I remember back in 96 that this match was revolutionary for the big two. I LOVED it when I rented it from Adopt-A-Video back in the day. I watched it around a year ago and was bored to death. Just doesn't hold up. Was easily **** back then.

FCA matches ending in the ring always bothers me

Yeah, and I had that thought while watching it. Brawling through the crowd was simply not done until this point, so it was definitely innovative and broke new ground. You could tell that the crowd ****ing loved every second of it, which has to count for something.

So I suppose I should pull back from criticism of Meltzer for it since obviously he rated it at the time, but either way it wasn't a great watch today.

Speaking of this, there was not a single pin attempt anywhere in the arena until that one that ended the match in the ring. Seems like a flaw.

yeah. Just say its no DQ if the plan is to beat the crap out of each other throughout the arena and then ending in the ring.

Honestly I don't hate the labeling of it. It gives an organic reason for the wrestlers to spill into the crowd and everywhere else. And it has the chance to create drama after every big bump elsewhere in the arena. But I just think it's a wasted opportunity to never have a pinfall attempt anywhere else to remind people that the match could end the next time someone gets hit hard.

King of the Ring '96: WWF Title - Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Jose Lothario) vs. British Bulldog (w/ Jim Cornette and Diana Hart-Smith)

Date: June 23, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31354791

Background: Diana Hart Smith accused Shawn Michaels of coming onto her. He denied it. They did a double pin of each other at the last PPV, and despite an initial announcement that Davey Boy had won, it was declared a draw. Here's the rematch. Jim Cornette's lawyer Clarence Mason leveraged an incident to force Gorilla Monsoon to let Cornette pick the guest referee for this match, and it's Mr. Perfect.

The Match: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Owen Hart on the call. Owen stands up on the broadcast table to cheer loudly for Davey during his intro. Before the match gets started, Gorilla Monsoon comes to the ring and says something to Howard Finkel. Finkel announces that Mr. Perfect will only be the official outside the ring, and Earl Hebner will officiate inside.

After some stalling, they lock up to a stalemate. Couple more lock-ups won by Bulldog as he powers the champ down. Some light chain wrestling for a bit, sped up when Bulldog clotheslines Michaels out of the ring, Michaels skins the cat and drags Bulldog out over the top with a headscissor. Executes a hurracanrana on the floor as well. Back into the ring, Bulldog applies a side headlock, Michaels powers most of the way out, but Bulldog reapplies. Michaels tries to run out of the hold, but Davey has a death grip and just drags him to the mat while holding on. Finally Michaels pushes him off toward the ropes, rope-running sequence, Michaels tries to leapfrog, Bulldog stops short of the leapfrog and attempts a press slam, Michaels escapes from the press slam and throws a couple of armdrags, then locks in an armbar.

More mat wrestling; this is mostly a slow starter again, though not as rough as their match the prior month. Davey flings Michaels hard into the corner; solid corner bump by HBK there. More of the same in the opposite corner. Snapmare by the Bulldog, and we're into a reverse chinlock. Michaels up to a vertical base, runs off the ropes and executes a hard armbreaker on the same arm that he's somewhat been working in an armbar. Axhandle off the top by Michaels gets two. Bulldog attempts a backdrop, but Michaels stops short and executes a knee-lift. Bulldog right back at him though, lifts him up for a press slam overhead, staggers backwards and drops him from over his head straight to the floor. Nice spot, as Vince yells, "That was intentional! Disqualify him!" Umm, that's a WCW rule, Vince. Nobody gets DQ'd for throwing over the top rope in your company.



Bulldog follows the champion outside and suplexes him on the floor. There's a bunch of gold **** laying around from Goldust's match earlier in the night, and it sticks pretty easily to competitors' backs. Davey holds Michaels up overhead in the press slam position again, and throws him back into the middle. Attempts a pin and gets two. Throws Michaels into the corner, and Michaels takes a hell of a bump, then falls backwards into a hard clothesline bump for Davey as well. The challenger slaps on an overhead surfboard. Michaels manages to fall backward, putting Bulldog in a pinning predicament, but Bulldog kicks out.

Michaels runs the ropes, but Bulldog runs back at him and buries a knee in his stomach. Follows with a backdrop and then a legdrop. Two. Michaels ducks a clothesline and throws a hard cross-body that gets two, but Davey is back up quickly after that and floors Michaels hard with a clothesline. Back into a side headlock. Man, I like some of the chain wrestling, but I just remember this match being truly great, and it would take some kind of amazing final act to achieve that on this viewing for me.

