Monday Night Wars: The Reviews Edition!!

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Nitro was a bit disappointing with the Sabu match being the high point. There was some angle advancement but for the most part nothing of note happened. The Sting/Luger/Savage segment was more baffling as Sting just yelled at Luger, and they all mentioned winning the title. Also, the main event did not have enough time and most of the matches had some interference, which is fine from time to time for storyline purposes but it should not happen on a consistent basis. This show dropped in the ratings from a 2.6 to a 2.2, not a large drop but still shows that both Nitro and RAW sway back and forth in the 2's.

McMichael needs to go, he tells us his dog is from DogTron or some shit and wants to see some out of this world action. I am speechless. Or writerless or whatever the fuck you want to call it.

On WCW Pro Sting agreed to be Flair's partner and basically said that if it is a swerve he is going to kill Flair. Get ready to kill him Sting!

Match 1: DDP (c) v. Johnny B. Badd for TV Title

Kimberly comes out to a nice pop. DDP is starting to get his first push, and I aloso thought they were going to face at the PPV. Ah, tonight and the PPV, good idea to give the background to the feud though I hope they don't kill the angle too quickly. Badd is getting a huge ovation, this guy is over, and he is dancing around and Page just levels him with the belt. He is trying to punch Badd but the ref stops him and so he prances around with his confetti cannon and counts the pin but gets DQ'd.

Not a match but good for angle advancement and teases the PPV match.

Match 2: Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero

It is strange seeing these men wrestle now, their first match against one another in WCW, and both are new entrants on the scene too. I am not going to go into Benoit's murder/suicide yet but I will try and keep an eye on his wrestling and moves that he does that made his brain deteriorate, as well as with Guerrero, and his substance abuse problems (I am sure this will last only a few shows as my ADD will kick in!). They lock up and Guerrero connects with a should block; now both are flying around the ring along with taking each other down and Eddie has Benoit in a wrist lock. Benoit comes back with a head scissors but gets tossed out. Guerrero is going to fly but Benoit moves so Eddie stops himself but gets tangled in the ropes but Benoit sells the earlier bump and Eddie recovers and climbs to the top and hits a nice flying cross body. They are back in the ring and exchanging holds again and Benoit is going to back suplex him out of the ring but both flip out, wow! Benoit wraps Eddie's noggin off the post and drags him back to the ring and hits a big back suplex. He swings Eddie front first into the turnbuckle and then clothesline and now a hammerlock suplex. Benoit hits another snap suplex and then a running elbow. Irish whip, but Eddie knocks him down, and then leaps from the ropes and destroys Benoit and attempts the pin but Benoit puts his leg on the rope and Benoit comes back with a mean looking short clothesline. Eddie is selling the arm, it was his arm and head that hit the post and Chris is yelling for him to get up and now they are exchanging chops and Chris wins the battle with a headbutt and bodyslam. Benoit is working on the arm and Eddie gets up, leaps onto the top rope and balances himself before leaping right onto Benoit, he continues the assault with a side suplex. Eddie hits a nice suplex and climbs to the top and attempts a frogsplash but Chris raises the knees. Eddie just got his head torn off as he is powerbombed for a 2.99 count and attempts it again but Eddie reverses it, and decks Benoit with his bad arm; he sells it, and this allows Benoit to slam him back pinning him to the mat for the win.

Wow that was a stiff match. Good stuff. Best match I have seen so far since the War began including PPV.

Heenan states that Benoit will be holding gold soon. Bischoff continues on about the Cruiserweight Division and how great it will be. I am excited to see if Benoit and others are held down into the Cruiserweight and when and if they do receive some gold, as it has always been a bone of contention amongst many mid card and Cruiserweight wrestlers that they were indeed held down before they went to the WWF or stayed on until WCW folded.

Mean Gene is in the ring and introduce....well, no one yet, he is hyping up up the expensive hotline and passing along snippets of gossip about the WWF and how someone got canned from the front office (I think) and how a wrestler got beat up by a fan. Pay a shit load of money for shitty and incomplete information folks! I am sure though they made good dough on it. But anyway, good lord. Now the Giant is introduces with the Taskmaster and Gene ignores the Giant and talks to Sullivan and he is talking in his stupid creepy voice about how evil he is and not making sense. And there was some man dressed in black who told Sullivan that he was evil and that Hogan is evil too, and he goes on about being evil again and shaving Hogan, and he mentions that Hogan has some good left but now he is wearing black. Is this Return of the Jedi? After Havoc the Hulkamaniacs will become children of the Dungeon of the Doom. Now it is the Giant's turn and he is going on about taking out the Hogan Monster Truck and that they will need the jaws of life to get him out. The fans chant for Hogan but he does not show.

Match 3: Meng v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Disco Inferno comes out again and dances. Meng's music starts and Disco departs rapidly. Duggan comes out to a pretty solid response. I remember him being big in the late 80s and early 90s but he still has a fan base. Meng attacks, and they go back and forth until Meng knocks him to the ground and chokes him with the rope. Duggan does his walk where nothing hurts him, and goes on the offensive and knocks down Meng. They exchange blows until Duggan clotheslines him and bodylsams him, but Meng pops right back up and kicks him in the head and applies his Nerve Hold (not sure of the name).

Well at least they are not making a mockery of Meng yet, the rest of the Dungeon (minus the Giant) are absolute jokes, but maybe they heard my whine from last week and had a Dungeon guy win! Duggan does quite well on Saturday Night but he got dismantled here and Meng did very little selling. However the right man went over.

Hogan is dressed in black as well as wearing a neckbrace now the fans are Hulkamaniaoids (huh?). He made everyone in the building shake last week or something to that effect. He says there is indeed evil in Hogan (pre-cursor to Hollywood perhaps) and now he is going about promoters going to their knees in awe of Hogan and what that has to do with anything I am unsure of. But he does mention the prayers and the vitamins though. Hart is worried and whining like a toddler about the Dungeon and what is going on. Hogan tells him to stay out of it and that he is going to take down the Giant, and calls him dirty and filthy and stinky again. He is also going to slam him, and then bury him next to his father....Jesus! Hogan has turned to the Dark Side and an edgy reference to Andre.

Match 4: Arn Anderson and Flyin' Brian v. Ric Flair and Sting

Flair is flying solo to start as he squares off with Brian. Flair no sells a chop and chops right back, and no sells some more and then takes down both Arn and Brian. The fans are loving it. Pillman comes back and hits a couple of boots and tosses Flair out and AA attacks but Flair beats him up and then tosses Pillman on top of the rail. The fans chant "We want Sting" and Arn is tagged in Flair is now chopping him up but AA gets a move or two in but Flair comes right back and awkwardly puts AA in the Figure Four and Pillman launches himself from the top but Flair anticipates it moving out of the way, and puts Pillman in the Figure Four but AA breaks it up. He throws him into the corner, and Flair does his patented flip out onto the apron and chops Pillman and then hits AA from the turnbuckle with a double ax but AA turns the tide and takes down Flair. Cue Sting! The fans go nuts as Sting comes down. AA tags in Pillman who attacks Flair and hits a back bodydrop and he tags in AA who stomps on Flair and Pillman is back in and he and Flair exchange chops and another back bodydrop on Flair but he does the same to Pillman and both are down as Flair tries to get to Sting and he annihilates Pillman and AA. Stinger Splash on both opponents and knocks them down with elbows. They get some offense in but then each get clotheslined and AA is tossed out. Sting grabs Pillman and crotches him on the top and both are out on the floor and apparently to the bafflement of McMichael and Heenan they were counted out.

Gene is in the ring with Sting and Flair and those two will take on AA and Pillman at Havoc. Sting was unsure if he could trust Flair and realized he could and he thinks Flair has guts as he was beating the crap out of AA and Pillman therefore he gives Flair a highfive. Awww! How sweet.

Flair did not really need the help but the point was that he had to have "heart" and be able to hold his own. However the heels did look awful and there is not much of a point in having a match at the PPV unless AA and Pillman have a plan for revenge or it is a Flair swerve and besides Pillman has not looked good during this feud. I predict a swerve so it actually makes sense. Problem with writing on the fly, is that I shit out everything with no filter.

This week was better but it was primarily due to the Benoit/Guerrero match. The Dungeon of Doom continues to detract from the overall product. It is wise that Hogan is keeping a lower profile in order to build the PPV, and it is still old school enough in 1995 where the champ does not wrestle every week. or even show up. I find it amusing how WCW hocks their Hotline. I wish I could go back in time to call just to see what, if anything useful was said, I am sure it was a sad day when the Internet ruined that source of income!

 

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The go home show. After last week's less than stellar show hopefully the WWF can build some momentum going into the PPV. There will be a steel cage match between Bret Hart and Isaac Yankem that was talked about ad nauseum last week. However it did get more viewers to tune into RAW as it beat Nitro 2.5 to 2.2.

They start off by discussing the cage match. They have voiceovers of Hart, Yankem and Lawler saying what they are going to do to one another.

Match 1: HHH v. Doink

Undertaker suffered a crushed face last week, yes a crushed face....good lord. It is Mabel so it could be true, but a crushed face? HHH gets dropped with an armdrag and he squeezes the nose and he places HHH's head in between the legs and wiggles but Doink grabs his own head and spazzes, I must have missed something and HHH takes advantage but runs into a boot and a connects with a sideslam. Doink misses an elbow and HHH suplexes him and gets a two count. HHH works on the head but Doink rolls him up for two and gets another two count after a backslide. Doink goes for a flying crossbody but HHH dodges it and finishes him off with the Pedigree.

This was awful. Thankfully it was short, and HHH went over.

Some guy is with Yakushi (They are not flashing up names so I am guessing on spelling). Ah, looked it up: Hakushi. He tells Hakushi about baseball and says US and baseball, and he asks who is the greatest hitter ever and hints it is Babe Ruth but he stops him and says that it is Hank Aaron and Hakushi gets a hug.

Match 2: PG 13(c) v. Smoking Gunns (c) for WWF Tag Titles

Wolfie D and Ice are bit late to be Vanilla Ice wannabes. They are also the IW....crap, forgot the name but they are tag champions. USWA! Wolfie starts off against Billy Gunn and they lock up and Wolfie is tossed across the ring, USWA champs...and it is JC Ice who is now the legal man but they run into each other. JC does some cartwheels but is met with a huge clotheslined by Bart who was tagged in. Both are destroyed by Bart, and they scatter out of the ring. Ice blocks an armdrag and shoves Gunn to the floor and Wolfie stops on him and Bart chases them off. Back in the ring and Wolfie is tagged in and he applies a rear chinlock. He gets up but Ice runs in to help drop him. They connect with a weak looking double elbow. Gunn no sells a kick to the had and he ducks a clothesline and Ice is catapulted into Wolfie who was on the apron and Bart is tagged in and he slams both around and Wolfie is finished with a legdrop from the top rope as he was held.

This was all kinds of terrible.

They show Alundra Blaze and tout her match next week.

Now they go to a taped interview with the Bulldog and Cornette. Jimmy does all the talking about everyone being scared of Davey Boy. He reiterates that the Bulldog is going to win at the PPV. He brings up the leg drop that Yoko dropped on Diesel prior to the pin, and the Bulldog just says it does not matter and he is going to beat Diesel, as he does not need help.

Ahmed Johnson is doing a promo called Ahmed on Honor and he discusses about a mother making minimum wage and sending kids to school and that was honored. Vince brought up the Million Man March and I am befuddled.

Match 3: Dean Douglas v. Jobber

Vince does bring up Shawn getting beat up at a bar, attacked by ten men, well Vince says that Shawn was pulled out of a car. Lawler makes light of it, and says he deserved it! Well, he did, okay that is cruel, but it is kind of funny. They get a hold of Shawn who is at home and he says that everyone is after him. Shawn will be at the PPV too. Meanwhile Douglas destroyed the jobber.

Squash.

Match 4: Isaac Yankem v. Bret Hart

They are hyping up the PPV as the build the cage.....Marty Jannetty v. Goldust. They pan to Goldust who says that Marty is ready for a makeover. They recap Mabel destroying the Undertaker over and over. Paul Bearer is screaming and crying about what happened to Undertaker and he will get revenge and though he may never look the same again he will return and all this in a ten year old falsetto voice.

Okay here we go, no intro for Isaac as Bret comes out to an ovation. Once again we get the stipulation. they lock up and Isaac hammers away on the back and neck and he throws Bret head first into the corner. Isaac charges but Bret moves and he starts punishing Yankem and he is down. Bret drops a headbutt into his abdomen but Vince and Lawler sell it like it was a nut shot. Bret starts to climb out but Yankem yanks him back in and slams his head down on the mat. Isaac climbs up but Bret grabs the leg and he starts hitting him in the back and Bret climbs up but Isaac catches him and pulls him back down. Yankem tells Bret what he is going to do next and that is throw him head first into the cage, Isaac seems confused and finally tries to climb up but is pulled off and dropped to the mat. Bret stomp a hole in him. He has the ref unlock the door, and it takes too long and Yankem hits him from behind. As to why he did not climb up is beyond me. Anyway Lawler had switched locks so the ref cannot get it open. Isaac is kicking and punching Bret and he starts to climb again but Bret is able to throw him off. Bret strikes with a flying clothesline and he turns him over into the Sharpshooter. He taps but it does not matter as he has to climb out to win. Bret releases the hold and he starts to climb up and Lawler runs up and meets him and Jerry decks him and Bret falls to the mat. Gorilla Monsoon comes up and and starts wagging his finger at Lawler and Bret climbs up and knocks Lawler off and he is locked into the tiny cage. Bret and Isaac are exchanging blows as Lawler is being hoisted above the cage. Bret is pushed off the cage and is crotches himself and collapses to the mat. Isaac goes for a powerbomb or piledriver but gets a back drop instead and Bret almost gets over to the other side but Yankem stops him and he throws him off. Isaac takes his sweet time but he starts to climb and Bret climbs after him and they are both standing on the ropes and Isaac drops to the mat and Hart crotches himself. Bret is working on Yankem in the corner now they are firing off blows onto one another. Isaac gets his head bounced off the cage and Bret hits a couple of headbutts and a sidewalk slam. Bret climbs up and Isaac grabs the hair and pulls him back over and he demolishes Bret with the DDS (like the DDT). Yankem is up at the top and all of a sudden Bret hops up and pulls Isaac down and crotches him and just pummels him with a series of blows. Hart though is flung into the turnbuckle. Lawler drops a key and Isaac and he unlocks it but Bret comes back and slams him face first into the mat with a bulldog. I guess the door is not unlocked and Bret climbs up and Isaac makes a valiant attempt to stop him but Bret drops to the floor with the win.

This was good stuff. It is easier knowing that Yankem is now, or will be Kane, so the match is better than it may have been. It was easily the best part of RAW. Seeing Doink was awful and PG 13 is atrocious. They keep panning away from matches to do little interviews or phone calls and that bothers me. I struggle multitasking but they made a match between Mabel and Yokozuna as the UT has is face crushed, which I think is the same injury that Rey gave him, if I remember correctly he was legitimately injured at this time. This PPV has a serious lack of potential. There are no compelling matches, Shawn got his ass kicked so he and Dean will not have much of a match, if one at all. I find it amusing that a stoned Shawn bit off more than he could chew and paid the price. The main event may not deliver as on paper it sounds poorly conceived. Hopefully I am wrong. WWF right now just seems stagnate as there is not much going on worth watching. Doc Hendricks is annoying and the characters are subpar. Also, Paul Bearer's interview took five years off my life but hopefully things will start to look up as the WWF has been slumping pretty much since WrestleMania if not before.

 

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Coming off one of their bigger PPV's of the year, SummerSlam, last month's PPV seemed to have a stronger build as it continued most of the feuds begun there or started new one's that concluded. However, the previous PPV still did not overwhelm as it had a confusing main event; there were some decent matches, but for the most part the WWF showed that it was in a creative rut. The build to this PPV seems patched together as Dean Douglas does not get a rematch against Razor Ramon who is teaming with his former friend, foe, friend, foe, friend, 123 Kid for the tag titles, and Dean has moved on to Shawn Michaels. At least Douglas is having some high profile feuds. Bret has moved on to someone.....Diesel has moved on to the Bulldog, which could be decent but is not the Giant v. Hogan. Mabel is taking on Yokozuna in a match that probably will not deliver. To be fair WCW had a lackluster Fall Brawl. Hopefully this show will deliver tonight, however the buy rates for INYH have continued to drop since May, a high of .80 to a low of .40 just a couple of shows later as they have moved to having one every month now. This is easily the lowest buy rate in WWF history and shows that the fans are not buying into what the WWF is selling: the positive, the show is in Canada a WWF stronghold where over 10,000 fans showed up.

Gorilla Monsoon somberly informs us that Shawn Michaels will have to drop the belt tonight due to the butt whipping he received. Dean Douglas will be the recipient and he will have to face Razor Ramon, and I am wondering if he will have to pull double duty as he is booked in the tag title match. So they basically advertise him for the fucking PPV. Ah, the good old bait and switch! But, they may have hoped he could indeed wrestle tonight as it had been a couple weeks since the injury.

Match 1: Fatu v. HHH

I did not realize that HHH was undefeated so far. He sure takes his sweet time getting to the ring; something that has not changed. Fatu tires of it and he attacks him. HHH flies back with a back body drop. Hunter is then flung over the top. Fatu goes after him and pounds on him for a bit and then rolls him back into the ring. HHH finally gets some offense in but it is short lived as he hits Fatu's hard head but Fatu gets his neck caught in the ropes and HHH nails him with his fist from the top. Fatu does not sell it, but after he untangles himself, he gets caught in a piledriver. HHH postures to the crowd allowing Fatu to recover. HHH grabs him and hits him with some forearm blows, but Fatu fires back. HHH is able to drop him but he delays in the cover and he gets a two count. HHH straddles him and pummels him. He whips him to the rope, knees him in the midsection, and he gets a two count. HHH applies a side headlock and has Fatu grounded. It turns into a chinlock and Fatu getse up but he is grounded again. Fatu gets up again and the exchange some blows and Fatu twirls in the air after a huge clothesline. Fatu rolls him up after HHH gets a near fall and he gets one too. HHH goes for the Pedigree but he is flipped back. Fatu starts dancing and kicks him in the head; we get another back body drop. He levels HHH with a clothesline and then a backbreaker. Fatu goes up to the middle rope and headbutts HHH and he gets a near fall. I missed it but it sounded like HHH was nailed with a bulldog or something like it and Fatu is heading up top but this time he misses the headbutt. HHH grabs him and finishes him off with the Pedigree.

Lawler asks HHH what it was like to be in the ring with the likes of Fatu. Trips responds that he did not want to touch the man. Then a guy with the slop bucket, I cannot undersand what Vince is bellowing as he can barely string together a sentence. One of the Godwins comes out and threatens to throw it on HHH who shoves Lawler in front of him for protection and then books to the back with slop bucket guy in hot pursuit.

Short for a PPV but it opens the show with a relatively solid match, as it was fast paced. I have always liked how Canada refuses to cheer for the faces as HHH got quite the pop after the win.

Doc Hendricks is with Cornette and the Bulldog and they go back to when he turned on Diesel by shoving him into Mabel. Davey says he is going to beat Diesel again and then flexes.

Match 2: Smoking Gunns (c) v. 123 Kid and Razor Ramon for WWF Tag Titles

Razor tells us that he and the Kid have put behind their problems and are ready for battle. Well that answers my question about him pulling double duty. Razor comes out to an ovation. They go to shake hands and Razor psyches them and the Kid awkwardly follows suit. The Kid and Billy begin and the Kid takes him down with an arm drag. They lock up again, and Billy just shoves him down like a child. They lock up again and the Kid applies a side headlock but Gunn escapes and he tosses Kid down again and the Kid flips back up to his feet. Bart is tagged and the fans start a Razor chant, and so he is tagged in. They lock up and Bart shoves him to the mat and Razor gets up and works on the arm but it is reversed and takes down Razor. They lock up again and Razor is dropped again. Bart applies an arm bar and Razor has had enough and he slugs Bart and then chucks him over the top rope. He slowly gets back in the ring and he is flung into the corner and he falls to the mat. He works on him in the corner. The Kid is tagged in and he unleashes a series of Karate kicks. The Kid hits a couple of quick leg drops, tags in Razor who connects with a fall away slam and he tags in the Kid and does another fall away slam with the Kid who lands on Bart for a two count. Razor is back in and now both kick Bart and drop him with a double elbow. The Kid drops an elbow but only gets a two count. Razor goes for a back body drop but Bart grabs his hair and slams him back to the mat and both are down. Both are able to make the tag and Billy goes off on both Razor and the Kid. Th Kid is bodyslammed and Gunn drops an elbow and he gets a two count. Bart is tagged in pretty quickly and he holds him up and slams him back first three times on his knee and he gets a near fall. Bart holds him up in a suplex and Billy is tagged in and he dropkicks the Kid while he is held up in the suplex position. However the Kid fights back and both are down. The ref does not notice the cover and Razor flips Kid on top of him but Billy is able to get his arm up. Razor is tagged in and he unloads on the Gunns. Razor catches Billy in the Razors Edge, slams him down, Razor is taking his sweet time. He makes the tag and the Kid makes the cover but only gets two. Out of nowhere Billy rolls him over for the win. Kid is irate and he attacks both members of the Gunns. He then grabs the belts and Razor runs back in to protect him but Razor makes him give back the belts.

Pretty good for the time they were given. The Gunns did not do too much offensively, and Razor is super over in Winnipeg.

Doc Hendricks is in the back with cardboard cutouts of Bret and Shawn and he is shilling out the cutouts for 25.00 dollars....damn I wish I could buy one!

Match 3: Marty Jannetty v. Goldust

Goldust is in the back whispering about a Hollywood premiere and it will have so much action and he mentions Mr. DeMille, I like the anachronistic Hollywood reference. I am sure the average wrestling fan has no fucking clue. Dustin Rhodes went from a mid to upper carder in WCW to this gimmick for the WWF.....well, he is still doing it today, so who am I to judge. And it is different, not the same old same old. Actually fuck it, it is rather entertaining. This is a really long entrance....and he finally takes off the wig and charges Marty but he gets knocked down and clotheslined to the floor. Goldust limps away and Marty chases him and Goldust turns right into a clothesline. Back in the ring....nope Goldust escapes to regroup. Jim Ross brings up the personal demons that have harmed Jannetty throughout his career. Every time he has been given another opportunity he blew it. Goldust reenters the ring and stares down Marty but backs off and they lock up again and Goldust almost gets a pin via a roll up. Goldust knocks him down, but gets floored with a hurracarana. Now they are glaring at one another again. Goldust shoves him, and in return Marty fires off some blows. Goldust is able to knock him off his feet and then jumps on him. He paintbrushes him, and rubs his face in the mat. Goldust flings him into the corner and rubs his face across the ropes. He follows up with a big elbow drop and only gets a one count. Goldust applies a side headlock and Marty is grounded and Goldust hits him but Marty fights to his feet. Jannetty is nailed with a back body drop and Goldust hammers him in the corner. Goldust throws him through the ropes and he goes after him and bounces his head off the steel steps. Goldust methodically picks Marty apart but allows him to get up to the apron and I spoke too soon as he flips Goldust to the floor and bashes his head on the steps. However, Goldust swings Marty into the post and he drops like a rock. Goldust grabs him, starts throwing rights and lefts, and then suplexes him back into the ring. He gets a two count. He now applies a rear chinlock. Goldust continues the offensive but he leaps at him in the corner but Jannetty wisely moves out of the way. However Goldust counters with a DDT and gets a two count, Marty pops up, takes down Goldust, and climbs to the top and jumps and just lands fine as Goldust moves and Marty knocks him back down for another two count. Jannetty fires off a series of clotheslines along with a snapmare. Once again he climbs up but lands on a boot instead. Goldust can barely lift him in a front suplex, and then he gets the pin.

Fairly slow developing match. Jannetty looks a little large/out of shape and was lethargic at times though he was game and it seems Marty's current run in the WWF might be nearing an end.

They are showing a recap of why Mabel was chosen to take on Yokozuna, as it relates to the beating of the Undertaker.

Match 4: Mabel v. Yokozuna

Cornette is screaming about how Yokozuna is going to take him out while Mr. Fuji just stands and stares. It baffles me that big guys keep getting pushed by the WWF. Yoko is an exception as he had skill but he kept getting bigger and bigger and Mabel, well I am not impressed. Mabel slaps him and Yoko hits back and they start to slug it out and Mabel is knocked to the floor. Mabel is walking around the ring as Yoko patiently waits for him and Mabel gets back in the ring. Yoko is doing something in the corner and they finally start slugging it out again. Mabel ducks a clothesline and Mabel clotheslines Yoko and boy is this slow developing it is like watching a match in slow motion. Anyway Yoko is knocked to the floor, and he is resting. He slowly reenters the ring; Mabel nails him with a running splash and starts kicking him; he does a dance and then flings him to the other corner and charges but Yoko meets him with a clothesline and misses the legdrop and so does Mabel. Mabel is in the corner and Yoko is hammering away. They exchange some headbutts and Mabel goes for a bulldog, but cannot follow through. Yoko wobbles out of the ring anyway. Out on the floor an unsteady Yokozuna falls on Cornette and they are counted out....damn that was the quickest count in history and the fans are pissed. Even Vince says that it was less than stellar and I am sure he is seething on the inside. They get back in the ring and stare one another down as Cornette and Mabel's lackey Moe try to calm them down. But instead they hug....

This was terrible....

They have already advertised the main event for Survivor Series with Bret taking on Diesel....there is no build up here but oh well, or he faces the Bulldog if he wins tonight.

Doc Hendricks is in the ring and introduces Dean Douglas. Shawn is called out and he does not look too good as he suffered a "concussion" ten days ago and wanted to compete tonight but could not. Michaels is looking sad as he stares at the belt and the fans are chanting "no" as they do not want him to give it up. He is still holding it and he reluctantly steps forward and Dean grabs it out of his hand and wraps it around his waist as Shawn just stares in sadness. I am sure many who purchased this PPV were pretty pissed as Shawn was really popular since returning as a face the previous May. It does smack of BS. Of course he was legitimately injured but it is his fault for starting a fight or at least getting involved in one where he was outnumbered, not ten to one most likely, but to the point where he allowed himself to get his ass kicked. Hmmm, a precursor to when Shawn loses his smile. What a puss.

