Wrestling Challenge
Date: November 1, 1986
Location: War Memorial, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan

These shows continue to be easy watches and are making me want to see some of the live events where the feuds are blown off. That means they’re doing something right and I could go for seeing more of this stuff to see if they can keep it up in the short term. That’s tricky to do so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s what’s coming this week.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Savage vs. Billy Jack Haynes

Savage, with Elizabeth, is defending and commentary points out how rare it is to a title match on TV, which is rather true. Haynes shrugs off a wristlock to start and grabs a headlock. That’s broken up and Savage sends him hard into the buckle for two. Haynes fights up and hits a clothesline, setting up the full nelson. Savage swings and hits the referee, who calls for the DQ and the bell at 4:55.

Rating: C. Not much to see here, with the biggest story being the crooked referee. That is something that could go rather big if done properly and they seem to be on their way. Haynes could have been just about anyone in the role as Savage could work well with everybody. It wasn’t much of a match, but at least it moved a bigger story forward.

Post match Davis clarifies that Hayes swung Savage into him so Savage wins. Monsoon: “IT WAS SNEAKY!”

We get a Wrestlers’ Rebuttal from Hulk Hogan, who knows the fans believe in him. Orndorff is the one in the wrong and the fans want Hogan to destroy him.

Islanders vs. Mike Sharpe/Terry Gibbs

Gibbs and Tama start things off with Tama knocking him down. The insert promo from the Dream Team talks about how the Islanders are supposed to play hockey. Everything breaks down and Sharpe takes over on Tama, with a double back elbow putting him down. It’s off to Haku to clean house, including planting Sharpe. A top rope splash gives Tama the pin at 2:55.

Davey Boy Smith introduces Matilda, who we’ve already met. Dynamite Kid comes in to say they’re ready for any team, including the Dream Team.

George Steele tried to order fast food but could only say EAT. Well yeah.

Nikolai Volkoff/Iron Sheik/Hercules Hernandez vs. Lanny Poffo/SD Jones/Corporal Kirschner

Slick is here with the villains. Poffo does not like the Soviet National Anthem and reads a poem about how we should chant USA. Jones hammers on Volkoff to start and hands it off to Poffo to pull on the arm. Slick talks about how Hercules is going to win the WWF Title as Kirschner comes in, only to get suplexed by Sheik. Hernandez grabs the backbreaker (torture rack) for the submission at 1:23. I would have bet on Jones taking the fall there.

The Killer Bees think they deserve a Tag Team Title shot. B. Brian Blair is excited about an upcoming youth amateur wrestling tournament in his hometown. Nothing wrong with that.

Hart Foundation vs. Pedro Morales/Tito Santana

Jimmy Hart is here with the Harts. Neidhart knees Santana in the ribs to start but Santana is back up with a quick dropkick. Jimmy trips Santana down and we get an insert promo from Jimmy talking about how he would NEVER use the megaphone to cheat. Morales comes in and gets caught in the wrong corner, allowing for some assisted choking. A backdrop gets Morales out of trouble and it’s off to Santana as everything breaks down. They all fight to the floor and it’s a double countout at 2:52. That’s a surprise for the Harts, who were quite the up and coming team.

We’re off to the Snake Pit with Jake Roberts saying this is a special week for him. He brings out quite the big deal guest with Roddy Piper, who gets to join the NEW Pit. Piper makes it clear that he doesn’t like either kind of snake (meaning Damien and/or Roberts) but Roberts wants him to touch Damien. With that not happening, Piper decks Roberts and leaves.

Rougeau Brothers vs. Tiger Chung Lee/Barry O

Raymond works on a top wristlock with O to start before they both miss elbow drops. Dino Bravo pops in to say he’s the only worthwhile Canadian wrestler and the Rougeaus make him sick to his stomach. Lee comes in to take over on Jacques as Heenan asks which Rougeau is in the ring. Monsoon: “That’s Jacques.” Heenan: “Who cares?” Raymond comes back in and Le Bombe de Rougeau finishes O at 1:55.

Jack Tunney announces that the company is officially looking into Danny Davis’ ability to referee.

Ricky Steamboat vs. Moondog Rex

Steamboat grabs a headlock to start but Rex powers up and sends him into the corner. A quick rollup out of said corner gives Steamboat the pin at 1:25. Well that was short.

The Dream Team want the Tag Team Titles back and do not like being compared to dogs. Valentine: “WE’RE THE DREAM TEAM! WE’VE GOT DOLLS MADE OF US!” Valentine goes on a rant about how the Bulldogs are going to have to deal with them and the titles are changing.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Roll those highlights.

Overall Rating: C+. There were some weird choices for the decisions on here but the talent alone made it work. This show had appearances or matches from Randy Savage, the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and more. That is an absolute murderers row of talent and just seeing them do basic matches is a lot of fun in a short span. It might not have been a great show, but it was nice to see all of these people in one place.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestling Challenge
Date: October 25, 1986
Location: War Memorial, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan

We’re still going with a look back at this show, which makes for some very fun moments. It’s such a simpler time and yet the storylines are being advanced to make you want to see what happens at live events. I get why things have changed so much today, but it still makes for such easy to watch television. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s what’s coming on the show.

Bob Orton/Don Muraco vs. Mike Kelly/Nick Kiniski

There’s quite a bit to unpack here actually. Muraco and Orton have Jimmy Hart and Mr. Fuji with them and Orton is in a kilt to mock Roddy Piper, along with coming to the ring to his theme song. Kiniski is the son of Gene, minus anything resembling the talent or interest. Kiniski gets taken into the corner and powered around by Orton, allowing Kelly to come in. Muraco (with an amazing beard) Tombstones Kelly for the pin at 2:11. Kelly would be a bit better when he changed his name to Shane Douglas.

We get a Wrestlers’ Rebuttal from Bobby Heenan and King Harley Race, with Heenan complaining about people not kneeling before royalty. And then the other wrestlers think they belong in the same ring as Race! What rudeness!

Hillbilly Jim vs. Al Navarro

Navarro bounces off of him to start and a hammerlock doesn’t seem to work much better. A big boot and the bearhug finish for Jim at 2:32, a lot of which was spent walking around before they got started.

As Jim leaves, he is given a picture of the new WWF Magazine with Miss Elizabeth, which he kisses. So he’s chosen death.

Jake Roberts says Ricky Steamboat beat him in a fluke and he’s not afraid of anyone. Bring on George Steele, Tito Santana or Koko B. Ware. If you bring Frankie B. Ware around his snake, Frankie B. Gone soon. Roberts isn’t afraid of anyone, and he wants the Intercontinental Title. Once you have that, you can face Hulk Hogan anytime you want. So why not just go after Hogan? Either way, he warns Randy Savage to be ready.

Butch Reed vs. Don Driggers

Slick handles Reed’s introduction and we get an insert promo from Junkyard Dog, who says there is nothing natural about the Natural. Reed shoves Driggers down to start and gets in the posing, which works so well that he does it again. Some forearms put Driggers down again and Reed plants him with a slam. The middle rope clothesline finishes for Reed at 2:41.

The Honky Tonk Man talks about being up for 48 hours and rocking all night. He’s ready to strut n stroll and rock n roll. And his favorite song is Great Balls Of Fire. This was a parody right? It has to be. I would say no one could be that stupid but….yeah.

The Machines tried to buy a compact car but asked about the price in yen. Why they’re in their wrestling gear isn’t clear. Of course they’re not quite able to fit into the car and hilarity…well is teased but it doesn’t ensue.

Dino Bravo vs. Sivi Afi

Bravo, with dark hair, is Johnny V.’s newest star. Bravo takes him down without much trouble and hits a clothesline. A hard chop puts Afi down for a knee to the head as the dominance is on. Afi misses a charge into the corner and a fairly nasty belly to back suplex finishes for Bravo at 2:38.

It’s time for the Snake Pit, with the Honky Tonk Man as the special guest. Roberts asks if he’s a strong and successful man like his mama wanted. Honky Tonk Man isn’t sure what Roberts would know what it means to make a mama happy. Roberts doesn’t see Honky Tonk’s name on any walls so has he ever been this close to a real man? That doesn’t work for Honky Tonk, who thinks anyone who plays with a snake is a sick human being. Honky Tonk isn’t scared of Roberts or the snake but leaves anyway.

Killer Bees vs. Moondog Spot/Jimmy Jack Funk

What a weird heel team. Heenan wants to know why the Bees are introduced in the masks, get their names announced, and then take the masks off. Monsoon brushes it off despite Heenan having a totally fair question. Blair works on Spot’s arm to start as we get an insert interview from Dave Hebner talking about how hard it is to be a referee, which doesn’t make Danny Davis look good.

It’s off to Brunzell, who gets slammed down by Funk as the villains actually take over. A middle rope fist drop gets two as Heenan insists he never makes excuses if his men lose a match. Brunzell’s jumping knee gets two as everything breaks down. An atomic drop/dropkick combination finishes Funk at 3:36.

Rating: C. Not bad here, with the Bees being yet another team added to the already awesome division. It says a lot when the Bees, who would be at the top of almost any tag division, are in the middle of the pack at this point. They’re good at what they do and this was the kind of match that helps them get established as a bigger deal.

Ricky Steamboat, in a sweet Saturday Night’s Main Event hat, says don’t do drugs.

Back in 1984, Kamala, with Freddie Blassie and Kim Chee (called Friday here), was on Tuesday Night Titans with Blassie talking about how brutal Kamala can be. Then Kamala was presented with a live chicken, sending Vince McMahon into quite the rant. Not on THIS show of course. They really couldn’t do something new here and needed to go back two years for such a clip?

Kamala vs. Tony Nando

Kamala, with the Wizard and Kim Chee, chops him down to start and chokes near the apron. A big boot sets up the splash for the pin on Nando at 1:25.

After the match, we see a photo from the previously mentioned Tuesday Night Titans with Kamala looking at the camera with feathers around his face.

Ricky Steamboat is ready for another round with Jake Roberts. When it comes to becoming a champion, just do as Hulk Hogan told you to do and say your prayers, take your vitamins and train hard. Steamboat would love to be the Intercontinental Champion because it makes you a top contender to the WWF Title. Elizabeth is mentioned but George Steele runs in to say Savage is USING Elizabeth. Steele worries about her and Steamboat is going to beat Savage. Maybe Steele will hurt Savage too!

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Roll the highlights.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked this one more than the previous week, as it felt like it was starting to build to some bigger things. You can see wrestlers starting to talk about each other and that should make for a good slate of house shows down the line. That has me wondering what we’re going to see and these shows are the appetizers on the way to the more important stuff.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestling Challenge
Date: October 18, 1986
Location: War Memorial, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan

We’re back to this after nearly two years away and while that should usually make for some slight confusion, it isn’t like there is much to remember around here. We are on the way to pretty much nothing right now, but there are enough feuds to keep things interesting. I’ve always liked this show so odds are I’ll have a good time with it again. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s who to expect on the show.

Koko B. Ware vs. Steve Lombardi

During his entrance, Ware talks about the importance of Frankie, who Heenan wants in a back of Shane N Bake. Lombardi tries a quick takedown and gets blocked, sending Monsoon and Heenan into a funny argument over Ware’s intelligence or lack thereof. Ware claps a lot and sends Lombardi shoulder first into the post. An elbow to the face sets up the Ghostbuster (brainbuster) to give Ware the pin at 2:38. The smash cut to a closeup of Frankie the bird’s face is quite jarring.

We go to Wrestlers’ Rebuttal, with Roddy Piper comparing Don Muraco and Bob Orton to various pests, such as flies and roaches. Muraco would need a surfboard the size of the Bismark to get him into the water and just hurting Piper’s knee isn’t going to get rid of him. Not much time here but Piper got in some good lines as usual.

We go to a spa where Paul Orndorff gets his hair and nails done, along with a shoe shine because he demands perfection. As you might guess, he isn’t overly polite, even as he’s having his sneakers shined. The ranting and raving goes on for quite awhile.

