Superstar Sleeze

Juventud Guerrera vs Blitzkreig - Spring Stampede 1999 Blitzkreig has such a mystique about him. For such a short stint, he made such an inedible mark on me and many others. In the early 2000s, you can barely ever go through a mailbag of some sort with some asking who Blitzkrieg was and where did he go. For me personally, I thought he had one of the coolest costumes and with Juvy and Rey Rey having lost their masks, I gravitated towards him and then poof he was gone. Sometimes, you want to leave the memories alone, but I was very happy with this match. I came away remembering how fucking great Juvy was and I had totally forgotten that. With a bonafide rookie, he was glue that held the match together and was the brains behind the genius highspots. Minor quibbles up front, Blitzkreig clearly was a rookie and you can tell from how he moved in the ring, threw a chop or a kick. Also his mask was clearly bothering him early, but for someone with less than 100 matches under his belt in the opener of a nationally televised PPV, he has balls of steel busting out a springboard, top rope Asai Moonsault. WOW! Still at the end of this was Juvy's match and he just put on an offensive clinic whether it was the violent chops and Brainbuster or breath-taking aerial warfare in the form of an awesome suicide dive or that anti-aircraft dropkick to the flying Blitzkreig. I remember seeing the Skytwister Press and it blew my mind as a child. It still does to this day. I am shocked that the missed Skytwister was not the finish after a Juvy Driver. Blitzkreig gets a nearfall off a weird top rope Frankensteiner to show he is in the league of Juvy, Rey and Kidman. He goes to the well once too often and this time Juvy nails him with a top rope Juvy Driver! HOLY SHIT! What a finish! Awesome aerial spotfest that put Blitzkreig over as a daredevil, but reminded everyone why Juventud was a badass at this point. ***3/4

What's crazy is everyone is saying '94, but in January of 94, WWF had this crazy awesome tag division that consisted of the 1-2-3 KId/Marty Jannetty (they should have lasted way longer), The Quebecers, The Hart Brothers, The Steiner Brothers and the Headshrinkers. There were at least 5 good to great tag team matches out of that division in that one month. Then fucking Men on a Misson came. Diesel/HBK not defending it also sucked the lifeblood out of the division.

WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella vs Paige (WWE Main Event 01/06/15) I just knew these two had a great match in them. I was so pumped for their Fast Lane match based off Nikki's recent performances where she has just been stiffing the fuck out of everybody and playing the cocky mean heel to a tee. Bad News Barrett and Cesaro take notes. Paige vs Emma was an awesome fight and I knew Paige could hang with her. What we got at Fast Lane was a good bomb throwing sprint, but due to one egregious botch and very anti-climatic finish led me to wanting more. On the PWO-PTBN Reaction Show, Pete mentioned they got some time on Main Event. My Lord, they did not disappoint with best WWE women's match I have ever seen. It was a hard-fought, non-title match with Nikki proving that she was every bit of a great heel as any of the man and that Paige has legs as a chippy underdog face. The early lock ups told you this was going to get nasty and I loved Nikki dropping to her back to monkey flip Paige over. Paige just has the nastiest kicks to the midsection. They look like something out of Naoki Sano's playbook. Paige was just attacking her with headbutts and knee strikes and really bringing it to the champion. She was always keeping the crowd involved screaming "This is my house", which got a nice pop. Nikki repeatedly headed for the hills to try buy herself time. After a wild slap, she took a powder in that moment when Paige tried to give chance she wrenched her arm and Paige took a wicked bump onto the floor. Then from there Nikki just tortured Paige's arm twisting in every direction and stomping it at every turn. It was not all about the arm work, Nikki was constantly showboating with nonchalant covers and being a general hot dog. Paige did a really good job selling the pain and timing her hope spots. Usually I am not a fan of the Thesz Press, but Paige's punches out of it looked great better than most men. Nikki should stick to elbows because she can really rock those, her lariats are a bit suspect. Paige really started mounting a comeback and off the distraction we get Nikki yanking Paige off the top turnbuckle by her bad arm. Awesome! Nattie decks Brie and Nikki floors Nattie, but this allows Paige to roll her up. Nikki bucks her off. Nikki on top and Paige kicks out. Nice elbow by Nikki and Paige monster kick to the head. This gets really weird as Paige hesitates but is not really selling. She hits the RamPaige for the non-title victory over the champions. A few hiccups along the way (Nikki's lariats, the rollup sequence and Paige's weird selling), but overall a great match. Nikki combined stiff offense, great limb work and cocky persona to hook you into the match. Paige is a great fiery babyface with some great asskicking offense that can go toe to toe with Nikki. This an easy Free TV Match of the Year Contender and an awesome match. ****

Watch Paige vs Nikki Bella from Main Event January 6, 2015. Watched based on Pete's recommendation from Fast Lane reaction show. Holy shit! Best WWE women's match ever!

Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs Eddie Guerrero & Chris Jericho - Brian Hildebrand Tribute Show 11/29/98 HOLY SHIT, THIS WAS ALL TYPES OF AWESOME! WCW's Four Corners finally get the opportunity to knock it out of the park and they don't waste one moment. Eddie and Jericho remind me why I absolutely love pro wrestling. They are just so damn entertaining, but you want to boo them every step of the way and Benoit & Malenko are here to kick ass because Jericho and Eddie went out their way to mock Hildebrand at the beginning of the match. Jericho and Eddie blend cowardly, vicious and arrogance in one appetizing package delivering an all-time great heel tag team performance. All the classic Jericho & Eddie spots are here: Eddie covering Jericho's ears so he can't hear "Jericho Sucks!", scurrying to the corner to hold onto your partner's leg, Eddie calling for timeout. That is just a few it was literally awesome heel spot after another. The heels try as they might to fight fire with fire are just overwhelmed by the badassery of The Horsemen. Even Malenko is teeing off on Jericho and making this a heated bout. This is the exact environment that Benoit excels in. Jericho and Eddie try to meet him head on and just get destroyed. In a hilarious moment as Malenko is countering a Jericho surfboard and the people are chanting "Jericho Sucks!", he yells "SHUT UP YOU BUNCH OF NIMRODS!" Sounds like a man that has a tenuous grasp at best on this match. Jericho once again tries to meet Benoit head on and a wicked chopfest ensues. Jericho does what any intelligent coward would do, pokes him in the eyes and forcefully drops him throat first across the top rope. OW! Jericho and Eddie just flip the switch from cowards to arrogant prick heels like that. Eddie is telling fans to kiss his ass while he drops Benoit with a brainbuster. Jericho is covering Benoit with one foot after a double suplex. Eddie flies over the top onto Benoit throat as it laid exposed on the apron being held in place by Jericho. Then Benoit's neck is snapped into the bottom rope. Benoit is great at selling and you can hear him gasping for breath on this fancam. Benoit finally hits a suplex to break up a sleeper, but goes up top to consolidate the advantage, but Eddie is able to hit a superplex and Jericho detains Malenko. I have loved the struggle of the entire match but here you can just see Benoit fight with every last breath to break free as Eddie and Jericho do everything they can to somehow contain this raging fireball. Some of the exchanges between Benoit and these two are just incredibly fierce. Eventually Benoit waylays them both off the apron. Building to a Malenko hot tag is suspect at best and it is for the best it does not last long. Jericho rolls through a roll up to apply the Liontamer, but Malenko makes the ropes. Jericho throws a temper tantrum, but Eddie snaps him out of it. SUPERPLEX/FROGSPLASH Combo!!!! BITCHIN! Benoit bowls Eddie off of Malenko. Benoit hits his Swandive Headbutt, but Jericho pulls out the ref. Benoit shoots Eddie into a Malenko powerbomb into a Cloverleaf and Benoit has Jericho trapped in the Crippler Crossface, but there is no ref. WAIT! Brian Hildebrand leaps into the ring and Eddie & Jericho both tap out as Hildebrand gives us a classic call for the bell. Then because it is 1998 and your wardrobe determines your allegiance he reveals a Four Horsemen shirt to a nice pop. Jericho & Guerrero give a master class in how you can blend old school heeling with modern offense. It is all about flipping that switch from cowards to pricks. It was just awesome watching them have all that time to work. It has been said a million zillion times and even by Jericho himself, they were a totally missed opportunity as a tag team. Benoit did a great job in his face in peril selling early and then realizing he needed to fight his way out of there going right into asskicker mode. Even Malenko did well in this crowd-pleasing, asskicking match. This would be my WCW Match of the Year if it took place in WCW and it is right there with Austin/Dude Love for US Match of 1998. Love, love this style and these four crushed it in honor of Brian Hildebrand! ****1/2

WCW TV Champion Fit Finlay vs Booker T - WCW Great American Bash 1998 Off hand, I can't think of a better night in the career of Booker T and he really did look like a promising rising heavyweight babyface star. Who the hell was the Booker that absolutely clobbered Finlay with that wicked flying forearm and that awesome plancha. Wrestling Benoit and Finlay will make you an ornery sumbitch and I dig that, sucka! Finlay makes it known early unlike that sportsman, Benoit, he is going to take no prisoners when it comes to the knee. Finlay catches the Axe Kick and just wrenches the knee in 8 million different ways. He is just torturing Booker. Booker, who is not my favorite seller, actually is pretty good at crying out in agony as FInlay digs his own knee into Booker's. Booker shoving Finlay off and rolling over into a side mount and raining down fists was awesome. Just when Booker looks to make the comeback Finaly hits the kneecrusher. The layout and the work are here for this to be an all-time classic, but Finlay's very dry heel work does take this a level. Finlay's only way to get heat is to raise his fists in the air. You are a mean sumbitch, show some fire and this crowd to really hate you. It was ripe for the taking. Finlay wraps Booker's leg around the post. Now, Finlay is jawing with the crowd and takes his eye off the ball. This is very uncharacteristic and the crowd chanting Boring is much too harsh, but it was the wrong move. Booker pops up and hits his trademark moves to get the crowd rocking and rolling. The Spinaroonie was over like rover. Booker's botch on the Tombstone can be covered due to Booker's bum knee. Finlay is such a pro and strings together a makeshift finish run to get Booker to the piledriver finish and it is a nasty one to cap off Booker's epic night. Booker was on offensive fire, he was over and his selling was pretty good. Finlay working over the leg was a master class and was great in vacuum, but needed to do a lot more to get the crowd involved. It is such a shame Booker would have to take time off for his injury after Bash At The Beach because it seems like he was really putting the pieces together. ***3/4

