You are here /wrestling
/guests
/John C.
Guest Columns

John C.

Main

BLAH

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)

Match #1: Steve Austin vs. Dude Love @ Over The Edge 1998
To start off this new series I wanted to choose a match that had everything needed to be considered a fantastic match. I decided to take a look at the last really great North American match of the last two years. There were some candidates in '99 like Hart/Benoit or the Hardys vs. Edge/Christian but I decided to go back a year to a match that closed out a great feud and produced two outstanding matches with one of them being the best match of 1998. No it wasn't King of the Ring '98 but it was a match that Mick Foley participated in. The match took place at Over the Edge 1998 on May 31 in Milwaukee as Steve Austin defended the WWF World Title against Dude Love who you all know as the great Mick Foley. I'm sure some of you remember this match and this feud but for those that don't know or can't remember I'll do my best to help you out with this rundown of the feud. In each of these looks at the Greatest Matches in Wrestling History I will examine several things that made each match so special to watch. I'll look at The Feud, The Match, The Aftermath, The Event and The Last Word. Here she blows…

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.

The Feud
Steve Austin was coming off his first world title win at WrestleMania 14 where he defeated Shawn Michaels in what will probably be the last match of Shawn Michaels amazing career. The WWF was on a roll as the PPV got a huge buyrate and the Austin vs. McMahon feud was the hottest in all of wrestling but Vince needed an opponent for Austin. With Shawn out and the Undertaker still battling his brother Kane, Vince looked at a guy by the name of Mick Foley for a little help. On a live Raw on April 13, 1998 Vince and Austin agreed to have a one on one match where Austin would have one hand tied behind his back. Just as they were set to battle out comes Mick Foley (as Dude Love) to attack Austin and help Raw defeat Nitro 4.6 to 4.3 in the ratings wars. Although the battle was close for most of '98 this feud was the main reason why the WWF got plenty of fans back. Austin wrestled Dude Love at Unforgiven in a ****1/4 match that ended up being a DQ once Austin "accidentally" drilled Vince in the head with a nasty chair shot. After the match it seemed as though Vince was mad at Dude for not bringing home the title but it was all an elaborate McMahon scheme that worked quite well.

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.

The Match
Pat Patterson walks out as the guest ring announcer as the crowd boos. He then introduces the timekeeper Gerald Brisco as well as giving out the phone number of the Brisco Brothers Body Shop thereby showing everybody how cool the stooges are. He then introduces Vinny Mac as the ref using several adjectives that are taking ass kissing to an extreme but lucky for Patterson it's all on cards so he doesn't have to remember them all. Dude Love is also given many compliments and the entrance video makes me laugh because it's absolutely hilarious. Rather than read a list of negative comments about Austin, Patterson calls him a "bum" and Austin gets no introduction but once he comes down the pop is huge. Vince swears that he'll call it down the middle, yeah right.

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.

The Aftermath
After Austin conquered Dude Love his next challenge was Kane at the King of the Ring. He lost the belt there due to interference from the Undertaker but he regained the title on Raw the next night. He ended up losing it at the Breakdown PPV in September giving him a five month title reign which, by today's standards, is quite a long run as world champion. Other than his feud with Bret Hart, this feud with Mick Foley was the best one of Steve Austin's glorious career. Yes Rock fans, it was better than their feud too.

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.

The Event
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Over the Edge '98 is the greatest card ever because the truth is it was probably the third best WWF PPV of that year. For what it's worth, I thought Summerslam and WrestleMania were better but OTE was better than any PPV that happened in '99. This was because '98 was such a good year and not necessarily because '99 was horrible. When you have a five star match like this PPV did I think the show is good but this card also had three more matches that were *** or better. I thought Jarrett vs. Blackman was a *** match despite the fact that the crowd seemed uninterested. I don't blame them, this is the "Charisma Kid" Steve Blackman! DX (HHH, Gunn & RD) took on the Nation (Owen, D'Lo & Kama the Pimp) in a ***1/4 match that was good because Owen and Brown carried the degenerates plus the crowd was really hot for this one. The second best match of the night was a tag match that saw Bradshaw & TAKA Michinoku take on Dick Togo, Mens Teoh and Sho Funaki in what was a match that I'd rate at ***3/4. Bradshaw is in the ring for about 90 seconds total (a good thing) as it is just TAKA taking a beating from Kaientai DX and particularly Dick Togo who I must say kicks ass in a million ways. If you think Jeff Hardy has a sweet Senton Bomb wait till you see Togo's cause it's fantastic and of course any match that sees TAKA in a ring for more than 10 minutes is going to reach about *** because he's that damn good. When you toss in the main event it gives you a card that kicks ass from top to bottom and there's even a match from The Rock for all you fans of the Great One. Of course, he doesn't have Foley or Austin to carry his ass so he delivers a *3/4 performance against Faarooq. All in all, I'd rent this tape because it's a pretty good show from top to bottom.

The Last Word
If you asked me what wrestlers I respect the most in this business my top three, in no particular order, would be Ric Flair, Mick Foley and Steve Austin. Frankly, I can't remember the last time a Foley or Austin match was really bad because both of these guys bust their butts every time they are out there and that's what made this match special. Austin never had a great match with the Undertaker because their styles didn't gel properly while Foley had slightly better matches with Taker but they weren't at the level as the ones that Michaels or Bret Hart had with Taker. That is why each wrestler has that one opponent who they gel with better than everybody else. In my mind, the best opponent for Austin is Foley (or Bret Hart) while the best opponent for Foley is Austin (or HBK).

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!

In Closing…
That about wraps this first one up but I am really counting on all of you to send me feedback so I know what you thought of this and in particular the format of the column. I am open to suggestions as to what matches you'd like me to write about because I have a wide variety of tapes, particularly WWF ones, so I'd be able to write about any big match that has happened in the past ten years or so. My next four will probably be Shawn vs. Taker (Badd Blood), Austin vs. Bret (WM13), Foley vs. Taker (KOTR '98) and Owen vs. Bret (Summerslam '94). I will try to do some WCW ones in the future but at this time my WCW tape collection is not that big although I do have Steamboat/Flair and Vader/Flair so I could always do those ones. I am not sure when I will do them all but I think I can handle one a week so that's what I will probably do for the next four weeks. This was a lot of fun to write and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please mail me at wwfjohnc@hotmail.comwith any good or bad comments cause I worked pretty hard on this and I am hoping that his hard work paid off. Take care everybody, enjoy the Super Bowl and after the Rams raise the Lombardi trophy please take the time to think about how drunk I will be on Sunday night. Ah, life is good.

Smell ya later,

John C.
Big3 Oratory

Mail the Author
AOLIM: JohnC1104 Big3 Oratory

BLAH

Main

Design copyright (C) 1999, 2000 Christopher Robin Zimmerman & KZiM Communications
Guest column text copyright (C) 2000 by the individual author and used with permission