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Post by The Kevstaaa on Nov 25, 2016 9:41:26 GMT -5
Raw History
Episode #137
November 27th, 1995 | Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia
Back to the big tapings blocks unfortunately. A recap is shown of Shawn Michaels collapsing last week.
Ahmed Johnson vs. Rad Radford
Vince pretty much has an orgasm as Ahmed Johnson comes out. Even Jerry Lawler makes note of his “enthusiasm”. While Johnson kicks ass, Bob Backlund shows up in the crowd, campaigning to be President. Radford competed at Survivor Series and has an actual storyline where he wants to be a Bodydonna. Radford gets in more offense than expected, but sets too early and eats a Pearl River Plunge.
Winner: Ahmed Johnson in 2:48
While Radford did get in a few shots, this was pretty much a squash.
Jerry Lawler interviews Ahmed after the match. Apparently, Dean Douglas has issues with Ahmed and promises to teach him a lesson at the upcoming In Your House event. Dean shows up to run him down, so Ahmed challenges him right now. Dean teases like he’s going to fight but officials run out to keep them apart. Gotta save the big money match for the PPV.
UPDATE ~ Shawn Michaels gets a video package that goes back to the attack that he suffered in Syracuse back in October. It then shows that Owen’s ENZIGURI OF DOOM is what really took Michaels out last week.
Alundra Blayze and Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong and Tomoko Watanabe
These four women were part of a Survivor Series tag at the PPV eight days ago, which was pretty good. The heels attack quickly and work over Inoue for a bit. Blayze gets the tag and slaps the hell out of Watanabe. Blayze does all of her fancy stuff, including a pretty good arm drag off the top. Kong and Inoue get tagged and Kong just gets to be a beast. Inoue surprises by running up the turnbuckle and nailing a back elbow. Watanabe comes back with a springboard body press. These girls are trying to steal the show. Inoue runs up the top again and brings Watanabe over with a super arm drag. We finally get Kong vs. Blayze and it starts awkwardly as they kind of get stuck. Blayze fires off some second rope dropkicks but missed her third attempt. For some reason, Vince decides to talk about Kong being a supporter of safe sex and compares her to Princess Diana. Lawler again calls him out for his stupidity. Kong hits the backdrop driver and spinning back fist to beat Inoue.
Winners: Aja Kong and Tomoko Watanabe in 6:04
Fine little match here. The girls worked hard and, despite a few miscues, this was mostly enjoyable and different to some of the stuff we’ve been seeing. **¾
RECAP ~ Diesel showed some mercy after Bret Hart fell through a table, but went nuts after the match and powerbombed Bret at the Survivor Series. We also see some of Diesel’s great promo last week.
In a random, unwelcome decision, Brother Love is back. He and his purple/pink lighting interview the brand new WWF Champion, Bret Hart. Love asks questions and then just cuts Bret off when he goes to respond. He brings up the man he brought to the WWF, the Undertaker and the fact that Bret is scared of him. Look at them planting the seeds for the January title match. Bret finally takes control of the microphone and calls out what Diesel did. He says he’ll cross the Undertaker bridge when he gets there. As for the British Bulldog, Bret says that he plans on getting redemption for SummerSlam 1992. As Bret goes to leave, Bob Backlund runs in and puts him in the Chicken Wing. Oh come one, I thought this feud was officially dead.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. John Chrystal
Why can’t his name just be Crystal? This is the man that HHH made his debut on Raw against if I recall correctly. They promote the upcoming Helmsley/Godwin Hog Pen match, which turned out to be better than expected. HHH makes quick work and wins with the Pedigree.
Winner: Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 1:41
I like quick squashes.
IN YOUR HOUSE ~ Razor Ramon and Marty Jannetty will team up to take on the 1-2-3 Kid and Sycho Sid! Also, Jim Cornette and Owen Hart cut a promo saying that nobody wanted to face Owen after what he did to HBK. Owen has an open contract for In Your House to anyone brave enough.
We’re supposed to get Undertaker vs. Kama in the main event, but Kama comes out on crutches. They announce Sir Mo as the replacement. Look, Kama isn’t very good but he’s far better than Mo.
Sir Mo w/ Kama and Ted Dibiase vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Less than a minute in and Kama attacks the Undertaker outside, proving he isn’t injured. Mo clubs away at Undertaker and does little to no damage because he’s trash. Undertaker clothesline him, slides outside and fights with Kama. Kama and Dibiase leave as Undertaker Chokeslams the little crapknown as Mo. Mo sells the Chokeslam like he had a seizure. Undertaker doesn’t even deem him worthy of a Tombstone.
Winner: The Undertaker in 4:00
It was about as good as you’d expect, which means it wasn’t. Mo was truly pitiful. ¼*
King Mabel strolls down to have a stare down with Undertaker. Undertaker gets the chain that Kama left behind, which was made up from Undertaker’s urn. Yokozuna waddles out and gets in the ring with the Undertaker. He tries to act tough but we all remember how he would whimper at the sound of the word casket. Undertaker gives the chain to Paul Bearer like an idiot. Mabel hammers him from behind, steals the chain and actually runs away with it. Undertaker follows while Yokozuna is left in the ring as if he’s irrelevant.
NEXT WEEK ~ Marty Jannetty vs. Sid! Plus, Razor Ramon defends the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Douglas.
Overall: 4.5/10. Early on, this episode was going smoothly. We had a quick Ahmed Johnson match, fun women’s tag and then a pretty decent Bret Hart interview. However, the back of this show was rough, especially the main event. Who the hell wants to see Sir Mo? WCW was doing Hogan vs. Sting at the time. Sir Mo wasn’t going to cut it.
