I've seen the next one many times too. There's a hellacious (at the time) bump near the end of the match. Real good stuff....shocker.

Bret mentioned him in his book. Noted Wtestling Genius Vince McMahon's reaction to McGee in the back was, "There's my next champion!"

WCW Saturday Night: Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

Date: November 18, 1995

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JPZObS-4lQ



The Match: Move-countermove to open, Eddie getting the better of it with an armdrag that he follows with an armbar. Benoit escapes and hip-tosses Eddie over. The two reset. Guerrero back into the armbar, looks to transition it into a hammerlock and then he wrenches the opposite arm as well. Shifts into a cover for two, then Benoit escapes and both are back to their feet again.

Test of strength is offered, then Benoit quickly lays in a kick and puts Eddie down. Armbar time the other way around now. Shifts into the beginnings of a surfboard, with both of Eddie's arms pinned back, but doesn't apply the back pressure to complete the hold. Eddie escapes, lays in a couple of kicks, but gets the worse end of a collision and goes down hard to the mat. The Crippler with a snapmare, and then back into the submission hold.

Benoit moves from the side headlock to an arm-wringer, Eddie locks in for a test of strength when he was already leveraged, and it actually works out with managing to trip Benoit. The two take turns forcing each other down and bridging back out.



We get a pinning combo --> reversal into a pinning combo --> reversal into a pinning combo sequence. Benoit goes for the powerbomb, but Eddie reverses his way out with an armdrag that sends Benoit all the way out. Eddie follows him with a pescado over the top that connects on the floor.

Rolls Benoit back inside. Slingshot splash to the inside by Eddie. Two-count. Hard clothesline by Eddie. Tony comments on how these young guys are revolutionizing the sport. Dusty jumps in to protect the likes of Hogan by saying that the old stars have a better claim to it. Come on Dusty, what Tony was saying wasn't a slight toward anyone. Eddie holds Benoit up in a hangman submission hold during this move. He lets go and then applies a camel clutch.

Eddie with a fisherman's suplex for two. Turnbuckle smash. Corner whip, and a charge. Benoit tries to counter, but Eddie directly counters into a headscissor takeover. The two jostle for position, and Benoit pulls out a hard clothesline that sends Eddie down. Another running clothesline follows. Hard back suplex by the Crippler, and then the swandive headbutt misses. Magistral cradle by Eddie gets two. Eddie botches a victory roll, tries to cover anyway but only gets two. Similar pinning combo by Benoit gets two.

Benoit attempts the dragon suplex, Eddie slips out to escape, but Benoit drops down on top of him to try a pin. Two. Powerbomb attempt by Benoit. Escape. Spinning sit-out powerbomb by Eddie. Two. A brainbuster follows. Two. Guerrero to the top, Benoit catches him from behind and connects on a top rope back superplex. Both men hit their heads hard, both stay down, and for the first time I've ever actually seen this type of countout, they both get counted out via 10-count as they both lay on the mat.



Result: Double countout (11:56)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: Didn't really like it. I appreciated the creative ending, but this was a whole glut of rest holds without any discernible rhyme or reason for how those holds were being applied. Just nothing that would stand out as a great match to me at all. **1/2

WCW World War 3 1995: Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki

Date: November 26, 1995

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31675733

The Match: I love Bull Nakano's look. She looks like something out of Final Fantasy. Alongside Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan, who were calling the rest of the event, Mike Tenay joins the team as the special correspondent on knowing the actual names of wrestling moves. Tenay was pretty decent as a supplemental piece used specifically in spots like this. That is my way of carefully not endorsing him as a primary #1 play-by-play guy for TNA.

Nakano and Hokuto are the heels, and they jump their opponents right away. Double clothesline on Ozaki. Nakano whips her by the hair across the ring. Twice. Tag out to Hokuto, who enters from the top with an axhandle. Hokuto holds Ozaki painfully close to her partner while also preventing her from making the tag. That's a solid heel move that I haven't seen before.

Ozaki gets isolated in enemy territory again, as Bull tags back in and bites on her arm. The taunting continues from Nakano, as she does the same thing and holds her close to Suzuki's corner. Bull with a choke, and Hokuto joins in on a double-team by knocking her down from the top when she is held up. Ozaki flails away at Nakano with repeated punches to absolutely no effect, then gets flattened by one Nakano punch.



Tag back out to Hokuto. Hokuto whips Ozaki into the ropes, Ozaki jumps onto the second rope and then lingers in an awkward delay before springing backward with a flying forearm. Partially-botched tornado DDT, and Ozaki is finally able to tag Suzuki in.

Running dropkick by Suzuki. Two. Half crab by Suzuki. Nakano and Ozaki slowly enter also, and Ozaki slaps a half crab on Bull. She releases and they both exit. Suzuki slowly lands some running splash on Hokuto's leg. I've gotta tell you, this is completely awful. Completely awful.

Nakano tags in, misses a clothesline. Suzuki attempts a dropkick, but Bull sidesteps and Suzuki kicks her own partner. Powerbomb by Nakano. Up top, and a strong moonsault attempt misses. Ozaki and Suzuki take turns and connect on four consecutive double stomps off the top rope between them. The faces attempt a double suplex on Nakano, but instead she suplexes both of them.

They manage to get Bull out of the ring and turn to Hokuto, actually setting her up top for a double superplex, but Nakano charges back into break it up. She holds up the faces, and Hokuto hits a cross-body on both from the top. Nakano and Hokuto whip their opponents into the ropes, and both independently hit hurracanranas into pinning combinations. Two-count. Stop doing the tandem moves. Suzuki and Ozaki both hit clumsy flying clotheslines off the top. Two.



Ozaki with a dragon suplex on Hokuto, probably the first one of these moves I actually think she did well, and it gets two. Hokuto up with a German suplex that she botches pretty badly.



Nakano is back in, and quickly finds herself fighting both faces. Whips both into the ropes, a double clothesline on both misses, but Hokuto is on backup and hits a missile dropkick on both directly after. It knocks them out of the ring. Nakano follows and holds them up, Hokuto is straight back up top, and delivers a very nice somersault sentan from the top to the floor. Okay, enough good moves have been hit now that I'll back down slightly from "completely awful."

Back inside, Nakano sets up Ozaki for a recreation of the LOD doomsday device, Hokuto does the flying clothesline pretty badly, and the subsequent pinfall attempt gets broken up by Suzuki. Bodyslam by Hokuto. Nakano up top. Guillotine legdrop off the top gets the three-count.



