stone

Stone Age Smackdown

13th February 2015 by Scott Keith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB1M5_ph-Jg#t=75

I honestly didn't hate the Scooby Doo movie that came out last year. It was dumb but fun.

This? This looks like a whole lot of crap.

Hilarious to see CM Punk in it, though.

Ugh…"John Cena-stone"? They had actual writers coming up with those names and that's the best pun they could think of? You have a guy actually NAMED "The Rock" right there!

Scooby Doo was fine. This looks like garbage.

Rants →

Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line Review (Disc 3 and 4)

20th July 2014 by Scott Keith

Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time:

Disc
Three – Austin On Top of the Wrestling World

WWF Heavyweight Title: Stone Cold
Steve Austin (c) vs. Dude Love (05/31/98).

Vince McMahon is the referee, Patterson is the ring announcer, and Briscoe is the timekeeper. Surprisingly, Undertaker comes out to make sure there is not any foul play going on. Dude knocks Austin down a few times, as McMahon tries to perform a couple of fast counts. Dude tries to put in the mandible claw, but Austin throws Dude into the ropes where he hangs (similar to how he lost his ear against Vader). They brawl on the outside, where McMahon adds in a no count out stipulation. Austin now cannot retain the belt via count out. Dude throws Austin over the Spanish announce table and proceeds to choke Austin with a cord. Vince McMahon adds in “No DQ” stipulation as a result. On commentary, Jim Ross flips his lid because of this. Austin fights back and sends Dude over the guardrail with a clothesline. Back inside, Austin accidentally crotches himself. Dude hits a baseball slide that sends Austin to the outside. Dude hits a neckbreaker on the floor and Patterson announces that is it now a Falls Count Anywhere match. Ross is pissed! Dude backslides Austin outside for two. Austin fights back with a lariat that almost takes Dude’s head off. Dude backdrops Austin onto one of the cars used as scenery. They make their way onto the roof of the car. Dude counters a Stunner and sends Austin flying off the car. Austin is now busted open. Dude picks up an exhaust pipe, but he softly hits it over the back of Austin’s head. Either Dude thought better of it or Austin wasn’t ready. Austin mounts a little comeback, but Dude reverses a piledriver attempt. Dude hits a suplex and heads up to the roof of the car.

Austin ducks out of the way from an elbow drop, though. They fight back near ringside. Back inside, Patterson trips Austin’s leg, allowing Dude to regain control. Dude takes off the turnbuckle and rams Austin’s bloody head into it. Dude grabs a chair and hits a double-arm DDT on it that picks up a two count. Dude charges Austin with the chair, but Austin gets a foot up. Austin then SMASHES Dude with an exposed chair shot to the head. Austin pins Dude, but Vince does not count and gives him the bird. Jim Ross cries, “Count ‘em, count ‘em!” Dude goes to hit Austin with a chair. Austin ducks, which causes Dude to hit McMahon with the chair. Austin hits the Stunner, but there is no referee. A referee runs in to make the count, but Patterson pulls him out of the ring. Mick sinks in the Mandible Claw and forces Austin’s shoulders down to the mat. Patterson jumps in to count to three, but Undertaker pulls him out and chokeslams him through the announce table. Briscoe tries to make a three count, only to be chokeslammed through the other announce table. Austin tells Dude not to fuck with Da Jesus and hits him with a Stunner. There is no referee, though, so Austin uses McMahon’s hand to count to three @ 24:40. This ferocious brawl immeasurably stacked the deck against the fan favorite champion, causing Austin to become an enormous face-in-peril. Not only did he have to fight the psychotic Dude Love, but he also had to overcome Vince McMahon being a partial referee and his Stooges being near ringside. Come hell or high water, Austin succeeded and gave the heels their comeuppance they deserved. Concisely, they found a creative way to stack the deck against the fan favorite, and then found a creative way for him to overcome the odds. This was epic Attitude Era booking at its best.

Above all, business became rather simple for WWF after this. They realized how effective this template was. So for that reason, they kept stacking the deck against Austin to a point where it seemed impossible for him to overcome. That caused tons of people to pay and see if their idol could vanquish over all the obstacles. **** ½

WWF Heavyweight Title: Steve Austin (c) vs. The Undertaker (08/30/98).

It was rumored that Vince Russo wanted to turn Undertaker on Austin, but he was overruled in favor of a ‘‘babyfaces who do not trust each other’’ story. The build for this was very captivating, especially the “Highway to Hell” video packages. Austin unexpectedly starts off with some technical wrestling. Some miscommunication between the two occurs when Undertaker puts his head down for a back body drop, but he lifts his head up too quickly. This causes his head to crash into Austin’s face. Taker suplexes Austin and then hits him with an elbow drop. Austin still looks dazed from that botched spot. Austin yanks Taker down by his leg and goes outside to smash Taker’s left leg into the ring post. Back in, Taker fights back and hits the flying clothesline. Taker tries to go for Old School, but Austin pulls him off the ropes. Kane slowly walks down to the ring. But whose side is he on!? Austin and Taker trade some blows. The exchange ends when Taker chokeslams Austin. Austin fights back and clotheslines Taker over the top rope. They brawl outside and then make their way into the crowd. Back near ringside, Taker throws Austin into the ring post. Austin tries to mount a comeback inside, but Taker throws him to the outside. Taker places him on the announce table. He hits a leg drop onto Austin all the way from the top-rope. A very sick looking spot.

Taker throws him back in the ring, but he only gets a near-fall out of it. They collide with each other, causing them to both be knocked out. Austin fights back with some rights and then hits a Thesz Press. Taker fights back and locks in a waistlock for whatever reason. Austin counters it with a half-assed Stunner that gets a two. Taker recuperates and hits a chokeslam. He goes for a Tombstone, but Austin wiggles out of it. Austin goes for the Stunner, but Taker blocks it. Taker crotches him and goes for Old School. On his way down, Austin catches him with a boot to the midsection followed by a Stunner. That picks up the win @ 20:30. Given all the hype, this was a disappointment. Both wrestlers shoehorned some technical moves into this, and they extracted some of the buzz out of the building in the midst of doing them. Their chemistry was also not all that sharp, resulting in some awkward moments and blown spots. This would have been better if it was just one of those wild and crazy Attitude Era slugfests. However, this did have an enormous vibe to it. It was one of those monumental showdowns that only happen once in a blue moon. With that in mind, I will be generous by calling it just barely above-average, but this should have been a lot better. ***

Steve Austin vs. The Big Show (w/Vince McMahon – 3/22/99)

Rock is on commentary, which is always fun. Mankind is the special guest referee. Show methodically dominates early on. Austin fights back, but Big Show catches him in a bear hug. Austin breaks out of the hold with some rights. Austin ducks a few clotheslines and then hits a Thesz Press. Austin tries to pin Big Show, but he kicks out with authority. Austin is done playing games, so he grabs a chair and whacks Big Show with it several of times. Rock tries to interfere, but Austin hits him with the chair too. Austin finishes Big Show off with a Stunner @ 10:34. I do not understand why this was on here. It was a rather bland David vs. Goliath story and had no historical importance. * ¼

