Greg Valentine The Later Years: WWF 1988-1991

Greg "The Hammer " Valentine

Best of 1988-1991 in World Wrestling Federation
The Later Years

 

Best Matches:

1.  Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin - 10/89 MLG

2. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Blue Blazer - 4/89 Boston

3.  Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin - WWF MSG 9/30/89

4.  Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Tito Santana - 11/88 MSG

5. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/Jimmy Hart vs  Ronnie Garvin - Royal Rumble 1990

6.  Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin - WWF MSG 12/30/88

Greg Valentine vs Brutus Beefcake - WWF 3/12/88

Beefcake was really on point with his barber puns. "On point" get it, yeah, barber puns suck. Beefer was cuttin' and struttin' into heart of Vince, who was ogling him in his risqué tights. Jimmy Hart was actually a great foil for Beefcake because of his ridiculous mullet so the threat of cutting his hair is fun. Valentine clearly goes to the same hairdresser as Judy Martin also makes for a great foil for the Barber. This is the blowoff to their year long feud as Beefcake is transitioning into a feud with The Hammer's stablemate, the Honky Tonk Man (another ridiculous quaff for Beefcake to cut) over the Intercontinental Championship. In fact, Honky makes his way to ringside while Brutus is selling his leg on the outside to berate and add some heat to their Mania IV match.

 

Pretty damn good SNME match here. Beefcake is over and showed a lot of energy. Nice high knee and a pair of atomic drops. Valentine bumped and stooged like a million bucks for him. The stooging off the atomic drop was Rick Rude levels of awesome. The ref tries to get a clean break in the corner and the Hammer blasts Beefcake. That's the Hammer I know and love. I agree with Jesse that it was awesome that Valentine put the figure-4 on in the ropes and just when all out using the ropes to really ramp up the pressure to do some serious damage. This is when Honky lays the verbal smackdown. Back from break, Valentine tries to get the figure-4 back on, but Beefcake keeps pushing off. Brutus makes his comeback and calls for the sleeper, but Valentine collapses to the outside. Beefcake gets distracted by the Mouth of the South and a fun chase ensues. The finish is a back suplex with both men pinned, but Beefcake gets his shoulder up. Lame finish. With Beefcake going into a title match and it being the blowoff, you would figure he would be put over stronger. Beefcake des get to cut a lock of Valentine's golden hair. Fun little match with Valentine stooging and showing some great offense. Beefcake was energetic. Good stuff. ***

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts - 5/88 Primetime Wrestling

This was a pretty disappointing affair as most Jake the Snake matches are for me. This is a perfect example of an air-tight logical match that is boring as piss. Roberts did not seem up to work at all as there was no babyface shine and he worked the entirety from underneath in holds. The entire match was structured as Valentine works a hold -> mini-Snake comeback ->signals DDT -> Valentine bails & stall. Rinse, lather and repeat. I will say the first couple holds were boring, but the leg work was the most entertaining and Roberts is always game to sell, just not put any effort into anything else. It did not feel like Valentine was really laying in his shots. They built the entire match around the "D-D-T!", which the crowd was chanting at the beginning until they were lulled to sleep. Now I was ready to be pissed if Roberts signalled for the DDT and then finally hit it because the whole bout was built around Valentine bailing when he knew it was coming. Roberts may be lazy, but he ain't stupid. He hit the DDT out of nowhere, which paid off that internal story. Jake the Snake brought the internal consistency and his usual selling, but left Valentine to the carry the workload in a really layout. Valentine did not even stiff him. Booooooooooooo!
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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs "The Rock" Don Muraco - PTW 06/88

