The Meltzer 4+-Star Match Review Thread
10-02-2015
, 12:22 PM
10-09-2015
, 09:43 PM
Halloween Havoc '94: WCW Title/Career vs. Career/Cage Match/Special Guest Referee Mr. T - Hulk Hogan (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart and Ed ****ing Leslie) vs. Ric Flair (w/ Sherri)
Date: October 23, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31657579
The Match: Mr. T mostly gets booed on the way to the ring. Then the cage nearly falls apart as it gets lowered onto the ring. They sort of seem to fix it, I guess? Doesn't look very sturdy. Anyway, we have Tony and Bobby calling the action, and on that note we get started.
Hogan beats Flair into the corner to start, withstands a counter-attack and then delivers a backdrop and a pair of clotheslines. Starts a 10-punch up on the ropes and then goes a rung higher and stomps on Flair's head against the corner. Mr. T, who likely doesn't have any actual authority in a cage match, reads Hogan the riot act and actually shoves him. This distraction allows Flair the chance to connect on an eye gouge. Attempts to capitalize with a face-first smash into the cage, but Hogan blocks and delivers a couple of cage smashes himself.
Some punches by the Hulkster, but a low blow by Flair stuns him, then a chop block floors him. The Nature Boy starts working over the leg that he chop-blocked. He is officially in control as he executes a smash into the cage. A running kneedrop causes Hulk to pop to his feet in pain like he just took the five-knuckle shuffle, but Ric stays on offense until Hogan reverses an Irish whip and smashes Flair back into the cage. I know that the smashing into the cage was kind of an obsession for everyone in cage matches - especially WCW cage matches - but man Hogan REALLY leaned hard on it. Always comes off to me like such a worthless spot.
Hogan grabs his yellow tanktop and begins to choke Flair, but again Mr. T interjects himself, again Hogan lets himself get distracted, and again Flair takes advantage. I really hope the story-telling of this match gets better. Delayed suplex by Flair. With Hogan's size, that's a pretty nice-looking spot for a smaller guy like Flair. Ric is too slow to follow up, Hogan blocks his punch and hammers back at him. For the second time in the match, Flair attempts to climb up the cage, and Tony and Bobby wonder aloud WTF he's doing. Okay, so either Flair or the announcers are unclear on whether cage escape is even a method of winning this one. Hogan follows Flair up, knocks him down, and Flair gets crotched.
Flair gets a boot up on a corner charge, tries to follow, Hogan surprises him with a small package for either one or two. Flair tries to chop, but Hogan no-sells (without hulking up). Series of attacks by Hulk here, including - you guessed it - multiple cage smashes. Back suplex by Hogan with a cover for one or two. Terribly sorry that "one or two" is all I can offer, but Mr. T kind of sucks at this and I can't really tell.
Flair again tries to climb out, Hogan catches him climbing out and smashes him repeatedly into the cage…then, with both standing up on the top, the two men trade chops in kind of a cool-looking showdown. Flair ultimately goes to the mat first, but once Hogan goes down, Flair levels Hulk with a one-legged atomic drop on the bum leg from earlier. The man from Charlotte kicks the limb work up into overdrive here, repeatedly attacking the leg and then trying to remove the athletic tape that seems to be protecting Hulk's leg. Mr. T tries to back Flair off and actually shoves him to the mat. I am absolutely hating this Mr. T element.
The limb work continues for a few more moves before Flair successfully locks in the figure-four. Needless to say, Hogan tapping to end his career isn't exactly a believable false finish; he reverses the hold and escapes it. Figured he would hulk up, but he didn't. After a moment, we get a ref bump that puts Mr. T down. Back suplex by Flair is followed by a cover, Hogan pushes Flair hard off into the bumped Mr. T. Flair, apparently pissed that Mr. T broke his fall back to the mat, gets up and puts the boots to the guest referee.
During this ref bump period, Sherri attempts to climb up into the ring. Jimmy Hart climbs up after her to stop her, tears away the bottom of her outfit, she flings him into a cameraman to dispose of him. As she attempts to go back up, Sting tries to stop her, but some masked dude shows up and beats Sting away with some sort of club. Sherri makes it all the way to the top of the cage, hits Hulk with an axhandle from there, Hulk responds by beginning to hulk up, but Flair chop blocks him to end that.
Sherri handcuffs Mr. T to the bottom rope. Flair and Sherri double-team to ram Hogan toward the side of the cage where the masked man is holding that club in the way. With Mr. T still down, Hogan does hulk up. This is a horrible ****ing mess. Hogan beats on both Flair and Sherri. Sherri tries to climb back out, and Hogan catches her and insistently throws her back in. Makes sense. He beats on Flair and then gives the big boot to Sherri. He seems very excited to be able to beat on her again (he did it at SummerSlam '89 also). Amidst this mess, Hogan does drop the big leg on Flair right near where Mr. T is cuffed. Hulk goes for the pin, a cuffed Mr. T still counts three with the free hand, and Hogan retains.
The masked man comes out during Hogan's celebration, weapon still in tow, but then goes full movie villain and waits for Hogan to turn around so that Hogan can block the attack and attack him instead. Hulk pulls the mask off to reveal Ed Leslie. He came to the ring with Hogan initially, and I guess I don't know when he left to go change outfits, but maybe he was only part of the entrance. As Hogan is stunned by who backstabbed him, Kevin Sullivan and John Tenta enter and beat Hogan down. Sting eventually makes the save and clears the ring.
Result: Hulk Hogan via pinfall (19:25)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: Like…there were the occasional good wrestling spots in this match, but the overbooking was completely absurd in a totally unentertaining way. Didn't enjoy the match much at all. I can't process the thought that this is the first time that Meltzer gives Hogan a 4+-star match since before WrestleMania 2 (when he rated a pretty poor Hogan vs. Piper match really highly). *1/4
Date: October 23, 1994
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31657579
The Match: Mr. T mostly gets booed on the way to the ring. Then the cage nearly falls apart as it gets lowered onto the ring. They sort of seem to fix it, I guess? Doesn't look very sturdy. Anyway, we have Tony and Bobby calling the action, and on that note we get started.