Michaels with a crucifix that gets two. Picks Bulldog up overhead, but Bulldog escapes, goes for a powerslam, Michaels escapes, whips Bulldog into the ropes, Bulldog stops himself as the ropes as HBK was waiting with a superkick, then throws a hard clothesline. Okay, that was a very nice sequence.



Piledriver by Bulldog, drives him down hard. Heads up top, botches an attempt at a flying headbutt as he halfway slips off the ropes, but it was designed for Michaels to move anyway. Owen accuses Jose Lothario of grabbing the ropes. Michaels goes up top, but Bulldog throws an upward dropkick that causes HBK to fall and crotch himself, then Bulldog heads up and hits a superplex. Two.



Davey sets Shawn back up top. Goes for a back superplex, but Shawn reverses the momentum and falls on top. Two. Both men run the ropes, and we get the hard mid-ring collision. Both up slowly, Michaels jumps up to try for a hurracanrana, Bulldog counters into a sit-out powerbomb that gets two. Again slow to get back up, and Michaels sends Davey hard into the ropes; he flips upside down into the corner, nearly two low, and makes a hard impact.



Michaels up first, hits a flying forearm. Goes for a bodyslam and causes a ref bump as Bulldog's leg knocks Earl Hebner down. Top rope elbow by Michaels. Tunes up the band, goes for a superkick, sort of misses but in kayfabe he hits him, Hebner is back into it and goes for a count, Mr. Perfect slides into the ring and stops him momentarily, then they count in unison, and on two Owen Hart drags Perfect out of the ring, which is pointless because Hebner just continues on to the three-count. The Mr. Perfect involvement was utterly pointless. Michaels retains.



Result: Shawn Michaels via pinfall (26:24)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: Okay, that did make it to greatness by the end; the match picked up drastically from basically the exact moment that I started griping about it. While the slow start brings the match down a bit, the last 10+ minutes are pure awesome and do just enough to get it to the four-star mark. ****

Bash at the Beach '96: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psicosis

Date: July 7, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31572863

Background: Rey had just arrived in WCW the month before to a decent amount of hype, and had promptly jobbed in a couple of attempts to wrest the Cruiserweight Title from Dean Malenko. He should probably try to get in the win column for this match. This was, I believe, Psicosis's WCW debut.

The Match: Four-man crew for this one, as Mike Tenay joins the usual Tony Schiavone/Bobby Heenan/Dusty Rhodes team. Rey offers a handshake and gets slapped in the face for it. Strong armdrag by Rey to open, sends Psicosis sliding all the way out before re-entering. Single-leg by Rey into a half-crab, Psicosis escapes and counters into a surfboard, Rey escapes into a pinning combo that gets two. Rey transitions into an armbar, Psicosis counters into an armbar of his own. Nice grapevine move by Psicosis earlier as he holds Rey down in something of a crucifix. Rey with an Indian deathlock, but there's a quick rope break.

Rope-running sequence, both wrestlers dodge each other's strikes, but Psicosis eventually connects on a spinning wheel kick that sends Rey to the floor, then follows with an over-the-top suicide dive that gets excellent elevation.



Psicosis up first, rolls Mysterio inside and sets up a running legdrop with a scoop slam. Reverse chinlock by the larger luchador. Releases the hold, slams Rey, and executes a guillotine legdrop off the top rope. Drapes Rey across the bottom rope and drops a leg along the apron. Back inside, he connects on a running clothesline that turns Mysterio inside out. Psicosis continues the assault by cinching in a headscissor on the mat. Releases that hold as well, then hangs Rey across the top rope.

Psicosis finally loses his vice grip on the match as he kicks Rey down on the apron and then gets catapulted into the steel post. Mysterio quickly capitalizes with a hurracanrana spot from the apron to the floor.



Both slow to get to their feet, but Rey is up earlier and rolls his opponent inside. Mysterio to the apron, connects on a springboard hurracanrana pinning combo that gets two. Rey kicks Psicosis's leg out and leans forward on it, almost like an STF that he doesn't fully lock in, but instead he drives the leg into the mat. Sets him up in the corner, uncharacteristically slaps him, then delivers a dropkick. Off an Irish whip, Psicosis sidesteps Rey and executes a drop toe-hold before transitioning into a headscissor. Back up to a vertical base, Psicosis whips Rey into the ropes and then does sort of a release stun gun that drops Rey high stomach-first along the top rope.



