Finally watched it. Few things:

1. Shocked at how great the footage was. I've stumbled upon a lot of older matches from that era thats grainy/blurry. Great find. Audio is crisp too.

2. The play by play announcer was excellent. Haven't seen a wrestling match in which the announcer put ~everything about it over nonstop in ages. The color guy had some frustrating moments though. After the piledriver spot when the play by play guy is getting excited yelling THERE IT IS, color guy just casually goes "he's near the ropes" and just kills the moment I think as you realize that's not going to be the end (Although I did know the result so I can't say with 100% certainty that'd be the case if I didn't, but I think so).

3. The way they start selling the "worried about getting to time" angle so early is excellent. The entire match tells a wonderful story and that's a large part why. A lot of ironman matches end with the face having the heel in trouble and everyone wondering if the heel will quit in time, but I think it's usually poorly executed and leaves it feeling flat/obvious. By essentially setting up that last minute or two in figure four 30 minutes before, they put us in a situation where no matter what happened the story being told would make plenty of sense, which left you on the edge of your seat to see which way it was going to go.

4. I loved the addition of announcing the time remaining at various points, as it just added to the point in #3. Everything about the match is building to this last few minutes of suspense. It's just expertly done all around.

5. I normally also don't like ironman matches (I know this wasn't ironman, but the same approach is taken so I think it applies) because it forces them to either slow way down and get into a ton of restholds to prolong things or makes them trade about 10 falls in an hour and both make the pacing feel awkward. This one didn't really have that though. Even the early slow portion involved a lot of submission attempts, it had some outside brawling, and some high spots mixed in as well (piledriver for instance). Instead of it being like a burst into rests into a burst into rests into a burst into rests into the finish, it just kind of started of slow and built itself up more and more until the end. It worked.

6. Mat work was excellent and the selling was great (Bockwinkel especially did a great job selling the concern that maybe he just couldn't beat Hennig without resorting to UNDERTAKER WIDEEYES OMG HOW DID HE KICK OUT).


Just an all around fantastic match. Agree on the rating of 5 stars, and even if the rest of this thread consisted of El Torito vs Hornswoggle highlights it would still be a thread that was worth reading. Just fantastic. Thanks

Great; very much enjoyed reading your take, and glad you liked all of that too. I had long vaguely known of that match existing and being really highly regarded, but if I hadn't done this thread who knows if I ever would have gotten around to it.

Agreed on the picture quality. I had to go to parts unknown to find it, then had to figure out how to cut it in half since DailyMotion wouldn't take a clip that was over an hour long all at once, but it was worth the effort to get it up on there so that I could watch it through my TV. Obviously the ESPN contract that AWA had was everything in having that awesome of a picture on a mid-80's match.

I also forgot to mention a few of the little things after getting caught up in the big picture:

Love 24:46 of video one where Bockwinkel grabs the tights. It's really the first spot that makes you realize he's unsure if he can beat Curt clean. Even the opening dropkick after the handshake was just painted off as being part of a bag of tricks and not a huge deal. But here we've got tight pulling into rolling out of the ring and a few minutes later asking how much time there is left, and that really marks the start of the ending story getting going. Announcers here again are excellent as they start questioning if he's losing his wind a bit.

It's weird to watch how submissions worked back in the day, as Hennig is tapping out like crazy and I'm having a few seconds of going "wait what" haha.

There's a sequence that happens (sadly don't remember when) that I really, really enjoyed. For the duration of the match up until this point, Bockwinkel is working over Curt's leg while Curt is working over Bockwinkel's arm. Hennig has him on the mat and does a handstand ending with him driving his knee into Bockwinkel's shoulder, but he used the knee Bockwinkel was working over and just started rolling around holding his knee selling it. Bockwinkel then grabs his leg, does one of those jumping on the knee things, turns it into a bit of a side figure four, and then smoothly into an indian death lock. I just really liked that whole sequence from both a "hey! he actually acted like using the knee that was being destroyed hurts" perspective and from a cool wrestling transition one too.

Yeah, I absolutely loved that too, noted it here. That was the type of sell job that just doesn't occur to most wrestlers. Looks like it was just past the halfway mark in the match, either at the end of Part 1 of the video or the beginning of part 2.

haha oops

In my attempt to bring something new to the table, I'll note that I also loved how despite the fact that the story they are telling is Bockwinkel hanging on for dear life, as the match winds down he's actively still trying to win the match. It's not something where he's being cowardly bailing out of the ring over and over trying to hold on to the time limit. He's beating a bloodied Hennig in the face and still trying to pin him as the announcer is announcing seven minutes remain.

