Found Footage Friday: GIANT GONZALEZ SPEAKS~! LAWLER'S FANS SHRIEK~! HURACAN RAMIREZ RETREATS~!

Huracan Ramirez/Huracan Ramirez Jr./Kung Fu vs. Bestia Salvaje/Indomito/Killer Arena Naucalpan 1/10/88

MD: A farewell match for Huracan Ramirez and the oldest footage of Arena Naucalpan we have. We come in with a media discussion of Ramirez, but quickly get to the match. This is handcam and as blurry as can be but we can tell who everyone is (the hardest being between Ramirez and Ramirez, Jr. but there are clear differences to their bodies). 

And footage like this is a gift. Who knew that we'd ever get it, right? Yes, it's a little hard to watch but we're pros and it's worth it every time. The Ramirez' did well on early exchanges and then Kung Fu got to play into some very fun rudo communication including some scrambling and tripping that felt novel and interesting. Everything took a turn once Killer was able to get his hands on him, however, all the way to hitting a tombstone on the floor in the midst of the chaos.

That wasn't quite the match ender that you'd think it'd be but it let the rudos really take over. Ramirez got a big moment of shine here where he stood tall against all of them and did well for a while, but it was down to Kung Fu recovering and coming back in with nunchucks to turn things around. That was basically the end of the match but not the end of the beating as Indomito, bloody face contrasting with blonde hair, took an absolute thrashing from Ramirez around ringside. The match was thrown out or the rudos won by DQ but it hardly mattered as the crowd burst in the ring to celebrate with Ramirez. It's clear how much this mattered to them and to the wrestlers and shaky cam or no, it's a joy to get to be a fly on the wall to history like this. 

Jerry Lawler vs. Doink the Clown Pro Wrestling Shenandoah 3/19/94

MD: Indie match between Lawler and a Doink that the internet thinks is Steve Keirn and I believe it. We get maybe the first two thirds of this, as clearly the person filming was running out of tape from capturing the entire Damian Demento match that preceded it. But what we get is pretty great. All minimalist shtick in front of a crowd that was made up of kids happy to chant Burger King for twenty minutes. Basically the best crowd you could get for a thing like this.

When Lawler finally did engage, he got clowned (literally) again and again. He'd miss a punch in the corner and get tagged. He'd miss a punch, duck Doink's punch, miss another punch, and get tagged. The building, timing, and payoff were all wonderful. Exactly what you'd want. Eventually he started to play hide the object, never actually using it but hiding it over and over as the ref checked the hand then the singlet again and again. Finally, Doink got fed up, took the ring bell, and put it under his own singlet and it was a beautiful piece of pro wrestling hilarity I'd never seen before. The match cuts out shortly thereafter but that was well worth the YouTube click.

ER: 15 minutes of 90s indy wrestling Metal Machine Music in the form of shrill children tirelessly screaming maniacally at Jerry Lawler. Lawler doesn't land any offense for those 15 minutes. He takes one great back body drop, and takes two punches. It's what he fills in the spaces between those moments of impact with that draw enough heat to keep waves of high pitched ambient sound ricocheting off the walls of a packed to the rafters gymnasium. Shenandoah is a town with less than 5,000 people and it looked and sounded like every resident was there. Lawler could have worked this match with anyone - no offense to Keirn - such were his powers in 1994. I love the way he throws his over-confident missed punches. The two he throws to miss here are a comic book version of Lawler's normal punch style, reared back and thrown straight as an arrow to exaggerate his full body lunge when fist finds no face. I wish we could have watched 15 full minutes of him pretending to have a weapon. I wish we could have had 15 full minutes of him selling his balls after Doink pulled the middle rope into them. I wish we could have seen the Johnny Gunn/Damien DeMento semi-main that used up the rest of our cameraman's battery. The ending is lost forever, but Lawler made small town ears ring on a Saturday night, same as it ever was. 

Mr. Perfect/Randy Savage vs. Mr. Hughes/Giant Gonzalez WWF Dark Match 8/17/93

ER: I've wanted to see this match for so long. There were not actually that many Giant Gonzalez matches in WWF. 60 matches across 1993, 85% of them happening on house shows or TV taping dark matches. We've seen all of the other possible Giant Gonzalez combinations, of which there are far too few. He was mostly married to Undertaker and Randy Savage on house shows during his run, kept him away from most of the roster, offering no opportunities for him to break out of his comfort zone. I would have loved to see what Bret could have done with him in a singles match, hell in half a dozen singles matches. I'm confident we would have gotten Giant's best matches, until we get the Lawler match footage from USWA. But there's a roster of people I'd love to see interacting with him. Let's see what Tito could have done, or Mr. Perfect. Let's turn him on other heels so we can see freak show dreams like Gonzalez vs. Yokozuna. No, we got mostly Undertaker or Savage, meaning there weren't any unique one off matches that could potentially show up on handhelds. 

This match is the most unique of the 60 Giant Gonzalez WWF matches. It's one of his only tag matches, and it's an intriguing on paper pairing. I'm a big fan of Mr. Hughes and his 60-something match WWF run. He and Gonzalez are a cool team of freakshow giants, and while the match itself isn't some kind of hidden gem, there are moments featured that we don't see ever again and I always love that. The Mr. Hughes/Mr. Perfect sections are genuinely good. Perfect was on a strong run in '93 and I love the way his body reacted to Hughes. There's a Hughes back elbow and big boot that Perfect sets up and leans into so well, his bumping style more reactive than athletic, and it's one of the things that made his later work so good. Hughes was a real physical specimen that should have been a bigger deal. His size and look are awesome, and he takes an incredible Jerry Estrada style back body drop during Perfect's comeback, leaping his knees into Perfect's shoulder so he's several feet higher in the air when Perfect flips him. It's an impressive visual and you can probably count on one hand the men that size who could have done the same. 

But, while it's not a very adventurous offensive performance from Gonzalez - he limits himself exclusively to some of his worst overhand clubbing shots to the back - it gives us what is our only glimpse of something different. This match gives us Giant Gonzalez: Vocal Showboat, a completely different look at the largest man in wrestling. I've never seen him more vocal during a match. He trash talks the crowd, trash talks his opponent - both in the ring and actively from the apron - and he shows personality that was lacking in his TV footage. The camera catches him doing something so funny, and it more than anything makes me wonder what might have been, had they kept him around and used him as a tag partner of other monsters. The moment comes when he tags out, as he makes eye contact with a ringside fan. As he's walking to grab the tag rope, he waves a large hand down over his airbrushed ab muscles, smirk on his face like he's displaying his body for some taken girl, confidently showing off his muscles that are just as fake as his airbrushed pubes. It's such an amusing piece of heel comedy, something we otherwise didn't see him attempt. That's why I find these matches so valuable. All it takes is one quick gesture, otherwise unseen, giving us a glimpse of a different past.   

