411 Video Review: Top 20 WWF Matches Of The 1990s Part 1

Top 20 WWF matches of the 90s PART ONE-

This tape comes from Brian Matheson and is a compilation of the top twenty WWF matches of the 90s as voted on by the people of DVDR. I’m going to break this review into two parts. 20-11, 10-1.

20. Shawn Michaels (w/Jose Lothario) v. Diesel in a no holds barred match for the WWF Title

This is from Good Friends, Better Enemies and was Kevin Nash’s last PPV match ever in the WWF. The commentators are Vince and King. Diesel throws his vest at Vince.

HBK goes after him to start but Diesel nails him with a knee. HBK dropkicks him out of the ring and baseball slides him. HBK hits a crossbody from the inside to the outside on Diesel and grabs a boot from Hugo Savinovich for two. Diesel sends HBK flying into the corner and then knocks him right into the railing in a sick bump. Back in- Diesel elbows him down and clotheslines him. Diesel shoots looking dirty looks at Vince. Snake eyes by Diesel. Diesel knees him in the gut and gives him a sidewalk slam. Diesel chokes out the ref with his tape and takes his belt and gives HBK a good whooping. Diesel hangs him and ties him to the ropes. Diesel grabs a chair and nails him. Diesel does the Kurt Angle chair himself spot. HBK grabs the chair but Diesel ballshots him. Diesel with a backdrop for two. Diesel twists his face. HBK fights back but Diesel keeps kicking his ass. Diesel picks him up and jackknifes him right into the announce table in an awesome sick looking spot. Diesel takes HBK’s belt and puts it on as HBK struggles to get up. Vince: Let it be over, just let it be over. HBK sprays Diesel with a fire extinguisher and hammers away. HBK flies at him and kips up. HBK then makes Diesel his bitch with a chair. He puts his head down too early and Diesel nails him. Big boot but HBK fights out of the backdrop and hammers away. Flying elbow and he tunes up the band. Diesel blocks Sweet Chin Music with a clothesline. King is now speaking on a microphone because his headset has been torn off. Diesel clotheslines him out and presses him on the guardrail. Diesel goes after Mad Dog Vachon and steals his artificial leg. HBK ballshots him and nails Diesel right in the forehead with it and tunes up the band. Sweet Chin Music and so long Diesel. A lot of people call this Kevin Nash’s best match ever but I liked his match v. Bret Hart at Survivor Series as there were some spots here where they had to slow the pace down which hurt the wild aspect of the match. Still a very wild brawl- especially for the time. ****

19. The Hart Brothers v. The Steiners

This is from a Coliseum tape called Wrestlefest 1994.

Bret and Scott start. Lockup- Bret takes him down and controls on the mat. Steiner goes into the ropes to break. Scott takes him down and gets a leg hook. Scott twists the knee as Bret tries to escape. Scott with a side headlock. Gorilla remarks how he has never seen someone submit to it. Scott shoulder smashes Bret out. Back in- they trade arm twists. Bret rolls him up for two and works him over. Tag Owen. Owen works on the arm. Powerslam by Scott. Tag Rick. They do an awesome mat wrestling sequence where no one is victorious. Rick goes to the arm but ends with up a powerslam off a leapfrog. Rick kills Owen with a suplex for two. Owen uses his speed to control and gets a suplex. Taf Scott. Owen with a kick and he covers for two. Suplex by Owen-two. He pins Scott who bridges up and gives Owen a butterfly suplex for two. Tag Bret. Tag Rick. Rick shoves him off a lockup. Rick takes him down and works on the arm. Bret tries to slam him but Rick is able to hold on to the arm. Bret with a headbutt but he misses an elbow so Rick goes back to the arm. Bret with a dropkick and a DDT. Bret hammers away. Slugfest- Bret gets a sleeper. Arm drops twice- not thrice. Rick rams him back into the ropes so Bret just hooks it back on first chance he gets. Rick makes the ropes and Bret takes his sweet-ass time breaking the hold. Bret suplexes him.but goes up top and eats foot coming down. Rick hits a top-rope bulldog from the top for two. Rick sends him face first into the corner for two. Tag Scott. Scott with a windmill suplex for two. Bret misses a blind charge and falls out. Scott tries to suplex him back in but Bret suplexes him to the outside and rams him into the ring. Tag Owen. Owen slams him and headbutts his back from the top for two. Owen with a side salto for two. The commentators wonder why Owen doesn’t go for the knee as he hooks an abdominal stretch. Owen with a belly to belly for two. Owen whips him into the corner and tags back out to Bret. Bret stomps away. Side Russian legsweep by Bret-two. Tag Owen. Bret cheapshots Scott in the back for two. Owen misses a dropkick. Tag Rick. Rick with a backbreaker for two. Bodyslam and a Tombstone for two. Scott with a full nelson suplex for two. Steinerline to Owen-two. Rick with a camel clutch. Scott comes in and hits a SCREWDRIVER!!!! on Owen. Owen gets sent to the outside. Scott tries to pull him back in using the ropes but Owen reverses and Scott goes flying to the outside. Bret comes in and kicks Scott’s ass. Bret goes for a Sharpshooter- Rick saves. Owen goes for a sharpshooter- Rick saves. They got for a doomsday device on Owen but Bret saves. A big brawl erupts and the ref counts everyone out. Whoa- that ruled. I have to dock a bit off for the bullshit ending. But this match was just 25 minutes of each team trying to one-up the other and prove who really is the best amateur wrestler. ****1/2 The Steiners call the Harts back in and they brawl as Gorilla makes fun of the road agents. Order is restored until the Harts call the Steiners back in and they brawl again. They end up restoring order and the teams hug and shake hands.

18. Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) v. “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the WWF Title

This is from Wrestlemania VIII and Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon are on commentary.

Savage chases him out and upon his entrance gets a huge pop. They start out and Savage kicks his ass, but Mr. Perfect breaks it up and beats him up. Savage chases him, runs into the ring and Savage does a clotheslines Flair. He knees him into the ropes and does the 10 count punch. Savage does a clothesline and an elbow gets two. Flair chucks him over the top and chops him. Woooooo! Flair now kicks his ass. Flair kicks his ass and does a standing suplex for two. Another suplex for two. Chop. Wooooooo! Flair does two Irish whips, and more chops with a knee drop on the side. Heenan is doing awesome commentary. They go outside with more Flair ass kicking. Heenan does the best Woos. Flair does a suplex for two and does an Irish whip and punches him. He kicks him around and does more chops but Savage is coming back with right hands. Savage gets a neck-breaker and more punches. Flair eye gouges him. He goes to the top, but as in every match gets thrown off. Flair then begs for mercy. Savage back drops him and does two clotheslines. Flair begs for mercy and does a Flair flop. Flair is a great dickish heel and totally earns the title “Dirtiest Player in the Game”. Flair comes back with a clothesline and they go outside. Savage rams him into the post and Flair blades. Another thing I like about this match is that you don’t Vince out there screwing up on commentary, you have a great heel biased commentator and a good all faces commentator who doesn’t go overboard like Vince. Back to the match. Heenan starts crying. Savage does a suplex on the outsides and punches him. Savage does the double axehandle and a bodyslam. He goes up and hits the big elbow. BUT WAIT!!! Mr. Perfect, in one the most dickish heelish fuckheaded moves of all times, pulls Savage off at two. The crowd is pissed. I’m a huge Henning mark but I was even pissed. Savage goes after Perfect and we have a ref bump. Perfect throws Flair some brass knuckles, and Savage gets nailed. In a cute spot just as the ref wakes up, Flair quickly flips them to Perfect. Flair only gets two. Mr. Perfect whacks Savage with a chair. Here comes Liz. The Usual Suspects and Shane McMahon try to get her to go back. Flair works Savage as they keep trying to get Liz to go to the back. Flair gets some twos with the figure four as Perfect holds Flair’s arms for leverage. Flair gets some two counts and slaps Savage. Savage tries to turn it over but Perfect and Flair cheat some more. FLAIR AND HENNIG ARE GOD! Flair tries to bodyslam him but it gets reversed into a small package. Flair does some kicks and chops. And dedicates them to Liz. Wooooooo! Flair does an atomic drop but as Flair Wooos, Savage rolls him up with the tights for the three. Savage and Liz embrace and Heenan comes out to console Flair. Flair kisses Liz and she slaps him. Savage dives after him for more ass kicking. As the officials try to pull them apart, Flair lays in some ass-kicking and Perfect joins in. Crowd chants for Hogan. Ass-holes. Flair and Perfect leave as Savage tries to go for him but refs stop him. Liz and Savage celebrate and fireworks go off. A ***** match.