WCW World War 3 Results
WCW Television Championship: Johnny B. Badd (c) def. Diamond Dallas Page in 12:35. Badd also gets the Diamond Doll
Taped Fist Match: Big Bubba Rogers def. Jim Duggan in 10:08
Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano def. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki in 9:18
WCW United States Championship: Kensuke Sasaki (c) def. Chris Benoit in 10:02
Lex Luger def. Randy Savage in 5:27
Sting def. Ric Flair in 14:31
WCW Championship World War 3 Match: Randy Savage def. 59 others to win the title in 29:50
Reliving Nitro
Episode #13
November 27th, 1995 | Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia
So we have a new WCW Champion in Randy Savage. However, this is WCW so of course, there was controversy. Apparently, Hulk Hogan was never officially eliminated from the match, yet still lost.
RECAP ~ Our commentary team hypes the show before taking us to footage from last night where Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Sting reunited. Hogan was red and yellow again and they burned his black attire just like they will with the Dungeon of Doom. Despite them trusting Sting again, he teams with Luger tonight.
WCW Television Championship
Johnny B. Badd (c) w/ the Diamond Doll vs. Diamond Dallas Page
This is a return match from the PPV. Why? Nobody knows. A humbled DDP comes out with no shades or cigar and has flowers for the Doll. SWERVE! DDP cheap shots Badd and lays into him. The Doll holds the flowers at ringside and looks through them, pulling out a chain. Dumbass Mongo believes it is a bracelet. DDP calls for the chain, which she slides in under his legs and to Badd, who lays out DDP with it and retains.
Winner and Still WCW Television Champion: Johnny B. Badd in 2:11
That was much more of an angle than a match. Disappointing because I would have liked more. ¾*
Johnny B. Badd questions her motives, even though he had no problem using the chain. Suddenly, he stops caring about her choices and just celebrates.
Mean Gene interviews Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart by the stage. I swear he interviews them every week. Sullivan is angry at Jimmy Hart for allowing Sting to talk Luger out of holding a submission on Savage last night. In Sullivan’s mind, if Luger held that on a bit longer, Savage would have too hurt to win the title. Hart eases his mind by bringing up their history as friends, saying it is similar to the bond between Sting and Luger.
Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano w/ Sonny Ono vs. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki
Okay, so  everyone that bought the PPV last night. Also, what are the chances that, in 1995, both Raw and Nitro feature women’s tag matches? Especially when seven of the eight women are Japanese. Quick start by the heels as they destroy Ozaki. Hokuto pretty much hangs her while sitting on the top before Nakano slams her down hard shortly after. Suzuki gets the tag and things turn in their favor. They do slip up on a move but make up for it with a fun double stomp off the top. Literally, they do it at the same time. Hokuto misses a heel kick as Ozaki gets as near fall on a rana. Suzuki has a miscue and takes out her partner. Things end up spilling outside where Hokuto does a somersault plancha off the top, but hits her partner by mistake. Nakano survives inside and tags Hokuto, who correctly hits a double missile dropkick. She finishes off Suzuki with a fisherman buster.
Winners: Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano in 5:25
Better than the Raw women’s tag. Hokuto really impressed and that finishing sequence was great. Unfortunately, this would lead nowhere, though Hokuto returns down the line and becomes the only Women’s Champion in WCW history. ***
Hugh Morris vs. Hulk Hogan
Hugh Morris is the newest member of the Dungeon of Doom but isn’t important enough to get Hart or Sullivan at ringside. I’ll give you three guesses to the outcome of this match. Morris gets in some offense and actually looks rather impressive. He hits No Laughing Matter and Hogan kicks out. Hulk up. Big boot, leg drop, wash, rinse, repeat.
Winner: Hulk Hogan in 3:40
A relatively extended squash. It was Morris does some things and Hogan hulks up. No worth a rating.
Mean Gene introduces the new WCW Champion (for the first time), Randy Savage. He comes out wearing BIG GOLD and I gotta say, it looks good. Savage puts over being the only World Champion around. Gene brings up the Hogan controversy, which leads to Hogan coming out. He calls Savage his “brother friend” before reminding him that the belt still says his name on it. Did the Giant not get that changed? Hogan takes us to the footage from World War 3 but before we see what happened, the tape messes up and we see nothing. Savage says a “picture is worth a thousand words, but he saw nothing.” The Giant comes and attacks Hogan. He Chokeslams Savage on the concrete before taking Hogan to the ring. Sting runs out for the save and Hogan uses a chair to beat the hell out of the Giant and send him packing. Commentary questions why Sting eventually pulled Hogan away from the Giant, but it seemed clear that it was so they could check on Savage’s condition.
Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman vs. Lex Luger and Sting
The Horsemen theme is the stuff of legend. Luger takes a while to come out, adding to the drama but he shows up just in time. After Sting does some early work, Luger comes in next for SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES! It’s a staple of Luger matches. Sting gets tagged back in and plays the face in peril while commentary continues to question if Luger is really a good guy or not. From out of nowhere, Sting rolls up Pillman for the win.
Winners: Lex Luger and Sting in 5:36
I’d say this was incredibly mundane. You could tell the four guys were killing time until the finish. Outside of trying to advance the Luger/Sting angle, this didn’t do much for me. *¾
Ric Flair runs down and pulls Luger off the apron. He slaps the Figure Four on Sting, while Anderson adds leverage. Pillman beats up Luger until Hogan makes the big save. Once Hogan does all of his typical shit, he goes after Luger, still pissed from Halloween Havoc. Sting stops him to protect his buddy though. Hogan and Sting argue about it.