I see perfect/brett got 4.75 and I haven't seen that either. Guess I'll have to knock that out later tonight as well.

Wow, really, haven't seen that? Did you see their 1991 match?

Also that wasn't meant to be a "yeah I already pointed that out dude," I think it's cool that we both appreciated that sell job independently. And yes, that aspect you bring up was great as well. I just don't know that it's possible to have a better 60-minute match.

If people are reading and truly know that they'll never make the time to watch a 60-minute match, here is a highlight video I found on YouTube that is three and a half minutes long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpUd_Q3hUAM

But seriously, if you think you could enjoy an old school 60-minute draw, just watch the whole thing.

Nope.

I've missed a lot of stuff from the early 90s. I didn't watch wrestling until my friend told me I HAD to watch this wrestling match that happened the night before that he taped. He popped in the tape, Foley/Undertaker HIAC came on, and I started watching. Though I don't think I watched religiously until the HBK/Austin WM. Then I didn't really miss a WWF show until I mostly stopped watching a few PPVs after Summerslam 2004.

So most of my experience with a lot of wrestlers from this era are just based on matches I've seen in isolation sifting through youtube or specifically being told to watch. It's why I always considered Owen to be more of a midcard comedy act until your thread on him and it's probably also why I'm whatever on Brett too. I truthfully have only seen a handful of Perfect matches, which is why I was so excited about this thread when I saw it and made time to watch the best matches.

Sadly, the same can be said for me about Savage (though I've seen him/warrior and a handful of the superpowers matches) and Steamboat.


No, no. Didn't take it that way either. Was just saying "Ok, there's THIS too" as I remembered it. I second the suggestion for everyone to make time for 60 minutes of it, and if you can't at least do the highlights. It's spectacular.

Okay, well my writeups on the two chief matches with Bret are on the previous page, but I gave 4.5 stars to the SummerSlam 1991 match and while I vaguely remember thinking the KOTR '93 match to be better, I was awfully convinced after this last viewing of it.

In 1991 Hennig was dealing with the awful back injury and pretty much seemed like he had to retire, so he left the house show circuit and didn't wrestle for like three months in the hopes that he could put his friend Bret over as strongly as possible at SummerSlam. When you know that he's frigging crippled during the match it's a truly amazing performance, because it would be great even without that. In the 1993 match he's not crippled, so I suppose it's natural that it's better.

Basically all of that is to say that I might recommend watching them chronologically, first with the SummerSlam '91 match and then the KOTR '93 match, because IMO the second one is the better one and watching them in reverse order may cause you to appreciate the SummerSlam match a bit less. If nothing else Heenan puts in a Hall of Fame comedy performance on color commentary in the SummerSlam match alongside Monsoon and Piper.

Awesome!

Will watch SS first and KOTR second. Thanks!

SummerSlam 91 > KotR 93 for me.

SummerSlam '93: Intercontinental Title - Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Mr. Perfect



Date: August 30, 1993

Link: N/A

Background: Michaels attacked Mr. Perfect back at WrestleMania, so the feud kicked off there. The build was based on that, as well as the question of "who is the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time?" On the line here was the streak of the IC Title changing hands every single year at SummerSlam since the event's inception in 1988.

The Match: Michaels throws a hammerlock early and knocks Perfect down on follow-through. Perfect gets the better of the second exchange, executing a hiptoss. Back at it, Michaels goes behind and attempts an atomic drop, Perfect flips behind him, the two each run off the ropes at each other and then…have some sort of bungled spot. "Who got the better of that?" -Bobby Heenan. Good question, Bobby. No ****ing clue what just happened.

Perfect does take control from there though, takes Shawn down and then drives a knee into his back. Back to a standing position, the two men trade hammerlocks, Michaels goes for a side headlock, Perfect escapes again. Still feeling each other out.

HBK wrestles Perfect into a corner, Perfect turns him around, lays in some hard chops, sends Michaels to the opposite corner, Michaels tries to grab the top rope and jump in behind Perfect, but Perfect doesn't charge through. Undaunted, Michaels nails him. Sends Perfect back to the other corner, but Perfect comes out with a hard clothesline.

Couple more corner spots, and these exchanges just aren't that crisp. In an annoying trend, Bobby Heenan keeps being really over-the-top in putting over how amazing the action is. At least so far, it isn't.

Perfect catapults Michaels, Michaels gets great elevation as he flies all the way over the top rope. Perfect plays to the crowd a bit and then follows Michaels out. As he's going to continue with some offense, Diesel distracts him, and that works just long enough to the point that when Perfect turns back around to Michaels, Michaels levels him with a great superkick on the outside. Disclaimer: I don't actually know if he had started using this as his finisher yet. It wasn't his finisher at first when he went to singles. The context clues of Vince's commentary suggest that it wasn't a finisher. Nice spot though; Perfect took that one square.

