NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #11
Date: August 28, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

Things took a big turn last week and it actually gives me some hope for the company. The problem right now is that the promotion is having financial issues so a lot of things, including people, have been cut down. That made for a far more interesting and entertaining match last week so maybe things can be a bit better. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Earlier today, Brian Lawler was asked what Jeff Jarrett did to him. Again though, before he can answer, Jarrett runs in and beats him down.

Kid Kash vs. Amazing Red

They fight over wrist and arm control to start with neither getting very far. Kash sticks the landing on a monkey flip so they trade legsweeps and we get a staredown. Red’s headlock doesn’t last long so they trade armdrags and it’s another standoff. Kash flips him off and gets sent to the apron for some elbows to send him outside. Back up and Kash gets in a shot of his own, setting up a springboard clothesline for two.

Red charges into an elbow in the corner and a middle rope clothesline gets two more. Kash hammers away but Red is back up with a middle rope Downward Spiral for a near fall of his own. They go up top and Kash throws him down for two, followed by a slingshot legdrop in the ropes for the same. Kash runs the rope and hits a springboard spinning high crossbody, followed by something like a kneeling MuscleBuster for the pin at 9:28.

Rating: B-. This is something that the X-Division needs, as you can only have Styles/Ki/Lynn as the focal points for so long. At some point you need some fresh blood in there and these two could certainly fit the bill. They had an exciting enough match and that’s good to see, especially as a way to open the show.

Post match Red offers him a handshake but Kash hits a clothesline instead. The SAT’s run in for the save.

Sonny Siaki, on his own, has to be asked to turn around and face the camera and isn’t worried about facing Monty Brown. Sure Brown was in the Super Bowl, but Siaki is bigger than the Super Bowl.

Sonny Siaki vs. Monty Brown

Before the match, Brown grabs the mic and promises to take out Jeff Jarrett for costing him the World Title last week. Siaki backs him into the corner to start and fires off some shoulders to the ribs. That earns him a trip to the floor but Brown misses a charge into the barricade. Back in and Brown gives him a side slam before stomping away for two. A running splash in the corner hits Siaki and a butterfly suplex into a vertical suplex gets two more.

We hit the chinlock on Siaki but he fights up, only to get clotheslined right back down. A running DDT drops Brown though and we get a double breather. Siaki’s clothesline gets two but Brown drops him again. An overhead belly to belly sends Siaki flying and a powerbomb swung into a Rock Bottom plants him again. Cue Jeff Jarrett though, with the distraction allowing Siaki to hit Brown low for the pin at 10:13.

Rating: C. Brown is in a weird place as he’s a monster with charisma, but he’s nowhere near ready for this level in the ring. The problem with that is if you keep beating him, he loses the status that he has. It would be nice to let him smash through some people to rack up some wins and then bring him along, but why do that when you can just have him lose?

Post match Brown hammers on Jarrett and here is Brian Lawler to go after Jarrett as well. Security breaks it up and Lawler is cut off again. Darn the luck.

Commentary hypes up the X-Division ladder match.

Slash, with new partner Kobain (better known as Flash Flanagan in OVW), is ready to win a spot in a Gauntlet For The Gold for the Tag Team Titles. Kobain says what is likely supposed to sound like Nirvana lyrics.

Backseat Boyz vs. James Storm/Chris Harris vs. Hot Shots vs. Disciples Of The New Church

Elimination rules and the winners are in the Gauntlet For The Gold for the vacant Tag Team Titles. Chase Stevens (partners in the Hot Shots with Cassidy O’Reilly) starts with Trent Acid (of the Backseat Boyz, along with Johnny Kashmere) with Acid flipping over him. Stevens hands it off to Kashmere, with the Boyz having to fight because they can’t be eliminated.

Then they point at each and clean house, including the Dream Sequence (later made famous by the Motor City Machine Guns) to Stevens. Some moonsaults to the floor drop most everyone else and Stevens shooting stars onto everyone else. Back in and Slash tags herself in for a neckbreaker to get rid of Kashmere at 4:13.

Kobain comes in for something like a Demolition Decapitator to Stevens. O’Reilly comes back in and kicks Harris down, setting up a double basement dropkick for two. Harris fights up and hits a heck of a clothesline on Cassidy, with Kobain coming in. That doesn’t last long as Storm tags himself in and hits a reverse tornado DDT to get rid of the Hot Shots at 7:55.

Slash chokes away at Storm in the corner, followed by what would become Storm’s Eye Of The Storm. Kobain comes in and sends Storm outside for the big dive and Slash adds a running knee back inside. Cue Don Harris and Brian Lee for commentary as Harris comes back in to clean house, with Kobain accidentally elbowing Slash. Storm superkicks both of them as everything breaks down, only for Slash to come back with a cutter out of the corner. Another neckbreaker is countered and a slam swung into a Rock Bottom finishes for Harris at 12:54.

Rating: C. This was one of those matches where they didn’t quite have time to build anything up and it hut things. At the same time, you have some teams who aren’t overly familiar around here, with the Kobain deal feeling more stupid than anything else. The good thing is Harris and Storm are being built up as the best team around here and it would not surprise me at all to see them get the titles.

Post match Harris and Lee run in for the beatdown with the other teams all running in as well. Harris and Lee clear the ring, because of course they do.

Jeff Jarrett runs into Bob Armstrong, who tells Jarrett he’ll get what he deserves. Jarrett says he deserves all the titles and promises to deal with Armstrong’s surprise.

Miss TNA: Bruce vs. April Hunter

We get a bunch of BEEPs, which are likely due to crowd chants. Hunter fires off chops and snaps off a headscissors but Bruce pulls her down by the hair. A slam and delayed vertical suplex give Bruce two and he sends Hunter face first into the buckle a few times. Bruce flips out of a belly to back suplex and pulls her down by the hair, setting up a powerbomb for the pin at 3:01.

Rating: D. What even is the point of this anymore? In theory they’re setting someone up to beat Bruce in a big moment, but is it even going to matter when it happens? There comes a point where it’s been run into the ground and it isn’t like it had far to go in the first place. Another bad match here, even with Hunter being better than some of the people who have been in there.

Post match Bruce goes to take off Hunter’s top but Slyck Wagner Brown (Hunter’s boyfriend) makes the save.

The Flying Elvises aren’t all shook up without Sonny Siaki but he better not come back because he’s lonesome tonight. Siaki comes in to say he’s fine without them.

Spanish Announce Team vs. Flying Elvises

Jose wrestles Estrada down to start and they trade some not very near falls. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Elvises clear the ring, setting up stereo Asai moonsaults. Back in and Estrada plants Joel for two before handing it off to Yang for a dropkick into the corner. Estrada’s slingshot legdrop gets two more but he misses a charge, allowing the tag back to Jose.

Estrada crotches him on top and grabs a neckbreaker for two, followed by a suplex into a neckbreaker. Yang grabs a front facelock as commentary previews upcoming shows, including next week’s Best Of The X-Division (which may or may not have been a way to avoid having to pay for another show). That doesn’t last long and Estrada comes in to miss another charge, allowing Joel to come in as well.

Everything breaks down and Estrada hits a DDT into a springboard corkscrew hilo. Jose grabs a dragon suplex and Joel adds a missile dropkick but Yang is back with a running spinwheel kick in the corner. Cue Sonny Siaki to shove the SAT’s off the top though, allowing Yang to….miss Yang Time. Instead he hits a quick superplex for the pin on Jose at 14:23.

Rating: B-. Much like the opener, this felt like a way to help establish some more names in the division. In this case, we’ve seen both of them before but it was fun to have them out there going crazy for a bit. It’s not like this is some great match, but I had a good time with it while it lasted. If nothing else, either of these teams could come after the Tag Team Titles when they’re brought back.

Here is Goldilocks to introduce Brian Lawler for the big Jeff Jarrett explanation. First though, Lawler calls her a piece of trash who shows too much skin and wants her out. With Goldilocks gone, Lawler calls out Jarrett to meet him face to face. Before he can talk though, cue Ron Killings, who is made at Lawler for hitting him with a chair last week.

Lawler begs forgiveness and Killings leaves, with Lawler saying this is personal with Jarrett. Then Lawler spots his girlfriend in the audience and accuses a photographer of hitting on her. Lawler escorts said girlfriend to the back as we’re STILL not getting an explanation. I can’t imagine it’s anywhere near that interesting and that is getting more and more obvious every time they tease this story.

We recap Jeff Jarrett being attacked by the Bullet last week, who was NOT Brad Armstrong.

Jeff Jarrett vs. The Bullet

Jarrett jumps him fast and sends things outside, with Bullet being whipped over the barricade. The beatdown is on with Jarrett blasting him with some chair shots. They go back inside where Bullet fights back and starts using quite a few familiar moves (as in similar to Brian Armstrong, Bob’s son and better known as the Road Dogg). Jarrett whips out some handcuffs and attaches Bullet to the ropes. It’s time for a chair so Bob Armstrong comes out, earning himself a chair to the head. The match is thrown out at 3:45.

Rating: C-. And yet, it’s somehow more interesting than anything involving Brian Lawler. That brings up the problem though: Jarrett is involved in quite a bit on this show and it’s not the most interesting stuff. At some point you need to give him something that gets people to care and we haven’t seen it yet. Brian Lawler and the Armstrongs isn’t the way to make that happen either.