Overall: 4.5/10. Though the ceiling for matches was slightly higher here than on Raw, this finishes even with the WWF this week. The main event was a disappointment and there was a squash that was kind of just there. Also like Raw, it had a pretty good interview segment as the Savage/Giant/Hogan/Sting stuff was pretty damn good.
Raw Rating: 2.3
Nitro Rating: 2.5 |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 1, 2017 21:10:58 GMT -5
Raw History
Episode #138
December 4th, 1995 | Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia
A short video opens things, hyping the show. Vince literally calls Dean Douglas the “15 minute chump” because of his short Intercontinental Title reign. He gets his rematch tonight and we’ll also see Marty Jannetty go one on one with Sycho Sid.
Bob Holly vs. British Bulldog w/ Jim Cornette
Right off the bat commentary hypes the possibility of a Bob Holly upset since he’s found a fair amount of success in his career. Bulldog makes sure to get his crap in early on, like the stalling vertical suplex. A nice touch is added when he shouts “BEST THERE IS, BEST THERE WAS AND BEST THERE EVER WILL BE”. Holly gets in his fair share of hope spots before falling to the running powerslam.
Winner: British Bulldog in 5:04
The way they were hyping up a upset possibility, I would have thought Bob would do more. Instead, he lost fairly easily. Fine enough showcase for the number one contender. *½
ON SUPERSTARS ~ Bob Backlund was asked about his attack on Bret Hart last week, but instead slapped the chicken wing on Jim Ross.
Jerry Lawler interviews Bob Backlund, who was in the crowd campaigning, about the attacks. When Bob hears that his match against Bret Hart next week is non-title, he blows a gasket. He shouts that he wants to be god again. He rambles on until they have to kill his mic.
Fatu vs. Brooklyn Brawler
The Brawler is one of the most infamous jobbers, but he hasn’t made too many appearances on Raw so far. He starts quite hot but the tide quickly turns. “Make a Difference” Fatu puts him away with a splash.
Winner: Fatu in 1:25
Standard squash for Fatu and happily, they kept it short.
IN YOUR HOUSE REPORT ~ Dok Hendrix, still seemingly on coke, hypes the PPV. He gets quickly cut off so we can go to Bob Backlund, who puts the sound guy in the chicken wing for cutting his microphone off. That’s pretty great. When they go back to Dok, he announces that Owen Hart’s open challenge for In Your House has been answered by Diesel!
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Razor Ramon (c) vs. Dean Douglas
I’m also certain this is the final set of tapings for Dean before he left back to ECW in January of 1996. Dean is all about the underhanded tactics, going after Razor before he can even remove his vest. Razor still hits a fallaway slam and sends him packing before taking off the vest. Showing off their Kliq love, Razor has Shawn’s name taped on his boot. It looks really lame. As Douglas goes for his most impressive offensive move, a second rope splash, they go to commercial. Returning, Dean works an abdominal stretch, using the ropes for leverage. He gets caught in the act before Razor switches around. Razor then hits the Razor’s Edge and retains.
Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon in 4:32
Well that was rather disappointing. Dean Douglas and his disdain for the Kliq may be what caused him to look like he didn’t care here. Neither did Razor for that matter. *¼
NEXT WEEK ~ Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund and we hear from Shawn Michaels for the first time since the injury.
THE BROTHER LOVE SHOW ~ Oh crap, this again. His guest this week is King Mabel, who still gets carried to the ring by peasants. Brother Love pronounces Mabel’s name as “MAY-BELL”. Brother Love is his annoying usual self and notes that Sir Mo isn’t around. He brings out a surprise for Mabel and it’s a druid. The druid is revealed to be Sir Mo to what might have been the quietest response in history. They then reveal a casket covered in graffiti. What the was this? This entire segment sucked horribly and probably ranks in the bottom five in Raw history up to this point. That’s saying something considering we had to sit through the King’s Court so often.
The Raw Bowl gets hyped, though I don’t believe that episode is on the Network. I’ll have to find another way to watch it.
Marty Jannetty vs. Sycho Sid w/ Ted Dibiase
Sid doesn’t pay attention during Marty’s entrance, so the Rocker quickly attacks and gets in some right hands. He nails a cross body, but his second attempt gets caught. Never do that to a big man. Because it’s a Sid match, we get him plodding away on offense. He chokes Marty in the corner for a while. Razor is shown watching in the back as Marty gets in a quick hope spot that goes nowhere. After a commercial break, Sid turns Marty inside out on a clothesline. We get more generic Sid offense until Dibiase gets in some cheap shots outside. Marty no sells and gives chase. This brings out the 1-2-3 Kid, who kicks him. Razor shows up as well and chases him through the crowd.
Winner via disqualification: Marty Jannetty in 6:29
This was a mess. Sid did his boring offense, Marty didn’t bring his best and then we got all of the run ins and stuff. ½*
Sid plants Marty with a powerbomb and they stuff money in his mouth afterwards.
Time for the dramatic interview with Shawn Michaels’ doctor. He says he was watching Raw when it happened, which is probably a lie. He doesn’t rule out a return for Shawn after his post-concussion issues, but makes it seem like it is damn near life threatening. They say he basically has brain damage and chalk it up to his efforts in the ring, dating back to the Royal Rumble, Sid’s post-Mania attack and the attack by nine thugs. This leads into a second video that is laughably bad. Vince narrates, saying that we as fans forget that the men in the ring are human. Vince then blames the fans for their unquenchable thirst for excitement and that being why Shawn got hurt. It might be the most over the top thing WWE has produced and that’s saying something.