17. Bret “Hitman” Hart v. British Bulldog (w/Diana Hart-Smith and James E. Cornette) for the WWF Title

This is from In Your House V with Vince and King on commentary,

“That’s the WWF”- Vince. King points out that Bulldog is wearing the same tights he wore at Summerslam 92.

Lockup- Bulldog shows off his strength. Lockup- Bulldog gets him in a headlock but Bret works on the arm. Bulldog yanks his hair and goes to the armbar. King mocks Stu Hart. Bret works on the arm. Buldog tries a slam but Bret falls back for two. Bret kicks his ass but runs into a Bulldog knee. Diana is happy. Bulldog does a hair slam. Bulldog gets Bret in Tree of Woe and accidentally shoves the ref down. He checks on him so he wont get DQed. Bulldog works Bret over. Crowd chants E-C-W. Bulldog takes Bret down as Diana looks on.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Undertaker will be facing the winner of this match.

See this adds intrigue as now fans think Bulldog has a shot since face v. face matches are rare. Cornette nails Bret with the racket and says: I didn’t do nothing. Bret comes back but gets rammed face first into the corner but his foot is on the ropes. Bulldog with a back bodydrop for two. Bulldog hooks a chinlock as Diana looks on. Bulldog works a headlock and uses the hair to keep Bret at bay. Bret with a monkeyflip and an atomic drop. Bret with a wicked bulldog on the Bulldog. (Just like SummSlam92). And like SummSlam 92 it only gets two. Bret with a piledriver for two. “He learned that from me”- King. Diana looks concerned and starts saying: Come on Davey. Just like me! Bret with the Russian Leg Sweep, second rope elbow but get this-
He goes for a superplex and Bulldog does this AWESOME, AWESOME, AWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESOME counter by pushing him and getting Bret crotched on the top. That rocked the body that rocks the party that continues to rock and just won’t stop. I miss ya’ Davey. Bulldog rams Bret into the post and Bret blades. This was the first bladejob on PPV since Wrestlemania VIII. The crowd chants: We saw blood. Bulldog piledrives him for two. He does the standing suplex holding him up for six seconds. Diana the Cunt looks on. Bulldog presses him. GO DAVEY GO! GO DAVEY GO! Bulldog slams him and nails him from the top for two. The two times I’ve seen Bret blade- it’s been a primo bladejob. Bulldog with the bow-n-arrow. Bret counters and goes for the Sharpshooter but Bulldog stops that and kicks his ass. Bulldog shoulderblocks him and Bret goes flying out into the railing. Diana the crack saigon huge horrible cuntface Whore looks on as Bret kills Davey with a German. Double clothesline- it’s like Hogan v. Warrior but with a Canadian and a Brit and blood and Jim Cornette. Diana starts yelling: Davey is a whore who raped me even though the week after he died I was on Confidental kissing his ass. Bret dumps Davey and flies out with a pescado. He tries to jump off the top onto Bulldog but he kills him with a running powerslam. Bret should blade like all the time- he rules. Bulldog goes to slam him on the concrete floor but gets crotched on the rail and clotheslined. Diana looks on. I wish she was ass ugly cause the sad truth is she is pretty hot. But screw that whore cause back in-
BULLDOG DOES THE BULLDOG FLOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay- this match officially kicks major ass. Bret does a superplex off the top;. Eh fuck you you whiny bitch I wanna see Bulldog do another Bulldog flop. Bulldog rolls him up which Bret reverses- PULLING THE TIGHTS! It only gets two. Bret kicks his ass with some European uppercuts. Bulldog gets nailed on a blind charge and Bret does La Magistral for the win. Well that ending sucked. Diana and Cornette console Bulldog.

Okay- it started out real boring with a little too much chinlockery (One of Davey’s few weaknesses) but it soon got smokin’ and was AWESOME! for like fifteen minutes. The ending was really weak and I think if they were gonna have Bret win they should’ve made him look real good by having Bulldog submit to the Sharpshooter. It wasn’t as good as the Summerslam match but still kicked major ass. ****1/4

16. Royal Rumble 1992 match-

Winner gets the WWF Title which was declared vacant after title changes involving the Undertaker and Hogan weren’t too clean. Brain and gorilla are on commentary.

