Shawn Michaels & Diesel v Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid

[Loss]

Shawn Michaels & Diesel v Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF Action Zone 10/30/94

 

This match, like all the other Shawn/Razor/Kid stuff around this time, establishes a fast pace early and doesn't let up. In that sense, it's incredibly entertaining, and the first minute is very action-packed, with Razor immediately getting in the Razor's Edge, only for Diesel to have to pull him out of the ring to avoid this match ending before it even really started. They work a great, Southern-style tag match that lets everyone get in their signature spots and sees everyone involve bust their asses. The layout of the action, in fact, reminds me more of a Japanese tag match than an American one, with the high-impact stuff starting immediately and never really slowing down.

 

This is definitely the hardest and fastest I've ever seen Kevin Nash work. The match doesn't drag much when he's in, and he's in quite a bit. Doing the neck vice on Razor was a little weird, but they didn't work it for an inordinate amount of time, and it got great heat, so it didn't detract from the match at all. He also wrestles the best sequence of his career when he connects with a flying shoulderblock and immediately crawls over at a brisk pace to cover Razor for a good nearfall. The only complaint I have about his involvement at all is that he's out for an unrealistic amount of time after being accidentally leveled by Shawn's superkick, but besides that, he does some terrific work.

 

His partner is the glue of the match, and he's the one who establishes the pace the other three keep throughout. He's the one to bump big for everyone and cut the ring in half, and his timing here is as good as it's ever been, as he knows when to let Razor and Kid comeback and when to control them. Again, the sleeper spot with Ramon works very well, and he and Kid are the most exciting guys in the match, so they work the majority of the final stretch and do some breathtaking false finishes, allowing them both to get in their shots. I've always considered Shawn a far better tag team wrestler than singles wrestler, just because the style plays to his strengths so well.

 

Razor Ramon is great when he's in as well, both as face in peril and as badass babyface. He and Shawn know each other very well by this time, and he's good at directing traffic when Nash is in the ring too. He doesn't really do anything as impressive as the other three, but I still think this match would have suffered greatly without him, just because he was doing everything he could to make sure the other three were where they needed to be -- you can see him calling spots on camera several times, but only if you're really paying close attention; they do a much better job hiding that than he and Shawn did in the previous singles match.

 

1-2-3 Kid, believe it or not, doesn't work face in peril for any real length of time, perhaps because everyone involved felt that might have been too predictable. He looks strong because he's the savior of his team, or at least he attempts to be, and he holds his own with both Shawn and the much larger Diesel. Seeing Nash bump for him so much makes me wonder why he never did it for anyone else Waltman's size, but I already know the answer to that question. Predictably, he eats the pinfall, but that's how this should have gone, since the other three were climbing the ladder and were hot at the time.

 

What's ultimately disappointing about this match is that these guys didn't work this hard unless they were working with each other. Sure, Kid and Michaels have done some great stuff with other people, but they put a little extra shine on everything they did here, understandably because they were in the company of friends. Hall and Nash could have been invaluable to WCW had they sold like this for smaller guys like they did here, but it wasn't to be. Still, this is a great match, a surprisingly great match even, considering the uneven amount of talent involved. If there's a message here, it's that hard work and cooperation will almost always produce something at least decent.

 

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