Hogan beats Flair into the corner to start, withstands a counter-attack and then delivers a backdrop and a pair of clotheslines. Starts a 10-punch up on the ropes and then goes a rung higher and stomps on Flair's head against the corner. Mr. T, who likely doesn't have any actual authority in a cage match, reads Hogan the riot act and actually shoves him. This distraction allows Flair the chance to connect on an eye gouge. Attempts to capitalize with a face-first smash into the cage, but Hogan blocks and delivers a couple of cage smashes himself.
Some punches by the Hulkster, but a low blow by Flair stuns him, then a chop block floors him. The Nature Boy starts working over the leg that he chop-blocked. He is officially in control as he executes a smash into the cage. A running kneedrop causes Hulk to pop to his feet in pain like he just took the five-knuckle shuffle, but Ric stays on offense until Hogan reverses an Irish whip and smashes Flair back into the cage. I know that the smashing into the cage was kind of an obsession for everyone in cage matches - especially WCW cage matches - but man Hogan REALLY leaned hard on it. Always comes off to me like such a worthless spot.
Hogan grabs his yellow tanktop and begins to choke Flair, but again Mr. T interjects himself, again Hogan lets himself get distracted, and again Flair takes advantage. I really hope the story-telling of this match gets better. Delayed suplex by Flair. With Hogan's size, that's a pretty nice-looking spot for a smaller guy like Flair. Ric is too slow to follow up, Hogan blocks his punch and hammers back at him. For the second time in the match, Flair attempts to climb up the cage, and Tony and Bobby wonder aloud WTF he's doing. Okay, so either Flair or the announcers are unclear on whether cage escape is even a method of winning this one. Hogan follows Flair up, knocks him down, and Flair gets crotched.
Flair gets a boot up on a corner charge, tries to follow, Hogan surprises him with a small package for either one or two. Flair tries to chop, but Hogan no-sells (without hulking up). Series of attacks by Hulk here, including - you guessed it - multiple cage smashes. Back suplex by Hogan with a cover for one or two. Terribly sorry that "one or two" is all I can offer, but Mr. T kind of sucks at this and I can't really tell.
Flair again tries to climb out, Hogan catches him climbing out and smashes him repeatedly into the cage…then, with both standing up on the top, the two men trade chops in kind of a cool-looking showdown. Flair ultimately goes to the mat first, but once Hogan goes down, Flair levels Hulk with a one-legged atomic drop on the bum leg from earlier. The man from Charlotte kicks the limb work up into overdrive here, repeatedly attacking the leg and then trying to remove the athletic tape that seems to be protecting Hulk's leg. Mr. T tries to back Flair off and actually shoves him to the mat. I am absolutely hating this Mr. T element.
The limb work continues for a few more moves before Flair successfully locks in the figure-four. Needless to say, Hogan tapping to end his career isn't exactly a believable false finish; he reverses the hold and escapes it. Figured he would hulk up, but he didn't. After a moment, we get a ref bump that puts Mr. T down. Back suplex by Flair is followed by a cover, Hogan pushes Flair hard off into the bumped Mr. T. Flair, apparently pissed that Mr. T broke his fall back to the mat, gets up and puts the boots to the guest referee.
During this ref bump period, Sherri attempts to climb up into the ring. Jimmy Hart climbs up after her to stop her, tears away the bottom of her outfit, she flings him into a cameraman to dispose of him. As she attempts to go back up, Sting tries to stop her, but some masked dude shows up and beats Sting away with some sort of club. Sherri makes it all the way to the top of the cage, hits Hulk with an axhandle from there, Hulk responds by beginning to hulk up, but Flair chop blocks him to end that.
Sherri handcuffs Mr. T to the bottom rope. Flair and Sherri double-team to ram Hogan toward the side of the cage where the masked man is holding that club in the way. With Mr. T still down, Hogan does hulk up. This is a horrible ****ing mess. Hogan beats on both Flair and Sherri. Sherri tries to climb back out, and Hogan catches her and insistently throws her back in. Makes sense. He beats on Flair and then gives the big boot to Sherri. He seems very excited to be able to beat on her again (he did it at SummerSlam '89 also). Amidst this mess, Hogan does drop the big leg on Flair right near where Mr. T is cuffed. Hulk goes for the pin, a cuffed Mr. T still counts three with the free hand, and Hogan retains.
The masked man comes out during Hogan's celebration, weapon still in tow, but then goes full movie villain and waits for Hogan to turn around so that Hogan can block the attack and attack him instead. Hulk pulls the mask off to reveal Ed Leslie. He came to the ring with Hogan initially, and I guess I don't know when he left to go change outfits, but maybe he was only part of the entrance. As Hogan is stunned by who backstabbed him, Kevin Sullivan and John Tenta enter and beat Hogan down. Sting eventually makes the save and clears the ring.
Result: Hulk Hogan via pinfall (19:25)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: Like…there were the occasional good wrestling spots in this match, but the overbooking was completely absurd in a totally unentertaining way. Didn't enjoy the match much at all. I can't process the thought that this is the first time that Meltzer gives Hogan a 4+-star match since before WrestleMania 2 (when he rated a pretty poor Hogan vs. Piper match really highly). *1/4
10-09-2015
, 10:33 PM
Action Zone: WWF Tag Team Titles - Shawn Michaels & Diesel (c) vs. Razor Ramon & The 1-2-3 Kid
Date: October 30, 1994
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dud9ty6TUdE
Background: Michaels & Diesel had for some reason taken the tag titles at a house show right before SummerSlam 1994, thus just turning the tag title match from that show into a regular tag match. Razor took the IC Title from Diesel at that very PPV. These four kliqsters had been involved against each other for a lot of 1994.
The Match: Diesel and HBK jump the challengers before the bell. Dueling Irish whips are reversed by Razor and the Kid, who clear Diesel out of the ring. Razor with a Razor's Edge almost immediately on Shawn, and Diesel has to desperately drag Michaels out to the floor to prevent a really quick title change.