Chris Benoit vs Booker T - WCW Great American Bash 1998 Match #7 Technically, this is match #8 of seven to determine the number one contender to the Television Championship (my childhood memories were foggy and I thought they were in the midst of the Best of Seven series for the TV Title when one of them lost the title to Finlay randomly and thus threw a monkey wrench into the works. Turns out, it was a number one contendership series the whole time). On the previous episode of Thunder, Bret Hart tried to help out former Dungeon graduate, Benoit by blasting Booker with a chair. Benoit does not want to win that way and goes so far to tell the referee. That kind of sportsmanship is actually pretty refreshing rather than playing morally conflicted interminably. JoJo Dillon scrubs the record clean and says the Great American Bash match is for the kit and kaboddle. Really strong midcard WCW booking, which is shocking because the WCW main event scene is a total clusterfuck at this point. The argument can be made Benoit's lack of attack on Booker's knee stems from his sportsmanship. He was above exploiting an injury and respected Booker too much. Now clearly the reason is because the Finlay match later was going to be based around the knee, which makes sense since Finlay is the real heel. It would have been helpful if the commentary told this story rather blithering on about the injured knee. Even trying to apply this logic to the match, Benoit's offensive strategy just seemed off. His execution was as crisp as ever, but it was meandering like he did not know what he wanted to do next. He uses the dragon screw leg whip to take control, but after that it is an assortment of chops, suplexes and chinlocks. It was a weird use of the chinlock because it is not like Booker established himself as a runaway locomotive early on. It really feels like his offense is not setting anything up. Tenay did a good job claiming this was to set up the Crossface, but I wasn't feeling it. Benoit does go for the Crossface when Booker starts to mount a comeback, but Booker falls towards the ropes. In fact, I thought Booker outperformed Benoit. He was timing his hope spots really well and he brought a lot of fire from underneath. I really liked his crash and burn off the reverse cross body as he was going for a home run. Again when Booker is able to get a head of steam, he is looking for that missile dropkick. His offense is setting up for a big bomb. Benoit is always great at selling his big high-risk moves like the superplex (milks it for an 8 count before the cover) and swandive headbutt (writhes in pain before the cover). Loved Benoit have scouted Booker's weird sunset flip thingy in the corner, by stopping short letting him do it and then CHOP! Booker nails a couple Harlem Sidekicks, which finally dazes Benoit enough to hit his missile dropkick. This maybe my favorite Booker performance of his career. He was laying his shit in well and his timing and move selection were just spot on. His instincts were just clicking. He built perfectly to that missile dropkick and Benoit really was able to sell how his big bombs had taken a lot out of him. It was a war of attrition and Booker outlasted Benoit in this battle. Match was dragged down by an unusually meandering Benoit in the early going. The finish stretch and Booker's performance make this one of the best WCW matches of 1998. ****

Chris Benoit w/Woman & Miss Elizabeth vs Dean Malenko – WCW Hog Wild 1996 At least Miss Elizabeth & Woman were on the hard camera, so that gives it a leg up on modern WWE and 2000s indy wrestling. Seriously, we need more female valets to add a bit of color and glamour to the product. Trotting out Dolph Ziggler and Bad News Brown for a heatless spotfest would be so much better with some extracurricular pieces at ringside. This is not just me being a shallow dude, the most heat in this match was because Woman interfered and that’s because it was something of consequence. I am being a little harsh because Benoit and Malenko are just of the greatest at execution so a 30 minute spotfest by them is better than run of the mill spotfest of the 21st century, but it is still not great and it is not the fault of Sturgis Bikers that they did not “get” this match because there was nothing to get. First the match layout is totally disconnected from the angle. The angle being presented is that Malenko was hired to take Benoit out by Kevin Sullivan & The Dungeon of Doom. Given the fact it was a blood feud, I don’t think Malenko proving he is the better wrestler and earning Benoit’s respect through an intricate and very cool rollup/bridge sequence was what The Taskmaster had in mind. The match layout is a classic layout with two great wrestlers trying to pin each other in a scientific and classy manner. Then they are just like fuck that layout and fuck the angle. We are going for bombs. It was just suplexes, headbutts and slams galore. At least, Dusty was hilarious trying to pronounce “Millennium”. The one thing they have going for them is that they are at least making the effort to show they are concerned about winning by going for covers often and trying to put their opponent away. However, there is not much long-term selling and they are just hitting moves willy-nilly. Thus we go to the first draw. In the first overtime, at least, Benoit cheats a little by clocking Malenko from behind while he discussing the rules with the ref. Benoit applies a Texas Cloverleaf and just lets go. This is my least favorite thing in all of wrestling. Such an eyeball-roll inducing spot. Benoit goes after leg with some holds, but none as convincing as the Cloverleaf he had on! Again, we get a draw and now the crowd is getting hot. They are pissed that this match is dragging on forever. The last fall was actually the most interesting. Benoit hits his finish at the time, the Dragon Suplex, which Malenko kicks out. Now Malenko applies the Cloverleaf and as Benoit makes it to the ropes, Malenko switches to an STF, which is genius. Woman rakes Malenko’s eyes and Benoit rolls up. What a totally out of context finish to just a really weird match. It was entertaining watching this from an offensive exhibition. From an offense point of view, this was and still is state of the art blowing pretty much everything out of the water in terms of crispness and damage level. The lack of a hook or any consequence to the moves really hurt this. ***1/2

Did this make tape, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Tiger Mask II, Tokyo, 3/8/87? If so what are people's thoughts on it?

