Monday Night Raw 11-20-95 Review

Monday, November 20th, 1995
Richmond Coliseum
Richmond, Virginia

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We go back to getting still photos, as they show us some of the chaos of the Diesel/Bret Hart match from Survivor Series. Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler recap Survivor Series and then show the 1-2-3 Kid heel turn last week. They show some more still photos of the Kid's match and the Wild Card match. 

Hakushi vs. 1-2-3 Kid

These two had one of my favorite matches of the year at SummerSlam. Let's see if they get some time. We get a Razor Ramon phone interview, so that's not a great start. Razor says that he won't cry about what happened, but Kid knows firsthand just how bad Razor can be. Hakushi hits a dropkick and then out comes Marty Jannetty with the referees trying to hold him back as we go to commercial break. This is definitely a slower paced match compared to SummerSlam. Hakushi gets it going a little bit and hits a top rope shoulder tackle. He hits a back body drop and then a kick that sends Kid to the floor. Hakushi climbs the top rope, but DiBiase pushes him off behind the referee's back. Kid hits the spin kick and picks up the victory in a pretty good opener. After the match, DiBiase hands Kid some money. 

Match Rating: **

Lawler interviews DiBiase and Kid after the commercial break. This seems to be their new trend. They make fun of Marty and out he comes. Sid is there and he attacks Marty and then Kid gets in his cheap shots. Sid hits a powerbomb to the floor and tells him that's what he gets when he messes with the Kid. 

We go to Dok Hendrix for the Slam Jam. He reminds us that it will be Bret Hart taking on British Bulldog at In Your House. We hear from Bulldog and Cornette, reminding us of what happened at SummerSlam 1992. Dok also announces that Henry Godwinn will take on Hunter Hearst Helmsley in an Arkansas Hog Pen Match. He also announces that Diesel is in the building. They show Skip and Sunny in the ring and then Diesel talking to Shawn Michaels backstage before the commercial break. 

Skip vs. Savio Vega

Don't forget to buy your denim jacket for $59.75! Take your pick of Diesel, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart. I would love to know how many those sold. There is a Body Donnas Fan Club sign in the crowd today. Why do wrestlers who have the straps on their gear never actually wear the straps? Anyway, Vega has Skip bumping around the ring and then out comes Diesel. Savio sends Skip over the top rope and face-first to the floor. Diesel takes Skip and shoves him to the ground. He grabs a microphone and says that he thought about coming out here and apologizing to Bret and his dear fans for what he did. He's not going to do that. He said that for the first time in a year, he saw a smile on his face. He said he's not some corporate puppet that Vince decided to create, he's himself. He tells Vince that he missed the ball instead of dropping the ball. He was sick of being told to smile more and be a little bit more corporate. He says that last night was the tip of the iceberg and that Big Daddy Cool is back. He says the only things that matter to him are his family and friends, including Shawn Michaels. He says he's back and heads to the back. That's also the end of the match. We did get enough action I guess for me to rate it, but just barely. This is most notable for really being the first time that Vince was outed as someone more than just an announcer. They show Diesel walking with Shawn backstage and out of the building. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Next week on Raw, it's Undertaker vs. Kama. Plus, Brother Love makes his return to interview Bret Hart. Talk about random. 

Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

These two are two of the best in 1995 wrestling and we get an opening segment that shows that off. Owen hits a German suplex into a bridge and gets a 2 count. Owen is in firm control into the commercial break. Shawn is able to explode for a clothesline and both men are down. Shawn kips up and hits the leaping forearm after an Irish whip. Shawn hits the top rope elbow drop for a nearfall. He sends Owen into the corner sternum first and tries for Sweet Chin Music, but Owen hangs on in the corner. Shawn goes after him and Owen hits an enzuigiri. He goes for the Sharpshooter, but Shawn is able to wiggle out of it before he slaps it in. Shawn clotheslines Owen over the top and skins the cat. Shawn then falls to the ground in the ring, leaving Cornette a little confused. Owen isn't sure what to do either. The referee checks in on Shawn and Vince leaves the announce booth into another commercial break. When we come back, the medical team is giving Shawn oxygen. They even show Lawler looking concerned and we get another commercial to sell the drama. When we come back, we can hear Pat Patterson asking if Shawn can hear him and Shawn is shaking his head. They keep selling it and we go off the air. The match was what you would expect until the big angle. This is one of the more memorable angles up to this point in Raw history. 

