Superstar Sleeze

Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Dory & Terry Funk - AJPW 8/31/83 Terry Funk Retirement Match Terry Funk kills any chance of running for public office in America by proclaiming that "Japan is Number 1 forever, forever, forever, forever, forever, forever". Guess America is just playing for second place. The crowd loves the Funks like this has to be one of the most over babyface acts of all time. The dichotomy between the brothers is on display here as Dory gives one of the more uninspired face in peril segments in the way of selling compared to Terry basically giving the performance of a lifetime. In Dory's defense, I loved how much he was struggling to get out every armbar and how much fire he had, but could have used some more selling. Stan Hansen is a Terry Funk seeking missile to start and wants to re-open a cut above his eye. Dory is fucking useless trying to save his brother. Love the chaos in the midst of all the streamers. Terry tags out to big brother and they look to double team Hansen, who is wiser than he looks. Hansen grabs Dory by the arm and bullies him over to his corner. This is one of the best Gordy appearances I have ever seen. He was in lockstep with Hansen in terms of strategy, but presented a more vulnerable side. Dory may have not sold well, but he was firing those forearms off with all he had. Loved the heels always grabbing that arm and pulling him back to their corner to prevent the tag. This crowd is going apeshit for Dory Fucking Funk! Terry starts to get pissed about the constant double teaming and says two can play at that game. I love Dory forearming through a Hansen kick. That's what makes pro wrestling look great. This has been nothing, but balls to the wall action. Hot tag to Terry, who is bleeding, but he does not give a fuck as he FINALLY levels Hansen with a series of punches to a huge pop. Unfortunately Gordy cheapshots him and Terry cant press his advantage. This leads to Hansen kicking Terry's leg really fucking hard like really fucking hard. The leg work that ensues is amazing. The heels are vicious and dicks about it. Gordy was constantly holding Terry from the outside by the foot while Hansen would stomp and drop his weight on the knee. You just felt like poor Terry was helpless against these animals and his face showed all the pain. Gordy even went as far to use the Spinning Toehold against him! Terry blasts him in the head and then headbutt. Hot tag to Junior! Melee ensues leaving Terry and Terry in the ring. Gordy belly flops and Funk sunset flips from the middle rope to win his retirement match! Hansen ever the sore loser attacks Terry's leg and murders a young boy with a lariat before being restrained by a school of young boys. I have always loved this match and again it was a total energetic tour de force. The heels dominate the match and beat the shit out of the Funks, but the Funks are not going down without a fight. I wish Terry got the win over Stan, but Hansen was staying not Terry. At least Terry finally got to knock him off his feet. Still it is a great feel-good moment and balls to the wall action. One of the best tag team matches ever! *****

Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk - AJPW 4/14/83 Insane violent spectacle! Funk's selling of this brutal beatdown is transcendent. You first realize that Funk is deeply lacerated, not from looking at his face, but rather from his blood pooling on Hansen's stomach. Then when he was being back into the ring by the crazed sadist, he looked like a bloody dog tangled in streamers beaten to a pulp. The look on his face as he was being hung, with the rope in his mouth, bleeding profusely was unsettling and horrifying. Dory, who apparently is the world's toughest nerd, is able to save his baby brother. As he was being tended to by his brother, he was a sickly bloody mess. It was gruesome and maybe the nastiest wrestling has ever looked. Funk tried to stay away from Hansen early avoiding being corner with speed and his jab. Hansen slapped him and when Funk went for a bodyslam it was all over. Hansen threw him down and began to unload. Bullying him at every turn and just using his elbows, knees and fists as weapons. I loved Funk just wailing away on Hansen knee out of desperation or throwing a dropkick outside. The struggle over the spinning toehold is one of the most poignant moments in wrestling. You just hope against hope that Funk can cause enough to pain make Hansen submit. Hansen like a ferocious, wounded animal keeps kicking him off and punching him hard in the face until he is bleeding. It was titanic. At every stage, Funk would dive for the leg and attempt to submit him knowing full well he was going to be blasted in the head and his cut be further opened up. I think Hansen not selling the leg is a curious choice. It adds to his monster dynamic that he can't be harmed and that Terry Funk will eventually be a tragic hero left for dead by the ultimate bully. Hansen drops Funk on his balls on the top rope and thus commences the gruesome scene above. It is hard to say this is even a match. It feels like something so much more. I would say at the very least one of the top 5 most violent matches in a way that is really unsettling from the sense you really feel for Terry Funk. It is definitely something everybody should watch at some point. ****3/4

Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk - AJPW 9/11/82 If I had to choose between fighting the bear in the Revenant and Stan Hansen, I may just choose the bear. Hansen is a force of nature and is relentless beating down Funk. There is a point where Hansen grabs a double leg and just wont let go and Funk has to claw and wrench his nose to break free. Funk gives as good as he gets, but everytime Hansen has an answer. Normally, I would be disappointed in a babyface that powders and backs away from a heel, but when you are facing Hansen it is justified. It adds weight to the challenge that you really have to weigh you options when you are facing that crazy sadist. There is a point where Funk throws a chair into the ring and for a second Hansen is going to hurl it back, but he actually takes a step back and makes sure to nails Funk with it. OW! Funk is able to bash his head off the table and then side step the lariat and send him into the ref wiping him out. Hansen blasts the second ref with a LARIAT to a pop. A wrestler I don't recognize holds Funk who takes a brutal Lariat that looks like it could have broke his neck. Insane brawl. Funk looked great just trying to survive. He sold the match so well in how he was going up against monster, but was not going to back down. Hansen is every bit that bully heel. Huge punches from both guys. Just nasty. Really entertaining brawl. ****1/4

Harley Race is another one to a lesser degree (in the sense he is still somewhat well-regarded). We see Harley as the tough, grizzled sadist. What you get is a bomb-throwing, ass-showing, big bumping heel. I think that disconnect causes problems for people.

