Pro Wrestling Love vol. 20: Best of WWE 2002-2004 (Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar, Shawn Michaels)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 20:

The Best of WWE 2002-2004

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This eighteenth volume of Pro Wrestling Love is the conclysion of the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in WWE between 2002-2004. This is a transitionary era between the Attitude Era and the John Cena Era that begins in 2005. I define the Attitude Era as ending in 2001 because that is the last year Austin & Rock were full-time roster members and that was the end of WCW. The year 2005 sees the new generation of John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton take center stage. So what were the hallmarks of this transitionary era I would say three things: 2002 sees the WWF change its name to WWE, this is the peak of Triple H’s Reign of Boredom and the WCW midcard (Benoit, Guerrero, & Mysterio) contribute many of the great matches. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Contact Info: @superstarsleeze on Twitter, Instagram & ProWrestlingOnly.com.

Viva La Raza! Rest In Peace, Eddie. 

Top Six Matches of The WWE 2002-2004

#6. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs The Big Show - Judgement Day 2003 Stretcher Match

I have no clue why I watched this match. On paper, there was no reason to watch this match. No one to my knowledge has ever hyped it. It is a freakin' stretcher match. Has there ever been a great stretcher match? Then these two basically have the greatest Mid-South, Gordy vs Doc hoss fight of all time. I dont think this will make my list, but it deserves to be watched and discussed. 

Holy shit! This came out of left field! Bill Watts would have had a raging boner for this. Two big muthafuckas just throwing each other around. Both dudes are just pouring sweat because they are just ramming into each other and going all out. This is by far my favorite type of match. Super heavyweights just muscling each other around. Brock Lesnar is the great defender of the land. He is defending the honor of Rey Mysterio who was brutally attacked by Big Show at Backlash. The iconic moment is when Big Show slammed Rey strapped to a stretcher into the post. Then Lesnar saved Benoit from a similar fate. Thus the stretcher match was born. Cole & Tazz are all about the Andre vs Killer Khan stretcher match and that it was the 40th anniversary of the founding of the WWE Championship. Enough about that, these two just wailed on each other with that stretcher board. Brock is an athletic freak. One of the best bumpers in the history of pro wrestling period. He was flying around for the Big Show. Enough though Show was jobbed out to Brock at Rumble and to Undertaker, the beauty of Show is that no matter how shitty he is booked, he is instantly credible because of his size. Show delivers a MASSIVE chokeslam to Lesnar. Then a huge legdrop, Lesnar sell of this is amazing. Show tries to push him across. Lesnar wriggles free to Show blasts him and Lesnar goes FLYING. Brock Rocks! Then Lesnar just unleashes hell with the board, chokes the fuck out of Big Show with a cable cord, nasty moment as Lesnar tries to wheel Big Show across the line with the cord still tied around his neck, he yanks so hard that cord does not give so Show is WRENCHED off the stretcher. LESNAR SLAMS THE GIANT! THIS IS AWESOME! They get into a tug of war with the stretcher. Show jabs him in the ribs. Lesnar will not be denied. He just starts hurling his body at Big Show and until he sends him flying off the apron onto the stretcher, which Show bounces off of and onto the floor. Lesnar leaves. So this is a good time for Rey Rey to exact some revenge. 619 to the gut. Big Show slams him. Brock has a got a forklift! He is an expert forklift operator. BROCK DIVES OFF THE TOP OF THE FORKLIFT ONTO THE BIG SHOW! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! LESNAR IS PUMPED! HE UNLEASHES THE BEAST! F-5! He puts the board on the pallet and then Show on the board and drives with him for the win. WOW! Super heavyweight slugfest that is just relentless. Never a dull moment, just two big uglies kicking ass. The dive off the forklift was such an insane spot and should be more iconic in my opinion. Watch this match. ****1/2

#5. World Heavyweight Champion Triple H vs Shawn Michaels - RAW 12/29/03

WWE Match of the Year, 2003

I promised a more fleshed out review of this classic and away we go, three years after the fact.  I watched this match live in a hotel room in South Carolina and I will never forget that. Even at 14, I knew I saw something special. 

First 15 minutes: This is the best 80s NWA Touring Match to not take place in the 80s. It is Triple H doing his best Ric Flair impersonation (and I mean that with respect & admiration) against the literal hometown hero in Shawn Michaels (this takes place in San Antonio). Shawn Michaels outwrestles Triple H early. I am a mark for people holding onto their headlocks through a shove off. Shows struggle and grit. Nice job, Shawn. Triple H takes some big bumps for Shawn. HHH was very keen on throwing Shawn to the outside to reset and gain some space. However, on the first attempt this led to a skinning of the cat headscissors that brought Trips to the floor. Shawn hams it up with a Flair strut and the crowd is going wild. Flair gets pissed. Shawn decks him. Then it is an Asai reverse crossbody. It is cookin' San Antonio. Some other great spots in this red-hot shine are Triple H blocking a hiptoss so Shawn switches arms to the armdrag. That should be cribbed. It is shows resilience and the ability to think on your feet. Another spot that should be cribbed is Triple H is straddling the ropes and Shawn casually kicks the middle ropes into his balls. Triple H is pissed and Shawn wins another slugfest. This may not be Flair vs Garvin, but I like the frequency of the slugfests because it gives it a feel of struggle and it gives Shawn a bunch of mini-battles to win. Shawn takes a massive back drop over the top rope to floor to begin the heat segment as we go to commercial. Damn good heat segment. Lots of focus on the back, plenty of hope spots that make you believe Shawn is still in it and strong cutoffs. I like Shawn trying to punch his way out trouble because that had been working, but Triple H nails a backbreaker. Shawn is so tenacious. Triple H hurls him outside the ring and whips him hard into the steel steps. Both guys are playing their roles perfectly. Long abdominal stretch with Flair pulling on Triple H. They do that great Tommy Young spot where he breaks their clasp with a kick and Shawn hiptosses out. Triple H hits his massive high knee to cut off, but lands awkwardly. Great selling here from Triple H. It is just enough to clue you in that something is up, but not too much that it hurts the flow of the match. Shawn nails a kneecrusher and goes for the figure-4. It is really feels like 1986, baby! Flair rakes the eyes. Really great shine to open just chock full of fun spots. The heat segment was rock solid, but they added the wrinkle here with Triple H, the heel is the one with the injury. How will the back half of the match go?  

Back half: They built to an awesome crescendo in this. Like I said earlier I do like the frequency of the slugfests. It is action that means something rather being in a hold or just doing another highspot. They are mini-battles that advance the plot and show Shawn's pugnacious attitude. I really liked the testicular abuse that Triple H underwent. It is the perfect bit of 80s camp and lightheartedness that keeps the match entertaining. Today's pro wrestling is missing the gaga as Steve Austin would call it. Shawn accidentally falling and headbutting Triple H in the balls or the repeated inverted atomic drops were great. I love HHH Brody'ing Shawn on those. He did not take a bump instead he fed for the Flying Burrito to get the maximal effect out of that spot. Kudos to Triple H on a wise decision. Flying Elbow Drop! Tuning up the band and here is more gaga! We get a ref bump and the Championship belt shot...1-2-NO! Ref bump again! HHH exposes the turnbuckle but per Pro Wrestling #57 he who sets up the spot must take the spot means that HHH eats the unforgiving steel and is bleeding. Eric Bischoff, who I am 99% sure is a heel, comes out and counts 1-2-NO for the Hometown Kid! Shawn blocks the inverted atomic drop out of the corner, landing on his feet and decks The Game for 1-2-NO! Bischoff actually has a really good cadence and form. He is light years better than Hebner. HHH hits his facebuster for his nearfall. The finish see Michaels do the Flair Flip on the exposed turnbuckle, sell the back, BANG SWEET CHIN MUSIC! He falls into the cover and his shoulders are down to. 1-2-3! DRAW!

Great Dusty Finish as San Antonio explodes as they think Shawn Michaels had won and Michaels sells the moment really well. Normally I hate Dusty Finishes, but this match was so 80s it just needed that Dusty Finish to make it feel extra nostalgic. , Michaels was the plucky Hometown hero firing away punches and going for broke. Triple H bumped and sold his ass off for Michaels. They really built to the finish well and there was a ton of gaga to hold you attention. Just the perfect 1980s NWA Touring match ****1/2

#4. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker - No Mercy 2002 Hell In A Cell

WWE Match of the Year, 2002

If you described this finish of this match, most people would think you were describing a murder scene. Undertaker was drenched in his own blood and was spilling blood all over Lesnar. Brock was covered in Taker's blood by the end of it. 2002 was a pretty underwhelming year, but featured some of the all time best bladejobs in pro wrestling history. This match and the Nagata/Murakami match are the standout matches for 2002 to me. I don't yet, which I would place on the top of the heap. Violence is never been the strong suit of the WWF. Character-driven wrestling and Clash of the Titans is where Vince buttered his bread. Occasionally, he dipped into championship wrestling with Bret and out of control brawl with Austin. Austin's out of control barroom brawls are fun and entertaining, but they are not violent in the same way this is. This really feels like two men trying to maim each other very much in the vein of a southern blood feud brawl. It really is something different and something that Brock Lesnar excels at.

Brock has proven to be so versatile in his criminally short first run on the the WWE roster. In this match, he plays caged animal to perfection. At first, he is discombobulated and confused by the nature of the Hell In A Cell. He is young and inexperienced. Perhaps he has even bought into The Undertaker's mythos. This is Undertaker's boneyard. He tries to fight, but also tries to escape. There is a real sense of desperation. Taker is confident, but Taker is a veteran and knows how dangerous Brock is. Brock is stronger and quicker than him. He is virtually unbeatable. How many wrestlers could say they have that dual edge on Taker. Taker has his experience, his ability to withstand punishment and brutality on his side. Throughout the match, Taker almost never gained a fair advantage on Lesnar and was always using something to sustain that advantage.