Last week, I posted my blog looking at all the great post-split All Japan matches from 2000-2004, when coupled with 2005-2009 and 2014 blogs means I am just missing 2010-2013, which I hope to remedy by the end of the year. Post-Split All Japan was great in the short-term but destined to not be sustainable when it relied heavily on Tenryu, Mutoh and Kawada. Kojima just was not enough especially by himself to ever carry the promotion into the future. Match Listing for first-run matches in this blog: Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto - AJPW 4/27/02 **** #61 of 100 One of the best Prick Heels vs Main Event Face & Young Lion tag match. Miyamoto was incredible. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai vs. Satoshi Kojima & Kaza Hayashi - AJPW 10/06/02 *** Good version of the previous which I am a sucker for, but did not hit the same levels. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 6/13/03 ****1/4 #54 of 100 Hashimoto The Destroyer in all his glory. He punches the fuck out of Kojima's lariat, so awesome! Satoshi Kojima vs Shinjiro Ohtani - Budokan 9/06/03 Good match but they go overkill on Ohtani only to have win the match. Never liked that. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 7/18/04 Depressing match. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Takao Omori - AJPW 7/18/04 Really great Kawada selling and offensive performance almost carries bland Omori to Top 100. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/03/chop-chop-chop-toshiaki-kawada.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also I threw up a blog on the best matches of 1995 WCW, which is a pretty barren landscape, but does feature my favorite match of all time Randy Savage vs Ric Flair in a incredible, chaotic and hate-filled brawl at the Great American Bash. I thought to myself that match which I think is wildly underrated as a crack at top ten best matches of the 90s in WCW and of course this has now led me down the path of reviewing all the usual suspects of great WCW matches to see where it would place just the beginning of that road. Match Listing: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs WCW US Heavyweight Vader **** Superbrawl V Great Hogan vs Monster match where Hogan actually adapts to the situation. Vader is a beast. “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair - Great American Bash 1995 ****1/2 Think shoot, but work and I am not even sure they were working. Hate-filled fight. WATCH IT! Brian Pillman vs Johnny B. Badd - Fall Brawl '95 **** Japanese-influenced bombfest that was a harbinger of wrestling to come. Highly influential Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson - WCW Fall Brawl 1995 **** AA proves he is Flair's equal. Flair cheats only for AA to out-Flair Flair with a little help from a friend. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/03/fathers-day-fracas-randy-savage-ric.html

Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan - WCW Great American Bash 1996 Two years in a row (they make it three the following year with Page/Savage II), the Great American Bash delivers another a great brawl between two opponents that hate each other. Benoit picking up the slack for the departed Pillman challenges The Taskmaster in a falls count anywhere match. Obviously, the match is most famous for the fight in the Men's Bathroom and Dusty's hysterical call of the woman in the men's bathroom. It features some really good action from Sullivan. I loved his short right jab to Benoit's eye. He was just nasty this entire fight with eye gouges, slamming the stall door on Benoit's head and throwing Benoit down a flight of stairs. Hell, my favorite part was probably the double stomp on the bathroom floor. I think Tony's call of a cover near the commode is pretty funny too. The reason I don't think this is an all-time great brawl was a surprising one. I did not feel like Benoit's comeback or offense had a lot of fire. I think Benoit's greatest strength is that he is an awesome asskicker. I just did not feel like he is kicking much ass in this match. Sullivan was also taking bumps really gingerly so maybe he was trying to protect Sully. Loved Dusty's call of "You just gotta that plundah, right, baby" when Benoit was mounting the table in the corner. Superplex off the table gets a huge pop, which strikes me as weird because it was not any extra height, it was just extra dangerous because table wobbled. Maybe Benoit was just that over! He definitely was not with the Sturgis crowd. AA proves he is Horsemen 4 Life when he kicks The Taskmaster ass and the crowd pops mad. Very entertaining match. ***1/2

Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis – Bash At The Beach 1996 Growing up, Psicosis was one of my favorite wrestlers just based on look alone. I would argue that he had even cooler costume than La Parka, but La Parka had the dance moves & chair so it was a close call. I was always disappointed that he was never featured at the same level of Rey Misterio or Juventud Guerrera. It turns out these childhood feelings have been validated by the fact that Psicosis is really fucking good. Both going back through the old footage and reading other people’s opinions that Psicosis is one of the best workers in the world in the mid-90s. Unfortunately, he was not able to sustain his greatness in the late 90s while his arch-nemesise, Rey Misterio Jr. really took off. Misterio and Psicosis have a history that dates back to Tijuana wrestling scene of the 90s. Psicosis was the clown, base and vicious heel to Rey Misterio’s undersized underdog with revolutionary high-flying. They were the perfect mix and they took their act on tour. From their home promotion of AAA (an upstart lucha libre promotion challenging CMLL think the American League or AFL), they travelled to Japan to wow the crowds there and then came to Philadelphia to the little promotion that could, ECW. In 1996, in an effort to further differentiate WCW from WWF, Eric Bischoff brought in a small army of luchadores to populate the fledging WCW cruiserweight division. So logically, the hottest match of 1995 was featured for the first time for a wide scale American audience when Rey Misterio and Psicosis locked up at Bash At The Beach 1996. It would be so easy for Misterio and Psicosis to just hit a myriad of mind-numbing highspots to astonish and amaze a virgin audience, but what makes these two among the all-time greats is how they transition and build to those highspots for maximum sensory impact. For that reason, this match holds up as one of the best matches in the history of WCW and one of the best PPV openers in any company of all time. Psicosis is consummate heel in this match. He knows when to let Rey shine and when to get vicious to put that heat on Rey. It is a great selfless performance that makes Rey look one of the biggest stars of the world, but in doing so elevates himself and the match. It was surprising to me that first highspot went to Psicosis with a gorgeous suicide dive over the top rope. Unlike all the wussy dives through the ropes recently, this one really wipes Rey out. Psicosis is just great laying down a wicked beating on Rey. Rey is so great at verbal selling as Psicosis whips, chops and slams him. Psicosis nails him with a top rope guillotine leg drop. There is a definite sense of Psicosis attacking the neck and looking to take the wind out of the high-flying Misterio, which is a great strategy against the quick Rey Rey. Psicosis takes his first crazy, hellacious bump, which is a monkey flip on the apron that propels him into the post. WOW! Misterio hits a rana off the apron and then a springboard hurricanrana spikes Psicosis only gets two. The match never feels like an exhibition even the objective of the match is to showcase these crazy spots. The competitors still care about the win and loss. Psicosis does a great job selling his knee after a Rey dropkicks his knee. Trying to chop down the bigger man is not a bad strategy for Rey especially after getting his ass kicked for a good chunk there. Psicosis quashes the Misterio comeback with a droptoehold and locks on a nasty headscissors. I loved Rey’s screams. One of the best worked headscissors I have ever seen and a perfect use of it: a heel who needs to stop the bleeding and sap the energy from a babyface. Good stuff. Psicosis is targeting the neck again as he sends him flying into the top rope. Rey powders to catch his breath, but Psicosis is right on him dropping him neck first on the railing. Then he hits a senton from the top rope to the floor. WOW! Psicosis’ offense is breath-taking and violent, perfect. Back in the ring, Psicosis applies a camel clutch and fishhooks him. Psicosis is just fucking killing it. Misterio is like Woah, woah I am pretty fucking good too so he busts out a cartwheel into a hurricanarana and a mind-blowing top rope hurricanarana onto Psicosis that was standing on the apron. Holy shit, I think all these spots would still blow the majority of WWE’s current audience’s mind in 2015. Psicosis takes one of my favorite bumps when he gets dropkicked in the back of the head, he slides belly first onto the floor. Misterio hits a twisting corkscrew Asai Moonsault and everybody loses their shit. You can tell how much Tenay loved calling that while Dusty and Bobby were just like What the Fuck. I think while Bobby would vacillate between not giving a shit and putting over the crusierweights, The Dream seemed to be really entertained by them and in his own way put them over at every chance. Psicosis is able to catch Rey with a powerbomb and it actually looks really good. Psicosis is looking for Splash Mountain and Rey hits a crazy rana to win the match. WOW! I have seen this match a couple times before and I am always blown away by how good it is. Matches that revolve around showcasing spots usually don’t age that well, but this match was as character-driven as it was spot-driven. Not to mention, these spots were crazy awesome and hold up totally. To me a heel is selfless, big bumping and vicious. Psicosis just had that in spades. He took two crazy bumps and hit some amazing highspots. He was always vicious with how he attacked Misterio. Misterio is just an all time great. His verbal selling was off the charts and he was great as a ragdoll for Psicosis to throw around, but when it came to blow people’s minds. He never failed. That finish run is just one incredible highspot after the other all with the purpose of winning the match. Definitely a contender for best WCW match of 90s and a testament to the greatness of the Rey Misterio/Psicosis series. ****1/2

