Superstars 12-16-95 Review

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

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

Aldo Montoya vs. Goldust

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Titus Dunning

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a Mabel/Undertaker video package. 

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

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

Skip vs. Rich Myers

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

Isaac Yankem vs. Ahmed Johnson

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 26%

Monday Nitro 12-11-95 Review

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

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Eddie Guerrero vs. Mr. JL

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

Match Rating: *1/4

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

Disco Inferno vs. Paul Orndorff

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

Lex Luger vs. Jim Duggan

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs. Sting & Hulk Hogan

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

Match Rating: **3/4

The announce team hypes up the title match next week. 

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

Overall Rating: 59%

Monday Night Raw 12-11-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

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

Owen Hart vs. Jeff Hardy

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

Aja Kong vs. Chaparita Asari

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

Ahmed Johnson vs. Rick Stockhausen

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

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

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

Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart

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

Match Rating: *1/4

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

Overall Rating: 29%

Superstars 12-9-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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

Rad Radford vs. Diesel

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Backlund and Dean Douglas talking backstage. 

British Bulldog vs. Al Phillips

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

Yokozuna vs. John Chrystal

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

We get a Raw Bowl commercial. 

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

Dean Douglas vs. Tony Williams

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Bob Backlund vs. Savio Vega

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 28%

Monday Nitro 12-4-95 Review

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

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

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
American Males vs. Harlem Heat

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

Match Rating: **1/4

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

Sting vs. Kurasawa

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

Scott Norton vs. Giant

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

WCW Championship Match
Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage

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

Match Rating: *1/2

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 59%

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

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

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Off The Grid, Volume 57:

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: **1/4

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

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

WWF Championship Match
Bob Orton vs. Hulk Hogan

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

Match Rating: *1/2

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Pete Doherty vs. Junkyard Dog

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 37%

Monday Night Raw 12-4-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

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

Bob Holly vs. British Bulldog

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

Match Rating: 3/4*

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

Fatu vs. Brooklyn Brawler

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Intercontinental Championship Match
Dean Douglas vs. Razor Ramon

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

Match Rating: 3/4*

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

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

They show Razor getting Marty Jannetty ready for his match. 

On January 1st, it's the Raw Bowl. 

Sid vs. Marty Jannetty

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

Match Rating: *

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 32%

Superstars 12-2-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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

Razor Ramon vs. Ken Raper

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

King Mabel vs. Dave Thornberg & Jerry Faith

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

Ahmed Johnson vs. Jason Ahrndt

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Owen Hart vs. Matt Hardy

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

Duke Droese vs. Reginald Walker

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a video package on the Shawn Michaels story. 

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

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

Match Rating: 3/4*

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 30%

Monday Night Raw 11-27-95 Review

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

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

Rad Radford vs. Ahmed Johnson

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: **

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

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

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. John Crystal

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Kama Sir Mo vs. Undertaker

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

Match Rating: 3/4*

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

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

Overall Rating: 38%

Monday Nitro 11-27-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

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

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

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

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

Match Rating: ***

Hugh Morrus vs. Hulk Hogan

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman vs. Sting & Lex Luger

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

Match Rating: *

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

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

Overall Rating: 58%