[Editor's Note: This review is from way back in April of 2004, as are a lot of the upcoming posts. Hopefully I can find the earlier versions of these reviews, as well]
- Razor Ramon vs. The British Bulldog (w/ Jim Cornette):
I'm pretty sure this is Bulldogs first match as a heel...EVER, in World Wrestling Federation. From the Monday Night Raw the week after Summerslam. I feel bad for Ramon, as the odds are pretty much 4:1 that he's jobbing here. Clips of Ramon picking a fight with Dean Douglas at Summerslam, so thats probably a feud in the coming months. Bulldog has a buzz cut now that he's a heel, and I still miss the dreadlock style he had going from 1990-92. McMahon already says Bulldog is scheduled to face Bam Bam Bigelow at the upcoming In Your House, which is a bad sign for the opponent in this match. To coincide with the Monday Night Wars, I'd usually flip between shows, so I'll ignore them unless it's something cool. Ramon tosses his toothpick in Cornettes face. We cut to clips of SABU in WCW fighting Alex Wright. That didn't last long. Back to Raw and Ramon applies an armbar with some shoulder blocks. Bulldog reverses momentarily and actually kips up free. Irish whip and Ramon with a roundhouse right followed by a clothesline sending Bulldog out of the ring. Cornette gives Bulldog advice outside the ring while I cut back to Nitro. Lockup and Ramon jerks the arm some more. Hammerlock into a go-behind and the crowd is D-E-A-D. Ramon slaps Bulldog around while the PBP has crapped out. Irish whip reversed and Bulldog sends Ramon to the buckle. Bulldog with the delayed vertical suplex and mouths off to the crowd. Bulldog hammers away at the kidneys of Ramon with forearms. Ramon catches Bulldog with another hard right, but Bulldog comes back slamming Ramons head into the canvas, followed by a clothesline for two. Bulldog with a military bench slam on Ramon and he poses some more. Commercial and Bulldog covers Ramon for two. Ramon blocks the snake eyes and falls on top of Bulldog for two. Bulldog with a scoop slam and heads to the third floor, but Ramon recovers to slam him off. Ramon with a nasty discuss punch a la The Von Erichs and nails the fall-away slam for two! Ramon hammers away at Bulldog and whips him into the referee. Razors Edge connects! Dean Douglas runs out and nails Ramon with and elbow across the back of the head of Ramon. The 1-2-3 Kid comes out but Douglas suplexes him across the top rope and knocks him off the apron, with cheers from me. Bulldog with the running powerslam and the Kid now nails a splash, but Bulldog moves and he hits Ramon instead! Bulldog clothesline The Kid out of his boots, and the referee calls for the DQ on Ramon at 7:09, giving The Bulldog the win. ** match was down the middle decent, but forgetable. Bulldog press slams The Kid across the top rope and continues to beat down Ramon. After a commercial, we have a confrontation between Ramon/Kid in the middle of the ring, setting up a match between the two! Next week on Monday Night Raw!
- WWF-Intercontinental Championship Match:
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Psycho Sid (w/ Ted Dibiase):
The possible long waited blow-off from the Sid attack on Michaels back on the 4/3/95 Monday Night Raw. Glad to see Michaels finally shaved the stupid beard. Michaels gets creeped out by a ladder backstage in a nice comedy spot. Bischoff I heard gave away the result of this match on Nitro (Raw was taped the week earlier of course), but I won't say what until after the match. Lockup and Sid misses a cheap shot. Michaels hammers Sid and tries a sunset flip. Sid blocks but misses a fist drop. Michaels with a dropkick followed by a diving clothesline. Michaels with rights and Sid takes a hike. Back in the ring and Michaels with a side headlock. Sid whips free and a shoulder block sends Sid nowhere. Michaels is dumped over the top but he skins the cat and dropkicks Sid out of the ring. Sid with a headlock back in the ring followed by a modified spine buster. Sid hammers away on Michaels in the corner and applies a choke. Whip to the corner and Michaels gets stuck across the top rope. Sid plants a kic, sending Michaels on the apron, and follows with a clothesline to knock him off. Sid follows and press slams him across the ring apron. Dibiase lays in a few blows behind the referees back. On Nitro clips of Hogan vs. Luger, which happened to be Lugers first match I think. Commercial and Sid has a bear hug applied. Michaels breaks free but walks into a boot. Headlock takeover by Sid but Michaels breaks again. Sid catches Michaels with a sweet chokeslam, but he stalls for a pin. Sid picks Michaelss off the ground for a Powerbomb, but Michaels back drops Sid off him and lands a few blows to the midsection. Michaels continues the beating and nails the diving forearm! Michaels hammers away at Sid and stomps the face. Michaels to the top rope and he connects with a cross body press for two! Sid catches Michaels with a boot to the mid section, but is caught with THREE SWEET CHIN MUSICS and thats more than enough for the three count at 7:21. **1/4 Decent contest again, but Sid/HBK was never great, but good. On Nitro anyway, Bischoff gave away the ending by saying "Michaels pinned the big man after three kicks". Or something along those lines.
- Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid:
We get clips of the "Upset" from May 17th, 1993 when a jobber known as "The Kid" got a fluke win over Razor Ramon on Monday Night Raw. Kid attacks Ramon before the bell with some kicks and a spping heel kick sending Ramon outside. Kid off the ropes and he jumps into the arms of Ramon, which results in a SECOND ROPE fallaway slam. Ramon covers for two and slaps The Kid hard across the chest. Trash talk from Ramon and he hurls The Kid across the ring. Ramon stomps away at the Kid and nails a discuss punch sending him to the outside. Back in the ring and Ramon with a series of shoulder blocks. Irish whip is reversed but Ramon still chokeslams The Kid for two. Ramon charges but is tossed out of the ring. The Kid nails a plancha dropkick (!) on Ramon and nails a spinning heel kick in the ring for one. Irish whip and The Kid with a sleeper hold! Commercial and Ramon is down and almost out. Ramon Cubans-Up and turns it into a high angle back suplex for a delayed two count! Ramon controls a fist fight and nails The Kid with a vicious clothesline in the corner. Double headbutt puts both men AND The referee down. Ramon is the only person left in the ring, so Dean Douglas comes out with a splash across the back of Ramon. Everyone is back in the ring and The Kid covers for a long three count at 7:07. **1/2 The trend continues, and The Kid wins with a little help. Heel turn maybe? We'll find out.
- The Report Card time. Douglas gives the 1-2-3 Kid a "D" for "Dumb" because he thinks he defeated Ramon by himself. Ramon gets a grade for "E", which stands for elevate. For his own performance he get's an "A" for "!". For this sunday night, he gives him an "N", which stands for No Brainer.
- Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly & Savio Vega vs. Kama & Tatanka (w/ Ted Dibiase):
Damn, why is Tatanka still around? He should be gone by June after King Of The Ring. Commercial and we clip to Savio nailing Tatanka with a series of dropkicks as well as to Tatanka. Kama tags in as does Holly. Kama with a boot to the midsection, but Holly comes back with rights and a series of arm drags into an armbar. Kama reverses, so Holly reverses back and hammers on the elbow. Savio tags in and boots Kama to the midsection. Kama with a big forearm and Tatanka comes in with roundhouse rights. Irish whip is reversed but Tatanka ducks the heel kick and goes outside the ring. Kama with a series of martial arts kicks to Vega, so Holly comes to save, but the official holds him back. Tatanka back in and the heels with a double suplex. Tatanka with a scoop slam followed by a jumping elbow drop. More double teaming in the corner and Kama tags back in with some more karate kicks. Kama taunts Holly again and....gasp...more heel beatings for Jobbio. Savio with chops to Tatanka, so Tatanka rakes the eyes. Double clothesline puts both men down. Both men tag and Holly with a dropkick followed by a running knee lift. Holly goes to the top and nails a missile dropkick for two! Savio hammers Tatanka while Holly mounts Kama in the corner. Holly goes upstairs again but Kama botches the cross body into a powerslam, and it looks like Kama just reversed it. Pinfall at 5:36. ** Again, decent, but nothing special. I wonder why Savio's team lost, since the WWF still was high on the Carribean "superstar" who use to be a Ninja.
