Curt Henning vs. Chris Jericho - WCW Monday Nitro (1997)
It might seem like a dream match now, but back in '97 a Hennig/Jericho match on Monday Nitro was just an excuse to talk about anything other than a Hennig/Jericho match. A shame really, but this was WCW at the height of the nWo days, remember.
While this match may forever be lost in the mix of other forgettable Nitro matches used to talk about the nWo, it does include a mishap on Chris Jericho's behalf that may not seem that big of a deal in hindsight, but it could have ended Jericho's career if it got any worse. What I'm talking about is Jericho's Lionsault (middle rope springboard moonsault) towards the end of the match that he botches by not rotating enough - the same exact move and mishap that paralyzed Hayabusa a few years later. Luckily in this instance, Curt Hennig, either on instinct or following out the spot, put his knees up at just the right time that Jericho ends up landing on Henning's knees with his back rather than on his head and, well, pretty much saving his neck:
With the raise of WEBM and new file compressing technology, everyone's favorite moving pictures, .gif may be becoming a thing of the past. To celebrate the mighty legacy of .gif, I have decided this week to "dump" by favorite wrestling .gif's with the corresponding matches that they took place in.
Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila - Light Heavyweight title match - Wrestlemania XIV (1998)
How about some flippy stuff...
In the first and only Light Heavyweight Championship match, Taka Michinoku defends the gold against Aguila, a young masked wrestler from Mexico (who later wrestled unmasked as Essa Rios). These two had previously faced each other in the Light Heavyweight title tournament which Taka would later end up winning to be the inaugural Light heavyweight Champion in WWF. At the time of this match, Aguila was only 19 years old making him the youngest person to ever compete at Wrestlemania!
Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus - Women's Title match - Wrestlemania 22 (2006)
Some pre-Total Divas women's action featuring the obsessive fan turned deranged lunatic, Mickie James challenging the Women's champ, Trish Stratus. Not as violent as the last female wrestling match I posted but still pretty heated for WWE standards... so, not very violent at all.
This match however does include this spot by Mickie James which is super not PG (or safe for work) and has since been cut out from the match if you watch it on The Network from what I've been told.
Shane McMahon vs. Vince McMahon - Street Fight - Wrestlemania X-Seven (2001)
What started out as Shane McMahon returning to the WWF to confront his father about the state of his mother, Linda who was in an unconscious state, turned into Shane buying WCW, WWF's biggest rival, right from under his father's feet. To make matters even worse for Mr. McMahon, Shane allowed Mick Foley, the man that Linda let officiate a six-man Hell in a Cell match which was the cause of Mr. McMahon flipping his lid at her to a point of comatose, the chance to be the special guest referee of any match he wanted at Wrestlemania. Naturally, Mick Foley picked Shane and Vince's match to be special referee not only to get under Vince's skin but also because it was right up his alley; a street fight.
Throw in some Trish Stratus and Stephanie McMahon nonsense, and this match had a bigger build and story behind it than pretty much any Wrestlemania match of this decade. Of course, the match itself was a classic Shane McMahon performs the craziest spots he can think of match but it had no shortage of detailed storyline to it whatsoever!
The Undertaker vs. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Wrestlemania VII (1991)
Only a few months after the fresh (yet dead) new competitor known as The Undertaker made his debut at Survivor Series, he was thrown into a match at the biggest WWF PPV of the year against Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. While challenging Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is never a walk in the park, you can see here that this was boot-era Jimmy Snuka and therefore lacked the "Superfly" powers that he once possessed.
'Taker would go on to win 20 more of these WM matches, and is looking for his 22nd win this Sunday against "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar. Many people on the internet say that the only wrestler that can really put an end to the streak is Kane - who has failed two times already. I, on the other hand, believe that it takes someone who can tie the whole streak back together, and since Jimmy Snuka is well passed his glory days to return, it looks like it's up to another Snuka; it looks like it's up to Tamina "The daughter of Hall of Famer Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka" Snuka to put an end to the streak!
Wrestlemania is a mere 6 days away which can only mean one thing - it's Wrestlemania week! The grandest wrestling event this side of the world is turning 30 next Sunday and with that comes 29 years of great material to watch and honor this week.
I highly recommend watching these Wrestlemania moments on the WWE Network for best picture quality. If you are not from America or broke like me, the youtube/dailymotion/weird Japanese video players I will be embedding will have to do as usual...
Abyss vs. AJ Styles - TNA Heavyweight Championship match - TNA Destination X (2010)
While there have been good encounters between Abyss and AJ Styles ( i.e. Lockdown '05), this is not one of those encounters. No, this encounter is in the thick of Hulk Hogan's takeover of TNA in 2010 starring heel AJ Styles taking on face Abyss. During this glorious downward spiral of TNA, "the future of TNA" AJ Styles was put under the wing of wheelchaired Ric Flair, while Abyss, you know - "The Monster" Abyss - was given the powers of Hulkamania by Hulk Hogan in order to dethrone Styles of Fortune (TNA's try at the Four Horsemen, I guess) and eventually become champion. Abyss's Hulkster power-up included a new Real American mash-up theme, a few bits of ketchup and mustard on his attire, and Hulk Hogan's Hall of Fame ring. Yep, Hogan gave his ring to Abyss rather than pawning it for some quick cash. Silly Hogan... it's not like he can get another one. Oh, just you wait.