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair - Great American Bash 1995 This may be my favorite match of all time. My two favorite wrestlers competing one of the greatest hate-filled, relentless, fight to survive matches I have ever seen. I remember being so excited to finally see Savage vs Flair, my two favorites of all time, when I finally started searching youtube 2006 and immediately it was the Wrestlemania VII match that I wanted to see it. It is a great match and a great moment in the culmination of the overarching Randy Savage Wrestlemania story arc dating back to Wrestlemania III. Something was missing. It was missing that truly out of control feel and energy that Flair and Savage can bring. Watching this match in shitty quality on dailymotion in 2008, I was transfixed. Savage was a relentless ball of fury. Lunging at Flair at ever turn. There were just these little things that made it feel like a shoot. Savage attacking Flair from behind in such a way that was scary. Or Savage just suffocating Flair even on the begging off section. There just was not the customary time. The selling was selling of exhaustion of a fight. Savage's selling of the knee was spot on and why he was one of the greatest of all time. While Savage gives a truly special performance, it would be an amazing match without Flair. Flair sells the match as a fight to survive. He is blasting the fuck out of Savage and he dives onto Savage from behind, which is another wicked bump. The way he sells. He is in pain and fatigued, but if he even takes one moment to breathe, he may not last. So he just keeps fighting. I can not say how much I love this match. My video includes opening remarks from Savage with the interview being conducted by “Mean” Gene Okerlund. He vows revenge against Flair and the momentum is on his side. Incidentally, today is Father’s Day and a happy accident for this storyline He finishes with one of my favorite lines from him: “Too hot to handle, too cold to hold”. Flair is adorned in a black and white sequined robe decorated with Monarch Butterflies in white diamonds. Savage is also donning the black and white and HE IS NOT ALONE. His father, Angelo Poffo, is with him after the attack from the Horsemen, but with the aide of a cane. This is NOT FAIR TO FLAIR. DOUBLE A! DOUBLE A! Where art thou? Once Poffo is settled in, Savage hits the ring and Flair heads for the hills. Savage gives chase. Savage wants to kill Flair and any offense Flair can muster is because Savage is overzealous. Savage is hitting hard tonight. This aint a wrestling match. THIS IS A FIGHT~! Flair stops Savage’s momentum by sending him into the steel ringpost and then the guardrail. Flair with an uncharacteristic axe-handle off the apron to the back of Savage. The bump Savage takes was just violent and gripping to watch. I love it, Flair knows that Savage wants to kill so he adapts by pulling out all the stops. Angelo Poffo gets out of the chair with a look of concern as Flair is taking Savage apart with his trademark moveset of chops and kneedrops. Savage connects with a flurry of jabs and in a fit of rage chokes Flair and grabs at his nose. Flair takes the Bret-bump into the corner more choking. Flair tries to powder out, but Savage nails him from behind wicked hard. These are the moments that make it feel like a shoot. Flair takes his usual bump off the top rope. How does he not have crippling back injuries? Flair flip now onto the outside and now he goes after daddy. The Brain and I share the same sentiment as us that was fuckin dumb. Flair is smarter than both of us because he suckered Savage into checking on his Daddy and then clipping the knee. What follows is a shinbreaker across the guardrail, which is another crazy bump. The Brain wonders if “Did Daddy bring two canes because his son is going to need one.” The Brain continues to the tell story well, “Flair was smart he knew he was going to be able to slug it out with Savage, a man possessed. So he went to take a body part out. Flair has a plan.” Savage throws punches from his back in a show of valor and courage. Kicking and clawing at Flair with whatever he can muster and Flair like the prick he is just keeps going back to knee. This is masterful psychology. Savage is killing it right now with his selling. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair of course gets to the ropes for that additional leverage. Savage is fighting only for his father and in a truly moving spot, Mr. Poffo attempts to get the ref’s attention that Flair is cheating. This is one of the most emotional matches I have ever had the pleasure of watching. SAVAGE REVERSE THE PRESSURE!!! Savage hops on one leg only to dive on Flair and keep punching. Flair and Savage are just laying it all on the line. Flair flip for a second time, runs down the apron but Savage hits him in the gut as he comes done. SAVAGE HITS HIM WITH BIG ELBOW!!!! He pins Flair, but pulls him at 2. NOT ENOUGH SAYS MACHO MAN as he grabs the ring bell (shades of Ricky the Dragon) and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. The Brain says Savage is out to maim Flair. At some point, Savage has been busted open under his eye. Holy shit, what a brawl so far. The ref saves Flair from the bell and Savage crashes and burns hard on the guardrail. What a bump, the fans in the front row are freaked out because he hit so hard. Flair is pissed off because Savage has tried to maim him. Flair goes for Angelo, Poffo chokes him with cane, but Flair knocks out Angelo and gains control of the cane. Savage having checked on his dad does not realize this. Flair waffles him with cane. Flair picks up the tainted victory. This match epitomizes why I love wrestling: Raw hatred for each other with stiff shots, high-energy no resting with brilliant story-telling and acting. WATCH THIS MATCH! Contender for best WCW match of the decade. The last Match of the Year contender, Flair or Savage would ever have. I would say the best babyface Savage performance of his career in WCW or WWF. ****3/4

Really loved this series. Moment of the series was Chad getting all snarky at the beginning of his Owen/Bret review in retaliation to nitpicking on HBK/Angle. I laughed pretty hard. Grimmas poking fun at himself about being taken out of the Eddie/Rey match because Rey mask was attached to the bodysuit was also pretty damn funny. Good stuff all around.

As the First Ever Winner of the First Ever Pro Wrestling Trivia Internet Podcast, BRAINBUSTER!,I would like take the time to sincerely apologize to all the members of the Sleeze Synod such as Will who eagerly anticipated to hear my melodious, dulcet voice bring to them the most riveting content on the internet and another championship victory (I lost to someone who knew the exact number of fucking victories that The Gambler had, cut me some slack!). When you are the biggest star in the history of a nascent, burgeoning phenomenon, you have a certain responsibility to the show and the fans and last night I failed that responsibility. The exact same computer and microphone were used that I have used to exact record all my podcasts and I could not have predicted such a catastrophe. From the booming voice of God to sounding like I was a lost soul in a fishbowl. OH! How The Mighty Have Fallen! WAIT! A second I think I got it, for the first time I did not record in my mother's basement (where all good wrestling fans belong) rather in my ex-girlfriend's bungalow! So blame her because Lord knows I do for a whole host of things. :P I kid, I kid, I kid. Seriously, I am sorry about it and like I said I was using the exact same equipment as always and really could not have predicted the audio issues. Thank you Johnny for standing by me when the going got tough, I appreciate it. I have total confidence that Johnny and the show will continue to sweep nation even with this little hiccup of me losing.

I have read it six times and I still am not sure the meaning of it. Alright, alright, alright you two Canadian numbskulls step aside and let me, The First Ever Winner of the First Ever Pro Wrestling Trivia Internet Podcast, Brainbuster answer the good doctor's question. You see he is wondering where the clip of Hulk Hogan shaking the hand of a unknown kid in wheelchair seen in Hulk Hogan's Real American Story originated? After much deliberation and careful thought, I came to the conclusion that clip in question is from none other than Hulk Hogan's Real American Story! The BrainBuster Kid strikes again! Like you two even have a prayer against me.

