BUExperience Center

WCW Halloween Havoc 1993

2012-10-19T02:25:00.000-04:00

The Halloween Havoc series continues, with 1993.

From New Orleans, LA (Louisiana, not the one where the celebrities are, dumbass. Well, unless they can pick up some publicity). Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura. Tony is dressed up as Jesse, which needs to be seen to be fully appreciated.

Opening Six Man Tag Team Match: Harlem Heat & The Equalizer v Shockmaster, Charlie Norris & Ice Train: This was very early in Heat's run, and they were still being billed as Kole and Kane. Ice Train starts off with Booker T (like fucking hell I'm bothering to remember 'Kole' and 'Kane'), as I marvel at the fact that WCW didn't just throw the three black guys together as a team. Progress. He ICES UP, however, and the entire face side take turns abusing him until he gets off a tag to Equalizer. He doesn't fare any better, however, until Norris blows a cross corner charge, and Harlem Heat properly abuse him. Early version of the axe kick (done with a weird pivot) gets two, but a flying splash misses, and Norris tags Shockmaster. Fat splash finishes Booker shortly after at 9:45. This was fine for an opener, with minimal resting, but nobody was doing anything particularly exciting out there. ½*.

Paul Orndorff v Ricky Steamboat: Orndorff with a big backdrop to start, and we spill to the outside, where Steamboat takes a slam on the rampway. Orndorff tries to win it by countout early, but Steamboat launches himself back in with a clothesline. It misses, however, and Orndorff drops him with a side suplex for a series a two counts. And let the restholds begin! In this case, and long sequence with Steamboat switching up between a hammerlock and an armbar, as frankly, The Dragon doesn't look all that motivated tonight. Though, to be fair, if I were working in 1993 WCW, I'm not sure how motivated I would be, either. He dumps Orndorff with a couple of post and rail shots to the arm, and then it's right back to the resthold. Orndorff, the seasoned veteran, actually makes the mistake of trying an elbowdrop with the bad arm, which at least misses, but come on! That would be okay for, say, Alex Wright at this point, but not Paul Orndorff. He still manages a flying elbow smash (seriously, dude?), and a double knockout spot has me seriously hoping for a ten count. Steamboat with a flying chop for two, and a regular version gets two. Backdrop gets countered with a faceslam, and Orndorff tries the piledriver, but gets countered, and Steamboat with a slingshot into the corner for two. Flying bodypress, but the Assassin (Orndorff's manager) has the referee caught up, and he doesn't count. Steamboat gets dumped, and the Assassin nails him with a loaded mask shot, causing a countout at 18:35. Match certainly picked up towards the end, but it was way too long, especially for that ending. Ricky could still 'go' at this point, as the last year of his active career quite clearly showed, but this match needed ten minutes trimmed off of it, and better booking. ¾*.

WCW Television Title Match: Steven Regal v Davey Boy Smith: They actually bust out Michael Buffer to do the introductions, because it's a title match. Wow, they really must have loved throwing away Ted Turner's money. Were they lighting farts with hundred dollar bills, too? I mean, don't get me wrong, Buffer certainly adds prestige in certain situations, but for a Television title match? They fight over a wristlock to start, giving Davey a chance to do hit flippy floppy counters. I think the world missed out on a Bulldog/RVD showdown when we still had the chance. The amount of cartwheels alone would have been mind-blowing. Regal busts out his own cartwheel (making sure to smirk while he does it), which earns him a monkey flip, and they go into a beautiful reversal sequence, fighting over a snapmare. Davey blows a 2^nd attempt at a monkey flip, and slaps on a surfboard, drawing 'ooohs' from the crowd, and rightly so. Regal catches him with a knee off of a criss cross, and hits a great looking senton. European uppercuts (I always used to love that variation as a kid) leave Davey a pile of goo, and Regal goes for the kill, tying him up in a galaxy of submission holds. Davey gets a fantastic pinfall reversal off of test of strength for two, and hits the running powerslam, but it only gets two! Piledriver, but the time limit expires at 15:00, and Regal retains. Looks like somebody missed their mark there, as I would guess the clock should have run out as Davey was trying for the pin after his finisher - not after Regal kicks out of it, and he tries something else. Match was very good, but, hey, where's the ending? ***.

WCW United States Title Match: Dustin Rhodes v Steve Austin: Austin plays head games with him in the early going, dodging him, and sneaking in cheap shots. He actually gets a two count off of a simple snapmare, so Dustin tries it, too, but instead of actually trying for a pinfall (because, hey, it's a fucking snapmare), he just pounds the fuck away on him. Dustin with a dropkick off of a criss cross, and Austin gets dumped, hurting his knee. He tries to beg off, but Dustin is on him with a kneebreaker, and a leglock. Slugfest, and Dustin catches him with a backdrop and a jumping clothesline gets two. Bulldog looks to finish, but Austin counters it by crotching him on the top turnbuckle. As opposed to anything even remotely interesting happening out of that set up, the referee just helps him down, however. Oh, how sweet. Austin tries a spinebuster, but gets pounded, so he bails, and suckers Rhodes into a chase, ending with a spinebuster and two feet on the ropes, and we have a new champion at 14:10. Oh, but the referee saw the feet, and Dustin quickly rolls him up to retain at 14:23. I liked the callback to last year, with the false finish, but this match was slower than a Terrence Malick film. ¼*.

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Marcus Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio v The Nasty Boys: Bagwell and Scorpio were fresh off of winning the titles the night before from the Nasties on WCW Saturday Night, while the Nasties were just plain fresh. And not, like, black people style 'fresh,' I mean they smell. Bad, to be clear. Bagwell starts off but gets overwhelmed by the smell, until he dodges a double big boot, and Scorpio flies off the top with a bodypress to take out both Nasties. On the floor, Scorpio continues the assault, diving after them with a plancha. Back in, he uses an underhook rollup on Knobs for two, and he and Bagwell take turns working the arm of whichever Nasty happens to be tagged in - pretty much negating the point of a heat segment. The Nasties come back by nearly killing Bagwell with a double stungun, and a side suplex on the floor. Luckily for him, Bill Watts is gone by this point, and there are actually pads out there. Back in, Knobs looks to finish with a suplex, but it only gets two, so he does the next logical thing: restholds. The Nasties miss a double cross corner splash, and Bagwell finally makes the tag. Spinkicks for everyone! Moonsault on Knobs for two, and the 450 splash looks to finish, but Sags gets a cheap shot with the title belt in, and Knobs gets the pin at 14:38. This was decent, if unspectacular. *. A lot of people piss on the Nasties (I'm speaking strictly in a metaphorical sense here, mind you) for supposedly getting by due to their relationship to Hulk Hogan. Now, I'm by no means a Nasty Boys defender/fan, but, to be clear, their initial WWF run was directly due to their success in WCW (see: Havoc 1990), which had nothing to do with Hulk Hogan, and when they returned to WCW, they were already given multiple tag title runs well before Hogan was even in talks to jump ship. They're by no means a great team (hell, they’re a pretty outright shitty team), but whatever they are, they are mostly based on their own merit.

Sting v Sid: Sid jumps him, but gets slammed, and suplexed, so he bails to the floor to regroup. Sting doesn't let him breath, however, tossing him into the crowd, including a visually impressive bump to the rail. Back in, Sting with a flying clothesline for two, but Robert Parker (Sid's manager) trips him up, allowing Sid a chokeslam. Sid looked absolutely terrifying at this point, and I can completely understand why they had him penciled in for the Starrcade main event. Sloppy looking sidewalk slam, and they go to the floor where Sid love taps Sting with a chair. I'm typing harder. Inside, a powerslam gets two, and it's resthold time! Love tapping takes it out of big Sid! He doesn't skimp, though. We do all the Sid favorites! Bearhug! Chinlock! Shitting! Dropping a deuce is literally the point of no return for Sting, though, and he comes back with a bulldog, and a pair of Stinger Splashes. Parker tries to get involved again, but a miscommunication gets Sid rolled up at 10:40, which is odd booking as he was set to main event Starrcade, and this was when wins and losses still meant something. He would be gone from WCW within weeks, after having what I'll diplomatically call an 'incident' with Arn Anderson. Match was fine for what it was, though Sid looked very sloppy at many points. ½*.

WCW International World Heavyweight Title Match: Rick Rude v Ric Flair: Terry Taylor is the special enforcer, because God knows if you ever need to strike fear into a mans heart, Terry Taylor would be the man to do it. The title itself, if you don't already know what it is, just consider yourself lucky, and be done with it. Basically, it stemmed from WCW parting with the NWA, but still physically owning the Big Gold Belt, and being too narrow to realize they could start using the Big Gold Belt as the WCW World Title now that no one else laid claim - which they would eventually start doing in 1994 anyway. Flair with the chops to start, and terrific hanging vertical suplex gets one. Good for Rude - that was too early in sell more than that. Rude misses a flying knee, and takes a kneebreaker, and Flair grabs the figure four. Wow, I guess he really does not want to waste any time getting back to Fifi. Rude makes the ropes, however, and like any man paying for a room by the hour, now he's horny. And also pissed. He bashes his leg into the post, and chopblocks him. Hey grabs a leglock, but Rude dumps him, and they fight over a sunset flip on the way back in, with Terry Taylor making sure no one uses the ropes. Yeah, Red Rooster, ruin everyone’s fun. Flair with a great looking Cactus Clothesline, and he follows up with a flying clothesline to the floor. He tries another, but Rude gets him coming down, and grabs a chair, but Taylor pulls it away. Inside, Rude hits a backbreaker, but still sells the knee from earlier. Flying elbow smash gets a series of two counts, and he goes to the restholds. WCW then proves when they earned their reputation, as Flair does the Flip, but the camera man is standing right in the corner, and nearly gets killed (and kills Flair) in the process. Nice guys. It's not like it's, I dunno, one of his signature spots, or something. Might wanna prepare for it/not kill one of your biggest stars. You know, whatever. Rude misses something off the top, and Flair catches Rude with the Rude Awakening for two, and a backslide for two. Suplex, but a flying splash hits the knees, which Rude has the sense to sell the damage to himself as well - if briefly. Referee gets bumped on a criss cross, so Taylor comes in, but he gets nailed, too. Flair with a side suplex, and he gets hold of a pair of Rude's brass knux, and Taylor counts the pin, but the original referee saw the knux shot, and DQ's Flair at 19:22. This was the sort of bullshit finish WCW specialized in, and it really didn't help their 'International World' title gain any credibility. The match itself - while not the dream match I… had dreams of - was respectable, if overlong, and saddled with a bad ending. ** ¼.

