Monday Night Raw – December 11, 1995: GET TO JANUARY ALREADY!
Monday Night Raw Date: December 11, 1995 Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,500 Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
It’s the go home show for In Your House V and thank goodness for that. This show will see Bret Hart facing Bob Backlund in a non-title match which could range anywhere from a great display of wrestling psychology to one of the most boring matches you’ll see this year. Other than that we’re probably in for some bad wrestling from one note characters. Let’s get to it.
Vince and the King talk about how Bob Backlund is spreading a disease called the crossface chickenwing and Bret Hart hopes to have the cure.
Shawn Michaels will talk tonight.
Opening sequence.
Owen Hart vs. Jeff Hardy
Owen has Yokozuna, Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji in his corner. A knee to the ribs puts Jeff down as we see Diesel watching in the back. Owen punches him in the ropes and a missile dropkick makes things even worse. Hart teases the Sharpshooter but decides to just cover Jeff to make him obsolete.
Post match Yokozuna hits a Banzai Drop to leave Hardy broken. Am I allowed to say that? Owen gives him a bonus Sharpshooter, drawing out Diesel for the save. I can always go with a fired up Diesel hitting people at a run.
Aja Kong vs. Chapparita Asari
Asari is rather tiny, especially next to the monster Kong. Things start fast with Asari handspringing into back to back mule kicks, only to be run over by a Vader style standing splash. A hard right hand to the face sets up a harder suplex to plant Asari. Kong goes a bit ahead of her time with a package piledriver for two as King makes fat jokes because men in wrestling are horrible people. Aja misses a splash but avoids the Sky Twister Press (it’s as cool as it sounds) and SMASHES Asari with a spinning backfist for the pin and a lot of blood from Asari’s nose.
Rating: B. This was a squash but sweet goodness Aja Kong looked amazing with those hard hitting shots. Asari was destroyed but when your two moves are a handspring mule kick and the Sky Twister Press, I can only be so critical. Kong probably would have been Women’s Champion after beating Alundra Blayze if Alundra wasn’t a week away from trashing the title on Nitro.
Todd Pettengill sits down with Shawn Michaels, who says he’s feeling better and his symptoms are going away. Shawn thinks he’s awesome but Todd cuts him off by saying he had a great career without being WWF World Champion. Michaels says he’s got goals to achieve but Todd mentions retirement and Shawn is done talking.
Ahmed Johnson vs. Rick Stockhauser
The spinebuster and Pearl River Plunge wrap up the jobber in about a minute.
Post match Johnson says he’s ready for Dean Douglas but calls himself a man of few words. No arguments there.
And now, the bizarre portion of our show. We go to a kid looking at a police lineup consisting of Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, Hakushi, another wrestler and a normal person in Santa Claus outfits. The kid identifies the one in the middle as the man who told him that smoking is good for you, all wrestlers are wimps and SANTA CLAUS ISN’T REAL. The wrestlers then procede to BEAT THE MAN HALF TO DEATH, including Razor loading him up for a Razor’s Edge on the concrete floor. “Happy Holidays from the WWF!”
Raw Bowl ad. I still have no idea why I’m supposed to be interested in a football themed show, but I could go for Freddie Blassie as a football coach every day.
Here are Ted DiBiase, Sid and the 1-2-3 Kid for a chat. DiBiase says they’re one big happy family and Razor isn’t going to get his hands on the Kid without Sid being right there waiting on him. Kid knows you don’t worry about the fans because all that matters is the money you make from winning. Sid is ready for anything Razor and Jannetty can do because he and Kid are family. The beating is going to be fun and Sid is going to enjoy it. That’s about it as this feud really isn’t doing much for me.
Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart
Non-title. British Bulldog’s wife/Bret’s sister Diana Smith is in the audience. Bret takes it to the mat to start and Backlund bails to the ropes. A headscissors slows Bret down but he comes right back with a front facelock. We go split screen to see Lawler interviewing Diana Smith and she doesn’t have much to say, as usual. To be fair she wasn’t a performer and it’s not fair to expect her to be a great talker.
The dull wrestling continues as the lights seem to get dark, implying that the fans are leaving. We take a quick break and come back with Bob holding his back on the floor. Bob starts in on the arm with the chickenwing but Bret is quickly in the ropes. Lawler spends this section of the match talking about music as we hit the armbar on Bret.
A Fujiwara Armbar kills even more time and we hear about Frank Sinatra’s birthday. The armbarring continues as this is dying before my eyes. Not before the fans’ eyes as they’re likely asleep at home by this point. Another break takes us to Bret coming back with his usual but Bulldog comes in for the DQ.
Rating: D. For a pairing that should give you a dream match, these two really don’t put up great matches most of the time they’re together. Maybe it’s the styles being too similar, maybe it’s the expectations the match creates or maybe they just don’t have chemistry but for some reason these two know how to bore the heck out of the audience more often than not. I can go for a technical style such as their Survivor Series 1994 match but this was just boring.
Backlund puts on the crossface chickenwing as Bulldog stomps away a lot to wrap up the show.
Overall Rating: D. GET TO JANUARY ALREADY! This month and the build to this horrible pay per view feels like it’s been going on for eighteen yeas now and the show still isn’t interesting. We have a rematch from three years ago, an uninteresting tag match and Owen Hart vs. Diesel and a few other matches that didn’t get time tonight (and likely shouldn’t have). The show itself would be better than the TV this month but that’s really not saying much given how boring this stuff has been lately. Another bad show to add to the December pile.
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Monday Night Raw – December 4, 1995: Sign The Doctor
Monday Night Raw Date: December 4, 1995
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,500 Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
We’re back to the same typing cycle thanks to the powers of a random number generator. In case you missed the last batch of shows, we’re coming up on In Your House V with new WWF World Champion Bret Hart defending against the British Bulldog. On top of that Shawn Michaels is out of action indefinitely with a bad head injury and things aren’t looking good. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at Dean Douglas vs. Razor Ramon and Marty Jannetty vs. Sid, both taking place tonight.
Opening sequence.
Bob Holly vs. British Bulldog
Holly starts fast and slams Bulldog and a dropkick sends him outside in a huff. Back in and Holly cranks on an armbar but Bulldog launches him off with ease. There’s the delayed vertical suplex so Bulldog can call himself the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be. Another dropkick gets Holly out of trouble because it’s not like he can do much else. A third dropkick and some right hands stagger Bulldog until he catches Holly on his shoulder for the powerslam and the pin.
Rating: D. Holly threw a great dropkick but he’s a wrestling racecar driver. I’m really not sure who thought this was a good idea, though calling him Sparky didn’t do him any favors. Holly is a good http://your-pharmacies.com hand in the ring and good for something like this but that gimmick was just death and everyone knew it.
We look back at Bob Backlund’s path of rage over the last week.
Lawler asks Backlund about his match against Bret next week, which will be non-title. That’s not cool with Bob and he snaps about not being able to reign over the plebeians. He goes on until we have to go to a break, which Backlund interprets as being finited.
Fatu vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Fatu makes a difference on Brawler’s spine with a backbreaker as Vince shills the WWF Hotline. See, there’s an investment of $1.49 for the first minute. Speaking of a minute, that’s about how long it takes for Fatu to finish Brawler with a top rope splash.
We go to Dok Hendrix for a Slam Jam but have to cut to Backlund beating up the sound guy for sending them to break.
Diesel has accepted Owen Hart’s open contract.
Intercontinental Title: Razor Ramon vs. Dean Douglas
Ramon is defending in Douglas’ rematch after Dean’s fifteen minute reign ended at the last In Your House. Dean jumps him during the entrance, which Vince refers to as using Razor Ramon tactics. Razor catches a cross body in the fall away slam, finally allowing him to take off his vest.
As the champ charges into a boot in the corner, we hear about an interview with Shawn Michael’s personal physician about his head injuries. Ignore the fact that we’ve seen probably half of it in various clips throughout the night. I can’t stand it when they give away the plot in the trailers. A whip sends Razor back first into the buckle and we take a break. Back with Razor caught in an abdominal stretch until he reverses into one of his own. Dean hiptosses his way out but gets caught in the Razor’s Edge for the clean pin moments later.
Rating: D+. Much like Holly, Dean was a good hand in the ring who was ruined by such a horrible gimmick. His talking was far better than his work between the ropes but when you can’t be yourself and have to be a completely new (and not great) character, the whole thing is destined for failure.
It’s the Brother Love Show with guest King Mabel, though Vince talks over Love’s introduction. Love asks about Sir Mo’s whereabouts but Mabel yells at him and promises to bury Undertaker at In Your House. Mabel doesn’t like being questioned but Love has a surprise for him. Cue a hooded man pushing a casket to the ring as Undertaker’s music plays. It turns out to be Mo under the hood and the casket is covered in graffiti. Mabel promises to crush Undertaker to end this very boring segment.
Razor says he’ll have Marty’s back and look out for the Kid.
The Raw Bowl is coming. That show was stupid.
Marty Jannetty vs. Sid
Sid has Ted DiBiase with him. Jannetty is all over him to start and actually gets him on the mat until Sid jumps up (work with me here) for a World’s Strongest Slam. Sid charges into a boot in the corner (the only way to deal with a monster) and a middle rope flipping cutter gets two. We take a break and come back with Sid in full control but Marty breaking out of a chinlock. DiBiase pulls Marty out to the floor and here’s the Kid for the cheap shots. This brings out Razor for the save but he goes after Sid for the DQ.
Rating: D. Marty was trying here but this was just a commercial for the pay per view tag match which means Sid wasn’t going to be trying. Razor vs. Sid would be a better match but Sid and Kid had a weird chemistry and worked as an oddball heel team. Of course it would have been better if Sid threw him around instead of just trudging through the match.
Sid powerbombs Marty post match.
We go to the Chino Medical Center to talk to Shawn’s doctor. Said doctor was very concerned when he saw Shawn collapse in the ring due to post concussion syndrome. It can take years for someone to heal and Shawn could be out significantly longer than expected.
Football players and boxers can never recover from these things and Shawn’s style makes it even worse. We see clips of Shawn’s big impacts and any future blows to the head could be life threatening. He might never get back in the ring again. This guy is either a real doctor or an amazing actor because this sounded as realistic as any such speech I’ve ever seen.
Back to Vince for a voiceover video speech about how awesome these wrestlers are but to remember they’re still humans. Apparently they all push the edge and Shawn has been living there for years.
Overall Rating: D-. Somehow that doctor’s speech was the best part of the show. The company really needs a boost of energy and taking Shawn off the show isn’t going to help things. The major problems here are the lack of interesting stories and characters. There’s MAKING A DIFFERENCE Fatu, the wrestling racecar driver and Marty Jannetty. How strong of a show are you going to have when your alternative is Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage?
Monday Night Raw – October 28, 1996: The Fire In His Eyes
Monday Night Raw Date: October 28, 1996
Location: War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
Things picked up last week and it couldn’t have come at a better point. The company basically has to restart after years of putting on horrible shows with uninteresting characters and it just happens to be up against one of the hottest angles of all time over in WCW. They have their work cut out for them but they also have Bret Hart and Steve Austin. Let’s get to it.
We open with clips of Austin destroying Brian Pillman’s ankle to write him out of the ring due to his horrible car wreck that basically ended his in ring career.
Jesse Jammes vs. Salvatore Sincere
Jammes is the REAL Double J despite the original Double J being nowhere to be seen. Well save for on Nitro that is. Jesse starts fast with a few right hands and clotheslines to send Salvatore to the floor. Back in and Sincere gets in a few shots, only to be slammed off the top to put him on defense again. A full nelson slam puts Sincere away a few seconds later.
