WWE Plans for WrestleMania 32
Due to the show being held at Dallas Stadium and needing a lot of seats to fill, the idea is that any legend that can still perform will probably be asked to be part of the show.
Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter
WrestleMania Preshow Updates
With the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal being moved to the kickoff show, it is reported that match will go on first at about 6pm EST. The Tag Team Title match will start at about 6:30pm EST, making the WrestleMania show 5 hours long in total.
http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/41803-wrestlemania-news-andre-the-giant-battle-royal-moved-to-pre-show
Hideo Itami Wins NXT Tournament to Qualify For the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/31/hideo-itami-wins-nxt-tournament-andre-giant-memorial-battle-royal-wrestlemania-27234399
Former WWE Tag Team Looking to Work for Lucha Underground
The former Cryme Time team of Shad Gaspard & JTG were at the past Lucha Underground tapings looking for work.
Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Also, head on over to Place to be Nation to check out the "Great WrestleMania Re-Book Series" as they cover WrestleMania 29. You can view that by clicking on the link below.
http://placetobenation.com/the-great-wrestlemania-re-book-wrestlemania-29/
And vote in this week's shoot interview poll by clicking on the link below.
http://vote.pollcode.com/52192717
Due to the show being held at Dallas Stadium and needing a lot of seats to fill, the idea is that any legend that can still perform will probably be asked to be part of the show.
Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter
WrestleMania Preshow Updates
With the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal being moved to the kickoff show, it is reported that match will go on first at about 6pm EST. The Tag Team Title match will start at about 6:30pm EST, making the WrestleMania show 5 hours long in total.
http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/96-wwe-news/41803-wrestlemania-news-andre-the-giant-battle-royal-moved-to-pre-show
Hideo Itami Wins NXT Tournament to Qualify For the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/31/hideo-itami-wins-nxt-tournament-andre-giant-memorial-battle-royal-wrestlemania-27234399
Former WWE Tag Team Looking to Work for Lucha Underground
The former Cryme Time team of Shad Gaspard & JTG were at the past Lucha Underground tapings looking for work.
Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Also, head on over to Place to be Nation to check out the "Great WrestleMania Re-Book Series" as they cover WrestleMania 29. You can view that by clicking on the link below.
http://placetobenation.com/the-great-wrestlemania-re-book-wrestlemania-29/
And vote in this week's shoot interview poll by clicking on the link below.
http://vote.pollcode.com/52192717
Hologram Andre vs Ambrose. After Mania the score will be Technology 3 - Ambrose 0
ReplyDeleteHave you heard his voice post cancer? It's pretty rough. It's pretty hard to understand him now.
ReplyDeleteThat works. I don't remember season three so maybe it's better that I don't have it grin the way you make it sound. Did you see they're releasing the soundtrack on vinyl for record store day? I might try and pick it up since the Pete and Pete soundtrack is pretty damn good.
ReplyDeleteOh wow I didn't hear that. That's awesome. I still listen to Summerbaby and the theme by Polaris all the time. They had great music on that show. Bojack Horseman had great music in it too. The 90s had some great TV, especially on Nick.
ReplyDeleteBut will Snickers give me that lustrous hair?
ReplyDeleteThey moved the battle royal to the pre-show? What a bunch of bullshit.
ReplyDeleteIt's gonna be 3 hours of backstage skits
CM Punk vs. John Cena at MitB has to be up there too ... frustrated superstar who knows he's better than everyone gets to cut an insane promo, get a title match and then reveal that it is the last day of his contract and he plans on leaving with the gold. The wins the match and blows a kiss to the boss as he leaves through the crowd?
ReplyDeleteSure they fucked it up, but that was amazing.
I always assumed that Sheamus will get the next program with Lesnar, regardless of heel/face alignment.
ReplyDeleteThat Warrior/Rude choice sticks out like a sore thumb on this list. There has to be a bunch that are WAY better than that. Bret/DBS at SummerSlam '92, for example.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about Sting though is the peak of his career came in 1997 because he stuck with WCW even when he was getting pushed aside for Hogan, Savage, and company. I certainly wish he would have come over right after WCW folded, but he was a huge star in the business. The #1 or #2 guy at a couple of different points in his career.
ReplyDeleteI love Warrior/Rude personally. Not sure it makes it top five, but I like it better than the HBK/Taker HiaC ending. I was such a huge Heenan fan as a kid, I was jumping up and down. What Scott didn't even mention was Heenan's desperation after years of Monsoon needling him about never managing a champion.
ReplyDelete2 matches that had the same ending, both awesome:
ReplyDeleteRock vs. Mankind (Raw) - Glass shatters, crowd goes nuts Austin lays out everyone with a chair, Mankind wins to Huge pop.
Rock vs. HHH (Backlash) - Glass shatters, crowd goes nuts, Austin lays out everyone with a chair,
Rock wins to a Huge pop.
