From the Bowery: WWE: The Top 25 Rivalries in Wrestling History (Blu-Ray Disc One)

From the Bowery: WWE The Top 25 Rivalries in Wrestling History (Blu-Ray Disc One)

-I love these countdown DVDs as they usually provide a lot in terms of debate and countdowns are just fun to cover (see all the Top 8 or 10 or whatever number columns on this site).

-The host for this one is Renee Young and this is first time I have ever seen or heard of her. She immediately points out that while we may not agree with the countdown we should be able to enjoy the journey. That’s generally my thoughts on these types of sets.

25. Triple H vs. Mick Foley
-Road Dogg puts over the physicality of the rivalry, and says Foley is freaking crazy. Good choice to start as they had a mid card run that helped each man and then a Main Event run that put HHH over as the hottest heel in the business. Dogg kind of buries the blue blood gimmick and that it took the feud with Mankind to get him out of that as it showed his more aggressive side. Great stuff here!

24. Tazz vs. Sabu
-Our first ECW entrant and that’s actually refreshing to see. Holy piss, Shane Douglas is the talking head for this one. I guess they needed to get more from him outside of his appearance on the Foley DVD. He puts over that the 2 men just didn’t get along that well outside the ring and there was always tension. He puts over how crisp and hard hitting Tazz’s style was and then how bat shit crazy and innovative Sabu was. In review Tazz turned heel and nearly started a riot before going on a Path of Rage to get his hands on Sabu. For over a year they built this match (delayed due to ECW getting pulled from PPV) and finally happened at the first ECW PPV, Barely Legal. The intensity from Tazz is off the charts here and is lacking in today’s WWE. Douglas calls their feud everything that ECW was meant to be. The Barely Legal match was just the start and they would go on to torment each other for a few more years. Not mentioned here, but I love the story of Sabu putting tape over Tazz’s name on the FTW Title and writing his name over top.

23. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero
-Vicki gets the honor of talking about this one and that’s a pretty solid choice. We start in WCW as one would expect and Vicki puts over how each man helped bring the Lucha style to the mainstream US audience. For these two nothing will ever top their Halloween Havoc match. The L.W.O actually gets some props as the story was Eddie forming his own group and Rey shunning him at every turn to join. Seven years later things pick back up in the WWE with them winning the Tag Titles. Not sure why it took so long for someone to pair those two as a regular team. They opened up Mania 21 against each other even as Tag Title partners and that kicked off another run between the two. That leads to Rey’s kid actually being Eddie’s dad and Vicki mentions that Dominic was a pro about the whole thing. Everyone enjoyed the feud even with smarks across the country bitching about it from the word go. The main point here being these guys just had a ball working with each and it made for a great show.

22. Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher
-You think there will be blood with this video package? WCCW gets on the list for the first time and naturally with two blood thirsty, hardcore pioneers, Mick Foley is your tour guide. He calls their street fights enjoyable even though you know deep down you shouldn’t enjoy watching what they did to each other. The feud went all over the world and while they weren’t always in Japan, the center of the feud was for the fans in Japan. Foley mentions that he patterned a lot of his work after Brody and then calls Abdullah the craziest man in the history of wrestling. The fork is mentioned and Abdullah just inspired fear in everyone. Awesome story as Foley mentions that while in college he put a picture of Abdullah on his college dorm wall and told everyone Abdullah was his father. Fantastic! Then another tremendous story as he talks about how vicious Abdullah was but at the same time classy enough to hold a fart for 400 miles to avoid offending Foley’s wife. You have to love Mick, though not touching on the rivalry all that much. Thankfully with this one the violence of the video package does enough. He mentions that he wasn’t inspired by Abdullah and Brody, he just flat out stole from them. Got to love the honesty!

21. Hulk Hogan vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
-Some may say this is low, but since we never got a full blow-off for this one (WrestleMania 2 would have been great) during their WWF run this placement seems about right. Any video package that starts out with Real American is gold in my book so this one already has that going for it. Interesting choice with Ted Dibiase Jr. taking the lead on this one, but we’ll see what the kid can do. He puts over the Rock N Wrestling era and how it gave Piper something to play off to start the feud. Piper nearly starts a riot in MSG by attacking Cyndi Lauper, David Wolfe, and Lou Albano and that leads to Hogan wanting revenge. All of this set up the first WrestleMania and I nearly choke hearing Piper scream “bring on the big black man” when referring to Mr T. That certainly doesn’t happen in today’s WWE scene. Dibiase says he wants to replicate the emotion that Piper and Hogan got from the fans. Then he takes a slight shot at Hogan by saying he can thank Piper for helping create Hulk-a-mania. Bullshit on that one. True, every great hero needs a villain, but Hogan was causing near riots in the AWA with his act long before getting to the WWE. Piper is a legend and great at getting people to hate him, but Hogan was a made man from the moment he knocked off Sheik for the Title.