Michaels up to the apron, comes running off with an axhandle at Perfect. HBK tosses him in, takes him down in the middle and drives a series of knees home. He whips Perfect to the corner hard, then lays down some hammer blows to Perfect's back. Again, sends him in to another corner. There's no flow to this match. As Perfect lays down in that corner, Michaels stands on him for a second as a taunt, and then jumps up and lands on his back. You can clearly hear Michaels audibly yell "God dammit" after this spot, causing Michaels to reach down and pretty clearly check in to see if he's alright. Considering that this was Perfect's last PPV match for a long, long time, maybe he wasn't.



Still, Michaels comes out and lands a backbreaker, then holds him in a submission sort of hold, a back hold, in the middle. Honestly you can see where this isn't really putting any pressure on Perfect's back at all, so I do think Perfect may have been legit hurting here. But he does get back up, run off the ropes, and then hits an excellent running dropkick. Alright I'll stop speculating about his back.



Perfect sends the champ off the ropes, hits him with a clothesline. Pin, two-count. Michaels attempts a hiptoss on the next whip off the ropes, but Perfect blocks and then attempts a backslide. He starts to succeed, but Michaels flips out of it. This just gives Perfect the chance to grab Michaels and set up the Perfectplex, which he executes. 1, 2, and Diesel pulls Perfect out of the ring. As they fight on the outside with the referee distracted, referee Earl Hebner hits a 10-count and we have a counout.

Result: Shawn Michaels via countout (11:20)

Rating: Don't know what the deal was, but these two just could not get going. They were trying, but there was no flow. Couple of good spots, but that's all I can say for this match. Their match from 1991 on regular TV was a lot better. Also **** this stupid countout finish. 2 stars out of 5.

Survivor Series - Mr. Perfect is unexpectedly subbed out



Unfortunately Perfect's bad back had once again rendered it impossible for Hennig to work again, and while he was scheduled to be on Razor Ramon's Survivor Series elimination team at the 1993 Survivor Series, Razor came out and announced that "Perfecto" had tagged out even before the match began, and would be replaced that night by Randy Savage.

Hey; if a last-minute replacement is needed, trading Perfect for Savage sure is a hell of a lot better than that time that Shawn Michaels had to sit out a PPV with a back injury and got subbed out in favor of Savio Vega.

Hennig disappeared from this point until…

WrestleMania X - Guest Referee



As a surprise at the event, Mr. Perfect was announced as the guest referee for the Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger match. As Luger had Yokozuna knocked out and pinned, Perfect didn't count, and instead tried to attend to other things like Jim Cornette laying on the apron when he shouldn't be. Luger got up and pleaded with Perfect to count, and then after he didn't, Luger grabbed him and forcibly turned him. Because he had put his hands on Perfect, Perfect disqualified him and turned heel in the process.

This was intended to be the start of a program with Lex Luger, obviously drawing all the way back on their heat from WrestleMania IX, but it again turned out that Perfect couldn't go due to injury.

Return to Commentary



Hennig disappeared for more than a year and a half, but finally showed back up again at the start of Survivor Series 1995, and was back in a commentary role. He also returned to doing commentary on Superstars, as well as the 1996 Royal Rumble and SummerSlam '96.

October '96 - Return to In-Ring Action, Butnahhh

Mr. Perfect started a feud with Triple H, who was still in blueblood snob mode at this point. Perfect started stealing HHH's women that he would bring to ringside. This culminated in Perfect agreeing to come out of retirement and face HHH on Raw in October '96.

However, the night of their scheduled match, HHH attacked Perfect backstage and kept him from being able to wrestle that night. Marc Mero, Perfect's on-screen ally, offered to fight HHH instead and offered to defend the IC Title against him in the process. The whole thing turned out to be an elaborate ruse, as Perfect then helped HHH win the IC Title.



Perfect started out to be HHH's heel manager, and HHH even started using Perfect's classic theme music for a few weeks, but then Perfect left the company again after a month and HHH was back on his own. FWIW, HHH then came out with Mr. Hughes as his bodyguard at the Royal Rumble, but Hughes was quickly dropped as well. They obviously went on to use Chyna with HHH instead, and the rest is history.

