WWE 305: Moondog Spot!! Cousin Junior!! Big Show!

Moondog Spot vs. Cousin Junior WWF 11/10/85 - EPIC

ER: This kicked so much ass. I loved this match. They built to big spots well and Moondog had a real great carry job, working a match around Cousin Junior's surprising bursts of speed, his good bumping, and his 2 or 3 cool highspots. Moondog would fill in the downtime with great cutoffs, and I'm not just talking about his jeans. Gorilla and Jesse turned in an excellent commentary performance, going on some genuinely laugh out loud tangents, like Gorilla laughing about Pigeon Forge, TN while Jesse is telling him that Gorilla's career isn't as impressive as he thought it was, since Gorilla had never main evented a show in Pigeon Forge. Later they go on about what cut of meat Moondog's bone came from, with Gorilla detailing just how long it's taken Spot to get the bone as clean as it is, picking off all the meat scraps. It's genuinely great material. 

Moondog was really great at letting all of Junior's spots shine, like his cool mule kick or heavy crossbody, and they kept working fast impressive rope running with nice dropdowns and leapfrogs. Moondog cuts off a bunch of Junior's charges with knees to the gut or great punches. Spot throws a headlock punch with a fist shakeout afterward that made me want to write up every Larry Latham match I have access to. He hits two cool as hell fistdrops off the middle rope and throws Junior into a hard bump on the entrance ramp (where a Maple Leaf Gardens security guard literally tickles Junior's feet???). The match also has an unexpectedly cool finish, with Moondog catching Junior and about to hit a big powerslam, but Junior rolls through the slam with a really nice cradle! Everything about this was a real gem: Great Moondog performance, super spirited Cousin Junior performance, and some classic Ventura/Monsoon commentary. 

Big Show vs. Mark Henry WWE Raw 6/29/15 - SKIPPABLE

ER: This must have been during a period where they needed to make Big Show look strong again, so they did that thing where he beats someone really big really quick. Like, we need to make Big Show a main event title threat again, have him beat Mark Henry in under 90 seconds! And it was kind of like Henry was being directed to not go as hard on Show as Show went on Henry, so that Show looked more dominant. Henry held up a bit on his standing splash and wasn't throwing his punches as snug as Show was throwing his. If I was there live for this match, I would have been losing my shit knowing I was getting a Show/Henry singles match. And then I would have been livid seeing Henry downed by a KO punch in under 90 seconds. In 2009 I went to a Raw taping in Oakland that was supposed to have Mark Henry vs. Shawn Michaels. I was not a fan of Michaels by 2009, but Henry/Michaels is a singles match that only happened once before, and I think a 2009 singles match between them would have been really good. The match ended by DQ 1 minute in and I drove home pissed (the rest of the show was not great either).

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