Post match Bob gets destroyed and busted open with another chair shot. Security cuts Jarrett off and no unmasking ensues.

Don West hypes up the main event.

We recap Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles going to a draw in their three match series last week. This set up a three way ladder match, with Low Ki defending the X-Division Title.

X-Division Title: AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki

Ki is defending in a ladder match. Ki and Lynn chop it out to start with Styles quickly taking Lynn’s place. Lynn is back up but misses his slingshot Fameasser, allowing Ki to springboard kick Styles down. Back in and Lynn takes over on both of them, including a fairly illogical surfboard to Ki. A suplex drops Styles and you can see Lynn have to stop himself from covering.

Ki breaks up a Liontamer to Styles (Why?) and drops both of them in a hurry. Styles knocks Ki into the corner and they’re all down for an early breather. It’s Styles up first and he heads to the floor, where a ladder is bridged between the barricade and the apron. Ki and Styles climb onto said ladder but Lynn is right there for a double faceplant.

Lynn baseball slides a ladder into Styles’ ribs but Ki cuts off his climb. Styles unloads on Ki until he gets dropped by Lynn. A double hiptoss sends Ki into a ladder leaning against the rope, followed by a suplex sending Lynn into the same ladder. Ki is back up with a hurricanrana to send Styles into the ladder and they need a breather. Styles loads up the ladder and tries a climb but Ki pulls him down for some kicks to the chest.

Ki pulls Styles off the ladder again and then sends the ladder over, with Lynn crashing down in a heap. Back up and Lynn hammers on Styles, followed by a sitout powerbomb on Ki. Two more ladders are brought in and Styles climbs after Ki, who puts him in a dragon sleeper. Lynn breaks that up (Why?) and shoves Styles down, followed by a cradle piledriver off the ladder to plant Ki. That’s enough for Lynn to pull the title down for the win at 20:05.

Rating: B+. This was more of a match where they went after each other rather than the ladder and that makes things so much more interesting. Sometimes it’s nice to see them mix it up a bit and in this case, it was great to focus on people this talented. Lynn gets the title and can defend it against a bunch of people, including these two, and I can certainly go for more of that at the moment.

And we’re off the air before Tenay can even finish his sentence.

Overall Rating: B-. Again, these shows are SO MUCH BETTER because they don’t have all of the frills and stupid stuff bringing it down. Instead, they’re focusing on the in-ring action and it’s that much better as a result. There are still problems though, including WAY too much Jarrett and anything on Bruce. Other than that though, it’s a mile ahead of everything they were doing in the first ten weeks or so and I’ll definitely take that.

Results
Kid Kash b. Amazing Red – Kneeling neckbreaker
Sonny Siaki b. Monty Brown – Rollup
James Storm/Chris Harris b. Backseat Boyz, Hot Shots and Disciples Of The New Church last eliminating the Disciples Of The New Church
Bruce b. April Hunter – Powerbomb
Flying Elvises b. Spanish Announce Team – Superplex to Jose
Jeff Jarrett vs. The Bullet went to a no contest
Jerry Lynn b. AJ Styles and Low Ki – Lynn pulled down the title

 

 

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Saturday Night’s Main Event #11
Date: May 2, 1987
Location: Edmund P. Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Indiana
Attendance: 9,345
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura

We’re after Wrestlemania III now and that means it’s time for the annual post-Wrestlemania fallout show.  In other words it’s time for some lighter stuff here, including Randy SAvage vs. George Steele….again.  Savage of course lost the Intercontinental Title to Ricky Steamboat at Wrestlemania III and Steamboat is defending here. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Savage vs. Steele, including Steele costing Savage the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania III. Savage promises that this is the final showdown in a lumberjack match.

Steamboat says Savage never learns, and that’s why he’s defending tonight.

The Hart Foundation is sick of hearing the Bulldogs whine about cheating them out of the titles. Tonight is the long awaited rematch.

Somewhat newcomer Jim Duggan has a front row seat and promises to stop Nikolai Volkoff from singing the Russian national anthem.

Bobby Heenan, wearing a neck brace, says Andre is still undefeated and he has the video proof.

Hogan is going to show us how he faced his greatest challenge.

Opening sequence.

We see a clip from earlier today, likely on TV, of a debate between Bobby Heenan and Ken Patera. Heenan ran his mouth off and Patera beat the tar out of him, necessitating the neck brace. This isn’t referenced for the rest of the show.

Kamala’s new manager Mr. Fuji says he’ll help Kamala overcome his fear of snakes. Kamala is panicking in the background.

We get a clip from Jake Roberts’ Snake Pit segment where Honky Tonk Man blasted him in the head with a guitar, all the way back in February.

Roberts says Damien wants to face Kamala, sending Okerlund running for cover.

Jake Roberts vs. Kamala

Damien scares Kamala out to the floor but the giant finally sneaks in behind him and nails Jake. That’s fine with Roberts who comes back with some right hands until Kamala gets in a shot to the throat. Off to an early bearhug until Jake goes after the leg, just like he did against Bundy last time. He even stomps on Kamala’s bare feet until Kamala clobbers him with a chop to the head.

Roberts gets choked on the apron but he draws Kamala out to the floor for a chase, allowing Jake to score with a pair of knee lifts coming back in. Fuji offers a distraction though, allowing Kim Chee to nail Jake from behind. Kamala’s big splash is enough for the pin, much to Jesse’s delight.

Rating: D+. This was a step beneath the Bundy match from last time but Kamala isn’t quite as talented as Bundy. I like Jake’s methods of dealing with monsters, especially going with the kicks to the legs to slow them down. It’s a passable match, but when is Jake going to actually win something on this show?

Post match Kim Chee takes off his jacket and mask to reveal the Honky Tonk Man. Roberts gets laid out again with the Shake Rattle and Roll swinging neckbreaker. This was kind of odd given that Honky Tonk Man won the match at Wrestlemania III.

We see some quick clips of Hogan vs. Andre.

George Steele doesn’t seem to understand the idea of a lumberjack match. He’s worried that he’ll never see Elizabeth again.

After we see Kim Chee and Honky Tonk Man as lumberjacks, Ricky Steamboat accuses Okerlund of trying to confuse Steele. He’ll be escorting Steele to the ring as a thank you for Wrestlemania III.

Savage says tonight is all about vengeance and he’ll be getting his title back.

George Steele vs. Randy Savage

There are fourteen (advertised as fifteen) lumberjacks, including the Hart Foundation, Danny Davis, the British Bulldogs, Nikolai Volkoff, Iron Sheik, Ricky Steamboat, Jim Duggan, Hercules, Kim Chee, Honky Tonk Man and the Can-Am Connection (Tom Zenk/Rick Martel). Savage gets mad at Steele for oogling Elizabeth and attacks, only to be sent out to the floor. Steele whips him across the ring and shouts YOU as Savage unsuccessfully tries to roll outside again.

A face claw sends Savage to the floor but the lumberjacks throw him back in. This time it’s Savage taking him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs before tossing Steele outside. The bad guys try to beat him down but Duggan makes the save with a 2×4. Duggan even gets in the ring to chase Volkoff and Sheik, earning him an ejection. We take a break and come back with Steele still on the floor and headbutting Davis.

Back in and Steele slams Savage before eating a turnbuckle. Savage tries to bail to the floor but Steamboat is right there waiting to throw him back inside. More biting ensues and George throws him to the floor again, triggering a brawl with Steamboat. All of the lumberjacks start brawling, allowing Davis to sneak in with the ring bell to knock George sillier. The big elbow gives Savage the pin.

Rating: D. I’m so sick of these two fighting but thankfully this is the last of their series. As has been my issue since their first match: it’s always the same stuff, over and over with nothing really changing. The lumberjacks helped here, but there’s just no interest in seeing them fight yet again.

The lumberjacks get in a big brawl until Roberts runs in with the snake to clean house and go after Kim Chee and Honky Tonk Man. Chee has to run from the snake.

We go to Heenan and Andre in a sitdown interview. Heenan says they won at Wrestlemania III but all of the referees are biased towards Hogan. Bobby shows us the video of the opening of the match where Hogan tried a slam but Andre fell on top of him for a three count, but Hogan had his shoulder up at two. The referee called it a two count though and the match continued. Andre doesn’t know what the referee is trying to pull but he should be the champion. That’s the controversy that would set up the rematch down the road.

The Hart Foundation is thrilled to give the Bulldogs their rematch. Danny Davis goes after Okerlund and has to be pulled back.

Tag Team Titles: British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation

The Harts are defending and this is 2/3 falls due to the Harts using crooked referee Danny Davis to win the titles back in January. Tito Santana, Danny Davis and Jimmy Hart are all at ringside but the Bulldogs have their actual bulldog Matilda with them to go after Jimmy, sending him running for cover. Davey and Bret get things going with Smith flipping around to grab a wristlock. Bret counters into a headlock, only to take a monkey flip to put him back down.

They start to run the ropes but Hart buries a knee in Smith’s ribs to take over again. Off to Neidhart to slam Davey’s head into the mat. Hart sends him into the buckle but misses a charge, allowing for the hot tag off to Dynamite Kid. Things speeds up and the snap suplex gets two on Bret. Everything breaks down and Tito chases Davis around ringside as the Harts double team Dynamite for the DQ to end the first fall.