Hennig Signs With WCW

For a long time, there was a question as to whether or not it was realistic that Hennig could ever wrestle again. Some said that his back was just too ****ed; others said that he was sitting out because he was getting big insurance payouts for his injury that he would lose if he ever returned to the ring. Obviously, given that he unfortunately died young, I wish he had just never wrestled again. Maybe he was already into cocaine at this point and maybe he was already doomed as a result, but being on the road as a wrestler obviously makes such behavior a lot more likely (and also makes it less likely that someone will try to break a dangerous habit).

In any case, WCW did offer him a big contract in 1997, and he came aboard. I remember hearing about this at the time, being an internet smark in the infancy of internet smarks, but people still didn't know if he could actually wrestle or if he was signing on to be a commentator or manager or whatever.

In true WCW fashion, instead of letting it be an actual surprise, he came out and made a couple of completely pointless appearances on Nitro before making his WCW in-ring debut as DDP's mystery partner at Bash at the Beach 1997. That didn't bode especially well for how that run was going to go.

Bash at the Beach '97: Curt Hennig & DDP w/ Kimberly vs. Randy Savage & Scott Hall w/ Elizabeth

Date: July 13, 1997

Link: N/A

Background: Yeah I really can't manage to dig up what led to this match. This was DDP and a mystery partner. Two weeks earlier on Nitro, Curt Hennig randomly walked out of the back during the last 30 seconds of the show with no explanation. The next week Mean Gene got an interview with him and asked him if he was going to be DDP's partner, and he was like "yeah I dunno, I'm a free agent, I'm not with anyone right now." Just have him come out of nowhere and be the mystery partner here, don't announce it as an option up front. Sheesh. Stupid WCW.

The Match: The now enters first. DDP and Kim come out second, and DDP points to the back for his mystery partner to appear. Tony Schiavone tries to act all shocked about this even though they had directly brought it up on Nitro six days earlier. Heenan: "He looks like he's in the best shape of his life!" Yeah, no he doesn't, he looks like he could stand to lose 15 lbs.



I see that DDP has the big ace bandage wrapped around his ribs, which is a visual I strongly associate with the point in time when I stopped liking any of his matches. But here's hoping that I'm remembering wrong or just never saw this match or something. DDP kicks things off with Savage. Page with the early advantage, wails on Macho with a series of punches and elbows. Macho takes a break on the outside.

Savage comes in, tags out to Hall, and Hall demands that Page tag Hennig in as well. Hennig is in, and Hall clearly starts to make fun of Hennig for getting chubbier until Hennig slaps his hand away. Hennig works Hall into the corner, the two trade shoves, no advantage gained yet. Hall goes to lock up again, Hennig goes behind, releases, slaps Hall. Hennig still seems to be able to do his signature offense, doing the same knee-lift, then executing a neck snap after a clothesline. Tags DDP back in.

After DDP gets some initial offense in, Hall is able to reverse a whip into the corner, follow quickly with a hard clothesline, and from there the heat segment is on. Page eventually blocks a punch from Savage, hammers in a couple of blows, and it allows him enough space to make the hot tag to Hennig.



Hennig in and throws a few rights and chops at Macho, then as Macho reverses a whip into the ropes Hennig goes in and gets knocked over the top inadvertently because Page was holding the top rope at the time (this spot got partially botched). Hennig gets up on the outside after this and wallops DDP on the outside, then walks out, I guess blaming Page for him falling over the top. As he walks, Hall hits the Outsider's Edge on DDP, Savage goes up top and hits the flying elbow, referee counts Page's shoulders down despite him very clearly not being the legal man (the legal man is that guy who walked out just now), and the nWo tag team wins.

This wasn't an nWo turn by Hennig; it was just a double-cross after getting pissed at his partner. Meh.

Result: Hall & Savage via pinfall when Savage pins DDP (19:35)

Rating: Not bad, but overly long and the ending is kind of dumb. 2.5 stars out of 5.

Road Wild '97: Curt Hennig vs. DDP

Date: August 9, 1997

Link: N/A

Background: Curt was DDP's mystery partner at Bash at the Beach, and turned on him after DDP accidentally caused him to go over the top rope get caught up on the rope, then fall down, then have Savage boot him to the outside underneath the bottom rope. That sets up this match.

The Match: Curt has painfully generic WCW music. I can't even find it on YouTube to link it for you, but it's not like I would recommend clicking on it anyway. DDP's ridiculously hot wife accompanies him to the ring; Page's music is different than that Smells Like Teen Spirit ripoff he used, which makes me wonder whether he actually changed music by this point or if they just had to remove it due to copyright reasons and sub in something generic also.

