Shawn Michaels vs Mankind (WWF Championship) (WWF In Your House: Mind Games) Review

Shawn Michaels vs Mankind (WWF Championship) (WWF In Your House: Mind Games)

So, I was going through my In Your House DVDs, deciding on a match to watch. Despite the IYH series getting some derision over the years, the events still produced some good/great matches in between some of the dross. This match is an obvious stand out and is one that I haven't seen in a while and my mind was made up as soon as I came across it, as this was the match I really wanted to watch again.

Can HBK go toe to toe with the maniacal Mankind and retain his WWF Championship? Or will he not be able to compete with the toughness and madness that the deranged one brings? We shall see.

Paul Bearer is out first with some druids, who push along a coffin to ringside. Mankind already playing 'Mind Games'. I have a slight feeling this will come into play later on. :hmm: The casket pops open and Mankind rises up

The WWF Champion out next, with of course Jose Lothario. I sure hope he's ready for this.

Shawn quickly outs Mankind in a side headlock to start this one off. He whips him off the ropes, but Mankind catches him with a vicious elbow, sending HBK right down to the mat. Mankind starts kicking HBK and hits him with a chop to the throat. Mankind in control early as he whips HBK off the ropes and sends him straight into a back body drop. He follows this up with a big running clothesline, which sends them both over the top rope to the outside.

“ECW, ECW, ECW” chants can be heard from the crowd.

Mankind rips the outside mat up and exposes the concrete. Just as he lifts it up though, HBK catches him with a drop-kick and follows this up with two double foot stomps onto Mankind.

Shawn already knowing what he may have to do to win this thing.

HBK gets onto the turn-buckle and hits Mankind with a flying cross-body He runs straight back at Mankind and yanks his head straight onto the exposed concrete. He sends him back into the ring and hits him with a double axe handle off the top rope. HBK starts hitting Mankind with some big right hands before clotheslining him down onto the mat. He picks him up and slams him back down to the mat, before climbing onto the top turn-buckle

He hits him with a Savage like flying elbow. HBK seems to think this is it as he goes into the other corner and gets ready to tune up the band. Mankind quickly gets up and realises this and just runs and flies through the middle rope to the outside to avoid this.

Bearer hands him the infamous urn as it looks like Mankind is going to need some divine guidance here as HBK is really bringing it. Paul is screaming at Mankind with a pep talk and 'it's about the championship'. Back in the ring and Mankind/HBK start exchanging punches in the corner. Mankind sends HBK to the turn-buckle, but Shawn reverses this and seems to try a cross-body, but Mankind is too far away. So HBK goes off on one of his tantrums and start berating Mankind.

DID SOMEONE SAY WORKED SHOOT???

He kicks Mankind in the gut, who immediately responds with a slap to the face to HBK. Who in turn starts punching the shit out of Mankind. He tries to take HBK down to the mat, but HBK continues to hit some snarly right hands. THIS IS A GOD DAMN BRAWL.

HBK seems to try and hit Mankind with a bulldog, but it's reversed and Mankind takes him down into a submission hold. He's got HBK on the mat and is effectively choking him out. He's got HBK in a snap-mere takedown, but HBK starts fighting out of it with some punches to the face. Mankind still has both his legs wrapped around HBK's waist though as Shawn tries to hit him with some elbows to try and get out of it. He does finally break out of as he relentlessly punches the shit out of Mankind.

All of a sudden, Mankind turns around and fucking NAILS Shawn with one of his own right hands to the face.

GET THE FUCK DOWN INDEED

He sends HBK flying out the ring and onto the outside. Mankind grabs the Spanish announce table and starts dragging it into a position, but just as he does, HBK comes flying over it and hits Mankind with a flying elbow.

He wails Mankind's head off the casket. He then suplexes him off the steel steps and it catches Mankind's leg sweet as a nut, which the sound of comes across as loud as hell.

NASTY

Mankind gets back up and in the ring, but as soon as he does, HBK takes him straight out via that damaged knee and he slides out the ring again and lies on top of the casket. Shawn takes this ample opportunity to slam Mankind's knee hard off the casket. Shawn taking a leaf out of Bret's book here and continues to target the leg of Mankind with some kicks.

HBK realises what he has to do and how far within himself he has to search to take this new found aggressiveness to Mankind.

He stamps on the knee, which doesn;t please Earl Hebner and HBK really tries his luck here and slaps Earl.

Careful now Shawn.

Mankind starts fighting back and hits Shawn with a short flurry of punches. Mankind tries to kick HBK, but gets taken down with a leg drag to the mat. Shawn then goes for the leg again and puts Mankind into a figure four leg-lock

Mankind quickly gets out of this though by nailing HBK with a punch to the face. He whips Shawn off the ropes, but HBK hits a drop-kick straight to the heavily damaged leg of Mankind. HBK now seemingly tying to break his damn leg and is not letting up as he locks Mankind's leg up and stamps hard on it. He then puts him into a sort of one legged sharpshooter to further target the bad leg. Mankind manages to grab the ropes but it takes nearly up until the full count of 5 for HBK to finally release the hold.