Result: Nakano & Hokuto via pinfall (9:16)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Halfway through the match I would have given it possibly less than a star. Both of these babyfaces were wretched. Suzuki was somehow even more afraid of the ropes than Kelly Kelly. But Hokuto hit some strong offense late, the endgame of the match was decent, and that at least managed to push it up to two stars. But damn, Dave Meltzer was grading on a hell of a curve here to call this a four-star match. Not even close. This would be a sub-replacement level American women's match in 2015. **

Next match is Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog from In Your House 5. Meltzer gives it 4.5 stars. I don't remember it being a standout, but I also haven't seen it since 1995. All I really remember is that at least one of them gets busted open. I'm definitely curious as to whether I agree that it's a great match.

There are three matches in December 1995 to do, but match of the year for this year is pretty awkward at this point. Unless one of these last three wins out, it would have to be either Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett or Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero from 10/16/95 Nitro. It just feels weird to possibly consider an 8-minute match like that Benoit-Guerrero bout to be the match of the year, but it really might have been the best one.

4.5 on the Muta Scale, maybe. Amazing color job to make the match great. I LOVE that match after blood starts. I'm actually not sure I've seen the first half of it

In Your House 5: WWF Title - Bret Hart (c) vs. British Bulldog (w/ Jim Cornette and Diana Hart Smith)

Date: December 17, 1995

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31317909

Background: Our long national nightmare ended at Survivor Series, when the Kevin Nash stranglehold on the WWF Title was finally relinquished to Bret Hart. British Bulldog was granted a second PPV title match here, as his October match with Diesel ended with a win via DQ and his lawyer Clarence Mason threatened a lawsuit to get him another title match.

The Match: We get a pre-match promo from British Bulldog, Jim Cornette, and Diana Hart Smith. Cornette (correctly) does most of the talking. Diana weighs in to say that she doesn't have any mixed emotions this time, and that she has total faith in her husband. We also get a generic interview from Bret.

Jerry Lawler points out that British Bulldog was wearing the exact same pants that he wore when he beat Bret at Wembley Stadium in 1992. I loved that attention to detail until I looked up pics of that match and saw that it was clearly untrue. Bret gets the advantage of the first move-countermove exchange, but Bulldog pulls the hair and gets the better of the next one. Both stand up and reset.

Armdrag by Bret, who then drives his knees into Bulldog's arms a couple of times. Camera shot to Jim Cornette, whose tennis racket has a Santa Claus on it. Lawler: "He got that from the real Santa." Bulldog with an armdrag of his own. Bret off the ropes, cross-body, two-count. Reverse atomic drop by the champion, and a stomp to the lower midsection. Back to running the ropes, and Davey drives the knee into Bret's stomach as he runs through.

Bulldog sets Bret up on his shoulders, the same position he does his finishing powerslam from. Vince: "This is big trouble." Bulldog sets Bret up against the corner. Vince: "Oh, I thought he was going to go for the powerslam." Davey sets him up in the tree of woe. Vince: "That's even bigger trouble!" How the **** is the tree of woe "bigger trouble" than being hit with a finisher? Davey kicks away at Bret in the corner. Earl Hebner tries to get him to back off, and Davey hits him. Davey then picks him back up apologetically to avoid a DQ, and returns to hammering Bret.



DBS pulls him out of the corner and stomps away on the mat, then cinches in a reverse chinlock. Bret gets to his feet and runs and attempts a crucifix, but Bulldog counters into a Samoan drop. Legdrop by Bulldog, and a two-count. Back into the reverse chinlock. Vince announces that they've just been handed a note, and that The Undertaker will be facing the winner of this match for the WWF Title at the Royal Rumble.

As Davey distracts Hebner, Cornette hits Bret with the tennis racket. Bulldog eventually makes his way back over and pins for two. Back into the chinlock. Bret back to a vertical base, wrestles Bulldog into the corner and then drives repeated shoulders into his midsection. Bulldog fights back out and whips Bret into the corner for the hard chest-first corner bump. Two-count. Backdrop and another two-count. Again with the chinlock.



Bret escapes the hold, sends Davey into the ropes, leapfrogs and then executes a monkey flip on the challenger. Drives a headbutt down low on Bulldog, then bulldogs him across the ring. Two-count. Piledriver. Two. Russian legsweep gets two as well. Second rope elbow connects. Bret sets him up on the top rope, looking to execute a superplex, but Bulldog powers him off and crotches Bret across the top rope. Bret takes the blow, and then falls all the way outside.

Bulldog follows him out and knocks Bret into the steel steps. Picks him up and rams him back-first into the adjacent steel post. The camera leaves Bret so that he can blade the **** out of himself, and when it returns there's a small pool of blood on the floor.



Bulldog rams him face-first into the guardrail before returning him to the ring. Headbutt by Davey, and a hard Irish whip into the corner, where Bret takes his customary hard corner bump.



Piledriver by the Bulldog. Two-count. Delayed suplex. They show the action on a split-screen with Diana on the other. She actually sheds a tear at this point. The suplex gets two. Vince commands the cameras to keep on wide-angle shots so that they don't show close-ups of Bret's heavily-bloodied face. Press slam by Davey. Scoop slam to follow. Bulldog up top for a flying headbutt. Two-count.

Bow-and-arrow submission hold by Davey. Bret escapes and quickly tries to slap on the Sharpshooter, but Bulldog slips out of it. Hard shoulderblock by the Bulldog sends Bret sprawling all the way out of the ring. Bulldog tries to suplex Bret back in, Bret escapes behind and executes a German suplex for a two-count. Okay, enough split-screen with Diana, there's way too much of it. Hard mid-ring collision follows, as the two clothesline each other. Both make their way back up, and Bret backdrops Bulldog over the top rope to the floor. Follows him out with a pescado and beats on him on the floor.



Bret up to the apron, and he attempts to launch into a move from there, but Davey catches him and hits him with a running powerslam on the floor. He then goes and picks up part of the outside mat in order to totally expose concrete outside. Bret blocks Davey's suplex attempt and crotches him along the guardrail before clotheslining him off of it. Don't tease me with exposed concrete and then not doing anything on it, man.

Back into the ring, Bret with a backbreaker for two. Sends Bulldog into the corner; Bulldog flips and almost lands head-first on the corner bump. Bret sets him up quickly all the way on top and connects on a superplex. You don't need to be an expert lip-reader to see Davey yell "f***" on impact.



Bret slowly rolls over for a pin but only gets two. He gets up questioning the count. Davey rolls him up, Bret counters into his own pin as a clear call-back to how the SummerSlam '92 match ended, but this is only good for two. Love that they used that kind of spot.

