The Meltzer 4+-Star Match Review Thread
06-14-2018
, 11:32 PM
WWF In Your House 16 - Canadian Stampede: The Hart Foundation vs. Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, & Legion of Doom
Date: July 6, 1997
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31327267
Background: Bret Hart had masterfully executed a semi-turn where he became a heel in America but was over bigger than ever in Canada and other foreign countries. The rest of the Harts were under the same affiliation (heels in America, faces elsewhere). Steve Austin was Bret Hart's primary foil; these other teammates of his were just others who answered an open challenge to head into enemy territory to try to take down the Harts in Calgary.
The Match: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler on the call, Earl Hebner in the stripes.
Goldust comes out to no particular reaction. Ken Shamrock draws some audible heat for his entrance. Tough to detect much of a reaction either way for LOD. Steve Austin gets big heat, even though you can see and hear some supportive voices in the crowd.
Big pop for Brian Pillman, bigger than you would expect for the team's non-Canadian. Nice pop for the Anvil as well, a bit less than Pillman. Davey Boy, accompanied by Diana, with probably the biggest pop yet. Owen gets a nice pop, but it always annoys me that the Calgary crowd popped a bit bigger for the Bulldog. As can be expected, the roof blows off when Bret's music hits. The Harts enter as one, and this time Bret puts his sunglasses on mother Helen when he arrives at ringside.
The teams stare each other down in the middle of the ring. Jim Ross notes, "Several cameras at ringside. They're filming a documentary of Bret Hart's life." Most of the team members clear out, and we start right off with Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin. The bell rings, and they throw violent punches back and forth. These two had the best slugfests. So believable. Bret wins the advantage, beating Austin into the corner, stomping away, and copying Austin's signature spot by flipping him off. The crowd is losing their ****. Austin turns Bret around in the corner, gets his own shots in, and the crowd erupts with boos. Corner whip by Austin, but Bret bounces out of the corner with a clothesline. Headbutt to follow, inverted atomic drop, and a running clothesline. He rakes Stone Cold's eyes along the top rope, Stone Cold staggers away, but when Bret follows him, Austin kicks backward to hit a low blow, regaining the advantage.
He stomps the mudhole into the Hitman, then when Hitman gets up he slaps on the Million Dollar Dream. Stay away from the corner, Steve. Actually Bret does get close enough to kick off the corner, kicks back into the very same pinning combo that got him the win at Survivor Series, and this time Austin barely kicks out on two.
Austin is up first, dragging Bret over to the ropes and choking him against the second rope. He gets a running start and tries to drop the leg, but comes up empty, bouncing back into the middle of the ring in pain. Bret tags in his old partner, the Anvil. Anvil with an Irish whip, misses on a clothesline, and Austin hits the Thesz Press on the way back, then rains punches. Austin tags in Shamrock. Anvil circles Shamrock tentatively, Shamrock goes for a big roundhouse kick, Anvil ducks it, but as Anvil enjoys his evasion of the kick a little too much, Shamrock just uncorks another kick; this one lands, dropping the big man. He slaps on the ankle lock, Pillman jumps into break it up, and the crowd pops big for something as simple as that hold being broken up.
Anvil fights back with a couple of punches, but Shamrock counters him into a rolling ankle lock that only gets broken when they end up in the ropes. Anvil tags Pillman, who is over just huge here. Armdrag by Shamrock. He fights Pillman into the corner, but Pillman punches his way out. He bites at Shamrock's face and spits at him, which draws more big cheers from the partisan crowd. Chop, corner whip, backbreaker, and instead of going for the pin, Pillman does a funny moment where he gets down and slaps Shamrock's hand against the mat and tells the referee with a goofy grin on his face that Shamrock tapped out.
Another corner whip by Pillman; Shamrock fires out with a clothesline, and hears boos from the crowd. Pillman rolls over and tags Owen, who enters to a big pop and an "Owen" chant. Given how much love the crowd is giving to even the first tag-ins by Owen and Pillman, it seems an odd choice that Bret started the match instead of building to his hot tag. In any case, Goldust has tagged in as well. Owen slugs at Goldust in the corner, Goldust reverses a subsequent corner whip, then hits a backdrop. Owen back at him with an enziguri to get an abrupt near-fall. Goldust slams Owen into the turnbuckle, then mounts him in the corner and throws punches. Tag to Hawk, as Steve Austin is getting into it with some heckling fans near ringside.
Hawk drops a fist and gets a two-count. Drops another one, then heads over and scales the ropes. Big splash from the top gets two. He whips Owen into the ropes, goes for a seated dropkick, but Owen clings to the ropes and Hawk takes the flat-back bump. Owen quickly seizes the opportunity and slaps on the Sharpshooter, but Animal is in to break it up immediately. Tag to Bulldog, who comes right in with that signature delayed suplex; the crowd roars as Hawk is held up overhead. Two-count. Bulldog hits his big running powerslam, and Goldust has to run in to break up the pin attempt. Bulldog tags Bret, and it's Bret vs. Animal now.
Animal reverses a corner whip, but then runs square into Bret's raised boots. The two reset, then Animal tags in Goldust instead of continuing further. Jim Ross points out that both Bret and Goldust are second-generation stars. They lock up, but Bret takes the cheap kick to the gut, and that gives him the advantage. He hangs Goldust up in the tree of woe in the Hart corner, and all five Hart Foundation members swarm. This draws the Americans in, and we devolve into a chaotic brawl for a moment.
Things settle back down, Owen tags back in and hits a backbreaker on Goldust. Whips him into the corner, tries to follow up, but ends up ramming his own should straight into the post. Goldust tags Animal, who kicks away at a suddenly prone Owen. Animal whips him off the ropes, misses with a clothesline, Owen hits a spinning wheel kick, a missile dropkick off the top, and he kips up and takes in the moment.
