Loss

Chris Benoit v The Rock (Cage Match) - WWF RAW 03/12/00 In a nice touch early on, Benoit sends the Radz backstage so he can fight the battle on his own. Sadly, that theme really isn't continued when HHH, Big Show and the McMahon children poke their rather large noses in things, but the idea was nice at first. Benoit's aggression rocks here, as he refuses to let up on Rock and takes it to him straight on in a slugfest at the beginning of the match. His running elbow looks great, and despite being an excellent all-around wrestler, he's right at home in this brawling atmosphere. Rock also seems more interested in letting him dictate in this match than HHH was in the previous match; Benoit has some good ideas to build suspense, and Rock follows his lead. The bumping here is nice from both, but especially from Benoit, as he is being thrown all around the cage, gets backdropped into it and even takes a powerbomb (!). The match is a little too even most of the time, as neither guy sustains any momentum either way, but it's a really fun all-out war, even if HHH had to make sure he played a part in the finish.

HHH v Chris Benoit - WWF Smackdown 02/03/00 Immediately, I have to ask why this match is even happening. The WWF managed to lure away WCW World Champion Chris Benoit, without him having ever lost the belt, and not only is it the very first match Benoit has on TV, but it's put on a throwaway Smackdown? With HHH going over in relatively clean fashion? I know the initial plan was for this to end in controversial fashion until Eddy Guerrero was injured earlier in the evening, but putting Benoit over here would have set up a Benoit/HHH feud whenever they wanted to do it, without compromising the HHH/Rock and HHH/Foley feuds at all. There's also the issue of HHH arguing immediately when Benoit debuted that he was overrated and was merely capable of being carried to a good performance, the sort of talk that immediately stopped after this match. The backstory, in some ways, is more fascinating than the match itself. Still, the match is quite good, and it sees HHH look better than he normally does. Benoit was largely still wrestling the same style he had been in WCW, so the match has a little more depth to it, and the match builds from sequence to sequence instead of just throwing the Germans and crossface attempts out there. Those attempts are there, but they accomplish the smaller things as well, like HHH rolling out of the ring to regain his composure, slowing down the typical sprint style the company had on display at the time. HHH, to his credit, bumps well off of a vertical suplex and a baseball slide, but the differences in Benoit's style and the WWF style are readily apparent when the transitions sneak in, if only because HHH relies on a lot of his company's cliches like Irish whips and drop toeholds into steel steps. In many ways, this match is a meeting of the minds, with both wrestlers having two different approaches to working a match and finding a common ground in the middle, although it's still Benoit who's the impressive one here -- HHH's high knee means much more when Benoit ducks two lariats first. The crowd actually chants for Benoit's comeback and he gets in the not-yet-neutered rolling German suplexes to a great pop, and the way they get there is more progressive and sensible than the way Benoit gets there in 2004/2005. HHH was more physically capable five years ago than he is now, no question, but some of the same problems he has now existed then -- Benoit reversing out of a pedigree, for example, can't happen until HHH let's go of his arms first. All said, the style clash probably isn't visible to the naked eye, but it's obvious to anyone who pays attention to these things. Benoit will always be great, but matches like this have forced him to dumb down his style to make sure he gets all of his spots in, even if it's at the risk of not having as good a match. Typical wrestling philosophy has always been to put the match over first and yourself over second, but that's not really in play with HHH's interpretation of what wrestling should be. ***