Match 5: Dean Douglas (c) v. Razor Ramon for IC Title

At least we are getting a match. I give Vince credit and Razor is super over. Razor attacks him immediately. He decks Dean who rolls out to collect his thoughts. Back in the ring Razor works on the arm and chest bumps him to the mat. He yanks him back up by the twisted arm continuing to work on it. He picks him by it and slams him to the mat, all the while twisting the arm. Dean is back on the mat and Razor paintbrushes him as he holds on to the arm. Dean escapes but he is back on the mat with his arm being twisted. This is far less entertaining than their last match. Hopefully that will change. Finally Dean gets some offense in and he stomps a hole in him. Dean ducks a clothesline but Razor catches him with a flying cross body and strikes with a fall away slam and Dean is clotheslined to the floor. Dean is up on the apron but gets bounced back out to the floor and Dean is back up and pokes the eyes but gets pasted with a right and he is back on the floor. Razor pulls him up by the hair, and suplexes him back into the ring. Razor starts stomping on him; he then swings him into the corner where he kicks him to the floor. Razor goes after him, grabs a water bottle, and dumps it on him and he rolls him back into the ring. He starts to work on the arm again but Dean fires back only to be caught in an atomic drop. He goes for the Razors Edge but gets back dropped to the floor. Dean goes to the floor and starts punishing Razor's back. Dean goes up top but is caught and chokeslammed and both men are down. Both are up and Dean swings wildly and is blocked and Razor floors him. Dean is set up on the top but pushes Razor away and hits a flying cross body but Razor rolls on top and gets the near fall. Dean is now in control, but he gets caught in a sideslam. The ref makes the count with both their arms around/on top of each other. Also, Dean had his leg outside the ring, but Razor gets the pin, as the ref noticed that Razor had his arm draped over Dean, or it was more clear etc.

This was mediocre as they put on a better match last month. The ending just happened randomly and was typical wrestling over-booking unless they follow up on it...

Bret Hart is introduced and the fans explode. He chases off Lawler who makes an attempt to go after him but Lawler keeps getting chased off again and then again. He will be at the announce table for the main event, as he will be facing the winner of the main event.

Match 6: The British Bulldog v. Diesel (c) for WWF Title

They pan to Hendricks hocking a T-shirt, and you can get a Two Dudes with Attitudes shirt for 20.00 bucks! Hendricks screams at Diesel to get his attention. He asks him how he feels; Diesel responds that he is feeling funky....Um, cool. The fans give him a decent ovation, and he throws a shirt to a lady in the crowd. The bell rings and Diesel just stares at Davey as he yells at the fans. They lock up, and he shoves Davey away, and it happens again. Bulldog kicks him, applies a side headlock, but is swung into the ropes and the Bulldog ducks some forearms. However, he gets dropped, and it happens again but this time he leaps into the arms of Diesel and is bodyslammed. Davey heads out to the floor. He grabs Diesel's legs, tries to wrap them around the post but gets driven into it instead. Back in the ring Bulldog is flung into both corners, gets sammiched with a big clothesline each time. Diesel lands a series of elbows, but Bulldog hits the leg and Diesel tries to catch him again on the run, but Bulldog awkwardly gets behind him. He tries to take him out but Diesel grabs the ropes only to get clotheslined out to the floor where he lands on his feet. Yet he stumbles up to the broadcast table where Bret holds a hand out to steady or stop him. Diesel shoves him and this allows the Bulldog to come from behind and knock him down by going after the legs. Now Bulldog threatens Bret but does focus his attention on Diesel....he was dropkicked to the floor not clotheslined. Anyway they are back in the ring and Bulldog works on the leg. Diesel tries to get free but cannot as Davey starts jumping on the leg. Bulldog starts stomping on the head and now goes back after the leg. He tries to turn over Diesel, but it looks terrible and Bret and Vince try to sell the move. Bret at least is honest as he says that it is not doing much. Diesel is once again knocked to the floor. Cornette jumps on the leg and continues to stomp on it. Bulldog comes out but Diesel fights him off until he is run into the steel steps. There is a Bulldog chant as he works on the leg again, this time back in the ring. He sets him into a half crab at least this looks better than what he attempted before. He now puts him in a full Boston Crab but Diesel will not reach out to the ropes despite being a foot from them! The fans start a Diesel chant as he powers out but Bulldog leaps back onto him and he goes back after the leg and knee. Diesel gets out of the half crab again, but Bulldog hits a legdrop getting a two count and he goes after the leg again. Diesel starts to hammer Bulldog and he gets to his feet but is knocked down again. Bulldog jumps on the leg and starts to work on it again and Diesel is up on his feet and limps after the Bulldog but guess what, he is dropped via his knee again and it is getting worked on again....But Diesel is able to kick the Bulldog out to the floor. They seem lost for a moment until Bulldog grabs the knee and works on it some more. Diesel starts dropping his leg on Davey's head and he gets to his feet but so does Davey and he tries for a suplex but cannot get him up and Diesel reverses it and both are down. They are up and the Bulldog misses a blow and gets back suplexed for his troubles and both are down again. Bulldog is up first and he hammers away and gets a two count. He grabs the legs going for the Sharpshooter. He cinches it in and Bret basically says that it is on incorrectly. Immediately Diesel pushes him off. They are both up and Davey tries to bodyslam him, but Diesel lands on him and gets a two count. Davey has him up for the powerslam but Diesel wiggles free, and right after connects with the big boot. Cornette is on the apron, so Diesel flips him into the ring, Bulldog charges but runs into Cornette who bounces around and flops to the floor. Bulldog is hung up in the ropes and Diesel hobbles over and then jumps on his back. They are on the floor and Diesel gets pushed into the post. Bulldog goes after Bret, who is game, and they start getting after it. Davey and Diesel get DQ'd and now Diesel and Bret are going at it as they exchange blows. Refs come out of the woodwork to try and separate the two.

This match was a mess. Awkward and slow, but the fans did remain pretty hot. It is a shame that we did not get a clear winner as it seems that Diesel has lost some momentum. Bulldog does have to remain strong, and if Hart wins next month, my guess is he will face Bret. It would be odd to not give the Bulldog a rematch, but the one positive of this match with busted spots was that it set up animosity between Bret and Diesel, which needs some serious build going into SS. I guess I am not used to short-builds. I don't mind them if done right, but typically we should get some sort of set up to Bret being the number one contender etc. But we will see what happens. Rumor has it that Vince tore off his headset in disgust after this show, and decided then and there that Hart would become champ. I for one do not blame him as this show was sloppy. The matches did not seem to have heart. HHH put on a good show and the tag title match was okay but other than that it was filled with mediocrity. It is surprising that they did not have Hart wrestle in his home country but at least he got some air time, though he did not say too much on the mic. Also, Douglas blames the Kliq, which was fairly new at this time for him losing the belt so quickly to a fellow Kliq member in Ramon. Shawn has denied this and to be fair Diesel is stripped of the title soon after, but no doubt they do wield some influence if not some power but I am not sure how much as Vince is stubborn. Now, Dean did not even get a chance to run with the belt so he may have a beef here. Also, they said that Shawn would wrestle and he did not so I am sure that angered a few people but at least they picked a suitable replacement. It will be interesting to see where the WWF goes from here as WCW has provided a strong challenge and the WWF product is not that good right now, and if it is true that Vince was pissed off now perhaps some changes for the better will occur.

 

[dukes07]

We are a night after a poorly executed PPV. Like I said in my previous post it will be interesting to see how the WWF responds in the next couple of weeks. WCW is heading into Halloween Havoc, but RAW is still strong in the ratings with a 2.6 to 2.2 victory.

Match 1: 20 Man Battle Royal

The winner of the Battle Royal will get an opportunity to face Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Title. They pan to Sid in the back in a pre-taped interview and he says he is going to be the ruler of the world. Jannetty says he will see Ramon next week....Yankem now comes out to the ring. The bell rings and here we go. King Kong Bundy is already out! So much for nostalgia. Sid is getting pounded on in the corner and Owen is perched on the ropes and struggling to stay alive. Kama is almost gone but stays alive. Aldo Montoya is gone courtesy of Skip. They try to eliminate Bam Bam but to no avail. HHH manages to stay alive by landing on the apron. Owen is getting worked over as is HHH. Vince asks if Owen is out and yet he is not even close to being out! Bob Holly is done for. The Kid and Skip are going at it and Sid kicks the Dumpster to the floor. Skip gets rid of someone, Vince slurred the name, literally. Fatu is eliminated by Kama so any push for him is dead in the water. Jannetty is hanging for dear life. Skip is out courtesy of Horowitz but after the break he is gone, so is the Kid and Godwin. Radford is dumped to the floor and someone else too. Yankem is out thanks to Sid. Jannetty is on the shoulders of Sid but he escapes and Owen escapes the clutches of Vega. Jean Pierre and Vega are going at and Sid is out thanks to Marty. Vega kicks Jean Pierre in the face and he gets double clotheslined. After the break they are down to four as Jean Pierre clotheslined Bigelow to the floor: Vega, Owen, Marty and Jean Pierre are left. Marty and Owen are brawling and Owen has him up as the fans chant Marty over and over. Marty wriggles free and starts pounding on Owen. Vega is trying to toss out Jean Pierre and Owen manages to escape and he goes after Vega but he drops Owen. Pierre has Vega up but he hangs on and Jannetty is in the other corner limping around and holding his arm too. Vega destroys Owen with a spin kick. Vega now turns his sights on Marty but he gets headscissored to the floor, and while it was unnecessary the move was impressive so I was wrong on the lethargic part (I said that about him at the PPV). He then throws Laffite out and now it is he and Owen and tries to throw him over but Owen gets tangled up and collapses back to the mat. He tries to clothesline Owen out but cannot but gets him on the apron and he hammers away at him but Hart is hanging on for dear life and he falls to the apron and he bounces Marty's head off the rope and he nails him with an enzuiguri. He has Jannetty up on the ropes but he flies forward and slams Owen down. Marty is pushed through the middle of the ropes and the fans erupt but also boo Owen. Marty goes after Cornette and the Bulldog runs out and attacks Marty and starts beating the hell out of him. He rolls him back into the ring and Owen takes advantage but Marty comes back only to be tossed over the top. The King interviews him and Owen is excited and he calls himself the best there is, was and ever will be. Lawler loves it.

I am not a fan of Battle Royal's but they can be good, and this one was a good one. It also had a good ending. Sure there was overbooking, but who cares it was still fun. Marty jobbed to Goldust at the PPV but made it to the finals here and he looked pretty good if slower than he used to be. Owen will face Razor Ramon next week.

They go back to last night and the beginning of the feud between Bret Hart and Diesel.


Match 2: Avatar v. Brian Ross

Damn! It is Al Snow and he is wearing some space age outfit and he puts on a mask in the ring and does some karate stance....it may be Brian Wash....I am not trying to be mean but I can barely understand Vince sometimes. Okay it is Brian Walsh! Vince calls a springboard leap a strange maneuver! Anyway Walsh is getting some offense in and hits some clotheslines but Avatar knocks him down with a big clothesline and he hits a series of splashes and finishes him off when he stands on Walsh and flips onto him and gets the win.

A couple of busted spots but it was not too bad but to make Al Snow into a mask wearing karate dude is terrible, and the crowd was dead silent the entire time. Jesus, WWF how about just letting a guy be himself, and not some stupid fucking gimmick. Fucking asinine.

Match 3: Bertha Faye (c) v. Alundra Blayze for WWF Women's Title

The fans react positively for Blayze. WCW has had only a couple of random women's matches since September. It seems that the WWF follows the same pattern by only having a few here and there. Bertha is in control but Alundra leaps on her and almost gets the pin and she attempts a sunset flip but Bertha sits on her for a two count. Bertha is in charge as she snaps Blayze to the mat by her hair and she follows up with a standing boob bounce that knocks her down.

Commercial.

Alundra is now in charge and has her in a crab but Bertha comes back and Blayze flips over onto the apron and waves her over and slaps her in the face and belly. Alundra knocks her down and then connects with a missile dropkick and she gets a two count. Alundra jump on her and gets another two count. She strikes with some weak looking kicks but then whips her into the ropes and she grabs her and throws her to mat. She does it three times but cannot get the pin. Alundra is going to try and pick her up but gets back dropped instead. Bertha bodyslams her and she slowly climbs up to the second rope and gets headscissored off for her troubles. Harvey hops up onto the apron and grabs Alundra; Bertha charges and rams Harvey and Alundra back suplexes her and holds her for the three count. Bertha is pissed and chases poor Harvey off.

Compared to today this match was not too bad but it was far too long and not that exciting.

Jim Ross is with Shawn Michaels. Ross sympathizes with Shawn as he knows he wanted to compete, and was ready to compete, but under doctor's orders could not. Shawn, acting somber, states that he is not the toughest or the most popular in the sport but works so hard. He earned the IC title and there is no shame in getting beat up by nine guys ( I once got in a fight, and got my ass kicked....I swear there were 12 guys and they jumped me from behind. I fended off 11 of them, kick their fucking ass I did! But then the 12 guy had a bat, gun, knife and bazooka. I finally went down after 67 shots to the body and head.). He did not like giving the title to the overrated Dean Douglas, but is thankful that he did not have it for long. He whines about getting beat up again and he has more tests coming up and he hopes to be back in a week or so, and he is booked for the Survivor Series. It is said that Michaels was stoned out of his mind. It was also four to six guys and Sean Waltman and Davey Boy Smith were there but they were too drunk and stoned to do anything about it....

The show started fine but once again fails to impress. While Nitro is hardly better with Hogan running around fighting the Dungeon of Doom, the wrestling there is better and the names are bigger. But it goes to show that the name WWF is still synonymous with pro wrestling, and despite being stale, and even outright boring at times they get decent ratings staying on top of Nitro the past couple of weeks. Also, it is nice to see younger talent get a push. and even despite Avatar wrestling they beat out Sting and Luger and Hogan and Savage and Flair and you have to give the WWF some credit for that!

 

[dukes07]

WCW Monday Nitro 10/23/95
This is the go home show to the big PPV. WCW has had five/six weeks to hype this up, and while I am a bit ambivalent, I have to admit that they have done a decent job in hyping it up. The Giant has been billed as a monster and Flair finally got his partner. Also, while absent last week the Savage/Luger feud is heating up while the Dungeon of Doom thankfully remains an afterthought. Also the Badd/DDP feud has potential. It will be interesting to see what happens and if they can finish of the build to Havoc satisfactorily. The ratings did bump back up to a 2.6so Havoc may have been garnering some interest.

Match 1: Randy Savage v. Kurosawa

Macho Man comes out to quite the ovation. He knocks the stogie right out of Colonel Parker's mouth. Kurosawa takes advantage and attacks. He punishes Savage with kicks, punches and headbutts. Savage is on the mat and he grabs Kurosawa and throws him out of the ring and he comes back in the ring and picks up Savage and back slams him to the mat and gets a two count. Kurosawa is working over the arm and stomps on his head. Savage rakes the eyes, but is chopped in the throat. Savage topples to the floor. Kurosawa slides through the ropes and kicks Savage. Back in the ring Savage practically gets his arm torn out; Kurosawa has him in the corner, and is chopping him to pieces, but Savage comes back with a series of kicks but it does not last long as he gets pounded to the mat and then kicked out of the ring (a bit of overselling there) and Kurosawa tries the slide kick again to no avail and then misses Savage again, Back in the ring Savage drops Kurosawa's neck on the ropes and hits the Flying Elbow for the win.

Savage made Kurosawa look great, well, they both made each look good, but the ending was quite sudden as if they got the memo to end it and do so quickly. Still it makes Savage the perennial come back kid and Kurosawa as a potential threat. I have noticed that Savage will bodyslam someone, take a month heading up top and still connect with the Elbow for the win. A bit anti-climactic.

The lights go out at the arena and a guy looking like Pinhead from Hellraiser is babbling about Satanic nonsense. He mentions Sullivan, and the fans are just confused. This shit is clearly not working for WCW as the fans are not buying it. He is talking about the end of Hogan at Havoc in some strange devil voice. Fuck, I just got dumber if that is even possible.

Gene is with Sullivan and the Giant and there is a block of "ice" and Sullivan says something about the Yeti (God no) and says that Hogan is evil. The Giant mentions the Great White Tiger, and that Hogan is running out of lives and starts cackling. Oh, Hogan is the White Bengal Tiger because Sullivan ripped off its whiskers an obvious metaphor for his mustache. What the fuck am I watching? Is Bischoff channeling his half-assed karate skills, thinking he is Jet Li meets John Woo and trying to put it on TV? Good Zeus.

Gene introduces Hogan as the star of Thunder in Paradise and then as the WCW champ. I thought the show was off the air by then (and it had been for over a year; reruns dammit!). Hogan is in classic form. He fears no evil, or man because he carries all his Hulkamaniacs on his back. If he wants revenge so badly why didn't he come out and go after Sullivan and the Giant when they were out, oh well I do not want to over think it. Hogan is going to get a new Harley built too! He says that his friends have abandoned him, and that he is going to beat Sting, Luger and Savage too. I do not recall anyone saying they abandoned him as they are fighting the Dungeon of Doom, and even got chokeslammed by the Giant numerous times, they just want the title. He also goes on about being the man in black (Johnny Cash baby) and the black may remain after beating the Giant, and the new evil Hogan will take out all comers (an early premonition, though obviously there was little thought to a heel turn especially at this juncture).

Match 2: Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko v. Eddie Guerrero and Alex Wright

Alex Wright is injured (He is down there though) and so it is JL who is taking his place. Eddie and Benoit are shoving one another, getting in each others grill. Benoit and Eddie lock up and Eddie takes him down and goes after the ankle and leg and now the arm. He applies a headlock and Benoit tags in Malenko and they both take down Guerrero. Out goes Eddie, and Dean holds Eddie. Benoit flies out, and Eddie moves, and then Guerrero throws JL on top of both. Eddie and Malenko are in. They go back and forth until Eddie hits a drop kick and a spinning backbreaker. He tags in JL who gets tossed onto Dean. They show Scott Norton and Norton fighting in the back due to some thing that happened six weeks ago(I vaguely recollect but I do not really care). Benoit is taking on JL and working him over and tags in Malenko and he applies an ab stretch. Dean swings JL into the corner following him with a clothesline and then a power slam. Benoit is tagged in and nails JL with a big back suplex, and Eddie makes the save and promptly gets tossed out. Benoit gets a close fall and tags in Dean who bounces off the ropes and lands a leg drop. Benoit is in and boots JL in the head and lands a series of chops and lifted the poor guy in a suplex and dropped him front first on the ropes. JL climbs to the top and Dean holds him and for some reason the ref is distracted by Eddie and this allows Benoit to hit a nice superplex for a two count. Dean is tagged in and goes for a backslide but JL wins the battle getting a two count. The two then collide and both are down. Eddie gets the hot tag, takes down both Dean and Benoit. He just leaps off the top and has both men's arms and slams them to the mat (damn) now all are in the ring. Benoit and Eddie brawl on the floor, and Dean has JL up, but gets tripped by Alex's crutch and JL rolls him up for the win.

Great match. There were missed spots but in a fast paced match that is to be expected. Pillman runs out and DDT's Eddie on the concrete and then leaves.

Match 3: Harlem Heat v. Sting and Lex Luger

I loved the tiny pyro that Harlem Heat got it sounded like a couple of pea shooters going off, and Heat sold it just fine, acting like it was huge. The four square off pushing and jawing at one another. Sting and Booker start off. Booker kicks Sting and hammers him to the mat and hits a shoulder block but Sting comes back with a dropkick and a hip toss outside. Sting rolls him back into the ring and connects with a big back drop and he tags in Luger. After commercial it is now Ray working over Luger and he tags Booker who nails him with a dropkick, and gets a two count. Sting just comes in and rakes the eyes and Booker books to his corner and tags in Ray. Luger comes back but only briefly and Booker is choking him in the corner and Sting is irate but this just distracts the ref. Luger is on the mat with Booker's boot to his throat and he hits his patented spin kick, and Sherri is kissing Polaroids of her and Col. Parker. Ray is now in and has a rear chinlock applied. Luger starts rising up but falls right back to the mat. Ray picks him up striking with a sidewalk slam. Booker is tagged and flips from the top rope, but misses, and Luger makes the hot tag and Sting goes nuts. He starts nailing both with Stinger Splash, and goes for the Death Lock on Booker. Ray breaks it up and Luger comes in, and gets punished with a double suplex, but Sting leaps from the top and hits Booker with a clothesline and the pin.

And here comes Sullivan and the Giant and the latter snags poor Luger and chokeslams him. Sting seemed to be just standing there, and now he gets the same treatment. Here comes Savage who takes down Sullivan and the fans go nuts as he squares off with the Giant. But Hogan comes down and tells Savage to leave. Savage reluctantly backs off. Hogan blocks a punch from the Giant, and hits the Giant to no effect. Savage cheers on Hogan as he Hulks up and starts landing more effective blows; he rams the Giant's head into the turnbuckle. Out comes the Dungeon of Doom (and Doug Dillinger with a billy club! And does nothing with it as he just stands there.) Savage gets involved and they clear the ring of the others. The Giant just wobbles, and Hogan attacks him again trying to take him down. However a rumbling starts and Heenan up and runs, the "ice" breaks and some creature comes out and the show ends.

A pretty good going home show. The matches were better this week as well as storyline heavy. I notice Bischoff keeps saying he does not like the "new" Hogan. Also if Hogan was bad mouthing his former friends then why did Savage help? Oh well, maybe they want to prove that they are with the Hulkster. The block of ice storyline is childish and pointless, no one is going to believe a Yeti was truly found and it is as if they are looking for someone else for Hogan to feud with after the Giant. Okay, it not just childish it is FUCKING STUPID. I do like Hogan's more "edgy" attitude, and the ending was solidly old school, minus the Yeti crap. So all in all a really solid show.

 

[dukes07]

The build to this PPV has been middling to solid. However, while they have announced matches, little has been done to hype up much more than the main event. Luger and Savage may have to fight if each wins their match, and that stipulation all but guarantees that will happen. Saturday Night discusses more matches especially the mid-card matches as that show is more for angle advancement as well as recaps of Nitro. However it is still a far cry from today where all the matches are continually hyped with video packages, and each match is consistently shown through replays and everything under the sun, as most shows seem to be recaps nowadays. In 1995 the focus seems to be more on the main event, and the matches surrounding it. WCW did a good job in hyping up the main event as well as playing Luger and Savage off of one another, and to a lesser extent Arn and Flair (which I am assuming will be a match). They even gave Badd and DDP a small segment on Nitro to anticipate their upcoming match. I do not agree with this method, but then again Nitro is only one hour and used more for the upper card and Saturday Night, as stated earlier is the the workhorse and I am sure that will change when Nitro turns to two and then three hours. I am no fan of the Dungeon of Doom and I believe this angle is one of the worst in modern wrestling history, something out of the late 80s/90s at best, but at the same time the main event has me intrigued. I am interested to see how it will turn out, and I am even curious about the Monster Truck pull or race or whatever it is. But then again there is that "yeti" creature that could derail all.....

Schiavone and Heenan let us know that the Monster Trucks are on the roof next door and revving their engines at one another, oh the gimmick to end all gimmicks. Also, Pillman and AA beat up Ric Flair.

Match 1: Johnny B. Badd v. DDP (c) for TV Title

DDP looks like something straight out of a bad "B" movie and some fans are even throwing things at him. DDP has Badd's confetti gun and shoots it into the crowd. Badd comes into the arena. He is backing up towards the ring, and the real Badd comes out of the crowd and attacks DDP from behind. Badd is destroying DDP and he beats up both Muscle and DDP on the floor and swings DDP into the rail, placing a random bucket on his head and pushes him into the post. Back in the ring Badd works over the arm (Hogan and the Giant were told to get out of their trucks and wait until the proper time, I love wrestling, it is like the Old West and setting up a duel at sundown. At least they keep up the facade by saying there are police on the roof.). Badd is still working over the arm and DDP gets his nice curls pulled too. DDP escapes but gets caught in a hip toss and a two count. DDP is in control and puts the boots to Badd. He drives his shoulder into him in the corner, and Badd slumps back to the mat. DDP gets a two count. DDP hits a back suplex and asks for a number (I find it funny that Kimberly scores his moves.) and a fan flips off DDP! DDP pancakes Badd and gets a two count then applies a chinlock. Badd gets up and gets slammed back down to the mat and gets another two count and reapplies chinlock. Badd comes back with a back slide and a near fall and he attempts a sunset flip but DDP drops on him for his own two count. DDP's back in control and bodyslams Badd for a two count and goes right back to the chinlock. Badd gets up but with the help of Muscle, DDP chucks him back to the mat and gets a two count and he drops an elbow on him. Muscle distracts the ref, and DDP grabs tape and chokes the life out of Badd. He continues the hold on Badd (chinlock). Kimberly does not like DDP's cheatin' ways. Badd powers out again, and hits a back suplex. Both are down and DDP is up and attempts a blow, but gets one in the belly instead. Badd connects with an inverted atomic drop and then a regular one and now a head scissors. Badd strikes DDP on the head with a double ax and Kimberly gives Badd a "10" and Badd gets a two count and now nails him with a powerbomb and hold him down but only gets a two count (landed on DDP's arm looked like it could have hurt). DDP comes back with the Diamond Dream, and goes for the Diamond Cutter to no avail. Now Badd has DDP in the corner and climbs up and decks DDP and then DDP pushes him off but gets knocked to the floor and Badd connects with the Badd Day and back in the ring finishes the move by coming off the ropes, but only gets a two count. Muscles grabs his hair, and DDP goes to hit Badd, but he moves and DDP stops and gets rolled up for another near fall. Badd is outside the ring; he pushes Muscle towards the post, but he stops his momentum, and gets on the apron. DDP holds Badd and Muscle moves in to slug Badd, but he moves and DDP gets it instead and Badd goes for the pin and he gets the win and the TV Title.

Pretty damn good match. Both men made each other look good. There was some downtime but for a twenty minute match that is to be expected, and both sold quite well. The ending chicanery with Muscle getting involved got tiresome as DDP got very little offense in the final few minutes, the ending could have been better but it is fitting for the heel to lose due to his "cheating" backfiring.