HBK really is learning what he has to do and how far down he has to dig to win this thing.

Mankind though catches him with a chop to the throat, He goes towards HBK, but Shawn quickly jumps on his back and flings him over for a pinfall attempt, and gets a close 2 count. The first of the match insidently.

HBK comes off the ropes towards Mankind but gets flung over and dropped face first off the opposite top rope

Some rest bite for Mankind here and his chance for some revenge maybe.

Bearer hands Mankind some kind of instrument as Mankind starts stabbing his own leg multiple times, seemingly to try and get the feeling back and help him to turn this match around, now he knows HBK is hurt. He goes straight after HBK and starts choking him out on the ropes. He whacks Shawn's head off the casket and sends him to the outside.

This has been a war of attrition and is still far from finished.

Back in the ring and Mankind immediately starts hammering away at Shawn with some stiff shots in the corner before running at him and delivering a vicious knee to HBK;s face with all his weight. Mankind now fully in control as he plants HBK face first onto the mat, not once, but twice. BK manages to gets some adrenaline from somewhere though as he hits Mankind with a back suplex. Both men slowly get back to their feet and Shawn lands a couple of punches before being taken down with a boot to the gut and a headbutt by Mankind.

Mankind whips Shawn off the ropes, but HBK slides under his legs and takes him down via his legs. He then goes straight for Mankind with some more slugfest type right hands. Mankind though sends HBK into the corner and Shawn takes his big flying back bump and is now hanging upside down as Mankind comes flying over and nails him with an elbow.

Mankind follows this up with another flying elbow to Shawn, whilst he's still tied in the corner. HBK is now lying face first on the mat as Mankind hits him with a legdrop right onto the back of his head. He's still on offense as he gives HBK a big boot, sending HBK over he top rope and narrowly avoiding hitting the casket.

Those damn caskets.

He follows Shawn to the outside and runs at him, but HBK moves and it sends Mankind flying into and over the top of the steel steps. Both of them make their way to their feet and HBK quickly goes to Mankind and drop toe hold's him face first back onto the steps. Shawn now back in the ring as is probably thankful of the rest at this stage, however brief it may be.

Mankind gets back on the ring apron and they both take it in turns trying to suplex one another. Mankind wins this battle, but HBK manages to land on his feet. Mankind then runs at him on the apron, but Shawn moves and Mankind goes head first into the ring post.

Steel steps, ring posts; Mankind is taking a fucking battering, here.

Both on their feet again and Mankind gives HBK and elbow before running at him, but Shawn catches him and plants him down with a powerslam and gets a nearfall 2 count.

Jim Ross - “WHAT MATCH. WHAT A WWF CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH WE ARE SEEING RIGHT HERE” - You are bang on there, J.R.

HBK sends Mankind into the ropes, then throws him over the opposite ropes and Mankind ends up getting stuck in the ropes

Careful now, you don't want to lose another ear, here

Mankind and the ref try and get his free, but as Shawn comes over, Mankind quickly puts on the

MANDABLE CLAW

Luckily for HBK, he kicks Mankind free of the ropes and out of the ring. Both men are now down.

Shawn then goes to the outside, but just as he gets near, Mankind again puts on the

MANDABLE CLAW

But HBK quickly pulls Mankind right into the guardrail, knocking over a Spanish announcer at the same time.

HBK then picks up a chair, as Mankind throws a punch, he instead hits the chair with his hand. Shawn follows this up with a chair strike to the legs and a shot to the hand of Mankind.

Stop the hand that could claw you to death. HBK drags Mankind back in the ring and starts

BITING MANKIND'S DAMN FINGERS!!!!!!

He takes Mankind down and goes about trying to destroy his hand by slamming it against the mat. He starts stomping on them and twisting them. Shawn jumps off the ropes multiple times straight landing on the fingers of Mankind.

Really excellent psychology and work here by HBK I have to say.

Shawn then runs at Mankind, but instead gets thrown over the top rope and takes a big bump onto the outside. Mankind gets onto the ring apron and flies at Shawn with a flying elbow. Mankind then baseball slides out the ring and hits Shawn with his patented neck-breaker HBK starts to get back into the ring, but just as he has his head through the middle ropes, Mankind plants him back down with a leg drop.

He follows this up with a double arm DDT onto the champion.

He goes for the cover and gets a 1,2......................2.9 

HBK KICKS OUT.

Mankind doesn't let up though as he nails HBK with a Piledriver

Remember those?

Again he goes for a cover and gets a close 2 count. He tries again by hooking the leg, but again, HBK kicks out at a close 2.

Mankind is frustrated now and is having a fit in the corner, pulling his own hair out and going ballistic. He goes over to the announcers area and starts grabbing and throwing chairs into the ring. He opens up the casket and tries to put HBK in it for some reason, but Shawn fights his way out. Both back in the ring and HBK hits Mankind with a flying elbow.

HULK..............OH FUCK I MEAN KIP UP

by Shawn.

