Superstar Sleeze

Randy Savage vs Lex Luger - WCW World War III 1995 At the outset of the show, Hogan makes a big deal out of saying the Observer has it all wrong that Savage is not injured and he burns an Observer on air saying "Observe this", brutha and "Internet has got the scoops". It would be funny if Randy Savage just won the World Title, injured to spite Meltzer. 30 years later Bischoff is still railing against Meltzer. Lexy Flexy is out with Jimmy Hart as he is Dungeon of Doom 4 Life, brutha, but he is still friends with Sting. Hogan/Macho trust Sting and say Sting can have his deal with Luger. Sting & Luger are teaming up the next night on Nitro. I really dig that the booking for WCW at this time. All six main eventers, which means there are 15 unique relationships are developing those unique relationships and they can leverage them in different ways. Very cool matrix booking. Savage is out with a massive bandage on his arm is decidedly not healthy. Even though this match is about the same length as the Halloween Havoc match, I did think this one was better, but still left a lot on the table. Presumably, they would have gotten a chance to go longer if Savage was not injured. These two have great chemistry together. I know there is one Nitro match from 1995 I like between these two, plus I like their Souled Out 1998 main event match together. Savage is out for blood. Even though he is injured, he comes out the gate at a million miles per hour and is just kicking ass. He throttles Luger. It is really fierce and ferocious. It is a full court press. He is using the hard parts of his body and the hard parts of the ring. He is in pure Tasmanian Devil form and Luger it totally overwhelmed. Usually Savage likes to go right to heat so it was refreshing to see him work this blood-feud-esque shine. Nice Boston Crab which you dont always see from him. Big Elbow and it looks like Total Package just got squashed. However, the Mouth of South wont let Luger die an easy death. Savage goes to throw Luger into Hart, but Hart moves and Luger careens to the floor. Luger is able to reverse an Irish Whip and whip Savage into the ring apron of a different ring (three rings for the 3-ring Battle Royale). Savage takes a gnarly bump and sells it like a million bucks. Luger RACKS the Macho Man on the floor. Then throws him back in the ring. Slaps on a armbar/hammerlock and Savage passes out from the pain, BUT DONT WORRY GUYS HE IS TOTALLY HEALTHY. Sting comes out and gets Luger to relinquish the hold apparently Luger was the one who talked sense into Sting to relinquish the hold on Flair on Nitro. Again it is great shades of grey booking, on paper, it sounds all fine and dandy for Hogan/Savage to let Sting maintain his friendship with Luger, but if Luger keeps pulling this shit will this cause a Hogan/Savage vs Sting/Luger feud or will Sting have to say enough is enough cut out his toxic friend. There is a lot of interesting paths they can go. I enjoyed this match even though it is short. They have good chemistry. Savage was ferocious to start, total Tasmanian Devil. The Big Elbow was a good visual fall for Macho Man. Good transition for Luger followed by the Torture Rack and armbar submission. It was a very WCW moment for Hogan to grandstand that Savage is 100% and they run a finish on that same night that is directly counter to that promo. You would think someone would put 2 and 2 together. Good little match. ***

Ric Flair vs Sting - World War III 1995 The grudge match following the infamous Ric Flair turn at Halloween Havoc, great match and great angle. Is this match they should have run after that angle? No. It is a very good Greatest Hits version of their matches at around 15 minutes which makes for an entertaining experience even if it is not congruent with the storyline at the time. Pretty strong Sting shine here. There is A LOT of Gorilla Press Slams. For Flair detractors, I am sure that will get long in the tooth for them. Flair tries an eyepoke to set up the chops and big heavy blows. Flair's strikes always look great. Sting comes roaring back. Pretty standard Sting stuff. Sting fighting through Flair's offense with standard back fists and kicks looked great. All press slams were good. Flair bailing to the various rings (there were three because of the 3-ring Battle Royale) and Sting kicking his ass was good. I really liked the transition to heat as Sting crashes and burns on a Stinger Splash onto the steel railing. When Sting tries to mount a comeback, Flair ballshots him. I love that as a 1-2 punch to consolidate his advantage. The pro-Flair contingent would be very happy to see this heat segment. It is one of Flair's strongest of the 90s. He really works the leg of Sting well. A good variety of attacks to the leg, good tempo, well-struck and well-sold by Sting. Really liked the chop block. Great heat on the Figure-4. Loved Sting's reaction to being slapped and hulking up through the Figure-4. Things get desperate for Flair as he shove Nick Patrick who shoves him back down to a big pop. Then it is pretty much all Sting as he stalks him into a new ring and the Press Slams abound. Great superplex and the Scorpion Deathlock finishes it. Sting does relinquish the hold even though a big deal was made that was he was going to keep it on forever. Like I said it was a Greatest Hits of Flair vs Sting. I thought Flair's heat segment makes this stand out and puts it into very good category. I liked the Sting finish stretch in the sense he strung about 4-5 impressive moves together to clinch a victory. I think I would have liked 1-2 wrinkles thrown in there to take the match to the next level, but this still was a very good match. Flair has a very good, under the radar 1995. *** 3/4

Hogan sheds the black and returns to red & yellow, brutha. He vows never to return to the dark side, but within an year he would be wearing black & white, brutha. The Observer potshot followed by the internet has the scoops is pretty funny. I wonder if Giant was supposed to win and they switched it to an injured Savage to make a point. Savage was clearly injured at this point, but they make a big deal he is not even though injury plays a big role in his subsequent match with Luger. The whole the Internet has the scoops in 1995 is pretty damn funny. Weird segment. 30 years later Bischoff is still railing against Meltzer.

Lex Luger vs Randy Savage - WCW Halloween Havoc 1995 A nothing burger of a match. It was bad, but there was not much meat on the bone at only 5 minutes. Each man won a match over Dungeon of Doom earlier in the night in order to make this match happen. Savage defeated the Zodiac in under two minutes. Luger had a long, ~13 minute match, but was about to lose when Sullivan hit him to trigger a DQ and make this match happen. Luger would reveal that he was Dungeon of Doom 4 Life at the end of the show when he RACKED Hogan and Savage to end the show. At this point, this was still nominally face vs face. Typical Savage babyface performance as we go into heat quickly. It is a pretty scrappy match. Lots of short punches, snug strikes and throwing your opponent into hard objects. Savage blocks Luger sending him into the railing and in turn he sends the Package into the railing. Savage Axe Bomber looked sick. Jimmy Hart is out and it is also not known that he is Dungeon of Doom 4 Life either at this point. Luger knocks heads with Jimmy Hart on the apron and leads to the Macho Man elbow for the win. They were on pace for a good match. They were working snug, dirty and ugly. The Jimmy Hart shit was dumb and convoluted. It only seemed to exist to throw people off the scent of Jimmy Hart and Lex Luger, but there was no sus on Jimmy Hart so it was just dumb. Wish they got 5-10 more minutes.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs The Giant - WCW Halloween Havoc 1995 This match's reputation is more based on the dumbass Monster Truck angle and the debut of the YET-AY~! Thanks to Tony Schiavone, I pronounce it as Yeh-TAY in real life and makes me look like dumbass. The first time my wife heard me say it, she thought I was fucking dumb, but now she thinks it is funny. The match itself is a lot better than people give it credit BUT the dumbass booking does have to be accounted for so I dont think I can call it good, but it is not horrible either. It is far superior to WrestleMania VIII. The Giant literally had one match before this match. That is pretty high stakes for a green as grass rookie. Main Event against Hulk Hogan. Not only did he NOT stink out the joint, he looked like a veteran. You couldnt tell this was functionally his first match ever. The layout is very typical Hogan, but it works great. Hogan brings it to The Giant early with good shots and I love the Giant register. Hogan goes for the slam, but he aint getting The Giant up on the first attempt, brutha. Giant takes over. I LOVED those wild double axehandle swings. It looked like he was swinging a baseball bat. It looked great. Giant was really good with his clubbering offense. Hogan does a good job selling on the run, but it is a full court press by The Giant. The knucklelock is sold well and feels like a great Clash of the Titans moment. Giant Bodyslam and he goes for the leg drop, but crashes & burns. Great transition to Hogan rockin' and rollin'. Hogan throwing all that offense into Giant's face looked great, but he cant get the Big Man off his feet. He finally clothesline The Giant over the top rope to a big pop. Hogan runs out of a steam and on an Irish Whip ends up in a Sidewalk Slam. Another good transition. They work the Bearhug not once but twice. Again this is a good Hogan match. GIANT CHOKESLAM~! HELL YEAH! 1-2-NO! HULK-UP~! DROPS THE LEG! JIMMY HART NAILS THE REF WITH THE BIG GOLD BELT! Hogan does not see that it is Jimmy Hart who does it. So Jimmy Hart is able to nail him too! Here comes Randy Savage and Lex Luger, but whose side is he on? Luger attacks Savage. Here is the YEH-TAY~! YEH-TAY humps Hogan in the ass and then Savage. Luger RACKS them both. Michael Buffer says twice the title cant change hands on a DQ. Giant is declared the winner by DQ. I assume it is because Jimmy Hart was aligned with Hogan and when he hit the ref that counted as being in favor for Hogan, but that is dumb. It turns out the Nov 6th Nitro that Jimmy Hart put a clause in the contract that Giant could win the title on DQ. I dont mind the shady contract fine print. I think thats good heel shit, but I think declaring Giant winner by DQ is a stretch. I think it would have been better if Jimmy Hart clearly hit Giant with the title and then it is revealed on Nitro the next night that it was a double cross. Anyways, it was a good match and if it was just a Jimmy Hart and a Lex Luger heel turn, I think this match would be much better remembered however with the Monster Truck Battle and the YEH-TAY~! I gotta keep this below ***.

Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman vs Sting & "Ric Flair" - WCW Halloween Havoc 1995 I watched all of Halloween Havoc 1995 something like 5-10 years ago. This is even more glorious than I remember it. It is not just the turn that is excellent, but the actual match itself is wicked good. Bobby Heenan, as always when Flair is involved, is much more engaged and entertaining on commentary. The Sting shine was brilliant. It is exactly how you want a top level babyface to handle two midcard heels that are our threats. He divides & conquers and outsmarts them. In the Crockett tradition, they mix in enough camp and levity to make it really fun. Love the Full Nelson spot where Sting Kangaroo Kicks Pillman off the apron and then switches onto Double A and drops Anderson on his ass. Sting gets bated to the floor, Heenan says that is the exact opposite thing to do, but he ducks both Pillman and Anderson and slugs them both. The Military Press Slam on Pillman had me pumping my fist. The standard Pillman spot with the railing worked perfectly into the transition. As a groggy Pillman pulls himself up on the apron, Anderson cracks Sting's head into Pilman's and thus begins the Heat Segment. The babyface shine was money. Of course, this is the exact time, Flair hits the ring, which is perfect timing. The crowd was rabid for Flair! Lots of We Want Flair chants both before and after his arrival. I enjoyed the heat segment as well. I thought it did grow a little long in the tooth, but it was more entertaining than not. Perfect mixture of the Horsemen grinding Sting down, hope spots and cutoffs. I really enjoyed Flair on the apron. He was a maniac, strutting and hollering at Sting. Flair yelling "Stand Tall" and Sting doing his Action Movie Acting howling "NATURE BOY!" was so damn good. It felt like a real struggle. I bit on two or three of the hope spots thinking that had to be it. I really liked the Sting rally that ended in the Spinebuster. They get bonus points for having Sting crack Pillman's head into Anderson's head on the apron to be the high spot that leads to the tag. The tag is tremendous. It was the perfect climax to all the tension they built. Flair stomping around and winding up to hit Double A ONLY TO SLUG THE STINGER! What really makes it is Sting's reaction. He does NOT lie there and get pummeled. He is INCENSED! He fights back and the way Anderson and Pillman TACKLE him is so realistic. I loved it. Flair gets his cheapshots in. To me this is a ***** angle, wicked good. Hard to rate as a match because it is more of an angle, but it really holds up well as a match too so I am going ****. This ages very well, I am pretty sure this is my 3rd time watching it.

Lex Luger vs Meng - WCW Halloween Havoc 1995 Unfortunately I watched this about 2 hours ago, but couldnt get to the review until now due to a couple work emergencies. Which is too bad because I had a lot of thoughts about this match. I will be lead with the most interesting: Lex Luger's individual performance. Coming watching a lot of WWF Lex Luger in the past 6 months, it is night and day watching the Total Package here. I dont think anyone would dispute that the quality of Lex Luger performance is significantly better than pretty much any of his WWF work. Only 3-4 months prior to this match, he was having sub-par matches with Yokozuna in singles and in tags. It is not like all of sudden Lex Luger just got better. We know his work prior to his WWF run was better than his WWF run as well. There are two possible options in my opinion: 1. Lex Luger dogged it in WWF. Either he didnt like working there, he fell out of love with wrestling and was just cashing a paycheck, who knows. One theory would be his low effort level. Effort level definitely would explain why his WWF 1995 work would suck. Why suck in 1993? The rocket was strapped to his back, but he just was not having good matches at all. You could say his effort level rose in WCW because he was back amongst his friends or that he knew with his bridge burned with WWF, this was it, and he needed this to work out or he was fucked. 2. An institutional difference between WWF and WCW. We all know the house style between WCW and WWF is different. This match here is not a great match per se. No one would confuse it with Luger/ Flair or Luger/Steamboat but it was so much more dynamic than anything Luger in WWF expect maybe his match with Nash. There were so many wrinkles and things that kept you off-beat. There were more hope spots and cutoffs. It is not like all of sudden it was a workrate marvel, but there was more struggle and urgency than anything in WWF. The question becomes was the WWF hamstringing him. Were they giving him direction and he was simply following it? That being said it was clear the Kliq and Bret Hart were still having great, workrate-centric matches at the same time. Were the Kliq & Bret flouting WWF direction? Did the WWF seem them as workers but Luger was a "power" guy like Hogan should wrestle in a way different than Bret and Shawn? Why couldnt Luger be like fuck that, I used to go 40+ minutes with Flair, I can work too, pal. It is hard to say why, but it is easy to say there is a significant difference IMMEDIATELY with Luger retuning to WCW. As for the body of the match, I enjoyed Luger's shine. Luger worked primarily as a babyface in WWF and dont remember a shine this good. He was showing his ability to out-power and out-think the Monster Meng. There was a great catapult to Meng and he worked the arm well shoving him into a post. Both these high spots while not revolutionary you would not see in the WWF. I thought the transition to Meng's heat segment was a bit lame. I thought we would get more arm work. Sullivan seemed to distract Luger a little. I liked how they built up the heat segment. Luger misses a charged hard into the corner. Meng follows up with a great shoulderbreaker. Meng works the arm. Meng is really giving the full court press. Smothering him in the corner. Great piledriver by Meng. There was another good cutoff, but unfortunately I forget. I remember he hoists him up for a belly to back suplex, but Meng falls on top for a cover. The noisy verbal selling of Luger is back in full force. He just feels like he cares. Luger gets a great crossbody. Strong vertical suplex back into the ring. The finish stretch was a series of Luger clotheslines that Meng registered for pitch perfect. Powerslam to set up the Rack. Meng spikes with the Golden Thumb Ring, Asiatic Spike. It shocks me because I was 100% certain won and I was like I cant believe Luger would kick out. Sullivan comes in and kicks Luger at 2 to trigger the DQ. So whats going on here? I am a big proponent of late 1995 WCW booking. I think it is a paradigm that could be followed to great success. A lot of people try to recreate the NWO or Austin vs McMahon, but that is much more difficult in my opinion than trying to replicate 1995 WCW. The others rely more on the charisma and unique nature of the people involved. WCW 1995 booking model is something you could plug 4-6 main eventers in and would result in interesting stories. The crux is that no one trusts anyone and there is seeds of doubt sown weekly. The popular game show "Traitors" which my wife got me to watch all three seasons of is a great example of this style of storytelling. Luger shows back up in WCW at the first Nitro. Great return. He immediately wants a shot at Hogan and the World Title, but is he friend or foe. Of course, people like Sting would vouch for him, but he does NOT have an impeccable record, he is a known asshole. Then you got the Dungeon of Doom and Kevin Sullivan playing these mind games by not attacking Luger on Nitros. Is Luger DOD 4 Life? Or are they framing him, playing on the natural suspicions of Hogan and Savage to isolate Sting/Luger from Hogan/Savage. United the stand, but Divided They Fall strategy by Dungeon of Doom? There are all sort of off-shoots here: Luger proves his worth to the babyfaces, or he is DOD 4 Life or he becomes radicalized like Sting did in 1996 and so pissed that no one trusts him that strikes it out on his own. To me this is the pinnacle of pro wrestling booking. It is a matrix-style booking where you leverage these 6-15 interpersonal relationships to feed individual motivations that create organic storylines. As a huge history buff and fan of soap operas, to me this is the optimal way to present pro wrestling so that it is intriguing. Now even though I like the paradigm of late 1995 WCW booking, I will be first to admit it somewhat lacks in execution and it is nowhere near as good as say 86 Crockett or 96-97 WCW/NWO, but it is is a template that could be used for great success. Sorry, I never explained Sullivan's rationale. If Luger won this match, he has to wrestle Savage. Savage defeated the Zodiac in less than two minutes earlier in the show. A fan rushed the ring, but never made contact with the wrestlers. Zodiac missed a move off the top. Savage dropped the elbow. This looks like penultimate appearance by Zodiac before he transforms into the Booty Man in February 1996 (World War III is the last). This was near the end of Meng's push which would officially end with a job to who else but the Hulkster before he became Barbarian's tag team partner in late January 1996. So Sullivan's motivation could be twofold, one is that Luger vs Savage means that both men take more punishment and also it furthers this discord between Luger and Savage which in turn furthers the discord between Luger and Hogan. Overall, I really liked the finish and I enjoyed the body of the match. I liked Meng getting up in Sullivan's face demonstrating that not even Meng was in on the plan all along. Very cool booking here. *** 1/4

