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WWE: Legacy – July 2010
July is all about celebrating Canadians. It feels like that’s all they’ve been doing because of the Hart Foundation month, and the Jericho month that have come around recently. Plus Hall of Fame month had a week dedicated to our friends up North. The PPV offered this time around is IYH 4, which took place in Canada.
---Week One---
Week One, by the looks of it, appears to offer a nice variety of Canadians from different eras which is something I like to see. The logo this month is the Canadian Flag with Edge on the right red edge and Christian on the left edge. On the Maple Leaf itself is Bret Hart and surrounding him in the white are the Mountie, Chris Jericho, Trish Stratus and Maryse. I can get why all those people are there except for Maryse. Granted I haven’t watched WWE in any capacity since 2003 but I don’t think she deserves to be up there with everyone else.
-Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Randy Savage & Greg Valentine vs. Bret Hart, Jim Duggan, Ronnie Garvin and Hercules-
This is from the 1989 Survivor Series (which took place on November 23rd). This would be Earthquake’s debut. One interesting thing to note is that Ronnie Garvin is listed here as R. Garvin. Why shorten his name out of all of them? I was debating holding off on reviewing this because I would watch it when I get to the Survivor Series DVD reviews, but WWE has not put out any other Survivor Series collections like they did with the Royal Rumble, Summerslam and Wrestlemania so I don’t know if I’d ever get a chance to buy the whole damned set. The Macho King is out and he leads the rest of his team (Greg Valentine, Dino Bravo and the debut of the Canadian Earthquake!) I like that Earthquake had the Canadian tag in front of his name as well as the Maple Leaf on his singlet. I guess earthquakes up north are more evil than an American earthquake? Hacksaw’s team has no music and each member of the team has a 2x4. That’s quite the link there. Let’s look at the Canadian connections here. Earthquake and Bravo are Canadian and Valentine trained in the Dungeon so that’s pretty close to being a Canadian. On the face side we all know Bret is from up North, as is Ronnie Garvin. So there are four full-fledged Canadians here. Monsoon and Jesse Ventura are calling the action and Ventura complains about the Duggan team entering the ring with 2x4’s. They do a little dance in the ring, too. Macho Man and Duggan start off and Macho goes right to the outside. Hacksaw follows and slugs him but Hercules comes in to meet him on the way in. I guess Hercules started then. Hercules clotheslines Savage and press-slams him into his corner where the Hammer tags in. Hercules atomic drops Valentine and Hercules tags in Hart. Bret gets a very nice reaction signifying his singles push was well on its way. Hacksaw comes in and slams Valentine shoulder-first into the corner. We see Garvin tag in and he gets a good reaction, too Garvin puts him in a sleeper but Valentine falls into his corner and Bravo is tagged in. Bravo atomic drops Garvin but misses an elbowdrop. Garvin escapes and tags in Hercules. Both of these men are wearing the same light blue trunks and both men are also dead. There’s no connection between the trunks and their death I’m sure but it was the first time this match that both men in the ring were dead. Bravo knocks down and tags in Earthquake (who is also unfortunately dead thanks to cancer) and he immediately butt splashes Hercules to eliminate him at 3:55. So the Canadians are now 1-0 this month. Duggan knocks over Earthquake thanks to the help of Bret Hart kneeling over behind him and Garvin tags in and hits a splash for two.
Garvin is kicks down by Bravo and Bravo targeted the leg there. Valentine tags in and drops a knee to the leg. Remember, Valentine’s finisher is the figure-four. Valentine tries for the figure-four but Garvin kicks him off and schoolboys him for two. Garvin misses tagging in Hart and he pays for it with a double axe-handle by Savage. Bravo tags in and he is caught in a backslide for two. Garvin can’t make the tag and he’s caught in the heel corner. Valentine and Garvin chop it out in the center of the ring and Garvin gets the better of that. Garvin makes the blind tag to Hacksaw and after Garvin ducks a clothesline Hacksaw is there to lariat Valentine down. He covers and Valentine’s eliminated at 7:30. Bravo charges in and attacks from behind. Hacksaw is clotheslined over the top rope by Savage and Earthquake is brought in. He bodyslams Duggan but misses an elbowdrop. Garvin tags in (even though he’s not the freshest man on their side but who ever said Hacksaw was a brilliant strategist) and headbutts Bravo down. Garvin follows with a Garvin Stomp, basically he stomps the whole body of Bravo. Garvin tries for a figure-four and Bravo blocks with a thumb to the eye. Garvin tags in Hart as Savage gets tagged in. Savage thumbs the eye and tries sending Hart headfirst into the corner but Hart blocks and reciprocates. Hart stomps Savage in the abdomen and Savage quickly tags out. Bravo’s in again and he gets caught in the face corner. The fans chant USA despite the fact that both men in the ring are Canadian. Hart hits a second rope elbow for two. Garvin is tagged in and he gets caught with a side-suplex and Garvin is out of there at 11:16. Well, it was a Canadian pinning a Canadian so let’s call that a push and it is still 1-0 Canada. Hacksaw battles Earthquake now and Quake is brought down with a double clothesline. Quake tags in Macho Man and it’s another Macho/Hart battle. Hart boots down Savage and Savage ends up in Duggan’s corner. Macho gets tied up in the ropes and Hacksaw double teams him behind the ref’s back. Macho misses a kneedrop and Hart responds with a backbreaker for two. Hart small packages Savage for two. Savage sends Hart to the corner but charges into the raised boot of the Hitman. Hart misses a second rope elbow and Savage tags in Bravo.