Animal reverses a whip, Owen jumps up as if to attempt a hurracanrana, but Animal counters into a powerbomb. Big powerslam off the ropes by Animal, who signals for the Doomsday Device. Hawk climbs to the top, connects on the spot, but Neidhart makes the save. Again both teams enter the ring for an uncontrolled fracas. Amid the chaos, Austin drags Owen into the post, attacks his leg, then gets a chair and hammers Owen with it again. He continues attacking until Bret heads over to head him off, but at this point Owen's leg seems to be shot. Bret screams that Owen is hurt, the Harts drag him to the corner so that he can tag out, and Owen is assisted to the back by officials, leaving the Harts in an apparent 4-on-5.
Anvil tags in, and we have the brutal mismatch of Anvil vs. Austin. Seems like a great way for the Harts to dig themselves an even deeper hole now that they're down a man. Right away though, Austin gets too close to the Hart corner, and the Hart Foundation get him in their grasp and hammer away. Shamrock runs over and gets Austin out of harm's way. Pillman tags in, Austin grabs him by the tights as he tries to get away, showing us too much of Pillman's ass. He hits the Stunner, but Pillman is able to roll toward the Hart corner, where Bret trips Austin and pulls him over to the adjacent corner, apparently trying to destroy Austin's leg just like Austin did to Owen. He hits him with fists, then attacks the leg with a fire extinguisher before slapping on that corner figure-four. Hawk stomps on Bret to break up the hold.
Austin is laid out outside the ring, apparently unable to get up, and the match resets at Hawk vs. Davey Boy. Hawk scales the ropes, Davey hits his leg and crotches him on the ropes, and gets a two-count. Officials try to shepherd Austin toward the back. He refuses help, but he does begin to limp off, and we're at an apparent 4-on-4. Back in the ring, we're on Anvil vs. Animal. They engage in a test of strength, and Animal powers Neidhart down. Neidhart finds some adrenaline from the crowd and works his way back to a vertical base. He tags in Bret, sets Animal down on his knee, and assists Bret in a double-team as Bret hits an elbow off the ropes.
Animal stops short of a backdrop attempt and kicks Bret in the face. Tag to Shamrock. Shamrock tries to set up a submission hold, but Pillman runs in illegally and clotheslines Shamrock hard. Bret drops a headbutt to Shamrock's abdomen. Shamrock reverses a corner whip, and Bret takes the chest-first bump. Vince comments that tonight's crowd reflects "patriotism gone awry," since they're just going to cheer the Harts no matter what. Bret drives a knee into Shamrock's gut, then guides him over into Pillman's raised boot in the Hart corner. He dumps Shamrock to the floor, where Pillman sends him into one of the foreign announce tables. This causes more brawling among a number of team members. Anvil and Pillman send Hawk hard into the steps. Meanwhile, Bret hits the Russian legsweep on Shamrock inside the ring, and Goldust breaks up the pin attempt on two. Tag to the Bulldog.
Bulldog stomps Shamrock down in the corner and emulates the Austin double bird once he's down. Shamrock resorts to his own dirty trick by hitting a low blow. Jim Ross screams, "Shamrock did what he had to do, like it or not!" JR was usually good about not being the hypocritical face announcer, but that was annoying. Shamrock tags Goldust, who comes in and hits a clothesline. Corner whip and a bulldog. He sets up for the Curtain Call, but Pillman is again in illegally to break that spot up. I enjoy just how blatantly Pillman runs in whenever he feels like it. Goldust climbs the ropes, but Bulldog knocks him down to a seated position, then climbs up and hits a superplex. Hawk breaks up the pin, and as he does, we hear a large chorus of boos…it appears that Stone Cold is back.
Austin makes it to the apron, and he reaches desperately and gets the hot tag from Goldust. Totally illegal by the way, since he tagged through the middle rope. All the same, Bret tags in at the same time, and the big rivalry resumes. Austin kicks Bret down in the corner, flips the bird, another corner chest bump by Bret, and a suplex by Stone Cold gets two. Bret counters Austin's next attack with a DDT, then follows with a backbreaker. Elbow off the second rope gets two as well. Irish whip by Bret, who slaps on a sleeper on the way back. Austin drops down with a jawbreaker to break the hold, then gets another two-count. Bret with a double-leg into a Sharpshooter, but Animal is on the spot to break it up again, to huge boos.
As Animal has knocked Bret down, Austin slaps his own Sharpshooter on Bret, but we see Owen race down the aisle to enter the ring and bail his brother out of the hold.
Bret rolls over and tags Owen in. He whips Austin off the ropes, Austin catches Owen with a boot when he telegraphs the backdrop, and their fight spills out to the floor. Austin beats on Owen and rolls him back in. Bruce Hart, at ringside, tries to get in Austin's face. Austin pushes past him, and actually makes as if he's going to attack Stu, grabbing Stu by the collar. This draws another family member over, and that guy spills over the railing. Bret finally makes his way over, and he rolls Austin into the ring. As Austin turns around to go back after Bret, Owen rolls up Austin from behind and scores the pinfall.
The brawl continues on for a bit between team members and also Hart family members. Officials finally get things under control and they herd the losing team up the aisle to the back. The Harts hold the ring, Howard Finkel finally makes the announcement that they won this thing, Bret's music plays, and the celebration is on. Oh, but wait: Austin is back, and he's wielding a chair. He blindsides the Anvil with it.
The numbers game is of course pretty bad for Austin, and a billion Harts pile on him for this ill-advised shot. Security actually slaps cuffs on Austin, who struggles and curses. Pillman taunts the cuffed Austin as Austin makes his way up the aisle and flips the bird at the crowd along the way. Vince hilariously says, "I can't believe he's making hand gestures!" Jim Ross utters the famous, "He doesn't give a damn!" Austin put on a masterful performance on this night, memorable even by his lofty standards.
