Superstar Sleeze

I liked that match a lot and I actually reviewed in the Nick Bockwinkel thread (the one drawback of these styles of threads). I really loved the pace they cut and how continuous the action was throughout the match. So I got the impression from the match that Bock was actually presented as a babyface in this match. I definitely remember th ecommentator remarking how weird it was that Bock was getting cheered in Memphis. So it may have been heel vs heel, but the fans choose the outsider Bock to root for, which demonstrates how bitchin Savage is as a heel. Savage is such a greta heel because he has no redeemable qualities. He is such a low-down, paramoid, jelaous, cowardly prick that you can even turn Bock babyface in Memphia against him. Savage is my favorite wrestler ever and he is so good at character work in matches. I loved the finish. There is just something epic about a ballshot-piledriver combo. It just seems so final. Lastly, as always I want to mention how awesome Bock's knee lift and drop toehold are.

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs Triple H Summerslam 2012 Los Angeles, CA My brother and I were on the fence about ordering Summerslam for the third time in four years. Given Lesnar’s unique performance earlier in the year against Cena, we decided in favor of ordering plus there was a match between family favorites Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho we wanted to see. Unfortunately, that match for a myriad of reasons did not live up to expectation. However for the main event, my family was left very satisfied with the performances of both men. The internet was not so kind to the match deemed “slow, disjointed”, “an uneven effort”, “booked too even”, “too formulaic, Brock dominated then hit the finish” and “that Brock looked too much like an ordiniary wrestler and HHH did not bump well for him”. Was this bout the Match of the Year? No, but I think it was in the top handful of matches from WWE this year. As you can see from some of the purported criticisms, the critics are even fighting amongst themselves with what’s wrong with the match. The story going into this match was that Brock Lesnar had broken HHH’s arm and quit the WWE over not meeting his contractual obligations. Paul Heyman acted as Brock’s agent and did a serviceable job (at times, very good, his post-Summerslam promo was his best yet in this role) as his mouthpiece. After some goading and lackluster booking, the match between the WWE, legendary, rugged stalwart (HHH) and the bully invader (Brock) was booked. For extra heat, Brock broke Shawn Michaels’ arm sending HHH into a tizzy. Helmsley stressed to the official that under no circumstances was he to stop match for anything other than a pinfall or submission because he wanted a true finish to this match. Thus making the match a de facto no disqualification match. Brock Lesnar hits the ring in his MMA gear (read: Jimmy John’s advertisements adorn his MMA shorts and mouth-guard) with Paul Heyman. Triple H enters with his normal ring entrance. Upon the completion of the super special ring introductions, Brock charges at Triple H and double-legs him into the corner. Brock maintains control in the corner with strikes. HHH briefly displays a flash of wrestling acumen by executing a back heel trip, but Brock escapes that easily. Brock targets the arm with his dreaded Kimura (this is the hold that broke HHH’s and Shawn Michael’s arm) and there is the impressive visual display of Brock applying the Kimura and a standing body-scissors on Triple H while Triple H holds onto the ropes. Normally this would necessitate a rope break, but without the power of disqualifying Lesnar, the referee is powerless to force Brock to break the hold. What follows is the short babyface shine segment with Triple H being able to knock Brock out of the ring twice. All this serves to do is piss Brock off, this is visually symbolized by Brock taking his gloves off. After another double-leg takedown, Brock lands vicious shot to the back of Hunter’s head. The announcers do a good job putting over that would be illegal in the UFC, making it seem extra dastardly. This serves as the transition to the heat segment. Brock dominates Triple H with a hammerlock slam on the announce table, which continues the arm psychology. Brock heads back into the ring for some taunting (as any good bully would) meanwhile this illustrates the no-countout stipulation. The verbal selling of HHH during this portion is well-done with Brock working over the arm. There is a smattering of desperation spots. Normally, I would term them hope spots, but the viewer has very little hope that HHH is going to overcome the Beast. Rather these spots seem like a man lashing out in pure self-preservation rather than attempting to win a competitive bout. Brock sends HHH into the steps and Triple H does not bump as hard as he could have. In another impressive visual display, Brock tips the announce table on its side; mounts it; delivers a superman punch. Then weirdly Lesnar goes for an inside cradle pin, which Triple H kicks out before 1. This leads to the first and only rope-running spot of the match, which sees Lesnar deliver one helluva lariat to HHH. However, Triple H is able to block a vertical suplex attempt into his own. He attempts a Pedigree, but his arm is too injured and Brock is able to send him crashing to the floor as HHH takes his normal corner bump, without the usual vigor. This is the hook of the entire match: in an act of utter self-preservation and total fortune, Triple H uses a leverage move to send Brock crashing abdomen first into the edge of the announce table. Immediately, Brock is double over in pain and selling so well that he snookered my dad into thinking he was legit hurt. The selling was truly fantastic with Heyman putting it over with his concern “Are you hurt?”. His tone was perfect. Brock spits up and there goes the mouthguard. HHH capitalizes on this stroke of good luck by attacking the abdomen with unrelenting fury, punches first then the vaunted HHH knee. For those that do not know, Brock Lesnar legitimately had a disease known as diverticulitis that caused huge portions of his intestines to be removed. This is the driving force for his retirement from UFC. It was a great bit of storytelling that hooked my entire family into the match. While Triple H was ravaging Brock with knees to his gut, Heyman was screaming “Stop doing that” and again his tone was so spot-on. We head to the finish after HHH hits the spinebuster. A couple of finish reversals before Brock kicks out of the first Pedigree. Brock then hits a wicked low-blow and follows that up with the F-5, which only gets two. So Brock goes back to his bread and butter: the Kimura and HHH makes the ropes, but there are no rope breaks. However, Triple H is able to escape due to punches to the mid-section (abdomen psychology). HHH hits another Pedigree, but when Triple H was trying to turn him over for the pin, Brock in a flash caught him in the Kimura. Then proceeded to break his arm and HHH was forced HHH to tap out. Almost no wasted motion throughout the fight and a well-thought story made this seemingly an easy thumbs up from me. I am a sucker for Monster Heel takes on Franchise Babyface (see Vader/Sting). I think Brock did a good job emulating Vader especially in the corner. He was just absolutely relentless on the arm and going for the Kimura. I did not care one iota about the lack of variety in his offense. It was logical for him to keep vicious and arm-focused. He broke it once before, why deviate from that. The pacing was a bit on the methodical side, but it was never intended to be a sprint. It always had my attention and never felt like it dragged. I do not see the disjointed argument at all. The match layout was very typical: Heel domination -> Babyface Shine -> Heat segment with hope spots -> Hope Spot finally connects -> Babyface comeback -> Finish. The blow to the head transitioned to heat segment and the leverage move that “discovers” Brock’s weakness transitioned to the comeback. The transitions were accomplished and logical thus negating the "disjointed" arguement. Cena was able to defeat Lesnar because of a fluke chain shot. The idea was to put over that Cena was able to survive the onslaught. This match was built on that premise of HHH discovering a weakness to the monster he could exploit, but it was too little too late for our hero. This type of inter-match storytelling almost never happens in the WWE and I was eating it up. The dueling arm/abdomen psychology was bordering on brilliant for WWE’s typical ring work. Did I mention how incredible Lesnar’s selling was? He is not known for his selling, but he put over the abdomen injury so well. I thought Triple H started off selling very well for Lesnar, but then almost seemed to get a bit lazy. Sure he did the bare minimum and not move his left arm, but where were the grimaces and the verbal selling. Also, this may be due to HHH's old age, but he was not throwing himself into bumps as well as he normally does. I think the Cena/Lesnar match is way better, but this match is still very good. I have no idea how Lesnar came off as ordinary. He used a bunch of amateur/MMA moves and worked over a body part that almost never happens in WWE. In addition, they ran the ropes exactly once and used Irish Whips threes times. This match along with Cena match is the closest WWE has gotten to shoot-style ever. This felt like nothing else I get to see on a regular basis. In conclusion, I felt like I got my money’s worth for being able to see this on HD TV live. It was a tremendous match that I enjoyed greatly with my family. I think you can improve HHH’s bumping and selling, but he is limited by age on one of those fronts. Also, while I loved the flash submission victory. I thought the finishing sequence was a bit tame with the usual finisher reversals. A grander false finish could have been employed to get the crowd more involved, which admittedly seemed dead during the majority of the match. The high points were definitely Brock’s offense, his selling and the match layout. On the very same card, Jericho had taped ribs and Ziggler did nothing but a token attack of the ribs. I would love to see more body part psychology in WWE, but for now I will just take Brock being an utter beast and having two MOTYC’s to his name having wrestled only two matches on the year.