Hennig slips out of the ring as Page comes in, Page chases him outside and Hennig goes back in, successfully baiting him because he hammers him as soon as Page tries to follow him again. The bell only sounds now, as Hennig wins the first lockup after pulling DDP's hair to put him down. They trade blows, then Dallas whips Curt around by the hair. Then he sends him into the corner so that Hennig can crawl backwards crotch-first into the post. God, please retire that spot, it was never good to begin with and that edition of it looks horrendous. Page in control, but loses control fairly quickly after he gets caught and crotched on the top rope before being thrown off.



We get a heat segment here, with Curt methodically working DDP over. As Hennig applies a leglock, the bikers at Sturgis rev their engines, which the announcers explain is their way of encouraging DDP's comeback. Alright; that would just annoy me. Page gets a couple of reversals here and there, but can't fully regain control of the match.

DDP finally gets his break when he goes for a kick, Hennig catches his leg, and Page counters by hammering through with a hard clothesline. DDP attempts a pin, but Hennig throws him off, and actually onto referee Mark Curtis, which gets treated like a ref bump. Curtis and Page both stay down, Hennig goes and undoes the turnbuckle pad in one corner, then runs Page into the exposed steel.

As the referee comes back about, Hennig lifts an unconscious Page up, and sloooowly sets him up for the Hennigplex (or at least that's what it eventually started being called, Tony Schiavone just calls it a fisherman's suplex here). He succeeds in hitting the move, but it only gets a two-count. DDP, now bloodied, gets up. Hennig tries to run him into the exposed steel again, but DDP blocks and sends Curt into the steel instead.

Page goes for a pancake, but Hennig's leg knocks the referee out on the way up, so we have another ref bump. DDP for a cover, but obviously nobody there to count, and Ric Flair appears from nowhere to have a go at Page. Page hits Flair with a Diamond Cutter, but this sequence still allowed Hennig enough recovery time to go hit another Hennigplex. Mark Curtis comes to, and we have a three-count.



Result: Curt Hennig via pinfall (9:41)

Rating: Meh. This match got decent critical reviews, but again all I can give it is "just okay." 2 stars out of 5.

Curt Hennig Joins Four Horsemen

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mID-cwhFlhc

Watch that link; it's Arn on the mic at his very finest.

For weeks, the Horsemen had been trying to get Hennig to join them. Hennig had just told them repeatedly that he wasn't ready to give them an answer. He tried to do likewise here, but Ric Flair said that anticipating that, Arn Anderson was in town.

Arn gave one of the great promos ever, talking about how he had suffered an injury that would force him into retirement and wouldn't allow him to return. "I'm left with a hand - my left hand - too weak to hold a glass, too weak to button a button. But I thought in my mind, I knew in my mind, I could overcome that too, through sheer will. And I was doing just like that; I think I had come back a long way."

"But the other day I had something happen in the gym that was like a cold slap in the face of reality. A guy about your size, Gene, came up and slapped me on the back and said 'Double A, haven't seen you, why haven't you been on TV?' And just that slap sent a jolt through me, and I dropped the water I was drinking, for a moment my system shut down, and it became crystal clear as I watched the few little drops draining out of that bottle. The symbolism...it was like someone had turned an hourglass, and time had run out on the career of Arn Anderson."

As Arn gave this speech, you could pretty clearly see how real it was; his best friend Ric Flair was in the background and was increasingly breaking down and crying. Anderson continued, addressing the fans, "I want you to remember me as I was, not as I am." But he said he wanted to complete one last challenge as a Horseman, and that was to convince Hennig to come aboard.



Arn goes on, "And let me tell you what your prize is. It's not a spot with the Horsemen. Because this is worth a lot more than that to me. I'm gonna give you the only thing I've got left. Not a spot, not a spot - I'll give you MY spot."

Hennig, moved by the proposal to take Arn's spot, replies, "I have only one answer: it would be a privilege."

Just a goosebump-inducing moment, and in a vacuum this is still a great segment regardless of the fact that WCW disrespectfully crapped all over it very shortly after.

Fall Brawl '97: Curt Hennig Turns on Horsemen, Joins nWo

A week after Arn's impassioned speech, Kevin Nash and some other nWo members conducted a sophomoric, dumb, disrespectful parody sketch where they recreated the whole thing. Eric Bischoff has since admitted that he regretted allowing that segment to ever go forward. It was a representative microcosm of everything that Nash ever did in his career though, I'll give him that.

This led to a War Games match between the Horsemen and the nWo. Earlier in the Fall Brawl event, the nWo sneak attacked Curt Hennig backstage, thus seemingly knocking him out of this match. Hennig ends up coming down late in the match, arm in a sling, and then turned on the Horsemen. He pulls handcuffs out of his sling that are then used to handcuff Chris Benoit and Mongo McMichael to the cage, at which point the nWo tortures Ric Flair for a long time, and this culminates in Hennig slamming Flair's head in the steel cage.