- WWF-Tag Team Championship Match:
Owen Hart & Yokozuna (c) (w/ Fuji & Cornette) vs. Men On A Mission:
Well this pairing makes no sense. The Fat Guys stare each other down...but Mo is forced to sit out of it. Owen and Mo actually have history. Owen slaps Mo and the trade blows. Mo with a knee lift and axe-handles followed by a back elbow. Mo whips Owen to the corner but eats boot. Owen with a clothesline and whips Mo to the corner. Mo catches Owen with a powerslam and tags in Barney The Dinosaur. Owen gets thrown around by Mabel but avoids a splash in the corner. Owen mounts him for shots, but is shoved down. Owen plays the face now and takes a double team beating. Mo tags back in and Owen kicks kicked in the back by Mabel on the apron. Mo continues pounding Owens back and whips him to the corner. Mabel chokes Owen in his corner and Mo helps him while the referee is distracted by Yokozuna. Irish whip and Owen nails blocks a sunset flip, but its reversed for two. Crowd cheers for Owen to make a tag oddly. Irish whip and Owen dumps Mo out of the ring to a pop, and Yokozuna tagging in gets more! Owen with a axe-handle off the top rope on Mo and rams him into the steel steps! Mabel accidentally feeds Mo to Yokozuna and the crowd aproves of the Tag Champs. Yokozuna with a NASTY chop in the corner and a series of rights putting Mo down. Yoko & Owen play the heels now and do a double beat-down. Owen with a woo and that gets cheered. Yoko puts Mo down and rams him into Owens boot. Commercial and both Owen and Mo are down. Both fat men get tagged in and trade fat blows. Mabel wth a diving clothesline puts Yoko down and Owen runs into a clothesline. Mabel press slams Owen onto Yokozuna and they double clothesline Yokozuna. Mo back in and he hammers Yoko. Irish whip is reversed and Owen plants a boot into Mos kidneys. Missile dropkick by Owen for two. Hang-mans neck breaker by Owen. Owen gets buckled on the top rope by Mo and he nails a super-plex for two! Yoko sends Mabel out of the ring to a face pop and Owen drop toe holds Mo so Yokozuna can land a leg drop for the three count at 9:03. *3/4 Actually a decent match, as Owen carried everyone in this, and worked a good match, playing both heel and face. Yokozuna seemed to be in the match as well.
- Marty Jannetty vs. Skip (w/ Sunny):
This is Jannetty's return after a extra long absence. I'm probably wrong, but this is the first we've seen of Jannetty since the spring of 1994. Jannetty has always been my favorite lower-card wrestlers, and I was glad to see him back in WWF. Lockup and Skip with a headlock. Cris cross and Jannetty with a series of arm drags followed by a dropkick to send Skip out of the ring into Sunnys arms. Lucky Bastard. Skip heads back in the ring and everyone, even the men join in a Marty chant. Lockyp and Skip rakes the eyes. Skip hammers Jannetty in the corner and whips him to the corner. Another criss cross leads to a back drop by Jannetty sending Skip running again. Jannetty follows now and hammers Skip, and hugs Sunny. Jannetty rams Skip into theapron and seems to have a stoner fit in the ring. Lockup Part III and Jannetty with a hammerlock and single leg takedown. Jannetty locks in the chicken-wing for a moment and Skip fights up. Criss cross and Sunny trips up Jannetty. Skip with a gut-wrench powerbomb and he coonects with a snap suplex. Dean Douglas takes notes from the aisle as Skip hammers away on Jannetty. Skip with a scoop slam followed by a leg drop. Commercial and Skip nails a clothesline with vintage Jannetty 360 spin over-sell. Skip with a snapmare followed by another leg drop for two. Skip hammers on Jannetty in the corner with rights. Whip to the corner leads to Jannetty catching Skip with a release german suplex for two! Irish whip by Skip and Jannetty catches him with a powerbomb! Jannetty pounds on Skip and puts him down with a roundhouse right. Irish whip and Jannetty with a diving back elbow. Irish whip again and Jannetty with a running knee lift for two! Irish whip is reversed and Jannetty with a cross body press for another two. Jannetty back drops Skip to the outside and suplexes Skip back in the ring, but Skip falls on top for TWO! Irish whip and Jannetty nails the Rocker Dropper!!! big pop for that one. Jannetty to the top rope and he nails the dreaded fist drop for three at 7:39. Crowd still loves him, and not the bad way. **1/4 These two would have a better match a few weeks later, as Jannetty's ring rust looked noticable here, and he never took his tank top off, meaning he must have lost some of his upper-body definition.
