Sky's Good Matches Thread (formerly You Decide What Sky Watches)

[Sky]

Match #33
The Corporate Rumble
WWF Monday Night Raw - January 11, 1999​

How's this for a coincidence? 16 years to the day before our last match is this one. It's one of the few times they held a Rumble not at the Rumble PPV, but on a Raw. The story of this is that it's members of the Corporation and DX fighting over who gets the Number 30 spot in the real thing. And like the previous Rumble, the format's going to be rather different. Let's go.

Number 1 - Ken Shamrock
Number 2 - Billy Gunn

Ken Shamrock is out first, fucking yes. Such a wasted talent in the WWF but so good to see him here. Aaaaaaand he's gone, instantly eliminating himself to fly over the top rope and attack Gunn. He beats the hell out of him on the outside for the first 90-second period, with Shane on commentary cheering him on, but at least has the decency to roll him into the ring. He's still whaling on him, seemingly not knowing he's out, and the referees can't stop him!

Number 3 - Big Boss Man
Number 4 - Road Dogg Test

Shamrock only chooses to get out when his Corporation teammate shows up to continue the beatdown. The New Age Outlaws' music hits but the crowd's pop is misplaced as Test comes out just to hurt Gunn more. Really not much to say about this so far.

Number 5 - X-Pac

And here comes the DX save. We get a brief period of evenness until Test manages to toss Gunn, and he and Boss Man bully a much shorter man. The way X-Pac is struggling to fight back is actually quite fun.

Number 6 - Road Dogg

Oh, there's the Dogg. I was kind of expecting a Russo swerve and for some other random Corporation member to come out. Dogg is covered in tomato juice because he got in one of the Brood's "bloodbaths" earlier. How's that for a storyline intersection? Boss Man and Test eventually obtain control over both X-Pac and Road Dogg respectively.

Number 7 - Kane
Number 8 - Triple H

The good old days, back when Kane was a badass and not a piece of shit mayor. Commentary calls him "Corporate Kane" which is quite a fun thing to hear in hindsight. X-Pac manages to backdrop Boss Man to a huge pop but it's missed by Kane tossing Road Dogg out. It's a Corporation 3-on-1 until HHH shows up and starts cleaning house. Apparently HHH is the last entrant. Test collides with Kane so Kane ditches him before HHH and X-Pac double clothesline Kane out. And then Boss Man removes X-Pac. HHH and Boss Man brawl for a bit, and they're so close to elimination when a ninth entrant comes out...?

Number 9 - Mr. McMahon

Vince shows up, steroid-jacked and full of rich guy rage. As Boss Man's about to slam HHH out, Vince comes in and pushes them both out of the ring and of the match! The stooges celebrate his victory and Vince does a Hogan shirt-rip, until the airhorn sounds for a TENTH entrant!

Number 10 - Chyna

The stooges try to hold off Chyna but she beats them up, then Steve Austin comes out to taunt Vince, allowing Chyna to get the elimination!

Not bad, really, but didn't feel like a Rumble, mostly because it was an extended Raw segment and didn't have that element of intersection between wrestlers you wouldn't normally see together. The ending moments were pretty fun, and this is just Sports Entertainment after all.

Also, not only do we have four new returning wrestlers (Boss Man, Kane, HHH, Vince) but we have our first 3-time entrant (X-Pac). Yay for him.

 

[Death By Looch]

Oh that one... Battle Royals held with members of just one Stable/Group always have something more intriguing to them, than random ass weekly show Battle Royals for a Title shot or whatever. Sadly, I don't think I ever saw an actual good or cleverly done one, which is a shame, because there are so many possibilities in it.

 

[Sky]

Match #34
Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori
AJW Dream Slam 1 - April 2, 1993​

Okay, back to singles matches, and here we have a match that's apparently considered a classic but I've never seen before. Let's find out why it's considered a classic.