Rating: D-. It’s always amazing to see what stupid gimmick could evolve into a moneymaker like the Road Dogg. This is one of those ideas that is so stupid and they had to know it was dead in the water but that’s what you have to work with. Jammes wound up turning it into something special because he has talent and because the company eventually realized the gimmick sucked. Why that isn’t the case today isn’t clear but I’m sure it’s NOT the company’s fault because that just can’t happen.
Dok Hendrix is ready to talk about the Hall of Fame but Austin cuts him off because no one cares about old people. Instead Dok runs down the Survivor Series card (including the debut of one Rocky Maivia, which is completely glossed over) and mentions that Bret is in Calgary tonight. Austin is NOT happy with that one and lets Dok have it as a result.
Crush vs. Aldo Montoya
JR comes out for commentary and keeps up his stupid heel run which went nowhere and no one wanted to hear because heel commentators get annoying in a hurry. Crush throws Aldo around to start but stops to yell at fans for calling him Jailbird. JR asks if the jockstrap on Aldo’s face was Vince’s idea as Crush ends it with the Heart Punch. JR: “That wouldn’t work on you Vince.” Just a squash.
Crush beats up a fan for calling him Jailbird.
We look back at Mr. Perfect swerving Marc Mero out of the Intercontinental Title last week. Perfect has been suspended, meaning he’s gone and off to WCW.
Speaking of Mr. Perfect, he wins his first round match in the Karate Fighters tournament.
We’re told that we’ll hear from Bret at his home tonight and Pillman from his home next week so Austin starts yelling again about how he had to go all the way to Connecticut instead of having the cameras come to Texas. Fair point actually. We’ll stick with Austin for now though and look at the attack on Pillman’s leg again. Austin wouldn’t even let Pillman be taken away in an ambulance. He’ll be at Pillman’s house next week and OH MAN IT’S THAT SHOW! Austin doesn’t want to hear about Vince caring about Bret because he’s just a greedy promoter.
We go to Bret’s house but freaking SUNNY’S music cuts it off as the audio screws up. She comes out to sit on Lawler’s lap and it’s time for guest commentary.
Billy Gunn vs. Freddie Joe Floyd
Yeah this instead of Bret’s response to Austin. Thanks WWF. The Gunns have basically split at this point without officially doing so. Freddie works on an armbar to start as Sunny talks about liking Billy’s smile. Billy sends him outside and here’s Bart to yell at his brother. That goes nowhere so Freddie hammers away and gets in an elbow to the jaw. A hotshot drops Freddie Joe and Billy’s top rope legdrop gives him the pin. Of note at the end: Vince says Sunny is just like Hillary Clinton who Sunny says will be the next President.
Rating: F. This was all about Billy getting a singles push, which just happened to be on the same night as the beginning of Jesse Jammes’ singles push. I love that kind of coincidence and it’s not something you’re going to see that often. You will however see a match like this again and the fact that it cut off the great Austin vs. Bret stuff makes it even worse.
Back to the debate with Bret giving his normal calm response which Austin interprets as Bret being scared. Bret doesn’t know if Austin has what it takes to beat him and the look on Austin’s face is downright scary. Vince asks Bret why Austin issued the challenge but Austin says it’s not over no matter what happens in the match. If Bret wants to get rid of him he’ll have to kill him.
Bret tries to get in his catchphrase but Austin cuts him off again before telling Bret to say something. Austin goes off on a production guy for counting him down to commercial and beats him up as a result. The fire in Austin gave me chills here and you can see the future right in front of your eyes.
British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels
Non-title again and Owen Hart is out for commentary. Bulldog runs him down with a shoulder to start and they have some miscommunication on a Bulldog leapfrog, resulting in an armdrag sending Smith out to the floor. Shawn tells him to bring it and lays on the top rope as Bulldog takes a long break. Of course there’s no counting or anything but that’s not the storyline so of course it doesn’t happen. Back in and Shawn grabs a headlock as we hear about the production guy calling the cops on Austin.
We take a break (and sit through a commercial for WWF Full Metal) and come back with Shawn fighting out of a chinlock but getting slammed down by the hair. That always makes me cringe. There’s the delayed vertical suplex from Bulldog and it’s back to the chinlocking. Shawn fights back again and gets two off a sunset flip before Bulldog runs him over again. We take a second break and come back with Bulldog running into the flying forearm. The powerslam doesn’t work and Shawn drops the top rope elbow, only to have Owen come in for the DQ.
Rating: B. These two always had some awesome chemistry together and they almost never had a bad match over several years. Shawn was clearly looking tired and it was time for a change but who else could they swap in that could come even close to his level of quality? He was going to have a good to excellent match against anyone he was in there against and that’s all that mattered at this point.
Sid comes in for the save so Owen issues a challenge for a tag match next week.
Austin is being arrested but he’s not worried because Vince will take care of his meal ticket at Survivor Series.
Overall Rating: D+. Steve Austin is a star and there’s no way anything is going to stop him. You can’t take your eyes off of him any time he’s on screen with the fire in those eyes staring holes through anything in front of him. The match with Bret can’t get here soon enough but there’s something very important to get through next week. The main event helps this out a lot but there are still a lot of bad things hanging around and they’re holding the rest of the show down. However, every time you see Austin you forget about all that stuff because he’s just that great right now.
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Monday Night Raw – October 21, 1996: The Changes Start Here
Monday Night Raw Date: October 21, 1996
Location: War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
Buried Alive has come and gone and now we can get on to the serious stuff with Survivor Series coming up in just a few weeks. Sid is the new #1 contender to Shawn Michaels’ WWF World Title while Mankind was buried alive in a not that great brawl. Tonight is about change though as last week’s rating was such a disaster that something had to be done. Let’s get to it.
The opening video talks about Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect returning tonight.
Sycho Sid vs. Owen Hart
Owen is one half of the Tag Team Champions. Sid starts fast and knocks Owen to the floor but Hart clotheslines him over the top and out to the floor for a crash. Cue the British Bulldog for a few cheap shots, allowing Owen to hit Sid in the leg as we take a break. Back with Sid still being beaten down and having his leg worked on. I mean he’s barely selling it but it is being worked on.
Sid keeps trying to fight back but Owen kicks the leg out to stay in control. A quick comeback (with no injury in sight) ends with Sid missing a legdrop so Owen can hit the knee even more. This is the same thing that happened to Benoit when Sid wouldn’t sell the knee against him in 1999. A leglock goes nowhere so Sid hits a chokeslam to draw in Bulldog for the DQ.
Rating: D-. That’s all on Sid as Owen was doing the logical play of going after the big man’s knee but there’s not much he can do when Sid just won’t sell the stupid thing. That was a standard from Sid and it got old in a hurry but that’s what you had to expect from him. Owen can only do what he can and the rest is up to Sid. You can’t blame Owen for Sid being a schnook.
Shawn Michaels comes in for the save which Sid doesn’t seem to appreciate.
Stills of the Buried Alive match which Undertaker won, only to be buried alive himself thanks to a masked executioner and a bunch of other villains. Undertaker’s hand came through the dirt to end the show. This would be better if the Smoking Gunns’ music wasn’t playing over the end of the package.
Smoking Gunns vs. The Godwinns
JR comes out to do commentary and make sure the show is dragged down as a result. The bell rings and we’re finally ready to go after nearly a minute thanks to Hillbilly Jim (Godwinns’ manager in a perfect fit) doing his clapping stomps. Bart and Phineas slowly get things going with Bart working on the arm before we take an early break.
Back with Bart coming in again as we start talking about Bret instead of this boring match. Billy misses a charge into the corner and the hot (I think?) tag brings in Henry to clean house. It wasn’t that dirty in the first place but there has to be something to spice this match up. The Slop Drop ends Bart in a hurry.
Rating: D. Can we just get Bret and Perfect out here already? These boring acts are getting harder and harder to sit through as the wrestling is horrible and the stories aren’t the most interesting in the world either. The Gunns splitting could spice things up a bit but Bart just isn’t going to be worth watching no matter what.
Pat Patterson Hall of Fame video.
Mr. Perfect is warming up when Helmsley jumps him from behind. Perfect comes up holding his knee and I think you know what’s coming.
Clip from Livewire (which apparently was a much bigger deal than you would think) of Austin saying he wants to take out Bret.
Here’s Bret for his big return speech. He gets right to the point: a rival wrestling promotion (not named but I doubt it’s ECW) has been in negotiations with him but he’s not sure what to do. He’s not here for money because all he wants is respect. Everything he has is due to his fans and he’s sticking with the WWF forever. Apparently Vince had no idea what Bret was going to say so his applause is very genuine. We see the roster watching in the back and only Austin seems upset at the news.
Now it’s time to get to the real story here though and that’s what happened after Wrestlemania XII. There are people who might think Shawn Michaels is a little bit better than him or even a little bit cuter. That might be true but Shawn will never be as tough or as smart as Bret. Bret is the best wrestler in the WWF today and at Survivor Series he’ll prove that when he faces Steve Austin. We go back to the locker room where Pillman is WAY too excited over that news, earning himself a glare from Austin.
So why is Bret back? There was a fan in Canada that got very sick in a hurry and there was a chance that he wasn’t going to make it through the night. Bret promised the kid that if he could make it through the night, he started feeling better, only to pass away soon thereafter. That was Bret’s nephew but he was going to come back anyway because he had made a promise. All that matters is that he’s back and he’s back for good. Really good stuff here and that nephew part was awesome.
And now, a Karate Fighters tournament.
Mr. Perfect vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Actually no as Perfect’s knee is too banged up and Gorilla Monsoon says this can’t happen. Instead Marc Mero is here and is willing to put the Intercontinental Title on the line against Helmsley RIGHT NOW.
Intercontinental Title: Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Marc Mero
Mero is defending and Perfect is on commentary. Marc grabs an armbar to start before dropkicking Helmsley out to the floor. Helmsley pulls Mero’s manager Sable into the way of a dive before the champ can die to really show how evil he can be at times. Back in and Helmsley takes over with a quick tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before the knee drop misses by a good six inches. Mero gets in a clothesline and we take a break.
Back with Marc hitting a slingshot legdrop and getting two off a top rope moonsault press. The referee gets bumped though and it’s time for a chair. Perfect goes in as well and takes it away, only to knock Mero cold instead, giving Helmsley the pin and the title in a big old swerve.
Rating: C+. The match wasn’t great but the angle was sweet and that’s all that mattered here. All of a sudden Helmsley looks like a brilliant heel and a much bigger deal instead of just some blue blooded snob with potential but nothing worth getting excited over. That’s what a good veteran heel rub can give you, but for some reason it almost never works.
Overall Rating: B. This is a show where you could feel the whole thing changing at around the halfway point. The first two matches were horrible and major wastes of time but after that the show jumps up about five levels in quality in a matter of seconds. You can feel things changing and that’s the best news the company could have heard at this point.
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In Your House #11 – Buried Alive: Who Needs The Title?
In Your House #11: Buried Alive Date: October 20, 1996
Location: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 9,649
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross
This is another of those shows where there just isn’t much to say. There are only five matches on the card and only two of them are worth much of anything. It’s always interesting to see a main event with the focus being something other than the world title feud and Undertaker vs. Foley would be going on for a lot longer after this. Let’s get to it.
Also of note: this is the first ever WWF pay per view with the reigning WWF World Champion not in action.