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Vader - WCW Bash at the Beach 1995 Steel Cage Vader cuts all-time great bully, dumb jock promo. He says brutha about 64 times, chump about 8 and says he is from Compton and that Hogan is a fake ass beach poseur. It was fucking epic. The Roadkill Roadtour where Vader murders Jobbers at your local house show was a great concept. Hogan Donald's him saying the Compton thing is fake-news, fuck you Hogan and he has Rod The Bod with him. Hogan and Rodman have some weird chemistry as you would expect. Rodman is a better promo than I expected. The SuperBrawl match is the crown jewel of the Trilogy, but this whole feud killed Vader shit is pretty overblown. Hogan and Vader had great chemistry and the Clash that follows this, babyface Vader is wicked over. The match is better than Uncensored, but not by a huge amount, what helps is that it has a proper finish, but the finish is the worst part of the match. Typical Hogan street fight tactics here using the shirt and doo-rag to choke Vader and throw him into the Cage. The Huntington Beach crowd is pretty into Hogan. Hogan does a ten-count punches the crowd counts along, then he goes up another rung and stomps to 9 and the double axehandle off the top was supposed to be ten. Hogan keeps pounding Vader, but Vader very wisely never bumps. He is a rockin' and a reelin' but he wont fall down, which is smart. They start fighting over who will send the other into the cage. Vader mounts his comeback. Nice big heavy blows by Vader. There were some really good Stand & Bang exchanges between these two. Hogan runs Vader into his Big Van Vader Helmet and Vader bumps off that! Nice! Hogan puts it in on and very gingerly headbutts him with it. Vader gets the big Splash in the corner that looks great. VADERBOMB~! 1-2-NO! Five minutes into the match, crazy! There is a great spot where Hogan is trying to quell Vader by hooking in a front chancery but Vader organically transformed into a vertical suplex without taking a bump. Someone crib that highspot baby! Hogan fires up but his bodyslam attempt fails epically. Vader does some sort of weird top rope Senton. I was expecting him to miss the forwards splash. He seemed hesitant about the Senton and looked like he wiped out. Reading some comments apparently he was supposed to do a SHOOTING STAR PRESS?!? and belly flop, but I guess he got freaks out went Senton. It looked ugly and gnarly. Hogan second slam attempt but Hogan collapses under the sheer mass of the Mastodon Vader. I will say there was some good trash talk on both side here. Vader was hitting some good stiff shots and honestly Hogan was giving as good as he got. Hogan tries his darndest to whip the crowd into a frenzy for the Big Slam. It is weird because watching other matches on the show, the crowd was clearly into the wrestling and even earlier they were with him, but when they needed the crowd the most for the finish it petered out. I would say I was thinking *** 3/4 before the finish. I was pretty impressed with the hard-hitting action. There was a clear narrative of Hogan trying to slam Vader, Vader missing big high-risk moves. The action was hard-hitting and heated. The finish just had no oomph. Hogan FINALLY Slams Vader, but he hurts his back. I get it they didnt want to go right to the finish because they wanted to do the Hulk-Up. I think as you will see later, they should have replaced the big boot with the Bodyslam. Lets get back to reality and then I will explain my solution. Hogan's back is injured. Vader recovers stiff short-arm clothesline, middle rope Vader splash gets two. Thats the Vader nearfall. I think a chokeslam or a Powerbomb there would have elevated the heat. Hulk-Up~! They really milk the Hulk-Up Vader tries a couple punches, three cage shots to Hogan before Hogan finally lets loose. Ugly Big Boot. Vader does NOT bump. Even worse Big Boot to the gut this time gets Vader down. A weirdly timed Dungeon of Doom run-in (Sullivan & Zodiac (Beefcake)) Rod The Bod beats them back with a chair. Legdrop NO POP! So Hogan is like fuck it. Everything is mistimed. He hits the reset. Plays to the crowd. Now he hits the real Legdrop, better pop. He looks to go out over the top, but Vader meets him (Vader popped up after Hogan's finish, where's all the bitching about that, wrestling fans get worked up over the strangest things). Hogan beats him back with chops. Vader takes one last gnarly from the top of the cage, twisting on the top rope to the canvas. Hogan wins and parties with Jimmy Hart and Dennis Rodman. He's government-inspected (no more government to do that) and he's US-grade, Tony signs off, BUT WAIT... Ric Flair is in the ring accosting Vader for losing to Hogan saying he was banking on him to get his retribution vicariously through Vader. He puts his hands on Vader, bad idea, Naitch. The Enforcer comes in and Vader shoves him off too. Flair takes an INSANE BUMP off the cage in his haste to escape Vader. Like what the fuck? He could have seriously hurt himself. Vader says he wants both of them and this Vader's babyface turn baby and he will get both of them at next Clash. Lets unpack this and we will go back to the match. GENIUS! Fucking Genius! I am so sick and fucking tired of feuds just getting started because someone just attacks someone else. It is so fucking lame. THIS is how pro wrestling booking should be done. You establish a matrix of relationships that you can leverage to start feuds. Flair had been retired by Hogan and began championing Vader's cause to vanquish Hogan and win the title. They had alliance at Slamboree and Flair was continue to trumpet Vader. Flair being the egomaniac that he is cannot stand the failure. He wanted this so bad. He snapped. So he berated and belittled a very strong and very proud man. Vader in turn gave a little something to think and spooked him. Now we got a freshly minted babyface Vader based on the natural progression of the story. It is NOT hard, people. This is how pro wrestling should be. Now you can pick nits that should this been shoehorned at the end of the PPV and Vader should have been selling getting beat up by Hogan. All valid points, but the nucleus of the story is perfect. I would have done it on the next episode of Saturday Night, but I can also see the value of having a chaotic ending to the PPV. It foreshadows the booking of Nitro really well. This felt like the end of an early Nitro. Back to the match, the finish just felt anti-climatic. I think if they just had an editor re-arrange some things they could have made this worthwhile. I think you do the Dungeon of Doom run-in first. They feel like Vader cant get the job done. Rod the Bod beats them off but Hogan is distracted so here comes the Big Vader nearfall first either a Chokeslam or a Powerbomb. Hulk-Up. No Big Boot. This is where you put the Bodyslam. Drop the Leg. I'd do the 1-2-3 honestly or just have him go out over the cage. The whole thing with Bodyslam hurting him leading to Vader nearfall was weird. The Big Boot was terrible. The Dungeon run-in distracted the crowd and they missed the first Legdrop. It was a shockingly mis-paced Hogan finish run, but I think if they rearranged in the above way it would have hit better. I still thought this was very good, but not as good as SuperBrawl or Hogan/Yoko KOTR 93. *** 1/2

