Review the last wrestling match you watched

This one should be obvious from the title. Post the last wrestling match you watched and write a review of it. The review can be as long or short as you want, but try to add some detail rather than just one line saying 'it was good' or whatever. Obviously you can take issue with the reviews of others and discussion will develop from that. If you like, give a star rating at the end of your review, but it is not compulsory.

Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley - Intercontinental Championship Match (Hardcore Rules) - Backlash 2004

I've seen this match many times, and it is honestly one of my favorites. I don't think it's one of the best matches of all time, but I just love watching it. I'll start by saying that the only downfall of this match was that it had a predictable winner. The reason for that was that they made the match for the Intercontinental Championship, and Randy was made to be the next big thing, and it was obvious he would have a long reign. He did however lose the belt 3 months later.

Making this match for the Intercontinental belt though made the title look like it was very important, as both men went to extreme measures to win. It was a personal feud, but the addition of putting the belt on the line, added a new goal of Foley's.

The match itself was great. Randy took some nice bumps, and I was shocked as hell seeing him get thrown in the tacks. This match proved to me that Randy Orton could be something huge in the future. The story of the match was great, as Orton was the punk kid who spit in the face of Foley's awhile ago, and Foley was out for revenge. Orton had to prove himself to Foley during the match, and had to play by Foley's rules. Once Orton did that, it allowed him to pick up the win.

****1/2

Yeah that was a fucking awesome match. Undoubtedly one of the matches of 2004 and it was great for Foley to prove that he was still capable of matches of that quality. I would probably rate it about the same as you. I too was shocked that Orton took the tack bump, but the whole match just showed what potential he had. When you look at a match like this being fought over the IC Title, it is kind of depressing. Orton's run just proved what an asset the IC title should be to the company, but instead we see it used as a prop to some joke character and nobody really benefits from it. Orton was turned into a star by his awesome IC title run, and this match was undoubtedly the highlight. They drew me in making it seem like Foley could win as the match went on, then bam, the RKO. Foley kicking out then getting another RKO on the barbed wire bat was probably a reference to the finish of the Rumble 2000 Street Fight with Triple H, when Foley kicked out of the Pedigree only to get pedigreed again on the tacks.

Great match.

Perhaps I'm feeling a bit nostalgic or maybe I'm just disappointed by how the title has been treated in recent years, but I've been wanting to relive some of the better moments of the IC title history. As a kid, it was my favorite title with it often time putting on better matches than the WWE Championship. The idea is simple, I will be watching as many matches where the IC title switched hands and review them. Over the course of reviewing them, I will be able to keep a ranking of them so that hopefully when I am done, I will be able to have a full list of the best to the worst title changes ever. Obviously, some matches will be easier to cover than others. Rey Mysterio vs JBL at Wrestlemania 25 and Ricky Steamboat vs Randy Savage at Wrestlemania III will give me no problem. However, matches such as Goldust and Jeff Jarrett's wins after the title was held up may prove to be more difficult to find. Then there's matches like Tito Santana vs Don Muraco which will be impossible to cover (The recording of the match was fucked up and only the post-match celebration exists.) Something tells me that Pat Patterson's Rio de Janeiro's match will be hard to find. I'll most likely just add reviews in random order at various points of it's history (Meaning I may do from Santana to Warrior's second title reign all in a row, then my next batch will be Jericho's last to Mysterio.)

This will obviously take some time, but hopefully some people will enjoy these.


Best IC Title Changes
1. Tito Santana (c) vs Randy Savage - February 8, 1986
2. Greg Valentine (c) vs Tito Santana - Steel Cage Match - July 6, 1985
3. Val Venis (c) vs Road Dogg - Raw - March 15, 1999
4. Jeff Jarrett (c) vs Edge - Toronto House Show - July 24, 1999
5. Road Dogg (c) vs Goldust - Raw - March 29, 1999
6. Goldust (c) vs The Godfather - Raw - April 12, 1999
7. The Godfather (c) vs Jeff Jarrett - Raw - May 31, 1999

Looking forward to it.

Good luck finding Patterson's.

