The Single File #27
Posted: 03/06/02

Query: who had the best year in professional wrestling? By which I mean who had the greatest run of matches in a 12-month span? I'm sure some would reply Austin in '01 or Kobashi in '93, and those are fine choices. But I'll always remember Shawn Michaels run in 1996.

Michaels completely carried the WWF in 1996. It was a pretty crappy time overall for the fed. All the buzz was with WCW due to the nWo and the always live Nitro. Raw wasn't live every week back then, and there was certainly no Smackdown, Heat, or Excess. As for the actual product, there was the occasional silver lining, such as the emergences of Steve Austin and Mankind. But it was overshadowed by crap like the retuning Ultimate Warrior, born again Jake Roberts, Terry Gordy the Executioner, Cloudy, and oh so much more.

Let's face it, the only thing you could look forward to was Shawn Michaels having great matches. And boy, did he have a lot of them. I mean, it's one thing to have great matches with Bret Hart, Mick Foley, and Vader. But Shawn had excellent matches with Kevin Nash and Sid! Sid, fer cryin' out loud! And I don't mean feasible or watchable, I'm talking really awesome stuff (1).

So here's an underrated gem of a match from '96 that I came across when scanning some tapes. It's curious that this match had the same stipulation as HHH/Angle from No Way Out, only this match was properly booked.

Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart [w/ Jim Cornette] (Wrestlemania Title Shot on the line)
When: February 18th, 1996
Where: Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY

Backstory: Hoo boy, this is interesting. It all stems from the Syracuse incident from 10/14/95. Here's what the old RSPW FAQ has to say about it

"Shawn Michaels, Davey Boy Smith, and Sean "1-2-3 Kid/Syxx" Waltman were in a bar in Syracuse. An altercation occurred with other patrons of the bar, which led to a heated argument. What it was about will likely never be known. The three wrestlers retreated to their car, only to be followed by anywhere from 3 - 14 men, depending on who you believe. One side continued provoking the other, before Shawn himself got into a physical confrontation with the men. Some of the men kept Smith and Waltman at bay and delivered a beating to Michaels, which left him in a Syracuse hospital with head injuries and assorted bleeding."

The attack left Shawn unable to wrestle, meaning he had to forfeit the Intercontinental Title to Shane "Dean" Douglas at In Your House IV. Shawn competed at the Survivor Series without incident, but the next night faced off against Owen Hart on a live Raw. Owen hit an enzuigiri on Shawn, and after throwing Owen over the top rope, Michaels collapsed in the middle of the ring. Everything stopped. Owen and manager Jim Cornette didn't know what to do. Vince McMahon left the announce position to go to the ring. Paramedics attended to Shawn as the show ended.

Now, today, this just screams "Work," since we've seen this scenario so many times since. But back then it had never been done before, and viewers completely bought it. Hell, people on RSPW were calling local hospitals trying to find out if Shawn was okay. (a)

He was, of course, it was all a ploy to build sympathy for Michaels for his World Title run. And indeed, he returned and promptly won the Royal Rumble. But Owen kept bragging about putting Shawn on the shelf, and managed to goad the Heartbreak Kid into a match with his Wrestlemania title shot at stake. 

The Match: We get a nice video package recounting the whole ordeal.

Owen comes out first with Cornette. I love Owen's old theme, but it never struck me as "heelish" enough, y'know? Man, looks like there are about 5000 people at this show. Dark days.

Todd Pettengill (2) (ugh) gets some comments from Shawn, who promises to kick with the Kliq and go straight through Owen all the way to Wrestlemania.

"Sexy Boy" starts playing, but Shawn doesn't come through the entranceway. Instead we see him dancing on the roof of the House set. He does a Tarzan swing down and heads to the ring as Vince has a conniption extolling Michael's virtues ("What charisma! What athleticism! Shawn Michaels…Mr. Flamoyant!). Owen tries to attack Shawn as he gets in the ring, but Michaels beats him to the punch and tosses him outside. Owen and Cornette regroup on the floor while Shawn takes off his entrance attire and poses for the crowd.

Owen gets in the ring and makes some weird pantomimes, which the King translates into "Owen is going to kick Shawn in the head." Shawn makes faces at the crowd while Vince does the hideous babyface announcer laugh in approval. Shawn and Owen get in each other's faces, and Owen gives Shawn a shove, and Michaels returns the favor. They tie-up,. Michaels clamps on a headlock, and Owen shoves him into the ropes. Michaels ducks an Owen clotheslines and then slides through Owen's legs all the way to the floor. Cornette runs away in terror, but Shawn opts to do a victory lap around ringside high-fiving the fans. He stops to plant a kiss on a lucky Louisville lady (3). 