Couldn't disagree more about Jumbo's performance as he was totally fired up for this bout against his new rival, Tenryu. He was intense throughout and wanted to defend his turf. The way he reacted to Tenryu stealing his high knee. He came to play and he was going to fight through any pain to win this match and prove why he is the ace. The first enziguiri made sense because Tenryu was holding his bad leg and he used that counter into an enziguiri. From there, he was selling through the back drop drivers. I had no problem with it. If anything, Tenryu's selling during Jumbo's shine was lackluster. NWA International Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs NWA United National Champion Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 8/31/87 It is the story as old as time. The sidekick wants to step out of the shadow of the hero so Tenryu begins his revolution. Off the heels of the native vs native success of Jumbo's Army vs Choshu's army and with gaijin talent drying up, Baba shifted his entire booking paradigm by pitting Jumbo against Tenryu in a feud for the ages. Jumbo was fired up for this match to prove why he was/is the Ace. Tenryu is at his dickish best early on slapping Jumbo and stealing his high knee. Jumbo responds by slapping the shit out of him in an absolute fury and destroying him with a high knee. The whole match felt like a total war and they set that tone right from the outset. This was not a friendly rivalry. These two plain did not like each other. Jumbo stole Tenryu's enziguiri to be a dick to him. I loved the Jumbo crashing into Tenryu recklessly with a high knee in the corner and driving hime through with the bulldog. Jumbo started off the hotter of the two pouring the offense on climaxing with a piledriver and a HIGH KNEE OFF THE TOP ROPE, but when he went for the back drop driver to polish him off, Tenryu quickly salvaged the match for himself with a German Suplex. That is Jumbo's modus operandi when facing challengers to his throne. To start off hot and try to embarrass them by beating them as quickly as possible, but Tenryu managed to stave off defeat with the German following up with a powerbomb. Jumbo backdropped Tenryu over the top rope. Jumbo came off the middle rope onto the floor just hurling his body at Tenryu. JUMBO IS FEELING IT!!! You truly believe this match is the most important thing in the world to Jumbo because of the chances he is taking. Jumbo goes for the high knee in the corner again, but Tenryu side steps and yanks down the turnbuckle cover sending Jumbo's knee into the exposed steel. Good knee work by Tenryu as this looks like his big opening as he applies a single leg crab, but Jumbo makes the ropes. Tenryu goes for a kneecrusher, but as he is holding the bad leg, Jumbo uses the good leg to enziguiri him. Brilliant! Jumbo fights through the pain and hits two back drop drivers, but he is too close to the ropes. Jumbo is clearly worse for wear as his bodyslam does not have its usual oomph. They end up outside on a botched crossbody that should take them over the top rope. Tenryu hits a kneecrusher on the table outside. They trade enziguiris on the apron where Jumbo gets his knee caught in the ropes for the countout finish. Jumbo's identity as the Ace was being questioned and he responded with fury exactly as he should. In that fury, he had the bad break of ramming his knee into the exposed steel. He looked on pace to recover, but once outside it became anyone's game and Tenryu was able to get the last laugh. It was smart booking as Tenryu definitely needed the win more, but they were able to protect Jumbo's position as the Ace of All Japan. The first 3/4s of this was pitch perfect. Tenryu was the dick and Jumbo was pissed. After the big turning point (the knee into turnbuckle), I thought they did lack something, maybe some more Tenryu violence. I think Jumbo took a little too much of this match when all was said and done. A really awesome Jumbo performance and you can see Tenryu coming into his own as Jumbo's archnemesis. ****1/2

NWA International Champion Jumbo Tsuruta vs NWA United National Champion Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW 10/11/87 Jumbo Tsuruta came to fight in this match! He was full of piss and vinegar in this match and it was glorious to watch. The whole match was very chippy, which is a place that Tenryu excels. Jumbo was pissed. That high knee almost took Tenryu's head off. Tenryu was smart to go to the headlock to try slow Jumbo down and sap some of that energy, but to no avail. As Jumbo came storming out with a flying armbar takedown and wrenched the arm. Tenryu then tried to slap Jumbo. Bad idea, brutha! Jumbo lit his ass up. He even hit a piledriver. It got so bad, Jumbo actually had to pick Tenryu up at two to deliver more punishment. Now pride comes before the fall and he rammed his shoulder into the post. Tenryu tries to go after it only for Jumbo to come back in the ring like a man possessed. It was totally engrossing to watch him fire up. Thank God, he missed with that lariat because I think he would have decapitated Tenryu right then there. In his craze, Jumbo of course falls to the hotshot! Since this is a double title match, I pretty much bit on every double countout like finish after this, which made the match very dramatic. There were a couple spots where I thought Tenryu had really blasted him that he just was not going to get back up to beat the count. Tenryu really gets a chance to pour it on with his big offense: huge lariat, reverse elbow and German suplex. Jumbo counters with his back drop driver! I thought the high knee into a lariat was a great spot for a countout spot. Then he was the time that Tenryu took the Big E bump to the floor because Jumbo side stepped him and that looked sick. Or the backdrop driver where Tenryu pushed off the post, I thought would be a neat double counout finish. This was just a crazy out of control brawl. There were some moments that took me out of the match like the fucked up backslide, but especially the botched pilderiver/powerbomb by Tenryu twice. It was just so awkward and slow that kinda killed that nasty brawl vibe they had. Then there was this weird stretch where I thought they were calling off the match and Tenryu was parading around. Maybe, if I spoke Japanese it would have helped, but one of the few times I have been confused during a puroresu match. Jumbo ends up busting Tenryu wide open and just loses his mind wailing away on Tenryu and eventually gives the ref the death bodyslam to trigger the DQ. Brusier Brody saves Tenryu and Jumbo and Brody have a pretty fun brawl. The first half of this is insanely good and I actually liked the finish a lot too to set up more matches. There were periods down the stretch that brought the match down for me. As far as heated, wild brawls go there really are not that much better. This was an all-time great Jumbo performance as he was totally incensed throughout this match. Definitely watch this one. ****

Terry Funk vs Rick Martel - WWC 9/20/86 Funk worked one of the best possible schitck matches here. Totally front loaded this with a lot of comedy, which was entertaining. I marked out when he hurled the chairs into the stands only to realize there was a net. It was definitely the Terry Funk show, which is a little disappointing because Martel is such a great worker. Funk using the old trick knee into a ballshot was a great transition and loved the piledriver on the baseball field. Martel got to show his fire late into the match with the highlight being piledriving Funk on baseball field with a chair horse collared around him. Martel ate mat on his finish and Funk won by sitting down on Martel and holding the ropes to advance in the tournament to crown WWC Universal Champion. Very entertaining comedy match and Terry Funk at his schiticky best. ***1/2

WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio - The Bash 2009 Title Vs Mask Even in 2009, Jim Ross occasionally had a good phrase, here he says "Has the nine lives of Rey Mysterio run out?". I think that is a perfect summation of the identity of Rey Mysterio, who as the smaller man in every match has to use high risk offense to stay competitive. When you are wrestling on the edge of a razor you have to be resilient because the high risk offense will be used against or you will crash and burn. I think there is no better wrestler in history at peppering in hope spots than Rey Mysterio. What separates Rey Rey from the spot monkeys is that he allows himself to fail. Some of these high risk moves are going to turned into tilt-a-whirl backbreakers, Codebreakers (what a spot) or the Walls of Jericho. He needs to be resilient enough to withstand that in a kayfabe sense. But in a working sense, he is secure enough in his ability and connection with the crowd that he does not always have to hit his offense and that his moves not always being successful makes for a more compelling match. I will say Rey Rey's selling and bumping is his bread and butter, but I don't think he gets enough credit for his offense and move selection. Jericho was on fire early on, I thought he lost a bit steam towards the end as he was more focused on hitting big spots, but early he was a great dick heel. I loved how he adapted to wrestling Mysterio by playing a big heavyweight. You really felt the weight of Jericho, which you don't usually see. They skipped the shine when Jericho hurled Mysterio into the barricade in a nasty spot. Mysterio always took a nasty fall from the apron on a baseball slide. The way Mysterio sets up his hope spots by creating that separation and then banging a couple off were great and another thing that separates him from the spot monkeys that shoehorn their spots into a match. That is the best split-legged moonsault I have ever seen and I hate the split-legged moonsault. The story of the end of the match was Rey going to live or die by the sword. He would hit a spectacular move only to be caught in a precarious predicament the next moment. It was a great roller coaster ride. It was here I thought Jericho's stellar character work disappeared and Mysterio was generating all the energy. The finish as a great play off their match from the previous month where Jericho swipes Mysterio's mask, but this time Mysterio is wearing another mask and is unphased. He is able to hit 619 and drop the dime. Fantastic match! Jericho hit out of the park early and when he sort of came down (Jericho was very clean throughout the match, that was in reference to his character work), Mysterio picked up the slack. This is a perfect example of Mysterio's impeccable psychology and breath-taking moves. The finish was roller coaster of drama with Rey Rey looking like he was doomed on several occasions only to prove he can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. ****1/2