I loved the duality of the cast. Undertaker's hand had been broken twice in the lead up to this match. The cast covered up a weakness for the Undertaker. Remove it and he is vulnerable. With it on, he had a weapon. It was this weapon that scored the first big blow in this war. Brock was sent reeling and was busted open. Paul E. was awesome with his shrieks of horror outside the cage. Taker laid down a savage beating on Brock using the cage, steps and cast at will. But Paul E. got to him. He just could not resist kicking Paul E.'s ass. One big boot into the cage sent Paul E. flying and he bladed. Then he got by the tie and pulled him into the cage repeatedly. I loved the spot where Brock went flying in trying to take advantage of the distraction only to eat the cage and send Paul E. flying. It was the perfect punctuation on the Taker shine. I loved that old school efficiency. You get the punctuation mark and you move on. It never lingers. Brock catapults Taker into the cage. He immediately pounces and throws Taker around. Nobody, but Brock could manhandle Taker this way. It is scary strength. My favorite spot of the match is Brock and Paul E. tying the belt around the cast hand and Brock going to town on the cast. It is so violent those swings ultimately snapping the belt. I loved the struggle over trying to rip off the cast. When he does Brock becomes cocky, he is swinging from the cell roof like Tarzan kicking Taker's ass. Without his cast, Taker pulls out another wily trick: the low blow. 

Again, Undertaker needed an underhanded tactic to bring Lesnar to heel. Lesnar is so great at heel selling and the style that reeks of cowering and desperation. Being more afraid to lose than you want to win. Big bumping Brock came out here with a crazy bump off a big boot from the apron into the cage. Taker hit a suicide dive, but it backfired as it took a lot out of him. Brock BLASTED him with the steps twice. I mean he fucking smoked him. Taker came out bleeding an absolute gusher. Between this and cast, I thought this a perfect example of a caged animal becoming extraordinarily violent. Up until here, the match was perfect. It does lose some points because Undertaker is able to use the bad hand to hit some rights and gain an advantage, which kinda sucks. I did like the finish run of Brock teasing a big move and Undertaker countering with a big move only to have Brock kick out. I hated the ref not counting because Brock grabbed the rope, when it was established pinfalls counted on the floor. That is shoddy. Undertaker having to level up each time to finally the Tombstone, which had the crowd going crazy was great build. I loved the tombstone reversal into Brock hositing Taker into a F5 from a totally awkward spot. One F5 and it was over. Oh how I long for this efficiency!

Writing this review, I think there are enough details that marr this match to stop from being my choice for 2002 match of the year and I would have Takayama/Ogawa over it too. However, this is easily, the 2002 match of the year. It is crazy to think that Brock Lesnar in his rookie year as champion had a WWE Match of The Year where he was the dominant force in the match. What is there left to say other than BROCK ROCKS~! ****1/2

#3. World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels - RAW 5/3/2004

Where the flying fuck did this match come from??? This was absolutely terrific! I think I may need to rewatch again because I cant believed how much I liked it. I am talking like "Best WWE match ever" contention after seeing it for the first time since I originally saw it. Shawn Michaels haters be damned. He fucking brought it in this match. This was his best offensive performance since the AWA. He knew he was going up against Benoit and just laid all his shit in and really brought to Benoit. I thought this was one of Benoit's all-time best selling performances. I really cant think of a better Benoit match in North America, but I have seen only a smattering of his matches since their original airing. For HBK, I think only Wrestlemania 25 or one of the Cena matches (I cant remember, which one I like a lot) can compete with this in terms of his post-comeback. I can't say enough how good I thought this was having just watched it.

Stone Cold says you can tell how great a match will be based on they lock it up and it was ferocious lock up. You expect that out of Benoit, but when I saw HBK lock up like that I knew the muthafucka meant business. They established right from the get go how serious Michaels was taking this as he went chop for chop with the heavy-handed Benoit. I liked Michaels keeping Benoit grounded early. It is exactly the perfect strategy against Benoit to sap that energy. Once Benoit got a head of steam, he crushed Michaels. If you let Benoit create movement, he will win and he is pouring it on snap suplex and backbreaker. Michaels actually uses a slugfest to hit his flying Burrito/kip up. Ballsy. Benoit teases the Crippler Crossface. I love the early finish run tease. Coming back from commercial, Benoit takes a hard, hard back bump into the turnbuckle. PITCH PERFECT SELLING! Awesome! Awesome. He takes a back body drop and is now in the ab stretch. Michaels works the back like a champ. I have never seen Michaels work such a great heat segment. He was laying those knees in and another whip into the turnbuckle. I loved Benoit busting a barrage of quick nearfalls for his hope spot. It was ballsy with the more "likeable" and "charismatic" also "weaker on offense"Shawn Michaels playing de facto heel against his polar opposite. It worked great! Michaels hits a wicked clothesline. Who is this man??? Top rope elbow and he is tuning up the band. Rolling Germans counter and when he sees HBK stirring it is a fourth one for good measure, but still misses the diving headbutt. Michaels going for the cover there was the right move, but only gets two. He goes back on top and Benoit unleashes a crazy onslaught of chops that Michaels sells so fucking well. This was just awesome to watch. Suplex to the floor! I am such a mark for that. Michaels nails a moonsault from the top to the floor, probably his best ever! They tease the double countout and when they both get up, Michaels shoves him into the post and busts Benoit open. Blood! Shawn hits a wicked dropkick. This is Shawn working like he is in All Japan. Michaels returns to the back and goes Liontamer, but too close to the ropes. Benoit reverses an Irish Whip (to send his back into the turnbuckles for a 3rd time) and in total desperation goes for his one bomb the Crippler Crossface, but he is too close to the ropes. Now Michaels feeling the desperation that he may be losing his grasp on the match and basically choking goes for Sweet Chin Music, but Benoit catches the foot looks Sharpshooter! If that was the finish, I think I would have gone the full monty, but when Benoit kicks him off there is a ref bump. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music, but HHH pedigrees him to mar the match. Benoit gets a tainted victory.

Tremendous match. I cant praise Shawn's offense enough in this match. He went after this one and worked the best heat segment of his life. The finish stretch starting with the elbow drop was perfectly worked. Benoit was trying to avoid Sweet Chin Music at all costs, but was in too much of a hole to climb out of and then being ran into the post made it seemed insurmountable. I loved that his first move upon regaining the advantage was to apply the Crossface. It was avoid the Superkick and apply a finishing hold down the stretch for Benoit that was perfect strategy. Michaels was looking for finishing hold targetting the back or his bang bang Sweet Chin Music. Benoit's selling was off the charts good. Honestly, besides the finish I cant find much wrong with this match. Chris Benoit has the best RAW (this one) and Smackdown (vs. Austin, 5/31/01) matches in history. ****3/4

#2. WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero vs John Bradshaw Layfield - Judgement Day 2004

Well that's gotta be an 11 on the Muta Scale, it is one bloodier. It is a murder scene. If you think this match is just about buckets of blood, you would be dead wrong. A great throwback match to the hate-filled brawls that were the norm in 1980s US Wrestling. For me, this match represents where the divisions in wrestling fandom started. Scott Keith posted a lukewarm at best review of this match and was rightfully spit-roasted. Scott Keith had spent years espousing the virtues of 90s workrate and believed in those idols. He saw someone like JBL and dismissed him out of hand. I believe he went in with a star rating before he saw the match. Another example was an insane low ball rating of Brock vs Taker 2002 Hell In A Cell, three stars. It would be years again before I found those wrestling fans that saw great wrestling comes in all shapes and colors here at Pro Wrestling Only. Yes, workrate fans continue to dominate the internet, but I am so glad to found a place where brawling, traditional championship wrestling and shoot style are still revered. 

Eddie is red hot at Bradshaw after Bradshaw cuts a Donald Trump promo to huge heel heat. Can we go back to that America? Also according to the announcers, Bradshaw caused Eddie's mom to have a heart attack, but it is ok because Bradshaw is going to have her employed as his maid. What I love about this match is that is not a glorified weapons match that stands in for brawling. Today so many "brawls" is just an excuse to hit each other with weapons. Here Eddie just wants to keep punching JBL right in the face with a good 'ol fashion closed fist, throw him into some hard, metal objects and choke him with a cord. It is an asskicking that is personal. I love that JBL tries to leave it really puts over how major this asskicking is. Typically, you see a heel champion do that not a heel challenger. He rather foresake the championship than get beat up more now that's an asskicking. I thought the transitions were great. Eddie is concerned about the count and it breaks his focus and he ends up eating the steel steps. I thought Bradshaw was great in control of the match. He used his size advantage to control and dominate Eddie. Anyone who says JBL was slow or some other bullshit watch him run the ropes or feed those armdrag bumps. He was bumping huge for anyone but especially for his size. Eddie gets a plancha, but eats JBL's fallaway slam on the outside. The playing field is leveled. You feel that who over wins the next slugfest will be poised to win the match. Eddie is rocking JBL with chops, but JBL executes a desperation back body drop on Eddie who lands on the table. I like that move as a transition as JBL uses Eddie's own momentum to garner control of the match. It feels more like the babyface lost control of the match than the heel won control. You want an aggressive babyface and a reactionary heel. Bradshaw applies a bearhug to chagrin of workrate fans. Eddie begins his big comeback. He is just so damn charismatic. He runs over the ref by accident and here we go...Eddie throws JBL over the announce table and he approaches JBL to meter out more punishment...JBL CRACKS him with a steel chair. Blood is quite literally squirting out of Eddie's head. The blood was flowing for the next ten minutes. In my estimation, the most grizzly bladejob I have seen. He was wearing the literal crimson mask. The finish run is spectacular. One of the best of all time. JBL CRUSHES EDDIE WITH A CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL! THEN HE THROWS HIM DOWN WITH A POWERBOMB! Both moves looked killer. Eddie's shimmy shaking with all that blood was so electric. I love how Eddie gets all his receipts in and then some. Yes he loses by DQ, but he draws blood from the championship belt, he cracks JBL in the head with the steel chair and then the cherry on top is the chest beating, blood-soaked Frogsplash. Thats how you put a babyface over. Eddie looked like a world-beating asskicker. How the hell would you not want to root for him? JBL did a great job selling all this cowering and crawling while Eddie was relentless in seeking revenge. A classic hate-filled brawl with great babyface/heel dynamics that is taken to the next level by insane, copious amounts of blood that make it instantly memorable. ****3/4

#1. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs Eddie Guerrero - No Way Out 2004

WWE Match of the Year, 2004

The ultimate feel good moment in WWE History. I am so glad I was able to watch this live thanks to my Dad's cable box scrambler. Eddie Guerrero will always be one of my favorites. We all know the story, people like Eddie dont win the big one. He is just too small, but goddamn his personality is larger than life. His energy is infectious. His smile can light up an arena of 20,000 people. He is what a pro wrestler should be. Then on the other side of the ring, you got the Man! I love Brock! I am such a Brock mark. Shoot credentials, powerhouse with explosive quickness. It was all on display here. Two of the best ever just putting on a clinic that stayed true to their unique characters. 

