Curt Hennig Tribute Thread
04-25-2014
, 09:35 AM
WrestleMania VII: Intercontinental Title - Mr. Perfect (c) vs. The Big Boss Man
Date: March 24, 1991
Link: N/A
Background: It wasn't a well-developed feud, but they just sort of built the Perfect-Boss Man thing as WrestleMania approached by giving the Boss Man a good push. Their match at The Main Event IV was quite good.
The Match: Perfect and Boss Man engage in some non-physical back and forth to open the match. Boss Man kicks it up a notch and spits in Perfect's face. Perfect responds by slapping him. Monsoon: "Oh, the height of insult, the slap in the kisser." WTF Gorilla, Boss Man just spit in his face.
Boss Man lands a solid punch that sends Perfect flipping early, followed by him swinging Perfect 360 degrees by his hair. Perfect reverses his whip into the corner, but he avoids the corner by sliding outside, slides back in, gets a boot in Perfect's face and then a wicked clothesline before he sends Perfect outside for a break. Great opening sequence.
Upon returning, Perfect gets some offense in, but Boss Man quickly regains control, hangs Perfect over the ropes, then in plain view of referee Joey Marella, Boss Man removes his own belt and whips Perfect with it several times. Yeah I really don't get how that's legal; we need Jesse Ventura here to yell at Monsoon about how bad Marella is. Perfect gets the belt, wraps it around his fist, then hammers away at the Boss Man. Marella also pretty clearly sees this, but apparently we're playing prison rules, so nothing results. Referee does go ahead and bother to get the belt out of the ring.
Perfect finally manages to get control and begin a heat sequence, holding Boss Man in an abdominal stretch, then executing the snapmare/neck snap. He sets up a Perfectplex, but before he can pull the Boss Man through for it, Boss Man reverses into a small package…only two.
Boss Man bumps Perfect into the corner, then slides outside the ring to grab Perfect's legs and crotch him against the post. He finally has control back, but he gets distracted by Bobby Heenan, starts stalking him on the outside, and Perfect grabs him and sends him head-on into the steel steps in what looks like a pretty damn vicious bump.
Perfect distracts the official while Heenan puts the boots to Boss Man outside, but as this happens Andre the Giant heads out to ringside and starts stalking the Brain himself. As this is going on, Perfect undoes one of the turnbuckle corners and then slams Boss Man into it, putting him out cold. Andre picks up the Intercontinental Title belt, and as Perfect gripes about it and then tries to grab it back from him from within the ring, Andre waffles him with it and seemingly knocks him cold as well into the middle of the ring.
Boss Man is still out at this time as well, but comes to before Perfect does. Crawls over, makes the cover. 1, 2…and Perfect kicks out. That was an extremely believable false finish if not for the fact that I knew the result already. At this point Haku and the Barbarian hit the ring and attack the Boss Man, causing the lame disqualification.
C'mon man. If the guy is worthy of the title, go ahead and give it to him. If he isn't, you don't have to protect him like that. Make a decision; it's WrestleMania.
Result: Big Boss Man via disqualification (10:47)
Rating: Definitely a good match despite the lame ending. Boss Man was very much at the peak of his in-ring abilities here, and he was working his ass off to put on as good of a match as possible. Perfect performed to expectation. 3.25 stars out of 5.
Date: March 24, 1991
Link: N/A
Background: It wasn't a well-developed feud, but they just sort of built the Perfect-Boss Man thing as WrestleMania approached by giving the Boss Man a good push. Their match at The Main Event IV was quite good.
The Match: Perfect and Boss Man engage in some non-physical back and forth to open the match. Boss Man kicks it up a notch and spits in Perfect's face. Perfect responds by slapping him. Monsoon: "Oh, the height of insult, the slap in the kisser." WTF Gorilla, Boss Man just spit in his face.
Boss Man lands a solid punch that sends Perfect flipping early, followed by him swinging Perfect 360 degrees by his hair. Perfect reverses his whip into the corner, but he avoids the corner by sliding outside, slides back in, gets a boot in Perfect's face and then a wicked clothesline before he sends Perfect outside for a break. Great opening sequence.
Upon returning, Perfect gets some offense in, but Boss Man quickly regains control, hangs Perfect over the ropes, then in plain view of referee Joey Marella, Boss Man removes his own belt and whips Perfect with it several times. Yeah I really don't get how that's legal; we need Jesse Ventura here to yell at Monsoon about how bad Marella is. Perfect gets the belt, wraps it around his fist, then hammers away at the Boss Man. Marella also pretty clearly sees this, but apparently we're playing prison rules, so nothing results. Referee does go ahead and bother to get the belt out of the ring.
Perfect finally manages to get control and begin a heat sequence, holding Boss Man in an abdominal stretch, then executing the snapmare/neck snap. He sets up a Perfectplex, but before he can pull the Boss Man through for it, Boss Man reverses into a small package…only two.
Boss Man bumps Perfect into the corner, then slides outside the ring to grab Perfect's legs and crotch him against the post. He finally has control back, but he gets distracted by Bobby Heenan, starts stalking him on the outside, and Perfect grabs him and sends him head-on into the steel steps in what looks like a pretty damn vicious bump.
Perfect distracts the official while Heenan puts the boots to Boss Man outside, but as this happens Andre the Giant heads out to ringside and starts stalking the Brain himself. As this is going on, Perfect undoes one of the turnbuckle corners and then slams Boss Man into it, putting him out cold. Andre picks up the Intercontinental Title belt, and as Perfect gripes about it and then tries to grab it back from him from within the ring, Andre waffles him with it and seemingly knocks him cold as well into the middle of the ring.
Boss Man is still out at this time as well, but comes to before Perfect does. Crawls over, makes the cover. 1, 2…and Perfect kicks out. That was an extremely believable false finish if not for the fact that I knew the result already. At this point Haku and the Barbarian hit the ring and attack the Boss Man, causing the lame disqualification.
C'mon man. If the guy is worthy of the title, go ahead and give it to him. If he isn't, you don't have to protect him like that. Make a decision; it's WrestleMania.
Result: Big Boss Man via disqualification (10:47)
Rating: Definitely a good match despite the lame ending. Boss Man was very much at the peak of his in-ring abilities here, and he was working his ass off to put on as good of a match as possible. Perfect performed to expectation. 3.25 stars out of 5.
04-25-2014
, 09:56 AM
WWF Superstars: Bobby Heenan hands the managerial reigns over to Coach
Date: June 15, 1991
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbtBPtId4cU
Bobby Heenan had decided to retire from managing, unable to really take bumps anymore, and wanted to go be the GOAT in the commentary booth instead. Solid choice. Unfortunately this didn't lead them to just have Perfect go it alone; they instead lined him up with Coach, who was this terribly annoying guy who just blew a whistle constantly.
Perfect came out on the Funeral Parlor interview show here and introduced Bobby Heenan as his former manager. Heenan cuts a promo about what an amazing broadcaster he's going to be (he was already doing it part-time), and then introduces Coach, who steps out and cuts a worthless promo. The Coach era was short-lived, though unfortunately that was because...
June 1991 through August 1991: Sidelined by Injury
Mr. Perfect's back was unfortunately completely ****ed by this point, so he had to cancel all of his house show dates. He taped some quick jobber matches for Superstars and then they just played those to keep him on TV; in the meantime, he rested and rehabbed as well as he could just to get back for one match at SummerSlam so that he could put Bret Hart over properly.
Date: June 15, 1991
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbtBPtId4cU
Bobby Heenan had decided to retire from managing, unable to really take bumps anymore, and wanted to go be the GOAT in the commentary booth instead. Solid choice. Unfortunately this didn't lead them to just have Perfect go it alone; they instead lined him up with Coach, who was this terribly annoying guy who just blew a whistle constantly.
Perfect came out on the Funeral Parlor interview show here and introduced Bobby Heenan as his former manager. Heenan cuts a promo about what an amazing broadcaster he's going to be (he was already doing it part-time), and then introduces Coach, who steps out and cuts a worthless promo. The Coach era was short-lived, though unfortunately that was because...
June 1991 through August 1991: Sidelined by Injury
Mr. Perfect's back was unfortunately completely ****ed by this point, so he had to cancel all of his house show dates. He taped some quick jobber matches for Superstars and then they just played those to keep him on TV; in the meantime, he rested and rehabbed as well as he could just to get back for one match at SummerSlam so that he could put Bret Hart over properly.
