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THE BEST OF... THE UNITED STATES TITLE


jaedmc

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I'm probably going to do this with every title over time. I'm going to treat this like the YES/NO threads. So comment on what other people post and whatever gets nominated will show up here. CRITERIA: It's gotta be fucking awesome. Not "kinda cool" or "good" or "perfectly fine little..." - It's gotta be fucking AWESOME. ABOVE ALL: Discuss some fucking wrestling.

 

MATCH LIST.

Wahoo McDaniel vs. Magnum TA, March 25th, 1985 - Yes 1, No 1

Magnum TA vs. Nikita Koloff August 16th, 1986 - Yes 2, No 0

Tully Blanchard vs. Terry Taylor, August 1985 - Yes 2, No 0

Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA, November 28th, 1985 Yes 5, No 0

Magnum T.A. vs. Nikita Kolloff, August 23rd, 1986 - Yes 1, No 0

Lex Luger vs. Ricky Steamboat, July 23rd, 1989 - Yes 3, No 1

Lex Luger vs. Tommy Rich, August 18, 1989 - Yes 1, No 1

Lex Luger vs. Brian Pillman, October 28, 1989 - Yes 4, No 1

Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair, September 12, 1990 - Yes 2, No 0

Lex Luger vs. Dan Spivey, February 24th, 1991 -  Yes 1, No 0

Rick Rude vs. Sting November 19th, 1991 - Yes 1, No 1

Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes, July 18th, 1993 - Yes, 1, No 1

Raven vs. Goldberg, April 20th 1998 - Yes 3, No 0

Bret Hart vs. Lex Luger, August 10th, 1998 - Yes 1, No 0

Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page , October 26, 1998 - Yes 2, No 1

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit, July 23, 2003 - Yes 3, No 0

Chris Benoit vs. MVP, April 1st, 2007 - Yes 1, No 0

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz, September 19th, 2010 - Yes 2, No 1

Antonio Cesaro vs. Kofi Kingston, September 11th, 2013 - Yes 1, No 0

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Will this be like, entire history of the title?  Or just WWE version? 

 

If we are including the WCW lineage, I'm nominating Rick Rude vs Dustin Rhodes from Beach Blast 93.  I saw this one before I saw the 92 match, so this was my first Iron Man match, and I loved the concept.  Both guys were at their absolute best around this time.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtpOOnw-5s

 

I'm shitty at stuff relating to youtube in posts.  So when I think US Title, I think Lex Luger if only because he was the champ when I first started watching.  He was also really good at it.  Attached here is Luger vs. Ricky Steamboat from The Great American Bash '89.  It is boss. 

 

Story here stems from Terry Funk at his craziest attacking Ricky at some point and Luger coming in to make the save only to lay waste to the Dragon with a chair.  There is a point to this match were Steamboat is laid out in a particular way where he was kind of begging off on the canvas.  This comes up again later.  Originally booked as No Disqualification contest, Luger says no way jack and threatens to walk off if Ricky doesn't waive that stipulation.  This, of course, comes back later but it also goes to Luger having a simple plan in place to keep command of the situation.  This is also a War Games card so there are two rings.

 

Side note:  Luger is sort of the cool heel at this point getting a bunch of cheers against the white bread Ricky Steamboat but Jim Ross covers this on commentary by saying Luger makes fun of fans who do cheer him.  This is a good way of subtly getting over a "heel getting cheers is wrong" because the guy you think is cool, still thinks you are a putz.

 

They go to WAR.  Steamboat ain't here to do arm drags folks.  He chops Luger out of his pecs but Luger catches him coming into a ring with knee lift from the depths of hell.  He then smashes Ricky on the floor with a short clothesline before Ricky chops back and tosses Luger into the commissioners table.  We know if Ricky was able to go all No DQ he would be.  Luger keeps jawing with the crowd because he is king dick but it costs him a bunch of times as Steamboat is only interested in smacking Luger around.

 

Jesus fuck Luger hits Steamboat with this series of clotheslines and Ricky pops up each time before falling to the ground swinging.  It is the OMG moment of this contest and if thought Luger always sucked you are a plebe.  Luger gets two off a powerslam but Steamboat comes back with a cross body.  Luger crushes Rick with a reverse atomic and its all tight as shit.  They just drop BOMBS with simple stuff that all looks like death including a backdrop from one ring to the other.