Reverse DDT by Psicosis. Rey rolls out, but Psicosis follows him out and drops him along the guardrail. Psicosis up to the top, and hits a sentan back splash from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Holy **** what a ridiculous spot to even attempt.



He rolls Rey back in and hits a standing enziguiri. Rey counters an atomic drop into kind of a snapmare from way up high, Psicosis runs the ropes, Rey jumps up on top of the bigger man's shoulders, then counters into a flying headscissor takeover. The fans, not reacting much at the beginning, are being won over by the spots in this match, and pop pretty good in a brief lull as just a show of appreciation for the competitors.

Springboard dropkick by Mysterio drops Psicosis down on the apron, then Mysterio follows him off the top with a hurracanrana that carries Psicosis to the floor. Schiavone comments on how close that hurracanrana by Mysterio came to hitting Psicosis's head on the apron, then adds, "That could have been fatal." Awkward. Back into the ring, Rey hits a standing asai moonsault on Psicosis for two. Dropkick by Rey sends Psicosis to a knee, then a springboard dropkick to his back sends him all the way out. Twisting asai moonsault to the floor by Mysterio.

Rey hit his knee on the guardrail during that last spot, and gets up selling it as Psicosis is actually the first in. Rey to the apron, tries to follow in with a springboard move (don't love this, since he just started selling a knee injury), but gets planted by a great-looking powerbomb by Psicosis that still only gets a two-count.



Psicosis rams Rey stomach-first into the turnbuckle, sets up for a splash mountain powerbomb off the turnbuckle, ****ing SICK counter by Mysterio into a hurracanrana, and that gets the three-count. Awesome ending.



Result: Rey Mysterio Jr. via pinfall (15:18)

Meltzer Rating: ****3/4

My Review and Rating: Awesome display that was more spotfest than real match, but either way I really enjoyed it. A spotfest fit the bill both in terms of providing an exciting curtain-jerker to a big show and also in terms of generally getting fans to get excited about cruiserweight wrestling and Rey Mysterio Jr. in particular. So I think it did its job very well, and the live crowd was certainly evidence of that in how their reaction to the match grew from the opening bell to the closing bell. I need a bit more of a story to my wrestling to put it quite up in the rarefied air that Meltzer puts it, but I'm still giving it a really high rating. ****1/4

Monday Nitro: Cruiserweight Title - Dean Malenko (c) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Date: July 8, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v35571069

Background: Mysterio had recently debuted, but had lost to Malenko twice. He seemed to earn yet another title shot at Dean here based on a single win against the debuting Psicosis at Bash at the Beach the night before.

The Match: Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko on the call. Guess Tony is going to handle this one without Mike Tenay's help. Dean and Rey jockey for position, Dean getting the better of the early exchange and whipping Rey into the ropes, but catching a boot upon charging in. Rey quickly follows with a reverse hurracanrana, then executes an armdrag that sends Malenko spilling outside.

Back inside, Malenko's suplex attempt is blocked, Rey goes for an asai moonsault that Malenko catches in mid-air, Rey escapes behind and goes for a sunset flip, Malenko tries to punch down and gets nothing but mat. Lots of nice reversals and escapes. Springboard dropkick by Mysterio gets two. After a quick botch, Malenko's attempt at a powerbomb is escaped, but Malenko is undeterred and follows with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Gutwrench northern lights suplex by the Iceman gets two, then he finally slows it down with a kneeling surfboard as Nitro goes to break.

Back from commercial, Malenko presses Rey high into the air off the ropes and just drops him to the mat. Butterfly powerbomb. Two-count. Camel clutch. Back to a vertical position, Dean tries to drive a knee into Rey's abdomen but gets countered into a roll-up for a near-fall. Front-facing suplex by Malenko drops Rey along the top rope. The challenger sprawls outside, and upon return Dean cinches in a reverse chinlock that he transitions into what looks like a cross-face chicken wing. The champ dumps the challenger to the floor, then executes a brainbuster on the damn floor.



Malenko rolls him back in, executes a simple scoop slam, and has to settle for a two-count again. Pumphandle slam attempt gets countered, Rey falls on top for two. Mysterio's attempt to rana Dean over the top to the floor goes pretty clumsily, then Rey goes for an asai moonsault that misses completely. Whoops.



