Forgotten great matches

[Guest Some Guy]

They're are probably a million, but I'll start off with Austin vs HBK at KOTR 97.

The match is generally not mentioned in people's lists of great matches.  My theory: It was on an awful PPV that no one ordered, the match was thrown together at the last minute because of HBK and Bret's real life heat canceling their match and it had a BS finish.  If you haven't seen the match rent the tape, it's ****1/4 at least, the only slow spot is when a retarded kid falls over the guard rail and HBK stops mid-match to help him up.  Other than that the match steams along until the lame finish, a double DQ to protect both guys, who were Tag Champs at the time.

[Guest dreamer420]

Shawn Michael vs. Davey Boy Smith (KOTR 96)

 

This match was and easy **** IMO and maybe even a little higher because I need to watch the match again.

[Guest Jack Tunney]

Owen Hart vs. The 1-2-3 Kid from KOTR '94.

[Guest]

I thought the Final Four Match between Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Undertaker and Vader at In Your House 13 was fantastic.  I later heard a rumor that Austin was scheduled to win but blew out his knee mid-match, and the finish was done on the fly.  If this is the case, it was an amazingly well put-together conclusion:  

 

Taker lowblowed Vader on a splash attempt and ousted him, injured Austin hobbled back out to ringside to cause a distraction, Taker gave Bret a chokeslam and signalled for the Tombstone as the crowd went nuts, Austin broke things up from the apron so Taker went to hit him, at which point Bret clotheslined Taker over the top rope to win and become a four time champion.  Not bad for an improvisation.

 

I rarely hear the match discussed these days outside of a historical context, but it was a hard-hitting well-constructed affair from start to finish with big crowd heat.  Vader took a horrible looking hardway cut above the eye from a Taker chairshot and bled like a stuck pig for the entire match.  I had all but stopped watching the WWF from around the end of 1994, and this was the match that got me back into the promotion big time.

[Guest Zack Malibu]

Diesel/Bret, and the Wild Card match, both from Survivor Series 1995.

 

Diesel/Bret was a great brawl, and included the first Spanish Announce table bump in Fed. history.  The Wild Card match, while only slightly above average in workrate, was a highly interesting concept, and the most interesting match on the card, IMO.

 

Mysterio vs. Guerrero from Havoc '97.  Absolutely blew everything else on that show out of the water and into orbit.  Much like Shawn/Austin from KOTR, I think that because Havoc was such a forgettable show, that people have forgotten about how great this match was.

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Bret/Bulldog at December 95 IYH. **** at least. The beginning (like all Bret matches) is kind of slow, but once it gets going it's non-stop for the next 15 minutes. Bret bleeds like a (say it with me) stuck pig. Match isn't mentioned because, like the above matches, it stuck on a forgettable card.

[Guest Some Guy]

I'll add Savage vs. Warrior from SS 92.  Warrior's 2nd best match ever, about ***3/4.  DQ finish, but it fit the storyline with Flair and Perfect playing mindgames with Warrior and Macho.

[Guest Mark4steamboat]

Flair vs Lugar Wrestle War 90. Awesome match. at least ****1/2. the whole show is awesome BTW.

[Guest The Voices In Your Head]

Al Snow vs. Chris Benoit -ECW, early 1995.

[Guest dreamer420]

I think people forget about Bret/Davey from Summerslam 1992.  ****1/2 match that kept me on the edge of my seat.

[Guest ManKinnd]

Gotta throw this out there because it happened less than a year ago and people are already forgetting its greatness:

Angle.Benoit.Cage.

[Guest]

Yeah I agree with the Benoit Angle cage match. I was so pissed when I saw the ratings were lower. I just remember cussing the marks with the "bastards wouldn't know a good match if it bit them on the ass" type attitude.

 

Got to mention another cage match that I seldom hear about. The Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard match. I forget what event it occured at, but it's a textbook example of a stiff, bloody old school brawl. I still wince everytime I think of Mangum TA literally bludgeoning Tully with that microphone

[Guest HartFan86]

I think people forget about Bret/Davey from Summerslam 1992.  ****1/2 match that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Why not  *****?

[Guest Some Guy]

Benoit and Austin had a great Raw match in late 2000, it was Austin's first good match in his return.  Their later SD! matches were better than this one, but it was very good, probably ****, on the Raw scale.

[Guest]

Wasn't that the match where Benoit set it up by coming out and ranting about how Austin doesn't actually "wrestle" and Austin said something to the effect of "if you want me to teach this piece of trash a lesson in wrestling, give me a hell yeah" and then the match was straight technical most of the way through?

