Superstar Sleeze

Yokozuna vs King Mabel - WWF In Your House IV ”A less than stellar match” - Vince, well no shit Sherlock, why did you book it, pal? This is heel vs heel but they both teamed up a couple weeks ago to break Undertaker’s face in what looked like a savage beat down. As punishment, Gorilla has booked this match, which I think is pretty clever. I thought from a charisma perspective this was Mabel’s best match. He slapped Yoko to start and put some bad mouth on him. He was cocky and he even did some strutting. He just isn’t good. He is fucking huge. He dwarfed Yoko. Lots of symmetry. Yoko played de facto babyface. Mabel bumper to the outside and then Yoko took a bump to the outside. Mabel gets a splash in corner. Yoko gets a clothesline when Mabel charges. Yoko misses leg drop and Mabel misses elbow drop. The fuck up the final spot which I think was a Bulldog but Yoko bumps anyways. Outside is a clusterfuck Yoko ends up on top of Cornette and Mabel hits the post for an anticlimactic finish. They hug it out to send us home happy. Godzilla vs King Kong this was not.

World Championship Wrestling November 1985 I got COVID and it is rocked me pretty good. I didn’t feel like reviewing whole matches so going back to watch 80s TV wrestling. We are full swing into the buildup for Starrcade 85. It’s a Gathering don’t you know Daddy! 11/2/85 She Likes It! She Likes It!: They show clips of the infamous angle where Mags plants one on Baby Doll and David Crockett in all his horny glory screaming his fool head off: SHE LIKES IT SHE LIKES IT! Where I think it goes too far is when Mags grabs her and rips her blouse. That’s just not babyface behavior. Tully attacks Mags and somehow he is the bad guy. Magnum could not beat Tully for the US title in Greensboro due to a double knockout. Magnum wants an I Quit match but Bob Geigel refuses to sanction it due to it being too barbaric. I think I have seen this episode before. Tully gloats in a good promo. Mags wins a squash. Jimmy Crockett comes out and reverses the decision and makes the match. I am surprised they didn’t do this the following week. Tully is in a rage. He fights Denny Brown in the best match of the night. Classic Tully he lets Brown get a lot of offense mostly good looking punches. Tully uses heel offense like throwing Brown to the floor, pulling the tights into the buckle and getting the knees up to break the momentum.Slingshot Suplex finishes the job. The Andersons are besides the themselves over Crockett’s ruling. They know lawyers, brutha! They have Tully’s back 100% it is happening! He Likes It! He Likes It!: Saliva swapping is the name of the game tonight. This time it is Ronnie Garvin in Drag making out with the Boogie Woogie Man and then slugging his opponent. I don’t know what to make of this angle. They are feuding with the MX and Cornette. Cornette cuts a fun promo before Valiant runs him off and says he must find this lady. This lady is the One, Tony! To punctuate it, he kisses Tony! Main Angle: The Horsemen have jumped Dusty in the cage in the all time great angle. Flair cuts an excellent promo saying Dusty can try all he wants to come back but he will falter. The Anderson echo his sentiment. Tony sits down with Dusty’s doctor and they explain all the steps they are taking to ensure that Dusty does not sustain further injury to his foot. I think I have seen this segment before. It is money, Featured Attraction: Superstar Graham vs Abby. Oh boy! Superstar wants to face Barbie in an arm wrestling match for $5000. Paul Jones says tough boogies you’re facing Abby first. Abby works the arm to injure Superstar before the arm wrestling match. Superstar mounts a comeback and chokes Abby with the cord. Lots of choking: Jones jabs his cane into Superstar’s windpipe. Superstar looks poised to win with an elbow drop but Barbie interferes hits a diving headbutt. Nothing match. Paul Jon saying Superstar looks like a Fortune Teller was funny because it is true. Midcard Mania: Rock N Rolls won a swish and on a collision course with the Russians. Budro won his squash and JJ says it is him vs Terry Taylor for National Title couple blond midcarders that never broke out. Manny won a squash no direction. Billy Jack Haynes won an extended but boring squash lots of chinlocks. Haynes & McDaniel are programmed with the Andersons which feels random. Pez Whatley wins a long squash he showed some good offense and charisma. Russians won their two squashes: Nikita singles; Ivan & Krusher tag. I don’t think I have ever heard Barry Darsow speak well if I have I forgotten it. He sounds so normal and looks so young. Russians hype their match with the Rock N Rolls. 11/9/85 Hard Times...The Alternate Version: Dusty is back in the studio with Tony Schiavone and he cuts a very familiar sounding promo talking about HARD TIMES, DADDY~! The more famous version is the better version. His emotion, conviction and delivery is much better. This is strong dont get me wrong, it doesnt have the same oomph and the closing of the more famous version is better as well. The American Dream vs Nature Boy is set for Starrcade 85! Clips from Dusty’s return to the Omni is shown wearing his new boot. He is kicking ass! Also the World Television Championship has been vacated. Arn Anderson has physical possession of the belt and believes he is the rightful champion and that there’s no need for a tournament. The Andersons won a great squash. They are the best squash wrestlers in the territory. Four Horsemen: This is not the officially naming, which I believe happens 2-4 weeks earlier. It is very cool to see the disparate units of the Four Horsemen unite here. Arn says the Andersons are backing Tully & Flair 100%. Ole says once they get done with Billy Jack & Wahoo, they are going to ensure Flair stays World Champ. Very effective Andersons promo. Tully won a squash and did not sell at all. He just kicked ass. Featured Attraction Oregon Kung-Fu Master: I feel cheated out of a Featured Attraction as Billy Jack Haynes goes up against Thunderfoot. Thunderfoot looks like an oversized jobber and is treated as such. His costume is terrible. This dude had no chance of getting over. He has two things going for him...JJ Dillon is his manager and as his name implies he has a Thunderfoot (he has a loaded boot). Besides Billy Jack Haynes press slamming him early, this is a nothing match. Dillon's interference helps Thunderfoot get on offense. Billy Jack master of Oregon Lumberjack art of Kung Fu mounts a comeback. Thunderfoot goes to load up the boot, but Manny Fernandez distracts and Billy Jack rolls him up to win. That shitty ass finish has existed for 40 years. Did we really need to protect Thunderfoot? Manny Fernandez cuts a promo about him and Billy Jack being an Awesome Twosome, kinda stepping on Wahoo's there Manny. Billy Jack shouts out his injured Dad says he is here at the behest of the Dream and he & Wahoo will exact revenge on the Andersons at Starrcade! Midcard Mania: Jim Crockett and Tony Schiavone run down the card for Starrcade 1985 and a quick Wiki check says it all looks accurate. They have not mentioned yet that will be simulcast from Greensboro and Atlanta yet. Russians won a squash as did Manny Fernandez. It took the Rock N Rolls a while to win their squash. I just prefer heels squashing to babyfaces squashing. Ronnie Garvin as Ronnie Garvin won his squash. He is such mean son of a bitch, he stretched that poor fool before knocking him out. We get clips of Boogie Woogie with Big Mama (silicone was alive and kicking in 1985, daddy!) and she has found Miss Atlanta Lively. They both plant one on either side of Jimmy Valiant's face. How on God's Green Earth did they get Ronnie Garvin to do this? Terry Taylor wins a squash with a superplex. Superstar and Paul Jones get a lot of air time as they run the video of the same angle twice. Barbarian has a broke hand. Superstar calls out Paul Jones, Barbie attacks. Superstar mounts a counteroffensive and gets Paul Jones up in the Argentine Backbreaker. Barbarian attacks and uses the cast to split Superstar open. Seems weird to have the heel have a broken hand going into an Arm Wrestling match. Barbie wins a squash.

