Monday Night Raw 1-8-96 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, January 8th, 1996
Bob Carpenter Center
Newark, Delaware

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

They tease a major announcement from Shawn Michaels and another Billionaire Ted skit. 

Hakushi vs. Jeff Jarrett

Why wouldn't you have had this been the match for Jarrett to re-debut with instead of Fatu? We get your typical Jarrett stuff here, including grabbing the ropes for leverage during an abdominal stretch. Hakushi ducks too early and hits the swinging neckbreaker. Hakushi does finally get some offense in, hitting the cartwheel elbow in the corner. He goes for the springboard splash, but Jarrett gets his knees up. He slaps on the Figure Four and gets the victory. Again, why did they not do this with Fatu? 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We go to Jim Ross for the Slam Jam. This feels rare. Doug Gilbert of the USWA will be in the Royal Rumble! Plus, Jerry Lawler, Fatu, Isaac Yankem and Jake Roberts making his return. We then hype up Vader making his debut at the Rumble. Ross then rattles off that Henry Godwinn, Marty Jannetty, Kama and Skip will be in the Rumble. Plus, Takao Omori!

Ahmed Johnson is on his way and then we will find out who the new Million Dollar Champion is going to be. 

Ahmed Johnson vs. Jeff Brettler

Brettler's attire is definitely a choice. This is a squash in case you had any doubts. The Pearl River Plunge is enough to take care of Brettler. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Jeff Jarrett tries to smash Ahmed with the guitar after the match, but Ahmed avoids it and smashes it himself as Jarrett runs away. 

Next week on Raw, it's going to be Undertaker taking on Isaac Yankem. Just what I need to see is more of those two wrestling each other. Plus, Marty Jannetty will take on Owen Hart. 

It's time for more Brother Love and he's with Ted DiBiase to make his big announcement. He finally found his guy, the Ringmaster. Total jobber. He holds his hand up to the camera so that everyone at home can touch their own hand to the screen to feel good about themselves. He says that he is in the Royal Rumble and that he'll tossing everyone over the top rope, man. He says the WWF Championship doesn't mean as much as the Million Dollar Championship, man. 

Goldust vs. Aldo Montoya

They sure gave up on Montoya pretty quickly and probably rightfully so. Aldo is able to get a back body drop in, but Goldust blocks the hip toss and hits the Curtain Call for the easy victory. This is the most Superstars feeling episode of Raw in some time. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go back to Jim Ross for the Slam Jam. He shows us an interview from earlier today from Shawn Michaels saying that the doctors don't think he should compete. He says sorry, but he's throwing his name in the Royal Rumble and that he's going to WrestleMania to face the WWF Champion. Scheme Gene is involved in all of this. 

Lawler says that this is the biggest mistake in Shawn Michaels' life. Not career, life. Diesel wishes his best friend luck. Razor thinks it's too soon to come back. Owen Hart says that he hurt him bad and that he's not ready for the Royal Rumble. He'll make sure he never wrestles again. 

Well, now it's one again time for another In Your House match shown for free. Again, I was very excited to be able to see this match, especially since it got great reviews. I just don't know how I would have felt if I paid for it. 

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: ****

Funny that right after they just showed an exclusive pay per view match, Vince promises that the Royal Rumble matches will only be shown on pay per view. We hear from Undertaker and he says that he intends to deliver for the creatures of the night. Kathy Schreck wins the Royal Rumble Sweepstakes and are going to fabulous Fresno, California. 

Don't forget to watch next week to see two morons square off when Isaac Yankem faces Undertaker. Plus, the Ringmaster makes his debut. 

It's time for Billionaire Ted again. They even make steroids again. Vince is really the master of being a hypocrite. 

Again, this is another episode that is hard to rate. Obviously, the Bret/Bulldog match ruled and took up most of the time. However, everything else sucked. The Ringmaster debut felt flat, the matches were really short and basically just filler and the Billionaire Ted stuff is god awful. Hard to say anything other than a thumbs down. 

Overall Rating: 34%

Superstars 1-6-96 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, January 6th, 1996
Stabler Arena
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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Ahmed Johnson vs. Jerry Lawler Royal Spider

Lawler comes out on crutches and says that he's not in any condition to wrestle today, so instead we get the Royal Spider. This is Thrasher from the Headbangers. Out comes Jeff Jarrett already to provide a distraction that allows Spider to dropkick Ahmed out of the ring. Ahmed chases after Jarrett but realizes he would get counted out and gets back in the ring. Ahmed hits a scissor kick to the back and the Pearl River Plunge for the easy win. I'm not really sure what the point of all of this is. Lawler walks to the back. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Dok Hendrix at the Slam Jam. He announces that Goldust will now challenge Razor Ramon at Royal Rumble. Goldust gives a long promo on Razor. I wasn't really listening. We get Fatu, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, Doug Gilbert and Jake Roberts is coming back!

They show clips of Diesel beating Mabel at the Raw Bowl in 11 seconds and Diesel walking away with the young lady. 

Isaac Yankem vs. Brian Walsh

Are we really still doing this? Why is this match longer than 30 seconds? Please go away.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week on Superstars, it's Henry Godwinn vs. Owen Hart. Yes, please. 

Mr. Perfect is in the ring to bring out Razor Ramon for an interview. Perfect rambles on and on to get under Razor's skin about how Goldust is getting under his skin and that Razor can't sleep at night. He said he talked to Goldust earlier on and he asked him for a favor. He hands Razor a teddy bear like Goldust and Razor knocks it down and heads to the back. 

They hype up Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog from In Your House being shown on Raw on Monday. Plus, Hakushi will take on Jeff Jarrett. 

We see Ted DiBiase is talking to Brother Love on the phone and he confirms that he'll be on Raw and he's hyping up the new Million Dollar Champion he found. DiBiase was so terrible as a manager. 

Skip vs. Rad Radford

We finally are getting the big payoff to this scorching hot storyline. Radford runs in the ring and hits a series of clotheslines with the final one knocking Skip to the floor. He hides behind Sunny but picks her up and moves her out of the way. That allows Skip to attack from behind and take control of the match. Radford gets a little burst of offense until he misses with the elbow drop. We even get a commercial break during this one. Skip goes up to the top rope but Radford meets him ther and hits a superplex. Skip is back on offense but not for long when Radford shoves Skip off the top rope when he goes for his hurricanrana. Radford hits a spinebuster and then a northern lights suplex. Sunny distracts the referee and a guy dressed up like Skip interferes, giving Skip the win. The celebrate together and Sunny says that his name is Zip and he is Skip's twin brother. Couldn't they have just said brother? Zip is 13 years older than Skip. The match was decent enough. 

Match Rating: **

They show a hype video for Vader. As a kid, this was a very big deal to me. Even though I didn't know a lot about WCW at the time, I knew Vader and Sting were the two guys I wanted to jump over to WWF. 

