SmarKdown's Blog

The 10 Best WWF Intercontinental Champions Of The 1980s

And here we are…the decade that started it all!

Well, almost…

It was actually on 1st September, 1979 when Pat Patterson ACTUALLY WON the Intercontinental Championship in that legendary tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (LOOK, it’s a much-more exciting tale than simply being awarded the belt, alright?). But Pat brought the title into the 1980s and the rest was history. So many Hall of Famers laid the foundations for future legends to follow them. Such glorious work in the 80s established the Intercontinental Title as a belt worth fighting for.

Now, in previous articles for this series, I’ve ranked the 10 best Intercontinental Champions of the 2010s, 2000s and 1990s (as well as including some honourable mentions). However, there were only 11 wrestlers to hold the Intercontinental Championship throughout the 80s, so it seems redundant to rank a Top 10 here and just include ONE Honourable Mention. Hence…here are my rankings of all eleven Intercontinental Champions of the 1980s from Worst-To-Best!

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11. Ken Patera

IMG credit: The Fishbulb Suplex & Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Obviously, it’s hard to rank these eleven champions from worst-to-best given what an elite bunch of wrestlers they all were. And I really don’t mean to slight Ken Patera by ranking him last here. After all, Ken was an Olympic-Standard Athlete, an amazing weightlifter, a tremendous heel and the SECOND-EVER Intercontinental Champion. When he defeated inaugural champ Pat Patterson, Ken added more credibility and prestige to the belt; holding the IC Title for an impressive 230 day reign, whilst simultaneously being the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Champion.

But whilst Patera deserves his place in history, he sadly isn’t remembered anywhere near as much as the rest of the champions on this list. I would also argue that there are dozens more prominent & memorable Intercontinental Champions throughout all the decades than Ken Patera, which ultimately hurts his legacy. Nevertheless, Ken still remains a first-class IC Champion.

10. Rick Rude

IMG credit: WWE & The Fishbulb Suplex – Tumblr

Good Lord…Ravishing Rick Rude was everything. The perfect body, the perfect entrance theme, the perfect talk, and utterly sublime in the ring. During a “Super Posedown” challenge at the 1989 Royal Rumble with the Ultimate Warrior, Rude attacked the then-Intercontinental Champion with a metal-pose-bar to such heat, and perfectly set-up a title-showdown for WrestleMania 5.

The Ravishing One made history that night, handing Warrior his first-ever pinfall loss to become Intercontinental Champ (thanks to Bobby Heenan’s help). Rick enjoyed a great 148-day reign as champ before losing the title back to the Ultimate Warrior in a classic rematch at SummerSlam 1989. Rick Rude was one of the all-time masters of the ring, a legendary heel and thus a superb Intercontinental Champion.

And as Adam Pachitti once pointed out…who could EVER forget those airbrushed Intercontinental tights?!

9. Ricky Steamboat

IMG credit: WWE & This Filipino American Life Podcast

The single-greatest babyface of all-time. One of the most dynamic, skilled & graceful workers who ever lived. And of course, a man who partook in arguably the single-greatest Intercontinental Championship Match of all-time. Maybe even the single-greatest match in the entire history of WrestleMania.

The build-up to the epic showdown at WrestleMania 3 was perfect. Intercontinental Champ Randy Savage viciously assaulted the Dragon, injuring his larynx with the ring bell. Several weeks later, Steamboat returned to stop Savage from doing the same to George “The Animal” Steele and challenge the Macho Man for the title. Fast-forward to WrestleMania 3, 93,173 fans in the Pontiac Silverdome witnessed an absolute five-star masterpiece, in which Ricky defeated Randy to win the Intercontinental Title in one of the most unforgettable triumphs in history.

Ricky Steamboat was now poised for a lengthy, glorious run with the championship, especially after return matches with Savage and bouts with Butch Reed. Alas, Steamboat only held the IC Title for 65 days. In reality, Ricky had requested time off to be with his wife and newborn son (which was fair enough!), and WWF granted the request but made him drop the belt to the Honky Tonk Man, and punished Steamboat by pushing him right down the card upon his return (how bitter of management…).

Although the Dragon’s Intercontinental Title reign may have been cut short, the epic victory alone cements Ricky Steamboat’s place as one of the greatest to have ever held this championship. 35 years on, people STILL talk about Savage/Steamboat!

8. Pat Patterson

IMG credit: Pro Wrestling Illustrated & Wrestling Observer Newsletter

In a piece on WWE Confidential from 2002, Gerald Brisco said, “There couldn’t have been a better selection for the first Intercontinental Champion than Pat Patterson. Pat set the standard for what an Intercontinental Champion should be”. And Brisco was right! Patterson will always be remembered for being the 1st-ever IC Title holder, and also for being one of Vince McMahon’s brilliant stooges during the Attitude Era. But in his prime, Pat was a tremendous brawler and an excellent mat-wrestler.

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When Patterson became the first-ever IC Champ in 1979, he brought the title into the next decade and held it for an almighty 232 days. All the while establishing the workhorse-aspect/prestige of the belt by showcasing why wrestlers should strive to win it. Naturally, Patterson was also part of the first-major storyline surrounding the Intercontinental Title, when his manager the Grand Wizard attempted to sell his contract to Captain Lou Albano. Pat turned face during the angle when he insulted Albano and was subsequently attacked by the Wild Samoans. Patterson lost the championship to Ken Patera on 21.04.1980 (even though Pat had his foot on the ropes! Typical!). Although the late, great Hall of Famer’s work as Intercontinental Champion may have been surpassed by his successors, it was indeed Pat Patterson who made the belt mean so much in the first place.

7. Greg Valentine

One of the toughest grapplers in both the NWA and the WWF, The Hammer was also a notorious heel who achieved great success as the Intercontinental Champion. His sole reign with the title (lasting a tremendous 285 days) is another singular run that stands above most multiple reigns in the championship’s lineage.

With the “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart as his manager, Valentine decimated Tito Santana’s knee to claim the IC Title on 24.09.1984. He was the first competitor in history to defend the championship at WrestleMania, pinning the Junkyard Dog with his feet on the ropes! Tito protested Greg’s cheating, and when the ref restarted the match, Greg walked out of Madison Square Garden with the championship, losing via count-out! That naughty Valentine…!

Tito eventually recovered from his injury and fiercely feuded with the Hammer in many matches for the Intercontinental Championship. After several long months, Valentine was FINALLY defeated for the belt in a historic cage match by Santana on 06.07.1985. Furious over the loss, the Hammer smashed the championship belt to pieces against the steel cage, which led to the creation of the classic Intercontinental Title Belt we all know and love. Greg Valentine is another Hall of Famer who made this championship mean so much.

6. Tito Santana

One of the stars of the Rock ’N’ Wrestling era, Tito Santana was a hugely popular mid-carder (even appearing in Hulk Hogan’s Rock ’n’ Wrestling cartoon!). He was also a super workhorse, and after a lengthy feud with the Magnificent Don Muraco for the Intercontinental Championship, Tito eventually won the belt to thunderous approval from the fans. He also became the first-ever Mexican-American to hold the IC Title.

Santana’s first reign lasted an almighty 226 days! Retaining the belt against Muraco in further rematches solidified Tito’s standing, and then came his personal rivalry with Greg Valentine, who he lost the belt to as well as being shelved. After several more months of pursuing his foe, Tito regained the title to even more acclaim in a brutal cage match. After Valentine destroyed the championship belt out of spite, Tito introduced the legendary modern-day design for the Intercontinental Title, and the rest was history. Santana’s second reign was another amazing run, lasting 217 days with his combined number of days as IC Champ totalling 441 days! Tito’s glorious run came to the perfect end in 1986 at the hands of Randy Savage in Boston Garden. One of the reasons why Tito Santana is in the Hall of Fame is because of everything he did for the Intercontinental Championship…and vice versa.

5. The Ultimate Warrior

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The Ultimate Warrior wasted NO TIME in answering the Honky Tonk Man’s open challenge at the first-ever SummerSlam in 1988! In TWENTY-SEVEN SECONDS, the Warrior OBLITERATED the single-longest-reigning IC Champion to capture the title! At a raucous Madison Square Garden!

Following that unforgettable & explosive start, Warrior absolutely dominated those who stood before him. One of the most popular superstars of all-time, possessing superhuman power, strength, fury & intensity that few wrestlers have been able to match, Jim Hellwig’s first reign as Intercontinental Champion lasted an almighty 216 days. No one could effectively challenge the Warrior until Ravishing Rick Rude came along and became the first wrestler to actually pin him at WrestleMania 5!

Ultimate Warrior’s great feud with Rick Rude saw him improve even more as wrestler, and he regained the Intercontinental Title for a second time in a classic match at SummerSlam 1989! The Warrior continued to retain his title in rematches against Rude, squashed legions of jobbers, and even dominated Andre the Giant in a feud over the title! Warrior’s second reign took him all the way to the 90s and WrestleMania 6 (as we know!), where he went on to CLEANLY DEFEAT the Immortal Hulk Hogan! Thus becoming the first and only man to simultaneously hold the WWF World and Intercontinental Championships.

Two-reigns, a combined total of 434 days as IC Champ, vacating the championship after winning the WWF Championship? Yep, Jim Hellwig was indeed the ULTIMATE Intercontinental Champion!

4. Don Muraco

IMG credit: AWrestlingHistorian – Twitter

Making his WWF Debut in February 1981, this truly Magnificent wrestler wasted no time in making a name for himself. Four months later, Don Muraco aligned himself with the heelish Grand Wizard and beat none-other-than the legendary Pedro Morales himself to win his first Intercontinental Championship! Don and Pedro fought a long-and-bloody feud over the gold with Morales regaining the IC Title in a Texas Death Match on 23.11.1981; ending Muraco’s reign after an impressive 155 days.

Muraco left WWF for the NWA in 1982 but returned in Autumn 1982 with Captain Lou Albano now his manager, a mission to regain the IC Title and vengeance against Pedro Morales. On 22.01.1983, the Magnificent Muraco regained the Intercontinental Championship from Morales, and then embarked on a STAGGERING 384 day reign as champ! Murraco’s two reigns were not only long & successful, they were also brutal and bloody. Don engaged in violent wars with the likes of Bob Backlund, Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson, with the greatest moment being Muraco’s legendary cage match against Superfly Jimmy Snuka, which saw Don retain the title, only to receive a Superfly Splash from top of the cage! This brutal, despicable heel was finally defeated for the IC Title by Tito Santana on 11.02.1984, and although he would never regain the championship, Don Muraco reigned for a combined total of 539 DAYS as Intercontinental Champion throughout his two-reigns. Another proud Hall-of-Famer who gave his blood, sweat & tears to make the title what it is.

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3. Pedro Morales

One of the most popular wrestlers of all time, this Latino star made so much history throughout his career. Having already been one of the longest-reigning and most successful WWF Champions ever, Pedro Morales won his first Intercontinental Title on 08.12.1980 and thus became the FIRST-EVER Triple Crown Winner in WWF History.

After defeating Ken Patera for the IC Title, Morales elevated the belt even further with his victories over Larry Zbyszko, Stan Hansen, Sgt. Slaughter, and Killer Kahn. His feud with Don Muraco (as mentioned previously) was bloody, brutal & legendary, and saw the championship switch between the two fierce rivals. Pedro became the first-ever TWO-TIME IC Champion after beating Muraco in the Texas Death Match, then reigned for an INCREDIBLE 424 DAYS! Morales continued to reign supreme as the Intercontinental Champion in rematches against the Magnificent Muraco (and other opponents), as well as enjoying a VERY heated-rivalry with Greg Valentine. Alas, despite being one of the most successful and revered wrestlers to have ever held the title, Pedro Morales’ time ran out in January 1983 when he lost the title again to his arch-rival Don Muraco. Pedro Morales reigned for a combined total of 617 days as Intercontinental Champion. It’s a record that may never be broken. Made by a true legend who will not only live on forever in the Hall of Fame, but in the hearts of fans. Pedro Morales wasn’t JUST one of the greatest WWF Champions of all time. He was easily one of the greatest Intercontinental Champs who ever lived as well.

2. The Honky Tonk Man

IMG credit: WWE & 80’s Wrestling – Twitter

When the Honky Tonk Man proclaims himself the GREATEST Intercontinental Champion of ALL TIME…he has a MAJOR CLAIM that NO-ONE can match. His one-and-only reign with the IC Title lasted an INCREDIBLE 454 DAYS! The single-longest reign! It’s a record that may never, ever be broken!

Honky’s reign got off to a shocking start when he actually upset Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat to win the championship, and then he proceeded to royally p*ss off wrestling fans by retaining his title via disqualification and count-out losses to keep the belt (with plenty of help from Jimmy Hart and Peggy Sue!). Steamboat, Billy Jack Haynes, George “The Animal” Steele, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake…even Bruno Sammartino couldn’t take the IC Title from the Honky Tonk Man! Continuing to proclaim himself the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time, Honky Tonk lambasted all previous champions, especially Randy Savage, who turned-face and feuded furiously with the Elvis-impersonator over the belt.

After one year, two months and twenty-seven days…the Honky Tonk Man’s time finally ran out at SummerSlam 1988, where (as mentioned previously) the Ultimate Warrior CRUSHED HIM IN 27 SECONDS for the championship, and the fans REJOICED! Cool, cocky, bad…and ultimately successful! The Honky Tonk Man maybe the unlikeliest Intercontinental Champion of all time…but he’s also easily one of the Top 10 wrestlers to EVER hold it.

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1. Randy Savage

What can we say about Randy Savage that hasn’t been said before? A first-rate wrestler, performer, character, superstar and talker, the Macho Man is also regarded by many as the DEFINITIVE Intercontinental Champion. And with the wonderful Miss Elizabeth by his side, Randy Savage’s legacy with-or-without the IC Championship lives on forever.

When Savage won his one-and-only Intercontinental Title, what followed was a MAMMOTH 414 DAY reign of PURE Macho Greatness! Upon defeating Tito Santana in the Boston Garden on 08.02.1986, Randy Savage truly defined everything an Intercontinental Titleholder SHOULD BE; an untouchable artist in the ring, proudly proclaiming the IC Belt as the SINGLE-BIGGEST-PRIZE in all of wrestling, and embarking on first-class title defences. The Macho-Man fought valiantly, tooth & nail or hook & crook, to retain the belt in rivalries with George “The Animal” Steele AND Bruno Sammartino! Randy even defeated then-WWF Champion Hulk Hogan whilst Intercontinental Champion (albeit via count-out)!

