Superstar Sleeze

Six-Man Tag Team Champions Von Erichs vs Fabulous Freebirds - WCCW 8/12/83 The Fabulous Freebirds come out with a way to top themselves for this entrance for their TV rematch for the Six-Man Tag Team Titles. The elaborate entrance includes Confederate soldiers leading them to the ring as if this was Gone from the Wind. The crowds boos at the mere mention of Georgia in “Georgia on my Mind”. Huge Go Home Freebirds! Chant, like WOW! Massive heat. Kevin Von Erich would like to remind us that his relatives also fought on the wrong side of the war just in case there are racist pricks in the audience cheering for the Freebirds. Love Kevin the wrestler, but Kevin the treasonous asshole, not so much. The crowd is apolitical and is content to chant Baldie at Buddy. Hayes takes an atomic drop early and tags out immediately to rub his ass. Got a chuckle out of me. Buddy Roberts does what he does best, get beat up. Kerry misses an elbow and Gordy comes in tries to take advantage, but Kerry battles back. Double Irish Whip on Gordy and he does a Flair Flip. I like how the Birds press advantage then lose it constantly. There is a real sense of urgency to regain the titles, but the Von Erichs are just too much. Another good examples of this is when Hayes attacks David, but David gets to his corner and holds Hayes while Kevin comes in. Kevin dropkicks everyone. Kerry comes in and looks to be overmatched, but then works on Buddys arm and the Von Erichs follows suit until David eats kneelift from Buddy Roberts. This was a great EARNED shine. Gordy goes a-clubberin’ and Hayes chinlocks. David makes it to Kevin! Kevin goes all out, but misses flying bodypress. Gordy hits a kneedrop on Kevin. Kerry comes in and has great fire. Gordy tries to salvage the situation, but David saves. Kerry hits a vertical suplex. Triple dropkick! Kerry applies the sleeper. Melee ensues. Kerry dropkicks Buddy out of ring. Hayes smashes David into the steel. Gordy detains Kevin. Kerry has Hayes in bearhug (shitty one) and Buddy leaps headlong into him with his protective helmet (loaded?!?!?) and Hayes wins to regain titles. I loved the shine and the finish. I didn’t think the middle was as compelling. I would like to see what the Birds could do with a longer heat segment. Maybe it would be more chinlocks, but I would be interested. Definitely think it was good booking to put the belts back on the Birds to sustain their heat into the Fall. The ending was a great piece of cheating that puts even more heat on Buddy Roberts and his helmet. Hayes was the heat-seeker on promos, but in the match it was all Buddy. He was cruisin’ for a bruisin. I would love to know what match features his comeuppance! ****1/4

Six-Man Tag Team Champions Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 7/4/83 2 Out of 3 Falls Huge July 4th event! Freebirds come out to “Georgia On My Mind” and the first mention of Georgia draws a lusty chorus of boos! Georgia vs. Texas is in full swing! The Freebirds have their Confederate sequined robes and the Georgia state flag. They sure know how to make an entrance. The places blows up for the Von Erichs. This is the loudest, most sustained heat I have ever heard. The crowd LOVES the Von Erichs and HATES the Freebirds. This is the ultimate wrestling atmosphere. The opening of this match is about as basic as you get but they were popping for every Von Erich offensive move like it was Hogan’s legdrop. Roberts has his headgear/wig deal. The crowd is all over him with chants of “Baldie”. Gordy drives Kevin into corner and Roberts gets heat on Kevin. It is a titantic struggle as the Birds are using strong heel tactics to try to keep the superhero-like Von Erichs down. Kerry explodes out of his corner illegally because of Gordy jawing at him. WOW what a hot moment! The heat really is tremendous. Kevin makes it to David who opens a can on Buddy complete with high knee, but Buddy tagged out and a Gordy cross-body wins the fall for the Birds. Big time Birds celebration and after how the Von Erichs started off that was huge for the Birds to go up 1-Nil. David lets his brothers know that was his bad and he wants to redeem myself. Kicking ass, gets lured into Freebirds corner, but slips out before Hayes can get a hold of him and Hayes is pissed. Nice bit of psychology. Hayes goes up to jaw with fans and David beats him up. David is too tempted by getting his licks in on Terry and Buddy. Short heat on him, but Buddy misses dropkick and Kerry is in to a huge reaction. Kerry is just rocking n rolling. Roberts blindsides Kerry. I have noticed in a lot of these matches most of the heat ends up on Buddy. He is the one that causes the heat segment through dirty tactics. Heat segment on Kerry. Trying to get tag, but Hayes stops. Double arm clothesline by Birds and Kerry kicks out to big pop. Kevin cant handle it and he dropkicks everyone and Claws Gordy. Ref tries to break it up Kerry and David double arm clothesline on Buddy to knot it up at one piece. I loved the symmetry of Kerry kicking out of the illegal double clothesline and then here the Von Erichs fight fire with fire to win the match. Melee breaks out after the second fall. David Manning says fuckk all you all, I will DQ you muthafuckas if it comes to it and brings out another ref to a pop and Hayes protests. Kerry kicks some Roberts ass and falling Tenryu elbow. Roberts hits headbutt to midsection with Kerry up against ropes (again Buddy getting that heat started). All the Birds working on Kerry’s midsection is great. We get a string of bearhugs. Buddy does not phase him and goes for headgear, but that gets him in trouble. Kicks Hayes on telegraphed back drop and tags out to Kevin. Kevin is a house of fire and claw on Hayes. Gordy buries a knee in Kevin’s back. Kevin obliterates Manning and also falls to outside. Melee. Kevin trips up Hayes from outside. Top rope reverse cross body on Hayes wins the titles! CROWD EXPLODES! Loved this match. Both teams use face/heel dynamics perfectly to make every simple move look like the most important move ever. This match is definitely buoyed by one of the greatest, hottest crowds ever. The reason not to go full monty is because the work was a bit too simplistic and minimalistic. As a pure character piece and indulging a rabid crowd, it is hard to beat this match. ****3/4

