Loss

The handheld of the cage match he had with Bret in California in August of '93. You may have heard jdw mention it, since he's pimped it quite a few times as a great match. Went about a half hour, which is amazing for someone Yoko's size. I'll make sure it comes your way.

AJ Styles v Jerry Lynn - ROH Road To The Title The announcers are still jabbering on about "match of the year candidates", and it's really an annoying breach of kayfabe. This match is essentially a wankfest, with the armbar reversals and fast paced stuff. Don't get me wrong, a fast pace is nice, but here, it only seems to be there to give the illusion that fans are actually seeing action with true cause and effect, and to give the illusion that they're building toward some type of finish. Jerry Lynn looks worse every time I see him, I guess because his total lack of charisma brings all of his matches down. No matter how athletic he is, there's no fire in his eyes, and he doesn't seem to be really battling to secure a victory or convey a message to the audience, with the only message possibly being "I'm Indy Guy Jerry Lynn, and after being held down for all these years, I'm going to wrestle a really fast match in front of you where I do lots of cradles and springboards and other needless flashes. I'm not going to acknowledge your existence, even through anything as simple as pumping my fists or smiling at someone in the audience, because that would take away from the time I had to do tornado DDTs. Thanks for understanding." You're not exactly welcome, Jerry. AJ is a little better, because he at least has clear determination, as he succeeds in the areas where Lynn fails, at least to an extent; he's not really doing much to involve the crowd or tell any type of story himself, but he at least wrestles like he gives a damn about winning. As much as he may be better in that regard, however, he's just as spot-spot-spot minded as Lynn, and there's some really ridiculously obvious cooperation in this match -- at one point, when they're working a series of really fast, masturbatory two counts that do nothing to pop the crowd, you can see Lynn waiting calmly to start bridging up when the referee gets to two. You don't hear him let out a large battle cry or see a look of strain on his face at all. The best moment of the match in that regard comes when the camera shows AJ's total shock over Lynn kicking out of the twisting senton bomb. Besides that, don't expect anything to make you care about the match happening in the ring.

American Dragon v Doug Williams - ROH Road To The Title At last, I can see what the fuss is about as it relates to Bryan Danielson! I definitely get the hype, because he's terrific in this match, and it's my understanding that he's gotten even better since. The match is everything it is because of Danielson; that's not to say that Williams brings nothing, because he's good, but Dragon is the one that gives everything meaning, the one who knows when to speed up and when to slow down. It's a sixth sense that wrestlers either have or don't have, and it's obvious that American Dragon has it here. He also brings some nice highspots and reversals -- check out his enzuigiri off of a simple single leg attempt by Doug, and check out the little things he does between moves to give them that extra umph, like kick his opponent before applying a chinlock or forearm him while he has him in a submission hold. Dual holds, which I remarked recently I hadn't seen before in an American match, come into play here, as each guy has a legbar locked on his opponent concurrently, and with both trying to shift the momentum, they end up rolling outside the ring, where the referee has to separate them. It's at this point that the announcers explain that there are no countouts in ROH, which is ludicrous. It's not ludicrous because they need the option available to do countout finishes or anything, but they're only cheating their performers out of another way to build suspense in a match by beating the count back into the ring. The match is incredibly stiff, with both having a battle of the forearms, so to speak, and Dragon eventually getting his diving headbutt in. Williams would eventually rebound and get a nice nearfall off of the chaos theory. From there, they build to the finish, as Danielson has some cool ideas for how to set up the cattle mutilation, which in some ways reminds me of the way Bret Hart would often set up the sharpshooter in his bigger matches, getting it over as a hold he could apply from almost any position. If not for the announcers going on about "stiff work" and "match of the year candidates", and if not for the hindrance of the Code Of Honor and fans who applaud good work instead of cheering or booing it, this might have come off to be as good a match as it really is. ***

Paul London v Spanky - ROH Road To The Title This was going along just fine until the last few minutes, when they started blowing nearly every move they tried. They covered as best they could, and they sold the move the way it was executed instead of the way it was intended, which is really all they can do at that point, but the performance was really lacking. I understand that ROH prided itself on competition at this point over face/heel alignments or hatred or any other normal aspect of American wrestling, but it makes the whole thing sort of an exercise in frustration, and as would be the case on all the ROH I watched today, the announcers are clueless -- they openly admit to not being able to call most of the moves, and they talk so fast and elaborate on points so long that by the time they finish, the wrestlers are usually somewhere else entirely. What the wrestlers accomplish in the early stages they do well, with Spanky trying a variety of things to put London away, none of which appear to be working at all. His look of frustration is a nice subtlety, and I do enjoy the fact that it isn't overdone. This is mainly good for Paul London's highspots, as he hits a gorgeous somersault plancha and springboard Asai moonsault, which was the first time I had ever seen that move. Beyond that, there wasn't much there. This was not a good match.