Paul Orndorff vs. Tony Parks

Bobby Heenan is with Orndorff, who has the stolen real American theme in one of my favorite angles that needs to be brought back. Johnny V joins in on commentary and likes Orndorff having the song because it’s just such a perfect fit. Orndorff starts fast with a suplex and stomps away. The beating goes to the floor before a clotheslines drops Parks back inside. The piledriver finishes (with a hand to the ear on the cover) for Orndorff at 1:25.

Tito Santana wants to see Roddy Piper against either Don Muraco or Bob Orton. After speaking some Spanish to his fans, Santana promises to keep coming after Randy Savage and the Intercontinental Title.

Dick Slater vs. Bob Bradley

Yeah it’s the Rebel Dick Slater, which went as well as you would expect. Especially in a northern state like New York. Slater takes him into the corner to start but possibly crooked referee Danny Davis breaks it up. We get an inset interview from Davis (as luck would have it), where he says he doesn’t care about all the letters fans are sending in to criticize his abilities. What do they know about refereeing? A small package gives Slater two and Bradley tries a crossbody, with Slater ducking to send Bradley flying over the top in a great visual. Slater suplexes him down and hits a top rope elbow to the head for the pin at 3:02.

Rating: C-. Slater just had nothing to make him stand out in this role. He’s usually good when he’s more of a crazy evil southern/country boy but here he’s just a generic good guy with a rebel flag jacket. It’s not interesting and there’s no way around it, which was on display here. It’s a bad sign when the most memorable moment is a jobber missing a crossbody and crashing to the floor, but it’s more interesting than anything Slater was doing.

The Rougeau Brothers are still undefeated and want the Tag Team Titles. Jacques throws in some French for some flavor. Apparently he said he’s glad to meet French speaking fans on the road because that’s their native language.

Dream Team vs. Rick Hunter/Jerry Allen

Johnny V is here with the Dream Team as Valentine slams Allen down to start. We get an insert interview from V about being friends with Bobby Heenan, just in case you needed his evilness confirmed. Beefcake comes in to shrug off Hunter’s forearms and hit a powerslam. An elbow sets up the Figure Four to finish Hunter at 2:39.

And now, the Snake Pit. Jake Roberts says this is his place at his time so welcome to the theater of the cruel but fair. The guest if Junkyard Dog, who isn’t interested in being around snakes. Roberts accuses him of being superstitious and they argue about a potential match. Dog says the only things anyone is going to make him do is stay Black and die. He’s still done with the snake and we’re done after a kind of weird argument.

Sika vs. Jose Luis Rivera

Sika has the Wizard with him and jumps Rivera to start fast. Some forearms to the back set up a chinlock as Wizard gets an insert promo about….a shark’s tooth? The chinlock goes on again but Rivera fights up. A dropkick has no effect though and a running headbutt gives Sika the win at 2:07.

We meet the British Bulldogs’ new mascot Matilda, with Bobby Heenan coming up to insult her. The Bulldogs threaten Heenan with the removal of his leg and he’s gone.

British Bulldogs vs. Rudy Diamond/Steve Regal

Non-title and as always, no not that Regal. I’m not sure why Diamond doesn’t get a name graphic. Some headbutts rock Regal to start and a snap suplex takes him down again. Diamond comes in and gets taken down just as fast, with Kid dropping a knee. The running powerslam connects but Regal makes the save. That earns him a fireman’s carry and Kid comes in with a headbutt off Regal’s back for the pin at 2:16. Total squash.

Slick talks about his newest signee, Butch Reed, who will be a great addition to his team. Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik come in to pose as well. They want the Tag Team Titles and more posing ensues.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

The usual highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C-. Not one of their more thrilling shows this week, as the people featured were only so interesting. Granted it helps when the card is full of squashes as it allows more wrestlers to get on the show, but 45 minutes of such matches are only going to get you so far. The Orndorff and Piper stuff was good, but that shouldn’t be a surprise in the slightest. Still though, this stuff is such a breeze compared to everything else as it’s such a different style than modern wrestling, which makes it a great change of pace.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Saturday Night’s Main Event XXI
Date: May 27, 1989
Location: Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura

Time for another one almost thirty five years in the making. This one might not be the most well known, but it has one of the most famous matches in the show’s history. This time around we have Hulk Hogan vs. the Big Moss Man inside a steel cage with a spot you might have seen before. Let’s get to it.

Hulk Hogan is ready to pass sentence on Big Boss Man and Slick. He is the judge, jury and executioner. Hogan LOVED that line and used it on probably three Saturday Night’s Main Events at minimum.

Oddly, Boss Man and Slick don’t get a rebuttal.

Opening sequence. I could listen to that song for at least several minutes.

Vince and Jesse welcome us to the show, with Jesse being extra sick of Hogan due to No Holds Barred.

We look at Bobby Heenan cheating Ultimate Warrior out of the Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania.

Heenan denies cheating to help Rick Rude win the title, because it was all about winning. Jim Duggan is dreaming of winning the title, so Rude is ready to give him a Rude Awakening.

Jim Duggan (now the King) dedicates the match to the troops on Memorial Day weekend and suggests that Rick Rude is, uh, pink. Duggan is going to keep one eye on Bobby Heenan and one eye on Old Glory. Well not looking at your opponent doesn’t sound like a good way to win a match.

Intercontinental Title: Jim Duggan vs. Rick Rude

Rude, with Bobby Heenan, is defending. They stare at each other to start and then lock up for a grapple around the ropes. Duggan blocks a sunset flip with a right hand and then hits the running clothesline over the top. A knee drop gives Duggan two but he charges into a knee in the corner. Duggan is right back with an atomic drop and you know Rude is all about settling one of those. Another knockdown gets three but Rude’s foot is on the rope.

Cue Haku to yell at Duggan and be taken to the back as we take a break. Back with Rude raking the eyes and dropping an elbow for two, setting up the chinlock. Duggan fight sup but gets dropped with another knee. A top rope fist to the head puts Duggan down but of course ramming him into the buckle just wakes him up. The three point clothesline sends Rude outside and it’s a countout at 7:17.

Rating: C+. In case you were wondering what the most 1989 WWF match ever could be. Duggan is a great choice to come after Rude because he’s a big enough name to possibly be a threat and the fans loved him. They were also smart enough to have Rude escape with the title without beating Duggan, which was always a possibility.

Naturally Duggan seems to think he’s the champion, even if he’s still the King no matter what.

Jim Neidhart doesn’t like the way Randy Savage has been acting, including when he was the WWF Champion. Apparently if Savage wants the title back, he has to go through Neidhart. Huh? He’s not scared of Scary Sherri either.

Randy Savage is rather pleased with his new manager and is ready to take out Neidhart and then face Hulk Hogan again.

Randy Savage vs. Jim Neidhart

Sherri is here too. Savage bails to the floor to start and Sherri grabs the leg, allowing Savage to try a sunset flip. That’s blocked with a simple sit but Savage is back up with some shots to the face. Sherri chokes away from the floor and then does it again but Savage’s slam attempt goes rather poorly. Sherri offers a distraction on the floor but Neidhart cuts off Savage’s cheap shot and hits a dropkick. A powerslam gives Neidhart two and Savage is tied in the ropes, only for Sherri to break him out. The top rope ax handle sends Neidhart into the barricade and the big elbow finishes for Savage at 5:57.

Rating: C+. This was just a way to get Savage back on the winning path after losing the title at Wrestlemania. Neidhart is kind of a perfect choice for this spot as he is a name but won’t be hurt by losing a match to one of the biggest stars in the company. It wasn’t a great match and I don’t think it was expected to be, but it did what it was supposed to do.

The Big Boss Man, with Slick, is ready to beat Hulk Hogan and rehabilitate him. Slick promises a surprise for a bonus.

WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man, with Slick, is challenging in a cage. Hold on though as Slick has a surprise: ZEUS! So this is weird even by WWF standards, as Zeus (played by actor Tom Lister) is the villain in the movie No Holds Barred and wants revenge on Hogan for what happened in the movie. As in the “real life” actor Hogan is fighting the movie character. Hogan comes out and Zeus won’t let him in the case, instead beating Hogan down as Jesse is THRILLED.

Zeus leaves and Boss Man goes outside and sends Hogan inside for some choking. Hogan fights up with some rams into the cage and the big boot but it’s way too early to go over the top. Boss Man starts to go out but Slick tells him to beat on Hogan more, with commentary not being impressed. Hogan fights up, at least until Boss Man plants him with a spinebuster.

Boss Man starts going up, with Ventura having no idea why he wouldn’t just go through the door. He gets most of the way down but Hogan finally gets up and grabs him through the cage. They go back up onto the top rope and Hogan SUPERPLEXES HIM DOWN for an absolutely massive spot from its era (and not a bad one in modern times either).

They’re both down so the referee comes in for the slowest count in recent memory. Hogan pops up (and the fans are with him) and goes for the door but Boss Man cuts him off with an uppercut. Slick throws in a chain (making sure to throw it over the top so people would see it) for some choking but a double ram into the buckle leaves both of them down again.

Back up and Hogan finds the chain to knock Boss Man silly. The legdrop connects but Slick rams the door onto the referee’s head. Slick goes in but gets knocked away, allowing Hogan to crotch Boss Man on the top rope. Boss Man gets handcuffed to the top rope and Hogan gets out before Slick can unlock him to retain at 10:02 (Ventura: “Wouldn’t you know it?”).

Rating: B. It’s not a particularly great match but DANG that superplex spot was huge and makes up for a lot of the weaker points. It’s entirely designed around that one moment and Hogan gets to come from behind and get a big win on TV to kick off his title reign. Boss Man was a great choice to go after the title and there’s a reason the two of them did some solid business together for a long time.

Post match Hogan beats up Slick for fun. He even puts on Slick’s hat, which doesn’t do much for him.

Bobby Heenan is ready for the Brainbusters to win the Tag Team Titles.

Demolition isn’t so convinced and promise destruction.

Tag Team Titles: Demolition vs. Brainbusters

The Brainbusters, with Bobby Heenan, are challenging. Smash shoves Blanchard into the corner to start and then knocks him to the floor without much trouble. Back in and the bearhug goes on but Heenan offers a distraction, allowing Anderson to get in a knee from behind. That doesn’t last long as Anderson comes in and gets beaten on by Ax. Anderson gets laid across the top rope and hammered down but comes right back with a suplex.

That has all of no effect on Smash, who hands it back to Ax for a slam to Blanchard. A bearhug has Blanchard in more trouble and an elbow to the face sends him outside. Heenan gets knocked down so he goes onto the apron and actually has to be taken into the aisle as we take a break.

Back with Ax working on a neck crank before Smash comes in to hammer on Blanchard. Anderson comes in with a cheap shot though as Heenan is calm at ringside again. Blanchard actually hits something like a top rope seated senton and Anderson adds the always great spinebuster. Smash almost gets over for the tag but Anderson trips him down and Blanchard decks Ax in a smart move. Stereo right hands knock Smash and Anderson down and it’s back to Ax, who knocks the referee down for the DQ at 9:15.

Rating: B. There is a reason this era is considered part of the gold standard for tag team wrestling. You had so many teams like this that you could throw out there and have a good match and that’s what you got with this one. The ending set up a rematch, which would see the Brainbusters take the titles on the next edition of the show, which isn’t something you would often get on this series.

Randy Savage declares himself the new #1 contender to the WWF Title and is ready to take away Hulk Hogan’s Hollywood looks.

Jimmy Snuka vs. Boris Zhukov

Slick is here with Zhukov and has a great exasperated look when Snuka’s music cuts off Zhukov’s singing. Ventura gets back from interviewing Savage and asks what he missed. Vince: “Absolutely nothing.” What a great endorsement of the show. Snuka wastes no time in striking away and hitting an ax handle. A backbreaker sets up the Superfly Splash (that always looked great) to finish Zhukov at 1:10.

Hulk Hogan talks about his issues with Zeus before, during and after filming No Holds Barred. Now come see the movie!

Vince and Jesse wrap it up and the credits roll.

