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Post by elliott on Dec 10, 2017 22:22:53 GMT -5
Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (Ladder Match - WWF WrestleMania X - 3/20/1994)
Legendary match that I think holds up quite well as a great match. Not sure what to say about it other than that. I guess I'd add that I prefered it to the SummerSlam encounter last time I watched both.
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Post by Cap on Dec 11, 2017 9:12:02 GMT -5
Second
No chance at my list really, but should be nominated. I prefer the SummerSlam match by a good deal. It feels less contrived to me. This is still a very good match and its place in WWE history is clear, it just isn't for me.
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Post by stunninggrover on Jan 4, 2018 19:50:02 GMT -5
This match should be on the nominations list. I'm not 100% sure it will be in my top 100, but it's a legendary match. It was considered a great match at the time (and I guess we'll find out soon exactly where it ranks among the all-time great matches nowadays). It used to be one of my favourite matches of all-time (like more than 20 years ago), so I think I will always have a soft spot for this match. Even though this wasn't the first ladder match in WWF (Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels from July 1992 was), it was the match that really popularised the ladder match. Michaels showed was he could do and Hall gave a pretty good showing himself.
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Post by maddog1981 on Jan 4, 2018 19:52:09 GMT -5
This would not make my top 100. But I think this deserves a nomination. I think this had a high level of influence into the next decade. It feels like this is the foundation that all ladder matches are still built on. Great ending to this match.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jul 29, 2018 19:16:00 GMT -5
This match holds up way better than i expected. I don't think it will make my list but this is another one that might make it for influence.
I prefer the rematch.
. WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels - WWF WrestleMania X Ladder Match
Vince must love this match because there are so many iconic moments in this match, Shawn going around the ladder wagging his finger, Razor strutting underneath the ladder, the splash from the top of the ladder (camera shot is great), riding the ladder down from the turnbuckle and of course the amazing finish. That's really the thing that traditional WWF did so much better than any other wrestling company in history is creating long lasting memories from singular spots. What buoys this match from relying on simple nostalgia and is the awesome violence incorporating the ladder and the smart, compact layout. From the opening salvo of the baseball slide of Shawn Michaels sending the ladder into Razor Ramon, they use the ladder in almost every single spot in new violent, vicious way. I am a mark for throwing heavy objects on people. I forgot Shawn chucked that ladder at Razor, he really got him good. Shawn was great really beating the shit out of Razor with the ladder. Shawn goes up for the title belts (Shawn was claimant to Intercontinental Championship because he was stripped but never beaten) and Razor pulls down his trunk, but Shawn kicks him off and hits an elbow. You know you have a match with a lot of great spots when this is not fondly remembered. Probably because the spot right after this one is the iconic splash from the ladder onto Razor. UN-BE-LIVE-A-BLE! Vince really liked saying that a lot on commentary. I liked the transition to Razor being in control because it was a series of ladder shots that were required to dig him out of a hole. He had to push Shawn off the ladder, whip him into the ladder (wicked bump over the turnbuckles to the floor), ladder shots and the catapult.
I think what this match does really well that it is hard for most wrestling matches to do without coming across as cheap is building drama without a traditional comeback. A traditional comeback builds drama through the fire of the babyface overcoming the odds of the heat segment and then there is a couple twists and turns before the finish. Razor did not make a fiery comeback. The drama was that getting up that damn ladder was so damn difficult. Even though you would think a ladder match would be one of unlike sport matches, it feels like the drama of real sports. Shawn was not especially nefarious in this match and Razor was just in an early hole. As he dug himself out, it was not this comeback that whips you into a frenzy, but rather you are intrigued how somebody will actually be able to win this match.
One of the spots that really wowed me that, I had totally forgotten was Razor suplexing Shawn off the top of the ladder. That has to be my new favorite spot of the match. Insane bump and just awesome looking made better by the ladder giving way under Razor. Shawn is able to dropkick the ladder. Shawn was really damn good on offense here with Sweet Chin Music, a really nice piledriver (he should have the used the piledriver more) and in that other iconic moments rides the ladder down on Razor. I forgot how quickly they go into the finish with Razor shouldertackling the ladder and Shawn getting tied up in the ropes. Shawn was fucking awesome in the ropes, wriggling to get free, he actually gets free and then his arm gets caught. It is great because it provides so much entertainment to the slow climb and Razor's victory. In my book, it goes down as one of the all-time great finishes.
So conspicuous by its absence is the beginning. I will say that having Diesel ejected early was very smart and that Razor was a bumping machine in the beginning (the concrete bump was great to set up getting the ladder). That being said, I did not like this early. This seemed like the prototype for today's problem in wrestling, registering the move, but not selling the move. Razor threw some FANTASTIC punches. Like I forgot how good Hall's right hand was. Shawn took some great bumps registered it wit the spit take, but in five seconds was hitting the a neckbreaker. Or Razor taking the concrete bump but getting up fast enough so he can take control of the ladder to set up the baseball slide. They were wrestling way too fast and that's today's problem.
Once the ladder got involved, I thought this was amazing. They did a really good job incorporating the ladder in almost every spot in interesting and logical ways. I thought they did a great job building drama down the stretch. I absolutely love that finish. This WWF classic remains timeless. ****1/2
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