Starting tonight, I’ll be doing live coverage for pretty much every show that I review already on wrestlingrumors.net. I won’t be posting my thoughts on them, but if you need updates on what’s going on at the PPV tonight or upcoming TV shows, check me out over there. I’ll be posting some reviews in the future there too. Check it out. The review will be up in full as usual.
KB
You didn’t miss 1997-2003. They don’t exist. Also I forgot the Valiant Brothers in the 96 class but they’ve been added at the end.This is the return of the Hall of Fame after an eight year absence. It’s also the first year that the inductions were tied in to Wrestlemania, which was the perfect move for the ceremonies. They never were really talked about, so putting them at Wrestlemania got them on the main stage for the first time ever. Since there are a lot more people going in starting with these classes and some of them are better known, the statements about each will likely shrink a bit. Let’s get to it.
Big John Studd
….for what? Winning the second Royal Rumble? I’d hardly call that a reason for putting him in the Hall. Studd won a tag title back in the 70s under a mask, but other than that the guy doesn’t have any claims to fame in the company. He was a pretty big star outside of WWF, but again I don’t know if he was a big enough deal to be in the Hall of Fame. At the end of the day, he didn’t really do much other than job to Andre and Hogan about a million times. If he’s in the Hall of Fame, it’s on one of the lowest levels you can be on. I’d vote no here.
Don Muraco
I’m fine with this one. Muraco was a very dominant heel back in the early 80s, winning two Intercontinental Titles when that meant a lot. He spent the second most time ever as champion, second only to Pedro Morales. He’s also an answer to another trivia question, as he won the first King of the Ring tournament. Muraco was a shell of his great self by the time he turned face in late 87, which is a shame as he really was talented back in the day. I’m fine with him going in.
Greg Valentine
You could nearly write the same paragraph here as was written about Muraco, with the only differences being Valentine won a tag title instead of another IC Title and never won the KOTR. Valentine also had a great run in the NWA, winning nearly every major title other than the world title. If you want to see an old school bloodbath, check out Valentine vs. Piper at the first Starrcade. For it’s time, it’s an amazing brawl. I have no problem with Valentine being in the Hall of Fame, but if you look up his stuff, get the matches before about 1987. They’re WAY better.
Harley Race
This is a yes. If you need to know who Harley Race is, watch some HHH matches and pretend it’s the 70s. They’re practically the same guy. If I remember right, when Race retired he was an 8 time world champion. The second highest total at that time: three, by Lou Thesz. Harley Race is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and has a legitimate argument for being the greatest of all time. Race falls into the category of “guys you have to have in a wrestling Hall of Fame if you want people to care.” As I said, this is a yes, period.
Jesse Ventura
If you have Gorilla Monsoon in the Hall of Fame, it would be a crime to not have Ventura in there as well. These two were made to be commentary partners and they had the absolute best banter in the history of wrestling announcers. Ventura wasn’t great in the ring by any stretch, but he more than made up for it on the microphone. Oh and he was governor of Minnesota. That has to be worth some points. I’m fine with him being in the Hall of Fame, but only the WWF version.
Junkyard Dog
The JYD is one of those guys that got by almost entirely on charisma instead of skill. By the time he got to the WWF he was a shell of his former self, but the fans still loved him no mater what. He never accomplished that much on the main stage, but he was probably the biggest star ever in Mid-South, which was a pretty big deal back in the day. This is one of those names that I wouldn’t go with personally, but I can see why he got in. I’d probably vote no though, at least for the first few years.
Sgt. Slaughter
This is another name that wasn’t huge on the main stage but he was certainly big elsewhere, especially in the chin department. Slaughter was a top star in the AWA and then won the WWF Title in a huge heel run in 1991. He used the American military gimmick which is one of the tried and true gimmicks that almost never fails. Slaughter was one of the top stars of the 1980s, and I have limited problems with him being in the Hall of Fame. I’ll give him a pretty solid yes here.
Billy Graham
Here’s something you likely wouldn’t guess: Graham has the longest world title reign by a heel in WWF history. On top of that, to call Graham influential is the understatement of the century. Hogan used the boas and talked about having huge arms, Rhodes flat out stole some of Graham’s catchphrases, and Jesse Ventura made a running joke out of saying that Graham stole ideas from him. Graham has since become something of a nut case, but to argue that he doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame is absurd. This is probably the easiest layup of the year.
Tito Santana
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a big Tito Santana fan. The guy could flat out go in the ring and was basically the Kofi Kingston of his day: he won enough titles to be credible all the time, he almost never had a truly bad match, and he never was a serious threat to the world title. Santana and Valentine had some of the best chemistry you’ll ever see, making their matches pure treats. He had the same chemistry with Savage so the feuds flowed very well with them. Santana certainly belongs in the Hall as he’s one of the most consistently solid workers in history.
Bobby Heenan
He’s the greatest manager of all time but he might have been funnier on commentary. Think about this: the guy got a DVD released about him, and he was primarily a manager. That sums up the easy yes pretty well.
Pete Rose
Yeah whatever. The guy took some beatings over the years so why not.
This was a pretty solid return to the concept for the WWE, but the next year was when they started nailing the idea with headliners. That’s probably what this class is missing most, but it’s certainly not bad.
Monday Night Raw
Date: January 21, 2002
Location: BI-LO Center, Greenville, South Carolina
Attendance: 9,420
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We’re done with the Rumble now and the road is pointing to HHH vs. Chris Jericho at the Rumble. Other than that….there’s not much going on here. Basically it’s all about HHH for the next seven or eight weeks, but now we need to bring in Stephanie as well because what would Monday Night Raw be without her? Let’s get to it.
We open with the Martin Luther King Day video. What is Vince’s obsession with that holiday? Not that I’m complaining but he never misses that thing.
We recap the winners of the Rumbles over the years before getting to HHH’s win last night.
Rob Van Dam/Tazz/Spike Dudley vs. Booker T/Dudley Boys
Booker eliminated RVD last night to set this up. Spike is in a neck brace. Booker and RVD start things off by trading some forearms. Booker takes him down but stupidly tries to get into a kicking battle with Rob freaking Van Dam. Why in the world would you think that was a good idea? A dropkick and standing moonsault get two for Rob and it’s off to Tazz. Some Dudley interference lets Booker take over before it’s off to D-Von.
The jumping back elbow puts Tazz down and there’s a tag to Bubba who knocks Spike off the apron. There’s the ax kick from Booker but instead of the Spinarooni it’s back to D-Von for more pounding in the corner. A legdrop gets two on Tazz and D-Von throws him to the floor. After some cheating by Bubba we head back inside where Tazz hits a quick suplex on D-Von to put both guys down.
The hot tag brings in RVD and let the rolls and flips begin. Rob cleans house but gets caught in the reverse 3D for two. Everything breaks down and everyone hits something, including a 3D to Tazz. As Bubba is getting up though, Van Dam hits him with the Five Star for the surprise pin.