I went in expecting the absolute worst and was pleasantly surprised at how well this came off and yes that is mostly due to the amazing carrying powers of The Hammer. If you let Valentine work his match, you are the very least going to get a good match and thats why the Roberts match was so boring as the wrestled a Snake match. Muraco put himself in the very capable hands of the Hammer and I was entertained for the 15 minutes of the match. Muraco for his part actually worked hard and ended up blowing up, but at first I was impressed with how quick he looked with all that muscle mass. The short shine was a showcase of Muraco's surprising quickness and one sweet sequence on the mat. Only for Valentine to start taking over with nasty, high chops that look at home in Japan. Yes, Valentine goes back to the chinlock a lot, but I liked his striking and the grittiness. He hit a sick hotshot on Muraco and then started landing wicked blows on Muraco. Muraco takes exception to this, but Valentine bails and resumes his offense with harsh strikes. This has to be up there for one of the best striking showcases from Valentine. Valentine crotches himself on Muraco's knees. Muraco still has some energy with some decent strikes and punctuates with a shoulderbreaker, but only gets two. Valentine starts to work the knee, but he crashes on his ass to the mat. Muraco ends up on top of the ref, but moves at the last second so Valentine lands an elbow on the ref. Muraco is totally blown up and the ref calls for a DQ while Valentine has him cradled. This is a match to watch to see Valentine just unleash his arsenal on a willing victim, but nothing especially great.
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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs "The Rock" Don Muraco - MSG 7/88

"[Muraco] told me it is his lifelong dream to put Valentine out of business" - "Superstar" Graham

"They are not just fighting for a paycheck. They are fighting for morality. MORALITY!" - "Superstar" Graham

I decided to push my luck and watch another for these apparent childhood enemies (Hawaii & Seattle are kinda close, I guess) and once again I thought it was good, but not great. Muraco goes after the HeartBreaker early. It took them a year and half to pay off that storyline thats incredible. Valentine's shoulder eats the post. Muraco very gently rams him into the post. Muraco's arm work is pretty decent and I smile when he hit the Asiatic Spike onto the arm. Valentine revs up and just starts unloading with blows. Muraco turns the tide and Superstar starts talking smack on Valentine while Muraco lays into him. Valentine picks the leg and wraps it around the ringpost. Valentine works the leg and alternates with some nasty forearms and clubbering on Muraco. Muraco keeps fighting out of the figure-4. Muraco mounts his comeback with Valentine begging off. Muraco finally gets the HeartBreaker off only for the time limit to expire. Thus the the Ultimate Battle of Good vs. Evil ends in a draw. Shame. It is a match that I will be probably forget soon, but during it I never thought it dragged, but never really hit that next level. Valentine could still go in the post-Dream Team and I would have loved to see him get a run in the tag division against the Rockers or against Savage for the title in a one-off. Alas.
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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Tito Santana - 11/88 MSG

This is the Ultimate Greg Valentine match. You got to give it 10 or minutes before it really kicks your ass. smile.gif The first ten minutes are not that bad, just a bit pedestrian. Valentine is rocking the "Heartbreaker" Shinguard and Ronnie Garvin has not produced the technological innovation of the "Hammer Jammmer" so Tito is left defenseless to the extra pressure the Heartbrekaer will apply. Thus Tito immediately goes after the shinguard this tunnel vision leaves him open for a cheapshot. Tito get a better of this strike exchange sending Valentine out to the floor. We are partying like it is 1985 because their strike exchanges still rule the school. Tito is really good at selling, strikes and comebacks, but he is pretty awful at opening babyface shines. He settles on the side headlock while Valentine settles on the chinlock to begin this match. The work is solid, but uninspiring. Valentine forces Tito into the ropes and kicks Tito's injured right leg. Valentine then wraps Tito's injured knee across the apron. Ok, now we are talking! Back from commercial Hammer is dropping some elbows before relentlessly attacking Santana's knee. Just when it seems like Valentine may be in a toehold too long (crowd is getting restless), Tito pulls down Valentine's trunks and just starts hammering him with punches. The crowd pops like mad for this. However, Valentine is able to catch Tito coming off the second rope. Valentine grapevines the leg and drops back a couple time. He then does the Arn knucklelock spot only he scissors the leg and forces Tito to bridge out three times before taking a shot to the balls. Valentine looks more shocked than hurt. Santana inside cradle only gets 2. Valentine winds up and misses a fist drop.

Vamos Tito! Nasty strike exchange, Tito overwhelms Valentine and TIMBAAAAAAAAAH! Now Tito works over Valentine's knee to set up his own figure-4. I am loving this. Tito gets eye-raked and Valentine fells him with a brutal chop. Valentine back on the legs turning the shinguard around but gets caught in an inside cradle. Valentine with two big shots, but fails to get the figure 4 on twice as he is shoved to the outside. They exchange strikes on the outside, which I wised lasted longer. Valentine rakes Tito's eyes, but as he rolls back in the bell rings signaling a draw. They tease a Valentine victory by Countount, but it is confirmed as a draw. Tito clears the ring of Valentine to keep his heat.