Ramon follows the two out, and sends Michaels on back in, where the Kid waited with a schoolboy that gets a two-count. Moonsault by the Kid gets another two. Victory roll for the third straight near-fall. Goes for a hurracanrana, but HBK ends the madness by blocking it and powerbombing him. He tags in Diesel, and we get the big size mismatch. The Kid attempts a sunset flip, but Diesel stays up, leans forward, picks the Kid up in a chokehold overhead and drops him from way up.
Diesel whips the Kid into the ropes, and the Kid is able to hit a surprise dropkick on the way back. That gives him an opening to tag Razor, who comes in hot and fights off both tag champs. Bodyslam on Diesel and a cover for two. Diesel is able to fight back with a hard clothesline, and the champs seem to be resuming control as the match goes to commercial.
Back from the break, Michaels and Razor are facing off. Attempted back suplex by Razor, blind tag by Michaels as Razor lifted him up, and Diesel enters as the legal man and levels the IC Champ. Lays in repeated knees on Razor in the corner, then tags HBK. Corner splash gets two for Shawn. We're in the heat segment, but Michaels and Diesel keep up a good pace with frequent tags to keep this segment from dragging.
A nice sidewalk slam by Diesel gets two. A second rope elbow from Shawn gets two. Michaels locks in the first rest hold of the match, but doesn't dwell in it too long; Razor works his way back up, punches to get separation, then executes a backslide that Vince refers to as a Razor's Edge as referee Mike Chioda gets to two. Nice play-by-play, Vince.
Despite the backslide attempt, Razor remains the face in peril. Note: between Kevin Nash's hair length at this point and the decidedly non-HD nature of this YouTube clip, he really actually looks like the Glen Jacobs version of Diesel from a lot of angles here.
Diesel actually hits a running jumping shoulderblock. Wow. That might be the first time I've seen him leave his feet just about ever. I do seem to remember a jumping clothesline to beat King Mabel at SummerSlam 1995 I guess. We go to commercial as Razor continues to take a lot of double-teaming in the enemy corner. As Shawn methodically works Razor over, Vince says, "Michaels just licking his chops! Literally!" Vince really doing big things in this one.
Razor buys some separation by blocking a punch and entering into a move-countermove sequence that ends in him chokeslamming Shawn. Finally makes the hot tag to the 1-2-3 Kid, which the referee somehow missed. Wat. As the Kid protests the decision not to let him in, Michaels attempts to superkick Razor but hits Diesel instead, seemingly knocking him cold. Same spot as what cost Diesel the IC Title at SummerSlam, same spot as what would cause their break-up at Survivor Series. Amidst the chaos, Razor makes a hot tag that actually does count.
The Kid with a spinning heel kick and a lot more offense on Michaels. Modified pescado to follow Michaels out to the floor. The Kid was awesome in the ring in 1994. Tag back out to Razor. Fall-away slam. Tag back to the Kid. Razor with a fall-away slam on the Kid that throws him onto Shawn…two-count. Razor with an attempted back superplex, Michaels counters by falling on top, Razor rolls through for another great near-count. Tag to the Kid, then a rocket launcher onto Michaels. Two-count. Hard clothesline by Razor is good for two as well.
Ramon goes and kicks the unconscious Diesel out of the ring to the floor, and Shawn comes up behind and slaps on the sleeper. Razor fades, but before his arm can drop three times the Kid makes a save. As Michaels and Razor both stay down, Diesel finally stirs outside. Catapult by Razor on Shawn sends him into the ringpost. Michaels falls down and then turns himself 90 degrees. Awkward. The Kid tags in, goes up top for the legdrop from the third turnbuckle that Michaels just set up for him. Still only gets two. As the Kid gets back up and attempts to charge Michaels, Diesel enters and delivers a big boot that puts the Kid down. Michaels covers, 1-2-3, champs retain. Great match.
Result: Diesel & Michaels via pinfall (17:55 plus commercials)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: Loved it. This was as good as Kevin Nash could possibly have been capable of in the ring; obviously it helps to be in a tag match, but still. The Kid was awesome here too, with all kinds of fun offense. Strong pace, engaging story, some nice near-falls…Vince and Todd Pettengill were awful on commentary, but the workers earned a high rating here. ****1/4
Date: October 30, 1994
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dud9ty6TUdE
Background: Michaels & Diesel had for some reason taken the tag titles at a house show right before SummerSlam 1994, thus just turning the tag title match from that show into a regular tag match. Razor took the IC Title from Diesel at that very PPV. These four kliqsters had been involved against each other for a lot of 1994.
The Match: Diesel and HBK jump the challengers before the bell. Dueling Irish whips are reversed by Razor and the Kid, who clear Diesel out of the ring. Razor with a Razor's Edge almost immediately on Shawn, and Diesel has to desperately drag Michaels out to the floor to prevent a really quick title change.
Ramon follows the two out, and sends Michaels on back in, where the Kid waited with a schoolboy that gets a two-count. Moonsault by the Kid gets another two. Victory roll for the third straight near-fall. Goes for a hurracanrana, but HBK ends the madness by blocking it and powerbombing him. He tags in Diesel, and we get the big size mismatch. The Kid attempts a sunset flip, but Diesel stays up, leans forward, picks the Kid up in a chokehold overhead and drops him from way up.
Diesel whips the Kid into the ropes, and the Kid is able to hit a surprise dropkick on the way back. That gives him an opening to tag Razor, who comes in hot and fights off both tag champs. Bodyslam on Diesel and a cover for two. Diesel is able to fight back with a hard clothesline, and the champs seem to be resuming control as the match goes to commercial.
Back from the break, Michaels and Razor are facing off. Attempted back suplex by Razor, blind tag by Michaels as Razor lifted him up, and Diesel enters as the legal man and levels the IC Champ. Lays in repeated knees on Razor in the corner, then tags HBK. Corner splash gets two for Shawn. We're in the heat segment, but Michaels and Diesel keep up a good pace with frequent tags to keep this segment from dragging.
