Superstar Sleeze

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW 7/15/98 Had my witty "Don't try to hit a diving headbutt on Kanemoto" line already and then Liger goes and wins the match. Loved the first twenty minutes, thought they sacrificed all the great foundational work for bomb throwing in the last right minutes. I maybe alone in this, but I really enjoy New Japan juniors matwork. I thought Liger and Kanemoto were great at chaining their moves and really making the reversals seem organic. You can tell how chippy this is from the start. Liger seems really fireed up to take the Best of the Super Juniors champion. Early we see Liger drive the knee repeatedly into Kanemoto and then hit a middle rope kneedrop the first big move of the match at about the five minute mark. Liger goes for powerbomb early, but Kanemoto deadweights him and takes the leg down into a spinning, snapping toehold. Kanemoto fires away kicks on the knee, but Liger gets a dragon leg screw. He goes up for a King Kong Kneedrop, but misses and now Kanemoto is a shark that smells blood. Kanemoto was on fire in this match with his kicks. He is just rifling the knee. The submissions like the figure-4 and heel hook were great. Liger's first hope spot of a desperation Palm Strike to the head fighting through kicks was great. I liked the dropkick to the knee and then a chinlock. Exactly what Liger needs is a hold to wear Kanemoto down and recover some of his own energy. Low risk, smart move. Liger loses control and Kanemoto is able to land some fierce kicks to the head. I really think Liger needs to focus on the head to make in-roads now. There is a huge suplex struggle that feels like the match is on the line. Liger is able to hit a BRAINBUSTER! Huge moment swing here is Liger can consolidate. Liger goes for another suplex, but Kanemoto floats over and trips up the legs and then slams the knee repeatedly into the apron. AWESOME! Exactly what Kanemoto needed to do to swing the momentum back to him. Loved the work on the outside against the knee especially the kneecrusher on the railing. Back in the ring, Kanemoto gets the heel hook, but can finish Liger off who gets to the ropes. Kanemoto hits an overhead belly to belly and LIGER HULKS UP! Match goes downhill from here. He dropkicks Kanemoto in the knee. He is still selling, but I hate the whole a Belly to Belly wakes me up. Kanemoto tries to fight through powerbomb and takes a palm strike to back of head. Then LIGERBOMB~! What happened to that injured knee? I wonder if the Liger Hulk Up is when the match was going to start being shown on TV. Nice palm strike/slap exchange which would have been better than a hulk up to create the transition to finish. Kanemoto hits a wicked slap to set up his twisting senton. Kanemoto turns a Kappo Kick into a heel hook, which is the best spot of the finish run I marked out. If that was the finish, I think I would have forgiven everything because it at least went back to the main story of the first part of the match. But Liger makes the ropes. Kanemoto misses moonsault again. I also liked Kanemoto immediately reversing the figure-4, that's the best time to reverse it right before it is really cinched in. Liger just throws a German. I am very surprised how much I am disagreeing with Liger's decision making in this match. SUPER FISHERMAN BUSTER~! Finish please...kick out! Tombstone...Diving Headbutt missed...this is how the Kanemoto comeback started in the Wagner match...TIGER SUPLEX...this is how he won the Wagner match...too close to the ropes. Third time is the charm, but Kanemoto moonsault does not put the champ away. Liger meets him at top. SUPER BRAINBUSTAAAHHHHH~! Finish please...NO SELL, FUCK ME! LIGER HITS THE MUTHA OF ALL PALM STRIKES TO WIN! First twenty minutes was just excellent gradual progression, Liger looks sharp in the opening matwork, but Kanemoto creates opportunity by attacking leg. Liger wins a major suplex struggle, but Kanemoto come back at leg. Then Liger just hulks up and it is finish run stuff. The finish run stuff was good, but it just felt like a lot of moves. There were individual spots that were great like kappo kick into the heel hook or super Fisherman Buster, but too many weird no selling choices brought it down. There is way too much good call this anything less than great. Just a frustrating match because it could have been so much more. ****