Main Event: Texas Death Match: Vader v Cactus Jack: Once again this year, they blow the big angle (though, to WCW's credit, they literally did everything in their power to fuck it up) off with a 'Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal' match, but this time, don't actively ass rape the entire fan base live on pay per view, and actually go with something exciting, and fitting for this particular blow off. Vader was the WCW World Champion at this point, but the title is not on the line. They don't even make it to the ring, brawling in the aisle right away. Vader takes control, and tries to brain Cactus on the post, but misses, and nearly breaking his arm. Jack bites him, and grabs weapons from fans to abuse Vader with, ECW-style, as well as a chair, which he properly uses. I hope Sid was out of the showers by this point, and taking notes. Cactus with a suplex onto the rampway, and then a side suplex. He pounds Vader with some super stiff shots, so Harley Race (Vader's manager) tries to save with a chair, but gets nailed. They brawl over to the entrance area, and fall into an open grave (no Mick, not until three years later...) - the epitaph of which reads 'RIP VADER, in a nice touch' - and both men take the time to blade while they're down there. Jack with a lariat, and he gets the pin, initiating a ten-count, but Vader's up at three. Jack whacks him with a piece of the set (a cactus, in another nice touch), then throws him off the stage, following him down with the Cactus elbow for another pin. Vader beats the count, so Jack just mercilessly pounds on the gash, and throws a table in the ring. Inside, he tries to Irish whip Vader through it, but it doesn't break, as Vader just pinballs off of it - which didn't look great. To the floor again, Cactus suplexes him onto the rail, but misses a dive into the crowd, and Vader backdrops him out there. Back in, moonsault gets the pin, but Jack's back at three. Vader dumps him (complete with a THUD as he lands on the ramp), so Jack tries a sleeper out there, only to get reverse splashed. Race passes Vader a chair, and he plays Babe Ruth, then DDTs him on it, as the EMT's run out. Vader won't have that shit, though, and shoves everyone out of the way to get the pinfall, but Jack's up before the count can even start. He hits his own DDT, so Race catches him with a taser, and Vader gets the victory at 16:00. Fantastic, brutal brawl, but Cactus needed to go over here. And if he were jobbing, this needed to be more of a situation where is loses after literally giving it all he has, crawling to his feet like Rocky in the last round, and also taking every last bit out of Vader before finally falling apart - not that bullshit taser ending. Still, **** ¼, easy.

BUExperience: The main event alone is enough to keep this out of the DUD-pile, but other than Regal/Smith (which is entirely decent, but nothing to go out of your way to see), this is an entirely forgettable show. Even so, the main event is a lot of fun, and well worth watching. **.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1992

2012-10-18T15:34:00.000-04:00

Truck on towards actual Halloween with our Halloween Havoc series, coming up on the ’92 show. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the 1991 Havoc, however, but I will work to get a hold of one, and fill in that blank eventually.

From Philadelphia, PA your hosts are Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura.

Opening Six Man Tag Team Match: Tom Zenk, Johnny Gunn & Shane Douglas v Arn Anderson, Michael Hayes & Bobby Eaton: Anderson and Gunn start, and Johnny quickly gets out foxed, so Zenk dropkicks Arn off of the top rope, to the unpadded floor. Ah yes, the Bill Watts era. Eaton comes in to avenge him, but gets caught with a backdrop/dropkick combo, and Shane comes in to work an armbar. He gets a headscissors takedown, and Zenk tags in to slap on a figure four, but manages to get a tag off to Anderson. He hits a quick side suplex, and dumps it to Hayes, who grabs a chinlock. Seriously?! You waited, resting on the apron to run in and jump him with a fucking chinlock?! And in a six man? He follows it up with a reverse chinlock, as apparently even reaching for a tag might be too taxing. Suplex is reversed, and both guys tag, giving us Douglas/Anderson. That... that doesn't go well for Shane, and Arn decimates his knee. Eaton with a flying kneedrop onto... the knee, and a figure four. He enhances it by using Hayes for leverage, even though it isn't a resthold, and perfectly acceptable in context. Tags to Hayes and Gunn, and the heels eat bodyslams. Big brawl breaks out, and Gunn catches Hayes with a Thesz press for the pin at 11:02. Energetic enough opener, but God, Michael Hayes could drag down a goddamn Beatles melody. ¾*.

Brian Pillman v Ricky Steamboat: They go back and forth for a while, but things heat up as Pillman goes for a suplerplex, but gets faceslamed off, but still has enough wits about him to catch Steamboat with a dropkick when he tries a bodypress on the way down for two! Side suplex, and he grabs a sleeper, riding him from behind for full leverage. The crowd's buying it, but Steamboat rams him into the corner to break, and then slams him off the top. Chopfest ensues, and Pillman gets a flying bodypress for two. Slam countered into a backbreaker by Steamboat, and he hits a flying sunset flip for two. It leads to a reversal sequence, which Steamboat wins, for the pinfall, at 10:25. Fun, fast paced match. *** ¼.

No Disqualifiction WCW United States Title Match: Vader v Nikita Koloff: Rick Rude was actually the US Champion at this point, but because he was scheduled to wrestle later, Vader defended the title for him - which is actually very Russo-esqe booking for 1992. Serious slugfest to start, until Koloff gets caught in the corner, and eats an avalanche. A 2^nd misses, however, and Koloff rolls him up for two. Bodypress gets two, and Vader bails. Koloff tries to post him, but Vader moves, and Koloff near breaks his arm running into the ringpost. Back inside, Vader smells blood, and drops him with the powerbomb for the pin in 5:00 to 'retain.' Not a bad match, but not long enough to really go anywhere. ½*.

NWA & WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes v Steve Williams and Steve Austin: This was during the period when the NWA and WCW titles were unified. And, also, before Steve Austin became the biggest star in the history of history. Rhodes and Williams start, and Dustin eats a series of clotheslines, but outmanuvers him into his own. Both men tag out, and Windham and and Dustin play pinball, and cut the ring in half, until Austin catches Windham with a jab, and tags out to Dr. Death. Big slugfest ensues, won by Barry, surprisingly, but he misses a bodyblock off of a criss cross, and gets dropkicked to the floor. He counters a suplex back in with a roll up for two, but gets caught by Austin, and now it's their turn to cut the ring in half - although their offense is generally far superior to Barry & Dustin's array of clotheslines. Austin tries to catch Windham with a superplex, but that's simply going too far, and Barry won't have that shit so he tosses him off, and a flying clothesline gets two. Double knockout spot finally allows him to get the tag off to Dustin, and he's a house of arson. Bulldog on Austin gets two, saved by Williams, but Dustin is still running around setting things ablaze like a little fuck, so Dr. Death simply decks him. Hey, works at parties, too. Austin with an overhead backbreaker, and they go into the Flair bridge counter sequence for a couple of two counts, as Jesse starts talking about the possibility of a time limit draw occuring. Nah, they wouldn't do that, don't worry. Williams with a gourgous suplex for two, and an overhead suplex for good measure. He and Austin trade off on Rhodes, and he gets a blingtag to Windham. He comes in anyway, triggering a a referee bump during the big brawl, and Austin pins Barry when a second referee runs in to count the fall at 28:00. WCW pops up a 'time remaining' countdown clock, despite the fact that, supposedly, we have just seen the ending. The match keeps going, as the pinfall wasn't legal, though it's fallen apart into a giant brawl. The dust settles on Rhodes/Austin, with Dustin hitting a tombstone, but the time limit expires at 30:00. Too long for what it was, with a few logical gaps to boot, but everyone out there knows how to work a broadway. ¾*.

I normally skip over these segments, but Sting comes out to 'Spin the Wheel/Make the Deal' for his Main Event match against Jake Roberts. They had a (at least when I was a kid) dream feud going, and for the blowoff, WCW decided to have a hot gimmick match on pay-per-view. Okay so far. Oh, but then they added a demented midget into the mix (really...), and make a mini-movie where lasers shoot out of everyone’s eyes. Also, they didn't bother actually telling anyone what the actually gimmick would be, saying that Sting would determine by spinning a Wheel of Fortune type wheel at the show. Okay, other than the weird midget thing - I can still go along with it. Anyway, the choices are: Texas Bull Rope, Spinners' Choice, Russian Chain, Dog Collar, I Quit, Barbed Wire, Cage, Lumber Jacks with Belts, Prince of Darkness, Texas Death, Coal Miners Glove, and First Blood. Almost all of those sound interesting - except maybe one. So, of course we get Coal Miners Glove. Hey, why not? You've already suckered a bunch of people into buying this show, why not ass rape them a little bit while you've got them there? Sure. Why they didn’t go with something as simple and effective as Texas Death, to this day, I don’t understand.

NWA World Title Match: Masahiro Chono v Rick Rude: Harley Race AND Kensuke Sasaki are special referees. Slow feeling out process to start, as Jesse marvels at the fact that Rude has shaved his mustache for the event tonight. It is, infact, unsettling. His lips look so angry. Like they need therapy, or something. They go to restholds (sorry, 'Devastating Submission Holds') early on, as even Harley Race starts to look a bit bored. Rude gets a nonchalant piledriver for two, and tries a flying axehandle, but Chono simply takes a few steps back to counter. Rude decides to try some lower risk offense, and goes back to the chinlock. Crowd wakes up! - as apparently there is an actual fight taking place in the audience to entertain them. This is on you, Bill Watts. This match is literally driving people to violence. Rude misses a missile dropkick, but ducks Chono's big boot (allowing Race to take a nice bump off of it), and hits the Rude Awakening, but there's no referee. Yep, they're playing dueling referees. Are you sure Vince Russo didn't book this show? Rude regroups, and tries a flying fistdrop, but misses, and gets locked in an STF, and now Sasaki runs in and calls a submission at 22:23. Race runs back in, however, and raises Rude's hand, calling a DQ for the big boot, though that doesn't change the title. Race's decision stands. Bad finish to a bad match. Not bad within the logic of the match, just bad booking in general. They really could have done World Title v US Title, too, since Rude won by DQ, and would have retained, anyway. DUD.

