Raw History: Episode 137 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 13

Raw History
Episode #137
November 27th, 1995 | Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia

Back to the big tapings blocks unfortunately. A recap is shown of Shawn Michaels collapsing last week.

Ahmed Johnson vs. Rad Radford
Vince pretty much has an orgasm as Ahmed Johnson comes out. Even Jerry Lawler makes note of his “enthusiasm”. While Johnson kicks ass, Bob Backlund shows up in the crowd, campaigning to be President. Radford competed at Survivor Series and has an actual storyline where he wants to be a Bodydonna. Radford gets in more offense than expected, but sets too early and eats a Pearl River Plunge.

Winner: Ahmed Johnson in 2:48
While Radford did get in a few shots, this was pretty much a squash.

Jerry Lawler interviews Ahmed after the match. Apparently, Dean Douglas has issues with Ahmed and promises to teach him a lesson at the upcoming In Your House event. Dean shows up to run him down, so Ahmed challenges him right now. Dean teases like he’s going to fight but officials run out to keep them apart. Gotta save the big money match for the PPV.

UPDATE ~ Shawn Michaels gets a video package that goes back to the attack that he suffered in Syracuse back in October. It then shows that Owen’s ENZIGURI OF DOOM is what really took Michaels out last week.

Alundra Blayze and Kyoko Inoue vs. Aja Kong and Tomoko Watanabe
These four women were part of a Survivor Series tag at the PPV eight days ago, which was pretty good. The heels attack quickly and work over Inoue for a bit. Blayze gets the tag and slaps the hell out of Watanabe. Blayze does all of her fancy stuff, including a pretty good arm drag off the top. Kong and Inoue get tagged and Kong just gets to be a beast. Inoue surprises by running up the turnbuckle and nailing a back elbow. Watanabe comes back with a springboard body press. These girls are trying to steal the show. Inoue runs up the top again and brings Watanabe over with a super arm drag. We finally get Kong vs. Blayze and it starts awkwardly as they kind of get stuck. Blayze fires off some second rope dropkicks but missed her third attempt. For some reason, Vince decides to talk about Kong being a supporter of safe sex and compares her to Princess Diana. Lawler again calls him out for his stupidity. Kong hits the backdrop driver and spinning back fist to beat Inoue.

Winners: Aja Kong and Tomoko Watanabe in 6:04
Fine little match here. The girls worked hard and, despite a few miscues, this was mostly enjoyable and different to some of the stuff we’ve been seeing. **¾

RECAP ~ Diesel showed some mercy after Bret Hart fell through a table, but went nuts after the match and powerbombed Bret at the Survivor Series. We also see some of Diesel’s great promo last week.

In a random, unwelcome decision, Brother Love is back. He and his purple/pink lighting interview the brand new WWF Champion, Bret Hart. Love asks questions and then just cuts Bret off when he goes to respond. He brings up the man he brought to the WWF, the Undertaker and the fact that Bret is scared of him. Look at them planting the seeds for the January title match. Bret finally takes control of the microphone and calls out what Diesel did. He says he’ll cross the Undertaker bridge when he gets there. As for the British Bulldog, Bret says that he plans on getting redemption for SummerSlam 1992. As Bret goes to leave, Bob Backlund runs in and puts him in the Chicken Wing. Oh come one, I thought this feud was officially dead.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. John Chrystal
Why can’t his name just be Crystal? This is the man that HHH made his debut on Raw against if I recall correctly. They promote the upcoming Helmsley/Godwin Hog Pen match, which turned out to be better than expected. HHH makes quick work and wins with the Pedigree.

Winner: Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 1:41
I like quick squashes.

IN YOUR HOUSE ~ Razor Ramon and Marty Jannetty will team up to take on the 1-2-3 Kid and Sycho Sid! Also, Jim Cornette and Owen Hart cut a promo saying that nobody wanted to face Owen after what he did to HBK. Owen has an open contract for In Your House to anyone brave enough.

