Clash of the Champions XXXIV: Cruiserweight Title - Ultimo Dragon (c) (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. Dean Malenko

Date: January 21, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v32366007

Background: Ultimo Dragon defeated Dean Malenko for the Cruiserweight Title at Starrcade, and then beat him in a rematch on Nitro the night before this Clash. I would think that this is, for the moment, a last shot for Dean Malenko to get his title back.

The Match: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes on the call, Mark Curtis the referee. The two men circle, Dean into an arm-wringer, Ultimo flips and counters into one of his own, Dean escapes with a drop toe-hold, nice reversal by Dragon but another nice reversal back by Dean. Dragon with a single-leg trip into a grapevine. As this preliminary mat wrestling goes on, we go to a commercial break? And even get a ****ty nWo commercial. Lame.

They're at a reset when we come back. Go-behind waistlock by Malenko, goes for a suplex, Dragon blocks, the two grapple into the ropes, and Dean takes a cheap shot after teasing a clean rope break. The cheap shot gets a noticeable pop. Couple of corner smashes by Malenko, a series of forearms to follow, and a big brainbuster. Two-count. Grounded headscissor by the challenger; Dragon rolls, escapes, stomps on the back of Malenko's shoulder, then upon lifting Dean up to a vertical base, Dragon unleashes his signature kick series that culminates in a jumping back kick.



Dragon hovers and waits for Malenko to sit up, then unloads a stiff kick to the back that causes Malenko to roll outside. After a breather, Malenko carefully re-enters, Dragon was there to pounce, but Malenko is even quicker and fights off the ambush attempt. Nice little sequence there. Back suplex by Dean. He executes a spinning leg whip and grips the Dragon's leg on the mat. Ultimo finds a rope break on the bottom rope, but upon granting the break, Dean goes straight back to work with stomps and kicks at the newly-injured leg. Follows with a half-crab on the same. He continues with a leglock on that bad leg. Dragon tries to kick his way free with the other leg, Malenko persists, but Dragon has worked his way close enough for another rope break.

The limb work continues with a one-legged atomic drop. Crowd is pretty hot and clearly behind Malenko, who locks on a stump puller and continues to stretch the bad wheel out. Dragon tries escaping, Dean gives up the hold and transitions to a pin, but only gets one. He dumps the Cruiserweight Champ through the middle rope, follows him out, drapes the bad leg over the guardrail and kicks it. He turns and points threateningly at Sonny Onoo to stay away.



The challenger rolls his man back in, then goes for a figure-four leglock. Dragon tries desperately to keep one of Malenko's legs off, holds it successfully for a while, but eventually falls into the hold. That jostling weakened the position though, and Malenko ends up having to give it up anyway. Corner whip and a running clothesline by Dean. Dragon reverses the next corner whip, then hits a spinning wheel kick. Ultimo climbs to the top rope, but Malenko is up there to greet him. Superplex.



Both stay down for a moment, but Malenko is in better shape to get up first. He waits for Dragon to get up, then somersaults into him for a victory roll that makes for a very convincing near-fall. Dragon ducks a clothesline, attempts a kick, Malenko catches the leg and counters into an attempted powerbomb, and Ultimo counters into a hurracanrana pinning combo. He doesn't quite hold the pinning combo perfectly, and Malenko barely kicks out at two.

Malenko with a reversal on a corner whip, gets backdropped to the apron on his follow, and Dragon quickly capitalizes with a springboard dropkick off the second buckle. Dragon misses a pescado to the floor, but lands on his feet perfectly…gotta say, this match is another instance where Dragon basically didn't sell a leg injury at all, negating a sizeable chunk of the match story. Anyway, upon landing, Malenko kicks the champ in the gut, attempts a whip into the guardrail, but Dragon reverses and it's Malenko whose ribs take the brunt of the guardrail. Ultimo quick to capitalize with an asai moonsault off the second rope to the floor.



Both men roll back in. Dragon with a suplex, quickly scampers to the top and connects on a nice-looking moonsault, locks in a quick, decisive pin attempt...and again he has to settle for the believable near-fall.



Ultimo lifts his man back up top, sets up for the spinning hurracanrana, connects beautifully, but he takes some brunt of the impact and can't make a cover either. Dragon goes for a tiger suplex, Malenko counters, Dragon re-counters into a small package, two-count. Dragon drops his head on a backdrop attempt, Malenko for the powerbomb, Dragon flips out and escapes the powerbomb in mid-air, clothesline by Dean and then a butterfly powerbomb. Starts to go for the Texas Cloverleaf, but quickly releases to knock Sonny Onoo hard off the apron. He turns around to Dragon's kick attempt, trying to capitalize on the distraction, but Malenko catches the leg, single-leg takedown, and now he gets the Texas Cloverleaf on, seated deep on top of the champion. Dragon shakes his head furiously for a while, then caves and taps out to a huge pop. Dean Malenko regains the Cruiserweight Title.



Result: Dean Malenko via submission, new WCW Cruiserweight Champion

Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: Loved it. Think that the Starrcade match was maybe a little bit better, though as a Dean Malenko mark I have to admit that it helped even the scales a bit to see the feel-good title win for him after seeing him job to Dragon a couple of times. I do wish that Dragon would sell at least a little bit when he's supposed to have an injured limb, but that's my only real criticism here. That, and I guess it felt predictable that they wouldn't job Malenko out for a third straight time, which is admittedly informed by the fact that I know that Malenko continues to be a force in the cruiserweight division for long after this. But really, the execution was very sharp, there were believable finishes before the actual finish…this is a great match. ****

NWO SOULED OUT '97: WCW US Title - Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Syxx

Date: January 25, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31362285

Background: Eddie Guerrero had won the vacant US Title in a tournament, but the nWo had stolen the title belt. Cue a ladder match over it with their mascot Sean Waltman.

The Match: Eric Bischoff and Ted DiBiase on commentary, Nick Patrick the referee. As the belt rises to the ceiling, Eddie takes a cheap shot at Syxx, but Syxx is back at him quickly with a spinning heel kick. Continues with kicks, chops, punches against the ropes, Irish whip, and…a botch on the way back where the spot gets completely aborted. Flying headscissor by Eddie a moment later, followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Syxx goes for a breather, but Eddie quickly scales the ropes and flies off with a cross-body to the floor.



Guerrero rolls Syxx back inside, then smashes him into one corner. Whip to the opposite corner, runs into a knee there, but he recovers and catches up with Syxx's follow-up attempt from the ropes. Syxx knocks him off though, then delivers a jumping wheel kick off the second rope. Waltman beats on Eddie in the corner, kicking him in the face to drop him and then delivering the first bronco buster that I've encountered in the Monday Night Wars. He whips Eddie off the ropes, Eddie flips over his backdrop attempt, then Eddie turns back around with a dropkick that sends Waltman flying straight through the middle ropes to the floor.



Guerrero tries to suplex Syxx back in, Syxx blocks and suplexes Guerrero to the floor. Nice somersault plancha to the floor by Waltman, caught on an annoyingly bad camera angle. He goes to the top of the ramp and retrieves the ladder. He charges Eddie, more or less hitting him with it. As he tries to pull the ladder into the ring, Eddie recovers and makes his way back up to the apron. The two struggle over the ladder, and Guerrero cleverly pulls it down, causing the ladder to basically uppercut Syxx.