WCW World Title Match: Ron Simmons v The Barbarian: Simmons is a bouncing babyface here, and Barbarian (who was/is never a World Title level contender), is being backed by Cactus Jack. What's retarded here is you have a new title - it doesn't have the prestige of the NWA World Title, and you're trying to establish it. Is the best way to do that really giving the fucking BARBARIAN shots on major pay per views? I mean, Cactus Jack literally standing on the floor - not even booked on this show. Maybe that's an idea? Barbarian controls the early going, and posts the champion on the floor. Inside, Simmons gets a sunset flip to try and mount a comeback, but Barbarian realizes, 'hey, seriously, a fucking sunset flip?' and just continues beating the piss out of him – though not actually, as Simmons does manage to hold it in his tinkler. Simmons has a bit of better luck with a spinebuster, which gets two, and he takes over with shoulderblocks, only to get caught up with Cactus Jack. Barbarian hits his impressive flying headbutt for two, but gets caught in a powerslam, and Simmons retains at 12:40. Nothing to see here, but it was inoffensive. Slightly weird booking, as Simmons used the spinebuster as a transition move here, and finished with a powerslam, when the spinebuster out of nowhere would have been much more appropriate. ¾*.

Main Event: Coal Miner's Glove Match: Sting v Jake Roberts: It's basically a 'weapon on a pole' match, by any other name. Jake checks the stability of the pole to start, which, on all fairness, is probably not a bad idea. He doesn't even bother tying up with Sting, instead running right up the pole. Sting stops that right away, of course, and we starts propers! Hey, you can't blame him for trying. Someone told him Sissy Spacek's panties were up there, and, well, for Jake you don't fuck around with that shit. Or, actually, you do. But that's not something we're getting into during a review of Halloween Havoc 1992. Sting misses a dropkick off of a criss cross, and Jack works the back, looking about twenty pounds heavier, and as many years older than when he left the WWF. To the floor, Jake eats post a couple of times, as Sting works the arm. Sting makes the climb (of the extra tall pole - kudos WCW), but Jake stops him with a side suplex. He remembers to sell the arm, though, and Sting goes back to work on it, and Jesse tries to convince the audience that they didn't get screwed with the Coal Miner's Glove stipulation. They spill to the floor again, and Jake whacks him with a chair and chokes him out with his wrist tape to take control. He suckers Sting into trying the Stinger Splash - which he misses, and Jake nails the short clothesline. DDT, but it takes as much out of him as his arm is still banged up. He climbs, but Sting drops him, and gets the glove himself, as Cactus Jack runs down, and tosses a cobra filled bag in to Jake. Sting pops him once with the loaded glove, causing the snake to 'bite Jake,' and Sting gets the pin at 10:34. The match was fine, and actually quite psychologically sound, but in terms of a hot blow off, failed miserably. Jake never even got hold of the glove, Sting only got off one shot with it, and it all ends with a poor copy of the WWF's snake bite angle from the year before. * ¼, and one of the bigger disappointments of the era. I stand by the idea that they should have went with a Texas Death Match.

BUExperience: Pillman/Steamboat is a lot of fun, but not nearly enough to hold up an entire show, not to mention too short to do so. The rest seems like a lot of missed opportunities, as a result of poor booking. Vader/Koloff could have been interesting, but was over in the blink of an eye, yet the tag title match went a half an hour. The main event was a hot angle, yet was given the most boring of gimmicks to blow off the feud – and even that match wasn’t booked properly. Don’t go out of your way to seek this one out – unless you really, really want to see lasers shooting out of Jake Roberts’ eyes, without doing LSD with him. *.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1990

2012-10-17T15:31:00.001-04:00

Continuing our Halloween Havoc series with the ’90 show. This is the Turner Home Video version, which does omit a few matches.

I always loved the ‘feel’ of this (and many) of the Havoc shows. While it doesn’t have the great, big, overblown sets like the WWE uses today, it has a lot of nice touches that the production teams today miss, such as an orange mat, black/orange ropes and turnbuckles, pumpkins, etc.

From Chicago, Illinois, your hosts are Jim Ross and Paul Heyman, with Tony Schiavone doing interview duties dressed as the Phantom of the Opera – which is somewhat ironic, considering Jim Ross is right there.

Opening Match: The Midnight Express v Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton: Morton and Bobby Eaton start off, trading hip tosses until Eaton cracks him one good across the jaw. Big criss cross sequence allow Morton a backdrop, and a dropkick puts Bobby on the floor. Back in, the Midnights hit a nice looking double team powerslam, and Lane attempts a springboard clothesline, but only in the loosest sense of the word. Ricky gets dumped, and Eaton tries a flying... something... to the floor, but again, he executes it so poorly, I can't even tell what the move was. Slam on the rampway, and Eaton hits a Lane-assisted launched splash out there. Back inside, that gets two. Chin crusher, and a slingshot backbreaker get two. I know Ricky Morton needs to play... Ricky Morton, but Rich hasn't even TAGGED IN yet, damn! He tries to mount a comeback with a rana, and an inside cradle for two, but the Midnights are just all over him, like... The Midnight Express on Ricky Morton. Eaton with the Alabama Jam (an impressive looking flying legdrop), but a flying splash hits the knees, finally putting Tommy Rich into the match. Thesz press onto Lane gets two right away, so Jim Cornette tries to get involved with his tennis racket, but it backfires, and Rich pins Stan at 20:49. God, Rich literally worked about a minute of that entire match. Not a bad match, by any means, but far too long for what it was, and could easily have trimmed about ten minutes off of it. *.

The Fabulous Freebirds v The Renegade Warriors: The Warriors are Chris and Mark Youngblood, and all four guys look like bad extras from Waterworld. The Freebirds get knocked around in the early going, and Garvin gets caught in a standing side headlock. Side suplex turns the tide, and he dumps Youngblood for Hayes to abuse him on the floor. Back inside, Garvin and Hayes take turns grabbing chinlocks, though they look like they would prefer to take turns just grabbing each other. The 'heat' segment goes on forever, as the Freebirds just basically keep him in a chinlock, occasionally stopping to do a slam or something, and then going right back to the chinlock. Youngblood finally turns the tide, catching Hayes on the top with a slam, and getting the 'hot' tag. The Warriors double team (as Chris has apparently completely recovered from the entire beating in just moments), but gets DDT'd and pinned by Garvin in 17:28. You might not think from that description that that was a seventeen+ minute match, but, yeah, there was literally a twelve minute chinlock. Again, this is another one that could have used a good ten minutes trimmed off of it. DUD.

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Steiner Brothers v The Nasty Boys: Big brawl to start, in and out of the ring. Sags catches Scott with a chair shot, and tries a superplex, but gets countered with a super-Northern Lights suplex for two, when Knobs saves. Sags bulldogs him, but eats a double underhook powerbomb off of a criss cross, and the doomsday bulldog looks to finish, but Knobs makes the save. He catches Scott with a sidewalk slam, and a powerslam gets two. Sags in with a pumphandle slam, and a tilt-a-whirl slam, then work the back with restholds as the Nasties play the switcheroo game behind the referees back, dramatically slowing the pace of the match down. Spike piledriver looks to finish, but Rick saves with a chair, and both men struggle to their feet. Sags manages to make the tag first, and we get more restholds - though they do manage to at least work the part correctly, and cut the ring in half properly. Slingshot corner splash misses, however, and we get a hot tag to Rick. Noggin knocker, and a belly to belly on Knobs gets two. Flying clothesline takes out both Nasties, as Scott lays on the floor in agony. He manages to trip the Nasties up on a criss cross, and get back in to hit a rana on Knobs to retain at 15:24. This one has gained something of a legendary reputation, and while it is quite solid - particularly the opening bits - the heat segment is far too long, and unenticing, as the Nasties worked almost nothing but restholds. ***. Afterwards, the Nasties lay the Steiners out, and then jump to the WWF.

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v Ric Flair & Arn Anderson: Ron Simmons and Anderson start out. They play head games with each other, but Simmons is no match for the Horsemen, and gets quickly double teamed, leading all four men to get involved, leading to both Horsemen getting press slammed. Flair's chops fail to affect either man, so they get into a proper slugfest, easily won by Butch Reed, and the Flair Flip puts him into the aisle to battle with Simmons. Back inside, the Horsemen catch Simmons with a double team, and cut the ring in half. Arn eats a faceslam, however, and Reed gets the tag. Clotheslines all around, but a big brawl (including Simmons hitting a great looking flying shoulderblock, and Anderson nearly taking his head off with a DDT for a couple of near-falls), before eventually leading to a double count-out at 18:20. On paper, this looks like a dream match, but in reality, not so much. It had pacing issues before the hot portion at the end, and the cop-out ending didn't help anybody. * ½.

NWA United States Title Match: Lex Luger v Stan Hansen: Luger controls to start, as the more I look at Hansen, the more I think if he showed up at the WWE's front door today (or, like, wherever you show up for tryouts), he'd likely just get his parking validated. I mean, seriously, your first impression of him is someone's redneck dad in his undies, probably still half loaded from the night before - not exactly a WrestleMania main eventer. And that's actually a lot of what's wrong with the system today. We need more fat, half drunken dads (or even granddads!) in their undies slugging it out from time to time. It's an economic issue as much as it is anything else, really. And, plus, they'll get some exercise, even! Anyway, Luger gets a kneedrop for two, but gets caught in a suplex, and Hansen slams him. Bulldog gets two, but Luger comes back with a ten punch count in the corner, only to take an inverted atomic drop for two. 2nd rope elbow misses, and Luger feeds him a dropkick. Suplex gets two, and he hits the running forearm smash, but the referee gets bumped, allowing Hansen to get a hold of his cowbell. Luger still manages to hit a bulldog, only to get caught with a lariat and pinned at 9:30. Well... that was... interesting... use of the cowbell, then. Match was nothing, but inoffensive. ¾*.

