JD's extremely random match reviews

[JoeDirt 0]

I decided to do match reviews of all the random crap I happen to watch during my days of wrestling viewing. I'll review matches you'll never see reviewed anywhere else. I can't promise they'll be good matches, or matches you'll really want to see...but it'll be random, dammit!

 

Now, on with the first review!

 

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TAKA MICHINOKU vs. CHRISTIAN, WWF LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH FROM JUDGMENT DAY 1998:

 

Christian enters first with Gangrel and to his music. Seeing Edge and Christian back in their "gothic" days is so weird. Taka comes out next, and you need to remember that this is Kaientai heel Taka, managed by Yamaguchi-San. How did Taka turn heel, anyways?

 

Christian slugs away at Taka to start, just to make sure we don't get any wrestling at all. Taka punches him back. Christian sends Taka into the corner and tries a German, but Taka lands on his feet and hits a leg lariat. Taka clotheslines Christian to the floor and then hits a nice springboard dive to the floor. Cool stuff. Edge is shown watching in the crowd. Taka hits a guillotine leg drop with Christian lying between the ropes, and covers for 2. Taka gets a headlock and Christian takes him to the corner and hits some shoulder blocks. Taka hits a kick to the face but Christian comes back with a reverse DDT. He sends Taka to the ropes and hits a dropkick.

 

Lawler: We could have a new champion here!

 

JR: That's the idea...

 

Christian with three rolling suplexes (two snap, one front) on Taka for 2. He snapmares Taka and kicks him in the back. He dumps Taka to the floor and hits his springboard cross body to the floor. Back in, and Christian hits a powerbomb on Taka for 2. Scoop slam and he chokes Taka out. I thought Christian was the babyface here? I guess it's shades of gray, baby! Christian goes up top and misses a splash/headbutt/whatever. Taka gets up but Christian hits him with a few nice forarm shots. Taka comes back with a dropkick and a baseball slide kick. He hits a nice Asai moonsault onto Christian on the floor. Taka rolls Christian in and hits a top rope cross body, rolled through by Christian for 2. Taka rolls Christian up for 2. Taka hits a seated dropkick for 2. Christian hits a side Russian leg sweep for 2. Taka hits a tornado DDT and calls for the Michinoku Driver. He lifts, but Christian rolls him up for the title and a big pop at 8:31.

 

This match shows how Christian was at the start of his WWF career. This match has no flow or story, it's just a series of thrown-together moves. Some of the moves are pretty nice, but there's no psychology, no selling, and nothing done to draw the crowd into the match. This was kind of the norm for the WWF at the time, I guess. This gets points for the lack of restholds during the match, however. **1/4

[JoeDirt 0]

Might as well put these two reviews that I already posted in the Misc. Promotions section:

 

CHRIS HERO vs. "AMERICAN DRAGON" BRYAN DANIELSON (IWA-Mid South, 8/21/04):

 

With all the hype this match got ahead of time, I thought I'd do a review of it here, since it's going to take me a while to get through the entire 8/21 IWA-MS show, which is over 4 hours long, with eleven matches.

 

I should note that the show starts with a cool segment where lots of IWA wrestlers predict who will win the match. Arik Cannon is great as a heel here, and predicts Dragon will make Hero "tap like a bitch at the 23 minute mark". Punk is even better, saying Dragon will win because "he has more international experience, he's more seasoned, and oh yeah...he actually goes to the gym once in a while. Try lifting some time Chris, it might help you." He winks and walks off screen.

 

Each man is introduced, and Danielson gets a standing ovation. Hero gets a mixed reaction. They shake hands and we're underway.

 

They tie up and Danielson takes Hero down and goes to work. They fight over some arm bars/holds. Dragon does a great bridging reversal and they break. They go to a knucklelock, and Hero runs through some usual stuff and goes to a cravat. The fans try the whole dueling chant thing again, but any attempts at that now just seem like trying to ripoff the Joe vs. Hero match. We get another clean break, and then another tie up. Danielson and Hero each do some reverals out of the knucklelock. Danielson tries a back slide and slowly takes Hero down and into a waistlock, and then back around, shoving Hero's shoulders to the mat for 2. Hero grabs Danielson's hand, so Amdrag just slaps it free. They are all twisted up like a pretzel on the mat and do this cool double hand stand double submission thing that is kind of hard to explain, and then get a break.

 

They tie up again, and Hero snapmares Dragon and goes to a chinlock and then a surfboard. Dragon fights out, but Hero keeps a hold of his left arm. Dragon rolls over and reverses into a hammerlock on Hero. Hero lifts Dragon off the mat, but Dragon rolls over with a sunset flip-type pin for 2. They circle each other, and Dragon teases Hero with a few jabs, and Hero responds with a big kick attempt. They tie up again and Hero gets a waistlock while Dragon hooks his left arm, and they fight for position. Hero slams Dragon, who holds onto his arm and rolls through into an arm bar. Hero gets back to his feet and shoves Dragon to the ropes, and hits a dropkick. Hero hits a floatover snap suplex for 2, and then goes back to an arm bar. Dragon gets the ropes and a break, but then hooks Hero by the arm and wrings it. He gets a monkey flip, but Hero lands on his feet and takes Danielson down with his legs.

