The Meltzer 4+-Star Match Review Thread
08-29-2015
, 12:23 PM
(co-opted from my Owen tribute thread)
WrestleMania X – Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
Date: March 20, 1994
How to watch: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31355189
Background: Bret was co-winner of the Rumble with Lex Luger, and instead of having the two of them fight each other for the title shot, Jack Tunney set up a double main event where each of them would get a shot at the title in separate matches. Seems deeply unfair to Yokozuna to be forced into double duty because two other dudes hit the ground at similar times, but nobody cared about him I guess. It was set up so that there would be a coin flip for who got to face Yoko first. If Luger won, he would go first and Bret would face Owen. If Bret won the coin flip, he would go first and Lex would face Crush. Wait, how is it winning the coin flip to get forced into winning two championship matches instead of having one match where the result doesn’t matter and getting an automatic pass regardless into the last match of the night? Shouldn’t that be what winning the flip was?
Anyway, Lex won the flip on Monday Night Raw and was happy…almost as happy as when he won at SummerSlam by countout and then acted like he won the Super Bowl. Bret being downtrodden about losing the flip at least made sense because he had held firm in his desire not to face his brother, and now he was stuck with it. In any case, the match was on.
The Match: The announcer opens WrestleMania by trolling, announcing the first wrestler as being from Calgary, having the fans pop expecting Bret, and then Owen came out. I dunno how that wasn’t obvious to happen as it was, but…you know, wrestling fans. The very first physicality of the match still always makes me laugh. Bret and Owen get into a collar-and-elbow tie-up, basically struggle to a stalemate where neither gets any advantage, and then upon separating Owen throws his arms up and yells “YEAH!!!” From the announce table Lawler celebrates with him as Vince dumbfoundedly says, “Is that some sort of a victory? Give me a break!” I can’t be the only one who finds this moment funny.
Some basic wrestling to start until Owen gets sent out through the ropes when Bret escapes a hold, and Owen comes storming back into the ring and openly slaps Bret in the face. Bret gets more aggressive from there. Great bit of storytelling to make Bret less reluctant about fighting his brother. The chain wrestling here is just top-notch, with no wasted moves and only brief slowdowns to give the two of them a chance to call the next sequence. Bret mostly tries to keep the action to clean wrestling, though he does return Owen’s big slap a bit later himself. Owen naturally wrestles more of the heel style, slamming Bret into the steel ringpost in one spot.
Too much good work to call; a great german suplex pinning combo by Owen for a near-fall. A great jumping tombstone spot as well. There’s a cool spot where Owen attempts to cinch in the sharpshooter, Bret reverses and tries to put the sharpshooter on Owen, but Owen escapes and rolls out. Bret follows him out, executing a rare pescado that hits Owen on the outside but kayfabe injures Bret’s leg. Back in the ring Owen immediately attacks the leg and kicks it out from underneath Bret in a call-back to the Rumble heel turn. Excellent stuff.
Owen goes HAM at the leg, hitting a leg whip and then applying a figure-four. Bret escapes the figure four after reversing it and then turns the tables with an enziguiri. Bret follows with a piledriver and then a superplex, but can only get a two-count. Owen hits a low blow out of referee Earl Hebner’s sight, and then locks in the sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Bret actually clearly taps out here, but I guess this was before tapping was a signal for submission. Bret fights his way into a reversal, but by then they’re near the ropes and Owen gets a rope break.
Owen and Bret fight into the corner, where Bret stuns Owen with a punch and then hops up to the second rope and positions himself to attempt a victory roll. Midway through the victory roll, Owen puts on the brakes, sits down for a pinning combo of his own, and gets the 1-2-3 to cap off an awesome match. Jaws visibly drop in the audience as Owen completes the upset; the air goes out of the arena. I was as shocked as anyone; after the fact it felt like I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t even remotely foresee Owen winning this match, let alone cleanly. But it was an awesome moment, rarely matched in the time I’ve watched.
Result: Owen Hart via pinfall clean (20:21)
Meltzer Rating: ****3/4
My Review and Rating: I genuinely have nothing critical to say against this match. It’s amazing. It was the culmination of a long storyline, with them finally wrestling three and a half months after Owen first challenged him, and it delivered in a big big way. The Royal Rumble made sure that Owen was permanently over; this match made sure that he became a star. *****
WrestleMania X – Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
Date: March 20, 1994
How to watch: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31355189
Background: Bret was co-winner of the Rumble with Lex Luger, and instead of having the two of them fight each other for the title shot, Jack Tunney set up a double main event where each of them would get a shot at the title in separate matches. Seems deeply unfair to Yokozuna to be forced into double duty because two other dudes hit the ground at similar times, but nobody cared about him I guess. It was set up so that there would be a coin flip for who got to face Yoko first. If Luger won, he would go first and Bret would face Owen. If Bret won the coin flip, he would go first and Lex would face Crush. Wait, how is it winning the coin flip to get forced into winning two championship matches instead of having one match where the result doesn’t matter and getting an automatic pass regardless into the last match of the night? Shouldn’t that be what winning the flip was?
Anyway, Lex won the flip on Monday Night Raw and was happy…almost as happy as when he won at SummerSlam by countout and then acted like he won the Super Bowl. Bret being downtrodden about losing the flip at least made sense because he had held firm in his desire not to face his brother, and now he was stuck with it. In any case, the match was on.
The Match: The announcer opens WrestleMania by trolling, announcing the first wrestler as being from Calgary, having the fans pop expecting Bret, and then Owen came out. I dunno how that wasn’t obvious to happen as it was, but…you know, wrestling fans. The very first physicality of the match still always makes me laugh. Bret and Owen get into a collar-and-elbow tie-up, basically struggle to a stalemate where neither gets any advantage, and then upon separating Owen throws his arms up and yells “YEAH!!!” From the announce table Lawler celebrates with him as Vince dumbfoundedly says, “Is that some sort of a victory? Give me a break!” I can’t be the only one who finds this moment funny.
Some basic wrestling to start until Owen gets sent out through the ropes when Bret escapes a hold, and Owen comes storming back into the ring and openly slaps Bret in the face. Bret gets more aggressive from there. Great bit of storytelling to make Bret less reluctant about fighting his brother. The chain wrestling here is just top-notch, with no wasted moves and only brief slowdowns to give the two of them a chance to call the next sequence. Bret mostly tries to keep the action to clean wrestling, though he does return Owen’s big slap a bit later himself. Owen naturally wrestles more of the heel style, slamming Bret into the steel ringpost in one spot.
Too much good work to call; a great german suplex pinning combo by Owen for a near-fall. A great jumping tombstone spot as well. There’s a cool spot where Owen attempts to cinch in the sharpshooter, Bret reverses and tries to put the sharpshooter on Owen, but Owen escapes and rolls out. Bret follows him out, executing a rare pescado that hits Owen on the outside but kayfabe injures Bret’s leg. Back in the ring Owen immediately attacks the leg and kicks it out from underneath Bret in a call-back to the Rumble heel turn. Excellent stuff.
Owen goes HAM at the leg, hitting a leg whip and then applying a figure-four. Bret escapes the figure four after reversing it and then turns the tables with an enziguiri. Bret follows with a piledriver and then a superplex, but can only get a two-count. Owen hits a low blow out of referee Earl Hebner’s sight, and then locks in the sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Bret actually clearly taps out here, but I guess this was before tapping was a signal for submission. Bret fights his way into a reversal, but by then they’re near the ropes and Owen gets a rope break.