The coast is finally clear for good this time, and Hart family members flood into the ring. Brian Pillman helps Stu Hart into the ring, then raises Stu's hand triumphantly. Diana comes in and embraces Davey.
This family moment makes me happy. Well, mostly. This always makes me sad:
Diana helps Helen into the ring as well; the whole party has arrived. Bret says in his book that some random kid made his way in, Bret asked who he was, the kid admitted that he was just a rando, and Bret told him to enjoy himself. The celebration continues until the show goes off the air.
Result: The Hart Foundation via pinfall
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: I used to think that Meltzer underrated this one. On this viewing, I'd say he got it right. Stellar atmosphere, very fun viewing, but really totally carried by the crowd and atmosphere. There's a ceiling on matches that are that reliant on that aspect. ****1/4
Date: July 6, 1997
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31327267
Background: Bret Hart had masterfully executed a semi-turn where he became a heel in America but was over bigger than ever in Canada and other foreign countries. The rest of the Harts were under the same affiliation (heels in America, faces elsewhere). Steve Austin was Bret Hart's primary foil; these other teammates of his were just others who answered an open challenge to head into enemy territory to try to take down the Harts in Calgary.
The Match: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler on the call, Earl Hebner in the stripes.
Goldust comes out to no particular reaction. Ken Shamrock draws some audible heat for his entrance. Tough to detect much of a reaction either way for LOD. Steve Austin gets big heat, even though you can see and hear some supportive voices in the crowd.
Big pop for Brian Pillman, bigger than you would expect for the team's non-Canadian. Nice pop for the Anvil as well, a bit less than Pillman. Davey Boy, accompanied by Diana, with probably the biggest pop yet. Owen gets a nice pop, but it always annoys me that the Calgary crowd popped a bit bigger for the Bulldog. As can be expected, the roof blows off when Bret's music hits. The Harts enter as one, and this time Bret puts his sunglasses on mother Helen when he arrives at ringside.
The teams stare each other down in the middle of the ring. Jim Ross notes, "Several cameras at ringside. They're filming a documentary of Bret Hart's life." Most of the team members clear out, and we start right off with Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin. The bell rings, and they throw violent punches back and forth. These two had the best slugfests. So believable. Bret wins the advantage, beating Austin into the corner, stomping away, and copying Austin's signature spot by flipping him off. The crowd is losing their ****. Austin turns Bret around in the corner, gets his own shots in, and the crowd erupts with boos. Corner whip by Austin, but Bret bounces out of the corner with a clothesline. Headbutt to follow, inverted atomic drop, and a running clothesline. He rakes Stone Cold's eyes along the top rope, Stone Cold staggers away, but when Bret follows him, Austin kicks backward to hit a low blow, regaining the advantage.
He stomps the mudhole into the Hitman, then when Hitman gets up he slaps on the Million Dollar Dream. Stay away from the corner, Steve. Actually Bret does get close enough to kick off the corner, kicks back into the very same pinning combo that got him the win at Survivor Series, and this time Austin barely kicks out on two.
Austin is up first, dragging Bret over to the ropes and choking him against the second rope. He gets a running start and tries to drop the leg, but comes up empty, bouncing back into the middle of the ring in pain. Bret tags in his old partner, the Anvil. Anvil with an Irish whip, misses on a clothesline, and Austin hits the Thesz Press on the way back, then rains punches. Austin tags in Shamrock. Anvil circles Shamrock tentatively, Shamrock goes for a big roundhouse kick, Anvil ducks it, but as Anvil enjoys his evasion of the kick a little too much, Shamrock just uncorks another kick; this one lands, dropping the big man. He slaps on the ankle lock, Pillman jumps into break it up, and the crowd pops big for something as simple as that hold being broken up.
Anvil fights back with a couple of punches, but Shamrock counters him into a rolling ankle lock that only gets broken when they end up in the ropes. Anvil tags Pillman, who is over just huge here. Armdrag by Shamrock. He fights Pillman into the corner, but Pillman punches his way out. He bites at Shamrock's face and spits at him, which draws more big cheers from the partisan crowd. Chop, corner whip, backbreaker, and instead of going for the pin, Pillman does a funny moment where he gets down and slaps Shamrock's hand against the mat and tells the referee with a goofy grin on his face that Shamrock tapped out.
Another corner whip by Pillman; Shamrock fires out with a clothesline, and hears boos from the crowd. Pillman rolls over and tags Owen, who enters to a big pop and an "Owen" chant. Given how much love the crowd is giving to even the first tag-ins by Owen and Pillman, it seems an odd choice that Bret started the match instead of building to his hot tag. In any case, Goldust has tagged in as well. Owen slugs at Goldust in the corner, Goldust reverses a subsequent corner whip, then hits a backdrop. Owen back at him with an enziguri to get an abrupt near-fall. Goldust slams Owen into the turnbuckle, then mounts him in the corner and throws punches. Tag to Hawk, as Steve Austin is getting into it with some heckling fans near ringside.
Hawk drops a fist and gets a two-count. Drops another one, then heads over and scales the ropes. Big splash from the top gets two. He whips Owen into the ropes, goes for a seated dropkick, but Owen clings to the ropes and Hawk takes the flat-back bump. Owen quickly seizes the opportunity and slaps on the Sharpshooter, but Animal is in to break it up immediately. Tag to Bulldog, who comes right in with that signature delayed suplex; the crowd roars as Hawk is held up overhead. Two-count. Bulldog hits his big running powerslam, and Goldust has to run in to break up the pin attempt. Bulldog tags Bret, and it's Bret vs. Animal now.
Animal reverses a corner whip, but then runs square into Bret's raised boots. The two reset, then Animal tags in Goldust instead of continuing further. Jim Ross points out that both Bret and Goldust are second-generation stars. They lock up, but Bret takes the cheap kick to the gut, and that gives him the advantage. He hangs Goldust up in the tree of woe in the Hart corner, and all five Hart Foundation members swarm. This draws the Americans in, and we devolve into a chaotic brawl for a moment.
