Burning Hammer DVD Review #13

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WWE: BloodBath: Wrestling's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches
Compilation Tape

--Taped from all over the place

--Your hosts are Jonathan Coachman for the DVD, and various announcers for the actual matches

--Just as a note, for the matches that are shown in full in the extras I'll be skipping those matches when they're shown in clipped form & review them in their full non-clipped form at the end.

--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Jimmy Snuka V. Bob Backlund (W/Arnold Skaaland). This is from a WWF Madison Square Garden Show, on May 19, 1980. Escape to win rules are in effect here. Snuka attempts a Splash off the top of the cage, but it misses and Backlund uses that opportunity to crawl out the door to escape the cage and win the match at 6:36 aired. *1Ú2 A lot of Punching & Kicking, and a nice bladejob by Snuka, but not much else.

--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Paul Orndorff (W/Bobby Heenan) V. Hulk Hogan. This is from an episode of WWF Saturday Night's Main Event, on January 03, 1987. This is under escape to win rules. This was set-up by Orndorff turning on and attacking his tag team partner at the time, Hogan, and this would be Orndorff's last important run in the WWF. Orndorff tries to climb out of the cage, and Jesse Ventura gets in an awesome line "Hogan would not be the champion if Mr. Wonderful was bald" in response to Hogan pulling Orndorff back in by his hair. Both men climb out of the cage and escape to the floor at 5:58 aired at the same exact time, so the ref rules the match must continue. Heenan gets into the cage to try and stop Hogan from escaping and in the process takes a bigger bump on an Irish Whip into the cage than Hogan or Orndorff took the entire match. Hogan escapes by climbing out of the cage at 9:28 aired to win the match. ** Some decent action with the cage, but since this match took place in the mid-1980's and involved Hogan there were limitations in what they could do.

--NWA Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Ric Flair V. Ronnie Garvin. This is from NWA Starrcade 1987. This is under pinfall/submission to win rules. Flair gets the pin and the title at 6:24 aired after catching Garvin attempting a Thesz Press an slamming him back first and covering him with a Lateral Press. NO RATING Actual match was around twenty minutes long, so you know, clipped match.

--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Rock V. Triple H. This is from WWF Rebellion 1999. This is under escape to win rules. Rock manages to escape through the door, but due to a ref bump there's no ref. British Bulldog comes out to interfere and attacks both men. He's quickly followed by Chyna who slams the cage door on Rock's head to stop him from escaping. Triple H escapes by climbing over the top of the cage amid a cavalcade of interference at 4:19 aired. NO RATING Clipped match.

--Cage Match: Steve Austin V. Mr. McMahon. This is from WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1999. This is under escape to win rules. This is Austin & McMahon's first one on one showdown after months of feuding. Austin beats the shit out of McMahon before the match can even begin, even going so far as shoving McMahon off the middle of the cage and through a table at ringside in a cool bump. McMahon gets stretchered off, but Austin points out that the match hasn't even begun yet so he drags McMahon back into the ring to start the match. Austin attempts to escape a couple of times, but both times McMahon lures Austin back into the ring by flipping him off. Paul Wight, the former Giant and soon to be Big Show, breaks through the bottom of the ring and at McMahon's command throws Austin into the side of the cage, but the cage breaks away and Austin is able to fall to the mat & escape the cage for the win at 7:52. * Don't get me wrong, this was a hot match in the Austin/McMahon feud, but it wasn't a good wrestling match. The major bump took place before the match started and after that this was essentially a one sided squash match. Entertaining yes, but good wrestling, no.

--WWF Tag Team Championship, Cage Match: Hardy Boyz V. Edge, Christian. This is from WWF Unforgiven 2000. This is under escape/pinfall/submission to win rules, but once you escape you can't go back into the ring and your tag partner is left by himself. We pick things up with Jeff having already been eliminated, and Christian is immediately eliminated while trying to stop Matt from escaping. Lita comes out to interfere, attacking Christian on the outside. Hardy Boyz knock out Edge with a Conchairto (dueling chair shots) on top of the cage and climb out to escape and win the match and the titles at 4:36 aired. NO RATING Clipped Match.

