[1996-02-05-WWF-Raw] Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs Davey Boy Smith & Yokozuna

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Decent tag match, but really this was more to set up Yokozuna's split from Owen and Davey Boy and babyface turn. I think Yoko as a babyface had some legs and they probably could have gotten more out of it than they did.

[Tim Evans]

I enjoyed this. Bulldog yelling at fans and showing off ruled. I remember back in 96, I was a huge fan of the Dudes with Attitude.

[El-P]

I think Yoko as a babyface had some legs and they probably could have gotten more out of it than they did.

I guess his weight issues were a problem, but still, Yoko's babyface turn was just a way to put him out. His only feud with Vader was a terrible idea for both men (putting monster Vader against a guy who made him look small), and they did nothing afterward. Going from WWF champion to tag champ to pretty much a JTTS is pretty sad for such a good worker. Yoko could have done so much more. Again, I guess his weight was becoming more and more uneathly, but I was surprised Hogan never tried to get him to WCW just to get his win back.

[Victator]

I don't think they did enough with Yoko vs Vader. That was a dream match for me and I'm still pissed they did not do the match at Wrestlemania 12.

[El-P]

I don't think they did enough with Yoko vs Vader. That was a dream match for me and I'm still pissed they did not do the match at Wrestlemania 12.

I thought it was a bad feud for Vader at this point, but it's true that at least they could have made a big deal out of it.

[Kevin Ridge]

Michaels and Diesel still on good terms with each other. I hate those hats HBK fans wore in 96. Yoko’s weight is really getting up there. Yoko does his unconscious Summerslam 93 bump to the outside. Cornette is not happy with Yoko on this loss. Bulldog and Owen beatdown on Yoko turning him face. Hard to push Yoko at this size as anything but a heel.

[PeteF3]

Not a bad little match, but the Yokozuna face turn is the story. Yoko would show himself to be a surprisingly good talker in this role, so yeah, as a babyface he could have been something. That said, the weight is noticeably out of control here and would only get worse.

[soup23]

Probably the last time Diesel felt like a true babyface for the match in his WWF run. I liked this match a good deal and was impressed with Davey Boy and his athleticism and keeping things moving in the heat segment. Finish was clever in keeping YOko pretty strong and play up his weight as Owen and Davey can't lift him to get back into the ring. Solid stuff and felt different from most stuff on Raw. **3/4

[tim]

I liked this match a lot. Really energetic opening, followed by a short battle between Diesel and Yokozuna, then a Michaels face in peril leading to a really hot finish. Michaels takes some good bumps here. The final assault by Michaels and Diesel was awesome, loved the splash off the shoulders and thought Yoko losing it by countout for his team was a cool ending. Post-match angle is great, really makes Yokozuna look strong. Fans got really into Yoko going wild.

[dawho5]

This match highlighted for me the great things about Michaels and why I don't like him at all at the exact same time.  He takes 2 ridiculously overdone bumps.  And, if I'm being 100% fair, they fit in the WWF wrestling style.  I still fucking hate them.  As much as I hate Kidman's powerbomb counter thingy or anytime anybody does the backflip lariat bump.  It exposes the business.  And often enough it ends up not really helping the guy on offense.

Edit: Right before this I watched the main event tag match for Nitro and called Luger piledriving Hawk to no effect a minute before it happened.  Yet another one of these.  Since when did Luger consistently do a piledriver, much less as his second move in a match?

The Yoko floor bump after the superkick I could make an argument for as a positive use of the same thing, as it makes the superkick look absolutely massive.

Overall a fun tag that ties together a few weeks of (mostly bleh) stories well enough.  I'm not super down on Diesel, it seems like he is motivated and lays his stuff in.  Davey by this point doesn't do much for me and Yoko is mostly a one-note gimmick.  Not his fault, as he seems like a guy who could go.  Just he wasn't expected to do much beyond be big at this point.