Bulldog attempts a cross-body of sorts, but Bret ducks it. Bulldog sends Bret into the corner, but runs into a high boot on the corner charge. Hart follows with a magistral cradle, and that finally gets the three-count.

Result: Bret Hart via pinfall (21:09)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: Match starts off pretty boring, but from the beginning of the bloodshed it ramps up quite a bit and becomes very entertaining. I'm not going as far as 4.5 stars, and I think the excessive split-screen during the match that tramples over some nice spots probably keeps it just under four as well. They did some strong work here though. ***3/4

Starrcade '95: World Cup of Professional Wrestling - Chris Benoit vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (w/ Sonny Onoo)

Date: December 27, 1995

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31673797

The Match: Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan on the call. Mark Curtis the referee. Benoit and Liger go straight into it, with a couple of collar-and-elbow tie-ups that lead to knockdowns by Benoit. Benoit with a shoulderblock, but he runs into a couple of armdrags that send him outside, and then gets assaulted by a baseball slide (Benoit was super obvious about going back into the way of this to make sure it connected). Somersault sentan by Liger from the apron connects with Benoit on the floor.



The Crippler regroups and re-enters, and locks back up in a test of strength. He powers Liger down, but Liger kips back up and then executes a hurracanrana. Hard chop by Liger, but he runs the ropes into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Benoit. Attempted powerbomb by Benoit is countered into an armdrag. Release belly-to-belly by Liger sends Benoit rolling outside for cover. Liger looks to be running at Benoit, but Benoit moves and Liger hits the brakes.

Benoit again walks a lap most of the way around the ring before returning. Kick to the midsection by Benoit, then a snap suplex. Crisp back suplex by Benoit as well. Clothesline, and then Benoit applies something akin to Chris Jericho's Lion Tamer variation on the Boston crab. He releases and goes for a pin, but only gets one.



Chops by Benoit, Liger responds with a flurry of his own, but Benoit goes behind and executes a German suplex that he holds onto for a two-count. Double-leg trip by Liger, then he cinches in a surfboard. Benoit desperately rakes the eyes to get free, but Liger just transitions into a camel clutch. Benoit counters, standing all the way up and dropping Liger all the way backward to the mat to get free.

Back suplex attempt by Benoit, Liger shifts his weight and falls on top, one-count. Tombstone attempt by Benoit is reversed into the tombstone position by Liger, who falls straight forward in more of a pancake than a tombstone. To the top rope, Liger gets caught and superplexed off the top by Benoit. Hard impact, but Benoit hits the back of his head as well and is slow on the cover. Eventually makes his way over for two.



Scoop slam by the Crippler, who heads to the top and attempts the swandive headbutt that comes up empty. I don't really have any issue watching Benoit matches, but I do always find his headbutt off the top to be somewhat unsettling given what occurred later in life. Liger whips Benoit into the corner, then follows it in with a rolling thunder. Sit-out powerbomb by Liger, but he showboats during the cover instead of holding Benoit down…only a two-count. Still on the offensive though, as Liger executes a nice brainbuster.

Whip into the ropes is reversed by Benoit, who follows with a running clothesline. Consecutive German suplexes by Benoit. Hard powerbomb. He heads straight back to the top, connects on a swandive headbutt, but Kevin Sullivan suddenly appears from the back and gets up on the apron despite Jimmy Hart's attempts to pull him down. Benoit gets distracted from executing a dragon suplex, and when he turns around he runs into a botched hurracanrana into a pinning combo for three. Too bad about the botch on the ending; these guys were mostly really sharp here.



Result: Jushin Liger via pinfall (10:29)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Nice action between these two…basically just what you would expect between Chris Benoit and Jushin Liger. Lame finish and a botched ending kind of hurts, but I think Meltzer pretty much gets this one right. ****

Starrcade '95: World Cup of Professional Wrestling - Eddie Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Otani (w/ Sonny Onoo)

Date: December 27, 1995

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31673797

The Match: As WCW and New Japan are tied 2-2 in the World Cup, Dusty Rhodes calls this a "pivotable" match, or something like that. Otani refuses to lock up at first, repeatedly avoiding it. Eventually they do tie up, and Otani gets the better of the first exchange, locking in an armbar and then tearing at Eddie's face. Eddie breaks his way out of that hold, and they reset.

Enziguiri by Eddie. Otani rolls into a corner for safety and shakes it off. Guerrero straight back in with a snapmare, and then he rakes Otani's eyes with his boot. Double-leg takedown by Otani, who starts to apply a half crab, then attempts a full crab, but can't get a hold fully locked in. Eddie eventually counters into his own front facelock and then reverse chinlock.

Back to their feet, Otani monkey flips Eddie, but Eddie is right back up, sending Otani off the ropes and planting him with a hurracanrana on the way back. Dropkick by Eddie, who then goes out to the apron and launches back in with a springboard somersault splash. He locks in a Boston crab, then transitions into a half crab as Otani makes his way to the ropes.



Hard powerbomb into a pin by Eddie. Two. Brainbuster, shoots the half, pin is broken by a rope break. Whip into the corner, and a follow-up clothesline in the corner. Next whip into the corner, and Otani flips out to the apron, then does a high springboard dropkick. Awesome.



Eddie rolls out on the other side, and Otani follows him out with a springboard plancha to the floor. Great sequence.

Otani rolls Eddie back in, now in control. Dropkick. He chokes Guerrero along the bottom rope for a bit, then slaps on a chinlock. Guerrero manages an escape and a back suplex. Slow pinning attempt is only good for two. Suplex attempt by Eddie, Otani escapes in mid-air, lands behind Eddie, great German suplex, two-count. In a running joke from earlier in the night, Dusty admonishes Tony for calling it a German suplex.



Springboard spinning wheel kick by Otani. Bodyslam. Otani showboats as he slowly heads up top, but Eddie catches him early, follows him up top, and hits a nice hurracanrana from the top rope. Two-count. Modified sit-out powerbomb by Eddie gets another two. Some truly great offense going on here. Otani sees an opening and takes Eddie down by the ankle, holding him in a leglock until Eddie forces a rope break.

Otani charges Eddie after the break, Eddie drops down and Otani spills through the middle to the floor. Guerrero rams him into the guardrail, then bodyslams him on the concrete. Eddie heads to the apron and executes a springboard reverse cross-body on Otani. Another great spot. He returns Otani to the ring, then seems to try to suplex him back out to the floor, but Otani blocks and suplexes him into the ring. Another great springboard dropkick by Otani, who now has a bloody nose.

Otani starts to lock in a full nelson, Eddie elbows his way free, attempts a hurracanrana, Otani counters into a pinning combo, Eddie reverses into his own pin, Otani re-reverses back into one of his own, 1-2-3. Excellent match.