After Cena's tremendous performance against Punk this past February, they had me transformed into a huge Cena fan. I was already to cheer Cena onto victory against The Rock and they dissipated all the goodwill they built up with me with these atrocious promos. I kept waiting for these promos to turn the corner and they never did. When The Rock absolutely decimated Cena in the debate when he said The Rock has never failed. I cringed because I knew The Rock was going to crush that meatball. I don't understand the booking for these past couple weeks because everything post-Punk match has failed to impress. Cena wins, but this is the toughest of the three to predict. I acknowledge that Punk/Taker angle is incredibly tasteless, but it is at least refreshing that the Undertaker feud of the year actually has some hatred in it as opposed to the Lovefests against the Kliq we have been treated to the past 4 years. I have also like they have gone with a more physical build. Undertaker wins in the easiest of the three to predict. I may be alone on this board, but I am looking forward to the HHH/Brock. I wish it was an "I Quit" match instead of No Holds Barred, which we basically got last Summerslam. I thought the HHH/Brock match from Summerslam was one of the best of last year and am still perplexed at the amount of hatred it received on the internet. I am going to post my review of the match in the subsequent post. Personally, I think Sheamus is the best worker in the WWE right now and The Shield is one of my favorite acts (though they have cooled down since February) so I am really hoping this gets a decent chunk of time on Sunday. What irks me is that Ryback is not in this match. Ryback has been The Shield's number one target and the guy most fucked over by The Shield. So now at the big blowoff he won't even be present is such fuckin dumb booking. 80s Vince would have never let that happen. The silver lining is that we get Ryback/Mark Henry. My brother is a bigger mark for Ryback, but I like the big lug. He sells more than a Goldberg or a Warrior would. His match against the 3MB this past week was my Match of the Night and one of the better squashes recently. I dont think I need to explain that Mark Henry is all kind of awesome and that he splits wigs for a living. I dont get who thought the Fandango character was a good idea. It seems like the WWE is once again cashing in too late on a pop culture fad. I like how Jericho has upped his physicality in his matches. Those are some vicious chops he is laying in. I am looking forward to this match. Del Rio is a guy I want to like so bad, but bores me to tears. Swagger is an athletic beast and I know he can be so good in the ring, but he cant buy a good angle.

I will be at Wrestlemania for the second year in a row, just cant get enough of Rock/Cena. Actually, I am from New England, so logistically this will probably be the easiest one for me to make for quite some time. Last year's was a graduation present and I figured with it New York City. I couldnt pass up the opportunity again as I really enjoyed going with my brother. I will be also at the Hall of Fame to see Bob Backlund inducted. jdw, are you doing the induction? I may be alone in this, but I am actually looking forward to this one moreso than last year. I think HHH/Brock was one of the most under-rated matches of the last year. Punk/Taker is a real wild card, but looking beyond the distasteful build; I appreciate this feud for the level of heat compared to the last 4 years of lovesfests between the Kliq and Taker. If they give the Mark Henry and Shield matches time, this could be the best Wrestlemania undercard in a long time. I have no hopes for Rock/Cena.

Just watched this again, I just feel it has always been overhyped to me. I watched this back to back with the Slaughter match and I think the Slaughter match is much better, but does not get the same level of praise. It is a good tit for tat match where both guys shows they could do the same things to each other, which gets across the point how evenly matched they are. Even though in the fans' eyes, Hogan is clearly superior. I have always wondered what the point that knee injury was to serve because at first I always thought it was a dickish move by Hogan to increase his babyface heat at the expense of the new babyface, which is at least logical. If it is a shot at Sting that just strikes me as a stupid way to cut out Warrior's knees from under him (that was fully intended). The chinlocks and bearhugs were a little too much for me. The best part of this match was the finish. I thought that was really well executed and you really had the feeling that you had no idea who was going to win. Betting against Hogan, just never seems like a smart move. The Warrior Splash not getting the pinfall followed by the Hulk-Up was just perfect bait for the eventual missed leg drop followed by the Warrior Splash victory. I feel like Loss nailed it by saying that the parting scene is the best part of the match and it really feels like the start of a new era. I feel that is what Vince is better than anyone else at achieving is iconic, timeless moments. The matches he produces/book don't always produce the greatest bell-to-bell results, but he always delivers on a powerful image that will resonate you forever. I think it is this ability to distill wrestling down to static, iconic images is the reason he is one of the greatest promoters of all time. Hogan/Warrior is more about the image after than it is about the match.

This one is a tough one for me to rate definitively. There are some really bad botches from Adnan that have already been noted. In addition, I didn't like the transition of Hogan getting press slammed off the top. It just doesn't make sense. He hadn't run through his arsenal yet so there was no reason to bust out a "big bomb" only to be caught. Then there was the whole Hogan being next to the ropes during the Boston Crab and only to grab the ropes when they were there the whole time (I thought he was going to power out). My other big problem is my general problem with 80s WWF (much like the fact 80s Metal didn't really die until 91/92, I think the same can be said for 80s WWF): neatly defined control segments with no sense of struggle within them. For that ordained amount of time, this wrestler will be a ragdoll for the other. It is not that matches can't transcend this handicap for me. It is that they are handicapped by it. At one point Gorilla says "We are seeing the Hogan of the 90s", I couldnt disagree more. I felt like we are seeing the brief return of 80s Hogan in this feud that had left us in late '87. It was not just the return of the Bleeding Hulkster, but a Hulkster, who himself was out for blood. He seemed more violent and grittier than he had been since Harley feud in '87. I absolutely loved the Hogan no-sell of the chair. It just sent that message of "Not today, scumbag. Your ass is grass and I am about to smoke it." One of my favorite stretches is when Hogan whips Slaughter into doing the Slaughter bump, high knees him and then catapults back into the turnbuckles. It was that type of urgency I felt was missing from most of Hogan's matches. There was two stretches of punches that kind of took me out of the match before Slaughter got on offense as they just felt weak. Though of course what made it was Slaughter bumping like a madman for Hogan. Hogan is always at his best when someone is there ready to bump like crazy for him. From the get-go, Slaughter is ready to bump off the collar-elbow tie-up and a shoulderblock, you just know this is going to be good. Slaughter was actually really good on offense too. They blended "I will get DQ to retain the belt" and back psychology really well. The Boston Crab wrecked Hogan's back and the chair busted him wide open. This all culminated in the Bloody Camel Clutch, which I feel like would be a more iconic scene if Savage/Liz didn't precede it and Hart/Austin did not supersede it. The hope spot out of the Camel Clutch rather than a full-fledged comeback was a nice wrinkle. It allowed to get that extra bit of heat when he covered him with the Iraqi Flag to get that extra bit of heat to really drive the finish home. I was actually a little disappointed by the lack of Hogan cheating in this. I only remember a solitary eye-rake and one back scratch. If there was ever a time for Hogan to "heel" it up, I feel like this was the time. I remember seeing the last 10 minutes of the Desert Storm rematch these guys had in MSG that seems like wild, chaotic brawl between the two you wanted and they delivered in spades in that one. So I know they can get more violent, but this was a very good Wrestlemania-type match with great visual imagery. I thought this was a really good 80s style match by two of the biggest 80s workers in the context of early 90s WWF. I would say this match is definitively (not that I am opposed to arguments for the other matches) Hogan's best match at Wrestlemania.

The Midnight Express vs The Road Warriors - Starrcade: Night of the Skywalkers - Scaffold Match Even though, I own this on DVD, I have never seen it due to my blind prejudice towards scaffold matches (I have never seen one). I am actually terrified of heights myself. I felt bad for the wrestlers more than anything else. Road Warriors portrayed badasses well enough on that rickety structure. The MX use powder to get heat and try to blade to salvage this. They do a chicken spot and taking some pretty massive bumps. This is the match where Corny goes up there like a good manager and Bubba forget to catch him and Cornette just drops straight down on his feet and fucks up his knee. Ouch. I don't really want to see this match again, but part of me is glad I at least watched one scaffold match. With Magnum out for the show and they couldn't run Flair/Dusty for the 3rd time in a row in Starrcade, was the Skywalkers match supposed to be the major drawing card for this show? Also, I have the WWE DVD copy of the Andersons vs RnR and it is friggin clipped. Is the full match available?

AWA World Tag Champs Road Warriors vs The Fabulous Ones I would be remiss not to mention that The Crusher is in Fabulous Ones' gear complete with bowtie and suspenders. The Fabs were not up to task and were not able to deliver a match on par with the High Flyers or the Freebirds. Though it was more due to the Road Warriors unwillingness to work and sit in chinlocks during the heat segment. I liked the opening (wasnt really a shine) because the Fabs were the first tag to take it to the Warriors. The Roadies shrugged it off in their own way, but I was digging the opening bit. Then the heat segment started ok with your standard Roadies offense, but then they just ground everything to a halt with those chinlocks. Lane puts his knees up on an Animal splash attempt. Keirn does a quick house a fire sequence before a lame donnybrook breaks out that is an insult to all donnybrooks for causing a No Contest. The Crusher in his ridiculous, albeit fabulous outift, sends everyone packing. They could have a great match, but was very disappointing.