Shawn Michaels & Diesel v Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF Action Zone 10/30/94 This match, like all the other Shawn/Razor/Kid stuff around this time, establishes a fast pace early and doesn't let up. In that sense, it's incredibly entertaining, and the first minute is very action-packed, with Razor immediately getting in the Razor's Edge, only for Diesel to have to pull him out of the ring to avoid this match ending before it even really started. They work a great, Southern-style tag match that lets everyone get in their signature spots and sees everyone involve bust their asses. The layout of the action, in fact, reminds me more of a Japanese tag match than an American one, with the high-impact stuff starting immediately and never really slowing down. This is definitely the hardest and fastest I've ever seen Kevin Nash work. The match doesn't drag much when he's in, and he's in quite a bit. Doing the neck vice on Razor was a little weird, but they didn't work it for an inordinate amount of time, and it got great heat, so it didn't detract from the match at all. He also wrestles the best sequence of his career when he connects with a flying shoulderblock and immediately crawls over at a brisk pace to cover Razor for a good nearfall. The only complaint I have about his involvement at all is that he's out for an unrealistic amount of time after being accidentally leveled by Shawn's superkick, but besides that, he does some terrific work. His partner is the glue of the match, and he's the one who establishes the pace the other three keep throughout. He's the one to bump big for everyone and cut the ring in half, and his timing here is as good as it's ever been, as he knows when to let Razor and Kid comeback and when to control them. Again, the sleeper spot with Ramon works very well, and he and Kid are the most exciting guys in the match, so they work the majority of the final stretch and do some breathtaking false finishes, allowing them both to get in their shots. I've always considered Shawn a far better tag team wrestler than singles wrestler, just because the style plays to his strengths so well. Razor Ramon is great when he's in as well, both as face in peril and as badass babyface. He and Shawn know each other very well by this time, and he's good at directing traffic when Nash is in the ring too. He doesn't really do anything as impressive as the other three, but I still think this match would have suffered greatly without him, just because he was doing everything he could to make sure the other three were where they needed to be -- you can see him calling spots on camera several times, but only if you're really paying close attention; they do a much better job hiding that than he and Shawn did in the previous singles match. 1-2-3 Kid, believe it or not, doesn't work face in peril for any real length of time, perhaps because everyone involved felt that might have been too predictable. He looks strong because he's the savior of his team, or at least he attempts to be, and he holds his own with both Shawn and the much larger Diesel. Seeing Nash bump for him so much makes me wonder why he never did it for anyone else Waltman's size, but I already know the answer to that question. Predictably, he eats the pinfall, but that's how this should have gone, since the other three were climbing the ladder and were hot at the time. What's ultimately disappointing about this match is that these guys didn't work this hard unless they were working with each other. Sure, Kid and Michaels have done some great stuff with other people, but they put a little extra shine on everything they did here, understandably because they were in the company of friends. Hall and Nash could have been invaluable to WCW had they sold like this for smaller guys like they did here, but it wasn't to be. Still, this is a great match, a surprisingly great match even, considering the uneven amount of talent involved. If there's a message here, it's that hard work and cooperation will almost always produce something at least decent. ****