Bonne Annee! My wife & I are spending a holiday week up in lovely Quebec City, my third time, her first and Lo & Behold, there’s a Quebecois pro wrestling exhibit at the Museum of Civilization! If you’re in the area or have always wanted to go to Quebec City, now is the time. They did a fantastic job covering the Quebecois Golden Age from the 50s to the 80s. Highlights include: Clips of Killer Kowalski vs Yvon Robert from 1950s with English commentary. The finish was included. Clips of Carpentier vs Destroyer from 1971. Great interviews with Rick Martel, Raymond Rougeau, and Gilles Poisson. Lots of great memorabilia: Pat Patterson, Rick Martel to Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. Clips of Mad Dog Vachon show as a Pirate Retro PLAYABLE 80s WWF arcade games! I played as Hacksaw Duggan vs Randy Savage! I learned a lot too! I was aware of the name Yvon Robert but I didn’t realize how large of a star he was. I thought Carpentier was the main star. So I am definitely interested in learning more about him. Cant sing the praises of this enough! It was amazing!

Undertaker vs King Mabel - WWF IYH 5 12/17/95 Casket Match The swan song of King Mabel, following his Dad formula after feeding Mabel to Diesel, Vince got the last bit of juice out of Mabel jobbing him here in a mercifully short casket match. Story is threefold I believe: 1. Mabel defeated Undertaker at King of the Ring en route to becoming King of the Ring (so Undertaker needs his win back). 2. Mabel crushed Taker’s face with a behemoth leg drop in the Fall of ‘95 and Taker is wearing a pretty sick looking mask. I believe this is called his Phantom of the Opera period I have never seen it just read about it so cool to see. 3. Most importantly in the eyes of Vince & Taker, Mabel or more specifically Mo has the remnants of the Urn that being the Gold Chain, Kama had melted into. This is Mabel’s penultimate match of this run before returning as Viscera. He jobbed to Diesel in 8 seconds on the January 1st RAW. Mabel was already working Puerto Rico clearly he knew it was over. I am going to be generous and call this match good. Taker is naturally over. He gets his pops and Rest in Peace chants. They don’t waste any time and at 6 minutes they keep it moving. Mabel just has not charisma. His size is impressive because not only is he heavy, he is very tall too. He just doesn’t hit his spots or bumps in an interesting way. Taker nominally starts off fighting through some Mabel offense. Mabel hits a weak Black Hole Slam to take over. He misses a middle rope splash. Weeble wooble. Mo interferes. Mabel hits a great belly 2 belly, leg drop and splash. That was some good shit. Weirdly enough, Mo hauls Takes out of the Ring and is the one to put him one the casket. Who cares about Mo? The heels dawdle. Taker makes his big comeback. Takes Mabel off his feet. Chokeslam…the one at KOTR looked better, the big boot to Mabels back and the tumble into the casket looked good. Taker needs to chokeslam Mo and dump him into the casket. Taker pauses and climbs and retrieves the remnants of the Urn you can’t help but laugh. That sends MOM packing. Taker signals he wants the Belt and let me tell you after the shit burger of ‘95, he deserves it. The big man high spots were fun and they kept it moving. I still think Mabel sucks. ***