NWA World Tag Champs Midnight Express vs The Road Warriors - 7/12/86 It has been much too long since I lapped up some down-home cooking from Crockett. I found this to be much more entertaining than the High Flyers, albeit that one did feature more actual wrestling content, whereas this one was all about the Midnights making the Roadies look like a million bucks with their bumping, stooging and stalling. All the while the Roadies stand tall and playing the irresistible force and immovable object at the same time. I think Hawk no-selling the piledriver in this case actually enhances the match because it just screams badass and makes the Midnights shit their pants. Another great sequence sees Eaton powder on a criss-cross -> do the universal gesture that he is smart -> get military pressed back in by Animal -> steamrolled by Hawk back to the outside -> Animal steamrolls him. Just beautiful. Hawk goes for a top rope move and crashes and burns and this allows for Loverboy to whack him with racquet thus continuing the theme that only the Road Warriors can hurt the Road Warriors. The heat segment is well-worked lots of cheating, eye-gouges and double teaming, but way too short and Hawk sucks as a face in peril (not that Animal is any better, actually he is probably worse). Animal comes in and it is dropkicks galore and a big powerslam before the schmozz with Cornette hitting Animal with the tennis racquet to draw the DQ. I would be remiss not to mention that during the post-match shenanigans Baby Doll cold-cocks Cornette to the delight of the crowd. I think the High Flyers and this match are about equals in overall performance, but get to the same place in very different fashions. AWA World Tag Champs The Road Warriors vs The Fabulous Freebirds - AWA Superclash I I felt like the Life Cereal kid about this, Sleeze liked it, I really liked it. It was as good as the Midnight Express in all the ways the MX match was good and delivered a much better heat segment. First off the Freebirds are painted up with Confederate Flags on their faces, which I think is just a badass HEEL move. They get their asses handed to them by the Road Warriors on a couple different occasions and even Bam Bam is nervous to enter the ring with these behemoths. Eventually Hawk is overzealous and runs his shoulder into the post. Thus continuing the theme that only the Road Warriors can hurt the Road Warriors. Hawk is a much better face in peril here. Now, is he Ricky Morton? Fuck no. I actually kinda like how he is almost a machine insofar as he is constantly struggling to get to his feet after a Gordy suplex (the Gordy taunt after is bitchin), Hayes sidewalk slam and a Gordy piledriver. It feels like these guys are wrestling the Terminator and all they can do is stun it. Hawk is selling "dazed", but not to level of a traditional face in peril, which is actually really logical. Hayes gives him a bodyslam and goes up for a press slam. Up until that point, the Freebirds were giving Hawk no breathing room. Just by creating that much space, the Terminator erm I mean Hawk, rose again, and press slams Hayes off the top. Now Gordy is in, but they knock heads and everyone is down. HOT TAG TO ANIMAL~! Animal atomic drop on Gordy and now a powerslam. Here comes Hayes. Outside, Buddy Roberts fuckin nails Ellering with a chair so Hawk comes out and beats the shit out of Buddy. Animal press slams Gordy, powerslam to Hayes, clothesline, shoulder block, pins Gordy, no ref, Hayes fist drop off the top, GORDY PINS!!!! Clearly the decision doesn't stand, which is always a shitty finish, plus who the fuck does a Dusty Finish for the heels. That is stupid. Even with the shitty finish I have this over the MX match (which in retrospect, I am downgrading a little bit) and right there with the High Flyers match. If they just put the Road Warriors this would be the best Road Warriors I have seen. I watched the Bundy/Blackwell tag a while ago and thought that was a snoozefest; I just watched the Hennigs so it is better than that. Unless the Fabs can pull out an outstanding performance for themselves and the Roadies, I think the Freebirds will co-own the best Road Warriors match with the High Flyers.

So in the High Flyers thread, I casually tossed out that match ranked among my favorite Road Warrior matches of all time. Then I realized I couldnt really think of any Road Warriors matches I really liked. So it is time to go back let myself reevaluate the Roadies' body of work. The Road Warriors vs Stan Hansen & Harley Race (Florida, 1985) When I saw this on the marquee, I knew I just had to see it. Could Stan Hansen make the Road Warriors sell? Unlike Greg Gagne, Stan Hansen was largely unsuccessful in making the Road Warriors sell. This match was quite the clusterfuck and never really found a rhythm. Hansen goes all "Leroy Jenkins" on poor Harley and runs up the ramp to beat on the Roadies. Harley does get a nice cowbell shot on Hawk while Hansen and Animal do some decent brawling. At this point, I was digging the match. Then they got in the ring and shit hit the fan. Animal did some blase headlock, arm work while Hawk and Hansen randomly took back to the outside. The Road Warriors looked like they had no clue what to do on offense. So Hansen and Race take over with some suplexes, headbutts and a piledriver, all of which Hawk quasi-no-sells. Hawk keeps cutting off Race/Hansen and it is just really hard for anybody to build rhythm because the Road Warriors keep cutting off these guys to do chinlocks. One of the best sequences is when Harley does a delayed vertical suplex and Hawk immediately tries to get up only for Harley to wrangle him and get a nearfall. Then Hawk just starts punching Harley in the head. Harley, who dos have an established hard head, just starts to no-sell it. Harley goes to headbutt him, but Hawk eye-rakes him. This clusterfuck is finally ended when Stan Hansen just chucks Bill Alfonso out of the way and brawls to the double DQ. This match had so much promise, but these guys could never get on the same page. The Road Warriors looked friggin' clueless out there for the most part. While it obvious why this occurred, but just looking at them makes the following a funny statement. Greg Gagne was more successful at getting the Road Warriors to sell than Stan Hansen. That is bizarro world stuff. AWA World Tag Champs The Road Warriors vs The Hennigs Starcage '85 The announcers explain to me before this match gets underway that this is a blood feud, which does nothing but elevate my expectations for violence. Yet the violence was on par with just any other plain 'ol match. I was expecting some brawling outside and some real deal violence. Larry The Ax and The Road Warriors do the irresistible force vs immovable object work, but it is not terribly interesting. Curt is the shining star of this match with his face in peril work, in terms of both hope spots and bumping/selling. Curt bumps big, yet tastefully, for the Road Warriors' offense especially one clothesline. Hawk showed some brutality with headlock punch and his big chops. Animal had a big powerslam. From what I have seen, the Road Warriors were not very good at the military press. I think it is because they didnt set it up right i.e. they try to deadlift their opponent. The best sequence of the match is at the end of the babyface shine Curt unleashing some high-octane babyface offense (high cross-body, dropkicks, a nasty chops), but gets caught trying to sunset flip Hawk. Nothin' doin' on that one. The heat segment does grind to a halt due to the chinlockery that the Road Warriors employ that bores me. Finally we hit the home stretch with Larry The Ax coming in with some clubbering. Tags Curt back in who hits one very awkward missile drop kick (he hits him at a 45 degree angle at his chest). Precious Paul interferes. Katie bar the door we have a pier six brawl a brewin. Everything gets thrown out. It was a pretty weak brawl, which makes this a weak finish. I definitely like Hawk more than Animal now. I know the Animal was the cooler head of the two, but is the general consensus that Hawk was the better worker? Still this is not a very good match outside of some Curt offense and bumping. But at the same time, it is a not bad match, but if they were going for blood feud match this definitely fell short of the mark.

High Flyers vs Road Warriors - 2/85 Winnipeg This is not the match on the AWA set, but actually the one that sets that one up. I was surprised by how much the Road Warriors were willing to give in this. I shouldn't have given that the Road Warriors knew where their bread was buttered. This match is almost all High Flyers and the Road Warriors are totally willing to sell for them and hell even Hawk takes a bump to the floor off a Brunzell dropkick. Initially, the match looks like it is going to be the Road Warriors gobbling up their opponents before the Brunzell dropkick and then the arm work. I actually dug that Hawk was "like enough of this shit" and basically dragged one of the High Flyers over with him and tagged in Animal. It displayed that Hawk was getting frustrated, but at the same time was still strong enough to escape the nuisance. Thus now in my mind I am thinking "Oh shit, so what will the High Flyers have to do to overcome this." The Road Warriors offense looks great here and it is just your standard power fare. In a really interesting wrinkle, Animal hurts his own knee because he does a backbreaker too hard. It is a transition I have never seen before. Basically the message there is the only way a Road Warrior can be harmed is by fucking himself up. The High Flyers do some really high quality leg work and Animal to his credit really milks by doing stuff like desperately trying to tag Hawk while Brunzell is holding his leg. The finish is Brunzell has Animal in a figure 4 and Gagne cuts Hawk off at the pass with the Gagne Choke Hold before Ellering gets involved and everything gets thrown out. I was not expecting to enjoy the High Flyers control segments as much as I did. They were really worked and the Road Warriors put them over big. It felt like a much more emotional, heated match than the random AWA tag with Backlund. I have as much trouble as anyone buying Greg Gagne's look, but he was never put in a position that made him look out of place against the Road Warriors. He spent most of the time out-smarting and working the mat against the Road Warriors so it was all logical as far as I was concerned. This actually ranks among my favorite Road Warriors matches of all time, but I think speaks more to overall quality of Road Warriors matches as this was more just an entertaining affair than anything truly amazing.

