Only worked 2 matches with the company and still had a more memorable run than a good portion of the roster. Steve sure knew how to make an impact in the biz.
__________________
We will sing as one in solidarity, we will sing together. And still we will be here - standing like statues.
Love both Rock and Austin but Austin is the better in-ring worker in my opinion. I can see how someone would prefer Rock's style or he just plain entertains them more than Austin or even a Benoit in the ring but comments like him being a better technical wrestler are too much. Austin in WCW - I featured some of Austin's best WCW work in my greatest matches list over a month ago. I believe all the WCW material here is worth checking out.
Spoiler for Austin match list:
I decided to put a little list together some of the greatest matches of Stone Cold Steve Austin's legendary career. The matches were chosen based on a combination of my personal favorites, the important moments, and the biggest-most hyped main events. Sometimes career defining moments trumps "technical" match quality and I consider that in the list order. There are only WWF/E and WCW matches on my list but feel free to mention any ECW, USWA, or WCW and WWF matches you believe should be on the list. Austin's had so many quality wrestling matches and big time showdowns throughout his career so it wouldn't surprise me.
It is rewarding as a Steve Austin fan to watch his in-ring performances evolve from his WCW days to his tenure in the WWF/E. In WCW he had much more technical wrestling style and bumped huge for his babyface opponents as a conniving heel. As you will see in my list he did a fantastic job in quite a few tag team matches in WCW. Whether he was teaming with fellow Hollywood Blond Flyin' Brian Pillman or a Dangerous Alliance stable mate, it was sure to be in a ring full talented workers because the opponents were usually equally as good with guys like Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, and Ricky Steamboat. Speaking of Steamboat, he and Austin had amazing chemistry with each other. Austin's first great series of singles matches were with The Dragon. The pacing of their matches and the flow in their wrestling exchanges is a beauty to watch.
Austin's WWF tenure is certainly special to look back on. His best rivalries ever are represented in this list such as Austin/McMahon, Austin/Rock, Austin/Hart and Austin/Triple H. I love how the Austin/McMahon rivalry was at the center of a lot of Austin's biggest matches. The stakes felt higher due to the awesome Austin/McMahon story arc and classic moment after classic moment happening every week between the Boss and The Rattlesnake. I loved how Austin had to deal with defying McMahon's authority and constantly embarrassing him to Austin having to fight for the WWF Championship with Undertaker, The Rock, Dude Love, Kane, etc.
Austin's 2001 in-ring work is quite possibly could be the single best year, not only of Austin's in-ring career, but of any wrestler in company history. Take a look at the classics he had that year with the likes of Triple H, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Undertaker and of course, The Rock. His heel persona and WWF Title run was pure entertainment. Austin was just on fire that year from an overall entertainment perspective. Not taking anything away from his 1997 because he was excellent that year too, if not better. So Austin's most captivating, memorable as well as great wrestling matches represented.
Steve Austin's 50 Greatest Matches
50. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon (Steel Cage Match) – WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1999
49. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock – WWF Rebellion 2001
48. Triple H vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (No Holds Barred) – WWF No Mercy 1999
47. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie vs. Triple H, New Age Outlaws & Savio Vega – WWF In Your House 20: No Way Out of Texas 1998
46. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock (Steel Cage Match) – WWF Raw 04/02/2001
45. Kane vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – WWF Raw 06/29/1998
44. Hollywood Blonds vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson (2 out of 3 Falls Match) – WCW Clash Of The Champions XXIII 06/16/1993
43. Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker vs. Triple H vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock vs. Rikishi (Hell In A Cell) – WWF Armageddon 2000
42. Stunning Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes – WCW Halloween Havoc 1991
41. Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair & Stunning Steve Austin - WCW Saturday Night 07/30/1994
40. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds - WCW Worldwide 03/27/1993
39. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho – WWF King Of The Ring 2001
38. The Two-Man Power Trip vs. The Brothers Of Destruction (Champions vs. Champions) – WWF Backlash 2001
37. Stunning Steve Austin vs. Barry Windham (2 out of 3 Falls) – WCW Saturday Night 05/09/1992
36. Stunning Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW Bash At The Beach 1994
35. Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – WWF RAW 01/08/2001
34. Stunning Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko vs. Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham – WCW SuperBrawl 1992
33. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit – WWF Raw 05/28/2001
32. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock – WWF In Your House: Degeneration X
31. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam – WWF No Mercy 2001
30. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker – WWF Raw 06/28/1999
29. Ravishing Rick Rude & Stunning Steve Austin vs. Sting & Ricky Steamboat – WCW Clash Of The Champions XVIII 01/21/1992
28. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs. Hollywood Blonds – WCW Clash of the Champions XXII 01/13/1993
27. Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega (Caribbean Strap Match) - WWF In Your House 8: Beware of Dog 05/28/1996
26. Stunning Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 08/01/1992
25. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock – WWF WrestleMania XV
24. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker – WWF Judgment Day 2001
23. Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker vs. Vader – WWF In Your House 13: Final Four 1997
22. Stone Cold Steve Austin & Kurt Angle vs. The Rock & Chris Jericho – WWF Smackdown 11/15/2001
21. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels – WWF King of the Ring 1997
20. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker – WWF SummerSlam 1998
19. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart – WWF In Your House 14: Revenge Of The Taker 1997
18. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle – WWF Unforgiven 2001
17. The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (First Blood “End Of An Era” Match) – WWF Fully Loaded 1999
16. The Hart Foundation vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust & L.O.D. – WWF In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede 1997
15. Shawn Michaels vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – WWF WrestleMania XIV
14. Stunning Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW Clash Of The Champions XXVIII 08/28/1994
13. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock (No Holds Barred) – WWF Backlash 1999
12. The Dangerous Alliance vs. Sting’s Squadron (War Games) – WCW WrestleWar 1992
11. Stone Cold Steve Austin & Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith – WWF RAW 05/26/1997
10. The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – WWE WrestleMania XIX
9. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Dude Love – WWF Over The Edge 1998
8. The Two-Man Power Trip vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho – WWF RAW 05/21/2001
7. Team WWF vs. WCW/ECW Alliance (Winner Takes All) – WWF Survivor Series 2001
6. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H (3 Stages of Hell) – WWF No Way Out 2001
5. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle – WWF SummerSlam 2001
4. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit – WWF Smackdown 05/31/2001
3. Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin – WWF Survivor Series 1996
2. The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (No Disqualification) – WWF WrestleMania X-Seven
1. Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (Submission Match) – WWF WrestleMania 13
Thanks for that Clique, i remember your original thread and was going to check out a couple of matches i hadn't seen, thanks for the reminder, im going to try and check this one out:
Stunning Steve Austin vs. Barry Windham (2 out of 3 Falls) – WCW Saturday Night 05/09/1992
Man, there was so much blood in that War Games '92 match. That Austin-Windham 2/3 falls match is on Dailymotion, but in different parts, even though each part is about five minutes long.
Most Overrated- The Undertaker vs Triple Hell In A Cell- Wrestlemania 28
A lot of people complain about HIAC matches not utilizing the structure much these days. Yet somehow, for a match that featured probably about 2 cell spots, a lot of people have being handing out 5 snowflakes and MOTY left and right. This match could have told the same story had it been a regular no DQ match. The selling points here were the 20 or so chair shots from HHH, not using the cell as a weapon. Was it an emotional match? Of course. But the cell seemed obsolete after the first 5 minutes. And this is a Hell In A Cell match. Maybe if it was a chairs match I would have considered it MOTY or even a MOTYC. The cell just served no purpose and the match could have been done without it, that's why I'm hard on this match.
***1/2
I really can't think of a most underrated match. A lot of matches get the recognition that they deserve around here.
As for my personal favourite, that's a tough one. While 2012 have been a very good year for wrestling in WWE, no match really jumps out from the rest. Maybe CM Punk vs John Cena MITB spoiled me. That match just really stood out from the rest and blew everything out the water. But this year, there have been some great matches but nothing really stands out. The match I really, really enjoyed this year though was CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan from Super Smackdown.
I never really get the whole argument about the cell not being used. The purpose of a HIAC match is to simply keep people INSIDE. Nothing more.
To me I see no reason in digging for weapons under the ring when you got this entire 20 foot mesh of steel as a weapon to use. The Cell keeps them inside, and hurts the shit out of them too. It's like a cage match. Would you watch a cage match just to see two guys go technical in it? Of course not. The cage would have served no purpose, then.
But i always say that the HIAC is what the cage match should have been. Two people locked inside, with no chance of escaping yet somehow the participants always see the need to go outside. Why? I'll never understand.
Speaking of HIAC, am I the only one that enjoyed Punk/Ryback for what is was? You know what, I'll go with that as my most underrated match. It told a damn great story and utilized the cell (given the time, it made good use of it). Sure, it's one of the worst HIAC Matches of all time (mostly because of the ending) but it was exciting and well paced.
I loved seeing Punk desperately struggle to escape the cell. Really drives home the point of being locked inside with someone with no escape. I give it 3 stars to be honest. So there you have it, my most underrated match of the year. CM Punk vs Ryback Hell In A Cell. Underrated because a lot of peoepl can't seem to get past the fucked up booking.
