10 Cult Wrestling Matches To See Before You Die
8. The Sheepherders Vs. The Fantastics - NWA Crockett Cup 1986
There's some real curios in the vaunted hall of Dave Meltzer's Five Star Matches.
Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan have never been awarded with the honour, and yet, some average-to-poor workers have, through the magic of the multi-man formula, or the work carried by their younger tag team partners. Paul Ellering! John Laurinaitis! Lars Sullivan!
Even John Cena!
And also the Bushwhackers, known primarily for licking each other's heads, lifting their arms up in that daft way of theirs, and generally stinking up WWF arenas with popular if artless comedy matches. A very different proposition before winding down, as the Sheepherders, the nonsensical Luke and Butch were no-nonsense in JCP.
Their famous, WTF ***** match was recently released in full for the first time as part of the WWE Network's wonderful Hidden Gems section. It doesn't hold up, but it's still a hell of a d*mn match elevated by the Fantastics, whose shredded, clean-cut look and ultra-crisp work shines in contrast to Luke and Butch's nasty, kidney-punching heel game.
Bobby Fulton is outstanding here: selling the crimson mask, catatonic, he doesn't flail about theatrically, begging for support. He very much puts this over as something deeply precarious, and blinded, can only glimpse an advantage by kicking his leg in the vague direction of his opponent.
Dated but also timeless in its way, the head-chewing spot Jon Moxley adopted informs the heat, the comeback to which is a real roof-lifter.