Overall: 1/10. Holy crap that was horrible. That was pretty much the worst episode of the year. All three matches were lackluster or flat out bad. Then you had the Brother Love Show, which was beyond terrible and don’t even get me started on the horrifically bad closing video package. The only decent thing on the show was Bob Backlund putting the chicken wing on the sound guy.
Reliving Nitro
Episode #14
December 4th, 1995 | America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona
Our usual commentary team leads us in and promote a WCW Title match tonight. Randy Savage defends against Lex Luger! The winner heads into the big Triangle Match at Starrcade as the champion faces Sting and Ric Flair!
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Harlem Heat (c) w/ Sister Sherri vs. American Males
A few months ago, American Males beat Harlem Heat to win the belts. The crowd boos the hell out of the American Males even though they’re the faces. Harlem Heat play the bigger foes as it takes a few dropkicks for Riggs to get Stevie Ray down. Then the champions take control and pretty much the hell out of Riggs. Col. Robert Parker strolls out with a gift for Sherri. It seems to be some sort of jewelry. They start to make out to the chagrin of every viewer. Harlem Heat continues to hold serve until Sherri leaves with Parker. It’s revealed that it was a ring that he gave her. Booker gets into an argument with NBA player AC Green in the front row. Bagwell gets the tag and comes in hot. Bischoff pulls a Vince and creams himself over the muscle that Bagwell has added to his upper body. And now we know where “Buff the Stuff” came from. They go through an odd mishap at the end leading to Bagwell taking the Harlem Hangover.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat in 7:47
Not a bad match by any means but not very good as nothing really stood out. It felt like something you’d see at a house show outside of the Sherri/Parker angle. **
Mean Gene is standing by with Sting and Lex Luger. Sting puts over their friendship and thinks that Luger could win the title tonight. However, if he does, Sting feels like he has the momentum and expects to win the title himself at Starrcade. He won’t take it easy even though they’re friends.
Kurasawa vs. Sting
Bischoff is sure to throw a shot at the WWF for running a commercial at this very moment. Kurasawa seems to have lost a manager as Parker is probably with Sherri. Kurasawa goes after the arm since he’s famous for injuring Hawk’s arm in his debut. It doesn’t last long as Sting turns it around and wins with the Scorpion Death Lock.
Winner: Sting in 2:38
Was hoping for more as this was pretty much just a squash.
An ad airs to promote Starrcade, which will feature WCW going up against NJPW.
The Giant w/ Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan vs. Scott Norton
Are they gonna job out Scott Norton like a scrub already? Bischoff announces that next week, Hulk Hogan and Sting will team up to take on Arn Anderson and Ric Flair in a massive main event. Giant no sells some of Norton’s stuff. Norton busts out a very impressive atomic drop. I mean, he walks with the Giant before hitting it. Yea, I’d like to see Hogan do that. Giant ends up hitting the Chokeslam and winning in easy fashion.
Winner: The Giant in 2:43
Norton’s atomic drop was the highlight of the show so far. On the Nitro premiere, he was involved with Savage and is now being squashed.
MEAN BAH GAWD GENE is out to interview Ric Flair. Since it’s the 90’s and it’s in Phoenix, Charles Barkley comes out with him. It’s funny because he sounds so different now. Not much here except for Barkley putting over Phoenix and Flair in general.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Randy Savage (c) vs. Lex Luger w/ Jimmy Hart
Lex wants a handshake but Savage was doing DTA before Austin made it cool. Commentary really hammers home the fact that Savage is hurt. Luger goes about as high risk as he ever does with a double axe handle off the apron, but Savage catches him with a right hand to the gut. Inside, he shows Luger how it’s done with his own axe handle off the top. Luger starts to work on Savage’s injured arm. Savage fights fire with fire and attack Luger’s arm, wrapping it in the guardrail after a commercial break. Savage comes off as a badass with some of his offense at times. He misses a double axe handle off the apron this time, crashing into the guardrail. Back inside, Luger stomps on him while surprisingly selling the arm. He even sells it while dropping some short elbows and while pinning. This is pretty much the best sell job I’ve seen from Luger. He drops some more elbows for two. Again, things go outside where they continue to brawl. Jimmy Hart exposed a turnbuckle earlier and it comes into play as Savage smashes Luger’s head into it. He hits the big elbow but the referee was knocked down when Luger hit the corner. Hart gets on the apron so Savage brings him in the hard way. Ric Flair runs in and levels Savage with brass knuckles. As Flair hilariously poses up the ramp, he backs into Hogan. Time for classic pleading Flair. Hart puts Luger on Savage but Hogan stops the count, leading to a DQ.
Winner via disqualification: Lex Luger in 18:33
Far better than I expected. I thought this would be typical Luger fare where he does a lot of nothing for an extended period of time. Instead, this felt like a heated battle and working the arm was a smart move due to the injury. The finish wasn’t the best, but it’s about what you should expect for a TV match. ***
Hulk Hogan goes to nail Lex Luger but Sting runs in and jumps in the way, taking the right hand. Sting shoves Hogan but Randy Savage gets in between. Mean Gene gets in the ring after a commercial break to ask Hogan about touching a referee while on probation (the Giant and Flair are apparently also on probation). Hogan wants to know what side Sting is on. Sting says that Luger is his best friend and he’s trying to right the ship as he disagrees with the Jimmy Hart partnership. Sting isn’t the kind of guy to walk out on a friend. Sting says he sometimes doesn’t trust Savage either but doesn’t talk down on him weekly. Hogan ignores that and just says that Savage was right about Luger from the start. Hogan is okay with being Sting’s partner but wants Luger out of his face next week. Sting says he’ll do his best to keep him away next week and they shake hands. Shouldn’t this lead to the Mega Powers vs. Sting and Luger?
