Continuing my (flawed) countdown of every Wrestlemania match.
200. 20-man Battle Royal (WM2)
199. Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon Vs Doink and Dink (WM10)
198. Michael Cole Vs Jerry 'the King' Lawler (WM27)
197. John Morrison, Trish Stratus and Snooki Vs Dolph Ziggler, Michelle McCool and Layla (WM27)
196. 'King' Harley Race Vs Junkyard Dog (WM3)
195. Bret 'Hitman' Hart Vs Vince McMahon (WM26)
194. The Undertaker Vs Triple H (WM27)
193. World Championship Match: JBL Vs John Cena (WM21)
192. Tag Team Championship Match: Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett Vs Test and D'Lo Brown (WM15)
191. Legion of Doom Vs Power and Glory (WM7)- the best squash in Wrestlemania history.
190. Shawn Michaels Vs Vince McMahon (WM22)
189. Hell in a Cell Match: The Undertaker Vs The Big Boss Man (WM15)
188. Orient Express Vs The Rockers (WM6)
187. World Championship Match: Edge Vs John Cena Vs The Big Show (WM25)
186. 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper Vs Bad News Brown (WM6)
185. World Championship Match: Yokozuna Vs Lex Luger (WM10)
184. The Dream Team Vs The Rougeaus (WM3)
183. 'The Model' Rick Martel Vs Koko B. Ware (WM6)
182. Jake 'the Snake' Roberts Vs Andre the Giant (WM5)
181. The Undertaker Vs Jake 'the Snake' Roberts (WM8)
180. Tatanka Vs 'The Model' Rick Martel (WM8)
179. 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan, Sergeant Slaughter, Big Boss Man and Virgil Vs The Mountie, Repo Man and the Nasty Boys (WM)
178. World Championship Match: Randy Orton Vs John Cena Vs Triple H (Wrestlemania 24)
177. Tag Team Championship Match: Rikishi and Scottie 2 Hottie Vs The Basham Brothers Vs The World's Greatest Tag Team Vs the APA (WM20)
176. Edge Vs Booker T (WM18)
175. The Undertaker Vs 'Superfly' Jimmy Snuka (WM7)
174. Intercontinental Championship Match: The Rock Vs Ken Shamrock (WM14)
173. Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire Vs 'Macho King' Randy Savage and Sensational Queen Sherri (WM6)
172. Tazz and the APA Vs The Goodfather, Bull Buchanan and Val Venis (WM17)
171. Randy Orton Vs Cody Rhodes Vs Ted Dibiase (WM26)
170. Hardcore Championship Match: Billy Gunn Vs Al Snow Vs Hardcore Holly (WM15)
169. Tag Team Championship: The US Express Vs Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Shiek (WM1)
168. The Undertaker Vs Kane (WM20)
167. Hollywood Backlot Brawl: 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper Vs Goldust (WM12)
166. The Great Khali Vs Kane (WM23)
165. World Championship Match: John Cena Vs Shawn Michaels (WM23)
164. Tag Team Championship Match: The Big Show and The Miz Vs R-Truth and John Morrison (WM26)
163. The Islanders and Bobby 'the Brain' Heenan Vs The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware (WM4)
162. Kane, The Big Show, Santino Marella and Kofi Kingston Vs Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater and Ezekiel Jackson (WM27)
161. Earthquake Vs Hercules (WM6)
160. Tag Team Championship Match: Money, Inc Vs The Natural Disasters (WM8)
159. Women's Championship Match: Victoria Vs Molly Holly (WM20)
158. I Quit Match: Bret 'Hitman' Hart Vs Bob Backlund- ruined by Roddy Piper's refereeing.
157. Mankind Vs The Big Show (WM15)
156. 'Marvelous' Marc Mero and Sable Vs Goldust and Luna Vachon (WM14)
155. 'Ravishing' Rick Rude Vs Jake 'the Snake' Roberts (WM4)
154. Brutus 'the Barber' Beefcake Vs 'the Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase (WM5)- easily Beefcake's best Wrestlemania match.
153. Tag Team Championship Dumpster Match: The New Age Outlaws Vs Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (WM14)
152. Tito Santana Vs The Executioner (WM1)
151. Ricky Steamboat Vs Matt Borne (WM1)
150. Batista Vs Umaga (WM24)
149. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage Vs Butch Reed (WM4)
148. Tag Team Championship Match: Kane and the Big Show Vs Carlito and Chris Masters (WM22)
147. World Championship Match: Batista Vs Triple H (WM21)
146. 'the Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase Vs Don Muraco (WM4)
145. The Hart Foundation Vs Greg Valentine and Honky Tonk Man (WM5)
144. Hardcore Championship Match: Maven Vs Goldust (WM18)
143. Doink Vs Crush (WM9)- best finish EVER.
142. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Jack Swagger Vs Drew McIntyre Vs Dolph Ziggler Vs Shelton Benjamin Vs Christian Vs MVP Vs Matt Hardy Vs Kofi Kingston Vs Evan Bourne Vs Kane (WM26)
141. Hardcore Championship Battle Royal (WM16)
140. The Rock Vs The Sultan (WM13)
139. World Championship Match: Kurt Angle Vs Randy Orton Vs Rey Mysterio (WM22)
138. Tag Team Championship Match: Team Angle Vs Chris Benoit and Rhyno Vs Los Guerreros (WM19)
137. Hulk Hogan Vs Andre the Giant (WM4)
136. Women's Championship Match: Trish Stratus Vs Victoria Vs Jazz (WM19)
135. European Championship Match: Triple H Vs Owen Hart (WM14)
134. Women's Championship Match: Jazz Vs Lita Vs Trish Stratus (WM18)
133. Light Heavyweight Championship Match: Taka Michinoku Vs Aguila (WM14)
132. 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase Vs 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan (WM4)
131. The Rock and Mick Foley Vs Ric Flair, Batista and Randy Orton (WM20)
130. Rikishi and Kane Vs X-Pac and the Road Dogg (WM16)
129. The Can-Am Connection Vs Bob Orton and Don Muraco (WM3)
128. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage Vs Greg 'the Hammer' Valentine (WM4)
127. Hardcore Championship Match: Kane Vs Raven Vs the Big Show (WM17)
126. Lawrence Taylor Vs Bam Bam Bigelow (WM11)- great Bam Bam carry-job.
125. The Undertaker Vs The Big Show and A-Train (WM19)
124. Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan Vs D'Lo Brown and The Godfather (WM16)- very underrated match.
123. Tag Team Championship Match: The Quebecers Vs Men On A Mission (WM10)
122. World Championship Match: Brock Lesnar Vs Kurt Angle (WM19)- very overrated match.
121. Cruiserweight Championship Open (WM20)
120. Kurt Angle Vs Kane (WM18)
119. Intercontinental Championship Match: Shawn Michaels Vs Tatanka (WM9)
118. Tag Team Championship Match: Demolition Vs The Powers of Pain and Mr Fuji (WM5)
117. Sabu, The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer and Rob van Dam Vs Matt Striker, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorne and Marcus Cor Von (WM23)
116. Ricky Steamboat Vs Hercules (WM2)
115. Tag Team Championship Match: The Dream Team Vs The British Bulldogs (WM2)
114. Intercontinental Championship Match: Val Venis Vs Goldust Vs Road Dogg Vs Ken Shamrock (WM15)
113. Kane Vs Triple H (WM15)
112. Billy Jack Haynes Vs Hercules (WM3)
111. Virgil Vs 'the Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase (WM7)
110. The Undertaker Vs Triple H (WM17)
109. United States Championship Match: The Big Show Vs John Cena (WM20)
108. Casket Match: The Undertaker Vs Mark Henry (WM22)
107. Intercontinental Championship Match: Razor Ramon Vs Jeff Jarrett (WM11)
106. Mr Perfect Vs the Blue Blazer (WM5)
105. Tag Team Championship Match: Owen Hart and the British Bulldog Vs Mankind and Vader (WM13)
104. Lex Luger Vs Mr Perfect (WM10)
103. Shawn Michaels Vs Tito Santana (WM8)
102. Bobby Lashley Vs Umaga (WM23)
101. Intercontinental Championship Match: Rob van Dam Vs William Regal (WM18)
Check part 3 for the top 100!
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Every Wrestlemania match ranked (part 1)
This is the culmination of a project for which I watched all 271 Wrestlemania matches (from the first Wrestlemania up to Wrestlemania 27), with a view to compiling this list which ranks every match from 1-271. Because of the quantity of matches, the wide range of match-styles and match times, and the frankly nondescipt nature of many of these matches, I can't say that this is a list that I would die defending. Indeed, on any given day a match could rise or fall a significant number of placings. Maybe tomorrow I will look at the list and wonder what I was thinking ranking match X so high or match Y so low, or just won't remember watching match Z at all! However, I did try to put as much thought as I could into this list. I made notes on each match as I watched, and tried to be as fair and impartial as I could (though, like everyone, I have my favourites). Enough waffle- here's the list!
271. Miller lite Cat Fight: Torrie Wilson Vs Stacy Kiebler Vs Tanya Billinger Vs Kitana Baker (WM19)
270. Women's Championship Match: The Fabulous Moolah Vs Velvet McIntyre (WM2)
269. Terri Runnels Vs The Kat (WM16)
268. Women's Championship Match: Melina Vs Ashley (WM23)
267. Maria and Ashley Vs Beth Phoenix and Melina (WM24)- Ashley gets my vote as the worst performer in Wrestlemania history.
266. Brawl For All Match: Bart Gunn Vs Butterbean (WM15)
265. Bodyslam Challenge: Andre the Giant Vs Big John Studd (WM1)
264. Sumo Match: Akebono Vs The Big Show (WM21)
263. Women's Championship Match: Sable Vs Tori (WM15)
262. Vickie Guerrero, Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse and Alicia Fox Vs Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Mickie James and Gail Kim (WM26)
261. Miss Wrestlemania Diva Battle Royal (WM25)
260. Gimmick Battle Royal (WM17)- nostalgia only gets you so far.
259. The Ultimate Warrior Vs Hercules (WM4)
258. The Red Rooster Vs Bobby 'the Brain' Heenan (WM5)
257. Tag Team Battle Royal (WM14)
256. The Undertaker Vs King Kong Bundy (WM11)
255. The Undertaker Vs Giant Gonzalez (WM9)
254. Playboy Pillow Fight: Torrie Wilson Vs Candice Michelle (WM22)
253. The Bushwhackers Vs The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (WM5)
252. Hillbilly Jim, the Haiti Kid and Little Beaver Vs King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo (WM3)
251. 'Adorable' Adrian Adonis Vs Uncle Elmer (WM2)
250. Playboy Evening Gown Match: Torrie Wilson and Sable Vs Stacy Kiebler and Miss Jackie (WM20)
249. One Man Gang Vs Bam Bam Bigelow (WM4)
248. ECW Championship match: Kane Vs Chavo Guerrero (WM24)
247. The Ultimate Warrior Vs Triple H (WM12)
246. Hulk Hogan Vs Sid Justice (WM8)- the worst main event-level match in Wrestlemania history.
245. WWF Championship Match: Yokozuna Vs Hulk Hogan (WM9)
244. Booker T and Sharmell Vs The Boogeyman (WM22)
243. David Sammartino Vs Brutus Beefcake (WM1)
242. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage Vs One Man Gang (WM4)
241. T & A Vs Al Snow and Steve Blackman (WM16)
240. 'Ravishing' Rick Rude Vs 'Superfly' Jimmy Snuka (WM6)