Bravo bodyslams Hart and drops an elbow. Bravo bearhugs Hart and I would complain about this being a resthold but I think that was his finisher and so it gets a pass. While in there Gorilla and Ventura have a great interaction. Ventura says that if it is 3 on 1 then Duggan would just quit. Monsoon tells him that he doesn’t know the meaning of the word and Jessie retorts that Duggan doesn’t know the meaning of much. I would agree with Jesse there. Hart is now Canadian in peril and it looks like Bravo and Hart blew a move out of the corner. Both fell awkwardly and Gorilla had to cover for them. Ventura with another great one-liner, “When they gave out brains I don’t know where Duggan was.” Bravo holds up Hart for Macho Man and you know what happens next. Macho hits Bravo and through the chaos Hart tags in Duggan. Duggan bodyslams Savage and promptly misses an elbow. Savage backs Duggan into Duggan’s own corner for some reason and Hart is tagged back in. Hart squares off with Bravo and Hart posts his shoulder after charging at Bravo. Bravo hits a shoulderbreaker and Savage connects with his flying elbow drop to eliminate him at 19:05 and make the Canadians 1-1 for the month. So Duggan’s down to three on one. It’s Duggan and Earthquake and Quake delivers knees into the corner. Quake misses a splash and Duggan starts laying out all three members. He clotheslines Savage, backdrops Bravo and sends both of them into Quake. The heels bail and Hacksaw celebrates in the ring. Hacksaw clotheslines down both Savage and Bravo but falls to the attack of Earthquake. Quake drops an elbow and Hacksaw kicks out at two. Savage hits an axehandle on Duggan off the top for two. Savage tries a sit-down splash on the ropes but Duggan rolls out of the way. Duggan atomic drops Savage and comes off the ropes but Sherri pulls down the ropes (the ref was occupied with Bravo) and Duggan crumbles to the outside. Quake delivers an axehandle from the apron and he’s counted out at 23:24. Your survivors: Bravo, Earthquake and Savage. Hacksaw comes back with his 2x4 to lay out the rest of the team. That screams nothing but sore loser to me! Since Earthquake and Bravo are left we’ll call this 2-1 for Canada this month. The first 17 minutes was quite good. Once it got down to 5 people and once Hart left the match got boring very quickly. And was Duggan really that high up on the food chain that he had to be protected with a count-out instead of a pinfall? On the strength of the first three quarters of the match this gets a nice rating of ***1/2. It would’ve been higher but when Duggan and Bravo are in there stinking up the ring for so long it can be tough.
-Bret Hart vs. The Mountie-
This is a Primetime match from February 24th, 1992. These are two Canadians battling it out so it’ll be another push when it comes to the overall Canadian won-loss record for the month. Mountie still has his original music here. Sean Mooney is doing the play-by-play and he mentions they are in Amarillo, Texas. That’s about as far away from Canada as you could get in the US. Alfred Hayes, doing the color, actually mentions that same fact that he’s far away from home. Bret had already won, and lost, the IC title by this point to the Mountie. I guess this was their blowoff match to end their feud? Bret goes to give some youngster his glasses and the Mountie attacks from behind and drives a chair into his gut. Mountie rolls Bret into the ring and we’re ready to start. Hart slugs at Mountie into the corner but Mountie reverses an Irish whip and Bret does his patented chest-first collision. Mountie knocks Bret down with a back elbow for two. Mountie ties up Bret in a Tree of Woe and that allows Jimmy Hart to get in some cheap shots. Mountie follows that with a camel clutch. Bret gets to a vertical base and elbows out of it but runs into the Mountie’s knee. The Mountie piledrives Bret to the mat and covers for two. Mountie telegraphs a back drop attempt and he gets booted in the shoulder as a result. Bret flips out of a bodyslam attempt and tries an O’Connor roll-up but Mountie holds onto the rope. Bret is up quickly and slugs Mountie down. Bret hits an atomic drop and a backbreaker in succession before driving an elbow from the second rope into the Mountie’s throat. Jimmy Hart runs to the apron and gets knocked down and Bret locks in the Sharpshooter. The Nasty Boys, also in Jimmy’s camp, run in to save the Mountie (and end the match at 4:25) and Roddy Piper (another Canadian!) runs in to even the odds. This was your average TV match with accelerated storyline and pacing. *1/2.
-Lance Storm in the US Title Tournament-
The US Title Tournament took place on a single episode of WCW Nitro from July 18th, 2000. This is only 18 minutes and since this was on Nitro that may mean there are 6 matches on here.
-Lance Storm vs. Buff Bagwell-
Lance complains to the fans for disrespecting his national anthem and he says it’s not his fault they have a higher standard of living and a lower crime rate. People don’t like it because it is true. They play the Canadian National Anthem and Bagwell destroys that by clotheslining him from behind. That makes Bagwell the face. The fans chant USA even though they’d go crazy if someone disrespected the Star Spangled Banner this way. Bagwell hits a neckbreaker and he controls for a bit until Lance Storm this is Buff Bagwell in the ring with him. Buff Bagwell – the same one who single-handedly destroyed WCW’s chance of getting over in the WWE when he went out and stunk up the ring with Booker T. That must be a huge burden to carry for him. He wasn’t seen for much longer after that in the WWE if I remember correctly. Buff controls until he sees a video of his mother on the large screen. Lance uses this to hook in the Canadian Maple Leaf (a half Crab) and Buff immediately quits to bail to the back. Way to make a potential champ look strong, WCW. The crap of Bagwell was too strong to overcome here. ½*. On the plus side we are now at 3-1 for Canada this month.
