Raw History: Episodes #29-30

Raw History

Episode #29

August 9th, 1993 | Castle Recreation Center | Attendance: 1000

Another show taped back in July here as Macho Man returns to commentary. Also, tonight will feature the contract signing for the Lex Luger/Yokozuna WWF Title match at SummerSlam.

Mr. Hughes w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Tatanka

This is the big match that Vince McMahon hyped last week. If this is the best we get tonight, then this is going to be a dire Raw. Tatanka has gotten more TV time than anyone in 1993. Hughes immediately doesn’t do his part of a leap frog spot right. Mind you, his part was simply to duck under Tatanka, but he can’t even do that right and he headbutts the Naïve American. Tatanka gets two on a cross body before Hughes goes back on the offensive. After a commercial break, Hughes has a nice vice applied because his offense blows. Tatanka starts to “Hulk Up” and fires away with chops, knocking off Hughes’ shades. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his eyes. His rally ends when Hughes sends him outside and he is sweating like Shaq at the foul line. They fight outside and Tatanka hits a back body drop to win via countout.

Winner via countout: Tatanka in 4:57

I expected this to be beyond awful but it was actually watchable. Granted it wasn’t good but it exceeded my very low expectations. *

After the match, Harvey Wippleman gets in Tatanka’s face, allowing Mr. Hughes to nail him with the urn.

ICOPRO. YOU’VE GOTTA WANT IT!

We go to yet another video package of the interview with Lex Luger about his life before wrestling. Again, the problem is that his life was dull and he’s a dull interview. Vince McMahon needed to understand that his top babyface had to be likable and Luger has a face you just want to punch.

Blake Beverly, The Brooklyn Brawler and Little Louie vs. The Bushwackers and the Macho Midget

Okay, why the hell were the Bushwackers still employed at this point? The Macho Midget spends the first few seconds breakdancing. They do the expected stuff in midget matches, with the Macho Midget doing fun stuff. He and Little Louie do the crisscross spot, with Macho outsmarting him. This continues down a basic path until the Macho Midget splashes Brawler and pins him. Yes, Brawler did the job here and not Little Louie.

Winners: The Bushwackers and the Macho Midget in 6:28

This went a bit too long, but at least the midgets were entertaining. The crowd was hot too. *

The ring is set up for the contract signing for the WWF Championship match at SummerSlam. Vince McMahon is hosting and is appalled to see that Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji hired Jim Cornette to be their official spokesperson. This was a stroke of brilliance because Yokozuna wasn’t good on the microphone and you couldn’t understand anything Fuji said. For some reason, there are a ton of nonsense men in suits in the ring, along with President Jack Tunney, Macho Man and Bobby Heenan. Lex Luger arrives as Heenan is back on commentary. Both men sign the contract. Cornette mentions the clause which states that Luger only gets this one shot. Umm, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t Luger’s only title shot. Luger says that’s fine and cuts a sickening patriotic promo. It’s seriously too much. This was before the time of contract signings always ending in a brawl.

Razor Ramon vs. Dan Dubiel

Razor Ramon is one of the first examples of a cool heel being so popular that he was turned face. The fans are already big on the guy. Bobby Heenan informs us that Razor will face Ted Dibiase at SummerSlam. Razor has strange red, white and blue wristbands on. Maybe he got them from the Lex Express. After a sick looking top rope back suplex, the Razor’s Edge finishes this.

Winner: Razor Ramon in 2:12

Entertaining for a squash. Razor nearly killed Dan with the back suplex and kept this short. *¼

SummerSlam Report: It’s so strange to know that SummerSlam was set for a Monday instead of a Sunday. He doesn’t give us any real news that we didn’t already know.

The Heavenly Bodies vs. Bobby Who and Mike Bucci

Mike Bucci, for those unaware, would go on to become Nova in ECW and Simon Dean in the WWE. Considering Jim Cornette laid down a challenge to the Steiner Brothers last week, the Heavenly Bodies need to impress. They do just that with some nice double team moves including a superkick into a DDT. Their nice flurry ends with a moonsault from Jimmy Del Rey to win.

Winners: The Heavenly Bodies in 2:37

The best part of the show so far. The Heavenly Bodies were a pretty good team and got to showcase their stuff here. **¼

Next week is a special interview with the Giant Gonzalez. I can hardly wait. Plus, Ludvig Borga will be around, while IRS and Men on a Mission are both in separate action. Man this sounds putrid.

Overall: 4/10; Weak. Nothing on this show was offensive, which helped but it still wasn’t great. The marquee match between Tatanka and Mr. Hughes was better than expected, but still not very good. The contract signing was fine but a bit overdone on the patriotism, while the Heavenly Bodies stole the show.