And then of course, there were his interviews. Savage’s promos were always funny, hypnotic, far-out and utterly brilliant, but talking-the-talk AS WELL AS walking-the-walk truly cemented the Macho Man as one of the greatest EVER to hold the IC Title. When Savage finally lost the championship to Ricky Steamboat in the timeless-masterpiece at WrestleMania 3, he was now PRIMED & READY for the Big One. And a year-later at WrestleMania 4, Randy Savage became the first-Intercontinental Champion to go on to become WWF World Champion.

Macho Man Randy Savage’s Intercontinental Title reign was simply one for the ages, and as unforgettable as the rest of his career/legacy. Both he and Miss Elizabeth will forever be missed and loved. OOOOOHHHH, YEEEAAAHHHH!!!

So…what do YOU think of this list? Agree with the rankings? Who were YOUR favourite Intercontinental Champions of the 1980s?

Next time, we’ll be ranking the Top 10 Intercontinental Champions of ALL-TIME! Then we’ll conclude the series with a list of the Greatest Intercontinental Title Matches of All Time!

See you again soon!

MrDCWood

Written by:

mrdcwood

The Top 10 Best WWE Saudi Arabia Matches

Hello everyone my name is Tanner and welcome to SmarkDown’s Top 10 BEST WWE Saudi Arabia Matches….let’s do this!

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10. Mansoor vs Mustafa Ali (WWE Crown Jewel 2021)

Perhaps a controversial pick given the way they made Ali look like a complete joke by not only having him lose, but get beat up by some karate dude. This match however is honestly pretty good for what it was. Mansoor and Ali have some pretty good chemistry and showed that if they were given better booking and more time they could have a great match. But this was at a time when Vince-ism was truly at its peak. They made do with what they had and gave us a good match overall. ***

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09. Cedric Alexander(c) vs Kalisto | WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match (WWE Greatest Royal Rumble)

The Cruiserweight Championship was starting to take a resurgence after Enzo’s exit back in January of 2018. These two were given the opportunity to shine without any BS getting in their way and were able to create a pretty good match. One thing that doesn’t make this great is the rather unengaging crowd that lessens the viewer at homes engagement. But I still think this is good and they obviously deserved to run it back again. ***

The New Day(c) vs The Miz and John Morrison | Smackdown Tag Team Championships Match (WWE Super ShowDown 2020)

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Miz & Morrison, creators of the dirt sheet, and former Tag Team Champs in their own right challenge The New Day in the only good thing to come out of this god awful ppv. You love to see it! Jokes aside, this match was surprisingly pretty good and well received by a crowd you’d expect to only react to Legends. Miz is a legend?? I don’t know… Everyone performed pretty good here and I’m glad this show had some sort of substance holding the hot garbage of awfulness together. ***

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07. Xavier Woods vs Finn Balor | King Of The Ring Tournament Final (WWE Crown Jewel 2021)

This was objectively the best pairing for the tournament final as Balor was off a failed Universal Title chase and Xavier Woods was going to do anything to become King Woods and bestow honor to all three members of The New Day. I didn’t care who won this as long as they had a good match and they did! Even with its short length clocking in at 9:37, these two still gave us a very good match while it lasted with both men given time to shine before Woods was able to upset Balor and win the tournament to become KING WOODS! ALL HAIL! ***

06. Roman Reigns(c) vs Brock Lesnar | WWE Universal Championship Match (WWE Crown Jewel 2021)

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After Brock Lesnar returned to WWE at SummerSlam for the first time in sixteen months, the match was clearly set. Roman Reigns. Brock Lesnar. Their like seventh match. Who cares? It’ll be good right? It was! Roman and Brock were given around 12 minutes to essentially beat the hell out of each other. Roman did his signature dive for the first time who knows how long. Brock caught Roman with quick counters that really displayed his scary speed when given an objective. These two had their best match since WrestleMania 31, but the two downsides are obviously the time shortage and the rather generic finish with The Usos once again helping Roman win which is just ancient at this point. Despite the criticisms, this was good for what it was. ***

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05. Bianca Belair vs Alexa Bliss vs Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan vs Nikki ASH vs Doudrop | Elimination Chamber Match For Raw Women’s Championship Opportunity (WWE Elimination Chamber 2022)

This may be a surprise from some of you readers, but yes…I really like this match. These six were put in a position where they had to dress up in really dumb looking gear, though they didn’t look bad, and were also given not even 20 minutes to have this match. With those set backs they still gave us a very good chamber match that flowed very nicely and gave us a feel good moment with Bianca getting her rematch against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania. Again, really good match here. ***1/4

04. Team Hogan (Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Chad Gable, and Ali) vs Team Flair (Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Shinsuke Nakamura, and King Corbin) | Ten Man Tag Team Match (WWE Crown Jewel 2019)

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In the build up to Crown Jewel 2019, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were having sort of a dispute which resulted in the both of them assembling teams to compete against each other to settle this dispute. The build is pretty fun with the heels specifically building themselves as real threats against Roman Reigns, Rusev, and three midgets. The match at Crown Jewel is very fun and chaotic with guys getting thrown around everywhere before an epic showdown with Roman and Orton almost resulted in a Team Flair win. Roman was able to Roman though and win for his team. Very good match. ***1/4

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03. Cesaro vs Mansoor (WWE Crown Jewel 2019)

When it comes to the Saudi Arabia shows, WWE seemed to strike a “gold mine” in Mansoor who basically represented the country in bouts against the mid card heels on WWE’s main roster. This was the first singles match he had in Saudi Arabia after surprise winning a 51 Man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown. This was his opportunity to shine as a singles competitor and he had Cesaro to help him out. This match is a very good spotfest, but also very physical on Cesaro’s side who seemed to want to beat the hell out of Mansoor while he played the underdog. Mansoor’s counters were cool and the eventual win was pretty feel-good despite Cesaro taking the pin. A step in the right direction and a rare gem in Saudi Arabia. ***1/4

02. Edge vs Seth Rollins | Hell In A Cell Match (WWE Crown Jewel 2021)

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Now I know what you’re saying… how is this not number 1? Well here me out…because it is number 2 anyway so it HAS to be good right? Right. This was the culmination of a chaotic, heartbreaking, and exciting feud between Edge and Rollins. No better way to celebrate the ending then by putting these two inside hell in a cell! Now this was probably the weakest match in their series for me personally, but that’s not saying it wasn’t pretty good anyway. Some pretty epic spots and a feel good ending for Edge who finally slayed the beast slayer. A good ending to a great feud. ***1/4

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01. Big E(c) vs Drew McIntyre | WWE Championship Match (WWE Crown Jewel 2021)

A surprise pick for some, this is what I believe to be the best match in the Saudi Arabia PPV series. This was a very unexpected sprint between these two with a large crowd reaction behind them. This was aggressive and intense as babyface and heel were thrown out the window and all that mattered was pure wrestling. The drama of McIntyre potentially putting a short end to Big E’s reign was imminent, but E pulled through and beat McIntyre in a little passing the torch moment. Great match here. Definitely Big E’s best. Maybe even Drew’s as well.. ***3/4

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What are your picks for the best matches in Saudi Arabia? Do you agree or disagree with my takes? Comment down below! Want to see more from SmarkDown’s Blog? SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

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wrestlingwithviper

WWF RAW March 1 1993 Review (WWF Title Is On The Line)

March 1^st, 1993
Location: Manhattan, New York, USA (Manhattan Center)
Announced attendance: ca 1 000 (capacity: ca 1 000)
TV rating: 2.9 (USA Network) [down 0.1 from the previous RAW’s 3.0]

Greetings everyone. Welcome to another RAW review. This week, Bret Hart puts the WWF Championship on the line against The Headshrinkers’ Fatu. Plus, Money Inc respond to Hulk Hogan’s challenge last week.

Here is the list of WWF champions heading into this RAW:

WWF Champion: Bret Hart [140^th day of his reign] – previous champion: Ric Flair
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [125^th day of his reign] – previous champion: The British Bulldog
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [139^th day of their reign] – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)

Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined

Enjoy the review!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Rob Bartlett

No intro this week. Instead, we go straight to the first match.

I’ll choose to ignore Bartlett’s “hilarious” Elvis Presley impersonation and not give him any attention at all from here. I can’t wait for him to be gone.

WWF Championship – Bret Hart vs. Fatu (w/ Afa)

Fatu no-sells a shoulderblock to start and powerslams Bret, but misses an elbowdrop and Bret armdrags him and goes to an armbar. Fatu escapes the hold and charges, but misses as his arm hits the turnbuckle. That allows Bret to go back to the armbar, which Fatu escapes with a handful of hair. Shoulderblock by Bret does nothing, but a third one finally knocks the big man down. Bret plays possum by faking a trip on Fatu on a criss-cross sequence, allowing him to nearly steal it with a small package. Vince said Afa tripped Bret, totally missing the point of the spot and ruining it. AFA WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RING!!! Armbar by Bret. Fatu tries to block it with a powerslam, but Bret holds on to the arm and rolls through while the armdrag is still locked in! Fatu misses a clothesline, Bret blocks a telegraphed backdrop with a faceplant on Fatu, who pops right back up with a superkick for a nearfall. That was awesome! Rule #1 in wrestling: never go after a Samoan’s head. That’s just science, Bret! Bret blocks a hiptoss into one of his own, but Fatu also blocks Bret’s and nails a clothesline for two. Fatu goes to the HIGHLY UNCOMFORTABLE SAMOAN NERVE HOLD OF DEATH before hitting a back elbow smash for two. Fatu’s partner Samu walks down to ringside just as Bret gets a crossbody for two. The kickout sends Bret into the outside, though, where he’s met with a powerslam on the floor by Samu as we take a break.

Commercial break

Fatu hammers away on Bret back inside the ring when we return. Fatu whips Bret into the buckle, with Bret obviously taking his classic corner bump. Fatu follows it up with a backbreaker for two. Bret gets another trip into the turnbuckle, and Fatu comes down with a series of headbutts for two. Sitout piledriver by Fatu gets a close nearfall. Bret gets a busted nose, so Fatu goes ahead and bites it… ugh! Bret takes a third bump in the turnbuckle, this one chest-first as the whole ring shakes. Fatu gets two from that. Sideslam by Fatu sets up a flying headbutt for two. However, Fatu decides to go up for another one instead of covering, giving Bret enough time to get back to his feet and crotch Fatu on the top rope. Superplex by Hitman gets a very close two count. Running bulldog for two more. Backbreaker into the middle rope elbowdrop set up the Sharpshooter, but Afa gets up on the apron to distract the referee, allowing Samu to break the hold and trade places with Fatu. SAMOAN TWIN MAGIC BY GAWD! Samu gets two before Fatu comes back in the match, but Bret rams Fatu into Samu and takes care of Afa as well with a dropkick that knocks him off the apron. That finally leaves Bret alone in the ring with Fatu. Russian legsweep by Bret, who goes back to the Sharpshooter for the submission win at 15:30 to retain the title and guarantee his spot as defending champion at WrestleMania.

Rating: Pretty good for the first ever World Title match in RAW history. Despite the funny gimmicks over the years, Fatu (Rikishi) is certainly able to have a good match, and a highly motivated Bret Hart is more than the right opponent to give him one. Fatu looked vicious during the heat spot with Bret selling his stuff really well, the action was good and the ending was exciting. This was a pretty fun TV match. ***1/4

WM 9 was nearly main evented by a family clash for the World title. Bret Hart screwed the Anoa’is! Someone better not tell Roman Reigns!

WrestleMania IX Report w/ Mean Gene

Money Inc vs. The Mega Maniacs for the tag team titles is officially added to the WrestleMania card.
There are still tickets available!
A rundown of the announced matches so far:
- The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez
- Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka for the IC Title
- Mr. Perfect vs. Lex Luger
- Main event: Bret vs Yokozuna for the WWF Title
Mean Gene digs Randy Savage’s attire tonight!

Meanwhile, Crush gives us a preview of what he’ll do to Doink at WrestleMania… by crushing a coconut on the beach. Isn’t wrestling clever sometimes!?

Doink the Clown vs. Koko B. Ware

High Energy is no more, so it’s back to jobber purgatory for poor Koko. He’d be gone after this match, in fact. Doink jumps Koko during his entrance and goes after the leg to start. Single leg crab into an STF by Doink, who proceeds to punish the leg some more. Swinging neckbreaker sets up the Stump Puller at 1:48.

Rating: Not every day that you see a minute-long squash with actual psychology. *

After the match, “Elvis” joins Doink at ringside for an interview, but he wants some food first. He ends up getting a pie thrown in his face for his troubles.

Money Inc. interview

Vince McMahon is in the ring for a chat with the champs. Firstly, DiBiase can’t believe his good friend James Robinson (former American Express CEO) will only be making 10M$ a year in his retirement. That number ALREADY INCLUDES BONUSES too!! What kind of injustice is this. Anyway, DiBiase couldn’t help but get touched by Hulk Hogan’s return last week. Hogan and Beefcake took Jimmy Hart from Money Inc. because they know they’re soft since they’ve both been inactive for a long time during the last couple of years, and they need an edge. They actually did Money Inc. a favor, though, as Jimmy did nothing but what he got told to do. Plus, he was overpaid! Sheesh, good riddance! IRS claims all he did with the briefcase to Beefcake was give him a wake-up call; and if they did it to Brutus, what will stop them from doing it to Hulk? IRS shows off a picture of Hogan on the “BEEFCASE”. His words! Vince wants to know if they’ll put the belts on the line, and DiBiase agrees to do so at WrestleMania. IRS closes by announcing the odds in Las Vegas are against the Mega Maniacs.

The Narcissist Lex Luger vs. PJ Walker

But first, Luger with some posing by the mirror outside the ring. PJ Walker is the future Justin Credible. Luger whips Walker from one corner to another and hits a backbreaker. Meanwhile, Bobby Heenan joins us on commentary via phone call to join in on the “comedy” with Bartlett. How about cutting this crap and simply putting Heenan on commentary? Anyway, Luger powerslams Walker onto the turnbuckle and adds some flexing, before finishing Walker with the FOREARM SMASH OF MYSTERIOUS DOOM at 3:16.

Rating: Not much into this one. There was little action in the ring and the commentary was beyond atrocious. 1/4*

Luger humiliates Walker afterwards and flexes in front of the mirror.