Things settle back down, Owen tags back in and hits a backbreaker on Goldust. Whips him into the corner, tries to follow up, but ends up ramming his own should straight into the post. Goldust tags Animal, who kicks away at a suddenly prone Owen. Animal whips him off the ropes, misses with a clothesline, Owen hits a spinning wheel kick, a missile dropkick off the top, and he kips up and takes in the moment.
Animal reverses a whip, Owen jumps up as if to attempt a hurracanrana, but Animal counters into a powerbomb. Big powerslam off the ropes by Animal, who signals for the Doomsday Device. Hawk climbs to the top, connects on the spot, but Neidhart makes the save. Again both teams enter the ring for an uncontrolled fracas. Amid the chaos, Austin drags Owen into the post, attacks his leg, then gets a chair and hammers Owen with it again. He continues attacking until Bret heads over to head him off, but at this point Owen's leg seems to be shot. Bret screams that Owen is hurt, the Harts drag him to the corner so that he can tag out, and Owen is assisted to the back by officials, leaving the Harts in an apparent 4-on-5.
Anvil tags in, and we have the brutal mismatch of Anvil vs. Austin. Seems like a great way for the Harts to dig themselves an even deeper hole now that they're down a man. Right away though, Austin gets too close to the Hart corner, and the Hart Foundation get him in their grasp and hammer away. Shamrock runs over and gets Austin out of harm's way. Pillman tags in, Austin grabs him by the tights as he tries to get away, showing us too much of Pillman's ass. He hits the Stunner, but Pillman is able to roll toward the Hart corner, where Bret trips Austin and pulls him over to the adjacent corner, apparently trying to destroy Austin's leg just like Austin did to Owen. He hits him with fists, then attacks the leg with a fire extinguisher before slapping on that corner figure-four. Hawk stomps on Bret to break up the hold.
Austin is laid out outside the ring, apparently unable to get up, and the match resets at Hawk vs. Davey Boy. Hawk scales the ropes, Davey hits his leg and crotches him on the ropes, and gets a two-count. Officials try to shepherd Austin toward the back. He refuses help, but he does begin to limp off, and we're at an apparent 4-on-4. Back in the ring, we're on Anvil vs. Animal. They engage in a test of strength, and Animal powers Neidhart down. Neidhart finds some adrenaline from the crowd and works his way back to a vertical base. He tags in Bret, sets Animal down on his knee, and assists Bret in a double-team as Bret hits an elbow off the ropes.
Animal stops short of a backdrop attempt and kicks Bret in the face. Tag to Shamrock. Shamrock tries to set up a submission hold, but Pillman runs in illegally and clotheslines Shamrock hard. Bret drops a headbutt to Shamrock's abdomen. Shamrock reverses a corner whip, and Bret takes the chest-first bump. Vince comments that tonight's crowd reflects "patriotism gone awry," since they're just going to cheer the Harts no matter what. Bret drives a knee into Shamrock's gut, then guides him over into Pillman's raised boot in the Hart corner. He dumps Shamrock to the floor, where Pillman sends him into one of the foreign announce tables. This causes more brawling among a number of team members. Anvil and Pillman send Hawk hard into the steps. Meanwhile, Bret hits the Russian legsweep on Shamrock inside the ring, and Goldust breaks up the pin attempt on two. Tag to the Bulldog.
Bulldog stomps Shamrock down in the corner and emulates the Austin double bird once he's down. Shamrock resorts to his own dirty trick by hitting a low blow. Jim Ross screams, "Shamrock did what he had to do, like it or not!" JR was usually good about not being the hypocritical face announcer, but that was annoying. Shamrock tags Goldust, who comes in and hits a clothesline. Corner whip and a bulldog. He sets up for the Curtain Call, but Pillman is again in illegally to break that spot up. I enjoy just how blatantly Pillman runs in whenever he feels like it. Goldust climbs the ropes, but Bulldog knocks him down to a seated position, then climbs up and hits a superplex. Hawk breaks up the pin, and as he does, we hear a large chorus of boos…it appears that Stone Cold is back.
Austin makes it to the apron, and he reaches desperately and gets the hot tag from Goldust. Totally illegal by the way, since he tagged through the middle rope. All the same, Bret tags in at the same time, and the big rivalry resumes. Austin kicks Bret down in the corner, flips the bird, another corner chest bump by Bret, and a suplex by Stone Cold gets two. Bret counters Austin's next attack with a DDT, then follows with a backbreaker. Elbow off the second rope gets two as well. Irish whip by Bret, who slaps on a sleeper on the way back. Austin drops down with a jawbreaker to break the hold, then gets another two-count. Bret with a double-leg into a Sharpshooter, but Animal is on the spot to break it up again, to huge boos.
As Animal has knocked Bret down, Austin slaps his own Sharpshooter on Bret, but we see Owen race down the aisle to enter the ring and bail his brother out of the hold.
Bret rolls over and tags Owen in. He whips Austin off the ropes, Austin catches Owen with a boot when he telegraphs the backdrop, and their fight spills out to the floor. Austin beats on Owen and rolls him back in. Bruce Hart, at ringside, tries to get in Austin's face. Austin pushes past him, and actually makes as if he's going to attack Stu, grabbing Stu by the collar. This draws another family member over, and that guy spills over the railing. Bret finally makes his way over, and he rolls Austin into the ring. As Austin turns around to go back after Bret, Owen rolls up Austin from behind and scores the pinfall.
The brawl continues on for a bit between team members and also Hart family members. Officials finally get things under control and they herd the losing team up the aisle to the back. The Harts hold the ring, Howard Finkel finally makes the announcement that they won this thing, Bret's music plays, and the celebration is on. Oh, but wait: Austin is back, and he's wielding a chair. He blindsides the Anvil with it.