 

Hero offers a handshake, so Danielson slaps him and hits some headbutts to a big pop from the crowd. He hits a big European uppercut and then some more. The match picks up in intensity as Dragon brings some stiff shots. Dragon keeps focusing on Hero's left arm, and they trade strikes before Dragon takes Hero down and snaps Hero's left arm around. Hero tries to fight back with strikes, but Dragon hooks his arm and takes him to the mat and into a mounted arm bar. Hero does anything to roll free, but Dragon keeps holding on. Dragon picks Hero up and hits a slingshot suplex to big cheers; Dragon has plenty of fans in Highland on this night. Dragon goes to a surfboard, which Hero escapes, but Dragon keeps him down with a dropkick and continues to work Hero over, even briefly applying a camel clutch while Hero is in the ropes.

 

Dragon goes back to a surfboard, stepping on the back of Hero's legs to take him to the mat. Hero fights back up, and Dragon takes him right back down. Hero fights back up again and tries to spin out, but Dragon goes right back to it. Finally Hero kicks himself free and misses a strike, but catches Danielson coming off the ropes with a powerslam.

 

Hero now realizes he needs to hit Danielson and hit him hard, and he brings the forearms and his twisting neckbreaker from off the ropes. He scoops Danielson up and slams him down, and then hits a senton. Hero tries a suplex, and has to switch sides before he can lift Danielson up, due to his shoulder. He gets a 2 count. Hero tries a powerbomb, but Dragon flips out and hits a roaring elbow to knock Hero down. Dragon does his airplane spin into a rolling slam on Hero, but then misses his headbutt off the top rope. They get back up and trade forearms. Danielson gets a rolling bridge for 2. Hero quickly rolls Danielson up for 2. Hero hits some forearms, and then makes a small mistake by hitting a forearm with his left arm, only to not sell it as hurting at all after the work Dragon did to it. He then powerbombs Dragon and goes to the Hangman's Clutch. Dragon fights to the ropes in a good sequence. Hero tries to Hero's Welcome, but Dragon is able to counter. Hero blocks the Cattle Mutilation and hits a backdrop driver on Dragon. Hero heads up top, but Dragon catches him and hits an armbreaker off the top rope right into the cattle mutilation for the finish at 23:00, just like Arik Cannon predicted.

 

THOUGHTS: This was an interesting match. The work was just beautiful, and everything was smooth and well done. The first 18 minutes are well worked and a great build, but a build for a LONGER match. My problem with the match is that the last 5 minutes seemed slightly rushed. After a slow, back and forth 18 minute opening, the match really should have gone at least 10 minutes longer than it did, at least in my opinion. It was like a match with a good start and a good finish, but no real middle to it. Maybe that was just me...I'd love to hear other's thoughts on it.

 

In all honesty, though, these guys had to live up to SO much for this match, so people giving it ***1/2 say it was a disappointment. I really don't think so. This was a beautifully worked match, and set the stage for a rematch down the road, a match in which each man has PLENTY left in the bag. Think about it: Hero didn't use the Hero's Welcome, Dragon didn't use his backdrop superplex, etc. I would LOVE to see a 45-60 minute match between these two sometime in the future.

 

Bryan Danielson is simply one of the best workers in the world. He's so damn fun to watch, and everything he does is realistic and hard hitting. I read Tim Cooke's review of the match on the DVD boards and agree that Hero needs to vary up his arm work a bit. But really, Hero didn't have much of a chance to do that in this match, as Dragon really controlled the large majority of it. If you think about it, the underlying story of the match is interesting: Dragon dominates the match, outwrestling Hero, and causing Chris to rely on strikes to get himself back into the match, but with Dragon catching him when he tries for a big move and hooking the Cattle Mutilation for the submission.

 

I liked this match a lot, just as I did in Dragon's match with Arik Cannon, which I gave ****. I have to put this match just slightly under that match at ***3/4, with hopes that Hero and Dragon get a 2/3 falls rematch or an Ironman match sometime down the road. I suggest you get the 8/21 IWA-MS show, sit back, relax, and enjoy this match, along with a lot of other great stuff on this tape.

[JoeDirt 0]

"MR. INSANITY" TOBY KLEIN vs. NECRO BUTCHER (IWA-MS KOTDM 2004 TOURNAMENT, NIGHT ONE, FANS BRING THE WEAPONS):

 

This match has gotten a lot of attention as being one of the best deathmatches ever, and I even saw a few posts on the Death Valley Driver board that listed this as one of the best matches of the year. Well, I got my KOTDM 2004 tapes today, so I figured I'd review this match. Now, I'll be the first to admit it's going to be hard to give this match a star rating, because I know ahead of time it's not going to have any wrestling, it's just going to be a crazy brawl. But we'll see what I think and go from there.

 

