Davey reviews Best of Shawn Michaels Part 1
I figure I would treat myself. This is a 6 hour compilation. I'll be doing every match up till Shawn's first title win.
Crush of Demolition vs. Shawn Michaels
Shawn is still a Rocker at this point. Shawn starts the match off quick
with a great escape off the top rope. Shawn does a beautiful job selling
Crush's terribly restrictive power offense. The match tells a nice story
too of Crush getting frustrated with the smaller Michaels. But hey it's
Crush. Shawn escapes a press slam with a very nice headscissor takedown.
This match shows Shawn was ready for a singles push long before 1992 as
Crush may have been one of the worst workers in the WWF at this point and
Shawn guides him to something good. But Crush goes to hell when he tries
to take it to the mat with Shawn and they do a extended leg scissors sequence
which Shawn at least makes look somewhat believable. Lord Alfred Hayes:
"Crush is giving a wresling lesson". Crush goes up top and misses
a kneedrop to the delight of the 13-23 female section of the crowd. Fuji
jumps on the apron and while this happens Crush scoops up Shawn causing
Jannety to go to the top and hitting Shawn who in turns lands on top of
Crush for the pinfall victory. Not bad at all.
Match Rating: **1/2 (a bit too short)
Shawn Michaels vs. Tito Santana from Wrestlemania 8
Sherri singing Shawn's music is so great. Monsoon ponders that Helen Keller
does Sherri's make up. I remember really looking forward to this match at
Wrestlemania 8 and now looking back on this, I never realized it sucked
so bad. I'm blaming Tito here as after every offensive sequence he goes
into a headlock which just gets silly after a while. Shawn ends up having
to sell this headlock the entire match and doesn't get to go on offense
a lot. Ending with Shawn holding on to the top rope out of a suplex attempt
and falling on top for the pinfall victory. These guys just didn't click
at all.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Title
This takes place in Ottawa during what looks to be a house show that they
would use for Coliseum Home Video tapings. Shawn has Sherri with him. Bret
gives sunglasses to a female Bret Hart fan. I saw Shawn Michaels vs. Bret
Hart for the IC Title at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds in 19992 and this kid
three seats away from me got the glasses. Damn. Shawn uses hairpulling heel
tactics to start. These guys just can never not have a good match with each
other even making a hammerlock sequence great. Bret works over Shawn's arm
until Shawn makes it to the corner to pound on Bret. Shawn does a masterful
selling job of Bret's clothesline like only he can. <Gratitious "I
spend good money on Japanese Wrestling tapes" reference> Kawada
is another great lariat seller. Same for Koji Kanemoto. Bret works the psychology
part working over the arm and he is usually in command of the transitions
as Shawn definetely takes the showman and selling portion. Bret gets shot
sternum first into the turnbuckle. While the refs back is turn Sherri hits
Bret with her shoe. At this point I complete the download of the Fully Bloated
wav. NUMBER ONE AND BEST!! Under The Sea, Backstreet Boys, and everything
just rules. Dare I say it's better then the King Of The Dong promo? Shawn
with a extended headlock as the fans cry for Bret to come back as he slams
Shawn into the turnbuckles. Shawn takes a horizontal turnbuckle bump and
then Bret goes into the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! Backbreaker, near fall. Russian
Legsweep, nearfall. Shawn interrupts the five moves with a backslide for
2. Bret rolls Shawn up for 2. Then a double clothesline allowing the fans
to cheer Bret on. Shawn with a Not Yet Sweet Chin Music which Bret sells
masterfully. Shawn goes for the Teardrop Suplex which Bret reverses into
a sunset flip for another nearfall. Shawn rolls up Michaels off the ropes
but Bret rolls through for another nearfall. The crowd is nutso. Sherri
gets on the apron and Bret grabs her but moves out of the way of a Shawn
Michaels kneelift causing Shawn to hit Sherri with it. Bret rolls up Shawn