The British Bulldog is #1. Ted Dibiase is #2. Dibiase soon takes control after Bulldog misses a blind charge. Dibiase throws him over the top but Bulldog lands on his feet. He throws a celebrating Dibiase out. #3 is Ric Flair. Heenan has a heart attack. Flair styles and profiles. Bulldog wins a lockup and presses him in the air- even does reps with him. Bulldog with a clothesline so Flair ballshots him. Flair begs off. #4 is Jerry Sags. Bulldog kicks Flair’s ass. Sags and Flair beat on Bulldog. Bulldog comes back and knocks Sags out but Sags hang onto the apron. Bulldog sees this and dropkicks him out. #5 is Haku. Haku attacks Bulldog and then turns on Flair. Flair and Haku go at it so Flair bails. Haku piledrives Bulldog and Flair attacks Haku. Bulldog dumps Haku. #6 is Shawn Michaels, having recently turned on Marty Jannetty. Flair and HBK do a great sequence. Bulldog clotheslines HBK who teases elimination and then kicks Bulldog. HBK lies on the top and gets kicked and crotched by Bulldog as HBK almost goes out again. #7 is El Matador Tito Santana. Santana goes after Flair- HBK saves. Bulldog and Tito fight HBK and Flair. Flair goes way low on Bulldog. Bastard. Flair almost tosses Tito- Bulldog saves. Flying jalapeno to Flair. #8 is Barbarian. Gorilla: Barbarian doesn’t like Flair. Flair and Barbarian work on Bulldog. HBK and Tito almost go out. #9 is Kerry Von Erich. Von Erich beats the shit out of Flair- Flair flop. Von Erich takes out HBK. Flair and Von Erich keep going at it. #10 is Repo Man who sneaks into the ring. Bulldog almost out. Flair lays in the chops to Von Eric. #11 is Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. Hammer and Flair have a vicious chop contest. Flair ballshots Repo. #12 is Nikolai Volkoff. He’s a face but I think the crowd forgot cause he gets booed. Hammer gets the figure four on Flair. Repo dumps Volkoff. #13 is the Bossman. Bossman attacks everyone. Repo dumps Valentine. Bossman kills HBK with one punch. Bossman dumps Repo. Flair dumps Bulldog and Von Erich. HBK and Tito eliminate each other. #14 is Hercules. Hercules goes after Flair. Flair and Barbarian form an alliance and Flair turns on him so Barbarian press slams him. Hercules dumps Barbarian, Bossman dumps Hercules. Down to Bossman and Flair. Bossman kicks his ass but misses a crossbody and goes out. (Well Bossman had to pull himself out but whatever) Flair does a Flair flop praying for a break with #15. Who does he get?? ROWDY RODDY PIPER! Piper beats the absolute shit out of him as the crowd goes crazy. Flair atomic drops him so Piper eye pokes him as Brain starts to cry. Sleeper hold by Piper. #16 is Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Gorilla says his name with utter disdain. Jake just sits back and watches Flair get killed. Then Snake turns on Piper. Flair slaps hands with Jake so Jake turns on him. Half the crowd cheers, the other half boos. Piper saves Flair from a DDT. Brain: It’s a kilt, not a skirt! Flair with the figure four on Jake. Piper beats them both up. Brain: It’s a skirt, not a kilt! #17 is “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan who goes right after Flair. The crowd chants U-S-A. Piper and Duggan go at it. Flair tries to sneak in but they kick his ass. Piper and Flair trade chops. #18 is IRS. IRS takes out Flair. IRS and Duggan go. #19 is Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka. Piper goes back to beating on Flair. #20 is The Undertaker. Taker dumps Snuka. Taker beats on Flair. Taker ballshots Duggan, Piper and Jake brawl. #21 is Randy Savage and he wants Jake. Jake takes a breather as Taker goes after Savage. Jake comes back in. Savage blocks a short arm clothesline, double axehandle and he sends Jake. Savage then fucks up and dives over the top to go after Jake but since it wasn’t planned they let it slide. Savage keeps going after Jake and Taker saves. Piper is still beating on Flair. Flair ballshots Taker who shrugs it off. #22 is Berzerker. Piper and Taker choke Flair so Taker chokes Piper who retalitates. #23 is Virgil who gets his ass kicked. Flair gouges Taker’s eyes forever so Taker chokes him. #24 is Col. Mustafa (Iron Shiek). Him and Adnan do the Bushwhacker walk to the ring. Flair almost gets Piper. #25 is Rick Martel. Martel goes after Flair, I guess to keep him from breaking the record. Mustafa gets dumped. #26 is Hulk Hogan. IRS, Berzerker and Taker all corner Hogan but he fights back and eliminates Taker and Berzerker. Virgil and Duggan eliminate each other. #27 is Sknner. Flair and Martel almost get Piper but he fights back. Flair whips Hogan into the corner and wooos so Hogan clotheslines him. #28 is Sgt. Slaughter. Skinner gets dumped by Martel. Piper and Hogan go at it. Flair breaks the longevity record. #29 is Sid Justice. Sid goes after IRS. Flair beats on Hogan. #30 is the Warlord. Flair and Hogan brawl on the outside. Hogan suplexes him on the outside. Sid whips Slaughter into the corner and he goes flying out. Piper pulls IRS out by his tie. Hogan and Sid dump Warlord. Sid dumps Martel and Piper.