Biggest lost opportunity is not Hogan vs. Flair????!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think watching Austin's commentary on the match in recent months has made me like the match a lot more. When I first watched it I wasn't a huge fan because of the finish.
ReplyDelete* Edge spearing Foley through a flaming table at WM22. So many things could've gone wrong with that stunt, not even serious injury-wise just in terms of timing and whatnot (Lita takes a few extra seconds getting the table lit, doesn't get it lit at all, Edge overshoots the spear or something, etc.) but it went off perfectly.
ReplyDelete* Undertaker is showing mercy for the only time in his career, only to have Michaels slap him in the face. Taker gets enraged, busts out the LEAPING TOMBSTONE as the final f-you to Michaels' career.
* Bulldog beating Bret at Summerslam 1992 solely because I'd never seen that counter before and thought it was coolest thing ever.
* The all-time finish in wrestling history would've been if Lesnar had actually hit that Shooting Star Press at WM19.
* A relative of the Bret/Austin WM13 finish, but from Souled Out 1998....Raven passes out smiling in the crossface.
Finally! Someone agrees with me that Owen would have been a top guy in the early 2000s had he not died!
ReplyDeleteI say this all the time: Owen had a chance to sign with WCW but didn't want to move to Atlanta. Had he stayed I wondered if he would have been a star, especially when they did the whole Team Canada thing.
ReplyDeleteShawn Michaels vs Shelton Benjamin. I was like " holy.fucking.shit."
ReplyDeleteVince blocked Owen from going there.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, what also made Warrior-Rude great was nobody saw it coming. Warrior had been unstoppable for a year. By making him so strong, they were able to make a star out of Rude here without hurting Warrior one bit. It was awesome, adn the payoff at Summerslam was great, too.
ReplyDeleteSteve Austin beats the shit out of Vince McMahon, is about to walk out of cage...only to have Vince shoot him the bird, so he goes back in to beat him some more.
ReplyDeleteSteve Austin beats the everloving piss out of Vince McMahon, is about the climb over the cage...only to have Vince shoot him the double bird, so he goes back in to beat him some more.
After beating Vince into a quivering mass of donkey dong, Paul Wight bursts through the ring to beat the crap out of Austin. At Vince's behest, Wight throws Austin into the cage so hard that the cage breaks, sending Austin falling to the floor for victory.
Best finish ever.
Not the first time. Owen wrestled there:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/bjWc1AFWT3g
Here he is leading the crowd in a "faggot" chant.
Shawn Michaels beats Bret Hart in his own move when owner calls for the bell.....just kidding.
ReplyDeleteI like finishes that keep both guys strong when they can.
I love the HIAC ending and for me it was one of the best run in finishes ever. All three guys involved came out strong and we got a 5 star.
I love the original Ladder Match ending as well with Shawn's innovative work with the ladder eventually backfiring with a freak accident costing him the match.
Bret playing possum against Nash at Survivor Series 95 was truly great as well.
Reading this list I couldn't help but think that if it had been done how the world knew it should have been done Sting/Hogan would have been Number 1.
Foley getting pedigreed after falling through the top of the cage.
ReplyDeleteHBK vs. Shelton Benjamin
Bulldogs vs. Valentine/Beefcake.
Santana/Valentine cage match
Austin beating
HBK/Taker HiaC
Here are some finishes that I loved:
ReplyDelete1) Rumble 94: Luger and Bret as co-winners
2) Warrior vs Savage: WM7. Two guys beat the hell out of each other and pull out all the stops, but Savage makes a critical mistake and Warrior covers him with his foot, sensing Savage has nothing left finally. Only negative is that Heenan and Monsoon weren't on top of the ending since it was slightly sudden.
3) Piper vs Bret: WM8: Bret counters Pipers' own finisher off the turnbuckle to roll on top to pin him. Loved the callback to it against Austin at Survivor Series 96.
4) Bret vs Diesel at Survivor Series 95: Diesel beats Bret for 40 minutes and then in a overconfident moment he gets small packaged to lose the title.
Now that I think about it, Bret had tons of great finishes in his career.
1. Magnum shoves a stake in Tully's eye, considers finishing him off, walks out the cage instead after having proved his point.
ReplyDelete2. Idiot savant Rick Steiner outsmarting his old Varsity Team partners and celebrating afterwards.
3. The Dangerous Alliance's master plan falling apart thanks to Zbyszko and Sting's team winning the Wargames.
4. Honky Tonk Man runs his mouth once too often and gets destroyed.
5. Macho Man outdirties the "Dirtiest Player In The Game" and wins the title with a handful of tights, unleashing an hypocritical tirade from Flair afterwards.
Yes - forgot about this one. Awesome, awesome finish. How Shelton didn't kick on after this is a mystery.
