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WWF Compilation Tape Review (July-August 1995)
From Our Pal, "OrangeGoblinFan".
!---------------------begin guest column-----------------!
- It's time for more 1995 and it's only a week before In Your House #2, which features a Lumberjack Match between Diesel and Psycho Sid for the World Championship. Most of the card is pretty forgetable except for one match, which makes the show pretty average, but the match is good enough to watch over again.
- Shawn Michaels vs. Irwin R. Shyster (w/ Ted Dibiase):
From Monday Night Raw, six days before the semi-big PPV where Michaels will face Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Championship. Michaels still has the damn beard growing in, which makes him look like a garbage man like Duke Droese. I.R.S is wearing a blue tint shirt instead of the traditional white, how odd. Both men stall and Michaels lies across the top rope in the corner. Lockup and Michaels with an arm drag. Lockup and Irwin with an arm bar. Michaels reverses and I.R.S takes a hike. Irwin with a hammerlock and he throws down Michaels, then walks out again. Michaels chases and drags I.R.S back by the tie and hangs him across the top rope. Michaels back in and he nails a forearm for two. Headlock takeover by Michaels followed by a shoulder block. Hip toss and dropkick by Michaels gets two and he takes over Irwin with another headlock. Criss cross leads to I.R.S dumping Michaels over the top rope on the floor. Rotundo is already sweating badly, and he rams Michaels' head into the steps for fun. Irwin with a forearm across the chest of Michaels and he does a little stall, allowing Michaels to sunset flip him for two. Shyster with a headbutt to the midsection and he rams Michaels into the buckle and applies the abdominal stretch. Rotundo shenanigans occur with grabbing the ropes. Michaels hip tosses out but misses an elbow drop, allowing I.R.S to cover for two. Irwin with a reverse chinlock applied, and we take a break. We come back as Irwin slams Michaels down and heads to the top rope, only to eat boot on the way down. Michaels humps the air and kips up, allowing himself to hammer on Irwin withr ights. Whip to the buckle and Michaels with a flying forearm. Michaels with a double axehandle off the top rope for two. Michaels calls for the end Irwin DUCKS sweet chin music with the write off! Irish whip and Michaels avoids a charge and nails the superkick for real this time for three at 8:33. *** Pretty good match, as this signals Mike Rotundo's last match on WWF television.
- 1-2-3 Kid vs. The Roadie:
Time for In Your House 2, and it's the opening contest. Roadie is manager-less, as Jarrett is preparing to sing "with My Baby Tonight" in front of his hometown crowd. For anyone who doesn't know, it was The Roadie (Brian Armstrong) singing, and Jarrett justmoving his lips to the record's lyrics. This became important a little while into the next year. Kid attacks to start, but is stomped on by Roadie. Irish whip and shoulder block by Roadie. Another criss cross and The Kid trips the Roadie. In the corner and Kid with his signature kicks. Whip to the corner and The Kid head scissors Roadie to the outside. The Kid nails the stalling Roadie with a plancha and they go back inside. The Kid with more kicks in the corner and a whip to the corner. The Kid nails a cross body splash, but a second attempt has Roadie catch him with a powerslam. Backstage camera shows Jarrett not paying attention to Roadies match. TENSION I SMELL! Roadie nails The Kid on the outside with a clothesline and makes him ride the ring post, one leg on each side. Back again inside the ring and Roadie with a press into the air followed by a series of leg drops, which is something The Kid would use to do. Irish whip and Roadie with a ba-a-a-ack body drop and some wigger jiving. Stomp to the back of the head by Roadie gets two. Roadie with a reverse chinlock as we see more of Jarrett. Roadie prevents a Kid comeback with a snapmare, and he heads upstairs, and misses a splash badly. The Kid hammers away on The Roadie and nails a spinning heel kick for two. Whip to the buckle and The Kid nails a running dropkick! Scoop slam by Kid and he goes to the top rope himself now and nails a frog splash for two! Irish whip and Roadie catches Kid with a sit-down powerbomb for two! Whip to the corner and Roadie posts his shoulder. The Kid goes upstairs but Roadie buckles him across the top turnbuckle, and he nails a PILEDRIVER off the second rope. Obviously enough to get the win at 7:26. ***1/4 Pretty good match, shockingly good for The Roadie.