Final 4: Savage, Sid, Flair, Hogan. Sid dumps Savage. Hogan no-sells the chops. Flair does a half hearted Flair flip from beng too exhausted. Sid dumps Hogan. Hogan is pretty upset and starts arguing with Sid. Flair sneaks up from behind and dumps Sid and wins the WWF Title.

This Royal Rumble had suspense, told a great story, totally made Ric Flair look like the greatest thing ever and it had great action throughout. *****

15. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust and Legion of Doom v. Hart Foundation

This is from Canadian Stampede which took place in July of 1997. JR, Vince and King are on commentary.

Since this is Calgary, the Hart Foundation are crazy over. A big staredown begins and Bret and Austin start the match. A slugfest erupts and Bret kicks his ass and stomps a mudhole in him as the building becomes unglued. Austin goes to the eyes and hammers away and flips off the crowd. A blind charge gets nothing for Austin and Bret goes back to kicking his ass. Austin lowblows him and rakes the eyes and stomps a mudhole in him and walks it dry. Million Dollar Dream but Bret walks the ropes and falls back but Austin releases the hold at two. Austin misses a knee to Bret’s head, tag Anvil. Austin with a Lou Thesz Press, tag Shamrock. Shamrock misses a kick but kicks him and hooks the anklelock but Pillman runs in to break it up. Shamrock controls him on the mat, tag Pillman. Shamrock takes Pillman down so Pillman cheats to control. Pillman spits at his face and chops away. Backbreaker and Pillman taunts and mocks Shamrock. Shamrock clotheslines Pillman to stop a blind charge and bellys to bellys him. Tag Owen, tag
Goldust. Goldust gets a backdrop but Owen with an enziguri for two. Goldust comes back as the crowd chants ‘Austin sucks’. Tag Hawk. Hawk with a legdrop for two. Hawk with a top-rope splash for two. Hawk misses a dropkick and Owen hooks the Sharpshooter- Animal saves. Tag Bulldog who does the standing vertical suplex (4 seconds). Running powerslam to Hawk- Goldust saves. Tag Bret and Animal. Animal uses his strength to control but eats foot off a blind charge. Bret works him over, tag Goldust. Test of strength- Bret kicks him. Bret hangs him in the Tree of Woe and the Hart Foundation kick his ass. Tag Owen. Owen works him over but misses a blind charge. Tag Animal. Animal stomps away but walks into a spinning heel kick. Owen with a top-rope dropkick and he kips right up. Animal plants him with a powerbomb and powerslam. Doomsday Device to Owen- Animal saves and another big brawl erupts. Austin rams Owen’s knee into the post twice and then whacks him with a chair. Bruce Hart even gets involved. Tag Anvil as Owen leaves to get medical attention. Austin stomps away at Anvil but Anvil picks him up and drops him in enemy territory where he gets his ass kicked. Austin fights back and brings in Pillman. Austin pulls down his pants and KICK WHAM STUNNER to Pillman. Bret comes in and goes after Austin’s knee and nails it with a fire extinguisher and hooks a ringpost figure four. Austin tags out to Hawk Austin also goes to the back as Bulldog and Hawk go. Bulldog gets a near fall of him and tags in Anvil. Anvil works him over and Animal tags in. Test of strength- Anvil wins. Tag Bret. Demolition Decapitation to Animal gets two. Bret puts his head down and gets booted. Tag Shamrock. Shamrock goes after Bret so Pillman runs in and clotheslines the hell out of him getting a huge pop. Bret does his face first corner bump. Shamrock goes after Bret but allows Bret to get up. Shamrock challenges him to knuckle up so Bret kicks his ass and tosses him outside where Pillman sends him into the announce table and a huge brawl erupts. Back in- Bret hits a side Russian legsweep but Goldust saves. Tag Bulldog- Bulldog stomps a mudhole in Shamrock so Shamrock ballshots him. Tag Goldust. Goldust hits a clothesline and bulldogs the Bulldog. Pillman saves Bulldog from a Curtain Call. Goldust goes up top but gets crotched. Superplex to Goldust- Hawk saves. Austin comes back and Bret and Austin are tagged back in. Austin wins this round and goes face first into the corner again. Suplex to Bret- two. Bret drops him on his head with a DDT and hits a backbreaker. Second rope elbow- two. Bret hooks a sleeper but Austin jawbreaks him for two. Bret comes back with the Sharpshooter but Animal saves. Austin does his own Sharpshooter but Owen runs back out and saves his brother. Bret tags him in and Owen kicks Austin’s ass but gets clotheslined out of the ring. Austin rams him into the rail and stomps away. Austin goes after Stu Hart and Wayne and Bruce jump the rail and another brawl erupts. In the confusion Owen rolls Austin up for the win. Just a wild crazy match with an INSANE crowd. ****1/2 The brawl continues. The Hart Foundation clean house and pose in the ring. Austin tries to comeback with a chair but soon gets swarmed and gets the shit kicked out of him. Austin ends up being handcuffed and as he leaves is able to flip off the fans.