After Martel was "injured", they put Tito in a holding pattern until he got back though he mainly faced Rick Rude, which I am looking forward to watching. Valentine had returned to the singles ranks after his team with Bravo failed to set the world on fire even though I think with the right push they could have been a bigger deal. Valentine was working with Muraco at this point so neither guy was in a major angle, but they pulled busted out a pretty hard hitting match together. Outside, Randy Savage/Ted DiBiase, I cant think of anything else that would get on this level. In a pretty light year for the WWF, I would say this is a serious MOTYC. ****1/4

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Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin - WWF MSG 12/30/88

I love when two Carolina Boys hook it up and lay into each other in a WWF ring. Valentine was so wasted in 1988 being stuck with Brutus Beefcake, Bloated Don Muraco and fucking old as dirt George Steele. He did have a great match with Tito Santana at the previous MSG show to this one.

Valentine has hair that would make the Glamor Girls jealous so Lord Alfred Hayes starts gushing over Judy Martin and that Rockin Robin is too skinny and not enough woman for him. They start as one would expect just blasting each other with chops. Garvin nominally has control of this as he is always moving forward and winning the exchanges. They are just wailing on each other. I loved that Valentine goes for the Flair Flop and Garvin stops him with a choke. Garvin goes for the sleeper, but Valentine ultimately reverses into some nice armwork (great shoulderbreaker) and some brutal chops. Garvin mounts a comeback a little too early in my opinion with his headbutts and fists.. Garvin Stomp! Gets no reaction, which is funny. Valentine wrangles him into a kneecrusher and Garvin sells this beautifully and the finish run is pretty hot. Valentine is working the Heartbreaker gimmick (shinguard) that increases the pain and pressure of the figure-4 so Garvin is doing everything he can to impede Valentine including a monster right hand to Valentine's head. Garvin rips off the Heartbreaker and the crowd pops, but he cant hit him with it and gets rolled up for three as he is arguing with the ref. Garvin beats him with the shinguard.

Honestly, I expected to like this a bit more. I love I good stiff Carolina chopfest, but this did not have much in the way of progression. It just felt like chop exchange, Garvin rallies and wins and Valentine bumps. That just keeps happening and there was no sense of build until the very end, which was very good. Entertaining because it is one of my favorite style of matches, but they have better matches in 1989 with each other. ****

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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Blue Blazer - 4/89 Boston

WOW! I did not expect this match at all. Pretty much all the pre-94 Owen I have seen has been pretty disappointing as many have pointed out he works too much like a gymnast. He starts off with a backflip off the top turnbuckle and I expected much of the same throughout the match. Instead, we got a hard-hitting, focused and well-paced match. This is the type of match that convinces me that Valentine is the best WWF worker of the 80s. He really wrestles a smart match that makes the Blazer look incredible. The Blazer was a pretty cool gimmick and could have really cashed in on the superhero craze that is going on right now.

Blazer targets Valentine's left arm with armdrags and wristlocks. He gets a nearfall with a cross body block. Blazer has dizzied Valentine with his speed and this is some of the best ground game I have seen in 80s WWF. Valentine is able to send the Blazer crashing to the outside. Valentine comes off the apron with a double axe handle. Owen sucks at selling as he kind of staggers around the outside and is not evoking sympathy rather just looks confused. Hammer plays King Of Mountain keeping Owen at bay with elbows and knees. Valentine hits him with a backbreaker and stomps. He wrenches his knee in the corner and he delivers vicious forearms. Blazer mounts a comeback with a second rope dropkick TIMBAAAAAH. Blazer fighting fire with fire using European uppercuts. He crashes and burns on a dropkick when Valentine hooks the ropes. Valentine realizing that the Blazer is for real wastes no time trying to apply the figure-4 but fails on all three occasions eventually crashing to the outside. Blazer seizing this opportunity works through a series of nearfalls attempting to secure the victory with a series of high spots including a missile dropkick and a top rope elbow drop. On his last move from the top, Valentine catches him and slams him for the victory.

