On Brand Segunda Caida: Acolytes! West Texas Rednecks!

Acolytes vs. Blue Meanie/Gillberg WWF Shotgun Saturday Night 12/18/98

ER: This was Meanie's WWF debut match, and he's still probably one of the weirder WWF signings. I'm sure nobody actually remembers Meanie as a guy who was literally in WWF for an entire year during his initial run. And even before we knew what we knew about these guys, this match had Bad Idea written all over it. It was pretty shocking to see as it's not exactly unprofessional, but more that I've seen countless jobber matches where the jobbers were treated more human. You would have never guessed Meanie and Gill were actual members of the WWF roster if you used this match as your entry, as they don't get a single millisecond of offense, and often aren't even put in control of their own selling. There was no chance for these two to put any kind of their own personality on any part of the match, as they were essentially treated like heavy bags of sand that Bradshaw and Faarooq were trying to tear open. Bradshaw is one of the greatest "entrance ramp" guys of all time. That man had a presence to him as he was walking to the ring that reallllly made you know when an assbeating was about to take place. They jump on the JOB Squad the second they hit the ring and don't let up for three minutes. When I say that Meanie and Gill weren't even allowed to show personality in selling, I mean that once the Acolytes would do any kind of move, they would be picking up the JOB Squad before they could even process what move they were selling. Meanie at one point gets dragged into the ring by Bradshaw, tries to walk in on his own, but basically gives up because Bradshaw was just muscling him in anyway. Any move was immediately followed up by something mean; I think I counted 3 times where Bradshaw kicked Meanie right in the back after having already given him a nasty move, a real insult to injury match. Gill takes a Dominator on the floor as well as a big Bradshaw clothesline and some boots in the face, a cool gutbuster from Faarooq, both guys take big bumps to the floor, a definite massacre. I'm honestly not sure I've ever seen a 3 minute match where two guys got less time to shine. Quite the debut.

Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig/Barry Windham WCW Nitro 2/1/99

ER: Legitimately one of the stiffest matches in Nitro history, really felt like every guy in the match had something to prove. Benoit beats Hennig like Hennig had hurt his sister, throwing some of the absolute meanest chops, elbows, and headbutts that I've seen from Benoit. And Hennig gave it right back, working this like late AWA Hennig, still with some big bumps (his trademark flip in the ropes was especially nasty, really fast and he dropped right on his head and shoulder) but a lot of stiff chops. The chops these guys were throwing weren't just hurting the skin, they looked like they were rocking through their core. Windham looked like Terry Gordy in this, towering over Benoit and Malenko and getting across the ring super quick. He throws his diving lariat here as well as any time I've seen. Malenko is always fun when he gets mean, his snaps off some sharp elbows here and while he doesn't hit as hard and look as dead eyed as Benoit, he still fits into this. Things fall apart a little at the finish, with Benoit breaking up a finish with a diving headbutt that whiffs, but this went 10 minutes and at least 8 of them are really great.