Dream Slam is full of a bunch of matches with AJW stars against outsiders, like Kandori here from LLPW. She looks like she has absolutely no time for Hokuto's flashy entrance getup. She's here to bring the shoot style. Which makes it all the wilder when Hokuto just smashes her with a strike to the face that brings her down in one go. Hokuto then grabs a mic to shit talk Kandori, presumably for being too serious. Kandori manages to recover, eventually gets in a slap, a clothesline, and a really HARD wrenched armbar. Hokuto's struggling to the ropes, and it really looks like her arm's broken. The entire medical staff descends on her to cold spray her arm. She gets back in the ring but Kandori puts the boots to her and brings her back out. Less than five minutes in, and Hokuto's confidence has been shattered.

Kandori's still got the fire in her as she lays in a ton of forearms to the face, but Hokuto responds with slaps and knees to the face. Kandori catches the leg and slaps on a clean looking kneebar. Hokuto still has the heart to counter out of an Irish whip. She kicks her opponent out of the ring then sets up for an Asai moonsault, but Kandori is able to knock her back over the ropes. Back in the ring, Kandori seems unsatisfied with breaking one arm, so goes for a cross armbreaker to attack the other. Hokuto blocks, so Kandori just rises, trying to prise the arms apart while applying a front facelock. Then Hokuto manages to apply a bit of pressure of her own to her opponent's arm. They spill to the outside and fight to the announce table... and Kandori hits a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER on the table!! We get a brief camera shot to confirm that Hokuto's head impacting with the table actually left a little hole in it.

Now EVERYONE is swarming around Hokuto seeing if she is even alive, let alone fit to wrestle, while Kandori is back in the ring looking rather smug with herself. Hokuto's face is actually covered with blood. The med staff is begging her not to come back, but she does anyway. Kandori punches and kicks her in the face again and again until Hokuto catches a leg. Now it's Hokuto's turn to do hardcore stuff as she drags Kandori ALL the way up the stands. Kandori's body is getting tossed into chairs and barricades. It's hard to tell what's going on at this point because it's in the middle of the crowd, but Kandori's now bleeding from the head too, but not as much as Hokuto whose face is covered in red.

Both women are guided by their seconds to make it back to the ring (with difficulty). Now Hokuto's got the edge as she applies boot after boot to a grounded Kandori's face. I can only imagine what the feeling must be to watch a blood-streaked Akira Hokuto running at you and smashing her foot into your nose. Kandori manages to catch one of the kicks and start laying into Hokuto with knees and stomps. Her own leg's starting to track Hokuto blood. She tosses her opponent out and then... slingshot plancha to the outside!

Hokuto is still somehow able to stand, but it takes a while. She can't avoid a Kandori back suplex. Instead of going for the pin though and mercifully ending the match, Kandori goes for another armbar! She's here to show Hokuto how this shoot style thing works! By the time Hokuto reaches the ropes, the ring is even more stained with her blood and Kandori's now got a bodyscissors sleeper in. This is BRUTAL stuff. Hokuto recovers enough to hit a piledriver! Hokuto has the appearance of a blood-soaked demon as she downs Kandori with a spin kick. She can't put the boots in, though, as Kandori grabs her foot again, and briefly gets a kneebar in. Then a DDT, then some sort of reverse triangle choke. Hokuto rolls through into a half crab, but Kandori gets one of her own! A bit of an update on Hokuto's hair: it's now orange. She's bled so much that it's orange. Absolutely mental match, and it's not even over.

Hokuto hits a snap suplex for two. She goes for the top rope to hit a diving splash, but she's too weak to hit the pin. She goes for another, but Kandori gets the knees up! Kandori folds up Hokuto with a powerbomb for two. Hokuto dodges a Kandori crossbody (though it just looks like Kandori missed) and hits a German suplex. We've hit the 20 minute mark and still no signs of stopping. Hokuto goes to the top rope but Kandori grabs her and uses a SPINNING SLEEPER??? I am sure I have literally never seen a sleeper used like that. Feels like it's something that could break a neck if used correctly. A more conventional sleeper follows, and Hokuto really has to fight to get to the ropes. The ring mat is more blood than canvas at this point.