Result: Shinjiro Otani via pinfall (13:43)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: No question this surpassed the Benoit-Liger match from earlier in the night. Excellent work by both Eddie and Otani, just pulling out every high spot they could fit into the time they were given. Great finishing sequence as well. ****1/4

Match of the Year
1986: Battle of the Belts 2 - Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham
1987: WrestleMania III - Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat
1988: Clash of the Champions I - Ric Flair vs. Sting
1989: WrestleWar '89 - Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat
1990: WrestleWar '90 - Midnight Express vs. Rock 'n Roll Express
1991: SummerSlam '91 - Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart
1992: WrestleWar '92 - Sting's Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance
1993: Starrcade '93 - Ric Flair vs. Vader
1994: WrestleMania X - Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
1995: Nitro 10/16/1995 - Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

In 8 minutes and 38 seconds, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero managed what I think was the best bout from this year. Obviously this is somewhat the result of a weak year, but it's still a great match, and has the historic value of being Chris Benoit's debut as a full-time WCW superstar. If it hadn't been this, it would have been Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett from IYH 2. Frankly, Bret Hart vs. Diesel from Survivor Series would have gotten a long look from me, but Meltzer didn't even give it four stars, so it's not even in this thread. The above Guerrero-Otani match got at least a moment's thought, but it didn't manage a real story the way Benoit-Guerrero from 10/16/95 did.

1996 will provide a stronger field for this decision. Off the top of my head, Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind might be the favorite, but as always I'll keep an open mind. (In 1997, I won't bother with the "open mind" stuff. That one is obviously Bret vs. Austin.)

...and with that, I just now realize that I've completed 10 years of Meltzer 4-star matches.



Pretty sure that will be Barry Horowitz's only appearance ITT.

In Your House 6: WWF Title #1 Contender Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart

Date: February 18, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31326439

Background: Owen had (kayfabe) put Michaels out of action in late 1995 and then had bragged about it. Michaels returned and won the Royal Rumble. Owen proceeded to taunt him into putting his WrestleMania title shot on the line in this match.

The Match: Shawn cuts a pre-match promo where he sells his nervousness well about the gravity of this match. Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler on the call, Earl Hebner officiating.

During an initial exchange, Shawn baseball slides through Owen's legs to the floor and goes out to high-five the fans. This incarnation of HBK was the worst thing we would see until PG DX a solid decade later. Back into action, another rope-running routine ends in Owen baseball sliding through to the floor and then trollishly offering high-fives to people in the front row too, and being booed for it. Nice. In the meantime, Michaels hits the top rope and connects on a cross-body to the floor. Nice.



Back into the ring, an axhandle from the top by Michaels, a drop toe-hold, and he walks across Owen's back. Standing side headlock by Shawn, runs the ropes, shoulderblock by Michaels, hip-toss by Owen, both kip up. Hurracanrana by Shawn to follow, but Owen answers a moment later by catching him in his great belly-to-belly suplex.



Owen works Shawn over from there, executing a backbreaker accompanied with repeated stomps. Neckbreaker. Michaels thwarts a Sharpshooter attempt by kicking Owen off, but Hart remains in control, locking in a camel clutch. Michaels works his way back up to a vertical base and punches his way free, but just winds up running himself into a knee to the gut by Owen. Owen grabs the legs and somersaults through for a pin. Two.

Reverse chinlock by Owen. HBK is up pretty quickly, but this time he runs himself into a spinning wheel kick by Owen that sends Michaels all the way outside. Attempts to suplex Michaels back inside, but Michaels blocks and suplexes him to the floor instead. From the apron, Michaels attempts a cross-body, but Owen turns it into a powerslam on the floor. Great spot.



The King of Harts rolls Michaels back inside, and promptly drills him with a missile dropkick off the top rope once Michaels slowly regains his feet. Owen tries to follow, but Michaels counters by going behind and trapping Owen in a pinning combo that I never know the name of for a near-fall. Michaels whips Owen into the corner, Owen reverses, Michaels flips up onto the top, falls backward into the ring, and then Owen is there to greet him with a hard running clothesline.



Owen cinches in the Sharpshooter. Unfortunately Owen almost never beat anyone with this so-called finishing move, and this would be no exception; Michaels makes it to the ropes. Owen is frustrated and gets caught up in another surprise pin by HBK for two. Owen attempts a kick, Michaels catches his boot, and Owen connects on the same enziguiri that kayfabe caused Michaels to collapse and possibly face retirement. The enziguiri sends Michaels out cold to the outside. Earl Hebner starts the 10-count, but for some reason Owen heads outside and rolls him into the middle for a pin attempt.

Owen whips Michaels into the corner, then goes jumping in after him and hits the turnbuckle hard. Inverted atomic drop by Michaels. Flying clothesline by Michaels a moment later. A scoop slam, and then a flying elbow off the top rope. Owen Hart ducks under a superkick attempt, Michaels immediately ducks under an enziguiri attempt, and then Michaels connects on a superkick for the 1-2-3 to retain the WrestleMania title shot. Great final sequence given the match build.



Result: Shawn Michaels via pinfall (15:57)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Tremendous match. Both guys were on their game tonight, the good spots felt organic, the psychology was on point, and the finish was strong. This was the start of an excellent 1996 for Shawn Michaels. It's a shame we didn't get to see these guys face off more often, because they had a whole ton of chemistry to go with their top-level talent. ****1/4

And with that, Michaels makes a big jump up the list to #2 in terms of total 4-star matches (as agreed by Meltzer and I).

Ric Flair: 10.25
Shawn Michaels: 5
Sting: 4.95
Ricky Steamboat: 4.2
Bret Hart: 4

He would continue to add to his number as 1996 goes on.

Geeze, I forgot about this thread. MNW must be much more compelling for you. This match is fantastic. I watched it when it was brought up a couple of months ago. Probably Owen's second best WWF match and third best overall (Owen vs. Liger 4/21/91 being #2).

Not sure if it's next but have fun with the Ironman match.

It's less about MNW being much more compelling and more about the fact that MNW caught up with this one chronologically, so I'm just going to add to this thread as that one progresses and keep them on course together, at least for now. I was in the middle of watching this whole PPV and suddenly realized "oh yeah, this is one of those full write-up matches for the other thread."

The ironman match is next in here. I do enjoy that match, but yeah it feels like it will be a slog to conquer that whole thing for purposes of this thread.

Weirdly, WCW doesn't show back up here until June.

What, you mean the Tower of Doom match isn't on here??

I was really hoping when I started that Monday Night Wars thread that the Tower of Doom had been a pre-Nitro thing. Unfortunately it's nearly upon me.