Abyss and AJ have a pretty alright match that could have just been done and forgotten about. Instead, Abyss with his new found Hulkamania powers takes a page out of The Big Show (who also once pretended to be Hogan) and Undertaker's book and chokeslams AJ Styles through the ring. Technically, AJ's body just collapses the ring, but as the camera mistakenly looks down at AJ in the hole we see that he is being cut through the mat by some mysterious scissor people that reside under the ring.
So that's it, right? Abyss chokeslams AJ through the ring and wins the belt for the sake of Hulkamania? Actually no; since AJ is sucked down into the abyss, hah, and was unable to return, the match was thrown out just like when a champion walks out of the match in a last ditch effort to retain their title. Abyss wins the battle and AJ Styles retains his title, but the nonsense doesn't end there. As Hogan himself comes out to celebrate with Abyss, Ric Flair gets wheeled back out to confront Hogan who had kicked him out earlier in the match. The wheelchair bound Flair is then dragged into the ring by Hogan's monster, gets sprayed by some pepper spray, and flops around on the mat for a while until Desmond Wolfe comes out to save him. Wolfe does not save Flair, instead he gets beat down by Hogan and Abyss, pepper sprayed, and finally, trips over the selling-like-it's-gonna-win-him-another-Hall of Fame-ring, Ric Flair into the hole in the middle of the ring. In one final act of total nonstop acting, Flair does his best Shawn Michaels impression from Summerslam '05 and overly sells a fall into the hole with the already buried Desmond Wolfe and AJ Styles.
Theme results
Ring Destructions: Abyss hulks up and chokelsams AJ "through" the ring.
Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - ECW World TV Championship match - ECW Living Dangerously (1998)
In one of ECW's most memorable matches, the TV champ, Taz takes on the giant journeyman, Bam Bam Bigelow in a grueling brawl at Living Dangerously '98. The most memorable part of the match, of course, is the finish that saw Taz performing his signature Tazmission on a standing Bam Bam Bigelow which leads to Bam Bam falling backwards - sending both himself and Taz under him through the ring!
From what I've read, and heard on Jeremy Borash's ECW documentary, Hardcore Forever, Terry Taylor admits that he saw this classic spot at the time and brought it to WWF where it was redone in the form of Big Show chokeslamming the Undertaker through the ring in 1999.
Here's a better look at Taz and Bam Bam collapsing the ring:
Theme results
Ring Destruction: A big hole in the ring filled with Taz and Bam Bam Bigelow.
Masada vs. Jun Kasai - No Mat, Glass Pane, Gusset Plate Deathmatch Pain Limit finals - FREEDOMS (2012)
Here's another tournament match...
CZW's Masada and "The Crazy Monkey" Jun Kasai know how to put on an ultraviolent, stomach curdling, how-is-this-stuff-even-legal?, bloody-ass deathmatch. If you don't like the sound of anything that I just wrote, please do not watch this match. If you love the sound of what I wrote above, you are one sick fuck.
To add to this weeks theme, and in good practice with Ash Wednesday/Lent's giving something up until Jesus comes back on Easter with chocolate eggs, this match gets rid of the mat or canvas of the ring. Instead of all that soft stuff on top of the ring, it is completely bare with only its boards intact... well, that is, until Masada decides to tear off some boards to create a gaping hole in the ring. Once Masada strips the boards, he places a pane of glass over the hole and then, if it's pretty self explanatory as to what he does next, Masada powerbombs Kasai through the glass and down through the ring to the floor, or whatever is under a ring.
Luckily, Kasai survives the drop with only a few minor scratches and some skin peeled off. Then he finishes the match, of course.
Theme results
Ring Destruction: The mat/canvas is removed to began with then Masada rips out some boards for added hardcore nonsense.
Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli - Opening Round match - King of Europe Cup (2007)
Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli AKA The Kings of Wrestling battle one another in this opening round match for the 2007 King of Europe Cup. At the time, Hero was representing Combat Zone Wrestling while Castagnoli was representing Chikara Pro.
The match itself goes nice and smooth until Chris Hero slams Claudio Castagnoli with enough force to leave a big dip in the ring. For the rest of the match, Hero and Castagnoli must fight around this indentation in the middle of the squared circle. From there, like the mat itself, the match pretty much goes down hill and is all about how the hell are these two guys going to end the match without using the middle of the ring.
Theme results
Ring Destruction: The ring collapses in the middle.
John Cena vs. CM Punk - Viewer's Choice WWE Championship match - Raw (2010)
The first big match between the WWE champ, John Cena and then masked CM Punk gets hijacked on Viewer's Choice Raw by The Nexus, an eight man gang featuring young upstarts from WWE's developmental territory, FCW as well as all being original contestants on the first NXT program.