WWF Heavyweight Title, No DQ: The Rock (c) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (3/28/99)

Jim Ross figuratively tells Michael Cole to take a hike and replaces him on commentary. Vince McMahon comes out as the special guest referee, but Commissioner Shawn Michaels sends him packing. Rock and Austin talk trash to each other and then trade right hands. The brawl breaks out into the crowd. They fight up to the staging area, where Austin tosses Rock into the railing. Austin goes for a piledriver, but Rock backdrops him into the lighting track. Austin fights back by hitting him where the sun doesn’t shine. Austin strangles him with an extension cord and tosses Rock into the Wrestlemania sign. They fight back down to the arena. Rock picks up a bottle of water and spits in Austin’s face. Austin fights back and picks him up and drops him on the Spanish announce table. He jumps on Rock with an elbow, causing the table to collapse. Austin spits some water in Rock’s face. A spit-for-a-spit. Back in, Rock hits a Rock Bottom out of nowhere, but it only picks up a two-count. Rock finds a chair and brings it in the ring. He goes to hit Austin with it, but Austin takes it from his hands. Rock ducks a chair shot, causing the chair to hit the referee.

Rock picks up the chair and rocks Austin with it. Tim White comes out to make the pinfall, but Austin kicks out at two. Rock hits a Samoan Drop, but Austin kicks out again. The Rock thinks Tim White is not counting fast enough, so he gives him a Rock Bottom for his troubles. As the Rock turns around, Austin hits him with a Stunner. Earl Hebner runs out to make the count, but Rock kicks out at two. McMahon distracts Austin, allowing Rock to blindside him. McMahon attacks Hebner, and both McMahon and Rock stomp on Austin. Mankind hits the ring to attack McMahon and to replace Hebner as the referee. Austin rolls Rock up, but only gets a two. Austin hits the Thesz Press. Rock hits another Rock Bottom out of nowhere. Rock goes for the People’s Elbow, but he misses. Austin gets back up and hits a Stunner that ends this one. New Champion @ 16:50. Wow, Russo’s fingerprints were all over this. Because of how successful Survivor Series 1998 was, McMahon gave Russo more control. To no surprise, the booking started to mar matches instead of enhancing them. Henceforth why WWF ’99 was one of the company’s weakest years when it came to an in-ring product. The story that surrounded this played out decently, but some matches are better off left alone. I vehemently believe Rock vs. Austin is one of them, but Russo, you know, never believed people watched wrestling for the wrestling. Fortunately, though, Austin and Rock were perfect foils to one another and their chemistry was dynamite. So, this was still very good. *** ½

WWF Heavyweight Title, No DQ: The Rock (c) vs. Steve Austin (04/01/01).

Granted, Austin’s heel turn did not work out in the end for a variety of reasons, but what happened in the aftermath does not change a thing about how outstanding the rising action leading up to their encounter was. After being hit by a car, Stone Cold was just not the same ass-kicker that he had been before the accident. This was clearly communicated when failed to put Triple H away once and for all in a losing effort at No Way Out. Austin’s heel turn came as a total shock to many, but with the benefit of hindsight, the WWF writing staff brilliantly left a trail of breadcrumbs for anybody who had paid close attention. In a sound bite that was replayed repeatedly in promos leading up to the match, Austin told the champion “I need to beat you, Rock. I need it more than anything.” What seemed like traditional fare for a pre-match build took on new meaning after the match. Austin knew he lacked the killer instinct he once had, but he desperately wanted to become champion, so he sold his soul to the devil himself… Mr. McMahon.

Austin receives a nuclear pop from the Texas audience, while Rock receives a 50-50 one at best. Not wasting any time, Austin hits a Thesz Press followed by some right hands. Rock goes for a Rock Bottom, but Austin fights out of it. Austin goes for a Stunner, but Rock gets out of it. They start to brawl and it breaks out into the crowd. Back in, Austin hits a superplex for two. Austin tears off the turnbuckle, foreshadowing his heel turn. Rock fights back and hits a clothesline. He follows up with a belly-to-belly suplex that picks up a two count. Austin battles back and hits a neckbreaker that picks up a two. Austin stomps a mud hole in Rock. Austin takes his eyes off Rock, though, which allows Rock to hit him with a clothesline. Austin goes to the outside and Rock follows him. Rock goes behind Austin, who turns around and clocks him with the ringbell. Back in, Austin delivers a neckbreaker that picks up two. He throws Rock into the corner and stomps a mud hole into him. Rock recovers and drills Austin with a clothesline (These two prove that it is not what moves you do or bumps you take. It is all about how you do them. They execute practically every move charismatically and with so much exuberance, and they make bumps look vicious).

They trade some blows, ending with Rock throwing Austin into the exposed turnbuckle. Austin is now bleeding. Outside, they slug it out. Austin gets the better of the Rock by propelling him right into the turnbuckle. The Rock sells it like a million bucks. Austin hits Rock with a monitor and sends Rock back in the ring. He tries to pin him, but he can only pick up a two. Austin sets Rock up for the Stunner, but he insists on giving the Rock two middle fingers. This allows the Rock to take him down and lock in the Sharpshooter. I would have thought someone would’ve taught him how to do that move by now. Anyway, this ends up being a playback spot to Austin/Hart, as Austin covered in blood screams in agony from the hold. This time, however, Austin manages to fight out of the hold. Back on their feet, Rock goes for a Stunner, but Austin dishes out some comeuppance by putting Rock in the Sharpshooter. Rock powers out, though. Austin locks in the Cobra Clutch, but Rock pushes his feet off the ropes right into a pinning attempt that gets two (a playback spot to the finish of Austin vs. Hart Survivor Series ’96). Rock still has not recovered from the beating, so Austin continues to work him over. All of a sudden, Rock hits Austin with his own finishing move, but Austin kicks out! Vince McMahon starts to walk towards ringside. Rock hits a spinebuster and the People’s Elbow. McMahon pulls Rock off Austin before a count of three, though. Rock chases McMahon all around ringside. McMahon runs into the ring, and Rock runs into a Rock Bottom from Austin. Rock kicks out, though. Austin goes to hit the Rock, but he hits the referee instead. Austin hits Rock with a low blow.

Austin holds The Rock, allowing McMahon to smash a chair over his head. McMahon throws the referee into the ring. He starts to count, but Rock kicks out just in time. Austin attempts to smash a chair right over Rock’s head, but Rock counters it with a Rock Bottom. McMahon goes up to the apron to distract the referee. The Rock pulls McMahon into the ring and lays the smackdown on him. The Rock turns right into a Stunner, but he kicks out just in time! Austin’s facial expressions describe just how in disbelief he is. Austin smashes Rock with a thunderous chair shot. Austin keeps hitting the Rock again and again with the chair. He is then finally able to beat the Rock @ 28:01. Afterwards, Vince McMahon and Austin shake hands and drink beer as Jim Ross flips his lid on commentary. This had unparalleled vehemence, drama, psychology, and storytelling. Every spot they did had a heavy dose of electricity and snap behind it, and it was structured and paced in a manner where every spot was significant. They sold moves, moments, and exhaustion like champions, and bumped around like pinball machines. When you add up the fact that these were the two were at their apex, the fact that the atmosphere was off the charts, the fact that one of the greatest announce teams called it, the fact that both wrestler did a fabulous job of selling the notion of how much they wanted to win, and the fact that there was months and months of foreshadowing that led to the huge swerve – this was easily one of the greatest matches ever. *****

Final Verdict on Disc Three: Aside from the Big Show match, this disc totally makes perfect sense . A big thumbs up.