- Razor Ramon & Savio Vega vs. Men On A Mission:
Let the shit begin! Too much Savio Vega in the last tape to make me want to watch this match. I see Ramon is back from his fake injury, but he still has his ribs taped up with cardboard. I guess it was his old house in Cuba...nevermind, he ripped it off and threw it at King Fat Ass. Ramon& Mo start the match, and Mo eats toothpick. Slap by Mo and they lockup. Mo with arn armbar, and Ramon reverses and nails a series of shoulder blocks. Irish whip and Ramon with the fall-away slam. Slap to the face and Savio tags in with an armbar. Criss Cross and Savio breaks out of a slam with rights and a chop. Clothesline by Jobbio but he falls to the wrath of Mo. Mabel tags in and misses the corner splash. Clothesline to Mo and Savio with a super kick to Mabel. Mabel catches Savio with a side slam and moos. Mabel dumps Savio over the top rope and we get some heel beatings. Savio does the Bret sell in the corner and Mabel falls down, doing an enziguri in the process for two. Double clothesline by M.O.M and Mo covers for two. Match is starting to drag now. Mo with a vertical suplex for two, and Mabel comes back in with a back elbow. B-I-G slam by Mabel followed by a snapmare and VULCAN NERVE PINCH OF DOOM! Savio breaks free and nails some weak chops, but a slam allows Mabel to fall on Savio for two. Choke applied and Mabel with a northern lights suplex sending Mabel across the ring. Double back elbow from M.O.M and Mabel chokes him in the corner. Mabel with a leg drop to the back of the head and this is REALLY boring. Slam by Mabel and Mo goes to the top rope and misses a MOONSAULT! The camera is REALLY cloudy for some reason, making M.O.M look like moving clothes. Ramon tags in FINALLY and takes Mo to school. Ramon puts Mo on the top rope and nails the back suplex and he calls for the end. Ramon nails Mabel with a roundhouse right but falls to Mos weak offense. Mabel comes in to the top rope and he's obviously slammed off by Ramon for two! Ramon with a clothesline but he walks into a DDT and Mabel MISSES a splash that was aimed at Ramons head. Savio clotheslines himself and Mo over the top rope while Ramon hammers Mabel. Mabel nails a corner splash and a belly-to-belly suplex for THREE at 10:10! BOO! * Pretty bad match, could have been a lot shorter.
- Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Henry O. Godwinn:
More boring stuff here. I just want to get out of this year FAST. Bigelow with a headlock to start and Godwinn back suplexes him. Bigelow no sells and returns the favor with two of them. Shoulder tackle sends Godwinn outside and Bigelow follows. Godwinn hammers on Bigelow back inside the ring but is caught with a DDT and a shoulder block. Godwinn pulls the ropes down, sending Bigelow to the outside, and he follows and slams him on the floor. Back in the ring and Bigelow misses a corner charge. Godwinn puts him down with a clothesline for two and applies a deadlock reverse chinlock. Bigelow fights free and nails a cross body press for two. Godwinn quickly nails a clothesline on Bigelow and gets the slop bucket. Instead he chokes Bigelow across the second rope and slams him again. Elbow drop by Godwinn gets two. Whip to the buckle and Bigelow nails him with a clothesline and a series of headbutts. Bigelow goes to the top rope and misses the diving headbutt. Godwinn goes up top and misses an knee drop, and Bigelow covers for three at 5:33. 3/4* Another boring match. Godwinn gets the slop, but has trouble walking.
- WWF-Intercontinental Championship Match:
"Double J" Jeff Jarrett (c) (w/ The Roadie) vs. Shawn Michaels:
First great match on these tapes in a long time. Michaels has his White & Gold Attire on, which he ALSO WORE at Wrestlemania XII, so thats a bit of forshadowing if there ever was any. Thank GOD Roadie got a lot better on the stick in later years, cause here he's pretty awful. Jarrett poses a little and stalls. Lockup and Michaels nails him hard, forcing a flip flop to the other corner. Lockup and Jarrett with an arm drag and posing. Lockup again and Jarrett with an armbar. Michaels reverses and whips Jarrett to the corner. Jarrett catches Michaels with a stiff right, sending him to the outside. Jarreett does mock posing by lying across the top rope a la Shawn Michaels. Jarrett with a standing side headlock. Irish whip and Jarrett flips out of an arm drag, but gets the eyes raked, and HBK does the same and catches Jarrett with a roundhouse right and a hip toss. Clothesline takes both men out and Michaels skins the cat back in followed by mock Jarrett posing. Jarrett plays the stalling game outside the ring so Michaels forces him back in the ring and comes off the top rope, and Jarrett catches him with a shot to the midsection. Sit down splash by Jarrett, but he misses a dropkick and Michaels nails The Roadie and tosses Jarrett over the top rope onto him. Michaels to the top rope and he nails a cross body press onto both men on the arena floor! Michaels brings Jarrett back into the ring and hammers away at him. HBK fakes a cross body and comes down with a sunset flip, but its blocked. HBK charges to the corner and Jarrett back drops him WAY OVER THE TURNBUCKLE and landing hard on the outside. Michaels is sent to the steel steps a few times as we catch a replay of that nasty ass bump. Back into the ring and Jarrett with a fall forward suplex for two. Jarrett stomps away at Michaels and catches him with an abdominal stretch. HBK reverses an IRish whip, but Jarrett catches him with a DDT for two! McMahons head set goes out so Lawler goes solo on PBP for a while being entertaining. Roadie cheap shots Michaels and Jarrett continues choking him. Michaels catches Roadie cheating and moves out of the way of a sit down splash, causing JArrett to nail Roadie. Michaels with a roll up gets two out of nowhere. Irish whip is reversed and Michaels flips upside down over the top rope and out to the floor. Jarrett goes to the top rope but the referee calls him down, allwing Roadie a clothesline off the apron. Back into the ring and Jarrett comes off the top rope with a cross body press, but HBK Reverses for two! Irish whip and Michaelsis caught with a sunset flip..but a fist to the face blocks for two. Jarrett reverses it for two and nails a dropkick right to the face for two! Irish whip and Michaels runs into a sleeper hold! Michaels reverses with a back suplex and now both men are down. Michaels slowly crawls over for the cover, and it gets two. Michaels with a series of roundhouse rights and the diving forearm! KIP UP! Michaels with a series of rights and another forearm! Stomp to the face and Michaels comes off the top rope with a double axe-handle for two! Michaels with a scoop slam and he comes off the top rope with a flying elbow for two! Irish whip to the corner and Michaels posts Jarrett....between the legs from the reverse way. Michaels to the top again, but Roadie shakes the ropes, causing him to get crotched on the turnbuckle. Jarrett comes back up and nails a super-plex! Jarrett calls for the end but Michaels cradles him for TWO! Atomic knee drop a la Ric Flair by Jarrett and he goes for the Figure Four again, but Michaels shoves him into Hebner for a RARE REFEREE BUMP! Rare because its the first and only on this tape. Michaels goes for SCM, but Roadie with a chop block puts him down. Jarrett goes to the top rope again and comes down with a HIGH cross body press for a long two count! Jarrett orders Roadie to hook HBK's leg. Irish whip is reversed and Roadie trips up Jarrett! Michaels with sweet chin music and he covers for three AND the Intercontinental Title at 19:59! **** Definitely NOT the 5-star match everyone claims, but it's still a pretty damn good match and maybe Jarrett's best in the WWF. After the match Roadie and Jarrett argue, and backstage we find out they are having a heated argument behind closed doors. In all the confusion, Michaels celebrates his third Intercontinental Title victory.
