This is the Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham match from the 1987 Crockett Cup. It was rated ***** by Dave Meltzer of the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This match is clipped but most of the action is still intact. Enjoy.
— page 3
Match of the Day
Here is a great match between two excellent tag teams, The Rockers and the Hart Foundation from the November 25th, 1989 Madison Square Garden show.
Match of the Day
Here are the three members of the Shield facing off against each other while in FCW from May 2012. Ambrose easily looks like the star of the three in this match as Seth is a face and Reigns went by Leakee and was very new to the business. Not a great match but interesting to see just how far these two have come along.
Match of the Day
Here is a match between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage from the Maple Leaf Gardens show in October of 1985. Savage was only in the WWF for a little over three months at this point but even here, you could see the chemistry between these two. Also, Savage’s heel work at this time was damn near perfect and Hogan could move around a lot quicker than most remember in this match. This is not a technical masterpiece but very fun for a house show main event.
Match of the Day
Here is Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black (Seth Rollins) from the 5/9/08 RoH Southern Navigation show.
WWE: Handicapping the Money In The Bank briefcase match
Scott Keith lays it all the line with a look at who has a shot to win the prestigious Money In The Bank briefcase on Sunday's WWE show, and more importantly who does not. Which is pretty much everyone.
Figured I'd try for something closer to my normal "voice" with this one. Please continue to share and enjoy.
Match of the Day: Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair 12/16/91
I’m pretty sure you already reviewed this from some Coliseum video but thought it would make for a good match of the day
Sure, why not?
Match of the Day
T-Hawk & Eita vs. Dragon Kid & Masaaki Mochizuki
From the PPV earlier today. Maybe the most complete wrestler walking the Earth under the age of 25, T-Hawk, going toe-to-toe and massive chop-for-chop with the crusty old vet Masaaki Mochizuki.
Match of the Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyJijkFS5eA
Here goes the match that Meltzer was raving about on Sin Limite last night. Clearly in the MOTYC discussion, for those into that kinda stuff.
Best Free TV Match Ever
| Hey Scott, All the clashes going up in the network made me wonder about something. Obviously most all time great matches took place on a ppv but with so many more eyes on a match when its aired on TV, it seems like that makes great free TV matches even more special. What would you say is the best one ever? Sting vs Flair? Cena vs Punk? The raw 10 man tag? DBS vs Owen? The Benoit vs Hart Owen tribute? Hbk and Austin vs Owen and Davey? There are so many to choose from but what's your favorite and do you think a great match on free TV is a bigger deal than a great ppv match? Thanks! |
I'd have to go with Flair-Steamboat by a mile, but there's certainly some other good ones in the list. The best I can remember watching live were Michaels & Austin v. Davey & Owen and then of course Austin & HHH v. Benoit & Jericho, and the latter one instantly became one of my all-time favorites. I think with the weekly nature of TV, great matches kind of get forgotten faster there, whereas PPV is treated as a special big deal and thus you're more likely to remember something big that happened at, say, Wrestlemania than some random RAW. But really, a great match is a great match no matter where.
Kid in Cena match
I thought it was worth pointing out that the kid from the Cena / Bray cage match is actually kind of famous. He is in a very popular NFL Play 60 commercial with Cam Newton that airs constantly during the NFL season. He is also the real life son of former WWF personality Jameson from Prime Time. I'm not sure if it was reported in the NEWZ but I thought it was a cool tidbit worth pointing out.
White Thunder
Oh great, now he'll be winning the Rumble next year, I bet.
Match Of The Day submission
Hey, Scott here's the Super Sunday match between Hulk Hogan and Nick
Bockwinkel complete with pre and post-match promos. I still cannot
believe that Verne had the guts to do another false finish after all
this build-up. Oh well hope people enjoy it:
Mark Boomer
Old School Match of the Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NScr9u9u0Y
Is it just me or does it not sound like Gorilla & Bobby are calling the match directly from their seats of the Prime Time Wrestling TV set?
Perish the thought.
Match Of The Day
Hulk Hogan & Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage & Honky Tonk Man
Dark match from Superstars taping 1/5/87, Meadowlands Arena
Match of the Day
Haven't had one of these in a while, it's Sting vs Scott Steiner from May 1996 Nitro, same Nitro that Mr. Hall makes his first appearance draped in denim.
This match is really good stuff, Sting busting out the plancha, Steiner with sick suplexes So, with that said, when did the injuries begin to take their toll on Steiner? His chest looks like he's already had at least one pectoral rip. Also, Sting's hair has gone away from the blonde, was this to prepare for the Crow Sting?
