Monday Night Wars: The Reviews Edition!!

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Had to throw in the extra exclamation point. I thought I would review my favorite era show by show. Some of these are older and some I am watching again. Some may not have star ratings. I also write on the fly, and do little editing as it would take too damn long. A heads up that I am more of a WCW homer....But if anyone cares to comment or read I can take the punishment.

Here begins my "great" experiment: to write about every single Nitro/RAW/Thunder/Smackdown and PPV during the Monday Night Wars. My goal is to try and understand what made wrestling so popular then and how competition made both federations better, where WCW began to go wrong and why and how the opposite happened with the WWF; could WCW been "saved" or was it inevitable? Ultimately there are a myriad of issues that I want to cover in probably the greatest period of professional wrestling. It will take me a week or so to get really going on this as I am busy looking for my old WWF tapes but at least I can start with the first and second Nitro as the WWF was pre-empted that first week, and WCW positioned itself perfectly. The WWF was in the middle of a creative crisis in late 1995 and WCW with the backing of Ted Turner had the perfect opportunity to not only compete with but to beat the WWF at its own game. Much has been written about why WCW went to Monday Nights, Vince McMahon deplored the move because he believed it was to put him out of business (which in the long run he probably was correct, but he conveniently overlooks the fact that he put every regional wrestling promotion out of business in the last decade, minus Turner's WCW). Eric Bischoff, the President of WCW believed that the only way to compete with the WWF was to go head-to-head by getting two hours every Monday on TNT and with WCW's large coffers and Turner's backing the chance to overtake McMahon as the number one promotion was doable. Most pundits, wrestling fans and insiders did not believe that WCW could establish itself as serious competition as the WWF had "owned" Monday nights for two and a half years and it seemed that the Hulk Hogan experiment in WCW that began the year before had run its course. However, Bischoff had surprises up his sleeve, people defecting from the WWF to WCW, a large and talented roster with Hogan (who was still big), Savage, Sting, Flair and many others.

Also only a couple of weeks from the first Nitro WCW signed Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, 2 Cold Scorpio and Sabu. All had been wrestling for ECW as well as for New Japan Pro Wrestling; seeing as WCW and New Japan traded wrestlers and so they faced pressure to switch promotions: ultimately the first three will go on to have good careers in WCW (Guerrero and Benoit will see more success in the WWF) and Sabu who had had great run in ECW (he was fired in April 95 for no-showing a main event, but will eventually go back to ECW (though he will wrestle in WCW for awhile).

Despite the creative lull the WWF found itself in (and would continue for much of the next year) it still dominated the cable ratings, and undoubtedly WCW wanted a piece of the pie (even with Monday Night Football). The WWF had the momentum during the Monday Night War kickoff due to recognition and familiarity, but wrestling was becoming big again and there was (which many thought there was not) room for WCW and for wrestling to grow. Also, another hurdle that WCW faced was the possible loss of one of their top heels, Vader, who on August 30 got in a fight with Paul Orndorff and was indefinitely suspended, and would eventually jump ship to the WWF (and Vader apparently lost the fight even after getting in the first punch, and Vader was a big man, considered one of the industry's actual tough guys.

A factor in WCW's favor was the fact that it was live each week, and the WWF often taped three shows a month, and this backfired as Nitro often had an unpredictably about it (Vince sometimes had wrestlers re-wrestle during taped programs, something that could not happen on a live program) and on the very first Nitro, Lex Luger jumped ship when his WWF contract was not renewed (he went from a WWF House Show on Sunday and showed up on Nitro the next night, a move that Vince has not forgiven in 15 plus years) and soon after Bischoff began to give away match results of taped RAW shows and thus the war was on.

The first Nitro was airing at the Mall of America in Minneapolis and tickets were free. The upside was that it was done in a public space and guaranteed a large crowd; Bischoff feared it would not sell out, as to why he did not have it in the WCW's heartland like Georgia or North Carolina is apparently besides the point (as it would have sold out, and the Mall of America guaranteed no gate revenue as it was free) and there is evidence that Hulk Hogan wanted it there due to his PastaMania restaurant (seriously? PastaMania?) and he wanted to hype it up, whatever the case (and I am sure that was part of the decision) the setting, minus the gate revenue, was a success as the fans were fired up and the crowd large (for a mall).

On to the show: WCW Monday Nitro 9/4/95

The show starts with Eric Bischoff and Steve McMichael (his first announcing job and it shows; he is terrible). Bobby the "Brain" Heenan comes out and makes fun of McMichael and Bischoff announces that the World Champ Hogan will be there.

Match 1: Jushin Liger v. Flyin' Brian

It is great to see Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger and both could move; the match is fast paced and both are flying around as they go back and forth; Liger has Pillman in a submission move and it looks painful (name escapes me, but it looks like it hurts). Now they are outside and Liger flips out and nails him. Brian takes charge and half-assedly suplexes Liger out of the ring and hits him from the top. Liger back in charge but Pillman hits him with a dropkick as Liger leaps from the top. Liger takes the initiative and goes for two pins and Pillman kicks out. Pillman hits a DDT from the second rope for two, Pillman rolls him up cinches the legs for the three count. He helps up Liger and raises his hands too (how sweet).

Great opening match, fast paced with nary a lull, awesome stuff.

Bischoff going to highlights of him with Hogan; with Hogan at his own restaurant PastaMania. Hogan going old school and asking the crowd who is the best wrestler and hyping up the children. He is saying what he is going to do to Big Bubba, drag him around the Mall of America; and his PastaManiacs will run wild all over Bubba (damn that was bad).

Match 2: Ric Flair v. Sting

Ric Flair comes out to a great ovation. Poor Flair will be the WCW whippin' boy whenever things went south, but Bischoff will turn to him when they need him (sagging ratings, a great match or whatever). He faced Hogan three times in 1994 only to lose the belt and win one by DQ, destroying the credibility of the storyline and feud as Hogan did not want to lose (he had creative control) but Flair went along with it and finally lost a "retirement" match only to reemerge soon after, especially now that WCW was taking on the WWF head on.

Sting comes out to a huge pop and now Luger makes his much ballyhooed appearance and the announcers are stunned as are the fans. Sting is looking over with "shock" on his face (as is Flair, it was Sting that brought him back and convinced Bischoff to take him, Bischoff claims he got him cheap while some say he got 400,000 dollars a year). Sting takes control and nails two gorilla press slams. Flair rolls out of the ring and comes back in and pokes the eyes and nails his patented chops. Both are outside the ring and Sting is staring Flair down as Flair ineffectually chops him; back in the ring Flair does his patented going on his knees begging routine, Sting has none of it but Flair hits an elbow.

Commercial

Sting is back in control and Arn Anderson walks out. Sting flies from the top but misses the splash and Flair hits a suplex but Sting is back in control and nails a vicious clothesline on the apron. Both are going back and forth, going for pins, now Sting is going for the superplex and nails it! Sting is distracted by Arn and jaws at him and Sting hits him from behind and puts on the Figure Four. Flair is grabbing the ropes and will not let go, Arn comes in and the bell rings. Arn and Flair start brawling with one another and take it out of the ring and up the entrance way. Flair runs off and Arn grabs his jacket from the ring.

Scott "Flash" Norton comes out and goes after the announcers and jaws at McMichael. Savage comes out and asks if he wants to make a name for himself, and says let's go right now and gets in the ring but Norton is held back as the Macho Man taunts him.

Back to the earlier match, not a great finish but fast-paced with no slow spots.

Gene Okerlund is in the ring announcing the Harley Davidson Sweepstakes winner.

Bischoff is going to find out more about Norton and hyping up WCW Saturday Night.

They are going to a new athlete in the WCW: Mr. Wallstreet (Mike Rotundo) in a clear play off of his IRS character (not really original) and he is saying he is going to make a name for himself and go after Hogan.

Match 3: Big Bubba v. Hulk Hogan (c)

Hogan comes in to a nice ovation and boy does he look big (compared to today anyway and smaller than his 80s hey-day, no Roids, well for awhile). Big Bubba puts Hogan in a headlock and Hogan pushes him into the ropes. The crowd is chanting "Hogan." Bubba stays in control but Hogan blocks the turnbuckle slam and reverses it and starts pounding on Bubba. Bubba hits a back-breaker and beats on Hogan in the corner. Bubba charges and misses Hogan's boot but sells it anyway! Bubba comes back for second one that does not miss and Hogan pounds on him with his fists. Bubba takes control and chucks Hogan around, Jimmy Hart distracts him and Bubba goes after him and Hogan throws him back into the ring and chokes Bubba with Jimmy's jacket (Hart still distracting ref as Hogan punches a hole in Bubba). Hogan is dropping the elbows and punching him again. Bubba fights back, punches Hogan into the corner and then body slams him. He charges at Hogan in the corner and Hogan moves, but Bubba hits a choke slam for two and Hogan "Hulks" up and Bubba gets in one punch before Hogan shakes his head at him and does the Hogan thing and hits him with the leg drop for the three count.

Decent match Hogan is still moving relatively well despite his repertoire consisting of punches.

Dungeon of Doom comes out and attacks Hogan. Luger comes out to help Hogan and they do the back to back thing and nearly come to blows and Hogan jaws at Luger. Savage and Sting try to calm things down.

Commercial

Hogan asks why Luger is in his "backyard" and Luger is saying that Hogan is the champ and Luger wants the belt. Luger has beaten the same people Hogan has, and he wants to get it on with the big boys and he wants the title (even if it is five years from now!). Hogan says he will be champ forever (no shit) and Luger does not need to wait as he will put the title on the line next week. Hogan pushes Luger (half-assedly) and Luger pushes back (half-assedly) and Sting and Savage try to keep them apart.

Bischoff hypes up next week with the Hogan/Luger match and, oh boy, Michael Wallstreet!

I had forgotten that Nitro was only an hour long, and it went by quickly with three solid matches and vignettes that advanced angles. And they hyped up next week to keep up the momentum, a great start to Monday Night Nitro.

 

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Here is the first RAW of the new era!

RAW was pre-empted the week prior for tennis and WCW wisely took advantage and debuted Nitro. As stated in my prior posts Lex Luger jumped ship and showed up on Nitro the day after wrestling on a house show. Also Nitro was live and starting tonight Eric Bischoff would fire another salvo and give away WWF matches; in fact he had a monitor under the announcer table and often changed booking on the fly in order to compete better with the WWF.

The WWF had been in a creative rut recently and WCW took advantage (Now I am going on journalists of the era discussing the WWF. House Show attendance and ratings were lower when Diesel was champion and he was considered the lowest drawing champion, after Michaels won the following WrestleMania he was also considered one of the lower drawing champions and the WWF actually began to find itself in some financial dire straits and even losing six million dollars in 1997, however, I want to see if the WWF was really in a creative rut or it was the competition that hurt the WWF before it "rose from the ashes" like Vince McMahon wants us to believe and vanquished the evil WCW that was funded by "Billionare" Ted.).

On to the show:

WWF opens up with a classic mid-90s song and shows Michaels dancing on a roof and then show Razor Ramon, Diesel and the Undertaker. Nice beginning.

Match 1: Razor Ramon v. British Bulldog

The show a recap of Ramon beating down Dean Douglas who was critiquing his SummerSlam loss against Shawn Michaels (poor Douglas outside of ECW he never caught on). Lawler is his old classic self. After throwing his toothpick at Jim Cornette, Ramon beats down the Bulldog and clotheslines him out of the ring. Ramon now has an arm bar applied and is paintbrushing him. Bulldog now whipping Ramon into the corner and nails a nice looking power suplex. Bulldog is working the small of his back and now hitting a gorilla press slam, damn Bulldog is powerful. Bulldog goes for a power slam but inexplicably goes for the ropes and Ramon powers out and rolls him up for a two count. Bulldog goes to the top and misses and now Ramon is on the offensive and hits a fall away slam for a two count. Ramon swings Bulldog into the referee and hits a slow developing Razor's Edge and Dean Douglas comes in and hits him from the top rope and the 123 Kid comes down and gets destroyed. Boy Razor took forever to cover and just sat on him while the ref was "out." Bulldog hits his Power Slam and goes for the pin and the 123 Kid flies from the top and Bulldog moves and he hits Ramon, now 123 Kid and Ramon are being dismantled.

Pretty good match, both Ramon and Bulldog moved well and there were few down spots. The interference was not necessary but that is typical.

Vince is in the middle of the ring interviewing Ramon and 123 Kid and mentioning the toll that the Ladder Match took at SummerSlam. Wow, Waltman looks like he is 12. McMahon is giving us a rundown of what occurred in the ring, long winded, and saying that Kid cost Razor the match. Now the Kid for some unknown reason is whining that he was cost a match due to Razor the week prior. The Kid wants a match next week and leaves the ring. I love Ramon's faux accent, he is mentioning Bulldog and Douglas, and now his "little buddy" whom he made famous and if everyone wants it then they got it.

Match 2: Smoking Gunns v. Brooklyn Brawler and Rat Radford

Oh sweet it is the Brooklyn Brawler! He and his partner charge Billy and Bart Gunn but they immediately kick the crap out of poor Brawler but he comes back and nails Bart. Rat and Brawler no dominating and Brawler slams Bart and goes to the top and but his slammed off. Billy is tagged in and Radford tries to help to no avail. Bart hits a flying leg drop from the top for the three count.

Short squash match, some offense by Brawler and the Rat was nowhere to be seen.

Ah Goldust, he went from being a redneck in WCW a few months prior to the androgynous Goldust. He is going on about a magical mystical land where ghouls and stuff live, called the creatures of the night, and he brings up the Undertaker. Gold apparently sheds no darkness and only light, and the darkness will be sent to the heavens. Well that was different.

Match 3: Isaac Yankem v. Scott Taylor

I love Kane's, I mean Yankem's dentist gimmick, the drill music is classic. SummerSlam against Bret Hart was his debut and now he is kicking the crap out of poor Taylor. Taylor has yet to have an offensive maneuver as he gets slammed to the mat. Isaac hits the DDS (a DDT) for the pin.

Squash match. Clearly they are trying to build up Yankem into a contender.

They go to Todd Pettingill to discuss In Your House. Oh, my good Lord this could be the worst promo/vignette or whatever this is that I have ever seen. He calls himself the Toddster and made fun of Mad About You (I swear that show was a big success, good one WWF). Oh boy they are spending two minutes explaining the Shawn Michaels and Diesel v. Yokozuna and Owen Hart and it makes no sense, if you win you get all the belts or some sort of BS, I guess Shawn can pin Diesel, or some sort of nonsense. Please fire this guy ASAP.

Match 4: Psyco Sid v. Shawn Michaels (c) for WWF IC Title

Well thanks to Nitro we know the outcome. I think that is how they spelled his name then and then changed it. Sid is with Ted DiBiase. Michaels has a creepy vibe about him but oh well. You can tell he is being groomed to become the next WWF champion. Michaels dances around as Sid stares. They lock up and Sid goes for a punch and Shawn moves and Michaels takes advantage. Shawn is flying around the ring and hits a dropkick and now a clothesline and then knocks him out of the ring. Back in the ring Shawn gets tossed out but catches himself and flips back in and knocks Sid out who is now getting advice from DiBiase. They go back and forth and Michaels leaps up into Sid's chest and gets slammed on his back for his troubles. Sid is beating on him in the corner. Michaels launches himself onto the turnbuckle (a little exaggeration on the throw) and now outside the ring Sid is beating him and DiBiase is kicking him. Michaels is lying on the floor writhing in pain. Apparently Sid could care less if Michael's is counted out even if does not get the title.

Commercial.

Sid has Shawn in a bear hug and nails a chokeslam (many fans are ecstatic) and he goes for the powerbomb but gets flipped over. Michaels is fighting back and hits a flying cross body block. Shawn leaps from the top and gets a two count, Sid pops up but gets nailed with three Superkicks for the three count.

The match was okay. Shawn looked good but there is only so much you can do with Sid, but they did their best and there were no shenanigans.

Shawn is dancing and "stripping" in the ring and the girls are going nuts but the men in the crowd look a little annoyed.

Interview with Michaels and Diesel as the two hug. They are hyping up In Your House, and going over the rules. I guess whomever gets pinned they lose the title (I guess they get both tag belts if they win). Jesus, Michaels is one strange dude, and Diesel says very little.

It was an average show. The beginning match was good and the main event was average but Nitro that night was superior. It had longer matches and better matches. The taping of multiple shows at once will clearly hurt the WWF but they will continue taping a RAW for years afterwards and that baffles me especially when they were making millions.

 

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The first Nitro was a success; not only did it have three quality matches it was filled with surprises from Scott Norton to Lex Luger. Luger immediately jumped to the main event by challenging Hogan and Hogan accepted for the following week. The show did a 2.9 rating, which was considered a success for 1995 (Wikipedia shows a 2.5) and WCW picked the perfect time to showcase Nitro: no RAW that night as it had been preempted by Tennis, and the high rating equaled or surpassed most RAW's. The War was off and running and the hype machine that was WCW proved to be a draw for fans and its success surprised some, but WCW had big stars and big pockets so the surprise was not that warranted (its replay even did decent gaining a 1.2, which was head to head with Monday Night Football).

September 11 will mark the first time the two go head to head and Luger (who honestly had never been a very big draw, but managed to secure a big payday in both federations) will face Hogan for the title as he replaces Vader (who was going to team with Hogan at Fall Brawl and most likely turn on him there or later and set up a feud between the two) who had been suspended for attacking and getting his ass kicked by Paul Orndorff (who is technically Vader's supervisor). In their first collision the live Nitro will beat the taped RAW by 300,000 viewers, causing McMahon to either start going live or not taping as many RAW's (he will eventually tape one RAW and go live with another).

On to the show:

First off I love the nostalgia of Nitro (hence why I teach history; the intro is still awesome to this day and is not saddled, like TNA and WWE, with crappy EMO songs and lame poses that in no way get me excited for the program. We are live from Miami Florida ("love" how Bischoff makes sure to let us know they are live over and over). Sabu is making his debut tonight, and Bischoff and Heenan are recapping Luger's appearance; I heart Luger's mullet and the fact that he does not want to play with "kids" anymore and wants to play with the "big boys." Bischoff is saying Vader is AWOL, and cannot find the proper documentation? Okay....Vader also will not be at Fall Brawl that Sunday.

