Loss
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There is a small segment of fans chanting "8 seconds" at Backlund, which I would almost guarantee are planted. Backlund calls Diesel KEVIN NASH. Vince and Shawn have a hilarious exchange based on that. Diesel accepts Bret's challenge for the Royal Rumble in Tampa. I don't know why they were coaching him to act so cheesy on his promos. Next, Mabel sits with Santa Claus, who seems to be struggling to deal with Mabel sitting on his lap.
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Got it, thanks! In the 90s, Shawn had a lot of really good matches, but I really think he only had three true classics -- the two ladder matches and Mind Games against Foley. I don't even think the first ladder match ages all that well, but that's pretty unimportant, as it popularized a new gimmick on the indies and had a lasting impact (for better or worse) on the working style in WWE. The second ladder match is my favorite Michaels match ever. I consider it phenomenal, to a point where the list of matches that I consider better in wrestling history is a very short one. I wish *that* had been the match that was the influential one -- building off of previous spots to continue and expand on a story, and going after a guy's knee so he can't climb. I love, love, love that match.
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What Triple H match from Tribute to the Troops?
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What is Blood on the Sand?
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Well, that was certainly a very awkward way to shoehorn a rightist political crack into a wrestling discussion. This is sort of why I didn't respond. It's impossible to talk about Che Guevara and keep it pro wrestling only, and I'm not sure I want to make comparisons between Chris Benoit and Che Guevara.
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DWB agrees to sign the contract to face the mystery opponent at Christmas Chaos without knowing who his opponent is. As soon as he signs, a suit-clad Buddy Landell comes from behind and attacks DWB. He puts a plastic bag over DWB's head, with Ross referencing Flair/Funk in '89. The Rock & Rolls finally make the save. Good beatdown. Next up, it's time for that nosy Jim Ross to try to talk the Rock & Rolls out of letting Cornette manage them at Christmas Chaos. Ross runs down a full list of every rotten thing Cornette has done to the Rock & Rolls over a 10-year period. Cornette comes out and totally freaks out and he and Jim Ross get in a shouting match! Finally, Cornette reminds the Rock & Rolls that he needs them. Finally, after things calm down, the R & Rs agree to still let Cornette stay in their corner, but issue a strong threat to Corny if he turns on them. One of the best segments of the year! Then, the Gangstas are out and promise a surprise. Finally, Buddy Landell is out for an interview with his LA lawyer. Great to see him in SMW. He's much better here than in the USWA. This promo is just his first one in, and it's also one of the best interviews of 1994. He shoots on Hogan and Flair! This promo goes a long way in establishing him as a serious top heel instead of a poor man's Nature Boy.
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Mikey apologizes to Cactus, then leaves, giving Cactus an opening to deliver yet another excellent promo. Leaving WCW was really good to him. This is outstanding, saying had he known after he left Sullivan would beat up Hulk Hogan and turn on Evad, he would have stayed! Woman interrupts telling Cactus not to talk bad about her husband. Wait, they acknowledged that? And wait, explain Woman's relationship with Sandman. Open marriage? Next is a promo with Cactus and Dreamer. Cactus is covered in blood after the Sandman attack. Another awesome promo. Cactus has been the best interview of the second half of the year.
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This match definitely had a slow start, but once it got cooking, it really got cooking. The final 15 minutes or so of this were excellent. That said, Hashimoto had better singles matches with Liger, Tenryu and Koshinaka in 1994. If I remember right, this aired over two episodes of New Japan TV, and I could understand seeing the second half and praising the hell out of this. But the matwork is pretty bland and does go a little long, and I'm someone who likes Hashimoto matwork as a rule. Post-match, Sasaki challenges Hashimoto at the Dome in what turned out to be a far better match than this from my view.
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Enlighten me on Dick Togo. Is he a pro wrestler paying tribute to a mass murdering pro wrestler? If not, is the mass murderer someone who killed their own son? If so, is Togo's tribute based around using the same techniques within his matches that were used to kill his son? Kevin Nash mentioning Lee Harvey Oswald in a promo is a little different than a Republican strategist praising him in a speech for his efforts in defeating a Democrat.
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The finish to the 2/96 title change is on the '96 Yearbook. That will be one of the fun parts of this project -- revisiting the highlights of each set after watching them all. Something like a Kawada pin over Hansen doesn't seem as significant when you're starting with 1996 as it would when walking through each year in order.
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Lita was unique in that part of her appeal was to young girls. They haven't used a female with the idea of drawing other females in a long time.
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I think the mindset may have also been that since they would be putting the big heat on Hogan/Savage on NBC, they wanted to do something to also build up Andre/Jake with him as ref for Mania. They did the angle for Rude/Warrior earlier on the card, so that has them building something for the top three matches that were on the card. I acknowledge that Hogan/Savage completely sold the show that year, and that it was really a one-match show. But it speaks to the genius of the Hogan/Savage build that they were able to further progress that angle on the show and also give something else a spotlight to add depth to Mania here. Hogan/Savage was so hot that they didn't have to really hot shot much of anything. I may be giving them too much credit, but the build to Hogan/Savage is probably the best angle in the history of the company in terms of long-term development, and I think pretty highly of the booking in general during that time period. The record-setting business they were doing on house shows at this point even while not running Hogan vs Savage just further adds to how hot that feud was. It always struck me as odd that Hogan/Boss Man drew so much money around the horn, since it's not like they did a ton of TV build to that series. I have to come to credit it to residual heat from the Hogan/Savage issue being so scorching hot that it carried over to everything else. I think the build to Hogan/Savage is the greatest case for Vince's genius in terms of laying out a compelling feud and having patience, involving people that the audience perceived as huge stars and wanted to see lock up. I miss that Vince - the one who realized that he was at his aesthetic and financial best when he kept things simple.
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Surveillance footage of Col. Parker bailing the Blacktop Bully out of jail. The audio is bad, so it's helpfully captioned. Parker thought it was $7500 bail when it was $75,000 bail. 7 counts of assault on a police officer! At first, I thought that amount seemed high, but wow that's low. The Colonel gets a chance to talk to Blacktop Bully briefly in his cell. "Don't be so mean now. I know you're restless, son." Robert Fuller was sure devoted to this gimmick. Next, Hogan and Sting are interviewed by Gene. Pretty typical.