Off The Grid, Volume 58: Clash Of The Champions XIX Review

Original Airdate: Monday, June 22nd, 1992
McAlister Fieldhouse
Charleston, South Carolina

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Off The Grid, Volume 58:

We're getting the first round of the NWA World Championship Tournament tonight. We go to Tony Schiavone, Missy Hyatt and Magnum T.A. Missy says something and leaves. She stinks at this role. Tony brings in Bill Watts and he stinks at this role too. So, this was taped before Beach Blast and then aired 2 days after it? Weird timing.

We go to Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura, who is calling his first Clash. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Joe & Dean Malenko vs. Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff

I did not realize Dean had a match this early on WCW TV. I figured this would be a sprint but apparently they're going to give these guys some time. Koloff gets Dean in a bear hug, which all of my loyal readers know is my favorite move. Koloff catches Dean off the top rope and Joe comes in and dropkicks Dean into a pin attempt that Koloff kicks out of with authority. We get a little bit of a scary move when Dean tries to drop Steamboat's throat on the top rope and loses his balance with both men falling a little awkwardly. Steamboat gets the hot tag to Koloff and hits Dean with an elbow and a shoulder block. He hits Joe with an inverted atomic drop and clothesline. He then hits a big running clothesline for the finish. That was a fun little tag team match.

Match Rating: **3/4

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Z-Man & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Rick Rude & Steve Austin

Jesse doesn't agree with the low seed for Austin and Rude and JR agrees. Rude hits a big vertical suplex and the heels are mostly dominating so far. Rude hits Z-Man with a piledriver but only gets a 2 count with the cocky cover. Rude and Austin hit a double clothesline. Bagwell gets the hot tag spot here and it doesn't last long. Rude hits a Rude Awakening while Z-Man and Austin are brawling outside and pick up the win. This was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Terry Gordy and Steve Williams are with Eric Bischoff. Gordy basically says that no one wants to see them face anyone but the Steiners. Then Williams uses an anti-gay slur and then catches himself. So yeah, this sucked.

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Larry O'Day & Jeff O'Day vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams

The father/son duo of the O'Day team get cheesy music and look like jobbers. I can't imagine who will win this one. Gordy destroys dad with a suplex and then they hit a double clothesline. Williams hits the Oklahoma Stampede and that's all. I'm honestly surprised it wasn't quicker. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jesse Ventura is in the ring to interview Sting. Sting is out in a tuxedo and they show highlights of Vader hitting a big splash off the second rope on Sting. This is pretty vanilla and was just to get Sting on the show, which there is nothing wrong with. 

JR and Jesse hype up Sting vs. Vader on July 12th. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton

How would these teams be seeded low enough to have to wrestle each other in the opening round? A Windham dropkick knocks Arn out of the ring and he's grabbing his knee. The faces get in most of the offense to begin. The heels use their dastardly ways to gain the advantage and Dustin uses the power of the crowd to help will him into hitting a jawbreaker on Arn. Eaton is tagged in and hits a bulldog on Dustin. We get some shenanigans and Arn hits a big spinebuster behind the referee's back. Eaton covers him but Dustin kicks out. Eaton misses with the top rope leg drop and Dustin hits the bulldog for the win and a big pop from the crowd. This was a good match, as one would expect.

Match Rating: ***1/4

We go to Missy and Eric. Missy reads something and leaves and in comes Terry and Steve again. We find out the Puerto Rican team is not able to take on the Steiner Brothers. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Silver Kings vs. Freebirds

The Silver Kings get to show off some solid tag team wrestling here and get the crowd involved early. Things kind of come to a stop with action after that and we get more standard action. A double dropkick by the Silver Kings knocks both out of the ring. One of the Kings goes for a dive, but the Freebirds block it and the other King leaps off the top rope and hits his teammate. Hayes brings him in the ring and uses an inside cradle to pick up the win. The Silver Kings were pretty good but the chemistry was a little off. 

Match Rating: **

Magnum T.A. is suspicious of what has happened with the Puerto Rican team. Out comes Ole Anderson who is terrible at this job. The Steiners will take on Williams and Gordy at Great American Bash. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Brian Pillman & Jushin Liger vs. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington

The most annoying part of watching matches during this era is the constant explanation of how throwing someone over the top rope is not throwing someone over the top rope. What a stupid rule. Pillman hits a super back suplex and then a missile dropkick. Pillman then hits a crossbody off the apron. He and Benoit start hitting each other with hard chops outside the ring before heading back in. Liger is tagged in and he hits a crossbody off the top rope to the floor on Beef. Benoit goes for a super back suplex but Jushin shifts his momentum and lands on top. Liger hits a stiff looking spin kick and then the springboard moonsault. Beef gets in an illegal kick right in front of the referee and no mention of that being against the rules. Beef misses a missile dropkick and Pillman tags in Liger. We get a little bit of a sloppy segment here and they all start brawling. Liger hits a moonsault on Beef and picks up the win. Everything was good until that last minute. I have no clue what that was supposed to be. 

Match Rating: ***

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Headhunters vs. Akira Nogomi & Hiroshi Hase

Just a note for myself that this Headhunter team is not the same one from Roal Rumble 1996. Nogomi hits a step up enzuigiri. I love JR's comment on the Headhunters and how they did not want to communicate with either him or Ventura. This match obviously just exists to put over Hase and Nogomi. Nogomi hits a splash off the top but then Hase misses with knees off the top. This is the death spot and the crowd is quiet for this one. I'm not sure why the Headhunters are getting this much offense in. Ventura applauds the referee for not counting a pin until the partner was out of the ring and he loves that the rules are becoming strict. Jesse then rips on the Japanese team for being a 2 seed. They then hit two different suplexes into a bridge and pick up the win. That was a flat match. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jesse now brings Ron Simmons out to the ring for an interview. He's interrupted by Harley Race and Super Invader. Harley then makes a comment of how he had a boy like Simmons carrying his bag. Simmons then attacks Race and takes care of both of them. This woke up the crowd. 

Tony Schiavone is with Bill Watts now. He cuts a lame promo on how great he is as an executive. He tells us that he talked to both Gordy and Williams and the Steiners. We are going to have them wrestle right now. 

NWA World Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Steiner Brothers

With the way they have built to this match, I would have thought that this would have started as more of a brawl. Rick does his best to try to make it one when given the chance but then Williams nails him with a clothesline. JR of course thinks it is the greatest thing ever. Scott does get a hot tag and he was always crazy over during this time period. He misses with a dropkick and Gordy puts on a STF but Scott gets to the ropes. Williams should try pulling up his tights a little higher. I can still see his shoulder blades. Rick now gets a hot tag and they are completely brawling. He gets double teamed but he's still throwing right hands. Rick hits a power slam and goes for the cover, but Williams is not the legal man. Williams hits a shoulder tackle into the knee of Scott outside the ring. Gordy and Rick are brawling in the ring and now we go back to Williams and Scott. Williams hits a press powerslam but Scott kicks out at 2. We then get a sloppy looking spot where Scott is looking for a suplex but Gordy clips him while he's doing it and Williams falls on top of him and picks up the win. The crowd hates that decision and I have to say that one was a little disappointing. It certainly wasn't bad but I definitely was expecting more. It's no surprise that Watts would put them over the Steiners and we all know it wouldn't be long until the Steiners show up in WWF in a few months. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Tony and Magnum show us the updated tournament bracket. We then see all the attention that Scott is getting in the ring while Jesse and JR wrap up the show. 

This was a lot better than I expected it to be. I never know what to expect when I watch these Clash shows and this one I found to be a good one. I thought it had a good variety of matches and most of them were entertaining. Thumbs up. 

Overall Rating: 69%

Monday Night Raw 12-18-95 Review

Monday, December 18th, 1995
Bob Carpenter Center
Newark, Delaware

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We get a very brief intro video featuring some clips of In Your House and then Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler hype up Razor Ramon vs. Yokozuna. They also are talking about the tension between Diesel and Undertaker. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Fatu

He's back and they show him attacking Ahmed Johnson with a gold record. I remember thinking as a kid that this was a weird way to bring Jarrett back by putting him in a feud he can't win. Fatu gets off to the hot start and mocks Jarrett's strutting. Fatu misses in the corner and Jarrett hits a swinging neckbreaker. Jarrett is the first official Royal Rumble entrant. Jarrett slams Fatu's head into the steps and we go to commercial break. Fatu battles back with a scoop slam and a back body drop. But then Fatu sells a shoulder injury and Jarrett throws him into the ring post again. He's about to slap on the Figure Four, but out comes Ahmed and we have a DQ finish here. God forbid Fatu take a loss here. This was pretty vanilla stuff.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Dok Hendrix is in the crowd with Gorilla Monsoon and he reminds us that Undertaker will be taking on Bret Hart for the WWF Championship. Gorilla says that Diesel will get over the decision and get his shot sooner or later. Gorilla says that Jarrett is wrong in claiming that he'll be in the Royal Rumble. Instead, he's going to take on Ahmed Johnson. Gorilla says that they'll start releasing the entrants on Superstars. 

Goldust cuts a pre-recorded promo on Razor Ramon and tells him that the two of them can ooze machismo together. 

We get an interview from In Your House with Paul Bearer and Undertaker. Bearer thanks Gorilla for the title shot and that's when Diesel comes in. Diesel says it's his turn next. Undertaker and Bearer are so lame in this era. 

