Superstar Sleeze

I watched all the November RAWs recently as actually enjoyed these bits a lot. I love how once Sid wins the World Title, he gets too big for britches and pulls out of the tournament. WWF was killing it with the triumvirate of Sunny, Sable & Marlena.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin Thunder Liger vs AKIRA Nogami - NJPW 8/9/91 I skipped the Benoit title defense in July, but will re-watch later when I can actually watch matches that I don't already have on my harddrive. To me I thought this was a total spotfest after the opening matwork, which is odd because I thought this was some of the best juniors matwork of this era. I loved how surfboards were not given they had to be earned. We need to see that more. After that it was just bombs away! I have no problem with that because Liger may be my pick for the greatest offensive pro wrestler in history. I loved the Akira seeking dropkick that Akira almost avoided twice, but still got nailed. Then that dive from the top rope out into the crowd was insane! Liger is the man! But still there was stuff like Liger doing a Super Butterfly Suplex (awesome spot) and AKIRA was on offense shortly thereafter. That's what this was a string of bombs. Liger outclassed Akira, but Akira was not a total slouch. It was just a great spotfest. Liger misses a moonsault and then AKIRA hits a German for two. Great nearfall! That was a good transition. The fighting over the different suplexes before AKIRA settled into a butterfly suplex with a BRIDGE!!! WOW! AWESOME FINISH! I thought it was missing long term selling and transitions, but Liger's offense was incredible and that finish was all sorts of awesome. ***3/4

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Norio Honaga vs Jushin Liger - NJPW 6/12/91 Jushin Liger finally gets the monkey off his back. He does so by wrestling within himself and not letting himself be provoked into anger. As a standalone match this is good, but in the context of the matches beforehand, this is excellent. Liger got all his hate out in May and now it is time to win the championship back. He knows he cant afford another loss and this may be his last crack at his title for a while if he loses. So he cant go apeshit and leave himself open to a fluke loss. Honaga has the balls to offer a handshake, which makes me smile and Liger slaps his hand away in disgust. You see Honaga try to goad Liger to the outside or to lash out in anger by going for the mask, but Liger stays cool. Honaga definitely loses a lot of his charm without the ballshots and scumbag tactics, but he still had some good cutoffs and offense. His dive to the outside where he completely belly flops on the concrete is insane! Liger beats the living shit out of him after that. Honaga gets some offense in, but this is the best hits of Jushin Thunder Liger in one compact, badass package. He finishes with Top Rope DDT to prove that he still is The Man. Not as great as their bloody brawls prior, but as a definitive climax that showed Liger needed to stay calm, play his own game and not play Honaga's game I thought it was excellent in the context of the story. ****

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Norio Honaga vs Jushin Liger - NJPW 5/31/91 I feel like no one says hey you gotta check out the Honaga vs Liger feud well they fucking should! Because this has been gold. I love how hate-filled the early 90s Liger feuds are (Sano, Honaga and Sammy) all have bloody brawls in their series. Not that mid-to-late 90s with their more technically inclined matches aren't great, but these are just superb. It really shows that the early Juniors style was more harkening back to the glory days of 70s and 80s bloody brawling. Here Honaga is more confident and is controlling on the mat. Liger seems tentative. Liger is able to use some speed and to create a Honaga mistake as he misses a clothesline. Big suplex over the top! DIVE FROM TOP TO THE FLOOR! Liger is feeling it and he wants the strap baby! Honaga gets the ballshot in when he kicks his leg up. Honaga tears the mask complete off and then just goes to town on Liger. Powerbomb onto the table again! But this time LIGER IS PISSED!!! Liger finally unleashes that can of whoop-ass we have been waiting for. He blasts Honaga repeatedly in the head with the chair. Honaga exposed the turnbuckles and Liger repeatedly sends his head into the buckles. Kneedrops and kicks to the head. Clawing at the open wound. Liger rips off the remnants of the mask and is just kicking ass. Ramping Honaga head in to hard metal and punching him with metal objects. Hell he pulls one out of my brother's playbook beating him with the turnbuckle padding. The thing is Liger wants revenge, inflict pain and humiliate Honaga, but he is not trying to put him away. That could spell disaster for Liger. Liger really needs to try to pin him. Liger goes for a bulldog and Honaga hoists him up and drops him balls first on the top rope. I love how ballshots are Honaga's way of transitioning. He doesn't get the top rope clothesline but the missile dropkick instead for two. Clothesline gets two. Did Liger really blow it? German -> 2! KAPPO KICK IN THE CORNER FOR LIGER!!! Here we go! Go for the win brutha! Liger, sunset flip in the corner, Honaga kneels down on it, hands on the ropes! Honage does it again! Liger blows it! Great progression here both booking and match execution. Liger finally gets a chance to tear into that piece of shit, Honaga, but overindulges and Honaga pulls out a cheap win. ****1/4

