWF Champion grabs his title and leaves to his own music.

August 2, 2004

WWE CHAMPION KURT ANGLE v. THE UNDERTAKER

September 4th 2003

Smackdown!

Announcers: Michael Cole and Tazz

Referee: CHIODA~!

The Build-Up: At the Vengeance 2003 show two months prior to this bout, both Kurt Angle and The Undertaker experienced tremendous surges to their careers. Angle made his long-awaited return after neck surgery, and won his fourth WWE title from Brock Lesnar. The Undertaker proved his continued worth in both the kayfabe and shoot sense by defeating John Cena in a shockingly good match. The Undertaker had begun to establish himself in the same way as Stan Hansen did in 1993 AJPW: without a doubt the toughest man in the Federation... but was he still the best?

At SummerSlam, both men's hot streaks continued. Kurt Angle deflected a challenge from the now heel turned Brock Lesnar, and was (for the moment) the Undisputed top dog on SmackDown. The Undertaker defeated A-Train in a very underrated match that continued to tell the subtle story of the legendary gunfighter who every young punk shootist wants to take out.

In a Triple Threat Number One Contender's Match on the 8/28/03 edition of SmackDown, The Undertaker did what Angle had done at Vengeance: beaten both Brock Lesnar and the Big Show in DECISIVE fashion, and earned a title shot. Kurt Angle responded that very week by saying that it would be his honor to make The Undertaker tap out. Just one year earlier these roles were totally reversed, with Taker being the wily Champ who had survived HHH, and Angle the challenger to his crown.

On the night of the match, The Undertaker said that he wouldn't tap out to Angle if his ankle was broken, that the title meant too much to him. Time would tell if these words were prophetic... or wishful thinking.

The Match: Both men go their corners and wait for the bell. The dueling "TAKER" and "ANGLE" chants do a ton to give this match an epic feel. The bell rings and both men feint to their strengths. Angle fakes a single leg take down before backing off when Undertaker uses strikes to make him keep his distance. It's extremely telling of how both men operate.

Angle goes for a tie up and is thrown across the ring. They tie up again, but Angle quickly twists an arm and hooks into a front face lock. Cole points out that this will minimize the effectiveness of Taker's reach. Taker uses enough raw power to get some leverage and hook one of Angle's arms. He executes a few arm wringers and the story of the match is beginning to develop: The Undertaker has learned from his last two encounters with Kurt. He's not just going to try to OUTFIGHT Angle... he's got to try to OUTTHINK him as well.

Angle reverse the arm wringer and goes for a side headlock, which is another simple hold that makes it tough for Taker to use his fists to their fullest. Taker throws him off and casually shoulder blocks him down. Angle retreats to a corner, and at this point it’s clear that he’s just feeling out Taker out, and that Taker isn’t the same man who fought him at Vengeance in 2002. Undertaker and Kurt do some minor chain wrestling stuff, and it’s apparent that Angle is just too quick for this approach to work. The Undertaker needs to slow him down before he can play on the mat.

Undertaker uses a hip toss and a variation on a short arm scissors to continue working on the arm. Angle reverses and gets a couple quick near falls to show that he’s still too quick for Taker to deal with on the mat. Angle goes for a top wristlock, but that’s just stupid because The Undertaker PLANTS HIM and goes right back to the arm. Old School, and it actually works in the context of the match. Undertaker does a better job working Angle’s arm then either Angle or Lesnar would do with anything in the Iron Man match the next week.

The balance of power shifts when Angle hits two straight Germans… and shifts right back when Undertaker counters the third and Kurt runs full speed into a huge right hand from the Undertaker. Taker decides (in a move that echoes Angle/Benoit at X-7) to fuck this wrestling shit , and Angle is in deep shit. Some nice elbows, and then a beautiful leg drop across the apron put Angle into Taker’s world. Taker nonchalantly breaks the count and then returns to the outside to continue the shitkicking. We go to a commercial break with Angle reeling on the outside and UT smiling in the ring.

Back from break, and UT is just POUNDING on Angle in the corner, and looks damn near invincible. At this point Angle really needs to get back into his element. Angle tries to stand up and brawl with Taker in a quick hope spot, but Taker kills that dead with a knee. However, Angle has regain a little momentum and catches UT with a sleeper. The advantage of course being that he can drop Taker from his vertical base, and catch a breather at the same time. Taker tries for a fireman’s carry but it’s blocked so he gets back to his feet. Out of nowhere, UT uses his power to suplex out of the sleeper, and begins slapping himself in the head to clear the cobwebs.

Angle reverses out of a Dragon Sleeper, and hit’s a Belly to Belly. It seems that Angle doesn’t really have a plan yet. He’s just doing whatever feels right and hoping that his natural ability can overcome the Undertaker. He pounds on Taker a bit in the corner, but Taker reverses an Irish whip and avalanches him in the other corner. He does it again for good measure, and follows up with a snake eyes/big boot combination. Angle avoids the leg drop that Taker uses to follow the big boot, and hooks in the Ankle lock for the first time. Taker however, counters this instantly, and as they both return to their feet Angle gets an Angle Slam for 2.

Angle pulls down the straps and signals for another, but Taker counters into a choke slam for 2. Angle reverses the Last Ride into an Ankle Lock, but Undertaker makes good on his word and counters into a Fujiwara arm bar. This isn’t only a cool counter, but it recalls all the work on the arm from earlier in the match (Too bad Angle forgot all about it). Angle counters into a “banana split” for two, and then transitions into the Ankle Lock. Angle seems remarkably unimaginative tonight, just going for the Ankle Lock again and again and again, no matter how close Taker is to the ropes or how many times Taker counters it.

Taker makes Angle pay for going to the Ankle Lock again and reverses it into a Triangle Choke. This was the move Angle used to get a draw on the Undertaker last year prior to Vengeance 2002. The use of this move in this context is a brilliant piece of history from Taker. It ALSO references the arm work Taker did early on, making it doubly awesome. Angle is in the sleeper for a while, and is only saved by getting his foot on the bottom rope as the his hand goes down the third time (Yeah, right). Taker does more selling in the two seconds following the break then Angle does in the whole match.

UT goes for a big boot, but Angle ducks and slaps on the Ankle Lock while Taker is tied up in the ropes. Ref breaks it and UT gives Angle a Stone Cold Stunner (!) over the top rope. Angle has been busted open and UT drops an elbow for two. Both men are exhausted and UT pulls Angle up by his trunks and starts hitting him in the face while keeping him up with his trunks. Angle drops Taker to his knees with some punches of his own, but runs the ropes like a moron and is big booted for his troubles. Taker sells the ankle afterwards which makes me happy.

UT signals choke slam but it’s countered to an Ankle Lock. Taker gets as close to tapping as he ever will get at this point, because his ankle means a lot to him… BUT THE BELT MEANS MORE DAMMIT. He counters and Angle is so pissed he runs right into a choke slam… but that isn’t how he’s going to beat him. He hit’s a Last Ride and Angle is DEAD. Brock Lesnar comes in with a Chair and the ref throws it out at 16:53.

****

cawthon777 · August 4, 2004

I understand that this thread is solely for reviews and, as this isn't one, I'll make this quick and to the point.

If you guys are interested, I'm adding match / PPV / DVD / VHS reviews to my site. You're more than welcome to send some my way to be posted.

WWE Match Reviews

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