Curt Hennig Tribute Thread
04-19-2014
, 09:33 PM
04-19-2014
, 09:45 PM
cant wait to read this tonight, after the game, and then watch some of the matches. 
04-19-2014
, 10:35 PM
Maple Leaf Gardens House Show: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart
Date: April 23, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todtDjC6BcM
Background: None really. Bret was still a tag team wrestler in the Hart Foundation at this point and wasn't a singles star (that wouldn't come until two years later).
The Match: Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes on the call.
Bret strikes the first blow, hitting Perfect with a pretty violent hiptoss on Perfect early on. Perfect looks at him, perturbed. Gorilla says, "Perfect seems a little surprised. I don't know why. You're not in there with Barry Horowitz." Well that was a drive-by on poor Barry. Perfect regroups, and as he sends Bret off the ropes he seems to miss with a drop toehold. Bret mocks him. I honestly don't know if that was a botch or not. If it was, bravo for Bret for convincing me that maybe it wasn't. If it wasn't, it was a cool planned spot.
Painful-looking spot occurs when Bret clotheslines Perfect over the top to the outside, but the ramp here at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto was up at ring level, so there was no drop to the ground and Perfect appeared to hit his head sort of unexpectedly on a hard surface. Perfect plays with the crowd a little as he circles the ring; I think he legit needed a bit of a breather here to recover from that bump. I went back and reviewed the spot and actually it seemed like he successfully caught himself and cushioned the blow, but the three-minute delay that happens before he returns to the ring seems legit. Who knows.
Perfect finally gets control for the first time when he gets pushed into the corner, the ref breaks the two up, and Perfect takes a cheap shot and hits Bret in the face as Bret is getting backed up. He follows with the patented knee-lift and now the match momentum has switched. Bret rolls to the outside, and as he tries to get back in, Perfect makes like he's going to catapult Bret back into the ring and instead propels him back into the steel barricade.
Perfect sends Bret to the outside on the ramp level and then follows him out and slams his head on the ramp. Is that a deliberate call-back to the earlier spot where Perfect hit his head there? Perhaps. I'm going to choose to believe that it is because that's awesome if so.
Back in the ring, Perfect applies a spinning toehold, but Bret kicks him into the corner and Perfect ends up lunging shoulder-first into the post. Bret instantly capitalizes by holding Perfect's hurt shoulder back and slamming it hard into the buckle, and then executing a bodyslam with the arm pulled back so that Perfect lands first on the hurt shoulder. He then transitions into an armbar on that arm. Very nice psychology.
Bret attempts to jump on Perfect's back horizontally and execute a crucifix pinning combo, but Perfect reverses into a Samoan drop.
He proceeds from there to drop the headbutt into the lower abdominal area. Perfect sends him into the ropes, attempts to apply the abdominal stretch on the way back, Bret reverses, the two struggle and then Bret locks in the stretch himself. Perfect quickly reverses into a hiptoss.
Perfect quickly runs Bret into the ropes and rolls him up for a pinning combo, but Bret powers out and kicks Hennig out of the ring. He follows him out with a pescado to the floor, sends him back in, nice suplex, near-fall, elbow off the second rope, and…the bell rings. The match is declared a time limit draw.
As a Mr. Perfect mark: seriously? Even when Bret was a tag team wrestler and Perfect was on an undefeated streak, he couldn't just pin Bret? This brings me back to my childhood grudge against Bret, where it pissed me off that Bret got the better of Perfect on two different PPVs and Perfect never got to beat him. I was a Hart Foundation mark, but as a Mr. Perfect mark that always stuck in my craw and it took a long time for me to accept Bret as a singles star that I actually liked.
There's a post-match sequence here where Bret takes a mic and challenges Perfect to 5 more minutes. Perfect refuses, pretends to walk away, and then runs back into the ring and ambushes Bret. Bret eventually fights him off and Perfect leaves the ring and exits up the ramp. Alright, whatever.
Result: Time limit draw (20:00)
Rating: This wasn't on the level of their 1991 or 1993 classics, but it was still quite good. Seriously though, just let Mr. Perfect go over here. Fix that part of my childhood. 3.25 stars out of 5.
Date: April 23, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todtDjC6BcM
Background: None really. Bret was still a tag team wrestler in the Hart Foundation at this point and wasn't a singles star (that wouldn't come until two years later).
The Match: Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes on the call.
Bret strikes the first blow, hitting Perfect with a pretty violent hiptoss on Perfect early on. Perfect looks at him, perturbed. Gorilla says, "Perfect seems a little surprised. I don't know why. You're not in there with Barry Horowitz." Well that was a drive-by on poor Barry. Perfect regroups, and as he sends Bret off the ropes he seems to miss with a drop toehold. Bret mocks him. I honestly don't know if that was a botch or not. If it was, bravo for Bret for convincing me that maybe it wasn't. If it wasn't, it was a cool planned spot.
Painful-looking spot occurs when Bret clotheslines Perfect over the top to the outside, but the ramp here at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto was up at ring level, so there was no drop to the ground and Perfect appeared to hit his head sort of unexpectedly on a hard surface. Perfect plays with the crowd a little as he circles the ring; I think he legit needed a bit of a breather here to recover from that bump. I went back and reviewed the spot and actually it seemed like he successfully caught himself and cushioned the blow, but the three-minute delay that happens before he returns to the ring seems legit. Who knows.