The opening video talks about Undertaker spending his life at war with Mankind and warns Mankind to enjoy his last breaths before he’s buried alive.
There’s a big mound of dirt with a tombstone next to an open grave.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Steve Austin
The first of many, many times and it’s heel vs. heel here. Before the match Austin says that he’s fine with fighting Helmsley since Savio Vega is injured tonight. Apparently Bret Hart is coming back to Raw and Austin hopes it’s to announce his retirement. Before we get to the match though, I should note JR is in full heel mode here, constantly ranting about how he won’t be silenced and how he’s the real voice of the WWF. The fact that the mics aren’t all working ticks him off even more.
Feeling out process to start with Helmsley armdragging Austin down. JR has his microphone changed as Austin goes to the floor to jaw with a fan. Back in and Austin armdrags Helmsley down and flips him off. The feeling out process continues as JR takes credit for Bret coming back while his mic cuts in and out. Austin gets tired of this slow paced stuff and slaps Helmsley in the face to speed things up a bit. Helmsley bails to the apron as we’re nearly five minutes into this match and we’ve had two armdrags and a slap to the face.
Back in and an elbow to the head puts Helmsley down and we hit an armbar from Austin. Helmsley fights up and pokes Austin in the eye as we’ve got a split screen of the match and the commentators for no apparent reason. Back to the armbar for a bit before Helmsley fights up and buries a knee into Austin’s ribs. A backdrop puts Austin down as Hunter has his first advantage. There’s a knee drop to the head for two and Helmsley is getting frustrated. The mics still aren’t working with JR cutting in and out on almost every other word.
We hit the chinlock on Austin and it’s back to the split screen for a few moments. Austin fights up and they trade sleeper holds until a jawbreaker puts Helmsley down for two. A Stun Gun (hot shot) gets two more for Austin but Helmsley hits a jumping knee to the face and a middle rope right hand for two. They clothesline each other down and here’s Mr. Perfect who will be facing Helmsley tomorrow night. Perfect comes to the ring to put his arm around Helmsley’s valet, allowing Austin to get in some cheap shots.
That’s not cool with Perfect either so Austin throws a soda at him, only to have Helmsley jump him from behind. Perfect leaves with the valet, which causes Helmsley to drop the Pedigree attempt. Austin goes after him but gets suplexed in the aisle to put both guys down. Helmsley is catapulted into the post and they head inside where the Stunner ends this in a hurry.
Rating: C+. This was more an historical anomaly than anything else as Helmsley was still slowly coming up the card and Austin was ready to move up the ladder. Still though, these two fighting each other is always worth a look. The JR stuff got old fast though as the constant breaks in commentary were distracting.
We recap the Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart/British Bulldog. There isn’t much to this one as the Gunns lost the titles last month and are having problems due to Sunny. She fired both of them after losing though so she won’t be a factor tonight.
Before the match Billy says they’ll get the titles back and Sunny will be back at their side. He doesn’t seem interested at sharing the glory with Bart though.
Tag Titles: Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart/British Bulldog
Billy starts with Owen and takes him down with a headlock. The microphone keeps cutting in and out as JR gets more and more annoyed. He manages to say Owen got a haircut. Lawler: “How analytical.” Billy goes up top but jumps into a punch to the ribs, giving the champions their first advantage. Bulldog comes in to crank on the arm as the announcers debate cowboys. Bart gets in a cheap shot to put Bulldog down. Sunny can be seen watching in the back.
Bart comes in legally but misses a high cross body, giving Bulldog two. Back to Owen for a missile dropkick and some headbutts in the corner for good measure. The champions put Bart down again with a double clothesline as JR rips into Vince for his obvious points on commentary. Owen drops a leg and puts on a chinlock and JR is now claiming a conspiracy by Vince. Bulldog distracts Billy by posing and Bart is whipped into the ropes, knocking his partner down to the floor.
Billy trips Owen down and accepts the tag from his brother like nothing happened. A double Russian legsweep gets two on Owen, followed by an elbow from Billy. There’s a neckbreaker dedicated to Sunny but she doesn’t seem all that interested. Back to Bart who breaks up a tag attempt as the Gunns continue to double team Owen. Bulldog is knocked off the apron but he sneaks back in to pull Bart down, breaking up the Sidewinder. Owen pops back up and hits a spinwheel kick to take out Billy for the pin to retain.
Rating: D+. This was again more storytelling than a match but no one thought the Gunns were going to get the belts back, nor did most people want them to. Owen and Bulldog were a much better team and the Gunns’ time was over. Not a bad match or anything, but it was all about the story instead of the match, which is fine in this case.
Bart leaves on his own.
Vince talks about Faarooq, a newcomer feuding with Ahmed Johnson, being attacked earlier but JR gets in the ring. Before he gets to the point, he says he won’t talk about Vince firing him and trying to ruin his life. Bret Hart will be in Fort Wayne, Indiana tomorrow night and it’s not because of Vince. It’s because JR went to South Africa to talk to him because JR loves the fans more than Vince. JR rants about Vince destroying the microphones (which the fans in the arena wouldn’t know about) and throws his mic to Vince before storming off.
Back to Faarooq, he says he’s ready for Ahmed no matter what. Johnson lost the Intercontinental Title because of Faarooq so Ahmed jumped him on the Free For All, injuring him.
Here’s Mr. Perfect to replace JR on commentary.
Intercontinental Title: Goldust vs. Marc Mero
Mero is champion after winning a tournament due to Ahmed being injured and therefore stripped of the title. Mero defeated Faarooq in the finals and this was supposed to be a rematch but Johnson prevented that from happening. Another feeling out process to start, complete with Goldust doing his big deep breath. Some armdrags and a hiptoss put Goldust down and we hit the armbar. Goldust fights up and pounds away in the corner before doing the same in the opposite corner.
Mero is tired of the beating and takes Goldust down to fire off right hands of his own. A backdrop sets up a clothesline and Goldust bails to the floor. The champion hits a BIG flip dive over the top to take Goldie out again and a slingshot legdrop gets two back inside. Mero goes up again but gets powerbombed down and sent to the floor. Back in and we hit the chinlock on the champion before a knee to the ribs puts Mero down again.
We hit another chinlock as Mero is in some trouble. The champion fights up again but gets clotheslined down. Goldust asks for a microphone, threatening to come into the crowd and stick his tongue down everyone’s throat if they keep booing him. Mero uses the distraction to take Goldust down and gets two off a spinning moonsault press. Goldust’s Curtain Call (reverse suplex) is countered into a rollup for two and we head to the floor again.
Mero is sent into the barricade and Perfect is tired of the referee doing nothing. He gets up and helps Marc back inside, drawing Helmsley back out for a showdown. Perfect drops Goldust with a right hand, allowing Mero to bring it back inside for a Samoan drop and the Wild Thing (Shooting Star Press) to retain.
Rating: C+. Mero was pretty awesome in the ring at this point and could fly with the best of them. He could also talk and had a good look, but somehow this was pretty much the peak of his career in the WWF. This was a fun match but cutting out a minute or two in the middle would have helped a lot. Still though, not bad and it even advanced Perfect vs. Helmsley for tomorrow.
We recap Sid vs. Vader, which is set up as a fight over who is the master of the powerbomb. This was supposed to be the main event of WCW’s Starrcade 1993 with the same story but a lot of problems prevented it from happening. Tonight it’s a result of Shawn vs. Camp Cornette as seen at the end of Mind Games when Sid saved Shawn from Vader.
Sycho Sid vs. Vader
The winner gets a world title shot at Survivor Series so Shawn comes out to do commentary. They slug it out to start with Sid knocking Vader down and dropping a leg for two. Sid pounds away in the corner but Vader blocks a slam with a right hand to the face. Now it’s Vader pounding Sid down in the corner before hitting a running splash. Sid falls to the floor and lays there for a very long time without getting counted out.
Back up and Sid pounds away from the apron before actually trying a sunset flip, only to have Vader sit down on his chest. Sid gets up again and a double clothesline puts both guys down one more time. Vader slugs him into the corner but a splash is broken up by a boot to the face. Sid goes up top but a cross body is caught in midair with a SCARY display of strength.
A slam and a splash get two for Vader and there’s a middle rope splash for the same, but this time Vader pulls Sid up before three. Instead he loads up the Vader Bomb but it lands on knees, allowing Sid to slam Vader down. He sets up the powerbomb but has to take care of Cornette. Another powerbomb attempt is countered by a Vader low blow. Now it’s Vader loading up the powerbomb, but he pulls out and punches Sid in the head, allowing Sid to grab a quick chokeslam for the pin and the title shot.
Rating: D. They kept this short which is the right idea, but the match was nothing all that great. There’s only so much you can do in a match like this and they pretty much firmly hit that ceiling. Also, shouldn’t there have been at least one powerbomb in a match built around who is the master of the powerbomb?
Shawn celebrates Sid on his win and nothing happens.
After a Survivor Series ad, JR horns in on a Sid interview and pesters Sid into saying he’ll do anything to beat Shawn.
We recap Mankind vs. Undertaker. Mankind jumped Undertaker on April 1 and laid him out like no one had in years if ever, triggering a months long feud. Eventually Paul Bearer turned on Undertaker to join Mankind, ending a six year partnership. Tonight Undertaker has vowed to bury Mankind alive.
Mankind vs. Undertaker
As mentioned there’s a big mound of dirt with an open grave in the middle. You win by dragging your opponent to the grave and covering them with dirt. The brawl is on to start as the arena is still full of smoke from Undertaker’s entrance. Mankind comes back with right hands in the corner, only to be grabbed by the throat and tossed in himself. Undertaker kicks him to the floor and into the barricade, setting up a HUGE dive off the top to send Mankind onto the concrete.
They brawl up the aisle (by brawl I mean Undertaker punches and Mankind stumbles) towards the grave site where Undertaker grabs a shovel. It takes too long though so Mankind tries a suplex, only to be caught in a small package of all things, sending them tumbling down the dirt. They fight back to ringside with Undertaker still firmly in control. Undertaker chokes Mankind with a microphone cord and they head into the crowd. More right hands have Mankind in trouble, including Undertaker diving over the barricade with a clothesline.
They head back inside where Old School is countered to give Mankind his first advantage. He chokes Undertaker down in the corner and blasts Taker with some kind of jagged object handed to him by Bearer. Undertaker comes back with a shot to the throat and takes away the object for a few shots of his own. A jumping clothesline puts Mankind down and Undertaker goes after Bearer. Mankind tries a chair shot but gets kicked in the ribs, only to have Paul blast Undertaker with the urn, allowing Mankind to hit Undertaker with the chair.
A running knee drives Undertaker’s head into the steps and they head up to the grave site again. Undertaker gets knocked into the grave but Mankind can only get in a few shovels full of dirt before getting pulled in as well. They fight out of the hole with Undertaker throwing Mankind off the dirt and down to the floor again. Back inside again with Mankind hitting a pulling piledriver and covering which means nothing here.
A double arm DDT onto the chair knocks Undertaker out but Mankind grabs the urn to rock back and forth. Undertaker sits up and CRACKS Mankind in the back with the chair before legdropping it down onto his face. Mankind comes back with a Stunner onto the top rope and peels back the mats on the floor. His piledriver is countered into a kind of backdrop onto the steps to put further destroy Mankind’s body.
The steps are brought inside and dropped onto Mankind’s back, setting up the Tombstone to knock him out cold. Undertaker carries Mankind to the grave site but on the way Mankind grabs the Mandible Claw to take over. It doesn’t last long though as Undertaker gets a quick chokeslam to send Mankind into the grave. The burial is quick and Undertaker wins.