American Heavyweight Champion Kevin Von Erich vs Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin - WCCW 7/18/83 Zack Galfinkas clearly took his grooming cues from the sleeziest man in wrestling, “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin. Garvin and Sunshine were a tremendous heel act and perfect as the top singles heel down from the Freebirds and as their ally. My love for Kevin Von Erich is well-known and one of the first matches I ever watched of him was this one. I was excited to re-watch it and it did not disappoint. Kevin outclasses the preening, cocky Jimmy Garvin in the beginning with a dropkick out of chain sequence then bodyscissors. Kevin Von Erich is one of the wrestlers that has a credible body/head scissors. There is something about the way he does it that has me believing. Maybe part of that is Garvin’s great verbal selling in the hold. Garvin shows he can wrestle with a drop toehold and Indian detahlock and Garvin tries a pinning combination. Von Erich, always fighting, punches out. Garvin does not let up with good vicious knees to back. Garvin hits the chinlock.. Kevin blocks and throws Garvin into turnbuckle and Irish Whip. Kevin reverse crossbody from top rope to win first fall! Garvin is pissed at himself and rightfully so he dominated the first fall and let it slip right through his fingers. Kevin starts the second fall with a nice armbar takedown. Kevin applies a headscissors. Sunshine is such a fun valet. Good facial expressions and reacts well to events in the ring. He basically piledrives Garvin when he tries to escape headsicssors. Garvin pops up, but ends up in a hammerlock, love foiling the heel like that. Great verbal selling by Gorgeous Jimmy again. Kevin is really working it and wrenching it, so good. Nice reversals in hammerlock with Kevin getting the best of it. Kevin now applies the double wristlock. Garvin powers up and hangs Kevin up on top rope, but Kevin keeps fighting. Big splash and Kevin eats feet to face. NASTY! KEVIN WENT FULL BORE INTO THAT! Tied 1-1. Kevin looked to have this title defense against Jimmy Jam all sewn up, but he blows it in the second fall. Garvin presses his advantage clubbering and drops Kevin throat first in the top rope. Garvin back to the chinlock. Michaels Hayes is on apron and at first I thought it was Sunshine. Lets be honest, Hayes has way better than Sunshine so sorry for dissing you, Michael! Kevin throws Garvin’s head into turnbuckle and great selling by Garvin knowing what is coming next! Kevin applies the vaunted Iron Claw to the head of Gorgeous Jimmy. Is that perm enough of a helmet? Garvin gets to ropes. Kevin dropkick sends Jimmy Jam out to the floor. Sunshine slaps Kevin so Kevin spanks Sunshine! Garvin comes crashing down on him for the victory!!! Sunshine taking one for the team! Kevin is a total hothead in the ring and that’s what makes him great. Sunshine and Garvin parlayed that into an advantage of their own. Great action in there, loved the symmetry of the first two falls and a super hot finish run. Another great Kevin Von Erich match! ****1/2

Fabulous Freebirds/Jimmy Garvin vs Von Erichs/Iceman Parsons - WCCW 5/27/83 Elimination Match This match is not worked Survivor Series style, but basically as a 4 vs. 4 battle royale where eliminations can happen by pinfall, submission or being thrown over the top rope. This match is wicked chaotic and I actually liked that feel a lot. The Faces start off hot. They shoot all four Birds into the center for a 4 way collision. Gordy goes for piledriver. Kevin hits a crossbody and they pig pile on top for him for three. Loved the pig pile! I did not expect Gordy to be the first eliminated. That’s a huge coup for the Von Erichs. The eliminations are rapid fire. Parsons gets pig piled by Hayes/Roberts. Garvin tosses David out. Kevin dropckicks Garvin out when he turns around. DAVID/Jimmy fight to set up their wager match in about a month. Thus it is down to Hayes & Roberts vs Kerry & Kevin. This stretch is just fucking awesome. It starts with double Von Erich sleepers. The theme is that Hayes has to keep saving Roberts lest he go down 2-1 to the Von Erichs and be at there mercy. Kevin nails his finish, a big flying bodypress, but Hayes saves. He sends Kevin out but through middle rope. Kevin is able to recover to save Kerry from double teams. Roberts accidentally strikes Hayes and I bit on that as a finish. The Iron claw is applied on Roberts, but Hayes saves again. Hayes sleeper on Kerry! Roberts tries to throw Kevin out, but Kevin skins the cat to a big pop. Kerry reverses into his own sleeper. Double Claw! Kevin misses big splash. Buddy tries neckbreaker or backbreaker to win. Hayes tries bulldog. Nothing doing for the Birds. Von Erich double dropkick sends Hayes outside. They try to do the same to Roberts, but Hayes trips Roberts up. Cool spot with both Von Erichs crashing and burning. Hayes comes crashing down on Kerry and 1-2-3. WOW! Kerry basically did a clean job for Hayes right there! This leaves Kevin alone. Hayes tees off on Kevin. Pig pile kickout by Kevin to a big pop! They both try to put Kevin out over the top rope, but Kevin skins the cat. They try to push him over, but Kevin uses legs to send them both over and skins the cat to win the match. I was surprised they went with Kevin in this role, but then it clicked when I remembered the commentary stating he was getting the title shot against Flair. Really great booking to get him over and ready to face Flair in a month or so. Once this got down to 2 on 2 this was an awesome action-packed sprint. ****1/4

Fabulous Freebirds vs Von Erichs - WCCW 2/18/83 Lumberjack Match Go home Freebirds! Now we get into the meat of the feud by watching some badass six man tag action. There is a great struggle between these two teams throughout the match. They did not make much use of lumberjack stipulation, but I do not hold that against them. The match starts with Kerry fighting off all three when Gordy is trying to get him in that corner. Kerry unloads on Hayes, who bumps out and thrown back in. David/Gordy is up next, Gordy has a really cool bump off top rope basically Vaderbombs himself and needs to be seen. Gordy was a massive bumper in this early on. OH HELL YEAH! Here comes Kevin with dropkicks galore. Roberts jumping knee to Kevin’s back, fucking asshole. Good heat segment by the Birds. Kevin always trying to get tag compliments it nicely. He tags in Kerry. Kerry gets in his licks with fire. Gordy drives him into the corner. Again, Roberts attacks illegally. They target Kerry’s arm. Hayes really nice arm work on Kerry using ropes and hammerlock backbreaker (that move should be cribbed). Gordy throws him through ropes. Robert/Kerry collision sets up the finish as they both tag out. David applies a sleeper on Gordy. Katie bar the door, there is a pier-six brawl a brewin! David apllies claw, Hayes hits from behind. Freebirds looks like they will win by hook and crook. I totally bite on this finish, but Gordy wants the piledriver first, but Kevin hits from behind. He puts David on top. 1-2-3! Love how the babyface fought fire with fire there. A good start to the six man tag wars definitely not a blowoff, but a damn solids double FIP tag with an innovative finish. ****