 

If that's the match I think you're talking about, it rocked. I marked out because I hadn't seen Austin wrestle like that since his match with Bret Hart at Survivor Series 96

[Guest Zoltan]

Juvi vs Bliztgerg from Spring Stampede 1999-

a Fabulous opener with great spots, great crowd heat, and a out of this world finish it was about ***1/4 one of the best opners ever

 

and Dean Malenko vs Chris benoit from Hog Wild 1996, 30 minutes of action but a STUPUID biker crowd kept it from ***** but still ****3/4 a great match

 

also, Eddy Guerro vs Dean malenko from Uncensored 1998 in a no dq mathc, 25 minutes of non-stop action one of their greatest matches ever! About ****3/4

[Guest razazteca]

Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Misterio Jr Holloween Havoc mask match, when Eddie was a rudo.

 

Bret Hart vs HBK ladder match, colliseum video execlusive.

 

Flair vs Sting Great American Bash 90, Sting's 1st title win against Flair.

 

Eddie Guerrero vs Shinjiro Ootani, Starcade 95

 

Cactus Jack vs Vader, Texas Death Match

[Guest Jimmy]

I thought Bulldog vs Michaels at One Night Only was at least 4 stars.

[Guest Risk]

Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from WM 13.  Great match.

[Guest Some Guy]

Wasn't that the match where Benoit set it up by coming out and ranting about how Austin doesn't actually "wrestle" and Austin said something to the effect of "if you want me to teach this piece of trash a lesson in wrestling, give me a hell yeah" and then the match was straight technical most of the way through?

 

If that's the match I think you're talking about, it rocked. I marked out because I hadn't seen Austin wrestle like that since his match with Bret Hart at Survivor Series 96

Yes it was, I think it was in Dec. 2000.

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

I wouldn't say Bret/Austin is forgotten at all. In fact, it's probably mentioned alot in 'greatest matches' threads.

[Guest Some Guy]

Bret/Austin from Revenge of the Taker is a great forgotten match though.

[Guest dreamer420]

I think people forget about Bret/Davey from Summerslam 1992.  ****1/2 match that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Why not  *****?

The match was so much back and forth  but all the crap with the Bulldog's wife at ringside and all the added sports entertainment brought down the end of the match.

[Guest ShamRock]

Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle(Cage).One of the best cage matches I've seen.Three great spots(German suplex of the side of the cage,Kurt missing the moonsault from the top,and Benoit hitting the swandive headbutt onto Angle).Lame finish.****1/2

 

Dean Malenko,Chris Benoit,Triple H,X-Pac,Perry Saturn vs. The Rock,Mick Foley,Rikishi,Scotty 2 Hotty,and Grandmaster Sexay.It was during the period where the Radicalz turned on Foley.Great tag action.I was a mark back then,and wanted Rock's team to win,but they lost and I got pissed.

****1/4

 

WWF IC Title Match - Lance Storm vs. Edge (SummerSlam).Fast paced match.Very cool spots,especially the one where Edge reverses a flying attack into a powerslam.Also psychology by Storm and good selling by Edge.Of course,Edge cheated and won.Bastards.****

 

WWF IC Title Match - Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (WM III).It was a good match.It's overrated,but not by much.It must've made a big impact at WM III.I'll give it ****1/4.I didn't feel the drama during the match.If I watched it live,my rating would probably be higher.

 

That's about it.

[Guest]

Hogan vs. Earthquake at SS 90.

for some reason I'm the only person who enjoys it.  Basically Hogan gets flattened throughout the whole match by a big fatass.  He hulks up and slams Quake on, not through a table, but the legs bend and Quake falls over.

[Guest franchise632]

Dean Malenko,Chris Benoit,Triple H,X-Pac,Perry Saturn vs. The Rock,Mick Foley,Rikishi,Scotty 2 Hotty,and Grandmaster Sexay.It was during the period where the Radicalz turned on Foley.Great tag action.I was a mark back then,and wanted Rock's team to win,but they lost and I got pissed.

****1/4

This match is proof of how important a hot crowd can be to match. That Houston crowd probably lifted that match a full star.

[Guest Some Guy]

Hogan vs. Earthquake at SS 90.

for some reason I'm the only person who enjoys it.  Basically Hogan gets flattened throughout the whole match by a big fatass.  He hulks up and slams Quake on, not through a table, but the legs bend and Quake falls over.

Hogan does nail Quake with a few hard chair shots at the end, if my memory serves me.  But sorry ML the match sucked.

[Guest RetroRob215]

Randy Savage & Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon--Survivor Series 92.  Another good match with tremondous heat.

[Guest TripleHsmark]

Actually, it was Bossman that blasted Quake with the stiff chairshots.

 

Oh, and wasn't the RAW multi-man tag in Texas, not Philly?  I'm thinking Dallas.

[Guest franchise632]

Oh, and wasn't the RAW multi-man tag in Texas, not Philly?  I'm thinking Dallas.

I know it was in Texas, I was pretty sure it was Houston but it may have been Dallas. It was one of the two. I will have to try and find it.