A nice sidewalk slam by Diesel gets two. A second rope elbow from Shawn gets two. Michaels locks in the first rest hold of the match, but doesn't dwell in it too long; Razor works his way back up, punches to get separation, then executes a backslide that Vince refers to as a Razor's Edge as referee Mike Chioda gets to two. Nice play-by-play, Vince.
Despite the backslide attempt, Razor remains the face in peril. Note: between Kevin Nash's hair length at this point and the decidedly non-HD nature of this YouTube clip, he really actually looks like the Glen Jacobs version of Diesel from a lot of angles here.
Diesel actually hits a running jumping shoulderblock. Wow. That might be the first time I've seen him leave his feet just about ever. I do seem to remember a jumping clothesline to beat King Mabel at SummerSlam 1995 I guess. We go to commercial as Razor continues to take a lot of double-teaming in the enemy corner. As Shawn methodically works Razor over, Vince says, "Michaels just licking his chops! Literally!" Vince really doing big things in this one.
Razor buys some separation by blocking a punch and entering into a move-countermove sequence that ends in him chokeslamming Shawn. Finally makes the hot tag to the 1-2-3 Kid, which the referee somehow missed. Wat. As the Kid protests the decision not to let him in, Michaels attempts to superkick Razor but hits Diesel instead, seemingly knocking him cold. Same spot as what cost Diesel the IC Title at SummerSlam, same spot as what would cause their break-up at Survivor Series. Amidst the chaos, Razor makes a hot tag that actually does count.
The Kid with a spinning heel kick and a lot more offense on Michaels. Modified pescado to follow Michaels out to the floor. The Kid was awesome in the ring in 1994. Tag back out to Razor. Fall-away slam. Tag back to the Kid. Razor with a fall-away slam on the Kid that throws him onto Shawn…two-count. Razor with an attempted back superplex, Michaels counters by falling on top, Razor rolls through for another great near-count. Tag to the Kid, then a rocket launcher onto Michaels. Two-count. Hard clothesline by Razor is good for two as well.
Ramon goes and kicks the unconscious Diesel out of the ring to the floor, and Shawn comes up behind and slaps on the sleeper. Razor fades, but before his arm can drop three times the Kid makes a save. As Michaels and Razor both stay down, Diesel finally stirs outside. Catapult by Razor on Shawn sends him into the ringpost. Michaels falls down and then turns himself 90 degrees. Awkward. The Kid tags in, goes up top for the legdrop from the third turnbuckle that Michaels just set up for him. Still only gets two. As the Kid gets back up and attempts to charge Michaels, Diesel enters and delivers a big boot that puts the Kid down. Michaels covers, 1-2-3, champs retain. Great match.
Result: Diesel & Michaels via pinfall (17:55 plus commercials)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/2
My Review and Rating: Loved it. This was as good as Kevin Nash could possibly have been capable of in the ring; obviously it helps to be in a tag match, but still. The Kid was awesome here too, with all kinds of fun offense. Strong pace, engaging story, some nice near-falls…Vince and Todd Pettengill were awful on commentary, but the workers earned a high rating here. ****1/4
10-11-2015
, 10:08 PM
Royal Rumble '95: WWF Title - Diesel (c) vs. Bret Hart
Date: January 22, 1995
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31345327
Background: Bret had lost the WWF Title at Survivor Series to Bob Backlund under shady circumstances, and a few days later Backlund jobbed the title away to Diesel in about five seconds at an MSG house show. This was Bret getting a chance to regain his title. I don't think the auto-rematch bull**** was a thing then, but in kayfabe it made sense to give Bret a title match here.
This marked the first PPV I got to watch live. No matter how crappy the WWF was in 1995, I still taped the shows and re-watched them religiously. I do not have it in my memory that this is all that great of a match (I mostly just remember it being kind of an overbooked mess), but we will see.
The Match: Vince and Lawler on the call, Earl Hebner the referee. Bret and Diesel share an aggressive fistbump in lieu of a handshake before the opening bell.
After some early jostling, the two trade blows and Bret comes out on the short end. The Hitman runs the ropes, goes for a cross-body, Diesel catches and slams him. Diesel with an elbow drop that misses. Bret lays in a clothesline that barely registers, and Diesel clotheslines him all the way out over the top.
Bret drags the champ out, straddling the post, and posts his knee a couple of times before re-entering and continuing to assault the left leg. After a series of moves targeting the leg, Bret starts to go for the Sharpshooter, kind of gets blocked, and instead improvises into a figure-four. The big man eventually makes his way over for a rope break, which Bret is slow to adhere to. Upon breaking though, he continues targeting the leg, and quickly locks the figure-four right back in. Champ reaches the bottom rope, and Bret holds on for even longer this time, with Hebner having to implore him to let go. Lawler points out that Bret probably gets preferential treatment from the referees, who are slower to DQ him. Hart is more or less wrestling as the heel here, though the crowd doesn't show a clear preference either way.
(all gifs in this writeup were found at legitshook.com)
Nash slips out to the floor to try to walk off the bad leg, but Bret is quick to run off the ropes and execute a suicide dive out to the floor at the top of the aisleway. He picks him up from there and posts him. Attempts an Irish whip to another corner, but Diesel reverses and sends Bret careening into the steel steps. We return to the middle with the champ finally in some level of control. He whips Bret into the turnbuckle, which Bret bumps hard against. Diesel lays in hard elbows in the corner, then executes a sidewalk slam.
Bret is hung along the ropes, and Diesel executes the running legdrop along the ropes. Backbreaker and a two-count. As he works Bret into the corner, Bret fights his way back out, but Diesel ultimately raises him up for…not a Jackknife for some reason. He holds him into a backbreaker instead. Bret gets loose, attempts a sleeper, but Nash puts him down. Big boot off the ropes, and an elbow drop. Irish whip, but Diesel catches a boot running in on a corner charge, and Bret quickly follows with a second rope clothesline on the stunned champion.