Buddy Landel vs. Bob Holly

Who in the world thought that Landel was going to work during this era? Dok then hypes up the WrestleMania: The Arcade game on SNES, Genesis and Playstation. They're going to throw in the strategy video for absolutely free. I can only imagine what that video even has on it. The crowd seems to have no interest in this match. If you were booking your one live Raw of the month, why would you book Jeff Jarrett vs. Fatu and Buddy Landel vs. Bob Holly? Raw was on fire for a few weeks and now this is where we're at. Landel even sells Holly's clothselines weird. Landel then pins the corkscrew elbow drop. Really? Lawler pushing him makes it seem even worse. This was a death spot. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Another Raw, another Brother Love segment. He has good buddy Ted DiBiase here to talk about the Santa Claus attack. That wasn't Santa, that was Xanta Klaus and is from the South Pole. This is all real. Did DiBiase do anything worthwhile after the Virgil feud? He says that 1996 will be the year of the Million Dollar Corporation. I bet it won't. He says that Sid and the Kid will be Tag Team Champions and that it will also be the year of the Million Dollar Champion. This was at least quick. 

We get the Freddie Blassie Raw Bowl commercial again. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon

Goldust is out and playing mind games already with Razor. They talk about the letter that Goldust gave Razor and he crumpled after reading. Lawler says he had someone grab the letter. Razor tries a sunset flip, but avoids a splash from Yoko. Yoko puts on my favorite move, the nerve hold. This is definitely not the fun version of Yoko here tonight. He's basically at the point where he can only do tag matches, which is sad. Razor comes back and hits the second rope bulldog. The lights then start to flicker. Out comes Undertaker with teh casket. Yoko sees it and he runs out of the ring and to the back. I do not remember this at all. We get a countout finish, which is stupid. This was pretty blah like everything else on the show. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Dok is with Razor and he says the letter told him how handsome he is. Razor doesn't play that and he only loves women. Razor says he can tell Dok in the back about what the letter says because it's not for children. Lawler then screws up the date for the Raw Bowl. 

It's time for a Shawn Michaels music video since he is definitely retiring. Yes, everyone, it is time for "Tell Me A Lie". Absolutely one of the cheesiest songs they have ever used. The video is good stuff though. 

This Raw was such a missed opportunity. I know December typically sucks, but take advantage of the live atmosphere. Don't give us Buddy Landel. This just wasn't good once again. 

Overall Rating: 30%

In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings Review

Sunday, December 17th, 1995 
Hersheypark Arena
Hershey, Pennsylvania

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We get a Todd Pettengill narrated intro and that leads into Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler in the arena. I have to say that it looks like more than the 7,289 people that Wikipedia lists that are there. I remember begging to buy this show as I was in peak fandom here. 

Sid & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty

They show Goldust in the crowd when Razor makes his entrance. There is an usher with him. The crowd is very much into this one and the action starts off at a good pace. They do a nice blind tag spot to Sid and he nails Razor with a clothesline. He gets some big boos along with his usual applause from the adult males. Todd interviews Goldust during the match and he talks about how much of a man Razor Ramon is. Meanwhile in the ring, Sid hits Marty in the back while he is running the ropes and Kid hits him with a spin kick. Goldust hands Todd a golden envelope to give to him. Marty goes off the top rope, but Sid catches him and hits a power slam. We get a bit of a sloppy spot where Razor distracts Sid and Marty rolls him up for Kid to break it up. Kid hits a frog splash on Marty and gets a 2 count. Kid hits a running dropkick and is followed up with a Sid clothesline. Marty is able to make a tag to Razor and he hits a bunch of his signature moves. He hits a bulldog from the second rope and that's enough to pin him for the victory. Kid tried to make the save but was unable to get there in time. That honestly looked almost like he was supposed to break it up. Razor tries to give Kid a Razor's Edge but Sid pulls him out through the ropes. They cut to Goldust fanning himself as he watches. This was a good match and the crowd cared about it. 

Match Rating: ***

Buddy Landel vs. Ahmed Johnson

The ring announcer calls him Buddy Rydel. Jerry Lawler then talks on the mic and gets in the ring. He then introduces Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett is still doing the same schtick of spelling his name. Lawler presents him with a gift and it is a gold record for "Ain't I Great". This is all done after they announced Buddy. He stumbles over his words as he announces that he's the first participant in the Royal Rumble. He's going to win that and head to WrestleMania XII and win the championship. I bet he doesn't even wrestle there. Jarrett joins the announce team and out comes Dean Douglas. All of this is just really bad for a pay-per-view. Dean grabs the mic and he says that class is in session. He says that his back is at 65% and doctors sidelined him. He says that instead it will be Buddy Landel and he makes his entrance. Landel tries chopping Ahmed and that doesn't work. Ahmed hits a sort of chokeslam and then a Pearl River Plunge for the total squash. Dean is upset and Ahmed comes from behind and hits him with the paddle. What a terrible segment all of this was. I wonder how much Landel got paid for this night?

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Lawler wants to interview Ahmed. We get the usual lame Lawler/Jarrett humor and it leads to Jarrett smashing his gold record on the back of Ahmed and then getting hit with a chair. Eventually, Ahmed starts to no sell it and chases Jarrett down the aisle. We then get an awkward brawl and the crowd doesn't really react to it. 

Todd interviews Razor and talks about him facing Yokozuna on Raw tomorrow. Todd then hands Razor the gold envelope. Razor reads it to himself and crumples it up before storming away. 

Hillbilly Jim is brought out as the special guest referee for the next match.

Hog Pen Match
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Henry Godwinn

Godwinn misses with the slop bucket outside the ring but then about a minute later is able to shove some in the face of Helmsley. Helmsley recovers and takes control. The action goes out to the aisle and Helmsley throws Godwinn into the metal door of the hog pen. Helmsley goes for the Pedigree in front of the hog pen but Godwinn counters it. Helmsley is able to catch himself on the fence and hits an elbow drop off of it. They head back to the ring and Godwinn runs into a boot from Helmsley in the corner. It doesn't take long for the match to go back to the pen and Helmsley this time is thrown into the metal door. Godwinn hits the Slop Drop right outside the pen. Godwinn charges at Helmsley and he gets dumped into the pen to win the match to remain undefeated in singles competition. He swats away Hillbilly Jim's arm as he raises it so Godwinn attacks him and military presses him in the pen. Helmsley's back is bleeding pretty good and then he does a spot where he keeps slipping in the mud. The pigs want nothing to do with him though. This was a fun enough novelty of a match even if it wasn't anything great in terms of action. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We get a Royal Rumble commercial. Unfortunately, it is looking like that is where my journey will end for this timeline. 

We get a video package talking about Diesel's new attitude. 

Owen Hart vs. Diesel

I remember thinking this match felt really random when it was booked back in 1995. Owen was riding high off of knocking Shawn Michaels out and Diesel being the hot new "heel". While it made sense for Shawn's best friend to take on Owen, it seemed like these were two guys they were trying to put over and having them face each other at this moment just felt like a mistake. Diesel for the most part dominates this match here. He hits a Jackknife pretty quickly and says that one is for Shawn. He puts a foot on him and lifts it off before the referee can count to 3. He goes for another one and the ref tries to stop him, so Diesel shoves him to the ground and the bell rings for a DQ. He hits a second Jackknife and heads to the back. What a stupid finish. This wasn't much of a match either, but the action that we did get was pretty good. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Santa Claus is out here with Santa Claus all while Ted DiBiase is in the ring with his music playing. Savio and Ted talk about the magic of Santa Claus. It leads to Santa attacking Savio and Ted getting a few kicks in all while the crowd has no reaction at all. Savio then chases Santa down the aisle and attacks him. Santa's beard comes off and Vince lets us know that it isn't actually Santa. 

They play a short hype video for Undertaker/King Mabel.

Casket Match
King Mabel vs. Undertaker

Boy, I am excited for this one. Taker hits a splash in the corner but Mabel comes back with a Boss Man Slam. Taker sits up so Mabel hits a body slam. Mabel goes to the second rope and misses with a splash after Taker sits up. Taker hits a couple of clotheslines but then Mo grabs his ankle for the distraction. Mabel hits the belly-to-belly suplex and hits the leg drop. Taker tries to sit up but he can't do it. Mabel hits a big splash and then Mo drags Taker out of the ring. Mo carries Taker on his shoulder and puts him in the casket. They don't close the door and then Mo grabs Mabel's crown and puts it on. Mabel struts over and Taker naturally blocks it. Taker is back in the ring and hits some more clotheslines. The leaping clothesline finally knocks Mabel off his feet. Taker kicks Mabel in the back and he falls into the casket. Mo attacks Taker before he can close the door. Taker hits a chokeslam on him and rolls him into the casket on top of Mabel. Before he closes the lid, Taker grabs the gold chain from Mo and then slams it shut to put us out of our misery. At least it was short. After the match, Undertaker gives the signal that he wants the WWF Championship. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Jim Ross is with British Bulldog, Diana Smith and Jim Cornette. They continue to hype up the fact that Bulldog beat him at SummerSlam. They switch it over Todd Pettengill and Bret Hart. Bret says that the British Bulldog is going to go down. 

WWF Championship Match
British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart

Let's see how this one holds up. After feeling each other out, Bulldog puts Bret in the tree of woe and we get a weird spot with Bulldog hitting the referee and him playing it up like it was accidental, but not in a heel way. We get an "E-C-W" chant with Bulldog still on offense, but it doesn't last too long. Vince makes an announcement that Undertaker will take on the winner of this match. In 1995, this wasn't a bad thing to do since they didn't really do a ton of babyface vs. babyface matches during this time. Cornette gets in a cheap shot and Bulldog goes back to rest holds. We do get the big Bret sternum-first turnbuckle spot as well. Bret makes his comeback with a monkey flip and hits a bulldog on the Bulldog. Bret goes for a superplex, but Bulldog crotches him on the top rope and Bret falls to the floor. Bulldog lifts Bret up and drives his back into the ring post. Bret is gushing blood now and Bulldog throws him back into the ring. Bulldog hits a piledriver and the delayed vertial suplex while Vince says the match needs to be stopped. Bulldog puts on the bow and arrow submission, but Bret leaps out of it and tries to put on the Sharpshooter in a nice little momentum shift attempt. Bulldog knocks Bret with a shoulder tackle and Bret rolls out of the ring. Bret is always so good at timing his little spots. He makes a comeback and hits a dive onto Bulldog to the outside. He tries to do a reverse jump on top of Bulldog, but he catches him and hits a powerslam to the floor and Bret continues to bleed. Bulldog rolls up the protective padding outside and Bret blocks the suplex attempt by crotching Bulldog on the guardrail. He clotheslines him and Bulldog falls to the floor. We go back to the ring and Bret hits a top rope superplex. Bret works on Bulldog and goes for a quick pin attempt and pulls off the victory. Diana is not happy about it and comforts her husband to the back. This was a very good main event. With that being said, for whatever reason, I don't like the Bret/Bulldog matches as much as a lot of people do. 