Rating: C. This was a nice little tag match and the surprise ending made it that much better. I’m still a big fan of combining feuds like this as it allows them to save time while giving us some fresh matchups at the same time. This lets both feuds continue as a combination of both were involved in the fall. Decent stuff here.
It’s Jericho time as he gets to gloat over keeping the title last night over the Rock. Jericho talks about how everyone knew Rock was going to win but he shocked the world. This is the kind of promo that Punk could have had after this year’s Rumble but they went with the logical booking instead, which was probably the right move. Jericho demands respect and appreciation for his accomplishments, which are indeed pretty awesome. He wants a standing ovation but here’s HHH instead.
The Game gives Jericho some applause and says Jericho has never beaten HHH. He talks about going to Wrestlemania to face Jericho, assuming Jericho keeps the title. In two months, Jericho has to be larger than life, because that’s what it’s going to take to face HHH at Wrestlemania. At Wrestlemania, it will be time for Jericho to play the Game.
This brings out Kurt Angle for his second interruption of HHH in three weeks. He yells at HHH for jumping him from behind to eliminate him in the Rumble last night. The brawl is on but Jericho hits HHH with the belt to stop it short. Jericho puts him in the Walls but Rock comes out to make the save.
Intercontinental Title: Edge vs. William Regal
Regal won the title last night with the aide of brass knuckles. Edge jumps him on the floor while the referee looks everywhere for the brass knucks. Regal is sent over the barricade and suplexed right back to ringside as Edge is on fire early on. There’s the bell as Edge comes in with a missile dropkick for two. A belly to back suplex gets two more and Regal bails to the outside.
They head to the floor for a bit and the champion sends him shoulder first into the post to take over. Regal fires off some knees tot he shoulder like a good villain before hooking a chinlock. That goes nowhere so the Canadian fights up and hits a cross body and a spinwheel kick to drop Willy. The Edge-O-Matic gets two so Edge goes up, allowing Regal to pull out the knuckles. Edge knocks them away though and decks Regal with the for….two as Patrick sees the knuckles and calls for the DQ.
Rating: C-. This wasn’t awful but it didn’t do much for me. Regal was only a short term champion anyway as he would lose the belt at Mania in the opening match. Edge would of course have the logical feud from here: fighting Booker T over a Japanese shampoo commercial. Don’t you see the connection?
Edge beats up some referees post match.
Post break Edge is taken out of the arena.
Kane and Big Show talk for a bit about Kane eliminating him from the Rumble last night. Show leaves and Billy and Chuck come in (instead of out). They offer Kane a spot on the team complete with his own headband. A two on one beatdown ensues when he says no. Ok then.
Mr. Perfect and Debra chat about Austin. This also goes nowhere.
Here’s Flair to liven things up a bit. He says we’re in Flair Country tonight and thanks the fans for supporting him for 25 years. In that time he left his family behind because he was blinded by ambition to be the best. The only thing he knew about his children was that he was there when they were born. He couldn’t be at their ball games or recitals because he had to be wrestling around the world. Flair doesn’t regret a bit of it because the fans became his family. Lawler: “Good to see he’s got his priorities in order.”
In recent years though, Flair has wanted to become a better father who his kids can look up to. That’s why when Vince started to screw with him and his family, Flair had to change his catchphrase to “to be the man, you’ve got to beat Vince McMahon.” Last night, Vince took a camera from Flair’s kids’ hands and took pictures of Flair’s bloody face. Then Flair’s daughter got the camera back and took a shot of Vince’s bloody face. We see the picture and WOW Vince’s eyes looked insane.
Anyway here’s a bandaged Vince to stare down Ric. Flair takes his jacket off but Vince leaves his on. He says people think he lost at the Rumble, but apparently Flair lost too. Vince says that after last night, Flair is going to do something bad. Something so bad that even Vince might regret it. Flair is going to see what it is and that’s it. That announcement would come on Smackdown.
Val Venis vs. Mr. Perfect
Both guys returned at the Rumble last night. Val does the Rick Rude thing, although instead of getting a kiss, she gets to remove his towel. He doesn’t even want to know her name so they don’t get too attached. Val kisses her anyway. Perfect takes him into the corner for some hard chops but Val comes back with some knees to the ribs. A clothesline puts Val down…and here’s Austin. He BLASTS Perfect in the head with a chair, presumably for something from the Rumble last night. The match is thrown out.
Val gets in Austin’s face and gets the Stunner he deserves. Austin has a story for us tonight: it’s about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer who barely kept his family fed. Austin goes through the entire theme song (get some culture if you don’t know what I’m talking about) but says that’s not the story he’s here to tell us. Instead he wants to talk about Steve Austin going to the Royal Rumble.
He ate a bunch of Mexican food and drank a lot of alcohol but last night he was hoodwinked, bamboozled and flabbergasted by two guys from behind. He’s entering the 2003 Royal Rumble right now and is going to Wrestlemania this year to beat someone up. Austin gets into nearly a sermon, talking about how he’s going to bloody and torture someone at Wrestlemania. The direction for this seemed to be “Austin, go fill up five minutes because we have no idea what to do tonight.”
Big Show/Kane vs. Billy and Chuck
Big Show is a surprise partner and the brawl starts on the ramp. Kane gets Billy in the ring and launches fire from the posts. Chuck gets kicked in the face and it’s off to Big Show as he and Chuck are legal. Billy is pulled in as well as Show is beating up everything in sight. Kane goes up top but Show accidentally knocks him to the floor. Chuck takes Big Show’s leg out and the Fameasser is enough for the pin. Next.
HHH yells at Rock for saving him earlier, which makes Rock ask a very good question: why is HHH so mad all the time when he’s going to Wrestlemania? Rock recommends some ice cream and a ham and cheese sammich. Oh and he wasn’t saving HHH earlier. It was just a preview for Angle and Jericho.
We get a clip of Maven eliminating Undertaker in a legit shocking moment last night.
The APA is at WWF New York.
The newly legit Godfather is here, now owning an escort service instead of being a pimp. He says he’s in the Yellow Pages now and this needs to end already. It’s time to dance but here’s Lance Storm to complain. Storm: “This business is as legitimate as a three legged donkey….which is illegitimate as a donkey of course has four legs.” Storm tries to clear out the ring but Godfather hits the running splash in the corner to dispatch the Canadian.
Goldust says there’s a star that burns brighter than he does and Goldie is coming for him.
Stephanie yells at HHH for being Rock’s partner tonight. She tells him to go beat up Rock but HHH tells her everything doesn’t revolve around her. He finally tells her to shut up and walks out.