Blue Ray Extras:

WWF Heavyweight Title: Steve Austin (c) vs. The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Triple H (w/Chyna) (5.16.99)

They all brawl down the aisle. Austin manages to fight off both Undertaker and HHH. They keep brawling all over the place until they go back near the ring. Austin tries to piledrive Undertaker, but he backdrops him on the floor. Hunter grabs a chair, but Earl Hebner takes it away from him. Austin picks up the chair and smashes it over HHH and Undertaker’s heads. Back in, the heels regain control. Taker and HHH argue over who is going to beat up Austin. Paul Bearer and Chyna argue outside as well. Strangely, Helmsley and Austin work together to eliminate the Undertaker. Vintage Russo! HHH turns on Austin and tries to pin him, but Taker pulls him off. Taker goes for a Tombstone on Austin, but Helmsley saves Austin. HHH tries to hit a Pedigree on Austin, but Austin shoots HHH right into a chokeslam.

Austin hits a Stunner on Taker, but HHH makes the save. Stone Cold hits a Stunner on HHH. All of a sudden, the whole Corporate Ministry runs down to the ring and beat up Austin. A bunch random babyface wrestlers come in to make the save, though. In the midst of chaos, HHH holds Austin to let China hit him, but Austin ends up giving her a Stunner. Austin then gives HHH a Stunner and picks up the victory @ 24:58. Afterwards, Stone Cold stuns Shane McMahon. X-Pac then gives Shane and Chyna the Bronco Buster. For the most part, all three wrestlers phoned it in, and nothing is duller than a phoned-in match consisting of mostly kicks and punches. Undertaker and HHH’s beatdowns on Austin were plodding and seemingly endless, too. Bleh. **

WWF Title Match: Kurt Angle © vs. Steve Austin (10.08.01)

Debra walks out, but William Regal comes out and pulls her by the ear to the back. Regal comes down and takes a seat at ringside. This starts off as an intense back-and-forth brawl. Angle gains the advantage of the exchange. Austin comes back with a Thesz Press. Angle retaliates by hitting one of his own. Angle goes for a Stunner, but Austin blocks it. Angle locks in the Ankle Lock, but Austin escapes it and bails to the outside. Back in, Austin goes to work on Angle’s leg. Austin goes for a Stunner, but Angle counters it with a backslide. That picks up a two. Austin hits a sunset flip, but Angle sits down on him and starts punching him. Austin mounts a comeback. On the outside, he tries to piledrive Angle onto exposed concrete, but Angle counters with a backbody drop. Back in, Austin fights back and hits a spinebuster. He locks in a Boston Crab, but Angle is able to make it to the ropes. Austin misses a Bossman Straddle, but Angle gets out of the way. Angle fights back with some clotheslines. He hits a belly-to-belly suplex and then some rolling German suxplexes. Angle goes for his third German, but Austin lowblows him while the referee is not looking.

Austin goes for the Stunner, but Angle counters it. Angle goes for the Angle Slam, but Austin counters it and pushes him right into the referee. Austin grabs his title and brings it in the ring. Regal jumps in the ring and takes the belt away from him. Regal ends up smashing Angle with the title! Regal throws the referee back in the ring to make the cover, but Angle kicks out just in time. Austin throws a hissy fit. Austin picks Angle up and delivers a Stunner that ends it @ 23:30 Phew. This had some accelerating back-and-forth action. Both wrestlers also added more fortitude to all of their spots than usual, which emphasized just how imperative winning was for the both of them. They developed some great chemistry together, which helped the counter-for-counter sequences to be on-point and executed at a blistering pace. And, they really sent the crowd into a frenzy down the stretch by doing a great job of selling the drama; especially Austin, who had some penetrating body language and urgency during the go-home stretch. One of the best Raw matches ever. **** ¼

WWF Heavyweight Title, No DQ Triple Threat: Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam (10.21.01)

RVD and Austin argue, allowing Angle to German Suplex the both of them. They both regain the advantage and stomp on Angle. Both RVD and Austin have a stare down, but Angle attacks RVD from behind. Austin attacks both Angle and RVD, which kills the suspense for the Austin/RVD showdown. He goes for the Stunner, but Angle reverses to the Anklelock. RVD breaks the hold with a dropkick. Austin throws Angle to the outside and attacks Van Dam’s leg. Austin locks in a STF on RVD, but Angle breaks it up. Angle and Austin brawl out to the floor. RVD hits a rolling plancha from the top on both of them. Back in, Angle hits RVD with a Capture Suplex and hits a top-rope moonsault. Austin picks up Angle for a Stunner, but Angle counters it. Angle goes for a Stunner of his own, but Austin blocks it as well. They both clothesline each other. RVD goes for the Five-Star Frogsplash. But whose side is he on!? Both wrestlers move out of the way, so we don’t know who he was trying to hit. Austin hits Angle with Stunner. RVD attacks Austin and then hits the split-legged moonsault. Angle breaks up the pin and hits the Angleslam on RVD.

Outside, Angle and Austin brawl. Austin goes for the piledriver on the announce table, but Angle backdrops him. Vince McMahon makes his way down ringside. Back in, Angle punches a mudhole in RVD, but he runs into a spinning heel kick. Van Dam goes to the top, but Angle runs up and superplexes him off. Austin sneaks back in and gives Angle a Stunner that sends him to the floor. Austin sets up RVD up for the Stunner, Vince nails Austin in the back of the head with a chair. That allows RVD to hit the Five-Star Frogsplash, but Angle makes the save! Kurt delivers some Rolling Germans and the Angleslam on Angle. Shane McMahon makes the save, but Vince clobbers him. Austin pulls RVD up and finishes him off with the Stunner @ 15:30. I thought they mishandled the RVD and Austin trappings. They had their stare down spot and the crowd was just eagerly anticipating them to slug it out. Smartly, they had Angle attack RVD from behind to build the tension and anticipation for the RVD/Austin showdown. However, Austin abruptly started to stomp on RVD while he was down. It was very anti-climactic, to say in the least. It also was transparent that the crowd was disappointed, as the arena went silent for a moment. In sum, they should have kept building the moment where they fight each other up to a prodigious crescendo. Fortunately, this was up-tempo and had some creative three-way spots, prompting the crowd to become reinvested into the action. More importantly, this felt like a triple threat match, in contrast to one of those so-called triple threats, wherein they switch off on what two wrestlers wrestle inside the ring while the other wrestler is outside selling as if a gun shot him. *** 1/2

One Last Time: The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (3.30.03)

This starts off as a slugest. Austin wins the exchange. He goes for Stunner, but Rock fights it out and bails. Outside, Austin picks up the Rock and drops him on the railing and then he throws him into the stairs. In the ring, Austin hits a backdrop suplex for two. Austin follows up with a lariat and chokes Rock with the ropes. Rock fights back and clips Austin’s knee. The Rock keeps going after Austin’s knee. Austin tries to fight back, but Rock whiplashes his neck into the mat. Rock locks in for the Sharpshooter, but Austin manages to make it to the ropes. Rock viciously smashes Austin’s knee into the post. He mocks Stone Cold by putting on his vest. They both go for a clothesline, which takes both of them out. Austin hits the Thesz Press and then elbows Rock in the face. Austin hits a Rock Bottom on Rock that gets a two. Austin goes for the Stunner, but Rock blocks it.