There was no shine. Brock was just a dominant champion. He was throwing Eddie around at will, treating him like a ragdoll. Every Eddie comeback was met with a kneelift and then a violent throw. I loved that high knee into the corner. He basically made Eddie take his full weight. The announcers put over that the match was over before it even started. So many times they want to feed us that power vs speed story but Tazz outright says it Brock Lesnar is faster than Eddie. I love the brutal honesty. Brock Lesnar is a cocky shoot fighter and he is toying with Eddie. So what strategy does have Eddie at his disposal, well he goes the Mutoh/Tanahashi route. Mutoh/Tanahashi constantly fight wrestlers that are better them in a kayfabe sense Hashimoto/Nagata/Nakamura, but they negate their natural advantage by targeting the knee. Injure a body part you take away weapons and give yourself an opening. So Eddie drags Brock's leg over to the ringpost. Want to know why Brock is one of the greatest of all time watch how much he struggles to avoid this. Eddie gets his way wrapping the knee around the ringpost, but Brock is still a beast and uses pure leg strength to slam Eddie into the ring post. Thats the middle part of the match. Eddie trying to make use of this new opening and Brock cutting him off at the pass. I love that it takes so much for Eddie to EARN his advantage. Brock is a monster it is going to take a lot to keep him down. Brock is taunting Eddie & the fans by marching around with him in a musclebuster or going for a military press, but pride comes before the fall. Eddie wriggles free and hits the dropkick to the knee, but Brock lunges at him with a monster lariat. Brock just keeps coming with those suplexes. This is the original suplex city match. Brock goes for another crazy high knee, but Eddie moves and Brock takes a nasty tumble over the top rope all the way to the floor. As always we should take a moment to appreciate Brock the Bumper because goddamn if he is not one of the greatest bumpers of all time. I love he takes two hurricanranas from Eddie no problem and makes them look great. Eddie hits a plancha. Brock comes up limping, but Eddie still cant win total control as Brock is still ferocious. It was only as Brock mounted Eddie and told him he was nuthin that Eddie finally looked like he had a chance. He applies a VICIOUS heel hook. That was some RINGS shit right there. Then he applies an STF to a TREMENDOUS POP! Damn, I would never think the STF would be so over. You could tell in that moment the Cow Palace realized Eddie might have a chance. The rest of the match becomes about Brock trying to survive all these Eddie submissions. Brock was using kneelifts and throws to set up holds. The idea being to use the holds to sap energy and regain his own, but his leg was in a bad way. He was not as in control anymore. However, Eddie had injured Brock's knee, but he had not yet hit a home run to garner a pinfall. He crashed and burned on a missile dropkick attempt and a Frogsplash. Brock had a bloody nose from turnbuckle shot was clearly frustrated and was yelling at Eddie to "just die" (not exactly great in retrospect). He was rolling him into bridged pins but seemed to be running out of gas. Michael Cole does a great job putting over the heart of Eddie Guerrero. I am such a sucker for that story because it means we all got a chance in this world. Doesnt matter if you are the strongest, smartest, best looking, but if you believe enough and work hard enough, you can do it. Thats why this match seems so much to me and all wrestling fans. Brock Lesnar hits the F-5 but wipes out the ref. It looks like doomsday for our hero until Goldberg spears the hell out of Brock. They give Eddie enough offense after this that it does not feel too cheap. Eddie hits the tornado DDT on the belt and then Frogsplash to a MASSIVE POP! Has there ever been a better post-match celebration? Woooooooooo! This match always puts a huge smile on my face. If you ever feel blue, this is the match to watch it will make you feel like anything is possible. ****3/4

Pro Wrestling Love Vol. 14: Best WWF Matches of Attitude Era 1998-2001 (Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 14:

The Greatest Matches of WWF 1998-2001

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This fourteenth volume of Pro Wrestling Love begins the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in the World Wrestling Federation from 1998-2001. To me, this is the Attitude Era, I think some people would tack a year on at the beginning and end, but I would argue 1997 and 1998 are two very distinct landscapes. The year 1997 had Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels as the focal point and both were gone in 1998. In 1998, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the title and never looked back. The year 2001 saw WWF buy their competition, WCW and it also Austin’s last full time year. The year 2002 feels like more of a transition year and the first year where they really tried to capitalize on nostalgia with first the New World Order and then Hulk Hogan.   You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

The Unholy Alliance

The Greatest Match of World Wrestling Federation 1998-2001

#6. WWF World Tag Team Champions Steve Austin & Triple H vs 

Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho RAW 5/21/01

One of the best tag team matches in the history of WWF during the electric Stone Cold 2001. I understand why Austin and everybody is down on this run because people didn’t want to see Austin as a heel, but fuck it I love it. I loved the paranoid lunatic character in and out of the ring. He reminded me of 1997 Macho Man just an absolute Wildman. The World’s Most Dangerous Man. He is the one who sets the tone for the match. Everybody has to raise their energy level to match Austin’s. Because of that this match was just dripping with urgency. Austin made Benoit & Jericho earn that shine. I have covered late 90s WCW and WWF at this point and conspicuous by his absence on these lists is Jericho. Besides the Fall Brawl match with Eddie, Jericho has not had many stand out moments. Here Austin & HHH let Jericho shine. However, that being said Benoit was the star of his team. His chop exchanges with Austin were badass. I loved the mid-match climax with Benoit hitting a superplex and then applying Crossface, only for HHH to save and hit Benoit with a chair. It was interesting that Benoit was the face in peril. I think he is a better seller than Jericho, but he is undoubtedly a better hot tag also. The fourth man, HHH did a great job contrasting from Austin’s desperate psycho maniac by being a cowardly, weasly heel. They complemented each other so well.  Benoit was great vacillating between selling and hope spots. I loved that they used the false tag to great effect here. Austin is totally out of control and throws Benoit back in for the Pedigree! But there’s no ref and Jericho finally gets involved with a missile dropkick. Austin is wild-eyed and beside himself. Jericho hot tag is great; I really like the Thesz Press into the Walls of Jericho. This is the famous HHH blows out of his quad match. In an incredible feat of manliness, finishes the match out. He even takes the Walls of Jericho on the announce table. Wow! Great finish stretch that is total chaos. Diving headbutt! Stunner! Lionsault! Benoit tackles HHH! Urgency and energy was perfect! The pacing and escalation were incredible! One of the best tag team matches in WWF and one of the best RAW matches of all time.

#5. WWF World Heavyweight Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs Dude Love 

Over The Edge 1998

WWF Match of the Year, 1998

One of those matches that was great before the bell even rung. There are too many funny lines from Pat Patterson as he was introducing Gerry Brisco, Vince McMahon, Dude Love and even his non-introduction of Stone Cold. For me, it was the advertising of Brisco Bros Body Shop in Tampa to a live audience in Milwaukee and a national audience on PPV with Pat punctuating that it was worth the drive. It was just so absurd. 

Austin is on trial in McMahon's trumped up kangaroo court. He has to deal with McMahon as the referee, the rules changing mid-match, Patterson & Brisco at ringside and eventually McMahon doing what we all expected: refusing to count. All the while, Foley and Austin are having the Attitude Era Brawl for the ages. Once, the Dude applies his Mandible Claw this match is kicked into overdrive and never looks back. Stone Cold is so cool isnt he. He just has so much energy. You cant your eyes off of him when he is making a comeback. There is so much vim & vigor behind it. What's surprising is he even kept up with Foley in the crazy bump scorecard. Foley had that nutty bump off the guardrail and then the Cactus Elbow from the car to the concrete, but Austin was bumping all over those cars especially the one where Foley shoves him off the Stunner was crazy. I think demolition derby with their bodies and the cars still holds up. It is the best use of a set ever. It feels organic. So many of the "toys" in other matches feel planted. This was just the set and they started taking bumps on the set. I loved McMahon during this section every two count, he was either pissed or relieved depending on who was kicking out. I cracked up seeing Brisco behind the action with the ring bell ready to ring it at a moment's notice. I loved Austin's mini-comeback after blading. Like he was so enraged that he was bleeding that he was really going to whoop ass only to have Foley back drop him out of a piledriver. The Cactus Elbow eats nothing but pure concrete. It was great that headed home soon after this. Patterson trips up Austin and this gives Dude Love a couple nearfalls based off the exposed top turnbuckle and a steel chair. However when Austin kicks a chair into Dude Love's face, McMahon is worried. Austin hits a home run swing on the cranium of Mrs Foley's Baby Boy. But McMahon refuses to count and then Foley accidentally cracks McMahon in the skull with the chair. Then the fireworks really go off. STUNNER! Mike Chioda 1-2-Patterson pulls him out and decks him! The fix is in! MANDIBLE CLAW! Patterson in 1-2-Taker pulls him out and Taker sends PAT PATTERSON STRAIGHT TO HELL Chokeslam through the announce table. Brisco tries his hand, but bad idea, Gerry. Taker takes the reincarnated Jim Thrope & our friend, Gerry Brisco and SENDS HIM STRAIGHT TO HELL! STUNNER! Austin pulls McMahon over and takes his hand and makes him count the three! Best overbooked finish ever! Before I forget, I gotta give a shoutout to this crowd. They ruled. They loved Stone Cold so much and were behind 100% from the beginning to the end of the match. The Stunner was so over. This is such an overbooked masterpiece and really shows what pro wrestling can do better than pretty much any other form of entertainment in terms of absurd drama. 