As I continue my campaign through the AWA parties (killer stuff, bruthas), they were going through the Bob Backlund & Brad Rheingans vs Butch Reed & Larry Z and given my love for my man, Bobby B, I thought I'd write this one up. Butch Reed is someone I have heard a lot about once I found this board, but have not yet seen a lot. I do like Larry Legend's run in WCW and watched the cage match with Bruno from Shea Stadium, where I thought he was excellent. I watched Rheingans vs Bockwinkel and I thought he was plenty serviceable as Olympic wrestling babyface. Of course, Backlund rules all. Bob Backlund & Brad Rheingans (aka Verne's Ragin' Hard-On) vs Butch Reed & Larry Zbyszko (aka WTF) Is this part of Pro Wrestling USA? Is there any backstory for this? The usage of Rheingans is pitch perfect until the finish. He comes off as the Olympic powerhouse with his scientific ability overwhelming the brute of Reed and guile of Zbyszko. Then they don't use him again until the House A Fire section so the entire match makes him look like a million bucks and doesn't mean that he has to do any selling or build any heat. Basically, he capitalizes on the heat the other three generate, which I think is a great way to develop a talent. When Bob is doing his headlock and working over Butch's arm, it is like being reconnected with a long lost friend. O, how I missed you. This does not last long as the heat segment begins, which makes perfect sense, this is not supposed to be a Backlund showcase. Backlund is in there to generate heat so that Rheingans can look like a boss when he cleans house. Reed and Zbyszko are actually gelling pretty well. Power & wile are always great complements to each other. I definitely am in the Dylan camp insofar as Zbyszko is totally outworking everyone in this match. It feels like he is out to prove something as puts on the greatest abdominal stretch, I have ever seen. Jumbo must be jealous of that shit. I was not digging the Reed bearhugs and chinlocks as much as Will & Johnny. I wish I could defend Backlund in this, but he is just gobbled up by the heels. I guess that is my defense. He wasn't allowed to get anything in the form of hope spots into the match so that forced in a very generic, bland role. Then this all leaves me totally perplexed during the home stretch. Rheingains comes in and does his thing. Backlund is back in and there seems to be some miscommunication between him and Larry Z, but it does end with Backlund taking his usual headbutt to the gut, which doubles Bob over. The perfect setup for Bob to be piledriven only he back body drops him over to win the match. Besides some awkwardness, the finish in a vacuum seems like a very good one. I see where Johnny and Will are coming from that perspective. My issue is how it syncs up with the rest of the match. On one hand, it seems like they are trying to make Rheingains look like a big money ball player, but instead he just feels like a non-factor because he didn't figure into any important spot of the match. On the other, you have Backlund is delivering an uncharacteristically bland performance but scooping up all the heat by getting the heat. It was just weird. The match felt pretty heatless to me and I didn't get emotionally invested in it. It was a very basic tag formula and besides some great spots from Larry Z, it just felt very ho-hum.

I was a HUGE WCW fan at this point (in my defense, I was 10) and remember most of the Nitros from this era, but Thunder was definitely hit or miss in my viewing pattern. I can't believe I had never heard of this angle. So I immediately had to go watch this. It was totally bitchin. You know when Savage is dropping Bangles references that we are in for a fun ride. Whenever, Savage says "You're the man!" in his voice it always sounds so hilariously saracastic. He also uses that line against DDP at Uncensored 1997 to great effect. Also, this is something I miss sorely from WCW and is one of the few things I like about TNA is how they would cross storylines and make everything mesh. There are times when McMahon is good about this, but usually he has very linear booking pattern. It is definitely one thing WCW had on him was there ability to use past history and leverage it into cool, little angles like that. Of course, the problem with WCW is that don't follow-up on this at all with a Savage/Rey match. If only we could have WCW's matrix booking with Vince's ability to be coherent and follow things up to a logical conclusion. Anyways, back to the angle, Savage with all the girls just seems like a huge deal. He really still seems like one of the biggest stars in wrestling. He was my favroite wrestler in early 1998 and was really excited he was being pushed right back to main event status in 1999. He comes off great in this segment. I didn't like the amount of heat they put on Gorgeous George rather than Madusa, but damn if seeing Gorgeous George didn't remind my 10-year old self how hot I thought she was. Finally, Savage's piledrivers looked vicious that was some Bob Backlund-esque stuff. You may just have me hooked on 1999 WCW again. I will also reiterate everyone's points that this is definietly my must-read thread now that I discovered it. I am going to have to go back and really peruse the rest of it.

I can work with this. I'll accept Bret-Steamboat as a personal moment of recognition instead of something that is more widely recognized as the point of "his big step". Those rare house show matches, where you knew that nothing "big" was really going to happen, that grabbed your attention and actually had you guessing about how things were going to play out even though you know how they will play out, always really stand out for me. I ain't gonna deny you your personal feelings. Like I said from hindsight, you could tell Bret has all the tools. The fact that SNME is telecasted to one of their biggest TV audiences and was actually given time to developed just feels more like a "coming out party". Nice to see you agree with me, John. Fuck going in order Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs Bret "Hitman" Hart - SNME 11/87 Unless I am forgetting some Rockers match, this is definitely my pick for best match in SNME history. Make no mistake about it, this is the Randy Savage show and one of the few times in his whole WWF career where Bret takes a backseat to someone in a match. As much as we can debate whether this is Bret's coming out party, this is definitively Savage's coming out party as the number two babyface in the company. Johnny Sorrow will be happy to know he still cheats like a muthafucka. Thus it is only logical that Savage is the star of the match, but that being said, there are very few heels at this point in time in the promotion that could have delivered the same performance as Bret did in this match. I think that is really when a match transcends into something special is when both wrestlers are crucial to the success of the match in such a way no other wrestler could take their place. To state in the converse fashion, neither wrestler feels like a generic, warm body to partake in the routine of someone else's match. Even though, Savage is my favorite wrestler of all-time, I have not viewed many of his matches through my new revisionist lens. I have been a bit afraid because I thought he may not hold-up. Have no fear, I enjoyed this match more than I remember upon first viewing. Savage is not a fan of extended segmenting in his matches especially he likes short babyface shines when he is a babyface. What I like about this is that adds a sense of struggle in a way that most WWF matches lack. Bret is almost getting in "heel hope spots" during the shine just to spice things up. They establish Macho Man will have plenty of extracurricular to concern himself early. This is also the first instance of the rather proliferate Bret bump off the apron onto the guardrail. Was that a Savage bump that Bret adopted or was that just the first time Bret did that? Also, one thing I love in my wrestling is urgency. Has there ever been a more urgent North American wrestler than Savage? Savage crashes and burns on his double axe-handle to the guardrail. Bret delivers a piledriver that would make Bob Backlund proud before ramming his shoulder back into his post. Savage does a mini-control segment before being back dropped over the top rope and onto the floor. Thus begins Savage's Emmy campaign. If you have force me, I would say I prefer Savage' knee selling over Toshiaki Kawada's by a hair. Savage is just so excellent on fighting on one leg. Elizabeth helping Savage take off his boot is such a nice touch. Bret is in his element working over the leg. They work this to such a fever pitch that crowd pops huge for Savage's desperation inside cradle off a bodyslam attempt to win. An excellent match that illustrates how the WWF style had the potential to deliver powerful stories even if they didn't always. I loved this match and I think it is a harbinger of Bret's future and a testament to what Savage could be as a babyface.

Well I can only speak on this from a hindsight perspective, I think you can definitely say that Bret Hart was going to be a big player in the wrestling industry all the way back in 1986. Between the ropes, he had all the tools. To reiterate my earlier point (which I think may have been buried in my reviews), Bret is one of those special wrestlers (like a Flair) that can have a complete match unto himself. He has enough signature bumps that he can just plug and play with any wrestler. Now I realize there are many people on this board that don't like that. However, if you are the boss, I think you are looking for efficiency and reliability, not a custom artist. That is what these kind of wrestlers could provide a promoter. Night in and night out, you could pair them with just about anybody and you know because Bret was in the match he would be able to construct a solid, if not excellent match because the Bret match is solid unto itself. If you are looking from Flair's perspective, when you have to face Dusty, Lawler, Kerry, Harley and Jumbo (five incredibly different wrestlers in five very different parts of the world) over the course of a couple months, you think you are going to strain yourself to come up with 5 completely different matches that is customized for each wrestler especially when you know that TV is totally regional at this point. It is nonsense. Am I saying that all Flair matches are the same, of course not (I happen to think Flair is the greatest of all-time). To me saying Flair or Bret matches are all the same is like saying every song that follows verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus is the same. Flair, clearly, allowed his opponent to have their signature spots, but if Flair has to go 45, 60 minutes with a guy, it is not like he has to stretch his mind on how he will fill his time. He already has a template that allows him to deliver on the business end for promoters by crafting matches that will draw in perpetuity due to excitement that his spots elicit from the crowd. This allows him to take some time to focus on other facets of the business and getting laid. To me it is like when I was applying for jobs. I don't have a custom letter for the over 500 companies I had applied to. I have a template and I insert 2-3 sentences specific to that company. In Flair and Bret's defense, they offer a lot more variety than that, but I think you get my point. What you can see from 80s Bret matches are not these spectacular matches per se, but a spectacular ring general. It is foolish to say that Vince didn't notice this pretty early on. In Vince's mind, at worst, he had the Tito Santana of the 90s and that aint too friggin' shabby at all. Best case scenario was pretty much getting the Bret we saw in the 90s. When you are a promoter, I think such extraordinary ring generalship is something you don't keep on the undercard. Every match from the 80s with Bret I have watched is a Bret match through and through, even the match with Steamboat. Now add that Bret has displayed, he can stooge and stall with best of them as a heel and that he has some of the best offense in North America, in my opinion. It is always crisp and as far as WWF wrestlers he has quite the arsenal. To me, this is actually way easier to see Bret's rise to the top than either Austin or Rock. Austin always struck me as the Stunning Steve character as a decent mid-card act or low-drawing main event act. When The Rock starting speaking in the 3rd person you knew he was a fuckin cash cow, no doubt. I think you could actually see Bret's value in between the ropes a lot earlier than either of those guys. khawk, I only have the benefit of the hindsight, I agree with you that from what I seen Bret's destiny to be a major player would have taken a serious injury to derail this. But I feel like "coming out party" maybe a little too strong. I don't think it is until the Bret/Savage match from SNME that you truly get the feeling that Vince was giving Bret his "Show me what you got, kid" moment and Bret delivered in spades. I want to go back and watch that match because I think it is Bret's best match from the 80s, but moreso, because I remember it more for Savage's selling of the knee. Lets face it, when Savage is selling his knee, every single wrestler takes a backseat because Savage rules the school at that. What is interesting about that, is that up until that point Bret has been the dominant force in his matches. All his matches run through him. For his "coming out party", not to have him be the lynchpin would be an interesting wrinkle to say the least. But I first I do want to maintain order and watch the Strike Force tags.