14. Owen Hart v. British Bulldog in the finals to determine the WWF European Champion

This is from an episode of RAW- right before Wrestlemania XIII I believe.

Lockup- Bulldog gives him a clean break. They both work on the arm and Bulldog is able to roll out and get his own armbar which Owen breaks. Bulldog blocks a monkeyflip and they continue to trade moves on the mat. Test of strength- Bulldog wins. Owen flips off the ropes and hiptosses him to counter. Owen goes for a hurricarana but Bulldog powerbombs him and slingshots him all the way to the outside. Bulldog parts the ropes for him to come back into the ring. /They trade hammerlocks and Owen gets a rollup for two. Bulldog goes back to working on the arm. Owen tries to counter a wristlock but gets planted. CLIP! Bulldog is still working on the arm and gets a crucifix for two. Owen counters a suplex but misses the enziguri. Bulldog locks in the surfboard and works on the arm and gets a monkeyflip. Bulldog goes after Owen but goes flying out of the ring. Owen parts the ropes for him to come back in. Bulldog with a headlock and on a criss-cross sequence Owen hurts his knee. But it’s all a ruse as he suckers him and kicks his ass. Bulldog blocks a Sharpshooter and they start shoving each other. Owen gets a spinning heel kick and a backbreaker and works him over. Owen slams him and a legdrop gets two. Chinlock but Bulldog breaks it. Owen knees him in the midsection and Bulldog bails. Bulldog sunset flips back in for two but gets clotheslined by Owen. Elbow-two and Owen hooks a chinlock. CLIP! Owen with a belly to belly for two and he locks in a camel clutch. Bulldog breaks it but eats foot on a blind charge. Owen pins him with his feet on the ropes but it just gets two. Neckbreaker and top-rope elbow gets two. Back to the chinlock. Bulldog breaks it so Owen rakes his eyes. Bulldog counters a superplex by falling on top of him for two. Flying clothesline and two more clotheslines put Owen down. Suplex-two. Owen goes face-first into the corner and Bulldog presses him and drops him right on the ropes. Bulldog goes to suplex him back in but Owen counters with a German for two. Bulldog comes back but Owen counts a running powerslam by holding onto the ropes and gets a near fall. Owen small packages him but Bulldog rolls on top for two. Owen enziguris him and hooks the Sharpshooter. Bulldog makes the ropes. Owen counters a slam, Bulldog counters a tombstone with the running powerslam for only two. Owen with a victory roll for two but Bulldog rolls on top for the win and the title.

