QOTD #33: Feeling old

Off Topic Wednesday!

Today’s Question: What makes you feel old?

We’ll look at your answers on this tomorrow. In the meantime, start the discussion right away by scrolling to the bottom. Otherwise, stick around for yesterday’s SummerSlam discussion.

I had asked you about your favorite SummerSlam match of all time. There were plenty to choose from, and while this crowd definitely gravitates towards the modern era, we did get a lot of different flavors. Let’s see what you said…

Milktruck: It might not be the best match, but HBK/HHH told the best story with the best announcing. People crapped on it because it was at the peak of the HHH overkill, but it's pro wrestling at its best. Watch the crowd lose its shit when HBK wins and how he kisses the referee's head. Jim Ross saying it was the most amazing performance he had ever seen in his XX years of wrestling. Just perfect.

I was a full on “mark” the night this match happened. I remember so clearly how hard the WWE tried to downplay expectations. They kept focusing on Shawn’s bad back, and that this would be a one-time only spectacle. Then it was changed to a street fight, and it looked clear they’d be relying on props and gimmicks to get them through. Then the magic happened. I was sure that after a 4 year layoff, Shawn’s back had to be a mess to keep him out of the ring that long. Triple H just worked it over for 20 minutes, and I cringed every time he added just a little more. This match also ended the string of unwatchable Triple H pay-per-view disasters, and reminded us that Shawn Michaels was the absolute best at what he did.

TheConvictor: Honky Tonk Man vs. The Ultimate Warrior. Words cannot describe how much I hated the Honky Tonk Man as a kid. Actually, there are words: I despised that fat, no-talent Elvis impersonator who stole Ricky Steamboat's title, shoved Ms. Elizabeth to the ground, and couldn't beat anyone without help from Jimmy Hart or the Hart Foundation. Watching Warrior squash HTM like a bug after answering his open challenge (and seeing HTM's false bravado turn into panic once Warrior's music hit) was a glorious experience. I still watch the match at least once a year and smile every time Warrior hits the big splash.

My best friend grew up a huge Warrior fan. This occurred before I started watching, so when he was trying to get me into it, this was the first thing he ever showed me. I didn’t quite understand why it was such a big deal until I got the HTM backstory; but this is exactly how any sneaky piece of crap heel deserves to have their reign come to an end. Starrcade 1997 should have taken a page out of this book.

DJ Sprite: I'm probably in the extreme minority on this one, but Orton-Benoit from the 2004 Rumble. Orton's heel run with Evolution was perfectly done, giving him the support from the crowd to be a believable champion. A solid match, with an RKO out of no where to really sell the move as that much of a game changer. Shame that title reign fell so flat after.

I was at SummerSlam 2004 live, and while I definitely recommend the crowd to anyone, I don’t have as much to say about the show. I am happy to see that someone got something out of that main event, it always came across as flat to me.

Darren: My favorite....I'm gonna go with a different approach: 2001 - Angle v. Austin. Austin was injured, and they had botched the Invasion, so I wasnt expecting much. Instead we got a classic bloodbath, an awesome comeback with Angle, and the absolute greatest screwjob ending I've ever seen. Nick Patrick basically going nah.....you're DQ-ed had me cracking UP laughing...and it fit with the storyline. Maybe Bret-Perfect or Bret-DBS was better. Maybe you liked one of the ladder matches, but this was probably my favorite.

It is rare that a screwjob ending is accepted as the correct finish, but truthfully, the DQ was their only way out here. Steve Austin needed to continue carrying that title just a little bit longer. He was the hottest act in the company as the hated Alliance leader. But Kurt Angle had also found his mojo, and was finally, after 2 years, being given the crowd support he never had during his initial title run. He was now a legitimate force, and losing was completely unacceptable. With neither guy in a position to do the deed, since it would have deflated the entire angle, their only option was this one. If you ever want to watch a match where someone becomes a made-man in one night, check this out as Angle kicks out of Stunner after Stunner, and the audience buzz becomes uncontrollable when they realize Austin might be on the verge of losing everything.

Denny Hart: Mr Perfect vs Bret at summerslam 91 is my favorite match of all time. Watched it like 25 times as a little kid on the tape from my local video store. Perfect made Hart a mega star in that match. Funny how now the ic title is a joke.

This match is awesome; it really showed that Bret was ready to be a player in the singles ranks, and didn’t need brother-in-law Jimbo to watch his back. He could more than carry his own, and was rewarded justly with the faith of WWE brass.

redman: Im gonna go with rock vs brock lesnar 2002. The whole show was awesome. At the time I didn't think they built lesnar up well enough to beat the rock but the hot crowd that night said different. It was a hot crowd, nonstop action, and although rock broke the sharpshooter in the match cuz heyman was distracting the ref, it was still pretty much a straight up clean battle with the new monster overthrowing the rock. The match starts with rock trying to repeatedly punch lesnar but after a couple, lesnar just grabs rock and over head suplexes his ass. That was the story of the whole match was rocks electrifying intensity not being good enough to beat the stronger bigger meaner younger guy. The main reason its my favorite though is cuz its one of the few matches I can still watch today and enjoy the WHOLE match just like when it was live

It’s unbelievable that 12 years have already passed since this one happened, because Brock looks as good today as he did then. The vignettes building this one up were strong. Rock laid off the comedy, and instead we got all sorts of shots of him going back to his football training. Why? Because he knew he was walking into the ring with the greatest genetic freak wrestling has ever seen, and he’d damn well be ready. And despite all that … the crowd shits all over him and wants to see Lesnar leave him for dead. That’s the power of Brock Lesnar. No matter how big a monster he is, the fact that it comes from his raw talent leaves us needing to see more of it. There’s no games, no jokes, just raw destruction. And that’s why he works. Rock couldn’t have put him over any stronger.