More on the Monster Truck thingy tonight, the goal is to push the other truck out of the circle that is 100 feet in diameter.

Match 2: Zodiac v. Macho Man Randy Savage

Hopefully this marks the end of the Dungeon of Doom, there is only so much that I can take. Macho grabs a hot girl and hugs her, nice job dude. Savage does not mess around and takes it right to Brutus Beefcake I mean Zodiac, and a dude in a gray wifebeater comes into the ring. I thought it was a girl but it was dude that looked like a lady. The ref stopped him and Savage just took Zodiac out of the ring. Zodiac's only offense was hitting Savage when he went for the double ax, and Zodiac missed with a splash from the top and Savage finishes him off with the Flying Elbow for the win.

I guess Kamala was supposed to face Savage and Heenan stated he was too scared to face him and Savage probably beat him up. It was essentially a squash match but with the bonus of a freak charging the ring. Kamala no showed the event as he was not offered a contract, but rather paid per appearance. No wonder Heenan made fun of him despite being a heel. I am also sure that even Kamala was bitter about the route his career went: Dungeon of Doom or unemployment? Can't say I really blame him.

Mean Gene is all excited that he won the TV title and Gene wants to hang out in the Greek district with Badd, and Badd will buy him dinner.

Match 3: Kurosawa v. Hawk

It is a shame what happened to Hawk, the drugs etc. He and Animal always leaving a promotion before too long, sometimes just as they got really big and then Hawk going it alone for awhile. He did recover and start getting his life back together before he died though. Hawk just wails on Kurosawa and the only move he has gotten is moving out of the way for Hawk's head to hit the post, which he no selled. Col. Parker grabs Hawk's ankle and Kurosawa is able to take him to the mat but he misses from the top. Kurosawa gets clotheslined out of the ring and Hawk leaps out after him and lands on Parker and that allows Kurosawa to get some extended offense in. He puts him in a fireman's carry and slams him to the mat and goes for the pin and Parker holds his leg to the rope for leverage and he picks up the win.

I was surprised by the outcome especially after he got his arm "broken" by Kurosawa. Not a long match nor technically proficient but still fast paced and fun. It does make sense to put Kurosawa over because Hawk had to take time off due to his arm actually being injured.

Gene is with Savage (Luger got the raw end here, he has to take on Meng and Savage got Zodiac). Savage reminds Hogan that they are friends but he could still defeat him. He and Gene trade some barbs, and then he states how excited he is for the Monster Truck match or pull or whatever it is.

Match 4: JL v. Sabu

Sabu has some fans here and he enters the ring and promptly gets kicked right out of it. He recovers and moonsaults from the apron nailing JL as well the Sheik who came to ringside with him. JL returns the favor by jumping from the top and nailing him. Back in the ring Sabu misses a reverse moonsault, and JL connects with a blow, as Sabu just stood there. JL hits him with a powerbomb and gets a two count. Now Sabu is in charge and climbs to the top, but is caught and back suplexed off and JL holds him for the pin but gets a two count. JL climbs up and Sabu catches him and connects with a frankensteiner from the top and gets a two count. JL comes back but only briefly as Sabu springboards off the ropes and lands on JL for the pin. Sheik then throws a ball of fire into the face of JL...

Some busted spots and they each kept climbing up to the top rope and got caught nearly every time. Yet it was still a good match, not too long, or they would kill one another but still really good for the time they got.

The freak show creature that is supposedly the Puppetmaster is with Kevin Sullivan and he keeps yelling his name and Sullivan is right beside staring straight ahead. He is just screaming nonsense, about the Milky Way and that in China and in other places it is another day, oh and he keeps screeching Sullivan and that there will be a total eclipse and that Sullivan will walk on galaxies, and destroy Hulkamania around the globe. Sullivan now mentions the evil inside Hogan and that he can do nothing about the Monster Truck and he has no friends as they are just vultures (meaning Luger, Sting and Savage). Meanwhile the fans are just giving him X Pac heat. I am really wondering how Schiavone and Heenan are not laughing their asses off. Schiavone brings up the Yeti and pronounces it oddly and how it is the Taskmaster's insurance policy tonight against Hogan. He pronounced it Yete, and yes Schiavone we get it, you like to pretend you went to some fancy Ivy League school.

Match 5: Meng v. Lex Luger

Not only did Savage get an easier match he also gets more rest, so I wonder how that will play into their match tonight as I am assuming the two will wrestle tonight. Schiavone and Heenan wonder if Luger is in cahoots with the Dungeon of Doom. It really would not surprise me if WCW pulled those shenanigans as it would not really make sense. Luger comes out to a mild reaction from the crowd. He attacks Meng right away, but Meng comes back until Luger awkwardly reverses an Irish Whip, but he gets caught and rolled up for a two count. Meng is pounding on Luger and charges Luger in the corner but runs into a boot and Luger clotheslines him out of the ring. Luger comes out and starts pushing him into the post and then rolls him back into the ring. Meng comes back and connects with kicks and punches. Meng bites Luger and he drops like a rock to the mat but Luger blocks a punch and and punches Meng instead. Luger goes for a back suplex and Meng managed to land on top of Luger for a two count, Meng picks up Luger like a rag doll and drops the shoulder onto his knee. Meng is putting the boots to Luger and choking him with it too. Meng slowly piledrives Luger, gets a two count, and he starts to choke Luger in frustration before applying a rear chinlock. Luger gets up and swings his elbows into Meng and both go off the ropes and cross body one another but Luger is on top and gets a two count. Meng is up first and strikes with a back suplex, and he now gets a two count. He tosses Luger to the floor, and Sullivan is talking to him thus furthering the speculation. Luger climbs back into the ring, and is met by Meng's boots. Meng continues the onslaught. But Luger grabs the ropes and Meng misses the dropkick. Meng gets knocked to the apron and Luger suplexes Meng back into the ring and both are down and Meng gets up but Luger now comes at him with a series of clotheslines and knocks him down with the third. He hits a back body drop along with some more clothelines, and then a scoop slam. Meng grabs his weapon and wallops Luger with it and goes for the pin and Sullivan comes in and taps Meng with his boot and Meng gets DQ'd.

This match went on far too long. Even Schiavone and Heenan were bored. Not a terrible match but it should have lasted only half the time though they are going to play off how worn out Luger is and whether or not he is with the Dungeon or if Sullivan just wants to get in the head of Hogan, and keep his friends going at one another which is my "educated" guess. At least WCW is perpetuating some suspense.

Mean Gene is with the Giant who is wearing powder blue coveralls. After Gene hypes up the event the Giant grabs the mic and the Giant is basically saying he is going to chokeslam Hogan and take the belt after beating his Monster Truck.

Match 6: Arn Anderson and Flyin' Brian v. Sting and Ric Flair

They call out Flair first, but it is just Sting who comes out solo. Sting and AA start off. AA applies a hammerlock and Sting reverses it and the fans chant "We want Flair." AA puts him into a full nelson and Sting kicks Pillman and drops down and out goes AA who is not happy out on the floor. Arn is back in the ring and he connects with a shoulder block but Sting comes back and takes him down and Pillman comes in and he receives the same treatment and they skedaddle from the ring to regroup. Pillman is in, and he slaps Sting; he then rolls out of the ring to try and bait him, but Sting does not fall for it and takes both down. Pillman wants to shake his hand, instead he gets a kick to the gut and a huge gorilla press slam. Pillman is wallowing in the corner and AA reluctantly enters the ring. AA kicks him and hits a series of ax handles but Sting comes back with a slingshot and it is right into Pillman who was on the top rope and then Sting launches him into the rail. AA is getting pounded again but he moves out of the way and Sting's noggin collides with Pillman. AA finally gets some extended offense in, well no as here comes Flair, and he goes straight after Arn, as the ref tries to hold him back. Meanwhile Sting is out on the floor with Pillman who is finally getting some extended offense in. The fans are electric as Flair finally arrives. Arn is in the ring with Sting and he steps on him and bounces his head off the turnbuckle and tags in Pillman and Sting comes right back and hits him but Brian is able to drop him and tags in Arn who applies a chinlock and the fans continue the "We Want Flair" chant. Pillman is tagged he climbs to the top and Arn picks him up and tosses him onto Sting who raises his knees. Arn manages to stop him from making a tag with a back suplex. AA gets a two count and he jumps up but Sting puts the knees up again. Sting attempts the tag but Brian goes over to Flair and he chases Pillman around the ring and AA puts Sting in an ab stretch in the ring and tags in Pillman. Brian grabs his head and slams it into the mat and now bites him and connects with a bunch of punches. Sting is stuck in a half Boston Crab and AA is tagged in and connects with a boot and Pillman is back in and he goes for three straight pins to no avail. They are double teaming Sting and Flair runs in bu the ref says no way and sends Flair back to his corner and the punishment continues. AA and Brian are working on the knee of Sting. Arn continues working on the knee as Flair and Sting cry out to one another. He wraps his arms around the belly of Sting and squeezes but Sting is able to power out but AA tags in Pillman and he cuts Sting off. Sting comes back with a flurry and knocks AA's and Pillman's heads together. Sting and Pillman are down. Sting gets up first and tags in Flair. Arn is also tagged in....And Flair turns and assaults Sting. Sting is pissed and fights back but it does not last too long. Some fans are really happy about the swerve, but it was also a bit too obvious. Flair works great as a face but is better as a heel, however they should have played this out a bit further because it seemed rushed. They must have known Sting would partner with Flair. Anyway Flair has the mic and says the Horseman are back together and rambles on but does not say why he did it. Arn said something about being careful what you wish for as the Horsemen are back even though there are only three. Schiavone is wondering if the whole thing including the match at Fall Brawl was a swerve. Well of course it was....

The match went back and forth but Pillman was not able to display very much, as he still does not get much offense in. Arn is just a workhorse, once again the match was overly long but like the Luger one before it they wanted to tease it out and go for the hot tag and then the betrayal.

Mike Tenay, not looking much different than he does today, is with Luger in the back discussing the "perplexing" situation with the he and the Dungeon of Doom. Luger says it is perplexing too, such as why Sting wants he and Savage to wrestle. I am rather perplexed too. Luger is going to go through Savage and he will be the champ soon.

Heenan wants Hogan knocked off the roof into the Detroit River as he wants to see a new champion (I am sure a lot of people do). They recap the Giant/Hogan feud and they have shown Hogan getting destroyed by the Giant and I think he enters an actual Dungeon like Luke entering the cave during Empire Strikes Back. I hope I am wrong as this is like a really bad cartoon. It is clear that with the months of punishment at the hands of the Giant that Hogan most likely will win unless there is some sort of tomfoolery to continue the feud. Bischoff has Bob Chandler who made the Monster Trucks and they discuss how big they are, 1000 pound tires, 3000 horses etc.

They pan to the roof and the Giant and Hogan are yelling at one another. Hogan blurts out that he does not know the rules. Some little dude explains (Chandler I think) that the entire truck has to exit the circle and that there are some explosives rigged too. I predict a disaster here, this has terrible written all over it. The Giant and Hogan do some more shoving and finally head to their respective vehicle. The two trucks are welded together and Chandler says that if the charges go off near the gas tank they are dead. Nice dramatic touch there. It is a Sumo Monster Truck match and they are going back and forth, and Chandler is funny as Heenan wonders if they have helmets or seatbelts, he assures Heenan they have seatbelts and that they will be fine unless they fall off the roof! I have no idea what is going on as they try and push back and forth and the Giant has him and one of the charges goes off and it was weak, and clearly the Giant let off the gas. All of a sudden Hogan's truck just pushes the Giant's across the line for the win.

The Giant is pissed and gets out of the truck and goes after Hogan who is standing right by the edge. They exchange some blows and then the Giant picks up Hogan by the neck. The best part is that Bischoff all of a sudden says there is not enough security out there, so they could have fought earlier instead of gone through this, but they also stated there was police up there earlier, what a mess. Hogan gets out of the chokehold and the Giant falls off the roof. Hogan screams for help and there was still no security around. So his mortal enemy the Giant, who tried to "kill" him earlier by ripping off his neck and now Hogan is concerned, all of a sudden it got "real" it was not real before because it was fake but now it is real when in fact the whole audience is supposed to buy into the fact that it is real. Now I am confusing myself because I am not sure what WCW wanted to accomplish with this, is he going to be resurrected by the Dungeon of Doom's Puppetmaster dude?

Anyway they pan back to EB, Heenan and Chandler: Chandler just looks baffled and they are trying to play it like it is real, the fake just got real! They act all sad as security is now finally arriving, and Bischoff is trying to get more answers and then says that they need to go to the next match. Essentially someone is dead, fuck it, one minute later let's wrestle and asks Heenan if he is able to can go join Schiavone!

Back at the announce table Schiavone says the greatest thing ever:"We may not have a world title match tonight!" Good shit!

Match 7: Lex Luger v. Randy Savage

Heenan and Schiavone allow the Giant incident to overshadow this match as they ramble on. Luger puts his hand out and Savage gives him a kick instead. Luger though comes right back with a series of blows, and is dominating the match so far as he kicks Savage around the mat. Jimmy Hart comes down to watch from ringside. Luger is choking Savage with the rope but Savage comes back with blows to the gut until he gets a rake to the eyes and knocks Savage to the floor. Luger comes off the arpon and nails Savage with an ax handle and his head goes into the rail. Savage makes his comeback and bashes Luger into the rail. Back in the ring Savage goes up top and goes for the ax handle but is met with a punch to the gut. Hart gets on top of the apron and is talking to the ref meanwhile Savage and Luger go about their business. Luger attempts a pin, but his legs are on the ropes, and the ref is still talking to Hart and Savage reverses an Irish whip and Luger runs into Hart and goes down and Savage hits the Flying Elbow for the win.

The match was short and just subpar at best. It was completely overshadowed by the Giant garbage. Heenan tweaking as he leaves to see what happened and comes right back still tweaking. Back to the match Luger was booed more than he was cheered, and the set up for the elbow drop was rather abrupt. Luger is not great in the ring, but the match needed more time and did not need the theatrics undermining it.

Match 8: The Giant v. Hulk Hogan (c) for WCW Title

Heenan is still freaking out about what happened to the Giant, though I will admit that he and Schiavone do a decent job staying in character. Michael Buffer is in the ring and calls down the Giant but instead a somber and sad Hogan comes down and once he enters the ring has them cut his music. He states that was not supposed to go down like that. He is also sorry. And then the Giant comes out and Hogan looks stunned and wisely gets the hell out of the ring as the Giant holds the ropes for him taunting him to come on back in. The bell rings. Hogan takes off his bandanna. He has some stupid devil horns painted on his forehead. He is ready and goes after the Giant with a series of blows that just stagger him slightly. He goes for the slam, and the Giant just decks him and now the Giant is beating him down. Giant is nailing Hogan with big chops in the corner, and is now choking him with has hands and boot. Test of strength as the Giant has Hogan on the mat and Hulk tries to rise up but gets put back down. Hogan comes alive and gets up and the Giant boots him and the Giant is trying to do something but ends up being tangled up with Hogan and finally gets him to the ropes and a bodyslam, Giant drops an elbow but nobody is home. Hogan runs his head pillar to post and then jumps on the turnbuckle and nails the Giant with a series of fists. Hogan staggers the big man with a group of clotheslines, and finally does so out of the ring. Sullivan grabs him and they walk away; Hogan grabs him and tosses the Giant back in the ring and starts nailing him with his fists. Giant grabs Hulk for the chokeslam and then Hogan rakes the eyes but he comes right back with a backbreaker and he gets a two count. Giant has Hogan in a Bear Hug and he is fading and he tries to come back a few times but gets shut down each down. Hogan gets out and pounds on the Giant and he runs at him only to be chokeslammed. The Giant takes an hour to pin him and Hogan promptly Hulks up. Hogan is not moving too well as he decks the Giant and hits him with the big boot and the Giant is wobbling and he picks up the Giant and bodyslams him! He hits the Leg Drop, and as he goes for the pin, Hart decks the referee. He then smashes Hulk with the belt, and this allows the Giant to reapply the Bear Hug. Luger and Savage run down and Savage stupidly bypasses Hart (take him out first) and feebly attacks the Giant, and so Hart wallops him with the belt, and Luger puts the boots to him. Oh boy, here come the Yeti and he enters the ring and makes Hogan the meat in a Yeti/Giant sammwich but he has his arms wrapped around the neck of the Giant, and honestly looks like he is humping Hogan and doing absolutely nothing that looks like it would take him down or harm him in anyway. He is essentially, barely holding onto Hogan and dry humping the shit out of him. Terrible. Luger puts Hogan in the Torture Rack and many of the fans are cheering. Now it is Savage's turn to be in the Torture Rack. Hogan loses by DQ but the belt does not change hands; somehow the ref knew he was hit by Hart but oh well and the fans start throwing some garbage in the ring. I forgot Jimmy shoved the referee again so that it is what caused the DQ. The attendants enter the ring to attend to Hogan who is rolling about on the mat. But he slowly gets up and is checking on Savage as the heels leave the ring. So I guess we will see if Luger is just sick of their shit or already turned heel. Or is under some sort of stupid ass spell.

For being his first time in the ring the Giant was not bad and they did what they could. But the match was not too long. The ending was rather obvious. It is interesting to see the changes in the mid-90s from earlier in the decade, Hogan would have a heel built up and then defeat him at the PPV. Now, they build it up and continue it for a couple of PPV's which is the much wiser course, and so I wonder where they will take this. You clearly don't want the Giant jobbed yet and that is a good thing (remember Austin v. Show in 99 WWF?). The entire angle with the Giant falling off the roof was just plain silly, nothing else needs to be said about that! The Puppetmaster brought him back or some shit....and the same with the Yeti, just asinine. The PPV was not really that long and some of the matches could clearly have been longer. Overall it was better than Fall Brawl due to that even more terrible main event, and mediocre earlier matches. Yet the Dungeon of Doom storyline looms large and continues to hold WCW back. I like the Hogan in black character and Savage is great as always. I am still a tad baffled as to why Flair turned so quickly but oh well. No point in teasing it out I guess. Where else would they go? They have a PPV match and bam, turn him and now have him feud with Sting. The Badd and DDP feud has potential too. We will see where WCW goes after this but it needs to stop with the Saturday Morning Cartoon crap that hurts the product. Heenan put it best: "You will never see another PPV like this again." And I really hope not, especially the stupid theatrics. On the plus side Heenan was really good and funny and did a great job. His jokes were actually funny. Ultimately there was a lot going on, and this is clearly the hallmark of WCW and I am wondering if it will continue and haunt WCW in the long run. As they have a lot doing, but not enough substance. Some angles start and end with little to no build or even a solid payoff.

 

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It is clear that WCW is desperately striving for attention with the Giant "falling" off the roof. They are also striving to make him a credible threat to Hogan who has defeated everyone for over a decade. Now Hogan is fighting someone who died but was brought back! It probably irks me a bit more because I am a bit older, and therefore struggle when stupid shit like this happens. I try to suspend my disbelief and go along with the ride but when you have creatures of the night running around saying stupid shit, it is really difficult to do so. Then you have some sort of Yete in Schiavone speak humping the shit out of Hogan at the end just being the icing on the turd cake. WCW can succeed in this without resorting to gimmicks and by taking away from the other matches. Some matches were unnecessarily short changed, and it makes other storylines seem secondary rather than leading up to the main event they are just time consuming fillers and often over booked to boot. Luger did not need to switch allegiances, why did Sting yell at him earlier, did he know something, not trust him? Why am I over analyzing it, as it is probably something more simple, perhaps? A lot of why questions and hopefully we start getting some answers. The rating dropped down to 2.3 but is still staying in the 2.0-2.5 range that Nitro has been in. RAW only received a 2.1, so both continue to fluctuate but still remain relatively consistent in the 2's as they go back and forth.

The good news is that McMichael was not at the PPV and while Heenan was hyping up tonight Bischoff kind of rolled his eyes at McMichael just wanting Heenan to move it along. Don't roll your eyes at a legend you two bit fuck! Okay....it was probably part of the show.

Match 1: Craig Pittman v. Eddie Guerrero

Pittman takes control early. Pittman will not be around much longer as he will be relegated to the mid-card soon after and will only be used sporadically the next year before leaving WCW. After his feud with Cobra it really is no loss and the Marine gimmick (though real) is silly. Anyway Pittman has maintained the momentum as he is working over Eddie's arm. Pittman awkwardly knocks him down, continuing to work on the arm. He strikes with a gut wrench suplex and gets a two count, and goes right back after Eddie's arm. Eddie comes back with a springboard cross body for a two count, but Pittman comes right back and retakes the initiative. Eddie though is able to roll him up for the win.

Pittman is pretty limited and this match showed it. He is not quite a jobber yet as he had been in a few PPV's this year and the victory for Eddie helps elevate him and while he did not look too great doing it, Pittman was still being built as a strong opponent.

Match 2: Shark v. Scott Norton

They go all the way back to September 11 when Shark interfered in Norton's match against Savage, and it took Norton six weeks to get revenge by attacking Shark in the locker room, and now they are finally having a match, I am sure most had forgotten about the incident as I know I did. The two are going back and forth but Norton picks up Shark quite easily and bodyslams him getting a two count. Both men connect with a double clothesline and now both are down. They pan to Heenan eating a catered meal with wine speaking with an Asian gentleman (Sonny Onoo?). Meanwhile Shark is beating down Norton on the floor but Norton comes back and pushes him into the rail. The bell rings and it is a double count out. The two do not care as they are ramming each other's head into the WCW sign.

They did what they could. Shark can move for a big man but nothing great and Norton can too but the feud will not sell any tickets. Still, I enjoyed the brawl and that is all one can ask for.

Heenan is making some sort of deal as he collects money from said gentleman.

Schiavone is in the ring and showing pictures of last night's match between Flair and Sting v. AA and Pillman and how Flair betrayed Sting. The fans still cheer Flair. The three come to the ring. Pillman is all excited and now that there are three; the Four Horsemen are nearly complete. Arn praises Sting for sticking it out against the Horsemen. Flair's turn now, and he is all fired up and all Four will be in town next week Woooo!

Match 3: Sabu v. Disco Inferno

Before they announce the match, next week will be run by the fans and there will be two separate locker rooms: Blue and Red. Apparently the fans will be able to vote, or have some sort of interaction next week (not much advertising time and it will be interesting to see how they pull it off in the pre-Internet days). Then again, those watching this week will probably tune in next week. Some of the fans are dancing to Disco's music, and it is quite frightening. To the match: Disco has owned Sabu for the most part, tossing him around the ring and hammering away on him. The fans start chanting Sabu, and he makes a comeback. Sabu somersaults over the rope and lands on Disco, and he gets the three count. He throws Disco out to the floor and Disco starts his dance and Sabu leap frogs on top of him. Sabu comes back out and throws a table onto Disco as he wobbled up the ramp. He lays Disco on the table and leaps but Disco wisely moves and Sabu breaks his back on the table.

Disco is officially comic relief and never will be more. He looked fine during the early part of the match but they guy is a joke, and while he is meant to be, he will never be able to break free of Disco Inferno even if he wanted to (well he gets paid good money at least). Sabu busts a lot of spots but no doubt he is a solid worker and he is really over. Is he going anywhere here?

Match 4: Lex Luger and Meng v. American Males

I guess the Males lost the tag titles somewhere along the way. Shit I forgot they held the titles already....But, but I love the quasi-gay porn intro and suggestive poses (not that there's anything wrong with that). Luger betrayed Sting and Savage, and Hart betrayed Hogan.....come on WCW, far too much is going on. The Males have dominated so far but Luger starts kicking Riggs but Riggs comes right back and wails away but cannot put him down. Luger and Riggs foul up a simple back body drop and EB and Heenan try to cover it up by saying it was a great move. Jesus. Meng interferes and they are back in control as Luger destroys Riggs. Meng continues what Luger started by stomping on Riggs. Luger is tagged in and jumps off the second rope nailing Riggs. Riggs is just being destroyed here as he gets decleated by a big clothesline. Meng is in now, and he smacks him around some more but misses a somersault splash; Riggs is able to make the tag and Bagwell starts punishing Luger, who was tagged in, with a series of shots and a big back body drop. Bagwell has Luger for the pin, but Hart has the ref distracted and somehow he did not see Meng come in and kick the crap out of both Males. Luger picks up Bagwell in the Torture Rack and gets the win. Oh and the crowd was clearly on the side of Luger.

Another short match, not much you can do for one hour. The Males did not look bad and they got the hot tag and they lost due to shenanigans, which is starting to become the norm. Hopefully they will not over do it.

They go to footage of the Hogan and Giant match at Havoc. Oh boy the Yeti! I have no idea what he is doing to Hogan but whatever it is it is clearly ineffectual, what a travesty that thing is. Schiavone is with the Giant, Sullivan, Hart and Luger. Hart has been the evil in the heart of Hogan, and Hogan is part of the past, and those in the ring are the future. Luger is making fun of Hogan, and the Giant is not going to give up the belt(Can't remember if I said something but he took the belt at Havoc, I am pretty sure, I was busy staring at the Yeti in all its epic gloriousness) and will defend it on Monday and it is an open challenge for next week on Nitro. Meanwhile Hart is running around in the ring, literally, just running in circles.

The fan interaction is done over the phone. How quaint! I am going to whip out my rotary phone! I wonder if the fans will be charged money....We will see how it turns out. Mostly tonight just was about the fallout that happened at Havoc. In fact none of the main players did much, the Three Horsemen gave a quick promo and so did the Giant and Luger did get a match but other than that this was the least "star studded" Nitro yet. This is not a bad thing, as Eddie Guerrero and Sabu looked good. WCW just needs to follow up with them. The main angles were still continued, and no Dungeon of Doom BS, well minus the nonsensical interviews, but if there is a downside the matches were short and mediocre at best.

 

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Last week was lackluster. The Battle Royal was fun but nothing of note occurred after. The interview with Shawn was typical, at the same time self-deprecating but arrogant at the same time. Obviously my dislike of Shawn at this time clouds my judgement a bit, but I am not going to sugarcoat my likes and dislikes. Hopefully the WWF can get something going here as nothing was set up for Survivor Series. They had some teams named but nothing about why they are fighting. I am sure like WCW, a lot is announced on Superstars rather than RAW, and hopefully this will change if that is the case. Nitro retook the lead with a 2.5 to 2.2 win, it was the night after Havoc and the ratings are staying in the mid to low 2's probably because neither are putting on that great of a show but also because of Monday Night Football.

