JTG vs. Santino Marella - JTG's last match in WWE - Superstars (2013)
It's a sad day if you are a WWE fan/meme enthusiast as "STILL EMPLOYED" JTG got the cut along with the 10 other superstars who were future endeavored by management today.
The final count for JTG's employment with the WWE is 07 Years, 30 days, 00 hours, 25 minutes, 12 seconds. JTG had not wrestled a match on TV since September of last year where he took a beautiful hit from Santino's notorious cobra.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair - King of the Ring (2002)
Only about a month before Eddie Guerrero took on The Rock in a match that has now been regarded as a "dream match that actually happened", Guerrero took on another wrestling for the first in WWE in the form of the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. It wasn't the first time that the two had wrestled before, they
actually put on pretty good matches in their WCW days together, but this is the first and only time that these two masters of the ring squared off against each other in WWE.
What made this match so enjoyable has to be the different styles that Eddie Guerrero and Ric Flair brought to the table. Flair, being the ring psychology veteran taking on Guerrero, a quicker and high-flying-based wrestler. I would argue that this difference of styles really echos the days of Flair vs. Steamboat which many consider the greatest rivalry of all time. Flair/Guerrero might not have any six star matches, but I think it's worth watching their matches if you are a fan of pure wrestling a la Flair/Steamboat.
Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar - WWE Championship match - Smackdown! (2003)
So here it is, the first time in the history of WWE that a slam was so powerful that it literally broke the ring.
To be quite honest, this was actually really awesome for my young elementary school mind at the time it took place. I remember going to school the next day, SD! was still on Thursdays, and telling everybody and anybody willing to listen. This was a big fucking deal. So, when I came back to wrestling after taking some time off to learn that this same exact spot was redone in 2011, I was furious! Now hear me out, when I say that the same exact spot was redone, I don't just mean that Big Show was in a match where the ring completely collapsed again, I mean Mark Henry (playing the role of Brock Lesnar) got Big Show up on the top rope and superplexed him in such a incredible fashion that the ring implodes.
Looking back on things now, I guess it makes more sense that Mark Henry could break the ring from superplexing Big Show since Brock Lesnar, a smaller individual compared to the 400+ pound World's Strongest Man, was able to in this match.
CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane - WWE Championship Triple Threat match - No Way Out (2012)
I'm just going to keep this one short and sweet because this match is not too old, yet I honestly don't remember the AJ Lee love triangle (or would it be a square?) storyline too well. I will however point out how much things have actually changed since this match in June of 2012.
Plus, this match is pretty good. But you probably already guessed that.
Happy Royal Rumble weekend! All match of the days this weekend will be Royal Rumble PPV matches!
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show - Royal Rumble (2003)
Recently, WWE has gone back in time to relive all sorts of things from its past. From Randy Orton attacking John Cena's Dad like in 2007, to Batista being back, to just having The New Age Outlaws around to talk about 1998 and that better era; everywhere you look, there is things that have seeming already happened - like, for instance, this match. Did I mention Batista's back? Oh right, I did.
Yep, "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar and the "World's Largest Athlete yadda yadda" Big Show are at it again just like here in 2003 when the two took on each other for a spot in the Royal Rumble match later that night. For what it's worth there is one small difference to the match we'll see on Sunday, and that's that Paul Heyman was in Big Show's corner. Will this benefit Brock Lesnar now that he's got Paul by his side once again? Will Big Show punk out the beast because he's bigger? Tune in to the Royal Rumble this Sunday on PPV (and the internet) to find out.
As of today, AJ Lee is the current longest reigning "Divas" Champion in WWE. In honor of this, I present the best match of the final NXT, before it replaced FCW as a developmental territory: AJ Lee with her pro, Primo in her courner versus Naomi with her pro, Kelly Kelly. This match not only features great chemistry and other words that mean they made the match look good from both rookies, but also features some incredibly insane commentary by Michael Cole, and I'm not just talking his usual mundane Raw commentary either. I'm talking rib after rib on NXT itself, Tony Chimel the announcer, out of blue references, and of course, Cole's obsession with calling AJ's Black Widow submission hold a la Antonio Inoki, THE OCTOPUS! THE OCTOPUS! THE OCTOPUS! etc.