Randy Savage vs Ric Flair - WCW Bash At The Beach 1995 Lumberjack Match Another hidden gem hiding in plain sight...no, no, no. This does NOT touch their ultra-heated classic from Great American Bash 1995 which I consider to be the best match the two ever had and a Top 100 Match of All Time. However, it is still Savage vs Flair so this is very good, borderline great. I am not fond of lumberjack (it is lifeguards in this case because they are on a beach) match as I tend to think they hinder the performance rather than augment my enjoyment. I am very much a fan of this Huntington Beach venue. It just feels different and cool. I'd love to see venues like this, Sturgis and the Spring Break Nitros make a comeback. Similar to the Great American Bash match a month prior, this is very scrappy. It is fought at close quarters. It is tight punches and stiffs chops/clotheslines. However, the Lumberjacks stifle chaos/mayhem of the GAB match. Savage's performance is not as incensed or possessed as the GAB match either. Savage starts off hot and overwhelms Flair early. Flair comes out of the corner with the Atomic Drop. The fire-fights between the two are great. There are flashes of 80s Flair throughout this match. Each takes a turn dumping the other out to establish the stipulation as is customary. There are some gnarly bumps by both Flair and Savage to floor about halfway through the match. Flair goes for the sleeper twice. In a cool spot, I am not sure if Flair was getting antsy waiting for Savage to press slam or it was planned: Flair falls off the top rope and lands chin first on the crown of Savage's head and it looked like Savage had jostled the ropes. Killer spot. That looked raw and organic. Savage repays him with a sleeper of his own. Kneecrusher by Flair!!! Flair works the leg including a somersault off the middle rope to wrench the leg. Dont say Flair doesnt add wrinkles. The Figure-4 at about 10 minute mark has great heat. I would be remiss not to mention that Flair was wicked over in the beginning, which either dispels the notion that these fans were casuals OR that Flair was very over with the casual Hogan, WWF castoff crowd. Flair was going up against the beloved Macho Man not the polarizing Hogan. Once in the Figure-4, the fans did rally around Macho Man. Nice delayed vertical by Flair, shades of the 80s. Savage begins his very scrappy comeback. Flair powders the lifeguards bring him back in. Double Axehandle, which I think is the first highspot from Savage. Savage is amazing because he is the anti-workrate's fan dream but he gets workrate fans to love him too. He has so little in terms of high spots. The reason he works is because he is so fucking real in that ring and everything is a fight. Flair gets dumped again. As the ref is attending to that, best friend & Enforcer, Arn Anderson nails Savage with a DDT faster than you can say "quicker than a hiccup". 1-2-NO! I totally bit on the finish. I figured that would fuel that Flair/AA break-up. Anderson does all the hard work, but gets none of the glory. Savage counters Flair and revs back up. Savage was looking Big Elbow but Flair feeds Double Axehandle. Bodyslam. Big Elbow 1-2-3! It was almost too neat of a finish. I loved the AA DDT as Flair's big nearfall and am fine with Savage winning the Blowoff with the Big Elbow, but would liked something more violent or aggressive to finish such a personal, hate-filled feud. This match had a lot of spots that didnt go as planned. Young wrestlers should watch how the cover them. They make everything feel raw and organic. Watch that Flair fall from the top rope, jaw-first to Savage's head or the finish how he feeds the Double Axehandle. My read on it was Flair didnt feel ready to take the Big Elbow that his body momentum didnt take to a natural laying down position. He fed a different high spot. Macho Man used the bodyslam to lay him flat for the big finish. Nowadays people go against their natural body momentum to ham-fist that next spot. Imagine if Flair was writhing and all of sudden stopped and flipped to his back perfectly flat. It would have looked like the shits. Yet so many of today's wrestlers do that. These two are masters of the art of organic, raw pro wrestling. *** 3/4

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Kamala - WCW Main Event 8/6/95 These two have some of that freaky deaky chemistry. Nowhere near as good as their 87 classics but this is 5 minutes of good craic. This is the start of the Second Gen Dungeon of Doom. It takes a repackaged Sullivan, Beefcake and Earthquake from 94 version with the name of Dungeon of Doom and adds Kamala eventually The Giant and Meng. This is a rare Hogan singles match and is a defense of WCW Title. This is on the Main Event before the Clash, most of the hype is around Hogan entering the Dungeon during the Clash telecast (this is not the famous vignette). Only five minutes of action but it is brisk and fun. Hogan is wearing the war paint. He charges into battle but is caught off at the pass. Lots of really good looking chops by Kamala. Bodyslam. Hulk-Up. Hogan is in full street fight mode throwing all the heel offense back at the heel. Great punches and nasty offense. Kamala starts firing up with thrusts to the throat. Sullivan interferes with a staff to the throat. Kamala splash that’s the Kamala near fall. Hulk Up home stretch. Drop the Leg but Sullivan is on top. Press Slam. Here comes the Dungeon. Sting & Savage save. Stock Hogan promo about going to War and the Dungeon to set up Wargames. It was fun, sue me. ***

Vader vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson - WCW Clash of the Champions August 1995 One of the biggest What Ifs thats never really explored is what if Vader does not get into the fight with Mr. Wonderful and Vader's "babyface" run was allowed to play out. Part of the reason, I dont think it is discussed is because it feels so natural. The Nitro 6 of Hogan, Savage, Sting, Flair, Luger and Luger is just a perfect 6-pack that adding Vader just makes it feel off-kilter. If Vader doesnt go to WWF, with the loss of Nash & Hall and Bret's sabbatical the WWF would feel so thin. It just feels right. I think that's why it is not explored. Just to start on the interesting ramifications on the WWF as well. Vader was naturally positioned as their #1 heel in the Summer. No Vader, means it is most likely that rush back Sid, I would think, who was back by July. There is the outside shot of a stronger Goldust push as well. As for WCW, Vader's "turn" seems off, you already have Hogan, Savage and Sting. He will be battling it out with Sting for the #3 spot, you have Giant and Flair as your heels. It is unclear if they knew Luger was coming in or not at this point. The reason I started to put "babyface" and "turn" in quotes is because the post-match promo. Thats when the light bulb went off. He was in the Luger role. Or to be more accurate, Luger got slotted into Vader's role. This was a tweener where the babyfaces are questioning is he Dungeon 4 Life or is Hulkamania Ride or Die. I think you can basically assume everything Luger does until about Halloween Havoc maybe even later is what Vader wouldve been slotted to do. This of course means we were potentially robbed of Vader vs Savage at Halloween Havoc, which is a massive bummer. Then question becomes what the hell is Luger supposed to do if Vader stays. He probably would have been more involved with Sting & Flair instead of Hogan & Dungeon. My final thought on this is that Vader was 100% ready to be a babyface. The Daytona crowd was pop pop popping for him. They were ready to watch Vader whup some heel ass. My only concern is how many heels were there for him to whip. Obviously, doing the inverse of Starrcade 1993 would be fun. Vader/Giant would be interesting as a big man showdown but after that. Who is left? I guess maybe Luger?!? Anyways, a fun thought experiment. The WCW Heels of 1995 EXPLODE~! After being aligned as Triangle of Terror, Hogan put Vader to bed at Bash at the Beach 1995 and WCW looked to turn Vader babyface. Prior to this match, Hulk Hogan visited the Dungeon of Doom, which seemed to be located in Florida and based on what we know about Florida today that checks out. This is not the very famous "It's Not Hot" vignette, I had not seen this one before. Hogan Cosmo Kramer's his way into Dungeon interrupting Sullivan and Iaukea's nonsense only for Giant to show up and tear off Hogan's cross...because you know he is Andre's son. Giant and the Dungeon (Kamala, Shark & Zodiac) beat him down until Vader saves. Vader & Giant staredown is pretty cool. After this match, Hogan parades out with Savage & Sting to declare war on Dungeon of Doom, but he wants to know where Vader stands. Vader wants to kick some Dungeon ass, but nobody tells him what time it is. LOL Which I think is a very comical way of saying he is an independent man, who dont need know Hulk Hogan telling him what to do. Finger snaps in a Z Formation. Onto this match, was I ever going to get there? This match is mostly a backdrop to the Flair/AA feud to set up the Fall Brawl which ultimately sets up the reformation of the Horsemen at Halloween Havoc and the turn on Sting. The story is that Flair is going to let AA take the lead and he is going to pick the Enforcer's scraps. Arn with some nice heavy blows to the gut. Vader throws those swinging bearpaws in typical Vader fashion. Vader is kicking ass, but Arn does get the Spinebuster. Just as promised The Enforcer has gotten the Big Man down and it is time for Flair to finish the job, but Flair is too cocky and plays with his food. Then in the ultimate rite of 80s/90s babyface passage Vader gets to Press Slam Ric Flair, which pops me huge. Flair Flip stiff Vader clothesline. The inverse of Starrcade would have been a lot of fun. Arn continues to save Flair with chop blocks, DDT and multiple saves. Flair does get the Figure-4, but is press slammed off the top. Massive Top Rope Splash from Vader! Vader trucks Flair with a Clothesline and a powerbomb polishes off Anderson. There is quarreling between Flair & Anderson that looks ready to explode. Overall, it is more of a character piece, the primary objective is to set up Flair & Double A for Fall Brawl, but also this was Vader's coming out party as a babyface. It was effective on both levels. *** 1/4

WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Vader vs The Patriot - WCW Saturday Night 3/4/95 According to Cagematch, this Vader's only defense of the US Title after winning it from Duggan, but there is nary a mention of it on commentary nor did I see the belt with him. There's a Vader/AA vs Patriot/Bagwell match around this time that has gotten some hype, which I liked a good deal. So said why the hell not to this? At first, I thought it was just mistake, but then he said it again, why does Tony pronounce it "Pay-tree-OTT"? So strange. There is a good Vader/Hogan brawl last week that is shown. Having watched a shit ton of WWF '95 from around this time, Hogan vs Vader feels way bigger than Shawn vs Diesel. Unfortunately unlike the great. aforementioned tag, this is an extended squash. Vader pummeled Patriot and Patriot got very little offense. It was a ton of fun to watch Vader do as his kickass offense: the punches in the corner, the Vader Body Attack, Bitchin' Chokeslam, Stiff fucking lariats. Vaderbomb and a normal Powerbomb. It was an excellent squash. One thing I do want to mention is watch how Patriot roars out of the corner with big overhand lefts and Vader blocks tags him back, but Patriot keeps firing away! THAT IS HOW YOU TRADE PUNCHES!!! What the fuck has happened in the last 15 years? No one can do Stand & Bang well anymore! Watch this! Replicate this! Way more heat! Hogan comes out for no apparent reason and starts whipping & choking Vader with a strap. Jimmy Hart chases Flair off, lol. The Nasties & Duggan pull Hogan off. It was pretty standard stuff. Hogan vs Vader clearly sells itself. Honestly adding Flair to the mix was the only addition really necessary that made it feel bigger. Nothing anyone needs to see, but Vader kicking the shit out of someone is always fun.

WCW US Heavyweight Sting vs Meng - WCW Bash at the Beach 1995 You gotta give Bischoff credit running unique venues like this is cool. I wish like Sturgis or the Spring Break Nitros this was an annual venue. I love see the waves and the sand in the background. The crowd was really into Sting moreso than the last three PPVs. Meng is still with the Colonel and has not entered the Dungeon. They are pushing him pretty hard with the video package and on commentary. A notch below the first match but still good. The beginning is interesting they wrestle like the mat is made of concrete and they take no bumps which I like. You should earn the bumps. Meng corners Sting on two occasions to start his martial arts work. Sting’s first comeback is a thing of beauty and the crowd is eating it up. Meng misses a diving headbutt. Scorpion Deathlock! Sting and the crowd are vibing. Parker distracts Sting. Here’s out Heat Segment proper. Pretty gnarly vertical suplex that inadvertently turned into a brainbuster. Meng is relying on more holds like the Bow & Arrow and the Abdominal Stretch. They trade Sunset Flips. Sting blocks. And hits the GNARLIEST BACK SPLASH! It was basically a coffin drop. It looked sick. Again Meng gets up first and puts him in a weird Boston Crab Scorpion Deathlock hybrid that has me and Tony confused. Unclear if Sting makes it to the ropes or Meng just releases. It is comeback time! Sting is just hurling his body at Meng. One of the best Thesz Presses I have ever seen. One of the worst hurricanaranas I have ever seen BUT fuck I had no idea Sting ever attempted one. Sting goes for the Stinger Splash in the corner and gets WIPED THE FUCK OUT BY MENG’S FOOT! I mean if Meng was going over that should’ve been the finish. It was killer. Meng splash for two. Finish is lame as Sting tabletops Meng for the roll up and win. So I was a bit shocked by the flukey win. Meng teams up with Nakanishi against Sting & Hawk next month. Hawk saves Sting from the post-match beatdown. I would’ve thought they would have done something more definitive here as they don’t run another match again. Meng is kept strong at the beginning of the Nitro Era but once he is fed to Hogan in January. He is a tag team guy. I think they knew they wanted to use Meng at the start of Nitro so they wanted to keep him strong. The body of the match was a touch more tepid than GAB. Sting busted out three great body hurling high spots in this one. Enjoyable match. *** 1/4

Sting vs Meng - WCW Great American Bash 1995 Vacant US Title Match STING DID A COFFIN DROP ON MENG!!! THERE WAS A PROPHECY AND IT WAS FULFILLED! I think something wrestling fans get hung up on that US Title and IC Title should be on the Next Big Thing. I dont disagree that is a valuable use of the titles. I think more importantly they should be on people that are over and near the top of the card. I think it is more valuable they are whoever is #2 or #3 on the depth chart of the babyface or heel side. I actually think this is a great use of US Title. Sting for better or for worse has been shut out the main event scene by the a pretty powerful foursome of Hogan, Vader, Flair and Savage. So giving him the US Title keeps the title on top and gives Sting something to do in third from the top match. For once an announcer is not using hyperbole when they declare this is so-so's biggest match of their career because it is actually true for Meng. For all the mystique and cult like following around Meng, he was never given many shots near the top of the card. He was a little short to be a Hogan opponent in the 80s, but credit to WCW they got him over a killer from this point on. I remember you could pretty much re-heat Meng any point and get a reaction out of the WCW faithful. I am surprised he didnt get a Hogan title shot around this time. Meng is not yet Dungeon of Doom 4 Life, but it is in the last vestiges of the Studd Stable with Col. Robert Parker. I believe Buck & Slater are still around the tag title scene against Harlem Heat. The match is worked as a mini-Sting vs Vader match. Now Meng is not as good as Vader so it is not as a good as those matches. However, Sting thrives in this formula. Thus this match is significantly better than Sting/Bubba, where Bubba plays a much more vulnerable, stooge Southern-style heel. Here Meng is playing the role of a Martial Arts, Mystical Badass that is hard to get off his feet. That plays to Sting's strength because Sting is very good at the desperation comeback. Pretty much no shine. Meng works the Martials Arts gimmick, thrusts, barefoot, chops, and kicks. Meng applies a long choke on Sting to show he is a Wildman! Sting throws a couple of dropkicks to create space and give the crowd some hope. Parker calms Meng down. Sting goes flying over the top rope and gets into it with Parker and the distraction gives the Meng opening he needs to consolidate control. I like Sting hurling his body as a weapon there. There is plenty of Tongan Nerve Pinches, BUT there is also a sick Powerbomb and Shouldertackle. Sting's hope spots and comeback is right out of the Vader playbook. There is just a way he does it and that is so compelling. Man when does get Meng off his feet the whole place comes unglued! I felt it 30 years later too. The Coffin Drop was a sick spot. Just hurling your body with reckless abandon. The best part is it got Meng off his feet, but Meng got up first. To quote the Jesse The Body at Starrcade 1992 from Sting vs Vader, "It is gotta be depressing as hell when you do the move and your opponent gets up first". Meng hits a diving headbutt and The Brain declares it is over. Sting starts his comeback in earnest. It just feels hot and electric in a way that the Bubba comebacks did not. Scorpion Deathlock, but Meng breaks it. Top Rope Stinger Splash! 1-2-NO! It was a leaping DDT that earns him the win. Sting needs to work on his finish stretch. It is a bit too rote. We need some wrinkles. Some better transitions. It just feels like three high spots strung together, but other than that as a poor man's Sting vs Vader this was a ton of fun. Given that Haku/Meng is a bit of a cult-like figure and those who like Sting really like Sting (I am middling on the Stinger), I am surprised this is not held up more as "HEY! Sting can have a very good match on his own against someone that is not known as all-time worker.". I wanted to do a quick scan of Cagematch Matchguide for Meng, but it looks like it is down. I took some notes a couple months ago on this. So according to my notes from September 2024, it looks like the Benoit matches are considered better and this Sting match is the 3rd best match of his career. So I think of I have seen the Benoit matches and I would say they are in the same ballpark so I will have to watch and see. Definitely a contender for the best Haku/Meng match of all time. *** 1/2