- WWF-Tag Team Championship Match:
Yokozuna & Owen Hart (c) (w/ Fuji & Cornette) vs. Allied Powers:
The Allied Powers leading up to this have yet to lose a televised match, so they got the advantage in the eyes of the fans. Two years ago, Yoko/Luger was a World Title feud. Last year Yoko was in the Tag scene and Luger floundering in the mid-card. Luger & Yokozuna start the match with a lockup and Yoko sends Luger to the corner. Lockup again and Yoko hammers away at Luger with rights and a headbutt. Luger comes back with roundhouse rights but a rake of the eyes and a slam by Yoko stops him. Yoko misses a elbow drop and Luger applies a wrist lock. Luger rams Yoko's head into the buckle ten times and knocks him down, landing right on Owens foot in a HILARIOUS spot. Owen bitches out Yoko for it and gets shoved down for his troubles. TENSION! They cool down eventually and go back to the match. Owen slaps Luger and hides in the corner like a true champion. Cheap shot by Owen and he is put down with a shoulder block and hip toss. Arm drag into an armbar by Luger and Bulldog comes in with a axe-handle to the shoulder. Owen kip up reverses it and puts Bulldog on the canvas. bulldog kips up and twils about into another reversal and Owen trades off. Owen with a flip over to break it and Bulldog back drops Owen a good ten feet into the air, landing right on his head. Sling-shot into the corner and Luger with a few cheap shots and Bulldog covers for two. Bulldog with a reverse chinlock, which leads to Yokozuna cheap shotting him and allowing Owen to work over the leg. Yokozuna tags in and they are having time constraints. Yoko stomps at Bulldog and drops a headbutt. Vulcan nerve pinch by Yokozuna leads to more resting, and we get a DYNAMITE KID MENTION! Bulldog fights back to his feet and is quickly put down with a shoulder block. Owen tags in with a knee drop followed by the spinning heel kick for two. Irish whip and Bulldog with a sunset flip for two. Owen with the enziguri gets two of his own. Whip to the corner by Owen and he straddles himself, bronco buster style. Both teams make tags and Luger beats the shit out of Yokozuna and crotches Owen on the top turnbuckle followed by a slam. Luger press slams Owen onto Yoko, and a double clothesline by the Powers to both men. Luger covers Yoko for two as Owen breaks the fall, bringing Bulldog into the ring to put him down. Yokozuna misses a charge and the Powers double back suplex the fat man. Owen comes off the top rope though with an axehandle across the neck of Luger and Yokozuna nails a super leg drop for three at 10:55. **1/2 Surprisingly decent match with a hot crowd, with only one real rest-period. This marked the end of the Allied Powers on my tapes as this is their only loss.
- WWF-World Championship; Lumberjack Match:
Diesel (c) vs. Psycho Sid (w/ Ted Dibiase):
Sids Lumberjacks include The Heavenly Bodies, Tatanka, Kama, The Blu Brothers, King Kong Bundy, I.R.S., Men On A Mission, Henry Godwinn, Rad Radford, Skip of the Body Donnas, Hunter-Hearst Helmsley, Mantaur, and Jean Pierre Lafitte. Diesels Lumberjacks are Bam Bam Bigelow, Savio Vega, Razor Ramon, Sparky Plugg, Duke Droese, Man Mountain Rock, Tekno Team 2000, The Smoking Gunns, Making A Difference Fatu, 1-2-3 Kid, Adam Bomb, and Shawn Michaels. There's one more heel than face. BOO! Sid attacks from behind but Diesel comes back with a knee lift and a series of forearms. Sid goes outside so the faces toss him back in the ring. Diesel sends him again and again they toss him back. Slam by Diesel and Sid rolls out to his lumberjacks. Sid throws Diesel to his guys and they stomp away, and they all brawl. Michaels dives on about 8 of them and Sid is finally thrown back in the ring for two. Sid boots Diesel a few times and nails a clothesline. Sid chokes him across the second rope and the heels help him. Diesel continues hammering away on Diesel but is put down with a clothesline and Diesel drops a few elbows. Diesel pulls an Undertaker and dives onto about all the heel lumberjacks!!! Diesel hammers away on Sid some more and nails a sit down splash across the second rope. Diesel with the snake eyes. Mabel drags Diesel out of the ring and works him over with a few splashes. Diesel is tossed back in the ring and Sid stomps away at him. Big boot by Sid and he covers for two. Reverse chinlock is applied for about two seconds and Sid powerbombs Diesel! Sid takes forever to cover and when he does Diesel kicks out at two. Diesel back drops out of a second Powerbomb and Sid heads outside, where the faces beat him down, culminating in a HBK Axe handle off the top rope. Diesel signals for the end and throws IRS out of the ring and hammers Godwinn & Tatanka. Diesel with a big boot and thats good enough for three at 10:06. All the faces celebrate, especially the Clique members. DUD Worthless match. I don't think there was anything good about this one. The fact it set up a Diesel/MABEL program should put it in the negatives, but I'm a nice guy.