Malenko is slow to get up for no apparent reason, and Rey is actually able to get up simultaneously with him and kick his legs from behind. Rolls the champ inside, climbs to the top, hits a beauty of a hurracanrana from there to the mat. Two-count.



Rey up top, but Dean catches him going up, lays in a headbutt, then executes his second rope gutbuster to the mat. Slow to pin, and actually pulls him up on two. Pulling his man up doesn't fit the Dean Malenko character. Great belly-to-belly by Malenko, and he pulls Rey up again on two. Rey shocks him a moment later by pulling a hurracanrana into a pinning combo for the three-count, and we have a new Cruiserweight Champion. Big pop for Rey's victory.



Result: Rey Mysterio Jr. via pinfall, new Cruiserweight Champion (9:34 plus commercials…so let's say 12:00 or so)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: It's funny, but I liked this match better before the acrobatics hit full throttle. I thought the early chain wrestling was tremendous, and was unbothered by the lack of big spots. I'm very annoyed by the ending sequence though. Not only is it untrue to Malenko's character to pull his opponent up twice, but after he has already beaten Rey twice, it again makes it look like he's clearly the better man and that Rey actually ending up winning is just a fluke. I get it, Rey still has the belt, but the early WCW booking of him is pretty damn screwy in spite of that. So this was the correct match result, but I just did not like how they got there in the end.

Setting all of that aside, it was still a very well-worked match that certainly really entertained me, and I can see justification for a four-star rating, but I'm going to leave it short just out of protest for the booking. ***3/4

Hog Wild '96: Chris Benoit (w/ Woman & Miss Elizabeth) vs. Dean Malenko

Date: August 11, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31660407

Background: Dean Malenko had just randomly started attacking Chris Benoit on Nitro (maybe there was some weekend build that I'm unaware of that led to this), and then Jimmy Hart pledged to get Dean Malenko a Cruiserweight Title shot if he would take Benoit down, due to Benoit's ongoing feud with the Dungeon of Doom. Apparently this title shot already happened and Dean already lost it.

The Match: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Dusty Rhodes on the call. Nick Patrick the referee. Staredown in the middle. Benoit suddenly shoots low with a double-leg and pounds away. Dean flips over and pounds back. Benoit fights his way back up, and the two fight for position in the corner until Benoit pulls Dean away, whips him into the ropes, and buries a knee into his midsection on the way back. Turnbuckle smash and a couple of punches, but Malenko continues the back and forth by fighting his way out of the corner and then executing a delayed suplex. Neckbreaker by the Iceman, then an elbow drop gets two.

Reverse chinlock by Malenko. Benoit fights his way free and then plants a kick to Malenko's midsection, following quickly with a headbutt, and the Crippler is back on offense, smashing him into the turnbuckle and choking him along the top rope. Legdrop by Benoit as the announcers say that it's been "all Chris Benoit," which isn't particularly true. Hard chops by Benoit, and a back elbow after whipping Dean into the ropes. Multiple covers for two-counts by Benoit. Malenko kips up, and the two counter back and forth with dueling pinning combos for two-counts. More chain wrestling culminates in a backslide by Dean that gets two. Hip-toss into an armbar by Malenko. Benoit powers his way all the way out to his feet and then drops Malenko on his back.



Snap-suplex by Benoit. Two. Into an abdominal stretch. Dean escapes from that with a leg drag, but Benoit puts him back down. Snapmare into a reverse chinlock. Malenko works his way out, the two trade blows, and then the two have a mid-ring collision as both go for a cross-body. Benoit up a little before, whips Dean into the corner, Dean avoids the turnbuckle and jumps over to the apron, heads to the top, Benoit blocks a top rope axhandle and hits a snap-suplex. Benoit to the top this time, swandive headbutt connects. Slow cover leads to a two-count.

Benoit sets up for a tombstone, Malenko counters into his own tombstone, successfully executes it but not particularly well, and goes for multiple covers as he futilely attempts to get a pinfall out of it. Benoit reverses a corner whip, Malenko gets a boot up as Benoit charges in. Malenko tries following, Benoit counters into a small package. Two. Malenko charges at Benoit along the ropes and carries both men out over the top to the floor.