MD: I watched this before reading Eric's comments (usually I get places before he does so I can't cheat off of him but this time he got there first), and was thinking to myself that I was going to have to come down real hard on Gonzalez' offense. Real hard. You don't want to compare him to Andre but you do have to sort of compare a giant to a giant and late era Andre was immobile but he made every shot seem credible, while you got the sense Gonzalez, who was more mobile, was just afraid to hurt the people he was in the ring with. His kicks barely extended. His shots were just so so soft, and that's ok on some level, but there was no way to sell them as anything but. He didn't have any idea how to use his size to inspire imagination. Thankfully, the one shot that did look great was the one that counted, towards the end when he caught Perfect coming off the ropes while on the outside, which distracted the ref and allowed Savage to get his illegal shot in to set up the finish. That one looked quite good.

BUT that said, I am totally aligned with Eric on the idea that trash talking Gonzalez is something special. With no commentary, you heard everything, and he'd just bellow in from off screen and you'd more or less make it out, would make it out enough, and that guy was alive and feeling the moment. It made me think that he probably did have some pretty entertaining house show performances towards the end, especially if you shut your eyes.

Otherwise, the moments that stood out to me were right at the start, Hughes taking Harvey's hand in a sort of sensitive gesture of friendship as the match started. And the crowd going up for Perfect and chanting for him and Hennig letting it sink in and basking. Otherwise, he and Savage really got almost nothing, a couple of chops at the start. Even when Perfect went through the legs for a tag, Savage got swept right under almost instantly. Interesting match along those lines, one that really protected the heels even in a loss, but that still gave the fans that moment of basking at the beginning and moment of triumph at the end.

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Cactus Jack is Who In Her Lonely Slip, Who By Barbiturate

Cactus Jack/Mr. Hughes/Big Van Vader vs. Steiner Brothers/Sting WCW Main Event 2/9/92 - EPIC  

PAS: What a murderers row in this six-man match. This was a super early Sting and Vader interaction and while it was brief, you could see the the magic that might be there. But the best match up was actually Sting versus Mr. Hughes. Hughes was clearly super underrated, he moves at a really shocking speed here, and goes over huge for slams and dropkicks. He was a college football standout, and moves like an elite athlete. He and Sting have a rope running exchange which looks like a pair of middleweight luchadores, not super heavyweight American wrestlers. It always fun to watch the Steiners throw folks, and they toss all three heels. Cactus was pretty minor in this match, he gets manhandled by Scott a bit and throws some of his fast forearms, but this was mostly a battle between the superhero faces and their giant opponents, and it was a blast. 

ER: Look at the heel team! Look at that face team! How do you pick a least favorite with a match like this? This was a match with no bad pairings, and a ton of noteworthy ones. Rick came off like the more electric Steiner here, really taking it to Vader and going even harder at Cactus. Cactus mainly got thrown on a heavy ass belly to belly by Scott or got Rick jumping on him from the apron, but Vader wasn't playing that. Vader came in throwing full arm lariats and dropped Rick straight down with a back suplex when Steiner tried to get a headlock. They build nicely to a big Vader/Sting showdown, but seeing Vader level Rick and Rick come right back was just as cool. Mr. Hughes is an insanely fast monster, a guy who should have been a new generation One Man Gang or a Japan superstar but we have such little footage. He takes an insane backdrop and works so fast for a guy his size while landing with such a wallop, it's easy to picture him as Vader in WCW. 

Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie/Steve Austin/Undertaker vs. The Rock/Faarooq/D-Lo Brown/Kama Mustafa WWE 12/29/97 - GREAT

ER: My god this ruled. This was Terry Funk's return match to WWF, a post-Raw dark match I didn't realize was online, a fantastic house show style main that you know absolutely slayed everything else on the show. Funk is in his Chainsaw Charlie "gear" (what the hell was that about again?) but a few smart fans start up "Terry" chants whenever he's in. This is really the only interaction we got between Funk and The Rock, and it's a real trip seeing Funk stiff him up with hard right jabs and a big left. Funk also takes a fast bump over the top for Faarooq, all while wearing weird old man jeans, dusty red shirt and stockings over his face. Honestly his Chainsaw Charlie gear is probably the most "Alabama abandoned strip mall indy show attended by 13 people" look that ever made it onto WWF television. 

Austin works like an absolute fiend when he's in, and it's always shocking to me when WWF Austin works super fast. Here he's the quickest guy in the match (although admittedly there aren't tons of known speedsters here) and he absolutely crushes Rock with a falling elbow at one point, all while wearing his impossibly tight jorts. Rock was really great on the apron, honestly he could have stayed there the whole match and it would have been wonderful (even though his stuff in the ring was standout). At one point Kama interferes from the apron with a kick, and falls awkwardly into the ring over the top rope, trying desperately to slide back onto the apron as if nobody would notice the dude just literally fell into the ring. Rock looks over at him and gives him a thumbs up. I died, then watched it a few times. The finish is rushed, Undertaker only gets in right at the end and hits a chokeslam so weak that it was like he was practicing how he was going to chokeslam Mae Young, but damn was this whole thing still a blast.

PAS: Cool showcase for Funk, Austin and Rock stooging. I agree with Eric both on the speed and explosion in which Austin worked and the weird tightness of his Jorts. I mean he was wearing sexy lady showing off her ass at the club level tight Jeans shorts, I am not sure how he even walked, much less wrestled at that pace. Funk is on one here with crazy punches, big bump over the top, homeless schizophrenic wrestling gear. Rock is really entertaining working as an almost Jim Cornette level stooge, isn't a role I have seen him in a ton but he is a great clowning heel. He should be the villain in the Home Alone remake.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE CACTUS JACK

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WWF King of the Ring 1993

Since we're a day away from potentially getting a new forever king, I thought it would be fun to revisit a legendary monarchy based show. I haven't watched this show in at least 25 years, whenever it was that I rented it from New Release Video in Healdsburg. It's a really strong on paper kayfabe show. You look at the 8 guys who made the KOTR quarterfinals, and the choices are all strong and reflective of who was big at the time. Mr. Hughes is the one hindsight question mark, because looking back there are plenty of people who don't even remember his 4 month WWF run. But his inclusion made sense from a kayfabe perspective, as he had aligned himself with Giant Gonzalez and wrecked the Undertaker on TV. He felt like a big new threat, and stood out as physically imposing during a time there were some really large guys on the roster. 1993 Duggan feels past his expiration, but hardly anyone was getting as big a reactions as Duggan was getting in the first half of 1993. The non-tournament matches are just as logical, with Crush/Michaels the logical and anticipated title match stemming from their great double count out KOTR Qualifier, a tag scramble highlighting the top two heel and face teams, plus the big Yokozuna/Hogan rematch (that would have felt like a MUCH bigger deal had Hogan done more than what, ONE taped interview in the months between Mania and KOTR). On paper this is a real strong show, presenting all of the most popular guys in favorable pairings, and a show I remember really enjoying as a kid. Let's see how it holds up!


Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart

ER: This was a great match, starting off this PPV better than any match on WrestleMania IX. Razor looks incredibly cool with his green gear, toothpick in mouth and one behind the ear, trying to be as unflappable as possible as the fans all chant 1-2-3. It's really impressive how quickly they got Kid over, and how smartly they played it. This stuff isn't difficult, but watching a simple angle like this over 25 years later - and seeing how they just don't have any kind of patience for this sort of thing now - it's even easier to appreciate. Kid beats him, then Razor demands a rematch while they barely even have Kid on TV for the next month, letting the crowd interest build for him and really building a strong underdog common man. At a certain point they just decided the most creative way to debut someone was to have them win a title on their first night in and then just kind of do nothing with them.

But anyway, the great match. Hart's shoulderblocks weren't effective to start, so he started playing a quickness game with Razor with some armdrags, and does some of that great Bret stuff like taking a bodyslam put not letting go of Razor's arm. Razor takes over with an eyepoke and sends Bret flying HARD into the ringpost, then acts like a real dick about it. He slaps Bret around the head, stomping on BOTH of his hands while Hart is trying to get up (love that), hits the fallaway slam, big running powerslam (that I don't really remember Razor doing), and my favorite thing Razor does all match is miss elbowdrops. Razor missed FOUR elbowdrops, and each miss looked great. The first miss was a big leaping elbow into an empty pool, and the three later in the match was total Elmer Fudd missing every shot he took at Bugs, dropping three in a row as Hart kept rolling out of the way. Every miss looked real painful. He wasn't just taking back bumps, he looked like he was really jamming his elbow right into the mat. The crowd was way into the match at this point, and were flipping out more with every missed elbow, getting really loud as Hart made his comeback with a backbreaker and Russian leg sweep (does anyone besides Bret and Brad Armstrong have a good Russian leg sweep? Who am I forgetting?). The match transitioned back and forth really well, both great at coming up with plausible ways to take over instead of just "my turn". Hart takes the sternum bump into the corner but flips through a Razor's Edge, fights for a backslide, and there is an insanely close 3 count on a Hart small package. Waaaaay too close and the crowd was losing their minds at this point (as was I). Now, the finish itself was only kind of a ding because it came immediately after that small package, and felt a little too similar. Razor was going for a suplex off the top and Hart fell on top of him for the 3. It felt like they needed one other thing in between Hart's surprise small package and him falling on Razor for a 3. I'm not sure what that is, but the near fall was such a huge moment that the fans really hadn't come down, and the very next thing ended the match. Does that make sense? Even so, the match ruled.


Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect

ER: Mr. Hughes is wearing his pork pie hat and braces and looks like the most powerful ska trombonist in history. This is not only a battle of who advances in the King of the Ring, but a battle over who retains the title of "Mr.". This is also the first and last we see of  Mr. Hughes on WWF PPV, and maybe the last time he ever turned up on PPV anywhere, which is really weird, because look at him! This match was a super fun match up, with Perfect pushing a pace meaning we get fast Hughes, and both guys bump big for each other. Hughes working speed spots with Perfect is too good, as this also had to be the biggest Hughes got. He's really quick, takes a wild armdrag that crashes him into the ropes, flies into a hiptoss, and takes a huge backdrop. Perfect obviously tries to outbump him, flying over the top to the floor off a punch, and then taking super painful looking bumps off Irish whips. Hughes looked like he was really chucking him into the ropes and buckles, and if he wasn't, Perfect was certainly making Hughes look like Andre. Perfect and Hart were both good at making a whip into the buckle look like something that should get a nearfall, that PANK sound of a buckle that they're able to make before crumpling to the mat. This could have been something special, but that's not really what this match was. Hughes grabs the stolen urn and clocks Perfect with it for the DQ. It was directly in front of the ref, and they could have milked a really good match out of a long heat segment on Perfect after the urn shot, but this was a blast while it lasted.


Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jim Duggan

ER: Duggan had the sickest hair during this era: The perfect Johnny Ramone shag. This was the longest his hair ever got, and he had those perfect bangs. With his American flag singlet and kneepads, waving Old Glory, he looked like he should have been doing the best Freedom Rock commercials. I'm picturing him with that hair doing a rad boogie rock guitar solo, just choogling and making the dumbest guitar solo faces. JR and Macho Man say a bunch of platitudes about how Duggan isn't a quitter, and Heenan hilariously butts in "That's not what I heard. I heard this guy is a big quitter. He used to be known as the town wimp." There's value in knowing your limitations, and they work a nice 5 minute match within those limitations. Hacksaw Ramone is so damn over in 1993, far more than I remember, and he throws great big right hands to back Bigelow up. They run into each other, Bam Bam grabs him in a couple of bearhugs, Duggan fights out, simple but effective big man stuff. Bigelow sets up Duggan by missing a falling headbutt, and Duggan takes a really nice headfirst bump into the turnbuckle after missing a corner charge. The Bigelow headbutt off the top is a nice clean finish to a nice tidy match.


Lex Luger vs. Tatanka

ER: Love the smirk Luger wears on his face during his entire entrance, and I love how he jumps Tatanka the second Tatanka is through the ropes. And this match is the very definition of feast or famine, because we get a lot of Tatanka holding an armbar and Luger holding a chinlock, and the crowd is very silent during those portions. BUT, and this is an important but, the ultra hot sections where everyone is bumping and Luger is pistoning his arm up out of pinfalls at the very last possible second, those all came off great. This is overall a great match that happens to be burdened by a long armbar sequence and a shrug of a time limit draw. The time limit draw is a real dry hump in pro wrestling watching. It has its good sides, because Bam Bam Bigelow automatically goes to the finals, and I get why you don't want to have a big fat guy wrestling three times in the same night, and I think I am fine with a Bye due to time limit draw if it gets a cool fat guy heel into the finals. And it helps that Lex Luger makes Tatanka look like an absolute star here, taking hard back bumps on tomahawk chops and crossbody blocks, and a nice high backdrop bump. When Tatanka starts getting 2 counts on top rope chops and a tight schoolboy, Luger has such expert timing and I'm not sure I've seen very many high quality kickouts than the ones Luger provides here. Luger sets up Tatanka so well and is such a great bumping heel. The time limit draw is a bummer, but with a good end result. And I think Luger salvages it by grabbing the mic and DEMANDING 5 more minutes, because he came here to WIN the King of the Ring and he isn't going to let a time limit draw stop him from that. And after handing the microphone back to Finkel, he lays out Tatanka with a hard clothesline and puts the boots to him while laughing about it. I wish we got a finish, and Luger was working hard enough to deserve a good finish, but I get why they couldn't beat Luger. But a Luger DQ for using the metal plated elbow, leading to a DQ win for Tatanka, and a Bigelow/Tatanka semi final....that would have been a real great addition to an already good PPV.


Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect

ER: This is one of those consensus great matches, the kind of match with very few contrarian opinions. It's loved and respected by Meltzer types, 90s kids, and middle aged message board tape trader snobs. It has an easy claim as a top 5 WWF match of the 90s, the kind of match that gets cited as someone's favorite all time match. It wouldn't be controversial to call it Curt Hennig's greatest WWF performance, nor would it be to call it Bret's greatest. It's a legitimately great match and I don't think there's a misstep in the entire match. They keep an incredible pace and have the timing locked down on everything. The opening few minutes was these two showing how easily they could have instantly adapted to any style in the world. Picturing Hart working these same headlock takeover and dropdown exchanges with Negro Casas or Tatsumi Fujinami, and it's watching matches like these makes me realize just how much I love Bret Hart. It might not be a cool pick, but he's high up my personal list of best wrestlers. He and Perfect craft something special, an argument for WWF style, the best example of an extension from the Savage/Steamboat workrate. It's a nearly 20 minute match but there's no fat. The bumping is honest and tough from both men. Perfect wasn't a showoff, but instead landed hard on a backdrop, sold a knee injury through a long home stretch, fit his great ass over crown ropes bump in at the best time, and ate a huge superplex for a great nearfall. 

Hart was a perfect dancer partner for Perfect, and vice versa. Perfect got flung over by the neck a few times, and Hart plastered him with an uppercut. Jim Ross sounded downright flush and beside himself when Hart hit that uppercut. Hart moves through his offense well and blends it naturally into their movement. A great backbreaker drops Perfect, and Perfect does a twinkle toes Rick Rude sell on atomic drop, allowing Hart to get the Russian legsweep as Perfect duck walked. Hart made Perfect look like a killer, flying ridiculously hard chest first into the turnbuckle, and Perfect knocks Hart off the apron to send Hart flying really painfully into ringside gear and the guardrail. It was a painful bump that built the possibility of a count out win. When Perfect comes up limping, that's when Hart takes the chance to go after his leg, and they move around each other really instinctively. The fans sounded ready for a Perfect win as they got very excited (maybe it was a nervous buzz?) when Perfect locked on an excellent sleeper hold, dragging Hart to the mat like Bill Dundee. Both men were getting great reactions, and it was one of those matches where they got almost immediately into the pocket and knew exactly what kind of match to work. The finish was really great, with Perfect luring Bret into a small package by feinting the knee injury, and it's a great enough move that you buy the finish. But Bret reverses it and holds on for just a fraction of a second longer than Perfect was able to. Great match, a flagship match from the biggest wrestling promotion in history. It deserves the praise it gets. 

Yokozuna vs. Hulk Hogan

ER: It never gets talked about because it came directly after the excellent Hart/Perfect match, and because the uncool view of Hogan nostalgia, but just as Hart and Perfect had arguably their greatest WWF performance tonight, you could easily make a case for this being Yokozuna's greatest performance. And really, this is a great Hogan performance too. Outside of the absolutely silly and completely ridiculous finish. That finish is something that any tween with observation skills would have seen coming, just because of the comical costume and fake beard they decided to put Harvey Wippleman as the rogue photog. I can still remember my friend Dave - who saw the PPV - trying to relate exactly what happened to everyone at school the next day. "Before the match started they were showing a bunch of cameramen at ringside, and the camera lingered too long on this one guy..."

So we get a silly finish that closes the door on Hulk Hogan in WWF for nearly a decade, but even with that finish I'm not sure there are better 90s Hogan matches than this one. Shoot, even the silly finish included a fireball, so even when compared to other silly finishes it's still far better. Yokozuna turned in a tremendous brick wall performance, allowing short openings for Hogan only by missing moves (a charge into the corner, a missed big splash) but Hogan immediately gets shut down any time he tries to take fight to Yokozuna. He lands punches, then always goes for a bodyslam that ends in him getting smacked to the mat. I love the simplicity of it, with Hogan getting sliiiiightly further each time, so that when he manages to get Yoko on one leg it feels like a big deal. The crowd gets loud whenever Hogan starts to fire back, sensing his win, and cheer on as he gets some mounted corner punches and even bites Yoko's forehead. I loved Hogan fighting out of a strong bearhug by punching Yoko a dozen times in the head, crowd chanting along, but being unable to do more because of his back. 

Yokozuna just throws Hogan around, with the best moment coming off a fantastic belly to belly suplex. Yoko really flattens him and the crowd seems actually stunned by his kickout, but into the Hulking. He hits several big boots (a little weak looking, but Hogan appeared to be moving pretty gingerly throughout), and Yoko is great at selling them, great at selling the clotheslines without getting knocked over, and they spend enough time on Hogan trying to knock him down any way he can that by the time Yokozuna finally timberrrrs over it's a huge moment, leading to immediate genuine shock when he kicks out of the legdrop. Then we get the rogue cameraman, the fireball, and a big fat awesome Yoko legdrop to finish it. The postmatch destruction is the best, as Yoko drags Hogan's corpse around and hits the Banzai drop, and they do my absolute favorite thing by showing a bunch of super sad small children in the crowd. The best is that dweeb front row center dressed entirely like Hogan, looking like an outright maroon as he has to sit there and watch another man he chose to dress as get annihilated. Imagine that guy the rest of the show, walking sullenly to the bathroom, trudging to the parking lot, being approached by the dozenth person asking "What happened?"

I really do think this is the strongest WWF Hogan match of the 90s, and I'm not certain there are any WCW matches better. Had Hogan treated Vader with the level of awe he had here against Yokozuna, those matches could have been classics. Hogan wasn't as interested in letting someone play brick wall in WCW, he was far too insecure at that point. Yoko was allowed to have a monster performance, and he delivered arguably his greatest single match performance here. The timing was excellent, the build throughout was exactly what it should have been, and again, even the silly finish had a fireball to the face. This match gets roundly dumped on and I don't actually understand why. Yokozuna looked like an unstoppable killer, and looked cool doing it. The match long Hogan comeback teases were worked exactly as the should have been, and I honestly don't think they could have had a better match here. 

The Steiner Bros./The Smoking Gunns vs. Money Inc./The Headshrinkers

ER: This was too rushed which is a real shame, as I was really into what match we got. It gets over 6 minutes, but a match at minimum needs at least one minute per participant to be of much value. And it's clear from what they did in these 6 minutes that they had plenty of material to fill 15. Now, it's not a shock on a big show like this that some things probably ran long so some things may have been cut for time during this match. What we get really does smoke. Dibiase does some quick armdrags with Scott Steiner, and I am reminded that Dibiase is the same age here as I am now, and within a few months Dibiase would be retired from wrestling due to injuries. As I type this, back sore from last night's yoga, I am once again reminded of my mortality. There's a great early spot where Dibiase eats a Steinerline over the top to the floor, bumps around on the floor, gets back in the ring and immediately eats another Steinerline to the floor and bumps around again. Dibiase/Scott Steiner is such a fun pairing, and it is really weird that this match just isn't Steiners vs. Money Inc. for the belts. Bart Gunn gets separated from the pack and I like all of the ways Money Inc. and the Headshrinkers cut him off from the others, like a cool double backdrop and IRS leaping off the top rope with a punch. Bart gets a convincing sunset flip and makes a hot tag to Billy, and Billy comes in blazing with nice clotheslines. 