Steve Austin Austin is one of the few people I'll vote for over Hennig.

Kurt Angle I like Van Dam more, but Kurt has had more upper card success and better matches, and he's also the superior worker.

Ric Flair Razor had a major turnaround in career fortune around 1993 or so, and until 1996, he was one of the most popular babyfaces on the roster, but Flair came in and made a big impact from the day he walked in the door, and he sustained it until the day he left. Both had really bad second run-throughs, so those cancel each other out.

Randy Savage Owen is the superior worker, but Savage isn't far behind, and he's carried some slugs to some great matches. He's also drawn more money and made a bigger impact. Owen had a really fun run though, and I'm confident he'll succeed in the other bracket.

Edge Nash has already gone further than he deserves to go. Both are injury prone and overpushed, but Edge has never embarrassed the company, and Edge never nearly drove them to bankruptcy.

Chris Benoit No contest really, as Christian has been making a living off potential for years now.

Undertaker Hogan drew more money, but Taker is better than him in every other conceivable category. More company longevity. Better worker. More good matches. Both are icons in this time frame, and both have been unprofessional at times, but Taker is by far the bigger pro.

Yokozuna I can at least point to one specific match he had and say, "Wow, that was great!"

Ultimate Warrior v Mr. Perfect Chris Jericho v Rob Van Dam Demolition Smash v Razor Ramon Bob Backlund v Owen Hart Marty Jannetty v Diesel Rey Misterio v Christian Sid v Undertaker Sgt Slaughter v Bad News Brown Big Show v 1-2-3 Kid/X-Pac Booker T v Ted DiBiase Tito Santana v Paul Orndorff Greg Valentine v Honky Tonk Man Jake Roberts v John Bradshaw Layfield Kane v Taijiri Ricky Steamboat v Davey Boy Smith Dynamite Kid v Brock Lesnar

#1 - Bret Hart v Roddy Piper #2 - Rick Martel v Mick Foley #3 - Eddy Guerrero v HHH #4 - The Rock v Shawn Michaels #5 - Yokozuna v Hulk Hogan #6 - Chris Benoit v Edge #7 - Randy Savage v Ric Flair #8 - Kurt Angle v Steve Austin

Round 2 #1 - Bret Hart (15 votes) defeated Brock Lesnar (0 votes) #2 - Roddy Piper (8 votes) defeated Davey Boy Smith (7 votes) #3 - Rick Martel (14 votes) defeated Taijiri (1 vote) #4 - Mick Foley (15 votes) defeated John Bradshaw Layfield (0 votes) #5 - Eddy Guerrero (15 votes) defeated Honky Tonk Man (0 votes) #6 - HHH (12 votes) defeated Paul Orndorff (3 votes) #7 - The Rock (14 votes) defeated Ted DiBiase (1 vote) #8 - Shawn Michaels (15 votes) defeated 1-2-3 Kid (0 votes) #9 - Yokozuna (14 votes) defeated Bad News Brown (0 votes) #10 - Hulk Hogan (13 votes) defeated Undertaker (2 votes) #11 - Chris Benoit (15 votes) defeated Christian (0 votes) #12 - Edge (11 votes) defeated Diesel (4 votes) #13 - Randy Savage (15 votes) defeated Owen Hart (0 votes) #14 - Ric Flair (15 votes) defeated Razor Ramon (0 votes) #15 - Kurt Angle (14 votes) defeated Rob Van Dam (1 vote) #16 - Steve Austin (16 votes) defeated Mr. Perfect (0 votes)

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow evening at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow evening at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow evening at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow evening at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow evening at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Sunday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Sunday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end tomorrow evening at the latest. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Kurt Angle v Kane - WWF Smackdown 11/08/01 This was nothing more than each guy trying repeatedly to perform his finisher on the other, and the other guy finding reversals out of it every time, until Angle finally got the win. That's about all it was, as rarely do they try anything else, and when Angle does, it's not like Kane sells it anyway, at least in the early stages. The only reason Angle weakening the leg and ankle even factors into the match at all is because of Austin's interference with the chair mid-match, before he's eventually chased off by the Undertaker. Aside from a few kicks and stomps, ankle lock attempts, chokeslam attempts and one tombstone attempt, there's not really a lot going on if you factor out Kane's really cool locomotion suplexes. Not as good as it has been hyped to be.