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Sting v Sid: This could have probably headlined Starrcade, if, you know, they didn't go with the ridiculous Black Scorpion angle. I understand the dilemma - but I also understand that in any such situation, the correct choice is never, ever picking a fucking magician. Sting gets caught on a bodypress attempt to start, and eats backbreaker, but no sells, and dumps Sid to the floor. He posts Sid, and back inside, works an armbar. Sunset flip gets two, and Sid gets sick of all this movement, and just clotheslines him instead. Powerslam gets two, and he goes to the more direct route: choking the life out of him. See, that's what the Black Scorpion could never understand. There was no point in all these silly head games, and parlor tricks. Just grab the kid, and squeeze his throat until he literally stops living. That's victory, dude. Sting with a flying bodypress for two, and a bulldog. He walks right into a big boot, however, and we spill outside. Sid slams him on the rampway, and goes back in to wait for his countout victory (because, apparently, he does not want the World Title), only to be met with Sting leaping from the ramp, over the ropes, with a clothesline. Dropkick puts Sid out, and Sting follows with a slingshot dive. They brawl to the back, as Flair and Anderson show up at ringside. Back in, Sting goes for a slam, but his legs give out (which is odd, as Sid hadn't been working the part), and Sid falls on top for the pin, and the title, at 11:15. The crowd is in shock, but they're not unhappy, and WCW actually drops balloons from the ceiling and pops fireworks. They remember he's a heel, right? But hold on! Here comes Sting from the locker rooms, and he's got rope tied to his wrist! It turns out the Horsemen tied him up, and sent fellow Horsemen Barry Windham out dressed as Sting (in a pretty neat angle, before the late 90s ruined that bit), so the referee restarts the bout, and Sting quickly puts him away with the Stinger Splash at 12:38. Honestly, this would have been a lot more interesting than the Black Scorpion stuff, and they could have kept the belt on Sid, and done a re-match at Starrcade, but, hey, there are MASKED MAGICIAN CAGE MATCHES to be had, so, you know. Match was fine for what it was, but nothing special. ¾*.

BUExperience: Well, the box promised a ‘Night that Will Haunt You Forever!’ and, in many ways, they were right. The show has a fun atmosphere, but other than Steiners/Nasties, there isn’t much to see here. A lot of the bouts run overlong, and even that one match, while solid, isn’t good enough on its own to hold up an entire card. Tag team wrestling is featured heavily throughout (they had two titles for it!), though not in its best form, so be warned, if you’re not a fan, this is definitely not for you. *.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1989

2012-10-16T12:46:00.002-04:00

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to look back at WCW’s old Halloween offerings, starting with the first one, way back in 1989.

Live from Philadelphia, PA, your hosts are Jim Ross and Bob Caudle.

Opening Match: Z-Man v Mike Rotunda: Z-Man is Tom Zenk, as WCW was feeling especially creative. They fight over a headlock in the early going, with Zenk controlling, until Rotunda catches him with a knee, and dumps him. Zenk back in with a sunset flip for two, and he goes to a wristlock to really speed things up. Rotunda comes back with a mat based headscissors, but does at least bother to use the ropes for leverage. Criss cross, and Rotunda dumps Zenk, then stuns him across the ropes when he tries to crawl back in. Suplex back in gets two, so he grabs a rope assisted abdominal stretch (shades of IRS!). Dropkick misses, however, and Zenk rolls through a flying bodypress to get the pin at 13:23. Horrible choice for an opener. ¼*.

Six Man Tag Team Match: The Samoan Swat Team & Samoan Savage v The Midnight Express & Steve Williams: The Swat Team are the future Headshrinkers. Big stall to start, as they can't decide who will start (what is this, Survivor Series?), until finally we get Savage and Stan Lane. Lane with a backdrop, and he dumps him, drawing everyone onto the floor, and they tease a brawl. Back inside, Eaton tags in but gets slammed, and that draws everyone in again. We get Williams/Fatu when the dust settles, and Dr. Death just slaughters him, as the crowd roars with approval. The Midnights take over, but that doesn't go as well. Samu with a side kick on Lane, and he bails to tag Williams back in, as the crowd pops. He is giddy as he decimates him with clotheslines, and lets Eaton hit a neckbreaker for two. Lane tries a bodypress on Fatu, but gets slammed, and Savage tags in. He crotches Bobby in the corner, and then dumps him so the SST can crotch him on the rail. Oh, poor Bobby Eaton's balls. First, they get attached to Bobby Eaton, then this. Inside, he takes a double clothesline for two, and a nerve hold from Fatu. In a six man?! Seriously? Do you not understand the concept? The entire Samoan side take turns headbutting the hell out of Bobby, and a sidewalk slam gets two. Savage with a Vaderbomb, but he hits the knees, and we have a hot tag to Williams. Slams all around! The big brawl finally erupts (Chekhov would be so proud), and Savage pins Lane during a miscommunication spot at 18:16. Much faster paced than the opener, and probably should have gone on first to get the crowd going, particularly because they were rabid for Steve Williams. Not much in the way of an actual match, though, and overlong. ½*.

Tommy Rich v The Cuban Assassin: The Assassin jumps him at the bell, but gets caught on a criss cross, and a pair of slams puts him on the floor. Back inside, Assassin gets a springboard bodypress for two, and tries to dump Rich, but he looks hesitant to take the bump, and instead counters with a sunset flip for two. They work a long armbar sequence, peppered with brief bits of traded offense. Cuban with a suplex, but he gets crotched on the top rope, and pinned with a Thesz Press at 8:26. Nothing to see here. ¼*.

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Fabulous Freebirds v The Dynamic Dudes: Hayes and Douglas start off, and Hayes gets a sunset flip off of a criss cross right away. He looks like a dead ringer for slightly pudgy, 1993 Shawn Michaels, too, which makes his stint as WWF-shill Doc Hendrix all the more hilarious. “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.” Shawn: “That’s great. So, where’s the coke?” Another criss cross, and Shane gets a neckbreaker, so Hayes tags Jimmy Garvin in. Shane with a backdrop, and both guys tag out. 4-man brawl leads to the Dudes double dropkicking the champs to the floor, and controlling with a bunch of quick tags and double team leapfrog/dropkick combos. Nice spot, as Johnny Ace gets Garvin in a headlock, but Hayes runs in, so he backdrops him while still keeping the hold on. Hayes charges again, so he hits a headscissors takedown, all while STILL keeping the hold on! The Freebirds won't have any of that cute shit, though, and nail him with a cheap shot, and one side suplex later Ace is half conscious on the floor. Back in, Garvin catches him with a backdrop, and they do a cross corner slingshot. Hayes with a DDT, but Ace blocks, and makes the tag. Shane with dropkicks all around, causing a 4-way brawl, but Garvin reverses a side suplex and pins him at 11:27 to retain. Fast paced tag match, that worked just fine for what it was. * ½.

The Steiner Brothers v Doom: This was actually the debut of Doom (under masks), and the Steiner's themselves are only about a year into their run at this point. Big brawl to start, which the Steiner's win with stereo German suplexes. Double double clotheslines put Doom on the floor, as they regroup with manager Woman (Nancy Sullivan, who had brought them in as revenge for having her affections rebuffed by the Steiners). The Steiners control the early going with power stuff, as I have a hard time telling Doom apart. Oh, come on, they all look alike. Masked wrestlers, that is. Butch Reed takes over with an atomic drop on Rick, tags in Ron Simmons. He can't keep the momentum going, however, and eats a suplex. Tag to Scott, who hits a flying clothesline for two. Simmons comes back with a stunner on Rick, and a fist drop. Both men tag out, and Scott drops him with a layout suplex for two, and then gives Simmons a German suplex for his troubles. Trip up give Doom the advantage, and Reed hits a flying axehandle to put Scott on the floor, where he drops him on the rail a couple of times for the hell of it. Back in, they work a series of two counts off of that (a spot I always love), distract the referee in order to double team and choke Steiner, then dump him over the top. Scott tries to come back with a sunset flip for two, but eats a neckbreaker for getting uppity, and then tossed into the heel corner for a proper beat down. Reed powerslam gets two, saved by Rick. Double suplex gets two, and Scott gets the tag to Rick, but the ref doesn't see it. In perfect form, as the official is clearing Rick Steiner out of the ring, Doom hit Scott with a spike piledriver. He makes the real hit tag moments later, however, and Rick is on everyone. Scott, too, apparently having forgotten the entire heat segment. Rana clears Simmons out, and Rick hits his powerslam on Reed, but Woman slips him something, which he loads his mask with, and one headbutt later spells doom for the Steiners at 15:26. Great, hard hitting tag team wrestling. *** ¼.

NWA United States Title Match: Lex Luger v Brian Pillman: They fight over a collar-and-elbow to start, with neither man able to take the advantage, until Luger catches him with a knee, and unloads in the corner. Slam, and he tries to dump him, but Pillman hangs on, and tackles him, following with a backdrop and a dropkick, putting the champ on the floor. He follows him out with a baseball slide, but Luger avoids a springboard dropkick, and catches him on the way back in, choking him on the ropes. Criss cross leads to Pillman with a springboard bodypress for two, and he goes to an armdrag/wristlock combo. Luger tries a hip toss, but Pillman does a terrific counter into a dropkick, and goes into an armbar. Luger shoulderblocks to try and take over, but eats a dropkick, and gets locked back in the armbar. Pillman with a crucifix for two, and then (say it with me) right back to the armbar. Of note: (or maybe less so, these days) we see future ECW Hawaiian Shirt Guy in the crowd, though in a baseball cap. Pillman upstairs, but a dive finds only mat, and Luger tosses him in the air to let him see how it feels again. Lariat, and another from behind. Hanging vertical suplex for two, and he drops a series of elbows. Getting frustrated, he dumps Pillman to the floor, but it backfires when he sunset flips back in, and then gets dumped himself when his desperately throws a clothesline. He tries a superplex next, but no dice, and Pillman hits a flying sunset flip for two. Diving back elbow, and a backdrop lead to a springboard dropkick for one, when Luger's foot on the ropes saves him. Neckbreaker, but Pillman misses a very visually impressive missile dropkick, and gets caught in a stungun to allow Luger to retain in 16:48. Terrific, fast paced match, with Pillman getting Luger further and further frustrated, only to get overzealous when he thought he had the title won, and defeated up by the veteran wrestler. *** ¾.