04-25-2014
, 08:25 PM
SummerSlam '91: Intercontinental Title - Mr. Perfect (c) vs. Bret Hart
Date: August 26, 1991
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9AI2DB-7Iw (highlight video only)
Background: Bret Hart had broken away quietly from Jim Neidhart after they lost the tag team titles at WrestleMania and had begun a singles push. There wasn't a big personal grudge here; Bret had just worked his way up to #1 contender status. I do enjoy Bret's analogy to how Perfect was the best foil possible for him since they basically seemed like Spy vs. Spy in the ring, being the same size, having the same hairstyle, really just having different hair color and differently-colored ring attire.
The Match: Gorilla, Heenan, and Piper on the call, and my God do they do a hilarious job on this match. Seriously, if this match sucked the commentary would still justify watching it. As stated in my above post, Hennig was working this match pretty badly hurt, but he soldiers through like a true champion and you can really only ever detect an injury in sporadic brief moments even if you're looking for it.
Really hate this Coach guy being in Perfect's way. Perfect had no such need for a cheap heat magnet hanging out in his corner. Anyway, Bret and Perfect circle each other and then enter into a standard wrestling match, side headlock into an Irish whip, Perfect's hiptoss attempt is blocked, Bret Hart succeeds with his hiptoss, and we're off.
Perfect re-enters, Bret surprises him with a crucifix, gets an early near-fall with a two-count. Hart controls a bit of the early offense, but it's mostly mat wrestling rather than high-impact stuff. He gets Perfect's legs split to potentially lock in the sharpshooter, but stomps instead. Sends Perfect into the corner, Perfect gets a foot up, Perfect tries to follow, Bret is able to grab a hold of him with a side headlock and take him over. Perfect donkey kicks Bret down, gets up, Bret knocks him back down, donkey kick again, Bret back to his feet and clotheslines Perfect over the top…this is too fast for me to even keep up with it. Great stuff.
Perfect goes out to confer with Coach, then decides to take a walk and accept a countout. Bret chases him down and throws him back into the ring, breaking one of the straps on Perfect's singlet in the process. Bret wrestles him into a stalemate in the corner; referee Earl Hebner tries to break them apart and Perfect connects on a cheap shot as Hebner attempts to separate. Perfect knocks Bret to the outside, follows him out, hits a vicious chop and then returns to the ring. Bret tries to return, Perfect meets him on the other side of the ropes and slingshots him backwards into the barricade.
This time Bret returns, blocks a punch, lands his own, and gets some momentum back in the match. Runs Perfect into the corner, pulls him back into a rolling cradle pin, only a two-count. Perfect recovers, sends Bret into the corner, Bret takes an even harder bump than usual, this time back-first instead of his usual chest-first bump. Cover, only two. Neck snap, roll through for a pin attempt, only two. Bret reverses a whip into the ropes, then drops his head and gets kicked in the face. Perfect sends him to the outside, then from one side of the corner he starts to head to the top. At the second rope, Bret meets him, and two slug back and forth. Perfect gets the better of the exchange and knocks Bret off. Perfect falls off as well but onto Bret for a pin, but still only a two-count.
Perfect goes for the humiliating slaps on Bret in the corner, then grabs him by the hair and throws him across the ring by it. Picks him back up, into the ropes, applies a sleeper. Bret's arm doesn't drop on three because of course it doesn't, Perfect never wins via sleeper despite increasingly using it more and more. Bret works his way back to his feet, attempts to surprise Perfect with another crucifix pinning attempt, but Perfect reverses into a Samoan drop. One more cover, one more two-count. Bret back into the corner, this time for the hard chest-first bump.
Perfect in control, gets Bret to the middle and successfully executes the Perfectplex, but Bret manages to kick out at two. Perfect bitches to the ref, allowing recovery time for Bret. Bret with the atomic drop, then he returns the "throw him across the ring by the hair" favor. Suplex, pin, two-count. Small package by Bret, two-count. Russian legsweep, pin, two-count. Backbreaker, second-rope elbow, still just a two-count. This was the birth of Bret's five moves of doom; they weren't known as signature moves yet.
After the last two, Bret gets to arguing with the referee, Perfect rolls him up, but again just a two-count. Bret kicks Perfect's leg out twice, then goes to apply the Sharpshooter. Coach gets up on the apron and distracts Bret away, allowing Perfect to blindside him. Perfect splits Bret's legs then stomps him low.
Splits them again and tries to drop a leg, but Bret catches his leg on the way down, blunts any impact, and then goes to work applying a leglock. He turns from his back, reversing it into a Sharpshooter, Perfect immediately submits, and the torch is passed.
Bret heads out to the crowd and hugs his family. Great moment.
Result: "…and NEW Intercontinental Champion," Bret Hart via submission (18:04)
Rating: Obviously this is a classic in the careers of both men and one of the best WWF matches of the early 90's in general. 4.5 stars out of 5.
Date: August 26, 1991
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9AI2DB-7Iw (highlight video only)
Background: Bret Hart had broken away quietly from Jim Neidhart after they lost the tag team titles at WrestleMania and had begun a singles push. There wasn't a big personal grudge here; Bret had just worked his way up to #1 contender status. I do enjoy Bret's analogy to how Perfect was the best foil possible for him since they basically seemed like Spy vs. Spy in the ring, being the same size, having the same hairstyle, really just having different hair color and differently-colored ring attire.
The Match: Gorilla, Heenan, and Piper on the call, and my God do they do a hilarious job on this match. Seriously, if this match sucked the commentary would still justify watching it. As stated in my above post, Hennig was working this match pretty badly hurt, but he soldiers through like a true champion and you can really only ever detect an injury in sporadic brief moments even if you're looking for it.
Really hate this Coach guy being in Perfect's way. Perfect had no such need for a cheap heat magnet hanging out in his corner. Anyway, Bret and Perfect circle each other and then enter into a standard wrestling match, side headlock into an Irish whip, Perfect's hiptoss attempt is blocked, Bret Hart succeeds with his hiptoss, and we're off.
Perfect re-enters, Bret surprises him with a crucifix, gets an early near-fall with a two-count. Hart controls a bit of the early offense, but it's mostly mat wrestling rather than high-impact stuff. He gets Perfect's legs split to potentially lock in the sharpshooter, but stomps instead. Sends Perfect into the corner, Perfect gets a foot up, Perfect tries to follow, Bret is able to grab a hold of him with a side headlock and take him over. Perfect donkey kicks Bret down, gets up, Bret knocks him back down, donkey kick again, Bret back to his feet and clotheslines Perfect over the top…this is too fast for me to even keep up with it. Great stuff.
Perfect goes out to confer with Coach, then decides to take a walk and accept a countout. Bret chases him down and throws him back into the ring, breaking one of the straps on Perfect's singlet in the process. Bret wrestles him into a stalemate in the corner; referee Earl Hebner tries to break them apart and Perfect connects on a cheap shot as Hebner attempts to separate. Perfect knocks Bret to the outside, follows him out, hits a vicious chop and then returns to the ring. Bret tries to return, Perfect meets him on the other side of the ropes and slingshots him backwards into the barricade.
This time Bret returns, blocks a punch, lands his own, and gets some momentum back in the match. Runs Perfect into the corner, pulls him back into a rolling cradle pin, only a two-count. Perfect recovers, sends Bret into the corner, Bret takes an even harder bump than usual, this time back-first instead of his usual chest-first bump. Cover, only two. Neck snap, roll through for a pin attempt, only two. Bret reverses a whip into the ropes, then drops his head and gets kicked in the face. Perfect sends him to the outside, then from one side of the corner he starts to head to the top. At the second rope, Bret meets him, and two slug back and forth. Perfect gets the better of the exchange and knocks Bret off. Perfect falls off as well but onto Bret for a pin, but still only a two-count.
Perfect goes for the humiliating slaps on Bret in the corner, then grabs him by the hair and throws him across the ring by it. Picks him back up, into the ropes, applies a sleeper. Bret's arm doesn't drop on three because of course it doesn't, Perfect never wins via sleeper despite increasingly using it more and more. Bret works his way back to his feet, attempts to surprise Perfect with another crucifix pinning attempt, but Perfect reverses into a Samoan drop. One more cover, one more two-count. Bret back into the corner, this time for the hard chest-first bump.
Perfect in control, gets Bret to the middle and successfully executes the Perfectplex, but Bret manages to kick out at two. Perfect bitches to the ref, allowing recovery time for Bret. Bret with the atomic drop, then he returns the "throw him across the ring by the hair" favor. Suplex, pin, two-count. Small package by Bret, two-count. Russian legsweep, pin, two-count. Backbreaker, second-rope elbow, still just a two-count. This was the birth of Bret's five moves of doom; they weren't known as signature moves yet.
After the last two, Bret gets to arguing with the referee, Perfect rolls him up, but again just a two-count. Bret kicks Perfect's leg out twice, then goes to apply the Sharpshooter. Coach gets up on the apron and distracts Bret away, allowing Perfect to blindside him. Perfect splits Bret's legs then stomps him low.