Overall Rating: B+. I had a great time with this one and it’s one of the best episodes of the series. You have two rather awesome matches and a pair of good ones, plus an all time spot from the cage match. They picked a good one to bring out of mothballs here, as it’s a very fun show from an entertaining era, which made for a heck of a quick sit.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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March To Wrestlemania IX
Date: March 28, 1993
Location: Cumberland County Civic Center, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan

The title kind of speaks for itself here, as we have about a week to go before Wrestlemania and this is the big final push towards the biggest event of the year. The WWF did some specials like this back in the 90s and that means we could have an interesting selection of matches on the way to Las Vegas. Let’s get to it.

We look back at the contract signing between Bret Hart and Yokozuna, with Yokozuna crushing Hart, who got up anyway to a big reaction.

Vince and Bobby run down the card in front of a green screen.

Yokozuna vs. Randy Savage

Yokozuna has Mr. Fuji with him. They take their sweet time getting going here with no contact being made in the first two minutes. Savage ducks a few lockups before getting shoved down, leaving him thinking twice about this. Yokozuna hits a running shoulder and sends Savage flying over the top in a big heap. With Vince praising Yokozuna as much as he can, Savage gets knocked down again as the USA chants are on.

Yokozuna keeps hammering away as commentary basically says Bret Hart has no chance at Wrestlemania. Savage gets in some left hands but a single chop puts him back down. The big legdrop crushes Savage but the charge in the corner misses. A top rope ax handle puts Yokozuna on one knee but Fuji shoves Savage off the top. Yokozuna grabs a belly to belly suplex for the pin at 6:37.

Rating: C+. This was designed to set up Yokozuna as the monster who is beating a former WWF Champion and that worked well. Savage’s comeback at the end was only enough to give him a sliver of hope and that’s all it needed to be. Yokozuna is the monster of monsters at this point and it’s clear that the company is entirely behind him, as they should be here.

Post match Yokozuna goes for the Banzai Drop but misses and….leaves. Well that was kind of stupid.

We look at Lex Luger’s debut at the Royal Rumble, with Bobby Heenan’s insanely over the top praise still being hilarious/uncomfortable.

Mr. Perfect vs. Skinner

Skinner jumps him to start as Heenan is VERY happy with the idea of Perfect getting beaten up. Perfect gets tossed over the top and Skinner gets in a bite on the floor. Perfect manages a posting, only for Skinner to get in a belt shot to the throat. A whipping ensues, with the referee having no issue with the foreign object. Vince goes NUTS, screaming that Heenan or Luger paid Skinner off to soften Perfect up before Wrestlemania. You know, because Skinner is a totally clean cut star otherwise.

Perfect’s eyes are raked over the top rope as Vince is AGHAST at this BLATANT RULE BREAKING! Perfect gets in a single shot though and the comeback is on, with the right hands in the corner having Skinner in more trouble. The knee lift lets Perfect choke in the ropes, where Skinner gets in an alligator claw to the face. Not that it matters as Perfect hits the PerfectPlex for the pin at 5:27.

Rating: C+. This was a bit better than I was expecting here, with Skinner beating Perfect up until the comeback came through. It really does amaze me to see how easy Perfect can make things look out there, as it feels like he’s just waiting to turn it on and win in the end. That’s not a level of talent you see very often and it is more impressive every time.

Hulk Hogan is coming back at Wrestlemania. This was some over the top praise.

Kamala vs. Kim Chee

Before the match, Slick thanks the fans for their support for Kamala and promises that he is going to take out Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania. Not exactly as the match didn’t happen but it’s a nice sentiment. Kim Chee wants Kamala to walk back into the darkness but we cannot let that happen. Can Slick get a witness?

Anyway, Chee gets in Kamala’s face to start and seems to scare him, allowing Chee to hammer away in the corner. A slap to the face wakes Kamala up and he grabs a quickly broken bearhug. Kamala superkicks him down and the big splash, plus some coaching to turn Chee over, is enough for the pin at 2:11. That’s all it should have been.

Post match Kamala knocks him to the floor and steals the pith helmet.

We get a Wrestlemania music video in all of its 1993 glory, with various wrestlers giving some rather generic promos. That being said, this is the old Wrestlemania theme, with the OOOH OOOH, WRESTLEMANIA, PUMP IT UP PUMP IT UP (better known as Linda McMahon’s theme) so I can’t complain much. For some reason Big Boss Man, who wasn’t on Wrestlemania, gets two promos.

Vince and Bobby hype up the Mega Maniacs vs. Money Inc.

We look back at Money Inc. attacking Brutus Beefcake, resulting in the return of Hulk Hogan to set up a match which does not feel important in the slightest despite being the second biggest match on the card. I was a huge Brutus Beefcake fan when I was a kid but this return run never worked. Much like Hogan in the early days of Raw, which never felt right.

Money Inc. vs. Reno Riggins/Jerry Sabin

Non-title and Sabin is better known as the Italian Stallion, right down to his trunks saying ITALY. The beating starts fast with DiBiase taking Sabin to the floor and hammering away. Back in and a double back elbow drops Riggins, followed by a suplex to do it again. IRS drops an elbow and the Million Dollar Dream finishes at 2:54.

Here are the Mega Maniacs (obviously in a different arena) for a chat. Hogan talks about Money Inc. hitting Beefcake in the face with the metal briefcase and he knew it was bad. He chilled, he goosebumped and he sweated from head to toe. It was so bad that he ran to the garage and got on Brutus’ motorcycle (which just happened to be there) so he could ride to Venice Beach and bury his ear in the sand. He heard (in the sand) millions of Hulkamaniacs praying for Beefcake.

Then he rode the motorcycle for seven days to New York City, where he went to the Ramada Inn and found Beefcake watching the Three Stooges with an ice pack on his nose. Beefcake talks about going to Florida with Hogan, where they dropped rockets (yes rockets) on his new metal mask and there wasn’t a scratch on it. If Hogan did one more pushup, those Pythons would explode.

Jimmy Hart recommends not investing money in Money Inc., whereas the Mega Maniacs will have new t-shirts, Nintendo games and posters. When they win the Tag Team Titles, their stock will go through the roof. Hogan says Beefcake is mad, with Beefcake saying he spent two days running up and down the aisles at K-Mart to find hair tonic. Then he went to the desert around Las Vegas, where he chopped down some cactuses (should be cacti) and mountains (no word on if it was with the edge of his hand), where he decided he’ll take Money Inc.’s hair out of their heads with his bare hands.

Hogan says he went fishing with his bare hands and caught some sharks, but they weren’t for eating. Instead, he’s filled the pool at Caesar’s Palace with salt water for the hammerhead sharks (and some mermaids). Beefcake is going to help Hogan open the sharks’ mouths so they can wrap the Tag Team Titles around their teeth.

That way, when they throw the bathing beauties and Hulkamaniacs in the pool (with the sharks), the sharks can’t hurt a hair on their chinny chin chins (of the bathing beauties you see). Hogan has two cases of suntan lotion and he wants all the female Hulkamaniacs to have an even tan from head to toe. Catchphrase and posing ensues. If you haven’t seen this promo, go find it somewhere, as the Ultimate Warrior would have thought this was totally insane. And then it just KEPT GOING as they talk for the better part of ten minutes.

We look at Tatanka pinning Shawn Michaels a few times, earning an Intercontinental Title shot at Wrestlemania.

Michaels is ready to play Tatanka like people get played in the Las Vegas casinos.

Tatanka vs. George South

Tatanka takes him down without much trouble as Heenan is insisting that Shawn Michaels is NOT in jeopardy. All this does is make me wonder how Heenan would have done as Shawn’s manager. Tatanka takes him into the corner but South gets in a few shots of his own. A ram into the buckle sends Tatanka onto the war path as Heenan rants about how he DOES NOT CARE about Sherri being at Wrestlemania. Some chops set up the Papoose To Go to finish South at 2:29.

Post match Michaels comes out to gloat so Tatanka wants to fight. Nah.

It’s time for the Wrestlemania Control Center with Gene Okerlund, who feels out of place in the WWF in 1993. He hypes up the toga party (because that really was a selling point) and the double main event, with Bret Hart being tired of hearing that he has no chance. Yokozuna could lose a lot more than face at Wrestlemania.

Crush is on a boat in Hawaii and, in a rather odd accent, promises revenge on Doink at Wrestlemania. Then he dives into the water and gets some octopuses.

The Steiners are ready to beat up the Headshrinkers.

Beverly Brothers/Little Louie vs. Bushwhackers/Tiger Jackson

Jackson would go on to become Dink The Clown. After some stalling, Beau punches Luke down to start as Heenan wants to say something important. Vince asks for a drum roll before Heenan insists he will NOT be wearing a toga. Heenan: “Imagine Gorilla Monsoon in a toga. It’ll look like an unmade bed.” We get a four person bite chain until Luke threatens to beat up Louie. Instead Jackson dances and hits Louie with a dropkick.

A splash gets two, with Louie’s kickout sending Jackson into the referee’s arm. Said referee throws Jackson back onto Louie for two before they do the sequence all over again. Louie gets in a shot of his own and Butch comes in to yell at Blake but not actually hit him. Blake gets in a cheap shot and hammers away as we get a rare BUTCH chant. Butch works on the arm and we get a chase from Louie and Jackson.

Beau comes in off the top with an ax handle to take over on Luke and we get some assisted choking on the ropes. Another top rope ax handle connects and Louie gets in a slap from the apron. Luke gets over and brings in Butch to clean house, which isn’t exactly hard on the Beverly Brothers. Everything breaks down and Jackson hits a high crossbody for the pin on Louie at 9:57. Heenan: “I didn’t understand anything I just saw.”

Rating: D. What in the world was the point of that? None of these people are on Wrestlemania and they get almost ten minutes, or longer than any other match on the show. That’s such a weird way to go and it was nothing that you wouldn’t see on a house show. It felt like they had nothing else to use on the show and picked a random comedy match.

We look at Giant Gonzalez debuting and taking out the Undertaker.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Undertaker

Paul Bearer is here of course. Bigelow slugs away to start but Undertaker drop toeholds him down. The chase is on with Bigelow getting in a shot, only to get caught with a running DDT. Old School connects but Bigelow knocks him down again as we take a break. Back with Bigelow hammering away on the floor, giving us Undertaker’s stagger sell. A hard whip sends Undertaker knees first into the steps but he gets up.

Back in and a slam has Undertaker sitting up again, with Heenan wanting Giant Gonzalez to come out here and take care of Undertaker. Some elbows make Undertaker sit up again and Bigelow misses the top rope headbutt. The comeback is on with a chokeslam sending Bigelow outside and he walks out for the countout at 7:40.

Rating: C+. This could have been a lot worse as they had a story here with Bigelow’s big man offense not being able to keep him down. It gave you just enough drama about whether or not Bigelow could stop him before walking out. Not a great match, but it made me want to see them doing something else.

Post match Giant Gonzalez comes out for the staredown, with Undertaker slowly going towards him. Referees break it up.

Vince and Bobby (who insists he does NOT have a tail) give us a quick final Wrestlemania preview to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. There’s a reason Wrestlemania IX is so poorly remembered and a two hour preview for the show isn’t the best thing to see. This was a way to get people hyped up for the show, but then you realize just what you’re getting into. Throw in the completely out there mixed tag and the all time weird Mega Maniacs promo and this didn’t work. The decent wrestling you get is nothing worth seeing and the whole thing is kind of a mess as a result.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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WWF Rampage 1991
Hosts: Sean Mooney, Gene Okerlund, Bobby Heenan
Commentators: Lord Alfred Hayes, Sean Mooney, Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Jim Neidhart, Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper

We’re still on the WWE Vault with another Coliseum Video, which should make for a bit of fun. These things are the definition of hit and miss but we can often see something good in there somewhere. Then again there can also be some drek to get through as this isn’t the best time for the company. Let’s get to it.

We’re on a golf course with Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan giving us some tips. Gene says his handicap is Heenan, who almost looks like a clown and thinks they’re about to play tennis.