Main Event

The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Duane Gill & Barry Hardy

IMG credit: WWE & prowrestling.fandom.com

Vince lets us know that the Steiners will face the Headshrinkers at WrestleMania. Scott takes control over Hardy early on and hits an overhead suplex. Rick dumps Hardy with a clothesline, and Scott gently puts him back inside. Rick powerslams him into the buckle and destroys poor Gillberg with a backdrop into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Rick drops an elbow and brings in Scott for a pumphandle slam. A dropkick gets rid of Gill, as then Scott hits the tiger diver into the Frankensteiner to finish Barry at 4:06.

Rating: Your usual energetic Steiners squash. 3/4*

A WWF Mania ad airs. Don’t forget… it’s 100% caffeine free!

Next week: Money Inc. vs. Tito & Virgil and Perfect vs. Martel.

We close the episode with no mention of the ending of the Undertaker/Skinner match from last week. Maybe Undertaker will come out of retirement to take care of this unfinished business. Saudi prince, if you’re reading… there’s your next headliner!

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: The WWF title match is by far the highlight of this episode, unsurprisingly. Outside of that, the squashes weren’t bad, with Luger’s being the weaker one due to all the Elvis Presley bullsh!t on commentary. Money Inc.’s promo wasn’t bad, but it was basically only confirming the inevitable tag title match at WM. When it comes to actual build-up towards WrestleMania, this did nothing of note to build to that show. Needless to say, Rob Bartlett made this episode unbearable at times with his godawful Elvis impersonation that lasted THE ENTIRE SHOW. Overall, this RAW was fine in and of itself, but had zero build towards the upcoming WM 9, which is only their biggest event of the year. Give the title match a watch, though. 5/10

POINT SYSTEM

Find out more about the point system here

That’s all for this week’s episode. See you next time, everyone!

Do you enjoy the content we put out here on SmarKDown? If so and you would like to support us, please consider donating as it would help us improve. You can donate yearly, monthly or just once, choosing one of the amounts below or a custom one as you wish. All donations are appreciated!

Written by:

Tomás Cunha

Top 10 Best WrestleMania Matches Of The 1980s

While WrestleMania in the 1980s didn’t exactly feature a ton of qualitative, bell-to-bell wrestling matches (or events, for that matter), it was home to countless iconic moments and encounters that stood the test of time, and most of them are still remembered even to this very day.

In a side project to my WrestleMania lookback series, I will pick the ten best ’Mania bouts from each decade and rank them in a subjective top ten list. Since we are going chronologically, this mini-series will begin with the 1980s, as it is the first decade to feature a WrestleMania event. Without further ado, let’s get to the countdown!

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10) Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant (WrestleMania III)

This wasn’t initially going to be on my list, but I simply can’t make a 1980s WrestleMania ranking without including THIS. I literally lost count of how many times I’ve watched this. The massive staredown at the start is still enough to give me goosebumps. Hogan failed to slam Andre early on, and that ultimately became the bout’s main story. Can the Hulkster slam the Giant? Andre smartly went to work on Hogan’s back off that, and Hogan sold all of it like a champ (no pun intended). They optimized everything to maximum efficiency, milking every single spot available to prevent Andre from running out of gas.

Everyone talked about the famous slam heard ’round the world, but the moment where Hogan was able to knock Andre off his feet for the first time via a clothesline is equally breathtaking. Hogan finally slammed the Giant to a gargantuan reaction, then dropped the big leg on him for an epoch-making victory. It’ll be hard to judge this without acknowledging the gigantic atmosphere, the terrific build-up, and the monumental financial success. This is arguably wrestling’s most popular match ever, and that will never change. This might only get a *** judging by silly pro-wrestling stars, but on a scale of 1 to 10, it deserves a 100.

9) The Rockers vs. The Twin Towers (WrestleMania V)

The former Midnight Rockers of the AWA faced the colossal duo of Twin Towers in this exciting tag team battle of power versus speed. The Rockers overwhelmed their much-larger opponents using innovative, fast-paced tandem offense. Bossman, Akeem, and Jannetty all looked great, but it was Shawn who stood out from the pack.

The Heartbreak Kid bumped all over the place like a pinball and took a helluva beating from the Towers, including a vicious lariat from Akeem that looked like it could’ve decapitated him! We got a badass finish, with Bossman catching the future HBK with a spinning powerbomb in mid-air, before an Akeem splash brought this one to an end.

8) Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff (WrestleMania I)

They stuffed shedloads of celebrities and stars to make this the biggest wrestling main event in history, and it absolutely worked for the period they were in. Hulk Hogan was at the height of his popularity yet, and the crowd went buck wild for him and his partner. Piper and Orndorff were in their element here, bumping their asses off and doing some excellent heel work, facials, and characterization to add to the bout. Mr. T had his vast lack of experiences well documented, as shown when he got trapped in the heel corner rather easily after tagging in.

After Hogan cleaned house with the final hot tag, all hell broke loose, resulting in Bob Orton hitting Orndorff with his cast by accident, thus giving Hogan’s team the victory. We got a tease of Orndorff’s face turn afterward, as he woke up only to find himself left alone in the ring. The post-match stuff worked, as it signaled Orndorff’s babyface run and didn’t take away from Hogan & T.

7) Ricky Steamboat vs. Greg Valentine (WrestleMania IV)

Steamboat’s last hurrah in his first WWF run saw him battling Valentine in a technical-hard-hitting, Mid-Atlantic-style contest. Valentine held serve for most of this, with Ricky doing a masterful selling for his attacks as expected. Seeing these two traded chops on each other urged me to check out some of their other matches.

Valentine taking his trademark bumps for Steamboat’s chops might be cartoonish, but I’d be lying to say I wasn’t entertained by it. Valentine got the win by rolling through Steamboat’s crossbody into a pin full of tights, but this was a good sendoff for the Dragon all the same.

6) The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana vs. The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis (WrestleMania III)

Dynamite Kid’s unfortunate injury put him as the face-in-peril of the match. He was worked over by the Harts, who used tag team wrestling 101 to isolate him. Danny Davis finally tagged in, and he soaked in all the boos like a true dickhead, only to then hit Kid with one wussy stomp before tagging out. This eventually blew up in his face when he tagged in again, as the Harts unknowingly slingshotted him onto Kid’s knees!

Tito soon got the hot tag, and he was a literal house of fire! Davey Boy got his rightful revenge for his team by murdering Danny with the mother of all Tombstone. All kinds of pandemonium broke loose in the final minutes, and Davis clocked Smith with Jimmy’s megaphone to pick up the win for his team. An underrated WrestleMania gem that never gets enough love from the fandom.

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5) Tito Santana & The Junkyard Dog vs. The Funks (WrestleMania II)

IMG credit: WWE & Classic Wrestling Review

This is one of the many examples of why Terry Funk is the GOAT of wrestling. He took several hellacious bumps in this one, and his brilliant selling along with pitch-perfect mannerisms brought this to a positive light. Dory, on the other hand, didn’t do as much, but I thought he did fine as a secondary hand to his brother.

Tito brought tons of fire as expected, and he showed exactly that in his opening shine. JYD was mainly here to be the hot tag guy, so he didn’t stink up the joint. Melee ensued in the final minutes, and Terry used Jimmy Hart’s megaphone to knock JYD out while the ref wasn’t looking for the pin. A very good tag match that played well to the formula and featured an MVP performance from the legendary Terry Funk.

4) The Dream Team vs. The British Bulldogs (WrestleMania II)

An ultra WWF 1980s workrate match with off-the-chart physicality. This had no hot tag or face-in-peril segment, so it felt like an exhibition contest for the most part. Every move executed here had an extra snap, giving it a more impactful feel.

The Bulldogs exploded with hard-hitting, energetic offenses, while Valentine used his methodical approach to slow them down. Beefcake was only here to provide a brief interference for his teammate and hit a few moves here and there, so he didn’t harm the match in any way. The finish was wild, with DBS cracking Valentine’s head into Dynamite, sending him to the floor for a crazy bump before Smith pinned the Hammer to give us new tag team champions.

3) Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis (WrestleMania III)

This might not be Piper’s “retirement” match, but it’s his last one as a full-timer, and the crowd was stoked to see him win nonetheless. Adonis is such an underrated bumping machine. He bumped around like a ragdoll for Piper and fed all his shine like crazy! Piper was no slouch here either, throwing wild punches and selling the possibility of him losing in the most believable way possible.

Adrian put the Goodnight Irene on Piper, but he released the hold early, thinking he’d already won. This set up a run-in from Brutus Beefcake, who revived Piper, allowing the Hot Rod to put Adonis away with a sleeper for the happy ending. An entertainingly heated brawl for the hero to go out. The Beefcake face turn was also brilliantly done if you’ve been following the TV leading up to this (if not, the previous match could still shed some light on you).

2) Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania V)

This has tons of backstories behind it, arguably dating back to late 1987 when the Mega Powers initially united. Miss Elizabeth was in a neutral corner, and Jesse Ventura hilariously accused her of being a gold digger as she walked down the aisle. I consider this one of my top Hulk Hogan bouts ever, but truth be told, his opponent was actually the one who did most of the heavy lifting. Savage turned in an amazing heel performance, cheating like a maniac and riling up the crowd with his shady antics. Macho using Liz as a human shield was a genius heel move that you can’t help but smile at.

Hogan received colors after getting kicked square in the forehead, and Savage was just a crazed man targeting that cut. Elizabeth finally got ejected from ringside after her troublesome appearance nearly caused a brawl that could’ve halted the whole match. Savage continued his onslaught by jamming away at Hogan’s throat in a brutal fashion. He went up top and landed the Macho elbow, but Hogan immediately hulked up, landed the boot, and dropped the big leg for the win. This was a marquee bout between two of the biggest stars in wrestling, with spectacular build-up and off-the-chart heat.

1) Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (WrestleMania III)

This still aged well like a fine wine. They worked at a lightning-quick pace here, popping the crowd with a series of spectacular false finishes and fast-paced sequences. Savage was an awesome prick through and through, going after the Dragon’s previously injured larynx like the true Macho Man he is. I particularly loved the spot where he dumped Steamer after the latter skinned the cat back in. Steamboat, in return, was fantastic in his selling and comeback, garnering immense sympathy and showing magnificent fire in his attacks, be it chops, arm-drags, dropkicks, you name it.

It all came down to the ring bell in the end, but just when Savage was about to use it, George Steele pushed him off the top rope, allowing Steamboat to reverse a slam into a small package for the win and the title. I don’t mind the finish, as it made perfect sense according to the storyline, and really, seeing the Dragon with that belt justified everything. My rating on this has changed throughout the years between ***** and ****¾, but it will certainly be a certified MOTYC anytime I visit 1987.

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And that will be all for today, folks. What did you think of the ranking? Did you agree with the majority of the list? Share your thoughts in the comment below!

Do you enjoy the content we put out here on SmarKDown? If so and you would like to support us, please consider donating as it would help us improve. You can donate yearly, monthly, or just once, choosing one of the amounts below or a custom one as you wish. All donations are appreciated!

Written by:

Runn

WWF RAW February 22 1993 Review (Hulk Hogan Returns)

February 22^nd, 1993
Location: Manhattan, New York, USA (Manhattan Center)
Announced attendance: ca 1 000 (capacity: ca 1 000)
TV rating: 3.0 (USA Network) [down 0.3 from the previous RAW’s 3.3]

Hello everyone. Welcome to another RAW review here on the blog. This week, Hulk Hogan makes his return to the WWF for the first time since WrestleMania 8. Elsewhere, Shawn Michaels and Tatanka go at it as apart of a six-man tag team match, while The Undertaker faces Skinner in the main event.

Here’s the list of WWF champions heading into this RAW:

WWF Champion: Bret Hart [133^rd day of his reign] – previous champion: Ric Flair
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [118^th day of his reign] – previous champion: The British Bulldog
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [132^nd day of their reign] – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)

Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined

Enjoy the review!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Rob Bartlett

Rob Bartlett opens the show with an ULTRA important message for the viewers: he just found out wrestling fans can spell. Well, that’s already a waste of 15 valuable seconds of air time.

RAW’s intro plays.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Scott Taylor

IMG credit: WWE & tapemachinesarerolling.tumblr.com

Baby Scotty 2 Hotty charges into a shoulderblock by Bam Bam, who was right there waiting for him. Bigelow gives him a second shoulderblock, this time putting actual force into it. Scotty gets a few shots in and tries to run wild, only to get caught with a huge clothesline. Scotty manages to avoid a delayed vertical suplex and goes for something, but Bigelow catches him on his shoulders easily and drops him (and I mean DROPS him!) with an electric chair drop. The fans seem to be impressed with Bigelow’s showing. A butterfly backbreaker sets up the flying headbutt. Bigelow goes up again instead of covering, though, and a second flying headbutt gets the job done at 3:00.

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Rating: Good squash. Bigelow looked awesome in this one. Let’s give some props to Scott Taylor, the future Scotty 2 Hotty later in the decade during the Attitude Era, who made Bam Bam look like quite the world beater. *

Vince McMahon interviews Hulk Hogan

Vince is sitting with Hogan in the very same studio where Hogan discussed his possible retirement at WrestleMania 8. McMahon says the fans want to know if Hogan will be back to wrestling in the WWF, and asks him what is the future of Hulkamania. Hogan claims his fans who continued to support him during his year-long absence have gone from being his friends to being his heroes. He admits he’s made mistakes in his life as a human being, before addressing the “dirt reporters of the 90s”. Thankfully though, the Hulkamaniacs are not all about that – they’re all about positive work ethics. Why are we going there?? Hogan continues: all the Hulkamaniacs know that the future lies in youth – in order to achieve that, Hulk Hogan wants to be the leader of the 90s. Not contradictory. Nope, not one iota! From now on, Hulk says it’s not just “do as I say”, it’s “do as I do”.

Also, there’s now a new 5th demandment: believe in Hulk Hogan! Quite the strategy after all that went down in the previous couple of years of his career. There’s more coming from Hogan live in the arena later on in the show.

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This was absolutely godawful with the intent to make Hogan look like the victim of the accusations made by the evil media reporters, obviously indirectly referencing the recent issues regarding the use of steroids. It was absolutely unnecessary and nobody was buying that crap, much like no one bought it on Arsenio Hall. They could and should have used this interview to do something else. Like, I don’t know, address Money Inc and build up the actual WrestleMania program we’re about to have? Just asking.

