Stone Cold vs. Dude Love [WWF Championship Match](Over The Edge- May 31, 1998)
Steve Austin and Mick Foley are both in my top five favorite wrestlers of all time so I'm excited to review this match.
The Facts:
- This match can be seen on Mick Foley's "Greatest Hits & Misses" DVD and Stone Cold's "The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time" DVD.
- This match happened at the Wisconsin Center Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The attendance was 9,822. The arena is now known as the U.S. Cellular Arena. The arena is the same arena where the "Austin 3:16" catchphrase was born at the 1996 King of the Ring.
- This was the first Over The Edge Pay Per View event. The second and final Over The Edge PPV in 1999 was a very controversial event because of the death of Owen Hart.
- Vince McMahon was the referee for this match.
- Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler were the announcers for this match.
- This match had a 22:28 time length.
- Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer gave this match a ****1/2 rating.
The Match:
The Undertaker was ringside during this match to make sure Vince McMahon, the referee, didn't try to screw Stone Cold. Dude Love covered Stone Cold early in the match and Stone Cold kicked out at two. Stone Cold thought the count was quick (I thought it was okay) and started talking to McMahon. The Milwaukee crowd sounded very loud in the beginning. The action was slow during the first few minutes of the match and the match was mostly focused on McMahon's refereeing. The fans started chanting "Vince is gay! Vince is gay!" That's a great chant. Jim Ross thought the fans were chanting "Vince is dead". Stone Cold picked up Dude Love's teeth and tossed them in the crowd. Jerry Lawler said that Dude Love lost his smile. Ha! Stone Cold clotheslined Dude out of the ring. Stone Cold and Dude Love started brawling outside the ring. It was the usual ringside fighting. Every time there is fighting outside the ring, someone gets whipped into the steel ring steps and that someone is this match was Stone Cold. Dude Love was in control outside the ring. Dude Love and Stone Cold were back in the ring and Dude Love went for a cover. Stone Cold kicked out at two. McMahon's refereeing has been fair so far. Jim Ross reminded the viewers that this was a normal wrestling match. I mention that because the rules changed during this match. More about that later. The action in the ring was enjoyable, but not great. However, this match would get a lot more interesting later.
Dude tried to apply the mandible claw on Stone Cold, but Stone Cold reversed it and Dude's head got caught in the ropes. This match isn't a classic yet, but the wrestling in the beginning is fun to watch. I have seen this match before, but I didn't realize how enjoyable the first half was. The second half is what made this match a classic. Dude gets his head out of the ropes and the two wrestlers start fighting outside the ring again. McMahon starts talking to Pat Patterson at ringside and this is where the match starts to get very interesting. Patterson began to talk into a microphone.
Pat Patterson: "This is a reminder that this match is no disqualification."
Jim Ross: "What? Since when? Since when? Since now? That's not right!"
Jerry Lawler: "He's reminding you, you idiot."
Jim Ross: "They're making the rules as they go then. What's fair about that King?"
The commentary during this match was great. Classic Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. One of their best commentary performances in the WWE. After Patterson made that announcement, the action got a lot faster and the crowd was going crazy. Amazing Attitude Era brawling going on with a great Attitude Era crowd. Stone Cold clotheslined Dude over the guardrail and into the crowd. Jim Ross yelled, "GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY WHAT A CLOTHESLINE AND DUDE LOVE LANDED ON HIS HEAD RIGHT ON CONCRETE!" Dude Love and Stone Cold got in back in the ring, but they would be in there for only a few seconds. Dude Love kicked Stone Cold out of the ring with a baseball slide. Jim Ross said that this didn't look like a wrestling match anymore. Dude Love left the ring and started attacking Stone Cold. McMahon ran to Patterson and gave him another reminder.
Patterson: "This is a reminder. In this match, falls count anywhere."
Ross: "Since when? Since when? That's not right!"
Lawler: "Why not? It's just a reminder for the referee."
With falls counting anywhere, obviously the fighting continued outside the ring. There were cars by the entrance area and Dude backdropped Stone Cold onto a car! The cars were used as a weapon many times in this match. Stone Cold and Dude got on top of a car. Stone Cold tried to go for a stunner but Dude pushed Stone Cold off the car. Dude jumped off a different car and hit a sunset flip on Stone Cold! Wow! Stone Cold kicked out at two. McMahon's counting has been fair so far. Dude picked up a big lead pipe. Dude hit Stone Cold with the pipe once, but didn't hit him hard enough because Stone Cold started fighting back. Stone Cold's head was busted open. I'm not sure when or how that happened. Stone Cold tried to piledrive Dude, but Dude reversed it with a backdrop. Dude hit a suplex on the floor. Dude climbed on top of a car. Dude jumped off and attempted an elbow drop on Stone Cold, but Stone Cold rolled out of the way. Stone Cold went for a cover, but Dude kicked out at two. Stone Cold got Dude back towards the ring by kicking him which caused Dude to roll. Stone Cold slammed Dude into the ring steps and then tossed Dude back into the ring. Dude and Stone Cold were back in the ring and Patterson tripped Stone Cold which helped Dude attack Stone Cold. Dude punched Stone Cold in the head a few times. Dude removed the turnbuckle cover and slammed Stone Cold's head onto the exposed steel. Dude landed some more offense on Stone Cold. It looked like Dude was going to win and become the new WWF Champion.