From Fresno, California, June 18, 1991.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. British Bulldog

Perfect, with Coach (gah that didn’t work), is defending. Bulldog wastes no time in shoving him down and easily wins an exchange of shoulders. After a breather on the floor, Perfect is smart enough to not go for a test of strength. Bulldog accuses him of being a chicken, which Hayes does not think is the British way. For some reason Perfect tries a test of strength and immediately screams “AH YOU SON OF A B****!”

Even commentary has to cover for that one, thankfully with Bulldog getting two off a rollup. They trade sunset flips for two each and Bulldog gets in a bunch of rams into the corner on various turnbuckles. Perfect is back up with a shot of his own though and we slow back down for a breather. A Boston crab, with a grab of a rope, has Bulldog’s back in trouble but he powers out anyway. Perfect’s nice dropkick sends Bulldog outside, where Coach gets in some rather lame stomps.

Cue Bret Hart to chase Coach off so Perfect hits the Hennig necksnap but the referee almost gets bumped. After a bit of chastisement, Perfect goes with the sleeper and gets a pair of arm drops. That’s enough to make Bulldog fight up and he crotches Perfect on top, naturally with a hilarious sell. The referee gets bumped though and Bulldog can’t get a count off a small package. Coach comes in so Hart cuts him off and counts the pin because he’s a bit nuts at the moment. Hart and Perfect get in a fight and the referee sees it for the DQ at 9:32.

Rating: C+. Nice enough stuff here and that shouldn’t be surprising given who was in there. These two are talented stars who can have a good match with anyone and they had a bit of time here. That being said, the ending felt like a bit of an escape hatch and having Hart counting the pin was just kind of nuts.

Post match Hart beats up Perfect even more but Bulldog isn’t overly happy.

Gene hits a shot which seems to be good, though there is nothing in the way of tips. Well other than where to send a postcard to request a fan favorite match.

From New York City, April 22, 1991.

Warlord vs. Texas Tornado

Commentary argues over which of these two is smarter and….yeah all hail the Warlord. They take their time to lock up and then stop to pose some more, with Warlord not being happy at not being so popular. We get the test of strength and Tornado goes down for a two count, which you don’t see very often. Tornado fights up and blocks a big boot, setting up the Tornado Punch.

For some reason Warlord doesn’t even go down, instead grabbing a bearhug. That’s finally broken up so Warlord knocks him to the floor, which Monsoon says is Tornado taking a break. Warlord drives him back first into the post and they come back in, with Tornado not being able to make a sunset flip work. The slow forearms to the back have Tornado in trouble, to the point where he can’t pick Warlord up.

Warlord misses….we’ll call it a splash so Tornado is up with the clothesline comeback. The Tornado Punch gets two with Warlord getting a foot on the rope. Tornado gets a sleeper but they crash out to the floor for the double countout at 9:18. Ignore Tornado being back in before the ten count, to the point where even Heenan thinks he made it.

Rating: D. Oh heck no as this was rather horrible with Tornado being pretty much useless. It’s a bad sign when Warlord is carrying the whole thing and then they had the lame finish on top of that. This was one of the worst matches I’ve seen in a good while and it somehow just kept getting worse.

Post match Tornado argues with the referee, probably asking where he parked his chicken.

From New York City, June 3, 1991.

Animal vs. Paul Roma

Before the match, Roma and Hercules have a coin toss to determine which one will face Animal, which might be slightly interesting if Mooney’s voiceover hadn’t said it would be Roma. Hercules just stays in the ring at the bell and distracts Animal so Roma can hammer away. They actually trade leapfrogs until Animal catches Roma with an atomic drop. A headbutt between the legs keeps Roma in trouble but he knocks Animal off the top to the floor.

Back in and Roma hammers away, setting up a rather high dropkick. Three straight backbreakers set up a top rope shot to Animal’s head as this is more one sided than you might think. Animal fights up and they trade reversals until the referee gets bumped. A flying shoulder hits Roma for no count so Hercules gets in a cheap shot. Roma accidentally missile dropkicks Hercules though, allowing Animal to grab a powerslam for the pin at 5:00.

Rating: C-. This was in the weird non-Hawk period for the Legion Of Doom and that isn’t the most memorable stretch of time for a reason. There wasn’t much to see here other than Animal winning a glorified handicap match, which thankfully didn’t last long. Roma’s dropkicks looked good at least.

It’s back to the golf course, where Gene explains the importance of a chip shot. Gene’s shot goes fairly well while Heenan’s club goes flying. They move on to a shot from a bunker, with Heenan advocating cheating while Gene hits a nice shot. Heenan cheats anyway and Gene is aghast. Finally we move on to putting, with Heenan cheating again to succeed, which has Gene stunned.

From Fresno, California, June 18, 1991.

Big Boss Man/Rockers vs. Nasty Boys/Mountie

In case you wanted the most 1991 match possible. Jimmy Hart is here with the villains and the Nastys are the Tag Team Champions. Knobbs holds up one of the titles in an early Ric Flair impression. Shawn, with his backwards neon green hat (again, 1991) starts with the Mountie but Shawn tags in Boss Man, who gets taken into the corner by Sags (for the first contact over two minutes in).

A fairly delayed powerslam plants Sags right back down Mountie comes in and gets spinebustered, with the villains being cleared out for a needed breather. Back in and Boss Man enziguris Knobbs so Jannetty can come in with a middle rope faceplant. A sunset flip gives Jannetty two and it’s back to Shawn for the superkick. Boss Man adds an elbow to the face and does that weird bouncing headlock of his.

Sags finally gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Boss Man crashes out to the floor so the villains can finally get control. Sags drops some elbows and Mountie’s elbow to the jaw gets two. To avoid being left out, Knobbs drops an elbow of his own for two more before taking Boss Man into the corner. The Rockers are drawn in, which is enough for the triple teaming to continue.

Mountie confirms his identity by shouting “I AM THE MOUNTIE!”, which is enough for Boss Man to fight up. Shawn comes in to clean house as everything breaks down. In the melee, Shawn intercepts the megaphone and knocks Knobs out, only to get shocked by Mountie’s shock stick. Not that it matters as Jannetty steals the pin at 10:12.

Rating: C+. This got better near the end but the heat segment didn’t last very long, meaning there was a lot of other stuff to cover the rest of the time. What helps here is the lineup was interesting enough that it gave for some nice options, which is the point of a six man tag. It’s not a great match but it’s perfectly fun for this kind of a spot.

From New York City, New York, June 3, 1991.

The Dragon vs. Smash

Sure why not. Demolition was done at this point and Smash was waiting for a new gimmick. The Dragon was Ricky Steamboat without being able to call him Ricky Steamboat because his divorce was really nasty (and ridiculous). Smash works on the arm to start but you know Steamboat is fine with doing something just like that. Back up and Steamboat has to skin the cat (of course) before sending Smash over the top.

Smash gets back in and is quickly armdragged into an armbar as Steamboat is quickly checking his boxes here. Some chops to the head (or about four inches in front of his head) have Smash in more trouble and we’re right back to the armdrag into the armbar. Back up and Smash gets something like a chokeslam to cut Steamboat down and a belly to back suplex gets two, with Monsoon really not being pleased with the technique.

The neck crank goes on for a bit before Smash sends him outside again, this time for a ram into the post. A slam on the floor and a backbreaker back inside sets up another neck crank, which he switches into a sleeper to keep Steamboat in trouble. Steamboat finally fights up and strikes away, setting up a dropkick to the floor. A middle rope dive to the floor takes Smash down again but he suplexes Steamboat back inside. Smash misses a charge though and the high crossbody gives Steamboat the win at 10:17.

Rating: D+. Oh come on what else were you expecting here? Steamboat can do something good with just about anyone but he needs something more than a bored Smash, who is barely a singles star in the first place. This did not work and was boring on top of going longer than it needed. If you have someone as talented as Steamboat, find a better way to use him.

From Green Bay, Wisconsin, May 7, 1991.

Jake Roberts vs. Barbarian

Barbarian, with Bobby Heenan, stalks him around to start and Jake’s left hands don’t do much good. An armbar doesn’t get Jake very far so Barbarian hammers away, at least until a knee lift takes him down. The threat of the DDT sends Barbarian bailing to the floor and we stall for a bit.

Back in and Barbarian pounds him down again, with Heenan getting in some choking. A backbreaker gives Barbarian two and he seems to rip at Jake’s face for a change. Jake’s short arm clothesline misses and Barbarian kicks him in the face, only for Jake to bounce back with a DDT. Cue Earthquake for a distraction so Jake busts out Damien and chases him off….for the countout at 7:27.

Rating: C-. Well, at least it was a bit shorter. This tape has hit a wall with the last two matches and I’m not sure I can see that getting much better. Barbarian is a prime example of someone who played a role perfectly well despite not being a big star. He was doing it again here, but Jake Roberts can’t beat the Barbarian in a match like this? That’s quite the stretch.

Bobby and Gene are seemingly off the course in an attempt to find a ball. Naturally, Bobby cheats again because that is his nature.

From London, England, April 24, 1991.

Greg Valentine vs. Haku

Oh come on. This is from the dreadful Valentine face run and he grabs a headlock to start. An atomic drop into a running elbow to the head sends Haku outside for a needed breather. Back in and Haku kind of bobs and weaves a bit before chopping away in the corner. Some backbreakers give Haku two and we hit the reverse chinlock.

Valentine fights up but gets caught in it again, only to fight up again (it worked the first time). Some rams into the buckle have Haku staggered, which has Vince a bit surprised on commentary. Piper: “Go after him Gregory!” The big elbow misses though and Haku strikes away again, only to get headbutted between the legs. The Figure Four attempt is blocked but Valentine grabs a sunset flip for the pin at 8:42.

Rating: C. This is a good example of a match that was technically fine but….who in the world was wanting to cheer Valentine? It’s just a weird idea and something that never exactly worked. That was on display here and while the match was ok because both of them are talented stars, it’s hard to get behind eternal heel Valentine, even against someone like Haku.

From Tuscon, Arizona, May 28, 1991.

Power & Glory vs. Orient Express

Slick and Mr. Fuji are here for a rather rare heel vs. heel match. We get a fairly long staredown to start until Hercules shoves Kato down to start. It works so well that Hercules does it again but Kato chops away in the corner. Hercules isn’t having that and blocks a whip out of the corner, only to miss an elbow. A gorilla press works a bit better on Tanaka as it’s weird to see the fans cheering for Power & Glory (at least more than they’re cheering for the Express).

Roma reminds the fans that the team is evil too and by coming in for a double clothesline. After some nice leapfrogs, Roma drops Tanaka again and hits a nice top rope elbow for two. Kato gets in a cheap shot though and comes in with an elbow to the face as things slow back down. Roma fights out of a chinlock but gets tripped by Fuji, giving us the threat of a manager brawl (actually….Slick vs. Fuji could be awesome).

Hercules gets drawn in so Tanaka can jump over Kato and onto Roma’s back for two. Roman jumps over a double clothesline and Hercules comes back in for his own double clothesline despite the lack of a tag. A heck of a dropkick to Kato gives Roma two and Tanaka’s sunset flip gets two more. Slick low bridges Kato down to the floor though and everyone goes outside for the double countout at 8:28.

Rating: C-. Not the worst match here, but dang it was more weird than anything else. Power & Glory fit into the good guys slot (albeit by default) pretty easily here and I could go for seeing them do it a bit more. That being said, I still want to see Slick vs. Fuji, as that just sounds fun. As in what a lot of this tape has not exactly been.

Back to the course, with Heenan lying to another player about where his ball went.

And now, At Home With Paul Bearer. After taking a very long time to get inside, Bearer is messing with a body in a casket, because he had to bring some of his work home. He apologizes for not tidying up and then sits down in something of a throne. Bearer offers us a drink, which might be made of human remains. He looks at some knickknacks, such as the Urn, a dead plant and a skull, plus a guillotine. This was pretty much little more than The WWF Addams Family and it wasn’t any good.

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 2, 1991.

