BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) C: BRET HART VS. RAZOR RAMON (1993)
You know that great point in someone’s younger career when they get to main event against the top guy. You KNOW they’re not going to win, but the idea of them getting in that match means they’re testing the waters. It’s happening now with a handful of people. In 1993, this IS Razor Ramon’s match. He never got a World Title run, but before this year would be over he’d be one of the biggest faces in wrestling.
(THREE) C: YOKOZUNA VS. THE UNDERTAKER (1994, CASKET MATCH)
I remember watching this and having my young mind blown. The casket match itself was fun, but the finish was craaaaazy. An assload of heels came out and helped Yoko beat Taker. Then the casket “explodes” and Undertaker floats above the entrance way! I’ve seen TONS of Undertaker special effect spots over the years. TONS. They’re pretty damn cheesy most of the time. There is something about this specific 1994 match that was just really impactful.
(TWO) C: SHAWN MICHAELS VS. THE UNDERTAKER (1998, CASKET MATCH)
Another casket match. It had a pretty similar ending to the 1994 match. A group of bad guys attacked Taker and put him in the casket. The twist here is that Kane then lights the casket ON FIRE! Crazy! The big difference between the Taker/Yoko match and this one is that this was a really good match. It’ll always be overshadowed by the casket fire and the fact that this was often credited as the one match that screwed up Shawn Michael’s back. It’s one of those important matches in WWE history that helped move the company towards a full on Attitude era.
(ONE) C: MANKIND VS. THE ROCK (1999, I QUIT MATCH)
If you’ve seen the professional wrestling documentary “Beyond the Mat” then you should know that the “real” backstory of this match was rough and gruesome. The Rock was just coming into his own and Mankind was riding high quite possibly his peak level of awesomeness. They beat the shit out of eachother. The end with the chair shots was brutal and sorta sickening. It didn’t have a barbedwire 2 by 4 lit on fire or big falls from cages, but it was a war. This is a match that everyone needs to see eventually. It’s a barbaric display of what professional wrestling can be. And I don’t even care about the lame tape recorded ending.
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