Takeover: 31
Date: October 4, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph

It’s already time for another Takeover after less than two months away. I’m not sure what that is going to mean but they haven’t exactly had a ton of time to set things up. That being said, this is Takeover and if anyone can make something like this work, they are absolutely the best option. Hopefully they can live up to the hype, which isn’t that strong this time. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, complete with some clips of the old Washington DC show from the 50s/60s. That switches into the Capitol Wrestling center….which is basically Full Sail with cages instead of Plexiglas and the Thunderdome virtual fans. I’d rather just watch more of the old footage.

North American Title: Johnny Gargano vs. Damian Priest

Priest is defending and the threat of the kick to the face sends Gargano bailing. Back in and another big boot misses so Priest goes for the spinwheel kick to take Gargano down. It’s too early for the Reckoning so Priest kicks Gargano in the chest to send him into the corner. Priest tries an Old School rope walk but gets knocked down and kicked in the knee. Gargano flips him from the apron to the floor and there’s a suicide dive into the fence. A ram into the steps makes it worse.

Back in and Gargano kicks away at the legs but has to slip out of a Razor’s Edge attempt. More kicks at the legs have Gargano down but Priest is back up for the slugout. An exchange of kicks to the head sets up a springboard punch to Gargano’s face to stagger him again. Gargano sends him shoulder first into the post and it’s time to head outside. Priest counters the suicide dive but Gargano slips out of South of Heaven.

The toss Razor’s Edge onto the apron gives Priest two and frustration is setting in. They slug it out until Gargano heads to the apron. One Final Beat is countered into South of Heaven for two so Priest heads up top. Gargano rolls to the floor so Priest loads up the running flip dive, with Gargano pulling security in the way to take them out instead. The referee calls out help and Gargano gets in a low blow.

The low superkick gives Gargano two and it’s time for the Gargano Escape. That’s broken up so Gargano puts it on again with the legs tied for a bonus but Priest makes the rope again. Priest heads to the apron and Gargano tries to knock him onto the steps at ringside. That’s broken up but Gargano superkicks him out of the air. One Final Beat onto the steps is countered into a hanging Reckoning to retain the title at 16:42.

Rating: B. They had me wondering who was going to win here and they went with the right choice as Priest needs this win way more than Gargano. This was a good back and forth match as Gargano was trying to pick him apart but there was too much size and power from Priest to make the plan work. Really good stuff here though and Priest got the big win that he has been needing.

We recap Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream. Kushida was brought in as the big signing and then he beat Velveteen Dream in a North American Title qualifying match. Dream attacked Kushida, so Kushida went full angry mode and went after Dream’s arm. It’s time for a showdown.

Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream

Kushida jumps him during the long form entrance so Dream, still favoring the arm and looking like he is covered in dust, grabs a chair to wreck some stuff. The referee says ring the bell anyway and Kushida goes straight for the armbar. A hard slap to the face connects and a kick to the ribs staggers Dream again. The running Tajiri handspring kick to the face puts Dream on the floor again, followed by a nasty arm wrench back inside.

Dream manages to knock him outside for a change and a top rope shot to the face drops Kushida again. Dream tells him to COME ON MARTY before bringing it back inside for an uppercut for two. The sleeper of all things goes on and Kushida is in more trouble. That’s broken up so Kushida spears him down and hammers away. A cartwheel into a basement dropkick (with Dream not quite in place) keeps Dream down and Kushida stomps at the back and chest.

Dream’s shoulder is sent into the post and he screams that he’s sorry. Kushida sends it in again but walks into a superkick to put both of them down. The Purple Rainmaker is countered into the cross armbreaker but Dream grabs a powerbomb. Kushida puts on another armbar so Dream escapes again counters with the Dream Valley Driver…but Kushida hangs on for the Hoverboard Lock and the tap at 13:10.

Rating: C+. They got the ending right again, but this time it didn’t hit that next level. Kushida as the aggressive guy attacking Dream for the sake of injuring him was a little weird, but given how nothing he has been so far in NXT, this is an upgrade. Hopefully we get more of him, and I can go for seeing Dream getting hurt anytime now. What we got was good, but they didn’t quite convey their hatred of each other very well.