--Cage Match: Kurt Angle V. Chris Benoit. This is from an episode of WWF Raw, on June 11, 2001. No real story behind this one, just another match-up in Benoit & Angle's continuing feud. This is under escape/pinfall/submission to win rules. We join the match with Angle missing his SWANK~ yet incredibly insane Moonsault Press off the top of the cage. Rolling Germans by Benoit, stopping at six. Angle runs into the cage trying to stop Benoit from escaping and Benoit catches him on the rebound with the Rolling Germans, this time stopping at three. Benoit joins Angle in the insane asylum by hitting a sick Kamikaze Headbutt off the top of the cage. Anklelock by Angle, but Benoit wiggles out of it and hits an Enzuguri. Angle escapes over the top of the cage to win the match at 6:18 aired. NO RATING Knowing how much action & ground work took place in the cut out opening of the match I can't rate what was here in good conscience.

--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Pat Patterson V. Bob Backlund (W/Arnold Skaaland). This is from a WWF Madison Square Garden Show, on September 24, 1979. This is under escape to win rules. Only real backstory was that Patterson was the top heel in the WWF at the time and had been feuding with Backlund for a couple of months and this is the climactic match of that feud. Some near escapes by both men in the early going, accompanied by requisite grabbing on and pulling back in by the wrestler still in the ring. Backlund somehow gets busted open. Backlund gives Patterson a Catapult into the cage, and now Patterson's busted open. Backlund hits Patterson with a huge Atomic Drop, launching Patterson into the air and then connecting with his knee on the way down. Backlund literally falls backwards through the cage door to escape and win the match at 12:55. ***1Ú2 A good match, with lots of near escapes, but there was too much Punching & Kicking for my liking and some of the brawling was weak.

--WWWF Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Ivan Koloff V. Bruno Sammartino (W/Arnold Skaaland). This is from a WWWF Madison Square Garden Show, on December 15, 1975. This is under escape to win rules. Koloff had come into the WWWF for a short stint as a dominant heel, and one of the many revolving challengers to Sammartino. They had met twice previous to this match, and the wild nature of those matches created the need for a cage match. Sammartino casually walks out of the cage door to win the match at 9:40 as Koloff kneels down in the corner. 1Ú4* As one sided a squash match as you'll ever see. Sammartino's move of choice was an Irish Whip, which he reeled off around twenty times in the match.

--WWF Intercontinental Championship, Cage Match: Jimmy Snuka (W/Buddy Rogers) V. Magnificent Muraco (W/Captain Lou Albano). This is from a WWF Madison Square Garden Show, on October 17, 1983. This is under escape to win rules. Muraco wrestled the majority of his career under his first name, Don, or under his other alias of the Rock. Muraco had spent months mocking & sneak attacking Snuka, and now in the cage the savage Snuka would finally be able to get his hands on the vain Muraco. Muraco Catapults Snuka into the cage and Snuka immediately taps an artery. Snuka sends Muraco face first into the cage, and he too decides to tap an artery. Snuka hits Muraco with a Running Headbutt which sends Muraco flying backwards and through the cage door allowing him to escape and win the match at 6:42. ** There was some good action, but for being the deciding match in a bloody feud this was criminally short and didn't really allow for much of a story to be told. Post-match Snuka nails Muraco with the famous Splash off the top of the cage.

--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Stan Hansen V. Bob Backlund (W/Arnold Skaaland). This is from a WWF Madison Square Garden Show, on April 06, 1981. This is under escape to win rules. Hansen was in the WWF for a short period of time and his only real purpose was to be a fresh heel for Backlund to fight. Both men lay into each other with some stiff shots. Piledriver by Backlund. Things get even stiffer with Backlund absolutely laying into Hansen with stiff Forearm shots. They fight up top and both men fall off for a double knockout. Backlund pulls Hansen off the top of the cage and onto a turnbuckle in vicious fashion and this allows him to walk out the door and escape the cage for the win at 8:51. ***3Ú4 Brutal & stiff match with Backlund more than being able to keep up with Hansen. This was all action and both men were more than willing to beat the shit out of each other every second the match lasted.

