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[1994-03-20-WWF-Wrestlemania X] Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (Ladder)


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  • 1 month later...

I like this match, but I think that it's the least of the Shawn Michaels renowned matches. It doesn't hold up for me as well as the 1995 one does. The stuff that they do before bringing the ladder into the ring doesn't really match the stuff they do afterward. The first few minutes are just flashy wrestling that doesn't have much behind it and doesn't go anywhere. Once the ladder came into play, I really enjoyed it.

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This match has been discussed to death through the years. It's impossible for it to look as good now as it did in 1994, but considering the audience it was worked for, it was pretty great. I do still think it holds up as an excellent match, but the wow factor is gone because they topped themselves in '95, and also because this is one of the most copied matches of all time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Still a great match for me but we have seen so many ladders matches since. That makes it impossible to still stand out. This definitely got over with the WWF audience and myself at the time. Too bad these matches got over exposed.

 

Stuff with the ladder is excellent. Good job on getting Diesel out of there early to not get him involved when it came to using the ladder. Michaels does some great looking bumps and ladder allows for less of his heel chinlocks. I like having only the one ladder too. Puts the focus on both guys fighting over just the one ladder to use as a weapon. Huge pop for Razor when he grabs the title.

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This match on rewatch blew me away. I was expecting a subpar spot fest that had been done better so many times. What I got was an excellent paced match with great selling of the ladder shots and awesome bumping by Shawn. His bumps off of Razor's punches are tremendous. I know the Bret/Owen thread got derailed into a Shawn offense discussion but in this match it is at his strongest with him finding so many ways to use the ladder as a weapon. Even though he is only about a foot above the top rope, the splash he does off the ladder still looks great and impactful. I also loved the finish with him being so close to knock the ladder over. I will have to go back and watch the TLC matches at some point but while I am sure they had more stunt spots, I think there go go go attitude will hold those matches back. This match told a wonderful story and happened to involve a ladder in a logical manner. Great selling overall and Razor took some punishment in this match. This match is my #2 MOTY and was a wonderful revisit.

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  • 1 year later...

Vince expressing annoyance with Shawn's pre-match strip routine is pretty funny, considering where he'd be in about 12 months.

 

Smart move to get Diesel out of there ASAP. What strikes me is that his comes off as a legitimate fight with a ladder involved, rather than a stunt show. Razor throws some terrific punches and takes a nasty bump on concrete even before the ladder is involved at all. And once the ladder does get involved, this is filled with all kinds of cringeworthy shots. This held up GREAT--probably way better than the majority of the TLC bouts, as the transitions here all make sense. In one show we've probably had two of the top 5 matches in WWF history to this point. Quite an accomplishment.

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  • 2 years later...

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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  • 1 month later...

http://placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-100-51/

 

#84

 

Everything was so perfectly timed and looked so good. I think the accomplishes exactly what they set out to do, and it remains as timeless as ever. It's crazy for me think I actually like the Summerslam match more now, but this was such a great moment. Shawn taking that slam or suplex off the ladder was so sick. The finish is awesome. Razor throws some of the best punches you'll see in the WWF. A true joy to watch - any time ****1/2. I really like that the ladder isn't over used IMO. They work the ladder around the match instead of the match around the ladder to a certain degree.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1994-03-20-WWF-Wrestlemania X] Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (Ladder)
  • 3 months later...

Yeah, I'm with the rest of you who thought this held up. To the degree it did was quite shocking, tbh. I get criticising Michaels for doing all this crazy shit with a ladder that the crowd will pop for rendering it counterproductive to him as the heel, but at worst I don't really care and at best I might be able to convince myself it actively added to the match; or at least added to my enjoyment of it. Razor punches him around the place and I bought Michaels only being able to win by getting creative with that ladder. He wasn't winning with fisticuffs but hey, there's a big fuckin ladder you're allowed to bonk someone with so that's a decent equalizer, right? Plus everything looked super nasty and like it was designed to actually hurt Razor, rather than hunt for the almighty pop. I mean, all that carny shit about him having a five star match with a ladder that Scott Hall happened to be window dressing in is obviously silly, but I thought this was largely Michaels being a bump machine and Razor plugging in his spots and selling well when he needed to. There were also clearly moments where Shawn was leading him through spots. Michaels just picking up the ladder and flinging it at Razor's kidneys was brutal and in that instance I'm not sure how much of Razor's selling was actually selling. When he made his comeback and clotheslined Michaels over the top (which Michaels took an awesome bump off of) he could've climbed the ladder and tried to win, but I bought him wanting revenge for being smashed in the gut and kidneys five times with the ladder. He basically used it to throw an uppercut at one point and naturally Michaels took a killer bump to the floor. The slingshot into the ladder, the splash off the ladder, that thing Michaels did out the corner that was also a splash only ladder-assisted; all great spots. The baseball slide into the ladder was also one of the better of its ilk. There were moments as well where Michaels would add a nasty little touch out of nowhere, my favourite being where they both take a spill off the ladder and he just kicks it over so it lands across Razor's back. Thought the finish was basically perfect as well. The bit with him getting tangled in the ropes is great and I love how he milked the shit out of all that, going from having his leg caught and escaping only to get his arm wrapped, juuuuuust inches away from being able to shove that ladder over. But the way he set it up to climb initially by standing it over Razor's body was a really cool little touch. Razor already walked under it pre-match and this was Shawn being overconfident. Why would he ever pass up a chance to rub salt in the wound? I guess the opening few minutes before the ladder gets introduced was a bit vanilla, but it's about the only part that didn't feel like a gnarly fight. Obviously the highspots are dated a quarter century later, but I think having such vivid memories of this as a kid and being blown away by what they were doing at the time will always stick with me. It never felt like just a collection of cool moments. It was rugged and mostly coherent and I'll probably always get at least a little enjoyment out of a Shawn Michaels bump show.

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  • 1 year later...

I'd love to be able to view this as this happened, as it's legendary status ends up hurting the match for me. This was the first ever WWF match to get five stars from Dave Meltzer and it might be one of the most innovative matches ever. The ladder spots feel primitive compared to what we would get less than a decade later. If you try and turn you brain and forget about this match's reputation, you can get a lot of fun out of it. I could watch Ramon, a man with seriously underrated punch, jab Michaels around the ring all day. The ladder spots are solid, yet unremarkable through 2020 eyes. I'd still say this is a great match, just an overrated one because of it's status. 

★★★¾

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