We now get a Mankind vignette just showing his missing ear. They don't say who he is or anything. Do you know how annoying it is that we finally get to one of my favorite years as a fan and now I can't even watch Raw anymore? 

It's now time for the replay of the Undertaker/Mabel match from In Your House just in case you weren't insulted enough if you actually bought the show by this time. 

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*

For the record, I did not watch this again. We go back to Dok and he does the worst impression of Michael Jackson that you will ever hear. He hypes up Diesel being in the Rumble before talking about the title match between Undertaker and Bret Hart. We're only 2 weeks away!

We now see the Raw Bowl queen and she's with Hunter Hearst Helmsley drinking wine sitting by the fireplace. He says that 1996 will be the best year yet. 

Now it's time for Billionaire Ted. This was such a stupid and desperate campaign. 

Next week they will show us highlights of Shawn Michaels' press conference. On top of Owen/Godwinn, we are also getting Goldust vs. Barry Horowitz. That show sounds better. The Skip match was pretty good and actually gave us some storyline but the rest of the show was awful. 

Overall Rating: 36%

Off The Grid, Volume 60: Clash Of The Champions XXVIII Review

Wednesday, August 24th, 1994
Five Seasons Center
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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Off The Grid, Volume 60:

We get a disclaimer that this is the most complete version of the show due to technical difficulties. It seems as if the intro must have been what they are referring to since the Nasty Boys are the first thing you see and they reference that the national anthem was sung.

Nasty Boys vs. Pretty Wonderful

The Nasty Boys are usually a pretty good time. As I say that, I'm already not paying attention to the match. Orndorff just always feels so old when I see him during this run. I don't necessarily mean it in a mean way, just that he seems like he's just from such a different era. Orndorff goes for the piledriver, but Sags is able to hit the back body drop and tag in Knobs. He gets double teamed after he gets in a bunch of right hands. Things break down with all four in the ring. Orndorff hits a suplex and Roma hits the splash. Sags hits an elbow off the top on Orndorff and picks up the win despite not being the legal man. This was a fun enough Clash style match. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a Hulk Hogan hotline commercial. I bet that's not a scam. 

Mean Gene brings out the "most awesome force in WCW history"...Hulk Hogan. There's no way at this point that you could even really say that. As Hogan comes out (following Jimmy Hart first), a masked man attacks Hogan from behind and he sells it like it's the most insane beating ever taken. Gene keeps saying "Look at that knee!". It looked like absolutely nothing. You'd think a guy who has starred in movies would be a better actor. Mean Gene wants to get a word with him but then says he is in way too much pain and starts yelling "Get him out of here!". This is just so bad. 

United States Championship Match
Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin

Oh good, they're just going to talk about Hogan instead of this match that should rule. We get a pretty slow pace here to start. We get news that Sting saw what happened on TV and is taking a plane to get to the arena. He will wrestle in Hogan's place tonight if needed. It should be noted also that Barry Darsow is in the front row and the now have acknowledged him as a "loud mouthed fan". Surprisingly, there hasn't been a lot of note in here until Steamboat crotches Austin on the top rope. Steamboat goes for a superplex, but Austin shoves him off. Steamboat comes back and slams Austin face-first into the mat. Steamboat shows some more fire and the crowd loves that. We get a series of pin attempts, which is probably one of my favorites of the more frequently used spots in a match. It goes on for quite a bit and then eventually works for Steamboat and we have a new champion. The match started slower than I expected but picked up to some good stuff at the end. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Oh, don't worry. It's time for more Hulk Hogan. They go to Eric Bischoff and see Hogan coming out of the ambulance at the hospital. He says Hogan felt something snap in his knee. 

It's now time for a new music video from Honky Tonk Man, who is coming to WCW. Talk about striking while the iron is hot. His song is basically his usual song except he says "baby" instead of "man". This was as pointless as you would think it would be in 1994. 

Mean Gene is now with Nick Bockwinkle. If Hogan is unable to wrestle tonight, he will have to relinquish the title. 

We go to a segment with Dusty Rhodes is in the ring with Dustin to talk about some of the opponents in the way and that Dustin is a future world champion. Dusty wants to be Dustin's partner. They embrace and the crowd goes wild. 

Bunkhouse Buck & Terry Funk vs. Dusty Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes

We get to hear one of the worst entrance themes of all time with Dustin's. Luckily, they get right to business and we don't have to hear much. Schiavone speculates that this was always their plan to get Dusty back in the ring. Dustin gets most of the action to start before tagging in dad. Dusty is 48 years old here and the crowd loves all of his elbow shenanigans. We get the classic spot where Bunkhouse hits Funk on accident and out comes Arn Anderson. I will say, all four men are putting in a good effort here. It all breaks down and Arn comes in and DDTs Dustin for the stupid DQ finish. Meng is now out and Dusty hits him with a wooden chair, which smashes over his head and Meng no sells it. We get a melee with the heels destroying the Rhodes family and officials trying to break it up. We take a commercial with chaos still continuing. This was more of a storyline match but the effort here was really good and the crowd loved all of it. 

Match Rating: ***

Back to this stupid Hogan drama with Bischoff. They are very concerned about the severity of his knee injury. If Hogan forfeits the title, he will get the first title shot but Hogan wants to wrestle tonight. Jimmy Hart says whatever Hogan wants to do is what he'll do. 

Back to Mean Gene in the arena and he brings out Ric Flair. If Hogan can't wrestle, Flair wants Hogan to walk down the aisle and hand him the title. We get lots of yelling here from both Flair and Sherri. 

We come back from commercial and Mean Gene says that he has heard that Hogan is on his way back to the arena and Heenan can't believe it. 

Lord Steven Regal vs. Antonio Inoki

Regal starts as the aggressor as Heenan and Schiavone tell us how Inoki has wrestled Muhammad Ali and Andre The Giant. Just in case you were worried about Hogan since we haven't heard about him for about 2 minutes, they show him limping into the arena. Nick Bockwinkle joins the announce team just in case you needed more Hogan news. He says that he advised Hogan not to wrestle. Meanwhile, the action in the ring is mostly on the mat. Then out of nowhere, Inoki puts the choke sleeper hold on, which seems like it should be illegal. I mean, this is the same organization that disqualifies you if you throw someone over the top rope. Anyway, that's the finish. This was dull. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Call the Hulk Hogan hotline. 