--NWA United States Championship, I Quit, Cage Match: Magnum TA V. Tully Blanchard (W/Baby Doll). This is from NWA Starrcade 1985. Only way to win the match is to force your opponent to say ÒI quitÓ on the house microphone. Backstory for these two wrestlers consisted of one common thread, pure unadulterated hatred. They hated each other more than it was possible for two people to hate each other. Doll had helped Blanchard defeat Magnum for the NWA United States Championship, and Magnum decided enough was enough, and this match was signed to end their feud once and for all. They fight all over the ring to start, both men nailing each other with stiff shot after stiff shot. Blanchard draws first blood, throwing Magnum face first into the cage and busting him open. Press Slam Hot Shot by Magnum and he clocks Blanchard with some stiff Punches. Magnum Hammerlocks Blanchard and tosses him shoulder first into the cage a couple of times. Blanchard being awesome as only he can be blades his shoulder, and the blood starts flowing out right away. Blanchard asks Magnum to quit a couple of times and each time Magnum responds "no", so Blanchard blasts him in the head with the mic & all you hear is a sickly loud "klunk" sound every time he makes contact. Both men kneel on the mat from exhaustion and start labeling each other with Punches while they're kneeling. Massive Manhattan Drop by Blanchard, which hit more nut than it did ass. Doll throws a wooden chair into the ring, which Blanchard breaks apart. He takes a jagged stake-like leg and tries to jam it into Magnum's forehead, but Magnum steals it away and jabs Blanchard in the eye with it to get Blanchard to quit and win back his title at 14:48. ***** Now here were two men who weren't afraid to kill each other for their sport. They nailed each other with stiff shots from the get-go and they didn't let up for a second, going at each other non-stop until the final bell. Unfortunately for Magnum he would never reach heights like this again, the car crash that ended his wrestling career took place a few years after this.

--NWA Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Dusty Rhodes V. Ric Flair. This is from the NWA Great American Bash 1986 Tour, on July 26. This is under pinfall/submission to win rules. No real story here, just one of the various occasions Flair defended his title on the tour & his scheduled opponent on this night was long time foe Rhodes. Flair sends Rhodes into the cage, and per the usual Rhodes is busted open. Flair goes to work on Rhodes ankle, the same ankle that the Four Horseman broke a year previous. Figure Four Leglock by Flair, and Rhodes tries to reverse out of it, but he isn't able to, but eventually the ref sees Flair using the ropes for added leverage and makes him release the hold. Rhodes gets a Lariat out of nowhere, but Flair gets his foot on the ropes at two. Rhodes sends Flair face first into the cage, and Flair is of course busted open. Rhodes misses a Punch and smashes his fist into the cage by mistake, but it never gets followed up on. Figure Four Leglock by Rhodes, but Flair makes the ropes. Flair hits a bad looking Crossbody off the top-rope on an out of position Rhodes for a two count. Rhodes gets the pin and the title at 21:08 with a Small Package. *** Decent, albeit extremely slow paced match. This match still suffered from the same basic flaw that every match between Rhodes & Flair suffers from. Flair was more than willing to let Rhodes do whatever he wanted in the match, and Rhodes was always too willing to do exactly what he wanted no matter how much it hurt the match. This always resulted in Rhodes controlling 85% of the match, it didn't matter whether Flair was face, heel, challenger, champion, or where they were wrestling, Rhodes would always find a way to make Flair look like the weaker competitor. That major flaw and Rhodes inability to wrestle as good as Flair is why none of their matches are as good as the hype would lead you to believe.

--NWA Tag Team Championship, Cage Match: Minnesota Wrecking Crew V. Rock 'N' Roll Express. This is from NWA Starrcade 1986. This is under pinfall/submission to win rules. MWC in this match consisted of Arn & Ole Anderson, who were the second version of the MWC, with Gene & Ole Anderson being the first. The Express befuddle MWC early on with their quickness & speed. Gibson misses a Running Knee in the corner and crashes into the cage knee first. MWC are immediately on Gibson's knee like flies on shit, isolating Gibson from his corner and working over the knee. Arn grinds his knee into Gibson's knee in sick fashion to further the damage. Hot tag by Gibson to Morton, but Ole immediately sends Morton face first into the cage busting him wide open. MWC isolate Morton, and work over his arm. Morton outboxes Arn, and is inches away from tagging Gibson when Ole cuts him off with a Running Knee Lift. Morton gets the pin on Ole at 11:49 aired after the Express hit him with a Crossbody/Dropkick combo. ***1Ú2 Some really good, southern tag team wrestling. The Express took a hellacious beating and somehow were able to come away with the victory. For some reason this was clipped, a whole eight minute chunk was cut out despite the match being advertised as being in its entirety.