Match 1: Sabu v. Alex Wright

They are hyping up Sabu, saying he is crazy and does not care. Apparently Wright had defeated DDP on Saturday Night (Wright's career will be tied to Disco Inferno so it appears that DDP will get the better shake in the long run). Sabu grabs a chair and leaps off and Wright moves and Sabu hits the rail and Wright attacks by punching and slamming him. Wright rolls him in and drop kicks Sabu from the top. Wright flies over the ropes and quasi-nails Sabu. Sabu pops up and hits Wright and goes to the top but Wright superplexes him off. Boy can Wright move; nice back flip off the top and he is kicking Sabu's ass, but Sabu chucks him off the top and gets the three (Wright almost got his shoulder up) and now Sabu is beating the Hell out of Wright by slamming him head first into the apron. Sabu grabs a table and Wright just sits there as Sabu flies from the top and nails him....the referee reverses the decision? (Was Wright supposed to put the shoulder up and Sabu get DQed as Sabu looked a little confounded?)

Oh well, a good start, fast paced and Wright looked good. Sabu only got a few moves in but won, and then the lame reversal, but sets up a feud (I guess Sabu is stuck in the mid-card).

Ric Flair comes out to an expected ovation and he is fired up over Arn attacking him last week. Flair is upset that AA was calling his wife and son in the hotel room because Flair essentially goes out and drinks and screws, Flair is talking about the Four Horsemen and Luger comes out. Flair is saying Hogan is done for because Luger is here, and Luger will take control tonight. Luger says Flair is too much and walks out. Well, that was a tad odd, he walks in and just walks out after mumbling a sentence.

Match 2: Mr. Wallstreet v. Sting (c) for WCW US Title

Wallstreet has some terrible entrance music and the fans are actually booing him so he is getting a reaction, but honestly his gimmick is terrible (it is the mid-90s, but still smacks of ripping off the WWF). Bischoff just told us Shawn Michaels beat Psyco Sid as RAW was three weeks old; damn that is classic, I love it, if you are going to go to war there is no reason to Vietnam it and half-ass it. Both men are circling each other and lock up and Sting punches him (Jesus McMichael is awful as an announcer). Sting hucks Wallstreet into the the turnbuckle and Wallstreet rolls out. He gets back in and they slowly lock up and Wallstreet now chucks Sting out of the ring. Sting sprung himself over the ropes and nicks Wallstreet with a clothesline. Sting is now bouncing Wallstreet's head off the buckle and nails him with a clothesline, Stinger Splash, and now to the top and hits a flying cross body for the pin.

The match was okay, and had a clean finish. Wallstreet looked large and sluggish, and what was the point of hyping him up if he was going to get man-handled the next week? At least they did not take a WWF cast off and give him the title (though he was with WCW for years).

Match 3: Scott Norton v. Macho Man

Norton is eyeing McMichael (poor Norton as all his pushes will be short-lived but he was big in Japan). Savage gets a great reception (I have a man-crush) and as Savage rolls into the ring Norton pounces and Norton taunts McMichael at the same time. Norton picks up Savage and chucks him but Savage hits an arm drag and clotheslines him out and hits his patented double ax handle, and Savage continues to dominate Norton back in the ring with a vicious closthesline and now Savage is headed north up the ropes. But Norton catches him and gives him a quick bear hug and drops Savage. The fans are chanting for Savage as Norton works over the lower back. They are going on and on about how hurt Savage is, well Savage is great seller. Norton goes for a pin and gets two. Norton hits a back breaker and continues to work the back and now stomps on it. Norton hits a power slam and gets a two count. Norton hits a flying tackle and Savage gets knocked/rolled out of the ring. Savage walks to him and allows Norton to pick him up and quasi-DDT him into the ring. Norton slowly goes up to the top and Savage moves and rams Norton's head into the ring and pounds him into the corner. The Dungeon of Doom comes out and Savage swings Norton into Earthquake (I guess the Shark) and the Shark lands on Norton (odd looking spot) and Savage hits the elbow for the three count and gets the Hades out of there as the Dungeon is lurking in the ring. Jesus they are just milling about instead of going after Savage as Norton and Shark jaw at each other.

The match was good, the shenanigans not so much. Savage is still great and sells great. I had honestly forgotten how hokey and terrible the Dungeon of Doom truly was. Good lord what a terrible angle, it is amazing how WCW beat, much less competed with the WWF with cartoonish crap like the Dungeon of Doom (of course the WWF had some garbage going on too, but still).

Match 4: Lex Luger v. Hulk Hogan (c) for WCW Title

This one is taking a while to get started as they did not show Luger's entrance, just the start of it and then went to commercial. Hogan is coming out and the pop for him is not huge (almost Cena like as the crowd is torn) but you can tell he is still fairly popular. Both men are squaring off (and for building up the PPV they are acting like Savage is hurt, and Hogan is already down a man, wow this is like the WWF circa 90-1). Both men still circling and cinching now and again, finally some action as Hogan takes him down and now hits a suplex but Luger gets up (and gets a big pop!). Luger swings him into the ropes and slowly hits a suplex (damn that was slow developing) and Hogan pops right back up too (and the fans are not too excited). The fans are chanting both names but the Luger crowd is more vocal. Hogan swings Luger into the ropes and Luger moves and hits a body slam and Luger puts Hogan in the Rack as the fans cheer (fans chant Hogan too) and Luger thinks he wins but Hogan has an arm up and Luger attacks but Hogan "Hulks" up and Hogan blocks a blow and does the Hogan thing and hits the leg drop and the Dungeon of Doom comes down and beats on Hogan. Macho Man comes down and starts to clean house and Sting comes down and the Dungeon scurries off. Hulk yells at and pushes Luger, and Luger acts baffles. Hogan says it was the "match of his life" (God I hope not) and Hulk wants to know where Luger is coming from as Luger looks confounded, and Macho says he doubly wants to know or something to that effect. Sting says the fourth man is there (as Vader was to be a part of the HulkaManiacs at Fall Brawl) and it should be Luger; Macho Man is skeptical and he would rather go 4 on 3 and they would get the Taskmaster if they win (sounds like a "great" deal!) Macho Man is worried about being stabbed in the back, but Sting says he and Macho are friends and that he votes Luger in, and Macho comes back with okay but why did the Dungeon not touch Jimmy Hart (Jesus a lot is going on in this little segment, Melrose Place had less going down). Jimmy went to the back to get help, and Hogan takes charge and asks if they want Luger on their side. Macho Man votes no and Sting votes yes and Jimmy Hart lets everyone know that this is America and Hogan has the deciding vote and Hogan says that seeing as War Games is in a cage they will find out where Luger stands, and Luger who has just stood there with his thumb up his butt says he will join as long as he gets his title shot down the line and Hulk agrees and they shake.

Wow that was a long segment with 400 things going on. The match itself should have been a lot better as not too much happened until the end, and it was clear Hogan was going to get the pin had the Dungeon of Doom not come out (though it was at the one count so it does keep some suspense for the rematch down the line).

Bischoff is excited about the pairing, and Heenan thinks they will all betray one another. Meanwhile McMicael is holding a fucking weiner dog of some sort while wearing an orchestra conductor shirt, and says that Hogan's team could be in deep poo-poo come Sunday. Seriously I have no clue what McMichael is doing out there and holding a dog and knowing he will be wrestling soon just makes me cringe.

The show is wrapping up with Bischoff hyping up the PPV and next Monday with Orndorff taking on Johnny B. Badd and the debut of the American Males.

Overall the show was fine, fast paced and a lot more wrestling in an hour long program than two plus hours of RAW and Impact today, and minus the Dungeon of Doom running around trying to ruin the show the matches were decent. While WCW Saturday Night was still a big part of WCW it was clear WCW needed to make Nitro two hours as there were just too many wrestlers and too much going on for an hour show.

 

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This is the first Nitro era PPV, most of the angles and matches were set long before Nitro first aired 13 days prior, but Vader was not going to be teaming with Hogan, Sting and Savage due to being suspended so the returning Luger would replace him as Hogan's team fights the Dungeon of Doom. The Flair and Arn storyline was advanced the last two Nitro's and looks to come to a head at Fall Brawl. Overall I am excited to see what the first Nitro PPV has in store.

On to the show: A heads up, I could not find my tape so I am watching on YouTube and one half of the screen is my blog and the other is the show, so I may miss somethings (well that is my excuse).

I love the intro, the terrible porn music and the fact that they let us know Lex Luger had returned from "behind enemy lines." Hogan had declared war on the Dungeon of Doom because the Giant ran over his motorcycle? Terrible.

Match 1: Flyin' Brian v. Johnny B. Badd

Oh lord I love how Mero looks in the mid-90s, good God this is classic, and I guess Michael Buffer introduces all the matches. Apparently there is a delay because Badd is catering to the fans, and to his credit they are eating it up. This is a US title elimination match (the winner will get to fight Sting). I had forgotten how stale Buffer's segments were. Badd and Brian are friends and poor Pillman is getting booed, as the fans are in clear favor for Badd. Not much happening in the beginning, some exchanges of holds and they each dropkick each other at the same time. Heenan is not making much sense, most likely hitting the sauce right now. Brian has Badd in a headlock on the mat. The crowd is dead right now as Brian now puts Badd in an arm bar on the mat. We are over five in and still very little action, anytime it picks up we get another hold that slows it right down. Brian hit a nice head scissors for a two count. And we are right back to the holds. Schiavone is assuring us that this is a great match despite all the holds. Badd now has Pillman in a side headlock. Pillman takes control again and puts Badd in a Boston Crab but dropped the hold and punched Badd and is now yelling at the crowd. Badd is now working over Pillman's leg. Both "friends" are getting riled up and Brian is punching and chopping Badd as the fans chant "Johnny." Brian rolls out of the ring and heads up the aisle but comes back and puts out his hand but Badd refuses. Immediately Brian punches Badd and chucks him out of the ring, so it looks like Brian is becoming a heel as Badd makes a comeback and the fans erupt as he gets a two count. Schiavone plugs the WCW hotline. WCW made a killing in the pre-Internet days (and its early days) "dishing" dirt to gullible fans (at least the Internet Dirtsheets are free today), I love how he encourages fans to call during the PPV. Both men are down and Brian gets up at eight, and throws Badd out (five minutes left) but Badd hits a nice suplex out of the ring (which was almost a DQ for some reason, apparently some Bill Watts rules still survived). Brian nails a dropkick as Badd flies from the top. Badd hits a powerbomb for two. Brian hits a pile driver for two, now the match is picking up. Brian attempts a submission move with less than two minutes left. Badd gets his arm up barely and now bulldogs Brian and hits him with the Tutti Frutti (Jesus that is the name of a finisher) but Brian is under the ropes. Brian tries for the win but the time runs out and we get "sudden death" overtime (hopefully it picks up again). Both are going back and forth exchanging punches and Brian throws Badd into the railing. Another double drop kick and both men down until the eight count and Pillman puts Badd in the sleeper. Badd gets his arm up and Badd now puts Brian in a sleeper but Pillman hits a back suplex. Brian goes for a superplex and Badd throws him off and leaps off and rolls Pillman up for two and now Pillman is back in control. Badd hits the Badd Break (I think that is what it is called) and it looked like it hurt both but only gets a two count and Pillman hits a flying press for two. Brian is knocked into the rail and Badd flips out of the ring and nails Pillman (Mero can move). Badd flips over and Pillman puts his knees up and gets a two count. Pillman leaps out the between the ropes and all but missed Badd, damn that looked like it hurt. Back in the ring and they hit one another and Badd rolls on top of Pillman for the three count.

Jesus you do not see matches like this anymore and for nostalgia reasons I would have loved to see Pillman win, but Badd can sure wrestle (they both can). It started really slow and for two guys who can wrestle I was initially baffled, but I see why now as they saved their energy for the final fifteen minutes. I have to get used to the more mat style of WCW. But I am catching on and it was a good match.

Oh boy I cannot wait to see the Renegade tonight!! (Sarcasm aside it is a shame what happened to him, not used for two years and then suicide). Heenan is classic, saying Flair went nuts when Hogan arrived in WCW (do you really blame him?)

Mean Gene in the back: Ric Flair saunters in (nice pop) apparently this is the first time he and Arn are going one on one. Flair is remembering the good times how they were like family. I love Flair, Arn is going to be with greatness, touch greatness, and wrestle greatness.

Match 2: Cobra v. Sgt. Craig "Pitbull" Pittman

Good lord this really, really bad. Cobra? A CIA agent? And I think he shouted Cobra, GI Joe like. And apparently the Sgt is sending one of his lackeys (from his platoon down to the ring). Well, he is "rappelling" from the ceiling, and it is slow and awkward as he sneaks up on Cobra and chokes him from behind. Wow, this is like a bad JROTC role play at the local high school. The Pitbull is throwing him around outside the ring and now back in the ring the Pitbull puts Cobra in the Code Red for the submission. Pitbull says something afterwards but I have no idea what.

Mercifully short and completely awful.

Schiavone and Heenan are discussing Orndorff. Apparently he lost to Savage on WCW Worldwide and was upset so they are rolling some footage of the aftermath. Paul is tearing up his dressing room as he is throwing a teenage fit. He does not think he is "Mr. Wonderful" anymore. Gary Spivey comes in and Orndorff is all excited (sweet fucking Jesus). How did WCW overtake the WWF? Clearly the WWF had to be just as bad if not worse. Spivey is having Orndorff look into the mirror and telling him he sees "Mr. Wonderful." And Orndorff is starting to see "Mr. Wonderful again and lots of cars and all sorts of crap. Orndorff is kissing his own arm and Spivey even looks a little creeped out. Segment mercifully closes with him kissing himself in the mirror. Oh lord this as bad if not worst than the RAW Guest Host segments.

Match 3: DDP v. Renegade (c) for WCW TV Title (Kimberly is the Diamond Doll)

Things do not bode well for DDP, he lost to Alex Wright the previous week and the Renegade was still getting a quasi-push. It is classic to see him before he became big as I have always been a fan of his. He has some fans out there (more for Kimberly) and his music is horrible, but he is getting some heat. He is having Kimberly hold the ropes for him! Jimmy Hart is leading out the Renegade as he runs into the ring and even gets a decent pop. DDP ducks under the ropes and the Renegade walks away and caters to the crowd and DDP attacks him from behind. The Renegade somehow knocks DDP silly and out of the ring, a little over-selling there. Jesus, why WCW? An Ultimate Warrior knock off, no worse than the Huckster vignettes. Match is slowing down as the Renegade has DDP in a side headlock. Renegade hits a lariat for two. DDP is now on the offensive, using the ropes to choke the Renegade (I love DDP's pink tights, and Kimberly's big hair). DDP hits a neck breaker and stomps on the Renegade. DDP hits a clothesline for two (Renegade actually has more moves than the Warrior and the fans are clapping for him to regroup). DDP hits a spear in the corner and misses the second and hits the post. Jesus Renegade does a cartwheel and elbows him in the corner and then a Double Ax for two. DDP leaps up nails a nice DDT. DDP covers him late and gets two, goes for the Diamond Cutter and Renegade powers out. Max Muscle tries to interfere but Hart grabs him and Renegade hits a power slam and goes up top and hits Muscle from outside. DDP hits the Diamond Cutter for the three count. Kimberly is not pleased.

Wow this is why I did not look up what happened prior to watching this. The Renegade had been dismantling a lot of opponents but his push was over and DDP's was starting to pick up steam. A surprisingly decent match.

Sherri and Col. Parker are apparently in love, oh boy.

Match 4: Harlem Heat v. Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck (c) for WCW Tag Team Titles


Sorry You Tube cut out the first couple of minutes so I am a tad discombobulated. Stevie Ray has a reverse chin lock on Bunkhouse. Booker T is tagged in and he applies a chin lock too. Stevie Ray is tagged in and Dick Slater is tagged in and they go back and forth but Ray gets the advantage but Slater hits a swinging neck breaker. Ray is tossed outside the ring as Sister Sherri helps him (I am not sure how much of this angle I really want to know: Sister Sherri and a Confederate style Colonel, oh the horror, the horror). Booker T is in and Slater is working him over (the fans are really disinterested) and hits a pile driver. Slater tags in Buck and he works over Booker and tosses him out (where Slater beats him on the outside). Buck has a reverse chin lock applied. Booker rises up and rams him into the turnbuckle but misses the charge into the corner and Slater is tagged in and a hits a belly to back. Buck is pretty worthless as he has done little but Dirty Dick is not too bad and he is pretty much dominating the match. Buck is back in and has a reverse chin lock (another one) on Booker. Ray just snaps and kicks Slater in the head as he had Booker in a submission hold and Buck just comes in and pounds on Booker. Booker hits his patented boot to the back of the head and Ray is tagged in and is cleaning house. Ray power slams Buck for two (Slater kicks him) and Booker goes after Slater, but Ray is knocked out of the ring and they are double teaming Booker (Parker and Sherri are in the other ring and she is crawling up to him and they are kissing). The Nasty Boys comes out and nails Slater and Booker pins him (I think, screen is small and the camera is mainly focused on the sad display going on in the other ring). Anyway Harlem Heat wins and are the new tag team champs.

The match was fine, nothing special, but it did the job. Booker T was not what he became later (great in the ring) but it is nice to see Harlem Heat and nice to see them get the belts. Meanwhile Sherri had Parker distracted and is still sucking face as Bunkhouse Buck comes into the ring all fired up. Harlem Heat is none too pleased and she is saying it was essentially a ploy as they got the belts back.

Mean Gene is with Parker and Buck. Buck is bitter and saying Parker is lovesick. Parker says he runs this outfit, and he is blubbering in a nice "elitist" Southern accent as Slater and Buck play the trailer trash and Parker says he will get the belts back for them and they head to the back. Parker is "soaring" right now and feeling he is twenty and he needs to "have that girl" and seems he may actually have a heart attack.

Advertising for Halloween Havoc, and Heenan rambles about the Dungeon of Doom and Halloween. The War Games participants go in one at a time, and the coin toss determines who gets the numbers advantage.

Back to Mean Gene: Arn comes in and he gets the PBS voiceover that explains the breakup between he and Flair (classic). Arn apparently left a match and Flair had left Arn alone in the ring and they keep arguing like they had been married for twenty years. Flair is obsessed with belt and has lost his "drive" since Hogan arrived (uh, Hogan may have killed a lot of ambition when he arrived). Arn was getting angry and was fighting with Flair in the locker room and Flair left like a jilted lover (and for some reason they went to Arn's home and showed his wife....). If this was a PBS show I would be fucking stoked to watch it in its entirety.

I am still ambivalent on AA's promos, some are really good but many have a tendency to ramble and be repetitive (he just repeated that they are going to trade fists and be a man and as a man), sacrilege aside he is still a legend.

Schiavone giving his take: wrestling got big in the 80s and the Asheville Civic Center sold out constantly and saw these two fight together so much....and he continues saying nothing.