for the pinfall victory. Cheap ending but a great fucking match. Commentators
Alfred Hayes and Sean Mooney nearly fuck it up though.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Shawn Michaels vs. Rick Martel
I revieed this in my Summerslam 92 review so I am going to recycle:
Rick Martel vs. Shawn Michaels in a No Hitting In The Face match
I don't know about the stipulation but there will be PLENTY of butt shots
in it. You have two reknowned butt artists in Shawn and Martel so I will
have a running count. Martel's homo erotic tennis outfit is giving me a
erection. Vince McMahon screams, "OH MY GOODNESS" when he sees
Sherri's outfit. I gagged personally. Fast paced action to start and they
tease a punch in the face a few times. The segment ends of course with Martel
cartwheeling and doing jumping jacks. I love that and so does DOAskull (gratitous
AOL mention). Martel hugs Sherri as Shawn is done on the outside. Sherri
shows that she would be right at home in England as she smiles. Back in
the ring Martel hits a HUGE backdrop. Michaels goes for a rollup and pulls
the tights exposing Martel's ass. That's one. Then Martel rolls through
and pulls HBK's tights to expose his booty. That's two. Michaels then rolls
through and yes he pulls the tights. Booty number three. And finally Martel
rolls through AGAIN and we have four butts in ten seconds. They slap each
other around because one of them probably passed gas in the others face
and Sherri is so distraught that the two hunky dudes are hitting each other
she faints. Match ends in Double DQ but the fun doesn't end here. Sherri
wakes up as they brawl down the aisle. Sherri faints again and McMAhon is
pissed. Michaels scoops up Sherri to take her back to the dressing room
but Martel comes out with a bucket of water that was probably just lying
around like that watermelon on RAW during the Holly match. He dumps the
water on Sherri and everyone goes home happy.
Match Rating: **
Marty Jannety vs. Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Title
They show Barber Shop footage of HBK throwing Marty through the Barber Shop
glass which never gets dull. Amazing footage of Marty coming back and the
camera picks up Shawn seeing Marty in the mirror. Marty beats his former
tag partner down and goes to hit him with the mirror but Shawn pulls Sherri
in front of him causing her to be smashed with the mirror. Great line by
Heenan. "Monsoon: These guys were almost like brothers. Heenan: Almost
like you and I huh Monsoon?" Shawn takes a massive bump over the top
from a Jannety kneelift. Shawn gets slingshot into the ring and clotheslined
out and over the top. Shawn with a suicide dive through the middle rope.
Jannety goes up top and goes flying from the top rope to the apron on Shawn.
This shit must have been revolutionary in 1993 (I missed Royal Rumble 1993
back in 1993). Marty goes up top again but Shawn catches him with a fist.
Jannety gets rammed shoulder first into the steel post. Shawn works over
the shoulder more with Shoulderbreakers and hiptosses. Heenan is ON in this
match by the way. Shawn slams Marty on the aisleway hurting the shoulder
more. You can see how much better Shawn had become since the Bret Hart match
where Hart was doing all the carrying. Shawn definetely takes the Hart role
here piecing this match together with short bursts of offense by Marty.
Shawn with a very nice signle arm DDT on Marty's injured shoulder. Marty
catches Shawn with a boot off the top which looked really fake looking.
Shawn goes for a diving bodyblock in the corner but gets his shoulder rammed
into the steel post. Marty gets a drenaline rush but Shawn grabs the tights
and tosses him out of the ring. Shawn tries to suplex Marty in but Marty
reverses and Shawn gets suplexed OUT OF HTE RING!! It just killed his knees.
Marty with a back suplex for 2.9 count. Marty send Shawn in and follows
it up with a massive powerslam. Marty with a DDT on Shawn with a 2.9999
count. Marty sits down out of a sunset flip attempt by Shawn for another
nearfall. Marty slingshots Shawn into the steel post for yet another nearfall.