#4. WWF World Heavyweight Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs Kurt Angle Summerslam 2001

As a huge WCW fan, I was hopeful for the impending invasion and asked my parents to buy this PPV. At this point, Vince realized WCW was sorely lacking in starpower and wanted to keep Austin as a heel so he switched Austin over to WCW. They made it work from a kayfabe perspective. Austin’s switch is really logical from a paranoid psychopath’s perspective. Vince’s hug of Angle is enough to drive the insecure Austin over the edge because he thought he was going to be replaced. Even though as a 12 year old I knew the end was nigh for WCW and that invasion would be watered down, I was happy I ordered this PPV because this match was one of the best matches I have ever seen in my life up to that point. I did not order many PPVs and this was before the DVD box sets that started coming out in 2003 and before Youtube in 2006. So it was a real treat to watch a real instant classic.

Kurt Angle up to this point was kind of a dopey heel that thanks to his Olympic credibility had enough to hang in the main event with HHH and The Rock. Now that he was babyface and defending the honor of the WWF, he needed to shed that image and become an asskicking hero. This match is how you make a star. Angle came out of this match looking like a million bucks and one tough son of a bitch. Austin was an unhinged, reprehensible bully. Austin cheated like a muthafucka for the while match I do want to point that Austin got no real reaction during his entrance. It was eerie, the biggest star in wrestling history was being treated like a vanilla midcarder. I think fans were really struggling with Austin’s new character they still loved him, but hated his actions. The first Stunner and not a peep! Is it the fact they are in California (notoriously quiet wrestling crowds). Regardless, I was loving all this.  Austin was a cheater, psycho, a coward and a bully all wrapped up into one awesome heel package. The blood in this match maybe the best use of blood in wrestling. I think blood can enhance but here it was invaluable in getting over Angle’s struggle over to reclaim the World Championship for WWF. It was a full crimson mask. This was not the dopey clown that was a bumbling idiot in love with Stephanie or wearing little cowboy hats. THIS WAS A MAN! The crowd does become more invested in Angle as Austin beats the holy hell out of the bloody Austin. My favorite moment is when Angle applies the Anglelock outside the ring as Austin is trying to escape over the barricade and has a crazed look in his eye as he drags Austin back in the ring. He is trying to out-crazy Austin. This is the best example of babyface fire from Angle as he is throwing Austin all over the place and hitting a beautiful moonsault. The Million Dollar Dream was a ballsy move by Austin to slow the match down at a such a fever pitch, but Angle was so over at this point that crowd was still super into it. It was a chance for the heel to sap the energy of the runaway freight train babyface. Trade Stunner and Angle Slam down the stretch. Austin nails the ref to escape with the belt. The finish and a pedestrian beginning keep this from going any higher on my list and this will probably just miss my  overall Top 100. Still this is a classic and two great performances coming together in a badass match that features great babyface/heel dynamics.

#3. WWF World Heavyweight Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs Chris Benoit Smackdown 5/31/01

They are in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Chris Benoit’s hometown. This has the feeling of the old touring NWA Champion facing the hometown hero. However unlike Flair or Race, Austin is a completely different beast. He is a psychopathic, paranoid champion. Austin just like Flair or Race knows how to shine up a babyface. He is wildly flailing around as Benoit does what Benoit does best kick ass. I love that Benoit went for the Crossface not once, not twice, but thrice early in the match. It shows he is looking for the win early and often. In a match of this magnitude, there is no reason to use anything but your best weapon, but it is still too early and Austin still has strength and wits about him. Benoit is applying the full court press suffocating Austin. Austin is great tumbling and stumbling all around ringside. Austin is able to stymie Benoit because Benoit has injured ribs, but just like the Russians at Stalingrad Benoit just keeps marching forward. Benoit ends up eating the championship belt on a diving headbutt and he has a cut under his eye. Always disturbing to watch. Benoit kicks out! Big pop and this is the big transition. Austin goes for the heat-seeking Sharpshooter to big boos. When Benoit breaks and applies his own, the crowd pops huge! I love pro wrestling! Austin’s trick knee acts up and rears up and whacks Benoit in the balls. Austin needed that shortcut. Huge “Lets Go Benoit” chant. Superplex after a ballshot bums me out. I hate when the ballshot is not respected. The Crossface outside the ring! Austin’s selling is impeccable. Then in the spot of the match Austin hits the nastiest front suplex on Benoit on the announce table on the injured ribs. Huge Austin Sucks chant! Austin is trash talking Benoit while kicking ass. Great heat segment. Until the Rolling Germans, ten of them and Austin wants a timeout. The finish is the best they can do. They wanted to keep the title on Austin. So they let Benoit beat the shit out of Vince with a chair and then Austin gets the cheap rollup. It tugs on all the same strings as a touring NWA champion, but I thought this was a totally fresh take updated for 2001. The crowd is tremendous! One of the best WWF TV matches in history and a perfect confluence of characters, story and location.

#2. WWF World Heavyweight Champion The Rock vs “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – Wrestlemania XVII

WWF Match of the Year, 2001

I watched this match last night not expecting it hold up even though I have watched many times of the year. I thought I had just got caught up in all the hoopla and the spectacle, but nope this is a badass match and definitely one of the greatest matches to take place in pro wrestling history. The year 2001 was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's reaffirmation that he was one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live. He burned out in a short amount of time, but by God did he burn bright. I am surprised in my previous reviews (I watched a lot of these matches two years ago) that I did use the term "Perpetual motion" because that to me sums up Stone Cold's 2001. He was perpetual motion. But it was not wasted motion or excessive motion. It was always motion with purpose and with urgency. The difference between urgency and desperation is a fine line and this match Stone Cold Steve Austin crossed the line into desperation. That in my mind is the difference between a babyface and a heel. To me, Austin's real value was always turning himself up to eleven. In 2001, I think this was something he was struggling with personally. Was he as good as he once was? Would he be as over? Did he take what he had to be The Man? Especially given how hot The Rock was. He was not coming back to a company that was hurtin'. He was not coming back to a company that desperately needed a top babyface they had The Rock. You bet your ass, Steve Austin the person had some doubts about himself. I think it was genius to turn this into a storyline because it was so believable. But do it in a way that is so pro wrestling. Take something thats a seven and dial it to an eleven by getting Mr. McMahon involved and that heinous attack at the end with a steel chair to really sell it. To me it was not just smart booking, it was smart in-ring storytelling. Thats what puts this match over the top. Every plot point in this match fuels Steve Austin's insecurities and self-doubt until it explodes into that fiery rage of the heinous steel chair attack on The Rock's prone, limp body. Honestly, no matter who is opponent was on this night would have taken a backseat to the drama of Stone Cold character, but I thought this was The Rock's best performance as a babyface and as a wrestler. I really enjoy the Rock. I dont think he is a great wrestler and I dont he is a bad wrestler. He is kind of strange because he feels so different and has become so successful at not being a wrestler, which is so odd. Here, Rock really shows that babyface fire. I love his reactions to Stone Cold's jaw jacking and flipping him off. He was matching Stone Cold's energy and thats what this match needed. I loved the jumpstart to the match. Austin jumps The Rock it is a borderline sneak attack because the Rock has barely taken off the championship belt. It is gamemanship. It is an unwritten rule that you sort of look your opponent in the eye and lock up. Austin is a desperate man and desperate men do desperate things. Austin proves that by picking up that championship belt and trying to nail The Rock. Austin is not a confident man. Also, I love the drama swirling around this match being changed to a No DQ match at the last second. Austin is perpetual motion in this match both on offense and bumping & selling. He wrestles this match huge remember this is at the Astrodome. The culmination of all his hard work. Taking WWF from almost going bankrupt to their first Dome show since 1992. Watch him go for that patented FU elbow. He is out of control but everyone wait at the top can see him throw his body around. I love those big Arena Rock motions. There is a part where he is taking Rock's offense and he is doing the best discombobulated selling you will ever see. Just flailing all over the place. Another moment that just dawned on me was he took a suplex he pops up to keep fighting because that's his nature, but then all the pain stuns him up against the ropes. I love that delayed register. More people need to use that. It makes sense when you first get hit, it is kinda rush and you wanna fight back. Then like a wave it crashes over you. Also, the transitions in this match are just money. They all happen because the wrestler in control takes their eye off the prize. Austin is fiddlefucking trying to get the turnbuckle pad off and Rock knocks his ass down. The Rock is jawjacking with the ref and Austin blasts him with the ring bell. They pull out all the stops here too. Double juice, lots of great throwbacks to Austin/Bret. I love the Sharpshooter sequence because they are both bleeding, but notice the little things. Austin needs to use the ropes to break the hold. Rock can break the hold with his strength. Thats the difference between a heel and babyface. People forget often that one of the main reasons a heel becomes a heel is becomes he realizes he is not good enough to best the babyface. Thats what is happening in this match. Austin was worried that he was not good enough but as the match progresses it is becoming more and more evident that this is not just a cause for concern, but actually the truth. Thus he has to resort low down, cheap tactics to win. Thats how you become a heel. The Rock hits the Stunner and this draws out Vince McMahon. It is clear that Austin at least wanted to try to win this fight on his own, but now the situation is getting too dire. McMahon who has a lot invested in Austin is out to insure that he wins. Austin is not too proud to beg. There are so many great moments in the finish stretch of this. McMahon's face after he pulled the Rock off Austin after Rock had Austin pinned from the People's Elbow and that famous McMahon gulp that leads to the chase scene that ends in a Austin steal of a Rock Bottom. The slow realization that Austin and McMahon have joined forces. Jim Ross was so crucial here because he is Steve's best friend. You can actually listen to him go through through five stages of grief as he is witnessing what is happening. You can see Austin become more and more unhinged with each kickout. The Stunner and kickout was especially good. The Rock is valiant here and comes close with a Rock Bottom, but the odds were too stacked against him. I think what makes this finish so good. It is one extra Stunner that does the Rock in or one extra chair shot. Austin goes ballistic in a way that you never see a wrestler go. Wrestlers usually one chair shot. If it is multiple, there is a pause in between swings. They need to line up make sure they hit the right spot, the opponent has to brace himself. There was none of that here. Austin was in a frenzy. He saw red. It is not singular climax we are so used to seeing wrestling. It is about the journey of the character, Stone Cold Steve Austin, as you can watch him lose all grip on his own sanity. So powerful. Then of course the moment none of us believe we would see, the anti-establishment asskicker shaking the hand of Corporate Satan. Desperate men do desperate things. 

