I used to dig Sick Boy. After Saturn he was my favourite Flock member. Think it was just his name that hooked me first, but he had a few "sick" moves too. In hindsight he was sloppy and not great but back then dude was alright in my book. Me and my pal were big Flock fans, and were all like "why do they call him Sick Boy!?" "I dunno but it's a sick name" "yeah... sick, bruv" :lol:

Real name Scott Vick, he was actually signed to WWE for a hot minute but never debuted on TV. I remember thinking he was going to show up during the whole HHH/Kane/Katie Vick monstrosity because of the surname connection. Obviously he never did and I was sad.

Oct 15, 2017 16:53:17 GMT Big Pete said:

No music for the heels, didn't Raven have a Nirvana rip-off theme he'd come out to?

It took them a while to produce Raven's theme music. Since he began making his entrance from a ringside seat, there was no need for music. It would kind of kill the illusion of him as this rogue WCW wrestler. Then eventually for matches, he would just get introduced and walk out without music, which was powerful in its own way in the era where even jobbers get music. I don't think Raven got his Come As You Are ripoff until summer of '98. The Flock (minus Saturn with his siren), never had music of their own. Well, maybe Kidman did at the very end.

I saw that Raven shoot, and liked his reasoning for wanting to Sick Boy. Raven didn't want retreads, so he was clamoring for Powerplant guys. Sick Boy was sadly the best of the bunch at that point. He had a pretty springboard, and that was about it. That actually worked perfect for Flock run ins, he'd springboard his way in, but that's not exactly going to carry actual matches. 

Sick Boy had a lot of internet hype when WWE signed him to a developmental deal. The weird thing about this was I remember absolutely no hype for Sick Boy when he was active in WCW.

Terry Funk & 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Quebecers (Raw 4/13/98)

I don't mention the Quebecers 1998 run very much. That's because I usually forget it ever happened. And also because it sucked. Like pre-misogynist Jarrett & Owen, they just didn't fit in anymore. Jacques & Pierre were relics from another era. Plus WWF stripped them of most of their coolness by giving them new, non-Mountie outfits and generic entrance music.

Funk cuts a pre-match promo I actually remembered quite well. First he bashes former partner Mick Foley for quitting the previous week. Then he introduces "a man who is hardcore, and has always been hardcore" Flash Funk. This part I misremembered. Thought he introduced him as Scorpio. But nope. It's actually JR on commentary pushing the name change. Which again makes no sense. Flash Funk was a dumb name/gimmick. For a year and a half I wanted him to go back to being Scorpio. But now when Flash FUNK finally makes sense given who he's teaming with, they decide to change his name. Dumb dumb dumb.

BIG "ECW" chants to start. Quebecers lay a pretty good beating on Funk with punches and stiff chops. Jacques & Funk have a punch battle where Jacques surprisingly throws the better punches. Funk tags out after a missed Pierre cannonball. Pierre eventually hits a nice belly to belly superplex on Scorpio. More stuff happens until Scorp pins Pierre with a nice looking 450 Splash.

Verdict- Good pre-match promo by Funk. Forgettable match. Literally. I watched it this afternoon and all I remember about it are the few things I just mentioned.

Kane & X-Pac vs. Acolytes (Raw 8/9/99- Tag Title Match)

Acolytes are the champs coming in.

Kane & XPac come out first to a mashup of their respective themes. Big pop. Commentary makes note of their combined theme as it's the first time they've used it.  Acolytes are out next and in true Acolyte fashion they immediately jump Kane & Pac before the bell rings. 

Sign Spotting: "Kane Is My Dentist"

This is a good traditional face vs. heel tag. Crowd is insanely hot. Acolytes hit a Doug Furnas-level stiff double shoulderblock on Kane. Kane & XPac soon turn the tide to control for a little while. Then the Acolytes take over with a merciless beatdown on X-Pac, who bumps his ass off for the Acolytes killer offense. Pac & Faarooq have weirdly good chemistry. Highlights include Pac taking a wicked spinebuster and irish whip into the buckles from Faarooq. XPac also dies on a Bradshaw powerbomb. XPac makes the hot tag (and I do mean HOT) to Kane, who comes in with a nice flying clothesline. Then he hits some more clotheslines. So. Many. Clotheslines. I can almost hear Larry Legend groaning over on Nitro as I'm typing this. It soon breaks loose. Kane & Bradshaw fight to the floor. Pac escapes a Dominator attempt and hits Faarooq with an X Factor, which 'Rooq takes well, for the 1-2-3. NEW Tag Team champs and the crowd reacts like Hogan has just slammed Andre.

Post-match sees Road Dogg join the winners. Roadie sets up Kane for the "Suck It" which the Youtube commenters tell me were the first words he ever spoke without the aid of his voice box.

But wait! It's the damn Unholy Alliance of Undertaker & Big Show! They lay waste to the good guys to a chorus of boos.

Verdict- Damn good match/segment made better by a super hot Attitude Era crowd. ***+ Recommended.

The Giant w/Kevin Sullivan & Jimmy Hart vs. Scott Norton- Nitro 12/4/95

Kilgore mentioned this in the 1995 SuperCard MashUp thread. No way I was missing this as they were two of my guys and their Fall Brawl '97 match rules.

Bischoff does a good job of putting Scott Norton, who he has "known since 1986," over on commentary.

Giant absolutely dwarfs Scott Norton, who dwarfs just about everybody else in wrestling. Impressive sight.

Sadly this is really disappointing. Giant wrestles more like your stereotypical lumbering 80s giant than the more athletic, modern giant he would become by the spring of '96. Lots of clubbering and no selling from the big guy. Norton does his best to put Giant over by bumping around like a 340 pound cruiserweight. I do enjoy seeing big guys forced out of their element against even bigger guys. Highlight is Norton lifting Giant up for an atomic drop and actually holding him up there for quite a few seconds. That popped the crowd. Norton uncharacteristically goes up top because he needs to try new tactics against this giant. Being out of his element, he's caught with a Giant chokeslam on the way down and that's all she wrote. 

Verdict- Disappointing. But on the bright side their matches would get progressively better.

Hardy Boyz & Kane w/ Lita vs. X Factor (X-Pac/Albert/Justin Credible)- Smackdown 6/21/01

I'm not gonna lie. I just wanted to hear X Factor's theme again. A few X Factor matches showed up in my Youtube recommendations after that. Some of them had X Factor entering to the wrong theme. Those matches were instantly skipped. This match had X Factor coming out to their proper theme so I watched it. X-Pac, Albert & Justin Credible may be personal anti-draws but that theme draws those Jeff Jarrett dimes*

*Which reminds me, if I could save just one post of mine from the old PW I think it would be my Jeff Jarrett: Counting The Dimes post where I actually went back and meticulously counted just how many of my dimes I parted with to watch Jeff Jarrett  :lol:

Match is standard tv wrestling fare. Highlights include Lita crotching X-Pac, some nice Matt Hardy punches, a few nice Vader Bumps and Avalanches from Albert, and Credible hitting a sweet superkick on a Hardy Boy. X Factor works over Matt for a while to LOUD "We Want Kane" chants. We've been ragging on Kane a lot lately but he was super over both here and in the 1999 match I watched the other day. Kane eventually gets the hot tag. It breaks loose. I think we get a botch as I'm pretty sure Kane was looking to Tombstone Albert but couldn't get him up. To his credit, the Big Red Machine improvised nicely by hitting an above average Bulldog Powerslam. Kane eventually catches X-Pac coming off the top with a chokeslam. Jeff follows up with a Swanton for the win.

Verdict- Perfectly fine tv match I'll have entirely forgotten about by tonight. Now let's talk about X Factor's theme some more.

