#2 – Rey Mysterio, Jr. vs. Psychosis
WCW Bash at the Beach
July 7, 1996
Bash at the Beach 1996 is one of the most memorable PPV events in the history of wrestling, and will forever be known as the night Hulk Hogan teamed with The Outsiders to create “the new world organization of wrestling, brother.” But any lucha libre fan or wrestling historian worth their salt will remember another great gem from this card; the wrestling match that opened and stole the show between the newly debuted Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Psychosis.
The legend goes that Mysterio and Psychosis have faced each other over 500 times all around the world. That very well be true, as the lucha stars created and perfected their craft together, touring all around Mexico. The story going into “Bash” was that the slightly older Psychosis had spent his entire career in the shadow of the growing legend, and future WWE Champion. Story or no story, their match is absolutely phenomenal, bringing spectacular moves that are now commonplace, to U.S. PPV for the first time. I love hearing Mike Tenay explaining the intricacies of a “senton” or “hurricanrana”, and Bobby Heenan having no idea what to call.
The finish was a thing of beauty, with Psychosis setting up a top turnbuckle “Splash Mountain” powerbomb, and Rey countering into a massive, crowd-popping hurricanrana for the win.