Oh yeah, Scott Steiner was running on fumes by then as far as injuries go. The first muscle tear in 91 pretty seriously derailed him and then he got beat up after the WWF run and was pretty much done by the time the Steiners got back to WCW. When Rick Steiner is left as the workhorse of the team you know you suck. Sometime around his initial push as WHITE THUNDER he had to have his ankle fused into walking position and frankly I don't even know how managed to do slams without his arms ripping off like he was a weightlifter in the All Drug Olympics. Which is too bad because clearly the Freakzilla character combined with 91-93 All American wrestler Scott Steiner would have been a license to print money on top of the WWF. He just wasn't able to find his true calling before his body fell apart.
Challenge Accepted! One match from every Mania
So a week or so ago, someone asked you about an "All time Mania card" with one match from each following the obvious rules of "no repeated wrestlers or titles." I even included this years Mania with the Shield vs. Kane/Outlaws 6-man. I only picked 2 must have matches (Austin/Bret 13, and Savage/Steamboat 3). Everything else was worked out as I went along. I tried to hit as many of the top stars as I could only omitting guys like Foley, Flair and Batista; plus I managed 8 title matches (7 really, I counted the Million $ Belt) and some celebrity involvement. The only one that I think may draw attention is the Battle of the Billionaires match as Stone Cold is special ref, and Vince is obviously in one corner but they're not technically wrestling AND Foley wrestled and refereed at WM15. So here ya go, personally, knowing what we know, I'd main event Rock/Cena or more likely Shawn/Taker.
All Time Wrestlemania Card:
1. Wrestlemania – Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd – $15,000 Slam Match
2. Wrestlemania 2 – Tito Santana & Junkyard Dog vs. Terry & Hoss Funk
3. Wrestlemania III – IC Title: © Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
4. Wrestlemania IV – 6-man Tag: British Bulldogs & Koko B. Ware vs. Islanders & Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
5. Wrestlemania V – Mr. Perfect vs. Blue Blazer
6. Wrestlemania VI – Million $ Belt – Ted Dibiase vs. Jake “the Snake” Roberts
7. Wrestlemania VII – Legion of Doom vs. Power & Glory
8. Wrestlemania VIII – Tatanka vs. Rick Martel
9. Wrestlemania IX – Steiner Brothers vs. Headshrinkers
10. Wrestlemania X – Earthquake vs. Adam Bomb
11. Wrestlemania XI – Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
12. Wrestlemania XII – Backlot Brawl – “Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. Goldust
13. Wrestlemania 13 – “I Quit” Match – Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
14. Wrestlemania XIV – Light Heavyweight Title: © Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila
15. Wrestlemania XV – European Title: © Shane McMahon vs. X-Pac
16. Wrestlemania 2000 – D-Lo Brown & Godfather vs. Big Bossman & Bull Buchanan
17. Wrestlemania X-7 – TLC 2 for the World Tag Team Titles – © Dudleys vs. Hardys vs. Edge & Christian
18. Wrestlemania X-8 – Women’s Title – Triple Threat: © Jazz vs. Trish Stratus vs. Lita
19. Wrestlemania XIX – Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon
20. Wrestlemania XX – WWE Title: © Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle
21. Wrestlemania XXI – Sumo Match – Big Show vs. Akebono
22. Wrestlemania XXII – US Title: © Chris Benoit vs. JBL
23. Wrestlemania XXIII – Battle of the Billionaires: Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga
24. Wrestlemania XXIV – Playboy Lumberjill Match – Beth Phoenix & Melina vs. Maria & Ashley
25. Wrestlemania XXV – Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker
26. Wrestlemania XXVI – Triple H vs. Sheamus
27. Wrestlemania XXVII – CM Punk vs. Randy Orton
28. Wrestlemania XXVIII – The Rock vs. John Cena
29. Wrestlemania XXIX – Chris Jericho vs. Fandango
30 Wrestlemania XXX – 6-man Tag – The Shield vs. Kane & the New Age Outlaws
Inside Scotts (in)box 4: Best Multiple Match Performance
Hey, here’s a good one from a Mr. Mallonee:
In honor of Daniel Bryan’s impending multiple match performance at WM 30
who do you feel had the best performance at a PPV when they wrestled
more than once? My personal favorite is Kurt Angle at King of the Ring
when he fought Christian, Edge, and Shane-O Mac all in one night but I
thought you and the Blog of Doom might have other ideas.