I obviously thought it was crap at first. Probably because JR told me it was and I was just a dumb rube who believed what JR told me. Then I grew to like it in an ironic "so bad it's good" way. Well, as is usually the case when that happens, it wasn't long before I legitimately liked it and looked forward to X Factor appearances just for their theme. I mean, X Factor still sucked, and I'd be perfectly happy if they lost every match in 30 seconds won every match in 30 seconds so I could hear their theme again. With the notable exception of Kid's team with Sid, having the X Factor theme is the best thing all three guys ever did.

Yo you dealin' wit da X Factah~!  :rockin:




Oh, and you better believe I bought the Uncle Kracker CD  :lol:

So I finally just had my first exposure to Fire & Ice via some throwaway match against the Steiners from 1996 WCW...

I need more! These guys seem so fucking hoss-some.

Sadly, I get the sense they were probably more of a jobber tag team than they should've been based on their statures alone. I want to see them have long, serious hossfest feuds with the Steiners, Harlem Heat, Road Warriors, and if I could go true fantasy booking with it... The APA!

Oct 19, 2017 3:32:24 GMT 🤯 said:

So I finally just had my first exposure to Fire & Ice via some throwaway match against the Steiners from 1996 WCW...

I need more! These guys seem so fucking hoss-some.

Sadly, I get the sense they were probably more of a jobber tag team than they should've been based on their statures alone. I want to see them have long, serious hossfest feuds with the Steiners, Harlem Heat, Road Warriors, and if I could go true fantasy booking with it... The APA!

A convert! ^Possibly my new favorite post on either PW.

Fire & Ice had a bunch of matches with the Steiners that were up on Youtube a few years ago. I'm pretty sure I watched them all and they all rule except maybe one. 

Sadly they didn't team together for very long. Wrestling was awesome in 1996 but Fire & Ice were just a little too awesome. The world wasn't ready for that level of awesomeness yet. But they did have a few matches against each other before and after teaming. You might want to try and find them. 

Oh. My. God. The world is still not ready for the hossomeness that would be APA vs. Fire & Ice. 

I was not a fan of Fire and Ice in real time. They seemed "too 80s" in the mid-90s. With the passage of time, those types of things become insignificant, and I'd probably dig them more now. I was not a big hoss man, but I always liked Norton for some reason. I would have learned to love Ice Train. Anyway, the Fire and Ice origin story is about as incredible as I hoped.

Steiners vs. Fire & Ice (WCW Nitro 4/29/96)
Steiners vs. Fire & Ice (WCW Worldwide 6/8/96)

I probably reviewed both of these in the old Match Review thread at some point but who cares? The world needs more people putting over Fire & Ice vs. Steiner Brothers matches.

Both are short and sweet. Don't think either goes over five minutes. They're both go-go-go hoss actionfests. The first match is the better of the two. Second one has some minor timing issues. But I still popped like five times in each match. Don't feel like writing a ton but the Steiners are super impressive chucking the 320 pound + Norton & Train around with all kinds of cool suplexes- Dragon's, German's, Belly to Belly's, T-Bone's. Great stuff. Train & Norton are equally impressive just rolling over the Steiners with clotheslines, shoulder blocks, Vader Bumps and avalanches. Not to mention taking insane bumps on all those suplexes considering their size. I mean you'd never see, say, Batista take stuff like that. And Norton & Train are bigger than he is! Norton twice press slams the 260+ Scotty like he's a baby. And Ice Train, who you'd think might be the weak link, more than holds his own trying to decapitate people with clotheslines, steamrolling Steiners with shoulder blocks, and breaking out athletic leapfrogs. These four are nuts. I could watch their matches all day. 

Steiners win the first match when Rick decks Train with a Steinerline for the 1-2-3. While clean as a sheet, it still didn't feel decisive. Like Rick just happened to hit the right move at the right time while Norton was preoccupied. 

Second one goes to the usual Steiners vs. Fire & Ice draw as they fight on the floor til the bell rings.

Verdict- Recommended. Especially the first match. 🤯 and I were getting all giddy at the thought of a theoretical APA vs. Fire & Ice match up but I actually can't imagine any team matching up better with Fire & Ice than the Steiners did. Steiners suplexing big guys is one of my favorite things (their awesome match vs. Vader & Hughes also comes to mind) and they were more than willing to return the favor by letting Fire & Ice get all their stuff in, too. The Steiners have kind of spoiled Fire & Ice for me. Other F&I opponents to pop up in a search include Harlem Heat, Rock & Roll Express, and the Blue Blood duo of Eaton & Squire David Taylor. Those opponents just elicit a yawn. I only want the Steiners as Fire & Ice opponents, dammit! Will probably watch more Steiners vs. Fire & Ice matches over the next or two.

Oct 20, 2017 1:28:28 GMT Baker said:

Verdict- Recommended. Especially the first match. 🤯 and I were getting all giddy at the thought of a theoretical APA vs. Fire & Ice match up but I actually can't imagine any team matching up better with Fire & Ice than the Steiners did. Steiners suplexing big guys is one of my favorite things (their awesome match vs. Vader & Hughes also comes to mind) and they were more than willing to return the favor by letting Fire & Ice get all their stuff in, too. The Steiners have kind of spoiled Fire & Ice for me. Other F&I opponents to pop up in a search include Harlem Heat, Rock & Roll Express, and the Blue Blood duo of Eaton & Squire David Taylor. Those opponents just elicit a yawn. I only want the Steiners as Fire & Ice opponents, dammit! Will probably watch more Steiners vs. Fire & Ice matches over the next or two.

Oh shit, did Fire & Ice ever tag against Vader & Hughes?!?!  Probably not if I stop to think about when Vader and Hughes were in WWF.  Add that to my Fire & Ice dream match short list.

Oct 20, 2017 1:43:50 GMT 🤯 said:

Oct 20, 2017 1:28:28 GMT Baker said:

Verdict- Recommended. Especially the first match. 🤯 and I were getting all giddy at the thought of a theoretical APA vs. Fire & Ice match up but I actually can't imagine any team matching up better with Fire & Ice than the Steiners did. Steiners suplexing big guys is one of my favorite things (their awesome match vs. Vader & Hughes also comes to mind) and they were more than willing to return the favor by letting Fire & Ice get all their stuff in, too. The Steiners have kind of spoiled Fire & Ice for me. Other F&I opponents to pop up in a search include Harlem Heat, Rock & Roll Express, and the Blue Blood duo of Eaton & Squire David Taylor. Those opponents just elicit a yawn. I only want the Steiners as Fire & Ice opponents, dammit! Will probably watch more Steiners vs. Fire & Ice matches over the next or two.

Oh shit, did Fire & Ice ever tag against Vader & Hughes?!?!  Probably not if I stop to think about when Vader and Hughes were in WWF.  Add that to my Fire & Ice dream match short list.

Sadly not. I'm not even sure if Vader & Hughes were a regular team or if that match with the Steiners at the January '92 Clash was a one off. I wasn't watching WCW at the time. Shootist would know.

Fire & Ice would also be good against a small, obnoxious heel team who will bump. I could see Fire & Ice vs. Too Much ruling, for example. Fire & Ice vs. Quebecers would be another good one. Jacques would be the wimpy heel avoiding stuff while Pierre would be game to give and take anything. And of course F&I would eventually get their hands on Jacques towards the finish.