Shawn accidentaly nails the ref as Marty holds Shawn for Sherri. Sherri
grabs her shoe and winds up but Shawn ducks and Marty gets pasted with the
shoe. As Marty gets up Shawn gives him the Not Yet Sweet Chin Music for
the three count. Great match, dumb ending. Post match a HILARIOUS interview
with Mean Gene and Sherri. Just hilarious.
Match Rating: ****
Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels from Summerslam 95 in a Ladder Match
This is of course the rematch from Wrestlemania X. Shawn has a great entrance
in this match as McMahon cooks veal in his pants with his overexcited intro.
The first blown spot of the night has the belt being way too high and both
participants complaining. Pushing to start and Razor with fists. Super fast
action to start that leads to nowhere but proves both guys are prepared.
Razor teases a Razor's Edge to start but Shawn slips out. Shawn goes flying
over the top out of a irish whip. Shawn tries to suplex Razor in but Shawn
takes the most AMAZING bump getting suplexed out and landing back first
and getting his ankle smashed on the guard rail. Razor teases another Razor's
Edge, Shawn slips out, goes for Sweet Chin Music, Razor ducks, and they
hit a double clothesline. Razor with a giant fallaway slam off the top.
Razor goes and gets the Ladder and doesn't look too thrilled about it. Psycho
Sid looks on rubbing his hands because he has a softball game after this.
Shawn misses a baseball slide on the ladder and Razor hits him with a awesome
right. Back in the ring Shawn comes back and goes up the ladder to grab
the Belt but Razor pulls down his pants so the women in the audience can
look at that 22.50 price tag on there ticket and think it was all worth
it. Shawn kicks Razor who comes back and wrenches the Ladder as Michaels
ankle gets sickengly caught in the ladder as it falls down. Razor puts Michaels
ankle in the Ladder and proceeds to repeatedly smash it. Razor knocks Michaels
legs out from under him. Michaels gets scooped up and slammed on the ladder.
Razor spends the next few minutes working over Shawn's leg. Razor begins
climbing the ladder with Michaels behind him. Michaels back suplexes Razor
off the ladder which was pretty badly sold by Razor. Razor gets whipped
into the ladder and gets whipped into it one more time. Michaels climbs
up the ladder and leaps off with a moonsault that barely hits Razor. If
you have had your leg horrifically mangled a moonsault may not be a smart
move. Shawn goes to the very very very top of the ladder and leaps off with
a big splash but Razor moves and Michaels hits the mat hard. Razor and Shawn
both begin descending the ladder and they fight on the ladder. This is followed
up by a very dumb bump where Razor lifts his leg and literally jumps to
try and crotch himself instead of waiting for the ladder to fall. Very bad
looking and Razor didn't even get crotched. Just stupid. Razor looks under
the ring and grabs a second ladder. As Michaels sets up his ladder Razor
catches him in a Razor's Edge. It's cool because Shawn is deperately trying
to get out of the move before coming down. Razor takes a hour to set up
his ladder as Shawn recovers. Razor gets kicked off his ladder and Shawn
just misses the belt. Razor goes for another Razor's Edge but gets backdropped
out. Shawn climbs the ladder and goes for the belt. Now I think he was supposed
to get it here judging by how he was basically swinging on the belt and
his reaction afterwards. Good match but a very big dissapointment. Post
match has a handshake between the two. The bumps were nothing near the WM
X ladder match and Razor was just a big load in this match. Shawn was bumping
for two and even his bumps weren't as good as the WM X ones. Plus in the
Wrestlemania ladder match the last bump was the biggest bump and all the
spots were very well done.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart in a Iron Man Match for the World Wrestling
Federation Heavyweight Title
Shawn does his super cool entrance from the rafters. Say who's that skinny
blond kid Shawn is flying over? Earl Hebner gives pre match instructions
before the match begins. The crowd is pumped. They take it to the mat to
start with some very good stuff. Like Bret gets thrown out of a headlock
the firs two times but holds on the third attempt. Just little things like
that. The mat is LOUD for some reason. It sounds like a ECW mat. They work
a headlock spot for a few minutes with Bret outsmarting Shawn on the mat.