Undertaker vs. Ultimate Warrior

Paul Bearer is here with Undertaker. Warrior cleans house to start and hammers away, only to get his neck snapped over the top rope. Back in and Undertaker grabs Warrior by the face, which was a big thing for him back in the day. This goes on for far too long, with Warrior powering out after nearly three minutes of Undertaker just holding his face. Warrior fights up but gets knocked down again, only to avoid the big running elbow. Another comeback is cut off and Undertaker hits a quick Tombstone but Warrior pops up. Then Undertaker hits him with the Urn for the DQ at 7:44.

Rating: D-. Warrior did pretty much nothing here other than surviving the Tombstone but then the match just ended before anything else could happen. It isn’t a good sign when so much of the match was spent with the Undertaker just standing there with his hand over Warrior’s face. Pretty horrible match here, and probably the only reason this tape was uploaded in the first place.

Post match Undertaker and Bearer load up a body bag but Warrior fights out and clears the ring.

Heenan and Gene argue over who is paying for the golf and a golf cart chase takes us out.

Overall Rating: D+. There are a few passable matches early on in the tap to carry things but this just falls apart after the six man tag. It’s a pretty sad day when you have Greg Valentine vs. Haku as a high point for the second half of a nearly two hour tape. While there are worse tapes out there and this did have a nice variety (with no Hogan anywhere to be seen), but dang the match quality is just not there to back it up. Find something else to watch.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Invasion 1992
Host: Sean Mooney
Commentators: Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, Gorilla Monsoon

It’s another Coliseum Video and that means a grand total of anyone’s best guess. Some of these things can be great but there is always the chance that it is all over the place. Since this is from the WWE Vault, there is a good chance that there is at least one good match involved so let’s get to it.

We have a Star Trek theme here, with Mooney as captain and promising some interesting surprises on this voyage. First up is a communication being intercepted: a fan request for our first match.

From Corpus Christi, Texas, December 2, 1991.

Hulk Hogan vs. Typhoon

Someone find that fan and smack him upside the head. The fans are behind Hogan to start and gets shoved around a few times. Hayes says it’s rare for Hogan to find himself against an opponent with a weight advantage. Has Hayes watched wrestling in the last few years? Mooney follows it up by talking about some of the massive opponents Hogan has faced, showing how stupid Hayes sounded.

Hogan shoves Typhoon and then avoids a charge to hammer away in the corner. Hart has to be knocked off the apron before Hogan slugs away and keeps calling Typhoon “FORMER FRIEND”. You know, that comes up a lot for Hogan so maybe he needs to do some self reflection. Typhoon fights back and slowly hammers away before grabbing the obvious bearhug. Hogan’s comeback sees him bounce off Typhoon and a splash in the corner gets two. The obvious comeback is obvious and Hogan finishes with the legdrop at 5:48.

Rating: D+. Hogan vs. a monster is as traditional of a formula as you can get but you have to give him something better than this. There is only so much that you can get out of Typhoon, who is as generic of a big guy as you can get. The more I see of Typhoon the more it becomes clear that he is just there because of his size and nothing more. Pretty horrible match here, as Hogan needed a better opponent.

Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect send a signal to the ship, saying they might as well take over because no one can give them a challenge. Mooney recognizes that Flair is the WWF Champion and we see the non-Hogan booing edition of the Royal Rumble ending. If nothing else, it was amazing to hear Perfect and Flair make a bunch of space references, as it felt more like a test of “can we get him to say this”.

From New Haven, Connecticut, November 13, 1991.

Intercontinental Title: Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair

Hart is defending and it’s a bit weird that they have the interview with Flair holding the WWF Title and then go back to a time before he won it in the first place. Things are a bit all over the place here as the Fink slips a bit on the intro, both saying “La….ladies and gentlemen” and then slips up by calling Perfect (with Flair) the “financial consultant” before switching to “executive consultant”, earning some laughter from commentary. If that’s not enough, Hebner holds the Intercontinental Title upside down during the introductions.

After taking over a minute to get ready, they stare each other down before finally locking up almost two minutes in. Hart grabs a headlock before shouldering Flair down and grabbing said headlock again. The hold goes on for a good while as it feels like they have a lot of time here. Back up and Hart drop toeholds him down before going for the leg, sending Flair over to the ropes. Flair backs the referee off and almost gets decked for his efforts.

Hart backs him into the corner but Flair uses the hair to…well very little actually as Hart hits him in the face. Back up and Flair knocks him into the corner as commentary talks about Hulk Hogan. The backdrop starts the comeback and Hart hammers away in the corner, only to get atomic dropped back out. Flair drops the knee in the general vicinity of Hart’s head for two (with feet on the ropes).

Some whips into the corner get two more (again with feet on the ropes, and some yelling at the fans for calling Flair out) but Hart gets up and wins a slugout. A sleeper doesn’t get Flair very far and Hart knocks him down into the corner. Flair goes after the leg to take over though and the Figure Four goes on. Ever the villain, Flair slaps him a few times, which is enough for Hart to turn it over for the break. Hart gets in a suplex but can’t follow up so it’s time to chop away in the corner.

The Flair Flip sends Flair out to the floor and Hart (with his straps down) is back in to hammer away some more. The Sharpshooter goes on so Perfect pulls Flair over to the ropes. Hart this the backbreaker but Flair sends him over the top before grabbing a headlock back inside. Another slugout goes to Hart and he knocks Flair outside. This time Hart follows and has to backdrop his way out of a piledriver attempt but Perfect trips him up so only Flair beats the count at 19:19.

Rating: B. Gah I was having fun with this one and could have gone with another ten minutes of it after seeing what they were doing. Hart, who would have been something of an underdog here, was going move for move with Flair and it was great to see. It was turning into a chess match to see who would blink first and while I get that you don’t want to have either of them do a job, the ending was disappointing.

Alfred Hayes, with a bad Scottish accent, can’t fix the hyper drive.

From Corpus Christi, Texas, December 2, 1991.

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

Mr. Perfect is here with Flair, who has a censored title, which is clearly a Tag Team Title. Flair gets in an early WOO as commentary knows that this will be good, even if it is still Rockers Shawn. A headlock doesn’t get Shawn very far as Flair backs him against the ropes for more WOOing. Another headlock is backed into the corner so Flair can chop away, only to get headlocked down again.

Back up and Shawn knocks him hard to the floor, meaning Flair needs to calm things down. A suplex brings Flair back in and there’s another backdrop to put him down again. There’s the Flair Flip to the floor as Flair is looking like he’s going out of his way to make Shawn look good. Flair breaks up a sunset flip attempt hit falls down to give Shawn a breather.

A dropkick drops Flair with a kick and Shawn slams him off the top, setting up the fist drop for two. Shawn clotheslines him to the floor and tries a dive, only to hit barricade for the big crash. Cue Marty Jannetty (even Mooney wants to know why he wasn’t there at the start) to throw Shawn back in…and Flair pins him with feet on the ropes at 10:25.

Rating: B-. And this concludes the two match series that warrants this tape being uploaded. The ending here was more about advancing the Rockers’ split more than anything else, but Shawn looked good in defeat. The singles push was coming and it was clear that the company saw a lot in him, as did Flair.

Flair says woo.

From Corpus Christi, Texas, December 2, 1991.

Tag Team Titles: Beverly Brothers vs. Legion Of Doom

The Beverlys, with the Genius, are challenging. We get a staredown to start, with Blake strutting around Animal. A shove to Animal earns a bigger one back, with Blake crashing out to the floor. Back in and Blake’s front facelock is shoved off with raw power before Blake tries again, to similar success.

Beau comes in and gets Hawk to chase him, allowing some stomping on the way back in. Hawk is right back with his hangman’s neckbreaker but misses a charge into the post to send him outside. Back in and Blake hammers away, setting up a backbreaker for two. A collision gives Hawk a breather though and a double clothesline allows the big tag to Animal. The powerslam into the Doomsday Device retains the titles at 8:59.

Rating: C. Not much to see here but the match wasn’t bad. The Beverlys were a fine choice for a house show level team to challenge the monster champions and it worked well enough here. The problem with the Legion Of Doom as champions is finding teams to challenge them and that was on display here. It wasn’t a good match, but they did what they could.

Alfred Hayes has fixed the hyperdrive. Well at least he got the sirens to stop going off. And now, it’s off to the Andromeda Galaxy for….Sensational Sherri’s Manager Cam.

From Fort Myers, Florida, January 8, 1992.

Tito Santana vs. Ted DiBiase

Sherri is here with DiBiase and is mic’d up to yell about Santana so there is no commentary. They lock up and then shove each other to start, with Sherri yelling about her Teddy Bear. DiBiase takes over with….something we don’t see because the camera is on Sherri. Santana gets driven into the corner but backs off into the ropes, with Sherri shouting even more. A chase sends DiBiase outside where Santana slugs away (“PLEASE DON’T HURT MY TEDDY BEAR!”) and takes him back inside.

An atomic drop lets DiBiase do his great bump over the top but Sherri trips Santana up (“I GOT YOU!”) back inside. Santana gets sent outside for a slap and Sherri chokes on the ropes. An elbow drop has Sherri VERY interested before she stops to yell at the fans. Santana fights up and they brawl to the floor again, where he teases hitting Sherri. That earns him a shot in the back and it’s a double countout at 8:15.

Rating: C. This was all about Sherri and that was a rough sit. There was only so much that could be done, even by people as talented as DiBiase and Santana, when Sherri is ranting and raving the entire time. I get that it’s the point of the match but egads it just never stopped and got very annoying very fast. I like both of these guys but there was no way they were overcoming that screeching.

Post match the brawl continues, along with the screaming. Sherri tries a shoe shot but hits DiBiase by mistake.

Sean Mooney and Alfred Hayes are about to beam down to the planet, so let’s see a feature on the Nasty Boys.

The Nasty Boys go to a video store (oh how I miss those) and go to the stacked Coliseum Video section, where they complain about their tapes not being included. They spray the manager with silly string and order 3,500 Nasty Boy tapes as they take over the store.

From Huntington, West Virginia, October 1, 1991.

Hercules vs. Big Boss Man

Slick is here with Hercules, who grabs a headlock to start. A running shoulder puts Boss man down and a second one does it again. Boss Man is back with some slams and starts slugging away before going outside to deck Slick. Back in and the running crotch attack to the back hits Hercules but a second attempt misses (as all Hercules had to do was fall down).

A clothesline gives Hercules two but he spends too much time yelling at the camera and gets knocked down again. The slugout goes to Hercules and even Slick gets in some choking (to be fair, Boss Man might have damaged his awesome hat). Back up and Boss Man slugs away as well, setting up a splash for two. The Boss Man Slam finishes at 7:34.

Rating: C-. This was mainly punching and kicking but Boss Man was someone the fans were going to like no matter what he was doing. Hercules was mainly there to make other people look good and he did well enough here. Not a great match or even particularly good, but they hit each other hard enough to keep me interested.

From Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, September 10, 1991.

Million Dollar Title: Virgil vs. Ted DiBiase

DiBiase, with (a thankfully non-mic’d Sherri) is actually challenging and Randy Savage is guest referee. DiBiase’s missed charge lets Virgil hammer away to start and he knocks DiBiase out to the floor. Back in and Virgil hits some slams but charges into a boot in the corner. They head outside with Virgil being rammed into the steps before having his comeback cut off back inside.

A suplex gives DiBiase a rather slow two and gets in an argument with Savage as a result. DiBiase hits a backdrop but pulls him up at (another slow) two, meaning it’s time for more arguing. This time DiBiase decks him (knocking Savage’s hat off in the process, because Savage can referee in a hat) and grabs the Million Dollar Dream on Virgil. Savage is back in with an ax handle to DiBiase and Virgil gets the VERY delayed pin at 7:12.

Rating: D+. The match was dull in the first place but the ending was lame, as DiBiase was suddenly out cold off a single ax handle. This should have been Savage decking DiBiase from the floor and fast counting a rollup but instead it was just a weird way to go. It didn’t help that Virgil wasn’t very good in the ring and that was on full display here.

Mooney and Hayes are on the planet and it’s rather ugly.

From Austin Texas, December 4, 1991.