Both very slow to get up. Again Benoit up a little faster, as he kicks Malenko, but Malenko blocks a post attempt and posts Benoit instead before rolling him back in. Dean slowly climbs to the top rope, telegraphing that Benoit is going to catch him and stop him. Benoit climbs up with him and connects on a nice superplex. They work their way back up. Benoit with a slam and a cover for two. Malenko with a nice release German suplex for yet another two-count. Small package by Benoit doesn't work out, Benoit with a short clothesline that doesn't finish Dean either. Misses on another short clothesline, Malenko puts Benoit down, and we see another failed cover. This is way too many cover attempts.

Northern lights suplex by Dean gets two. A better northern lights suplex by Benoit gets two. German by Benoit gets two. Ring announcer gives us a five-minute warning. Been a while since I've heard a time limit warning in any match. A slam by Benoit into a modified Boston crab, close to a Lion Tamer. Releases the hold, whips his man into the ropes, back elbow sends Dean outside, then Benoit follows with a pescado to the floor. Benoit rolls Malenko in, traps Dean's arms with his legs, then bridges back for a pin. Two. Victory roll by Dean gets two.

Malenko fights hard and finishes a backslide. Still no good. Benoit sends him into the ropes, Malenko counters with a roll-up on the way back for two. Benoit tries a couple more covers. Nope. Benoit powerbomb gets two.



Benoit to the top, Malenko catches him going up and executes his own superplex. Cover gets two as the ring announcer gives us a 30-second warning. Malenko rolls through for another failed pinning combo. Malenko powerbomb gets only two as the time limit runs out. Oh, but we're going to five-minute overtime by declaration of Nick Patrick. Frankly I was ready to be done with this one. Benoit slugs Malenko, back suplexes him, gets another two. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two. Benoit slaps Malenko's finishing hold, the Texas Cloverleaf, on. Malenko fights toward the ropes, Benoit drags him back to the middle, Malenko keeps fighting through the hold and Benoit eventually just releases it as the ring announcer gives us a three-minute warning.

Enziguiri by Malenko. He's slow to get up, and then the two collide once he does. Malenko suddenly has an injured leg, and Benoit immediately goes on the attack, kicking at that leg and then grapevining it. Malenko still refuses to give up, and Benoit releases at the one-minute warning. He jumps on Dean's leg a couple more times, then cinches the same grapevine back in. Thirty seconds remaining. Malenko fights his way into the rope break. A small package by Dean gets kicked out of as time expires. Nick Patrick sends it to another five-minute overtime, which the crowd loudly boos. They're bored with this too. Bobby Heenan tries to say that they're booing because they think that Benoit should be the winner.

Backdrop by Benoit. Legwhip by Malenko. Dragon suplex by Benoit gets two. Goes for another, Dean escapes, Benoit sits down into a pinning combo, two-count. Dropkick by the Crippler misses. Texas Cloverleaf by Malenko. Benoit fights out of it, so Dean has to transition into an STF. Woman tries running interference, Malenko starts to go after her, Benoit with the schoolboy, and that finally gets the three-count.



Result: Chris Benoit via pinfall (26:55)

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: Yeah, this match isn't very good. There are scattered good spots here and there, but way fewer of them than you would expect from these two men. There was no particular story. The crowd wasn't into it at all, and even got the opportunity to state clearly that they were mad that they had to keep watching it by the time a second overtime was ordered. Seriously, when a live crowd boos the fact that they have to keep watching a match, how can that match possibly be four stars? **

That Hog Wild was free to attend and held at a biker rally. So many of the people in the crowd weren't exactly wrestling fans. Not the kind of crowd that is going to enjoy a long technical wrestling match.

I agree, and I meant to say something about that. The booking of the match was just absolutely boneheaded for the occasion. I don't put all the responsibility for my lack of enjoyment of the match on the workers, because I think their task was made to be more difficult than it was needed to be.

That said, I've seen matches where I really like the action and the crowd won't go into it, and I find myself getting frustrated with the crowd for not appreciating what's in front of them...this really wasn't one of those occasions.

The double overtime thing was highly questionable because it gave the opportunity for booing but I'm not sure it would have been wise to cater to the free live crowd rather than the bigger and very different paying PPV audience. And this particular live crowd would have popped absolutely huge for Hogan running over Ice Train or Harlem Heat over with a motorcycle. Maybe they shouldn't have had a wrestling PPV there, but if I remember right Bischoff was a big motorcycle mark (and karate mark, explaining some other things).