Rating: B-. Good match here between two guys who could bring the brutality when they had the chance. Mankind was one of the only guys that could give Undertaker a run for his money and there were moments where he looked like he had a chance. It’s the best match of the show and that’s what a main event should be most of the time.
Undertaker keeps burying him and shoves the referees away when they try to stop him. Out of nowhere here’s a man in an executioner hood to blast Undertaker in the back of the head with a shovel. He gets Mankind out of the grave and throws Undertaker in instead. Thunder starts rumbling and the lights flicker as Mankind and the other guy bury Undertaker.
The lights straighten out as the grave fills up with dirt and here are Goldust and some other villains to help. This goes on for a good while until thunder rumbles some more and the shovel is stuck down in the dirt. Mankind and Bearer leave before a bolt of lightning hits the grave and Undertaker’s hand sticks out of the dirt to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. It’s not a great show but this is a really easy sit through with nothing being all that bad. The worst match is pretty easily Sid vs. Vader and that only runs about eight minutes. It’s interesting that the best show in awhile didn’t have Shawn in action which might have been a sign. There’s nothing great to see here but it’s definitely not a bad show and is one of the better entries in the series so far.
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Monday Night Raw Date: October 14, 1996
Location: Hersheypark Arena, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,923
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross
It’s the go home show for Buried Alive but more importantly than that we have a major showdown with Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels in a non-title match. I really don’t think a show needs much more than that but we’re also going to get the blowoff between Jerry Lawler and Jake Roberts in the Roberts is a drunk angle. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at Austin vs. Michaels.
Opening sequence.
Phineas Godwinn vs. Vader
There are A TON of empty seats opposite the camera, as in to the degree that WCW would laugh at them over it. Vader pounds him into the corner and onto the floor to start as JR goes on another rant against Vince which wouldn’t go anywhere since Vince would be back on commentary the next week. Cue Sid to distract Vader, allowing Phineas to run him over with a clothesline. Vader is knocked outside for a bit before Phineas hits an impressive slam. The Slop Drop doesn’t work as Vader grabs the rope and the Vader Bomb ends this a few seconds later.
Rating: D. Another not great match here but at least they kept it short so all the fans left in the arena won’t fall asleep in their chairs. Vader vs. Sid isn’t an interesting match for the pay per view with Sid popping up after that splash last week but maybe they can have the match that Starrcade couldn’t pull off back in 1993.
Here’s Mr. Perfect for a chat. He’s ready for a challenge from Hunter Hearst Helmsley and he’ll be right here next week to face him one on one. Not much to say here but keep an eye on this one.
Jerry Lawler vs. Jake Roberts
Lawler comes out for his pre-match comedy routine but JR WILL NOT SHUT UP about how much he hates doing commentary with Vince. Jake finally stumbles out with a paper bag behind his back and JR messes it up again by saying “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he’s drunk!”. Lawler keeps making jokes and here’s Gorilla Monsoon to say Roberts can’t wrestle. With Lawler’s back turned, Jake stands up straight and tells Gorilla that he’s fine. They actually take a break and come back with Jake hitting the DDT for the pin in thirty seconds. Good grief they managed to screw up the fake drunk idea twice in a single match!
Post match Jake pours whiskey onto Jerry’s face and wraps the snake around him.
More from Jesse Jammes, who is re-releasing With My Baby Tonight later this year. Jim Johnston (third Double J in this story) is impressed with his talents you see.
Freddie Joe Floyd vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
I would bring up JR complaining about Vince again but the point is buried into the ground by now. Helmsley actually handcuffs his valet to the ring so Mr. Perfect can’t come out and woo her away again. That’s actually kind of awesome. Floyd takes him to the mat to start and grabs a headlock before Helmsley pounds him down with forearms in the corner.
Cue Mr. Perfect as Helmsley gets in a suplex and he just happens to have a key. Freddie hammers away as Perfect leaves with the lady. The Pedigree finally plants Floyd but HHH goes after perfect and gets punched in the face for the countout. So the referee was paying enough attention to count but not enough to see him get knocked down?
Rating: D. All storyline here as Perfect vs. HHH is turning into a great midcard story and a really strong example of what a veteran rub can do for someone like HHH. It might not be the best match but above all else it’s making HHH look important which is more anything else he’s done since his debut.
Austin is ready to beat Shawn tonight as a message to Bret Hart.
Here’s Sunny to debut a massive poster of herself. JR: “We’re wasting time here.”
Mankind says he’ll win on Sunday.
Faarooq vs. The Pug
Sunny is on commentary and hits on Kevin Kelly until he says he “does ok” financially. Now JR rips on Vince for Faarooq’s stupid looking headgear. Ok I’ll give him that one. A spinebuster and the Dominator end Pug in a hurry.
We see Faarooq and Ahmed Johnson having an argument over the phone earlier this week on Livewire.
Undertaker says it’s the calm before the storm.
Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels
Non-title. Austin takes him into the corner to start and we cut to Cornette and Vader watching in the back. Cornette promises to crush Sid on Sunday and Vader barks a lot because he’s a bit out there. They trade hammerlocks early on with Shawn holding him down with a headlock.
Now we go to Sid who is WAY too excited to go to Buried Alive to face Vader for the title shot. Shawn grabs a chinlock for a bit before a pinfall reversal sequence sends Austin to the floor for a breather. Back in and the Stun Gun slows Shawn down but it’s too early for the Stunner. We take a break and come back with Vader coming in for the DQ less than thirty seconds later.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t designed to be anything more than an overhyped match with the rug being pulled out from underneath the fans. In other words it was a WCW style match and those have very rarely felt like anything important. These two would have a few more important matches but this wasn’t a great starting point for them.
Savio Vega comes in and is quickly dispatched but here’s Sid to clear the ring. Fake Diesel and Fake Razor come out to watch as Shawn and Sid yell at each other. Austin and Vader get back in and are dispatched again to end the show.
Overall Rating: D-. These shows are just horrible and it definitely starting to take its toll with this show drawing the lowest rating (1.78) in the history of the show. People were just not liking what they were selling at this point and it was high time to change things up, which is exactly what would happen next week. The less said about this show the better though.
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Monday Night Raw – October 7, 1996: Halloween Comes Early
Monday Night Raw Date: October 7, 1996
Location: Hersheypark Arena, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,923
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
Things have picked up a bit since we left off about ten months ago. Shawn Michaels is now the reigning WWF World Champion and the company is in a nosedive with the NWO running roughshod over the wrestling world. We’re coming up on In Your House: Buried Alive, meaning it’s going to be a lot of Undertaker vs. Mankind. Let’s get to it.
The opening video previews tonight’s events, including Shawn and Vader, Goldust vs. Sid and an interview with the REAL Double J (oh yeah that thing).
Opening sequence.
Mark Mero vs. Fake Diesel
Mero’s Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line. Jim Ross comes out with Diesel here as this stupid angle continues. For those of you not around at the time, the idea here was that JR turned heel (just go with it) and said he was the reason Diesel and Razor Ramon were around in the first place so he was bringing them back.
Now this could have been a good dig at WCW if the WWF was going with the idea that it was the WWF who created the characters and the people didn’t matter, but instead they were acting like these were the real people, thereby making JR look stupid. It didn’t help that Fake Razor looked like he was in a Razor Halloween costume. Fake Diesel on the other hand looked a lot like Diesel, at least if you didn’t get a good shot of his face. You would know Fake Diesel better as Kane.
Diesel charges into a boot in the corner to start and a dropkick puts him on the floor for a no hands dive. Back in and Diesel drops him throat first across the top rope to take over and slow things WAY down. The slow beating continues and we go to Fake Razor and WOW it’s even worse than I remember. His Cuban accent is as good as Lana’s Russian and thankfully we go to a break without having to listen to much more. Back with Mero rolling Diesel up for two and Razor coming out to watch. Mero dives onto Razor, which is probably the best thing he’s done all night. Ramon comes in for the DQ a few seconds later.
Rating: D. Mero and Diesel were actually having a half decent match but my goodness this has to be one of the dumbest stories I’ve ever seen. It’s not funny, it’s not clever, THEY DON’T EVEN LOOK LIKE THE PEOPLE THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE and the matches aren’t that good. Oh and stop trying to make JR a heel. It’s stupid.
The beating continues post match.
Undertaker has dug a grave for Mankind.
You can get a denim shirt with Bret, Undertaker or Shawn on the back for FORTY NINE BUCKS EACH. Sweet goodness no wonder I’ve never seen anyone wearing one of those things.
Mr. Perfect will be back in two weeks. Well kind of but not as they’re implying.
New Rockers vs. Smoking Gunns
I still can’t believe the Gunns were a thing in late 1996. Sunny has left the Gunns due to them losing the Tag Team Titles so they’re definitely on their last legs. With the Gunns in the ring, we go to pre-recorded comments from the two of them, saying they want the titles back so they can get Sunny with them. Sunny calls in to the show and isn’t happy that Ahmed Johnson will be on Livewire with her on Saturday.
Billy and Cassady (Leif Cassady, better known as Al Snow which I’m sure we’ve covered before) start things off as Sunny brags about how awesome she is and lists off the Livewire fax and e-mail contact information. Bart and Marty come in as Kelly apologizes for not calling the first two and a half minutes of the match. It’s not like anything was happening but it wasn’t the nicest thing in the world. Marty gets two off a small package and it’s time for JR to go on a rant about how much he hates Vince McMahon.
Bart gets punched down by Cassady (Marty was in there too but his punch didn’t make anything close to contact so I’m not counting him) and Leif plants him with a swinging Rock Bottom. Billy finally does something by kneeing Marty from the apron as the crowd is just silent. A low bridge sends the now legal Billy out to the floor and it’s Leif cleaning house with right hands. Billy makes a blind tag though and the Sidewinder puts Cassady away.
Rating: D. Long, slow and boring here which is one of the worst combinations you can have in a match. The tag division was such a mess around this time and it would take years to improve, oddly enough with Billy Gunn as one half of the least likely tag teams in wrestling history. But yeah, bad stuff here.
We recap the REAL Double J angle which involved Jeff Jarrett pretending to sing his big song With My Baby Tonight when it was really the Roadie singing the whole time. Both guys left for over a year and are finally back to reignite the feud. Of note here, as Roadie talks about everything that’s happened, Jim Johnston is seen next to him and is even mentioned by name. We see Jammes (Yes Jammes, not James.) accidentally tripping Jeff to cost him the Intercontinental Title, which was his last appearance for a long time. We’ll get more next week, even if Jarrett would be WCW by the end of the month.
Goldust isn’t worried about Sid.
Livewire ad, complete with the yet to be named Vince Russo in the background.
JR brings out Jim Cornette and Vader for a chat. Vader gets to face Sid at Buried Alive in a #1 contenders match but Cornette has no idea why that’s necessary when he’s beaten Shawn four times since July, including last week. Very fair point but Vader will be fine with beating Sid again.
Ad for the Hall of Fame/Survivor Series.
The Sultan vs. Aldo Montoya
Sultan has Bob Backlund and Iron Sheik in his corner with the former sitting in on commentary. Aldo speeds things up as Bob says he can’t hear without his glasses on. A suplex drops Montoya as Backlund is on an anti-drug rant. Sultan whips him hard into the buckle and a German suplex gets one. The camel clutch makes Montoya give up.