Hmm....next fan fic project: Fire & Ice vs. The World? Concept: I just write out match descriptions for a bunch of theoretical Fire & Ice bouts against all sorts of opponents  :lol:

Oct 20, 2017 1:59:08 GMT Baker said:

Oct 20, 2017 1:43:50 GMT 🤯 said:

Oh shit, did Fire & Ice ever tag against Vader & Hughes?!?!  Probably not if I stop to think about when Vader and Hughes were in WWF.  Add that to my Fire & Ice dream match short list.

Sadly not. I'm not even sure if Vader & Hughes were a regular team or if that match with the Steiners at the January '92 Clash was a one off. I wasn't watching WCW at the time. Shootist would know.

Fire & Ice would also be good against a small, obnoxious heel team who will bump. I could see Fire & Ice vs. Too Much ruling, for example. Fire & Ice vs. Quebecers would be another good one. Jacques would be the wimpy heel avoiding stuff while Pierre would be game to give and take anything. And of course F&I would eventually get their hands on Jacques towards the finish.

Hmm....next fan fic project: Fire & Ice vs. The World? Concept: I just write out match descriptions for a bunch of theoretical Fire & Ice bouts against all sorts of opponents  :lol:

I fucking love it.

I was recently debating starting a Drunk Revisionist History thread, modeled after Comedy Central's Drunk History... if you get Fire & Ice vs. The World up and running, I'll be compelled to do the same.

Oct 20, 2017 1:59:08 GMT Baker said:

Oct 20, 2017 1:43:50 GMT 🤯 said:

Oh shit, did Fire & Ice ever tag against Vader & Hughes?!?!  Probably not if I stop to think about when Vader and Hughes were in WWF.  Add that to my Fire & Ice dream match short list.

Sadly not. I'm not even sure if Vader & Hughes were a regular team or if that match with the Steiners at the January '92 Clash was a one off. I wasn't watching WCW at the time. Shootist would know.

Fire & Ice would also be good against a small, obnoxious heel team who will bump. I could see Fire & Ice vs. Too Much ruling, for example. Fire & Ice vs. Quebecers would be another good one. Jacques would be the wimpy heel avoiding stuff while Pierre would be game to give and take anything. And of course F&I would eventually get their hands on Jacques towards the finish.

Hmm....next fan fic project: Fire & Ice vs. The World? Concept: I just write out match descriptions for a bunch of theoretical Fire & Ice bouts against all sorts of opponents  :lol:

I think they had a "random draw" tag match in Battlebowl but outside of those two matches they didn't team at all despite being in Harley Race's stable. Hughes was gone not long after Vader started up full time in WCW. It would have been nice to see Luger, Vader and Hughes as a unit but it would have taken away from the Dangerous Alliance angle.

SM can we stick this thread, ta champion.

Finn Balor vs AJ Styles - WWE TLC 2017 - 22/10/17
So for those of you who haven't been keeping up with the current product there was a huge story earlier in the week involving Bray Wyatt, Bo Dallas and Roman Reigns. All three came down with serious illness and had to miss the show, as such the WWE scrambled and managed to put together a better card. This was one of those examples, one of those dream matches that you feel wouldn't have happened in the WWE on a big show because they wouldn't want to publicise the Bullet Club. At least under this guise, they just threw it out there and let the cards fall where they may.

This reminded me a lot of those '97 Austin matches against guys like Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Sure, you're not going to see too many creative spots, but what you're going to get is an action packed match that leaves you wanting more. What I liked most is that they showed some restraint. They didn't kick out of a million finishers, Styles took the double stomp off the top, it looked good and Balor came out looking good. The other spots that stood out to me, were the Bloody Sunday contest where Balor had to settle for an inverse maneuver and the NJPW style fore-arm contest where Balor hit his own variation of the Pele Kick.

It wasn't an all-time classic but in an era of excess, this was well put together.

The Shield (Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins & Kurt Angle) vs. The Miz & Kane & Braun Strowman & The Bar - WWE TLC 2017 - 22/10/17
This match was approaching Doomsday Cage match levels of ridiculousness, which had to be expected with the booking going in. Babyfaces cleaned house with chairs before Rollins and Ambrose wiped themselves out for a spell. This was neat because it gave Kurt Angle time to shine and if nothing else, Kurt still hits a mean German Suplex after all these years. They had Strowman wipe him out of the match, leaving it a 5-2 assault. The match chugged along for what felt like 10 minutes as the heels beat down the babyfaces. To at least keep things interesting, they had Kane & Strowman turn on one another after a miscommunication. It looks like we're going to get a Kane v Strowman feud, after Kane chokeslammed Braun off the stage through some tables, dumped a stack of chairs on top of him and eventually threw him into a garbage truck that was intended for The Shied.

The heels kept beating down the babyfaces, when all of a sudden Angle's theme hit and the crowd went crazy. Angle went into complete New Jack mode, blasting all the heels with his best offense and the match ended with a Shield style powerbomb on The Miz. It was a long match that dragged and some of the over-selling was ridiculous at times, but the fans got what they wanted. Not the kind of match I'd ever want to watch again, but a fun case of over-booking.

My disdain for Finn Balor is well-known, but I enjoyed his match against AJ Styles. At first it seemed they had a hard time finding a groove. There were some slipups early on and there was at least one point where both guys looked completely lost. AJ chopped Finn a few times, then they paused, then Finn chopped him, paused in the corner, whipped him, chopped him again, pause, another whip, then they went into a sequence on the outside. After that point, however, something clicked and they worked a smooth and action-packed second half. They didn't go over the top, there were some nice little touches such as the double Bloody Sunday tease, and Finn won in convincing fashion with his shotgun dropkick/Coup de Grace combo.

The 5-vs-3 main event was a classic WWE-style clusterfuck match executed very well. Apart from the long bit in the middle where all five heels were endlessly smashing Rollins and Ambrose with chairs, the match was a lotta fun, with the action for the most part making sense and flowing extremely smoothly. Kane taking out Strowman was rather random at the time it happened, but given what happened earlier in the match, I bought it. The finish was predictable but Angle's return got the pop it deserved and he was a house on fire. Besides being maybe five minutes too long, it was everything it should have been.


Asuka vs Emma
This would have been perfectly fine as a random Raw match, but given that this was Asuka's main roster debut on PPV, she needed to come in looking strong, and I don't think they succeeded all that well. It was your standard shine-heat-comeback match, with the shine not being so great. They seem to be reestablishing Emma, so a complete squash would have been even worse, but it still felt like the match lacked something. I am reminded of Asuka's NXT debut. She was touted as a killing machine with thunderous strikes and deadly submissions. While it was clear she could go and knew her way around a ring, I saw none of the killer-wrestler I see in, say, Samoa Joe. I attributed that to a combination of her opponent being unable to keep up and her being relatively unfamiliar with wrestling in America. Against Emma these excuses don't hold up. Apart from the final couple of minutes, her sporadic bursts of offense, while executed well, were barely sold, and Emma was back to neutral or on top in no time. Asuka's presumably going to be rocketed to the top of the division, so the fact she had a hard time beating Emma doesn't look too good for her, and I don't think it succeeded in elevating Emma either.

WWE Hell in a Cell
The New Day (c) vs The Usos
Big E and Xavier Woods step up for the champions, while Kofi is locked on the outside. There's no messing about here. Both teams came prepared. At the bell, all four members slide to the floor to grab artillery from under the ring. Thus commences one of the most intense and violent HIAC matches in recent memory. Within minutes all four guys are diving outside, ramming each other into the cell, culminating with Big E's spear-through-the-ropes. At first Big E's brute force and Woods' cunning quickness keep the champions on top, but the Usos gain the upper hand by spamming superkicks like they were the Young Bucks. It's a very back and forth match, one that slowly escalates and features some original and barbaric spots. Notably, New Day pin one of the Usos to the corner of the cell by wedging kendo sticks in the gaps in the chain links. Later on, the Usos get a measure of revenge by cuffing Woods' arms over the ringpost and lighting his abs on fire with repeated kendo sticks shots. That was admittedly a bit difficult to watch - flashbacks of Rock vs Mankind come to mind. Not only was that a visceral spot, it showed that even though the normally happy-go-lucky New Day adapted to the brutal conditions of the Cell extremely well, Jimmy and Jey were still the more sadistic of the two teams. The match concluded with several really good near falls. The Usos finally won by laying some chairs on top of Woods and doing the double splash (which had earlier failed to defeat Big E).

