Goody Bag XXI: Tigers, Ligers, and Rockers

 

WWF Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Tiger Mask v Bret Hart: From NJPW New Year Golden Series in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan on February 5 1982. Bret slugs away out of the initial lockup, but Tiger does a crisp kip-up into a kick, then hammers the future Hitman with a few more kicks. Chinlock is applied, so Hart uses the mask to force a reversal, then pounds him in the corner again. Cross corner whip hits, but a second misses, and Tiger blitzes him with more kicks to setup a somersault senton splash for two. Brainbuster gets two, so Hart sweeps the legs, and chokes him on the mat. Man, when Tiger is throwing a flurry of offense, it's almost impossible for my fingers to keep up with him! Bret with a knee to setup a pair of legdrops for two, but Tiger manages to hold his own during a slugfest, and a kneelift sets up a series of kneedrops - Hart able to dodge the third. He capitalizes by working the leg, but Tiger manages to block a vertical suplex, so Hart punishes him with a rope burn. Tiger fights back with a SWIFT takedown into a Mexican surfboard, and a double-kneedrop gets two. He slaps on a hammerlock, but Bret counters to a headlock, so Tiger counters back to a headscissors. They trade counters for a bit, and a criss cross goes Tiger's way with a dropkick, followed by a piledriver for two. Hart fires back with a dropkick of his own, and a pair of elbowdrops follow. Tiger sweeps him down for a kneedrop, and a gutwrench suplex gets two. Bodypress for two, and a sunset flip is worth two. Hart tosses him to the outside to cut that flurry off, and he jumps off the apron with a flying axehandle - only to have a whip into the guardrail get reversed. Wow, Bret nearly took out the entire first row with that impact there - nuts! Back in, Tiger slaps on a figure four, but Hart reverses, and they're in the ropes. Tiger keeps after the leg with a spinning-toehold, so Bret counters with a cradle, but they're in the ropes. It serves to get Hart out of trouble, however, and he blasts Tiger with a series of rights. Piledriver gets two, and a legdrop is followed by an elbowdrop for two. Tiger fights him off in the corner with kicks, and jumping double-ax sets up a 2^nd rope flying somersault senton splash - Hart able to roll out of the way! That allows him a backbreaker for two, and a vertical suplex is worth two. Shoulderblock hits, but a second one is countered with a spinkick, and a dropkick sends Hart to the outside. Tiger tries following with a plancha, but Bret gets out of the way, and Tiger is nearly counted out. Hart hammers him on the way back in, but an attempt to charge is countered with a perfectly executed missile dropkick, and a butterfly suplex wraps it up at 17:13. Bit of a style clash, and Hart wasn't quite the wrestler he'd become later on, but still a good match. Enough can't be said for how crisp and well executed Tiger Mask's offense was. *** ¼

The Brain Busters v The Rockers: From an MSG house show at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on March 18 1989. Arn Anderson starts with Shawn Michaels, and they feel each other out. Arn tries a cheap shot, but Shawn holds his own against him, so Tully Blanchard comes in illegally - and here's Marty Jannetty to cut him off. The Rockers clean house, and the dust settles on Blanchard and Michaels. Tully tries to take control, but Shawn is again able to hold his own, and he tags Marty in to help work the arm. Tully tries to sucker Marty into the heel corner, but Jannetty is wise to his tricks, and Shawn tags in for a tandem hiptoss. The Rockers work Blanchard over, so the Busters try a double team, but Shawn comes in, and the Rockers clean house with stereo ranas. They follow-up with stereo planchas, and back in, Shawn atomic drops Tully, but runs into a cheap shot from Anderson while trying a headscissors. That's enough to turn the tide, and the Busters cut the ring in half on Michaels in textbook fashion. Tully goes up, but Shawn manages to slam him down to allow the tag to Marty, and Roseanne Barr the door! Jannetty throws dropkicks like they're going out of style, and the Rockers hit Blanchard with a rocket launcher - only for Anderson to pull the referee out during the count to cause a DQ at 13:30. Good stuff, but not on par with the SNME match. ** ½

