Superstars 11-18-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, November 18th, 1995
Agridome
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get the hype video full of Goldust and then showing the clips of 1-2-3 Kid turning on Razor Ramon. 

British Bulldog vs. Roy Raymond

Bulldog hits a delayed vertical suplex and we get a pre-recorded interview with Jim Cornette and Bulldog. He says that he wants Bret to win the title, so he can get his revenge. Vince makes fun of Raymond's forearm to the chest. Bulldog recovers and gets Raymond up for the running powerslam and the easy victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a bunch of Superstars picking who they think will win the Diesel vs. Bret Hart. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Fatu, Mo, Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Dean Douglas and Isaac Yankem all weigh in. 

We get a hype video for Diesel/Bret and then the sit down interview with the two competitors.

Hakushi vs. Brian Wash

Wash attacks Hakushi from behind, but it only works for a moment until Hakushi hits a superkick. So even as of one day before the show, they still were hyping Avatar as being a partner to Hakushi at Survivor Series. Hakushi hits the cartwheel elbow in the corner and then the top rope shoulder tackle. He hits a hurricanrana into a pin and picks up the big win into the Survivor Series. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to go to Dok Hendrix for the Survivor Series Slam Jam. He hypes up the card again and they actually show some footage of the Japanese competitors that will be squaring off tomorrow. 

Dean Douglas vs. Tim McNeany

Douglas is just so dead in the water here and the crowd is sitting on their hands here. It will be interesting here, as we will begin to lose quite a few mid-card stars here soon. He hits the imperfect plex for the victory. He doesn't even get a recap of his match they just fade to a commercial when he raises his hands.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the clips of 1-2-3 Kid turning on Razor and JR is disgusted. The Royals are next. 

Oh, good. It's the Bill Clinton impersonator again. 

They show a recap of Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Henry Godwinn before we get the entire team of the Royals in the ring. Lawler jokes that the Dark Side would make a good sitcom pilot for CBS. This is pointless. 

Goldust vs. Bob Holly

We get a seesaw opener and a pre-recorded Bam Bam Bigelow promo. We get stuck listening to the announce team say movie quotes while there is little to no action going on. Holly makes a comeback and hits an inverted atomic drop and then a standard atomic drop. Holly's all fired up and hits a dropkick. Goldust hits a fist to the face and then hits the Curtain Call for the victory. Yikes, this wasn't very good. He was still figuring out the character and it just wasn't translating to good matches yet. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Next week it will be Skip and Rad Radford against the Smoking Gunns. Mark your calendars. 

We get a Shawn Michaels video on the story of his last few months. 

Ahmed Johnson vs. Scott D'Amore

We get the old handshake, sneak attack from D'Amore. Ahmed hits a scissor kick to the back of the head and I'm not sure why this match is still going on. D'Amore gets a few seconds of offense before getting hit with an elbow and an awkward fade to commercial. We come back and Ahmed hits the Pearl River Plunge for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're going back to the Survivor Series Slam Jam for one last push. We hear from Sid and Ted DiBiase and they laugh a lot. 

The announcers give us one more sell and then we go to Paul Bearer and Undertaker, which is a fitting ending for this crap episode. He sits up in a cemetery and delivers his usual cheesy promo. 

This episode was extremely poor headlined by the flop of a Goldust match. There just wasn't really anything good here outside of the hype for Bret/Diesel. 

Overall Rating: 29%

Monday Night Raw 11-13-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, November 13th, 1995
Keystone Centre
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get a Vince McMahon narrated intro this time and he announces that the Sid/Razor Ramon match is no longer for the Intercontinental Championship. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Henry Godwinn

Godwinn pulls off some trickery, as he dumps the slop bucket on himself. It doesn't end up working out because Helmsley bolts to the back. He slips a few times on the way out, but we get no match here. 

Match Rating: No Match

We go to Dok Hendrix for the Survivor Series Slam Jam. They show Ted DiBiase warning Jim Cornette not to cross them. 

We get a Shawn Michaels video. 

Ahmed Johnson vs. Jake Steele

We get a Shawn interview here saying that he was happy to see a friendly face on his team after watching him slam Yokozuna. Next week Shawn will take on Owen Hart. Johnson hits a huge spinebuster and I was definitely all in on Ahmed as a youngster. He hits the Pearl River Plunge for the victory. It's too bad Ahmed never worked out because he had something special, especially during this era. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After a commercial, we get a post-match interview and I'm pretty positive that I didn't catch one word that he said. 