The champion slingshots back into the ring with a kick, then drives the ladder repeatedly into Syxx's back. After setting the ladder up in one corner, he chops Syxx hard in the opposite corner, but Syxx reverses the inevitable corner whip and causes Eddie to go smashing into the ladder. He sets the ladder on top of the champ and stomps on it a couple of times. He then lays it flat and drops Guerrero on it. The two climb opposite sides of the ladder, but it's unclear why since it's not centered anywhere close to the belt. Syxx knocks Guerrero off, then folds up the ladder with the clear intention of riding it down on top of Guerrero, but Guerrero finds his feet and dropkicks it into Waltman. Superplex by Guerrero. The ladder now gets centered in the vicinity of the belt, and again the two climb up, but Syxx throws sort of a dropkick at Guerrero once they get near the top.



Nick Patrick openly helps set the ladder back up for Syxx, but both wrestlers end up getting back up it at about the same rate. Syxx knocks Guerrero off, but ends up falling off into the ropes himself as well. Slow recovery by both, but Eddie is up first and begins the climb. Syxx tries to interfere, Eddie kicks back at him and puts him down, then resumes climbing. Syxx starts climbing as well and does catch up at the top rope. They both grab for the belt, they take it simultaneously, they struggle over it, and Syxx eventually falls, but Eddie doesn't hold onto the belt either (he was clearly supposed to). He drops to the mat and claims the belt to score the win. That was a terrible-looking cluster**** of an ending.



Result: Eddie Guerrero via tug-of-war victory

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Overall I basically enjoyed it - well enough to call it good - but it's nothing special. Some nice individual spots, but the storytelling was whatever and the ending came off really badly.

^^ I recall Eddie being very disappointed about this match when he discussed it in his autobiography and he thought that this disappointment would occur again in his ladder match with RVD in 2002 (and that match had some certain flaws to it, especially when, I believe, a random guy jumped the barricade and pushed the ladder Eddie was climbing?). However, everyone backstage gave him a standing ovation and praise that Eddie, personally, felt like he did not deserve at that point yet (since he was just coming back to WWE and settling into committing with his sobriety at the time).

Yeah, it really doesn't rate close to Eddie's best work. Really Waltman probably did more for this match than Eddie did. I can still see both guys getting some love backstage for putting on the only bright spot in a dreadful show.

WWF In Your House 13 - Final Four WWF Title Match: Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart vs. Vader (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Undertaker

Date: February 16, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31327269

Background: Steve Austin was knocked over the top and hit the floor at the Royal Rumble, but it wasn't seen by the officials. He re-entered and eliminated these three men. This was set up as a match for the WrestleMania title shot, but a few days before this, Shawn Michaels lost his smile and vacated yet another title. That put the vacant title up for grabs in this match. This is an elimination match, and eliminations can occur by pinfall, submission, or over-the-top eliminations like in a Royal Rumble. No DQ, no countout.

The Match: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on the call. Vader gets first entrance, and comes out jacked, tossing **** around at ringside. Austin enters second, walks up to Vader to flip him the double bird, then settles into a corner. After the usual Undertaker entrance, we get a quick pre-match promo from Bret Hart, then follow him through gorilla as he heads to the ring to complete the quartet. Earl Hebner, our referee, calls for the bell.

All four tentatively face off, and they end up pairing off at Bret vs. Austin and Taker vs. Vader. Flying clothesline by Taker puts the big man down, and then Taker gets up and attacks Bret. And Austin. He performs the tightrope walk, which seems exceptionally stupid in this match, but he successfully jumps off and hammers Stone Cold. Bret with a hard right on Undertaker, and Vader follows quickly with a belly-to-belly on the dead man. He knocks Taker through the middle rope and follows him out. One of the pairings is going to fight outside while the other fights inside.

Vader misses on a chair shot outside, hitting the post. After a recovery Vader takes a second run at it, and Undertaker kicks the chair hard into Vader's face. Taker whips Vader toward the steps, and Vader - already one to take a hard stair bump in a normal match - takes this bump especially hard.



As Vader gets up, he's clearly bleeding from right around his eye. Both he and Taker re-enter the ring. Bret Hart slaps a sleeper on Austin, but Austin drops down in a jawbreaker that gets a two-count. Taker ducks a Vader clothesline and hits a chokeslam. Austin with a Stunner on Undertaker, but he didn't get all of it. After a delay, he eventually goes for a pin, but can't get an elimination. Vader hits a low blow on Bret Hart, and those two head outside the ring under the bottom rope. Vader, whose bleeding is pretty ugly, connects on a couple of chair shots. Now Austin and Taker fight outside the ring, with Austin attempting a piledriver on the concrete that gets counted into a backdrop.

Back on the inside, Bret clotheslines Vader to the mat, but Undertaker now gets after Bret, suplexing him and pinning him for a count of two. Austin and Vader are fighting outside, with Austin slamming Vader into the steps and then dropping the upper half of the steps on him. He clobbers the big man with the WWF Title belt a few times over, but Vader fights back, using the timekeeper bell as a weapon in return. Vader drags Bret Hart to the apron, elbowing him there. Undertaker returns his attention to Austin. Bret reverses a whip outside, sending Vader sprawling over the guardrail and briefly into the crowd, but they return to the aisle.

Austin nearly gets knocked out, but stays on the apron, climbs to the top, and clotheslines Undertaker inside the ring. A moment later we end up with all four brawling outside. Vader and Austin come back inside; Austin ducks a clothesline, hits a Thesz press, then punches down mercilessly at the busted-open eye of the big man.



Vader knocks Austin down, and Taker clotheslines Vader to the mat. Bret plants Austin with a nice piledriver. Two. Vader sets up a Vaderbomb on Undertaker, but ends up going up top for the surely-doomed moonsault. It misses. Vader and Taker are back outside the ring, with the two taking turns choking each other with a television cable. The four switch dancing partners again, and Hart and Vader end up in a slugfest. As Hart starts to lose, he connects on a blatant low blow to put Vader down. Meanwhile, Austin wraps Taker's knee around one of the ringposts. Bret with a Russian legsweep and a two-count on Vader.

Austin and Undertaker trade near-eliminations over the top, which don't look especially good since both looked really obvious about how they were actively helping the other guy actually keep from being eliminated. Short clothesline by Undertaker on Vader. Bret picks Austin up overhead in a fireman's carry and unceremoniously dumps him over the top rope to eliminate him.



Taker with a corner whip and a corner splash on Vader. Bret attacks the dead man, firing away with right hands and a headbutt. Undertaker starts hitting back, but Vader gets a running start and clips Taker's leg from behind. Bret and Vader double-team Undertaker, knocking him out under the ropes. Vader reverses a Hitman whip into the ropes and knocks him down before finally discarding the bloody mask. He suplexes Hart as Paul Bearer hits Undertaker with the urn. Vader tries heading up top. Bret catches up with him and executes a monster superplex on the big man. Nice spot.



Bret struggles and eventually gets Vader over in the Sharpshooter. Undertaker, acting like a certifiable moron, re-enters the ring and clotheslines Bret from behind to break the hold. Bret ends up outside the ring, where we see Steve Austin run down and get a few stomps in, as well as a post job and a few more punches, before being hauled away by the officials. Austin rolls Bret back into the ring. Vader sets up for a Vaderbomb, but Taker does his sudden sit-up, then gets to his feet and hits a low blow that knocks Vader off the ropes, over the top, onto the floor. We're down to two, as Austin has followed Bret into the ring to continue piling on.



Taker knocks Austin out of the ring. Bret tries to charge at Taker from behind, but Taker spins around and catches him in a chokeslam. He picks the Hitman up overhead for the Tombstone, but Austin, completely obsessed with getting at Bret, tries to just pull Bret out over the top from over Undertaker's shoulder…he ends up just causing Bret to fall crotch-first on the top rope. Austin gets back up on the apron, Undertaker attacks him, Bret attempts to capitalize with a roll-up but only gets two. Now Bret goes at Austin, laying in a few punches. Taker flails toward Bret and Austin, ends up knocking Austin off the apron, and when he turns around, Bret clotheslines Undertaker over the top to regain the WWF Title.