Undertaker vs Mabel - WWF King of the Ring 1995 Mabel has four chances to show me he is any good as a pro wrestler. He already blew this one. Look a name change and getting him out of the purple pajamas should have been step one of his push. Even separate from the aesthetics, he seems to suck. He seems really worried about hurting himself or his opponent. Everything is very cautious and slow. It really is business exposing. There are more moments like his second belly to belly and piledriver where you are like oh he is pretty good but then there’s charging into the boot or the terrible knees while Taker was hung up in the ropes. Mabel really makes me appreciate Yokozuna and what he can do. Yoko is a million time better athlete that Mabel was. Mabel is also a black hole of charisma in the ring. Taker’s shine was the normal weeble wooble selling and gets him down on the 3rd clothesline and Old School Rope Walk. Mabel just bumps and sells in the most nonchalant fashion. There’s no tension. His transition to heat was weak as was when Taker got tied up in the ropes. The belly 2 belly was good but it was into a chin lock. Really lame ass splash more lame outside the ring work with Mo. The piledriver was neat. They knock heads. Ref bump. Undertaker CHOKESLAMS MABEL! That gets a pop! Kama interferes hits a weak shot on Taker. Mabel leg drop for the win. One of the worst matches I have seen in quite some time. Poor Undertaker when he gets a chance has shown himself to be pretty good in the mid-90s but he was just served shit. Oh Vince proved me right why Taker was bumping for those Jarrett dropkicks they were pushing that Taker was weakened because Kama had melted down the Urn into a chain! I knew I was right! Taker has too much pride in his character to be bumping for Jarrett dropkicks. It feels like they were trying to recapture the magic of Yokozuna and boy Mabel was not that guy. I agree they needed heels big time with a loaded roster of babyfaces: Diesel, Taker, Bret, Shawn and Razor but Mabel is not the answer. Three more matches to prove me wrong.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Ken Shamrock - WWF RAW 9/14/98 Before we get to the match, which is a bizarre one, this match really showcases one of the most unique facets of pro wrestling. That perception is greater than reality. The reality of the matter is Ken Shamrock could have literally broken multiple bones in Austin's body within minutes. But the perception is that Austin is 100% way more badass than Shamrock. Shamrock is a badass. Austin plays the Badass 800000000x better than Shamrock. It is the same thing during the peak of The Man vs Rousey. No one thought Lynch was actually a better fighter than Rousey. But on the TV screen, Becky Lynch was the badass and Rousey could never channel it. The same goes for Shamrock he has all the legit, shoot credentials in the world, but he just couldnt make you believe. What a bizarre match! Stone Cold Steve Austin works as the veteran heel champion trying to give the plucky youngster a shot at the World Title. Thats sort of the format, but Austin GUZZLES Shamrock. I cant remember the last time I saw such absolute mauling. They were working hope spots like Shamrock's leg lariat and cross body like he was fucking Sam Houston, but unlike Ric Flair, Austin was NOT bumping for shit. It was all kneelifts, boot rakes, eye rakes. Fuck, I am pretty sure this is how all the Flair haters wanted Flair to work in the 80s. This was wild. Austin was doing three vertical suplexes in a row. Working tight headlocks and chinlocks. Offering Shamrock no quarter. Shamrock goes for a Frankensteiner and Austin powerbombs as if to say "Why you leaving your feet, son?". It was truly an unexpected format. Austin was out and out heel. Shamrock needs to get more assertive. Austin bullied him in this match. Outside of the shine, where Shamrock at least got an armbar takedown, Austin gave him nothing. Austin worked a thumb to the eye early. Austin was out to work heel, I just didnt realize it until about halfway through the match when he was cutting him off left, right and center like he was the heel. I get that Shamrock was the babyface and it is customary in this role that someone like Austin would play the subtle heel, but there was nothing subtle about this. Austin throws Shamrock over the top rope and finally Shamrock gets a little love on the outside. But that doesnt last for long as Austin gives him a wicked boot in the corner and just buries the shoulder. Shamrock comes back with a clothesline and a suplex. There you go Shammy, give it to him. Shamrock works a Boston Crab, which Austin tried earlier. What a bizarre match. Austin makes the ropes. Austin works a back heel kick to the balls! Yep that seals the deal, a True Heel NWA Championship Performance from Stone Cold. I forgot earlier they even traded sleepers. Austin really wanted to work a NWA Championship match in 1998 at the peak of his popularity against Shamrock. Weirdo shit. They totally no sell the ball shot and start running around. Double Clothesline both are out. Austin makes sure to get one last cover to leave no doubt in anyone's mind who's The Man. Here come Taker and Kane for the schmozz finish to set up the Breakdown Triple Threat. The Rock and Mankind save! Wow The Rock was teasing babyface this early. The match is not good and cannot be classified in that way, but it sure is interesting. I would have never thought in a 1000 years this how they chose to work the match. I was thinking *** but after the ball shot was no sold, I said fuck it, this match is not good, but it is interesting case study.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Ken Shamrock - WWF RAW 10/27/97 It was the Best of Bret Hart, it was the Worst of Bret Hart. Has anyone ever been "Just Another Guy'd" harder than Ken Shamrock? This was a very good, run of the mill pro wrestling match. Sort of your Bret Broomstick match. The problem is that is Ken MUTHAFUCKING Shamrock in there. Look it is not Bret's fault at all because Shamrock got "Just Another Guy'd" by the entire promotion. Shamrock needed to assert himself. The promotion (i.e. Vince) needed to do a better job promoting him. What a huge miss by the WWF. The value of Shamrock is snapping people out of their comfort zone. How do I work against a legit shoot-fighter? How is the strategy different? We have countless examples from Japan how to go about this in very compelling ways. On the flip side from WCW, even though he was not legit, you have Goldberg. Look at that remarkable Goldberg vs DDP match from Halloween Havoc that thing is a barnburner. It is because it was the fucking Terminator vs John McClane. There's plenty of interesting way for Shamrock to work in a pro wrestling context and they went the laziest route just making him another pro wrestler except HE CAN DO A ROLLING LEG BAR! Give me a fucking break. Lets say this was Bret vs I dont know fuck it pick your favorite WWF upper midcarder, Bam Bam Bigelow, lets say, we would all say this was a very good match because it was. Traditional Bret chaining, they throw in the aforementioned Rolling Leg Bar by Shammy to show he is a shoot fighter gosh darn it. Shamrock just absorbing the punches by Bret was rough to watch. It is part Shamrock's inexperience (he did work PWFG, which probably why he comes across way too fucking smooth for this role) and Bret's penchant for check the box wrestling. Bret is supposed to be on offense so just take it, just like when Bret eats offense, he just takes it. Shammy gets him in the corner and when the ref breaks them up Bret clips the knee. This is what I mean by the Best of Bret Hart. There is almost nobody I rather watch a control segment by. He is the ultimate grinder. The transition was fantastic. He worked the leg like a fucking champ. It was a clinic and I loved every second of it. He worked the figure-4 around the post, the spinning toehold, all the classics. The transition back to Shamrock was genius, he goes to the well again for the figure-4 around the ring post and Shamrock pulls him into the post. Shamrock kicks some ass on the outside. Shamrock shit looks good, but it is NOT unique. Like the fucking Frankensteiner. What does that show? He is athletic? That he is a pro wrestler too gosh darn it? I liked the Shamrock Saito/Belly 2 Belly suplex. The ref bumps. Bret visually taps to the anklelock. Shamrock lets go and gets clobbered with a chair. Sharpshooter. Sweet Chin Music from Shawn. We get a great pull apart brawl from Bret & Shawn to set up Survivor Series. Shamrock is pissed that Shawn interfered and fucked up his title shot. So that sets up Shamrock as Shawn's first challenger post-Survivor Series. Against just anybody else, I would just tell this is the standard, very good Bret Hart match, but it is not against Just Another Guy, it is against Ken Shamrock. Plug & play makes sense for some wrestlers but for unique wrestlers, they deserve unique matches. This is when those creative juices should be pumping. I have the opportunity to work something different how do I problem solve for this? A good match is true to the characters in the ring. It is a tough match to rate. I will give it the rating for the work I thought that was delivered, but I am disappointed in it. *** 1/2