Match Rating: ****

Todd is with Undertaker and before they can really say anything, Diesel comes in and interrupts. He's not very happy about this decision and says that people are dodging him. Taker says that he doesn't dodge anyone and we get a staredown. 

This leads to the In Your House highlight video package. 

This is famously known as a one match show and that is definitely the case. I liked the opener more than most people and found probably more enjoyment out of a few of the other matches. That doesn't really make this a very good show, but there were worse things going on during this time period in wrestling. 

Overall Rating: 58%

Superstars 12-16-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 16th, 1995
Wicomico Civic Center
Salisbury, Maryland

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We get a Razor Ramon in Santa Claus gear intro talking about In Your House. 

Aldo Montoya vs. Goldust

Montoya knocks Goldust out of the ring and we almost get a real dangerous spot with Montoya diving over the top rope and Goldust nearly drilling the back of his head on the guardrail. They get back in the ring and Goldust hits the Curtain Call for the victory. That was a quick shift of momentum for a semi-feature match. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go to Dok Hendrix and Slam Jam. The set is all decked out for Christmas. In Your House is tomorrow, so make sure to buy it. We hear from Owen and he talks about there only being one dude with attitude left. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Titus Dunning

We get another pig promo from Henry Godwinn as Helmsley makes his way to the ring and then a weird commercial break before the match. Helmsley quickly hits the Pedigree and that's all. It seems to be a cyclical thing where we get a bunch of short squashes and then they all of a sudden start to get longer again. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get the Todd Pettengill interview with Shawn Michaels from Raw. Shawn gets upset when Todd questions Shawn returning.

Next week we are getting Marty Jannetty vs. British Bulldog and Skip and Rad Radford vs. the Smoking Gunns. 

Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty vs. Jason Ahrndt & Jerry Faith

We hear from Sid, 1-2-3 Kid and Ted DiBiase during the match with lots of laughs from the gang. Razor hits a back suplex from the second rope and it's safe to say that Jerry has Faith No More. Razor hits the Razor's Edge and we're done.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a Mabel/Undertaker video package. 

We hear from Ahmed Johnson quickly and I'm honestly not sure what he says. 

We get an interview with British Bulldog and Diana Smith with Vince. Watching this, it is kind of amazing that they thought Diana could carry an angle in the main event in a few months. Diana said she was 50/50 at SummerSlam 1992. This time she's 100% behind her husband this time. 

Skip vs. Rich Myers

It's always good to see some Skip. He hits a hurrianrana from the top and does the push up cover for the victory. That was quicker than I expected. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Isaac Yankem vs. Ahmed Johnson

Well, this show as sucked big time, so you might as well throw some Isaac Yankem on here to cap it off. Ahmed clubs Yankem with a clothesline and then a big kick. He follows that up with a power slam but misses with an elbow drop. Dean Douglas cuts a promo and no one cares. Yankem doesn't do much with the advantage and Ahemed hits him with a shoulder tackle and a spinebuster. He hits the Pearl River Plunge but out comes Jerry Lawler and he hits him right before the ref counts 3. Lawler was invested in Ahmed, so I guess this isn't surprising but not one person cares that Yankem even exists so you can't tell me that it isn't stupid. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go back to Dok Hendrix for one last push for In Your House tomorrow. Bret Hart refuses to lose tomorrow. Mabel says that Undertaker is beneath him and he'll prove it at In Your House. 

They run over the card for Superstars and then we get a "music video" going over the matches for tomorrow. 

This was another bad show in a string of them. December is always famous for being pretty bad but WCW was putting on much better television for the most part. I am looking forward to In Your House since it has been awhile since I have watched that one. 

Overall Rating: 26%

Monday Nitro 12-11-95 Review

Monday, December 11th, 1995
Independence Arena
Charlotte, North Carolina

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Eddie Guerrero vs. Mr. JL

The announcers are talking and all of a sudden, the bell rings and this match is underway. JL props Eddie in the corner and hits a springboard dropkick and that sends Eddie to the floor. JL then hits a running somersault dive off the apron before throwing Eddie back in the ring. We then get an awkward finish where JL reverses a roll and then kind of looks like he just does Eddie's reversal for him and that's it? I mean, I'll take these two every week but this one was not their best. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Mean Gene is with Lex Luger and Jimmy Hart. Luger says that he and Sting have been talking and that they know it will come down to the two of them at Starrcade. 

Disco Inferno vs. Paul Orndorff

This is a choice. Disco attacks Orndorff and the bell rings. Orndorff regains control and does about the dorkiest mockery of Disco's dancing that you could ever imagine. Orndorff gets the easy victory after a version of the German suplex. This just felt like such an odd pairing. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is now with the Four Horsemen minus Chris Benoit. Orndorff comes out and interrupts and has an issue with Pillman. He tells him that he's just carrying the Horsemen's bags around. Pillman slaps him and they start brawling. Obviously, the Horsemen win the battle here and they hit a spike piledriver onto the concrete. Was this Orndorff's last night? 

When we come back commercial, they show the medical team putting Orndorff on a stretcher with Heenan watching over them. 

Lex Luger vs. Jim Duggan

You don't see too many Duggan squashes at this point in time, but Luger basically does that here. Duggan got in his moment of offense, but Luger gets him up in the Torture Rack for the easy win. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Randy Savage is now with Mean Gene. He talks about facing the Giant next week on Nitro and how Andre the Giant is the only other wrestler who was as powerful as Giant. 

Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs. Sting & Hulk Hogan

The crowd is alive for this one and we get a "Hogan sucks" chant. All of this is just making it look like less and less genius that they turned Hogan heel and more and more like it was the only choice to keep his career going. I also am surprised at how good Sting looked during this time before he turns into the much weaker character soon in my opinion. Obviously, he had to evolve past the surfer dude type character, but I don't think the Crow character needed to last until he retired. Sting puts on the Scorpion Death Lock, but Flair interrupts. It leads to Sting getting a DDT from Anderson. Luger and Hart are back out and Hogan doesn't like it. Luger puts Hogan up in the Torture Rack and the crowd loves that. Sting didn't see any of it. Flair is working on the knee of Sting. Hogan has crawled back up to the apron. Sting survives a Figure Four and some shenanigans and he makes a comeback. He slams Arn's face into the mat and he makes the tag to Hogan. Arn hits Hogan with a spinebuster and of course Hogan stands right up. Hogan hits the big boot to both opponents and the leg drop to Arn for the win. Lots of boos there for that finish. Out comes Pillman and he attacks Sting. Luger and Hart run out again and this time Luger pulls Pillman off of Sting. Sting tries to help Hogan but Luger doesn't care. Out comes Savage and Sting hits him. Hogan gets in the middle of them and Mean Gene weasels his way into the ring. Then the "Hogan sucks" chants start again. Hogan's acting here is just so terrible. I have probably written this a thousand times but I will never understand why anyone ever liked Hogan. Hogan reminds Savage that he may not even be the champion after facing the Giant next week. Savage tells the crew to stick together and we go to commercial break. This match was fun with a hot crowd and a lame finish. 

Match Rating: **3/4

The announce team hypes up the title match next week. 

Well, Nitro continues to put on the better shows here for the most part. Raw aired one their worst episodes of the year and this was mostly enjoyable stuff. I could live without a Mean Gene interview in between every segment but that's no fault of Gene. The wrestlers just rarely seem to have anything interesting to say. 

Overall Rating: 59%

Monday Night Raw 12-11-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, December 11th, 1995
Wicomico Civic Center
Salisbury, Maryland

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get a short Bob Backlund/Bret hype video into the intro.

Owen Hart vs. Jeff Hardy

It's Hardy time. Jeff hits a hip toss and works on the arm. As you'd expect, that's about it and Owen hits a big clothesline. Diesel is watching in the back and Diana Hart is watching in the crowd. Owen hits the missile dropkick and goes for the Sharpshooter, but then decides to roll and pin him instead. After the match, Owen pulls Hardy to the corner and has Yokozuna squash him. Owen puts on the Sharpshooter and in comes Diesel. Owen sneaks out, but Diesel hits a clothesline and a big boot to knock Yoko out of the ring. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Aja Kong vs. Chaparita Asari

Asari hits some nice offense, but when she goes for a crossbody, she hits a brick wall in Kong. Kong uses the size advantage by hitting a delayed vertical suplex and then a package piledriver, but pulls her up at the count of 2. Kong continues to pull up Asari up before the count of 3. Kong misses with a second rope splash, but Asari misses with her impressive corkscrew off the top rope. Kong hits the spinning backhand and picks up the win. Kong looked dominant here, as was intended. It looks like Asari got hit pretty hard in the nose here. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Todd Pettengill is with Shawn Michaels for a sit down interview. Todd keeps hinting at retirement and then Shawn accuses him of just trying to get a reaction for TV. Shawn says that this isn't a job, this is his livelihood. He refuses to answer and we go to commercial. 

We get an In Your House preview featuring British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart.