Result: Bret Hart via over-the-top elimination of Undertaker

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: Great match. I think I loved it maybe slightly less than I was expecting, as I hadn't seen it in a long time and it just didn't grab me the way that I hoped, but as I reflect on the tremendous performance by Vader, and the great booking of Austin just insatiably pursuing his grudge against Bret Hart, I do at least think this reaches the four-star mark. ****

I remember that being a great match

WCW Monday Nitro: Dean Malenko vs. Ultimo Dragon (w/ Sonny Onoo)

Date: February 24, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v386784683

Background: This particular match mostly seems to be a one-off with no specific build, though there was some recent history of these two facing off in late 1996, as Ultimo Dragon took the Cruiserweight Title off Dean Malenko in December at Starrcade.

The Match: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan calling the action, with Mark Curtis officiating. The two competitors lock up to a stalemate. They go hold-for-counterhold on the mat until Dragon forces a rope break of Malenko's hammerlock. Dragon trips Dean and slaps on an armbar. He connects on a shoulderblock, lands on his feet on an ensuring backdrop, but Malenko ducks Dragon's enziguri, and both are back up quickly for a reset. Malenko offers a handshake. Dragon reluctantly accepts, then eats a short clothesline for misplacing his trust.



Dean drops an elbow, lateral press, one-count. Malenko drops his head too early on a backdrop attempt, leading Ultimo to unload a series of kicks, culminating in an Irish whip and a dropkick. Malenko double-legs Dragon, hammers away, then dumps Dragon out of the ring. He follows him out and whips him into the guardrail. Rolls his man back inside, where he executes a delayed brainbuster. 1-2-nope. Reverse chinlock by the Iceman, who simultaneously drives a knee into the back. Dean transitions into a camel clutch. Dragon escapes, slips behind, and leans back into a surfboard. He drops backward and down on Malenko's crossed legs a couple of times, picking Dean up into another submission hold, but ends up releasing.

Ultimo whips Malenko into the ropes. Malenko with a sunset flip on the way back to get another two-count. Dragon goes for a powerbomb, but Malenko blocks and backdrops his way out. Butterfly powerbomb by Dean for a count of two. He tries going for an abdominal stretch, but Dragon resists and knocks him out of the ring in a semi-botched sequence. Another botch a moment later, when Dragon outright misses a springboard dropkick entirely, but Malenko sells it as if it connected and falls to the ground. Ultimo dropkicks his way through the ropes, connecting very squarely, holds on and stays in the ring, then connects on a nice cross-body off the top.



Back into the ring, whip reversal by Malenko, attempted pickup on the way back, great-looking counter into a hurracanrana by Dragon gets two, then a pin combo reversal by Dean gets two as well. Dragon reverses a corner whip, Malenko gets his boot up on the corner charge, but runs into a drop toe-hold by Ultimo as he tries to follow up. Dragon quickly transitions from the drop toe-hold into a magistral cradle for a believable near-fall. Corner whip by Ultimo, attempts to follow with the stupid handspring back elbow, mercifully caught by Malenko and then transitioned into a release German suplex.



He takes a lot of time before going down for the cover, then ends up just beginning to strangle Dragon instead of pinning him. He won't give up on the choke hold, and he ends up getting disqualified. Schiavone: "Dean Malenko, for the first time in his glorious career, has snapped."



Result: Ultimo Dragon via DQ

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Upon finishing this review I'm finding that this Meltzer rating doesn't show up in every Meltzer rating compilation, so I can't confirm its accuracy. In any case, my prevailing thought as I watched the match was that this was not particularly a standout among other WCW cruiserweight matches, wasn't as good as the previous encounters between Dragon and Malenko, and I was increasingly surprised that it fell into my list for this thread. It got better at the end, it told a good story, and I think it was a good match, but it never would have occurred to me to give it four stars. ***1/4

Meltzer doesn't usually rate TV matches but he did say that was a four star match. He didn't really explain why, as per the usual.

WWF Monday Night Raw: European Title Tournament Final - Owen Hart vs. The British Bulldog

Date: March 3, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v121575683

Background: Owen and Davey are WWF Tag Team Champions at this time, but there has been increasing dissension brewing between them, with Davey continuing to tease a face turn. The European Title is brand new, so the winner here is the first-ever titleholder, and they made their way through opposite sides of the bracket to face each other.

The Match: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Honky Tonk Man on the announce job. Earl Hebner wearing the stripes. We are in Berlin, Germany, and the crowd gives a lot of heat to Owen but a mostly positive reaction to the Bulldog.

Collar-and-elbow tie-up. The two go into the corner, jostle for position, and we get a clean break. They trade arm-wringers, each guy flipping and escaping out of the other's. Corner whip by Owen, monkey-flip, but Davey lands on his feet. Owen blocks a hip-toss and performs one of his own, Davey right back up with a clothesline, Owen kips up, and again they reset. Owen offers a handshake; Bulldog halfway obliges by slapping the outstretched hand in a relatively friendly way. The two combatants enter into a test of strength. Bulldog powers Owen down, but Owen bridges out, and while Davey maintains the wristlock, Owen jumps up on the top rope and backflips out of it. Hip-toss and an attempted hurracanrana, but Bulldog counters into a powerbomb, then catapults Hart out all the way over the top. Nice sequence between the two.



As Owen recovers and then readies to re-enter, the Bulldog sits on the middle rope to offer a sportsmanlike return to the ring. Owen is very tentative and walks through carefully, but there's no swerve; Bulldog lets him back in cleanly, and the crowd gives out an ovation for that. Dueling hammerlocks by both men. Owen flips behind, roll-up gets two, armdrag by Bulldog puts his tag partner back on the mat. Back up to a vertical base, where again Davey slaps on a hammerlock, Owen tries to flip behind, but this time Bulldog counters by simply releasing and slamming him forward. Commercial break.

Back from break. Davey slams Owen to the mat, then wrenches on his elbow and into an armbar. Hart works his way back up, but gets surprised by a Bulldog crucifix for a two-count. Owen goes for an enziguri, but Bulldog ducks it, then transitions into an upside-down surfboard. Owen desperately grabs for the official, and it gives him the leverage he needs to get loose. Bulldog with a snapmare and an armbar. Again to their feet, where a rope-running sequence culminates in Owen backdropping his partner out over the top, then returning Bulldog's earlier front-flip taunt once he holds the ring.



We also get a redux of the earlier rope-holding sequence. As Davey gets up, Owen holds the ropes to let him in…and he, too, grants the clean entry, then slaps Bulldog's outstretched hand as Jim Ross expresses his surprise that Owen didn't level a cheap shot at his brother-in-law on the way back in. Bulldog with a side headlock takeover. As he leverages his weight down, he records a quick two-count. As they rise back to their feet, Owen sends Davey off the ropes, leapfrogs on the way back, and seems to land badly and injure his knee. Davey hesitates for a split-second, then goes in to capitalize, at which point Owen makes the miraculous recovery and counters by striking first. I love it. The crowd does not.



Owen tries to capitalize with a Sharpshooter, but Bulldog powers his way out. Bulldog is hot about getting deceived, and the two engage in a shoving match. They get back into the action, where Owen connects on a great-looking spinning wheel kick. As he shows off his healthy knees, he executes a backbreaker and then lands a couple of knees at the same spot in the back. A corner whip creates enough impact to put Bulldog down, and again the crowd gives Owen a lot of static.