- Nothing to do with wrestling, but I taped a commercial here for the INFAMOUS Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeely fight on PPV for $50, which consisted of Tyson knocking the shit out of the guy, with three knockdowns in the first round, winning the fight in 1:27. The better part was the guys manager KNEW he had no shot, and basically told him to take the fall, resulting in a little law problem, meaning no money from the fight. Whats funnier was they aired commercials for McNeely, making him lasting 90 seconds sound like a big damn deal when even the lowliest of fights can last a Round with Tyson.
- Non-Title; Singles Match:
Shawn Michaels vs. "Gigolo" Jimmy Delray (w/ Jim Cornette):
Shawn Michaels is the NEW Intercontinental Champion, and to break my heart, we have seen the last of Jeff Jarrett & The Roadie...for a while at least. Shawn has been working a lot of television matches in this time frame, and never really fails to delivery at the least a good match. Lockup and Delray cheap shots in the corner. Whip to the buckle but HBK avoids the buckle and catches Delray with an atomic drop and arm drag into a wrist lock. Delray goes to the top rope and spring boards a reversal, but HBK ducks a punch and clotheslines Delray and himself over and skins the cat back in. Michaels with a baseball slide, sends Delray into the steel rail. HBK works over BOTH Bodies at ringside with a double noggin knocker and rights. Back in the ring and Delray with the twirling DDT a la The Rock for two. Delray with a series of rights and Prichard chokes Michaels behind the referees back. Irish whip and Michaels with a sunset flip for two. Delray catches Michaels with a clothesline and does some hip swiviling to the digust of everyone. Hang-Mans neck breaker (Rude Awakening) by Delray only gets two in a tribute to Road Warrior Hawk who died eight years later. Reverse chinlock by Delray but that doesn't last long. Michaels fights free but a rake of the eyes and a slam puts Michaels down. Delray goes upstairs and MISSES a splash. Kip up by Michaels and he hammers away at Delray. Sent to the buckle is Delray and Michaels with the diving forearm. Stomp to the face by HBK and he slams Delray in the middle of the ring. Michaels to the top rope and connects with the elbow drop for two. Michaels tunes up the band and nails PRICHARD off the apron with sweet chin music. Michaels avoids a back drop and nails sweet chin music on Delray for three at 5:23. ***1/2 Another pretty good match by Michaels, and Delray carried himself well through this. Too short, but I think that was a good idea so the crowd wouldn't die down. Michaels teases stripping in the middle of the ring to the disgust of every man and probably USA Network.
- Very cheesy Vignette, with nothing but Gold glitter forming the name "Goldust" with Howard Finkle making his introduction off camera. Very odd indeed.
- ANOTHER Vignette, this time it's Fatu, who is trying to make a difference to all the young people in the world and his home town in San Francisco, California, telling everyone that drugs are bad and they should try and help make a difference too. Throughout the vignette he visits some trashy looking places while walking around with his chest hanging out. First time I actually noticed the giant scar he had down his midsection from a bullet wound a few years earlier.
- Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Hakushi (w/ Shinja):
The rematch from the original In Your House, where Bret Hart carried Hakushi to an awesome match. This stems from the fact that Hakushi had cost him a match versus Lawler, and almost a second time at the King of the Ring PPV, but that backfired on him. Bret actually has a WWF Video Wall video! Again, Shinja is formerly Sato of the original Orient Express and teamed with Tanaka before splitting back to no-mans land. Hakushi attacks Bret on the outside to start and rams him into the steel steps and security railing. Back in the ring and Hakus kicks away at the ribs of Bret. Hakushi with a slam in the corner and he goes for the Vader-Bomb, but Bret gets the knees up and no sells. Inverted Atomid drop by Bret followed by a clothesline. Hakushi is sent to the bu8ckle and Bret rakes his eyes across the top rope. Headbutt by Hart and he hammers away at Hakushi. Back breaker by Bret followed by an elbow drop. Bret takes Hakushi to the corner but a reversal leads to Bret super sliding his ribs into the steel post bellow the bottom rope. OUCH! Break time and we come back with Hakushi nailing his springboard elbow into the corner. Hakushi chokes Bret in the corner and nails the BRONCO BUSTER! Without the extra riding that is. Lonesome Dove reference (a show Bret appeared on occasionally in 1995) as Hakushi works over Bret more. Crescent kick by Hakushi puts Bret back down and he nails a gut-wrench back breaker for two! Whip to the corner and Bret with the over-sell. Hakushi goes to the top rope and nails a diving headbutt into the lower back of Bret for TWO! Snapmare into a nerve hold by Hakushi. Bret fights free with elbows to the midsection and he tries a roll up, but his momentum takes him to the outside. Hakushi to the top rope, but he doesn't follow up. Another commercial break and Hakushi nails a springboard ASAI MOONSAULT OVER THE TOP ROPE!!!! HOLY S-H-I-T! Bret makes a comeback and nails a sprinboard splash onto both Hakushi & Shinja! Lucha Bret! Back in the ring and Bret with another back breaker. To the second rope and he connects with the elbow drop for two. Shinja comes in but is knocked back out. Bret with a bulldog headlock out of the corner for another two count. Inside Cradle by Bret for two again. Hakushi nails Bret with a back suplex and heads to the top rope and MISSES the headbutt. Bret sets Hakushi on the top rope and nails a SUPER-PLEX off the top rope!! Bret with the Sharp Shooter and Hakushi gives it up at 9:21!!! Shinja comes in and falls victim to a Bret Hart beating like its 1990 and Bret nails him with a jumping piledriver!!! ***3/4 a Tad bit worse than the IYH match, but still, an awesome match from these two. The action was kept going the entire time and the only rest hold lasted only a few seconds. Hakushi show-cased his high flying skills and Bret worked his miracle. Out comes Jean-Pierre Lafitte, and he steals Hakushis sack that has a model head of Bret Hart.
- ANOTHER DAMN VIGNETTE! This time, it's Dean Douglas, a.k.a Shane Douglas of jobber, WCW, and ECW fame. Time for the Report Card and Douglas scratches the chalk board. He defines the word" Knowledge" as the body of truth. Cut off time.
- "Making A Difference" Fatu vs. Rad Radford:
From Superstars of Wrestling. One of Fatus first matches as a singles star in WWF since the loss of the Head Shrinkers in the tag team ranks. Rad Radford is the late-Louie Spicolli, who really didn't have much fame besides this WWF gimmick and being a nWo lacky in his last days. Trash talk to start so Fatu nails Radford with a series of rights. Clothesline by Fatu sends Radford outside, and forshadowing time as Fatu dances. Fatu chases Radford outside and sends him into the ring post. Back in the ring and Fatu with a headbutt for two. Side headlock by Fatu and he nails a shoulder block and hip toss. Clothesline by Fatu gets two. Whip to the corner and Fatu posts him self. Swinging Neck Breaker by Radford and he nails a clothesline with Fatu over-sell. Radford to the second rope with an axe-handle for two. Curt Hennig-like neck snap by Radford gets two and he applies a reverse chinlock. Fatu breaks free but walks into a dropkick by Radford two. Irish whip and Radford applies a sleeper hold and McMahon says the "Good Night Irene Sleeper Hold", which is what the late Adrian Adonis called it. Fatu fights free and applies his own. Irish whip is reversed and Fatu with a powerslam. Radford tries ramming Fatu into the buckle, but he's Samoan. Fatu with a series of rights and he back drops Radford followed by some mounted punching. Diamond cutter like move by Fatu and he poses. Radford with A DDT, but it's no sold and Fatu small packages Radford for three at 5:43. *1/2 Decent match, nothing special though. Radford attacks after the match but Fatu no sells and chases him from Ringside.
- Six-Man Tag Team Match:
Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, Savio Vega vs. The Blu Brothers & Uncle Zebikya:
From now on again, I'll be calling Zeb "Dutch Mantel" because it's a lot easier to spell his last name. More of this crap from earlier June which lead to Ramon jobbing to the Mountain Men. Pier-Six brawl to start and the faces clean house to a small amount of cheers. Ramon starts with Jacob and nails a series of shoulder blocks and a NORTHERN LIGHTS TAKE OVER! Savio tags in and hammers the arm and The Kid tags in with a double axe-handle. Kid with his signature kicks in the corner and Ramon tags back in but is put down with a clothesline by Jacob. Jacob works over the midsection of Ramon in the corner but runs into a big boot and Ramon with a second rope bulldog takedown. Eli comes in and Ramon catches him with a drop toe hold and applies an armbar. Savio tags in and arm drags Eli down and nails a dropkick. Eli reverses the armbar and hammers on Vega. Irish whip and Savio catches him with a spinning heel kick for two. Savio hammers on Eli and the Kid back in with more kicks and a cheap shot to Mantel. Eli nails him with a clothesline and now the Blu's are in control. Slam by Jacob and we take a break. We come back and Jacob with a snapmare. Slam by Jacob and he misses a series of elbow drops and Ramon gets the tag. Ramon with a series of rights and a discuss punch. Irish whip and Eli nails him from behind, allowing Jacob to nail a big boot. Mantel tags in and hammers away at Ramon. Ramon eats buckle and we get some double team action in the corner. Jacob tags in and plants a fist in Ramons ribs. CHoke lift by Jacob and he thrust clotheslines Ramon down. Eli tags back in and choke lifts Ramon as well and slams him back down. Nerve hold by Eli, which means it's almost time for the preverbial hot tag. Ramon hammers away at Eli but is caught with a powerslam for one as Savio breaks the pin. Mantel in and Ramon with a small package, but the referee is distracted. Jacob back in and he is caught with a sunset flip for two. Eli back in and he drops an elbow for two. Irish whip and Ramon with a knee to the crotch. Eli tackles him down and applies an abdominal stretch. Mantel in again and Ramon catches him with a clothesline. The Kid tags in and hammers away on Dutch with kicks and a spiinning heel kick for two. Brawl time and The Kid nails another heel kick, and thats good enough for three at 10:26. WAY TOO LONG. 3/4* Started off fine, but died out soon and just dragged on and on like a bad movie.