239. Texas Tornado Vs Dino Bravo (WM7)
238. Women's Championship Match: Trish Stratus Vs Christy Hemme (WM21)- a decent carry-job by Trish.
237. The Hart Foundation Vs The Bolsheviks (WM6)
236. Demolition Vs Tenryu and Kitao (WM7)
235. Junkyard Dog Vs Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine (WM1)
234. Boxing Match: Mr T Vs 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper (WM2)
233. King Kong Bundy Vs Special Delivery Jones (WM1)
232. Earthquake Vs Adam Bomb (WM10)
231. The Mountie Vs Tito Santana (WM7)
230. Mr Perfect Vs Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake (WM6)
229. Paul Orndorff Vs Don Muraco (WM2)
228. Intercontinental Championship Match: 'Macho Man' Randy Savage Vs George 'the Animal' Steele (WM2)
227. Honky Tonk Man Vs Jake 'the Snake' Roberts (WM3)
226. Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Shiek Vs The Killer Bees (WM3)
225. The Big Boss Man Vs Akeem (WM6)
224. Tag Team Championship Match: Money, Inc Vs Hulk Hogan and Brutus 'the Barber' Beefcake (WM9)
223. Jake 'the Snake' Roberts Vs George Wells (WM2)
222. Women's Championship Match: Chyna Vs Ivory (WM17)
221. Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar (WM20)
220. Don Muraco Vs Dino Bravo (WM4)
219. Razor Ramon Vs Bob Backlund (WM9)
218. Butch Reed Vs Koko B. Ware (WM3)
217. 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan Vs Bad News Brown (WM5)
216. Intercontinental Championship Match: Honky Tonk Man Vs Brutus 'the Barber' Beefcake (WM4)
215. Earthquake Vs Greg 'the Hammer' Valentine (WM7)
214. Owen Hart Vs Skinner (WM8)
213. The Headbangers Vs The Godwinns Vs The New Blackjacks Vs Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon (WM13)
212. Lex Luger and the British Bulldog Vs Jacob and Eli Blu (WM11)
211. Women's Championship Match: Alundra Blayze Vs Leilani Kai (WM10)
210. Intercontinental Championship Match: JBL Vs Rey Mysterio (WM25)
209. Tag Team Championship Match: Rob van Dam and Booker T Vs La Resistance Vs The Dudley Boys Vs Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade (WM20)
208. Flag Match: Corporal Kirchner Vs Nikolai Volkoff (WM2)
207. World Championship Match: The Miz Vs John Cena (WM27)- the worst world championship match in Wrestlemania history.
206. World Championship Match: Triple H Vs Randy Orton (WM25)
205. 20-man Battle Royal (WM4)
204. 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan Vs Dino Bravo (WM6)
203. World Championship Match: Psycho Sid Vs The Undertaker (WM13)- saved by Bret Hart.
202. Dino Bravo Vs 'Rugged' Ronnie Garvin (WM5)
201. Women's Championship Match: Wendi Richter Vs Leilani Kai (WM1)
271. Miller lite Cat Fight: Torrie Wilson Vs Stacy Kiebler Vs Tanya Billinger Vs Kitana Baker (WM19)
270. Women's Championship Match: The Fabulous Moolah Vs Velvet McIntyre (WM2)
269. Terri Runnels Vs The Kat (WM16)
268. Women's Championship Match: Melina Vs Ashley (WM23)
267. Maria and Ashley Vs Beth Phoenix and Melina (WM24)- Ashley gets my vote as the worst performer in Wrestlemania history.
266. Brawl For All Match: Bart Gunn Vs Butterbean (WM15)
265. Bodyslam Challenge: Andre the Giant Vs Big John Studd (WM1)
264. Sumo Match: Akebono Vs The Big Show (WM21)
263. Women's Championship Match: Sable Vs Tori (WM15)
262. Vickie Guerrero, Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse and Alicia Fox Vs Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Mickie James and Gail Kim (WM26)
261. Miss Wrestlemania Diva Battle Royal (WM25)
260. Gimmick Battle Royal (WM17)- nostalgia only gets you so far.
259. The Ultimate Warrior Vs Hercules (WM4)
258. The Red Rooster Vs Bobby 'the Brain' Heenan (WM5)
257. Tag Team Battle Royal (WM14)
256. The Undertaker Vs King Kong Bundy (WM11)
255. The Undertaker Vs Giant Gonzalez (WM9)
254. Playboy Pillow Fight: Torrie Wilson Vs Candice Michelle (WM22)
253. The Bushwhackers Vs The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (WM5)
252. Hillbilly Jim, the Haiti Kid and Little Beaver Vs King Kong Bundy, Lord Littlebrook and Little Tokyo (WM3)
251. 'Adorable' Adrian Adonis Vs Uncle Elmer (WM2)
250. Playboy Evening Gown Match: Torrie Wilson and Sable Vs Stacy Kiebler and Miss Jackie (WM20)
249. One Man Gang Vs Bam Bam Bigelow (WM4)
248. ECW Championship match: Kane Vs Chavo Guerrero (WM24)
247. The Ultimate Warrior Vs Triple H (WM12)
246. Hulk Hogan Vs Sid Justice (WM8)- the worst main event-level match in Wrestlemania history.
245. WWF Championship Match: Yokozuna Vs Hulk Hogan (WM9)
244. Booker T and Sharmell Vs The Boogeyman (WM22)
243. David Sammartino Vs Brutus Beefcake (WM1)
242. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage Vs One Man Gang (WM4)
241. T & A Vs Al Snow and Steve Blackman (WM16)
240. 'Ravishing' Rick Rude Vs 'Superfly' Jimmy Snuka (WM6)
239. Texas Tornado Vs Dino Bravo (WM7)
238. Women's Championship Match: Trish Stratus Vs Christy Hemme (WM21)- a decent carry-job by Trish.
237. The Hart Foundation Vs The Bolsheviks (WM6)
236. Demolition Vs Tenryu and Kitao (WM7)
235. Junkyard Dog Vs Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine (WM1)
234. Boxing Match: Mr T Vs 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper (WM2)
233. King Kong Bundy Vs Special Delivery Jones (WM1)
232. Earthquake Vs Adam Bomb (WM10)
231. The Mountie Vs Tito Santana (WM7)
230. Mr Perfect Vs Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake (WM6)
229. Paul Orndorff Vs Don Muraco (WM2)
228. Intercontinental Championship Match: 'Macho Man' Randy Savage Vs George 'the Animal' Steele (WM2)
227. Honky Tonk Man Vs Jake 'the Snake' Roberts (WM3)
226. Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Shiek Vs The Killer Bees (WM3)
225. The Big Boss Man Vs Akeem (WM6)
224. Tag Team Championship Match: Money, Inc Vs Hulk Hogan and Brutus 'the Barber' Beefcake (WM9)
223. Jake 'the Snake' Roberts Vs George Wells (WM2)
222. Women's Championship Match: Chyna Vs Ivory (WM17)
221. Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar (WM20)
220. Don Muraco Vs Dino Bravo (WM4)
219. Razor Ramon Vs Bob Backlund (WM9)
218. Butch Reed Vs Koko B. Ware (WM3)
217. 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan Vs Bad News Brown (WM5)
216. Intercontinental Championship Match: Honky Tonk Man Vs Brutus 'the Barber' Beefcake (WM4)
215. Earthquake Vs Greg 'the Hammer' Valentine (WM7)
214. Owen Hart Vs Skinner (WM8)
213. The Headbangers Vs The Godwinns Vs The New Blackjacks Vs Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon (WM13)
212. Lex Luger and the British Bulldog Vs Jacob and Eli Blu (WM11)
211. Women's Championship Match: Alundra Blayze Vs Leilani Kai (WM10)
210. Intercontinental Championship Match: JBL Vs Rey Mysterio (WM25)
209. Tag Team Championship Match: Rob van Dam and Booker T Vs La Resistance Vs The Dudley Boys Vs Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade (WM20)
208. Flag Match: Corporal Kirchner Vs Nikolai Volkoff (WM2)
207. World Championship Match: The Miz Vs John Cena (WM27)- the worst world championship match in Wrestlemania history.
206. World Championship Match: Triple H Vs Randy Orton (WM25)
205. 20-man Battle Royal (WM4)
204. 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan Vs Dino Bravo (WM6)
203. World Championship Match: Psycho Sid Vs The Undertaker (WM13)- saved by Bret Hart.
202. Dino Bravo Vs 'Rugged' Ronnie Garvin (WM5)
201. Women's Championship Match: Wendi Richter Vs Leilani Kai (WM1)
Saturday, 25 June 2011
The 20 best wrestlers in Wrestlemania history
Completing my ranking of Wrestlemania's greatest wrestlers, here are the top 20 of Wrestlemania 1-27, taking only in-ring work into account.
1. Steve Austin- only competed at 7 events, but crucially had no bad matches. The matches with Bret Hart at 13, and The Rock at 17 and 19 stand out as all-time classics.
2. Shawn Michaels- has 17 Wrestlemania matches, only the Undertaker has more. Early tags were a mixed bag, but generally good, and usually had the best match of the night in his pre-first retirement singles outings. A couple of stinkers post-comeback, but also good matches against Kurt Angle and The Undertaker.
3. Bret Hart- 14 matches to his name. The tag years were generally forgettable, but stand-out singles matches against Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels and Roddy Piper elevate him above most others.
4. Randy Savage- the MVP of the first 10 events, having 11 matches across those cards, including all-time greats against the Ultimate Warrior and Ricky Steamboat.
5. Chris Jerocho- 9 matches on the big stage, and you'd be hard pressed to callone of them bad, and he's generally the better performer in the match, such as his matches against Shawn michaels and Triple H. His stand-out match is against Christian.
6. The Undertaker- with more matches than anyone else (19), it's perhaps no surprise 'Taker has had a few stinkers on the big stage, but there have been two many great matches, and performances, to ignore. Outings against Ric Flair, Edge, Batista and Shawn Michaels stand-out as greats.
7. The Rock- 8 matches for the Rock and, though he started slow, he blossomed into a great performer on the big stage, as highlighted by his matches against Steve Austin at 17 and 19, and his partial carry-job of Hulk Hogan at 18.
8. Hulk Hogan- Hogan has 10 matches on the first 9 events, stealing several of those early shows, and then came back for 2 more big matches against The Rock and Vince McMahon, in which he didn't always look good, but contributed to a generally good quality.
9. Ric Flair- high peaks see the Nature Boy reach the top 10. Only 5 matches on his resume, but great ones against Randy Savage and The Undertaker, as well as a good match against Shawn Michaels, elevate him above others.
10. Chris Benoit- rounding out the top 10 is a guy who has 7 matches to his name, none what you'd call bad, and with good stuff against the likes of MVP, and the triple threat against Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
11. Tito Santana- a consistent performer on each of the first 8 Wrestlemanias. No great match to speak of, but plenty of good in both singles and tag settings.
12. Edge- 10 matches and lots of crazy stunts in ladder and hardcore matches. His matches against Mick Foley, The Undertaker and Alberto Del Rio are all very strong showings.
13. Rey Mysterio- 7 Wrestlemania matches have generally yielded good results. The perfect guy to warm up a crowd, and usually does good things with short matches and unfavourable situations.
14. Ted Dibiase- a consistent performer, having 8 matches on 6 cards. The wheels fell off towards the end, but his matches at 4, 6 and 7 are memorable.