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 6/12/98 Post got eaten, doing this in bullet form -I always stop at 1/20/97 when watching AJPW so this is the first time watching this match -Kawada is the ultimate choke artist. It is a great character dynamic -Story of the match: Kawada opens a can of whoop ass, but again comes up short -Early: opening matwork is more perfunctory to me than NJPW heavies. Past two matches were a one hour draw, I think this was to get fans thinking this would be a one hour draw -Kawada's selling early was phenomenal. Loved how he crumbled on chop to neck and then knee to ab -Kobashi looked like he was going to run away with the match early but some well timed kicks to the head and LARIATO by Kawada puts Kawada in the lead. -Kawada is so vicious and such a dick in control. Kobashi selling and fighting from underneath is his bread and butter. -Kobashi looks to turn the tide using a bomb. -Why do people try to German Kawada? You are just asking for a kick to the head. -Kobashi hits a half nelson suplex first headdrop and it is 17 minutes into the match. -Kobashi looks for the moonsault. When he pumps the fist before the moonsault always makes me mark out. -Kawada kicks him in the head as he is jumping off. Kawada really opens up a big lead. -I love how everything is earned. Kobashi fight back less and less as Kawada is kicking more and more ass. Initially Kawada still needs to kick him in the head to cement his lead. -Back Drop Driver - Kawada looks to have this in the bag. Powerbombs ensue and more kicks and now the Stretch Plum. Credit to them to getting a Kobashi chant started in the Stretch Plum, which has been killed off since like 93/94. -It is about this point where you are like is Kawada actually going to be able to put Kobashi away? -Kobashi is such an emotional babyface. Him crawling to the ropes while Kawada kicks him in the back of the head is gripping. - The struggle over this Kawada power bomb is pro wrestling! -Kawada drills Kobashi in the face with his that running high kick and Kobashi's glassy eye sell is incredible -Kawada is running out of steam. Rope a dope? Kobashi catches foot -> dragon leg screw->LARIAT. Not the best Kobashi's lariat -Big Kobashi chants! Kobashi trying to hulk up. If I was a Kawada fan, I would be like not again at this moment. -MOONSAULT! KICK OUT! Kawada's selling is fantastic. -Kobashi has been using that Lariat to control the match on his comeback so Kawada is attacking like he would Misawa's arm. Kobashi blocks high kick and hits a Lariat, but cant block second high kick to head. Levels playing field. -Kawada drops into an arm scissors in to a cross-armbreaker, big reaction. This would be a huge coup for Kawada to stave off Kobashi and his onslaught. -Kawada is kicking him, but you can feel that he has run out of ideas and steam. Kobashi dives at him with a lariat, but it is bad arm and he is left writhing in pain. Kawada has hope, but not much left in the way of offense. He has his high kicks, but he needs Kobashi to make a mistake. KOBASHI LARIAT AGAIN! -Kawada cant even stand as Kobashi holds him up by the hair and BURNING LARIAT~! Count to three! This match reminds me of the Federer vs Roddick Wimbledon final that went on forever with Roddick in the Kawada role and Federer in the Kobashi role. Roddick only had his serve and he was just delaying the inevitable. He would win his serve, but he was so tired, he was barley putting a dent into Fed's service games. Federer is the superior all around player and eventually won. Kawada was delaying the inevitable. By 1995, Baba had positioned Kobashi as Kawada's equal with the one hour draw and subsequently in 1996. Misawa was the best, but these two were 2a and 2b. Here Kobashi finally begins to turn the tide. Kawada was just outgunned in this match. He had his chances and opened up a big lead, but he didn't have the firepower to put away the best offensive wrestler in history. You could go as far as to say that Kawada was so hyped for the Dome match with Misawa where he came out guns blazing that he was going to have a let down and the fact he was facing Kobashi means he couldn't afford that. Kobashi was amazing in this match from selling to offense. This did not feel quite up there with the tippy top best of All Japan, but definitely an awesome match. ****1/2

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - NWA Chi-Town Rumble '89 What a crowd! There have been hotter crowds, but this crowd really lent a real sports feel to this match by how they were reacting. They cheered a Steamboat headlock takeover. The Steamboat double chop early was an electric moment and the following nearfall was treated like a big deal by the crowd. Every nearfall was getting big reactions and they were all on their feet for the finish. Of course, the reason why the crowd was so damn invested was because it was two of the greatest wrestlers of all time going toe-to-toe for the World's Heavyweight Championship. Ric Flair gave an absolutely masterful performance. It is incredible how well he sells in the early part of the match to shine that babyface up, but it also sets up his desperation heat segment. This was a great example of the three-pronged Flair strategy: breaking momentum on the outside, crowding in the corner and creating movement to cause mistakes. As Jim Ross said, "The Dragon was breathing fire tonight!". Steamboat was always one step ahead of the Nature Boy. Flair would BLAST him with a chop and he would fire two right back. In a battle of quickness, he was always getting the upper hand. What really sent Flair to the hills were all those pinfall attempts he was racking up early. In the shine segment, Steamboat was great, but I thought Flair took it to the next level. The transition was Flair dragging Steamboat outside into his domain and ramming him head first into the railing, clawing the eyes and hitting such a tremendous chop it had the Chicago Bears sitting ringside marking the fuck out. Flair is so good at turning the violent streak on in his heat segment. Loved the Steamboat hope spot on the roll through that got a great pop again a crowd totally 100% invested in the match. Flair, who has been freaking out about these nearfalls, pouncing on Steamboat and immediately putting him in the figure-4. EXCELLENT PSYCHOLOGY! I don't like to complain in these reviews, but anyone who says Flair does not have psychology can suck it. Steamboat is money during the heat segment as he rallies the crowd behind him. If Flair is the better seller during a babyface shine, it is Steamboat's selling that takes the heat segment to the next level. Amazing, how the wrestler underneath is dictating the energy of the match! In the post-modern world where offense rules the roost, that never happens anymore and that's why crowds are not 100% invested like this amazing Chicago crowd. Steamboat tries to make his last stand firing back with chops but Flair looks to have an insurmountable lead as they take a big tumble over the top rope onto the floor. Flair is throwing suplexes and is in command. He just cant put the Dragon away and Flair gets frustrated pushing the ref around and jawing with the crowd. Then we see the rays of hope as Steamboat starts building momentum with a string of nearfalls. Steamboat comes roaring out with a flying karate chop. All of sudden, Flair is on the defensive and it looks like Steamboat will hit the flying bodypress that got him the pinfall victory on Flair in January and the visual pin at the Clash. Except, he wipes out the ref! OH NO! Flair with the trunks, but no ref! STEAMBOAT CRASHES AND BURNS ON THE FLYING BODYPRESS Flair goes for the Figure-4, inside cradle and Steamboat wins the World Championship! Given Crockett's past, the finish has you believe something screwy is going to happen, but Steamboat does win the championship to a huge pop. It was almost like swerving on the swerve, so that finish is put this decisively behind Clash VI for me, but I have this above Wrestlerwar. Spectacular match! Both wrestlers hit it out of the park! Those chops exchanges, HOT DAMN! Flair knocked this one out of the park, he did all the right things every single time. Steamboat's selling carried the day set himself up for a hot comeback. My knock against Steamer will always be offense on the comeback, but they did such a great job building up the flying cross body and his cradles that it felt super hot and you were totally invested through his selling. Incredible pace! Easy, easy top 50 match of all time if not higher. *****

That was the most Parv moment ever! I am dying at work. Listen to this show.