- Vignette #4 on this tape, and it's Dr. Issac Yankem D.D.S, who gives some poor buy a shot and digs into his mouth, so of course its too nasty, that we cut away and see Vince & Doc Hendrix (Michael Hayes) look on in disgust. See also Mooney, Sean when Damion was squashed by Earthquake.
- Vignette #5 and we get another Dean Douglas one. He is monitering a Bam Bam Bigelow squash match and defines "Beast", as the way it applies to Bigelow, as ": a contemptible person". We get clips of Bigelow being beaten up by the jobber. Bigelow has facial features of a Walrus, sans a tusk, according to Douglas. On looks alone, Douglas gives him an "F", and fails him. Class dissmised.
- WWF-Tag Team Championship Match:
Owen Hart & Yokozuna (c) (w/ Fuji & Cornette) vs. Savio Vega & Razor Ramon:
Ugh, over-kill on these tapes with Ramon and Vega. Niether guy at this point in their tenures, were showing anything good, as Ramon had dipped completely in match quality within a year. Vega never was good in WWF, so it's not shocking. Yokozuna waves his Japanese flag for heel heat. Savio starts the match with Owen and gets slapped in the mouth. Savio hammers away to retaliate and sends him to the buckle and back drops him. Irish whip and Owen walks into a hip toss. Armbar by Bega and Owen reverses. Another reversal and Savio chops Owen down. Ramon tags back in and jerks on the arm with a wrist lock. Shoulder blocks by Ramon and Owen does his kip up reversal, only to get caught right in the mouth with a roundhouse right and goes sailing out of the ring. Commercial and Owen applies a headlock. Flip over reversal and Owen jumps right into a fall away slam for two. Yokozuna tags in for the first time and they lockup. Yokozuna shoves Ramon down and they lockup again. Ramon with a series of rights and wrist lock. Savio tags in with a kick to the arm and works the arm more. Savio with a dropkick sends Yoko to the outside through the ropes and the heels conference. Back in the ring and Savio avoids a double team in the champions corner. Owen tags back in and applies a side headlock. Irish whip and Owen with a shoulder block. Criss cross and Savio with a series of arm drags into an armbar. Owen reverses a whip to the corner and nails his spinning heel kick to take over. Drop toe hold and Yoko tags in for a leg drop across the back of the head. Yokozuna kicks Savio out of the ring where Owen works him over. Yokozuna kicks away at Savio, and we get U-S-A chants. Problem. Savio is from Puerto Rico. Ramon is suppose to be Cuban. Yokozuna is "Japanese", and Owen Hart is canadian. WHO'S THE AMERICAN IN THE MATCH!? Commercial again, and we come back to Ramon getting a hot tag and hammering Yokozuna with rights. Irish whip is reversed but Ramon catches him with a big boot and second rope bulldog for two, as Owen breaks the pin. Savio comes in to clean house of Owen and Yoko is whipped into his partner. Double clotheslines to the champions and Ramon goes for the Edge. Razors Edge by Ramon connects for one....two.......three!! Wait a minute?! Owen isn't the legal man!!!! Match has to be re-started. Good, because I didn't think Ramon/Savio ever won the tag titles. Cornette is ejected from ringside, but not Fuji. Yokozuna is beaten on by Ramon some more and Ramon slams Owen off the top rope onto Yokozuna. Savio tags back in and they double team Yokozuna. Mike Chioda and Jack Doan have to restrain Cornette as Savio puts Owen down with a back elbow for two! Owen eats buckle and does the Bret selling for two. Owen is introduced to the buckle again and Savio with a small package for two! Irish whip is reversed and Yokozuna cheap shots Savio. Commercial again and we come back with Owen being caught with a sunset fip for two. Owen stomps away at Savio and snapmares him, and tags in Yokozuna to to a wish bone. Irish whip and Yokozuna with a clothesline, but he misses the elbow drop. We cut away to the sponsers commercials. We're back and Ramon tags in to hammer away on Owen with rights. Owen heads upstairs but gets buckled. Ramon to the top and Owen reverses the back suplex with a cross body for two! Clothesline by Ramon gets two! Irish whip and Ramon with a chokeslam...and we CUT OFF at 15:27 thanks to WWF running out of television time, signaling a DRAW! **1/4, match picked up in the second half and got pretty good, but it started out awful and the cheap ending lowers it a bit.