The numbers game is of course pretty bad for Austin, and a billion Harts pile on him for this ill-advised shot. Security actually slaps cuffs on Austin, who struggles and curses. Pillman taunts the cuffed Austin as Austin makes his way up the aisle and flips the bird at the crowd along the way. Vince hilariously says, "I can't believe he's making hand gestures!" Jim Ross utters the famous, "He doesn't give a damn!" Austin put on a masterful performance on this night, memorable even by his lofty standards.
The coast is finally clear for good this time, and Hart family members flood into the ring. Brian Pillman helps Stu Hart into the ring, then raises Stu's hand triumphantly. Diana comes in and embraces Davey.
This family moment makes me happy. Well, mostly. This always makes me sad:
Diana helps Helen into the ring as well; the whole party has arrived. Bret says in his book that some random kid made his way in, Bret asked who he was, the kid admitted that he was just a rando, and Bret told him to enjoy himself. The celebration continues until the show goes off the air.
Result: The Hart Foundation via pinfall
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: I used to think that Meltzer underrated this one. On this viewing, I'd say he got it right. Stellar atmosphere, very fun viewing, but really totally carried by the crowd and atmosphere. There's a ceiling on matches that are that reliant on that aspect. ****1/4
08-05-2018
, 09:07 PM
WCW BASH AT THE BEACH '97: CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE - CHRIS JERICHO (C) vs. ULTIMO DRAGON
Date: July 13, 1997
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31573927
Background: No particular feud; just a title match.
The Match: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, and Dusty Rhodes are our announcers, Mark Curtis the referee.
The two circle each other before locking up. Waistlock by Jericho, Dragon forces a rope break and a reset. Drop toe-hold by Dragon, countered by Jericho into a hammerlock, reversed by Dragon with another drop toe-hold. Side headlock takeover by Ultimo, Jericho counters into a headscissors, and Dragon kips up out of the hold for another reset. Kick by Jericho sets up a waistlock, which Dragon elbows out of. Dragon lands on his feet out of a backdrop and then again out of a monkey-flip; he goes for his own monkey-flip, and Jericho lands on his feet as well. They trade armdrags and throw the same kicks at each other simultaneously, and there's a subtle mutual show of respect between the two as the early going has this as a stalemate.
Chops by Jericho in the corner. Corner whip, Dragon juts his legs out, performs a handstand, then donkey-kicks Jericho and drops to the mat before delivering his signature kicks. Snapmare, then a pair of hard kicks to Jericho's back. Reverse chinlock by Dragon, now establishing a degree of control. Headscissor by Dragon; he voluntarily releases, then rakes the eyes with his boot. Jericho reverses an Irish whip, then counters Dragon's hurracanrana attempt with his consecutive powerbomb spot, which arouses the crowd.
Sentan backsplash by Jericho gets two. Standing delayed suplex by Jericho, who hesitates before covering, and as a result he only gets a one-count. Backbreaker, and the champ holds on and wrenches Ultimo's back over his knee, stretching him out. Irish whip by Jericho, misses on a clothesline, and Dragon throws a big back suplex.
Corner whip by Jericho, Dragon jumps behind the charging Jericho, Jericho climbs the ropes and connects on a moonsault for another count of two. Butterfly powerbomb by Jericho gets a near-fall. Chris sets him up on the top rope, follows him up, seems to set up for a superplex, but Ultimo blocks. Ultimo pulls Jericho up to the top with him, where Jericho attempts a dropkick and Dragon backs away, as Jericho falls to the mat on the missed dropkick and Dragon falls all the way to the floor. Seemed like a botch. Jericho recovers with a springboard cross-body to the floor.
He rolls Ultimo back inside, follows in, and puts the boots to the back of his head. Scoop slam, and now Jericho hops up to the second rope, stalls for too long, and ends up jumping into Dragon's raised boots. Dragon sets Jericho up on the top, seems to set up for the spinning hurracanrana, but Jericho knocks him off. Dragon recovers, scales the ropes again, seems as if he's about to hit a regular hurracanrana off the top, but again Jericho counters, this time tossing him all the way over to the floor. Jericho jumps off the top, but now it's Dragon with the big counter, hitting the dropkick in mid-flight. Very nice sequence.
Dragon goes for a suplex on the floor, but Jericho blocks and counters with his own. He goes inside to take a quick breather while Ultimo recovers. Ultimo makes his way back up to the apron, Jericho tries to keep him from re-entry, goes for a springboard move to attack and ends up coming up empty and hitting hard on the floor. Dragon heads to the apron and hits an asai moonsault. Both men are laid out, and Tony Schiavone raises the possibility of a double countout. Dragon is first up, he beats the count inside and seems to be content to hope on the countout victory that would not win him the title, but Jericho scrambles to his feet and beats the count at 9. Heenan points out the foolishness of Jericho not just accepting the countout.
Dragon with a hurracanrana, Jericho gets his foot on the ropes to break the pin. Magistral cradle by Dragon, and again Jericho is saved by his proximity to the bottom rope. They trade pinning combinations and two-counts, and then Jericho counters Dragon's waistlock attempt by rushing to the ropes, causing both to tumble through to the outside. Dragon hits an enziguri on the floor (which Tony calls a dropkick). Dragon tries to suplex Jericho inside, but Jericho lands on his feet. Lionsault, then a pinning combo, but he doesn't execute the pin well and it's only good for two. Jericho shows his frustration with his inability to put this thing away. Tony: "Dragon looks like he's hurt here, guys." Bobby: "Looks like he's draggin'!" Tony: "…yes he does."