As good as Austin was, nothing was going to touch this match. 

#1. WWF World Heavyweight Champion Triple H vs Cactus Jack 

Royal Rumble 2000 Street Fight

WWF Match of The Year, 2000

It feels wrong that Stone Cold did not secure the top spot. Six out of the seven top matches from this era feature Steve Austin. He is the biggest star of the era and the best wrestler of the era. Yet, I couldn’t pull the trigger. There is no doubt that this is not just the best match of this era, but one of the best matches of all time.

Is there anyone better at selling Mick Foley's transformation into Cactus Jack than HHH? He knocked it outta the park in 1997 and again in 2000. I had never seen the video package before the match and it really shows how well the WWF was clicking at the time. It can be stated enough how important Mick Foley was to that roster. He was just so damn loveable in a way that Austin and Rock could never be. He was the underdog that everyone could rally around. He was also sadistic enough to be used to cement championship reigns (Taker 1997, Austin 1998, Rock 1999 and HHH 2000). Undoubtedly, HHH needed more help than the rest of those wrestlers who grew organically from a groundswell of support. HHH was the first of many artificially pushed wrestlers, which is now the commonplace in the WWE. He was also an interesting experiment in pushing a heel hard as a mainstay in the main event besides one off stints with Superstar Graham and Yokozuna, the WWF had never attempted before. It was an innovative paradigm shift that I think was worth the experimentation even if not everyone agrees with the results. There was no better wrestler to cement the position of the new ultimate bad guy than the ultimate underdog, Mankind. After HHH fired Mankind and then was forced to reinstate when presented with a locker room walkout, he beat the living shit out of Mankind. Only for Mankind to announce, Triple H would instead be facing Cactus Jack and that angle looked red hot with HHH selling fear perfectly and Cactus opening a can of whoop ass.

This match was one of my favorites growing up, but I have not watched it probably 4 or so years. It holds up in a big way and it remains one of the best 2000s WWF/E matches of I have ever seen. Upon this viewing, I realized that was HHH's performance not Cactus' that makes this match so incredible. Don't get me wrong when you have a match as excellent as this one, both wrestlers are wrestling at a very high level. The way Cactus was wrestling, so aggressive, so sadistic, so forward, he could have easily heeled himself. HHH sold, bumped and stooged his way to one of the best heel performances ever. It was as if the Creature of the Black Lagoon was unleashed upon the most vile, reprehensible human. Normally, you would feel sympathy for HHH, but not in this case because he was so cowardly after he had been such a prick to Cactus. In a lot of ways this match reminded me of the Foley/Orton match, but what makes this one better is HHH's performance in ensuring Cactus is always 100% the babyface. In fairness, I think the Orton match did exist to set up Orton's face turn in August of 2004. I love the beginning shine of the match where Cactus just kicks HHH's ass for a good 10-15 minutes. There is a great moment where HHH swings the ring bell wildly and then runs for the high ground of the ring with a chair. You can sense his fear. Foley just shakes off the bell shot and then takes a wicked chair shot to the face and shakes off that. It is that horror movie moment when HHH realizes he will not be able to keep the incensed monster down. He is selling and bumping the whole way for Cactus. The Barbed Wire 2x4 was an excellent climax to the babyface shine. It got a great pop, it was a great escalation in violence, it allowed for a mini battle over an item within the larger scheme of the match. There was drama over who would score the big blow and then HHH bled buckets. Cactus getting the nearfall off the bat shot to the face was excellent. I thought it was a little weak that they did the back drop off the piledriver and instead of going to heat segment they regressed back to the barbed wire bat, which seemed like a step backwards instead of forward. Cactus took his two usual, nasty, nasty, nasty knee related bumps into the steps and HHH went to town driving the barbed wire bat into the knee. HHH's staggered selling never relented and he looked someone trying to survive by any means necessary rather than a proud champion exactly as a heel should be. I liked the handcuffs in this match because it actually set up for a really nice run of hope spots: headbutt to the balls and biting HHH in the cut. If you did not believe it before, you did now Catcus Jack hates this muthafucka and will do everything in his power to hurt and maim him. The Rock was definitely necessary and a perfectly acceptable way to get the handcuffs off Jack. The thumbtacks was another great way to escalate the violence. Stephanie was effective in distracting Cactus long enough for HHH to back drop Cactus into tacks so not a clean victory. The first Pedigree kickout was HUGE! Really put Cactus and the match over. Pedigree onto the tacks still after the six times I have seen it makes me cringe, grimace and a little queasy. Helmsley retained the championship, but it was a Pyrrhic victory as he is stretctered out only to have Cactus catch up to him and slam him back out.

I think the one misfire was that they should have had Stephanie or someone physically interfere to set up the rematch, but still Cactus did get his heat back and HHH looked like he was barley alive by the end of it so it is a small critique.

Overall, holy shit, this was fucking awesome. Even better than I remember it, which was just a violent street fight. It is so much more. It builds so well to the mid-match climax of the barbed wire bat then to the handcuffs and finally to the finish with thumbtacks. The characters are perfect. Cactus is a crazed monster that is always moving forward whether it is being slammed with a chair or handcuffed. He was out to destroy HHH. That's the difference between the bump machine of the early 90s and this Cactus, who has matured as a performer. He did not have this match by himself like he did with Sting. His bumps made sense, but more importantly he was out to hurt HHH and win the match. HHH knocked it out of the park in this one as he gave one of his best heel performance. He looked completely overwhelmed by the all out assault of Cactus. He was sold it like he shit a brick and he tried to hide behind weapons, but nothing was doing for him until he got a lucky break using Cactus' own momentum into the steel steps and then following that right up. Cactus took the vast majority of the match, but HHH earned his stripes by taking this beating. The heat segment was great and still featured a bunch of hope spots. The finish was a perfect climax to the his violent masterpiece. Holds up 100% and this match is HHH's and Mick Foley's best match.

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 13: Best of WWF Attitude Era 1998-2001 (Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 13:

The Greatest Matches of WWF 1998-2001

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Subject: This thirteenth volume of Pro Wrestling Love begins the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in the World Wrestling Federation from 1998-2001. To me, this is the Attitude Era, I think some people would tack a year on at the beginning and end, but I would argue 1997 and 1998 are two very distinct landscapes. The year 1997 had Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels as the focal point and both were gone in 1998. In 1998, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the title and never looked back. The year 2001 saw WWF buy their competition, WCW and it also Austin’s last full time year. The year 2002 feels like more of a transition year and the first year where they really tried to capitalize on nostalgia with first the New World Order and then Hulk Hogan.   You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

FIVE STARS!

Honorable Mentions

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Vince McMahon – St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Steel Cage Match

WWF World Champion Triple H vs Vince McMahon – Smackdown 9/16/99

Going back and watching Attitude Era TV and you will understand how awesome the Mr. McMahon character is. We all know about the classic McMahon heel character and there is no better match to showcase that than  hos blowoff steel cage match against Austin in February 1999. However, what is an underrated is how damn good walking tall babyface defending his family honor, Vince McMahon is. I think the HHH vs Mr. McMahon match from Smackdown is legitimately great and is a hidden gem.

WWF World Champion The Rock vs Mankind – RAW 1/4/99

Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy wins the big one! It is the feel good moment of the Attitude Era. I don’t need to say more.

WWF World Tag Champions Dudleyz vs Hardyz vs Edge & Christian – Wrestlemania X-7

WWF World Tag Team Champions Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs Dudleyz vs Hardyz vs Edge & Christian – Smackdown 5/24/01 TLC

The last matches out. As with all TLC matches these are super fun car crash stunt show daredevil matches.

The Twelfth to Seventh Best Matches of WWF from 1998-2001

#12. Owen Hart vs Ken Shamrock – Fully Loaded 1998 Dungeon Match

Owen Hart wrestled this match in Zubaz short. FIVE STARS!

This is an incredibly compelling and gripping five minute sprint. Shamrock needed more of these. This takes place in the vaunted Hart Family Dungeon. It is a shoot-style (ok as shoot style as WWF would get). It feels like a bar room brawl. Part of this match’s charm is how well it is shot. It close up and tight. It feels gritty and real. The work is so snug. They worked the throws, strikes and slams into the wall so organically. The best part was the straight front kick from Shamrock that sent Owen flying into the wall. Owen cheats like a muthafucka with a low blow, lead pipe and then the dumbbell finish. Owen was at his self-congratulating best here. All the cheating protected Shamrock for the Lion’s Den rematch at Summerslam. So stiff, so explosive, a great five minute sprint with unique camera work and atmosphere.