Raw History

Episode #30

August 23rd, 1993 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York | Attendance: 3000

Even though SummerSlam is two weeks away, this is the go home show as the following Monday, there was no Raw due to the “SummerSlam Special” or whatever. Then, the Monday after that was the actual SummerSlam so there’s not another Raw until September. We are live tonight.

The 1-2-3 Kid vs. Ted Dibiase

Two weeks prior, on Superstars, the 1-2-3 Kid bested Ted Dibiase due to a distraction from Razor Ramon. Side note, this is Dibiase’s last ever match on Raw. The Poughkeepsie crowd is hot as always. According to Bobby Heenan, the Kid’s bedtime is 9:30 so he has to finish this match quickly. Razor Ramon calls in mid-match. I wonder if he had to pay those ridiculous hotline fees like fans did. Dibiase beats down on the Kid and he ends up staying outside for too long. Kid comes back with a sloppy head scissors before some dropkicks get him a near fall. He gets another with a cross body and attempts another but the always boring IRS shoves him off to cause the disqualification.

Winner via disqualification: The 1-2-3 Kid in 4:46

Decent enough, but disappointing overall. The Kid can be more entertaining but this was rather lackluster. ** 

As Money Inc. continue the beating, the Steiner Brothers appear to make the save. Now, they’re feuding with the Heavenly Bodies and set to face them at SummerSlam. Instead, we are building to the Steiners/Money Inc. match for the SummerSlam Spectacular next week. I feel like you should promote the show that people pay for over the free one.

The Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. Mike Khoury and Dave Moraldo

One of these jobbers is sporting the pornstar mustache. Along with the Steiner Brothers, the Headshrinkers are very enjoyable when it comes to jobber killing. I think PJ Walker is still dead from a few weeks ago. Samu hits a savat kick on the pornstar and kills him. He’s literally out on the apron like Walker the other night. He brings the other guy in the hard way and they do a double flapjack on him. They follow with an assisted EDDIT GILBERT hot shot. Afa screams into the camera and tells Demolition that they are coming for the titles. What year is he in? A splash ends this as our resident pornstar hasn’t moved in minutes. He may really be dead.

Winner: The Headshrinkers in 3:08

I love me a good old fashioned jobber mauling. This was just that, which kept it entertaining enough. **

SummerSlam Report: Our newest updates to the card feature the Steiner Brothers defending the Tag Team Titles against the Heavenly Bodies and Ludvig Borga vs. Marty Jannetty. The fact that Jannetty and Doink had the match of the year a few months back and are not booked heavily at SummerSlam. Also, the Undertaker still hasn’t announced the rules of the Rest in Peace match. Sounds like he has an advantage doesn’t it?

Bastion Booger vs. Marty Jannetty

At the bell, we are told that the Lex Express is in Denver, Colorado. I have no clue why though since the rest of the company is in New York and the PPV is in Detroit. Marty has trouble with the size of his opponent though he does nail a hip toss. As he dropkicks Booger, the fatass can’t even sell right as he blatantly tries to leap over the top and it’s so slow. He gets stuck in the ropes even. Marty follows with a cross body to a pop. This lasts through a commercial break for some godforsaken reason. Booger gets in his basic offense now. He sits on Marty, who reverses into a sunset flip and earn the three. It’s a gross spot.

Winner: Marty Jannetty in 4:46

I don’t understand why this nearly got five minutes. That being said, it was about as good as one could expect from a Bastion Booger match. *

Vince McMahon is in the ring to interview Money Inc. Good lord, do I have to see IRS again? He calls the fans tax cheats. Surprised? It’s literally all he’s got. They promote the SummerSlam Spectacular. That’s it. IRS even stumbles over his words.

Men on a Mission vs. Barry Horowitz and Iron Mike Sharpe

Vince McMahon asks “WHOA WHERE AM I?” simply because the camera goes upside down during MOM’s entrance. So, how rare is it that the jobber tag team is FAR superior to the team squashing them? That’s the case here. Mo is quite possibly the worst wrestler in history. Sharpe’s incredibly loud selling is the best part of the match.

Winners: Men on a Mission in 2:08

Men on a Mission sucked. I have to watch these clowns for a while. One of the worst tag teams in history. ¼* 

Who is Lex Luger? The interview continues. He denies using steroids now but admits to using them in the past, before it was illegal. While these Luger segments suck, this was the best. It’s kind of crazy to hear steroid talk in the WWE.

Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Luna Vachon vs. Rich Myers

The fact that Luna was introduced as Bigelow’s “main squeeze” was kind of cool. This is, rightfully so, all Bigelow. He hits a splash in the corner. Commentary spends the entire match debating Luna being attractive. Bobby Heenan loves her while Vince seems repulsed. Also, Macho Man continues to promote this “surprise” that he has set. He mentioned it multiple times on the show so far. This ends with a headbutt.

Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow in 3:12

Completely one sided, but Bigelow falls into the category of people I don’t mind watching in squashes. *¼

Macho Man’s big surprise turns out to be the Macho Midget appearing with the Raw girls. Talk about a letdown.

Overall: 4/10; Weak. So, last week we had a bunch of stuff advertised that didn’t happen. Granted, I’m okay with no Ludvig Borga, Giant Gonzalez and an IRS match but still. What we did get was inoffensive for the most part. Nothing was terrible and the near murder by the Headshrinkers stole the show.

Fave Five 3/7/16-3/13/16

1) The New Day: This week, despite being jam packed, New Day absolutely deserves this spot. On Raw, New Day not only entertained us with a fun pre-match promo but they went out and had the best match on free WWE television this year. They had a really fun back and forth match against AJ Styles and Chris Jericho, retaining their Tag Team Titles. That would be enough to put them high on the list but then they opened Roadblock up. After cutting another highly entertaining promo, complete with Booty-O's cereal, they bested the League of Nations in another successful Tag Team Title defense. The match also proved to be better than expected. New Day rocks, indeed.

2) Trevor Lee: Normally, in a week as crowded as this one, such a small promotion wouldn't end up making it. However, CWF Mid-Atlantic's YouTube channel uploaded this week's episode and it featured a 105 minute match for the CWF Mid-Atlantic Championship. Champion Roy Wilkins is someone I'd never heard of but he impressed me here. Trevor Lee is the real story though. I usually don't really enjoy his brand of wrestling but he was spectacular here. From twisting his opponent's arm in odd ways to making the huge babyface comeback to the sheer incredible accomplishment of wrestling for nearly two hours (Wilkins gets obvious props for this too), Lee was outstanding. Not only is working such a long match a challenge, but having one that kept my interest for so long is amazing. Lee won the marathon to capture the CWF Mid-Atlantic Championship. Seriously, make time to watch this match.

3) Mil Muertes: Lucha Underground continues to be the best wrestling program on a weekly basis. Mil Muertes made his second defense of the Lucha Underground Championship against arguably the two biggest stars in LU, Pentagon Jr. and Prince Puma. This proved to be a fantastic sprint of a title match, filled with great spots galore. It was one of three matches that I watched this year to make my top ten. Muertes bested Pentagon and Puma with two spears and a double Flatliner to remain the champion. He was then challenged by Fenix for next week, setting up an intriguing match. I don't know if he'll retain again, but for now, Muertes belongs on this list.

4) Tetsuya Naito: Over the past two or so weeks, NJPW has held their annual New Japan Cup Tournament. A heavy favorite going in was Tetsuya Naito and he made good on those predictions. Naito gave Toru Yano a dose of his own medicine in the Semi-Finals, scoring on a low blow and rollup to eliminate him. Then, later that night in the Finals, Naito defeated three time New Japan Cup winner Hirooki Goto in a very solid match. Naito then issued the challenge to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, setting up the big title match for Invasion Attack on April 10th.

5) Samoa Joe: In almost any other week, Samoa Joe would have ranked higher. This week on NXT, he met Sami Zayn in a Two out of Three Falls match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Championship. What followed was a match that took up the entire episode of NXT. For 42 minutes, Joe and Zayn went to war. Zayn was an incredible resilient babyface and Joe was a tremendous monster heel who just beat the shit out of Sami. Joe prevailed 2-1 and earned the right to once again face Finn Balor for the NXT Title at TakeOver: Dallas. Hopefully, their second match is much better than their TakeOver: London outing.

WWE Roadblock Review

This WWE Network special, from Toronto, began with the New Day defending their Titles. Since they're New Day, they were given the time to cut a promo and introduced an actual box of Booty-O's. It was pretty hilarious. They faced King Barrett and Sheamus. It was interesting to see New Day keep the same gimmick but work as faces. It came off perfectly and the teams managed to put on a very solid match. Well, they were faces outside of the distraction that Xavier Woods caused in the end. I liked that the crowd was excited for this, even though most of the build was done off of television. Big E hit Barrett with the Big Ending to retain their Tag Team Titles. Fine opening contest. ***1/4