Jushin Liger vs Norio Honaga - NJPW 4/30/91 Vacant IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship Liger vacated the title prior to the Top of the Super Juniors Tournament, which I believe was a way to invest more into the tournament. There was a TOSJ in 1988, but this was the first since then and there has been every year since 1991. These two squared off in March of '91 with Honaga getting the surprise upset victory after multitude of nefarious heel tactics. You could say after the loss, Liger vacated the title as a way to give him extra incentive to kick some ass in the tournament. The opening matwork shows Honaga can keep up, but it is maybe a half step behind. After working hold after hold, Liger starts to go off, dropkick, suplex, dive from the top. He looks to be running away with the match when SPLAT! Liger goes over the top rope and eats concrete. Honaga pounces on him from the top rope and then POWERBOMBS HIM ON A TABLE!!! HOLY SHIT! God Bless Honaga! Honaga rips the mask and piledriver gets two. Liger has to fight out of quite the hole. We see sparks of life like the dropkick from the ground to knock Honaga off the top or the belly to belly suplex, but each time Liger is coming up short. I actually really liked Liger's selling here. He felt like a team that could keep coming back from behind to tie the game, but could never really take the lead. I thought it created for some real tension. Liger making one last ditch effort to block the top rope clothesline scrambles up the ropes and there is a scuffle where it feels like the entire match would be decided and BALLSHOT! Love it! Clothesline from the top! 1-2-NO! Don't love it. The biggest misfire was the extra three nearfalls before Honaga wins with a human capture suplex. The way they were fighting on that top rope and then ballshot. Really ought to have been the finish. Like I said, I loved Liger going off early, but then eating concrete. He never fully recovered from the powerbomb on the table. I love when things that happen early in a match matter! Heat segment and hope spots were great. Only thing stopping this from classic status is the overwrought finish. Loved this! ****1/4

You all are crazy! This is fucking awesome! Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker - WWF Ground Zero 1997 I am a total sucker for absolute chaotic brawls. I have this match a zillion times, but haven't watched it in a good 5 years and I thought it held up so well. Late '97 Shawn is one of my all-time favorite characters in and out of the ring. Undertaker is such a badass. It is just a great dynamic. The thing I noticed this time beneath all the hoopla was how well they worked the story in reverse. Undertaker was working that slow, punishing, stalking style you would associate with a heel. Shawn was peppering in hope spots but ultimately being cutoff as if he were the babyface. It all works though because Shawn is such a cocky little shit so you want to see his ass get handed to him and he was bumping huge like a heel. Undertaker is such an asskicker that you love to root for him. Telling David vs Goliath in reverse is no easy task and I thought they did a great job. Undertaker slugging the ref at the start is one of my all time favorite starts to a match. Shawn's reaction to get the hell out of Dodge was pitch perfect. Throwing the ref over the top rope to the floor at Shawn is probably the spot of the match in a match filled with great spots. Kicking Shawn's ass up and down the rampway. Shawn on his knee's knocking on the In Your House Door to be let out, Shawn falling ass over head down the ramp all great entertaining shit. Shawn tries all sorts of bullshit like pleading with the ref to have Taker DQ'd, clipping the knee, crotching Taker on the top rope. To no avail, the Creature from the Black Lagoon rises again and again. There is a part where Shawn crotches himself on the top rope and Taker shakes the ropes that is just amazing. Shawn's as a bumping lunatic is on fire here and Taker is dishing out the punishment. Love it! Shawn says fuck it and get a chair, which is how this whole mess started (Summerslam 97). Taker gets the chair is about to waffle HBK with it, but the ref grabs the chair. Shawn dropkicks Undertaker into the ref and into the chair. Finally an opening for Shawn! You really get the sense the little fucker had to earn it. He hits the top rope elbow and Undertaker presses him off onto the ref. Shawn cant win! Shawn's insurance policy, Rick Rude tosses him some knuckledusters and Shawn KOs Taker! HHH & Chyna with a 3rd ref, but 1-2-NO! I agree with the naysayers of this match that once D-X got involved it did start to drag. I really, really enjoyed Undertaker chokeslamming that Load, Earl Hebner after he did not get a three count. Really great spot. Tim White calls this whole clusterfuck off. The big brawl and then of course the iconic Undertaker dive over the top rope that wipes everyone out. Amazing spectacle. Just total chaos. Undertaker as the avenging stalker and Shawn Michaels as douche fighting for survival was quite the dynamic. All the ref violence was awesome. It felt like anything could happen. Tons of fun spots. It really, really put over the fact that you needed a really badass match to blow off this blood feud and hence Hell In A Cell was born. ****1/4

"Tanahashi is amazing" - Brad He sure fucking is!

I know I had Invasion Attack at *****. I had KOPW as my next highest at ****1/2. I never got around to watching the post-2013 stuff. I really should have finished it out.

Who is Stardust, now? :P Jk, jk, would never hate someone for loving wrestling. Glad you are enjoying the feud so far. It gets way, way better starting in April of 2013 in my opinion. The next match Wrestle Kingdom 2013 is their worst in my opinion though. Chad, I think you will come to the same conclusion that I did, that this feud is built around that late tombstone in every match and whoever can nail it will most likely win (I think maybe once did the person taking the Tombstone came from behind to win).

