Fav WWF matches evaah!!

[Guest Captian Linger]

Yeah, I'm the guy that several months ago started a tirade with some other people jumping on against the WWF style in general.

 

I'm not trying to amends but since I feel like making a pointless list about WWF matches that I actually love a whole lot, I figured 'what the hey'.

 

1. Steve Austin vs Bret Hart (Survivor Series96)

 

-I really love the hell out of this match, definitly my favorite WWF match I've ever seen. Keith called it 'the last great match before the change-over to "Attitude"' and I'd also call it the best ever for the promotion. Watching Austin here is just a joy to see him work his role in the match to perfection. Jim Ross was really leaps and bounds better in 1996 calling this match than he is today.

 

-Austin and Bret wrestling at the start, showing some semblence of respect for eachother's ability until Austin gets annoyed and they start to duke it out. Then the body of the match builds nicely with Austin actually carrying the load and Bret selling a lot. The big spots are few and far between but the logical build and fantastic selling by Bret really seemed to engage the crowd, and this viewer as well.

 

-The only thing that seemed a bit out of place was Austin using the submissions at the end as false finishes. Only in the senes that everyone *knew* Bret wasn't going to tap. The finish itself could be looked at as a fluke but I disagree. Bret used a cunning stock move that he beat Roddy Piper with and Piper was more "experienced" than Bret at the time, so Austin being Junior to Bret, it made sense that he'd get caught by it. Now if only they remembered that spot in the rematch...

 

2. Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit (Smackdown, Edmt2001)

 

-Everyone time I dip into my recent WWF match tapes, no other match invokes this kind of passion from me or even close. No other match from '98-'01 in the WWF can touch this for working the crowd's emotions and generally conveying what it means to be "intense".

 

-Everyone knows the story, Austin was finally starting to gain momentum in his ill advised heel turn. It was about to peak from a critical standpoint, although it ultimately flopped at the Box Office;). Benoit had just 'broke through the glass ceiling' with Jericho and was over like a GOD in his home town. Canada always seemed more game to boo Austin when he was heel and really get behind the concept more than the American fans ever did.

 

-So everything was in place for this to work from a crowd heat perspective. Now it was in the hands of the workers as they were generously givin almsot 20min on freakin' tv to do their thing.

 

-Austin worked like the great heel I knew he could be from his days as a Hollywood Blonde, keeping the crowd into the match while letting Benoit get in "hope spots" to further the build of the match.

 

-The coolest spot in the match could have, ironically, labled Austin as a 'Benoit Killer' when he nearly dropped him on his head on a gourdbuster on the announce table. Instead, it yeilded a Holy Shit momment that is pretty rare in WWF mainevents. It didn't really add that much to the match that it was performed so dangerously, but I found it worthy of mention as being rather infamous in its own right.

 

-One flaw I found was that Austin 'had to prove he could beat Benoit clean' after screwing him royally on RAW the Monday before. So after Austin killed Benoit dead with the suplexes on the table, it would be only logical to work directly towards I finish right away. Instead, Austin used Southern Style heel tactics like slapping and raking Benoit's face with his boot instead of going for the Stunner. I can see how it worked in the story of the match of Austin being an asshole, but bits like these have better places in the body of the match rather than the final segments.

 

-The Ten German Suplexes Heard Round the World was the ultimate in "more is more" psychology that is so simple that it borders on genius. You just never see a heel take a pounding like that in the WWF unless it's 'Taker vs Shawn or something rather than a midcarder against the top heel.

 

-Of course the interference bothered me to an extent, only by that an actual clean finish always works better for me. But Benoit killing Vince dead with a steel chair was something I thought I'd never get to see:).

 

I'll touch on more matches later if actual discussion comes from this thread. BTW, I'm a much bigger fan of explantation of why matches worked for you rather than just quoting verbatim. Again, if you can't figure out why Hart/DBS from Summerslam 92 is *****, post on another match;).

 

I wish I had Hart/Hennig KORT93 in my collection. When I rented it I watched it twice. It might make number three if I get a copy soon to rewatch and make sure.

[Guest Brian]

"Now if only they remembered that spot in the rematch..."

 

You're talking about a pinning reversal in an "I Quit" match.

[Guest Captian Linger]

Not exactly...

 

It was actually a reversal of a *submission* into a pin but that's besides the point.

 

Everything after Austin's stunner at SS96 seemed to build to using the cobra clutch, where Bret used a counter into a pinning combo. However, Austin still had the hold applied but was pinned in the process.

 

They could have played up that finish in the rematch by having Bret try the same counter, simply out of habit, and find himself even more stuck than before in the cobra clutch. This would have created the impression that Austin might actually win at that point.

 

BTW, I shamelessly stole this idea from jdw, in case anyone points it out. But it's brilliant. It's just a shame that in a supposed "submissions" match, Austin didn't even go for the cobra clutch, not even once. It would have been nice to see them play up their prior encounter.

 

Understand?