Necro enters first, than Klein. Klein grabs some light tubes and fakes out a few fans, pretending he's going to hit them with the tubes. The match starts before Prazak finishes introductions. Necro grabs a computer monitor and just tosses it at Klein! They brawl on the floor and Necro chops Klein. They start trading STIFF shots back and forth. Klein throws a chair at Necro's head and then breaks a light tube over his head. Klein misses with a weapon shot and Necro chops him and then hits him with a big yellow wet floor cone and then headbutts Nero down. He bashes another light tube across Necro's back and then tears off Necro's shirt...and Necro snaps! Necro punches the SHIT out of Klein with a legit HARD shot and then starts throwing about ten chairs at Klein! Necro grabs a staple gune and puts one into Klein's forehead and then they trade more stiff chops. Klein grabs a HUGE light tube structure made into a crayon shape and cracks it over Necro's head for an "I-W-A" chant. Klein grabs a water cooler on a pole and bashes Necro with it a bunch of times. Necro is bleeding now pretty good, and Klein is bleeding some as well. They trade more NASTY punches, though not as stiff as Necro's earlier. Necro tosses Klein into a bunch of chairs as they brawl through the crowd. There seems to be some cooperation problems here taking bumps as they block several moves...but then Klein POWERBOMBS NECRO OFF THE BLEACHERS AND ONTO THE FLOOR! OUCH! It's falls count anywhere, so Klein rolls on top for a two count. Klein brings Necro back into the ring and rolls him across the glass on the mat. He rakes him in the head with something sharp. Klein then hits Necro in the back with a barbed wire baseball bat, drawing more blood. They trade shots from a seated position on the canvas, and Necro dishes out some nasty headbutts. They both charge at each other and do a double headbutt, and Klein rolls on top for another two count. Necro hits more chops. Necro sends Klein into the corner and then charges and gets backdropped to the floor...and Klein pours salt all over him! Poor Necro is just taking a BEATING here. Klein tries a sunset flip powerbomb to the floor, but Necro blocks and hits a RANA on the floor on Klein! Ha! CM Punk on commentary: "Never in ymy life did I think I'd see a flying head scissors from the Necro Butcher." Butcher bashes Klein with a huge wall of light tubes. They brawl around some more. Necro heads back to the ring and up to the top rope. He leaps off the top to the floor WITH A SENTON! Necro just BASHES his jaw on the floor here, and lost several teeth from this move. Back in, and Klein nails Necro with some Nintendo or something like that. They just have no energy left here, and I don't blame them. Necro sends Klein to the ropes and slaps on a SLEEPER! Pyschology! Klein is able to grabs some light tubes and break them over Necro's head, but Necro still holds on! Finally they sandwich the referee in the corner and Klein taps, but the referee misses it. Necro releases the hold and Klein rolls him up...FOR TWO! Actually, that "ref gets bumped but misses the submission from the heel" was done about as realistically as you could have right there. They trade a bunch more punches and Klein throws another chair at Necro. He sets it up and hits a Death Valley Driver onto the chair for three at a whopping 18:00.

 

I have to admit, I'm not the biggest deathmatch fan, but that was one hell of a crazy brawl. Definitely not match of the year or anything, but it has to be right at the top for deathmatch of the year. Scott Keith gives Cactus/Payne vs. Nasty Boys ****3/4, and this was a better brawl than that, but I think he overrated that match, and it's so hard to give star ratings to deathmatches anyways, so I don't really think I can give it a star rating.

 

I think the match also goes to show why deathmatches should really be done so SPARINGLY, and why Ian Rotten made the right choice in ending these deathmatch tournaments. These guys just KILLED each other out there, and it's more than just the scars most deathmatch workers get from getting stabbed in the forehead or whatever. Necro took some CRAZY bumps here that have to just KILL your spine. I mean a powerbomb off the bleachers? And that crazy senton to the floor?

 

I also really think the best deathmatches come from guys who CAN wrestle at least a bit, but are crazy enough to take all the bumps and do all the crazy shit that the blood marks love so much.

 

Toby Klein was pretty good here, but after seeing him work two matches with Madman Pondo and this one with Necro, it's safe to say that the man who made this match was Necro Butcher. He's simply one of the best deathmatch workers in the world today because he's such a crazy fucker. I feel sorry for the man, really, because he's killing himself for so little. But you can't say he's not good at what he does, and that's taking a lot of punishment and hitting people hard.

 

What I liked about it is that it seemed a lot more "real" than most deathmatches, which seem really cooperative, staged, etc...like you're watching a sick freakshow exhibition (which you really are). Necro is such a crazy bastard that you never know when he's really pissed or not, because some punches he threw here were HARD. And he broke Green Phantom's nose at CZW's Tournament of Death 3 in July with a punch to the face. This match seemed more like a real brawl (thought not all of the time), and was better because of it.

[JoeDirt 0]

DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE vs. KEVIN NASH - WCW WORLD TITLE MATCH FROM SLAMBOREE 1999:

 

DDP won the title the month before at Spring Stampede after getting some help from Randy Savage and hitting a Diamond Cutter on Ric Flair for the pin. I have no idea if this match will be any good or if it'll be embarrassing or mediocre or what. I guess we'll see. They tie up and we get a quick start with Nash missing a big boot and blocking a DDP diamond cutter try and dumping him to the floor. Tenay mentions that these guys used to be tag partners? DDP punches away and Nash gets in a knee lift. He sends DDP to the ropes and DDP slides to the apron, so Nash shoves him off and to the floor. Nash drops DDP across the guard rail. Back inside, and Nash knees DDP in the corner and then does the framed elbows. He goes for the snake eyes but DDP floats over and punches away. Good thing, Nash would have used up most of his moveset right there!

 

DDP keeps punching Nash, who keeps shoving him away. DDP low blows Nash and Nick Patrick misses it somehow. More punches. DDP goes to the other corner and takes off the turnbuckle padding. Patrick sees it, and while he's distracted DDP hits Nash in the head with something and pins him for 2. DDP argues with Patrick, and then Nash sends DDP face first into the EXPOSED STEEL TURNBUCKLE~! Both guys are down. Nash rolls over for a two count. They trade punches. DDP hits some nice shots and clotheslines Nash to the floor. The crowd is pretty quiet for this match.