-Lance Storm vs. The Franchise-
Storm is backdropped to the outside early on and he pulls Franchise to the outside with him. Torrie Wilson interferes in plain view of the ref and he does nothing about it. This allows Douglas to control and the fans chant ECW. Douglas atomic drops Lance and rolls him back into the ring. Franchise crossbodies Lance off the top for two. He follows with a Mr. Perfect type neck snap. Lance responds with a dropkick but he’s quickly atomic dropped again. Franchise clotheslines him down and shouts out that Canada sucks. Douglas takes a page from Guerrero with two rolling suplexes and a suplex-slam. Lance is powerslammed down for two. Kidman makes his way to the entryway to watch the match. He had lost to the Franchise earlier in the evening. Franchise eats a superkick for two. The Franchise tries the Pittsburgh Plunge (a fisherman’s suplex) but his knee gave out. He settles with a belly to belly suplex for two. Douglas tries a suplex which is countered with a small package for two that Douglas reverses as well for two. Douglas tries an O’Connor’s roll in the corner but Lance holds onto the ropes and turns it into the Maple Leaf. He uses the ropes for leverage and Douglas quickly taps to send Lance into the finals at 4:30. This was a good up-tempo television match. **. Billy Kidman comes out afterwards to spank Torrie Wilson. Lance makes the save and Kidman sidekicks Lance in the face with a chair. Lance is single-handedly giving Canada a great won-loss record. We stand now at 4-1.
-Lance Storm vs. Mike Awesome for the US Title-
Awesome is a rather tragic figure. He hanged himself in 2007 at the age of 42. I don’t know why he did it but could years of wrestling and possible drug abuse cause this? Lance has the Canadian National Anthem play and he’s ready to win the Canadian Heavyweight Title. Awesome interrupts and the two begin things near the entryway after Lance charged out. Lance is pinballed between the two steel barricades and Awesome slams a chair into his back. Awesome brings the chair into the ring but Lance grabs it first and whacks Awesome with it. He sets Awesome’s head on the chair and legdrops him for two. When did this turn into a No-DQ match? Awesome no-sells some chops in the corner but Lance goes after the eyes. There’s no defense for that. Lance drops a series of elbows for two. Awesome catches Lance with a sit-down powerbomb and he lariats Lance down for two. Awesome avalanches Lance in the corner and drags him to the middle of the ring. Awesome heads upstairs but his big splash finds the knees of Lance. Lance tries a swinging DDT but Awesome held onto the ropes and Lance fell off. I think someone messed up there. Awesome is up first and he sets himself up on the ropes. Lance blocks whatever Awesome was trying to do and Lance superplexes Awesome off the top for two. Lance tries a slingshot splash but he’s caught and suplexed down. Awesome tries his Razor’s Edge but Lance rolls through that, hooks on the Maple Leaf and Awesome taps at 5:03. Lance is your new US Champion and Canada is now 5-1 for the week. I liked that all the decisions here were clean (except for the Buff match) and there was nothing too egregious here (except that blown tornado DDT). **.
-Can-Am Connection vs. Demolition-
This took place at Maple Leaf Gardens, which fits into this month’s theme, on March 14th, 1987. Johnny Valiant is with Demolition here and this must’ve been before Mr. Fuji took over the reigns as their manager. Gorilla Monsoon and Jimmy Hart are calling the match and in the early going they are already interesting. Gorilla as the color guy could work with anyone and make it sound good. Valiant stalls in the ring before we actually start and it is Smash and Zenk starting things off. Zenk leapfrogs Smash and Martel comes in to give double dropkicks to both members of Demolition. The Can-Am Connection work on the arm of Smash but he elbows out of it and tags in Axe. I was too young to really know what was going on then but that is a different Smash than the one who I remember. I’m sure if I checked Wikipedia or something I could find out who he is but I’m too busy trying to keep up with this unstoppable action to even take a break from this match. Demolition control Martel in their corner and do a bunch of cheap heel tactics to get heat (blind tags, Martel tagging the ref and the ref not seeing it) but Martel eventually escapes and Zenk is tagged in. Soon all four men are in the ring and the Demo’s are whipped into each other. Soon everyone ends up outside the ring. Zenk is posted and he’s counted out, giving Demolition the victory at 9:21. I think Martel was the only Canadian in this match. This was a decent tag match (that the fans weren’t buying into at all) but it did what it needed to do to build the match and as a result was acceptable wrestling. Unfortunately, Martel took the loss, dropping Canada to 5-2 on the month. **1/2.
---Week Two---
There’s an interesting episode of Introducing that I’ll review first for this week. We start off this month with Canada up 6-2 (they got another win in the match I didn’t review when Edge pinned Orton).
-Introducing: Dan Spivey- Dan Spivey (who looks terrible now – seriously looking like he’s 80 years old and he sounds it, too). Spivey talks about working in some territories with Dusty Rhodes before he got a call from the WWE to be the replacement for Barry Windham in his tag team with Mike Rotunda. He says his favorite character was the Waylon Mercy character. We get Waylon’s Monday Night Raw debut. This is Waylon vs. some jobber named Jeff Hardy on the July 3rd, 1995 episode. Waylon was a rip off the Cape Fear character. Both guys are completely in white, though Jeff has black boots on. Waylon controls Jeff Hardy and Vince mentions that he is an original Hardy Boy. Isn’t it funny that one person in this ring would go on to win the WWE Title? Waylon kills Hardy and covers a few times but always gets up at two. Waylon hits a brainbuster but still doesn’t cover. The sleeper ends this at 2:57. I don’t rate jobber matches. I do wonder why they had Dan Spivey here for Canada month when he was born in Florida.
