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July 2009 is simply called: “The Greatest Rivalries Ever.” The image on the website is an awesome old-school ad poster featuring such great match-ups like Hogan vs. Andre, Steamboat vs. Flair and Rock vs. Austin. The first 25 matches of Cena’s career are on here, too and I do remember his first match on Smackdown against Angle. Don’t look for any Cena reviews, though. Also, the PPV presented this month is Good Friends, Better Enemies, which was chosen due to the rivalry of Diesel and Michaels being completed. Nice work, WWE!
-Dusty Rhodes vs. Billy Graham-
This is from MSG, August 28th, 1978. I didn’t realize these guys had that big of a rivalry. Then again, I wasn’t born yet when this aired and in fact my parents hadn’t even been married yet when this took place. This is joined in progress and is actually a strap match, or a Texas Bull Rope match according to Vince McMahon (our announcer). Graham tries to bail but Dusty pulls him back in. There’s a cowbell attached to the rope and when Dusty misses an elbow Graham uses that bull rope to bust Dusty wide open. Are we gonna go to the black and white soon? Sure enough, as soon as I write this we are in B&W. Graham catches Dusty in a bearhug but Dusty elbows out of it. Graham heads upstairs so Dusty pulls him off using the bull rope. Dusty starts using the cow bell (you know what this match needs, more cow bell) and now Graham is busted open. As we hit more B&W, Vince notes that this is the rubber match between the two stars. A great rivalry that spans three matches? Sure you may laugh but Steamboat/Flair was about that long in 1989 and those are some of the greatest matches ever. Anyway, Dusty gets kneed in the corner while referee Jay Strongbow breaks them up. Vince takes umbrage with that since this is no-DQ and anything goes. Dusty uses this to his advantage and slams the cowbell into Graham’s head. Graham falls to the outside and doesn’t make the count back in, or back up, and he’s awarded the match at 5:39 (aired). Well, Fink announces this as 6:28 so why was the first minute cut out? It was probably all they had on the video tape. This was a brutal match for just a 6 minute match. You figure that if it is kayfabe and a foreign object like that was used, it wouldn’t be a marathon match anyway. **.
-Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko-
This is their February 2nd, 1980 match from Championship Wrestling that led to their famous Shea Stadium match. Bruno pushes Larry to the ropes on some early lock-ups. Larry gets a go-behind but that is countered by Bruno. Larry gets a quick armdrag for two. Larry bodyslams Bruno for two so Bruno bodyslams Larry just to call the bet. Larry works in an abdominal stretch but Bruno hiptosses out of it. Larry bodyslams Bruno (again) for two. Larry works in a half-Boston Crab which is broken and this leads to the early 80’s staple the criss-cross. Bruno gets the better of crissing and crossing by hiptossing Larry. Bruno gets shoulderblocked down only to get caught with a bearhug that Bruno releases. Larry tries a go-behind but Bruno maneuvers out of it and Larry is sent to the outside. Bruno holds the ropes open so Larry can re-enter but Larry knees him while he’s entering and just stomps away. Larry heads outside and grabs a chair and after tossing away the referee he nails Bruno with the chair, cutting him open. Bruno gets knocked out with another two shots and I guess this is over at 10:14 because the screen goes to black. That’s a good way to set up a match. This was really old school and I don’t know if newer fans would appreciate it but it had a lot of good psychology and was a blast to watch. **1/2.
-Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant-
This is their July 26th, 1980 match from Philly. This is back in Hogan’s first run in the WWE, though it was still called WWWF at the time I believe. Hogan was playing the heel here and Andre was the face. Boy did things change when they matched up 7 years later. Andre was probably at his tallest here and he just towers over Hogan, more so than he did in ’87. They start with a lock-up and Andre backs Hogan into the ropes. Hogan grabs a side headlock and Andre breaks by sending Hogan to the ropes. Andre readies his big fist so Hogan just puts on the brakes. Hogan takes control with a boot to the gut. He tries a bodyslam but fails. I wonder if he tore all the muscles in his back because of that? Andre suplexes Hogan but both guys are down. Hogan gets a bearhug but Andre is too big and he starts laying out Hogan with his huge fists. He bodyslams Hogan and charges at him in the corner. One of the announcers mention that Andre used to play soccer. Can you imaging that? Andre tries another charge but Hogan pulls the referee in front of him and the ref is done. Hogan bails to the outside as Andre just chills in the ring. The ref calls for the bell at 7:00 and the official decision is that Hogan has been disqualified. This didn’t have the atmosphere of their WMIII match (obviously) but was actually a little better since Andre could move a bit here. *.
-Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect-
This is their legendary Maple Leafs Garden match-up from April 23rd, 1989. This is early in Bret’s first solo run and debuts the nice new shiny glasses that he gives to a lucky fan at ringside. They have a bit of a feeling out process to start, with each guy breaking a lock up attempt. Bret grabs an early headlock and an early hiptoss. Perfect looks surprised and Gorilla wonders why he would be surprised, “you’re not in there with Barry Horowitz.” Oh, TAG! Hart shoulderblocks Perfect down and Perfect tries a drop toe hold but Hart runs right through it and taunts at Perfect a bit. Hart hits a cross body for two and follows with a sunset flip for two. Hart takes down Perfect with a side headlock. Hart whips out the crucifix pinfall combo for two. He would do it much more smoothly later on in his career. Hart blocks a boot and trips Perfect down and boots him in the gut. Perfect follows with a rebound bodyslam from the corner. Hart kicks out and bodyslams Perfect and Perfect kicks out. So Hart just slams Perfect’s face into the mat before clotheslining him to the outside ramp. Perfect meanders a bit on the outside to regroup as Gorilla and Hayes talk about Larry the Axe Henning before moving on to Rick Rude and the Heenan family. Perfect does get back into the ring and when he is backed into the corner he breaks dirtily and takes control for the first time of the match. Perfect knees Hart down and stomps him to the outside. Perfect follows and sends him face-first into the apron. Perfect stymies Hart’s attempts to re-enter the ring by slugging him down at first and then slingshotting him into the barricade. Hart makes it back into the ring before doing his patented run chest first into the corner. Perfect covers for two before tossing him onto the ramp. Perfect puts Bret in the spinning toe hold but Bret kicks him off and Perfect gets driven between the ropes and into the steel ringpost. Bret goes to work on that shoulder, including a hammerlock bodyslam. Bret tries the crucifix again but Perfect has a counter this time, a Samoan Drop. I know that spot was used in the Bulldog/Hart match. Perfect tries for an abdominal stretch but Hart turns it around only to be quickly hiptossed. Perfect rolls-up Bret for two but gets kicked to the outside. Bret unleashes the slingshot cross body off the top onto Perfect before bringing him back in and suplexing him for two. The backbreaker leads to the second rope elbow. Hart covers but the bell rings thanks to a time-limit draw at 20:00. Hart gets on the mic and tells Perfect he’s not so Perfect and asks for five more minutes. Perfect thinks about it before telling him that if Hart couldn’t beat him in twenty, five more wouldn’t help him. Perfect attacks Hart from behind and stomps him down. Perfect heads upstairs but Hart catches him and tosses him off. Hart elbows Perfect to the ramp and Perfect just flees to the back. This was a good match-up but it wasn’t anywhere close to their Summerslam or King of the Ring matches that would follow. ***1/2. They would go on and wrestle almost the exact same match the next night at Madison Square Garden, where our next match listed was the main event. That match is on the Mr. Perfect DVD for those interested.
-Hulk Hogan(c) vs. Randy Savage for the WWE Title-
This is their Wrestlemania V rematch and it was held at Madison Square Garden on April 24th, 1989. Macho Man has Sherri with him as she had taken over as his manager shortly after he lost the WWE Title at Wrestlemania. Savage throws his cape into Hogan to distract him and immediately takes it to Hogan. He hits a pair of axe-handles off the top rope as Savage plays to the fans. Hogan is up quickly and is PISSED! He pulls Savage off the ropes and atomic drops him. Hogan chops at Savage in the corner before whipping him to the other one and following with an elbow. Hogan dumps Savage and Savage hides behind Sherri. Hogan charges anyway and catches Savage as he slides into the ring and slams his leg into the apron. He pulls him out and sends him to the stairs before doing something even more devastating, raking his back! Hogan punches Savage in the ring before choking him. Sherri gets onto the apron and Hogan gets into her face. He gets slapped for it and Savage knees Hogan into the back and out of the ring. Sherri interferes again and Hogan stars stalking her so Savage connects with the patented double axe-handle off the top. Back in the ring Hogan is clotheslined down for two. Savage and Sherri take turns choking Hogan. Savage clamps down on a chinlock while we rest a bit. Hogan breaks out of it and elbow drops Savage but Sherri trips up Hogan and Savage butt splashes him on the while he’s draped on the ropes. Savage goes upstairs and hits a double axe-handle with a foreign object and covers for two. Hogan is hulking up now and the end may be in sight for Savage. Hogan hits the big boot and that sends Savage to the outside. Savage pulls Hogan but gets sent into the ringpost. Sherri distracts Hogan and starts stalking her around the ring. Savage attacks Hogan from behind and Hogan ends up getting DQ’ed at 10:36. Sherri puts the belt on Savage but we all know that the belt can only be won on a pinfall or submission. Sherri and Savage celebrate so Hulkster comes in with the double noggin knocker and takes his belt back. This was a pretty decent match-up between the two. When Savage is able to control the match it makes it a lot better and Savage always worked well with Hogan. ***.
-Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter-
This match was a precursor to their legendary street fight match. This took place at MSG on April 6th, 1981. Patterson charges right away forcing Slaughter to bail before the bell signals the start of the match. Slaughter does the stall game once the bell does ring. Slaughter tries to sneak attack but Patterson is all over that and slugs Slaughter down. He sends him into the corner a few times and chokes his opponent on the ground. He slugs him to the outside and Slaughter gets his hand wrapped up between the ropes. That doesn’t lead to anything, though. Slaughter gets back to the ring and takes the Slaughter bump (slingshot into the corner and his head hits the ringpost) and Patterson tries to lock on the Boston Crab. He does but Slaughter makes the ropes. Patterson keeps control and charges Slaughter but Slaughter sidesteps him and sends Patterson to the outside. He stomps at him a bit between referee counts and I can’t believe it. There’s a little person at ringside with a camera. This may be politically incorrect but he’s a midget and that just caught me off-guard. Patterson does get into the ring and Slaughter drives some knees into his gut for two. Slaughter heads upstairs but misses a knee-drop and Patterson locks on the figure-four. Slaughter is able to reach the ropes a second time. Patterson kicks Slaughter in the ass and kicks him to the outside. They brawl outside and Patterson uses a chair to drive it into the leg of Slaughter. Slaughter and Patterson slug it out, both knocking away the referee and eventually tossing him to the outside. Slaughter rakes the eyes of Patterson and lock on the Cobra Clutch. The referee makes it back to the ring only to get booted in the gut by Slaughter. The ref calls for the bell at 13:33, but the brawling between the two continue. The official decision is that this is a double-DQ. This would set up their very famous Alley Fight at MSG. This match wasn’t as famous because it wasn’t as good, natch. **.
-Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat-
This is their Wrestling Classic encounter from November 17th, 1985. The Wrestling Classic was just a tournament that the WWE held for no real reason. It was a precursor to the Title tournament they would hold a few years later at WMIV, and the subsequent King of the Ring tourney’s. This is a quarterfinal match, meaning both guys wrestled already that night. Steamboat had beat the Bulldog and Savage vanquished Ivan Putski. Savage was a full-on heel by this point and one of the most hated men in the WWE. This would pre-date their Wrestlemania feud by 16 months. Savage points the finger at Ricky and then hides behind Liz when Steamboat shoves his hand away. Of course, as soon as Ricky turns his back to Savage he’s attacked from behind. Steamboat gets the better of that and Savage is sent reeling to the outside. Savage pounds at Steamboat in the corner but gets caught and head-scissored to the outside. Steamboat follows and chops away at Savage before atomic dropping him. We head back in with Savage getting chopped down again. Savage comes back with a back suplex. Savage heads upstairs but an axe-handle attempt is blocked by a Steamboat shot to the gut. Steamboat chops Savage to the apron and suplexes him in. Steamboat heads upstairs and crossbodies him for two. Savage ends up on the apron again and Steamboat goes after him. The ref gets between the two and this distraction allows Macho to take out a foreign object and as he’s getting back suplexed into the ring he drives it into Steamboat’s head to get the pinfall victory at 3:18. This was really too short to be worth anything but it was non-stop action. **.