Don't forget to buy your 1996 WWF calendar featuring Diesel on the cover. Diesel will definitely not leave the company this year. You also get the Diesel gloves and sunglasses if you buy the calendar. Again, I promise you he is not leaving next year. 

We now are going to our Diesel/Bret Hart sit down interview. They are in two different locations for the interview. Bret brings up that Diesel never beat him and that he was his toughest opponent. He never got a rematch. Diesel says that he never asked for one and that Shawn Michaels was just as tough. They both make a case for why they will win the match. This was pretty lengthy, but it was well executed. This was probably a better environment for both guys, as it gave it some realism to their story. 

We get Vince vs. Jerry in Karate Fighters, with Jerry cheating. This is the closest to heel Vince I think I have ever seen. 

King Mabel vs. Roy Raymond

We hear from Undertaker in a spooky scene. Whatever. Mabel squashes Roy, literally. This was your typical Mabel match with lots of hype for Undertaker's return and Vince giving Lawler a hard time. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sid vs. Razor Ramon

They show footage of the rematch on Superstars between the Gunns and Razor and the Kid that I 100% definitely have seen. There's no chance that I'm watching all of these Raw episodes first ahead of the Netflix switch. Razor knocks Sid out of the ring with a right hand. Back in the ring, Sid shows off his athleticism and then gives Razor a chokeslam. DiBiase gets in a right hand behind the Kid's back. Razor tries to go for the Razor's Edge, but Sid flips him up and over the top rope. DiBiase is again getting in cheap shots. Out comes Dean Douglas as we go to commercial break. Sid hits a big leg drop, but Razor is able to kick out at 3. Lawler and Dok have both loved making the counting to 3, it's in your name joke for Kid. Razor shows off his strength and hits an electric chair. Razor hits a leaping bulldog off the second rope and we get another close call. These two are putting on a nice match here. Razor goes for the Razor's Edge, but the Kid pulls Sid's leg down and he hits the Powerbomb and gets the fast count for the victory. Sid holds Kid's arm up and DiBiase stuffs a $5 bill in Razor's mouth. Kid isn't really selling the heel turn that much, but he did take the money out of Razor's mouth. I liked this match way more than I was expecting. Sid looked really sharp here and Razor gave us his usual great stuff. 

Match Rating: ***

Vince and Jerry recap what happened and then we go to Jim Cornette, Dean Douglas, Yokozuna and Owen Hart. Before they can really start talking, Razor comes after Douglas and we go off the air. 

This was another pretty good episode, with a nice main event and a fun sit down interview to hype the main event at Survivor Series. I'm looking forward to watching that show and WWF has definitely stepped up their game since Nitro has come along. 

Overall Rating: 53%

Monday Nitro 11-13-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, November 13th, 1995 
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum
Jacksonville, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael and Bobby Heenan talk about the announcement that a new champion will be crowned at World War 3 before going to Hulk Hogan dressed in black with a mask and holding a sword. It just gets worse every week. He talks about not knowing what's going on with Sting. It should be noted that this is the first ever taped edition of Nitro. 

Meng vs. Randy Savage

Savage comes from out of nowhere and attacks Meng. Sullivan tries to sneak attack Savage, but he sees it and gets to him first. This distraction allows Meng to take advantage, and he throws him into the ring post. Meng dominates until he misses off the top rope. Savage throws Meng into Jimmy Hart and then hits the top rope elbow drop for the victory. I never understood why they always had Meng job so much. Immediately after the match, the Shark is out and helps attack Savage. Lex Luger is now out and starts slamming Savage's arm into the ring post. This was decent for what it was, but it was more about the attack after. 

Match Rating: *

Kensuke Sasaki vs. Chris Benoit

This one feels rushed right off the bat. Sasaki gets in a little bit of offense and then basically out of nowhere, Benoit hits three German suplexes. The third one is with a bridge and that's enough to pick up the win. I'm not really sure what the point of this was. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

WCW Television Championship Match
Eddie Guerrero vs. Johnny B. Badd

They are just stacking up the matches here tonight. Eddie goes for a superplex early on, but Badd is able to drop him face-first and then hits a top rope sunset flip. Badd ducks Eddie and he goes to the floor and then Badd hits a somersault over the top rope. Badd misses a splash back into the ring and Eddie gets a 2 count. We get a little bit of a brawl after Badd hits a few jabs to Eddie's jaw. Eddie goes for a Tombstone style piledriver, but Badd rotates to counter and hits one of his own for a 2 count. We start to get the countdown and we aren't even close to a finish here. They start brawling and the referee tries to get in the middle of it. They end up shaking hands after the match and Mongo sticks up for him being a good loser. Weird finish, but the match itself was pretty good. 