Bulldog works his way out of a reverse chinlock, runs the ropes, but ends up running straight into a knee to the gut. After Bulldog takes a brief walk, he returns by throwing a shoulderblock from the apron and slingshotting into a sunset flip in the ring. Two-count. Hard clothesline by Owen turns the tables on Bulldog. Elbow drop for another two. Back into the chinlock as we get our second commercial break. After break, we see Owen throw that patented belly-to-belly off the ropes.



Hart keeps the pressure going with a camel clutch. Davey powers his way all the way up to his feet and executes kind of a sloppy electric chair drop; thankfully Owen seems to be okay after the bump, and gets his feet up on an ensuing corner charge. He pins Bulldog with his feet on the ropes, but only gets a two-count. Neckbreaker, then an elbow off the second rope. Two again. Bulldog works his way out of a chinlock, but Owen keeps the advantage and sets Davey Boy up along the top rope. Goes for the superplex, but Bulldog shifts his weight and lands on top to score a near-fall. Great-looking diving clothesline by the Bulldog, followed by a series of clotheslines.



Delayed suplex by Bulldog. Two. Corner whip, leading Owen to take that trademark Hart chest-first corner bump. Bulldog lifts his brother-in-law up for a press slam, then blatantly drops him crotch-first along the top rope, as Vince tries to claim that was an accident. JR and Honky Tonk Man both react with "LOL no, that wasn't an accident." Owen recovers and connects with a German suplex bridge into a pin for another near-fall. Bulldog with a corner whip that he follows closely, Owen tries to grab the ropes and jump out, but he lands on Bulldog's shoulders and right into the powerslam position. However, Owen clings tightly to the ropes, and actually uses them to help him fall on top for a smart near-fall.

Springboard cross-body by Owen, Bulldog rolls through, two. Hart back up with an enziguri, this one catching his man flush. Sharpshooter applied, right in the middle of the ring. Still, Bulldog fights his way over to a rope break, and Owen temporarily thinks he's won until Earl Hebner tells him otherwise. Owen sets up for a tombstone, Bulldog decides to legitimately save his own neck and counters all the way back into the powerslam position, running powerslam, and…Owen kicks out of Davey's finisher.



As Davey protests the count, Owen runs up from behind with a victory roll, 1-2-…Davey counters backward into his own pin, 1-2-3. Tremendous finishing sequence to close out a great match.



Owen is disappointed, and after a few moments of celebration by the Bulldog, the two Tag Team Champions face each other. Bulldog offers the handshake, Owen accepts, teases like he might hit Bulldog from behind, but ultimately he just goes back and shakes his hand one more time before walking off disappointed.



Meltzer Rating: ****1/2

My Review and Rating: Love this match. The two unsurprisingly had great in-ring chemistry together, but they also mapped out a nice story here, culminating in a great endgame sequence. Good crowd to help support the match quality as well. I'm on board with Meltzer's rating. ****1/2

fyp

Perhaps since TLF is doing SS 92 this week, I noticed that here Davey uses a counter to a pin here as well as at SS 92 and to beat Bret's brother, no less. Kind of ironic and a great (probably unintentional) callback.

I sort of assumed that call-back to absolutely be intentional, but I suppose there's no real way of knowing one way or the other unless Bret has mentioned it along the way.

WrestleMania 13: Submission Match (Guest Referee Ken Shamrock) - Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin:

Date: March 23, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31366763

Background: Bret Hart lost the WWF Title at WrestleMania XII to Shawn Michaels, then went away. During his hiatus, Steve Austin started climbing the ranks of the company, and started calling out Bret Hart in his promos, challenging him to come back and fight. Bret eventually returned and accepted Austin's challenge. They faced off at Survivor Series '96, with Bret escaping with a narrow victory. Austin became increasingly obsessed with Bret, jumping him repeatedly. Bret won the vacant WWF Title at the last PPV, but Austin cost him the belt the next night on Raw. Bret, often having a legitimate gripe, had become increasingly agitated and bitter, lashing out about how often he's been screwed over. The crowd started to turn on him, many of them defecting to cheering for the anti-hero, Steve Austin. That brings us to now.

The Match: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler on the call. Ken Shamrock the guest referee. Vince pushes the "mixed crowd reaction" narrative, although during the entrances it doesn't show through that much; Bret gets the much more positive entrance pop.





Bret gives out the sunglasses to a ringside kid. Vince says that he really didn't appreciate Bret shoving him down on Monday, nor his use of language on Raw. Bret enters, and Austin immediately lunges at him and takes him down, hammering away. The two trade punches, then spill out to the floor and continue going right hand-for-right hand. Bret sends Austin into the ringpost, which makes a vicious-sounding impact. Stone Cold blocks a suplex and crotches Bret along the guardrail with a front suplex, then hits a running clothesline that sends Bret over the guardrail and into the crowd. As Ken Shamrock tries to clear the way, Hart and Austin head up through the fans. Austin swipes a Coke from a vendor, takes a swig, and returns to the attack, as an enthralled throng of fans watches the violence unfold. Bret takes the fight right back at him. They fight up the stairs. Austin appears to go for a piledriver, but Bret backdrops him on the steps, and they fight their way back down.



Bret flings Austin back to the proper side of the guardrail and then jumps off the guardrail with an axehandle. Austin reverses a whip outside, and sends Bret HARD into the steps.



He flips Bret the double bird from the apron and then launches off at him. Tries to pick up the top steps to use as a weapon, but seems to slip backward as he rares back. Bret goes after him; Austin pulls him back into the post, sort of. The fight finally returns back inside. Irish whip by Austin, great swinging neckbreaker by Bret on the way back.



Vince: "If Bret Hart loses this match, you wonder what he's going to come up with as an excuse, because he'll have one in my view." Bret begins to work Austin's braced leg, wrenching it backward and then dropping down on it several times. Vince continues on about Bret, saying he hopes that Bret will settle down after this match and continue the great legacy that he had going. He's really quite salty about being shoved to the mat on Monday. Normally I would wish that Vince wasn't involved in the call of an iconic match, but I do think that his increasing personal (kayfabe) frustration with Bret adds something here.

Bret's limb work hits a bump in the road when Austin moves his leg out of the way of Bret's attempt to jump on it. That jolts Bret, and creates just enough of a shock to enable Stone Cold to hit the Stunner.



Obviously the Stunner is of less effect in a match where pinfalls don't count. Austin is slow to recover, and Bret actually takes him right back down by kicking at the bad leg. Austin, selling like a boss, goes down like he just got shot. It makes it feel all the more impactful when Bret drags Austin to the ringpost and slaps on the figure-four on the post.



Bret finally releases the hold and rolls Austin back in. Hart goes over and grabs the ring bell, likely knowing that the use of a ring bell is a prerequisite to a true WrestleMania classic. He seems to think better of it though, and goes and trades it for a steel chair instead. Bret sets up Austin's ankle in the steel chair, and goes to climb the ropes with the presumed intent of jumping off on it. Austin slips free of the chair though, picks it up, and wallops Bret with it.



Stone Cold hammers Bret again with the chair. Picks him up and hits a front slam. Corner whip makes a hard impact. Suplex, then Austin climbs to the second rope, displays the middle finger, and drops the elbow. He pulls Hart's legs apart and stomps the lower abdomen. Bret's young daughter is shown in the crowd, burying her face in her hands so she doesn't have to watch. Russian legsweep by Austin. He transitions into sort of a modified octopus that applies pressure to Bret's neck and arm. He releases the hold and slaps on a Boston crab. Bret eventually gets to the ropes, and Shamrock gets pretty overzealous in enforcing a rope break, particularly given that there are no DQs in this bout. An evil grin spreads across Austin's face, as he starts to apply the Sharpshooter. However, Bret rakes the eyes to prevent the move.