Perfect finally gets control for the first time when he gets pushed into the corner, the ref breaks the two up, and Perfect takes a cheap shot and hits Bret in the face as Bret is getting backed up. He follows with the patented knee-lift and now the match momentum has switched. Bret rolls to the outside, and as he tries to get back in, Perfect makes like he's going to catapult Bret back into the ring and instead propels him back into the steel barricade.
Perfect sends Bret to the outside on the ramp level and then follows him out and slams his head on the ramp. Is that a deliberate call-back to the earlier spot where Perfect hit his head there? Perhaps. I'm going to choose to believe that it is because that's awesome if so.
Back in the ring, Perfect applies a spinning toehold, but Bret kicks him into the corner and Perfect ends up lunging shoulder-first into the post. Bret instantly capitalizes by holding Perfect's hurt shoulder back and slamming it hard into the buckle, and then executing a bodyslam with the arm pulled back so that Perfect lands first on the hurt shoulder. He then transitions into an armbar on that arm. Very nice psychology.
Bret attempts to jump on Perfect's back horizontally and execute a crucifix pinning combo, but Perfect reverses into a Samoan drop.
He proceeds from there to drop the headbutt into the lower abdominal area. Perfect sends him into the ropes, attempts to apply the abdominal stretch on the way back, Bret reverses, the two struggle and then Bret locks in the stretch himself. Perfect quickly reverses into a hiptoss.
Perfect quickly runs Bret into the ropes and rolls him up for a pinning combo, but Bret powers out and kicks Hennig out of the ring. He follows him out with a pescado to the floor, sends him back in, nice suplex, near-fall, elbow off the second rope, and…the bell rings. The match is declared a time limit draw.
As a Mr. Perfect mark: seriously? Even when Bret was a tag team wrestler and Perfect was on an undefeated streak, he couldn't just pin Bret? This brings me back to my childhood grudge against Bret, where it pissed me off that Bret got the better of Perfect on two different PPVs and Perfect never got to beat him. I was a Hart Foundation mark, but as a Mr. Perfect mark that always stuck in my craw and it took a long time for me to accept Bret as a singles star that I actually liked.
There's a post-match sequence here where Bret takes a mic and challenges Perfect to 5 more minutes. Perfect refuses, pretends to walk away, and then runs back into the ring and ambushes Bret. Bret eventually fights him off and Perfect leaves the ring and exits up the ramp. Alright, whatever.
Result: Time limit draw (20:00)
Rating: This wasn't on the level of their 1991 or 1993 classics, but it was still quite good. Seriously though, just let Mr. Perfect go over here. Fix that part of my childhood. 3.25 stars out of 5.
04-19-2014
, 11:57 PM
Meadowlands House Show: Mr. Perfect vs. The Blue Blazer
Date: May 8, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NahXIaedJ38
Background: Perfect beat Blazer at WrestleMania. Blazer was wrestling the house show tour and jobbing on a nightly basis. He literally jobbed to Barry Horowitz at the last house show on his way out before returning a couple of years later, so we know where this match is going. Here's hoping it's worth the watch.
The Match: Tony Schiavone and Lord Alfred Hayes on the call.
Perfect hits the early offense, but Blazer gets animated and upset with him (which the announcers note to be out of character), and hits a flurry of offense himself, dropkicking Perfect to the outside. Perfect returns to the ring, Blazer outduels him again, and as Perfect tries to collect himself, Blazer blindsides him with a hard baseball slide; man he was good at that ****. He then goes up to the top turnbuckle and attempts a cross-body from the top to the floor, but Perfect sidesteps and the Blazer hits concrete.
Perfect now in control, he returns the Blazer to the ring and executes the snapmare/neck snap. After methodically working his offense for 4-5 minutes straight, he cinches in an abdominal stretch. He releases this of his own accord, and goes to humiliating Blazer, just insultingly shoving him in the face repeatedly.
Blazer gets mad again and fires back with a punch, but it isn't enough to gain control. A moment later though, he gets sent into the corner and gets a foot up into the face of the charging Hennig, then follows with a nice dropkick. He hits a few uppercuts, follows with another dropkick, then successfully drops a forearm on Hennig from the second rope.
He goes for the pin, referee actually counts three but immediately sees that Hennig had his foot on the ropes in time and waves off the three-count. Blazer briefly argues, but returns to the attack, hitting a back bodydrop on Perfect and then bludgeoning him in the corner. Backbreaker gets a two-count. Blazer to the top, hits a missile dropkick. He charges Perfect in the corner a moment later though, and Perfect is the one to lift a foot into Blazer's face this time. Perfect sends Blazer into the ropes, Blazer reverses, then botches a powerslam pretty badly.
Perfect is able to send him back into the ropes, and this time hangs him on the top rope in a stun gun. He pulls him up and executes the Perfectplex for the win.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (10:50)
Rating: This one is alright, but I probably don’t need to ever watch it again. The Mania match was better. 2 stars out of 5.