Match Rating: **1/4

The announce team lets us know that Hulk Hogan wants to wrestle Sting next week on Nitro. We then go to Jimmy Hart, Kevin Sullivan and Giant in the ring. Hulkamania this. Hulkamania that. No one cares.

Dean Malenko vs. Sting

Mongo tells us that Malenko has no chance because Sting is too strong. Shoutout to the fan in all the purple WCW gear in the front row. They cram a decent amount of action in here, but like most of the other matches tonight, it's over before you know it. Sting gave Dean some offense, but the match was never in doubt. Malenko goes for the Texas Cloverleaf and Sting counters it into a small package for the win. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Mean Gene is now in the ring with Sting. Sting says he has nothing against Hogan, but he doesn't like that Hogan referred to him as a little dog on his porch. He's a big dog, brother. Sting says he'll see Hogan here next week. 

This was a mostly enjoyable episode, but at the same time, not much happened here either. I'm okay with that for the most part, but it seems like they should be hyping up the undercard for World War 3 a little more, as there has been no mention of it. Them giving us Sting vs. Hogan next week is definitely a big deal though, even with Hogan as lame as he is. 

Overall Rating: 52%

Superstars 11-11-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, November 11th, 1995
Agridome
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a recap of the 1-2-3 Kid/Razor Ramon saga and they get their shot again with the Smoking Gunns here today. 

Owen Hart vs. Angel de Guerra

Jerry Lawler suggests that de Guerra is going to get sued for stealing the Angels logo on his tights. Owen dominates and gets some cheers from the Canadian crowd. He hits a beautiful missile dropkick before slapping on the Sharpshooter for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Dok Hendrix for the Survivor Series Slam Jam. Dok is rolling over the couch thinking about the Diesel/Bret Hart match. We hear from both competitors and they cut their B level quality promos. Don't forget about Undertaker's awesome team against King Mabel's team. 

Rad Radford vs. Barry Horowitz

We get some good action to start off and then out come the Body Donnas. They try to get Radford rejuvenated, but it distracts him and Horowitz hits him with a headbutt before bringing him in the ring the hard way. Radford misses in the corner and Horowitz gets a series of right hands in. Radford hits an ugly looking drop on Horowitz to get out of the corner and we go to commercial. JR drops a bombshell about Waylon Mercy retiring from WWF. Radford hits a suplex for a 2 count. These guys are surprisingly getting a lot of time. Horowitz makes his comeback, but the crowd isn't really into it. Barry gets a pin attempt, but Skip distracts the referee. Skip then throws the water in Barry's eyes and Radford rolls him up for the victory. This was perfectly acceptable wrestling for Superstars in 1995.

Match Rating: *3/4

Isaac Yankem vs. Dave Dalton

It doesn't get much worse than this. I'm sorry, I didn't even really watch this one. I'm sure it was really good. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get in the ring with JR who is with Sid, Ted DiBiase, Jim Cornette and British Bulldog. It's always fun to hear Sid do a little bit of yelling. It's too bad DiBiase has to stink up the joint. Cornette has a fun line about taking Ted to lunch and he would have paid if there wasn't a credit card issue. They're just teasing the tension that the wild card match is creating. 

We get the Karate Fighters commercial with the Smoking Gunns. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Smoking Gunns

They hype up the Razor/Sid match that features Kid as the referee. I bet nothing eventful happens there. I keep getting more and more upset that I am no longer am going to be watching this timeline pretty soon here. 1996 was the year that I was looking forward to the most and I will only get up to the Royal Rumble barring a miracle. These teams actually have pretty good chemistry, which really isn't surprising now that I've re-watched this era. They do the thing they love to do on Superstars and just have the match end for a stupid reason just as it is getting good. Razor and Billy start slugging away at each other and the referee disqualifies both teams. You know, because that never happens. They couldn't have just given them a couple more minutes? After the match, Kid is so sad and Razor tries to talk to him, but he walks to the back like Charlie Brown. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Dok runs through the entire card before giving us a Goldust promo. 