- WWF-Tag Team Championship Match:
Owen Hart & Yokozuna (c) (w/ Fuji & Cornette) vs. The Smoking Gunns:
Owen & Yokozuna have lost and regained the Tag Titles in a 24 hour span as they lost the titles the night before, but due to a contract loophole, were rewarded back the championships, to be defended here. We come back from commercial and Owen and Bart do a criss cross. Bart with a drop toe hold followed by an arm drag into a armbar. Billy tags in and works the arm over as well. Owen elbows Billy in the face and hammers him in the corner. Billy reverses a whip to the corner and nails a stiff right. Irish whip and Owen with a drop toe hold, and Yokozuna tags in. Lockup and Billy with a side headlock. Irish whip and Yoko with a shoulder block. Irish whip and Billy with a series of dropkicks followed by a bulldog headlock! Armbar by Billy G. is short lived and he gets caught with a samoan drop. Billy rolls out of the ring where Owen stomps a mudhole in him. Yokozuna chokes away at Billy and tags back in Owen. Owen with a reverse chinlock. Criss cross and Billy with a sunset flip for two. Owen catches him with the enziguri and drops a leg as we got to a commercial. We're back and Owen with a swinging neck breaker followed by a cross body press, which is reversed for two. Yokozuna in again and they wish bone Gunn. Double teaming in the heel corner and Yoko chokes him down. Snapmare by Yokozuna and he applies the nerve hold of rest-hold fame. Billy breaks out eventually but runs into a back elbow. Yokozuna misses the elbow drop that also misses and both men are down. Owen tags in to prevent a tag, but Bart gets it anyway and unloads on Owen with rights. Clothesline connects followed by a back drop. IRish whip to the corner and Bart with a military press slam for two. Billy dives in to hammer on Yokozuna and the Gunns whip Owen into Yokozuna. Side Winder connects and Bart covers but no ref. Yokozuna goes for a splash but lands on Owen by mistake! Billy takes Yoko out and Bart covers again, and we have NEW Tag Team Champions at 10:09. * Doesn't touch Wrestlemania XI match in quality, but the Gunns finally got the gold back after a long road of nothing to do. Diesel & Shawn Michaels (Dubbed Two Dudes With Attitudes) come out to celebrate with the new champions.
- The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. British Bulldog (w/ Jim Cornette):
Here's an original match. Fun notes: The Undertakers only Title defenses during the week of Novemeber 28th through december 3rd of 1991 around the country were against the British Bulldog. Bulldog apparently is the #1 Contender for the World Title and will face Diesel at In Your House 4. Rumors were Bulldog was given multiple main event slots following his heel turn to spite Lex Luger, who jumped to WCW without notice. Later Luger admited his contract had expired so he was free to go, and no one caught the error. Undertaker chases Bulldog around the ring to start and Bulldog hammers way back in the ring. Irish whip and Undertaker snaps Bulldog back to the canvas. Whip to the corner and Taker with a choke. Bullodg rakes the eyes and whips Taker to the ropes. Taker ducks a clothesline and nails his diving clothesline. Armbar by the dead man and he goes old school, but Cornette shakes the ropes and Bulldog throws him off the top rope. Zombie-sit up and Taker catches Bulldog with a big boot. Scoop slam by Taker and he misses the elbow drop. Bulldog with a clothesline sends Taker to the outside, where he conviniently chokes Cornette. Bulldog with a chop block to Taker and he whips him into the steel steps. Commercial and we come back to Bulldog dropping a few knees to Takers leg. We see Waylon Mercy in the crowd, although he dissapeared about a week later. Bulldog with a half boston crab but Taker powers out and pounds the Bulldog. Bulldog whips Taker to the corner but Taker blocks a powerslam attempt with a back suplex. Odd seeing Taker sell a leg injury. Both men trade shots with Undertaker winning. Irish whip to the corner and the rope walk clothesline works this time. Irish whip and Bulldog catches Undertaker with a piledriver...only for two! Zombie-up time so Bulldog with a suplex for two again, and another Zombie situp. Irish whip and Taker with a big ol' chokeslam! Here comes Mabel for the DQ at 7:29 and he plants Taker with a belly to belly suplex. Running powerslam by Bulldog followed by a Mabel leg drop. Michaels and Diesel come out to make the save, and are for some reason dressed to wrestle even though this was the final match. As for the match, pretty slow but as a Taker mark I'll say 1/2* so I don't have to give out a dud rating.