The second fall begins after a break with the Harts still double teaming Dynamite. A modified version of what would become known as the Demolition Decapitator (backbreaker/middle rope elbow combination) gets two but Dynamite comes back with a headbutt, drawing a nice flow of blood. Davey chases Bret and Davis around ringside before Bret nails Dynamite from behind to keep the advantage.

Hart misses a charge into the ropes though and Davey comes back in off the hot tag to clean house. A vertical suplex gets two on Neidhart but he comes back with a shot to the ribs to stop Davey cold. The Harts collide though and Santana nails Davis again and Davey throws Dynamite on top of Neidhart for the pin and the titles.

Or not actually as there’s an obscure rule that says if one fall in a 2/3 falls match is a disqualification, the title can’t change hands. This is the first and only time this rule is referenced on this show. Remember that for a show in about two years. I’ll give them this though: the fans went insane for the near title change and their anger at the surprise ending was great.

Rating: B-. This was a solid match with a screwy ending, which would be the case far more times than it should have been. These teams had excellent chemistry together due to knowing each other so well from their Stampede Wrestling days. The Harts are starting to dominate the division and establish themselves as one of the best teams of all time.

We go to Hogan for his take on the controversial count. He looks at the slam attempt but doesn’t make much of the near fall, saying he knew what he had to do after the referee said two. Hogan would be fine with a rematch but there’s no way he’s being stripped of the title. Hulkamania will live forever, long after he’s gone.

Steamboat is ready to defend his title for the first time on this show and has come too far to be stopped by the likes of Bobby Heenan.

Randy Savage is shown in the back, freaking out over the idea of Steamboat losing to anyone other than him. That’s an interesting idea that makes things feel so much more personal.

Intercontinental Title: Hercules vs. Ricky Steamboat

The champ tries to go straight at Hercules to start and is easily knocked away. Realizing that isn’t getting him anywhere, Ricky opts for some dropkicks to knock Hercules out to the floor instead. Hercules comes back by sending him into the post as we see Savage giving Steamboat something resembling a pep talk if you had put it in a blender. It actually works though as Ricky fights back with some chops and a snapmare, only to eat an uppercut. A neckbreaker drops Hercules again but he pops up and slaps on his full nelson finisher.

Cue Savage to come out and grab Hercules’ foot to break up the hold, sending Heenan into a frenzy. We take a break and come back with Hercules slamming the champ down but missing a big elbow drop. More chops have Hercules reeling but he brings Steamboat out of the corner with an atomic drop. In a fairly stupid ending, Heenan throws Hercules a chain to draw the DQ, just as Hercules had taken over again.

Rating: D+. This was all storyline as the fans were drooling over the idea of Savage going over to the good side and saving Steamboat from the beating. The last few months had made the fans respect Savage despite how evil he was for one simple reason: at the end of the day, the fans are going to respond to good wrestling and talented workers. The match was nothing special though.

Savage teases helping Steamboat but runs to the top for the big elbow instead, crushing the fans’ hopes again.

Jim Duggan is in the front row with a ticket (without a location, date, show name or anything suggesting that there’s any effort put into it), saying he will not let Volkoff sing his national anthem again.

Slick says Volkoff can sing under the Freedom of Speech. They have the right to party. The COMMUNIST Party!

Nikolai Volkoff/Iron Sheik vs. Can-Am Connection

Volkoff starts singing and takes a 2×4 upside the head. We take a break and come back with Volkoff somehow not in traction and hammering on Martel in the corner, only to take a dropkick. Sheik takes a double hiptoss but he sends Zenk’s head into Volkoff’s boot. A pair of suplexes get a pair of twos for Sheik before it’s back to Nikolai for a kick to the ribs and another to the back.

Sheik gets two more off a belly to belly and puts on an abdominal stretch. Zenk fights out but eats a clothesline, allowing Sheik to spit on him. The villains double team Zenk on the floor as Duggan is about to explode. Duggan gets in with the board, offering a distraction so Martel can roll Sheik up for the pin.

Rating: D. Just a match here to fill in that late part of the show when most of the audience had gone to bed. Duggan chasing around the evil foreigner of the month would keep him employed for years because it’s as basic of a story as you’re going to find in wrestling. The Connection was good but they needed a better opponent and an actual match instead of an angle disguised as one.

The wrap up ends things.

Overall Rating: D. The Tag Team Title match is worth checking out but they’re just in a holding pattern at the moment before the big stuff starts later in the year. This wasn’t the best show to go on before summer break but when you’re coming off the biggest show ever, you have to expect a bit of a cooling off period.

TNA Weekly PPV #11
Date: August 28, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

After last week’s show focusing mostly on Styles vs. Lynn, here’s another show with a lot of time spent on Styles vs. Lynn. In this case there’s also Low Ki involved in a triple threat ladder match with them for the X title though so at least they’re mixing it up a bit. Other than that we get the continuing adventures of Jarrett vs. the Armstrongs because TNA thinks that’s interesting for some idiotic reason. Let’s get to it.

Brian Lawler is in the parking lot about to reveal why he hates Jarrett when Jeff jumps him from behind. A big brawl ensues until referees break it up.

Amazing Red vs. Kid Kash

This is back when Kash could still be called Kid and it didn’t sound stupid. Feeling out process to start with neither guy being able to get an advantage going. Kash shoves him and gets slapped in the face as a result. Red takes him to the mat via a drop toehold and things speed up. They go into a sequence that belongs in a gymnastics class rather than a wrestling ring, finally coming back to wrestling with some armdrags.

Kash flips Red off so Red pounds and kicks away at him before sending Kash to the floor. There’s a BIG flip dive to take Kid out and they brawl a bit. Kash sends him into the barricade to take over and we head back inside where a flying clothesline takes Red down for two. Red gets put in something like a Liontamer which doesn’t go anywhere, so they head to the corner where Kash eats a boot. Well not literally but you get the idea.

Red goes up for I think a rana but has to come down because Kash is WAY out of position. A standing rana and a spinwheel kick get two instead and Kash is placed on the top rope. This goes badly for the placer (Red) as Kash comes back with a clothesline off the middle rope for two. A powerbomb attempt by Kash is countered into a sunset bomb and Red kicks him down again for two.

Red gets slammed off the top for two for Kash, followed by Red firing off kicks to the chest in the corner. A charge misses and Red crotches himself, allowing Kash to hit a slingshot legdrop for two more. Kash cross bodies him for two before running into an elbow to slow him down. Red goes up but Kash shoves the referee into the ropes (not a DQ for some reason) and hits a kind of MuscleBuster for the pin.

Rating: C-. I’m really not a fan of spotfests and I’m REALLY not a fan of matches where guys don’t sell almost anything. On top of that, they were missing a lot of spots in this or badly mistiming them. The crowd reacted to most of it, but the match just wasn’t that good and certainly wasn’t anything memorable. That’s most cruiserweight style matches though.

Sonny Siaki praises himself a lot.

Monty Brown vs. Sonny Siaki

Brown says he’ll take out Jarrett, despite Jarrett not doing anything to him that I can remember. Brown chops Siaki down and stomps on him a bit, as that is about the extent of his offensive abilities so far. We head to the floor but Brown misses a charge and goes face first into the barricade. Again the idea of selling doesn’t seem to exist as Brown shrugs it off and beats on Siaki some more as we head back inside.

A sideslam puts Siaki down for two and Brown keeps up the stomping. He really doesn’t wrestle like most faces do and it’s not exactly working for him here. Monty hits a splash in the corner and a pair of suplexes (butterfly and regular) get two each. More chops and punches follow before it’s off to a chinlock. It’s strange seeing a face in control for this long. After the hold is broken, Brown ducks his head like a schmuck and gets DDT’d for his efforts.

Siaki pops up and clotheslines Monty down again but Brown is like “screw this selling nonsense” and hits a fisherman’s suplex to put both guys right back down. Brown hits another butterfly suplex as it’s clear he’s running out of moves. Brown loads up the Alphabomb but here’s Jarrett for a distraction. Siaki hits Brown low and rolls him up for the cheap win.

Rating: D. Monty Brown is not very good and that’s all there is to it. At this point he’s incredibly green and can’t work a five minute match, let alone a ten minute one where he’s on offense for the majority of the time. Siaki was the heel and got beaten down for almost the entire time, which is a very strange dynamic for a match. This didn’t work at all for the most part.

Armstrong and the Bullet pop up as Brown and Lawler beat up Jarrett. What’s Brown’s issue with Jarrett again? Oh yeah no one knows. That’s right.

Slash is in the back and introduces his brother Kobain, who is OVW legend Flash. Nothing of note here.

Backseat Boyz vs. Slash/Kobain vs. Hotshots vs. James Storm/Chris Harris

Elimination rules to fill more time and the winners get to be the final team in a gauntlet match for the titles next week. The Hotshots are Cassidy O’Reilly and Chase Stevens and the Boyz are Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid. O’Reilly chops Kashmere a bit to start but walks into a spinebuster. Cassidy slaps Johnny a bit and it’s off to Acid to face his partner. We get a kind of recital as they know each other so well, culminating in a high five and hug. Well that makes sense I guess.