AJ might have been eliminated from the contest soon after this, but she would quickly become the definitive breakout star of the show and earned her right to hold the Divas title once she made her way to the main roster. Plus, AJ's not a Total Diva, so they gotta give her something to keep her around... too bad I can't say the same for AJ's former tag team partner, Kaitlyn, who recently asked for her release from the company.
Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. The Shield (Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) - The Rhodes Family's careers on the line - WWE Battleground (2013)
Out of the weakest WWE PPV of 2013 comes one of the best matches of the year, it's the Rhodes brothers taking on the most dominant tag team in a long time, The Shield. If Cody and Goldie lost the match the Rhodes, including Huckleberry Dusty who works for NXT, would have lost their jobs and could never work in WWE again (because the Authority (Stephanie McMahon and Triple H) didn't like them or something (citation needed)).
This match and the whole storyline really was one of the most surprisingly good things to come out of WWE in the past twelve months. It's also the only good thing to come out of the Authority angle. Plus, it jump-started Goldust's withering career, gave us a chance to listen to Dusty Rhodes's insane ramblings, and gave Cody Rhodes something to do now that he has no mustache. The Shield on the other hand, gained more traction as a tag team and all in all just stayed relevant.
PS: This match is also the debut of Goldust's Darth Vader makeup.
Sami Zayn vs. Antonio Cesaro - 2 out of 3 falls match - NXT TV (2013)
One of if not the best kept WWE secrets is NXT. Not to be confused with that Tough Enough-type game show, NXT is WWE's replacement for FCW, their old developmental territory. Currently it serves as the place to be for wrestlers looking to hone his or her skills, shed the indie skin, and create a good gimmick.
One of the best new talents in NXT has to be Sami Zayn, a former masked generic luchadore in the indies, who is now trying to make a new name for himself as a Canadian wrestler of Syrian descent. Regardless of his simple gimmick, he already has the ability to put on tremendous matches. Exhibit A: his series of matches with WWE "Superstar" and no stranger to Zayn in the past, Antonio Cesaro.
The match that stands out the most in the series has to be the 2-out-of-3 falls match the two had with each other earlier this year. It's a entertaining bout that sees two former big time indie wrestlers put on a wrestling masterpiece without needed excessive flips or big spots. That's right, I said it; a masterpiece. Check it out!
After returning to WWE at Money in the Bank, Rob Van Dam looked to impress the "Universe" by doing more than going through the motions as he did for most of his TNA run. So, for his return match to Raw he stepped his game up tremendously against some nobody from Calgary... err, wait, I mean Winnipeg, Chris Jericho.
While this match looked a bit sloppy to me at first, I had to keep coming back to because I knew I was missing something. After my fourth or so watch I take back the sloppy comment and replace it with yeah, this might just be my favorite match of Raw 2013. Mind you, even with that god awful "Download the WWE APP", "everything we say is trending", "Isn't social media great?" commentary.
Chris Jericho vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Match to unify the WWF Championship with WCW's World Heavyweight Championship and to crown the new Undisputed Champion - WWF Vengeance (2001)
WWE may be labeling Randy Orton and John Cena's TLC match to unify the WWE title and the World Heavyweight title as the first unification match of its kind, but as someone who watched WWF buy out WCW, the eventually Invasion angle, and the final unification match with both companies top titles, I would have to beg the differ on that. Yes, I am aware that Jericho and Austin were wrestling to unify the WWE and WCW titles, but that same WCW title is being considered the same title still used today (or was, we'll see what happens) as the World Heavyweight title when it was reintroduced in 2002. Saying that this title here is not the same as the one John Cena held before TLC, yet saying that the title that Booker T won in WCW is the same, is completely ridiculous. By the way, if you go back and watch Jericho's entrance from the previous match you can clearly see Jericho is labeled as the "World Heavyweight" Champion; not just the WCW Champion.