Date: May 8, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NahXIaedJ38
Background: Perfect beat Blazer at WrestleMania. Blazer was wrestling the house show tour and jobbing on a nightly basis. He literally jobbed to Barry Horowitz at the last house show on his way out before returning a couple of years later, so we know where this match is going. Here's hoping it's worth the watch.
The Match: Tony Schiavone and Lord Alfred Hayes on the call.
Perfect hits the early offense, but Blazer gets animated and upset with him (which the announcers note to be out of character), and hits a flurry of offense himself, dropkicking Perfect to the outside. Perfect returns to the ring, Blazer outduels him again, and as Perfect tries to collect himself, Blazer blindsides him with a hard baseball slide; man he was good at that ****. He then goes up to the top turnbuckle and attempts a cross-body from the top to the floor, but Perfect sidesteps and the Blazer hits concrete.
Perfect now in control, he returns the Blazer to the ring and executes the snapmare/neck snap. After methodically working his offense for 4-5 minutes straight, he cinches in an abdominal stretch. He releases this of his own accord, and goes to humiliating Blazer, just insultingly shoving him in the face repeatedly.
Blazer gets mad again and fires back with a punch, but it isn't enough to gain control. A moment later though, he gets sent into the corner and gets a foot up into the face of the charging Hennig, then follows with a nice dropkick. He hits a few uppercuts, follows with another dropkick, then successfully drops a forearm on Hennig from the second rope.
He goes for the pin, referee actually counts three but immediately sees that Hennig had his foot on the ropes in time and waves off the three-count. Blazer briefly argues, but returns to the attack, hitting a back bodydrop on Perfect and then bludgeoning him in the corner. Backbreaker gets a two-count. Blazer to the top, hits a missile dropkick. He charges Perfect in the corner a moment later though, and Perfect is the one to lift a foot into Blazer's face this time. Perfect sends Blazer into the ropes, Blazer reverses, then botches a powerslam pretty badly.
Perfect is able to send him back into the ropes, and this time hangs him on the top rope in a stun gun. He pulls him up and executes the Perfectplex for the win.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (10:50)
Rating: This one is alright, but I probably don’t need to ever watch it again. The Mania match was better. 2 stars out of 5.
04-20-2014
, 12:20 AM
SummerSlam '89: Mr. Perfect vs. The Red Rooster
Date: August 28, 1989
Link: N/A
Background: This was Perfect's first SummerSlam; these two were arbitrarily matched for the event. I still distinctly remember Jesse Ventura on Superstars going on for weeks about how stupid of a matchup this was since it was obvious that Mr. Perfect would win easily. I remember him suddenly softening the week before the event and saying that maybe it would be good because the Rooster had improved of late. I'm guessing that Vince finally bothered saying "uhh stop burying the PPV match please."
The Match: Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura on the call.
Shoving match between the two men to open. First grappling comes out as a draw, but their next three exchanges end in Perfect successfully completing an armdrag and a couple of hiptosses. Rooster, frustrated, gets up and slaps Perfect. "That was kind of a cheap shot. Perfect's been wrestling and then Rooster does that?" Preach it, Jesse.
Rooster executes a leapfrog and lands badly, legit injuring himself. He tries a bodyslam but appears to legitimately crumple underneath Perfect. Perfect does one of his sick standing dropkicks with great extension. I can't get enough of those. A minute or less later, he executes the Perfectplex and the match is over.
Pretty obvious that the match got cut very short by a legit injury here. Guess it works out fine to just have it being Perfect winning in a squash though.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (3:21)
Rating: Never really got going due to the early go-home. 1 star out of 5.
Date: August 28, 1989
Link: N/A
Background: This was Perfect's first SummerSlam; these two were arbitrarily matched for the event. I still distinctly remember Jesse Ventura on Superstars going on for weeks about how stupid of a matchup this was since it was obvious that Mr. Perfect would win easily. I remember him suddenly softening the week before the event and saying that maybe it would be good because the Rooster had improved of late. I'm guessing that Vince finally bothered saying "uhh stop burying the PPV match please."
The Match: Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura on the call.
Shoving match between the two men to open. First grappling comes out as a draw, but their next three exchanges end in Perfect successfully completing an armdrag and a couple of hiptosses. Rooster, frustrated, gets up and slaps Perfect. "That was kind of a cheap shot. Perfect's been wrestling and then Rooster does that?" Preach it, Jesse.
Rooster executes a leapfrog and lands badly, legit injuring himself. He tries a bodyslam but appears to legitimately crumple underneath Perfect. Perfect does one of his sick standing dropkicks with great extension. I can't get enough of those. A minute or less later, he executes the Perfectplex and the match is over.
Pretty obvious that the match got cut very short by a legit injury here. Guess it works out fine to just have it being Perfect winning in a squash though.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (3:21)
Rating: Never really got going due to the early go-home. 1 star out of 5.
04-20-2014
, 12:20 AM
Mr. Perfect joins forces with The Genius
Date: October 7, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APPj3BnttJM
The Genius came out as Brother Love's guest on Superstars and introduced Mr. Perfect as his new ally. Perfect at that point came out to his short-lived first music, which would correctly be replaced within about a month of debuting. Not that it was bad music, but it wasn't at the elite level that the theme that stuck throughout the rest of his WWF career was.