Match 1: Savio Vega v. Goldust

They hyped up the network premiere of Goldust last week and it is mentioned again tonight. Goldust's entrance is long, and Vince brings up the network premiere for the fourth time in less than two minutes. Goldust assaults Vega while he was posing as Vega was lulled to complacency. Goldust starts ramming him shoulder first into the corner. But Vega fights back knocking him down with a swinging elbow. He goes for a dropkick but nobody is home as Goldust grabs the ropes. He grabs Vega and throws him into the post and starts to work on the shoulder. Jesus, Vince is dressed up as a jailbird and Lawler as a doctor. It is javascript:void(0);Halloween but Vince looks creepy, pedophile creepy. Goldust is still in control and he runs his shoulder into the post, and keeps working on the arm. Goldust uses his knees, and drops them on Vega's shoulder and arm. Vega is now up; he ducks a clothesline, and nails him with a flying cross body getting a two count. However, Goldust is back in control, and whips him into the corner, but Vega dodges a charging Goldust, and he connects with a series of clotheslines. Goldust ducks a spinning kick, kicks Vega in the head, and he wraps Vega's arm behind the back holding him down and gets the win.

A little slow but not too bad as Goldust is clearly getting a push.

Hendricks is leaping about, he has news about the title match at Survivor Series, no countout, DQ or time limit so there will be a winner. Doc is interrupted as there is a shoving match in the locker room and they pan to the 123 Kid trying to calm down Razor and that is all we see.

Match 2: Marty Jannetty v. Joe Dorgan

Marty is predictably in control of the match. I do love the canned crowd noise a la WCW Saturday Night. Dorgan is able to swing him into the corner but he runs right into a boot. Marty connects with another monkeyflip. Dorgan is up and fires off some blows but Jannetty comes right back and drops Dorgan. Jannetty goes up top, and he lands right on top of him getting the win.

Squash.

They advertise next week's match with Bret Hart and Hakushi against Lawler and Yankem. Also the Bulldog will face Jannetty.

Vince is in the ring with Cornette and the Bulldog. Cornette is fired up about what happened at the PPV and how the Bulldog got hosed again. It should be the Bulldog facing Bret Hart at Survivor Series, as he won the match, and Gorilla keeps going back on his word. Cornette has brought out Mr. Mason who is his lawyer, and he goes on about writs being written, and the lawyer is going to ensure that the Bulldog gets his just due. Mr. Clarence Mason is trying to be like Johnny Cochran as he states that he reviewed the tapes and that the Bulldog won the match and that he is being railroaded. He wants Hart to have to face the Bulldog as he would be champ if it was not for Bret. Cornette is now going off about the Wild Card match at the Survivor Series, and how his group is being split up, and Monsoon is doing this purposely as it messes with the balance of power in the WWF. He is also upset that the Bulldog has to face Jannetty. Davey goes off about how he is going to take out Jannetty....Marty runs down and attacks Davey, and then he drops Cornette too! He turns his attention to Clarence, and threatens to slap him and swings at him but stops as Mason flinches.

Match 3: Smoking Gunns (c) v. Jobbers

Billy is in and he is working over the poor guy. One guy is named Otis but he is taken down with another drop toe hold. They go to the 123 Kid and he is apologizing for his actions and he wants another match, and he sounds stoned. Bart is now in and he dominates and now Billy is in and he drops an elbow. The Jobbers gets some brief offense in but it does not last long and Otis is finished off with the Sidewinder.

Squash.

Bret Hart is in the back, and he states that he only had one shot at the title back at the Royal Rumble, and no winner was ever declared. He gets his rematch and he will win at the Survivor Series as he is the Truck Stop! Ohhhh, play on words Mr. Hart!

Match 4: Owen Hart v. Razor Ramon (c) for IC Title

Before the match they go to Paul Bearer and he is screaming in his high octave voice about the return of the Undertaker. I forgot how much I hated that guy, Jesus.

Razor runs out and he knocks Owen to the floor. Owen is not happy and he comes back into the ring and starts yelling at Razor. They lock up and Razor goes after the arm and down goes Owen thanks to a monkeyflip. He goes right back after the arm jerking it around, and down goes Owen. He lifts up Owen, slams him back to the mat and while holding onto the arm. Finally he lets go of the arm and clotheslines him. He goes back after the arm but Owen escapes and slaps Razor, only to run right into a fall away slam. Cornette jumps up on the apron and Razor smacks Cornette. And guess what....an arm bar. Yokozuna starts coming down to ringside.

Commercial.

Still in an arm bar but Owen gets hoisted up and slammed down to the mat, and now another arm bar. Razor runs at him after being whipped into the ropes, Owen side steps him, and lifts him over the top and onto the floor. Owen follows up with a baseball slide and he attacks him on the floor. Back in the ring, Owen goes up top, strikes with a missile dropkick and he gets a two count. Owen then pushes him into the corner, driving his shoulder into him, and then flings him to the other and hangs him up on the ropes and chokes him with them by jumping on him and then sitting on him. Razor retaliates but runs right into a spin kick and Owen gets another near fall (Vince keeps saying a three count!). Razor is up but walks right into a spinning neckbreaker, and Owen runs to the top and nails him with a flying elbow but again only gets a two count.

Commercial.

Both men are down as the ref counts. Owen rolls over and drapes his arm across Razor, but only gets two and Razor leaps up and floors Owen with a series of rights. Owen is placed on the top rope, but he connects with a cross body. However, Razor rolls on top but Owen gets out only to be clotheslined. Razor goes for the Razors Edge, but Yokozuna comes in and yanks Owen down, and he beats up Razor, and the Kid runs down only to be annihilated. Ahmed Johnson runs down and bodyslams Yoko! And the Bulldog comes down and he and Johnson have showdown but we fade out. Jesus....!

This episode was much better than last week's. However there are far too many squashes and the wrestling still remains mediocre at best. Razor had Owen in arm bar after arm bar and while that is not bad, it slowed the match to a crawl as an arm bar is not much of a submission move. Still the match was decent and the ending was intriguing and for some reason I have always liked chaos at the end of shows, makes me want to tune in next week. That is Hall's MO, working the arm. He will do that up through TNA in 2010. Still, he is a workhorse and for whatever reason I really dig him as Razor and in WCW.

 

[dukes07]

Last week was far better than the previous week, and they did highlight some matches for the upcoming PPV. However there are far too many squashes and not enough quality wrestling. Overall the ratings are down for both WCW and WWF as Nitro won this week 2.3 to 2.1, and it was the infamous fan vote for Nitro this week where they made thousands of dollars on a pre-determined match!

Match 1: Bulldog v. Marty Jannetty

Doc Hendricks is with Vince as Lawler was getting his teeth cleaned by Isaac Yankem....yes he said that. The bell rings and Bulldog bounces off the ropes knocking Marty to the mat. Marty collects himself, and goes back at the Bulldog, applies a side headlock and Davey escapes, leapfrogs him, but runs right into an eyepoke. Bulldog shoves him off but Marty slams him down and, applies an arm bar....WWF's favorite move! I can see Vince yelling in their ear to slow down the match for the illiterate audience...oh wait, that would be WCW's southern base (Kidding!....kind of). Bulldog though hoists him up in a gorilla press slam and drops him on top rope. Clarence Mason (who is at the announce table) informs us that the Bulldog will get a title shot at the December In Your House. Jannetty gets destroyed with a vertical suplex, and the Bulldog applies a rear chinlock. Marty gets to his feet but runs right into a knee, and gets slammed to the mat. After the two count Davey goes back to a tried and true: a rear chinlock. Marty gets to his feet and pounds out and leaps onto his back and gets a two count as he rolls him up. Jannetty gets slammed to the mat, and Davey connects with a leg drop, getting a two count.

Commercial.

Chinlock! Marty is on his feet and they collide and both are down. Bulldog makes a cover and gets two. And yet another chinlock. Though it is brief as the Bulldog throws him to the floor where Cornette kicks him. Jannetty leaps over with a sunset flip as Davey heads over to bring him back into the ring, but cannot get him down and the Bulldog smacks him hard. Chinlock again but Marty gets out and flings him to the opposite corner and he charges him pell mell but Davey moves and Jannetty gets hung up, and Davey starts stomping on him. Chinlock! The ref raises the arm, and on the third attempt Marty shows some life. He gets to his feet but is swung into the corner. Davey charges into an elbow, and Marty goes up high and reverse bulldogs him and then bulldogs him again this time from the mat. Jannetty goes up top, but Davey moves. However, Marty lands on his feet and then DDT's him but the Bulldog gets his foot on the rope off the pin attempt. Jannetty charges him but eats the post and is finished with the Power Slam.

Pretty good start. Bulldog can wrestle when given the right environment, but now it is the chinlocks. I am all for submission moves but usually a big guy like him does not use it to such an extent on littler guys. Also the power slam has to be one of the weaker finishing moves. Still it was a fun match.

They pan to a Bill Clinton wannabe who is saying that he is looking forward to attending the Survivor Series as it is one of the best US exports....

Cornette and Bulldog is with Doc who just nods his head over and over. Cornette is happy that the Bulldog is finally getting his title shot, but still upset about how he and the Bulldog have been treated by Gorilla. Davey in his thick accent says he is going to win. He says that a lot, not a man of many words that Davey.

Horowitz is talking with Hakushi and Bret, and Vince brings up the UN and I think that was what Clinton or the Clinton look alike was saying. WWF sometimes just throws in random shit. Clinton? Not like Vince likes him, probably already voted for Bob Dole.

Lawler was interviewing Goldust on Superstars and Bam Bam comes into the ring and challenges Goldust. Goldust quotes Ben Hur and tells Bigelow to exit and they will wrestle at Survivor Series.

Match 2: Henry Godwin v. Terry Richards

That is who it was who almost slopped HHH, and they will be wrestling next week. Richards hits him with some forearms but Godwin takes charge and drops a big elbow and drives his head into the turnbuckle. I do like the squashes as I can relax from the typing.....and Godwin is just pounding on him, and the match is going on too long, nope it is over. HHH comes up from the rear (giggle) and Pedigree's him into the floor. He grabs the bucket o' slop and slops Godwin. I did like him putting on the gloves before daintily dumping it as it was a nice touch.

Squash.

Match 3: Kama v. Tony Roy

Poor Ted DiBiase has been reduced to this.....perfect opportunity to have Shawn Michaels on the phone and he is getting back to normal. He brings up being disoriented, and how he always is. Kama is destroying this poor guy. Poor Shawn cannot get a break, ah so sad! And Kama wins.

Sid will be battling Razor next week on RAW.

Match 4: Isaac Yankem and Jerry Lawler v. Hakushi and Bret Hart

Bret and Isaac square off. Isaac pushes him into the corner and Yankem slugs away. However Bret moves out of the way from a charging Isaac and starts working on the arm. Bret leaps up but is caught in a bear hug, however he rakes the eyes and tags in Hakushi. He comes in and works on the arm, slamming it around but Isaac shoves him into the corner, launching some elbows into him. Hakushi though nails him with a handspring elbow. Hakushi hits him with a seated Senton and tags in Bret. Bret connects with a short atomic drop, and then headbutts the sternum. He goes to the work on the arm and elbow. Cross body and Bret gets two, now a sunset flip and another two. Hakushi is tagged in, and he tries the handspring elbow again, but gets swatted down this time. Isaac tries to dump him over the top and Hakushi springboard kicks him from the apron and out goes Yankem. Hakushi flies over the top but is caught and slammed into the apron. Back in the ring, Hakushi gets punished with side slam, and Isaac gets a two count. King is tagged in, and he runs in to swing at Bret and then he piledrives Hakushi. He mugs towards Bret and then piledrives Hakushi again and mugs at Bret some more. Here comes Isaac, and he starts working on Hakushi while the ref's back is turned. Hakushi is flung into the corner by Isaac and Hakushi is stuck in a bear hug. Hakushi though is able to trip him up, and kick him in the head, tries again but he gets caught in a Boston Crab. Lawler is tagged in and he goes up top and is caught with a blow to the throat. Both are able to make the tag and Isaac just leaves his arms up and Bret unloads on him. Jerry runs in and he too is dropped. Bret drops the elbow from the second rope and he cinches in the Sharpshooter. Hakushi stops some interference, but the ref goes after Hakushi to stop him instead, and Jerry grabs a plastic chair. Horowitz runs in and grabs the chair from him, and now the ref turns around and DQs Hart and Hakushi.

Decent main event. The show was filled with squashes again as they are just used for angle advancements, and to give wrestlers a victory give them some momentum heading into the PPV. Sometimes that precludes a loss to an equal or uppercarder. For example Marty Jannetty laid waste to a jobber last week, and then lost to Bulldog this week. Still it was a good match and tw

 

[dukes07]

The interactive extravaganza! Well if the ratings are any indication it did not impact it all that much as Nitro got a 2.3, down from the 2.5 after Havoc, but it will be up from the 2.0 next week. Meanwhile, RAW dipped a little to a 2.1, from a 2.2 last week. Next week it will kick some ass with a 2.6 (Sorry if my ratings are a bit off. Some of these are old and I found out later that Wikipedia was wrong for years....shocking, and later they get corrected and I will try to remember as I go along to double-check) as it heads into the home stretch before Survivor Series. I am really interested to see how it worked out, as it seems WCW is not really forwarding too many of the angles as evidenced last week when Flair and the Giant gave brief promos and Norton and Shark continued a feud that is pretty much off the radar on Monday nights. Fan interaction will nullify some storylines for the week, but I am sure the fans are led by the hand like how the WWE does it. Also, the Giant will be in action so we may see the return of Hogan who has wrestled on only one Nitro, and just PPV in the past two plus months. At least they are not overdoing it with him; they mostly likely trot him out when necessary to advance angles, so as not to saturate the audience with him as his popularity is declining.

The fans get to the call the shots but only for the main event I guess and each locker room has eight to choose from, good lord I could not handle that on the phone, too many options and buttons. The Internet has spoiled me and the best part: Only 99 cents per call! I wonder of WCW will pull this stunt again, a way to make some easy dough. If fans are gullible enough. I tried to call and all I got was a manly sounding voice asking what I was wearing.

Match 1: Cobra v. the Giant

This may be the last we are going to see Cobra, I love how the Giant still has Hogan's belt; workout belt and he has the WCW belt, which I think is his. Not sure, I could go back and look but I am too damn lazy. Did it change on a DQ, a stipulation or who fucking knows. Well, Cobra's career is over he just got chokeslammed and pinned. There is no way he can recover, of course his feud with Pittman was awful. His push was short-lived but his character was pretty damn bad.

Gene is in the Blue locker room (I think) and the heels are mugging for the camera and Norton and Shark are pushing and shoving each other.

Schiavone is in the other locker room and Sting wants a piece of Flair, and Duggan is marching in circles blurting out sentence fragments.

They go to a dude singing some God awful song, and then they pan to Hogan who is with Savage and they are in Venice Beach. The Macho Man has turned to the darkside with Hogan and they are going after Hart and the Giant. They are going to take them all down. Savage thinks Hogan is too emotionally involved, so he will find out who is friend and foe (won't everyone see what he is up to? Oh well....just a show.) and there is some fat dude in between them just speaking gibberish. I honestly have no idea what I saw and why. Why did Hogan go to Venice Beach? Shouldn't they be injured from the ass kicking? Why is a dude playing music? And who is the fat guy? And neither Savage nor Hogan make sense. Of course I forgot there were no monitors in the arenas then, so I guess that explains them giving away their plans and hopefully no one was watching Nitro, and I am clearly over analyzing this! And why the fuck are they in Venice Beach when the Giant is on Nitro? I need to stop before my head explodes.

Match 2: Kevin Sullivan v. the Renegade

Renegade comes bookin' out, and clotheslines the Taskmaster who gets knocked to the floor and he leaps right out after him. Hart distracts him and Sullivan nails him with an atomic drop onto the rail. He pounds on him and then rolls him into the ring and leaps on him feet first and now connects with a series of chops and bashes his skull into the top turnbuckle. The Renegade power slams him, and then follows up with a cartwheel elbow. However, Sullivan retakes control, leaps from the second rope and stomps on him for the pin. Hart comes in and rubs Renegade's face with a towel and tells him he is a nothing and a nobody.

Jesus since I have watched the Renegade has gone from undefeated to a jobber and the sad thing is, Jimmy Hart wiping the make up off his face and saying he is Rick and not the Renegade portends the future, and while he will be with WCW for nearly three more years he will kill himself soon after being let go. So in more than one way did he perhaps lose his identity tonight. Also, he can move a lot better than the Ultimate Warrior in the ring who knows probably three moves....maybe.

Gene is back in the heel locker room and Norton and Shark are still shoving each other, and they go off screen and the lights die out. Flair starts going off on Sting as the lights flicker back on and he tells Sting to do something about it (him betraying Sting and reforming the Horsemen).

Match 3: Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero

Bischoff is going on about the Hogan promo, and mentions that doctors will not allow Savage to go after Luger (He certainly looked fine, oh well.).

Benoit attacks Eddie right before the bell rings, striking with a snap suplex and then a back suplex. He picks up Guerrero, slams him right into the mat, and then ties him up in a submission move. They pan to a table with a bunch of Japanese wrestlers, just chilling: Sonny Onoo and Jushin Liger being the ones I recognize. Eddie is coming back, and hits Benoit with a flying elbow and out goes Benoit. Eddie climbs to the top, leaps right onto him. Guerrero demolishes Benoit with a giant suplex but as Eddie goes to the top Benoit intervenes and superplexes him across the entire ring. He then power bombs him through the mat, and gets a near fall. Benoit goes for an arm drag, but gets rolled up for two. He comes right back with a boot to the head and Eddie manages to roll him up again but only for a two count. Benoit tries a series of bridges to get the win but Eddie kicks out. Benoit picks him up and plants Eddie face first on the ropes, and now they are wailing on one another. Benoit picks him up and Eddie falls on him but Chris puts his foot on the rope but the ref does not see it.

Great match for the time they had. It is clear that WCW is setting them up for their own Cruiserweight Division EB is discussing how a worldwide committee is getting together to see who is in it and about the belt, so they have been pegged as cruiserweights from the get go. Not that that is a bad thing as they can use their talent in the ring and provide some serious entertainment.

Schiavone is back in the face locker room and Sting is still steamed about Flair betraying him, and even worse betraying the little Stingers. Jesus. They are really pushing the Sting and Flair match. And once you look at the other combatants it is clear they would be picked anyway, who the Hell else would fight, no one is really feuding except Badd and DDP. Norton and Shark are in the same locker room, so basically this was a planned match but made to look like a choice so WCW could get some coin. I need to come up with a money making scheme such as this! Amway anyone?

Match 4: Sting v. Ric Flair

I was right. I love how it was all geared towards the inevitable, no one remotely close to their stature was in those locker rooms, and I am sure Bischoff was giddy about any sort of money made due to the gullibility of fans. Sting starts stomping on Flair and gorilla press slams him. He continues to punish him by pounding on his face in the corner, and then throws Ric into the opposing corner and Flair does his flip over and then gets nailed with a clothesline. Flair comes back with a low blow and then a suplex on the floor. He then suckers Sting into a Stinger Splash, but eats railing instead. They go to commercial. Back in the ring Flair is chopping up Sting's chest and kicking him. Sting is down after a back suplex and Flair applies the Figure Four and using the ropes for leverage. Sting is pushing himself to the center of the ring and starts pounding his chest and he reverses out of the move. Sting is not budging from the chops and blows. Flair is swung into the ropes and gorilla press slammed again, but he comes back with a thumb to the eye. Flair tosses him to the floor, and comes off from the apron with a double ax handle. He gouges out Sting's eyes. He then grabs a chair, and runs at Sting, but the ref grabs it and they shove each other, the ref and Flair, and the ref does not put up with any of Flair's shenanigans. Sting is lying on the mat and Flair brings him to his feet, and decks Sting; down goes Sting and Flair goes for multiple pins with his feet on the ropes but Sting gets his shoulder up each time. Sting bridges out of Flair's move, and back slides him to the mat for a two count. Sting then grabs him from the top and slams him to the mat and starts walloping him in the corner. Flair grabs some knucks from his shorts and lays out Sting getting a near fall (some garbage gets thrown into the ring). Once again Sting Hulks up and connects with another gorilla press slam and a huge superplex. He then puts Flair in the Scorpion Death Lock, and Flair taps and Sting will not relent. Luger is supposedly on his way to the ring, but I do not see him. Instead JL and Guerrero come down and try to talk Sting down (as does Evad and Duggan too). Well Bischoff claimed Luger was coming but was held back by security. Meanwhile Sting is being led away but runs back in and reapplies the hold, and here comes Luger and he says something to Sting and he follows Luger out to the shock of those in the ring as well as the announcers.

Solid Flair/Sting match but Sting did the same couple of moves and quite frankly was not that spectacular while Flair carried most of the match, but it was decent length for a main event. Flair losing cleanly instead of on PPV....well, it is Flair and losses don't hurt him and I am sure the feud will continue.

Gene is in the ring with Sullivan, Hart and the Giant. Gene is saying that the Giant is not the WCW champ. Hart is making fun of Hogan and his B grade movies (true) Hart was in WCW taking care of business and he signed the contract for the Havoc match as he had power of attorney. He points to a piece of paper that states Hogan will lose the title via DQ. Gene brings in a suit who claims that Hart is partially correct but that due to the dubious circumstances of the DQ Nick Bockwinkle claims the title is vacant and the winner of the 60 man battle royal at World War III will become champ. The Giant refuses to give up the belt, and Sullivan steps in and basically says it is part of Hogan's and WCW's agenda (probably true) and that the Giant will win it back.

I love wrestling red tape where they can make anything up. World War III was set up to wrestle for the title, and I guess it is good business to have the winner become the champ as they want to try and get more PPV buys. Nevertheless I have never been a fan of Mickey Mouse shenanigans like that.I was not sure about the DQ or who was champ at the time. WCW has a habit of making title switches not so obvious. I thought the Giant was champ and now he is not. Sure, you want to add suspense and make the PPV worthy but come on. Anyway a decent Nitro I love how the entire call in for the main event was a set up and I swore they made it sound like more of the show was to be interactive last week. The entire Hogan/Savage promo has me shaking my head. The Benoit/Guerrero match was really good and the Sting/Flair match was decent, and those two portions of the show is what made it good.

 

[dukes07]

I have said all I can about last week's fan choice so I will not beat a dead horse. I am undecided about stripping the Giant of the title, obviously it was done by dubious means, and of course it is wrestling so they can make things up on the fly. They come up with millions of different stipulations and changes, hoping that the average fan will just shrug it off. WCW is not the only company to have done this nor will it be the last. Still annoys the fuck out of me. I would have thought they would set up the rematch between Hogan and the Giant at Starrcade with the Giant holding the title and Hogan chasing him, of course having Hogan win WWIII, which is a possibility (though I vaguely remember who won it I do not want to speculate too much and just go with the flow, so to speak) he can retain the title there and face the Giant as champ but the drama is not as intense. Essentially have the Giant run with the belt, cleaning house. He is still really green though. Hogan though makes me wanna do Meth at this stage in his career. According to TWNP there is quite the drop off in ratings this week as it received only a 2.0 the second lowest since the Wars began over two months prior. According to Wikipedia the show also got a 2.0 with RAW blasting it by receiving a 2.6 (TWNP agrees) and this is most likely due to one of their bigger PPV's the Survivor Series being right around the corner.

They show Hogan all dressed in black, and he looks like the Phantom of the Opera. Honestly, I would have turned it to RAW right then and there too. I guess Hogan is in the Dungeon and he says that Sullivan and the master fear him and the Hulkamaniacs. Savage will be walking in the light and is going to bring the head of Meng to him. He is wondering if Sting walks in the light of the Hulkamaniacs or the darkness of the Dungeon of Doom. The Maniacs are not afraid of the DoD and he and Savage will destroy the Dungeon. Oh I forgot to state that he had a sword, yes a sword and he was wandering around in graveyard but it may have been in a cavern and it was absolutely terrible. Are people high when they think of stuff like this? I am serious. Hogan was in charge of his own character, so he greenlighted this shit. Then again this is the same guy who lusts after his own daughter and bangs his best friends wife....

Match 1: Meng v. Macho Man Randy Savage

Savage runs in from behind, and slams Meng right into Sullivan. He takes Meng to the floor and starts ramming his head all over the place, the apron and railing. They are back in the ring, Savage rakes the eyes and bodyslams Meng. Sullivan goes to the top and gets knocked off and Savage goes to the top too and attempts an axe handle but is met with Meng's fist. The tide has turned as Meng is tearing into him on the floor. Meng's chopping him up in the corner and choking him too. He continues chopping and kicking Savage in the corner. Finally something different happens as he is bodyslammed! Meng goes to the top and tries to fall on Savage but misses. Sullivan comes in, but gets knocked down, and Savage nails Meng with the Flying Elbow for the win. Afterwards Shark runs in and attacks him from behind and now Luger joins in and he starts beating on the arm, ramming it into the post.

The match did its job and that is advance the story. I have noticed a pattern, Savage starts out strong and then gets beat down and he gets the win by suddenly hitting the elbow.

Match 2: Chris Benoit v. Kazuki Sasaki

Benoit attacks him immediately but Sasaki counters right away, taking him down. They are exchanging blows but Sasaki wins out, and bulldogs him to the mat. He follows up with a bodyslam for a one count. Sasaki goes for a tilt a whirl slam but Benoit reverses out, and almost gets the pin. Now he strikes with consecutive German suplexes, and gets the win.

Short but decent for what it was. Benoit got quite the pop after winning, and I guess he is the newest member of the Four Horsemen. Must have been announced on Saturday Night but Bischoff just mentioned it in passing. Nice way to hype it up EB. Jesus. If it was....Oh fuck it. I might as well get used to it.