After a video package recapping the Chris Jericho/AJ Styles rivalry, Jericho came out and badmouthed Styles, Canada and Toronto. He called Styles a "flash in the pan", which reminded him of Jack Swagger, who beat him for the World Title in 2010. It led into a match between Jericho and Swagger. Unless you watch Main Event and Superstars weekly, you haven't seen Swagger in a long time. They worked a solid match that featured some close calls and counter wrestling.To survive the ankle lock. Jericho grabbed the referee's leg and pulled himself to the ropes. He does those little things to help solidify himself as a heel and it's great. Jericho then made Swagger tap out to the Walls. This was a pretty good match where the right guy won and Swagger looked better than he has in months. **3/4

A video package aired to help promote the current NXT Tag Team Champions, the Revival. That was smart since they aren't the most known tandem. However, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, the challengers, were insanely over. So much for only being popular with the NXT audience. These two teams faced off at TakeOver: London in a match that was much better than expected. We got more of the same here. Though I expected the Revival to win, I bought into the false finishes for Enzo and Cass. Alas, the Revival retained as Enzo and Cass continued to come up short in title matches. Still, this was possibly even better than their TakeOver match and worked as a great showcase for NXT on this big show. The tag division in NXT continue to shine and be vastly improved. ***1/2

Charlotte was supposed to face Natalya in a non-title match. A promo from earlier in the day though, saw Natalya goad Charlotte into putting the title on the line. Both girls are good in the ring but their characters are basically "our dads used to be wrestlers". Literally. Find me another aspect to their gimmicks. Anyway, the match turned out to be very good but not quite on the level of their TakeOver match two years ago. They were given the most time outside of the main event and mostly made it work. The finish was dumb though. Natalya had Charlotte in the Sharpshooter and Charlotte reached to grab Ric. Nattie pulled her to the middle of the ring but let go to argue with Ric. Charlotte rolled her up and retained with her feet on the ropes. Fine match, but really stupid ending that made Natalya look like a buffoon. ***1/4

Originally, we were set to see Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt but it became a handicap match. They never explained why it was changed but we ended up basically getting Brock vs. Luke Harper. Bray Wyatt stayed outside of the ring and watched as Brock suplexed Harper around the ring. It was a fun little interaction between Harper and Lesnar but I'm not sure where it's going. Are they saving Bray/Brock for something? It can't be for WrestleMania can it? Anyway, Brock won in just over four minutes. I wish Harper got a lengthier outing against Brock since he's the best member of the Wyatt Family but what we got was alright. **1/2

Next up, home country boy Sami Zayn made his WWE live special debut. He took on Stardust in a match featuring two of my five favorite wrestlers on the planet right now. Unfortunately, something happened to this crowd that killed a lot of this match. They chanted for "CM Punk" among other things. It was a damn shame considering the talent involved. The contest itself was pretty good but man, that crowd sucked. Zayn won with the Helluva Kick. I'd like to see them have a better match somewhere down the line. **1/2

The main event was next and the crowd was back to being alright during the course of it. They were surprisingly split in the early goings but Dean Ambrose turned him pretty much fully towards him as the match went on. While I thought their early back and forth was good, it didn't quite fit in with the brawling nature of this program. Ambrose targeted the leg and commentary even brought up his quad injury. Bravo. Dean hit Dirty Deeds and seemed to win but his foot was under the bottom rope. The fans ate this entire thing up. He then made a crucial mistake because he's a madman. He missed an elbow through the announce table and, though he beat the countout, ate a Pedigree and lost. It was a great battle that played the fans like a fiddle. Poor Dean Ambrose has quickly become the Hirooki Goto of the WWE. ****

The first thing I want to commend is the look and feel of the show. Too many WWE shows feel like a copy of a copy but this was different, like the other live Network specials and that's great. The show itself was good too. Nothing on it was what I would consider bad at all. We got two really strong tag team matches, a really good Divas Title match and a great main event. 7/10

New Japan Cup Finals Review

New Japan Cup 2016 Finals
March 12th, 2016 | Aomiori, Japan

Today was the finals of the 2016 New Japan Cup. It also featured the Semi-Finals and many other matches. Right off the bat, I’d like to point out that I thought the arena setup was pretty cool.