Rating: D-. Just a squash here but the commentary was dominating everything with Backlund doing his ranting and JR talking about being vice president with twelve names signed under his watch. Sultan clearly wasn’t going to go anywhere but it was an interesting idea to give him two famous managers like this.
Mankind gets in the grave but doesn’t want to be buried alive.
Goldust vs. Sycho Sid
Goldust jumps Sid from behind as JR is still babbling on about how much he hates Vince. Sid comes right back with an atomic drop and a clothesline as Shawn Michaels calls in to say he’ll have to be more than resilient to beat Sid or Vader. Goldust drops Sid across the top rope and stomps away as Shawn starts swearing a bit too much. Cue Jim Cornette as we take a break. Back with Sid hitting the chokeslam and powerbomb for the pin. There was no need for that commercial.
Rating: D-. This only existed to have Shawn call in, which wasn’t exactly thrilling stuff. It’s a boring match with two guys who weren’t exactly thrilling around this time and it was clear that things needed to change. You can only get so far with Goldust being a toned down version of what made him great and he had long since hit that wall.
Post match Vader comes out to beat on Sid, who no sells a middle rope splash and hits a chokeslam to end the show.
Overall Rating: F. This was absolutely horrible and one of the worst episodes of the show I’ve ever seen. They were obviously running out of ideas here and there was almost no reason for them to keep going in this direction, especially with WCW killing them the way they were. At some point you have to put on something interesting and that’s just not what was happening here.
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Summerslam Count-Up – 2001: Even The Alliance Can’t Screw This Up
Summerslam 2001 Date: August 19, 2001
Location: Compaq Center, San Jose, California
Attendance: 15,293
Commentators: Jim Ross, Paul Heyman
Much like last year, a lot has changed in the last year. For one thing the Monday Night Wars are over and the WWF has absorbed the other two major companies to form the superpower that they are to this day. At the moment though we’re in the middle of the Invasion war, meaning it’s WCW/ECW vs. the WWF. That’s your double main event tonight: Rock vs. Booker T for the WCW Title and Angle vs. Austin (in the Alliance) for the WWF Title. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is a WWF themed music video for Bodies by Drowning Pool. That’s still the best live performance of a song I’ve ever heard.
Intercontinental Title: Edge vs. Lance Storm
Storm is champion and is about to explain why there is no place for offbeat shenanigans around here but Edge cuts him off. Feeling out process to start as they trade hammerlocks and headlocks. A flapjack and dropkick put Storm down and Edge clotheslines him to the floor. Back in and Edge gets two off a high cross as the announcers bicker about the Invasion. Storm drapes Edge over the top rope and knocks him into the barricade.
Back in and Storm works on the ribs with some knees and a front suplex for two. The crowd is very hot tonight. The spear misses but Edge kicks away from the Mapleleaf and gets two off a small package. We see the WWF guys cheering Edge on from the locker room. Edge tries a crucifix but gets countered into a rolling senton for two. We hit the chinlock with a knee in Edge’s back before a backsplash gets two.
Off to an abdominal stretch from the champion but he’s too far away to pull on the ropes. Edge hiptosses out and sends Storm to the apron for a springboard clothesline but Edge catches him in a powerslam to put both guys down. They slug it out with Edge taking over via some clotheslines and a spinwheel kick for two.
Edge-O-Matic gets two and a hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb for two on Storm. They hit the ropes and Storm rolls through into the half crab. Edge finally makes a rope and puts the same hold on Storm as the referee is bumped. Here’s Christian who accidentally spears his brother, giving Storm two. Not that it matters as Edge pops up and hits the Edgecution for the pin and the title.
Rating: B-. I liked this more than I should have but I’m a fan of both guys. This was a nice choice for an opener as it was very technically sound and gave the fans something to get excited for with a new champion. Not that the title changing means anything in the grand scheme of the Invasion but it’s not like anything really did.
Test says he didn’t turn his back on the WWF but vice versa. He praises the Dudleys and says they’ll take out Spike and the APA tonight. Test will show us what loyalty is tonight.
Chris Jericho calls Stephanie a big sl** and says he’ll beat Rhyno tonight.
APA/Spike Dudley vs. Test/Dudley Boys
Spike has the incredibly cute Molly (looking very good in blue) with him here. Test cost the APA the tag titles a few weeks ago due to them accusing him of being the Alliance mole. Bubba starts with Faarooq as Heyman calls Spike a bully. The Dudleys quickly double team Faarooq with the reverse 3D until it’s D-Von taking him down with a clothesline and back elbow. Off to Test who gets caught in the wrong corner, allowing for the tag to Bradshaw.
A powerbomb is countered by a Test backdrop and it’s back to D-Von to pound away in the corner. Spike comes in with a quick small package and rollup for two each on D-Von but Bubba gets a blind tag and LAUNCHES Spike onto the top rope to take over. Bubba comes in and stomps away in the corner before it’s off to Test to pound on the very pale Spike. D-Von pulls out a table but Spike saves himself from being thrown through it. Back to D-Von for a HUGE double flapjack from both Dudleys. I’m not a Spike fan but he could be in some very impressive crashes.
D-Von misses a middle rope splash and it’s hot tag to Bradshaw who meets Test. Faarooq comes in as well and the APA cleans house but D-Von breaks up the fallaway slam. A powerbomb puts Test down but Bubba breaks up the pin. The Dudley Dog is countered with Spike being launched through the table and here’s Shane McMahon with a chair to knock Bradshaw silly, giving Test the pin.
Rating: D+. Pretty pedestrian stuff here but I’ve seen worse. The majority of this was Spike getting destroyed and very little between the APA and the Dudleys. Test was the focus of this match which isn’t the most interesting idea in the world but at least they were trying. Shane running in is kind of questionable for a match at this level but he’s a loyal owner (of WCW) I guess.
WWF stars congratulate Edge on the title win but brags about getting a European Title match. Grandma calls but wants to talk to Edge. Christian isn’t happy.
Shawn Stasiak comes in to see Debra (Steve Austin’s wife) and thinks he should change his trunks. He was a pretty funny comedy guy who was trying to get noticed at this point but Debra throws him out.
Light Heavyweight Title/Cruiserweight Title: Tajiri vs. X-Pac
X-Pac is holding the more famous title and this is winner take all. Tajiri is the big crowd favorite but both guys are WWF wrestlers. X-Pac uses the referee to backflip out of a top wristlock. Tajiri takes him down with ease and hits a standing moonsault for two but X-Pac rides him on the mat and slaps him in the back of the head. A hurricanrana sends Pac to the floor and a big Asai Moonsault takes him down.
Pac pops right back up and crotches Tajiri against the post to take over. Back in and X-Pac puts on a surfboard but has to let it go to avoid getting pinned. X-Pac misses the Bronco Buster and gets caught in the Tree of Woe, setting up a baseball slide to the face. Another big kick to the head gets two for Tajiri. There’s the Tarantula by Tajiri but it doesn’t last long, as always.
Tajiri loads up a top rope hurricanrana but Pac kicks him off, only to have Tajiri pull him down into a kind of standing backslide pinning combination for two. A German suplex gets two on Tajiri but Pac sends him to the floor for a big flip dive. Back in and the X-Factor gets two and here’s Albert (Tensai, Pac’s stable mate). Tajiri hits the mist on Albert but gets hit low and the second X-Factor unifies the titles (for about two months).
Rating: D+. Well that happened. There wasn’t anything special at all to this title as the Light Heavyweight division means nothing at all and never did, making this a boring match that no one cared about. Foley summed up the division perfectly in a promo in a few months: “X-Pac hasn’t been around in a few months and I don’t think anyone noticed.”
A very confused Perry Saturn is looking for his love, Moppy (an actual mop) at WWF New York. Someone kidnapped her and her face is on a milk carton. This is one of the guys that was a coup in the Radicalz deal people.
Stephanie gives Rhyno a pep talk and she still can’t act.
We recap Jericho vs. Stephanie which went on for months with Stephanie sending Rhyno after Chris, resulting in him Goring Jericho through the Smackdown set. I’d still have loved to see a Jericho/Stephanie on screen romance with them insulting each other so much that they became infatuated with each other.
Chris Jericho vs. Rhyno
Stephanie is at ringside of course. Rhyno runs him over a few times to start but a cross body takes the big man down. A top rope elbow to the head drops Rhyno and a jumping back elbow to the jaw gets two. The Walls don’t work and Rhyno bails to the floor, sending Jericho to the top. Stephanie grabs his foot and the delay lets Rhyno get up and Gore Jericho out of the air to take over.
Back in and Rhyno drops the injured ribs over the top rope and stomps away like a good monster heel would. Stephanie adds a LOUD slap and Rhyno hooks a body scissors to make Jericho scream. Back up and Rhyno hooks an airplane spin of all things to set up a TKO for two. Off to a surfboard with a knee in Jericho’s back but Jericho fights up and gets a rollup for two. A suplex puts Jericho right back down and weakens the ribs even more.
Rhyno goes up top and misses a splash that would have missed even if Jericho hadn’t moved. A double clothesline puts both guys down to give us a breather. Back up and Rhyno charges into a boot to the face and Jericho hits a middle rope missile dropkick. Stephanie finally gets involved by distracting the referee so Jericho kisses her to the floor. The Lionsault kind of hits for two and the fans are surprised at the kickout. Rhyno comes back with a big spinebuster before putting on a Liontamer (not the Walls of Jericho. It’s a different move). Jericho finally crawls over to the ropes for the break but walks into a belly to belly which looks to set up the Gore. Chris dives out of the way to send Rhyno into the buckle, setting up the Walls for the submission.
Rating: B-. I liked this a lot more than I should have as it really wasn’t anything special. Jericho and Stephanie had some great chemistry that it’s almost impossible to not smile at their antics. Rhyno was a fine monster for Jericho to slay to make Stephanie even angrier and the match was better than I was expecting. Good stuff.
Rock torments Regal with catchphrases, sidesteps a charging Shawn Stasiak to send him running into a metal door, and leaves to get ready.
Hardcore Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy
Rob took the title from Jeff at InVasion but Jeff stole it back on Raw. This is the rematch with the belt hanging above the ring, meaning it’s time to climb some ladders. Van Dam takes him to the start in a wrestling sequence but Jeff spins out into a standoff. Rob scores some kicks but misses a dropkick to give Jeff a breather. Hardy is hipblocked to the apron but he hangs on and does the same thing to send Rob to the floor. A big springboard dive takes out both guys in the first high spot of the match.
Both guys head towards the ladders but Jeff sends Rob into the barricade but misses a dive off the top. Rob drops a leg on the back of Jeff’s head to put him on the floor before getting the ladder. Hardy pops up again and runs the barricade to take him down before the ladder is inside the ring. With the ladder halfway in, Van Dam gets up on the barricade and jumps onto the bottom end of the ladder to send the top into Jeff’s face. Back inside and Jeff dives over Rob to send the top end of the ladder into Rob’s face for good measure.
Jeff drops his legs on Rob’s which is usually a cover but here just hurts. Rob puts him in the Tree of Woe and hits some shoulders to the ribs to take over even more. The ladder is placed on the bottom rope in the corner and Van Dam hits Rolling Thunder out of the corner to crush Jeff against the metal. A slingshot legdrop crushes Jeff against the ladder again but Rob can’t follow up. Jeff gets up first and baseball slides the ladder into Rob’s ribs to send him rolling up the aisle.
