wrestling / Video Reviews
Raw History: Episode 142 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 19
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Raw History
Episode #142
January 8th, 1996 | Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Delaware
TONIGHT ~ Shawn Michaels makes his “startling” revelation! More from Billionaire Ted and we’ll get the epic Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog WWF Title match from the latest In Your House!
Hakushi vs. Jeff Jarrett
Man, remember when Hakushi was a threat? He starts quickly enough that it causes Jarrett to take a lengthy powder outside. Once back inside, Jarrett takes over until Hakushi nails a roundhouse kick. He whiffs on a dropkick because Jarrett holds onto the ropes. Hakushi still comes back with some offense that the fans pop for, but only gets two on a flying forearm. Jarrett gets his knees up on a splash and wins with the Figure Four.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett in 6:16
Really basic stuff here. Hakushi did some of his stuff and then Jarrett just won. Not very impressive for either guy. *
ROYAL RUMBLE REPORT ~ Jim Ross, who has been with the company for almost three years and still has nothing of note to do, is filling in for Dok Hendrix. He announces that the USWA’s Doug Gilbert, Jake Roberts, jerry Lawler, Fatu, Isaac Yankem, Vader (complete with workout montage), Henry Godwin, Marty Jannetty, Kama, Skip and Takao Omari are all in the Rumble. He sends it to “Scheme Gene”, another of WWF’s lame parodies, who says that he has news but can’t tell you now, only later.
Ahmed Johnson vs. Jeff Brettler
Whoever made Brettler’s pants should be fired. He hits Ahmed and hurts himself! Ahmed then just murders this dude with his offense. Pearl River Plunge wraps this one up for Ahmed.
Winner: Ahmed Johnson in 1:32
Complete squash for Ahmed. I was fine with it.
Jeff Jarrett runs out to attack Ahmed, but fails. He scurries but leaves the guitar behind and Ahmed breaks it.
NEXT WEEK ~ The Undertaker goes one on one with Isaac Yankem! Holy shit, it’s the BROTHERS OF DESTRUCTION!
THE BROTHER LOVE SHOW ~ Ted Dibiase is the guest and introduces the new Million Dollar Champion. Who is it? The Ringmaster! Of course, this is Steve Austin, who would go on to become one of, if not the biggest star in wrestling history. He gets no pop from the Delaware faithful but is given promo time, which is glorious. He promises to prove how good he is and will be in the Royal Rumble. It makes you wonder why they tried giving him a mouthpiece in Dibiase.
Goldust vs. Aldo Montoya
Oh come on, you know how this is going to go down. While Goldust beats up the Portuguese dude with the jockstrap on his face, Lawler still can’t let go of the Bret feud and makes some jokes at the expense of Bret’s family. Goldust wins with the Curtain Call.
Winner: Goldust in 2:17
Another relatively fine squash match.
PRESS CONFERENCE ~ Shawn Michaels will be entering the Royal Rumble against the best wishes of his friends, family and doctors. Man, WrestleMania was telegraphed that year. Michaels promises to win the belt and that he will carry the title into the next millennium. I mean, that wouldn’t be the case, but he wasn’t far off.
We also get reactions from Superstars. Diesel wishes Shawn luck but wants to win the Rumble. Razor Ramon thinks it’s too soon for him, but expects Shawn to win. Owen Hart claim Shawn isn’t ready because of how badly he hurt him.
Since the WWF is lazy, we are now taken to the entire Bret Hart/British Bulldog match from In Your House: Season’s Beatings because fuck anyone who paid for the show. I consider this better than their SummerSlam 1992 outing. I’m not going to recap it here.
Things end with an Undertaker promo about the creatures of the night wanting the WWF Title and another Billionaire Ted segment.
Reliving Nitro
Episode #19
January 8th, 1996 | North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina
TONIGHT ~ The commentary booth hypes the main event, where Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage team up to face Arn Anderson and Ric Flair.
Alex Wright vs. Chris Benoit w/ Brian Pillman
An angry Chris Benoit attacks before Wright can remove his jacket. Brian Pillman is there to prevent more losses for the stable. Benoit beats up Wright, throws up the Horsemen sign and toys with him. He gets two on a Northern lights suplex before tossing him outside. Once there, Pillman chokes Wright with a belt. Wright gets back in and is hot, sending Benoit over the top with a slingshot. It isn’t a DQ because it wasn’t intentional apparently. Wright dives off the top and takes out Benoit. While Wright works a Boston crab, Bischoff shits on the WWF and their PPV prices, while WCW will be staying steady at $19.95. Too bad nobody bought their last PPV. Wright transitions to the STF but releases and goes to strikes. Float over snap suplex gets two before Pillman trips him. Wright responds by diving out onto Pillman, though the cameramen almost miss it. We get a series of counters back inside that ends with Benoit nailing a dragon suplex and earning the victory.