Greg Valentine (c) vs Tito Santana - Steel Cage Match - July 6, 1985
This is from the Hall of Fame 2004 DVD. The match was taken from a live event with Gorilla Monsoon providing commentary I assume for a Coliseum Home Video release. Valentine and Santana had been battling on and off ever since Valentine defeated Santana for the title over a year before. Gorilla Monsoon mistakenly calls this the first ever IC title match inside of a steel cage. It's pretty sad especially considering one of the most well known IC title matches occurred in a steel cage less than two years prior to this. Very basic match without the frills and spots of modern day cage matches. For the most part, it's just punches, battling to escape the cage and Valentine throwing Santana against the cage a few times busting Tito open. The end sequence came with Valentine slowly crawling through the cage door while Tito climbs up over the top. Seeing that Valentine was close to escaping, Santana kicks the door into Greg's head and Santana wins by dropping down. I'm not sure if this is the first time this spot was done, but it has to be one of the early examples of it. The post-match has Valentine destroying the IC title out of frustration. This would led to the IC title (1985-1998) being created. Besides some weak looking shots, my only major issue with the match was Gorilla Monsoon. Typically, I love Monsoon as a commentator, but he sounded extremely bored and ruined several spots by calling what happens before it does. Overall, it's a simple, yet grudge filled match which had the steel cage do exactly what it was designed for - to end a feud. Throw in some historic events with the title being destroyed and you have an easy thumbs up. Not bad for the "First ever IC steel cage match." 3 Stars.

Tito Santana (c) vs Randy Savage - February 8, 1986
Upon arriving in the WWE, Savage had started challenging WWE World Champion, Hulk Hogan and IC Champion, Tito Santana to title matches. Sooner or later, the up-and-comer would get in a win. The referee for the match is Danny Davis. That will become important later on down the road. However, for the purpose of this review, it doesn't matter. The idea of the match is that Savage is becoming one of the best wrestlers in the WWE, but Santana uses his veteran knowledge to keep it even. Savage misses a knee drop near the end, injuring himself. This sets Santana up to lock in the Figure Four Leg Lock. Even with the bum knee, Savage is able to make it to the ropes to get the break. Savage begins messing with his tights, trying to produce a foreign object. Santana attempts to suplex Savage back into the ring from the apron, but Savage nails him with the foreign object and easily covers Tito for the win and the title. In some ways, this was ahead of it's time with how fast pace it was. While it's not to the caliber of the Steamboat matches, it clearly shows that Savage had a long and bright future in the WWE. Fun fact, in the history of the IC title up to this point, the title had only changed hands once in February or in Boston. Ironically, Tito's first IC title reign started almost two years to the date in this very arena. 3 1/2 Stars.

For now I will be posting my list of best IC title changes in the first post. Please keep in mind a match will only be listed once I (Re)watch it.


Val Venis (c) vs Road Dogg - Raw - March 15, 1999
This was made after Venis pinned Road Dogg the previous night on Heat during a tag match (With Billy Gunn and Hardcore Holly). Not sure how a loser can get a title match against a guy who already defeated him, but here we go. The early going is all Venis. Lawler tells us that Venis promises a win in under three minutes. Road Dogg moves out of the way of a Money Shot. Soon after, Dogg hits his pump handle slam, but Venis kicks out. Venis thinks he's won the match with his feet on the ropes, but referee Tim White saw the cheating. During the argument, Road Dogg rolls Venis up for a two. Dogg finishes off Venis with a DDT that Val sells great. This would be part one of the New Age Outlaws winning singles gold for the second time. (Billy would win the Hardcore title later in the night). This is classic Russo booking, but one that I can actually see the logic in. The Outlaws were an insanely over tag team. Splitting them up should result in an insanely over part time tag team and two new over single wrestlers. To Road Dogg's defense, he was easily the better member of the Outlaws. However, splitting the team up killed the tag team division. Jarrett and Hart needed solid tag teams and D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry just couldn't cut it. Too short to be anything great, but for as short as it was, it was a lot of fun. 2 stars.