When we come back, we see Razor and Kid backstage. They try to interview them, but Kid is still pouting. He slams the door on the camera. Don't forget, Razor takes on Sid on Raw this Monday. I 100% have not watched that already. Next week on Superstars, we will have Savio Vega in action and a special interview with the entire team of the Royals. Bob Holly will take on Goldust in his first Superstars match. 

This was actually a pretty enjoyable episode even if the crowd seemed to be sitting on their hands. They must have used all they had on Bret's match last week. But this one went by at a good pace and had some good action minus the Isaac Yankem match. (Yes, I know I gave the Yankem match the same rating as the Owen match, but it's a squash and there's not much you can really give it other than that.)

Overall Rating: 50%

Monday Nitro 11-6-95 Review

Monday, November 6th, 1995 
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum
Jacksonville, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We are welcomed by Eric Bischoff, Steve McMichael and Bobby Heenan. Bischoff tells us that we can call and vote to pick who we want to see wrestle in the main event tonight. 

Cobra vs. Giant

Giant hits a chokeslam and that is all. A legit sub 20 second match here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mean Gene and Tony Schiavone are in the two different locker rooms that you can pick your main event from. Only 99 cents per minute. 

We go to Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in Venice Beach from earlier today. They are with some homeless guy who keeps speaking gibberish and some crappy street performer playing guitar. Hogan continues to find new ways to make the absolute worst crap ever made. 

Kevin Sullivan vs. Renegade

Does anyone care that the Renegade even exists anymore? Renegade hits a cartwheel elbow in the corner. He then misses in the corner and ends up hung upside down. Sullivan hits a tree of woe run into the corner and hits a double stomp for the win. This was awful despite only being about 3 minutes long. After the match, Jimmy Hart yells in Renegade's face. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Mean Gene and it's always fun with him being stuck with the heels. 

Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

I guess we are finally going to get an actual match tonight. They show a group of Japanese people at a table enjoying food and drinks that includes Sonny Onoo. Meanwhile, Guerrero hits a top rope dive to the floor over the corner. It's kind of fun to see how different these matches were compared to the other crap they often put on TV with the hindsight of knowing how much the style would be shifting. They start battling with Eddie on the apron. Benoit goes for a suplex, but Eddie shifts his weight and falls on top for the victory despite Benoit's feet being under the ropes. Heenan is livid about it and the others just say they don't have any time to even look at the replay. Weird. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We go back to Schiavone and Sting wanting Flair. Sting's promos were really lame during this era. 

You'll never guess what the fans picked for the main event. They only let Ric Flair and Sting talk and they both talked about hating each other. I didn't see it coming. 

Sting vs. Ric Flair

Sting jumps Flair upon his entrance, and we are underway. The crowd is 100% into this one, that's for sure. I'm not sure how much time they are giving this match, but there is still 20 minutes left in the show. We go to commercial break and when we come back, they let us know that Flair hit a kick to the crotch. He slaps on the Figure Four and uses the ropes for leverage. Sting reverses it and McMichael claims he has never seen anyone do that before. It should be noted that both Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman are not at ringside with Flair. Sting hits a superplex and slaps on the Scorpion Death Lock and Flair submits. Sting won't let go and all the good guys come out to finally pull him off. Sting puts it back on and now Lex Luger is out. Luger says something to Sting and he lets go and walks back with Luger. The other wrestlers are in shock. The match was entertaining and I'm surprised they put Sting over so cleanly on TV. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Mean Gene is in the ring with Kevin Sullivan, Jimmy Hart and the Giant. Jimmy takes a cheap shot of Hogan's movies going straight to video. Hart says that while Hogan was doing movies and charity, Jimmy took care of business and he signed the contract because he had power of attorney. Hogan didn't realize that there was a stipulation that if there was a disqualification, Hogan lost his title and that means Giant is the champion. Okerlund brings in an attorney and says that Jimmy is partially correct. He then says that Giant is not the champion and then says that Nick Bockwinkle issued a statement that due to the dubious nature of the disqualification, the championship is vacant and will be awarded to the winner of the World War 3 battle royal. Sullivan is livid, but says that no one can beat the Giant in the battle royal. 

The announce team talks about what just occurred. Next week it's Randy Savage vs. Meng, Sting vs. Dean Malenko and Johnny B. Badd vs. Eddie Guerrero. 

This episode started off horribly, but once we hit the Guerrero match, it was a good time. They had to do something to make the battle royal mean something, so the title storyline makes sense there. The Hogan segment though is one of the worst things to happen in this year and we are talking about 1995, so think about that. 

