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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

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%