Macho Man & Strike Force vs. Honky & Hart Foundation STEEL CAGE MATCH!

Now this is the old school wrestling that I know and love!

From the Boston Garden in 1988, Intercontinental champion The HonkyTonk Man teams up with former tag team champions The Hart Foundation (Bret "Hitman" Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Niedhart to take on number one contender Randy "Macho Man" Savage and new tag team champions Striker Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) in a six-man STEEL CAGE match.

Not only is this a great pairing between rivals inside of a cage but here's some old school elements that make this match better:

1 - It's an old school cage. What do I mean by that? After Wrestlemania 2 where Hulk hogan defended the title against King Kong Bundy in the main event - the WWE adopted the big blue cage. Ironically - that cage is NOW known as the "classic cage". But I was always a fan of the mesh - probably because it was made of the same chain linked fence that I'd slam the kids head into at the school yard. For some reason, this type of cage brings more realism to the thought of being incarcerated in the ring. The WWE has since brought back the old mesh - but something just isn't right about it. Maybe it's the fact that it's suspended in the air through out the entire show and the suspension cables stay onwhile the match is in progress - thus giving anyone who scales the cage additional support. I also popped for the mini-intermission we'd get to have the cage built for the main event... I got a great "Tales From The Booker" story that I'll tell one day about that.

2 - There was no referee in the cage! This is huge for me because the point of having a cage match is because it is supposed to be the most violent way to end a feud. There should NEVER be a referee or an option for a pinfall inside the cage. The point of having a cage is that because of the severe threat of mutilation and danger that it poses - you're supposed to escape the cage. These guys don;t want to be locked in there like two wild animals bleeding all over the place and leaving chunks of flesh embedded into the steel. They are trying to break out through the door or escape over the top because nothing else can save them from this vile nightmare. Having a ref there kills the illusion and having pinfalls int he cage is a cheap victory that could have easily been contested without the element of career ending danger.

3 - Speaking of stipulations - in this match up, all three team members had to escape the cage to be declared the winners. So it left scenarios open to where two team member could escape but leave one behind to take on three opponents. If this match had been booked today - it would have been one fall to a finish. The first man who escapes wins it for the team. The fact that this match was designed to have all three of them escape to secure the victory added so much more to the drama.

4 - This is a fantasy match up. It shows the strength of the Jimmy Hart stable, where only a few months earlier the Harts had the tag straps around their waist along with Honky as the IC champion. It shows that a stable also offers power by numbers. On the flip side - Macho Man is a face teaming with the highly popular tag team champions. Having Strike Force along side Savage is yet another endorsement for Savage who had just recently turned face.Yet, there is so much irony as only two years earlier - Savage was in a bitter feud with Tito Santana over the IC title, not to mention that Savage had defeated Santana in the same ring and same arena for the strap. It's the small things you have to appreciate.

Can you dig it!?!

**Article "Borrowed" From: DieHard Pro Wrestling