My review last summer at TSM: Revised: The setting for this match was perfect, even if it was totally by accident. Austin and HHH had been dominating the promotion for months (longer, actually) as the Two Man Power Trip. They sidelined Rock, held the top two singles titles and were tag team champions. HHH lost the Intercontinental title the night before to Kane, but Austin managed to hold off a challenge from the Undertaker. HHH was still a tag team champion and Austin was still a world heavyweight and tag team champion. Rock, Undertaker and Kane were the three most established babyfaces in the company at this point and the heels had managed to neutralize them all. There appeared to be no one that was capable of defeating them and no one gutsy enough to stand up to them. Jericho finally settled a months-long program with William Regal just weeks before this match and did have some momentum. He and longtime enemy Chris Benoit had formed a partnership based on mutual respect and won a gauntlet match of sorts the night before that earned them the right to a shot at the tag titles. On the surface, each team seems just like the other. Both teams consisted of two members that were longtime rivals with their new partners. That?s where the similarities end. Benoit and Jericho formed a tag team out of mutual respect while Austin and HHH formed a tag team out of fear and paranoia. Benoit and Jericho were decided underdogs while Austin and HHH were clearly the top stars in the promotion. The work building to the hot tag was tremendous; in fact, the first 10 minutes or so are the best part of the match. Austin and Jericho start out and after initially finding himself on the short end of the stick, Jericho comes back strong until Austin has to thumb him in the eye to create an opening, an opening Jericho quickly takes back when HHH enters the ring. Benoit dominates both Austin and HHH until HHH attacks Benoit with a chair five minutes in, and Benoit kicks out at two, which the audience completely bought as a finish. Because they had been conditioned to five-minute main events at this point, it would have been conceivable that the match end here. The use of the chair was also effective in establishing that the champions had to cheat to maintain an advantage, and that theme is continued when HHH can only keep Benoit in the abdominal stretch with Austin?s help. Benoit managed to hiptoss his way out of the move and shoulderblock his way to the corner to tag in Jericho, but the referee did not see the tag, which angered the crowd immensely and further built anticipation for Y2J to save the day. Jericho responded by attacking Austin outside the ring and dropkicking HHH from the top rope before going back to his corner and waiting for the tag. Jericho was perfect in his role as the team?s cheerleader, charismatic enough to really get the crowd into the match, and his promo earlier in the night was strong enough to make them believe, even slightly, in the team?s chances of winning. Jericho would finally be tagged in and would do a few energetic exchanges with Austin. HHH broke up a Walls of Jericho on Austin, which is where he tore his quad. Jericho again shows his determination by following HHH outside the ring and putting a Walls of Jericho on him on top of the announce table. The next sequence was so wrong that it pretty much destroyed the internal logic of the match. Austin gave Benoit a stunner and covered him for the pin, which the referee counted. Jericho then pulled the ref out of the ring to break the count. Benoit was not the legal man and the referee should not have counted the fall. This nearly sabotaged the final stretch of the match, and after this, the ref is mostly out of the match, apparently selling having his leg pulled. Jericho, a babyface, should also be above such tactics, and isn't laying your hands on a referee cause for a disqualification? And considering how long HHH and Jericho were outside the ring, shouldn't Jericho have been counted out, since he was the legal man? Jericho and Austin, to their credit, do go back and do some more fun stuff, but HHH enters the ring with a sledgehammer, which infuriated the crowd because again, they had been conditioned to seeing Austin and HHH victorious, but Benoit tackled him to the ground after he accidentally hit Austin and Jericho covered Austin for the three count. This should have been the launching pad that permanently entrenched Benoit and Jericho in the main event scene, but it was not to be, as all the injuries forced panic to set in and the plug was pulled on the push midstream. This match was successful in blowing off the heel run of Austin and HHH as a tag team, but unfortunately, because of HHH?s injury, they were unable to fully capitalize on the momentum this match created. I?d consider this match excellent until the final few minutes, but upon rewatching, those final few minutes hurt what's going on pretty badly. The sledgehammer finish also doesn't put Benoit and Jericho over as much as it could have, as it only establishes that Jericho's finisher wasn't enough to do the job, but only that he was strong enough to capitalize on heel miscommunication. HHH's involvement drags the match down at times, even if he does get major credit from me for finishing the match on what was basically one leg. This really should have made a permanent difference in the company?s upper tier but was only a short-lived and false sign of hope. ***1/2