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Raw History: Episode 135 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 11

June 27, 2016 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
Monday Night War WWE WCW Raw Nitro
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Raw History: Episode 135 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 11  


Raw History
Episode #135
November 13th, 1995 | Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

Finally we reach the end of this giant block of tapings from Brandon. Anyway, the show starts with a video telling us that this past weekend, the 1-2-3 Kid had some altercations with Razor Ramon and may not be impartial. Due to this Gorilla Monsoon changed tonight’s match that the Kid referees to a non-title match. Mind you, they showed clips of the match last Monday, meaning this past weekend’s shows should have no effect. Also, why not just take Kid out of the match? Sid gets no title shot because of that? So much wrong with all of this.

Henry Godwin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
They wrestle for a few seconds before Godwin goes for the slop bucket. According to Vince, just bringing the bucket in is a DQ. Henry slops himself and gives chase to Hunter, who slips in the slop before running away.

NO CONTEST

SURVIVOR SERIES SLAM JAM ~ Dok Hendrix still seems to be on cocaine. He doesn’t tell us anything of interest. He just hypes the WWF Title match and the Wild Card match.

A video package airs to hype the upcoming return of Shawn Michaels next week.

Ahmed Johnson vs. Jake Steele
While he bodyslammed Yokozuna a few weeks back, this marks the official in-ring debut for Ahmed Johnson. During the match, we get a split screen of Shawn Michaels. He cuts a short promo about his athleticism mixing with Ahmed’s power in the Wild Card match. Pearl River Plunge, which was just a Tiger Driver here, got the win.

Winner: Ahmed Johnson in 2:28
Not the best way to debut. Ahmed didn’t really impress outside of his finisher.

Vince interviews Ahmed after the bell and, as always, he was nearly impossible to understand.

Time for the big interview with Bret Hart and Diesel. They hyped it as a face to face, though the men are in separate areas. Diesel thinks that he’s the best right now because he’s the champion. Bret brings up Survivor Series 1993, where his mother threw in the towel though she was never sanctioned in the match. Bret says that he knows the Royal Rumble 1995 match was the toughest in Diesel’s career. Diesel is sure to say that Shawn Michaels gave him a run for his money as well. Bret brings up the fact that Diesel does very well against the big guys (Mabel, Sid) but tends to struggle against guys like himself and Michaels. Diesel claim that Bret never asked for another match at the Royal Rumble and he never ducks challengers. Bret believes that Diesel has been walking around with his belt and we’ll find out who the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be truly is. Really good interview that made the match feel important.

Jerry Lawler beats Vince McMahon in Karate Fighters by cheating.

King Mabel w/ Sir Mo vs. Roy Raymond
Before things begin, Undertaker cuts a short promo to vow vengeance on Mabel. His face is still hidden. Mabel’s hair look atrocious here, which is saying something since it was almost always bad. Mabel gets his shit in and uses a belly to belly suplex for the win.

Winner: King Mabel in 3:03
Ho hum. Mabel is still dull.

Before the main event, we see footage from Superstars where the Smoking Gunns defeated Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid in a Tag Team Title match. Vince plugs Razor having to save the Kid several times during the match.

Non-Title Match
WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs. Sycho Sid w/ Ted Dibiase

The 1-2-3 Kid is the special referee. In the early stages, he plays the impartial referee. Sid dominates and gets assistance from Ted Dibiase behind the Kid’s back. Razor begins a rally thanks for the crowd. He does the stupid “go for the Razor’s Edge by the ropes” spot. It’s literally just there so he can take a backdrop to the outside. Dean Douglas casually strolls out to the ring and attacks Razor while Sid distracts Kid. In an impressive moment, Razor lifts Sid up on his shoulders for an electric chair drop. Razor goes for the Razor’s Edge only for the Kid to pull Sid down. That sets up the Powerbomb, which Kid does a fast count for.

Winner: Sycho Sid in 9:50
An obvious outcome and heel turn. The match itself was mostly basic stuff that you’d expect from the two guys involved. **¼

In a funny moment, Ted Dibiase puts a Canadian $5 bill in Razor’s mouth, which Kid takes and pockets it. Backstage, Razor Ramon goes after Dean Douglas as the show ends.


Reliving Nitro
Episode #11
November 13th, 1995 | Jacksonville Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida

Guess what? This was taped last week. So much for all of that smack talk about being live every week.

After commentary opens things, we go to Hulk Hogan in one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. It’s as if he’s in his own Dungeon of Doom and he wears a weird black mask while in a black robe. He has a damn sword. Apparently, Macho Man is going to cut Meng’s head off and the same will happen to Sting if he’s with the Dungeon of Doom after what went down between him and Lex Luger last week. I swear you have to see this to believe it.