Ahmed Johnson vs. Rick Stockhausen

Stockhausen jumps Ahmed and he no sells it. Ahmed hits a weird looking spinbuster thanks to Stockhausen running the ropes off balance. He decides to hit him with another one and then hits the Pearl River Plunge for the quick victory. To say that Ahmed is raw is an understatement, but I can't help but want to watch. I mean honestly, Ahmed was more of my version of Goldberg, who I never cared for. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After commercial, Lawler interviews Ahmed. Lawler insults him again and Ahmed doesn't like it. Lawler cowardly heads back to his announce table. 

We go to Dok Hendrix and he hypes up the denim jackets. Adjusting for inflation, the jackets cost $124 in 2024 money. We then get the iconic WWF Happy Holidays commercial that is just so stupid that you know Vince had something to do with it. 

We get a Raw Bowl commercial featuring Freddie Blassie and it's a much better commercial. 

Vince is in the ring now with Ted DiBiase, 1-2-3 Kid and Sid. This trio all just feels so bizarre. Kid is also just so ineffective on the mic. He's just one of those guys that is better served having someone talk for him and let his wrestling do the talking. This was really bad. 

Next week on Raw, Yokozuna will take on Razor Ramon. 

Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart

I'd really like to know what made this match happen. Backlund basically hasn't wrestled since their underwhelming match at WrestleMania. Maybe Bret wanted one more chance to pull off a good match with him. He probably is Hitman's worst opponent in terms of match quality. Lawler goes out into the crowd and interviews Diana, who is just not someone who is comfortable in this type of role. She gives credit to Jim Cornette for getting Bulldog a title shot. Unfortunately, this one is falling in the same traps as their other two matches. We get a commercial break, which I feel like I need. I'll pay more attention to this one now. We get a notice that Vince will be on AOL for a live chat following Raw. Bret goes to put on the Sharpshooter and British Bulldog comes in the ring. Backlund puts on the Cross-Face Chickenwing and Bulldog stomps away. All of that for this? A bunch of officials attempt to get Backlund off of Bret and this all just feels really flat. 

Match Rating: *1/4

This was a very poor episode of Raw, even for a December episode. The whole thing felt flat and did nothing to really get you excited about In Your House, even though the card is halfway decent. 

Overall Rating: 29%

Superstars 12-9-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 9th, 1995
Wicomico Civic Center
Salisbury, Maryland

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a lame but also kind of fun intro for Bob Backlund with menu puns. Don't you worry, Jim Ross is back with us today. 

Rad Radford vs. Diesel

Radford is officially just a nothing at this point. Diesel steamrolls him here, which is appropriate here. They are really hyping up the fact that he slaps hands with anyone who is wearing a black glove. Vince tries to get an interview with him after the match and Diesel just walks away. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Backlund and Dean Douglas talking backstage. 

British Bulldog vs. Al Phillips

Phillips gets a dropkick in and then misses with a second one. Bulldog comes back with the delayed vertical suplex and then hammers away. Bulldog catches Phillips in the corner and then hits the running powerslam for the easy win. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Time to go to Dok Hendrix to remind us that In Your House is only a week away. Bret Hart talks about carrying around that loss with him from SummerSlam 1992. Diesel accepted the open challenge issued by Owen Hart. We hear from Sid, 1-2-3 Kid and Ted DiBiase talking about their match with Marty Jannetty and Razor Ramon. 

We then see a recap of the 1-2-3 Kid heel turn. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley is at a farm and then we see Henry Godwinn with his hogs. 

Yokozuna vs. John Chrystal

Before we get started, it's denim jacket time. Only $59.75 (plus shipping and handling). Yoko hits the Banzai Drop as quickly as a man his size can. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We see the Brother Love segment with King Mabel. Yawn. 

We get a Raw Bowl commercial. 

Bob Backlund is out and introduces Dean Douglas. He gives him a paddle. No one cares about any of this. 

Dean Douglas vs. Tony Williams

We hear from Ahmed Johnson at the start of the match. Dean hits the Perfect Plex and that's all. He attacks Williams after the match and spanks him with the paddle. End this misery.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Backlund attack on JR on Superstars and a soundman on Raw. 

Bob Backlund vs. Savio Vega

I mean they really had to have Backlund come out twice in a row here? They've been watching too much WCW. Seriously though. Who wanted to see this match? Why is there still so much time left in this episode? This match is all stalling. It leads to Backlund putting on the Cross-face Chickenwing outside the ring and both men being counted out. This was atrocious. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Dok because why not? We hear from King Mabel and no one cares. We then hear from Razor Ramon and Marty Jannetty. Thankfully Razor does the talking here. 

Next week on Superstars, it will be Goldust vs. Aldo Montoya. Plus, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Marty Jannetty and Razor Ramon. We get a double main event with Ahmed Johnson vs. Isaac Yankem. Great. 

We now hear from Shawn Michael's doctor. He says it will not be safe to get back in the ring at this time or possibly ever. We then get the heartfelt narration from Vince talking about Superstars being human just like us. 

That was another poor episode from Superstars with a terrible main event. This show has really stalled as of late. I guess it's just that end of year time where they always kind of give up until it's WrestleMania time. 

Overall Rating: 28%

Monday Nitro 12-4-95 Review

Monday, December 4th, 1995 
America West Arena
Phoenix, Arizona

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We are hyping up tonight's show with a big main event of Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage for the WCW Championship. We're also starting off with a title match here. 

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
American Males vs. Harlem Heat

It sure sounded like a lot of boos for the American Males. We get some good action here to start off and then out comes Colonel Parker with a gift in his hand. Sherri finally sees him and apparently, it's a ring and she walks out back with him. Despite the distraction, the Heat are still in control. Now Phoenix Suns player, A.C. Green is getting into it with Booker and yet they still are in control. Riggs finally makes the tag and Bagwell gets a few moves before being manhandled. Booker hits the Harlem Hangover to retain the title. That was actually a pretty fun match with the Heat working hard here. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Now it's time to hear from Lex Luger and Sting. Sting does most of the talking here and he thinks Luger has a good chance to win the title tonight. He also knows that he'll be in the triangle match at Starrcade and he'll be coming at Luger even though it's his best friend. Luger agrees on Sting's prediction of him winning tonight. Luger says that he feels the exact same way. 

Sting vs. Kurasawa

Even though I've seen that he actually exists, Kurasawa will always just be a made up name to me that I saw in the PWI Almanac. Today's youth will never understand the joy that publication brought to me. Anyway, Sting puts on the Scorpion Death Lock and wins. There wasn't anything to this one. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Scott Norton vs. Giant

Next week on Nitro, Hulk Hogan and Sting will team up to take on Arn Anderson and Ric Flair. Giant hits a big body slam on Norton with ease. Norton then hits an atomic drop on Giant, which is pretty impressive. Bischoff brags about them not having to go off the air right at 10:00. Norton goes off the top rope, but Giant catches him by the throat and hits the chokeslam for the win. This was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene introduces Ric Flair, but instead we're treated to Charles Barkley with Flair coming out behind him. Gene then asks the question that every dad was wondering, is he the new tag team partner for Flair? They play to the crowd for a bit and then they mention Starrcade for a second and Flair teases Barkley as a Four Horsemen. 

WCW Championship Match
Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage

This is a pretty huge match and let's see if it delivers. We get some pretty standard action into the commercial break and the announcers do the thing where they just keep talking as it fades to commercial. When we come back, Savage is pulling Luger's arm on the guardrail outside the ring. This one kind of keeps going the standard route, which is fine since they are getting time. Savage is truly one of the greatest sellers of all time. Considering this was up against Marty Jannetty vs. Sid, I think we know which show was better. Somehow Raw won in the ratings, which is pretty crazy to me. We have a referee down and Savage hits the top rope elbow drop. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron and Savage grabs hold of him. In comes Flair with some brass knuckles and he nails Savage with it. Hart rolls Luger on top of Savage and Flair walks away. Out comes Hogan behind Flair and gets him back in the ring. The referee starts to count for Luger and Hogan pushes the referee, causing a disqualification and a victory for Luger. He gets into it with Flair and Luger, but then he accidentally hits Sting. They start shoving and Savage breaks it up as we go to a commercial break. This was pretty basic. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Gene is now in the ring with the trio of best friends. Gene reminds Hogan that he's on probation and that he touched a referee. Hogan says that he and Sting are supposed to team up next week and he wants to know whose side he's on. Sting's his friend, brother. They shake and celebrate because they're friends. 

The announce team recaps the show and hypes up the big main event next week. Heenan questions how good their handshake was, which is classic Bobby. 

This wasn't the home run show they were probably hoping for, but it was a stand up double. It was certainly better than the poor showing that Raw had this week. 

Overall Rating: 59%

Off The Grid, Volume 57: Saturday Night's Main Event I Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, May 11th, 1985
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Uniondale, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Off The Grid, Volume 57:

It's probably about time that I watch the first one, huh? I have seen this once before, but it's been at least 5 years. Wendi Richter and Cyndi Lauper's promo is first and then we go to Hulk Hogan and Mr. T wearing Saturday Night's Main Event shirts. We then go to Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura. We have two title matches tonight. 

Mean Gene is with the face team and for some reason they let Barry Windham talk instead of just having Lou Albano do the talking. 

Nikolai Volkoff, Iron Sheik & George Steele vs. US Express & Ricky Steamboat

The music they use for the US Express is just horrendous. It's kind of crazy that they weren't able to do more with Windham during this era. The faces dominate the entire first segment of the match before going into a commercial break. After the break, they continue to dominate. This is about as one-sided of a match that I can remember for a non-squash. Volkoff and Sheik go outside the ring and Steele looked outside the ring. This allowed Windham to roll up Steele and get the victory. The crowd absolutely loved that finish and we get a huge pop. After the match, Steele rips up a turnbuckle and then Sheik and Volkoff attack him. They retreat to the back and Lou Albano checks on Steele. The match was pretty good with a hot crowd. After the match, Mean Gene tries to get a word with Sheik, Volkoff and Freddie Blassie. Steele interrupts and attacks them. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We go to Piper's Pit with Paul Orndorff. Piper clearly carries this one, as Orndorff was always a dorky character to me. Chaos ensues and Orndorff has Piper up for a piledriver but Bob Orton hits him in the back of the head with his cast. Mr. T comes out and makes the save. 