Sting vs Big Bubba Rogers - WCW Slamboree 1995 Lights Out The swan song of Bossman in WCW. He does main event the first Nitro against Hogan but he really doesn’t do much after this. They got five months out of the heel turn which is pretty good. Bischoff tries to sell this as some big grudge match as Sting is bringing a table to the ring, but the crowd and I are just not buying it. The crowd is pretty dead until the finish. I thought Uncensored match was slightly better structurally and just more uptempo and entertaining. They had enough bells & whistles: table, powder, ties & belts to keep it fun. It did feel heatless. There was nothing wrong with the psychology. The moves they did were well executed and they made sense in the context of the match. I felt the same about Uncensored. Why does these matches top out at good? That’s the magic of truly great pro wrestling. It is HOW they do it. It is the charisma. It is letting you in. Bubba has a terrific right hand. It is one of the best. Sting sells it well. It is about the presentation. There’s just a way that Razor/Hall does that right hand that pulls you in just that much more. It is nothing you could probably teach Bubba or Hall. It is innate. It is something I thought about a lot because I don’t have a lot of criticisms of this match but it is still only good. It is very interesting. They opt for a slower start. Sting gets a nice back fist / dropkick combo. Bubba goes to the eyes pretty early. I think a truncated shine was a bad idea. Bubba works that beauty of a right early and often. Bubba goes to the tie to choke out Stinger. Lights Out is just a fancy way of saying No DQ. They brawl on the outside. This is a mid-90s table much hardier and much more fun. Sting turns the tables (pun fully intended) on Bubba slamming him into it. Sting tries his own table spot but he who sets it, gets it. Bubba POWDER into Sting’s eyes and sends him into the table. Wonderful! Lovely transition. Sting missed a Stinger Splash and ears nothing but table. Bubba whips Sting with a belt. Bossman Slam for two. Bubba goes up top but Sting throws him off. Too neat. Wish they came up with something more creative. Stinger Splash from all the way up top. He has a great top rope splash. Double Stomp as the table lays on Bubba. Scorpion Deathlock and that’s all she wrote. I guess my major criticism was besides the powder. It was a bit too rote. Too clean, too neat. Just checking boxes. It was good and fun. That’s where it topped out. Onto Sting vs Meng! ***

Sting vs Big Bubba Rogers - WCW Uncensored 1995 Not sure if there was a stipulation but there was a finish so it is already better than the last match. This is all because Roger’s turned on Sting at the January Clash in a match against Avalanche which I watched like 4 years ago. That’s crazy! Crowd didn’t give a shit about this match until the last 3 minutes or so which is a shame because it is a pretty good match. Sting is the ultimate camp wrestler. He feels hardcore Dadcore. Like if a Dad joke was a wrestler it would be pre-Crow Sting. The way he made such a big deal out for leg dropping Bubba’s hat and tossing it out into the crowd was such a Dad move. I like camp a lot but I don’t know Sting always felt extra goofy to me. Sting’s shine is nice & long. Good punches, clotheslines, dropkicks and splashes. Bubba bumps well. He could’ve stooged a touch more to whip the crowd into a frenzy I think that’s what was missing. There were a couple Bubba hope spots like when he slipped out the Ring around the post you thought it end in a punch but it ended into a head to the knee on a Sting leapfrog which led to some really good knee work. Bubba really dissected the knee while also working in his trademark punches and spots. It was effective but looking back on it. It was a bit dry. Where was the heeling? There was nothing to piss the crowd off. It was just strong work. Very Japanese in a native vs native way which I enjoy but that doesn’t play to 1995 Tupelo Mississippi brutha. Sting threw in some good hope spots. Bubba slips off top rope not sure if that was on purpose. Sting top rope Judo Chop! Bodyslam! Good selling working through the pain. The sleeper hold ironically wakes the crowd up and they’re in for the rest of the match. Great German Suplex by Sting! Beautiful Stinger Splash from Top Rope! 1-2-NO! Uh oh. I was a little surprised but he still has the Scorpion Deathlock. Sting loves a good timber bump into an inadvertent attack this time it is Bubba falling into his knee. Sting goes to bodyslam Roger’s again but his knee collapses under the weight and Roger’s wins!!! WOW I am shocked! I though Sting had this! Loved the surprised ending; I am a sucker for the knee collapse spot to end a match. I thought this was very textbook and really solid. Fun shine, well-executed heat segment and an explosive but tasteful home stretch. Nothing that will change your world but good. The finish elevates it. I see there is a rematch at Slamboree that’s up next! ***

Randy Savage vs Avalanche - WCW Uncensored 1995 Aaaaahhhh the famous WCW has a PPV full of gimmick matches and this one is no DQ but ends in a DQ. Oh, WCW! I was kinda surprised it ended in a DQ as thought this was swan song of Kevin Sullivan’s faces of Fear giving way to Vader/Flair/AA as the main heels until Dungeon of Doom is formed. I think Savage gets his win on Saturday Night. I am not the biggest Tenta fan and given this is a Randy Savage babyface match I knew he take the majority of the match and he still does nothing for me. At least they didn’t go right to heat. Savage stuck and moved. Lots of cat and mouse. Avalanche missing charges and hitting hard objects or falling out the Ring. Savage leaping on him or sticking with jabs and clotheslines. Excellent psychology. Respecting the size difference. Avalanche is a problem for the Macho Man to solve. He gets cocky tries to slam but collapses under the immense weight of Avalanche. Avalanche has a solid, very average heat segment. Lots of splashes, slams and even throws out a dropkick. The King of the Mountain is well done. Savage is throwing hope spots out. Trying to leap on the Big Man. Sunset Flip is ill-advised and leads to a nice sit down splash. Savage rolls out of the Earthquake Splash and again out of a middle rope splash. Looks like Big Elbow and go home but Avalanche powders. Savage hones in on him and nails him with a double axe handle. IT IS RIC FLAIR IN DRAG!!!! He kicks the shit out of Savage. Hogan saves and the NO DQ match is thrown out as a DQ. lol. Before the finish it was *** but a DQ in a NO DQ match is too much even for me so this is sub-3. I thought Flair in Drag is BRILLIANT! It really shows how unhinged he has become in retirement. Anyways still not sold on Tenta, a fine match but nothing special.

Randy Savage & Sting vs Avalanche & Big Bubba Roger’s - WCW Superbrawl V It is a warm day in New England so let’s get back at it! This match way over delivers! Wicked fun and very entertaining! So simple but so effective. This match is a real testament to the fundamentals of character work and joy. Each wrestler understands who they are and doesn’t deviate it from that. The match doesn’t get bogged down in a pointless heat segment. Everyone and their mother knows the babyfaces are going to win so let’s just have some fun. That is what is missing from wrestling more than anything else today and that is fun & joy. Not comedy, there was only one comedy spot on this match, but rather this match just made you smile. Avalanche demonstrates how power advantage over Sting but Sting has been in this situation before and he has got heart, folks! Sting works on chopping the big man down with clotheslines. Bubba cheats and grabs him while he is running the ropes. They don’t belabor this. Next thing you know the babyfaces ping pong Bubba who plays it to the hilt doing his seesaw spot in the middle rope. Savage nails his patented double axe handle. Savage slaps Avalanche. That spot got so much heat. That’s pro wrestling, baby! Savage slaps him again but Avalanche is just too damn big to slam. So Avalanche misses a splash in the corner and Savage & Sting take turns teeing off on him. Sting slams Avalanche to big pop. Bubba punches and Sting falls headfirst right into Avalanche’s Snowballs (Tony it is as right there). Savage drills Bubba with the Big Elbow and Sting top rope crossbody on Avalanche with a tabletop assist from Bubba for the win. Id remiss not to mention that retired Ric Flair is in the front row and him Savage got into it a bunch setting something up down the line. Loved this match. It is a Summer Action Movie Blockbuster where the crowd and me were just pop pop popping all over the place not everything has to be an athletic marvel or a heavy comeback story. Sometimes it is just alright to have fun *** 1/2

Real World Heavyweight Champion Super Vader vs Gary Albright - UWFi 1/16/95 These two big muthas drew over 16k to the Budokan, pretty good for a dying promotion. It outdrew the third match in the Vader/Takada trilogy. Also a fact that blows mind is that Vader is simultaneously the WCW US Champion and feuding with Hulk Hogan. For the first like 5-6 minutes, I thought I was watching a lost classic. They do run of steam for a couple minutes but the last minute is a rousing finish. That first 5-6 minutes is GLORIOUS~! This is what pro wrestling is missing. BIG FIGHT FEEL! So competitive, dripping with struggle. Honestly I thought Albright outwrestled Vader here and Vader did not have an answer for Albright. Albright was landing the heavier blows and commanding the Ring. He was crowding Vader in the ropes. Great short knew that had you wondering was that a little low. Great sell by Vader. Vader got a pretty good sounding shot in retaliation that Albright sold pretty well but it was like a 7 on Vader Scale and I wanted a little more. Albright came back and BLASTED Vader with a forearm! Japanese crowd is popping huge for Albright. Vader came back with something like a 5 on Vader scale but Albright sold it well. Cmon Vader bring it brutha. Albright hooks him up and I love this Japanese audience you can audibly hear them anticipating the suplex. Beautiful belly to belly throw into the cross arm breaker. Great clasp by Vader. He shifts his weight gets a guillotine choke but Albright the amateur stud knows how to get out and get a Full Nelson. Vader gets the rope for the reset. They were on trajectory to **** 1/4 - ****1/2 right there. They just lost it. Albright went in for a tentative takedown easily defended by Vader who applied a rear naked choke. Back to the ropes. They did it again. All the heat just died. Then in the last minute Albright just showered him with stiff forearms got me and Japanese back in it. Teased the German. Japanese were hooked. Vader breaks the grasp. HE FUCKING CLOCKS ALBRIGHT! NOW THATS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! A FUCKING TEN ON THE VADER SCALE! He fucks ear boxes and basically cracks Albright right in the side of the head. Rear naked choke finishes it. I wish we got a power bomb. It is a damn good hoss fight. They don’t make them like this anymore. ***3/4