So I normally listen to these, when I am watching some puro or lucha or occasionally, I will sync up and watch the match you guys are talking about from youtube. I just like to listen to people's thoughts on matches and psychology, but I appreciate that you guys don't keep it dry and do talk some smack. I think lends itself to a really fun atmosphere. The reason I don't post more is because it takes me a while to write reviews and am pretty busy writing about WWF tag wrestling from the 80s now. So I just dont have time to chime in, but I will say Jumbo/Martel & Bock/Hennig #1 are my favorites so far from the first 5 podcasts (granted I have not seen everything). I will probably write some stuff up on them in the Microscope when I get a chance. I use the AWA, especially, to break up the monotony of WWF tag wrestling (I don't mean that as a completely damning praise, but I have never been a person to watch one specific style ad nauseum). Thanks for the podcast, I really do dig it, but the reason, I am breaking my silence is because DAVE MUSGRAVE IS THE FUCKIN MAN!!! Not only is the guy hilarious, but he hates Rush. Holy shit, ever since Rush got into the Hall Of Fame it has turned my classic rock & classic metal radio stations in my area into non-stop prog borefests. I marked out pretty hard when he said that. Give me Styx any day of the week over Rush. Overall, badass podcast, look forward to keep on plugging away with you guys. Maybe one day, I will save up enough money to buy these sets, so I can actually participate properly.

Hart Foundation vs Islanders 11/86 Maple Leaf Gardens Best match from the Hart Foundation I have seen so far and it was really good for a WWF Tag. The Islanders, hot damn, I had never seen them before and they were perfect babyfaces for the WWF in the way Rougeaus never could be. They kinda got fucked with the elevation of Strike Force as number one babyface. It doesn't strike me that they would be very good as heels, but we shall see. I have dug Martel and Tito a lot, but the they have a lot of ground to cover to match the sheer energy The Islanders brought to this match. As for this match, Bret does a little bit more stalling than we are used to seeing, but when it comes to bump him and Anvil are ready to make Islanders shine. The Islanders could have been the ethnic response to your RnR Express clones with more WWF-oriented offense (read: Big Ass Spots). My favorite spot of the shine sequence: Haku's causal thrust kick to Bret while he is on the apron that had me going crazy. Bret chooses to do the blind knee as his transition spot du jour. Demolition Decapitation transitions into an Anvil chinlock. Then in a spot of the whole friggin match, Bret runs Tama down the ramp and fuckin throws him down the steps. Holy shit! You didn't see that from the WWF at that time. Bret picks up him to take him back, but for good measure first rams his head into the ramp. Bret can bring the violence when he wants. Some good, quality low-down heel offense follows usually involving ramming Tama's head into stuff. Bret even takes a swing at Haku, payback, muthafucka. Bret sure loves the false babyface tag immediately followed by heel miscommunication I think he could milk it more. Haku comes in double noggin knocker, paint brushes Bret, and it is a double diving headbutt from the Islanders. Tama hits the high cross-body, but in the fracas Nedihart crotches Tama on the ropes and Bret steals one. Are there things these could have done a bit better with more times, I am sure of it. But as it stands, I think this is my favorite Hart Foundation because it felt like the Islanders added something to the Bret show. Plus, there were more cheapshots and violence. I would definitely recommend someone checking this out. WWF World Tag Champs Hart Foundation vs The Islanders - 3/87 Philly I'll be honest a bit of a let down. I thought with 10 extra minutes they could really piece together something for the age, but they spend the first five minutes stalling. I thought the shine was definitely the bets part of this with Haku knocking Bret's block off with a thrust kick off a criss cross. Tama making both Bret and Anvil look foolish on separate occasions. Islanders do some armwork on Anvil before, the blind knee WAIT Tama sees the blind knee and is pointing how smart he is only to have Anvil sledge him in the back. I dug the twist. It was very good face in peril, but I was a bit spoiled by the throw off the ramp bump. They replaced it with Tama flinging himself into the railing once and onto the floor. They did a better job conveying a sense of struggle here, and the violence on the part of Hart Foundation was as ratcheted up with biting, choking and clawing. At this point of the match, I was still saying it could very much exceed expectations. But the finish was really lackluster, they get the hot tag finally after a well done, heat segment and they do a short Haku house a fire and Tama comes flying halfway across the ring to nail Bret with a cross-body only for Danny Davis to put Bret on top in the fracas. I just hated how short it was. I really wanted to see Haku clean house and get some nearfalls before all was said and done. Alas, a fine match for what it was. WWF World Tag Champs Hart Foundation vs Tito Santana & Danny Spivey - SNME 1987 After finishing up his feud with the Macho Man in mid-86, it seems like Vince had his heart set on retooling Tito as a tag team guy, which I think was a smart move. I am looking forward to watching Strike Force. I don't know much about Spivey. I know he had one-off match with Luger that is considered pretty good. He looks like a bigger version of Stunning Steve Austin and seems like the type of guy Vince would have loved to keep. I have no idea why he is wearing the French flag as his trunks. This is your run of the mill, sleepwalk Hart Foundation match. The big spot is Anvil doing the Martel slingshot splash being assisted by Bret. Spivey had to do the FIP b/c they needed Tito for the hot tag and he sucked pretty hard at selling. Tito was sweet off the hot tag with Flying Burritos for everyone. He slaps on the figure-4 on Bret, but Davis comes in and hits him with the megaphone in the chaos. Voila! You have your Wrestlemania III six-man tag match.

Bret Hart is quite the firebrand on this site over the past couple months. I definitely fall on the pro-Bret side of things. That doesn't mean I think he is the greatest of all time, mind you, but I do think he is a great wrestler. Besides the touring champs (Harley, Flair & Bockwinkel), he seems like one of the few wrestlers that ever could have a complete match unto themselves. He has as many stock bumps that as he has stock moves and this allows him to go out have a wrestling match with any opponent. When you have a talent like that, I think it is impossible for him to be held down. If McMahon continued with his large-man fetish (imagine no steroid trials and Warrior catches on), then I think Bret would have been the WCW World Champion in no time. That is too valuable a talent to be wasted on the mid-card (sorry, Arn, I don't know what happened to you). I do not understand people that say wrestlers like Flair and Bret have the same matches night in and night out. They have repetitive spots, but not repetitive matches. I know that people have been down on the Hart Foundation tag team work, but I feel that Bret was a victim of circumstance in these hyper-compressed, face-oriented, spot-focused matches. Even then, I have yet to see a time in any Hart Foundation match when he is not the absolute, definitive best wrestler in the ring. He is clearly the general in everyone of his matches. He executes his moves the best. He bumps the best. He is at least always selling as well as the babyfaces (I will admit there are a couple babyfaces, a bit better at that). The Hart Foundation vs Killer Bees - 2/86 MSG The one thing I never got about the Killer Bees is how they were supposed to be faces with the Masked Confusion gimmick. Anyways, this starts off with the Bees doing some token leg work on Anvil (think Rockers, but not as exciting), which culminates in a figure-4 that Bret breaks up. Jimmy Hart, clearly 20 years ahead of his time, gets mocked for shopping at a Thrift Shop. Bret slips on the second rope while going for a second rope elbow (a rare sighting of this Bret bump). Brunzell is a house with a small stovetop fire, dangerous, but easily quenched by a blind knee in the back (the ultimate Hart Foundation transition spot). Usual Hart Foundation heat segment: bodyslam on concrete, Demolition Decapitation, and the irish whip sling shot move. I remember this being a little too front facelock-y. Brunzell hits his sweeeeeeet dropkick (Bulldog's is still more impactful), but cant capitalize. The Hart Foundation Irish whip sling shot misses this time around. Blair is a house afire: punches, small package, bodyslams and atomic drops (Bret bumps into Anvil). After the Hart Foundation collision, Brunzell hits his dropkick, but alas we hit the time limit draw. I thought this was on par with 9/85 Bulldogs match is a great match with good solid work. The Hart Foundation/Bulldogs would eventually exceed this match in 1987, but for now it is on par with that. Bret Hart vs Ricky Steamboat - 3/86 This seemed like a solid match and one of the better WWF Steamboat that doesn't have Savage involved. Steamboat just never seemed to fit in the WWF something about just seemed so wrong. Bret Hart pearl harbors him early. The standard Bret turnbuckle bump leads to Steamboat's arm work, which is solid, but uninspiring. Bret transitions with a swinging neckbreaker, a little bit too much of a babyface transition. Bret does one of his favorite 80s sequences: goes for a backbreaker, opponent reverses into a bodyslam, but the wrinkle here is Bret gets the knees up on the splash. Excellent, excellent sequence as you get the hope spot, Steamboat desperately trying to capitalize, but in his overzealousness he over reaches and the Hitman is able to one-up him. Bret follows up with his bodyslam on the parquet floor and successfully gets the backbreaker. Bret misses second-rope elbow and here comes the Steamer. Bret gets a visual pin off a ref bump if I do recall correctly, but the finish ultimately is Steamboat rolling through a Bret cross-body for the win. I know I have been down on Steamboat lately and this is a perfectly good match, but I think Bret is once again the better wrestler in this match and his fingerprints are all over it. Bret can have some borefests, but he did get better at structuring his matches, though that maybe a consequence of McMahon giving him more than 10 minutes at a time. Hart Foundation vs Killer Bees - SNME 11/86 This is not as good as their MSG match due to time constraints and the focus on getting over gimmicks, but it was a decent match. Bret ate a high knee early from Brunzell, which surprised me. Hart Foundation take over with the blind knee (somebody fucked up and ran the ropes towards the middle and Bret had to leap and slide to bury the knee in his back). Demolition Decapitation and then Anvil hits a freakin dropkick. Brunzell hits his dropkick, but cant capitalize that is a pretty good hope spot having seen it twice now. Both Bees end up on the outside: MASKED CONFUSION~! Blair with an atomic drop on Hart sending him into Brunzell and now Anvil irish whipped into Bret. It is pandemonium in there, baby. Blair with the sleeper on Anvil, but Brunzell lets Bret hit a double axe-handle from the top that way he can switch with Blair while the ref is admonishing Bret. Bret gets the tag and eats the small package. It was a decent match structured to get over the Masked Confusion gimmick, which went nowhere because the Bulldogs were firmly positioned as the lead face team until Strike Force took over.