Kandori tries for another powerbomb to finish it but Hokuto snaps her over with the headscissors. She catches Kandori in the midst of an Irish whip and hits a Thunder Fire bomb of her own for a really close two-count. A kick sends Kandori rolling to the outside where she's met with a Tope con Hilo! Hokuto struggles back to the top rope and hits a flying dropkick to the outside! Both of these women are WRECKED now. Hokuto looks like she's about to go for the big finisher, but Kandori grabs an arm and tries to get the cross armbreaker. Only a huge amount of pained thrashing from Hokuto can get her a rope break. Kandori teases the Tiger Driver but Hokuto slips out, which leads to Kandori working the arm... until she can hit the Tiger Driver! SOMEHOW Hokuto survives!!

Kandori keeps downing Hokuto with lariats and slaps and waiting for her to get up, until she is caught and hit with a back suplex for two. Crowd is going wild... and Hokuto hits NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB!! Kandori kicks out somehow! How? A second attempt, but Kandori counters and HITS HER WITH HER OWN FINISHER!! I cannot tell you how wild this is. They're struggling to their feet. Crowd is behind Hokuto. Each woman downs each other with a punch, but collapses to her own knees afterward. Then there's simultaneous punches, and a double down. Hokuto crawls over, tries for a pin... and wins it!!

Fuck. I need a cigarette. Remember Teioh/Delfin? Well this just blew that out of the water. I can see why people love this match. 1993 is not remembered as a good year for American wrestling, but Japanese women are just putting on bangers like this. Holy shit.

 

[Chris]

Those Dream Slam cards

 

[Alexa]

See I know what I am taking when I say or said Old School Joshi was and is amazing.

 

[Jay-Ashley]

One thing I find particularly strange about Mexican wrestling is the presence of exoticos. Particularly, the fact that these exoticos are sometimes straight men. In a business where the macho image is respected, why would you willingly camp it up and make yourself basically just a comedy character? Maximo is an interesting case in particular, because he's not just a straight man, he's a Brazo. His father is Brazo de Plata and his brother is Psycho Clown. What happened? I need some insight here.

You want some insight?

 

[Chris]

You want some insight?

I would like some as well, always felt like a tradition I never fully understood either

 

[Jay-Ashley]

I would like some as well, always felt like a tradition I never fully understood either

Alright, I can do that. I may do it later tonight or tomorrow as I don't have much time now that it is close to mysister's due date.

 

[Sky]

Match #35
Corporal Robinson vs. John Wayne Murdoch
Taipei Deathmatch
Furious Wrestling Society - November 7, 2015​

First deathmatch of the wheel! And somehow, it wasn't one of Deth's suggestions, as we go to a show that isn't even on Cagematch. I looked it up, and there isn't anything. The same wrestlers, however, apparently wrestled a Flaming Barbed Wire Deathmatch in IWA-MS earlier in the year. That had to be a spectacle and a half. This one, though, is a Taipei Deathmatch. No idea what Taiwan has to do with gluing broken glass to your fists, but I'm not going to question it. Let's get started, see if this is any good.

First impressions: wow, that's certainly a crowd. Easily the smallest attendance I've seen so far for this wheel. These men have guts, and not as in bravery. There's one guy in the crowd chanting "Corp". I admire the enthusiasm. They're cagey from the start (naturally, as they've got broken glass glued to their fists). Murdoch puts nothing into his initial punch attempt and Corp ducks easily. Murdoch then offers a free shot to Corp, who misses but then lands one right in the face. Corp puts Murdoch in the ropes and jabs some glass into his forehead (in a way that I can't see, because the referee is in the way), then goes to re-glass his fist. Very courteous of the FWS staff to provide an extra bucket of broken glass in case some fell off. How many beer bottles do you think they went through to fill that one?