Clearly someone just wants to make this Orton/Cena showdown huge by calling it the first of its kind.
The context behind this Austin/Jericho unification match is that there was a mini-tournament of sorts to crown the first undisputed champion by combining the WWE title with WCW's World heavyweight title. The first match was Kurt Angle taking on the WWF champ, Steve Austin, then The Rock (unsuccessfully) defended the World Heavyweight title against Chris Jericho. Jericho, just hot of winning the WHC had to take on Austin in the match above to crown the very first Undisputed Champion. The rest is history.
Ric Flair vs. Edge - TLC match for the WWE Championship - Raw (2006)
While maybe overlooked by wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels and The Hardy Boyz when it comes to who's who of ladder matches, Edge is definitely a pioneer of the ladder match in his own right. He was in the very first tag team ladder match, the first ever triangle ladder match, the first three TLC tag team matches, seen here in the first ever singles TLC match, participated and won the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, and has (as of right now) been in more TLC matches than anyone else. Looking at it that way, Edge should definitely not be overlooked when it comes to ladders and wrestling. His opponent in this first ever TLC match for the WWE title on the other hand, had never been in a TLC match, let alone a ladder match. Edge's opponent was familiar with one thing in this match of firsts however, and that was championship gold... his opponent was the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair after all, a 16 time World Champion. And it was also Flair's home state of North Carolina.
This match between Edge and Ric Flair is a PPV quality match that replaced the death-defying spots that the tag team TLC matches were praised for with pure brutality. I almost forget this match is even a ladder match until at least 10 minutes in. Someone eventually climbs the ladder and retrieves the title, but who?
Fun fact: This is the only TLC match where someone blades... You'll never guess which one did that *Cough* Flair *Cough*.
Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka - ECW One Night Stand (2005)
It's my birthday, so here's one of my favorite matches.
The Mike Awesome/Masato Tanaka match from ECW's One Night Stand show in 2005 is not the two's first outing together. These two had been fighting each other for the sake of fighting since the early/mid 90's from ECW to FMW in Japan with little to no remorse for each others well being. What makes this particular encounter so special is really pretty much random other than the fact that the crowd was red hot for them and the atmosphere that night was incredible. The two just go out to the ring and continue where they left off from their last match like it was still Heat Wave 1998. There's unprotected chair shots, a brutal Awesome bomb from the apron to a slanted table, an almost 300 pound man continually diving to the outside like this was a PWG All-Star Weekend, and, of course, Joey Styles' nonstop bad-mouthing of Mike Awesome on commentary.
This match might be remembered most for Joey Styles "shoot" on Awesome for being a terrible human being business-wise and the line after Awesome completed his first suicide dive to the outside, "...and it's unfortunate he did not succeed in taking his own life"; a foreshadowing of Awesome's demise as he would actually take his life 2 years later. That's not what makes this match special to me, but it is something that always gets brought up.
Regardless of all Joey Styles stuff, this match and the whole Awesome/Tanaka feud is really a sight to see from their days in FMW to this final battle at One Night Stand. These two put on simple yet brutal matches together that required little to no explanation. Destroying each other was just what they did.
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy - "I Quit" match - Backlash (2009)
This is the Hardy Boyz feud where Matt Hardy hinted that he was responsible for the fire that burned Jeff's home and killed his dog. Why did Matt do it? Jealousy, of course. This feud first started when Matt lost the ECW title to Jack Swagger (remember that?) and later attacked Jeff with a chair, costing his brother the World Heavyweight title. With the Hardy's title-less, it was the perfect time for the two brothers to finally have a big feud for who's the better Hardy Boy... apparently.
The Hardy Boyz "I Quit" match at Backlash was the final chapter of their four part saga. Ironically, this match included the Hardy's working extensively on the leg for the other to experience enough pain to say "I Quit", but in the end when one Hardy came up with the victory, the other walked away with a broken arm.
Lita vs. Victoria - steel cage match - Raw Roulette (2003)
In a surprising turn of events AKA the spinning of the Raw Roulette wheel, the returning (from neck injury) Lita took on her scheduled opponent, the deranged Victoria, in Raw's (and WWE's for that matter) first ever women's steel cage match to kick off the very first Raw Roulette episode in 2003; and it's really not that bad.