-Randy Savage/Harley Race & Adrian Adonis vs. Roddy Piper/Ricky Steamboat & Junkyard Dog-
This was a big mash-up of Wrestlemania III rivalries from Madison Square Garden held on February 23rd, 1987. Well, I assume it is ’87 because the website states 2009. Oooh, it’s an elimination tag match. They would use this same format just a few months later and make a whole Pay-Per-View about it called Survivor Series. Slick and Gorilla Monsoon are the odd pairing on commentary here. Randy gets a pretty decent reaction here from the MSG fans. Roddy is announced as making his final MSG wrestling appearance. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Adrian and Piper are set to start but why have a Wrestlemania match here? So Savage is tagged in. Piper takes out his frustration by slugging Race down before tagging in Steamboat. Savage immediately bails before they lock up. Savage is arm-dragged down so Savage quickly tags in Race. JYD is brought in and he slugs down Race before head-butting him on all fours. Race bails and MSG is just electric right now. Race comes back in and slams JYD down before bringing in Savage who drops a knee and covers for two. Savage heads upstairs but is distracted by Steamboat. Savage is head-butted by the Dog and Steamboat comes in with his trademark chops. Steamboat tries a back drop but is kicked in the face instead. Adonis comes in with a back suplex but misses a charge in the corner. Piper is tagged in but Adonis bails. Soon all 6 guys ends up in the ring. Savage tosses Steamboat to the outside as the heels triple-team Piper in the corner. Piper is double-suplexed by Race and Adonis and is covered, but Steamboat breaks up the pin. Savage doesn’t like this blatant cheating and tries to send Steamboat to the corner but that is blocked. Adonis is sent to the corner but catches a charging Piper with a sleeper. Piper counters into one of his own which is then broken up by Race. We end up with JYD and Savage in the ring. JYD bodyslams Savage and covers but Adonis breaks up that pinfall. Adonis comes in with some shots to the head but JYD is impervious to that. JYD charges but Adonis sends him to the outside. Soon we have all six guys brawling on the outside.
Piper uses a chair on Adonis as the two battle back to the locker rooms. Somehow Roddy makes it back to the ring and back suplexes Race in. He covers but Savage breaks that pin up. The ref rings the bell at 7:49. It seems that Adonis and JYD were both eliminated via count-out. So Race and Piper continue this wild match with Race hitting a clothesline. Savage comes in but misses a butt splash on the ropes. Race comes in to make sure Piper can’t make the tag but Race has his suplex countered into one for Piper and Steamboat is tagged in. Steamboat chops away at Race, two NWA champs, though Race was a former one by this point and Steamboat was one that was yet to be. Steamboat karate chops Race off the top and covers, but Savage breaks up that pin. Steamboat counters a bodyslam with a small package (the finish for his match with Savage!) but Savage comes in and reverses that and the ref counts him out at 11:14. So now Piper is left to take on Race and Savage. Piper takes on Race and gets the better of him until Savage comes in and turns the tide. That tide didn’t last long as Piper and Race brawl outside. Savage joins in and tries to use a chair but fails. Savage brings Piper back into the ring and I guess he’s the legal man now. He chokes Piper using the top rope before heading upstairs. His double axe-handle connects for two. The heels double-team but Piper comes back with some punches before realizing that two guys are too much for him. Race powerslams Piper for two. He tries a gut-wrench suplex but that is countered by Piper. He covers but Savage breaks up that pinfall. The heels try another double-team but heel miscommunication leads to Savage hitting his top rope double axe-handle on Race and Piper getting the pinfall at 15:16. We’re left to Savage and Piper. Did they ever work during the WWE glory years of the 80’s besides this? Piper bulldogs Savage and then bites his hand! But the DOG already left the ring? Savage responds by spitting in the face of Piper. That only angers the crazy Scot. This leads to a chase around the ring, with Savage outsmarting Piper by attacking him on the way in. Piper sneaks in a sunset flip but that is blocked by Savage. Savage connects with a really odd-looking clothesline for two. Was that supposed to be a double DQ spot? Savage drives an elbow to Piper’s throat for two. He tries a bodyslam but Piper falls on top for two. The two come off the ropes and collide. Piper fakes being knocked out as Savage falls to the outside. Savage sees Piper laying low and heads upstairs for the flying elbow but Piper had him scouted. He gets up and small packages Savage for the pinfall and the victory at 19:56. Wow, Savage lost via small package to Steamboat just a month later, too and it’s a bit of poetic justice seeing as Savage caused Steamboat to lose via small package earlier in the match. This was crazy action and aside from the booking needing to keep everyone strong, this set the standard for the elimination matches that would be showcased in Survivor Series every year. ***3/4.
