Post by Wii M Punk on Apr 26, 2010 7:38:31 GMT -5
Here's one I bet a lot of people never thought they'd see on here in this series.
Diesel and Shawn Michaels.
What phrase best sums these two up? Two men who's WWF Careers in the 90's seemed to run parallel to each other.
I know... how about "Good Friends Better Enemies"?
Infact this was the very tagline the WWF attached to the In Your House event that both men clashed at. To be honest, it couldn't be more perfect.
Story goes like this, during 1994, while Bret Hart was "the guy" and leading the company as the WWF Champion. A unit were growing in popularity on the undercard.
Fans, marks and smarks alike, were blown away by Shawn Michaels epic effort at WM X in the ladder match with Razor Ramon. Even though he lost, the performance knocked Michaels up a few runs on the WWF ladder. He was starting to become a contender.
Earlier in the year at the Royal Rumble, HBK's bodyguard, Kevin Nash but better known as Diesel had gotten crazy over with the fans when he entered the Rumble match and began destroying the competition.
So the WWF decided to start having the two of them compete as a tag team more often during the year rather than just have Diesel stand in Shawn's corner during 1-on-1 matches.
Despite Diesel becoming Intercontinental Champion midway through 1994 and then both men winning the World Tag Team Championships together, there was an undercurrent story running throughout their whole tag team run. That was that Diesel was getting more than a little pissed off with Shawn who'd keep unintentionally hitting Diesel with the Sweet Chin Music. Note: This seemed to happen a LOT when Diesel was trying to hold Razor Ramon up for Shawn to nail it. Razor would always duck and Diesel would take it right on the chops.
Ouch!
Anyway at Survivor Series 1994 things came to an end when Razor would duck that Sweet Chin Music for the last time. Shawn clipped Big Daddy Cool with the Superkick and Diesel snapped. He'd finally had enough of Shawn and proceeded to chase HBK and his entire Survivor Series team out the building.
3 days later, at a House Show in Madison Square Garden, Diesel defeated Mr. Bob Backlund in less than 10 seconds to shockingly become WWF Champion.
Yes, going into 1995, Vinnie Mac took the ultimate gamble and threw the biggest title in the company on Diesel. Don't get me wrong he was over but he wasn't OVER. If you know what I mean.
Diesel's WWF Title reign is often crapped upon by the IWC but if you look at it from January 1995 - November 1995 he had 2 very good PPV defences against Bret Hart at the Rumble and the Survivor Series. A decent title defence against The British Bulldog at In Your House 4. Sadly though defences against Sid and King Mabel somewhere in the middle kinda hurt it, big style.
However at Wrestlemania of that year, Big Daddy Cool defended the title in a good match. Infact a very good match. It was against his old tag team partner, Shawn Michaels.
Skeptics will argue that Wrestlemania XI was so bad that this match just seems great compared to the rest. Maybe that's true but I personally think it's a decent contest, regardless of the event as a whole. While most fans choose to remember the contest for the sight of Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy being guests at ringside, which I admit is a great distraction, I'd like to think the match was a decent contest and told a good story.
Shawn Michaels had won the Royal Rumble 2 months earlier. Becoming the first man (and still the only man according to WWE now adays) to win the Rumble match entering from #1. This was definitely a good ploy to get Shawn over as being tough but considering this Rumble had a weak lineup and only lasted 45 minutes, it takes some shine off of it.
Anyway Diesel and HBK collided at Wrestlemania XI for the gold in which Diesel won after a good contest in which Shawn controlled the match in most parts. But when it mattered most and Shawn had the match won, the referee was out the ring injured. So it set up Shawn as being an unlucky loser. Despite working the match as a Heel you couldn't help but feel sorry for him because he did give a great performance.
Technically, most would agree, this match was WWF's way of testing the water if Shawn Michaels was ready to step up to the main event and the answer was a resounding yes. Only other person I've seen get a good match out of Kevin Nash is Bret Hart, so that says it all.
For the next 12 months the WWF got firmly behind Shawn Michaels. They turned him face and gave his fans a name of "The kliq". Shawn began growing in popularity as his main event push began.