WCW Championship Match
Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan

We get the delayed Hogan entrance with Flair on the mic calling for him. He comes out with his knee wrapped and a limp. Hogan goes right after Flair before his robe is even off. Hogan is his usual cheating self and starts biting Flair. Flair pulls Hogan out of the ring but it's Hogan so of course it doesn't work. Flair goes up top and Hogan slams him to the mat. Hogan then starts brawling with him up the entrance ramp. Hogan misses with a chair and that allows Flair to get his first offense in. Flair hits a vertical suplex and of course Hogan no sells that too. To his credit, the crowd absolutely loves this. Sherri comes in and hits Hogan's knee and Flair starts to focus his attack there. Flair puts on the Figure Four in the center of the ring and naturally Hogan the good guy is able to rake the eyes of Flair to get out. Hogan hulks up and hits a leg drop but that hurt him. Flair puts on the Figure Four again and I should comment on how good Heenan is here. Hogan reverses the hold and rolls to the ropes. Sherri hits Hogan's knee with her shoe and Hogan rolls out of the ring. Flair wins by countout and the crowd absolutely hates that. They announce Flair as the new champion for some reason and then they announce Hogan as the winner by disqualification. Leave it to WCW to ruin a good main event. Out comes the masked man and he helps Flair attack Hogan. He puts the Figure Four on again and the masked man runs away. Out comes Sting to make the save. You know, if you're going to do an injury angle, it would have been ok for Hogan to lose here. This was one of the best Hogan WCW matches that I can remember though before the stupid ending. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Shows like this are so hard to rate. I enjoyed everything for the most part but at the same time the Hogan stuff was so obnoxious, and the finish was your typical crap Hogan finish. However, 3 of the 5 matches were pay per view quality and that's enough for me to recommend it. If you for some reason like Hogan, this one's for you. 

Overall Rating: 68%

Monday Nitro 1-1-96 Review

Monday, January 1st, 1996
The Omni
Atlanta, Georgia

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

Eric Bischoff welcomes into 1996 along with Bobby Heenan and Steve McMichael. Bischoff says that just in case you were vacationing in a third world country, Ric Flair is the new WCW Champion. What a weird comment. 

Arn Anderson vs. Randy Savage

Savage runs in and Arn is ready for it. Savage fights him off and tosses him out of the ring. They remind us of Savage not being healthy during his title reign and that he's the ultimate working man's champion. McMichael is sick of all the interference, so Heenan says he should do something about it. Arn rams Savage's arm into the ring post and goes to work on it. Bischoff is more annoying than normal so far here. Arn hits a DDT and gets a big pop from the Atlanta crowd. Arn tries to use a foreign object but Savage is able to knock it out of Arn's hand. He hits him with a right hand and picks up the victory. Brian Pillman and Chris Benoit are out but its too late, as Savage escapes to the back. This was a decent enough TV match.

Match Rating: **

Steven Regal vs. Chris Benoit

Classic WCW with having Benoit just out in the ring and then having him go to the back and come right back out for his match. We see Hank Aaron in the audience, which is pretty cool. We get a piledriver reversal by Benoit and he is able to hit it on Regal. Benoit misses with a dive to the outside. Regal rolls him into the ring and picks up the victory? All they talk about is how the other Horsemen are always around and then they have two of them job in the first matches of the night. This was disappointing. 

Match Rating: *

Mean Gene is in the ring now with Pillman, Anderson and Benoit. Pillman isn't happy about them being 0-2. Benoit said it took pure luck for Regal to beat him tonight. Sure. Benoit then makes a comment about naked women in the limo and you can tell Gene is about to lose it. Arn tells them they prosper as a unit. Out comes the Dungeon of Doom. Giant grabs Zodiac and Sullivan and drags them back. 

Super Assassins vs. Sting & Lex Luger

I completely forgot that Warlord was with WCW ever during this time period. And here we go again with Sgt. Craig Pittman. This time he wants to talk to McMichael while two of their absolute top stars are wrestling. He wants Mongo to be his manager. Mongo declines but says to that he doesn't need anyone because he used to be a Sgt. and he's got this. Meanwhile, the Assassins are taking care of business here. Sting tags in Luger but the referee doesn't see it and the beatdown continues. Luger finally gets tagged in and gets Warlord up in the Torture Rack. He lasts a lot longer than most because they want to wait for Sting to get the Scorpion Death Lock in too. No surprise that the Atlanta crowd loves their Sting and Luger victory here. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Mean Gene interviews Jimmy Hart and Giant. Jimmy asks Gene if he's standing in a hole or if he's really that short, which is great. 

Clash of the Champions is coming January 23rd. 

WCW Championship Match
Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan

Look at me watching these two wrestle twice in the same day. We get the usual stuff here with these two. Despite these two having quite a few matches up to this point, the crowd is just 100% behind this. Hogan hits the big boot and out comes Jimmy Hart. He distracts Hogan and Arn Anderson comes from behind and nails Hogan. Hogan of course no sells it and being the idiot that he is, shows the referee and he calls for the bell. Pillman is out here and Giant and Savage. Savage saves Hogan and the heels back off? The match was good enough for what it was but nothing more. 

Match Rating: **

We hear from Savage and Hogan and we find out they will face Flair and Anderson next week. Bischoff brags about being #1 and that numbers talk. 

This was a pretty good show, but they continue to just stick to the big names and not really feature so many of their midcard stars. I'm not sure when that shifts but I am looking forward to it. For the meantime, this was an entertaining hour of pro wrestling. 

Overall Rating: 61%

Monday Night Raw: Raw Bowl 1-1-96 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, January 1st, 1996
Bob Carpenter Center
Newark, Delaware

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get a Raw Bowl preview including them hyping up Billionaire Ted and all of that crap. They even have a marching band performing in the crowd. Lawler is wearing his custom Browns jersey. I think a lot of people hated this, but it's stupid fun in my opinion. 

Raw Bowl 
Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon & Savio Vega vs. Sid & 1-2-3 Kid

They show Brother Love in the locker room while Owen and Yoko are entering for whatever reason. Goldust's usher presents Razor with a box of flowers and he takes them and hits him over the head with it. Goldust is shown lurking. Bart Gunn and Owen start things off. After they make contact, Owen tags in Billy Gunn and the two partners have to make contact. They do some basic stuff and then tag in both Owen and Yoko. Obviously that doesn't take much and they are able to tag out. Earl Hebner is wearing a white hat like the football refs do and the mat is green. All of these types of things are nice little touches. Now that I'm thinking about it, was this the first ever multi-tag team match in WWF history? Bart hits a delayed vertical suplex on Sid, which is pretty impressive. They show Brother Love again in the back. Kid misses a kick in the corner and gets hung up, but it's his own corner, so Sid is able to help him recover. Razor finally gets his hands on the Kid, but then Kid calls a timeout. Razor hits the Razor's Edge anyways and that's a penalty. Then DiBiase gets on the apron and that may be a penalty too. Sid then attacks Razor from behind and the Kid is able to eliminate Razor. Savio claims to have called timeout, but the referee declines. Lawler then does the Magistrator, showing us how Razor was eliminated. Owen misses Bart with a top rope splash and Bart is able to tag in Billy. He takes care of the entire opposition, including Jim Cornette. Kid gets a cheap shot in to slow down his momentum. Yoko gets up for the splash, but Bart pulls him out of the way and they move Owen in there. Billy rolls over and pins Owen despite Yoko calling for timeout. Sid quickly comes in and attacks Billy. Sid hits a big chokeslam on Billy. Lawler keeps interviewing some Ashley lady and she has the charisma of a zucchini. Kid goes off the top, but out comes Razor and he shoves him off behind the referee's back and the Gunns win the first and only Raw Bowl. This was goofy fun, with my only complaint being all the stupid football puns from Vince and Lawler. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Lawler claims that Shawn Michaels is definitely retiring. 

