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THE JOHN REPORT Great Matches in Wrestlig History - Austin vs. Dude Love I am sure all of you know that I am in Atlanta (more like Cold-lanta this week) right now as one of the 2,000 or so reporters that are covering Super Bowl XXXIV. Rather than talking in great detail about what I'm doing I will just get to the column. Before I do I'd like to thank my good friend drqshadow for the John Report banner because it's probably the best one I've had up to this point. I'm not going to write a column about the Royal Rumble, Raw or Nitro because I've been on the road and I haven't seen anything since ECW last Friday (great show by the way) but I have all that stuff taped so I will watch it Monday or Tuesday. Instead of leaving you in the dark I figured I should write something up for this week's column so last week when I was able to find some free time that is what I did. This is going to be the first of a series of columns where I look at a match from the past that I really enjoyed. I don't have a flashy title for this series but for now let's just call it "Great Matches in Wrestling History" so without further adieu here it is. Need your help: I would like to encourage everybody reading this column to head on over to Pro Wrestling Daily's "Best of the Net" Awards where you can vote for me as best columnist. To do that all you have to do is CLICK HERE and go to the second poll. Click on the drop-down arrow, find my name and hit vote. Thanks a lot and take the time to vote in the other polls while you are at it. (Hey, am I in this? Vote for me, too! I mean, if I'm there. Gosh, I'm so unappreciated! - CRZ)
Many sources of info were used to write this article with the most useful being Mick Foley's fabulous book: "Have a Nice Day." A lot of it was written from memory but the book helped out quite a bit.
On a memorable Raw match in Richmond, VA, Mick was given a second chance by Vince. Vince told him that if he could defeat his friend Terry Funk in a hardcore match then he'll get another shot at Austin. Foley defeated Funk in a very good hardcore match and then confronted Austin again but as Austin was set to kick his ass Foley slid out of the ring and met Vince, along with two girls, at the top of the ramp. Vince gave Mick the Dude Love attire as the four of, using Foley's description from his book, "gleefully boogied" as the show ended. I don't know about you but that was one of the funniest things I've seen in the WWF; the sight of Vince and Foley dancing together was hysterical. As Over the Edge approached the Dude changed his look and became a corporate stooge. Dude cut his hair, had his missing teeth replaced, wore one of Vince's fine jackets and had a Wall Street Journal in hand along with Dude's patented blue pastel tights. As Foley said in his book, Dude Love turned out being a "disco-dancing corporate hippie." Anyway, the match was set for Over the Edge but there are a few things you have to know before you read about the match itself. First of all, the guest ring announcer would be corporate stooge Pat Patterson and the guest time keeper would be corporate stooge Gerald Brisco. The guest referee, well, I'll use the words of Pat Patterson: "Ladies and gentleman, he's the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be - Vince McMahon!" Hmmm, where have I heard that before? In the weeks leading up to the match Vince claimed that there was no way Austin would win because no other superstar in the WWF was man enough to test his authority therefore nobody would help Austin. Because of that, the Undertaker (a face at the time) said that he would watch Austin's back because Vince questioned his manhood and with that the match was set up perfectly. Leading up to the match Vince proclaimed that a winner will be declared "by my hand only" meaning that he's the only one to declare a winner for this match. This two month feud was coming to an end and here's a look at how it was settled.
A tie-up starts things out and when they break Austin gives Vince the finger to the delight of the crowd. Dude with a shoulder tackle gets two as Vince counts very fast. Austin in control and he knocks Dude's new teeth out with a slam. Dude in control, Austin reverses into the Thesz Press and punches followed up by a clothesline to the outside. Dude in control, Austin goes side first into the ring steps and follows him with the russian legsweep for two. Crowd chants for Austin as Dude bites him and whips him hard into the corner working on the ribs. Austin sells it like a champ as Dude works on his back and ribs. Vince tells him to cover and he gets two, Vince is pissed. Austin back up with a neckbreaker, three clotheslines and the kicks in the corner as the crowd is going insane. Reversal and Dude slaps on the mandible claw but Austin is able to hurl Dude causing the Mr. Love to have his neck stuck in between the ropes (just how he lost his ear). Outside we go with more brawling as Dude delivers a hiptoss to Austin onto the Spanish announce table. Patterson announces the match is a no DQ all of a sudden as the JR and crowd get pissed off about that. Austin in control again, tosses Dude into Brisco and Dude takes a seat on the guardrail but that's a bad move. Austin with a clothesline and Dude takes a NASTY bump hard onto the floor landing on his side, OUCH! Taker stalks Vince and Vince has the same expression he had on the night he pissed his pants. Back in the ring, Austin misses a "splash the guy on the middle rope with your ass" move and Dude capitalizes with a baseball slide dropkick to the outside again. Dude with a neckbreaker on the floor as Vince rushes over to Patterson to tell him that the match is falls count anywhere too. JR is pissed off and so is the crowd who, by the way, is one of the loudest crowds I've ever seen. You think anybody in the crowd is drunk? Milwaukee? Draw your own conclusions. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, merely a comment. Dude in control as he goes for a pin and Austin kicks out at two as Vince counts fast again showing how impartial he can be. They work their way up the aisle to the old fashioned cars as Austin delivers a clothesline but is then the recipient of a back body drop on the hood of a car as the windshield breaks (Ouch!) and that gets two. More brawling around the cars, Austin gets a two out of it. Austin goes for a stunner on the car but Dude shoves him off and does a sunset flip off the hood of the car on the floor for an innovative spot. Austin thrown into a guard rail, Dude with a lead pipe and Austin's bleeding now. Dude with a suplex on the floor as both guys are bumping all over the damn arena. Dude climbs on a car but misses the elbow as Austin brings him back to the ring and throws him knee first into the steps. Patterson trips Austin as Dude pounds his wound. Austin gets kneed in the head as blood is everywhere to the dismay of the crowd. Austin is thrown into an exposed turnbuckle as Patterson hands Dude a chair which he uses to drill Austin in the ribs and a really hard one to the back. Dude with the double arm DDT gets a two count as the crowd gasps all at once. Dude runs with at him with the chair, Austin gets a boot up and then a clothesline plus a BRUTAL chair shot to the head of Dude. Austin pins but Vince won't count (bastard!) as Dude grabs the chair while Austin argues with Vinny Mac. Austin moves out of the way as Dude absolutely drills Vince with the chair to the head and it's a really stiff shot unlike the ones Triple H and Rocky usually take. Austin with a stunner, Mike Chioda runs in but Patterson yanks him out and decks him as the crowd is pissed again. Austin yells at Patterson as Dude is up and delivers the claw again as Patterson slides into the ring to count. He gets pulled out by Taker (you knew he had to do something) who proceeds to chokeslam Patterson through the English announce table (the Spanish are spared, for now). Austin's still beat up so Dude pins again and Brisco comes in to count. Bad move by Brisco as Taker yanks him out and chokeslams Brisco through the Spanish table (not so lucky now huh). Crowd is going absolutely insane now as Austin is up, kick to the gut and delivers the Stunner. Austin grabs Vince's limp body and raises his hand three times (remember, Vince's hand only!) to get the 1…2…3 and retain the title. Austin gives Vince and Dude the magic fingers and stares down Taker who he would eventually meet at Summerslam as JR is proud to inform us that Steve Austin is the toughest S.O.B. he has ever seen. If you want to hear a loud pop, watch this match because the crowd is going absolutely insane. I'll give it ***** because it was booked perfectly, both wrestlers bumped their asses off and the crowd was as hot as any crowd I have ever seen. Just a superb, fantastic match that I will never get tired of seeing.
After losing to Austin, Foley had his own problems because Vinny Mac decided to fire Dude Love for failing to bring home the gold. Since Cactus Jack had "retired" a month earlier, Foley was forced to bring back Mankind. At the King of the Ring, Foley competed in the Hell in a Cell match that would end up being the most memorable moment of his fantastic career. In his terrific autobiography Mick said that HIAC match was the most emotional match of his career but OTE '98 delivered the match that was the most enjoyable. I can only sit here and agree because that is the absolute truth.
This match at OTE '98 was one of the most anticipated matches for me as a wrestling fan because I like everything about Foley and Austin, I always have and I always will. I think 90% of the wrestlers in the WWF could run faster and jump higher than Foley or Austin but nobody in the company has a heart comparable to either man. These two were so battered and bruised heading into this match yet they were still able to deliver one of the best matches of the '90s. Yes, the good storyline helped a lot but in order to make a story get over with the fans you need the right people to tell that story and believe me when I say there are no two better storytellers than Austin and Foley. The fact that they are good friends only added to the match because each of them is going to do their damnedest to make the other guy look good. This match had everything needed to be a classic. It was for the world title, it featured the top face, the top heel, two very good workers, an electrifying storyline and one of the greatest crowds I have ever seen. I must give credit to this crowd because they were into this match for the entire 20 minutes and although I do not have a decibel meter I'd venture to say that Austin's pop at the end of the night was as loud as anything I have ever heard. I know a lot of people voted for HIAC #2 for 1998 Match of the Year but in my mind this match right here was the best match in '98. HIAC #2 had two of the best spots ever and its impact on wrestling history is far greater but the better match was this one. If you want to watch a very good brawl then I recommend you check this match out because there are no two people that are better brawlers than Mick Foley and Steve Austin. Every time these two wrestle my juices flow kind of like how they flowed when Magic played against Bird because you just know it would be a good match (or game) every night. Much like Magic and Bird revolutionized the game of basketball, Mick Foley and Steve Austin revolutionized this business of professional wrestling. In Foley's book he called this match an "elaborate twenty-minute epic drama" and in the words of Steve Austin I have only one comment on that: Oh Hell Yeah!
Smell ya later,
John C. |
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