Post match Kushida isn’t done and grabs another armbar until referees have to come out for the save. Kushida goes after the arm AGAIN and tears at it some more to really make Dream scream. That might be a way to get rid of him for a bit.

HALLOWEEN HAVOC is back on October 28. It only took twenty years.

We recap Santos Escobar vs. Isaiah Scott for the Cruiserweight Title. Escobar won the tournament to crown the new champion but Scott beat him during the tournament. Scott got a shot at the title but lost to a loaded headbutt, setting up the rematch.

Cruiserweight Title: Isaiah Scott vs. Santos Escobar

Escobar is defending and gets taken down by an early anklescissors. A standoff doesn’t last long as Scott sends him outside for a moonsault, followed by a middle rope corkscrew dive to take the champ down again. Scott isn’t done as he hits a big Fosbury Flop to take him down again. Escpbar’s arm is bent around the post on the floor for two back inside but Escobar snaps the neck across the top rope to get his first breather.

The suicide dive drives Scott into the barricade and it’s time to slowly stomp away back inside. That includes some SPANISH TRASH TALKING (so you know he’s serious) until Scott pops him in the jaw. Scott sends him outside for a bit, followed by the rolling Downward Spiral for two back inside. A DDT out of the corner gives Scott two more but here’s Legado del Fantasma for the distraction. Escobar grabs a shoulderbreaker (might have been a botched something else) for two and they head to the apron.

A springboard hurricanrana sends Escobar into the other two and here’s Ashante Adonis to take care of Legado. Back in and Escobar hits a jumping superkick into the Phantom Driver for a rather close two. Escobar hits Three Amigos but the frog splash is blocked. Scott snaps the arm and the House Call connects, setting up a 450 for two more. They go to the apron with Escobar knocking him head first into the post to knock Scott silly, setting up a double underhook facebuster to retain at 14:22.

Rating: B. They had me believing that the title would change here (and I wanted it to as I like Scott a good deal) but Escobar winning is the right call after he only won the title a few months ago. I’m not sure who is going to take the title from him, but they had a very solid back and forth match here. Having Adonis get rid of Legado make it more interesting so well done on a nice swerve before the ending.

We recap Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai for the Women’s Title. Shirai won the title earlier in the year and LeRae got sick of losing all the time. That means a heel turn to follow the Gargano Way and now it’s time for her to go evil and try for the title again.

Women’s Title: Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae

Candice is challenging and gets dropkicked outside early on. Back in and Shirai sticks the landing on a monkey flip attempt before the threat of a shot to the face sends LeRae outside again. The Asai moonsault takes LeRae down for two more LeRae catches her with a Backstabber out of the corner for the same. A clothesline gives LeRae two more and there’s Hennig necksnap to make it worse.

The armbar goes on, followed by a backbreaker for two more on the champ. A suplex gives LeRae some more near falls but the senton misses, allowing Shirai to double stomp the ribs for her own two. Shirai hits a good looking springboard missile dropkick for two more and the Meteora keeps LeRae in trouble. They trade German suplexes with LeRae following up with a Backstabber into a Lionsault for another near fall. Shirai snaps on a Crossface, which is reversed into the Gargano Escape to crank on the champ’s shoulder.

The rope is grabbed but LeRae hits the referee by mistake. Shirai’s Air Raid Crash connects but the moonsault hits knees, bumping the referee again. LeRae’s Wicked Stepsister gets no count so here’s Johnny Gargano, in a referee shirt, to count two. Gargano grabs the title and drops it to LeRae as the referee gets up. The distraction lets LeRae hit a belt shot for two so she takes Shirai up top. That earns her a super Spanish Fly from Shirai, setting up the moonsault (which connects almost perfectly for a change) for the pin to retain at 16:40.

Rating: B-. Again I like the result, though the Gargano referee deal was a little weird. LeRae looks more comfortable as a heel though and Shirai can be awesome when she gets rolling. She needs some fresh challengers though and that could be an issue as there aren’t a ton of top level people to challenge for the title (or at least ones they would put against her at the moment).