Undertaker/Jake Roberts vs. Jim Duggan/Randy Savage

No entrances for this one as they’re running out of time on the tape. Savage decks Roberts off the apron before the bell and gets a severe tongue lashing from Earl Hebner. Undertaker chokes Duggan in the corner to start but Duggan avoids a charge. A clothesline sends Undertaker outside and he stares up at Duggan, which has to be a bit unnerving. The Stunner over the top rope drops Duggan as we’re just waiting on the Savage vs. Roberts showdown.

Roberts comes in and gets his arm cranked so Savage gets the tag and starts kicking away. The top rope ax handle sends Roberts outside (making him tougher than Ted DiBiase) so it’s back to Undertaker to choke away. The elbow misses though and it’s back to Duggan to hammer away for what must have been a good ten seconds. Roberts is back in to knee him down but the DDT is broken up. Savage snaps (I know) and chairs Roberts for the DQ at 7:04.

Rating: C-. Another slow motion match though in this case at least it makes sense as you don’t want to have one of the two hottest heels get pinned. Savage vs. Roberts was a white hot feud at this point and that isn’t something that you can have do a fall here. Other than that, Duggan slugging away is a good thing and Undertaker is Undertaker but they didn’t have much time here.

Mooney and Hayes…are left on the planet as the ship leaves, seemingly dooming them forever to end the show. Nice ending.

Overall Rating: C. The Flair matches were good (shocking I know) but the rest was pretty drek. You could definitely feel the transition around this period and there was only so much worth seeing. The Hogan formula was feeling tired and the company needed some fresh stars. The Undertaker would certainly fit, but some of these names just don’t feel that interesting and it was a pretty weak sit with a bunch of dull matches.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Supertape II
Host: Sean Mooney
Commentators: Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, Gorilla Monsoon, Hillbilly Jim

It’s another Coliseum Video and another that I’ve seen more than a few times. This is from around 1990 and is the usual collection of house show matches and special features. In other words, it’s something that I can go for on any given day and there is a good chance that this will be fun. Let’s get to it.

Sean Mooney is in the studio and welcomes us to the tape, featuring a rundown of what is coming. On top of that we get a kind of spooky vice saying SUPERTAPE, which appears to be our theme for the tape. Uh, right.

From Chattanooga, Tennessee, January 3, 1990.

Jim Duggan vs. Randy Savage

Sherri is here with Savage and this is from Saturday Night’s Main Event, albeit with different commentary. Duggan isn’t having any of this waiting around and jumps him to start, with Savage taking quite the fall on the floor. Savage gets knocked down but comes back with a clothesline, as Duggan just stands there so Savage can hit him (that wasn’t good). They go outside with Savage knocking him around but the camera stays on Sherri and…..eh fair enough.

Back in and Savage misses a charge but Duggan misses an elbow to even it back up. Duggan knocks him to the floor, only to stop and glare at Sherri, allowing Savage a rather long breather. Back in and Duggan drops a knee for…well nothing as Sherri distracts the referee again.

Duggan knocks him outside again (ok we get it) but Sherri gets in a rake to the back and we’re clipped (as there was a commercial on the original broadcast) to Duggan knocking Savage out of the air. Sherri slips in the loaded purse though and Savage knocks him silly (well sillier) for two. The three point clothesline sends Savage to the floor so Duggan suplexes him back inside, only for Sherri to trip Duggan down. Savage puts his feet on the ropes for the pin at 8:42.

Rating: B-. These two were having a good match as Duggan knew how to turn his incredibly basic offense into an entertaining spectacle. Sherri was a good foil on the floor as well and of course Savage can work well with anyone. It wasn’t like Duggan was ever going to be the top star, but dang the fans got behind him when they were given the chance.

Post match Duggan hits Savage with the board to blow off some steam.

We get a profile on the Rockers, starting with a promo from the two talking about the teams they have fought in their two years in the WWF. They’ll take on anyone and they play as hard as they work.

From New York City, New York, January 15, 1990.

Rockers vs. Powers Of Pain

Mr. Fuji is here with the Powers Of Pain. Barbarian shoves Shawn across the ring to start in quite the nice power display. For some reason Shawn’s high five to Marty doesn’t count as a tag so Barbarian gets to shove Shawn around a few more times. A shoulder puts Shawn down again but Marty comes in for the save to take over. Shawn comes in off the top to get in a shot on the arm, followed by a double superkick.

A double clothesline drops Warlord and we get some Rockers posing as the villains take a breather. Back in and Warlord slowly hammers away, only for Marty to dropkick him into a hurricanrana. Warlord hammers Marty back down and a heck of a powerbomb drops him again. A rather high backdrop gives Warlord two and it’s off to Barbarian for a jumping headbutt to the back. Fuji even gets in a cheap shot from the floor, with the distraction having Shawn teasing a punch to the referee.

We hit the bearhug (you knew that was coming) but Marty fights out and hits a middle rope shot to the face. Barbarian is back with a powerslam to plant Marty, only to miss the middle rope elbow. The tag brings in Shawn to clean house, including an assisted sunset flip for two on Warlord. Everything breaks down and Barbarian it set into Marty, leaving Fuji to cane Shawn. Barbarian drops the elbow for the pin at 9:58.

Rating: C+. This was a power vs. speed match and that is always going to work, but at the same time, it was a weird choice for the Power Of Pain to win in a profile about the Rockers. That’s not exactly a great way to go, but the Rockers did get to do some of their usual fast paced stuff. Maybe just do that with a match where they actually win?

Post match Shawn dropkicks Fuji and gets laid out. Marty gets taken out s well, with something like a top rope Hart Attack. Shawn finally gets a chair for the save.

The Rockers introduce another match because they’re tag team specialists.

From Rochester, New York, June 28, 1989.

Rockers vs. Greg Valentine/Dino Bravo

Jimmy Hart is here with the villains. Marty and Bravo start things off with Bravo grinding away on a headlock. Shawn comes in off a blind tag to dropkick Bravo into Marty’s slam though, setting up Marty’s dropkick which doesn’t seem to come close. That means a breather on the floor before valentine comes back in to hammer (naturally) on Michaels. That’s broken up and Marty comes in to take over on Bravo.

A monkey flip has Bravo in trouble but he knocks Marty down, allowing Valentine to hit a double stomp. Marty gets a double elbow to the face but manages to kick the Figure Four attempt off. Valentine isn’t having the comeback though and knocks him down, setting up an elbow for two more. Marty finally fights his way out and brings Shawn in to quite the reaction as the comeback is on.

A suplex gets two on Valentine and Hart gets knocked off the apron. The double dropkick hits Bravo and the double top rope fist drop gets two as Valentine makes the save. Shawn and Bravo collide for a double down and Valentine puts Bravo on top for two. Marty comes back in and gets an O’Connor Roll but Valentine hits a clothesline so Bravo can get the pin at 11:40.

Rating: B-. This picked up near the end and that was nice to see but it did go a good while, especially with a thrown together team like Bravo and Valentine. That being said, again, you might want to give the Rockers a win rather than finding new ways for them to lose. It’s not like the Rockers were some terrible team who never won anything so there should be a lot to choose from for the profile.

Post match Ronnie Garvin, a referee feuding with Valentine, comes down to say Valentine cheated and the decision is reversed. Call it a big win I guess?

A fan wants to see Hercules vs. Akeem. Since she doesn’t like Akeem’s dancing, Akeem won’t talk to her, but Hercules is happy to have her support.

From Portland, Maine, August 30, 1989.

Hercules vs. Akeem

Slick is here with Akeem, who bails as Hercules swings his chain. Akeem dances around and knocks Hercules into the corner, only for Hercules to rain down some right hands. Hercules knocks him out to the floor and we’re already hitting the stall button. Slick gets knocked down and Akeem has to hold him back, which has Hayes almost losing it on commentary.

Back in and they tease a boxing match, with Akeem’s gyrating not really working. Some left hands and a wind up right hand stagger Akeem but a slam isn’t going to happen. Hercules hammers away again and we go to some weird camera shot with the corners cut off. A running knee and a clothesline both put Akeem down…but Slick low bridges Hercules for the DQ at 5:00.

Rating: D+. This was a case where they did what they could and that was only going to get them so far. Ultimately, there isn’t much that Hercules can do with Akeem because Akeem is just that big. That leaves you with Hercules punching him for about three minutes and then getting a knockdown but since they can’t do anything else, they have the lame finish. It’s not a good match, but they did about as much as they could, including that awesome Akeem dancing.

Post match Akeem goes for the splash but Hercules rolls away and hits the big slam. Now why couldn’t they just do that for a finish?

We get a Call Of The Action segment, meaning Alfred Hayes watches clips of an Orient Express squash and names some moves. As in things like “forearm” and “leapfrog”, or if you want to get really technical, a “knuckle blow” or “jump karate kick”. And yes, he does go over the names twice in case you missed them. Ignore Hayes switching from “jump karate kick” to “karate jump kick” in a segment about getting the names of moves right and talking about THE SAME MOVES.

The Orient Express, with Mr. Fuji, are ready to hurt Demolition. Especially Ax for some reason.

From New York City, New York, March 19, 1990.

Demolition vs. Orient Express

Gorilla talks about how Demolition is in line for a possible three peat as Tag Team Champions, which he has never seen before. Not only has he seen it, but he saw it with Mr. Fuji, who is here with the Express. Smash wastes no time in punching Tanaka down and it’s off to Ax to crank on the neck.

Sato comes in and gets whipped into the corner as Gorilla talks about Fuji being a two or three time Tag Team Champion (it was five), including with Professor Tanaka, with whom he held the titles three times. So Gorilla remembers the team, knows that Fuji was a multiple time champion, but not that it was a three peat. Bobby Heenan would never do that. Tanaka comes back in and gets knocked down again, setting up a backbreaker for a quick two.

Ax comes in to stay on the arm but it’s back to Smash, who gets karated up against the ropes so the villains can take over. Fuji must have helped them with his completely forgettable tag team experience. We get some kind of cheap shot from Tanaka, which the camera completely misses, leaving commentary totally confused at what happened. Fuji gets in a cane shot and the beating continues, to the point where Ax comes in to hammer away and blow off some steam.

Ax trying to come in again lets the Express get in some more double teaming, which consists of hitting Smash a few more times. That’s broken up with a single clothesline out of the corner though and it’s Ax coming back in to clean house. A powerslam gets two on Sato as everything breaks down. Fuji breaks up the Decapitator with another cane shot and Sato adds some salt to the eyes for the countout at 10:57.

Rating: C. Demolition loses to the Orient Express less than two weeks before getting the Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania? In theory that would set up a title rematch down the line, but dang that’s a weird way to treat the #1 contenders so close to a major match. This was only ok anyway, as Demolition never felt like they were in any real danger and mainly shrugged off all of the chops and kicks.

From New York City, New York, March 19, 1990.

Rick Martel vs. Bret Hart

Same show as the previous match and this should be a bit better. Martel knocks him into the corner to start but Hart is right back up to knock him to the floor, allowing Monsoon to talk about the “external occipital protuberance”. Back in and Martel misses a charge into the corner, allowing Hart to work on the arm a bit. The armbar goes on as Monsoon thinks these two are going to do rather well with the ladies.

A backslide gives Hart two and we’re right back to the armbar. As Hillbilly Jim tries to figure out where he would fit in over in Europe (Hayes doesn’t think it would work), Martel leverages Hart out to the floor. Jim accepts that he can’t go due to the lack of possum pie as Martel can’t pose due to the banged up arm.

A suplex brings Hart back in and we hit the abdominal stretch to give Monsoon an opening to complain about the lack of a leg hook. Hart gets in his own suplex into a backbreaker for two and Martel needs a breather on the floor. Back in and Hart hits a dropkick but he doesn’t have the Sharpshooter yet so it’s a stomp to the ribs for two instead. Martel bails to the floor and it’s a time limit draw at 12:02. The full match runs about 22 minutes so that’s a heck of a trim job.

Rating: B-. I could go for seeing the whole thing as they were having some good chemistry out there. Hart was clearly getting a look for a rather eventual solo run, even if it was over a year away at this point. What mattered here was letting Hart show what he could do and Martel was a great choice to make that work as he really was that talented.