He gets Mankind into the corner and starts wailing at him with stomps. He slams him sown to the mat and climbs up onto the top turn-buckle He hits Mankind with a flying cross-body and goes for a pin, but can only get a close 2 count. HBK again goes up top, but Mankind is back to his feet and hits the ropes, sending HBK onto the turn-buckle via his crown jewels.

Mankind gets up on the apron, grabs HBK and tries to

BACK BODY DROP HIM THROUGH A TABLE

'HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT'

HBK though seems to reverse it mid air with a cross-body Bearer has the ref distracted on the outside as Mankind gets inside the ring with a steel chair. He gets on the turn-buckle, but as soon as he does, HBK runs at him, off another standing chair that is also in the ring, and kicks the chair straight off his face

SWEET CHIN MUSIC!! SWEET CHIN MUSIC!!

Awesome spot.

HBK then goes for the pin, but gets a 2 before he gets up as here comes

VADER

And of course the bell rings. Vader must have been slow to do the run in here, as when Shawn pinned Mankind, Earl had to count very slowly to wait for the run in to happen lol.

Shawn ends up hitting Vader with a flying elbow, sending him over the top rope. Just as HBK is standing in the ring, Paul Bearer comes up behind and nails with with the urn.

J.R - “The referee didn't see it”

Well Jim, doesn't matter now does it as he's already rung the bell for the DQ before this happened :p

Just as Vader is about to get back into the ring

SYCHO SID arrives and goes straight for him. They both start wailing on each other down the isle as multiple referees starts running towards the ring. HBK is dead on the floor as Mankind slowly starts to make his way to his feet. Shawn gets up and is immediately hits with the

MANDABLE CLAW

He asks Bearer to lift the casket lid up, Just as he does,

THE FUCKING UNDERTAKER IS IN THERE!!!!

And goes straight after Mankind.

He sends him over the top rope and follows and stalks him and Bearer down the isle. Finally, back in the ring, HBK is declared the winner via DQ and retains his WWF Championship.

Well, until I rewatch Bret/Austin from Survivor Series, as of this writing, this is the WWF MOTY and the probable MOTY for the whole of the US. It's a perfect mix of this style as you can get out of a wrestling match, DQ finish excluded of course. This is also one match that the finish doesn't hurt the match IMO. Vader/HBK/Sid/Taker/Mankind were all involved in storylines with each other, so it was not a surprise.

Both Mankind and HBK came out of this looking like a million dollars each too. Shawn showed a real aggressive side pretty much straight from the off and this match showed how far down he had to delve to not only match Mankind for his physicality, but also how to actually beat him. He does some really great leg work during the first half and then even getter in the second once he starts going after Mankind's fingers so he can't put on the claw. Shawn's main offense was also spot on here, esp his punches, which I thought looked really good. I loved how they both mixed up both traditional wrestling, brawling and well placed, but not overdone, high spots. Foley took his obvious fair share of bumps, but they both worked hard in getting intensity and nastiness of the match over.

This match didn't happen on a Wrestlemania, or a Summerslam.......it happened on a freaking In Your House PPV. It's as good, if not better, than anything else that year. We know HBK had a pretty consistent year in '96 and this match is just the crowning glory of it all.

Don't need to say recommended as OF COURSE IT FUCKING IS

A stunning piece of work and one of the great title matches in the company history.

Vader, Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs. Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & Sid (WWF In Your House 9: International Incident) Review

Vader, Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs. Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & Sid (WWF In Your House 9: International Incident)

So, it's been years since I have seen this match TBH and I always remember it being rather good. The Ultimate Warrior was due to be in the match, but was suspended for missing dates, so was replaced by Sid. Considering the time frame of this match, I'm kinda glad. Earlier on in the night, Cornette and Lothario had a debate in the ring, which resulted in Corny trying to whack Jose with the racket and Vader/Shawn having a pull apart face off, to add even further heat to the match.

Nice slide in by HBK there.

So the faces are actually labelled as 'The People's Posse'

LOL

Should be interesting given the recent history between Sid and Shawn over the past year and all involved have been going at it with each other for the majority of the year too TBH. HBK is out first, to a big pop too in Canada. The fans are that excited, they fall over the barricade

Lawler's laugh on commentary is funny during this. Already interesting that the faces are the ones to come out first in this and not the heels. Ahmed Johnson is out next with the 'People's Intercontinental Championship Belt'. Got a feeling this is going to take a while to actually start lol. You know who that leaves; SID, and he's next out to that iconic music and a pop of his own.

“THE MAN IS HERE”

The heels are next out and they all come down together with Jim Cornette. Vader/Owen/Davey. Just on paper that is a fucking great team. So it looks like this is finally ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. Owen has a cast on his arm for this, still recovering from his 'broken wrist'. Wonder if that'll come into play.............

Vader and Ahmed look to start this off, but Vader points at Shawn and demands he's in with him (yeah, I bet HBK is relishing this). Ahmed tags him in and it's Vader/HBK off the bat. They both lock up and HBK is like “Bring it” (now are you SURE??). Shawn pounds away with hard rights at Vader, but this doesn't face the big man one bit and Vader just nails Shawn with a big strike to the throat to knock him down.