This is one turn that really pissed me off. I was excited to see Hennig go forward as the new #2 in the Horsemen, but they squashed it within two weeks.

Nitro: US Title - Mongo McMichael (c) vs. Curt Hennig

Date: September 15, 1997

Link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1i...ort&start=2883

Background: Hennig had turned on the Four Horsemen the night before, of which Mongo was one, so this was both a grudge match and a title match.

The Match: We're in Charlotte, NC, the heart of Horsemen country, so even Mongo is over here. I was still bitter about the turn and may not have even been rooting for Curt here. Hennig is in first, and as Mongo is introduced he charges to the ring. Hennig catches him on the way in with some right hands, knocks him down, and we're off.



Hennig with a kneedrop on Mongo's knee, twists his knee in a legdrop, drapes his leg across the bottom rope and jumps on it, then continues to work away by holding Mongo down and twisting this same leg. $20 says that Mongo forgets to ever really sell this sequence.



Mongo rakes Hennig's eyes to get free, gets up limping, then tries to pick Hennig up for a running powerslam it would appear, but he collapses under the bad knee (okay, I stand corrected) and Hennig falls on him for a two-count. Mike Tenay puts over just how bad that knee is from Mongo having gotten five knee surgeries during his football career. I like the psychology, especially the part about WCW actually having it together well enough where the right arm seemed to know what the left arm was doing.

Hennig continues working the leg almost exclusively on offense. This isn't the most compelling action there is, but at least they're getting the psychology right, and you can only do so much with a Mongo match so I'm on board. Mongo again manages to get free with an eye rake, gets to his feet, manages to throw Hennig into a corner with decent velocity (somewhat unrealistically given his crippled leg, as Tenay basically points out), then throws him into the other corner.

Mongo follows him, then slides outside, grabs Hennig's legs, crotches him against the post. Back in, atomic drop, and Hennig bumps out of it into the corner. Mongo with another inverted atomic drop. He goes across the ring, lines up in a three-point stance, and charges at Hennig with a shoulder lunge but Hennig sidesteps it. As Mongo gets back up, Hennig seizes the opportunity, executes the Hennigplex, and we've got a new US Champion.





Result: Curt Hennig via pinfall, new US Champion (6:32)

Rating: Better than I expected it to be. Thought Hennig did pretty good work here at carrying Mongo as well as he could. Luckily for him it was a pretty short match. 2.5 stars out of 5.

Curt Hennig "Perfectplexes" The Giant

Date: September 29, 1997



Cool spot.

Nitro: US Title - Curt Hennig (c) vs. Chris Benoit

Date: October 6, 1997

Link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1i...ort&start=2125

Background: The nWo had laid a beatdown on Benoit on WCW Saturday Night, so this was Benoit's chance at revenge.

The Match: Benoit out first. When Hennig heads to the ring, he gets distracted momentarily by a fan, and Benoit runs out from the ring and blindsides him in the aisle. Benoit lays in a lot of strikes and chops; Hennig lays out to bump hard for one of the chops, and as he had been getting backed up, he actually partially hits his head on the steel steps on the way down.

The Crippler throws Hennig into the ring, and referee Randy Anderson signals for the bell, so after a decent bit of extracurricular stuff we're officially under way. Benoit continues kicking and pounding away viciously; he sells the revenge aspect of the match well. Goes for what looks like a slingshot suplex, but then instead of slingshotting him, he just pushes him down so he faceplants in the mat. Never seen that before, but it seemed to be an intentional spot. Hennig tries to roll out, but as he gets up a bit on the apron Benoit knocks him hard off the ring into the steel guardrail. Follows him out, throws his head against the steel steps, returns to the ring.



Hennig finally makes a reversal on a whip into the corner, which is literally the first offensive thing he's done here. He gets Benoit up on the top turnbuckle and then leg-whips him off. Grabs the same leg, sandwiches it in between his, drops the knee on it. Heads outside, drags Benoit out, hammers the bad leg into the post. The two men fight out to the floor, and Nitro goes to commercial.

Back from break, Hennig is laying stomps into Benoit. Again tries to twist Benoit's leg in a submission hold, Benoit lays in a punch and Hennig releases. He goes and takes off a turnbuckle pad. Curt tries to whip Benoit into it, Benoit reverses, Curt takes a chest-first bump into the steel. As Hennig staggers backward out of that corner, Benoit catches him and does a german suplex, holds on and pulls him back up to execute another one, but Hennig elbows him off before he can.