Match 3: Eddie Guerrero v. Johnny B. Badd (c) for TV Title

They do the stare down, but shake anyway (I hate the handshake. Not sure why....Just beat the snot out of each other). They do a couple of moves and reversals and Badd leapfrogs him a couple of times. He connects with a backbreaker for a two count. Eddie comes right back with a flying head scissors and now they are squaring off. They lock back up and Badd comes out on top and elbows him and leapfrogs over the top and strikes with a legdrop and gets a near fall. Eddie though comes back by standing on the top, and performing a head scissors-hurracarana, for a two count. Eddie tries for a superplex and fails and Badd rolls him up but stops and allows Eddie to reverse it. They do that a couple of times, but only get two counts. Eddie is on the floor, and Badd leaps over the top nailing him. Back in the ring he attempts his springboard legdrop but misses and Eddie pins him but only gets a two count. They go back and forth until Badd decks him. He goes for a press slam, but gets rolled up instead for a two count and now a cradle for another two count. Badd is now punching away at Guerrero and down he goes. The ref makes sure he is okay. He warns Badd, and during the distraction Eddie tackles him, and starts throwing haymakers. Again the ref tries to pull him off. Badd throws the ref out of the way and they start brawling again. The ref warns them again and they lock up, and Badd applies a side head lock but Eddie picks him up and slams him and somersaults over the ropes for a two. Eddie attempts a piledriver and Badd reverses it and slams his head to the mat getting a near fall. Eddie jumps from the top and DDT's Badd, but takes too long to attempt the pin, and Badd kicks out and now they both attempt cross body blocks and both are down. The ten minute time limit is almost up, and it ends with them weakly throwing punches at each other. Match ends in a draw but they are still slugging away after the bell. However, they finally stop and hug it out.

Damn that was a great match. Best match that I have seen Badd have, and the crowd was hot. The finish was perfect, a draw, something more modern federations should take heed of. It adds to a feud or potential feud. If WCW follows up that is. It keeps both men strong and the fans want more.

Mean Gene is in the ring once again with Jimmy Hart, the Giant and Sullivan. I love Gene because he takes shit from no one and promptly goes off in Hart for being a traitor. Hart takes it as a compliment that he took the belt off of Hogan. The Taskmaster makes very little sense, but is hyping up World War III, and that the Giant is going to win. Now it is the Giant's turn and he starts holding hands with Hart and Sullivan and he is going to win the title and be champ forever as Sullivan acts like he faints. Jesus, Sullivan is, well, fucking annoying.

Match 4: Dean Malenko v. Sting (c)

They mentioned that he was the US champ earlier tonight, but he is not wearing the belt so I have no clue as to what is going on with that. The bell rings and they lock up and Dean is really short compared to Sting...vanilla midget! Kidding. Anyway, the hold is broken with neither man getting the upperhand. Malenko applies a headlock and is pushed into the ropes. He runs into a brick wall and then he leaps right into a big press slam. Mongo keeps going on about his size, and Bischoff at least praises his ability and that size does not matter. He would know, his wife tells him that all the time, as does Hogan. Malenko goes after the leg and starts working it over. After commercial Malenko is still working over the leg (they went back and forth during the break with Dean escaping the Scorpion Death Lock). Sting makes a comeback but it gets extinguished quickly as Dean knocks him down, and goes right back after the leg and ankle. He starts ramming his head on the turnbuckle but Sting catches him but Dean gets out and back suplexes him and gets a near fall. Dean goes for a dropkick but Sting grabs the ropes, and he misses but now Sting misses a Stinger Splash. Dean meets him with a flying dropkick and Dean goes for his finisher but he is rolled up and Sting wins.

Good match. Sting made him look good (like a star not a good wrestler) and it looks like Dean is getting a minor push as he was on the main event of Nitro, and it was not a squash match as they did a decent job and while Sting has the same couple of moves he still did fine.

Gene is in the ring with Sting. Hogan wants to face Sting next week because he does not trust him and I guess Hogan somehow got out of the DoD, and found a phone because Gene said that he called. MY GOD! Sting is not too happy, he thought he would never have to fight Hogan but if Hogan wants to brawl then let's go for it. Sting says he is a big dog in WCW (nice, I love the shot at Hogan) and he wants to solve it in the ring next week.

I enjoyed the wrestling tonight as they had a great match (Eddie and Badd) a good match with Sting and Dean and the other two were decent. The show was obviously dragged down by the Hogan segment and Sullivan's theatrics but they did not overshadow the show. When Nitro sticks to wrestling it is a much better show, but falters when it attempts too much angle advancement because the entire DoD angle is terrible and the whole Flair/Sting thing seems to be forgotten right now (and doesn't DDP want his belt back?). In fact WCW should just wrestle! Sometimes they try to do too much and then forget about feuds for weeks. I also get annoyed that they do not recap Saturday Night enough, they do not need a ten minute recap like the WWE but it would be nice to know that Benoit is part of the Horsemen as that should be announced on Nitro and not just mentioned in passing because the announcers keep talking about Hogan and the DoD as it disrupts the flow of the show because they focus 75 percent of their attention on that angle rather than the match or other angles and it hurts the overall show.

 

[dukes07]

The go home show to one of the WWF's bigger PPV's. RAW has improved a bit since the last PPV but not by too much. The wrestling still remains lackluster at best, and the angles are not too compelling. Thankfully they have put Bret back into the title hunt and Shawn Michaels will be returning soon as this will help boost the program. Though I feel that the WWF is sitting on its laurels while WCW continuously uses it big stars on Nitro (for better or worse) and the WWF has an opportunity to go beyond cartoon style matches, promos and characters; they also have a chance to go beyond the squash matches, and put on a good show, but they seem stuck in the middle as if unsure what to do about the upstart Nitro. Sure WCW focuses far too much on Hogan and the mid card is under utilized but they put on good wrestling displays where the WWF seems to have lost direction. Or they are thinking that there is no need to change, ratings have not really dipped. This week will be high. I don't know....I am just talking in circles. Also some TV tapings show the arenas are not packed; like WCW in their dying days or almost like the Impact Zone. Their storylines are less confusing than they were back in September, and WCW is seemingly about to enter one of its more convoluted phases with the Dungeon of Doom.

The 123 Kid and Razor had another confrontation and Gorilla Monsoon is worried about his impartiality as he was the guest referee when Razor was going to face off against Sid for the IC title and so it is a non-title match.

Match 1: HHH v. Henry Godwin

HHH starts off with a baseball slide and Godwin is down. Godwin gets up on the apron and dumps the bucket of slop on himself. HHH runs away and he slips on the slop. He slips and slides down the aisle toward the back.

Uh, this was bad. Angle advancement ultimately.

Doc Hendricks is going over what is happening at the Survivor Series.

They go over what happened with Shawn Michaels, and his return at Survivor Series.

Match 2: Ahmed Johnson v. Jake Steele

Ahmed pushes him into the corner and then shakes his hand. Jake hits him from behind and Ahmed just stares at him. They go to Shawn Michaels and he is all excited about teaming with Ahmed. Meanwhile, Ahmed is dismantling Jake. He double arm powerbombs poor Jake for the win.

Squash.

Vince interviews Ahmed who tells everyone that he is going to destroy the competition.

Now they are schilling the WWF calendar with Diesel on the front. And you get Diesel's shades or something for only 21.00 dollars! OMG!!

Bret and Diesel in separate rooms: Vince asks Diesel how he feels about Bret claiming that he is the best. Diesel responds that while Bret is good, he is the champ and therefore the best. Man of many words! Bret is asked about he feels about Diesel being a part of the New Generation. Bret feels that he did not lose the title in a fair sense to Backlund, and that the ending of the Royal Rumble was in doubt. Hart thinks that it was Diesel's toughest match. Hart does have the utmost respect for Diesel and that he is a good wrestler. He is not that skilled at technical wrestling, and that he will run out of steam after fifteen minutes. Diesel responds that he has taken on everybody and anybody. Vince asks how Diesel is going to win and he says he is going to try and knock him out. Vince asks if Bret will be worried since the match is no DQ and that Diesel is so big. Bret responds that he is worried, but at the same time he can handle it as he has some tricks up his sleeves. Diesel is asked about the experience factor and he says that Bret is the cornerstone the WWF and that their previous matches have been wars and so will this one. Vince says that Bret has done it all and asks what makes him tick. Bret responds that memories take the place of dreams and that it was all interrupted last year, and that Diesel has been walking around with his title. Was this a quote from Jack Handy?

Vince and Lawler have it out with Karate Fighters (a toy) and Lawler wins via cheating....

They recap what Mabel did to the Undertaker. They do a voiceover with the UT, and he says vengeance will be mine.

Match 3: Mabel v. Jobber

Mabel is destroying the poor guy. He even does a flip and then finishes him off with a big splash.

Squash.

The wannabe Clinton hypes up the WWF and the PPV.

Match 4: Sid v. Razor Ramon (c)

The Kid is the special guest referee. They lock up and Sid unloads on him, and starts choking him. Razor ducks a blow and then slugs him out of the ring. Sid is back in. and he drops Ramon with a big boot. He stomps on Razor and gets a two count but Razor flips him over with a bodyscissors. Sid though just grabs him, and chokeslams him. He does not cover him, instead he starts choking him with the middle rope. Razor is lying on the mat with Sid pounding on his back. Sid hammers him down to the mat, but allows Razor to get to his feet. Razor attempts a comeback as he fires back but gets his head slammed into the mat. Sid though runs into a knee, but he flips Razor out to the floor. DiBiase starts stomping on Razor, and now Dean Douglas comes down and puts the boots to him. The Kid has been distracted by Ted and Sid. Sid goes after Razor, drops him head first on the apron. Back in the ring Sid hammers the small of the back, and then back suplexes Razor getting a two count. Sid nails him with a big leg drop and gets another two count. He applies a modified clutch on Razor, but Raor lifts Sid up on his shoulders, then drops him back with authority. Both men are down, but Sid is up first and kicks him in the gut. He runs at Razor in the corner, only to run into a boot. Sid is then bulldogged, and Razor gets a two count. Razor has him up in the Razor's Edge, but the Kid grabs Sid legs, and pulls him down. Razor is powerbombed, and the Kid counts the win for Sid. After the match Jim Ross is with Dean and Cornette and the others. He is appalled that they would attack their partner at the PPV. Razor runs to the back and chases off Dean....

Not the greatest match but it did the job. Sid does have some mobility. Razor did not do too much during this match, but it does continue the Kid/Dean and Razor feud. Not much happening during this show. It was a set up for the PPV with a couple of squash matches thrown in for good measure. The main event just advanced angles and the PPV. Serviceable but nothing special. This was a really high rated RAW too. The Survivor Series sells itself. It also shows that if it ain't broke then don't fix it. WWF may be rather stale at times as this show proved, but there is no need to bring out the big guns every week. Luckily for the WWF, WCW has some fairly atrocious storylines and WWF is still associated with wrestling. The big time. But it seems that the WWF could do more. Head WCW off at the pass a bit sooner....Then again I may be wrong.

 

[dukes07]

The go home show! Last week was fairly solid just marred by the fact that the announcers focus far too much on Hogan and the DoD to the detriment of the rest of the show. I am really hoping this whole DoD angle ends soon as it sucks. I really liked how Eddie, Chris and Dean looked last week as well as the crowd reaction they received. I guess the entire PPV will consist of the battle royal as there have been no matches announced. Well, I am sure that is not the case. Maybe I am high but I know of no matches announced. They have done a decent job hyping it up but I would be reluctant to buy it due to the fact that nothing else has been announced. Hopefully tonight they will fix some of the kinks, and get people excited because they have only mentioned the main guys as participants. TWNP has Nitro beating RAW with Nitro getting a 2.5, which is understandable being a lead in show and RAW not far behind with a 2.3, which is right after Survivor Series so both shows did good and I am sure the Sting/Hogan match garnered some interest.

They are hyping up the main event and how exciting the show will be.

Match 1: Scott Norton v. Shark

Shark comes from behind and attacks him before the bell rings. He pushes Norton into the post. He then rolls him into the ring and now the bell rings. Shark crushes him with a belly to belly suplex and a big elbow. Shark now splashes him in the corner, and down goes Norton. Norton is no selling and strikes back with a couple bodyslams, and pins him. Shark pushes him afterwards and whines.

That was quick, which is good. Shark has fallen low since his Earthquake days. Then again I don't remember too much of those days.

Mean Gene is with Sullivan and Jimmy Hart on the ramp. Gene calls Hart: Benedict Arnold, and Hart comes back that Sting can beat Hogan as Hulkamania is dying, and that he only helps certain people like when Sting was his buddy he had him guest star on Thunder in Paradise, and now he is buddies with Savage and they did Baywatch together. Thanks for the plug Jimmy. Sullivan honestly makes no sense as he tries to slur out World War III and Gene basically says that he cannot understand a fucking word he is saying. Gene is so classic as they walk away he calls them human pieces of garbage! And Sullivan makes a move at Gene but Gene does not care, no flinching from Gene! Honestly how many times has Hulkamania been declared dead?

Disco Inferno comes out dancing and it is supposed to be Eddie Guerrero for the match. He finally comes out, scaring off Disco.

Eddie Guerrero v. Ric Flair

Flair comes out in street clothes, as Pillman comes out with him in gear. Flair grabs the mic, says that someone made a mistake by thinking he would wrestle Eddie. He is so focused on Sting that Pillman will wrestle instead(I guess they are still feuding). Pillman pretends he is a Matador and waves his red coat at Eddie (that is not racist), and Eddie takes him down with a dropkick and back suplex. Eddie leaps from the top and is met with a dropkick, that looked like it hurt. Pillman takes him back down to the mat, using the ropes to choke him out. You can clearly see Pillman give Eddie directions as they then stop on the Irish Whip. Pillman just holds his arms up, and this allows Eddie to take the offensive but Pillman comes back with a back drop. Pillman connects with a big suplex and a two count. They exchange chops. Eddie gets raked in the eyes and then taken down. Pillman hits a scoop slam getting a two count. He starts pushing Eddie to the ground, and calls him "Third World Trash," and that fires up Eddie and he comes back but gets suplexed out of the ring; up goes Pillman, and he literally bounces off the railing after missing. Eddie runs up and jumps from the top rope, nailing him with a flying body press. Pillman is begging for mercy as they get back in the ring, but he gets punished with a brainbuster suplex and up goes Eddie but Pillman wisely bumps the ropes and crotches Eddie. Pillman goes for the superplex, but is pushed off, and Eddie hits a frogsplash for the pin.

Both looked good and Eddie's push continues. A fun match with some stiff moves.

The announcers discuss the injury to Savage's arm, and that he may need surgery as they recap what happened last week after he beat Meng and then Luger came and ripped his arm off. EB thinks he is playing opossum and wants the WCW title as he stated he wanted to become champ since joining WCW (to put it in his words he is playing devils advocate).

Match 3: Big Bubba v. Hawk

Before the match starts Bischoff hints there could be another defection from the WWF like what happened with Luger, at the PPV. I see it as an attempt to get a couple of extra buys. Anyway Hawk goes right after Bubba on the floor, and starts wailing away. Hawk tosses him into the ring and hits a back drop and now Bubba is begging for mercy but he attempts to kick him only to have it blocked and he is slammed to the mat. The best part is that he loses his foreign object, and the ref somehow does not see it. Also, the announcers play it off until Mongo brings it up because they were babbling about the PPV. Now Bubba is in control and connects with a big clothesline. Hawk fights out of a bear hug but then gets picked up and slammed back first to the mat and Bubba gets a two count. Bubba slides out of the ring and turns right into a fist and goes down. Hawk is swung face first into the buckle, and Bubba for some reason collides with him, and both go down. Hawk goes up to the top, misses, and Bubba tapes the object into his fist; however, Duggan comes out and trips him from behind ,and Bubba falls on top of it. Hawk gets the pin.

It really was not a bad match. Nothing to get me excited about the PPV, as they think now they are fighting or fighting someone, but it was still fast paced as they brawled the entire time.

Match 4: Sting v. Hulk Hogan

Sting comes out wearing the Yellow and Red and the fans erupt. Savage is standing at the gate and gestures for Hogan to come out. Meanwhile the fans are not too excited for Hogan, and it is taking forever for Hogan to come out. Hogan fights his way through the crowd, and asks the crowd whether or not he should hit him and the crowd seems to want him too. I am baffled how Sting did not notice him coming out of the crowd, as wrestlers just stare one fucking way....Anyway, they jaw at each other. Sting starts giving him the boot and punching Hogan. Hogan reverses an Irish Whip and clotheslines Sting and starts pounding him in the corner. Sting ducks a clothes line and Sting connects with two dropkicks and out goes Hogan, but he drags Sting out, and bashes his head on the apron and then the rail. Hogan suplexes him onto the floor and now Hogan is getting booed. Hogan or someone messes up a clothesline, and Sting comes back with a flying cross body getting a two count. Now the two are eyeing, and circling each other, and they lock up and Hogan puts him in a hammer lock. Sting reverses and he drops Sting, and now he goes after the arm. Sting is up and reverses the move and he starts working on Hogan's arm. Hogan counters with a full nelson and then a side headlock. Hogan takes him to the mat and continues the hold. They separate in the corner. Sting boots him and nails him with a Stinger Splash, but Hogan just picks him up and applies a bear hug and now boots him in the gut. Hogan elbows Sting in the head but it was a clear miss and he covers Sting for a two count and he strikes with a back suplex and another two connect. Hogan is in complete control; he suplexes Sting, but Sting comes back, and starts kicking the leg, wearing it down. He goes for the Death Lock, and the fans erupt and he has it cinched. Hogan powers out and Hulks up much to the dismay of the crowd. Hogan hits the big boot but Sting moves out of the way when he goes for the leg drop. Sting puts Hogan back in the Death Lock. The DoD comes out and starts cleaning house. Sting fights them off, and here comes the Giant. The Giant is about to chokeslam both men. However, Savage nails him with a chair, and now the Giant turns on Savage and chokeslams him! Savage may be dead. Sting and Hogan grab the chair and knock the Giant out of the ring with it.

Sullivan is up at the announce table and yelling at Bischoff as he tries to get them out of there. Bischoff is calling WCW unpredictable because Hogan and Sting were fighting and then the DoD comes down and now they are friends. Sure thing Bischoff!

Sadly I would not call that unpredictable as much as it is disjointed. I did like the match as it was dramatic and Hogan was booed out of the building though the fans were excited when he and Sting paired up at the end. Both played tweeners in the match and while there were some missed spots it still worked fine. Also, as a go home show it was not too bad and while I am not really sold on the PPV concept my curiosity is piqued and I am interested to see what will happen. I liked how it was Sting in control when the DoD came down but at the same time they are teasing a Hogan/Sting feud and I think it would have worked better to continue it into the PPV. Who is friend and who is foe type of situation. At the same time you know there will be no winner declared on a match of this magnitude on free TV (at this time anyway). So someone had to come down and interfere, I am sure they could have worked it and kept up the tension but at the same time they did keep Luger away from Sting and they had the heels soften up the faces or at least try to as Sting and Hogan battled and Savage was taken out. In the end it is not as bad as my initial reaction, I do not fully agree with it but at the same time it is understandable and here is hoping the PPV delivers.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

That was quick, which is good. Shark has fallen low since his Earthquake days. Then again I don't remember too much of those days.

Tenta wasn't really too much of a big deal during his Earthquake run either. They started him off strong; he injured Hogan's kayfabe best friend Tugboat, and then put Hogan on the shelf for a little bit(I honestly can't remember what Hogan was out for)... Then he basically spent months getting his ass kicked by Hogan and friends. After that he got his ass kicked by The Ultimate Warrior for a while. And then he tagged with Typhoon as the Natural Disasters, and their biggest claim to fame was getting beat on by a crippled Andre the Giant with crutches at Summerslam '91 and then a brief feud with Legion of Doom... So really Tenta was always a glorified jobber to the stars. At the end of his WWF run they had him jobbing out to Yokozuna in sumo wrestling matches for fucks sake...

To be somewhat fair WCW had big plans for Norton initially before they realized he was pretty much boring as dogshit in the ring and had no charisma... The most over he ever got was during that brief tag team run with Ice Train as 'Fire & Ice'.

...

I was more partial to WCW during this time period because both shows had terrible storylines but at least WCW threw you a good piece of wrestling here and there in between their force-fed shit sandwiches.

 

[dukes07]

Like WCW I do not feel that the WWF sets up their PPV's that well at this point, but WWF at least includes more on the undercard whereas it is more often than not ignored on Nitro. They abandoned the feud between Diesel and Bret only to rekindle it last month as a seemingly throw together match. Sure they have history, but it would have been better had they reestablished it earlier and spent more time on it the past month; we got an interview. Awesome. However, neither Bret or Diesel showed up or wrestled on RAW. There was no Michaels or Undertaker either, so it was up to Razor, Marty and the Bulldog to carry the show. The ratings did not drop, showing that the WWF still draws an audience and that fans are willing to wait to the PPV's to see the big guns. I wonder how long this will last as Nitro will begin to pick up more steam and the Undertaker and Michaels will be back from injuries, and if they will be able afford to only have them on RAW sporadically. Anyway this PPV, like World War 3 is not real exciting on paper but it is intriguing and hopefully they can pull of a good one and have a title change without controversy unlike WCW. The buy rate is far lower this year than last. Though it was higher than the last INYH at .55 it is still really low compared to other Survivor Series. The positive is that the arena had 14,500 in attendance.

Mr. Perfect is called out and he comes through the curtain to quite an ovation.....then they pan to a recap of Bret's and Diesel's accomplishments.

There is a big event feel that is missing from from the other PPV's. Mr. Perfect is a guest announcer

Match 1: The Underdogs v. The Body Donnas

The 123 Kid joins the Body Donnas with Skip, Rat Radford and Tom Pritchard and Razor comes out and he wants a piece of the Kid before being subdued. Marty starts off against the Heavenly Body and Marty takes the offensive as Pritchard is tagged in and he knocks him to the floor (Pritchard is). Rad or Rat or whatever is tagged in and so Marty tags in Bob Holly. Down goes Rad, which is what I will call him is just getting destroyed as he gets powerbombed and then followed up with a bodyslam and arm drag. He goes after the arm and jerks it around. Hakushi is tagged in and he unloads on Radford and he nails him with a spinebuster. The Kid is tagged in and he connects with a splash from the top but only gets a two count. He kicks him in the head and tags in Skip. Hakushi is placed on the top rope, but Hakushi knocks him off with a cross body. Holly is tagged in and he strikes with a back body drop, and works on the arm. But Skip comes back and tags in Pritchard who almost gets the pin with a powerbomb. He misses the moonsault from the top and Bob goes up, leaps, and finishes off Pritchard with a flying cross body. Skip runs in and rolls up Holly for the pin. Hakushi runs in and unleashes a series of blows, but gets all knees when he comes off the top. Hakushi is getting pounded on the top rope and Skip climbs up and headscissors him off but then Skip collapses to the mat. The fans want Horowitz in the ring. The Kid is tagged in and he stomps on Hakushi but the Kid gets a taste of his own medicine as he gets pummeled. Hakushi connects with a springboard back elbow and then flies from the top but only gets two. Hakushi goes for a springboard headbutt but no one is home and he gets rolled up by the Heavenly Body and is out. Kid and Horowitz are going at it. The Kid is doing his Karate Kid impersonation. Horowitz is fired up and pours it on but it does not last. Rad is tagged in, and he puts the boots to Barry. Barry comes back with a jawbreaker but is dropped with a clothesline and Rad keeps picking him up at the count of two per instructions from Skip. The assault continues and there is another close call as Barry kicks out. Rad does some push ups and gets rolled up and is out! Skip comes in and he is all pissed off and he turns right into Horowitz and he gets flung across the ring and dropped again with a flying elbow. Kid is tagged and Barry does not know and he finishes him off with his leg drop. Marty Jannetty is the last of his team and the fans get behind him. Skip is tagged in and they lock up with Skip pushing him into the corner. Skip charges him in the corner but gets caught up in the turnbuckle. But he is able to take down Marty with a kick in the head. Jannetty is flung into the corner, he is able to stop his momentum, but is caught but gets out and almost gets the pin. Marty wraps his leg over Skip's head and slams it down. Marty goes up top but Sunny shakes it. Skip goes for a back body drop but gets powerbombed from the top instead and is pinned. The Kid runs in and attacks he nails him from the top with an elbow and then a running dropkick in the corner. Marty tries to fire back but gets bodyslammed instead. The Kid goes up top and misses a somersault splash. Both are down and now are up. They exchange some blows, but the Kid is knocked back into the corner. The official forces Marty back. However he connects with a dropkick and he gets a two count. Sid comes down to ringside and Marty is worried but still stays on top of the Kid. The fans start a Razor chant, and Jannetty does his leg slam again and goes for a delayed pin, but the Kid puts his foot on the ropes. DiBiase gets up on the apron and distracts the ref while Sid nails Marty, and the Kid gets the win.

The ending was suspect as it was not much of a blow, but Marty looked good and I was surprised by the crowd support for Barry. It is like the 12th man getting some playing time and the fans loving it. Still I did not have much invested in this as it was not too good overall, but then again it was not too bad.

They go to the back: Razor is rather perturbed as he throws the TV and thrashes the locker.

Todd Pettingrew is with Cornette and his cronies. Cornette is making fun of Razor saying he is able to beat up a TV but nothing else. Owen tells him to be serious and not worry about the Kid. Dean says they are united and that they are minus one competitor: Razor Ramon and that he needs to get his head in the game. I think I spelled Todd's name wrong but oh well.