Overall Rating: 56%

Off The Grid, Volume 55: Saturday Night's Main Event XX Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, March 11th, 1989
Hersheypark Arena
Hershey, Pennsylvania

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Off The Grid, Volume 55:

Miss Elizabeth must choose between Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan tonight. Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura are the hosts, as per usual. 

We go to Mean Gene, who is with Rick Rude and Bobby Heenan. Even Bobby seems bored by the fact that he has to take on Beefcake tonight. 

Mean Gene is now with Beefcake and he compares Heenan to a hair dryer, he's full of hot air. Cuttin' and struttin'. 

Rick Rude vs. Brutus Beefcake

There really is a pretty big difference visually between 1989 WWF and 1990 WWF. It's all Beefcake at the beginning and he even gets the sleeper hold on briefly. And with this being so close to WrestleMania, we get shenanigans. Andre the Giant is out and he attacks Beefcake. So that brings out Jake Roberts. It leads to Rude and Andre destroying Jake. Beefcake makes the save and knocking Rude out of the ring. His attack on Andre has no impact and Andre starts choking Beefcake. Now Big John Studd is out and then Jake throws Damien in the ring and Andre scurries. This was pointless. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Hulk Hogan tells us that Bad News Brown will be yesterday's news. 

Jesse interviews Bad News and he says that Elizabeth is a problem. He says that no woman would ever get in his way. 

Now Mean Gene is with Hogan and Elizabeth. I don't understand how anyone could even side with Hogan during any of this? Or ever.

Bad News Brown vs. Hulk Hogan

In case you were wondering, this was exactly like every Hogan match ever. Hogan hits the big boot very early on, but doesn't follow up with the leg drop. They start brawling outside a little bit and then for some reason Bad News has a shovel and is holding it up while Hogan is in the ring and we go to commercial break. Bad News gets his offense in and then gets on the mic to taunt Hogan. Shockingly, that backfires and now it's time for the Hulk up. He hits a high knee and then a leg drop and gets the win. Whatever.

Match Rating: *

They show Randy Savage backstage before going to Mean Gene with Ted DiBiase and Virgil. He shows off the Million Dollar Championship. 

Blue Blazer even gets an interview and tells DiBiase he's going down.

Ted DiBiase vs. Blue Blazer

DiBiase clotheslines Blazer after his flip that he does as part of his entrance. Blazer sneaks in a few quick pin attempts, but DiBiase kicks out and is frustrated. Blazer is able to dropkick DiBiase to the floor and follows it up with a dive through the ropes. He hits a crossbody off the top rope and gets a 2 count while Jesse wonders if Blazer will get the Million Dollar title if he wins. Blazer hits a couple of dropkicks but catches Blazer and hits a powerslam for a victory. Kind of a lame finish, as they were putting in a good match until then. 

Match Rating: **

They show Savage pacing outside Elizabeth's dressing room and we get a Burger King sponsorship. 

Mean Gene is in the arena now and brings out Miss Elizabeth. Gene cuts right to the chase and asks whose corner she would be in. Elizabeth says that she hoped that it would never come down to this. So Gene just asks her if she will be in Hogan's corner at WrestleMania and she says no. That brings out Savage and he is celebrating his victory here. He answers for her when Gene asks, but Gene demands to hear it from Elizabeth. She says no and that angers Savage, which brings out Hogan. Things get heated and Hogan says he will be champion again. 

Mean Gene is now with the Brain Busters and Bobby Heenan. They are sick of hearing about the Rockers. 

This of course leads us to Mean Gene with the Rockers. Shawn Michaels is basically a different human at this point. 

Brain Busters vs. Rockers

We get a quickly paced opener that features all four men at the same time. Both of these teams are just really good. I know that is a real controversial statement. Heenan pulls down the top rope and it sends Michaels to the floor. The referee catches wind of it and throws Heenan out of the match. That of course leads to our commercial break. We get some pin attempts by both teams, but no victory out of them. Arn comes in and hits the big spinebuster. Arn goes for the Vader Bomb, but Marty gets the knees up. Both teams get the tag and Shawn wins that battle. Shawn goes for a suplex, but Arn knocks him into a pin attempt, but then Marty breaks that up. They start brawling outside and you know where we're going here. They love doing this finish during this era. So we get no winner, but we do get more Rockers dropkicks after the bell. This was good as we all would expect, but that finish just sucks. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

We get a recap of Brooklyn Brawler attacking Red Rooster and then go to Jesse Ventura with Brawler and Heenan. Heenan says Brawler is a bigger and better nobody than Rooster is. 