Slash gets dropkicked off the apron by the Boyz as everything breaks down. Acid “hits” a Mafia Kick on Cassidy which the camera shows missing by a good bit. Eh it’s basically indy level stuff here anyway so it’s not surprising. The Boyz beat up Stevens for a bit before we get a BIG double moonsault from Acid and O’Reilly to take out everyone else. Kashmere and Stevens hit dives of their own until it settles down for Stevens vs. Acid who are somehow legal. In the melee, Stevens tags in Slash and a neckbreaker takes out Acid, eliminating the Boys.

It’s Slash vs. Stevens now with Stevens being knocked to the mat immediately. Off to Kobain for some double teaming but Harris tags himself in. Not sure why he did that but who am I to doubt Braden Walker. O’Reilly comes in sans tag for a double dropkick for two on Harris but Storm makes the save. O’Reilly and Harris trade chops with no one winning, so Cassidy hits Harris low. They’re REALLY lax about DQ’s in this company.

O’Reilly’s Lionsault hits Harris’ knees and there’s a tag off to Kobain. Before the new guy can do anything though, Storm tags himself in and goes up, only to get crotched by Cassidy. A top rope rana is countered and Storm hits a reverse tornado DDT to pin O’Reilly and get us down to two teams. We start with Slash vs. Storm with Slash hammering away and hitting the move Storm would name the Eye of the Storm for two.

Off to Kobain who sends Storm to the floor for a BIG flip dive to take out both guys. Brian Lee and Ron Harris come out to complain about not being in the match. Why are these guys still getting TV time? Since the camera was on them, we don’t see how Storm took Slash down, but who cares because Harris comes in and cleans house.

Everything breaks down and Kobain drills his own partner with an elbow. Storm superkicks Slash down for two for Harris as Kobain tries a tornado DDT, only to get superkicked down as well. Slash counters the reverse tornado DDT from Storm and hits a neckbreaker for two. Ron Harris and Lee head to the ring as Chris Harris hits the Catatonic on Slash for the pin and victory.

Rating: C. This one took a long time to get going but once we got down to the final two teams, it was a lot better. That being said, the stuff before then wasn’t so good for the most part with the Boyz and the Hotshots really just being warm bodies to fill in some spots. Either way, this finally gets AMW closer to the tag titles, which they’ve been deserving for weeks now.

Post match Lee and Ron Harris clear the ring and beat everyone down.

Jarrett wants a title shot and says he’ll beat up the surprise and then Armstrong as well.

Miss TNA: Bruce vs. April Hunter

Bruce is a guy and defending and Hunter is a fitness model. The fans tell Bruce that he’s a homosexual and he thinks all the men want him. If April wins, she wins five grand as well. April starts chopping away and hits a head scissors to send Bruce flying. Hunter gets thrown down by the hair and Bruce takes over. April comes back a bit and things speed up but Bruce hits her in the back to stop the momentum cold. A powerbomb ends Hunter pretty easily.

Rating: D. This wasn’t horrible but it’s still a waste of time and very stupid. Hunter couldn’t be around again for about four months and thankfully the Miss TNA thing would be over soon. It comes off like they’re trying to push the envelope for the sake of pushing the envelope, but it’s much more stupid than interesting or shocking.

Post match Bruce tries to take April’s top off but April’s boyfriend Sylk Wagner Brown makes the save.

Sonny Siaki takes a jab at Hulk Hogan for no apparent reason as Estrada and Yang kind of stare at him.

Flying Elvises vs. S.A.T.

That’s Estrada/Yang vs. the Maximos if you couldn’t tell. It’s Estrada and Joel to start things off and just like the opening match, the opening sequence looks like something they’ve rehearsed for house before the match. Joel takes over with a headlock and a rana but a dropkick is casually avoided by Estrada. A powerslam puts Joel down for two and everything breaks down. The Maximos are sent to the floor and the Elvises live up to their name by flying over the top to take them both out.

Back in and it’s Estrada on I think Jose with a Lionsault getting two on the Maximo. Yang comes in for a leg lariat and a bunch of punches which seem out of place in this match. Off to Estrada who is immediately kicked in both the front and back of the head. A dropkick puts Jorge down and it’s off to Jose. The Maximos, who might be the heels in this but it’s really not clear, double team Estrada a bit and Jose hits a low dropkick to take him down.

Estrada comes back and puts Jose on top for a neckbreaker (remember what I was saying about no selling?) and it’s back to Yang for that figure four necklock of his. That goes nowhere so Yang grabs Jose’s head and puts on a front facelock. Back to Jorge with a slingshot hilo and a clothesline for two each. Estrada goes up again but Jose pops up and kicks him down almost immediately. They slug it out with Estrada hitting a neckbreaker to put both guys down.

It’s a hot tag to Joel who beats up Yang like he owes him money. The Maximos try to double team Estrada but Yang hits a double dropkick to take the brothers down. While Yang beats up Joel, Jose sneaks up from behind and slams Jimmy down, setting up a guillotine legdrop for two. Estrada DDT’s Joel down and hits a springboard backsplash for two.

Joel comes back with a pair of suplexes for four on Estrada followed by a missile dropkick for two by Jose. Yang finally comes back in and makes the save with a leg lariat. He goes up but gets crotches as the SAT loads up the Spanish Fly (double C4 off the top) but Siaki comes out and breaks it up. Yang hits Yangtime on Joel who doesn’t even stay down for a cover so Yang hits a neckbreaker kind of thing for the pin.

Rating: C+. This is another one of those matches that was fun but not exactly good. The Maximos were your standard luchador tag team who did their high spots and not much more. The Elvises story continues to change a bit but it’s only somewhat interesting. Not much to see here and going fifteen minutes was a bad idea for a match like this one.

Here’s Goldilocks to find out what Lawler hates Jarrett for. Lawler comes out and talks about how worthless Goldilocks is and throws her out of his ring. Does Lawler know if he’s a face or a heel? I’m really not sure at this point. Lawler gives Jarrett a five count to get to the ring but at the count of five, here’s Truth to interrupt him again. Lawler backs off from Truth because of the chair shot last week and beats up the photographer taking pictures of Lawler’s girlfriend. Lawler and the girlfriend leave up the ramp. What in the world was the point to this?

Jeff Jarrett vs. The Bullet

The Bullet is a masked guy who gets jumped by Jeff almost immediately and we head to the floor. Jarrett pounds away on Bullet with chairs and sends him into the crowd for a second before going back into the ring. Back in and Bullet escapes an Irish whip and takes Jeff down. There’s a Road Dogg (Armstrong’s real life son) shaky knee drop followed by an atomic drop. A pumphandle slam (another Dogg move) is escaped and Jeff hits him low to take over. Jarrett pulls out a pair of cuffs to tie Bullet to the ropes for a DQ. I’m not even going to bother rating this as it was barely even a match.

Post match Jarrett says he’s going for the mask but Bob Armstrong comes in to jump Jarrett. Keep in mind that Bob is about 62 years old. Jeff hits Bob with the chair and goes for the Bullet, only to have security stop him from taking the mask off. Is there a point to this story at all and I’m just missing it?

Next week is an X-Division Special which should be fun.

We get some highlights of the 2/3 falls series from last week.

X-Division Title: Jerry Lynn vs. Low Ki vs. AJ Styles

This is a ladder match with Ki defending. They circle each other for a bit until Styles drops down and grabs a ladder. Both other guys slide to the floor as well with Styles hitting Jerry with the ladder, only to have Low Ki kick the ladder back into AJ. They head back inside where Low Ki kicks Lynn off the apron. A handspring kick takes Styles down as well as Jerry comes back in.

Lynn hits a sweet spinning tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to take the champ down before pounding on Styles in the corner. Low Ki gets put in a surfboard but Styles breaks it up and stomps on Low Ki a bit. Jerry suplexes AJ down and puts him in a Liontamer, only to have Low Ki fire off kicks to break it up. Lynn won’t let it go and shouts to kick him harder. Low Ki is fine with that and kicks Lynn hard enough to break up the hold.

A running kick in the corner takes Styles down again before loading him into the Ki Crusher. Instead of dropping him though, Low Ki rams him into Jerry in the corner to put both guys down. The champ goes to get the ladder but Jerry baseball slides it back into Low Ki to take over again. Styles heads to the floor as well to kick the champ in the head before dropping Lynn face first onto the apron.

With the ladder bridged between the ring and the barricade, all three guys stand on top of it and slug it out before a big headbutt sends all three guys to the ground. Lynn is up first and sends a ladder into the ring which is dropkicked into AJ’s ribs and chest on the mat. Low Ki is up again and starts setting up the ladder, only to have AJ deck him from behind. The ladder is leaning against the ropes as AJ GOES OFF on the champ, only to walk into a punch from Jerry.

Lynn and Styles launch Low Ki into the ladder in a double hiptoss and it’s one on one. AJ does a Daniel Bryan backflip off the ladder and tries a tornado DDT, only to have Lynn counter and hit a northern lights suplex to send AJ back first into the ladder. Ki is back in and kicks Jerry down but realizes he can’t pin him. A charge in the corner is caught by Lynn but he ranas Jerry into the ladder to put all three guys down again.