Mr. Perfect comes out and rips on Hulk Hogan, who he carried on a rivalry with during the next six months but that never turned into anything satisfying outside of one shining moment on Saturday Night's Main Event that wasn't even his.
Date: October 7, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APPj3BnttJM
The Genius came out as Brother Love's guest on Superstars and introduced Mr. Perfect as his new ally. Perfect at that point came out to his short-lived first music, which would correctly be replaced within about a month of debuting. Not that it was bad music, but it wasn't at the elite level that the theme that stuck throughout the rest of his WWF career was.
Mr. Perfect comes out and rips on Hulk Hogan, who he carried on a rivalry with during the next six months but that never turned into anything satisfying outside of one shining moment on Saturday Night's Main Event that wasn't even his.
04-20-2014
, 05:09 AM
04-20-2014
, 09:13 AM
MSG House Show: Mr. Perfect vs. "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
Date: October 28, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74sIsNjFxGw
The Match: Gorilla Monsoon and…Hillbilly Jim on the call? At least that's what I've narrowed it down to. Mr. Perfect finally enters here to the theme music that he is known for; this is the first match I've written up where he had any music at all.
After a bit of jawing, Perfect slaps the Superfly and then promptly bails out of the ring. Rinse and repeat with the same sequence upon re-entering. Third time in the ring, Perfect backs him into a corner and chops him, leading Snuka to grab him and chop back at him, which sends Perfect flying over the top rope.
These Perfect house show matches in '89 all seemed to start really damn slowly and methodically, to their detriment. I'm happy to see a slow build in a 60-minute match, but I'm not much for three minutes of stalling to start a 10-minute match.
Anyway, Snuka hits a right on Perfect that seems to stagger him, but then upon raring back and charging Perfect wakes up, seemingly playing possum, and hangs Snuka over the top rope with a stun gun. When Superfly attempts to return, Hennig drags him underneath by the legs and then attempts to catapult him straight into the bottom rope to again hurt his neck. Move is slightly botched in that it impacts the middle of Snuka's face instead, but meh. Some botches still result in moves that would clearly suck to take.
Snapmare/neck snap by Perfect as he continues to work the neck, and he controls the offense for a good while here. Gorilla says, "Snuka may have taken this match too lightly!" Well that would be weird, since late 80's Snuka was almost certainly below Mr. Perfect in the hierarchy of things.
The tide turns when Perfect repeatedly slams Snuka's head into the turnbuckle and Snuka does the "you can't hurt me by hitting me in the head" routine. Perfect ends up getting backed down by Snuka at this point, then slammed into the turnbuckle for a 10-count himself.
Snuka whips Perfect toward the corner, Perfect reverses, Snuka puts on the brakes before HE hits the corner and comes off with a bodypress that Perfect reverses into a pinning combo that only gets two. Nice false finish there, it fooled me. Just seconds later though, Snuka sends Perfect into the ropes and Perfect holds up and catches him into position for a Perfectplex, which he executes and gets the pin. Nice ending sequence.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (10:39)
Rating: A good ending brings it up a bit, but this was just too slow in getting going. 1.5 stars out of 5.
Date: October 28, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74sIsNjFxGw
The Match: Gorilla Monsoon and…Hillbilly Jim on the call? At least that's what I've narrowed it down to. Mr. Perfect finally enters here to the theme music that he is known for; this is the first match I've written up where he had any music at all.
After a bit of jawing, Perfect slaps the Superfly and then promptly bails out of the ring. Rinse and repeat with the same sequence upon re-entering. Third time in the ring, Perfect backs him into a corner and chops him, leading Snuka to grab him and chop back at him, which sends Perfect flying over the top rope.
These Perfect house show matches in '89 all seemed to start really damn slowly and methodically, to their detriment. I'm happy to see a slow build in a 60-minute match, but I'm not much for three minutes of stalling to start a 10-minute match.
Anyway, Snuka hits a right on Perfect that seems to stagger him, but then upon raring back and charging Perfect wakes up, seemingly playing possum, and hangs Snuka over the top rope with a stun gun. When Superfly attempts to return, Hennig drags him underneath by the legs and then attempts to catapult him straight into the bottom rope to again hurt his neck. Move is slightly botched in that it impacts the middle of Snuka's face instead, but meh. Some botches still result in moves that would clearly suck to take.
Snapmare/neck snap by Perfect as he continues to work the neck, and he controls the offense for a good while here. Gorilla says, "Snuka may have taken this match too lightly!" Well that would be weird, since late 80's Snuka was almost certainly below Mr. Perfect in the hierarchy of things.
The tide turns when Perfect repeatedly slams Snuka's head into the turnbuckle and Snuka does the "you can't hurt me by hitting me in the head" routine. Perfect ends up getting backed down by Snuka at this point, then slammed into the turnbuckle for a 10-count himself.
Snuka whips Perfect toward the corner, Perfect reverses, Snuka puts on the brakes before HE hits the corner and comes off with a bodypress that Perfect reverses into a pinning combo that only gets two. Nice false finish there, it fooled me. Just seconds later though, Snuka sends Perfect into the ropes and Perfect holds up and catches him into position for a Perfectplex, which he executes and gets the pin. Nice ending sequence.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (10:39)
Rating: A good ending brings it up a bit, but this was just too slow in getting going. 1.5 stars out of 5.