-Yukon Lumberjacks(c) vs. Peter Maivia & Chief Jay Strongbow for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
This is an MSG show from October 23rd, 1978. I’m guessing that the Yukon guys are the Canadians here. Jay and Maivia are at odds with each other here. Maivia is not wearing boots. I have no idea who the Lumberjacks are. We’re a minute into the match and Jay and Peter are still arguing. Vince McMahon tells us that one of the Lumberjacks is Pierre. That is certainly French-Canadian sounding. There’s been no action going on 2-minutes now as Jay and Maivia continue arguing. Pierre and Strongbow finally start though they don’t actually lock-up. The fans are getting as restless as the reviewer right now. Maivia clocks Strongbow from behind and leaves to boos from the crowd. The Lumberjacks double team Strongbow but the pesky guy tries fighting back. The other guy (Eric) tags in and Jay is in trouble. A big boot ends this at 3:53. This obviously wasn’t on here for the match quality. DUD. I guess the guys just wanted a Yukon Lumberjacks match on here and this was the only one of the former tag champs they could find. Canada remains hot increasing its record to 7-2.
-Pat Patterson & Andre The Giant vs. Ken Patera & Bobby Duncan-
This is another MSG show running exactly 17 months after the previous one on March 23rd, 1980. Patera and Duncan have the Grand Wizard in their corner. Pat represents Canada here and Andre is from France and since part of Canada speaks French we’ll include him as an honorary French-Canadian. Pat was the IC title holder by this point. The heels blindside the faces but they get quickly subdued by Patterson and Andre. Duncan and Andre start but the heels trick Andre and trap them in their corner. That is short-lived and Andre is able to unleash a double noggin-knocker on the two. Andre uses his big behind to ram it into Patera and Patera goes flying. Duncan charges at Andre with a shoulderblock and Andre tumbles to the outside in an impressive spot for the big guy. Andre gets back in the ring and Patera wears him down with a nerve pinch. Andre fights back when Duncan is in the ring because let’s face it, this is Andre the Giant and he’s Bobby Duncan. Andre trips up Duncan and splashes his leg. Pat is tagged in and he posts the leg of Duncan. Andre butt splashes Duncan and Patterson sits on top for added pressure. The two get up (with Pat still on Andre’s shoulder) to scare away Patera in a really cool spot. Patterson slingshots Duncan into a big Andre right but Pat finds himself in the wrong corner and Patera hits a top rope axehandle. Pat is caught in a chinlock. Patera goes to the ropes but puts the breaks on when he sees Andre’s boot waiting for him and Patterson catches him with an armdrag. Patera and Duncan quickly take over and Patterson is choked in the corner while the ref is distracted. Andre has enough of the distractions and he chases Patera away before getting in a shot on Duncan. Patterson is able to make the tag to big Andre and a giant head-butt destroys Duncan. Patera leaps at Andre but is caught in a bearhug. The heels are whipped into each other and Patterson puts the figure four on Duncan. Andre splashes him while he’s down and that’s enough for the pinfall at 10:59. I question the referee counting that pinfall when the illegal man was still in the ring. This was a solid if somewhat boring match. I guess it’s boring by today’s action-packed standards but I could get into the story of the match which is something today’s spotfests usually don’t provide. **1/2. Canada’s flying along at 8-2 now.
-Hart Dynasty vs. Mix & Big Show(c) for the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles-
This is probably the most recent match on Classics.com and it was from the April 26th, 2010 Raw. The Hart Dynasty consists of Tyson Kidd and David Smith. Tyson was the last one to train in the dungeon and David is the son of the British Bulldog. They are accompanied by Natalya; the daughter of Jim Neidhart. Miz gets on the mic and complains about wrestling three tag matches last night and he makes fun of the Harts. His promo is less than inspiring. We’re ShowMiz and we’re Awesome. Is that really his catchphrase? That’s terrible. It’s not clever and it sounds like something a third grader would’ve said. Bret Hart interrupts and calls ShowMiz the greatest tag champs of all time, Mountie was the greatest IC champ of all time and David Arquette is the greatest world’s champion of all time. Touché, Bret. Bret accompanies the Dynasty to the ring. Tyson and Miz start this thing off and they battle over a lock-up. They mention Miz’ NXT rookies but it sounds like the kid he’s mentoring had his name removed from the show. I guess we can’t mention former employees like Daniel Bryan. Miz and Kidd battle over a hammerlock until Kidd takes control and tags in Smith. Smith hits a big suplex and Miz bails to the outside. He’s distracted by Natalya and turns only to get run over by Smith. We take a break and return with Miz holding Smith in your commercial-wasting resthold. Big Show is tagged in as Kidd is tagged in and Kidd can’t do a thing. His missile dropkick is shrugged off and Big Show just boots down Kidd. Show lifts up Kidd by his throat and then headbutts him down. That’s a cool move that I’ve never seen him use before. Has he added that to his repertoire? Show chops Kidd in the corner which is something he can’t do anymore since as of this writing (July 7th, 2010) that move has been banned. Why have the fans go Whooo when that guy is in the other wrestling company that they don’t consider competition? Miz comes in but is immediately rolled up for two. Miz does a nice reverse neckbreaker over the knee into a more conventional neckbreaker for two. Kidd kicks off Miz and tags in Smith. Smith misses a charge in the corner and Miz uses that to roll-up Smith for two. Smith reverses that into one of his own for two. Smith powerslams Miz for two but ends up charging into a big boot. Miz covers but uses the ropes and Bret Hart interferes to push Miz’s feet off the ropes. Big Show charges at Bret but is knocked over with a rolling senton off the apron thanks to Kidd. Miz is rolled up for two amidst all the chaos. The Dynasty hit the Hart Attack on Miz (with Kidd hitting a springboard clothesline instead of a leaping clothesline) and Kidd makes Miz submit to the Sharpshooter at 8:38. I was entertained by this match. I thought that the heel control segment could’ve lasted longer to build intrigue but that’s the only real criticism I have for this one. It was a really solid TV tag match. ***. Canada improves to 9-2!