Hardy is the first person to go up top but Van Dam runs back to the ring and hits a top rope kick to bring Jeff back down. The ladder is placed on top of Jeff again for Rolling Thunder but Jeff gets back up in time to dropkick the ladder out from under Rob. A DDT plants Van Dam but he rolls away from the Swanton. The Five Star misses as well and it’s time for the slow double climb. Hardy is higher up but Van Dam sends him face first into the top of the ladder and superplexes him off the top of the ladder.
They both go up again but this time it’s Jeff with a sunset bomb to put both guys down. Jeff goes up again and grabs the belt but loses the ladder underneath him. Rob grabs Jeff’s foot but lets go, sending Jeff swinging back and forth. Hardy finally falls onto Van Dam before setting up the ladder again, only to have Van Dam shove it over and send Jeff into the ropes. Van Dam finally climbs up and pulls down the title for the win.
Rating: B. To the shock of no one, this was a solid match. There are certain gimmicks that are tailor made for certain people and it’s ladder matches for these two. It was a good brawl and the fans were way into it as both guys were big fan favorites. It’s not as good as some ladder matches but it still worked very well.
Shane gives Booker bookends made of announce tables. Seriously.
We recap DDP/Kanyon vs. the Brothers of Destruction. DDP had been revealed as the stalker of Undertaker’s wife Sara which was so far removed from his character that it wasn’t even funny. Kanyon and Kane were brought in because a goofy career midcarder vs. Kane somehow evens out Page vs. Undertaker. Oh and they’re both tag champions to make this title for title. Kanyon is US Champion for no apparent reason.
WCW Tag Titles/WWF Tag Titles: Undertaker/Kane vs. Diamond Dallas Page/Kanyon
Inside a cage to make sure the jobbers have no chance at all. The WWF guys have the WCW titles and the WCW guys have the WWF titles because CRAZY! Undertaker’s wife Sara drops the key to the cage down her shirt for safekeeping. The monsters dominate to start, shocking no one at all. Taker pounds on Page and Kane destroys Kanyon until DDP actually gets in a low blow and sends Taker into the cage.
The guys trade off opponents and Kane kicks Page’s head off as Taker destroys Kanyon. Kane powerbombs Kanyon into the corner as Taker rams Page into the cage. A big boot sends DDP’s head into the steel but Kanyon comes out of the corner to take Taker down. He hits a kind of Fameasser out of the corner to take Kane down but the Brothers sit up at the same time. Page and Kanyon go up top but Taker kicks Page down and tells Kane to let Kanyon go. Now it’s the Brothers against Page, two on one.
They take turns with running clotheslines in the corner and Taker hits a sidewalk slam for two. Kane yells at the referee in the corner as Taker pounds Page down. There’s a chain in the ring from somewhere and Taker whips Page in the back for fun. Kane is just chilling in the corner watching this. Taker tells Page he can leave and live, but if he ever looks at Sara again he’s dead. DDP tries to leave but gets chokeslammed off the top a few seconds later. The Last Ride ends the slaughter and gives the Brothers both sets of titles.
Rating: D+. So you the dominant team of former world champions beat a guy who is nothing like the successful character he portrayed a few years ago and his midcard comedic lackey. Thankfully this was only ten minutes long and Sara didn’t look bad. This finally ended Page’s destruction by Taker and Kane once and for all I believe.
Rock is having his injured ribs checked, steps aside to let Stasiak charge past him again, and tells the doctor he’ll be WCW Champion.
We recap Austin vs. Angle. Austin jumped to the Alliance because Vince McMahon was giving Angle too many hugs. Seriously, that’s what caused his heel turn. Angle became the great hope for the WWF and ran through the Alliance to get to Austin, earning this shot.
WWF World Title: Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle
Angle jumps Austin in the aisle and the fight is on fast. This was an interesting characteristic for Austin: despite turning heel, he was still basically the same guy. He would fight anyone that challenged him and would go straight at them every time. That’s very rare to see in a turning wrestler, but Austin is a very rare kind of wrestler. The brawl stars in the aisle before they head into the ring for the bell.
The champion is in control in the corner but Angle clotheslines him down to take over. A cross body gets two for Kurt but Austin heads after the knee to get control. That involves going to the mat though and Angle picks the ankle for the ankle lock but Austin makes the rope. Steve sends Angle into the barricade to put Angle down again before suplexing him a few times back inside.
As he tries for his fourth suplex in a row though, Angle reverses into the Rolling German Suplexes to stagger the champion. Kurt hits a remarkable SEVEN straight suplexes to put Austin down, but the Angle Slam is escaped and Austin pokes Kurt in the eye. Austin nails a superplex and there’s a Stunner out of nowhere for two. A second Stunner hits but Angle falls out to the floor. Austin sends him into the post to bust the challenger open then does it again for good measure.
Back inside though, all of that beating just gets two. Since it didn’t work, Austin sends him to the post again to bust Angle open even more. Austin goes to drop Angle onto the announce table but Angle slides down his back and sends Steve over the barricade and into the crowd, only for Austin to grab Angle and suplex him onto the concrete. Back to ringside and Angle grabs the ankle lock but it doesn’t count out there. Kurt realizes this so he grabs Austin back into the ring to put the hold on again, only for Austin to grabs the rope.
Back to ringside again because we haven’t been there in awhile. Angle hits a release belly to belly suplex followed by a belly to back. We head back in and Angle actually hits his moonsault for a VERY close two. Austin grabs a Million Dollar Dream, his old finishing move, but Angle climbs the ropes ala Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1996 and Rock at Wrestlemania X7. However this time Austin kicks out but also hangs onto the hold as the psychology of that spot gets even deeper.
Angle finally makes a rope but he’s spent. There’s the third Stunner but SOMEHOW Angle kicks out again. Steve slaps him in the face which only fires Angle up enough for a quick Angle Slam for a very delayed two count. Austin has had enough of this and punches the referee but walks into a DDT from Kurt for no count. Here’s a second referee to count two, only to get a Stunner for his efforts. A third referee comes out and gets decked but Angle hits another Angle Slam. A WCW referee comes out and ends the match with a DQ, keeping the title on Austin and in the Alliance.
Rating: A-. This was a great war with both guys leaving it all in the ring. The match also made Angle look all the greater because Austin couldn’t beat him and had to get himself disqualified. This gave the WWF the hero that it was needing, which is the whole point of this match. Angle would get another chance in the future though, and all it took was kidnapping Austin, threatening to throw him off a bridge in Toronto and throwing him in a kid’s pool.
Angle destroys the WCW referees post match.
JR goes into full I CAN’T SHOT SHOUTING AND SHAKING MY HEAD mode about how Austin can’t beat Angle.
We recap Rock vs. Booker T. Rock came back from making Scorpion King and affirmed his loyalty to the WWF by laying out Shane. Booker is his first opponent because…..well how else are you going to have Austin and Rock as world champions at the same time?
WCW World Title: Booker T. vs. The Rock
Rock has bad ribs coming in due to a Bookend (Rock Bottom) through a table. Rock fires off right hands to start but has to chase Shane around the ring. Booker jumps him coming back in but gets sent into Shane, setting up a Samoan drop for two. Things settle down a bit and Rock clotheslines Booker down before hooking a side roll for two. Rock wins a slugout and sends Booker out to the floor.
They head over to the announce table and Rock gets in a blatant low blow. Now it’s into the crowd with Booker sending Rock’s ribs into the barricade to take over. Back to ringside and Booker loads up the announce table but Rock comes back with right hands. Booker easily reverses a whip into the post and Shane takes off the turnbuckle pad. Back in (finally) and an elbow to the face gets two for the champion.
A knee drop to the face has Rock in trouble and Heyman wants a Spinarooni. JR: “It sounds like something from Chef Boy-Ardee.” We hit the chinlock for a bit before Rock comes back and hooks a Sharpshooter. Shane is pulled in again but Booker gets in a cheap shot for two. A slingshot into the exposed buckle has Booker in trouble and Rock gets two off a DDT. Shane puts a chair in the ring and picks up the WCW Title. The referee goes to get rid of the chair and Shane lays out Rock with the belt. This brings out the APA to lay out the Boy Wonder.
Both guys in the ring are down and Shane is knocked silly. His eyes rolled back in his head while laid out is a great visual. The Bookend lays out Rock but the referee is with Shane so the delayed cover only gets two. Rock’s clothesline and the belly to belly get two and there’s the People’s Elbow but Shane comes back in for the save. Shane gets a Rock Bottom on the floor (eyes open again) and Rock hits the spit punch on Booker, only to walk into a spinebuster. The ax kick sets up the Spinarooni but the Rock Bottom connects for the pin and the title for Rock.
Rating: B. The match is good but I doubt even Booker’s mama gave him a chance in this match. Overbooking the match helped and Booker didn’t look like a jobber or anything but at the end of the day it was fifteen minutes of killing time until the obvious ending. Still though, good match that got stuck being on after a classic.
Rock celebrates to end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. For a period as bad as the Invasion, this was an excellent show. The world title matches were very good, the ladder match was better than I expected and there was some other nice stuff sprinkled in. Nothing on here is really bad at all and the crowd was hot all night. Good show here and worth seeing if you want a good way to kill three hours.
Summerslam 2000 Date: August 27, 2000
Location: Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Attendance: 18,124
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
This is another show that I barely remember at all. A lot has changed since last time and it’s dramatically changed the card. To begin with, Austin is out with neck surgery and Rock has ascended to the top of the company. He’ll be defending the title tonight against HHH and upstart star Kurt Angle, a real Olympic gold medalist. On top of that, four guys called the Radicalz have jumped to the WWF, basically burying WCW in the process. The card is stacked on this show so let’s get to it.
The opening video talks about crimes of passion, which refers to Angle trying to steal Stephanie from HHH. The video is set up like an old art house movie and is set to HHH’s old music (Ode to Joy). Rock is involved too but looks like an afterthought. It’s amazing how good these videos can be when someone actually tries, unlike today’s generic hype videos.
JR brags about the gate, which is WEIRD to hear on a WWF show.
Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi
Too Cool and Rikishi are WAY over at this point and even won the tag titles over the summer. The RTC is Richards/Goodfather/Bull Buchanan at this point. Some of Goodfather’s former women come out with Rikishi, one of which would become known as Victoria. It’s a big brawl to start until we get Scotty pounding on Buchanan. Hotty backflips over Buchanan and pulls him down before getting two off a high cross body. Off to Sexay for a double suplex before Goodfather comes in and falls to the floor. He shoves Victoria down before punching Sexay in the face to take over.
Buchanan gets in some shots of his own and it’s off to Richards for his cheap shots. A powerbomb gets two and JR sounds stunned. Steven gets crotched on top and superplexed down allowing for the hot tag to Rikishi. The fat man cleans house and Victoria throws Richards back in the ring. The RTC is sent into the corner with Too Cool being launched into all of them at once, but Bull gets in a quick ax kick to take the Samoan down. Scotty loads up the Worm but Steven kicks his head off for the pin.
Rating: C. Basic six man tag here to get the crowd going. A fast paced act like Too Cool and Rikishi is always a great choice to start up a show as the crowd gets fired up for the entrance and hopefully stays hot for the rest of the show. The RTC was a fine choice for a heel stable as they took away what the fans wanted to see and the people were glad to see them get beaten up.
We see Angle arriving earlier tonight with Stephanie arriving a few minutes later. Later on Kurt went into her locker room with a smile on his face. Angle kissed Stephanie on Smackdown after Stephanie was hurt in a match.
Shane is about to talk about his sister’s actions but Steve Blackman chases him away.