Actually, I think I am the only person hyping it as such. Pretty much everyone else seems to think it was very good to great, but I have yet to hear anyone else call it a MOTYC (Will & Johnny liked it a lot, Pete thought it was good and Dylan seemed to like it well enough, but I don't think he thinks it is a MOTYC). It is just I have been very persistent in talking about because I think it is a very interesting match and I like hearing other people's opinions on it. It is nice to know if I post something enough I become the personification of PWO. Being The First Ever Winner of The First Ever Pro Wrestling Trivia Internet Podcast, Brainbuster has brought me unforeseen power and respect! Now if it had only brought me unforeseen pussy...

For 2003, I highly recommend Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa. It was my personal favorite match of the decade from Japan and just a super, super fun performance from both wrestlers. Kobashi is just at his best against a pure heel. Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa from Z-1 was MOTYC for me that year and was a terrific chaotic brawl. 2004 - I agree. 2005 - I recommend watching Kobashi/Taue vs Tenryu/Akiyama if you have not seen as that was just an awesome performance from all four people. Tenryu and Kobashi want to kill each other and Taue just owns it. Also, Ishikawa vs Ikeda from FUTEN if like ultra-stiff, ass-kicking shoot-style. For 2006, I recommend Taue vs Akiyama for the GHC title as last great All Japan Pillars of Heaven singles match and Danielson vs KENTA was my runner up in what was a very weak year. 2007 - I agree with you. 2008 is all about the BattlArts resurgence my two favorites were Ishikawa, Sawa & Otsuka vs Ikeda, Usuda & Super Tiger II, Battlarts July 26th & Ishikawa & Sawa vs Hara & Super Tiger II, Battlarts November 16th 2009 - Fujita Hayato Jr had a crazy awesome year. His best match was against Kanemoto, but check out his match with Sasuke too. The only other contender for me is KENTA vs Kotaro Suzuki, which is awesome chickenshit heel performance from Suzuki and then a great asskicker performances from KENTA. 2014 - Tanahashi vs Nakamura 4/6 Invasion attack and Styles vs Suzuki G-1 Climax. Other would recommend Nakamura vs Okada, which I thought was excellent, but a step below those two.

It is more interesting that you only found that last few minutes great when they established a great story with heated exchanges from the outset. I loved Rusev suffocating Cena and never letting the match get away from him. Cena had to resort to wild swings and awesome double leg takedowns. It was just Cena's indefatigable resolve to win that kept him in it. Just when that willpower looked to win Rusev had the answer with a ballshot. It was an incredible dramatic and heated contest between two combatants struggling to win a match and were invested in its outcome that established a story early based on their strengths, never wavered and delivered a great finish. That's great wrestling to me beginning middle and end The narrative you thought up to best depict your viewing enjoyment means nothing to me though. Pro wrestling isn't a great storytelling medium so when it does tell great stories I feel it tells them in spite of its nature, not because of it. But what you described to me isn't a great story. It's a C level action movie scenario. I expect a sequel titled Cena 2 where the good guy gets his win back. Story interpretations can make for interesting reads-but I'd rather discuss what actually happened. The work that they did was subpar-Rusev's control segments were reduced to stomping, Cena's facial expressions were preposterously bad as were his punches, Rusev's Spinning Heel Kick missed, the match featured the weakest Alabama Slam I have ever seen, the AA has been killed and meant nothing....need I go on? The WWE is super micromanaged-if there was a story they were trying to sell they would have made it known-just like they did in the main event. A lot of the complaints I made may seem like "the usual stuff", but in general Cena has been reliable in performing on a high level despite limitations that come with issues that are engraved in his performances. But there was nothing to salvage the match here-the only interesting bits that happened (big counters and transitions) did so late in the match, and that particular part of the match I did enjoy. If Cena could've matched the sympathetic selling Zayn displayed against Owens or if Rusev made better offencive choices the first half would've been different-but as it stands I see no merit in it. (sorry if I came off as a dick but that was kind of essential in the point I was making) I did not think that narrative up, it was the narrative they told. I beg to disagree in that I think pro wrestling is a great and versatile storytelling medium. Even if I think that is not the most important element to pro wrestling. Pro wrestling in my estimation it is two competitors struggling to win a contest driven by their characters or the surrounding story and in turn reacting to one another (which is a story in of itself). Both Cena and Rusev had a sense of urgency to each of their actions and their movements that what piqued my interest. It generated a big match atmosphere and a hot bout to me. I remember Rusev's heat segment being more compelling than stomping because he was reacting to Cena's constant chippiness and hope spots. He had to cut Cena off at the pass on multiple occasions. I like Cena's facial expressions and his wild punches. They feel larger than life and that's what I like in my wrestling. I can see why that bothers somebody, but it does not to me. I thought he connected on all his kicks. Yes, Nikki Bella did hit a better Alabama Slamma, but I did not think it was egregious. The FU was killed long before this match and I do think Cena needs a super finisher, but it is not like the Tiger Driver was getting Misawa a ton of victories, sometime it requires repetition and different combination. It was clearly Cena vs Monster story as someone pointed out. I can see your point if you want to say this movie is played out and I have seen it before, but don't act like there was not a story. I like that story a lot and I though the urgency of the actions differentiated it from Cena vs Monster matches. Nah, brutha, you were not a dick. You had your point of view and you explained it well. Ain't nothing dickish about that. Oh and Cena's double legs are not always great, but in that match it was perfectly timed. It was a good lunge.