The Rock/HHH vs. Kurt Angle/Chris Jericho
Rock and Angle start things off but it’s quickly off to Jericho as the villains take over. Jericho shoulders him down but Rock nips up and hits a spear of all things to put the Canadian down. Off to HHH as the beating continues. Chris is slammed off the top and HHH hooks a running choke to keep the pressure on. Back to Rock for a release belly to belly suplex and a spinebuster to set up the Elbow, but Angle low bridges him to the floor.
Rock gets to play Ricky Morton for a bit as Jericho drops a bunch of elbows for two. Back to Angle who gets punched in the face and put in the Sharpshooter, only for Jericho to quickly break it up. A DDT puts Chris down and there’s the double tag to bring in HHH and Angle. The Game beats up both evildoers and catapults Jericho out to the floor. Angle gets speared as well and Jericho gets crotched.
There’s the Pedigree for Angle but Jericho dives off the top for the save. It’s off to Rock vs. Jericho with the champion getting punched over and over. Jericho is knocked to the floor and grabs the bell but hits his own partner before walking into the Rock Bottom to end things. Nice job of making the champion look strong going into Mania.
Rating: C. The match was a standard main event tag match which means it was just ok at best. Jericho getting pinned makes me roll my eyes more than anything else, but it’s not like HHH wasn’t clearly winning the title the second his return date was announced. The match was just ok but star power helped it a lot.
Overall Rating: C-. This show was more disappointing than anything else. The problem here was mainly the Attitude Era guys being brought back in but only being warmed over imitations of what they used to be. In 2002, I don’t care about Val Venis or Godfather or Goldust. On top of that, we’re coming up on the most obvious main event of Wrestlemania since 1998, but that’s going to be overshaddowed by what’s coming on Smackdown. Not that it’s a good thing mind you, but it’s big.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my Monday Night Raw 1998 Reviews ebook on Amazon at:
In Your House 13: Final Four
Date: February 16, 1997
Location: UTC Arena, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Attendance: 6,399
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross
Well we’re in between the Rumble and Mania and DANG if it’s not a weird time in the WWF. There is no world champion at the moment but we’ll get to that. To begin with let’s recap the Rumble which should explain a lot. Three things happened there: Vader beat Taker with help from Paul Bearer, Shawn got the WWF Title back from Sid, and most importantly Steve Austin won the Royal Rumble in a stunning shock.
OR DID HE???
Well yes but he shouldn’t have. Your final five men were Bret, Taker, Vader, Austin and the fake Diesel (Kane). Mankind and Terry Funk were fighting on the floor which had the attention of the referees. During this fight, Hart eliminated Austin but no referee saw it. Austin got back in, eliminated Vader and Taker just after Hart eliminated Diesel. Austin took out Hart and the referees turned around to see him alone in the ring.
Austin is declared the winner and therefore the #1 contender. HOWEVER, Gorilla Monsoon doesn’t like this so he makes a match for this PPV which he dubs Final Four. Austin, Hart, Taker and Vader, the final four men in the ring in the Rumble, would have a match at the PPV for the right to go to Mania. Ok, that’s all well and good. However, there was a special Thursday edition of Raw where Shawn forfeited the title, citing a knee injury and a lost smile.
That night he had been scheduled to face Sid in a title match, so instead of just naming Sid Champion, the four way match at the PPV was now for the title with the winner facing Sid the following night on Raw for the title. Did you get all that?
That leads us here. Also on the card we have Furnas and LaFon (don’t ask) challenging for the tag belts as well as Rocky Maivia defending the IC Title that he took from HHH on the same Thursday Raw against HHH in a rematch. This is your last PPV before WM 13, so it better rock. Let’s see if it rocks or just Flex Kavanas.
Marc Mero vs. Leif Cassidy
We open with this, as in just after the recap we hear Sable’s music begin. You can tell the camera people either don’t care about this match or are just really stupid as Mero is in the ring and his pyro is going off before we even see him for the first time.
Sable has got her classic look down now: long blonde hair, one piece black leather outfit, big earrings and sunglasses. Just…dang. Anyway, Cassidy is already in the ring so how good are you expecting this match to really be? I actually like Cassidy’s stuff better than Mero’s. Let that sink in for a bit. Your psychology for this match is Cassidy works on Mero’s knee. Mero is your face here…I think.
Actually it’s more like Sable is the face and Marc is hers but that’s neither here nor there. Snow really can carry a match when he’s allowed to. It’s not something anyone cares about though as it’s Leif Cassidy vs. Marc Mero but Snow (Cassidy in case you didn’t pick up on that) is handling this very well.
Everything he does makes sense and has a point to it. There’s no noticeably stupid moves anywhere which is a very nice break. He goes after Sable though and Mero rescues her. After this he hits like three moves and no sells the knee injury to hit his shooting star press to win it.
Rating: D. If I could split this up into two ratings it would be an F for Mero and an A for Cassidy. Mero was just awful out there. He was on defense for probably 80-85 percent of the match, slams Cassidy’s head twice, hits a bad Samoan drop and his finisher to win while no selling the whole point of the match. Snow on the other hand was crisp, solid, and logical. You’re facing a high flier, keep him on the mat.
That’s smart wrestling and something that makes sense to do. He even threw in a figure four, which to be fair was the absolute worst I’ve ever seen but he was at least trying. I was impressed with him but Mero was just awful. Sable of course was the highlight with her looks, but it was close.
Now we get a double shot of weirdness. To begin with, immediately after that match, Honky Tonk Man comes out. Now, that’s not incredibly weird because based on the reaction I would assume that he’d been around a bit lately as the announcers and the crowd don’t seem stunned by his appearance.
I know he had an angle coming up that had either already started or started tonight but we’ll cover that later. The really weird part comes when he’s about to get into the ring.
We cut to a video package recapping Shawn’s forfeiting the title which shows the entire speech, Gorilla’s announcement of the title being on the line in the Four Way, and then we go to an interview with Sid. Just comes from nowhere and while it would usually be fine, why have HTM come out and then show it? He didn’t even get to have his music end.
As for the speech, here’s my take on it: you can believe him or not, and I personally think that he was at least half telling the truth, but he’s made it clear that the knee was nowhere near as bad as he implied. He had a minor surgery that could have waited but he says he very well may be retiring because of it. All I know is this: for a long stretch in that interview you could hear a pin drop in the audience.
People were on the verge of tears because Shawn might have to go. You can like Shawn you can hate Shawn you can be indifferent to him as I am for the most part, but the people loved him and that simply cannot be denied. What I believe however is that he simply didn’t want to lose to Bret at Mania 13. It was very clear that was where they were going with things, but Shawn just didn’t want to do it so he backed out.
Anyway, Sid says he’s taking the title tomorrow.
Flash Funk/Bart Gunn/Goldust vs. Nation of Domination
Flash’s entrance takes a ridiculous amount of time as he and his ladies, who are sexy in an odd way, just have to have a full dance sequence in the ring. As his illustrious partners make their way to the ring, we get a recap to explain this “feud”. Apparently all three of our jobbers have been unfairly beaten by the NOD thanks to their gang mentality. The Nation makes their entrance and look like the NWO.