Yes it is the Wrestlemania match. What I meant by Wrestlemania-type match is big arena match with lots of big spots designed for audible crowd interaction and not very nuanced. I didn't realize how bad Dynamite fucked up his back until I saw they were using JYD as his replacement (Dog connection I s'pose). Personally, I would have rather seen Tito/Harley at Wrestlemania as they have a good match at some house show. Harley takes a crazy bump down the ringsteps breaking the only rule in the Sleeze Household: No Fighting On The Stairs. I forget if I reviewed that match. Damn, I meant to. Took a bit of a break from the WWF tag scene because it just wasn't doing it for me and was in the mood to listening to someone talk about wrestling so I listened to the Wrestling Party podcasts for the AWA matches. I had seen most of the matches already, but man was that a grand ole time. You guys had me laughing the whole time. During one of the matches, which isn't posted on youtube, I watched Blackwell/Bravo from 1980 and I can't believe it didn't make the set given some of the reviews for the matches. Plus Blackwell works friggin holds, so even it has novelty. I have seen two matches from Bravo and have liked both of them so far. Anyways back to the Bulldogs... WWF World Tag Champs Hart Foundation vs The British Bulldogs - SNME 2 Out of 3 Falls 5/87 I got to put over Jimmy Hart huge early as Matlida fuckin shoots on him and actually bites him in the leg. Then there is an awesome shot of Matilda with the megaphone in her mouth. Matilda is my fuckin bitch, now. (Get it? I totally slay me) Seriously, Matilda seems ridiculously lame (to me at least), but her entire tenure was validated in that one minute. It is an SNME match, so you know what that means: SPRINT! Davey Boy starts off per usual. Wows us with the Stampede reversal out of the wristlock, then does his standard show of strength by picking up Bret while in a knucklelock, some quick armwork before a Bret knee lift as usual sends right into FIP. No meandering here as Anvil and Bret are following up everything quickly and crisply. But in their haste, Smith gets his knees up in the corner. Hot tag, Dynamite is ready to go to town: Bret takes his turnbuckle bump, hair pick up, hooking clothesline, snap suplex, diving headbutt. Anvil looks to make a save and throws Davey Boy out to the floor, where Davis takes advantage of him. Tito chases Davis while the Hart Foundation double teams Dynamite and they do not heed the ref's admonishments leading to the DQ. Second fall, they continue to work on Dynamite and do Demolition Decapitation. While some choking goes on, we do a chase sequence and when we comeback, we get Bret's favorite transition: hang Dynamite in ropes only to cross body block the ropes. Hot tag! HOLY SHIT! Davey Boy hits two MASSIVE dropkicks on the Hart Foundation. Brunzell's are prettier, but these dropkicks actually look like they got some mustard on them. A delayed vertical suplex gets two, but Anvil gets in some forearms before clobbering Bret on the apron. Tito hits the Flying Burrito on Davis to a huge pop. Bulldog gorilla press slams Dynamite onto Anvil and the place erupts. Alas, the title can't change hands on a DQ. That is some grade-A bullshit right there. After a drought of fun Bulldogs' matches, this one comes on like a monsoon of non-stop action. Everyone is hitting their stuff crisply and the transitions are really well-done. Transitions are important to me and I think Bret setup each one nicely and the match felt like a contest between a couple offensive juggernauts. Nowhere near the best with stuff with the Dream Team, but I would put around the 9/85 match with the Hart Foundation in terms of quality. WWF World Tag Champions Hart Foundation vs British Bulldogs - MSG 7/87 If I am not mistaken, this is the last major match these two teams would have together. They went out with a bang. Definitely my choice for the best match these two teams have ever had with each other. Three Hart Foundation/Bulldogs matches have made WWE DVDs I cant believe this one has not. To me this is finally the match that rivals the stuff with the Bulldogs were having with the Dream Team. The Hart Foundation finally learns and attacks the Bulldogs during the Matilda routine. They isolate Davey Boy, while Dynamite gets Matilda out of harm's way. It is all for naught as Bret runs into Anvil on a criss-cross. It actually comes off as a really well done spot. Someone pissed in Dynamite's corn flakes that day because he is ripshit the whole match. Just tearing into people and snapping at the ref to get into position better and this makes for a way better match. After a hooking clotheslines, Bret rolls away and Dynamite follows him and just starts rifling elbows at him. Bret in desperation eyerakes, but Dynamite still controls to get Davey Boy in there and do a double headbutt. This has been what is missing in this series. That feeling of a real contest and urgency. The Bulldogs are hungry and the Hart Foundation are cheating like muthafuckas. None of this, let me you ragdoll for 5 minutes, now you be my ragdoll. Everyone is trying to cut each other off and there is a real sense of struggle. When I started online, I always heard Dynamite get these rave reviews, but Davey Boy Smith is way more fun to watch in my opinion. He is both the better FIP and hot tag. Davey Boy's hot tag dropkick can't fuckin be beat. That thing is disgusting. But I digress, fisherman's suplex by Davey Boy gets two. Here is a bit of weak transition as Bret punches Dynamite and is able to tag Anvil. I say it is weak because I do not think a heel should gain the upper hand in that fashion especially in the WWF where closed fists are commonplace. In Japan, a closed fist is one of the ultimate dick moves. In WWF, it just feels like another move. I would have rather seen something more heelish end the shine. Anvil is feeling into tonight with manical laugh and sledges before sending Dynamite out to be slammed into the rial by Bret. Back in now Anvil is biting him, this is the point when I was like "Ok, finally these two teams are really bringing it". Demolition Decapitation, which always looks nasty, gets two. Dynamite dazes Bret with a headbutt and falls on top on a slam attempt. Now Anvil tries to headbutt Dynamite. Bad idea and Anvil knocks himself out. I love it. Smith gets in prematurely, but Anvil ends up forcing Bret to take his trunbuckle bump and Anvil is back body dropped to the outside. HOT TAG! No dropkick, booooo. Makes up for it by busting out the monkey flip, which he has not done yet. Then falls that up with 2nd rope kneedrop, another move Smith has not done. Davey Boy rules. Now his more conventional offense: delayed vertical and running powerslam both get two. Bret grabs a sleeper only for Dynamite to headbutt him. In one of my favorite spots, Davey Boy goes to gorilla press slam Bret, but "loses control" and drops Bret crotch first on the ring ropes. That one is a always a Sleeze Pleezer. They do a common finish, where Anvil from the outside trips Smith on a suplex attempt and Bret falls on top for the win. Excellent, excellent match. Zero down-time, felt like a struggle with a real sense of urgency from both teams. If someone had to pick the representative match for this series, I would pick this one because it is just that much better than the rest. The title change, unfortunately due to the mitigating circumstances of Dynamite's injury, is just a 3 minute match. Then all the other matches feel of equal historical importance, so I would just pick the best one and that is this one in my opinion.

WWF World Tag Champs Hart Foundation/Danny Davis vs The British Bulldogs/Tito Santana I watched the title change, which was a short match because of Dynamite's injury. Davis was busy with checking on Dynamite's well-being after being knocked out with Hart's megaphone while Davey Boy was kicking ass and taking names, Davis missed a Bulldog pinfall. Hart Foundation double DDT -> Hart Attack -> Fast count -> New World Tag Champs and a newly minted molten heel in the form of Danny Davis. This match is wicked fun until the finish. Tito has been such a joy to watch even if he was dragged down by Adrian Adonis and Don Muraco on occasions. The babyface shine segment gets you amped. The heat segment is pretty decent on Dynamite, nothing particularly inspiring until Danny Davis comes in. He is a fuckin awful wrestler. Worst ever? He couldn't even post properly for Bulldog's delayed vertical suplex, unless this was him taking gimmick so far that he couldn't wrestle. Like I understand playing it up you suck at offense, but there is no reason to suck at bumping. What is impressive is the amount of heat he got. If they gave this gimmick to anyone worth a damn, it could have easily been a big upper midcard heel act for a couple years and probably would have gotten a Hogan program. People were going nuts for Tito and Davey Boy's offense (TOMBSTONE~!). I am a sucker for weasel heel takes a bunch of big moves. The finish pretty much sucks because Davis goes over due to nefarious tactics. It makes sense because they were probably planning to push Davis based on the heat he was getting until they realized he was fuckin atrocious. Still a fun Wrestlemania type match that I had actually never seen before.