Shawn Michaels v Kato: From an MSG house show on March 15 1991. Shawn comes out solo, but then quickly goes to the back to bring out Marty Jannetty in an effort to deter interference from Tanaka and Mr. Fuji. Kato comes at him with a monkeyflip early on, but Shawn ends up getting hammered in the corner when he tries one of his own. He softens Kato up a bit with a hiptoss before trying again (successfully), and a pair of armdrags lead to an armbar. Kato tries a slam to escape, but Shawn holds onto it, so Kato goes to the eyes instead. Criss cross, but Michaels gets the better of it, and it's back to the armbar. Another criss cross ends in Shawn hitting an armdrag, but he runs into a facebuster as they criss cross again, and Kato follows up with a turnbuckle smash and a jumping backelbow for two. He grounds the Rocker in a nervehold, and Shawn is able to fight free with a victory roll for two, so Kato takes him back down to the hold again. After what feels like an eternity, Shawn finally manages to escape again, and he's able to dodge a cross corner charge to allow an inverted atomic drop. Michaels mounts his comeback, and a superkick sets up a flying elbowdrop for two. Rollup gets two, and Kato reverses it for two, so Fuji takes a cheap shot - which the camera completely misses. That leads to a fight with Jannetty, and while the referee is distracted by that, Tanaka nails Shawn with the cane, and Kato hooks a backslide at 12:50. The action was good when they were moving things along, but the nervehold stuff went on for way too long. * ¾

Jushin Thunder Liger v Owen Hart: From an NJPW show in Omiya, Saitama, Japan on April 28 1991. Both guys are wearing the same color outfits, which makes for a weird visual. Feeling out process to start, with Liger initially controlling, but Hart able to dropkick him to the outside for a plancha. He whips Jushin into the guardrail out there to setup a dropkick against it, then inside, Owen delivers a snap suplex for two. Criss cross goes Liger's way with a knee, and he whips Owen into the ropes for a second one before pulling him to the edge of the ring for a vertical suplex over the top! Liger whips him into the rail for his own running dropkick against it, and he ties Hart up in a leglock on the way back in. Hart is able to counter to a cross-armbreaker, but Liger gets the ropes to escape. Owen keeps after the arm following the break, and a hammerlock-slam leads to a crossface chickenwing. Butterfly suplex gets two, and a single-arm DDT leaves Liger prone for a fujiwara armbar. He gets to the ropes again, but Hart keeps punishing the arm - only to telegraph a backdrop, and get hooked in a backslide for two! Owen fires back with a northern lights suplex for two to keep control, and he goes back after the arm with an overhead wristlock. Suplex, but Liger counters with his own fujiwara armbar, and now Owen is forced to grab the ropes to save himself. Liger keeps on him with a surfboard and a rocking horse, then down into a cradle that Jushin hangs onto for a couple of two counts. Koppou kick and a clothesline send Hart to the outside, and Liger is right on his tail with a flying clothesline out there. Back in, Owen manages an overhead suplex for two during a criss cross, and a bridging German suplex is worth two. Clothesline, but Liger counters with a crucifix for two. Hart tries a flying twisting bodypress, but Jushin dropkicks him out of the air - only to miss a spinheel kick follow-up. He still manages to backdrop a desperate charging Owen over the top, but he's still dazed from the missed spinheel kick, and Owen is able to come back in with a flying twisting bodypress - Liger able to roll through for two! Tombstone, but Owen reverses (in a sloppy exchange - poor Owen just never had any luck with those tombstones, did he?), and he goes to the top to punctuate it with a flying headbutt for two. Bodyslam sets up a flying moonsault for two, but another trip to the top ends badly when Liger brings him down with a super electric chair for two! Now he's pissed, and he takes Owen to the top for a superplex, but Hart has the audacity to try fighting him off. Liger responds by dropkicking him back into a sitting position on the top turnbuckle, and he brings Owen down with a nasty DDT off the top for the pin at 14:58! This was crazy, state of the art stuff for 1991, and even today a lot of these high spots stand out. I mean, electric chairs and DDT's off the top - that shit don't get old. Not to mention that, aside from a few missteps, the execution was excellent throughout. ****