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2001


Phil Schneider

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Obvious answer here is the Hashimoto/Nagata vs. Misawa/Akiyama tag which is similar to the match you choose except better in every aspect. Bigger stars, more heat, more satisying finish followed by a way better post-match with a great chaotic brawl. Ohtani/Murakami brawls are also amazing, especially the first one (3/2 so it might be from the same/first Zero-1 show)

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2 hours ago, Go2Sleep said:

On the WWE front, there's Rock/Austin from Mania 17.

I also really liked Austin/HHH 3 stages of hell from No Way Out, maybe even a little more than the Mania match, but I'd probably be in the minority there.

The Rock vs. Chris Jericho from WWF No Mercy 2001 is my WWF MOTY and overall MOTY.

There's Dudley Boys vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian in TLC II from WrestleMania X-Seven.

Also: Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit from a Smackdown with the ten rolling German suplexes and Steve Austin/Triple H vs. Chris Jericho/Chris Benoit on the post Judgment Day RAW. I've watched little of Benoit since you know.

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  • 3 months later...

I put this in the MISC MATCHES folder too. It really came from left field and reminded me that I still hadn't seen the Zero One match above. Strong, strong nominee, Ogawa gets treated like the eye-gouging punk he is, Hash and Otsuka (!) are out for Misawa's blood, Misawa shows how strong his elbow is in retaliation. This should have led to multiple rematches including the Misawa/Hash one we apparently never got. 

EDIT: I of course saw the current champ and discussed it at length with Eric. Me brain don't work such well those days

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  • 3 years later...

I watched Austin/Benoit from 5/31/01 Smackdown, a match I had not seen since around it's original airing (this is going to be a common theme for me, as I have not gone back and watched most stuff from that '99-'03 era), and these threads are a good way for me to jump back to stuff that was memorable at the time. There weren't many wrestlers I loved more than Austin in 2001. While it understandably popped the money boom bubble, Austin was so great as a heel that it was one of those failed ideas that worked great, just wasn't what people wanted. 

The set up to the match was really good, with McMahon screwing Benoit out of a possible victory on Raw earlier in the week , after having Benoit and Jericho each fight their way into a title shot (and then bringing back the Montreal screwjob for not the last time). But it set up Benoit vs. Austin in Calgary, which was the smartest place to do that match at the time. In going back and watching some scattered Benoit matches recently, the 2000s version of Benoit had clear shortcomings that I wasn't seeing at the time. He's not a guy I have made a habit of watching very often in the past decade, and in every big match I have watched of his recently he has come off as the far lesser performer. Now, compared to 2001 Austin and 2003 Brock that's understandable, but I wasn't viewing him as clearly lesser at the time. 

But this was a great Austin match, a match that he clearly catered to Benoit's strengths. And with McMahon out there as Special Enforcer, you had two of the most gifted stooges of the era giving Benoit every chance to shine. Austin bumped all over the place for him, flying over the announce tables, taking a huge superplex, taking 6 or 7 German suplexes (I feel like those suplexes plus the disgusting front suplexes Austin gives Benoit on the announce table are the things people understandably remember about this match) and showing constant vulnerability to the crossface. I loved the spot where Benoit did a diving headbutt and Austin held up his belt, and had completely forgotten about Benoit slicing his face open by crashing through the belt. Austin and McMahon were super smart with all their spots, playing perfectly to the loud Calgary crowd and making it seem like Benoit would actually defy odds. There were sloppy spots, like the sharpshooter reversal. It was a clever idea and Austin's original sharpshooter looked good (as eyerolling as the Montreal screwjob stuff is now), but Benoit's attempt was one of the worst ones possible. And the feelgood moments are clearly tarnished, as nothing makes me feel good about Benoit at this point. 

So this match wasn't going to unseat the Park/Santo bloodbath, but did make me want to go back and watch every single bit of 2001 Steve Austin, as I thought it might. I wonder if it steamed Calgary fans that Austin's execution of Bret's falling elbow drop was so much better than Bret's? 

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If you like Austin in 2001 and can bring yourself to watch Benoit matches, Austin/HHH vs. Jericho/Benoit (aka the torn quad match) is even better. I revisited it recently as part of my rewatching project, and it definitely holds up as one of the top handful of tag matches in company history as well as almost certainly being the greatest match in Raw history. And I'll reiterate my Angle/Austin suggestion.