Post match Toni Storm pops up on screen to say she’s back in NXT and coming for the title.

With Shirai still in the ring, the mystery person arrives. The helmet comes off and it’s….Ember Moon. Two new challengers in a row is something different, but I’m glad Moon is back as her career was looking like it was in danger for awhile there.

We recap the main event. Finn Balor won the vacant NXT Title by defeating Adam Cole and then Kyle O’Reilly won the first ever Gauntlet Eliminator to become the new #1 contender. This has been built up as a near dream match for the title, with Balor getting in the line of “if this was against anyone else, you would leave with the title”.

The Undisputed Era wishes O’Reilly luck.

NXT Title: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Balor is defending and we get the always cool long walk from the back. They fight over arm control to start before rolling to a standoff. A headlock takeover puts O’Reilly down but he pulls Balor into a cross armbreaker to send Balor over to the ropes. O’Reilly grabs a DDT onto the arm to drive Balor down and it’s time for some shots to the ribs. The armbar keeps Balor in trouble until he slips out for a basement dropkick to the face.

Balor gets in his own armbar and throws in some air guitar on the arm for the salt rubbing. O’Reilly fights out of the hammerlock and hits a running knee to the ribs. The rush of strikes put Balor down as things are starting to pick up. O’Reilly rolls some butterfly suplexes into a double arm DDT for two more but Balor kicks him square in the ribs for a knockdown. Balor gets in a hard whip into the corner and it’s time to kick O’Reilly down again.

A Reverse chinlock goes on but O’Reilly fights up to hit a running knee. The Regal Plex gives O’Reilly two and they’re both down. Balor loads up the running dropkick but gets his own leg dropkicked out. It’s Balor up first with an abdominal stretch to say on O’Reilly’s midsection but the 1916 is countered into a kneebar. Balor reverses that into a Sharpshooter, sending O’Reilly to the ropes.

O’Reilly fights up and they trade big shots for the double knockdown. 1916 is countered again and O’Reilly hits a brainbuster, followed by a cross armbreaker. That’s reversed as well and Balor pulls him up into 1916 for a rather near fall. O’Reilly bends the knee around the rope and a top rope kick to the chest has the champ down again. A top rope knee to Balor’s knee sets up the heel hook and Balor is in big trouble.

The very long crawl is on though and Balor finally makes the rope. Balor’s knee is good enough to hit the double stomp to the chest but O’Reilly hits a German suplex…right into another stomp from Balor, who can’t follow up. O’Reilly is mostly done though and the Coup de Grace connects to give Balor the pin to retain at 28:32.

Rating: A-. Match of the night here and it felt rather different than your usual NXT main event. These guys beat each other up and tried to pick the other apart until one of them just couldn’t get up again. They had you believing that O’Reilly could pull off the big upset and that’s a tough move to pull off. O’Reilly looked like a star, but Balor feels like the ace around here, and he likely will be for a long time. Very good match here, though it never quite hit that top gear.

Post match respect is shown…but here’s Ridge Holland, carrying an unconscious Adam Cole and dropping him at ringside. The Undisputed Era runs out to chase him off and check on Cole to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. And that puts it in the lower tier of Takeovers, because that’s how high the bar has been set with this series. This was another awesome show but it wasn’t really even close to what they’ve done before. I’d put that on the lack of time to really set things up, which is where NXT tends to make things shine. Very good show though, with nothing close to bad and an excellent main event, but give them more time for the next one.

Results

Damian Priest b. Johnny Gargano – Hanging Reckoning

Kushida b. Velveteen Dream – Hoverboard Lock

Santos Escobar b. Isaiah Scott – Double underhook facebuster

Io Shirai b. Candice LeRae – Moonsault

Finn Balor b. Kyle O’Reilly – Coup de Grace

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

So just over six weeks after the previous Takeover, we’re up to the next edition and now they’re just counting the shows instead of coming up with a unique name. As has been the case more than once lately, this show felt like something that has the potential to be the first bad one in history, but then they announced the main event and I was left saying ooo. Hopefully that’s enough this time around so let’s get to it.