-Midnight Express(c) vs. Rock N
Roll Express(c) to unify the USA and the World Tag Team Titles-
This is their July 4th, 1987 match-up from the Great American Bash. Wow, this looks very old and dated based on the video quality. This is a title for title match. The Midnight’s have the USA Tag Team Title and have Big Bubba in their corner. The Express are the WORLD tag team champs here. Gibson and Eaton start off with Gibson getting a sunset flip for two and a headscissors to take Eaton down and into his corner. Eaton quickly tags in Stan Lane but he’s quickly kicked to the outside. Lane makes it back to the ring only to get sent right back out when Gibson unleashes an enzuigiri on him. Ricky Morton comes in and is pulled down by the hair but Morton kips right back up and chases Lane around the ring and then armdrags him when they get back into the ring. Morton then breaks a test of strength type hold by walking up over Eaton and follows that with a hurricanrana. Gibson is brought in and tries a headscissors but Lane interferes and punches him in the face. It’s time for the Midnight’s to go to school on Gibson. Lane hits a backbreaker and holds up Gibson for a Eaton axehandle off the top. Lane drop toe holds Gibson and Eaton follows with a leg drop for two. Gibson evades Eaton in the corner and tags in Morton. Eaton eats a double dropkick and Morton covers, only to have Lane break up the pinfall. The ref is distracted and this allows Big Bubba to come in with the Boss Man Slam. The ref is about to cover but sees the hat and the glasses of Bubba in the ring and disqualifies the Midnight’s at 7:24 to award the titles to the Express. The ending was a little cheap and this definitely could’ve used a bit more time to build the heel controlling portion but this was a cool old-school match. **1/2.
-JR’s Pick of the Month: Ricky Steamboat vs. Stunning Steve Austin(c) for the US Title-
This was their Bash at the Beach match-up from July 17th, 1994. JR talks about the match a bit and talks about the skills of Ricky Steamboat. Austin attacks from behind and goes to work right away on Steamboat’s inner thigh. Steamboat chops out of that predicament but Austin goes right back to the leg. Steamboat defies that injury and does the rope walk (making it to the other turnbuckle) and follows with a hammerlock bodyslam. Austin gets hung up on the ropes (a tree of woe but hanging out over the apron and Steamboat just goes to work. Austin tries to get out of an armbar but Steamboat continues to hang on. Austin does a leap-frog but starts selling the knee like he blew it out. Austin calls for time but Steamboat is on to his tricks and stomps a mudhole in Austin. Steve ends up dumped to the outside and continues to “sell” the knee. Steamboat follows and chases Austin back into the ring and grabs a sleeper. Austin breaks but is rolled up for two. Austin gets caught with an arm-bar but low blows Steamboat behind the ref’s back. A short-arm clothesline follows and Austin dumps Steamboat. He suplexes Steamboat back into the ring and covers for two. Steamboat comes back with a choke hold and covers for two. Steamboat goes back to work on that arm. There’s a weird spot where Austin tries a Thesz press and Steamboat catches him and they kind of fall over with Steamboat getting a two. Steamboat leaps onto Austin and Austin catches him and literally slams his down. Austin hits a knee from the second rope before mocking Steamboat. Steamboat manages to slingshot Austin and rolls him up for two before being taken down with a clothesline. Steamboat tells Austin to keep it coming and chops away at Austin. Austin tries covering Steamboat a bunch of times and Steamboat keeps getting the shoulder up. Steamboat bridges so Austin tries to sit down to send him down to his back but Steamboat lifts the knees. Austin comes right back with a running butt splash on the ropes and then takes Steamboat hand and says, “HEY EVERYBODY” while waving it in the camera. Austin charges Steamboat again but is stungunned across the top rope. Austin is sent into the ringpost outside before following with an axehandle off the top rope. The fans are finally getting into this after about 18 minutes. Steamboat chops down Austin for two. Austin comes back with a rake to the eyes and tries to throw Steamboat over the top. Steamboat skins the cat and comes back in. More chops and Austin tries to DQ himself again by tossing Steamboat over the top. Steamboat skins the cat and rolls up Austin for two, gets a small package for two and another roll-up for two. Austin tries for a piledriver but Steamboat reverses that. Austin reverses that reversal so Steamboat reverses the reversal of the previous reversal. Steamboat goes to the top and tries an axehandle but Austin shoves the ref in front of Steamboat. The ref is about to DQ Austin but Steamboat asks him not to. Steamboat follows with a cross body that Austin rolls through for two. So he covers using the ropes to get the pinfall at 20:15. This was very technically sound but it started off a bit slow and the fans were just dead throughout, unfortunately. ***3/4.