#11. Kurt Angle vs Shane McMahon – King Of The Ring 2001

I can already hear my good buddy, Charles (the head & founder of ProWrestlingOnly.com) groaning at this selection. So here’s my defense. Kurt Angle was touted as an Olympic Gold Medalist. But he never wrestled as one from his debut through 2001. He was presented as a cowardly heel who bumped and was outsmarted by babyfaces. Even, when he played babyface he sold like any other wrestler would. He is not Brock Lesnar. He is not Ronda Rousey. He did not wrestle like an Olympic Wrestler. If you take people’s criticism of this match to its logical conclusion only Brock Lesnar should have been able to Kurt Angle. Still, how do you cover for the fact that Shane McMahon the pudgy, untrained Greenwich-born boss’ son can hang with a conventional pro wrestler, Kurt Angle.

We need to bear in mind Kurt Angle already had two matches going into this match as he was taking part in the King of the Ring tournament (lost to Edge in the finals). Kurt takes ShaneOMac down with ease, but you have to remember Angle is the heel. So there’s an established narrative of the overconfident heel being shown up by the babyface during the shine that’s what happens here. Angle leaves himself in a prone position and Shame wisely punts him in the ribs and reigns down haymakers. That requires no skill, but it will injure Angle. That gives Shane an opening. When Angle begins his comeback, gets on his bike and turns into a track meet, again no wrestling skill. Then he goes aerial with the barricade. This is an established strategy against shooters most famously used by CM Punk at Summerslam 2013 against Brock Lesnar. Then he goes for a Kendo Stick and brains him! This match is totally credible. He is taking advantage of Angle’s overconfidence and using weapons, a totally valid offensive strategy. My main criticism of the match is that Shane sucks at selling. He is so bad at selling that he is in over his head and eliciting sympathy. This would have skyrocketed up the charts. Shane’s weapons-based dominance comes to an end when he eats trash can on a Shooting Star Press. He went for a home run and got burnt. This is when the match famously goes up the entrance ramp. I had seen the famous moment when Angle throws Shane through the glass on Don’t Try This Home ad. I did NOT know that the first time he tried IT DID NOT BREAK AND HE LANDED RIGHT ON HIS HEAD! HOLY SHIT! Then when they went through they both got cut up really bad. Did they use real glass? Those are two crazy muthafuckas! Wow! That’s Foley-level batshit insanity. The rest of the match is still brutal. I liked Shane getting one last hope spot courtesy of a lowblow, again a credible way to put Shane on offense. Angle beating the tar out of him with a piece of table and the Super Angle slam is a great finish. It is too bad Shane is not every a little but sympathetic. One of the best individual Kurt Angle performances, sadistic on top and vulnerable when he needed to be. They did a great job coming up with smart, credible ways to get Shane on offense and that breaking glass window spots were insane. Awesome brawl.  

HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!

#10. WWF World Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian vs Hardyz vs Dudleyz
Summerslam 2000 TLC

The Hardyz vs Edge & Christian Ladder Match at No Mercy 1999 innovated the car crash, stunt show, daredevil matches that are now a staple of WWF programming. It is here at Summerslam that they cemented this genre’s place in the WWF forever. Now TLC has a PPV named after is and almost all major PPVs have a match like this to fill out the card and get a lot of people on the show. So why did this one make the list as opposed to the other two that were merely honorable mentions. The difference is the finish. The Mania finish is a crazy series of three massive highspots, but the actual finish is anti-climatic. Here I think each elimination of a person is smart and spectacular. These are fun Summer action, blockbusters. Don’t overthink them. Just enjoy.

#9. WWF World Heavyweight Champion Mankind vs The Rock – Royal Rumble 1999 I Quit Match

WWF Match of The Year, 1999

The only match of this countdown that I watched live. I was an odd child for many reasons, but one of the myriad was that I hated asking my parents to buy me stuff. I told you I was weird. The one exception would be wrestling Pay Per Views, but I was judicious. I still only wanted them to buy the special ones. Like Spring Stampede 1998, a meaningless PPV for many people, but Macho Man Randy Savage was challenging for the World Championship for the first time since I became a fan. He won too! The less said about the next night on Nitro the better (I still have the Nitro match on VHS from when I recorded Nitros). The next PPV I was interested was a Royal Rumble. What is not to love? 30 WRESTLERS! That’s a kid’s dream. Plus it was the height of Austin vs McMahon and my favorite character, Mr. McMahon was going to be in the Royal Rumble! I was sold! I told you I was a weird kid. As a by-product, I did get to watch this match. Man, it has stuck with me since and always thought this was one helluva brawl. It is famous for Rock giving Mankind like 15 unprotected steel chair shots to the head while Foley is handcuffed in front of his family. It is brutal to watch, but also compelling.

I am going to do this review backwards. The screwjob finish is about the only way out unless you want to completely shatter a heel's credibility. Theres no way you can have a babyface say I Quit. So why not just play the tape of Foley saying I Quit at the beginning of the match. Well, there was a lot of enmity between the two. The Rock really did hate Foley at the time so you think he would want to dish out some pain after being humiliated earlier in the month losing to Foley. I'll give them a pass on the finish. I think was serviceable and what needed to be done. 

Now the chairshots. They were brutal and plentiful. I lost count. It is definitely one of the more brutal things you will ever see in wrestling. To have his kids front row for Mick Foley's Masochistic Theatre of Pain is weird. I have never read his book. I think I listened to him once on Austin's podcast, but I kinda forget the deal. I think he had a shoot grudge with The Rock afterwards. I have a hard time believing The Rock went into business for himself. It just seems very much in Foley's nature to invite this level of sick pain. It is definitely one of the nastier ways to end a match. 

Now the electrocution bump. Horrible setup. The Rock just climbing up there for no reason. Foley takes the bump, sparks fly. Cool bump and the lights go out. Shane-O Mac sells it by coming out to stop the match. The Rock gets all indignant that he is going to make his fat ass say I Quit. I liked the People's Elbow on the chair. The ballshots were great hope spots in the handcuffs.  

Everything before Foley Masochistic Theatre of Pain (electrocution bump and chairshots) was awesome! Like they were well on their way to a classic. Great babyface shine. Foley was rocking. Rocky was bumping. I loved stuff like Rock whipping Foley into the steps for his first bit of offense after the Mankind onslaught, he gets cocky and starts jaw-jacking on commentary. Foley attacks him. Rocky had only hit one move. He had NOT cemented advantage and he paid for it. Great stuff! Loved the Double Arm DDT and Mr. Socko early. Great climatic way to end the shine. It is definitely in Foley's nature to want more pain. He lives for pain and it is not enough. The Rock's heat segment was entertaining as hell. Ringing the bell in the ear, singing a little bit, Evian Spew on Foley. Then Foley's hot comeback which leads to the electrocution bump. 

Great, hate-filled beginning, terrible setup for the big bump, good stuff directly after the big bump, sick, self-indulgent Foley's Theatre of pain is way too much and the screwjob finish is serviceable. Overall I think this is WWF MOTY for 1999 (terrible year) and still a really interesting match to watch. ****1/4

#8. Dudleyz vs Hardyz – Royal Rumble 2000  Tables Match

In my mind, this is the smartest Tables match in history and the best of all the “car crash” matches. What helps this match so much is that every single spot was motivated by trying to put someone through the table to win the match. It was not crazy spots for the sake of crazy spots.  They were trying to win the match the whole time and as a by-product they were entertaining the fans.  This match is also helped by the rules. You have to put your opponent through a table and the partners have to go through consecutively, which means that there is a lot of misses so a lot more table carnage. People are just flying through tables at a break-neck pace. There are so many awesome, badass spots in this. The finish is spectacular with Bubba falling from the balcony through the table and then Jeff Hardy swandives onto Devon through table. The Hardyz were a good looking tag team and were always gonna be over with the women. To get them over with men they needed to prove their mettle against gnarly monsters in violent bouts and this did that in spades. Definitely check this one out!

#7. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs Triple H – No Way Out 2001 Three Stages of Hell

I’ll try not to write a review as long as this match. :P Actually, one of the reasons I picked this countdown to do was because I am sick and don’t feel like writing much. There is not much in-depth analysis necessary for Attitude Era matches. However, this is a looooooong match. Actually the reason, why it is number 7 and not higher and also not in contention for being a candidate to make the top 100 matches of all time is because it is a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong match. Did I mention this match is really, really fucking loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong?

All kidding aside, the first two falls are humdingers and feature some really good wrestling. The first fall is a straight wrestling match. Stone Cold’s return in late 2000 brought traditional wrestling to forefront and this will be seen in the next volume where four of the six matches feature Stone Cold in 2001. What this does so well is mix traditional wrestling with hate and urgency. Austin is a totally house of fire from jump and HHH is overwhelmed. It really sets the tone for the match. Love that the first chance he gets HHH goes for the Pedigree and it really puts over his desperation. There is really great arm psychology set up by Austin hitting single-arm DDT out of the Pedigree attempt. Tenacious is how I would describe Austin. He always gives maximal effort. We get double limb psychology! When did I wake up in Crockett? HHH chop blocks the leg. There is a great moment where HHH looks to wrap Austin’s leg around the post only for Austin to use his leg to pull HHH shoulder-first into the post. Amazing! The double limb psychology really makes this first fall a total treat. KICK WHAM STUNNER! You honestly didn’t need another two falls. This was an incredible match unto itself.

The next fall is a street fight. The story of this fall is how the hell does HHH figure out a way to hit his kill shot, the Pedigree when Austin is wrestling like a lunatic. HHH was on his bicycle trying to run from the crazed Austin. He was wrestling like a man possessed. I really liked Austin doing the Garvin stomp but with a steel chair! We really are in Crockett! HHH finds his opening via barbed wire covered 2x4. He goes for the Pedigree on the announce (while selling the arm!), only to be back dropped on the Spanish Announce Table, which explodes. The ring bell sets up another Pedigree attempt, but again HHH takes a gnarly back body drop this time from the ring to the floor. Finally, third time is a charm, it is ‘ol Sweet Lady Sledge that is enough to put Austin down to hit a Pedigree. Loved the escalation and how Austin was constantly fighting back and HHH was fighting through it but with weapons to earn the Pedigree. Another tremendous fall.