 

DDP baseball slide kicks Nash. He rolls him back in and pins him with his feet on the ropes and Nash kicks out. Schiavone yells like it's some fucking miracle or something. DDP drops an elbow. This match is so SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. DDP slowly works the knee and takes time out to pose a lot. He posts Nash's leg nicely, and then they do the "heel gets pulled into the ring post" spot. DDP recover and beats down Nash some more in the ring. This offense is less than exciting. But both guys have very limited move sets, so what do you expect? Nash finally comes back with punches and a knee lift, totally negating the work Page did on his knee. UGHHH! Nash hits a clothesline in the corner. He lifts DDP up and drops him across the top turnbuckle with a snake eyes. He whips DDP across and hits a big boot to the face, still not selling the knee at all. He calls for the Jacknife and hits it, but Randy Savage runs in and breaks up the count. A DQ is called for at 13:20. Savage hits Nash with the title belt.

 

Eric Bischoff comes out and orders the match be restarted. This was Eric in his "I'm trying desperately to be a babyface again" period. Of course no one wanted to cheer him and they turned Savage heel when he was getting lots of pops upon his return, but oh well.

 

The match is restarted and DDP gets a Russian leg sweep for 2. DDP ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own for 2. DDP hooks a cobra clutch (?) but Nash elbows out of it and hooks a sleeper. DDP counters with a chinbreaker/stunner type thing for 2. DDP gets a chair and comes back in. He swings and misses and hits himself with it. Nash covers for 2. Nash grabs the chair but DDP low blows him and covers for 2. The reaction of Nick Patrick to DDP hitting the low blow is PRICELESS. Seriously, it's worth the cost of buying this tape just for that. Okay, actually I'm lying, but it's funny.

 

Nash knocks down DDP and PULLS DOWN THE STRAPS~! HE MEANS BUSINESS, PEOPLE! Nash hits the Jackknife and covers for the three at 16:45. See, THAT'S where DDP should have hit the diamond cutter for the win, but oh well.

 

On the positive side, the match getting restarted instead of a bullshit DQ finish was good.

 

On the negative side, Nash didn't sell his knee at all, and I didn't get to see DDP hit the diamond cutter.

 

I think Tony Schiavone summed it up best: "This was a brutal world title bout."

 

I probably would have given it ** if Nash had sold the knee, but I'll be generous and give it *1/2.

[Guest Real F'n Show]

Cool stuff man. I wish TAKA was still with Funaki, they could be the most over tag team on Smackdown right now.

[JoeDirt 0]

Cool stuff man. I wish TAKA was still with Funaki, they could be the most over tag team on Smackdown right now.

Taka and Funaki are great. I still wish Funaki would get some sort of push on Smackdown, maybe as a Whipwreck-style underdog or something.

 

Anyways, if anyone has any really random matches they want to suggest for reviewing (and I have them available to watch) I'll try and do them for ya.

[JoeDirt 0]

TATANKA vs. MR. HUGHES (RAW, AUGUST 9TH, 1993):

 

Tatanka is still undefeated at this point. Hughes starts with punches but Tatanka whips him to the ropes and botches a leap frog and falls down so they start over. They tie up and Tatanka quickly rolls Hughes up for 2. Macmahon does his classic oversell of the nearfall. Tatanka hits some chops but Hughes punches him back. Tatanka comes off the ropes with a cross body for 2. Hughes clotheslines Tatanka down. Hughes grabs Tatanka by the hair and kicks him in the back. Very slow offense. Hughes goes to a chinlock. Tatanka comes back with chops and knocks Hughes down with a shoulderblock. Hughes dumps Tatanka to the floor. They fight outside but Tatanka back drops him and rolls in to win by countout at 4:10. Dumb. Bad match. 1/2*

[JoeDirt 0]

Bringing this thread back from the dead...and in what better way than with an Undertaker match?

 

Undertaker vs. Steve Austin: RAW, 7/29/96:

 

This, as far as I know, is Austin/Taker's second televised match in the WWF. The first was the night after Austin won KOTR, and ended when Taker had Austin up for the tombstone and Goldust threw gold...well, dust...in Taker's eyes to end it. This is the rematch.

 

Austin brings the awesomeness to start, offering Taker a handshake. Taker stares him down and then attacks so Austin grabs a headlock. Taker grabs Austin and tosses him into the corner and they trade arm bars before Taker takes control. Austin gets his own, but Taker decks him with a right hand. Austin begs off, and then rakes the eyes and punches Taker. Taker no sells a ram into the turnbuckle, stares at Austin, and gets the usual pop from the crowd. Hard into the corner, and then to the ropes and Taker with the usual flippy clothesline. Taker goes for the OLD SCHOOL walking the ropes, but Austin, much like at Summerslam 1998, crotches Taker on the ropes. I can't think of anyone else doing that before this point in WWF history, but maybe someone did. Austin stomps away and then pulls Taker to the apron and drops an elbow on him. Chokeout in the ropes. Trading punches. Austin takes control with a mule kick and then stomps a mudhole in Taker, called exactly that by Lawler. Elbow to the back of the neck. Austin hits his second rope elbow drop for 2. To the corner, and shoulders to the midsection. Right hands, but Taker fights back. Taker ties Austin up in the ropes and punches away. Body slam, but Austin avoids an elbow drop and goes back into control. He guillotines Taker across the top rope and we take a commercial break.

 

We're back, and Austin has Taker down in a headlock. Taker makes his comeback. He sends Austin to the ropes, but dips too early and Austin PILEDRIVES Taker! Awesome! Austin taunts Taker and goes to the top rope...but Taker does the zombie situp and crotches Austin! CHOKESLAM OFF THE TOP ROPE! Taker scoops Austin up for the tombstone, but is distraction by Mankind, and chases him off. He ends up getting counted out, and Austin wins! Match went approximately 10:00. Taker brawls with Mankind, and then comes back to the ring to tombstone Austin!