Bret Hart vs Steve Austin vs Undertaker vs Vader - WWF Final Four 1997 I watched this match last week at like 2am when I randomly woke up and couldn't get back to asleep. I loved the match the first time I saw it like 5 years ago. I still think it is great and very enjoyable, but it is not a classic. More than anything else it just shows how wasted Vader was in the WWF. They left Vader vs Bret Hart and Vader vs Steve Austin on the table when those match could have been classics. Easily Vader's best individual performance in the WWF as he back to classic Vader destroying muthafuckas and getting the biggest pops of the match. The blood definitely helped, but man did he work his ass off. I thought the other three wrestlers were great too, but Vader ruled in this. In the 8 bajillion multi-mans that followed this, I think what also stands out is how unique each of these characters are and how they all feel like huge stars. It had a big fight feel that so many multi-mans lack. The match came about because of Shawn Michaels' Lost My Smile promo and Steve Austin coming back into the Rumble after he had been eliminated and dumping Taker, Vader and Bret Hart to "win" Royal Rumble. So they devised this Fatal 4-Way to make up for it, but due to Shawn's bullshit they made for the championship. Since Sid did not get his rematch, the winner of this faces Sid the next day at RAW. Taker boots a chair into Vader's face and this bloodies his eye bad which is from the Stan Hansen match I imagine. Vader with all the big spots like the missed Vadersault and the superplex. Austin hurts his knee and is dumped by Bret. Vader gets dumped going for Vaderbomb. Vader was just brutal in this match kicking ass. It has been a while a week but just on memory, he killed it. It is Bret and Taker left. Here comes Austin again to fuck over Bret just like the Rumble. It is total chaos. Taker knocks Austin off the apron. But tries around and eats a clothesline from Bret to send him over the top. Feels like they would have spun off a Taker/Austin feud, but I love this period of WWF because there is so many intersecting feuds. Great match, but there is no one hook that really elevates the match to classic status, but it is a good way to keep progressing the Austin/Bret story and Vader looks like classic Vader for once in WWF. ****

I agree this match was better than their previous match. Again, I thought Orton was really good here. I too loved how he overwhelmed Mahal early with those European Uppercuts. One of the problems with Orton as a babyface is that he usually has horrible babyface offense especially during the shine. I thought he had a lot of fire and it was great uptempo offense that got the crowd rocking but still stayed true to who Orton is. I was still struggling to what understand what Mahal is good at. He is very mediocre. He worked a basic but effective heat segment. He is terrible at bumping and his selling is very bland. Besides his punch, his offense is pretty generic. He does have a good punch. Orton destroying the SIgnh brothers was again the best part of the match. I loved how he had all that positive momentum and the crowd support and they totally deflated the crowd with the quick finish, which was smart. Oh the slugfest was great too. Basic match where Orton once again looked way better than Mahal. I have really dug Orton in this feud. Mahal is so blasé. Very good match nothing more nothing less. ***1/2