I kid you not, there are 9 people in this stable. A checklist: 2 white rappers, Clarence Mason, D’lo Brown, Farrooq, Crush, Savio Vega and two guys who were apparently actors hired to look like the NOD was bigger than it really was, which is actually a good idea. That’s a huge freaking stable and their coming through the crowd and rapping their own music was genius.
This match goes under 7 minutes so this is going to be a relatively short review. Basically here all that happens is a six man tag. It’s as simple as that. This is a basic 6 man tag match. It’s not great and it’s not bad. It’s just your standard run of the mill 6 man tag. Faces start strong, heel takes over, you get a face comeback and the heels win. There is however one sick spot in it. Funk is getting double teamed by Savio and Farrooq.
They send him into the ropes for a double clothesline but he grabs their arms and in one motion backflips over them to land a double clothesline of his own. I was very impressed by this move as it just looks sick. Finish comes when Crush drops a leg on Bart to let Farrooq pin him.
Rating: C-. Now stop me if you’re heard this one before: a cowboy, a pimp and a man that is of the homosexual persuasion walk into a bar. Seriously we have those three gimmicks against a group modeled on the Black Panthers. How over the top can you get? And Vince has the nerve to wonder why the NWO was kicking his head in in the ratings at the time? Give me a break.
In the back Doc is with Steve Austin. He talks about how Austin hasn’t beaten any of the three men he’s in the ring with. Austin says he did at the Rumble and there’s a conspiracy against him by everyone in the company with any kind of power.
IC Title: HHH vs. Rocky Maivia
This is the rematch from three days prior as Rocky shocked the world and took the IC title from HHH. Helmsley has gotten to the best heel music I can remember in a long time as he comes out to Beethoven’s Ode To Joy now. Dang that’s some sweet music for a heel. He’s also dropped the random woman valet which helps a lot as well in my eyes. He’s becoming much more deadly in the ring and the HHH character is coming soon.
HHH is a twig at this point, maybe cracking 245 soaking wet. Rocky was still a rookie at this point but you could see the star in him just begging to get out with a gimmick change. HHH was on the verge of stardom but not as naturally. Early on the botch a baseball slide spot but HHH does a great improvised spot where he turns it into a drop toehold. This is a pretty good match so far with some good one liners from the King.
HHH is so rich he takes taxis to drive in movies. You could see the chemistry that these two had even this young in their careers. They knew how to get the best out of one another and that’s not something that can be taught to you by anyone. The commentators do a comparison of the people that trained both men to kill some time. JR mistakenly says that was a nice slupex by HHH so you can see him starting to slip even 12 years ago.
HHH and Hebner do their usual thing of Earl not being willing to be intimidated by HHH. HHH hits a perfect jumping knee to the face which might be the best he’s ever done. This is a very good match as it’s hard hitting and has a lot of near falls. However, they of course ruin it with the finish. Goldust whom HHH was feuding with at the time comes and stands in the aisle allowing Maivia to hit a German suplex to get the pin.
Post match Marlena gets choked out by some big woman/man with black hair that would come to be known as Chyna. Goldust says “throw her in jail.” They did a decent job of implying she was just a fan but the replay of it kind of gives it away.
Rating: B+. This was a very good match and if it had a finish could have been great. These two just put on great matches together no matter what and this was no exception. Rocky would go on to have a nice little reign with the title while HHH would go on to do nothing over the Summer but would starting hanging out with Shawn Michaels and that creature that just interfered in a little thing that would come to be called DX.
Promo for Mania airs.
Kevin Kelly interviews Vader who says he’ll be taking down all three men tonight. Paul Bearer says the same thing.
Tag Titles: Furnas/LaFon vs. Owen/Bulldog
This was a strange match. The story is that the champions have been arguing a lot lately and at the same time they lost in a Survivor Series match to these same two guys, resulting in this tag match. Now I know nothing about the challengers at all but to be fair I really hadn’t seen much of them. These guys were actually good. They were great movers out there and had some great technical stuff.
The person that stood out the most though was the referee. He was just flat out bad here. He kept taking forever as he kept wanting people out of the ring etc. and while that’s fine to try to keep going, he took it way too far. Whenever there was a cover he’d check the two partners before he went to make the count. That’s a waste of time and looks bad. Also during the match the champions kept fighting, eventually seeing Bulldog intentionally clothesline Owen hard.
Now once that happens it’s like a new match starts. The second match is far superior to the first one. Once they change gears, things get very good very fast. There was a ton of near falls and I actually believed that there would be new champions on more than one occasion. I knew who was going to win and I still believed otherwise. That my friends is compelling wrestling. The champions get hit with everything but they keep getting up every time.
Finally the end comes and it is just strange. Bulldog gets one of the guys up for the powerslam and Owen hits the guy in the head with a Slammy right in front of the referee for the DQ. What in the world? Why would you do that when your partner was about to hit his finisher which people didn’t kick out of? They fight even more afterwards with Smith throwing down the title and then even breaking the Slammy. He finally leaves with his partners.
Rating: B-. Just like in the opening match this was a tale of two matches and two separate grades. The first half was just flat out bad. It wasn’t interesting and I was wanting to just fast forward through the match and get to the end. However once Owen and Bulldog got done fighting the thing turned into a great tag match.
The ending just made no sense at all and was just to further the Bulldog/Owen angle which mostly ended with the debut of the European Title later on that month in which these two faced each other for the title.
Doc is with the Deadman in that back who says he has rediscovered his edge which makes me expect the Rated R Superstar to pop up.
WWF Title: Undertaker vs. Vader vs. Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
Lawler keeps asking what lucha libre means (the Spanish announcers keep saying it) and JR says rough wrestling for some reason. This is actually an over the top rope battle royal but you can also be eliminated by pin or submission, which is a very interesting twist. I’m not sure if I like it or not. It takes away Vader’s weight advantage but why would you try to pin someone when you can just knock them out of the ring?
Bret of course gets a prematch interview. He says nothing can stop him from taking the title tonight. Bret’s jacket really is cool. JR says that even Wrestlemania wasn’t this exciting. Suuuuuure. Starts off with both singles feuds being renewed. Very quickly Vader and Taker figure out that going through the ropes is legal. Everyone just beats on everyone with them trading partners which further supports my orgy theory from earlier.
Leaving the ring was critical here I think as it opens up a lot of alternative possibilities for these guys which is certainly a good thing. Vader gets cut BAD around his left eye. Like it looks as if it fell out and there’s just a hole there that’s shooting blood out of it. I finally found where it was and it’s not pretty. Within a few seconds he takes a chair to the face and he hits his eye on the stairs, right on the corner.
