Superstar Sleeze

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!

Commercial was very good and made WWF seem way bigger that they were in their nadir year. Pamela Anderson at her apex.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Owen Hart - WWF RAW 1/9/95 I have had this one earmarked ever since I found it existed. Two of the most beloved 90s upper Midcard Acts. I was underwhelmed by their KOTR 94 match but otherwise these two aren’t really associated with each other. So it is a pleasure to get these two together. I really enjoyed this match and I thought they structured this flawlessly. If they got the better finish, you could say this was a hidden gem. Owen tries a sneak attack and Razor clotheslines him. It is off to the races. Razor works a really fun shine. At every pass, Owen is thwarted. We get a great back body drop, clothesline to the outside so Owen goes up top press slam. Razor works the arm and Owen does a great job making this fun doing a great comedic flop. Razor works the arm well and when Owen gets out he clocks him with a right and when Owen spits at him it is the Sack of Shit. It is my favorite style of wrestling. Heel feeds a baby face by trying some sort of shortcut and baby face thwarts him and hits badass offense. At the perfect time before this gets old, Razor goes for his finish and Owen back drops him over the top. Owen hits a beautiful suicide dive. Notice how it is almost a high speed crossbody block through middle rope. It is an easy bump for the wrestler to absorb so it looks better. Owen’s heat segment follows Razor’s shine. Since Owen is a heel, I would have liked more viciousness or cheating. This is more of a Japanese-style control segment. Owen runs through his offense: enziguiri, straddle, spinning heel kick, back breaker, sleeper. The beauty of all this is how it is set up. Razor is constantly fighting trying to throw his signature right or Irish Whip and Owen thwarts him with one of his signature move. It is not my turn, your turn. They strategically set up each high spot. Really well done. I like how Razor uses the back suplex out of the sleeper as the leveling the playing field. Razor hits those signature, stinging rights, great set up and execution of the Chokeslam, Razor really getting a chance to show off his offensive arsenal. Razor goes for his signature set up love the Super Back Suplex but Owen fights out. Owen goes for his own Back Suplex, but loses his balance and Razor gets dropped ass first hard on the top rope and takes quite the tough bump to the floor. His ass must have felt that. Owen gets the Sharpshooter and Bret as jealous as ever can’t stand to see his younger brother win the Intercontinental championship blatantly attacks Owen in front of the ref. Here comes Razor’s Rumble opponent, Double J Jeff Jarrett, this sets up the Jarrett vs Bret match. I really liked the structure of this a lot. They really meshed their high spots well setting up each one logically and executing them really well. I would have liked to seen Owen show more of mean streak in the heat segment but he is a great stooge. Razor is a great baby face. Too bad about this finish, but this is great *** 3/4

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Tatanka - WWF RAW 9/26/94 The trio of WWF Midcard acts I have avoiding are Crush, Savio Vega and Tatanka. I have legitimately watched enough Crush to know I don’t care for him. There’s something about Vega and Tatanka that’s so lame it is off-putting just seeing their name on the screen. I out of my big boy pants to watch to say I’ve seen every 1994 IC Title from TV. Probably the 3rd biggest match of Tatanka career besides the WrestleMania IX and the Luger RAW match. A strange matchup as Tatanka was feuding with Luger and Razor was still in Shawn/Diesel orbit. I have said before Razor is the King of 3 star match I mean that as a compliment because he has sold, good to very matches. He is reliable to be always be good. Hall/Razor stock has really risen with me. He went from someone I just liked because he was a childhood favorite to someone respect as someone as the best to ever do it. They being said this was probably his most boring match. Between this and Luger match, Tatanka is as boring and as basic as I expected him to be. There was really no structure to the match. Razor was nominally upending Tatanka and besting him at every turn. It was the usual good punches and some arm work. Tatanka was throwing chops and elbows. It was so basic. The transition to heat was a Tatanka snapping Razor throat across the rope. The climax was an abdominal stretch. The near fall was a body slam. This was like so lame. Razor came back hit his super back suplex but he gets distracted by Ted DiBiase. Luger comes to help. Bigelow attacks him to set up their match in 2 weeks. Melee ensure. Tatanka gets counted out. Nothing to see here. Keep it moving.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Diesel - WWF RAW 11/21/94 The last Diesel match before his baby face turn and WWF Championship victory. I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted yet next week on RAW Diesel would be Heavyweight Champion of the World. This is non-title but the rubber match. Diesel won IC Title in April and Razor won it back at Summerslam. This the go home show to Survivor Series and they are playing up the Diesel team vs Razor team dynamics. Lots of dissension between Diesel and Michael’s. The Teamsters jumped Razor at the beginning of the show in the entrance ramp so the match got moved to the end of the show. I am surprised they didn’t run Diesel/Razor in 95 they had great chemistry and it would have required a Razor heel turn but they desperately needed heels in 95. Just a thought. A really Lo-fi but fun match between these two. I don’t think Razor hit an angle high spot but his stinging right hand was more than enough to keep this scintillating. Razor came in hot off the beat down just tagging everything that moved with rights. I should say both teams are presence. Some liberal Shawn Michaels interference is peppered throughout the match. Diesel himself is just working massive knee lifts and elbows. He shows off his length with his boot to the throat and a sleeper. Anytime Razor gets some momentum Shawn interferes. Diesel gets the Snake Eyes and the straddle comes off great with Shawn holding the hair and Diesel crashing down. Throughout this Razor is never dying and is always fighting back. He backs drops out of the Jacknife. As expected the whole thing breaks down first Jarrett ends up in the ring and then Owen is flung into Diesel and then leads to everyone coming in and a melee ensues to send us to Survivor Series. I enjoyed this as a Lo-fi slugfest. *** 1/4