Rock hits the Stunner on Austin, but Austin kicks out. Austin blocks one of Rock’s punches and hits a Stunner that picks up a near-fall. Rock nails Austin with a lowblow, but he misses the People’s Elbow. Austin goes for another Stunner, but the Rock hits a spinebuster. He hits People’s Elbow, but Austin kicks out. Rock hits a Rock Bottom that picks up only a two. He hits another one, but it only picks up a two. Finally, a third Rock Bottom in a row picks up the win @ 17:53. The best analogy I can come up with to describe this is it is like going to see a Rolling Stones concert in 2014. Surely, they are not as good as they once were, but that does not change the fact that they are the Rolling Stones. I could also look past the fact this is mostly an amalgamation of kick outs from finishers, because Austin was in no condition to wrestle this match, yet he did for the sake of the fans and business. And he deserves a lot of commendation for doing that. *** ½

Final Verdict on the Blu-Ray Matches: People can say what they want about Austin’s heel turn, and I’d probably agree with most of their views on it. There is no denying, though, that Austin’s ring-work then was at its highest point post-neck injury. Unfortunately, however, some of Austin’s greatest work in ’01 is missing because of the Chris Benoit debacle. He had a few great bouts with Benoit on Raw and Smackdown, and a Raw tag match (Triple H/Austin vs. Jericho/Benoit) that was incredible. Also, I think they could have substituted the Austin/Undertaker/HHH match with either Austin/HHH from No Mercy ’99 or their classical 3 stages of hell brawl at No Way Out ’01. Nit-picking aside, this was another great disc.

The Special Extras: Austin was just as good when it came to portraying a gimmick or talking on the microphone as he was wrestling. There is no question about it: the Stone Cold Steve Austin gimmick is one of the best gimmicks ever, if not the greatest. No gimmick/wrestler revolutionized the business more than that gimmick since Hulk Hogan. It came a good time too, as the fans were becoming sick and tired of the cartoonish content and the invincible, goody-goody gimmicks. They wanted something more suitable for the times, because WWF and WCW were stuck in the rear-view mirror in the early 90s.

Austin had to work hard for his spot. He was constantly mistreated in WCW. Even though many of the boys saw his talent, the higher-ups just did not want to acknowledge it. Although, no matter how poorly he was being utilized, Austin always gave his utmost effort to make everything he did worthwhile. He was hungry, driven, and determined to be on top of the world. With his mind completely invested in pursuing his goal, he ended up accomplishing exactly what he wanted to do.

The extras are awesome, because they show how much range Austin had as a performer. He wasn’t just the Rattlesnake. He portrayed a variety of different personas, and performed them all with tons of believability .

Final Verdict: This does an exceptional job of summing up Austin’s unparalleled career in a condensed amount of time. When you add up all the intangibles that make a wrestler be considered as one of the all-time greats – popularity, marketability, influence, longevity, charisma, work rate, promo skills, and so on – Austin has to be at the top of the list, if the greatest of all time. Two thumbs way up.

A special thanks to Extant1979 for taking the time to look over this entire review for me.

Rants →

Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line Review (Disc 1 and 2)

17th July 2014 by Scott Keith

I had this DVD
shipped to me free of charge (yay me!). I was rather enthusiastic about it,
because I have only seen the documentary. When I find
the time, the next DVD I will review is either CM Punk or Bret Hart, depending
on which one arrives here first.

Stone Cold Steve Austin:
The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time

Disc One – Documentary

This documentary is
articulated generally through Steve Austin’s point of view, and it is a
comprehensive look at his entire career. Austin augments in some interesting
and distinctive insights of his greatest and poorest moments. The others who
were involved provided a fine effort as well. They all supplement their
assessments on specific moments in Austin’s journey, which makes the DVD feel
more balanced. Austin pulls no punches, as he tells stories exactly
how he witnessed it (although he is less angry towards with those who
mistreated him this time around).

It is, however,
still visible that he has a lot of passion for the business, as
his emotions come forth when he talks about moments in
his career. I personally appreciated the early parts of the DVD more
than anything else. That is because I was not fully educated on all of small
details from that era, thus I found the backstories from that time more
interesting.

There is no question
about it: WWE know how to impressively format and edit their documentaries, but
this one just exceeds essentially every documentary they have ever produced.
That is merely because of Austin’s capabilities to narrate his
journey in an exhaustive manner.

Disc Two—USWA, WCW, and WWF

These are all handpicked
from Stone Cold Steve Austin. Three of them include alternative commentary done
by Jim Ross.

Chris Adams vs. Steve
Austin (w/Jeannie – 5/90)

This is from USWA.
Austin was frustrated with Adams holding him back, so he turned on him. To add
insult to injury, Austin stole his wife. Even though it is tempting, I’ll take
the high road by skipping over a Chris Benoit joke. Adams attacks Austin from
behind, although Austin powers him and puts a beat down on him. Adams fights
back with a superkick. He goes for a suplex, but Jeannie grabs his legs. That
drops Austin on top for the win @ 4:25. Afterwards,
Jeannie sprays her hairspray in Adams eyes. They try to beat him down, but
Adams fights back and then chases them off. Not much to say about this
one. *

Sting & Ricky
Steamboat vs. Ric Flair & Steve Austin (w/Sensuous Sherri – 07/30/94).

Flair and Steamboat
start this off. Ricky smacks and tosses him around. Sting comes in and beats
Flair up some more. Outside, Flair cowardly hides behind Sherri. Sting doesn’t
want to hit a woman, and that allows Flair to rake his eyes. Flair was just the
best at portraying a coward. Back in, Austin and Sting are now
the legal men. Sting tosses Austin around and locks in an armbar. Steamboat
tags in and hits Austin with a crossbody off the top. Everyone jumps in the
ring, forcing the referee to establish some law and order. Back from
commercial, Austin hits Steamboat with the Stunner to get out of a chinlock,
although it’s not even a signature move yet. Steamboat blocks a hiptoss into a
backslide. He cannot fully execute it, though, so he pushes off the turnbuckles
to flip back over Austin. He gives Austin a superplex for a two count. Sting
receives a tag and goes up to the top splash, but Austin gets his knees up.
Flair tags in and hits a suplex, but Sting is a no-selling bastard.

Sting grabs Flair in
an inside cradle that picks up a two. Flair retreats and heads to the floor to
regroup. Back in, Sting ducks a double-team clothesline and comes back with one
of his own. Austin tries to pick up a quick win with a few rollups, but Sting
gives Austin a press slam. He goes for another, but Austin gives him a low blow
behind the referee’s back. Flair comes in and tosses Sting over the top.
Sherri puts a beat down on him outside. Back from commercial, Flair and Austin
work over Sting. Austin tries a forearm smash off the second rope, but Sting
gets his knees up. Sting makes the hot-tag to Steamboat. He hits both Austin
and Flair with a ton of chops. Austin catches him with a back body drop and
kicks him in the mouth.