ReplyDelete#4 is interesting because the entire match is a finish.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I have always loved the ending of the Magnum TA/Ronnie Garvin V Tiger Mask/Giant Baba semifinal match from the first Crockett Cup. Tiger Mask went from a top rope body press and Magnum turned it in to s belly-to-belly suplex (his finisher). It was not the catch and suplex move you see a lot today, it was all in one motion- he turned TM midair into the move.
ReplyDeleteAs just a pure match finish, I have always thought it was just beyond cool
That Stretch Muffler that Brock Lesnar beat Chris Benoit with.
ReplyDeleteFollowed up by one of the worst finishes even in the final, where Ronnie Garvin knocks out a Road Warrior, but hurts his hand too much to cover, then gets clotheslined by the other for the pin.
ReplyDeleteYou agree that it's not?
ReplyDeleteIts not historically significant enough but I thought the first Bret vs Austin finish was beautiful storytelling.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Rumble 05?
ReplyDeleteA good recent (non WWE) example is Storm vs Roode from BFG 2012. Fantastic ending to a great match and a great feud with the beer bottle/superkick combo. Shame it wasn't for the title.
ReplyDeleteMore ...
ReplyDelete1. Ric Flair shoots his mouth off about being a real world's champion, then finds out he's #3 at the Royal Rumble. He proceeds then to spent the entire match fighting everyone and wins it just to prove he wasn't lying, followed up by maybe his best promo ever.
2. Randy Savage's mania ends when he realizes he can't beat the Ultimate Warrior, discovers Sherri was using him the entire time, accepts his fate and returns to Elizabeth.
3. Goldberg tears through the nWo in one night to win the WCW Title at the Georgia Dome.
4. Rey Mysterio beats JBL in a minute - hey, if your the kind of heel JBL was and you are going to retire, go out showing your ass one last time. I loved it.
5. Booker T beats Jeff Jarrett for the WCW Title after the Hogan shenanigans earlier in the night. I know its Russo, but seeing WCW FINALLY embrace a real home-grown star was awesome.
SurSer 96 - Bret outsmarts Austin, pulling out his finish from a few years ago at Mania v. Piper to reverse his finisher into a pin. That and the WM 13 finishes are amazing together - one's the wily vet using all his experience to outsmart his opponent, the second is him realizing he needs to resort to viciousness and just hurt Austin, rather than simply outsmarting him.
ReplyDeleteSurprised nobody has mentioned Owen Hart's Victory Roll reversal pin over Bret at WMX.
ReplyDeleteHaving seen when their future matches were like, I don't think it was that big of a deal. The matches Flair had with Savage were better to me.
ReplyDeletethey fucked it up by having Edge be the guy to take ORton's IC title and not Shelton. If Benjamin had been the guy to beat Orton, that would have made him.
ReplyDeleteBret Hart brings in a chair, special ref Shawn Michaels pulls it away, Bret spits on HBK, HBK swings the chair, misses Bret and hits Taker. Bret covers and Shawn HAS to call the one... two... three. The impossible had happened.
ReplyDelete"BUT WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?"
How has Over the Edge 98 not been mentioned yet? That whole sequence with Taker chokeslamming the stooges through tables, then Austin counting the fall with unconscious Vince's own hand was fucking incredible. It's one of the few matches where I'll still mark out every time I watch it, god knows how many rewatches later. Among my all time favorite matches for certain.
ReplyDeleteDammit, I was just about to! That's my personal favorite, the little brother beating Bret, the best wrestler, by reversing his Victory Roll. And of course the look of shock on Owen's face afterwards.
ReplyDeleteFlair wasn't well know enough to WWF fans, I think hindsight it was more of a miss than it actually was.
ReplyDeleteShawn and Bulldog go from beginning to the final 2 in Royal Rumble 95 and Shawn surviving by keeping one foot off the floor.
ReplyDeletethe opening introductions almost make the match alone
ReplyDeleteThis was the best match of the Attitude era in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know how you time that kick so that it doesn't legitimately knock Shelton out. That was a beautiful sequence.
ReplyDeletethe introductions are fucking spectacular. plus the "reminders" of the new stips, just for JR's awesome reaction. "SINCE WHEN? SINCE WHEN?"
ReplyDeleteThe whole package is an easy ***** in my book.
You've got your timing slightly wrong there brother. The IC change was 2004 and the Shawn match was 2005. I think the silly heel turn really killed Shelton off.
ReplyDeleteGreat ending to a poor Rumble.
ReplyDeleteFlair wasn't really that big a deal to WWF audiences. The match meant more in WCW.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love most about the Shawn/Undertaker HITC finish is the camera zooming in on Shawn's mangled, bloodied faces as "I think I'm cute....I know I'm sexy..." plays over the PA.