Overall: 6.5/10. An enjoyable hour of wrestling. We got a main event that certainly over delivered and a decent opening match. I disagreed with the squash of Norton though. The appearance of Charles Barkley didn’t do much but it did make it feel like a celebrity wanted to be a part of WCW, which made them seem kind of cool. Add in the fine storyline advancement in the end and you’ve got a good show.
Raw Rating: 2.6
Nitro Rating: 2.4 |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 3, 2017 0:02:24 GMT -5
Raw History
Episode #139
December 11th, 1995 | Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia
We’re still in Richmond, Virginia for this show. The opening video reminds us that we’re getting Backlund/Bret III. Also, Shawn Michaels speaks for the first time since collapsing a few weeks ago.
Owen Hart w/ Jim Cornette, Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna vs. Jeff Hardy
You know, in both guys’ primes, this would have probably been awesome. Jeff is just a jobber here, wearing very colorful tights. While Owen does his offense, commentary discusses Diana Smith being in the front row, which we see on a split screen. She was a focus of Hart/Bulldog at SummerSlam 1992 and would be again at the upcoming PPV. Also, Diesel is watching in the back. Jeff turns inside out on a clothesline. Owen hits a missile dropkick and teases the Sharpshooter but goes with a jackknife pin for the three.
Winner: Owen Hart in 2:36
Rather enjoyable squash match. Jeff bumped like a madman and Owen looked good.
Post-match, Yokozuna squashes Jeff Hardy with a Banzai Drop. Owen slaps on the Sharpshooter until tweener Diesel makes the save. Owen bails, so Diesel goes toe to toe with Yokozuna. Diesel uses a pair of clotheslines to send the faux sumo wrestler packing.
Aja Kong vs. Chaparita Asari
I don’t believe we’ve seen Asari so far in the WWF. Aja dominates early while Jerry Lawler constantly calls her ugly. Asai tries a cross body but just bounces off. Kong goes nuts, hitting a spinning package piledriver! She lifts Asari on the pin, wanting to inflict more damage. She destroys Asari with some vicious kicks. Asari gets in some slaps that have no effect. Kong headbutts her before missing a splash. Asari goes up for a ridiculous spinning splash that misses as well. Commentary glosses over that move even though I’m pretty sure no male on the roster could pull it off. Spinning back fist kills Asari.
Winner: Aja Kong in 4:05
Aja Kong is great. That ruled for a squash. She just kicked ass.
Chaparita Asari is bleeding from the nose after the match.
INTERVIEW ~ Todd Pettengil sits down with Shawn Michaels to discuss his injury. Shawn thanks the fans for all of their overwhelming support and he claims that he’s feeling much better. He hasn’t experienced any dizziness or blackouts lately. If it was up to him, he’d return right now. Todd brings up possible retirement and Michaels gets choked up, but also angry. He won’t dignify the question with a response.
Ahmed Johnson vs. Rick Stockhauser
During Ahmed’s entrance, Dean Douglas cuts a promo on him since they’ll meet this Sunday at In Your House. Stockhauser gets in a shot or two but Ahmed shakes it off and quickly wins via Pearl River Plunge.
Winner: Ahmed Johnson in 1:08
One minute squashes are best for guys like Johnson.
Jerry Lawler interviews Ahmed Johnson about Dean Douglas and makes jokes about him repeating the third grade four times. Ahmed says if Dean did his homework on Ahmed, he would never have agreed to face him. Ahmed intimidates Lawler into going back to the commentary table.
INTERVIEW ~ Vince McMahon interview the remnants of the Million Dollar Corporation, which is just 1-2-3 Kid and Sycho Sid by this point. They direct the promo to Ted Dibiase, which is wise as he’s much better than Sid and Kid. Dibiase tells Razor to get over the Kid ending their friendship. Kid knows three important things now. 1) Don’t worry about the fans, 2) focus on winning and 3) GET THE MONEY! Kid runs down both Razor and Marty, before Sid claims that he won’t enjoy this. He was obviously joking because he will enjoy it.
NEXT WEEK ~ Yokozuna looks to become a Triple Crown winner as he goes after Razor Ramon and the Intercontinental Championship!
Non-Title Match
WWF Champion Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund
As usual for these two, they go through some extended mat work at the start. Jerry Lawler gets up to interview Diana Smith at ringside. She says that she supports her husband’s more aggressive style now and would love to see him walk out as champion this weekend. She also commends Jim Cornette for being the only man to get Davey a title shot. We continue to get the standard stuff we’ve come to expect from Bret and Bob. Bob tries the Crossface Chicken Wing but Bret gets to the ropes. Bob focuses his attack on the arm and applies an armbar. After a commercial break, Bret has it turned around and it’s FIVE MOVES OF DOOM TIME! Russian leg sweep, back breaker and elbow all hit. As he attempts the Sharpshooter, British Bulldog charges in and causes a DQ.
Winner via disqualification: Bret Hart in 13:33
The match itself was really basic. It felt like Bret and Bob working at a house show pace. *¾
Backlund puts Bret in the Crossface Chicken Wing while Bulldog puts the boots to him. Officials rush to try and break the hold but Backlund won’t.