15. Ricky Steamboat- never looked bad in his 5 performances, incredible considering he came out of retirement at Wrestlemania 25, 21 years after his last appearance on the big show. The match against Randy Savage is his highlight.
16. Kurt Angle- a couple of his 7 matches are forgettable, but he does good work against Shawn Michaels and Eddie Guerrero in particular, which is enough to see him on the list.
17. Eddie Guerrero- only 5 matches for Guerrero, but he always found a way to stand out, and had the ability to make bad matches/opponents seem good.
18. Goldust- another guy who had the ability to stand out from the crowd. Wrestlemania gave him lemons, and he made lemonade, the tastiest of which being his match with Triple H at 13.
19. Kane- makes the list due to the earlier part of his career, which has seen him compete 12 times at Wrestlemania. Had good performances against The Undertaker and Triple H, and still worked smart even when he'd slowed considerably.
20. Triple H- 15 matches on the big stage for the Game, as many bad as good, to be honest. He always tried to work psychology into his matches though, and when he was good he was very good.
1. Steve Austin- only competed at 7 events, but crucially had no bad matches. The matches with Bret Hart at 13, and The Rock at 17 and 19 stand out as all-time classics.
2. Shawn Michaels- has 17 Wrestlemania matches, only the Undertaker has more. Early tags were a mixed bag, but generally good, and usually had the best match of the night in his pre-first retirement singles outings. A couple of stinkers post-comeback, but also good matches against Kurt Angle and The Undertaker.
3. Bret Hart- 14 matches to his name. The tag years were generally forgettable, but stand-out singles matches against Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels and Roddy Piper elevate him above most others.
4. Randy Savage- the MVP of the first 10 events, having 11 matches across those cards, including all-time greats against the Ultimate Warrior and Ricky Steamboat.
5. Chris Jerocho- 9 matches on the big stage, and you'd be hard pressed to callone of them bad, and he's generally the better performer in the match, such as his matches against Shawn michaels and Triple H. His stand-out match is against Christian.
6. The Undertaker- with more matches than anyone else (19), it's perhaps no surprise 'Taker has had a few stinkers on the big stage, but there have been two many great matches, and performances, to ignore. Outings against Ric Flair, Edge, Batista and Shawn Michaels stand-out as greats.
7. The Rock- 8 matches for the Rock and, though he started slow, he blossomed into a great performer on the big stage, as highlighted by his matches against Steve Austin at 17 and 19, and his partial carry-job of Hulk Hogan at 18.
8. Hulk Hogan- Hogan has 10 matches on the first 9 events, stealing several of those early shows, and then came back for 2 more big matches against The Rock and Vince McMahon, in which he didn't always look good, but contributed to a generally good quality.
9. Ric Flair- high peaks see the Nature Boy reach the top 10. Only 5 matches on his resume, but great ones against Randy Savage and The Undertaker, as well as a good match against Shawn Michaels, elevate him above others.
10. Chris Benoit- rounding out the top 10 is a guy who has 7 matches to his name, none what you'd call bad, and with good stuff against the likes of MVP, and the triple threat against Shawn Michaels and Triple H.
11. Tito Santana- a consistent performer on each of the first 8 Wrestlemanias. No great match to speak of, but plenty of good in both singles and tag settings.
12. Edge- 10 matches and lots of crazy stunts in ladder and hardcore matches. His matches against Mick Foley, The Undertaker and Alberto Del Rio are all very strong showings.
13. Rey Mysterio- 7 Wrestlemania matches have generally yielded good results. The perfect guy to warm up a crowd, and usually does good things with short matches and unfavourable situations.
14. Ted Dibiase- a consistent performer, having 8 matches on 6 cards. The wheels fell off towards the end, but his matches at 4, 6 and 7 are memorable.
15. Ricky Steamboat- never looked bad in his 5 performances, incredible considering he came out of retirement at Wrestlemania 25, 21 years after his last appearance on the big show. The match against Randy Savage is his highlight.
16. Kurt Angle- a couple of his 7 matches are forgettable, but he does good work against Shawn Michaels and Eddie Guerrero in particular, which is enough to see him on the list.
17. Eddie Guerrero- only 5 matches for Guerrero, but he always found a way to stand out, and had the ability to make bad matches/opponents seem good.
18. Goldust- another guy who had the ability to stand out from the crowd. Wrestlemania gave him lemons, and he made lemonade, the tastiest of which being his match with Triple H at 13.
19. Kane- makes the list due to the earlier part of his career, which has seen him compete 12 times at Wrestlemania. Had good performances against The Undertaker and Triple H, and still worked smart even when he'd slowed considerably.
20. Triple H- 15 matches on the big stage for the Game, as many bad as good, to be honest. He always tried to work psychology into his matches though, and when he was good he was very good.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
The 10 best wrestlers of Wrestlemania 11-20
This is my ranking of the 10 best wrestlers from Wrestlemania 11-20. The ranking is based on in-ring work only.
1. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin- what Randy Savage was to the first 10 Wrestlemanias, Austin is to this 10. His debut comes in a strong brawling match with Savio Vega, which he follows up with one of the best matches in Wrestlemania history, against Bret Hart at 13. He has a good match with a clearly injured Shawn Michaels at 14, and then comes the first, and weakest, part of his trilogy with The Rock. After sitting out Wrestlemania 16, Austin came back with a bang in a great heated no holds barred match with The Rock. At 18 he manages to have a good match with a limited Scott Hall, and the trilogy with Rock ends at 19 in another fine encounter. 4 of his 7 appearances are match of the night, and all are one of the three best matches of the night. His matches brought intensity, great character work, strong storytelling, brawling and wrestling, and he showed an ability to carry a match against lesser workers.
2. Chris Jericho- a somewhat surprising number 2, Jericho eased into what became a great Wrestlemania resume by playing a part in an entertaining triple threat match at 16 against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, and then having a short match with William Regal that was technically sound and featured good psychology. At 18 he picks up his game, and is the better performer in the much-maligned, but generally good, main event against Triple H. 19 is when he really kicks into top gear, putting in an awesome individual display against Shawn Michaels. He carries that over to Wrestlemania 20 in a match of the night with Christian. Jericho brings excellent psychology to his Wrestlemania resume, which he adds to his excellent character work. He plays a number of roles in his matches, has great matches as a heel and a face, great mannerisms and works a variety of different opponents.
3. The Rock- it takes Rocky a while to get his groove on. His debut is in a match with the Sultan, not a bad match, and Rock shows some signs of his charisma, and some fire. His match at 14 against Ken Shamrock is short, and not very good. Against Austin at 15, and it's Stone Cold who gets most of the credit for a decent match. By the time 16 has rolled around, Rocky really knows his role (pun intended). His performance in the poorly-booked fatal fourway is excellent, and he tops that the following year in a match of the night against Steve Austin. At 18 he drags Hogan to a memorable match, and then ends the series against Austin in fine fashion, and this time is the better performer. His match at 20, teaming with Mick Foley against Evolution, is patchy, but it is the Rock's star that shines brightest. The Rock's charisma, body language and facial expressions is really what has carried him to number 3 on the list, but he did develop into a good brawler, had good timing, athleticism, and a flair for the dramatic.
4. Eddie Guerrero- Eddie knew how to stand out in a crowd, and he did so in his Wrestlemania debut, teaming with Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn against Too Cool and Chyna. His bumping, stooging and facial expressions are lergely what made this match fun. The following year he has a good match with Test, again hamming it up to great effect as the sneaky heel. The triple threat tag match at Wrestlemania 19 turned out to be a better showcase for Chavo Guerrero, but Eddie gives another good performance in a strong match against Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania 20, Kurt's best match from this sample group. Only four matches here, and they might not be classics, but Guerrero's charisma in the ring puts him above others, and he deserves a special mention for making a Chyna match good.
5. Shawn Michaels- Shawn matches his strong showing in the previous top 10 with another here. He had the match of the night at Wrestlemania against Diesel. True, there isn't much competition, but this is a strong display from Michaels. Wrestlemania 12 is another match of the night performance, and he is arguably the better performer in the iron man match against Bret Hart. After missing 13, he came back with a third match of the night, putting in a brave display in a good match against Steve Austin. After a 5-year hiatus, Michaels came back to face Jericho at 19. The match is good, but it is almost entirely down to Jericho's one man show. At 20 he is involved in another good match (the triple threat against Triple H and Chris Benoit), but is again, if not a passenger, the lesser performer in the match. From 11-14, Shawn gave all-action displays against 3 different types of opponent, with great bumping and lots of charisma. His comeback years were marred by no-selling, although he continued to work hard.
6. Goldust- this may be controversial, but nobody did more with less on the big stage than Goldust. His Hollywood Backlot Brawl at 12 was a poor match, but he bounces back with a really solid match against Triple H at 13, in what would be his only real opportunity to build a strong match. He manages to look good bumping for Sable in a mixed-tag match at 14, and then stands out in a hurried fatal fourway at 15. It gets worse, booking-wise, as Goldie is given only 3 minutes in a hardcore match with Maven at 18, but manages to look like a complete killer in that match, doing more in the time than many do in much longer matches. Making the best of a bad situation could sum up Dustin Rhodes career, and it definitely does his Wrestlemania career, as he made sure that everything he did looked effective and served a purpose, whether heel or face, serious or comedy.
7. Kane- Kane looked like a total monster in his debut match against The Undertaker at 14. He looked great again one year later against Triple H, comfortably the better performer in the match. His match at 16 against X-Pac and Road Dogg is short and sweet, with Kane again looking good, and he does well in a silly hardcore triple threat match at 17. Performances from there tail off. The match with Angle at 18 is okay, but nothing special, whereas his rematch with Undertaker at 20 is disappointing, though Kane's facials are exceptional. For what appears a one-dimensional gimmick, Kane was always excellent at playing a wide range of roles in his matches, and showing a wide range of emotions. He performed great as a monster heel, a cowardly heel, a sympathetic face, and a vengeful face.
8. Triple H- Squahed in his debut against The Ultimate Warrior, but then had a good match with Goldust at 13. His match with Owen Hart at 14 was ineffective, and he himself was an ineffective babyface against Kane at 15. His performance was generally good in the long fatal fourway match at 16, but the match with the Undertaker at 17 was weak. Hunter picked things up from here though. He was outperformed by Jericho at 18, largely due to his weaknesses as a face again, but did play a part in a strong match built on sound psychology. His match with Booker T the following year is even better, and Triple H controls it as the heel. Hunter also puts in a good performance in the triple threat match at 20, the best sections of the match easily being those between Benoit and the Game. Triple H wasn't always as compelling as he might have been, but his matches were generally well-structured, and made sense from a storytelling standpoint. He sold well, but was much more effective as a heel.
9. Bret Hart- only 3 matches for Bret, and the first of those, the match with Bob Backlund at Wrestlemania 11, is terrible. But he follows that up with a pair of classics. The iron man match at 12 is superb, and a testament to Hart's storytelling abilities, whereas the I Quit match at 13 is possibly the best match in Wrestlemania history, a wild brawl that goes all over the building. For those two matches alone, he deserves his place on the list.