Bret Hart vs Steve Austin - WWF Survivor Series 1996 Love the build to this match. Remember when they would take 2.5 months to build to a match. Nowadays they shoot their wad in one week and have nothing for the next three weeks of TV. Great job all around. Austin is such a great rival for the consummate pro wrestler in the Hitman. He is the foul-mouthed asshole. Bret Hart is the well-respected pro. I think everyone was so busy trying to get Austin over in this match they kinda forgot to get heat during this match. I am going against the grain big time to say I thought this match was a little flat. Austin flipped off Bret at the outset and then the ref. Where the hell is the righteous indignation from JR & Vince. That is incredibly tasteless and classless. They kinda just give him a free pass. A RAKE OF THE EYES gets a that's clever remark from Vince and JR had his head so far up Austin's ass throughout this match that he couldn't be even bothered to mention it. Austin was trying to get heat goddamnit but the announcing was not helping. In the ring, I thought Bret's selling especially initially was really flat. I thought that really hurt Austin's heat. This is an MSG crowd that lost their mind over fucking Sid and in Bret Hart's return match they are quieter. Just weird. The match was built around who was the better wrestler with Bret calling Austin the best wrestler in WWF at the time, clearly a dig at Shawn Michaels more than anything else. I thought the opening matwork was fine. It is not the way I would have gone. I think they could have done a more high energy shine to get crowd invested and it is Bret's return match have him come out hot. It is story I have said before, people who try to grind with Bret will lose because he is the best. Coming into this match (had not watched in a while just really remembered the finish), I was think Austin is a grinder so it will be interesting to see how he fares with the best. I think the lack of highspots early did hurt the heat not just at the beginning but throughout the match because the crowd would have been more into Bret. The first highspot, Stun Gun, was an excellent transition. Loved it. Bret was killing Austin on the mat and that Stun Gun changed everything. Thought Bret was flat in selling, which is weird. He is usually really good. Where is the coughing during the choking. First slugfest woke up the crowd and me. Austin wins, but shortly thereafter Bret takes back over. Bret has great hard hitting offense. Since Bret is the clear face against a clear heel and they are trying to put Austin over, he does not have much time on offense, but when he does, I think they are the best parts of this match. Austin throwing Bret into the Bret Bump off the bulldog was great psychology and showing that he did his homework. Austin giving Bret the high ground going for the superplex was stupid (in a good kayfabe way) and Bret making him pay was great with his iconic elbow. Austin rakes the eyes on backbreaker and I have already bitched about the commentary. The best part of this match unsurprisingly is the brawl on the outside. These two are much better at brawling and that's why there Mania match is so much better. Bret's comeback on the outside is one of the few heated parts of the match as is Austin's catapult on Bret to the Spanish announce team and then him just leaping on Bret on the Spanish announcers. That was the chaos and energy the match needed. Austin is not a wrestler with a lot of offense. Which is fine, I have no problem with that. He was positioned to be wrestle on top for most of this match I really felt like he ran out of steam. I think there were ways where he could have tried to just get heat more often if he was going to run out of offense. The Ab Stretch but using the ropes is appreciated but the announcers and the crowd just did not seem to be reacting to usual heel tactics. I would have liked to see him ramp up the heat somehow. Bret winning the second slugfest felt electric. The match was great and I am nitpicking some stuff. It was just the match would go in and out of having a big fight feel. That second slugfest and Bret hitting the Stun Gun as revenge and piledriver made it have that feel. It just a lot of the stuff before it, didn't. Bret goes up top and Austin gets up there to stop him. Felt too quick. Loved Austin chopping the shit out of him though. That's what I mean everything was a little uneven for me. Superplex, great highspot. STUNNER! Kick out-> bold! Austin runs through a bunch of submissions so JR can finally exclaim how he was right from the outset that would be a submission match. Bret almost gets the Sharpshooter in a great spot. Austin goes for the Million Dollar Dream, but Bret kicks off the ropes and pins him in the hold. Which is a fantastic finish. Using Austin's tenacity against him. All in all definitely a great match. You have two similar wrestlers in the sense that these guys like to grind. Bret clearly has the wider offensive arsenal. The thing Austin has going for him is that unbridled energy which I was reminded of when he broke Pillman's ankle in the lead up to this. He was like a rabid dog in there. His energy felt tempered here. It was missing that chaotic feel that he would bring to his matches. Austin clearly had Hart scouted which is great psychology. He was tenacious and was on Bret. His limited offensive range did hurt the match in my opinion because he was on top for so long. I thought he tried hard to get heat but when he was not getting it should have tried different things, maybe bumping or cheating more fiercely. I thought the heat was not at the level it should have been, but Bret's selling felt flat so he is partly to blame. I think Bret was selfless here by letting Austin get the majority of the match. He fought well from underneath. Ultimately it was the wily in-ring savvy of Bret that bested the tenacity of Austin, which is a great story. Just a match that has never really resonated with me even though lots of others really like it, but it is clearly a great match and an incredibly important one in Steve Austin's career. ****1/4

