160. Jon Moxley vs ‘Hangman’ Adam Page (Texas Death Match, AEW Revolution 2023)

AEW Revolution 2023 must have been some PPV, as two of its matches were rated 5* (and over) by Dave Meltzer. The AEW Championship match, an Iron Man match between title holder MJF and Bryan Danielson, was rated a whopping 5.75*. I’ll get around to that at some point. The match I want to talk about, however, is the Texas Death match between Jon Moxley and Adam Page, rated a lowly 5* by Meltzer. In the PG world of WWE, it’s rare to see a spot of the old ultraviolence. Would this Texas Death match provide that old ultraviolence?

120. Vader (c) vs Cactus Jack (Texas Death Match for the WCW Championship, WCW Halloween Havoc 1993)

Just in time for Halloween, WWE has put The Best of WWE : Halloween Havoc’s Most Hellacious Matches on the WWE Network! One match immediately caught my eye: Vader vs Cactus Jack for the WCW Championship…in a Texas Death Match! I had a vague idea of the definition of a Texas Death match, but I was more interested in Vader vs Cactus Jack! These two put each other through hell in the mid-90s. I assumed it would be an hellacious match…but does that mean it was worth watching?

Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches To See Before You Die: #35 Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader (Texas Death Match, WCW Halloween Havoc 1993)

(Here’s the link for the match on the WWE Network: http://network.wwe.com/video/v31307261?contextType=wwe-show&contextId=raw_replays&contentId=67079426&watchlistAltButtonConseries text= )

Whenever you hear of Cactus Jack fighting Big Van Vader, the first thing you think of (probably) is Jack losing his ear during one of their matches. That’s just a hint of the brutality that their matches conjure up. Mick Foley’s ‘Greatest Hits and Misses’ DVD started with a match between the two wrestlers. I was convinced #35 was that match, which I thoroughly enjoyed on first viewing. Sadly, it was not. #35 has all the hallmarks of brutality that you’d expect from Cactus Jack and Vader, but is ruined by an asinine gimmick. I’d heard of a Texas Death Match before but had never seen one. It sounded silly on paper, but is even sillier in execution.