There is some absolutely hysterical commentary, as throughout this match Jim Ross is - as he'll do - running through every participant's college credentials, including a claim that Billy Gunn went to college on a rodeo scholarship. Finally Heenan blurts out "Do you know anyone who didn't go to school!?" I had to pause it I was laughing so hard. Dibiase hits an awesome hot shot on Gunn and then actually makes Gunn collapse with the million dollar dream. The finish is pretty lame, as Dibiase just lets Gunn collapse, brags to the crowd, and then gets small packaged. I have a lot of questions, don't know why they didn't just put the belts on the Steiners, don't know why they (presumably) cut a bunch of the match out, but I really liked what match we did get. 

Crush vs. Shawn Michaels

ER: This wasn't as great as their KOTR Qualifying sprint, was a little more bloated and had a finish that made Crush look like a doofus again, but it was more proof that the two of them have great chemistry. I'm going to have to watch the Demolition/Rockers tags and their Coliseum Video singles match to really see what they might have accomplished. They didn't have a ton of house show singles or tags, but there are a handful so maybe one is out there. Crush really comes off powerful and charismatic, and it's kind of wild that they kept him getting clowned why Doink for so long because the crowd responds to him so well. It helps when Michaels bounces all over the ring and ringside for him. Crush works sequences speed for speed with Michaels while still coming off heavy, trading leapfrogs and dropdowns while also brickwalling him with shoulderblocks. 

There's a great spot where Crush swings for the fences on a missed clothesline and his momentum makes him skid forward a bit too far, giving Michaels enough time to compose himself first and pop him with a jab. That jab gets him his ass kicked though, as Crush hits a couple big dropkicks to knock Michaels over the top to the floor, and obviously a clothesline on the floor because Michaels is going to bump to the floor. Michaels also takes a big muscled up backdrop bump and we get a cool press slam spot with Crush pressing him three times before tossing him onto the ropes! Michaels basically gets no offense until Diesel gets involved, but then he beats the back of Crush's head into the ringpost like 8 times, and the shots really looked like he was trying to crack open Crush's skull. It was a great way for a small guy to erase the size difference, and Crush sold it really well. Michaels' control segment goes a bit long, but maybe we paid for that with all of those Crush armdrags and leapfrog spots earlier. His comeback is good but I really wish we got a different finish than Two Doinks coming out to distract him AGAIN. The finish itself is strong, with Michaels hitting the superkick to the softened up back of Crush's head (a cool variation he never used) but Crush had to stand there staring at clowns for a lonnnng time. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bret Hart

ER: On paper, this was the match I was most looking forward to on this show, but I thought it underwhelmed in certain ways and was the weakest of the three Bret matches. I shouldn't complain about such a fun Bigelow showcase - he's a guy I'm happy to see in main events - and this is maybe the most dominant main event of his career. It is very one sided for a long portion of the match, and Hart also comes into the match with a pronounced limp. So the fans get quiet for a lot of it and aren't nearly as loud for Bret's comeback as I expected them to be. The match went 18, but felt more like 24, and the fans in attendance added to that fatigue. Hart really gives a ton of time to Bam Bam, and adds to his own overall very impressive total ring time for the night. The Hart/Razor match was arguably the best match of Razor's WWE run, a top 5 contender at worst. The Hart/Perfect match is a strong contender for best WWE match of the 90s. This match is well regarded but overly long, unable to grab the fans in the same way the prior Hart matches had. 

But this doesn't mean the match isn't plenty fun, and an important match in keeping the opinion of fat guys high against the early internet "Fat Guys Are Bad" rhetoric. Bigelow works a long match and keeps up an agile pace, working methodically over Hart while also hitting more high leaping headbutts than I've ever seen him hit. Every time he took to the air I expected the empty pool landing, except he kept crushing Bret with every. single. one. He gets an incredible false finish with a top rope headbutt, a false finish that I had honestly completely forgotten about, so it played as shockingly as the one in the Juvy/Jericho mask vs. title match for me. Bigelow's work leading up to that pin makes his performance come off like one of the most dominant main events of that era. Hart was limping, and he cannot get anything at all going against Bigelow. BBB hits some of the gnarliest backdrop suplexes I've seen, lifting Hart up soooo high before cutting the elevator cable. Hart came in limping but the match became a compelling methodical back work match. It felt much more like a big WWF late 70s/early 80s main event than a 1993 main event, and that helps the match appeal. Hart gets whipped hard into the buckles several times, getting to show off his all time great corner bump, always making the turnbuckles look rib cage shifting. 

But I do think Bigelow's control goes on for far too long. As much as I love bearhugs, we probably could have dropped one of the four trips back to a bearhug variation. Or, you know what fuck it, this should have had even more bearhug variations. It's the finals of the first ever PPV King of the Ring, have Bigelow lock in half a dozen. His bearhugs do all look great, as crushing as the best Andre bearhugs. We even get a sick over the shoulder variation that Bret sells like a crucifixion. The Luna interference was well utilized and the surprise finish is indeed a surprise to this day. Also, the restart was used well and I like that we didn't get the typical match ending 30 seconds after the restart. We still got another full match once Bigelow's win was (ridiculously) reversed, and that makes this come off like the important main event that it should have. I do think Hart took too long a beating to make the comeback he made, but Bigelow took Hart's offense really well, and the victory roll finish is a believable way to take down a big man. Bigelow had one of his best WWF performances, and it made me want to go back and watch the Hart/Bigelow match on the Bret dvd and see if I still think it's better than this one. Hart worked three very different and all very good matches in one night, and it's the kind of night that solidifies him as one of my very favorite wrestlers. It's not a stylish pick, but I think it's an undeniable one. 

After the match Hart gets a nice coronation, until Lawler comes out and interrupts and absolutely trashes Hart. Lawler smashes the chair over Hart, really bouncing it off his body, and punches the new crown right off Hart's head. I really wish Lawler had been in the KOTR proper, and against all the more freakshow opponents. I think Lawler would have been the best WWF opponent for Giant Gonzalez, and Lawler vs. Mr. Hughes around this time would have been incredible. But the King was such an excellent TV character during this era of WWF, a constant presence while working a quarter the matches as everyone else. There are so many matches I wish Lawler had over his long WWF run, so I savor angles like these that are slices of Memphis inserted in WWF main event angles. 

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The 1993 King of the Ring Qualifying Matches, Part 2

I took a look at the first half of the 1993 King of the Ring Qualifying matches last week, and here's the shocking conclusion, leading up to a review of the 1993 King of the Ring.