We go to the Wrigley's Halftime Report with Dok Hendrix. We have a countdown clock in the corner and we go to Jim Ross who says that Diesel told him that he's going to kick the king's can. Dok then runs over the announced card for Royal Rumble and then we go back to Vince and Lawler. 

We are now going to see the Hog Pen match from In Your House. Here is my review from that show.

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

Next week, Hakushi takes on Jeff Jarrett and then they're going to show another match from In Your House. No better way to insult the paying audience then to give away two of the matches for free. As someone who did not order the show, I was excited, but that's beside the point. 

King Mabel vs. Diesel

Diesel attacks Mabel, hits the big boot and picks up the quick victory. He then throws Mo in the ring and gives him a Jackknife. He's got a new attitude and he's taking it to WCW. Stay tuned! For the time being, Diesel will be in the Royal Rumble. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Lawler and Vince fight over interviewing Diesel and Lawler eventually says he'll do it. He tries to, but Diesel takes Ashley instead and heads to the back. 

Brooklyn Brawler presents the Smoking Gunns with the Lombardi Trophy. Steve Lombardi, get it? The Gunns smash it and attack the Brawler. 

They keep teasing a "monster" announcement for a new entrant in the Royal Rumble. 

They announce Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Dory Funk Jr., Savio Vega, King Mabel, Bam Bam Bigelow, Barry Horowitz, Yokozuna, Tatanka and the big surprise, Vader. He gets a vignette showing off his skills. 

Now it's time for the beginning of the both legendary and terrible Billionaire Ted skits. Yes, this includes Nacho Man, the Huckster and Scheme Gene. Keep in mind that this is the same company that just trotted out Bob Backlund in the main event of their last Raw. 

This episode was all over the place. The Raw Bowl stuff was a blast and took up a good portion of the show. The inclusion of the Hog Pen match was kind of odd and makes this kind of hard to rate as a whole. The Diesel build continued and we got the Vader announcement. I'd say this was more bad than good. 

Overall Rating: 51%

Superstars 12-30-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 30th, 1995

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Unfortunately, this is a 1995 recap show rather than an actual episode of Superstars. We get a Todd Pettengill narrated introduction before sending us to Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect in the television studio. They briefly talk about the top stars before going into Bam Bam Bigelow (does he even work here any more?) and Lawrence Taylor. 

This leads to Todd doing a terrible old timey sports announcer voice as they show us the story of Bam Bam and LT. We get highlights of the match, which was solid for what it was. Vince is his phony mood today and sounds like he's running an infomercial. They show Bob Backlund declaring that he's running for president before the first commercial break. 

We get our next 1995 Superstar Moment and it's Jerry Lawler and his nosebleed as he dangled over the cage match between Isaac Yankem and Bret Hart. This leads into the Kiss My Foot match. They go through this one more quickly than the LT one and focus more on Lawler's comeuppance. That then leads into Isaac Yankem. 

They then go back to Survivor Series...1994? They talk about Owen making Martha to throw the towel in and costing Bret the title. This leads to a highlight package of Bret's 1995 up until Survivor Series 1995. Jim Ross then narrates a brief moment where they show Bret/Diesel for a second. 

Even though it's a recap show, we still have to see Dok Hendrix for the Slam Jam. He talks about Bret Hart vs. Undertaker and we hear from Paul Bearer and Undertaker. Taker says the creatures of the night are calling for him to win the WWF title. He then talks about the big match between Ahmed Johnson facing Jeff Jarrett. He'll tell us about 4 new names later on. They then show fake Bill Clinton flirting with Sunny. 

We come back to Barry Horowitz's first victory and then Vince and Perfect mocking JR's call. That naturally leads into them talking about...Razor Ramon. They recap the saga with 1-2-3 Kid. It's interesting how much focus is going to be put on him and Diesel when they are going to be leaving 4 months or so. 

They go on to start talking about Razor's new rival, Goldust. Vince thinks Goldust is just getting in the head of Razor. Perfect then says that he'll interview Razor next week. 

It's time to pretend that Jeff Jarrett didn't leave for a few months over a contract dispute. They hype up the Royal Rumble match and remind us that he won't be in the actual Rumble match thanks to Gorilla Monsoon. 

It's now time to talk about Kama and the feud with Undertaker. This is kind of surprising since Kama is basically a nothing at this point. It's time to talk about Mabel too and he's also basically a nothing. Diesel isn't too happy about Undertaker's title shot. 

We get a clip of the Smoking Gunns winning the tag titles from Owen Hart and Yokozuna. 

They start talking about Diesel and basically openly admit how he was booked poorly by kissing babies and doing media appearances. They think his schedule may have caused him to lose the WWF title and they show a few highlights of the Survivor Series match and his interview the next night. 

It's back to Dok for the Slam Jam. He announces some new entrants starting with British Bulldog and we hear from him and Jim Cornette. Savio Vega gets a rare interview spot and he's also in the Rumble. He's my pick to go all the way. Dok then announces King Mabel and Dory Funk Jr...

It's time to talk about the heartbreak around Shawn Michaels. We get to hear "Tell Me A Lie" one more time. 

Next week we get Ahmed Johnson vs. Jerry Lawler and Skip vs. Rad Radford. Vince asks Perfect his favorite moment and of course it is him coming back and Vince does some terrible comedic acting. Ted DiBiase says his best moment was acquiring Sid. Henry Godwinn's favorite was slopping DiBiase and throwing Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the mud. Bret's was winning the WWF Championship. They then go back to Mr. Perfect who is still rambling. Hilarious.

1995 in many regards is the worst year in WWF history. A weak roster, poor booking and watering down the product with monthly pay-per-views really left a sour taste in most people's mouths. However, this is the year I fell back in love with wrestling. I don't really know what it was that drew me back in to pro wrestling, but I was hooked once again. With that being said, this recap wasn't really that great. It didn't really do anything particularly well and Vince was pretty poor as a host here. 

Overall Rating: 40%

Starrcade 1995 Review

Wednesday, December 27th, 1995
Nashville Municipal Auditorium
Nashville, Tennessee

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Well, my main gripe is that I had no idea what the matches were tonight and they kick off the show running through them really quickly as part of the short intro. We're then welcomed by Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes and Bobby Heenan. 