Match 5: Arn Anderson v. Ric Flair

Poor Ric, introduced as the former champ! He seems to have been made into whiny chump with this angle, and it is Hogan that has come between Ric and Arn (even in TNA Ric cannot shake the Hogan monkey, poor bastard). Many in the WCW locker room found seats in a sold out arena to watch the match (ah Eddie Guerrero, love the mullet). Flair is doing his strut and the fans are eating it up as he and AA gauge one another and finally lock up and AA takes him down and bellows Whooo. They size each other up and lock up and Arn takes him down and then slaps Flair and the fans erupt and Flair rolls out and jaws with fans (damn Flair is classic). Back in the ring and Flair goes after the arm but AA takes him down and stops on the arm and hits a Flair chop. They circle one another like jackals (could not resist!) and AA applies a hammerlock, Flair gets out and AA counters with a hammerlock on the mat. They just showed Buff Bagwell in terrible looking sunglasses looking like he may cry. Arn is still working over Flair's arm and Flair rolled out and chops AA to the ground. Another chop and AA goes down and swings Arn to the corner and Arn moves out of the way goes for the sleeper and Flair counters out and AA knocks him down and hits the Hammerlock slam and Flair is begging off but AA keeps up the pressure on the arm. Flair tries to get out but AA puts him back down and is now stomping on the arm, and pounds the arm into the post. AA grabs the arm and drives Flair to the mat head first and applies the hammerlock on the mat (again). These slower spots are more understandable as opposed to the first match of the night, as they are younger, and higher flying, and Flair and AA are more known for their technical acumen. Flair lures AA and knocks him out of the ring and he is punishing AA outside the ring with punches and chops. AA is on the apron and Flair bounces his head off the ropes and is now choking AA with his foot (using the ropes as leverage of course). Flair measures him and hits the knee to the head, Flair tries for the pin and uses the ropes as leverage and AA kicks out three times. AA is fighting back and punching the head of Flair and Flair gets caught in the classic back body drop for two (that spot is in every single Flair match). Looks Flair hit a low blow and is now kicking AA (why is Heenan bringing up the Taskmaster, no one, and I mean no one cares). Flair is chopping AA out on the floor and charges AA and gets another back body drop for his troubles. Flair suplexes AA on the floor and he climbs back into the ring giving AA time to recover and roll back into the ring, and Flair just decks AA. Flair hits a nice suplex, holding up AA for a few seconds and both are laying down catching their breath. Flair still in control, hits a couple of chops for two. AA goes for the sunset flip, Flair is not fooled and goes to punch AA but he moves and now Flair is upside down in the corner and getting stomped and choked. AA is getting the crowd fired up as he goes for the DDT and Flair holds onto the ropes and down goes Arn. Flair goes up top and gets punched in the gut and thrown to the mat for a two count. Flair knocks down AA and applies the Figure Four (AA blocked it briefly). Arn is fighting out of it and trying to turn the Figure Four and he does and Flair gets out of it and both are down. Flair is up first and knocks down AA at the knees. He goes for the Figure Four and AA rolls him up for a two count. Flair is chopping and punching AA in the corner. Flair tries and swings AA to the ropes and AA goes down, Flyin' Brian jumps onto the apron and taunts Flair and he hits Flair and AA gets the pin.

Great match. Plain and simple. However, the shenanigans were unneeded, but it does solidify Pillman's heel turn. The fans were fired up for the entire match and they were torn at the outcome, but you could tell most were baffled and pissed by the interference as they wanted a clean finish.

On to the Dungeon of Doom. Holy Sweet Allah this is awful. The Taskmaster is talking in a high pitched "satanic" voice about how he was created by Hogan (I guess to destroy him). The brought him dead posies? And he is cackling and doing all sorts of weird shit. Meanwhile they are showing how the Dungeon of Doom has been beating down Hogan by combining their powers, and Hogan said he felt Andre's presence! They show some more "highlights" of the Giant with his Monster Truck running over Hogan's Harley as he looks on forlornly. Good God this is horrendous, if the Dungeon of Doom was Hogan's idea he should be banished from booking forever (especially in TNA) and Sullivan should have been fired ASAP.

It gets better, as they say that Hogan's pythons and Hulkamaniacs are declaring war and he and Savage, Sting and Vader are dressed as Gay (not that there is anything wrong with that) GI's and blowing shit up! And it gets even better, they are now with Mean Gene dressed camouflage colors and war paint and Mean Gene said this is like the invasion of Normandy (in 1945, uh Gene it was 1944) and Hogan says they drank Agent Orange in preparation; this is the greatest stuff I have ever seen! Macho looks baffled, but he says they are united and Sting is fired up and is sick of talking and just wants to go to war (please stop talking). Luger is ready to go and he is still slurring words like he did in 2000. Hogan is letting us know that Luger is American made. Hogan called them the Dungeon of Goom? Hart is all dressed up in war paint too.... and..... holy shit Sting, Macho and Luger are running across the set and making noises and flexing and someone will be bait, or something. Oh, back to Hart he was just yelling and giggling. I really have no idea what I just saw and I do not really care but they were really enthusiastic!

Buffer gets paid for this shit? At least we get a lot of pyro.

There are seven periods in Wargames-first is five minutes and then every two minutes, and a coin toss will decide who gets the numerical advantage, and victory is only by submission or surrender and can only happen after all eight are in the ring (not pinfall). I now I missed some rules but who cares. If the Hulkamaniacs win Hogan gets five minutes with the Taskmaster in the ring.

Uh, I guess the Dungeon of Doom is from different planets, and the Shark is from the Great Barrier Reef? Sullivan is squealing with his devil's horns....Christ.

Now for the Hulkamaniacs. First out is Savage and he gets a nice pop, Sting comes out to a huge pop (Savage and him are about to make out). Luger gets a decent pop. Hogan comes out to a good pop too (now the fans had to be stoked by this foursome, and/or they bought this asinine storyline, hopefully it is the former).

Okay, one man from each team for five minutes (like Lockdown). Sting is in first with Shark and the fans are stoked (after five minutes there is a coin toss and another man comes in every two minutes thereafter). Shark just walked on Sting, ouch, and he is biting Sting? Sting flies over the ropes and knocks down the Shark and bodyslams him, and Sting hurts his back but promptly goes for another bodyslam and the Shark lands on him (not smart) and the Shark applies a bearhug (I love the shark teeth on Earthquake, nice touch). Shark tries to fly from one ring to the next and he gets caught in between and Sting takes advantage until he is caught trying to jump on him. Sting is going for the Scorpion Death Lock and the Dungeon of Doom wins the coin toss (crowd was dead silent) and Zodiac comes in and gets punished but he and Shark take advantage. Hart is frantically waving the flag, he needs some Ritalin. Sting got some brief offense in but they are not showing too much of what is going on. Savage is in and looks like he is trying to suplex Shark? Sting is down and they are double teaming Savage. Sting is back and they are all just punching and kicking one another as Savage takes down the Shark. Kamala is in next and according to Heenan is right at home in the jungle. WCW needs to stop panning away from the ring, as the Dungeon of Doom is just pounding on Savage and Sting, and the crowd is clearly bored. Sting is fighting back and knocked down Kamala but he and Shark take down Sting. Luger is in to big pop and he immediately goes after the Shark and Kamala and takes them down. He and Savage go after the Zodiac and Savage hits the Shark with Double Ax. Zodiac is stomping on Luger as Sting is working over Kamala. Luger inadvertently hit Savage and Savage goes after Luger and Sting tries to break it up and Meng is now in and he is beating the Hell out of all three along with the Dungeon of Doom. Meng is choking the life out of Luger. Hogan is in and he throws white powder at all of the Dungeon of Doom and Zodiac is in between the rings getting his ass kicked (white powder? Of course Schiavone loves it). Zodiac is just walking in circles as Savage is choking the Shark. Luger and Hogan chuck Kamala into the fence and now Zodiac too. The Dungeon of Doom is getting dismantled. Hogan has a submission move on? A reverse chin lock was applied to Zodiac and he submitted. I did not realize in my rant about the Dungeon of Doom that only one had to submit or surrender (isn't that submission?) and that is pretty lame. Sullivan tries to leave and security brings him back and Sting throws him into the cage and Hogan is beating the crap out of Sullivan. Sullivan is outside the ring and Hogan goes after him and brings him back in (Heenan said that Sullivan is a wrestler and fresh and yet he is getting fucking destroyed). Hogan is now choking Sullivan with tape, and here comes the Giant and he throws the referee. Did Hogan's partners just leave? The Giant enters the ring and Hogan did not hear him? Hogan tries and fights back (of course) and the fans chant "Hogan" and the Giant "rips" off his head and the Hulkamaniacs come out and the Giant and Sullivan leave. Heenan for the millionith time says Hulkamania is dead and Buffer calls out for paramedics as they fade off.

Honestly it was a clusterfuck of a match (and I do apologize for the constant recapping of the rules, but any match with this many rules is over booked and I am tired). I know I am watching on a one half of my laptop but it would be difficult to make out on a big screen. Only one submission? I see that it could be four on one but it could be booked where it stayed even. Also, other than the Giant not one member of the Dungeon of Doom got an offensive move against Hogan. A terrible main even that marred an otherwise decent PPV.

Overall it was decent. The Flair/AA match being the strongest match. Pillman/Badd picked up in the last half of the match. DDP/Renegade was surprisingly strong and Harlem Heat was okay (not mentioning the Cobra debacle). I just do not understand the Dungeon of Doom, it is like a Roleplaying game that 25 year old virgins play.

I liked coming into the PPV without too much knowledge of the storylines, they were not difficult to follow (as WCW recapped) and I did not have to watch months of Dungeon of Doom to get here. A decent start to the Nitro era and it will be interesting to see what the WWF counters with.

 

[dukes07]

The night after Fall Brawl, and while it was a decent start to the Nitro era it was still not a notable PPV essentially due to the main event being a mess. The outcome was predictable as was the Giant coming in; and honestly, Hogan as a face and the cheesiness of it all makes me want to spork my eyes out sometimes.

Tonight RAW (2.5 to 2.4) beat Nitro in the ratings for the week, as fans were apparently not too eager to see what happened on the PPV and were more anxious to see the lead in show to the In Your House PPV. Despite the slightly weaker numbers this week, WCW still had some momentum and the first two Nitros were successful and only time would tell if fans became disinterested and viewership continued to fall or if WCW could compete with the WWF either taking RAW viewers or creating new ones.

An ambulance is showing up and Gene is back there and the Giant and the Taskmaster pop out. The Giant in a throaty whisper goes on about choking Hogan and that his "father" would appreciate what he was doing. Oh sweet Jesus....at least he did not point to the sky in homage to Andre.

Match 1: The American Males v. The Bluebloods

As the Bluebloods come out Harlem Heat is attacking them, and they enter the ring. Booker T grabs the mic and proclaim that being the tag champions they should be on Nitro. The tag titles are on the line and both teams start slugging it out before order is restored. Stevie Ray and Riggs start off and Ray eventually gets knocked down with a double drop kick. Ray hits a side slam on Bagwell and tags in Booker. Booker catches Bagwell and slams him to the mat but Bagwell is able to make the tag and Riggs is met with an axe kick. Ray is tagged in and he is choking poor Riggs. Booker is now in and demolishes Riggs with a vicious looking wheel kick. Riggs rolls up Booker but somehow misses seeing the tag and Ray nails him. Riggs gets away and tags Bagwell who cleans house and Sherri hops up onto the mat with her shoe but Col. Parker comes out and carries her off and Booker goes for a pump handle slam and Bagwell fell on top Booker for the pin.

Pretty good match and a nice push for the American Males; of course Bischoff sets up that it was not a sanctioned match and "Commissioner" Nick Bockwinkle could overturn it.

Mean Gene is in the ring and his guest will be Ric Flair. It still amazes me that no matter where he goes and what year it is, the ovation he receives is quite incredible. Flair says that Arn broke the code and he brought an outsider to the ring, and broke another code. He calls out Pillman, a former football great (really?) and that Boomer Esiason will feel the chops, and Flair is going to kick his ass (and the crowd explodes).

Match 2: Paul Orndorff v. Johnny B. Badd

After the atrocious vignette at Fall Brawl with Dan Spivey, there is a "new and improved" Mr. Wonderful as waltzes to the ring with an opera like song and holding a tiny mirror that he keeps looking into. Badd comes out to a nice pop; crowds loved the mullets and sequined robes back then. Orndorff is still gazing in his mirror and kisses it. Orndorff hits a mean looking low drop kick and starts pounding and choking Badd. Orndorff and the ref are nose to nose screaming at one another and Badd takes advantage and jumps off the top only to meet a boot to the face (of course he saw it coming a mile away and did nothing to stop it). Back from commercial and Orndorff flies from the top and meets mat. Badd is going to leap out onto Orndorff but Paul inexplicable falls but Badd is able to leap onto him. Back in the ring and Badd gets a two count and then comes back with a clothesline. Orndorff is able to roll up Badd for the three count.

They played off that Badd was tired from the night before, but you can see veterans still going over younger talent even in 1995. Nevertheless the match was decent and Orndorff while becoming more limited in the ring can still move. However, I am a baffled as to what Orndorff brings to the table right now. Maybe we will get a continuation, so I will take a wait and see attitude.

The pan to a random beach and the Macho Man is bench pressing for the ladies (with Luger being the spotter). Sullivan runs in and attacks, throws the weight on Savage and conveniently moves it so it will not crush him and then throws sand in his eyes and punches him until Flair in pink shorts breaks it up.

Gene calls down Savage and mentions that Flair saved him, but Savage does not trust him. Savage is going to destroy the Taskmaster. Gene asks about the dissension during Fall Brawl and Savage calls Hogan a bad judge of character and that the "attack" on Savage by Luger during the PPV was not an accident. Luger comes down and is wondering why Savage is so wound up, and that he wants the title too, so the dissension comes from Savage. Savage admits he wants the title. Savage wants a match (Luger wants to be where the big boys play) but Gene tries to break it up and security during the break does.

Prior to the PPV Hogan rolls up on his Harley and is surrounded by "fans" who are squealing like school girls. Hogan is saying what he is going to do to the Dungeon of Doom when the Giant in a monster truck whips around the corner and runs over the motorcycle and Hogan loses a kidney in the process and hits the door of the truck screaming "what are you doing." My question is why Hogan did not jump up and try to get him if he was so angry....

Match 3: Flyin' Brian v. Ric Flair

Both immediately exchange blows and Flair throws Brian out of the ring and hits a double ax handle from the top. Brian is now on the offensive and starts chopping Flair and throws him into the corner where Flair does his patented flip over but manages to clotheslines to Brian. But it does not last as Brian gets a two count and uses the ropes to try and get the pin. Both are out of the ring and Flair is dropping him on the rail. Back in the ring Flair is punching Pillman in the head. Flair slowly goes to the top and gets tossed off for his trouble and Brian flies from the top and eats mat. Flair goes for the Figure Four and is rolled up for a two count. Both men are exchanging chops, and now he gets the Figure Four and Brian gives up rather quickly. Flair grabs the mic and wants Arn to know that he will get his ass kicked on Nitro.

Good match and Pillman looked good. There are a lot of clean finishes with most of the veterans winning.

Overall a solid Nitro. You can see that Savage is being rent apart by jealousy and suspicion, which used to preclude him turning heel, but he has always been a tweener and while he was always better as a heel he perfected the unstable face. Nitro had better wrestling than RAW and was avoiding the squashes that have been prevalent on RAW. While the entire Dungeon of Doom angle is laughable and drags the product down at least it is not front and center.

 

[dukes07]

Nitro had a faster start than anticipated and the WWF, already going for a new look, had to act instead of reacting to WCW. However, first RAW of the Monday Night era was nothing spectacular, and it was leading into a confusing main event at the August 24 In Your House PPV. This week after a close ratings battle with Nitro the prior week, RAW edged Nitro 2.5 to 2.4 for the go home show while Nitro dipped a bit the night after its PPV.

Match 1: 123 Kid v. Razor Ramon

Wow quite the pop for Razor Ramon; it is surprising that he never won the WWF title or the WCW title. Then again it is surprising the man is still alive, and every time he received a big push it was either wrong place, wrong time or he fucked it up by getting tanked and/or drugged up. Anyway, the Kid attacks immediately (apparently he was slapped on an earlier show and starting crying). As stated in one of my earlier great posts: Ramon was one of the first tweeners, and a damn good one at the time. Ramon is now in control throwing the Kid around like a sack of potatoes (red ones). Kid made a brief comeback and a Ramon counters with a chokeslam for a two count. Kid makes Razor fly out of the ring and now takes control; Kid leaps onto Razor's back and applies the sleeper. Ramon is on the mat "sleeping." Well not anymore as he tries to get out with a side suplex and both are down (It seems as if some of the sound is piped in as the fans seating on the floor seats are quiet). You knew the ref would go down as all three collide; he just walked into the two). Dean Douglas comes down and leaps off the top and lands on Razor's back. The Kid is crawling over to cover Ramon and pins him (Ramon who was just in an amazing ladder match with Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam was lying there for over a minute waiting to be pinned). Many of the fans are displeased with the outcome, but it does not hurt Razor and extends the angle with Douglas and it helps the Kid (even though he needed "help").

Good opening match. I love how RAW opened up with a match with nary a twenty minute promo in sight. Razor still looked good and could wrestle, and even if the 123 Kid was part of the Kliq, they clicked well together and sold quite well.

Back to Dean Douglas who apparently has a segment called "The Report Card." He is wearing some sort of robe and gives the Kid a "D" for dumb and Ramon an "E" for elevate, for some reason, such as he is elevating himself to face and lose to Douglas; an "A" for exclamation and "N" for something or other and he then rakes the fingernails across the chalkboard. I really have no idea what I just watched. A complete 180 from his ECW character. Jesus, WWF just allow an edgy character and not some fucking jokester caricature who is making a complete arse of himself. Oh well it is the mid 90s....

Match 2: Savio Vega and Bob Holly v. Tatanka and Kama with Ted DiBiase

Vega is quite popular with the crowd and he destroys both Tatanka and Kama. I love Holly's mullet; mullet's are EVERYWHERE, and we need to bring that bitch back! Holly is all over Kama hitting a series of arm drags and is now working on the arm. Vega is tagged in but Tatanka is tagged in and takes control. Tatanka avoids a kick to the head and rolls out of the ring and goes right after Holly. In the ring Kama is beating on Vega and Holly stops him but this distracts the referee and allows Kama and Tatanka to double team Vega. Holly keeps trying to get in the ring and this allows the double team to continue. Clearly the ref cannot miss the double team but the camera conveniently pans away. Tatanka and Vega take one another out with a double clothesline. Holly is tagged in and hits a series of boots and goes up top and nails a flying dropkick on Kama for two, and now all four are in the ring. Vega and Tatanka are outside the ring and Holly goes up top and Kama fouls up the catch and slam but still gets the three count.

It is sad to see DiBiase reduced to managing that team. Nothing special in the match, Vega and Holly have some ability but Kama and Tatanka are typical mid-90s WWF brawlers.