Yup Shawn, maybe think again on that one. Shawn though gets up and ends up hitting a Hurricinrana on Vader followed by a flying crossbody. He runs at Vader with another crossbody, knocking both of them to the outside. Shawn gets back in the ring and nails Vader with a baseball slide, followed by yet another flying crossbody, this time over the top rope, right onto Vader. HBK using his high flying skills to try and keep the Mastodon down. He goes to the well one too many times though, as he jumps off the apron, but Vader moves and HBK ends up face first off the guardrail.

Both back in the ring now and Vader has HBK just where he wants him; in the corner. He pancakes away at him with hard rights to the face and body (yeah, bet Shawn is loving this, eh). Crowd are chanting for SID, SID, SID at this point. Vader tries for an atomic drop, but Shawn flips right over Vader and makes the hot tag to...............SID!! Crowd ERUPTS.

Sid and Vader finally going to go at it. Sid comes in and starts landing some big fucking strikes on Vader, followed by some quick kicks to the gut and a clothesline to knock Vader down.

Owen and Davey fly in to try and help out, but Sid just fucking cleans house and throws all three of them over the top and to the outside. Fuck Sid is grand when he's like this. All the faces are now in the ring celebrating and Sid and HBK do a chest bump to demonstrate this

Hot start to the match. Owen tries to blind-side Sid, but ends up eating a clothesline and Sid tags Ahmed in. He takes Owen to

BOTCH SUPLEX CITY BOTCH.

I assume they are supposed to be German's rather than a side suplex TBH. Didn't look great.

Ahmed then goes for a big elbow, but Owen moves out of the way and tags Davey in. He takes control straight away and starts with big clubbing hands to the back. He flings Ahmed off the ropes, but he reverses it and plants Davey with a spinebuster. He follows this up with the Pearl River Plunge

But Vader makes the save. Vader gets Ahmed in the corner and starts slapping him around. Crows are still chanting loudly for SID lol. Ahmed turns it around and clubs Vader with some whirlwind right hands. Vader does the old 'thumb in the eye', sends Ahmed into the opposite corner and gives him a BIG VADER SPLASH. He then keeps him there and starts pounding away at him with Vader fashion with big right hooks to the face and body. Vader then runs at Ahmed and tries for another VADER SPLASH, but Ahmed uses his power and catches Vader into a powerslam for a nearfall pin.

Vader manages to get up first and tags in Owen, who immediately starts kicking away at Ahmed, before hitting him with a spinning heel kick. Ahmed turns it around as he whips Owen hard into the turnbuckle before using his power and lifting Owen up high for a big body slam. He then tags Sid in (crowd fucking love this guy lol). He levels poor Owen with a BIG BOOT, before sending him back first into the turnbuckle. I loved the bump Owen took here as he tagged Davey in straight away

The powerhouse is in now; Davey. Sid sends him off the ropes, but Davey kicks Sid in the face and puts him high up for a great extended, standing suplex

Great power by the bulldog. Vader takes this opportunity to pop in and drop an elbow on Sid as Davey distracts the ref. Sid then kicks out of a pin attempt in emphatic style. Vader now back in and it's another round of Sid/Vader :mark: Crowd are still chanting SID, SID, SID. Vader takes him down with a big standing body splash, before tagging Davey back in. Good team work here with these quick tags to try and get at Sid. Davey tries nailing Sid with some punches, but Sid is having none of it. He no sells these and plants Davey with a big right hand, before going over to tag HBK in.

He immediately hits Davey with a elbow off the top rope and straight into a 2 count. He slings Davey back first into the turnbuckle and tries to follow it up with a running shoulder barge, but Davey moves and HBK goes shoulder first into the post. He hits HBK with a headbutt and a couple of strikes, but ends up getting slung into the ropes where Vader is standing, knocking the big man over. Owen then breaks up a pin attempt by HBK, who tosses Owen over the top rope and tries again, but only gets a 2.

Davey then tags Owen in, who has his back to the ring, so HBK flings him over the rope and back into the ring. The two then get involved in a game of rolling pin attempts, as Earl tries to keep up

Always good to have Owen and HBK share a ring though. We get an excellent segment of various flips and rolls by them both in pin attempts, just showing just how well these two work together. Owen ends up solving this by hitting HBK with a hard clothesline for another nearfall. He tags Davey back in, who immediately sends HBK over in a back body drop and a leg drop for a quick nearfall. He follows this up with a powerslam and into another nearfall. He then tries an elbow, but HBK moves out the way to possibly seize his chance of a comeback.

Davey sends HBK to the ropes and immediately into Owen, who takes this opportunity to cheapshot HBK over the head with his damn cast. Doesn't get any better for Shawn, as Vader is now tagged in. Crowd are still chanting Sid, Sid, Sid. He puts HBK into the corner and pounds away with big right hooks again. Not a place you want to be again, Shawn. He's picking him apart here and he sends HBK into the opposite corner and into a big bump

Vader gives Sid a cheap slap to distract the ref as Owen goes to the outside and kicks away at Shawn and flings him back into the ring. Vader nails Shawn with a short clothesline. HBK really in trouble here. Vader decides to punish HBK and puts him in a choke/bearhug. 