--WWF Heavyweight Championship, Cage Match: Owen Hart V. Bret Hart. This is from WWF SummerSlam 1994. This is under escape to win rules. Earlier in the year at the Royal Rumble Owen had attacked his brother Bret after he lost them a match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, a move which I felt was justified but nonetheless turned Owen into an instant heel. The two met for the first time in a WWF ring at WrestleMania X with Owen walking away with the surprise victory. Later that night Bret would defeat Yokozuna to once again become WWF Heavyweight Champion, with Owen refusing to come to the ring and congratulate him. Owen would use his victory over Bret and his winning of the 1994 King Of The Ring tournament to gain a shot at the title. This match was signed because of Owen's belief that he needed to keep the rest of his family from interfering since they would always side with Bret over him. They battle back and forth early on. Enzuguri by Owen, and he tries to climb out of the cage but Bret stops him with a Backdrop Driver off the middle-rope. Owen with a Missile Dropkick and he follows that up by leaping up the side of the cage like Tarzan , but Bret follows him up and they fight on top of the cage until both men fall to the mat. Shoulderblock by Bret knocks both men out. Bret climbs for the top, but Owen stops him and yanks him off the cage crotching Bret on the top-rope. Bret once again attempts to climb out, but once again Owen stops him and brings him back into the ring with an Avalanche Samoan Drop. In a reversal from earlier Owen stops Bret from climbing out of the cage with a Backdrop Driver off the middle-rope. Piledriver by Owen. They fight on the top-rope with Owen shoving Bret down to the mat, but an exhausted Owen falls off & crotches himself on the top-rope. They both take turns trying to escape out the door with both men coming inches away from escaping before being pulled back in. Owen goes behind Bret to attempt to shove him into the cage, but Bret ducks sending Owen face first into the cage, while at the same time Bret crashes into the bottom of the cage hurting his knee. They fight up top again with Bret kicking away Owen's hands to send him crashing to the mat, but Owen recovers fast enough to stop Bret from escaping and pulls him back into the ring. Bret with a SWANK~ Superplex, bringing Owen in from outside the cage, off the top of the cage. That's just awesome. Sharpshooter by Owen, who screams maniacally the whole time, ÒThe belt will be mine.Ó Bret Leg Picks Owen to escape and applies a Sharpshooter of his own. Both men climb outside of the cage and fight, but Owen trips and gets his legs caught in the cage which allows Bret to climb down and escape to win the match at 32:22 while his brother just dangles there not able to do a thing about it. ***** Awesome, insanely intense match. About as flawlessly executed of a cage match as you'll find, this had great selling, psychology, near escapes, and usage of the cage. About the only drawback was the lack of any blood. Post-match Owen & Jim Neidhart lock Bret in the cage, which features Neidhart saying ÒAh shaddapÓ in the funniest voice possible to the fans as he locks the cage door. They lay a beating on Bret until all the rest of the Hart brothers and the returning British Bulldog make it into the cage for the save.

--Cage Match: Hunter Hearst-Helmsley (W/Chyna) V. Mankind. This is from WWF SummerSlam 1997. This is under escape to win rules. These two had been feuding all throughout the summer, with Helmsley beating Mankind to win the 1997 King Of The Ring tournament. They had a wild brawl that went all over the arena at WWF Canadian Stampede 1997, so a cage match was needed to contain them. For those of you keeping track, Mankind is Mick Foley, or Cactus Jack, or Dude Love, whichever persona you prefer. Helmsley is the future Triple H before he found out what steroids could really do for his body. Mankind with a Stuff Piledriver. Mandible Claw, what some people would refer to in the future as Mr. Socko, by Mankind, but Chyna reaches through the cage and manages to get Helmsley free of the hold. SWANKLY~ vicious Superplex by Helmsley off the top of the cage. He pulled Mankind in from outside the cage, and they landed with such hard impact I think Mankind is still feeling that one to this day. Mankind lifts Helmsley up for a Vertical Suplex, but he hangs him in the Tree Of Woe position on the cage instead, and hits him with a Stinger Splash. Chyna blows her mark and comes into the ring for the finish too early, and you can visibly see Helmsley waving her away, so she has to awkwardly leave the ring and ends up making herself and the match look stupid in the process. Mankind climbs to the top of the cage and comes off with an Elbowdrop on the prone form of Helmsley in his ode to Snuka/Muraco. Mankind climbs out to escape the cage and win the match at 16:25 and barely beats Chyna trying to pull Helmsley out the door (which was what she was trying to do earlier when she blew the finish.) ** Decent match, but this just didn't click as much as their later encounters did, and far too much stuff was patterned around the involvement of Chyna.