Match Rating: **

This was a big time episode with the Shawn drama and the Diesel attitude change. They continue to step up their game in presenting a better television product as we near the Attitude Era. 

Overall Rating: 67%

Survivor Series 1995 Review

Sunday, November 19th, 1995 
USAir Arena
Landover, Maryland

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

Right off the bat, Howard Finkle introduces Mr. Perfect and then we go into the hype video for Bret Hart vs. Diesel. When we come back, Mr. Perfect is with Jim Ross and Vince McMahon as part of the announce team. 

The Underdogs (Marty Jannetty, Barry Horowitz, Hakushi & Bob Holly) vs. The Body Donnas (Skip, Rad Radford, Tom Prichard & 1-2-3 Kid)

They treat Marty Jannetty as the captain of the team, despite the name coming from Barry Horowitz's gimmick. Bob Holly has replaced Avatar. Sunny introduces their 4th partner, the 1-2-3 Kid. He replaces Jean Pierre Lafitte. The Prichard inclusion is such an odd one, especially since he will eventually be Zip. Razor Ramon is out during the Kid's entrance and has to be held back. We get a nice little segment with Holly and Skip before a tag into Prichard. The crowd is chanting for "Barry". Prichard misses with a moonsault and Holly hits a top rope crossbody and eliminates Prichard. Skip comes in and rolls up Holly and he's eliminated. Hakushi comes in and hits a reverse kick to the jaw. He goes for the splash in the corner, but Skip gets his knees up. It's about time that Skip gets some shine. Skip hits a top rope hurricanrana, but for some reason he sells an injury to and falls face-first. Vince says he landed on his head. He clearly did not. The Kid gets tagged in and takes it to Hakushi. Hakushi doesn't want any of it and hits a top rope shoulder tackle. I know this is the opening match, but the crowd is really into this. They show Razor watching backstage with the Darkside. Kid gets a kick to the back of the head of Hakushi and Radford holds the tights to eliminate him. Barry is finally in and runs into a double elbow of Radford and Kid. Radford dominates but is being cocky by pulling Barry up before the ref can count to 3. Radford starts doing some pushups and that leads to Horowitz rolling him up and eliminating Radford. Skip is upset and Barry is right behind him. He takes out some aggression, but we get a blind tag to Kid and he hits a dropkick to the back. He follows up with a leg drop and eliminates Barry. We're down to a 2 on 1. Skip goes for a powerbomb, but Marty rolls over for a sunset flip and gets a 2 count. Marty hits the Rocker Dropper and climbs to the top. Sunny shakes the ropes and Marty loses his balance. Skip climbs up to meet him, but Marty hits a top rope powerbomb and eliminates Skip. That was a great move, but I'm not sure Marty is the guy I'd let do that to me. Kid comes in and hits a spin kick right off the bat. Kid goes up top and hits a leg drop, but Marty kicks out at 2. Kid hits a running dropkick in the corner and DiBiase likes what he sees. Marty battles back and then out comes Sid. Marty hits a reverse elbow, but Marty is distracted. Marty hits a Rocker Dropper but Kid gets his foot on the bottom rope. DiBiase is on the apron to distract the ref and Sid snaps Marty on the top rope. Kid rolls over and covers him for the victory. That was a really enjoyable opening match that was boosted by the crowd being really into the story being told despite it being the lower mid-card. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

After the match, they show Razor throwing things around in the back. 

We go to Todd Pettengill with Jim Cornette, Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna, Dean Douglas and Owen Hart. They get on Razor for not being focused. 

Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe & Lioness Asuka vs. Alundra Blayze, Sakie Hasegawa, Kyoko Inoue & Chapparita Asari

This will be a tough one to call. At least we have JR here to help out. Asari hits a great corkscrew off the top rope, but tags in Alundra and she hits a German suplex into a bridge to get rid of Asuka. Watanabe is in right away but misses with a moonsault. Alundra then dives off the top rope to the floor. Hasegawa hits a series of double arm suplexes. Aja Kong is tagged in and she surprisingly gets dropped on her head with a suplex by Hasegawa. Kong comes back with a kick to the midsection and hits a suplex of her own to eliminate Hasegawa. Asari is back in and tries a crossbody but gets swatted away. Kong hits a second rope splash and Asari is gone unfortunately. Inoue gets tagged in for the first time and she hits a clothesline on Kong. Inoue goes for a sunset flip, but Kong sits on her and gets a controversial cover. It looked like her shoulder was up, but the referee sticks with it. We're down to 3 on 1 here for Alundra. Alundra hits a suplex on Watanabe and we get another possible miscommunication with Watanabe kicking out. Alundra struggles to get her up for a piledriver but does and that time she pins her. Bertha is finally in and squashes her in the corner. Kong runs in and Bertha accidentally runs into her. Alundra hits the German suplex into the bridge and she's gone. We get an awkward pause in the corner and Kong hits a superplex for a 2 count. I should note that Vince and Perfect are giving us the typical announcing you'd expect from this era. At least Perfect is playing a heel, I guess? Alundra hits a standing moonsault, but Kong kicks out at 2. Kong catches Alundra with a spinning back punch and that's all. Aja gets the Orient Express music for her victory. This wasn't as good as I remembered it being. There were a lot of miscommunications, and it felt rushed. 

Match Rating: **

We get an interview with "Bill Clinton" during Bam Bam Bigelow's entrance. When his pyro goes off, he goes down and his secret service is all over it. Yep.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Goldust

This is basically it for Bam Bam before he would go onto being a top guy in ECW. The action spills outside and Bam Bam ducks a clothesline and he hits his arm on the post. They are back in the ring and this time Goldust clotheslines Bam Bam to the floor. Goldust has pretty much been dominating this match. Bam Bam gets a quick burst of offense but misses with a splash in the corner. Goldust hits a bulldog and that's all. That was a more convincing win than most of his matches so far. It also continues the trend of his matches being pretty dull for the most part. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We go back to "Bill Clinton" who is with Bob Backlund now. Backlund calls him out, but Bill likes Bob. Why is this on the show? 

The Royals (King Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Isaac Yankem) vs. The Darkside (Undertaker, Henry Godwinn, Savio Vega & Fatu)

Fatu and Helmsley start things off, but it all leads to Godwinn being tagged in and Helmsley quickly tagging out. Things start off pretty slowly, so I blame Yankem. He sucks. Still does. It all just leads to Undertaker finally getting tagged in. Lawler is in there when he does, and no one wants to tag in. He hits the Tombstone and Lawler is gone. It's Yankem's turn now and gets his Tombstone and is gone. Helmsley decides to give it a try but then rolls out of the ring. He tries to leave, but Godwinn is there with the bucket. Undertaker pulls him into the ring and gives him a nice chokeslam for his elimination. Mabel comes from behind and hits a belly-to-belly suplex. He follows up with a leg drop and starts dancing. Taker naturally sits up and Mabel rolls out of the ring. Mo comes in the ring to distract him and Mabel is off to the back. Mo eats a chokeslam and the Darkside wins 4-0 for the first face victory of the night. This was just to re-establish the Undertaker's character and nothing else. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We get pre-recorded interviews from Bret Hart and Diesel where they talk about their match tonight and also about the match with British Bulldog. 

We go to Todd with British Bulldog, Sid, Ted DiBiase and Jim Cornette. Ted isn't buying Cornette sticking with Bulldog and not with Owen and Yoko. Shawn and Ahmed join the party. 