04-20-2014
, 10:27 AM
WWF Prime Time Wrestling: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart
Date: November 6, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmh_wJIxSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBJiw5pR3H8
Background: They toured some house shows together earlier in '89, but this is the first time they showed up on weekly WWF TV together. This is the one-year anniversary of Mr. Perfect's debut in the WWF, and he still has the perfect undefeated record going at this point.
The Match: Alright, I haven't seen this one before either. Bret certainly isn't going over here, and long time limit draws are rare on regular WWF TV, so I would think that Perfect goes over here? In before double countout/double DQ.
Bret gets the better of some early exchanges, and they actually replicate the missed drop toehold by Perfect again from the Maple Leaf Gardens show. Bret gets Perfect cinched into a headlock and twice pulls hair to maintain it. Hebner gets on his case but doesn't actually break the hold. Hart takes a run at Perfect and tackles him for a pinning attempt, but gets thrown off to the outside. Undaunted, he scrambles back up to the apron and flips over the ropes in a sunset flip for another pinning attempt that only gets two. Bret jumps on Perfect's shoulders for a crucifix pinning combo, again only two. Nice sequence, and we get a commercial break cut.
Bret wrestles Perfect into the corner, and as Hebner tries to break the two up Perfect absolutely wallops Bret with a right hand over Hebner's head that floors Bret. For the first time, Curt Hennig controls the offense for a while, giving the hard corner bump to Bret but only getting a two-count for it. Instead of his usual snapmare, he throws Bret across the ring by his hair. He follows with a more conventional snapmare and his usual neck snap. Perfect heads to the top, but dawdles for too long and Bret gets up in time and crotches him on the corner.
The two brawl on the outside, as Hebner loudly conducts a count and Tony Schiavone comments that you can't win the matchup out there. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. DO NOT END THIS IN A DOUBLE COUNTOUT! Okay, Perfect rolls inside. It sure was getting the earmarks of a double countout there. Bret up to the apron, Perfect suplexes him in, but Bret lands on his feet behind. He rolls Perfect up from behind, but Perfect pulls Bret's trunks to leverage him and roll into a counter-cradle of his own, 1-2-3. DanielBryanyesyesyes.gif. It wasn't the Perfectplex I was hoping for, but I'll take it.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (14:28)
Rating: This got hurt a bit for me by the fact that they were replicating a few exact spots from their Toronto house show match, but I mean that's to be expected and isn't really a valid gripe; house show matches exist in large part to fine-tune national TV matches. Anyway, this was good stuff, but my immediate reaction is to put it a slight notch below their time limit draw at Maple Leaf Gardens. 3 stars out of 5.
Date: November 6, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmh_wJIxSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBJiw5pR3H8
Background: They toured some house shows together earlier in '89, but this is the first time they showed up on weekly WWF TV together. This is the one-year anniversary of Mr. Perfect's debut in the WWF, and he still has the perfect undefeated record going at this point.
The Match: Alright, I haven't seen this one before either. Bret certainly isn't going over here, and long time limit draws are rare on regular WWF TV, so I would think that Perfect goes over here? In before double countout/double DQ.
Bret gets the better of some early exchanges, and they actually replicate the missed drop toehold by Perfect again from the Maple Leaf Gardens show. Bret gets Perfect cinched into a headlock and twice pulls hair to maintain it. Hebner gets on his case but doesn't actually break the hold. Hart takes a run at Perfect and tackles him for a pinning attempt, but gets thrown off to the outside. Undaunted, he scrambles back up to the apron and flips over the ropes in a sunset flip for another pinning attempt that only gets two. Bret jumps on Perfect's shoulders for a crucifix pinning combo, again only two. Nice sequence, and we get a commercial break cut.
Bret wrestles Perfect into the corner, and as Hebner tries to break the two up Perfect absolutely wallops Bret with a right hand over Hebner's head that floors Bret. For the first time, Curt Hennig controls the offense for a while, giving the hard corner bump to Bret but only getting a two-count for it. Instead of his usual snapmare, he throws Bret across the ring by his hair. He follows with a more conventional snapmare and his usual neck snap. Perfect heads to the top, but dawdles for too long and Bret gets up in time and crotches him on the corner.
The two brawl on the outside, as Hebner loudly conducts a count and Tony Schiavone comments that you can't win the matchup out there. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. DO NOT END THIS IN A DOUBLE COUNTOUT! Okay, Perfect rolls inside. It sure was getting the earmarks of a double countout there. Bret up to the apron, Perfect suplexes him in, but Bret lands on his feet behind. He rolls Perfect up from behind, but Perfect pulls Bret's trunks to leverage him and roll into a counter-cradle of his own, 1-2-3. DanielBryanyesyesyes.gif. It wasn't the Perfectplex I was hoping for, but I'll take it.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (14:28)
Rating: This got hurt a bit for me by the fact that they were replicating a few exact spots from their Toronto house show match, but I mean that's to be expected and isn't really a valid gripe; house show matches exist in large part to fine-tune national TV matches. Anyway, this was good stuff, but my immediate reaction is to put it a slight notch below their time limit draw at Maple Leaf Gardens. 3 stars out of 5.