They fight all over the arena and all fight each other at least once and in some cases twice. That’s what makes this match work as well as it is: you can keep the fighting fresh. Austin even breaks out a top rope clothesline which never stops making my head shake given how bad his knees got later in his career. After that we cut to the floor where VADER HAS BRET IN A SHARPSHOOTER. What the heck???
Those things happen within a few seconds of each other. Dang I need my medicine after seeing that. Sadly enough it was a better one that the one Rock would use later in his career. We’re at 12 minutes and no one is out yet. That’s another thing that’s making this great is all four are in there for over half of the match so far. It’s more or less Bret wrestling Austin and Taker fighting Vader now.
Bret sets Austin for a belly to back suplex and Austin BACKFLIPS out of it. DANG Austin was awesome before he got hurt. Vader’s eye is freaking sick right now. This whole thing is absolutely brutal and it’s a great match so far. We’re at fifteen minutes and it’s still all four guys in there. Just as I finish typing that Austin is thrown out as Bret Hart uses what we would now call the FU to eliminate him. Bret Hart used an FU. Sly can never see this moment.
His orgasm would flood Missouri. Taker gets knocked to the floor so we continue our orgy match with Bret and Vader getting it on for awhile. I will now pause to attempt to erase such a mental picture. Ok I’m back now as Vader goes to the top in a dumb move. Why would you do that when being knocked to the floor eliminates you?
Bret stops him and lands a superplex from the top rope which is freaking insane given A) how long they’ve been going and B) the fact that Vader’s fat needs its own zip code. Taker breaks up the sharpshooter on Vader which makes no sense at all and even the announcers question it. Austin comes back out and beats up Hart some more to pretty much secure the fact that he’ll be winning this.
Vader again goes to the ropes for a Vader Bomb but Taker sits up and hits an uppercut to the little Vaders to eliminate him so we’re down to Bret vs. Taker. Austin is still around after a chokeslam and for some reason he stops the tombstone. Taker and Hart both go for Austin but Taker is too slow.
He turns around and is clotheslined out to make Bret the champion again. Sid comes out for the staredown after Taker storms off. Sid says let’s do it right now as we go off the air in the middle of the showdown. I like that ending as it leaves us on a cliffhanger for tomorrow’s show.
Rating: A. This was a very fun match and the key to it was you knew there was going to be a new champion at the end so you had to watch all of it. Another key was that no one was eliminated until over half of the match was gone. This kept things fresh and made you want to stay until the very end to see how everyone went out. The leaving the ring was key as well as it allowed three separate one on one matches to occur throughout the match. Great match indeed and very fun.
Overall Rating: B-. First two matches were pretty bad but the other three more than made up for them. By the middle of the main event I was hooked. The second half of the show was great with another solid Rock/HHH encounter, a solid and surprising tag match and a great main event. Overall this show started slowly but kicked it into high gear at the end. Not great but certainly fun, this is worth a watch someday but don’t make it a top priority.
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The last class for eight years and it’s not hard to see why.Baron Mikel Scicluna
This is another one of those names that just happened to be around about twenty years before he was inducted. Scicluna is a guy you’ll see a lot of if you watch shows from the late 70s to early 80s and odds are you won’t be that impressed. The guy was nothing special and was a pretty generic foreign (Maltese) heel. That doesn’t make for an interesting character but he was pretty successful in Australia. Other than that though, I don’t see a reason for him to be in a Hall of Fame. This is a no.
Captain Lou Albano
This is one of the few layups of this class. Albano managed a remarkable 15 tag teams to tag titles in his day, as well as being an absolutely hated manager. He was involved with Cyndi Lauper and more or less was the grandfather of Wrestlemania in that sense. Albano had moderate success as a wrestler, but was FAR more successful as a manager. When you manage the guy that ended Sammartino’s seven year world title reign, you have to have something going for you. Albano was the top heel manager of the 70s and part of the 80s, so I have zero issue with him going into the Hall of Fame.
Jimmy Snuka
Appropriately enough, Snuka was one of Albano’s clients when he started in the WWF. Snuka is one of those guys that is revered not because of his accomplishments but rather how influential he was. He was the first high flier to be a star in modern wrestling and was pretty easily the second biggest star in the first half of the Hogan Era. I’m sure you’ve all seen the legendary cage dive onto Muraco that apparently inspired about 974 different wrestlers, all of whom seemed to be in attendance that night. I’m fine with Snuka being in the Hall of Fame, as he’s one of the characters that changed the way wrestling worked, which is far more important than winning a title here or there.
Johnny Rodz
This is another one of those guys that is in the Hall of Fame and no one is quite sure why. He’s FAR more famous as a trainer, having trained a lot of ECW stars (Dreamer, Tazz, Dudleys), but at the time of his inductions those wouldn’t have meant anything. Rodz was around for about twenty years but never really accomplished anything. He was mainly a jobber to the midcard, which makes his induction all the more questionable. This is one of the top names that really has no business being enshrined.
Killer Kowalski
Now we’re getting into something a bit better. Kowalski was one of the top heels in the world in the 60s and 70s and was a genuine monster. He was Sammartino’s top opponent for years in the WWF and had a ton of success in regional promotions around the country. Kowakski was also the first man in North America to pin one Andre the Giant, which should tell you a lot about how big of a deal he was. He trained a bunch of people you’ve heard of too, with the most famous being HHH. This is another layup and definitely another guy you should look up if you never have before.
Pat Patterson
This is anther guy that is more well known for his contributions rather than his in ring ability, which is saying a lot as he was very skilled in the ring. Patterson was of course the first Intercontinental Champion and held the title for a long time after first winning it. Other than that, he had an excellent match with Sgt. Slaughter in MSG known as an Alley Fight, which we would call a street fight. However, Patterson was much better behind the scenes as a consultant and agent. He invented the Royal Rumble and was a master at laying them out. If you watch the Rumble year to year, it’s very obvious when Patterson is the one that laid it out as he knows how to create a three act structure for them. This is another layup, but not for reasons that most people would see.
Vincent J. McMahon
Aka Vince Senior, he’s the father of the Vince McMahon we see on TV every now and then. Vince founded what would become the WWF and promoted cards for decades. That’s more or less the main thing he’s famous for, and if that doesn’t get you into the WWE Hall of Fame, I don’t know what else would. This is another easy yes.
Valiant Brothers
I forgot these guys when I first did this class. Basically they’re an old school tag team that held the tag champions for awhile back in the 70s. There were three of them (Jerry, Johnny and Jimmy) and various combinations of them held the titles in the WWF. They were good, but as the first tag team in the Hall of Fame? I can’t go with that. They’re worthy of the Hall of Fame, but not as the first team at all.
The class isn’t that bad really, but at the same time it lacks the huge name that most classes have, leaving mainly questionable entries or people that don’t have a lot of importance on camera in WWE.