Giant Gonzalez vs. Tatanka WWF Superstars 5/15/93

ER: I love looking at Giant Gonzalez. People who criticize him during his naked Sasquatch suit period are people who don't have any sense of wonder. I wish I had been a kid in the crowd during any of the shows where Giant Gonzalez worked, because I would have been in wonder. Big Show is a far better wrestler than Giant Gonzalez, but Big Show has almost always come off like a very large normal man. Big Show has more mass than Gonzalez! But Gonzalez never came out to the ring wearing dad jeans and a tucked in polo shirt. Gonzalez looked like a damn freak of nature, like something out of a horror movie, and the body suit ruled. Anyone who tells you this weird muscle and pubes suit isn't the greatest shit, is lying to you or lying to themselves. This is a wildly giant man who projects even larger size with his movements and I love seeing him lumber around a ring. 

Tatanka is a cool opponent for him, not because it makes for a great match, but because as a child I wouldn't have known who was winning this match. Tatanka was undefeated! Gonzalez was wrecking 2-3 guys at a time and just chloroformed the Undertaker! An 8' tall man who could dispose of multiple men at once and also occasionally use serial killer tactics to end matches is an absolute wild card. Gonzalez is not great at selling on his feet, but I love the moments where he is clubbing Tatanka into dust. Tatanka gets hammered into the mat real well and Gonzalez knew how to make crazy eyes better than Big Show ever did. His selling on Tatanka's comeback is silly, he doesn't know how to stand or move when being attacked, so he wobbles and stumbles and puts his hands on his head like he is miming "Going Crazy!" But I loved Tatanka leaping off the top with a big tomahawk chop and getting caught by the throat. Our finish is weak, and understandably so, as Gonzalez shoves ref Bill Alphonso (props for using the tiniest ref in a Gonzalez match, smart visual) for the DQ while dragging Tatanka around by the neck, hitting him with a nice heavy chokeslam after the bell. Also, this match might also be one of the only matches in WWF history involving two indigenous opponents, which is really cool.


Doink vs. Mr. Perfect WWF Wrestling Challenge 5/16/93

ER: This is not as infuriatingly laid out as the first match in their series, but it has similar problems. The strengths are strong, and the work is strong, but the layout is still odd and the time limit draw comes off messy and way too early. Perfect has really good energy for a babyface, but is really stuck working like a heel at this point. He has too many heel tendencies and they all come out, and it clearly confuses crowd reaction. It is possible to play a smug babyface, but the formula is still off for '93 Perfect. Doink had a real spectacular entrance, filled with great close up mugs to the camera, weird popcorn eating, and squirting a 3 year old with his lapel flower. Perfect jumps him in the aisle to prevent him from terrorizing more kids, and Perfect quickly goes back to attacking the leg just like their first match. And, just like the first match, the leg work is strong! Perfect drops knees on Doink's leg, kicks at it, locks in a nasty trailer hitch, all of it looks painful. But again, that leads us to a sad clown limping and hopping around the ring and doing his best to fight back. There is nothing inherently wrong with a babyface targeting a limb, but it just plays bad to do it all at once. Perfect attacks Doink's leg for so long that the fans automatically start viewing Doink as the underdog. Just as with the first match, it's all wack. This match gets a couple favors their first match didn't get, such as no bad commercial break that divides the match into Perfect offense/Doink offense. But Perfect just massacres Doink's leg until Doink manages to be close enough to the ropes to toss Perfect to the floor, then Doink limps along slamming Perfect into the ring steps.

Now what this match doesn't get that their first match got, is some actual interesting nearfalls. The time limit draw here doesn't feel worked toward in any way, they just start throwing fists until a bell sounds and again take way too long to announce the result, leading to the exact same confused silence as the finish to their first match. Plus, when you end with a time limit draw after only 5-6 minutes, it's always insulting. I believe there was a Regal/Misterio match on Nitro that went 6 minutes and got called a 15 minute draw, so that's our low bar stupidity with the finish, but this wasn't much better. Also, Doink was absolutely THRASHING Perfect with his punches and got to throw a series of awesome left-rights until Perfect timmmmmberrrrrs over. Valiant fighting babyface, Doink. The ending is a real pile, but I dug Perfect asking for 5 more minutes (which would almost make this a 10 minute match!) and Doink running into the ring to jump him the second Perfect turns his back. Doink limps and hops on one leg all the way down the aisle as Perfect chases him off.


Shawn Michaels vs. Crush WWF Superstars 5/22/93

ER: What a great 5 minute match. Weak double count out finish aside, this was the best match of the Qualifying Rounds. The two of them were complementary enough that it made me want to go seek out their other few singles and tag matches (there aren't many, a couple Rockers/Demolition from '90 and singles matches from '93, surprising that they never crossed paths at any point in '96/'97). Crush really came off like a big babyface monster here, and Michaels helped a lot with that. Crush just facepalms Michaels across the entire ring to start the match, and it stays that level of great from there. Michaels does big bumps but a bunch of great Rock-taking-a-Stunner bumps all around the ring and ringside. I think that kind of exaggeratedly bumping has his place, and Michaels brings a great stooging Memphis flair to his showy bumps. Big athletic bumpers today intentionally seek to copy the athleticism portion of these bumps, most don't think of the stooge spot as the necessary delivery of the athletic bump. Michaels in '93 was really good at not devaluing the spot that caused the big bump. Crush facepalmed him, hit a big clothesline, got shoulderblocked, andMichaels bounced and flew for all of it. He goes through bigger bump ending variations on signature bumps, like when he gets kicked in the stomach while balanced across a corner, and flings himself over the top to the floor. Crush has an all time great Crush moment where he press slams Michaels and slowly walks him all the way around the ring, ref yelling to put him down, Crush walking around showing off a full extension press to every side of the ring, threatening to throw him like Bam Bam and Spike. I have never seen Crush cooler.

What really puts this over to next level was how good Crush was bumping for Michaels' run. Crush takes two notable spots and makes them mean much more, getting lured and leveraged into the ring steps by Michaels, and then run face first into a ringpost. He smashes hard into the steps, and I always like when a big man's first bump of a match is a big crash. A big crash landing that finally takes him down. Right after he's walking away to clear the cobwebs, and Michaels just runs and shoves him into the post. Crush has a great post bump, kind of sliding into it on his knees while he was bumping back. Most guys go in leaning forward and into it making it more obvious you're shielding with your hand, and you're bumping into an unmoving object. When Lawler bumps into a ring post and does it leaned back, feet going out in front of him, it focuses the bump equally on the post bump and back bump, so a great quick back bump really makes the posting go by quicker and look harder (Lawler takes several other post bump variations and make them also look great). So Crush gets waylaid by two straight shots into hard inanimate surfaces, and I love how that's ALL of Michaels' offense. I'm not sure later ego would have allowed for a match where he plays heel and the only time his opponent goes down is when he's shoved into an object. The double count out is disappointing, as the match was so hot that a good finish would have made it one of the sleeper best WWF matches of 1993. But it did set up the PPV match, so we'll see how that match goes soon.