Victoria returned to the cage in 2010 when she took on Mickie James for Impact Wrestling as Tara.
Despite the constant plugging of Raw's 1000th episode last year, we did get to see Heath Slater, the super jobber of the WWE get squashed for a few by returning legends who actually looked in good shape for their age. Albeit there were some segments of rookie Heath Slater versus veteran superstars from the past that weren't all too great (sorry Lauper), but for the most part this was a relatively good concept.
On this particular Heath Slater squashing, the "One Man Band" would take on the returning big man, the man they call Vader - no stranger to this blog. But not only was this Vader's first match on Raw since 2005, no no no, this was Vader's first time seen on TV since before being in a coma for 30 something days in Japan, causing him to lose 112 pounds and to subsequently turn his life around. And while Vader has had countless surgeries on his knees and the rest of his body, he still could move in the ring with the lightweight rookie of Heath Slater.
From wrestling on velocity in 2003 to main eventing Summerslam in 2013 for the World title, here's where it all started. Kinda. It's John Cena taking on the beardless Bryan Danielson (now known as the "YES!" man, Daniel Bryan).
I sure hope Cena brought those banana pants with him!
The fitness guru, Simon Dean battles the newcomer to WWE, Bobby Lashley in his first PPV match at No Mercy. Bobby Lashley had already fought and defeated Dean in his debut match on SD!, but this time around Dean added a little stipulation to the match; Dean, being the heel health-nut he was, decided to poke fun at the crowd for being from the fattest state by bringing out twenty double cheeseburgers... and then thought it would be a good move on his part to make the stipulation that if Lashley beat him, he would eat all twenty of the burgers.
Simon Dean then lost the match in less than three minutes. And although Lashley only stuffed one cheeseburger down Dean's throat in the end, the tray of burgers was carried to the back where the squashed Dean, being the good-sport that he was, eat the rest and threw up (all speculation, of course).
As for the match itself... It was as sloppy as the cheeseburgers.
MNM (Joey Mercury & Johnny Nitro w/Melina) vs. Jon Moxley & Brad Taylor - Velocity (2006)
I've been watching the Best of the Indies series, Stories From the Streets: The Jon MoxleyStory by Smart Mark Video and thought I would look up this match mentioned early on in the interviews with Jon Moxley - a man now known as Dean Ambrose. The bout is Moxley's first dark match with the WWE where he tags with his fellow Heartland Wrestling Association wrestler, Brad Taylor (Brad Attitude). In the interview mentioned above, Moxley talks about how excited he was to get a chance to have a try-out match with the WWE and be where the big boys play. During the match you can plainly see just how amped up Moxley was for this little bit of spotlight. The tiniest, really.
All in all, it's not a bad match for what it is: a glorified preliminary match to make the champs at the time, MNM, look strong. But Moxley didn't care about that here at 19-20 years old and was just really in love with wrestling. Also in the interview, which was made pre-Shield/FCW (so, 2011), Moxley mentions that he has no plans of being with the WWE anytime soon.
Now he's already fought the Undertaker and pinned Randy Orton at Wrestlemania.
Bonus: You can pick up The Jon Moxley Story in DVD form from Smart Mark Video dot com. It's actually a three disc DVD that also features 14 Jon Moxley matches from CZW, IWA-MS, IPW, HWA, and wXw.
Speaking of hardcore Intercontinental Championship matches:
Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Tommy Dreamer (c) - Intercontinental title match/last Hardcore title match - Raw (2002)
In 2002, RVD made (little known) history when he unified the European title with the Intercontinental title after defeating Jeff Hardy (Euro champ) and then faced Hardcore champion Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore unification match a little under a month later. Rob Van Dam with his IC title was pretty much the go-to guy for defuncting a midcard title back then. Maybe if Rob returned to WWE today he could win the IC title and unify it with the US title since, like the Hardcore and European title in 2002, the US title serves zero purposes anymore.