WrestleMania XII: WWF Title Ironman Match - Bret Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Jose Lothario)

Date: March 31, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31348419

Background: Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble and retained his title shot against Owen Hart. Bret remained the champion through a couple of PPV matches against Undertaker and Diesel. That brings us to here.

The Match: The challenger, Michaels, gets an extravagant entrance where he swings in from the ceiling. The champion just strolls out through the tunnel as normal. WWF did quite a bit during this build to signal where they were headed with this match, especially hammering on the "boyhood dream of Shawn Michaels." Earl Hebner gives extended instructions, most of which consists of explaining basic things like countouts occurring after a count of 10.



The crowd cheers loudly as the bell rings to kick things off. Today there would be a banal "this is awesome" chant. Jerry Lawler speculates as to how distracted Bret might be about some of his fans converting to being members of "the kliq." Vince McMahon says, "Oh I don't think so. There aren't really just Bret Hart fans or Shawn Michaels fans. It's one big family affair here in the World Wrestling Federation." Lawler correctly retorts: "If you were a little smarter, you would know how dumb you sound when you say something like that."

Bret and Shawn engage in the expected early slow-down mat wrestling. Stu Hart is shown at ringside, sitting next to Freddie Blassie. They intermittently have a running clock on the screen, and as they near the 10-minute mark basically nothing interesting has happened. Obviously I understand the wrestlers pacing themselves and doing a bunch of mat-based stuff to start, but you have to tell some sort of story. A 10-minute side headlock doesn't do that.

Anyway, as we hit that 10-minute mark things start to pick up. The two wrestle into the corner, they do a clean break, but then Bret lays in a forearm after the break in what comes off as something of a cheap shot. HBK sends Bret out of the ring with a flying headscissor, and Bret walks it off a bit before returning to the ring. Michaels applies an armbar, Bret escapes and throws him out of the ring, but Michaels skins the cat and regains the armbar that he just had on. An armbar is an upgrade from a side headlock, I suppose. At least he's working a limb. Bret kips up out of the move, slams Michaels to the mat, attempts a Sharpshooter, but Michaels scrambles to the ropes before the hold ever gets applied. A frustrated Bret clotheslines him hard over the top. You can hear audible booing for Bret. Most crowds did favor Shawn over him.



Outside the ring, Shawn pushes Bret into the ringpost, Bret staggers and falls onto the lap of timekeeper Tony Chimel at ringside, and Chimel takes maybe his only bump ever as Bret sidesteps an incoming superkick and Chimel takes it flush in the jaw. Perhaps that kick is what caused his voice to crack like an adolescent every time he introduced Edge during his later career as a ring announcer. They wheel Chimel out of there, and the match continues.



The wrestlers go back inside the ring and resume with mostly slow-down moves. At the 20-minute mark, the hardest bump of the match has been taken by the timekeeper. HBK continues working that left arm of Bret. I still find it strange when wrestlers work the arm of an opponent with a leg-based finisher. Bret back up to his feet, lays in several uppercuts but finds himself thrown shoulder-first through the ropes and into the post a moment later. Michaels follows by ramming the same shoulder in again. Correct limb or not, he's doing decent work with it, even following with a shoulderbreaker to that same arm and a bodyslam with Bret's bad arm pinned behind. Strong armbreaker as well.



As we reach the halfway mark in the match, it's mostly been a pretty boring affair. A couple of nice spots - the timekeeper superkick was pretty great - but it still seemed like fewer impressive moments than I would expect in 30 minutes between these two, even knowing that they're playing the long game. After I say that, we do get a Bret Hart piledriver for a near-fall. Fun spot. I enjoy Jerry Lawler incredulously saying, "How do you kick out of a piledriver??"



A moment later, Bret avoids a superkick by ducking out of the ring, but HBK heads up top and executes a very nice cross-body to the floor from there. He rolls Bret inside, goes for another cross-body from the top, Bret rolls through but only gets two. Fisherman's suplex by Michaels. Two. Michaels takes a high back body-drop from the ring over the corner post to the floor. They tease like Bret could have scored a countout fall here, but Bret follows him out and rams him back-first into the post. He sends Shawn back inside, whips him hard into the corner, then executes an elbow drop from the ropes.

Bret with a backbreaker and a short legdrop as the clock reaches 20 minutes remaining. Whips Shawn into the corner, Shawn flips up onto the turnbuckle in a seated position, and Bret executes a back superplex. Still only a two-count. After the early headlock stuff, I can much more appreciate the focus Bret puts on Shawn's back. This is before Shawn's serious back troubles, but he sells a back injury for this match well. Russian legsweep gets two. Shawn takes a hard corner bump, flying outside as he makes hard impact in the corner and then hitting Jose Lothario on the way down. Bret plays to the crowd, who boos him pretty lustily.



Michaels takes a stair bump outside and takes Lothario out with him again. Back inside, the two trade blows, but Bret really seems to get more of the offense in this match. As we reach 14 minutes left, Lawler notes just how big the first fall will be. Michaels executes a roll-up, but Bret kicks out at two. Bret knocks him out of the ring, then connects on a suicide dive to the floor.



They tease countout after the suicide dive, but Bret breaks the count once and Michaels works his way back in. Bret tries to suplex Michaels in, Michaels escapes behind, Bret reverses back and goes behind, executing a German suplex for a two-count. Bret throws some rights and headbutts Michaels to the mat, but can't quickly capitalize as he begins to look gassed. Applies a camel clutch as we reach the point of 10 minutes remaining, still at zero falls apiece.

Michaels punches his way out of the hold, gets to his feet, and the two do a mid-ring collision where they clothesline each other. Bret up first, he executes a superplex and then attempts to go for the Sharpshooter, but HBK has the wherewithal to kick him away. Bret keeps after it and tries for a figure-four, but Shawn escapes that. Bret settles for a half-crab that Michaels gets a rope break from. It's a subtle moment, but I like that whole progression. Hart goes for the second rope elbow, but Michaels gets a boot up and catches the Hitman square on the way down. Big dropkick by Michaels staggers Bret into the corner. Shawn follows him in, whips him to the opposite corner, and Bret does his signature chest-first corner bump as about four minutes remain.



Shawn with a flying forearm. Nip-up to get back to his feet. Whip into the ropes, and a flying back elbow continues the surge of offense. Bodyslam and a double axhandle by Shawn gets two. Flying elbow off the top for another two. Gutwrench powerbomb. Moonsault gets two as we're under two minutes left. Michaels with a hurracanrana into a pinning combo for two. One minute left. Michaels slowly makes his way back up top and jumps into a double-leg takedown and a Sharpshooter with over 30 seconds left. HBK struggles in the hold for a very long time as the clock ticks down. The clock reaches zero, the bell rings, and Bret releases the hold.