Great Sasuke & Black Tiger vs Wild Pegasus & Shinjiro Ohtani - NJPW 10/18/94 Fantastic spotfest. A lot of people use "spotfest" as a pejorative, but if were more spotfests were like this one I don't think there would be as much hate. No NJPW perfunctory feeling out process (personally I am not opposed to the "ceremonial" opening matwork as much as one), this was just balls to the wall action. The spots were hit with such ferocity that you couldn't help, but be enthralled. Eddie Guerrero was definitely the star of the matach as he was showing 1997 charisma levels here just being an absolute dick throughout the match to Ohtani. This kinda had the feel of veteran/young boy (Benoit/Ohtani) against dick heel team, but Ohtani was definitely more advanced and felt like his coming out party. Benoit was a total asskicker. Sasuke had some huge dives and big bumps (the suplex over the top rope to the floor was crazy). I really enjoyed the couple beatings Ohtani took (loved opening the match with chairshots). Ohtani sold really well, but almost too well where he was dying and then was springing back too fast when he could have been using the asskicking machine Benoit as a way to transition the match and allow him to sell more. Sasuke was at fault also for his team, but he did not sell as much so it was not as egregious. By the end of the match, it was a total bomb-throwing spectacle. Great pace, awesome, awesome bombs and great execution albeit the finish was botched (Otani did get the big win after getting his ass kicked). Needed more consistent selling and a more clear narrative to take it to the next level, but as a spotfest hard to beat. ****1/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion The Rock vs Triple H - WWF Judgment Day 2000 Iron Man Match I have never seen this before. From what I understand this always had a rep of being better than you would think it would be on paper. The Rock vs Triple H going 60 minutes is a hard sell for me, but they pulled it off. Surprisingly to me, they pulled it off with minimal Attitude Era hijinx. Instead, they built a match on solid fundamentals with strong peaks and valleys and let Rock's popularity carry the crowd heat rather than rely on highspots and gimmicks. Now, I never thought the match reached classic status, but they held my attention throughout the match even if I did not think there was a great hook or anything that special other than them going 60 minutes. It was just solid, meat and potatoes wrestling. I usually will defend Shawn Michaels' attire, but he looked downright stupid with his too long ref tank top covering his short shorts. Was there a plan to bring him back two years early? But he was still fucked up on drugs and shit to function? Loved the early tests of strength. They get over the intensity of the match and serve as mini-battles for The Rock to win. I thought the transitions throughout the match were lazy for the most part. A lot of random exploding out of the corner. It is fine once or twice for a babyface, but HHH does it first here. I think my biggest problem with this match was any two people could have had this match. They one used any unique attributes to get this match over. Rock's inherent popularity withstanding. This was not and going 60 minutes long could not be a popcorn, happy, fun, entertaining Rock match. They laid the match out well, but they needed to put their own spin on it. HHH goes to work on the arm and does a decent job. Rock Bottom out of nowhere takes the first fall. Great use of a finish early. They popped the crowd big. It was a nice high spot. Liked it a lot. I thought Lawler was badass on commentary putting over strategy and now that a draw goes to The Rock, HHH needs to score two falls. The Rock 1-0. Probably the most solid work comes in the next twenty minutes where The Rock goes to town on HHH's leg and Trips sells pretty damn well. Triple H was a really good seller in 2000 and we have seen that again in his comeback with Daniel Bryan and beatdown by Roman, but something happened in 2002-2008, where he just sucked for the most part at selling (there are exceptions). The Rock using the knee to cutoff Triple H was really good and some of the best work in the match. Loved the whip into the steps. One spot I never seen before, but looked awesome was Rocky putting HHH's knes on middle rope and hitting a kneedrop on it. HHH kicks off on the second figure-4 attempt and nails a Pedigree to take the second fall. I really like their use of flash finishers as highspots around really solid wrestling. Tied 1-1. Another thing I thought both did well was sell fatigue, which started here. Both men kinda out of it, but HHH has the presence of mind to roll Rock into a small package to go up 2-1. Here comes some arena brawling as Rock tries to create some distance between him and Triple H knowing he can't lose a fall out there. However, he was not able to mount a comeback either even as he tried with suplexes. HHH hits a sweet piledriver and takes a commanding 3-1 lead. Rocky's adrenaline rushes were electrifying and his punches as JR mentioned were his best weapon. HHH's high knee remains my favorite move of his because it is just a definitive cutoff. You always feel the air totally let out of a building when he cuts off a red hot babyface with that high knee. Belly to belly and Rock's DDT gain a fall back for the Rock. The match is entertaining, but it is not really telling a great story either. HHH 3-2. I thought the spot of the match was the steel chair shot by HHH. Tied 3-3 Jerry Lawler goes ballistics on commentary about how stupid that was until HHH rolls Rock up for three and then praises him as the smartest man in the Game. HHH 4-3 The reason I liked it so much was that it was a great transitions and I thought finally there was some drama. The first thirty minutes was surprisingly solid wrestling with lots of effort. It was not inspired, but it was strong. The next 15 minutes were the weakest and just kinda there, but that chair shot was an awesome transition and now there is a lot of drama heading down the stretch. HHH works the sleeper big time in this match and if there was ever a match to use the sleeper it is an iron man match. After three tries, he finally gains a fall through it. Really nice strategy. HHH 5-3 with twelve minutes left. Rock just needs two falls to force a tie. The spots that irked me the most in this match was HHH going up to the top rope not once by twice. This is the exact opposite of the sleeper. It is high risk and not something he normally does. Very stupid. Superplex is a badass spot and got a big pop, but they needed to set it up better. They have worked the outside well, but with ten minutes left it was time to kick into overdrive and completely agree now was the time to do the announce table spot. Rocky hitting a pretty nasty Pedigree on HHH to gain the countout decision. HHH 5-4. Here come the McMahons. Nice to know in 2016 they are still being pushed and nothing has changed. Rock decks them all. SPINBUSTER! You know what's next. If smell what the Rock is cookin...Peoples Elbow! It is all knotted up and two minutes left. Here comes Road Dogg & X-Pac, but now here is Undertaker returning as BikerTaker. The crowd loses their fucking shit for all this. Undertaker destroys everything that moves. X-PAC GOES ALL THE WAY UP! Taker chokeslams and Tombstones HHH in front of HBK, who calls for the DQ and HHH wins the match 6-5 and the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The match did pacing really well. I thought they took their time and really milked every moment. That's been a problem since the Attitude Era and they didn't fall into that trap. They laid match out well and I thought the first thirty minutes was solid wrestling. They were missing interesting transitions and character work. That extra oomph that really sinks my teeth into a match. After the chair shot, the drama kicked in and they were able to have a really fun Attitude Era brawl. Clocking in at 60 minutes, I will probably never watch this again, but it is a great match and a feather in both men's cap. ****