Jay White def. David Finlay Jr. in 7:53
The never-ending rivalry lives on. Sometimes it’s really good and sometimes it’s missing something. With the other Young Lions off in CMLL, it does kind of leave them alone to face each other for the foreseeable future. Considering the amount of times they’ve wrestled, their chemistry has become very easy going and they can do things seamlessly. Both men brought a little extra tonight and it showed. There were some hard hitting strikes and multiple close calls on things like a Finlay roll and the Boston Crab. That move seems to end all of their matches and did here as well. After surviving one from Finlay, Jay White applied a half crab that he turned into a full crab. He then put the knee in the back like it was a Lion Tamer and made Finlay submit. Solid start to the show. I enjoyed this more than some of their other matches. ***

Juice Robinson and Jushin Thunder Liger def. Captain New Japan and NWA Jr. Heavyweight Champion Tiger in 8:15
Coming into this, I fully expected Captain New Japan to take the loss because, duh. He chose to start the match and went at it with Liger for a while. Side note, I don’t understand why Robinson wears a belt with his trunks. Are they not tight enough already? Anyway, Captain New Japan surprisingly handled most of the load for his team. Of course, that meant that he took a pretty good beating. He nearly rolled up Robinson for a rare win but it wasn’t to be. My obvious prediction came true when the Captain submitted to a modified camel clutch/cobra clutch from Robinson. It was certainly an interesting hold. Outside of some shine for Juice and build for another potential Liger/Tiger Mask match, this felt like filler. **

BUSHI and EVIL def. ROH Television Champion Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI in 8:31
So many capital letters in this match. Ishii and EVIL had a damn good match in the first round of the tournament for those that don’t remember. This continued the blossoming rivalry between Los Ingobernables and Chaos. EVIL and BUSHI attacked before the bell as usual. Their strategy was to isolate YOSHI-HASHI and keep Ishii out of the ring as much as possible. When Ishii finally did get involved, he went toe to toe with EVIL once again. After some great back and forth by them, EVIL took the referee away from the action. That allowed BUSHI to slide in and spit the mist at Ishii. He dove out onto YOSHI-HAHSI and EVIL nailed Ishii with the STO, pinning the ROH TV Champion. After the match, he took the title and posed with it while doing the throat cut signal on Ishii. It look like EVIL is coming for the title he failed to take from Jay Lethal when he was Watanabe. This was a fun tag match, made better by the EVIL/Ishii stuff. Give them a match at Invasion Attack please. ***

New Japan Cup Semi-Finals: Tetsuya Naito def. Toru Yano in 2:33
Naito has been a favorite throughout the tournament, while Yano has stolen wins in the first two rounds. In an effort to steal a third straight, Yano ran to the ring and attacked Naito with a chair before the bell. The early rollup attempts while Naito still has most of his dress clothes on are completely eaten up by the crowd. They buy Yano winning with rollups more than when he hits actual moves. The referee got hit during a rollup, opening the door for Naito to give Yano a taste of his own medicine. He kicked Yano low and rolled him up to advance. It’s hard to rate something so short fairly but I’ll at least give it more than a star because it made perfect sense considering Yano’s history and it allows Naito to play the rested heel in the finals. **

New Japan Cup Semi-Finals: Hirooki Goto def. Michael Elgin in 9:29
Michael Elgin is likely to be the next major gaijin, while Goto is in the midst of an angle where he struggles in big matches. He beat Naito at WK10, won at the ROH PPV and has won his first two matches in the tournament but you always feel like he could lose his next match as these get more important. These guys are no strangers to each other, having really good matches last year in the G1 and at ROH’s Field of Honor. This was their usual hard hitting affair. Elgin was again given ample opportunity to showcase his insane power. Seeing him dead lift superplex Goto from the apron was sick. From out of nowhere, Goto scored on a rollup, making the finals. While I don’t know if I agree with another rollup finish, it kept Elgin strong. He sold the disappointment perfectly. Hopefully, they have one more match in the G1, where Elgin can finally beat Goto. Like their other matches, this was good but never reached great territory. ***¼

Tencozy def. NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata and Ryusuke Taguchi in 10:18
Oh look, NJPW paired up one of my favorites (Shibata) with one of my least favorites (Taguchi). Taguchi seems to have officially adopted Nakamura’s ring announcement taunt, doing it again here. Shibata started with Kojima and it was a pretty heated exchange. Tencozy took turns beating on Taguchi for a bit, which I appreciated. Shortly after, it went back to Kojima and Shibata going at it. In classic Shibata fashion, they were hitting each other hard and holding nothing back. Taguchi hit his ass attack and paid tribute to Nakamura again before running into a lariat from Kojima that put him down for the count. Post-match, Kojima got on the microphone and called out Shibata. Instead of waiting to hear what he had to say, Shibata just kicked him in the mouth. Kojima laid him out and seemed to challenge him for the NEVER Title. I guess we won’t be seeing Nagata/Shibata after all. The match was fine. **¾