Bret takes the WWF Title belt and begins to leave as Gorilla Monsoon comes in and talks to Earl Hebner. Howard Finkel announces that the match must continue under sudden death rules, and there must be a winner. Bret reacts angrily obviously, since he had his finishing hold on and only the bell stopped him, but now he has to continue. We go to overtime.

Bret with a high backdrop. And a backbreaker. Sends Shawn into the ropes, Shawn jumps out behind and connects on a superkick, but then collapses and can't follow with a pin. Both men back up very slowly, Bret staggers into another superkick, and we have the three-count and a new WWF Champion.



Result: Shawn Michaels, 1 fall to 0, OT (1:01:52)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: It was a good match, really good at times, but I do think that the booking decision of going 0-0 into overtime was a mistake. The biggest reason I feel that way is that if you do some falls then a lot of the spots that turned out to be near-falls gain a lot of impact. It basically comes back to the thing where wrestling is a lot more engrossing if any move can win a match, not just a finisher. In any case, the two men did work their hearts out here and put on a good match, but at the same time it was occasionally boring, and it's hard not to consider it to be a disappointment given that they're clearly two of the in-ring GOATs. ***1/2

In Your House 7: WWF Title No Holds Barred - Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Jose Lothario) vs. Diesel

Date: April 28, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31327255

Background: In kayfabe, tweener Kevin Nash had finally gone full heel by turning on Shawn Michaels at a house show before WrestleMania. In real life, Kevin Nash was just about out the door to WCW, and this was his last WWF PPV appearance for a number of years.

The Match: Diesel goes into the ring, sheds his big leather jacket, and throws it on Vince McMahon at ringside. Vince is unhappy.



They show that Mad Dog Vachon is sitting ringside before HBK's entrance. HBK hits the ring and instantly attacks, and it's a fierce brawl from before the opening bell. Diesel obviously has the power advantage and gets the better of some early striking back and forth. Michaels right back on top though, throwing a dropkick that sends Diesel out over the top. Follows him out with a baseball slide, then goes up top and moonsaults onto Big Daddy Cool on the floor.

Michaels takes a boot from a Spanish announcer and clubs Diesel with it. They're back inside, and HBK gets a two-count. Diesel back in front with a hard whip into the ropes and then a double axhandle to send Michaels sprawling into the steel barricade.



Diesel gets Shawn back in the ring and executes the power offense, including a hard short clothesline and then snake eyes. He keeps putting the badmouth on Vince at ringside as Vince swallows hard. Jumping side slam to continue the onslaught. Diesel undoes some black electrical tape from around his wrist, and promptly strangles referee Earl Hebner with it to put him down. Then he undoes Hebner's belt and takes it off to whip Michaels with it. I love it. Now he chokes away at Shawn with the belt, and actually swings him flying over the top and hangs him from over the top rope. Good God.



He ties him to the rope and then comes in and hammers him with a steel chair. Earl Hebner gets Michaels loose and into the ring, but the chair attack continues until Michaels finally sidesteps one and the chair bounces back off the rope at Diesel. Michaels takes the chair and is going to launch the comeback with it, but doesn't even get one shot in before Diesel puts him back down with a blatant low blow.

Diesel with a high backdrop. Eventually follows with a cover, but only gets two. After a bit of a rest hold, HBK is back up to his feet and continuing to fight back, but Diesel continues to overpower him, taking the fight outside and then setting up for the Jackknife. He lifts him up and then puts him through the nearby announce table in a spot that looks ****ing awesome (and incidentally also looks very unprotected and dangerous given where Michaels' head hits).



Diesel preens in the ring with the WWF Title, putting it around his waist and taunting the crowd. Shawn struggles his way back to his feet as you can hear Vince yelling, "Let it be over! Just let it be over!" Shawn grabs a fire extinguisher from under the ring and sprays Diesel with halon. Launches the babyface comeback, hits the back elbow, kips up, then goes and grabs a steel chair at ringside to bludgeon Diesel with twice.

Shawn's comeback is stopped when he goes for a backdrop and Diesel stops short and hits him. Diesel follows with a whip into the ropes and a big boot. Goes for another Jackknife, but Shawn punches his way out of it after being lifted up, knocking the big man all the way down. Great-looking flying elbow from the top. Shawn does the tune-up-the-band thing, but his superkick gets caught (likely thanks to him announcing his move for several seconds before attempting it) and Diesel clotheslines him down to the mat. Both back to their feet slowly, and Diesel clotheslines him over the top to the floor.

Diesel rolls Shawn back in, then instead of following he has a second thought and goes to ringside and grabs Mad Dog Vachon out of the front row of the audience. He pushes him to the ground and then ****ing removes Vachon's prosthetic leg. So incredibly awesome.



He takes it into the ring to use it as a weapon, but Shawn floors him with a low blow, sets up from the corner, and hammers Diesel with Vachon's leg. Follows with a superkick, and we have a three-count. Elite match.



Result: Shawn Michaels via pinfall (17:53)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: Certainly the most entertaining match that Kevin Nash was ever involved in. Not surprising that Michaels could drag a really good no DQ match out of him, but this was all kinds of fantastic. ****1/2

This spot is really cool. HBK just being awesome.

Yeah I love it too. I always just wish they had gotten a better (or at least consistent) camera angle on it. The sudden cut a split-second after the bump isn't great.

Next up in this thread will be a match from WWF's next IYH PPV, the strap match between Steve Austin and Savio Vega. I really don't remember that match being that great, but I haven't seen it since the time that it happened.

In Your House 8: Strap Match (DiBiase Career vs. Servitude as a Chauffeur) - Steve Austin (w/ Ted DiBiase) vs. Savio Vega

Date: May 28, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31326691

Background: Austin and Vega had been feuding since before WrestleMania, and it had built up to this gimmick match. Ted DiBiase expressed that he was so confident that Steve Austin would win that he vowed to leave the WWF if he didn't. If Savio loses, he has to become Ted's chauffeur.

The Match: Jim Ross and Mr. Perfect on the call. Since the power outage on Sunday caused the WWF to have to put on three live matches on Tuesday night to make up for what didn't air two days prior, I guess we were going to an alternate announce team as well. This match's only win condition was to touch all four corners in order and without interruption; pins and submissions are no good here.