Austin locks in
abdominal stretch and cheats by grabbing the ropes. Flair comes in and corners
Steamboat with some right hands and chops. Steamboat attempts to squirm out of
the heel corner to make the tag to Sting, but Austin cuts off the tag just in
time. It was a smart time to do a false tag. Austin locks in a chinlock.
Steamboat fights out and hits a chop that sends him to the floor. Sting comes
in the ring and goes crazy on Flair. He hits a Stinger Splash and then locks in
the Scorpion Deathlock, but neither man is legal. Sherri jumps on Sting from
the top to break up the hold. Sting catches her and tosses her on top of Flair.
Elsewhere in the ring, Austin rolls Sting up with a handful of tights for the
win @ 23:40. This awesome match had wall-to-wall action throughout.
They worked from the base and built this akin to a pyramid. They did this
by putting the correct layers conjointly in place until it reaches
its crescendo, with most of it being built on the crowd’s
reactions. Kindred to most critically acclaimed matches, the
wrestlers brought the fans on a dramatic roller coaster excursion.
What honestly made the old WCW tag matches a cut above the rest was that they
would build to a variety of sub-climaxes. In simpler terms, the action
didn’t repeatedly build without any letup; they knew when to turn
up the action and when to turn it back down. **** 1/4

King of the Ring
Finals: Steve Austin vs. Jake Roberts (06/23/96).

Stone Cold had to go
to the hospital to get his lip stitched from his semifinal match with Marc
Mero. Austin never had the best of luck wrestling Mero. Soon after this, they
worked together again and the arena’s lights went out. Meanwhile, Roberts was
still selling his internal injuries not from drinking, but instead because of
Vader. Austin attacks Jake’s ribs with no mercy. Gorilla Monsoon threatens to
stop this for Jake’s health. Jake waves him off and then sucker punches Austin.
Jake goes for the DDT, but Austin throws him into the corner. He proceeds to
ram his ribs into the corner repeatedly. Austin picks him up and hits the Stunner @
4:30. The purpose was to get Austin over as a callous son of a bitch, and
this was rather successful in doing so. From a workrate perspective, this
wasn’t very good, and that was mostly a result of Jake being past his prime.
His reaction time was delayed, especially when it came to selling
some of Austin’s offense. The most important part of this whole
thing occurred afterwards, though. Austin cut his famous improvised
promo that commenced the 3:16 era.

It is one of the greatest promos ever,
as everything he said was heartfelt, assertive and defiant.
Needless to say, this would not have come across as realistic if a writer
composed it for him. * for the match, ***** for the promo.

Submission Match: Bret
Hart vs. Steve Austin (03/23/97).

These two were both
incredibly gifted wrestlers that just clicked with each other. On an otherwise
uninspiring WrestleMania card, both of these ring magicians defined the
suspension of disbelief. This had nuclear heat, giving off a notion that
they sincerely wanted to annihilate each other. Right off the bat, this turns into
a vehement brawl. Bret hits Austin with a swinging neckbreaker.
Bret tries to lock in the Sharpshooter, but Austin fights it off and gets back
on his feet. Austin hits Bret with a Stone Cold Stunner. Austin cannot
capitalize, though, so Bret kicks him in the leg and then debuts the Ringpost
Figure-Four Lock. Bret goes to work on Austin’s leg, although Austin fights
back and crushes Bret with a chair shot. Austin hits a suplex and then hits the
Vertical Flying Elbow. Austin hits a Russian legsweep and then locks in the
Koji Clutch. Bret tries to fight out, causing Austin to lock in a Boston Crab
instead. Bret makes it to the ropes, though. Austin tries to lock in the
Sharpshooter, but Bret rakes his eyes. Bret tries to mount a comeback, but
Austin tosses him to the outside.

Outside, Bret reverses
an Irish whip and it sends Austin over the timekeeper’s table. Austin is
bleeding from hitting his head on the guardrail. Bret smashes his face off
everything around ringside, causing Austin to bleed like a stuck pig. Back
inside, Bret hits a backbreaker and then the Vertical Elbow drop. He grabs
a chair and goes to work on Austin’s knee. Hart tries to lock in the
Sharpshooter, but Austin kicks him in the nuts. Austin starts stomping a
mudhole into Hart. He hits a superplex and then goes outside to grab an
extension cord from ringside. He tries to lynch Bret on the apron, but Bret
knocks Austin in the face with the ringbell. Awesome, stiff spot that came out
of nowhere. Bret locks in the Sharpshooter. Austin will not quit, though, but
he ends up passing out because of the pain @ 22:05. Afterwards,
Hart keeps attacking Austin, causing Shamrock to pick Bret up and slam him to
get him to stop. This had everything you could want in brawl:
intensity, abhorrence, psychology, storytelling, color, conceivable selling,
facial expressions that help articulate the narrative, an incredible
atmosphere, and some truly elegant booking. They pulled off exactly
what McMahon wanted them to do: a double-turn. Hart turned into a narcissist
heel that only was concerned about winning, and Austin turned into a
venerated babyface.

Even though Austin wasn’t a conventional babyface,
this ended up revealing some of his inner face-like qualities,
like his resiliency and perseverance. The finish exemplified
those two exact things, since he refused to tap out to the Sharpshooter,
causing him to pass out from the pain. This was significant, historic, and just flat-out tremendous. I cannot
think of a match that was better than this one in WWE’s history. *****

Intercontinental Title:
Steve Austin vs. The Rock (w/the Nation – 12/06/97).

Austin drives in with
his black 3:16 truck. He jumps off and lands right on Rock. The Nation jumps in
ring and tries to put a beatdown on him, but Austin fights them all off. D-Lo
takes a backdrop on the windshield of the truck and then takes a Stunner on the
top. The bell finally rings. Austin hits the Thesz Press and starts punching
Rocky in the face. Rock fights back and sends Austin to the floor. Kama tries
to hit Austin with a chair shot, but he ends up knocking Faarooq out cold with
it. Rock hits Austin with a low blow when the referee was distracted. The
Rock hits the People’s Elbow, but it only gets a two. He goes for it again, but
Austin avoids it. Austin goes for the Stunner, but Kama jumps on the apron. He
goes to attack him, but the referee stops him. Austin ends up giving the
referee a Stunner. Rock grabs some brass knuckles, but is met with a Stunner. A
new referee comes in and counts to three. Austin retains the IC championship @
5:34. This was a brief illustration of things to come in WWF’s main event
scene: a lot of all over the arena bar-fight brawling, although a complete lack
of application of the rules, with kudos to Vince Russo.** ½

WWF Heavyweight Title:
Shawn Michaels (w/DX) vs. Steve Austin (3/29/98).