Dude had Stone Cold in a submission hold, but Stone Cold fought out of it. However, Dude was able to slam Stone Cold's head onto the exposed steel again. Dude went for a cover, but Stone Cold kicked out at two. Patterson gave Dude a steel chair. Dude hit Stone Cold with the chair a couple times. Dude then hit Stone Cold with the double arm DDT on the chair. That was Dude's finishing move. Dude went for a cover and Stone Cold kicked out at two! Stone Cold refused to lose! Dude picked up the chair and ran towards Stone Cold with it, but Stone Cold kicked the chair into Dude's face! Stone Cold picked up the chair and whacked Dude on the head. Stone Cold went for a cover, but McMahon refused to count! Dude got up, picked up the chair, and tried to hit Stone Cold while Stone Cold was talking to McMahon, but Stone Cold moved out of the way and Dude hit McMahon on the head with the chair! Stone Cold hit the stunner on Dude! Stone Cold went for the cover, but McMahon was knocked out. Another referee entered the ring, but Patterson pulled him out of the ring before he could count to three. Dude got up, put the mandible claw on Stone Cold, and took Stone Cold down to the mat! Patterson tried to count to three, but Undertaker stopped him and chokeslammed Patterson through the announce table! Gerald Brisco, one of McMahon's stooges who was sitting ringside, tried to count Dude's pin attempt, but Undertaker stopped him and chokeslammed him through the Spanish announce table! Holy shit! Dude put the claw back on Stone Cold, but Stone Cold reversed it into a Stunner. McMahon was still knocked out, but Stone Cold pulled McMahon over and made McMahon's hand slap the mat three times while Stone Cold covered Dude.
Winner: Stone Cold
Rating: ****1/2
This is a great match. It's not in the top 10 or 15 WWE matches of all time, but it's probably in the top 50...maybe top 25. It's definitely a classic match and definitely one of Steve Austin and Mick Foley's best matches. It's not a five star classic, but a very good match. I wish the WWE would have matches like this today and I don't know why they can't. The WWE banned blood and chair shots to the head, but if you remove Stone Cold's blood and the chair shots to the head, this match is still very good. The blood and chair shots didn't hurt the match, but I don't think the match would have been a lot worse without them. I could see Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler being able to have a performance similar to this match. There is one thing that could stop the WWE from having a classic Attitude Era style match like this and that is Michael Cole as the play-by-play announcer. Jim Ross was at his best during this match. He called the match with excitement and passion and that made the match so much more enjoyable to watch. The Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler commentary team was great. The current WWE PPV commentary team led by Michael Cole is awful. Good wrestlers is not the only thing required for a good match. Having a great crowd in the arena and a great announce team helps too. This match had all of that and the match was great.
Today's WWE has the talent and many of the crowds are impressive (although not as impressive as the crowds during the Attitude Era). The only thing missing is a great announce team and although the announcers are not the most important thing about a wrestling show, I really think Michael Cole is hurting the WWE. The WWE needs another guy like Jim Ross and not someone who is constantly saying bad things about the wrestlers and not always talking about the match. Heel color announcers are okay, but heel play-by-play announcers are bad for business. WrestleMania 28 has a strong card that could produce at least one great match like the Stone Cold vs. Dude Love match and I hope Michael Cole's involvement doesn't prevent that from happening.
Foley is a tremendous performer. So damn versatile!
ReplyDeleteFoley wasn't the best in-ring performer, but this was one of his best performances. I'm not 100% sure, but I think Foley once said that this match was the most fun he had during a match.
DeleteFoley wasn't the best wrestler, yet...how many matches did he he disappoint you in?
ReplyDeleteP.S, thanks for putting WR link in!
Foley did have many bad matches...he only had a handful of great singles matches. Most of his best matches were gimmick matches (like this match).
Deleteoh...and you're welcome for the link. I finally figured out how to do a blogroll.
DeleteFoley wasn't the best technical wrestler, but the way he could play deranged(Mankind), careless nutjob(Cactus Jack), and goofy(Dude Love) just makes him awesome in my book.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Foley is the only wrestler who had three different gimmicks in his career but Foley could have gone into the Hall of Fame with at least two of his gimmicks and he might have been able to make Dude Love a Hall of Fame gimmick too. Foley will be in the Hall of Fame someday and he'll probably be most recognized as Mankind but if he was Cactus Jack during his entire WWE career, he'd still make the Hall of Fame. You can't say that about The Rock or Stone Cold. Rocky Maivia and The Ringmaster were not Hall of Fame gimmicks.
DeleteI think Rocky Miavia could have in the 70's or 80's. He would've been gold. When you combine the plucky, Steamboatish(yes, I made it up, lol) babyface with somebody Rocky's size, that could've gotten over big time.
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean Ricky Steamboat would not have been very popular during the Attitude Era?
DeleteYou know, he probably would. The fans that hated Rocky didn't hate him, because he was young, it was because he was a plucky babyface. If Steamboat had debuted at the same time, he would've gotton the same treatment.
ReplyDelete