Splits them again and tries to drop a leg, but Bret catches his leg on the way down, blunts any impact, and then goes to work applying a leglock. He turns from his back, reversing it into a Sharpshooter, Perfect immediately submits, and the torch is passed.
Bret heads out to the crowd and hugs his family. Great moment.
Result: "…and NEW Intercontinental Champion," Bret Hart via submission (18:04)
Rating: Obviously this is a classic in the careers of both men and one of the best WWF matches of the early 90's in general. 4.5 stars out of 5.
04-25-2014
, 09:02 PM
Semi-retirement (August 1991-November 1992)
Due to Curt's back injuries, he had no choice but to head to the sidelines for a long time, with no real idea whether he'd ever be able to wrestle again. First he headed to the commentary table and joined Vince McMahon on Superstars. He was solid but unspectacular; I would say he was a bit better than Ted DiBiase, who was the next heel of the era who tried his hand at being a heel color guy.
And shortly after beginning this, Ric Flair signed with the WWF and Mr. Perfect joined him as his "executive consultant."
The alliance with Ric Flair was a great thing for Mr. Perfect. The two paired up extremely well, and the general alliance of Flair/Perfect/Heenan was just awesome.
Thankfully however, his in-ring career was not done.
Due to Curt's back injuries, he had no choice but to head to the sidelines for a long time, with no real idea whether he'd ever be able to wrestle again. First he headed to the commentary table and joined Vince McMahon on Superstars. He was solid but unspectacular; I would say he was a bit better than Ted DiBiase, who was the next heel of the era who tried his hand at being a heel color guy.
And shortly after beginning this, Ric Flair signed with the WWF and Mr. Perfect joined him as his "executive consultant."
The alliance with Ric Flair was a great thing for Mr. Perfect. The two paired up extremely well, and the general alliance of Flair/Perfect/Heenan was just awesome.
Thankfully however, his in-ring career was not done.
04-25-2014
, 09:06 PM
04-25-2014
, 10:34 PM
Mr. Perfect Turns Face, Unretires
Date: November 16, 1992
Links:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
The Survivor Series co-main event (aside from Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title in their first PPV meeting) was set as Randy Savage & The Ultimate Warrior vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon. Unfortunately, like two weeks before the event, Warrior walked out or was fired or whatever it was that time, and suddenly they were in a pickle to fill in that tag team match. Not only that, but this was an era where they would tape WWF Superstars for like six weeks at a time, and everything was already taped between then and the event; there was no Monday Night Raw yet, and thus no possibility of a live show to suddenly change booking on the fly.
However, they got creative and used the set of Prime Time Wrestling to change things. To start the show, they announced that Warrior was out and that Savage would have to find a new tag team partner. They went to Savage via satellite, and asked who he had chosen for a partner. He builds up for a bit and then formally offers his spot to Mr. Perfect. This was after he had feuded with Flair all year long, and in doing so had partially feuded with Mr. Perfect as well. It didn't make a ton of sense for them to suddenly come together, but I can't blame them for just having to do something weird on the fly.
Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan, regulars on the Prime Time panel, laughed really hard at Randy Savage's proposal. But then, on a slow burn, Vince McMahon, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Hillbilly Jim did a bunch of rabblerousing and twisting and slowly baited Mr. Perfect into getting more and more irritated with Bobby Heenan, Ric Flair, and Razor Ramon over the course of the show. The heels would subtly insult him, then soften the blow, then subtly insult him again. Eventually Perfect admitted that he was considering Savage's offer, which caused everything to boil over.
Soon after, Perfect stood up and formally accepted Savage's offer. Heenan yelled at him and slapped him, causing Perfect to grab him by the collar and threaten him before pouring water on him. The show went off the air to Perfect talking trash with Flair and Ramon.
Honestly, they did a great job in playing the weird hand they were dealt, and I love this whole face turn spread out over a two-hour show. No matter how odd it was to suddenly align Perfect with Savage, I had a hard time not loving it just because they were my two favorite wrestlers.
Anyway, I pinpointed the eight different beginnings of studio segments in the links above. I really do recommend viewing. All parties involved do a great job in selling the angle.
Date: November 16, 1992
Links:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
The Survivor Series co-main event (aside from Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title in their first PPV meeting) was set as Randy Savage & The Ultimate Warrior vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon. Unfortunately, like two weeks before the event, Warrior walked out or was fired or whatever it was that time, and suddenly they were in a pickle to fill in that tag team match. Not only that, but this was an era where they would tape WWF Superstars for like six weeks at a time, and everything was already taped between then and the event; there was no Monday Night Raw yet, and thus no possibility of a live show to suddenly change booking on the fly.
However, they got creative and used the set of Prime Time Wrestling to change things. To start the show, they announced that Warrior was out and that Savage would have to find a new tag team partner. They went to Savage via satellite, and asked who he had chosen for a partner. He builds up for a bit and then formally offers his spot to Mr. Perfect. This was after he had feuded with Flair all year long, and in doing so had partially feuded with Mr. Perfect as well. It didn't make a ton of sense for them to suddenly come together, but I can't blame them for just having to do something weird on the fly.
Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan, regulars on the Prime Time panel, laughed really hard at Randy Savage's proposal. But then, on a slow burn, Vince McMahon, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Hillbilly Jim did a bunch of rabblerousing and twisting and slowly baited Mr. Perfect into getting more and more irritated with Bobby Heenan, Ric Flair, and Razor Ramon over the course of the show. The heels would subtly insult him, then soften the blow, then subtly insult him again. Eventually Perfect admitted that he was considering Savage's offer, which caused everything to boil over.
Soon after, Perfect stood up and formally accepted Savage's offer. Heenan yelled at him and slapped him, causing Perfect to grab him by the collar and threaten him before pouring water on him. The show went off the air to Perfect talking trash with Flair and Ramon.
Honestly, they did a great job in playing the weird hand they were dealt, and I love this whole face turn spread out over a two-hour show. No matter how odd it was to suddenly align Perfect with Savage, I had a hard time not loving it just because they were my two favorite wrestlers.
Anyway, I pinpointed the eight different beginnings of studio segments in the links above. I really do recommend viewing. All parties involved do a great job in selling the angle.
04-26-2014
, 01:07 PM
04-26-2014
, 02:47 PM
04-26-2014
, 03:02 PM
Survivor Series '92 - Mr. Perfect & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon
Date: November 25, 1992
Link: N/A
Background: Detailed in the post above. Short version is that Savage needed a replacement partner for Ultimate Warrior, asked Mr. Perfect to defect to his side, Perfect surprisingly accepted.
The Match: Both teams cut good promos before the match. Perfect concludes his by unleashing a Ric Flair "woooo!" Bobby Heenan is on the call for this match and is immediately apoplectic about Perfect doing that. Considering that he was part of the Perfect-joins-Savage angle, this match is tailor-made for awesome commentary on his part. Flair and Razor come out together to Flair's music. Savage gets his own partial entrance to his music; he gets halfway up the aisle, then picks up a mic and introduces Mr. Perfect.
Perfect starts right out against Razor. Seems like it would have been better to give him a hot tag after a heat segment for his first action, but meh. Razor tosses his toothpick in Perfect's face. Razor charges him, Perfect goes behind, Razor tries to throw an elbow, Perfect dodges it and then backs up sort of trolling him.
Heenan: "Lucky move."
Vince: "What do you mean 'lucky move'?"
Heenan: "JUST SHUT UP!"
Heenan being so furious here is just the best. Perfect hits a drop toehold on Razor off the ropes, does a float-over on Razor, musses his hair in a demeaning way and then backs out of the ring to laugh at him. Perfect back in toward the enemy corner, blocks a punch from Razor then reaches out and chops the hehll out of Flair. Flair gets tagged in, and the two allies of the past year face off. Perfect with multiple clotheslines and a dropkick. Sends Flair to the turnbuckle, he goes to the top then off the apron, Savage clotheslines him and then sends him back in. Perfect tags Savage in.
Savage twice slaps Flair. After one of them Perfect reaches in and slaps the back of Flair's head as well. Flair is playing the part of being absolutely livid, and the trolling by the faces is great. Flair finally lands a kick that connects solidly on Savage, then he tags out to Razor. After a couple of knockdowns by Savage, Razor gets the better of him; Ramon tags back out to the Nature Boy, and it appears that the heat segment is on.
Some slow, methodical work by the heel team on Savage. As he continues to get dominated, Mr. Perfect teases a walk-out on the match. I always hate that part. In kayfabe it certainly appears to be a legitimate thought that he has, before thinking better of it and returning to the ring. Just a really dumb booking idea there when they were going forward with the face turn.