Razor woke up with no ill effects from Douglas' sneak attack and seems rather displeased. The classroom is going to be in Razor's house: the gutter. And he is going to carve him up (Douglas has an Ivy League education, now that is classic!).

Match 3: Jean-Pierre Lafitte v. Bryan Walsh (I think)

Jean Pierre is going to face Bret Hart at the PPV and has been stealing his stuff, such as taking glasses given to a kid and his jacket. Hart is on the phone during the match! Hart takes a lot of pride with his fans, and does not condone the stealing. Hart is calling out Lawler as being a liar and thief like Lafitte. Lawler says Hart will not taste Lafitte but defeat. Meanwhile the match is a squash. A pirate? Oh boy, then again WCW has a Shark and at least a pirate is kinda cool. Lafitte hits a moonsault from the top for the win.

Squash.

Match 4: Men on a Mission v. Yokozuna and Owen Hart (c)

King Mabel is coming to the ring (I wonder if Vince regrets having him win King of the Ring as his push did not go very far, other than beating down Diesel). Owen and Yokozuna have been tag champs since WrestleMania! Wow, Yoko looks absolutely huge. Owen and Moe are exchanging blows but Moe takes advantage until he runs into a boot and a clothesline. Moe nails a power slam and tags in Mabel who is wearing a shiny purple mumu. Mabel charges into the corner and misses but when Owen went up for some blows he gets tossed off. Moe is tagged in and Owen is on the receiving end getting booted in the face. Moe is taunting Yokozuna and slaps him and Yoko just stands there and SLOWLY gets in the ring and this allows Mabel to beat poor Owen. Moe does not move really well and he gets tossed out and Yoko is tagged in and he goes after Mabel but he is not the legal man and Owen takes advantage by throwing Moe into the steel steps. Yoko is now punching and kicking poor Moe and chops the BeJesus out of him (that had to hurt). After a commercial Owen is now in with Moe and Moe manages to knock down Owen and both men make the tag. Mabel and Yoko go at it and he knocks Yoko and tosses Owen on top of Yoko, and for some reason he tag in Moe who gets hit with a clothesline. Owen is tagged in and hits a dropkick from the top for a two count. And now a reverse neck breaker and Owen heads to the top only to be met by Moe who hits a nice superplex. It takes Yoko an hour to come and make the save. Watching Yoko and Mabel walk after each other is so comical. It is like slow motion; the ref is distracted by Jim Cornette and Yoko hits a leg drop on the back of Moe and takes an hour to roll out of the ring, and somehow the ref does not see it, and Mabel takes an hour to miss the save and Owen gets the pin. Instead of being angry Men on a Mission sadly walk away.

Not much you could do with this match. It was obvious that the WWF was struggling to find things for Owen and Yokozuna to do so paired them up and gave them the tag titles. Meanwhile Mabel's push seemed to be diminishing.

Diesel and Shawn Michaels are providing us with a "pre-recorded" message. Michaels is making fun of Owen's nose because he and Cornette are liars. Diesel literally has little charisma as he mentions bringing his little buddy along, and to call John Madden because Ace is the place. I am confused.

Back in the ring and with Yoko, Owen, Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette and Vince is hyping up the first Tripleheader, all the titles up for grabs are all the belts. Jim is hyping up the PPV and he hopes the fans understand (I do now) but Vince interrupts and hypes up Diesel and Michaels and I swear the cheers are piped in. Cornette mentions all the accolades that Owen and Yoko have, and goes off on how Diesel and Michaels broke up the last time they were partners, and how Michaels has an ego (I love how even then they were going after that). All in all Yoko and Owen are going to win the belts (I guess that means Owen is not allowed to win the WWF title according to Cornette as he only mentioned Yokozuna winning it).

Overall a pretty good going home show. I am surprised that Diesel and Shawn have not really been seen thus far. It also seems that Superstars is more of the "A" show for now, and that they save Bret Hart (who is filming Lonesome Dove) Diesel and Michaels for PPV too. However, the Undertaker will be on RAW next week. It will be interesting to see how the WWF responds to WCW in the weeks to come and if like WCW start rolling out the big guns and moving away from squashes and mid card matches.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

Reading these reminds me of how unbelievably bad the Monday Night Wars were at the beginning... Thankfully it gets better! Good reviews so far.

 

[dukes07]

Reading these reminds me of how unbelievably bad the Monday Night Wars were at the beginning... Thankfully it gets better! Good reviews so far.

Thanks man! I really appreciate it. I have a lot written already. I really want to get back into ECW. I just cannot find the DVD's as I have moved so much and our house flooded for three months.

95 was really bad at times. I am nostalgic though, the history teacher in me I guess, so I enjoy it. But I would argue that a lot of today's stuff is as bad if not worse. I cannot wait to get to the Yeti though. Sweet mother of the gods. A while back I did a shit load of research, just about everything on WCW I could find. I delved into Proquest and read everything from Mooneyham and Glazer and others. So I am collating that and trying to include it. I just don't have the time or inclination to re-read it and so I hope my notes are really good.

In fact WWF INYH will be up soon.

 

[dukes07]

The first WWF PPV of the Monday Night Era, so far the build up is far less than it was for the annual Summer bash (SummerSlam) and there seems to be less momentum going into the PPV than there was for WCW. The storylines are less interesting but at the same time there are fewer hokey wrestlers (well that is a stretch but then again....), the Dungeon of Doom being at the top of the list. And while Diesel proved to be not a huge sell during House Shows, he was being paired up with Shawn Michaels again to heighten his appeal and the return of Bret Hart is imminent too, so it seems that the WWF is taking a turn for the better, bringing back their big guns as well as using them more efficiently. To be fair I have not seen much of Diesel. I only know what history has said about his title reign. From what I have seen he rarely says much, but he must have been quasi-successful to keep the belt on him for so long. Then again, it seems that he has almost become a filler champ, like the Undertaker from time to time or Hart from Survivor Series to WM. It makes sense to pair him with Michaels anyway to give them both maximum exposure. Then again it also seems that WCW did a far better job in utilizing Nash's mic skills and charisma (To be fair Hogan in 1995 was a far cry of Hogan in 87 or even 91, and this is honestly the Hogan character at its nadir before being revitalized the following year; I am sure I will be harping on Hogan a lot in the coming weeks and months, I cannot help myself.). Despite a confusing main event and a Razor/Douglas feud that no one seems to have asked for we will see what the PPV has in store. Not a bad buyrate, seeing as the cost is cheaper obviously, with a .65 but only 4100 fans in Saginaw Michigan. Saginaw Michigan? Sounds exciting! The buyrate was better than the .50 that Fall Brawl garnered but there were nearly 7000 fans at that venue (and the higher PPV cost too).

The INYH theme (intro) is just terrible and I mean God awful. It is strange to see JR without his trademark hat.

Match 1: Savio Vega v. Waylon Mercy

They make some odd innuendo about Mercy being big, and then show him crushing worms, some seriously odd stuff. Mercy moves like molasses as he goes to hit Vega from behind but just gets caught and Vega is in charge at the beginning. Vega is going after Mercy's left arm but Mercy comes back and clotheslines him and throws him out of the ring and hits a series of chops on the outside and a bodyslam. Back in the ring he has Vega in a chokehold. Both foul up a move into the ropes and Mercy gets a two count. There is an "interruption" and Owen Hart is not in the building. Meanwhile Mercy has Vega in a sleeper and Vega drives Mercy's head into the turnbuckle. He now hits a back suplex and both are down. They are bot up and exchanging blows and Vega gets the upper hand with a headbutt and two big boots for a two count. Vega hits a series of moves and gets a two count each time. Mercy comes back by hitting a clothesline and a brainbuster for a two count. Now it is Mercy's turn to get a couple of two counts but it is reversed by Vega and he gets a two count. Vega runs off the ropes and hits a spin kick for the win.

Okay, Mercy, the character is based off of Rober DeNiro's role from Cape Fear, but due to being older he can barely move in the ring and apparently this was his one and only WWF PPV appearance. His real name is Dan Spivey and he had been around for years and was in Puerto Rico when Bruiser Brody was stabbed to death. He received a fairly big push when he re-entered the WWF in 1995 and was unbeaten prior to this match, and he had previously beaten some upper card guys but the next month he was injured by Diesel who hit him with a power bomb and that ended his career. Not good. It seems that Nash has had a proclivity to injure others here and there but the powerbomb is not exactly the safest move to execute.

Cornette and Monsoon are arguing about Owen not being here and Monsoon says the match will go down tonight.

Match 2: Sycho Sid v. Henry Godwinn

I wonder if Sid's character ever changed; he had the million dollar look but wrestled like a dollar menuinaire, and that is not to say he was terrible as he seemed to know his limitations (Luger was another but Luger put together some good matches in his career, though the ego seemed bigger) but Sid did not seem to be getting much of a push this time in the WWF as he went from headlining with Hogan a few years ago to losing to Michaels and feuding with Godwinn. Godwinn takes control and knocks Sid to the floor and suplexes him into the ring. Sid is going after the Godwinn's back and boots him out of the ring where poor Henry gets stomped on by DiBiase. Sid leaps a couple of times from the apron and nails Godwinn in the back and back in the ring he continues going after the back. Sid kicks Godwinn around the ring and applies the Camel Clutch and jumps on the back when Godwinn looked like he was getting out of it. Sid is now hitting the back again. He has him back in the quasi-Clutch again and Godwinn elbows out but gets knocked down and Sid jumps from the top and gets punched in the gut and Godwinn hits a flying tackle to knock him down. Godwinn had the win but DiBiase grabbed his leg and this allows Sid to come back and DiBiase grabs the leg again as Godwinn runs into the ropes and Sid hits a big leg drop on the back of the head and hits a power bomb for the three count.

Sid can fly for a big guy but his wrestling skills are really limited and so are Godwinn's. Bam Bam runs down and goes after Sid but someone makes the save and as DiBiase is going to slop Bigelow Godwinn grabs the bucket and dumps it on DiBiase. Anyway, not much of a match and it was more of a brawl rather than a match but it did not go on too long.

Cornette is upset that the match will go on and Monsoon allows him to find a partner for Yokozuna and he can be the tag champion for the night.

Match 3: British Bulldog v. Bam Bam Bigelow

Bam Bam knocks Davey down with a shoulder block and they lock up again with the same result. They got to the back and show Cornette imploring Sid to team with Yokozuna. Back to the ring Davey gains the offensive and has Bigelow in a head lock but he gets out but only briefly as he hits him with a suplex. Bam Bam recovers quick and and hits a couple of clotheslines only to be thrown outside of the ring (Davey pulled the top rope down and out he went). Bigelow tries to get back in the ring but is met with a boot and Davey tries to suplex him into the ring but Bam Bam counters it and crotches him and hits the flying head butt (as the Bulldog conveniently rolled into place for him) for a two count. Bulldog nails the knee and now works on Bigelow's leg. He works the leg for awhile and the fans start a USA chant and that fires up Bigelow who nails him with a spin kick to the head (looked good) but Davey recovers quickly and goes back after the leg. Bulldog has him in a Boston Crab type move (one leg) and lets it go and Bigelow is able to nail Davey with a punch and a head butt. Davey comes back and knocks him down and gets a two count and puts Bigelow in a rear chin lock. Bigelow is able to drive the Bulldog into the corner and pound on him but Davey comes back and attempts to body slam but Bigelow falls on him for a two count. Now Davey tries to put him into a Sunset flip but Bigelow falls on him for a two count. Bam Bam leaps from the top and misses and Davey gets a two count and then he hits a head butt from the top for another near fall. Now they are going back and forth and Davey hits a power slam for the win.

Bigelow still looked good and he should have had a bigger push in his career but always seemed near the top. Davey had mountains of potential but drugs interfered as did Steroids. But I enjoyed the match, just seeing these two in the ring made it great; it was nostalgia that made it great as it was not a technical masterpiece and it ended rather abruptly.

I almost forgot that Bigelow did headline a WrestleMania just that year and they were going to show that WM on TV next month on FOX, which is something that I did not know they did.

Bob Backlund comes to the ring and screams about plebeians and learning things and that fans become dormant etc. I love the rambling as it reminds me of what a heel Ultimate Warrior promo would sound, confused and rambling but at the same time a train wreck that one would have to keep watching. Anyway he is introducing Dean Douglas.

Match 4: Dean Douglas v. Razor Ramon

Douglas is going to teach a WWF superstar a lesson (I am guessing it is Razor Ramon) and he is introducing him too. Razor and later Hall was the epitomy of an upper mid-card guy and always got a fan reaction, being one of the first Tweeners and a big guy that could move, it is a shame he was never a champ and allowed his personal life to ruin his wrestling career. Ramon runs down to the ring and beats down Douglas and clotheslines him out of the ring. Back in the ring there is some give and take but Ramon again flips Douglas out of the ring. And they are going to the back again and this time talking to Mabel as he and Yokozuna stare down. Back to the action and Douglas goes after the arm but gets it reversed as Ramon applies a wrist lock. Douglas goes over Ramon's back and lands on his feet and slams Ramon to the mat but Ramon catch him and flips him for a two count. Now he is going after Douglas' arm. It is also a shame about Douglas' career as he had a lot of potential but the Dean character never panned out and his brief stint in WCW was nothing spectacular, though he did have great success in ECW it is a shame it did not extend to the other two federations. The two are going back and forth with a series of two counts and Ramon is going after the wrist and arm again but Douglas gets out and tosses Ramon over the top and leaps out and nails him on the railing and swings him into the apron. Douglas runs and knees Razor who falls (kinda) into the steel step and picks him up and puts him into the post. Back in the ring Douglas hits a double ax handle from the top and gets a two count and is now working on the back. Razor pops off the ropes and just belts Douglas but gets the favor returned when Douglas grabs his hair and slams him to the mat and is now working on the arms as he stretches them back (well I guess it would be the ribs). Every time Razor tries to get up he gets a knee to the back but the fans chant Razor and he is able to reverse the move. However Douglas whips Razor into opposing corners twice and jumps from the second turnbuckle onto his back and gets a two count. Douglas is sitting on Razor's back with his hands under his chin wrenching the head back (well the move looks a tad soft) and Razor stands up with Douglas on his shoulders and drops him back and both are down. Douglas drapes the arm over Razor and gets a two count. They exchange blows and Razor spins and decks Douglas and then drops him over his back for a two count and now Douglas is being whipped into opposing corners and Razor places him on the turnbuckle but Douglas kicks him off and hits a flying cross body press only to have Razor roll on top for a two count. Douglas pushes Razor into the ref and down goes the referee and Douglas hits a flying elbow but misses from the second turnbuckle and Razor hits the Razor's Edge and the 123 Kid comes and counts but Razor pops up and they push one another and he throws the Kid out and this allows Dean to roll him up for the win.

Despite the shenanigans this was a really good match; it elevated Douglas and continues the feud between the two. Douglas could really move and Razor still had a lot of gas left in the tank (though I believe he got suspended for drugs soon after). Now Razor and the Kid are going at it in the ring and officials run in and break it up.

They go to some Village People looking dude in the back wearing a police hat and heart shaped shades and needs to relax a little bit as he shills Shawn Michaels glasses and video. He brings in Shawn and Diesel and Shawn is a little upset about Owen not being there and is suspicious and Diesel essentially concurs and mentions "Two dudes with attitudes" and quite frankly is pretty damn boring on the mic the few times I have seen him, no wonder they re-teamed him with Shawn Michaels.

Now they are recapping Jean Pierre Lafitte stealing Bret Hart's glasses and Bret is none too pleased about it. He does not like Pierre because he is a thief and taking glasses and his jacket and that it is time for him to "walk the plank" (good God that was bad).

Match 5: Bret Hart v. Jean Pierre Lafitte

The fans are literally going ape shit as he comes down to the ring; the guy was still huge back then and was wisely used at times to build new stars (a la Jericho but not made to look as bad, or I guess the Rock and Flair as both won a lot but also lost never diminishing their stature. Take notes WWE in 2013). I will devote some time to the sad end of his career later, but it is obvious that Bret Hart was probably, along with Michaels (and mayhap the Undertaker), the most over star in the WWF at this time. Lafitte does not get an introduction and is instead met by Hart who flies out of the ring and lands on Pierre and starts beating the crap out of him outside of the ring. He rips his jacket off of Lafitte and throws him into the ring and continues the assault and is now hitting series of elbows to the top of the head. But Pierre comes back and starts pounding on the back of Hart's head and now the front of it in the corner but misses when he charges Bret in the opposite corner and Bret takes charge again and gets a near fall and applies an arm bar. Pierre is able to hit a standing clothesline and chokes him on the top rope and knocks him backwards onto the mat and starts choking him. Now he is stomping a hole into Bret and Swings Bret to the ropes but Bret rolls him up for a two count. Pierre is able to hit a boot after he is swung into the ropes and suckers Bret into the post as he flies into it shoulder first and now he grabs Hart and drives him back into the post. He viciously swings Hart into the opposite corner front first and down he goes and he delays the pin attempt and gets two and Hart is able to flip him over the top and goes after him but gets swung into the steel steps. Back in the ring Bret hits a couple of kicks but gets caught in a spine buster for a two count, and Pierre applies a head lock to slow things down. Hart is on his feet and drives some elbows into the gut but gets knocked down and Pierre drops an elbow for another two count and reapplies the head lock and Bret is back to feet again and gets out and with a sunset flip gets a two count. The offensive is short lived Bret is punished with a sidewalk slam and Pierre goes to the top and hits the Cannonball but for only a two count (so much for that finisher) and Pierre drags Bret to the middle of the ring and slowly heads back up to the top and attempts a moonsault but Hart moves and both men are down. Both are up and Bret strikes first with an inverted atomic drop and he goes for the Sharpshooter but Lafitte kicks him out of the ring and tries to fly out with a somersault but Bret moves and gets thrown into the steel steps. Back into the ring and Hart grabs him and ankle sweeps him to the mat for a two count and rolls him up for another and hits a side slam, and goes to the top but Pierre plants a boot to the mug and both are down again but Pierre is up first and hits a running slam (Bret was on the shoulders) and the move was clearly fouled up and it looked like it hurt Pierre more but he moves to cover and gets two. Hart is up again and hangs onto the ropes and almost gets the pin and now Bret Hart is in control but gets slammed into the turnbuckle front first again and puts his foot on the rope at two. Hart has Pierre on the ropes and runs after him and flies but Pierre moves and Hart slowly topples to the ground and Pierre goes for a splash from the top but Hart moves. Both men collide and are down and Hart tries to apply the Sharpshooter with both on the mat and does so and Lafitte taps out.