Chris Benoit vs. Jushin Liger

We get some good wrestling, which is shocking, I know. The crowd is behind Benoit because of this being the World Cup. Liger shows off some of his submission mastery by putting on about 3 holds in the matter of a minute. This was the obvious choice for the opener and it is paying dividends because Benoit really hasn't been featured a ton on Nitro lately. He hits a superplex and that gets a nice pop from the crowd. Benoit misses with the diving headbutt and Liger hits a sitdown powerbomb for a 2 count. Benoit comes back with some German suplexes and then a traditional powerbomb. He hits the diving headbutt this time and out comes Kevin Sullivan with Jimmy Hart pulling him back. It distracts Benoit and Liger sort of hits a hurricanrana into a pin and picks up the victory. A rare botch by Liger. This was a solid match and made the whole World Cup thing feel important. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Eddie Guerrero is with Mean Gene and he struggles getting out his words on how he felt about Kevin Sullivan interfering. This is a great example of how far Eddie came in his time from WCW to headliner in WWE. 

Koji Kanemoto vs. Alex Wright

Kanemoto is not someone I am familiar with other than the one time I watched this show years ago. The crowd chants "USA" despite neither man being from there. Wrestling fans at their finest. Wright hits a dive over the top rope and to the floor. Kanemoto kind of no sells it and yells at a fan instead. This one has kind of felt like a bunch of moves here so far. Kanemoto then hits a dive of his own. Kanemoto hits a moonsault and decides not to pin Wright and the announcers are baffled. Wright hits a German suplex into a bridge and gets a 2 count. Kanemoto comes off the top rope and Wright hits him with a dropkick. He then climbs up top and hits a big missile dropkick. Wright hits a superplex and gets a 2 count. Kanemoto then sneaks in a pinfall and picks up the victory to go up 2-0. This was not a bad match, but I didn't really get the story they were trying to tell. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Mean Gene hypes up the hotline before talking to Sonny Ono. He talks about wanting to go up 5-0, which Mean Gene corrects him and says they would stop at 4-0. Sonny then says that maybe he'll buy WCW and Iowa because everything in America is for sale. 

Masahiro Chono vs. Lex Luger

It really is crazy to me how over Luger is in WCW coming off an absolutely awful first half of 1995 in WWF. Chono hits a big boot and finall slows down Luger. For the record, Luger is the first of the 3 competitors to represent WCW that is actually from America. Chono slaps on the STF and this match has really slowed down quickly after a solid start. Dusty makes fun of Tony for knowing the names of moves. Chono goes off the top rope and Luger hits him with a back elbow. He throws him up in the Torture Rack and that's all. He celebrates with Jimmy and they insist the crowd is cheering him because of the World Cup. I don't think that's the case here. This was pretty meh.

Match Rating: *

Mean Gene is now with Sting. Sting is so cheesy, but there really is something about his honesty that is enjoyable. 

Johnny B. Badd vs. Masa Saito

Ono gets on the mic and says that Kimberly is everything that is wrong with America and then she gets on the mic and this is all bad. Saito is 53 years old here. After some stalling, they begin to start slapping chests. I'm not sure I've ever seen Badd do that. The crowd is absolutely dead for this one as Saito is slowly just working on Badd. Badd makes a comeback and hits a sunset flip off the top rope for a 2 count. Badd grabs Ono on the apron and Saito attacks him and we get kind of a botched finish with Saito struggling to get Badd over the top. He eventually does and we get a DQ finish to tie everything up at 2-2. Badd dropkicks Saito out of the ring and this was all not very good. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jimmy Hart and Luger are with Mean Gene. This is what WCW is all about according to Luger. He calls Savage a pathetic, one-armed champion. This is a really long interview for some reason. 

Shinjiro Ootani vs. Eddie Guerrero 

Please explain to me why Ric Flair doesn't have a match against NJPW and why Sting's match is right before the triangle match? I always felt like WCW was stupid about things like that. Our first bit of action ends with Guerrero hitting a hurricanrana. Guerrero slaps on the Boston crab and Dusty plays the role of Gorilla Monsoon saying that he isn't doing it correctly. Eddie hits a couple of high impact moves with a powerbomb and brainbuster. Ootani comes back with a springboard missile dropkick and then a dive to the floor. We're kind of getting some slower action than I thought and then they are hitting some high impact moves. Eddie hits a top rope hurricanrana and a sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. Eddie hits a springboard reverse crossbody to Ootani on the floor. Guerrero hits a hurricanrana into a pin and we get a few counters into pins and Ootani gets the better of it for the victory. This was a solid match that felt like it could have been better had they worked a little bit better pace. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Savage has a backstage interview with Mean Gene and we get a very early 90s style interview here from him in a great way. This was a fun moment. 

Tenzan vs. Randy Savage

I still think it's so weird that they booked a triangle match where the winner faces Savage and then made these guys be part of the World Cup. Why not have some of your other wrestlers take those spots? The crowd is pretty quiet for a Savage match, which tells you how this World Cup is going. Tenzan mostly dominates and it's pretty plotting. HE hits a top rope headbutt, but it's not enough. Dusty Rhodes trying to tell Savage how to do a suplex is fun. Savage goes up top and hits the elbow drop for the win. He ties it up for WCW, leaving it up to Sting. Who could have seen that coming? 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Flair cuts a promo and I'm starting to feel like this is WrestleMania VIII all over again. Flair's hair during this era is such a crime. 

Kensuke Sasaki vs. Sting

The crowd is definitely a little more invested in Sting here tonight. Does anyone actually care who wins the World Cup though? Sasaki puts Sting into the Scorpion Death Lock and Tony is just amazed. It doesn't take long for Sting to make his comeback and he slaps him in the Scorpion Death Lock. Sasaki lasts for a few, but he eventually has to tap. This was nothing. 

Match Rating: *

Gene is now in the ring with all of the WCW competitors who participated and talks about how historic this night is. I promise you it isn't. Again, we get "U-S-A" chants even though Wright, Guerrero and Benoit aren't from there. Gene wants this to become an annual event. Don't worry, it won't be. 

Triangle Match
Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair vs. Sting

All three of these guys are entertaining in their own way, but so far I haven't been captivated. I should note that in this variation of the three person match, one competitor stands on the apron and has to be tagged in. So this is a lot less chaotic than what we are accustomed to these days. We finally get our first tease of the Luger/Sting friendship, but they let it go. It really is amazing that Vince dumped so much money on the Lex Express and it failed miserably and all he had to do was jump back over to WCW in a surprise move and he's over big time. Flair finally makes it Luger vs. Sting and we get a slow build. They eventually get going and Sting gets Luger down and calling for timeout. This match is starting to feel like it's been going on forever at this point. This just isn't really a compelling match for whatever reason. Luger gets Sting up in the Torture Rack and Sting's leg hits the referee. This allows Flair to interfere and knock both men out of the ring. Sting tries to get back in before the 10 count, but Luger grabs his arm and both men are counted out. Flair advances to take on Savage. This was like watching paint dry way too often considering who was involved. 