Owen and Bret fight into the corner, where Bret stuns Owen with a punch and then hops up to the second rope and positions himself to attempt a victory roll. Midway through the victory roll, Owen puts on the brakes, sits down for a pinning combo of his own, and gets the 1-2-3 to cap off an awesome match. Jaws visibly drop in the audience as Owen completes the upset; the air goes out of the arena. I was as shocked as anyone; after the fact it felt like I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t even remotely foresee Owen winning this match, let alone cleanly. But it was an awesome moment, rarely matched in the time I’ve watched.
Result: Owen Hart via pinfall clean (20:21)
Meltzer Rating: ****3/4
My Review and Rating: I genuinely have nothing critical to say against this match. It’s amazing. It was the culmination of a long storyline, with them finally wrestling three and a half months after Owen first challenged him, and it delivered in a big big way. The Royal Rumble made sure that Owen was permanently over; this match made sure that he became a star. *****
08-29-2015
, 01:14 PM
08-29-2015
, 01:54 PM
08-29-2015
, 02:16 PM
WrestleMania X: Intercontinental Title Ladder Match - Razor Ramon (c) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Diesel)
Date: March 20, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31355189
Background: Michaels was the IC Champ, but late in '93 he was stripped of the title in what would become a long line of strippings of his titles. Razor Ramon won the vacant title, Michaels returned with his old title claiming to still be the champ, and both belts would be held above the ring in what was the first PPV ladder match in WWF history.
The Match: Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler announcing. The ladder is set up in the narrow aisleway on the way to the ring. Shawn Michaels in first and scoots around it, presumably for superstitious reasons. Razor Ramon enters and walks directly underneath it, scoffing at the popular superstition in the process. Gotta say, that's one of the best face vs. heel distinctions that they've probably ever done in company history. I was always surprised, though, that they kept having Razor Ramon flick his toothpicks in Tony Chimel's face at ringside after he turned face.
Razor and Shawn lock up. Hammerlock by Shawn, reversed, re-reversed, the two run the ropes, another countermove sequence, and ultimately Razor gets the offense in by connecting on something of a chokeslam. Hard punch by Razor, but after whipping Shawn into the ropes he whiffs on a clothesline and Michaels ultimately takes him down.
Back-and-forth continues with a turnbuckle smash by Ramon, but Ramon runs the ropes and Michaels sidesteps him and dumps him outside to the floor. Diesel charges and clotheslines Razor out there. This upsets ringside referee Earl Hebner, who gives Diesel the old heave-ho. He rages a bit, but ultimately heads to the back. As Michaels is griping about his bodyguard getting tossed, Razor catches him off-guard with a hard punch from outside the ring, then re-enters.
Hard punch in one corner by Razor. Whips Michaels into the corner for the "flip and sit on the corner, then tumble back into the ring" spot. Razor clotheslines him HARD over the top to the floor. He always did that with so much velocity that I never understood how the person taking it could control their landing.
Both outside. Razor lifts part of the ringside mat up and exposes the concrete floor, but Michaels picks him off with a punch and rolls him back inside before the concrete comes into play. Trades of punches and kicks in the ring. Razor teases the Razor's Edge, but did so in the really obvious "this isn't actually going to happen, it's getting reversed" spot where he's facing an area where there's no room to execute the move.
I mean, c'mon, what fan is ever believing that spot? Michaels backdrops him over the top to the concrete floor. I'd like to like the psychology of that sequence, but it was just way too unbelievable and didn't come off organic at all. The bump also didn't seem too bad.
Razor does lay on the ground selling it though, and Michaels heads down the aisle to retrieve the ladder. Shawn drags it pretty slowly though, and Razor picks him off with a hard punch before HBK can actually get all the way into the ring. He rolls HBK in, then picks up the ladder and sets it into the ring himself. Michaels quickly capitalizes, running and hitting a baseball slide into the ladder which jarred it into Razor's gut. Michaels rolls out and slams Razor face-first into the steel steps (pretty blatantly missing, but sold as hitting).
Shawn rolls Razor in, then brings the ladder in with him, picking it up and jamming it into Razor's midsection. He continues hammering Razor with the ladder, a total of three times, and then sets it up in the middle of the ring to make the first attempt to climb up and grab the belts. He gets up near the top, Razor makes it to his feet and grabs him to stop him, ultimately pulling Shawn's pants down and exposing his ass as Razor falls backwards. Michaels, ass still hanging out, drops an elbow from high up the ladder before pulling his pants up.
HBK sets the ladder up near the corner, heads over and bodyslams Razor, then scales the ladder in the corner and splashes down on Ramon from way up. He gets back up, sets the ladder in the middle, attempts to climb for the belts again, but Razor gets up and knocks the ladder over, sending Michaels hard into the ropes on one side of the ring. Both slow to get up, they run the ropes when they do, and they're both quickly back down as they do a mid-ring collision.
Shawn folds up the ladder, sets it in the corner, picks up Razor and whips him toward that corner, but Razor reverses and Shawn collides hard into the ladder and ends up falling out over the top to the floor.
Razor heads outside with the ladder and charges into Michaels with it. Shawn tries to retreat, but Razor hits him again. Ramon sets up the folded ladder against the ring apron, then slingshots Michaels into it.
The two go back in, and once again Shawn takes a hard ladder shot from Razor that sends him all the way outside. The Bad Guy sets up the ladder and starts to climb, but does so far too slowly, and Michaels desperately races up to the top turnbuckle and jumps and hits an axhandle on a climbing Razor to knock him back to the mat.
Slow back to their feet, each gets up on opposite sides of the ladder, both try to climb up across from each other. They trade punches, and Razor ultimately throws Shawn off, but also falls off himself in the process. Ramon gets back up, attempts another climb, but Shawn gets up and dropkicks the ladder, causing Razor to fall back off. The ladder teeters but stays up. Both slow getting up, but Shawn gets up first and pushes the ladder so that it falls on Razor. I'm guessing it was meant to fall on him originally.
Both up at a vertical base, Michaels whips Razor into the ropes and superkicks him on the way back. HBK then signals like he's going to do the Razor's Edge to Razor, but instead destroys him with a hard jumping piledriver. I don't know why he teased the Razor's Edge, but the piledriver was great on its own merits.
Michaels climbs the ropes while carrying the ladder along, holds the ladder and rides it down on top of Razor, who is still laid out from the piledriver. Shawn sets the ladder up over Razor, tries to climb to reach for the belts, but Razor gets up again. First Razor shakes the ladder to no avail, but then gets a running start and basically shoulderblocks the ladder, which knocks Shawn off toward the side and actually causes Shawn's foot to tangle up in the ropes. Shawn is trapped as Razor sets up the ladder and climbs to victory, grabbing the belts from the top of the ladder.
Result: Razor Ramon wins to become undisputed champion (18:47)
Meltzer Rating: *****
My Review and Rating: It's obviously a great match. The first time I watched it, I thought it was one of the best I'd ever seen (after thinking the same about Bret vs. Owen earlier in the show). Years later, I watched it and think that it doesn't hold up that well. The last time I watched it I thought, "WTF, yes it does, it's still probably a five-star match."