I loved this match! It really felt like two wrestlers struggling working hard to secure a victory. Blazer was able to focus on Valentine's arm early, but Valentine was able to throw him to the outside and deliver some heavy blows, but that does not phase Blazer enough. Valentine regains the advantage tries to go in for the kill, but the Blazer is persistent. The Blazer would not let up with a barrage of moves. Eventually the ring veteran Valentine snaps him up to get the win. It was just a really well-constructed match that was executed beautifully. One of the best matches I have seen from the WWF 80s era. ****1/4

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Bret Hart vs Greg Valentine 5/89 Meadowlands

Bret Hart was just ostensibly a tag wrestler at this point as he was splitting his time in a program with Mr. Perfect and wrestling random matches with Neidhart against random tag teams. Outside a small program with Powers of Pain isolated to Primetime and the Rockers program at the end of the year, Bret's main focus was against Mr. Perfect and other midcard heels. I think Vince's booking restraint at this point is genius and displays how good used to be. He would never be that patient anymore. After two really awesome matches against DiBiase and Perfect, the bar was set high for the Hammer. I believe Valentine outclasses both DiBiase and Perfect in the WWF so I had really high hopes for this one. However, this came off as one of Bret's more pedestrian matches. I was not expecting a brawl per se, just something a little bit more hard-hitting. Dont get me wrong, Valentine definitely laying in his shots and Bret gave as good as he got, but did not reach the fever pitch I wanted.

The beginning was some by the numbers Bret control work with a chinlock and wristlock. After a headbutt, Valentine feigned doing his TIMBAAAAAH, but instead stood frozen until Bret's dropkick. Valentine chucked Bret out of the ring. Bret really milks out on the floor and they play King of the Mountain for a bit. I think Bret really liked that in 1989. Bret is a really good sympathetic face and Valentine is great when he is on top. So the match picks up here as Valentine is really laying in his stuff. Valentine is the Patron Saint of Clubbering because he is so damn good at it. Valentine whiffs on a second rope elbow drop. Bret mounts his comeback and shows a lot more fire. He headbutts Valentine again and pushes him over TIMBAAAAAAAH! Bret gets his backbreaker and goes for his second rope elbow, but Mr. Perfect distracts him. Valentine catches him with a high knee and stomps on his ankle repeatedly. Bret is really milking this and he attempts to crawl away that is such a great moment of helplessness. Bret is able to muster up enough to kick Valentine off on the figure 4 sending him into the post, but the bell rings before the 3 count registering.

They were doing a nice slow burn with Bret Hart going to draws with a lot of mid-card heels and it was a good booking decision. The match picked up once Valentine took control and the finish was really well-done, but I felt overall it could have been better. I would liked some more meaty exchanges. Bret is really proving his worth as an underdog babyface.

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The Rockers vs New Dream Team w/Jimmy Hart - 6/89

Rockers have taken over well for the Islanders as the team that just cant have a bad match. This is just good, solid tag team wrestler that is entertaining throughout. I was expecting a little bit more because I think The Hammer may be the best WWF worker of the 80s, but this settles in that good territory. Bravo is incredibly better when compared to Beefcake. He definitely has energy and I won't ever fault someone for that.

The story of the match is as you expect Rockers' speed and continuity versus the strength of Bravo & ruggedness of Valentine. They establish Bravo is stronger than Marty so Marty blind tags Shawn, who dropkicks Bravo in the back into a Marty slam and then a slam for Valentine; Rockers clear the ring. Valentine gets in with Shawn and Demolition wishes they were this good at clubbering offense. Valentine works over Shawn's shoulder and rams it into the post. Shawn creates space and then rams The Hammer's shoulder into the ringpost. I love payback spots. This is a couple minutes of Rockers' targeting Valentine's arm it is well done, fast pace work that never delves into heel in peril. Valentine with a forearm shot tags in Bravo, who takes a monkey flip form Marty. On the second monkey flip, Bravo catches Marty and gives him a reverse atomic drop. Bravo then lets out what can only be described as the "Howard Dean Scream" as he tags in the Hammer. Marty is the face in peril as New Dream Team works over him in entertaining fashion. This heat segment was better than some of Busters' heat segment. They were constantly tagging out and never just settling for choking. Bravo hits a great gutwrench suplex. Bravo misses the elbow. The crowd pops huge. Shawn comes in a house of fire. Ducks punches and punches of his own and suplexes Bravo. Double dropkick on Bravo, dropkicks for everyone including the Mouth of the South. Double fistdrop from the top, but Valnetine breaks it up. Shawn & Dino bump heads; Valentine puts Bravo on top; Jannetty breaks it up. Jannety in as a reverse sunset flip and Valentine clothesline him as the ref detains Shawn so the New Dream Teams WINS?!?!?!?!?!??!?