I actually think his matches with Steamboat from Boston in 1986 are comparable to this. I may even have the 8/9/86 match over the Flair match.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit - Smackdown! 5/31/01 They are in Edmonton and Benoit is the hometown hero and Vince McMahon is worried that 'Ol Stone Cold does not have the chops to defeat Benoit in these circumstances. Austin flips out. Benoit still has his ribs taped and is wicked over with the Edmonton crowd. Also, VinnyMac is the special enforcer since he did such a great job on Raw. Unlike RAW, Benoit is aggressive to start by kicking some ass, a great way to fire up the crowd. I love Austin wildly flaying trying to get away from the asskicking machine that is Benoit. Swinging neckbreaker by Austin and it is definitely 2001. Love the Crossface tease early and Benoit tenaciously will not let go and applies thrice, but it is too early. in a match of this magnitude there is no reason to use anything besides your best weapon to win the match. Austin powders after being overwhelmed. Benoit gives Austin no quarter and is on his ass the whole match. Austin is great at tumbling and stumbling all over the outside. Austin stymies Benoit with a wild kick to the injured ribs and then throwing Benoit into hard objects. Desperate, Austin grabs the championship belt, but Benoit just keeps firing away. DDT on belt. The crowd is feeling it and Benoit is going to go airborne. Benoit eats gold with the diving headbutt. OW! OW! Ow! Benoit has a nasty cut under his eye from that. Benoit KICK OUT! He kicks out! Great transition, but a little dangerous. Austin goes for a heat-seeking Sharpshooter and gets those boos. Awesome! Huge Benoit chants! Benoit powers out and applies his own Sharpshooter to a massive pop! Perfect use of the Sharpshooter in the middle of the match to get the crowd revved up. Austin powers out and applies his own Sharpshooter and he has a wild look on it. They tease the rope break to a great reaction. That big pop and then immediately fades. Benoit breaks it and gets the Sharpshooter and Austin makes ropes but Benoit is tenacious and yanks him back. Great sequence that crowd loved it and felt dramatic without being too exhausting. Benoit lays in some stiff shots to Austin's back to set up the German and Austin pops up his leg to ballshot. LETS GO BENOIT! I did not like the set up to the superplex. Austin went to the top. Not buying it. Benoit is able to get right back and superplex (did get a big pop) after a ballshot. Respect the ballshot! CROSSFACE! Austin's selling outside the ring is impeccable. Austin is able to hit a nasty front suplex on Benoit's injured ribs on the announce table. The second front suplex is an insane, out of control one that looks like Benoit was so close to being piledriven into the floor, but his abdomen caught the announce table and all I go to say is OW! AUSTIN SUCKS! AUSTIN SUCKS! AUSTIN SUCKS! I love this crowd! Austin taunts Benoit with the belt as he has been working the ribs. Lets Go Benoit chants! Benoit fires back like only he can, cheers, AUSTIN THROWS BENOIT DOWN with a spinebuster! Austin is incredulous at the kickout. Austin applies a Boston Crab, holy shit, 2001 Austin is one of the all time greatest years for one wrestler. Austin is just slapping Benoit in the back of the head to a chorus of boos. Rolling Germans! Austin wants a timeout, but Benoit refuses to let go, this is Suplex City Bitch. TEN! TEN! German Suplexes! Austin is shoved into McMahon and Crossface! Vince in with a chair and Benoit kicks him off. Benoit kicks Vince's ass with the chair the perfect way to send crowd happy, but knowing Austin was going to roll him up with the tights to win. Awesome, awesome hometown hero vs champion match that was totally updated from 2001. It tugged on all the same strings as a touring NWA champion match, but with a completely fresh take. I have seen this match twice in just a couple days and it is bitchin. A couple misfires here and there, but they play to this crowd perfectly. Benoit roars at the beginning, gets the Crossface and then they use the Diving Headbutt into the belt as the first really crazy high spot. The Sharpshooter sequence could only work in Alberta, but fuck talk about perfect placement. Then that Austin heat segment that's how you do a heat segment. The finish is great you get to see Benoit have Austin in the Crossface, kick Vince's ass, but you still manage to get Austin to retain. Wicked badass. ****3/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Kurt Angle - WWF Summerslam 2001 The logic behind Austin's turn to the Alliance was actually really logical in a total psycho way. Austin was an insecure, paranoid champion, whose grip on reality was tenuous at best so it is easy to believe that he really thought Vince hugging Angle was a sign he was going to be replaced. Thus he jumped ship to "safer" waters. The rest of the video package shows him as a total maniac beating up his own Allies to improve performance. Angle was perfect for the role of WWF babyface hero that is bringing the gold back. He could finally shine as white bread All American Olympic Gold Medalist. This match is how you make somebody. Angle came out of this match looking like a million bucks and like one tough son of a bitch. Austin gave one of the best lunatic performances since Randy Savage's heyday in 1997. It took him decking some refs for me to make that comparison. I love a real unhinged character like that, a completely reprehensible bully. Austin cheated like a muthafucka this whole match and I loved it. You know what eerie though was when Austin's music hit and there was no real reaction. Maybe, people are right that heel turn was bad for business. I thought the TV was great at the time and even had my parents buy this PPV for me. Angle was awesome at bringing the fire during the shine. I would have liked to seen Austin go more towards the ankle since it was softened up on TV prior to the match (I did like the Anklelock tease from Angle as a reversal) rather than the suplexes, but that's personal preference. The suplexes I guess was more watching Austin beat Angle at his own game. Angle firing off the Germans and tenaciously holding was a good spot to show his resolve and Angle to leverage his suplex-laden offense. Angle goes for the Angle Slam and eye poke. God Bless Steve Austin! A heel's heel! Austin had some awesome chops in 2001. Superplex, all these suplexes feel strange from Austin. STUNNER! No reaction and kick out and barely a sound. I know we are in California, but that is just damn depressing. STUNNER AGAIN! Now the crowd wakes up and Angle goes flying to the floor. This is where the match goes from great to classic. Austin repeatedly smashes Angle's head into the post and busts him wide open, full crimson mask. Austin beats the holy hell out of him and Angle is taking his licking, but he keeps on ticking. You can actually hear crowd becoming more and more invested in Angle compared to just minutes ago where they barely made a sound for him kicking out of a fucking Stunner. Angle applies the Anklelock to Austin as he is climbing over the barricade and he is trying to out-crazy Austin! The crowd loves it as he drags him back into the ring and puts it on him there. Austin was great selling all this. Angle's comeback was perfect for getting him over. He was meeting Austin right at his level. Suplexing him all over the floor and then hitting a beautiful moonsault. The crowd was really getting behind him and he was showing more true babyface fire than I think he ever did in the rest of his career. The Million Dollar Dream was an interesting choice by Austin. It took the match back down into a heat segment feel after a firey comeback, but now the crowd was more invested in Angle they cheering him harder. Ballsy move by Stone Cold, but it works because Angle was a runaway freight train so this would sap his energy and the crowd was more into Angle so they wouldn't lose him by slowing him. Veteran move. Austin also learned how to kick out and not relinquish the hold so big news! STUNNER! KICK OUT! He goes for it again and ANGLE SLAM! KICK OUT! Austin nails the ref. The cycle continues Angle gets a nearfall so Austin nails the next ref until WCW Referee Nick Patrick calls for a DQ and thus Austin retains the belt. Austin was a cheater, psycho, a coward and a bully all wrapped into one awesome heel package in this match. Angle was the consummate fired up white bread babyface. This would rank among best uses of blood ever. I think blood can enhance a match, but I think blood was incredibly valuable to getting over Angle's struggle to reclaim the belt for the WWF. The finish was fine by me and thought it stayed true to Austin's character and built to a rematch. I thought the beginning of the match was a little ho-hum and kinda suplex-trade-y, would be my only complaint. I think this is overrated at #10 for best WWF match of all time, but it is still a stone cold classic. ****3/4

