WWE Vault – Before They Were Superstars: I Know Them (Includes Full Video)
Before They Were Superstars
Commentator: Lenny Leonard, Chris Leary, Jonathan Coachman
So this is a collection of matches featuring stars when they were very young, occasionally before they even made their big time (as in WWE) debuts. While they’re little more than a bunch of historical curiosities, they can still be a lot of fun, especially to see the future before anyone could have guessed what was coming. Let’s get to it.
From December 7, 2010 in Dayton, Ohio, a dark match before NXT/Smackdown.
Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins
This is Dashing Cody Rhodes and Rollins is billed from Dayton for a hometown reaction. Rhodes has to insist that he does NOT suck before shouldering Rollins down. Back up and Rollins hits a dropkick but gets knocked out of the corner for his efforts. Rhodes stomps him down and grabs the chinlock, followed by a nice dropkick for two. Rollins is back up with a rollup into a belly to back suplex. A backdrop sends Rollins to the apron and he misses a springboard, allowing Rhodes to grab a rollup pin at 3:45.
Rating: C+. All things considered, this was a fairly entertaining match. You could definitely see the fire in Rollins, especially back in the day when he had fresh legs and wasn’t several major injuries into his career. I still think there was a lot more to be had out of Dashing Cody Rhodes, especially with the transformation into the Dr. Doom years, but it’s a case of never knowing just how good people will become years later.
From UPW Showdown, August 23, 2000.
Prototype vs. Crash Holly
Prototype is a more massive than usual John Cena and he bails out to the floor early on. Back in and Prototype sort of stalks him, only to charge into a headlock takeover. That goes on for a bit and Prototype gets up, only to get taken over again. Back up and Prototype hammers away before whipping Holly chest first into the buckle.
An elbow drop gets two and a side slam, with posing (of course) drops Holly again for the same. A double clothesline leaves them both down and Holly is back up with a missile dropkick for two, with Prototype getting a boot on the rope. It worked so well that Holly goes up again, but this time Prototype spins him down into a slam for the pin at 7:15.
Rating: C. I’m surprised the match went as well as it did, as Cena had only been wrestling for about ten months at this point. You could tell they were keeping it VERY basic here, with Cena getting to play to his strengths of simple but still somewhat impressive looking power moves. As usual, Holly is someone who could be a rather nice mechanic in the ring and that’s why he was in the ring here. It wasn’t a good match, but they were doing what they could.
From Evolve 90.
Progress Atlas Title: Walter vs. Fred Yehi
Yehi (“he is angry, pissed off, and short”) is challenging and this is way before Walter slimmed down into his Gunther form. Walter works on the arm to take Yehi down and then powers him out to the apron without much trouble. Back in and the rather big shoulder has Yehi in more trouble so he goes after the leg for limited success. Yehi slips out of a suplex and stomps on Walter’s foot, meaning the chops stagger Walter a bit more.
Some chops just wake Walter up though and he boots Yehi out to the floor. Once again Yehi gets smart by stomping the hand onto the steps to weaken the chops. Walter is fine enough to knock him back down and drop a splash for two. Yehi strikes back and is immediately suplexes a few times for some near falls. A jumping double stomp to Walter’s back sets up a German suplex to give Yehi two and they’re both down.
Back up and they chop it out, with Yehi blocking it but getting his leg kicked out. Walter pulls him into the sleeper and leans on him, only to back into the corner for the save. The sleeper goes on but Yehi gets him into the corner for some cool looking upkicks. A fisherman’s superplex gets a rather near fall and Yehi slaps on his Koji Clutch. That’s reversed into a cradle for two, followed by another powerbomb to plant Yehi. A Helluva Kick and the big clothesline get two (I bit on that one) so Walter chokes him out for the win at 15:09.
Rating: B. I’ve seen a few bits of Yehi and this was another good outing from him, especially against a monster like Walter. As usual, the chops were the big draw here as Walter beat the fire out of Yehi and overwhelmed him in the end. It’s something that has worked well for him, though Walter has always had issues against smaller wrestlers. This kept me interested, with both looking good in the process.
From Jakked, January 26, 2002.
The Hurricane vs. AJ Styles
Hurricane has Mighty Molly with him and Styles is pretty unknown here, as his only real exposure was a handful of matches in WCW about nine months earlier. Coachman immediately puts Styles over as a big deal, only for Hurricane to take him down three times in a row. Commentary talks about the NWO, with Leary not really knowing who they are, which is probably why he’s not that well known.
Styles is back with a brainbuster into a chinlock, which just earns him a chokeslam attempt. That’s broken up too so Hurricane settles for a backdrop. The Overcastle connects but Styles breaks up the Eye Of The Hurricane as he’s doing a nice job of surviving here. A shooting star press misses as Hurricane rolls away (granted it wasn’t connecting anyway) and actually busts out the Vertebreaker for the pin at 4:34.
Rating: B-. Hurricane is someone who is best known for his comedy stuff but he can still have a serious match when necessary. This was one such occasion and you could tell he wanted to give Styles a lot. If nothing else, having to finish with the Vertebreaker made things that much better and this was a nice way to wrap up the show.
Overall Rating: B. Yeah some of it was a bit low level, but that’s kind of the point. This was a good example of something that lived up to its name, as this was basically just a bunch of matches from wrestlers who would go on to become big stars but weren’t quite there yet. It’s an idea that could go on for several hours or volumes if they were given the chance and that’s what makes this channel fun. The Walter and Styles matches were both good and it was cool to see Rollins vs. Rhodes before it meant anything. Nice, entertaining Vaulting here.
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