 

:Luger finally has enough an gores to the outside for a chair.  They set up the same positioning as Ricky is on the canvas again but Ricky sweeps the legs and gets the chair.  The white bread now has tobasco on it as he wears Luger out with a chair and even tosses the referee aside!  It's out of control!  Ricky Steamboat is out of control!

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Rick Rude vs. Sting @ Clash of the Champions 11/19/91 is great.

 

Sting is attacked earlier in the night by Luger and his surgically repaired knee is all fucked up. If Sting can't defend against Rude he will have to forfeit the title. Sting ends up in the hospital but comes limping through the curtain at the last minute with his knee all taped up. Rude meets Sting on the ramp and the crowd is molten. JR gives an awesome call. I won't give away the finish but the whole thing is booked perfectly.

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Nominate Tully vs. Magnum Cage I Quit Match

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32jse_magnum-ta-vs-tully-blanchard-steel_sport

 

One of my favorite matches. Just brutal. One match you could point to and watch and get the feeling that these two hated each other without knowing much of the feud. Everything wrestling should be is in this match.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b208HiaNk5I

 

Lex Luger defends against Mean Mark w/ Paul E. at 1990's Great American Bash

 

Maybe not an all time great but interesting none the less.  Mean Mark would go on to achieve greater things as 1/2 of Disorderly Conduct.  Much to the surprise of Ross and Caudle, Mark and Lex start off by trading holds and taking it to the mat.  Mark pulls off a nice switch to a drop toe hold into a side headlock which Luger immediately counters into a hammer lock.  Its basic stuff but not something you expect from a 6'8" guy and Luger but it works here because neither can be sure they can overpower the other.  Luger even breaks out an arm drag and a high cross body before Mark establishes his right hand as his equalizer.

 

They fuck up a clothesline spot but you do get to see The Undertaker doing a leap frog which is something Shawn Michaels would yell at Kevin Nash for doing.  Mark starts to work the shoulder and pulls Luger into a fujiwara armbar before going to Old School when it was new.  I always was impressed by the rope walking although it never seemed as over as I thought it should get.  But that's me.

 

Luger comes back for a two with a sunset flip.  Luger doesn't use a damn sunset flip!  But the story is that he is trying to use his quickness because Mean Mark is winning every time they go toe-to-toe.  Luger stuns Mark with a bunch of clotheslines but Mike Atkinson gets bumped in the process so Paul E. can whack him in the chest with the mobile phone.  This gets Mark a 2 count and is his closest fall.  He sets Luger on the ropes for the heart punch but runs into a boot and a clothesline for a really sudden three count.

 

Nice little story here where Lex goes to quickness rather when faced with superior power and leverage.  He gets out of dodge with a quick strike clothesline and takes the fall but you get the sense that Mark could have won if Luger tried to match power with him instead of sticking and moving.

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I dunno, but that Benoit-Regal match from Velocity was and that definitely deserves to be there.

Keeping the Benoit train going, I haven't seen either match in a while but I remember one of the MVP-Benoit matches being really good as well as the Benoit-Eddie match from Vengeance 2003.

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I nominate Luger v. Pillman from Halloween Havoc 89!

 

It was the first real glimpse of how Pillman could hang with the heavyweights in WCW!

Pillman was over with the fans and was the perfect guy to get a push against Luger and the match itself plays off an excellent power v. speed. Its not so much a cat mouse game of speed v. Strength but rather can Luger overcome Pillman's impressive offense. If Luger can slow the match down to his pace can he ven keep control of how dynamic Pillman is?

I love this match to pieces and itsa shame Ole Anderson didn't like contracted gys nd killed Pillman's push.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuzc0_brian-pillman-vs-lex-luger-10-28-89_news

 

James

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I really kind of love the Magnum vs Wahoo cage match. I think it should be on the table at least.

 

 

Honestly, I think that Luger is going to come out of this as the best US champion of all time, at least from those we have footage of. I wish we had more 81 Piper, for instance, or some of the Slaughter vs Wahoo matches from 82.