He won the Intercontinental Championship again in 1995 and then patched things up with Diesel. Together they once again became World Tag Team Champions but due to a technicality the match result was null and void.
The end of 1995 wasn't the best for Shawn though after getting his ass handed to him in a night club he took sometime off and (kayfabe) had a concussion in the ring.
He returned at the Royal Rumble in 1996 and once again won it all before going to Wrestlemania and defeating Bret Hart in the Iron Man Match. Finally he had become the WWF Champion.
Shawn's first PPV title defence came a month later at In Your House #7: Good Friends Better Enemies. Why was it labeled this? Well, because a recently turned Heel Diesel would be the challenger.
This time the roles were reversed as Diesel was working as the Heel challenger meanwhile Shawn was the babyface champion. However the small guy trying to overcome the odds angle was still intact during this match. And now with the added stipulation that this one would be a No Holds Barred match.
So what is this rematch famous for?
Well the pre-match saw Nash "shoot" on Vince. Big Kev had decided to pack it in up at Stamford and head for Atlanta next month. So pre-match in an interview he had a few words to say towards Vince (keep in mind Vince didn't broadcast on TV he was the boss) and then as he entered the ring he threw his leather jacket at Vinnie Mac on commentary. The "what the f***" reaction of both Vince and Lawler at the table does enough to suggest to me that this wasn't planned.
Anyway before I get too sidetracked, what other spots happened in this match? Well HBK taking a Jacknife powerbomb through the commentary table was something special seeing as up until then the only previous known table bump on WWE TV happened a few months earlier between Diesel and Bret Hart. Announce table bumps were a rarity.
Also look out for poor Mad Dog Vachon at ringside, having his fake leg being used as a weapon. Yes, long before Randy "the Ram" Robinson was satisfying the needs of rabid CZW fans in The Wrestler movie as they chanted "USE HIS LEG! USE HIS LEG!", HBK and Diesel were innovating the idea.
So, after all that, which is better? Their match at Wrestlemania XI or 13 months later at In Your House?
For those who can't remember the matches or need a reminder. Check it out....
Wrestlemania XI match:
In Your House match:
Original or Rematch? Series:
#1: Mr Perfect vs Bret Hart
Diesel and Shawn Michaels.
What phrase best sums these two up? Two men who's WWF Careers in the 90's seemed to run parallel to each other.
I know... how about "Good Friends Better Enemies"?
Infact this was the very tagline the WWF attached to the In Your House event that both men clashed at. To be honest, it couldn't be more perfect.
Story goes like this, during 1994, while Bret Hart was "the guy" and leading the company as the WWF Champion. A unit were growing in popularity on the undercard.
Fans, marks and smarks alike, were blown away by Shawn Michaels epic effort at WM X in the ladder match with Razor Ramon. Even though he lost, the performance knocked Michaels up a few runs on the WWF ladder. He was starting to become a contender.
Earlier in the year at the Royal Rumble, HBK's bodyguard, Kevin Nash but better known as Diesel had gotten crazy over with the fans when he entered the Rumble match and began destroying the competition.
So the WWF decided to start having the two of them compete as a tag team more often during the year rather than just have Diesel stand in Shawn's corner during 1-on-1 matches.
Despite Diesel becoming Intercontinental Champion midway through 1994 and then both men winning the World Tag Team Championships together, there was an undercurrent story running throughout their whole tag team run. That was that Diesel was getting more than a little pissed off with Shawn who'd keep unintentionally hitting Diesel with the Sweet Chin Music. Note: This seemed to happen a LOT when Diesel was trying to hold Razor Ramon up for Shawn to nail it. Razor would always duck and Diesel would take it right on the chops.
Ouch!
Anyway at Survivor Series 1994 things came to an end when Razor would duck that Sweet Chin Music for the last time. Shawn clipped Big Daddy Cool with the Superkick and Diesel snapped. He'd finally had enough of Shawn and proceeded to chase HBK and his entire Survivor Series team out the building.
3 days later, at a House Show in Madison Square Garden, Diesel defeated Mr. Bob Backlund in less than 10 seconds to shockingly become WWF Champion.