Mean Gene is with Hogan now and he says that this match tonight is for his mom since it's almost Mother's Day. It's kind of weird to me that they are doing such a poor job of trying to make this seem like it is live. 

WWF Championship Match
Bob Orton vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan gets the hot start and Orton decides to roll out of the ring to talk to Piper. That works for a second until Hogan is all over him again. We get a competitive match now to save this one from being a turd. Just as I type that, Piper socks Hogan and causes a disqualification. Out comes Orndorff and Mr. T, making it a 3 on 2 and the heels retreat. I know I didn't type much here, but this was better than most Hogan TV matches. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Mean Gene is now with Fabulous Moolah. She cuts a lame promo and no one cares. She says that she's going to get Lauper banned from ringside. 

We then hear from Cyndi and Wendi and you have to love how into this Lauper is. Lauper says that she is Wendi's manager, so she'll be there. 

WWF Women's Championship Match
Fabulous Moolah vs. Wendi Richter

Howard Finkel reads out that Cyndi Lauper is going to be banned from ringside and she then is escorted to the back into the commercial break. Moolah's matches are more formulaic than Hogan's, which is saying something. The finish comes out of nowhere with Moolah going for a body slam and Richter turning it into a pinfall. This was terrible. Lauper runs out and celebrates with Richter. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Junkyard Dog is with his mom and Mean Gene. Thrilling. 

Pete Doherty vs. Junkyard Dog

Doherty is something else. JYD is all over him and Doherty is selling like he's dying. Doherty tries going up top but gets powerslammed across the ring. He hits a power slam and gets the win and it gets no reaction whatsoever. What was this? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Now we have a Mother's Day party going on backstage. They have the heels mixed in with the faces, which is kind of surprising for 1985. Moolah interrupts the party and she starts insulting Lauper's mom. There's a cake on a table. I wonder if that will come into play. Moolah and Gene get shoved into the cake and Moolah can't even do that right. Moolah starts throwing cake and we go to commercial. 

Jesse and Vince are here for 30 seconds and then we get another commercial. We come back for them to just say goodbye. 

I've mentioned before that I'm not particularly fond of this era and this show was no different. There was nothing here that was really worthwhile and a lot of it was subpar wrestling or entertainment. Plus any show that is full of Hulk Hogan and Moolah is something I'm not really interested in. 

Overall Rating: 37%

Monday Night Raw 12-4-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, December 4th, 1995
Richmond Coliseum
Richmond, Virginia

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get the good intro music for the hype video here and have a nice card for tonight. 

Bob Holly vs. British Bulldog

Holly hits a body slam and a couple of clotheslines, causing Bulldog to regroup outside the ring. Honestly, they haven't done a great job of Bulldog looking like a dominant contender. He pinned Diesel on Raw through shenanigans, which I get, but his matches like this have been a little too 50/50 at times. Bulldog hits the delayed vertical suplex. Holly hits a dropkick and starts firing back with right hands. I mean, god forbid that Holly doesn't get his offense in here. Bulldog catches Holly on his shoulder and hits the running powerslam for the way too difficult victory for it being Bob Holly. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They show the highlights of Bob Backlund attacking Bret Hart and then attacking Jim Ross on Superstars. Lawler now calls Backlund over to him for an interview. He will be facing Bret Hart next week in a non-title match. Backlund does lots of yelling and they show a random guy holding a sign to go to break. Vince keeps asking to kill his mic so that they can go to break and they do. 

Fatu vs. Brooklyn Brawler

Brawler attacks Fatu before the bell because why not? Within about 60 seconds, Fatu hits a top rope splash for the easy victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for Dok and the Slam Jam. Vince interrupts him and we go back to Backlund and he attacks the sound engineer. Dok announces that Diesel has accepted Owen Hart's open contract for a match at In Your House. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Dean Douglas vs. Razor Ramon

Dean attacks Razor as he's getting ready and then almost uses the title belt, but the referee is able to grab it away from him. Razor catches Dean and hits the fall away slam before clotheslining him over the top so that he can remove his vest. Dean is about to hit a reverse elbow off the second rope and we go to commercial. Razor puts on the abdominal stretch when we come back and then hits the Razor's Edge. That was it? We're supposed to think that Dean can take on Ahmed? It's pretty clear the writing is on the wall here for Dean. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They hype up Bret/Backlund again and also say that Shawn Michaels will speak in the ring next week. 

We get another Brother Love interview, this time with King Mabel. Love says that he has two surprises for Mabel. Someone wheels out a casket and he says surprise number 1 Sir Mo under the druid hood. Surprise 2 is the Undertaker's casket being painted with Mabel on it instead. Mabel thanks Brother Love and tells Undertaker that there will be no love for him at In Your House. 

They show Razor getting Marty Jannetty ready for his match. 

On January 1st, it's the Raw Bowl. 

Sid vs. Marty Jannetty

Don't forget to buy your life size Undertaker or Diesel cardboard cut outs for only $25! There is a lot of time left in this episode here. Jannetty attacks Sid from behind and we're ready to go. Sid catches Jannetty and hits a slam. When we come back from commercial, Sid turns Jannetty inside out with a clothesline. Sid is getting a little bit of a heel pop here. 1-2-3 Kid is out and he attacks Jannetty while Sid has the referee distracted. Razor comes out to make the save and the referee calls for the bell. Razor knocks Sid out of the ring and then chases Kid through the arena. Back in the ring, Sid hits a powerbomb on Jannetty to a pretty big pop. DiBiase shoves some money in the mouth of Jannetty. Vince says that it is a disqualification victory for Jannetty. The match was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *

We get an early Vince/Lawler spot since they will be closing with the Shawn Michaels stuff.

We get a Todd Pettengill narrated segment on Shawn's condition. We hear from his doctor and post-concussion syndrome. The doctor is very concerned for Shawn's well being as a person, not as a performer. He says that Shawn is not progressing and that it may not be safe for him to return at all. We then get a Vince narrated sob story about the Superstars. 

This episode didn't feature very much wrestling and most of it here wasn't very good. This very much felt like the end of the taping episode that it was. The Shawn stuff is definitely questionable considering the circumstances that got us to that point. This is one to skip. 

Overall Rating: 32%

Superstars 12-2-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 2nd, 1995
Wicomico Civic Center
Salisbury, Maryland

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Mr. Perfect are here to kick off the show. They play Razor Ramon's music but he doesn't come out. We go backstage and Marty Jannetty is back there and gifts him a matching leather jacket. Razor tells him that he's been up and down more than a yo-yo. I won't make the obvious comment here. He accepts and he has Marty come out with him. 

Razor Ramon vs. Ken Raper

Razor hits the fall away slam and out comes Sid and 1-2-3 Kid. Razor doesn't let it slow him down and hits the back suplex off the turnbuckle. He finishes him off with the Razor's Edge for the easy win. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Dok Hendrix for a Slam Jam and he is yelling like crazy because Undertaker vs. Mabel at In Your House will be a casket match. We hear from Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Owen Hart has an open contract for In Your House and Jim Cornette and Owen play up how he took out Shawn Michaels. 

King Mabel vs. Dave Thornberg & Jerry Faith

We hear from Brother Love during the match and he says that he has a lovely surprise for us. The look of this arena is kind of weird to me. This is over quickly and that is the right decision. Mabel hits a leg drop after for good measure. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We come back from commercial and Mabel rips up a cardboard cutout of Undertaker and puts his head in his mouth. 

They show Bret Hart being attacked by Bob Backlund on Raw during his interview with Brother Love. Why can't they just let the Backlund/Bret thing go? 

Ahmed Johnson says to not drink and drive this holiday season or you may have to face the consequences.

Ahmed Johnson vs. Jason Ahrndt

We hear from Dean Douglas and he tells Ahmed that it won't be a very merry Christmas for Ahmed. Ahmed hits a spinebuster and goes right into the Pearl River Plunge for the victory. The squashes are quick this week. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Henry Godwinn at his farm introducing us to some of his hogs. 

Owen Hart vs. Matt Hardy

This is a match I would actually have liked to have seen. Unfortunately, this one is over before it begins. Owen hits a missile dropkick and wins with the Sharpshooter. Next.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week it's Savio Vega vs. Bob Backlund on Superstars. Why? 

Jim Ross goes into the crowd to interview Backlund. Bob snaps because JR refers to him as Bob. Ross tries to walk away but Backlund slaps on the Cross-face Chickenwing. Savio comes out and tries to pull Backlund off. When we come back, Perfect defends Backlund's actions. 

Duke Droese vs. Reginald Walker

Speaking of trash, how about Droese being just an absolute waste of a human being? Despicable. Of all the squashes, this is the one that goes the longest? And not one person in the arena cares. They don't even bother giving him fake crowd noise. He says it's time to take out the trash, but yet here he still is. Yeah, sorry. I don't care about you. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a video package on the Shawn Michaels story. 

Barry Horowitz & Hakushi vs. Sid & 1-2-3 Kid

Horowitz gets a few arm drags on Kid and tags in Hakushi. Sid manhandles Hakushi and they slow things down. When we come back from commercial, Kid is still kicking away on Hakushi. Sid hits the powerbomb on Horowitz and then tags in Kid so that he can make the pin here. This was pretty non-eventful, and I guess it probably should be since they are building this new team. Unfortunately, it will be all for nothing. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Back to Dok we go and he is just so loud today. We hear from Jim Cornette and British Bulldog. They of course bring up SummerSlam 1992. Bret then talks about it as well. Bret tells him that what goes around, comes around and that the Bulldog is going down. 