- Non-Title; Singles Match:
Diesel vs. Sir Mo:
What booker thought this match was a good idea!? First singles match of Mo on these tapes since the match he fought Owen and was put out of action. The result here isn't in doubtful to anyone. Diesel chants and they lockup. Mo with a cheap shot in the corner and hammers on Diesel! Mo means business! Mo rakes the eyes and stomps away at Diesel. Diesel throws Mo into the corner and nails some elbows to the head followed by a series of knee lifts. Whip to the corner and Diesel with a clothesline and he chokes him for two. Mo with a clothesline and SPINNING HEEL KICK! He covers the champion for two and works over Diesel more. Diesel fights back and catches Mo with a scoop slam. Diesel with a sit down splash across the second rope and he covers for two. Irish whip and Diesel with a big boot, sending Mo out of the ring. Mabel comes out to talk trash, and Diesel is thrown out of the ring by Mo. Mabel goes to attack Diesel but HBK gets in his face. Diesel eats ring post by Mo and we go to a break. Mo elbow drops Diesel and applies a reverse chinlock. Mo to the top rope and he misses an elbow drop. Diesel hammers Mo and nails a big side suplex to a nice pop. Irish whip and Diesel with another big boot. Jackknife by Diesel and thats good enough for three at 6:48. Mabel attacks Diesel after the match and drops the leg across him. HBK makes the save and dropkicks Mabel out of the ring and goes for a plancha but Mabel catches him and rams Michaels several times into the ring post and slams him on the floor. 1/2* Match pretty much blew, but Mo doing 1-2-3 Kids signature move gets a little boost from me.
- Doink The Clown vs. Waylon Mercy:
Mercy is played by Dan Spivey, of US Express Version 2.0 and The Skyscrapers fame. If Jim Ross was on call, he'd mention his football days as a New York Jet. Mercy had an odd gimmick, as he'd shake te referee and his opponents hand before the match, like he was a babyface, but he would wrestle like a heel. Doink avoids the hand shake and arm drags Mercy several times. I never noticed how big Spivery was. Mercy looks pissed so Doink does a charging shoulder thrust through the ropes, but Mercy side steps him and holds the ropes open for him, and drops it across his back as he enters. Doink with really weak shots on Mercy so he hides in the ropes and CLOBBERS Doink with a left and a stiff clothesline follows. Mercy stomps away at Doink The Clown and applies a sleeper hold to a FACE POP, and Mercy with a look of evil on his face. KILL THE CLOWN CHANTS! Holy crap, SMART FANS! Mercy keeps grinning as the chants get louder and the referee calls for the submission at 3:08. 1/2* Only cause I liked Mercy's gimmick and the crowd completely turning on Doink is great. Mercy gets a face pop after the match and shakes some of the fans hands.
- Vignette time again, and we get a glimps of the man known as Goldust. He's dressed from head to toe in gold, with his hands and face painted in gold as well. His hair is long blonde down to his chest, and "he" rambles about certain movie stars, like Maryln Monroe. Very unique vignette. As if it's a mystery, Goldust is "Dustin Rhodes", the son of The American Dream. I had no idea this was him at first, even though his voice is the same. But I was use to good old texan cowboy Dustin, not bizarre Goldust.
- Henry Godwinn comes to ringside, probably mad about hearing Ted Dibiase, who was doing commentary instead of Lawler, said he will never be apart of his Million Dollar Corporation. Dibiase bullshits Godwinn a bit and in one of the WORST ACTS DONE TO DIBIASE, Godwinn slops him, and that is the face turn of the night.
- Time for another Report Card. Todays definition is Execution. Defined as the act or process of executing; a performance; the act or mode or result of one's performance. That brings us to Bret Hart. The self-proffesed excellence of execution. We get a shot of Bret getting set to do his second rope elbow drop. It's not an act of excellence, but an act of courdess. He makes a mistake by failing to grapevine his opponents legs resulting in a kick out. From there Bret gets in an argument with the official. Upon close review, Dean Douglas is forced to give a grade of "F". The excellence of execution he is not. He is the Foundation of Failure. Until next week, class dismissed.
- WWF-Intercontinental Championship Match:
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler:
Hopefully the trend continues with good Shawn Michaels matches, but Lawler absolutely sucked in WWF, so I don't expect a miracle. They lockup and Lawler whips HBK against the ropes. Michaels pulls Lawler down by his legs and Lawler hits the ropes. Michaels stalls a bit and they lockup again. Whip to the corner and Michaels with a single leg take down. Burger King chants from the fan favorite loving crowd....except for Doink The Clown. Lawler goes heres a whopper for you and misses a punch. Irish whip and Michaels with a back drop. Lawler tries for a piledriver and Michaels blocks, punching Lawler in the mouth. Out comes Psycho Sid to fondle with the Intercontinental Title. Michaels does the flair flip in the corner and Sid is PISSED at having his SummerSlam match removed, with Ramon taking his place. Back from commercial and Lawler with a delayed vertical suplex. Fist drop by Lawler and he nails a DDT for two. Scoop slam by Lawler, and he goes to the top rope, missing a splash. Michaels kips up to a big pop and hammers away at Lawler and catches him with the diving forearm. Stomp to the face followed by a scoop slam. Michaels heads to the top rope and nails the elbow drop. Michaels tunes up the band and nails Sweet Chin Music, and in comes Sid for the DQ at 6:05. 1/4* Awful match by HBK. Sid with a kick to the head of Michaels and he nails a one handed chokeslam! Ramon makes the save eventually but him and HBK don't see eye to eye. Hmm..Warrior/Hogan anyone? Diesel comes out to make peace.
