03/09/1998 WWF Monday Night Raw

WWF European Title Match: Barry Windham def. Owen Hart (C) by CO in 5:15

In 1988, with twenty minutes on a show where people enjoyed pro wrestling, this could have been the match of the year, but here we are ten years later instead. They had this match in the middle of the build-up to WrestleMania XIV, where Owen was scheduled to defend the European title against Hunter. Thankfully, he was there on commentary, really annoying me with sophomoric bullshit I didn’t find funny when I was a teenager in this era. Barry Windham was managed by Jim Cornette, who just debuted his big NWA faction, and I use the word “big” in the most sarcastically absurd language possible because it was the shits. In fact, people spend too much time arguing about whether the Stalker or Widowmaker was worse. Overweight Barry Windham, with the big NWA letters stamped on his ass, may have been the worst fit and incarnation in the WWF of any BW run. The work itself was fine here, but Barry was completing his transformation into Blackjack Mulligan and lost a lot of mobility and athleticism. Plus, with literally not one person in this crowd caring about the NWA or 1987 Jim Crockett Promotions, this match was beyond dead with the crowd. Both men were fighting on the floor after a dust-up that involved Owen and his former manager, Cornette. Chyna hit Owen in the nuts while crawling into the ring, and we got a very lame countout finish. A letdown, even with lowered expectations. *1/4 

The Video