1) DDP v. Johnny B Badd- 3
My big complaint about the match was Badd kind of drifting through this like he had taken too many somas. He brings the offense decently but the guy couldn't make me believe he needed medical help if he was gutted. Page was still in his learning curve, too many moves he couldn't pull off ex. a spinning side slam that turned into Badd landing dick first, and a Tilt a whirl powerbomb where he just instead dropped Badd on his knee, while the pretty one sold his finger? They tried all these near falls but that didn't work either.
2) Big Bubba v. Hacksaw Duggan (Taped Fist Match)- 6
This is more like it, it seems Bubba was made to sell Duggan's punches while watching this, they both totally go Mid South all over this fight. Punching, punching, and more punching and the beauty of a taped fist match is you can get away with it in the context of the match. Bubba's head jerks on all his defense are just so money, love the spot where he runs into a very Necro-esque shot by Hacksaw. Add on the super gnarly bump Bubba takes over the top rope later on and this is a delictable wrestling treat.
3) Mayumi Ozaki/ Cutie Suzuki v. Bull Nakano/ Akira Hokuto- 5
Opening minutes here were a waste of time, the obviously superior skilled heels just were toying with their opponents like they had tied a rock to a snake's tail when they were kids. The ending sprint is what made this match nearly recommendable, as the faces were terrible on offense, Cutie was that, but didn't make me want to see her necessarily wrestle again, maybe model some PG rated summer dresses? Hokuto was like the Millenium Falcon, just flying all over the ring and destroying shit. Nakano's guillotine legdrop literally made me cum and cry at the same time.
4) Kensuke Sasaki v. Chris Benoit- 5
Sasaki was kind of poised as the heel here (managed by Sonny Ono) but Benoit was the Horseman? Anyways, this had some moments of coolness to it, both guys WILL BEAT YOUR ASS to get off a suplex and weren't shy about it here. The swan dive is as breathtaking as I remember, wonder if the dead hear compliments in hell? if so, Mr. Candy, The Great Outdoors will always be underappreciated. Couple All Japan toughman spots but the whole match had this understated physicality that just didn't push this into the memorable column.
5) Lex Luger v. Randy Savage- 2
Surprise of this match was Luger's vocal selling, and guard rail bump, both were well done. Savage was working the injured man angle, which DDP took over from 96 to infinity. Not a lot to speak of here, kind of an angle more than a match but my god Luger's punching looked like a man trying to swing a broken golf club.
6) Ric Flair v. Sting- 6
This feud will just never get old, sometimes it falls on it's face but this angle was super hot when Flair baited Sting in, only to double cross him. Heated staredown to start. There's a give and take between these guys that just makes sense, Flair knows exactly when to beg off, get his cheap shot in, very natural flow to this. Crowd, loving it, Schiavone would have shilled anything at all with either man's name on it at this moment. Have to love all of Sting's Superman stuff against Flair, then how they bring it back down with a Flair cheapshot. Ending built fine and just worked.
7) 60 man 3 ring Battle Royal- 4
Ultimately you can leave this behind with pagers and the pitiful last season of Scrubs. Logistics hurt this more than anything; the match was shown on a 3 way split screen which can never work, as you had announcers calling action that wasn't on the screen just what was in front of them so there was no reference to what was happening. Loved the Buffer intros: you only saw a hand ful of people, one was Regal, who was totally looking 180 degrees around him like he was in the game Clue, wary of attacks from all sides and Flair, who got into a shoving match with Hawk. The match was also built around each ring having a giant in it: Hulk (that's debatable, douche maybe), the actual Giant, and the Yeti, a serious honest to god 7 foot Mummy that wanted to win the World Title. Well he was like 1st of 60 guys out, even before Mark Starr and we didn't even see it so I'm guessing he was just an amazingly large inept mongol. I'll skip down to when 10 from each ring gathered to the final one, some snapshots that went on: Luger was a total punk, and stayed out of the ring the W---H----O---L---E time, and mostly so did Arn but at least he took a floor bump. Pillman was great just raking Hogan's mouth and eyes and not letting him up for air, even when you could see Hulk stopped selling. Bubba and Duggan again, both took terribly painful eliminations over the top, continued fighting, as a matter of fact, nearly every undercard match the same guys took each other out. Eddie Guerrero and Arn did this nutty sequence involving the apron and Eddie fighting to stay alive that just fucking scored big time. Orndorff got best elimination though, he sailed over the top then did a double back flip outside on the mat, overselling like he was the Rock or something and landed feet on top of the guard rail. When Flair goes over, he immediately runs around ringside cussing and spitting; ending blew big time though, another Hogan ego stroke, I don't blame Macho one bit for writing that shitty rap record about him.
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