Shawn Michaels & The Beverly Brothers (Beau & Blake Beverly) vs. Tatanka & The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags)

Michaels comes out with his famous theme song here already, having debuted it on the night he lost to Tatanka on Superstars earlier that month. Speaking of Tatanka, he’s wasting no time tonight as he sprints to the ring and cleans house alongside the Nasty Boys. Knobbs with a faceplant on Blake as the action is properly underway. The Nasty Boys give both Beverlys a double Pit Stop, while Tatanka comes in to take care of Michaels simultaneously. Knobbs beats up Blake some more, until he eventually brings in Shawn who takes over with a back elbow smash to Knobbs. The Beverlys cheat for a bit while Shawn hammers away on Knobbs in their corner. However, Knobbs avoids a backdrop attempt and turns it into a faceplant. He runs wild with a series of clotheslines before tagging in Tatanka. Shawn wants none of him and immediately tags out, so the faces take turns going to work on Beau’s arm. Sags with a shoulderbreaker, but Blake is there to break the pin. Tatanka chops away on all the heels over in their corner as things breakdown for a bit, but everyone ends up leaving the ring and Tatanka continues to work on Beau’s arm after a LOUD chop.

Commercial break

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The action returns with Knobbs taking it to Blake. However, Beau pushes the top rope on a blind charge and Knobbs gets dumped. Shawn sends him into the post on the outside before taking him back inside, where he slugs away. The Beverlys come in with their double-team jumping guillotine thing while Shawn has the ref distracted, who then gets two from it. Blake works a bearhug on Knobbs while the crowd chants for the Nastys. Off to Shawn who eats post on a missed blind charge, and he’s immediately out of there again. Beau prevents Knobbs from making the hot tag as the heels continue to cut the ring in half. Knobbs catches him with a kneelift, but he’s still far away from his partner, allowing Michaels to remain in control. They butt heads for a double collision, though, and Tatanka gets the hot tag. Tatanka finally gets his hands on Michaels and he runs wild on him. Powerslam by Tatanka, but the Beverlys immediately come in to break up the pin. Tatanka destroys both Beverlys in short order with a pair of chops WITH EXTRA MUSTARD. He resumes the comeback sequence on Michaels, coming off the top rope with a flying chop for a nearfall while the announcers sell their IC Title match coming up at WM 9. Tatanka seemingly finishes with the Not Samoan Drop, but the Beverlys stop the count again just before three. The Nastys come in to clean house. HBK tries to take advantage of the chaos and goes for the teardrop suplex, but Tatanka blocks and turns it into a sunset flip that gives him his second pinfall win over Shawn at 12:40.

Rating: A chaotic six-man tag match used to add some heat to the Michaels/Tatanka IC Title match heading into WrestleMania. It was designed to build up Tatanka’s hot tag sequence, which worked. Additionally, the crowd was into the Nasty Boys, which helped. Not a huge fan of Shawn eating two pins in two weeks, but what can you do. Overall, an entertaining little TV match. **1/2

They play a brief WrestleMania IX ad.

Sean Mooney is outside with the fans waiting for Hulk Hogan’s arrival.

PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS PAID FOR BY THE FOLLOWING! – IcoPro and WWF Figures (still featuring promos from WCW star British Bulldog and the already-retired Sgt. Slaughter).

Crush vs. Terrific Terry Taylor

Crush overpowers Taylor and takes over with a side headlock. Dropkick by Crush followed by a gorilla press slam, and Taylor stops to take a breather. Crush tries to bring him back inside by the hair, but that earns him a necksnap. Taylor works a chinlock back inside while Bartlett does a “hilarious” Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation. Swinging neckbreaker by Taylor, but Crush kicks out WITH AUTHORITY BY GAWD and he takes back control. Crush with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and the SQUEEZING CLAWHOLD OF DOOM ends Taylor at 3:46.

Rating: A perfectly acceptable squash. 1/2*

We recap Money Inc’s attack on Brutus Beefcake last week to set up Hulk Hogan’s return in the next segment.

Hulk Hogan returns!

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You see brother, last week the Hulkster was sitting in his beach house in Venice Beach watching Brutus Beefcake’s return on RAW. He was grinning from ear to ear as he saw Brutus outstrut and outwrestle Ted DiBiase. However, his smile turned to fear as soon as he saw IRS walking down the ramp. As Brutus’ face got crushed into a million peaces, dude, the noise was so loud he had to turn his head, brother. Thankfully, Beefcake is okay and, as far as Hogan is concerned, he looks more like a wrestler than he ever did. LOL, the irony! He thanks Jimmy Hart for preventing something worse from happening, which he never thought he’d say. Hogan follows it up by officially announcing his return to the ring, and asks Brutus Beefcake to join him in the ring. Brutus covers what happened last week in his usual over-the-top melodramatic way, before thanking Jimmy Hart as well. Hogan announces Jimmy is their new manager and asks him to join them too. Jimmy says he has managed a lot of teams over the years, but Hogan and Beefcake could very well be the greatest tag team of all time. Jimmy says he’s started taking his vitamins, and Money Inc should start saying their prayers. Hogan names the team the Mega Maniacs and finishes by throwing out the challenge.

This was a fine promo, aside from their inevitable exaggerations. It would’ve worked just as fine without the awful cheesy sitdown interview they aired earlier.

They air another ad for WM 9.

When we come back from the promotional video package, Hogan is still posing in the ring.

Main Event

The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Skinner

The match starts with… a Slim Jim ad. Well that’s different. We’re back with Skinner beating up Undertaker on the floor and… we’ve run out of time. They will show us the finish next week. See you next week too, Vince!

END OF THE SHOW

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Final thoughts: This week’s episode was all about Hulk Hogan’s return, and it certainly delivered when it came to his promo alongside Brutus Beefcake and Jimmy Hart, who officially turned face as the manager of the Mega Maniacs. Hogan’s sitdown interview earlier in the show was horrible, though, covering an unnecessary topic that certainly didn’t help him get any sympathy. The rest of the night were short squashes and the six-man tag match that was done to build up Shawn/Tatanka for the IC Title at WM 9. Overall, nothing you should go out of your way to see, but this was a perfectly watchable episode. The fact that it flies by, at just 45 minutes, obviously helps. 5/10

POINT SYSTEM

Find out more about the point system here.

That’s all for today’s post. Don’t miss any of the upcoming reviews from me or any of the other writers. Download our web-app available in a pop-up icon that should appear in your link bar. See you all next time!

Written by:

Tomás Cunha

WWF WrestleMania VI Review (Hulkster VS Warrior)

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to yet another chronological lookback at every WrestleMania. Today, we will be visiting a rather historic ‘Mania to say the least, as it is the first-ever of its kind to emanate from outside the United States – coming to you from Toronto, Canada!

In the main event, we will witness WWF World Champion, Hulk Hogan, defending his gold against his Intercontinental counterpart, the Ultimate Warrior, in a match dubbed “The Ultimate Challenge”. Also on the card, Mr. Perfect puts his perfect streak on the line against Brutus Beefcake, Jake Roberts challenges Ted DiBiase for the Million Dollar belt, the Macho King and his queen meet the American Dream and Sapphire in a mixed tag, and more! Let’s dive onto the show.

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Date: April 1st, 1990

Venue: SkyDome

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Attendance: 67.678

Your hosts for tonight: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura. I’m not gonna lie, their commentaries have been the highlights of this WrestleMania retrospective viewing so far.

We kicked things off with our obligatory national anthem performance, only this time it’s the Canadian rendering instead, since, you know, we’re in Canada, after all. Anyhow, it’s Robert Goulet who sang ‘O Canada’ for us all, starting the show on a pretty high note.

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Rick Martel vs. Koko B. Ware

This was essentially an extended squash for Martel, but that doesn’t mean they have to dog in their effort. The crowd erupted for all of Koko’s high-flying flurries, which begs the question whether his ceiling could’ve been higher or not. Martel did his schticks with flair and arrogance, comfortably fitting his new Model gimmick. Koko had himself a short and sweet comeback near the end before succumbing to the eventual defeat at 5:30 via Martel’s Boston crab. They did what they needed to and got out at the right time. The first-ever Canadian WrestleMania bout was an energetic one! [**]

WWF Tag Team Title: The Colossal Connection (c)[w/ Bobby Heenan] vs. Demolition

The Giant’s last hurrah in the WWF is far from good, but it’s one that holds a lot of significance, with a satisfying conclusion to close the book on one of wrestling’s most beloved attractions. Andre was strictly limited to getting involved only when necessary, practically making this a glorified handicap match. Haku was rock-solid in his role, working down Demolition and feeding their hot tag, even if it did make for a weird dynamic of a heel trying to overcome two faces. Andre finally came in at the last minute, but Haku accidentally kicked him in the mush, causing him to get tied up in the ropes. A Demolition Decapitation later, and Demolition successfully regained their tag titles at 9:15 to a monster pop. Andre then turned face for the first time in 3 years after the Brain attempted to teach him a lesson by slapping him in the face. That made for one hell of a post-match, with the crowd cheering like nuts for the Giant as he walloped the holy hell out of the heels before riding off into the sunset. [**]

Earthquake [w/ Jimmy Hart] vs. Hercules

This was done simply to establish Earthquake as a major threat to the WWF audience ahead of his huge program with Hulk Hogan over the summer. Hercules is quickly falling down the ranks at this point, but he proved to be a sufficient hand here as he made Earthquake look like a legit monster and sold for him accordingly. Quake gave Herc a couple of hope spots before the Earthquake splash inevitably brought things to an end at 4:52. A rough and ready semi-squash that exactly did what it had to do. [**]

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Mr. Perfect [w/ The Genius] vs. Brutus Beefcake

I know it isn’t saying much, but this could probably make a case for Bruti’s top five best singles matches. All the more proof of how great of a worker Mr. P was, managing to get something watchable out of this goofball in a 1V1 situation. Perfect bumped like a maniac to get Beefcake’s dreary offenses over. Hennig took over after the Genius handed him his scroll, and we got a short control segment where Perfect landed all his signature moves with precision. Perfect made the mistake of trash-talking the fallen Beefcake, and that resulted in him taking a slingshot to the turnbuckle that brought his undefeated streak to an end at 7:48. I don’t mind the idea of ending Mr. Perfect’s streak on the biggest show of the year, but that finish was so sh-t it’s hard to come up with any excuse to defend it. [**¼]

Roddy Piper vs. Bad News Brown

The WWE Network removed this from its version, which would save me the trouble of going through it again. But where’s the fun in that? It’s not WrestleMania in the SkyDome without this infamous cluster of a showdown!

Well… let’s just say I regret the decision of having to watch this again. This is of course the infamous Piper’s black paint match. I honestly have no idea why Piper thought this was such a good idea to begin with. First off, it’s visually off-putting and repugnant. And secondly, it featured racial overtones that are absolutely unneeded on a wrestling show like this. I’m a fan of both guys, but this was a complete and utter mess in the worst way possible. Piper used a white glove to slug Brown to the floor, triggering a ringside brawl that ultimately caused the bout to end in a spectacularly lame DQ at 6:48. Absolute retardness of a match and a big-time disappointment considering the build and the talents. That FU finish didn’t help either. [DUD]

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The Hart Foundation vs. The Bolsheviks

The Hart Foundation ambushed Nikolai and Boris when they were singing the Russian National Anthem. They then hit the Hart Attack at 0:19 for the fastest victory in WrestleMania history up to that point. Just like that, it was all over. [N/R]

The Barbarian [w/ Bobby Heenan] vs. Tito Santana

IMG credit: WWE & Tape Machines Are Rolling

Similar to the Earthquake match earlier in the show, this existed merely to build up a brand-new singles act for the company. You can always count on Tito to make a monster heel look like a world-beater, and it wasn’t too different here. Tito tried to use his speed to combat the larger opponent to little effect. He had his fair share of hope spots, including a flying forearm nearfall that Heenan stopped by placing the Barbarian’s foot on the rope. Barbarian expectedly won in 4:33 after a killer diving clothesline that turned Tito inside out. Fine enough for a 4 mins quickie. [*¾]

Mixed Tag Team: Randy Savage & Queen Sherri vs. Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire [w/ Miss Elizabeth]

Dusty introduced Miss Elizabeth as his and Sapphire’s manager before the match was about to get underway, much to the crowd’s appreciation and Savage’s dismay. They started this off with plenty of comedy spots that felt like they were ripped from those Saturday morning cartoons. All rules were thrown out the window when the men and women were allowed to stay in the ring simultaneously and put their hands on each other without the ref’s prevention. Sapphire, in particular, looked horrible here, and I feel bad for Sherri having to sell for her. Elizabeth interfered on her team’s behalf by pulling Sherri’s hair and allowing Sapphire to get the pin at 7:31, earning the loudest pop of the contest. The crowd clearly ate it all up, so I can’t fault it too much, but this unfortunately didn’t do it for me. A rare miss from two all-time greats here. [*½]

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The Rockers vs. The Orient Express [w/ Mr. Fuji]

This was just a taste of what these two teams are capable of when compared to the other match(es) they would have the following year. Several cool maneuvers were showcased here from both teams, with my personal standout being Tanaka’s vicious gutwrench gutbuster (or a ‘Stomach Breaker’ as Jesse called it). They slotted a double FIP segment into this sub-ten minutes tag bout until the Rockers predictably began their comeback. Just as the Rockers started to get things going their way, Mr. Fuji interfered by tapping Marty with the cane. This caused Jannetty to go after Fuji, got blasted with salt by Kato, tumbled over the railing, and counted out at 7:38. A decent undercard tag match with a poor finish. [**¾]

Dino Bravo [w/ Jimmy Hart & Earthquake] vs. Jim Duggan

Jim Duggan in the WWF and a late-stage Dino Bravo? It’s the worst of both worlds! I’m not sure what Duggan was thinking there, trying to start a “U-S-A” chant in Canada while he’s in there with an ACTUAL Canadian? No wonder so many modern fans loathe his character when watching back from now. Duggan intercepted a 2×4 shot from Bravo and used it on him behind the ref’s back at 4:15 for the pin. Post-match, Earthquake squashed Duggan (literally) with a trifecta of Quake splashes, deservedly so for winning so unfairly. [½*]

Million Dollar Title: Ted DiBiase (c) [w/ Virgil] vs. Jake Roberts

Jake Roberts cut one heck of a pre-match promo in the back, saying he’s gonna make DiBiase a ‘victim of his own greed’. They slugged it out to start before Roberts teased a couple of unsuccessful DDT attempts to set the tone for the matchup. Roberts and DiBiase are two seasoned veterans of the business, but the Toronto audience didn’t give them the desired reaction needed as they were too busy doing the wave. They seemed to be getting the crowd back once Roberts started firing up his comeback, but soon the contest came to a halt when Virgil’s intervention allowed DiBiase to knock Jake out for the count-out win at 11:53. Robert got his revenge afterward as he attacked both DiBiase and Virgil before handing out DiBiase’s money to the fans and stuffing a bill in his mouth. A solid match I enjoyed to a lesser degree, although the crowd reactions didn’t do them many favors. [**¼]

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Big Boss Man vs. Akeem [w/ Slick]

The Big Boss Man and Akeem collide as the Twin Towers implode! Forget the Ultimate Challenge, THIS is the real main event of WrestleMania 6. DiBiase blindsided Bossman as he made his entrance to set up a future rivalry. Akeem tried to go in for the kill, but that’s not gonna stop the Cobb County officer. Bossman made a quick comeback before finishing him off with the Bossman Slam at 1:50. You know, it’s pretty kind that these two were holding back so they couldn’t hog the spotlight off of Hogan and Warrior. [N/R]

Rhythm & Blues’ Hunka Hunka Honky Love Concert

The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, Jimmy Hart, and a pair of Honkettes (Honky’s ladies) performed their custom song: ‘Hunka Hunka Honky Love’. The concert finished with the Bushwhackers entering the ring as Rhythm & Blues left, and they then destroyed the remaining guitars in the ring. A total time-waster. I mean, what was even the point of all of this?