Yes, going into 1995, Vinnie Mac took the ultimate gamble and threw the biggest title in the company on Diesel. Don't get me wrong he was over but he wasn't OVER. If you know what I mean.
Diesel's WWF Title reign is often crapped upon by the IWC but if you look at it from January 1995 - November 1995 he had 2 very good PPV defences against Bret Hart at the Rumble and the Survivor Series. A decent title defence against The British Bulldog at In Your House 4. Sadly though defences against Sid and King Mabel somewhere in the middle kinda hurt it, big style.
However at Wrestlemania of that year, Big Daddy Cool defended the title in a good match. Infact a very good match. It was against his old tag team partner, Shawn Michaels.
Skeptics will argue that Wrestlemania XI was so bad that this match just seems great compared to the rest. Maybe that's true but I personally think it's a decent contest, regardless of the event as a whole. While most fans choose to remember the contest for the sight of Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy being guests at ringside, which I admit is a great distraction, I'd like to think the match was a decent contest and told a good story.
Shawn Michaels had won the Royal Rumble 2 months earlier. Becoming the first man (and still the only man according to WWE now adays) to win the Rumble match entering from #1. This was definitely a good ploy to get Shawn over as being tough but considering this Rumble had a weak lineup and only lasted 45 minutes, it takes some shine off of it.
Anyway Diesel and HBK collided at Wrestlemania XI for the gold in which Diesel won after a good contest in which Shawn controlled the match in most parts. But when it mattered most and Shawn had the match won, the referee was out the ring injured. So it set up Shawn as being an unlucky loser. Despite working the match as a Heel you couldn't help but feel sorry for him because he did give a great performance.
Technically, most would agree, this match was WWF's way of testing the water if Shawn Michaels was ready to step up to the main event and the answer was a resounding yes. Only other person I've seen get a good match out of Kevin Nash is Bret Hart, so that says it all.
For the next 12 months the WWF got firmly behind Shawn Michaels. They turned him face and gave his fans a name of "The kliq". Shawn began growing in popularity as his main event push began.
He won the Intercontinental Championship again in 1995 and then patched things up with Diesel. Together they once again became World Tag Team Champions but due to a technicality the match result was null and void.
The end of 1995 wasn't the best for Shawn though after getting his ass handed to him in a night club he took sometime off and (kayfabe) had a concussion in the ring.
He returned at the Royal Rumble in 1996 and once again won it all before going to Wrestlemania and defeating Bret Hart in the Iron Man Match. Finally he had become the WWF Champion.
Shawn's first PPV title defence came a month later at In Your House #7: Good Friends Better Enemies. Why was it labeled this? Well, because a recently turned Heel Diesel would be the challenger.
This time the roles were reversed as Diesel was working as the Heel challenger meanwhile Shawn was the babyface champion. However the small guy trying to overcome the odds angle was still intact during this match. And now with the added stipulation that this one would be a No Holds Barred match.
So what is this rematch famous for?
Well the pre-match saw Nash "shoot" on Vince. Big Kev had decided to pack it in up at Stamford and head for Atlanta next month. So pre-match in an interview he had a few words to say towards Vince (keep in mind Vince didn't broadcast on TV he was the boss) and then as he entered the ring he threw his leather jacket at Vinnie Mac on commentary. The "what the f***" reaction of both Vince and Lawler at the table does enough to suggest to me that this wasn't planned.
Anyway before I get too sidetracked, what other spots happened in this match? Well HBK taking a Jacknife powerbomb through the commentary table was something special seeing as up until then the only previous known table bump on WWE TV happened a few months earlier between Diesel and Bret Hart. Announce table bumps were a rarity.
Also look out for poor Mad Dog Vachon at ringside, having his fake leg being used as a weapon. Yes, long before Randy "the Ram" Robinson was satisfying the needs of rabid CZW fans in The Wrestler movie as they chanted "USE HIS LEG! USE HIS LEG!", HBK and Diesel were innovating the idea.
So, after all that, which is better? Their match at Wrestlemania XI or 13 months later at In Your House?
For those who can't remember the matches or need a reminder. Check it out....
Wrestlemania XI match:
In Your House match:
Original or Rematch? Series:
#1: Mr Perfect vs Bret Hart