I haven't watched much WWE in 2017, but this match is easily my WWE MOTY and it's right up there with the best NJPW matches. Also the best HIAC match I've seen in a very long time.

Oct 23, 2017 22:09:31 GMT Emperor said:

Asuka vs Emma
This would have been perfectly fine as a random Raw match, but given that this was Asuka's main roster debut on PPV, she needed to come in looking strong, and I don't think they succeeded all that well. It was your standard shine-heat-comeback match, with the shine not being so great. They seem to be reestablishing Emma, so a complete squash would have been even worse, but it still felt like the match lacked something. I am reminded of Asuka's NXT debut. She was touted as a killing machine with thunderous strikes and deadly submissions. While it was clear she could go and knew her way around a ring, I saw none of the killer-wrestler I see in, say, Samoa Joe. I attributed that to a combination of her opponent being unable to keep up and her being relatively unfamiliar with wrestling in America. Against Emma these excuses don't hold up. Apart from the final couple of minutes, her sporadic bursts of offense, while executed well, were barely sold, and Emma was back to neutral or on top in no time. Asuka's presumably going to be rocketed to the top of the division, so the fact she had a hard time beating Emma doesn't look too good for her, and I don't think it succeeded in elevating Emma either.

It really did more for Emma here. Reminded me of the TNA debut of Hamada against... I guess her debut as well, but Alissa Flash. Despite being hyped (oddly enough another regarded Japanese lady) more people were talking about her opponent after the match. Asuka basically came off as just another girl. She didn't do anything special or unique. Lots of girls do kicks and submissions, so what little offense she got fell flat. Part of me feels it's just the WWE way. Asuka is a babyface. Heel controls most of the match leading to the comeback. Just how it is. 50-50 booking.

🤯 bringing up Fire & Ice + trying my hand at late 90s WCW SuperCard MashUps has me on one of my bi-monthly WCW kicks. One of these days I have to go through 97-99 WCW. Unfortunately a lot of the matches I want to watch aren't readily available on Youtube or Dailymotion (huge lack of the Jersey Triad, for example). Maybe I'll have to get The Network.

Outsiders (c) vs. Steiners- NWO Souled Out 1/25/97- Tag Title Match

Here's another one of those feuds I read a lot about over the years. Yet I don't think I've ever seen an Outsiders/Steiners match before. WCW did a good job of keeping these teams separated for a while. As an outsider (no pun intended) following WCW only through the mags & word of mouth, this felt like a big deal....a real clash of super teams. The Outsiders had run roughshod over the likes of Harlem Heat, Nasty Boys & Faces of Fear and now they were taking on WCW's last, best hope in the already-legendary Steiners.

Think it's also my first time seeing anything from the infamous Souled Out 1997.

Dibiase & Bischoff are actually quite good on commentary. Yes, they put over the Outsiders big time. And they add in little heel touches like "listen to how much the crowd likes the Outsiders!" when the fans are cheering for Rick to make the hot tag. But they also talked about strategies in a Game of Human Chess sort of way and put over the Steiners pretty good considering they were "the enemy." Hell, Bischoff even made some reasonable arguments for why the NWO exists in the first place. Not bad.

Started off good. Hall seemed to be feeling it and the Steiners could still go. I was pleased to see both Hall & Nash take some Steiner suplexes given their reputation for laziness in WCW. Not that I'm necessarily surprised as both men respect the Steiners and put them over regularly in shoot interviews, but it was still nice to see. A lot of nice simple stuff like punches & clotheslines. Rick is low key one of the best clothesline bumpers. He mastered the art of the dangerous clothesline landing. I used to think him landing on his head off a Sid clothesline at War Games '91 was a botch but I guess not as he took the same sort of landing here. It gets a little boring during the Outsiders control segment on Rick, which lasted a minute too long (repeated Sidewalk Slams? Really?). Scotty comes in as a house of fire off the hot tag. Steiners set up the Steiner Bulldog on Hall. Nash breaks it up. Ref Nick Patrick (whose counts were just a little on the slow side when an Outsider was being pinned) got bumped during this but I missed it in real time and had to go back to find when he got taken out since it played into the finish. Commentary should have pointed it out. Hall hits the Razor's Edge on Scotty. But there's no ref! Rick then sticks a solo top rope bulldog on Hall. Patrick is still out. But wait! Referee Randy Anderson comes running in from the crowd! Cover! 1-2-3!

We have NEEEWWW tag team champions! Big pop. 

Verdict- Average ** match.  Ran maybe 2 minutes too long. Some of the face/heel stuff was off. And a low blow wasn't sold as much as it could have been. A lot of nitpicky little things like that. These teams have a better match in them. Now I don't know if they ever actually had one, but they definitely had the potential for it. Oh, and the decision would be reversed the next night on Nitro. 

Watched a bunch of New Breed stuff this morning. Covered them extensively like 4 years ago on the old PW. Time to repeat myself for the newcomers.

They were a short-lived tag team consisting of Sean Royal & Chris Champion in 1987 NWA whose gimmick was "tag team from the future"- 2002 to be precise. They obviously had a winning gimmick. They also had wild outfits, "futuristic" Exo Squad-style haircuts, the Beastie Boys Fight For Your Right (To Party) as entrance music, state of the art moves for 1987, and a total commitment to their gimmick. Oh, and the interviews...my god the interviews. They were eccentric (to say the least!) in that lovable "Broken" Matt Hardy sort of way. Loved them back in the day. Still love them today.  

In fact, the New Breed were the first NWA guys, and possibly the first non-WWF wrestlers (depending on when Dr. Death got his arm broken by a buncha jerks and started using his cast to dish out righteous revenge) I ever marked out for, period. I watched NWA whenever possible because "Yay! Wrestling!" But I also thought it was...well, kind of boring compared to my already beloved WWF. WWF had all these wild characters while NWA was filled with a bunch of Johnny Bootandtights guys who looked like uncles. Then the New Breed come along and it's like they really were from the future....if not a different planet. Only other NWA act to really capture my interest was the Midnight Express, who I also loved right from the very beginning, just not quite as much as the New Breed.  

I compared the New Breed to the Hardy Boyz in the past, and that still works, but maybe 2001 SAT would be a better comparison? Before the SAT were exposed as one trick ponies, and became the poster boys for bad spotfests, they were actually the most exciting tag team to hit the scene in a few years. New Breed have the same unpolished style as the SAT. Their fundamentals are pretty bad. Like the SAT, they're running (well, flying, really) before they learned to walk. BUT they're still fun as hell to watch and I imagine their greenness would have worn off quickly had they stuck around and worked all time great teams like the Expresses and Brainbusters on a regular basis. 

I think Royal is the slightly better wrestler. He's the 'powerhouse' of the two being much taller than Champion. Has a nice dropkick and snap suplex. Also utilizes AJ Styles Hollow Point (in 1987!) which sometimes becomes a Ganzo Bomb because he's sloppy. Uses a flying knee drop as a finisher in singles matches. He's pretty bad on the mic although his voice cracking like all the time (is he 12?) actually works because it adds to his aura of insanity.