This reminds me of Miz
vs. John Cena from Wrestlemania 27, because everyone was more concern about
what would happen with Tyson and Austin. And that ended up causing Shawn
Michaels’ and Austin’s saga to take a back seat. Obviously, HBK desperately
needed surgery and time off to repair his back due to the bump he took on the
casket when he was working with Undertaker. Rumor has it that he still did not
want to job to Austin, but Undertaker sat him down and told him that he had to
do what was right for business. Take it for what it’s worth. Austin pulls down
HBK’s tights, exposing his buttocks to the crowd. I bet that is HBK’s favorite spot.
Austin backdrops Shawn right on DX. Outside, Hunter tosses Austin into the
barricade, although that gets Hunter and Chyna thrown out from ringside. Back
in, Austin goes for a Stunner, but Shawn ducks to the apron and is knocked face
first into the announce table. Ouch.

They brawl outside,
where Shawn takes over. He beats Austin down and then taunts the crowd. The
pace slows down when Shawn works over Austin’s knee. HBK locks in the
figure-four. Austin fights out and shoots Michaels into the buckle for a
nearfall. HBK puts in a sleeper, but Austin backs him right into the referee.
Austin stomps a mudhole into HBK’s chest. Shawn fights back with a
“flying” forearm. That sets up Sweet Chin Music, but Austin catches
Shawn’s boot and goes for the Stunner. Shawn counters and goes for another
attempt at Sweet Chin Music. Austin spins him around and gives him the Stunner.
There is no referee, though, so Tyson jumps in and makes a quick three
count @ 20:01. I’d assume Tyson was just a bit overzealous
and that’s why he did a fast count. It’s surprising to me that not many people
bring up the fast count, though. Afterwards, HBK shoves Tyson, who retaliates
by delivering a knockout punch. Both Tyson and Austin celebrate. There is
nothing wrong with this. It had solid pacing and timing throughout, although it
was disappointing due to the amount of talent they both had. They
honestly could have wrestled a better match in their sleep if HBK was
healthy. After all, their contest at King of the Ring ’97 was better, in spite
of having minimal build. The counter-for-counter ending was a gut-wrenching
sequence, though. *** ¼

Final Verdict on Disc
2: This was a very good
disc, although I believe some
of his significant work was missing. He noted that he was able to handpick
everything, even if they were on other DVDs. With that in mind, where is the
Austin/Pillman vs. Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas contest that displayed the
Hollywood Blondes as a dynamic and cohesive tag team? Where is one of the
Steamboat ones that proved he could hang with one the greatest in-ring workers
ever without missing a beat? And where is his outing with Bret Hart from
Survivor Series ’96 that displayed how impeccably scientific and mechanical he
was at his peak? I fully understand that all these matches were important to
him, but I just wish that at least one of those were on this disc, if not all
of them.

Although, there is no
question that there was some great content on this disc. From his big win over
the icon Sting, to his five-star brawl with Bret Hart that ended up redefining
the business, all the way to his world title win that propelled him as the biggest
commodity in wrestling since Hulk Hogan. And there is more to come. Disc 3 is
all about Austin’s career on top of the wrestling world.

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Heel Stone Cold Steve Austin Circa 2001

15th April 2014 by Scott Keith

Scott-
Just watched a video from RAW, April 2001 where Stone Cold was battling The Rock in the steel cage. At some point during the match, because Austin is now aligned with Mr. McMahon, HHH comes down and helps beat down the Rock.

If my memory serves me, this Austin heel turn was very unpopular, especially after they spent all that time building him up. Was there a long term plan with this story line, or was Vice just seeing what the fans would ultimately tolerate, and thus turning Austin back to a face just a few short months later?

Thanks.

That cage match should have been the babyface turn that made HHH into a main event superhero. People were READY for the HHH/Rock alliance to oppose Austin and instead we got the opposite. That may have been the downfall of the entire Attitude Era in that one match, in fact.

Anyway, yes, there was definitely a long-term plan, which was heel Austin putting over babyface HHH at Wrestlemania 18 to cap off the insanely successful Invasion storyline that would see WCW spun off into its own revived TV show and touring company. Clearly, things did not go according to plan. They honestly thought that Austin's heel turn was going to be a thing that worked and that fans would somehow accept it and it would freshen up his character, which of course everyone beforehand was calling as totally ridiculous before it even happened.

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QOTD 109: Trey Parker & Matt Stone Appreciation Thread (with bonus South Park: The Stick of Truth thoughts!)

4th March 2014 by Scott Keith

If Kurt Vonnegut is the “Satirist with a Whoopee Cushion”, “South Park” packs a flaming bag of dog doo instead. Through 247 episodes and counting, Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s creation became something of a socio-economic court jester, using Kyle, Stan, Cartman, Kenny, and a supporting cast of dozens to call out society’s hypocrisy and extreme polarization, all the while being foul mouthed and ribald and touching and scatalogical and subversive and popular and instantly quotable all at the same time.

What are your thoughts on South Park? What’s your favorite episode? Can you point to a moment when you realized the show was about a little more than just four foul mouthed kids and actually had a point of view / something to say? Have you seen Orgazmo, Baseketball (the last great “Zucker” movie), Cannibal the Musical, or The Book of Mormon?

The beauty of “South Park” has always been in its quasi-authenticity.
When “South Park” takes on a topic it generally arrives at a decently
rational opinion – a comedy nirvana that comes from understanding both
sides of a story and the million little nuances in between. For 17 years
they’ve tackled the popular notions with scrutiny (“Free Willzyx”), the
ridiculed with empathy (“Trapped in The Closet”) and the controversial
with levity (“Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants”). “The Woodland Critter
Christmas” episode so delicately and perfectly eviscerated the “Special
Holiday Episode” trope that the 2nd act twist is one of my favorite
moments in television history.

Not among the favorite things in history are any of the times “South Park” dipped its toes into the interactive media space – the N64 FPS being something of a cult-classic, and “Chef’s Love Shack” trying to do the ‘Mario party’ thing, poorly, cart racers, tower defense games, and a beat em’ up, all of which have been received lukewarmly. The problem with these titles is two-fold. For one they’re taking the look and feel and style of South Park, but none of the creative pungency that makes it so sublime. Like throwing on an Under Armor shirt and trying out for the Broncos, it looked the part but didn’t have anything beyond the surface level.

The second problem is I don’t get the sense Trey Parker and Matt Stone are very big gamers. They’ve tackled videogame related topics in “South Park” before, and have done so admirably, but generally those episodes have treated games as a sort of macguffin to arrive at a larger point – The “Chinpokomon” episode generally speaking to how fads can be good and bad, and it’s best not to get too riled up about them. Similarly, “Towlie” featured the ubiquitous Okama Gamesphere as an object of desire for the characters – but had little to say about gaming in general. The “World of Warcraft” episode is rightfully lauded, but ultimately closed with a lasting image of our South Park heroes sacrificing their lives and well being for a MMO. Even in promotion for “South Park: The Stick of Truth”, appearing on stage at E3, they deftly parodied the corporate shtick Microsoft had going on without saying too much about about actual gaming or their passion for games.