That wraps up the first era of the WWE Hall of Fame and it’s pretty easy to see why this went away for eight years: other than Andre, there aren’t a lot of big names in there. We’ve got Pedro and Snuka, but other than that most of these guys just aren’t huge names. Yeah they’re big deals overall, but in WWE they weren’t incredibly important. In every industry that has a Hall of Fame, there are certain names you have to have to make it credible. Most of those names are missing here and that’s what brings the original classes down. That and there was almost no publicity for it at all, which hurt a lot. The modern era starts tomorrow.
How nice it is to only have one Chamber match at this show. Let’s get to it.Starting with the preshow, I’ll go with Brodus/Tensai to beat the Rhodes Scholars. Wait, didn’t they split up already? Oh wait that was about two weeks ago so there’s no reason to remember it. This is basically just a way to put the dancers over which is fine, but the Scholars shouldn’t have split already. This should be the reason they break up, but that would make too much sense I guess.
I’ll go with Rock to retain the title, but I’m not 100% sold on it anymore. The promos don’t have me wanting to see the match as much as I wanted to see them last month, but it should be better now that Rock isn’t coming in seven months cold. I think they’re heading for Rock vs. Cena II at Wrestlemania and I can’ t say I’d argue over that idea. Rock retains.
For the other title match…..I’ll go with Del Rio winning. The bigger question seems to be will Ziggler cash in. He hasn’t been seen much lately at all, which may be an attempt to make us forget about him before he cashes in on Sunday. That being said, I’ve been thinking he’ll cash in for six months now, but I don’t think he’ll do it here. Either that or he cashes in and loses. Del Rio walks out with the title.
This brings us to the Chamber itself. I’m pulling for Henry to win and set up the 6’4 Mexican David vs. the guy that Goliath checks under the bed for every night. That being said, I have a bad feeling they’ll go with Swagger for the evil xenophobia angle at Wrestlemania, which makes my head hurt. Bryan and Kane will likely continue to self destruct which is probably the best thing for them. Orton and Jericho are just there and might have a match at Mania out of it. Hopefully Henry wins but Swagger is the dark horse candidate.
I’ll take the three man machine to beat Shield. Why would you have Cena win the Rumble one month and then lose in a six man the next? Shield goes down here.
Kaitlyn over Tamina and Cesaro over Miz in matches that make no difference whatsoever.
Elimination Chamber looks like it could fit into the category of “good because it has no expectations coming in.” Things could change a bit at this show and odds are we’ll finally get some answers about the rest of the card at Wrestlemania. There are a lot of options open still which is nice as opposed to the card being pretty obvious eight weeks out. The show should be good an interesting, which is a good sign.
Is this supposed to be funny or something?Let’s see: we’ve got a boss with a huge ego who has a good looking daughter. An upper midcard heel marries said good looking daughter and will likely get a title shot out of it very soon. The loud heel turns face and now has a quad injury.
In case you’re not making the connection, I’m talking about Vince, HHH and Stephanie. Sound familiar?
Smackdown
Date: February 15, 2013
Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Josh Matthews, John Bradshaw Layfield
We’re finally ready for the Elimination Chamber PPV on Sunday and we’ve finally got a lineup set for the Chamber match. Other than the final push for that, tonight we’re getting Orton vs. Henry in a rematch from last week. The original saw Orton get literally squashed so hopefully it lasts a little bit longer this year. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Punk vs. Rock as the champion is apparently here tonight. We also talk about the Chamber match.
Theme song. That’s a pretty catchy tune.
Here’s Big Show to open things up. As he comes out, we get a clip from last week with Del Rio destroying the bus. Show yells at the fans for laughing at the video before going into a rant about how he’s never been pinned by Alberto. On Sunday, Show is going to unleash all of his rage and turn Del Rio’s fiesta into a siesta.
This brings out Chris Jericho, because if anyone is going to use a play on words, it’s him. Jericho talks about knowing Show for sixteen years but Show yells at Jericho, saying he should be off on tour with Fozzy or writing a book or hosting some robot fighting show (he’s really doing that I believe). Jericho says he’s back in the WWE and is better than ever. He also knows that Big Show is worried about Del Rio, even though Big Show is a huge and powerful force.
Jericho talks about his history in the Chamber and says that he’ll be beating Big Show at Wrestlemania for his seventh world title. Show says if they meet at Wrestlemania, it will be the last Wrestlemania Jericho ever appears at. Cue Booker to make the main event for later tonight. At least it’s not a tag match.
Orton and Henry have a staredown in the back, which leads us to this.
Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton
Before the match, we get a video on Henry and the newly reopened Hall of Pain. Henry shoves him into the corner to start but Orton comes back with enough shots to the head to send Mark into the corner and out to the floor. Back in and Henry headbutts Orton down but the splash misses. Randy pounds away in the corner some more but gets sent to the outside.
We take a break and come back with Orton fighting out of a nerve hold. Back up and Henry immediately knocks him back down with a standing clothesline for two. Back to the nerve hold for a bit but Orton avoids a charge in the corner. A clothesline puts Henry down but Mark hits one of his own to take over again.
The World’s Strongest Slam is escaped and a low DDT gets two for Orton. Henry heads to the apron and gets caught in the Elevated DDT. The RKO is easily blocked though and Orton is sent to the floor. Another Strongest Slam is escaped on the outside and Orton blasts Henry with a chair for the DQ at 6:35 shown of 10:05.
Rating: C. This was another short match between the two although Orton came off looking way better here than he did last week. Orton didn’t need to win here so it’s fine to see him lose the way he did. The match was pretty decent as they kept it short, likely to keep Henry looking strong. Henry hopefully wins the Chamber on Sunday.
Orton hits him with the chair again but Mark pulls it out of his hands and lays Randy out with a World’s Strongest Slam. That was awesome.
Post break Henry takes a microphone from Matt Striker and says the Hall of Pain is open for business again.
We recap Shield vs. Cena/Ryback/Sheamus on Sunday.
Fandago is coming. Dang I hope he improves a lot over what I’ve seen already.
Tamina Snuka vs. Layla
Tamina is getting a title shot on Sunday, apparently due to something that happened on the WWE App. Layla gets a few quick rollups for two and the bouncing cross body out of the corner for two more. Tamina gets sent to the floor, only to trip up Layla and ram her spine into the apron. Apparently Josh wanted a Valentine’s Day text from JBL and let the rant begin. Layla gets put in a chinlock for a bit before coming back with a superkick. A cross body is caught by Tamina’s Samoan Drop though, and the Superfly Splash ends Layla at 4:12.
Rating: D. This was obvious as soon as they announced Tamina as the #1 contender. They would have been much better suited making this for the title shot instead of doing it on their app or whatever it’s on this week. As usual, it was Layla being all bubbly in her small outfit and getting beaten up for her efforts. Nothing to see here.
We get part of Rock vs. Punk from Raw where Punk stole the belt.