10. Chris Benoit- he debuts in a triple threat match against Angle and Jericho, a passable bout. At 17 he has a good one-on-one match with Angle, and is the better performer of the two. He misses 18, and then has a bit-part in a triple threat tag match at 19. However, his section of the match with Chavo Guerrero is probably the best of the contest. At Wrestlemania 20 he puts in an excellent performance in a triple threat against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. He is positioned as the star of the show, and doesn't disappoint with his performance. Benoit was always intense in his matches, and always executed smoothly. He also was an excellent seller, managed to stand out in a short spotfest, and even showed the charisma to carry an epic WWE main event.
1. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin- what Randy Savage was to the first 10 Wrestlemanias, Austin is to this 10. His debut comes in a strong brawling match with Savio Vega, which he follows up with one of the best matches in Wrestlemania history, against Bret Hart at 13. He has a good match with a clearly injured Shawn Michaels at 14, and then comes the first, and weakest, part of his trilogy with The Rock. After sitting out Wrestlemania 16, Austin came back with a bang in a great heated no holds barred match with The Rock. At 18 he manages to have a good match with a limited Scott Hall, and the trilogy with Rock ends at 19 in another fine encounter. 4 of his 7 appearances are match of the night, and all are one of the three best matches of the night. His matches brought intensity, great character work, strong storytelling, brawling and wrestling, and he showed an ability to carry a match against lesser workers.
2. Chris Jericho- a somewhat surprising number 2, Jericho eased into what became a great Wrestlemania resume by playing a part in an entertaining triple threat match at 16 against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit, and then having a short match with William Regal that was technically sound and featured good psychology. At 18 he picks up his game, and is the better performer in the much-maligned, but generally good, main event against Triple H. 19 is when he really kicks into top gear, putting in an awesome individual display against Shawn Michaels. He carries that over to Wrestlemania 20 in a match of the night with Christian. Jericho brings excellent psychology to his Wrestlemania resume, which he adds to his excellent character work. He plays a number of roles in his matches, has great matches as a heel and a face, great mannerisms and works a variety of different opponents.
3. The Rock- it takes Rocky a while to get his groove on. His debut is in a match with the Sultan, not a bad match, and Rock shows some signs of his charisma, and some fire. His match at 14 against Ken Shamrock is short, and not very good. Against Austin at 15, and it's Stone Cold who gets most of the credit for a decent match. By the time 16 has rolled around, Rocky really knows his role (pun intended). His performance in the poorly-booked fatal fourway is excellent, and he tops that the following year in a match of the night against Steve Austin. At 18 he drags Hogan to a memorable match, and then ends the series against Austin in fine fashion, and this time is the better performer. His match at 20, teaming with Mick Foley against Evolution, is patchy, but it is the Rock's star that shines brightest. The Rock's charisma, body language and facial expressions is really what has carried him to number 3 on the list, but he did develop into a good brawler, had good timing, athleticism, and a flair for the dramatic.
4. Eddie Guerrero- Eddie knew how to stand out in a crowd, and he did so in his Wrestlemania debut, teaming with Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn against Too Cool and Chyna. His bumping, stooging and facial expressions are lergely what made this match fun. The following year he has a good match with Test, again hamming it up to great effect as the sneaky heel. The triple threat tag match at Wrestlemania 19 turned out to be a better showcase for Chavo Guerrero, but Eddie gives another good performance in a strong match against Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania 20, Kurt's best match from this sample group. Only four matches here, and they might not be classics, but Guerrero's charisma in the ring puts him above others, and he deserves a special mention for making a Chyna match good.
5. Shawn Michaels- Shawn matches his strong showing in the previous top 10 with another here. He had the match of the night at Wrestlemania against Diesel. True, there isn't much competition, but this is a strong display from Michaels. Wrestlemania 12 is another match of the night performance, and he is arguably the better performer in the iron man match against Bret Hart. After missing 13, he came back with a third match of the night, putting in a brave display in a good match against Steve Austin. After a 5-year hiatus, Michaels came back to face Jericho at 19. The match is good, but it is almost entirely down to Jericho's one man show. At 20 he is involved in another good match (the triple threat against Triple H and Chris Benoit), but is again, if not a passenger, the lesser performer in the match. From 11-14, Shawn gave all-action displays against 3 different types of opponent, with great bumping and lots of charisma. His comeback years were marred by no-selling, although he continued to work hard.
6. Goldust- this may be controversial, but nobody did more with less on the big stage than Goldust. His Hollywood Backlot Brawl at 12 was a poor match, but he bounces back with a really solid match against Triple H at 13, in what would be his only real opportunity to build a strong match. He manages to look good bumping for Sable in a mixed-tag match at 14, and then stands out in a hurried fatal fourway at 15. It gets worse, booking-wise, as Goldie is given only 3 minutes in a hardcore match with Maven at 18, but manages to look like a complete killer in that match, doing more in the time than many do in much longer matches. Making the best of a bad situation could sum up Dustin Rhodes career, and it definitely does his Wrestlemania career, as he made sure that everything he did looked effective and served a purpose, whether heel or face, serious or comedy.
7. Kane- Kane looked like a total monster in his debut match against The Undertaker at 14. He looked great again one year later against Triple H, comfortably the better performer in the match. His match at 16 against X-Pac and Road Dogg is short and sweet, with Kane again looking good, and he does well in a silly hardcore triple threat match at 17. Performances from there tail off. The match with Angle at 18 is okay, but nothing special, whereas his rematch with Undertaker at 20 is disappointing, though Kane's facials are exceptional. For what appears a one-dimensional gimmick, Kane was always excellent at playing a wide range of roles in his matches, and showing a wide range of emotions. He performed great as a monster heel, a cowardly heel, a sympathetic face, and a vengeful face.
8. Triple H- Squahed in his debut against The Ultimate Warrior, but then had a good match with Goldust at 13. His match with Owen Hart at 14 was ineffective, and he himself was an ineffective babyface against Kane at 15. His performance was generally good in the long fatal fourway match at 16, but the match with the Undertaker at 17 was weak. Hunter picked things up from here though. He was outperformed by Jericho at 18, largely due to his weaknesses as a face again, but did play a part in a strong match built on sound psychology. His match with Booker T the following year is even better, and Triple H controls it as the heel. Hunter also puts in a good performance in the triple threat match at 20, the best sections of the match easily being those between Benoit and the Game. Triple H wasn't always as compelling as he might have been, but his matches were generally well-structured, and made sense from a storytelling standpoint. He sold well, but was much more effective as a heel.
9. Bret Hart- only 3 matches for Bret, and the first of those, the match with Bob Backlund at Wrestlemania 11, is terrible. But he follows that up with a pair of classics. The iron man match at 12 is superb, and a testament to Hart's storytelling abilities, whereas the I Quit match at 13 is possibly the best match in Wrestlemania history, a wild brawl that goes all over the building. For those two matches alone, he deserves his place on the list.
10. Chris Benoit- he debuts in a triple threat match against Angle and Jericho, a passable bout. At 17 he has a good one-on-one match with Angle, and is the better performer of the two. He misses 18, and then has a bit-part in a triple threat tag match at 19. However, his section of the match with Chavo Guerrero is probably the best of the contest. At Wrestlemania 20 he puts in an excellent performance in a triple threat against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. He is positioned as the star of the show, and doesn't disappoint with his performance. Benoit was always intense in his matches, and always executed smoothly. He also was an excellent seller, managed to stand out in a short spotfest, and even showed the charisma to carry an epic WWE main event.
Monday, 23 May 2011
The 10 best wrestlers of Wrestlemania 1-10
This is my ranking of the top 10 wrestlers based on performances at the first 10 Wrestlemania events. The only criteria for this list was in-ring work.
1. Randy Savage- Debut against Steele is bad, despite Savage’s best efforts, but then things pick up. The match with Steamboat is a classic, followed by four solid performances at Wrestlemania 4, in which Savage tells an ongoing story of fighting against the odds to realize his dream of becoming world champion. Another great match at 5 with Hogan, in which Savage is the star of the show with his heel mannerisms and intensity. 6 is a similar story to 2, in which he makes the best of a bad situation, but he comes back at 7 with another classic, the miracle match against the Ultimate Warrior. 8 is another great match with Flair, he sits in the booth for 9, and makes his Wrestlemania swansong with a short but sweet match against Crush. From 8 of the first 10 Wrestlemanias, Savage has 3 match of the nights, with another 2 close runners-up. He had classic Wrestlemania matches both as a heel and a babyface, he wrestled good matches over long periods, and also performed well in short, intense matches. He showed the ability to carry inferior workers. He worked hard, and his matches combined great wrestling, brawling, intensity and great character work. An easy number 1.
2. Bret Hart- It takes a while for Bret to warm up on the big stage. 2 of his first 5 Wrestlemanias see him involved in battle royals and, although he’s the last to be eliminated in each, it isn’t much opportunity to stand out. The 6-man tag at Wrestlemania 3 is fine, whereas the Wrestlemania 5 match against Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine is forgettable. Bret does manage to stand out in a 20 second squash match against the Bolsheviks at 6, and then delivers his first strong performance at 7 against the Nasty Boys in a good match (all tag matches see him partnered by Jim Neidhart, of course). Breaking out on his own is when Bret really steps up. He stars in a great, dramatic brawl with Roddy Piper at 8, has a very enjoyable big man/small man match with Yokozuna at 9 (which he would repeat the following year), and then has his best Wrestlemania match to date against Owen Hart to open Wrestlemania 10. That’s 2 match of the nights in the last 3 years, with a runner-up and third place also in that time frame. His great performances saw him playing an incredibly sympathetic babyface, with a mixture of strong wrestling and physical brawling, with an emphasis on strong storytelling.
3. Tito Santana- Something of a surprise number 3, for a man who was rarely in the spotlight. Opened the first Wrestlemania with a solid match with The Executioner, and then featured in the match of the night at Wrestlemania 2, teaming with Junkyard Dog against the Funks. At 3 he stole the 6-man tag from the crazy bumping of Danny Davis, with his fiery babyface work, and he teamed with Rick Martel in the best match of the night at 4 against Demolition. At 5 he worked practically a handicap match, and bumped big to put over the Brainbusters, while at 6 came a good speed vs. power battle against the Barbarian. A nothing match against the Mountie was followed by a decent effort against Shawn Michaels. Santana had his best matches in tag team action, but never failed to deliver whatever the circumstances. A classic babyface, he had fire, was sympathetic, and his flying forearm always looked explosive and impactful.
4. Hulk Hogan- The face of Wrestlemania, and someone who usually delivered the goods, despite his reputation. The smartly worked tag team main event was the best match of the first Wrestlemania, and Hogan was the star of the show. In a cage with Bundy at 2 was hard hitting and violent, while the famous match against Andre the Giant was very well-worked, regardless of what the critics think. This was largely due to the performance of Hogan. The rematch at 4 was decent, but not as good as the previous effort, and he played his part in a great main event with Savage at 5. The Wrestlemania 6 match against Ultimate Warrior is better than it had any right to be, and the same can be said for the match with Sgt Slaughter, though that is mostly down to an incredible display from Slaughter. Matches with Sid at 8, and Money Inc and Yokozuna at 9 are terrible. Hogan usually showed what a smart worker he really is at Wrestlemania, and often made matches involving lesser workers exciting. Up until Wrestlemania 5 at least he was surprisingly agile for a big man, and hard working. The matches might have been one-dimensional, but he did it well, having a couple of match of the nights along the way.