Austin dumps Hart through the middle rope. He mocks the crowd, and still gets quite a bit of heat. Stone Cold goes outside to continue the brawl. Bret reverses a whip toward the guardrail, and at least one announcer gets taken out in the process. Amid the chaos, Bret blades Stone Cold, and as the two emerge from the scene, Austin is busted open above the eye.



The Hitman, like a shark smelling blood in the water, doesn't hesitate to continue the attack. He unloads a series of punches directly at the open wound. Hits a backbreaker, then an elbow off the second rope. Grabs the same steel chair from before and hammers Austin's injured leg with it repeatedly, as Vince says that Bret is taking this too far.



Bret goes for the Sharpshooter. Austin rakes the eyes to block it. The Hitman punches him into the corner, landing a series of rights, but Austin manages to lunge out with a low blow that floors Bret. Vince: "I'm not so sure that wasn't deserved." Austin continues fighting the good fight. Jim Ross says, "Austin's a stud." Austin, well on his way to the full crimson mask, does the mudhole-stomp in the corner.



Stone Cold with a superplex. He sends Bret to the apron, then goes and gets an electrical cord and chokes Bret with it. Bret instinctively grabs for the ring bell from before and flails backward with it, stopping the choke hold. JR says that Bret "just rang Austin's bell." Ross was the greatest of all time, but man do I hate his attempts at corny word plays.

Bret capitalizes after connecting with the ring bell, applying the Sharpshooter. Ken Shamrock yells to Austin, asking him if he gives up. Austin refuses to give, but seems to be losing strength. Loud "Austin" chants fill the arena. In a last gasp, Austin musters every bit of strength he has to try to push up and out of the hold…



…but, even though he reverses the momentum for a moment, Bret maintains the hold and sits back in as deep as ever. Shamrock screams once again to Austin to ask if he gives up. Austin is unresponsive, and Shamrock calls the match off. Jim Ross is quick to emphasize that Austin never gave up.

Result: Bret Hart via submission (unconscious opponent)
Rating: *****

Bret Hart climbs the corners to salute the crowd, who still reacts positively to him even though a good chunk of them got behind Austin in the late stages of the match. Then, he suddenly turns around and attacks Austin again, kicking away at the bad leg. JR: "Come on Bret, that's enough! … I'm a Bret Hart fan, but that's enough." He's going to slap on the Sharpshooter again when Shamrock forcefully intercedes, grabbing Bret in a waistlock and throwing him off.



The crowd pops huge for Shamrock, who challenges Bret to fight. As Bret slinks away, the crowd breaks into a chorus of boos. Bret high-fives a couple of fans on the way up the aisle, but takes umbrage to one and flips him off. He completes his exit up the aisle, victorious in the match but disgraced by the crowd that cheered loudly for his entrance just a half hour ago.



Referee Mike Chioda tries to help Austin up, but Austin refuses the help and hits a Stunner on Chioda. Ross calls Austin "a man's man, whether you like him or not." Loud "Austin" chants as Stone Cold limps his way up the aisle.



Meltzer Rating: *****

My Rating and Review: This is the gold standard of storytelling. This is the greatest match in WWF/WWE history. To whatever extent he hadn't at this point, Austin would go on to surpass Bret Hart in basically every way, but Bret really deserves a ton of credit for launching Austin into the stratosphere in this feud, and especially in this moment. *****

Of note, that's probably the last great singles match of Bret Hart's career. Meltzer does put two of his 1999 WCW singles matches at ****+ though, so we'll see if I agree if I ever get there. From memory, I don't agree with his Benoit match being that great.

^^ I'm sure, there's bound to be two good (could be borderline great depending on people's POV) Bret/Undertaker matches on the way to Survivor Series '97. Don't know what Meltzer rated those though.

He only gives their SummerSlam match ***, so that one isn't on my list for this thread. I guess I don't know of them facing off otherwise in future matches. I don't see any more on PPV.

WCW Spring Stampede 1997: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragon

Date: April 6, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31664081

Background: None to speak of. Didn't really get hyped on Nitro leading up to this. They had wrestled in the past, so this was just the latest installment. Rey sort of had a feud going with Lord Steven Regal, and Ultimo didn't really have feuds in WCW…he mostly just showed up with his working shoes on and did a great job with whoever they put across from him.

The Match: Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay on the call, Mark Curtis the referee. Ultimo and Rey go hold-for-counterhold on the mat. Ultimo with a reverse chinlock, Rey escapes and goes for an armbar, but Dragon asserts his strength advantage, gets to his feet, and bodyslams RMJ. Mysterio with a single-leg trip, then locks on something of a bow-and-arrow before transitioning into a camel clutch. Ultimo escapes, shoving Rey forward into the bottom rope. Snapmare into a magistral cradle; two. Reset. Dragon with a kick to the gut, then he unloads his series of signature kicks to put Mysterio down. Irish whip and a dropkick. Slam by Dragon, transition into what starts out to be something of an octopus, but then becomes an armbar. He wrenches on this arm for a decent bit, but Dragon gets too close to the ropes and causes his own rope break. Back up to a vertical base, where Dragon whips Rey into the ropes, picks him up into a crucifix position overhead, then drops down to his knees to wrench the back.



Dragon with a powerbomb, holds Rey upon impact, dead-lifts him and executes a stun gun. Love that combo. Irish whip into a sleeper, albeit not a Dragon Sleeper. It still has some effect, as Rey fades and Ultimo ratchets up the leverage with a bodyscissor. Ultimo loses his grip a bit on the hold, and RMJ elbows his way loose. Dragon retains an advantage though, executing the Ligerbomb from one corner to the next. Tombstone piledriver…Dragon pulls Rey up after a two-count. I hate that stuff when it doesn't make any obvious sense within the match. Back into a sleeper. This has less effect than the last, as Mysterio quickly gets free and then hits a spinning wheel kick. He's slow to recover though, and Dragon is back up first. Couple of hard kicks to Mysterio's back, then a front suplex. Ultimo slaps on a deathlock, then bridges back and cranks up on Rey's neck. Transitions into an upside-down surfboard, but sort of loses the hold, holds on for a pin, and has to settle for a two-count.

Rey goes out for a walk. Dragon isn't having it, following him out to try to capitalize, but Rey reverses a whip into the guardrail, causing Dragon to make a hard impact and allowing Rey to simply grab a moment to recover. Dragon back after him before long, and again we see a sleeper hold. I really appreciate the psychology in Rey desperately managing to reverse a whip into the guardrail and then to immediately use it as a timeout, instead of suddenly making a superhuman recovery to go on offense after he's been ravaged for basically 10 minutes straight. Mysterio gets loose from the sleeper, and after receiving a shoulder block he actually slaps his own sleeper on. Dragon shrugs it off quickly, but Rey sends him spilling out of the ring with a front dropkick. Springboard somersault to the floor by Mysterio.



We get an interruption here, as they send it on a split-screen to Lee Marshall backstage. Marshall is trying to get a word with Kevin Nash, but Syxx makes him go away. Great interruption, guys. Back to the match, Rey connects on a springboard guillotine legdrop and gets a two-count. Dragon reverses a corner whip, Rey climbs the ropes going in and flips behind, then Dragon responds with an attempted cross-body off the second rope, but it misses. Mysterio to the top, but Dragon dropkicks upward, knocking Rey off the corner, causing his head to impact the post as he hurtles to the ground.