BINGO! My thoughts exactly. It was an amazing Dr. Wagner offensive performance like really one of the best one man offensive performances I have ever seen in my life, but not to win the match was a Falcons' level choke. However, the great thing about the Patriots comeback was how extended it was. Wagner really did not sell much of anything in this match. He was just a machine. For those trying to find the match, you can find it in a Ditch, if you know what I mean ;) Koji Kanemoto vs Dr. Wagner Jr - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 6/3/98 After Liger/Ohtani 2/7/97, the New Japan juniors landscape becomes terra incognita for me. Much like All Japan, the highs of the mid-90s are over and we get into the late 90s and the number of pimped matches becomes very small. To me this match reminds me of the Kawada/Kobashi 6/12/98 match in hype. Sort of the last gasp of the once mighty division. I agree with a lot of sentiments that I have been read about this match in regards to how different this feels from a New Japan Juniors match. It is not opening matwork leading to an amazing bomb throwing festival. It is a one man artillery decimating his opponent from the opening bell. Dr. Wagner Jr came to play. He was doing what he wanted when he wanted in this match. He was taking Kanemoto down at will. He was schooling on the mat with all the tricked out Lucha submissions. He was beating Kanemoto at his own game, stand-up with ferocious chops. I was shocked that Wagner's offense was way tighter than Kanemoto's in this. The setup and execution of submissions was pitch perfection. Everything looked like it hurt and the way he was taking him down was fierce. You see Kanemoto go for the kicks after being shown up on the mat, but when he tries to go to the mat he rides high and ends up in headscissors. He has not takedown defense. He is getting lit up in standup. I thought he might have any opening when he gets a knee to his head. But Wagner shakes it off and lets out this weird primal bellow and just dominates him. He humiliates him with the Rocking Horse submission among other impressive submissions. Kanemoto is throwing in hope spots like his twisting senton or his moonsaults, but he keeps trying to double up everything, but he misses the second attempt. Wagner is just a machine. He shrugs off and just keeps asserting his dominance. There is one point where Kanemoto gets a spinwheel kick and desperately applies a figure-4 and Wagner just reverses instantaneously. Down the stretch Wagner just murders Kanemoto. TWO WAGNER DRIVERS! One in the middle of the ring then SPLASH MOUNTAIN! I think that was the first time I have seen someone hit Splash Mountain. I marked out, but no pinfall. Wagner misses a diving headbutt. You could just feel in this match because Wagner was kicking so much ass he was going to lose. It was just too lopsided. This gives Kanemoto the opening to hit a moonsault and a Tiger Suplex to win. Amazing offensive performance from Wagner. There was literally never a dull moment in the match. It is all action. He works seamlessly from standup to ground. It never feels like an exhibition. Really kudos to him. I do think he hurt the match a lot by not selling any of Kanemoto's hope spots. By not selling and just steamrolling him, it really hurt the credibility of the finish. I thought Kanemoto was very average here. He was whiffing some of his kicks. He was not giving me that passion I need to get behind the comeback. I was really not invested in him pulling through. A Kobashi or Ohtani would have had me pumping my fists begging for the comeback. I just really had trouble buying the kickouts from second Wagner Driver and Splash Mountain. This was a Falcons' level choke without any of the drama and excitement of the Patriots comeback because Wagner was not selling it and Kanemoto was not inspiring. But this is highly recommended for Wagner's offense and the fact that it is a breezy almost 30 minute affair. ****1/4

I really shouldn't pick on Chad, me being from Titletown USA and him being from Pity City and all. I just saw that and was like WTF!?! I feel like Double J should get that tag more than Booker is all.

Booker is a WOTDC? I feel like Jarrett is a better wrestler than him. I was talking to Charles about Double J and he seems like the best wrestler without a classic (I have never seen the Angle match and the Shawn match falls just shy for me). I know Charles is super high on Booker/Benoit, but to me that is just great. I cant really think of the classic Booker T match. He is just kinda there for me.

Greatest picture ever! Titans will always be my favorite podcast of all time! To be the honorary fifth/sixth member was the greatest privilege of the wrestling part of my life. Thank you for having me and thank you for the hours of entertainment! Truly spectacular!