The shorter Champion is more charismatic and better on interviews. Sometimes hits a nice dropkick. Can also be sloppy.

Their double teams rule and are only matched by the Midnight Express from this era. The Flux Capacitor (suplex w/ a top rope cross body) is their normal finisher. They also use a suplex w/ missile dropkick, Le Bombe Rougeau, Slingshot Splash, variation of the Hart Attack, and a top rope super leg drop (reminiscent of Nova & Chetti's finisher if you've seen that) as other big moves/occasional finishers. Like I said, real state of the art stuff for 1987 US wrestling.

New Breed promos have a ton of charm as they ramble on about "futuristic" stuff. A bunch of them are up on Youtube if you're interested. Champion in particular tries real hard. But they don't really know much about this sort of thing. We mock WWE for having scripted promos all the time but the New Breed definitely could have used a writer....or at least someone to give them talking points. New Breed promos are filled with references to the planet "Utopius," Decepticons & Autobots (really!), and that sort of thing.

New Breed referring to Dusty Rhodes as "Mr. President" is a great running gag. I also like how Chris Champion wore a "futuristic" cast when he was injured. Love little details like that.

Ah, the injury. Such a sad thing that killed the career of a promising tag team. They had the potential for greatness. They were a fresh act with a fun gimmick, a lot of ideas, and state of the art offense. They were getting over. They were 1987 cool. They were even getting occasional face pops despite being heels (although bashing the Rock & Roll Express would usually turn the crowd against them again). Then they got in a bad car accident driving from one town to another. Champion was out for a few months. Royal recovered quicker and wrestled singles matches for a while. They turned face when Champion came back but he just wasn't the same. I've also read there was heat between the two towards the end. Their entire NWA run only lasted about 9 months and Champion was out for about half that time. But I still remember them 30 years later, so that's something. 

Oh, and one last thing....their Fight For Your Right (To Party) entrance music could have been to 1988 NWA what Enter Sandman was to ECW. It was heading in that direction. Fans were starting to sing along (while they were still heels!). Champion & Royal would occasionally sing along, too. 

Midnight Express vs. New Breed has been one of my Holy Grail matches since seeing a clip from one of their matches in the intro of an old Turner Home Entertainment release in 95-96. Just looked it up. They wrestled a bunch of house show matches in late 1987. At least one of those matches needs to see the light of day.

Wish they had stuck around. New Breed vs. Anyone would have ruled.

vs. Midnight Express would have been like the Hardys vs. Edge & Christian of its day
vs. Rock & Roll would have been 2002 cool vs. 1986 cool
vs. Road Warriors would have been a hoot
vs. Arn & Tully would have been an awesome culture clash
vs. Varsity Club works for the promos alone...
"Syracuse sucks! We went to a REAL college. University of Utopius. Majored in Advanced Cybertronics."
vs. Dynamic Dudes- New Breed would have buried them on the mic and exposed them in the ring...but in a good way!
vs. Skyscrapers- They'd only wrestle once. Then form a mutual awesomeness pact and unite as babyfaces to battle the Four Horsemen! Book it, Gabe! 

I'm getting silly now. Time to go. I leave you with this.

2002 Style~!

Earlier today I made a joke post about Kurt Angle facing Shane McMahon at Survivor Series. The dream rematch, I said. Well, I've never seen the original, and I've been meaning to for a while, and it's about time I did. People love to complain about Shane being booked ridiculously - a non-wrestler who can work competitively and even get the better of Styles/Taker/Owens. I get those complaints. Yet I've not heard a single bad word about this match, in which I presume Shane is booked on the same level as Kurt Angle. Let's see what all the fuss is about.

WWE King of the Ring (2001)
Street Fight
Kurt Angle vs Shane McMahon
It's 2001. Kurt Angle has hair. Shane McMahon has black hair and a boyish charm. Like most early Angle feuds, it revolves around the fact that he's an olympic gold medalist. One day Angle decided to reenact his Olympic medal ceremony. Obvious dick move. Shane McMahon interrupts him for no reason and goes on about WCW. Obvious dick move. Kurt hits the Olympic Slam from the top of the podium. Justified and awesome dick move. So, who's the heel here? Both of them, I guess. The next clip shows Shane running into the ring and hitting the Olympic Slam on a presumably fresh Kurt Angle. OK, his take on the move was fucking awesome and better than most of Kurt's, but wouldn't everyone be fuming at their keyboards if Shane strolled up to AJ Styles in 2017 and dropped him with the Styles Clash? I'm very curious as to how the IWC would have reacted at the time. I'm willing to bet the reaction was largely positive. So yeah, a contrived and forced feud, like every Shane O Mac feud.

It's 2001, so I am treated with the GOAT announce duo of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman. Yeah, I said it, and I mean it. They don't get anywhere near as much credit as they deserve. Angle walks briskly to the ring without any fanfare. He gets in the ring and launches himself with a double leg takedown so violent it might as well be called a spear. Angle grabs a waistlock and throws Shane around. Shane aint getting out of that. He gets to the ropes, and the ref calls a break, which is kinda stupid in a Street Fight. Kurt Angle breaks for a second then easily picks him up for a backdrop. As much as I enjoyed Shane vs Styles at Wrestlemania, Shane should never be starting on level terms with an upper card wrestler. This is how you do it. Furthermore, Angle's thrown no strikes yet. He's beating him up like an Olympic wrestler would. Great start. Just as I say that: stomp, stomp, stomp. Irish whip, knee strike.

Angle beats him up some more. Shane catches a kick and then goes on an offensive flurry, including some grappling, selling not a damn thing. After taking Angle down and riding him a bit, he smartly slides out of the ring. I could accept this if Angle hadn't just whooped his ass for the past three minutes. Instead Shane rendered those minutes meaningless. At least by bailing he acknowledges he wouldn't be able to stay on top for long, instead goading Angle into Shane's territory. Angle uses one of his three Is, staying in the ring. He gets on all fours, challenging Shane to try and outwrestle him again. Shane hesitates, but eventually grabs a waistlock. Angle immediately spins out, gets on top and violently clubs Shane's back. He picks him up and hits a bunch of fantastic suplexes, rolls him around the ring, slaps him, and once again gets on all fours. This time Shane is generous enough to sell before getting to his feet.

Shane teases going in for another grapple, with Heyman screaming at him not to. Instead, Shane rears back and soccer kicks Angle right in the stomach. He is on top for a few moments, hitting some punches and clotheslines, but Angle ducks one of them and grabs a waistlock. This time Shane runs around in circles in order to send Angle through the ropes and to the floor. Angle is mad. Shane bails to the floor. Angle gives chase. They do a lap around the ring, then Shane leaps onto the guardrail with surprising agility and bounces back with a body attack. He then leaps over the announce table with a flying clothesline and grabs a kendo stick. "See, I told you Shane was gonna win this!" yells Heyman "Another upset by Shane McMahon!" Shane gives Kurt a whooping with the stick. Angle is able to ram Shane into the post, but Shane gets his own post shot in and clotheslines Angle over the crowd barrier. Shane takes a breather. He gets up. Angle pops up from behind the barrier like a slasher villain, arms around the neck. Shane somehow throws him over his head, and they're back at ringside.