Ultimo with a dropkick through the ropes, holds the ropes, skins the cat, executes a pescado to the floor that connects. He tries to suplex Rey back into the ring, but Rey lands on his feet. Mysterio for a springboard moonsault, but he runs straight into a dropkick in mid-air. Giant swing by Dragon, but he's as slow as Rey to regain his feet after that. Rey jumps on the shoulders, transitions into a hurracanrana pinning combo, Dragon counters into his own pin on two, but Mysterio kicks out as well. Dragon lands on his feet out of a backdrop and hits an enziguri. Two. Corner whip and a running clothesline by Ultimo. Sets Mysterio on the top, spinning hurracanrana from there, 1-2-nope…foot on the bottom rope.

Ultimo lifts Rey for a powerbomb, Rey escapes, Dragon goes for a tiger suplex, Rey desperately scurries for the ropes and escapes, pinning combos both ways get two-counts, but Rey finally ships it after ducking a spinning wheel kick and executing a springboard hurracanrana off the second rope into a pin.



Result: Rey Mysterio Jr. via pinfall

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: Strong execution by both guys, really well-worked match, but it didn't exactly grip me the way the truly great cruiserweight matches do. I can't find four stars for this...if anything this is on the high side of what I can see myself giving this match. ***3/4

WWF Monday Night Raw: WWF Tag Team Titles - Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (c) (w/ The Hart Foundation) vs. Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin

Date: May 26, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v274481283

Background: Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin were reluctant partners, thrown together by President Gorilla Monsoon despite hating each other, as both were feuding with the Hart Foundation. Despite brawling with each other repeatedly, this was their time to attempt to work together to wrestle some of the gold away from the Hart Foundation stable.

The Match: Vince McMahon and Jim Ross on commentary, Earl Hebner the referee. This gets the big-match feel from the beginning, as Howard Finkel gets full center stage to announce that this is a title match before the full introductions begin. The supporting Hart Foundation members camp out at the top of the ramp rather than coming all the way to ringside. Owen and Davey don't get all the way to the ring before Michaels and Austin bail out of the ring and attack them. After some uncontrolled brawling, Austin and Owen head inside, seemingly the legal men to get this thing started. Austin drives the knee into Owen's gut, drops a couple of elbows, then quickly goes for a Sharpshooter before the Bulldog runs in to break that up. Austin fights Bulldog off and then continues on offense, hitting a second-rope elbow.



Tag to Michaels; we see a bit of cooperation between the reluctant teammates, as Austin holds onto an arm-wringer until Michaels hits Owen's arm with an axhandle off the top. Michaels with his own couple of arm-wringers, but Owen flips his way out of the hold, rakes HBK's eyes, and tags out to Bulldog, who enters with a hard shoulderblock. Michaels runs the ropes, Bulldog attempts a leapfrog, Michaels stops short and pokes him in the eyes before hitting a hurracanrana and then a series of downward punches. He baseball slides through Bulldog's legs, then hits an enziguri in the same style as Owen's.



Tag to Austin, who enters with a couple of rights before splitting Davey's legs and stomping the lower abdomen. The Hart Foundation makes a start toward the ring, but they hold up after a few steps. Arm-wringer by Austin, tag to Michaels, holds him so that Michaels can land a kick, then Michaels continues the teamwork as he quickly tags back out. We see a shot of the Legion of Doom backstage, as it has been announced that they would get a title shot at Michaels and Austin if Michaels and Austin are able to take the titles tonight. Bulldog whips Austin off the ropes, Owen hits a cheap shot with a knee to the back from the apron, and this enables the champs to get control. As referee Earl Hebner is distracted, Owen drops Austin on the guardrail outside the ring and continues to work him over. We go to commercial break.

Back from break, Owen is now seemingly the legal man, and Austin is fighting his way out of a reverse chinlock. Austin runs the ropes, Owen slaps on a sleeper hold, but Austin drops down and jacks the jaw to break it. Both slowly make their way over and tag out. Michaels enters with momentum, hitting a flying forearm and then knocking Owen off the apron to the floor. Bulldog reverses a whip and picks Shawn up in a press slam, then drops him crotch-first along the top rope.



Earl Hebner has lost control, as Owen continues doing work on the outside, ramming Shawn back-first into the post before rolling him back in. Bulldog gouges Shawn's eyes and then hits a monkey-flip into the corner. Two-count. Whips him into the opposite corner, turning him inside out, and then he catches him and hits the patented running powerslam; Austin has to make the save to prevent Shawn from eating the pinfall. As Hebner pushes Austin out, Owen just sort of comes in illegally and continues the offense on Michaels, hitting a gutwrench suplex into a standing legdrop and getting a two-count. He slaps on a reverse chinlock. Michaels works his way back to his feet and elbows his way free, but then runs straight into that great Owen belly-to-belly suplex.



Austin again has to save the match during the ensuing pin attempt, and again the champs take advantage and do some illegal double-teaming while Earl Hebner is trying to get Austin back out to the apron. Owen tags Davey. Irish whip by Davey, Michaels with a sunset flip, but Owen runs distraction and Michaels is stuck settling for a visual pin. Bulldog goes back on the attack, knocks HBK down and then hits a legdrop for a two-count. Bulldog slaps on the front facelock, trying to keep Michaels from fighting his way to the ropes. Michaels powers through anyway, seemingly making the hot tag, but Earl Hebner was distracted, did not see it, and disallows it. The heat segment continues. Owen sets Shawn up on the top rope and goes for a superplex, but Shawn blocks, knocks him off, and hits a cross-body off the ropes for a near-fall. Big spinning wheel kick by Owen lays Michaels back out.



Corner whip by Owen, but he comes up empty on the follow, and finally enough space is created for Michaels to make that hot tag to Austin; Owen tags Davey at the same time. Austin takes it to both champs, stomping a mudhole in Davey in the corner. Owen blindsides Austin to break up the momentum. All four are in the ring. During the melee, Michaels plants a superkick on Davey, Austin capitalizes by making the cover, and amidst the chaos, Earl Hebner counts to three. We have new Tag Team Champions. Great match.



Result: Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin via pinfall, new Tag Team Champions

Meltzer Rating: ****1/4

My Review and Rating: Strong underlying story building into this one, great crowd atmosphere, good storytelling during the match, and a surprising result before the days that this "reluctant partner" business had been overdone. Also strong ringwork by all four men. Really enjoyed this match. ****1/4

It occurs to me that if I stick with this thing where I'm just tracking this thread with the MNW thread, the fact that I'll never finish the MNW thread will have largely stopped this one in its tracks, thus stopping it from ever getting more modern than somewhere in the midway point of the wars.

My primary rationale for doing it this way so far is that I'd sooner not put myself through unnecessary spoilers of stuff that I've forgotten, reasoning I still stand by...but it seems that the best solution, then, is to fast-forward this thread to 2001, after the Monday Night Wars have ended. I can go forward chronologically from there, and can also fill in the '97-'01 matches as they show up in the other thread.

There's a six-man lucha match on the next Nitro that Meltzer gave ****+ to, so that may be the next writeup here, but otherwise I will be making the jump to the three entries from WrestleMania X-7 and going forward from there.

I mean you could also watch the AJPW stuff that Meltzer has huge boners on during the 1990s. There are no legal ways to actually watch it, but I hear there's someone with a google drive that has archived a lot of AJPW stuff in their prime years with guys like Misawa, Kobashi, etc. Although, I recall you saying that you like watching stuff through TV and high quality, so I don't know how that translates onto the bigger screen.