Shawn Michaels v Razor Ramon - WWF RAW 08/01/94 In 1994, Shawn Michaels was already being given the star treatment, as this was his first televised singles match since Wrestlemania X, and a huge deal was made out of it, just as a huge deal was made of Vince McMahon being found not guilty of steroid distribution, as color commentator Randy Savage gloated about it at ringside. These two, for whatever reason, worked exceptionally well together, probably because they were so familiar with each other and they were both on the same page. That's always been an interesting paradox with Michaels, that he can have better matches with Razor Ramon and HHH than with Bret Hart and Steve Austin. The execution is good, but what makes the match is the selling from both, as each goes out of his way to put over every move, big and small. Instead of going the traditional route and starting out with the babyface going strong, followed by the heel controlling, leading to the comeback and the finish, they work the match in five-minute increments, knowing they have 20 minutes to build the match. Another accomplishment this match boasts is that you can't sense early on that they're going long, because the pace never lets up. The first five minutes is used to establish that pace and give us some nice back-and-forth offense. It's as needless in some ways as the Michaels/Jannetty stuff in their RAW match, but it's more exciting here, just because they're going even faster. Shawn cuts off every attempt at a comeback Razor makes in this stage of the match, which is a little frustrating, but not if it would build to something later. Razor nicely catches Shawn's dropkick attempt and catapults him to the outside where he lands on Diesel, but the bump is a little too exaggerated to really be effective, because it's obvious Michaels is propelling himself. The second five minutes is about Razor dominating Shawn, with, strangely enough, heel hope spots teased that don't go anywhere. He targets Shawn's back with a bearhug, and Shawn gets out of it and tries to slam Razor, but can't do it because his back is injured. He finally climbs out of the hold and scales down Ramon's back into a sunset flip position, and they work some really quick back-and-forth pinfall attempts that are fun to watch, but sort of defeat whatever purpose Razor being in control might have had. The third five minutes sees Shawn take charge, with Diesel getting in his shots behind the ref's back and Shawn keeping the pace quick, as that's where he excels. Surprisingly, this is probably the weakest portion of the match, but one can still see dramatic improvement in Michaels in a year's time when he's dominating a match. He's far more aggressive than he had been before, and he's laying the groundwork for a run on top. The tide turns when he gets into a slugfest with Ramon, who's considered the better brawler. The last five minutes totally make the match, as they go back and forth and work in some exciting nearfalls, and Shawn climbing on Razor's back to do the sleeper is a *great* hold in context, because it rallies the crowd and Razor pumping his fists to fight out of the hold is well done. Their heads crack after Razor breaks the hold, and they work a double TKO spot that the crowd loves. Razor gets in a series of close pins, as he clotheslines Shawn, rolls through after Shawn tries a flying bodypress, and reverses Shawn's Razor's Edge attempt. It's interesting that this was probably the first feud in the WWF of note that would make a huge deal of stealing the other guy's finishing move, a staple that would become a bigger part of the style in 2001. There were way too many spots called right in vision of the camera, as even when Shawn is supposed to be selling a double TKO, he's talking constantly, and the finish with Diesel interfering behind the ref's back is a little disappointing considering the time invested, but in the end, we're still left with a fun way to fill 20 minutes, even if the overall work was a little transparent. ***1/2

I'm not sure about the Cade feud, but Marty had some indy dates where he was already committed, and WWE encouraged him to fulfill those dates before they brought him in. Marty is expected to debut before the end of the month. I'm thinking he'll be on the first RAW or Smackdown after the draft.