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Mutoh - NJPW 5/3/95 Finally found it! Most people would say the Hashimoto/Mutoh classic is their G-1 Climax from later this year and I would agree that is better than this but this is still very good. However real ones know that it is actually their 9/23/92 IWGP Title match with Mutoh as the Great Muta that is their real classic. Pretty typical puroresu booking here with Hashimoto having vanquished all challengers in his year long reign except Mutoh so expect Mutoh to win. Mutoh came to play. Mutoh runs hot & cold with me. While his selling, lack thereof, dragged the match down, his offense and more importantly his aggressive disposition is what kept me in it. He wrestled just like a challenger should always moving forward. That’s the champion’s advantage they don’t have to beat the challenger. Mutoh had that challenger mindset throughout this match. He had to win so he was always pressing and always looking for offense. Hashimoto sold this well making it feel like he was on his back foot and reacting to Mutoh. They fool me early and set the tone. They eschew the typical New Japan mat work for Mutoh to hit drop kicks and get Hashimoto off balance. Mutoh goes for the back handspring elbow but it is too early so Hashimoto evades and delivers a kick. That’s that challenger mindset. I like New Japan Heavies matwork so I enjoyed this. Mutoh definitely had the upper hand in this segment. Besides a bad drop toehold, Mutoh worked the mat pretty well. There is a great spot where Mutoh does the Ali Shuffle goes for a leg dive and Hashimoto pancakes him. Hashimoto just lunges with headbutts on a lock up to say fuck this let’s go muthafucka. Hashimoto starts unleashing fury including an unexpected piledriver. Hashimoto goes up top. HASHIMOTO GOES UP TOP?!? Misses top rope elbow. Mutoh’s turn. I loved Mutoh snap elbow on the fallen Hashimoto. Back Handspring Elbow (that feels earned now). Top Rope Franksteiner. Now Mutoh misses a top rope moonsault. Even Stevens. Great Hashimoto elbow and spinning heel kick. This comparison is a microcosm of the match watch how Hashimoto sells the cross arm breaker versus Mutoh. Hashimoto selling adds so much drama whereas Mutoh feels like he is just any hold. Down the stretch Mutoh’s weird selling really hurts the heat. Hashimoto overwhelms with chops, kicks and knees to finally get a DDT. HASHIMOTO UNLEASHED HELL WITH ROUND KICK TO THE HEAD! Mutoh just kicks out and then on the Hashimoto Brainbuster he converts that into a DDT. Didn’t like that transition at all. Dragon Suplex. Mutoh blows the first moonsault so he goes back to hit another one. Hashimoto kicks out at 3 to protect himself. There was some good stuff; I enjoyed Mutoh‘s full court press, I thought both their control segments were good and liked how each ended with a top rope missed move. The last 5 minutes just needed a little more oomph and a better transition. Mutoh is such a strange wrestler. *** 1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs British Bulldog - WWF In Your House IV Vince McMahon is a vile person deserves to rot in Hell. That being said for better or for worse, he is the singular influential person on pro wrestling on the last 40 years. So I have always been curious what he considers good wrestling. If I asked him, I know he would give the frustrating reply “whatever draws the most money, pal”. We know what types of characters he likes and what storylines & angles he likes, but it is a bit of mystery what wrestling he likes. I think this match and the Flair & Savage title change back to Flair are famous examples of what he doesn’t like. I was hoping this match would shed some light on his wrestling taste. Unfortunately, I don’t think the match is bad, I actually think it is good. I think there were reasons to be frustrated about the match but to think this was bad is hyperbolic. I am wondering if this was just general stress all culminating in one moment. Easy example is as a child majority of the times, I got yelled at it nothing to do with what I did, it was because my Dad was stressed about something else. I think it is more likely a combination of Nitro, the Shawn situation, the fucking horrible Yoko/Mabel match they preceded this so that when Davey had Diesel in a leg lace for the umpteenth time, he blew a gasket. During the match Diesel was still over, the crowd was cheering for him and there were no Bulldog fans. Now ending with a brawl with Bret Hart in Canada now that’s where the fans turned. To say Diesel was not over is incorrect. As for the wrestlers, Diesel is someone whose stock has risen in my eyes and Bulldog is someone who has come down a peg. Neither are Top 100 wrestlers for me they are capable of greatness with others. I see them as pretty equal in terms of ability which I think would shock most people. I think this is the best Bulldog performance of 1995 until the Bret match, he is laser focused and gives a very good Bret-esque destruction of the knee. Diesel is better offensive wrestler but he sold very well here. As for the match, the heat segment going long is overblown. I have seen plenty of praised Crockett matches where the heat segment goes way too long and no one complains. This heat segment goes long but it is not horrendous. It is something they could have fixed but it doesn’t kill the match. Hogan/Sid from Mania VIII is an example of an utter shit show main event. This is still good it just couldv been better. Diesel looked good in the shine. Diesel is really good at the missed strikes on a criss cross. I love how he muscled Davey Boy in the corner. Bulldog going for the legs early being thwarted at the Ring post, getting a chop block in the Ring but Nash shrugging it off was great foreshadowing. Bret is the perfect guy on commentary to explain this narrative. Bulldog gets a dropkick and Diesel tumbles to the outside; Bret goes to stop from hitting the table but Diesel pie faces him Bulldog chop block. I thought heat segment up to the Boston Crab was perfect. Bulldog was locked in and using a good variety of moves to attack the leg. I liked Cornette’s attacks on the leg. After Diesel powered out of the Boston Crab, we needed to change things up. That’s where it dragged. We did get hope spots like a big Diesel elbow and a big foot to Bulldog ass to send him flying. But with Bulldog like tenacity, Bulldog just stayed on the knee. I loved Diesel lunging for Bulldog but missing because he has lost a step. There was a lot of cool stuff. We needed either a bigger comeback by Diesel OR we needed Bulldog to change to Power wrestling which he does late in the match. You see Diesel make in roads when Bulldog goes for his customary delayed vertical, Diesel wins that battle. If Diesel is vertical, Bulldog loses. Bulldog needs to keep him down BUT Bulldog doesn’t have the submission vocabulary to defeat Diesel. It is an interesting story. I liked Bulldog using a Sharpshooter in Canada either Bret on commentary. When Bulldog does go for his finish, the Powerslam, Diesel shoves him off, BIG BOOT! The finish is fucking terrible. There’s nobody to blame but Vince. On the outside, Bulldog pie faces Bret and they brawl in the Ring. DQ win for Bulldog and Diesel brawls with Bret. I am a fan of DQ finishes but this is a shitty one because the match feels incomplete. They didn’t really build to the DQ. It wasn’t like Bulldog/Bret were chirping at each other. The match hadn’t gotten to a point where you were like oh I know Diesel would’ve won if it wasn’t for the DQ or vice Versa. It just happened. The finish was easily the worst part of the match. They had an interesting story but they didn’t see it the whole way through. I think after the Boston Crab which should have been where the Sharpshooter was done. That punctuates that segment, Diesel mini-comeback but the leg gives out, Bulldog finish stretch trying his power moves, Diesel gets the Big Boot to counter the running powerslam just as was done. Can he do the Jacknife? That’s when the protection finish kicks in. It is not a bad match. Like I have said I have seen countless matches where the heat segment goes too long. That doesn’t make a match bad. Backlund/Muraco this was not. ***