As Perfect returns to the apron, Razor comes over and slaps him to bait him into the ring illegally. As the referee attends to Perfect, obviously more double-teaming on Savage ensues. Perfect saves a couple of pinning attempts, clarifying that he really is back on Savage's side. Still, the heels keep dominating and taunting. The taunting finally backfires though, as Flair goes to the top rope too slowly and Savage gets up in time to throw him off.
Savage struggles his way over and makes the hot tag. Flair tags out simultaneously. Perfect takes it to Razor, right hands and chops and the snapmare/neck snap combo. Atomic drop. Knee lift. Flair comes in illegally and takes a knee lift of his own which sends him out. Flair and Savage brawl outside, with Flair taking a chair to Savage that the referee doesn't see.
Flair returns to the ring and takes Perfect on, but gets clotheslined to the outside. Ramon is still the legal man here. Perfect whipped into the ropes, ducks Razor's clothesline, but this causes a ref bump as Perfect collides with Earl Hebner and sends Hebner to the outside. Razor sets up the Razor's Edge, picks Perfect up, but Perfect manages an escape and then backdrops Ramon.
As Razor gets back up, Perfect successfully hits the Perfectplex, but the new referee Joey Marella is too late to run down before Flair is able to break up the pin. Perfectplex on Flair as Marella is dealing with Razor, still a slow count. Hebner is back in and tries a count but that gets broken up as well. Flair and Razor refuse to leave the ring, they shove the officials, and the bell rings for the lame DQ.
During the post-match chaos, Flair gets Perfect locked into the figure-four, but Savage slips a chair to Perfect who knocks Flair off with it. Flair and Ramon leave the ring, pointing fingers back at Perfect and Savage furiously, but they accept their fate and head to the back. Savage offers to celebrate with Perfect. Perfect is hesitant but finally gets on board, and the two show respect to each other on the way out of the ring.
Flair and Razor cut a good angry promo in the back, threatening Perfect and telling him they're not done with him.
Result: Mr. Perfect & Randy Savage via DQ (16:29)
Rating: It was probably more enjoyable for the angle than for the actual match. Actual match was decent but nothing special. I feel inclined to judge the overall entertainment value of the underlying angle, Heenan's mad commentary, Perfect returning to the ring and being put over as a new babyface, etc. So I'll give it 3 stars out of 5.
Date: November 25, 1992
Link: N/A
Background: Detailed in the post above. Short version is that Savage needed a replacement partner for Ultimate Warrior, asked Mr. Perfect to defect to his side, Perfect surprisingly accepted.
The Match: Both teams cut good promos before the match. Perfect concludes his by unleashing a Ric Flair "woooo!" Bobby Heenan is on the call for this match and is immediately apoplectic about Perfect doing that. Considering that he was part of the Perfect-joins-Savage angle, this match is tailor-made for awesome commentary on his part. Flair and Razor come out together to Flair's music. Savage gets his own partial entrance to his music; he gets halfway up the aisle, then picks up a mic and introduces Mr. Perfect.
Perfect starts right out against Razor. Seems like it would have been better to give him a hot tag after a heat segment for his first action, but meh. Razor tosses his toothpick in Perfect's face. Razor charges him, Perfect goes behind, Razor tries to throw an elbow, Perfect dodges it and then backs up sort of trolling him.
Heenan: "Lucky move."
Vince: "What do you mean 'lucky move'?"
Heenan: "JUST SHUT UP!"
Heenan being so furious here is just the best. Perfect hits a drop toehold on Razor off the ropes, does a float-over on Razor, musses his hair in a demeaning way and then backs out of the ring to laugh at him. Perfect back in toward the enemy corner, blocks a punch from Razor then reaches out and chops the hehll out of Flair. Flair gets tagged in, and the two allies of the past year face off. Perfect with multiple clotheslines and a dropkick. Sends Flair to the turnbuckle, he goes to the top then off the apron, Savage clotheslines him and then sends him back in. Perfect tags Savage in.
Savage twice slaps Flair. After one of them Perfect reaches in and slaps the back of Flair's head as well. Flair is playing the part of being absolutely livid, and the trolling by the faces is great. Flair finally lands a kick that connects solidly on Savage, then he tags out to Razor. After a couple of knockdowns by Savage, Razor gets the better of him; Ramon tags back out to the Nature Boy, and it appears that the heat segment is on.
Some slow, methodical work by the heel team on Savage. As he continues to get dominated, Mr. Perfect teases a walk-out on the match. I always hate that part. In kayfabe it certainly appears to be a legitimate thought that he has, before thinking better of it and returning to the ring. Just a really dumb booking idea there when they were going forward with the face turn.
As Perfect returns to the apron, Razor comes over and slaps him to bait him into the ring illegally. As the referee attends to Perfect, obviously more double-teaming on Savage ensues. Perfect saves a couple of pinning attempts, clarifying that he really is back on Savage's side. Still, the heels keep dominating and taunting. The taunting finally backfires though, as Flair goes to the top rope too slowly and Savage gets up in time to throw him off.
Savage struggles his way over and makes the hot tag. Flair tags out simultaneously. Perfect takes it to Razor, right hands and chops and the snapmare/neck snap combo. Atomic drop. Knee lift. Flair comes in illegally and takes a knee lift of his own which sends him out. Flair and Savage brawl outside, with Flair taking a chair to Savage that the referee doesn't see.
Flair returns to the ring and takes Perfect on, but gets clotheslined to the outside. Ramon is still the legal man here. Perfect whipped into the ropes, ducks Razor's clothesline, but this causes a ref bump as Perfect collides with Earl Hebner and sends Hebner to the outside. Razor sets up the Razor's Edge, picks Perfect up, but Perfect manages an escape and then backdrops Ramon.
As Razor gets back up, Perfect successfully hits the Perfectplex, but the new referee Joey Marella is too late to run down before Flair is able to break up the pin. Perfectplex on Flair as Marella is dealing with Razor, still a slow count. Hebner is back in and tries a count but that gets broken up as well. Flair and Razor refuse to leave the ring, they shove the officials, and the bell rings for the lame DQ.
During the post-match chaos, Flair gets Perfect locked into the figure-four, but Savage slips a chair to Perfect who knocks Flair off with it. Flair and Ramon leave the ring, pointing fingers back at Perfect and Savage furiously, but they accept their fate and head to the back. Savage offers to celebrate with Perfect. Perfect is hesitant but finally gets on board, and the two show respect to each other on the way out of the ring.
Flair and Razor cut a good angry promo in the back, threatening Perfect and telling him they're not done with him.
Result: Mr. Perfect & Randy Savage via DQ (16:29)
Rating: It was probably more enjoyable for the angle than for the actual match. Actual match was decent but nothing special. I feel inclined to judge the overall entertainment value of the underlying angle, Heenan's mad commentary, Perfect returning to the ring and being put over as a new babyface, etc. So I'll give it 3 stars out of 5.
04-26-2014
, 05:06 PM
Royal Rumble '93 - Rumble Match
Date: January 24, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Winner with a trip to WrestleMania to wrestle for the WWF Title. The Perfect vs. Flair feud was hitting a fever pitch at this point, and actually the two men were scheduled to face off the following night on only the third-ever episode of Raw in a "Loser Leaves Town" match.
The Match: Flair is in first. Perfect is out 10th and all-out sprints to the ring faster than the Ultimate Warrior ever did, sights set squarely on Flair.
Perfect lays into Flair. Heenan, exasperated: "Perfect doesn't want to win the Royal Rumble! He wants to put Flair in the hospital!" Perfect gets like 90% of the offense in against a Flair, and then after reversing a whip into the ropes, he follows Flair there and pushes him out over the top.
A few entries later, Jerry Lawler would be Perfect's next victim.
Ted DiBiase and Headshrinker Samu, though, are right on the scene to capitalize and toss Perfect out to the other side. He stays on the apron for a moment, but DiBiase and Koko B. Ware continue to try to push him out, and meanwhile the eliminated Lawler sticks around to also pull on him and eliminate him.
Yokozuna goes on to win the Rumble in the dumbest finish in Rumble history.
Result: Yokozuna wins (1:06:35)
Rating: N/A, Perfect gets two eliminations but doesn't last a particularly long time. You knew he couldn't win with the Loser Leaves Town match scheduled against Flair the next night, since it would essentially give away that outcome.
Date: January 24, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Winner with a trip to WrestleMania to wrestle for the WWF Title. The Perfect vs. Flair feud was hitting a fever pitch at this point, and actually the two men were scheduled to face off the following night on only the third-ever episode of Raw in a "Loser Leaves Town" match.
The Match: Flair is in first. Perfect is out 10th and all-out sprints to the ring faster than the Ultimate Warrior ever did, sights set squarely on Flair.