Brutha way to get 2016 correct! You can be on my team any day of the week! 😃

Kelly's rampant sex habit kills another podcast dead. ;) Sad!

I am trying not to get too upset because it is just wrestling after all BUT you got to be fucking shitting me! AJ VS SHANE?!?!?! CENA NOT IN A BIG MATCH!?!?!? HE IS LITERALLY BIG MATCH JOHN!!! Every potential rumored card, I see does NOT EVEN HAVE JOHN CENA ON IT!!! this is ridiculous. In terms of buzz, wrestling ability, star power, Cena and AJ are their best bets. Jericho vs Owens that is great midcard comedy, but cmon. Bray vs Orton, you have got to be shitting me! I am holding out hope. Obviously, Cena HAS to be on the card and so does AJ. I just needed to vent. At the end of the day, not my company and really there is so much wrestling that even if they don't do it right I can always go back and watch other things. After Mania, you know Cena and AJ will still kick ass, but still it is kinda shitty.

Chad, you a batshit crazy muthafucka

Yeah Nash didn't come off as a good promo at all in this. You know it is bad Nitro when fucking Sid vs Heavy D Don Harris was the best match. Psychosis/Kaz had an abortion of a match. Norman/3Count was fun. I skipped Vampiro/Kidman ( Torrie in that zebra outfit though WOW) and Mamalukes. Sid was actually great in terms of hot babyface charisma. Not a bad choice for a number one face. I'd kill for Sid right now in wrestling. I think Braun is close but Sid just has crazy charisma. Sid/Nash sucked the big one. From the opening bell, they botched a fucking body slam lol! At least Sid went over! Yay! Sid pulling the Eddie routine of acting like Jarrett hit him with the guitar when he had done to Nash was great! I was marking out! Excited for Sid title reign!

Ok starting watching full Nitros at this point a couple nights ago, I remember liking this period as kid but this was a pretty lame episode. Bobby Heenan was a shell of himself. He kept calling Tank Abbott a handful, Tony no sold it because it wasn't funny but he kept at it . Brutal. I usually enjoy Hall/Nash/Steiner antics but not very funny. In the year 2000 Terry Funk was the number 2 babyface in the second biggest national promotion. Can you believe that? Nash puts a hot out on Funk. Bigelow drads Funk by the neck with a belt pretty brutal and is focused on destroying Funk's shoulder. Good basic psychology with hope spots mixed. Findlay & Knobs are a team and help Funk! God knows why? Funk will have back up on Thunder. Please be Flair!

WCW World Champion Vader vs Ric Flair - WCW Clash of the Champions XXV The forgotten match before the polarizing famous Starrcade 93 match is a great pump up for Starrcade 93. Vader was such a great monster in this. I love his pre-match ranting "No Pain. No Fear. Im da man!". After the commercial, Flair has the figure-4 on Harley allowing Vader to splash Flair. Flair's verbal selling is great and matches so well with Vader' brute strength and bulliying. Press slam, Vaderbomb and just general trash talk. Flair fires off some heavy handed chops and looks to make some in roads but when he tries to build some momentum he eats a Vader body attack. What they do well here is give Flair opening through Vader missing moves on multiple occasions. The best is Vader misses a middle rope elbow and Flair immediately goes for Figure-4 only to have Harley rake the eyes. Show Flair knows how fleeting these moments are and needs to capitalize immediately. Love that superplex spot by Vader on Flair. The ultimate missed move is that Vader misses the top rope moonsault always incredible. Flair covers 1-2-3! MASSIVE POP from a kinda dead crowd, but it is a DQ because the ref had been wiped out by Vader. Not quite as good as I remembered (I remembered more energy), but this was a great narrative and build. Flair had to take the openings given to him and pounce. He did just that. Vader was his usual monster self. I liked how the openings built and built to the missed moonsault. Finally after years and years, going to revisit Starrcade 1993. ***3/4

What's it like Chad knowing you have 119 more months to finish the 2000s but you have already seen the best match of the decade? 😋

I thought Summerslam match was way overrated but this was incredible!!! I think the Money in the Bank match was wicked underrated and best match of the series. A much better version of SSLam match with actual transitions and urgency!