Unfortunately, there is a third fall in the steel cage. It just drags. The street fight was a spirited, fast-paced brawl. This is one of those methodical, drawn out HHH snoozefests. Things get especially shaky with them each kicking out of the other’s finisher. Remember how hard HHH tried to use the Pedigree and he finally got the second fall. Remember how one Stunner in the first fall spelled Game Over. Yeah, I didn’t like that. They both go for weapon shots and nail each other simultaneously and Trips falls on Austin. I will say the finish at least fits in with the overarching narrative. Austin’s loss here before Wrestlemania X-7 feeds his self-doubt which leads to his heel turn at Mania. The first two falls are tremendous some of the best wrestling either man has done in his career. Sadly they ran out of gas in the third fall.

Pro Wrestling Love Vol. 1: Best of WWF in 1993-97 (Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Undertaker)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original intention was publish this series at the PlaceToBeNation.com however due to time constraints I have decided to start publishing on my own here at RidingSpaceMountain.Blogspot.com. Eventually, all blogs will cross-posted to PlaceToBeNation.com. In addition, I want to remark that this first blog was about double what I intended the word count to be and I will be working on being more concise without losing any information. Please bear with me as the series is getting off the ground. Thank you very much!

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

“In the beginning was the Word…”

 A suitably dramatic way to start the “Pro Wrestling Love” series at the Place To Be Nation wouldn’t you say! I have always favored the written word because as the author I can constantly refine verbiage to best convey the intended message. However, I do bear in mind Voltaire’s advice that “The search for perfection is the enemy of good.” For far too long, I have procrastinated on writing this series in an effort to have perfect, complete information on pro wrestling’s voluminous catalog of matches, which is a foolhardy notion. Now, the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) has given me the impetus to write this now or I shall forever have to hold my peace on subject near and dear to my heart: What is the Greatest Pro Wrestling Match of All Time?

I Love Pro Wrestling! This picture always makes me smile! :)

Keiji Mutoh coined the term “Pro Wrestling Love” and I have selected it as the title of these series of articles because I love pro wrestling. It is pure and simple. I want to celebrate pro wrestling in all its forms throughout time and the globe. The tone of these articles will be positive praising the men and women that craft amazing stories through body language that is universal and timeless. Superficially, this seems like a facile task since I will be discussing the Greatest Matches of All Time. However, when you are discussing the Greatest Match of All Time being hypercritical is only natural. The stakes are higher and the passion is greater. When you truly, deeply love something as much as I love pro wrestling, the thoughtful criticism is a sign of affection because I care that much.

My goal for these articles is to increase awareness of great pro wrestling to as many people as possible. If just one person comes away from these articles watching a match they never seen before, then I have done my job because whether they love it or hate it they will have expanded their knowledge of pro wrestling. My favorite moments recently as a fan is discovering these hidden gems and exposing them to the world. Who can forget when I lost my mind over an obscure AJ Styles vs Bobby Roode match (Final Resolution 2011) and made everyone on ProWrestlingOnly.com watch it. (FYI, you should totally drop what you are doing and watch that now because AJ gives the single greatest selling performance ever. Don’t worry I will wait for you to come back. You watched it? Wasn’t it amazing?) As a wrestling fan now, that’s what I live for and I am really excited for this project.

I am Martin “Superstar Sleeze” Boulevard and a pro wrestling fan for over twenty years now. I am Superstar Sleeze on ProWrestlingOnly.com. You may have heard before on the “Titans Of Wrestling” where I was nicknamed the “Teen Titan” and you may have heard me on my now-defunct podcast “Tag Teams Back Again”. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @superstarsleeze and you can send me any feedback there.

The expected format will be I will discuss the twelve or so greatest matches from a promotion over a five year period. First, I will discuss a broad theme about pro wrestling psychology pertinent to the matches that will be discussed in the article. Then, I will explain why I selected this specific five year period. Then I will give a brief overview of the promotion and the prominent wrestlers at the time in that promotion. Each five year period will be broken into two articles, six matches per article. The reviews will be 5-7 sentences each and will focus on the narrative of the match and what makes the match special. Full reviews can be found on the ProWrestlingOnly.com forum. Simply go to the folder of the Month/Year, find the match and you will be able to read my full review of the match. 

The first period I selected was the World Wrestling Federation from 1993-1997. There may be no better understood era of a pro wrestling promotion than the WWF in the mid-90s. That’s exactly why I chose it to be the first subject. It is a common touchstone that all wrestling fans no matter if you are a WWE-only fan or a fan that watches FUTEN and Black Terry tapes we all have an opinion on it. If you are going to being reading my opinion throughout this series, it is good to know where I stand on canon before we venture off into the hinterlands of pro wrestling. Even though, I think this is the most well-characterized era of pro wrestling, I think I still found a couple hidden gems in the #7-#12 range. I will freely admit that the top six is the usual suspects, but they are the usual suspects for a reason.

To me, 1993-1997 is a natural time epoch in the history of WWF as a transition between the Hogan era (Hogan leaves in June of 1993) and the Attitude Era (Austin wins the title in March of 98). This era is sometimes dubbed the “New Generation” and it is basically the Bret & Shawn era.   In January of 1993, Bret Hart is the World Wrestling Federation Champion and November of 1997 he “loses” the championship to Shawn Michaels in the infamous Montreal Screwjob. In the interim, Bret and Shawn are consistently spotlighted as the best pro wrestlers in the company even in the midst of the year-long Diesel World Title Reign. It will be noted that 11 out of 12 the matches selected have either Bret or Shawn in them. If I was to do a Top 25, 24 of the matches would have either Bret or Shawn in them. That’s how dominant they were from a “workrate” (for a lack of a better term) perspective .

I watched and reviewed a total of 72 matches from this era.

Blah blah blah...will you get on with the countdown already?

Honorable Mentions:

The Best of Non-Bret, Non-Shawn Matches:

Marty Jannetty vs Doink The Clown - WWF RAW 6/21/93 2 Out Of 3 Falls

WWF World Tag Champs Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid vs Quebecers -WWF MSG 1/17/94

Marty & Doink are unsung great midcard wrestlers in 1993.

The Best of 1993:

Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect - WWF King of the Ring 1993

Bret Hart vs Doink The Clown/Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler - Summerslam 1993

No matches from 1993 made the Top 12 and I wanted to make sure they were represented. These are the two best and I think Bret vs Perfect match from KOTR ’93 is the WWF Match of the Year from 1993.

Great Tag Team Matches of The Era:

Bret Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs Owen Hart & Bob Backlund - WWF Action Zone 2/26/95

WWF Tag Champions Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin - WWF RAW 5/26/97

Only one tag team match made my Top 12 so I wanted to give some love to the other great tag team matches from the era.

The Last One Out:

Shawn Michaels vs Mankind - WWF RAW 8/11/97

This is just a randomly great, out of control, insane brawl that never gets talked about enough and really just misses the cut. It came down to this or the HHH vs Catcus street fight and I gave the nod to the latter.

Top Twelve Matches of World Wrestling Federation from 1993-1997

#12. Cactus Jack vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley – RAW 9/22/97 Falls Count Anywhere

The best non-Bret, non-Shawn match of the era is a Falls Count Anywhere match between Cactus Jack and HHH. Foley was such an integral part to making HHH a star in both 1997 and 2000. In ’97 they feuded after Helmsley defeated Mankind for the King of the Ring. 1997 saw the Faces of Foley come to light as they humanized the Deranged Mankind and explained his childhood love of wrestling.  That led to the debut of Dude Love and then ultimately the return of Cactus Jack to a wrestling ring, which is announced via an amazing video package where Foley plays all his characters simultaneously thanks to some TV magic. Dude Love calling “Mankind” always cracks me up.  HHH does a great job selling Foley coming out as Cactus Jack as a total “shit his pants” moment.

I like my brawls short and sweet. It should be a burst of violent adrenaline not a drawn out war of attrition. This match maximizes its time and efficiently dishes out brutality. It is the Greatest Hits of Cactus Jack in one action-packed ten minute match. Cactus supplying both the offense and the bumps. Shoutout to Chyna for being really awesome in this. She was great in creating the dynamic to give Helmsley a fighting chance in this because the match demanded that Helmsley be a bumping coward in this match. They came up with a creative way to neutralize her by having Cactus shove Triple H who ended up colliding with Chyna into the steel steps. The finish was superb. Cactus uses his brutal bump, the Nestea Plunge (basically banging the back of his head really hard on metal or concrete) to make you believe he is ripe for the Pedigree, but instead turns it around by hitting a monster  piledriver through the table. Excellent, energetic plunder-based brawl that made Foley feel like a huge star.

#11. Bret Hart vs “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – Revenge of The Taker 1997

A hidden gem hiding in plain sight. It is BRET HART VS STONE COLD IN 1997 why don’t people talk about this more? Does it pale in comparison to Wrestlemania XIII’s submission match? Of course, but 99% of matches do that does not make this any less special. The backstory is that this a month after the Mania match and the feud has not been settled.

Stone Cold’s selling in this match is superb. For a trash talking, ass kicker, selling is actually a pretty difficult thing because vulnerability can be seen as undercutting Austin as the TOUGHEST SOB. However, you cannot be the TOUGHEST SOB in history if there is no pain to overcome. This is what Austin does so expertly well in this match is convey vulnerability, but also his grit in struggling with the pain: collapsing on piledriver attempts, lunging forward constantly, yelling in agony. He is in a tremendous of pain, but goddmanit there is no quit in him. Of course in my estimation there is no one better in the history of North American wrestling better at grinding down a body part than Bret “The Hitman” Hart. He is impeccable in control of match offensively because of his wide arsenal of offense, his excellent execution (he deserves the nickname) and his sound psychology. I have noted in the past that Bret matches can be very neatly segmented. If Bret is on offense, he is on offense and you are his ragdoll. When Bret is selling, his opponent is on offense and Bret will ragdoll for you. That being said the transitions will usually be good just inside a segment there is no sense of struggle. Austin because of his tenacious, energetic style forces Bret's hand. So many times Austin will just charge or throw a wild punch. It is not even that much of a hope spot, but it is a spot that forces Bret to eyerake or to kick at the bad knee to re-establish control. Austin keeps Bret honest and I love that.