Perfect lays into Flair. Heenan, exasperated: "Perfect doesn't want to win the Royal Rumble! He wants to put Flair in the hospital!" Perfect gets like 90% of the offense in against a Flair, and then after reversing a whip into the ropes, he follows Flair there and pushes him out over the top.
A few entries later, Jerry Lawler would be Perfect's next victim.
Ted DiBiase and Headshrinker Samu, though, are right on the scene to capitalize and toss Perfect out to the other side. He stays on the apron for a moment, but DiBiase and Koko B. Ware continue to try to push him out, and meanwhile the eliminated Lawler sticks around to also pull on him and eliminate him.
Yokozuna goes on to win the Rumble in the dumbest finish in Rumble history.
Result: Yokozuna wins (1:06:35)
Rating: N/A, Perfect gets two eliminations but doesn't last a particularly long time. You knew he couldn't win with the Loser Leaves Town match scheduled against Flair the next night, since it would essentially give away that outcome.
04-26-2014
, 05:54 PM
Raw: Loser Leaves Town - Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair
Date: January 25, 1993
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlvLhUQ1-Yw
Background: Perfect and Flair used to be allies. Perfect defected from Flair's camp and fought alongside Randy Savage against Flair and Razor Ramon at Survivor Series. The two had feuded since, with this being the blow-off.
The Match: Flair comes to the ring with a super serious look on his face, showing the gravity of the occasion. Heenan gets up from the ringside table and goes to shake Flair's hand and wish him luck. Perfect out second, and the big retirement match is on. I wasn't terribly happy about this match happening because I was just a kid with no cable TV, and having no cable meant I never watched WCW, so basically I was losing one of my favorite wrestlers either way.
Perfect and Flair wrestle into the ropes and trade slaps. Perfect wins the first offensive exchange and Flair heads to ringside to take a break.Perfect with an reverse armbar, but Flair elbows him off and then chops him hard in the corner. Perfect reverses the situation and chops back at Flair as well. Flair staggers out and does the delayed face-first flop.
The two continue to play the match tentatively until Flair pokes him in the eye and then sends him out over the top. He heads outside and threatens Perfect with a chair, but the chair is taken from him as the show goes to commercial.
Back from the break, Flair sends Perfect into the corner, goes horizontal on the buckle and may have hit his head on the post as he leaves the ring. Perfect presumably blades on the outside (the camera stays on Flair inside) and then heads back into the ring opened up. Flair punches away at Perfect's open wound then sends him into the corner for another bump.
Flair has control until the two end up locking elbows and struggling over a backslide attempt. Perfect prevails and gets the backslide but can only get a two-count. Back bodydrop on Flair, then as he begs from his ass for mercy from Perfect, Perfect violently pulls him out of the corner. Pulls him back up, fights him back into it, goes up top to deliver a 10-count of punches but Flair hits him low and stops the momentum again.
Flair applies a sleeper, and Perfect starts to fade. Naturally his arm doesn't drop the third time. He works his way back to his feet, then as Flair clings to him he lunges toward the middle rope in the corner and rams Flair's head into the turnbuckle. Perfect with a leapfrog as Flair comes at him, but he botches it pretty hard and ends up sort of accidentally clotheslining him and trying to sell it as that. This has generally been a pretty damn sloppy match by Flair and Hennig standards.
Flair is able to apply the figure-four, and keeps trying to hang onto the ropes out of the referee's sight to add extra leverage. Eventually he gets caught doing this and forced to break the hold. Still, the hold was applied for a while and Perfect's leg is now injured. Flair goes up top, Perfect catches him and throws him off as we go to commercial.
As we come back, Perfect is dealing with the official about something as Flair applies brass knuckles. As Perfect closes back in, Flair waffles him. He drops an elbow then attempts a pin, but Perfect is on the ropes. Attempts a better pin, but this next one is too late and Perfect is able to kick out on two.
Flair in control as Heenan smiles at the announce table, but upon laying in some chops in the corner, Perfect no-sells them and glares Flair down. Goes on the attack, throws Flair into the corner, back bodydrops him as Flair leaves the corner. Hits a clothesline partially; the partial miss seems to be on Flair.
Flair begs again in the corner on his knees, then manages to trip Perfect and tries a couple of pinning attempts with his feet on the ropes. After two two-counts, referee catches him with his feet there and kicks him off. Perfect then reverses into a pin of his own but only gets two as well.
Both men up to their feet, Flair sends Perfect into the ropes, Perfect stops short of him on the way back and executes the Perfectplex. 1-2-3, and Flair is banished back down south.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (17:53)
Rating: You know, Meltzer gives this match four stars, and I remember really loving it too, but I think that on rewatch this was well below the standard of both men, and doesn't really hold up to a critical viewing 21 years later. Lots of sloppy spots. Overall I consider this to be something of a disappointment. 2.75 stars out of 5.
Date: January 25, 1993
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlvLhUQ1-Yw
Background: Perfect and Flair used to be allies. Perfect defected from Flair's camp and fought alongside Randy Savage against Flair and Razor Ramon at Survivor Series. The two had feuded since, with this being the blow-off.
The Match: Flair comes to the ring with a super serious look on his face, showing the gravity of the occasion. Heenan gets up from the ringside table and goes to shake Flair's hand and wish him luck. Perfect out second, and the big retirement match is on. I wasn't terribly happy about this match happening because I was just a kid with no cable TV, and having no cable meant I never watched WCW, so basically I was losing one of my favorite wrestlers either way.
Perfect and Flair wrestle into the ropes and trade slaps. Perfect wins the first offensive exchange and Flair heads to ringside to take a break.Perfect with an reverse armbar, but Flair elbows him off and then chops him hard in the corner. Perfect reverses the situation and chops back at Flair as well. Flair staggers out and does the delayed face-first flop.
The two continue to play the match tentatively until Flair pokes him in the eye and then sends him out over the top. He heads outside and threatens Perfect with a chair, but the chair is taken from him as the show goes to commercial.
Back from the break, Flair sends Perfect into the corner, goes horizontal on the buckle and may have hit his head on the post as he leaves the ring. Perfect presumably blades on the outside (the camera stays on Flair inside) and then heads back into the ring opened up. Flair punches away at Perfect's open wound then sends him into the corner for another bump.
Flair has control until the two end up locking elbows and struggling over a backslide attempt. Perfect prevails and gets the backslide but can only get a two-count. Back bodydrop on Flair, then as he begs from his ass for mercy from Perfect, Perfect violently pulls him out of the corner. Pulls him back up, fights him back into it, goes up top to deliver a 10-count of punches but Flair hits him low and stops the momentum again.
Flair applies a sleeper, and Perfect starts to fade. Naturally his arm doesn't drop the third time. He works his way back to his feet, then as Flair clings to him he lunges toward the middle rope in the corner and rams Flair's head into the turnbuckle. Perfect with a leapfrog as Flair comes at him, but he botches it pretty hard and ends up sort of accidentally clotheslining him and trying to sell it as that. This has generally been a pretty damn sloppy match by Flair and Hennig standards.
Flair is able to apply the figure-four, and keeps trying to hang onto the ropes out of the referee's sight to add extra leverage. Eventually he gets caught doing this and forced to break the hold. Still, the hold was applied for a while and Perfect's leg is now injured. Flair goes up top, Perfect catches him and throws him off as we go to commercial.
As we come back, Perfect is dealing with the official about something as Flair applies brass knuckles. As Perfect closes back in, Flair waffles him. He drops an elbow then attempts a pin, but Perfect is on the ropes. Attempts a better pin, but this next one is too late and Perfect is able to kick out on two.
Flair in control as Heenan smiles at the announce table, but upon laying in some chops in the corner, Perfect no-sells them and glares Flair down. Goes on the attack, throws Flair into the corner, back bodydrops him as Flair leaves the corner. Hits a clothesline partially; the partial miss seems to be on Flair.
Flair begs again in the corner on his knees, then manages to trip Perfect and tries a couple of pinning attempts with his feet on the ropes. After two two-counts, referee catches him with his feet there and kicks him off. Perfect then reverses into a pin of his own but only gets two as well.
Both men up to their feet, Flair sends Perfect into the ropes, Perfect stops short of him on the way back and executes the Perfectplex. 1-2-3, and Flair is banished back down south.
Result: Mr. Perfect via pinfall (17:53)
Rating: You know, Meltzer gives this match four stars, and I remember really loving it too, but I think that on rewatch this was well below the standard of both men, and doesn't really hold up to a critical viewing 21 years later. Lots of sloppy spots. Overall I consider this to be something of a disappointment. 2.75 stars out of 5.