Kushida vs. Velveteen Dream

Indeed, it does seem like Dream is just back with little reason to suggest that he’s ever going to be punished for what he allegedly did. It’s a risky play as he was accused of some serious stuff, but that’s where we are at the moment. Kushida has looked a lot more aggressive as of late and as my favorite New Japan guy, I’m certainly not complaining about what we’re getting out of him.

I’ll take Dream here, though I can’t shake the feeling that they might pull the trigger on Kushida. NXT has shown that they want to push the heck out of Dream though and that means giving him chance after chance. He has lost more momentum than almost anyone else over the course of the summer, so a win here would help get it back. I would prefer Kushida winning and he might, but this seems to be Dream’s to win.

Women’s Title: Io Shirai(c) vs. Candice LeRae

Now we get to one of the bigger ideas on this show as LeRae and her husband Johnny Gargano are trying to become the first husband and wife to be stereo champions. The result of this match is going to tie into the result of the other match and I’m not sure how well that is going to go. I could see this going either way and that’s a nice feeling to have.

I think I’m going to take Shirai to retain here on a pure hunch. LeRae is someone who will likely be champion one day until the next big thing is ready to take the title, but I just don’t know if I can picture Shirai being the person to drop it to her just yet. The Gargano Way will likely be used, but I’m thinking this might set up a rematch on NXT where LeRae wins the title. Odds are I’m wrong as I tend to be when I play a hunch, but I don’t think LeRae gets the title just yet.

Cruiserweight Title: Santos Escobar(c) vs. Isaiah Scott

For once 205 Live actually served a really good purpose as this week’s show was all about this match, including a history between the two and the sitdown interview between them from this week’s NXT. I’m not sure what that is going to mean as far as a title match goes, but they have had good matches before so hopefully they can continue the trend here. The title has turned into rather nice supplemental feature in NXT so it might as well be on here as well.

It’s another one where I’m not sure what to expect but I’ll go with Scott winning the title here. The sitdown interview made it feel like a big moment, but at the same time Escobar has spent his entire reign feuding with Scott so far. The title is kind of an afterthought, though I like Scott a lot so may be me just hoping for something I want to see. Escobar winning wouldn’t shock me, but I’ll take Scott in a surprise.

North American Title: Damian Priest(c) vs. Johnny Gargano

I like Priest. I like him a lot, as he feels completely different than so many people on NXT. He’s a big guy with some great athleticism (though I’d still switch his finisher) and his promos feel different than most. The face turn has been a major upgrade for him and I could see him going this way for a very long time. That being said, there’s something about Gargano that is hard to turn down in a match like this.

Again I’m going to go with the hope but I’ll take Priest to retain. He feels like he could be something special and there might not be anyone in NXT as established as Gargano. A win over him would be a big deal for Priest, who only won the title a few weeks ago. I know there’s a good chance that Gargano and LeRae walk out with both titles, but it really isn’t something I need to see. Priest needs this more than Gargano and I’ll go with the hope spot of NXT doing what they should do rather than what traditional booking would have them do.

NXT Title: Finn Balor(c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly

And here’s where they have me. I’m really not sure what to expect in this one but dang I want to see it. O’Reilly is someone who seems to always be in a group or on a team but when he gets a chance to shine on his own, he can pull it off like few others. Keep in mind that he is a former Ring of Honor World Champion so he has had a successful singles run before. That being said, it’s Balor, and as he said on Wednesday, if this was anyone else, O’Reilly would be a near lock to win the title.

I’m going to take….Balor here, which is the answer I came up with after having to stop and think for a few minutes. They have done a great job here of making this into a match which could go either way and that’s an impressive thing given the amount of time that they have. O’Reilly winning the title in an upset is absolutely a possibility, but I think it’s more the “he would win on any other day” and Balor escapes as champion than anything else.