Great match, Jean Pierre could wrestle and there were few slow spots, though some were fouled and predictable but it was still quite good. A lot happened towards the end so I missed some but oh well. It was almost WCW like as it was more technical than most WWF matches and it picked up at the end like a WCW match and had a great finish (well Cruiserweights and other good wrestlers in WCW, not the brawlers).

Yokozuna's partner will be Davey Boy Smith.

Vince McMahon calls out Alundra Blaze to model the Triple-Header T-shirt, little does he know is that she will be on WCW with the WWF women's belt by the end of the year!

Match 6: Yokozuna and the British Bulldog v. Shawn Michaels (IC) and Diesel (WC)

I may be stupid but this is called a Triple-Header when there are four participants? It may be that the tag belts are considered one belt and hence three titles are on the line? Michaels comes out to quite the ovation (McMahon is all excited; he is all over Shawn's jock) and Shawn is dressed like a zebra, shaking his booty, but the fans, especially the ladies love it. It will be interesting to see what the reaction will be when he is champ and if the fans do turn on him like many have claimed or how is ego played a role etc. Diesel comes out to a great ovation too, not much charisma here but he had the look and a certain mystique, he was never a good wrestler but he has stood the test of time, and his mic skills improved and he was always popular and even cool. His role in WCW especially towards its end will be examined in greater detail down the road. Anyway if I am not mistaken whoever gets the pin wins the title....I think. Diesel and Michaels play rochambeau (Hall and Nash later!) to see who is in first and Shawn wins and he will square off against the Bulldog. They lock up and circle around exchanging holds and Michaels gets him to the ground hits a back body drop and clotheslines him out of the ring. Yokozuna comes in and Michaels punches him and Diesel SLOWLY comes in and punches Yokozuna once and he crumples comically out of the ring. Davey tags in Yokozuna and it is still Michaels and he begs off Diesel who wanted the tag and he taunts Yokozuna by acting like a sumo. And they square off in sumo position and charge at one another and Shawn slides under the legs but gets caught and pounded to the mat and picked up easily and body slammed. Yoko goes for the elbow but Michaels moves and tags in Diesel. Diesel attacks but gets knocked down but gets back up and hits a flying tackle and boots him out of the ring. For some reason he tries to pull Yokozuna up by the hair and Bulldog comes in and hits a series of head butts. He goes for his standing suplex and he and Diesel fuck it up so he has to do it again this time with success and gets a two count. He has a head lock applied but Diesel gets up and Bulldog tries to go for the running power slam but gets shoved into the turnbuckle and Diesel tosses him around a bit. He tags in Michaels and picks up Michaels from the top rope and throws him into Davey for a two count. Davey comes back and crotches Michaels and Yokozuna attacks him and is tagged in and is choking him with his foot and tossing Michaels around like a rag doll as he kicks him out of the ring and Bulldog is there and body slams him onto the floor. Yokozuna tags in Bulldog and he body slams Shawn and hits a nice looking back body drop and now has a head lock applied. However, Michaels hits a sunset flip for two and a cross body for another two. Yokozuna is in the ring now and crushing Michaels by pinching the shoulders and for some reason he lets Michaels up but he knocks him back down and Yokozuna climbs to the second rope and is going to sit on Michaels but Shawn moves and both men make the tag. Diesel hits a back body drop and leaps on him as he lays in the ropes and hits a side slam. Now all four are in and Diesel and Shawn annihilate both as they swing Davey into Yokozuna and he falls on poor Davey who starts twitching. Diesel grabs him and hits the boot and is going for the power bomb but Yokozuna is up and Cornette is on the apron, and Diesel gets hit with a fall away slam but Shawn knocks Yokozuna out of the ring with Sweet Chin Music, this allows the Bulldog to hit a power slam but Michaels breaks up the count. Here comes Owen who gets caught coming from the top rope and then a power bomb and Diesel pins Owen.

Not a long main event and probably for good reason as only Shawn can really wrestle. Bulldog did not look too bad and neither did Diesel, but there was nothing special here and the finish was screwy so you know something will happen on RAW. The match stipulations were also screwy and not explained as well as they could have been.

I am not sure how much these PPV's cost back then but the show was less than two hours long (Edit: 20 bucks, so I think five or ten less than WCW's and the WWF's "bigger" ones.). There were some good matches with the Razor and Bret having the two best match and the Bulldog/ Bigelow match was fun too. It was better than Fall Brawl and that was mostly due to the terrible main event and the Cobra match. Fall Brawl had some better wrestling but this PPV was overall more solid minus the short length, though it certainly had its downsides with Waylon Mercy who was past his prime and Godwinn who is just plain terrible. It will be interesting to see where the WWF goes from here as they are going live up against Nitro the next night and beat them handily in the ratings (though some sites have Nitro winning handily, other sites show just the opposite). Later on I will try and examine if being live made much of a difference for the WWF when going against WCW.

 

[dukes07]

The PPV was semi-success despite the mess that was the main event. I stated at the end of my blog that it will be interesting as to how they will follow up on it as this show will be live, and while Wikipedia has RAW with only a 1.9 as opposed to Nitro's 2.7, other sources dictated the exact opposite and I am sure it will be difficult for me to get an actual read on ratings due to the contradictions but I will try. Okay, TWNP has the same so we will go with that. RAW got annihilated. Seems that many people do not really want to see what happened at the PPV. It seems a bit odd, as one would assume they'd want to find out what happened. Nitro dipped a bit last week too. Then again fans are fickle and probably saw something they liked on Nitro as opposed to RAW. Ultimately, I will post this tomorrow, Nitro was decent that night, but there was far too much going on especially in the main event with the issues within the Dungeon of Doom and Luger and Savage, but we will see how RAW responds to Nitro challenging their Monday night supremacy with the first post PPV RAW. Also, RAW was live tonight, so that clearly did not have as much of an impact as I initially thought. Maybe I should have looked at ratings more closely first but where is the fun in that?

Match 1: Marty Jannetty v. Skip

It would be nice if they told us who the fuck he was wrestling, some dude called Skip (ah research: Candido!). Well the WWF brought back Marty and the fans are rather excited, so WCW got Luger and the WWF brought back Jannetty but Marty who is not looking to good here at the beginning may not last too long. Marty has been in control most of the match and hits a back drop and Skip rolls out again and keeps hugging Sunny and Marty comes from behind and hugs her and she goes to slap him but he ducks and she slaps Skip. Back in the ring he applies some half assed submission move on Skip, and Skip swings him into the ropes and Sunny grabs his ankle and this allows Skip to hit a gut wrench suplex and now a snap suplex. They pan to Dean Douglas who is taking notes on the match and back to the action Skip is in control and hits a body slam and they go to a break and when they come back and Skip is still beating up poor Marty and he hits a big clothesline, and is now punching Jannetty in the corner. Marty reverses an Irish whip and after some give and take he hits a back suplex for a two count and is now pounding on poor skip and hits a flying elbow, a punch to the gut and a boot for a two count. Marty goes after Sunny who is on the apron and Skip tries to come from behind and he gets thrown over the top and he lands on Marty back in the ring for a two count but Marty sets him up and flies from the top and slams his fist into Skip's head for the win.

Marty did not look too bad, a little rusty but managed a pretty long TV match. Well he started off a bit slow, but the match was ultimately solid. And Skip will get plenty of air time down the road. I should have done a bit more research as he is Chris Candido who can go in the ring.

Holy crap, they are recapping the INYH shenanigans with Owen Hart not being there and Bulldog replacing him, and so Cornette hired a Johnny Cochran like lawyer (Lawler was blathering on about the OJ trial) and said lawyer was trying to act like Cochran and threatened legal action because the Bulldog was not the proper title holder and so the decision was reversed (um okay WWF, talk about convoluted). However, Monsoon is making the match with the champs and the Smoking Gunns a sanctioned title match, so this upsets Cornette.

Match 2: Owen Hart and Yokozuna (c) v. Smoking Gunns for WWF Tag Titles

Owen and Bart start off and Bart takes control by hitting an arm drag and starts working over the arm, and tags in Billy. Owen comes back and hits a series of punches and a Russian leg sweep and tags in Yokozuna and he just knocks down poor Billy and hits a chop but Billy slides beneath his legs and nails him with two dropkicks and jumps on him from behind and drives him to the mat. Billy knocks him down again but inexplicably rolls out of the ring and this allows Owen to beat on him. Billy is rolled back in the ring and gets choked by Yokozuna's foot. Owen is now in and applies a headlock and Billy is rising up and hitting some elbows and a sunset flip for a near fall but Owen hits a leg drop and they go to another damn commercial. Owen is still in charge and hits a flying cross body from the top but Billy is able to roll on top for a two count and Owen tags in Yokozuna and he starts hammering on poor Billy in the corner with some help from Owen. Yoko hits a pretty awful looking snap mare and starts squeezing on Billy's shoulder. This is a really long submission hold, I mean really long and Vince and Lawler are just talking about the law firm that Clarence Mason (the Cochran wannabe) is from. Billy is able to escape Yoko's clutches and Yoko goes for an elbow drop but Billy moves and he goes for a leg drop but Yoko moves and Yoko goes for a splash and Billy moves and now both are down! Yoko is able to tag in Owen but Billy is able to do the same and Bart hits a big back body drop and a press slam and goes for the cover but Yoko makes the nearly too late save and they swing Owen into Yokozuna and Billy grabs Owen and Bart hits a leg drop from the top but for some reason the ref will not count as he tells Billy to leave and Yoko tries to hit a splash but Bart moves and he lands on Owen (Jesus he must have missed a dozen times) and this allows Bart to get the pin.

I guess the WWF made up for the night before and it is wiser to put the belts on them rather than Diesel and Shawn as they have the two big belts as it is, so it would be counter-productive. Anyway, Shawn and Diesel come down to celebrate with the Smoking Gunns. It also looks like Owen may be in middle of being de-pushed as he got pinned for two consecutive nights, though it is difficult to pin Yokozuna, so ultimately time will tell. Besides from what I know Owen has always put guys over and it has never impacted him. Not a bad match and the WWF knows it is in a war as they have a title change on TV.

Match 3: Undertaker v. British Bulldog

Quite the ovation for the Undertaker and Vince informs us that the Bulldog is the number one contender for the title, I wonder how they came up with that. UT takes control and swings Davey into the corner and chokes him. UT flies through the air and hits a flying clothesline and is now does his patented rope walk but it is interrupted by Davey as he throws him off the top but UT rises up and hits a big boot but misses an elbow drop and gets clotheslined out of the ring and grabs Cornette by the throat but Bulldog is out and takes out the knee and throws UT into the steel steps. As the Bulldog taunts the fans Mabel is at the entrance looking on and now Mercy is too. Bulldog is stomping on the UT and going after his leg. The crowd is chanting Rest in Peace and the UT makes a brief comeback but Davey stymies it and goes for the running powerslam but the UT gets out and hits a back suplex and both are down and when they get up they exchange blows but UT gets the upper hand and does his rope walk with success this time and comes down on the arm. He attempts a back body drop but the Bulldog grabs him and hits a piledriver for a two count and then a series of suplexes for two counts. UT ducks under a clothesline and grabs the Bulldog and hits the chokeslam but he just stands there and wobbles and Mabel slowly makes his way down to the ring and Bulldog pushes him into Mabel who promptly slams the UT and Bulldog gets DQed. He and Mabel assault the UT but Diesel and Shawn come down to make the save and then Owen and Yokozuna come running down and now the Smoking Gunns run down too! The faces surround UT as the heels are outside of the ring and the UT who had down his rise up routing a few times during the match and during the initial attack but now is out. They go to commercial and come back and Diesel's music is blaring, and the faces are milling about in the ring.

Vince is dancing (or trying to) to Shawn's music and Michaels is dancing around but they go to the Ramon and Douglas match from last night, not sure what is going on here. They pan back to the ring but then immediately away to show what is coming next week. Now they show Michaels dancing in the ring and Diesel is not doing too much, just standing there. I might need a drink or maybe I have been drinking, as this seemed a bit disjointed.

A pretty wrestling heavy show and not too much on angle advancement as not much was said about some of the matches and feuds. I was surprised to see a title change, (then again that will become commonplace and maybe it was in the past, but I have not watched much RAW prior to the last couple weeks) but with Nitro you can see that the WWF is starting to step up its game (soon Hart will be champ again) and they brought back Jannetty to see if he can add a little flash. Also the Undertaker had a match and he looked young, and could move pretty well and though the Bulldog had serious Steroid and drug problems he did not move too bad and the ending in DQ did not hurt either man and with Diesel and Shawn running out it kept them in the thick of things and is setting the stage for the Diesel/Bulldog and UT/Mabel showdown. I was kind of surprised that the ratings were so low as they brought out the Undertaker and had Diesel and HBK on the show. The wrestling was not too bad. Overall it was decent.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

but the next month he was injured by Diesel who hit him with a power bomb and that ended his career. Not good. It seems that Nash has had a proclivity to injure others here and there but the powerbomb is not exactly the safest move to execute.

Especially not the way Nash executed it in the early days. He held them way too far away from his body once he had them raised up, and more times than not he didn't pay a whole helluva lot of attention to where he was putting them down. There used to be this botch video of Nash dropping guys on their necks with the powerbomb, but I wasn't able to find it today. He actually got questioned about it on the YouShoot I was telling you about; a fan asked who had the worst smelling ass when he executed the Jackknife, and Nash responded that he couldn't answer that because he never got them that close to his face.

The Waylon Mercy character, despite Spivey's in-ring issues, was pretty entertaining. Spivey had some serious charisma and he could pull off the psychotic role extremely well. I've still yet to see a wrestler who could pull off the crazy eyes quite like big Dan.

Speaking of terrible powerbombs, Sid has to be right up there with the injuries from that move. Remember when he tried to powerbomb Pillman during War Games and nearly crippled him when Pillman's legs hit the top of the cage?

 

[dukes07]

Especially not the way Nash executed it in the early days. He held them way too far away from his body once he had them raised up, and more times than not he didn't pay a whole helluva lot of attention to where he was putting them down. There used to be this botch video of Nash dropping guys on their necks with the powerbomb, but I wasn't able to find it today. He actually got questioned about it on the YouShoot I was telling you about; a fan asked who had the worst smelling ass when he executed the Jackknife, and Nash responded that he couldn't answer that because he never got them that close to his face.

The Waylon Mercy character, despite Spivey's in-ring issues, was pretty entertaining. Spivey had some serious charisma and he could pull off the psychotic role extremely well. I've still yet to see a wrestler who could pull off the crazy eyes quite like big Dan.

Speaking of terrible powerbombs, Sid has to be right up there with the injuries from that move. Remember when he tried to powerbomb Pillman during War Games and nearly crippled him when Pillman's legs hit the top of the cage?

I do remember Nash doing that. He also nearly killed the Giant. I am kind of going in blind too. I don't know too much about a lot of the characters in the mid-90s, so it is based off what I have read or watching at the time too.

Yeah, Sid cannot wrestle but the guy is always over for some reason.

 

[dukes07]

I have been reading up on some of the ratings for each show and Wikipedia is different than some of the other sites and even older magazines that I have been reading. For example the 9/18 Nitro and RAW were a lot closer than Wikipedia stated and it was this week that RAW (after its In Your House PPV) crushed Nitro 2.7 to 1.9. Whenever possible I will publish both or multiple ratings when applicable, for example Wikipedia states that Nitro won this week 2.7 to 1.9. Whatever the case Nitro got off to a flying start with Lex Luger and title defenses by Hogan, also Flair and Savage were wrestling. Meanwhile the WWF had taped shows and while Shawn Michaels fought Sycho Sid the first week and next week in a show that essentially set up the PPV Razor Ramon wrestled the 123 Kid and Shawn and Diesel showed up in a pre-recorded interview. Of course after the PPV Nitro would be going against a live RAW so the WWF had a chance to respond and RAW also had a new look going against Nitro a pre-cursor to the more grittier shows coming in the following year. The WWF now knew it had a fight on its hands as WCW was pulling out all the stops, a live show, telling the audience the outcome of RAW matches and having the big guns appear and wrestle nearly every show.

I am going to give Bischoff some credit, he was a pretty good announcer and while not as good as VKM, sometimes Vince was far too dramatic and Bischoff carried the show pretty good, while McMichael nearly ruined it and Heenan provided hit and miss comic relief. But overall I would argue that Heenan was tops. I love him. Sure he got a bit lazy later, but right now he just makes me smile even when he gets a bit annoying...

EDIT: After watching more wrestling, I will say that VKM gets pretty fucking tiresome as does Bischoff. Essentially both are better behind the scenes, slobbing off HBK and Hogan respectively (kidding of course....kind of).

Match 1: Alex Wright v. Disco Inferno

Alex comes out to pretty good sized ovation; after a couple of Saturday Night matches Disco is making his Monday debut. Disco takes control early and drops an elbow and tosses Wright to the floor. Disco does his dance and pays the price and Wright leaps on him and hits a spinning wheel kick to the head for the two count and tosses him out of the ring. McMichael and Bischoff continually tell people not to change the channel and even mention Monday Night Football. Disco is now in charge Wright counters with an arm drag and Disco charges from the corner and knocks down Wright with a series of short clotheslines. Disco is slowly going to the top and I mean slowly and this allows Wright to dropkick him off the ropes and Wright is back in control and he hits a series of punches. Match is going back and forth as Disco hits a back suplex and Wright is able to roll him up for the win and Disco is sad.

Pretty fast paced match; nothing special and short but it never slowed down.

Jimmy Hart is with Hogan in the back and they are doing some odd neck exercises with the WCW belt. Hogan looks rather foolish with his neck brace on, but what can you do? Hart tells Hogan that Sullivan is trying to end Hulkamania and Hogan says that he has not missed one work out, and that he is going to take down the "big, nasty Giant" and he is building a Monster truck and he is going to drag him around the ring and he is going to take the belt and challenge the Giant to a match (I am a little lost) and the match will take place in Detroit where he beat the Giant's "father" and the dark cloud will disappear. I guess it is going to be a Monster truck race and then a match, and the Giant is nasty and stinky again. I am sorry but this angle is preposterous, why sully the name of Andre with this garbage? I see that they are trying to capitalize on his name and the now seven year old feud by bringing in Paul Wight, and they need to continually feed Hogan giants to fight, but I guarantee the fans will (and are) tiring of the same old angle and his WCW honeymoon is clearly coming to a close (besides his promos are getting pretty nonsensical). Or the honeymoon ended a long time ago, OR, he has never been fully accepted by WCW fans.