I don't think I've seen that match in almost 20 years now but at the time Malenko and Benoit probably could have done moves for 75 minutes straight and I would have loved it. It is different now with more wrestlers who are really great at doing moves; having the Jim Duggans and Renegades of the world around really made the greats look even better in comparison.

Playing to the live crowd and playing to the PPV crowd aren't really exclusive things though, or at least I would certainly expect that they aren't. The majority of the PPV audience takes a more casual viewing approach than I do, and it would at least be my hypothesis that the more casual someone is, the more impressionable they are and the more likely they are to be brought down by a crowd that hates a match.

I would agree that you can somewhat set aside the live crowd's preferences in favor of the PPV crowd's likely preferences, but not to the extent that the live crowd actively turns on what's in front of them. I'm certain that unlike some other things in wrestling, a match in front of a dead crowd isn't just a pet peeve to me personally.

I don't think it's impossible to get the biker crowd to at least reasonably appreciate a Benoit-Malenko match either. Both were capable of great high-impact offense; give them 12 minutes or so, lean more toward power stuff than technical stuff, and I think that you can get a good reaction.

That's a good point about the crowd influencing the perspective of many of the viewers. I didn't really think of that because at the time I would have been actively disappointed to find out my preferences overlapped with the preferences of that particular crowd.

SummerSlam '96: WWF Title - Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Jose Lothario) vs. Vader (w/ Jim Cornette)

Date: August 18, 1996

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31354991

Background: Vader had been built pretty well as a monster since debuting with the company back at the Royal Rumble at the start of the year. He pinned Michaels at the preceding In Your House PPV in a six-man tag. That brings us to now.

The Match: Vader slams down some steel stairs upon arrival as the announce team - Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, & Mr. Perfect - wonders aloud if Shawn Michaels stands much of a chance to retain the belt here. Earl Hebner is our referee.

Vader throws in some hard body blows early, and then throws a hard short clothesline that puts Michaels down. Michaels catches Vader's boot as Vader attempts a big boot, leg-trips him, then throws a dropkick and a series of kicks on a seated Vader. HBK drops to his knees and lays in some hard punches as Hebner warns him about the closed fists. Vader reverses an Irish whip, the two trade counters, then Michaels leads Vader toward the ropes and drops down to allow him to spill out over the top. Baseball slide connects and knocks Vader down to the floor, then Shawn gets a running start and hits the big flying plancha with sick elevation over the top rope.



Shawn rolls Vader back in, jumps to the top rope in one motion and then drops an axhandle from there. Hurracanrana by Michaels follows…not bad, but pretty slow-motion. The champ jumps onto Vader's shoulders from behind, then rolls through forward, pulling Vader over the top to the floor with a headscissor and then skinning the cat to pull himself back inside. Shawn slingshots himself outside for seemingly a hurracanrana attempt on the floor, but Vader catches and powerbombs him on the outside.

The monster picks Shawn up over his shoulder and carries him up the steps to the apron, then dumps him inside. It's like he started a spot and then forgot what to do. Pummeling punches in the corner, body blows and then a hard right to the face. Suplex by the challenger. Hard forearms in the corner. Vader sends Michaels in for one hard corner bump, and then another, the second creating enough momentum to send Shawn sprawling out to the floor. The champ eventually gets back in, but quickly takes a high backdrop. Michaels escapes by flipping backward out of a back suplex attempt, throws some punches, but Vader thwarts the comeback attempt quickly with just one punch, corner whip, misses on a corner charge, but lays Shawn out hard with a clothesline.



Michaels again escapes behind on a suplex attempt and lays in a few rights. Sends Shawn out, Shawn holds on, flips back in, sets up a contrived headscissor, but the contrived setup gets redeemed as Vader simply lifts him up out of the headscissor and flings Michaels to the mat. Two-count. Side triangle bearhug thing by Vader wears Shawn down to his knees. Shawn fights his way back up, "feeling the power of the kliq" as lame-ass Vince McMahon says, and tries to launch the comeback. Vader puts him down, stands over top, tries to sit out on top of him but Michaels raises the knees and creates an incidental low blow. Hard clothesline puts the big man down. Shawn signals for a flying elbow, heads up top, and we get our infamous moment where Vader was supposed to move and fails to, causing Shawn to simply land on his feet and legit stomp on Vader's head a couple of times as he yells at him angrily, just basically stopping the match to throw a tantrum. I hate 1996 Shawn Michaels so much in spite of his great ringwork.



