July 1995

WCW US Heavyweight Sting vs Meng - WCW Bash at the Beach 1995 You gotta give Bischoff credit running unique venues like this is cool. I wish like Sturgis or the Spring Break Nitros this was an annual venue. I love see the waves and the sand in the background. The crowd was really into Sting moreso than the last three PPVs. Meng is still with the Colonel and has not entered the Dungeon. They are pushing him pretty hard with the video package and on commentary. A notch below the first match but still good. The beginning is interesting they wrestle like the mat is made of concrete and they take no bumps which I like. You should earn the bumps. Meng corners St…

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This does not end pretty for TK. Naruse is the aggressor and TK is once again trying to survive and grab a submission. Naruse downs him with a nice flurry of palms and knees, then wrenches him with a FACELOCK. That's how you apply it. TK, on the otherhand, is able to grab a pretty dope kneebar on Naruse and the fans think he may have it in the bag but no, he doesn't. They dance around holds but TK can't get the leglock and that's about his last opportunity because Naruse knees the shit out of him, destroying his eyebrow. TK's up, he wants to fight, but the ref knows better and calls the match. Fun!

Han vs. strikers always delivers. Here he's fighting the former Ludvig Borga who's wearing boxing gloves. While not an all-time classic, I will say this is quite the spectacle and visuals of this reminded me of Onita's fights with boxers. Han uses his speed and technique to try and ground the much bigger Finnish fighter. Meanwhile Halme is throwing brutal shots that drop Han to the face and body. The gloves however don't restrict Halme from getting throws in as he's able to hit a pretty big belly-to-back suplex in the finishing run. Han eventually is able to fight off Halme and he catches him with one of his wicked kneebars.

Yamamoto takes an absolute thrashing from Dick Fly but so he's damn persistent with those double leg takedowns and Vrij, of course, is always within a foot of the ropes so Yamamoto has 7% chance of actually submitting him. But boy oh boy, Vrij destroys Yamamoto with the knees and palm strikes. When Yamamoto's down, Vrij kills him with a knee to the head and the ref admonishes Vrij while Hans Nijman is up on the apron, trying to get the ref to call Yamamoto down. Vrij keeps attacking Yamamoto until Yamamoto stuns him with a shotei and then peppers him in the corner with open hands. But that only pisses Vrij off, who comes at him twice as hard, and again, Yamamoto pummels V…

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas - AJPW 7/20/95 It is very interesting watching the Four Corners in unheralded matches against midcarders. This is a title defense that was clearly taped for TV or VHS release. So they have a reason to put in effort but at the same time this is not the Budokan, it is NOT Misawa/Kobashi, it is NOT Hansen or Doc. I was very intrigued to see how this match played out. JDW would often use the term "fall out of bed" match and this is what like it felt to me. Kawada and Taue did their normal high spots. They like Kroffat & Furnas do their shit, but they werent exactly…

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Nakano gives zero fucks about the size of his opponent. He just runs right at Takayama and into those giant knees. Takayama's offense in this match is mostly limited to knees because Nakano dominates him for about 90% of the match, blasting him with tons of kicks to the head and quick slappy hands. When he wasn't striking, Nakano showed a lot more on the mat than he usually does, utilizing some cool takedowns and reversals, including a neat choke counter to the armlock. Takayama even gets to show off a bit, using his swanky double wristlock takendown when Nakano teased a German suplex. The German suplex was built up nicely throughout the match, playing into the finish. Ta…

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This had something of a rep and it's probably the best non-gimmick singles bout of Brian Armstrong's career. It's not great or anything much more than a solid TV-level bout, but he's able to keep up with the Kid on the faster sequences and he tones down the dancing between moves from where he had been in the summer. Kid is working at around 50% due to his neck injury but still knows how to put together a strong match. Roadie wins with a second-rope piledriver, which is effective considering Kid came in with a neck injury but probably should have been sold with a stretcher job rather than just a three-count.

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WWF World Tag Team Champions Yokozuna & Owen Hart vs Lex Luger & British Bulldog - WWF In Your House II There was no more fitting end to Lex Luger’s tepid WWF run than having him stare up at the lights after a Yokozuna leg drop. Luger & Yoko we’re so tied together for last two years and for Yoko to get first pinfall and send Luger packing feels right. I love Luger, a Top 50 fave but WWF was just an awful fit for him. Anything interesting thing most WWF wrestlers of this generation had their best match against Bret or Shawn but Luger never got a chance to work with either. I wonder if he did if his run would’ve went better. Last note, I have never seen an …

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