Diesel & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Sid & Tatanka - WWF King of the Ring 1995 The peak of Bam Bam Bigelow’s babyfaces run but if I was him I would’ve been doing all I could stay heel. The babyface side was Diesel, Bret, Taker, Shawn, Razor, Bulldog & Luger that was a murderer’s row he was not overcoming. Him vs Taker at Summerslam was what h should’ve been pushing for and then onto Bret or hell win the KOTR and main event Sslam against Diesel. Turning babyface was dumb. I say this as not a big Bam Bam fan. This is probably Tatanka biggest match or against Shawn at Mania IX. He is another guy who has shown me nothing. The story of the match is Diesel hurt his elbow the month before against Sid. How will the elbow hold up? In a classic “You’re Fired/I Quit” situation, Bigelow is out of the Million Dollar Corporation and wants revenge on them. At 17 minutes and change, the match exceeds my expectations. I would safely say it is good, not much more than that. I was surprised how early they went to the elbow. Diesel & Bigelow rush the Ring and clear the heels. Diesel gets one good move on Tatanka but wanders too close to Sid who kicks the bad elbow and wrenches on the rope. I kinda get it they want Diesel to be the house of fire so you don’t want his heat segment in the back end. BUT I think the tension is when do the heels get a hold of the elbow and they blew it off too early. However there’s many ways to skin a cat while they didn’t choose my way, I think the match still was good. They work over the elbow tight stuff. Nothing revolutionary but a good grind. Sid misses a leg drop. Diesel tags out. Let’s see what Bam Bam can do as a babyface. Solid hot tag. Dropkick, DDT, clotheslines. The top rope diving headbutt is a good punctuation mark. Sid catches up top and hits a chokeslam from the top. Great transition! They clubber Sid. Sid’s boots look good. Chinlocks. Diesel tags in. Nash is clearly the best worker in this match but the whole point of the match is that he has to stand on the sidelines because he is injured and it is hurting the match. Nash elbow drop but he hurts the bad elbow. Tag out to a Bam Bam that has not had enough time to recuperate which is a cool wrinkle. Tatanka works him over with clubbering and chinlocks. Bam Bam hulks up. Mid ring cross body collision levels the playing field. Bam Bam hits this crazy somersault splash on Tatanka where he almost breaks his neck that’s his big high spot. Diesel comes in and steam rolls Tatanka. Tatanka is a fucking load and the Jacknife becomes more of a gut wrench. 1-2-Diesel picks him up because he wants SID!!!! Well Sid don’t want none and just walks away lol. Diesel drops an elbow to win. Very anticlimatic ending to probably the worst WWF PPV ever. That finish was terrible on so many levels. I think there’s plenty of ways for Sid to not eat the pin, have the faces go over that doesn’t make Sid look like a massive bitch. If there was ever a match where layout overcomes the mediocrity of the performers it is this match. This speaks to the Power of Psychology and how it can really make things very easy. You run this exact same match but with four awesome wrestlers and this is probably a classic. It is such a cool and interesting layout. These four were competent enough to execute it to the point where the match never dragged and it was entertaining & interesting. Long Live Psychology! ***

Diesel vs Owen Hart - WWF IYH 5 Fresh off losing the WWF Title, this is Diesel’s only non-title 1995 PPV appearance. These two had a very good match for title at the beginning of the year on Action Zone and the chemistry continues here. It is too bad they never got 15 minutes together they worked well together. The booking here is great. Diesel is pissed about losing the WWF Championship but he is still best friends with Shawn Michaels. So when Owen gloats about putting Shawn out with the Enziguiri of Death, Diesel takes exception to this and wants to exact some revenge on Shawn’s behalf. Nash plays this match really well. He is even more aggressive. Cornering Owen early, throwing his body weight into him and just manhandling. Owen takes a crazy bump off a pieface. I don’t know if Nash was too forceful or if Owen went for too much rotation. Diesel misses the Big Boot. Owen spinwheel kick. Missile dropkick. Owen works the leg really well. Diesel shoves him into the buckles on spinning toe hold. Diesel finish stretch: Snake Eyes, Straddle, Big Boot Jacknife. Foot on chest 1-2-NOPE Diesel makes to mete out more punishment. The ref gets in his face and he shoves the ref triggering the DQ But Big Daddy Cool don’t care as he Jacknifes Owen anyways and leaves him laying. The condensed version of their Action Zone, good action here even better character work. Loved it ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs Owen Hart - WWF Action Zone 2/5/95 Diesel’s second televised defense comes against Bret Hart’s main adversary of 1994, Owen Hart. I applaud the booking strategy of having Diesel defeat Bret’s two main adversaries, Bob Backlund & Owen Hart and defend against Bret Hart. That was last year; Diesel is this year. Now what I disagree with is the quickness. I think they could have gotten an IYH main event out of Owen, they probably could’ve gotten something more out of Backlund than just a shock title change at MSG and a house show loop. There was one Bret rival they didn’t run at all, Yoko that they could’ve gotten a KOTR or IYH main event out of. They blew their wad so quickly they by the time Sid was done it felt like they had no one left. Found 7:30 with some pre-bell stuff so maybe missing 5 minutes but we do see is really good. Owen prematurely celebrating evading Diesel is always welcomed. Diesel was throwing himself into all the elbows and body weight attacks. Owen ate a lot of hard whips to the buckles. Snake Eyes + Press Slam very fun shine. Shawn comes out to cause the distraction. Owen sneak attacks. Shawn punches Diesel. Owen King of the Baseball Slide nails one. Good dive to floor. Commercial break. Coming back Owen is working the leg pretty good and Diesel is selling it really well. Missile dropkick. Owen spinning toehold BUT kicked hard into the buckle. Owen thumb to the eye. Diesel has had enough. Crotches him on top rope and pulls his hair. Big Boot + Jacknife. I think if I saw the full 11 minutes it be just under 4 minutes but given what get here I’d say *** 1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs. King Mabel - WWF Summerslam 1995 Summerslam 1995 has to go down as the weakest heel roster of any major promotion ever. The top 3 heels are Viscera as King Mabel, the Godfather as a fake UFC fighter and Kane as an Evil Dentist. That is fucking pathetic. No wonder 1995 is lambasted. On RAW prior to this, British Bulldog turned heel on Diesel and joined MOM in their "Royal Plan" on beating up Big Daddy Cool to wrest the WWF title from him. This angle essentially made this match a lame duck challenge as it was clear Diesel/Bulldog was the program for the Fall and Mabel was cooked. With Nitro debuting by the time RAW got back on the air, I think they felt like they needed to leave RAW with a hook for people to tune in. After watching more Mabel than I ever imagined I would, I can safely say this is the best Mabel match I have seen. Perhaps there are better Viscera or Big Daddy V matches, I do not know nor do I care to find out. Diesel worked overtime in this match. He threw himself into every bump and offensive move with tenacity and ferocity. Watch how he takes those bumps off the shoulder tackles. Or how he launches himself into the splashes into the corner or as a missile into Mabel's back to send him tumbling to the outside. KEVIN FUCKING NASH DOES A SLINGSHOT DIVE OVER THE TOP ROPE ONTO FLOOR CRASHING DOWN ON MABEL! How is this not talked about more! That looked better than 90% of "suicide" dives we see today. Great big boot on the floor. Mabel hits this weird Bossman Slam type move that looks like shit everytime he does it. It is transition to heat and it is god-awful. His belly to belly actually looks great and I wish he would just use that. MABLE ASS SPLASH!!! That looked fucking awesome and painful! The requisite chinlock which looks like shit. Mabel steamrolls the ref, they didnt even try to make it look like an accident. Mabel misses an elbow drop. Mo comes into double team Diesel. Lex Fucking Luger of all people comes out to make the save, but Diesel thinks he is Team MOM (because Luger was Bulldog's tag partner at the time) and slugs him. Mabel drops a massive leg drop on Diesel. Luger fights Mo to the back proving wrestlers can forgive one another for mistakes. Great Mabel Belly to Belly! 1-2-NO! Missed Mabel splash. Diesel didnt have a chance of hoisting his fat ass up for a powerbomb so it is a middle rope leaping forearm that gets the job done. I am surprised he didnt use the big boot. I wonder what the plan was for Lex Luger was if he didnt jump. Would it have been Diesel/Luger vs Bulldog/Yoko at the next PPV? Would Luger actually be annoyed Diesel slugged him first even though he was out there to help him so it would be Diesel/Shawn vs Luger/Bulldog? Luger was a much better fit for WCW so I think it worked out for everyone in the end. As for the match, greatly exceeded expectation and it is most definitely a good match. I really dont see how you call this a bad match. As much of a Sid mark as I am, this match was better than either of the Sid matches. Besides one chinlock, this was all action, Diesel was trying wicked hard, great offense and bumps from him and even Mabel had three great high spots. Easy thumbs up! *** 1/4