Goody Bag 88: Vaulting

 

Blindfold Match: Jake Roberts v Rick Martel: TV taping dark match from Savannah Georgia on January 29 1991, as they do a practice run for the WrestleMania match. So both guys search for each other for a while, and it’s a great way to engage the crowd, as Jake plays hot/cold. They end up colliding with each other at one point, but neither is able to grab the other. Jake bumps in to him a second time, and nearly gets the DDT, but Martel manages to slip free. Funny bit, as Martel whips him into the ropes, and tries a backdrop, but Jake just runs right past him. That’s awesome. They spill to the outside, where Martel finds a chair, but makes a blind swing, and hits the post. Inside, they find one another, and Martel is able to deliver a bodyslam, but an elbowdrop misses. Finally, a frustrated Martel pulls the hood off, and he attacks. And they surprisingly don’t call an immediate DQ. Jake ends up tied in the ropes, allowing Martel to grab his perfume sprayer - only for Jake to get free, and drop him with the DDT. Martel is out, but now Roberts has to find him again to score the pin. He crawls around, finds him, and gets the three at 8:47. I’m kind of surprised they had a proper finish here, instead of disqualifying Martel to push the WrestleMania match for the people in the building. I mean, they probably wouldn’t have traveled to California to buy a ticket, but they’re still potential pay per view buyers. This was extremely similar to the WrestleMania match, and like that one, it was entertaining in its way, and engaged the crowd well, but certainly wasn’t a workrate match. Both guys did a great job of getting it over, though. One thing this was missing: Martel didn’t obviously cheat a bunch, which you’d think would be a given. I mean, yeah, he did at the end, but you’d think it would be a layup to have him peeking out all the time. ½*

WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair: TV taping dark match on November 12 1991 in Springfield Massachusetts. Flair has the so-called ‘Vegas Big Gold’ here, and they do a bit where each guy takes a turn holding up their respective belt to get the crowd cheering and booing on cue. They do an excessive amount of posturing to start, and don’t even make real contact until nearly four minutes in. Flair grabs a standing headlock out of the initial lockup, but Hulk forces a criss cross, and blasts him with a shoulderblock. Another criss cross ends in Hulk countering a hiptoss with a short-clothesline, and a second clothesline knocks Ric out of the ring. Hogan continues to use power to dominate the posturing type exchanges, and he gets Ric into the corner for a ten-punch count. Flair gets off, but Hulk keeps coming, and a cross corner whip flips Flair to the outside. Ric teases walking out, but Hulk drags him back in - only for Flair to nail him on the way. That allows Ric a snapmare to set up a kneedrop, and he takes Hogan into the corner for chops. Hulk no sells, so Flair begs off, but Hogan shows no mercy. Hulk with a series of punches, so Mr. Perfect distracts him, and Flair takes a shot at the knee to capitalize. Ric goes to work on the part, but Hulk blocks the figure four, so Flair goes to the top to up the ante. Unfortunately for him, Hogan slams him off, and covers for two - saved when Perfect puts him in the ropes. Perfect takes the opportunity to pass Flair a weapon, and Ric blasts the champion with it for two - only to trigger the HULK UP!! Big Boot! Flair wisely bails, and Hulk gives chase, so Flair goes to the eyes. He tries to send Hulk into the post out there, but gets reversed, and Hogan picks up a countout win at 14:51. They were getting great crowd reactions here, and while the match itself was pretty basic, it was like a template for their later high profile showdowns in 1994. *

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Legion of Doom v Shawn Michaels and Triple H: From Uniondale New York on October 24 1997. Triple H was in a weird period here, where he was doing the DX stuff, but still dressing like a blueblood. Animal and HHH start, as Shawn tries to piss off every single person in the crowd, individually, if needed. Animal powers Hunter around, and it doesn’t really go anywhere, before both guys tag. Shawn sticks and moves on Hawk, but gets reversed on a cross corner whip, and Hawk press-slams him. Shawn bails, but the champs follow, and he takes another press-slam on the floor. Say what you will about the guy, but he was never afraid to go out and do it all, even on the house shows. Inside, Animal grabs a headlock, so Shawn forces a criss cross, but gets caught in a bearhug. That draws HHH in, so Animal grabs him in a bearhug, then clotheslines both guys. He tries another press-slam on Michaels, but HHH clips his leg to block, and Hawk is just standing there, twiddling his thumbs during all of this. The challengers take control, and work on Animal, until Hawk gets the hot tag, and DX turn into pinballs before our very eyes! Michaels especially. As things break down, Shawn blasts Hawk with the tag title belt, and HHH hooks a leveraged pin at 12:39. So we have new champions announced, but another referee comes out to protest, and the match is restarted. The LOD go to town, but get too worked up, and nail the referee for a DQ at 13:54. Shawn made it his personal mission to make LOD look like it was still 1986 here. ¾*

WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: Chavo Guerrero v Rey Mysterio: From Monterrey Nuevo Leon Mexico on April 3 2004. Chavo stomps him down right away, and a pop-up flapjack gets him two. Chavo with an uppercut, and he grounds Rey in a bodyscissors. Chavo Guerrero Sr takes some cheap shots along the way, and Junior delivers a clothesline for two. Rey fights back with fists, and a springboard bodypress gets him two. A magistral cradle gets another two, and a headscissor sends Chavo to the outside. Rey dives onto both Guerrero’s, but a dive on the way back in results on both men down. Guerrero gets a two count out of the deal, but Rey escapes a sunset flip with a seated dropkick for two. Rey goes upstairs, so Chavo tries a superplex, but Rey blocks. Rey tries a sunset bomb, but Guerrero blocks, and uses a power backbreaker for two. Good exchange there. Chavo tries another one, but Rey counters to a headscissors, and a standing sunset bomb gets him two. He tries the 619, but Chavo Sr. pushes his son out of the way, and Chavo uses a gory facebuster at 9:30. This wasn’t great. ½*