The greatest in ring stories ever told

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There are great matches that tell unique, complex stories. Here are a couple:

 

 

My first is Owen v Bret WMX. A personal fave, as it was the first great match I ever saw. Owen wants desperately to best his brother as a wrestler, and only a couple times goes to blatant heel tactics (a few hair pulls, and a big low blow) At the beginning, it's pretty clear that Bret is underestimating his brother. He thinks he'll get the win off a crafty pin reversal. He really doesn't do any harmful moves outside a clothesline over the ropes, he thinks he's good enough to just show his brother up. He shows this through the match, with not pressing the advantage to pound his brother, or applying a couple lazy pins. After the tombstone by Owen, Bret starts to take the match seriously and begins to apply his five moves of doom, but Owen is already up on him. When Bret shows weakness in a hurting his leg (of course harkening back to Owen's initial heel turn) Owen jumps at the chance to abuse his brother. It's clear Owen wants a clear submission, applying both a figure 4 and a sharpshooter, but Bret is good enough (and at this point taking his brother seriously) that Owen takes it on a pin reversal, something that Bret, it seems was counting on from the beginning. An interesting case of the hero having a fatal flaw that causes him to lose. From the early chain sequences, Bret is slightly the superior, but taking it easy on his brother until it was too late caused him to lose.

 

Misawa/Kobashi v Kawada/Taue

Misawa is basically a living juggernaut. Kobashi is the young fighter, trying to prove himself as a top gun (as he did in quite convincing fashion v Kawada in their 60 minute draw. Kawada feels his pride is at stake, since he was only briefly champ, and he never beat Misawa, though he did everything humanly possible to do so in the 4/94 match. Taue is a general dick, who, like Kawada, has a real bone to pick with Misawa after failing to put him away in 2 great champions carny matches. Misawa in general seems to be trying to giving his wealth of godly knowledge and power to Kobashi, while Kawada and Taue have no love lost, but are united in wanting to thrash Misawa to an inch of his life.

Kobashi comes in as the least of the 4 on the totem pole, and is further compromised by being slightly hurt in the leg. An early sequence in the match is beautiful: Kobashi whips Kawada into the friendly corner, and Kawada just fucking drills Misawa in the face (same move that broke Misawa's damn FACE at the Champion's carny) It's clear from the beginning, we want to destroy Misawa.

As the match goes on, Misawa has to cover more and more for Kobashi's weakness. Kobashi is a total sympathy figure as he fights SO HARD, but is gradually dismantled by the ruthless Kwada/Taue team. By the end Kobashi is just utterly destroyed, though his burning spirit refuses to quit. Misawa fights like Superman, but the opposing team is too pissed off and viscious to overcome. The closing moments, as Kobashi vainly tries to save his partner while Kawada destroys Misawa, with Taue contemptuously holding Kobashi off to let the slaughter of Misawa continue at the hands of Kawada is wonderful and sad. Fucking terrific match.

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Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio (Halloween Havoc 97): While this wasn't a blood feud or anything, I loved the way the match was worked from a strategy standpoint. Rey was fighting on emotion and trying not to lose his mask, so he tried to keep the match at a fast pace and hit big spots. Eddie, having less to lose, tried to show up Rey and keep the pace slow. Rey's emotion led to him making mistakes where Eddie capitalized. Both men went back and forth. Most offensive spurts would start with a counter, and the pace would pick up or slow down depending on who was in control. I just loved the battle for pace control and the strategy in this match. It seemed very realistic, despite the complexity of the spots.

 

Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (Summer Slam 01): I loved Austin as the desperate, psychotic champ and Kurt as the determined challenger going against long odds. Angle survived everything Austin threw at him early, but when Angle kicked out of the first stunner, Austin snapped. From there the intensity picks up when Austin sends Angle into the ring post 6 or 7 times. Angle, despite being bloodied and beaten, didin't quit when he suplexed Austin on the floor twice and locked in the ankle lock at every opportunity (the only time the overuse of the ankle lock didn't bother me). Austin showed how desperate he was by repeatedly attacking officials until screwy ref Nick Patrick disqualified him to retain the title. It was a sad ending for Kurt, but when you look at the entire Austin/Angle feud, this match really enhanced the story.

 

Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (No Way Out 04): Probably my favorite underdog success story in a match. Throughout the feud, Lesnar didn't take Eddie seriously. What I love the most is how the match mirrored the feud. Lesnar just used his power to show off early and dominate Eddie. The only things Eddie had going for him were his brain and his heart. He gradually fought back into the match by wisely going for the knee of Lesnar and by fending off all power moves until Lesnar was frustrated. After a while, Eddie finally looked like a 15 year veteran while Lesnar looked like an inexperienced rookie. Eddie was matched up not only against a more powerful opponent, but he had to overcome his personal problems and prove to himself that he could compete. You couldn't help but feel good for Eddie when he won.