5. Shawn Michaels- The man who called himself Mr Wrestlemania debuted, with Marty Jannetty, in a good match against the Twin Towers at Wrestlemania 5, had a very disappointing match against the Orient Express at 6, and was then involved in one of the best tag team matches in Wrestlemania history at 7 against Haku and the Barbarian. Striking out alone, his matches against Tito Santana and Tatanka at 8 and 9 were steady, though unspectacular, but then he had a breakout moment at Wrestlemania 10 in the famous ladder match against Razor Ramon, which is an incredible bumping and risk-taking performance from Michaels. Shawn proved in his 5 appearances that he could get it done in tag team and singles action, as a heel and a babyface, and brought speed, agility, and great bumping to his matches. Not quite at Mr Wrestlemania level, but a strong showing nonetheless.
6. Ted DiBiase- All three of DiBiase’s matches at Wrestlemania 4 are solid, with two of the opponents being limited (Jim Duggan and Don Muraco). He’s unlucky to be saddled with Brutus Beefcake at 5, but this is Beefcake’s best Wrestlemania match. 6 is a great heated match with Jake Roberts, also Roberts’ best Wrestlemania match. 7 sees DiBiase do a semi-carry job with Virgil, and he performs well enough in a tag match at Wrestlemania 8 against the Natural Disasters. Rewarded with another match against Beefcake (and Hulk Hogan) at Wrestlemania 9, which is largely terrible. Consistency is really the word when looking at DiBiase’s Wrestlemania history. Few fireworks, but very few duds either. The match with Jake is a match of the night, and even against bad opponents, Ted’s excellent bumping and heel mannerisms are enough to make his matches worthwhile.
7. Ricky Steamboat- Steamboat has two of the better matches on the first 2 Wrestlemanias, against Matt Borne and Hercules, and then steps it up with his classic against Randy Savage at 3, a comfortable match of the night. The match with Greg Valentine at Wrestlemania 4 is another solid effort. Steamboat didn’t make many appearances at Wrestlemania, but when he did he was alwaysin one of the best matches of the night, and wrestled good matches against differing types of opponents.
8. Demolition, Ax and Smash- They debut at 4, and turn in a match of the night against Strike Force. At 5 comes a hard-hitting match against the Powers of Pain and Mr Fuji, and that is followed by a similar affair against the Colossal Connection. The latter two matches were as babyfaces, while the former was as heels, but they were equally effective in both roles, good at getting the fans to react to them, and working an exciting brawling style.
9. Roddy Piper- Another maligned worker, who used his smarts to make an impression in the ring. His heel tactics were a big part of making the tag team main event at Wrestlemania 1 effective. His boxing match with Mr T at 2 started off well, but soon passed its use by date. The match at 3 against Adrian Adonis was short, had some strange booking choices, and wasn’t pretty, but the intensity of the match, and the charisma of both men made it work (just). A 2 year hiatus was followed by a passable short brawl with Bad News Brown, and then after another year out he had by far his best Wrestlemania match, the classic against Bret Hart at 8, in which both men had their working boots on to tell a great story. 2 match of the nights isn’t a bad return from 5 Wrestlemanias, and for a man who was considered a weak worker. It was generally his charisma and character that carried him along in the ring, but when called upon, he could hold up his end of the bargain.
10. Rick Martel- Martel started his Wrestlemania career with tag team action. At 3 he teamed with Tom Zenk in a fun opener against Bob Orton and Don Muraco, and then at 4 and 5 he teamed with Tito Santana in a great match against Demolition, and a match against The Brainbusters respectively (although he walked out on his partner in the latter, and thus was hardly involved). He struggled as a singles wrestler, and as a heel, against Koko B Ware at 6, but was involved in a masterclass at Wrestlemania 7, the blindfold match with Jake Roberts, which found interesting ways to involve the fans (a big part of which were Martel’s comedy stylings). His match the following year with Tatanka was forgettable. Surprisingly, Martel’s best performances came in tag matches, in which he proved to have excellent timing, exciting offence and enough fire to be a great hot tag. Less successful when branching out alone.
1. Randy Savage- Debut against Steele is bad, despite Savage’s best efforts, but then things pick up. The match with Steamboat is a classic, followed by four solid performances at Wrestlemania 4, in which Savage tells an ongoing story of fighting against the odds to realize his dream of becoming world champion. Another great match at 5 with Hogan, in which Savage is the star of the show with his heel mannerisms and intensity. 6 is a similar story to 2, in which he makes the best of a bad situation, but he comes back at 7 with another classic, the miracle match against the Ultimate Warrior. 8 is another great match with Flair, he sits in the booth for 9, and makes his Wrestlemania swansong with a short but sweet match against Crush. From 8 of the first 10 Wrestlemanias, Savage has 3 match of the nights, with another 2 close runners-up. He had classic Wrestlemania matches both as a heel and a babyface, he wrestled good matches over long periods, and also performed well in short, intense matches. He showed the ability to carry inferior workers. He worked hard, and his matches combined great wrestling, brawling, intensity and great character work. An easy number 1.
2. Bret Hart- It takes a while for Bret to warm up on the big stage. 2 of his first 5 Wrestlemanias see him involved in battle royals and, although he’s the last to be eliminated in each, it isn’t much opportunity to stand out. The 6-man tag at Wrestlemania 3 is fine, whereas the Wrestlemania 5 match against Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine is forgettable. Bret does manage to stand out in a 20 second squash match against the Bolsheviks at 6, and then delivers his first strong performance at 7 against the Nasty Boys in a good match (all tag matches see him partnered by Jim Neidhart, of course). Breaking out on his own is when Bret really steps up. He stars in a great, dramatic brawl with Roddy Piper at 8, has a very enjoyable big man/small man match with Yokozuna at 9 (which he would repeat the following year), and then has his best Wrestlemania match to date against Owen Hart to open Wrestlemania 10. That’s 2 match of the nights in the last 3 years, with a runner-up and third place also in that time frame. His great performances saw him playing an incredibly sympathetic babyface, with a mixture of strong wrestling and physical brawling, with an emphasis on strong storytelling.
3. Tito Santana- Something of a surprise number 3, for a man who was rarely in the spotlight. Opened the first Wrestlemania with a solid match with The Executioner, and then featured in the match of the night at Wrestlemania 2, teaming with Junkyard Dog against the Funks. At 3 he stole the 6-man tag from the crazy bumping of Danny Davis, with his fiery babyface work, and he teamed with Rick Martel in the best match of the night at 4 against Demolition. At 5 he worked practically a handicap match, and bumped big to put over the Brainbusters, while at 6 came a good speed vs. power battle against the Barbarian. A nothing match against the Mountie was followed by a decent effort against Shawn Michaels. Santana had his best matches in tag team action, but never failed to deliver whatever the circumstances. A classic babyface, he had fire, was sympathetic, and his flying forearm always looked explosive and impactful.
4. Hulk Hogan- The face of Wrestlemania, and someone who usually delivered the goods, despite his reputation. The smartly worked tag team main event was the best match of the first Wrestlemania, and Hogan was the star of the show. In a cage with Bundy at 2 was hard hitting and violent, while the famous match against Andre the Giant was very well-worked, regardless of what the critics think. This was largely due to the performance of Hogan. The rematch at 4 was decent, but not as good as the previous effort, and he played his part in a great main event with Savage at 5. The Wrestlemania 6 match against Ultimate Warrior is better than it had any right to be, and the same can be said for the match with Sgt Slaughter, though that is mostly down to an incredible display from Slaughter. Matches with Sid at 8, and Money Inc and Yokozuna at 9 are terrible. Hogan usually showed what a smart worker he really is at Wrestlemania, and often made matches involving lesser workers exciting. Up until Wrestlemania 5 at least he was surprisingly agile for a big man, and hard working. The matches might have been one-dimensional, but he did it well, having a couple of match of the nights along the way.
5. Shawn Michaels- The man who called himself Mr Wrestlemania debuted, with Marty Jannetty, in a good match against the Twin Towers at Wrestlemania 5, had a very disappointing match against the Orient Express at 6, and was then involved in one of the best tag team matches in Wrestlemania history at 7 against Haku and the Barbarian. Striking out alone, his matches against Tito Santana and Tatanka at 8 and 9 were steady, though unspectacular, but then he had a breakout moment at Wrestlemania 10 in the famous ladder match against Razor Ramon, which is an incredible bumping and risk-taking performance from Michaels. Shawn proved in his 5 appearances that he could get it done in tag team and singles action, as a heel and a babyface, and brought speed, agility, and great bumping to his matches. Not quite at Mr Wrestlemania level, but a strong showing nonetheless.
6. Ted DiBiase- All three of DiBiase’s matches at Wrestlemania 4 are solid, with two of the opponents being limited (Jim Duggan and Don Muraco). He’s unlucky to be saddled with Brutus Beefcake at 5, but this is Beefcake’s best Wrestlemania match. 6 is a great heated match with Jake Roberts, also Roberts’ best Wrestlemania match. 7 sees DiBiase do a semi-carry job with Virgil, and he performs well enough in a tag match at Wrestlemania 8 against the Natural Disasters. Rewarded with another match against Beefcake (and Hulk Hogan) at Wrestlemania 9, which is largely terrible. Consistency is really the word when looking at DiBiase’s Wrestlemania history. Few fireworks, but very few duds either. The match with Jake is a match of the night, and even against bad opponents, Ted’s excellent bumping and heel mannerisms are enough to make his matches worthwhile.
7. Ricky Steamboat- Steamboat has two of the better matches on the first 2 Wrestlemanias, against Matt Borne and Hercules, and then steps it up with his classic against Randy Savage at 3, a comfortable match of the night. The match with Greg Valentine at Wrestlemania 4 is another solid effort. Steamboat didn’t make many appearances at Wrestlemania, but when he did he was alwaysin one of the best matches of the night, and wrestled good matches against differing types of opponents.
8. Demolition, Ax and Smash- They debut at 4, and turn in a match of the night against Strike Force. At 5 comes a hard-hitting match against the Powers of Pain and Mr Fuji, and that is followed by a similar affair against the Colossal Connection. The latter two matches were as babyfaces, while the former was as heels, but they were equally effective in both roles, good at getting the fans to react to them, and working an exciting brawling style.
9. Roddy Piper- Another maligned worker, who used his smarts to make an impression in the ring. His heel tactics were a big part of making the tag team main event at Wrestlemania 1 effective. His boxing match with Mr T at 2 started off well, but soon passed its use by date. The match at 3 against Adrian Adonis was short, had some strange booking choices, and wasn’t pretty, but the intensity of the match, and the charisma of both men made it work (just). A 2 year hiatus was followed by a passable short brawl with Bad News Brown, and then after another year out he had by far his best Wrestlemania match, the classic against Bret Hart at 8, in which both men had their working boots on to tell a great story. 2 match of the nights isn’t a bad return from 5 Wrestlemanias, and for a man who was considered a weak worker. It was generally his charisma and character that carried him along in the ring, but when called upon, he could hold up his end of the bargain.