This viewing, I probably see enough to criticize that I can't say that I view it as a five-star match. I think part of the argument a person would make for it being five stars is based on historical impact, since it was an IMPORTANT match on top of being a great one. But just viewing it in a vacuum now? Very, very enjoyable, but not without its flaws. The spots get a bit repetitive late, and thanks to future evolutions of ladder matches, the ladder spots don't shine as much as they once did. To hedge back on that a bit, this match was mostly very sound psychologically in terms of wrestlers mostly fixating on doing things to actually try to win the damn title, rather than just setting up spot after spot like a stunt show.
At the end of my rambling, my rating is: ****1/4
Date: March 20, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31355189
Background: Michaels was the IC Champ, but late in '93 he was stripped of the title in what would become a long line of strippings of his titles. Razor Ramon won the vacant title, Michaels returned with his old title claiming to still be the champ, and both belts would be held above the ring in what was the first PPV ladder match in WWF history.
The Match: Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler announcing. The ladder is set up in the narrow aisleway on the way to the ring. Shawn Michaels in first and scoots around it, presumably for superstitious reasons. Razor Ramon enters and walks directly underneath it, scoffing at the popular superstition in the process. Gotta say, that's one of the best face vs. heel distinctions that they've probably ever done in company history. I was always surprised, though, that they kept having Razor Ramon flick his toothpicks in Tony Chimel's face at ringside after he turned face.
Razor and Shawn lock up. Hammerlock by Shawn, reversed, re-reversed, the two run the ropes, another countermove sequence, and ultimately Razor gets the offense in by connecting on something of a chokeslam. Hard punch by Razor, but after whipping Shawn into the ropes he whiffs on a clothesline and Michaels ultimately takes him down.
Back-and-forth continues with a turnbuckle smash by Ramon, but Ramon runs the ropes and Michaels sidesteps him and dumps him outside to the floor. Diesel charges and clotheslines Razor out there. This upsets ringside referee Earl Hebner, who gives Diesel the old heave-ho. He rages a bit, but ultimately heads to the back. As Michaels is griping about his bodyguard getting tossed, Razor catches him off-guard with a hard punch from outside the ring, then re-enters.
Hard punch in one corner by Razor. Whips Michaels into the corner for the "flip and sit on the corner, then tumble back into the ring" spot. Razor clotheslines him HARD over the top to the floor. He always did that with so much velocity that I never understood how the person taking it could control their landing.
Both outside. Razor lifts part of the ringside mat up and exposes the concrete floor, but Michaels picks him off with a punch and rolls him back inside before the concrete comes into play. Trades of punches and kicks in the ring. Razor teases the Razor's Edge, but did so in the really obvious "this isn't actually going to happen, it's getting reversed" spot where he's facing an area where there's no room to execute the move.
I mean, c'mon, what fan is ever believing that spot? Michaels backdrops him over the top to the concrete floor. I'd like to like the psychology of that sequence, but it was just way too unbelievable and didn't come off organic at all. The bump also didn't seem too bad.
Razor does lay on the ground selling it though, and Michaels heads down the aisle to retrieve the ladder. Shawn drags it pretty slowly though, and Razor picks him off with a hard punch before HBK can actually get all the way into the ring. He rolls HBK in, then picks up the ladder and sets it into the ring himself. Michaels quickly capitalizes, running and hitting a baseball slide into the ladder which jarred it into Razor's gut. Michaels rolls out and slams Razor face-first into the steel steps (pretty blatantly missing, but sold as hitting).
Shawn rolls Razor in, then brings the ladder in with him, picking it up and jamming it into Razor's midsection. He continues hammering Razor with the ladder, a total of three times, and then sets it up in the middle of the ring to make the first attempt to climb up and grab the belts. He gets up near the top, Razor makes it to his feet and grabs him to stop him, ultimately pulling Shawn's pants down and exposing his ass as Razor falls backwards. Michaels, ass still hanging out, drops an elbow from high up the ladder before pulling his pants up.
HBK sets the ladder up near the corner, heads over and bodyslams Razor, then scales the ladder in the corner and splashes down on Ramon from way up. He gets back up, sets the ladder in the middle, attempts to climb for the belts again, but Razor gets up and knocks the ladder over, sending Michaels hard into the ropes on one side of the ring. Both slow to get up, they run the ropes when they do, and they're both quickly back down as they do a mid-ring collision.
Shawn folds up the ladder, sets it in the corner, picks up Razor and whips him toward that corner, but Razor reverses and Shawn collides hard into the ladder and ends up falling out over the top to the floor.
Razor heads outside with the ladder and charges into Michaels with it. Shawn tries to retreat, but Razor hits him again. Ramon sets up the folded ladder against the ring apron, then slingshots Michaels into it.
The two go back in, and once again Shawn takes a hard ladder shot from Razor that sends him all the way outside. The Bad Guy sets up the ladder and starts to climb, but does so far too slowly, and Michaels desperately races up to the top turnbuckle and jumps and hits an axhandle on a climbing Razor to knock him back to the mat.
Slow back to their feet, each gets up on opposite sides of the ladder, both try to climb up across from each other. They trade punches, and Razor ultimately throws Shawn off, but also falls off himself in the process. Ramon gets back up, attempts another climb, but Shawn gets up and dropkicks the ladder, causing Razor to fall back off. The ladder teeters but stays up. Both slow getting up, but Shawn gets up first and pushes the ladder so that it falls on Razor. I'm guessing it was meant to fall on him originally.
Both up at a vertical base, Michaels whips Razor into the ropes and superkicks him on the way back. HBK then signals like he's going to do the Razor's Edge to Razor, but instead destroys him with a hard jumping piledriver. I don't know why he teased the Razor's Edge, but the piledriver was great on its own merits.
Michaels climbs the ropes while carrying the ladder along, holds the ladder and rides it down on top of Razor, who is still laid out from the piledriver. Shawn sets the ladder up over Razor, tries to climb to reach for the belts, but Razor gets up again. First Razor shakes the ladder to no avail, but then gets a running start and basically shoulderblocks the ladder, which knocks Shawn off toward the side and actually causes Shawn's foot to tangle up in the ropes. Shawn is trapped as Razor sets up the ladder and climbs to victory, grabbing the belts from the top of the ladder.
Result: Razor Ramon wins to become undisputed champion (18:47)
Meltzer Rating: *****
My Review and Rating: It's obviously a great match. The first time I watched it, I thought it was one of the best I'd ever seen (after thinking the same about Bret vs. Owen earlier in the show). Years later, I watched it and think that it doesn't hold up that well. The last time I watched it I thought, "WTF, yes it does, it's still probably a five-star match."
This viewing, I probably see enough to criticize that I can't say that I view it as a five-star match. I think part of the argument a person would make for it being five stars is based on historical impact, since it was an IMPORTANT match on top of being a great one. But just viewing it in a vacuum now? Very, very enjoyable, but not without its flaws. The spots get a bit repetitive late, and thanks to future evolutions of ladder matches, the ladder spots don't shine as much as they once did. To hedge back on that a bit, this match was mostly very sound psychologically in terms of wrestlers mostly fixating on doing things to actually try to win the damn title, rather than just setting up spot after spot like a stunt show.
At the end of my rambling, my rating is: ****1/4
08-31-2015
, 04:04 PM
08-31-2015
, 06:02 PM
08-31-2015
, 07:31 PM
Slamboree '94: Chicago Street Fight (falls count anywhere) - Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne
Date: April 17, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31664157
Background: Not sure, but the tag titles (possessed by the Nasty Boys) are not on the line here.