This is a match to watch when you know you have a nice good hour to kill
as they wrestle this so smart. Michaels tries to work out of a top wristlock
but Bret stays on top with a front facelock. Michaels with two armdrags
and goes into a armbar. The crowd is very receptive too as they begin to
clap. This crowd ROCKED by the way being totally focused and into the match
and not chanting BORING or anything. Bret with a drop toe hold and he tries
to go into a guillotine choke but Michaels slips into a hammerlock. Michaels
catches Bret out of a corner whip with a headscissor takedown sending Bret
out of the ring. Michaels goes to work on the arm as we hit the 50 minute
mark. The first ten minutes was beautiful mat wrestling. Bret tries to send
Michaels over the top and out but Michaels skins the cat and takes him back
down. Bret catches Shawn with a knee to the gut and headbutts him in the
abdomen. Michaels continues to work over the arm with a Fujiwara Armbar.
Bret kips up out of it pick Michaels up with a double leg and goes for a
Sharpshooter. Michaels gets up out of the attempt but is knocked out over
the top with a clothesline. On the outside Bret gets whipped into the timekeeper
(who is now the RAW ring announcer) and Shawn goes for Sweet Chin Music
but Bret ducks and the timekeeper is laid out. Cool spot. The timekeeper
goes flying out of his seat and has to be taken away by a stretcher. This
really solidifies the ending showing the the Sweet Chin Music is a very
deadly finisher (which is kind of funny in its own right).Michaels goes
for a rollup but Bret rolls through until Michaels gets back up and hits
a nice dropkick and goes back to work on the arm. As we hit the 40 minute
mark, this match again has been all on the mat with Michaels in control.
Now it's time for Bret's experience to kick in and take control. Michaels
continues to work over the shoulder and arm of Bret trying to hyper extend
it. Bret gets rammed hard into the steel post as Bret sells it beautifully.
Michaels with a shoulderbreaker. Bret whips Shawn into the ropes and Shawn
answers with a single arm DDT. Shawn with a cross armbreaker as he works
on Bret's arm more. Shawn with a stumpuller armlock on Bret. As we wind
down to the 30 minute mark Bret hits a sweet bulldog. The 40-30 minute mark
was basically all Shawn working on Bret's arm. Bret uses a Dr. Death Kneedrop
off the top rope. Bret follow it up with a BEAUTIFUL piledriver for a very
close nearfall. The crowd is shocked as the piledriver was just brutal.
Bret goes up to the top rope but takes the Flair bump off. Shawn with a
hurracanrana. They have a miscommunication spot where Bret hangs on and
Shawn was going for a elbow but it's rather meaningless. Shawn sets up for
Sweet Chin Music but Bret ducks out of the ring. As Bret walks with his
head low around the ring Michaels leaps up top and hits a NUMBER ONE AND
BEST tope off the top rope. He leaped a good 10 feet. Back in the ring Michaels
hits a crossbody block but Bret rolls through for a nearfall. Michaels with
a fisherman's suplex (called a Perfectplex by Vince) for a nearfall. Michaels
slaps a sleeper on as the 25 minute mark passes. Michaels flips out a back
suplex and hits a elbow and dropkick. Bret gets sent in to the corner and
as Michael rushes in Bret flips Shawn OVER THE TURNBUCKLE AND OUT!!!! AMAZING!!!
One of the best Shawn Michaels bumps ever and that's saying something. Bret
seizes the oppurtunity and slams Shawn's back into the post. Bret works
over Shawn's back with some nice offense. A little miscommunication by both
men but Bret turns it into a backbraker. As we hit the 20 minute mark no
falls and Bret is in control. Shawn gets turnbuckle flipped and Bret catches
him on the top and hits a massive back suplex off the top rope. 123 he got
him no he didn't how did he kick out nearfall. Bret locks in a camel clutch.