We’re supposed to get Undertaker vs. Kama in the main event, but Kama comes out on crutches. They announce Sir Mo as the replacement. Look, Kama isn’t very good but he’s far better than Mo.

Sir Mo w/ Kama and Ted Dibiase vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Less than a minute in and Kama attacks the Undertaker outside, proving he isn’t injured. Mo clubs away at Undertaker and does little to no damage because he’s trash. Undertaker clothesline him, slides outside and fights with Kama. Kama and Dibiase leave as Undertaker Chokeslams the little shit known as Mo. Mo sells the Chokeslam like he had a seizure. Undertaker doesn’t even deem him worthy of a Tombstone.

Winner: The Undertaker in 4:00
It was about as good as you’d expect, which means it wasn’t. Mo was truly pitiful. ¼*

King Mabel strolls down to have a stare down with Undertaker. Undertaker gets the chain that Kama left behind, which was made up from Undertaker’s urn. Yokozuna waddles out and gets in the ring with the Undertaker. He tries to act tough but we all remember how he would whimper at the sound of the word casket. Undertaker gives the chain to Paul Bearer like an idiot. Mabel hammers him from behind, steals the chain and actually runs away with it. Undertaker follows while Yokozuna is left in the ring as if he’s irrelevant.

NEXT WEEK ~ Marty Jannetty vs. Sid! Plus, Razor Ramon defends the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Douglas.

WCW World War 3 Results
WCW Television Championship: Johnny B. Badd (c) def. Diamond Dallas Page in 12:35. Badd also gets the Diamond Doll
Taped Fist Match: Big Bubba Rogers def. Jim Duggan in 10:08
Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano def. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki in 9:18
WCW United States Championship: Kensuke Sasaki (c) def. Chris Benoit in 10:02
Lex Luger def. Randy Savage in 5:27
Sting def. Ric Flair in 14:31
WCW Championship World War 3 Match: Randy Savage def. 59 others to win the title in 29:50

Reliving Nitro
Episode #13
November 27th, 1995 | Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia

So we have a new WCW Champion in Randy Savage. However, this is WCW so of course, there was controversy. Apparently, Hulk Hogan was never officially eliminated from the match, yet still lost.

RECAP ~ Our commentary team hypes the show before taking us to footage from last night where Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Sting reunited. Hogan was red and yellow again and they burned his black attire just like they will with the Dungeon of Doom. Despite them trusting Sting again, he teams with Luger tonight.

WCW Television Championship
Johnny B. Badd (c) w/ the Diamond Doll vs. Diamond Dallas Page
This is a return match from the PPV. Why? Nobody knows. A humbled DDP comes out with no shades or cigar and has flowers for the Doll. SWERVE! DDP cheap shots Badd and lays into him. The Doll holds the flowers at ringside and looks through them, pulling out a chain. Dumbass Mongo believes it is a bracelet. DDP calls for the chain, which she slides in under his legs and to Badd, who lays out DDP with it and retains.

Winner and Still WCW Television Champion: Johnny B. Badd in 2:11
That was much more of an angle than a match. Disappointing because I would have liked more. ¾*

Johnny B. Badd questions her motives, even though he had no problem using the chain. Suddenly, he stops caring about her choices and just celebrates.

Mean Gene interviews Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart by the stage. I swear he interviews them every week. Sullivan is angry at Jimmy Hart for allowing Sting to talk Luger out of holding a submission on Savage last night. In Sullivan’s mind, if Luger held that on a bit longer, Savage would have too hurt to win the title. Hart eases his mind by bringing up their history as friends, saying it is similar to the bond between Sting and Luger.

Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano w/ Sonny Ono vs. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki
Okay, so fuck everyone that bought the PPV last night. Also, what are the chances that, in 1995, both Raw and Nitro feature women’s tag matches? Especially when seven of the eight women are Japanese. Quick start by the heels as they destroy Ozaki. Hokuto pretty much hangs her while sitting on the top before Nakano slams her down hard shortly after. Suzuki gets the tag and things turn in their favor. They do slip up on a move but make up for it with a fun double stomp off the top. Literally, they do it at the same time. Hokuto misses a heel kick as Ozaki gets as near fall on a rana. Suzuki has a miscue and takes out her partner. Things end up spilling outside where Hokuto does a somersault plancha off the top, but hits her partner by mistake. Nakano survives inside and tags Hokuto, who correctly hits a double missile dropkick. She finishes off Suzuki with a fisherman buster.

Winners: Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano in 5:25
Better than the Raw women’s tag. Hokuto really impressed and that finishing sequence was great. Unfortunately, this would lead nowhere, though Hokuto returns down the line and becomes the only Women’s Champion in WCW history. ***

Hugh Morris vs. Hulk Hogan
Hugh Morris is the newest member of the Dungeon of Doom but isn’t important enough to get Hart or Sullivan at ringside. I’ll give you three guesses to the outcome of this match. Morris gets in some offense and actually looks rather impressive. He hits No Laughing Matter and Hogan kicks out. Hulk up. Big boot, leg drop, wash, rinse, repeat.

Winner: Hulk Hogan in 3:40
A relatively extended squash. It was Morris does some things and Hogan hulks up. No worth a rating.

Mean Gene introduces the new WCW Champion (for the first time), Randy Savage. He comes out wearing BIG GOLD and I gotta say, it looks good. Savage puts over being the only World Champion around. Gene brings up the Hogan controversy, which leads to Hogan coming out. He calls Savage his “brother friend” before reminding him that the belt still says his name on it. Did the Giant not get that changed? Hogan takes us to the footage from World War 3 but before we see what happened, the tape messes up and we see nothing. Savage says a “picture is worth a thousand words, but he saw nothing.” The Giant comes and attacks Hogan. He Chokeslams Savage on the concrete before taking Hogan to the ring. Sting runs out for the save and Hogan uses a chair to beat the hell out of the Giant and send him packing. Commentary questions why Sting eventually pulled Hogan away from the Giant, but it seemed clear that it was so they could check on Savage’s condition.

Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman vs. Lex Luger and Sting
The Horsemen theme is the stuff of legend. Luger takes a while to come out, adding to the drama but he shows up just in time. After Sting does some early work, Luger comes in next for SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES! It’s a staple of Luger matches. Sting gets tagged back in and plays the face in peril while commentary continues to question if Luger is really a good guy or not. From out of nowhere, Sting rolls up Pillman for the win.

Winners: Lex Luger and Sting in 5:36
I’d say this was incredibly mundane. You could tell the four guys were killing time until the finish. Outside of trying to advance the Luger/Sting angle, this didn’t do much for me. *¾

Ric Flair runs down and pulls Luger off the apron. He slaps the Figure Four on Sting, while Anderson adds leverage. Pillman beats up Luger until Hogan makes the big save. Once Hogan does all of his typical shit, he goes after Luger, still pissed from Halloween Havoc. Sting stops him to protect his buddy though. Hogan and Sting argue about it.

Raw Rating: 2.3
Nitro Rating: 2.5

4.5

The final score: review Poor

The 411

Raw: Early on, this episode was going smoothly. We had a quick Ahmed Johnson match, fun women’s tag and then a pretty decent Bret Hart interview. However, the back of this show was rough, especially the main event. Who the hell wants to see Sir Mo? WCW was doing Hogan vs. Sting at the time. Sir Mo wasn’t going to cut it. 4.5

Nitro: Though the ceiling for matches was slightly higher here than on Raw, this finishes even with the WWF this week. The main event was a disappointment and there was a squash that was kind of just there. Also like Raw, it had a pretty good interview segment as the Savage/Giant/Hogan/Sting stuff was pretty damn good. 4.5