-Bret Hart(c) vs. Owen Hart for the WWE Title-
This comes to use from the very first episode of the ActionZone which aired on October 23rd, 1994. This is Owen’s FINAL chance at the WWE title. Owen wins a lock-up and cheers as Pettingill (co-hosting with Vince) makes a reference to an OJ Simpson work-out video. Bret breaks in the ropes cleanly but Owen shoves him away and slaps him before cowering in between the ropes. Owen misses a dropkick and Bret slingshots him into the corner and schoolboys him for two. Bret blocks a hiptoss and gets one of his own and armdrags a charging Owen to the outside. Owen wallows outside as Jim Neidhart makes his way to ringside. Owen gets back to the ring and is slapped in the face. Bret takes this opportunity of momentary shock to schoolboy his brother for two. A crucifix follows for two as well. Anvil interferes in the match by tripping up Bret and Owen stomps away. This brings out the British Bulldog who stands in Bret’s corner. A commercial break follows and we return with Owen holding Bret in a camel clutch. Bret breaks the hold but some timely hair-pulling by Owen results in a chinlock. Owen keeps using the hair to keep control. Bret eventually breaks but walks into a belly to belly suplex. Bret comes back with a sunset flip out of nowhere for two. Owen sends Bret chest-first into the corner. Owen is able to cheat some more, distracting the ref and allowing Neidhart to slam Bret’s leg into the ring post. Owen works the leg and Bret sells like a champ. Bret takes a series of leg-drags and endures some submission moves, too. Owen locks on the figure four and Bret is even counted down a few times before he reverses the hold as we head to commercial. We return with Owen on the outside and sneaking in off the top rope. He runs into a Bret fist and Bret atomic drops Owen (on his bad knee) and clotheslines him down for two. A side Russian legsweep (called a neckbreaker by Vince) gets a two. Bret small packages Owen for two. The backbreaker sets up the second rope elbow for two, in a pin that is thwarted by putting Owen’s foot on the rope. Bret yells at Neidhart only to get rolled up by Owen for two. Bret reverses and goes for the Sharpshooter but Owen blocks with a thumb to the eye. A spinning heel kick for Owen gets two. Owen tries a suplex but Bret counters and sets up Owen on the top rope. He attempts a superplex but Neidhart holds Owen down and Bret topples off. Owen climbs to the top and is set to jump when the Bulldog interferes and Owen is crotched on the top rope. Owen falls off and is covered by Bret to end this match at 14:49. This really was Owen’s last title shot against Bret, wasn’t it? This wasn’t up to the level of their WMX match and the interference doesn’t help, either. Still, Owen/Bret is always a high-rated match. ***1/2.
-Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven-
This is their April 8th, 1995 encounter from Philly (of course). This starts with a Joey Styles interviewing Stevie Richards and Raven. Richards brings out Beulah, the old girlfriend of Dreamer’s from summer camp that used to be chubby but is not smoking. It’s blatantly obvious her music is overdubbed. So we see Beulah and then go right to Dreamer and Raven battling it out and brawling outside the ring. Beulah and Richards are in Raven’s corner. They head into the audience and we and barely see a thing thanks to the poor lighting of the ECW arena. Dreamer uses a cheese grater on Raven after no-selling a low blow and Raven’s busted open and we head right to the black and white. Uh-oh, with this month’s theme we may see a low of B&W. This is the first match I am reviewing in the whole thing for those interested. Well, this is your typical ECW match, with senseless brawling and lots of punches thrown. Raven does a spinning leg kick off the apron onto Dreamer. Dreamer responds with a splash off the announcing ledge. Dreamer calls for the piledriver and he delivers on his promise then bites Raven’s bloody face, smearing Raven’s blood onto him. Dreamer telegraphs a back drop and Raven counters with a DDT but he’s down to. They end up both knocked out but Dreamer’s arm is on Raven and that gets a two. Raven gets a second DDT and follows with a second rope dropkick. A powerslam for Raven gets two as the cameraman is more concerned with Stevie and Beulah’s conversation. Well, now we see why. Richards kisses Beulah and he’s slapped, so he starts strangling her. Dreamer comes to the rescue but walks into a trap and is sprayed with hair spray. Richards superkicks Richards into a Raven DDT on the mat and Raven rolls in Dreamer for the pinfall at 8:44. The brawling was crap but the finish was really enjoyable. *1/2.
-Lex Luger shows up on Nitro-
This is from the first ever episode of Nitro that aired on September 11th, 1995. Lex was on WWE just the week before and he was the first to jump promotions during the Monday Night Wars. This starts as a Hogan/Big Bubba match. Big Bubba you may know as the Boss Man. The first Nitro took place at the Mall of America, the biggest mall in America. Hogan was the WCW champ at the time. Bubba splashes Hogan in the corner but a second one misses. This match is terrible. Bubba goes out to attack Hart but Hogan sneaks up from behind and slugs Bubba down. Bubba misses another splash in the ring but Hogan walks into the Boss Man Slam for two. Hogan hulks up and you know what happens next. The match is over at 6:51 and easily gets a DUD. The Dungeon of Doom head out to attack Hogan when Lex Luger runs into the ring to help Hogan out. They argue a bit before Hogan challenges Luger to a title shot next week on Nitro.