04-26-2014
, 07:30 PM
WrestleMania IX: Mr. Perfect vs. Lex Luger
Date: April 4, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Luger had debuted in the WWF at the Royal Rumble, revealed to a glowing intro by Bobby Heenan. After Perfect kayfabe forced Ric Flair out of the company in January, the natural step was to go forward to the next Bobby Heenan guy (even if Heenan was no longer actively managing at this point).
The Match: Jim Ross in his WWF debut is on the call here, joined by Bobby Heenan and Randy Savage.
Luger is in his short-lived Narcissist gimmick here, and is accompanied by a bunch of half-naked women. Once in the ring, all four hold up mirrors for him so that he could admire himself. I can appreciate that touch. Perfect enters; one of Luger's girls seems to proposition him on his way out, but he sidesteps her.
Perfect and Luger trade arm-wringers to start. Luger finally gets the advantage, but Perfect immediately donkey-kicks him off. Both to their feet, no real advantage gained. Now they trade reverse armbars, still no advantage gained. Luger into the ropes off a reversal, punch to the gut on the way back, knee lift, side headlock, leaps over Perfect on the run then connects on a nice dropkick.
Perfect continues to control in the corner until Luger lands a cheap shot over top of the referee. Lex sends him toward the ropes, tries to land a kick, Perfect catches it, drops him, then locks Lex's purported kicking leg in between both of his and lands a kneedrop. I love that type of move. Perfect keeps working the leg, laying it on the bottom rope and dropping on it. Then he applies a modified leglock from a standing position with Luger on his back, but the Narcissist is able to get a rope break. Perfect remains relentless, following Luger and kicking his leg out a couple of times before hammering some chops in at the corner.
Perfect's corner whip is reversed and he takes a hard corner bump. Savage mentions that it really connected with his back, and that same back injury took him out of wrestling for a long time. Huh. I don't ever remember WWF acknowledging his back injuries like that. Luger sends him to the other corner for an even harder bump, then sends him outside.
Lex follows him out grabs him and rams him into the apron with the lower back taking the brunt of the blow. Back into the ring, Luger lays on forearms at the lower back, followed by a backbreaker. Mentioning his past back injuries on commentary was actually great here and adds to the psychology.
Perfect is staggered in a corner, but manages to fight his way out of it. Still he's selling the back injury (I'm assuming it wasn't particularly severe right here or else Luger is an ******* for working his offense that way), and Luger is able to get him turned around in the corner for a pinning combo with his feet on the ropes; referee catches the cheating attempt though and stops counting the pin.
Luger still on offense, Perfect into the ropes, powerslam. Two-count. Back into the ropes, Luger drops his head for a back bodydrop, but Perfect flips over top of him for a sunset flip. Two-count. Savage and JR continue to mention that Perfect's back may be ****ed up. Perfect with a surprise small package, two-count. Sends Luger to the ropes, back bodydrop.
Luger into the corner this time, takes the chest-first bump. Perfect does the catapult and sends Luger back into the corner that way. Follows with a punch that sends Luger down. Picks him up, into the ropes, clothesline. Two-count. Swinging neckbreaker, two-count. Perfect to the top, missile dropkick off the top. Wow. I knew he could do that move, but he literally never succeeded in executing anything off the top until now. Pins Luger, Luger gets his feet on the ropes at two.
Back up, Perfect with an attempted backslide, but Luger reverses the leverage, does a backslide of his own, the backslide takes Perfect's legs right into the ropes from before the referee's first count, but the referee is blind to it and counts to three. Luger goes over dirty.
Perfect gets up and hollers at the referee about his failure, and as he does Luger blindsides him with his steel forearm and puts him out cold. Luger heads to the back; Perfect eventually comes to, obviously mad, and stalks to the back going after Luger. He catches up with Luger, who is chatting with Shawn Michaels. He gets some blows in on Luger, but then Michaels attacks him from behind and beats the **** out of him. Their feud to SummerSlam was on.
Result: Lex Luger via pinfall (10:56)
Rating: Yeah, as I remembered, this is a pretty good match. Missile dropkick spot was great; nobody threw a dropkick like Curt Hennig. Otherwise, lots of good psychology, and while I don't love the ending, I don't hate it either. 3.25 stars out of 5. Close to being a full 3.5 stars.
Date: April 4, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Luger had debuted in the WWF at the Royal Rumble, revealed to a glowing intro by Bobby Heenan. After Perfect kayfabe forced Ric Flair out of the company in January, the natural step was to go forward to the next Bobby Heenan guy (even if Heenan was no longer actively managing at this point).
The Match: Jim Ross in his WWF debut is on the call here, joined by Bobby Heenan and Randy Savage.
Luger is in his short-lived Narcissist gimmick here, and is accompanied by a bunch of half-naked women. Once in the ring, all four hold up mirrors for him so that he could admire himself. I can appreciate that touch. Perfect enters; one of Luger's girls seems to proposition him on his way out, but he sidesteps her.
Perfect and Luger trade arm-wringers to start. Luger finally gets the advantage, but Perfect immediately donkey-kicks him off. Both to their feet, no real advantage gained. Now they trade reverse armbars, still no advantage gained. Luger into the ropes off a reversal, punch to the gut on the way back, knee lift, side headlock, leaps over Perfect on the run then connects on a nice dropkick.
Perfect continues to control in the corner until Luger lands a cheap shot over top of the referee. Lex sends him toward the ropes, tries to land a kick, Perfect catches it, drops him, then locks Lex's purported kicking leg in between both of his and lands a kneedrop. I love that type of move. Perfect keeps working the leg, laying it on the bottom rope and dropping on it. Then he applies a modified leglock from a standing position with Luger on his back, but the Narcissist is able to get a rope break. Perfect remains relentless, following Luger and kicking his leg out a couple of times before hammering some chops in at the corner.
Perfect's corner whip is reversed and he takes a hard corner bump. Savage mentions that it really connected with his back, and that same back injury took him out of wrestling for a long time. Huh. I don't ever remember WWF acknowledging his back injuries like that. Luger sends him to the other corner for an even harder bump, then sends him outside.
Lex follows him out grabs him and rams him into the apron with the lower back taking the brunt of the blow. Back into the ring, Luger lays on forearms at the lower back, followed by a backbreaker. Mentioning his past back injuries on commentary was actually great here and adds to the psychology.
Perfect is staggered in a corner, but manages to fight his way out of it. Still he's selling the back injury (I'm assuming it wasn't particularly severe right here or else Luger is an ******* for working his offense that way), and Luger is able to get him turned around in the corner for a pinning combo with his feet on the ropes; referee catches the cheating attempt though and stops counting the pin.
Luger still on offense, Perfect into the ropes, powerslam. Two-count. Back into the ropes, Luger drops his head for a back bodydrop, but Perfect flips over top of him for a sunset flip. Two-count. Savage and JR continue to mention that Perfect's back may be ****ed up. Perfect with a surprise small package, two-count. Sends Luger to the ropes, back bodydrop.
Luger into the corner this time, takes the chest-first bump. Perfect does the catapult and sends Luger back into the corner that way. Follows with a punch that sends Luger down. Picks him up, into the ropes, clothesline. Two-count. Swinging neckbreaker, two-count. Perfect to the top, missile dropkick off the top. Wow. I knew he could do that move, but he literally never succeeded in executing anything off the top until now. Pins Luger, Luger gets his feet on the ropes at two.
Back up, Perfect with an attempted backslide, but Luger reverses the leverage, does a backslide of his own, the backslide takes Perfect's legs right into the ropes from before the referee's first count, but the referee is blind to it and counts to three. Luger goes over dirty.
Perfect gets up and hollers at the referee about his failure, and as he does Luger blindsides him with his steel forearm and puts him out cold. Luger heads to the back; Perfect eventually comes to, obviously mad, and stalks to the back going after Luger. He catches up with Luger, who is chatting with Shawn Michaels. He gets some blows in on Luger, but then Michaels attacks him from behind and beats the **** out of him. Their feud to SummerSlam was on.
Result: Lex Luger via pinfall (10:56)
Rating: Yeah, as I remembered, this is a pretty good match. Missile dropkick spot was great; nobody threw a dropkick like Curt Hennig. Otherwise, lots of good psychology, and while I don't love the ending, I don't hate it either. 3.25 stars out of 5. Close to being a full 3.5 stars.
04-26-2014
, 08:21 PM
04-26-2014
, 08:37 PM
King of the Ring '93: 1st Round - Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes
Date: June 13, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Mr. Hughes apparently had stolen Undertaker's urn at this point. A lot of people sure did do that. You would think that someone would have dropped it into Mt. Doom at some point and officially ended his career a lot earlier. Anyway, Hughes beat Kamala in a tournament qualifier, Perfect beat Evil Doink in a qualifier, and here we are.