I can’t give it ***** due to the clipping but because both guys know each other so well that they were able to work a great back and forth wrestling match with tons of near falls and they did it with little to no resting and without screwing anything up. ****3/4 They shake hands post-match as everyone waits for one to turn on the other.

13. Mr. Perfect (w/Coach) v. Bret “Hitman” Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Title

This is from Summerslam 1991 and Piper, Brain and Gorilla are on commentary.

Lockup- Bret gets a headlock. Bret shoulderblocks him down and hiplocks him right out of the ring. Bret with a crucifix for two. Bret with a headlock and Perfect keeps pulling the hair so Bret pulls his hair a couple times to maintain control. Perfect knees him but Bret gets a crossbody for two. Bret goes to the outside but comes right back in with a sunset flip. Back in- Bret gets a headlock. Perfect keeps pulling the hair. Perfect nails him right in the face. Bret takes him down and nails him right in the abdomen. Bret hammers away but Perfect comes back with a slam. Bret kicks up and goes to work but Perfect kicks up himself. Bret just calmly goes back to kicking his ass and chucks him right out of the ring. Perfect tries to walk away so Bret pulls off his tights and gets him back in the ring. Lockup- Perfect cheapshots him with a punch. Perfect stomps away and kicks him to the outside. Perfect kicks his ass on the outside. Back in- Perfect nails him sending Bret outside. Bret tries to come back in again so Bret sends him into the steel barricade. Bret finally comes back in and hammers away. Bret rolls him up for two. Perfect nails him again and rams him into the turnbuckle. Perfect chops away and sends Bret right into the corner for two. Necksnap gets two. Perfect boots him and dropkicks him to the outside. Perfect goes up top and they brawl on the top with Perfect winning. Perfect falls on top for two. Perfect starts slapping him around and locks in a sleeper. Perfect drops him down for two. Perfect sends him face first into the corner for two. Perfectplex gets only two. Perfect is in shock. Bret comes back with atomic drops and hair tosses him and Perfect goes all the way into the corner and crotches himself. Suplex by Bret-two. Small package-two. Backbreaker and second rope elbow get two. Bret starts yelling at the ref allowing Perfect to roll him up for two. They brawl on the outside and back in- Bret starts kicking him. Bretgoes for the Sharpshooter but Coach distracts him and Bret nails him. Perfect cheapshots him from behind and Perfect kicks him in the abdomen. Out of nowhere Bret gets the Sharpshooter and Perfect submits giving Bret his first singles title. Perfect did everything in his power to put Bret Hart over as the next big guy and he did a terrific job. ****1/4

12. Stone Cold Steve Austin v. Dude Love for the WWF Title

This is from Over the Edge 1998. JR and King are on commentary.

Finkel does a lengthy introduction for Patterson and when he mentions the I-C Title tournament, JR goes wink wink. Patterson is apparently on the level of Wayne Gretzky and is a role model for kids and is also the special guest ring announcer. Patterson then does a lengthy introduction for Gerald Brisco giving the address and phone number for the Brisco Brothers Body Shop. Vince also gets a lengthy intro as does Dude. Patterson refuses to intro Austin. Before the match starts, Taker comes out to observe and make sure Vince behaves himself.