Corp continues to cut Murdoch open with his glass (and I'm taking the commentary's word for it on this one, because there's only a single hard cam so I haven't seen a drop of blood personally yet). Murdoch, however, takes away the advantage with headbutts and drags Corp into one of the empty seats, digging some glass into him. The fans who scatter look more inconvenienced than anything. "You headbutt like a bitch" call from the same guy who chanted "Corp". Really clumsy looking big boot. Corp starts to no-sell and comes back, beating Murdoch to the other side of the crowd. I can't tell if Murdoch's stumbling because it's good selling or because he's legitimately out of it. I just noticed Robinson's wearing an NWA shirt. Makes me think of how Nick Aldis was shooting on the NWA recently. I ask the same question he asked when he saw Gaagz the Gimp: how do you justify this to Harley Race?

Murdoch recovers after hitting a low blow (how do you not puncture something with shards of broken glass in the crotch?). He pours the broken glass over Corp (yeah... that really wasn't as much as it looked) then hits him in the back with the bucket. They then walk together, Murdoch's arm draped, over to the commentary table so they can do a spot where Murdoch headbutts Corp repeatedly and tries to slice his mouth open with broken glass. Corp starts to recover with backfists, but Murdoch headbutts him so hard that he knocks himself over. It strikes me as odd that they're not actually bleeding as much as I'd think they would. Otto Wanz got more colour than this.

Corp gets a shot in and Murdoch tries to do something where he clatters into a ringside chair but instead gently sits in one. He then hits what I think is the best spot of the match, a WET FLOOR SIGN to the head! I observe that the floor was indeed wet, as Murdoch headbutts so hard both men are silly once again. He then tries it again but this time Corp doesn't sell. Murdoch is twitching on the floor. And jiggling. Both men proceed to punch each other in the head some more. "Referee needs to get out the fuckin' way" - that's a good call on commentary. This is apparently a tribute to Mitch Page - how appropriate, because according to the Cagematch reviews, Mitch Page was awful.

Murdoch sits in a chair again and challenges Corp to a headbutt battle. Murdoch wins with what commentary calls very generously a "diving" headbutt. They rekindle the headbutt battle on the floor until Murdoch goes for an eye poke (a broken glass eye poke, everyone, let that sink in). Murdoch recovers the empty bucket to concuss Corp with it, then a headbutt to the balls.

He's about to get the pin until someone's music hits, and is distracted by it (or maybe he's distracted by the lack of crowd reaction). It's Nick Depp, apparently, and the conversation is so riveting that Murdoch doesn't notice Corp coming behind for a Russian legsweep, which, I'm willing to admit, he does better than Sandman. He locks in a crossface when some other fucking goon (I think his name is Schwartz?) comes in and hits him in the head with a lead pipe. With all the damage to the head, you'd think that would give Murdoch the pinfall win, but it only gets two. Corp gets up and tosses Murdoch into his ally Schwartz, then hits a second Russian legsweep for the pin and win.

Yeah, that was lame. Just a pair of fat guys headbutting each other and doing little else. They tried to inject a bit of sports entertainment into it, but honestly I didn't care. Apparently Murdoch is well-regarded in the deathmatch world. My question, having only watched this out of his matches: why is that?

 

[Sky]

Match #36
Bret Hart (c) vs. The 1-2-3 Kid
for the WWF Championship
WWF Monday Night Raw - July 11, 1994​

Cool, a Bret Hart match. Somehow we've not had one of those. And here's a milestone - the 1-2-3 Kid has now had 1-2-3-4 matches on this wheel. This thread could be renamed "You Decide That Sky Should Watch Sean Waltman". Not complaining, all of these are in an era when he was fun to watch. This has got to be a real underdog story, as most Kid matches in WWF were. Let's rock.