Bret with a russian legsweep for a two count. Bret whips Shawn into the
corner, Shawn goes out and nails Jose Lothario. As if that wasn't enough,
Bret whips Shawn into Jose just for fun. HA what a dick. That knocked the
pattern off Jose's sweater. 15 minutes left in the match, no falls and one
hell of a match. Bret with a nice belly to belly suplex for a very close
nearfall. Shawn begins desperately trying to fight back but Bret is so calm
and plotting he comes out on top each time. Bret knocks Shawn hard with
two high impact elbows. Michaels gets sent to the outside by Bret and with
a PERFECT camera angle Bret hits a suicide dive on Shawn. The count begins
with the crowd booing Bret. Shawn makes it back into the ring before being
count out. Shawn flips out of a suplex, goes for a wastlock, Bret reverses
and hits a picture perfect German Suplex for a very close nearfall. Bret
works over the back more obviously setting up the Sharpshooter. A double
clothesline gives time for both superstars to rest. Bret sends Michaels
to the top and hits a very nice Superplex. Bret gets the Sharpshooter ready
but Shawn just is able to fight it. Bret instead opts to go for a half crab.
Bret just is able to make it to the ropes. Bret with a backbreaker then
goes for his second rope elbow but Micheals lifts the feet. Michaels with
a beautiful dropkick as we have 5 minutes to go in this match. Bret goes
sternum first into the corner because it wouldn't feel right without a Bret
Hart sternum first bump. Shawn kips up with 3 and a half minutes to go and
the crowd begins to get edgy. Shawn with his elbow off the top that gets
another nearfall. 2 minutes to go. Shawn with a doctor bomb for a two count.
Michaels goes up top and hits a MAGNIFIQUE moonsault bodyblock for a two
count. One and a half minutes left and Shawn hits a flying hurracanrana
off the top rope for two. With one minute to go Shawn is exhausted. Shawn
goes up top and dives off but Bret catches him and locks him in the SHARPSHOOTER!!
THE CROWD IS WILD!! 20 SECONDS TO GO!! 15!! 10!! The crowd is on there feet.
5!! 4!! 3!! 2!! 1!! NO the match ends....but Gorilla Monsoon gets in the
ring as Bret walks out of the ring. Monsoon talks to Hebner and Howard Finkel
announces that the match must continue. Bret is none too happy and the match
goes into Sudden Death. Bret gets back in the ring, sighes, and begins to
go back to work on Shawn. Bret with some stiff shots on Shawn. Bret backdrops
Shawn and hits a backbreaker. Bret whips Shawn into the ropes, Shawn leaps
over Bret and hits Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere. The crowd goes nuts
but shawn is too fatigued to cover. Shawn stands in the corner and waits
as Bret gets up. He hits the Sweet Chin music, makes the cover AND WINS
THE TITLE!! MARKOUT TIME!! THE CROWD GOES INSANE!! Shawn sits in the middle
of the ring letting emotion get the best of him as he wins his first ever
WWF Heavyweight Title. Shot of Blade Hart singing to Shawn Michaels music.
Bret walks away very angry as McMahon mutters the now famous line, "The
boyhood dream has come true for Shawn Michaels". As Shawn puts the
belt over his shoulder, Shawn goes to the Harts who were sitting at ringside
and shake there hands. A great WWF moment. And arguably the best WWF match
ever behind maybe Bulldog-Bret or The Wrestlemania Ladder Match. I can't
see how people could hat this match. The psychology was fantastic and both
men pulled out moves that you would never see them do again. The bumps were
just amazing, the highspots were there, and sans a few moments the workrate
was just perfect. Great build up to the match, amazing match itself, and
the reign that followed will probably never be matched.
Match Rating: *****
Coming Soon: Shawn Michaels title reign in Part 2.