10. Rick Martel- Martel started his Wrestlemania career with tag team action. At 3 he teamed with Tom Zenk in a fun opener against Bob Orton and Don Muraco, and then at 4 and 5 he teamed with Tito Santana in a great match against Demolition, and a match against The Brainbusters respectively (although he walked out on his partner in the latter, and thus was hardly involved). He struggled as a singles wrestler, and as a heel, against Koko B Ware at 6, but was involved in a masterclass at Wrestlemania 7, the blindfold match with Jake Roberts, which found interesting ways to involve the fans (a big part of which were Martel’s comedy stylings). His match the following year with Tatanka was forgettable. Surprisingly, Martel’s best performances came in tag matches, in which he proved to have excellent timing, exciting offence and enough fire to be a great hot tag. Less successful when branching out alone.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Table of Hell: Chalk, Drugs and Rock n' Roll
Table of Hell: Chalk, Drugs and Rock n' Roll is the title of a controversial new book about the hey-day of the WPF, and the stars who made the company such a success. Its author, Phil Harris, is a long-time fan of the game, and worked as a photographer, then journalist, for our sister publication, Green Baize Monthly. Harris drew upon an extensive number of sources from within the game to put together this explosive tell-all, the reverberations of which are being felt all over the pool world. Make no mistake about it, Table of Hell is the most honest, graphic, and wildly exciting tome ever written on this game of kings we so admire.
Now, in a Q-Tip Magazine exclusive, we bring to you a serialisation of Table of Hell, with a brief introduction written by its author, which can't be found anywhere else. Table of Hell becomes available in all good bookstores from the 1st April, priced 17.99 (hardback).
From the mind of Phil Harris
It wasn't my intention when I started this book for it to be a tell-all. I simply wanted to bring to light the truth of exactly what was going on behind the scenes during the glory days of the WPF. I met a lot of resistance from certain people from within the game, which was to be expected, but thankfully, over my years as a fan, and journalist, I gathered a lot of sources. I couldn't have written this book without them, and thank them profusely for their time. I hope this book is enjoyed, first and foremost, by fans and none-fans alike, but I also hope it acts as a cautionary tale of what can happen when a group of young men and women are thrown together for 300 nights a year, with little in the way of regulation. What you read here may shock, and it may entice, but I hope it also makes you look at the game of pool in a new light.
Table of Hell: Chalk, Drugs and Rock n' Roll (a serialisation for Q-Tip Magazine)
Chapter One: What it is to dream
I'd been a pool fan for 15 years when I got my first job in the business. I'm not a pool fan anymore. I worked as a photographer and journalist covering pool for five years, and during that time I saw a change in the game. In 1985, 200 people, myself included, watched Potsy Malone raise the Panda Cola Trophy in Grimsby. 15 years later, 20,000 people watched an exhibition match take place at the Wembley Conference Centre. Pool got bigger, but it didn't get better.
That exhibition match was promoted by the World Pool Federation, or WPF. The WPF was started by a man named Nick Billinge, out of the rubble of the old Down Them Balls promotion (or DTB- a coincidence I'll get to later). Billinge was a genius, a fact that is now long-forgotten as a series of strokes have rendered him practically house-bound. Again, I'll get to that later.
Billinge bought the DTB, lock, stock and barrel for 25 pounds sterling, and many at the time thought he'd been ripped off. Within a year he was a millionaire, as his WPF gripped the nation, and eventually, the world.
The WPF brought a previously unheard-of level of glitz and glamour to pool. Gone were the days of the flat cap-wearing pensioners squinting over faded baize in smoke-filled snooker clubs. The WPF players were superstars. They had charisma, they had je nes sais quoi. So why, then, did so many of those stars end up broke, jailed, institutionalised, even dead?
To effectively investigate the matter, you have to start at the top and, for the WPF, that means the Dream Team, the other DTB.
Adam Russell and Darren Hibbert were 16 when they were signed to professional contracts by Billinge. They hardly knew each other, outside of a few brief encounters in amateur tournaments, but in their new environment, built up a firm friendship. This, despite being quite different.
Russell was a quiet boy, respectful of his surroundings, and never more comfortable than with a cue in his hand. Hibbert was more extravert, cock-sure, with a mouth like an Kenyan on speed- it never stopped running. Russell was short and slight, even unimposing, but like many men of diminutive stature- Georgi Kinkladze, Willow- he was a magician. Hibbert, by comparison, cut a hulking figure, with a back like a mountain-top plateau. "He was all back", as Billinge recalled in a 2000 interview. While the rest of Hibbert's body would eventually fill out to normal proportions, the back remained in the spotlight, as Hibbert famously played for 6 months with a cracked spine. Back in the old days though, that back had other uses.
"Booze-ups were a common thing," explains Alan Gillingham, a former player known as The Renegade, who found more success as a commentator, and as the voice of the WPF. "After every show a group of the boys would get together in the lockerroom, and just get pissed as quick as possible. These were the early days. We were all friends back then." Hibbert, according to Gillingham, was one of the heavier drinkers, and would usually end the night passed out on the lockerroom floor. "One night, I can't remember whose idea it was, but Daz was sprawled out on his stomach on the floor of the lockerroom, and damned if that big bastard back didn't look like a pool table." And so a new form of post-event entertainment was born. "For about 4, 5 months, after the show, we'd gather in the back for a game of pool on Darren's back. There were no pockets, of course. We just tied 6 socks to him."
Eventually, Russell, who didn't drink and usually spent his time after the shows writing in his journal, caught wind of what was going on, and informed his friend and doubles partner. Hibbert was so embarrassed about the situation that he never said a word, and made Russell swear the same. He would get his revenge many time over in the course of the next few years.
While Russell was conspicuous by his absence during these after-match festivities, rumours abounded about a curious pre-match ritual from which he never deviated.
"Wanks".
Dan Clearup, a jobber-to-the-stars who spent 4 years with the WPF tells the story. "Everyone knew he was doing it. Nipping off to the bogs to knock one off before his matches. I suppose it calmed his nerves or something." By this time, Russell was the biggest star in the company, and had politicked himself into a position of power whereby he was virtually untouchable. Clearup continues: "Even if we could say anything, why would we? ED (The English Dream- Russell's nickname) was the one drawing the crowds, bringing in the money. Whatever he was doing to keep those levels of performance up, I certainly didn't care. Let me put it this way- if you've got the goose that lays golden eggs, are you gonna throttle that goose because it honks?"
Ritual masturbation is tame compared to many of the other stories that I heard about the Dream Team- some fo which are even more scandalous than the ones that have made the news. Upon forming their friendship, and rewriting pool history as part of the doubles team dubbed The Dream Team by Harry Sanghera, Russell and Hibbert stepped up their quest to attain unprecedented power in the company. They decided that they couldn't do it alone.
Andrew Appleby was signed by Nick Billinge on the advice of Martin Kirkley, and the two formed a competent midcard doubles team known as The Applekirks. It was apparent though that Appleby was headed for bigger things. A prodigious talent, and larger-than-life personality, Appleby was soon earmarked by The Dream Team as a potential 3rd man in their clique. What was unique about the situation was the way they chose to go about initiating Appleby into the group.
Breaking from the script was nothing new to Russell and Hibbert. The Dream Team was formed when on live television, Darren Hibbert cut a raw and uncensored promo and then spat into the eye of a crewman. Billinge was livid, but saw the dollar signs. The Dream Team again bucked authority in a doubles match against the Applekirks, on the annual Pool-la-la event. As Russell approached the table facing a match-winning black, he instead asked for a microphone, and proceeded to berate the match-makers for putting them against such lacklustre opposition. Billinge again sent crewman onto the stage to restore order but, as they shied away from another potential loogie being projected from Hibbert's mouth, they were greeted instead by a shower of urine from Appleby. Russell then introduced Kirkley, and the world, to the 'Dream Team, brother'- the DTB.
Appleby's actions may have been a surprise to some, but not to those who knew him, such as ex-girlfriend Sarah Fogg, who was stolen by Appleby from Kirkley in a final act of betrayal. "He was crazy. A real loose cannon. That's probably why I fell for him in the first place. When Martin first introduced me to him, I knew there was something wild about him". Fogg was a pool player in her own right, one of the so-called 'divas' of the WPF. "As soon as he signed with the company," she continues, "he was begging me to introduce him to the diva's lockerroom. I would have been ostracised by the girls if I'd have done that. I told him it was impossible, so on his second night in the company, he burst throughthe lockerroom door with a fire axe, wearing only my Martin's butcher's apron, and yelling at us to form an orderly queue. Some of the girls, in a confused state, straggled into some manner of queue, but thankfully, Martin came in and dragged him out."
"He was the craziest bastard of the lot," asserts Clearup. "Just ask Dan Hudson".
The Hudson incident hit the headlines in January 2000. Appleby was out celebrating the turn of a new millenium with some of the boys, including Russell and Hibbert, when they chanced upon Dan Hudson, a young player who was earning his stripes at the WPF's developmental league.
"Appleby and Hudson had beef going a ways back," explains Clearup. "Hudson was a part of who were known as the Landau Boys". The Landau Boys were a group of players who were discovered by Billinge playing at the Landau Forte Academy. Their most famous alumnus was Tom Gregory. "It was Dan's fault actually. We have this tradition in the game- the night of your first show, you present a piece of chalk to the guys in the main event, out of respect. The guys in the main are the ones drawing the crowd and, essentially, paying your wages. Appleby was working the main that night, but Hudson thought it was a stupid tradition. Gregory warned him. I even offered him a piece of my chalk to give to Appleby and, I think it was Apno, the other guy. He wasn't having any of it though. Foolish."
In Clearup's version of the tale, Chris Apno, the former world champion, shrugged off the disrespect shown by Hudson, contenting himself to smear shit over all of Hudson's belongings, but Appleby wanted to make an example out of the youngster, and so began a three month campaign of bullying that ended that fateful New Year's Eve.
Hudson was found in Derby town centre early on January 1st, 2000, curled up in the fetal position, and barely able to string two words together. From a garbled statement, the police gathered that upon encountering Appleby the previous night, the People's Champion, as Appleby was known 'DXed him to fuck'. DXing was a lewd gesture performed by the Dream Team, basically inviting the recipients to gratify them orally. One DX was usually enough to send someone into a spiral of shame, but by all accounts, Appleby had relentlessy Dxed Hudson 60 or 70 times. Literally, to fuck.
Appleby was brought up on criminal charges, and "Fuckgate", as it came to be known, was all over the papers for weeks. Appleby turned up for his tribunal in a t-shirt bearing the image of his mugshot (a t-shirt that would go on to be a bestseller with fans). He was drunk. He admitted all charges, famously saying in court 'keep a seat warm for me in fuck, Hudson'. No witnesses could verify the accounts though, and charges were dropped. Hudson was committed to a mental hospital, and took his life in 2005.
Gillingham has a different story on the origin of the feud. "The chalk thing is bollocks. No disrespect to Clearup, but he wasn't provy to the real ins-and-outs like others were. Nobody had done the chalk thing since the 80s. This was simple. Appleby hated the Landau Boys just because. He was a mean bastard, DX you as soon as look at you. Hudson was in the wrong place at the wrong time that New Years."
If they say three's a crowd, then four equals the most dominant force in entertainment history, and the DTB soon added a fourth member to their ranks. 'The Journeyman' Phil Wallis played a happy-go-lucky fan favourite on screen, but behind the scenes it was a different story. He was quiet. He didn't talk to anyone, didn't socialise. He didn't even smile. Sources tell me that his only friend from the beginning was Adam Russell, and that was his introduction to the Dream Team.
"Phil Wallis was the worst of all," a source, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, tell me. "You know what they say about the quiet ones? Some of the boys thought that Wallis had a black heart. I don't know if he had a heart".
Wallis is known for his simmering rivalry with Martin Kirkley, which I'll cover in detail later in this book, but there was another rivalry which I can reveal now for the first time. My source takes up the story:
"Wallis was a womaniser. Everyone knew this. He lived for it. There was only one guy in the lockerroom who liked sex more than Phil Wallis, and that was Doug Buckley."