Here’s Rock for the final hard sell of the PPV on Sunday. Rock talks about how Punk has made a trade: holding Rock’s belt for six days in exchange for a beating that he’ll never forget. Then on Sunday, Rock is going to treat Punk like the spoiled child that he really is. Rock is going to give Punk a night that he’ll never forget.
Punk and Heyman pop up on screen with the title, saying that it is a symbol and not a toy. He accuses Rock of committing larceny at the Rumble and says that on Sunday, Rock is going to snap and get disqualified. Rock says that Punk’s words mean nothing, but everything Rock has said he would do, he’s done.
Even with Heyman paying Shield to put Rock through a table, the Rock won the title. Instead of Sunday, Punk should be afraid of Monday, when all of the reality is going to set in and Punk realizes that he was wrong about everything. This wasn’t as great as some of their older exchanges but it made me want to see them fight again.
3MB vs. Brodus Clay/Tensai
It’s Slater and Mahal here. Heath and Tensai start things off and the big man is taken down by a few kicks. Off to Mahal who knocks Tensai down again for two before putting on a quickly broken chinlock. Tensai tries a spinning Rock Bottom but Mahal lands on his side and it looked like a counter more than anything that hit. Off to Brodus who cleans house with his usual fat man offense. The dancers beat up the singers and the big splash from Brodus pins Mahal at 2:38.
Post match we get some dancing but here’s Shield for the beatdown.
Fandango is still coming.
Cody Rhodes vs. The Miz
This is a rematch from Monday where Cesaro interfered, resulting in a shoulder injury to Miz. Cody immediately goes for the bad arm, only to have Miz punch him using the good arm. Cody goes to the middle rope but gets pulled down, only to kick Miz in the arm to take over. A hammerlock slam gets two for Rhodes and it’s time for some arm work. Rhodes pounds on the bad shoulder for a bit until Miz comes back with some right armed clotheslines. A low boot to the face misses Cody but Miz catches the Disaster Kick coming in and hooks the Figure Four for the submission at 3:14.
Rating: D+. This was a quick match and an annoying reminder that Miz is still using the Figure Four. It doesn’t fit for him at all and makes you wonder why he of all people got that rub. Cody’s back and forth booking gets more and more ridiculous every week as he wins one week then loses again the next because he has no direction at all anymore. Miz vs. Cesaro on Sunday does nothing for me at all.
Zack Ryder vs. Jack Swagger
Another rematch from Monday here and Swagger has the Tea Party guy with him here. Jack beats him down to start and counters the double knees in the corner with ease. A hard whip into the corner keeps Ryder down but Zack hits a quick flapjack to get a breather. The Broski Boot misses in the corner and Swagger wraps the knee around the post. Back in and the gutwrench powerbomb sets up the Patriot Act for the submission at 3:20.
Rating: D. The problem with Swagger’s new character and mouthpiece is the in ring work. He’s the exact same guy that he’s been for years now and making him be very conservative isn’t going to make people interested in him at all. The match was the exact same thing we saw on Monday, which means it was dull.
Post match Swagger introduces Coulter to do the same “we’re REAL Americans because somehow we get to determine what that means” schtick while ripping on Ryder for caring about his hair and tan.
Video on the Elimination Chamber.
Del Rio acknowledges that he’s never pinned Big Show but since he likes to do the impossible, he’ll beat Big Show on Sunday. Ricardo says si a lot.
Big Show vs. Chris Jericho
Show rushes him into the corner but misses a chop. Jericho pounds away but is immediately knocked out to the floor with a single shot from the giant. As they come back in, Jericho hits a dropkick to buy himself a few seconds of rest. They head to the floor again and Show LAUNCHES Chris over the announce table in a great looking spot. Back in and Show hits some knee lifts to the chest and a slam before going to the middle rope on the inside. The Canadian finally gets in some offense and heads up, only to jump to the floor while hitting a guillotine on Show.
Back in again and Jericho charges right into a spear to put him down for two. Jericho escapes a chokeslam but goes up top and jumps right into a successful one, which sends him to the floor. Back in for about the fifth time and Show takes FOREVER setting up a middle rope elbow, allowing Chris to roll away. The Lionsault hits for two but the Codebreaker is easily blocked. Big Show’s chokeslam attempt is countered into a DDT for two. Jericho tries the Walls but Show easily blocks the hold. The WMD ends this at 6:44.
Rating: C+. This was a nice David vs. Goliath match with Jericho more than holding his own against the monster. Big Show continues to look decent before the PPV, but I can’t see him walking out with the title. Jericho is doing what he’s best at: making people look better than they could look on their own. Good main event here.
Alberto comes out to stare down Big Show to end things.
Overall Rating: C. This was an odd show for the go home edition as the focus of the show was on almost everything but the Smackdown main events. Those matches bookended the show so it’s not like they were ignored, but they weren’t featured if that makes sense. The show was entertaining enough though and I’m mildly interested in seeing the PPV so I can’t fault it for that. Not bad tonight but it didn’t feel like a go home show, which may or may not improve it given your individual take.
Results
Mark Henry b. Randy Orton via DQ
Tamina Snuka b. Layla – Superfly Splash
Brodus Clay/Tensai b. 3MB – Splash to Mahal
The Miz b. Cody Rhodes – Figure Four Leg Lock
Jack Swagger b. Zack Ryder – Patriot Act
Big Show b. Chris Jericho – WMD
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews
Back for another of the old entries in the series.Antonino Rocca
This is one of those guys you’ve likely only heard of once in awhile, but he’s well worth looking into more. Rocca was a BIG star back in the 50s and if I remember right, at times he was the #1 draw in wrestling at the time. He was the guy that Buddy Rogers “beat” in a “tournament final” in Rio de Janeiro for the first WWF Title, obviously making him a big deal at the time. Rocca was a high flier before there was such a thing as a high flier to be. On top of all that:
That’s him beating up SUPERMAN.
In case you didn’t get it, Rocca belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Ernie Ladd
Ernie Ladd was a big power guy who was mainly a heel who worked in the WWWF in the 70s. After watching some of his stuff, I can definitively, without a doubt or question, declare that Ladd was completely and utterly…..not bad. That’s Ernie Ladd in a nutshell: he’s not bad. Ladd was a heel who was built up for other faces to take down, kind of like Mark Henry before he went on his path of rage a year or two ago. As for being in the Hall of Fame, no he doesn’t belong.
George Steele
Steele allegedly is in the Hall of Fame because Stephanie McMahon was a fan of his as a kid. Other than that, I can’t think of a legitimate reason to put him in the Hall of Fame. Steele was a crazy monster heel for awhile before becoming a face in 1984. After that he was a goofy face for the rest of his career and did nothing of note. There’s no reason for Steele to be in the Hall of Fame, but he’s certainly a fun character and I have nothing bad to say about him. He’s just not in the elite class that is supposed to be in a Hall of Fame.