Thus I was worried “South Park: The Stick of Truth” would be missing the special sauce that makes “South Park” so…special. I was worried it would be content to look the part, toss in a few “Respect my Authoritah!”s, “Mmmkayyyy”s, “Gingers don’t have souls,”, “Don’t forget to bring a towel”s, and generally go through the motions of what “South Park” is to the masses, as opposed to what “South Park” means to the folks who really pay attention.

And so far, holy cow this game is awesome.

The combat feels VERY Super Mario RPG – very active and timing-focused despite being turn based.
The
“South Park Heart” is here and accounted for, the music makes some
moments sweet, others epic, and all hilarious because it’s 8 year old
kids playing pretend. The joy of South Park is how they’re able to take
the “Feel” of an action movie, or spy movie, or war movie, and turn it
into an episode or some other ridiculous thing – that’s here and
accounted for.
There’s also a tree-house you can climb up that overlooks South Park – there’s no objective or anything, but when you do it music swells and you feel suitably epic.
You can hit anyone with your weapon on the over world, this leads to some funny reactions and some cool bonuses.
The
story is really good so far – there’s a WONDERFUL “audio log” parody
during the second ‘act’ of the game. If you’ve ever played Dead Space or
Bioshock this is a dead on.
I’m
curious if the game is going to arrive at a larger, satiric point other
than the Game of Thrones / LOTR parody stuff. It’s early going.
It
LOOKS like max level is 15, and I’m about 6 now, so I’m not sure how
long the game is – I only played four(ish) hours – I was stuck playing Thief on Xbox One (A GREAT game).
Butters steals the show, as always. with things like “You’re my best friend! No one is going to make fun of you now!” popping up his Facebook wall.
Character customization is nuts.
Exploring virtual South Park is great, and the call backs to other episodes are numerous. I’m sure I missed a few.

Tomorrow: South Park: The Stick of Truth review

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Stone cold stunner: WWE Network could be the start of the TV dream | The Verge

10th January 2014 by Scott Keith

>

> You're quoted in this article!

>

> http://mobile.theverge.com/2014/1/9/5292638/stone-cold-stunner-wwe-network-could-be-the-start-of-the-a-la-carte

>

>

> – Joe

>

Obviously the author is a very intelligent person.

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Stone Cold Daniel Bryan

1st August 2013 by Scott Keith

Hey Scott,

Do you think there's a future in a Bryan/McMahon long-term feud? Because these two seem to be recreating the Austin/McMahon feud by accident, in so far as having an owner who absolutely doesn't want a wrestler as champion.

The general rule of wrestling is that if the fans believe it, it sells, and if there is one thing fans seem to, at least want to, believe, it's that McMahon, in real life, HATES Daniel Bryan. Sure, that's probably the furthest thing from the truth but plays to the myth that McMahon always and forever will push bigger guys. It also plays to the legend of Bryan as the man who overcomes obstacles. You could have McMahon come out and run down Bryan as small, trollish and an embarassment and Bryan can come out, kick his head in and say, "Yeah, I'm small. But I will kick your head in!"

Yeah, I'm a Bryan mark, but I still think there's potential in a Bryan/McMahon long-term feud with or without the belt. Thoughts?

I think clearly they're leading to Orton cashing in as Vince's avatar at Summerslam, while Bryan is HHH's guy and we'll say Cena is Stephanie's person so they can recreate the McMahon In Every Corner nonsense at some point. Vince's wish that Bryan and Cena both leave Summerslam without the belt is pretty big foreshadowing that Orton is getting the belt there, at least.

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Favorite Stone Cold/Rock moment?

7th September 2012 by Scott Keith

I was discussing with posters on a message board on the hope that WWE will do a Greatest Rivalries DVD covering the Rock/Austin feuds, and it had me wondering what Scott's and everyone else's favorite moment was involving those two. My favorite moment is actually an off-air one, where The Rock is drinking beer with Stone Cold, only to take a Stunner, pop to his feet, stumble around while taking one more sip of the beer, and walk right into another Stunner, selling it with his signature handspring backflip. As far as something on-air, WrestleMania XIX post-match, where Rocky shoves the ref away to say his private words to Stone Cold. That's a pretty awesome moment of respect right there between two of the greats.

I'm still partial to Rock adlibbing "The Rock thinks you should fire him" and then Vince trying not to crack up while tell him to stay out of it.

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Loveline with Stone Cold

21st March 2012 by Scott Keith

I have Austin matches possibly coming for Wrestlemania 13 (although Rocky-Sultan / Rock-Rikishi is intriguing) and Wrestlemania XIV .

So in the process I’ve been catching up on Austin’s mid-late 1996 stuff and it’s brilliant.

Here is his LiveWire appearance

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Loveline with Stone Cold

21st March 2012 by Scott Keith

I have Austin matches possibly coming for Wrestlemania 13 (although Rocky-Sultan / Rock-Rikishi is intriguing) and Wrestlemania XIV .

So in the process I’ve been catching up on Austin’s mid-late 1996 stuff and it’s brilliant.