Bret Hart v 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 07/01/94 The video package preceding this match is fantastic! It's obvious the vision Bret had for both himself and the company, and it plays out in the pre-match hype as well as in the match. He speaks in a somber tone, as they show clips of him speaking at the Hall of Fame banquet stating that he looks forward to following the careers of great wrestlers like the 1-2-3 Kid and Jeff Jarrett. He was attempting to be Jack Brisco in 1974, only he was doing it in 1994. He enjoyed the role of the serious babyface champion, the respectable guy, the one who kept the company prestigious and credible. It's sad that wrestling no longer had a place for someone like that as we shifted into the Attitude era, an era almost completely dominated by style, with substance taking a smaller role. In the 1980s, Ric Flair was considered the consummate professional, and Bret Hart wanted so badly to carry the torch that would expand on that approach to pro wrestling, and honestly, he was the best candidate to take the American pro wrestling art form where it needed to go after the Flair/Steamboat feud ran its course. Bret was the perfect champion to keep the wrestling in wrestling, and this match is a statement in that direction as much as it is anything else, a statement that no matter what WCW was doing at the time running Hulkastalgia dry, Bret was the guy in his prime who had been left to fill the numerous potholes left by Hogan, and he had an enormous challenge -- make wrestling a fun, unembarrassing, clean business that can be respected. He wanted to shift paradigms and redefine the role a world champion is expected to take, a role that had been forgotten after the first national expansion of a wrestling company the decade before. He ultimately fell short of his goal in the long haul, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. The 1-2-3 Kid embodied the shift in company philosophy as much as anyone, just as he embodied the hesitance to stick with that direction and have patience. He scored major upsets over top stars from time to time, but he was never given a sustained opportunity as a top guy, because he was too small, a plight Bret knew all too well. The 1-2-3 Kid challenging Bret Hart in a world title match in the WWF was a middle finger in the face of the cartoonish 80s, and a celebration of professional wrestling itself. Bret goes out of his way to make Kid look credible here. He sneaks in an armdrag in the early stages and Bret's facial expressions make the point nicely that he's both surprised and impressed. Bret attempts to use his size to his advantage by bodyslamming Kid out of his second armbar attempt, but Kid kips up, showing that both for that moment and as long as Bret has anything to say about it, size does not matter in the WWF. Kid switches to a hammerlock, which Bret attempts to snapmare him out of, but Kid keeps the hold locked in. Bret eventually elbows him coming off the ropes, and puts him in a chinlock. The effect of the chinlock here can not be understated. The match started with the crowd firmly behind Bret, booing Kid's act, and the chinlock started the ball rolling in the right direction, putting sympathy on Waltman. The first image after a commercial break is one of Kid once again in control, with Kid keeping the move on no matter what reversal Bret tries, with a knee to the gut off the ropes finally turning the tide. Bret stays on Kid's stomach and upper body, eventually moving to his head. He does this by kicking Kid in the stomach and legdropping him. The pace is slower at this point because Bret needs it to be that way to neutralize the speed advantage his opponent has. A series of *awesome* European uppercuts in the corner do the job of both keeping Kid down and further endearing him to the audience, as they are now slowly siding with Kid. Bret aims higher, moving his focus from the stomach to Kid's head and neck. There are occasional hope spots to keep it interesting, but Bret has him where he wants him, with a swinging neckbreaker getting a good nearfall, and a drop down off of a sunset flip getting an even better nearfall. Kid tries to come back again, but Bret blocks his crucifix attempt and covers him for a three count! The problem is that Kid made the ropes, and the referee didn't see it, so Bret explains the situation to him and demands that the match be restarted. Compare this to Jarrett/Razor where the countout in the middle of the Rumble match only served to derail the momentum. Here, it has a purpose, but it's again hammering the point home that the WWF has changed and the new champion finds it important for his title defenses to have finishes without controversy. In fact, the idea that he was the honest one who pointed these things out while others took advantage of similar situations is what led to his frustration and eventual heel turn three years later. When the match is restarted, Kid sneaks in a quick rollup on a distracted Bret and almost gets the victory, once again making a point that in Bret Hart's WWF, the great wrestlers stand a chance of winning the title at any time. Bret regains control and works a chinlock tenaciously, and the crowd is now divided. They rally behind Kid's comeback as he reverses Bret's hiptoss attempt with a backslide, but Bret immediately cuts him off again, dropping an elbow on his head. He toys with Kid briefly as the crowd is now in full support of the challenger, chanting "1-2-3! 1-2-3!" Bret continues his assault on Kid's head by dropping a DDT, but Kid breaks up the five moves of doom by kicking Bret squarely in the face when Bret tries his middle rope elbow, reinforcing the point that high-flying is Waltman's game, not Hart's. Kid's educated feet drive his comeback, as he neutralized Bret with a series of great kicks from all angles. His flying crossbody gets an amazing false finish and Kid continues reminding the audience that size no longer matters in the WWF, as after Bret kicks out of a top rope legdrop, he clotheslines his larger opponent out of the ring. Kid now feels as big as anyone in the company. Bret attempts to block a somersault plancha, but he isn't effective completely, as some of the move still makes its mark, but when Kid gets overzealous back in the ring and tries a senton bomb, Bret moves out of the way and goes for a sharpshooter, but he can't lock it in because Kid is out of position. We get some more uppercuts in the corner, as at this point, the crowd is going crazy. The best nearfall of the match comes when Bret attempts a superplex, but Kid blocks it and lands on top of Bret for a pinfall that's way too close for comfort, at least for Bret. Again, Kid gets overzealous and misses a splash in the corner, and Bret follows that up by going back to his head with a bulldog. He goes up top yet again, but Kid again reminds him that it's not his domain. He makes a last attempt at a missile dropkick, but Bret counters that into the sharpshooter for the victory. The ringside announcers immediately stand up and applaud the effort put forth by both, as Bret and Kid embrace. Jim Ross has the wherewithal to stay quiet, as the story is being told in the ring without his assistance, a sixth sense he would no longer have a decade later. Some would argue that on a global scale, the work Bret was doing was too behind the time or too basic, as his peers in Japan and Mexico were pulling off far superior moves and even in most cases telling better stories. Admittedly, it did make him seem old-fashioned by comparison, but to argue that point is not to understand Bret's role in attempting to rebuild American wrestling into something to be proud of, as he was taking a step back so someone else could expand on that and take a step forward. Sadly, no such person would come along, at least not anyone who would be given the opportunity to do so, but it wasn't because the groundwork wasn't laid with matches like this. ****