The one where Dynamite comes off the second rope is pretty gnarly. WWF World Tag Champions British Bulldogs vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff - 12/86 Primetime Wrestling This was set up by a pretty decent short spotfest between Smith/Sheik when Sheik &Volkoff beat up Smith and Dynamite made the save. Volkoff busts out a cartwheel, which is both impressive and heelish, so double points. I may have been selling Volkoff short. Boring babyface shine consisted of arm work on Volkoff. Dynamite takes a knee to the back while he is running the ropes. Which is usually a Hart Foundation spot, but maybe the Bulldogs liked it. Volkoff has a pretty impressive bearhug when he does the squat and lay the opponent's shoulder's down, but the ref catches him using the Sheik for leverage. Sheik gets in his favorite spots in pretty smart fashion. He begins with the ab stretch and Dynamite hiptosses out, but Dynamite whiffs on an elbow. It was a simple sequence but delivered a hope spot and smartly led to the gutwrench suplex (a favorite of mine) and the Camel Clutch, which Smith breaks up because he is fed up. Sheik goes for his suplex and Dynamite hits his snap suplex. That sequence was really smartly done. Davey Boy is a house afire, but on each cover Volkoff comes in, a grand total of 5 times. Volkoff actually is able to hit an atomic drop and a monster backbreaker, but now Dynamite breaks it up. Volkoff goes for another backbreaker, but Dynamite dropkicks Bulldog on top of Volkoff. Overall, it was a smartly booked big man vs little man match and much better than their SNME affair, but still nothing to write home about. The Bulldogs just didn't match up well with this team because their offense seemed restricted. The finish with the Bulldogs double-teaming after the constant Volkoff saving was ok. The match was simply ok. WWF World Tag Champs British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation 11/1/86 Last time we saw these teams face off was about a year ago. The Bulldogs have wrested the titles off the Dream Team in a fantastic and defended the title against the teams ye likes of Sheik & Volkoff. While the Hart Foundation matured as a team against the Killer Bees in some fun matches. The Hart Foundation trap Dynamite in the corner, but the fights out, which is one of my favorite early shine spots. Now we do Davey Boy vs Anvil, but Bulldog can't budge the Anvil and ends up taking a powerslam. This begins the heat segment a little bit earlier than I was prepared for. The heat segment is a Best Of Hart Foundation spots collection. They are all there for your enjoyment: Anvil slingshotting Bret over the ropes, Demolition Decapitation, the blind knee to the back, Bret's bodyslam on the concrete, Bret irish whipping Anvil into his opponent. I like the Hart Foundation offense just fine, but have three major qualms. First, it made the match totally about the Hart Foundation. It felt like the Bulldogs were just any opponents taking the Hart Foundation's offense. It could have been the Killer Bees, Islanders or Rockers. I like when matches utilize the differences to make a unique match that only these two teams could have. Bret just seemed like he wanted to do "plug and play" in this match. Second, Davey Boy is no Ricky Morton. This could have been Bret eating him up, but some of the onus has to be on him to perform hope spots and make people notice him and not just be a rag doll out there. The first two points culminate in my last point, I hate how this match had no sense of struggle. When wrestling matches become exhibitions, they lose their gravitas. Exhibitions are useful in wrestling for getting over offense or gimmicks, but in title matches against established opponents I expect a sense of struggle towards victory, not neatly defined "my segment, your segment". That is what the Dream Team matches so much better is that there was a sense of struggle in the Wrestlemania and 2 Out of 3 Falls match with both teams working hard to overcome the other. Bulldog is able to pick up Bret and crotch him on the ropes. Dynamite comes in and supplies the Bulldog offense for the match: hooking clothesline, snap suplex and diving headbutt. I loved the Bulldogs' arsenal against the Dream Team and think it was criminal that they didn't get to show it off here. Anvil wipes out the ref and tries to cheat to get Bret to win with lots of dramatic two counts. Before Davey Boy rolls up Anvil for the pinfall after an exaggerated count. I actually dug the finish and I thought it added a lot of drama to a match that lacked heat because it was the Hart Foundation show in the middle. Bret had all the MOVEZ~! in 1986, but he had not quite figured out how to put them altogether yet.

I always thought it was Standard Operating Procedure to use a heel transitional champ (Koloff, Stasiak, Graham). Face vs Face matches always ended up in inconclusive finishes because if done wrong it could lead to an alienation of a portion of fanbase. Theoretically (practically in the 80s), having heels job/look bad does not lead to alienation of any segment of the fanbase. Hogan over Sheik is a guaranteed 100% pop. Hogan over Backlund you cant be sure. So why risk it. Plus I don't know what the plans for Backlund were in a Hulkamania world. I know a heel turn was in order and have heard that it bandy around that it included a dye job, but I don't think was much value to Backlund passing the torch to Hogan and I think that is fleshed out by how much of a cash cow the Hulkamania era was. There was no point in damaging babyface Backlund.