Big video package putting over the possibility of Kid winning this - there basically was none, but Bret thinks he's a worker with potential, according to something he said at the HoF ceremony in 1994. Jim Ross and Macho Man on commentary - I know Savage hated being retired early and thought he could still wrestle, but I'll give it to him, he's not a bad commentator. Before the lights have even come up to signal the end of Bret's entrance, Owen Hart and the recently heel Jim Neidhart show up to ringside to shittalk Bret. It takes multiple refs both to separate Bret from them and to send them to the back. Wonder if they won't come back up later in the match...

A handshake of honour starts the match. Big establishing spot, when Kid hits an early armdrag. Bret's face really conveys "hm, this kid really is good". Great camera work to capture that moment, too. Bret wristlock, but Kid goes into one of his own and drops Bret into an armbar. Kid then kips up out of a bodyslam, and Bret now looks like "shit, this is going to be difficult after all". Kid gets a hammerlock in, Bret pulls off a snapmare to get out of it, but Kid rolls right through! The WWF Champion is actually being outperformed right now! Bret takes a different tack, downing the smaller opponent with an elbow, and establishes a headlock, but still Kid can rise out of it! He then does the Irish whip, duck, leapfrog thing, but then monkey flips a still-running Bret! There's really not been many actual moves in this match, but everything is meaningful. That's what matters. A dropkick and spinning kick sends Bret over the top rope!!

Back from the break, and Kid allowed Bret to return to the ring like the good boy babyface he is, but is back to working the arm and establishing control. He keeps yanking away, and when Bret climbs out, he keeps a hold of the arm and brings him right back down! Eventually Bret does get the hold broken, and hits a running Kid with a knee that just ploughs him over. A slam and a leg drop follow. He's leading with power now, something he knows that Kid can't match him in. Good idea, Bret. He hits some uppercuts in the corner, and then a pair of REALLY nasty-looking elbows to the back of the head. A swinging neckbreaker (logical followup! Nice!) gets two.

The power offensive is working perfectly. Irish whip to the corner absolutely CLATTERS Kid and looks like it'll nearly collapse the ring. Bret's control continues until Kid gets a crossbody out of nowhere! Bret tries to whip Kid again, but he stays stable in the corner, and goes to sunset flip Bret, but of course it doesn't work. When will wrestlers learn? Don't try to sunset flip someone heavier than you. Kid goes for a crucifix pin but Hart drops back and slams him. Kid gets his foot on the rope, but the referee doesn't notice and counts three anyway! Bret, like the good guy babyface he also is, lets the ref know, and after a bit of deliberation, it's confirmed that the match will continue! Sportsmanship, right there.

There's another break, and in a fun little moment, the "Double Feature" picture-in-picture shows a rolling pin attempt by Kid while the "live" feed shows a pin attempt by Bret. Both are about as near falls as each other. Bret goes for a chinlock, and Kid looks out at one point... but he's alive! He fights back and gets a backslide for two! Bret gets up first, though, and elbows the back of Kid's head again. Kid kicks out of a leg drop, a DDT, and then gets a leg up for what appears to be a diving headbutt, giving Bret a boot right to his chin! Just as Jim Ross says Kid's been unable to use enough of his feet, he ducks a clothesline and then smacks Bret with a leg lariat! Good for you, Kid, you prove him wrong!

Kid scrambles to the corner, but mamages to get a kick on Bret, then corners him with stomps and then a dropkick in the opposite corner! He goes for the same twisting moonsault he used to beat Razor Ramon, but Bret kicks out! He then hits a POWERBOMB!? How was Kid able to lift Hart like that after that beatdown?? Pure adrenaline. Very nice top rope leg drop by Kid gets two. He then goes for a rolling senton off the top rope to the outside, doesn't get all of it, but still... holy fuck. Back in the ring, he goes for another, but misses!

Bret takes control again! Sharpshooter attempt, but Kid gets a rope break! Bret goes for a superplex, but Kid pushes him down and covers for a very close two! Kid goes for a dropkick into the corner again, but just wrecks his legs on the ring ropes. Bret hits a bulldog then goes to the top-rope, but gets tossed off Flair-style. Kid goes for a missile dropkick... but BRET CATCHES HIM!! Into the Sharpshooter for a quick submission! Real show of respect at the end. I was shocked that Owen and Anvil weren't even involved in the finish.