Match 2: Alundra Blayze's team v. Bertha Faye's team

It would be nice if WWF gave us the names of the combatants as they are all Asian....and no they don't all look alike!! I have no idea how they are spelled, so I will do what I do best: Wing it. They are from Japan. The match starts off with a giant swing, and Perfect makes a joke about waking up to her hungover! Best part of the show so far. Alundra is tagged in but her partner comes in, and flies from the top and then tags back in Alundra. Blayze is dropped with a Karate chop but pins her with a back suplex bridge. Watanabe? Is tagged in and she works over Blayze and now she tags in and someone gets demolished with a series of nice looking suplexes. Asha Kong? is in and she is going nuts but then gets slammed and almost gets pinned. Hasegawa is on Blayze's team and Kong on Bertha's and Hasegawa is finished off with a big suplex. Kong starts beating up a small girl and Kong finishes her off with a huge splash from the middle rope. Blayze runs in and gets in some blows and tags in her remaining partner who continues the punishment. Kong sits on her face and the ref counts to three but she almost got her arm up, not sure what the plan was for that. Now it is just Blayze and all three go after her and the ref is helpless. Blayze fights them off and Watanabe gets her yanked around and it seems Blayze pins her but I guess she did not now Alundra really struggles with a piledriver but does finish her off with it. Bertha is in and starts working over Alundra. Now Kong is in and Bertha runs into her and Bertha is pinned. Now it is Kong and Blayze. Alundra flips to the apron and almost tumbles to the floor but Kong catches her and superplexes her off and gets a two count. Blayze literally gets dry humped in the corner but Alundra comes back and gets a near fall and she does a weak looking somersault splash and only gets two. Blayze takes an hour to climb to the top, and I mean I am faster and predictably she gets flung off. Kong goes up top, and Blayze runs up to kick her, but she gets pushed off. Kong just runs into her and down goes Blayze and then it looks like she punches her and pins her.

This was not as bad as I thought it would be. However there were a lot of busted spots and awkward moments. Blayze moves real slow sometimes and messes up some spots.

Todd is with the President and he is happy to be here at the show and they bring up Bam Bam Bigelow and "Clinton" loves the Flintstones and some pyro goes off and the "Secret Service" covers him. Sweet Jesus.

Match 3: Bam Bam Bigelow v. Goldust

Goldust gives a brief promo where he talks about Hollywood's past, and his role somewhere. Finally the bell rings. Goldust attacks and pounds Bigelow but escapes from the ring when Bigelow is ready to strike. Goldust slowly gets back into the ring. They lock up and Goldust applies an armbar only to get decleated with a clothesline, Bigelow runs into a boot but knocks Goldust to the floor. Goldust pulls him out and he punches Bam Bam in the head but he misses and hits the ringpost. Back in the ring he punches like his hand never hit the post and he clotheslines Bigelow out to the floor. Bam Bam gets back in the ring and Goldust attacks and knocks him back to the mat with a knee to the head and he gets a two count. He throws Bigelow over the top, and the Bammer has to help himself out to the floor. Goldust goes after him, where he bashes his head into the steel steps. Back in the ring, he stalks Bigelow with some kicks, but gets caught in a back suplex. Bam Bam takes too much time, and misses the falling headbutt. I am not sure what Goldust is doing here, but he does finally start wrenching the neck of Bigelow while straddling him. Bigelow gets to his feet with Goldust sitting on his head and he slams him back. They are slow to get up, but Goldust nails him with a flying clothesline. He drops a big knee and gets a two count. He goes right back after the neck, but Bam is able to back suplex him. Now Bigelow takes off his head with three clotheslines, and he gets a very close fall. Goldust is flung into the corner, however, a charging Bigelow is slammed into the turnbuckle and finished off with a bulldog.

The match was not bad. Bigelow can move for a big guy but he did seem a bit lethargic here. The ending was awfully sudden. It is clear that Goldust is getting a big push and Bigelow has gone from main eventing WrestleMania to losing to Goldust with little build.

Todd is back with Clinton and Bob Backlund is there too. Bob does not seem to like Clinton and starts to yell at him. Bob stumbles over his lines and calls him one of the 8000 irrelevant employees and Vince corrects him by saying 800,000.

They go back to the Mabel/Undertaker feud and how Mabel won the King of the Ring. I could have went back that far but I am glad I started in September I do not think I could have handled the entire 1995 year. And they finish off with the UT's face getting crushed. Yes crushed.

Match 4: Jerry Lawler and Mabel and HHH and Isaac Yankem v. Savio Vega and Henry Godwin and Fatu and the Undertaker

Undertaker gets his long entrance; he is wearing a mask. Mabel looks frightened and backs off. HHH starts off while Team UT confers, and it will be Fatu starting for them. HHH charges but gets back body dropped for his impertinence. Fatu then nails him with a big clothesline. HHH though goes for the Pedigree, but backs off when he looks at the UT. Godwin is tagged in and HHH backs away and tags in Lawler who tags in Yankem. Isaac gets lifted up in a big arm drag and Godwin drops a big elbow. Yankem though comes back and knocks down Henry and HHH is tagged in and he starts choking Godwin with his boot. Godwin is whipped into the ropes and HHH nails him with a running knee and gets a two count. However Godwin hoists him up with a gorilla press slam and the ref will not allow him to dump him out to the floor so he does it in the middle of the ring and tags in Lawler. Vega is tagged in, and he drops Lawler with an arm drag. He does a little dance that pisses off Mr. Perfect. Lawler does the same to Vega, but then is dropkicked in the back. Fatu is back in, and he rams Lawler's head into the buckle, but he backs into the knee of Yankem. Lawler tags in Yankem and he works over Vega. Mabel is tagged in, and charges at Vega but no one is there. Vega tries but cannot get him off his feet, and he is caught in a big side slam. Mabel does not do much, just slams him again, and tags in Yankem who continues to punish Vega. He then strikes with a big dropkick. HHH is tagged in and in the corner works over poor Vega. HHH drives a knee into Vega getting a two count. Lawler is tagged in, and he takes an hour, but finally piledrives him. Yet he waits too long to go for the pin, and only gets a two count. HHH is in and is caught in a one armed slam and both are down. Lawler is tagged in and piledrives Vega, but he no sells and leaps to his corner and tags the Undertaker. Lawler panics, but no one will tag him, and so Lawler is picked up and just dropped. He goes for another tag but no one will accommodate him, and he is finished off with the Tombstone and now Yankem is finished off too! HHH comes into the ring and quickly rolls out, but he backs into Godwin who has the bucket of slop. UT yanks HHH up by his hair and chokeslams for the three count. Mabel comes in and slams UT, he drops a big leg drop, and does a little dance. But the Dead Man rises up, and Mabel runs off and is counted out. Moe is left in the ring by himself and he gets chokeslammed.

The match was not half bad and gets the Undertaker back on track as he had not been seen too much lately. It does not get anyone else over, which is unfortunate, but that is the way it goes. HHH looked pretty good and Vega and Fatu got some moves in, and Yankem showed potential.

We are getting some pre-recorded comments: Bret knows that the winner will face the Bulldog at the next PPV and he is just going to take it one step at a time and while he is nervous, the truck stops here and he reminds us that Diesel does not have the technical ability. Diesel says that the Bulldog got lucky in Winnipeg. People are saying that he is at a disadvantage, and they are right, as he may get tired after twenty minutes but he will be fine as he will use high impact moves (work him over in the corner?), and Bret is running on Diesel power, whatever that means, and that he is going to win.

Todd is with Ted DiBiase and Cornette is there and denies being with the other team and Ted tells him to be careful. Shawn Michaels runs in and tells them all to stick together, so he and Ahmed do not have to do all the work.

Match 5: Yokozuna and Dean Douglas and Owen Hart and Razor Ramon v. Psyco Sid and Ahmed Johnson and the Bulldog and Shawn Michaels

The kids and girls go nuts for Shawn Michaels. Vince also goes nuts for him too; he just goes off every time Shawn enters the arena or is even mentioned: Kliq conspiracy theorists unite! Shawn and Owen start off, but Yoko wants some too, however he is told to leave...to his corner. Owen and Michaels lock up and they exchange some blows, but Owen gets head scissored to the mat. They lock up, exchange some blows, but Owen gets headscissored to the floor. Cornette yells at HBK, but he gets pushed by Michaels after whiffing with his tennis racket. Back in the ring Owen takes him down. Dean is tagged, and he holds him up and drops him with a big suplex. Dean hammers away but a whip gets a reversed, and he gets whipped into the corner where he is dropped. Shawn then takes him down with a double axe handle from the middle rope. Dean knees a charging Shawn, goes up to the top, but misses as he leaps back at Shawn, misses, and now Shawn goes up and connects but cannot get the pin. Ahmed is tagged in and clears the ring as Owen runs in to try and help Douglas. Yoko runs in, Ahmed immediately tries to bodyslam him, but cannot so they all attack him (minus Razor) and now Yoko works on Johnson and Dean is tagged in and he starts raking at the eyes and face of Dean. Dean takes a swing at the Bulldog. Owen is tagged in and slugs away at Ahmed, now Razor joins in the beatdown in the corner on Ahmed. Dean and Owen double clothesline him. Dean though gets caught in a powerslam, and now Michaels is tagged in. Ahmed hoists him up over his head, drops him on Dean but Shawn only gets two. He goes for Sweet Chin Music and Dean wisely rolls out to the floor where he and Razor argue. Back in the ring Razor pushes him into Michaels, and he is rolled up for the pin. Bulldog and Owen are now in and they have the classic staredown and then go at it. Owen gets thrust into the air with Davey's feet. They continue to go back and forth, and now Shawn is tagged in so Owen tags in Razor, and now they have the classic showdown. They slowly, and I mean slowly walk up to each other. They attack but the camera is panned to show the crowd instead! Michaels knocks him to the floor. Razor gets back in and they go back and forth until Shawn gets the upper hand. They battle until Shawn gets caught in the Razor's Edge, which took an hour to unfold. Ahmed makes the save and they finally get up and Ramon hits him with a knee but both are down again after a mid ring collision. Sid is tagged in and Razor must be really hurt as he is still wallowing on the mat, well selling it well I guess. Sid takes advantage, pummels on poor Razor, and takes him down with a standing arm drag. He walks up to Razor where he stomps a hole in him. He continues to drop boots on him until Yoko just comes in, and randomly hits Sid. Sid kicks him back, but Yoko no sells it as he goes back to his corner. Razor fires back, but they clothesline each other and both are down. Sid gets up and goes up top, but Razor catches him, and throws him off getting a two count. Razor gets goozled and chokeslammed, and Sid takes his time as he pulls up Razor, and tags in Michaels. Sid holds Razor for Sweet Chin Music, instead Razor moves and Sid gets it. Michaels just shrugs, now that is classic. Razor goes for the pin, but Bulldog runs in but misses, and Perfect is baffled as to why he is in there, uh trying to break it up. But he walks away after the miss, and Razor gets the pin! Not sure what was going on there. Bulldog runs and Sid powerbombs Michaels and leaves and Razor almost gets the pin but Shawn gets his arm up. Owen is tagged in and he stomps on his belly and connects with a back body drop. Yokozuna is in and he unloads on Shawn, and I really think that Vince is going to cry. Yoko flings him like a rag doll into the corner, and he flops back into the ring. Vince brings up Shawn getting beat up by nine thugs, and Perfect says that he saw quadruple after getting punched so hard! Best comment of the night. Yoko is working on the shoulder nerves....or whatever, he is squeezing the muscles there. Michaels gets up, but runs right into Yoko and down he goes. Owen is tagged in and suplexes him. He goes up top and misses the flying headbutt and now both are down. Ahmed is tagged in; he just drops Owen and Razor too. Owen is finished off with the powerbomb. Razor comes in and they go back and forth. Razor knocks him back, goes up to the second rope, waits for Ahmed to get into position, but Ahmed, stumbles the wrong way, so he bulldogs him. Razor goes after the other two but gets a spinebuster from Johnson for his delay and Ahmed delays too and so he gets the Razor's Edge and the Bulldog makes the save and punches Razor through the mat. I do not think there was a tag but oh well. Razor comes back with his fall away slam, but the Kid comes down. and grabs the leg. This allows the Bulldog to finish him off with a fairly weak looking Powerslam. Shawn comes, he rocks Yoko with a series of big blows, but gets floored with one from the big man. Yoko drops his big legs on him, but he starts to drag Shawn to the corner. He climbs to the second rope yet misses the Banzai Drop. Shawn is trying to make it to his corner....he tags in Johnson who bodyslams Yoko, and goes for the pin but the Bulldog makes the save, so his partners take him out (Davey is all over the place!) and Yoko gets nailed with Sweet Chin Music and Ahmed finishes him off and gets the pin. Davey runs back in to celebrate!

This was a little one sided for my tastes. But Shawn looked good as usual in the ring, sure there was some over selling but he damn he is good in the ring. Razor looked fine and Dean had a few moves here and there but was quickly eliminated. It is clear that Ahmed is getting a big push and he can move pretty well for a big man. One sided but fun. I am not a big fan of face on heel teams etc. But it sometimes works if done right. Here it worked out just fine as it perpetuates feuds.

They go to the "President" again and he is with Sunny, I think it is her, and sharing popcorn and he wants her to be the Undersecretary!

They are now going back over the Hart/Diesel feud and how there has been no winner. Diesel informs us again that he is not paid by the hour, and he is going to use his power. Bret got screwed, so he wants his title back.

Match 6: Bret Hart v. Diesel (c) for WWF Title

The crowd erupts as Bret comes out. Well his feud with Yankem and Lafitte is behind him, as they clearly tried to find something for him to do until putting him back into the title hunt. It also worked in elevating those guys until Lafitte supposedly ran awry with the Kliq. A lot of the ring rat looking ladies are excited to see Diesel, but he is coming out to mixed reaction tonigh. After feuding with Hart and then Shawn Michaels there was not much left for him to do the past four or five months as he teamed with Michaels. Also, his match with the Bulldog was mediocre at best. Bret and Shawn can get great matches out of him. I have seen Nash motivated too and he has looked good in other matches. Anyway, the bell rings. Diesel promptly takes off the turnbuckle pad, and so does Bret Hart, taking off another! I like this, though it took Bret awhile to get his undone. They stare at each other and Bret looks to the crowd and the circles Diesel and they finally lock up with Bret pushing him into the corner. However Diesel begins to hammer away on the back and unloads with a series of shots with his knees. Bret is on the floor, and Diesel goes after him. He knocks him down. He picks him back up and drops him neck first on the rail. He rolls Bret back into the ring, and slowly goes in after him, but Hart rolls right back out, so Diesel stalks him, catches up to him and chokes him with his boot. Back in the ring, Hart gets a kick in but Diesel fires back and a shot knocks Bret to the floor. Diesel grabs him and flings him into the steel steps. He picks him up and slams him back first into the steel post. Diesel grabs a chair and belts Bret with it. Hart is rolled back into the ring and he is viciously swung into the corner; he collapses to the ground. Bret is dropped again with a clothesline. Diesel goes for a powerbomb, but Bret grabs the leg, and makes it to the ropes where Diesel is forced to let go. Bret elbows him in the face and then bites Diesel and does it again! He leaps onto his back, applies a chokehold, and then rakes the face. Bret goes after the legs of Diesel and drops him to the mat and begins to drop knees and elbows onto the leg. He puts Diesel in the Figure Four. Diesel thrashes about, but escapes. Bret tries for the Sharpshooter, but gets kicked into the exposed buckle. Bret falls out of the ring. He grabs the legs and slams them against the post. Bret grabs some twine from the buckle, which is tied around the post, and he ties up Diesel's ankle. Bret goes up to the middle buckle and lands an elbow on the head. Bret goes out and grabs a chair, and Diesel tries to kick him, but cannot get the leg up. Bret essentially allows him to do so enabling Diesel to kick the chair. Bret gets right back up, and unloads on his back, and knee with the chair. Bret drops some elbows across the throat and gives him a backbreaker, and he rolls back to the floor. He climbs up top but Diesel is right there, and he hits him. Bret tries to fight back but gets launched off the top. Diesel starts to untie himself and it takes a lot of time, and Bret charges him but gets choked. Bret is up and dropped with a side slam and Diesel gets a two count. Bret is flung into the exposed corner again. Both are down but Diesel is up first and limps towards Bret and sets his neck on the middle rope and leaps on it. He hoists Hart over his shoulder and drives him head first into the corner. Diesel cannot get him up but finally does but Hart wriggles down behind him and shoves his head into the exposed corner. Bret gets a two count, goes up to the second rope and bulldogs him from there getting another two count. He follows up with a side Russian leg sweep and gets another two count. He charges Diesel, elbows him to the floor, and attempts to leap out after him. Diesel nonchalantly moves out of the way and Bret is down. Diesel is trying to recover in the ring, taking a break. Bret gets up on the apron and is just launched off, and he lands on the announce table, the Spanish announce table of course. Diesel slowly goes out after him. He hits him once or twice, and finally rolls him back into the ring. Diesel slowly gets back into the ring. He goes for the powerbomb and he just stares down at him as Bret flops to the mat, acting like he is a cooked goose. Bret suckers him, and rolls him up for the win, and Diesel curses up a storm. Diesel rages, decks the ref and then gives Bret a couple of powerbombs and he beats down some more refs and he raises a salute to the fans and gets a cheer! The fans give him his biggest ovation of the match as he departs!

Though it ended suddenly it kept both men strong and while Hart did not get to celebrate the win, Diesel comes out like a heel, which he should be anyway. Diesel did not sell out many house shows but the WWF was hurting overall, so like I said, it was not his solely his fault as wrestling was on a downward trend. And he did have some good matches with Shawn and Bret and a year is a long time to be champ. It was wise to put it back on Bret. However, I fear he will be a placeholder champ for Shawn, but we will see. Overall, it was a good match, and far better than last month's Diesel/Bulldog battle. Hopefully Diesel will become a strong heel and maybe we will get a rematch.

The show was not bad. It was held together by the main event and the Wild Card match. Easily the best of the three PPV's I have reviewed. It still had its down points here. The Women's match had some good wrestling but it also some busted spots. Goldust came off strong but still has not shown too much in the ring. Hopefully the WWF can start putting on better RAW's, make them as compelling or strong as this PPV was. Overall I would say nearly four stars on this bad boy.

 

[dukes07]

RAW will be live tonight after their strongest PPV since the Wars began. They took the belt off of Diesel who was rarely seen on Monday's as champ, as they wanted to save him for PPV's. The strategy seems fine but with WCW featuring Hogan on most of its Nitros (whether or not wrestling), the WWF needs to have their champ on as many Monday's as possible to keep Nitro at bay. Razor Ramon has carried the banner decently and when Michaels was healthy he did too. Bret made a few appearances, and had some good matches, but needs to be showcased more. The WWF seems to be content in trotting their big stars every once in a while, like they did before September but we are pushing three months in the Wars and the WWF seems to be stuck in August, and while their name and talent may allow them to win some Mondays but overall it will not allow them to maintain any momentum. WCW heading into its go home show for WW3 and defeats RAW with a 2.5 to a 2.3.

They recap what happened at the PPV as well as the Kid's heel turn and how Sid and he have become buddies under the aegis of DiBiase.

Match 1: Hakushi v. 123 Kid

They slowly circle one another and the fans start a Razor chant. Razor is on the phone as the match starts; he is upset about being sold out, and the Kid is going to pay. In the ring they are exchanging moves and the Kid gets knocked down. They fly back and forth but Hakushi drops him with a dropkick and arm drag and he starts to work over the arm but Jannetty runs to ringside and is pulled back by refs. The Kid takes control and spin kicks Hakushi, but the second one is caught however he kicks him with his other foot. Kid applies a headlock but Hakushi gets out and ducks a kick and smacks the Kid in the face. However, the Kid regains the offensive and climbs to the top and nearly finishes him off with a splash from the top. Kid is caught in a spinning backbreaker but both are down. Kid is up but Hakushi blocks the blows and hammers away. He nails him with a handspring elbow, and a cross body for a two count. Hakushi goes to the top and connects with a clothesline getting another two count. Hakushi kicks him in the throat, and the Kid tumbles to the floor. Hakushi climbs up top, but is shoved off by DiBiase. The Kid gets up and spin kicks him for the win.

Lawler is with the Kid and DiBiase, and he is proud of the Kid. Ted is happy with his new acquisition. Marty comes down and Sid gets in front of the Kid to protect him and he starts throwing down with Jannetty and powerbombs him onto the floor.

Not a bad match, both put on a fast paced show.

Doc is coked up, and he is running around WWF cutouts, telling us all the great things that happened last night. Bret and Bulldog are going to wrestle and they go to the Bulldog and he tells us for the ninth time that he beat Bret at Wembley Stadium and he will do it again.

HHH and Godwin will have a Hog Pen match....joy. They pan to Diesel entering the building and shoving aside two random workers.

Match 2: Skip v. Savio Vega

Before the match we get a guy selling Denim jackets for 60.00 dollars...oh the humanity. Skip slings him into the corner but is met with a clothesline. Skip knocks him down but gets slingshotted into the turnbuckle. Skip hits him with a cross body but cannot connect with suplex but Vega is able to do so. Vega nails him with a clothesline in the corner and fires back but stalls as Diesel comes out and the crowd erupts. Skip is launched to the floor and stands up and bumps into Diesel who shoves him head over heels. Diesel grabs a mic and says people are wondering where his head is at and whether or not he should apologize for what he did to Bret and to all his fans. He is not going to apologize, and for the first time in a year he slept like a baby. He even smiled in the mirror. He yells at Vince that he missed the boat with him, and they should not have made him try to be so corporate as they did today at Titan Towers, merchandising and smiling, all irked him (That is what they wanted him to do.). Big Daddy Cool is back and he is still friends with Shawn Michaels, and will only smack hands with fans with a black glove just like him; love him or hate him he is back. He heads to the back to cheers and smacks hands with a few who have gloves.

This is the most I have seen Diesel speak since I started watching. He usually rambles a few sentences and canned phrases. He has always had good mic skills when given the opportunity, sometimes he is terrible, but when he is into it he is as good as the best of them. This was pretty good. FOLLOW UP!

They advertise next week, as Kama who stole the UT's power, I am "sad" that I missed that angle, and he got some gold for it or something and he is putting it on the line. Oh, the return of Brother Love.....

Match 3: Owen Hart v. Shawn Michaels

They do not pan out to far in the crowd when he comes out but the fans by the entrance and aisle are going nuts, especially the ladies. They lock up and Owen knocks him down twice, a third time and goes for a pin each time. Owen gets backslid for one, and now Michaels hits some arm drags and then dropkicks him to the floor. Owen gets to the apron and is pulled in by the arm and Shawn goes to work on it. He headscissors him over but Owen comes back and clotheslines him to the floor and then slide kicks him in the jaw. Back in the ring, Owen gets a near fall with a back suplex and holds it for two. Owen is in control as he gives him a backbreaker and then shoves him into the corner. He grabs him and gives him a big suplex and now applies a rear chinlock. Michaels is up, elbows free, but runs right into a Pele kick and Owen gets a two count.

Commercial.

Shawn gets caught in a swinging neckbreaker and Owen almost gets the pin with a legdrop. Shawn gets two with a backslide, but gets caught with a clothesline, and he starts to land a series of blows but runs right into an elbow. They go back and forth, but Owen is in control and he goes for a superplex but cannot as Shawn fall on top of him and gets a two count. Michaels leaps and clotheslines Owen and both are down. They are both up but Michaels is firing off a series of shots and nails him with a big running elbow. He bodyslams him and goes up top and drops a big elbow and gets a two count. Shawn is setting up the superkick, but Owen will not turn around, and so Michaels goes after him. He gets nailed with an enzuiguri for his troubles. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter, but Michaels gets free. He clotheslines Owen to the floor, and starts to posture for the crowd. He clutches his head and collapses. Owen looks on from the floor and the ref looks baffled and Owen climbs back in and walks slowly towards him but seems unsure. A ref comes in yelling his name and Vince enters the ring too.

Commercial.

They have the EMT's out and are giving him oxygen as the fans are silent. No commentary either....great stuff.

Commercial.

He is surrounded by EMT's and officials and the ladies in the audience look stunned and scared. Some guys are whooping. Michaels is blinking and you can here them say that he is okay. And we fade.

Now this was the best episode of RAW I have seen for 1995. Finally they are getting edgier, the Diesel promo was gold, and the main event had some great wrestling. Owen and Shawn work great together. I know WWF got some heat for the Michaels incident, but it was new and edgy and I think adds a "real" dimension to the program. It has been mostly cartoons and superheroes and this makes Shawn more multi-dimensional and makes RAW more of a must see show as it has the potential of anything happening like they constantly remind us. I think the angle is great, and compared to later stuff, really tame. Great show.

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

The Undertaker versus Million Dollar Corporation was easily the best feud that the WWF had. It went on for damn near a year, and basically consisted of DiBiase trying to get even with the Undertaker for "forgetting who brought him to the WWF". Taker basically killed member after member until Rumble 95 when he faced IRS. He beat I.R.S and DiBiase brought King Kong Bundy into the mix. IRS stole the urn while KKB and Taker were fighting... Taker, now slightly more vulnerable, chased after his urn for like 5 months. DiBiase introduced Kama, the Supreme Fighting Machine and gave the urn to him as a good faith gesture to his newest signee. Kama proceeded to melt it down into the gold chain you're talking about.

 

[dukes07]

I have said quite a bit about the PPV, especially my ambivalence about the concept as it has all the makings of a disaster with far too much going on. The buy rate was a relatively anemic .45, as opposed to Havoc's .60, which was far less than the year before. Clearly WCW did not do a great job in advertising as none of the one on one matches were really discussed prior to the show. Had they done that then perhaps people would have been more giving with their money as I only thought there as a battle royal. While there were hints of other matches but not hyped. There were 12000 people in attendance, and the arena looks quite full. Also, it is clear only a certain few have a chance to win it (that is the case with wrestling most of the time anyway). I am still on the fence about the DoD coming out and realigning Hogan with Sting, but at the same time it does make sense as WCW could not have a clear winner, except perhaps a double count out, and perhaps play off the rivalry at the PPV. Nevertheless it will be interesting to see if they can pull it off as they will do it through 1998 and if booked right and done without too much chaos it has the potential of being a fun PPV along with the added drama of crowning a new champ added to it. I was also ambivalent about the Giant being stripped of the title as it reminded me of Ted DiBiase and Andre when Andre gave it to Ted after beating Hogan back in 88. However, the Giant did win by nefarious means and while having him be the champion would perhaps mean a Giant v Hogan Starrcade match with Hogan chasing the heel, it would also guarantee a Hogan victory tonight, if the Giant was already champ, assuming the winner would face the champ (Hogan could still win, or the Giant will win thus setting up the rematch). Finally like I said earlier it does add some much needed drama to the PPV and maybe the Yeti will show up, whatever happened to him the past month is beyond me, perhaps Hogan is looking for him with his Phantom of the Opera outfit and his sword within the Dungeon of Doom itself!