Time to go back to the 80s for some soul food! Michael Hayes vs. Kerry Von Erich (2/7/83) After hearing about the legendary Freebirds vs Von Erichs feud (I would say the most famous territorial feud), I was very excited to finally watch the feud in action. According to Bill Mercer, this is the first encounter between Kerry Von Erich and Michael Hayes since the dastardly deed was perpetrated on Christmas night 1982. They laid out a very smart first match in the series based on strong face-heel dynamics. With a blood feud that started with such a hot angle, it is tempting to go to the pay windah right away with violent brawl sprints, but they paced themselves well by starting with this match. It is not a classic, but definitely makes you want to see more. At the outset, Hayes plays the prissy sissy in this match perfectly by taking his robe off seductively and then playing cat and mouse with the red hot Kerry. Once Kerry gets a hold of him, he kicks his ass and Michaels bumps like a madman to the outside. Rinse, lather repeat to great results. Kerry misses a kneedrop. Michael Hayes exhibits the perfect transformation of a prissy sissy heel into a sadistic brute by attacking the knee well. I like that Kerry is always fighting back, but getting cut off. Kerry goes for the vaunted claw, Hayes is quick to throw him out. My one gripe with the match is that Hayes abandons the more compelling knee work for a side headlock and Kerry comes back, but is cut off. Hayes tries to “leap” from middle rope and eats punch to mid section. Hayes takes a breather to break momentum, but in doing so he lost his own. Thus the playing field has been leveled. He gets back in and Kerry kicks ass. Very nice Stepover toehold by Kerry. Kerry works on the knee and Hayes great verbal selling. Hayes misses a knee drop. Kerry working knee so more and leg lace. Hayes working gritty to get out and has been a consummate heel in this match. Kerry tries to salvage the match with an iron claw, but Hayes rakes the eye rakes. Hayes is thinking piledriver, but back drop. Kerry wants the piledriver, but Gordy attacks for DQ. Great face work by Kerry complimented by awesome heel work by Hayes great match that makes you want to see more. ***1/2

WWE Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho - Royal Rumble 2001 Ladder Match I have never seen this match before, but is always one that has intrigued me. They have greatly improved from Fall Brawl 1996. The beginning of the match was well-executed with Benoit constantly one step ahead of Jericho and always throwing him shoulder first into objects. I liked Jericho's pluckiness and Benoit' sterness in the early going. After a bit, it turned into a great violent carwreck of a match. Comparing this match to Harper/Ziggler shows why I think Harper/Ziggler should be rewarded because of the great story they told based on face/heel dynamics. This match was totally bereft of face/heel dynamics. If you watched this match on mute (mostly due to commentary, there was only one Y2J chant), I think you would be hard pressed to tell which one was the face and heel. I liked that Jericho needed to use the ladder as an equalizer because he was in rough shape and that Benoit is such a force of nature. They both took some really nasty bumps. The chair shot to Benoit on his tope is really disturbing to watch. I appreciate them saving the slow climbs until the very end. They escalated nicely to the finish run. In the the finish run, they messed up the order of things. At first they did a good job with the different ways they tried to eliminate each other. Then they went to the Walls of Jericho on the ladder, which was a really cool spot and got the biggest pop, but they did not use that as a finish. I thought Jericho got up way too quickly from the Crossface. I hate when they do ladder spots not in the center of the ring, but the missed diving headbutt was a Holy Shit spot. The actual finish spot was pretty tame compared to the other ones even if it was more dangerous and barely got a reaction. I think you go Crossface, but Benoit wants to really finish Jericho so he misses diving headbutt. They both milk it. Jericho climbs first then Benoit, Walls spot, huge pop. Benoit is thrown off and Jericho wins. It was an entertaining violent spotfest, but lacks substance. It will be hard to remember any spots except the Walls on the ladder and the chair shot on the tope. It is an entertaining 20 minutes or so, but nothing classic. ***

World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs Chris Benoit - RAW 8/16/04 This is a really simple layout, but executed to perfection. They both played their roles to a tee. Benoit came out hot right of the gate and delivers one of the all-time great shitkickings. If the Michaels match was an exhibition of how great Benoit is at selling, this match is an exhibition of his offensive prowess. To Randy's credit, he sells being overwhelmed perfectly. I love all his little attempts of creating space like an eyepoke or tights pull, but nothing is stopping the Rabid Wolverine, who is chopping the fuck out of him. Benoit hits an awesome superplex and cant get the pinfall. He just keeps tearing into Orton. Dropkick from the apron to the floor, kneecrusher on the steps and then a Sharpshooter and they are in Canada, BABY! This is a great shine. Benoit is on the apron when Orton nails him with a dropkick and this was the exact opportunity Orton needed. Orton sells the knee throughout his heat segment and even though it was no super focused on he is still selling it. Impressive. Orton is focusing on Benoit's neck with neckbreakers and a great, great chinlock. I remember him getting a lot of guff around this time for his chinlock this is one of the best damn chinlocks ever. Nothing lazy about it. Benoit three elbows and fires off his offense rolling Germans, Diving Headbutt, Crossface. I love the tenacious roll throughs on the Crossface ala Wrestlemania XX. Evolution hits the ring and it is an RKO outta nowhere! Damn they started doing the "outta nowhere" that early! The end of this match is quite famous and one of the more memorable angles of my teens. Orton was totally not ready to be babyface, HHH totally kneecapped him by winning the title back in September. You can argue Orton never really recovered. If he did it was probably not until 2011 I would say as a babyface at least. Great TV match with Benoit firing on all cylinders. I would say Orton has shown more promise than Cena so far and Big Dave has not even had a match worthy of my attention. We will see when Cena pulls ahead, but not for a while because I am returning to 80s wrestling. ****