Overall: 4.5/10. A decent episode. While the main event was mostly a bore, most other things were fine. We got two fun squashes from Owen and Aja, as well as quick one by Ahmed. They did decent build to In your House with several segments and the show mostly moved along quickly.
Reliving Nitro
Episode #15
December 11th, 1995 | Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentary tries introducing the show but a bell rings and they are cut off for the action. I prefer it this way.
Eddie Guerrero vs. JL
JL has lost the formal “Mr.” portion of his name. Quick start with tilt-a-whirl head scissors and moonsaults. Eric Bischoff puts over the upcoming NJPW vs. WCW battle and that Guerrero may take part. He says they can’t see Eddie as a “cake walk or rice cake walk”. Wow. Eddie goes on the apron, runs up the corner and nails a sweet arm drag. JL springboard dropkicks him off the top and follows with an apron dive. Mongo wants JL to lose his mask, clearly not knowing anything about the history of masks in wrestling. They go into a battle of rollup attempts, which Eddie wins out and picks up the three.
Winner: Eddie Guerrero in 2:57
A fun sprint but it was too short to ever get anywhere special. It was pretty good for what we got though. **¼
INTERVIEW ~ Mean Gene is out to interview Lex Luger and Jimmy Hart. They just put over how they feel that Luger is the uncrowned champion because he has had Macho Man beaten several times. He used the Torture Rack on him at Halloween Havoc, made him pass out at World War 3 and nearly won last week. He should be in the Triangle Match at Starrcade but since he isn’t, he wishes the three men the best of luck.
Disco Inferno vs. Paul Orndorff
Paul Orndorff is still under contract? Tons of jokes for Orndorff’s theme, including Heenan saying Mean Gene sung it while sitting on a block of ice. Disco gets upset that Paul is vainer than he is and they go at it. None of it is interesting in the least. Oh goodness, Paul stops before an elbow to a dance and it’s terrible. It’s actually hilariously bad in a good way. Orndorff wins with a good back suplex and puts his foot on the bottom rope for the pin for good measure.
Winner: Paul Orndorff in 2:23
This was actually pretty much a squash. Odd stuff and I don’t believe Paul does much more in the coming months/years.
INTERVIEW ~ Mean BAH GAWD Gene is back to interview the Horsemen. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman are out, but Chris Benoit is nowhere to be seen. Pillman talks about how much of an honor it is to be a Horsemen. He says that everyone wanted to a Horsemen, even Hulk Hogan. Pillman is all over the place, calling Mongo a flexible big guy, dissing the Zodiac of the Dungeon of Doom and also ripping into Paul Orndorff’s fall from grace. As Ric Flair goes to speak, Orndorff shows up to confront Pillman. He respects Flair and Anderson but says that Pillman is only in because Paul didn’t want to be. Paul calls Pillman the bag carrier of the group. Anderson tries to play peacekeeper but fails as Pillman and Orndorff come to blows. Once you attack one Horseman, they all come after you though. Arn and Ric send a message by spike piledriving Paul on the concrete! Heenan and the crew sell the fact that he isn’t moving. Doctors tend to him after the break while the next match gets going.
Jim Duggan vs. Lex Luger w/ Jimmy Hart
Duggan and Luger punch each other a bunch. The camera cuts to show Orndorff being taken out by a stretcher a few times. We also see him going into the ambulance while the two guys in the ring just continue to do a whole lot of nothing. Duggan brings out the tape and wraps it around his hand. A Jimmy Hart distraction allows Luger to hit him from behind and win with the Torture Rack. Commentary calls out Chono, who Luger will face at the PPV, and sell this win as something impressive.
Winner: Lex Luger in 2:44
Holy crap that sucked. Just punches, turnbuckle smashes, some kicks and a crap finish. The only reason it doesn’t go into negative territory is because it was short. DUD
INTERVIEW ~ More from the hardest working man in WCW, Mean Gene as he’s with Macho Man in the entrance. Savage talks about a lot of big matches coming up. At Starrcade, he has to wrestle twice and next Monday, he faces the Giant for the title. Savage is taking it one day at a time but puts over the Giant’s overwhelming power.
Arn Anderson and Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan and Sting
I was going to point out the massive boos for Hogan but it is in Charlotte. Horsemen country all the way. Arn starts with Sting and the crowd pops hard for Arn getting the upper hand. Sting nails a press slam as the fans chant “Hogan sucks”. Flair and Hogan come in as the fans go nuts. Hogan no sells some Flair chops and sends him outside. Arn attacks from behind and the crowd again goes nuts. Hogan no sells him as well and gets his crap in. Sting and Hogan hold the upper hand and throw the Horsemen around. Bischoff mentions that Sting will be facing Sasaki at Starrcade, but no US Title on the line. Sting slams Arn from the top and tries the Scorpion Death Lock but Flair gets involved. It allows Arn to plant him with a DDT and the crowd goes wild. Jimmy Hart and Lex Luger show up as Luger pulls Hogan off the apron. Hogan no sells before being sent into the ring post and taking the Torture Rack. With Hogan down, the Horsemen work the heat on Sting. Hogan gets back on the apron as Sting ends up in the Figure Four. He fights and pulls himself to his corner but it leads to a false tag. They do the classic Sting/Flair spot where Sting powers up and no sells his chops. The Horsemen cut off the tag once again but Sting scores on a facebuster. Hogan finally gets the tag and does the big boot and leg drop on Arn, while Sting hits the corner splash on Flair.