-Back to Renee and she puts over the evolution of the WWE as went from Hogan/Piper to Cena/Punk 20 years later. In this case openly saying that Cena was playing the role of Hogan and Punk was doing a great job of playing Piper. Nice transition!

20. CM Punk vs. John Cena
-The most recent rivalry on this list and I have no problem with it already being considered one of the greatest of all time. Thankfully they have Paul Heyman cover this one and that should prove to be awesome. He notes that there is no Luke Skywalker without Darth Vader, no Batman without Joker, and no John Cena without CM Punk. He calls Punk’s famous stage shoot promo the moment Punk broke through the glass ceiling. Paul gives high praise as he calls their rivalry the Austin/Rock of this generation. They need a WrestleMania Main Event or two to get to that point and sadly I don’t know if that is ever going to happen. Closest they ever got was the Money in the Bank match that set the world on fire. They cover the crazy 2 champion nonsense and Heyman even mentions that Punk was the real champion. I mean I know we get stuff like that in the UFC, but to me it doesn’t work as well in the WWE. Punk’s “New York Yankees” line is still killer, and he plays off that by wearing Yankee pinstripes in Boston to piss off Sox Nation. Great feud with hopefully many more years to come!

19. Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle
-Bret Hart gets this one and great choice there as I am sure Kurt will be quite honored. Bret calls Brock a walking refrigerator and was impressed with his transition to pro-wrestling. Then you have Angle and Bret says he was a fan from day one as it is not easy to go from being an amateur to pro-wrestling. You just knew these two were destined to face each other and smartly their first true meeting was at WrestleMania. Bret calls amateur wrestling the toughest sport by far and credits both men with doing some amateur stuff in the Main Event at Mania and getting the crowd into the match. Brock vs. Kurt is what wrestling is supposed to be and Bret calls their matches a throwback. In 2003 they have a fantastic Iron Man Match on SmackDown which is crazy considering both men had only been in the business a combined 5 years or so. Perhaps we will get these two in a ring again one day.

18. Randy Orton vs. Triple H
-Now this one I will take issue with as I was never a fan of this seemingly endless feud. The only time it peaked my interest was Orton hearing voices, punting Vince, and dropping Stephanie. Then they flushed that down the toilet with a heatless match at Mania that I witnessed first hand. I mean the back story is great with Orton being mentored in Evolution by HHH and then getting turfed from the group, but they just never clicked in the ring. Cody and his mustache handle this one and he is as good as choice as any they have on the roster. The draping DDT on Stephanie while a handcuffed Triple H watches is probably best thing about this feud. Each man has had better feuds and I think even they would tell you that.

17. Verne Gagne vs. Nick Bockwinkel
-Now we head to the AWA for this feud and fittingly Okerlund tackles this one. Gene does a good job covering this feud as I am sure a lot of today’s fans know nothing of this one, and even I didn’t get much of this due to my age and limited AWA exposure. Okerlund mentions that Verne was rather weak on the microphone, but got his point across while Bockwinkel was articulate and great on the stick. They made a piss load of money against each other for nearly 20 years and mainly because Verne trusted Nick to help carry the company. Verne respected legit workers and that’s why guys like Hogan and Ventura never got a run with the AWA Title. Overall Gene was a fan of the rivalry and calls it a clear case of good guy vs. bad guy that the fans could buy.

16. Mankind vs. The Undertaker
-Next up we have Lawler discuss this one and he equates this feud to 2 movie monsters beating the hell out of each other. Good call! After years of Taker beating mid card monsters he finally got programmed with a crazy bastard that could take a beating, still look threatening, and get good to great matches from. Their feud created some interesting matches with The Boiler Room Brawl, and the Buried Alive Match. The rivalry was brought back in 98 with Hell in a Cell and nothing would ever be the same. Lawler felt something bad was going to happen sitting at ringside and he calls it a bad car wreck that you couldn’t look away from. The second bump led to the infamous “that’s it, he’s dead” comment. That was a legit call from Lawler and I am sure he isn’t the only one thinking Foley was gone. Not only wasn’t he dead, but he still had to do a run-in during the Kane/Austin match. I forgot about that and it shows how insane Foley really is. As for the rivalry it will always be linked to the Hell in a Cell match, but that is selling it short. It was the Mankind feud that helped rejuvenate the Undertaker character.

-Back to Renee as she is forced to continue this goofy bit of relating everything to chemistry, and the elements. I mean I guess this could help if you are watching and still in high school, but after the opening it’s getting kind of goofy.

15. Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer
-Hell yeah! This is one of my favorite feuds off all time and features one of my favorite wrestlers and characters off all time: Raven. Only one person can cover this feud and that’s the voice of ECW, Joey Styles. They touch on Dreamer being a pretty boy that was booed out of the building until the Sandman beat the shit out of him with a Singapore cane. Then Raven debuts claiming he was bullied by Dreamer in summer camp, and that brings in Beulah (Dreamer is a lucky man!). Joey notes that Tommy is the one that knew he had to keep losing no matter how many times they fought. No matter how silly the back story, the feud just grew and grew for two years with twists and turns galore until they met for the final time before Raven took off from WCW. Even in that case Dreamer didn’t want to win the match as he and Raven both knew they would be meeting again, but Heyman made the call for Tommy to get the win. I would pay good money if they would give this rivalry it’s own DVD set, but don’t see that ever happening. For now though this is a nice tip of the cap to what was the greatest feud in ECW history.

14. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
-Based on match quality alone you can make an argument for this being Top 5 and maybe number 1. What made this great is that they didn’t touch each other for years and when it finally happened both men were at their peak. They skip past the first match and go right to the Hell in a Cell match which is still the greatest cell match ever. Michael Hayes calls the match one of the greatest moments in the history of the WWE. We skip past the casket rematch that ended Shawn’s career for a few years and go to the Rumble with them being the last 2 men. What they did at the end showed they had a lot left in the tank and left fans wanting another one on one match between the two. That leads to Mania 25 and Hayes calls it the best build to a match he may have ever seen. I am proud to say I was there for this match and obviously greatest match I have ever seen live (and that counts being there the next year for the rematch). There is nothing I can say or write that will explain the feeling inside that building during the match. Hayes even mentions that Taker was smiling from ear to ear as he walked in the back which is something he never does after a match. Immediately they knew there had to be a rematch and that led to WrestleMania 26 with Shawn’s career on the line. Shawn ends his career with another show stealing match and thankfully Taker has picked up the mantle as the man to steal Mania each year.

13. Triple H vs. The Rock
-Immediately Billy Gunn brings up how each man changed physically and from a character standpoint when this feud began in 1997. At the time it was the snob vs. the smiling Rocky then to warring factions to Main Event stars. This feud reminds me somewhat of Shawn/Bret as they rose together and basically used working with the other as a way to get to the Main Event. The ladder match at SummerSlam 98 is the match that showed these two were ready for the Main Event stage. Gunn mentions that their backstage relationship was fine, and I wonder what the real scoop is between the two. The Iron Man match is covered, and I am still waiting for that one to be put on one of this sets (it’s not on this one sadly), but at least I have it transferred on a DVD from a VHS copy somewhere. Gunn reiterates my point about them bringing each other up to the Main Event level.

12. Edge vs. John Cena
-This is another one of my favorite feuds and sucks that like Cena/Punk they never got a true WrestleMania match to blow things off for good. Lita, looking rather good, takes the narrative on this one and that’s a solid choice considering she was front and center for most of the rivalry. In my mind this is the greatest rivalry in each man’s career and may remain that way unless something more happens with Punk/Cena. Things started with the first Money in the Bank cash in and still best cash in ever. Sadly, Edge didn’t have the confidence of the office as they moved away from this feud and went to Cena/HHH at Mania. The best part of the feud is that it simmered for years and when it finally ended, Edge won the final meeting at Backlash. Just a fun feud!

11. Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage
-Yes! Yes! Yes! For me this is Top 5 easy, but I grew up on this feud and I am a massive fan of each man. To make this even more awesome CM Punk covers this one, and that should prove interesting. Punk does a fabulous job recapping the feud with the formation and then explosion of the Mega Powers. He calls their handshake the most famous handshake in the history of the world. Not shockingly, Punk sides with Savage as he points out Hogan was horning in on Savage’s spotlight at Mania IV and trying to steal his woman when they were a team. He makes sure to mention that as a kid it seemed like Hogan was in the right, but if you go back and watch now you can see why Savage had every right to be pissed off. Man has a point even if my loyalties will always rest with Hogan. Punk’s take on the Main Event fall out against the Twin Towers is a thing of beauty. Liz takes a fantastic bump, and then the stuff in the back with Savage’s rant and cheap shot is stuff of legends. Punk playfully calls Hogan the most despicable man ever for trying to steal Liz. He then jokingly says that it’s always a woman to blame in the end. They briefly touch on their run in WCW and how while not as great it still added chapters to the long history between the two. I know others made more money and may be more historically important, but Savage/Hogan is my favorite rivalry of all time.

-More from Renee and her lab coat relating everything to the periodical table.

10. Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard
-I will say too high considering what is right behind them, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt considering I was raised on WWE and didn’t get into NWA/WCW until late 80s. Dusty Rhodes is great choice for this one and that’s who they give us thankfully. The main things in this feud were the US Title and Blanchard’s valet, Baby Doll. Things were personal as Dusty mentions that Magnum is married to Tully’s ex wife and helped raise Tully’s kids. Nice! Things boiled to an I Quit match inside a cage at Starrcade and in a lot of eyes it is the greatest cage match and I Quit match of all time. As Tony Schiavone mentions during the match, “hatred is what this match is about.” No shit! Dusty sums things up nicely: “they didn’t like each other.”

