Loss Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 Talk about it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted November 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Shawn is accompanied by Jenny McCarthy instead of Pam Anderson. I don't know if that's because of the fight between Shawn and Tommy Lee or what. I never really heard much about that story. Also, the way every celebrity was a "friend" of Diesel was probably laying on the push way too thick. The same things to say about this match are the same things that have always been true about this match. Shawn puts on The Shawn Show and ends up sandbagging Diesel as champ, showing him up on almost every spot, and turning the live crowd on him in the process. Bret has mentioned it, and even Nash has mentioned in shoot interviews that Shawn was trying to blow him up. I also enjoy Shawn getting pissed off at all the photographers constantly being in his way and dragging them around. The only thing about this match that has changed for me is that because of the way it's worked, I think I liked it less than I ever have before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Pam Anderson didn't look pleased to be there. OK match but I like the Bret/Diesel matches better and the HBK/Diesel street Fight from In Your House Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Watching the Greatest Rivalries program on Netflix right now, and it's interesting how Bret saw this match as a threat to his spot with Shawn stealing the match and headed towards the babyface turn that eventually resulted. Also interesting how he saw it as something that killed Nash's momentum as champion with the audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dooley Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Shawn is accompanied by Jenny McCarthy instead of Pam Anderson. I don't know if that's because of the fight between Shawn and Tommy Lee or what. The way I heard it was Tommy felt Shawn was getting too chummy with Pam and went after him before either Sid or Nash advised Tommy that it probably wasn't the best idea for his long-term health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 22, 2012 Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 Tommy Lee beat down by professional wrestlers would be one of those good karma moments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrews Posted April 22, 2013 Report Share Posted April 22, 2013 Shawn is accompanied by Jenny McCarthy instead of Pam Anderson. I don't know if that's because of the fight between Shawn and Tommy Lee or what. The way I heard it was Tommy felt Shawn was getting too chummy with Pam and went after him before either Sid or Nash advised Tommy that it probably wasn't the best idea for his long-term health. I've heard this too, but I'm inclined to believe it is one of wrestling's urban myths. Albeit one of the better ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted September 6, 2014 Report Share Posted September 6, 2014 In his '95 WWF timeline Diesel pretty quickly dismissed the idea of any heat between Shawn and Tommy. Sounds like something the tabloids cooked up. Pam Anderson is MISSING--the skit with Nick Turturro looking for her and coming across Bob Backlund and Jonathan Taylor Thomas playing chess is great and I wish it was here. Turturro is a horrible ring announcer, by the way. Lawler at some point was capable of self-restraint, as he refreshingly does not react to McCarthy and Pam Anderson as though he had been in a prison for 20 years before tonight. Pretty good match, but this is one of the first instances of Shawn's bumps being all about Shawn, rather than being about making his opponent look good. Diesel does an admirable job of trying to keep up, but the closing Jackknife looks horrible. The closing celebration with the celebs all seems pretty hollow, especially with Vince and Lawler playing up the controversial victory (not to mention the Shawn and Sid chants we got during the match). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyPulis'Cap Posted May 27, 2016 Report Share Posted May 27, 2016 Pretty good match, but this is one of the first instances of Shawn's bumps being all about Shawn, rather than being about making his opponent look good. Diesel does an admirable job of trying to keep up, but the closing Jackknife looks horrible. The closing celebration with the celebs all seems pretty hollow, especially with Vince and Lawler playing up the controversial victory (not to mention the Shawn and Sid chants we got during the match). Hard to disagree, you can really tell that Shawn is using this opportunity to show everyone that he should be the man and the guy who deserves the title, and in fact it sort of starts the momentum that gets him there one year later. The odd/competitive friendship the Kliq seems to have, means that Nash probably wasn't even that pissed off; they all knew it was just business and he might have even been proud in a way - "that's my boy!" As for the match, despite all that, and Shawn throwing various camera men out of the way at different times - just look at the bemused look on the face of the guy he drags along on his arse at one point - I enjoyed it and think that Shawn trying to show off meant that Nash was forced to up his level and I thought the champ has some pretty good intensity and fire that wasn't there in much of the rest of this title reign (outside the Bret matches). It's always hard for a small man to work heel on a much larger guy, so again, Shawn using his stamina and speed actually made sense as a strategy and helped to explain how he was able to get control at certain points to build some heat. I also thought that the little rib injury part was quite good and helped Diesel to appear more vulnerable. The finish is pretty awful - both in the execution of the power bomb and also in the fact that it's quite flat and sort of out of nowhere (and not in the RKO/Diamond Cutter sense). Overall I thought it was decent if a little uninspiring at times, and thought for a Nash match it was good, but it's no surprise that this is the title match for one of the least regarded Mania's of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted December 11, 2020 Report Share Posted December 11, 2020 Pamela Anderson is meant to be accompanying Shawn Michaels, but she shows up with Diesel. HBK brings out Mellissa McCartney instead. The celebrates are sat next together, but they don't do anything until Diesel celebrates with them both after his successful defense. Michaels makes his best mate look like a million dollars by bumping all over the place for him. This was structured well and it never looks out of place when the much smaller HBK is working over Diesel. Michaels isn't too interesting when working on top, but he does what he needs to do. This was a total Michaels carryjob. ★★★¼ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Posted April 1, 2023 Report Share Posted April 1, 2023 This is for Diesel's WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Diesel surprisingly keeps up with Shawn here, who seems to be on the edge of throwing a tantrum, and they have a solid, if not long-winded, big/small match. Shawn obviously poops his pants while in control, and his lack of any engaging offense is magnified when he has to work heel against someone who has the size advantage on him, but Diesel kind of sells it convincingly enough to save those segments. **3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted November 27 Report Share Posted November 27 WWF World Champion Diesel vs Shawn Michaels - WWF WrestleMania XI What a fucking shine! Five star fucking shine! Fuck! They couldn’t finish the match off. The Good Friends Better Enemies Street Fight is the better match and overshadows this one. Damn I thought I found the hidden gem hiding in plain sight. They just couldn’t take it home. This is Shawn Michaels at his most Ric Flair I have ever seen him. This has to go down as one of the all time great shines. Because what makes a Ric Flair shine special is all the different looks he gives he his opponent. This was a beautiful work of art by Shawn. We start with unrelenting speed. Cat and mouse. Eventually Diesel clobbers him. Then we try to work the arm. Diesel powers out and throws him around. Shawn spits at him to get him riled up. Diesel shoved him down. Shawn goes for the eyes, Diesel hits a magnificent knee lift and Shawn takes an awesome bump and even makes up for not going over the top with a cool bump through middle & bottom ropes. This was fabulous. Every turn Diesel thwarted Shawn and bested him using power and size. Shawn used at least four strategies as documented above (I might have missed one or two, I do these based off memory no notes). It was terrific! I thought the transition to heat was also fantastic. Another cat and mouse run the ropes exchange except Diesel goes for the Big Boot the prelude to the Jacknife Powerbomb finisher so you know he is trying to end it. He misses Shawn and gets hung up in the top rope. Shawn clotheslined Big Daddy Cool over the top; skins the cat; top rope splash to the floor. Great consolidation. The cherry on top on his desperation Diesel lunges at Shawn and hits his ribs on the post/ring steps. Shawn splash from apron onto the bad ribs. It is a five spot transition but it is does masterfully. Unfortunately this is where the match starts to drag. Diesel in my opinion oversells the ribs. This grinds the match to a halt. Shawn does a pretty good job staying on the ribs. The Top Rope Elbow Drop was onto ribs WWF an excellent spot. The heat segment was not bad but it was not great. If Shawn had more offense would’ve it been better yes, but I don’t think he did a bad job per se. I think very easily some Diesel hope spots or struggle could have easily boosted the heat segment. Diesel slings Shawn off a couple times and things look to pick up. I like the sleeper as the last ditch Shawn attempt to keep control but Diesel powers out and that’s when the match goes off the rails. A strong comeback/finish could have easily over come that alright heat segment but I think the story is true: Kevin Nash was blowed up. None of his shit had any zip on it. I will say there was a Diesel chant during the heat segment but before that when he was selling the ribs on the outside there was a pretty sizeable SID chant and Sid didn’t do shit this match. There was a Let’s Go Shawn chant during Diesel’s comeback so the Hartford crowd was all over the place. Overall the crowd was dead for the comeback. It was how Diesel was doing it. The what was solid shit; he just had nothing left in the tank. Shawn was doing his best bumping hard but Nash was cooked. The finish was ridiculous they wanted Shawn to get the visual pin and hit an exposed buckle (botched catapult but man did he hit the middle buckle hard). I know he was turning baby face that’s a lot of protection. The Earl Hebner twists his ankle off camera sucked that’s why Sweet Chin Music didn’t get the pin. I liked the Shawn Bulldog converted into a Sidewalk Slam that was somewhere in there. The Big Boot and the weird Jacknife Powerbomb finishes it. I am not one to penalize on blown spots BUT this one has a lot of hiccups. Tough one to grade because I loved the Shine and transition to heat. Five stars no joke. The heat segment drags it down and comeback/finish really drags it down. Four stars means a great match in my eyes and I don’t think you can truly call it great. So let’s go *** 3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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