-Bret Hart(c) vs. Diesel for the WWE Title in a Steel Cage Match-
This is an IYH Match from February 18th, 1996. This must be close to Diesel’s last match for the company. King mentions that Hart has never lost a cage match. This took place in 1996 and Bret was out of the WWE by November 1997 so was that unbeaten streak one that continued throughout his WWE career? The cage is extremely low and Diesel can reach the top of the cage by just standing there. This is pre-Attitude era so it’s the blue cage version and its escape only rules. Diesel starts with a big knee and that starts the slugfest. Diesel wins that exchange so Bret wisely starts targeting the knees of Big Daddy Cool. The two brawl it out inside the cage with Bret trying to make an escape 3-minutes in. Diesel catches him and knees him while Bret is on the tope turnbuckle. Diesel rams Bret’s back into the cage. The two both try escaping through the door to no avail. Bret works the leg and Diesel no sells it as the match really starts to drag on now. Bret tries going over the top but he sees Diesel making his way to the door and returns back in. Diesel launches Bret off the top, Bret comes back with a bulldog off the second rope and Bret tries an escape.
Diesel charges as Bret in the corner but Bret dodges and Diesel smashes his knee into the turnbuckle. Bret continues softening that knee. Diesel counters by sending Bret chest-first into the corner. Diesel works on the chest area of Bret but Bret wiggles free of being sent into the cage. Bret tries the Sharpshooter but Diesel counters with a thumb to the eye. The fans cheer for Diesel now (which I’m sure pissed off Bret) but their cheers aren’t helping. Bret delivers a top rope elbow and tries escaping over the top. Diesel comes up big with a low blow and Bret ends up crotched, too. Diesel makes his way to the door and Bret can’t pull him back into the ring. Suddenly the Undertaker rips through the ring and pulls Diesel under the ring and Bret is able to escape over the top to end this snorefest at 19:13. *. At least it is another victory for the Canadians and they now stand at 10-2.
-Chris Jericho vs. Christian-
This is a Wrestlemania XX match and it took place on March 14th, 2004 – at MSG. We don’t see Christian’s entrance. There was an underlying plot here involving Trish Stratus. I’d be lying if I said I remembered the specifics of this feud. Christian had short hair by this point and Jericho was still rocking the long locks. Christians corner Jericho and pushes him so Jericho responds with a big right hand. That’s the kind of thing that shows a good intensity in the match. In storyline terms they don’t like each other so it’d make sense they’d be vicious in their attack. Jericho gets tossed by Christian but Y2J ends up on the apron. Christian charges but is backdropped to the mat. Jericho follows to the outside with a springboard splash from the second turnbuckle and rolls Christian back in. Jericho goes for an early Walls but Christian blocks and it is his turn to backdrop Y2J to the outside. Christian resorts to things like hair pulling restholds to wear down Jericho. There’s a blown spot where Christian boots Jericho in the gut but Jericho no-sells it and just goes for the Walls. Christian responds with another thumb to the eye and a running enzuigiri for two. Jericho and Christian collide and do the double KO spot. Jericho hits Christian with a running splash on the second rope and he gets a running enzuigiri for two. Christian and Jericho exchange roll-ups (though Christian used the ropes) for two. Jericho hits a Northern Lights suplex for two and Christian bridges out of that. Jericho connects with his running bulldog but the Lionsault finds the knees of Christian. Christian does a cool looking inverted tornado DDT for two. Christian catches Jericho with a neckbreaker over the knee and heads upstairs. Jericho catches him and tries a superplex but that’s countered by Christian and he shoves off Y2J. Christian hits a crossbody off the top but Jericho rolls through and gets a two-count out of it. Christian attacks the leg of Jericho and puts him in a Texas Cloverleaf. Jericho rolls through it and puts Christian in the Walls. Christian immediately grabs the ropes but Jericho won’t let go. They tumble to the outside (with the hold still on) and Jericho keeps the pressure on at ringside. Jericho and Christian head upstairs but Jericho trips and the fans immediately catch on with a You F&*@ed Up Chant. Jericho makes the best of it with a gut-wrench suplex off the top for two. Trish Stratus runs out as the two men engage in a slugfest. Christian hits a DDT that gets only a two. Christian tries the pinfall again and it still only gets two. Trish argues with Christian and so Christian pulls her into the ring. Christian tosses her down so Jericho clotheslines Christian out of the ring. Jericho goes to check on her but Trish blindly strikes out (thinking it is Christian) and the momentum of Jericho falling down leads to a Christian schoolboy for the pinfall at 14:55. To further add to Jericho’s misfortune Trish turns on Jericho after the match. She whacks him a couple of times and Jericho is laid out by Christian. This was a really fun match, even with the blown spot. It took a bit to get going but once it did it was gold. ***1/2. Canada remains 9-2 since this was a match featuring two Canadians.