The Match: The Nasty Boys come to the ring wearing street brawling clothes instead of ring gear. So do Cactus and Payne. I know that WCW was big on that for their street fights, but wouldn't wrestling gear be more comfortable to fight in? Cactus and Payne don't make it all the way up the ramp before the Nasties charge them and start to beat them down.
Payne and Sags make it into the ring, where Payne delivers a sidewalk slam. Knobbs attacks Cactus with some sort of stick outside. Cactus gets it back and uses it as a weapon himself several times before discarding it and taking a running charge at Sags at the ropes that carries them both out over the top. Hard chairshot by Sags, and…well, I'm obviously not going to be able to come close to reasonable play-by-play on this. It's all-out chaos, with all four just bludgeoning each other.
Knobbs and Cactus fight inside the ring as Payne and Sags hammer on each other beside the ramp. Knobbs clotheslines Cactus out over the top rope with the stick, which Tony has guessed is a pool cue. We go to split-screen as the pairs fight in different parts of the arena from each other, both outside the ring. Hard unprotected chairshot to the head of Knobbs by Cactus. Bodyslam through a concession table by Payne on Sags. He attempts the first cover of the match out on the concrete, but just gets two. The Nasties combine to whip Payne through some sort of staging, but it doesn't look too painful.
Knobbs picks up a table and repeatedly beats Cactus with it. They brawl up to the ramp, where Cactus gets an advantage, lays Knobbs out, then falls backwards with the table in hand and levels an already lying Knobbs with it. Sets the table up to follow, and Sags stalks in from off-camera to hit Cactus with an awesomely stiff-looking shot in the head with a shovel. Payne derails Sags; the fight continues between Cactus and Knobbs. Knobbs pulls Foley up on the stood-up table, looks like he's going to execute a piledriver, but the table breaks underneath them before a move can be attempted.
As they both regain their feet, Knobbs shoves Cactus off the ramp to the concrete. Measures him with a shovel and OMG hammers him in the head with it. Well, that was just about the most horrible thing I've ever seen. Covers him after the shovel shot and gets the 1-2-3. For good measure, Knobbs charges and clobbers Payne with a table shot as the Nasties are announced the winners.
Result: Nasty Boys via pinfall (8:54)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: I don't know. This wasn't really my thing. In terms of telling the story of two teams that hated each other's guts and wanted to beat the hell out of each other, mission accomplished…but only a small handful of the spots were interesting. That first shovel shot from Sags on Foley was excellent. The last one was just so stiff that I found it kind of horrifying. Props to Foley as always for being willing to sacrifice his body for entertainment though, I suppose. **1/2
Date: April 17, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31664157
Background: Not sure, but the tag titles (possessed by the Nasty Boys) are not on the line here.
The Match: The Nasty Boys come to the ring wearing street brawling clothes instead of ring gear. So do Cactus and Payne. I know that WCW was big on that for their street fights, but wouldn't wrestling gear be more comfortable to fight in? Cactus and Payne don't make it all the way up the ramp before the Nasties charge them and start to beat them down.
Payne and Sags make it into the ring, where Payne delivers a sidewalk slam. Knobbs attacks Cactus with some sort of stick outside. Cactus gets it back and uses it as a weapon himself several times before discarding it and taking a running charge at Sags at the ropes that carries them both out over the top. Hard chairshot by Sags, and…well, I'm obviously not going to be able to come close to reasonable play-by-play on this. It's all-out chaos, with all four just bludgeoning each other.
Knobbs and Cactus fight inside the ring as Payne and Sags hammer on each other beside the ramp. Knobbs clotheslines Cactus out over the top rope with the stick, which Tony has guessed is a pool cue. We go to split-screen as the pairs fight in different parts of the arena from each other, both outside the ring. Hard unprotected chairshot to the head of Knobbs by Cactus. Bodyslam through a concession table by Payne on Sags. He attempts the first cover of the match out on the concrete, but just gets two. The Nasties combine to whip Payne through some sort of staging, but it doesn't look too painful.
Knobbs picks up a table and repeatedly beats Cactus with it. They brawl up to the ramp, where Cactus gets an advantage, lays Knobbs out, then falls backwards with the table in hand and levels an already lying Knobbs with it. Sets the table up to follow, and Sags stalks in from off-camera to hit Cactus with an awesomely stiff-looking shot in the head with a shovel. Payne derails Sags; the fight continues between Cactus and Knobbs. Knobbs pulls Foley up on the stood-up table, looks like he's going to execute a piledriver, but the table breaks underneath them before a move can be attempted.
As they both regain their feet, Knobbs shoves Cactus off the ramp to the concrete. Measures him with a shovel and OMG hammers him in the head with it. Well, that was just about the most horrible thing I've ever seen. Covers him after the shovel shot and gets the 1-2-3. For good measure, Knobbs charges and clobbers Payne with a table shot as the Nasties are announced the winners.
Result: Nasty Boys via pinfall (8:54)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: I don't know. This wasn't really my thing. In terms of telling the story of two teams that hated each other's guts and wanted to beat the hell out of each other, mission accomplished…but only a small handful of the spots were interesting. That first shovel shot from Sags on Foley was excellent. The last one was just so stiff that I found it kind of horrifying. Props to Foley as always for being willing to sacrifice his body for entertainment though, I suppose. **1/2
09-19-2015
, 09:49 AM
Spring Stampede '94: WCW Title - Ric Flair (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat
Date: April 17, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31664157
Background: The history is obvious here, given the 1989 trilogy. It was face vs. face this time.
The Match: The match emanates from Chicago. As noted in the ring announcement, it was Chicago where Flair dropped the world title to Steamboat to kick off their 1989 trilogy. Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan on the call, Nick Patrick the third man in the ring.
Flair opens with a drop toe hold, Steamboat counters into a hammerlock and escapes, and they reset. Another hold-counterhold sequence on the mat. Running shoulderblock by the Dragon gives us our first impact move, but the two remain methodical and continue to feel each other out. I'm finding the early chain wrestling a bit difficult to follow because Tony and Bobby won't STFU about the crowd and the crowd's preferences, etc. I mean, they're putting over the match, but that type of conversation should probably just happen during rest holds.
As Flair and Steamboat wrestle into a corner, Flair shoves Steamboat and Steamboat fires back by slapping him hard across the face. Another shove-slap follows. We've just kicked it up to a new notch of intensity between the two men. Rope-running sequence, Steamboat eventually leapfrogs over Flair and then executes a press slam. Flying headscissors by Steamboat. Twice. Standing dropkick. And another one, which sends Flair out over the top.
Steamboat quickly outside to roll the champ back in. Heads up top and lands a tomahawk job jumping down. Two-count, and Flair goes back outside to catch his breath. Back in, opens with an eye gouge, works Steamboat into the corner and we get a great Flair-Steamboat chopfest like only those two can deliver them. They really beat the hell out of each other with those every single time out. Patrick ends up separating them, leading to another reset.
Side headlock takeover by Steamboat, holds Flair in the headlock for a bit while they discuss the next sequence, which apparently is…another side headlock takedown. Flair gets free, Steamboat with a shoulderblock, pin gets two. Ricky back into the headlock, but Flair works him back toward the corner and then lays in a hard chop. Whips Steamboat into the opposite corner, Steamboat jumps off the ropes with a leapfrog to get behind Flair, then delivers an armdrag followed by a flying headscissor. Pin for a closer-than-expected two-count.