Rick Rude [w/ Bobby Heenan] vs. Jimmy Snuka

Rick Rude is being groomed as the next top heel for the WWF over the course of summer, and so the company decided to put him on the card so he could rack up a free televised win on PPV. 1990s Jimmy Snuka is used best in short bursts like this one. He was able to keep up with the Ravishing One well enough, and Rude’s bumping for him made sure the action was constantly moving. Snuka missed a Bret’s rope splash, allowing Rude to put him away via the Rude Awakening at 3:51. Rude looked like a mega-star here, and this was a fun little squash for him. [*¼]

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WWF Title / WWF Intercontinental Title, Winner Takes All: Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Ultimate Warrior (c)

When people defend Hulk Hogan as a worker, don’t try to use his ‘90s Japan matches as an example, but use this instead. Hogan carrying a blown-up Warrior to a spectacle that is still fondly remembered today is more impressive than him pulling a variety of flashy moves with no merits whatsoever.

This had a primitive and unsophisticated structure that was smartly laid out by the genius of Pat Patterson. They went through the 50/50 routine of two men meeting head-on, with the fans going berserk for every little thing they did, including a simple staredown (!!). Hogan buckled his knee when he got clotheslined to the floor. His short-term selling was excellent, but it never came to play after that, which I feel is a lost opportunity. My other qualm about this is the excessive reliance on rest holds, which managed to suck some energy out of the volcanic SkyDome faithful.

However, a counterargument could be made, as these two sure had the entire crowd eating out of their hand with all the late false finishes near the end! The finish was fantastic, as it instantly stuck in my mind since I first watched it a few years back. Warrior rolled out of Hogan’s leg drop and dropped an Ultimate Splash at 22:49 to win two of the WWF’s top titles, reaching the pinnacle of his career (and life) as well as earning a gigantic reception in the process. This was two comic book superheroes colliding on a grand stage brought to life. [***¾]

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Overall

This had the red-hot Toronto crowd and the unforgettable main event to make up for its excessive runtime. However, that doesn’t change the fact that this dragged horribly in most parts, nearly reaching the never-ending level of WM IV. As a total package, the show itself is not exceptionally bad, but it’s merely impossible to get through, especially with all the meaningless undercard matches cluttered throughout the PPV. Worst WrestleMania of all time? Not really, but pretty close to it.

Score: 3.5/10

That’s all folks! Hope you enjoy this review. It’s been rather fun (and interesting) to go through all these ‘Manias in chronological order to say the least. Stay tuned for what I believe is one of the BEST WrestleManias of the ’90s – The Seventh Heaven of the Show of Shows! Stay cool, and thank you for reading!

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Written by:

Runn

WCW SuperBrawl III 1993 Review (The White Castle Of Fear)

February 21^st, 1993
Location: Asheville, North Carolina, USA (Asheville Civic Center)
Announced attendance: 6 500 (capacity: 7 674)
PPV buys: 95 000 (same as Starrcade 1992; down 65 000 buys from SuperBrawl II 1992)

Welcome to my review of WCW’s first pay-per-view of 1993, SuperBrawl III. It features Sting against WCW Champion Vader in a non-title unsactioned “White Castle of Fear” strap match in the main event. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express take on Jim Cornette’s Heavenly Bodies in a personal feud stemming from Smoky Mountain Wrestling. ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Paul Orndorff gets into Cactus Jack’s playground in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, and more.

Here is the list of WCW champions heading into this PPV:

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Big Van Vader [53^rd day of his reign] – previous champion: Ron Simmons
NWA World Heavyweight Champion: The Great Muta [48^th day of his reign] – previous champion: Masahiro Chono
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Dustin Rhodes [41st day of his reign] – previous champion: Rick Rude, before it was vacated
WCW World Television Champion: vacated [for 39 days] – previous champion: Scott Steiner
WCW/NWA Unified World Tag Team Champions: Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas [95^th day of their reign] – previous champions: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes

Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined

Enjoy the review!

IMG credit: WWE & kbwrestlingreviews.com

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura (no more Jim Ross in WCW, whose last appearance was on the previous night’s broadcast of WCW Saturday Night)

Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt open the show. Missy teases an interview with the returning Ric Flair for later in the night. Bischoff brings in Johnny B. Badd, who hypes up some of the matches before they introduce Schiavone and Ventura at ringside.

Maxx Payne performs an instrumental version of the American National Anthem. Quite weird since he’s a heel.

The Hollywood Blonds (Stunning Steve Austin & Flyin’ Brian Pillman) vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Erik Watts

Hollywood Blonds are the number one contenders for the tag titles, but they’re doing this instead of challenging Steamboat and Douglas. We got here after Bagwell scored fluke wins in singles matches against each member of the Blonds on TV during the last few weeks. Bagwell pinned Pillman, while Austin’s loss was in a 10-minute challenge in which Bagwell survived that time. Watts is here as well because… I’ve got nothing. Bagwell starts with an armdrag on Austin and goes to work on the arm. Austin tries to outwrestle him as it turns into a test of strength, surprisingly won by Bagwell. Austin catches Bagwell with a cheap elbow in the corner, and goes to work on him. Austin with a powerslam attempt, Bagwell avoids it and a right hand dumps Austin all the way to the floor. Watts gets booed out of the building as soon as he gets tagged in, which is pretty hilarious. Bagwell and Watts with a double backdrop to Austin and a double clothesline to Pillman. Watts and Pillman get into a brief shoving fest, before Watts takes over with a series of laughable armdrags. Seriously, look at this.

Eat your heart out, Ricky Steamboat! Watts with a wristlock on Brian. Bagwell comes in, but ends up getting caught in the Blonds’ corner in short order. Austin misses a clothesline, they get into a criss-cross sequence and Bagwell connects with a crossbody for two. Off to Watts for a headlock into an abdominal stretch, and Bagwell comes back in for an abdominal stretch of his own. Austin grabs a handful of hair to break the hold and tags out. Pillman gets met with a gorilla press slam by Bagwell, though. Marcus follows it up with a clothesline that gets two. Austin with a powerslam on Watts, drops an elbow on Erik’s face but a splash only finds Erik’s knees. Boston Crab by Watts. Pillman comes in with a cheap kick to break the hold and gets a pop for it! Brian comes in off the tag, but misses a kick to the gut and Watts takes him down into the STF. Pillman is on the ropes, though.

Brian’s knee buckles and he asks for a time-out, which allows him to take control after the idiot Watts falls for it. Pillman takes the rookie to the outside and goes for a move off the apron, but Watts moves out of the way and Brian eats the railing throat-first. However, the Blonds hit a double-elbow on Watts back inside that sends him back to the floor. Austin slams Erik on the floor. Back in, Austin struggles to sunset flip Watts and Pillman comes in for a cheap attack, which draws Bagwell in and gets the referee distracted, allowing the Blonds to cut the ring in half as the beatdown on Erik continues. A sunset flip by Watts gets a delayed two count, as the referee was busy with Austin. Bagwell gets a cheapshot from Austin as well, which gets him all worked up and allows the Blonds to continue the beating. Pillman goes up for a flying splash, but Watts gets his knees up again. He’s still not able to make the tag, though, as Austin backdrop suplexes him for two. Austin and Watts butt heads in the corner, causing Austin to miss a running guillotine buttdrop and allowing Watts to FINALLY make the hot tag. Powerslam by Bagwell, but Austin breaks up the pin and Watts joins in as ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE! Bagwell with a Perfectplex to Brian, but Austin comes off the top rope with an elbowdrop while the ref is busy taking Watts off the ring. Brian covers and steals the win at 16:34.

Rating: This was a competent tag team match with the right result, although it didn’t need to go over 16 minutes at all. It’s a miracle how Austin and Pillman managed to get such a fun match out of Bagwell and Erik Watts of all people, who the crowd totally rejected at the start, yet the heels managed to win them over during their heat segment on Watts. It would’ve been a lot better had it been a solid 5-7 minutes shorter, but this was about as good as it was going to get. I liked how the Blonds pinned Bagwell, avenging their recent fluke losses in singles matches against him to put an end to that story, before moving on to the tag titles. **3/4

A short video package for Vader/Sting airs with Sting going all the way to the Rocky Mountains looking for Vader in the “white castle of fear”. Yep, you read that right.

Eric Bischoff reveals that Ric Flair is coming back to WCW, and Missy Hyatt unsuccessfully tries to interview Flair as he arrives in his limo.

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit fires away early with a shoulderblock. Snap suplex by Benoit. Scorpio strikes with a springboard crossbody for the first nearfall of the match. He follows it up with a dropick and a spinkick, and Benoit bails. Back in, Scorpio uses his agility to get out of Benoit’s hammerlock, but Benoit eventually takes him down and locks in an armbar. Scorpio once again uses his flips to reverse the hold, and now he goes to work on Benoit’s arm. They go to an exciting criss-cross sequence, which ends with Scorpio dumping Benoit all the way to the outside with an armdrag. Test of strength leads into a pretty great sequence on the mat, until Scorpio explodes with a dropkick and an armdrag. Scorpio drops a leg on Benoit’s bad arm as he continues to work on it, but Benoit fights back with a headbutt. Sharpshooter attempt by Benoit is blocked by Scorpio who sends Benoit flying using his legs, Benoit avoids a dropkick but Scorpio ALSO avoids an elbowdrop before delivering a superkick to Benoit! Scorpio goes back to the armbar, even turning it into a crucifix pin for two. Meanwhile, Cappetta announces there are 10 minutes left in the time limit.

Benoit escapes the hold and rams Scorpio’s head into the buckle. Leapfrog by Benoit, Scorpio cartwheels his way out of a Benoit move and tries a spinkick, but Benoit ducks and nails him with a clothesline! The crowd is really enjoying this by now. Benoit follows it up with another clothesline. Benoit with a backbreaker hold followed by a chinlock, before dropping Scorpio on the top rope with an inverted suplex. Scorpio puts the “miss” in missile dropkick back inside and Benoit gets two out of it. Benoit catches a charging Scorpio with a spinebuster and he locks in a modified version of the Boston Crab. It looked similar to the Liontamer that Jericho would later use. We’re in the final five minutes. Benoit takes Scorpio up top for a backdrop superplex, but he ends up hurting himself as well. He’s still able to crawl over for two, though. Russian legsweep gets two more. Backdrop suplex by Benoit gets turned into a crossbody by Scorpio in mid-air for a quick nearfall. Three minutes remaining. Powerbomb by Benoit gets two. He ends up eating knees off a blind charge, however, and Scorpio gives him an enziguiri. Benoit ducks a couple of spinkicks but Scorpio finally catches him with a running clothesline. He follows it up with a spinning splash onto Benoit in the corner and climbs up to the top rope. One minute left. Scorpio hits his flying twisting splash but Benoit kicks out! Scorpio tries to end it with a victory roll, only to get dropped down with a faceplant. Benoit goes up with a flying legdrop for two. Scorpio gets two of his own with a cradle as Cappetta starts the countdown for the final ten seconds. Benoit goes for the dragon suplex, Scorpio sits down to avoid it and rolls him up for an alleged “last-second win” at an alleged “19:59” aka 18:35.

Rating: This was a pretty awesome undercard match between two great young talents who were both wrestling their first singles PPV match (Scorpio had been apart of battlebowl at Starrcade 92). They were given more than enough time to shine (perhaps even more than necessary), so of course these two were going to deliver a quality bout. The crowd absolutely loved this and so did I. Great win for Scorpio, in what was easily the best match in his brief WCW career up to this point. Benoit would soon go back to Japan and wouldn’t be signed full-time until 1995, although he still wrestles at the next PPV. ***3/4

Bischoff announces Dustin Rhodes vs. Ron Simmons for the US Title is cancelled due to Ron’s injury; Maxx Payne will be challenging Dustin instead.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Wild Bill Irwin

IMG credit: WWE & classicwrestlingreview.com

Here is Bulldog making his WCW debut fresh off his WWF release for steroids the previous November, just a couple of days after his IC Title loss to Shawn Michaels aired on SNME. Big pop for Bulldog. Davey Boy overpowers Irwin in the beginning, with Irwin arguing about some inexistent hair-pulling. Irwin throws some forearms in the corner, which earns him a couple of shoulderblocks followed by a clothesline to the outside. Bulldog gets a break here and isn’t DQ’d as he was still getting used to the new WCW rules! You don’t get a break, though. Down that bad boy! Gorilla press slam by Davey and Irwin bails. A shoulderblock back in the ring is obviously no-sold by the Bulldog, who immediately responds with a hiptoss. Irwin rams Davey Boy into the buckle though, and throws a back elbow smash for two. We hit the chinlock, easily escaped by Davey Boy who gets Irwin up for a delayed vertical suplex. Bulldog with a clothesline for two while Jesse wonders if the irish whip really is Irish! Irwin goes up top for a high crossbody, only for Smith to catch him effortlessly in mid-air as the Running Powerslam finishes Bill at 5:49.