Scoop slam by Jericho, but a quebrada attempt runs into another Dragon dropkick; this spot is not well-executed. Ultimo goes for the tiger suplex, Jericho escapes, Ultimo tries to slap on the Dragon Sleeper, but Jericho is able to escape that as well. Clothesline by Dragon, then a flat top-rope moonsault looks like it hits Jericho pretty good knee-to-face. He gets up and tries to pick Jericho up into a tiger suplex attempt, Jericho reverses into a powerbomb attempt, Dragon counters into a hurracanrana, but Jericho rolls through and turns it into his own pinning combination to score the three-count and narrowly escape with his title. Kind of an underwhelming ending.
Result: Chris Jericho via pinfall
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: It was a good match, and of course the athleticism brought to the table by both men is always top-notch, but to me this was not a standout in the annals of the WCW cruiserweight division. ***1/2
Date: July 13, 1997
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31573927
Background: No particular feud; just a title match.
The Match: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, and Dusty Rhodes are our announcers, Mark Curtis the referee.
The two circle each other before locking up. Waistlock by Jericho, Dragon forces a rope break and a reset. Drop toe-hold by Dragon, countered by Jericho into a hammerlock, reversed by Dragon with another drop toe-hold. Side headlock takeover by Ultimo, Jericho counters into a headscissors, and Dragon kips up out of the hold for another reset. Kick by Jericho sets up a waistlock, which Dragon elbows out of. Dragon lands on his feet out of a backdrop and then again out of a monkey-flip; he goes for his own monkey-flip, and Jericho lands on his feet as well. They trade armdrags and throw the same kicks at each other simultaneously, and there's a subtle mutual show of respect between the two as the early going has this as a stalemate.
Chops by Jericho in the corner. Corner whip, Dragon juts his legs out, performs a handstand, then donkey-kicks Jericho and drops to the mat before delivering his signature kicks. Snapmare, then a pair of hard kicks to Jericho's back. Reverse chinlock by Dragon, now establishing a degree of control. Headscissor by Dragon; he voluntarily releases, then rakes the eyes with his boot. Jericho reverses an Irish whip, then counters Dragon's hurracanrana attempt with his consecutive powerbomb spot, which arouses the crowd.
Sentan backsplash by Jericho gets two. Standing delayed suplex by Jericho, who hesitates before covering, and as a result he only gets a one-count. Backbreaker, and the champ holds on and wrenches Ultimo's back over his knee, stretching him out. Irish whip by Jericho, misses on a clothesline, and Dragon throws a big back suplex.
Corner whip by Jericho, Dragon jumps behind the charging Jericho, Jericho climbs the ropes and connects on a moonsault for another count of two. Butterfly powerbomb by Jericho gets a near-fall. Chris sets him up on the top rope, follows him up, seems to set up for a superplex, but Ultimo blocks. Ultimo pulls Jericho up to the top with him, where Jericho attempts a dropkick and Dragon backs away, as Jericho falls to the mat on the missed dropkick and Dragon falls all the way to the floor. Seemed like a botch. Jericho recovers with a springboard cross-body to the floor.
He rolls Ultimo back inside, follows in, and puts the boots to the back of his head. Scoop slam, and now Jericho hops up to the second rope, stalls for too long, and ends up jumping into Dragon's raised boots. Dragon sets Jericho up on the top, seems to set up for the spinning hurracanrana, but Jericho knocks him off. Dragon recovers, scales the ropes again, seems as if he's about to hit a regular hurracanrana off the top, but again Jericho counters, this time tossing him all the way over to the floor. Jericho jumps off the top, but now it's Dragon with the big counter, hitting the dropkick in mid-flight. Very nice sequence.
Dragon goes for a suplex on the floor, but Jericho blocks and counters with his own. He goes inside to take a quick breather while Ultimo recovers. Ultimo makes his way back up to the apron, Jericho tries to keep him from re-entry, goes for a springboard move to attack and ends up coming up empty and hitting hard on the floor. Dragon heads to the apron and hits an asai moonsault. Both men are laid out, and Tony Schiavone raises the possibility of a double countout. Dragon is first up, he beats the count inside and seems to be content to hope on the countout victory that would not win him the title, but Jericho scrambles to his feet and beats the count at 9. Heenan points out the foolishness of Jericho not just accepting the countout.
Dragon with a hurracanrana, Jericho gets his foot on the ropes to break the pin. Magistral cradle by Dragon, and again Jericho is saved by his proximity to the bottom rope. They trade pinning combinations and two-counts, and then Jericho counters Dragon's waistlock attempt by rushing to the ropes, causing both to tumble through to the outside. Dragon hits an enziguri on the floor (which Tony calls a dropkick). Dragon tries to suplex Jericho inside, but Jericho lands on his feet. Lionsault, then a pinning combo, but he doesn't execute the pin well and it's only good for two. Jericho shows his frustration with his inability to put this thing away. Tony: "Dragon looks like he's hurt here, guys." Bobby: "Looks like he's draggin'!" Tony: "…yes he does."
Scoop slam by Jericho, but a quebrada attempt runs into another Dragon dropkick; this spot is not well-executed. Ultimo goes for the tiger suplex, Jericho escapes, Ultimo tries to slap on the Dragon Sleeper, but Jericho is able to escape that as well. Clothesline by Dragon, then a flat top-rope moonsault looks like it hits Jericho pretty good knee-to-face. He gets up and tries to pick Jericho up into a tiger suplex attempt, Jericho reverses into a powerbomb attempt, Dragon counters into a hurracanrana, but Jericho rolls through and turns it into his own pinning combination to score the three-count and narrowly escape with his title. Kind of an underwhelming ending.
Result: Chris Jericho via pinfall
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: It was a good match, and of course the athleticism brought to the table by both men is always top-notch, but to me this was not a standout in the annals of the WCW cruiserweight division. ***1/2
08-05-2018
, 09:07 PM
WCW BASH AT THE BEACH '97: CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE - CHRIS JERICHO (C) vs. ULTIMO DRAGON
Date: July 13, 1997
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31573927
Background: No particular feud; just a six-man lucha showcase.