-The Rock vs. Triple H-
This is their January 18th, 1997 match-up from Shotgun Saturday Night. This is actually the first meeting between the two who would go on to feud for the next 7 years. Shotgun Saturday Night started off as a good idea, being held on location at small clubs that really gave the show some ambiance. This was before the Royal Rumble where HHH would defend the Intercontinental title against Goldust and then win the Rumble. We see clips of last week’s Shotgun Saturday and Rocky fighting it out with Marc Mero after Rocky tended to Sable. It’s funny to think of Rocky as the rookie sensation. The fans are actually chanting his name, too. Rock armdrags HHH a few times before HHH comes back with a thumb to the eye. Rock comes back with a bodyslam and an armdrag into an armbar. HHH fights out of that but gets surprised when Jake Roberts tosses a snake into the ring and clear the ring of both competitors. We return with HHH working a chinlock on Rocky as Jake joins Vince and Ross at the announce table. Triple H knees Rocky down and stomps at him until Rocky hits a crossbody for two. Trips is not too happy with this and slugs away at Rocky. He works in another chinlock but uses the ropes for leverage the move is broken. Rocky comes back with a powerslam as Marlena makes her way to ringside. Rock dropkicks Hunter to the outside and Rocky follows. Rock is sent into the stairs HHH sees Marlena. He has a little chat with her when Goldust shows up out of nowhere. Goldust waits for HHH in the ring and then chases him to the back. The bell rings at 9:24 and Rock is awarded the count-out victory. Well, this was a mile away from their Iron Man match but both guys clearly had a long way to go in their WWE careers. *1/2.
-The Hardy’s vs. Edge & Christian-
This is their first ever match-up and it occurred on Shotgun Saturday Night on April 17th, 1999. I didn’t realize the show ran that long into 1999. Edge and Jeff start off but I think the Hardy’s were little more than jobbers at this point. Jeff gets an early pinning combination for two but Edge quickly slams Hardy down. Christian comes in and slugs away. It’s so different to see him in long hair. Christian turns a fireman’s carry into a gutcrusher which is pretty cool. Matt comes in and he and Jeff elbow Christian down. Christian and Gangrel switched off behind the referee and suplexes Matt down. Are Christian and Gangrel that similar that the referee couldn’t tell? Edge is tagged in but is tripped and pulled to the outside by Matt. Jeff follows with a baseball slide. Matt and Jeff double-team Edge with a front Russian legsweep for two. Matt legdrops Edge and suplexes him, setting him up for a Jeff swanton bomb. He covers but Christian makes the save. Edge is double-teamed in the Hardy corner leading to a Jeff pinfall for two. Matt is tagged in and bodyslams Edge before chinlocking him. Edge breaks and comes off the ropes only to run into Matt’s knee. Edge flips out of a suplex attempt and does a double side Russian legsweep. Edge makes the tag to Christian and he is firing away. Christian sidesteps a charging Jeff and Jeff goes through the middle ropes and is slammed down by Gangrel. That was a wicked cool spot. Edge hits a downward spiral on Matt and then downward spirals Christian on top of him for the pin at 6:28. Even back then these two teams worked well together and this was a really good first match between the two as both teams were doing things unheard of at the time for tag-team wrestling and in a few short years after this would redefine tag team wrestling. **3/4.