Owen Hart, Yokozuna, Dean Douglas & Razor Ramon vs. British Bulldog, Sid, Ahmed Johnson & Shawn Michaels

Shawn gets the start, which is a wise move in 1995. He hits a moonsault on Douglas, but Owen pulls him off during the pin attempt. Ahmed gets tagged in and is cleaning house. He goes to slam Yokozuna, but it doesn't work out this time and Yoko goes to work. Ahmed and Shawn work together to get back in it and then a Razor distraction causes Douglas to get rolled up by Shawn and eliminated. Now it's time for Bulldog and Owen. Bulldog hits a monkey flip on Owen and then Owen hits a spin kick on Bulldog. Now we have Shawn tagged in and Razor tagged in. Razor gets Shawn up for the Razor's Edge and hits it. Ahmed runs in and makes the save before the count of 3. We get a collision and that leads to Sid being tagged in. Sid works on his back for a bit until they hit a double clothesline. Sid hits a chokeslam on Razor and tags in Shawn. He holds Razor up, but Razor ducks and Shawn accidentally hits Sid with Sweet Chin Music. Razor covers him and Bulldog runs in and hits Sid, but I think he was wanting to hit Razor? Razor sort of sells it and then covers him again to eliminate Sid. Sid then gives Michaels a powerbomb out of frustration. Owen and Yoko work on Shawn until Owen misses with a top rope headbutt. Ahmed gets tagged in and hits the Pearl River Plunge to eliminate Owen. Razor is in and hits a bulldog on Ahmed. Ahmed comes back with a spinebuster. Ahmed celebrates and that allows Razor to hit the Razor's Edge. Bulldog is in though and he gets caught in the air for a fall away slam. DiBiase, Sid and Kid are now out at ringside. Kid gets up on the apron and Razor hits him with a right hand. Bulldog then hits him with the running powerslam and he's out of here. Yoko is the last man standing for his team. Michaels is able to avoid a Banzai Drop and tags in Ahmed. He hits a body slam and Bulldog inexplicably breaks up the pin attempt. Shawn and Ahmed hit him with right hands and a double clothesline. Shawn hits Yoko with Sweet Chin Music and Ahmed jumps on him for the victory. This was pretty good and better executed than any of the BattleBowl's I have seen. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

If you were hoping for more fake Bill Clinton, you're in luck. Now we get innuendo with Sunny sitting on his lap. 

This leads to a Bret/Diesel hype video. It's such a fun throwback to hear Gorilla Monsoon calling their King Of The Ring 1994 match. 

No Disqualification Match For The WWF Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Diesel

I gave their KOTR match ***1/2 and their Royal Rumble match ***3/4. They both take turnbuckle covers off as soon as the bell rings. They establish quickly that this is a no DQ match and also don't fall into the trap of Diesel getting a fast start. Instead, he is working a more methodical pace, as this one is going to be lengthy. Diesel goes for the Jackknife, but Bret is able to block it and bites him to get out of it. Bret is able to get the Figure Four on and JR reminds us that Bret used this multiple times back in January. Bret slams Diesel's leg into the ring post and then takes a microphone cable and ties Diesel's leg around the post. Bret tries to use a chair, but Diesel is able to kick him in the face with the foot that isn't tied to the post. Bret still is able to take advantage and uses the chair on Diesel's leg. Bret climbs up top, but Diesel launches him off and then unties the cord. Even though Vince is being his usual annoying 1995 self, the announcers are doing a good job of playing up the fight aspect of this match. As Bret is trying to get back into the ring, Diesel pushes him off using the ropes and through the table. This is the most iconic spot of this match and was very rare for this company at this time. Diesel pulls him back into the ring and goes for the Jackknife. Bret collapses before Diesel can lift him up. He goes for it again, but this time Bret uses a small package and steals the victory and the WWF Championship. After the match, Diesel shoves the referee away and hits a Jackknife on Bret. He then attacks the officials that run into the ring and then hits a second Jackknife. He lifts up his arm and says that "I'm back" to the crowd. This was a really good main event and a great finish. The Diesel character has needed this for months and they finally pulled the trigger. 

Match Rating: ****1/4

We get a highlight package to wrap up the show. The announce team sells the carnage that just occurred as the officials check in on an injured Bret. 

I'm sure some of it is nostalgia, but I really like this show. Not everything is great, but it felt like it all had a purpose. The main event had that big fight feel and both competitors came out of the match better than when they entered. The opening match is an underrated match that fans of this time period will enjoy and the wild card match is a good novelty in an era that didn't do heel/face teams often. Thumbs up from me. 

Overall Rating: 83%

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%