Back into the hold. This start is pretty slow. I dig mat wrestling, I dig working a guy over slowly, but what the hell is this headlock doing? There's no story here. Work a limb. Couple of shoulderblocks by Steamboat, Flair sidesteps him and tosses him over the top, Steamboat skins the cat and flips back in, surprises Flair with a pin for two. Side headlock resumes. Come on, man. After another decent while, Flair works his way back up to a vertical position, executes an atomic drop, but as he goes to follow up, Steamboat trips him with a drop toehold and transitions into a front facelock. Seriously, I'm not at all against slow builds, but you at least have to be doing something interesting psychologically.
Flair works his way back up, shoulder lunges against Steamboat in the corner. Whips the Dragon into the other, Dragon reverses and connects on a backdrop as Flair staggers out. Attempted dropkick comes up empty though, and Flair finally seems to be on offense. Lays in a right hand in the corner, then chops and punches Steamboat in another. The champ executes a snapmare and a running kneedrop. More jostling between the two men, but with the same result, another Flair kneedrop. Multiple cover attempts to follow, and of course none of them work. Were wrestling companies ever willing to actually end matches on the whole "cover --> nope --> cover again --> wow, yes!" sequence? Those spots are just so hollow without any belief that it could ever, ever work.
Whip by Flair, and a back elbow. Multiple cover attempts…why? The two men chop each other again. Steamboat finally puts Flair down with one. Rope-running sequence, Flair charges Steamboat near the ropes, jumps at him, and the two spill out over the top together. Flair attempts a piledriver out on the floor, but Steamboat blocks and suplexes him instead. The challenger sets Flair up against the barricade, takes a running start, and runs hard into the barricade, spilling into the crowd.
Flair pulls Steamboat up and sends him back in. Flair heads to the top, Steamboat is up (too) quickly to cut him off, and superplexes him to the middle. Two-count. The Dragon whips the champ into the buckle, Flair flips out and over to the apron, and Steamboat knocks him off from there. Heads up top and drops an axhandle all the way to the floor. Hard chops by Steamboat, who returns the champ back into the middle as we hear that 20 minutes have passed (of the 60-minute time limit).
The Dragon hammers Flair in the corner with punches, then chops, then a pin attempt where they very clearly set up by the ropes so that Flair could get a foot on the ropes. We're really using the "escaped because of a foot rope break" after a series of chops? Flair pulls a frustrated Steamboat out of the ring through the middle rope, but Steamboat is almost instantly back up to the apron. Jumps over for the sunset flip, but Flair stays upright and then punishes Steamboat with a hard right hand.
The back-and-forth continues though, as Steamboat puts Flair down and then applies the figure-four himself. Flair battles hard for the rope break, and Steamboat keeps pulling him back to the middle. Eventually Flair just pokes Steamboat's eye, which does the trick; the hold is broken. He probably should have thought of that sooner. Flair gets up hobbled, selling the punishment from the hold. He attempts a suplex, collapses due to his bad leg, Steamboat falls on top for a two-count. Nobody on the main TV side reacted in any way, otherwise I would have thought that may have been a fairly effective near-fall. They just weren't a great crowd here.
The two men lock elbows, jockey for position, Steamboat gets the better of Flair and turns it into an OMG BACKSLIDE for two. Follows with a small package for two. The two have a moment where Steamboat simply stares Flair down after his series of near-falls. Flair breaks the tension by landing some chops. Steamboat chops back and gets the better of the champion.
Flair goes outside to the ramp, looking for a break. Steamboat grabs him to pull him from getting away. Attempts to suplex him back into the ring; blocked. Flair attempts to suplex Steamboat back out onto the ramp, and Steamboat escapes and lands behind Flair on the ramp. Chops Flair hard enough that Flair falls over top back into the middle. Steamboat back in, whip into the corner, Flair flips out over the corner and all the way to the floor. Steamboat goes to land a chop from the apron on a lying Flair, but Flair hits him on the way down.
Flair is back in the ring first. Steamboat bides his time and then attempts a return as well, but Flair cuts him off on the apron. More back-and-forth chops. One finally fells Flair, and Steamboat quickly follows by heading up top and connecting on a cross-body. 1, 2…still nope. The crowd kind of almost cared about that one. I give credit to Schiavone for doing a solid job with selling the high points.
Flair ducks a chop by Steamboat and lays the challenger out with a clothesline. Picks him back up, snapmare near the corner, heads up top to of course be caught, and the Dragon throws him off. Ricky once again to the top rope for a flying splash, but Flair rolls out and Steamboat eats canvas. Hurts his leg on impact as well. Flair capitalizes and manages to apply the figure-four on the newly-injured leg. Would have been a good spot for a submission, but Steamboat eventually forces a rope break.
Another snapmare by Flair, attempts to go right back for the figure-four, but Steamboat reverses into the same small package spot he won the title with in Chicago previously…for a two-count. I like the call-back to that very spot. Crowd reacts a bit more. Tony: "Ohhh, he got 'em off their feet that time!" We're measuring crowd reactions against a low bar. Backslide by Steamboat gets two. He chops the champion several times, then sits him on the top rope. Heads all the way to the top and executes a hard superplex. Steamboat takes a bump to the back of his head on that one as well, and can't cover for a long time. Once he finally does, it's only a two-count.
Steamboat rolls Flair up, and actually bumps Nick Patrick out of the ring in the process. Patrick has to scramble back in to count, but the delay just leaves them with a two-count. Steamboat picks Flair up in the double chicken wing. Heenan and Schiavone both shout that this was the hold he beat Flair with to win the title in Chicago back in '89. They're wrong; he did beat him with this hold (sort of), but it was to get the unclean win back at Clash IX. They fall back into a pinning combo, Nick Patrick counts 1-2-3, but both men had their shoulders down in the hold.
Nick Patrick consults Nick Bockwinkel to explain what happened, then…declares Flair the winner? Bockwinkel goes to ringside and says that it's really a draw, but Flair keeps the title.
Result: Draw due to double pin (32:19)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: I don't know, man. This match was largely pretty damn boring for me. To their credit, both men still did their spots well, but the whole thing came off to me like a "best-of-Flair vs. Steamboat" montage that had only a trace of a discernible story of its own (with that story, I guess, being "these guys are really evenly-matched." I liked the late call-back spots to the 1989 trilogy, but that alone doesn't get me very far up the rating scale. **1/2
Date: April 17, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31664157
Background: The history is obvious here, given the 1989 trilogy. It was face vs. face this time.
The Match: The match emanates from Chicago. As noted in the ring announcement, it was Chicago where Flair dropped the world title to Steamboat to kick off their 1989 trilogy. Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan on the call, Nick Patrick the third man in the ring.
Flair opens with a drop toe hold, Steamboat counters into a hammerlock and escapes, and they reset. Another hold-counterhold sequence on the mat. Running shoulderblock by the Dragon gives us our first impact move, but the two remain methodical and continue to feel each other out. I'm finding the early chain wrestling a bit difficult to follow because Tony and Bobby won't STFU about the crowd and the crowd's preferences, etc. I mean, they're putting over the match, but that type of conversation should probably just happen during rest holds.
As Flair and Steamboat wrestle into a corner, Flair shoves Steamboat and Steamboat fires back by slapping him hard across the face. Another shove-slap follows. We've just kicked it up to a new notch of intensity between the two men. Rope-running sequence, Steamboat eventually leapfrogs over Flair and then executes a press slam. Flying headscissors by Steamboat. Twice. Standing dropkick. And another one, which sends Flair out over the top.