It is more interesting that you only found that last few minutes great when they established a great story with heated exchanges from the outset. I loved Rusev suffocating Cena and never letting the match get away from him. Cena had to resort to wild swings and awesome double leg takedowns. It was just Cena's indefatigable resolve to win that kept him in it. Just when that willpower looked to win Rusev had the answer with a ballshot. It was an incredible dramatic and heated contest between two combatants struggling to win a match and were invested in its outcome that established a story early based on their strengths, never wavered and delivered a great finish. That's great wrestling to me beginning middle and end

In defense of Johnny, I actually do agree with him to extent and I think he has a point, but he get so overwhelmed that is hard to defend and think of the spot with so many voices coming down on him. There are tons and tons of counterexamples that show passing the torch to be a totally overrated means of generating new stars. When did Bret Hart job for Stone Cold? That Bret Hart guy was sure better off once Hogan did the job for him? Who made The Rock? I must have missed that awesome Ultimate Warrior three year run. The key to making new stars is presentation and hot angles. Stone Cold did not need to beat Bret Hart because he was presented as a huge deal and was constantly involved in hot angles throughout 1997 against the Hart Foundation, The Rock and Vince McMahon. The Rock did not need some old legend to make him. He got over with his personality, being positioned as the Corporate Champion and being presented in hot angles. Losing to Cena at a Wrestlemania and then being shunted into a makeshift tag team with a goofy, but lovable character would be the death knell for almost anybody today. The Rock lost to Austin at Wrestlemania XV and wrestled the end of 1999 in the Rock n Sock Connection. The Rock not only survived he thrived. It is because The Rock was consistently presented as a big deal and a star. It is all about context. With correct booking, people's heat can be maintained even in a loss. It is about cycling people up and down, hot angles and not falling into the same groove. It took situations now that look like inevitable failures to being ways to cycle people up and down the card without anyone's heat evaporating. So no the key is not to have some legend job to you. The key is to present interesting characters in compelling situations with hot angles. It is all about heat and the key is to decouple heat from wins & losses. Wins and losses should matter because it dictates where you go next. But no single loss should ever be insurmountable. You are booking like dogshit if that is the case and WWE has been booking like dogshit for the better part of a decade. That is one specific example where I was rooting for Johnny and this has happened in the past where I was like Johnny you are almost there, brutha just take the next step, but it is overwhelming. It is easy for me to type out a response. I too would get fucked up with 2-3 people yelling in my ear on the spot.

I agree with you, Will & Johnny on Rusev & Cena. The Rusev finish was great because Cena was making a comeback and we have all seen the story before. Cena gains momentum and Rusev hits his best shot and Cena just won't give up! John Cena is the babyface he should be the one to power up and look like he is going to win. Cena powers up and just when everything seems to slipping out of Rusev's grasp BANG! Ball shot! That is great desperation heel work. It is not a a a bad finish, it is a fantastic finish! Why should Rusev go over clean? He is the bad guy that has shown to be vulnerable time and time again and he pulls it out by any means necessary. The Bray Wyatt and Ryback feuds with Cena were fucked because Cena crushed them. Rusev looked like a massive mountain for Cena to climb unlike the other two who liked a numbnuts. Just as Cena looked like he would, it was snatched from him. They both looked awesome with Cena fighting from underneath like a boss and Rusev kicking ass on top. Easy WWE MOTYC.

WONTON VIOLENCE~! had me cracking it up. I liked the tag match, but agree with Dylan that they needed to add a little meat on the FIP to propel this to the next level. Naomi and Nattie both looked Dynamite! Wow! Thanks for the heads up on the Nikki/Paige Main Event match. I was really looking forward to the Paige/Nikki match (huge fan of both) and I liked it as a bomb throwing sprint, but yes that blown spot was egregious and the finish sucked. I will check out the Main Event match. If he was going to be a maniac, then stomping in the corner triggering the DQ was lame as all hell. Where is the WONTON VIOLENCE????

I think Cena/Rusev is neck and neck with the triple threat and I was there live for the triple threat. I think they are the clear one-two punch for the WWE in terms of the best matches of the year so far.

WWE heels cheat all the time. Excessively IMO. I liked the way that was done because Rusev doesn't need to cheat, it was an even match that he was winning on points, but he heard Lana on the apron and the ref going over, so he kicked Cena in the balls. why not? that's what heels do I'm really not sure where you're coming from with "in the context of a company where heels don't really cheat" when EVERY heel in WWE cheats. I like it better when it's like Rusev tonight, or Mr. Perfect....where these guys are really good and can beat anyone on any given night (cept for Hogan in Perfect's case).....but they are heels because they don't care about breaking the rules when the going gets tough No they don't. Not by traditional wrestling standards. Heels win cleanly all the time, especially dominantly booked heels in Rusev's position. I agree with you, brutha. Heels don't cheat during matches like ever. It is just boring, pedestrian transitions. There are guck finishes here and there but no one really wrestles like a heel. Cesaro and Barrett are the ultimate culprits of wrestling totally neutral. The Rusev finish was great because Cena was making a comeback and we have all seen the story before. Cena gains momentum and Rusev hits his best shot and Cena just won't give up! Cena powers up and just when everything seems to slipping out of Rusev's grasp BANG! Ball shot! Great finish!