Mr. Hughes vs. Kamala WWF Wrestling Challenge 5/23/93

ER: This could have been a lot better, but it really wasn't meant to be good. It was the shortest match of the Qualifying Round, not even making it to 3 minutes, and played as more of a Kamala/Kim Chee/Wippleman angle. Kamala had a silly and spirited performance that the crowd was into, and his standing shots came off better than Hughes'. Hughes felt like he was holding back. His strikes had a good physical motion to them, mixing up overhand rights, but they would land light. They look too pulled. Kamala would come back with big fat overhand chops and the crowd would fire up. Hughes does hit two of his big dropkicks consecutively (although Kamala sells the first one weird, kind of prancing around waving his arms before bumping for the second one). Kamala gets a cool surprise superkick when distracted by Kim Chee, throwing it back as Hughes approached, and then hit his running splash. Naturally, Hughes gets pinned while on his stomach. That's a really great crowd involvement spot, it's always great hearing all the kids screaming for Kamala to roll him over. It always works and Kamala's faces during it are always a fun silly way to get kids into things. Count out finish is cheap, but Kamala was established as easily confused at this point.


Doink vs. Mr. Perfect WWF Raw 5/24/93

ER: This was certainly the most fully realized of their three matches, and a really good TV match. The first two matches were clumsily or confusingly laid out matches with weak finishes but had strong in-ring. But in hindsight those first two matches were even more annoying because Mr. Perfect chose to work the exact same match in all three of them. It's like Perfect couldn't fathom coming up with a three match progression, so he just worked Doink's leg over in near identical ways in three straight matches over three weeks. The only thing that changed was time. This is the match he got the most time to flesh out the match, which is why the other two matches just felt like clipped matches that ended with no warning. He could have worked an out of control brawl leading to a double count out after 5 minutes, or have Doink close to winning the first and have him figuring out Doink more each match, but he doesn't do that. He just works the same exact progression of leg attacks, leading to the heel evil clown selling a leg injury the whole time. The knee injury was worked better into this match than the other ones, and had more time to go in more interesting ways.

What's disappointing is the match starts with Doink jumping Perfect and choking him with Perfect's hand towel, then wipes himself off with it, getting all the areas. So of course Perfect punches him and gets the towel, then hits a big lariat with the towel. It was a hot brawl that felt like the culmination and frustration of their prior two matches. But then Perfect starts the leg work the exact same way he started it the other two times, and we go into that match. It's a good version of that match, but it's like someone on their third attempt at a joke: even if it's funny it will have lost some momentum. Doink pays good service to selling the leg, not letting it stop him from doing a move he really shouldn't be doing (like jumping axe handles), but he would always be slowed immediately after.

I think Perfect took too much of a slice in these matches, and that Doink could have been more impressive with his limited time in each match. He should have been more vicious. Perfect is tough! But this is still good. Perfect takes a big bump to the floor after getting thrown, takes a really good ringpost bump to give Doink breath, and later in the match locks in a nasty figure 4 variation. A lot of great moments that don't always feel part of the same match but also always feel close to greatness. They involve the second Doink well, with Doink scrambling under the ring and coming out with fresh face paint and a much better wig, and Perfect immediately putting the new Doink away with a killer Perfect Plex. You knew Perfect was showing off when he would deadlift the Perfect Plex all the way over. Crush runs in after the match and really this should have set up a series of Perfect/Crush vs. The Two Doinks house show matches, but those matches never happened. Just Crush/Doink over and over until Crush was dead.

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New Footage Friday: Tarzan Goto, Sabu, Mr. Hughes, Steiners, Goldust, Curry Man

Big Titan/The Gladiator/Dr. Hannibal/Ricky Fuji/Attila the Hun vs. Tarzan Goto/Grigory Verichev/Sambo Asako/Sabu FMW 2/19/93

MD: This is part of a ten disc FMW HH set that's recently been unearthed by everyone's pal Pete F. Of it, only one disc seems to have been out there before. We put our heads together quickly and this was the first match that jumped out.

After watching it, I told Phil that we definitely needed to share it with the world but that I wasn't sure we could find anything intelligent to say about it. That said, if anyone can, it's probably Eric.

It's chaos. Given the angle the quality, you don't quite get the blood you'd expect, but you do get the violence. In a lot of ways, this is a Goto and Sabu showcase with Titan and Gladiator throwing everyone around dangerously and that's absolutely, 100% what you want it to be. I have no idea who some of the others even are. Attila the Hun, for instance, comes in solely to get gloriously demolished by Goto at the start of the match. The most horrifying and breathtaking moment of all of this isn't the wire at all but Sabu barely getting around on a Titan powerbomb, turning it into a rana at the last moment.

Post match goes on and on with meandering violence, only some of which caught on tape. Sabu had turned on Goto and everyone pretty much ends up fighting everyone else. There is a Sabu vs Goto match that follows this (I assume) on tape, and I definitely feel a need to check that out. I imagine we're going to get a ton of great Goto moments out of this footage.

ER: Oh man this match owns. It's quite possibly the most of every single thing you could possibly want in pro wrestling: A dangerous stipulation, a crowded ring, fat guys, tall guys with bad hair, a Russian judo medalist in a gi, a phony medical practitioner, a descendant of a tribal leader who invaded Italy (and now he's invading Japan!), stiff moves, dangerous moves, basically everything. This whole match is like the Royal Rumbles my childhood friend Eric O. and I used to have, where we would do separate entrances as every single guy, the match constantly being interrupted so one of us could run down the stairs and back up, constantly entering as someone new. This is one of the greatest Tarzan Goto performances ever. How were all of us tape traders so obsessed with unwatchable quality Sabu comps, while we took 20 years to realize that we should have been making and distributing Tarzan Goto comps? I counted 22 of the stiffest lariats you've ever seen, many of them coming from Goto (Goto threw so many brutal southpaw lariats that my left rotator cuff was sore after watching this), but several from Titan and Gladiator that would typically wind up with Sabu getting dumped on his head. Goto was a Tazmanian Devil throughout the briskly paced and chaotic match, always being in the center of something, throwing almost nothing more than those brutal lariats and his jaw breaking right hands.

We get one of the best and most unexpected ref bumps, as Goto rears back to slug someone and elbows the referee in the face, the ref taking a spectacular flipping bump backwards near the barbed wire ropes. Titan and Awesome make it their mission to hit increasingly dangerous powerbombs on every single person in the match, and their mission was successful. I thought for sure Sabu was going to get spiked right on the top of his head, the angle he was coming down at was looking murderous, but he rana'd Titan at what had to be the last possible inch to do so. Sambo Asako was wearing his aquamarine singlet/tights, stretched tight over that round build. Nobody wants camo pants Asako, they want this plump little blueberry. In a match with 10 men and no ropes we actually get a powder in the eyes finish and a double cross, then everyone swarms the ring. Far and away the best part of the swarm was Titan and Gladiator getting back in the ring. The video quality being handheld from 1993, we can't really see the barbed wire ropes. So seeing Gladiator and Titan hop to the ring apron and high step over what appears to me nothing just makes them look like they're on their way to interview at the Ministry of Silly Walks. Literally every single thing about this match was perfect.