WWF World Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly - WWF RAW 4/17/95 Set up last week by Holly pinning Owen in a 6-man tag. Good first title defense for Owen & Yoko against the plucky, underdog tag team champions. Really enjoyed the opening matwork by Owen & Kid. I would say the best opening matwork I gave seen in any WWF 93-95 match. It felt like NWA Championship wrestling. I thought Kid landing on his feet after monkey flip at the end of the really well done chain wrestling was a really good punctuation mark. Also liked Kid drop kicking Owen after double Kip ups but Owen was caught celebrating. Owen/Holly also had some really good old school exchanges. Don’t know what got into Owen but he really wanted to do classic championship style wrestling and I loved it. Kneelift brings in the big man, Yokozuna. Surprisingly Holly snaps the gargantuan Yokozuna down by the hair on an earlier set by the big man. Owen pulls down the top rope and Holly goes careening to floor. Owen drives Holly’s back hard into the post. This sets up a very compelling heat segment on Holly. I am usually not into long heat segments especially ones that include multiple nerve pinches but Holly peppered in enough hope spots and Owen’s character work kept this fresh. Like when Holly gets a backslide out of the surfboard Owen slams him into Yoko’s head and brings Yoko in. When Holly looks poised to mount a comeback Yoko throws him over the top, picks a fight with Kid to distract the ref and Owen does more damage. When Holly gets a small package on Owen, Owen goes to the eyes. There is a great weight reversal by Hollybon a super plex. Love the enziguiri by Owen. Owen and Holly knock heads on a collision. Each tag out. THE BEST POSSIBLE 1-2-3 KID HOT TAG ON YOKO! Kid just fucking let all hang it for a minute. The best lightning head rocking kicks on both Yoko and Owen. SICK TORNEO ON OWEN!!! Mind-Blowing in 1995. Just like when your toddler gets zoomies right before a nap. Yoko catches Kid off too and SQUASHES him with a belly 2 belly. 1-2-3! Perfect finish. I still like Kid & Jannetty more than Kid & Holly but two of the best non-Bret, non-Shawn matches of 1995 don’t lie, they should have kept them together. I have this at the same level as the excellent Gunns match. Gun to my head, I am going Gunns, but this is really good. One interesting finding for me in all this is I significantly prefer Kid in tags than singles. *** 3/4

Bret Hart, 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs Hakushi, Owen Hart & Yokozuna - WWF RAW 4/10/95 Pretty typical booking throw Bret/Hakushi who are beefing via the Bret/Lawler feud and glom them onto the burgeoning mini-program between the current Tag Champs Owen Hart & Yokozuna (also perennial Bret rivals) and the former tag champs The Kid & Holly. This was a fun, breezy 6-man nothing too special but a good time. Shine is almost non-existent pretty standard Bret/Yoko opening. Yoko catches the cross body-> body slam but missed the elbow. Some arm work but Yoko thrusts Holly but tags in Hakushi. Hakushi loses control to Holly who hits stock drop kick. Kid hits his spinning heel kick on Owen but a well-timed knee by Hakushi allows Owen to hit the spin wheel kick. They tag in Yoko to do a nerve pinch and play up the size disparity. Hakushi works his offense in, Owen gets a good back breaker. The best part is Kid gets a reverse crossbody for two; Owen traps the leg to prevent the tag; tags in Yoko; BIG LEG DROP ON THE KID! Significant We Want Bret chants. Kid hits a damn good Powerbomb on Hakushi. Bret does a great house afire on Yoko basically working his standard comeback they he does against Yoko; it comes off well. Bret vs Owen; Owen gets the Enziguiri. On a criss cross Bret tags Holly and dropkicks Owen into a Holly roll up for the win. Nothing too special but write home to your mother up but good fun old school wrestling. *** 1/4

Well thank you seven year ago me for reminding me to check this out! With Raw moving off Peacock, I was watching some of the Original Bodydonna squashes and then was just scrolling through time. This entrance is definitely an all-timer and something that will immediately put you in the Christmas spirit!