Mean Gene is in the ring and is taking us back to last week with the Macho Man's confrontation with Luger. I had forgotten that Savage gave him a little bitch slap. Savage wants Luger and he comes down to the ring and he says that they need to go to war with one another (He also states that Hogan respects him, which seems odd because two weeks ago they were going at it.) and Macho says he is following what Luger is saying. Luger, proving that his mic skills were never solid, wants a match next week against Savage (Why not now?) and that he will put his future title shot on the line. If Luger loses he will also leave the WCW and Savage likes that but he does not have to put anything on the line apparently. Luger is quite popular with the crowd as they are still happy to have him back in WCW. Luger catches a lot of flack for being one dimensional and I am one of those critics but he has had moments where he was really over with the crowd and could put on some good matches.

Match 2: Sgt. Craig Pittman v. Kurosawa

Apparently Kurosawa broke Hawk's arm. The fans were standing for him and I am not sure if he is a face or heel but Pittman is a heel with his feud against Cobra. Pittman starts off by hitting a vicious headbutt but Kurosawa takes control by throwing him out of the ring and slamming him on the concrete. McMichael just babbles: he talks about underestimating Kurosawa like the Bears did the Rams. There were mild chants of USA earlier but they faded as Kurosawa has dominated the match but Pittman throws him out of the ring to cheers and flips him into the ring to none. Pittman hits a belly to belly and a head butt and applies the Code Red but Kurosawa got his foot on the rope (and McMichael tells us belatedly). Kurosawa hits a belly to back suplex and manages to get the pin (count seemed fast).

I am not sure who the face/heel was but who really cares, the fans were not too involved but the match was pretty good, other than the polite standing at the beginning. Kurosawa has some pretty good moves and i quite agile, it will be interesting to see where he goes from here. It is odd that Pittman had just kicked the hell out of Cobra on a PPV the previous week and then Cobra returned the favor on Saturday, so it seems whatever push Pittman had is over (so why give him a PPV victory....).

I had forgotten that Savage was facing Sullivan tonight so it makes sense that he and Luger are not wrestling tonight.

Mean Gene is back in the ring with Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman. AA is clearly becoming the heel and Flair is doing one of his face turns that will most likely not last too long, or it is a swerve and that is the more likely scenario. Pillman is screaming about Flair losing and that he will not find a partner, and that they will be exercising their right to bear arms (I am a little lost). Gene seems sad that AA threw away 15 years of friendship and Arn basically says that he is the better man and that Flair has burned a lot of bridges over the years and that is why he cannot find a partner.

Match 3: Kevin Sullivan v. Randy Savage

I guess Sullivan got his revenge against Hogan and so is targeting Savage as they replay the beach scene where Sullivan beat him up. Even when a face Savage was essentially a tweener and while Razor Ramon can be considered one of the first, clearly Savage paved the way. The Zodiac is out there with Sullivan, and good God he is awful. Savage goes after Sullivan but Zodiac tosses him into the ring post and then into the ring. Sullivan now attacks and tosses him back out of the ring and Zodiac quasi-crotches Savage on the rail. Sullivan hits a series of boots and punches as Savage is on the apron. Savage gets tossed out and Sullivan hits him but gets nailed with a sunset flip with his second running punch. Back in the ring Savage hits a double ax from the top and he throws him into Zodiac and starts beating up Zodiac and for some reason the ref tries to stop him from attacking the Zodiac and Savage pushes the ref and gets disqualified. Savage does not care and stacks up Sullivan and Zodiac and flies from the top and Sullivan moves so poor Zodiac gets the brunt of the elbow. Savage goes after Sullivan but turns around and meets the Giant and a choke slam and Sting tries to make the save and he too gets a choke slam, and I do not think that was Sting but just a random. Another random comes out and gets the same treatment. Alex Wright comes down and jumps from the top and he gets caught and slammed. Luger comes down and stands over Savage and the Giant pushes him and Luger hits him and gets choke slammed and the Taskmaster is none too pleased. As to why he is unhappy is unclear as he has to fight one of the Dungeon of Doom in Meng. The announcers were acting that Luger was in cahoots with Sullivan but that makes little sense, I understand they are trying to play off of his rivalry with Savage.

Anyway Sullivan has no business in the ring right now, though the fans loved Savage throwing the ref down. I find it odd that Zodiac was able to interfere in the match with no repercussions as the camera conveniently panned away and he was up on the apron. Right now this angle is a bit muddled, I do not mind wondering who is on which side and so on but they seem to be trying to do way too much in such a short time span rather than building the storyline and letting it marinate slowly.

Match 4: Meng v. Luger

Poor Luger is down and Meng charges down and lays the smackdown on Luger (so that again begs the question wouldn't Sullivan want Luger to be easy pickings....we will see I guess). Bischoff is informing us that Hogan is going to be on Nitro next week. They are now wondering where Sullivan is and they mention there are problems in Dungeon land as they cannot control the Giant and that Sullivan was smiling at Luger and now they are playing up if he was going to choke or pick up Savage. Meng is just destroying Luger and the USA chant starts. Luger fights out of a submission move and starts pounding on Meng but gets caught in a gut wrench suplex and gets a two count. Meng applies a rear face lock and now a series of stomps to the head for another two count. Now Meng has a rear chin lock applied and the crowd urges Luger to get up and he does but gets popped in the throat and Meng goes to the second rope and leaps off only to be driven into the mat. Meng recovers first but runs into a series of legs and is down and now Luger is kicking Meng and the referee pushes him back and Meng gets a spike from his boot and hits Luger with it and pins him.

Match ended up decent, some missed spots and it was all brawling but it did the job as it advanced the Dungeon of Doom angle and who's side Luger is on etc.

The show did the job in the sense that it advanced story lines as the wrestling was serviceable but far from spectacular. There was a lot covered this episode and maybe too much with Luger and Savage and Luger and the Dungeon of Doom and apparent internal problems within the Dungeon. However, it did end with the heels strong, and the Giant seemingly unstoppable as they build him up something both TNA and WWE should start thinking about again instead of having faces dominate the shows and making the heels to be weak and cowardly (and there is nothing wrong with the cowardly heel because they win by any means necessary but today they are made a joke). On a final note: Steve McMichael is the worst announcer of all time. Heenan actually mentioned the dog pooping and he stepping into it, and that is what McMichael's announcing is like. He adds nothing and just spouts off nonsense, he never mentions a move and just reacts to what is said, and when he says something he is ignored like when he babbled on about Pepe and the Dungeon of Doom, awful just plain awful.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Oh my god I forgot all about Dark Side Hogan. Hogan in black pre-nWo. Classic.

This was actually an interesting angle for its time, as ridiculous as it was. Hogan goes dark in order to fight dirty vs Kevin Sullivan and The Giant with evil Hulkamania. Includes Monster Trucks, neck braces, moustaches being shaved, and throwing people off buildings. Pretty edgy considering what was happening on RAW.

These reviews are fantastic! Great job!

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

I'm pretty sure Bischoff AT LEAST gave Hogan a reach around once or twice. I dunno about Vince with HBK, Vince might have too much self-pride.

If you thought Kevin Sullivan was terrible in the ring in the mid-90s, you should find some of the stuff he does on the Independents now... It consists of him no-selling young talents and getting gigged and bleeding everywhere for the most part, before he does his own variation of a "hulk up" and wins.

WCW, for all the star power they had in 94-95, was terribly booked. The Dungeon of Doom was terrible... I almost felt bad for Ed Leslie and John Tenta for having to endure those gimmicks... but then I realized one played a barber with his ass cut out of his tights and the other was a walking earthquake in WWF, so maybe they weren't so bad off.

 

[dukes07]

I'm pretty sure Bischoff AT LEAST gave Hogan a reach around once or twice. I dunno about Vince with HBK, Vince might have too much self-pride.

If you thought Kevin Sullivan was terrible in the ring in the mid-90s, you should find some of the stuff he does on the Independents now... It consists of him no-selling young talents and getting gigged and bleeding everywhere for the most part, before he does his own variation of a "hulk up" and wins.

WCW, for all the star power they had in 94-95, was terribly booked. The Dungeon of Doom was terrible... I almost felt bad for Ed Leslie and John Tenta for having to endure those gimmicks... but then I realized one played a barber with his ass cut out of his tights and the other was a walking earthquake in WWF, so maybe they weren't so bad off.

Oh man the Nitro's I have already seen with EB holding the mic for an hour for Hogan and the constant gushing of how wonderful he is. Vince does the same with HBK; talking about how different he is but a hard worker who likes to have fun etc! Then there are the rumors of Vince supposedly having sex with talent....Now those I don't buy at all.

I would have liked to have seen Vader in WCW more. I loved what I have seen of his early 90s run and his matches with Foley. He could have been a good foil for the nWo but my guess is that they would have fucked it up. However, he and Goldberg could have had a great feud.

As for Sullivan, never liked him. I think he held back Benoit for a year long feud for his own benefit and then probably did after out of spite. And like you said he is pretty awful. I hear he was decent in the ring back in the 80s though.

 

[dukes07]

Oh my god I forgot all about Dark Side Hogan. Hogan in black pre-nWo. Classic.

This was actually an interesting angle for its time, as ridiculous as it was. Hogan goes dark in order to fight dirty vs Kevin Sullivan and The Giant with evil Hulkamania. Includes Monster Trucks, neck braces, moustaches being shaved, and throwing people off buildings. Pretty edgy considering what was happening on RAW.

These reviews are fantastic! Great job!

I "LOVE" the dark side Hogan. And he goes on a fucking journey into a cave and shit. It did not last long....WWF did have the HBK angle and Nash shooting, so we got see some precursors to the edgier stuff that came later.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

I would have liked to have seen Vader in WCW more. I loved what I have seen of his early 90s run and his matches with Foley. He could have been a good foil for the nWo but my guess is that they would have fucked it up. However, he and Goldberg could have had a great feud.

Vader would have worked Goldberg once or twice before Bill asked them to cut the feud; assuming this happened once Goldberg was a star and not on the way to stardom. Vader stiffed the absolute dogshit out of everyone that's not named Paul Orndorff. If you haven't heard that story it goes something along the lines of Vader talking shit to Orndorff in the locker room, and a naked Orndorff beating the everliving shit out of Vader wearing nothing but shower shoes.

Vader was the man in WCW, his matches with Sting were legendary. He had great matches with Ron Simmons and Ric Flair too... And as you mentioned Foley, because Foley would let Vader do whatever the hell he wanted to him. I too think he would have been a good foil for the NWO... But it would have been politics as usual. Hogan never wanted to put Vader over in the short time they worked together, I doubt it would have been any different once Hall and Nash were on board.

As for Sullivan, never liked him. I think he held back Benoit for a year long feud for his own benefit and then probably did after out of spite. And like you said he is pretty awful. I hear he was decent in the ring back in the 80s though.

Sullivan was a solid worker in the 80's. He had a Charles Manson-esque gimmick, and people actually wanted him banned at one time because they thought he was Satan, or at the very least a worshipper of Satan.

The only solid thing I saw out of him the entire time he was in WCW was some decent tag work with Cactus Jack, and that absolute balls-to-the-wall concession stand fight he had with Chris Benoit where they ended up destroying a bathroom. That shit was intense and I really wondered how much of it was a shoot because they were potatoing the hell out of one another.

 

[dukes07]

Vader would have worked Goldberg once or twice before Bill asked them to cut the feud; assuming this happened once Goldberg was a star and not on the way to stardom. Vader stiffed the absolute dogshit out of everyone that's not named Paul Orndorff. If you haven't heard that story it goes something along the lines of Vader talking shit to Orndorff in the locker room, and a naked Orndorff beating the everliving shit out of Vader wearing nothing but shower shoes.

Vader was the man in WCW, his matches with Sting were legendary. He had great matches with Ron Simmons and Ric Flair too... And as you mentioned Foley, because Foley would let Vader do whatever the hell he wanted to him. I too think he would have been a good foil for the NWO... But it would have been politics as usual. Hogan never wanted to put Vader over in the short time they worked together, I doubt it would have been any different once Hall and Nash were on board.



Sullivan was a solid worker in the 80's. He had a Charles Manson-esque gimmick, and people actually wanted him banned at one time because they thought he was Satan, or at the very least a worshipper of Satan.

The only solid thing I saw out of him the entire time he was in WCW was some decent tag work with Cactus Jack, and that absolute balls-to-the-wall concession stand fight he had with Chris Benoit where they ended up destroying a bathroom. That shit was intense and I really wondered how much of it was a shoot because they were potatoing the hell out of one another.

The Great American Bash match was awesome. From what I can tell, it was not a shoot. Benoit and Nancy did not really start dating or falling in love or what have you until later that year I believe.

As for Vader: I have read a lot that that entire fight is a myth in the way it went down. Vader held back, and kept him at bay. But then again this is wrestling so we may never know. I have also heard that about Jericho and Goldberg too.

 

[dukes07]

Last week's Nitro just had far too much going on. Whether it was the Dungeon of Doom starting to splinter when it came to Sullivan and the Giant (though they were back together on Saturday Night during a terrible interview) or whether or not Luger is siding with Sullivan and where his burgeoning feud with Savage is going. The entire Dungeon angle is cringe inducing but they are trying to do far too much in one hour. The show was not horrible last week but WCW needs to slow down and hopefully McMichael will be off the mic sooner rather than later. I am probably going to have to go with Wikipedia on ratings as I have cross-checked it with another site and Nitro received a 2.5 this week, which is a slight decrease over last week. RAW also received a 2.5 a big increase from the previous week as that was after a PPV.

WCW is in Denver, not a sell out but a decent crowd but of course McMichael ruins it by showing his dog wearing springs for his eyes. Flair interrupts and grabs the headset from EB and says he is coming for Arn.

Recap of Savage and Luger feud and whether or not Luger was going to side with Sullivan or help Savage, which is how the show should have ended rather than have him face Meng after.

Match 1: Lex Luger v. Randy Savage

WCW is not messing around and starting off with a PPV type match between Luger and Savage. This is smart thinking to hook the viewers and hopefully keep them from changing the channel. Then again, you don't want to give away too much on so-called free TV. I am ultimately ambivalent on this. On the one hand if you hook viewers onto your show they will be more likely to order the PPV, especially if you do it correctly. There is a danger of not making the PPV's more meaningful. But Bischoff was always willing to do big things on TV, to get viewers to tune into Nitro and away from RAW. For me personally, if I am into the theater of what I am seeing, then I am going to watch the PPV. I want to see great TV too. One of my favorite memories of Nitro was that I never really knew what was going to happen, and that kept me hooked up to the bitter end. I think that if you do big angles or matches on TV then it can build from there. WCW was successful at times and many times was not as well. Yet it is necessary to do new things and different things to build your brand and make fans stop and take notice. So basically I answered my own fucking query like a damn politician. EB mentions it is Live again and McMichael says something that makes no sense. They lock up and go around the ring still locked up and they both topple to the floor through the second rope and are still locked up. After commercial Savage is in the ring and Luger comes in and pushes him into the turnbuckle and Savage pushes him and Luger counters with a slap and Savage kicks him and knocks him out of the ring, Savage tries to suplex him but they just stand there until Luger reverses it with a neckbreaker. Back in the ring Savage rolls him up and gets a two count but Luger comes right back with a Gorilla press slam. Luger goes for a back body drop and Savage kicks him and now Savage and Luger are locked up as they try to roll one another to the mat for a pin attempt and Luger uses the ropes for position and is able to reverse it and get a two count and now they both go off the ropes and collide. Savage is up first and goes to the top and attempts a double ax and gets a punch in the gut instead but Savage is able to throw Luger out to the floor and hits the ax handle and Luger over sells a bit and hits the rail. Savage eats some post and they both crawl into the ring and do a bunch of reverse Irish whips and Luger knocks down the ref and is body slammed and Savage hits the Flying Elbow but no ref, uh Luger is out due to a bodyslam? The Giant comes to the ring and chokeslams Savage and Luger is trying to pick up Savage and puts him in the Torture Rack and the bell rings as Savage is out cold.

I liked the drama of the match, Luger pretty much lost his first two big matches in WCW, but despite some slow spots I still thoroughly enjoyed it, as Savage is able to tell a great story in the ring and Luger looked good too. Obviously not PPV quality but good for TV.

Match 2: Disco Inferno, scratch that, Eddie Guerrero v. Dean Malenko

EB acts baffled as it was supposed to be Eddie Guerrero versus Dean Malenko but as Disco is dancing Eddie comes out and tells him to beat it. They show highlights of WCW Main Event the night before of Eddie beating Jushin Liger and this sets up tonight's match. They lock up and are hesitant but Eddie pushes him and Dean oversells a bit and falls but flips back up on his feet and now Eddie does the same. Eddie applies a Hammerlock and now they go back and forth going off tee ropes and Eddie leapfrogs Dean but gets caught with a dropkick. They are in the corner and doing all sorts of moves, and they both go back and forth but this match gets interrupted by Hogan arriving and Jimmy Hart squealing that he needs to stay in the limo because of what happened to Savage and Hogan will not listen because ten thousand Hulkamaniacs could not change his mind (Seriously, they are interrupting a great match for this? And they went from dual screen to just not showing the match?) and Hogan wants to hunt down the Giant and put and end to the shenanigans and Hart is still whining and crying. Thank God they are back to the ring and they are countering each other over and over, perhaps a bit too much. They need to slow it down, the amount of moves as they are trying to do too much and sometimes moving slow while doing it. They are on the floor and Eddie bodyslams Dean and leaps from the top, nailing him and then rolls him back in the ring. He hits a snap suplex and heads to the top but Dean gets his knees up and Eddie is able to counter and hold Dean down for a three count, a very close one and Dean wants a rematch and they shake hands.

Really good match but like I said maybe too much was done as it needed at least fifteen minutes instead of cramming it in half the time and the interruption did not help. Also McMichael mentioning that Eddie was like a Mexican cliff diver when he leaped from the top hitting Malenko. Then EB following up by stating it was like being in Acapulco was unnecessary and clearly would not be allowed today. But then again it is wrestling, so I can call off my own PC police. Anyway, nice debut for Malenko.

Mean Gene is in the ring and here comes serious Hogan, and EB is blathering about all his accomplishments (well he is getting paid millions so they do need to hype him up) and it sounds like McMichael said Sweet Jesus for some reason; probably thinking he could beat the ever living shit out of Hogan. Hogan was with a little Hulkamaniac who was without an arm or had a broken arm or something. Anyway, the little shit (I mean dear) told him to beat up the Giant. He called him stinky again and for some reason took off his shirt and said that he will give it to a Hulkamaniac. I think he gave it to an old man, but oh well, and now he goes around high-fiving until he gets caned with a cane by a "woman" who is Kevin Sullivan dressed up (holy shit I am not even that ugly in drag), and the Giant comes down and wrenches Hogan's neck, uh that would break his neck if real, and they shave his moustache and the American Males come down to try and help but get destroyed. The Nasty Boys come down and Knobs gets chokeslammed and now Sags does. Zodiac grabs scissors and is blurting out random stuff and pushes out the Nasty Boys, but they leave instead of cutting his hair and a "trainer" comes out to help Hogan.