Gene is with Savage, Sting and Hogan, and he says that Hogan is the favorite. Hogan says that if he had taken the final step into the Dungeon the darkside would have taken over and he would not be with Sting and Savage. Hogan tears off the black and the red and yellow is back. Hogan is going to be friends with Sting forever, and Macho tells Sting that he is cool now. Hogan also mentions that Savage's injury was a ploy to lull the Doom. He also states that all three will capture the belt, I am unsure how this will occur. This was quite the love fest. Also, WCW is all over the place: Darkside, feuding faces, fake injuries, personal journeys, Red and Yellow is back....all in the space of a couple weeks. I need some Ritalin.

DDP will be wrestling Badd tonight. They recap their feud and Kimberly gets pissed and walks out on him and she is putting herself up tonight. I love the prostitute angle!

Match 1: DDP v. Johnny B. Badd (c) for TV Title and Kimberly

Well they come out seemingly pretty happy, as he kisses her and helps her to the ring. The fans really love Badd. He and DDP starts jawing, and they go at it. They start brawling on the mat and then out on the floor, Badd clocks him but DDP comes right back but is then shoved into the post. Back in the ring Badd connects with a cross body but DDP rolls him up for two. Badd comes right back and slams him to the mat and he gets a two count. Badd applies a side headlock and DDP tries to twist him onto his back for a pin but cannot. DDP starts fighting him off and grabs the hair and pulls him to the mat but Badd holds onto the arm and continues to work it over. However DDP is now going after the wrist and arm, and now Badd grabs the hair pulling him to the mat. DDP finally gets up only to get thrown out of the ring. Badd connects with a flying crossbody. Now DDP holds Kimberly as a shield and then pushes her into him, and now DDP is back in control. Page throws Badd into the corner and then nails him with a back suplex. DDP picks him up, slams him into the mat, and then calls Kimberly for the numbers, however she denies him. Badd grabs the leg, but gets a short clothesline instead, and is nearly pinned. DDP thrusts him into the corner where he spears him there. He attempts to do it in the opposite corner, but nobody is home, and DDP eats post. DDP goes for a back drop, but gets a boot instead. and now Badd is slugging DDP and connects with an atomic drop but DDP tries to kick him but he catches the leg and nails DDP with a short clothesline; Kimberly gives him a ten. Badd powerbombs DDP, and almost gets the pin. DDP comes back as he nearly gets the win by using the ropes as leverage, and then strikes with a spinning side slam. Badd takes him down with a spinning head scissors, and Badd leaps over the top with the Badd Mood, but lands on the DDP's knees who now takes down Badd with a gut buster getting a two count. DDP goes for a piledriver, but it is reversed, and down goes DDP and Badd gets a two count. DDP is out on the floor and Badd lands the Badd Mood: A lot of Badd moves. He rolls DDP back into the ring, leaps over the ropes, smashes DDP with a flying leg drop, and Badd gets the win.

Great opening match. Kimberly seems stunned even though she does not like DDP and clearly rooted for Badd. Badd holds open his arms and she hugs him so I guess she was stunned because she was getting away from DDP.

Gene is with Badd and Kimberly. Badd is going to show DDP what respect is all about because he mistreated Kimberly. He wants her to manage him, but to think about it and to go for her dreams (okay) and she has mixed emotions but then says the better man won.

Match 2: Big Bubba Rogers v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

I guess this is a taped fist match and can only win via pinfall or knock out. This has shit flung all over it....Duggan just run up from behind and decks Bubba. He bounces his head off two ring aprons and then rolls Bubba into the ring. He is going to slam the board off of Bubba and the ref does not want him to and neither does Bubba and Duggan drops the board. He assaults Bubba and then clotheslines him out of the ring. He goes after him and rolls him into the second ring (three rings for the Battle Royal). He places Bubba's head in between the two ring posts and then knocks him to the floor but Bubba slams him into the railing. Bubba runs full bore and uppercuts Duggan. He then rolls him into the ring; he misses with the first punch, but not with the second and Schiavone to his credit did not try to cover it up. Now they are exchanging blows and Bubba wins that battle with a kick and down goes Duggan. He connects with a hard right and down he goes again. Bubba adds more tape; he goes after the ribs. but Duggan comes back with some blows of his own and they collide with both going down down. Bubba rolls out to the floor. Duggan comes out but gets punched in the gut. Bubba is trying to tape him to the top rope. He succeeds and proceeds to wail away on Hacksaw. Bubba runs at Duggan, and he runs right into a fist, and it looked terrible. Duggan flips Bubba out and his back bounces off the apron. Now Duggan is slugging away. He rolls him back into the ring, bodyslams him, and readies his football clothesline and it connects. VK Wallstreet comes down but Duggan sees him and hits him with the board but Wallstreet had a chain and Bubba got a hold of it. Duggan is floored. The ref counts to ten and Bubba wins.

I will admit that this type of match is tailor made for these two even though Bubba can still wrestle, however Duggan cannot. It was not overly long and I was fairly entertained but Wallstreet has been a joke since his appearance in WCW. They hyped his entrance and he promptly lost and is buried in a feud with Duggan. Probably should not have left the WWF. Then again...Money!

Gene is with Flair, and he is back despite the efforts of Sting to end his career. Winning tonight is part of his plan because he has Hogan, Sting, Luger and Savage under the same roof....okay.

Now Gene is with Jimmy Hart and Lex Luger. Lex will be facing Savage tonight. Hart is hyping up Luger and it looked like Luger was going for a high five but was denied. Luger says that he is the flagship of WCW, and Savage will not make it to the battle royal. Lex will win the title.

Match 3: Chris Benoit v. Kenzuki Sasaki (c) for US Title

Wow, Sasaki won the title and it was not mentioned on Nitro even though they made it sound it was won before the last show. Benoit beat him either that week or the week before. Benoit goes right after him, and now Sasaki connects with a series of chops. The lock up again and Benoit wraps his arms around Sasaki's belly and then drops him to the mat and works over the arm. Sasaki gets to his feet and sends Benoit over his back and now they have a test of strength and Sasaki is winning but Chris gets up, throws Sasaki to the mat, and he gets back to his feet but is driven to his knees. Sasaki escapes and pounds him to the mat. He bodyslams him and does so again getting a one count. Sasaki applies a rear chinlock turns it to a side headlock and then press slams him. Sasaki grabs the legs but Benoit pushes him out of the ring. Benoit then suicide dives right into Sasaki hitting the post at the same time. He rolls Sasaki into the ring, strikes with a snap suplex, gets a two count, and then applies a head scissors (crushing his head). But Sasaki takes charge but Benoit comes right back with German suplexes but when he goes for the third he is clotheslined. However, Benoit comes right back with a piledriver, and then a flying headbutt. Yet he delays the pin and only gets a two count. He puts Sasaki onto the ropes and flips him off for another two count. Sasaki grabs the leg, hoists him up, and spikes him off the mat. He no sells a clothesline and dishes one out on Benoit and then suplexes/slams or drops him on his head for the win.

The crowd was not really into the match at times due to the submission moves. However it was really good. I am not sure as to why Benoit lost probably because WCW had just signed a deal with New Japan, but then again Benoit was getting a pretty heavy push and he is with the Horsemen. Nevertheless they did not have a lot of time and Sasaki is not that great but it was still good. It was nice to see Benoit get a title shot but this will seemingly become a pattern. He will get close but WCW will not pull the trigger. Plus there was no build to any of this. Come on WCW. Hopefully they follow up. Doubt it.

Gene is with Sullivan, Hart and the Giant. Gene starts of by saying how the Giant's dad would be ashamed at how the Giant is conducting himself. Sullivan states that the DoD will not only be a part of the battle royal, but basically control it, and that the Giant is the uncrowned champ. Hart is now going on about how they will not be intimidated by Hogan being back in the red and yellow. The Giant states that it will be down to he and Hogan and he says: "Roses are red, violates are blue and I am going to kick your butt to Kalamazoo." Wow who writes this? I mean that is something from the GED program.

They are recapping the Luger and Savage feud.

Gene is with Savage and Savage says what it is is what it is (not sure what that means). Gene asks him if he is jittery and Macho counters that he is always jittery and it is part of his personality. I guess his arm is hurt, so they were trying to swerve Luger earlier tonight and Savage says the arm will not bother him. Swerves within swerves!

Match 4: Macho Man Randy Savage v. Lex Luger

Luger is taking his sweet time getting to the ring, and the ref is trying to hold Savage back as Luger slowly enters. Savage attacks him before he gets in the ring and starts choking him with his hands and feet after Luger collapses to the mat. Luger is in the corner where Savage pounds away. Savage throws him into the opposite corner but runs into a boot. However he ducks a clothesline, and gives Luger one instead and then applies a Boston Crab but Luger gets to the ropes. They are on the floor and Savage rams his head onto the railing. He rolls Luger into the ring and bodyslams him and Savage hits the Flying Elbow but for some reason the ref has allowed himself to be distracted for quite some time by Hart and there is no pin. Luger gets tossed back onto the floor and bounced off the rail again but Luger manages to throw Savage into the other ring, well his back is bounced off the side, and Savage is apparently really hurt by this one move because Luger takes his time to come out and then he puts him in the Torture Rack, at the count of eight he breaks it off. He rolls Savage back in the ring, and he starts working over the injured arm. The ref rings the bell as Luger will not relent. Luger will not let go of the arm. Sting now comes out and talks to Luger and he lets go of the arm and leaves.

This was an odd match. Savage controlled the entire thing, and then over sells one move. But it also shows one move can "injure" a wrestler. I do not mind the outcome just the odd way they went about it. Also, Jimmy Hart is pretty damn annoying.

Match 5: Ric Flair v. Sting

It has looked like this feud has been on again, off again. At least they are continuing the rivalry. It seems that both WCW/WWF will start a feud, stop it for awhile and then go back to it like nothing happened. I am in my more modern sensibilities, so I need to get used it. I am ADD Dammit! I need continuity!! I am guessing that Flair swerved Sting because he is Ric Flair as well as because of his age old rivalry against Sting. The bell rings and they have a stare down, jawing at each other. Sting decks Flair after pretending to bite his finger (a bit creepy). Flair goes into the second ring and does his strut. Sting follows him and takes him out with a gorilla press slam. He goes towards Flair but gets a thumb to the eye instead. Flair is on the offensive and is chopping Sting in the corner. He bounces Sting off the turnbuckle but Sting charges back and clotheslines him and drops ten fists on his head and Flair leaves and enters ring three....they pan to Col. Parker with Sherri for some reason. Sting follows him but they pan to Sherri and Parker kissing for some unknown reason. Sting is laying punches on Flair, and then clotheslines him out of the ring. Flair is irate and starts to leave but turns around. The ref holds back Sting to allow Flair to reenter. They cautiously set up a test of strength and Flair puts his shoulder into him but now Sting now sells for the hundredth time and hits Flair with another press slam. Flair tries to swing Sting into the rail but Sting stops and turns and attempts a Stinger Splash but gets all rail. Flair grabs a chair but the ref does not allow it and now rolls Sting back in the ring. Sting no sells a chop again but Flair counter with a low blow and Sting finally goes down. Flair slowly walks over to Sting and starts to kick him. Flair thrusts Sting into the turnbuckle and Sting buckles to the mat. Flair now drives his knee into the back of his head and then struts around and hams it up for the crowd, Sting gets up but Flair goes after the leg. Flair does some strutting again, and pulls Sting back to his feet and throws him over the ropes. Out on the floor he knees Sting in the gut, chops him up and then rubs his face across the apron. Back in the ring Flair clips his leg; Sting goes down. Flair does it again, and now he is trying to pull Sting's face apart. Flair hits a back suplex. It is Figure Four time! Now he is slapping Sting, which fires him up. Sting rolls him over and Flair escapes. Flair whips him to the ropes but Sting back slides him for a two count and Flair is mad at the ref and gets pushed down and once again he stupidly chops Sting to no avail and so he runs to a different ring. Sting press slams him again! And Flair rakes the eyes again, climbs to the top, but gets press slammed off of it again. Sting pounds on Flair again in the corner but Flair picks him up and Sting no sells the atomic drop. Sting superplexes Flair and applies the Scorpion Death Lock for the win.

The crowd was into this match more than anything else tonight. Hopefully the main event delivers because the crowd may be spent. I have noticed that Flair loses a lot. He has lost three times to Sting since September 4. Has he beaten him since that late 80s match? Flair is one of the few guys that can lose over and over and yet still be considered one of the best ever. That is a testament to what a legend he is. Also, while they have great chemistry in the ring, there are only so many times that Sting can no sell the chops, which is over and over and he has only a couple of offensive moves, most notably the gorilla press slam. The fans do not care as the crowd was hot and Sting is the most over wrestler in WCW as witnessed last week in his match against Hogan, and Flair is not far behind.

They mention that they are going to discuss the rules of World War III but then just go into the feud between Hogan and the Giant. So I guess this is a match between the Giant and Hogan. Not to be totally facetious they need to recap the feud because the Giant was stripped of the title and it is up for grabs tonight. There will be twenty men in each ring and each ring will have a giant: the Yeti, the Giant and of course the Giant.

Mean Gene brings out Hogan and Hulk is talking about the big stinky Giant again. If he ends up with Sting and Savage in the ring at the end he is coming after them. Now he is saying that this is the most dangerous match in the world. He has the chance to prove that Hulkamania is the most powerful force in the world, and that the red and yellow is back, which was not gone for that long. He also loves his Hulkamaniacs and he and Savage and Sting are going to tear apart the DoD, oh and with the love of WCW or something like that. He flexes and leaves.

Match 6: World War III, 60 Man Battle Royal for WCW Championship

They have announcers for all three rings: Heenan and Schiavone, then Bischoff and Dusty Rhodes and finally at the third ring, Larry Zybsko and Chris Cruse (no Mongo, thankfully). They are calling them all in and it is quite the eclectic group, including the One Man Gang. Hogan comes out last. The bell rings and the camera finally pans in close; it is showing all three now as they switch around to other announcers. The Yeti is on the outside throwing random haymakers. It is pretty chaotic and no one has been eliminated yet. Wait, the Yeti is already eliminated, seriously this guy could be the biggest joke of all time. Hogan dominates Flair for awhile, and now Mike Winter is out. Lex Luger was apparently eliminated, and just went back into the ring. Hogan is getting worked over by Bubba and Pillman goes down (not out). Taskmaster is almost eliminated. Sags takes out Starr, some poor jobber. Someone else was apparently taken out and they do not even deem to say who it was. Bunkhouse Buck is gone. Cobra, Buddy Lee and some Lieutenant were the randoms eliminated. Buff Bagwell is out and so much for his tag title run, and I do not even know who are the tag champs, if the Males are anymore or not. Kanyon is gone and so is some guy named Big Train Bart. Fidel of the Barrio Bros is out, and they are trying to take Hogan out but he gets saved and starts kicking Bubba in the mug. A guy named Walker is out and JL, Sags and Stevie Ray are gone too. Sting leaps onto the the Giant and they go at it. I guess it was Knobs not Sags who was taken out. Riggs is gone and Hawk is getting worked over in the corner. Ring 2 is empty and they have moved over to ring one. Dick Slater is gone. Wallstreet is out and Flair and Sting are brawling on floor. Norton is done. I love the random EMT's wheeling a stretcher around the rings. DDP just knocked Savage to the mat but Savage takes DDP out to the floor, neither has been eliminated. Sullivan and Gang are punishing Hogan. They have all entered ring one, and clearly there are far more than ten, which was when they were supposed to enter ring one. It is pretty hectic but at the same time easier to follow with just one ring. Joey Mays is out, and there are twenty nine left. There are too many people in the ring right now as many are just milling about but some are brawling on the floor such as Savage and Luger. Scott Armstrong is being taken out on a stretcher with a neck brace on. Not sure if it is kayfabe or not as I cannot find out whether or not he was hurt, but he did become a referee in the WWE. Disco is out as is Dave Taylor, the British NWA champion. Eddie leaps from the top and nails Arn. Hogan weakly takes out Sags and Booker T. Hogan just tossed Sullivan. Savage and Luger are alone in another ring. They are now out on the floor as Savage is taking it to him. Badd and DDP eliminate each other, and the Pitbull is done for too. Benoit is gone. Kurosawa is gone and the Giant just slammed Savage to the mat. Meng and Gang are exchanging blows and out goes Meng. Oorndorff is trying to eliminate Hogan and Flair and Sting are still brawling. Zodiac is gone. Giant is choking Flair in the corner and Hugh Morrus is done. Brian pushed out by Hawk and he tries to take out Sasaki with Hawk helping from the ring and Hogan flips out Hawk and then Sasak goes out. Sting nails Eddie with some Stinger Splashes but he does not go out. Hogan takes out Mr. Wonderful. Eddie and Arn are going at it and punishes AA with a missile dropkick and Flair puts Eddie in the Figure Four. Giant just slams Savage but for some reason not out of the ring and AA takes Eddie to the mat. Eddie Guerrero is out. I am surprised, but glad he lasted this long. Sting is launching Stinger Splashes all over the place but Flair stops him, and the Giant atomic drops him! Seven are left and Savage gets chokeslammed by the Giant, AA runs into Flair who went up top, and he gets knocked to the floor and Arn is gone too. Six are left (it was eight earlier). Sting and Luger are doubling up the Giant, and Hogan comes over to help. Out goes Sting and Luger, and the Giant drags Hogan out but not over the top as he refuses to yield taking everyone out. Savage is declared winner, and Hogan does his whiny thing, saying he was never eliminated, and the fans finally get behind him. They give the belt to Savage and it looks like WCW refuses to let Hogan lose cleanly, a la Cena today, or that Savage can win a title cleanly. Hogan is still whining and Hogan is being booed now, which is classic. Savage basically tells him to live with it. Hogan asks the crowd, and the crowd is not fully behind him. Gene agrees with Hogan but Savage wants to see the video and Hogan will then want to talk turkey with him about it. They hug it out and raise each others arms. Always under the shadow of Hogan Savage was. Poor bastard.

I was surprised at how solid this PPV was. I am also dismayed by the lack of advertising for the other matches but that seems to be the norm in 1995. I think it would have behooved WCW to have Benoit win and give the Horsemen some gold, and even a win for that matter. The matches were good to just okay, such as the Savage/Luger match. Easily the hottest match of the night was Flair v. Sting with the crowd going nuts and despite its relative predictable nature, the crowd made that match fun, and proved that those two are still the faces of WCW no matter what WCW or Hogan tries to do. The battle royal was not as bad as I thought it would be; the ending was typical BS. I am questioning the fact that Hogan cannot lose cleanly. He is worried about his stature with fans but it is good business to put other people over. In fact that is what bothers me about Hogan most. But that is the nature of the job. If you can politick yourself to victory then do it. I do like how Vader refused to put him over cleanly, and while I question why he did not put Flair over cleanly at least the Giant looked fairly strong at Havoc and Sting did too the week before. Vader refusing to job probably helped precipitate his departure. However, Savage never went over Hogan, I do believe Hogan may have been DQ'd or there was a count out back in the 80s but I am unsure. Once again Savage gets a "tainted" title with Hogan looming over him and I am surprised Savage went along with it; but hey he got the belt and I am always down for a Savage title run. Then again it does add for drama. WCW knew that Hogan as champ was played out and it was time to move on. It also keeps him strong in their mind, setting up some potential matches with Savage and the Giant. So they can actually get some play from this for months if done correctly. Overall the show was pretty solid. The issues with Hogan are nothing new to wrestling. I am just over analyzing but at the same time it irks me. Oh I forgot, the Yeti could be the worst gimmick of all time, hyped up as a monster and the first eliminated.

 

[dukes07]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the PPV. They managed to cram in a couple of good matches, and the battle royal, while a bit chaotic was not as bad as I thought. However the end with Hogan moaning and groaning has been seen far too many times; I recall I think it was Rumble 91 when he pissed and moaned about Sid Justice when a similar event occurred. It is the job of the heel to whine. Clearly he will never let Savage bask in the glory. The best part: fans were indifferent to his complaining and Hogan is clearly becoming a shell of what he was in the WWF, and when he first arrived in WCW as buy rates are down and the fans are turning against him as the DoD storyline is a failure. The treatment of Flair and Vader did not go over too well with the fans. Also, Sting is WCW. Say what you will, but that man is fucking over. Savage is also more over, but then again I am a big Savage mark. Seeing him in the Tacoma Dome way back in 88. TWNP has Nitro sitting at 2.3, which is not a large drop from the go home show (a 2.5) and RAW beat Nitro by scoring a 2.5, so both federations are remaining relatively stable.

They are discussing the controversy between Savage and Hogan as well as Luger and Sting who are teaming up tonight.

They are showing WWIII highlights and the return of the Red and Yellow.

Match 1: Johnny B. Badd (c) v. DDP for TV Title

I am still surprised at how over Badd is, and now having Kimberly at his side really helps. DDP comes out looking contrite and carrying some flowers! He hands her the flowers; and promptly sucker punches Badd, unloading on him. He spins Badd around, and slams him to the mat. There is a chain in the flowers. Anyway DDP is still in control with another spinning slam getting a two count. He tries it again only to get caught with a flying head scissors from Badd. DDP looks for Kimberly to throw the chain, she does but Badd gets it, Badd knocks out DDP getting the win. Badd asks her who she was throwing the chain to, and she squeals that he won and that is good enough for Badd.

Angle advancement, nothing more.

Mean Gene is with Jimmy Hart and Sullivan. Sullivan is yelling at Hart and wonders why Luger is with Sting. I guess the the arm hold on Savage had to be held for only ten more seconds (I like the accuracy of the prediction.). Hart responds that he has never lied to him and that they go way back. However, Luger and Sting go way back too, and he has some sort of plan.

Match 2: Cutie Suzuki and Miyami Osaki v. Bull Nakano and Akira Hokatu

I am not going to even try getting the names right during this match. Even Bischoff is confused. Heenan is covering by saying how fast they move and that is why it is hard to call. Bull is a big girl and is swinging one of them around by the hair! Heenan thinks that she is attractive in an Oriental way, I have no idea what that means but Heenan may be drunk. Akira is in against Cutie and they are going back and forth. The fans are loving it as Bull leaps from the top only to eat mat, and now the other two are double teaming her. They both leap off the top, which looked awkward, but they only got a two count. Bull double suplexes them and Akira leaps from the top, landing on both, almost getting the pin but Cutie makes the save. Akira almost get another pin and Bull is in. She sits on one of them, and the other has to make the save. They then they kick her out of the ring and Akira returns the favor. Wow this a damn good match, a somersault to the floor, not sure who but it was good. Akira spikes one of them, Cutie I think, and takes her down for the pin.

This is what women's wrestling needs to be today.

Match 3: Hugh Morrus v. Hulk Hogan

They pan away from some booing fans as Hogan's music begins. However, many in the crowd are still pretty revved up for him. They circle each other; Morrus applies a side headlock and Hogan is swung into the ropes, but knocks down Morrus with a shoulder block. Hogan starts to work on the arm with a hammer lock taking him down. Morrus rakes the eyes and throws some punches, and then knocks him down with the third, but misses an elbow drop. Morrus is down again with a clothesline and Hogan bites a chunk out of his head. Morrus is in the corner and Hogan charges with a clothesline, however, Morrus knocks him down and the fans cheer. He rakes the back, Bischoff lets us know that the fans are chanting Hogan and they are not. Morrus body slams him and then moonsaults from the top, and pretty much misses the headbutt but Hogan sells. Hugh goes for the pin, instead it is Hulk up time and Morrus is finished.

Morrus did not look too bad but too bad his gimmick will haunt for the rest of his days. It really hurts Hogan to have him Hulk up every single time. It is silly and overkill.

Mean Gene calls out the new WCW Heavyweight Champ, the Macho Man. Savage is excited to be on top of the mountain and he is going to go on a reign of terror if he is champ for one day or forever and a day. Gene asks about the dark cloud, and Savage calls Hogan a friend but if he has a problem then Hogan can come on out. Fuck being friends....Hogan comes out and says he is the rightful champion, and he wants the video cued up. We are getting a play by play by Hogan and at the crucial moment it cuts out. Hogan is still bitching. The Giant runs down and takes down Hogan, and for some reason Savage is turning away, so now he gets chokeslammed on the concrete. The Giant rolls Hogan into the ring. Sting comes down to help and immediately starts getting punished. Hogan makes the save with a chair and unloads on the Giant, and while most of the blows are glancing, the Giant sells them like he was being shot. Hogan elbowed the ref....anyway Sting called Hogan off. Now they go to check on Savage.

Match 4: Arn Anderson and Flyin' Brian v. Lex Luger and Sting

Sting comes down but there is no Luger yet. Now he comes strolling to the ring without a care in the world, flexes his muscles, and finally his music gets cued. Arn and Sting lock up with AA taking him down. Luger runs in to make the save. Arn is taken out. and Pillman comes in only to get taken out too. Luger comes in and press slams AA, and Sting does the same to Pillman. AA and Pillman regroup on the floor. Sting tags in Luger. AA reenters the ring, and gets kicked in the gut, but he comes back with a gut punch. AA and Pillman try a double clothesline but they fail miserably. Pillman gets raked in the eye, and AA is thrown into him, and he hits the railing. Sting is in and tries to put AA in the Scorpion Death Lock, however, Pillman tries to make the save by going up top. Luger pushes him off and he lands on Sting and he is down now. Pillman is in and attacks Sting; now he and AA are double teaming him. Sting fights off AA, but gets caught in an inverted atomic drop. Pillman is taunting Luger on the floor. Sting though could have made the tag but turned away....Luger comes in anyway and takes down Pillman, then he hits AA with a running clothesline in the corner. Sting rolls up Pillman for the win, as Flair runs down and takes out Luger and now they assault Sting. Hogan comes out and clears the ring. Flair awkwardly pushes Hogan in the corner and his chops are ineffective. AA drags out Flair. Sting is about to go after Luger and Hogan stops him and Luger stalks away. Hogan is lecturing Sting in the middle of the ring but Sting is upset. However they shake hands and Hogan looks at the crowd in bafflement.