---Week Three---
Canada’s record stands at an impressive 9-2. The boys at Classics.com updated a week early. There’re only four matches though instead of the usual five, as least as I write this. I perused through the matches and I am betting money that the string of good but not great matches will continue.
-Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Curt Hennig-
This is a Championship Wrestling match-up from February 12th, 1983, or 7 days after my first birthday. Sharpe is from Hamilton, Ontario and this is his debut in this arena. He’s a heel because he has Albano as his manager. Curt would bulk up a lot in the ensuing 7 years before he was back in the WWE. Hennig tries an overhead wrist lock but Sharpe just powers out of it. Sharpe uses a dizzying array of punches and forearms and only Hennig’s selling makes this barely worth watching. Sharpe varies the moveset with a pair of bodyslams but when he tries a third Hennig small packages him for one. Sharpe goes back to his bread and butter (punches) before switching it up to choking him on the ropes. Hennig sneaks in a dropkick but he’s knocked down with a big forearm (Sharpe’s padded forearm no less) and Hennig is out. The pinfall is academic and this is over at 3:29. I’ve seen jobber matches and some have been decent. This was not one of those. Sharpe literally did a whole bunch of punches with two other moves thrown in. This gets ¼* for Hennig’s bumping alone. The match sucked but Canada improves to 10-2 on the month.
-Killer Kowalski vs. George Bollas in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match-
This here is a Texas Wrasslin’ match. I don’t know when it is from but a quick check on Google suggests that this could be from May 6th, 1952. This is from the Sportatorium in Texas and this was the place the legendary Fritz Von Erich worked and where WCCW made its home. Kowalski is our Canadian here. Keomuka is at ringside and he was featured on the WCCW DVD for those who recognize the name and may not know from where. This is 17-minutes long and I’m guessing I’ll be a little bit bored watching this. Bollas has his ear taped up due to a previous injury so Kowalski smacks the ear early on. Bollas grabs a hammerlock but Kowalski just fights his way out of it. Wrestling from this period featured a lot of submission/wear-down maneuvers, much more than matches these days. That’s why they tend to get boring. Kowalski works a full-nelson and shrugs off a shoulderblock. Bollas uses the ropes for leverage while working the leg which riles up the fans. Kowalski breaks by going back to the ear and he kneelifts Bollas before dropkicking him to the outside. Talk about your highspots! Kowalski is dumped to the outside but Bollas can’t control. Kowalski splashes Bollas in the corner but Duke Keomuka pulls Kowalski’s leg out from under him and Bollas falls on top. The ref saw the whole thing and he disqualified Bollas at 6:45 giving Kowalski the first fall. Bollas wasn’t too happy with that decision. The end of the first fall signaled the start of intermission. You need to give these guys a breather after that physical 7-minute match. We start fall two with more locking up. Kowalski hiptosses Bollas across the ring and Bollas takes a breather outside. Bollas returns and is whacked in his bad ear. So he hiptosses Kowalski and bodyslams him but Kowalski boots at a charging Bollas to slow him down. Bollas responds with a big right hand for two. Bollas really controls things, sending Kowalski into the turnbuckles a bunch of times. Kowalski’s slugged to the outside but he is able to return before being counted out. Bollas charges with a battering ram but misses and hits the corner. Kowalski’s kneedrops Bollas and covers for the pinfall at 13:59. This was a technically sound match but definitely not for a modern fan. I enjoyed it and thought it did a great job relaying a story and it pulled me in its own way. ***. That is another two pinfalls and now Canada is at an impressive 12-2 for the month.
-Edge vs. Mr. Perfect-
This one came during Perfect’s brief stint with the WWE in early 2002 and it aired on the March 3rd episode of Sunday Night Heat. I have a feeling I’ve seen this match before (I watched all the shows around this time) but I don’t remember any specifics of it. We start with Tazz calling Coach five-head because of his big forehead. Get it, four-head. The two are all about New World Order and this must be one of the first weeks they arrived in the promotion. Edge dropkicks Perfect to the outside but Perfect comes back with some big chops in the corner. He takes Edge down with his patented hairdrag. I just need to see a neck snap and I’ll be set. Edge reciprocates the offense with chops and a hairdrag but Perfect one-ups him in the selling department by sliding under the corner and crotching himself on the ringpost. Perfect obliges my wishes and neck snaps Edge. He slaps on an abdominal stretch and uses the ropes (guess he’s playing heel here). Edge atomic drops Perfect twice before clotheslining him down. Edge tries a spear but Perfect throws the referee in front of him and the ref is down. Perfect sends Edge shoulderfirst through the turnbuckles and into the ringpost. Perfect grabs a chair and gets in but the ref has revived and DQ’ed Perfect at 3:49. Edge gets a measure of revenge with a spear. This was a really fun TV match but with only 4-minute it can’t get too high. *1/2. Canada is now 13-2 and Hennig is now 0-2.