Mean Gene is with Red Rooster and he says that he is a somebody. I still can't believe this gimmick didn't get over.

Brooklyn Brawler vs. Red Rooster

They fight for like 30 seconds and Rooster gets a small package for the victory. This was as stupid as you would expect it to be. Heenan teases getting into the ring and that distracts him to allow a Brawler attack. They double team Rooster until he is able to kick Brawler out of the ring. Heenan retreats and that's all. Why were they even wasting Heenan's body on this crap? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mean Gene is in the locker room with Randy Savage and he's out of control and throwing things around because of Elizabeth's decision, even though he says he doesn't need her. This leads to another commercial. 

I will always be the one guy who doesn't love this particular time period. Hogan was so obnoxious and there should be absolutely no sympathy for him at all. That whole story just took me out of the beginning of the show. I did enjoy the DiBiase/Blazer and Rockers/Busters matches, but then it ends on such a sour note with a terrible storyline. The sound on here sucked too, which just made it more annoying. 

Overall Rating: 48%

Monday Night Raw 11-6-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, November 6th, 1995
Keystone Centre
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get a quick Todd Pettengill hype video and then it's straight to business.

British Bulldog vs. Marty Jannetty    

Dok Hendrix is with Vince now because of Jerry Lawler wrestling tonight. How many times did this poor crowd have to hear Jannetty's music at this taping? They work a nice pace to start things off, which once again is why Marty is so valuable. He brings out the best in his opponents. Bulldog then press slams Marty onto the top rope. We hear from Clarence Mason and he says that Bulldog will face the winner of Bret Hart/Diesel at In Your House on December 17th. Bulldog continues his dominance into a commercial break. Cornette gets in some cheap shots behind the referee's back. Bulldog gets Marty in the tree of woe and he gets in a few stomps and then slows things down. Jannetty gets some momentum, but then he runs into the ring post. Bulldog immediately scoops him up for the running powerslam and picks up the win in a nice opening match. 

Match Rating: **3/4

We go to a pre-recorded video from Washington D.C. with a cheesy Bill Clinton impersonator. 

Dok then interviews Bulldog and Cornette. Bulldog is going to win the WWF Championship like he should have before. He then tells Shawn Michaels that if he double crosses Bulldog, he's going to make Syracuse look like a walk in the park. 

They show the interview from Superstars with Goldust. Bam Bam Bigelow interrupted and challenged Goldust to a match. 

Henry Godwinn vs. Terry Richards

Richards is Rhyno in I believe is his WWF debut. Don't quote me on that. Godwinn looks a little more motivated here and getting back to his better squash ways. He hits the Slop Drop and that's all. After the match, Helmsley attacks Godwinn and hits the Pedigree outside the ring. He then puts on some gloves and then dumps the slop on Godwinn. We are finally getting some character development here with Helmsley.

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the Survivor Series Slam Jam, this time with Todd. They announce that Undertaker will captain a team with Fatu, Savio Vega and Henry Godwinn against King Mabel's team that includes Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Isaac Yankem and Jerry Lawler. We hear from Paul Bearer and then Diesel. 

Kama vs. Tony Roy

You can buy 1,000 Mad Caps for only $21! Are you kidding me? Just in case you weren't sure that no one cared about Kama, we get a Shawn Michaels phone interview here. Kama wins. Nothing important happens. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week on Raw, it will be Sid vs. Razor Ramon with 1-2-3 Kid as the referee. 

We get a Smoking Gunns Karate Fighters promo. 

Jerry Lawler & Isaac Yankem vs. Bret Hart & Hakushi

You have to love wrestling logic when Bret and Hakushi are able to team up now. Hakushi hits the cartwheel reverse elbow, but the second time around Yankem knocks him silly from behind. Hakushi goes for a dive outside the ring, but Yankem catches him and rams him into the ring post. Lawler hits a piledriver on Hakushi, but he doesn't go for the cover. He hits a second piledriver instead. We get a commercial break and now Yankem has Hakushi in a Boston crab. Bret breaks it up and it leads to him getting the hot tag. He hits a double noggin knocker and a side Russian leg sweep. He goes for the Sharpshooter and locks it in. Hakushi blocks Lawler's attempt, but Hakushi distracts the ref when Yankem is submitting. Lawler tries to hit Bret with a chair, but Barry Horowitz makes the save. The ref sees Horowitz with the chair and calls for the bell. That's a lame finish. Yankem sucks.