ReplyDeleteOne finish I'd love to change just a bit is Bret/Yokozuna at WM10. It would have been better if Bret had reached up and started shaking the second rope causing Yoko to lose his balance rather than Yoko just prematurely celebrating like a moron and falling.
Anyway....my top 5.....
1. Bret/Undertaker (Summerslam '97) - I was there. I'm a huge Bret mark. To see him say "fuck you" to Shawn, spit in his face, and duck a chairshot to win the title was just glorious.
2. Austin/Dude Love (Over The Edge '98) - The sequence from when Austin smashes Dude with the chair until the actual pinfall is my favorite like two minutes of wrestling ever.
3. Hogan/Warrior (WM6) - At that point in my life, I was conditioned to see Hulk hit the legdrop after the big boot. For it not to happen like that was beyond shocking.
4. Austin/Rock (WM17) - Ya know, why didn't anybody else think of doing that in a No-DQ match? Just hit your grounded opponent with a weapon until he's a quivering pile of trash.
5. Savage/Flair (WM8) - Flair's career win/loss record would be so much better if he didn't "wooo" so much.
I still do a spit-take when Ross says Patterson does the rear when introducing Brisco and the Brisco Brothers Body Shop
ReplyDeleteThat's not a finish. That's an angle.
ReplyDeleteright. Still ... if Shelton had been the guy to win the IC Title he could have been in the world title picture by 05-06
ReplyDeleteCame here to say this. I don't know if that was the peak of Austin's career, but I've never heard a louder crowd.
ReplyDeletehim blowing a kiss to Vince as he leaves? That's a finish in my book.
ReplyDeleteJust curious, how is that not historically significant enough? That match is hugely important in every aspect.
ReplyDeleteIt can be glossed over though in the grand scheme of things. Like, if they were to do a Austin/Bret feud highlight package, they could start it at Royal Rumble '97 if they really wanted to.
ReplyDeleteanother good one is an old favorite of Scott's ... Luger vs. Steamboat at GAB 89 - Luger gets Steamer to waive the NO DQ clause and then tricks him into getting DQ'd to save his title.
ReplyDeleteDQ's generally suck as a finish because they are used as cop outs to avoid real finishes, but when done right they can be excellent. This is one of them.
The whole Shelton's momma thing was just cringe-inducingly bad. One of those times I was embarrassed to be watching.
ReplyDeleteThe sequence you didn't mention with Vince and Bug Johnny coming down to interfere and Cena refusing their help letting Punk take advantage of the chaos was the finish.
ReplyDeleteThe kids was after the match.
SHelton managed to catch most of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat made it a good spot is Shelton was such a good high flyer that when he jumped off the ropes it didn't look contrived.
At the end HBK sold it like he knew he escaped with the win.
I've actually gone as far as to say it's the best match in WWF history (maybe a bit overstated...but maybe not). Like, if someone had never seen pro wrestling before and wanted to know why it entertains me, I'd show them this match.
ReplyDeleteJake the Snake could have been more. He could tell a story in the ring, and his promos were second to none. He had some high profile angles, but was never on top of the company.
ReplyDeleteSame with Million Dollar Man. He was a big star, but should have been champion and had a top run with Hogan.
I watched #5 the other day. That whole thing was great -- awesome angle, intensity in the match, crowd was super hot for the whole match, great announcing, the whole 9 yards.
ReplyDeleteHeenan and Perfect were the ones bitching about the handful of trunks, while Flair was just plotting his revenge. "WE DON'T CRY OVER SPILLED MILK, WE REGROUP!! THE MONEY, THE BRAINS, THE NUCLEUS (or new-cue-lus)!!"
Savage's post-match promo was also amazing. "I don't know how you made me madder than I was going into the match but YA DEEEEEEE-IIID!!!"
I was thinking about the same thing with Bret. He won the title 5 times, and won it a different way each time.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking Austin Rock. Austin beat the shit out of him. Same way I was thinking the "I Quit" match where they played Mick screaming over the PA system.
ReplyDelete"Specializes in rear end work"
ReplyDeleteIf they cut after Flair was done and not let Perfect speak it would have been one of the best wrestling segments ever.
ReplyDeleteKurt Angle vs. Ken Anderson is one of TNA's funnest matches ever with a justified great ending
ReplyDeleteI think though, it was kind of a different era back then. There are a dozen guys that could have been champion. Dibiase, Jake, Rude, Perfect, Piper...etc...etc...etc..
ReplyDeleteNow anybody can be champion really. Jack Swagger is a former world champion.
Bret showed he was a thinking champion and had to dig into his bag of tricks to win.
ReplyDeleteSame with Perfect. And Rude. And a shitload of other guys from that era.
ReplyDeleteThere was no build.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely one of my favorite matches. I could watch it anytime and mark the F out.