To an extent, yeah. I just don't care for tag matches usually because it's always the same shit. Some back and forth action, a couple of tags then face starts getting beat down by the heels for 10 minutes, he gets close to tagging his partner but for some unknown reason, ref turns around at the last minute which brings the face back into the heels corner, then he manages to put them down with an Enziguri, DDT or something and finally the hot tag comes with the fresh partner who destroys every heel in sight. Then everybody gets involved inside the ring and the faces usually win by performing their finishers. That's how 99% of tag matches go and I am about to fall asleep most of the time when the heels are in control. Such a played out formula. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy exciting tag matches that are a bit better paced and feature more action such as Austin/HHH vs Jericho/Benoit, which is one of my favorite matches ever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by K1ngOfK1ngs
Most overrated WWE match in 2012 (thus far) ?
Most underrated WWE match in 2012 (thus far) ?
PERSONAL favorite (NOT the best) ?
SHOOT.
Most overrated: CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan (Money in the Bank) - ** - HATE that match. SuperPunk in full effect and all that bullshit with AJ just ruins it for me. I would also say their OTL match but I can see why somebody would rate it highly.
Most underrated: Kane vs Randy Orton (Extreme Rules) - ***1/2 - A very good match that gets overlooked by the superior Sheamus/Bryan & Lesnar/Cena matches. Would have gotten more recognition in a lesser PPV most likely.
Personal favorite: The Rock vs John Cena - **** - I don't know about everyone else but I loved this match. Crowd is on fire and the match has that big time feel. Rock runs out of energy pretty fast which leads to some restholds but it didn't bother me much. I was just enjoying the picture of two greats going at it. And the finish is also the definition of a "feel good" one for me, unlike 95% of the great matches this year.
Most overrated: CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan (Money in the Bank) - ** - HATE that match. SuperPunk in full effect and all that bullshit with AJ just ruins it for me. I would also say their OTL match but I can see why somebody would rate it highly.
Most underrated: Kane vs Randy Orton (Extreme Rules) - ***1/2 - A very good match that gets overlooked by the superior Sheamus/Bryan & Lesnar/Cena matches. Would have gotten more recognition in a lesser PPV most likely.
Personal favorite: The Rock vs John Cena - **** - I don't know about everyone else but I loved this match. Crowd is on fire and the match has that big time feel. Rock runs out of energy pretty fast which leads to some restholds but it didn't bother me much. I was just enjoying the picture of two greats going at it. And the finish is also the definition of a "feel good" one for me, unlike 95% of the great matches this year.
Finally someone else who sees Punk's face run as a complete Super-Man run. The worst was TLC 2011 for me though. Punk's Superman performance in TLC 2011 gives Austin's Superman performance in NWO '98 a run for its money.I also find the punk/D-Bryan series to be overrated (except for the Super Smackdown match, enjoyed that one) I don't even remember their OTL match and I'm sure I saw it about 2 times.
Rock vs Cena, I shat on it alot initially but after giving it a second watch I gave a nice little rating of ***3/4. It was a good wrestling match. I was expecting an all out brawl from these two but they went out there and put on more of a slow paced, methodical match. It caught of everyone off guard.
Given the build, it was a shitty way to go about it but it's not that bad of a wrestling match. Just nowhere near my favourites of all time though or this year as a matter of fact lol. Can't say I agree with you on the finish being a "feel good moment" I wanted Cena to over. Hey, what can I say. I'm a huge Cena mark.
To an extent, yeah. I just don't care for tag matches usually because it's always the same shit. Some back and forth action, a couple of tags then face starts getting beat down by the heels for 10 minutes, he gets close to tagging his partner but for some unknown reason, ref turns around at the last minute which brings the face back into the heels corner, then he manages to put them down with an Enziguri, DDT or something and finally the hot tag comes with the fresh partner who destroys every heel in sight. Then everybody gets involved inside the ring and the faces usually win by performing their finishers. That's how 99% of tag matches go and I am about to fall asleep most of the time when the heels are in control. Such a played out formula. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy exciting tag matches that are a bit better paced and feature more action such as Austin/HHH vs Jericho/Benoit, which is one of my favorite matches ever.
You've let the lazy, formulaic style of WWE tag team matches over the past few years give you a jaded outlook. There are so many brilliant tag team matches out there. Even some lesser matches are gems like APA vs WGTT from NWO '04 or Primetime Players vs Alex Riley/Percy Watson NXT 2/28/12. A good majority of the time I'd probably take a tag team match over a singles match. The psychology is so damn good. It's some of the most strategic work that can be done in wrestling. Tag team wrestling + southern style might be the best combo in the whole of the biz.
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We will sing as one in solidarity, we will sing together. And still we will be here - standing like statues.
Official DVD/Match/Show Discussion Thread
Re: Official DVD/Match/Show Discussion Thread
. UPDATE (09/04/2013): Weekly Wrestling Roundup Episode 74 & 75!!!