AJ Styles save me!

I have been pretty underwhelmed thus far. I just so tired of That style of plunder brawling. I expected and wanted to see Reigns/Braun for the title. Well at least we are getting the match could be the show stealer at Mania!

70s - WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Greg Valentine - MSG 2/19/79 80s - NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton - Great American Bash 1986 Steel Cage 90s - I need to rewatch all the AJPW stuff one more time, but I think it is 6/9/95, 4/15/95 or 1/20/97, for the US I think I would say Bret vs Owen WrestleMania X 00s - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - AJPW 2/27/00 10s - WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles - WWE Payback 2016

WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty - WWF RAW 7/19/93 These two definitely know how to whip a match into a fever pitch. Shawn has since added Diesel to his act which paid immediate dividends as he won the IC belt back. Marty turns his back to Shawn to look at Diesel and Shawn attacks. Great way to get over the presence of the big man. Marty impressively lands on his feet on a back drop. Another great shine with Marty looking crisp and Michaels bumping like a madman. Nothing out of this world. Everything is upbeat and well-done. Marty hits a DDT. 1-2-3! Lightning strikes twice! Wait! Michael's foot was on the ropes, Diesel points it out and the match is restarted. I like this use of Diesel. Not can he intimidate and interfere, but he can watch Michaels' back if injustice is to occur. Jannetty continues with the shine suplex and backbreaker. Jannetty should have been a solid mechanic in the midcard and tag scene if not for personal demons. Definite anchor on this match is Michaels' heat segment. Nothing memorable transition and chinlock city otherwise. Michaels would get better on top, never his strong suit, but very weak here. Jannetty crotching him to get out of a front facelock almost makes the front facelock worth it. Again they work a ton of great nearfalls for Jannetty that get awesome heat. Jannetty takes an insane bump flying over the top rope on a missed crossbody down on the floor. Diesel helps him back in 1-2-3! I actually dug the finish a lot. The bump was insane and really puts over the move as high risk. PWI Match of the Year for 1993 and I don't even think it is the best match in WWF in 1993. Fun shine, lame heat segment and red hit finish, a great way to spend 15 minutes of your life, btu nothing that will change your life. ***1/4

WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty - WWF RAW 5/17/93 The May 17, 1993 episode of RAW has to go down as one of the all-time great RAWs between the red-hot Razor Ramon/1-2-3 Kid angle and this angle where Marty Jannetty returns to the WWF in disguise as a civilian and forces the cocky Shawn Michaels into a match. Fast-paced TV sprints. Nothing really extraordinary. Just solid, basic pro wrestling. Jannetty gets some nearfalls early and then gets some fun babyface offense which Shawn bumps great for. Loved the slingshot crossbody to floor. Shawn clearly overwhelmed looks to hightail it out of there, but Mr. Perfect who is feuding with Michaels stops him. Loved the heel heat transition with Shawn dropping Marty throat first on the rope during a headscissors attempts. They would some double hot nearfalls down the stretch like the catapult of Shawn into the post and the top rope reverse cross body. Michaels hits proto-Sweet Chin Music, taunts Perfect who throws his towel at him and Marty cradles him for the victory and upset title change! Wasn't in love with the finish think there was a better way to make everyone come out looking there, but still a HUGE moment with Marty winning the title in a good little TV match with a hot finish stretch. ***