Meng w/ Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan vs. Randy Savage
Savage attacks from behind and is wearing the black and white that would later become a staple during his run with the nWo. Most of this is the two men brawling on the outside. Once inside, Meng wears down Savage while Sullivan and Hart shout instructions. Once Meng misses a dive though, Savage does the comeback and wins with the Elbow Drop.

Winner: Randy Savage in 4:48
Really basic stuff. They brawled and didn’t do much actual wrestling. It did a decent job of selling a darker Macho Man. *

SHARK ATTACK! Shark and the Dungeon of Doom show up to attack Randy Savage. Lex Luger joins in and destroys Savage’s arm.

Chris Benoit vs. Kensuke Sasaki
WCW production botches Sasaki’s nameplate and it shows Kensuki. Right from the bell they go at it, trading blows and working at a quick pace. Sasaki nails a suplex and trademark powerslam for a near fall. He moves to a short chinlock before Benoit counters a back suplex into a lateral press for two. Benoit slips free of a press slam and hits two rolling Germans before winning with a dragon suplex.

Winner: Chris Benoit in 2:39
This was really fun for being under three minutes. Solid back and forth stuff from two good guys. **½

TITLE CHANGE ~ This show was recorded on 11/6. On 11/13, the day this aired, Kensuke Sasaki beat Sting to become the WCW United States Champion. Why have him lose on TV is beyond me but yea, that happened.

WCW Television Championship
Johnny B. Badd (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero

Okay, this has potential. Some WRESTLING to start as they trade arm drags and wrist locks, while sprinkling in their athleticism. Badd goes high risk with a slingshot leg drop for a near fall. He may have showboated a bit too much before the cover. Eddie goes for a superplex but Badd front suplexes him off. He leaps off with a flying sunset flip that leads to a series of near falls by both men. Eddie goes high risk next, also getting two. As the match progresses, Badd stars getting uncharacteristic and brings out the big rights and lefts. Not to be outdone, the “gentleman from El Paso” brings out his own right hands. The referee even gets tossed aside during this scuffle. Apparently there’s only two minutes remaining in the match as Eddie gets another near fall. As time gets close to expiring, Eddie hits a tornado DDT but is too hurt to quickly cover. They collide on duel cross body attempts. They get to their knees and exchange blows as time expires.

Match ends in a draw in 9:04
The timekeeper in WCW almost never got it right. I really thought this was solid. Not only did they work at a fast pace but I liked things escalating as time went on because both guys were frustrated. ***

After the match, everything is right with the world as Badd and Eddie shake hands.

Eric Bischoff announces that Hulk Hogan will be back next week and who does he want to face? Sting! It’s Starrcade 1997 two years early!

Mean Gene is in the ring with the Giant, Taskmaster and Jimmy Hart. Hart calls himself and Sullivan the smartest men in wrestling history. Giant says that he will be champion forever after World War 3 while Sullivan mocks Hogan’s seizure like selling. It was short and didn’t really feel necessary.

Dean Malenko vs. Sting
Oh, well here’s more potential. Quick point, but Mongo’s ability to turn athlete into a three syllable word is uncanny. Basic start from both guys before we head to a commercial break with a World War 3 ad. Malenko is wearing Sting’s leg down as they return. I like it as a setup for the Texas Cloverleaf, though I don’t even think that move was established yet. Malenko gets two on a German. Ah, he does attempt the Texas Cloverleaf but Sting pulls him into small package to win.

Winner: Sting in 5:08
Something about this felt off. It never really clicked the way I hoped. Dean being on offense so much was good but I think the finish hurt Sting. He barely beat a guy that wasn’t established so why should I take him seriously against Hogan next week? **¼

Mean Gene interviews Sting about Hogan’s challenge and wants to know about Luger last week. Sting says he has nothing against Hogan but isn’t backing down from a challenge. He’s looking forward to it. For some reason, Sting calls himself the “big dog” a few times.

Raw Rating: 2.6
Nitro Rating: 2.0

5.0
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
Raw: As a whole, this show wasn’t very good. The main event was decent at best and the rest of the matches were dull or quick squashes. What saved this episode from a terrible score was the interview between Bret Hart and Diesel. Too often have big PPV matches not felt like a big deal during Diesel’s reign. Thanks to that interview and the men involved, this absolutely feels that way.4.0

Nitro: A pretty middle of the pack show that went by rather quickly. The TV Title match was the standout, but the Sting/Malenko and Benoit/Sasaki matches were short and mostly sweet. Having the Dungeon of Doom promo randomly in the middle of the show was weird and there aren’t enough words to describe how strange the Hogan promo was. 6.0

legend

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Nitro, RAW, WCW, WWE, Kevin Pantoja