Quoting Nixon was weird especially because it was a pretty lame quote. Bret calling out Shawn's manhood and then saying he is accepting the challenge from the best pro wrestler in WWF today, Steve Austin was a great slam on Shawn. Rock solid interview from Bret. Greedy for respect is a great line and really does explain who Bret is. Man, doesn't pose for girlie books, he really fucking didn't like Shawn.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund - WWF Survivor Series 1994 Submission Match Pretty incredible booking here. Bob Backlund snapped after a match challenging Bret Hart for the title he never lost. He began claiming he was still the rightful WWF Champion and only lost because his manager, Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel within his consent in his 12/83 title defense against Iron Sheik. So he goes on a rampage of applying the Crossface Chickenwing n everyone including Skaaland. To play off this history, Backlund wants a submission match where the corner man has to throw in the towel. He has the perfect corner man, Owen Hart. Owen hates his brother, Bret and has no love for Backlund. So Backlund can rest assured there is no way Owen will throw in the towel. Brilliant! Bret has Davey Boy, who Bret can trust as his brother in-law. First half: Bob tries to jump Bret, but Bret fires off the heavy artillery, punches and headbutts. He just unloads on Backlund. Backlund looks like a crazed man has no idea what he wants to do. Bret is controlling with a tight headlock. Backlund goes for the Crossface Chickenwing early and often as that seems to be his only strategy. Loved Bret's urgency to get out of that hold very quickly before its applied especially liked the belly to belly counter. Bret immediately going for the Sharpshooter is a nice touch as is Backlund quick escape. Loved how Bret immediately lunged after him and clamped on a front chancery. The urgency in this match has been great. Bret misses an elbow and Backlund starts to yank on the arm HARD. Backlund finally building some momentum with some really strong arm work. I like how they put over that pinfalls don't matter here. Backlund is tenacious with his wrist control. Classic Bob. Bret is able to get free long enough to hit an inverted atomic drop. He wrestles with Backlund's legs cant get the Sharpshooer but gets the Figure-4. Backlund is hollering, but Owen does not give a fuck. Bret will have to snap Backlund's leg. Backlund does reverse and now Bret is writhing in pain as Owen eggs on Davey Boy to throw it in. Bret reverses and Backlund makes the ropes. Great way to establish Owen's apathy for Backlund's well-being and how he is going to be a dick at ringside whenever Bret is in trouble. Really strong match thus far as we head into the second half with Bret working over the leg of Backlund even trying for a Sharpshooter, but Backlund wriggles free. Second half: Bret tries to go upstairs with Backlund and pays for it. Backlund hits one of his sweet piledrivers. Backlund keeps going for the Crossface Chickenwing, but Bret goes for the ropes. Backlund gets a sleeper which his version of the figure-4 spot as it is his nearfall before the finish, an alternate to the crossface chickenwing like the figure-4 was the alternate to Sharpshooter. Bret falls forcing Backlund's head into turnbuckle. Backdrops out of piledriver. Bret hits an amazing piledriver and then runs through the Five Moves of Doom in glorious fashion. He gets the Sharpshooter! Owen is in the ring and Davey Boy gives chase. Owen clubs Bret from behind. Davey Boy tries to tackle Owen but hits his head hard on the steel steps. He is knocked out for the next ten minutes. Bob Backlund locks in the Crossface Chickenwing for the next ten minutes which must have been horrible for Bret, who mentions in his book that hold is legitimately painful. If you look at it there is no way to apply without causing pain it just contorts the shoulder and neck in a painful way. Thus begin some of the greatest theatrics that would ever occur in the WWF as Owen goes into full sympathy mode. He feels bad for Davey Boy and then Bret. He never meant for it to go this far, Mom. We are a family, mom. It is hilarious how Helen & Stu stepover Davey Boy like he is a puddle of water. Stu grabs the towel out of Helen's hand and wont throw it in. The crowd is right with them and is chanting Lets Go Bret to the bitter end. Helen yanks the towel out of her husband's hands to throw it into to save her baby boy. Owen is elated and races back to the dressing room. Backlund is just staring at his hands and is just a little too good at acting like a loon if you know what I mean. Bret is helped to the back by his parents heart broken at what transpired. I thought Vince and Gorilla, yes Gorilla, did a great job getting this angle over. There are some clunky moments in this, but I thought they did a great job telling the basic story of the Sharpshooter vs Crossface Chickenwing. Lots of good attempts and escapes. Arm work and leg work were logical and well done. Figure-4 and sleeper were good nearfalls. Bret's finish stretch was hot! Sharpshooter and Owen blasting him was great. The Owen theatrics were top notch and really drives this into must watch territory. Really amazing piece of pro wrestling theatre that everyone should watch. ****1/4