Match Rating: *3/4

Next week, Helmsley will face Godwinn and Ahmed Johnson will debut. They show clips of the Raw, proving that the show is taped. Interesting strategy.

This was a good Raw overall, thanks to a better than expected Jannetty/Bulldog match. They seem to be sprinkling in a little bit more of storyline development now. 

Overall Rating: 51%

Superstars 11-4-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, November 4th, 1995
Agridome
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Jerry Lawler is going to interview Goldust today, plus Bret Hart will take on Sid with Bret having the Saskatchewan Roughriders in his corner. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mike Legacy

Helmsley hits a high knee to the face of Legacy. Helmsley hits a neckbreaker and then the Pedigree for the easy victory. At least they have something for Helmsley to do now. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show clips from Raw, which just reminds me of how mad I am that Netflix hasn't added a single Raw episode since day 1.

Henry Godwinn's music hits and he teases slopping Helmsley, who still isn't to the back and we go to commercial. 

Henry Godwinn vs. Otis Apollo

Godwinn nails Apollo with a big clothesline and calls for the hogs. He hits the Slop Drop and we're moving quickly here today through the squashes. Jim Ross interviews Godwinn after the match. He says he's going to beat Helmsley and slop him. Can't get much more clear cut than that. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to the Survivor Series Slam Jam with Dok Hendrix. We hear from Razor Ramon about his wild card match. He says he can't trust his teammates, but they can't trust him. We then hear from his three partners, but only Cornette and Owen do the talking. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Scott D'Amore

We are on the last legs of Bam Bam in WWF here. We then get an awkward pause in the commentary and go to commercial. Was something edited out there? Bam Bam hits a sling shot dive from the apron for the win? He must have known he was done. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show The Body Donnas doing sit ups on the concrete floor. They find M&Ms in his shirt and spill them out, but he still eats them. 

Jerry Lawler interviews Goldust in the ring. Bam Bam comes out to join them. I should note that the lights are down with his gold lighting in the ring. Bam Bam doesn't even know what Goldust is. He challenges him to a match anywhere, any place. This was kind of an odd interview segment and not probably in the way they were aiming for. 

King Mabel vs. Tim McNeany

We hear from Paul Bearer as Mabel enters the ring. Mabel swats away a dropkick and hits his signature kick to the back of the head. Mabel hits a splash in the corner and a belly-to-belly suplex for the win. This show is flying by, but there are still about 20 minutes left. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid will get a rematch against the Smoking Gunns next week on Superstars. 

Sid vs. Bret Hart

Sid is accompanied by the Million Dollar Corporation, which somehow still exists. Glen Kulka is one of the players who are out with Bret, who would briefly be with the WWF. This is treated like a lumberjack match, but JR flat out says it isn't after Bret clotheslines Sid and they throw him back in the ring. I just realized that Skip is out with Sid. DiBiase trips up Bret and Sid hits a leg drop. So apparently when it was the Ottawa team, it was the Rough Riders and when it was Saskatchewan, they were the Roughriders. Kulka then gets a spot where he hits a shoulder tackle on Skip. This all leads to Kulka distracting Sid and Bret rolling up Sid for the victory. The crowd absolutely loved that finish. The match was pretty good and the crowd was into every second of it. 

Match Rating: **

We go back to Dok Hendrix. I was reading another review on this show and reading about all the backstage drama going on around this time, with the company really struggling. It's kind of interesting since they were able to sell 14,500 tickets (I'm sure some were giveaways), but still. Dok announces an 8 woman Survivor Series match. We then hear from Diesel and he says that he saw fear in Bret's eyes for the first time. Dok then announces the Underdogs taking on the Body Donnas. They announce Avatar as being on the Underdogs and Jean Pierre Lafitte as being on the Body Donnas. They would eventually be replaced. 

They interview Bret Hart backstage. He says that Diesel is wearing a belt that should be his and he's better than he is. He tells Big D that he's going to hit the truck stop right here. 

This was a typical episode of Superstars for the most part with the exception of getting a legit main event in terms of star power. I am looking forward to watching Survivor Series again, but so far the build outside of Diesel/Bret has just been decent. 

Overall Rating: 44%