The Match: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, and Dusty Rhodes are our announcers, Mark Curtis the referee.
This match long stuck in my memory as a standout, as lucha spotfests go. It was my favorite within the lucha tag genre back at the time. With that said, I haven't gone back and watched it in the Network era, and I've become biased against pointless spotfests as time has gone on, so I fear that it won't have aged well for me. Hoping for the best though.
Psicosis and Lizmark kick things off. Side headlock by Psicosis, countered by Lizmark into a waistlock takeover. Psicosis counters into a headscissor, but Lizmark kips up out of it. Psicosis with a shoulderblock, misses with a clothesline, Garza in illegally with an armdrag off the top, Lizmark dropkicks Psicosis out of the ring, and Villano enters under the lax lucha tag rules. He whips Garza into a corner and clotheslines him. Chop, chop, Garza reverses a corner whip, but he runs into Villano's boots on the follow-up. Garza lands on his feet off a backdrop attempt, launches off the ropes with an armdrag that takes Villano out of the ring, then he hits a baseball slide to the outside. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the floor by Garza.
Back in the ring, La Parka and Juventud are in. Headscissor takeover by Juventud. He goes for another, but La Parka maintains his feet, I think due to a botch. Juvi attempts a hurracanrana and then transitions into an armdrag. From a lying position, he launches La Parka to the floor with his feet when La Parka charges. Juvi athletically pushes up, juts his feet out from the ring to the floor, and executes a headscissor takeover. Sonny Onoo interjects himself with some kicks on Juvi, La Parka capitalizes by running up behind Juvi and grabbing the hair so that Onoo can lay in a big kick, but Juvi dodges and Onoo kicks La Parka in the face. La Parka is pissed, causing Psicosis to jump in the middle and settle things down. Onoo reaches into his pocket and spreads a large number of dollar bills, calming the situation down.
Back inside, Psicosis charges at Lizmark in a corner, but comes up very empty and hits hard, legs-first. La Parka hits Lizmark from the outside, then tries to enter, but Psicosis accidentally hits La Parka with a running clothesline, as those two continue to have trouble co-existing as a tag team. Almost everyone in the ring all of a sudden, as Garza hits a top-rope cross-body, La Parka and Villano jump in with missed backsplashes as they try to break things up. Juventud hits a springboard splash on everyone, but there's no discernible pinfall to be had. Bobby: "Tony, I'll give you $100,000: who's legal?" Tony: "La Parka." Bobby: "I don't believe you." The faces clear the ring, and then all three (Lizmark/Juvi/Garza) get a running start and hit a triple suicide dive to the outside. Points to Mark Curtis for cowering in a corner before the spot.
Juvi rolls Psicosis in, then follows him in with a springboard cross-body attempt that runs into a Psicosis dropkick. Psicosis sets Guerrera on the top, climbs to the top after him, and executes a move where he tucks his legs under Guerrera's armpits and then crashes him down to the mat from the top, as Psicosis falls naturally into it with a pinning combo akin to that of a sunset flip. Juvi kicks out on two. Tenay: "How was he able to kick out?!" Bobby: "…he has no bones!" For whatever reason, I loved that line by Bobby so much that it became a go-to for me and a few friends when we saw someone do something impossible, even if it made far less sense than how Juvi could survive that move.
Corner whip by Psicosis. La Parka doubles up by clotheslining him with a running start on the apron. La Parka enters, Psicosis whips Juvi into the corner, whips La Parka in after, Juvi kicks La Parka, and as everyone enters, we end up in another hectic sequence where a bunch of spots and pin attempts are happening simultaneously. Lizmark's quebrada on Villano is the last failed pin attempt of the sequence. Lizmark and Garza spread Psicosis's and Villano's legs into a combined star. La Parka and Juventud for some reason jump into the middle of the star - this is where spots get especially contrived - where La Parka gets Juventud up over his shoulders in the rack for a moment before tossing him onto Lizmark and causing the whole star hold to break up.
Garza runs into a big clothesline from Psicosis. Psicosis scales to the top, goes for a big splash, but nobody's home. Now we have a sequence of everyone else trying to connect from the top, and everyone missing, La Parka missing last on a splash. Sorry, but stuff like this is stupid even though it worked for me at the time.
Belly-to-belly by Villano on Juventud. Climbs to the top, but Juventud catches him there, climbs up with him, then Garza joins him to try for a double superplex, but La Parka and Psicosis come in and get both on their shoulders. Double dropkick by Lizmark sends both chicken-fights sprawling through the ropes to the outside and also knocking Villano off the top in the process. Handspring moonsault by Lizmark into a pin. Two. Running dropkick by Lizmark knocks Villano to the floor. Top-rope cross-body by Lizmark to the floor. La Parka enters the ring, gets a running start, and hits a flying body attack to the floor. Juventud and Lizmark get in, and Juventud uses Lizmark as a springboard, getting incredible air as he launches out to the floor to hit La Parka.
Psicosis charges Garza in the ring, but Garza launches him out on top of multiple wrestlers with a backdrop. Garza goes up and hits his contrived corkscrew plancha to the floor. Back inside, Psicosis and Garza clothesline each other. Villano V comes running out to the ring to impersonate his brother; he clotheslines Garza as a fresh man as Villano IV hides on the floor. As Psicosis holds Garza, Villano V gets a running start and accidentally clotheslines Psicosis when Garza ducks. Garza with a missile dropkick off the top, standing moonsault, and that's the three-count.
Result: Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, & Lizmark Jr. via pinfall
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: Very much a spotfest obviously, and a pretty silly one at that sometimes, but I enjoyed it and thought it was fun. I would have surely agreed with this being 4+ stars back at the time, but with age I would downgrade it to ***1/2.