It’s AJ back up first to ram the champ with the ladder before he tries to climb, only to get kicked by Low Ki. AJ is hung in a Tree of Woe in the ladder where Low Ki fires off kicks to the chest. Now Low Ki climbs but Jerry makes the save and suplexes him down off the ladder to put everyone down again. AJ gets up and hits the moonsault DDT on Low Ki to pop the crowd again. Jerry pounds on Styles and catches a jumping champion in a running Liger Bomb to take over yet again.

There’s a second ladder in the ring now as Styles brings in another one. Low Ki slides out and brings in a third as this could get very messy in a hurry. The challengers stop fighting long enough to make a save of Low Ki as Styles and Low Ki fight on top. Low Ki hooks a Dragon Sleeper on top of the ladder (grab the title you dolt) but here’s Lynn again and all three are on a ladder.

In a pretty awesome move, Low Ki has his ladder shoved down but he gets his foot on the top rope and shoves himself and the ladder back to an upright position. AJ gets shoved to the floor and it’s Lynn vs. Low Ki. Jerry is like DIE YOU KICKING SPOT MONKEY and cradle piledrives him off the ladder. Lynn climbs up and wins the title to end the show.

Rating: B+. Solid, solid match here with all three guys beating the tar out of each other. It’s not on the level of one of the TLC matches, but for what we had here, this was one of the better ladder matches you’ll see in awhile. I’d have preferred just Lynn and AJ because I’m not a fan of Low Ki at all, but the shove back off the rope was good enough for me to overlook him. Solid stuff.

Overall Rating: C. The main event is very good but other than that, there’s not much going on at the moment. The big angle wouldn’t begin for a few months, so at this point we’re stuck with just Jarrett and Armstrong, which is getting NO reaction from the fans at all because no one cares about Bob Armstrong. Even in his heyday he was a territory guy at best, and Tennessee wasn’t part of that territory. Therefore, let’s make sure he and Jarrett are the focus of the show, right? Not a terrible show but they’re kind of treading water at this point.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

As you know, Lawrence Taylor, a football player, main evented the show against Bam Bam Bigelow.  Was that a good idea?In my mind, no.  It was probably the biggest match on the show but it should have had Shawn vs. Diesel going on last.  Their match was good and while not a classic, it was better than anything else on the show.  At the end of the day, it’s a wrestling show, not a celebrity show.

 

Thoughts?

Wrestlemania 11
Date: April 2, 1995
Location: Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Attendance: 16,305
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
America the Beautiful: Kathy Huey

Oh goodness, we did have to get to this eventually didn’t we? If you remember my review of WM 9 being the worst WM ever, I should have said it would be the worst for the next two years. This show is one of the most interesting in wrestling history from a reaction standpoint. From the fans’ perspective, this show is what’s played on a constant loop in the seventh circle of torment, minus the WWF Title match.

The number one issue I have right off the bat with this is that it’s from Hartford, Connecticut. Seriously, HARTFORD??? Wrestlemania has broadcast from New York, LA, Chicago, Toronto, Las Vegas, and now HARTFORD? It just doesn’t sound right. Another factor here is that there’s a whopping total of 7 matches. What’s the main event you ask?

Would it be Shawn Michaels getting his first WWF Title match since becoming a main eventer against his former bodyguard Diesel? Nope. We get Bam Bam Bigelow who was wrestling a clown last year against Lawrence Taylor, a former football player and current contestant on Dancing With The Stars. The sad thing is, I’m not making this up. The weird thing though is, this show allegedly brought the WWF back into the war with WCW.

The ratings were decent and it got the company the main stream exposure it’s looking for. Think of it like the modern day TNA: the hardcore wrestling fans like us mostly hate it, but the common fans eat it up. Go figure. Anyway, let’s get on with this so I can look for a hammer to apply to my head.

The opening video is about various Manias through the years which tends to be a theme in these opening videos.

Your celebrities this year are Pamela Anderson (actual celebrity), Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Randy on Home Improvement. Another child star that did nothing.), Jenny McCarthy (Mini-celebrity now, she was at the last SNME so points for that I guess), some guy from NYPD Blue, and Salt N Peppa, who hit on Bret Hart which just looks ridiculous. A special Olympian sings America the Beautiful, and it’s time for our first match.

Ok not quite yet as we get a very interesting chat from Vince and Jerry about what Wrestlemania is. You don’t get to hear that much from Vince. It’s short and sweet but it got the point across just fine. NOW on to the match.

Lex Luger/British Bulldog vs. The Blu Brothers

No that’s not a typo, it’s spelled Blu. These guys have the gimmick of being two incredibly hick brothers from the mountains. You know them better as D.O.A., the Harris Brothers, or those two big white bald guys that are in every promotion on the planet. My goodness how far has Lex fallen in a year? He’s going after the WWF Title and next year is curtain jerking in a tag match?

The twins are named Jacob and Eli in case you were so bored you were actually wondering. Lex and Davey go by the name the Allied Powers. That delayed vertical suplex by Davey never gets old. It’s nothing short of amazing. Definitely like the fact that Bulldog’s tights are about 3 sizes too small. Oh yeah we have a match to get to.

For some reason the Brothers come down second. The Brothers try to jump them which winds up in a pair of powerslams for them. Note that this is just a powerslam and not The Powerslam by Bulldog so it’s just a normal match. Bulldog is in trouble early on as the power of evil double teaming has him hurting.

A double big boot puts Bulldog down as Luger is just worthless on the apron here. The fans aren’t incredibly impressed. Jerry says that Bulldog has only lost once at Mania which isn’t true as he lost at both #3 and #4. Luger comes in and the fans pop just slightly. I guess the jump back to WCW was the right move indeed. Another powerslam gets no cover.

The loaded forearm gets two as the other twin makes the save. Uncle Zebekiah gets drilled and it’s Twin Magic time. One twin goes for a powerbomb/Piledriver but Luger makes a blind tag, allowing the Bulldog to hit a top rope sunset flip for the pin, prompting a fireworks display to go off.

Rating: D. Not bad, but just there. It’s nothing special at all and I’m not sure how many people really cared. The crowd was about as dead as I’ve ever heard for a Mania opener, and that’s including The Executioner vs. Santana back in 85. Wow I feel old for writing that. Anyway this was pretty bad and could have been on any Superstars show back in the day.

Jim Ross talks to the Uncle who says this is what they deserved for being in the big city. They pinned the wrong guy and that’s not the last you’ll see of the twins.

The NYPD Blue guy is with the Million Dollar Team (DiBiase’s stable of mostly jobbers) when he’s supposed to be in the dressing room of Pam Anderson but the mic doesn’t work. As an aside, during the show Lawler accidentally knocked some cords loose and he and Vince had to redo the entire commentary on the show from watching video. Due to that, the commentary you’ll hear on these matches isn’t live at all.

Lawler describes football as a game where eleven men spend hours trying to move a small object 100 yards, which is just like the post office. What that has to do with this is beyond me but it sounded good at the time. Oh it’s about the NFL guys here for the main event.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon

No real story here other than they’re feuding for no apparent reason. Jarrett is in his country music gimmick here and even the Fink sounds bored out of his mind here. Jarrett won the title at the Rumble thanks to the Roadie (Road Dogg in case you didn’t know that) interfering. 1-2-3 Kid and Ramon are in the back and say that Ramon is ready.

Razor was so over back then it’s insane. Vince makes a weird comment saying that Ramon knows where he is at all times. Not sure why that’s a compliment. Don’t most people know where they’re located? It’s either a Vince line or a rib that 3 people get. Razor is all over Jarrett to start this off. Jarrett hits the floor and Razor gets to shoot off his pyro. He gets about three covers in the first 2 minutes, all off punches.

Double J may have hurt his tooth. Rollup gets two for Razor. Roadie saves Jarrett from the Razor’s Edge and Jarrett tries to leave but the Kid is waiting in the aisle to stop that. Five minutes in and JJ’s biggest move has been a hard Irish whip. You know for all of his detractors, Jarrett can wrestle quite well. I’ve always wondered why he didn’t get the recognition as a star that he deserved.

Jarrett tries to get on offense but can’t get anything long term going at all. He gets thrown to the floor again as the crowd dies all over again. Jeff gets some dropkicks in and here comes the guy from Tennessee. We hit the chinlock and the fans get going a bit. At least it’s a fast one as Razor gets a backslide for two. Sleeper goes on Razor and again it lasts just a few seconds. Oh hey here’s another chinlock to keep us interested.

This match just isn’t flowing. It’s like they’re working move to move and it’s showing badly. In a really stupid looking sequence, they both hit the ropes and hit head to head. Then they get up and hit the ropes again and both punch each other. It’s more or less the same spot twice in a row. Just looked stupid. This referee is counting ridiculously fast too.

Fallaway slam gets two. Discus punch gets Jeff down. Can Razor do anything else besides punch and go for the Edge? Razor hurts his knee going for a top rope bulldog, which is the same knee that was hurt THREE MONTHS AGO at the Rumble. Of course it’s still sore. Why wouldn’t it be?