ReplyDeleteOn paper, yes... but with Hogan being forced to leave the promotion after Mania 8, the match wouldn't have really worked. I doubt they would've had Flair win, and even if he did, it would've been set up for Hogan to get revenge, but he was leaving. If it was just a standard Hogan win, it would've been just like any other Hogan match from that era.
ReplyDeleteI think what we got with Flair vs. Savage more than cancels out not getting the dream match on the biggest stage.
Another great moment in crowd homophopia is on an early Raw where Vince is interviewing Shawn Michaels in the ring. The entire crowd is chanting "Shawn is gay! Shawn is gay!" so Bobby Heenan joins in from the commentary position and chants "Shawn is great! Shawn is great!"
ReplyDeleteThe issue with Sting is when does he jump ship to where he would've had the most impact??
ReplyDelete1991 around the time Flair did? He and Bret could've led the New Generation for five or six years. Wouldn't have had to throw Hogan back up there in 93 for sure. Wouldn't have the Lex Luger flop of 93-94. Wouldn't have needed Nash to kill the promotion in 95.
I feel the Attitude Era was so overcrowded he would've gotten lost in the shuffle.
He could've definitely worked in the Invasion, but he would've needed rebuilding after the WWF prevailed.
Modern ones in no particular order:
ReplyDeleteMitB 11: Vince and Johnny come down to ringside to ensure the title doesn't go with Punk. Cena, wanting to test himself against an equal, gets distracted refusing their help. Punk takes advantage of the chaos to win and leave with the belt.
WM27: Triple H beats Undertaker into goo. He gets cocky and gets caught by the near dead Taker in the Hell's Gate with his sledgehammer just out of reach.
TLC11: Rollins allows himself to be the sacrificial lamb taking a beating on the ramp while Reigns and Ambrose best Ryback in the ring while Hell No is distracted.
RR07: Cena chokes Umaga out with the ring ropes. After he lets up to get the 10 count, Umaga starts stirring. Cena chokes him out again to finish the job.
I honestly didn't love that MITB ending. It was one step away from a distraction roll up finish.
ReplyDeleteToo bad that the Cena one will likely never see the light of day again...
ReplyDeleteWM28: Cena's finally had enough of the Miami crowd booing him. With The Rock down, he attempts a People's Elbow (with You Cant See Me) to rub it in. Rock pops up and catches him with a Rock Bottom.
ReplyDeleteWhat time frame was Sting out with an injury?
ReplyDeleteIt's in the context. Cena wanting to beat him the right way and losing because of it was a great finish. It meant more than if someone's music played and he got rolled up.
ReplyDeleteBut it wasn't a distraction from the story. Made great sense.
ReplyDeleteYeah you can't put Hogan over cause he's leaving and you can't put Flair over cause you're not gonna put the little WCW guy over your WWF superhero.
ReplyDeleteI miss the days when matches had good finishes.
ReplyDelete1. Hell in a Cell: The ghost of Bray Wyatt costs Dean Ambrose the match against Seth Rollins
ReplyDelete2. Raw: Alicia Fox defeats Paige with a school boy after AJ Lee's music came on to distract her.
3. TLC: TV explodes in Dean Ambrose's face. Bray Wyatt hits Sister Abigail for the pin
4. Raw: Nikki Bella defeats AJ Lee with a school boy after Paige's music came on to distract her.
And coming in at a distant #5. WrestleMania 13: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin
Nah, that ending completely fit within the context of the story that Punk/Cena had been telling not just in the match, but since the Pipebomb promo. In a vaccum (ignoring everything that came after, basically), the entire buildup and match itself is one of the great stories the WWE has ever told.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go with anytime between 2003 - 2005 would have been ideal for Sting to be a major star. The roster was a bit depleted around this time. Sting was still young enough to be pushed.
ReplyDeleteMAGNUM TA vs. TULLY BLANCHARD
ReplyDelete+1 million on the Austin-Rock X7 ending. People take points off because "the ending was dirty", but it was perfect. Austin couldn't beat Rocky fairly, so he just beat the hell out of him with a chair until he couldn't get up.
ReplyDeleteNot ever "dirty" finish is bad if the story is told well and the ending makes sense in the context of the story.
At Wrestlemania 27, I felt the match needed blood for the ending...here's why...
ReplyDeleteThe match goes on as it did, but Triple H gets busted open... he and the Undertaker keep slugging it out...Triple H knocks down the Undertaker, but the blood loss is heavy on Triple H...he grabs the sledgehammer, but gets trapped in the Hell's Gate...he struggles to free himself, but can't...in desperation he lifts the sledgehammer to hit the Undertaker with it, but passes out right as he's about to connect...
Thus, the Undertaker wins by the skin of his teeth and makes the rematch push a bit more justified...
Disagree. The reason why Austin elevated the feud to a personal level after Survivor Series was because he bragged about being the better than Bret for months, but then couldn't beat Bret in a fair fight.