Here is his LiveWire appearance

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Stone Cold DVD Review

22nd January 2012 by Scott Keith

The Cobra Kai Reviews: Stone Cold Steve Austin – The Bottom Line On The Most Popular Superstar of All Time – By Marion Cobretti I started watching wrestling in 1995, I didn’t miss one single Raw until the Raw where The Radicalz debuted. I know this because I remember being pissed that I missed a Raw where something major happened. Anyways, so I was there from Stone Cold’s genesis [I remember Ted Dibiase watching a TV, and saying he’d found the ultimate protege] up until he retired. Now, I was along for the full ride, and saw how he was on everything, and how people at school who use to make fun of me for watching wrestling were now running up to me on Tuesday mornings to ask if I’d seen whomever Stone Cold stunnered the night before. Basically, what I’m trying to say is even though I saw all that, I still can’t say he’s the most popular superstar of all time. Hulk Hogan was officially noted as the most recognizable face on the planet in 1987. That’s a big freaking deal. He’s the only wrestler to ever be featured on Sports Illustrated. He literally changed the business. He became bigger than life. So, in my opinion, Hulk is the most popular of all time. I mean, he set TV records that to this day I don’t believe have been beaten. How say you guys?The documentary portion is fantastic. I’d been waiting for a Stone Cold documentary for a while, and this one really delivers. I don’t like to review’em blow by blow, as some do, simply because you probably don’t care about the breakdown, and just want to know if it’s worthwhile as a whole, and I can say that it definitely is. DISC 2 Steve Austin vs Chris Adams – May 1990
A really short match from his USWA days. No real reason to include this than to just go the full spectrum on Steve’s career. On a related note, he was voted Rookie of the Year by the WON.
Austin with the pin at 4:20
* Stunning Steve Austin & Ric Flair vs Sting & Ricky Steamboat – WCW Saturday Night – 7/30/1994
Are you KIDDING ME? Man, this is just ridiculous the level of talent that’s in this match, I can’t believe I’d never even heard of it before hand. Needless to say, this is a remarkable, incredible match that almost goes for a full half n hour. Something completely worthy of being on PPV, if Hulk Hogan weren’t amidst his first championship run, and needing Ric Flair to make the numbers work. It’s a real shame that Hogan was running amok during this time, because Flair still had plenty of gas in the tank, and should have been used for various degrees of awesome like this.
Austin with the pin on Steamboat at 24:17
****1/2 Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Jake The Snake Roberts – KOTR Finals [1996]
We all know why this is included. Did anybody watching this even think for a second that Jake was going to win? Man, was his “reborn” gimmick boring beyond belief. He should
have just gone to ECW as the classic Snake and feuded with Raven. Man would that have been one of the all time great feuds. Perhaps it’s just me, but I prefer the Stunner when Stone Cold doesn’t include the kick. It just seems a little more brutal.
Stone Cold Stunner for the win at 4:28
** Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Bret Hart – Submission Match – Wrestlemania 13 – 3/23/1997
What can I say about this match that everyone hasn’t already said? Me personally, I can’t give it 5 stars, because I don’t think it keeps up with time as well. After seeing matches like Foley vs Orton at Backlash, or HHH vs Batista Hell in a Cell, the hardcore match, when it’s an absolute war between two guys has really had the bar risen, and I just don’t think this one matches up. I find that it’s just a bit too slow in the hardcore aspect, and isn’t as technically kick ass as say Bret’s match against Piper, or Bulldog, also I think Stone Cold bleeds too late in the match, and I tend to really hate crowd brawling. Stone Cold does his own commentary on this, along with JR, and it’s great. It’s really something he should have done for every match. One thing they mention that I’m curious about, perhaps you guys can help, is when they’re brawling in the crowd, JR mentions an nWo shirt, and says that the t-shirt police would have been all over that today. What’s he referring to?
Bret Hart causes Stone Cold to pass out at 22:02
****1/2 Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs The Rock – Intercontinental Title Match – IYH: DX – 12/06/97
Stone Cold was still on the mend from the Owen Hart neck incident, so that’s why this match is what it is. I remember watching this match live on the PPV, and running around screaming with joy in my Stone Cold shirt and hat. The people I was with were routing for The Rock, but I was in full blown mark mode, and Stone Cold was my guy since the night after IYH: Final Four. As a mark, I couldn’t have asked for any more from this match. Stone Cold driving a truck, giving a stunner to D-Lo on top of it, whipping people into it, and still managing to beat the Rock, it was great. These days, as a smark, it’s an entertaining match still, and one that everyone should see, but not a show-stealer by any means.
Austin hits the stunner and the pin at 5:42
*** Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels [C] – WrestleMania 14 – 3/29/98
Honestly, this was my peak as a wrestling fan as a mark. You know how when you’re young, and you can really get into a wrestler without being pathetic? This show is pretty bad if I recall, but I had so much fun. I couldn’t wait for the main event, and I even had my Stone Cold figure on hand. At the time, I thought it was one of the best matches ever, and still had that memory of it even after Stone Cold & Shawn both said they didn’t really like it. Well, seeing it again, me being a mark definitely put a shine on this, because it isn’t as great as it could have been. They botch quite a few things, and never really seem to click. Although, knowing what a complete prick Shawn was at the time, I can take delight in seeing him wince in pain. It’s worth the inclusion though, as it’s a decent enough match, and pretty landmark. Plus, it contains what is easily Stone Cold’s greatest stunner. Hell, they even had this stunner available in No Mercy’s CAW.
Stone Cold hits the stunner and the pin at 20:00
***1/2
DISC 3 Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Dude Love – WWE Heavyweight Title Match – 5/31/1998
This was a great feud, with Dude Love being the Corporation’s head figure. This match is also on Mick’s DVD, and although a great one, I feel their match at Unforgiven the month before was the better one. This was a great bout with them going all over the place, and Mick once again doing his absolute best to make who ever he’s with look like a million bucks. I do think all the over-book hurt this one though, to be honest. I didn’t need Brisco, Patterson, Vince, and The Undertaker all taking part. Still great though.
Stone Cold hits the stunner and the pin at 22:25
****1/4 Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. The Undertaker – WWE Heavyweight Title Match – SummerSlam – 8/30/1998
This match had an incredible build, and I recall every wrestling fan I knew going out and buying AC/DC’s Highway To Hell. I myself heard the damn song so many times via WWE, that to this day I still don’t want to hear it, but that’s also because I’m not an AC/DC fan. The match is damn fine, and I would have liked to see what they could have done had Steve not been knocked at near the beginning of the match.
The stunner. The pin. 20:52
***1/2 Stone Cold Steve Austin [C] vs. Big Show – WWE Heavyweight Title – Raw 3/22/1999
I have no idea why this match is on here. Basically just showing off that they spent a ton of money to bring in Paul Wight, then jobbed him out a little while later. Oh well, at least he got to go on that bike ride with Undertaker and eat a scorpion.
Stunner. Pin. 9:28
*1/2 Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock [C] – WWE Heavyweight Title – WrestleMania – 3/28/1999
I know this match doesn’t get a lot of fan fare, but I think it’s great. Sure, Rock hadn’t completely hit his stride yet, but as close as you could get without being there. The reason Stone Cold comes out in a t-shirt, and not his vest, is because he forgot back home. It’s not a big deal, but does make it seem like less of a an event without the vest. To me, they just seem to be throwing all they have at each other, and it truly feels like a war.
Stunner. Pin. 16:52
****1/4 Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock [C] – WWE Heavyweight Title – WrestleMania – 4/01/2001
Another match that everyone has said everything under the sun about, so I won’t go on too much about it. I use to not like this match much, but I recently watched it two times for this review, so I could get myself a solid rating for it, and I’ve turned the tide. It’s great. One of the things is the interview with Stone Cold & Rock, where they’re in the locker room with JR, and at one point Steve says that he HAS to win this title, it’s all he has, and then proves it with this match. He goes over the top with his intentsity, and his frustration grows & grows as it proves almost impossible to put The Rock down. The Hogan v Andre of The Attitude Era, that’s for sure. I’d give it the full monty if it weren’t for Rock’s ridiculous selling of the stunner, and Vince’s involvement. However, Rock’s facial expression and utterance of “motherfucker” when he realizes it was Vince who stopped the pin, damn near gets it the 5 stars.
27 chair shots, Stone Cold get’s the pin in 33:06
****3/4 4TH DISC The 4th disc is nothing but interviews, vignettes, and segments all through out Stone Cold’s career. It’s an awesome disc that gives you absolutely every classic Austin moment that didn’t take place in the ring. From Monday Nyquil, to buying cowboy hats for Vince & Angle. It’s a fantastic cap on a fantastic set, and shows you all the reasons why Stone Cold became thee man. Last Word: Stone Cold has probably set the record for most releases for a WWE superstar, and it’s with good reason. If you have The Legacy of Stone Cold, you may feel that you don’t need this set, but I beg to differ. The documentary is a fantastic strong point, as we hadn’t really had one about Stone Cold before. It’s great to hear his views over his entire career. The match listing leaves some things desired, but gives you the greatest of the greatest hits and you didn’t get from Legacy. The 4th disc wraps up this entire set and puts a bow on it with an amazing collection of the previously mentioned interviews, vignettes, & segments. Definitely a set worth having, with a final rating of ****3/4
This is Marion Cobretti, letting you know that here, in the streets, in competition, a man faces you, he is the enemy, and the enemy deserves no mercy.

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