Buckley was a popular midcard player, whose admitted sex addiction would eventually lead to the deaths of two WPF divas. That's for later.
"Wallis and Buckley made a bet- who could bang the most divas. The problem was, if there's one thing the boys like to do more than fucking, it's bullshitting, and Buckley was known as one of the biggest bullshitters in the company. To get around this, they agreed that video evidence was needed for the diva to count. So, every other night became video night in the lockerroom. Wallis or Buckley would bring in a new tape of them with one of the divas, and the boys would get together with some drinks and enjoy the show. And I'll tell you what, they went diva for diva. Wallis's were of a better class, because he had power from being in the Dream Team, but Doug, to his credit, he didn't mind scraping the barrel".
My source explained to me that the only two divas who were strictly off-limits were Kam Johal and Tatla, who got their jobs with the company through the Indian Mafia. Don't worry, I'll get to that.
"Doug started fudging the numbers," my source goes on. "He was in a relationship with Jacquelyn at the time, and loved threesomes. Thing is, he was counting them as two every time, and, of course, Wallis wasn't having it. That started the bad blood".
The 'bad blood' was exacerbated when Wallis, breaking the rules of the bet, bedded Jacquelyn. He then, in an unscripted moment at the first Poolamania pay-per-view, referred to Buckley as the chocolate man- an allusion to Buckley's alleged habit of licking the anuses of his conquests.
For that, Wallis was suspended without pay for 6 weeks. It seemed excessive, but many speculated that Billinge was punishing the whole DTB by suspending the least powerful of the bunch. 3 days later, Wallis was reinstated. My digging on the subject reveals that sometime between the suspension and reinstatement, a brick was hurled through Billinge's window. One story claims that Billinge had been paid a visit by the Indian Mafia, and scared into backtracking on the suspension. Another story has it that the brick was wrapped in a pair of Billinge's wife, Ramona Billinge's knickers.
Billinge was the man who signed the cheques, but it was pretty clear who was running the show. The Dream Team were the biggest stars the WPF ever saw, and the rest of the lockerroom paid the price for that fact. Some still are.
Now, in a Q-Tip Magazine exclusive, we bring to you a serialisation of Table of Hell, with a brief introduction written by its author, which can't be found anywhere else. Table of Hell becomes available in all good bookstores from the 1st April, priced 17.99 (hardback).
From the mind of Phil Harris
It wasn't my intention when I started this book for it to be a tell-all. I simply wanted to bring to light the truth of exactly what was going on behind the scenes during the glory days of the WPF. I met a lot of resistance from certain people from within the game, which was to be expected, but thankfully, over my years as a fan, and journalist, I gathered a lot of sources. I couldn't have written this book without them, and thank them profusely for their time. I hope this book is enjoyed, first and foremost, by fans and none-fans alike, but I also hope it acts as a cautionary tale of what can happen when a group of young men and women are thrown together for 300 nights a year, with little in the way of regulation. What you read here may shock, and it may entice, but I hope it also makes you look at the game of pool in a new light.
Table of Hell: Chalk, Drugs and Rock n' Roll (a serialisation for Q-Tip Magazine)
Chapter One: What it is to dream
I'd been a pool fan for 15 years when I got my first job in the business. I'm not a pool fan anymore. I worked as a photographer and journalist covering pool for five years, and during that time I saw a change in the game. In 1985, 200 people, myself included, watched Potsy Malone raise the Panda Cola Trophy in Grimsby. 15 years later, 20,000 people watched an exhibition match take place at the Wembley Conference Centre. Pool got bigger, but it didn't get better.
That exhibition match was promoted by the World Pool Federation, or WPF. The WPF was started by a man named Nick Billinge, out of the rubble of the old Down Them Balls promotion (or DTB- a coincidence I'll get to later). Billinge was a genius, a fact that is now long-forgotten as a series of strokes have rendered him practically house-bound. Again, I'll get to that later.
Billinge bought the DTB, lock, stock and barrel for 25 pounds sterling, and many at the time thought he'd been ripped off. Within a year he was a millionaire, as his WPF gripped the nation, and eventually, the world.
The WPF brought a previously unheard-of level of glitz and glamour to pool. Gone were the days of the flat cap-wearing pensioners squinting over faded baize in smoke-filled snooker clubs. The WPF players were superstars. They had charisma, they had je nes sais quoi. So why, then, did so many of those stars end up broke, jailed, institutionalised, even dead?
To effectively investigate the matter, you have to start at the top and, for the WPF, that means the Dream Team, the other DTB.
Adam Russell and Darren Hibbert were 16 when they were signed to professional contracts by Billinge. They hardly knew each other, outside of a few brief encounters in amateur tournaments, but in their new environment, built up a firm friendship. This, despite being quite different.
Russell was a quiet boy, respectful of his surroundings, and never more comfortable than with a cue in his hand. Hibbert was more extravert, cock-sure, with a mouth like an Kenyan on speed- it never stopped running. Russell was short and slight, even unimposing, but like many men of diminutive stature- Georgi Kinkladze, Willow- he was a magician. Hibbert, by comparison, cut a hulking figure, with a back like a mountain-top plateau. "He was all back", as Billinge recalled in a 2000 interview. While the rest of Hibbert's body would eventually fill out to normal proportions, the back remained in the spotlight, as Hibbert famously played for 6 months with a cracked spine. Back in the old days though, that back had other uses.
"Booze-ups were a common thing," explains Alan Gillingham, a former player known as The Renegade, who found more success as a commentator, and as the voice of the WPF. "After every show a group of the boys would get together in the lockerroom, and just get pissed as quick as possible. These were the early days. We were all friends back then." Hibbert, according to Gillingham, was one of the heavier drinkers, and would usually end the night passed out on the lockerroom floor. "One night, I can't remember whose idea it was, but Daz was sprawled out on his stomach on the floor of the lockerroom, and damned if that big bastard back didn't look like a pool table." And so a new form of post-event entertainment was born. "For about 4, 5 months, after the show, we'd gather in the back for a game of pool on Darren's back. There were no pockets, of course. We just tied 6 socks to him."
Eventually, Russell, who didn't drink and usually spent his time after the shows writing in his journal, caught wind of what was going on, and informed his friend and doubles partner. Hibbert was so embarrassed about the situation that he never said a word, and made Russell swear the same. He would get his revenge many time over in the course of the next few years.
While Russell was conspicuous by his absence during these after-match festivities, rumours abounded about a curious pre-match ritual from which he never deviated.
"Wanks".
Dan Clearup, a jobber-to-the-stars who spent 4 years with the WPF tells the story. "Everyone knew he was doing it. Nipping off to the bogs to knock one off before his matches. I suppose it calmed his nerves or something." By this time, Russell was the biggest star in the company, and had politicked himself into a position of power whereby he was virtually untouchable. Clearup continues: "Even if we could say anything, why would we? ED (The English Dream- Russell's nickname) was the one drawing the crowds, bringing in the money. Whatever he was doing to keep those levels of performance up, I certainly didn't care. Let me put it this way- if you've got the goose that lays golden eggs, are you gonna throttle that goose because it honks?"
Ritual masturbation is tame compared to many of the other stories that I heard about the Dream Team- some fo which are even more scandalous than the ones that have made the news. Upon forming their friendship, and rewriting pool history as part of the doubles team dubbed The Dream Team by Harry Sanghera, Russell and Hibbert stepped up their quest to attain unprecedented power in the company. They decided that they couldn't do it alone.
Andrew Appleby was signed by Nick Billinge on the advice of Martin Kirkley, and the two formed a competent midcard doubles team known as The Applekirks. It was apparent though that Appleby was headed for bigger things. A prodigious talent, and larger-than-life personality, Appleby was soon earmarked by The Dream Team as a potential 3rd man in their clique. What was unique about the situation was the way they chose to go about initiating Appleby into the group.
Breaking from the script was nothing new to Russell and Hibbert. The Dream Team was formed when on live television, Darren Hibbert cut a raw and uncensored promo and then spat into the eye of a crewman. Billinge was livid, but saw the dollar signs. The Dream Team again bucked authority in a doubles match against the Applekirks, on the annual Pool-la-la event. As Russell approached the table facing a match-winning black, he instead asked for a microphone, and proceeded to berate the match-makers for putting them against such lacklustre opposition. Billinge again sent crewman onto the stage to restore order but, as they shied away from another potential loogie being projected from Hibbert's mouth, they were greeted instead by a shower of urine from Appleby. Russell then introduced Kirkley, and the world, to the 'Dream Team, brother'- the DTB.
Appleby's actions may have been a surprise to some, but not to those who knew him, such as ex-girlfriend Sarah Fogg, who was stolen by Appleby from Kirkley in a final act of betrayal. "He was crazy. A real loose cannon. That's probably why I fell for him in the first place. When Martin first introduced me to him, I knew there was something wild about him". Fogg was a pool player in her own right, one of the so-called 'divas' of the WPF. "As soon as he signed with the company," she continues, "he was begging me to introduce him to the diva's lockerroom. I would have been ostracised by the girls if I'd have done that. I told him it was impossible, so on his second night in the company, he burst throughthe lockerroom door with a fire axe, wearing only my Martin's butcher's apron, and yelling at us to form an orderly queue. Some of the girls, in a confused state, straggled into some manner of queue, but thankfully, Martin came in and dragged him out."
"He was the craziest bastard of the lot," asserts Clearup. "Just ask Dan Hudson".
The Hudson incident hit the headlines in January 2000. Appleby was out celebrating the turn of a new millenium with some of the boys, including Russell and Hibbert, when they chanced upon Dan Hudson, a young player who was earning his stripes at the WPF's developmental league.
"Appleby and Hudson had beef going a ways back," explains Clearup. "Hudson was a part of who were known as the Landau Boys". The Landau Boys were a group of players who were discovered by Billinge playing at the Landau Forte Academy. Their most famous alumnus was Tom Gregory. "It was Dan's fault actually. We have this tradition in the game- the night of your first show, you present a piece of chalk to the guys in the main event, out of respect. The guys in the main are the ones drawing the crowd and, essentially, paying your wages. Appleby was working the main that night, but Hudson thought it was a stupid tradition. Gregory warned him. I even offered him a piece of my chalk to give to Appleby and, I think it was Apno, the other guy. He wasn't having any of it though. Foolish."
In Clearup's version of the tale, Chris Apno, the former world champion, shrugged off the disrespect shown by Hudson, contenting himself to smear shit over all of Hudson's belongings, but Appleby wanted to make an example out of the youngster, and so began a three month campaign of bullying that ended that fateful New Year's Eve.
Hudson was found in Derby town centre early on January 1st, 2000, curled up in the fetal position, and barely able to string two words together. From a garbled statement, the police gathered that upon encountering Appleby the previous night, the People's Champion, as Appleby was known 'DXed him to fuck'. DXing was a lewd gesture performed by the Dream Team, basically inviting the recipients to gratify them orally. One DX was usually enough to send someone into a spiral of shame, but by all accounts, Appleby had relentlessy Dxed Hudson 60 or 70 times. Literally, to fuck.
Appleby was brought up on criminal charges, and "Fuckgate", as it came to be known, was all over the papers for weeks. Appleby turned up for his tribunal in a t-shirt bearing the image of his mugshot (a t-shirt that would go on to be a bestseller with fans). He was drunk. He admitted all charges, famously saying in court 'keep a seat warm for me in fuck, Hudson'. No witnesses could verify the accounts though, and charges were dropped. Hudson was committed to a mental hospital, and took his life in 2005.