WWF World Tag Team Champions Smoking Gunns vs 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly - WWF RAW 1/30/95 In fairness to the Gunns who won their titles 24 hours after Kid & Holly won theirs, Gunns are putting their titles on the line about an hour after they won it! Yes, an hour! Now thats fighting champions! However, they dont get credit for it, as this aired a week later. I went to first ever WWE TV Taping two days ago at the Boston Garden. Totally fucked it up, I assumed they would do the Dec 16th episode live 8-10am and the Dec 23rd episode 10pm-Midnight. They started it all an hour early so we came into Dec 16th episode in medias res. First time experiencing such a phenomenon, it is a lot of pro wrestling and it was about what I expected for the Holiday episode. I will say Vince & Shawn being photoshopped in front of the crowd in 1995 was really fucking good. I mean you have to be paying attention to notice it. It looks like 2020s technology. So kudos to them for making it look great. Must have been weird for the live crowd to see this title match again after only about an hour in between. This match pales in comparison to the first match. Kid gets a little shine showing off his speed. They get a double dropkick. Bart slams Kid's head to the mat. Double Russian Legsweep by the Gunns. Back from break, Kid hits a double clothesline on both Gunns. Holly's house of fire is so generic. It is pretty pedestrian except a strangely heated fistfight between Billy & Bob that almost looked uncooperative. Kid comes in and starts lighting everyone up with karate. He dives off the top with a Cannonball. Sells a stinger. Billy goes to pick him up, but his eyes roll back in the head and ref calls the match. Vince does a good job with the serious sell here. I am 99% sure this is a work as he was back in time for Mania to be in Razor's corner and wrestling in April. I thought he did sustain a neck injury in WWF or was it just in WCW. This was good, but the original match was much better. ***

WWF World Tag Team Champions 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs Smoking Gunns - WWF RAW 1/23/95 1-2-3 Kid the king of the makeshift tag teams. Kid/Jannetty were obviously the better team and in my dream world, they ruled WWF tag team scene for at least a couple years. Kid/Holly are the poor man's version. I havent seen Holly wrestle since his departure from WWE and he does not seem like a great lost worker. I believe this is my first time watching the Smoking Gunns as a tag team. All in all, given there was only one worker I would say I'd like in this match, this greatly exceeded expectations. Really unique match, it is double FIP, BUT since each team is babyface, they each do a FIP. Pretty cool. I loved the beginning of the match. The work was tight, uptempo and it just felt like an 1980s babyface vs babyface tag team match. Kid & Holly were the Cinderella story of the Tag Team Title Tournament replacing Smoking Gunns who were out due to a "rodeo injury" they defeated the Million Dollar Corporation the previous night at the Royal Rumble. So they were really playing up the 24 hours since they won the title defense. It was a really well done babyface vs babyface work. Holly was the first to break the mold with right hand to Bart. Billy came in and just tackled Holly with a bulldog. It looked awesome. I thought things would get chippy, but they settled into place. Gunns hit a double press slam on Holly. Kid/Holly showed they could do double teams too with a double superplex and a double dropkick. Kid/Holly worked their heat segment on Billy. Kid/Holly, unexpectedly played more of the de facto heels in the match, Kid dropkicked Bart off the apron when Billy went for a tag and this was sold as very heelish. Kid sold exhaustion so well and thus the Rocker Dropper by Billy came off really organic and well-timed. Right into hot tag for Bart. Loved the backbreaker/Rockers Dropper combo AND the Billy dropkick into a vertical suplex. Both looked killer. I thought the face in peril on Kid dragged a bit, BUT still cool seeing each team do one. Holly continues that thread of Kid/Holly being heelish when he does a Hart Foundation knee to the Gunns running the ropes. Vince declares Holly has the best dropkick in the game which was a long standing soundbyte. Jim Brunzell's was better. Shawn Michaels says his is better on commentary. Holly eats the foot on a splash. Bart gets him up in an Argentine Backbreaker and Billy comes off the top into a Slop Drop/Edge combo. Bart stops Kid. 1-2-3 New Champs and first reign for the Gunns. Saw footage of the Sidewinder, some AEW team should bring that back. Thats sick. I thought this what a really damn good tag team match. I think you can play Kid & Holly's heelishness up as desperation. They just did all this work to win the tag team titles against all odds and now 24 hours later they have to defend them. The twin scourge of exhaustion and desperation will cause a man to cheat. I thought the Gunns were pretty damn solid here. Looking forward to more matches. *** 3/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels vs Goldust - WWF RAW 9/6/96 Special RAW on a Friday because the US Open would pre-empt RAW this week. Now that they got competition in the form of Nitro they feel like they need to bridge the gap. The original Goldust heel run is one of all-time favorite runs by anyone. It is a near perfect gimmick played to the hilt by Dustin. It is a shame they turned him baby face by the end of the year, there was a lot of mileage left and interesting stories to tell as a heel. The visual aesthetic may be my favorite of all time and the gimmick was so versatile. That being said Dustin always seemed to be hurt when working as Goldust and could never put together that in ring classic. This is not exception. Two of the Top 100 wrestlers of all time and the match just merely decent and it is a shame. It is rushed. I wish they did get more time. Shawn was in a very good mood to start. He was really hamming it up mocking Goldust. The back flip off Goldust was pretty nifty. Shawn sets too early and the classic Goldust drop down upper cut. Dustin always worked that spot in more organically than Cody does. Shawn takes the Harley bump. Marlena blows smoke in his face. After that Goldust works a very pedestrian, milquetoast heat segment. Shawn’s comeback is not much more interesting it is the usual stuff besides a top crossbody countered by Goldust. Shawn using the moonsault as his finish in a nod to the Summerslam finish against Vader was cool but in execution the run up felt a beat off. Felt like their chemistry was a half beat off the whole match. Mankind comes out to promote the upcoming Mind Games match and to further the Goldust alliance story that didn’t go anywhere but sounded cool as fuck. Decent match but very disappointing given who was involved. ***