 

Really cool match for nostalgiac purposes, especially for Austin getting in a good amount of offense, and little things like reversing the walk the ropes move, piledriving Taker, and things like that. The chokeslam off the top was a nice touch. Really good RAW match. **3/4

[JoeDirt 0]

Jerry Lawler vs. Aldo Montoya, RAW, 8/5/96:

 

The story in this match is that Aldo has been traveling on the road with Jake the Snake, and got an upset win over Lawler on Superstars with the DDT. The RAW before this Lawler and Aldo did an interview where Lawler said he'd destroy him, and Aldo talked very much like Justin Credible and not much like a Portuguese Man-O-War!

 

Lawler cuts a usual heel promo and then brings out Jake Robert's new tag team partner...a bottle of Jim Beam. He then puts it at ringside and I have a feeling it'll be used in the match. The bell rings and Lawler keeps yelling at Montoya and then cheap shots poor P.J Walker. Vertical suplex. To the ropes, but Aldo comes back with a big right hand to the face and plays the role of the plucky underdog. Dropkick to Lawler and the fans are actually CHEERING Montoya! Top rope punch by Montoya and he sets up for the DDT, but Lawler bails to the corner and holds on to the referee. JR calls him a coward. Why, for avoiding the DDT? Back body drop by Aldo. Ten punches in the corner. Lawler ends up catching Montoya with a piledriver, however, but doesn't go for a pin. He hits a second one, and it looked pretty sick. Three count for Lawler at 3:00. Lawler then grabs the Jim Beam and pours it down the throat of Montoya! Cool heel stuff. Pretty vanilla squash match, but the story and angle here are actually pretty solid in building towards Lawler/Roberts at Summerslam.

[LessonInMachismo 0]

Steamboat vs. Valentine, WM4.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Zandig Vs. Yamakawa, Cage of Death 2: After Dark

 

Do it right...

[cawthon777 0]

How did Taka turn heel, anyways?

Taka & Val Venis vs. Kaientai. Taka turns on Val.

[JoeDirt 0]

Shawn Michaels vs. Ken Shamrock, IYH: Degeneration-X, 12/97:

 

 

The story here is that Shamrock is the babyface contender in his first PPV main event against the cocky heel veteran Michaels, who has the advantage with DX on his side. Of course this is right after Survivor Series 1997, and the WWF needed a challenger for a month before doing the big HBK/Undertaker match at the Royal Rumble. I've always thought that the WWF should have done the casket match back in October at Badd Blood and then done the first Hell in a Cell at the Rumble (seems like more of a blowoff match), but oh well.

 

Ross predicts that if Shamrock hits the belly-belly suplex, it'll be all over. They start with HBK running all over the place, much like at WM14, only to be caught by a big boot to the face by Shamrock. HBK bails and stalls for a full minute. Back in, and HBK goes to the arm of Shamrock but gets overpowered, tossed into the corner, and beat up. HBK gets bieled across the ring, and then Shamrock hits a huge back body drop. Shamrock sends HBK to the corner where he bumps like a pinball up and over to the floor. More stalling from HBK, who clutches at his back like we'd see him do after the casket match in January. Back in, and Shamrock gets in a right hand before HBK slows things down, takes Shamrock to the corner, and hits some punches. Shamrock shoves him away so HBK tries again and gets pushed away. Shamrock punches HBK in the gut to knock him down. HBK grabs a front facelock but Shamrock blocks and hits a hanging suplex of his own and HBK bails again. Shamrock gets sick of waiting and reaches through the ropes to knock HBK and HHH's heads together. Back in, and HBK tries a sunset flip but Shamrock grabs him and lifts him up, tossing him into the corner. Punches. To the other corner, and more big bumping by HBK. He gets crotched on the ropes, and Shamrock shakes the them for fun. He tries the belly-belly, but HBK blocks and distracts the ref long enough to hit a low blow to take advantage for the first time in the match.

 

Shamrock gets dumped to the floor and HHH beats him up behind the ref's back. HBK heads up top and hits a cross body to the floor. Crowd isn't too lively for any of this, but the match is just fine at this point. Shamrock fights back with some more punches, one of them really connecting pretty hard. But Shamrock is outnumbered on the floor, and Chyna shoves him into the ring post. HBK distracts the ref some more as HHH does a number on Shamrock and then rolls him in, and now HBK takes total control. He focuses on the back of Shamrock, dropping a second rope elbow. He whips Ken hard from corner to corner.

 

A funny part comes when Shamrock takes a drop toe hold into the ropes, like Rey does for the 619. Shawn distracts the ref and HHH punches Shamrock, but Shamrock has his eyes closed selling and doesn't know HHH hit him, so he doesn't sell whatsoever. Ross tries to cover it saying that Shamrock is so beaten down "wow, he didn't even MOVE!"

 

Shamrock fights back with punches (again), but HBK gets a springboard cross body that Ken rolls through on for 2. HBK goes to a chinlock in the first resthold of the match. Shamrock eventually fights out and comes off the ropes, blocking a hip toss and getting a funky rolling cradle for 2. HBK knocks Shamrock down with a clothesline and then hooks Shamrock in a sleeper as we take one more long resthold. Shamrock fights out and tries to break free by running HBK back into the turnbuckles. He finally breaks free and hits punches and then a running clothesline. Back body drop. Powerslam for 2. Hurricanrana. More punches. HBK with a crucifix pin that Shamrock counters for 2. HBK tries a rana and Shamrock hits a sitdown powerbomb for 2. HHH and Chyna trip up Shamrock and they then beat him up some more. Back in, and a slam by HBK and then the big elbow drop. He tunes up the band...and Shamrock ducks it and hits the belly to belly! JR screams "it's over!" so obviously it isn't. Anklelock, and DX runs in to save the title at about 18:30.