Wait Valentine/Bravo won? They have not been a regular team since 1987. I just dont get it. It seems like The Rockers have been pushed hard to this point maybe Vince sees they will hit a ceiling since the Demos and Hart Foundation are also faces. I wish Valentine/Bravo got a serious push as the number 2 heel team.

Fuckin' weird finish aside, it was a fun match which cut a brisk pace and everything was well-executed. The Rockers are definitely the best home stretch team in the WWF as that stuff was wicked entertaining to watch.

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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs Dusty Rhodes 6/89 - Niagara, NY 

With Tony on commentary, this feels like some down-home Southern cooking, baby. Dusty's antics always make me laugh; definitely one of my favorite wrestlers to watch. They establish the elbow early as his signature weapon felling The Hammer instantly. This is a battle of the Bionic Elbow vs. The Hammer Elbow. Dusty misses an elbow and Hammer takes over with a chinlock. Dusty and Valentine exchange blows in the corner. He goes for the Figure-4, but Hammer rakes the eyes enabling him to work over Dusty's leg. Valentine has the Hartbreaker is looking to make Dusty submit to his Figure-4, but Dusty pulls the hair. Dusty mounts the comeback out of the comeback and Dusty proves his work translates well to the North whipping the crowd into the frenzy. Valentine gets his knee in the corner and Jimmy Hart ascends the top turnbuckle!?!?!??! Garvin grabs him off the top. Rhodes gets the roll-up win.

The match is nothing to write home about and you do not have to go out of your way to watch it, but it is cool this match exists. Dusty in WWF is almost as weird as Flair in WWF, but I think Dusty fits a bit better in WWF, but not by much. It is always interesting to watch him in WWF. His bells and whistles still got over with the crowd. Valentine worked his usual stuff in, but I wished he turned it up a bit.
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Greg Valentine vs Ronnie Garvin - WWF MSG 9/30/89

If you love the sound of flesh on flesh then this match is for you! It helps a lot that Tony is here to call the action with the Southern drawl of Hillbilly Jim to add to this Mid-Atlantic fight feel. Absolute war of attrition. We all know that these two are going to hit each other hard and I mean double hard. The selling was off the charts great here too. I loved Valentine TIMMMBBBBAAAAAHHHH bump only when he tried to get up he flopped back down to the ground. I loved Garvin bouncing off the ropes trying to keep himself off as the Hammer rocked him with heavy chops. Just really awesome stand up exchanges. Tony nailed it felt like you were watching a boxing match. Valentine using shortcuts to keep Garvin at bay was great subtle heel psychology as Garvin just kept moving forward. I thought Valentine's chinlock/sleeper dragged a bit. I don't like Garvin using the sleeper because he is short, BUT it is a logical setup for the Garvin stomp so I get that. Loved the poke of the eyes when Garvin went for the Sharpshooter. Valentine hits some fucking massive chops late in the match. Then that kneecrusher followed by the insanely awesome selling by Garvin was so much fun. They tease heel running into the manager on the apron finish. Garvin sells the leg the whole way down the stretch, takes this great bump to the floor, cant get a piledriver. Valentine takes the press slam off the top. Lots of sunset flips here with Valentine dropping down on a Garvin attempt and falling forward to pick up the cheap win. Garvin wails on him after the match and ties him up in the ropes and wants to put the figure-4 on him using the Hartbreaker, but Jimmy Hart frees his man.