The Road Warriors v The Skyscrapers: Big stare down to start, of course, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Animal starts with Dan Spivey, and dumps him after a pair of clotheslines, where he regroups with Sid. Back in, Hawk attacks with a flying axehandle, but double shoulderblock leads to a standstill. Spivey solves that problem by tagging Sid in. Hey, it's what I'd do, too. He eats clotheslines, and gets dumped, too, as I'm surprised they booked this thing so completely one sided thus far. Test of strength goes Hawk's way, but he catches Hawk with a big clothesline. Airplane spine variation of his powerbomb, and Spivey tags in to hit a sidewalk slam for two. Baseball slide puts Hawk on the outside, and Sid dumps him on the rail. Back in, Spivey with a hanging vertical for two, but Hawk reverses a 2^nd attempt. Sid tries to stop the comeback with some double teams behind the referee's back, but Hawk catches Spivey with a clothesline, and in comes Animal. Dropkicks! Clotheslines! Big brawl breaks out within a minute, and Animal finishes Sid with his powerslam, but the referee is caught up with Spivey and Hawk, allowing the Skyscrapers to get hold of a large metal key, and clock Animal to break up the pin, and cause a DQ at 11:39. Well, you knew they weren't going to book a clean ending here - though, I'm surprised they didn't do a rematch at Starrcade. Match is no more than ¾*, but fun.

Main Event: Thunderdome Cage Match: Sting & Ric Flair v Terry Funk & The Great Muta: Bruno Sammartino is the special referee. A Thunderdome is basically a Hell in a Cell style cage, but without a top, instead, electrified on top to prevent anyone from getting in or out. The bout ends when a towel is thrown in. It's standard tag rules, otherwise. Flair and Funk start out, and it's chops all around. Sting wants in on the fun, and dumps Funk, slamming him into the cage. Inside, Flair with a shindrop, and he takes a shot at Muta, too, for fun. That gives us Sting/Muta, and Sting press slams him ring into Terry Funk. Suplex, and Flair comes in for an inverted atomic drop. Shindrop, and Muta eats cage, triggering a 4-way brawl. In the chaos, Muta takes over, and drops a series of crisp elbows and legs on Sting. Suplex, and Funk runs in for some fun double team elbowdrops until Flair can save. Sting with bulldogs on everyone, and Flair atomic drops Muta right into a Sting clothesline. All four scale the cage, but it goes nowhere, as they just sell the idea of the electrified top, and then climb back down. Sting with a long delayed press slam on Muta, and Flair hits him with a side suplex. Figure four, as Sting battles Terry atop the cage. Hold broken, and Muta applies a bridged leglock. Funk joins in the fun, with a spike piledriver, as Sting is tied up in the cage, and can't make the save. He finally pulls free, and makes a suicide dive from the corner of the cell to mid ring, taking out Funk. Flair hits Funk with a kneebreaker. Shindrop onto the, and Sting crotches Muta as Flair slaps Funk into the figure four. Sting dives off the top rope with a pair of splashes to really add to the effect, and Gary Hart throws in the towel at 21:55. Hot brawl, to blow a fantastic program off. *** ¼.

- BUExperience: I hope you like tag team wrestling! Honestly, this plays as fun show, from a fun period. Even some matches (such as the Road Warriors/Skyscrapers) may not be technical classics, but they manage to but fun, and the hot crowd doesn’t hurt. Definitely worth a look, particularly Luger/Pillman. ***.

WWE DVD Review - Undertaker: The Streak

2012-10-15T17:12:00.000-04:00

- The Undertaker – The Streak. The WWE released this DVD set commemorating ‘Taker’s 20-0 WrestleMania streak this year (I believe they also released one a few years back when he was 15-0… look for another one in a few years when it’s time to cash in again!), and I thought it would be worth a look.

- This DVD is currently available on Netflix Streaming, for those who want to play along at home.

- WrestleMania VII: The Undertaker v Jimmy Snuka: Crowd doesn’t quite know what to make of UT yet. Big staredown to start, until ‘Taker jumps him. Kick, kick, choke, choke. Jumping clothesline impresses the crowd, and then we go back to choking. Suplex, but an elbow drop misses. Snuka tries to mount a comeback, but ‘Taker’s just not having it, and dumps him to the outside. Tombstombe, and we’re 1-0 at 4:20. DUD, but historically significant enough, of course.

- WrestleMania VIII: The Undertaker v Jake Roberts: What a difference a year makes! ‘Taker was coming off of a WWF Title feud with Hogan, and this was actually a pretty big deal at the time. Jake tries to jump him to start, and that goes about as well as you might imagine. Slugfest on the floor, and Jake eats post, but catches ‘Taker with a knee coming back in. He tries to capitalize, but, well, you know. Choke, choke, choke. Elbow drop actually connects this year, and there’s the jumping clothesline, as ‘Taker’s just literally running out of moves he can do within the confines of the character at this point. Tombstone, but Jake counters with the DDT! He doesn’t even manage to cover before ‘Taker does the sit up, and NOW the crowd is really going. 2^nd DDT, and this time he goes after Paul Bearer on the floor instead of, you know, the pin. That gets him a tombstone out there (that misses by about 3 miles, give or take), and we’re 2-0 at 6:36. Total burial job, sending Jake to hell (see: WCW). DUD.

- WrestleMania IX: The Undertaker v The Giant Gonzalez: Oh, fuck. Look, I see why they did this shit as feuds for ‘Taker. It was the kind of 90s junk they built a large part of the company on… but fuck dude. Who wants to sit through it 20 years later? Gonzalez with a choke to start, so ‘Taker runs (well, slowly walks) the ropes to gain leverage, and grabs a choke of his own. God forbid someone usurp The Undertaker in the choking department! God forbid! Ropewalk forearm makes its WrestleMania debut, but ‘Taker eats boot on a charge. Gonzalez with what sort of looks like a hip toss (it was more of a ‘hip directional suggestion’), and then a chinlock so loosely applied I can actually see people in the crowd pointing it out. Power of the Urn saves him from submitting to it (or, you know, logic), but the jumping clothesline fails (!!), and they brawl on the floor. UT no sells some tosses into the steps, and back inside, no sells some headbutts with the sit up. Slugfest gets Gonzalez to his knees, but Harvey Wippleman (the Giant’s manager) tosses a rag into the ring. Gonzalez gets a hold of it, and smothers ‘Taker with the chemical soaked rag, giving us a DQ 3-0 at 7:33, and a chance for a re-match at SummerSlam! Holy God was this bad! As I said, I understand why they booked these type of feuds for ‘Taker during this period, but at least blow it the fuck off. If I were in the crowd (or buying the PPV), I would have felt insanely ripped off by that lazy excuse for a match (you’re not good wrestlers, fine, but that was LAZY wrestling, and there is a difference), and the non-ending that settled literally nothing. -****.

- WrestleMania XI: The Undertaker v King Kong Bundy: During the many ‘heel steals the urn’ feuds ‘Taker was in during the 90s before the Mankind stuff changed everything. Bundy tries to squash him (in the more literal sense), but misses, and gets the ropewalk forearm. UT turns his attention to Ted DiBiase at ringside (Bundy’s manager) who has the urn, and goes to the floor to steal it back, which pops the crowd more than anything they’ve done in the ring so far. Well, um, that kinda kills the whole point of the match doesn’t it? Back inside, slugfest ensues, as DiBiase summons Charles Wright (playing Kama, the Supreme Fighting Machine) to steal the urn back. Yes, because this shit can’t be blown off at WrestleMania with a simple negative-star Undertaker/Bundy match. It needs to continue, into a feud where a large black man takes the container housing the remains of a mans parents, and fashions himself a necklace. Great. Plus, forgetting the moral implications, imagine the various issues Kama would eventually run into when trying to sell that necklace to the Pawn Stars. Anyway, that distracts ‘Taker long enough for Bundy to slam him around. Nothing sucks more than your dead parents’ remains being stolen by a man calling himself the ‘Supreme Fighting Machine,’ than if it happens to occur directly before a 400 pound dude decides to stand on your head! Bundy grabs a chinlock (hey, but better than Gonzalez’s, at least!), and the Avalanche looks to finish, but UT no sells. Bodyslam (which looked like a failed attempt at the tombstone), and the jumping clothesline (there it is!) puts us at 4-0 at 6:36. -*.

- WrestleMania XII: The Undertaker v Diesel: “I’m not afraid of the dark!” Big, proper slugfest to start, won by Diesel. He takes ‘Taker to the corner, but eats boot on a charge, but UT misses his elbow drop spot. He’s, like, 50/50 with those. They spill to the floor, and Diesel eats stair. Back in, early tombstone attempt pops the crowd (seriously guys? You thought it was over two minutes in?), and when that fails we get the ropewalk spot. To the floor again, ‘Taker grabs a chair, but misses, so Diesel dumps him into the rail, and then the post a couple of times for good measure. He then does the best thing one could do in that situation – walk back in the ring and stick both arms up in the air like he’s already won. Right, way to capitalize, Nash. Back in, ‘Taker is still… dead… and Diesel pounds away, so maybe I shouldn’t question his brilliant arm thrusting strategy. Sidewalk slam gets two. More arm thrusting, and he takes him into the corner for some abuse, but again gets caught on a cross corner charge. Neat double big boot spot puts both guys down, and you can guess what happens when Paul Bearer starts screaming about the power of the urn. Unfortunately, no amount of sitting up can save us from a rest hold, in this case, Nash grabbing a bearhug. Come on, dude! You just literally laid on the mat for a good two minutes – get it together, or go to WCW. ‘Taker comes back with a side suplex, and gets his elbow drop (50/50!). Flying clothesline gets two, but he stupidly goes for a backdrop (come on! When do you ever even use a backdrop? And on a guy Diesel’s size? And when his finisher is a powerbomb?), and, yeah, gets powerbombed, popping the hell out of the crowd. Diesel, of course, just stands there instead of actually covering, clearly learning nothing from Jake Roberts. 2^nd powerbomb, and after a full minute, bothers to go for a cover – only to be met with UT sitting up into a chokehold, like some horror movie villain. Slugfest again, and ‘Taker gets his jumping clothesline. Chokeslam, and the tombstone puts him at 5-0 at 16:46. Well, a lot less choking! Nash actually wrestled a very smart match here, as he took his sweet time to do anything after his powerbombs, and never actually let UT kick out of them. He didn’t get buried, like Jake did. As for the match – I remember liking it a lot as an eleven year old mark. Doesn’t hold up as well today, though still solid, if unspectacular. ** ½.