The Match: JR, Heenan and Savage on the call. Savage says that Mr. Perfect is his pick to win the tournament.
Mr. Hughes wasn't a bad hand in the ring; as big men go, he was fine. That said, I always forget that he ever existed. Collar-and-elbow tie-up, Hughes outpowers Hennig and launches him into the corner. Hennig back out, the two tie up, same result.
Hughes running off the ropes takes a strong armdrag. Hennig follows with a good dropkick. Hughes is stunned but stays in the ring. From there he muscles Perfect into a corner, then an uppercut sends Perfect over the top rope and to the outside. Perfect returns, but Hughes is right back to the offense with clubbing forearms and then with some sort of weak-looking resthold where he twists Perfect's head.
Perfect works his way back to his feet and comes off the ropes, but eats a big boot from Hughes on the way back. Big clothesline, and back into that head/neck resthold that impresses me so thoroughly. Hughes continues to control, things get a bit awkward for a moment when he botches a spinebuster pretty badly and the two wrestlers have to play it off.
Perfect only finally takes control again when Hughes has him draped over the ropes and misses on a legdrop. From there, a clothesline, snapmare/neck snap, then he works the big man over in the corner. As he finishes off a series of blows, Hughes drops to a knee and Perfect backs off for a moment. Hughes grabs for the urn that's sitting in that corner and clocks Perfect with it, but the referee catches him and that's a disqualification.
Result: Mr. Perfect via DQ (6:02)
Rating: Meh. Some decent bumping from Hennig, but never really goes anywhere. Thankfully there was better stuff to come on this night. 1 star out of 5.
Date: June 13, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Mr. Hughes apparently had stolen Undertaker's urn at this point. A lot of people sure did do that. You would think that someone would have dropped it into Mt. Doom at some point and officially ended his career a lot earlier. Anyway, Hughes beat Kamala in a tournament qualifier, Perfect beat Evil Doink in a qualifier, and here we are.
The Match: JR, Heenan and Savage on the call. Savage says that Mr. Perfect is his pick to win the tournament.
Mr. Hughes wasn't a bad hand in the ring; as big men go, he was fine. That said, I always forget that he ever existed. Collar-and-elbow tie-up, Hughes outpowers Hennig and launches him into the corner. Hennig back out, the two tie up, same result.
Hughes running off the ropes takes a strong armdrag. Hennig follows with a good dropkick. Hughes is stunned but stays in the ring. From there he muscles Perfect into a corner, then an uppercut sends Perfect over the top rope and to the outside. Perfect returns, but Hughes is right back to the offense with clubbing forearms and then with some sort of weak-looking resthold where he twists Perfect's head.
Perfect works his way back to his feet and comes off the ropes, but eats a big boot from Hughes on the way back. Big clothesline, and back into that head/neck resthold that impresses me so thoroughly. Hughes continues to control, things get a bit awkward for a moment when he botches a spinebuster pretty badly and the two wrestlers have to play it off.
Perfect only finally takes control again when Hughes has him draped over the ropes and misses on a legdrop. From there, a clothesline, snapmare/neck snap, then he works the big man over in the corner. As he finishes off a series of blows, Hughes drops to a knee and Perfect backs off for a moment. Hughes grabs for the urn that's sitting in that corner and clocks Perfect with it, but the referee catches him and that's a disqualification.
Result: Mr. Perfect via DQ (6:02)
Rating: Meh. Some decent bumping from Hennig, but never really goes anywhere. Thankfully there was better stuff to come on this night. 1 star out of 5.
04-26-2014
, 10:10 PM
King of the Ring '93: 2nd Round - Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart
Date: June 13, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Bret Hart beat Razor Ramon in the first round. Mr. Perfect beat Mr. Hughes in the first round. The two hadn't met since SummerSlam '91, when Bret took the Intercontinental Title belt off of Perfect.
The Match: Mean Gene plays the role of pot-stirrer in a pre-match interview and tries to build up some heat between the two. Perfect vows payback for SummerSlam '91. Both guys do a nice job on this interview to build the match.
To the ring, the two men lock up to start, Perfect with a go-behind, Bret with a rope break, Bret almost seems to think about a cheap shot elbow and then decides against it. Side headlock by Bret, sends Perfect into the rope, armdrag. Perfect back to his feet, takes Bret down, executes a headscissor. Bret escapes to another side headlock, temporarily has a pin and gets a one-count. Bobby Heenan has pinned a few people with a side headlock.
Perfect and Bret continue to go at a faster pace than I wish to transcribe in full, but sufficed to say that it's impressive. After a flurry of moves, Bret is able to get Perfect back down in a headlock. Perfect works his way back to his feet, drives in a forearm, sends Bret to the ropes, crucifix pin by Bret, two-count. Back to the side headlock.
Both back to a vertical base, Perfect sends Bret into the ropes, Bret comes off with a cross-body and pin attempt, Perfect shoves him all the way off to the outside of the ring. Bret right back up to the apron, lunges a shoulder at Perfect through the middle rope then flips over the top with a sunset flip. Two-count, obviously.
Side headlock by Bret, Perfect reverses the leverage after grabbing Bret's hair. The two stand back up. Perfect with a waistlock, Bret gets a rope break, and instead of letting him go cleanly Perfect drives a knee into his gut in something of a cheap shot. The crowd boos a bit. Perfect splits Bret's legs apart and stomps in his lower abdomen. Picks him back up, knocks him back down with the elite standing dropkick and Bret leaves the ring.
As Bret briefly recovers, Savage makes mention of Perfect "having a salty past," also disclaiming that he himself does as well. Bret makes his way back to the apron, Perfect sits on the middle rope to help let Bret back in, then as Bret is halfway through Perfect stands up and kicks him. Perfect definitely playing the role of heelish face here, and teasing the heel turn. Chops Bret hard in the corner, then stomps away at him while he's down. Goes for a cover, only gets two, kicks at Bret and Bret rolls to the outside.
Perfect follows Bret to ringside, lays in a hard chop, slams Bret's head into the apron, then returns to the ring. The crowd is starting to turn on Perfect more and more. Heenan: "You know, I'll tell you something: if Perfect wins this match, and if he becomes King of the Ring, and he apologizes to me, I would consider handling him again!" God I love Bobby.
Bret up to the apron, Perfect immediately slingshots him away and back into the steel barricade. Bret now selling a knee injury on the impact there. Makes his way back up to the apron, Perfect greets him into the ring by slugging him down, then making him eat a knee-lift. Bret lands some weak blows in return as he tries to get up, but Perfect is able to absorb them and knock him back down. Perfect to the top rope, plants the missile dropkick into Bret. Bret puts his foot on the rope to save himself from a pinfall. Perfect hooks the leg again, but only gets two.
Back to their feet, Perfect is going HAM at this point, sends Bret super hard into the corner, Bret with the hard chest-first bump. Pin, two-count. Perfect back up to the top, but Bret gets up and catches him, crotching him against the turnbuckle. Hitman climbs up with him and delivers a superplex. Pin attempt, again only two. This match might be even better than I remember, which is saying a lot.
Bret is still selling the leg injury, but he tries to inflict one of his own on Perfect by kicking Perfect's leg out twice. Great psychology too as he locks in a figure-four quickly after hurting his leg. Perfect manages to escape first by gouging Bret's eyes and then working his way over to the ropes.
Bret gets up first, limping even harder than before. Grabs Perfect's left leg, trips Perfect's right, then drops an elbow on the left leg and grapevines it. Again Perfect escapes with an eye gouge. Both men back to their feet, but slowly and limping hard. Perfect controls Bret in the corner and whips Bret out across the ring by his hair.
Perfect locks in a sleeper, Bret almost gets a full hold of a rope before the hold is fully cinched in, but Perfect pulls him away. Before he fades all the way to the point of arm droppage though, he goes and forces a rope break. Perfect holds it well after the rope break, waits for the five-count to get to four before finally releasing. Perfect still selling the leg injury like a champ. Slaps Bret, reverse chinlock, and he puts a foot up on the rope to cheat and leverage the hold. Bret struggles, but finally manages to get enough footing to lunge forward and bring Perfect into the corner with him. Perfect's head hits the turnbuckle, hold released.
Back up, Bret hits a big uppercut. Nice sell on that by Hennig. Bret whips Perfect to the corner by his hair and Perfect gets crotched on the post. I still don't like that spot, but it was better than usual that time. Bret with the Russian legsweep, pin attempt, two. Quick legdrop, then he brings Perfect back to his feet and executes a backbreaker. Elbow off the second rope. Pin, only two.