- Shawn Michaels, Diesel, The Undertaker vs. Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Yokozuna:
Major Six-Man tag team match on Monday Night Raw. As the norm for how retarded Raw for a few months, they go to a commercial and come back with the match already started. Michaels with an armbar on Owen and they criss cross a bit. Michaels with a few rights followed by a somewhat odd arm drag takedown into an armbar. Reversal sequence and Owen with a shoulder block. Criss cross part deux and Michaels with a monkey flip and clothesline sending Owen outside. Hip toss to Bulldog and Diesel with a cheap shot. Owen tastes buckle and everyone brawls. Yokozuna is whipped into Bulldog & Owen, knocking both of them down, and Diesel & Undertaker send Yokozuna out with a double big boot! Hot sequence. Outside the ring Yokozuna accidentally bumps the ring post. Diesel whips Bulldog to the corner and nails a clothesline. Diesel with a series of rights sends Bulldog outside where Undertakert chokes him and sends him back in the ring. Yokozuna tags in so Diesel hammers him and nails a flying clothesline. Armbar and Undertaker tags in to go OLD SCHOOL! Boot to the midsection and Taker runs into a samoan drop. Cornette celebrates so Undertaker sits up. Irish whip and Taker with a HIGH angle DDT. Mercy watches from a distance again and Michaels tags in with a double axe-handle. Armbar by Michaels and a criss cross leads to Yoko nailing what today is a Rock Bottom! Owen tags in to cover for two. Owen with a back breaker and he stomps away at Shawn's kidneys. Bulldog tags in and they nail a double elbow. Military press slam by Bulldog and he eventually throws down Michaels for two. Seeing Fuji wave a BRITISH flag is somewhat odd. Bulldog jerks Michaelss off the ground via the hair and covers for two as Michaels gets his foot on the ropes. Michaels is sent to the buckle and the heels double and triple team. Back from commercial and Owen has an abdominal stretch applied. Dean Douglas comes to ringside. Michaels hip tosses Owen off and back slides him for two. Owen quickly nails a lunging clothesline and tags in Yoko for the wishbone. Yokozuna with a big roundhouse right and Bulldog tags in for a double headbutt for two. Bulldog with the WAY DELAYED vertical suplex and he covers for two again. Owen back in again for a double headbutt followed by a snapmare into a reverse chinlock. Michaels fights out but runs into a spinning heel kick by Owen for two! Michaels with a surprise roll up on Owen for two and Owen goes back to work with a gut-wrench suplex. Owen goes to the top rope and misses a splash. Both men make tags and Diesel hammers away on Davey Boy. Irish whip and Diesel with a side walk slam. Clothesline to Yoko and a big boot to Owen. Owen with a cheap shot to the back and Bulldog with a running powerslam for TWO as Undertaker breaks the fall. Yokozuna with a leg drop on Diesel and Bulldog covers for THREE!! at 11:46. **1/2 Decent but nothing special. Undertaker cleans house until Super-Mabel attacks and in one of the MOST RETARDED ANGLES OF ALL TIME, Yokozuna & Mabel drop multiple leg drops on Undertaker, which...CRUSHED HIS FACE, forcing him out of action until Survivor Series and come back wearing a goofy mask. Douglas prevents a save by hammering on Michaels outside the ring and suplexing him across the steel steps.
- "Making A Difference" Fatu vs. Skip (w/ Sunny):
This I think is the final match on this tape. Lockup and Skip with a knee lift followed by a series of rights. Headlock by Skip and a criss cross leads to Skip acting goofy. Lockup and Fatu with an armbar. Skip reverses and rakes the eyes. Hard rights by Skip and he slams his head into the buckle. Fatu gets jiggy and hammers way on Skip. Fatu goes after Sunny outside the ring and Skip is caught in sneak attack attempt. Back in the ring and Fatu whips him to the corner only to miss a charge and posting himself. Back suplex by Skip followed by a scoop slam. Skip to the second rope with a fist drop, and he sells hurting his hand on Fatus head. Irish whip and Fatu catches Skip with a roundhouse right. Irish wip and Skip with an enziguri for two. Snapmare by Skip and he applies a reverse chinlock. Skip goes to the top rope for a headbutt, but Fatu no sells it and makes the Superman comeback. Back breaker by Fatu and he goes for the finish, but Skip gets up and rams his head into the post. Skip does his best to suplex Fatu on the top rope, but Fatu shoves him down and nails the Samoan Big Splash for three at 5:49. 3/4* Nothing match here, but it had its charms. Fatu mocks Skip with jumping jacks and the crowd approves. Lots of jumping back to Nitro which had a kick-ass Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair steel cage match.
Final Thoughts: An OK tape without the Summerslam matches, but otherwise, nothing really great here. Even Shawn Michaels had trouble carrying people this time. Thankfully though, the next tape marks the end of the road for Diesels failed championship reign, as well as a BUS LOAD of crapola including the debut of the Bizarre one. Time to get some Budweiser to sooth the pain of that tape.
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