Nothing stood out here. They went through the motions and not much more. The Horsemen eat another loss and it would be nice if they won; they are heels so they should be cheating. Or at least winning. Sometime. Anytime. They do get a lot of air time, so I am not quite buying into the Bischoff bias against them. At the same time they keep losing. So I am not sure. WWE does this a lot today. But the heels do win sometimes. Here the Horsemen are fodder for Hogan and Sting. And it was a Hogan heavy show. It did not do much for the ratings either. He is not disliked in WCW bu t you can tell that many fans have tired of him and so having him out so much, the fans seemingly tire of him and the same shit over and over. You are paying a lot of money for the guy and I am sure the merch is selling, so they do have to use him. Anyway,the match was to further the bickering between Hogan, Sting and Luger as they are not unified against the DoD. However the faces kept clearing out the ring and the heels were on the run. Also, the entire Savage drama makes no sense as they strip the Giant of the title, but not Savage when Hogan clearly did not go over the top? It is unnecessary chicanery and it is overcomplicated. Sting, Hogan and to a lesser extent Savage rarely lose, and while they need to remain some of their mystique, it is starting to grow a little tiresome. Overall the show was about angle advancement in preparation of Starrcade. The best match of the show was the women's tag match and despite Heenan's use of the word Oriental it was still a great match: I need to not be so PC, but I could imagine the backlash if Cole used that word. Maybe he would do us all a favor as he could be suspended for a bit as his commentary is rather shitty.

 

[dukes07]

After a great show I am anxious to see how they will follow it up. I am hoping they can keep up this momentum. They combined some good wrestling with some good promos as well as angles. It seems that Vince may be taking Nitro seriously. Sure last week still had Doc Hendricks running around smoking the crack pipe, and the WWF trying to sell us jackets, but it was still a huge step forward. This week will have Brother Love (I have forgotten how much I loathe him) but at least the Undertaker is here. There is something to be said about being live as that was the perfect time to set up the Michaels stunt, it lends an aura of spontaneity that you cannot get on tape. RAW will get a slight ratings boost and beat Nitro 2.5 to 2.3 and it seems that the shows after PPV's get surprisingly lower ratings than go home shows as people are not as interested to see what happened, but RAW was good last week, so that has to be factored in, and people may have wanted to tune in to see the aftermath of a great show. Also, both federations just had solid PPV's.

Vince will update us as to the condition of Shawn Michaels.

Match 1: Rad Radford v. Ahmed Johnson

Rad goes right after Ahmed, but he is shoved away, and Johnson throws some rights into the gut until he is knocked over the top and onto the floor. They pan to Backlund in the crowd, jawing at fans. They are now on the floor and Rad hammers away; now they are back in the ring. He starts to choke Ahmed in the corner, but gets destroyed with a short clothesline followed up with a leg drop on the back of the head along with a boot to the skull. Rad is spiked off the mat with a spinebuster, and Johnson just looms over him, walks around him before picking him back up, and it is over after the double underhook-powerbomb.

Lawler wants a word with Ahmed. Apparently, Dean Douglas has moved onto another feud. I guess as he has been making fun of him about shaving in Kindergarten (OH NO! Hopefully Ahmed can recover from a taunt like that). Ahmed tells the King that Douglas better learn some respect. Dean comes out to interrupt, and he says that Ahmed has the look to make it in the WWF, but the road there takes place in his classroom, and he points at the ring. Ahmed says ring the bell and climbs in and Dean starts to enter but is held back by refs.

Squash. Another solid build for a new guy. WWF is so far doing it right though Douglas has been floundering lately. Also, the fans are digging Ahmed.

They discuss the issues that Michaels has had, being beaten up by "nine thugs" and that he may have come back too early, and was suffering from Post Concussion Syndrome, but who gives a shit because he wanted to get in the ring anyway, so he is gutsy for working hurt! I will say that he put on some great matches until the end of last week when he was being beaten in the head by Owen and he collapsed. He will need some time to recuperate but he will return!

Match 2: Asha Kong and Someone I cannot pronounce v. Alundra Blayze and Keioko...I think

You can get a new Bret Hart shirt for 20 dollars! Meanwhile it is chaos in the ring but Vince interrupts him as the action unfolds in the ring. Alundra knocks down Kong, but it is Keioko in with her but she is getting punished. Watanbee, Kong's partner is tagged in and she goes to work on Keioko. She gets snapmared over and her arms are yanked back with a boot to the back of the skull. Watanabee misses the flying cross body and she gets caught in the surfboard and Blayze is tagged in. She bashes the head on to the turnbuckle they both make the tag and Kong is going off with kicks and now a suplex and she gets a near fall.

Commercial.

Keioko is pouring it on as both are down. She leaps up to the top ropes and nails her with a back elbow and gets a two count. Watanabee runs to the top but gets slung off the top and Kong is tagged in and so is Blayze. Kong is down after a kick from the top rope but she misses the second one but Kong misses a spash from the top and Keioko is tagged in and she clotheslines Kong but cannot piledrive her, gets her up but cannot finish, and she is rocked with a big back suplex and then finished off.

Good match. Much better than today's Diva's wrestling.

They recap the heel turn of Diesel, while adding in some piped in crowd noise....which actually takes away from the promo.

Brother Love enters the ring and I had forgotten how annoying he was. I get that he was play on the 80s Televangelists and that was great in the late 80s and early 90s. No one cares about Jimmy Swaggart anymore, and it was all done better in Fletch Lives anyhow. However, it is stale now. He calls out Bret Hart. They pan on a group of people who just look confused! Love welcomes him, and Hart looks confused too. Love says that he is a marked man as every star in the WWF wants the title. Bret looks a little constipated and stares at Love and the title. Love asks him if it was his toughest match yet; he yanks the mic away before he can fully answer. He brings up the Undertaker and how Bret is afraid of him. Love will not let him speak again. He is actually pretty damn funny. Love states that Bret has made his brother cry, by feuding with Owen and now his brother in law, the man who beat him! Love pokes at him and says what kind of man does that, and this time Bret grabs the arm holding the mic. Bret speaks, you have to do great things or something to that effect, and he says that what Diesel did was cheap, and it will not happen again. Hart does not want to think about the UT. He tells Love to shut up, and now focuses on Bulldog and the loss to him has bothered him for a long time. At the PPV Davey is going to find out that it is a dog eat dog world and Bret is going to walk out the Best there was, is and ever will be. Backlund runs into the ring and applies the Chickenwing! Love is taunting him as Hart falls to the mat. Finally some refs run down to separate them.

Match 3: HHH v. Jobber

They show Godwin on his farm. He states that he is going to slop HHH. Meanwhile, HHH is destroying the jobber.

This is awesome: WWF has a hotline you can call to get information pertaining to Shawn Michaels! Anyway, HHH slaps the poor guy, his name is Bristol something and he fires back but gets a Pedigree for his troubles and it is game over.

Squash. Damn HHH looks tiny compared to a few years later, I am sure he has NEVER used chemicals to enhance his physique.

Owen and Cornette set up an open contract for the PPV and he is going to do whoever dares sign it what he did to Michaels.

Match 4: Kama v. the Undertaker

DiBiase tells the "peons" that Kama is unable to wrestle tonight. However, he has paid for the services of another wrestler, and it is Sir Moe. The Undertaker comes out to a deafening eruption. Some may be piped, but it is amazing how over this guy still is today. Easily one of the most popular stars ever, and he has stood the test of time from being the champ to being dumped into some of the worst feuds/angles ever. He is still wearing the mask due to his face getting crushed. The bell rings and Moe looks a little frightened. He goes at UT, but gets kicked, and then chopped to the mat. UT slams him to the mat, but gets his leg grabbed by DiBiase, and Moe clotheslines him to the floor. Undertaker lands upright and grabs Ted's throat, so Kama starts putting the boots to him. Moe comes out to help.

Commercial.

They are back in the ring and Moe is pounding on him but he is hurting his hand. UT no sells a head blow to the turnbuckle. Moe gets shoved into the corner and choked and UT stares down the ref. Down goes Moe and he gets up but gets dropped with a flying clothesline. UT is on the floor and beats on Kama and then chases off Ted. He gets back in the ring, bodyslams Moe; now it is chokeslam time! Undertaker wins. King Mabel comes down and UT grabs the gold necklace before Mabel can, and I guess they hold the remnants of the urn and now he is even more powerful....okay. Yokozuna enters the ring. He and UT have a staredown. UT gives the gold to Bearer and Mabel decks Bearer and takes the power of the urn and UT goes after him. Why the fuck would you give to that troll Bearer, knowing...Oh, fuck it, it is wrestling.

It was a squash but it was done for angle advancement. Overall I thought the show was strong again, two in a row, which is a first since September. The women's match was good and the Brother Love segment was decent too. Surprisingly so, as I went in with the mindset that it was going to be shit. While there were more squashes tonight the angles made more sense and makes me want to tune in next week....Especially with the power of the Urn on the loose and all the fat-asses holding it.

 

[theHeadliner]

According to Bret's book, the night after Survivor Series they only mentioned in passing that he won the belt showing a short clip, and then Shawn and Diesel came out to cut a promo to start the show in which Diesel said it was a tainted or cheap win for Bret, or something to that affect. Did you come across that promo?

 

[dukes07]

According to Bret's book, the night after Survivor Series they only mentioned in passing that he won the belt showing a short clip, and then Shawn and Diesel came out to cut a promo to start the show in which Diesel said it was a tainted or cheap win for Bret, or something to that affect. Did you come across that promo?

I remember reading something like that. But they interviewed Bret that night. Shawn was not on TV until the Rumble I believe. So, either I don't remember what I read as it has been a while or Bret misspoke.

 

[dukes07]

After two solid weeks of good storytelling I am starting to get into RAW. Hopefully Bret and Diesel get more airtime. There is no Shawn, well just for last week, and Razor has not shown back up. The Undertaker did make an appearance last week. Yet, despite the undercard carrying the load, the show has been solid. However Nitro will take the crown tonight with a 2.6 to 2.4 victory.

Match 1: Bob Holly v. the Bulldog

They lock up, and Holly gets shoved to the mat. Holly climbs over Davey, takes him down with a bodyslam and follows up with a series of clotheslines. Davey heads to the floor in order to recover. He gets back into the ring, and runs right into a powerslam, and Holly gets a two count. Holly starts to work on the arm, but gets hoisted over Davey's head who drops him neck first onto the top rope. Bulldog delays a suplex, so he gets rolled up for a two count. This fires him up, and this time he does not hesitate as he holds him up in a vertical suplex, sends him crashing down, covers him, but Holly kicks out at two. Bulldog maintains the momentum as he bodyslams Holly, again, and then glares at the crowd but Holly ducks a clothesline, dropkicks Bulldog; he connects with another one and now he gets a two count. Bulldog is flung into the corner. Holly climbs onto Davey and hammers away with rights getting another two count. Bulldog grabs Holly, and Powerslams him for the win.

Holly got a lot of offense in; it was a pretty good match carried mostly by Holly.

They recap Backlund going nuts, as he put Hart in the Crossface Chicken Wing and he did the same to Jim Ross on Superstars. King calls for him to come out. Lawler brings up Bret Hart, and how Backlund has a match against him, but that it is not a title match. Backlund is pissed, and he screams about wanting the title in order to reign over the Plebians. He is yelling about what the people have done to him the past year, and Hart is just like those Plebians. Lawler tries to cut him off because they have to go to break. Bob is all pissed due to that as Vince yells for King to cut his mic!

During the break Backlund was hunting down the person who cut his mic!

Match 2: Fatu v. Brooklyn Brawler

Brawler immediately attacks as he fires off some rights, but he gets picked up in and nailed with backbreaker. He now gets his face driven into the mat. Fatu heads to the top and finishes him off with a big splash.

Squash. I love the Brawler.

Doc wants to interview Shawn but then changes the topic, and says the Owen Hart challenge has been answered. He is interrupted by Vince; they pan to Bob Backlund who has the Sound Engineer in the Chickenwing. They go back to Doc who says that Diesel answered the challenge.

Match 3: Dean Douglas v. Razor Ramon (c) for IC Title

Dean attacks right away, nails Razor with the belt and then starts to pummel him. But he is caught and slammed back and then clotheslined to the floor. Razor throws him back into the ring, catches him in an arm drag and starts to work on the arm. Ramon runs into a boot, but does not sell the follow up move: a bulldog, really well. Douglas bodyslams him, leaps from the mat to the middle buckle and then lands on the back of Ramon.

Commercial.

He has Ramon in an ab-stretch. He is using the ropes for leverage. Razor though reverses it as Dean goes for a knee but gets pushed to the mat. Dean climbs up and hits a flying body press. However, Razor rolls him over and gets a two count. I missed a move as Dean is done for after the Razor's Edge.

Well, Dean has gone downhill. He beat Razor at the PPV in September and now Dean has lost to him twice in a row. While, their October match was pretty good, this was nearly a squash. Poor Dean, maybe it was politics after all.

Brother Love's guest will be Mabel. Mabel brags that he was the first person to pin the Undertaker and to take him out of action. Love has a surprise for him. Mabel states that he does not like surprises: A casket gets wheeled to the ring as the UT's music blares. Moe was pushing the casket. Mabel thinks that Moe has turned against him, and the casket has the King (Mabel) painted on it, and it is for him from Brother Love and Mabel loves it. He is going to stuff the Undertaker into the casket at the PPV.

Ramon wants Jannetty to take down Sid as he will watch out for the Kid.

Match 4: Psyco Sid v. Marty Jannetty

Now cardboard cut outs are being pawned off to us for only 25.00 dollars. Marty unloads on Sid, wails away with a flurry of punches and kicks, and drops him with a flying cross body. He starts banging his head of the mat. He goes for the crossbody again, but gets slammed to the mat for his troubles. Sid starts to yell at him. He starts to choke Marty in the corner and knees him in the belly for good measure. He charges Jannetty, only to get kicked, and Marty grabs him, nails him with a somersault bulldog, and now drops an elbow getting a two count.

Commercial.

Sid destroys Marty with a big blow, but Marty comes back with some uppercuts. He tries for a sunset flip, Sid goes to punch him, but Jannetty slides away. However, he is flipped over with a clothesline. Sid applies the only submission hold he knows....he works on the chin and neck. Marty gets up but gets slung over the top. The Kid runs out. and he puts the boots to Marty, but Ramon chases him off. Razor gets into the ring and beats up Sid while the Kid just stands there, and now the Kid runs off with Ramon in hot pursuit after the pummeling of Sid ends. Sid does not care that the match is over as he powerbombs Marty anyway!

The match was okay, it was DQ, not sure if I mentioned that but I guess it was Sid who was DQ'd....even the King is baffled by that one, and I agree with that as it was Ramon who ran into the ring.

Todd Pettingrew is interviewing Shawn's doctor. I think it is Todd Pettingale....shit I do not know or care. I love the Inside Edition style interview with the somber music and the busy hospital along with the voice over. The doctor was watching RAW with his wife, and was so worried. Whoa! Big time doctors watch RAW, then it must be a legit show for the masses. Anyway, he mentions that over four million people suffer from post concussion syndrome, and he goes over the symptoms, stating they can last for years. The test results are not encouraging as other athletes never recover, and it may take a long time for him to recover. They show all the big bumps that he took during the past year including the nine thugs who attacked him (well they don't show that footage). The doctor is worried about brain damage. Todd wonders what is next for Shawn, and the doctor says it is not safe for him to enter the ring and maybe ever again. Vince gives us a lecture about how we place stars on pedestals as they seemingly take pain and may or may not have power but Shawn proved that they are just like us. The wrestlers live on the edge and risk their bodies for the fans and we all hope he will be okay. Shawn wants to get back in the ring and it is a question of whether or not he will return.

Sweet Jesus Vince.....the sad thing is that type of vignette would not make it on TV today due to the heat that the WWE gets from the press for concussions and the deaths that have occurred lately. They have banned chair shots at least, and no one really knew the full impact of concussions even as late as the 90s. But, wrestlers went out every day when they shouldn't (and many athletes still do). At least things are slowly changing, but it should have been common sense that a chair to the head would have negative consequences every time. While the end was heavy handed and syrupy I still enjoyed the show. A year later, Diesel would have gone out to the ring, and done a promo accepting the challenge but in an hour you really do not have too much time, so we are stuck with Doc Hendricks, a coked up Hendricks. Dean's push is over and he will be fodder for Ahmed at the PPV. Still the show did its job. They kept Bulldog strong for the upcoming PPV. Razor as well. And set up a potentially decent match with Owen v. Diesel.

 

[dukes07]

Last week's Nitro was wrestling lite but heavy on storylines; topped off by the bickering between Sting and Luger, Hogan and Savage. However, Hogan took down Hugh Morrus, ran off the Giant and three of the Four Horsemen, essentially dominating. Also nothing was really solved between him and Savage as WCW is teasing it out as the footage of Hogan going under the rope was "sabotaged" and then the Giant came out and interrupted their soiree. Ratings wise WCW is going to start seeing a boost, TWNP has Nitro at a 2.6 while RAW was not too far behind with a 2.4. Nevertheless, the two shows combined for a for 5.0, and are steadily increasing their audience as the War heats up because more and more people are tuning in and staying tuned in.

They start off by saying Savage will be facing Luger tonight. There will be a triangle match (three way) at Starrcade and Sting and Flair are the other two that could be involved. What about Hogan? Also the executive committee met and Hogan, Flair and the Giant are on thin ice, I am unsure what Flair did....interfered I guess.

Match 1: American Males v. Harlem Heat (c) for Tag Titles

I am not sure when the Males lost the titles, they won back on September 18 but apparently did not hold on to them for too long. Riggs and Ray start off. Riggs takes control early until he is caught in a side slam. Booker T is tagged in, and misses a jumping wheel kick. Buff is tagged in, and Ray tries to make the save, but gets taken out. Booker T comes back but gets rolled up for a two count. Col. Parker comes out with a gift for Sherri. Riggs is in now, dropkicks Booker, but almost missed the leap frog. Ray got tagged in and powerslams Riggs to the mat. They pan away again to Parker and Sherri. They pan back: Booker was in the process of getting a two count. Booker takes him out with a wheel kick but Riggs is able to grab the rope during the pin attempt. They pan away again to Sherri leaving with Parker, and she has a ring. Heat is double teaming Riggs, and Ray attempts a pin, but Bagwell breaks it up. Now it is Booker who connects with a series of knees along with a spin kick. Riggs almost gets a pin as Booker is yelling at AC Green (now that is a blast from the past! He is a basketball player with his claim to fame being a virgin.He played with the Lakers and then Suns....They are in Phoenix. Spreading West!). Riggs though is getting destroyed as Heat double front suplex Riggs. Booker goes leaps from the second rope, Swagger/Vader Bomb, and eats knees instead. Riggs is able to make the hot tag and Buff goes nuts but he gets caught by Ray. Booker nails him with the Harlem Hangover for the win.

The hot tag did not last too long. Booker looked really good but the Sherri/Parker angle needs to end.

Gene is with Sting and Luger. The match will be a three way between Sting, Luger and Flair at Starrcade. Gene is wondering how they are getting along. Sting thinks that by not having Hart at his side he is a better person. Luger also has a good chance of becoming champ and the winner of the three way will be the number one contender and he will beat Luger. . Luger agrees that he will win tonight and brings up the three way again. I may be missing something, if it is for the title or a number one contender or something. I think the winner faces Savage, at Starrcade maybe.

Match 2: Sting v. Kurosawa

Bischoff mentions that the WWF is paying bills (at commercial) and the action is here. Sting starts off by clotheslining him out of the ring. Kurosawa starts hitting him on the floor though. Back in the ring he stomps on Sting. He focuses on the arm, trying to "break" it like he did to Hawk. He is chopping Sting in the corner but Sting fights back, bounces his head off the turnbuckle, and takes him down with a Stinger Splash and Kurosawa taps after being placed in the Scorpion Deathlock.

Kurosawa was looking good the past couple of months. Yet whatever push he had is over as he pretty much got destroyed by Sting. Sting did a couple of moves, not his gorilla press though. Kurosawa started strong but that was short lived.

Match 3: Scott Norton v. the Giant

The bell rings and they lock up. The Giant pushes him away and it happens again. The third time they lock up, the Giant hits him on the back, and knees him to the mat. He picks up Norton and bodyslams him, then clubs him in the back. Norton picks up the Giant and just holds him there and connects with an atomic drop. He is now bouncing his head off the buckle. He strikes with couple of clotheslines, but the Giant does not go down. He climbs to the top, and the Giant catches him with his arm and chokeslams Norton getting the pin.

It was not a total squash but Norton will be clearly stuck in the mid card, and he is a strong guy who is pretty good in the ring.

Gene is in the ring and calls out Flair and there are some boos sprinkled in for the first time, so he is finally getting some heat. But Sir Charles Barkley comes out first and he is looking really skinny. Now Flair comes out, and they go to the ring together. Gene wants to know if they will be tag partners. Charles shushes the crowd and says Flair is the greatest and Naitch returns the favor by saying Charles is the best basketball player. Charles wants the fans to respect Flair, and Flair says that Hogan, Savage, Luger and Sting should not mess with him anymore or there could be a new member of the Horsemen. And the Triangle Match is at Starrcade is between Luger, Sting and Flair....even if Luger wins I guess, but you can clearly predict the outcome of Luger/Savage match tonight. So it would be Savage in his place....Who fucking knows.

Match 4: Lex Luger v. Macho Man Randy Savage (c) for WCW Championship

Savage enters the ring and scares Luger right out of it. Okay, the Triangle Match will be Savage taking Luger's place if he loses. Sorry...WCW should have just made that shit clear from the get go. Or I am drunk. Macho wants a piece of Luger who begs off and stays in the corner. Savage goes after Luger and kicks him, and then rakes his face across the ropes and starts choking him with his boot. Luger comes back by dodging Savage in the corner and clotheslining him. Savage is out on the floor, and Luger leaps from the apron, but gets a punch in the gut for his effort. Back in the ring Macho connects with a double ax and he gets a two count. He applies a front face lock but Luger powers out. Macho comes right back with a big elbow and gets another two count. Luger thought hits a suplex and goes for an elbow drop but Savage moves. Savage is back in control and bounces Luger's arm off the ropes. They are out on the floor, and Savage is working over the arm, bouncing it off the rail and then backs it into the post. Macho rolls him back in the ring and Savage starts yanking the arm back and puts his knee in Luger's face. Luger is able to drag himself to the ropes and Savage stomps him for it and then bashes the arm against the post. Savage gets a near fall and goes right back after the arm. He stands on Lex's face and throws him into the turnbuckle and tosses him out of the ring and into the post. Savage goes for the axe handle form the apron but gets led right into the rail. Back in the ring Lex is stomping away. Savage fights him off with punches to the belly but gets his eyes rakes. He swings at the ref receiving a warning. Luger is back in control and clotheslines Savage. Lex gets a two count. Luger drops a forearm for another two count. Luger kicks Savage in the ribs, and drives his knee up into his face and down goes Macho. Lex continues the offensive by dropping three straight elbows and another near fall. Macho is swung into the ropes and there is a big collision and both are down and Savage is able to make the cover but only gets a two count. Savage is tossed out and he drags Luger out where throws him into the rail. Back in the ring Luger practically no sells being pushed into the corner, but allows himself to be tossed around. Jimmy Hart undoes a turnbuckle, and Luger tries to bash Savage's head into it, but Savage reverses it. Instead it is Luger's head, and as he flies backwards he strikes the ref who is knocked out of the ring (how the ref did not notice the turnbuckle is odd but he is knocked out now....). Savage heads to the top and lands the Flying Elbow. Hart is on the apron and Savage drags Hart in the ring. But Flair comes in with some brass knuckles and knocks out Savage. Flair is flexing as he leaves and Hogan is right behind him and Flair runs to the ring but allows himself to be caught. The ref starts making the count. Hogan stops the count and the ref throws out the match. Hogan knocks Jimmy's and Luger's heads together. Sting runs in and Hogan decks him and now they are pushing and shoving with Savage playing peacemaker. After the break Gene is with all three (Savage, Sting and Hogan) and Hogan is going off about Luger. Sting insists that he is must mixed up, and he sometimes does not trust Savage but would never bash him, and so he is getting tired of Hogan doing it to Luger. Essentially Luger is a child who takes the short bus as he does not know any better. Hogan brings up that Savage knew Luger was a backstabber and Savage spits out that he did say that, and he repeats himself. He and Sting spout some nonsense. Sting switches gears and says that he and Hogan have a match against Arn and Flair next week. Hogan mentions that they are friends, but Luger needs to be far away from the match and Sting says he will do his best.....why Luger would be involved in the match is beyond me. They shake hands and all seems well. I feel like I am watching an episode of the Real World.

The match was a little slow but Luger did his best though he is quite limited. He is still quite over with the fans and he and Macho have had some decent matches but this was pretty slow but it got the job done. I am still baffled by the WWIII situation between Hogan and Savage and what is going on with that. The entire Sting, Hogan, Savage and Luger soap opera has been going on for three months, and has become tedious. They are friends and then not and then shake hands at the end of each show. Sting sticks up for Luger but called him out not too long ago. What happened to the Yeti? The Giant's push? Also, Eddie Guerrero seems to have become relegated to Saturday. The Japan angle with New Japan wrestlers taking on WCW wrestlers sounds pretty good and hopefully they give it a proper build. I am still baffled by the WWIII situation between Hogan and Savage and what is going on with that. The entire Sting, Hogan, Savage and Luger soap opera has been going on for three months and has become tedious. They are friends and then not and then shake hands at the end of each show. Sting sticks up for Luger but called him out not too long ago. What happened to the Yeti and to the Giant's push. Also, Eddie Guerrero seems to have become relegated to Saturday. The Japan angle with New Japan wrestlers taking on WCW wrestlers sounds pretty good and hopefully they give it a proper build because a lot of the PPV's other than a match or two do not get the proper attention prior to it. Nitro did start early, and go a little late, so they are upping the ante against RAW and being live certainly does have it advantages. It was clearly not a sell out, though the appearance of Charles was cool, but seemed rushed, and it will be interesting to see if there is any follow up, although it is basketball season. The show was not bad, though the faces cleared the ring again, and it ends much the same way each week. An overall problem they have trouble keeping up with a lot of angles and have too much going on. A lot has been placed on Saturday Night which is fine, but let us know when a title change occurs or something big happens on Saturday as Nitro is pretty much showcases the WCW title with the other belts making guest appearances.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

Very interesting project here man, really nice read.