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs Triple H - WWF No Way Out '01 Last time, I watched this I remember thinking it was really fucking long and besides that I got nothing. The first fall was tremendous, really well-done traditional wrestling match with lots of hate and urgency. Austin was on fire early, a total man possessed that could not be stopped. He whopping ass and HHH was doing all he could to cover up because he was being overwhelmed. Austin came in hard on a Thesz Press near the ropes and gets hotshotted. HHH immediately pounces and tries to go for his big home run, Pedigree, but Austin reverses into a single arm DDT. Austin wrenches HHH's arm around the post. HHH makes this entire segment and fall by selling his left arm the rest of the way even doing little things like raising his right shoulder on kickouts instead of the left. Austin was tenacious. The spinebuster was such an early 00s move everybody was doing it. HHH gets his foot up and jacks Austin's jaw. Swinging neckbreaker, now that's a real relic of the past, definitely a big 90s move. HHH starts on the neck, but eventually decides he wants to take out the leg with a chop block as Austin was mounting a comeback. HHH's selling of the arm was great and Austin always looking for that opening to fight back was also great. HHH goes for wrapping the knee around the post and then Austin pulls HHH shoulder first into the post. Great! Austin limping to create space and another chop block now figure 4. This is sensational. Austin reverses the pressure and here he comes full steam ahead. The finish stretch was a little shaky with them fitting in too much. I really hate when people wait for their opponent to get up to hit a move. HHH goes low coming out of the corner, but Austin catches HHH coming off the middle rope with kick and then STUNNER! I don't like disrespecting the ballshot like that, but the body of the match was flawless. I would say ****1/2, wait there is two more falls. Hmmmmmm, ok, I will keep an open mind. The best part of the first fall being over is that Lawler wont say "spirit-breaker" for the umpteenth time anymore. Austin is all revved up and kicks HHH's ass from pillar to post. Austin was great in this fall as a force of nature and HHH was on his bicycle trying to back pedal, but kept getting mugged. Austin's version of the Garvin Stomp but with a chair was awesome! HHH finally finds an opening when he cuts Austin open with the Barbed Wired 2x4. He goes for the Pedigree (Sells the arm!) on the announce table to end it, but ends up taking a huge back body drop onto the Spanish Announce Table, which explodes. Austin tries to regain the advantage, but HHH blasts him with ring bell. HHH wants that Pedigree, but takes a HUGE back body drop over the top rope onto floor! HOLY SHIT! Austin blasts HHH with a chair and busts him wide open. Somehow HHH gets control and finds his Sledgehammer, everybody's least favorite weapon. They tussle over it and eventually HHH hits Austin with it and finally gets his Pedigree. Again, I thought the body of this fall was really, really damn good. Austin was a violent maniac and HHH was trying his best to escape his wrath. Strong transitions with some crazy holy shit bumps and awesome violence. Again, I thought the finish was a little shaky. I am sticking with ****1/2. Lets see what happens in the cage. Here it is the excess. It was inevitable. After the war of the street fight, this more methodical, drawn out violence is logical and to be expected, but at 11 minutes, it is a bit too much. The beginning is fine with Austin still trying to fight back and coming up short. Austin is able to find a nearby chair and smash the Game in the head to stop the barbed wire 2x4 from going into his head. They trade finishers and each can only get two. Even though earlier in the match those were finishers, which is a little shaky. They both go for weapons and nail each other simultaneously with Trips falling on top of Austin. I actually liked the eveness of the booking of the finish and I forgot who won the match and was actually pretty surprised HHH won. It makes sense. This feeds Austin's self-doubt leading to the heel turn at Mania, which is really logical awesome booking that WWF almost never does! The third fall is one minute shorter than the first fall yet the first fall's paragraph is much longer, which shows you much did not happen in those 11 minutes. I really, really liked the first two falls. The third fall's finish was great booking. I am sticking with ****1/2. The first two falls go by very quickly, but the third falls does drag.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Rock vs Chris Jericho - WWF No Mercy '01 I am still sad that Big Goldy has been retired. As a part of the botched WWF run, we end up with two WWF wrestlers wrestling for the WCW World Championship. JR makes sure to get in early that Jericho never wrestled for the heavyweight championship in WCW despite working there from 96-99. The video package made the build look good, Jericho has got the choker label on him, they are both technically faces, but an errant chairshot by Jericho has tempers flaring and of course some good trash talk. The novelty of the match is that they attempted to work a traditional championship match build in 2001. It did get rave reviews and finished #27 in Smarkschoice greatest WWF matches of all time in 2007. I appreciated the sentiment and there was very good work in the match, but I did not feel a real sense of escalation. I am not one to shy away from a face vs face match as I think those can be very intriguing. They started with the typical symmetrical face vs face segment trading armdrags in this case. Then all of sudden Jericho just unloads with a right hand. I feel like a closed fist could have meant a lot more if they really played up the cleaness more in this match. They tease finishers, which I think should happen more today before Jericho nails a springboard dropkick. The turning points of this match came from the ropes. The story was that these two were very even. If one man gained an advantage, it was very hard for the other to comeback because the man in control would cut off so quickly. I thought Jericho working cutoffs was great in this match with his hotshot and spinwheel kick. The Rock is able to level the playing field with a superplex so again use of the ropes to definitively take control. The Rock was very explosive at the beginning, but then it almost settled into a Rock heat segment with Jericho playing face. The chinlock was a bad choice in my opinion. Jericho's comeback was initiated by a missile dropkick, which again plays into the idea since these two are even they need that extra oomph to turn the tide. Jericho busts out a hurricanarana and then a Rock Bottom. Finisher stealing was envogue, but never did much for me. Lionsault gets two and now Jericho goes for the People's Elbow. Now that type of stealing is bit more heat-seeking so I can get behind it. So far Jericho has not really done anything all that heelish besides that. It just really has not felt like the match has progressed. It feels like a sports game where both teams are playing well, but there is no real story. The transitions are well worked and there are clear shifts in momentum so it is not spotty. There is just no cohesive narrative. After Jericho misses the People's Elbow, the match goes to shit. First, we get The Rock's shitty Sharpshooter. Then he decides to Rock Bottom Jericho on the announce table, which is crazy escalation. Like the match is just humming a long and then there is a crazy overkill highspot and this leads to Rock wanting to hit the Rock Bottom again just in the ring??? The announce table makes a lot more sense if Jericho was being a prick all match, but he really wasn't. Now the match is moving in reverse and Jericho fights out of that Rock Bottom. Rock goes for the People's Elbow, but that leads to the Walls and here comes Stephanie. Stephanie hates both these guys and they both hate her. She just throws a chair in the ring. What the fuck? Rock Bottom to Stephanie, but Y2J hits the Skull Crushing Finale on the chair. What? Everybody is cheering wildly for the newly minted heel Jericho. The finish stretch sucks. Why couldn't Jericho just turn heel where he has a crisis of confidence where he realizes he cant keep Rocky down so he has to resort to a chair shot to win? Where was that drama? Jericho is being labeled as a choker, but there was no sense of drama or frustration that he could not keep Rocky down. Jericho doing his crybaby routine from WCW on each Rocky kickout would have been fantastic. There was really no drama whatsoever in the match. The story should have been about Jericho overcoming the choker label either valiantly or being a shithead about it. Jericho really did not foreshadow the heel turn in the match at all. The work in the body was very good, but really did not hook me in. So somebody sell me on this match being a top 30 match in WWE history because I can name 30 better WWF matches from the 80s alone. ***1/2