- WrestleMania 13: No Disqualification WWF Title Match: Sid v The Undertaker: Bret Hart comes down during the obligatory staredown to insult everybody, including Shawn Michaels (doing guest commentary, as he had recently injured his smile). Sid finally gets sick of him, and powerbombs him. I know this led to one of Bret’s best periods, but I personally hated this stuff, as I had gotten hooked on wrestling during the Hart Brothers feud in 1994, and seeing Bret acting like, frankly, an asshole, wasn’t what I wanted to see. Anyway, we finally start, as UT jumps Sid, in a turnaround from the standard operating procedure. Slam gets two, and it wouldn’t be the first two minutes of an Undertaker match without the ropewalk forearm. He misses an avalanche (why even try that?), and Sid grabs a bearhug way, way, way too early into the bout. It goes on for a long while, too. ‘Taker finally breaks it, and they go to the floor, where Sid drops him on the rail a couple of times. Slam on (but not through) the Spanish announce table, and then he posts him. So much of this feels like I could just copy-and-paste from the Diesel match the year before. Back inside, Sid grabs a camel clutch, because, why not? Sid with a sloppy looking powerslam for a series of two counts (a spot I love), and he hits his big, big legdrop for another series of twos. Choke, choke, choke – but with a Sid variation – BITING! ‘Taker comes back with the jumping clothesline, but misses his 50/50 elbow drop. Sid grabs a chinlock, because, again, why not? It’s just the WrestleMania main event. There’s a guy in the front row literally falling asleep! ‘Taker comes back with a gorgeous powerslam for two, and applies a nerve hold he must have learned from his classic producing series with Yokozuna in 1994. Double big boot spot, as I again wonder if I can just copy-and-paste a bunch of this from last year. Is ‘Taker going to try a backdrop next? Sid actually makes it up first, and hammers away with a flying axehandle. 2^nd rope flying clothesline (in the loosest sense of the word, as it barely connected) gets two, and a slam. Sid goes all the way up, but ‘Taker crotches him, waking the crowd up, and slamming him off. ‘Taker with a flying clothesline for two, and he looks to finish. Tombstone, but Sid reverses for two. Bret Hart runs in, and nails Sid with a chair during a slugfest, allowing ‘Taker a chokeslam for two. Criss cross, but ‘Taker misses the jumping clothesline. Oh, he’s a’gonna be pissed! Sid goes for the powerbomb, but here’s Bret Hart again. He gives Sid a stunner, and one tombstone later we’re 6-0, and have a new WWF Champion at 21:23. A few nice spots, but badly booked, too long, and ‘Taker looked horribly weak, as he needed Bret Hart to win the title. ½*.

- WrestleMania XIV: The Undertaker v Kane: The first of thousands of meetings between these two. I was actually so disinterested with this show at the time (and the WWF in general, after Montreal), that I remember actually turning it off sometime during this match. The suck that was WCW would eventually lead me back. Obligatory staredown to start. ‘Take wins a slugfest, but Kane no sells it all anyway, and won’t even play along with the ropewalk spot! Kane hangs him in a tree of woe, and, um, woe ensues. Kane dumps him, and abuses him with the ring steps, including just launching them off of his ribs like a basketball in one cool spot. Suplex back in, and a chokeslam off of a criss cross gets two. Chinlock (see, Sid, it’s a resthold, but it’s not two minutes into the damn match!), and Kane continues the offense with ‘Taker’s own 50/50 elbow (which hits)! Unfortunately, he then goes right back to the chinlock, but I appreciate the effort. ‘Taker dumps him, but a dive over the top misses, and Kane guides him right through the Spanish announce table. See, Sid, we go through the table. Back in, Kane with a flying clothesline for two. Kane with the tombstone, but it only gets two, and he gets desperate, unloading on ‘Taker with punches. Slugfest won by ‘Taker, and he gets the chokeslam. Tombstone, but Kane kicks out – which was pretty crazy shit at the time. ‘Taker with another, and he still kicks out! ‘Taker with a flying clothesline, but Kane no sells, only to eat a 3^rd tombstone – and that does it at 16:48, to make him 7-0. They must have had insane confidence in Kane at the time to let him kick out of not one, but TWO tombstones – which was pretty much unheard of at the time. The match was perfectly fine, and seemed like the completion of Vince’s dream of what he imagined the Undertaker v Undertaker match from SummerSlam ’94 would be – only with more developed movesets, as ‘Taker had advanced beyond the strictly ‘deadman’ moves by this point. ** ½.

- WrestleMania XV: Hell in a Cell Match: The Undertaker v Big Boss Man: Bossman wins a slugfest to start, but quickly eats a clothesline (from hell?!) for two. ‘Taker tries a backdrop (again, why?), and takes a neckbreaker for two. They brawl to the floor, and into the cell. Bossman grabs the handcuffs, and cuffs ‘Taker to the cell, leaving him helpless to nightstick abuse. Oh, but so it would seem! Before Bossman can adequately abuse ‘Taker with his stick, he breaks free, and he has to settle for choking him with it. Finally back inside (though, I’m not sure how that’s really better… other than that the match can end there, I guess) and ‘Taker hits the jumping clothesline. Ropewalk forearm, but Bossman crotches him. Slugfest ends when ‘Taker returns the ballshot favor, and a tombstone puts him at 8-0 at 9:48. Brutal. In the wrong ways. -*. Interestingly, this wouldn’t even be Bossman’s worst Hell in a Cell match.

- WrestleMania X-7: The Undertaker v Triple H: We don’t even make it into the ring, starting on the floor, with Trips casually going through the makeshift Spanish announce position (the regular one had been broken earlier, and they had a little flimsy table in its place). Inside, ‘Taker with a big backdrop (it finally worked!), and a cross corner clothesline. Powerslam, but the 50/50 elbow fails. Criss cross, and UT’s jumping clothesline finds the mark. Oh, shit! He better slow down! We’re only a few minutes in, and by my count he only has, what, ropewalk, chokeslam, tombstone, and maybe, flying clothesline left. Oh, and choking, of course. And, indeed, he goes for the ropewalk next, but gets slammed off. HHH with a straight neckbreaker for two, and he pounds away. Swinging variation gets a series of two counts, and he gets into a shoving match with the referee about it, in a cute spot. He grabs his sledgehammer from ringside (because why wouldn’t it be there? Actually, in high school, that was one of my friends constant rips on wrestling. The weapons under the ring, or in random places around ringside. He found this ridiculous, and would always bring it up any time I would try to broach the subject of wrestling with him. Can’t say he didn’t have a point). Anyway, the ref pulls it away from him, but Trips still sets up the Pedigree, only to get countered, as UT hits a slingshot, right into the uppity referee. Chokeslam, and the ref actually recovers quickly enough to count two, so ‘Taker beats the piss out of him to show him how to properly sell a ref bump. Okay then. UT dumps him, in an impressive bump from HHH, and backdrops him into the crowd. Man, he is ON with his backdrops tonight! They brawl through the crowd, over to the production area, and up various levels of scaffolding like they’re at WCW Uncensored. HHH grabs a random chair (the placement of which actually makes sense!) and just unloads on poor ‘Taker, but gets caught, and chokeslammed off of the scaffold onto the area floor. Actually, onto a big giant mattress, but it looked really cool. ‘Taker follows him down with a flying elbow, and they brawl back through the crowd. Back in the ring, we see the ref is somehow STILL down, so ‘Taker grabs the sledgehammer, and whips the crowd into a frenzy. Unfortunately, he can’t get a move in on HHH, as Hunter gets in a well time ballshot. Main event style slugfest won by HHH, and he goes for a tombstone, gets reversed, but there’s no referee. ‘Taker calls for a powerbomb (he was using one as a finisher around this period), but Triple H counters it mid-air with a sledgehammer shot for two. Yeah, the ref should be a vegetable at this point – and in no way should he be trusted with officiating any sort of sporting events. HHH into the corner with a ten-punch count, but ‘Taker pulls him off into the powerbomb to make it 9-0 at 18:19. Not as good as I remember it being when I was in high school, but definitely a solid match. ***.

- WrestleMania X8: No Disqualification Match: The Undertaker v Ric Flair: This is the first year I remember them really trumping up ‘The Streak,’ though it definitely wasn’t as big of a thing as it is these days. They waste no time with staredowns, going right into a brawl, and spilling to the floor, where Flair takes control, until ‘Taker posts him. Back inside, Flair botches the Flair Flip, but manages it on the 2^nd try, and eats boot. Kinda weird to think he seemed like he was finishing his run THEN (not even being able to pull off moves named after him, and all), and he’s still going strong a full ten years later. Flair does a noteworthy bladejob (which is… why I’m noting it), and ‘Taker hits a superplex for two. Odd transition there, as UT actually physically put him on the top for the superplex, when it looked like he was supposed to end up there on his own, but another attempt at a Flair Flip failed. 50/50 elbow misses, and Flair chops away. ‘Taker no sells, and it’s ropewalk time, but he gets slammed off by the man who knows more about that than anyone. More chopping, but ‘Taker catches a sidewalk slam for two. Big boot misses, and Flair dumps him. On the floor, Flair uses a piece of ‘Taker’s motorcycle, and a piece of the ring set. Back in, Flair gets the figure four, but ‘Taker chokeslams his way out. That gets two, so ‘Taker abuses the ref (‘cause, yeah, that’s the appropriate response when you fail – beat on someone smaller than you who had nothing to do with it!). ‘Taker looks to finish Flair with the motorcycle pipe, but Arn Anderson runs in out of nowhere, and nails ‘Taker, giving Flair a two count. Undertaker grabs poor Arn (who actually bothered to blade!), but Flair saves with a chair. It doesn’t last long, however, and it’s powerbomb time. They botch it, however, but they cover nicely by saying Flair was ‘countering’ it. Tombstone makes him 10-0 at 18:47. This would have been well served to lose ten minutes, and trim all the punchy-kicky stuff I glossed over that made up a good bulk of the match. * ½.

