The Lapsed Fan: Dave Meltzer on WrestleMania 12

[@PITTFOX]

Excellent Idea to post these! Sometimes it becomes a bit tedious to go back and find this part of the videos.

[@skykid3000]

10:08 “they all died” Dave thinking it was referring to the fans in the building watching it and not the Huckster and Nacho Man dying had me rolling.

[@avmanmike]

I knew Stone Cold was going to be awesome when he implied that he lost a strap match to Savio vega on purpose so the Million Dollar Man would be fired from the WWF.

[@ronaldcole6101]

Chris Terry wow you’re so smart lol

[@natedoggcata]

I didnt watch this match until like 10 years ago but even then I thought this match was boring as shit. Its like 45 minutes of rest holds before they actually start doing anything

[@Makainternational]

This is not true. If you watch ‘wrestling bios’ the iron man match was broken done and timed. It only has 15 minutes in total of rest holds. It's a wrestling match by two of the best wrestlers of all time. The technician Bret Hart vs the high flyer Shawn Michaels. I like it because it doesn't have any tables, ladders, chairs run ins or sledge hammers. It also doesn't have fall after fall. It's a beautiful pure wrestling match.

[@LeoWhalen1933]

California crowds suck. If the match was in Boston, Chicago, New York, or Philly it would have been great.

[@233259]

lol Numbers went up because Bret became champion again at Survivor Series '95...

[@borednow5838]

Well Bret was a bigger draw than Nash in WWF. I wouldn't mind betting that the numbers lifted almost by default when he took the title. Diesel on top just wasn't working.

[@Hammerhead547]

I'll always remember Wrestlemania XII for the hilariously awkward skit between Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Pamela Anderson in which JTT(who was 13/14 years old at the time) was essentially hitting on her and she was playing dumb and then joked that they could settle it on tool time.

[@borednow5838]

Might have to watch that again now. Can't even remember it, that does sound dodgy.

[@jhot2477]

that's wrestlemania 11 you fucking idiot

[@gunnerbeckering6159]

@@jhot2477 Ouch bro

[@MrBooBeeDoo]

That was Wrestlemania 11.

[@borednow5838]

Find it hard to believe that the live crowd was most pumped for Warrior's return in 1996? If it was the second time in 92 then I would buy that more. The build-up for Bret against Shawn was world class, but the match just didn't live up to the hype. I agree with Meltzer on that.

[@adamruiz7940]

Really? I think it's a classic WrestleMania match but generally opinions on the match are 50/50

[@mikeabel7577]

That Southern California crowd was most definitely there to see the Ultimate Warrior. Every time the Warrior came back it was the biggest storyline in professional wrestling. The thing is, he always wore out his welcome with the quickness.

[@NoName-cz3wn]

If the whole point was to leave the doubt that maybe Bret should have won, then why would Bret be winning the match at Mania 13? Shawn would have NEEDED to win that match to validate him, cleanly. Then he could eventually put Bret over before Bret leaves.

[@josephgana5746]

Bret got him those tickes

[@wvucheerjr]

I like these but 11 in im sick of the 'you know'. You can tell he's a writer who's used to being able to edit. Love the info though.

[@Coolquip43]

I get what you're saying but he has also been doing podcasts and radio shows for a very long time on a regular basis

[@ronniejdio9411]

Guy has no background in podcasts and is basically carried in the shows by host. He is an indo guy not a host or color guy. He is really bad at not curtailing the you knows

[@chrissayeranderson5710]

It’s still a very divisive match .

[@derektwentyone2670]

I respect Dave as a journalist. No one’s EVER written more words on one topic than Meltzer-NO ONE! The sheer volume of work is unparalleled. And he has garnered great influence and acclaim within the industry for it. His objectivity, however, absolutely sucks. He has no taste for American-style wrestling or presentation. It burns me to hear him critique any WWE match... he just doesn’t get it.

[@dantegood2195]

Uncle Freddy, Dave Meltzer!!!!!!

[@romans52345-cy3tq]

you kmow well.. so so ya know Bret didn't you know shawn had a ya know so so ya no ya build a you know rema... you know

[@stephenbianchi7141]

I dunno...

[@EvanSchatz]

so so so so so so so..... you know, yeah

[@phoenixxcreative]

Had to quit listening because of how many times Big Dave says, "ya know... ya know... ya know."

[@fuscinula]

Justin K. Hite | J:10 Studios Never listen to Scott Steiner or Undertaker interviews then!

[@stephenbianchi7141]

Definitely a better writer than speaker.

[@travismcdonald6576]

+Justin K. Hite | J:10 Studios Meltzer is iconic in the sense of wrestling journalism, but speaking is not his strong suit. He is a smart guy and knows his wrestling, but he strikes me as someone who loses focus when he speaks.

[@233259]

+Justin K. Hite | J:10 Studios You must be an easily irritable person if that's enough to cause you to turn it off.

[@marcusbarnes6032]

Lol I feel ya. A lot of Kevin Nash's opening statements in WCW started with ya know

[@ronniebobbyedition993]

I agree. The iron man match was very boring. Shawn Michaels is very overrated. To me, his most memorable matches were in tag matches as the Midnight Rockers. The blood bath match and the title change victory in the cage. Bret Hart had memorable matches.....

[@george9822]

ronniebobby edition bs Michaels Hell in the Cell with Taker was way better than any of Bret’s matches

[@george9822]

Robert Johnson hell yeah it is.

[@Makainternational]

For me Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels are the two best wrestlers of all time. You might want to check out a few more Shawn Micahaels matches like: 1) Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle WM21 2) Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker, the first Hell in a Cell. 3) Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker WM25 4) Shawn Michaels vs Triple H summerslam 2002 when he made his return.

[@Makainternational]

@@george9822I think you find that most people agree that the best Wrestlemania match of all time is Bret Hart vs Stone Cold at WM13. Also, the best Wrestlemania opening match of a time is Bret Hart vs Owen Hart at WM10.

[@ronniebobbyedition993]

@@Makainternational I don't even know what I was thinking when I made my comments. I do stand by the Iron Match being very boring though. They had way better matches together. I believe Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart also had very good singles matches with other wrestlers as well - with a slight nod going to Bret Hart. Nevertheless, they both make my top 20 of all time.