WWF World Tag Champs Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs Dudleyz vs Hardyz vs Edge & Christian - WWF Smackdown! 5/24/01 Never seen this before. Holy. Shit. What a fucking spotfest! Here is a list of the most insane spots of the match: 1. Christian being dumped from the ladder in the ring over the top rope crashing down on the floor. The catch he totally whiffed on grabbing the top rope to slow down his fall. OW! 2. Jeff Hardy scales an 8 foot ladder to straddle vault over a 20' ladder to SEAT DROP Bubba Ray Dudley. Honorable Mention: The Chair shot that plastered Bubba to set up this spot. 3. Christians brains Chris Jericho with a chair. I would be pissed too if I was Christian. 4. Chris Benoit soars spread eagle from the top rope through a table on the outside. Total belly flop. Best Psychology: Edge & Christian do a Conchairto to Benoit's ribs. Brilliant! 5. 3-D on Christian from the ladder through a fucking table! I thought the first TLC escalates the spots better and really gives a sense of elimination aspect. I thought that was missing from the stretch run of this match. The Edge spear to Jericho was set up really stupidly (Jericho was nowhere near the belts) and looked super safe compared to everything else. Benoit just scaled the ladders to win. Tremendous spotfest, just did not have the finishing power of the original. ****

WWF World Tag Champs Stone Cold & HHH vs Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho - WWF RAW 5/21/01 Austin in 2001 was so awesome. I don't know why everybody including Austin is down on that run. I loved the heel paranoid lunatic character. In the ring, I thought he was great all year portraying that wild out of control character. I felt like Austin was the one who set the tone for the entire match. His urgency got everybody working at a high level. He would try so hard to kick some ass that when Jericho and Benoit started to ROARING back it meant so much. That Austin/Benoit chop exchange was badass. I thought HHH was great at his sneaky, weasel heel that was using a thumb to eye or saving Austin from a pin after the superplex and then ultimately blasting Benoit with the steel chair in the Crossface. I think Benoit was an interesting choice for Face In Peril. I think he is a better seller than Jericho, but he would undoubtedly be a better hot tag also. I thought Austin was terrific as violent maniac in this heat segment. HHH was his usual methodical self, which did bring the energy down a bit. Benoit was great at varying his selling and hope spots. Benoit gets the German out of the Sleeper and then Enziguiri, but the ref does not see the tag! Austin is out of control wailing on Benoit! He throws back Benoit back in! PEDIGREE~! NO REF! JERICHO MISSILE DROPKICK! Austin is wild-eyed while Jericho exhorts on his fellow Canadian. Jericho gets the hot tag and he levels the Two Man Power Trip. The Thesz Press into the Walls of Jericho was BITCHIN! HHH blows out his quad saving Austin and then in an incredible act of manliness continues the match. He looks for the Pedigree on table, but it is reversed into the Walls of Jericho. OW! Benoit drills Austin with a diving headbutt. This is a damn great finish stretch, Benoit hollers at the ref. KICK! WHAM! STUNNER! Jericho yanks out the ref. Lionsault! No Knees! Stunner? OH HELL NO! LIONSAULT! HHH hobbles in with the sledgehammer, but Jericho moves and he hits Austin. Benoit tackles HHH! JERICHO COVERS AUSTIN! 1-2-3! I have not seen this since the original airing! WOW! One of the most exciting tag team finish stretches of all time and I thought one helluva an Austin performance and Benoit was not far behind. Loved the pacing and urgency of the match. The babyfaces came out firing overwhelming the heels. Nice mid match climax with superplex/crossface. HHH steel chair shot was a great transition. Austin was just out of control in the heat segment. HHH was all man by continuing the match. Really great match! ****1/2

Nice recommendation from Loss! WWF World Heavyweight Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit - RAW 5/28/01 I loved the beginning of this match. This is in Calgary so Benoit is over huge and Austin is actually disliked. Benoit has taped ribs and Austin is relentless on the ribs using that as a focus for transitions and for his control segments. Austin really comes off as a great mean SOB. This is a shining example of how great Benoit can be as a babyface especially fighting from underneath. Austin wins control by targeting the ribs, but Benoit is always chopping his way back into the match. You can really feel the struggle. The Thesz Press reversal into Crossface was a great sequence to take from their November match and the Sharpshooter got a MASSIVE POP! Austin always went back to the ribs by using steel steps or some really nice front suplexes (two on the barricade and one off the tope rope). This finish sucked. It really did not make sense with Austin hitting a Stunner and no ref (total babyface spot) then Vince is distracting Earl and inexplicably Earl throws the belt into the ring and Benoit nails Austin with it. It gets the desired nearfall reaction, but it made no sense. Benoit gets another Crossface, but Austin makes the ropes. Austin applies his down Crossface and they do the Montreal Screwjob finish. At least the fans go home happy as Jericho puts Austin in the Liontamer and Benoit puts Vince in the Crossface. This really makes me want to see the Smackdown match, but the finish does sour the match overall. ***1/2