9. Undertaker vs. Kane
-Way too high as longevity doesn’t equal greatness in this case. The story of Kane can’t be told without Taker, but there is a lot of bad stuff that weighs this one down in my view. With that said, it accomplished a lot in introducing a character that was on equal footing with The Undertaker, and introducing a character that would be a mainstay for over 15 years now. The theatrics of the feud were solid to horrible at times, and the matches were average to bad with their 1st match at Mania XIV being the best of the bunch. I have no problem with this being on the list, but Top 10 is kind of insane considering what’s behind them. Oh, I guess I should note JR is covering this one and he makes me chuckle by calling them both “big bastards.”

8. Edge and Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz
-Now this I am ok with as it launched the careers of 6 men, caused the last golden age of tag wrestling, and revolutionized the ladder match. William Regal gets the honor to discuss this one, and I am sure he was there to listen and give advice to all six men. They touch on each team and what they brought to the table. The feud explodes with their Triangle Ladder Match at Mania 2000 and Regal mentions that they all knew they had to steal the show as they were worried about their spot in the company. The match was revolutionary, but little did we know that they were just getting started. The first TLC match happens at SummerSlam 2000 and that blew Mania out of the water. The feud and matches are so successful they do TLC II at WrestleMania X-Seven and that was the high point of the feud and the tag boom of the late 90s. Regal mentions he would have locked Edge in the back had he known he was going to do the spear off the ladder. While the fans enjoyed it, he couldn’t because those were his friends out there. From their all 6 men started to go separate ways and all of them had success of some level with D-Von and Matt being only ones not to win a major world title (not counting Matt winning the WWECW Title).

7. Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair
-Again, I missed a lot of this due to my age and fact I grew up on Hogan and WWE in the 80s. Shawn takes center stage for this one, and that makes a lot of sense. Shawn, like me, got a lot of the rivalry through the wrestling magazines at the time. I still remember running across the street to our local convenience store and buying the WWF Magazine and Pro Wrestling Illustrated for $5 while also getting some Ninja Turtle Trading Cards. For this feud we are back to opposites when it comes to personalities and styles, but both men were full of charisma and larger than life characters. The promos were legendary even if the matches weren’t all that great. That crazy thing is the matches didn’t have to be classics because the fans were so invested in the characters and the build.

6. The Fabulous Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs
-Again, didn’t get a lot of World Class growing up, but have read and seen enough since to know that this was one of hottest feuds ever and sold out arenas all over Texas and the South. The great thing about these feuds from the 80s is that it really looks like the crowd is close to rushing the ring and causing a riot. Flair goes man by man in this feud and puts over everyone, but kind of buries Buddy Roberts. Ouch! He says Roberts was a good performer, but anyone could have played his role. Damn! Seeing Michael Hayes dressed as Santa hitting a piledriver is awesome! It ends solemnly with Flair recounting how only one of the Von Erichs is alive and the memories of that time are all anyone has left of the family.

-One more time to Renee as she mentions the Sportatorium and how it was stomping grounds of a rattlesnake.

5. The Rock vs. Steve Austin
-No beef with this one being top 5 at all as you have 2 of the greatest ever doing battle during the hottest period in the WWF’s history. You could make the case this is too low actually, but once in top 5 would be nitpicking. For some reason Miz is picked to lead this one and that makes me cringe. I am not a Miz hater, but damn wasn’t there anyone better. This is another case of two guys fighting for the IC Title first and working their rivalry up to the WWE Title and the Main Event. What was fantastic here is that the interviews and interaction were top notch and the matches were just as great. If Austin has any matches left in his body, I would love to see Rock/Austin IV at Mania just because you know they would have the time of their life out there. Miz echoes my thoughts as he says he would be willing to watch these two 50 Manias in a row if it were possible. They defined the Attitude Era and the WWE is still looking for guys to completely fill their shoes. You have to think if the WWE does another DVD like the Shawn/Bret one it has to be of these two next.

4. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
-You can probably guess who gets to handle this one. Yep, Big Show gets the nod and immediately tells of how he was rooting for Andre. Hogan has been on this thing three times and in each case they have made sure to take a few little digs at the man which is kind of petty. We are back in my wheelhouse as I was a 5-6 year old boy when all this went down and I still have vivid memories of Andre scaring the crap out of me and hurting my hero. Andre tearing off the crucifix is one those moments that has stuck with me and Hogan’s response elicited one of the loudest reactions you will ever hear. There are 2 stats that tell all you need to know about this rivalry: 1) they drew over 93,000 fans to WrestleMania and 2) the rematch on NBC drew a 15.2 rating with 33 million viewers. That’s all that really needs to be said about how this rivalry garnered the attention of fans.