Actually I think you nailed it. I generally have an issue with Wrestler vs. Non Wrestler matches – for example even though Hogan and Vince had a great match, I thought it was weird that while Hogan is old he’s still a ‘wrestler’ whereas Vince just sort of has matches occasionally. In a kayfabe sense, Hogan should dominate Vince. See also: Flair vs. Vince, and so on.
Now of course to have an entertaining match that can’t happen, but it’s a thing that can take you out of the narrative at least a bit.
Which is why I loved the above mentioned Kurt Angle pick. Since Angle had already wrestled twice, it would make sense to believe he was tired and weakened, and it gave Shane a fighting chance – though most of the match was Angle engaging in legalized assault and battery of a person smaller and less athletic than he is – which is generally how I do it too.
And my history is maybe fuzzy, but this was THE PPV that made Angle a legit star. If wiki is to be believed following this event the ‘Invasion’ started proper, and it was Angle as the proverbial American Hero against the evil WCW.
Aside from that, I’d imagine some of the folks doing doing crazy Japanese death matches deserve some credit. I don’t have the testes to watch the Funk vs. Foley exploding ring match, and I don’t know how good it was, but I’m assuming both dudes were so insanely tired and beat up that any actual match they had would be a victory in and of itself.
Speaking of Foley, it probably doesn’t count but didn’t he run in for the finish of the Austin v. Kane match at King of The Ring after taking those insane bumps?
———————————
Question on Match Finishes
Scott,
out of determination to watch the PPVs on the Network chronologically, I've started with S
tarrcade
'83 (aka "Everybody Bleeds"). To the modern eye, it seems like most of the finishes come out of nowhere, sometimes off of what I'd label a transitional move or in the middle of a sequence — and clearly the crowd doesn't expect them either.
Is the idea of building to a hot finish a more modern concept (or at least one that came later in the '80s), or was NWA just booked differently at the time? Or am I somehow watching it wrong (very possible)?
Yeah, the "hot finish" is very much a product of the modern times, I'd say. Obviously the usual finish in WWF main events was Hogan doing the big boot and legdrop for most of the 80s, although the tag teams on the undercard were doing a lot of the style we'd call "WWE main event style" now, with trading finishes and missing big moves and stuff. Bulldogs and Harts used to love to do that. It's also to do with the promotion you're watching. Japan's big two pretty much pioneered the finisher-trading industry and it ended up being a big influence on the guys who worked there or just came up watching it.
Ultimate Warrior DVD Match Listing
DISC
1:
1:
Warriors Back!
Finding Wrestling
The Blade
Runners vs. Perry Jackson & Shawn O’Reilly
UWF • April 11,
1986
Move to WCCW
Dingo Warrior vs. Chris Adams
WCCW
• August 8, 1986
Arrival in WWE
Ultimate Warrior vs.
Barry Horowitz
Wrestling Challenge • November 7, 1987
Ultimate
Warrior vs. Steve Lombardi
Superstars • November 14,
1987
Getting Noticed
Ultimate Warrior vs. Harley
Race
Boston, MA • March 5, 1988
Upgrading Warrior
Weasel
Suit Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Bobby “The Brain”
Heenan
Los Angeles, CA • July 15, 1988
Intercontinental
Champion
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ultimate
Warrior vs. The Honky Tonk Man
SummerSlam • August 29,
1988
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior
vs. Honky Tonk Man
Philadelphia, PA • December 17, 1988
The
Macho Man
WWE Championship and Intercontinental Championship
Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho Man Randy Savage
Boston, MA •
February 11, 1989
Simply Ravishing
Intercontinental
Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude
SummerSlam •
August 28, 1989
Building Momentum
Ultimate Warrior vs.
Bob Bradley
Prime Time Wrestling • September 18, 1989
Ultimate
Warrior vs. Brian Costello
Prime Time Wrestling • December 25,
1989
Ultimate Warrior confronts Andre on Brother Love
Show
Superstars • July 29, 1989
Memories of
Andre
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior
vs. Andre the Giant
Madison Square Garden • October 28,
1989
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior
vs. Andre the Giant
Saturday Night’s Main Event • November 25,
1989
DISC 2:
Leading to Toronto
Ultimate
Warrior Promo “Crash the Plane”
Superstars • March 10,
1990
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior
vs. Mr. Perfect
Madison Square Garden • March 19, 1990
Running
to the Ring
The Ultimate Challenge
WWE Championship vs.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate
Warrior
WrestleMania VI • April 1, 1990
Responsibilities
of the Champion
WWE Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior vs.