X-Pac vs. Road Dogg
These are the last members of DX but Pac accidentally knocked Dogg through a table on Raw so Dogg walked out on Pac on Smackdown, leaving him alone against Undertaker. X-Pac easily takes him down and slaps Dogg in the back of the head because he can. The fans are all over X-Pac as he is sent to the floor via a shoulder block. Back in and Dogg blocks a spinwheel kick and clotheslines Pac down for no cover. Another kick sends Dogg into the corner but he rolls away from a Bronco Buster attempt.
Back in again and Pac tries a sleeper which shifts into a chinlock. Roadie fights out but this time the spin kick connects for two. There’s the Bronco Buster but Dogg pops up and fires off right hands to take over. The shaky knee drop gets two but the pumphandle slam is countered into the X-Factor which is countered into a spinebuster. Pac counters another pumphandle slam attempt with a low blow and the X- Factor is good for the pin.
Rating: D. This had no business being on PPV at all. It wasn’t even five minutes long and no one liked X-Pac at this point anyway. DX was LONG passed its expiration date at this point and it needed to die a long time ago. Dogg would be gone soon into the new year to hit the inside for awhile.
Post match X-Pac says they’re still a great team but Dogg lays him out with the pumphandle slam. That wasn’t a heel turn because of the low blow earlier.
Eddie sucks up to Chyna (basically in a bikini here) but she says one of them is getting lucky tonight.
Trish says she’s hotter than Chyna but Val Venis doesn’t want to hear about it. Trish was still new at this point and drop dead gorgeous.
Intercontinental Title: Trish Stratus/Val Venis vs. Eddie Guerrero/Chyna
Val is champion and the first fall here gets the title, other than Trish that is. Trish’s little white shorts get a BIG pop as you would expect. The guys start things off with Eddie speeding things up and hitting a jumping back elbow for two. A snap suplex gets the same and Guerrero escapes a powerbomb before clotheslining Val down. Eddie catches Val’s kick to the ribs and whips him around into a Chyna clothesline.
A double flapjack puts Venis down for two and Chyna hits another clothesline for two. Trish tries to get in a cheap shot but the distraction allows Val to take over. A LOUD Chyna chant starts up but Val suplexes her down for two. Chyna avoids a middle rope elbow but her powerbomb is countered with a backdrop. Instead Chyna takes him down with a DDT and it’s back to Eddie to clean house. A springboard hurricanrana gets two on the champion but
Val drops him face first onto the buckle and puts Eddie down with a Blue Thunder Bomb. They headbutt each other to put both guys down but Trish tags herself in and gets two on Eddie. Jerry tries to give the blonde pointers but Eddie easily takes Trish down. Off to Chyna and the mauling is on, but Val breaks up the handspring elbow attempt. Chyna avoids a double team and Eddie pulls Val to the floor, allowing Chyna to gorilla press Trish for the pin and the title.
Rating: D+. The match was nothing but the girls looked good enough to carry it. This would be another part of a long storyline as Eddie would cost Chyna the title in about two weeks, accidentally stealing it for himself. Val would split with Trish after this and join up with the Right to Censor for the next few months. Not much to see here other than Trish in the shorts.
Video on Radio WWF from last night with Cole and Foley hosting. This was an idea that didn’t last long at all for obvious reasons. Foley did some dancing (on the radio), Rock called in and the Rock and Sock Connection wound up singing Smackdown Hotel in a segment that only they could pull off.
Stephanie and her bad acting is wondering what she thinks about Kurt. She says he’s a good kisser.
We recap Lawler vs. Tazz. It’s about what you would expect: Tazz talked about being a thug, Lawler didn’t like it, Tazz went after JR but Lawler stepped in, Tazz broke a candy jaw over Jerry’s face and smashed the window of a car JR was in, injuring his eye. Let’s have a match.
Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler
Tazz comes out with a cowboy hat and a blind man’s cane to really rub in the idea. He takes too long though as Lawler jumps him with a right hand to get us going. They head inside and a dropkick puts Tazz down and follows up with a bunch of right hands to the head. There’s the middle rope punch but a second attempt only hits mat.
Tazz hits some forearms to the back as JR calls him a jackass. Lawler is whipped to the floor so Tazz can talk trash to JR. Back in and Tazz hits what might have been a low blow and goes up for a swanton bomb of all things but Lawler moves. The piledriver connects but Tazz no sells it and the referee is bumped. There’s the Tazzmission on Lawler but JR gets up and smashes the candy jar over Tazz’s head to give Lawler the pin.
Rating: D. What do you expect here? It’s a nothing match which had no business on Summerslam but that’s par for the course a lot of the time. Lawler is harmless enough and at least the win wasn’t clean. Tazz came in so hot but has done almost nothing of note since his debut at the Rumble.
We’re about fifty minutes into this show and it’s been pretty lame stuff so far. Nothing on here couldn’t have been on Raw.
Shane runs from Blackman again but it’s time for his match.
Hardcore Title: Shane McMahon vs. Steve Blackman
Shane took the title from Blackman with the help of a small army on Monday. Steve brings in a kendo stick so Shane runs to the apron. They throw the stick back and forth until Blackman offers him a free shot to the back. Shane picks up the stick but Blackman spins around to block it, starting a chase through the crowd. Blackman finally catches him with a trashcan shot and the beating begins. Shane gets caught in the crowd and some chops to the chest put him down.
We head back to ringside and a bicycle kick to the chest puts Shane down. A trashcan lid shot to the knees puts Shane down and a spinning shot to the back of the head does the same. We bring in more weapons now with trashcans and the hardcore sticks. The can goes over Shane’s head and pounds away with the sticks as JR makes Conan O’Brien references of all things. Blackman hits his belly to back suplex with the sticks (his finisher) but opts to throw Blackman around with a strap instead.
A snapmare off the top with the strap puts Shane down and Blackman puts on a half crab while pulling on the throat with the strap at the same time. This brings out T&A (Test and Albert) for the save and Test drops a top rope elbow onto the can lid onto Blackman’s chest. Shane starts his dancing punches but Blackman kicks the cane lid into his head. Albert takes Steve down again and Shane drops Blackman with a sign to the face.
They go up to the entrance with Test shoving what looked like a speaker over onto Blackman but Steve avoids to prevent death. Blackman finds a kendo stick to take the big guys down but Shane gets in a cheap shot. He runs away and climbs up the set like a crazy man and Blackman goes after him. They go WAY up into the air with Blackman hitting Shane in the back with the stick, knocking him probably thirty feet down onto a crash pad. Blackman climbs down a bit before dropping a big elbow to take the title back.
Rating: B-. Well that woke up the crowd a bit. The dives at the end looked GREAT with Shane continuing to prove that he’s a crazy man. Blackman never came close to this level again because he was just so boring, but this was quite a moment for him. The stuff before the wild part was better than I expected and this was the first match that felt like it belonged on a major show.
Stephanie is freaking out about Shane when Angle comes in. She freaks out so Kurt hugs her but Foley comes in to interrupt. He takes Stephanie with him to check on Shane, leaving Angle annoyed.
We recap Jericho vs. Benoit. Pick a reason for them to be fighting and you have a good feud here. In this case, Benoit has been attacking Jericho and injured his ribs so Jericho retaliated, setting up a back and forth battle with Jericho coming up with an awesome series of rhymes (“I will fight Benoit on a boat or when Chris Benoit is with a goat. I will fight Benoit when he is taking a quiz, and I will make him look like the jackass that he is.”)
Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit
This is 2/3 falls just to make it more fun. It’s a big brawl to start with both guys falling to the floor and taking the referee with them. Jericho pounds away at him but charges at Benoit and getting launched into the post. Back in and Benoit takes him down but neither guy can hook their finisher. Jericho hits a release German for two but gets caught in a tombstone shoulder breaker for two. A bulldog puts Benoit down but Benoit gets the knees up and puts on the Crossface for a tapout at a little over three minutes.
Benoit goes right back to the Crossface but Jericho FINALLY makes the rope. Benoit gets back up and puts him in the Tree of Woe to crank on the neck even more. Jericho’s shoulder is sent into the post both on the outside and back inside for two. Benoit sends him into the post yet again but Jericho finally gets in a shot to the face to escape. The comeback is short lived though as Benoit grabs him into a German suplex but Jericho rolls through another one into the Walls in the middle of the ring for the submission at around eight and a half minutes to tie it up.
Jericho gets a quick two off a backbreaker before firing off some HARD chops. A top rope back elbow to Benoit’s jaw gets two but the arm gives off on a powerbomb attempt. Benoit backdrops out of it but Jericho hands on and tries a backslide but Benoit counters into a dragon suplex for two.
Benoit goes up top but gets caught in a great hurricanrana to put both guys down as Jericho landed on his shoulder again. Back up and Jericho hits the flying forearm followed by a spinwheel kick but Benoit grabs the bottom rope at two. The Lionsault connects but Jericho hurts his shoulder again. He grabs a rollup but Benoit counters into one of his own with a grab of the ropes for the pin.
Rating: A-. Yeah this was awesome. Benoit and Jericho could wrestle for an hour a night every night and it would never get boring. Both guys looked great and the arm told a great story to center the match around. This is a big reason why the WWF was so hot this year: you could take any combination of these guys and Angle and have a great match on any show.
HHH arrives over 80 minutes into the show.
We recap the HHH/Stephanie/Angle stuff.
We recap the tag title match. It’s called tables, ladders and chairs. I think that sums it up perfectly well don’t you?
Tag Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian
Edge and Christian are defending coming in. The Boyz all battle in the ring to start but the Canadians bring in chairs. The Hardyz take them away but Bubba knocks one back into Jeff’s face. Edge and Christian get in some shots with the chairs to put everyone down and it’s ladder time. Bubba slams the ladder into Edge’s face and DDT’s Christian down as the fans want tables. Matt and Jeff come back in to powerbomb Bubba down and a second ladder is brought in.
Matt and D-Von climb up but it’s Edge climbing up as well to bring them down with a double Russian legsweep. Bubba and Christian climb up and it’s a Bubba Bomb to bring the champion back down. The fans LOVED that one for obvious reasons. Matt shoves down both ladders but Jeff sets one up and climbs for the gold. Edge pulls him down and drops him onto the other ladder, sending it flying up into Matt’s face in a painful spot.
The Conchairto misses Jeff and it’s Bubba picking up the ladder to run everyone over. What’s Up to Edge off the ladder pops the crowd a lot but the GET THE TABLES line gets them even louder. A 3D puts Christian through the table and Bubba wants to kill someone. He and D-Von stack up four tables (two by two) outside the ring and Jeff is their target. Edge saves him with a chair for some reason but Matt lays out Edge with the Twist of Fate.
Both Hardys drop legs from the ladder and Matt lays the ladder down next to Edge. Matt puts Edge inside the ladder and crushes him inside of it before throwing Christian off the top and onto the ladder, destroying Edge even worse. Jeff climbs a ladder outside the ring and tries a Swanton to Bubba but only hits the tables, knocking Jeff out cold. Christian knocks Bubba silly with a chair on the floor to put him down.
Back in the ring and the big ladder is set up with everyone but Bubba and Jeff going up. Christian hits the reverse DDT to pull Matt down and the other two go down at the same time. It’s a drunk looking Bubba coming back in and climbing the ladder but Edge and Christian gets up and shoves him through the four tables at ringside. The champions both climb but here’s Lita to shove the ladder over, crotching them both on the top rope.