Overall Thoughts

This is a weird one as there not a single match on the show that I’m sure about, but at the same time, I’m not entirely locked into wanting to see all of them either. That’s a really strange feeling to have and the mystery man (I’m going with Bo Dallas or a surprise Karrion Kross) isn’t exactly enough to have me drooling over the show like I usually am. They haven’t have the time to set things up and then the outbreak made it even worse. I’m sure it’s going to be a good show (it’s Takeover) but the fire isn’t there, and a lot of that is due to how fast they put this together. Takeover is a special, and that’s not how this feels for a change.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Clash of the Champions 31
Date: August 6, 1995
Location: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida
Attendance: 4,059
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

Oh great it’s 1995 WCW. We’re about a month before Nitro began airing so Saturday Night is still the main show. The main event tonight is Vader vs. Anderson vs. Flair in a handicap match. Hogan isn’t on the card so it’s a bit hard to get into it. Oh ok he’s going into the Dungeon of Doom. Didn’t he do that before? Whatever. Let’s get to it.

By the way I only have 15 of these left so I’ll be doing them more often to try to get them over with I think.

Meng/Kurasawa vs. Sting/Hawk

Yes that Hawk. Kurasawa is a guy that showed up, broke Hawk’s arm, had a weak feud with him and was gone after that for the most part. I don’t remember Animal being around at all at this point so I have no idea why he isn’t here. This show is on a Sunday. That’s weird for a COTC. Big brawl to start and Hawk gets a horrible dropkick to Meng. This is Kurasawa’s second match in WCW. His first was yesterday.

He and Hawk start us off properly with Hawk no selling everything. Off to Sting who is US Champion. Hogan is here and will enter the Dungeon of Doom later. Ooo if this is what I think it is we’re in for a major debut. The match is kind of going back and forth here with nothing significant happening yet. Hawk gets his arm worked on for awhile now as we settle down into a regular match.

Kurasawa takes him to the floor and hits what would become one of his finishers in the form of a spinebuster position but he drops backwards, kind of like a backdrop without letting go. Hawk gets a boot up back in and a clothesline sets up….a dragon sleeper? From Hawk? Ok then. Either way things get broken up and it’s Meng in now. This has a weird feel to it. It’s not bad or anything but it’s not what you would expect from these four. I think it’s Sting doing nothing so far.

Powerbomb gets two on Kurasawa and Sting takes Meng down with a top rope clothesline. Meng tries to come off the top and everything breaks down again. Stinger Splash hits Meng and a bulldog takes him down. Sting and Hawk set for a Doomsday Device on Kurasawa and it ends things clean. That came out of nowhere.

Rating: C-. This was there for the post match attack which we’ll get to in a minute. The match wasn’t bad but it was pretty forgettable for the most part. I still don’t get the point in having Hawk get the push here and not Sting who is already the US Champion. Either way for an opening match on a special I’m fine with it.

Post match Kurasawa grabs the arm of Hawk and snaps the arm. They would have a weird match where Hawk dominated and Kurasawa got the pin. No idea what the point of it was but it’s WCW in 1995 so they likely didn’t either.

We get a clip from earlier in the night where Hogan had to fight off all of the Dungeon of Doom until Sting and Savage made the save. This isn’t the show I thought it was because Giant has already debuted.

Gene says Hawk might have a snapped elbow. Kurasawa’s manager, Colonel Parker, is there with his other team in the form of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. They’re feuding with Harlem Heat and at Fall Brawl they had the only wrestling match that actually put me to sleep. They say they’ll beat up Sister Sherri if she gets involved. Parker says he doesn’t love Sherri. That would change in the future. Buck and Slater are tag champions.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Alex Wright

Page is rich. Wright has no music. Wright grabs a very quick rollup and the fans aren’t exactly enthralled here. We go to the floor and Wright hits a nice dive. He really could have been something if he came in after the Cruiserweight division got going. Wright gets to show off even more, moonsaulting out of the corner like Daniel Bryan currently does. He hits a dropkick and a Vader Bomb for two.

Page takes over and Kimberly, the (I think) unnamed Diamond Doll gives him a ten. Swinging neckbreaker gets a two (count, not a score). Backslide gets two for Wright. This is a much better match than I expected. Wright starts his comeback and the crowd is DEAD. Spinwheel kick gets no cover but Wright gets a high knee for two.