Match Rating: **

WCW Championship Match
Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage

We're getting some more mediocre action here and then out comes...Paul Orndorff in a neck brace? Why is he anywhere near a main event in 1995? Savage gets Flair outside, but Flair hits Savage in the midsection on the way down from his top rope double ax handle. I really wanted to like this show, but it's actually worse than I remember. This is just so dead. I'm not sure which is worse. WCW having a hot TV product and better roster, but then mostly not delivering on pay per view or WWF having a terrible roster and having occupational gimmicks? Jimmy Hart distracts the ref and throws the megaphone to Flair. Savage takes it away and hits Flair with it. Jimmy still has the ref distracted. Flair is bleeding and Savage hits the top rope elbow drop. Out comes Pillman, but Savage throws him off the top rope. Out comes Arn Anderson and he hits Savage with the brass knuckles. Flair is your new champion and that wakes the crowd up. I mean that was a lot of shenanigans for such a short match. WCW just never executed those as well for whatever reason. Pillman takes the title belt and whips Savage with it while Flair celebrates. 

Match Rating: **

Like I said, I really wanted to like this show. It just didn't click. The World Cup was pointless and the main events didn't deliver what you would expect from these guys. It wasn't terrible and the Liger match was solid, but that just isn't enough to make you ever need to see this. 

Overall Rating: 46%

Monday Nitro 12-25-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, December 25th, 1995
Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center
Augusta, Georgia

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We get a taped episode of Nitro this week with it being Christmas and all. Raw did not run a show, but I guess Nitro saw this as an easy opportunity to get some late night viewers ahead of their big show on the 27th. 

Lex Luger vs. Scotty Riggs

Riggs actually gets a lot of offense in here for some reason. I actually always kind of liked Riggs but also haven't really watched him wrestle since the 90s. Luger finally turns things around and hits a big suplex for a 2 count. Riggs tries to get a burst in, but misses with a missile dropkick. The crowd gets to their feet knowing the Totrture Rack is coming up and they are indeed correct. This was a spirited little match here. It's crazy how much more confident Luger is in this run compared to his WWF run. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Mean Gene is with Sting and asks about his relationship with Luger. Sting hates it and says that they are friends. He's going to be taking on Big Bubba after the commercial break. 

Big Bubba vs. Sting

Bubba gets in less offense than Riggs did before Sting hits him with a single hand bulldog. He hits another one outside the ring. Bubba slows things down. We then get kind of a weird finish where Sting goes up to the top rope. Bubba gives him a thumb to the eye and goes for a suplex. Sting counters that into an inside cradle and picks up the win. 

Match Rating: *

Mean Gene is now in a Santa hat to interview Lex Luger and Jimmy Hart. He says he and Sting have been friends for 10 years and that's how it is going to remain. Out comes Craig Pittman and he asks Jimmy Hart to manage him. Jimmy makes Pittman take his shirt off and compares his body to Luger and asks why he would want to manage someone like him. Whatever. 

Dean Malenko vs. JL

Malenko hits a dropkick to the back of JL when he's turned around and we are under way. JL hits a somersault dive off the apron onto Malenko on the floor to shift the momentum. We get some more back and forth action that would later define this division. JL hits a sit down powerbomb and that gets a 2 count. Malenko sets up for a powerbomb but turns it into a stun gun. Malenko has him on his shoulders on the second rope and hits a leaping gutbuster. Malenko puts on the leg lock and that's all for JL. I've really enjoyed the genesis of the cruiserweight division here. 

Match Rating: **

Mean Gene is with Ric Flair and Jimmy Hart says what Kevin Sullivan was rude to interrupt him last week. Jimmy says that he owes Flair for saving him a couple of weeks ago and he always pays his debts. He wants to go down with him when he wins the title tonight and Flair is good with it. 

WCW Championship Match
Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage

I am really enjoying this episode tonight. I'm not really sure what else they have planned here with 18 minutes left in the show. Make sure to call your pay per view provider now to make sure you have Starrcade. You know, the show we have hardly talked about other than the main event. Savage gets a Figure Four locked in really early in the match for some reason. He grabs the ropes like 3 times before Savage has to finally break it. We go outside the ring but we have to take a commercial break. When we come back, they are near the entrance ramp and he throws Savage into the guardrail. This match feels a little disjointed and we get another commercial break. They are heavy into selling how injured Savage is here in this match and as always, Savage is selling like a pro. Flair puts on the Figure Four for a lengthy amount of time. Savage gets out and Flair goes up top. You know how this ends and that's with Flair being thrown off. Savage reverses a piledriver and the crowd is kind of flat for this even though they have been good the majority of both episodes. Jimmy Hart gets on the apron and Savage knocks him off. Out comes Luger and we have a DQ finish. Out comes Sting and he goes after Flair and both faces stand tall. They bump into each other and start shoving intensely. I like ending the show with those two guys being the last thing you see. The match was pretty flat, but I am good with that ending. 

Match Rating: *1/4

I liked this show overall, even if the Savage/Flair match was disappointing. It was easy to digest and really the only major gripe is I still have no clue what the other matches are for Starrcade other than New Japan will be there. Maybe they talked more about those matches on Saturday Night? 

Overall Rating: 62%

Superstars 12-23-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 23rd, 1995
Stabler Arena
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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You'd think we'd get a recap of In Your House, but instead it's just a quick blurb about Ted Dibiase's Santa Clause, since that is definitely the one thing on every fan's mind. 

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

We get a spirited opening sequence from Billy and Skip that leads to Skip rolling out of the ring to step away. The Gunns hit a double side Russian leg sweep on Radford for a 2 count. A distraction from Sunny allows Skip to dive off the apron. Their advantage doesn't last long with Billy being tagged in. Skip gets a thumb to his eye, but Bart comes in and throws Skip off the top rope into Radford and the champions retain. They kept up a pretty good pace and got a lot in a fairly short match. After the match, Sunny grabs the mic and berates Radford. She tells him that he's fired and then slaps him. Skip attacks him from behind and they bolt to the back. 

Match Rating: **

We go to Dok Hendrix's house for the Slam Jam. He talks Royal Rumble and we hear from one of the first participants, Diesel, and he wants his title back. Owen Hart then talks about putting Shawn Michaels away. Don't forget about Jeff Jarrett vs. Ahmed Johnson. 