Steve Austin This isn't one I really have to think about. Andre headlined the most memorable show of his generation against Hogan, but Andre was way past his peak by that time, and was coasting along on his name. Outside of that match (which was outdrawn by Bret v Davey Boy in Wembley, by the way), he doesn't really have anything else going for him, while Austin ushered in a new era, became the biggest cash cow in company history (#2 at worst) and was a great, great worker as well.

Mr. Perfect I love Dynamite Kid, and I think he could have equalled or bettered Hennig's run with an equal amount of focus had he still been in his prime, but Hennig had a bigger, longer run and meant more to the company overall. I hope Dynamite fares well in the loser's bracket, if that is in fact where he ends up.

Rob Van Dam Hardy is by far the more complete wrestler with the better attitude, but RVD has had more impact in the big picture. That could change one day, if Hardy will shut up and stop burning bridges, but I have to give the nod to Van Dam here.

Ricky Steamboat Angle deserves my vote, based on the fact that he's had a bigger impact and more good matches, but I'm voting for Steamboat here just because I still think Angle is wildly overrated. He's good, but he's not one of the greatest of all time, and it's bizarre when people say that. I don't care for Savage/Steamboat, as I could probably think of two dozen WWF matches I liked more, but he's Ricky Steamboat, and voting him over Angle is a statement more than anything.

Ric Flair Kane is pretty fucking decent when he wants to be, but he's been saddled with so much crap through the years that he's never consistently in anything good. Flair's segments in the company never made me embarrassed to watch wrestling, and the 1991-1993 run, while the matches were a little too overbooked for my liking, was fun and made a splash. Imagine the company in 1992 without him.

Razor Ramon I was never a fan of Jeff Hardy, even when he was slightly less deteriorated, just because I had seen Rey and Juvi do all the stuff he did much better in WCW, and had seen Shawn Michaels take better beatings years prior. The idea that Scott Hall was once a great worker is laughable, but he was once a carryable worker, and he has more good matches under his belt, despite his run being shorter. Also made a bigger splash overall and is more remembered.

Randy Savage Jake will get his due one way or another in this tournament. Savage deserves to be in the elite eight *at the very least*.

Owen Hart I'm a huge Goldust fan, especially of the stuff he did in 2002 with Booker T, but comparing that to Owen's run on top against Bret and his consistent goodness the entire time he was in the company and you have an easy winner.

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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Yes! You're right. Thank you. The Doc/Kobashi line was trumped on a comp I picked up the first time I saw it incorrectly as the Observer MOTY, so I keep forgetting that it finished high (maybe 2nd), but that it actually wasn't.

Ok, it would appear that Dazed isn't responding to my request, so I'm doing the only thing I know to do in this situation. I hate doing this, but it's the only solution I know of. I'm eliminating my vote, which means Paul Orndorff (9 votes) defeats Rey Misterio Jr (8 votes). So, we'll put Rey in the loser's bracket.

Meltzer mentioned in his news update today that what Chyna said about her release from WWE wasn't entirely accurate in that fluff article she did recently. So, how exactly did that play out? I know about the HHH/Steph thing, but what happened from there?