World Heavyweight Champion Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Benoit - Wrestlemania XX I think with triple threat matches you basically have to resign yourself from trying to have a story-based match and just commit to having a balls to the wall, action-packed affair. Instead of fighting against having a third person, you embrace it by just going all out and making sure there is never one dull moment. There really shouldnt be because basically everybody gets a built in breather. I will say HHH was the MVP of this match. After a terrible, terrible 2003 (aside from the last match of the year), he was the total lynchpin of this match. Everything flowed through him and he did an admirable job. As the lone heel in the match, he spent the most time in the match basically having one one on matches with each opponent. I loved the escalation of this match and the feeling of competitive struggle to do all you can to win the match. Benoit and Michaels really brought out the best in each other and even though HHH did a great job I would have liked to seen more of them (definitely check out their RAW 5/3/04 match if you havent). The escalation of the finisher teases from the outset was the perfect way to set the tone that everyone meant business. They had some fun triple threat spots like the HHH ramming Benoit into the apron and then baseball slide into Benoit, HHH whipping HBK bad shoulder into Benoit's tree of woe and the awesome suplex throw of Benoit through the table. Until, I wrote all that I did not notice how much HBK/HHH worked together. I think it was a very subtle nod that this was Benoit's night not Shawn's by making Benoit the ultimate babyface. In New York, which historically never really liked Shawn, Benoit was way more over. Benoit having to earn his diving headbutt was great escalation. Shawn hitting a German was the best heel heat of the match. I think that was one thing the match did lack was stronger heelishness from HHH, who kept up with both guys but could have done more to raise the crowd's ire. I think more hijinx would have been a boon to this match. Shawn is the king of the bladejob. This may be his greatest one ever for speed, secrecy and amount of blood. HHH tapped a nice gusher himself. The pop for the Sharpshooter was awesome and Michaels hit a pitch perfect superkick to break it up. I would have liked to seen Michaels eliminated in more grand fashion than being thrown over the top rope. The Crippler Crossface sequence with HHH was just as fresh in my memory as it was in 2004. I stopped it before the celebration with Eddie. Too damn depressing. Watching this match emotionally cold, there actually was not much emotion in the match to even get you behind Benoit. You had to be invested in the Benoit character beforehand to be invested because the match was so focused on action. They did a great job with the escalation in this match. The suplex of Benoit on the table was a great red herrig to play into the idea he was an afterthought in the HBK/HHH show and that was going to be blown off only for him to return and win. I think this is another early 00s match that is hurt by not having a stronger heel presence even though HHH played ring general well. Would have liked more hijinx. As an action-packed main event spotfest, this is tough to beat. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels - RAW 5/3/04 Where the flying fuck did this match come from??? This was absolutely terrific! I think I may need to rewatch again because I cant believed how much I liked it. I am talking like "Best WWE match ever" contention after seeing it for the first time since I originally saw it. Shawn Michaels haters be damned. He fucking brought it in this match. This was his best offensive performance since the AWA. He knew he was going up against Benoit and just laid all his shit in and really brought to Benoit. I thought this was one of Benoit's all-time best selling performances. I really cant think of a better Benoit match in North America, but I have seen only a smattering of his matches since their original airing. For HBK, I think only Wrestlemania 25 or one of the Cena matches (I cant remember, which one I like a lot) can compete with this in terms of his post-comeback. I can't say enough how good I thought this was having just watched it. Stone Cold says you can tell how great a match will be based on they lock it up and it was ferocious lock up. You expect that out of Benoit, but when I saw HBK lock up like that I knew the muthafucka meant business. They established right from the get go how serious Michaels was taking this as he went chop for chop with the heavy-handed Benoit. I liked Michaels keeping Benoit grounded early. It is exactly the perfect strategy against Benoit to sap that energy. Once Benoit got a head of steam, he crushed Michaels. If you let Benoit create movement, he will win and he is pouring it on snap suplex and backbreaker. Michaels actually uses a slugfest to hit his flying Burrito/kip up. Ballsy. Benoit teases the Crippler Crossface. I love the early finish run tease. Coming back from commercial, Benoit takes a hard, hard back bump into the turnbuckle. PITCH PERFECT SELLING! Awesome! Awesome. He takes a back body drop and is now in the ab stretch. Michaels works the back like a champ. I have never seen Michaels work such a great heat segment. He was laying those knees in and another whip into the turnbuckle. I loved Benoit busting a barrage of quick nearfalls for his hope spot. It was ballsy with the more "likeable" and "charismatic" also "weaker on offense"Shawn Michaels playing de facto heel against his polar opposite. It worked great! Michaels hits a wicked clothesline. Who is this man??? Top rope elbow and he is tuning up the band. Rolling Germans counter and when he sees HBK stirring it is a fourth one for good measure, but still misses the diving headbutt. Michaels going for the cover there was the right move, but only gets two. He goes back on top and Benoit unleashes a crazy onslaught of chops that Michaels sells so fucking well. This was just awesome to watch. Suplex to the floor! I am such a mark for that. Michaels nails a moonsault from the top to the floor, probably his best ever! They tease the double countout and when they both get up, Michaels shoves him into the post and busts Benoit open. Blood! Shawn hits a wicked dropkick. This is Shawn working like he is in All Japan. Michaels returns to the back and goes Liontamer, but too close to the ropes. Benoit reverses an Irish Whip (to send his back into the turnbuckles for a 3rd time) and in total desperation goes for his one bomb the Crippler Crossface, but he is too close to the ropes. Now Michaels feeling the desperation that he may be losing his grasp on the match and basically choking goes for Sweet Chin Music, but Benoit catches the foot looks Sharpshooter! If that was the finish, I think I would have gone the full monty, but when Benoit kicks him off there is a ref bump. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music, but HHH pedigrees him to mar the match. Benoit gets a tainted victory. Tremendous match. I cant praise Shawn's offense enough in this match. He went after this one and worked the best heat segment of his life. The finish stretch starting with the elbow drop was perfectly worked. Benoit was trying to avoid Sweet Chin Music at all costs, but was in too much of a hole to climb out of and then being ran into the post made it seemed insurmountable. I loved that his first move upon regaining the advantage was to apply the Crossface. It was avoid the Superkick and apply a finishing hold down the stretch for Benoit that was perfect strategy. Michaels was looking for finishing hold targetting the back or his bang bang Sweet Chin Music. Benoit's selling was off the charts good. Honestly, besides the finish I cant find much wrong with this match. Best WWE match of the 00s so far. ****3/4

WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit - Royal Rumble 2003 Before the Benoit murders/suicide, this wasn't just my favorite Benoit match this was my favorite match period. I just rewatched the match for the first time and it just doesn't hold up nor did I expect it too. This match and the Jericho/Michaels match are definitely harbingers of the current pro wrestling style in the WWE. The strong emphasis on moves and the total de-emphasis on in-ring character and the story of the match being motivated by the characters and storyline surrounding it. Whether the standing ovation after the match was a work or not, it was clear my fellow Bostonians were searching for a chant to describe the "awesomeness" of this finish run. They tried "Holy Shit", but that did not really fit. They were not really cheering for Benoit or Angle. They were just excited for all the neat spots. The chant needed would a few years down the road in the form of "This Is Awesome". The finish run of this match is the ultimate "This Is Awesome" string of moves. In deference to this philosophy, this was a damn hot home stretch and an entertaining one. This was clearly way better than Michaels/Jericho, but this in my opinion no longer belongs among the greatest matches of all time. It is not even the greatest WWE match of 2003. The match was basically wrestled face vs face. Angle is an entertaining heel on the stick, but as never been much of one in the ring. There is no bumping, no stooging. There is no real emotion. He just wrestles as a poor man's Benoit and is totally exposed. Benoit is Benoit. He always moves forward and is always bringing the fight to you. I love this style unabashedly. If he has no one to play off whether it is a Finlay going toe to toe or an Eddie bumping and running scared of him, it can be a pretty dry performance. The beginning of the match reminded me a lot of a toned down version of Benoit/Malenko from Hog Wild. I was like why the hell did I like this thing. Benoit did have the decency to at least attempt and then apply a Sharpshooter since Angle had a bad knee. The transitions in this match were pretty lame and did feel your turn/my turn. Angle was awful at heat segments especially around this time (fuck the chinlock/bodyscissors). The first half was boring once they did the double clothesline spot, the match kicked into overdrive and it was enough of a great finish run for me to call this a great match. Benoit blows an absolutely massive snot rocket and is always the first thing pops into my mind about this match. I am glad that held up. I liked the pop up top rope belly 2 belly. I actually liked the submission reversals in this a lot. I think Benoit pugnaciously applying the Crippler Crossface at every turn was awesome and the Crossface counter out of an AngleLock was sick. The Angle Slam counter to the Crossface was even better. Angle out-pugnaciousing the pugnacious Benoit by pugnaciously holding onto the AngleLock was bitchin. Was it overkill? Probably. Was it fun as all get out? Fuck yeah! In 2003, Scott Keith wrote this after giving the above match ****3/4 "But I bet that according to HHH, neither of these guys know how to work". Well what's funny Scott, is that Angle doesn't know how to work and Benoit left to his own devices could be a self-indulgent bore. The finish stretch clearly saves the match. Benoit was fine to great throughout the match. I thought Angle was badly exposed until the finish run. Give it the NJPW Juniors treatment and this is world-class as is it is merely great. ***3/4

Rockers vs Buddy Rose & Doug Somers – Las Vegas Cage Match LIVING AFTER MIDNIGHT!!!!! The Almighty Judas Priest! This cements the Rockers as my favorite tag team of all time. Rose & Somers are absolutely terrified about the shitkicking they received in the last cage match so they do all they can to avoid it early. They try to prevent them from getting in the cage and then try to climb over the cage. We get some quality Buddy Moonage and he crotches himself. It is another asskicking for Rose & Somers. Poor Buddy & Doug! There are no armdrags and no armbars. Just fists to the head, BABY! Somers tries to tag Buddy and he wants none of it. Cant say I blame him. I did not feel like the energy was at the same level as the previous match. Rose hits a quick low blow and catapult into the cage to turn the tide. Michaels bleeds like a madam. Somers gnawing. Michaels is his usual awesome self at selling. He is peppering in those hope spots while doing staggered selling. Quick low blow. Jannetty tries to saves to the match double noggin knocker. Big punch knocks down Rose and pulls him up. He slams Rose into cage repeatedly and he is bleeding! Big punch and Rose falls back and he pulls him up. Jannetty rakes Rose’s face right in front of the Sherri who sells the horror of watching her charge be brutalized perfectly. Jannetty lets him tag out to Somers. Somers wins the corner battle. Somers and Rose double team Jannetty and gnaw on his forehead and rake it busting him open. Big Marty Chants! Michaels almost like he is sleepwalking comes across and attacks Rose slamming back of head into cage and biting. Jannetty and Somers duke it out tag out to Michaels. He launches an offensive on Somers and tees off on Buddy. Elbow drop on Somers, but pulls up. Shawn is so fucking out of it. Somers tags out. Michaels stops Buddy and tags out. Marty and Buddy fight on top of the cage in dramatic fashion. Buddy falls off and crotches, crazy! Battering ram on Somers looks to be the finish. Michaels pins and Marty dropkicks Buddy. HUGE POP! Awesome match! I don’t think it was quite at the level of the Brawl in St. Paul, but this was a great cage match. For fans that like heat segments, I can see why they like this one more as Buddy & Doug get some more love in this one. I really liked the Buddy getting his head raked in the cage in front of Sherri spot. Another classic from these four! ****1/2

I also have pretty similar hair to Dino in that picture. I am not going to be setting any bench press records anytime soon.

World Heavyweight Champion Triple H vs Shawn Michaels - RAW 12/29/03 Terrific match! I have a lot I want to say about this, but it is getting pretty late. Probably the greatest American 80s match not to happen in the 80s. HHH does one of the best Flair impersonations ever and I mean that with respect and admiration. He was a consummate heel champion in this match. Michaels was an awesome, awesome fired up underdog hometown babyface. Both of them were constantly fighting back at each other. HHH was was getting outwrestled early in a great shine, but Shawn earned it. Awesome transition to the heat. HHH worked a great heat segment. Great transition to Shawn's figure-4. Not the best strike exchanges ever in terms of execution, but I liked the frequency of them and I liked the sense of the effort and struggle. Loved the lighthearted moments with Shawn abusing HHH's testicles. That's what made the 80s so great is having dramatic struggles but incorporating bits of fun to keep you entertained in a totally comprehensive way. Loved the drama with the ref bumps and Bischoff coming in. All this 80s goodness culminates in a Dusty Finish in the babyface's hometown. HUGE BABYFACE POP FOR MICHAELS! That's just cruel. They aren't coming back to San Antonio the next week so they have to blow it off right them and there. Loved this! I really want to analyze this in full because both guys gave awesome performances. ****1/2, easy.

