I plan on watching and reviewing disc one when I get back from the bank
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I watched some Ultimate Warrior last night though:
4.1.90 WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania VI):
The definitive Hogan main event and, as stupid as it sounds, probably the best wrestling match without the participants actually having to wrestle! This isn’t laced with psychology and storytelling, and like I said, there isn’t very much wrestling, but what they do is bring everything they have for a huge Icon v Icon type match. The strength exchanges at the beginning set the tone PERFECTLY, showing everybody watching on TV and in the arena that this is an epic power struggle.
The crowd is freakin’ HOT as well, adding to pretty much everything and making it all the better because of it! Hogan’s “Hulk Up” after the gorilla press and warrior splash combination is great too as it comes at the perfect moment, making Warriors win just after it all the more special because NOBODY whoops Hogan after he gets all hulked up and it gets Warrior over big time as the true champion on the night. I’d consider this Warrior’s best match if it weren’t for a certain Randall Poffo, and at the moment, I’m struggling to think of a better Hogan match.
****
8.27.90 WWF Title Steel Cage Match: Ultimate Warrior v Rick Rude (Summerslam 90):
Really good match, but certainly not what they could have produced a year earlier. The main problem with this was the whole build up; Warrior literally had NOBODY to feud with at this point as Vince had blown all of the best heels on Hogan (DiBiase, Earthquake, fuckin’ SAVAGE was tagging with some guy called Tiny!) so they were forced to return to the Rude feud from 12 months ago as the only other heel credible enough wouldn’t actually *be* credible enough until the Rumble 5 months later – guess who that was? Even worse, Rude was basically a lower mid-carder at this point (this was his final WWF PPV appearance before going to WCW where he could be, y’know, good) so the heat was significantly lower than what it could, and should, have been.
Still though, the match was definitely enjoyable and the fact that it wasn’t what it could have been sure as hell wasn’t down to either of the wrestlers. It was your standard WWF cage match with the escape rule in effect, but this time they added pinfalls as a way to win. At times it was kinda weird though. Rude had 2 chances to win the match, once after the Rude Awakening and once after a double axe handle from the top of the cage, but instead kept trying to hurt Warrior. Maybe this was more to do with his new more “badass” attitude, but still, you take your chances with Warrior when you get them. In the end, Warrior gets fired up and eventually overcomes Rude and Heenan (who nails Warrior with a sweet cage door shot when he’s almost out) to retain his title. I want to watch their Summerslam ’89 match now…
***1/4
3.24.91 Retirement Match: “Macho King” Randy Savage v Ultimate Warrior (Wrestlemania VII):
Awe-fucking-some! This is, in my opinion, not only Warrior’s career match, but also Savage’s and while Savage is amazing in this, Warrior also has a tremendous performance and both guys just bring everything. I called Rock/Brock the epitome of a clash of the titans match, but I’m retracting that statement and calling THIS the absolute epitome of a clash of the titans match. It’s also the de facto “emotional rollercoaster ride” as well with both guys not fighting for a title, but for their livelihoods and Warrior’s trunks that say “It means more than this (with a picture of the WWF title in the middle)” set the stage before the match even starts. That emotion runs all the way through and doesn’t let up once… not even after the match (but I’m not going into that).
It’s not frontloaded with massive spots, but it’s exactly the match they should have worked with Savage doing whatever he can to win and Warrior always demanding more of him; the spot at the beginning where Warrior catches Savage’s cross body attempt, stands him up, SLAPS him and tells him to bring it is just awesome! Sherri’s role in this is great too as she’s so animated in her interference throughout the match that Savage can’t help but play off it and the result is mega heat on both of them for constantly cheating Warrior. The fact that Warrior’s insane means he’ll always fall for it so I guess you can call it great psychology as well. It eventually backfires on them though as Sherri nails Savage with her shoe instead of Warrior later in the match, getting a HUGE pop at the same time.
Now the elbow drops; people can bitch about them being unnecessary or that it “killed” the move after Warrior kicked out of 5 of them, but they were “retiring” Savage and it certainly didn’t bury him, as much as it put Warrior over as a tough bastard. Besides, the reaction to Savage kicking out after Warrior plasters him with his finisher, a move that put even Hogan away, was far more important than the alleged burial of Savage. Warrior’s reaction to it is so ungodly awesome as well with the whole questioning himself and the Gods as to why they’ve left him in his moment of need and all that crazyness. People relate to shit like that, question themselves every day as to whether they’re good enough or if they really made the right choice and whatnot. And I’m not even joking! Savage of course won’t take no for an answer so he pushes Warrior, leading to him getting his second wind as if to say “well, if he’s not done, I’m not fucking done either” and murders Savage with the 3 finishers. Then he drags a limp Savage back in the ring, puts the foot on the chest and gets the 3. Everything in the last few minutes that Warrior does, from kicking out of the elbows, to questioning himself and the Gods, to planting Savage with the shoulder blocks to covering Savage with the one foot on the chest… EVERYTHING… is basically him saying “I came……. I saw……. I conquered!” And it’s fucking awesome!
This is what the World Wrestling Federation IS!
*****
I love Warrior
. Apolagies for the long windedness, I fired this all on Microsoft Word today. I planned on doing a review of the DVD, but now that the Savage comp is here my plans changed slightly.
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