Winners: Hulk Hogan and Sting in 13:25
I’m glad this was given time. The Horsemen did all of the classic heel tropes in tag matches but the crowd didn’t care and loved them regardless. That crowd reaction, the Sting heat segment and the Horsemen in general were great. Hogan’s tired stuff wasn’t. ***¼
Brian Pillman runs out and it’s a 3 on 2 beating. Lex Luger and Jimmy Hart come out and Luger stops Pillman from attacking Sting. He allows them to do it to Hogan though until Sting gets up to help. Randy Savage runs in now and gets in Sting’s face. Sting is tired of his crap and lays him out. Hogan gets in between them as Mean Gene enters the ring. They do similar stuff from last week. Sting says that it was a misunderstanding and he’s on Savage’s side. Hogan convinces Randy and they all seem to resolve it for now.
Overall: 6.5/10. WCW wins this week again. We got a quick, fun opener and a really strong main event with a hot crowd. The Horsemen angle with Orndorff worked well and added to the show. The negatives were the Luger/Duggan and Disco/Orndorff matches. Outside of that, everything else was rather enjoyable.
Raw Rating: 2.5
Nitro Rating: 2.6 |
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Post by TKO Propagandist on Apr 13, 2017 13:40:05 GMT -5
Have some free time as of late. So I have decided to revisit an old series of shows I was reviewing from the Attitude Era. Here is a full review I never posted from a couple years ago:
Wrestlemania 2000. April 2 2000 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.
Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan def. The Godfather and D-Lo Brown. Ice-T raps D-Lo and Godfather down to the ring with the song 'Pimpin' Ain't Easy' from the WWF Aggression album, to give the entrance a nice Wrestlemania feel to it. Out of all the tag teams D-Lo was in, I think his pairing with the Godfather was probably the coolest. I remember in a tag match they had with Too Cool, Godfather got on the mic and said we can fight anytime, why not get down and party and they did and it was awesome. ''It's time once again, for everybody to come aboard the HOOOOOOOOOOO train!'' Boss and Bull are looking pretty badass in their all black pre-Shield tactical vests and cargo pants while the faces are all pimped out in a cool white attire. Buchanan and Godfather would become tag team champions in the coming months after this show portraying completely different gimmicks. Bull shows some great agility for his size as he leaps onto the rope in one jump and takes out Brown. Hot tag to the Godfather as he hits the Ho-train to Boss Man to a pop. D-Lo goes for a frog splash from the top but is pushed off and eats a Boss Man Slam and a top rope leg drop from Bull for the 3. Match is nothing special, the entrance was cool though and crowd were somewhat lively. 1.5 Stars.
Hardcore Holly def. Crash Holly (c), Tazz, Viscera, Pete Gas, Rodney, Joey Abs, Taka, Funaki, Mosh, Thrasher (WTF are they wearing?!??), Bradshaw and Faarooq in a 13 man, 15 minute time limit hardcore battle royal for the WWF Hardcore Championship. A video from Heat showing referee Tim White explaining the rules of the match is a nice touch though King still didn't understand them, as when Crash is pinned first by Tazz he thinks the match is over. Crash is busted open first, his shaved blond hair is all red now. Pete Gas of the Mean Street Posse is also bleeding really bad. This match is just weapon shot after weapon shot, mostly to the head and it's not pretty. Funaki gets a fall and runs to the back. As everyone else brawls on the outside as we take things back to the ring, it's clear Crash, Tazz or Hardcore will be one of the men to finish as champion. After Crash pins Tazz with 30 seconds left, Tazz then gets him in the Tazzmission, as Hardcore crashes a glas jar over the skull of Tazz and pins Crash to win the title. Tim White makes a mess of the count and I believe Bob Holly ran in a second or 2 too fast. Besides the absolute botched finish, the match was somewhat fun and entertaining, 15 minutes was a strech however as it seemed there was about 5 minutes of just pointless weapon shots. 10 Minutes would have been more suitable. 2 Stars.
T&A (Test and Albert) def. Head Cheese (Al Snow and Steve Blackman). Al and Steve had began teaming over the past few months and Snow had tried to come up with a name for the duo finally settling on head cheese, Al tried to convince Blackman to show more personality and anytime he did it led to them losing a match. It was a fun entertaining storyline for the most part that sparked quite a few funny segments. Nothing of note in the match as Test drops an elbow from the top rope on Blackman for the win. 0.5 Stars.
Edge & Christian def. The Dudley Boyz (c) and the Hardy Boyz in a triangle ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Nice poetry in motion on Bubba with a ladder in front of him by the Hardyz. Jeff misses a 450 on Bubba and lands on the ladder. Bubba then hits a senton on Matt on the ladder. Bubba hits a cutter on Christian from nearly the top of the ladder. Double suplex by E&C from the top of the ladder on D-Von looks like it hurt. Dudleyz stack a table on the top of two ladders to use as a platform. After Bubba sets up a huge ladder and a table on the entrance ramp, he gets hit with a ring bell by Christian and gets a swanton bomb from the ladder onto to the table by Jeff. As Matt and Christian are on the table stacked on top of the ladder, Edge pushes Matt off who falls through a table and gets the belts to pick up the win for his team. An absolute classic match every wrestling fan needs to see. A career defining match for all men involved. One could argue this match should get all 5 but the one a year later somehow exceeds this. Classic. 4.5 Stars.
Cat Fight match is a DUD nothing more I can say.
Chyna and Too Cool def. The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn. The story of this match is Chyna getting her hands on Eddie, eventually she does and pins him after a sleeper hold drop. Not a great match but Eddie was entertaining, 1.5 stars mostly for him.