04-20-2014
, 12:13 PM
The Rude Brood (Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, and The Fabulous Rougeaus) vs. Roddy's Rowdies (Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, and The Bushwhackers)
Date: November 23, 1989
Link: N/A
Background: Rude and Piper had a feud going. Their teams were just random faces and heels thrown on as far as I can tell, though the Bushwhackers did beat the Rougeaus earlier this year at WrestleMania V. What a likable heel team though:
The Match: Perfect starts out against Bushwhacker Luke, and he gets the better of him, causing him to tag in Bushwhacker Butch. Butch promptly bites Mr. Perfect. Then he tags Piper, and he comes in and bites Mr. Perfect. Tag out to Snuka who comes in and bites Perfect. Perfect has had enough and heads over to tag, but Luke returns in time to bite him as well. Umm, alright then. Perfect tags out to Jacques Rougeau.
Jacques pretty much gets the **** beaten out of him by Snuka in short order, and Snuka pins him cleanly after hitting the Superfly Splash. Rude comes in, Snuka gets the better of him, so he tags out to Perfect and Perfect ends up quickly taking a spill over the top because Rude had inadvertently held the top rope down as he was gathering himself on the apron. Rude and Perfect jaw a little, and then Snuka cracks their heads together.
Piper's team now in control, and each team member gets their licks in on Perfect. And their bites, apparently, as Luke does that to Perfect again. WTF. Perfect tags out to Raymond Rougeau, who gets pinned within about 90 seconds by Piper after a piledriver. Rude and Perfect are now stuck in a 4-on-2.
Hennig steps in and takes the offense to Piper, hitting the snapmare/neck snap and then twisting his neck with another move. Piper hits a desperation move and slingshots Perfect into the corner and tags Butch in. Butch once again bites Perfect, but then when he turns around to celebrate Perfect is able to sneak up behind and roll him up for the pinfall. Butch is eliminated.
Luke is in; Perfect tags out to Rude. Rude makes short work of him and pins him after a Rude Awakening. We're back to even at 2-2. Perfect and Snuka fight back and forth, with Snuka getting a near-fall, but eventually both tag out. Piper and Rude furiously go at each other, but end up brawling to the outside and the both of them get counted out. It's now functionally a singles match between Piper and Snuka.
Perfect manages a roll-up on Snuka off the ropes that it looks like Snuka got confused on and forgot to lift his shoulder in time, because the referee had to delay in order to not count three. Snuka moves it into a counter-pin for two. Throws Perfect into the ropes, follows with a vicious chop. Sends him back to the other corner, Perfect reverses, Snuka springs off the second turnbuckle and back onto Perfect, Perfect rolls through for a pin but only gets two. Nicely-executed false finish, I thought that was it. He follows quickly with a Perfectplex though, and that finishes the Superfly off to end the match.
Snuka pulls the sore loser routine and attacks Perfect and the Genius after the match and clears them out of the ring, but Perfect exits to his own music and the pronouncement that he is the sole survivor.
Result: Rude Brood wins, sole survivor Mr. Perfect (21:27)
Rating: For purposes of these tribute threads, I don't much enjoy reviewing survivor matches, because the one-on-one exchanges tend to end very quickly and never develop into much. It's tough to judge the match apart from that because I'm watching it differently. I'm just going to say N/A and adopt that policy going forward on survivor matches in tribute threads. This was decent though; Perfect survives for the second straight year, keeps the perfect record, and furthers his push toward a world title program with Hulk Hogan.
Date: November 23, 1989
Link: N/A
Background: Rude and Piper had a feud going. Their teams were just random faces and heels thrown on as far as I can tell, though the Bushwhackers did beat the Rougeaus earlier this year at WrestleMania V. What a likable heel team though:
The Match: Perfect starts out against Bushwhacker Luke, and he gets the better of him, causing him to tag in Bushwhacker Butch. Butch promptly bites Mr. Perfect. Then he tags Piper, and he comes in and bites Mr. Perfect. Tag out to Snuka who comes in and bites Perfect. Perfect has had enough and heads over to tag, but Luke returns in time to bite him as well. Umm, alright then. Perfect tags out to Jacques Rougeau.
Jacques pretty much gets the **** beaten out of him by Snuka in short order, and Snuka pins him cleanly after hitting the Superfly Splash. Rude comes in, Snuka gets the better of him, so he tags out to Perfect and Perfect ends up quickly taking a spill over the top because Rude had inadvertently held the top rope down as he was gathering himself on the apron. Rude and Perfect jaw a little, and then Snuka cracks their heads together.
Piper's team now in control, and each team member gets their licks in on Perfect. And their bites, apparently, as Luke does that to Perfect again. WTF. Perfect tags out to Raymond Rougeau, who gets pinned within about 90 seconds by Piper after a piledriver. Rude and Perfect are now stuck in a 4-on-2.