Is Bob Holly the most mediocre wrestler of all time? I cant think of one great Bob Holly match, but on the flip I cant think of one shitty match. Is he the definition of an average pro wrestler? Also whats the best Bob Holly match of all time?

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Owen Hart - WWF Summerslam 1994 Remember thinking this was awful. Here we go... First Half: Bret has strep. The first five minutes are pretty damn good. Owen jumps Bret. They have a great, heated slugfest. This is the natural progression from their technical classic at Mania. Let the fists fly! I really thought it was good as were the lunges for the cage door. I think building the match around actually winning which means to escape is fine and is quite logical. The problem was they were selling 5 minutes into the match like the match only had 5 minutes left. They had a pretty good slugfest so I get the extreme selling. The problem is they had TWENTY-SEVEN minutes left! So their selling was excessive was killing the momentum. Also Owen really didn't do anything all that heelish. Because they were constantly escaping, that meant someone had to stop the other from escaping which fucked up their selling. No one could build any sort of momentum because they were constantly escape->cutoff->other tries to escape. So there was no heat segment. I absolutely loathe when someone's entire body is out of the cage and they pull them back in by the hair. It looks so lame because the other had to clearly help get his legs over the cage in a safe way. I hope the second half is better, but don't see how it can be. Second Half: Funny enough, the beginning of the second half was better. It helped that Owen went into cage three times. I thought they built to the escapes better with some more moves in between. Owen's piledriver was great. I also like how Owen cutoff Bret but crotched himself. Bret burst of energy with rapid fire punches was great. But God did they grind this back to a halt with like ten minutes left. Just aimless escape attempts. Nothing felt memorable. Until the superplex from the top of the cage that was badass, but that ruined by another blocked escape. What was the point of dueling Sharpshooters if the finish was just them both hanging over the edge of the cage and then Owen getting his foot trapped. There was no hook. Really only the superplex was memorable but Hogan/Bossman has the market cornered on that. No heat segment. No way to build drama. Logical, yes. Dramatic, no. Boring and not worth the time. Way, way too long.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 7/11/94 Bret was simultaneously the best babyface and heel in the WWF between 93-97. Nobody worked a better heat segment on top than Bret. His offense is pristine as it is brutal. Those European uppercuts were just rocking the hell out of Kid. He was blasting him the whole match his kicks were great. I don't know if Bret, who is an excellent offensive wrestler, ever looked better on offense than here. He absolutely looked unstoppable. The Bulldog at the end was ferocious. Kid was selling like a million bucks and really timing those hope spots well. I loved how Bret was squashing those flash pinfall attempts. From the outset, I just didn't think Kid had a good strategy. You want to grind with Bret? I just don't think that's wise. Bret's facial reactions to this were great. The way he was like who does he think he is with those takedowns. Give Kid credit he was staying with Bret and Bret was having a hard time escaping the holds. Obviously I am talking kayfabe here, but I just don't see this as a winning strategy against Bret. Flash pins and kicking Bret's head off were way better chances to win this match. You see Bret bury the knee deep into the abdomen. I love the kneelift. It was a great one. See how Bret regroups, causally stomps the abdomen. He has totally taken the wind out of the Kid's sails. Great selling by Kid. This is that heat segment I was talking about. The restart with Bret saying Kid's foot was on the ropes was a great way to keep Bret babyface. The Kid's comeback was great because it all started with kicks to the head. Spinwheel kick, jumping back kick and dropkick all to the head. He really knocked Bret for a loop. The legdrop off the top was a great nearfall. The crash and burn off the somersault splash was great. You knew these high risk moves would backfire and they did. The superplex reversal by Kid into a pinfall was a great last gasp even though I have seen this match like three times before, my eyes popped for that. Kid goes hard into the turnbuckles ass first on a dropkick. GREAT BUMP! Great piece of psychology. AWESOME BULLDOG BY BRET! The press slam off the top was stupid but with this being such a NWA World Title match it was cute to see Bret do the Flair spot. Bret catches Kid off the top with the Sharpshooter. Not the best way to get to the finish, but a great finish nonetheless. Incredible match. Bret is ruthless and kicks so much ass. Kid is all heart, all guts. Selling and just throwing his body out in reckless abandon. Bret withstands that one big push from the Kid and lets the Kid make the mistake after mistake at the end. Eventually is able to wrap up the victory, but not without some close calls. Bret Hart has looked amazing in these 90s matches. ****1/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania XII Shawn Michaels entrance is very impressive and memorable. First 20 minutes: You have to think the Ironman match favors Bret. Ironman pretty much neutralizes Shawn's uptempo offense. It really becomes a question can Shawn figure out a way to grind. Bret is the ultimate grinder and is very versatile. The early part of the match is all about establishing Shawn's ability to grind. He is the one taking down Bret and willing to go on the mat. Also note that most of Shawn's offense is generated once he has created some distance. Bret is going to want crowd the Heartbreak Kid and wrestle the match right on top of Shawn. The two big highspots of the first ten minutes are Shawn's rana to the outside (which Bret sells as frustration) and his skin the cat. Every time there is a criss cross Shawn is able to convert that into a armbar. Shawn admittedly had some great armbar takedowns. Bret was working his style the headlocks, working the corner, but he kept letting Shawn loose. Shawn in transition is going to be his biggest problem. Loved the dueling finisher teasers at 15 minute mark. Shawn scrambling out of the Sharpshooter and then Bret sitting in Tony Chimel's lap until the last second and BANG! SWEET CHIN MUSIC! Really great spot. Shawn sells his surprise well allowing Bret to take over with a chinlock. Again Bret grinding and keeping it close. Once Bret loses that control, Shawn is able to take over with the armbar. It will be interesting to see if this story of distance is maintained. Bret works well in close proximity and Shawn needs an uptempo game to maintain control. Better than I remembered thus far. Second 20 minutes: Here we can point out once again Bret is in a face vs face match and again he works so well as the subtle heel NWA Touring champ. Unlike Flair, he is so understated. He is not drawing attention to himself. He is really letting Shawn shine. Notice little things like how he rolls up in the arm stretcher only to have it reversed into a hammerlock. Or how about how he gets out of the arm bars, like a pretty cheap, stiff elbow in the corner. He could have let the ref break the hold. Or how he drops back with Shawn throat first on the ropes. All these things allow Shawn to look great