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit - RAW 11/20/00 This is the night after Survivor Series when Austin dropped HHH from a forklift. Benoit, a HHH ally, is to claim that Austin can do all this hellraising and damage, but he cant wrestle. Benoit as a superior technical wrestler would take him to school. Just 5-6 years later, Benoit would have been cheered for that and Austin booed. How times have changed. Austin says he is going to whoop Benoit's ass. Benoit actually gets in a good line before the main event saying "You wont get Austin 316 instead you will get Benoit 101 and Austin you are gonna fail." Austin does some really nice technical wrestling spots at the beginning to prove he can beat Benoit at his own game. His arm drags are decent, his armbars are shaky, but I liked his drop toehold a lot. The transition into the heat segment is weak. It is just a suplex. Benoit should have cheated. Benoit wrestled this match pretty cold. I actually think he was better suited as the asskicking, always moving forward babyface. As a heel, he never did anything all that heelish. Benoit is proven to be a liar as he does very little technical wrestling and is content to smash Austin's head off hard objects and throw a suplex here and there. Austin is focused on proving he can still keep up and uses technical wrestling counters. The match is wrestled a little fast and there is no time to breathe, but it does not have the urgency of a sprint. I liked Benoit's diving headbutt to the kidneys, but acknowledge that Benoit diving headbutts are the hardest thing to watch in wrestling. There are a lot of hope spots, Benoit is nominally in control of the majority of the match. Austin finally whoops some ass and then hits the Stunner! I was expecting a lot more and maybe it is the 2001 match that is more praised and I confused the two. I will be watching that one shortly. This was a perfectly fine TV match. The hook of Austin consciously trying to beat Benoit at his own game was nice, but ultimately this was a just good little TV match which I would probably wont remember much of. ***

Is this hitherto unseen? It did not make the Mid-South set it seems...

Triple H vs Chris Jericho - WWF Fully Loaded 2000 Last Man Standing Triple H wants Chris Jericho's ass. How do I know this? He said it on four separate occasions in the video package. This is a battle of probably the best heads of hair in pro wrestling history (Big Sexy Kevin Nash would also be in contention). I miss both these guys with long hair. Jericho's Bon Jovi 2000 look is lame and HHH just is not the same without Pantene Pro-V hair. This is only the SECOND Last Man Standing match in WWF history at the time. Wow! I know this is just a Death Match without the need for covers, but thats pretty crazy and it was so fresh at this point. The angle is Jericho kissed Steph and was calling her names. This got HHH hot and bothered and now he really wanted Jericho's ass. He injured his ribs with a sledge hammer attack. I think the biggest problem babyface Jericho faced was he never really had a chance to prove himself in an asskicking feud. As I have said in the past, it is critical to position young, pretty boy babyfaces against violent brutes so they can prove their mettle as a man (Fabs vs Moondogs, Fans vs Herders etc...). Jericho was better suited as a heel given his offense capability. Jericho only seemed to bring out his asskicking against Benoit. JR did a fabulous job putting over Jericho's toughness and manliness in this match, but honestly I dont think it came through in the performance. The Benoit matches were better suited for that story, but they were too technical to not put over Jericho as an asskicker. The beginning of the match saw Jericho come out hot, which was nice. His punches were fine. I liked his springboard dropkick, but not much in the way of next level violence. HHH hotshotted Jericho onto his ribs on the barricade. HHH does a pretty good job working on the ribs. There were some HHH-isms like looking too strong at times, but he did work hard on top and was focused on the ribs. The Lionsault into the knees was the perfect hope spot. Love it! Jericho firing up and giving Trips the crotch chop was an excellent act of defiance. HHH pounces on him with a Pedigree in a great spot of urgency. Jericho wont stay down! Trips gets a chair, but dawdles and Jericho low bridges him and then busts him wide open with a chair. I really wanted Jericho to make that comeback that would really cement him as a main event player, but he just did not have it in him. The layout was pretty shaky in the closing stretch. They cut the comeback short to do a double knockout spot with monitors, which was lame. Jericho's only real big offensive weapon is Walls so he gets that, but his heat was dissipated by cutting him off too quickly. Now putting Steph into Walls (she sold into the post-match) was a fucking excellent spot. I think they should have led with that as the climax to the shine. The finish is pretty weak with HHH hitting a standard back suplex into an announce table. and getting up at 9.99 and then collapsing. I don't think HHH intentionally tried to bury Jericho in this. Look at the finish, it was clearly constructed to protect Jericho. HHH sold huge for Jericho. He was selling like he did for Cactus at the Rumble. The layout here just did nothing for Jericho. Jericho just did not have the offense to be taken seriously as an asskicking babyface. The finish run was weak. Heat segment was very well-executed. I say it falls short of greatness. ***3/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Triple H vs Cactus Jack - WWF No Way Out 2000 Hell In A Cell I am actually pretty surprised this match is not fondly remembered. It is at the height of WWF's peak in terms of quality and popularity. It is a high stakes match (yes, Foley returns the following month). I totally think Royal Rumble street fight smokes this match, but this match has INSANE fucking bumps and that is enough for Taker/Foley to get over. Though I guess that has THE Bump to end all Bumps. I think Foley returning does kinda kill the solemnity of the moment. The Royal Rumble match being a lot better does hurt this one. I guess I argued why it is pretty much forgotten, but still I think this match has a lot to offer in terms of insane violence. It is definitely more of a stunt show. HHH delivers his more customary milquetoast performance. Foley overly indulges his masochistic tendencies. Since it was his "last" match, I guess he wanted to go out in the style he innovated. Cactus is obsessed with getting out of the cage, but it is padlocked like super, Fort Knox-style padlocked. Disappointed, he takes out his frustrations on the face of The Game. Triple H is more willingly to have his standard match which means a ton of knee-related offense, not much selling and just a generally passionless performance. It is mostly because Foley wants to take a bunch of sick bumps because it is his last match.The first nasty bump is HHH kneeing him off the apron into the cage. HHH throwing the steel steps into his crazy!!! What's weird is that match really has no heat until they get out of the cage. I think Foley declared he was going to do that so no one really bought into any of the nearfalls until they made it out. Double Arm DDT into chair is pretty damn sick and barley a murmur when Cactus went for the cover. Declarations like that can backfire. The steps-assisted catapult that sent HHH into the cage was nuts. HHH taps a gusher. He is always good for that. Cactus wants revenge and chucks the steps at HHH, but he dodges and the steps going flying through the cage. Light bulb goes off. Then in one of the sickest things I have ever seen, Cactus hurls his body into the damage cage wall and RIPS HIS ARM OPEN! OW! OW! OW! HHH is a fucking trooper. There would be no way I would agree to to this bullshit, but Foley sends him through that cage wall. Foley has his Barbed Wire 2x4, which has a handle on it. Good thing as we find out he had a hard time chucking a chair up there. Cactus takes a smaller, but still HOLY SHIT bump off the top of the cage through the announce table. They fight on the cage and we get a flaming barbed wire 2x4 and tons of blood. The final bump is BATSHIT INSANE! Foley is backdropped through the roof and lands SPLAT on the mat CAVING in the ring with the imprint of his body. HHH scales down and then is horrified when Cactus is still moving. Pretty much the only good heel thing HHH does in the match. PEDIGREE~! Foley's Wrestlemania is dashed against the rocks or is it? The Wrestlemania 2000 main event coming out of this PPV was scheduled to be HHH vs Big Show. LOL! I cant believe they did not trust Rock's drawing power. It is a stunt show. Foley had matured as a competitor and delivered some classics, but this match represented the core essence of who Foley is. HHH did not add much. Very entertaining stunt show. Just shy of greatness. ***3/4