Steamboat quickly outside to roll the champ back in. Heads up top and lands a tomahawk job jumping down. Two-count, and Flair goes back outside to catch his breath. Back in, opens with an eye gouge, works Steamboat into the corner and we get a great Flair-Steamboat chopfest like only those two can deliver them. They really beat the hell out of each other with those every single time out. Patrick ends up separating them, leading to another reset.
Side headlock takeover by Steamboat, holds Flair in the headlock for a bit while they discuss the next sequence, which apparently is…another side headlock takedown. Flair gets free, Steamboat with a shoulderblock, pin gets two. Ricky back into the headlock, but Flair works him back toward the corner and then lays in a hard chop. Whips Steamboat into the opposite corner, Steamboat jumps off the ropes with a leapfrog to get behind Flair, then delivers an armdrag followed by a flying headscissor. Pin for a closer-than-expected two-count.
Back into the hold. This start is pretty slow. I dig mat wrestling, I dig working a guy over slowly, but what the hell is this headlock doing? There's no story here. Work a limb. Couple of shoulderblocks by Steamboat, Flair sidesteps him and tosses him over the top, Steamboat skins the cat and flips back in, surprises Flair with a pin for two. Side headlock resumes. Come on, man. After another decent while, Flair works his way back up to a vertical position, executes an atomic drop, but as he goes to follow up, Steamboat trips him with a drop toehold and transitions into a front facelock. Seriously, I'm not at all against slow builds, but you at least have to be doing something interesting psychologically.
Flair works his way back up, shoulder lunges against Steamboat in the corner. Whips the Dragon into the other, Dragon reverses and connects on a backdrop as Flair staggers out. Attempted dropkick comes up empty though, and Flair finally seems to be on offense. Lays in a right hand in the corner, then chops and punches Steamboat in another. The champ executes a snapmare and a running kneedrop. More jostling between the two men, but with the same result, another Flair kneedrop. Multiple cover attempts to follow, and of course none of them work. Were wrestling companies ever willing to actually end matches on the whole "cover --> nope --> cover again --> wow, yes!" sequence? Those spots are just so hollow without any belief that it could ever, ever work.
Whip by Flair, and a back elbow. Multiple cover attempts…why? The two men chop each other again. Steamboat finally puts Flair down with one. Rope-running sequence, Flair charges Steamboat near the ropes, jumps at him, and the two spill out over the top together. Flair attempts a piledriver out on the floor, but Steamboat blocks and suplexes him instead. The challenger sets Flair up against the barricade, takes a running start, and runs hard into the barricade, spilling into the crowd.
Flair pulls Steamboat up and sends him back in. Flair heads to the top, Steamboat is up (too) quickly to cut him off, and superplexes him to the middle. Two-count. The Dragon whips the champ into the buckle, Flair flips out and over to the apron, and Steamboat knocks him off from there. Heads up top and drops an axhandle all the way to the floor. Hard chops by Steamboat, who returns the champ back into the middle as we hear that 20 minutes have passed (of the 60-minute time limit).
The Dragon hammers Flair in the corner with punches, then chops, then a pin attempt where they very clearly set up by the ropes so that Flair could get a foot on the ropes. We're really using the "escaped because of a foot rope break" after a series of chops? Flair pulls a frustrated Steamboat out of the ring through the middle rope, but Steamboat is almost instantly back up to the apron. Jumps over for the sunset flip, but Flair stays upright and then punishes Steamboat with a hard right hand.
The back-and-forth continues though, as Steamboat puts Flair down and then applies the figure-four himself. Flair battles hard for the rope break, and Steamboat keeps pulling him back to the middle. Eventually Flair just pokes Steamboat's eye, which does the trick; the hold is broken. He probably should have thought of that sooner. Flair gets up hobbled, selling the punishment from the hold. He attempts a suplex, collapses due to his bad leg, Steamboat falls on top for a two-count. Nobody on the main TV side reacted in any way, otherwise I would have thought that may have been a fairly effective near-fall. They just weren't a great crowd here.
The two men lock elbows, jockey for position, Steamboat gets the better of Flair and turns it into an OMG BACKSLIDE for two. Follows with a small package for two. The two have a moment where Steamboat simply stares Flair down after his series of near-falls. Flair breaks the tension by landing some chops. Steamboat chops back and gets the better of the champion.
Flair goes outside to the ramp, looking for a break. Steamboat grabs him to pull him from getting away. Attempts to suplex him back into the ring; blocked. Flair attempts to suplex Steamboat back out onto the ramp, and Steamboat escapes and lands behind Flair on the ramp. Chops Flair hard enough that Flair falls over top back into the middle. Steamboat back in, whip into the corner, Flair flips out over the corner and all the way to the floor. Steamboat goes to land a chop from the apron on a lying Flair, but Flair hits him on the way down.
Flair is back in the ring first. Steamboat bides his time and then attempts a return as well, but Flair cuts him off on the apron. More back-and-forth chops. One finally fells Flair, and Steamboat quickly follows by heading up top and connecting on a cross-body. 1, 2…still nope. The crowd kind of almost cared about that one. I give credit to Schiavone for doing a solid job with selling the high points.
Flair ducks a chop by Steamboat and lays the challenger out with a clothesline. Picks him back up, snapmare near the corner, heads up top to of course be caught, and the Dragon throws him off. Ricky once again to the top rope for a flying splash, but Flair rolls out and Steamboat eats canvas. Hurts his leg on impact as well. Flair capitalizes and manages to apply the figure-four on the newly-injured leg. Would have been a good spot for a submission, but Steamboat eventually forces a rope break.
Another snapmare by Flair, attempts to go right back for the figure-four, but Steamboat reverses into the same small package spot he won the title with in Chicago previously…for a two-count. I like the call-back to that very spot. Crowd reacts a bit more. Tony: "Ohhh, he got 'em off their feet that time!" We're measuring crowd reactions against a low bar. Backslide by Steamboat gets two. He chops the champion several times, then sits him on the top rope. Heads all the way to the top and executes a hard superplex. Steamboat takes a bump to the back of his head on that one as well, and can't cover for a long time. Once he finally does, it's only a two-count.
Steamboat rolls Flair up, and actually bumps Nick Patrick out of the ring in the process. Patrick has to scramble back in to count, but the delay just leaves them with a two-count. Steamboat picks Flair up in the double chicken wing. Heenan and Schiavone both shout that this was the hold he beat Flair with to win the title in Chicago back in '89. They're wrong; he did beat him with this hold (sort of), but it was to get the unclean win back at Clash IX. They fall back into a pinning combo, Nick Patrick counts 1-2-3, but both men had their shoulders down in the hold.
Nick Patrick consults Nick Bockwinkel to explain what happened, then…declares Flair the winner? Bockwinkel goes to ringside and says that it's really a draw, but Flair keeps the title.
Result: Draw due to double pin (32:19)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: I don't know, man. This match was largely pretty damn boring for me. To their credit, both men still did their spots well, but the whole thing came off to me like a "best-of-Flair vs. Steamboat" montage that had only a trace of a discernible story of its own (with that story, I guess, being "these guys are really evenly-matched." I liked the late call-back spots to the 1989 trilogy, but that alone doesn't get me very far up the rating scale. **1/2
09-19-2015
, 10:51 AM
Slamboree '94: WCW Tag Team Titles (Anything Goes) - The Nasty Boys (c) vs. Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan
Date: May 22, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31666055
The Match: Dave Schulz, former Philadelphia Flyer, is the guest referee for the match. Tony and Jesse on the call.