WWF World Tag Team Champion Quebecers vs Headshrinkers - WWF RAW 5/2/94 “They are chanting USA for American Samoa! “ -Macho Man popped me big! I would argue Quebecers were the MVPs of RAW since Sept 93. They had frequent matches and had a long term week to week feud with Marty & Kid and a marquee match against the Harts. This is beginning of the end of this; they do have one last match left. The Headshrinkers much like the original version of the USOs are bland in their presentation. Besides being Samoan and related to Afa they don’t have a hook. The opening shine is as solid stuff they established the Shrinkers as more powerful and tougher than the Quebecers. Shoulder tackles and head butts. Quebecers get desperate and start making mistakes. Splashing each other being whipped into each other. The head for the hills but the Fink says if they get counted out they lose the belts. Back from commercial, Shrinkers are working the Quebecers on arm in a throwback heel in peril segment. Quebecers bury a Hart Foundation knee and a Pierre clothesline transition to heat. Sick Total Elimination! Lots of slamming each other onto Fatu. Back from another break, they gave them a ton of time. Fatu back drops Pierre out. Sami pretty standard hot tag until he gets HIS HEAD CAUGHT IN THE ROPES!!! Jacques pulls his hair while his head & neck are wrenches between the ropes. That was SICK!!! Jacques PILEDRIVER! Cannonball Splash…looks to be over WAIT IT MISSES!!! Afa slugs Polo! Jacques hits Pierre by accident…Pierre clocks Jacques on purpose! Double Stroke by Shrinkers and Fatu hits the USO Splash damn Rikishi you crazy for the win! Burling Vermont pops huge for the win! Way better than I expected! Quebecers had a really terrific run and should be remembered more fondly. This title victory represents the beginning of the end for tag titles. Headshrinkers get a marquee match against Yokozuna & Crush at KOTR but after that they lose the tag titles to Shawn & Diesel and that really is the end. This is a fun, throwback match, Quebecers are great heel champs and Shrinkers brought it. *** 1/2

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Men On A Mission - WWF RAW 4/11/94 I have never seen a Men On A Mission match thus have never seen Mo wrestle. Mo looks old, brutha. Mabel is way taller than I remembered. I thought he was just heavy, but he is a tall dude. These two teams traded the tag belts in Europe and then MOM via Countout I believe at WrestleMania X. This match is a result of a fan poll where MOM beat Bushwhackers and Smoking Gunns. There was a "Lets Go Mo" chant live! I am surprised how popular these fan polls were both in WWF and WCW in the mid-90s and now with much better technology they have hardly been utilized since Taboo Tuesday/Cyber Sunday. Midnight Express vs Rock N Roll Express this was not. I had an open mind for Men On A Mission, but there really was not too much going on in this match. I thought Mo doing the Press Slam crotch drop on a Quebecer was pretty fun and Mabel's leg drop looked killer. Quebecers break up a pin on Mo and thats the transition to heat, a kick to the head. The heat segment was pretty passe. The back drop by Mo looked good. Mabel's house of fire was not as good as his leg drop. Missed Mabel Splash leads to the rocket launcher on Mabel. They trade some cheating. Mo puts Mabel on top and then Quebecer puts the other Quebecer on top. Quebecer Cannonball finishes it as Mabel was distracted beating up Johnny Polo. It was not the worst match I have ever seen. It was just decidedly average. Nothing I will remember tomorrow.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels vs Billy Gunn - WWF RAW 7/15/96 SEX?!? What does Sex have to do with the WWF Championship? Now I want to play tennis with Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels meeting Patrick McEnroe in 1996 is a weird worlds colliding moment for me. I remember listening to the Warzone (shoutout to Chad & JT) about this time period and it sounded weird as fuck then and I am finally watching it here. Was this Billy Gunn's only WWF Title match? Basically, it seems that Shawn & Ahmed were being pushed as this new dream super powers babyface duo. They were scheduled to face Camp Cornette along with the returning Sycho Sid (replacing the no-showing Ultimate Warrior). This mini-feud was to demonstrate that Shawn & Ahmed would be a cohesive unit. First Ahmed defended his IC title against Bart earlier in the night and now Shawn is defending the World title against Billy. Then the following week the Smoking Gunns would defend the Tag Team Titles against Shawn & Ahmed on RAW. This is also peak Sunny, which is always a pleasure both visually and artistically. Sunny had so much charisma and its a real shame the WWF could never figure out how to utilize her to her full potential. I thought she was a very effective manager here. The shine is the most interesting part of the match here. The heat segment is pretty boring as to be expected as Billy Gunn is not very great. I always liked Bart a little more and wish he was the one who got this match. The comeback is very standard. I thought they did the shine in a very unique way and they cut it up making it much more interesting. Shawn as the established champion for years at this point didnt really need a shine. It was Billy Gunn who had been a tag wrestler his whole WWF tenure that needed the shine more to establish that he had a prayer in this match. So they establish Billy has the size advantage, grabbing headlocks and having Shawn pinball off him. It was an inverse shine, but very smart. Where Shawn actually shines is against the heat magnet Sunny. Billy takes a big bump over the top rope. Shawn plants not one but two big ones on Sunny. To me this is just ribald. Shawn with the baseball slide to Billy. Shawn acting like he was going to grab her ass, may have been a bridge too far, but he never actually does it. Sunny distracts Shawn long enough for Billy to catch him off the top. Sweet Rocker Dropper. I wish they used that as the transition to heat. The setup was so organic and the execution swift. I thought Shawn's slide through the ropes and double leg and crotching Billy on the ring post was great. Now Billy catches Shawn with the press slam off the top and thats the transition to heat. The heat segment was not much really at all. Chinlock some punches some Irish whips. Shawn sold well. I like his comeback with the lunging punches and bouncing off the ropes. It was pretty standard Shawn. Flying Burrito, Kip Up, Top Rope Elbow, Sweet Chin Music. Camp Cornette lays a trap for Shawn and Ahmed. SYCHO SID COMES SCREECHING IN A CADDIE TO SAVE THE DAY! Like I said the shine was fun enough that you will find it entertaining but the heat segment and the comeback/finish are pretty rote. *** 1/4