Matt goes up but D-Von shoves the ladder backwards, sending Matt back first through a pair of tables in a SCARY bump. Edge spears Lita down, drawing a bad swear from JR. D-Von is climbing but somehow Jeff is on the other side. Both guys grab a belt but Edge moves the ladder, leaving both guys hanging. D-Von is knocked down and the Canadians spear Jeff in the ribs with a ladder to bring him down. Everyone else is dead so Edge and Christian go up and get the belts to retain.
Rating: A. These six guys have a great match involving ladders. Imagine that. This match holds up incredibly well but the sequel would somehow be even better. That’s the biggest problem with this match: people remember the sequel instead of this one. The table bumps in this were great with Bubba and Matt destroying anything they landed on. It’s a great carnage match and is worth checking out if you haven’t seen it in awhile.
HHH demands an explanation from Stephanie so she blames Kurt for the whole thing. They’re husband and wife and he hasn’t asked her about this in THREE DAYS?
The Kat vs. Terri
This is a thong stinkface match which tells you everything you need to know. Al Snow and Perry Saturn are the respective seconds. They don’t even bother with the pretenses and start in swimsuits. I’m not even going to bother with this: the girls look decent, there’s a lot of catfighting, Kat hits a Bronco Buster, Saturn interferes, the roll each other up out of sheer stupidity, the referee is headbutted low, a shot with Snow’s Head knocks Terri out and Kat gets the win. Moving on.
The APA is at WWF New York.
We recap Kane vs. Undertaker. Kane attacked his brother because he’s a monster and that’s about it.
Kane vs. Undertaker
This is the first time for Biker Taker vs. Kane. It’s a brawl in the aisle to start with Taker sending Kane face first into the post. Taker gets inside and starts ripping at the mask but Kane fights back with right hands in the corner. Kane brings in a chair but Taker fires off punches to the ribs to block the shot. It’s Kane who gets hit with the chair first and Taker tears part of the mask off. You can see the left side of Kane’s forehead and the big fried freak is MAD.
He rams Undertaker into the barricade a few times but Taker kicks the steps into Kane’s face. The steps are LAUNCHED at Kane’s head to take him down and it’s time for the full mask to be pulled off. Back in and Kane gets in a low blow and MAN is he busted open. Taker won’t go down from right hands and spears Kane down before going after the mask again. A low blow breaks up Kane’s chokeslam and the mask is pulled off! Kane bails before we can see anything and Taker wins.
Rating: C. This is a hard one to grade as it’s not a match at all but a big fight the whole way through. Biker Taker was still new at this point so a match like this did a lot as far as getting him over. I use the word match loosely as JR didn’t even hear the bell ring (it did but it didn’t change much). Kane would float around for the next several months (shocking I know) before the Invasion started up.
Angle calls someone.
Stephanie is giving HHH a pep talk when the phone rings. She freaks out when she answers it and says Hi Mom. HHH wants to say hi to Linda but the “reception” cuts out. Nice scene there.
We recap the world title match. HHH vs. Angle you know and Rock vs. HHH has been a war since before Wrestlemania. Rock really felt like an afterthought here but that’s ok given his issues with HHH still being relatively fresh.
WWF World Title: HHH vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle
Fink makes sure to tell us there are no countouts or disqualifications. Before the match Angle apologizes for not kissing Stephanie sooner. He’s an Olympic gold medalist and earned those medals by not backing down. He runs his mouth about giving Stephanie some real passion and that’s more than HHH can take. The Game storms the ring and the brawl is on before the bell. HHH shoes the referee down and Angle hits a Cactus Clothesline to take them both to the floor.
They head to the announcer table and HHH loads up a Pedigree…..and the table breaks before HHH jumps, sending Angle face first into the concrete, legitimately knocking him out cold. HHH checks on Angle before pulling out the hammer. Rock comes out to keep things from falling apart as Angle is taken out on a stretcher. In other words, we’re stuck watching Rock vs. HHH for the next twenty minutes. Well if you insist.
They brawl on the floor with Rock sending HHH into the announce table before heading back inside for HHH to pound on Rock in the corner. HHH looks down as Angle is being wheeled out and Rock gets in some right hands but the Game drapes Rock over the top rope, sending him out to the floor. HHH chases Angle down and pulls the stretcher back to the ring before getting in some right hands which are pretty dangerous given his actual injury. Rock makes the save to let Angle be taken back for the needed medical attention.
HHH loads up a Pedigree on the floor but Rock counters into a catapult into the steel set. Angle is still in the arena as Rock takes HHH back to ringside. He hits HHH low as Stephanie is checking on Kurt. Rock is sent into the post and we head inside with Stephanie now at ringside. HHH doesn’t want her here but since she is he tells her to get the belt. Stephanie brings it in and “hits” HHH in the face with it by mistake to give Rock two. Rock tries to pull Stephanie into the ring but HHH hits him low to save. Stephanie bails to the back and we’re back to one on one.
Rock fires back with the jumping clothesline and the fans are very hot for this. HHH rolls to the floor and brings the sledgehammer in again. Rock gets in a right hand but the Game hits him in the ribs with the hammer. HHH fires off kicks to the ribs and some shoulders in the corner for good measure. A facebuster gets two on Rock and HHH stays on the ribs. We head back to the floor with Rock’s back being sent into the post. Back in and HHH stomps on the ribs even more but Rock comes back with a swinging neckbreaker.
Yet another knee to the champion’s ribs takes him down and HHH goes up top. Rock comes back and supereplexes HHH down and we cut to Stephanie begging Angle to come back to the ring to help HHH. The Game finally rolls over and covers Rock for two but Rock gets the same on a belly to belly. Stephanie is literally dragging Angle back to the ring so he can trip Rock, allowing HHH to hit the Pedigree. Angle breaks up the pin and sends HHH into the steps before trying to steal the title for himself in a great false finish.
A quick belly to belly gets two on Rock and Stephanie isn’t moving towards the fallen HHH at all. Rock hits a belly to belly throw and a DDT for two on Kurt before whipping Angle into HHH, knocking the Game into the barricade. Rock Bottom gets two on Angle as HHH saves before sending Rock into the post. HHH tells Stephanie to get the hammer but Angle gets it first. HHH kicks Angle in the ribs and goes for a right hand but hits Stephanie by mistake. Kurt knocks HHH out with the hammer but Rock breaks it up. The People’s Elbow to HHH retains the title.
Rating: B. Like I said, if I have to watch HHH vs. Rock for fifteen minutes plus then so be it. Angle being injured that early made for an interesting ending here as the majority of the match was heavily improvised. The HHH vs. Stephanie stuff would be cranked up even higher when Angle would win the WWF Title the next month.
Angle carries Stephanie out to end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. The first half took a bit to get through but the last few matches are all great. This was still a great time in the WWF as you had everything clicking and all the big matches being better than you would expect. Austin would be back in a few months to bring things up even higher. Great show here and a forgotten classic.
Monday Night Raw – November 27, 1995: Be Thankful That It’s Over
Monday Night Raw Date: November 27, 1995
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
Things have certainly changed a lot in a week as Shawn Michaels is now on the shelf with a head injury and Diesel is suddenly awesome as a much more realistic character. Tonight is more of a lighter show though as Undertaker is trying to get back the golden chain that Kama melted the urn into because that’s still a thing. Let’s get to it.
We open with a somber look back at Shawn’s injury.
Opening sequence.
Rad Radford vs. Ahmed Johnson
Radford (Louis Spicolli) hammers away to start and gets dropped with an elbow to the jaw. We cut to Bob Backlund walking around the crowd campaigning for President (thank goodness this wasn’t during the Trump campaign) as the guys head outside with Radford sending Ahmed into the apron. Back in and a scissors kick drops Rad and a spinebuster sets up the Pearl River Plunge to end this quick.
Lawler goes to talk to Ahmed and makes some lame you’re stupid jokes before Dean Douglas comes down to say the road to superstardom takes place in his classroom. Ahmed wants to go right now but nothing happens.
We get an update on Shawn, who was attacked by a bunch of thugs back in October, leaving him with a severe concussion. Things got even worse at Survivor Series when his head was banged up even more, setting up last week’s enziguri to really put him out.
Aja Kong/Tomoko Watanabe vs. Alundra Blayze/Kyoko Inoue
O…….k. Blayze is Women’s Champion and Kong is a monster who beat Blayze at Survivor Series. It’s a brawl to start and they actually CUT OFF THE MERCHANDISE PLUG. It’s Kong vs. Inoue to start with Aja running her over in the corner and hitting a splash for no cover. Instead it’s off to Watanabe who is quickly caught in a surfboard. Blayze comes in and is quickly ignored to talk about an online chat with Mr. Perfect. The fast tags continue as Kong suplexes Inoue for two as we take a break.
Back with Watanabe superplexing Inoue for two but Kong breaks up Blayze’s German suplex. Instead a missile dropkick puts Kong down but a second attempt misses, only to have Kong miss a middle rope splash. Kong blocks a powerbomb attempt so Vince starts talking about, for reasons I don’t want to know, Kong being an advocate of safe sex, though unlike Princess Diana, she won’t be on a Norwegian condom commercial. Lawler: “What are you talking about McMahon?” Kong backfists Inoue for the pin.
Rating: C. This didn’t go anywhere and was really just everyone bouncing around Kong. For some reason this never went anywhere as Kong would have one more match and then never be seen again. It was a cool change of pace but that doesn’t mean it’s something I’d want to see every week.
We recap Diesel destroying Bret and the referees on Sunday and his comments the next night.
Here’s Brother Love of all people to interview Bret Hart. This feels so totally out of place that I don’t know where to start but at least it gets Bret back on TV. Love talks about Diesel and of course won’t let Bret get in a word (Brother Love trademark). He brings up Undertaker, who he brought into the WWF (which feels like forever ago at this point) and Owen Hart as potential challengers but won’t let Bret respond. Bret finally grabs the mic and says he’s ready for Bulldog until Bob Backlund runs out to put him in the crossface chickenwing. Love and that piano music just do not need to be here and it shows badly.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. John Crystal
The announcers talk about Bret being attacked as Helmsley finishes with the Pedigree in just over a minute.
Owen Hart has put out an open contract for a match at In Your House.
Kama vs. Undertaker
And never mind as Kama is on crutches so we need a replacement.
Sir Mo vs. Undertaker
Undertaker still has his big gray mask on. Ring announcer: “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, THE UNDERTAKER!” For those of you unfamiliar with Mo, just picture the most worthless person called a wrestler this side of Eva Marie. Mo sends him outside to start so Undertaker grabs DiBiase by the throat, only to have Kama come over and save his boss. Vince thinks he sees Mabel coming down as we take a break. Back with Undertaker sitting up as there’s no Mabel in sight. Undertaker gets all ticked off and stares at DiBiase, which sends Ted and Kama bailing to the back. The chokeslam ends Mo with ease.
Rating: D-. Mo sucks and I don’t know what else there is to say here. This was a pretty lame bait and switch, especially when Kama never actually had his big blowoff with Undertaker. Kama would leave the company soon after this with the Royal Rumble being his last major appearance for over a year.
Post match Undertaker gets the chain back but Mabel and Yokozuna come out to steal it right back. Can we please get to Wrestlemania so Mankind can debut and make this interesting?
A preview of next week’s show wraps it up.
Overall Rating: D+. They really can’t string two good shows together these days. Last week was great and this week featured a total of nothing interesting, save for a decent women’s match that meant absolutely nothing. They hadn’t figured out the formula yet and it was showing badly. Nitro kicking into mega high gear would do wonders for Raw but we’re a long way off from that.
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