Rating: Short match to introduce British Bulldog to WCW fans. Irwin got too much for cannon fodder, but it got the job done. *1/4

After the match, British Bulldog says he came to WCW hungry. He challenges Big Van Vader for the World Title after he’s done with Sting.

Paul Orndorff is backstage for an interview with Bischoff, but Cactus Jack comes up with a shovel and our next match is underway!…

Falls Count Anywhere Match – Paul Orndorff vs. Cactus Jack

IMG credit: WWE & wrestlingnewsworld.com

Cactus chases Orndorff with the shovel all the way to ringside. It’s Paul who gets the first shot after getting in the ring first and kicking Cactus in the head, though. Paul rams Cactus into the railing a few times and adds some choking with the TV cable. Cactus turns things around in short order and starts exposing the concrete already. He slams poor Orndorff on the exposed floor and follows it up with a running elbowdrop for an early two count. Cactus climbs up to the top rope for a SUNSET FLIP ONTO THE EXPOSED FLOOR. That gets two. This guy is nuts. Cactus’ bump allows Orndorff to take over back inside the ring. Paul dumps Cactus back to the outside and jumps onto him with a flying elbow smash off the apron. He takes Cactus to the top of the ramp, where he sends Cactus over TWO SETS of railing and onto the floor!! They get into a slugfest up there, won by Cactus, who throws Orndorff back to the ramp. Paul suplexes Cactus onto the TOP OF THE RAILING… holy f*ck.

Orndorff takes Foley back to ringside, who is laughing in Paul’s face and takes an even bigger beating for it! Paul goes after Cactus’ bad knee with some shots. He rips the brace and locks in a Figure Four. Cactus manages to fight his way out of it, just to immediately eat a clothesline and get dumped. Paul drives Cactus’ knee right into the concrete to add more punishment. Cactus slowly climbs up to the apron, and Paul meets him with a shot to the head with the knee brace, with Cactus falling backwards and taking a crazy back bump on the outside. My god. Orndorff takes Gary Cappetta’s chair for some extra shots to the knee. Paul calls for the Piledriver but he takes too much time, and the crazy bastard is already standing beside him with the shovel in hands.. Paul turns around and WHAM! Cactus takes this one at 12:17.

Rating: This was great stuff. Cactus took some scary looking bumps in this one, but the crazy motherf*cker sure knew how to get the people emotionally invested while he took a beating. This was no exception, and Mr. Wonderful helped take this one to the next level with his intensity and heel work. Props to Paul for getting out of his comfort zone and doing this to help elevate Cactus at over 40 years of age, when he easily could’ve refused. This is one of his best matches! I loved the psychology near the end, and the fact that they started the match with the shovel and then brought it back for the finish. ****1/4

Meanwhile, Johnny B. Badd and Missy Hyatt offer their VERY important thoughts on the show so far.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane & Tom Prichard) (w/ Jim Cornette and Bobby Eaton)

The story heading into this one was actually pretty cool and one you probably know or have heard of. Rock ‘n’ Roll had recently returned to WCW and were originally scheduled to wrestle The Wrecking Crews, aka The Godwinns a few years later in WWF, on this show. However, Jim Cornette, manager of the Heavenly Bodies (whom the RNRE were feuding with in Smoky Mountain), came out on WCW Saturday Night and cut a great worked shoot promo on WCW management and how incompetent the company was, especially after making the Midnight Express look like sh*t for years and that being the reason for him and Stan Lane leaving in 1990, while Eaton stayed there just to collect their money. A good part of this story is actually true, which is what makes it great. WCW met with Smoky Mountain President, Bullet Bob Armstrong, who agreed to hold this match on WCW’s PPV. Ironically enough, this exact same match would then happen at that year’s Survivor Series in the WWF… mind-blowing! Well except Eaton, of course, who remained in WCW for a few more years collecting their money!

Eaton gets thrown to the back immediately, as Gibson starts with a flying headscissors to Tom. Morton in with a hurricanrana and an armdrag to Lane. Morton whips Lane into the interfering Prichard for a double noggin knocker. Lane sends Morton into the turnbuckle, but Gibson covers the turnbuckle with his body to block his partner’s impact. Prichard tries to do the same right away, but Gibson comes in and the Rock ‘n’ Roll go to work on the heels together. The Heavenly Bodies take a powder, with Cornette joining them for a supportive hug. Back in, Prichard and Morton get into a slugfest, won by the latter who follows it up with an atomic drop that knocks Tom into Lane yet again. It’s off to Robert for an enziguiri that gets two. The Bodies try to isolate Morton in their corner, but Ricky fights his way out of there alone and we get a stalemate. Cornette tries to provide a distraction leading into a criss-cross sequence. However, Morton leaves the ring to chase Cornette while Lane’s still running the ropes, and Corny goes flying after crashing onto Lane in the ring! Morton follows it up with a right hand that dumps Jim out for good, after a double noggin knocker to the Heavenly Bodies. Ricky goes back to business as he criss-crosses, only for Cornette to trip him up, allowing Lane to kick Ricky in the leg from behind. Cornette adds a shot with the racket as it’s about time for Ricky to get his contractually obligated ass whipping.

Lane stops to pose and dance for a while, with the Heavenly Bodies finally in control for the first time. Meanwhile, Schiavone calls Ricky “Richard Morton”… why would anyone remember that awful heel run of his? Good lord. Anyway, the Bodies remain in control with constant double-teaming. Double suplex by the Bodies into an elbowdrop by Lane. Morton gets a quick sunset flip in, but Cornette has the referee distracted and he misses it, allowing Prichard to cheapshot Morton and break up the pin. Ricky tries to fight back, only for Prichard to cut him off rather easily with a sitout powerbomb for two. Ricky attemps another flying headscissors out of the corner, but ends up walking into a powerslam by Lane for two. The Bodies go for a double backdrop on Morton, who manages to block and drive both guys down with a double DDT. Ricky craaaawls…. aaaaaaaand…. he’s in the wrong corner! He turns around, craaaaaawls…. aaaaaaaand….. HOT TAG GIBSON!! Robert runs wild on the Bodies until he gets caught 2-on-1. Ricky eventually joins him in the ring for a double clothesline to Lane. Double dropkick to Prichard. Gibson sends Cornette flying into the ring too! The distraction gives Prichard enough time to come in with a bulldog to Gibson, which gets a delayed nearfall. Cornette stops to argue with Nick Patrick, causing him to miss Ricky’s cover on Tom off an atomic drop. Bobby Eaton shows up on the top rope, but his flying elbow ends up hitting Prichard instead. Ricky dumps Eaton and holds Lane, allowing Gibson to splash Prichard for the win at 12:52.

Rating: Holy caw, this was an absolutely amazing tag team match full of action from start to finish. It never ceases to amaze me how great Ricky Morton is at tag team wrestling. His psychology is nothing short of perfect, knowing exactly when to get his butt kicked just as the fans think his team have their opponents right where they want ’em. From there, he gets destroyed from pillar to post while always trying (and failing) to fight back, building up the hot tag perfectly and setting up Robert’s eventual comeback spot brilliantly. I loved this. Another banger from this show. ****1/4

Meanwhile, Sting finds the White Castle of Fear and walks in.

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship – Dustin Rhodes vs. Maxx Payne

Well, speaking of bangers… this one won’t fall in that category, I’m afraid. Dustin starts off aggressively and Payne bails already. Payne walks back in, eats a running clothesline and bails yet again. Cool. Back inside, Dustin gets a roll-up for two, gets an armdrag aaaand…. Maxx Payne bails. Well, consistency is the key to success. Dustin works an armbar and the crowd is so dead I can literally hear a 12 year old girl in row 20 or so yelling. Maxx fights out of the hold and we get a stalemate, only for Dustin to take him down. And back to the armbar we go. Payne rams Dustin into the buckle, but he misses a corner clothesline and Dustin… say it with me… goes back to the armbar. Payne throws some chops, but misses an elbowdrop and Dustin goes after the arm again. Dustin eats an elbow off a blind charge and Payne gets two. Maxx Payne sends Dustin flying off the corner and now HE WORKS AN ARMBAR. Okay guys we get it, you’re really good at armbars, can we please move on from here? Maxx Payne sets him up for his dreaded submission hold “The Painkiller” (LOOOOL), but Dustin wants none of that. I guess he wasn’t quite recreational yet in 93. Payne slugs it out for about two minutes or so and they even take it to the floor for a while. The crowd still doesn’t care. Maxx with a backdrop back inside, but Dustin makes the comeback. He connects with the Lariat and follows it up with a suplex for two. Rhodes goes to an abdominal stretch and… Maxx pulls the referee for the stupid DQ at 11:28. You gotta be sh*tting me..

The beating continues after the match, but Dustin fights back and stands tall. What a pointless waste of time.

Rating: The arm work that they spent about five minutes on went nowhere. A tedious boring affair with a horrible non-finish. As far as the rating – well, here comes the payne: DUD.

The returning Ric Flair joins us to provide commentary for the match for the title he never lost.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship – The Great Muta (w/ Hiro Matsuda) vs. Barry Windham

The crowd showers them with “we want Flair” chants while the ref goes over the rules, which is always a good sign. Windham gets the better of a test of strength early on. Barry gives him an overhead suplex off the test of strength, and Muta goes to work on him on the mat. Muta with a spinkick and he goes to the side headlock. Windham tries to escape it with a backdrop suplex, only for Muta to reverse it and hold on to the hold on the mat. Barry escapes it, but walks into a dropkick and Muta goes back to the headlock. Cappetta with the 10-minute announcement even though it’s not even close. Muta blocks a Barry suplex and turns it into one of his own, followed by an elbowdrop. And back to the side headlock he goes. This match is weird as hell. Barry fights out of it with elbows, avoids a dropkick and FINALLY turns things around with a DDT. Windham takes him outside for a backdrop suplex on the floor, before taking him back in with a vertical suplex off the apron into the middle of the ring.

Windham drops a knee for two, before putting Muta in a sleeper. That lasts forever until ref breaks it after catching Barry’s foot on the ropes. Windham hits a gutwrench suplex for two. 20-minute announcement. It’s certainly felt that long, that’s for sure. They go outside and do nothing except trading a few chops back and forth. Back in, Windham drops an elbow and gets two. We hit the chinlock. Exactly what this needed. Muta goes for a sunset flip, but Windham’s too powerful and stops him with a right hand. Muta with a crossbody for two. Muta backdrops his way out of a piledriver attempt by Barry, but the latter remains in control. Muta explodes with a spinkick, but Barry AGAIN remains in control as this just keeps going. Windham takes him up top for a superplex, but Muta shoves him off and comes flying with a chop. Muta with the handspring elbow, but Windham moves out of the way of the Mutasault. He goes for it a second time after getting the upper hand, but Barry gets his knees up to block it. Windham follows it up with a clothesline before putting Muta away with the DDT (it looked awful) for the win and his first World Title at 24:10.

Ric Flair hands Windham the belt afterwards, but Windham refuses the help and celebrates alone. It was cool to see Barry get his first World Title, but his win clearly felt nothing but a bridge to put the NWA title back on Flair as soon as his WWF no-compete clause expired.

Rating: Another match that was incredibly painful to watch. They traded chinlocks and side headlocks back-and-forth for OVER TEN MINUTES and the whole thing just seemed like nothing but a weird clash of styles. This just kept going on and on and on forever. The finish looked awful too, which certainly didn’t help. DUD

Main Event

Unsactioned “White Castle of Fear” Strap Match – Sting vs. Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race)

As you can see above, Vader’s WCW World Title is not on the line since this is an unsactioned match. Monster pop for Sting. This feud was really amazing. Here’s my review of their two previous matches if you’ve missed them: Great American Bash 92 and Starrcade 92. This one follows the “touch the corners” rule. Vader overpowers Sting rather easily to start. Big clothesline by Vader followed by a pair of elbowdrops. Vader uses the strap to get the whipping going, and crushes Sting with a flying splash off the top. However, Sting crawls between Vader’s legs and goes low with the strap a few times, allowing him to unload on the big man and take him down. Sting goes up for a flying splash of his own, followed by a second one. Sting grabs the strap and exposes Vader’s back before returning the whipping from earlier. Harley gets up on the apron, so he ends up taking a shot with the strap as well. Vader crawls to the outside to stop Sting’s flurry. Sting meets him outside, where he uses the strap to ram Vader into the post. Sting touches a corner (apparently it counts outside as well), and slams Vader on the floor before dragging him into the other corners. He can’t do it due to Vader’s size, though, and ends up eating the railing instead. Vader is bleeding from the back. That must’ve been a heck of a shower afterwards… holy mackerel.

Vader sets him up for the Powerbomb back inside, only for Sting to backdrop his way out of it. Sting goes up for another flying splash, but finds no water in the pool this time around. Vader capitalizes by immediately splashing Sting. The champ unloads on Stinger and gets him up for a Samoan Drop. Vader Bomb connects and Vader DESTROYS Sting’s back with some NASTY strap shots. Vader gets Sting up on his shoulders yet again, climbs up to the top rope(!) and comes all the way down with a super Samoan Drop off the top rope. What a monster. He touches a couple of corners, but Sting stops the count with a pair of wussy kicks. Vader tries another Vader Bomb, but Sting rolls out of the way of this one. He still gets up way before Sting, though, and climbs up to the top rope. However, Sting uses the strap to crotch him and to bring him down. The monster turns things aroud again somehow and hits a superplex. Vader goes for the finish, but Sting smartly wraps his legs around the bottom rope and causes the break. Vader slugs away on poor Sting, who can barely even stand anymore. Sting comes back with his crazy rolling koppo kick. He follows it up with a German suplex and a DDT. Stinger slugs away on Vader in the corner, while we see a shot of him bleeding from the face. His flurry of punches even took Vader’s mask off! He’s bleeding as well. Sting touches all corners with Vader on his shoulders, but Vader shoves the referee down and Sting trips on the fallen ref on his way towards the fourth and final corner. Vader is busted wide open now. He comes down with a buttdrop and drags Sting around by the foot to touch three corners. Sting holds onto the ropes to stop him, and he eventually kicks Vader off… sending him into the fourth and final corner for the fluke win at 20:54.

Sting beats on Vader with the strap after the bell to avenge his loss. Vader and Harley Race get outta town as soon as possible.