Gillingham has a different story on the origin of the feud. "The chalk thing is bollocks. No disrespect to Clearup, but he wasn't provy to the real ins-and-outs like others were. Nobody had done the chalk thing since the 80s. This was simple. Appleby hated the Landau Boys just because. He was a mean bastard, DX you as soon as look at you. Hudson was in the wrong place at the wrong time that New Years."
If they say three's a crowd, then four equals the most dominant force in entertainment history, and the DTB soon added a fourth member to their ranks. 'The Journeyman' Phil Wallis played a happy-go-lucky fan favourite on screen, but behind the scenes it was a different story. He was quiet. He didn't talk to anyone, didn't socialise. He didn't even smile. Sources tell me that his only friend from the beginning was Adam Russell, and that was his introduction to the Dream Team.
"Phil Wallis was the worst of all," a source, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, tell me. "You know what they say about the quiet ones? Some of the boys thought that Wallis had a black heart. I don't know if he had a heart".
Wallis is known for his simmering rivalry with Martin Kirkley, which I'll cover in detail later in this book, but there was another rivalry which I can reveal now for the first time. My source takes up the story:
"Wallis was a womaniser. Everyone knew this. He lived for it. There was only one guy in the lockerroom who liked sex more than Phil Wallis, and that was Doug Buckley."
Buckley was a popular midcard player, whose admitted sex addiction would eventually lead to the deaths of two WPF divas. That's for later.
"Wallis and Buckley made a bet- who could bang the most divas. The problem was, if there's one thing the boys like to do more than fucking, it's bullshitting, and Buckley was known as one of the biggest bullshitters in the company. To get around this, they agreed that video evidence was needed for the diva to count. So, every other night became video night in the lockerroom. Wallis or Buckley would bring in a new tape of them with one of the divas, and the boys would get together with some drinks and enjoy the show. And I'll tell you what, they went diva for diva. Wallis's were of a better class, because he had power from being in the Dream Team, but Doug, to his credit, he didn't mind scraping the barrel".
My source explained to me that the only two divas who were strictly off-limits were Kam Johal and Tatla, who got their jobs with the company through the Indian Mafia. Don't worry, I'll get to that.
"Doug started fudging the numbers," my source goes on. "He was in a relationship with Jacquelyn at the time, and loved threesomes. Thing is, he was counting them as two every time, and, of course, Wallis wasn't having it. That started the bad blood".
The 'bad blood' was exacerbated when Wallis, breaking the rules of the bet, bedded Jacquelyn. He then, in an unscripted moment at the first Poolamania pay-per-view, referred to Buckley as the chocolate man- an allusion to Buckley's alleged habit of licking the anuses of his conquests.
For that, Wallis was suspended without pay for 6 weeks. It seemed excessive, but many speculated that Billinge was punishing the whole DTB by suspending the least powerful of the bunch. 3 days later, Wallis was reinstated. My digging on the subject reveals that sometime between the suspension and reinstatement, a brick was hurled through Billinge's window. One story claims that Billinge had been paid a visit by the Indian Mafia, and scared into backtracking on the suspension. Another story has it that the brick was wrapped in a pair of Billinge's wife, Ramona Billinge's knickers.
Billinge was the man who signed the cheques, but it was pretty clear who was running the show. The Dream Team were the biggest stars the WPF ever saw, and the rest of the lockerroom paid the price for that fact. Some still are.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
The 50 greatest films 2000-2009 (combined list)
This ranking of the 50 greatest films of the past decade is based on the combined results taken from the lists of four people; myself, Darren Hibbert, Luke Alldread, and Alan Gillingham. I believe all four of us to be knowledgeable about films and, perhaps more importantly, willing to seek out films of different genres, styles, and levels of accessability. Therefore, though the combined top 50 is by no means perfect, it is a pretty good representation of what was good and what wasn't from 2000-2009.
The ranking was compiled using a simple system which awards 50 points to a film coming in at number one on any of the source lists, 49 points for the number two film, and so on, down to 1 point for the number 50 ranked film. In the event of two or more films finishing on the same number of points, the first tie-breaker is the number of lists the film appeared on, and the second tie-breaker is the highest position attained by each film.
NB: Darren chose to rank the Lord of the Rings trilogy as one film. Therefore, I gave each one of the films the appropriate number of points for that position.
On with the list, in reverse order.
50. Lost in Translation (Dir: Sofia Coppola, 2003)
40 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 16
49. Tie=The Royal Tenenbaums (Dir: Wes Anderson, 2001)
41 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 10
=The Soloist (Dir: Joe Wright, 2009)
41 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 10
47. The Departed (Dir: Martin Scorsese, 2006)
41 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 29
46. 3-Iron (Dir: Ki-Duk Kim, 2004)
43 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 8
45. Tie=The Lives of Others (Dir: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
44 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 7
=Donnie Darko (Dir: Richard Kelly, 2001)
44 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 7
=Saw (Dir: James Wan, 2004)
44 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 7
42. The Son's Room (Dir: Nanni Moretti, 2001)
45 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 6
41. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (Dir: Ki-Duk Kim, 2003)
46 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 5
40. Ong-Bak (Dir: Prachya Pinkaew, 2003)
47 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 4
39. Man on Fire (Dir: Tony Scott, 2004)
47 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 16
38. Tie=The Fountain (Dir: Darren Aronofsky, 2006)
48 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 3
=Million Dollar Baby (Dir: Clint Eastwood, 2004)
48 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 3
36. Almost Famous (Dir: Cameron Crowe, 2000)
49 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 23
35. Finding Nemo (Dir: Andrew Stanton, 2003)
50 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 9
34. Talk To Her (Dir: Pedro Almodovar, 2002)
51 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 18
33. Gangs of New York (Dir: Martin Scorsese, 2002)
52 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 17
32. Tony Takitani (Dir: Jun Ichikawa, 2004)
54 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 14
31. Rec (Dir: Jaume Belaguero and Paco Plaza, 2007)
55 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 5
30. The Passion of the Christ(Dir: Mel Gibson, 2004)
56 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 14
The ranking was compiled using a simple system which awards 50 points to a film coming in at number one on any of the source lists, 49 points for the number two film, and so on, down to 1 point for the number 50 ranked film. In the event of two or more films finishing on the same number of points, the first tie-breaker is the number of lists the film appeared on, and the second tie-breaker is the highest position attained by each film.
NB: Darren chose to rank the Lord of the Rings trilogy as one film. Therefore, I gave each one of the films the appropriate number of points for that position.
On with the list, in reverse order.
50. Lost in Translation (Dir: Sofia Coppola, 2003)
40 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 16
49. Tie=The Royal Tenenbaums (Dir: Wes Anderson, 2001)
41 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 10
=The Soloist (Dir: Joe Wright, 2009)
41 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 10
47. The Departed (Dir: Martin Scorsese, 2006)
41 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 29
46. 3-Iron (Dir: Ki-Duk Kim, 2004)
43 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 8
45. Tie=The Lives of Others (Dir: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
44 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 7
=Donnie Darko (Dir: Richard Kelly, 2001)
44 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 7
=Saw (Dir: James Wan, 2004)
44 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 7
42. The Son's Room (Dir: Nanni Moretti, 2001)
45 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 6
41. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (Dir: Ki-Duk Kim, 2003)
46 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 5
40. Ong-Bak (Dir: Prachya Pinkaew, 2003)
47 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 4
39. Man on Fire (Dir: Tony Scott, 2004)
47 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 16
38. Tie=The Fountain (Dir: Darren Aronofsky, 2006)
48 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 3
=Million Dollar Baby (Dir: Clint Eastwood, 2004)
48 points from 1 ranking. Highest ranking: 3
36. Almost Famous (Dir: Cameron Crowe, 2000)
49 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 23
35. Finding Nemo (Dir: Andrew Stanton, 2003)
50 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 9
34. Talk To Her (Dir: Pedro Almodovar, 2002)
51 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 18
33. Gangs of New York (Dir: Martin Scorsese, 2002)
52 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 17
32. Tony Takitani (Dir: Jun Ichikawa, 2004)
54 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 14
31. Rec (Dir: Jaume Belaguero and Paco Plaza, 2007)
55 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 5
30. The Passion of the Christ(Dir: Mel Gibson, 2004)
56 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 14
29. Crash (Dir: Paul Haggis, 2004)
57 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 21
28. The Motorcycle Diaries (Dir: Walter Salles, 2004)
57 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 18
27. The Return (Dir: Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2003)
63 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 1
26. Miami Vice (Dir: Michael Mann, 2006)
65 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 16
25. House of Flying Daggers (Dir: Zhang Yimou, 2004)
65 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 13
24. Closer (Dir: Mike Nichols, 2004)
66 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 13
23. 2046 (Dir: Wong Kar-Wai, 2004)
67 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 4
22. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Dir: Ang Lee, 2000)
69 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 7
21. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dir: Andrew Dominik, 2007)
70 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 11
20. Pan's Labyrinth (Dir: Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
74 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 5
19. In The Mood For Love (Dir: Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)
75 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 1
18. Kill Bill Volume 1 (Dir: Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
81 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 10
17. Into The Wild (Dir: Sean Penn, 2007)
83 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 9
16. The New World (Dir: Terrence Malick, 2005)
85 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 6
15. The Dark Knight (Dir: Christopher Nolan, 2008)
87 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 6
14. Hero (Dir: Zhang Yimou, 2002)
89 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 2
13. Hidden (Dir: Michael Haneke, 2005)
90 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 5
12. Amores Perros (Dir: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2000)
97 points from 4 rankings. Highest ranking: 12
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Dir: Peter Jackson, 2003)
98 points from 2 rankings. Highest ranking: 1
10. Let The Right One In (Dir: Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
104 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 15
9. Gladiator (Dir: Ridley Scott, 2000)
111 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 4
8. Brokeback Mountain (Dir: Ang Lee, 2005)
112 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 3
7. No Country For Old Men (Dir: Joel Coen, 2007)
113 points from 4 rankings. Highest ranking: 13
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Dir: Peter Jackson, 2002)
118 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 1
5. The Wrestler (Dir: Darren Aronofsky, 2008)
120 points from 4 rankings. Highest ranking: 8
4. There Will Be Blood (Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
126 points from 4 rankings. Highest ranking: 2
3. City of God (Dir: Fernando Meirelles, 2002)
132 points from 4 rankings. Highest ranking: 6
2. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
139 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 2
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Dir: Peter Jackson, 2001)
139 points from 3 rankings. Highest ranking: 1
Ranking of years by number of films on final list
1. 2004 (11 films)
2. 2003 (7 films)
3. Tie=2000
=2001
=2002
=2006
=2007 (all 5 films)
8. Tie=2005
=2008 (both 3 films)
10. 2009 (1 film)
Directors with multiple entries on final list
Peter Jackson (3 films)
Darren Aronofsky
Ang Lee
Zhang Yimou
Wong Kar-Wai
Martin Scorsese
Ki-Duk Kim (all 2 films)
Ranking of countries of origin by number of films on final list
1. USA (26 films)
2. Tie=New Zealand
=Spain (both 3 films)
4. Tie=France
=China
=Hong Kong
=South Korea (all 2 films)
8. Tie=Brazil
=Sweden
=Mexico
=Taiwan
=Russia
=Argentina
=Japan
=Thailand
=Italy
=Germany (all 1 film)
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