ReplyDeleteWM26: Taker's destroyed Shawn. He stops to show remorse for ending his career. Shawn pulls himself up Taker's body to a standing position as Taker stalls unsure what to do. Shawn used the last of his will to crotch chop and tell Taker to suck it. Taker finally gets pissed and ends Shawn with a tombstone.
ReplyDelete5 all-time great finishes (okay 10) off the top of my head (in no particular order):
ReplyDelete1. Jerry Lawler v. Nick Bockwinkel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNAQ8b0LjLM
2. Savage v. Steamboat WM 3
3. Bret Hart v. Steve Austin WM 13
4. Jerry Lawler v. Austin Idol Steel Cage/Hair match (Tommy Rich comes from under the ring)
5. T.A. v. Tully I Quit Cage match
6. Royal Rumble 2004 - No one can figure out how to get Big Show out....then he takes everyone's finish and annihilates the roster....until Benoit figures it out
7. Brock Lesnar v. The Undertaker - Hell in a Cell (2002) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R09kw0ScWZ4#t=29m46s
8. Brock v. UT - Wrestlemania....the SILENT SHOCK at the 1 in 21-1
9. Bam Bam Bigelow v. Taz @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KU3gJEo6WQ
10. Brock v. Big Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JNaG2M5YqQ
While we're at it the worst:
1. Not even close: Dean Ambrose losing to a hologram
2. Lawler v. Kerry V.E. @ Superclash
3. SCSA v Owen - Summerslam 97
4. ANY match between Hornswoggle and Chavo Guerrero Jr.
5. Never happened, but Bret Hart's proposed ending for his rematch with Shawn Michaels (the one involving him breaking his ankle with his bare hands, the gimmicked boot, the mic recording the "breaking" sound)
Should have been a bigger star: Easy - Bill Goldberg
Missed WM opportunity: Hogan v. Flair in the Indianapolis Dome @ Wrestlemania 8
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the match as a whole. But I thought the story of HHH losing because of one mistake was great.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about Cena/Orton (yeah, yeah, I know) at No Way Out 2008. Orton knows he can't beat a fired up Cena, so he just simply and subtly jaw-jacks the ref and gets himself DQ'd. Perfect ending to keep the feud going (again, I know) and Orton's character kept his reputation as a total douchebag.
ReplyDeleteOh believe me I'm with ya. That Austin/Bret feud got me back in to wrestling when I had all but quit on it. On WWE Network they were recapping that feud for one of their shows and they glossed over Survivor Series '96. I initially thought "What the hell?" but then realized that if you're a new fan who's just getting your basic history from the Network, eh, you can live without knowing about the Survivor Series match. I can't. You can't. But they can.
ReplyDeleteI still think biggest lost Mania opportunity was Hogan vs Flair at 8. And one really great forgotten finish was Cena vs Umaga where he choked him out with the rope.
ReplyDeleteWargames 92. ARMBAR
ReplyDeleteNot sure of his contract status but in 96 would've been perfect. Wwf was dying for star power and he would've easily been a huge star and champ. Then again we'd never had the crow sting and the awesome 97 wcw build
ReplyDeleteWatching that I keep thinking Sheldon should have become a big time main event super star. Still bummed it didn't happen for him.
ReplyDeleteThe SurSer '96 match was definitely a big deal, but it wasn't the storyline peak of the feud, nor did it change the course of the company forever. Groundwork, sure, I'll concede to that. But Wrestlemania 13 is always going to be the boiling point.
ReplyDeleteNothing tops the 1990 Rumble, when the crowd is chanting the usual at Lanny Poffo.
ReplyDeleteJesse Ventura: "And listen to this ovation for San Francisco's own Brutus Beefcake."
I've always thought that should be among the worst finishes ever. You have that epic match, only to end that way? As for the best, I'd like to submit bret-Perfect at SS 91, bret reverses a leg drop into the sharpshooter, and Hennig, bad back and all takes it like a MAN. . .
ReplyDeleteSs 96 is awesome. Plus the look on Austin's face outside the ring afterwards was a great sell. He knew he got beat and was thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteBest response ever.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. He's the one guy I'm always amazed never became a huge star. Still boggles my mind actually
ReplyDeleteHBK/Ric Flair, bros
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ending of the last year or so is Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville. Tells a great story and sends a helluva message to the kiddies at home.
ReplyDelete5 matches that had the best finishes ever
ReplyDeleteGood choices, but I'd have to include Tully vs. Magnum in the "I Quit" match.
The one guy who should have been a much bigger star than he ever was
Sting was the #1 or #2 star for the #1 or #2 company for over a decade. I maintain that Surfer Sting would have played as well in the land of giants and the Crow Sting addition during the Attitude Era simply never would have happened. Maybe Sting as the dark leader of WCW during the Invasion would have been interesting.