I do not think there is a tag team more suited for the hyper-compressed, spot-oriented style of WWF wrestling moreso than the British Bulldogs. Even the fast-paced Rockers weren't so reliant on spots and moreso on traditional babyface shine and heel heat segments. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, were designed to be crowd-popping machines. Every move seems like a highlight reel moment to amaze the crowd. Selling and bumping get in the way of the next crowd pop and are only to be done if necessary to advance the story that is being foisted on them. Heel heat segments in Bulldog matches are like dance breakdowns functionally necessary, but they stand between you and the hook. As opposed to a Rock N Roll Express, where heel heat segments are the hook that bridge to the climax. Both matches get you to the same place, but they take different paths. Those paths are not always equal. Dynamite and Davey, especially Davey, don't strike me as a couple MENSA members. Dynamite was in there because he is a violent muthafucka and seemed like when he was in the ring he was addicted to speed. Davey seemed like he was physically capable to do absolutely anything in the ring, but had no fucking clue how to structure a match. He is like a way more athletic Sting. Quite frankly, you could at least excuse Davey on grounds of ignorance, (though you think someone would have taught him). Is Bret the one that claims Flair never taught Sting and Luger psychology or is that Steiner? Clearly, Bret didn't teach Davey Boy psychology. Dynamite didn't give a fuck. He just wanted to do another snap suplex or headbutt. I feel like I maybe oversimplfying, but that is how I feel Bulldog matches would go unless some like Valentine or Bret reigns them in. They are the WWF equivalent of the Steiner Brothers (so their time periods dont overlap), but I think the comparison is valid. I don't think the Bulldogs should win any greatest of all time awards, but just like blockbuster action movies they have their place in wrestling. You don't have to overthink Bulldogs matches. They just are fun. The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation - 7/85 MSG One of my favorite Bret spots is his leverage spot which results in someone taking a dive out to the floor. What I like about it most is that either Bret or his opponent could take it, which makes it one of the versatile spots in wrestling. Bret is definitely a big fan of the kneelift to set up his heat segments during this time period. Everything does even back in 1985 just looks so crisp. I know Bret prides himself on this, but I still cant help but compliment him on his ability to execute moves without being stiff. I like stiff wrestling as much as the next wrestling fan, but I think it is pretty nifty that Bret can make everything he do look so good without being stiff. Bret gives Davey a backbreaker so Anvil can deliver Demolition Decapitation. Wait, I thought this was the Bulldogs thread. Just on cue, here come Dynamite to bring the offense to this match with his nasty hooking clothesline and Davey Boy comes back in with a running powerslam. Now he takes the leverage move to the outside. After trading a couple Boston Crabs, they are just killing time to the curfew finish. This was an ok first match from these two "vaunted" teams of the golden era of the tag division. It was definitely action-packed, but it felt oddly directionless and unheated for a match involving Bret Hart. I always feel like Bret is more likely to have a boring match than a directionless match. At the same time, the Bulldogs seemed to keep things moving, but didn't bust out their big guns for the match. Recommended only if you are a completist, but arent all we . Dynamite Kid vs Bret "The Hitman" Hart - 9/85 Great opening sequence sees a quick criss cross sequence end with Bret Hart taking a catapult into the turnbuckle and bumping to the floor. Hart takes an atomic drop hard and then a snap suplex. Dynamite, oddly, goes for a chinlock, but Bret reverses into a hammerlock and Bret takes his own leverage bump to the floor. I see the chinlock was needed to get Bret to do his bump, I hate those sequences. They do the Stampede reverse of the wristlock, but Bret goes to do it: he just kips up and punches Dynamite. I liked that a lot. Bret hits the knee lift to start his heat segment. Everything Bret hits just looks so crisp. He was a big fan of the bodyslam on the concrete during his heat segments. Bret is actually pretty decent at working the crowd at this point, it just seems like no one cares because they just see him a newbie. Dynamite and Davey Boy are perfectly capable of selling they just seem unwilling to do it like it is nuisance. Whereas, Bret actually takes the time to sell one of his own headbutts. The sunset flip by Dynamite gets a decent pop so maybe I spoke too soon. No one bites on the backslide. Bret does the attempted backbreaker/opponent flips/opponent hits backbreaker or bodyslam spot, which looks good. One of the reasons, Bret and Flair set themselves apart is because they already have whole matches developed unto themselves. They have multiple spots for their opponents to do to them, which takes the onus off less talented wrestlers. Bret is up first and ties Dynamite up only to take his throw himself in the ropes bump. Dynamite up with his hooking clothesline, hair pull/throwdown (Bret did it earlier) and Bret takes his patented bump chest first into buckle bump. Wicked sweet back suplex by Dynamite only get two follows that up with a second-rope kneedrop and only gets two. On a criss cross sequence, Dynamite trips over Bret and takes a header into the ropes. I have seen plenty of Bret matches and I dont recognize that as one of his spots. Is it a Dynamite spot? If so, it is a really good one. Dynamite takes the Bret leverage bump and while we are on replay we almost miss Dynamite winning with a reverse cradle. This was a helluva sprint for 11 minutes. You could already tell Bret was main event material in the way that this was the total Bret show. Almost every spot was a Bret concoction that he would learn to craft into fantastic 30 minute affairs. Dynamite is a great offensive dynamo and holds up his end on selling. It isn't anywhere near the best Bret match, but it is an important match to show how many tools Bret already had in his arsenal in 1985. The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation - 9/85 Great match! This one had the better shine than the July affair. The Hart Foundation really milks it and the Bulldogs are bringing their A game offense with Dynamite's catapult, Davey Boy's powerslam and victory roll. Bret does his knee lift to seemingly set up Davey Boy for a heat segment, but it is a pysch out as Dynamite comes in. Only this time, for Dynamite to run the ropes and take a blind knee to the back (a Hart Foundation staple). Dyanmite really throws himself into the bumps thats the good thing, but apparently thinks selling just consists of laying motionless. Bret hits his bodyslam on the outside. Bret and Davey Boy do a good chase sequence, which breaks up the heat segment nicely. The transition is the same as the previous match with Bret tying up Dynamite in the ropes and Bret eating ropes. I would be remiss to mention that they botch the Bret backbreaker->DK flip out->DK backbreaker spot, but thankfully they don't redo the spot. Davey Boy comes in and cant stop Irish Whipping people. The Hart Foundation love having their opponents Irish Whip Bret into Anvil or vice versa. That's the first time I have brought up the Anvil that just seems wrong because he has been entertaining, but I guess nothing noteworthy so far. Davey Boy hits his gorilla press slam, but the Hart Foundation counters into Demolition Decapitation and then a top rope version of the Hart Attack. However, while the ref was distracted Dynamite comes flying off with a diving headbutt and rolls Davey Boy on top. So, I actually watched this match a couple days ago (I am behind on my writing of reviews), but watched the Hart/DK match just now, which is why that one is so much more comprehensive. I am going based off some notes I took at like 2 am, but I do remember thinking that this match was great. I wouldn't say as good as the Dream Team/Bulldogs 2 out of Three Falls, but still very entertaining. I feel like the Hart Foundation are eating up the Bulldogs a bit too much and this match definitely felt more like the Bret show. I think Valentine was able to play to the Bulldogs strengths better. WWF World Tag Champs The British Bulldogs vs Heenan's Family (Studd/Bundy) - 5/7/86 Smart big man vs small man match that only lasts 5 or so minutes. The Bulldogs can only gain the advantage momentarily with quickness or with a double dropkick (I prefer their double dropkick to the RnRs or the Rockers). Bundy is more agile than Studd and is more entertaining to watch. I actually got King Kong Bundy's autograph when I was a kid when he did a local New England Indy (NWA New England, I believe). He is one big dude. Studd looks massive compared to the Bulldogs. Dynamite comes in illegally to put Studd in a sleeper and Studd tosses a ref for a DQ. Bundy tries to Irish Whip Studd into Smith, but he eats turnbuckles causing dissension in the Heenan Family. Was Studd supposed to turn babyface? If so, why, there is nothing, about Studd that makes him seem like a decent babyface. WWF World Tag Champs British Bulldogs vs Sheik/Volkoff - SNME 5/86 2 Out Of 3 Falls What a weird match. We find out in the 3rd fall that Dynamite was injured as up until the final minute Davey Boy wrestled the whole match. First fall sees Volkoff wrangling Smith and dropping him throat first across the ropes. Sheiky Baby comes in with a wicked back suplex and makes him humble old country way. McMahon goes overboard with how gallant Davey Boy is while wondering why Smith hasn't tagged out. The whole fall is Smith taking heat from the Iranian and Soviet. Sheik hits his sweet gutwrench suplex and Volkoff busts out a nice rolling armbar into a pin, seriously that was the coolest thing I have ever seen Volkoff do. However, "that idiot thinks he won the match" and Bulldog rolls him up from behind to win the second fall. The third fall sees Davey Boy continue to make his comeback by hitting a running powerslam, but can't negotiate a pinfall. He tags in Dynamite who is immediately bearhugged to death while McMahon says they will go after the legs (someone didn't get a memo). Gutwrench suplex and Sheik is ready to break his back and make him humble, but Davey Boy thwarts him and rolls him up for the victory no tag. I would say the past couple matches have defied my hypothesis that the Bulldogs are offensive dynamos and dont take heat often, but I think those matches are anomalies of TV wrestling having a different purpose than house show wrestling. In Studd/Bundy, the goal was to put over the size of the Heenan Family versus the quickness of the Bulldogs. This match was to put over how the Bulldogs were fighting champs and gallant. Though that match suffered from the hypercompression of SNME. I may try another Sheik/Volkoff match (I am really digging the Iron Sheik lately) or skip ahead to the late '86 feud against the Hart Foundation.

Savage/Warrior is a masterpiece, very few matches will ever touch it. Garvin/Savage's cage match still is not as good as the Tito No DQ match, Steamboat (Toronto & Wrestlemania) or Savage/Adonis vs Bruno/Tito in a cage. Unless there is magical unearthing of Valentine's Mid-Atlantic work, I will associate Valentine with WWF. WWF World Tag Champs British Bulldogs vs Dream Team - 2 Out of Three Falls SNME 10/86 One impressive thing about this series so far has been that these teams have really gone out and had different matches each time. This match saw the Dream Team in control of majority of the match. Hell, Brutus Beefcake looked shockingly competent. Valentine gets a hold of Dynamite's knee early, but Davey Boy comes in and the Dream Team overwhelm him bringing the injured Dynamite back in. I got to give the man some credit, but the Beefer worked Dynamite's knee pretty well, before Valentine was able to wrangle him into a figure 4 and garner the first fall. They continue to work over Dynamite's leg at the beginning of the second fall. But Valentine goes for the always tempting second-rope elbow and misses allowing for Davey Boy to come in like the proverbial house afire. Bulldog hits his dropkick, delayed vertical suplex and running powerslam on Valentine before re-doing that wicked bitchin finish from the non-title match with Dynamite leaping off Beefcake and doing a headbutt on Valentine for the second fall. Towards the beginning of the 3rd fall, there is a strike exchange, which makes me wish there was a Dynamite vs Greg Valentine match. Snap suplex by Dynamite, but he misses the standing headbutt. Valentine is back on the leg, but Dynamite pushes him off on the figure-4 attempt and tags out to Davey Boy. Beefcake gets the tag simultaneously and cuts off Davey Boy (I always want to write Bulldog, but have to stop myself). Valentine hits a suplex and Brutus connects with a high knee, but Dynamite saves. Brutus goes in for a high knee in the corner, but Davey Boy side-steps and picks up the win with a fisherman's suplex. I would say it is close with the Wrestlemania II, but this is the my favorite match that I have seen between these teams. The match runs through the heels more, which is something I prefer. Hell, Beefcake came through in the clutch and proved me wrong in this match. Valentine was his usually violently awesome self. It is not like the Dream Team ate up the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs got in all of their offense and looked both resilient and impressive in their match. I actually think the other matches were too lop-sided in the favor of the Bulldogs that it actually made the Dream Team look like chumps. This match actually made the Bulldogs look more badass for overcoming the Dream Team in a way that just being on offensive never would. Dynamite sold really well throughout the match and Davey Boy is a really good hot tag. I would say this is my pick for best WWF 80s tag match I have seen so far.

Actually isn't his WWF work a fair representation by default. He worked WWF against Backlund in '79 and '81. He worked full-time for the WWF from 1984-1991. Seven years of prime Valentine is hard to ignore as the definig representation of Valentine as a worker. Outside of the Dog collar match with Piper, does he have any notable matches outside of the WWF? I acknowldge that Valentine was clearly a Crockett-style worker working for the WWF, which lends his matches in the WWF a different atmosphere to them, but that doesn't stop the fact that at the end of the day Valentine was a WWF performer for the majority of his career. If WWE Hall Of Fame required to pick your hat like the Baseball Hall Of Fame, then there is no doubt that Valentine would choose a WWF hat because of the success and length of his WWF run.