I'm trying to avoid play-by-playing the whole damn match, but everything they do is noteworthy. Shane is doing something very original by armdragging Angle into the crowd barrier. Shane beats up Angle some more and grabs some vintage WWF hardcore division weapons: trash cans and plastic signs. The crowd pops for a flying sign lariat. Shane goes for the cover. Angle doesn't just kick out, he rolls on top of Shane and starts a comeback. Shane catches another kick. Angle uncharacteristically tries an enziguiri. Good effort, but Shane ducks and applies the Ankle Lock! Angle escapes pretty quickly, but some damage is done. Shane hits a floatover DDT (whatever happened to that move, anyway?) and locks in a reasonable Sharpshooter. Angle escapes using a kendo stick. Both men take a while to get to their feet. Shane stays on top with his signature dancing punches. Hard trashcan shot to the head. "An Olympic head right in the trashcan!" says JR. The Olympic abdomen gets a few shots too. He lays the trashcan on Angle's stomach and climbs to the top. What's Shane going to do?! Shooting Star Press! Angle moves! Until now I honestly thought Wrestlemania 33 was the first time Shane did that. I was wrong. "Where did he pull that one out of?!" screams Heyman as the crowd chants "Holy shit".

Angle hits a Fireman's Carry, which is awesome. It's the least fitting move to use 15 minutes into a street fight. He really is the Olympic wrestler. Despite this move, Angle's had enough of the ring, and dumps Shane over the top rope. Shane blocks a vertical suplexes and reverses it. On the ramp. Heyman mentions something about Angle wrestling one or two matches prior to this one. I did not know that, and I'm not going to bother researching it. PW can supply me with information if they so desire. Angle belly-to-bellies Shane into the staging. His body connects with a sickening thwack. Unfortunately for Shane, the glass didn't smash the first time, so he has to take it again. Smash! It's the spot everyone knows. Suplex through the glass. Monster reaction, as it deserves. That is the one spot I knew going in. What I didn't know is that it isn't the first glass smash of the match. Angle hits two more suplexes on an adjacent panel, trying to smash him from the inside to the outside. Two suplexes don't work. Angle ends Shane's suffering by simply grabbing his head and tossing him through the glass. Honestly, that spot looked way nastier than the suplex, going through head first, even if it isn't as visually appealing. Shane's done a lot of crazy shit, but this more than anything else deserves a truckload of respect. More "Holy shit" chants. Never have they been more appropriate. Angle tries to cover the bloody mess in a sports jersey, but the ref informs Angle that he has to pin in the ring. Angle looks crushed. He grabs Shane's wrist and tries to pull him towards the ring, but slips and collapses. JR sells this as exhaustion, and that might be at least partially true. I don't think Angle's working anymore, although he has a reputation for never getting blown up. Great visual, regardless.

Angle is still intelligent. He grabs a nearby metal case on wheels. The area around Shane O Mac looks like a crime scene. First degree murder. Get the police tape out! "Don't tell me he's going to run over Shane with this thing." says JR. Come on, you're smarter than that. With considerable effort, Angle lifts Shane onto the cart. All the while, Mike Chioda is yelling in his ear to get him back in the ring. That's what he is doing, you impatient twit! Angle wheels Shane to the ring. "It's the fourth I! Ingenious!" screams Heyman. I've just noticed Heyman is in favour of both guys. So it must be heel vs heel. JR for some reason is chastising Angle as though he's committing some deplorable act. He's trying to end the match ASAP. That's the most humane thing he can do! Shane literally hasn't moved since he was thrown through the glass the second time. While the announcers continue to bicker, putting into question their status as the GOAT team, Angle finally gets Shane in the ring and covers. One! Two! Thr- no! Shane meekly raises his left shoulder. Crowd goes crazy.

Angle stands before Shane, garbage can lid raised high. Desperation low blow from Shane! Shane hits a few accurate one-handed shots with the same lid. Another awesome Olympic Slam from Shane. Classic arm draped over chest cover. One! Two! Angle kicks out! Angle scrappily goes for the ankle lock. Shane rolls to his back. Angle grabs both legs and catapults Shane into the turnbuckle. Shane is draped on the top rope. Angle grabs a random board of wood that is lying around. He hits Shane with it. He balances the board on the corner. He stands on the board, using it to Olympic Slam Shane from the top, establishing his status as the greatest applicant of the Olympic Slam. That board use is also the most intelligent thing he's done all match, and that's saying something. Cover. One. Two. Three.

OK. I get it. I get why this match is so well-regarded. I get why nobody complains about it the same way they complain about Shane's modern matches. It was a very intelligent match. Shane was clearly not on Angle's level as a wrestler or fighter. Apart from that random no-sell offense at the start, it was perfect. It had everything a good Street Fight should have, and then some. Super hot crowd. Legitimately one of the best matches I've ever seen.

Haven't seen Angle/Shane in years but I loved it back in the day. Multiple legit "Holy Shit" spots. I rated it in the top tier of nutty, "disturbing in a good way" matches. Right up there with Foley/Taker Hell In A Cell, Joe/Necro & Sabu/Funk for pure brutality.

That's not to say it's unanimously loved. I've seen people say Shane got too much offense in on Angle. And didn't Shane, a non-wrestler, outwrestle Kurt Angle: Olympic Gold Medalist once or twice? It wasn't in your review, and it's not like I remember, but I've seen people mention that before. Have also seen people say it was stupid and dangerous for Angle to keep trying to suplex Shane through the glass which is hard to argue with if we're being honest.

Angle did wrestle 3 matches on this show. He had already defeated Christian and lost to Edge in the King of the Ring tournament.

Paul E. & JR bickered far too much for liking. And it didn't come off like your typical face & heel wrestling commentators arguing but more like real life bickering, if that makes sense. Heyman got on my nerves as a commentator during this period. I was thrilled when Lawler came back the night after Survivor Series.

Angle was definitely a heel at the time but Shane was supposed to be a babyface.

Shane only outwrestled Kurt Angle right at the start, after he no sold Angle's initial beating. Even then it came across as a surprise takedown, him catching Angle off guard. Not the most offensive thing in the world, but like I said, it was the only real flaw I identified.

Fantastic review, Emperor. I never knew you hadn't seen this match. Maybe you mentioned it though once upon a time in the midst of a WrassleFight when we were tag partners and partners in judging.

I think Angle having already wrestled two matches on this night helps make the logic of this match a LOT more tolerable than other Shane matches... At least for me. It's so weird... I generally hate the idea of Shane matches, but I'd be lying if I said most of them haven't entertained me in real time. And a lot even still entertain me upon rewatch. So oddly conflicting. Must be the smark in me or something.

I suddenly feel compelled to rank my Top 10 Shane matches.

...

5) vs. AJ Styles - 'Mania 33
4) vs. Test - SummerSlam 1999
3) vs. X-Pac - 'Mania 15
2) vs. Vince McMahon - 'Mania 17
1) vs. Kurt Angle - KOTR 2001

...

I'm out of gas. His HIAC against 'Taker isn't making my list. Was his second HIAC this year any good? I'm not then totally sure who it was against.

Were either of Shane's PPV outings against Big Show noteworthy? I vaguely recall liking his Backlash 2001 match, but maybe that's an inaccurate recollection. Can't recall enough about his Blackman match besides the big fall. Is that enough to get in the Top 10?

The Legacy and DX doesn't cut it, that's also for sure. But maybe his tag match against God does?

I'd go with Angle, Vince, Styles, Taker in that order. Wrestlemania X7 was one of the few wrestling tapes I had as a kid, so I watched the Shane vs Vince a lot, and I'm fed up of it. So I would prefer to watch the Styles match nowadays, but the Vince match is still a better match. Vintage Attituda Era hokeyness.

Not seen the recent HIAC with Kevin Owens, nor am I going to. I remember seeing one of his matches with either Test or Big Show when it happened, but I remember nothing of it other than a massive dive from the top of the tron. No idea he wrestled X-Pac, at Wrestlemania no less. That might be worth checking out.