Both slow to get up, Bret heads up top, but Diesel grabs him off the top rope. Bret falls down on top of him for a two-count. Announcers no-sell the fact that Diesel's leg just crumpled due to the earlier limb work, or at least that's how I would take it. Bret drags Diesel into the corner and then takes some of his wrist tape off and tapes Diesel's legs together, then continues beating on his prone opponent as Earl Hebner goes and gets his legs loose. Bulldog by Bret. Russian legsweep gets two. Backbreaker, second rope elbow for two. Tries to slap on a Sharpshooter, but Diesel grabs a rope to prevent it.
Bret clotheslines the big man over the top, then follows him out with a slingshot pescado that Diesel catches in mid-air before ramming him hard into the steel post. He returns Bret to the ring and then signals to the crowd that he's going to do the Jackknife, to which the reaction is noticeable boos. Jackknife is executed, pin…1, 2, and Shawn Michaels runs in and attacks Diesel in mid-cover to break it up, then attacks Diesel's bad leg further. Earl Hebner rules that the match must continue. Well that hardly seems fair. I remember being furious about that ruling while watching it live, as an avowed Bret hater at the time.
Bret straight back after the bad leg, lays in a series of kicks that chops the big man down to the mat, then goes back one more time to the figure-four. Diesel, in great pain, lays in a few punches to get Bret to break the hold. Hart continues working the leg up against the ropes, which Hebner attempts to enforce as a rope break, and again Hart just refuses to let it go for a really long time. Maybe his total lack of respect for Earl's authority during this match was the real reason for the Montreal Screwjob.
Bret takes too much time before attempting a corner charge, and comes up empty. Diesel lays in some knees to Bret's ribs and then executes sort of a gutwrench suplex. He works Bret in the corner, then backs up and charges with a big boot that comes up empty as well, hurting the bad leg further. Again Bret drags him outside into the corner, then actually just goes and grabs a chair and whacks Diesel's leg with it (well, misses, but purportedly whacks it) in the corner as Earl Hebner watches on and shrugs. It's mind-blowing how much cheating Bret was doing in plain view here without any recourse. The fans finally start booing him a bit.
Bret slaps on the Sharpshooter. Owen Hart runs in and attacks Bret like Michaels did to Diesel earlier. Owen removes a turnbuckle pad and sends Bret hard chest-first into the exposed corner. Earl Hebner, in kayfabe likely realizing that disqualifying Diesel here would be absurd after all he's let Bret get away with, orders the match to continue. As the match continues, Diesel slowly works his way over to a fallen Bret Hart and attempts a cover for two.
Diesel attempts to slam Bret into the exposed corner, but Bret blocks, kicks the bad leg a couple of times, then does slam Diesel into it instead. A series of punches leave Diesel staggered, then eventually down. Diesel bounces back up and punches back at Bret, then leaves him hanging outside along the ropes. Now it's Diesel who goes to get a chair, but Bret gets loose and gets back inside before Diesel can use it.
While Diesel is discarding the chair and heading back inside, Bret goes from being on his feet to crumpling and holding his leg. He suckers Diesel in with this playing possum, executes a small package, but only gets two. We get a ref bump, at which point Michaels, Owen, and other heels all flood in and attack. The bell finally rings and the whole thing is declared a draw, to heavy boos.
Diesel and Bret, mostly Diesel, fight off the various enemies and then shake hands and do the mutual respect thing.
Result: Draw (27:19)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: …nope, that's pretty much the same meh contest I remember from last watching it in '95. The psychology of all of the leg work made sense, Bret semi-heeling it up to try to gain sympathy for the champion made sense, but I don't think this match accomplished much of anything for Nash as champion, and I've heard him talk about it in shoot interviews to say the same. They should have just put him over here if they were going to continue to run with this awful title reign for almost a full year. Also: the way you put Kevin Nash over isn't to have him go out there and wrestle a nearly 30-minute match. You have to know that. Anyway, it was okay, but nothing more. **1/2
Date: January 22, 1995
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31345327
Background: Bret had lost the WWF Title at Survivor Series to Bob Backlund under shady circumstances, and a few days later Backlund jobbed the title away to Diesel in about five seconds at an MSG house show. This was Bret getting a chance to regain his title. I don't think the auto-rematch bull**** was a thing then, but in kayfabe it made sense to give Bret a title match here.
This marked the first PPV I got to watch live. No matter how crappy the WWF was in 1995, I still taped the shows and re-watched them religiously. I do not have it in my memory that this is all that great of a match (I mostly just remember it being kind of an overbooked mess), but we will see.
The Match: Vince and Lawler on the call, Earl Hebner the referee. Bret and Diesel share an aggressive fistbump in lieu of a handshake before the opening bell.
After some early jostling, the two trade blows and Bret comes out on the short end. The Hitman runs the ropes, goes for a cross-body, Diesel catches and slams him. Diesel with an elbow drop that misses. Bret lays in a clothesline that barely registers, and Diesel clotheslines him all the way out over the top.
Bret drags the champ out, straddling the post, and posts his knee a couple of times before re-entering and continuing to assault the left leg. After a series of moves targeting the leg, Bret starts to go for the Sharpshooter, kind of gets blocked, and instead improvises into a figure-four. The big man eventually makes his way over for a rope break, which Bret is slow to adhere to. Upon breaking though, he continues targeting the leg, and quickly locks the figure-four right back in. Champ reaches the bottom rope, and Bret holds on for even longer this time, with Hebner having to implore him to let go. Lawler points out that Bret probably gets preferential treatment from the referees, who are slower to DQ him. Hart is more or less wrestling as the heel here, though the crowd doesn't show a clear preference either way.
(all gifs in this writeup were found at legitshook.com)
Nash slips out to the floor to try to walk off the bad leg, but Bret is quick to run off the ropes and execute a suicide dive out to the floor at the top of the aisleway. He picks him up from there and posts him. Attempts an Irish whip to another corner, but Diesel reverses and sends Bret careening into the steel steps. We return to the middle with the champ finally in some level of control. He whips Bret into the turnbuckle, which Bret bumps hard against. Diesel lays in hard elbows in the corner, then executes a sidewalk slam.
