Monday, May 26, 2025

Superstars 12-16-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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%

Saturday, May 24, 2025

Monday Nitro 12-11-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

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%

Thursday, May 15, 2025

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%

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

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, May 12, 2025

Monday Nitro 12-4-95 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

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

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
American Males vs. Harlem Heat

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

Match Rating: **1/4

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

Sting vs. Kurasawa

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

Scott Norton vs. Giant

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

WCW Championship Match
Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage

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

Match Rating: *1/2

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 59%

Sunday, May 11, 2025

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

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

Uniondale, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Off The Grid, Volume 57:

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: **1/4

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

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

WWF Championship Match
Bob Orton vs. Hulk Hogan

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

Match Rating: *1/2

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Pete Doherty vs. Junkyard Dog

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 37%

Saturday, May 10, 2025

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%