I haven't seen Shane's recent matches but here is my Essential Shane McMahon Collection....

1. vs. Kurt Angle (King of the Ring 2001)
2. vs. Vince McMahon (Wrestlemania 17)
3. vs. Test (Summerslam 1999)

*The Blackman match had Shane falling from like 50 feet but the rest of the match is forgettable since I remember literally nothing else about it. The XPac match exceeded my low expectations at the time (1999 Me- "How dare a non-wrestler soil the sacred Attitude Era ring!" ) but, again, don't really remember anything about it now.

So I watched a bunch of bad wrestling last night starting with Yoshi Kwan, who had been Chris Champion of the New Breed in a previous life. Kwan did a fake Asian martial artist gimmick. Feuded with Cactus Jack in 1993 WCW. Lots of nerve holds. The mannerisms of a pauper Great Muta. Not good.

Also learned he resurfaced in 1996 USWA which makes no sense to me (dude, you're Chris Champion of the f'n New Breed. Revert back to that. Not stupid Yoshi Kwan.) and I'm not even sure how it was legal. I guess he owned the gimmick and not WCW? Still not good but he had a better look this time with white face paint. Would have freaked out 8 year old me. He also had a nice standing spinkick in both his WCW & USWA appearances.

From there my Youtube recommendations lead me down a bad Memphis wrestling rabbit hole. Watched a little more Memphis Power Pro Wrestling. This fed has been a major disappointment. See, it actually had a good amount of buzz in 1999. Perhaps because it was the first 'proper' WWF Developmental Fed? (USWA had been kinda sorta it's own thing whereas over half the PPW roster were WWE Developmental prospects.) The Internet Darling of 1999 WWE Developmental, Steve Bradley, was a disappointment. And yesterday I learned other prospects like Glen Kulka & Mick Tierney were flat out bad, although Irishman Mick Tierney was good on the mic even if he did clearly say "shit" several times on a live Saturday morning wrestling broadcast   Both guys are very much in the Heidenreich mold. As is that Von Keller guy who is so obscure even I had no idea who he was. Bulldog Raines (aka: Fat Pitbull #2) wasn't under a developmental deal but he's really, really bad. Even my man Pierre sucked (or at least had an AWFUL gimmick) in PPW as Kris Kannonball: Fire-blowing party animal from Miami....or at least that's what I think this weird gimmick was supposed to be.

The least terrible PPW Developmental guy I've seen is unsurprisingly Kurt Angle. Oh, sure, he's not quite KURT ANGLE yet but he's a perfectly fine white meat 80s babyface. Threw a killer flying forearm in one match and doesn't botch as much as the proto-Heidenreich crowd. 

And because all bad wrestling rabbit holes end in Ahmed Johnson I watched Ahmed vs. Shinobi from an early 1996 Raw. Shinobi was not our very own shinobimusashi but Al Snow doing basically a Yoshi Kwan gimmick. He shit the bed by horribly botching a springboard in a spot I actually remembered. This was his 2nd televised match as Shinobi. It would be his last. He also bombed in his debut as Avatar. Frankly I'm surprised Vince kept him under contract after striking out twice. As for Ahmed, he sure did have a 10/10 look.

What I think would have been really cool is if they would have signed Hayabusa to WWF and just called him Shinobi.

Varsity Club (Rick Steiner & Kevin Sullivan) vs. Jimmy Garvin & Chris Champion (NWA July 1988)

Sadly no Varsity Club theme on this video. Automatic 1/4* deduction.

The Garvins were feuding with the Varsity Club in a rivalry I don't really remember as Jimmy Garvin had huge go away heat with me (though I do like a match he had with Flair in 1987). Story of this one is Ron Garvin had transportation problems. Gorgeous Jimmy needed a partner. Champion volunteered.

Commentary by JR & Bob Caudle is really good in that old school game of human chess/real sport NWA style as they discuss strategies and how the differences between Champion & Ronnie Garvin may come into play. JR refers to "Chris Champion of the New Breed" several times despite the New Breed not being a thing for like 7 months. Maybe they were hoping for a Royal comeback? Then again, who wasn't? Champion is also still wearing his loud New Breed tights and the weird "futuristic" haircut remains. 

Crowd is HOT. Story early is Garvin wants a piece of Sullivan while "The Gamesmaster", like any manager-type heel worth his salt, makes his henchman Steiner do the dirty work. 

Match is real basic stuff brought up a notch due to the Sullivan/Garvin story and a red hot crowd. Oh, and the shooty finish which must be seen. Champion drills Steiner with a stiff karate kick which Steiner takes a great (probably unintentional) bump for. I only say "probably" because I've recently discovered R. Steiner was a low key great bumper who had this weirdly cool way of taking clotheslines that often resulted in a similar bump to the one he takes here. Anyway, "The Dogfaced Gremlin" retaliates by trying to decapitate Champion with a clothesline. He nearly succeeds. Youtube commenters claim Champion was knocked out. I can believe it. Watch the finish here.

Edit: D'oh! I botched it. Meant to start it at 5:43 and can't figure out to how to remove so I can do it properly. You'll have to skip ahead to about 5:43.

Survivor Series Elimination Match(WWF Survivor Series 94)
The Teamsters(Shawn Micheals, Diesel, Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart, & Jim Niedhardt)
vs
The Bad Guys(Razor Ramon, British Bulldog, 123 Kid, & The Headshrinkers-Fatu aka Rikishi and Sione aka The Barbarian)


Loaded up Survivor Series 94 this morning enjoying my coffee and boy this seriously hit the spot. This was the opening match. We're in San Antonio Texas and we're rocking the cowboy country/western theme with Vince Mcmahon and Gorilla Monsoon in hat and boots. Oh my god the nostalgia. This match was so damn good. I remember the build up to this had some fun moments on Raw and Superstars leading up to this show. You had the full Kliq here along with Owen and Bulldog two more of my favorites. There were some fun one on one exchanges between Kid and Jarrett through the match, with a pretty nice one on one with Owen vs Bulldog as well. The heels build up the heat as everybody tags in and out. It's mostly Anvil, Owen, and Jarrett up against Razor, Kid, and Bulldog early on as HBK and Diesel sit back along with the Headshrinkers.

Diesel gets tagged in and wrecks shit, eliminating Kid and both Headshrinkers with power bombs. Bulldog gets some offense in to wear Diesel down and they protect him with his elimination coming via countout as he gets knocked out of the ring and jumped by Jarrett, Owen, and Anvil for the countout. This leaves Diesel going one on one with Razor and this was excellent. Diesel gets wore out and tries to tag out but nobody on his team will tag him. Shawn urges him on to finish the job so he drops Diesel with a jacknife. Shawn stops him from going for the pin and insists that he tag him in. HBK comes in and stops Diesel to bring him back into the ring to hold Razor up for him to Superkick him. Diesel stops in such a great moment before he goes back into the ring, its like he's so fed up with putting up with Shawn's shit. He goes back in to hold Razor up but Razor drops down and causes Shawn to kick Diesel in the face. This pushes the big man over the top and we get his face turn, he finally goes after Shawn and chases him to the back. This was all great up to the finish where Owen, Anvil, and Jarrett chase after Diesel to stop him from getting Shawn, resulting in the entire team getting counted out!!!