I love a heavy hitting, humdinger of a slugfest. Dragged a bit in the middle, but the finish stretch was a barnburner. I think calling this a Top Ten WWF 80s match is selling the WWF short, more than how great this match is, but this is a fantastic mid-card match. ****1/4

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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine vs "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin - 10/89 MLG

Well this match did not sneak up on me as I knew how much I liked the Royal Rumble match. This is one of those "Katie Bar The Door, Pier-Six" Brawls, just a drag-out, burn-down, bare-knuckle slobberknocker. You can count the "wrestling moves" on one hand, but who gives a fuck because they bring the heat with every blow. Gorilla tells me Valentine is the one who asked for Garvin's reinstatement after he retired him. Lord Alfred says if he gets his ass handed to him that he would be "hoist on his own petard", which I had seen elsewhere and now know what it means. Who says wrestling can not be educational? biggrin.gif

They lock up and Garvin wins a shoving contest in the corner. Then it turns into a boxing match with Garvin getting the better of that. Valentine tries coming in full bore with some vicious blows and chops, but Hands of Stone cannot be denied, well until Valentine gets a kick that may have been low. Valentine capitalizes on this immediately with elbows, but Garvin spreads his leg on a piledriver attempt. When Gorilla says look at that spread I get a chuckle out of it. Valentine piledrives him anyways, but only gets two. Here comes Garvin again with punches and chops; he attempts a pin after a headbutt/splash combo. Valentine backdrops Garvin on piledriver attempt, but Garvin tries a sunset flip however his legs are too short. Lord Alfred had a good laugh over that one. Garvin Stomp! The Sharpshooter gets blocked by an eye-rake and Valentine tosses him to the outside, we play a little King of the Mountain as Valentine sledges and elbows him. Garvin grabs a sleeper but he is just too damn short. He pokes him in the eyes and gnaws on his forehead. He goes for the kill with the Sharpshooter, but Valentine punches his way out. Garvin walks into a shinbreaker and Valentine applies his figure-4 leglock. Garvin makes the ropes, but is selling the leg for all it is worth. Valentine going for his second rope elbow gets caught and eats a press slam by a debilitated Ronnie Garvin. Garvin removes the shinguard and threatens to strike the Hammer with it, but in the confusion gets rolled up. Garvin beats him down the aisle way with the HeartBreaker. 

This was an ugly, brutal wrestling contest and I loved it. I will say that stand up wrestling matches like this are not my absolute favorite, but I do liked them every once and a while. This was a great change of pace from 80s WWF tag scene. I can only think that Savage, Backlund and Santana are serious contenders against him for best worker in the WWF 80s. Backlund obviously is missing half of the decade, but he did run on top for the whole first half. I have watched enough Santana to know he can have a few borefests or clunkers even though his stuff with Valentine, Savage and the Islanders is some of the best stuff of the 80s. Savage was not with the company as long as Valentine and Santana, but he obviously had some great stuff and in addition had a main event run. I am sure if started watching Savage again in earnest I would say he is the best, but Valentine is hard to deny with so many great performances. ****1/2

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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/Jimmy Hart vs "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin - Royal Rumble 1990

Valentine and Garvin staged an all-out, NWA-style war in this one. They are two ornery muthafuckas looking to beat the piss out of each other in a match. I loved the boxing bits at the beginning. At first, Valentine wants to leave due to the Hammer Jammer. After TIMMMMBBAAHHHH, he is giving just as good as he gets. He was never a heel to succumb to the WWF heel tradition of getting steamrolled. He would cheat and stooge, but he always dished out punishment too. Ronnie Garvin is such a great striker. This audience reminded me of the Survivor Series '93 audience for the RNRs/Bodies match. They could not make heads or tails, but stiffness is an universal language and eventually the audience started to get into it. The pinfall attempts to get tiresome after a while and yes some do act as reversals, but I think there were still too many. I didn't mind the Hammer Jammer stuff with mocking faces as much as they had established that was the role for the Hammer Jammer. I loved the struggle for each transition as they were laying into each other. It was smart and entertaining to keep going back to that. The head cracking spot was perfect to get the Hammer Jammer off. Say what you will about the mocking faces, once Garvin got in the figure-4 he sold it for all its worth going above and beyond most to sell it the rest of the match. The Flair press slam off the top was a nice nod to the past. Once Garvin got the Heartbreaker off, I enjoyed the WWF-style antics with Jimmy Hart, hitting the Hammer with his shin-guard and slapping on the Scorpion Deathlock for the finish,

I have no idea why Vince let them go on PPV, but I am sure glad he did because this is great match. It is so different for the WWF given how strike-oriented and vicious it is, but still has the WWF touch with the opposing leg braces. It is a great swan song for both men  epitomizing their stiff, vicious style in the ring. ****