Austin and Savio attach to the brown leather strap, and we're off. Austin slips out of the ring, but can't get very far, and he's back in and taking the fight to the Caribbean midcarder. Irish whip and a backdrop by Vega. Austin attempts to roll out again, but Savio yanks him violently into the apron twice. Stone Cold pulls Savio out, and they fight a bit on the floor before returning inside.



HARD whips by Savio. One of them looked like it could have hit Austin in the face. Austin to the apron, and the whipping continues. Suplex to the inside. I know Austin to have gone out of his way to say in shoots before that he really liked working with Savio and really trusted him in the ring, but damn this stuff looks incredibly painful. Savio hits two corners in his first attempt around the ring, but Austin yanks him down violently before he reaches corner #3.

Obviously Austin gets ample chance to return the whipping, catching Savio hard a couple of times himself. The two devolve into brawling and throwing punches from a horizontal base in the ring, and then roll outside. Austin back in, and hanging Savio from over the rope with the strap as he attempts to re-enter. Eventually suplexes him back inside. Austin hogties Savio's leg with the strap, touches two corners, but like Savio he can't quite get to three. Savio spins him around in circles and sends him violently into the corner.



Vega clotheslines him with the strap, then throws in a couple more whips as the camera pans to an earnest Ted DiBiase. Austin throws Vega over the top and almost to the barricade, and that's far enough to jerk Stone Cold over the top along with him. Austin suplex is blocked; Vega throws his own suplex that drops Steve on the thin blue mat. Austin up to the apron, but gets caught in the abdomen on the way down with a punch. Whip, whip, back into the ring.

Savio gets corner #1, #2, #3, but he doesn't get very close to victory as Austin manages to trip him shortly after the third turnbuckle. Vega sets Stone Cold up on the top rope and attempts to follow him up, but gets headbutted hard back down to the mat. Austin is too fatigued to follow either though, as Savio slowly gets up and throws a kick that causes SCSA to fall and get crotched. This time Vega succeeds in throwing the superplex.



Savio takes the trip around the corners, gets to three and turns to #4, which Austin is in position to guard. Savio breaks into a run for paydirt, but Austin completes a textbook football tackle to save the match. Austin strangles Savio with the strap. Whips him twice and then touches the first two corners. Gets to the third, doesn't have enough slack, pulls Savio toward him to get the slack and then gets distracted enough that he interrupts his own run around the corners and gets poked in the eye.

Austin for the tombstone. Reversed into a Savio tombstone. Neither one gets it, as Austin reverses again and then Savio falls out over the top. Austin heads to the top rope and goes for the big spot jumping out at Vega, but ends up landing close to the barricade. They make the mistake of showing a replay that reveals that he didn't come all that close to actually hitting the barricade, all while Jim Ross claims that he did.

Savio pulls Austin hard into the ringpost with the strap, then goes inside. One corner, two corner, and after a long struggle against Austin's attempt to stop him, the third corner. Goes for #4, but Austin desperately yanks him back.



DiBiase shows considerable stress outside, as he was inches from his WWF career being over. Austin calms him down by hitting Vega with a piledriver. Goes for a second one, but Savio kicks his legs to resist it and completes a backdrop. Both slow to their feet, but Stone Cold sneaks up behind and locks on the Million Dollar Dream, jumping on Savio's back. With Austin on his back, Savio goes and tags a corner. And another one. As he makes toward #3, he starts to fade in the sleeper hold. He gets a rush of adrenaline and jumps up and kicks his way off the corner, with good enough impact to break the hold.

DiBiase's man drops Vega hard along the top rope, then wraps him up neatly and begins dragging him around the ring. He hits one corner, but Savio hits one behind him. Austin drags him to corner #2, Savio hits it as well. Same story in corner #3. They head toward the 4th corner, Austin having position on Savio and Savio pulling desperately from behind. Austin wins the tug-of-war, but by winning he loses, as he accidentally yanks Savio into the 4th corner. Savio wins the match to a tremendous pop, and Ted DiBiase's WWF career is over.



After the match, Austin and DiBiase yell at each other, Austin angrily heads to the back, and Savio picks up a mic asking to stop the music. "That's not the right music for this night." He leads the crowd in serenading Ted out with "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye" as Ted rages his way to the back. It was a good send-off for one of the WWF's historically great heels. I think he could have been bigger as a manager if they gave him a stable that they actually booked strongly. But the pairing with Austin was not good, primarily because it took the mic away from Austin and put it on literally anyone else, so it was good for Austin that DiBiase decided to head south.



Result: Savio Vega hits all four corners (21:27)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Strong match. Really good, almost great. It was just a little bit on the repetitious side. I also think they would have been better-served to give Austin at least one false finish before the last one. Enjoyed a decent bit though, and I like that they protected Austin by making the loss kind of a fluke. ***3/4

Great American Bash '96: Cruiserweight Title - Dean Malenko (c) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Date: June 16, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31585675

Background: Rey Mysterio had just arrived on the scene in WCW; I'm fairly sure this was his debut. Malenko was working heel at this point, basically the mat-based counterpoint to the various high-fliers that made up a lot of the rest of the division.

The Match: Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Mike Tenay on the call. Tenay says up front that this is the first-ever bout between these two guys.

Mysterio with a side headlock takeover, escape by Malenko, both reset. Arm-wringer by Dean into a hand-spring escape by Rey, and again a reset. Another series of moves ends in a stalemate, with both kipping up facing off basically simultaneously. Running back elbow by Mysterio, running start to follow up, but Malenko picks him up overhead in a quick airplane spin, which Rey slips out of and executes a nice armdrag. Dean slides all the way outside before quickly attempting to re-enter.

Up to the apron, Dean finds Rey on the attack, with Rey slamming his face into the turnbuckle. Rey follows with a springboard dropkick off the second turnbuckle that sends Dean sprawling back down. Malenko slowly re-enters and locks back up. Powers Rey down, Rey counters, but Malenko ends up monkey-flipping Rey to the floor. Dean tries to follow outside with a baseball slide, but Rey sidesteps and slides into the ring as Dean is sliding out of it.



Back inside, Dean, from a lying position, traps one of Rey Mysterio's arms against one leg and then kicks through with the other to injure Rey's arm. Rey screams in agony on impact and holds his elbow. Malenko stomps on the bad elbow, then does a hammerlock slam on the bad arm. He continues some solid limb work on the same arm, targeting the arm with basically each subsequent move. Rey attempts to come back, whips Dean into the corner, flips up onto Malenko for what looks like a possible hurracanrana attempt, Malenko tries countering into a powerbomb, Rey escapes, but Malenko levels him with a hard clothesline.