Figure four by Jarrett as the Roadie pulls on Jarrett’s arms for more leverage. I’ve always wondered about that. How does it make it hurt more? I love how Razor’s knee is hurt badly, yet he can pick a 230lb man up, sit him on the top rope and belly to back suplex him from it without his knee giving out.

He gets him up for the Razor’s Edge but Roadie chop blocks him for the DQ. Post match, all four men brawl. JR asks Jarrett about his cheating and Jarrett says he’ll always be the IC Champion. If by always he means until he jumps to WCW and then back to the WWF, loses to Chyna after being hit by a fish and then is banned from the company because Austin hated him, they yes he’ll always be champion.

Rating: D+. This was WAY too many punches and rest holds. These two have had far better matches before, such as at the Rumble. Razor probably had 90% of his offense from throwing punches. Jarrett wasn’t anywhere nearly as serious as he should have been at this point and that change wouldn’t come for many years. Definitely a weak match from them.

Since there was no audio earlier, let’s redo the exact movements from the interview earlier on. Pamela Anderson is nowhere to be found. Shawn and Sid say that Diesel is afraid.

Todd Pettingil gets in a 3 point stance with a football player and that’s all there is to this pointless bit.

The Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy

This is the result of a mini feud with DiBiase and Kama over the Urn being stolen for about the 12^th time. A baseball umpire is refereeing the match for no apparent reason. Bundy charges straight at him to start but that gets him nowhere. Old School can’t take him down. A bunch of clotheslines finally put the bald man down.

Bundy knocks him to the floor and Taker gets the Urn back. Now of course Bundy is in big trouble as Taker is all ticked off. Here’s Kama (Godfather) to steal it back again. This is going as fast as I’m typing it so it’s not like I’m skipping over a ton of stuff. Taker grabs Kama’s face but Bundy makes the save and Kama escapes.

Ross grabs an interview with Kama who says he’s going to melt it down and make a chain out of it and put it around his neck, which he wound up doing. Bundy chokes away in the corner, showing off his vast array of offensive talents. This referee is rather bad at counting. Bearer plays cheerleader to try to get Taker out of a chinlock. Avalanche hits in the corner but Taker is no Special Delivery Jones so it has no effect. A slam and the jumping clothesline of all things end this.

Rating: F+. Oh man this was bad. Taker was completely lacking direction at this point and it was painfully obvious that they had no clue what to do with him. He would feud with Kama for a bit before feuding with King Mabel for a bit until FINALLY Mankind debuted to give Taker something to do long term. Terrible match.

Oh look, the NYPD Blue guy still can’t find Pamela Anderson. Steve McMichael says he’ll take down Kama. The rest of the All-Pro Team says they’ll take care of the Million Dollar Team. The NYPD Blue guy does find Jonathan Taylor Thomas beating Bob Backlund at chess though. I never thought I’d have to type that. Backlund’s rant about the world being screwed up is hilarious.

Tag Titles: Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart/???

Owen has a mystery partner here. The Smoking Gunns are a great example of the failure of tag wrestling during this time period. They were definitely talented, but absolutely no one cared about them. They’re practically forgotten but were one of the most successful tag teams from this time frame.

As you probably know, the partner is Yokozuna. Oddly enough the partner comes out before the Guns, the champions, do. This is of course about Bret somehow because Owen is completely obsessed with Bret. Yoko weighs a few tons by this point and is straight up waddling to the ring. The Gunns say they don’t care who the partner is. Billy with a mullet and a mustache is freaky looking.

More fireworks for the champions here. What’s with that tonight for the tag teams? Owen and Billy start us off. That’s the most talented combination out there I guess. Apparently Owen and Neidhart were eliminated from the tag tournament to determine the #1 contenders so this is a result of that. The Gunns work on the arm of Owen to start which lasts only a few seconds as it’s off to Yoko.

The leg drop misses and Yoko takes over again. And never mind as it’s back to Owen again. Cornette is yelling at the fans which is one of the more entertaining parts of the show. Double Russian legsweep to the Canadian by the American cowboys. Yoko gets sent to the floor as we’re in the Colossal Connection formula here: Owen does the vast majority of the work while Yoko is brought in as the heavy hitter.

Apparently Men on a Mission have turned heel on the Gunns. Riveting indeed and unfortunately it set up King Mabel. The Gunns hit a modified Sidewinder (side slam/legdrop combination) for two on Owen. Yoko comes in and gets the legdrop on the back of Billy’s head to more or less kill him. I’m surprised Yoko has been in the ring this long.

LONG nerve hold by Yoko on Billy to waste a lot of time. Yoko misses a legdrop and Bart comes in. Everything breaks down and Billy gets killed by a belly to belly from the fat man. Banzai Drop ends Billy and Owen gets the pin for the title, which might be his first in the company if that’s possible.

Rating: D+. Eh just a tag match here. The Gunns were boring beyond belief and Yoko was so fat that he could barely move at all. This was simply to have a title switch on the show much like the first show in the series. Boring match and somehow the best one so far I think if that’s possible.

Bigelow says he’ll destroy Lawrence Taylor. There was a Mania Work Out and they had a skirmish there too. This feud never really got going for me but the media actually paid attention so there’s that I guess. This interview takes forever and nothing special is said at all.

Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund

This is an I Quit match with Roddy Piper as referee for no apparent reason. Vince says Roddy knows something about submission. What in the world would that be anyway? This was their second submission match technically as the other was a throw in the towel match that had to end in submission if I remember right. Piper would be Commissioner by the next Mania.

Backlund is more or less crazy here which was rather impressive given how completely different he used to be back in his glory days. I’m still mad about not getting Bret’s glasses when I was a kid. The annoying kid next to me got them. I did however get a Slaughter helmet. Bret gets a headbutt to start and the fight is on. Sharpshooter can’t go on early.

Vince doesn’t remember Piper losing to Bret at Mania 8. Some fan he is. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter again and can’t get it. You couldn’t tell that from Vince as he keeps changing his reaction every five seconds. “Yes! No. Yes! No.” Is he the Zodiac or something? Figure Four goes on but Backlund reverses it. Neither guy says they quit as we get a quick check-in with the German commentators for no apparent reason.

Bret works the knee again as this is rather boring. Piper needs to quit asking them if they quit so often. Backlund works on the arm as I try to find a good novel to read so I don’t have to watch this for awhile. Backlund hooks a Fujiwara armbar and Bret says No to Piper. That was a shocking line then apparently which is amusing given that in an I Quit match in 99 with HHH vs. Rock, HHH said Suck It when he was asked if he quit.

Backlund likes that armbar. Jerry talks about breaking into a pyramid (what the heck?) and seeing a picture of Stu Hart with a headlock on King Tut (where does he get these jokes from?). Sharpshooter almost goes on but Backlund gets to the ropes before it gets cinched in. Bret charges again and his shoulder hits the post to put him in real trouble.

There’s the Crossface Chickenwing and Bret is in trouble. And never mind as he casually reverses and gets a horrible version of it on Backlund for the submission. You know, from all that devastating work that he did on Backlund’s arm the whole time. This was an awful match if you didn’t get it.

Rating: F+. This was really bad. Backlund was just flat out too old to be a serious main event threat by this point and while Bret was sharp as ever, Bob just didn’t have it in him anymore. Bret has called it the worst match of his career and he might be right. Backlund’s I saw the Light thing led to an angle where he would run for President of all things. As you can guess, it went nowhere. Also, having a Bret match lack any and all psychology is very weird indeed.

Backlund is leaving and says he saw the light. This would mean he became a Presidential candidate.

Ok, the NYPD guy was annoying at first. Now he’s just making me mad. NO ONE CARES. They’re changing the celebrities around.

More audio issues as Todd tries to talk to Diesel. He finally says that he’s going to keep the title. He slips up when he’s trying to say if he’s going to regain or retain the title and finally screams HOLD ONTO IT. This was back when Nash was actually really good and got the reputation he’s lived off for years now.

Celebrities are introduced as Jerry Lawler reveals he accidentally unplugged some cords.

WWF Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel

The deal was supposed to be McCarthy came out with Diesel and Anderson, who was viewed as ten times hotter and more important than McCarthy (hogwash) would come out with the Rumble winner, Shawn. For obvious reasons, this got reversed. The NYPD Blue guy is the ring announcer and he’s miles better at this than he is as an interviewer. He shouts almost everything he says and for the sake of this, it works really well.

The story here is Diesel was Shawn’s bodyguard but realized he was awesome on his own so he turned face and won the WWF Title. Sid replaced him as the bodyguard and the exact same thing would happen in about a year. Shawn has finally morphed into the character that would make him a legend by this point. As weird as this sounds, Diesel is a freaking beast at this point. Sweet intro, the music was cool, he has Pamela Anderson, just the complete look. What in the world happened to that? Anderson simply couldn’t want to be here less if her life depended on it.

Shawn hammers away to start as we’re already into the power vs. speed area. Diesel had been champion since a few days after Survivor Series so he had almost 7 more months with the title here. Diesel sends Shawn to the floor as we look at the ladies. Sid distracts the referee but Shawn can’t get in a shot on Diesel. Suplex puts Shawn down.

Back to the floor again as Sid and Diesel stare each other down one more time. Diesel counters a sunset flip as this is more or less one sided so far. Nash gets sent to the floor but Shawn Skins the Cat and dives down to crush Diesel. Baseball slide has the champion in trouble. We look at Anderson again and sweet goodness does she want to be anywhere else but here.