Rick Rude could have been the #1 heel in the WWF for a WHILE. A rare example of WCW doing a better job with a guy than Vince could.
Yep. He was over and he could wrestle.
ReplyDeleteI also have a soft spot for Savage dropping 50 elbows over and over on Warrior out of desperation to save his career and you could just feel the face turn coming because he just gave it his all.
ReplyDeleteHe dropped 5 elbows...
ReplyDeletewish I could upvote this more.
ReplyDeletewhy not at least have at least a slighty different discussion? for example: ten best tag team matches at WrestleMania? or how about: the top ten matches for the tertiary titles?
I'd prefer to see Punk do Owen 2
ReplyDeleteI think he was hurt from summer of 91 through winter of 92, during the Lex Luger run as WCW champion until SuperBrawl 2.
ReplyDeleteRegarding '03-'05, Sting was a guy in his late-40s going to a company with a ton of home-grown, younger star power. Nobody from WCW got a significant push after the Invasion. Yes, RVD won the title under a extremely (no pun) particular set of circumstances. Booker was made a fool out of at WM 19 and got a run with the belt during the down months of 2006. Goldberg never really got a WWE moment, either.
I think Sting would've been lost in the shuffle during that time and certainly wouldn't be put over any of the major WWE stars in a big match.
That was such a great way for Michaels to go out, he was completely beaten but slaps him anyway.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Warrior/Honky Tonk Man? HTM escapes for over a year with his title, despite stips, and Warrior's answer is to just blitz the F out of him and pin him in 30 seconds.
ReplyDeleteHonorable mentions - Wargames 92 and Pitbulls/Stevie and Raven.
The build for this match writes itself - the 2 greatest, most well known superstars of the last decade facing off in the ultimate showdown.
ReplyDeleteYou missed the slap.
ReplyDeleteThe slap was the best part
May as well have been 50.
ReplyDeleteOwen had the on screen personality of a napkin. He never would've been a main event guy.
ReplyDeleteWarrior / HTM?
ReplyDeleteThe Double Dog Collar match is my favorite match ever.
ReplyDeleteAwesome/Spike ending is so fucking awesome. Top rope powerbomb/landing on his feet? Loved it.
ReplyDeleteFrom when he joined The Nation on, Owen felt like he was being phased out.
ReplyDeletethat match IS the Attitude Era: almost everything that was so fresh about that initial change in direction can be found in that very match.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't even do THAT.
ReplyDeleteto me this also worked so well because the last big singles success Bret Hart archieved was winning the King of the Ring, which he did with the very same move.
ReplyDeletenitpicking: the Diesel/Hart match only lasted 25 minutes in total.
ReplyDeleteSurprised no one's mentioned Bret vs HBK Survivor Series 1997 in Montreal.
ReplyDeleteBecause they actively undermined him with goofball gimmicks that didn't fit him. They do this quite a lot.
ReplyDeleteAccording to his wife. Owen shot down any angle that was considered lewd or controversial.
ReplyDeleteHartKiller loves that finish.
ReplyDeleteplus it also had "Bret, cliches are cliches and and an ass-whippin is an ass-whippin...."
ReplyDelete"I'm sorry. I love you."
ReplyDeleteIf Hogan can say Andre was 1,795 pounds when he slammed him we can say Macho Man dropped 50 elbows. :)
ReplyDeleteCena strangling umanga with the ring rope after umanga tried to give him spike with a part of the ring post is up there.
ReplyDeleteIn Canada napkins are considered very exciting.
ReplyDeleteDifference is, we can clearly see only 5 elbows were dropped...
ReplyDeleteand it made the championship a lot more prestigious. it's ridiculous that there have been dozens of multi-men matches that had every participant being a former (multiple) "world champion".
ReplyDeleteThe finish to mitb 11 was awesome. Cena wanting no part of Vince and Johnnys shenanigans and leaving to deck ace and then smart and sneaky punk takes advantage of cena and then the stuff with adr. Perfect finish.
ReplyDeleteOne is technically considered a body splash so its only 4
ReplyDeleteAnd the crying while being pinned.
ReplyDeleteShawn-Shelton is one of my favorite TV matches of all time. Shawn would use the kick a few more times off of flying moves, but that was the first I remembered and it truly came out of nowhere and looked like it KILLED Shelton, probably because he literally flew across the entire ring off a springboard. (And had hit Shawn with a few springboard/flying type moves throughout the match so it was the perfect "veteran adjusts to beat young buck" finish)
ReplyDeleteThey tried something similar with Angle @ Vengeance '05 but he basically just dropped down off the top rope into the kick and it didnt look that great.
You got $10K lass month?
ReplyDeleteYou gave a LOT of blow jobs!
And who can forgot the finish to nakaraki vs fujiama. Nakaraki gets dropped on his head 4 straight times only to no sell, pop up, and job to a clothesline!