Chris Benoit def. Kurt Angle (c), Chris Jericho def. Kurt Angle (c). Two fall triple threat match both the WWF European and Intercontinental Championships'. Benoit picks up the first fall and Intercontinental Championship as Kurt has Jericho in a crossface chickenwing, Benoit throws Angle out of the ring and then into the first row and performs a diving headbutt onto Jericho for the 3. Chris delievers a backdrop to Y2J off the top rope with Angle already perched on the same rope he then attempts a moonsault on Benoit but misses. Ref is bumped and Jericho taps to the crossface. Angle then nails Jericho with the belt while Benoit is in the Walls of Jericho, he covers but the Canadian crippler breaks it up. Benoit misses the headbutt on Angle as Jericho then hits the lionsault on Chris for the win as he becomes European Champion. So Kurt Angle lost both belts without being pinned. Top top class match, all three men put in the work and in my opinion this is definitely up there as one of the great Wrestlemania matches, which all three men have had quite a few of. A great first Wrestlemania for all guys. 4 Stars.
Rikishi and Kane def. Road Dogg and X-Pac. Dogg and X-Pac come out to their awesome theme by Run DMC featured on the WWF Aggression album. Storyline with Kane and X-Pac culminates here after their pretty poor match at No Way Out. This time Kane has the fast rising star of Rikishi as his partner. Kane is in his reverse attire and looks like a beast. Nice pop up cutter by Rikishi on X-Pac looks sweet as hell. Tori eats a stink face and X-Pac a tombstone for the win. After the match Too Cool come down and get ready to dance but the San Diego chicken supposedly Pete Rose makes an appearance, they all dance including Rikishi. Then Kane grabs the chicken by the throat ready for a chokeslam but the real Pete Rose comes down with a bat and he instead gets chokeslamed by Kane and stink faced by Big Kish. It was a decent enough match and the aftermath just made it completely awesome, Kane got his revenge on X-Pac and Tori and beat up Pete Rose, there was dancing and even a chicken. Very fun and entertaining. 2 Stars.
Rock then cuts one of his all time great interview promos saying tonight is the night for him to win the big one again. Gets me fired up for the main event.
Michael Clarke Duncan is in the first row, he has looked like he has had a great time all night. Famous WWF fan pink shirt guy is also nearby.
Triple H (c) def. Big Show, Mick Foley and The Rock. Fatal 4 way elimination match for the WWF Championship. There's a McMahon in every corner, Linda had brought Foley back, Vince made sure The Rock would be in the main event in culminated in this match up. Big Show controls the opening portion of the match until the other 3 team up on him. Show is eliminated after a chairshot to the back from Foley and a Rock Bottom from The Rock. Referees escort the big nasty bastard to the back. Show really should have left for OVW after this event, he done nothing of note after and his babyface run after this made his push look pointless. Rock n' Sock then team up on Hunter. Triple H ducks a bell shot from Rocky leading to Foley getting hit instead. Mick brings out the barb wire bat and is attacked by Helmsley wth it. Rock saves him then it's Socko time for the Game. Dwayne tries a People's Elbow on Trips but he eats the mandible claw too, little silly but then the champ gives them a double low blow. Double arm DDT but Johnson kicks out. The other two then double team the Samoan, who then fights back. Mick's stairs bump will always get a pop from me, just love the way he takes it. He then famously blows his elbow spot on the announce table, just doesn't make it, it then takes Tri two elbows off the other announce table and the guard rail to break the table. Back in the ring and Foley kicks out of a Pedrigree but can't kick out of a second one which is hit onto a chair. I always do wonder imagine if this was actually his last match. Would have been a good send off none the less. Especially since he returns and hits one last shot with a barb wire bat to the Game. Down to the two we men taught this main event was always gonna be, they brawl at the entrance, then into the crowd. Steps vs chair battle then takes place at ringside, which ends with a piledriver on the stairs by HHH which JR puts over well. The Game throws a fans hat away that was screaming at him, funny. Suplex by the challenger sees the English speaking announce table break. McMahon and his son and law then fight before Shane comes back and brawls badly with his pops which ends with a chair shot to the chairman. Shane and Michael Clarke Duncan then have a funny interaction at ringside. Rock then finally eats some barb wire in the ring from the champion. McMahons' fight again in the ring ending with Vinny turning on and hitting The Rock and somehow it's only 2. Another chairshot gets 3 though and Paul retains. Fans throw tons of garbage in the ring and then Rock get's his heat back to close the show. A match like this is obviously gonna be rated high due to how long it was and how much stuff was in it, this is THE Attitude Era main event. Tons of spots, interference and my God is this match overbooked, one could argue it should have just been Rock vs Hunter but we would get that after and it would still be end up being even more awesome than this was for the most part. That being said, this was great entertainment and not the finish fans desired but still a good close to what I believe was a good show. 4 Stars.
Sure it's not one of the great Wrestlemanias. People would have preferred Rock defeating Hunter in the main event but the WWF wanted to save that for Backlash. This show was still entertaining and featured some good matches including a triangle ladder match show stealer, a classic triple threat and an awesome main event. But since it's Mania, the expectation is higher and as a result we cannot mention this one in the same breath as 17 or 19. I would have loved to have seen this show in a big arena though. 7/10
WWF on PPV in 2000 Show Ratings:
Royal Rumble: 8/10
No Way Out: 5.5/10
Wrestlemania: 7/10
Backlash - Fully Loaded: To be reviewed
Summerslam: 6.5/10
Unforgiven: 4.5/10
No Mercy: 5/10
Survivor Series: 6/10
Armageddon: 4/10
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