Post match Hart beats him up again.

We get a profile on Slick, who talks about how he is the greatest of the great. This means a quick montage of Slick dancing and cheating, set to the still outstanding Jive Soul Bro. That’s not much of a profile.

From New York City, New York, December 28, 1989.

Rick Rude vs. Roddy Piper

Inside a cage, with a new rule of being able to win via pinfall. They start fast with Rude being sent into the cage as commentary is surprised by the idea of a referee in there. Piper whips away with a belt, setting up an atomic drop to keep rude in (amusing) trouble. Rude is sent into the cage as it’s all Piper so far. Piper goes up but gets cut off (with his trunks coming down) by the rather bloody Rude.

Some forearms keep Piper down but he’s fine enough to pull Rude back in, with the tights coming way off to bring up the blurred image. Back in and Piper hammers away but gets caught in a quick Rude Awakening. Rude can’t follow up though as he’s still blinded by the blood in his eyes (and the blur on the upper half of his tights, only for Piper to almost get out as a result. They both go up and fight on top of the cage before climbing down on the outside.

A double ram into the cage lets them come crashing down and they hit at the exact same time (we need Jesse Ventura to say one of their legs were straight). The match must continue, so Rude hits him with a chair and they go back inside, where hopefully Rude will pull hits freaking tights up already. Rude goes to the top of the cage and hits a top rope fist drop, leaving Piper vibrating in what looks like a Hogan impression.

That’s only good for a rather delayed two so Rude goes up again, only to get crotched down on top. Piper goes for the door but Heenan slams it onto his head, allowing Rude to hit a belly to back suplex. Heenan throws in some brass knuckles but Piper takes them away and knocks Rude out, allowing him to go through the door for the win at 12:53.

Rating: B+. These two worked very well together and they had a heck of a match here, with both guys beating the fire out of each other. It felt like a big blowoff between the two of them, which is what a cage match at MSG should be. You don’t see Piper getting big wins like this very often but dang did it worth. Check this out if you want an old school cage match between two legends.

And now, Bloopers, which are totally not staged in any way. This includes a bunch of scenes of Monsoon and Heenan at Busch Gardens, which don’t feel like bloopers as much as them doing their usual stuff. It also goes on way too long, with one of the only highlights being Monsoon dressed as Brother Love for Halloween.

From New York City, New York, February 19, 1990.

Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake vs. Mr. Perfect/The Genius

Perfect actually takes Hogan down to start and sends him outside, only for Perfect to stomp away as he comes back in. Hogan gets in a shot of his own though and it’s off to Beefcake for a double noggin knocker on the floor. Back in and a right hand gets two on Perfect and Hogan comes in for the back rake (villain).

Beefcake’s high knee connects and commentary talks about golf for some reason. They go outside though and Perfect gets in a shot with Genius’ metal scroll, followed by a ram into the barricade. The fans are RIGHT THERE to cheer for Hogan and it’s Genius coming in for some rather dainty rakes to the back. Hogan fights up and hands it off to Beefcake for the running knee on Perfect, followed by the sleeper. Genius gets in a scroll shot though, allowing Hogan to chase him to the back (Hillbilly: “That’s right, you better run.”).

Hogan has to run back to break up a VERY slow count as Genius is back on the apron. Heenan asks Jim about horseshoes as Genius rakes Beefcake’s eyes, allowing Perfect to come back in. The slow beating continues with the referee not seeing the tag to Hogan, allowing Beefcake to get knocked back into the corner. Hogan breaks up the PerfectPlex and gets the tag to start cleaning house. Everything breaks down and the big boot into the legdrop finishes Genius at 15:10.

Rating: C-. Long, dull match here with the heat segment on Beefcake feeling like it was going on forever. The fans were into it though and that helps, but this needed to be about five minutes shorter to really work. Heenan needling Hillbilly on commentary was funny but that’s about the only high point for the whole thing.

Post match Genius is put to sleep and gets some more of his hair cut.

Mooney wraps it up and finds out that it was….the sign guy who was messing with the spooky SUPERTAPE deal. That’s stupid.

Overall Rating: B-. There are some bad spots in here, but for the most part this worked rather well. It’s a good era for the company with all kinds of star power and the cage match is definitely worth a look. The main event needs some work but other than that and Hercules vs. Akeem, nothing on here is bad. Check this one out if you get the chance as I had a fun time with some nice flashbacks.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 11, 1993
Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 1,000
Commentators: Randy Savage, Vince McMahon, Rob Bartlett

So you might have seen this one before, as it is the premiere episode of the series as part of the celebration of the move over to Netflix. I’ve seen this one more than a few times but to call it historic would be an understatement, even if it might not have felt that way at the time. Let’s get to it.

Sean Mooney is outside and welcomes us to the show. Bobby Heenan tries to get inside but is told he’s been replaced by Rob Bartlett. There are no tickets left and he’s not getting in through the press entrance so yelling ensues.

Opening sequence.

Commentary runs down the card and Bartlett is already not funny.

Yokozuna vs. Koko B. Ware

Bartlett goes straight to the fat jokes, including saying Yokozuna has an “a** like amphitheater”. Ware gets shoved down a few times so he tries to get the fans behind him with the rhythmic clapping. That doesn’t work either, which shouldn’t be a major shock. The running shoulders have Ware bouncing off of Yokozuna and the big leg connects. Yokozuna crushes him in the corner and hits the Banzai Drop for the pin at 3:44.

Rating: C-. This was more the answer to a trivia question than anything else, with Yokozuna still being new around here and getting to destroy someone in the first match ever on Raw. There isn’t much to say about it either, as Ware was more known for his large pants at this point than anything else. Nothing match, and Bartlett’s jokes made it that much worse.

Bobby Heenan is very excited about Narcissus (Lex Luger, later named the Narcissist). Mr. Perfect is scared of the Narcissus, who will be debuted at the Royal Rumble.

Steiner Brothers vs. Executioners

Scott hammers on #1 to start before handing it off to Rick for more of the same. #1 is sent into the corner as Doink The Clown is walking through the fans. Rick sends #1 into the post and grabs a belly to belly. Scott hits another one and the Steiner Bulldog finishes at 2:59. Total destruction.

Bobby Heenan, in drag, can’t get inside. Where did he get that costume?

Here is Razor Ramon for an interview with Vince McMahon. He’s ready to get the WWF Title from Bret Hart at the Royal Rumble and will win the title way faster than Bret ever did. We see a clip of Razor attacking Owen Hart on WWF Mania and now it’s time for him to take the title from Bret. Simple and to the point here, even if the title match was nothing memorable.

There is a Headlock On Hunger show coming up and Randy Savage doesn’t seem to have the card in front of him in a weird bit.

Tatanka is ready for the Headlock On Hunger.

Intercontinental Title: Max Moon vs. Shawn Michaels

Michaels is defending. Feeling out process to start as Bartlett makes an unfunny joke about a WWF version of an upcoming movie. Moon starts jumping over him and takes Michaels down with a jumping hammerlock to take over. We take a break and come back with Bartlett talking about Michaels pulling a knife during the break. Michaels drops him throat first across the top rope…and Doink walks out again as Bartlett “calls in” as Mike Tyson.

Michaels hammers away as the Tyson thing finally wraps up and we hit the chinlock. Moon fights up and sends him to the floor for a seated senton off the apron. Back in and the Tyson bit goes on again as Bartlett somehow does not get that it’s dying out there. Michaels hits the superkick and teardrop superkick to retain at 11:23.

Rating: C. This is a rare care where the match was fine but my goodness commentary dragged it WAY down. There was nothing funny about this and while I’m sure the Tyson impression made Vince laugh, it was distracting and another level of terrible. The match was ok, but no one watching was going to be able to focus on it because of the Tyson nonsense. Stop doing that.

Ad for WWF Mania. I could go for seeing some of that just for the flashbacks.

We get the Royal Rumble Report, with a focus on Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty. Michaels isn’t sure why Jannetty is getting a title shot, but Jannetty implies that Sherri will turn on Michaels during the match. That’s pretty much the story, with the Rockers not being mentioned.

Mr. Perfect is ready to win the Royal Rumble.

Mr. Fuji, with Yokozuna, is ready to crush everyone.

Jim Duggan isn’t sure if he’ll win, but he’ll give it all he’s got. Him winning the match a mere five years ago isn’t mentioned.

People are trying to get tickets for next week. Bobby Heenan’s beard disguise doesn’t work. Maybe he’ll try the roof.

We look at Kamala’s face turn over the weekend, as Reverend Slick convinces him to stand up to Harvey Wippleman and Kim Chee. If you need help standing up to those two goons, you’re already a lost cause.

Undertaker vs. Damian Demento

Undertaker starts fast and knocks him down, setting up Old School. Demento gets a boot up in the corner and hits a running shoulder to put Undertaker down again. That’s shrugged off and the Tombstone finishes Demento at 2:25.

Next week in a cage match: Woody Allen vs. Mia Farrow. I have no idea who this is supposed to appeal to but….no.

Doink The Clown isn’t scared of Crush, who comes out for a chase.

Heenan is allowed in as the show ends.

Overall Rating: C-. This is one of those shows where it is far more historic than memorable on its own. I’ve seen it a bunch of times over the years and there really isn’t anything that great on the whole thing. The wrestling is average at best and nothing on here makes you think it’s a special show.

At the same time, Bartlett is an absolute miss here and dragged the show WAY down. Now, that being said, I have seen a comment from Bartlett, who basically said he knew he was terrible in the role, but as a comedian, you can’t turn down a live mic on national television. Fair enough, but man alive did it not work. Overall, not a particularly good show, but that’s absolutely not the point here. This was about “this is the beginning” and that would be a huge understatement.

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WWF’s Hottest Matches
Host: Sean Mooney
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes

This is another Coliseum Video from the WWE Vault and of course I’m going to give it a shot. It’s one of those compilation tapes that was thrown together, often from dark matches with some commentary added. In other words, there is a grand total of no telling how good this might be. Let’s get to it.

Sean Mooney welcomes us to the show and gives us a quick rundown. This seems to be from late summer to fall 1990.

From Glens Falls, New York on April 4, 1990.

Rick Martel vs. Tito Santana

Apparently Heenan is wearing Arrogance and Monsoon isn’t a fan. What would a gorilla know about smelling nice? Santana takes Martel up to the ropes to start and messes with his hair a bit, which can’t be fair. Martel tries to go after him for a change and gets hiptossed, followed by some dropkicks to send Martel bailing to the floor, where it’s time for some jaw rubbing. Back in and Martel sends him face first into the buckle but misses a running knee. Santana starts in on the leg with some cannonballs down onto it, followed by some general cranking.

That’s broken up with some choking on the mat, which sets up some choking in the corner. Back up and Martel’s leg gives out on a leapfrog so Santana wraps it around the post (what a hero). The Figure Four is blocked, with commentary arguing (as only they can) about which leg Santana should be spinning.

Santana fights up and sends him face first into the buckle seven (not ten, but seven) times. Martel misses a middle rope spinning crossbody and the flying forearm sends him crashing out to the floor. The referee gets in Santana’s way so Santana shoves him down, meaning it’s a shot of Arrogance to the eyes to give Martel the pin at 9:40. Heenan to Monsoon: “YOU OWE ME DINNER!”

Rating: B. What is there to say here? Two talented wrestlers with a history had a good match, with the villain cheating to win. That’s always going to work and it was a perfectly fine story. This felt like a case where they were told to go do something and it went well, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. The surprising part is that they never got a big blowoff, though it was scheduled for Summerslam 1990 until Martel got hurt.

We get a history of the WWF Tag Team Titles, starting with Demolition winning the titles from Strike Force at Wrestlemania IV, with Alfred Hayes talking about the aspects that come together to make a successful team. In short, they need to work well together. That’s the British analysis that makes wrestling seem so simple. Granted in this case Demolition cheated by using Mr. Fuji’s cane so it’s even more basic than it seems.