- WrestleMania XIX: Handicap Match: The Undertaker v The Big Show & A-Train: Chokeslam right away on Albert to start for two, and the heels bail to regroup. Back, ‘Taker catches him with the ropewalk, drawing Show in, and allowing Albert a sitdown powerbomb. Show posts him for good measure, and a press slam onto the rail allows Albert to get two. Show tags in, but ‘Taker counters the chokeslam with an arm bar, only to get jumped by Albert. He counters HIM with a cross arm breaker, but Show drops a big leg to break it up. Abdominal stretch by Show, which I may normally bitch about, but he does make sure to use Albert for leverage. I do complain, however, as Albert tags in, and then does the exact same fucking thing. Come on now guys. Mix it up a little. I like blondes just fine, but sometimes I’ll fuck a redhead at the strip club. Variety, that’s all I’m saying. ‘Taker comes back with a jumping DDT, and then brings Show in, too, for the jumping clothesline. He walks right into Show’s chokeslam, however, but Nathan Jones runs in, and one tombstone on Albert later makes him 11-0 at 9:45. Having two guys carry the load certainly helped pacing issues, but this was nothing special. ½*.

- WrestleMania XX: The Undertaker v Kane: Classic staredown to start, and ‘Taker just unloads on him. We spill to the floor, and ‘Taker lays him across the edge of the ring for a legdrop. Cross corner clothesline by Billie Joe Taker, and he goes for the powerbomb, but Kane stunguns him (or, well, at least in theory does, as they miss it by a mile). Sidewalk slam, and a flying clothesline gets two. Slugfest, and ‘Taker catches him with a big boot/legdrop combo. Ropewalk forearm pops the Garden, but Kane catches him in a choke coming down, which Undertaker promptly counters with his own choke! Again, ‘Taker does not like people stealing that one from him. Sequence ends with Kane hitting his chokeslam, and that’s gotta piss ‘Taker off. And, indeed, that kind of disrespect causes the sit up. Jumping clothesline, chokeslam, and the tombstone put him at 12-0 at a brisk 7:45. The entrances took up as long as the match. * ½. This is the pacing/booking that UT/Flair needed.

- WrestleMania 21: The Undertaker v Randy Orton: This was the first year where they made a really big deal about ‘The Streak.’ Orton tries to dodge him, sticking and moving, and catches him with a dropkick off of a criss cross for two. Backdrop, and he tries another criss cross, so UT simply decks him this time. ‘Taker misses a cross corner charge, allowing Orton a cradle for two, and he tries for the RKO early, but ‘Taker throws him to the floor like a child. Well, that is one counter. The lay out apron leg drop leaves Orton dazed, and he follows with the ropewalk. Corner charge misses, and Orton hits a nice, Hennig-style dropkick. Lariat for two, but a backdrop fails, and UT DDTs him for two. Bad looking sidewalk slam (it looked incredibly phony) gets two, and he hits a few corner charges to make up for all the ones he misses. Snake eyes, and ‘Taker grabs a dragon sleeper. Orton reverses into a DDT for two, and hits the chinlock. Side suplex stops that effort, as the crowd rallies. Jumping clothesline misses, as Orton turns it into a powerslam for two. Ten punch count in the corner, but he gets cocky, thrusting his cock into Undertaker’s face, so ‘Taker turns it into the powerbomb (identically to the spot with Triple H at X-7, only gayer), however, Orton fights out, and tries for the RKO, which ‘Taker counters, bumping the referee in the process. He tries the powerbomb again, but Orton counters, and with the ref still down, Bob Orton runs in and whacks ‘Taker with his cast (nice), and tosses Randy on top. It gets two, giving the crowd a near heart attack. Chokeslam, but Orton counters with the RKO for two. He tries for a tombstone, and gets reversed for 13-0 at 14:14. Well booked match. ** ¾.

- WrestleMania 22: Casket Match: The Undertaker v Mark Henry: Henry jumps ‘Taker, but gets caught with the jumping clothesline! It has no effect, however. Another, and still nothing, so ‘Taker goes for a third, and gets shoulderblocked down. Henry controls, and even stops a ropewalk attempt with a gutpunch. He tries for the casket, but no dice. Avalanche, but ‘Taker feeds him the boot, and now we see the ropewalk. Henry gets dumped in the casket, and we have a slugfest in the box, won by ‘Taker knocking him back into the ring – which sort of defeats the purpose. Henry gets a powerslam back in there, and actually goes for the cover, establishing that there ARE NO PINFALLS! For the stupid people! Yeah! He rolls ‘Taker in the box, but it goes nowhere. Ten punch count in the corner, and you can guess what happens to him from there. ‘Taker dumps him ONto the casket, instead of into, oddly not understanding the very match he invented. But it’s all just set up, so that he can bust out his tope, getting some terrific distance, as he passes the casket, and nails Henry in the aisle. Tombstone, and a casual roll into the casket puts us at 14-0 in 9:28. This was fine for what it was, and much better than some of the past Undertaker/Big Fat Heel matches of his career (see: Yokozuna, King Kong Bundy, Kamala). *.

- WrestleMania 23: World Heavyweight Title Match: Batista v The Undertaker: The story here is that both men were pissed off at getting shunted down the card despite having a World Title match, and decided to try and steal the show. Batista spears him to start, and takes him to school in the corner. Lariat, and we go to the floor, where ‘Taker eats stair, in a weak bump. Back inside, Batista with a flying shoulderblock for two, and a lariat gets two. Slugfest goes ‘Taker’s way, and he hits the cross corner clothesline. Snake eyes follows, and the big boot/legdrop combo gets two. That spot always looks good. Hogan may not have been a technical master, but he knew how to go with what worked. Ropewalk, but the chokeslam is blocked, so he goes back to the old favorite: the jumping clothesline. Super sloppy version this year, too. Some jabs put Batista on the floor, so we can do the apron legdrop, and then the tope. Dave reverses an Irish whip into the rail, however, and hits a running powerslam through the announce table. Back inside, that gets two, so Batista goes to the more conventional way of doing damage: mounting him and just slugging away. Another powerslam for two. He makes the mistake of trying a ten-punch count in the corner (seriously, does no one actually bother to study the tapes of their opponents before they battle anymore?), and, yep, eats a powerbomb. At least come up with a new transition into that move, God. It’s a POWERBOMB, even Sid had 100 ways he could hit it. Batista quickly comes back with a spinebuster, but walks into the chokeslam for two. Tombstone, but Batista counters with a spear, and the Batista Bomb, but it only gets two. He tries another, but takes a backdrop, and one tombstone later we have a new champion at 15:48, making him 15-0. Well booked, aggressive match, in the WWE Main Event Style, but nothing to go out of your way to see. ** ¾.

- WrestleMania XXIV: World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge v The Undertaker: Edge tries to outsmart him during the opening slugfest, but walks right into a lariat, and then a stungun. Shitty looking jumping clothesline (he gets worse at that with every passing year!) gets two, and he changes up the ropewalk by turning it into an armdrag. Edge spears him out of the ring, and into the rail to mount a comeback, and then follows with a baseball slide. Reverse neckbreaker right across the top rope cuts ‘Taker down to size, and a bodyblock gets two. Standing dropkick, and Edge goes up top, but UT shoves him off, all the way to the floor. He follows up with a tope (that has officially replaces his 50/50 elbow drop in the WrestleMania arsenal), and the apron legdrop gets him two. Powerbomb, but Edge wriggles free, and catches him with a big boot (seriously? From Edge?) for two. To the floor, Edge side suplexes him over the rail, and into the front row, in an impressive spot. Back inside, that gets two. It was a nice spot, but it played awkwardly, as they were in the ring, had to leave specifically to do the suplex, and then Edge had to physically drag ‘Taker back to do a pinfall attempt. I get what they were going for, but it doesn’t come off very smoothly, and works far better if they’re already on the floor for other reasons, and transition in that manner. Edge with a half crab, but ‘Taker powers out, and we have a Main Event slugfest. Uh, yeah, Undertaker wins that. Snake eyes, but Edge catches him coming back for two. Jumping DDT gets two. Spear, but ‘Taker counters by simply kicking him in the face, and then chokeslamming him for two. Ropewalk, but Edge crotches him, and hits a super-duperplex for two. Oh no, he’s going for the ten punch count in the corner. And, yep, powerbomb, though Edge counters with a reverse neckbreaker for two. He proves he IS a moron, however, trying a backdrop next, and eating the powerbomb for two. Proper ropewalk finally hits, but the referee gets bumped, as Edge hits his reverse DDT. He gets a hold of a TV camera, and levels the challengers with it, but there’s still no referee. He actually has the balls to try his own tombstone (because that’s… physically possible…?), but gets reversed, and another referee sprints down the aisle to count… two. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder run in, but ‘Taker quickly and violently dispatches of them, only to eat a spear from Edge for two. Another spear, but ‘Taker counters a pin attempt with his Hell’s Gate submission for the title at 23:50, putting him at 16-0. This had issues, but overall was very solid. *** ¼.