Shawn gets on the apron and mouths off at Cornette, then gets in the ring and readjusts his kneepads. Owen kicks Shawn in the gut and clamps on a headlock, but this time Shawn breaks it by tossing Hart into the ropes. Shawn leapfrogs Owen, but on the rebound it's Owen who slides between Shawn's legs to the floor. Owen gloats to the fans, not noticing Shawn climbing to the top rope. Owen does notice when Shawn flattens him with a twisting bodypress from the top to the floor. Shawn is up immediately and high-fives some more ringside fans, then dumps Owen back in the ring. Michaels climbs to the top again and connects with a double axe-handle. Shawn covers for 2 as we see a Double Feature (4) of Shawn's dive to the floor.

Shawn goes back to the headlock. Owen tries to backdrop suplex him but Michaels lands on his feet, trips Owen from behind, and (literally) walks all over Hart. Owen, incensed, gets to his feet and walks into another side headlock. Owen tries pulling the hair to break the hold, but no good. He does manage to grab the hair and force Shawn into the ropes, but when he tries to send him to the ropes Michaels holds onto Owen's hair and goes back to the headlock. The ref tries to get Shawn to break the hold, so he does…for about a millisecond. Cornette gets on the apron to complain, so Shawn blatantly yanks Owen's hair while the ref is tied up with Jimbo. Cornette jumps up again, same result. Owen finally manages to push Shawn off into the ropes, but Michaels hits him with a shoulderblock. Shawn hits the ropes and hops over Owen, but gets nailed with a hiptoss. Owen goes to advance on the fallen Shawn but gets kicked for his trouble. 

I would just like to add that Cornette hopped on the apron to distract the ref right before Shawn hit the shoulderblock. I think Owen was supposed to cheat but didn't for whatever reason.

Both men kip up and glare at each other for a half second. Owen takes a swing but Shawn ducks and tries a rollup, but Owen grabs the ropes. Shawn rolls backwards and uses his momentum to hit the ropes and nail Owen with a hurrancanrana! Shawn opts to lay in some punches rather than going for a pinfall. He picks up Owen and sends him to the ropes, but puts his head down for a back bodydrop. Owen slams on the brakes and whips Shawn to the ropes. Michaels ducks a clothesline but gets hit with the Owen belly-to-belly of doom. Owen lays in a kick to the stomach and then some shots to the back. Hart picks up Michaels and hits a backbreaker, then a few more kicks. Lawler screams for Owen to kick Shawn in the head. I wish he'd listen.

Owen sends Shawn to the corner, then pulls him out and hits a nice reverse neckbreaker. Hart covers for 2. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter, but Michaels kicks him off. Owen gets right back up and drops a forearm on Shawn, then follows with some knees to the back. Owen locks on a bow-and-arrow variant, then segues into a camel clutch. A "Go Shawn Go" chant breaks out. It's not very loud, but Cornette dutifully covers his ears anyway.

Shawn finally manages to get to his feet, and elbows out of Owen's grasp. Michaels hits the ropes, but Owen drops down and catches Shawn with a knee to the gut. Owen drags Shawn to the center and tries a double leg flip pin, but only gets two. Owen goes back to the chinlock as the crowd starts making some noise. Shawn gets to a vertical base and punches his way out of the hold. Shawn hits the ropes and hops over Owen, but gets caught with a spinkick that sends him crashing outside the ring. That's the third time they did a "Shawn hops over Owen but gets caught on the rebound" sequence. Anyway, Shawn tries to shake the cobwebs on the floor while Owen makes threats to Bret RE: Wrestlemania. Cornette tries to sneak a kick in on the downed Michaels but gets caught by the ref. 

Owen pulls Shawn up on the apron and lays in a headbutt. He tries thrice to suplex Michaels into the ring but is unsuccessful, before Michaels reverses the hold and dumps Owen on the floor. Shawn tries a bodypress or something off the apron but gets caught and powerslammed on the floor. We get a Double Feature of the spin kick as Owen dumps Shawn in the ring. Owen climbs up top and waits for Shawn to get to his feet, then leaps and nails a missile dropkick. Cover, but only 2. Owen thinks he's won, and is chagrinned to discover he has not. He picks up Michaels and backs him into the corner, and lays in three stiff forearm shots. He whips Michaels to the opposite corner, and as Shawn stumbles out Owen tries a slam, but HBK slips out and rolls up Owen for a long two. He tries to get some momentum as he rams Owen into a turnbuckle and tries a cross corner whip, but Hart reverses and Shawn does the old Flair Flip (5) in the corner. Shawn manages to get off the turnbuckle and land on his feet, but gets turned around and planted by an Owen clothesline. Owen says "that's it," then wastes time by tapping Shawn's head with his foot to see if he's alive. Finally Owen locks in the Sharpshooter, and drags Shawn to the middle of the ring just when he's about to make the ropes. After being in the hold for about a minute, Shawn finally does manage to crawl and grab the bottom rope. Owen, of course, doesn't let go immediately.