Then we move on to the Colossal Connection beating Demolition to win the titles at the end of 1989.

Then Demolition got the titles back at Wrestlemania VI. For some reason Hayes describes this as an “unprecedented” third reign, which is just wrong. Heck, their former manager Mr. Fuji was half of the first team to do it!

Then the Hart Foundation won the titles at Summerslam 1990. There is no mention of Crush being added to Demolition as he’s just kind of there now. That being said, the pop for the Harts winning the titles is one of the best ever and something I’ll still throw on for the sake of a smile.

So this whole thing was just a recap of the last two and a half years of the titles, with the Brainbusters’ title reign only being mentioned in passing.

From Toronto, Ontario, Canada on June 17, 1990.

Orient Express vs. Rockers

This should be good and Mr. Fuji is here with the Express. The Rockers start fast and send the Express into each other, setting up stereo hiptosses. The stereo dropkicks don’t happen though as Marty throws a right hand instead, though we’re probably lucky he remembered to put on his boots.

We settle down to Tanaka cheap shotting Michaels to start but Michaels twists on the arm to cut that off. Marty drops a splash on the arm before they trade leapfrogs, only for Marty to take him down by the arm again. Another cheap shot lets Sato come in off a non-existent tag and work on Marty’s arm for a change. Ever the good referee, Danny Davis won’t let Marty throw a punch, allowing Sato to pull him down by the hair and switch with Tanaka without a tag.

Back up and Marty manages to ram them into each other and then start in on Sato’s arm for a change. Michaels grabs a neckbreaker and, yes, works on the arm again. Marty comes in and gets kicked in the back of the head to take him down. A superkick sends Marty outside and of course Fuji is right there with a cane shot, like all bowler wearing managers should be. Back in and Sato kicks him in the head for two and Tanaka does the same for the same.

The chinlock goes on and despite Marty’s arm laying on the rope, the referee doesn’t break it up. This guy might not be very good at his job. The slow strikes set up another chinlock until Marty fights up for a sunset flip. Ever the good partner, Tanaka is right there for a save before even a one count. A clothesline finally gets Marty over for the tag and house is quickly cleaned. Everything breaks down and they fight to the floor, with only the Rockers beating the count back in at 12:08.

Rating: C+. Well it wasn’t great and they’re definitely capable of doing better, but these teams worked well together and that was the case again here. Even when they were doing something as basic as working the arm and a lot of chinlocks, they were moving around well enough to keep me interested. Not one of their best, but I’ll take it for a house show match.

And now, a fan favorite match!

From Niagara Falls, New York on June 27, 1989.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Greg Valentine

Dusty wins a shove off to start before Valentine works on the arm. An elbow to the head gives us the TIMBER fall from Valentine, who needs some help from Jimmy Hart on the floor. Back in and Rhodes strikes away with as much speed as you would expect, only to miss the big elbow. Valentine’s elbows to the head work rather well and we hit the chinlock. Back up and some more shots to the head wake Rhodes up, to the point where he scores with a dropkick.

Right hands and chops put Valentine down but Rhodes can’t get his terrible Figure Four. Valentine slowly hammers away and we hit the chinlock for a bit. Rhodes fights up again and, again, hammers away until he runs into a knee in the corner. Hart tries to go up top but referee Ronnie Garvin isn’t having that. Rhodes gets what can generously be described as a rollup for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: D. If this is a Fan Favorite match, I’d like to sign up for an Enemies Hate match as it has to be better. This was two guys slowly hitting each other and a bad looking cradle for the pin. I get that Rhodes was all about the talking, but you need to be able to do something in the ring to back it up and that just wasn’t the case here.

This month’s profile is on Jake Roberts, meaning we get another Hayes narrated intro.

From Binghamton, New York on June 6, 1990.

Jake Roberts vs. Akeem

Slick is here with Akeem as this is a rather tall match. Roberts works on the arm to start but gets shouldered down. The threat of a DDT sends Akeem outside (common result in Roberts matches) before Roberts gets back to the arm back inside. Akeem shrugs that off and powers him down again, with a running crotch attack to the back crushing Roberts. A missed charge into the corner…doesn’t do much damage to Akeem as he backdrops Roberts. Back up and Roberts hammers away but Slick breaks up another DDT attempt, only to get sent into Akeem for the DQ at 6:29.

Rating: C-. Well it was better than Rhodes and Valentine, if nothing else because Roberts can move around a bit faster. Akeem didn’t do much more here than the usual big man offense, but what else were you expecting from him? Slick helped here, if nothing else due to how amazing he looked in a green suit.

Post match Slick gets DDTed but Akeem cuts off the snake treatment.

Roberts talks about Ted DiBiase wanting the Million Dollar Title back and it just happens to be inside the snake bag. We see a bunch of snakes, including a rattlesnake and a cobra, who might be waiting in the bag with the title.

From Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on December 14, 1989.

Jake Roberts vs. Ted DiBiase

Virgil is here with DiBiase and they double team Roberts before and at the bell, as again the referee is just fine with all of this. Roberts clotheslines them both down and slugs away at DiBiase to take over fast. A DDT attempt sends DiBiase bailing to the floor and we slow down a bit.

Back in and DiBiase avoids another try at the DDT so we can stall some more. Virgil (whose hand is in a cast) offers a distraction which doesn’t work as Roberts sees DiBiase coming in and immediately stares at him. For the third time (we’re just over three minutes in), DiBiase bails outside to avoid the DDT. This time Roberts shoves the two of them together and chases Virgil, allowing DiBiase to get in an elbow to finally take over. DiBiase gets smart by going after the recently repaired neck with some elbows and knees to said neck.

The stalling in between has the fans rather angry, which shows you how much you can get out of actually working the crowd. The front facelock stays on the neck before DiBiase walks around a bit more. DiBiase grabs the facelock again and, after Roberts fights out, drops a middle rope ax handle to cut him off. Roberts manages a quick swinging neckbreaker and they’re both down. Back up and Roberts takes out Virgil before hitting the short arm clothesline. The DDT is loaded up but Virgil comes in for the DQ at 12:37.

Rating: C. Another slow match which would have been better with about five fewer minutes. These two should have had some great chemistry together but for some reason it just never clicked. That was the case again here and it really only kind of worked, with DiBiase taunting the crowd to some nice success but little more.

Post match the beatdown is on with DiBiase hitting Roberts with some money. Roberts fights up and drops Virgil before knocking DiBiase outside and chasing him away. The DDT lays out Virgil and we get the snake treatment.

From Fresno, California on August 9, 1989.

Brutus Beefcake vs. Haku

Bobby Heenan is here with Haku. After a minute and a half of stalling, Heenan offers a distraction so Haku can send Beefcake into the corner to start. The jumping knee and a running knee send Haku to the corner, where he bites the face to come back. Some choking has Heenan rather pleased and we hit the chinlock.

Haku chokes even more and rakes the eyes to cut off Beefcake’s weird double punches. A missed elbow lets Beefcake hit some slams and a backdrop…doesn’t exactly work and winds up as more of a flapjack. The sleeper goes on (the fans approve) but Heenan comes in for the DQ at 8:44.

Rating: C-. This was a weird one as the wrestling itself is really dull and generic (Haku was running out of ways to choke), not to mention this being the third straight match that ended with the manager coming in for the DQ. The thing is though the fans were entirely into this and wanted to see Beefcake win. It was a really basic match but the fans cared and that’s worth a lot of points.

Post match the beatdown is on but Beefcake grabs the clippers to chase them off.

We get a profile on Sensational Sherri, who does not like being called a manager. She takes care of Randy Savage’s kingdom wherever it goes, from getting him plane tickets to tasting his food so nothing happens to his perfect body. Sherri is more than a manager, because she is a woman who screeches to the top of her lungs. So there’s your profile!

From San Antonio, Texas on April 24, 1990.

Shawn Michaels vs. Ted DiBiase

Marty Jannetty and Virgil are here too. DiBiase snaps off some armdrags to start and Michaels seems to realize he might be in some trouble. Michaels grabs a headlock into some armdrags of his own, with DiBiase rolling outside as Michaels is rather pleased that it worked. Back in and a headlock takeover puts DiBiase down, where he grabs the tights for some rollups rather than just lay on the mat.

It works so well that they do the sequence again as they’re starting basic but keeping it moving. Michaels gets driven into the corner before charging into a boot, allowing DiBiase to drop the punches. Choking sets up the chinlock as commentary bickers about Virgil’s level of stoogery. DiBiase throws him outside, where Virgil gets in some slaps with money, which doesn’t seem sanitary.

Back in and a suplex gives DiBiase two and we’re right back to the chinlock (he likes that one). The falling middle rope elbow misses though and Michaels stars the comeback, with a clothesline and dropkick getting two. A high crossbody gives Michaels the same but Virgil’s trip has Marty giving chase. DiBiase throws him out like it’s the 1990 Royal Rumble but everyone brawls in the ring for a double DQ at 14:44.

Rating: C+. Oh come on with these DQ’s already. Let someone get a rollup or a fluke pin or ANYTHING other than someone coming in for the DQ. Michaels was still a tag wrestler at this point and losing to someone the caliber of DiBiase wasn’t going to hurt him. The match was good enough as you would expect but the ending was more annoying than anything else.

Post match the Rockers clean house without much trouble. The ring announcer calls it a double countout, with Monsoon losing it on commentary until it’s corrected to a double DQ.

We go to the gym for a workout with Power & Glory. They lift weights and brag about their muscles. A lot. Like quite a lot. Probably too much really. Of note: there are trees visible outside of the window. I wonder if this was filmed in Vince McMahon’s home gym.

From Huntington, West Virginia on June 26, 1990.

Randy Savage/Queen Sherri vs. Dusty Rhodes/Sapphire

Brother Love and Miss Elizabeth (the latter accompanied by Pat Patterson) are here too. We hit the stall button for a good while to start, with the men getting in an OH YEAH off. Savage holds back Love from a threatening Rhodes before the women officially get things started. Sherri’s kicks are caught and she misses a charge, with Sapphire throwing her down. Love offers a distraction so Savage can cheat a bit, earning himself an elbow from Rhodes.

Sherri’s dress comes up and Monsoon is VERY confused by what he sees. Savage bails out to the floor before coming back in and getting elbowed in the face. Love’s distraction lets Savage fight back, setting up the top rope ax handle. The sleeper keeps Rhodes down, with Sherri dropping to the apron and hammering on the mat, with even Heenan not being sure why she’s so anxious. Rhodes fights up and he punches Savage out of the air, only for Love to break it up again.

The running crotch attack misses for Savage so Rhodes goes after Love, earning himself a knee from Sherri. Love accidentally misses Sherri and they go back inside, with Rhodes grabbing his own sleeper. That’s broken up with Love hitting him with what looks like Sherri’s loaded purse. The double tag brings in the women, with Sapphire falling on Sherri for two. Everything breaks down and Savage knees Love off the apron by mistake. Sherri loads up the purse again but Elizabeth takes it away and knocks Sherri cold to give Sapphire the pin at 10:27.

Rating: B. This was an absolute blast with nothing resembling a serious match. They just had a good time with everyone doing their thing and Sherri and Love being little more than slapstick villains. Sherri did her thing and the shot at the end was great. It was terrible from a wrestling perspective but egads I had a great time with this one.

The winners leave and Sherri DOES NOT MOVE in a funny bit. She finally staggers out, stealing the show as usual.

Sean Mooney’s papers catch on fire (the running gag for the show is that the studio keeps getting hotter, which wasn’t mentioned due to reasons of stupidity) and he can’t figure out the fire extinguisher to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The opener was good and the last match helped, but dang this was a rough sit at times. There was that way too long string of disqualifications and the Tag Team Title thing felt like a waste of time. That being said, I can only get so mad at a Coliseum Video with two rather good matches, even if almost everything else in the middle was pretty much nothing. This wasn’t a good time for the company and that was on display here. If you need a sign of that, note that the Ultimate Warrior, the WWF Champion at this time, is nowhere to be found. That can’t be a good sign and this wasn’t an overly good tape.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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