Bret is hung along the ropes, and Diesel executes the running legdrop along the ropes. Backbreaker and a two-count. As he works Bret into the corner, Bret fights his way back out, but Diesel ultimately raises him up for…not a Jackknife for some reason. He holds him into a backbreaker instead. Bret gets loose, attempts a sleeper, but Nash puts him down. Big boot off the ropes, and an elbow drop. Irish whip, but Diesel catches a boot running in on a corner charge, and Bret quickly follows with a second rope clothesline on the stunned champion.
Both slow to get up, Bret heads up top, but Diesel grabs him off the top rope. Bret falls down on top of him for a two-count. Announcers no-sell the fact that Diesel's leg just crumpled due to the earlier limb work, or at least that's how I would take it. Bret drags Diesel into the corner and then takes some of his wrist tape off and tapes Diesel's legs together, then continues beating on his prone opponent as Earl Hebner goes and gets his legs loose. Bulldog by Bret. Russian legsweep gets two. Backbreaker, second rope elbow for two. Tries to slap on a Sharpshooter, but Diesel grabs a rope to prevent it.
Bret clotheslines the big man over the top, then follows him out with a slingshot pescado that Diesel catches in mid-air before ramming him hard into the steel post. He returns Bret to the ring and then signals to the crowd that he's going to do the Jackknife, to which the reaction is noticeable boos. Jackknife is executed, pin…1, 2, and Shawn Michaels runs in and attacks Diesel in mid-cover to break it up, then attacks Diesel's bad leg further. Earl Hebner rules that the match must continue. Well that hardly seems fair. I remember being furious about that ruling while watching it live, as an avowed Bret hater at the time.
Bret straight back after the bad leg, lays in a series of kicks that chops the big man down to the mat, then goes back one more time to the figure-four. Diesel, in great pain, lays in a few punches to get Bret to break the hold. Hart continues working the leg up against the ropes, which Hebner attempts to enforce as a rope break, and again Hart just refuses to let it go for a really long time. Maybe his total lack of respect for Earl's authority during this match was the real reason for the Montreal Screwjob.
Bret takes too much time before attempting a corner charge, and comes up empty. Diesel lays in some knees to Bret's ribs and then executes sort of a gutwrench suplex. He works Bret in the corner, then backs up and charges with a big boot that comes up empty as well, hurting the bad leg further. Again Bret drags him outside into the corner, then actually just goes and grabs a chair and whacks Diesel's leg with it (well, misses, but purportedly whacks it) in the corner as Earl Hebner watches on and shrugs. It's mind-blowing how much cheating Bret was doing in plain view here without any recourse. The fans finally start booing him a bit.
Bret slaps on the Sharpshooter. Owen Hart runs in and attacks Bret like Michaels did to Diesel earlier. Owen removes a turnbuckle pad and sends Bret hard chest-first into the exposed corner. Earl Hebner, in kayfabe likely realizing that disqualifying Diesel here would be absurd after all he's let Bret get away with, orders the match to continue. As the match continues, Diesel slowly works his way over to a fallen Bret Hart and attempts a cover for two.
Diesel attempts to slam Bret into the exposed corner, but Bret blocks, kicks the bad leg a couple of times, then does slam Diesel into it instead. A series of punches leave Diesel staggered, then eventually down. Diesel bounces back up and punches back at Bret, then leaves him hanging outside along the ropes. Now it's Diesel who goes to get a chair, but Bret gets loose and gets back inside before Diesel can use it.
While Diesel is discarding the chair and heading back inside, Bret goes from being on his feet to crumpling and holding his leg. He suckers Diesel in with this playing possum, executes a small package, but only gets two. We get a ref bump, at which point Michaels, Owen, and other heels all flood in and attack. The bell finally rings and the whole thing is declared a draw, to heavy boos.
Diesel and Bret, mostly Diesel, fight off the various enemies and then shake hands and do the mutual respect thing.
Result: Draw (27:19)
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: …nope, that's pretty much the same meh contest I remember from last watching it in '95. The psychology of all of the leg work made sense, Bret semi-heeling it up to try to gain sympathy for the champion made sense, but I don't think this match accomplished much of anything for Nash as champion, and I've heard him talk about it in shoot interviews to say the same. They should have just put him over here if they were going to continue to run with this awful title reign for almost a full year. Also: the way you put Kevin Nash over isn't to have him go out there and wrestle a nearly 30-minute match. You have to know that. Anyway, it was okay, but nothing more. **1/2
10-12-2015
, 02:40 AM
Glad to throw some traffic his way since the gifs I took from there are great.Just realized that my next match also features Nash, which means that a chronological thread about great matches is going to feature Kevin Nash for three matches in a row. Weird. At least with the next one - Michaels vs. Diesel from WM XI - I know that I like it quite a bit; it's only been a year or so since I last saw it.
10-15-2015
, 08:36 PM
10-15-2015
, 09:33 PM
WrestleMania XI: WWF Title - Diesel (c) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Sid)
Date: April 2, 1995
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31347211
Background: Diesel and Shawn were BFFs, they broke up at Survivor Series '94, Diesel won the title a few days later, Shawn won the Rumble, and here we are.
The Match: Diesel cuts an unintentionally funny backstage promo where he gets flustered in mid-sentence as he was clearly on the verge of vowing to win the belt tonight, then yells that he'll hold onto it. Shawn was supposed to have Pamela Anderson on his arm for this entrance, but it's Jenny McCarthy instead, who was all kinds of attractive as well in 1995. Diesel stops in mid-entrance and gestures to the entryway, where Pamela Anderson actually comes out to escort him to the ring instead. I'm appreciative that we got two beautiful women instead of one, but doesn't it kill the one-upsmanship that Shawn was just able to shrug and sub in a hottie when the first one defected to Team Nash?