Rating: I came into this one expecting an intense, physical, brutal, barbaric encounter between these two great rivals after a fantastic year-long feud between them. That is exactly what they delivered here, going back-and-forth with shots with the strap (or simply their bare hands) to destroy one another. Vader left the match with a bruised back, unmasked and bleeding from the face; Sting, on the other hand, saw his face paint slowly turn into blood and took some wild strap shots to the back himself. The finish wasn’t decisive, leaving plenty of money on the table for future business. This feud REALLY helped elevate both Sting and Big Van Vader into legendary status. I expected a somewhat more decisive finish, but this was still a terrific strap match, probably the greatest ever. ****1/4

The new NWA World Champion Barry Windham comes out for an interview with Eric Bischoff. He wants to take every single championship in WCW.

Tony and Jesse recall what happened before closing the book on this PPV.

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: Overall, I’d say this was a pretty awesome pay-per-view that had more ups than downs. But boy oh boy were those downs DOWNS. I’m honestly referring to both the NWA and US Title matches, which were both absolutely horrible to get through. On the other hand, though, there were several ****+ matches (Cactus/Orndorff, Bodies/RnR, Sting/Vader). Benoit/2 Cold also came pretty close to it. Looking at a card like this in the end, the highs definitely outweighed the lows, even with two DUDs in it. High recommendation to watch SuperBrawl 3. 8/10

POINT SYSTEM

Find out more about our point system here

That’s all I got for you today. Don’t miss the upcoming reviews of all the PPVs (you can access all the past shows I’ve reviewed on top of the site’s page), as well as all episodes of RAW in chronological order. While you’re at it, make sure you download our web app, which is available here:

Thank you for reading. See you all next time!

If you appreciate the content SmarKDown puts out, your contribution is greatly appreciated and it will help us get even better!

Written by:

Tomás Cunha

WWE Extreme Rules 2022 PPV Review

Sheamus, Ridge Holland, & Pete Dunne (The Brawling Brutes) vs GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser, & Giovanni Vinci (Imperium) | Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook Six Man Tag Team Match

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Sheamus def. Giovanni Vinci via Pinfall at 17:50

This was a fun and chaotic opener with both teams doing anything in their power to win the match. Sheamus and Gunther both respectfully beat the crap out of the minions of both groups. The crowd showed love for the Brawling Brutes which I love to see and they were loud as hell during this. Very good match to start the show! ***½

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Liv Morgan(c) vs Ronda Rousey | Smackdown Women’s Championship Extreme Rules Match

Ronda Rousey def. Liv Morgan via TKO at 12:22

I could always give these two the benefit of the doubt due to the Extreme Rules stipulation and the whole this was always gonna be a brawl thing, but this match was absolutely atrocious in my opinion. Botch after botch, repeated sloppiness…this was a brutal mess and not in a good way. Could care less if Liv or Ronda won either because we all know Charlotte will come back and win it. *

Drew McIntyre vs Karrion Kross | Strap Match

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Karrion Kross def. Drew McIntyre via Pinfall at 10:21

This match was obviously never going to be that great, and so I still think this is decent for what it was, however they could’ve done more here and obviously weren’t given enough time to get truly brutal. I do think this was still decent though and I’m interested in what Kross does next. **¾

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Bianca Belair(c) vs Bayley | Raw Women’s Championship Ladder Match

Bianca Belair def. Bayley at 16:41

This is fine obviously, but pretty underwhelming overall with some sloppiness throughout and less drama than expected. Also really could’ve done with Bayley winning here as it continues their momentum going into WarGames, but I guess not. Some fun moments make this not so bad. ***

Edge vs Finn Balor | ‘I Quit’ Match

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Finn Balor makes Edge Quit at 29:44

Chaotic, dramatic, and heartbreaking. That’s what this match is. Edge and Balor have a fun brawl before the drama of the Judgment Day and Edge & Co. unfolds. From the father son controversy, to Edge’s own wife being nearly paralyzed. THIS is exactly what it should’ve been and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Absolutely can’t wait for what’s next. ***¾

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Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins vs Matt Riddle | Fight Pit Match

Matt Riddle def. Seth Rollins via Submission at 16:36

The finish was very anti-climactic, but I think the match is pretty decent overall as again event. Definitely could’ve been better, but I certainly enjoyed it. ***

Well folks that’s a wrap on Extreme rules…was it a fun 3 hours? I’m not su- wait a minute

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BRAY WYATT IS HERE!!!! HOLY SH#T!!!

Overall Thoughts: Well it wasn’t perfect, but this was a solid show with some pretty good matches sprinkled through…and some terrible awfulness endured like a rotten cherry on top of a decent cake. But then there’s the ice cream on the side that’s always the best part, that being Bray Wyatt’s amazing return. Did I just use cake to describe this show? You’re damn right. 5.5/10

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wrestlingwithviper

The 10 Best WWF Intercontinental Champions Of The 1990s

Many fans & critics have regarded the 1990s as the DEFINITIVE decade for the Intercontinental Championship. And it’s VERY hard to argue! The 90s were simply a glorious time for the WWF Intercontinental Title. Arguably the greatest storylines, the most heroic triumphs, controversial moments, the most classic matches for the IC Belt dominate these golden years. Some of the biggest superstars of all time would hold this title, and then go-on to hold the ultimate prize; the WWF Championship.

So much history was made with the workhorse title over-and-over again in the 90s. Frankly, it was really difficult to narrow it down to a Top 10 (and honourable mentions) given the number of first-class titleholders from this particular decade. Even those who never became world champion in WWF/E could be eternally proud of what they accomplished with the Intercontinental Title around their waist. What a time it was to be a fan!

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

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Chyna

I simply cannot chronicle the 90s without mentioning the late, great Joanie Laurer. Everything Chyna did throughout her WWF tenure was groundbreaking, and the absolute height of her career came when she defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Good Housekeeping Match at No Mercy 1999 to become the first and only woman to hold the Intercontinental Championship. That in itself will always be amazing, but the Ninth Wonder of the World’s reign was equally historic, lasting 56 days and remembered for a great program with Chris Jericho. Chyna retained the title against Y2J at Survivor Series and then lost the belt to him in a competitive match at Armageddon. Chyna later co-held the IC Title with Jericho after a controversial rematch, and then solely won the belt for a second time at SummerSlam 2000 for a much shorter reign. Chyna’s legacy with-or-without the championship will never be forgotten.

Diesel

IMG credit: WWE & Tumblr – That Shit Was Hot

You could argue that Kevin Nash wasn’t a memorable Intercontinental Champion, but actually he achieved great success winning and holding the title. With help from his buddy Shawn Michaels, Diesel defeated Razor Ramon on 30.04.1994 to win his only IC Title, holding it for an impressive 138 days, and simultaneously holding the Tag Titles with HBK. Diesel lost the Intercontinental belt back to Razor at SummerSlam, and after vacating the Tag Team Belts when he and Shawn split-up, Diesel then beat Bob Backlund to become WWF Champion, and thus the first-ever wrestler to bag the Triple Crown within a calendar year. Not bad, eh?

D’Lo Brown

You could also argue that D’Lo’s sole Intercontinental Championship win doesn’t deserve an honourable mention – given that it only lasted 27 days – but I WOULD argue that “YES. IT DOES”. He became the FIRST-EVER Euro-Continental Champion, when as European Champion, he defeated Jeff Jarrett for the IC Title. A superb heavyweight-wrestler with the speed and athleticism of a cruiserweight, D’Lo Brown was one of the greatest European Champions of all-time. Holding both European and Intercontinental Belts in the Summer of 1999 was the pinnacle of Brown’s career, and a historic moment. You better recognise!

Ken Shamrock

When this UFC/MMA legend transitioned to the world of wrestling, he was just simply awesome at it. Another of the Attitude Era’s greatest stars, Ken Shamrock had legendary feuds with the Rock and Owen Hart before finally picking up the Intercontinental Championship in October 1998, winning the vacant title in an 8-Man Tournament, beating the likes of Steve Blackman, Val Venis and X-Pac. The World’s Most Dangerous Man enjoyed a great 125-day reign, triumphing over the likes of Mankind (in a great bout at Judgement Day), Steve Blackman, and Billy Gunn, joining Vince’s Corporation, winning the Tag Titles with the Big Bossman to become a dual champion, before finally losing the IC Title to Val Venis at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre 1999. Shamrock’s WWF legacy seems to be overlooked today for some strange reason.

Owen Hart

This legend…this UTTER LEGEND…followed in his brother’s footsteps to become a proud two-time Intercontinental Champion in 1997. Ending Rocky Maivia’s reign, Owen became a dual-champion, holding the IC Belt whilst being Tag Team Champs with the British Bulldog, a TWO-TIME SLAMMY AWARD WINNER(!) and a proud member of the Hart Foundation. Owen’s feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin also intensified during this time when he pinned the Rattlesnake in the main-event of Canadian Stampede, then lost the title to Austin at SummerSlam after breaking Austin’s neck with the infamous piledriver. Owen defeated Faarooq in a tournament-final at Bad Blood: In Your House to regain the belt, and then lost it to Austin again at the fateful Survivor Series 1997.

‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper

IMG credit: WWE & Facebook – WWF Old School

One of wrestling’s biggest legends, the arch-nemesis of Hulk Hogan, one of the major players of the Rock ’N’ Wrestling Era, Roddy Piper somehow went eight-years in the WWF without ever holding a title. That all changed at the 1992 Royal Rumble when Hot Rod put the Mountie to sleep to win the Intercontinental Championship. Roddy’s only major championship reign in WWF was also one of the best in the title’s history, lasting 77 days before being defeated by Bret “Hitman” Hart at WrestleMania 8; in what was not only one of the greatest IC Title matches of all-time but quite possibly the greatest match of Piper’s career as well.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley / Triple H

Hunter Hearst Helmsley was in the doghouse in 1996 following his involvement in the infamous Kliq Curtain Call-incident at Madison Square Garden. After serving his time, Hunter won his first Intercontinental Championship in October 1996, beating Marc Mero (with a little cunning & help from Mr. Perfect). Triple H’s 1^st reign lasted 115 days and then at SummerSlam 1998, Triple H defeated the Rock in a classic Ladder Match to regain the title in an epic moment. Alas, Hunter had to forfeit the championship after 44 days due to a knee injury. Triple H is another guy who used the IC Championship to elevate himself towards the WWF Title. And then in 2001, Triple H truly cemented himself as one of the all-time greats to ever hold the belt.

TOP 10

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10. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin

Compared to other greats, Stone Cold Steve Austin’s time with the Intercontinental Championship isn’t so much remembered for the wrestling side of it as it is for the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his 1^st reign and the wild-antics Austin got up to with the belt to spite management and his enemies. Nonetheless, the Rattlesnake’s moments with the IC Title were not only infamous, it was yet-another great success that paved the way for a future world champion.

Watch: Steve Austin vs. The Rock (D-Generation X: In Your House 1997)

Already a Tag-Team champion with Dude Love, Stone Cold’s legendary triumph at SummerSlam 1997 over Owen Hart ended in disaster when he received a botched Tombstone Piledriver that legitimately broke his neck. Austin was forced to relinquish both the Intercontinental and Tag Titles due to the injury and proceeded to spite authority by stunning Vince McMahon, interfering in Owen’s matches to ensure he remained IC Champion ready for revenge, constantly attacked Owen, and then finally beat him to regain the title at Survivor Series.

After Owen, Austin moved onto his legendary feud with The Rock, who audaciously stole the Intercontinental Belt from him. In a wild, brilliant brawl at D-Generation X: In Your House, Stone Cold used his pick-up truck to beat-up the Nation of Domination and then decisively beat the Rock to retain the championship and retake the physical belt. To spite Vince’s orders to defend the title against The Rock the next night on Raw, Austin willingly surrendered the IC Championship to his rival, gave him a Stone Cold Stunner, THREW the belt into the Piscataqua River to infuriate the Great One, then went after the WWF Championship…the rest is history. Although the Rattlesnake’s IC Title reigns were very brief, they were legendary…and that’s the Bottom Line!

9. Goldust

Dustin Rhodes is a proud, honoured member of the legendary Rhodes Family. And like his late, great father Dusty, and his exceptional brother Cody, Dustin is a first-class wrestler who has a legacy he can be proud of. In 1995, Dustin struck gold in more ways than one when he became Goldust; a bizarre, mysterious, sexually-provocative heel and absolutely fascinating character. And at the 1996 Royal Rumble, Goldust scored a shocking upset when he defeated Razor Ramon himself to win the Intercontinental Championship!

Watch: Goldust vs. Razor Ramon (Royal Rumble 1996)

Goldust battled some huge names whilst champion; such as Rowdy Roddy Piper in the infamous Hollywood Backlot Brawl at WrestleMania 12, the Ultimate Warrior at In Your House, and even retained the title against The Undertaker in a Casket Match on Pay-Per-View! Goldust enjoyed two great reigns in 1996 before losing the title to Ahmed Johnson at the 1996 King of the Ring, and then won the belt for a third & final time in March 1999 from the Road Dogg Jesse James before losing it to the Godfather two weeks later.

Flamboyant, dynamic, a master of psychology & excellent in the ring, Goldust’s success as the Intercontinental Champion is always remembered. The title remains a crucial part of his legacy…and vice versa.

8. The British Bulldog

The late, great Davey Boy Smith; my favourite British wrestler of all-time, one of the biggest legends to have graduated from the Hart-Family Dungeon…scored one of the absolute greatest Intercontinental Championship triumphs of all-time. Heading into SummerSlam 1992, held at Wembley Stadium in London, England…the Bulldog defeated his brother-in-law Bret “The Hitman” Hart in the main-event – the match of his life – to win his only IC Title. In front of 80,355 of his homeland fans, Davey Boy emerged victorious in not just the greatest match of his career, but also the greatest SummerSlam match of all time.

Watch: British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart (SummerSlam 1992)

Bulldog’s thrilling title victory was simply perfect, glorious and unforgettable. Sadly, the reign itself was very forgettable, lasting only 59 days with nothing of note. However, Davey Boy DID drop the title to Shawn Michaels on the last-episode of Saturday Night Main-Event in an excellent match. And for scoring the greatest victory of his career in his homeland on the biggest stage imaginable…that alone earns Davey Boy Smith a spot in the Top Ten here. The British Bulldog’s crowning moment will always be remembered for the generations still to come.