- We get highlights from Superstars of Wrestling, where Kama got fed up with the two Undertaker "fans" who were dressed all in black in the front row, and decided to beat the crap of the male one, and leaving a destroyed wreath planted on his body. This made Gorilla Monsoon to make Kama vs. Undertaker at Summerslam a Casket Match.
- Another Report Card with Dean Douglas, and he is impressed with Men on a Mission, especially Mabel. Definition is Dominate, which means to rule or control completely. Footage plays of MOM beating up a poor jobber with a nasty belly to belly suplex. After close consideration, Douglas' grade would be "NC", as in New Champion this coming Sunday at Summerslam. Class dismissed.
- The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Tatanka (w/ Ted Dibiase):
Wow, I thought Tatanka was gone by now. Not any doubt in my mind of who's going to win this match. Undertaker hammers away at Tatanka and whips him to the corner. Irish whip and Taker with a face slam into the canvas. Tatanka is sent to the buckle again and Undertaker wrings the arm. Time to go Old School as Undertaker comes off the top rope with a clothesline across the back of Tatanka. Undertaker with a choke in the corner. Tatanka comes back with a scoop slam but Tatanka zombies-up. Taker with a series of kicks to the midsection, but he runs into a samoan drop by the Native American. Tatanka hammers away at Undertaker and chokes a little. Slam by Tatanka gets a two count and he applies a reverse chinlock. Undertaker fights back up and nails a back suplex. Undertaker catches Tatanka with a big boot and clothesline out of the corner. Commercial and Undertaker comes back with a HIGH ELEVATION diving clothesline. Undertaker scoops up Tatanka, but he escapes and nails a clothesline. Irish whip and Undertaker with a chokeslam to Tatanka. Tombstone Piledriver connects and Undertaker covers for three at 6:36. * Nothing great but it wasn't worthless. Crowd still dead for Tatanka's "heel act", and I THINK this was one of his last appearences until 1996.
- Interview time with Diesel. Summerslam is the up-coming sunday, and he is getting set to defend his World Championship against King Mabel, in possibly the WORST SUMMERSLAM MAIN EVENT ever. Out comes the "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. He wishes Diesel Good "Look" at Summerslam. Lex Luger is out with a "medical emergency" and the match with Allied Powers/Men On A Mission won't take place, but Davey Boy wants Diesel to team with him to take on the Mission. Diesel accepts and the match is set.
- Diesel & The British Bulldog vs. Men On A Mission:
Pretty infamous match for 1995 standards. Diesel and Mo start the match out. Diesel wants Mabel in the ring though, but not yet says Sir Mo. Diesel with a boot to the midsection and Diesel puts Mo down with a series of elbows. Whip to the corner and Diesel with a clothesline. Back to the other corner and another clothesline. Diesel hammers away at Mo with a back elbow to the face and a series of knee lifts. Mo takes a Royal beating and Diesel with a big boot. Mabel comes in the ring as does Bulldog....and he clotheslines Diesel from behind, into a Mabel belly to belly suplex!!! No Contest at the 2:20 mark. Bulldog gets in Diesels face and slaps him around like a bitch. Cornette comes in the ring to coach Bulldog as he continues to assault Diesel. Diesel fights free but Bulldog picks him up and plants him with the running powerslam. Mabel follows up with a massive leg drop. MOM, Bulldog & Cornette celebrate in the ring.
- Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Rad Radford:
Final match on the tape. Jean Pierre Lafitte steals Bret's jacket as Radford attacks Bret Hart outside the ring. Back in the ring and Bret sling shots Radford back into the ring. Bret with a series of rights in the corner followed by a back body drop. Bret with a headbutt and he rakes Radfords eyes across the top rope. Hart continues hammering him but walks into an arn Anderson spine buster followed by an elbow drop. Radford still has his Entrance shirt on. Bret pounds on Radford more but an eye rake stops that. Snapmare and roll over neck snap by Radford. Radford chokes Bret with his knee and rams Bret into the turnbuckle. More choking by Radford and he sends Bret hard to the buckle with the over-sell of course. IRish whip and Bret with a LOU THESZ PRESS! Inverted Atomic Drop and clothesline by Bret. Uh-Oh. Russian Leg Sweep by Bret and he covers for two. Back breaker by the Hitman and he nails the second rope elbow drop for two. Bret catches Radford with a bulldog headlock and its Sharpshooter time!!! Radford submits, giving Bret the duke at 4:41. **1/4 Short match but good enough, especially since Bret is able to carry matches better with decent workers.
- Live Event News and Jim Ross runs down the World Tour De Force! The Undertaker faces King Mabel in a King Of The Ring rematch. Shawn Michaels defends the Intercontinental Title against the newly turned heel, The British Bulldog. Bret Hart battles Dr. ISsac Yankem, and much more!
Final Thoughts: Shockingly, this tape is pretty good from top to bottom. Outside of a few bad matches, Shawn Michaels is the highlight of the tape with several very good-awesome matches. Bret Hart lends a hand in having another classic with Hakushi, and we got a lot of entertaining Dean Douglas skits and some Wrestlecrap to boot. Also we got the first glimpse of the Goldust gimmick, but it would be A LOT more outrageous as months went on. Of course, too much Mabel is a bad thing, but at least he doesn't take up too much time. Davey Boy's heel turn is the icing on the cake, making this tape a Thumbs Up for the first time in a while.
!-------------------end guest column-----------------!
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