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - Wrestlemania XIX I feel like I have to be missing something with this match. It is just so underwhelming given the praise heaped on it. It just does not do much for me. I get the fan trying to prove he had surpassed his idol at his craft story and there were a few nods here and there to that. I never felt like Jericho was proving himself to Michaels. Michaels' main motivation in this match seemed to be have a good time at his first Wrestlemania back and prove he have a great non-gimmick match. Besides me, I think that was everybody's conclusion and this was a significant step in his full-time return. I think it would have been better they had a more light-hearted affair like a Midnight/RnRs match where Michaels gets to have his fun early and Jericho clowns and bumps. Jericho gets vicious and violent during his heat on the back. Then they hit the finish. The match they had just lacked any sort of hook. It was seemingly totally bereft of any story or struggle. The early part of the match was the most blase and lame matwork you will ever see. Lawler sucked a big one on commentary. He basically claimed mat wrestling was passe and an anachronism in 2003 to open an match. Jericho and Michaels were doing their best to prove him right. Jericho takes over with a spin kick and then misses a move so Michaels can get the figure-4, but this all abandoned once they go to the outside where Jericho catches HBK into a Boston Crab. Jericho's heat segment was definitely the best part of the match. He worked the back over well and was pretty cocky. Then they do my least favorite transition, the I stand up and hit you with three strikes. Jericho steals HBK's moves (Flying Burriot/Kip Up), who is then like fuck you with Kip Ups galore. They run through a nearfall sequence. Hilariously, a bridge out spot has been their biggest pop of the night so far. Jericho runs through his finish sequence. Literally no transitions. Just Im going to do my shitty version of a bulldog on you now. Being a heel and having a submission finish in the WWE is so silly. Michaels makes it to the ropes twice in this match, some finish. Jericho punctuates his sequence with his own Sweet Chin Music. Shawn says my turn and hits a reverse crossbody. I did like that Shawn had to earn his top rope elbow, which was a nice moment. Sweet Chin Music outta nowhere (Jericho was bitching and moaning that no one submits to the Boston Crab) and that should have been the finish. They go the cradle route to put it over as an OMG CLASSIC~!, because classics end in cradles! Jericho punting Michaels' in the balls after the match was the best part of this by far. I think this is one of the most overrated matches in the 2000s. No flow. No story. Two just guys doing their moves. Their 2008 series smokes this. I am open to arguments on why this is great because I am genuinely curious why this is so well-regarded. I feel like there is something I am just not getting.

WWE Champion Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker - Smackdown! 9/4/03 Another Kurt Angle match, I thought could have been a classic, but just veered off the tracks. I thought this was an absolutely fantastic Undertaker performance. He is clearly an MMA mark and loves wrestling Brock and Angle. I saw the pre-match promo to this and loved it. Taker says he will let Angle break his ankle and that he will combat Angle with his fists and then tap him out beating him at his own game. I loved how focused this was on strategies. I am such a mark for strategy-based pro wrestling and I think Undertaker was committed to the striker vs the wrestler in this. Angle was fine in the early going. I thought they did a great job putting over Taker's raw power early, but Angle was able to take him down at will. Then that huge soupbone that floored Angle. I loved Angle's selling of this and it really felt like a game changer. Taker goes to work using that power. Angle desperately grabs a sleeper, but Takers uses power again to counter with a slam. Taker runs through a hot series of moves only for the dreaded AngleLock to rear its ugly head. They trade minor finishers (Chokeslam, Olympic Slam) for a while and pepper in the AngleLock. i did like Taker's counters into an armbar and Triangle Choke at least they were unique and paid off that Taker wanted to make Angle submit. Lots of AngleLock reversals eventually Taker does get Last Ride, but Brock runs in. Really dug the opening wrestler vs striker and loved the commitment from the Taker promo, to commentary (Cole actually opened with asking Tazz about strategies) and Undertaker. Angle seemed content with just throwing shit out there and let his AngleLock reversals get cheap pops. Could have been great, but finish run and Brock run-in hurt this. Still a really entertaining TV match and great Undertaker performance. ***1/2

Kurt Angle vs John Cena - No Mercy 2003 Some things never change like people kicking out of the FU. I forgot how foul-mouthed Cena's promos were at this time. He is like the reverse Bob Saget. Total random note, but I watched the opening video package to this PPV and the Vinny Mac & Steph storyline was some fucking dark shit. Really strong fundamentals-based match for the vast majority of this match. It is nothing that really pops, but it is just solid, entertaining. Some Kurt-isms pop up late in the match where he just starts suplexing Cena as his hope spots, but there are no real transitions to the Germans or out of the Germans to get back to Cena on offense. I forgot how crucial the kick to the midsection was in every match from like 1997-2005 in setting up your most lethal move. I think they could have done more with the street fighter vs Olympic wrestler if they wanted to have a classic, but as a meat and potatoes match this was fine. Angle outwrestled Cena early and then got pissed, flipped him off and took fight to him, which I thought would lead to more of a battle of fisticuffs. Angle eats the post (not my favorite transition as it does not put heat on the heel). Cena wrestled a fine heat segment. His clothesline has not changed nor how he sells punches. He was moving around great. It was weird there were no shoulder tackles. Cena went for his leg drop and Angle dropkicked the knee, which seemed like a sound strategy. He did get the ankellock, but they ended up on the apron and Angle took his DDT/apron bump that is needlessly nasty. Spot of the match was Cena finally hitting that legdrop in a way that does not make me roll my eyes. Angle was trying to get back in the ring, head-first and BANG! nailed the leg drop. Perfectly organic. Angle of course snapped off a suplex right after this. It was a fun finish stretch. They kicked out of each other's finishes. I loved Cena going for the chain, the ref takes it away, but he has stolen the gold medals! I did not even see that. Cena, you sly fox! He nails him and that should have been the finish, except Cena was turning face I believe. Angle kicks out nice pop and victory roll into AngleLock gets the win. It was just a very good match. Cena looked fine and had all his mannerisms down. He definitely worked big. Since Cena was not a workrate guy, I think that helped reign Angle in, which was a boon for this match. ***1/2

It is either on yt or DM. Should be the first hit via Google. Yes surprisingly I believe this is their signature match. Both spent so much time as faces is the reason for the dearth of matches.

WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker - No Mercy 2002 Hell In A Cell If you described this finish of this match, most people would think you were describing a murder scene. Undertaker was drenched in his own blood and was spilling blood all over Lesnar. Brock was covered in Taker's blood by the end of it. 2002 was a pretty underwhelming year, but featured some of the all time best bladejobs in pro wrestling history. This match and the Nagata/Murakami match are the standout matches for 2002 to me. I don't yet, which I would place on the top of the heap. Violence is never been the strong suit of the WWF. Character-driven wrestling and Clash of the Titans is where Vince buttered his bread. Occasionally, he dipped into championship wrestling with Bret and out of control brawl with Austin. Austin's out of control barroom brawls are fun and entertaining, but they are not violent in the same way this is. This really feels like two men trying to maim each other very much in the vein of a southern blood feud brawl. It really is something different and something that Brock Lesnar excels at. Brock has proven to be so versatile in his criminally short first run on the the WWE roster. In this match, he plays caged animal to perfection. At first, he is discombobulated and confused by the nature of the Hell In A Cell. He is young and inexperienced. Perhaps he has even bought into The Undertaker's mythos. This is Undertaker's boneyard. He tries to fight, but also tries to escape. There is a real sense of desperation. Taker is confident, but Taker is a veteran and knows how dangerous Brock is. Brock is stronger and quicker than him. He is virtually unbeatable. How many wrestlers could say they have that dual edge on Taker. Taker has his experience, his ability to withstand punishment and brutality on his side. Throughout the match, Taker almost never gained a fair advantage on Lesnar and was always using something to sustain that advantage. I loved the duality of the cast. Undertaker's hand had been broken twice in the lead up to this match. The cast covered up a weakness for the Undertaker. Remove it and he is vulnerable. With it on, he had a weapon. It was this weapon that scored the first big blow in this war. Brock was sent reeling and was busted open. Paul E. was awesome with his shrieks of horror outside the cage. Taker laid down a savage beating on Brock using the cage, steps and cast at will. But Paul E. got to him. He just could not resist kicking Paul E.'s ass. One big boot into the cage sent Paul E. flying and he bladed. Then he got by the tie and pulled him into the cage repeatedly. I loved the spot where Brock went flying in trying to take advantage of the distraction only to eat the cage and send Paul E. flying. It was the perfect punctuation on the Taker shine. I loved that old school efficiency. You get the punctuation mark and you move on. It never lingers. Brock catapults Taker into the cage. He immediately pounces and throws Taker around. Nobody, but Brock could manhandle Taker this way. It is scary strength. My favorite spot of the match is Brock and Paul E. tying the belt around the cast hand and Brock going to town on the cast. It is so violent those swings ultimately snapping the belt. I loved the struggle over trying to rip off the cast. When he does Brock becomes cocky, he is swinging from the cell roof like Tarzan kicking Taker's ass. Without his cast, Taker pulls out another wily trick: the low blow. Again, Undertaker needed an underhanded tactic to bring Lesnar to heel. Lesnar is so great at heel selling and the style that reeks of cowering and desperation. Being more afraid to lose than you want to win. Big bumping Brock came out here with a crazy bump off a big boot from the apron into the cage. Taker hit a suicide dive, but it backfired as it took a lot out of him. Brock BLASTED him with the steps twice. I mean he fucking smoked him. Taker came out bleeding an absolute gusher. Between this and cast, I thought this a perfect example of a caged animal becoming extraordinarily violent. Up until here, the match was perfect. It does lose some points because Undertaker is able to use the bad hand to hit some rights and gain an advantage, which kinda sucks. I did like the finish run of Brock teasing a big move and Undertaker countering with a big move only to have Brock kick out. I hated the ref not counting because Brock grabbed the rope, when it was established pinfalls counted on the floor. That is shoddy. Undertaker having to level up each time to finally the Tombstone, which had the crowd going crazy was great build. I loved the tombstone reversal into Brock hositing Taker into a F5 from a totally awkward spot. One F5 and it was over. Oh how I long for this efficiency! Writing this review, I think there are enough details that marr this match to stop from being my choice for 2002 match of the year and I would have Takayama/Ogawa over it too. However, this is easily, the 2002 match of the year. It is crazy to think that Brock Lesnar in his rookie year as champion had a WWE Match of The Year where he was the dominant force in the match. What is there left to say other than BROCK ROCKS~! ****1/2