The Nasties are second to enter, and don’t fully enter the ring before Cactus and Sullivan attack. Knobbs/Sullivan and Sags/Foley pair off and brawl on opposite sides of the ring. Sullivan clobbers Knobbs with a crutch on one side as Foley waffles Sags with a steel chair from the audience on the other.
Eventually Sullivan and Knobbs take a brief turn in the ring, but within a few moves Knobbs rolls out. Sullivan attempts a piledriver on the ramp, and connects. Foley assaults Sags with a trash can near the ramp as well. Both Nasties are down. Sullivan double stomps on Sags on the ramp. I can't see that move without shaking my head, knowing that it's a finisher. Cactus goes for the running elbow off the apron, and ends up elbowing a trash can when Sags moves out of the way.
The champions double-team Cactus with a trash can. Sags whips him with a camera as well. Ha. I love the improvisation if he actually just took a camera from a ringside fan and used it as a weapon. Hard chairshot by Knobbs on Cactus. Sullivan comes to his aid and takes Knobbs out, but Sags catches up to the fray and does serious damage with the very broken-down trash can.
Foley, opened up, charges Knobbs on the ramp and jumps and carries him flipping into the ring with him. The challengers double-team Knobbs in the ring temporarily until Cactus gets distracted and heads up the ramp back toward Sags. Sags, who had stopped carrying a table and set it near the ramp, predictably throws Foley through it. Foley/Sags and Sullivan/Knobbs continue brawling in separate areas until the four men all reunite near the top of the ramp.
Tony and Jesse with a very fun call of the match, by the way. They're adding to my enjoyment. Foley and Sags end up back in the ring, Foley laid out and Sags headed to the top rope. Sags drops a big elbow from there, but then got up instead of attempting a pin. Sags shoves Dave Schulz, then goes and grabs a hockey stick from the corner that Schulz had brought to the ring with him. As he's going to use it as a weapon, Schulz pulls it away and then proceeds to pull Sags's tanktop over like a hockey jersey, and wails away at him. Foley grabs the hockey stick, attacks Sags with it, goes for the pin, Schulz with the quick count to 3 and we have new tag team champions.
Sags attacks Foley after the match, but Maxx Payne heads to the ring and smashes a guitar over Sags's head. Payne, Cactus, and Sullivan all chase Knobbs to the back. Dave Sullivan emerges from the back, walking on crutches, then breaks the crutch over Knobbs.
Result: Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan via pinfall (9:56)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: This one was fun. Enjoyed it more than the Nasties vs. Cactus/Payne match from Spring Stampede. It was an entertaining, wild brawl, and most of the spots stayed away from contrived setups. ***1/4
Date: May 22, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31666055
The Match: Dave Schulz, former Philadelphia Flyer, is the guest referee for the match. Tony and Jesse on the call.
The Nasties are second to enter, and don’t fully enter the ring before Cactus and Sullivan attack. Knobbs/Sullivan and Sags/Foley pair off and brawl on opposite sides of the ring. Sullivan clobbers Knobbs with a crutch on one side as Foley waffles Sags with a steel chair from the audience on the other.
Eventually Sullivan and Knobbs take a brief turn in the ring, but within a few moves Knobbs rolls out. Sullivan attempts a piledriver on the ramp, and connects. Foley assaults Sags with a trash can near the ramp as well. Both Nasties are down. Sullivan double stomps on Sags on the ramp. I can't see that move without shaking my head, knowing that it's a finisher. Cactus goes for the running elbow off the apron, and ends up elbowing a trash can when Sags moves out of the way.
The champions double-team Cactus with a trash can. Sags whips him with a camera as well. Ha. I love the improvisation if he actually just took a camera from a ringside fan and used it as a weapon. Hard chairshot by Knobbs on Cactus. Sullivan comes to his aid and takes Knobbs out, but Sags catches up to the fray and does serious damage with the very broken-down trash can.
Foley, opened up, charges Knobbs on the ramp and jumps and carries him flipping into the ring with him. The challengers double-team Knobbs in the ring temporarily until Cactus gets distracted and heads up the ramp back toward Sags. Sags, who had stopped carrying a table and set it near the ramp, predictably throws Foley through it. Foley/Sags and Sullivan/Knobbs continue brawling in separate areas until the four men all reunite near the top of the ramp.
Tony and Jesse with a very fun call of the match, by the way. They're adding to my enjoyment. Foley and Sags end up back in the ring, Foley laid out and Sags headed to the top rope. Sags drops a big elbow from there, but then got up instead of attempting a pin. Sags shoves Dave Schulz, then goes and grabs a hockey stick from the corner that Schulz had brought to the ring with him. As he's going to use it as a weapon, Schulz pulls it away and then proceeds to pull Sags's tanktop over like a hockey jersey, and wails away at him. Foley grabs the hockey stick, attacks Sags with it, goes for the pin, Schulz with the quick count to 3 and we have new tag team champions.
Sags attacks Foley after the match, but Maxx Payne heads to the ring and smashes a guitar over Sags's head. Payne, Cactus, and Sullivan all chase Knobbs to the back. Dave Sullivan emerges from the back, walking on crutches, then breaks the crutch over Knobbs.
Result: Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan via pinfall (9:56)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: This one was fun. Enjoyed it more than the Nasties vs. Cactus/Payne match from Spring Stampede. It was an entertaining, wild brawl, and most of the spots stayed away from contrived setups. ***1/4
09-19-2015
, 05:50 PM
09-19-2015
, 06:54 PM
09-22-2015
, 10:25 PM
RAW: WWF Title - Bret Hart (c) vs. The 1-2-3 Kid
Date: July 11, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v32650657
Background: None really. Bret's primary feud was with his brother Owen at this point, 1-2-3 Kid was just a midcarder, but they were big on Bret defending his title often and likely knew that this would be a good match. Sean Waltman, at this point in time, was pretty great.
The Match: Jim Ross and Randy Savage on commentary, Earl Hebner the referee. We get the babyface handshake to kick things off, and then straight into the action.
The two men tie up, 1-2-3 Kid winning the first exchange with an armdrag. Another tie-up, move and countermove ends in the Kid cinching in an armbar. Bret works his way out and bodyslams the Kid, but the Kid kips right back up. Side headlock by the Kid into a hammerlock. More good chain wrestling as Hart rolls through in an attempted escape, but the Kid stays with him and maintains the hold.
Bret breaks off with a whip into the ropes and lands a back elbow smash on the Kid's way back. Snapmare into a reverse chinlock. More rope-running, Bret with a shoulderblock running one way, but gets monkey-flipped by the Kid as he continues running. Kid catches him with a reverse thrust kick and then dropkicks Bret out over the top to the floor. Commercial.
Back from break, the Kid has another armbar on in the middle. Surprised they have him actually controlling most of the early offense. Bret back up to his feet, Irish whip, and he drives his knee into the gut of Waltman on the way back. Follows with a kick to the lower abdomen of a lying Waltman. Works the Kid into the corner and lays in a few uppercuts before whipping him back into the mat. The Hitman drops a couple of hard elbows across the Kid's neck, then kicks him stiffly in the ribs. Front facelock into a swinging neckbreaker. Just given the size advantage, it makes more sense like this, with Bret controlling the action a bit more.