The fans loudly chant for Sid, thus proving that this entire match is booked wrong. Shawn hits a splash off the apron to the floor as Diesel is in trouble. Back in the ring Shawn stomps away and hits a bulldog for two. I’ve never liked that move at all. Reverse cross body off the middle rope gets two again. Shawn works on the arm and gets a LET’S GO SHAWN chant in his honor.

Ok make that he’s working on Diesel’s ribs. A top rope elbow to the back gets two in what is for some reason a highlight reel clip for Shawn. Never really have gotten why but it certainly is. Off to the chinlock now as the fans still like Shawn better. Diesel fights back and gets Snake Eyes to get some momentum going. Flair Flip in the corner and Shawn hits the floor again.

Nash follows and it’s time to see Shawn’s tights pulled down as is the tradition for big matches he’s in for no apparent reason. They slug it out on the floor and the referee twists his ankle getting down. I guess it wasn’t an Attitude Era thing. Back in the ring Shawn gets Sweet Chin Music but there’s no referee which would be a factor in Shawn’s reasoning as to why he lost.

It gets two and the fans boo loudly on the kickout. Sid goes to an old school heel move and rips off the turnbuckle pad. Diesel gets a suplex to avoid being rammed into it and both guys are down. Shawn gets an arm over him for a long two as the fans aren’t seeming to care much here.

In a slick counter, Diesel catches a bulldog off the middle rope in a side slam. Nice move. Shawn circles Diesel but gets his legs tripped from under him. Diesel goes old school with a slingshot into the exposed buckle. If only that had actually been where he landed, as Shawn’s head hit the middle buckle instead of the top one. Big boot and Jackknife end this anyway.

Rating: B. As you can tell, I really like this match. It’s not famous at all but it’s definitely solid all around. There was a story with the ribs, a controversy that would lead to rematches and a clean ending. The match also got enough time to put on something decent and it showed. Shawn was clearly coming into his own but still wanted to prove himself. Solid effort all around and a very good match. These two had some of the most forgotten great matches of all time and this is one of them for sure.

Shawn and Sid complain to Ross and say it’s not over, which it wasn’t. The celebrities celebrate with Diesel forever and Nash gets both chicks.

Shawn whines even more in the back.

Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

If you have never seen a person die and you want to…actually if you want to I’d recommend psychiatric help. But anyway, right here you’re about to see a man’s career die right in front of your eyes.

Here it is. Let it be known throughout the universe and all the world, that the reason that WM 11 is called the worst WM of all time is this match and this angle right here. Here’s the idea: for those of you that don’t know, LT is one of the best football players of all time, bar none. He was at the Royal Rumble in the front row and Bigelow shoved him, leading to this.

Instead of the WWF Title being on the line in the main event of the biggest show of the year, we get a retired football player against a barely upper midcarder that was about 8 years past his prime. Do I even need to explain why this was a bad idea? Each man has a group of 5 supporters at ringside so it’s more or less a lumberjack match. Their entrances take the greater part of forever. Oh and Salt N Peppa sing LT to the ring.

Pat Patterson of all people is the referee. There are so many jokes I could make about that I don’t know where to start. This is by far and away the main event of the show which still makes my head shake. I used to complain that Lawrence couldn’t wrestle but that was the point I think: he wasn’t supposed to be able to wrestle but rather be able to fight.

Diesel had been showing him some stuff apparently. The bell hasn’t rung yet so we’re just hanging around and waiting to start. Patterson wants a handshake but Lawrence slaps Bigelow instead and it’s on. Taylor likes to throw forearms which makes sense as it’s a basic strike. Taylor sends him to the floor with Bigelow doing the majority of the work to get himself over the top.

Bigelow misses a corner splash and Taylor gets a belly to back for two. More forearms which keep working so naturally he keeps going with them. Taylor gets in the face of the Million Dollar Team as we’re still waiting on the big brawl between the guys on the floor. Lawrence gets caught on his way back in and now we get into the main part of the match.

They’re going very slow which is understandable here. Falling headbutt misses Taylor but he can’t capitalize and Bigelow takes over again. Boston Crab goes on which shifts into a sloppy half crab instead. Ok now it’s shifted into more or less Bigelow pulling on Taylor’s leg. This is a very different kind of match and not incredibly interesting.

The rope is finally grabbed and Taylor goes back to the forearms. A suplex gets Taylor out of trouble for a bit and both guys are down. Bigelow gets the advantage again and hits the Moonsault but hurts his knee, having to roll off. He covers shortly thereafter and gets two to ZERO reaction. I think the fans were confused or flat out didn’t care. Either way it’s not a good sign.

LT gets a gutwrench suplex that is called a Jackknife for two. Enziguri puts Taylor down again and this is really needing to end like now. Top rope headbutt gets two and a tiny reaction. Taylor makes his big comeback and hammers away with the forearms and now the crowd is getting into it. In the big spot of the match, LT goes to the middle rope and hits a flying forearm to get the pin. Taylor might have been hurt but he seems ok. DiBiase rips into Bigelow post match, setting up his failure of a face turn.

Rating: D+. Well they tried. I’ll give them that: they tried. For the life of me I don’t get why this is what they closed the show with. Well actually I do as it was certainly the biggest match, but it shouldn’t have been if that makes sense. Taylor’s offense made sense as he kept at it with the forearms, but the match didn’t work for the most part. Still though, not completely unwatchable but not incredibly good.

Overall Rating: F+. Yeah this show is still boring. It feels more like an In Your House rather than what it should have been, which is the biggest show of the year. Shawn vs. Diesel is good and that’s about it. Everything else is completely forgettable to say the least and the main event is one of the biggest headscratchers of all time.

To give you an idea of how odd this show is, it runs less than two and a half hours. Think about that. Wrestlemania ran less than two and a half hours. The show was shockingly well received though and it got a solid buyrate for the time. It doesn’t hold up well at all and that’s what kills it. 95 simply wasn’t kind to PPV and this is probably the second worst show of the year, after Summerslam. Bad show.

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Clash of the Champions 11: Coastal Crush
Date: June 13, 1990
Location: McAlister Field House, Charleston, South, Carolina
Attendance: 4,100
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bob Caudle

This is right before the Great American Bash which is where Sting grabbed thr brass ring and got his first world title. The main event is Junkyard Dog vs. Flair and I have no idea why. Anyway, this is mainly a nothing show, but we also get some Steiners vs. Doom awesomeness so I can’t complain there. Let’s get to it.

The Southern Boys say they’re ready for the Freebirds.

The Birds respond by singing their own theme music.

Southern Boys vs. Freebirds

This is the Southern Boys’ (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers) national debut. The Birds jump them which doesn’t work out all that well for them. Smothers and Garvin officially start us off. Smothers gets beaten down in the corner but breaks through and draws the Birds in for Steve to hit a top rope cross body to take them both out. Things settle down a bit and Garvin takes over on Armstrong.

Back to Hayes who works over the arm. This is a pretty basic match so far but nothing has been all that bad. Elbow gets two for Hayes and it’s back to the arm. The arena they’re in is on the campus on the Citadel whose coach won some award the day of this show so it’s nice timing. In other words, there’s not much to talk about here so I’m repeating what JR says. Armstrong finally breaks through to make a tag to Smothers and he cleans house. Everything breaks down and Garvin covers Smothers but Steve comes off the top with a flying headbutt and puts Tracy on top for the big upset.

Rating: C+. Great example here of what you do to start a show. They had a fast paced match with a hot ending and that’s all you need to do to start a show. I enjoyed it, even though there wasn’t much to it. That being said, at times that’s all you need to do and it was a very fine opener.

Tommy Rich vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Bigelow looks strange sleeveless. Rich hammers away to start but runs into the size and power game. Tommy, who used to be world champion while Bigelow never war, works on the arm and gets a rollup for one. Bam Bam just goes off, tossing Rich all over the place and then choking past five for the DQ. Bigelow wasn’t in WCW long if I remember right.

Rating: D-. This was pretty much nothing but a way for Bigelow to look dominant. I don’t remember him in 1990 at all and I know he wasn’t on most of the PPVs later in the year at all. I’ve checked and this and Capital Combat were the only two major shows he was on all year. It was an NWA/Japan thing so he went to Japan for good for a few years until he went back to the WWF in late 92.

A man is coming. His name is Vader. He’ll debut at the Bash.

This guy will be as well: El Gigante. He has an interview with Gary Michael Capetta of all people. It’s in Spanish because Gigante can’t speak much English. I speak enough Spanish to understand it but thankfully they translate it.

Samoan Swat Team vs. Mike Rotunda/Z-Man

Rotunda is Captain Mike here which is post Varsity Club for him. The Swat Team is Fatu and Samoan Savage, who is better known as Tama from the Islanders. Rotunda vs. Fatu gets us going and the Samoan is knocked to the floor. Off to Z-Man who dropkicks Fatu to the floor again. Back to Rotundo who gets a cross body for two. The Samoans cheat to take over. Oddly enough they don’t have a manager which is rare for the wild savages.