as the babyface and just put that little heat on Bret. A very selfless performance. Shawn is not being carried. Really unique offense from him like the shoulderbreaker, single arm DDT (great cutoff by him), powerslam, backbreaker, Fisherman's suplex. I thought the arm work was great especially from someone who doesn't do it often. Bret's piledriver was a great nearfall. It looked amazing and it really felt like a big moment. Even after Bret dropped Shawn throat first across the middle rope, Shawn didn't go away. It became about jockeying for position. One great moment was Shawn sizing Bret up for the superkick, but Bret dropping out of the ring taking a walk to regroup and Shawn diving out on the floor and wiping him out. Really great sequence. Big time highspot that makes Shawn look awesome. Even when Shawn comes out on the losing end, he looks like a million bucks. The tide finally turns in the Hitman's advantage when he back body drops Shawn over the top turnbuckle to the floor in a hellacious bump. Even though Bret gets the better, Shawn looks more impressive because the bump is so impressive. Bret goes out to the outside and slams the back into the post. Again that subtle heeling from Bret, it is not out and out cheating, but did he really need to do that. He could have just collected his countout fall. Bret really goes to work on the back in the waning minutes of this period. I think both wrestlers are wrestling their hearts out. The first 30 minutes were clearly the mat-based portion with only the superkick to Tony Chimel as the big highspot. They started ramping things up at the 30 minute mark. You see Bret is the master of pragmatic wrestling using every inch of the ring. Shawn is wrestling with his heart on his sleeve going full bore into every spot and just diving into the Hitman. Shawn tried to wrestle strategic in the first 30 minutes, but didn't get him anywhere so he just started to hurl his body at Bret. When that started, you see the bigger chances pay off (dive to outside), but also the risky behavior costs him (bump to outside). This is a lot better than I remember. Final 20 minutes: Basically if Bret and Shawn had a normal length match, I would expect this is what most of it would like. Just a superb Bret heat segment with Shawn selling the back tremendously well, but also timing his hope spots well. I loved how Shawn would try to punch his way out of it, but Bret would comeback with these ferocious punches each time. Bret's reaction was great. The Flair Flip into the super back suplex was a GREAT nearfall. I would say a common knock on this match is that their are no falls in regulation, but I really did not feel that was an issue until here. I thought Bret really pummeled Shawn and earned himself a fall. By not getting a fall, it hurt the match because it became ridiculous that Shawn was absorbing all this punishment but kept kicking out. The dive by Bret out to the floor was great as was all of Shawn's ridiculous bumps to the outside. Fuck West Coast Crowds! This match was great and they were so quiet. Camel clutch was a little long. You can finally feel them stretching it out here. Superplex into Sharpshooter attempt was great. Bret eats a foot on his second rope elbow and here comes the Shawn comeback. But it is a cool one. It features a gutwrench powerbomb and a moonsault! He goes for the top rope elbow, but falls into a Sharpshooter. Crowd is on its feet. 30 seconds to go, Shawn does not tap, but the match ends due to the time limit expiring. It is a 0-0 draw and thus a tie goes to the champion and Bret Hart retains the World Championship, but wait... Overtime: Bret works on the back. Shawn avoids him in the corner and BANG! SWEET CHIN MUSIC! They both get to their feet and Sweet Chin Music again! You know the whole restart actually makes this feel anti-climatic. Awesome match on rewatch that really never drags, which is pretty impressive for a sixty minute match especially when one wrestler has a pretty limited offensive arsenal like Shawn Michaels. The first 40 minutes is great psychological wrestling. Shawn wrestling very strategically but also taking advantage of when the pace quickened. Bret did a beautiful job as the subtle heel Touring World Champion. He made Shawn look great and Shawn was working his ass off. The transition into Bret heat segment was great and it really showed both wrestlers at their best. Shawn all heart heading into the corner with reckless abandon. Bret the ever thinking pragmatic champion letting the overzealous challenger make the mistake. The Bret heat segment is great just awesome offense with great hope spots. It gets a little long and could have used a fall. Shawn's comeback is fiery and dramatic. It is weird the whole match is really well built, but the final finish just comes off as anti-climatic. Way better than I remember and actually very watchable just does not make you pump your fist at the end. ****1/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund - WWF Superstars 7/30/94 I often extol Bret's talents in these face vs face matches and I think this just one of many examples you can use as evidence for his incredible capability in this very challenging environments. I want to focus on Bob Backlund in this one. To really appreciate this match, I think you need immerse yourself in the matches of Bob Backlund's title reign. Bob Backlund lives by the mantra "anything you can do, I can do better" and his unmatched tenacity. We see that on display here with Backlund going for the early, unique rollups. You can see Bret selling these through his frustration with the ref. Bret knows this aint no walk in the park. But you also see how Backlund has a lost step. That Bret is able to control this match with holds. Backlund still has his freaky strength look at that amazing bridge on the half nelson/hammerlock pinning combination. He still has tenacity look at those multiple waistlock takedowns to the outside. How about how Bret will hit a strike and Backlund will come back with that same strike that is classic Backlund. But still he cant maintain control he was once able to that's what I mean when he has lost a step. He is Bob Backlund but he is older and Bret can overwhelm him. He can fight out of the Sharpshooter all he wants but Bret will drop that elbow on him. Some really great sequences here with backslides and bridge outs. Just some really great classic, technical wrestling that is all about competition. Backlund besides the cradles does not have as much in his offensive arsenal in terms of stringing things along and I think that was a great way to show his age. Bret takes a nasty spill to the floor when Bob gets up early on a dropdown. I LOVE THAT! That's just a perfect little thing that could happen in a wrestling match. Backlund tries to take advantage but cant really capitalize and then Bret is able to get a small package after about 6 unique cradles from Backlund, Bob succumbs to a small package. Beautiful symmetry. This is just a great classic championship match that Bret does a great job treating it like an NWA Champion would and Backlund makes for such a unique opponent. The post-match turn with Bret offering a handshake of respect and Bob snapping and attacking him with the Crossface Chickenwing is one of the best WWF angles of all time. It is only further enhanced by how they played off the past history with Backlund being screwed out of the championship in 83 with the towel being thrown in on his behalf and the Arnie Skaaland segment they do later is great. Taken all together it is just terrific pro wrestling. ****1/4