Knuckleberry Pinn: Cena / Batista 2008. Another match where I honestly had no idea who was going over (compared to the other 3 major matches on the card, which were great but very predictable in their outcomes). If I'm not mistaken, this match was only like thirteen minutes long, but it WORKED in this situation in that both wrestlers were all: "fuck this let's throw our biggest power moves at each other and may the best man win."

Recent fans probably could not begin to understand it; but at the time this was considered the best “dream” matchup the company had left. Cena and Batista had led similar trajectories; right up to winning their first titles on the same show at Wrestlemania 21. Both had been very well protected, both rarely saw defeat, and both had been kept carefully separated from each other (back when the brand split meant they did not wrestle on the same show). This was the first meeting of the two “young” stars that were expected to be the WWE’s future, and it delivered.

Andy PG: Let's give some love to Demolition v. Hart Foundation, 1990, two out of three falls. Complete with the LOD run-in at the end to throw a monkey wrench into Demolition's plans to keep switching off all day, the Harts playing the underdog roles to perfection, and the debut of Crush as an ornery bad boy who could kill you. The heat was off the charts for this one, even in Philadelphia.

Oddly, despite the LOD appearing to be headed straight for the huge money feud with Demolition that the fans undoubtedly wanted to see, this wound up being more or less the end of their run. Sure, they had a small feud with the Road Warriors, but nothing to the degree of the nuclear run I think we all expected. I consider this Demolition’s send off, and they couldn’t have gone out on a better note, completely dominating the Harts, and losing only due to the Harts inability to roll over and die like so many opponents before them.

Jon Eks: One of my all-time sentimental favorite pay-per-views was SummerSlam 98. Highway to Hell - great theme song, terrific build, and good storyline blowoffs. As a huge DX mark at the time, I was ALL IN on HHH chasing The Rock, and their ladder match was killer. The pop when Hunter unhooked the belt is one of the underrated great ones of all time. Hunter then went off and had knee surgery, and DX slowly spiraled downhill until their eventual breakup, and then the awesome heel reunion in 2000. This event was their face pinnacle.

The strange chemistry and obvious career path parallels continued for Rocky and Triple H up until Rock took off for Hollywood. These two had a couple of clunkers along the way, but more often than not they were ready to do whatever it took to upstage each other, almost like watching a couple of lions trying to take over the pride. This match was the pinnacle of their midcard days. Rocky was playing Honky Tonk Man 98 to perfection, and had screwed over Shamrock and Triple H more times than I can remember. You knew his comeuppance wasn’t long, and Triple H finally was able to find a way to overcome Rocky’s shenanigans and put a stop to his never ending run with the IC belt. Good choice!

Vic: John Cena vs. Randy Orton in 2007. Cena was closing in on 1 year as WWE Champion, having fantastic matches with veterans and spoonfeeding the rookies. Orton was settling into sociopath-mode having just punted HBK, RVD, and Dusty Rhodes. It's sad that Cena vs. Orton has been reduced to a side-joke, because this match is their finest. The crowd is split, hot and just as ready for for Orton to win his first WWE title as they are for Cena to keep on rolling. The match is crisp and exciting - they don't pull out anything crazy but it's loaded with subtlety that JR and King pick up on. The opening headlock exchanges, for example, pops the crowd in a simple way that some Indy guys can't figure out. I honestly think this match is a masterpiece as it mixes a focused story with two personalities. If it had a better ending, wasn't on a forgettable card, and Cena vs. Orton wasn't done to death, this would be remembered fonder. I love rewatching this one.

The biggest issue with this pair, today, is that they have settled so comfortably into their roles, and have had so many matches with Cena as the good guy and Orton as the bad guy, that there is literally nothing left for these two to do together. That’s not to say they haven’t had great matches together; you pick their very best as far as I’m concerned. But I’m not sure I could turn to watch it willingly, just the idea of Cena and Orton together makes me want to go to sleep.

Mike Mears: Punk v. Lesnar, and the gap between it and No. 2 would probably be bigger than the gap between No. 2 and No. 10 on my list. The only minor flaw in that match is Punk lingering on Heyman a biiiit too long. Otherwise, that match has everything I love about pro wrestling: amazing psychology and scientific wrestling, brutal violence and seething hatred, a molten-hot, borderline nuclear crowd. There are few examples in wrestling history that so perfectly blend workrate and sports entertainment into a 30-minute package that had me and my friends screaming at the TV cheering for Punk with the same intensity as if Illinois was playing in the Final Four again. It would be my favorite match in wrestling history if Punk had won. As it stands, it's easily in the top five.

This was my favorite match of 2013, and like you, it wasn’t remotely close. Lesnar carries so much legitimacy into every match he wrestles, that you genuinely believe he’s going to be able to kill his opponent anytime he wants. Punk was my favorite wrestler on the roster (controversial pick, right?) – and anytime you pair a super talented worker with Lesnar’s ability to transform into Ivan Drago, you’re in for a great night. Everything here worked. Punk was desperate from go, resorting to every tactic, legitimate or cheap, that he could use. When he countered the kimura, there was hope for the little guy … until Brock Lesnar reminded him “I’m Brock fucking Lesnar”, and just stands up with Punk on his arm and powerbombs him TWICE.

It was also nice to see after all those SummerSlams, we can still be treated to something special. This is also my pick for my favorite SummerSlam match of all time. Big apologies to the obvious runner up, Eric Bischoff against Shane McMahon.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your hump day, and I’ll be back here again with you tomorrow.