-Stone Cold Steve Austin(c) vs. the Rock for the WWE Title-
This is their Backlash 1999 match, held on April 25th. This is their Wrestlemania rematch and is a no-holds barred match with Shane McMahon as the referee. Austin wastes no time charging the ring and taking it right to Rock. We see the Lou Thesz press pretty early from Austin and a cover for one. Austin tries a back drop but Rocky counters with a swinging neckbreaker. Rock dumps Austin and clotheslines him down on the entrance path. They head to the area near the entrance and Rocky uses a fire extinguisher to nail Austin in the head. Austin is sent in to the cage backdrop but muscles back with a suplex on the concrete. It is Austin’s turn to send Rocky into the stage pieces before driving an huge case into the back of Rock. Austin clotheslines Rock on top of the fallen fence but really just hurts himself more in the process. So Austin chokes Rock with a cord. We go back and forth with the epitome of WWE Main Event Style with neither guy staying down for long as it is Rock’s turn to control and he does by sliding a huge trunk into Austin and then sending him into the boom operator and following with a clothesline. Austin takes control again by reversing an Irish Whip and sending Rocky to the steel barricade. We end up back in the ring with Shane pushing Austin off of Rock. Rock charges and takes a good bump to the outside. Austin follows with a clothesline off the apron and preps the Spanish Announce Table. Rocky blocks a piledriver with a low blow and Rock Bottoms Austin through the table. Rock gets on the Spanish Announce headset and talks trash, something I always enjoyed, before slugging Austin down. Austin picks up a chair but Shane grabs it and tosses it to Rock. Rock doesn’t have a change to use it but he does send Austin over the barricade and into the stands. He clotheslines Austin down and brings him to the other announce table before taking a camera and trash talking him while he lays on the table. That’s pretty funny. He doesn’t see Austin get up and turns the camera to see Austin flipping him off before Stunning him through the table. That was a really cool visual. Austin tries for a Stunner in the ring but Rock shoves him off and into Shane. Rock comes back with a Rock Bottom but he’s knocked out, too. So Shane puts Rock’s arm over Austin’s body and counts but Austin kicks out at two. Shane tries to use the belt on Austin but he ducks and he hits Rock instead. Austin covers and Shane counts the one-two, and he refuses to count the three. Vince McMahon makes his way down to ringside with the smoking skull belt which McMahon had sent to the back earlier before. Vince lays out Shane with the belt as Rock does the same to Austin. Rock covers for two as Earl Hebner runs in. Austin nails the Stunner and follows up with a belt shot to put Rock away at 17:09. This was a great match to highlight the WWE Main Event Style of the day, with mindless brawling being tied into soap-opera storytelling. This is a perfect match to show someone why wrestling was on top of the world in 1998. ****.
-Trish Stratus vs. Lita in a Street Fight-
This is from the July 10th, 2000 edition of Raw, the first Raw that I ever recorded. I needed to record it because I was at St. John’s for orientation that day and I loved Lita so I needed to have it on tape. Neither woman were decent wrestlers at all by this point in their careers. This was very early in Trish’s run. Trish is tossed around by the hair before she’s suplexed. Lita hits the moonsault and instead of covering decides to rip her shirt off. She tries to take her panties off but Stevie Richards runs down to wrap her up. Ahh, this was during the Right to Censor days. This wasn’t even a match but I guess Lita wins by count-out? Is that even possible in a street fight? Match was about 1:40. DUD.
-The Bottom Line- Well, what another great month. If you’re not subscribing to this that means you’re really missing out. I mean, you have a score of matches at **** or higher (including two ***** matches) and also some really rare stuff that is worth seeing (i.e. Hogan/Andre, Sammartino/Zbyszko and two rare Shotgun Saturday Night Matches). In fact, of the four months I’ve had this subscription, this was easily the best one.
Here’s a rundown of matches I didn’t watch this month.
--Ric Flair vs. Sting (Clash of the Champions – 03/27/88)
I didn’t do this one because it is on the Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection DVD. I plan on picking it up and reviewing it eventually in my life.
--Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Chi-Town Rumble 1989)
I already reviewed this on Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80’s and this one got the full monty; *****. If you haven’t seen it yet you really need to.
--Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair (MSG – 11/30/91)
I just watched this one on the Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 90’s DVD and you can check out that review for the play by play. I gave it ***.
--Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Survivor Series 1996)
Once again, I’m just waiting for this to be released as an Anthology to review this match. I’ve seen it before and it was awesome, close to ***** if not perfect.
--Vince McMahon vs. Steve Austin
This is their first ever meeting and it happened on the April 13th, 1998 episode of Raw, a Raw that would defeat Nitro in the ratings and reclaim its spot as No. 1. I “reviewed” this already on the Best of Raw 15th Anniversary DVD. I put review in quotes since it wasn’t actually a match at all.
--Hollywood Hogan vs. Bill Goldberg (Nitro – 07/06/98)
This is another one I’ve reviewed and I reviewed it for the Monday Night Wars DVD. Goldberg wins the title in front of a massive crowd in a ¼* affair. WCW was foolish to give this away on free television.
--Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H (Raw – 12/29/03)
This is on the Shawn Michaels Story DVD which I haven’t reviewed yet but I will. I’m getting to it!
--Edge vs. John Cena (Royal Rumble 2006)
This is going to be reviewed when I get around to the Royal Rumble Anthology and the subsequent events post-anthology.
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