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[1995-04-02-WWF-Wrestlemania XI] Shawn Michaels vs Diesel


Loss

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  • 1 month later...

Shawn is accompanied by Jenny McCarthy instead of Pam Anderson. I don't know if that's because of the fight between Shawn and Tommy Lee or what. I never really heard much about that story. Also, the way every celebrity was a "friend" of Diesel was probably laying on the push way too thick.

 

The same things to say about this match are the same things that have always been true about this match. Shawn puts on The Shawn Show and ends up sandbagging Diesel as champ, showing him up on almost every spot, and turning the live crowd on him in the process. Bret has mentioned it, and even Nash has mentioned in shoot interviews that Shawn was trying to blow him up. I also enjoy Shawn getting pissed off at all the photographers constantly being in his way and dragging them around.

 

The only thing about this match that has changed for me is that because of the way it's worked, I think I liked it less than I ever have before.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Shawn is accompanied by Jenny McCarthy instead of Pam Anderson. I don't know if that's because of the fight between Shawn and Tommy Lee or what.

The way I heard it was Tommy felt Shawn was getting too chummy with Pam and went after him before either Sid or Nash advised Tommy that it probably wasn't the best idea for his long-term health.

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  • 11 months later...
Guest Andrews

Shawn is accompanied by Jenny McCarthy instead of Pam Anderson. I don't know if that's because of the fight between Shawn and Tommy Lee or what.

The way I heard it was Tommy felt Shawn was getting too chummy with Pam and went after him before either Sid or Nash advised Tommy that it probably wasn't the best idea for his long-term health.

 

I've heard this too, but I'm inclined to believe it is one of wrestling's urban myths. Albeit one of the better ones.

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  • 1 year later...

In his '95 WWF timeline Diesel pretty quickly dismissed the idea of any heat between Shawn and Tommy. Sounds like something the tabloids cooked up. Pam Anderson is MISSING--the skit with Nick Turturro looking for her and coming across Bob Backlund and Jonathan Taylor Thomas playing chess is great and I wish it was here. Turturro is a horrible ring announcer, by the way. Lawler at some point was capable of self-restraint, as he refreshingly does not react to McCarthy and Pam Anderson as though he had been in a prison for 20 years before tonight.

 

Pretty good match, but this is one of the first instances of Shawn's bumps being all about Shawn, rather than being about making his opponent look good. Diesel does an admirable job of trying to keep up, but the closing Jackknife looks horrible. The closing celebration with the celebs all seems pretty hollow, especially with Vince and Lawler playing up the controversial victory (not to mention the Shawn and Sid chants we got during the match).

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  • 1 year later...

Pretty good match, but this is one of the first instances of Shawn's bumps being all about Shawn, rather than being about making his opponent look good. Diesel does an admirable job of trying to keep up, but the closing Jackknife looks horrible. The closing celebration with the celebs all seems pretty hollow, especially with Vince and Lawler playing up the controversial victory (not to mention the Shawn and Sid chants we got during the match).

 

Hard to disagree, you can really tell that Shawn is using this opportunity to show everyone that he should be the man and the guy who deserves the title, and in fact it sort of starts the momentum that gets him there one year later. The odd/competitive friendship the Kliq seems to have, means that Nash probably wasn't even that pissed off; they all knew it was just business and he might have even been proud in a way - "that's my boy!"

 

As for the match, despite all that, and Shawn throwing various camera men out of the way at different times - just look at the bemused look on the face of the guy he drags along on his arse at one point - I enjoyed it and think that Shawn trying to show off meant that Nash was forced to up his level and I thought the champ has some pretty good intensity and fire that wasn't there in much of the rest of this title reign (outside the Bret matches).

 

It's always hard for a small man to work heel on a much larger guy, so again, Shawn using his stamina and speed actually made sense as a strategy and helped to explain how he was able to get control at certain points to build some heat. I also thought that the little rib injury part was quite good and helped Diesel to appear more vulnerable.

 

The finish is pretty awful - both in the execution of the power bomb and also in the fact that it's quite flat and sort of out of nowhere (and not in the RKO/Diamond Cutter sense). Overall I thought it was decent if a little uninspiring at times, and thought for a Nash match it was good, but it's no surprise that this is the title match for one of the least regarded Mania's of all time.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1995-04-02-WWF-Wrestlemania XI] Shawn Michaels vs Diesel
  • 2 years later...

Pamela Anderson is meant to be accompanying Shawn Michaels, but she shows up with Diesel. HBK brings out Mellissa McCartney instead. The celebrates are sat next together, but they don't do anything until Diesel celebrates with them both after his successful defense. Michaels makes his best mate look like a million dollars by bumping all over the place for him. This was structured well and it never looks out of place when the much smaller HBK is working over Diesel. Michaels isn't too interesting when working on top, but he does what he needs to do. This was a total Michaels carryjob.
★★★¼

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  • 2 years later...

This is for Diesel's WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

Diesel surprisingly keeps up with Shawn here, who seems to be on the edge of throwing a tantrum, and they have a solid, if not long-winded, big/small match. Shawn obviously poops his pants while in control, and his lack of any engaging offense is magnified when he has to work heel against someone who has the size advantage on him, but Diesel kind of sells it convincingly enough to save those segments.

**3/4

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