From WWF Superstars, May 1996 ... yes, May of 1996. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Matt Hardy ... a typical Superstars squash match. Austin has the Million Dollar Belt along with low, methodical theme music which is quite different from today's version. Austin's ring style is different as well ... very slow. Matt Hardy looks very young, very green and almost unrecognizable. The "Matt Hardy" on his tights alerts us of his identity ... being that it is at least three minutes into the match before McMahon, Ross or Perfect refer to Hardy by name. Austin uses a different variety of moves here ... a walking Boston Crab, nasty short clothesline, knife-edge chops and a top-rope suplex. After the suplex, we see the "Million Dollar Dream" as a finish. But it's not like the days of Ted DiBiase's version where it was an instant submission. It takes a while before Referee Jack Doan shouts, "Ring the bell, he's out!" The crowd could care less about Austin. He gets little to no reaction ...
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