 

Postmatch, Shamrock is dumped from the ring. Owen Hart returns and beats the HELL out of HBK. Cool stuff to finish. He shoves him off the apron and through the announce table, which the camera doesn't get a good shot of.

 

Final thoughts:

 

This match was well put together and told the story of the "upstart young babyface challenger" quite well. If you notice, Michaels only gets one two count the entire match, early on. Shamrock, on the other hand, gets repeated nearfalls on Michaels that the crowd was getting into at the end. The interference by DX was also well done and while people hate cheap DQ finishes like this, it keeps Shamrock strong, it makes sense with DX there at ringside, and sets up a rematch, though it never happened. Plus, this match was just a bridge to get them to HBK vs. Taker and HBK vs. Austin.

 

I didn't like that Shamrock, a UFC vet, didn't use a single submission on HBK the entire match, and instead his transition move every time was a punch. Okay, maybe you could explain it by saying that Shamrock just wanted revenge on DX and wanted to beat the hell out of Michaels, but his prematch promo talks about how much he wants the title, and it would have been nice to see him WRESTLE a little more here.

 

This match is good, but definitely not up to most Shawn Michaels PPV main events of the time. I'll go **1/2 here.

[CBright7831 0]

How did Taka turn heel, anyways?

He turned heel on Val Venis during a tag match against Kaientai. Later that night, they tried to chop off his "pee-pee".

[Slickster 0]

TATANKA vs. MR. HUGHES (RAW, AUGUST 9TH, 1993):

 

Tatanka is still undefeated at this point. Hughes starts with punches but Tatanka whips him to the ropes and botches a leap frog and falls down so they start over. They tie up and Tatanka quickly rolls Hughes up for 2. Macmahon does his classic oversell of the nearfall. Tatanka hits some chops but Hughes punches him back. Tatanka comes off the ropes with a cross body for 2. Hughes clotheslines Tatanka down. Hughes grabs Tatanka by the hair and kicks him in the back. Very slow offense. Hughes goes to a chinlock. Tatanka comes back with chops and knocks Hughes down with a shoulderblock. Hughes dumps Tatanka to the floor. They fight outside but Tatanka back drops him and rolls in to win by countout at 4:10. Dumb. Bad match. 1/2*

I saw that match live, I was very much into it (I was a mark for Mr. Hughes back then). He pegged him with the urn post-match, right?

[JoeDirt 0]

TATANKA vs. MR. HUGHES (RAW, AUGUST 9TH, 1993):

 

Tatanka is still undefeated at this point. Hughes starts with punches but Tatanka whips him to the ropes and botches a leap frog and falls down so they start over. They tie up and Tatanka quickly rolls Hughes up for 2. Macmahon does his classic oversell of the nearfall. Tatanka hits some chops but Hughes punches him back. Tatanka comes off the ropes with a cross body for 2. Hughes clotheslines Tatanka down. Hughes grabs Tatanka by the hair and kicks him in the back. Very slow offense. Hughes goes to a chinlock. Tatanka comes back with chops and knocks Hughes down with a shoulderblock. Hughes dumps Tatanka to the floor. They fight outside but Tatanka back drops him and rolls in to win by countout at 4:10. Dumb. Bad match. 1/2*

I saw that match live, I was very much into it (I was a mark for Mr. Hughes back then). He pegged him with the urn post-match, right?

I believe so, yes. Tatanka was kept unbeaten, and Hughes was made to look strong going into his feud with Taker that never happened.

[JoeDirt 0]

DX (HHH, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and Chyna) vs. LOD and DOA (8-man tag, RAW 5/4/98)

 

The story here is that DOA beat the NAO last week in a non-title match and were going to get a title match this week, but earlier in the show LOD came out and challenged DX to make it an eight man tag...so obviously DOA's title shot was just forgotten about and they don't get it now. Yeah.

 

Anyways, we start with Road Dogg and Animal. Shoulderblock by Animal and then a BIG powerslam. Tag to 8-Ball, who clotheslines Road Dogg down. Lawler says he wants to see Chyna get clotheslined. Poke to the eye by Road Dogg and a tag to HHH. Punches, but HHH gets a boot to the face and in comes Skull. Suplex gets 2. The Harrises are so boring. I had to get that out. DX is in tweener mode here, just starting to turn face. The crowd pops as Skull clotheslines both HHH and Gunn. Clothesline to Gunn in the corner. Gunn comes back with the fameasser/rocker dropper. Tag to Chyna to a big pop. She hits a hurricanarana for 2. Chyna quickly tags out after her one spot. Punches as we go to an adbreak.

 

And we're back, with HHH getting powerslammed by one of the DOA guys for 2. Hawk comes in with chops and punches. He punches Gunn, but then walks into a HHH facebuster. Chyna gets back in and kicks Hawk. Lawler talks about how Chyna can wrestle. Yeah, right. She heads up top and Hawk hits the ropes, causing her to fall to the floor. She no sells it, comes back in, and punches Hawk right in the nuts as the ref's back is turned. OUCH. Chyna taunts. Road Dogg drops a knee to Hawk for 2. HHH drops a knee for 2. Gunn comes in and hits a backbreaker and a leg drop for 2. He whips him to the corner but catches a back elbow, and both guys are down. Tag to one of DOA, and he cleans house. LOD and DOA have some disagreement for whatever reason and start to brawl, and the match ends just like that at about 7:00 televised.