And THAT is how you put over a man in defeat. Bret Hart still overcomes but this Kid proves that he really can hang. This should be the start of a huge push for him. If he can do that to Bret, what can he do to say, the current IC champion? GREAT match, one that I wouldn't expect on a Raw of today, let alone one from 1994.

 

[Sky]

Match #37
Eddy Steinblock (c) vs. One Warrior Nation
for the EPW Heavyweight Championship
DWA Wrestling Legends in Rotenburg - February 7, 2010​

And immediately following the amazing Bret vs. Kid match we get this shit. A bit of background: Eddy Steinblock was a German wrestler who was not good at wrestling, booking, or co-operating. He created the EPW Championship for himself in 2004, and held it until he died in 2017. One Warrior Nation is a bad Ultimate Warrior impersonator. This for a long time was rated as the worst match of all time on Cagematch. I don't expect even Piper/Bagwell will be having any sleepless nights over this one. Let's get this over with.

Eddy Steinblock's theme (We Will Rock You) is accompanied by the belt being held up not by Steinblock, but by a red-haired woman. Did Steinblock not want to hold the belt or something? One Warrior Nation (notably doughier than the original Warrior) comes out with a rubbish fake belt of his own. Should have come out to Renegade's theme, that would have been more fitting. In a bizarre display, they play the US and German national anthems (silly, Warrior isn't from the US, he's from Parts Unknown!). The German national anthem is accompanied by a weird mix of singing along and booing Steinblock.

The bell rings and OWN looks gassed already. Accurate impersonation. There's a lengthy staredown in which both men appeal to the crowd, only broken by a collar-and-elbow which is quickly broken. Eddy swivels his hips like he's God's gift to women. Ugh. Long headlock. OWN tosses Eddy into the ropes, then steps back to run the ropes himself for no reason. OWN "hits" an hip toss, though Eddy visibly does all of the work on it, and then stumbles to the side to get into proper position for what I think is standing arm work. A lengthy wristlock follows, with OWN dry heaving and howling like a maniac. Eddy backs into the corner, teases attacking OWN, but then just does a rule-abiding clean break. This is probably the best heel work he'll ever do, just teasing the crowd into thinking they'll see anything at all.

OWN ducks two lariats but not the third. Eddy looks like he's about to try a Steiner Recliner but just twists OWN's head. He then goes for, I can't tell if it's a choke or a nerve hold, but it's a heat segment. With a bit of fish-hooking for good measure, so we know Eddy's the heel. He tangles OWN's arm in the rope and works it a bit, but OWN recovers by shaking the ropes slowly. He goes for lariats, which Eddy ducks, then brings him into the corner for a pathetically slow corner splash. As much as I think Eddy's terrible, I actually feel bad for him for having to sell this goon's very light bearhug. He claps the ears to get out of it. A terrible snapmare only gets one.

OWN comes out of the ring and gets the Warriors' energy, but then is immediately axe handled by Eddy. OWN takes Eddy into the corner and goes for another slow corner splash, but Eddy gets the boot up for the second one. Eddy goes for a Pedigree, but neither man leaves his feet and OWN just slumps to the mat. Crowd LAUGHS at this. Same. It still gets the three.

Fuck me, that was dire. Not a single move was even hit convincingly, most moves weren't even hit at all. One Warrior Nation is legitimately the worst wrestler of any kind that I have seen in my life.

 

[Chris]

Lmaoooo who suggested this

 

[Sky]

Side note - I've decided to permanently re-open submissions, because fuck it, why not? Get some more variety in there. And not some more Buff Bagwell. Please.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Sent a bunch of all-time matches for your viewing pleasure, absolutely do not want you watching all bad matches.

 

[Rosie]

Added a couple. Decided to go with a match between tag partners, a weird one, and a classic.