A fucking FAN tries to jump into the ring at this point lol

As Vader is in there? Are you crazy or have a damn death wish? Ahmed and Davey 'team up' to chase him away. Vader continues to apply this bearhug as he also pounds away with punches to the midriff. HBK tries a mini comeback with some punches of his own to Vader, but is quickly shit down and placed firmly back into the hold. Vader is the ever so clever heel here, as he yanks on Shawn's hair as the red can't see. Then when the ref goes to the back of HBK to check, Vader starts choking Shawn via his Adam's Apple. Great, subtle work there.

HBK really in trouble here and desperately needs to make a tag. He starts hammering away at Vader, but is caught again with a big standing Vader Splash. Vader follows this up with a body splash off the ropes. Ahmed decides he's had enough of this shit, and flies in and nails Vader with a clothesline. Shawn is fucked as he climbs over Vader in an attempt at finally making a tag. Vader does get a tag though, and Davey jumps in and just about stops HBK from making that elusive tag. HBK keeps trying to get up, but keeps getting knocked right back down again by Davey's punches to the head. Davey gets HBK up, looks like a piledriver, but ends up putting him into a backbreaker. Shawn tries to counter this, but is knocked back down with a Samoan Drop.

Davey whips HBK into the corner, he follows it up, but Shawn moves out the way and Davey goes head first into the ring post.

OUCH.

This is HBK's chance now, he has to take it.

Davey manages to tag Owen back in and he and HBK start exchanging punches. Owen flies off the ropes as HBK turns around and they end up colliding with one another and knocking each other over. They are both down on the mat. Davey gets tagged in and sends HBK back to the mat with his finishing running powerslam. THIS IS IT!!!! He goes for the cover but Sid breaks it up, by deciding that a simple blow to the head won't suffice, I need to give Davey a big leg drop lol. HBK has been in there a loooooooooong time now.

Davey tags Vader in and FINALLY, HBK GETS THE HOT TAG TO................AHMED..................but blind Earl didn't see the fucking tag. Vader/Owen/Davey take this opportunity to kick the shit out of HBK as Earl is busy trying to back the faces off. Davey/Owen are now double teaming HBK and Owen tries a missile drop kick, but HBK moves and he hits Davey instead. Shawn has to make the tag now FFS.

YES IT IS, HE HOT TAGS IT STRAIGHT TO..................SID. Crowd go expectedly nuts as Sid flies in and nails Vader with a clothesline and CHOKESLAM. Owen comes in and he eats one too. Oh and ditto for Davey too. Sid is cleaning fucking house. He tags Ahmed in and they double team on Vader and take him down with a double clothesline. HBK gets on the top turnbuckle as Sid picks him up and throws him onto Vader, but Davey comes in to break the pin attempt up.

All hell is now breaking loose as Owen/Davey are lamping Ahmed on the outside, as Sid goes over to help. Meanwhile, Cornette makes his first appearance as he's on the apron and HBK is choking him as Vader picks up the TENNIS RACKET. Shawn turns around in time and punches Vader before picking up the racket, and whacking Vader right over the head with it.

1............2......................WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT, KICK OUT BY VADER!!!!!!!!

HBK goes into the corner and signals for 'Sweet Chin Music' to finish this thing, but Cornette grabs his damn foot as the ref's back is turned and Vader runs over and squashes Shawn. Vader then gets up on the second rope and hits

VADERBOMB

1...........2................................3. Camp Cornette wins. Sid/Ahmed are obviously not happy about this, and attack Owen/Vader as they are celebrating. Poor Davey ends up eating a Sid Powerbomb at the end of this. He's probably sick of these bumps by now lol. Owen also eats one too for good measure.

POWERBOMB FOR VADER TOO????!!! Nah, Sid tries but Davey pulls Vader out the ring just in time. Vader doesn't quite escape though, as Shawn runs and flies over the top rope and hits Vader with a Plancha.

After not watching this thing in years, this certainly holds up as an excellent, kind of forgotten/overlooked, WWF match TBH. HBK has a really good FIP segment, Vader does some good, stiff shit. Sid is over as fuck and is also good in his quick spurts. Owen/Davey work hard and bring the flash from the heel side. Ahmed is........Ahmed. Sloppy at times, but he was only briefly in the match so he didn't really detract anything from it. Good finishing stretch and ending too that helps set up the Vader/Shawn match at Summerslam. Really good transitions in this match too, with both teams having a chance to shine with varying offense.

A top tier multi man match form the WWF here.

Recommended.

Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel (No Holds Barred) (WWF In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies) Review

Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel (No Holds Barred) (WWF In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies)

Was just randomly thinking of WWF in 1996 and this match popped into my head as something i'd like like to revisit. So I dug out the HBK: From The Vault DVD and gave it a watch. I've always loved it and it's a highly regarded match of course, some say it's Nash's best one, although I have said that was his match with Bret at Survivor Series, so we'll see on this one. This was also Nash's last televised WWF match before he split for WCW.