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Kazushi Sakuraba w/ Gedo def. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata in 12:00
I certainly didn’t expect this match on the card. Nobody here is really feuding or anything like that so it was kind of just here. I was glad to see Okada and Nagata start as they had an awesome match during the G1 Climax last year. They played the angry old man against the cocky youngster angle again. When it was Sakuraba and Nagata, it was just two guys going to war on each other. Everyone got to do their signature stuff but something about this never clicked for me. Okada pinned Nakanishi after the Rainmaker in a match that just never really got going.**¼

Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi def. Hiroshi Tanahashi and IWGP Tag Team Champions Great Bash Heel in 13:22
Like pretty much all New Japan heels, the Bullet Club attacked before the bell during introductions. As Tama Tonga beat up Togi Makabe outside, he took a cameraman’s camera and starting taking photos. It was a cool little thing to add to the match. As is the case with most multi-man tags in New Japan, this furthered ongoing angles and gave guys a chance to get their stuff in. Tanahashi nearly got revenge on Fale for eliminating him from the New Japan Cup but Takahashi prevented him from hitting High Fly Flow. A string of Kokeshi headbutts looked like it would lead to victory but in typical Honma fashion, the top rope Kokeshi failed. Tonga jumped and caught him with a big Gun Stun before finishing him off with Veleno. The Bullet Club laid out their opponents after the match. Tonga also announced that his brother, former WWE performer Camacho, would be his tag team partner against Great Bash Heel down the line. Solid tag match here. **¾

New Japan Cup Finals: Tetsuya Naito w/ BUSHI def. Hirooki Goto in 20:19
It’s a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 10. No suit for Naito this time around. Goto has mostly owned this tournament in history, being a three time winner. BUSHI was sure to make his presence felt, interfering early and often. When he wasn’t getting involved, Goto and Naito had some really great back and forth. Goto seemed a step ahead but every now and then, Naito would pull out something that put him back in the driver’s seat. He tried Destino a few times but Goto always had a counter ready. Things really picked up in the final few minutes, with Goto even hitting Shouten Kai only for Naito to kick out. He tried a second but EVIL interfered. Just like at WK10, Goto took EVIL and BUSHI out but Naito countered Shouten Kai into Destino. He couldn’t pin instantly there as he was hurt, but a few minutes later he hit a second Destino and won the Cup. This was much better than their forgettable disappointment at WK10. ***¾

After the bell, it seemed like Naito challenged Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Los Ingobernables put the boots to Goto until Okada made the save. Okada and Goto shook hands, as it seems like Goto accepted his offer to join Chaos.

Overall: 6.5/10. Similar to the rest of the tournament, I’d consider this a good show, but not a great one. Outside of one or two multi-man tags, everything moves swiftly and the show doesn’t feel like it takes three hours. They did a good job of advancing some angles. Shibata’s war with the veterans continued, Naito moved into the title picture and the Goto stuff is certainly intriguing. One thing about NJPW in 2016 is that I’m interested in the booking decisions since Gedo was forced to do something differently with key guys leaving. This show was an example of that.

Top Ten Thursday: WrestleMania Matches

With WrestleMania season upon us, it seems only fitting that my latest top ten feature my picks for the top ten matches in the history of the "Show of Shows". Considering it has spanned 31 years and featured the biggest stars in the industry, it was extremely hard to narrow this down. Matches that I love like Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H, Edge vs. The Undertaker, Macho Man vs. Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart, are all missing from the list. This is based on pure match quality. Hogan/Andre was a massive deal and had a great moment, but it's not on this list because the match itself isn't great in my eyes.

10. Retirement Match: Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior – WrestleMania VII

Sometimes, all a match needs to really put it way over the top is some good old fashioned emotion. At WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles, one match stood above all. Randy Savage took on the Ultimate Warrior in a high stakes match where the loser would be forced to retire. Savage in the midst of a heel run as the Macho King and he cost Warrior the WWF Title a few months prior, setting this encounter up. The little things about this match, right from the start, totally stood out. From Ultimate Warrior’s fantastic jacket to seeing Elizabeth in the crowd, it all worked perfectly. The crowd was on the edge of their seat throughout the entire match and reacted to each and every near fall. Ultimate Warrior’s best opponent throughout his career was, hands down, the Macho Man. Something about these two just clicked in a manner that others couldn’t match. Savage hit FIVE of his patented elbow drops but it somehow wasn’t enough to keep the Warrior down. After Savage kicked out of his signature stuff, Warrior ended his career (temporarily) with three shoulder blocks. This was a situation where the post-match stuff added to it as Queen Sherri attacked Savage until Elizabeth hopped the guardrail to stop her. It led to one of the most emotional moments in wrestling history as Savage and Elizabeth reunited and fans all around the world cried tears of joy.