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels vs Jerry Lawler - WWF RAW 4/8/96 Peacock is losing all the RAWs by the time end of the year so I’m accelerating my timeline just focusing on WWF Title matches on RAW between now and 1998. Vince says it is non-title on commentary but Cagematch lists it as a title defense. Diesel is on commentary to hype their No Holds Barred match. Lawler seems like a good first TV opponent for Shawn as I think this is two weeks after his title win. Not as good as their August 1995 IC Title which is a fun romp. This one is more of a languid affair. Shawn is really playing up his nonchalant demeanor. Really focusing on the crowd not taking King seriously, reclining on top rope and high giving people. King is a good stooge crawling on his knees right escape Michael’s punches and taking wild swings. Lawler goads Michael’s into a test of strength and clobbers HBK with a phantom foreign object. Lawler gets a chance to work some good heat with running fists to the head and a pile driver. Michael’s hits him in the breadbasket on a top rope fist drop and Michael’s has a great right cross uses that. Flying burrito kip up top rope elbow. He had his Hulk Up down pat. I like the use of stare down with Diesel to buy time for Lawler to get up take a swing with Phantom Foreign Object BANG Sweet Chin Music! Nice beat down by Diesel fighting through Shawn’s counter offense. Interesting wrinkle having Perfect help Diesel gain the upper hand and KO Shawn with the belt. Like I said not as fun as the August 1995 match but still had good parts.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett vs Undertaker - WWF RAW 5/29/95 KOTR Qualifying Non-Title A rare, marquee, competitive Undertaker on RAW against an opponent who is not someone you think of as a Taker opponent, the current IC Champion Jeff Jarrett. I have said it before I think Jarrett was the first of many over-pushes, start-stop pushes of Vince. From Tito through Razor, the IC title was either for someone on the come-up or a really over upper mid card act. I guess Bulldog and Marty were kinda flukey champs but they were transitional. Jarrett was the champion for the entire first half of 95. I like Jarrett and he was saddled with a terrible gimmick and even worse slate of challengers but he definitely was not ready. As for Taker, he was in Million Dollar Corporation Hell. Kama has stolen the Urn and melted it down into a chain which is kinda cool honestly. It wasn’t pushed too hard on commentary but the only way to kinda explain this match is Taker’s powers have been diminished because the Urn has been taken because Jarrett gets way more offense than I expected. I have really grown to appreciate Taker’s approach to these matches where he is a monster baby face against a smaller, cheating heel but that was NOT on display here. They played the match pretty straight and Taker was bumping & selling for drop kicks like he was Bob Holly which takes away from the mystique and the uniqueness of the match. It was a good match but it was not true to the Undertaker character. It is a shame. Jarrett tries to play cat & mouse but after a couple punches he tries an Irish whip bad idea. Taker takes a handful of Jarrett glorious golden locks and snaps him down. Taker looking strong early with usual Taker goodness. Roadie gets involved and Jarrett surprisingly clotheslines Taker over the top but that it is just to set up the cool spot of Taker landing on his feet and gozzling Roadie. Jarrett attacks from behind and slams Taker’s head into the steps. I wanted one more big kill shot before we go into Jarrett hitting drop kicks that fell the Almighty Undertaker. Jarrett’s heat segment is very alright at least he doesn’t chin lock. He actually works the leg and uses the Figure-4. Roadie gets thrown out; Bearer takes off his jacket and is ready to fight him…a little Percy Pringle coming out there. Jarrett gets a Lawler fist drop as the big climax. Then it is Zombie Sit-up! Big pop! Taker just nails that spot so well. The two Chokeslams and the Tombstone. Taker really nails his gimmick. He is so good at this. Like I said it is a mechanically good match and I really enjoyed Taker’s finish run but they played it so boring. There was no interesting wrinkles. It just wasn’t true to Taker’s character. *** 1/4