ReplyDeleteShut up! I'm on the edge of my seat wondering what the best Wrestlemania of ALL TIME is, and which one is the worst!
ReplyDeleteI know those haven't changed for 14 years, but they might... they might...
We all know Vince, Shawn, HHH, and Brisco were in on it. Chyna might have known too. But you know who never gets fingered as a co-conspirator? The guy who ques up the music. The sharpshooter wasn't even broken when Shawn's music hit. The music guy had to have known it was coming. Why would he even have Shawn's music ready if he didn't?
ReplyDeleteI dunno. I thought some of his ranting and raving promos from 1994 through 1997 were great.
ReplyDeleteor the other way around: Orton vs. Christian at MITB 2011 with Christian trying his best to get Orton to "snap" because the title would then change hands.
ReplyDeleteBiggest lost opportunity: Hogan vs. Austin
ReplyDelete"I like finishes that keep both guys strong when they can."
ReplyDeletein the same category: The Shield vs. Wyatt Family from Elimination Chamber last year. only it didn't just keep two guys strong, but EVERYONE in it came out of it looking like a million bucks.
Austin vs. Goldberg would've also sold a few tickets, too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, some was great, but Owen had more subtle greatness that us internet fans love. His KotR 96 commentery is subtle great, obviously, because it's been mentioned dozens of times by commenters before. Owen achieved as much as he ever was going too, mostly because of jobbing all through out 94-95, but even if he won a few more matches it wasn't like he was gonna get a huge title run, ever.
ReplyDeleteCanada must have those kinda napkins that have inspirational quotes on them.
ReplyDeleteHogan vs. Austin they basically guaranteed to be at WM22 and then gave us a good, but pretty star power light arena show for that WM.
ReplyDeletePunk vs Cena as a full blown wrestlemania main event is such a lost opportunity it should be a crime.
ReplyDeleteCENA v Undertaker at 32.
ReplyDeleteHe was pretty much a main event heel from 94 to 97 anyways. I would have loved to see him wrestle the radicals too but I think we had seen Owen go about as high as he should of.
ReplyDeleteThe worst part was Cole and Lawler yapping over the whole fucking scene.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm not saying he should have had some long reign as champ or something like that. But I think he could have made for an okay transitional champion here or there. Even if was something like winning the title from Bret or Shawn and losing it right back to them at the next PPV. But I get what you're saying. He was kind of a notch below the main-event level. Razor Ramon and British Bulldog were similar. They made for a good challenger to the world title. But not someone who would ever win it.
ReplyDeleteBest post.
ReplyDeleteI adore the match. I consider it one of the finest pieces of work WWE has ever produced.
ReplyDeleteI kinda agree with Austin that it would have sucked.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm still of this mindset, but are there any out there who think HBK/Taker from 26 is slightly better than the one from 25? I used to feel this way, and I still love both.
ReplyDeleteThe tug of war finish to the Jericho vs. Michaels ladder match at No Mercy '08. Jericho bloodied up with his mouth all fucked up with his smug little "I'm better" look. What a great feud blow off.
ReplyDeleteHBK beats the Undertaker Hell in a Cell. HBK is murdered dead until Kane takes UT out, and HBK has nothing left so he can literally only drape his hand over UT for the pin, and is then dragged out. Best chickenshit cheap heel win ever.
ReplyDeleteThe Bret Owen cage match at Summerslam 94 was pretty good. Both guys dangling off the cage at the end.
ReplyDeleteIt would have sucked in the way Rock vs. Hogan sucked though which obviously they treat like a good match in hindsight. It's not, but still.
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree. Rock/Hogan was great. And the stuff that made it great is exactly where Austin would have fell short. If the crowd turned on Austin, he wouldn't have handled it as well as Rock did (in spite of the fact that he says he loves playing heel). Would Austin sell backrakes? Would he have a look of terror on his face when Hogan hulked-up and pointed in his face? I don't think so.
ReplyDeletetl;dr Austin's entrance was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI love the dancing routine HBK does on the apron.
ReplyDeleteYou're also discounting the huge Hogan fanbase in Toronto. In his 2014 - WWE run most of the crowds have sat on their hands for Hogan and been borderline hostile. I think there would have been more danger of the fans turning on Hogan who would have been defacto face and cheering Austin.
ReplyDeleteAlso, any match with Earl Hebner as ref cannot be on the list. He is awful and every finish is telegraphed.
ReplyDelete1. Sami Zayn
ReplyDelete2. Kevin Owens
3. Finn Balor
4. Adrian Nevile
5. Samoa Joey Uso!
"dream matches"?: no.
ReplyDeletepotentially interesting matches?: yes.
Lesnar vs. Orton, Lesnar vs. Ziggler, Lesnar vs. Sheamus, Lesnar vs. Ambrose, Lesnar vs. Wyatt, ... could all be a big deal if put together in the right way.