Hennig steps in and takes the offense to Piper, hitting the snapmare/neck snap and then twisting his neck with another move. Piper hits a desperation move and slingshots Perfect into the corner and tags Butch in. Butch once again bites Perfect, but then when he turns around to celebrate Perfect is able to sneak up behind and roll him up for the pinfall. Butch is eliminated.
Luke is in; Perfect tags out to Rude. Rude makes short work of him and pins him after a Rude Awakening. We're back to even at 2-2. Perfect and Snuka fight back and forth, with Snuka getting a near-fall, but eventually both tag out. Piper and Rude furiously go at each other, but end up brawling to the outside and the both of them get counted out. It's now functionally a singles match between Piper and Snuka.
Perfect manages a roll-up on Snuka off the ropes that it looks like Snuka got confused on and forgot to lift his shoulder in time, because the referee had to delay in order to not count three. Snuka moves it into a counter-pin for two. Throws Perfect into the ropes, follows with a vicious chop. Sends him back to the other corner, Perfect reverses, Snuka springs off the second turnbuckle and back onto Perfect, Perfect rolls through for a pin but only gets two. Nicely-executed false finish, I thought that was it. He follows quickly with a Perfectplex though, and that finishes the Superfly off to end the match.
Snuka pulls the sore loser routine and attacks Perfect and the Genius after the match and clears them out of the ring, but Perfect exits to his own music and the pronouncement that he is the sole survivor.
Result: Rude Brood wins, sole survivor Mr. Perfect (21:27)
Rating: For purposes of these tribute threads, I don't much enjoy reviewing survivor matches, because the one-on-one exchanges tend to end very quickly and never develop into much. It's tough to judge the match apart from that because I'm watching it differently. I'm just going to say N/A and adopt that policy going forward on survivor matches in tribute threads. This was decent though; Perfect survives for the second straight year, keeps the perfect record, and furthers his push toward a world title program with Hulk Hogan.
04-20-2014
, 12:56 PM
04-20-2014
, 12:56 PM
Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV: The Genius defeats Hulk Hogan via countout, Mr. Perfect steals and then destroys WWF Title belt
Date: November 25, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwc2Xa9FRHQ
In one of the most glorious upsets ever, The Genius beat Hulk Hogan by countout on this Saturday Night's Main Event after Perfect waffled Hogan with Hogan's own title on the outside and left him lying as the referee counted to 10.
There's really nothing more enjoyable than hearing Jesse Ventura call a Hulk Hogan match, and especially here where he got a moment of victory after usually having to deal with Hogan win after Hogan win. Beyond this win by The Genius, Mr. Perfect then stole the WWF Title, took it to the back, and destroyed it with a hammer. He told Hogan that he would keep doing this until Hogan gave him a title shot.
Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV: Mr. Perfect vs. The Red Rooster
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqYW2IGBuXU
Background: Not much. Perfect beat Rooster at SummerSlam and the Rooster was back for seconds.
The Match: Yeah, this was pretty much right after Perfect broke the belt and demanded a world title shot from Hogan, so I get the feeling he wasn't putting Red Rooster over here.
Early match is mostly just signature Perfect offense, but Rooster does hit a surprise sunset flip for a two-count and then gets his own turn to get some offense in, hitting a running bulldog. Still, it was job city for Rooster here, and Perfect hits the Perfectplex just past the 4-minute mark to win.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (4:13)
Rating: Basically a squash match. Nothing special here. 0.5 stars out of 5.
Date: November 25, 1989
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwc2Xa9FRHQ
In one of the most glorious upsets ever, The Genius beat Hulk Hogan by countout on this Saturday Night's Main Event after Perfect waffled Hogan with Hogan's own title on the outside and left him lying as the referee counted to 10.
There's really nothing more enjoyable than hearing Jesse Ventura call a Hulk Hogan match, and especially here where he got a moment of victory after usually having to deal with Hogan win after Hogan win. Beyond this win by The Genius, Mr. Perfect then stole the WWF Title, took it to the back, and destroyed it with a hammer. He told Hogan that he would keep doing this until Hogan gave him a title shot.
Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV: Mr. Perfect vs. The Red Rooster
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqYW2IGBuXU
Background: Not much. Perfect beat Rooster at SummerSlam and the Rooster was back for seconds.
The Match: Yeah, this was pretty much right after Perfect broke the belt and demanded a world title shot from Hogan, so I get the feeling he wasn't putting Red Rooster over here.
Early match is mostly just signature Perfect offense, but Rooster does hit a surprise sunset flip for a two-count and then gets his own turn to get some offense in, hitting a running bulldog. Still, it was job city for Rooster here, and Perfect hits the Perfectplex just past the 4-minute mark to win.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (4:13)
Rating: Basically a squash match. Nothing special here. 0.5 stars out of 5.
04-20-2014
, 01:03 PM
04-20-2014
, 01:51 PM
MSG House Show: WWF Title - Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Mr. Perfect
Date: January 15, 1990
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpnytkmvz7E
Background: Mr. Perfect has been running Hogan down for months now, and struck his most serious blow when he stole Hogan's title belt and destroyed it. Unfortunately this is the only title match he really got; sure seems like they could have at least put this match on the Royal Rumble PPV, but it wasn't until the following year that the Rumble started featuring a title match.