Was this a shoot injury? Just want to confirm.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel vs Bam Bam Bigelow - WWF RAW 4/24/95 I cant believe the hidden gem of all my WWF 1993-95 is between these two fuckers. I have slowly warming up to the idea of Diesel being a good worker and this match probably represents the peak of his power. Everything drips with effort, he is hitting hard, closing gaps, and working tight. Easily the best non-Bret, non-Shawn match of his career I’ve seen so far. I am not a Bam Bam Bigelow at all but he is pretty decent in this. There only one chinlock that makes air from him and for the most part he works this as a heavyweight slugfest. Diesel sets the tone early that he has his working boots on when he counters a reverse waist lock by Bam Bam with a Double Wristlock Drop Toehold like he’s a 7 foot Volk Han, muthafuckas. After that, Diesel BULLIES Bam Bam! He throws him around! Watch those Stinger Splashes. Watch the back elbows. The hiptoss. The body slam. The way shoves his foot in Bam Bam’s face. Nash is working this like it is a fucking fight. Friggin’ Bam Bam busts out an ankle pick. It is a scrappy fucking match. Bam Bam yanks him to the outside and slams Diesels back into apron and post. Back from commercial, they do the double headknocker spot to level the playing field. Diesel gets a glorious single leg pick up! Amazing bump by Bigelow! NASH SPLASH! Who is this man? The setup and execution of the Straddle is awesome! Diesel gives a fist pump! The Omaha crowd roars! I don’t think Nash was ever this over before or after. The crowd was loudly chanting Diesel. This was probably his best 3 move sequence ever! They trade vertical suplexes but in a sick heavyweight clash of the titans way. Bigelow wraps on chinlock as Tatanka wanders to ringside and Diesel back suplexes out for our second leveling the playing field spot. Bigelow pummels Diesel as Tatanka snaps Nash's head on the middle rope. Diesel gets the big boot in the corner. The Million Dollar Man is up for the distraction, but Tatanka trips Bigelow! Diesel hits one of the SICKEST BIG BOOTS EVER! He went through Bam Bam and I loved Bam Bam's sell. It was not a snap back, but an out on your feet sell. MUTHA OF ALL JACKNIFES! Bam Bam is such a load that it came off as an out of control POWERBOMB FROM HELL! I loved it! 1-2-3! HELL FUCKING YEAH BABY! Now here comes the booking. They started RAW off with a great video package about all the losing Bam Bam Bigelow has done lately first the upset loss to 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly for the Tag Team Titles at Royal Rumble and then losing in the main event of WrestleMania XI to a football play, LT. DiBiase recruited Sycho Sid last week on Action Zone (interesting it was on Action Zone instead of RAW) to be the crown jewel of the Million Dollar Corporation fresh off Sid's turn on Shawn Michaels. Sid also has a World Title match against Diesel at In Your House. DiBiase berates Bam Bam and fires him and slaps him. Bam Bam beats back Tatanka and rebukes DiBiase with a I Quit and he is going to beat him but here comes IRS and then Sid gets the scraps. He beats up Bigelow and POWERBOMBS him! This was more of a Tenryu style powerbomb, but man Bam Bam is such a load that both Nash and Sid look like Hercules getting him up. Diesel clears the ring after the crowd chants his name. I thought this was a really good build to Diesel/Sid at IYH. Watching this and some of the later stuff it looks like in June, Nash runs out of Diesel power because I thought the original IYH match with Sid was pretty good and heated. By IYH2, he was cooked and there was no heat left. Was the elbow injury in May/June 1995 a shoot and is that what derailed him? I thought this was a killer angle for Sid! I am not a huge Bam Bam Bigelow fan, so I agree not the best way to turn him babyface, but not really sure he had the legs anyways also the last thing they needed was another babyface with Diesel, Bret, Taker, Shawn and Razor. The heels were Sid...Hakushi/Lawler, Kama/IRS/Tatanka, and Double J. That is a pretty desperate heel roster in 1995. Anyways, I LOVED this match and it way over delivers. I have been seeking to find that hidden gem and I finally found it! Watch this match! ****

This was a good angle to insert Sid back into the main event serene. Turning on Shawn and joining Ted DiBiase all put him on his way but coming through pyro, clobbering Razor and Powerbombing the #5 baby face who basically acted as a gatekeeper for Diesel this basically set up Diesel vs Sid and did so in a effective way.

I legit thought it was Johnny Grunge but knew the timeline didn’t make any sense. Shredding like the 1980s but he did look like he belonged in the 90s. It was an alright vignette.

This was really not much. Didn’t expect the fake accent.

This must have been a shock to RAW viewers. The previous week Diesel was a heel fighting Razor Ramon and teasing dissension with Shawn Michaels and he was World Tag Team Champions with Shawn Michaels. Now he is a babyface, him and Shawn Michaels have dissolved, he is not World Tag Team Champion, but is World Champion by beating Bob Backlund, who not even the champion during last week's RAW at Madison Square Garden talk about shaking things up. WWF desperately needed to. 1994 had some really great matches for WWF, but it was a very stale year booking wise and they needed something. This interview does a great job laying out the short-term (Bob Backlund will be the challenger on the house show loop and Diesel can beat him like a drum to get over), the medium-term (Diesel is very respectful of Bret, he thinks it sucks how Bret lost the title and that he wants to emulate Bret and Bret can get a shot anytime he wants i.e. Royal Rumble) and long-term (Shawn Michaels is the WrestleMania match based of the Survivor Series turn and they will use the Royal Rumble to catapult Shawn into main event). It is a very effective interview in laying out who the main eventers are and the direction of the main event scene. Diesel is not Big Sexy yet. This is not the languid, smooth, cool Kevin Nash of NWO. He is trying way too hard out there and he has not found his voice yet. He is not comfortable in his skin yet.

Watched this while I was writing my Owen/Razor review, Vince’s personal laugh track stood out to me as well. Lawler did a great job and Shatner held his own. I am not sure how this became legendary also me being a Millennial I know who Capt Kirk is and have seen some of the Original Star Trek but maybe that’s why it is not as big of a deal. This seems to kick off the Bret/Lawler feud that would last until about October. WOW!