(gif credit to LegitShook.com again)
Michaels tries to charge Diesel before the bell and gets backdropped over the top to the floor for his efforts. What a low-reward bump to take, since the match still doesn't start and we still get music and pyro before the lights come up. Now we're getting going for real, as the bell rings and Shawn opens straight up with some punches and then attempts to use his speed to run circles around Diesel before finding himself running hard into a forearm that he bumps well into.
Diesel abuses HBK in one corner, then sends him into the ropes for a very high backdrop. And a whip into the corner for Shawn's flipping corner bump that sends him to the floor. There are a ton of photographers at ringside, Shawn seems to fall on one, then shoves him hard to the floor in what I’m guessing was a shoot temper tantrum.
Michaels collects himself and tries to catch Diesel off-guard on the way back in, but takes another hard forearm. He backs up, then actually spits at Diesel to provoke him into charging him in the corner, but is quick to escape and Diesel comes up empty.
Michaels halfway through a 10-punch, then gets thrown off. Pops right back up, starts a 10-punch, again thrown off hard. Whip and a military press by Diesel, but Shawn rakes the eyes to escape a press slam. Michaels attempts a suplex, gets blocked, Diesel suplexes him back instead.
After a botched spot, Michaels falls to the outside of the ring. Sid runs distraction on the apron for a bit while Michaels recovers, but he's still resting when Nash pulls him up to the apron. Another eye gouge gives the challenger an opening; he baseball slides through the champ's legs and into the ring, attempts a sunset flip, but Diesel stays upright and then picks him up in a double choke before crotching him along the top rope.
Diesel misses on a big boot, Michaels clotheslines them both over the top rope but skins the cat and gets back in the ring, then heads straight back out via the top rope with a cross-body to the floor.
Back in, and a baseball slide hits Diesel on the floor. Shawn was REALLY busting his ass here. Another baseball slide misses, Diesel slams his face into the mat, and a frustrated Shawn locates a ringside photographer wearing a UW Husky jacket and correctly attacks him as well.
Diesel tries to follow and attack, but ends up elbowing the outside ring post, which he sells as a rib injury. As Diesel lays on the floor agonizing over that blow, the crowd audibly chants for Sid. Michaels heads back out to lay in more damage, then heads to the apron and executes a running splash from there to the floor. Lawler loses his mind over what an amazing spot that was, which is a bit weird since it's about the eighth-best thing that Michaels has done in just this match alone. Diesel continues to lay there and REALLY milks this rest break for all it's worth. I can't imagine that he was legitimately hurt by that earlier spot.
After about an hour, Nash does return to the ring and Shawn starts punching and kicking the newly-injured ribs. Michaels runs a fairly slow series of offense here, methodically picking away and then hitting a bulldog off the second rope for a two-count. Whip into the corner, Diesel reverses, but Michaels jumps to the second turnbuckle on his way in and springboard elbows back into the champ. Another two-count.
Shawn lays in some more knees, working the bad ribs, then heads up top for an elbow that crushes those ribs as well. I don't remember the ribs being a focal point in this match, but I do think it's effective psychology. Michaels goes for a front facelock and Diesel throws him off. Diesel reverses another whip into the corner, Shawn tries to jump back behind him on the corner charge, Diesel catches him but Shawn escapes behind and rams the champ ribs-first into the opposite corner.
Sleeper hold. The big man hits one knee, and then goes down to both as he fades. Arm drops once, twice, but not quite on the third try. I do hate this thing where the guy goes from nearly unconscious to always launching the big comeback right then, but that's what we get again here. Diesel stands all the way up and lurches backward into the corner to break the hold. Couple of elbows by the champ, then a couple of whips into corners and hard clotheslines to follow. Snake eyes, then a legdrop along the ropes. Whip for another HBK flipping corner bump to the apron, then a hard right sends him to the floor.
They return inside and Nash gives him the repeated punch/forearm treatment, which chases him outside. The two brawl on the floor, trade a few blows, and then return inside; meanwhile, Earn Hebner had headed outside to get things under control, and Sid had seemingly caused him to twist his ankle off-camera for something of a ref bump. With the action back inside, Shawn ducks a clothesline and then hits the superkick out of nowhere.
No referee for the count though, as Michaels had the match won but only eventually gets a two-count after a long delay. There's your groundwork for Michaels dumping Sid the next night.
Sid cuts a turnbuckle pad off in one corner. Nash back suplexes Michaels as Michaels sees the new corner, and the two wrestlers both stay down. Michaels is able to roll over first for a cover, but again only gets two. Michaels to the second rope, jumps off from there, Diesel catches him and transitions him directly into a sidewalk slam. Again we wait on the 10-count, but both get back up. Diesel goes for a catapult, Michaels lands face-first into the second turnbuckle (was clearly mean to be the exposed corner) and is laid out. There's more attempted groundwork for the Michaels/Sid split, though it got botched.
Hard forearms and a big boot by Diesel, who then wastes a bunch of time signaling for the Jackknife, then executes it really badly, but all of that still adds up to a three-count. The champ retains, and then celebrates with the whole pack of C-list celebrities in the ring. Shawn cuts an angry backstage promo about how he got robbed when the referee wasn't in place for the three-count.
Result: Diesel via pinfall (20:35)
Meltzer Rating: ****
My Review and Rating: The first half of this match is great, but the second half drags a decent bit more and isn't nearly as interesting. Not a great ending either. I think I've given this four stars in the past, but I have to leave it a bit short upon this viewing. Still, big credit to Shawn for trying and bumping his ass off here. ***1/2
Date: April 2, 1995
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31347211
Background: Diesel and Shawn were BFFs, they broke up at Survivor Series '94, Diesel won the title a few days later, Shawn won the Rumble, and here we are.
The Match: Diesel cuts an unintentionally funny backstage promo where he gets flustered in mid-sentence as he was clearly on the verge of vowing to win the belt tonight, then yells that he'll hold onto it. Shawn was supposed to have Pamela Anderson on his arm for this entrance, but it's Jenny McCarthy instead, who was all kinds of attractive as well in 1995. Diesel stops in mid-entrance and gestures to the entryway, where Pamela Anderson actually comes out to escort him to the ring instead. I'm appreciative that we got two beautiful women instead of one, but doesn't it kill the one-upsmanship that Shawn was just able to shrug and sub in a hottie when the first one defected to Team Nash?