Benoit right back at Hennig with a chop that sends Hennig flying. The Crippler sends Hennig into the exposed corner, Hennig bumps back-first, but Benoit follows him in and Hennig manages to evade, causing Benoit to run into the steel corner as well. As he comes back out, Hennig is waiting with a Hennigplex.

The nWo comes pouring out of the back; they lay a further beatdown in on Benoit. A furious Flair runs out, clears out the rest of the nWo members, then goes at Hennig who runs away. There's a furious chase on foot all the way to the outside until Hennig leaves the building entirely and goes sprinting away up the street. Flair finally has to give up pursuit.

Result: Curt Hennig via pinfall (5:01)

Rating: Hennig's best match since returning. Benoit was awesome here. Too bad they didn't get more time. 3.25 stars out of 5.

Halloween Havoc '97 - US Title: Curt Hennig (c) vs. Ric Flair

Date: October 26, 1997

Link: N/A

Background: Hennig had turned on Flair and the rest of the Horsemen at War Games and had slammed his head in the cage, putting him out of action for a while. This was the revenge match for that, and a title match to boot.

The Match: Hennig comes to the ring wearing a sleeveless Flair robe. I've gotta say, this angle legitimately turns me into a huge mark, to the extent that despite me being a big Hennig fan I actually detest this thing where he's openly mocking the Horsemen after turning on them. Mostly speaks to my admiration of Arn Anderson I suppose. Flair's music hits and he outright runs straight to the ring and attacks Hennig viciously, and that's how the match starts.



After taking an early beating, Hennig is quick to do the "**** this, I'm leaving" routine, but Flair chases him down, tosses him back in the ring, and we continue. Flair finally gives ground for the first time when he sends Hennig into the buckle and Hennig bounces right back out with a running clothesline. Goes back behind him, executes a neck snap. Drops a knee on Flair's left leg, though that appears to hurt Curt as well. Still he continues to work the leg, draping it across the rope and jumping on it, then dragging Flair to a corner and ramming the leg into the post.

After a lot of leg work, Flair finally creates some space with a cheap shot, but after the two trade chops, Hennig gets the better of him again, and remains basically in control of the match after he sends Flair into the corner and Flair flips up over the top and then instead of falling on the apron actually goes to the floor. Hennig didn't have a leg submission of his own, and working a limb like this was pretty much just a new wrinkle he added in WCW.



Hennig slaps on a sleeper, Flair backs him into the corner to break it, Hennig reapplies, but Flair manages to pick him up and back suplex him to break the hold for good. This was of the desperation move variety, and Flair stays down near a corner as he can't follow up. Hennig goes out and gets a chair, takes a run and swings it at Flair's head, but Flair dodges; the referee watches, and somehow I guess it's not a DQ because he missed? Meh. Flair follows to the outside, takes the fight to Hennig, sending him into the barricade and hitting him with a series of chops before catapulting the champion into the ringpost. These posts are padded tonight by the way, so these posts moves are hindered because they don't look nearly as unforgiving as usual.

Curt escapes long enough to take a walk once again, this time grabbing his belt on the way out. Flair again chases him down though, floors him in the aisleway, drops a knee, then picks him up and guides him back to the ring…Hennig holds onto the belt the whole time for some reason. They're back in the ring, and he just lets it go once he gets back to it. I see a contrived spot coming up.

Hennig with a knee-lift, centers the belt in the middle of the ring, and then threatens a Hennigplex onto the belt before Flair blocks it and suplexes Hennig onto it instead (this completely missed, but it was clearly intended to hit). I'm just realizing that Flair has basically never bothered to sell five minutes of offense on his left leg. He's strolling around just fine.



Flair sets up Hennig in the three of woe, takes the belt, wraps it around Hennig's head, and then stomps the belt into the champ's face to cause the DQ. The referee calls for the bell and Flair attacks him too. Ric is going to attack further, but Konnan and Vincent run out for the save and get him to the back.

Result: Curt Hennig via DQ (13:57)

Rating: Started well. Wouldn't have minded the methodical leg work if it had a payoff, but Flair basically just no-sold it like an idiot here. I sort of like the ending, where Flair cares less about the title than about basically breaking Hennig's face. This is one time I can get on board with a DQ. All in all, not great, but watchable. 2.5 stars out of 5.

World War 3 '97: No Disqualification Match for the US Title - Curt Hennig (c) vs. Ric Flair

Date: November 23, 1997

Link: N/A

Background: Hennig turned on Flair and the Horsemen, Flair returned a month ago at Havoc and got disqualified by stomping Hennig's championship belt into his face. We're rematching here.