3. Ric Flair vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
-Referee and Hall of Famer, Tommy Young gets to handle this one and I can’t think of a better choice. Just like a lot of the other rivalries with Flair, the key to this one was the different backgrounds and lifestyles of the two men. In this case you have the ultimate baby face against the dirtiest player in the game and oh yeah, they can deliver in the ring better than 99.9 percent of anyone who has ever lived. The series in 89 is quite probably the greatest trilogy of matches you’ll ever see, but that wasn’t all there was to this rivalry. This covers everything from the early 80s to that famous series and the run in the mid 90s. Young compliments both guys and was honored they wanted him to work their matches. Well, when you have two of the best ever you better have the greatest ref ever. He relates that Flair loved to blow guys up in the ring and he couldn’t do it to Steamboat no matter how much he tried. Young specifically brings up the Superdome match and calls it the most special match of the bunch because it was 2 out of 3 falls. He wraps it up best “they were the kings and nothing can top those matches.”

2. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
-I would have had no qualms had this been number 1 actually just due to the length, historical importance, and the battles both on and off screen. Dolph Ziggler is the fortunate one who gets to cover this historic feud. Obviously it starts with the Rockers and Hart Foundation feud, and just grew from there. That is what makes this one so awesome as they grew up together with Bret getting there first, but Shawn always on his heels before things exploded when they battled for the top spot in the company. Go get the Bret/Shawn DVD if you want more on this feud as what we get here only scratches the surface. What makes this so great is that with all the bitterness and flat out hate post 97, things settled and we got the handshake upon Bret’s return. The more I watch the more I think this should have been number 1. The great matches, personal attacks, and of course Montreal coupled with the reconciliation after 12 years should get this one to the top of this list. I know what it’s not though and really can’t argue too hard with the number one selection.

-Away we go to Renee and hopefully this is the last of this chemistry theme.

1. Mr. McMahon vs. Steve Austin
-Again, can’t argue with this as it is the rivalry that turned the WWF into a billion dollar company and put them back on top of the mountain. Vince Russo makes a surprise cameo to handle this one and that’s a pretty smart choice actually. This is the money feud of all money feuds for the WWE and it was the best example of rebel face vs. authority figure that every company has stolen and beaten into the ground. Russo calls it is a perfect storm that will never be created again, and that makes me wonder why he kept trying to do just that in WCW and TNA. So many great moments and as he always does, Vince took his ass kicking like a man when the time called for it.

-I was wrong as we go back to Renee as she wraps things up with more about chemistry.

-Just a few rivalries off the top of my head that I think deserved inclusion: Sting/Flair, Sting/Vader, and Hart/Austin are first 3 that jumped out to me. I am kind of shocked they didn’t do Lita/Trish just to be different and get the ladies on there somewhere. Obviously, I don’t think deserved Top 25, but thought they might throw them a bone. I am sure all you readers will toss out some more rivalries that were deserving of consideration.

The Matches

WWF Title: Hulk Hogan © (w/ Dave Wolfe, Cyndi Lauper, and Capt. Lou Albano) vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (w/ “Ace” “Cowboy” Bob Orton)
–The War to Settle the Score: Feb 18, 1985; MSG, NY, NY

-Piper is led to the ring by a full Scottish band. He is wearing a Hulk-a-Mania shirt and brings an electric guitar. Bob Costas (of NBC sports) is the special ring announcer. This match was shown on MTV, and Piper started a war against the network and Rock-n-Roll in general (mainly Lauper and Wolfe). He tells everyone he hates Rock-n-Roll and smashes the guitar. Mr. T is sitting front row and greets Hogan as he makes his entrance. Gorilla and Gene do commentary, and name drop all the celebrities in the crowd. No stalling or slow start here as both men tear into each other, and brawl all over the ring. Hogan sends Piper to the buckles and follows him in with a back elbow. He follows with two slams and drops an elbow. The brawl continues as Hogan bites at the face, but Piper reverses a whip to the corner and follows with a clothesline. He goes for a cover, but Hogan is out at two. Piper chokes and hits a double thrust to the throat of Hogan. That sets up the sleeper, and Gorilla and Gene throw a hissy-fit because they think it is a choke. I hate to be that ref because it sounds like Gorilla wants to beat the piss out of him after the show. The arm drops twice, but Hogan is able to break by dropping Piper head first on the top turnbuckle. Piper maintains the advantage by going to the eyes, and that gives Orton the chance to take a shot at Hogan. I assume he is paying Hogan back (forward) for going over his son 21 years later. Hogan hits Ace in his injured arm, and Orndorff comes down to take his spots as Piper’s life partner for the night. Hogan pounds away back inside the ring, and they take turns raking each other’s eyes. A clothesline from Hogan sets up an atomic drop. The ref gets hit by Piper, and all kinds of hell breaks loose. Orndorff comes off the top rope and drops a knee on Hogan. Lauper comes to the aid of Hogan and the heels trap her in the corner. Mr. T makes the save, and the crowd has lost their minds at this point. Piper invites T in the ring, and he is stupid enough to accept. He gets caught by Piper and the heels work him over before Hogan makes the save. There’s basically no match at this point as the NYPD jump in to try to keep order. The visual of uniformed police trying to keep them apart is a lot better than if they just used officials or other wrestlers. All kinds of crazy heat for this!