These two were best friends, then there was dissension, Nash turned on HBK and they became enemies. It needed a match fitting to the ongoing hatred these two had against each other, and what better way than a 'No holds barred' match? So, here it is.

Diesel is out first and is looking as cool as ever.  He gets in the ring and throws his jacket straight onto Vince at the announce table. He's like “What the fuck is this?”. They show Mad Dog Vachon in the audience. Wonder if he'll come into play in this match

HBK is still in the back, being 'coached' by Jose Lothario, although i'm sure in his head, HBK is probably thinking “I don't need your stinking help, i'm fucking ready for the this shit, i'm the WWF Champion”. He finally makes his way out, and takes his jacket and belt off whilst walking to the ring and just goes running in the ring and straight for Diesel.

This thing is fucking on.

He starts clubbing Nash with some big right hands, but Nash finally says 'None of this shit', and gives HBK a big knee to the gut. He sends Shawn into the corner, but he reverses it and dropkicks Nash over the top and onto the outside. He follows this up with a baseball slide to keep Nash out the ring. He gets onto the top turn-buckle and Moonsaults onto Nash

HBK then, rather randomly, goes to the Spanish announce table and grabs a boot off someone, before getting onto the top turn-buckle again and ramming the said boot onto Nash's head, and goes for the cover for a 2 count. Nash sends Shawn flying into the turnbuckle, which HBK goes into it back first and flips over the ropes onto the apron. Nash then gives him a big sledgehammer shove and sends Shawn face first onto the guardrail. Shawn is dead.

Nash in control now. He goes to the outside and clumps Shawn with a big right hook, before throwing him back in the ring. Nash continues to pound on Shawn with punches and a big clothesline, before delivering classic 'Snake eyes'. Nash takes this opportunity to go and berate Vince some more lol. He puts Shawn into the corner and shouts “Hey old man, this is how we do it in the 90's” at Jose, before putting big knees into Shawn. He picks him up for a big, jumping side slam. Nash in control and fully enjoying this now.

Nash takes his wrist tape off, for which Earl Hebner doesn't like, so Nash strangles him with it  and taking his trousers...........................no no.............belt off. He starts whipping Shawn's back with big
lashes of the belt. Ref is back up and his trousers are still up, so that's good. Not so good for HBK as Nash then uses the belt to strangle him with it, we get a camera close up of Shawn's anguish, which i'm not sure we'd see nowadays TBH. Nash swings HBK around with the belt and hangs him with it, in quite spectacular fashion

“Hang in there Shawn” - Lawler

Nash ties HBK to the ropes with the belt and he's now stuck. Even Vince unintentionally joins in and says “Shawn Michaels, trying to hang on”. Nash then goes over to the announce area and throws poor Howard Finkel off his chair and grabs it. As the ref is trying to untie HBK from the ropes (oh, how nice of him), Nash comes over and wallops him in the back with the chair. Shawn is now untied, but Nash is still in control and holds the chair aloft to show this and whacks Shawn again in the back with it. Nash tries hitting him again with it, but Shawn moves and he hits the ropes with it instead, which cause the chair to bounce back and hit Nash plum in the face.

This is HBK's big chance and the crowd know it.

Shawn picks up the chair himself and goes to hit Nash with it, but before he can, he gets a nasty low blow for his troubles.

'Don't rub them Son, count them'

The ref throws the chair to the outside and both Nash and HBK are flat, down on the mat. Nash is up first, whips Shawn into the ropes and into the big back body drop.  He goes for a pin but only gets a 2 count. He then puts on the old 'twisted skull chrusher thing', man HBK has been through the mill so far. Shawn tries to power out of it, but Nash keeps swatting him with big blows, before one of them sends him to the outside. Nash follows him and signals for the Jackknife, which he does...............onto the announce table where Vince is.

The monitor ends up hitting Vince plum in the face in the process and his damn headset is also still plugged in

Shawn is dead again. Vince tries to tidy up whilst Nash gets in the ring with the WWF belt and poses with it. HBK eventually tries to make his way back up, not knowing where the fuck he is. He does get up and sneakily grabs a fire extinguisher and fires it straight into Nash's face, blinding him. Mind you, it took him two tries, and after the first failed, he seems to say something like “Motherfucker”

Now this has to be Shawn's big chance.

Ash can't see a thing and is throwing wild, blind punches at thin air :shane HBK takes this opportunity and lands some big right hooks of his own, before hitting a big flying forearm. Nash is finally down, HBK 'kips up' and is feeling it now. He goes to the outside and grabs a chair, but it's got a monitor wrapped around it, but he doesn't seem to notice or care as he whacks Nash with the chair. Lawler is like “That is my headset”. He then wallops Nash right in the face and that sends the big man right down onto the mat.