They show Backlund attacking JR again. Vince is hopeful that he will be able to join them next week. Next week, Diesel will take on Rad Radford. That's quite the double main event. 

This episode sucked. I know not much is expected of Superstars of this era, but this fell below expectations. Thankfully Raw has been a fun watch and the pay per views are still interesting to me. 

Overall Rating: 30%

Monday Night Raw 11-27-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, November 27th, 1995
Richmond Coliseum
Richmond, Virginia

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get a serious recap of the Shawn Michaels drama to kick off the show. They hype up the Undertaker trying to regain the urn from Kama. 

Rad Radford vs. Ahmed Johnson

Radford attacks Ahmed on his way into the ring, but it doesn't work. They show Bob Backlund campaigning in the crowd again. Radford is able to snap Ahmed's neck on the top rope. He's able to keep Ahmed neutralized for a moment, but then Ahmed hits a scissor kick. Ahmed hits a spinebuster and the Pearl River Plunge for the win. This is the best way to present Ahmed. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Lawler interviews Ahmed. Lawler then provokes Ahmed by speaking for Dean Douglas ahead of their match at In Your House. Out comes Dean and he says that the road to superstardom starts in his classroom. Ahmed is ready to go right now. Dean starts to get in, but is held back by some referees. 

Lawler eats a king size Twix before we get an update on Shawn Michaels. They show the footage and say that Shawn does intend to return to action. 

Aja Kong & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Alundra Blayze & Kyoko Inoue

Barry tries to sell us a Bret Hart shirt, but the ladies are eager to get going. These ladies had a nice debut at Survivor Series. Kong should have been a star. Kyoko slaps on the surfboard on Watanabe. Kong hits a big delayed vertical suplex and we actually get a commercial during this match. Kyoko hits a top rope reverse elbow drop to the knee of Watanabe. Watanabe tries to go up top, but Kyoko leaps up and hits a suplex instead. Now Kong and Alundra are in the ring and Alundra hits an enzuigiri. She hits a second rope dropkick, but misses on the next attempt. Watanabe hits a suplex, but Aja misses with the second rope splash. Aja hits the spinning right hand on Kyoko and picks up the victory. This was a pretty good feature for Aja. 

Match Rating: **

They show Diesel snapping after his loss to Bret at Survivor Series. They then show the clip of his interview last week. 

Brother Love is back for the first time in ages. Most of the kids probably don't even know who he is. He brings Bret Hart out for the interview. He tells Bret that he is a marked man and doesn't give him the chance to speak. Bret eventually grabs Love's microphone hand so he can talk. He says what Diesel did after the match was cheap and that Diesel was always cheap. Bret says that he looks forward to getting his redemption against the British Bulldog at In Your House. He is then attacked from behind by Bob Backlund because why not? 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. John Crystal

During Helmsley's entrance, they show Henry Godwinn at his farm introducing him to the family. It doesn't take long before the Pedigree is hit and the match is over. This was very quick. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They let us know that Razor Ramon and Marty Jannetty will take on Sid and the Kid. Jim Cornette then issues an open contract to face Owen Hart at In Your House. He brags about hospitalizing people and that he's on a roll. 

Kama Sir Mo vs. Undertaker

Kama comes out using crutches while wearing the gold chain. DiBiase says that Kama can't wrestle, so he has hired someone else and it's Sir Mo. Next week on Raw, Razor will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Dean Douglas in a rematch. This is the mask era of Undertaker due to the injury. Vince isn't buying Kama's injury here. We get some early DiBiase involvement, so Taker grabs him by the throat. Kama then attacks him from behind. It didn't take long for that reveal. This is just a bunch of shenanigans and it leads to Undertaker hitting a chokeslam and picking up the easy win. Mabel then comes out after the match, which seems like a bad plan. Undertaker grabs the gold chain and Paul Bearer is over the moon. Now Yokozuna is out and Mabel attacks Bearer and steals the chain. This was nothing special. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Vince and Jerry recap what just happened and hype up Sid vs. Marty next week. They also talk about the aforementioned Intercontinental match. 

This was a disappointing follow up to last week's show. Undertaker typically seems to kind of suck the life out of the show, which is the opposite of his role. The women were the highlight here. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Monday Nitro 11-27-95 Review

Monday, November 27th, 1995 
Salem Civic Center
Salem, Virginia

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

They talk about the controversial finish from World War 3. I'm really not sure how there can be controversy when something was filmed on camera. We then get blessed by seeing the whole friends forever promo from Hulk Hogan. 

WCW Television Championship Match
Johnny B. Badd vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Badd is with the Diamond Doll. DDP walks out distraught and has a bouquet of flowers. DDP uses that as a reason to sucker punch Badd and we're underway. Diamond Doll is looking at her flowers and finds a chain inside them. DDP looks at her expecting her to throw in the chain. She throws it in and purposely throws to Badd and he uses it to knock out DDP and pick up the victory. Badd isn't sure he likes it and Diamond Doll tells him he won. This was just kind of weird and hardly a match, which is a shame because these guys work well together. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is with Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart. They're arguing about Lex Luger associating with Sting. Hart says he has a plan for all of it. 

Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto

So the first two matches are just re-matches from last night? The ladies pick up where they left off last night. Lots of fun action here and the crowd is getting into it. Nakano misses with a top rope leg drop and then Suzuki and Ozaki hit a double stomp off the top rope for a 2 count. Hokuto hits a brainbuster and picks up the victory. Another real solid match here from these ladies. 

Match Rating: ***

Hugh Morrus vs. Hulk Hogan

Morrus is the newest member of the Dungeon of Doom and then he comes out with no one from the group. This is every Hogan 3 minute squash you have ever seen. He hits the big boot and the leg drop for the easy win. Why?

Match Rating: 1/2*

Watch the encore of World War 3 tomorrow. Or don't. It's really up to you. 

Mean Gene introduces the new WCW Champion, Randy Savage. I kind of forgot how much Gene was on every episode of Nitro. He really was a key piece to the puzzle for sure. It's not surprising because there really hasn't been anyone that has come close to doing the job he did. Out comes Hulk Hogan to interrupt and remind us that there were two men who didn't get thrown over the top. They show the footage but it goes to all static and out comes Giant to attack both men. He chokeslams Savage on the concrete and then brings Hogan into the ring. Out comes Sting and that distraction gives Hogan a chance to hit Giant with a chair. The fourth swing finally gets Giant over the top rope. He continues to hit him with the chair down the entrance ramp. Savage is still down, and they check on him. 

Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman vs. Sting & Lex Luger

Sting and Luger mostly dominate the early going of the match. They are playing up the Sting/Luger relationship of course, which honestly is probably the best storyline they have going. Sting is able to slap on the Scorpion Death Lock in the middle of the ring on Anderson. Pillman tries to climb up top and break up the hold, but Luger shoves him off and he lands right into Sting. The Horsemen work on Sting and then out comes Flair to help with the attack. Flair puts the Figure Four on Sting and out comes Hulk Hogan...again. We get a really awkward spot between Flair and Hogan, which just leads to Hogan no selling the chops. Flair and his pals retreat, so then Hogan is about to go after Luger and Sting says no. Luger leaves and Sting and Hogan are disagreeing. They shake hands and go to commercial. This was more storyline than match, but it was better than some of the other matches earlier.

Match Rating: *

The announcers say to watch Saturday Night to get an update on Randy Savage. There's also going to be a big announcement on Starrcade. 

This was a storyline heavy show, which is fine coming off a pay per view. My only real complaint was that it was way too much Hogan here. The women's match was another good one and the Luger/Sting storyline has been well done so far. 

Overall Rating: 58%

World War 3 1995 Review

Sunday, November 26th, 1995 
Norfolk Scope
Norfolk, Virginia

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Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan give their predictions for the battle royal tonight and then mention the other random matches that were never really advertised at all ahead of this show. We go to Mean Gene and he is with Sting, Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan. Hogan says that the dark side is over and he rips off his black shirt and Sting lights it on fire. He wants to be Sting's friend forever. Savage then apologizes to Sting and calls him the coolest dude in the world. Hogan then says that Savage's arm injury was just a plan. He then makes fun of the Observer and lights it on fire. This is about as bad of a way as you could start a show as humanly possible.

They then show Diamond Dallas Page and Kimberly from Saturday Night and she isn't happy. 

WCW Television Championship Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Johnny B. Badd

I'm trying to remember if DDP has even been on Nitro yet. It's kind of interesting to see that Badd will be debuting in WWF in about 4 months. After not really promoting the undercard of this show, I will be interested to see if they improve that for Starrcade. The first big spot of the match is Badd hitting a dive over the top. Page then uses Kimberly to block Badd's follow up offense and then capitalizes on by throwing Badd into the guardrail. This has been a good match so far. These two had good chemistry together. Badd makes his comeback and hits an inverted atomic drop. Kimberly gives Badd a 10+ sign. Badd hits a sit-down powerbomb, but Page kicks out. Badd runs into an elbow and Page goes for the pin with his legs on the ropes, but Badd kicks out. Badd hits a spinning headscissors and then goes for the Bad Mood, but DDP gets his knees up. Badd reverses a piledriver and hits one of his own for another 2 count. Badd hits the somersault dive to the outside and throws Page back in the ring. Badd hits a slingshot leg drop into the ring and picks up the victory. That was a little abrupt in terms of a finish, but the match was very good. They crammed a lot of good action in there. After the match, Badd and Kimberly hug. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Mean Gene is hyping up an update on the WWF steroid scandal on the WCW Hotline. He then meets with Badd and Kimberly. Badd offers for Kimberly to be his manager but doesn't want an answer tonight. He wants her to think about her hopes and dreams. 