Missile dropkick gets two. He goes for ten punches in the corner but Page walks out to send Alex head first into the buckle for another two. The crowd is just silent and it’s not really hurting the match. German suplex (Wright’s finisher) gets two and Page heads to the floor. Wright dives over the top but Page moves to let Wright crash. Page throws him back in for the pin.

Rating: B. This came out of nowhere and I got way into it even though I knew who won. When that happens in a match you know it’s good. Wright got to show off the entire time out there and the whole thing worked great. This is one of those matches that comes out of nowhere and means nothing but it was still incredibly entertaining. I might even say it was worth checking out, especially considering how bad Page was at this point. We’d call this a flash of brilliance.

Flair says he isn’t worried about Vader because Anderson will be watching his back. This would eventually lead to Anderson feeling used by Flair, setting up a great match at Fall Brawl. Flair rants a lot, saying Arn will protect him.

TV Title: Paul Orndorff vs. The Renegade

Why Orndorff was pushed in 1995 is beyond me but whatever. Renegade was literally an Ultimate Warrior knockoff (they called him the ULTIMATE surprise at one point) but was somehow even less coordinated in the ring. This was about as much of a disaster as you could get as no one, I mean NO ONE bought that he was the Warrior, namely because they only looked a bit alike. I was seven years old and I never bought it.

Renegade gets jumped while he still has the belt on and that gets him nowhere. Back in Orndorff gets something resembling a German suplex but it doesn’t have a snap to it. He drops some elbows as we see why he shouldn’t be getting this kind of a push in the mid to late 90s. Orndorff is simply not interesting. He’s dominating here and that means nothing as Renegade, who remember is supposed to be an Ultimate Warrior guy, hits a slingshot crossbody for the pin to retain. That and some right hands earlier were all of the offense he got.

Rating: F. This sums up Renegade in a nutshell: he isn’t very good, he gets beaten up too much, no one cares and the match sucked. Also he was stuck fighting guys like Paul Orndorff for the title. This was awful and thankfully DDP would get the title soon after this, I think next month.

Vader says he isn’t worried about Flair and Anderson and certainly isn’t scared of them.

After a break Gene talks about a Harley Davidson sweepstakes.

Ad for Fall Brawl. Vader would have left for the WWF by then but thankfully Luger jumped ship to take his place.

Video on Colonel Parker and company against Harlem Heat/Sherri. It’s a mixed tag. Harlem Heat wants the titles back which they would get in September.

Colonel Parker/Dick Slater/Bunkhouse Buck vs. Harlem Heat/Sister Sherri

Sherri tries to run at Parker but Harlem Heat holds her back. Parker is in khakis and a somewhat unbuttoned shirt. Slater vs. Ray to start us off and I can feel my eyes getting heavy already. Off to Booker and Buck and we’re told Hawk is being taken to a hospital. My goodness Buck and Slater are dull. Buck gets beaten on and it’s off to Slater again. Parker and Sherri have meant nothing at all so far.

Oh wait Sherri slapped Slater. Ok she has officially validated her spot in this match. Booker hits a side kick and we take a break to talk about a Harley Davidson which will be given away at Halloween Havoc. The winner will be announced at some show called Nitro. There’s talk of an Emmy award winning sportscaster coming to work on Nitro. It would be Mongo.

Back and Booker is getting beaten down. Buck hits a dropkick and it’s off to a bearhug. Now Slater puts on a bearhug for a little change of pace. Parker is tagged in and it’s the same stuff you would expect: he gets in some shots, they do nothing and it’s off to Sherri. Sherri goes up and misses a splash…and is out cold. Oh dear it’s the beginning of this angle. I’ll get to that in a minute. She gets up and jumps on Parker, kissing him and he falls down for a pin.

Rating: F+. These teams have the worst chemistry I have ever seen. It doesn’t help that Slater and Buck are the VERY southern style which means move………….very…………slowly……….. …..and………..don’t…………do………… much…………..zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Anyway the point of this angle was that she hit her head (she didn’t) and it made her cuckoo so she loved Parker. She chases him down the aisle wanting more smooches. It’s as dumb as it sounds.