--WWF Intercontinental Championship, Cage Match: Marty Jannetty V. Shawn Michaels (W/Diesel). This is from a WWF House Show, sometime in 1993. This is under escape to win rules. Catapult by Jannetty sends Michaels face first into the cage, but sadly no blade job follows. Jannetty goes for a cover for some reason, and for an equally astonishing reason referee Bill Alphonso opens the cage and comes in to count the pin, but Michaels kicks out at two. Gorilla Monsoon & Johnny Polo are on commentary and they're very surreal, arguing about the Doors, whether or not pinfalls should be allowed in a cage match, and how a cage should be built. Sleeper by Michaels, and once again the ref comes into the ring to check on Jannetty, and the announcers are completely baffled as to what the actual rules for the match are. Jannetty with an Avalanche Press Slam off the top of the cage. Michaels manages to escape out the door and win the match at 13:13 while Diesel fought Jannetty on top of the cage. ** This was a decent match, but it was also one fucked up match. Lord knows how much crack Michaels, Jannetty, & Alphonso snorted before the match because all three were totally out of it for most of the match. There were miscues and moments where no one involved looked like they knew what was going on, or what the rules were.

--Cage match: Edge V. Kurt Angle. This is from an episode of WWE Smackdown, on May 30, 2002. This is under escape/pinfall/submission to win rules. Edge & Angle were in the middle of a feud, and Angle had recently lost a hair versus hair match, so he was sporting an awesome hairpiece complete with amateur wrestling headgear for this match. Angle also has on the SWANK~ Superman tights today (all blue with the big A in front.) Some real good mat wrestling by both men to start. Edge Hip Tosses Angle into the cage. Edge goes for a Spear, but Angle moves out of the way at the last second and Edge goes shoulder first into the cage. Overhead Belly-To-Belly Suplex by Edge. Edge comes off the top-rope with a Clothesline for a 2 count. Angle decides to cut off that rally with the Rolling Germans, stopping at three. Angle sends Edge face first into the cage a few times and Edge gets busted open. Awesome visual as Angle kneels on Edge's back and pulls back his head by his hair and blood starts pouring down Edge's face. Fivearm by Edge misses Angle and takes out the ref instead. Angle's head gear starts riding up his hairpiece so that he looks like one of those little Troll dolls that were popular back in the late 90's. Edge hits a middle-rope Backdrop Throw, with Angle doing his insane inside-out bump where he ends up landing stomach first on the mat. Avalanche Angle Slam by Angle, and he climbs out of the cage, but there's no ref. Hulk Hogan comes out & attacks Angle sending him back into the ring. We return from a commercial break and Angle hits an Angle Slam for a close 2 count. Anklelock by Angle, but Edge counters sending Angle into the cage and then Edge applies an Anklelock of his own. Angle breaks free and climbs over the top of the cage, but Edge stops him and they fight on top, with Edge inside the ring and Angle outside the ring standing on the cage door, which eventually sees Angle get crotched on top of the door. Edge sends Angle back into the ring and Angle charges at Edge who's perched on the top-rope and he comes off & wallops Angle with a Spear for the win at 14:39 aired. **** Excellent match that could have done without the bullshit ref bump in the middle. Angle & Edge have always had good chemistry together, and this match was no different. Lots of believable near falls, great non-stop action, and great effort all around.

--Final Flash: Another good DVD from the WWE. Most of the matches shown in full ranged from decent to great, with only one real clunker in the whole bunch. This also featured three must see matches, and one match, Backlund/Hansen, that's really good but I've never heard talked about before. Only real problem was all the clipping. In a format like DVD where you can have a three to five DVD set and still keep the price reasonable there's really no need for all the clipping. Hopefully in the future that's something WWE will realize.

Highly Recommended

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