Word. Although the idea of Cena being endeavoured and becoming an indy super worker to eventually get back into WWE a la Bryan is something to behold. I don't think pro wrestling is just worse off; I think the world is worse off. A really great role model for adults & children in a tough world.

Greg Valentine vs Sgt Slaughter - WWF 7/28/84 1984 WWF is a gift that keeps on giving with its loaded roster and seemingly endless combination of dream matches. Clocking in at 13 minutes, you really couldn't ask for much more from two all-time greats in a random house show setting with no angle behind them. Albano is great on the mic before the match. The Hammer jumps Slaughter but ends up being punched in the face with his belt. TIIIMMMMMBBBBAAAAAAHHHHH! Slaughter lets us know his bionic elbow is red hot because he licks his finger touches his elbow and makes the OW face. I love the 80s! Slaughter goes hard into the post. Valentine is awesome working the arm. Just great. Gorilla does his best to piss me off that it is impossible to pin someone with a half nelson/hammerlock combination while camera clearly shows both shoulders down and this is a very common Mid-Atlantic spot. He is the worst. Like the absolute worst. Slaughter makes his comeback getting knees up into the Valentine's family jewels. He tries to come off with a top rope kneedrop, but crashes and burns and this leaves him prone to the Hammer's onslaught to the knee. Now we are in Valentine's wheel house. This is when the match goes from good to awesome. Slaughter's selling here is incredible. Valentine is amazing working the knee. These two are just so in sync. This is Greg Valentine 101 on why he is one of the best wrestlers of all time. The way he switches up working the leg, how he feeds Slaughter hope spots, the nasty forearms to the face, it is all amazing. He had someone in Sarge who was totally game in selling. The hope spots finally catch up to the Hammer and leave him open to the SLAUGHTER CANON~! Sarge still selling the leg, signals for the Cobra Clutch as the crowd comes alive. Valentine pulls the ref into him for the cheap DQ. It is the 80s so the finish was going to suck, but God the match was awesome beforehand. Sarge does some great selling. This is a basic introduction into why Greg Valentine is just so damn good both on offense and feeding. Check this out! ***1/2

This is reality I shudder to think about it and glad we don't live in.

Shibata was out to humiliate the rookie, Fujita. Notice how early falls were one foot on the chest or going for a knockout. Fujita tries to head him off at the pass before the opening bell, but it look takes one slap to end that. Shibata was RIFLING him with kicks. That kick to the face at the beginning was just nasty. Throughout the match Shibata had some of the best beautifully violent kicks you would ever see. Fujita for being totally outgunned in this match, never gives up. Being Suplexed on the floor, kicked and slapped and ripped over the top rope in a sleeper doesn't matter he kept kicking out and kept trying to fight back. He gets a great hope sequence with the sleeper-German-sleeper. Loved the Guillotine Choke-DDT-Guillotine combo, but eventually another slap takes him out of it. Shibata DESTROYS him with a powerbomb and then sits in a deep Boston Crab. Shibata was out to school and punish the rookie and did just that. Fujita acquitted himself proving he could take a lickin but keep on tickin. He was even given some time to shine. Very enjoyable brutal match. ***1/2

Very entertaining match. Sasaki murders Murakami in this. Absolutely bulldozes him with a lariat at the opening bell. Chops him over the top. When Murakami avoids the Northern Lights Bomb with a knee Sasaki goes high to the throat with the chop was that great. Corner stuff was great with the chops and lariats. Murakami's facial expressions as always are just money and Sasaki was just lighting him up. I love how once Murakami has the advantage in the corner and the ref pulls him off he is all like WTF where were you when that was happening to me and then all of sudden BOOM Kensuke just WRECKS HIM! Sasaki special armdrag takeover and Lariat win him the match. Agreed one of the best squashes ever. ***1/2

Barry Windham vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 1/9/93 - US Title Tournament Steamboat was quite the copycat in this match. Windham goes after the arm so the Dragon goes after the arm. Windham goes after the leg so Steamboat goes after the leg. Solid, meat and potatoes match. God, Barry Windham was so fucking good in 1993. A real shame that he got injured halfway though the year and it completely derailed his career because he was looking damn good. The bumps he was taking to outside were so wild but so fluid and graceful at the same time. His punch looked phenomenal. He was stringing moves together in a logical fashion and was just on top of his game. Steamboat was selling his ass off. This is just one of those old school Southern matches that just work. Thought the weak point in all this was the transition. Nothing made you say Ooooooh Aaaahhhh, no real strong momentum shifts. Windham and Steamboat had been feuding ever since Windham & Rhodes lost the tag belts and Windham turned on Rhodes. Steamboat came out hot. Windham kicked him in the gut and unleashed a big right hand that just crumpled Steamboat to the mat. It felt too normal. Windham eventually started working on the arm and did a great job. The way Steamboat transitioned to his arm work was so unmemorable that I don't remember how he did! That's what I am getting at. Windham raked the eyes to finally break up the Dragon's arm work. Windham starts to clubber instead of focusing on the arm. He is using his length and strength advantage. His floatover suplex is a thing of beauty. He takes a bump to the outside here that is just as graceful as it is violent. Windham's gutwrench and DDT look great and loved his pin combinations. He goes for the Figure-4. Steamboat is obviously in his wheelhouse selling the leg and firing back with chops. Steamboat gets a kneecrusher and his own figure-4. Windham attacks bad leg in the figure-4, brilliant! Ref gets bumped during Steamboat's comeback, which should have had a better transition. Steamboat gets the visual pin on the flying bodypress. Windham throws him over the top to the concrete triggering DQ. Big melee ensues with Windham/Rhodes and Steamboat&Douglas (In Zubaz!)/Hollywood Blonds. Strong work, just a really good traditional pro wrestling match needs some more highspots or a real significant momentum shift to kick this next level. Just a great showcase for how much of a groove Barry Windham was in. ***3/4