 

Could have actually been okay with a few more minutes and an actual finish, as the crowd was hot and the action while simple and generic, was done with intensity. But the ending fell flat. 3/4*

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Stop recapping, start reviewing.

[JoeDirt 0]

Stop recapping, start reviewing.

Hey it's my thread asshole.

[JoeDirt 0]

RICKY STEAMBOAT, BRITISH BULLDOG, AND KERRY VON ERICH vs. THE WARLORD AND POWER AND GLORY (Hercules and Paul Roma), SUMMERSLAM 1991:

 

This is the opening match from Summerslam 1991. The heels are managed by Slick, by the way. Heenan thinks the babyfaces will lose and that Slick will make the difference. Steamboat and Roma start. Roma slams him. Lots of posing. Steamboat comes back with a knuckle lock, kick, and then wrings the arm out. Roma takes him to the corner and gets in a cheap shot. Roma misses a charge, though, and Steamboat hits a trademark arm drag. The crowd is REALLY hot here and they seem to just HATE Roma. Hercules comes in and gets arm dragged, and the Texas Tornado Von Erich comes in. Kind of sad to think that neither guy is still living. Von Erich gets 10 punches in the corner. Bulldog and Warlord are in next, and Bulldog hits the hanging vertical suplex. Steamboat comes off the top with a chop, but then tries a monkey flip that Warlord blocks. Man, just seeing this match makes me realize how roided up all these guys were prior late 1992 when Vince finally had to start worrying about the steroid issue. All six guys in this match, including Steamboat, are just JACKED beyond all belief. And sadly, it really reflects the look of a lot of current WWE guys. Anyways, back tot he match. Roma comes in with a double axehandle to Steamboat's back. A lame sequence comes as Steamboat gets a reverse rollup on Roma, the ref starts counting, and Hercules comes in to try and clothesline Steamboat but misses...and the referee STOPS COUNTING even though Roma is still pinned and goes to yell at Hercules. Yeah. Warlord clotheslines Steamboat behind the ref's back, and the heels take over. Roma hits a really nice snap suplex on Steamboat for 2. I liked how Steamboat was trying to make a tag but Roma fought him off with a front facelock and then just dropped him with a nice suplex. Cool stuff from Roma as he lifts up Steamboat in front of him, faces the babyfaces, and hits a series of backbreakers on Ricky, as if to say "there's nothing you can do about it, bitches" to the faces. That's a cool dick heel move. Hercules comes in and gorilla press slams Steamboat. Warlord comes in and hits a body slam. That's some innovative offense, baby. Quick tag to Roma. You know that move Bossman does where the guys in the ropes and he jumps across his back? Roma does that here to Steamboat, except Steamboat isn't in the ropes, so it's kinda weird. Steamboat tries to fight back against Hercules, but Herc drops him with an AWESOME hot shot that Steamboat sells like DEATH. Steamboat finally gets the hot tag when he boots Warlord in the face when he tries a second rope elbow, and he tags Von Erich. Piper on commentary practically has a heart attack, and screams like it's the greatest thing in the history of the world. Warlord SUNSET FLIPS (?) Von Erich, who reaches out and tags in Bulldog. Bulldog leaps onto Warlord, who catches him, so Von Erich hits his TORNADO PUNCH to BULLDOG, punching his own partner right in the back, and somehow that causes Davey to fall onto Warlord for a two count. That's Von Erich's FINISHER, and Davey doesn't even sell any pain to the back. Ha. They screw up the finish slightly, as Bulldog hits the running powerslam on Roma and then forgets to tag Steamboat and instead pins Roma, who kicks out of Davey's finisher! So Bulldog then tags Steamboat, who hits a flying cross body for the pin at 10:43.

 

Final thoughts: A really interesting match. The crowd was SUPER hot and it was a good show opener. The offense or work in the match was really nothing amazing, but it got the crowd going and did it's job. Steamboat was great in working the Ricky Morton role here, selling like crazy for the heels, and I liked Roma as the prickish heel. A few weird little things in the match made it interesting too. I'll go **1/2 here, but you could easily give or take a 1/4* depending on how you look at things.

[JoeDirt 0]

JBL vs. Undertaker, WWE title match, Summerslam 2004:

 

The match actually starts outside the ring as JBL bails, then tries to cheap shot Taker but gets busted. They go into the ring and JBL cuts off an "Old School" and they work a slow opening. Unfortunately the crowd isn't really buying it tonight, but let's ignore the crowd and look at the match.

 

I actually like some things early. JBL hits a sideslam, then goes to the top rope (!) and hits a flying shoulder block! Awesome. Taker cuts off a charge in the corner but instead of doing it with the usual boot to he face, he steps into JBL and hooks a Fujiwara arm bar. Pretty cool. He then hits the usual Old School move which I've never been a fan of but at least he gets it out of the way early. Taker then hits a Novacaine/Flatliner type move which is cool for a two count. He then goes back to the arm of JBL, stretching him out with a nice submission. This stuff is great to see, but of course since the crowd isn't conditioned that this is a dangerous move, they just see it as a rest hold and are silent. Orlando Jordan puts JBL's leg on the bottom rope. Taker boots Jordan off the apron, but JBL takes advantage and chop blocks Taker's leg, and proceeds to start the leg work he does for a lot of the match.