Owen lays in some stomps to the back, then slams Michaels in the middle of the ring and blows snot on him. Yeah! But Shawn manages to roll Owen up Victory Roll-style for a near fall. Vince: "1…2…he got him, no he didn't." Owen gets up and tries a kick to the gut of Michaels, but Shawn catches his foot. So Owen compensates by nailing the enzuigiri. The whole crowd goes "Ohhh" as Shawn tumbles outside the ring. The ref goes out to check on Shawn as we get a Double Feature of the enzuigiri. The ref gets back in the ring and starts counting, but Owen (deciding he wants a pinfall win) goes outside and dumps Shawn back in the ring. He covers…and only gets 2! Owen is in shock as Cornette has a fit. Finally, Owen tosses Shawn in the corner and lays in some shoulderblocks, then whips him to the opposite corner. Hart tries a charge but Shawn dodges and Owen crotches himself on the second turnbuckle. Owen finally untangles himself and goes after Shawn, but walks into an inverted atomic drop. Owen does manage to rake Shawn's eyes and sends him to the ropes, but Shawn ducks a clothesline and follows up with his a flying forearm. Both men play dead on the canvas as the crowd chants "Go Shawn Go." Owen finally gets to his feet and advances on the still fallen Michaels, until Shawn kips up (and hulks up). Owen tries a punch, but Shawn blocks it and fires back with some of his own. He rams Owen's head into a turnbuckle and whips him across the ring. Owen hits the turnbuckle and stumbles out, allowing Shawn to nail him with another flying forearm. 

Shawn's got his second wind, as he stomps on Owen, slams him, then heads up top and hits the flying elbow. Cornette hops on the apron but gets popped for his troubles. Shawn goes to the corner and starts warming up the band. He tries the Superkick but Owen ducks. Owen tries a kick, Shawn catches the foot, and again Owen goes for the enzuigiri, but this time Shawn ducks. Shawn sets, Sweet Chin Music, see ya Owen (15.57).

Shawn celebrates by dancing with a young female fan as fireworks explode and Vince babbles about the New WWF Generation. A fairly nauseating display, all in all. 

The first thing that struck me re-watching that match is how nicely it was structured. Things started quite slowly, with Michaels really working the side headlocks, then built up to the Sharpshooter spot, and then killer enzuigiri and hot finish. 

I wish Owen had concentrated more of his offense at Shawn's skull. But I guess if he kicked Shawn in the noggin for 10 minutes, realistically Michaels would either be (a) in a coma or (b) dead. Let's rationalize it by saying that Owen wanted to beat Shawn with no excuses, so he followed his regular game plan and built towards the Sharpshooter, using the enzuigiri as an ace up his sleeve. It would have been nice if the commentary had built up this story, but hey, this is Vince McMahon we're talking about.

Fallout: Shawn did indeed go on to win the World Title from Bret at Wrestlemania. Owen floundered around before wining the tag titles with Davey Boy Smith and helping reform the Hart Foundation in 1997.

These two never met in a singles match again on PPV. It seemed logical that there would be an Owen/Shawn World Title match at Royal Rumble '98, but that ended up not happening for one of several reasons, depending on who you ask.

In the long term, well, neither man had a happy ending. I'll just leave it at that.

That is all she wrote for this Single File. I'll be back next week with the big Wrestlemania Preview, which hopefully won't contain the word "enzuigiri," and then maybe some changes ahead.

Joe Gagne
bwo@infi.net

Endnotes:
(a) (For more about the first match, you can read two CRZ columns about the match and the collaspe after on [slash] - tcf)
(1) Shawn also had some fine matches with the gassed out Davey Boy Smith, who at that time fell in the middle range of workers. He was no Bret, but certainly better than Sid.
(2) Hideously annoying WWF commentator and interviewer from the mid-90's. Makes Michael Cole look like Gordon Solie.
(3) King: "Last time I saw a face like that it was on an Iodine bottle."
(4) The cutesy name for the split-screen instant replay.
(5) The Flair Flip is when you somersault back-first into the corner. Flair always landed on his feet on the apron, where he was promptly clotheslined. Michaels always ended up seated on the top turnbuckle facing the crowd, then fell back and landed on his feet.

Joe Gagne
bwo@infi.net

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