Shawn Michaels vs Triple H - Summerslam 2002 There may be no two more polarizing wrestlers in WWE than Shawn Michaels and HHH. It is almost entirely due to their "real life" personas (or what we know them to be from second hand accounts). I am not going to pick a dog in the race, but analyzing their matches always evokes a lot of emotion and passion. WWE pushes these two as two of the all-time great pro wrestlers in the ring. They are uttered in the same breath as Flair unlike Austin and Rock, who are usually associated with Hogan as great superstars as the WWE dictates. When HBK/HHH entered the ring for Shawn Michaels' first match in four years, it was a mere formality that this could become a part of WWE canon as one of the all-time classics. They would have had to put on a stinker the caliber of their Hell in a Cell match (I have never seen it, but it sounds atrocious) for this not go down as one of the premiere matches in company history. For hardened wrestling fans, this match is considered to be no good and vastly overrated. Where do I lie? I am closer to the WWE camp and I think this does belong best matches of WWE in 2000s, but in the greater scope of pro wrestling this can not compete. I will say I felt a lot more emotion for Kobashi's comeback match in 2007 than I did for Michaels' comeback here. I watched the Kobashi match last year and to me that was just one of most emotional matches I have ever seen. Maybe it is because I knew Michaels would eventually make a full recovery or that I have seen this before, but it did not hit me as hard this time. The beginning shine was perfectly acceptable. It was not great, but not bad. Michaels was brutally betrayed by his friend so I would have liked to seen more anger, but overall he was pressing the advantage proving to fans that he has his trademark mobility by hitting a dive over the top to the outside. HHH was fine bumping around for him. This felt like a really good standard opening to a character-driven face vs heel match, not a blood feud. It was important to me that Shawn stay on top and suffocate HHH at the very least. Loved the teased Sweet Chin Music into a backbreaker. That was straight money. HBK did a great job selling the back. HHH worked over the back like a champ. This was an incredibly strong heat segment, maybe the greatest HHH's career. The backbreaker on the chair was fucking awesome. I loved the set ups for Michaels' hope spot like using Earl and getting the sledge hammer to give time for HBk to recuperate. The low blow and Sweet Chin Music into the chair was perfect, perfect one-two combo to get Shawn back on top. After taking such a hellacious beating, he needed two quick bombs to make this even remotely credible and those were perfect. Ok, so now onto the controversy. The kip up. Yes after the awesome heat segment, he kipped up. For the rest of the match did not really sell the back (he did after a couple dives). It did not kill the match for me. I can understand the issue. There is no hard and fast rule about this at the end of the day. Sometimes, it is just going to bother certain people more than others. I still think it is a great match just not an excellent, classic one. Mostly because Shawn actually delivers one of his best comebacks of all time. Marty was usually the hot tag in the Rockers and Shawn's greatest weakness in his career was probably credible offense. I thought he was laying in some really great rights here and was really tearing into HHH. HHH tapped a gusher (one of his best qualities) and sold really well. The match did get a bit long in the tooth. For instance, I don't think he needed to dive off turnbuckle onto the table and dive off the ladder. The dive to the table got a huge pop and is a great spot. That was sufficient. Also, it get a little back-y n forth-y towards the end, but not as bad as some of the modern matches. They did a great job with the finish in relation to the rest of the match teasing each finish before HBk got the jackknife win. Yes, the match was wrestled as more of a championship bloodbath than a blood feud match. Yes, Michaels did not sell the back down the stretch. Yes, it was a bit too long. I think the match accomplished more important objectives. if this was truly a one-off, Shawn Michaels would be able to go out on his own terms unlike Wrestlemania XIV where the amount of pain he was in affected his performance. If it was not and was to lead to something more, it proved Shawn Michaels of 2002 was every bit the Shawn Michaels of 1997 and he had not lost a step. He gave one of the best comebacks of his career and I think it was much more important he looked credible on offense in this match. HHH gave him more of the beginning and end because this was Shawn's match. I know they felt the need to put Shawn in gimmick matches to hide any shortcomings he may have had upon comeback, but I think it was the wrong move as coming right out of the gate with a bloodbath is tough. I think for the match they wrestled the jacknife cover was fine because it showed Michaels had just enough to win, but left it open for rematches. It fit the theme of championship bloodbath. HHH attacking the back with the sledgehammer was a perfect post-match beatdown and particularly gruesome. Call me crazy, I liked this one. Currently my WWE 2002 match of the year, but that should change shortly. ****1/4

All Hail Satan! Yes Hail Satan!

The Rock vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan - Wrestlemania XVIII If I had to use one word to describe this match, it would be overachieving. Based on Hogan's mobility and physical health, this match should not have been as good as it was. Even The Rock's character is a modern day version of Ric Flair, no one would confuse him with Flair inside the ring. Yet, Rock put on maybe the best individual performance of his career in this match. This is what the Michaels match should have been. Rock created so much movement and bumped huge for Hogan up until the finish stretch. Anytime Rock got anything going, Hogan would cut him off and thats when Rock take that big bump for Hogan. I think a lot of emphasis gets placed on Hogan's timing and understanding of psychology on why this match is so good. I think that is a good portion of what makes the match great is Hogan feeding the crowd what they want to see the poses and the Hogan spots (which are mostly cheating spots anyways!) it is Rock that is really giving them red meat. He was selling the crowd reaction with his eyes. He was floundering out there running around like a chicken with his head cut off. He would hit one move and end up on his ass the next move. It was pitch perfect. The match got weird during the finish stretch. I don't get why Hogan taps out to the Sharpshooter only to lose the match. I have watched this match three or four times and always forget who wins. I swear I always see the Sharpshooter think they are protecting Rock and going to give Hogan the win. Then Rock kicks out of the Atomic Legdrop!?!?!?! I lose my shit. I am not happy because like the Toronto crowd I am always all in on Hogan. Then The Rock wins and it is like what the fuck! This is clearly Hogan proving that he is willing to play ball. Hogan turning on the NWO and doing the posedown gets all his heat back. This match proves that wins and losses are a merely booking tool, but do not necessarily have to matter. I think you should book wrestling so wins and losses matter in the context of the storyline. Ultimately, though heat is generated from a myriad of different sources. Hogan not only lost this match, but Rock kicked out of his finish and Hogan tapped to the Sharpshooter! His goose could have been cooked, but because of how strong he was at the little things in this match and a hot post-match angle means that Hogan has enough heat to win the belt the very next month. The three jobs to Cena (Ryback, Wyatt, Rusev, and Owens) does not have to be a death sentence it only is because WWE is so bad at the follow-up. But I digress, this is a breezy, fun Clash of the Titans match. It showcases Hogan's timing and Rock's bumping and leadership in that ring. I enjoyed the first 2/3s and the post-match more than the finish run, which was very 2002-y with the finisher stealing. Holy shit though that Hulk-Up was one of the most fucking awesome things you will ever see. ****

It is not nice to call Kelly, Anvil!

Any idea what was wrong with the crowd? I'll watch it within the next week and I will let you know. For a great Brock performance, check out the Rey Mysterio match from Smackdown in December 2003. Great, great TV. Brock does one of the best Flair impressions ever while staying true to his monster character. It is so amazing to watch.

Brock Lesnar has such a comprehensive grasp on pro wrestling psychology that it is so disappointing he did not stick around through 2000s. Early Brock is one of the most impressive big bumpers in history. I have a lot more to say once I finish off 2002-2004 watching. Brock is a mortal lock for my top 100. He is just too damn entertaining. Like Rock and Austin to an extent, these guys are like the Sandy Koufaxes of wrestling.