Match 3: Ric Flair v. Arn Anderson

The bell rings and they lock up and AA knocks him down but Ric pops back up and chops him to the ground. AA hits a back body drop where Flair lands on his side to protect his back due to the airplane crash and gets a two count. Flair comes back with a series of chops in the corner. AA thumbs the eye and whips Flair to the corner who flips over to the apron but he grabs the rope as AA runs at him and he goes out and Flair swings AA into the rail and puts the boots to him but AA thumbs the eyes again and back drops him on the floor. Back in the ring they go back and forth and Flair thumbs his eye now but gets hit with a power slam and AA crawls over and covers him and gets a two count and goes right after the arm but Flair gets up and applies the sleeper but AA reverses it and Flair gets out and hits a back suplex. AA is wobbly and Flair decks him and swings him to the corner and AA hits him with an elbow and Flair applies the Figure Four but AA grabs the rope. Outside the ring Flair is in control and hits a piledriver on the floor and back in the ring AA regains the initiative and goes for a DDT but Flair holds on the ropes and down goes AA. Yet AA is able to take down Flair again and climbs to the middle rope and leaps but Flair catches him with a chop and AA is back in the Figure Four, Pillman comes down and leaps from the top and nails Ric (how he was not seen is baffling) and AA is DQed. Flair and Pillman go back and forth but AA comes and he and Pillman are stomping a hole in Flair.

Another good match and AA may have given up before Pillman came but EB was ambivalent about it. What was fucking annoying was the fact that EB, McMichael and Heenan kept talking about Hogan and the Giant and seriously no one cares, I get it, I know the angle so call the match, which is a much better match than a Giant/Hogan match or promo or fucking anything. EB started rambling about the OJ decision, but never said what it was; I think they are talking about the verdict. Spoiler alert: HE DID IT. Obviously being live has its own problems but they need to stay focused; there can be no editing but man, focus on the match but this is a problem today too. All in all the show was more focused this week and had some good wrestling, three solid matches and only shenanigans occurred in two but that does advance the angles. It is clear that Nitro needs a second hour as there is too much going on for one hour shows.

Saturday Night does not do too much. I watched a couple, but not that impressed.

 

[dukes07]

I did find it kinda odd that the day after a PPV the ratings drop, it would seem that fans would be curious to see what happened. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues or if like all wrestling programs viewers seem to be rather fickle week to week. This week RAW tied Nitro with a 2.5 and they go back and forth for awhile in the ratings with neither getting a foothold.

RAW opens by showing the Smoking Gunns winning the tag titles, and they received quite the ovation.

Match 1: Razor Ramon v. 123 Kid

Apparently this is the last time the two will face off and for some reason they reference Bam Bam's match against LT at WrestleMania as they only fought one time so I am guessing that the Kid and Ramon are getting a rubber match rather than just a one shot deal. The bell rings and Ramon promptly tosses the Kid over the top and onto the floor. Back in the ring the Kid is able to connect with a series of kicks and when Razor swings him into the corner he is able to do so again, but when he leaps after an Irish whip he lands in Razor's lap and gets nailed with a fall away slam. However, the Kid is able to come back with some more kicks before he gets tossed back to the floor and Dean Douglas comes out looking "smart." He leaves as the Kid is in control and hits a series of mini leg drops and is taunting Razor but misses a spin kick and Ramon takes him down with a huge clothesline for the win.

Jesus that was quick, their first match was great, but this was a travesty as he was pinned by a mere clothesline. But wait! The Kid is jawing at the referee and goes after Ramon who swings him into the turnbuckle, charging after him and connects with a clothesline. Ramon is looming over him and starts beating on him in the corner and tosses him onto the mat and applies an ab stretch. I guess they re-started the match? Um okay, that is quite baffling but anyway he is beating the shit out of the little guy. During the break Ramon pinned him again but the Kid will not leave and continues to get pummeled. Razor puts him on the top turnbuckle and hits a back superplex. He is setting up the Razor's Edge and just rolls him up in a small package for the win. Vince thinks the Kid earned Ramon's respect by getting his ass handed to him. Razor helps the Kid up and gives him a little bitch slap and the Kid goes to raise Ramon's arm but rolls him up in a small package, and for some reason the ref is counting but it is only a two count. Ramon is grinning at him and the crowd is chanting for the Razor's Edge and the Kid is putting up his arms to allow him to do it and I am really unsure as to what the Hades is going on, and now the Kid shakes his hand and gets his hair ruffled.

What the Hell was this? This was a baffling segment, why did the ref continue the match, why did he allow the Kid try and pin Razor after the third pin? There are a lot of why's in this debacle and the match was not good to boot. My uneducated guess is that they are showing how spunky the Kid is. He may be tiny by God, but he will fight anyone and his heart is bigger than his stature! I feel like I am watching a Lifetime Movie! I could go back and check to see if there were any stipulations but who cares.

They are showing a recap of Mabel and the Bulldog beating up the Undertaker

Match 2: Barry Horowitz v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Honestly I am confused, maybe I missed something but they showed Barry winning some matches and then jumped to the the recap of last week and now are segueing back to this match. I am interested to see the Blueblood himself: HHH. Holy Shit, the WWF is holding a phone vote on whether or not OJ is guilty, but the proceeds to go and help child abuse victims so I guess that is not bad. Twenty bucks says that Vince is pocketing some of that shit. Also, if I remember correctly Bischoff was going on about the OJ verdict on Nitro, and how it had been handed down but never got around to saying if he was guilty or not, but Vince mentioned that it will not be handed down until tomorrow. I do recall that Vince and company do voiceovers to make it not seem so canned, the taped shows. As to why I am going on about this I just find it fascinating that both federations have discussed it to death, and Bischoff could not spit out the verdict and so forth. Then again I was probably not paying much attention as to when the verdict was handed down. Ultimately who gives a shit.

(EDIT: Apparently I do give a shit) Okay so I looked it up and the decision was handed down on Tuesday so I am unclear as to what Bischoff was talking about, perhaps wanting to act like he knew the decision or was speculating.

Oh well back to the match and the fans are really digging Horowitz as they chant his name. HHH looks a lot thinner, not suggesting any chemical enhancement but....Anyway HHH takes him to the mat and backs off but they lock up and HHH takes him down but Horowitz does the same right back, and HHH grabs the ropes. They are still talking about the OJ verdict; the West Coast cannot call and both Vince and Lawler are unsure! Also Vince said that last week was the most watched RAW ever. Back to the match they go back and forth and Horowitz hits a sunset flip for a two count but HHH is right back up and kicks and chokes Barry with his leg and on the ropes. HHH hits a flying elbow and takes his sweet time and Barry headbutts him in the belly and back slides HHH for another close call and HHH pops up and nails him with a clothesline and gets a two count. Barry is swung into the corner and he stops the momentum and turns and hits an elbow and now he is on the offensive and gets a couple of close pins, but HHH suddenly hits the Pedigree and gets the win.

Not a bad match, HHH is more versatile of course when he was younger and a lot thinner. Horowitz does not bring too much to the table but the match was serviceable.

Match 3: PG-13 v.

They have a tag team with a dude called JC Ice and Wolfey D? And they are doing some sort of rap, oh and they are from the hood! And they show a quick interview with them making fun of the Smoking Gunns. PG 13 are the USWA tag champs but this match is a non-title bout and their opponents were never introduced but they are clearly jobbers. JC Ice hits a dropkick on Sunny Rogers and does some lame dance and hits another one. Wolfey D is in and bodyslams Rogers and they pick up Rogers and hit a clothesline but they brought him down too soon and they get another close fall but keep dancing instead of trying to pin Rogers. Wolfey is in but misses an elbow and Sunny makes the tag and it is some dude called Brown and he hits some moves but gets stymied quickly and Wolfey dances and Ice hits Brown with a Bulldog when the ref is distracted and Wolfey gets a two count and they dance some more and they doubleteam Brown, if that is his name, and they pick up the win and dance until the pan to the OJ hotline number!

Squash and PG 13 is seriously dated even in mid-95: Vanilla Ice BITCHES!

Match 4: Jean Pierre Lafitte v. Bret Hart

The fans are in mid boo for Jean Pierre and there is a baffled look on a couple of faces as Bret hart comes out and stop in mid-boo and cheer. They lock up and Jean Pierre drives Hart into the corner. I had to do a little research on Jean Pierre and while I knew he had been part of the Quebecers at one time this feud with Bret Hart would be his last in the WWF. Now Wikipedia is not the most reliable source but it appears that Jean Pierre was booked to beat Diesel at a house show and the Kliq, or Shawn Michaels in this case maneuvered to have the decision reversed and Jean Pierre refused to do the job, and so the match ended in a double countout and afterwards the Kliq supposedly bad mouthed him and he was buried and left for WCW soon after. Obviously it is speculation and it will be interesting to see if it has some merit when I continue my journey and watch future RAW's and Nitro's to see when he leaves and appears, and I would not put it beyond the Kliq to attempt to get their own way as Michaels has freely admitted he was an ass back then. He will return to the WWF in 1998 but the best part of his character was that he was "related" to the famed pirate of the same name, only in wrestling. Anyway, back to the ring, the two are exchanging blows and Lafitte hammers Bret to the mat and swings him to the opposite corner and on the rebound clotheslines Hart and he yells at the crowd but is still able to drop an elbow and Bret comes back with a few blows but as he bounces off the ropes he is met with an elbow and he is swung into the corner and wisely dodges an incoming Pierre and he drops to the floor. Bret follows him out to the floor and bodyslams him onto the steel steps. Back in the ring Pierre gets a blow in but Hart is in control and hits a clothesline from the second rope and continues to pound him but Pierre grabs Brett and bounces him off the top rope. Pierre is taking his sweet time but finally applies a headlock and the fans chant Bret to try and get him motivated and he does get out but is met with a big clothesline. He connects with a bodyslam and climbs to the top and hits the Cannonball and gets a two count and he is displeased with the ref thinking it was a slow count. He puts Hart's neck on the second rope and leaps on it and takes his time and covers him for another two count. Laffite throws him into the corner and connects with a charging splash and continues to jaw at the crowd. Bret grabs Pierre and rolls him up for a two count and after the commercial Pierre hits him with a leg drop and slams him to the mat and climbs to the top but misses the Cannonball. Bret hammers at him but his offense is snuffed out as he gets nailed with and Pierre gets a two count but Hart knocks him out of the ring with his kick out and follows Pierre but gets thrown into the steel steps and for some unknowns reason Pierre takes his sweet time and lets Bret get back in the ring where he is able to hit a clothesline and a Russian leg sweep and a two count. Bret connects with the backbreaker and an elbow from the second rope and another two count. Jean Pierre catches him and slams him to the mat and now they exchange blows until Lafitte hits a back suplex and climbs, very slowly, to the top and Bret catches him with a superplex and he puts Pierre in the Sharpshooter and Lafitte does not last long and Bret wins.

The entire match Lawler wanted to get involved due to their feud over the summer, and I notice that Vince has a tendency to think a lot of pins are three counts when obviously they are not. I am all for saying someone got the pin when they did not to add to the drama, but not a half dozen times per match. Bret walks up to Lawler and the two start barking at one another. Lawler is on the announce table and rips off his coat and Bret goes after him and punches him over the rail and Isaac Yankem runs out and takes down Bret as the fans chant for Diesel. I guess Gorilla Monsoon was watching and set up a cage match between Yankem and Hart in a few weeks according to Vince (uh, why not next week).

They go to Bulldog, Yokozuna and Owen Hart in the back and they tell everyone how they are going to beat up Diesel, Michaels and the Undertaker in a six man tag match. The latter say the same thing though Diesel does it in a lame accent and the Undertaker mentions vultures!

OJ is not guilty according to the poll, though it is close.

RAW was a mess until the main event, and that is not saying much. The main event was long and Lafitte looked pretty good but it was not that great. Hart took a lot of punishment did his signature moves and won. I am noticing a pattern with Bret: clothesline, Russian leg sweep, backbreaker, elbow from second rope.....I hope Flair was not right in his book but I am beginning to wonder. I am surprised that the WWF does not use more of its main event stars in the show especially with Nitro coming on so strong, even with ratings relatively high but why not go for a knock out punch instead of allowing WCW stay in the race? Then again they are doing fine and they are saving the "big" stuff for the PPV so there seems to be no hurry to change right now. Also, you don't want to do too much too soon and blow your wad by having all the so-called big guns on too much....But I babbled about this with my Nitro review. Besides, next week they are having Diesel and Michaels and the Undertaker on a team so it seems that the WWF is starting to take WCW more seriously.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

Believe it or not, PG-13 was a pretty over team when they were in the USWA. Of course it helped that Jamie Dundee was the son of Memphis legend "Superstar" Bill Dundee. The most memorable thing they did during their WWF run was rapping for the Nation of Domination, which was terrible... I think Hawk from the Road Warriors injured one of them with the Doomsday Device as well.

The OJ Simpson thing was crazy back then. I'm glad you're doing these reviews because I had honestly forgot about it being mentioned on wrestling television, especially Vince having a phone line set up for it. Back in the day it took a celebrity murdering his wife and her lover to get National Media attention... Now you can pretty much just be some nobody terrible mother and kill your kid and get away with it and get the same attention, and come out a celebrity in the end.

The "1...2...thr....and NO!" is pretty much Vince's trademark go to at the announce booth.

 

[dukes07]

Thought I would throw in a random Saturday Night.

Nitro was an improvement over the previous week and hopefully this Saturday will prove to be as well especially seeing as Malenko and Guerrero will be having a rematch and hopefully they will get the time that they deserve.

They start off showing what happened to poor Hulkster during Nitro at the hands of the Giant. I love Rhodes' red leather jacket, great stuff.

Match 1: Alex Wright v. Ray Hudson

Das Wunderkid just turned twenty! I predict a squash here. Wright works on the arm and hits a back elbow and arm drag take down and he continues to work on the arm. He bodyslams the poor bastard and gets a two count and then applies a modified Boston Crab for the win.

Squash.

Showing recap of Flair and Sting from last Saturday.

Match 2: Flyin' Brian and Arn Anderson v. Bunkhouse Buck and Dirty Dick Slater

They all shake hands and it looks like Buck and Slater are going to attack from behind but do not. Arn and Buck start and AA controls the match easily and tags in Pillman, Slater is tagged in and both go back and forth. Pillman gets thrown into the corner and AA tags in and Buck gets tagged in and gouges the eyes. Sister Sherri has come to ringside and Col. Parker gives her a dozen roses and she is displeased thinking he can afford more and stalks off. Back to the ring Buck has Pillman in an ab stretch and Slater is tagged in and continues the move. They tag back and forth and do the same move and Buck is looking for Parker and leaves his partner and right away Pillman is able to tag AA and he rolls up Slater for the pin.

Nothing special here, Pillman is clearly being treated as the midcarder the match was just a series of holds and some punching and kicking.

Gene is at the CNN News desk and recapping the Arn/Flair rivalry. And the two will have a cage match.

Match 3: Renegade v.

Well they are not having an introduction and he just gets in the ring and destroys his opponent in another terrible Renegade match.

On WorldWide Flair wants Savage to join him and Savage is trying to get at him so the outcome of this is pre-determined. Savage says no way due to what Flair did to his dad earlier in the year.

Match 4: Meng v. Mike Davis

The poor jobber does not get an introduction, ah it is Mike Davis at least Schiavone knew his name. Meng is utterly destroying the poor guy. Davis has not gotten one offensive move and he loses.

Squash.

Gene is back at the desk and is recapping the Giant destroying Hogan again and another terrible segment with the Giant and Sullivan tearing up pictures, oh God Sullivan is annoying.

Match 5: Eddie Guerrero v. Dean Malenko

They lock up and each applies an arm bar and each flip out of it and same with a leg sweep. The fans are chanting Eddie as Dean hits a snap suplex. Eddie comes back by dropkicking Dean's knees and applies a type of surfboard and has him on his knees with his leg in Dean's back. Eddie swings him into the ropes and hits a tilt a whirl backbreaker, but missed the back but still looked pretty mean. Alex Wright comes out as Eddie leapfrogs over the ropes and nails Dean for a two count and applies a rear chin lock. Eddie goes after the knees and legs Eddie hits a nice hip toss and now they are flying around the ring and Dean has brief control but Eddie nails him with a hurracarana and Dean leaves the ring in disgust and comes back in. They lock up and Dean boots him and hits a headbutt, swings him into the ropes and kicks him in the gut and then picks up Eddie and launches him straight up and bounces him off his knees. Dean is in complete control right now and applies a rear chin lock. Dean follows Eddie into the corner and just clotheslines him. Malenko holds the suplex and drops him and gets a two count. Eddie reverses and hits a mean looking piledriver and climbs to the top and hits a frogsplash for a two count. He has Dean up in some sort of Torture Rack but it looks like it hurts and they are rolling one another up for a series of two counts but Dean just decleats Eddie with a short clothesline. Dean does some odd move on the rope as if he is trying to flip Eddie out of the ring but they both tumble out and Eddie climbs back into the ring and tries to suplex Dean into the ring but it is reversed and Eddie looks like he twists his ankle and Dean leaps over the rope and Eddie just staggered away and Eddie does the same and catches him and rolls Dean back into the ring and as he climbs to the top he gets caught and Dean superplexes him. Dean picks him up and Eddie counters out and gets a two count and he knocks Dean on his head and gets another close count. Eddie goes for a suplex but Dean wriggles out and they slip and slide in moves and he is able to achieve a modified powerbomb for the win.

Great match over fifteen minutes of TV time which is rare, they went back and forth the entire time and there were no slow spots, makes you wonder why neither did not get a bigger push down the road, it will be interesting to see their evolution as time goes on.

Match 6: Mr. Wonderful v. Chris Kanyon

Ornndorf starts off stomping on Kanyon and asaulting him in the corner. So far all Wonderful as Kanyon has gotten in about two offensive moves as Orndorff has him in an arm bar and strikes him with a series of elbows, Kanyon hits a boot and goes for a suplex but it is reversed and Kanyon gets clotheslined to the mat. Back in the ring Wonderful finishes off Kanyon with a piledriver.

Squash, the older guys are still getting most of the love so far as Kanyon will wallow in the mid-card for some time and never rise above it despite having decent in ring ability.

They are showing a vignette of Sabu who has not been seen since the second Nitro. I do enjoy the Arabian music mixed in with hair metal though!

Now they are recapping what occurred between Johnny B. Badd and his flat tires at the hands of DDP.

Match 7: Johnny B. Badd v. Dusty, something because Schiavone slurred the last name.