This site has every single ****1/2+ match from AJPW. It also has a bunch of ***+ matches and a bunch of monumental matches from 1984-2000 when Misawa splits and creates NOAH. Pretty sure AJPW is allowed to go on YT and all the monumental matches are on there. I had a YT channel where I put on all the ****1/2+ matches and had it get taken down because I accidentally put two NJPW matches on there like 2 years later lolz
All match ratings ***+ in 90's AJPW

This site has all of the great NJPW matches from 1953-2014.

WCW Monday Nitro: Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, & Hector Garza vs. La Parka, Ciclope, & Damian 666

Date: May 26, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v389581783

Background: None. Just a one-off Nitro match. This may have been the Nitro debut of Hector Garza.

The Match: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, and Mike Tenay on the call, Mark Curtis the official.

La Parka and Juventud, the biggest name on each side, start things off. We get sort of a role reversal here, as La Parka, the presumed rudo, offers a handshake, and Juventud briefly reaches for it before taking a cheap shot and smacking La Parka across the face. Irritated, La Parka charges, shoves Juvi into the corner, his follow-up misses, he goes for a tilt-a-whirl slam, but Guerrera spins out. A little bit botched. They both end up on their feet, Guerrera connects (clearly misses, but hey) on a spinning heel kick. La Parka backdrops Guerrera, Guerrera falls on the apron, climbs the ropes, goes for a cross-body, La Parka catches him in mid-air, struts across the ring, sets Juvi on the top turnbuckle, then slaps him across the face before strutting off. As he turns around, Juventud is already in mid-air with a flying headscissor takeover off the top that carries La Parka sprawling out to the floor.

Super Calo enters for Guerrera, Ciclope for La Parka. Shoulderblock by Ciclope, Calo leapfrogs him, but Ciclope turns around and levels him with a clothesline. Ciclope backdrops Calo onto the ropes, who lands in a seated position, leans back, does a reverse headscissor takeover from there. Calo up to the top, and a reverse hurracanrana from there sends Ciclope to the outside. Running start, Calo badly mistimes his somersault plancha to the floor and clears the guardrail entirely, winding up in the third row. I'm pretty sure that Calo botched more often than Sin Cara ever would, but that was entertaining.



Guerrera goes and gets him, flinging him back over the rail to the floor, and on the inside, Garza and Damian become the legal men via the lucha rules where wrestlers can functionally tag out simply by leaving the ring. Damian sends Garza into the corner, Garza hops up and flips behind Damian, but Damian turns around and hits a clothesline. Garza reverses a corner whip, heads to the top, hops over Damian, hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then gets some of a dropkick to send Damian out. Baseball slide by Garza connects, and then he goes up to the second rope and moonsaults onto Damian on the floor.



We're at Calo vs. La Parka now on the inside, Calo missing on a running dropkick. Ciclope and Damian enter, La Parka hits a running kick that puts Calo down. Calo rolls out, Juventud in, he ducks a Damian clothesline but fails to duck a Ciclope clothesline. Ciclope holds him up as La Parka hits a jumping kick to the chest. Looks like we're at Calo vs. Damian now. La Parka hits a cheap knee from the apron, Damian follows up and knocks Calo out with a clothesline. Garza is quick to enter, knocking Damian to the mat with a jumping clothesline and then again with a dropkick. Ciclope in, Garza tries to run off the ropes, but Damian drags him to the floor. La Parka and Juventud are left inside as the legal men, as La Parka gets a two-count off of a scoop powerslam.

Attempted release German by La Parka, Juventud flips out of it, Damian tries to run interference but hits his partner. The two disoriented partners are near each other and near the ropes, Juventud gets a running start, jumps up on both of them, but botches the attempted spot clearly meant for both and just ends up dragging Damian to the floor. As La Parka reaches down, Juventud does grab his arm and whip him to the floor. Juvi to the top, somersault plancha to the floor hits La Parka, Calo re-enters the picture and hits a slingshot splash on Damian, Ciclope suddenly re-enters the screen now with his own somersault plancha, and we've arrived at the contrived setup where all the luchas are chilling at ringside so that Hector Garza can scale the ropes and hit his corkscrew plancha. He does.



Garza rolls back inside, Ciclope follows, goes for a hurracanrana off the top, Garza counters into a powerbomb, hits a standing moonsault, and scores the pin.

Result: Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, & Hector Garza via pinfall

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: This had its fun points, but as six-man lucha spotfests go, it was nothing special and it often felt like a pretty big mess. I think that big Dave was pretty far off the mark here. That's partially forgivable because the spots were clearly a bigger deal at the time than they would look to anyone today, but again, I don't think that this compared particularly well to the other lucha action of the mid-90s either. **1/2

I know this wasn't posted for me per se, but a HUGE thank you anyway.

It's for the wrestling enthusiast. There's also a site for NOAH as well.

WWF King of the Ring '97: Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels

Date: June 8, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31293447

Background: Austin had recently turned babyface, and he and Michaels were unwilling allies who both held equal contempt for the Hart Foundation. In spite of their mutual disdain, they had recently won the Tag Team Titles together, but still had enough of a rift that they agreed to face off in a singles match that disregarded their status as tag champs.

The Match: Jim Ross and Vince McMahon on the call, Tim White officiating.

The two combatants face off in the middle of the ring, exchanging some harsh words that the mic doesn't pick up. They back into opposing corners, circle each other, and the opening bell rings. Austin with a side headlock, releases off the ropes, and puts Michaels down hard with a running shoulderblock. He punctuates the blow with a double bird. As this happens, you can see in the background that a mentally-challenged dude has made his way over the rail somehow, and security has a hold of him. Austin looks over and shows concern at the situation, then Michaels bails out of the ring, hollering "hey!" and going to intercede in the situation. He seems to want to calm security down and make sure that they're not being unnecessarily rough with the fan, who looks very confused with the situation he's found himself in. Suddenly Austin turns up in the shot and yanks Michaels back into the fray; the two throw punches at each other, and Austin rolls Michaels inside.

Michaels throws an armdrag, then punches Austin to the mat and returns the double bird from earlier. Michaels bails out of the ring again, where security is still dealing with the guy that the announcers reference as being a Special Olympian. Michaels makes security stand down, and just escorts the fan up the aisle himself until a woman - likely the fan's mother - catches up with the situation and takes him the rest of the way up.



Seems like a stand-up move by Shawn, who could have just turned a blind eye and let security deal with the situation (clearly what Austin wanted to do). You couldn't really tell on the broadcast whether security was doing anything wrong, but you would guess maybe so from Michaels's reaction. Anyway, back to the match.

Austin sits on the middle rope to purportedly help Michaels back into the ring, but Michaels isn't taking the bait; Austin eventually gives up and goes inside. After the reset, Austin repeatedly wrings HBK's arm. HBK reverses the arm-wringer and executes a side-headlock takeover. Austin regains his feet, runs Michaels toward the corner, but Michaels keeps his grip on the headlock and carries Austin back down to the mat after pushing off the turnbuckle. Austin gets free, Michaels runs the ropes but rams hard into a back elbow by Austin. Austin mocks Michaels with Michaels's signature pose, attempts to return to the attack, but Shawn counters back into the advantage and cinches in a reverse chinlock.

Austin regains a vertical base, Michaels keeps hold with a side headlock, eventually releases into a running shoulderblock, then whips Austin into the ropes…Michaels goes for a Thesz press, Austin counters into an inverted atomic drop, then clotheslines Michaels hard over the top, which prompts Michaels to go into a weird oversell that would foreshadow his Hulk Hogan match years later.



