Dirtbag Barry Windham Dispatches Milksop Michinoku

Barry Windham vs. Taka Michinoku WWF Raw 2/23/98

ER: What a great Barry Windham look. Taka is already waiting in the ring, Windham comes down the ramp flanked by his boys, points at Taka the way a man points when he knows he has somebody's number, while perfectly swathed in his vest, chaps and bandana. He goes on to wrestle the entire match wearing the vest and chaps, and it's a look I love on him. I do not like that they did this match, and I did not like how they worked this match, even though it was probably the best Windham showcase of the last several month's of his final WWF run. This was the first time - since introducing the Light Heavyweight Title - that they went out of their way to show that the best light heavyweight would get absolutely run the fuck over by anyone on the roster who weighed 50 lb. more than them. The whole match was presented as a real travesty, that poor defenseless, tiny, weak, overmatched, frail  Taka Michinoku was tricked into signing a contract to a match he had zero chance of winning, probably because he is stupid and doesn't understand the language of contracts. And, since the poor little light heavyweight champ has zero chance of winning, he just works the match like he is scared and tentative and the entire thing is Windham showing off all of his awesome offense. I don't think people on the roster were even acting this scared of Kane, but here's Taka knowing he has absolutely zero chance of defeating Barry Windham.

AT LEAST all of Windham's offense looked great. He throws his right hand from his hip, tosses Taka way up into the air with a gutwrench suplex, is always doing eye rakes and back elbows, and even throws a Bruiser Brody style high one-armed bodyslam (don't remember anyone else ever doing a bodyslam like that in WWF). Taka hits two total moonsaults as the entirety of his offense: one quebrada and one moonsault press off the top, but he hits them in a way where he barely grazes Windham...yet it seems like that's how he intended to throw them?  He connects with each of them the exact same way, with his right arm connecting with Windham's left arm. Barry is there to catch them, but Taka appears to do them to intentionally graze him. I can't explain why. Windham's superplex looks awesome and the diving lariat is about to be the sure finish before the lights go black and Kane comes out. Lights out means the ref has to legally cease all counting, even if he's already counted 2 and his hand is coming down for 3. Lights go out, everyone inside the ring ropes has to freeze. Refs don't work in the dark, thems the rules. Don't like it? Take it up with the union.