The Match: Hogan clears Perfect out early, then goes out and slams his head against The Genius's on the outside. He tosses Perfect back in, then tosses The Genius in? WTF. Then The Genius gets up and stomps away at Hogan with Perfect, which the referee just watches and allows. He probably agrees with me that Hogan deserves it for throwing The Genius in. Referee eventually gets Genius out and we're back to one-on-one.
…or not. The one-on-one goes outside, and then Hogan immediately slams Perfect and Genius together again. Weird start. Perfect finally gets control when Hogan lowers his head too early for a back bodydrop and Hennig kicks him in the face. He maintains control, knocking Hogan to the outside, but upon trying to send him into the ringpost, Hogan reverses and posts him instead. He then picks him up and posts him a second time for good measure. Hogan still doesn't keep control for long, as Perfect quickly turns the tables with a thumb to the eye.
He wears Hogan down with a reverse chinlock, gets Hogan's arm to drop twice but not thrice, and when Hogan builds some offense Perfect puts him back down again. He heads up to the top rope, but Hogan pulls the top rope and crotches him. Then he follows him up to the top, picks him up twice, and crotches him twice more. Well that's just unmanly, Hulk. Knock it off. Hulkster with the atomic drop, which Perfect sells in the GOAT way that only he could. Hogan kicks him while they're up against the ropes and takes Perfect's leg out, which was a spot that Perfect always consistently sold like a beast too.
Again the momentum switches when Perfect rolls out of the way of an elbow drop. Perfect limps up and sets up the Perfectplex, which he successfully executes. Hogan breaks it at a two-count, the first time I know of anyone kicking out from that move. It's time for hulking up, but the big boot sends Perfect outside and Perfect actually manages to get things back under control for a moment by dragging Hulk outside.
Perfect back to the inside, and as Hogan is returning as well Perfect reaches out and clocks Hogan to floor him, then hides what appears to be brass knucks. It looks like this is going to lead to a countout, but Hogan gets back in time. Perfect gets the brass knucks back, but Hogan blocks his punch, wrestles the knucks away, then applies them himself and hits Perfect with them. He drops the leg, but before a pin the bell rings and Hogan gets disqualified for using the knuckles.
Result: Mr. Perfect via disqualification (13:43)
Rating: Umm, not bad. Kind of a formulaic Hogan match, except that the hulk-up didn't win because they were still protecting Mr. Perfect's undefeated record. 2 stars out of 5.
Date: January 15, 1990
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpnytkmvz7E
Background: Mr. Perfect has been running Hogan down for months now, and struck his most serious blow when he stole Hogan's title belt and destroyed it. Unfortunately this is the only title match he really got; sure seems like they could have at least put this match on the Royal Rumble PPV, but it wasn't until the following year that the Rumble started featuring a title match.
The Match: Hogan clears Perfect out early, then goes out and slams his head against The Genius's on the outside. He tosses Perfect back in, then tosses The Genius in? WTF. Then The Genius gets up and stomps away at Hogan with Perfect, which the referee just watches and allows. He probably agrees with me that Hogan deserves it for throwing The Genius in. Referee eventually gets Genius out and we're back to one-on-one.
…or not. The one-on-one goes outside, and then Hogan immediately slams Perfect and Genius together again. Weird start. Perfect finally gets control when Hogan lowers his head too early for a back bodydrop and Hennig kicks him in the face. He maintains control, knocking Hogan to the outside, but upon trying to send him into the ringpost, Hogan reverses and posts him instead. He then picks him up and posts him a second time for good measure. Hogan still doesn't keep control for long, as Perfect quickly turns the tables with a thumb to the eye.
He wears Hogan down with a reverse chinlock, gets Hogan's arm to drop twice but not thrice, and when Hogan builds some offense Perfect puts him back down again. He heads up to the top rope, but Hogan pulls the top rope and crotches him. Then he follows him up to the top, picks him up twice, and crotches him twice more. Well that's just unmanly, Hulk. Knock it off. Hulkster with the atomic drop, which Perfect sells in the GOAT way that only he could. Hogan kicks him while they're up against the ropes and takes Perfect's leg out, which was a spot that Perfect always consistently sold like a beast too.
Again the momentum switches when Perfect rolls out of the way of an elbow drop. Perfect limps up and sets up the Perfectplex, which he successfully executes. Hogan breaks it at a two-count, the first time I know of anyone kicking out from that move. It's time for hulking up, but the big boot sends Perfect outside and Perfect actually manages to get things back under control for a moment by dragging Hulk outside.
Perfect back to the inside, and as Hogan is returning as well Perfect reaches out and clocks Hogan to floor him, then hides what appears to be brass knucks. It looks like this is going to lead to a countout, but Hogan gets back in time. Perfect gets the brass knucks back, but Hogan blocks his punch, wrestles the knucks away, then applies them himself and hits Perfect with them. He drops the leg, but before a pin the bell rings and Hogan gets disqualified for using the knuckles.
Result: Mr. Perfect via disqualification (13:43)
Rating: Umm, not bad. Kind of a formulaic Hogan match, except that the hulk-up didn't win because they were still protecting Mr. Perfect's undefeated record. 2 stars out of 5.