SMW Tag Team Champions Rock N Roll Express vs Heavenly Bodies - WWF Survivor Series 1993 My hometown of Boston let the wrestling world down by being absolutely dead for all this kickass tag team action. From the Morton suicide dive to start the match to Del Rey catching the tennis racquet to drive it into the RNRs to win the tag belts, the action in this was fast and furious and never ever let up. In fact my complaint would be that they were wrestling too fast. They knew this would be a cold crowd and they tried to compensate by being extra hot but I think it was to the detriment of the match because it took away from the selling and the awesomeness of the spots. The Bodies are just great successors to the Midnights with the all fun spots at the beginning, the row the boat spot is the one I always think of with this match. When it comes time to get heat they get heat. Pritchard's powerbomb is great and Del rey's Asai Moonsault and body jiggle it awesome. Loved seeing the Trash Compactor. God Bless Southern tag Wrestling. Morton with the Misawa-rana on the second powerbomb attempt was great and double DDT sets up the coldest hot tag ever. I am so sorry everybody for my hometown! I will say the finish stretch was a bit of a mess with the convoluted that would be a DQ in SMW but not here in WWF, who the fuck is legal (Morton was not but was being treated as such) and zero heat for the double dropkick. Superbrawl III was a better match, but this was very good. I don't think there is anything more jarring than Rock N Roll Express wrestling for WWF in Boston. Just so weird. ***1/2

Bret Hart vs Doink The Clown Summerslam 1993 So building off the Lawler's beatdown of The Hitman at King of the Ring 1993 over who the real King of the Ring was they booked Bret Hart versus Jerry Lawler for Summerslam. However, you see The King was in a massive ten car pile up caused by an old blue hair and injured his knee. Heenan says on commentary that even after he pulled his own body from the fiery wreckage he saved a school bus of children! What a hero, The King Jerry Lawler is! However, he has chose a replacement his court jester, the Evil Clown, Doink! I love the Doink gimmick so much. He throws a bucket of confetti on the fans and then a bucket of water on Bruce Hart! HA! Bret tees off on Doink. Bret just murders Doink. Besides 1997, we don't get enough of this pissed off Bret. He is so great here just kicking ass. Loved him crotching Doink on top rope and then letting him fall face first. Of course, Bret is tempted to attack Lawler and this when Doink jumps him from behind. Doink is great here ramming Bret hard into the steps and then working the knee over. I love that the Evil Clown is a technical wizard using the STF and stump puller. Doink eats knees on the Whoopie Cushion! Bret tees off on Doink again and goes for the Sharpshooter and Lawler breaks the crutch over the Hitman's back! It is a miracle! I guess Bret wins this match by DQ . Love it! Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler - Summerslam 1993 Jerry The King Lawler is helping his buddy, Doink the Clown to the back when Jack Tunney stops him and sends him back to the ring to have the regularly scheduled match. Bret is fighting through officials to try to get to the King. Once Bret gets to him, he just murders The King with rights. This is the best Memphis match to ever take place in WWF. Just a wild, chaotic brawl. Bret bites Lawler in the head. He just throwing the punches with reckless abandon. Bret finds a crutch and breaks it over Lawler's back. The King picks up broken crutch and jabs it into the abdomen of Bret. He jabs it in the throat and chokes him with it. Lawler is great in this. So cheap and desperate, goading Owen and Bruce and just cheating at will against Bret with the crutch and ramming his balls into the post. Bret's trick knee acts up and rams Lawler in the Royal Family Jewels! Bret is great in this when he takes the strap down. There s just a look in his eyes where you actually think he might murder the King. He just conveys so much badass asskicker here. Loved the punches and PILEDRIVER!!! This is not played up enough on commentary. Bret applies the Sharpshooter and Lawler is forced to quit, but Bret wont relinquish the hold. This goes on for a while even his brothers get involved. Once he releases it we find out Jerry Lawler has won the match by disqualification making him the Undisputed King of the WWF. He leaves on a stretcher with one finger in the air. Awesome! One of the all-time best WWF angles ever from the bullshit Lawler story to the great Doink match to great Bret/Lawler brawl to the bullshit finish of Lawler remaining "undisputed" King of the WWF. Lawler was at his Memphis heel best and Bret was in full asskicker moder. Really something to behold. ****1/4 for the whole kit and caboodle.