Nash is back up and HBK sends him into the ropes and tries a back body drop, but Nash is having none of it and clubs him in the back. He then gives Shawn a BIG BOOT, which I always love. He then signals again for the Jackknife, which he tries to hit, but HBK reverses it and starts punching the fuck out of Nash and gives him a stamps for good measure. He goes to the top and delivers a Macho Man elbow. He's in command now and stamps the mat and signals for 'Sweet Chin Music', he flies at Nash but it get's blocked and Nash gives him a big clothesline. Both are down on the mat.

Man alive this has been FUCKING GREAT.

They both bet back up, but Nash delivers another clothesline and sends Shawn to the outside. He picks Shawn up and plants him, face first, onto the guardrail, before throwing him back into the ring. Just as Nash is about to follow suit, he stops and walks over to the crowd.  What is he doing? He goes and grabs Mad Dog Vachon and PULLS OFF HIS FUCKING PROSTHETIC LEG, yes you read that right, HE PULLS OFF HIS FUCKING PROSTHETIC LEG

He tries to hit Shawn with the leg, but is instead hit with sweet revenge and he gets a big low blow

'Don't rub them, Son, count them'

Shawn picks up the leg, just typing that makes me smile, waits for Nash to get back up again, and runs over and plants the leg right into the cranium of Nash. That's gotta hurt. He then hits 'Sweet Chin Music' for the win and to retain the WWF Championship.

Shawn then seemed to fire a message to Hogan with “You want a big boy to play with”?

Well, this was just as good as it's ever been. Some big spots that i'd forgotten about TBH, like the table bump HBK took. I just love the pace of the match, the control that Nash has for large proportions of it and the way HBK sells being beat the shit out of. The leg spot if funny, but hey it's a NHB and it added to the match in the end. Just a war, with HBK trying to survive and o what he could, when he could, to come back and make it through. I'd still say Nash's best match was with Bret, but fuck this isn't far off.

A full on, WWF classic, and not the only one of course from this year.

Shawn Michaels vs Sycho Sid (WWF Survivor Series 1996) Review

Shawn Michaels vs Sycho Sid (WWF Survivor Series 1996)

A brief conversation in the cb regarding SID led me to dig out this match again and give it a watch. Apart from Sid winning the title, the other aspect that I'm sure others remember is how the smarky crowd cheered for Sid and showered HBK with quite a few boos. Shawn was having a stellar year in the ring, with plenty of quality matches. So I'll see how it all comes together.

So Sid comes out first and is already met with............cheers, looking mean as fuck and is fist bumping everyone in sight lol

“WHO'S THE MAN?” “WHO'S THE MAN?”

HBK is out next with Jose Lothario and you can already hear the loud 'Sid' chants from the crowd, although he is mobbed by a small section of fans who won't let go, and has to be rescued by security. Match is under way, and Sid hits Shawn in the gut and and big right hook, HBK keeps getting right back up and Sid keeps sending him right back down with big clubs to the head. Shawn attempts a comeback as he baseball slides under Sid and starts smacking him with some punches of his own and a high body press into a pin for the first near-fall of the match.

HBK in control as he puts Sid down on the mat into a headlock. Sid reverses it and tries to put HBK into a head scissors, but Shawn kips up and gives Sid a big slap to the face. Real smart. He gives him another one until Sid says 'fuck this' and kicks HBK in the gut, before taking him down back to the mat. Shawn reverses this, until Sid kips up and gives HBK a taste of his own medicine and slaps him. The stands there with a 'yeah Shawn, what you gonna do' look and they start to trade back and forth blows to the head.

Sid picks up HBK and holds him high above his head for some time,

before Shawn bounces back and whips Sid into the ropes. Sid reverses this and tries to put HBK into the POWERBOMB.

Crowd pop big for this tease btw.

But Shawn gets out of it and bails to the outside. Crowd is giving him some stick at this point and he's not exactly liking it. Eventually Sid goes out ans starts chasing him back into the ring, He sends HBK into the turn-buckle, but Shawn comes right back out and takes Sid out via the knee. Shawn then does the smart thing ans gets to work on that knee.

Crowd not liking this and the boos are high. Their are loud chants of “SYCHO SID, SYCHO SID”

Shawn continues to target the leg of Sid. He seems to mouth something like “Fuck it” to the crowd as he puts on the Figure-Four. Sid is screaming from the effects of this hold. He reverses it into his own Figure-Four, until Shawn gets to the ropes. Shawn stays on the knee of Sid with big, jumping stomps off the ropes.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOO” says the crowd

Shawn tries to reapply the Figure-Four, but Sid kicks him in the arse and sends him shoulder first into the turn-buckle. Sid gets up, but is still feeling the effects of the knee work. He gives Shawn two big kicks to the gut. This is certainly Sid's chance to take over and go to town. Another big kick to Shawn, before the camera gets too close for comfort and Sid has to swat him off

Foreshadowing, perhaps :hmm: He kicks HBK down again with a boot to the face. He continues literally kicking the shit out of Shawn. Sid tries a big running knee, but Shawn moves and Sid just ends up hitting the ropes. Shawn reverses being whipped into the ropes and kicks the bad knee of Sid again and sends him down to the mat.