The narrative was excellent with the ultra-hot, energetic opening from Austin. The hook of the match is that Bret is able to re-injure Austin’s knee because Austin was trying to attack Bret with a chair, but as Austin & Hebner were fighting over the chair this afforded Bret the opportunity to dropkick Austin from behind bump Hebner and then attack Austin’s knee. Austin was screwed over by his own propensity for violence. I describe how great the heat segment is in depth in the above paragraph. What they do so well in the finish stretch is protect their finishes. In Kayfabe, Austin has try for the Stunner. In reality, he was not booked to win so you cant hit the Stunner. Instead, he attempts it and Bret holds onto the top rope for dear life. It was Bret’s selling tenaciously holding onto that rope that made the spot fantastic and enhanced the Stunner that much more. By the same token, Bret has to go for the Sharpshooter, that won him the Wrestlemania match. Here the cool spot is that Austin whacks Bret in the face with his own metal knee brace, the very knee brace Bret ripped off to inflict more damage. Thus the symmetry that goes back to Austin & chair is revisited here. The finish is Austin wants Bret to submit to his own move: the Sharpshooter, how humiliating would that be! The Hart Foundation bails him out by bum-rushing the ring. In the post-match, Austin attacks the knee of Bret Hart with a chair to give him a taste of his own medicine. The job would be finished the following night on RAW when Austin would savagely destroy Bret’s knee in a street fight putting him in a wheel chair. Besides the DQ finish, this is just excellent wrestling and my hot take is that this is actually a better wrestling match than their more heralded Survivor Series 1996 which I found well-worked, but pedestrian at times.

#10. WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs The Undertaker 

One Night Only 1997

Lets keep the Bret Hart love rolling. This is generally considered to be the last great match of Bret’s WWF career. Bret defeated Undertaker for the Championship at Summerslam in one of my all-time favorite angles when special guest referee Shawn Michaels accidentally nailed the Undertaker with a steel chair. This is the Championship rematch and happens on a special UK PPV.

As we will see later in this countdown Bret is a master at working with a bigger opponent in Diesel and here it is not much different. He tries different strategies early (throwing punches/brawling, speed and taking off a turnbuckle pad), but none work against the Man From The Dark Side and eventually he eats his patented running chest-first bump into the exposed turnbuckle! Then…

Just by Bret Hart kicking Undertaker's knee, there is a massive reaction. That embodies pro wrestling to me. It is not about the crazy flips or modified suplexes. It is about caring about your favorite wrestler and telling a story where you are building to an outcome. Eventually, Bret earns full control when Undertaker’s knee slams into a turnbuckle on a missed charge. Bret is a Great White that smells blood in the water. Like I said in the Austin match, there is no one else I rather watch grind out a match than Bret and his control segment on the Undertaker’s knee is a thing of beauty. Undertaker for his part sold so well and really peppered in those hope spots to make Bret continue to earn this control segment. The finish stretch featured great logical escalation with smart transitions. I thought the finish itself was pretty cheap but that was to be expected as Undertaker as a strong babyface could not lose clean. This match really demonstrates how great Bret Hart is on offense and how great Undertaker can be at selling. The red-hot UK crowd really helped this match and we see later in the countout how they really put another match over the top. This is a great exhibition of minimalist wrestling and how a simple kick to the knee can get a massive reaction.

What do you mean Shawn is taking the next three slots?

#9. WWF World Tag Team Champions Diesel & Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid Action Zone 10/30/94

The sole tag team match to make the countdown pits Kliq vs Kliq as Tag Champs Shawn & Diesel defend against best friends Razor & Kid in a barnburner of a tag match. This takes right before the Diesel & Shawn split that would lead to Diesel monster babyface push and being the WWF Champion for a year.

Shawn was my MVP of the match. After years being in the Rockers, he was great at turning around all the shit that was done to him and throwing right back as a heel. He was doing so much great apron work in this: feeding Razor, using a blind tag to set up heat, constant cheating. It was a really masterful heel tag work performance and I thought he was the one directing traffic. When it came time to get his ass kicked, he threw himself all over the place for Razor and Kid. He was basically their tackling dummy. I think all four guys impressed, but I would go with Shawn as my MVP.

What really impressed me was the strong understanding of fundamentals. The babyface shine is such a critical, yet oft overlooked portion of a match. It is so crucial in giving a reason for the fans to believe their heroes have a chance. I am a sucker for a babyfaces to hit a finish early (Razor Edge) and not get the pin in tag situations because you have the easy out of the partner breaking it up. Kid was so awesome with is nearfall barrage. Who the hell was this Kevin Nash flying all around? Razor, an against the grain pick for face in peril, takes heat off a cheap tag and then the liberal amounts of cheating, this heat segment was one of the all-time great tag team stretch runs with really strong psychology. Razor worked the face in peril well. Diesel was shockingly awesome at offense in this match. Michaels accidentally superkicking Diesel was great angle advancement, it gets Sweet Chin Music over as a killer move (remember it was a relatively recent move and to have the Big Man go down for 5 minutes really sells it as a game-ender) and also it got Razor/Kid back in it.  Kid was a killer hot tag.  I thought Shawn Michaels showed why he is one of the all-time greatest wrestlers here, awesome command of psychology from beginning to end especially that sleeper after the hot tag to grind the Razor/Kid fast break to a halt. The Kid’s top rope leg drop is one of the all time great babyface false finishes. The Sleeping Giant is stirring and OUT OF NOWHERE NAILS KID WITH A BIG BOOT! Michaels covers 1-2-3! Serious contender for best WWF tag match of all time.

#8. WWF European Champion The British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels 

One Night Only 1997

This is a bold claim and I probably going to eat my words but I think this is the greatest heat-seeking match of all time. Shawn Michaels is at his prickly prick best here in the UK pissing off the crowd against their native son and hugely popular hero, The British Bulldog. Shawn making out with about 5 girls on his way to ring is just so sleazy and so perfect to get him nuclear heat throughout the match. We discussed how much I loved the shine in the previous match and you will find a pattern as you read more and more of my reviews. The beginning of matches really, really matter. A strong shine is one way to really kickstart a match. When you have the raw power of the Bulldog and the pinball bumping machine in the Heartbreak Kid, you have a recipe for success. Shawn bumps like a madman for Davey Boy at the outset of the match. The whole time I was pumping my fist and I wanted Shawn to get his. It was a magnificent opening to a match. Everything Shawn tried was thrown back in his face, beautiful, high-end wrestling displaying the high wrestling IQ of Shawn Michaels. Then Rick Rude comes out who liberally interferes in the match to give Michaels the advantage a perfect heel move to transition. Shawn Michaels’s biggest flaw is his lack of offense and they play this smart with a very short heat segment. This triggers HHH & Chyna to come out for even more insurance for HBK. We move from nuclear heat to HYDROGEN BOMB HEAT!

British Bulldog goes for his trademark running powerslam on the floor, but he slips and wrenches his right knee, which has a brace around it. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! Rude & HHH ram the railing into the knee as the fans are just trying to fight against them by holding the railing back. THAT IS PRO WRESTLING! That spot gets me every single time. So powerful. Shawn Michaels rips off the knee brace and throws it at Bulldog’s wife and terminally ill sister, what an asshole. The ending with the figure-4 is so over the top, HHH & Chyna have HBK’s hands for extra leverage and just when Davey Boy is gonna turn it, Rude cleans his clock and he passes out from the pain. The crowd is a near riot and is just pelting D-Generation X with garbage. It is really annoying the Hart Foundation did not get any licks in during the save. It felt so empty after Shawn was such an unmitigated douche to Davey Boy, his family and this crowd. You wanted some semblance of comeuppance. I have been on record before saying as much as I love to think about and analyze pro wrestling, pro wrestling should not exist in the mind, but should hit you in the gut. This match is an emotional tour de force that hits you right where it hurts. 

#7. WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels 

Wrestlemania X Ladder Match

An iconic and supremely influential match that has stood the test of time. It is one of the most famous matches in WWF canon and is something that almost every WWF fan has seen. Of all the matches, I have talked about so far, this is the most famous and most important. What the WWF does better than any pro wrestling company ever is creating singular moments in wrestling matches that will stick with you forever. I am not going to list the moments of this match, but we all know the spots I am talking about. So what saves this match from just relying on simple nostalgia is two things: the violence of the ladder spots and the way they build drama. From the opening salvo of the Michaels baseball slide into the ladder into Razor until when Shawn rides the ladder down onto Razor, they ladder is incorporated into almost every spot organically and for maximum damage. The iconic matches may last forever, but when re-watching a match it is the struggle of two men trying to win and overcome pain that makes the match immortal.

In addition, I think what this match does really well is building drama. What I think is most interesting about this match is that it builds drama in a radically different way than most matches build drama.  Most wrestling matches build drama through the shine/heat/comeback formula. A traditional comeback builds drama through the fire of the babyface overcoming the odds of the heat segment and then there is a couple twists and turns before the finish. Razor did not make a fiery comeback. The drama was that getting up that damn ladder was so damn difficult. It feels like the drama of real sports. Shawn was not especially nefarious in this match and Razor was just in an early hole. As he dug himself out, it was not this comeback that whips you into a frenzy, but rather you are intrigued how somebody will actually be able to win this match. I love the finish: Shawn knocked off the ladder, tied in the ropes as Razor slowly climbs to become the undisputed Intercontinental Champion is one of the all-time great finishes. This WWF classic remains timeless. 

Tune in next time for the top six! Currently Shawn leads Bret 3-2, will Shawn end up with more matches in the Top 12 overall than Bret? Who will get the coveted number one spot? All this and much more in Pro Wrestling Love vol. 2!