- WrestleMania XXV: The Undertaker v Shawn Michaels: Shawn uses his speed to stick and move at the ‘Taker in the opening minutes, but gets caught and thrown into the corner like a ragdoll. Shawn with a Flair Flip, and he tastes the ozone on a backdrop. Huge press slam follows, and an elbowdrop gets two. UT works the shoulder, setting up the ropewalk forearm, but misses a running knee into the corner. Shawn follows up with a kneebreaker, and a chopblock. Shawn keeps on the knee with his figure four variation, so ‘Taker counters by simply punching him in the face a bunch of times. Hey, whatever works. Snake eyes, and the big boot/legdrop combo gets two. Chokeslam, but Shawn counter with the Crippler Crossface. They work the spot well, with ‘Taker rolling through, and making pinfall attempts, but Shawn really wrenching it in. UT fights out with a sidewalk slam for two, but gets caught by Shawn’s jumping forearm on a criss cross. Shawn with a pair of atomic drops, and a jumping clothesline puts the big man down. Flying axehandle, but ‘Taker catches him in the chokeslam! Shawn counters into the Superkick, however, but ‘Taker sees it coming and hits the deck to avoid fire, which is a great strategy, admittedly. Undeterred, Shawn goes back to the figure four, but this time ‘Taker’s ready, and snags him in the Hell’s Gate. Shawn quickly dives into the ropes, and to the floor after the break. Apron legdrop actually misses, and Shawn with a baseball slide. Moonsault into the aisle, but ‘Taker sees it coming, and simply swats him away like a fly. ‘Taker with the tope, but Shawn sees THAT coming, and uses a camera man as a human shield. Shawn then spends the next five minutes verbally (and somewhat physically) blowing the referee (who had been bumped), trying to get him to count ‘Taker out and end this thing. He beats it (the count, not the refs dick), however, so Shawn warms up the band. Superkick walks him right into a chokeslam, but that only gets two. Tombstone, into superkick, into chokeslam, into superkick sequence, and Shawn gets two off of that. ‘Taker with the powerbomb (hey, no ten punch count!), but Shawn pulls out a sunset flip, only to get pulled off, and properly powerbombed for two. Flying elbowdrop misses (it’s like his 50/50 elbow – to the max!), and Shawn charges, only to get dumped. He skins the cat, and actually catches ‘Taker in a headscissors on the way back in, but ‘Taker counters with a tombstone for two. The look on his face there is just brilliant, and he pulls down the strap in frustration. Tombstone again, but Shawn counters with a DDT. He doesn’t even bother to cover, instead crawling up the ropes, and hitting a flying elbowdrop. Superkick gets another dramatic two count, and both men just utterly frustrated, they get into a staggering slugfest – ended by ‘Taker’s big boot. Cross corner charge misses, though, and Shawn with another moonsault. He gets caught in the tombstone, however, and we’re 17-0 at 30:40. Terrific match, but I think people tend to overrate this. While it managed to go around a lot of ‘Undertaker match’ clichés, and was well booked, it had a lot of down time (even when taking selling into account), as well as some issues with the psychology (Shawn’s work of the leg went nowhere. As did ‘Taker’s work of the arm). ****.

- WrestleMania XXVI: Streak v Career Match: The Undertaker v Shawn Michaels: Shawn takes a Flair Flip and snake eyes right away, then eats ropewalk. He counters the chokeslam, however, but fails to hit the superkick early on, and both guys regroup. Shawn senses a weakness, and goes after the knee like a shark, pounding him into the corner. ‘Taker knocks him to the floor, and gears up for the tope, but Shawn runs in and spears him to counter, then goes right back after the leg. He tries for the figure four, but gets dumped, and posted. Apron legdrop find the mark this year, but he’s too slow to capitalize, and Shawn gets the figure four on. ‘Taker reverses, and hits the chokeslam for two. Tombstone, but Shawn counters with an awkward looking anklelock. The size difference just makes it look wrong there. I think they sense it, as they quickly switch it to a more appropriate mat based version. Cactus-clothesline, and a springboard dive to the floor, but Shawn gets caught, and tombstoned on the outside. Back in, that gets two, though I don’t think even the markiest mark was buying that as the ending, even with the ‘EMTs’ at ringside flipping out to tend to Shawn. Powerbomb, but Shawn counters with a faceslam, which looked sloppy. Flying elbow hits knees, in a great looking spot, and ‘Taker slaps on Hell’s Gate. Shawn rolls through it for two, and catches him with the superkick for two. He revs up the band for another, but gets so eager he shoots too early, and but gets powerbombed for his troubles. Hey, that’s happened to everyone now and again, though, usually, my girlfriends prefer piledrivers to powerbombs in that situation, but whatever. ‘Taker dumps him (hey, he did prematurely superkick…), and tries a powerbomb through a table, but eats superkick. Shawn upstairs, and a big moonsault puts them both through the table, as he finally hits it, in a nice call back to the year before. Inside, UT continues to sell the leg, and eats another superkick for two. He tries another, but gets chokeslammed. Tombstone gets two, and the straps come down. Undertaker has a change of heart, however, as Shawn crawls up his leg, begging. He crosses the line, however, when he slaps ‘Taker in the face. One tombstone later, and we’re 18-0 at 24:00, ending Shawn’s career (at least, for now). I actually liked the pacing better this year, and while the psychology didn’t lead to a finish, ‘Taker did sell Shawn’s legwork throughout the bout. ****.

- WrestleMania XXVII: No Holds Barred Match: The Undertaker v Triple H: Entrances eat up a solid ten minutes. Slugfest (whatever happened to a nice collar-and-elbow tie up?) spills to the floor, and ‘Taker gets speared into Michael Cole’s cube of emotion (a plexiglass cube at ringside). Inside, ropewalk forearm gets him slammed off, and Trips dumps him. He tries the pedigree onto a table, but gets backdropped off, onto the floor. I swear, Triple H’s kneepads say ‘AARP’ on them. ‘Taker with a tope, and he tries a tombstone on the stairs, but gets spinebustered through a table. Back inside (after we’re treated to some of HHH’s ‘I’ll hold my dick, and call it selling’ technique), and ‘Taker nails him with a chokeslam for two. Powerbomb, but HHH tackles him into the corner to counter. Ten punch count, and ‘Taker goes for it again, but Trips leapfrogs out, and tries the pedigree, but gets dropped with the snake eyes. Nice callback to X-7 there. ‘Taker charges, but eats spinebuster for two. Pedigree gets two after ‘Taker misses a chair shot. Triple H goes for a superplex, but ‘Taker counters with the powerbomb for two, in a nice spot. Tombstone gets two, so he tries one on the chair, but HHH counters by DDTing him onto it. Another pedigree gets two, as does a third. He lays into him with the chair, and then literally sits around instead of capitalizing in any sort of way. I mean, he actually goes to the corner and just sits there, and looks like a little lost boy. Or, like, maybe he shit his pants, and is hoping no one notices the stain. I know that he’s selling exhaustion and frustration, but at least cover the guy. Sulking isn’t going to help anything. Instead, he waits until ‘Taker has time to recover, and then goes over the taunt him. He hits a tombstone, but it only gets two. Hey, maybe if you did that, you know, right after you went all fuckin’ OJ with the chair on him, you might have actually got the pin – but, too little, too late. Now fully feeling the effects of his shortcomings, HHH retrieves his always faithful sledgehammer, but before he can perform, ‘Taker locks on Hell’s Gate and goes 19-0 at 30:30. A bit overlong, but this isn’t the type of match they could have wrapped up in twelve minutes. It had pacing issues, however, and could have used better booking. ** ¾.

- WrestleMania XXVIII: Hell in a Cell Match: The Undertaker v Triple H: Shawn Michaels is the guest referee/old Italian mother for this match. Slugfest to start, and ‘Taker dumps him, into the stairs. Backdrop (he’s come so far over the years with that spot!), and he headbutts the shit out of HHH for a while, then goes back to the old standard – choking. Inside, ropewalk connects, and he dumps him again, this time to abuse him with the stairs. Apron legdrop, and he brings the stairs back in with him, but HHH catches him with a DDT. HHH with a pedigree on the steps, but UT counters with a backdrop. He charges, but eats a spinebuster right onto the steps. HHH tries to capitalize, but gets caught in Hell’s Gate. He powers out, however, slamming him for two, and goes searching for weapons. He lays into him with a chair again, until even Shawn gets in his face about it. You know when Shawn Michaels is getting in your face about being a dick – you might have problems. He gets two off of a series of chairshots (at least learning something from the year before), and then bails to regroup as Shawn checks on ‘Taker. He comes back with the sledgehammer, but Shawn won’t have it. He can’t actually stop it, however, and a big shot with it gets two. He tries again, and this time Shawn physically wrestles it away. He checks on ‘Taker, but gets caught in Hell’s Gate for his troubles, only to get saved by HHH, and the sledgehammer. HHH get’s caught, too, but Shawn is hurt, and can’t check the submission, as Hunter goes limp. Another referee runs in, but by then ‘Taker breaks the hold, and hits the chokeslam, only getting two. That earns the referee a chokeslam of his own, for reasons that make sense only to the Undertaker. Tombstone, but HHH shoves him into Michaels’ superkick, back into his own pedigree, and Michaels counts two, and then has an attack of conscious. He goes to the sledgehammer again, tossing Shawn aside, but eats big boot from ‘Taker, and a cross corner clothesline. Snake eyes, and the tombstone, but it only gets two, leaving Shawn cowering in the corner, literally in tears. Pedigree gets another two count, leaving them fighting to reach weapons. ‘Taker wins, getting to a chair, and exacting some revenge. HHH desperately grabs the sledge, but can’t even get it up before ‘Taker pulls it away, and goes to work. Shawn turning his back on the scene is a great touch. Tombstone, and Shawn puts him out of his misery at 30:52, leaving the Undertaker at a phenomenal 20-0. I actually preferred this years version to last years, as the pacing was better, as was the booking. Shawn Michaels also played his part very well. ***.

- BUExperience: Hey, if you really, really like Undertaker matches, well, this set is for you! A few good matches, especially towards the end, but overall, I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick this up. *

Welcome

2012-10-14T04:11:00.000-04:00

Welcome to BUExperience Center.

I'll be providing you with (hopefully) insightful rants on pro-wrestling, film, music, and whatever else goes through my mind. I hope you'll stick around, and join the conversation.

I should note that while I have been a wrestling fan since 1994, I stopped watching 'religiously' in the early 2000s (a combination of finding girls, and losing interest in the Invasion stuff), so my knowledge of the current product is modest, at best. Most rants will likely be on classic stuff - the WrestleCrap and the rest.

Let's get the ball rolling!