-Trish Stratus vs. Jazz vs. Victoria for the WWE Women’s Title-
This came to us via Wrestlemania XIX (March 29th, 2003) and it’s (obviously) a triple-threat match for the women’s title. Victoria has Stevie Richards in her corner. She poses with the title but Jazz immediately dropkicks her out of the ring and stretches out Trish with a modified Camel Clutch. Jazz dispatches a returning Victoria and this enables Trish to hit a Thesz Press on Jazz. Victoria takes out Trish as she heads to the ropes and dumps Jazz. Victoria follows and the three of them battle out there for a bit. Victoria hits a nice springboard somersault legdrop on Trish. She covers but Jazz breaks up the pin. Jazz hits a legdrop and covers and this time Victoria breaks up the pin. The two ladies decide to double team Trish and they mess up a double shoulder-breaker. Well, Jazz messed it up, Victoria hit it correctly. Victoria comes up with a powerslam on Jazz for two as Richards coaches from the corner. See, if that were tennis Victoria would’ve been warned. Trish rolls up Victoria but the ref takes way too long to count. Jazz gets a powerbomb slam on Trish for two and this thing is breaking apart rather quickly. It’s the inherent problem with triple threat matches. It devolves into one person fighting another while the third is indisposed. There’s no flow at all with the matches. Trish Chick Kicks Jazz for two – a move broken up by Victoria. So Victoria is head-scissored off the top. Trish boots Victoria out of the ring and Jazz lays in on Trish with a single-leg Crab. Jazz turns it into an STF. The ref turns his back on her because Victoria is bothering him on the apron. Stevie runs in to make sure Trish doesn’t tap (and cause his girl to lose the title). Trish is taken out by Jazz with a chicken wing slam and Jazz is taken out with a savant kick by Victoria. Victoria misses a moonsault but she quickly dumps Jazz. Stevie runs in and tries nailing Trish (who wouldn’t) with a chair but it backfires when it rebounds off the rope and hits him in the face. Victoria tries a powerslam but Trish frees herself. Victoria runs into a Chick Kick and that’s all she wrote at 7:17. It was quickly becoming obvious that Trish’s in-ring ability was quickly surpassing every other woman in the division. She had the pacing down, she was selling better than anyone else and she didn’t blow her moves like the others did. **. Oh, and Canada is now 14-2. Barring a disaster next week they should finish the month with a fantastic record.
---Week Four---
I really hope that the Classics team pulls out all the stops here because we’re three weeks in and the highest rated match has only been ***1/2 and there’s only been one other match in the *** range. That’s weak. And looking at what we have offered. I don’t see anything cracking *** here.
-La Resistance vs. Sgt. Slaughter & The Hurricane-
This was a Raw match from June 23rd, 2003. So La Resistance hated the United States and somehow this led to Sgt. Slaughter being brought out of retirement for this match. La Resistance was Sylvain Grenier and Renee Dupree. They are announced as being from Paris, France. I have to assume one of them is from Canada otherwise this wouldn’t belong here. Okay, I checked Wikipedia and both are from Canada. They sing the French National Anthem before the match to really draw the heel heat. Hurricane comes out and he can’t believe that they would disrespect the USA like that. Hurricane reveals his partner is Sgt. Slaughter. Ross calls him a Wrestlemania legend which makes no sense whatsoever. His big moment in Wrestlemania came after he turned his back on the US and became an Iraqi sympathizer. Hardly what I would consider as a credit to his American character. Slaughter and Hurricane attack from behind (great American values) and they take an early advantage. Hurricane hits a crossbody off the top to the outside and Sarge is battling Dupree. He backdrops him and even puts him in the Cobra Clutch. Grenier interferes and he’s locked in the Cobra Clutch. Grenier makes the ropes and the ref makes him break even though he’s not the legal man. So Dupree runs in and lays out Slaughter with the title belt. He covers and that’s all she wrote at 2:00. Way to make the champs look strong against an over the hill wrestler. Sarge had a little drop of blood on him and that’s what warranted the PG-13 rating prior the match showing. I just don’t even know where to start with any of this. So I won’t and I’ll go DUD. Canada is now 15-2 heading to our last four matches.
-Bob Backlund(c) vs. Angelo Mosca for the WWE Title-
This is an MSG bout from June 8th, 1981. Pat Patterson is the special guest referee. Mosca is not Canadian but he played in the Canadian Football League. I guess this match features Patterson as the Canadian representative. I guess they used every single match they had on record that had a Canadian wrestling. Or maybe this was showing how well-rounded Canadians were in that they could officiate as well. Backlund lays into Mosca as soon as he enters the ring and Mosca quickly bails to the outside. He returns but he’s just decimated by Backlund. He’s atomic dropped and Mosca oversells it and falls over the top rope. Backlund goes after the arm once Mosca makes it back in. Mosca misses a charge in the corner and Backlund goes back to work on the arm. We hear the voice of Andre the Giant joining the commentary. That’s certainly random. Andre can’t wait to get back to the ring. Mosca clotheslines Backlund over the top rope Mosca knee drops Backlund and covers for two. Mosca hangs up Backlund in a tree of woe and fires away with rights. Mosca does it again and sandwiches Patterson in there so Patterson shoves off and Backlund falls on top of Mosca. Patterson is there quickly to count and Mosca kicks out at two. Mosca’s not too happy with the officiating here but Patterson gets in his face and Mosca quickly backs down. Backlund tries a sunset flip for two though that was a fast count. Mosca elbowdrops Backlund for two. Mosca hits a backbreaker and covers but Backlund’s foot makes the ropes. Mosca shoves Patterson down in frustration. Backlund hits a high crossbody out of nowhere and covers and Patterson counts even though Mosca’s foot was clearly on the ropes the whole time. Backlund retains at 9:31. Patterson and Mosca come to blows after the match. I guess that’s why this one was included. The Mosca/Patterson conflict carried this match for me and was an interesting subplot. Nothing of the in-ring work was extraordinary but it served its purpose. **1/4. It’s still 15-2 right now, though I should give the Canadians another +1 because Patterson did influence this match.