7. The Ultimate Warrior

Granted, most of the Ultimate Warrior’s success as the Intercontinental Champion was achieved in the 80s. He’d been a dominant champion who’d reigned supreme for so long in the previous decade. And in comparison, Warrior was only IC Champ for 91 days in 1990 (his total accumulated time as Intercontinental Champion stands at an almighty 434 days!).

Watch: Ultimate Warrior vs. Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania VI)

HOWEVER…Jim Hellwig not only brought the Intercontinental Title into the 90s, he also took it to the HIGHEST LEVEL imaginable! The ULTIMATE platform…the ULTIMATE CHALLENGE at WrestleMania 6! In front of 67,678 screaming fans at the Skydome in Toronto, Canada…the ULTIMATE Intercontinental Champion challenged WWF Champion Hulk Hogan in the main-event and scored the ULTIMATE TRIUMPH! After one of the greatest matches of all-time, Ultimate Warrior did what no one else has done before or since…he stood tall as BOTH the WWF World and Intercontinental Champion simultaneously. Shortly after defeating the Hulkster, Warrior was ordered to surrender the Intercontinental Title by WWF President Jack Tunney, then moved-on to defending his WWF Championship…and the Intercontinental title was left in a glorious state; primed & ready for the next legendary titleholder (more about HIM later!).

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6. Jeff Jarrett

You can say what you want about Jeff Jarrett as a main-eventer and a world champion. As a MID-CARDER and an INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION…no-one can deny that Jeff Jarrett is one of the best of all-time. An excellent wrestler and a versatile personality, Jeff made PLENTY of history with the title. Throughout his two stints in the WWF, Jarrett became the first SIX-TIME WINNER of the IC Championship! Still an impressive achievement to this day!

Watch: Jeff Jarrett vs. D’Lo Brown (SummerSlam 1999)

His first three reigns took place throughout 1995, where Jeff had excellent matches with the likes of Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels; his title-loss to HBK at In Your House possibly being the greatest match of Jarrett’s career! The remaining three reigns took place in the Attitude Era in 1999. He defeated the Godfather in memory of his friend/tag-partner Owen Hart, then exchanged the title with young-stars like Edge & D’Lo Brown. Jarrett’s sixth and final IC Title reign is notable for numerous reasons. At SummerSlam 1999, Jeff became the second Euro-Continental Champion after beating D’Lo for both European and IC Titles, and at No Mercy 1999, Jeff lost the IC Championship to Chyna in a Good Housekeeping Match. After the historic loss, Jeff controversially left WWF for WCW.

One of the reasons why Jeff Jarrett deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame today is because of EVERYTHING he did for the Intercontinental Championship.

5. Rocky Maivia / The Rock

Who was the BEST DAMN Intercontinental Champion of the Attitude Era? Why, it was the PEOPLE’S Intercontinental Champion, of course! But I will admit, Rocky’s time as IC Champ didn’t get off to the best of starts.

A third-generation wrestler and magnificent athlete, Dwayne Johnson took the name Rocky Maivia as a tribute to his father Rocky Johnson and grandfather High-Chief Peter Maivia. After his successful debut at the 1996 Survivor Series, Rocky defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley to win his first Intercontinental Title soon after. Alas, the plain-boring babyface being pushed to the moon REALLY didn’t sit well with fans, and bombarded poor Dwayne with chants of “Rocky Sucks!” And “Die, Rocky, Die!”. The late 90s were a REALLY harsh time…

Watch: The Rock vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 1998)

Dwayne’s second-go-around with the title was MUCH more like it! After being awarded the belt in December 1997 – and now officially going by the moniker of The Rock – the Great One held the IC Championship for an impressive 264 days! He enjoyed a great feud with Ken Shamrock, gave a brilliant interview with Gennifer Flowers at WrestleMania 14, deposed Ron ‘Faarooq’ Simmons to become the new leader of the Nation of Domination (taking that faction to even greater heights!) and leading his troops against D-Generation X in one of the best faction rivalries of the Attitude Era, ultimately renewing hostilities with Triple H and finally dropping the Intercontinental Title in that terrific ladder match at SummerSlam 1998!

As Intercontinental Champ, the Rock grew & grew on the mic and in the ring, FINALLY becoming the People’s Champion. Then at Survivor Series 1998, the Rock won his first WWF Championship. Another legendary success story…IF YOU SMELLLLL WHAT THE ROCK…is cookin’.

4. Mr. Perfect

No one is perfect…unless of course, your name was Curt Hennig. This all-time great simply earned & deserved the moniker of ‘Mr. Perfect’ because of his talent in-and-out of wrestling; successfully scoring strike-after-strike, holes-in-one, no-look three-point basketball shots, running through the pool table, hitting home runs and nailing perfect bulls-eyes…and going on an impressive undefeated streak that ran for two-years!

Watch: Mr. Perfect vs. Tito Santana (Saturday Night’s Main Event July 1990)

After the Ultimate Warrior vacated the Intercontinental Championship, Mr. Perfect rebounded from his first-ever-loss; winning an eight-man tournament to claim the IC Title for the first-time by beating former champ/utter legend Tito Santana in the finals. Perfect retained his new title against Tito the following week then held the title for 126 days before he was upset for the gold at SummerSlam 1990 by Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich). Perfect regained the championship from the Tornado on 19.11.1990, then held the title for a magnificent 280 days! The single-longest reign of the 90s! After successfully retaining the Intercontinental Title over-and-over again, Curt’s reign finally came to an end courtesy of Bret Hart’s Sharpshooter at SummerSlam 1991 in one of the all-time classic IC Title Matches. Technically-gifted with flawless timing and athleticism, Curt Hennig was truly one of the greatest ever. Though he may never have reached World-Title Status in WWF, Curt Hennig was indeed the PERFECT Intercontinental Champion.

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3. Razor Ramon

Hey, Yo! Scott Hall wasn’t a bad guy…he was THE Bad Guy! Oozing and greasing with style, charisma, swagger, attitude and all the talent in the world, Razor Ramon made history on 04.10.1993 when he defeated Rick Martel for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. And Razor went-on to make SO much history with the title.

Watch: Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania X)

In the 90s, Razor became the first-ever FOUR-TIME Intercontinental Champion, which is still an impressive accomplishment to this day. Ramon’s accumulated time as champion totalled 434 days! Those achievements are amazing just by themselves…but first-and-foremost, it’s Razor’s feud with fellow Kliq buddy Shawn Michaels that truly cemented him as one of the best ever IC Champs! Two of the greatest matches of all-time were contested for the Intercontinental Championship with Ramon in the thick of it. No one will EVER forget the Bad Guy triumphing over HBK at WrestleMania 10 in the Ladder Match to become the undisputed IC Titleholder. Another (EQUALLY GOOD!) Ladder Match at SummerSlam 1995 will always be remembered as well! Razor’s feuds with Diesel, Jeff Jarrett and Goldust are another big part of his success with the title. For all of this and more, Razor deserves a high-ranking not just on this list, but on the list for all-time great Intercontinental Champion. Another wrestling legend who is still missed to this day.

2. Shawn Michaels

As we know, the Heartbreak Kid is one of the absolute greatest wrestlers – if not THE greatest wrestler – of all time. Shawn was another legend who used the Intercontinental Title to move-up the card and then achieve success as the WWF Champion. To this day, Michaels’ time as IC Champion is remembered for both being unforgettable in the ring, and controversial at the same time.

Watch: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (SummerSlam 1995)

Shawn won his first Intercontinental Title from the British Bulldog on the final Saturday Night Main-Event in October 1992, then went-on to challenge Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart for the WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1992! Although that title-shot ended in defeat, HBK remained IC Champ and continued to defend the title against all-comers. He lost the belt to his old-friend Marty Jannetty on 17.05.1993 in what was regarded by many as WWF’s best match of 1993! Shawn would regain the title a few weeks later…and then was suspended for failing a drug-test, and stripped of the championship. Shawn turned the negative into a positive by returning from suspension with HIS Intercontinental Championship! Claiming he’d never been beaten for it, and thus perfectly setting-up Shawn & Razor Ramon’s Ladder Match Classic at WrestleMania 10. He would officially regain the title from Jeff Jarrett in 1995 and triumph over Razor in an equally-classic Ladder Bout at SummerSlam. Unfortunately, Shawn’s notorious-90s-ego got him into trouble when he was assaulted outside a bar in Syracuse, New York. Thus he had to forfeit the title to Dean Douglas (who lost it to Razor in no-time! That Kliq…). Despite all the infamy, Shawn still remains another legend who made the Intercontinental Belt mean so much.

1. Bret Hart

After having long-proven himself as a tag-team specialist with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart as The Hart Foundation, Bret Hart was now primed for singles-competition and immediately set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship in 1991. After chasing after Mr. Perfect at live-events, Bret FINALLY bagged the title in Madison Square Garden at SummerSlam. It was the FIRST of THREE all-time classic bouts for the Intercontinental Championship that the Hitman partook in. Arguably the BEST-EVER matches for the IC Title, and for that alone, Bret would rank very high on this list.

Watch: Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper (WrestleMania VIII)

But week-after-week, show-after-show, Hart would defend the Intercontinental Championship proudly and valiantly like it was the single-greatest-prize in wrestling. Bret took on all-comers and personified everything a workhorse should be; especially with the Intercontinental Title. After losing the title to the Mountie in January 1992, Bret would regain the championship in ANOTHER timeless classic against Rowdy Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8! Bret continued to defend the title proudly throughout 1992, including against Shawn Michaels in the first-ever ladder match in WWF! And then the Hitman took the belt all the way to Wembley Stadium – in the main-event of SummerSlam – losing it to the British Bulldog in a match for the ages. With two unforgettable reigns – totalling 288 days! – Bret Hart made arguably more history with the Intercontinental Championship than any other superstar. And of course, he went on to become one of the greatest WWF Champions of all-time. Not just the greatest IC Champ of the 90s, but for my money the BEST IC Champ there was, is and ever will be!

So…what do YOU think of this list? Agree with the picks? Who were YOUR favourite Intercontinental Champions of the 1990s?

See you all again soon!

MrDCWood

Written by:

mrdcwood

WWF WrestleMania X: Every Match Ranked From Worst To Best

WrestleMania X is very famous for two matches: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, and the Ladder match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. We all know these two matches are considered classics, but what about the other matches? Find out how good all the matches were from the show.

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9. Earthquake vs. Adam Bomb

Earthquake won the match in 35 seconds by hitting the Earthquake Splash on Adam Bomb. That’s all. (N/R)

8. Alundra Blayze vs. Leilani Kai (WWF Women’s Championship)

This was the first televised women’s match we got in a long time in WWF. The match was just above 3 minutes. Alundra Blayze had some decent moves, but the match wasn’t exciting at all. (1/2*)

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7. Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger (WWF Championship)

I wasn’t looking forward to this match while watching the show, but I definitely expected the match to be better than what we got. Yokozuna had such a long nerve hold on Lex Luger, which bored everyone, and took away any excitement people had. I get that Yokozuna wanted to take it easy as he was going to compete again, but it doesn’t mean you put your opponent in such a long hold. I didn’t like the finish either, why even go for the controversial ending? Could have just made it a short explosive match. (*)

6. The Quebecers vs. Men on a Mission (WWF Tag Team Championships)

I didn’t like this one at all. I wish The Quebecers faced some other tag team, as Men on a Mission just weren’t good enough. Quebecers tried hard with their bumping and saved this match from being completely trash. The finish was also bad, and overall, this match made no sense. (*1/2)

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5. Doink & Dink vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon (Mixed Tag Team Match)

I expected this to be way worse, but I’ve to admit, it is not that bad. Bam Bam Bigelow and Doink actually had a decent encounter. The problem with this match was the sequence with Luna and Dink. It would have been better if it was a one-on-one match between Bam Bam and Doink, and Luna and Dink had their “comedy” stuff ringside. (**)

4. Yokozuna vs. Bret Hart (WWF Championship)

This match wasn’t very good, but it doesn’t really matter. This wasn’t about the quality of wrestling, but just about Bret winning the title. Yokozuna was very tired which is why this match was never going to be good. Still, the two delivered a decent encounter, and it is not like it’s among the worst ‘Mania main events. Bret Hart winning the title was a fantastic moment, and definitely made up for the lack of quality in the match. Seeing the whole locker room celebrate Bret’s title win and Owen Hart staring him in disbelief was a great shot. (**3/4)

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3. Randy Savage vs. Crush (Falls Count Anywhere Match)

This was quite a unique match in this era, as we rarely got anything apart from normal singles and tag team matches on televised events. This wasn’t like the Falls Count Anywhere match we see today though. The rules were that after getting pinned, the wrestler had 60 seconds to get back in the ring. So basically, it would be pointless pinning your opponent in the ring? I was afraid that we would be getting too many pinfalls, but it wasn’t the case as there were limited pinfalls. I liked the action in the match, and we saw some stuff we didn’t normally get to see in that era. The finish was also very creative. Ideally, the winner should have been the younger wrestler, but the crowd was totally behind Randy Savage, so Savage winning wasn’t a problem and was the better option. (**3/4)

2. Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ladder Match)

The second match of the night with a stipulation rare for the era. This was the first televised Ladder match in WWE. This match is very revolutionary, and we got so many innovative spots for the era. Both Shawn and Razor took crazy bumps and had equal contributions in making this match great. It elevated both the wrestlers to the next level and was definitely the most important match of both wrestler’s careers till this point. Razor winning was the right decision as Shawn already had long reigns as Intercontinental Champion, and it was Razor’s time to shine. This ladder match definitely set the standard for the future ladder matches, and still holds up strongly to the modern ladder matches. (*****)

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1. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart

First of all, the story behind this match was built up perfectly, and there was lot of hype for this match. Owen Hart had shown glimpses of his talent before this match, but he had never really got a proper opportunity to showcase his talent. This was the perfect match for him to show what he was capable of, and he had a breakout performance in this match, and got elevated to a whole new level. This match is perfect from every wrestling aspect, whether it be storytelling, psychology, character work, etc. The finish was also well done as Owen outwrestled Bret, rather than a cheap roll up. Owen winning was the correct decision, as Bret went on to win the WWF Title on the show anyway. Technical wrestling at its finest, and still the best PPV opener ever. (*****)

And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Stay tuned for the next post of this series where we will rank the matches of King of the Ring 1994. Have a nice day!

Written by

Rishabh Singh