Rotunda gets caught and beaten down. By the way, changing the last letter of his name is intentional. You’ll hear it as either depending on what year it is. Nerve hold goes on and Bob Caudle says it’s like hitting a mule in the head with a 2×4. Can someone call PETA? Rotundo gets beaten down on the floor but comes back with a double clothesline to take over. Z-Man comes in and misses most of the kicks that are sold anyway. Savage hits a Vader Bomb but the faces switch (WHAT?) and Rotunda steals a small package win.

Rating: D+. I’m in awe over that ending. One: Rotunda has shorter hair. Two: He’s in black, Z-Man was in white. Three: They don’t look alike. Four: FATU LOOKED STRAIGHT AT HIM FOR THREE SECONDS. The match was ok other than that though, and it was fine for the spot it had on here which was just a five and a half minute filler.

Video on Mean Mark.

Mean Mark vs. Brian Pillman

For those of you unfamiliar with Mark, I’ll save his reveal to the end of the match. Mark has Dangerously with him and jumps Pillman to start. He’s a big monster and that’s about the extent of his character. Oh and he’s mean. Pillman tries to use speed but Mark just kicks him down like he’s nothing. Crucifix doesn’t work at all and Mark stomps away. Off to a chinlock and Mark is so new he can’t even do that right. An elbow in the corner misses but Brian can’t get anything going. Mark knocks him to the apron but he skins the cat and hits a missile dropkick. And then they botch the ending off an Irish whip so Mark hot shots him for the pin.

Rating: D. Boring match here but it set up Mark for his US Title shot at the Bash. His finisher was the Heart Punch which is exactly what it sounds like. Mark would only appear like 5 times in the NWA before his final appearance at the Bash. He would be in the WWF in November as an unhurtable monster called Kane. That was just his first name. His occupation was an undertaker. He soon dropped the first name and just went by his job title.

US Tag Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Midnight Express

The Midnights have the belts. That Midnight song is just AWESOME. Eaton vs. Gibson to get us started. These two teams probably wrestled about a thousand times so they’ll have a decent match just by muscle memory. The problem here is that they’re getting old which makes that a little bit harder. They spend a few minutes working on getting to a lockup. Off to Lane who does a little better with his kicks.

Gibson kicks him in the head to knock him back down. Off to Morton and my goodness the hair gel bills in this match could bankrupt a small country. These two are called the cream of the crop by JR and I can’t say I agree. They’re moving fast here but somehow it’s still in first gear. Nothing here is anything interesting at all. Morton finally gets a rana to speed things up but the Midnights have a meeting instead of keeping things going.

Off to Eaton but Morton escapes the corner again and grabs the arm again. The Midnights can’t get anything going here. Morton tries another armdrag but Bobby punches him down to finally give the Midnights the advantage. Morton counters a superplex in mid-air but Lane breaks up a rollup. Everything breaks down and the challengers hit stereo rollups for stereo twos.

Things slow down again and Eaton hits a suplex to Morton before bringing Lane back in. Off to Eaton quickly but he misses a charge in the corner and Gibson comes in for probably the last tag of the match for his team. Morton and Eaton go to the floor as Gibson goes after the legs. Off to a sleeper instead but Bobby breaks it up which gets two for Eaton. Everything breaks down again and the double dropkick takes Eaton down. Lane breaks the cover up….and that’s a DQ. Seriously?

Rating: C. This was one of the weakest Express Collisions I’ve seen in a very long time. Granted it probably had a lot to do with them getting later into their mainstream careers. Not much to see here but the Midnights would lose the titles soon and they would be retired before too long, which was probably the right idea.

Doug Furnas vs. Barry Windham

Furnas is billed as the World’s Strongest Man. Windham is a Horseman. Furnas runs Barry down and JR is talking about football. Sunset flip gets two for Doug and Barry bails. Furnas kind of botches a backflip off the top and doesn’t quite get Barry up for a gorilla press. Clothesline gets two. Barry gets his knee up and takes Doug’s head off with a clothesline. JR can’t stop praising Furnas to get on to the match. Powerslam gets two for Furnas. They hit the ropes for a bit and Barry grabs a belly to back and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: C-. Decent power match here but nothing too great. Furnas went to Japan soon after this so he didn’t mean all that much. Windham was a Horseman for a few more years but mainly did tag team stuff. He has a really forgettable career around this time actually. Not much here but it was ok.

Sid (after being told to go by the director) says he’ll take out Luger.

Lex Luger vs. Sid Vicious

Sid jumps him to start and but Lex hits a clothesline and pins him in like 20 seconds.

World Tag Titles: Steiner Brothers vs. Doom

The Steiners had been unstoppable but Doom had shocked the world and won the titles at a PPV called Capital Combat. Doom has the old Ron Simmons’ music which is still awesome. The masks are gone too. Ron vs. Scott gets us going. Scott busts out something I’ve never seen before: a floatover fallaway slam. It isn’t really falling away either as he doesn’t let go. Both Doomers take one and the ring is cleared.

A Steiner Line to the back of the head puts Simmons down and it’s off to Reed. Scott throws him around too. I can easily see why they were thinking he was the heir apparent to the world title here. You know, except for the whole Sting guy. Rick comes in now but Nick Patrick gets in the way and Ron gets in a right hand. Rick is like cool man and hits a belly to belly to send Ron flying.

Now it’s Rick’s turn to beat up Doom on his own. Reed FINALLY goes to the eyes to take over. They go back to the Doom corner and Rick fights back out of it with ease. On the floor Doom gets it together and takes Rick down via a clothesline. Simmons beats on Rick back inside and you can really tell that Doom isn’t that experienced yet. While Scott is with the referee Rick gets tossed to the floor. Reed comes in and drops a middle rope elbow for two.

Reed misses a running knee into the corner and Rick hits a double axe off the middle rope. Back to Scott and things speed way up again. Everything breaks down and Teddy throws in a foreign object. Scott takes Simmons down with a superplex but Reed clocks him with the object. Rick covers Simmons at the same time and it’s a double pin, but Scott was legal so Doom wins it.

Rating: C. These two could have good matches every time they went out there and this worked well enough. Doom would hold the titles longer than any team in the history of WCW, now losing them until February of the next year to the Freebirds who lost them to the Steiners before they won them from Doom. And yes that’s accurate.

JYD says he’ll win.

Paul Orndorff says he’ll beat Anderson.

Paul Orndorff vs. Arn Anderson

I don’t remember Orndorff around this time at all. He’s a face and Anderson is by definition a Horseman. Anderson is TV Champion but this is non-title. Slow start with Paul working on a headlock. Make that a sleeper. Now it’s a figure four. You know that’s going to get a pop in the south. After the leg is slammed into the post, Anderson hooks the spinebuster to break the momentum.

Orndorff gets a sunset flip and pulls the trunks down which thankfully is on a different camera side. Off to an abdominal stretch. Arn finally gets caught grabbing the ropes and we go to a chinlock instead. Orndorff comes back with punches and things speed up a bit. It’s still not all that interesting though. Anderson gets the knees up but Orndorff reverses a small package for the pin.

Rating: D. Just a dull match here but I’ve never liked Orndoff’s stuff at all. Well his stuff with Hogan was good but his WCW stuff always bored me. I think it’s more that he had one incredible feud and that was about it for him. Boring match and Orndorff never got the title I don’t think.

The Horsemen say that they’ll win the main event tonight and Flair will keep the title. This was pretty rambling though.

NWA World Title: Junkyard Dog vs. Ric Flair

JYD gets a full jazz band intro. He takes Flair down with a right hand and is trying to keep this basic, which is probably smart for someone of his intellect. There the on all fours headbutt. A punch puts Flair on the ramp and we get a Flair Flop. Back in a few chops are no sold. A punch in the corner gets the same result. Now a knee drop is no sold. Ok we get it: he has a hard head.

Now they stand around for awhile because that’s been done a few times already in this match, so let’s do it again. Dog punches him again and there’s Flair Flop #2. Ole distracts the referee so Flair hits JYD in the head with a chair. Guess how much it’s sold. The answer would be NONE. Flair jumps into a punch and this is really quite bad. Flair hits a knee to the back…and then gets slammed off the top. He pounds away and the Horsemen run in for the DQ.

Rating: F+. This was just bad. I have no idea what the point in making JYD look so strong was but it didn’t really work at all. Flair didn’t get anything more than a few chops here and there and it made him look awful. This didn’t work at all and the champ looked like a joke. He would lose the title in a few weeks, but man at least make him look strong beforehand.

Sting and his boys clear the ring and Sting stalks Flair to the back.

After a break, Rocky King yells about the Horsemen. Thankfully someone intelligent sounding (Sting) talks quickly and says he wants Flair. Their title match hadn’t been announced yet. He suggests the Bash for the shot and says he’ll beg if he has to. The Horsemen come back and it winds up being Sting vs. Flair in the ring as everyone else is held back. Sting pounds on Flair as the credits roll.

Overall Rating: C-. Not the best show ever but I’ve seen a lot worse. The problem is that the wrestling is ok, but it’s not really interesting. You had a bunch of matches on here that ran about five minutes and that really isn’t enough to get some interest going for things. This didn’t really set up the Bash. Almost all of these people were on the PPV but their matches weren’t announced here. Not much to see but it’s nothing horrible.

 

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