9. WWF Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Razor Ramon (c) vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania X

The Ladder match that kind of changed everything. Sure the WWF put on at least one Ladder match before this, but this was the first one on a major stage. Shawn Michaels reigned as Intercontinental Champion but had the title stripped by President Jack Tunney. Remember when authority figures were just a guy that rarely appeared on TV to make decisions? Behind the scenes, there were rumors that he was in talks with WCW during a contract negotiation. Razor won the vacant title and when Michaels returned, he began carrying around his own Intercontinental Title and saying he was still the rightful champion. Both titles were hung high above the ring at Madison Square Garden and the two men proceeded to have a classic. Looking back, a lot of people that weren’t watching at that time may not understand the hype. We’ve seen some incredibly athletic things done in Ladder matches since then but this was groundbreaking. They beat the hell out of each other with the ladder, while making both the careers of both the winner, Razor Ramon and especially the loser, Shawn Michaels. Both guys were stars, but without this match, they may not reach that next level. Not only one of the best matches ever but it’s also one of the most influential.

8. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania 21 

Yes people, Shawn Michaels will appear on this list more than anyone else. During the 2005 Royal Rumble, Kurt Angle was a favorite to win but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels. He hopped back in and attacked Michaels. The feud was only built on that though. Angle went all the way back to nearly a decade earlier when he won the Olympic gold medal, only to hear everyone raving about a guy named Shawn Michaels wrestling for an hour at WrestleMania. The match was highly anticipated and ended up stealing the show on a very strong WrestleMania from Los Angeles. This was two of the very best to ever lace up a pair of wrestling boots going out and having a classic. The intensity that Angle display throughout the contest is unmatched. You truly believe that the story he told about hearing so much about Michaels after winning the gold medal really ate away at him. You believed that the match meant the world to him. It wasn’t something that happened often, but Michaels ended up tapping out, giving the win to Angle. They would rematch this later in the year and it would be great, but nothing tops their first match for me.

7. WWF Championship: The Rock (c) vs. Steve Austin – WrestleMania X-Seven 

Throughout the history of WrestleMania, there are only two trilogies. The Undertaker vs. Triple H and the Rock vs. Steve Austin. For my money, Rock vs. Austin is the far better trilogy. This match, which closed out arguably the greatest WrestleMania of all-time, was their best effort. Their WrestleMania XV match two years earlier was really good and their final match two years after was truly great. Everything worked masterfully here. The molten hot crowd in Houston was rabid and heavily in favor of their home state guy, Steve Austin. These two had met so much in the past that their chemistry worked so well. They had the epitome of the WWF main event style match for that era. The last minute no disqualification stipulation gave them the freedom to wow everyone. If it wasn’t for the finish, this would rank higher and be a perfect five star match for me. Vince McMahon showed up and aligned himself with Austin, who turned heel and beat the holy hell out of the Rock. It made sense for the story of Austin being willing to do anything to become champion again, but the crowd, especially the one that night, wanted no part of a heel Austin. Even with that ending, this was, in my opinion, the best WWF/E Championship match in WrestleMania history.

6. World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XX 

It seems like every tenth WrestleMania is a night for the fans of good old fashioned technical wrestling. WrestleMania X closed with Bret Hart as the WWF Champion and XXX ended with Daniel Bryan on top of the world. Smack dab in the middle of those events was WrestleMania XX, held in the historic Madison Square Garden. Chris Benoit, one of the best technicians in history, won the Royal Rumble from the number one spot (in a far better performance than HBK winning from #1 in 1995). Shawn Michaels, on that same night, went to a draw with World Champion Triple H and found a way to inset himself into the title match at Mania. The match itself was given the headlining position and they more than delivered. Three of the best ever went out and put on one of the best Triple Threat matches I’ve ever witnessed and possibly the best in WWE history. After thirty minutes of back and forth action, Benoit realized his dream of becoming World Champion by making Triple H submit. The image of Benoit and then WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero standing tall to close out the biggest show of the year is still one of my favorite moments in WrestleMania history.

5. WWF Intercontinental Championship: Randy Savage (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat – WrestleMania III 

The earliest match on this list is still considered by many to be the best in WrestleMania history. In front of a record crowd in Pontiac, Michigan, Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage went toe to toe and wowed that audience. This was the first WrestleMania done in a stadium as opposed to a traditional arena, giving it a much bigger feel. The show was moving along and proved to be good, but this took it over the top. This wasn’t just a traditional Intercontinental Title match either. It was personal after Savage crushed Steamboat’s throat with the ring bell during a televised match they had. The amount of near falls in this match had to be some kind of record. Almost every minute saw at least one close call and the fans ate up every single one of them. Steamboat used a small package to not only get his revenge but become the Intercontinental Champion. The storyline, build and execution of this entire thing was just so well done. Some people believe this is the greatest match ever and, while I disagree, I wouldn’t argue too hard against it.