Xanta Klaus vs. Scott Taylor

Well, this is a pretty infamous bad gimmick played by Balls Mahoney. We do hear from DiBiase and he lets us know that he's searching high and low for his next top superstar. Xanta puts on the Camel Clutch and gets the easy win. I see big things for this guy in the near future. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Buddy Landel vs. Matt Hardy

Landel has already been entered into the Royal Rumble. Huge if true. I mean, what were they really hoping to get out of Landel in 1996? It's easy to see why they ended up signing Hardy, as he always does a good job of selling for his opponents. Landel wins with an elbow drop. That should tell you all you need to know. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We see the Undertaker/Diesel confrontation from In Your House. 

Henry Godwinn vs. Brooklyn Brawler

We come back from commercial and the bell rings for this match with no entrance for Godwinn. There's also some awkward silence before Vince starts talking. We hear from Godwinn and he talks about being in the Royal Rumble. The stakes just keep getting higher with all of these top stars being entered in. Brawler tries to go off the top rope, but Godwinn slams him off and then hits the Slop Drop for the easy win. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a recap of what transpired between Goldust and Razor Ramon at In Your House. 

British Bulldog vs. Marty Jannetty

Marty has been pretty sharp for the most part during his 15th return to the company here. Marty has a good flurry of hip tosses and dropkicks before Bulldog slows it down. We come back from commercial break and Bulldog hits a delayed vertical suplex. We get some back and forth wrestling from here. Marty goes up top but Cornette pulls Bulldog out of the ring. Jannetty hits him with a baseball slide. Back in the ring, Marty goes up top again and Bulldog catches him and puts him up for the running powerslam for the win. Even Mr. Perfect was impressed with this match. This was a good Superstars main event. 

Match Rating: **1/2

We go back to Dok and he keeps hyping up how shocked we'll be at the names trying to get into the Royal Rumble. Diesel, Owen Hart and Buddy Landel but then we go to the title match, Bret Hart vs. Undertaker. We hear from both competitors. 

It's time for the special music video of Shawn Michaels, who will definitely never compete again. This is the famous "Tell Me A Lie" music video. 

They actually kind of pulled out a good episode of Superstars out of nowhere. Both feature matches delivered and the rest was very easy to digest. The Rumble is looking pretty weak so far outside of the main event, so that has to be a bit of a concern. 

Overall Rating: 53%

Monday Nitro 12-18-95 Review

Monday, December 18th, 1995
Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center
Augusta, Georgia

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Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan and Steve McMichael kick off the show. They are interrupted by Madusa, better known as Alundra Blayze in WWF. She says that she's always been Madusa and she puts the WWF Women's Championship in the garbage can and we get one of the more famous moments from the early days of the Monday Night Wars. It obviously went on to change nothing in the long run. Now McMichael brings up William "Refrigerator" Perry and he squeezes Heenan's hand and that's all. Alrighty then. 

Ric Flair vs. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie is already in the ring here, but you have to love Eddie continuing to get his shot to shine here on Nitro. We get a slow burn here to start, but the crowd is into it. Eddie tries a few quick pin attempts just to rattle Flair a little. They trash Mike Tyson and I have no recollection of which fight they are referring to, nor do I really care. Guerrero hits a springboard hurricanrana and for whatever reason, that didn't get much of a reaction. Eddie falls out of the ring and hurts his knee. Flair slaps on the Figure Four and Flair is able to gain some extra leverage from the top rope while the ref checks on Eddie. Eddie passes out and Flair gets the victory by pinfall. This one never really got going. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Arn Anderson comes out and joins Flair for an in ring interview with Mean Gene. Arn talks about Paul Orndorff and says that he got to see what happens when you mess with the Horsemen. Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart come out and interrupt. Sullivan talks about the respect he has for Arn, but he wants them to keep Brian Pillman on a short list. Arn tells him that if you come looking for Pillman, he might just find the Horsemen. 

Sgt. Craig Pittman comes out and interrupts the announce team and he is so green that he doesn't even know that he has to hold a mic so that people can hear him. He says he's been doing his homework and he realized that Bobby Heenan used to be one of the great managers. He must have spent a lot of time to uncover that information. He then asks Heenan to manage him, but Heenan says he can only help behind the scenes and not in the ring. I bet you not one person was talking about this after it happened. 

Lex Luger vs. Marcus Bagwell

Luger misses in the corner and Bagwell gets a little bit of offense in. Luger comes back pretty quickly with a powerslam. He puts him up in the Torture Rack and that's all. This was just a high profile squash, as it should have been. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Mean Gene now interviews Hart and Luger. Hart reminds us that Luger is the uncrowned champion and Gene says that he's just a top contender. 

They hype up Saturday Night and it actually has a few moderately good matches. 

Earl Robert Eaton vs. Sting

Here's a squash match that I can get behind. The Luger/Sting story continues the most intriguing thing going in WCW. We get a lot of talking about other stuff during this one. Eaton misses with a top rope knee drop and Sting makes his comeback. He hits a Stinger Splash and slaps on the Scorpion Death Lock for the quick win. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Sting talks with Mean Gene and he talks about how many little kids Flair disappointed and that he'll be the WCW Champion at Starrcade. 

WCW Championship Match
The Giant vs. Randy Savage

We get Giant manhandling Savage to start. Giant tosses Savage over the top rope from the floor to put him back in the ring. We get a fun moment where Giant misses off the top rope and Savage runs up top and hits the top rope elbow drop. Giant then throws Savage off at the 2 count. Giant lifts up the padding on the outside of the ring and goes for a suplex. Savage grabs the ropes and Giant falls to the floor. Back in the ring, Giant hits a chokeslam but for some reason doesn't go for the cover. He hits a leg drop and out comes Hogan and hits him with a chair. Sullivan tries to help, but Hogan shoves him off. He hits Giant with the chair a few more times and out of the ring. For some reason McMichael and Perry try to stop Hogan and he kind of hits Perry with the chair. We have a very pro-Hogan crowd here tonight, which hasn't been the case on most other nights. The match was fun for the length they were given. 

Match Rating: **

Mean Gene is with Savage and Hogan and out comes Giant again. Sullivan and Pittman try to hold him back and that allows Hogan to come out and hit him with a chair. He then runs back in the ring and says that he's sick of this probation stuff. He tells Savage that he owes him a title shot. Unhinged Hogan is slightly better than what we've been seeing I guess. 

A lot of stuff was crammed into this episode, but I'm not sure any of it was really worth anything to me. I appreciate the effort though they do seem to be putting into most every episode though. It would be nice if they would actually give us a reason to care about Starrcade though. 

Overall Rating: 51%

Off The Grid, Volume 59: Beach Blast 1993 Review

Sunday, July 18th, 1993
Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Biloxi, Mississippi

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Off The Grid, Volume 59:

Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt welcome us to the show and then immediately pass it off to Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura. Jesse is of course at the bar with a group of young ladies before getting escorted to the announce table. Jesse having goggles on his head is a nice touch. This just feels like stalling for the sake of stalling. 