Taped Fist Match
Big Bubba Rogers vs. Jim Duggan

Duggan attacks Bubba during his entrance and this one just feels more like 1994 WCW to me. They take advantage of the multiple rings as Duggan shoves Bubba's head between two ring posts. Bubba dominates for a little bit and does a lame bit where he tapes Duggan's arm to the top rope. Duggan comes back until VK Wall Street comes down to make this all feel so distinctly WCW. Duggan hits Wall Street with the 2x4. The distraction allows for Bubba to hit a huge uppercut with a chain and Duggan doesn't get up before the count of 10 and gets the win. They could have just done this on TV. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Ric Flair is with Mean Gene and he does his usual promo and says that he'll be the WCW Champion because he has Hogan, Sting and Savage where he wants him. 

Mayumi Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki vs. Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto

No complaints about seeing Bull in the ring again. Similarly to the Survivor Series match, they are working at a frantic pace to cram as much as they can. We get a double half crab by Ozaki and Suzuki. Suzuki accidentally dropkicks Ozaki off the apron when Bull moves and then Bull misses a moonsault. Ozaki and Suzuki both hit top rope double stomps. Bull comes back with a double suplex but Hokuto misses off the top. Bull breaks up the double superplex attempt. Hokuto hits a double dropkick off the top rope. Hokuto then hits a somersault dive off the top rope. They hit a Doomsday Device but the pin attempt gets broken up. Bull hits the guillotine leg drop for the victory. This was a good match with solid action from bell to bell. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Call the hotline! Only $1.49 per minute. Mean Gene now brings over Lex Luger and Jimmy Hart. Luger yells more than usual and says he'll be the new WCW Champion. 

United States Championship Match
Chris Benoit vs. Kensuke Sasaki

This one starts off at a crawl and it stays there for some time. Benoit hits a top rope headbutt but it's not enough to end this snoozefest. This is honestly just an absolute bore. Kensuke hits a chokeslam and then locks in a submission hold, but Benoit grabs the ropes. Benoit hits a clothesline, but Sasake no sells it and hits one of his own. He hits a brainbuster and retains his title that no one cares about. That sucked. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Mean Gene is now with Kevin Sullivan, Giant and Jimmy Hart (again). Mean Gene has no problem bringing up Giant's "dad" and how disappointed he'd be in his "son". The Giant says "Roses are read, violets are blue, I'm going to kick your butt to Kalamazoo". No, I am not kidding. 

Starrcade is coming to you...on a Wednesday night? Makes sense. 

We get a video package for Savage/Luger and now Savage is with Mean Gene and he reminds us that being jittery is part of his charm.

Randy Savage vs. Lex Luger

We get the usual fun frenzy from Savage at the beginning and he then puts Luger in a Boston crab before Luger grabs the ropes. Now we're at the point where they are hyping up Nitro instead of talking about this match. Outside the ring, Luger puts the Torture Rack on Savage. He drops Savage down and he rolls back in the ring. Luger doesn't take the cheap victory though and throws Savage in the ring. Luger cranks on Savage's arm and Savage is knocked out, so the ref calls for the bell. Sting then runs out and convinces Luger to let go, making Jimmy a little disappointed he didn't break his arm. Sting then checks on his pal. This wasn't much of a match. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Ric Flair vs. Sting

These are the kind of decisions that drive me nuts by WCW. They just booked Sting to come out right before this match at the end of the Savage match. Then they have him go back and come out again for this match. Now this is the match we've been needing here tonight. The crow is big time into this one and Flair is doing a lot of his fun antics. Now Col. Parker and Sister Sheri are out. Sting clotheslines Flair over the top but then misses with a Stinger Splash and lands on the guardrail. Back in the ring, Flair hits Sting below the belt. Flair keeps working and then slaps on the Figure Four. Flair slaps Sting and that gives Sting the motivation to reverse the hold. Flair gets a 2 count and argues with referee Nick Patrick, who then shoves Flair to the ground. The best part of this match is how they keep switching rings. Sting hits the press slam and some clotheslines, but Flair hits a thumb to the eye. Flair goes up top and it ends the way you think it would. Sting slaps on the Scorpion Death Lock and picks up the victory. This was a fun match. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Oh, good. More Hulk Hogan. And more Fee-fi-fo-fum talk. The fact that so many people love this clown explains a lot. 

We find out we are also joined by Eric Bischoff and Dusty Rhodes at a separate announce table. Chris Cruise and Larry Zbysko are also covering a ring here. Pulling out all the stops for a match where most of the time it's a bunch of guys doing rest holds. 

World War 3 Battle Royal For The WCW Championship

Each guy gets his name announced on the way to the ring. We get Michael Buffer and pyro and then it's chaos to start. At least they knew to do that. We get a split screen with all three rings being shown and them moving around the announce teams. This is not a great presentation. We'll see how long they can keep up this pace. "The stunner is that the Yeti has already been eliminated" is something that was actually said here. This is really hard to get invested in. Eric and Dusty sign off because their ring is empty. They stick with the 3 camera angles though. We are finally all in one ring and we can actually enjoy this. I guess I'm not sure "enjoy" is the right word. The final guys are all the ones you would expect and One Man Gang. Flair and Arn get eliminated one after another which is a little surprising. Luger and Sting are trying to get the Giant out and then Hogan comes and eliminates all three of them. Sure. Hogan goes under the ropes and they announce Savage as the new WCW Champion. Hogan gets back in and tells them that he went under the ropes. Typical unlikeable Hogan here. What a stupid controversy that they're trying to build up here. Mean Gene is in the ring now and Hogan is whining. Savage says it is what it is and then Hogan surveys the crowd. Savage wants to see the film and of course we have to see it on Nitro. What a scam. This was a really stupid match. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

There were two very good matches, 3 bad matches and the rest was solid. The main thing about this show is that none of it felt important. Even the new champion being crowned felt like just another scam. This definitely not a bad show, but it lacked a main event to make you ever want to watch it again.

Overall Rating: 58%

Off The Grid, Volume 56: Saturday Night's Main Event XXIX

Original Airdate: Saturday, April 27th, 1991
Omaha Civic Auditorium
Omaha, Nebraska

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Off The Grid, Volume 56:

Vince McMahon is your host and this time he is with recently retired, Randy Savage. For some reason the banner in the background shows The Main Event. 

Savage is with Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan and Col. Mustafa. He talks about taking Warrior's breath away. That leads to us going to Mean Gene and Ultimate Warrior. They show the Undertaker shoving Warrior in the casket and being locked in. Tonight will be the ultimate battle. 

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Ultimate Warrior

This was the last Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC until 2006, which is kind of wild. Slaughter tries to surprise Warrior by going up to the top, but Warrior grabs him and tosses him across the ring. Warrior continues his offense until Col. Mustafa gets involved. Slaughter slaps on my favorite move, the bear hug. Warrior powers out of it and hits a body slam, but is selling a back injury. Slaughter once again goes back to the bear hug. Warrior is on his knees and out comes Paul Bearer wheeling out a casket. Warrior gets out of the hold and sees Bearer. This allows Slaughter to clothesline Warrior to the floor. Slaughter attacks the back again and we have a commercial break. Slaughter throws Warrior back into the ring, but Warrior is starting to shake the ropes. He hits a series of clotheslines and a shoulder tackle. Bearer opens up the casket and Undertaker is in there. The distraction again allows Slaughter to attack Warrior, but this time Mustafa and Taker join in, causing the disqualification. Out comes Hulk Hogan to make the save. He hits Undertaker with the belt in the face and Taker no sells it. Taker misses an elbow drop on Warrior while Hogan chases Slaughter away. Warrior clotheslines Taker a couple of times and again gets to no sell it. The flying shoulder tackle knocks Taker to the floor, but on his feet. Officials are now out and that's all. That was a pretty poor match even before the no finish. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is with the Nasty Boys and they do a lot of yelling and claim that they're Nasty, but at least they aren't disgusting. We then go to Roddy Piper with the Bushwhackers. More yelling and they find a way to make Roddy Piper feel uncomfortable. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Nasty Boys vs. Bushwhackers

Is this the Bushwhackers most high profile title match? We get some chaos early on and the Bushwhackers throw Knobbs into Sags and then hit a double clothesline on both. This is actually a pretty spirited match with the Bushwhackers looking like more of a threat than I expected here. It all breaks down and a distraction on Luke allows Knobbs to sneak a pinfall with Sags helping a little bit (and a little bit in front of the ref) for the win. After the match, the Bushwhackers hit the Battering Ram because they are poor sports. I expected nothing here and got a pretty fun little match.

Match Rating: *3/4

Mean Gene is with Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Bearer is doing a more normal voice here for some reason. Undertaker says that he won't rest until Warrior rests in peace. 

Battle Royal

We go to the ring with Mr. Perfect on his way and then get an entrance from Big Boss Man. We go back to Mean Gene with Jimmy Hart and Earthquake. They show him squashing Damien and he says he'll squash Jake Roberts too. We then go to Randy Savage with Jake and he says how much it has affected him. Jake gets an entrance and then we go to Mean Gene with Hulk Hogan. He has nothing worthwhile to say as always. We get his entrance and we are underway. Paul Roma has the honor of being the first one eliminated as Marty Jannetty uses a headscissors to take him over the top. We get a lot of bodies in the ring for what feels like a long time. Duggan gets eliminated pretty early, which is a surprise. Hogan then gets Earthquake out of there. Hogan gets Kato out but then Tugboat eliminates him from behind. The ring then starts to clear. Mr. Perfect dropkicks Boss Man from behind and Barbarian helps him on his way out of the ring. Haku accidentally chops Perfect and Shawn Michaels dropkicks Haku over the top. This feels like Michaels first true test. He throws Perfect out, but he's able to catch himself on the apron. Perfect is able to elbow Michaels to the floor, leaving us with Perfect, Barbarian and Greg Valentine. Just as you predicted. Perfect accidentally dropkicks Barbarian and Valentine helps push him to the floor. Perfect does a signature bump out of an atomic drop and into the turnbuckle. Valentine has the crowd into this thing, I'll give him that. He throws Perfect over, but he rolls under the bottom rope. He tries lifting him over, but his momentum takes him over and Perfect hangs on to pull off the victory. I liked that the finalists were a little unpredictable here and Perfect was really good in his role. 