Michaels hits a running cross-body that carries both men out over the top. Vader reverses an attempted whip by Michaels and sends him into the ring apron. Lifts the champ up for a press slam and drops him throat-first along the steel guardrail. Vader re-enters the ring and…we have a bell. Vader is declared the winner by countout. Jim Cornette, apparently much smarter than Lex Luger, jumps on the mic and angrily yells that they're here to win the title and don't want it like that. Cornette calls Michaels out and tries to goad him into returning. He eventually succeeds in talking Shawn back into the ring, and the match is back on.

As the match is announced to continue, Vader ambushes Shawn again to stay on the attack outside the ring. Earl Hebner gets distracted with Jose Lothario, and Jim Cornette gets a hard tennis racket shot in on Michaels. Vader returns Michaels to the ring. Corner whip, avalanche, hard belly-to-belly suplex by Vader. Two-count. Vader goes for a powerbomb, which Michaels punches his way out of. Flying clothesline by Michaels, who suddenly has enough energy to kip up. Perfect: "Oh give me a break!" I feel you, Curt. Michaels to the top. Flying elbow. Tunes up the band in the corner. Cornette grabs HBK's leg, HBK grabs Cornette, Earl Hebner gets in the middle, and amidst the scuffle Cornette's racket goes into the ring. Michaels picks up the racket and just beats on Vader repeatedly with it right in front of Hebner, who calls for the bell. Vader is declared the winner by DQ. Cornette gets back on the mic, again demanding Michaels to have the guts to continue the match, calling him a coward for getting DQ'd on purpose. Shawn agrees to resume the match, and it continues.

Michaels with a running forearm. Flying elbow off the top. Sets up and hits the superkick…Vader kicks out. Vader shoves Shawn incidentally into Earl Hebner for the hard ref bump. Powerbomb by Vader, who covers for a visual pin but has no referee until substitute Mike Chioda arrives late and makes a two-count. Vader sets Shawn up in the corner and then begins climbing the ropes, going all the way up top for the moonsault. Shawn rolls out of the way, and Vader eats canvas. Michaels hits a moonsault off the top, 1-2-3, and the champ retains in a screwy, overbooked, but still great match.



Result: Shawn Michaels via pinfall (28:59)

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: I thought both men did great work here. Can't say I loved the overbooking, but that was just another byproduct of Shawn Michaels's ****ty politics, as he stopped Vader's push in its tracks after Vader was originally on his way to a title victory. Regardless, lots of great action here, and I was pretty surprised to see that the match took nearly 30 minutes, as it didn't feel anywhere close to that long. ****

Two things...

1) I was legitimately stunned when Vader didn't go over. Such a missed opportunity, giving Vader a run with the belt and having Shawn regain it at Survivor Series or Royal Rumble would've been so much better business. Vader's career ended here for all intents and purposes.

2) Shawn's tantrum remains the single most unprofessional thing I've ever seen happen in a wrestling match.

Professionally, this is by far the worst think Shawn ever did. Much worse than Montreal imo.

I don't really think it's unprofessional to participate in a screwjob. I think that's 100% Vince.

Though if the story is true about Bret agreeing to put Shawn over and Shawn going out of his way to needle Bret by saying he would never do the same for him, that's the type of thing that he has to know is going to cause issues. But at this point in time Michaels seemed to just go out of his way to be a prick.

That temper tantrum isn't anywhere near as bad as some of the stuff I've seen, like Luger vs Brody or Great Antonio vs Inoki. Brody and Great Antonio just flat out stopped cooperating and selling.

If Nick Patrick really did intentionally sabotage the finish of Starrcade 97, that was a lot bigger deal also.

Koji Kitao going into business for himself against John Tenta is another that comes to mind.

Luger/Brody is really bad.

I don't know the whole story but I don't fault nick Patrick for starrcade. If he normal counted intentionally I suspect it's because he was getting pressure to do so by hogan and other super influential people backstage. I doubt he came into that match looking to **** over sting for no reason.

I didn't mean the tantrum itself, I was referring to the entire business with Vader and Shawn's refusal to put him over even though it was the right move.

The rumor I've heard is that Patrick was paid off to not really do a fast count, but I have no way of knowing if it is true or not.

I don't know how I've never heard of the Luger/Brody match. Doesn't surprise me much with these two, though, Brody was obviously a real loose cannon and Lex was never easy to like.