PAS: This was a batch of fun, goddam is Tarzan Goto a monster in this. I loved him just obliterating Atilla the Hun in the opening fall, just punking this goof out, and he continued to just cracking people with stiff lariats and great punches. I also dug Gladiator and Big Titan as this roided out mulleted team of goofs. Really felt like they should have been ECW's Road Warriors. Poor Verichev. This has to be a bit of a rock bottom moment, big fall from the olympic medal platform to getting punched in the face by Mike Awesome in a some gym in Japan. This was the right kind of barbed wire match, where the wire was part of the crazy brawl rather then the focus of the match, some nice bumps into the wire, but not a lot of carving.. Sabu was fun too, he mostly threw punches and rana's but had that nutso aura which made him such a phenom. Nifty discovery.

Barbarian/Mr. Hughes vs. The Steiners ASW 9/3/96

PAS:  Wow, what a blast this was. Total big boy spotfest. No reason for all four of these guys to work this hard on a random North Carolina indy show. Everyone knows how great the Stieners and the Barbarian are, but Mr. Hughes was a beast in this, just a bump machine. He misses a top rope splash, takes a Pat Tanaka level backdrop, and gets dumped on his head with Steiner suplexes and a the Frankenstiener. His offense looked good too, he had a great Buzz Sawyer style powerslam (as did the Barbarian, weirdly Rick Steiner didn't) and a dope dropkick. Steiners hit a bunch of their big throws, and Rick threw some great clotheslines. Finish was completely bonkers, Barbarian put Scott on a table on the floor, and misses a top rope headbutt to the floor and just splinters the table, completely insane bump, as crazy as any Sabu or Tommy Dreamer table bumps in ECW prime. If this had been on WCWSN or a WCW PPV it would have been a legendary match.

ER: My word what a match! You know who was really great in 1996? Mr. Hughes, apparently! Mr. Hughes is not somebody who I've ever had much of an opinion on, good or bad. I guess my only opinion up until now was "It was kind of weird when he showed up for a month in 1999 WWE." But here he looked like my favorite wrestler. He's still really big here (I remember him being slimmer when he showed up in WWE, in the same way Bossman was slimmer when he came back that year) but incredibly fast and agile. "Am I going to need to go on a Mr. Hughes deep dive?" he asked excitedly. Hughes takes a few armdrags from Scott really fast, does a super fast rope running exchange, bumps huge over the top to the floor, hits a high dropkick, a gorgeous classic clothesline (you know, where the power is in you whipping them into the ropes and let them run neck first into your arm), takes maybe the highest back bump I've ever seen from a man his size, hits a fantastic powerslam on Scott, misses a giant splash off the top...I mean Mr. Hughes was just everything I would want a wrestler to be in this match, with the added bonus being that he looks sharp as hell in his duds and wears sunglasses.

You know who else was great in 1996? Everybody else here. Rick was awesome, throwing Hughes high by the ankles with that big back drop, comes in with this fiery hot tag with mean punches to Barbarian's forehead, runs HARD through Barb/Hughes with a double lariat, really looked like a long haul trucker getting super strength from rest stop crank. Scott throws a couple big suplexes (getting Barbarian dangerously vertical on and overhead throw) and snaps off an all time great Frankensteiner on Hughes down the stretch run (and damn does Hughes take a great fast and tumbling bump off it). Barbarian is great all around here, and takes the most unexpectedly dangerous and spectacular bump of the match, something that nobody attending this show expected they would see, when he flies from the top rope to the floor, through a table, missing a splash as Scott rolls out of the way, and gets pinned. Phil is completely right that if that match had been on any WWF/WCW TV or PPV, it would be a super talked about match in our circles long before now. If this match had happened exactly the same this year, it would rank highly on ours and others' MOTY List. Mr.freaking Hughes baby.

Goldust vs. Curry Man 1PW 10/14/06

ER: This isn't too long after Goldust's 4th WWE stint (that popular stint where he was Snitsky's tag partner), so he was still closer to prime time shape and hadn't yet bulked up to Black Reign superheavyweight status. This was a big event with a large indy crowd, and a lot of indy names scattered throughout the card (including Samoa Joe in a six man for some reason, and Smothers/Hamrick flown over to be in a tag trios), and the crowd is into the act here. I'm not 18 any longer, so Curry Man is no longer my flavor, and we get a lot of comedy including a long bit with everyone (ref included) trying to stomp feet. 

Not really sure I can get past the ref no selling having both of his feet stomped. Mainly because seeing Goldust stomp feet and then limp around after getting his foot stomped, made me want to see someone (Dustin Rhodes-level worker or better) work an entire match around one foot stomp. I know one of these guys can do it. Either stomp someone's foot early and then work over that foot, or get their own foot stomped and then limp through a match. I want a stubbed toe sell; that stubbed toe pain that is the worst pain you can imagine for one 2 second burst. Later the ref gets involved again by leaping in at the last moment to prevent Goldust from hitting Shattered Dreams, taking a leg kick in the process and delivering one as a receipt. If the referee needed to be involved in this, that at least felt like a more organic way to involve him. 

We get a lot of my favorite Dustin spots - one which I feel doesn't get brought up enough - which is his missed crossbody that sends him tumbling to the floor. It always looks fantastic, and isn't something he does in every match so you're never expecting it. Curry Man/Daniels is fine. You know what you're getting with him. His moonsault looked like something that deserved to be a nearfall. But it also felt like Dustin could have had this match with anybody and we have a couple hundred Dustin matches with Anybody.

MD: A year or two back I went out of my way to specifically look for Dustin-in-the-Wilderness matches. Dustin is almost always worth watching because despite the gimmick, he brings such pure pro-wrestling skills. This isn't too far off from the Muta/Tajiri vs. Goldustin/Hakushi match for instance. One thing I came across was a three minute fancam highlight reel of this, posted a week after the match happened.

In a lot of ways it's like trailers today. It had a lot of the "good stuff," some very fun comedy in a setting where you rarely saw Dustin, 00s UK Indy. I'm glad the whole match has showed up but I did get a sense that I'd already seen a lot of that "good stuff." That said, this is still worth seeing for the novelty. Daniels is a guy who's been precision execution but not always precision emotion, but he's unleashed and fully committed and emotive as Curry Man even if he leaves some of that execution at the door. They work the first part of this as a symmetry driven comedy match. Dustin, being Dustin, works the second half from underneath, getting the crowd honestly behind him and buying into his comebacks. He's one of the few people who in 2018 can still get people to do so and this crowd was even more game for it than their decade-later successors. That he was able to work both elements in the same match, in a strange place, with a unique opponent is just more of the gospel of how great he is and was.

PAS: I am with both guys, this was a Dustin showcase against a game but generic opponent. I never bought Curry Man as a character, it was always Daniels signature crisp athleticism with some colorless comedy spots thrown in. Still Goldust working shtick leading into a more serious match is going to work with anyone. Dustin had great uppercuts, hit his awesome missed bodypress spot and worked a fun shtick around the Shattered Dreams with the ref. Basically a fun syndie match, but Dustin is one of the great Syndie match workers off all time.

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