“BOOOOOOOOOO” The crowd says again as Shawn picks up Sid's leg and smashes it hard on the mat. Sid ends up getting up and gives Shawn a massive clothesline, sending him over the top rope and onto the outside. He follows him out and drags him down the isle, before landing a big punch, picking him up, and planting him face first onto the guardrail.

Sid takes this opportunity to fist bump a fan

This is Sid's pace now and he's in control as he sends Shawn back into the ring. He pins Shawn but only gets a 2 count. He sends Shawn into the ropes and into a big back body drop, before running straight at him with a big boot to the face. He starts clubbing Shawn's back with big hammer fists and another big running boot to the face. This is where HBK always shines when he's up against a bigger guy, in his bumping and selling the ferocity of  Sid's offense. Shawn takes ones of his big back flips over the turn-buckle and onto the apron. Sid tries to choke him out, but Shawn sends him throat first onto the top rope. This could be a comeback for the Heartbreak Kid.

Shawn tries a flying cross body onto Sid, but Sid catches him and the crowd go.........WILD, fuck Sid is oooooovvvvvvver. Sid plants Shawn with a big back-breaker and gets another near-fall with a 2 count. He sends Shawn into the corner and HBK takes one hell of a back bump TBH

Sid in full 'kill him' mode now. He sends Shawn into the opposite turn-buckle for another big back bump. He stands HBK up and starts landing some big blows to his head, but HBK won't go down. Shawn attempts a comeback as he flies some punches of his own onto Sid.

“BOOOOOOOOOOO” says the crowd once again.

They trade blows before HBK body slams Sid and tries to deliver a double ax handle, but Sid puts his leg up and smack Shawn plum in the face, thus getting this great visual:

He's took some shit on this match, lol. Sid puts Shawn into a 'Million Dollar Dream'. HBK is fading as he desperately tries to grab onto the ropes. HBK gets out of it and starts hammering away at Sid, but Sid stops him and tries to chokeslam him but gets a THUMB IN THE EYE from Shawn, who prepares the setup for 'Sweet Chin Music'. Sid blocks the attempt and ends up giving him the big chokeslam, for which of course the crowd lapped up. Sid is fucking feeling it now and gestures to the crowd, who respond, and signals for the Powerbomb. HBK quickly reverses it into a small package and into a very near-fall. This of course pisses Sid off and he stomps HBK right back down again. He sends Shawn into the ropes and delivers a big power slam for a 2 count. Shawn flies off the ropes and gives Sid a running forearm, knocking Sid back. HBK kips up, to the annoyance of the crowd, but Sid just puts him in his place with a BIG CLOTHESLINE

Crowd likes that as Sid gets another close 2 count. Sid then goes into the corner to prepare to run at Shawn, but is again distracted by a cameraman. He ends up taking the camera off him and nailing Jose with it. Now, Earl Hebner;

FOR FUCK SAKE, DO A BETTER JOB AT NOT SEEING THIS, AS YOU FUCKING DID

Earl does a terrible job of not only giving Sid time to do it, but also pretending like he didn't clearly bloody see it. He even sees Sid drop the damn camera. Although Sid took his sweet time finally hitting Lothario tbh.

HBK takes this opportunity to give Sid 'Sweet Chin Music'.

THIS IS IT, HE'S GOING TO RETAIN!!! 

Instead of going for the pin as more boos start to ring out from the crowd, he goes to check on the state of Jose (Oh, now you gives a shit, Shawn), as Jose seems to be having a heart attack. Sid gives no fucks, gets back up, and sends HBK right back into the ring. He flings Shawn into the turn-buckle, who stops and tries a cross body, but Sid ducks and he flies straight into the ref (Oh, this bump may improve Earl's eyesight from now on).

Shawn goes back to check on the condition of Jose. Once again, Sid gives ZERO FUCKS as he follows him, grabs the camera again, and wallops Shawn in the back. Crowd are loving this lol.

NOBODY IS COMING TO THE AID OF JOSE AS HE'S HAVING A SUSPECTED HEART ATTACK, BTW

Sid rolls Shawn back into the ring, by this time Earl is getting back up again. Crowd cheer Sid on as he puts on the POWERBOMB for the 1..............................2.......................................................................3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crowd erupt as we have ourselves a NEW WWF CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, now the bell has rung, the stretcher comes out for poor Jose. Shawn is quickly back up too btw to go and check on him.

“I'M THE MAN”

Plenty more fist bumps for Sid after the match too and hugs from the crowd.

Well, this was another great match from 1996 and yet another one involving HBK No doubt he worked his ass off in a lot of matches that year and in this one too. He bumped all over the place for Sid, who wasn't too shabby himself TBH. This may well be his best overall performance. No real botches, did all the power shit, sold quite well when he had to, too. A really good/great match. The crowd were surreal too, you can't watch this match and not mention them. They were pretty much pro Sid from as soon as the bell rang, and showered HBK with boos pretty much every time he had the chance of some sustained offense. It certainly added another layer to the match.