Piper vs. Hogan: No Contest @ 7:14
-This was basically a hard sell for what was to come in March, namely, WrestleMania. Lots of crazy ass heat, and it served to make people want to pay to see Hogan beat the piss out if Piper. Good energy as the two men brawled like crazy for the few minutes they had. We will call it **1/2 for the whole thing.

NWA U.S. Title: Steel Cage: I Quit Match: Tully Blanchard © (w/ Baby Doll) vs. Magnum T.A.
Starrcade: Nov. 28, 1985; Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

-As mentioned in the countdown these two hate each other and really all you need to know. Some mat wrestling to start as each man looks for an early advantage. Tully starts firing off forearm uppercuts and Magnum responds with some heavy right hands. Tully gets caught against between the cage and the ropes, but is able to fight his way back into the ring without eating the steel. Magnum is the first to get fired into the cage and we have blood as Tully locks in a reverse chinlock. The crowd is crazy at this point which shows how much they have invested in this match. Magnum breaks the hold and gets a Gorilla Press and drops Blanchard throat first onto the top rope. Sweet! They exchange blows in the middle of the ring and Tully pulls the tights to put Magnum into the cage. A few moments later Tully is the one sent into the cage. Magnum smartly goes after the shoulder since this is an I Quit Match. Tully grabs something from Baby Doll and uses it to his advantage. They beat on each other from their knees and Magnum gets the advantage by going to the arm. He looks in an armbar, but Tully is all man and won’t quit. At this point Tully is bleeding from the head and things get awesome from here. Tully asks Magnum to quit and each time he says no we get an awesome “thunk” from the mic hitting Magnum in the head. Tremendous! Tully’s arm is covered in blood from Magnum and he opts to head up top to come down with a with an axe handle. He gets the mic again and Magnum is still defiant so he gets blasted in the head again. Heh! They fight back to their feet and you can tell each man has been through a war at this point. Now Magnum gets the mic and Tully screams and grunts as he refuses to quit. That gives Magnum an excuse to blast Tully with the mic as payback, but he doesn’t get the awesome sound effect that Tully was able to get. They battle again on the mat with them trying to rip out the other one’s eye out apparently. Sick! Again they fight from their knees and both men look exhausted. Magnum goes back to the mic and Tully opts to just kick the mic out of his hand. An atomic drop sends Magnum to the mat and Tully crawls for the mic. This time he doesn’t even ask at first and instead just blasts Magnum in the face. Now Magnum answers no and the crowd is just roaring as this thing is building to a fantastic finish. The ref gets tossed by Tully and that gives Baby Doll a chance to toss a wooden chair into the ring. The chair is slightly broken, so Tully breaks it completely to get a wooden spike. He blasts the ref again and tries to use the stake to puncture Magnum’s eyes. So awesome! The crowd has lost it at this point, and breath a sigh of relief as Magnum fights off and grabs the stake. He tears at the eye and head of Tully and as the blood gushes that is enough to make him quit at 14:43. The crowd reaction when Magnum celebrates is kind of awe inspiring.

Winner and New NWA US Champion: Magnum T.A. at 14:43
-Awesomely violent with a sadistic ending to blow off a tremendous feud. I think that match has aged quite well and looks even better now since we are years past the blood letting of the ECW and Attitude Era. *****

Bruiser Brody vs. Abdullah the Butcher (w./ Gary Hart)
WCCW: July 1987

-Brody comes to the ring with a gas can and blasts Abdullah before we even get the ring introductions. That immediately brings the blood before the opening bell. Brody works the cut and uses his teeth to draw out some more blood. I don’t know how healthy that is, but screw it as it’s the 80s and these two hate each other. Abdullah fires back with some chops and then uses the hidden fork to split Brody wide open. Bruiser catches Abdullha with a boot to the face in the corner and begins to stomp away. He runs his hands through the blood pouring from his head and that sends him into a rage, but Abdullah counters with a claw to the dick. Well then! Nothing more needs said there. They brawl on the floor and look out as this could end up anywhere. Brody puts a chair to good use and it is kind of amusing watching the crowd run for safety. Chairs get tossed and knocked over as they continue to fight through the crowd. They continue to brawl and for some reason the announcers tell us they can’t broadcast anymore of this. What the piss was that?

Winner: No Contest, I guess at around 6:00
-Fun, chaotic brawl while it lasted, but the non finish kind of sucked. **

Badstreet Rules Match: Kevin and Kerry Von Erich vs. Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts
WCCW: Feb. 1988