Edited by NintendoLogic
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I had earmarked both of those. I have fond memories of the tag title change, remember watching it live (on TV) and it being everything I wanted. I also remember the sincere and interesting quad surgery HHH video the next week on Raw. Like much of this stuff I haven't seen it since it aired, but Austin is a forever favorite of mine. 

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When HHH did Talk is Jericho, they talked that match a fair bit, about it being a shame such a career highlight had been erased, and how Triple H insisted Jericho still put him in the Walls and then immediately realizing what a bad decision that was.

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I remember that Walls, it was on one of the announce tables. I think he said that same story in that TV video package, how he immediately realized it was a bad idea. The end run of that match is still pretty fresh considering I haven't watched it in nearly 20 years, gonna have to watch it again soon. 

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Thanks to that guy who mentioned it in the comments, I grabbed the Lucha Libre WWO free app on Amazon Prime/Fire Stick in order to watch the Hijo del Santo/Super Parka mascara match you brought up. All the WWO stuff is indeed pro-shot so there should be a lot of Tijuana mayhem on here. They start with a long video recap of both guys' feud... aaaaaand there's a commercial for the second time. And after FF'ding to the beginning of the caida, a third. Avocados from Mexico! 

Love how Super Parka has a little 'P' on his crotch. Parka gets a foule and a fast count so yeah we're working with a rudo ref. Really great camerawork for this, with one guy getting TIGHT closeups of a bleeding Santo. The crowd is pissed at Parka and is throwing shit at him and the ref. And they kick out the ref! Parka takes the time to hang Santo upside down in the ropes and kick at him while they sub another in. Haha, Parka smears Santito's blood all over himself, adding in a crotch chop for good measure. Oh man, Parka runs at him full speed and Santo basically back bodydrops him over the top and he lands on his fucking knees on the concrete, then eats a kingsized tope. After some failed surfboards Santo gets the pin after a missile dropkick. Tercera Caida. They show that knee landing again and it looks so painful. They've been playing around with this board covering the floor outside and Parka gets thrown into it for some nice splinter action. He takes off his shirt so Santo can chop him and he looks better than I expected with it off. We get a cool visual of him steaming in the lights holding onto a legbar. Both guys look pretty blown up and are just exchanging holds until Santo gets a knee dropkick and hits the big dive to the outside off the top, then the rolling senton. Parka has one last push with a tope to the outside but Santo finally sinks in the Camel Clutch, which Santo's already tried to get on him twice. He fights it but it gets sunk in deep and he finally submits. 

@EricR there ya go, thought I'd just do PBP on it since you haven't seen it in so long. They played that commercial A LOT. Match was fine, not bloody or violent enough for a mask match to me (Parka didn't even bleed), kind of felt like a house show mascara but it was alright and that landing was nasty. Did Parka change his name? This channel would be a nice get but unless you want to be compelled to eat guacamole every five minutes...

EDIT: Oh and there are a fair amount of crowd shots but had no idea who to look for. 

Edited by Curt McGirt
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Next time I'm actually out of the house ( haven't driven anywhere since 3/16, yeesh)I and around someone with a Roku, this is the first thing I'm doing. I had no clue that match was taped. Looking up the card itself and there was a lot I didn't remember. Totally forgot Villano IV and V were on the card. I mean if you had asked me if I ever saw V4 or V5 live I would have said "certainly not". 

The Santo/Parka match was really exciting live, especially when they established early on that there was a rudo ref and Santo lost that quick primera. Every little gain Parka got felt like they could even accidentally give the win to Parka. The fans around us were really into it too, and that atmosphere was a huge boost. A bunch of people around us wanted to talk to us, just because my friend Jason and I were two of the only gringos in the entire bull arena (after walking around, before the show, my count was less than 10). They all assumed we knew nothing about lucha. One guy was explaining the match to us and said "In America, you love HHH the most. Santo is our HHH." And at that point we had to be like "Thattt's not accurate" lol. One guy said his wife had given him shit for going, saying "you know who's going to win." And I love how he said "I had to tell her, of course Santito is going to win. But I need to see HOW he wins." 

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52 minutes ago, EricR said:

"I had to tell her, of course Santito is going to win. But I need to see HOW he wins." 

That is the story of his career in a nutshell. Perfect. I would have probably given the dude a hug had I been there haha. "THIS GUY GETS IT!!!" 

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My HD Santo anecdote (short version)

santo was in main event trios match at first show I saw in TJ during Comicon.

in third fall,  i started seeing many security guards make their way into the aisles and down to ring. 
 

I said, “uh oh. The tecnicos are losing.” And they did. And since we sitting near the front row, we got what I hope was a beer shower. 

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