-Don Muraco(c) vs. Rocky Johnson for the Intercontinental Title-
This is yet another MSG match this time from May 23rd, 1983. Rocky Johnson looks ripped here and I think he’s more muscular here than his son ever was in the WWE. Rocky starts out strong with a backdrop and a drop-toe-hold into a double toe hold. Rocky is our Canadian representative here. I never thought he was Canadian but he was born up North and so Canadian he is. Don breaks with some punches and Gorilla gets on his soapbox saying wrestlers using illegal moves like that should be fined. Rocky tries an O’Connor’s roll but Muraco hangs onto the ropes. Muraco misses some elbowdrops and Muraco is small packaged for two. Rocky goes back to the toe-hold and keeps on it for a few minutes. Muraco breaks with an elbow only to get slugged to the apron and then to the floor. Muraco sneaks in a low blow and grabs a sleeper. Rocky returns the low blow to Muraco which is a nice spot. Muraco misses a knee in the corner and he rolls to the outside again. Muraco comes back in and is caught in a Full Nelson. Muraco charges to the corner and ducks out and Rocky’s head meets turnbuckle. That effectively breaks the Nelson. Gorilla mentions that the curfew is nearby and I think we have the finish of this match. Muraco tombstone piledrives Rocky down but that only gets a two for Muraco. Muraco heads upstairs and his splash finds nothing but the knees of Johnson. Rocky covers but Muraco’s foot makes the ropes. Rocky nails Muraco in the gut and covers for two. Rocky uppercuts him and covers but Muraco’s hand now makes the ropes. Rocky grabs a sleeper but Muraco makes the ropes. Rocky hits a dropkick and grabs another sleeper. The bell goes off at 15:17 and the crowd thinks that Rocky has won the title but nope, it’s just a time-limit draw. Not a bad match if not really boring. The finish didn’t help things either. It was a draw so Canada remains 15-2.
-Maryse & Natalya vs. Michelle McCool & Maria-
We go back to the August 14th, 2008 SmackDown for this one. I have absolutely zero interest in this match but at least I can look at Maria. Michelle McCool is the Diva’s champ here. That’s different than the Women’s Champ. Did we need two Women’s champs? Maryse is our Canadian in the match. Natalya is also Canadian. I like Natalya and I think she’s really come into her own since leading the Hart Dynasty. Either the ring is miked really loud or the crowd is just so quiet that you can hear all the “trash talk” of the girls. Maryse takes Maria down and she celebrates like she just beat Hulk Hogan for the WWE title. Natalya is tagged in and Maria tries a tilt-a-whirl in the corner. Natalya holds on and slams her down before hitting a snap suplex. Maria cradles Natalya for two. Natalya comes back with a big clothesline for two. Maria ends up in the heel corner but she fights out of it and tags in Michelle. Michelle comes in with a slingshot single leg kick. She hits a neckbreaker on Natalya for a one-count. A front-suplex follows and Maryse pulls Natalya out of the ring. Michelle follows and lays into Maryse a bit. Maryse interferes again and this allows Natalya to take down Michelle and cover her for the pinfall at 3:05. This was tough to watch. They work so slowly, take forever to set up moves and generally look out of place in the ring. ½* - because at least Maria looked good blowing the moves. Well, we end with Canada going 16-2, which a great record. Too mad we were 0-20 in ****+ matches.
-The Bottom Line-
Week One started off well. There was no awesome match, although the Survivor Series match was quite good. We saw a good variety of Canadians here, including Bret Hart, Mountie, Martel, a lot of Lance Storm, and the Canadian Earthquake. The Canadians went 5-2 for the week in the matches I reviewed and Edge won the only week one match I skipped (because I already reviewed it, natch) so Canada is an impressive 6-2 to start things off. With three weeks left in the month I’m looking for some Jericho, Trish Stratus, Owen Hart (though with the lawsuit I don’t think that is feasible), and Christian. This was a good start though I think this month needs a few **** matches to make it great, especially considering the talent pool of Canada. Week Two continues bringing the decent stuff, though I am still looking for that blowaway amazing match. We get another Bret match (a boring one), action from Jericho, Christian, Patterson, The Yukon Lumberjacks (!!), and a recent one from the Hart Dynasty. It bears repeating. These are mostly good matches but where are my classics?
Week Three had a really rare Kowalski/Bollas match that was a decent *** affair. It was the match of the week (the others were too short to be rated that high or featured women) and again I have to reiterate the fact that there’s nothing on here that is blowing me away. There have been cool matches with people you don’t see everyday (Iron Mike Sharpe, the Yukon Brothers, Pat Patterson) and certainly the rare factor gives those matches a pass. We finished with some more good stuff but truly lacking anything great. I know there are matches out there from house shows or television shows or even from Coliseum Videos that could’ve gone on here to showcase the best of Canada. We did get a lot of Bret Hart which is deserved but no Owen (maybe because of the lawsuit?). Only one Trish match, only one Jericho match, and we could’ve used some more of Edge, too. It just felt like any old match was picked and going for as many Canadians as possible instead of quality bouts. I still think the positives far outweigh the negatives for the service but we need some more great wrestling matches.
Matches I DIDN’T Review this month:
--Week One--
--Randy Orton vs. Edge (Vengeance 2004)
I reviewed this when it appeared on History of the Intercontinental Title. It was decent match I had at ***.
--Week Four--
--Hart Foundation & Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Dino Bravo & Fabulous Rougeaus (Royal Rumble 1989). This was a two out of three falls match that I had at ***. Hart’s team won 2-1 but since all the pinfalls involved Canadians this is a giant push in the overall victory count.
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