-So after telling us in the countdown that Roberts was the minor figure in this feud, they give us a match with him and without Hayes. Being this is a street fight it is come dressed as you are and that typically means we are getting wrestlers in tight ass jeans. Nothing says I want to kick your ass like a man in jeans apparently. For some reason the ref is ordering a man from each team out of the ring and I wonder what good does that do in a street fight. Kerry and Gordy brawl and Gordy eats a discus punch. He charges right back though and they seemingly hug each other in the ring as an attempted headlock gets turned into a bearhug from Gordy. He makes the tag to Roberts and he immediately gets caught and whipped with a leather belt. The tag gets made to Kevin and he comes off the top with an elbow to the back of the head. All hell breaks loose with all four men in the ring and again for some reason the ref is trying to restore order? What is this legal men crap? This is a street fight for goodness sake! Kevin gets hit with a suplex on the floor and then Roberts blasts him with the heel of his cowboy boot. The ref gets the 4 men separated, but doesn’t last long as Gordy grabs a chair. He hammers away at Kerry and back in the ring Kevin goes for the claw, but Roberts fights back. We take a break and when we come back Kevin is firing back on Gordy. He uses a foreign object tossed in by Kerry and then locks in the claw on the abdomen. Roberts tries to make the safe, but Kerry sends him to the floor. The distraction was enough though as Gordy gets back to his feet and then hits a swank looking piledriver for two. A second piledriver attempt is countered with a backdrop and the hot tag is made to Kerry. He sticks Gordy with a piledriver (not nearly as awesome as Gordy’s earlier one) and then gives one to Roberts as well. Iceman Parsons makes his way down to the ring and he threatens everyone with a stick. Now all four men are back in the ring and the ref has finally given up on trying to restore order. Chris Adams makes his way down and he chases Parsons around the ring. The two of them roll into the ring and for some reason we get a bell to end this thing with all 6 men fighting. What is up with these crappy finishes on this set for the WCCW matches? The gang war continues with the crowd freaking out. The Angel of Death is the next one to enter the ring and he cuffs Kevin to the bottom turnbuckle. The faces get their asses handed to them until Kevin somehow gets free and he chases off the heels.

Winners: No Contest at 10:10
-A rather fun and intense brawl with a hot crowd, but no ending kind of hurts things. The constant idea of telling us there is no DQ, but then having the ref try to keep order was kind of weird, but perhaps I don’t understand the intricacies of a Badstreet Rules match. ***

Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage (w/ Elizabeth) vs. Andre The Giant and Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil and Bobby Heenan)
SummerSlam: August 29, 1988; MSG, NY, NY

-I’m lazy so I am cutting and pasting from my review of this PPV. For those wondering Dibiase is making his summer residence in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. For some reason Ventura moves the position of the tag ropes, and gets in Hogan’s face about it. Hogan and Savage discuss who is going to start, and Hogan agrees to Savage’s request. Sadly for Savage he soon finds out that he is starting things with Andre. In a smart move Andre quickly gets the advantage and makes the tag to Dibiase to picks the scraps. Dibiase lets Savage up though and calls on Hogan to get in the ring. Dibiase gets caught with an atomic drop and then gets pinballed between Hogan and Dibiase. The Mega Powers deliver a double chop and then a double elbow before Jesse chases Hogan out of the ring. The tag is made back to Hogan and he rams Dibiase into the buckle twice and then into Savage’s boot before making the tag. Savage heads up top and hits a double axe, and the tag is made back to Hogan. Dibiase eats a double boot from the Mega Powers, and that’s gets two. Hogan drops dome elbows and then fucks up by going after Andre on the apron. Andre simply headbutts him, and then delivers one to Savage as well. Ventura tries to get control of the situation, and Dibiase finally tags out to Andre. He beats the piss out of Hogan and locks in nerve hold that brings the Immortal one to his knees. He switches to a more conventional nerve hold, and while this is no more exciting that Hercules’ chinlock, the crowd is alive and thus it seems better. Dibiase tags back in, and shockingly it seems Hogan is going to be your face in peril. Dibiase hooks in a reverse chinlock, and Monsoon and Graham bitch that it is a choke. Ever the awesome heel, Dibiase even manages to grab whatever hair he can find on Hogan’s head to maintain the hold. Ventura checks the arm, but the crowd starts brining Hogan back to life and he is able to break the hold. A double clothesline leaves both men down, and now it’s a race to make a tag. Hogan wins the race, and Savage goes bat shit crazy on Dibiase with a clothesline and backdrop. He hangs Dibiase throat first on the top rope and hits the double ax from up top. Savage ducks a clothesline and gets a crossbody for two. Savage charges again, but Dibiase is waiting with a clothesline this time, and he makes the tag to Andre. The collective groan from the crowd as the tag was made is quite awesome. Even though know Savage is royally screwed. As expected Andre unleashes hell on Savage for just a few moments before making the tag back to Dibiase. Now Dibiase is in control, and gets a two count off a suplex. A backbreaker follows, and he tries the back elbow from the middle rope, but Savage rolls out of the way. The hot tag is made to Hogan and the crowd goes nuts as he unloads on Dibiase. Hogan hits a suplex, and that brings Andre into the match where he gets caught with a right hand. Hogan hooks Dibiase in a sleeper and at the same time Savage gets caught with a boot from Andre. He headbutts Hogan from behind and Liz decides to start walking on the apron. The Mega Powers are on the floor regrouping as the heels watch Liz take off her skirt revealing some panties. That proves to be more than enough to distract the heels, the ref, and the crowd to let Savage come off the top with a double axe that puts Andre on the floor. That leaves Dibiase alone with the Mega Powers and he ends up taking the flying elbow from Savage and the leg drop from Hogan. Ventura counts two, and Savage has to force him to make the final count at 13:57. After the match Hogan picks up and celebrates with Liz drawing a less than thrilled look from Savage, but hey, they won the match, so it’s cool. I’m sure that won’t hinder this everlasting friendship.