While it was not totally chaos, the NXT rookies of the first season really shook things up for a pretty stale product that was WWE at this point. I remember watching this episode of Raw and thinking that something new was upon us. Of course, nothing really happened. The ring gets stripped, Bryan gets fired for chocking the timekeeper with his own tie, and then for weeks John Cena does that thing he always does; he overcomes the odds.
Still, the damage that the Nexus created from their ambush on Raw was pretty impressive for WWE standards. To bad they were pretty much destined to fail once they started feuding with Super Cena.
Theme results
Ring Destruction: Apron skirts ripped off, mat gets exposed, padding torn loose, and the ring ropes are loosened and taken down.
This week's theme is all about destruction not so much in the squared circle, but destruction of the squared circle. Whether it be kayfabe, a disaster, or just a shitty ring, every match will include some sort of modification to the wrestling ring. Example:
^This one was the result of WWE's 7 year rule; if something happened 7 years ago, it can just be done again and passed off as new.
KENTA vs. Nigel McGuinness vs. BJ Whitmer - Triple Threat ROH World title match - Pro Wrestling Noah Northern Navigation Day 1 (2008)
Nigel McGuinness goes to Japan to defend his ROH world title against BJ Whitmer and Noah's own, KENTA. Despite KENTA's obvious home field advantage, Whitmer and McGuinness ganged up on the Japanese sensation and created an odd-man out situation that is very common in triple threat matches. Eventually the playing field was evened when Whitmer, aware that he wasn't going to win the title he continued to side with McGuinness, began to fight back against fellow ROH'er in hopes to win his first World Championship.
Not to give anything away, but this match almost ends with the same exact move that yesterday's match did. Hint hint.
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.
Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles - Triangle Ladder match for the X Division title - TNA PPV (2002)
Two up and coming indie sensations and a wily vet still kicking it look to take the world by storm. In the young, Wednesday night PPV from Nashville days of Total Nonstop Action, the name of the game was the X Division. While the main event scene had mostly all established stars, the X Division was in beginning to flourish with great young talent like AJ Styles, Low Ki, Amazing Red, Chris Sabin, Michael Shane, and Sonny Siaki just to name a few. It was new, it was exciting, and it was actually good.
While Low Ki and AJ Styles came into this match already current/former X champs, Jerry Lynn had yet to hold the title. Even though he could go the length with the young guns, he still needed that X Division glory that only Low Ki and Styles had up to this point.
Also, this was the time in TNA where Mike Tenay and Don West would get really excited about everything. I understand the need to sell the product, but come on, this match is good, if not better, without constant marking out by the commentary team. It isn't Matt Striker commentary bad to listen to, but it still gets a little redundant. Especially when every match was called the greatest TNA match of all time and this was only their first year.
Hak vs. Raven vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - Falls Count Anywhere Triangle match - WCW Uncensored (1999)
Three guys who made a name for themselves in the extreme promotion known as ECW going head to head to head in a WCW style hardcore match. As an early precursor to WCW's Hardcore title division (a cheap imitation of the hardcore wrestling that had become popular through WWF), all it really was was taking the weapon-oriented style that ECW was using (but not limited to) and cranking it up to 11. So, as you can see from the video above, this match is more about how many things Hak (Sandman), Raven, and Bam Bam Bigelow can hit each other with than it is about being hardcore. Granted, these guys are/were hardcore at one point or another, the match is still just one big mess.
Many people call the backyard wrestling, ultraviolent, sleazy hardcore wresting of today "trash" wrestling, but this match literally looked like trash wrestling with all the crap that littered the ring.
PS: sorry for the sketchy video... it was the best I could find just of this match in its entirety.
Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Dean Malenko vs. Taka Michinoku - Light Heavyweight title match - WWF Sunday Night Heat (2000)
This little gem occurs just on the heels of Scotty 2 Hotty winning his first title in WWF. Along with the former Light heavyweight champion looking to win back what he had lost almost a week prior on Raw, Taka Michinoku (the first Light Heavyweight champion in WWF), is also thrown in the mix to try to capture the gold once more. Unfortunately for both challengers, Scotty 2 Hotty was not ready to lose the title on this Sunday night C-show, and successfully defends it against his worthy opponents.
After the match though, Dean Malenko, shades of Alberto Del Rio today, 'sends a message' to Scotty by knocking him out with the Light Heavyweight title and locking in the Texas Cloverleaf on the defenseless champion.
Goldust vs. Owen Hart vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - Intercontinental Championship match - Raw is War/War Zone (1997)
Aside from a few three man matches at house shows, this was the first televised triple threat match to take place in the WWF. The match is for the Intercontinental title and features two individuals whom had held the title previously gunning for the scrap - held at the time by Owen Hart.
To add to this match of firsts, Pat Patterson - the first Intercontinental champ - plays the roll of the blind guest referee. 'Must be because he's Canadian', Jim Ross says. Why a Canadian would miss a foot on the ropes for a fellow Canadian in kayfabe is beyond me...
Plain and simple, every match this week will involve three people taking on each other. In honor of Sabu vs. Shane Douglas vs. Terry Funk from ECW's The Night The Line Was Crossed (1994) which took place 20 years ago this week.