Hogan talks about riding on his motorcycle and letting a kid measure his arms. Words can’t really express how much I couldn’t stand late 95/early 96 Hogan, so I’ll leave this here. Hogan talks about being Irish and having his Irish family with him. “The O’Reilleys, the Hogan’s, the McMahon’s.” Yes he actually said that. This goes on for like 4 minutes and includes Hogan talking about wearing bikini briefs with his own face on them.

Some kid in a wheelchair is here. Every PPV buy gets one dollar from WCW for the MDA (muscular dystrophy). Ok I can’t make fun of them for that. The kid, a national spokesperson, can barely talk. Savage comes out to meet the kid. I can’t make fun of charity stuff. The kid is scared out of his mind but to be fair he’s got a disease and is probably in horrendous pain.

Video on Savage, who is awesome don’t you know. The music starts like his theme song and then goes into this weird version of it that sounds almost like dance music.

Hogan goes into the Dungeon of Doom which is an actual place. We cut there to see the Master and the Taskmaster in a cave or something and the stupidity of this still astounds me. I mean it’s just so low budget and campy. Hogan comes in and yells REALLY bad lines at him and there’s dust all over his head. He says bring all of the Dungeon on and Giant comes in to choke him down. The Dungeon beats him down until Vader makes the save. He and Giant have a staredown while Sting and Savage get Hogan out. Hey WCW, little tip: when we’re supposed to be in a cave/dungeon, DON’T LET US SEE THE ARENA LIGHTS.

The announcers jabber a bit.

Ad for Fall Brawl.

Ric Flair/Arn Anderson vs. Vader

I love that black robe on Flair. Vader has the helmet/head thing on here which is always cool. I have no idea what the point of it is but whatever. They have to tag here and Anderson starts. Anderson is promptly mauled and has to chill in the corner for a bit. Vader sends him to the floor again and Flair gives him a pep talk but won’t get in. Vader responds by pounding him down because he’s Vader and Arn is any human being not named Hogan.

Arn manages to show off why he’s terribly underrated and snaps off a GREAT spinebuster on Vader. He didn’t almost drop Vader, he didn’t get him up like an inch, he didn’t look like he was having a hernia. He picked Vader up, spun him around and planted him. Flair comes in and the advantage is promptly lost. He gets dumped to the floor and Anderson has to come in and take Vader down again.

Flair looks at Vader and tags out again. The idea here again is that Anderson is doing about 80% of the work while Flair wants half of if not more of the glory. Anderson his the DDT, his finisher, but Flair wants in for the Figure Four. He gets a pretty bad version on but Vader grabs a rope. Flair goes up and Vader launches him through the air. There’s a splash and Arn has to make the save again. There’s a top rope splash and Arn breaks it up again. Anderson comes back in again and Vader destroys them both, powerbombing Anderson for the pin.

Rating: C+. Most of that is for Anderson and the psychology in there. The spinebuster was a thing of beauty and Flair not wanting to do anything was a great addition and it set up a great match at Fall Brawl. Vader would be gone almost immediately after this with no real explanation (the video at the PPV said he went AWOL) and this was his last WCW match.

Anderson and Flair argue post match and Anderson is MAD. Flair leaves him standing there.

Hogan, Savage and Sting come out to whine about the Dungeon. Andre is mentioned a lot. War is declared and Vader comes up and yells at Hogan about nothing of note. The idea was supposed to be Vader teaming up with them against the Dungeon but it never went anywhere.

Overall Rating: C-. This was all over the place to put it mildly. They were in a weird place at this point with Nitro a month away and Fall Brawl about six weeks away. You could definitely see the pieces coming together for it though and if the Dungeon of Doom had someone in the main event of that show worth anything (Giant wasn’t in it) then it would have been a lot more interesting. Either way, this wasn’t a great show but it put some pieces together for Anderson vs. Flair which was one of the only good things in 1995.

 

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