WCW Television Championship Match
Ron Simmons vs. Paul Orndorff

If Orndorff is disqualified, he loses his title. Within 2 minutes of the match, I have no clue why they chose this to open the show. Simmons puts on a Figure Four but Orndorff is right by the ropes. Orndorff pulls Simmons out of the ring and risks DQ by slamming his head on a TV monitor. For a title that has a time limit on it, it feels like we passed it 5 minutes ago. I still have to sit through Maxx Payne and Erik Watts on this show. Simmons hits a powerslam out of nowhere and gets a 2 count. Simmons hits a flurry of moves and goes for the cover after a vertical suplex but Orndorff grabs the bottom rope. Orndorff goes for a piledriver and Simmons blocks it. He goes for it again and Simmons hits a back body drop that sends Orndroff over the top rope and to the floor. The ref rings the bell for a disqualification because WCW has terrible rules. This was a terrible opening match.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Missy Hyatt is with Paul Orndorff and Equalizer. Do we really need more of this? Equalizer has to be one of the worst wrestlers to ever be employed by WCW. Missy is so bad in this role too. 

Erik Watts vs. Lord Steven Regal

The announcers come out and tell us that "Hey, maybe Watts will learn something here". I'm not sure what they are going for so far, but it's not working. Regal finally turns up the intensity but then misses a knee drop. Watts puts on the STF but Sir William slaps him. The distraction works and Regal rolls him up for the win. This was awful and had no business on pay per view. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce

Don't go messin' with a country boy. This one at least is waking up the crowd and probably would have been a much better choice for the opener. We'll see if they can keep up this pace. I think Scorpio may have more success in WWF if he would have been on the roster during this time rather than 1996. The faces get a longer advantage than expected before the heels use traditional heel tag team wrestling. Pierce hits a really nice gutwrench powerbomb for a 2 count. This has really just been a solid match. Scorpio gets a hot tag and hits a superkick. He hits a big splash off the top rope, but Tex breaks up the pin attempt. All four men are in the ring and they throw the two big Texans into each other. Bagwell hits a back suplex and Scorpio hits the 450 splash for the win. Nice match. 

Match Rating: ***

Jesse interviews Regal after the match. He tells Orndorff that he's on a mission to win the TV title back. He kicks it to Bischoff and they talk about this big grudge match coming up between Maxx Payne and Johnny B. Badd by showing us one thing that happened. 

Maxx Payne vs. Johnny B. Badd

Payne comes out playing guitar and Badd is wearing a pink mask. Badd goes right for him and starts throwing right hands. Payne takes control and slows the match down. He gets his finisher locked in but Badd is right by the ropes. Badd hits a dive over the top and they brawl outside. Back in the ring, Badd hits a crossbody off the top rope and gets the win? I mean, I didn't need to see any more of this, but I am surprised it was that quick. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Arn Anderson & Paul Roma vs. Hollywood Blonds

This is obviously a master class in how to start a match when you have the crowd invested. We also get lots of Jesse complaining about closed fists and Tony having to agree. With that being said, not a whole lot of note happens here in the first 10 minutes of the match, but I am invested. Roma finally gets Arn in for the hot tag and he hits a big DDT. The ref is distracted and Austin breaks up the pin attempt. Roma makes a few mistakes of accidentally distracting the referee when Arn has pin attempts and Jesse is all over him. Arn and Pillman collide and only Pillman can make the tag. Arn sort of half suplexes Austin over the top and to the floor and this leads to my favorite argument as to why it isn't a disqualification. Arn finally makes the tag to Roma and they get a nearfall after Arn hits an illegal spinebuster. We get another ref distraction that hurts their team and Austin rolls up Roma for the victory. This was a fine match, but it never really got beyond that. They could have easily shaved 5 minutes off and no one would have noticed. 

Match Rating: ***

Bischoff and Missy try to hype up the Iron Man match, but fail. 

Iron Man Challenge For The United States Championship
Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes

I'm glad that Jesse feels the same way about Rhodes' music as I do. They do have a timer here for the match. We get a real slow burn here to start and the timer goes away until the 25 minute mark. To say that they are starting slow would be an understatement. We are at the 10 minute mark and Jesse lets us know that there have been no pinfalls. There has hardly been any action, let alone pinfall attempts. Rude finally hits a Rude Awakening and finally gives us a pin. I would write about this match, but something would actually have to be happening in order to do so. Rude has him in the sleeper hold and looks to be out. Miraculously, his hand doesn't hit the third time and he starts to battle out of it. Things finally pick up with about 4 minutes left. Rhodes hits a bulldog and ties it up at 1-1. Rhodes is giving it all he can, but Rude is able to kick out each time. Rhodes slaps on the sleeper hold with a little over 30 seconds left. Rude uses a jawbreaker to release the hold. Rhodes hits a DDT and the time runs out when the ref gets to the 1 count. I mean the last few minutes were fine, but having to watch 20+ minutes of nothing to get to that finish felt like torture. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham

There already has been more action in the first 90 seconds than there was in the first 25 minutes of the last match. The crowd is a little flat for a Flair match here though. Things slow down a bit and it's really quiet. I honestly don't think Flair can believe it. Windham hits a superplex and even that doesn't really get a response. Flair does his usual spin over the top turnbuckle and runs up to the top. He actually hits a dive of some sort, but Windham rolls him over and gets a 2 count. Flair slaps on the Figure Four and then the referee counts 3 with Windham's shoulders on the mat and that is one of the uglier finishes you will see, but that's WCW for you. This show has sucked. 

Match Rating: **

Even Flair's post-match interview with Jesse is flat. He can't be happy with that finish. 

We go to Bischoff and Missy again just in case this didn't show suck enough yet. 

Sid & Vader vs. Davey Boy Smith & Sting

It should come as no surprise, but after some really flat matches, Sting understood the assignment. His energetic offense doesn't last long, as Sid isn't having it. Sting and Davey Boy wake up the crowd with a double clothesline off the top rope. Davey Boy hits a delayed vertical suplex on Vader to a good reaction. We do get a small but audible "Vader" chant going even though the majority of the crowd are behind the faces. Sting gets a hot tag and he unloads on both big men. It doesn't last long and we're back to the big men dominating. The match breaks down and Sid takes Sting to the entrance ramp. Vader hits a moonsault on Davey Boy. Sting runs in and dives on Vader to prevent a pin attempt. Davey goes for a crucifix pin attempt and gets Vader down and pulls off the victory. This was everything it needed to be and while it wasn't good enough to be a show saver, it saved it from being a complete turd of a show. Great work by all four men. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

This was not a good show at all. 1993 WWF is always destroyed for its quality, but it really was just American wrestling in general. Like in WWF, there are some good things happening, but on some nights it just isn't enough. 

Overall Rating: 38%

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%