I lol'd on this finish. Razor was the sole survivor to win it, he's the man, but Diesel was once again made to look great on pay per view in a great moment that was building up since the Royal Rumble some 10 months prior to this show. This match was really fun and seriously hit the spot this Saturday morning smoking on some herb and drinking my first cup of coffee. I was going to give it 4 Stars but that finish was a little too cheap, if I were to rebook it I'd have Razor at least eliminating Anvil and Jarrett. Either way this was a damn good time, 3 & 3/4 Stars

Lately I've been checking out some of the old DVD compilations from my collection. It's amazing, as much as I was losing interest in the product around that time, the DVD releases make that 03/04 period strangely nostalgic for me. I can just about recite the 'Don't Try This At Home' disclaimer and some of the promotions for shows like Taboo Tuesday, Backlash 04, the Ric Flair compilation are ingrained into my memory.

One of the DVDs I wanted to check out was One Of A Kind - Rob Van Dam. The set was long over-due, and normally it would be fair to blame the WWE but the truth of the matter is they couldn't release the set until the Summer of 2003 as that's when they were able to purchase the ECW video library. Despite RVD going through a rough patch in his career at the time, I still purchased the set and I'm glad I did because it's the one I often find myself going back to.

This time I wanted to check out two of the later matches on the set.

Rob Van Dam vs Chris Jericho - King of the Ring 2002
These two actually have a storied past. In 1996, Chris Jericho made his ECW debut against Rob Van Dam in a match that was so bad, Paul Heyman 'lost the tape' so he didn't have to subject the public to the monstrosity. 6 years on and with both guys more seasoned, they had the tough ask of opening the show. Now for years, Rob Van Dam was renown for his ability to incorporate props into a match. Like his best friend Sabu, RVD found creative ways to incorporate the steel chair in a match and would get a tremendous reaction out of it. This being the first match on the show, RVD had his hands tied and had to rely solely on his wrestling ability. For their part, both guys worked a really sound match and there's one spot in the match where Rob Van Dam takes a German Suplex that would even make Taz really proud. This was RVD's effort at acclimatizing to the WWE style, it's just a matter of whether you thought he succeeded or not.

Rob Van Dam vs Christian - Ladder Match - Raw is War 2003
If there was one match Rob Van Dam made a name for himself in the WWE, it was the ladder match. In recent times, the ladder match had become one of the most barbaric matches in the WWE, leapfrogging the Cage match and sitting adjacent with the Hell in the Cell for sheer mayhem. Unfortunately for Rob, he had built quite the CV for himself and had to find more dangerous ways to top himself. Fortunately he found himself in the ring with one of the most selfless workers, Christian. I'd be surprised if Christian got more than two high spots in this entire match, he took a lot of punishment and bumped his ass off to get the fans invested in the match. The finish maybe one of the best Rob Van Dam finishes in his time at the WWE. Rob Van Dam climbed up to the highest rung on the ladder, somehow maintained his balanced and executed a five-star frog splash to perfection on Christian. It was a great showcase for Rob Van Dam and certainly one of his finer outings in the company.

Big Pete That Jericho/RVD match gained a small degree of infamy due to Jericho throwing a temper tantrum on the internet a few days later over the lack of ***** reviews. He thought it was one of the best matches of his career while most reviewers thought it was around ***1/2- good but not great.

Edit: Here is Jericho's rant officialfan.proboards.com/thread/507898/chris-jericho-responds-critics-circa

I rewatched it a few years ago around the time Jericho & RVD had a match on then-current WWE tv. It held up well. I still enjoyed it.

I've been watching a mishmash of stuff lately- AWF, modern indie women's wrestling, my usual smattering of 80s & 90s WWF. Nothing spectacular, and I just haven't felt like writing about any of that stuff. Wanted to watch the Edge & Christian + Hardys vs. Too Cool & Hollys 1999 Survivor Series match I was looking forward to back in the day but have never seen. Unfortunately the video was wonky so I settled for the next best thing....

Edge & Christian + Hardy Boyz w/ Terri vs. Too Cool & Hollys- Raw 11/1/99

Hollys are unfortunately the tag champs. Too Cool had recently returned from a several month hiatus due to one of them being injured. Hardys and Edge & Christian became made men two weeks earlier courtesy of their famous tag team ladder match.

I'd have been excited for this at the time as I liked 7 of the 8 participants with only Crash being a weak link. Lillian Garcia handles the introductions. Didn't think she was around this early. JR & Lawler are on commentary. JR spends a lot of time talking about Big Show being injured earlier in the night by either Bossman & Albert or DX. He was unclear. While Lawler spends most of the match salivating over Terri and trying to be hip. They also both hype the main event of Austin vs. Mr. Ass.

The signs are out of control. My favorite is "Watch Out O'Grady. Taz Is Coming" which is some real deep cut smarkery. 

Match was short but action packed. The sort of thing I'd have loved in 1999 but doesn't age all that well as moves become crazier and crazier over the years. I liked the beginning w/ Jeff & Christian displaying some nice teamwork, including a version of Poetry In Motion ending in a Christian cross body instead of the usual Jeff Air Sabu. Heels worked over Matt for a while before the lukewarm tag was made. Highlights included a Jeff flip dive, sweet Hardcore Holly dropkick, and Christopher & Edge both hitting nice sitout powerbombs. Edge wins it with a spear on a Holly after it had broken down into an 8 man brawl.

Verdict- Skippable *1/2 territory

I had a leftover 6 hour long blank VHS tape sitting around so I decided to put it to use and make a Bret Hart tape. I've gradually been adding matches to it over the past week or so, just whenever I have time. When the tape is full I'll toss it in the attic and it will be great to pull out and pop in a few years from now when I'm in the Bret mood. I already have the 3 disc Bret DVD set with quite a few of my favorite matches on it, Bret vs Bulldog Summerslam 92/In Your House Dec. 95, vs Perfect KOTR '93/Summerslam 91. This set is missing some of my favorite Bret matches so I decided to make this tape(recording from WWE Network and Youtube). These are the matches I've watched and recorded to the tape so far:

Hart Foundation vs Brain Busters, Summerslam 89
Hart Foundation vs Demolition, Summerslam 90
Bret vs Roddy Piper, Wrestlemania VIII
Bret vs HBK, Ladder Match 1992
Bret vs Flair, Bret's first title win 1992
Bret vs Bam Bam, King Of The Ring 1993 finals
Bret vs HBK, steel cage match December 1993
Bret vs 123 Kid, Raw July 1994

Next up I'm going to record Bret vs Owen cage match from Summerslam 94, with that I should be at around 2 hours, with 4 hours of tape left. Any recommendations to add to this bad boy? I'd like to keep it in chronological order(so anything after Summerslam 94), matches that are not already on either of the Bret DVD's, and matches that Bret wins.

This was the first time I'd seen the HBK ladder match in a long time. This wasn't all that great. Also the first time I'd properly sat down and watched Bret's first title win from Flair. This wasn't that bad, I enjoyed it.

I'm watching Hart Foundation vs The Rockers 2/3 Falls from Saturday Night Main Event, this is the dark match where the rope breaks from 1990, I can't remember if this was on the Bret DVD set or not? Either way, holy shit this is great! 

Bret Hart vs Hakushi - Raw 7/24/95 -

Bret was dismayed that after he and hakushi tore the house down at the inaugural IYH that all the other boys just buried him. Apparently as soon as Hakushi found out he was working Bret again, he was so relieved and they put together a match that featured a bunch of ideas they cut out from their first match including an insane dive on the outside.

I was going to suggest the champion v champion Bret Hart vs Goldust match, where Bret was the first guy to defeat Goldust, but the match was cut together so poorly, there was like four minutes of actual in-ring action. It's a shame, because if I was putting together a fun compilation like this, I'd be looking to fill it with matches like that which just captures the vibe of that era.

I was reading Bret's book recently and had completely forgotten that the 95 Survivor Series match was inspired by Sabu. Bret didn't like a lot about ECW, but his fandom for Sabu and Balls Mahoney is a weird anomaly.