Dean slow to finally get down and shoot the half to cover, and only gets two. Back to the arm work, grapevining the bad arm and attempting to pull it out of its socket. Seems like more of a shoulder move, but not bad. Hard back suplex gets two. Back into the grapevine/armbar combo on the left arm. Stands back up, does a hammerlock belly-to-belly overhead suplex. Rey escapes a moment later and hits a quick springboard dropkick, but Malenko recovers before him and goes straight back to the attack. Tenay: "I think the one possibility, as we look down the line in this matchup, is that Rey Mysterio Jr. still has his legs. If he's able to get back up on his feet, he's still in the perfect situation to make a comeback because he still has his legs; Malenko hasn't worked on them yet." Dusty, sounding genuinely indignant: "I said that, Iron Mike. I said that earlier." Note: I'm almost sure that Dusty said nothing of the sort earlier.

Tony points out that they have a tremendous crowd, as the camera pans around an arena sitting on their hands. The cruiserweight scene took a bit of time to really get over. Malenko lifts Rey overhead in a surfboard, then does a cool transition where he drops him into a waistlock pinning combo like you would normally see at the end of a German suplex. Only gets a two-count.



Malenko back into a keylock armbar, a convincing submission move going after the bad elbow. Has this on for quite a while before giving it up of his own volition. Another hard belly-to-back suplex. Two. Double underhook suplex. Two. Attempts a lateral press while reaching over and cranking the bad elbow. Love the psychology, but it only gets two as well. I like the commentary work at this point, as Tony and Tenay put over the fact that Malenko, usually the unemotional Iceman (as is his nickname), shows a rare bit of frustration over his inability to finish the match.

Undeterred, Dean keeps cranking the arm, but Rey gets to his feet and then gets free enough as Malenko attempts a waistlock that he gets some running momentum and then drops down to send Malenko sprawling through the middle ropes. Malenko straight back up to the apron, but Rey hits multiple forearms and then baseball slides one of Dean's legs. He knocks him from the apron, then hits a sick springboard somersault plancha to the floor. Awesome.



Rey back up a bit slowly, but he rolls Dean inside and then hits a springboard dropkick to follow into the ring. Semi-believable near-fall, but only gets two. Series of move-countermove ends in a bridge pinning combo by Rey for a two-count. Springboard hurracanrana pinning combo gets two as well. Mysterio to the top, but Malenko catches up to him and punches him multiple times. Sets him up for the second rope gutbuster, which I immediately thought was going to be our finishing spot, but Rey counters into a great hurracanrana from there.

Malenko reverses an Irish whip and goes for a tilt-a-whirl slam, but Mysterio counters with a headscissor takeover. Mysterio with a whip into the corner, runs in and jumps up on Dean's shoulders from there, pivots into position for a hurracanrana and gets planted hard by a powerbomb. Malenko takes out insurance by throwing his own legs on the ropes as he pins his diminutive opponent and holds onto the gold. The crowd, who didn't seem to be into this early, gives a very nice pop for the finish.



Result: Dean Malenko via pinfall (17:50)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Great match. Love all of Malenko's psychology in trying to destroy Mysterio's arm, a number of dramatic and believable near-fall finishes that left you really not knowing where the match was headed…and as noted, the competitors willed their way into the hearts of the live fans by the end. It was a big deal that Rey Mysterio arrived at this point and boosted the cruiserweight action to the next level. He and Dean had a contrast of styles that worked perfectly together, especially with Dean in the heel role where he would try to ground the exciting high-flier while still doing really entertaining mat-based offense. ****1/4

Great American Bash '96: Falls Count Anywhere - Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jimmy Hart

Date: June 16, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31585675

Background: There was some long-built tension between Kevin Sullivan and the younger members of the Four Horsemen. First his feud with Brian Pillman ran Pillman out of the company, and now Sullivan was threatening to take Benoit out. There was some level of alliance between Sullivan and the older Horsemen, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, and it seemed that Arn may be siding with Sullivan over Benoit.

The Match: Sullivan is second to enter, and Benoit picks him off halfway up the aisle as the two begin brawling. Stiff chops back and forth on the floor. Sullivan dumps Benoit over the guardrail and the two fight in the crowd. Sullivan looks to really gouge Benoit's eye hard. They take the fight up the stairs and into the concourse before heading into the men's room. There appear to be totally random fans doing their business in there who suddenly look incredulous that these two dudes just started fighting into this room.

Sullivan slams a stall door on Benoit's head. Twice. Rams him into a middle section in between stalls, then REALLY slams the stall door hard on Benoit's head. Man, you would think from that shot that Benoit stole Sullivan's wife or something.



Sullivan with a double stomp on Benoit on the bathroom floor. He's going to try to put Benoit's head in the urinal, but Benoit fights back and slams Sullivan with the stall door (though not his head). Sullivan fights back, opening a laundry chute door and ramming Benoit's head into it. Grabs a light-looking bag full of toilet paper rolls and "hits" Benoit with it. That looked like the least harmful weapon shot in wrestling history. If Bobby Heenan were on the call tonight, he would call that a bucket of bolts and tools and stuff.



The fight spills back out of the bathroom. Dusty: "Take it to the women's room! Let's see what that one looks like!" Blows back and forth between the two men. Sullivan gets the better of that exchange, hitting three consecutive right hands and sending Benoit staggering back. Up to the top of the stairs, and Sullivan knocks Benoit down them. Benoit falls down a number of them, then Sullivan stands him up and flings him down most of the rest of them. The two men finally fight their way back out of the crowd, as Sullivan drops Benoit crotch-first along the guardrail and both end up on the ring side of it.

Sullivan picks up a steel chair and throws it at Benoit. Doesn't make hard impact. Benoit crotches him on the guardrail, then after an unsuccessful attempt to get a weapon from under the ring, he whips Sullivan into the guardrail. Benoit gets a table out from under the ring successfully this time, and hits Sullivan with it. They go inside the ring, set up the table inside of it, and Sullivan sends Benoit into the table. Charges in after him, Benoit moves, Sullivan hits the table as well.

Benoit sets the table up along the corner as Sullivan is staggered against it. Benoit charges, Sullivan backdrops him onto the table, but when he follows him up there and beats on him, Benoit manages to fight back and slowly stand up, then set up for a superplex from the table all the way down to the ring. Excellent spot. And for once, a damn superplex is good enough for a pinfall. 1-2-3, Benoit wins to a mega-pop.



Result: Chris Benoit via pinfall (9:58)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Meh, I think Meltzer overrated this one quite a bit. Some of the stiff shots in the bathroom were good, the ending spot was excellent, but there was a lot of shrugworthy brawling in between. Not bad overall, but before the ending I was yawning. **3/4