Austin heads outside, puts Michaels back down with a hard right, then returns to the ring and drags Michaels in with him, suplexing him from the apron to the inside. Michaels falls behind, rolls Austin up, and gets a near-fall. HBK with a drop toe-hold into an armbar. Vince reports that Mankind is backstage refusing medical attention from the earlier match. Back in this match, Austin reaches a rope break and slides outside for a quick breather. Stone Cold comes back inside and offers a test of strength. Michaels is hesitant, but Stone Cold goads him and then takes the opportunity to land a cheap kick to the gut, helping him power HBK quickly to his knees.

Michaels fights his way back to his feet and executes a backdrop, but after a failed pin attempt he misses on an elbow. Austin inadvertently knocks the cameraman off the apron as he bounces off the ropes, causing us to lose a couple of seconds of the next sequence, but we return to another view with Michaels in control of an armbar. Austin breaks it with an Irish whip, misses with an elbow, but connects on a Thesz press and throws a flurry of punches. After crowing a bit, Austin returns for more punches and finds himself in a surprise pinning combo for a near-fall. The two trade pinning combos from there until Austin blocks a backslide attempt and proceeds to dump Michaels violently over the top to the floor.

As Shawn gets up on the apron, SCSA hangs him repeatedly against the top rope before getting a running start and knocking him from the apron into the guardrail. Austin bails to the floor and pulls up some of the ringside mats, which Vince, disgusted, says "will change the whole complexity (sic) of the match." Austin picks Shawn up and dumps him on the guardrail, takes a moment to break the referee's count and then returns to work, dragging Shawn toward the exposed floor. Once there, Michaels fights back with punches, but Austin sends him into the steps and then sort of press-slams him into that exposed floor.



HBK works his way back inside, ducks a Stone Cold clothesline, but he goes for a flying forearm and misses entirely, rolling out of the ring. Austin goes out, returns Michaels inside, and nearly falls victim to a surprise small package. Austin goes back on the attack with a snapmare and a second-rope elbow from over halfway across the ring. Two-count. The Rattlesnake slaps on a headlock and works Michaels over with it, occasionally cheating by reaching his feet out for rope leverage. Referee Tim White eventually catches him at it and breaks the hold. Michaels and Austin trade fists, Michaels staggering Austin with a run of them and then flinging Austin through the ropes to the floor. Shawn continues the offensive with a baseball slide that connects to the floor. He suplexes Austin inside, Austin lands on his feet, Irish whip, Shawn comes back with a flying forearm that connects, he backdrops Austin, inverted atomic drop, corner whip, and the momentum ends resoundingly when Michaels comes up empty on a corner charge and rams his shoulder hard into the post.

Austin drags Michaels back in, exposing half his ass in the process. He whips Michaels into the corner, Michaels jumps up the turnbuckle, cross-body into Austin, Austin rolls through for a near-fall. Big clothesline by Austin for another near-fall. Michaels reverses a corner whip and sends Austin into Tim White for a ref bump. Austin regains his feet and hits a Stunner, but Tim White is still out, and Austin has to settle for the visual pin. A frustrated Austin picks White up and stuns him. Michaels hits a superkick on Austin, of course Tim White is again not around to count since he just got stunned, and now referee Mike Chioda runs down and tries to revive White.



As Chioda tries to explain the situation to White, Michaels superkicks Chioda. Michaels now goes back to trying to pin Austin, who is still down from the earlier superkick, but Austin kicks out on two after that long delay. Senior referee Earl Hebner shows up now, and he calls the match off. I suppose they're calling this a draw even though the legit kayfabe decision should clearly be Michaels via DQ. Sure enough, the word comes down that both men were disqualified.

Result: Double Disqualification

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: Not really sure what Meltzer thinks is particularly great about this match. It's fine, but it's disjointed and nothing really stood out about it. Also we got a non-finish, which was understandable but still not at all satisfying. **3/4

WWF In Your House 16 - Canadian Stampede: TAKA Michinoku vs. The Great Sasuke

Date: July 6, 1997

Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31327267

Background: WWF, clearly late to the party when it came to lightweights/cruiserweights, finally decided to start a light heavyweight division, and these two were two of the signees they were banking on early. Sasuke was the biggest name they had signed. This was the WWF in-ring debut for both.

The Match: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler on the call, Jack Doan the third man in the ring.

Crowd doesn't know either guy, so neither gets a reaction. Let's see what they can do about changing that. Before this thing can get under way, we do hear a sudden pop from the crowd, and Helmsley and Mankind are back to brawling through the crowd. I like it. Eventually the brawl goes back out of camera view, and it's time for this match to begin.

The combatants circle each other. Sasuke throws a couple of leg-strikes to start, but TAKA absorbs and the two get into a lock-up. Into the ropes, and we see a clean break. After the reset, they tie back up, Sasuke executing an arm-wringer. TAKA flips through and gets his own armbar, but Sasuke reverses and reapplies his own. Eventually another reset. Spinning back kick by Sasuke stuns TAKA, and Sasuke slaps on a chinlock. Transition into a headscissor. TAKA gets loose and applies a chinlock, then combines it with an armbar, sort of cranking back as if in a surfboard. Sasuke gets to his knees, but TAKA attacks Sasuke's arm repeatedly. Sasuke slaps on a sleeper, TAKA temporarily gets loose, but Sasuke puts him down hard with a spinning back kick. Half-crab by Sasuke, really wrenching on it hard, but TAKA has enough room to grab for a rope break.

More kicks by Sasuke, but a right hand by TAKA catches Sasuke off and puts him down. Targeted dropkick to the back of Sasuke's head, then a seated dropkick to the seated Sasuke. Another big palm strike by TAKA, but he backs up and charges, and gets backdropped to the floor for his efforts. Sasuke tries to capitalize off the top rope, and he mostly misses…it's difficult to tell whether he was supposed to hit or not. Either way, both stay down for a time. Sasuke is eventually the first to find his feet, and he just re-enters the ring. TAKA is in after him, and Sasuke resumes the advantage with a series of kick, including a big kick to the face that sends TAKA into a concussed daze, eventually going down. Sasuke stalls, and when TAKA finds his feet again, TAKA catches Sasuke's foot on a kick, leg-whips him down, then executes a targeted dropkick to Sasuke's patella. As Sasuke rolls out of the ring to try to get a breather, we see a big spot, as TAKA gets a running start and hits a springboard plancha to the floor.



TAKA waits inside the ring, and eventually Sasuke finds his way back to the apron. TAKA tries to suplex him in, Sasuke lands behind, goes for a German, TAKA lands behind, hurracanrana, and a near-fall two-count. Follows with another cradle for another two. Sasuke comes back at him with a handspring back elbow that sends TAKA to the outside, and then Sasuke heads to the apron and connects on an asai moonsault. Again we have a both-men-recover spot, but they eventually make their way back in. Great release belly-to-belly by TAKA (Owen-level, even), and he gets two. Corner whip by TAKA, followed by a kick, then a springboard dropkick. The fans are definitely getting behind TAKA now. TAKA hits a Michinoku Driver, and…no? Sasuke kicks out. In the future he wouldn't have.



After the kickout, TAKA climbs the ropes and goes for a splash, but Sasuke catches him with a dropkick on the way down. Quebrada gets two. Big powerbomb by Sasuke, then a tiger suplex, 1-2-3. The crowd shows some appreciation, but they're disappointed that Sasuke went over. Sasuke was the much bigger name, but he wasn't long for this company; WWF recognized who got over here.



Result: The Great Sasuke via pinfall

Meltzer Rating: ****

My Review and Rating: It's a good match, but like many other cruiserweight/lightweight matches of the era, it doesn't jump off the screen today like it may have back then. I don't really fault Meltzer's rating, but it doesn't hold up as a four-star match to me today. ***1/4