Yokozuna vs Adam Bomb - WWF RAW 7/25/94 Man how the mighty have fallen. They knew that still had some money left in Yokozuna in losing to Undertaker but they couldnt go to that well until the Fake Undertaker angle was completed. It was an interesting concept for an angle, but one fumbled in execution. As for Yokozuna, it is actually quite shocking how far the Mighty Yokozuna had fallen. The most effective heel World Champion in WWF since Superstar Graham and he is doing jobs for Earthquake and eeking out countout victories over Adam Bomb, who barely qualifies as a midcarder. It was very strange booking. I have seen Wrath and Kronik matches, but never an Adam Bomb match. What the fuck was Adam Bomb supposed to be? I guess maybe a successor to an Ultimate Warrior or a Road Warrior. What the fuck is the hook? He is not dissimilar than his Kronik partner, Crush/Bryan Adams. A really big dude with very little charisma. I would say Clark/Wrath/Bomb had a slightly better look, but not much better in the ring. The Crush match in 1993 had a much better post-match angle so that elevates it, but the actual work is not that much different. Yoko is the total ring general in this match. Adam Bomb is a freshly minted babyface having dropped Harvey Whippleman. Yoko takes the beginning of the match to establish himself as a mountain. He feeds and weeble wobbles for Bomb before he takes him down and Yoko bumps through middle rope in a classic Yoko bump. After the commercial break, Yoko hits a headbutt, a couple clotheslines, and a nerve pinch. They do another weeble wobble spot this time Adam Bomb hits a DDT as punctuation mark and then a flying clothesline. Thats Adam Bomb big moment. Fucking KWANG~! and Harvey Whippleman come out and KWANG~! trips Bomb. Bomb beats up Kwang pretty easily and he pressed Harvey, but Bomb was counted out. Yoko could NOT even beat Adam Fucking Bomb. Pretty fucking lame. This was a lame match.

Yokozuna vs Earthquake - WWF RAW 5/16/94 Sumo They were at a complete loss what to do with Yokozuna between WrestleMania and Survivor Series. They knew Yokozuna still had value to do the job to Undertaker, BUT they wanted to do the Fake Taker angle first in Summerslam, which honestly is not a bad concept for an angle they just botched the execution horribly. Coming off Royal Rumble, the Yoko/Taker match definitely had money written all over it. They were the ones that closed out Survivor Series. The question is what to do with Yokozuna for seven months. It turns out not much. The Earthquake push seems weird to me. Earthquake is definitely a guy that I am consistently underwhelmed by. People seem to like him, but I cant get into him. I couldnt get it into this. That paled in comparison to the Duggan/Yoko knockdown match. Duggan has way more charisma than Earthquake. The 1994 crowd is much more forgiving than I am. The stalling was brutally boring. Yoko looks so much more like a star than Quake. The initial shouldertackle exchange was good. They tease going out. They do a double underhook grab the waistband test of strength. Finally Earthquake ducks and gets a mighty sumo slap to take Yoko off his feet and Yoko tumbles out of the ring. Earthquake would be out of the WWF by the time this was televised. His last WWF match was on May 15th. It was a weird choice to me to push him, but I think they were trying anything to see what would stick. Clearly they had big plans for Earthquake if he won this match. I didnt care for this, but your mileage may vary. I preferred Duggan/Yoko by a country mile.

Yokozuna vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan - WWF Superstars 2/6/93 Excellent piece of business. This felt like I was watching Watts Mid-South not the WWF. The USA vs Japan, the Knockdwon Challenge stipulation, the flag burying. It all feels so Watts and boy Duggan pulls it off so well. Call me crazy they could have pushed Duggan instead of Luger and I think it would have been way hotter and way better. I say that as a huge Luger fan. Between this and the Summerslam Spectacular match, Duggan has way better chemistry with Yokozuna than Luger and is way more over and way more authentic as the All-American Hero. He is the blue collar hero that people would have rallied around instead of Luger who looked more like an American Gladiator. It is super simple but so effective. Duggan and Yoko work this perfectly. Duggan is psyching himself up and working so hard to win against the immovable object. Yokozuna is stoic monster. Duggan charges with all his might but ricochets off Yoko to the mat. Then on the second time, Yoko sells the shoulders. The third time we get the weeble wobble. The fourth time we finally fell the monster! The pop is huge and the feeling is still electric 31 years later. Then they kick it into overdrive with an incredible angle. Yoko blinds Duggan with the Salt. Three Banzai Drops! Drape the American Flag over Duggan's body and one more Banzai Drop for good measure! Absolutely incredible! All-time great angle. Really loved this.