Badd has owned poor Dusty so far and applies a hammerlock. I wonder why they bother with traditional wrestling holds in a squash, just destroy the guy and move on, do not drag it out, or Badd just is not that good in the ring. Dusty is going after the back, oh it is Dusty Wolf, and he is getting some offense in though it is a head to the back and that is about it as Badd counters with an Atomic Drop and Badd flies out and nails Wolf with the Badd Mood and rolls him in and hits a leg drop from the apron over the ropes for the win.

Squash.

Back with Mean Gene and Badd comes to the back and mentions that DDP has 13 million dollars but he cannot buy a heart with it. Badd basically says he is going to take down DDP as Gene keeps an eye on the Diamond Doll.

Showing a recap of Nitro and hyping up Monday's show.

Now showing what happened between Duggan, Big Bubba and Wallstreet last Saturday.

Match 8: Big Bubba v. Jim Duggan

Duggan comes out bellowing about where his damn 2x4 is and attacks Bubba and he gets the Hell out of the ring and just walks around the ring as Duggan yells in the ring. The bell finally rings and Duggan decks him and Bubba topples to the floor. The ref for some reason holds Duggan back and this allows Bubba to climb into the ring and pound on him. But it is short lived as Duggan works on the arm. He sure is working on the arm for some time. Bubba is up and hits him in the ribs and on the head and decks him from the floor. Duggan catches him coming back into the ring and applies a facelock and Bubba gets up but promptly gets knocked to the mat and Duggan misses a knee drop and Bubba takes advantage of the opening and beats him in the corner and Duggan slides out of the ring and limps around it. Bubba rolls him back into the ring and Duggan is trying to hit him but Bubba takes out the leg and begins to work on it. They now exchange blows and collide as the come off the ropes and both are down. Both are up and Duggan kicks him in the gut but Bubba retaliates and now both are going back and forth as Duggan bodyslams him and Wallstreet comes out with Duggan's board. Duggan wraps up tape on his fist and goes after Wallsreet but Bubba comes from behind and Duggan moves and he runs into Wallstreet and Duggan decks Bubba with the taped fist for the win.

This was a really long match, not necessarily bad but I am starting to wonder why Duggan ever got a push, besides Hogan of course. I am not saying he is bad just that he is not very good.

They are showing a pre-recorded message of Hogan and Hart and they are building their Monster Truck. This is before the Giant "tore" his head off on Nitro and they are talking to the originator of the Bigfoot and they are showing computer animation of it and Hogan is screaming about how big and strong it is going to be. They are showing them build it and Hogan is screaming about destroying the Giant and he actually clutches his neck in pain as he does it!

Other than some angle advancement and recaps Saturday Night has become the "B" show. The Malenko/Eddie match was great, almost PPV quality and far better than anything you would see on TV today, the rest were squashes and the Arn tag match and Duggan match were not bad but they were below mediocre.

 

[dukes07]

Last week's show was an improvement. but the manic focus on the Hogan angle detracted from the show as they interrupted the Guerrero and Malenko match and kept yammering about it during the Flair and Arn match. I know they are paying Hogan a lot of money and need to focus the product on him. but at the same time you need to branch out and explore other options, focusing too much on Hogan will dilute the angle. Well, fuck it already has. They announced last week that Flair and AA will square off in a steel cage, per Flair's request, so he recovered rather quickly from his beating. Sting will be facing the Shark. so WCW is still using everything in its arsenal to take on the WWF. Nitro was in a dead heat against the WWF this week as both garnered a 2.6 rating, clearly showing that there is room for both shows on Monday as those who watch WCW stayed with the show when Nitro debuted. and RAW only lost a little if any of its audience as people switched back and forth. Also, new viewers began to tune in.

They are in Chicago and all three are wearing Bears jersey's. DA BEARS! Sting comes to the announce table and says how unbelievable Nitro is, and he says that the Luger/Savage issue needs to be resolved so he will do that tonight.

Match 1: The Shark v. Sting (c) for US Title

Shark goes straight after Sting and bodyslams him and drops the leg for a two count. He swings him into the corner and Sting moves out of the way when Shark charges him and Sting hits two Stinger Splashes, flies from the top, finishing him off with a flying cross body for the win.

Wow that was quick. Not much you can do with the Shark, but the Dungeon loses about every match, and while they are building up the Giant to be unstoppable the rest of the Dungeon is just plain awful and no threat against Hogan or Sting or really anyone. So what I am getting at in a half-assed way: The Dungeon is fucking USELESS. Last time I checked you do need a win here and there to remain relevant.

They are recapping last week's Hogan interview and the Giant "re-injuring" his neck. Hogan was all serious about going after the Giant in the back but delayed to high five fans? I guess you have to set up Sullivan hitting him with the cane and the scissors? There was no point in bringing out the scissors if they did not cut his hair, the more I think about the more of a mess that entire segment was.

Match 2: Sabu v. J.L.

Sabu immediately goes after JL and hits a series of leg drops off the ropes and gets a two count. JL comes back and hits a spinning elbow and he knocks Sabu out of the ring. Both are back in the ring and they go back and forth off the ropes until Sabu hits a flying kick and out goes JL and Sabu leaps over the top and lands on JL and sets him up on the rail and Sabu jumps off a chair and connects with a boot. Back in the ring JL comes back and hits a nice boot in the corner but Sabu comes back and has JL in the Camel Clutch but JL grabs the ropes and Sabu goes for the top but gets caught and JL gets a near fall and JL goes to the top and gets caught but Sabu misses the hurracarana and JL leaps but is caught and slammed to the mat and taps to the Clutch. Sabu continues to attack JL and leaps over the ropes and nearly fouls that move as he grabs JL and slams him to the floor.

Great fast paced match marred by a couple misses spots. Sabu is clearly over with the fans, and I do not believe this run in WCW lasted that long but we will see what they did with him.

Mean Gene is in the ring with Sting and Luger who is wearing a sport coat. Sting wants the Macho Man to come out so they can have him and Luger kiss and make up and while the fans cheer some fat woman in the crowd is screaming "motherfucker" and flipping him off! Sting calms down Savage who wants to go after Luger and Sting wants them to band together to stop the Giant from chokeslamming everyone, and Savage wonders why Sting has not been chokeslammed yet and Sting calls him paranoid (which he really is and he at least plays the character quite well too) and Sting goes on about how they all want to win titles but Savage may just slap the wrong person if he tries that with him. Sting says that if Savage beats Kamala and Luger beats Meng at Havoc then the two should go at it. Savage is up for it, but Luger says that Sting is putting words in his mouth. Sting goes off on Luger and berates him until he agrees to face Savage. Sting seems to be playing puppet master here, and Savage is looking forward to the match and the world title. As to how beating Luger gets him that, or if Hogan wins guarantees him a match unless Luger puts his rematch clause on the line. Of course maybe I missed it if he did.

A limo pulls up and Chris Benoit, mullet and all, gets out and says: "This is where the big boys play?" And that is it, so they are hyping the arrival of Benoit. and I wonder how long this will last as I am interested to see what they do with him.

Match 3: Big Bubba v. Hawk

Disco comes out and dances. Bubba comes out, glares at him, and so Disco whips out a ghetto blaster so his music can play! Fuck yeah, GHETTO BLASTER! Hawk ignores him too but it is shenanigans time as Disco steals a kid's hat and places it on one of his spikes. The bell rings and Bubba takes control and Hawk seems a little slow on the take. Bubba slides out and back in the ring, misses a clothesline and so Hawk takes him down. Disco is on the apron doing his dance, and Hawk has had enough and proceeds to beat the Holy Hell out of him, but gets counted out.

Match was clearly for comic relief and to get some air time for Hawk and Bubba I guess. Disco is funny but not sure where they are going with this yet. Well, fuck it, Disco is just classic (albeit useless) comic relief. You don't need a reason for everything.

Gene is in the ring and introduces Hogan and he is wearing all black! Gene is saying he has never heard such a crowd reaction and I am calling bullshit because the crowd response was not that hot. It is like Lawler and Cole sucking off on Cena's nuts today when the crowd reaction is middling at best. Hogan tells Gene to shut up and he also does not want Hart to say anything. Hogan mentions the big nasty Giant again and again. Oh and did you know that he slammed Andre?! He wants a piece of the Giant right now. Gene informs him that the Giant has been barred from the building (like that ever works) and Hogan says if he is a real Giant then he will find his way in. Now he is giving a history lesson of Hulkamania (Never heard this before!)and how it was nearly killed off by an unnamed promoter in New York due to his ego, but now it is the little Hulkamaniacs who are keeping it strong. They are growing into Redwoods, and getting bigger, making WCW bigger too. But Sullivan and the Giant are trying to chop down those trees. I guess shaving off the moustache is like defacing the Washington Monument, and he is now longer worried about Havoc as he wants a piece of the Giant right now. We hear some sirens, and the Zodiac is on top off a speeding Monster Truck with one of Chicago's finest in pursuit. On a side note WCW did not have monitors set up so the fans could see what was happening in the back, and Gene had to mention that cameras are in the back to see what is going on. He had to tell those in attendance what is going down, a really stupid oversight on the part of Bischoff and WCW not to have jumbotrons in the arena, and one not to be solved for a while. Hogan is baffled that he is outside. Hogan wants him in the arena, but Gene says no and the police are holding back the Dungeon of Doom. Hogan goes after the Giant.

Bischoff is hyping up Havoc and the Machine v. Machine thing....and Hogan v. the Giant and he mentions that Hogan got his moustache shaved, not that his neck was nearly broken but his moustache and he goes on about how unstoppable the Giant is so at least they are hyping him as a big heel.


Holy crap they show McMichael's rat with a little Bears helmet. The cops come up to Bischoff; they whisper in his ear that they are keeping the Giant and Hogan apart. I love police angles in wrestling. They are using half the police force to keep two guys involved in a fake feud away from one another. I just need to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride as it is wrestling. But Jesus.

Match 4: Arn Anderson v. Ric Flair

They go right at it and Flair starts hammering away but gets caught in a back body drop and then tossed into the cage. Arn and Flair are going at it and Flair hits a series of chops but both are down. Ric is in a boxing stance and is pounding on AA and throwing him into the cage. AA is between the ropes and the cage and getting punished as the fans chant "We want blood" and AA reverses his momentum going into the cage and sends Flair into it but Flair gets the best of him and hits a big suplex and both are down. Pillman comes down and climbs the cage but Flair meets him at the top and knocks him off. Flair returns to AA and goes for the Figure Four and Arn nails him as the camera pans away and pins him, so he clearly had a "foreign" object and the replay shows that he did. Flair runs up to the announce table and tears the headset off of EB and he wants a match against AA and Pillman next week.

This match did not last long enough. They should have had a couple more minutes. It was decent for what it was but felt like a TNA/WWE main event being shortened, and of course there was interference. Yet it is also a nice tease for a potential blow-off or a swerve, so you don't want to give too much away. I am just a greedy fuck and want all my cake, beer and pussy right now!

The show went by fast. They are cramming as much as possible in an hour program. However, they needed to follow up more on the Hogan/Giant situation, hence monitors in the arena for fans to follow along, and it allows WCW to take the action to the back....not like it is today, but at least to follow through a bit better. There was only one good match and that was Sabu v. JL the rest of the matches were short and inconsequential and two of them had some sort of interference. It was an angle advancement heavy show or it seemed like it but then again not much was advance except Luger facing Savage. Arn and Flair did not settle anything and neither did the Giant and Hogan so in reality nothing really happened other than paving the way for Havoc; not as bad as RAW the previous week but still not good.

 

[dukes07]

WWF is nearing the PPV with Davey Boy gearing up to take on Diesel. Owen and Yokozuna lost the tag titles as Owen was pinned. Razor Ramon and the 123 Kid are still bickering, but Razor destroyed him the last time they fought. Both Nitro and RAW received the same 2.6 rating as Nitro has given a much stronger challenge than the WWF thought it would, especially seeing as it is live and the WWF is clearly in a down period as Diesel has proven to not be as a big a draw as they thought. Also, there is a lack of compelling storylines. Nothing really stands out; on micro level there is a lot of talent. But on a macro level, there is very little to write home about. I am not really intrigued and nothing stands out. They just seem to be going through the motions. I cannot defend the Dungeon of Doom but the talent pool with Nitro is deeper and I prefer its style of wrestling too. Ultimately, the WWF is reacting slowly to WCW's challenge. Not that it should just reboot the entire fucking thing, but it would be nice to shake something up. And tonight the champs are here, so we could get an above average show.

Match 1: Owen Hart and Yokozuna and Davey Boy Smith v. the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels and Diesel

Before they start the match we get a touching moment with Shawn Michaels, wiping away tears, as he talks about kids and them getting an education. The fans are going nuts for Michaels, UT and Diesel....Apparently Diesel did not sell tickets but the fans are loving him, and have every time I have seen him. Maybe, the problem lies with wrestling in general at the time, being in a down period and not who held the title.

Anyway, Michaels and Owen start off. Shawn toys with him, and he takes Hart to the mat but Shawn is taken down with a shoulder block and out goes Owen. Bulldog is in but he gets taken out and now order has broken down and all are in the ring and UT and Diesel boot him out to the floor. Bulldog and UT are in the ring and Davey Boy gets smashed with a clothesline in the corner. Bulldog is on the floor and Diesel comes in and UT places him back on the apron for him but Yoko is tagged in and Diesel promptly drops him and now UT is in and he walks the ropes and drops a big fist to the back but Yoko catches him in a back slam. UT comes off the rope and slams him face first to the mat. Michaels is tagged in and he works on the arm and he gets caught and slammed down and Owen is tagged in and he gets a two count. Owen nails him with a sideslam and starts stomping on him. Bulldog is tagged in and they double elbow him and he hoists up Michaels and holds him up with a gorilla press slam and finally slams him down. He pulls him up by the hair and slams him down and Michaels puts his foot on the rope at the count of two. Michaels is getting worked over in the corner and now Hart has him in an ab stretch and he is using Davey as leverage; first Waylon Mercy checked out the match and now Dean Douglas is. Shawn is able to get out of the hold with an arm drag. Michaels backslides him but only gets two and Owen tags in Yoko and he drops an elbow. He waits for Shawn to slowly get to his feet and he crushes him with a big clothesline and Smith is tagged in and they both headbutt him and then hold him up with a vertical suplex and he gets a two count. Owen is back in and he puts him in a rear chinlock. Michaels slowly gets up and elbows free but is kicked in the head and Owen gets a two count. Owen goes up top and they take a commercial as he flies through the air....they do show a replay and he misses. Bulldog and Diesel are tagged in. Diesel side slams him, and he works over Yoko too; however, he gets nailed in the back. Davey picks him up and powerslams him then he goes for the pin, but is flung off by the Undertaker. However as the ref pushes him away, Yoko drops a huge leg on his neck and head and the Bulldog, much to the chagrin of the fans gets the pin. Undertaker is fired up and comes in swinging and he cleans house. Mabel comes in and he flings UT into the corner and Yoko charges into him with a splash and Mabel follows and now they drop countless leg drops. Dean Douglas goes after Michaels and slams him into the steel steps. Bulldog is beating on Diesel. Mabel continues beating the BeJesus out of the Undertaker.

A good long match, the heels went over strong and this is something that WCW rarely does right now. I think that this helps set up the PPV where the faces will most likely go over, but only after being punished. and thus this sets up revenge, satiating the fans desire to see their victory.

They recap Bret Hart defeating Jean Pierre but being beat down by Lawler and Isaac Yankem. They go back to SummerSlam and recap the Hart/Yankem match as they will fight in a cage match next week. If Lawler interferes then he will have to go into a smaller cage and be hoisted up over the bigger cage where he will be forced to watch. Not sure what this accomplishes, other than Lawler will be dangling in a cage and watching, okay.... Lawler accuses of Hart of saying mean things to him at SummerSlam....Holy shit, this is a long recap and we are told again what will happen if Lawler interferes because he did at SummerSlam. We are told again what will happen to Lawler if he interferes....I get the point. I guess they are showing the entire match or at least most of it as it ended in a DQ as Bret is hung up in the ropes and both Jerry and Isaac and pull on his legs. To be fair they are doing a quick transition back to this feud as it has been awhile since those two or actually three fought.

Match 2: Skip v. Fatu

Rikishi looks really damn skinny here. Well, fuck looking, he is skinny. Fatu twists the arm around but Skip bashes his head on the top buckle but it has no effect and Skip is taken down and Sunny distracts him and he goes out after her and Skip tries to come up from behind but Fatu senses his coming and he turns and decks him. Back in the ring Skip takes charge with a back suplex and an elbow from the top rope. Fatu ducks a clothesline and connects with one of his own. But Skip comes back and he delays a pin as he flexes for the crowd and he only gets a two count. Skip snaps him over and applies a rear chinlock. Fatu gets up but yanked back down and Skip goes up top and nails him with a flying headbutt but he leaps backwards as if he ran into a brickwall and Fatu pretty much nips up, then Fatu goes off but it does not last too long. Skip places him on the top and goes for superplex but cannot lift him and he tries again but gets knocked off the top and Fatu finishes him off with a big splash.

Pretty fast paced here, but the gimmick with Fatu's head is cheesy...

They have Doc (I have seen it spelled Dok too) Hendricks in the back but he cannot hear them yelling at him to speak or something, and so they pan away. Now they show a recap of the six man tag match. They finally fix the "audio issue" with Doc and he says that it is a not a good idea to speak with the three but Shawn is out cold and Diesel is pissed and UT is wallowing. Hendricks seems high as he says he will do an ambush interview and he jumps through the door and it is Cornette and Bulldog and Davey is hopping up and down. Cornette is upset that he barged in, but it does not last as he brags about the victory and that Diesel will be pinned again. The British Bulldog will become the champ where he will take the belt back to England. Davey is bitter that he has been denied title shots and feels that it is a conspiracy as he did beat Bret Hart in England for the IC belt (three years ago) and he is now going to beat Diesel and indeed take the title to England; thanks Davey, we got that message! Mabel comes in with a silly crown. He is all giddy and that Bulldog pinned Diesel and that he himself will beat up the Undertaker.

The first match was constantly interrupted by commercials; the Undertaker and Diesel only saw little time and did not do too much, but they are being saved for the PPV. Vince McMahon is really annoying as an announcer as he screams and always calls three counts when it was only two. Also, how many times do we need to hear about the cage match between Isaac Yankem and Bret Hart along with the stipulation? While they brought out the big guns tonight the show was underwhelming at best as they filled with recaps and other useless fillers. Jesus, you have only an hour and yet fill it with nonsense. I understand that angles need to be advanced, but it could be done better and with more in ring action as well as better pacing. This was fairly disappointing. The first match was decent but at the same time nothing to write home about. It is nice to see Davey in the main event scene though. Not the most charismatic or over guy, and his skills are mediocre depending on who is in the ring with, but for some reason I really dig him.