Date: July 13, 1997
Link: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31573927
Background: No particular feud; just a six-man lucha showcase.
The Match: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, and Dusty Rhodes are our announcers, Mark Curtis the referee.
This match long stuck in my memory as a standout, as lucha spotfests go. It was my favorite within the lucha tag genre back at the time. With that said, I haven't gone back and watched it in the Network era, and I've become biased against pointless spotfests as time has gone on, so I fear that it won't have aged well for me. Hoping for the best though.
Psicosis and Lizmark kick things off. Side headlock by Psicosis, countered by Lizmark into a waistlock takeover. Psicosis counters into a headscissor, but Lizmark kips up out of it. Psicosis with a shoulderblock, misses with a clothesline, Garza in illegally with an armdrag off the top, Lizmark dropkicks Psicosis out of the ring, and Villano enters under the lax lucha tag rules. He whips Garza into a corner and clotheslines him. Chop, chop, Garza reverses a corner whip, but he runs into Villano's boots on the follow-up. Garza lands on his feet off a backdrop attempt, launches off the ropes with an armdrag that takes Villano out of the ring, then he hits a baseball slide to the outside. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the floor by Garza.
Back in the ring, La Parka and Juventud are in. Headscissor takeover by Juventud. He goes for another, but La Parka maintains his feet, I think due to a botch. Juvi attempts a hurracanrana and then transitions into an armdrag. From a lying position, he launches La Parka to the floor with his feet when La Parka charges. Juvi athletically pushes up, juts his feet out from the ring to the floor, and executes a headscissor takeover. Sonny Onoo interjects himself with some kicks on Juvi, La Parka capitalizes by running up behind Juvi and grabbing the hair so that Onoo can lay in a big kick, but Juvi dodges and Onoo kicks La Parka in the face. La Parka is pissed, causing Psicosis to jump in the middle and settle things down. Onoo reaches into his pocket and spreads a large number of dollar bills, calming the situation down.
Back inside, Psicosis charges at Lizmark in a corner, but comes up very empty and hits hard, legs-first. La Parka hits Lizmark from the outside, then tries to enter, but Psicosis accidentally hits La Parka with a running clothesline, as those two continue to have trouble co-existing as a tag team. Almost everyone in the ring all of a sudden, as Garza hits a top-rope cross-body, La Parka and Villano jump in with missed backsplashes as they try to break things up. Juventud hits a springboard splash on everyone, but there's no discernible pinfall to be had. Bobby: "Tony, I'll give you $100,000: who's legal?" Tony: "La Parka." Bobby: "I don't believe you." The faces clear the ring, and then all three (Lizmark/Juvi/Garza) get a running start and hit a triple suicide dive to the outside. Points to Mark Curtis for cowering in a corner before the spot.
Juvi rolls Psicosis in, then follows him in with a springboard cross-body attempt that runs into a Psicosis dropkick. Psicosis sets Guerrera on the top, climbs to the top after him, and executes a move where he tucks his legs under Guerrera's armpits and then crashes him down to the mat from the top, as Psicosis falls naturally into it with a pinning combo akin to that of a sunset flip. Juvi kicks out on two. Tenay: "How was he able to kick out?!" Bobby: "…he has no bones!" For whatever reason, I loved that line by Bobby so much that it became a go-to for me and a few friends when we saw someone do something impossible, even if it made far less sense than how Juvi could survive that move.
Corner whip by Psicosis. La Parka doubles up by clotheslining him with a running start on the apron. La Parka enters, Psicosis whips Juvi into the corner, whips La Parka in after, Juvi kicks La Parka, and as everyone enters, we end up in another hectic sequence where a bunch of spots and pin attempts are happening simultaneously. Lizmark's quebrada on Villano is the last failed pin attempt of the sequence. Lizmark and Garza spread Psicosis's and Villano's legs into a combined star. La Parka and Juventud for some reason jump into the middle of the star - this is where spots get especially contrived - where La Parka gets Juventud up over his shoulders in the rack for a moment before tossing him onto Lizmark and causing the whole star hold to break up.
Garza runs into a big clothesline from Psicosis. Psicosis scales to the top, goes for a big splash, but nobody's home. Now we have a sequence of everyone else trying to connect from the top, and everyone missing, La Parka missing last on a splash. Sorry, but stuff like this is stupid even though it worked for me at the time.
Belly-to-belly by Villano on Juventud. Climbs to the top, but Juventud catches him there, climbs up with him, then Garza joins him to try for a double superplex, but La Parka and Psicosis come in and get both on their shoulders. Double dropkick by Lizmark sends both chicken-fights sprawling through the ropes to the outside and also knocking Villano off the top in the process. Handspring moonsault by Lizmark into a pin. Two. Running dropkick by Lizmark knocks Villano to the floor. Top-rope cross-body by Lizmark to the floor. La Parka enters the ring, gets a running start, and hits a flying body attack to the floor. Juventud and Lizmark get in, and Juventud uses Lizmark as a springboard, getting incredible air as he launches out to the floor to hit La Parka.
Psicosis charges Garza in the ring, but Garza launches him out on top of multiple wrestlers with a backdrop. Garza goes up and hits his contrived corkscrew plancha to the floor. Back inside, Psicosis and Garza clothesline each other. Villano V comes running out to the ring to impersonate his brother; he clotheslines Garza as a fresh man as Villano IV hides on the floor. As Psicosis holds Garza, Villano V gets a running start and accidentally clotheslines Psicosis when Garza ducks. Garza with a missile dropkick off the top, standing moonsault, and that's the three-count.
Result: Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, & Lizmark Jr. via pinfall
Meltzer Rating: ****1/4
My Review and Rating: Very much a spotfest obviously, and a pretty silly one at that sometimes, but I enjoyed it and thought it was fun. I would have surely agreed with this being 4+ stars back at the time, but with age I would downgrade it to ***1/2.