Million $ Man Ted DiBiase
Wrestling Summit • April 13, 1990
WWE
Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. “Ravishing” Rick
Rude
Saturday Night’s Main Event • July 28, 1990
WWE
Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Million $ Man Ted
DiBiase
The Main Event • November 23, 1990
WWE
Championship Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Huntsville,
AL • January 7, 1991
DISC 3:
New
Direction
Steel Cage Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho King
Randy Savage
Madison Square Garden • January 21, 1991
Ultimate
Warrior ends Brother Loves Career
Superstars • March 2, 1991
No
Limitations
Career Ending Match
Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho
King Randy Savage
WrestleMania VII • March 24, 1991
Into
the Darkness
Ultimate Warrior on Paul Bearers Funeral
Parlour
Superstars • April 13, 1991
Ultimate Warrior vs.
The Undertaker
Toronto, ON • June 2, 1991
Returning
Gene
Okerlund Interviews Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage
Superstars •
July 25, 1992
Ultimate Maniacs
“Riding on the Edge
of a Lightning Bolt”
Superstars • November 14, 1992
WWE
Tag Team Championship Match
Money Inc. vs. Ultimate Warrior &
Macho Man Randy Savage
Saturday Night’s Main Event • November
14, 1992
Reestablish
“Faster Than a Cheetah”
RAW
• March 11, 1996
Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hearst
Helmsley
WrestleMania XII • March 31, 1996
Warrior
Confronts Goldust
RAW • April 8, 1996
Ultimate Warrior
Returns!
Vince McMahon Interviews Jerry “The King”
Lawler and Ultimate Warrior
RAW • June 10, 1996
Ultimate
Warrior vs. Jerry the King Lawler
King of the Ring • June 23,
1996
Going to WCW
Ultimate Warrior Interrupts Hollywood
Hogan
Nitro • August 17 1998
Replusive
Ultimate
Warrior Promo
Nitro • October 26, 1998
The Right
Story
Blu-Ray Extras:
Dingo Warrior vs. Matt
Bourne
WCCW • October 24, 1986
Ultimate Warrior & The
British Bulldogs vs. Demolition & Mr Fuji
Maple Leaf Gardens •
July 24, 1988
Intercontinental Championship Match
Ultimate
Warrior vs. Dino Bravo
The Main Event • February 23,
1990
WrestleMania VII Contract Signing
Road to WrestleMania
VII • March 17, 1991
Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt.
Slaughter
WrestleFest • March 30, 1991
Intercontinental
Championship Match
Goldust vs. Ultimate Warrior
In Your House:
Good Friends, Better Enemies • April 28, 1996
The only big match missing that I can think of is the rematch with Savage from London. I’m not sure if Hogan vs. Warrior II qualifies as wrestling., 1986
A+ Match of the Day
Hostile City Showdown 1995: Eddie Guerrero © vs. Dean Malenko:
I’ve been looking for a high quality copy of this, and I finally found one. Malenko
was the straightforward, no-nonsense “shooter” that utilized a faux MMA style
before it even became popular. Guerrero was the athletic high-flyer and the son of legendary
Gory Guerrero. They were truly polar opposites. But they had one thing in common:
they were superb in the ring. This match had a mixture of everything – chain
wrestling, aerial attacks, creative submissions, imaginative spots, devastating
looking moves, and cerebral psychology. The story was about both of them hitting each
other with everything they had, but not being able to put the other away due
to his never-say-die resiliency. This also does a spectacular job of building to
high-spots, transitioning to each layer of the match, and creating different
story-arcs. The 2/3 falls contest is the more talked about one, but this is the best one of the series.
was the straightforward, no-nonsense “shooter” that utilized a faux MMA style
before it even became popular. Guerrero was the athletic high-flyer and the son of legendary
Gory Guerrero. They were truly polar opposites. But they had one thing in common:
they were superb in the ring. This match had a mixture of everything – chain
wrestling, aerial attacks, creative submissions, imaginative spots, devastating
looking moves, and cerebral psychology. The story was about both of them hitting each
other with everything they had, but not being able to put the other away due
to his never-say-die resiliency. This also does a spectacular job of building to
high-spots, transitioning to each layer of the match, and creating different
story-arcs. The 2/3 falls contest is the more talked about one, but this is the best one of the series.