4. WWF Tag Team Championship TLC Match: The Dudley Boyz (c) vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz – WrestleMania X-Seven 

One of only two WrestleManias to make the list twice. At WrestleMania X-Seven, not only was the main event a classic, but the Tag Team Title match was even better. At WrestleMania 2000 a year earlier, these three tag teams ushered in a new era with a tremendous Triangle Ladder match. Later that year, they had the first ever Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at SummerSlam and they somehow bested themselves. The WWE decided that if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. They went with the match again in TLC II. In a move that I did not expect in any possible way, these six men topped themselves yet again. They called back to their previous matches and did thing that not only were high stakes, but they did them all in original ways that were seamless. Sometimes in matches like this, you get botches or just moves that don’t come out right but everything was perfect in this one. The added dimension of each team having a third, Lita, Rhyno and Spike Dudley, only gave this that little something extra to put it over the top. Edge and Christian pulled down the titles to win the third Ladder match between these teams, sweeping them for the year.

3. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart – WrestleMania X 

To this day, this remains the best opening contest I have ever witnessed. Bret Hart is one of my all-time favorites. Everything Bret did was practically flawless and he was truly one of the best in history. His little brother, Owen Hart, was nearly as good, but also had an all-around game that was even better than Bret. He had a charisma and high flying ability that allowed him to stand out among the Hart family. This storyline featured brilliant long term booking. At the Survivor Series, Owen started to show that he was jealous of the attention Bret got, which led to him infamously turning on Bret at the Royal Rumble. Bret didn’t want to wrestle Owen but finally gave in, leading to this match. According to an interview Bret gave on the 30 Years of WrestleMania podcast, he and Owen had planned several high spots but had to change them after knowing the kind of match that Razor and Shawn would have later on. The fact that they had to redo their ideas and still put on one of the best matches I’ve ever seen is a testament to how good these guys were. Owen eked out a win over Bret, solidifying himself as a star, while Bret went on to win the WWF Title later in the show. This was not only wrestling done right, but it was pitch perfect booking.

2. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker – WrestleMania XXV 

The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are synonymous with WrestleMania. Shawn is the greatest performer in the history of the Show of Shows, while the Undertaker went undefeated for over 20 years. With the Undertaker standing at 16-0, Shawn Michaels set his sights on the streak. Mr. WrestleMania was the perfect choice to really threaten it. Add in the fact that Shawn and Undertaker had classic matches in the past (including the best Hell in a Cell match ever) and the tidbit that the Undertaker had never beaten Michaels and you’ve got a recipe for success. WrestleMania 25 was, overall, a relatively disappointing show but the thing that totally redeemed it was this battle. It played out wonderfully, with neither guy giving an inch. Shawn was desperate and open to beating Undertaker in any possible way, including a countout. At one point, he looked like he might have broken his wrist on a moonsault and shortly after, Undertaker nearly broke his neck on his trademark dive. The false finishes in this were tremendous and not overdone. Undertaker’s reaction to the Tombstone not ending the match was perfect. He finally caught Michaels mid-moonsault and won with a second Tombstone after a half hour of fantastic wrestling.

1. Submission Match: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin – WrestleMania 13

Not only is this my pick for the best WrestleMania match of all time, it could also possibly be considered the most important. After winning the 1996 King of the Ring, Steve Austin was set on a course for superstardom. He targeted the returning Bret Hart and faced him in an instant classic at the Survivor Series. Austin looked like Bret’s equal throughout before making a small mistake and losing. Originally, the plan was to do a WrestleMania 12 rematch between Hart and Shawn Michaels. Thank goodness that fell through because instead, they did a rematch of Austin and Bret, which proved to be far superior. Adding in the submissions stipulation was crucial since neither Austin nor Bret had ever submitted in their respective careers. WrestleMania 13 was a one match show but at least this one was tremendous. Their match felt like a personal war, with fighting around the arena and use of weapons, but not to the point where it was overdone. Austin got busted open and it led to the most iconic image in WrestleMania history as he struggled to survive the Sharpshooter. In a very badass moment, Austin refused to submit, instead passing out. By the time the match ended, Austin’s toughness was more than proven and the fans fell even more in love. It solidified the best double turn ever and put the rocket on Austin’s ass that led to him becoming the top guy the following year. I don’t only believe this is the best WrestleMania match ever, it may very well be the best match ever, period.