Match Rating: **

Mean Gene is with Sensational Sherri and Ted DiBiase. Did you know he has a lot of money? 

Bret Hart vs. Ted DiBiase

The Bret solo push begins. Roddy Piper is now with the announce team here. Sherri gets involved and tries to trip up Bret and it leads to DiBiase accidentally hitting her with a knee and sending her to the floor. DiBiase comes back with a stun gun and shifts the momentum. Sherri gets involved again and chokes Bret with her jacket. She then levels him with a right hand to the throat. Hart makes a comeback and hits his inverted atomic drop. This is one of the better DiBiase matches I can remember seeing. Bret hits a second rope elbow drop and gets a close pin attempt. Sherri tries tripping Bret again and this time he goes out of the ring to confront her. DiBiase hits him in the back with a double ax handle. Piper heads down to the ring as the action goes back in the ring. Piper chases Sherri around the ring before grabbing a broom under the ring and mocks her for being a witch. He then slaps her on the butt with it and chases her back. DiBiase catches wind of it and goes after Piper. Bret goes out in the aisle and they start brawling which leads to the obvious double countout. This was a really enjoyable match with everyone playing their role extremely well. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Mountie vs. Tito Santana

The WrestleMania rematch that probably only I wanted to see. Santana hits an atomic drop and some dropkicks, causing Mountie to roll out of the ring and hug Jimmy Hart. Mountie gains control but when he goes for a splash, Tito gets the knees up. Tito hits the flying forearm but Jimmy climbs into the ring. Tito hits Jimmy with a forearm and Mountie grabs the shock stick. Mountie sticks it right in Tito's throat and we get the cheesy sound effects and that's enough for the win. That was probably the match they were supposed to have at WrestleMania and then had to cut it down to about 90 seconds. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Mean Gene is with Sgt. Slaughter and crew again. He yells Hulk Hogan's name a lot. He then talks about pulling the skin of Hogan's face off. 

Now it's off to Piper and Hogan. He hits all the notes he always hits. Yawn.

Vince and Savage recap tonight's happenings with Savage still playing heel, which makes no sense.

As someone who loves 1991 WWF, this was an essential watch for me. However, you can also see the shine wearing off with a lot of the booking decisions they were making. Still, if you are like me and enjoy this time period, this one is a nice little appetizer before SummerSlam.

Overall Rating: 70%

Superstars 11-25-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, November 25th, 1995
Richmond Coliseum
Richmond, Virginia

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1-2-3 Kid vs. Rich Myers

They show some footage of the impact Sid has had with the Kid. Kid hits a running dropkick in the corner right away and Sid gets in a cheap shot. We get an interview from Marty Jannetty, who is disappointed in the Kid. Think of how much it would take to disappoint a guy like Marty. This squash is way too long for what it is supposed to be accomplishing. He hits a spin kick for the win. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We now get a recap of Shawn Michaels collapsing in the ring on Raw during his match with Owen Hart. 

Fatu vs. Reginald Walker

Walker is a pretty big guy here for an enhancement talent. Fatu usually gets a decent reaction, even under this gimmick, but not here. Fatu hits the top rope splash and picks up the easy victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Dok Hendrix and he's rocking a wind suit with a zipper open and rocking the chest hair. He announces In Your House and that we know the main event is Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog. We hear from Bulldog and he says that he'll beat Bret again. We also are getting Henry Godwinn vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a Hog Pen match. 

British Bulldog vs. Tony Williams

We join this match in progress because why not? For some reason Williams gets a little spurt of offense. He goes up top but Bulldog catches him in midair and throws him up on his shoulders for the running powerslam for the win. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We see Diesel snapping after his title loss at Survivor Series and then go to his interview from Raw. 

Henry Godwinn vs. Jason Ahrndt

While the match is about to start, they show Hunter at a farm. This is probably the closest to DX era Hunter we have seen so far. I would have thought they would have done 2 feature matches coming off the hot pay per view, but I guess not. We then get some pre-recorded comments from Godwinn and he says that Hunter is going to find out what they do to pretty boys in Arkansas. This one is over quickly after a Slop Drop. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week, 1-2-3 Kid and Sid will take on Barry Horowitz and Hakushi. 

After the commercial break, they show Godwinn slapping hands with the crowd and Bob Backlund is there. He threatens to dump the slop on him, but doesn't. They really were trying to fill time because we go to another commercial here. 

Goldust vs. Ken Raper

It's time to get Goldust a true storyline because it feels like he's already running on fumes a little bit. Goldust hits a Curtain Call and gets the 1-2-3. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Skip & Rad Radford vs. Smoking Gunns

Richmond has always seemed like a pretty good WWF town, but they are sitting on their hands today. After some early offense from the champs, Skip and Radford are able to use shenanigans to take control into the commercial break. Bart comes back with a double crossbody. Sunny trips him up before he's able to capitalize on it. Bart goes flying over the top rope and takes a scary looking fall with his hand getting tied up in the rope. Skip comes out and hits a somersault over the top for good measure. Skip misses with a rocket launcher and now Bart is able to tag in Billy. We get some chaos and it leads to Sunny getting knocked off the apron. The Gunns hit the Sidewinder and retain their titles. This was a decent match this week. 

Match Rating: **

We go back to Dok Hendrix and we hear from Bret. No new matches announced here. 

Next week we'll have Ahmed Johnson and King Mabel. Jerry Lawler says he's going into WWF Championship training and he announces that Mr. Perfect will be taking his place on Superstars. 

For as good as Survivor Series was and as hot of an angle the Shawn Michaels on Raw was, this felt like it took place on a different universe. Obviously, Superstars was the B show by a mile at this point, they usually do a good first episode. This one seemed to drag a little, even though the feature match was pretty good overall. The silent crowd didn't help here. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Monday Nitro 11-20-95 Review

Monday, November 20th, 1995 
Macon Coliseum
Macon, Georgia

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The announcers are going way over the top here, calling this episode the Super Bowl of wrestling with the main event of Sting vs. Hulk Hogan. It definitely is about as big of a match that they could give away on TV at this time, but we'll see what they deliver here. 

Scott Norton vs. Shark

Shark attacks Norton from behind during his entrance. They haven't really given us any reason to care about Norton. I obviously don't get to watch Saturday Night, so maybe he's been getting some action in on there. They get in the ring and the bell sounds. Shark hits a belly-to-belly suplex and McMichael is loving this. Shark hits a splash in the corner and continues to dominate. Norton hits a powerslam out of nowhere and that's enough for the win? They start shoving after the match and that's all. They really booked Tenta poorly during his WCW run. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is with Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart. This is probably the most heel Hart has ever been in this storyline. Gene calls them two of the biggest pieces of human garbage, which made me smile. 

We're supposed to be getting our next match, but Disco Inferno interrupts to dance. 

Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair Brian Pillman

Flair is out in his dress clothes and accompanied by Pillman. Flair grabs a mic and he says that people actually thought he would come out tonight and wrestle Guerrero. He says that Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit are on the jet and Flair says he'll hold it for him while Pillman takes care of business. I would rather this be the main event than Sting vs. Hogan, but that's me. Eddie gets the early offense in, but Pillman hits a dropkick on Guerrero while jumping off the top rope. Pillman goes off the top rope, but Guerrero side steps him and Pillman crashes into the guardrail. Guerrero then leaps off the top and hits a dive over the steps. Guerrero goes up top again, but Pilllman crotches him. Pillman goes for a superplex, but Guerrero shoves him off and hits the Frog Splash for a surprising victory. Eddie is probably the biggest success story of the early Nitro episodes so far. 

Match Rating: **1/2

They show highlights of Randy Savage getting attacked after his match with Meng. 

Big Bubba Rogers vs. Road Warrior Hawk

It's amazing how a match that would have felt like a big deal about 4 years ago, feels like it couldn't matter any less here. We get an awkward spot in the corner and eventually Bubba hits a spinebuster. Hawk gets thrown into the turnbuckle and bounces back, colliding with Bubba. Hawk's up first and misses with a clothesline from the top rope. Bubba pulls out tape and wraps up his fist. Duggan comes out and trips up Bubba and Hawk pulls off the win. This was kind of sad to watch, as these two just don't look like the guys we knew. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Sting vs. Hulk Hogan

Sting is in red and yellow tonight. Randy Savage comes out to Hogan's music and Hogan enters from behind. He's wearing an ugly mask for some reason. He doesn't attack him and taps him on the back instead. The crowd is chanting "Hogan sucks", which to me is more showing why it wasn't such a genius move to turn Hogan. It's that they had no other choice. Any time face Hogan gets booed, it just makes me happy. We do get some good intensity here thanks to Sting and a hot crowd. Sting gets the Scorpion Death Lock in the center of the ring. Hogan of course gets out of it and starts Hulking up. Hogan misses with the leg drop though and Sting puts on the Scorpion Death Lock again. The Dungeon of Doom is out and attacks for the non-finish. Giant is out and destroys everyone. Sting and Hogan team up with a chair to clothesline Giant over the top. I'm not sure I like the way the run in happened, but the chaos was well done after the fact. 

Match Rating: **1/4

After the commercial, Sullivan and Hart are at the announce table harassing them. Even Heenan seems annoyed and has a broken headset. 

It didn't deliver on being the Super Bowl of wrestling, but that's pro wrestling for you. This was a good show though that gave us two good matches that ate up most of the run time. The other two matches were a little rough, but this was an easy watch otherwise. 

Overall Rating: 61%

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%