Road Dogg (c) vs Goldust - Raw - March 29, 1999
Taking place the night after Wrestlemania, this is a rematch of the final two men in the four way elimination match. At WM, Ryan Shamrock (Who was dating Goldie at the time) accidentally cost Goldust the match. Afterward, Goldust dumped her and we now have this. Blue Meenie plays the roll of Goldust's "Son" while Goldust is his "Mother." Eh, it's Goldust, what do you expect. Early on, Ryan Shamrock comes out, but Meenie forces her to go back to the locker room. Not much happens for a few minutes. Meenie tries to interfere, but Road Dogg bulldog's his head into Goldust below the belt. Speaking of which, Meenie them grabs the IC title and waits for the perfect time to hit Road Dogg. Once the hit happens, Goldust nails the Curtain Call to win his third IC championship. After the match, Goldust cuts a strange (Even for him) promo about how he knows who he is now and that he has a surprise for everyone that will be revealed real soon. I can't think of anything it could be unless he's talking about going back to WCW. While it was longer than Road Dogg's title win, the match wasn't as entertaining. It's just your basic Raw filler that isn't bad, but you just don't care. 2 Stars.

Goldust (c) vs The Godfather - Raw - April 12, 1999
Originally booked as Goldust vs The Boss Man, but Godfather comes out and offers one of his hoes to Boss Man to take his spot. Boss Man asks for all five instead and Godfather agrees. These two wrestled the previous week with Godfather thinking he won the belt. Godfather botches some sort of a move where he lifts Goldust up as if he's going to press him up in the air, but he hangs on to Goldust for too long. Goldust lands awkwardly. More botches follow. Godfather hits the Ho Train and gets the win after a poor looking Pimp Drop (Death Valley Driver). Afterward, the hoes come back to the ring proving that either the Godfather reneged on his offer or Boss Man is very fast. The pimp gimmick was Godfather's only over character, but for as over as it was, it's not a character you give a major single's title to. Much like with the Road Dogg, giving him the title only made the IC title look worse. Goldust would be phased out of the WWE by time his departure from the company in late May. It's a shame, I really dug Goldust's character around this time. 1 3/4 Stars.

The Godfather (c) vs Jeff Jarrett - Raw - May 31, 1999
Owen Hart was booked to win the title from The Godfather at Over the Edge. Once the accident happened, the WWE took the easy approach and just started booking Jarrett against Godfather. This managed to work out seeing how Jarrett and Hart were partners. A few weeks before this match, Godfather defeated Jarrett in a title defense which was Debra as a ho vs title. However, Jarrett reneged on the deal. Godfather continues his awful wrestling. However, Jarrett's a good enough wrestler that he's able to add in some entertaining work (Often time just by himself) that it's not a complete dud. Godfather has everything just about wrapped up when Debra climbs on the apron and opens up her jacket, allowing Jarrett time to recover. One of the hoe's takes offense to this so she gets on the apron and removes her jacket. Foolishly, this allows Debra to hand her Women's title to Jarrett who knocks Godfather out with it. Jarrett wins and gives the fans a much better IC champion. Due to Jarrett, I was going to go easy on this, until the ending. The ending was just an insult to the rich history of the IC title. Godfather sucked and the ending was terrible. That results in a poorly done title change. Thank-God Jarrett has the belt now though. 1 1/2 Stars.

Jeff Jarrett (c) vs Edge - Toronto House Show - July 24, 1999
For the first time ever, this match was made available to be seen on Edge's recent DVD. Matt Striker and Edge are commentating. This was originally supposed to be Jarrett defending the gold against Ken Shamrock, but for one reason or another, Shamrock missed the show. So Edge, already having one match that night (Teaming with Christian to defeat the APA), gets a free title shot. Edge gets in a few near falls quickly. Jarrett thinks about leaving, but returns to the ring. Edge continues to look as if he can pull off the giant upset. Debra climbs on the apron and tries to distract Edge. Edge moves out of the way from Jarrett attempting to hit him from behind. Off of the ropes, Edge spears Jarrett for the three count. Edge is announced as the new champion, but then the title is returned to Jarrett since Edge wasn't the signed opponent. Blackjack Lanza (Road agent) talks it over with the referee and they decide to let the title change happen. Edge wins his first ever WWE title. While he was hardly in the position to be a champion at this point, Edge was good enough to leave the Toronto fans happy. On top of that, it set-up the natural rematch the very next night at Fully Loaded. Very short, but it's always fun seeing an underdog pull off the upset. The commentating from Edge and Striker wasn't in the moment, but they kept it entertaining. One of the few reasons the Edge DVD was worth buying. 2 Stars.

I forget how bad the IC division was before Angle/Jericho/Radicals.