Pete, I liked you so much until I found out you were a Buckeye fan. I went to the University of Michigan, BABY! GO BLUE! WWF World Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers vs Heavenly Bodies - WWF Summerslam 1993 "University of Michigan, anybody could graduate from there" - Bobby The Brain Heenan, I know all too well, Brain, all too well. I popped for that line. Summerslam 1993 emanates from the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan so the Steiners are decked out in the Maize & Blue of the University of Michigan. Loved the Lets Go Blue chants for the Steiners on multiple occasions throughout this match. I watched this match about 4-5 years ago and loved it. Loved it just as much this go around. Awesome Southern sprint! This would not feel out of place at all in Crockett or WCW. The Bodies carry the torch for Midnights so well with the fun spots and cool, innovative offense. Bodies jump the Steiners before the bell. They try to isolate Rick by keeping Scott outside the ring, but eventually Scott gets in and opens a can of whoop ass. Suplexes galore, monkey flip and Steinerlines from Rick! Really fun shine see the Steiners do what they do best throw muthafuckas around and hit em hard. Scotty seemed to be pumped to be wrestling in Michigan. LOVED the transition to the heat with Del Rey ducking under Scotty's legs and Dr. Tom comes flyin in with a bulldog. Del Rey was a monster in this heat segment. Somersault off the apron on Scotty and then a beautiful DDT and followed up with his sleazy little dance. HELL YEAH! The Steiners are not the greatest at selling but the Bodies make up for it with great offense and heel tactics. Del Rey gets cute and tries for the DDT again, but Scotty has seen this movie before and chucks him over the shoulder. Then sends Dr. Tom flying with a Tiger Bomb. Rick cleans everyone's clock with Steinerlines. Tons of hot nearfalls here with Rick's bulldog, Pritchard's tennis racquet shot getting over huge. Loved the moonsault by Del Rey (he rocked!) hitting Tom and then Scotty snapping off a Frakensteiner. Awesome, bomb throwing sprint. LOVED THIS! LETS GO BLUE! ****

Bret Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow - WWF King of the Ring 1993 Never seen this match before, really good extended squash before the upset victory. Bret is coming into this banged up with injured fingers from Razor and knee from Perfect. He has also wrestled for 30 minutes in two minutes compared to Bam Bam's one which went 8 minutes. I liked how this started as a fight as Bret just threw all he had at Bam Bam. First Press slam does not end well for Bam Bam with Bret falling on top. Finally Bigelow chucks Bret out onto the floor in a gnarly bump. Bigelow destroys Bret's back with an array of suplexes and holds (bearhug, Argentine backbreaker). Bret's first hope spot is when he whips Bigelow hard into the railing. He mounts a bit of a comeback before Bigelow catches him off the apron (no wonder Bret kept trying to repeat that spot it worked here just never after) and Bam Bam drove Bret's back hard into the post. Then Luna comes out and hits him with a chair in the back. Bam Bam hits a diving headbutt and 1-2-3! WAIT WHAT THE FUCK! My jaw dropped because I had never seen the match before. Earl Hebner comes out and says the match should continue because Luna's interference that's pretty inconsistent at best and weak at worst. What I liked about this match is that it was so different tan your typical Bret match. It was basically this extended squash with Bam Bam just beating the tar out of the Hitman, but Bret was actually good about hope spots in this match. Like the back suplex and senton. I thought the sleeper set up by a face rake out of the Argentine Backbreaker was perfect. The exact move Bret needed to regain some of his strength and sap the big man of his. I really think that is the perfect use of a sleeper. To follow up Bret just starts using his body as a weapon first with a dropkick to send Bam Bam to the floor and then a pescado! Great comeback! I really liked how Bret set up for the second rope elbow but because Bigelow got up he transitioned to a bulldog. That's a great kayfabe way to show someone thinking on their feet. Bam Bam blocks Sharpshooter and back to bearhug. Bret makes him eat a boot on a charge. He hops up to the top rope and then onto Bam Bam's shoulders to get the victory roll. The fun does not end there, the post-match with Jerry Lawler, which sets up a two year feud was excellent. Lawler rants he is the real king. Bret kind of blows him off by getting the fans to chant "Burger King" only for Lawler to kick the royal shit out of Bret. Including throwing the throne on top of him. Jerry Lawler can rest peacefully though because he still has the honor of having Bam Bam Bigelow's best match. This is the second best Bam Bam match I have ever seen. Thought he looked great as a monster here and Bret was perfect as the underdog babyface. Really different Bret match than normal, check it out! ****

Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect - WWF King of the Ring 1993 "This is a CLASSY match!" - Macho Man Randy Savage Bret is the king of the face vs face match, but here he is not playing the subtle heel. It is his opponent rather that plays de facto heel in this contest. Easily the best Curt Hennig match since his days in AWA as he has the offense here to match his bumping. Loved the gradual progression from the locker room where Mean Gene was stirring the pot through the match in how Hennig became more and more heelish. At the start of the match, he was the one laying heavy blows like the chop or pulling hair and it was Bret doing what he does best picking a base hold (side headlock) and working cradles out of the hold. Each man looking for quick victory to get out of Dodge and face the rested Bam Bam Bigelow in the finals. I liked how Hennig was bumping on the side headlock takeovers, good snap to them. Hennig uses the hair to force Bret into the ropes and delivers a kneelift. His standing dropkick sends Bret to the outside. He holds the ropes open and cements his mid-match heel turn by attacking Bret as he gets into the ring. Perfect looks great here with chops, kneelift, even a missile dropkick! The awesome spot I always remember from this match is Perfect slingshotting Bret from the apron to floor and railing. Nasty. My big problem with this match is that spot does not lead to more heat. Instead, Bret pops up before Perfect can come off the top and hits a superplex. Just felt like a weak transition. Hennig sells the knee so he can take his favorite bump the one where he does backflips. Bret applies the figure-4 and Hennig makes the ropes. He goes to Bret's eyes and then biels him out by the hair, always a nasty spot between these two (shades of Summerslam). Love it! In another callback to Summerslam when Bret whips Perfect into the corner and he slides under and posts himself by the balls. Another crowd-pleaser. Here comes the Five Moves of Doom. Sharpshooter, but in one last act of desperation, Perfect goes for the taped fingers (injured in the Ramon match) and this quashes Bret's attempt. Perfect now goes for Perfectplex, big time struggle and they both go over the top rope in an insane suplex spot crashing to the floor. They milk the count and back in the ring Perfect gets an inside cradle, but Bret reverses and wins the match! I think what really pushes it over the top is Perfect going for the fingers. He starts with hair pulling and then it is attacking him as he is entering the ring. But it is only when he thinks he is in real danger that he goes for the fingers. It was his ace in his back pocket. He only wanted to use if he had too. It is hard to outshine Bret in his matches because his fingerprints are usually all over of the match, but I really thought Perfect gave an excellent performance. My one complaint is I thought the transitions could have been tightened up. Best Mr. Perfect match in WWF, best WWF match of 1993! ****1/4

Bret Hart vs Razor Ramon - WWF King of the Ring 1993 Really fun traditional pro wrestling match. They don't do anything extraordinary but they do the ordinary so right that the match has incredible heat and is a real fun watch. It especially helps this is coming on the heels of the wicked hot 1-2-3 Kid angle with the fans chanting 1-2-3 to taunt Razor. This is Bret by the numbers but there is a reason his formula works. He does a great job keeping the deceptively big & tall Scott Hall off his feet with headlocks and wristlocks. I really like simple stuff like Razor missing the elbow in the shine with Bret getting up and going back to work. I love the eyepoke as the transition to the heat segment with the charge into the post cementing it. I thought Razor was good in his heat segment adding the running powerslam to his fallaway slam. Razor had a really hard time hitting elbow drops in this match. Missing four in a row. Bret executes his Five Moves of Doom excellently, but ends up taking the Bret Bump. The nearfalls down the stretch are wicked hot. Loved Bret shifting his weight on the super back suplex to win the match because that was the finish of every single match I have ever had with my brother because it was the only suplex I could ever do so I would have him shift his weight to win (I am the older brother so I was always the heel). Really fun textbook wrestling match. ***1/2