[1994-03-20-WWF-Wrestlemania X] Randy Savage vs Crush (Falls Count Anywhere)

[KB8]

This was billed as falls count anywhere but in reality it was falls count anywhere except in the ring. It was sort of convoluted. You can't pin your opponent in the ring, but pinning them anywhere else in the arena or city of New York is fine. It also had a Texas death match twist to it in that after each fall the loser had sixty seconds to return to the ring. If he couldn't do so, the match was over. In practice it only went about eight minutes but it was an okay little brawl. Few are better than Savage at communicating the hatred of a feud that's supposed to be built on hate and he came out the gate jumping straight at Crush's face. You bought that he hated him, basically. They did some cool stuff, like a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the floor, a big Savage bump across the guardrail, Crush hit a nice superkick that busted Savage's mouth open, and then the finish was pretty amusing even if it didn't work entirely as intended. Crush kind of stunk for the entirety of his career but this iteration of him with the face paint and cool ring gear and aligning himself with Fuji was probably my favourite Crush. Neo-Nazi biker with tire track forehead tattoo, big goofy surfer bro, nWo lummox with sunglasses and Kronik-era hired assassin who slicks his hair back with Nutella just didn't click in the same way.

[cactus]

Crush could of been anyone else and the match wouldn't of changed much. This is Savage's last ever Wrestlemania match and it feels bittersweet as the crowd absolutely adore him. The falls count anywhere stipulation is admittedly dumb, but they don't overuse the pinfalls and this is over quick ever enough to not be tedious viewing. The finish with Savage tying up Crush to stop him from returning the ring was creative too. 

★★¾