Winners: The Mega Powers via Hogan pin on Dibiase at 13:57
-Not a great match, but the ending is remembered well, and the crowd enjoyed every second of the match. It seemed a little short considering it was the Main Event, and Savage could have taken a better shit kicking before making the hot tag. Still, it was at least fun compared to what else was on this card. **1/2

The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Mankind
King of the Ring: June 23, 1996; Milwaukee, WI

-Thankfully they give us their first meeting instead of the Cell match that is on other releases. I haven’t seen this match since watching the PPV 17 years ago (Wow!), and back then I remember being both bored by it and shocked by the ending. Mankind debuted a few months prior and immediately made life hell for Taker and now he is pissed. Taker starts quick as he appears out of nowhere on the top rope and delivers a clothesline. He pounds away in the corner, and Mankind does all he can to create space. Instead he gets tossed to the floor and nothing really happens as things kind of grind to a halt. Finally things get going back in the ring and Taker tries to rip the mask of Mankind’s head, but no dice. Old School when it wasn’t called as such connects and Mankind is having no luck in this one to this point. Back to the corner and this time a back elbow turns the tide. Taker does a zombie sit up and while others shit their pants, Mankind just mows him down with a clothesline. Sweet! Now Taker is the one that gets pounded down in the corner and then gets his face destroyed with a running knee. The fight heads to the floor and Mankind screams at a kid in the front row. That draws a few laughs from the other people around ringside. While things have slowed considerably in this one I want to mention that we have a unique commentary team of Vince, JR, and Owen Hart. Back in the ring for a brief second and then back to the floor with Mankind dominating. He sends Taker into the steps and then starts searching under the ring. He finds a few chairs and gets one kicked in his face. Taker hits a backdrop that Mankind takes on the chair on the floor. We go back in the ring and while Paul Bearer distracts the ref, the Undertaker unloads with some chair shots. Taker prepares for the Tombstone, but Mankind floats out and sticks a swinging neckbreaker. That leaves both men out as the crowd is starting to get into this one after a slow start. Mankind hits a legdrop and tries for the Mandible Claw, but Taker blocks. He gets back to his feet, but sent right back and eats an elbow drop. Another zombie sit-up and Mankind goes to a nerve hold. That gives me a chance to mention that Owen is pretty fantastic in the commentary role as he does a good job of tossing in little tidbits from an in ring perspective. The nerve hold continues and while today we would probably get a boring chant by now, this crowd is staying with them as they try to rally Taker. He responds by throwing a ton of blows to break the hold and then a clothesline sends Mankind to the floor. Mankind pulls Taker out to join him and again the fight continues outside the ring. In a sick spot, Mankind charges around half the ring and connects with the running knee that sends Taker’s head into the steps. Watching Mick “sprinting” around half the ring is pretty funny. A slam leaves Taker in the aisle and Mankind comes off the apron with the Cactus Elbow, but Taker uses a nearby chair to block. Now Taker is super pissed and he swings for the fences as he connects with the chair. They go back in the ring and Taker controls with right hands and head butts. The Leaping Clothesline connects, but Mankind is up rather quickly. A backdrop attempt is countered by Mankind with a piledriver for two. Mankind is rather disturbed by that and starts pulling out his hair. He takes the urn from Paul Bearer as Vince mentions he will be disqualified. Yet, he says nothing when Taker uses a chair 4 different times. Bearer steals the urn back, so Mankind just opts to use apply the Mandible Claw. They head towards the corner, and Paul tries to hit Mankind with the urn, but instead clocks Taker. That draws a rather large gasp from the crowd, and the Mandible Claw ends things to the shock of the crowd at 18:21. Owen questions if Bearer did that on purpose or if it was really an accident. Good call as a month later we would find out Bearer was working with Mankind.

Winner: Mankind via TKO at 18:21
-A solid first outing between the two that showed they had chemistry. Once they figured out a way to mesh their two styles things would only get better. This match had some trouble getting out of first gear for a bit, but ended up solid. Mankind winning was clearly the right call as it immediately made the new good look strong for the rest of the feud. ***

The 411: The countdown feature is always fun, and I kind of like how they gave each entry a decent amount of time. I also liked the idea of having 1 current or former superstar give his thoughts on the rivalry. Sure some of the choices seemed kind of odd, but maybe someone out there really wants to know what Dibiase Jr thought of Hogan/Piper. Still have one more disc to go with many more matches from these classic rivalries.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]