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Luger v. Flair From 9/12/90 CotC 12

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yhvz_lex-luger-vs-ric-flair-u-s-title_sport

 

Luger is defending against an incessed Flair, who is trying desperately trying to get back his status as #1 contender to Sting's World title. The story is so simple, when Flair is hungry he is 10 times more dangerous than when he is champ and Luger also has that aura of never having beaten Flair clean.

 

James

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Lex Luger v. Tommy Rich 8/18/89

 

Lex Luger v. Brad Armstrong 8/25/89

 

Seriously Luger was just awesome from 89-91. Steamboat got lowballed by WCW after his match with Luger at the Bash and bolted. They had no one lined-up so instead of building someone as logical challenger Tommy Rich was brought in as one of Ole's old pals with something to prove. Commentary even puts off that Rich was a former World Champ who might seem overmatched by the younger champ but looks ae deceiving!

 

James

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I dunno, but that Benoit-Regal match from Velocity was and that definitely deserves to be there.

Keeping the Benoit train going, I haven't seen either match in a while but I remember one of the MVP-Benoit matches being really good as well as the Benoit-Eddie match from Vengeance 2003.

I loved the whole Benoit/MVP series, although it ended on a slight downer with the Judgement Day match, I loved the way the way the matches and finishes built on each other. The best match, though, was the fantastic one from Smackdown - they also IIRC, announced a hardcore match at Extreme Rules, which was cancelled in the same week...

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I really kind of love the Magnum vs Wahoo cage match. I think it should be on the table at least.

Talk to me about this one, because I just watched it, and I need a little perspective as to why I should vote for it. I reeeally liked it and there's some really great brawling. Fucking Wahoo's elbowdrops on Magnum's forehead were SICK. And I really loved Wahoo going for about a million nearfalls to get the fuck out of there. Which made the sudden finish pretty damn awesome. I actually yelled outloud when it finished. Not sure if it fits what I think of as a best of, so I'd like to hear your perspective, to see if I missed anything.

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I don't think Sting/Rude is just a great angle. The angle plays a big role in the match but the match itself is awesome. It BEGINS with a brawl on the ramp and Sting press slamming Rude on said ramp before clutching his knee. The match puts over how much of a badass Sting is but also how viscous Rick Rude can be in focusing on the injured body part and doing whatever it takes to win the U.S. title. Both guys come out of this looking great.

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Magnum TA v. Tully Blanchard I Quit Match Vote - Yes

 

It is possibly the best blow off match of all time. The story is so simple, it wasn't just that the cage was there to prevent Tully from running, it was there so that Magnum could prove his dominance over Tully. Its to show that if by some miracle Tully could win it would be an absolute fluke. The match is like the philosophy of Robert E Howard put in a wrestling ring in that No matter how civilized Magnum has tried to be during his feud with Tully, the only way to beat Tully and truly win was to bleed him and say I quit . Magnum has to resort to barbaric means because, despite all his glamor, Tully is sniveling shit. Magnum is Conan and Tully Blanchard must be destroyed to appease Crom!

 

James

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I saw this mentioned in passing earlier in the thread but I think I'm going to go ahead and make a case for Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero from Vengeance 2003.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKSZwsQZvno

 

The early and middle portion of the match are pretty much what you'd expect from these two, really really good, straight laced wrestling. Towards the finishing stretch there's a ref bump and interference from Rhino, which might put some people off, but it facilitates some fine Guerrero lying/cheating/stealing, and the main event style shenanigans make it a very distinct match; you won't find many Benoit-Guerrero matches with this kind of ending, but you won't find many WWE main events with that quality of wrestling either. It's the best of both worlds, a smooth and satisfying hybrid, and makes the U.S. belt feel more important than it ever has in WWE outside of maaaaybe the Benoit-MVP stuff.

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Bret Hart vs DDP - 10/26/98

 

DDP is super over as a face and Bret is a complete smug prick bastard.  He busts out a huge top rope superplex that always looked great.  DDP sells his ass off. Bret has a running conflict with the ref during the match and gets his comeuppance in the end.  His post-match beatdown of Page is just icing on the cake.

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