The Match: Champ out first. Flair is a lot more calm this month, I guess owing to Hennig not coming to the ring wearing his robe or something. Flair stalks Hennig to start, and the two brawl outside the ring and into the crowd. And back to the ring. Hennig grabs an electrical cord and strangles Flair with it. This is a lot of "do something illegal and then slowly move to the next spot" going on, without any actual interesting bumps taking place.



Just as I type that, with Hennig on the outside of the ring, Flair goes to the top rope and actually jumps off and connects with Hennig near the guardrail while also hitting himself. Okay that was a pretty good spot. Both guys take damage on that one, and actually Hennig makes it back to his feet just as quickly as Flair. Flair back bodydrops Hennig on the floor outside; that's pretty solid. Things picking up, hopefully.

Hennig rolls Flair back into the ring, and slowly goes for a pin. Referee Randy Anderson only makes a two-count, causing Hennig to reach over and poke the referee in the eye. No DQ, so that's kosher. I can't stop laughing about that. Hennig goes into methodical left leg work on Flair like he did at Havoc; will Flair actually sell this going forward in the match, or will he forget?

Flair finally breaks free from a partial leglock Hennig has him in by raking the eyes, then lunges from behind him to take Hennig's leg out, followed by a kick at Hennig's leg that takes it out as well. To his credit, yes Flair is selling the leg damage this time. Now that he has taken a couple of low cheap shots, so is Hennig. Flair to the top, Hennig catches him and throws him off, but then collapses because of the bad wheel.



Both are working slowly again now, but they're both selling extremely well so it's forgivable; the match story works, at least. Flair tries to suplex Hennig into the ring, but his leg buckles and he sort of drops him closer to the ropes. Goes for the pin, but Hennig is too close and is able to get a leg up on the rope. I like that. Flair goes and gets a chair, sets it up to a position where you would sit in it, and then atomic drops Hennig crotch-first on it before kicking it up into Hennig for good measure. Twice. Good stuff.



Flair buries the chair into Hennig's leg, then locks in the figure-four. Unfortunately for Flair this proves only to be a very believable false submission finish, because as Hennig flails wildly around, his title belt is behind him and he's able to grab it and clock Flair with it. Then he lays in another belt shot, makes the pin, and gets the victory.

This basically blew the Flair feud off in Hennig's favor, and I think it was a poor decision. Hennig just tapping to the figure-four there would have been the perfect culmination of their feud; after all that Hennig did as the heel here, he shouldn't be winning the feud.

Result: Curt Hennig via pinfall (17:57)

Rating: Started off deathly dull, got better, maintained quite a slow pace much of the time, but it was good storytelling…just with the wrong payoff in the end. I'll say 2 stars out of 5.

Starrcade '97: US Title - Curt Hennig (c) vs. DDP

Date: December 28, 1997

Link: N/A

Background: This was actually going to be Flair-Hennig III apparently, but Flair got injured so they had to sub DDP in. Okay, that actually makes the booking at WW3 more forgivable. Flair was clearly going to win the blowoff by the plans WCW had laid out.

The Match: We've got the jeans-and-taped ribs version of DDP, so I'm already pessimistic. Page goes for a roll-up right away, obviously unsuccessfully. Punch punch kick kick, Hennig takes a break. Series of side headlocks by DDP, throws Hennig down by the hair, then launches Hennig over the top to the outside with an uppercut.



As Hennig recovers, Page tries to reach outside the ring at him, but Hennig seizes the opportunity and hangs Page on the top rope; the tables are turned. Hennig throws DDP into the steel steps, and DDP really takes the full brunt of those like a champ. That doesn't get much of a rise out of this crowd…nothing does, actually. They're dead as can be.

Hennig applies a reverse chinlock for approximately 45 minutes, and finally Page works his way out of it and executes a jawbreaker to finally get separation. Dallas punches his way back up to his feet, stands toe to toe with Hennig, then wins in a battle of back-and-forth right hands. This match is dreadful.

DDP attempts a Diamond Cutter near the ropes, but Hennig grabs the top rope to keep from getting pulled down and manages to go back on offense. He sets up for the Hennigplex, but Page blocks that from happening as well. Moments later, as Dallas comes off the ropes, he avoids Hennig's attempt at a clothesline, floats over to the other side and successfully executes the Diamond Cutter. 1-2-3, new champ. The crowd does manage to pop pretty big for that, at least.

Result: DDP via pinfall, new champion (10:52)

Rating: Awful. Just completely dull. No standout spots, crowd was dead, the payoff at the end was fine but whatever. 0.25 stars out of 5.