Ivan Putski
This is another name that just does not go with the term “Hall of Famer” when you think about it. Putski was a Polish fan favorite and that’s about the extent of what he’s known for in wrestling. He and Tito Santana held the tag titles in the late 70s and that’s about all he ever accomplished of note. There isn’t much else to say here and in case you’re kind of thick, Putski is a no vote.
The Fabulous Moolah
This is one of those names that doesn’t need much of an explanation at all. She’s the freaking Fabulous Moolah! Of course she belongs in the Hall of Fame! In case you’re a young whippersnapper, we’ll go with this: Moolah held the Women’s Title for over 26 years (technically). If that doesn’t sum up why she’s in the Hall of Fame, nothing is going to. This is an even bigger layup than Rocca, which is saying a lot.
The Grand Wizard
This is another one of those names that you don’t hear much about but you really should. The Wizard was an incredibly hated heel manager who managed two world champions (Billy Graham and Stan Stasiak) as well as the first two IC Champions (Patterson and Patera) among many other big names. He died in 1983 before the Golden Era hit, so there isn’t much video of him to go on. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, Wizard was indeed an awesome manager and would rank right up there with Jimmy Hart and Bobby Heenan if he had been around to be seen with them. Wizard should certainly be in, but again I’m not sure if he should have gone in this early.
Pedro Morales
This is another guy you might not have seen much of but I’ve always been a fan of the guy. You constantly hear about people being a triple crown champion today, but Morales was the first man to ever accomplish that, and he would be the only man to do it for nearly 12 years. Think about that. The IC Title debuted in 1979 and until 1991, only Pedro Morales won all three titles. He held the WWF and Intercontinental Titles for over a year each, which has only been matched by Randy Savage. If you’re in that kind of company, you belong in the Hall of Fame. Morales is an easy yes.
This was a stronger class on top but tomorrow we hit the class that stopped the Hall of Fame for nearly ten years.
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
Date: February 15, 1986
Location: WPCQ Studios, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Bob Caudle, Johnny Weaver
This is another territory that I’ve touched on before and we’ll be taking another look at it here now. I only have one episode at the moment but if this goes well I’ll see if I can find some more. This isn’t the main WCW show but rather a territory still, although I’d bet pretty strongly that you’ll see a lot of the same people. Let’s get to it.
I’m a little sketchy on the time period because this show should be called World Championship Wrestling. This doesn’t look like the Atlanta studios though. The opening sequence says Mid-Atlantic too.
Upon further investigation (and by that I mean I did the World Championship Wrestling show from this date already), this is the B show and would be the forerunner to WCW Pro. I think I’ve got this now.
Caudle says we have new world tag champions but with him are the former champions, the Rock N Roll Express. They say they’re coming for Cornette and their titles.
Manny Fernandez vs. Mike Semani
No idea if I spelled that last name right. Manny takes him down immediately and does kind of a reverse leapfrog out of the corner and the Flying Burrito (that’s the real name. It’s a flying forearm) gets the pin.
Ron Bass says he thinks he’s stronger than Barbarian. If he wins whatever challenge that follows, he’ll get $10,000.
Arn Anderson, the TV Champion, rants about how Dusty Rhodes has apparently been stealing money from him.
Rock N Roll Express vs. ???/???
Two unnamed jobbers here. Robert starts with the one in green and after some armdrags it’s time for Ricky. Double dropkick to the second one and we’re done in 30 seconds. Replay shows that Robert’s literally missed by 10 inches.
We get a clip of Nikita saving Ivan Koloff from getting pinned by Magnum’s belly to belly. Baron Von Raschke came in for a 3-1 beatdown. Dusty tried to make the save but got beaten down as well. Baby Doll, Dusty’s chick, tried to help also but it only got Dusty beaten down even worse until the Road Warriors and Rock N Roll made the save.
Black Bart vs. Ron Rossi
Bart is a big evil cowboy and he wins with a middle rope double legdrop in about 20 seconds. This would be the case a lot.
Midnight Express vs. Rocky King/Ben Alexander
This would be Condrey and Eaton. The Rock N Roll Express comes out to watch and the place erupts. The jobbers are Rocky King and Ben Alexander. Not that it matters but I try to be informative. Top rope splash by Eaton, 45 seconds. That’s a long match for this show.
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House show ads. Anderson isn’t worried about defending the title in a cage against Dusty.
Cornette says that the Midnights are ready for Rhodes and Magnum in South Carolina.
Dusty says he and Magnum want to take out the Russians.
Magnum says pretty much the same thing.
Nelson Royal/Sam Houston vs. Jim Jeffers/Tony Zane
Everything breaks down to start and we finally get it does to Houston and Zane. Houston is Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion. Off to Royal who puts a knee in Zane’s ribs and it’s off to Jeffers. Royal dropkicks him down and it’s off to Houston for some abuse. Royal takes him down with a headlock takeover and Houston hits an atomic drop. This is going a lot longer than I thought it would. Royal uses a spinning toe hold to get the submission.
Rating: D. This was long and not that good. When I say long I mean about four minutes but for this show that’s a marathon. This could have been accomplished in about 45 seconds but I guess they had to fill in the time somehow. I don’t remember much about Royal but Houston would go to WWF soon and wouldn’t mean anything.
The Midnights say they’re awesome and any team can come after them that wants to.
Paul Jones and Barbarian say they’re sick of Jones being called a weasel. Bass’ challenge is accepted.
Ron Bass vs. George South
Bass throws him around and easily breaks any hold that South tries. Claw ends this quick.
More house show ads. Baby Doll says Arn has no chance against Dusty in a Texas Death Match. For the South Carolina show, the Midnights need to be ready for America’s Team.
Baby Doll is in the arena now and says Dusty is on a movie set in Arizona with Willie Nelson.
TV Title: Arn Anderson vs. Italian Stallion
The fans chant for Dusty which gets on Arn’s nerves. A quick rollup gets two for Stallion and he grabs an armbar. Arn finally wakes up and pounds on his back before sending Stallion to the floor. Now Arn hooks the arm as is his custom. The fans keep chanting Dusty as Arn stays on the arm. Arn literally works on it with basically the same hold for five minutes. He wraps it around the post a few times and Stallion makes his comeback. He charges into a hot shot and the gordbuster ends this.
Rating: D-. This is a good example of a match that is long but not good. The match runs almost ten minutes but like I said, almost seven or eight of that is a boring arm hold. When it doesn’t even play into the finish, that doesn’t make things interesting. It makes them long and uninteresting, which isn’t good. Really boring match.
Houston, Royal and Fernandez say they’ve got Magnum’s back against the Russians.
Overall Rating: D. I wasn’t that interested in this. You can tell that it’s the B show here as there’s not much of interest going on here. The main focus is on the two tag team feuds and Flair is nowhere in sight. It’s not the worst show I’ve ever seen but there’s nothing of note going on here. I might take a look at one more episode of this but if it’s not any better I won’t be doing more than that.
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