Lockup- Vince makes sure Austin gives him a clean break so Austin flips him off. Dude covers Austin which gets a very fast two from Vince. Lockup- Austin gets a hradlock but Dude knees him in the abdomen for one. Dude with a headlock. Austin elbows him right in the face and headlocks him down. Austin kicks his ass knocking Dude’s teeth out which he throws to the crowd. Dude stomps and hammers away. Austin with a Lou Thesz Press and he clotheslines him out. Dude sends him into the ring steps and back in Dude gets a Russian leg sweep for two. Dude works him over and gets a near fall. Austin comes out with swinging neckbreaker and three clotheslines. Austin stomps a mudhole but Dude gets the Mandible Claw, Austin tosses him into the ropes to break. Dude gets hung in the ropes but still is able to hook the Claw but eventually falls out. Dude hiplocks him into the Spanish Announce Table and Patterson reminds us that the match is no-DQ so Dude immediately starts choking him with a cable. They brawl by the timekeepers table where Brisco is holding the bell in case he needs to ring it. Austin kicks his ass and Dude falls right into the front row thanks to an Austin clothesline. Austin misses a kneedrop. Dude with a baseball slide and they brawl on the outside with Dude kicking his ass. Patterson reminds us that this is Falls Count Anywhere so Dude backslides him right onto the concrete. Austin comes back with a clothesline but he gets backdropped onto a car hood for two. They brawl onto a car hood and Austin hotshots him onto another car for two. Austin rams him into a car for a slow two. Austin goes for a stunner on top of a car but Dude sends him flying over a car. Dude jumps off the car with a sunset flip for two. Dude nails him with a lead pipe but Austin, who has bladed, fights back. Austin goes for a piledriver but gets backdropped for two. Dude suplexes him on the ramp for two. Dude misses an elbow so Austin kicks his ass. Patterson trips Austin up allowing Dude to clothesline him. Dude exposes the turnbuckle and rams Austin into the turnbuckle. Dude kicks his as but Austin fights back. Dude ends his momentum by ramming into the exposed turnbuckle for two. Patterson hands Dude a chair which Dude uses on Austin. Double arm DDT on the chair gets two. Dude runs at Austin with a chair and gets it kicked in his face. Austin clotheslines him and nails Dude right in the head with it, which Dude audibly calls. Vince refuses to count. Austin gets in his face and Dude runs at Austin with a chair but he ducks and Vince gets laid out. KICK WHAM STUNNER by Austin- no ref. Mike Chioda runs in to count two but Patterson lays him out. Mandible Claw by Dude. Patterson runs into count but Taker pulls him out and chokeslams him through the table. Brisco runs into count but he also gets chokeslammed through the table. Austin comes back, KICK WHAM STUNNER to Dude and Austin drags Vince over and counts the pinfall himself to win the match.

Everyone has said but this match did set the template for all other WWF main events for a long time and the booking of the match pretty much led to every RAW and Smackdown main event involving the Rock in 2000. ****1/2

11. Edge and Christian v. The Brood in a ladder match to determine who gets the managerial services of Terri Runnells

This is from No Mercy 1999. King and JR are on commentary.

Edge and Christian beat on Hardyz. They go to get the ladders- Hardyz attack. Gangrel gets tossed. Edge kicks a ladder in Jeff’s face. Matt clotheslines Christian, Christian beats on him. Christian climbs- Jeff throws him off. Jeff climbs-Edge saves. Edge climbs- Matt throws him off. Jeff and Christian fight over a ladder-it gets rammed into Jeff. Matt gets whipped into ladder. Poetry in Motion by Edge onto Jeff misses so Edge tastes ladder. Jeff climbs- Christian hits Unprettier from ladder. Christian climbs- Matt suplexes him off. Matt climbs- Edge powerbombs him off. Edge climbs- Jeff Hardy dropkicks him off. Swanton to Edge. ‘Hardyz’ chant. Christian gets whipped into ladder and gets it rammed into his face. Jeff leapfrogs over the ladder and leg drops Christian. Moonsault on the ladder by Jeff. Jeff climbs and Edge whacks him ladder. Edge slingshots Jeff into ladder. Edge climbs- Matt throws a ladder at him. Edge does a crossbody into the ladder which knocks into Hardyz. Ladder into the balls of Matt. They sandwich Jeff into the ladder and ram him into it. Christian then jumps on him. Matt gets flapjakced into ladder. Neckbreaker by Jeff on Christian. Edge hits Downward Spiral from ladder. Edge climbs- Matt diamond cuts him off. Matt and Christian climb- Christian hiplocks him off. Edge hits Matt in face with ladder. Jeff jumps off the ladder causing it to catapult into Christian and Matt’s face. All 4 climb, all 4 fall- 2 get crotched. Matt clears the ring- Edge hits ropes. All 4 climb. Edge pushes Matt off who flies into the other two leaving Jeff Hardy left. He grabs the $ to win and falls. ****1/4- this match set the stage for the TLCs and all the other brutal matches. It suffers a bit watching it three years later because some of the bumps aren’t as spectacular but it still fun to watch four guys being made into superstars.