Bret sets up for the sharpshooter, but Perfect grabs for Bret's fingers, which Razor Ramon stomped on earlier in the night (a minute or two earlier, JR and Savage had speculated that Bret might have multiple broken fingers; Bret had his fingers heavily taped). Bret sells this as terribly painful, and he can't follow through on locking in the hold. God that's some brilliant stuff. Then Perfect gets back to his feet and stomps on those fingers again.
Perfect brings Bret back to his feet, gets ready to suplex, but Bret kicks a leg up and blocks it. Then Bret suplexes Perfect his way, and they both spill over the top rope to the outside. Awesome. The announcers speculate on a double countout, but both make their way back in. Perfect in first, Bret shortly after. As Bret gets in Perfect surprises him with a small package. 1, 2…no, Bret reverses it into his own small package. 1, 2, 3.
Perfect is pissed, barks something at Bret and rolls out of the ring. Randy Savage and JR say they wish he'd shake Bret's hand. Perfect yells a few more things back into the ring, then with resolve he marches back up the steps and back into the ring. Perfect gets up in Bret's face, still seems angry, but after saying a few things he offers a handshake. They quickly shake hands, and a still-pissed Mr. Perfect completes the handshake and drops and rolls out of the ring to head to the back. Thought it was absolutely the perfect way to handle the post-match, for a competitor like Perfect to never stop being pissed and to basically force himself to be sportsmanlike and congratulate his opponent.
Result: Bret Hart via pinfall (18:56)
Rating: This is just a fantastic match. Having watched both matches in quick succession, I will say that I don't think that the SummerSlam match has much of a case for being the better of the two. I think that this one is better, and I don't really hesitate at all in saying so. Excellent pace, excellent psychology…at least where his WWF work was concerned, this was Mr. Perfect's opus. I'll stop just barely short of the full monty and I'll say 4.75 stars out of 5. But I honestly wouldn't blink at someone else calling it 5 stars.
Date: June 13, 1993
Link: N/A
Background: Bret Hart beat Razor Ramon in the first round. Mr. Perfect beat Mr. Hughes in the first round. The two hadn't met since SummerSlam '91, when Bret took the Intercontinental Title belt off of Perfect.
The Match: Mean Gene plays the role of pot-stirrer in a pre-match interview and tries to build up some heat between the two. Perfect vows payback for SummerSlam '91. Both guys do a nice job on this interview to build the match.
To the ring, the two men lock up to start, Perfect with a go-behind, Bret with a rope break, Bret almost seems to think about a cheap shot elbow and then decides against it. Side headlock by Bret, sends Perfect into the rope, armdrag. Perfect back to his feet, takes Bret down, executes a headscissor. Bret escapes to another side headlock, temporarily has a pin and gets a one-count. Bobby Heenan has pinned a few people with a side headlock.
Perfect and Bret continue to go at a faster pace than I wish to transcribe in full, but sufficed to say that it's impressive. After a flurry of moves, Bret is able to get Perfect back down in a headlock. Perfect works his way back to his feet, drives in a forearm, sends Bret to the ropes, crucifix pin by Bret, two-count. Back to the side headlock.
Both back to a vertical base, Perfect sends Bret into the ropes, Bret comes off with a cross-body and pin attempt, Perfect shoves him all the way off to the outside of the ring. Bret right back up to the apron, lunges a shoulder at Perfect through the middle rope then flips over the top with a sunset flip. Two-count, obviously.
Side headlock by Bret, Perfect reverses the leverage after grabbing Bret's hair. The two stand back up. Perfect with a waistlock, Bret gets a rope break, and instead of letting him go cleanly Perfect drives a knee into his gut in something of a cheap shot. The crowd boos a bit. Perfect splits Bret's legs apart and stomps in his lower abdomen. Picks him back up, knocks him back down with the elite standing dropkick and Bret leaves the ring.
As Bret briefly recovers, Savage makes mention of Perfect "having a salty past," also disclaiming that he himself does as well. Bret makes his way back to the apron, Perfect sits on the middle rope to help let Bret back in, then as Bret is halfway through Perfect stands up and kicks him. Perfect definitely playing the role of heelish face here, and teasing the heel turn. Chops Bret hard in the corner, then stomps away at him while he's down. Goes for a cover, only gets two, kicks at Bret and Bret rolls to the outside.
Perfect follows Bret to ringside, lays in a hard chop, slams Bret's head into the apron, then returns to the ring. The crowd is starting to turn on Perfect more and more. Heenan: "You know, I'll tell you something: if Perfect wins this match, and if he becomes King of the Ring, and he apologizes to me, I would consider handling him again!" God I love Bobby.
Bret up to the apron, Perfect immediately slingshots him away and back into the steel barricade. Bret now selling a knee injury on the impact there. Makes his way back up to the apron, Perfect greets him into the ring by slugging him down, then making him eat a knee-lift. Bret lands some weak blows in return as he tries to get up, but Perfect is able to absorb them and knock him back down. Perfect to the top rope, plants the missile dropkick into Bret. Bret puts his foot on the rope to save himself from a pinfall. Perfect hooks the leg again, but only gets two.
Back to their feet, Perfect is going HAM at this point, sends Bret super hard into the corner, Bret with the hard chest-first bump. Pin, two-count. Perfect back up to the top, but Bret gets up and catches him, crotching him against the turnbuckle. Hitman climbs up with him and delivers a superplex. Pin attempt, again only two. This match might be even better than I remember, which is saying a lot.
Bret is still selling the leg injury, but he tries to inflict one of his own on Perfect by kicking Perfect's leg out twice. Great psychology too as he locks in a figure-four quickly after hurting his leg. Perfect manages to escape first by gouging Bret's eyes and then working his way over to the ropes.
Bret gets up first, limping even harder than before. Grabs Perfect's left leg, trips Perfect's right, then drops an elbow on the left leg and grapevines it. Again Perfect escapes with an eye gouge. Both men back to their feet, but slowly and limping hard. Perfect controls Bret in the corner and whips Bret out across the ring by his hair.
Perfect locks in a sleeper, Bret almost gets a full hold of a rope before the hold is fully cinched in, but Perfect pulls him away. Before he fades all the way to the point of arm droppage though, he goes and forces a rope break. Perfect holds it well after the rope break, waits for the five-count to get to four before finally releasing. Perfect still selling the leg injury like a champ. Slaps Bret, reverse chinlock, and he puts a foot up on the rope to cheat and leverage the hold. Bret struggles, but finally manages to get enough footing to lunge forward and bring Perfect into the corner with him. Perfect's head hits the turnbuckle, hold released.
Back up, Bret hits a big uppercut. Nice sell on that by Hennig. Bret whips Perfect to the corner by his hair and Perfect gets crotched on the post. I still don't like that spot, but it was better than usual that time. Bret with the Russian legsweep, pin attempt, two. Quick legdrop, then he brings Perfect back to his feet and executes a backbreaker. Elbow off the second rope. Pin, only two.
Bret sets up for the sharpshooter, but Perfect grabs for Bret's fingers, which Razor Ramon stomped on earlier in the night (a minute or two earlier, JR and Savage had speculated that Bret might have multiple broken fingers; Bret had his fingers heavily taped). Bret sells this as terribly painful, and he can't follow through on locking in the hold. God that's some brilliant stuff. Then Perfect gets back to his feet and stomps on those fingers again.
Perfect brings Bret back to his feet, gets ready to suplex, but Bret kicks a leg up and blocks it. Then Bret suplexes Perfect his way, and they both spill over the top rope to the outside. Awesome. The announcers speculate on a double countout, but both make their way back in. Perfect in first, Bret shortly after. As Bret gets in Perfect surprises him with a small package. 1, 2…no, Bret reverses it into his own small package. 1, 2, 3.
Perfect is pissed, barks something at Bret and rolls out of the ring. Randy Savage and JR say they wish he'd shake Bret's hand. Perfect yells a few more things back into the ring, then with resolve he marches back up the steps and back into the ring. Perfect gets up in Bret's face, still seems angry, but after saying a few things he offers a handshake. They quickly shake hands, and a still-pissed Mr. Perfect completes the handshake and drops and rolls out of the ring to head to the back. Thought it was absolutely the perfect way to handle the post-match, for a competitor like Perfect to never stop being pissed and to basically force himself to be sportsmanlike and congratulate his opponent.
Result: Bret Hart via pinfall (18:56)
Rating: This is just a fantastic match. Having watched both matches in quick succession, I will say that I don't think that the SummerSlam match has much of a case for being the better of the two. I think that this one is better, and I don't really hesitate at all in saying so. Excellent pace, excellent psychology…at least where his WWF work was concerned, this was Mr. Perfect's opus. I'll stop just barely short of the full monty and I'll say 4.75 stars out of 5. But I honestly wouldn't blink at someone else calling it 5 stars.