 

JBL does some nice leg work to start things out, as he first posts the knee. Jordan then distracts the knee and JBL grabs a chair and drills Taker in the leg/knee with it. Very cool. Taker even sells it, and proceeds to hobble a little bit as he tries to fight back. Taker then goes to walk up the steel steps and JBL punches his knee, causing him to drop knee first onto the steps. The announcers put over how impressive JBL has been so far in the match. In the ring, JBL starts to work over the knee as the crowd starts doing the wave. Oh well. They fight over a leglock and Taker does a really nice reversal into a single leg crab. Then Taker works over JBL's knee, rolling through into a nice leglock after each guy blocks a hip toss. Taker ends up hitting his apron leg drop on JBL, but sells the knee quite well after he hits it.

 

JBL fights back and heads up top again, but gets cut off and Taker hits a superplex for 2. Another good solid move set up by the fact that JBL hit a flying shoulderblock off the top earlier, so him heading up there this time made sense. Taker then goes for a powerbomb but JBL punches the knee and works it over and works a spinning toe hold. Taker then catches him and tries a chokeslam but JBL stomps the knee to again put Taker down. JBL ends up getting caught in a spinebuster for 2, though. Good sequence that establishes JBL knowing he has to go to the knee to save himself when Taker goes for his big moves (chokeslam, Last Ride powerbomb).

 

Taker comes off the ropes with his usual flying clothesline, but can't cover because of his knee. He hits a series of clotheslines, a Snake Eyes, and another clothesline for 2. Nothing wrong with that, as Taker is using all upper body to do these moves because of his knee. He sets up a chokeslam and hits it this time...for 2. He goes for the Tombstone and Jordan distracts, allowing JBL to hit the Clothesline from Hell, which of course only gets 2. It's really too bad that hasn't been built up enough as a Murder Death Kill finisher for JBL.

 

The ref gets bumped and both guys knock each other down. Jordan tosses the belt into the ring and JBL drills Taker with it. We get a dumb spot as Jordan uses Nick Patrick's arm to count the pinfall, but for some reason stops when Taker kicks out. If you're going to cheat, HOW DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?

 

JBL obviously didn't do much scouting for the match (heh) as JBL does punches in the corner, which is a setup for Taker to hit the Last Ride like he has done on PPV to HHH, Cena, Booker T, and others. Slow count by the ref for 2. Jordan comes into the ring, Taker steals the belt from him, and then hits JBL for the DQ at about 17:30.

 

We get a post match brawl to keep the fans at least somewhat happy, as a bloody JBL gets slammed on the limo, and then chokeslammed through the top of it, setting up a rematch.

 

Final thoughts: People say that JBL "needs to bleed a gusher" to make for a good title match, but he only bleeds at the end of this match in the post match brawl. I actually liked this match more than I thought I would, as it had good psychology and was solidly worked and well laid out. The problem comes from the fact that JBL wasn't established as a legitimate champion, so any nearfall on the Taker wasn't going to be believed. The ending was also unsatisfying, and I don't understand why they booked it for JBL to win by DQ instead of just having him lose by DQ to have the title saved. And of course the crowd didn't help things at all either. Anyways, JBL working the knee of the Undertaker was nice, and there were some nice little things in this match that actually made me want to see a rematch between the two. Unfortunately, a match where you have to put a guy into a hearse doesn't really come to mind. Anyways, this match was better than a lot of people give it credit for, but could have been better. It doesn't come close to touching JBL vs. Eddie from Judgment Day, but that's not really a surprise either. **3/4

[JoeDirt 0]

LUDVIG BORGA vs. TATANKA (WWF Superstars, late 1993):

 

Don't know the exact date on this one, but it's easy enough to look up if you want to know. Tatanka is still undefeated at this point. Of course through going undefeated for almost two years in the WWF, he never got a shot at the WWF. Ha.

 

They circle and Borga punches Tatanka's ribs. Vince goes off on how they are closed fists. They do the "can he knock the big man down?" stuff as Tatanka chops Borga three times and clotheslines him, and Vince freaks out that it didn't knock him down. Two more clotheslines knock him down. Lots of taunting and stalling. Dropkick and cross body get 2 for Tatanka. The crowd is FREAKING OUT, but I'm guessing it's just added noise by WWF, since it's Superstars.

 

Borga goes on offense and hits his most thrilling move of the match so far -- a sidewalk slam! Mr. Fuji comes out to the ring and waves the Japanese flag (this is before the Survivor Series 1993 America vs. The World match). Borga hits a hanging vertical suplex and we go to an ad break.

 

Back, and not much going on. Lots of rest holds. Tatanka fights back and makes his superman comeback, but Borga hits a big uppercut. Tatanka gets dumped to the floor. Fuji distracts the ref and Borga hits a chair shot to the back of Tatanka, that he sells like DEATH. I mean, he just collapses like he's dead. Borga calmly rolls Tatanka back in and pins him with one finger at about 10:00 televised.

 

And Tatanka's character is pretty much dead after this.

 

Yokozuna then comes out and dishes out some Banzai drops. Wow, really great teammates you have, Tatanka. We cut backstage to see Lex Luger fighting off the Quebecers so he can make the save for Tatanka. He comes down towards the ring, taking time to HIGH FIVE THE FANS on the way...and so he gets jumped from behind by the Quebecers. He fights them off again and beats up Borga and Yoko with some of the weakest offense you'll ever see. Luger checks on Tatanka and that's that.

 

Horrible match, but a memorable segment for a few reasons. I'll be nice and give the match *.