Turnbuckle smash in the corner by Bret, then more stomps and punches and kicks. Whip into the other corner lays the Kid out on impact with the turnbuckle. Hitman whips him into the ropes, Kid ducks a clothesline on the way back, flying cross-body by the Kid gets a surprise near-fall at two.
Attempted sunset flip by the Kid, Bret sits out, two-count. Attempted crucifix pin by the Kid gets blocked, reversed into a Samoan drop by Bret, Bret goes for the pin and Hebner counts three even though the Kid's foot was clearly on the ropes. Bret sees it and, while his music plays, he explains to Hebner what happened and refuses to raise his hand in victory. Hebner holds his ground on the decision until referee Tim White comes down and explains. The match will continue after the commercials.
Back from break, butterfly suplex by Bret gets two. They show a highlight from the break that the Kid nearly got a surprise pin right after the match restarted. After the suplex, the champ locks in a reverse chinlock. Kid back up to his feet, elbows his way loose, runs the ropes, blocks a hiptoss and then reverses into a backslide for two. Bret lays him out with a clothesline, drops an elbow and then drops a leg for his own two-count.
DDT by Bret. Two. Bodyslam, followed by the second rope elbow attempt, but he runs into the Kid's boot on the way down. Bret still the first one back up, buries a boot into the Kid's ribs and then runs the ropes, but runs into the Kid's spinning wheel kick. Kid with a series of kicks in the corner. Whips the champ into the opposite corner and follows him in with a sweet-looking dropkick. Scales the ropes, jumps back with a cross-body off the top for two.
Powerbomb by the Kid. Back up top. Legdrop from the top rope. Two. Bret slow to get up, and the Kid clotheslines him out over the top rope. Top rope for the Kid, who executes a cannonball but only gets part of it; both men damaged. Both slowly return to the middle, Bret rolling in and the Kid climbing in and going to the top once again. Cannonball from the top comes up empty. Bret goes for the sharpshooter, but the Kid grabs the ropes while getting turned over into the hold.
Hard right by the Hitman. Sets the challenger up on the top, goes for a superplex, Kid manages to fall on him on the way down…1, 2, no. THAT was a sweet near-fall spot. Kid back up first, whips Bret into the corner, follows him in with another dropkick but Bret dodges and the Kid hurts himself in the corner. Bulldog out of the corner by Bret. Hitman up toward the top, but the Kid catches him and throws him off the top. Kid back up high, jumps off the top rope, caught by both legs on the way down (he didn't seem to actually be attempting a move; he seemed to be attempting to just jump into a takedown), into the sharpshooter, we have our submission, and Bret retains.
Result: Bret Hart via submission (17:34 on-screen time plus commercials)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: Loved this match. Really good storytelling, fun offense, good pace. The two men worked together well, this doubtlessly helped put the Kid even more over…very impressive all around. ****1/4
Date: July 11, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v32650657
Background: None really. Bret's primary feud was with his brother Owen at this point, 1-2-3 Kid was just a midcarder, but they were big on Bret defending his title often and likely knew that this would be a good match. Sean Waltman, at this point in time, was pretty great.
The Match: Jim Ross and Randy Savage on commentary, Earl Hebner the referee. We get the babyface handshake to kick things off, and then straight into the action.
The two men tie up, 1-2-3 Kid winning the first exchange with an armdrag. Another tie-up, move and countermove ends in the Kid cinching in an armbar. Bret works his way out and bodyslams the Kid, but the Kid kips right back up. Side headlock by the Kid into a hammerlock. More good chain wrestling as Hart rolls through in an attempted escape, but the Kid stays with him and maintains the hold.
Bret breaks off with a whip into the ropes and lands a back elbow smash on the Kid's way back. Snapmare into a reverse chinlock. More rope-running, Bret with a shoulderblock running one way, but gets monkey-flipped by the Kid as he continues running. Kid catches him with a reverse thrust kick and then dropkicks Bret out over the top to the floor. Commercial.
Back from break, the Kid has another armbar on in the middle. Surprised they have him actually controlling most of the early offense. Bret back up to his feet, Irish whip, and he drives his knee into the gut of Waltman on the way back. Follows with a kick to the lower abdomen of a lying Waltman. Works the Kid into the corner and lays in a few uppercuts before whipping him back into the mat. The Hitman drops a couple of hard elbows across the Kid's neck, then kicks him stiffly in the ribs. Front facelock into a swinging neckbreaker. Just given the size advantage, it makes more sense like this, with Bret controlling the action a bit more.
Turnbuckle smash in the corner by Bret, then more stomps and punches and kicks. Whip into the other corner lays the Kid out on impact with the turnbuckle. Hitman whips him into the ropes, Kid ducks a clothesline on the way back, flying cross-body by the Kid gets a surprise near-fall at two.
Attempted sunset flip by the Kid, Bret sits out, two-count. Attempted crucifix pin by the Kid gets blocked, reversed into a Samoan drop by Bret, Bret goes for the pin and Hebner counts three even though the Kid's foot was clearly on the ropes. Bret sees it and, while his music plays, he explains to Hebner what happened and refuses to raise his hand in victory. Hebner holds his ground on the decision until referee Tim White comes down and explains. The match will continue after the commercials.
Back from break, butterfly suplex by Bret gets two. They show a highlight from the break that the Kid nearly got a surprise pin right after the match restarted. After the suplex, the champ locks in a reverse chinlock. Kid back up to his feet, elbows his way loose, runs the ropes, blocks a hiptoss and then reverses into a backslide for two. Bret lays him out with a clothesline, drops an elbow and then drops a leg for his own two-count.
DDT by Bret. Two. Bodyslam, followed by the second rope elbow attempt, but he runs into the Kid's boot on the way down. Bret still the first one back up, buries a boot into the Kid's ribs and then runs the ropes, but runs into the Kid's spinning wheel kick. Kid with a series of kicks in the corner. Whips the champ into the opposite corner and follows him in with a sweet-looking dropkick. Scales the ropes, jumps back with a cross-body off the top for two.
Powerbomb by the Kid. Back up top. Legdrop from the top rope. Two. Bret slow to get up, and the Kid clotheslines him out over the top rope. Top rope for the Kid, who executes a cannonball but only gets part of it; both men damaged. Both slowly return to the middle, Bret rolling in and the Kid climbing in and going to the top once again. Cannonball from the top comes up empty. Bret goes for the sharpshooter, but the Kid grabs the ropes while getting turned over into the hold.
Hard right by the Hitman. Sets the challenger up on the top, goes for a superplex, Kid manages to fall on him on the way down…1, 2, no. THAT was a sweet near-fall spot. Kid back up first, whips Bret into the corner, follows him in with another dropkick but Bret dodges and the Kid hurts himself in the corner. Bulldog out of the corner by Bret. Hitman up toward the top, but the Kid catches him and throws him off the top. Kid back up high, jumps off the top rope, caught by both legs on the way down (he didn't seem to actually be attempting a move; he seemed to be attempting to just jump into a takedown), into the sharpshooter, we have our submission, and Bret retains.
Result: Bret Hart via submission (17:34 on-screen time plus commercials)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: Loved this match. Really good storytelling, fun offense, good pace. The two men worked together well, this doubtlessly helped put the Kid even more over…very impressive all around. ****1/4