(gif credit to LegitShook.com again)
Michaels tries to charge Diesel before the bell and gets backdropped over the top to the floor for his efforts. What a low-reward bump to take, since the match still doesn't start and we still get music and pyro before the lights come up. Now we're getting going for real, as the bell rings and Shawn opens straight up with some punches and then attempts to use his speed to run circles around Diesel before finding himself running hard into a forearm that he bumps well into.
Diesel abuses HBK in one corner, then sends him into the ropes for a very high backdrop. And a whip into the corner for Shawn's flipping corner bump that sends him to the floor. There are a ton of photographers at ringside, Shawn seems to fall on one, then shoves him hard to the floor in what I’m guessing was a shoot temper tantrum.
Michaels collects himself and tries to catch Diesel off-guard on the way back in, but takes another hard forearm. He backs up, then actually spits at Diesel to provoke him into charging him in the corner, but is quick to escape and Diesel comes up empty.
Michaels halfway through a 10-punch, then gets thrown off. Pops right back up, starts a 10-punch, again thrown off hard. Whip and a military press by Diesel, but Shawn rakes the eyes to escape a press slam. Michaels attempts a suplex, gets blocked, Diesel suplexes him back instead.
After a botched spot, Michaels falls to the outside of the ring. Sid runs distraction on the apron for a bit while Michaels recovers, but he's still resting when Nash pulls him up to the apron. Another eye gouge gives the challenger an opening; he baseball slides through the champ's legs and into the ring, attempts a sunset flip, but Diesel stays upright and then picks him up in a double choke before crotching him along the top rope.
Diesel misses on a big boot, Michaels clotheslines them both over the top rope but skins the cat and gets back in the ring, then heads straight back out via the top rope with a cross-body to the floor.
Back in, and a baseball slide hits Diesel on the floor. Shawn was REALLY busting his ass here. Another baseball slide misses, Diesel slams his face into the mat, and a frustrated Shawn locates a ringside photographer wearing a UW Husky jacket and correctly attacks him as well.
Diesel tries to follow and attack, but ends up elbowing the outside ring post, which he sells as a rib injury. As Diesel lays on the floor agonizing over that blow, the crowd audibly chants for Sid. Michaels heads back out to lay in more damage, then heads to the apron and executes a running splash from there to the floor. Lawler loses his mind over what an amazing spot that was, which is a bit weird since it's about the eighth-best thing that Michaels has done in just this match alone. Diesel continues to lay there and REALLY milks this rest break for all it's worth. I can't imagine that he was legitimately hurt by that earlier spot.
After about an hour, Nash does return to the ring and Shawn starts punching and kicking the newly-injured ribs. Michaels runs a fairly slow series of offense here, methodically picking away and then hitting a bulldog off the second rope for a two-count. Whip into the corner, Diesel reverses, but Michaels jumps to the second turnbuckle on his way in and springboard elbows back into the champ. Another two-count.
Shawn lays in some more knees, working the bad ribs, then heads up top for an elbow that crushes those ribs as well. I don't remember the ribs being a focal point in this match, but I do think it's effective psychology. Michaels goes for a front facelock and Diesel throws him off. Diesel reverses another whip into the corner, Shawn tries to jump back behind him on the corner charge, Diesel catches him but Shawn escapes behind and rams the champ ribs-first into the opposite corner.
Sleeper hold. The big man hits one knee, and then goes down to both as he fades. Arm drops once, twice, but not quite on the third try. I do hate this thing where the guy goes from nearly unconscious to always launching the big comeback right then, but that's what we get again here. Diesel stands all the way up and lurches backward into the corner to break the hold. Couple of elbows by the champ, then a couple of whips into corners and hard clotheslines to follow. Snake eyes, then a legdrop along the ropes. Whip for another HBK flipping corner bump to the apron, then a hard right sends him to the floor.
They return inside and Nash gives him the repeated punch/forearm treatment, which chases him outside. The two brawl on the floor, trade a few blows, and then return inside; meanwhile, Earn Hebner had headed outside to get things under control, and Sid had seemingly caused him to twist his ankle off-camera for something of a ref bump. With the action back inside, Shawn ducks a clothesline and then hits the superkick out of nowhere.
No referee for the count though, as Michaels had the match won but only eventually gets a two-count after a long delay. There's your groundwork for Michaels dumping Sid the next night.
Sid cuts a turnbuckle pad off in one corner. Nash back suplexes Michaels as Michaels sees the new corner, and the two wrestlers both stay down. Michaels is able to roll over first for a cover, but again only gets two. Michaels to the second rope, jumps off from there, Diesel catches him and transitions him directly into a sidewalk slam. Again we wait on the 10-count, but both get back up. Diesel goes for a catapult, Michaels lands face-first into the second turnbuckle (was clearly mean to be the exposed corner) and is laid out. There's more attempted groundwork for the Michaels/Sid split, though it got botched.
Hard forearms and a big boot by Diesel, who then wastes a bunch of time signaling for the Jackknife, then executes it really badly, but all of that still adds up to a three-count. The champ retains, and then celebrates with the whole pack of C-list celebrities in the ring. Shawn cuts an angry backstage promo about how he got robbed when the referee wasn't in place for the three-count.
Result: Diesel via pinfall (20:35)
Meltzer Rating: ****
My Review and Rating: The first half of this match is great, but the second half drags a decent bit more and isn't nearly as interesting. Not a great ending either. I think I've given this four stars in the past, but I have to leave it a bit short upon this viewing. Still, big credit to Shawn for trying and bumping his ass off here. ***1/2
10-15-2015
, 09:53 PM
10-15-2015
, 10:01 PM
10-15-2015
, 10:02 PM
10-15-2015
, 10:09 PM
10-16-2015
, 12:55 PM
10-16-2015
, 07:11 PM
