[1996-05-28-WWF-Beware of Dog] Steve Austin vs Savio Vega (Caribbean Strap)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Good match. Maybe a little overhyped, but good to see Austin in his first full-length match on the set. It's hard not to compare any strap match to Sting/Vader, and this isn't a favorable comparison, but maybe that isn't completely fair. Well done finish, in the sense that the story was that Austin was taking a dive to get rid of DiBiase and he executes it with enough ambiguity to make it work. Ted DiBiase gets a "Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Hey-Hey-Hey-Goodbye" sendoff.

 

Allow me to go all PWI for a second: Down on his luck and plotting his next move, DiBiase calls Scott Hall the next morning and asks him if he needs any funding for his WCW takeover and if there's anything he can do to help.

[Johnny Guitar]

I think it might have been a little over hyped at the time, but I can see why.

 

After a shaky start as the Ringmaster. It his first good /memorable WWF match under the gimmick that made him a megastar.

 

His last good, big high profile match before that was against Ricky Steamboat at the Clash of the Champions way back in August 94. Apart from the few months he spent in ECW in late 1995 getting his mike work down, Austin had spent over a year basically twisting in the wind either due to injuries, politics or bad booking.

 

It's not a great match, but it was good match that Austin needed to estabish himself in the WWF.

[Zenjo]

Surprisingly no government mules, although the woodshed got a mention. The strap match isn't as brutal as the chain. It does make a satisfying whipping sound however. They kept up a good intensity level throughout and had quite a strong rivalry. The workrate was impressive and there's always some drama with the turnbuckles. It lasted 5m too long but overall a successful gimmick match.

[flyonthewall2983]

Just watched the end of this a few days ago. The "Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Hey-Hey-Hey-Goodbye" stuff is always good. I really liked the shot of Austin at the end flailing his hands like "aw, fuck it" with his back to the ring.

[PeteF3]

Amazingly good match. No, it's not Sting/Vader, but it's not THAT far behind. It's long, but they had me guessing wrong at 2 or 3 instances where I thought it was over and they kept going. Really some of the better "near falls" you'll ever see in a touch-the-corners match. This didn't have any blood, but it felt WAY grittier and more intense than almost any other mid-card WWF match, at least of the time. Finish is a little cliched, but they executed it well and got good heat for it.

 

I've been surprised at how solid the team of Vince & Lawler are this year, as the WWF storylines they call get a little more complicated and mature. But it can't be stressed enough how much the announcing of JR & Perfect added to this, which I don't think Vince & the King could have done as well.

[soup23]

Its a good bit behind Vader vs. Sting for me and I like this match. The straps shots made the biggest impression here as they were brutal and you could see the welts on Austin. I thought this ended up going too long and had too much of a rinse repeat feeling with the same sequences and struggle to touch each corner. Vega picks up the win and DIbiase is on his way out. ***

[tim]

This went a bit too long and did get repetitive at times I felt, but overall this was a very good match. They were really on top of each other the whole match in a way that got over the close-quarters aspect of the strap match and they really worked this to feel like a grueling, hard fought battle. Austin loses but it still feels like he's coming out on top, away from DiBiase and on to something new.

[cactus]

The strap stipulation allowed them to work a physical match without risking too much harm to any of the competitors. This is probably Austin's first great showing in the WWF. Ted DiBiase's career is on the line, and he's great hamming it up at ringside, really adding to the drama. Savio Vega is also super over, and things get super tense whenever there's a chance the match might reach a conclusion. They might of let this one gone slightly too long, but it's still a neat little brawl.

★★★¼