Winner: Chris Benoit in 6:46
Hot damn, that opener ruled. They didn’t get much time, but made sure to pack a fair amount into it. Strong, crisp work from both men that got us started on the right foot. ***¼
Eddie Guerrero vs. Lord Steven Regal w/ Jeeves
This should certainly be good. They begin with some basic exchanges and neither guy is able to gain a real advantage. While this goes on, Bischoff hypes the upcoming Clash of the Champions and tells fans to forget about the “Royal Fumble”. Their hook is the Robert Parker/Sherri wedding. Should I choose that or Bret Hart vs. Undertaker? Such a tough call. Eddie tries going aerial but runs into the kitchen sink. Regal is great at having an answer for Eddie’s innovative offense. Eddie take shim to the mat and applies a crazy rollup for two. Regal combats it with vicious forearms and knee strikes. He really dominates with a reverse suplex and some wear down holds. Then, from out of nowhere, Eddie uses a backslide for the surprise win.
Winner: Eddie Guerrero in 8:07
Two for two in good matches to start the evening. I wish we got to see more from these two in the future. Regal looked great and was in control throughout, but the right guy won. Fine stuff. ***
Mean Gene is by the entrance with Sting and Lex Luger. That means it’s time for weekly edition of “is Luger trustworthy?” Sting questions Luger pulling him back outside at Starrcade, resulting in him getting counted out. Luger says he was just reaching out for his friend and this all just leads to them becoming an actual tag team. It gets resolved within seconds.
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting
In 1998, this could have been a big money match for WCW. DDP rubs his cigar in Sting’s face and goes to work. His attire is all sorts of colors these days. Sting comes back with a dropkick and pescado to the outside. Back in though, DDP wears him down and works a chinlock following a swinging neckbreaker. Sting makes the rally and hits the Stinger Splash, but DDP avoids the Scorpion Death Lock. Bischoff shits all over DDP, saying this is more of a contest than he expected. Straight up telling us that DDP isn’t in Sting’s league. Sting lands on his feet on a back suplex attempt and catches a boot that he turns into the Scorpion Death Lock. DDP submits.
Winner: Sting in 6:19
Decent match here. It was mostly a showcase for Sting and it worked in that sense, but you could tell that DDP was starting to get it. **¼
Arn Anderson and WCW Champion Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage
Bischoff says that Arn had to go through a metal detector to get to the ring because of all of his foreign object use. I mean, couldn’t he just use one that wasn’t metal? Savage completely sells out and sports all sorts of red and yellow. Savage wants to start with Flair, but Flair comes in and demands Hogan. He gets his wish only for Hogan to totally dominate and no sell stuff. Even when Arn enters, he takes a body slam and the Horsemen have to regroup outside. Flair goads Hogan in, who nearly pulls his pants down, and as the referee removes Hogan, the Horsemen take over on Savage. In a rare move for Nitro up to this point, they go to break during the match. Returning, Arn and Flair are doing the old “assisted abdominal stretch behind the ref” spot. Hogan breaks up a pin with a damn back rake. The dude was always a natural heel. Savage really over sells the drama on the hot tag. Hogan enters and does his thing but gets stopped when he gets sandwiched between his opponents. Never mind as Hogan clotheslines them over and out. Savage sends Anderson back in and he nails the spinebuster. Hogan no sells that because why not? Big boot and leg drop finish it.
Winners: Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in 12:17
Real paint by numbers work from everyone involved. WCW was giving away plenty of huge main events, but most of the time, they weren’t worked at a main event level. This felt like these four just going through the usual motions. **
As soon as the match ends, the Dungeon of Doom and Four Horsemen run out. While the Giant beats up Hogan and Savage, the other stables are brawling amongst themselves outside. Benoit and Zodiac fight while Sullivan and Pillman go at it. Zodiac enters the ring and stops the Giant from continuing the beating. Why? We may never know.
Raw Rating: 3.0
Nitro Rating: 2.8
Nitro: Screw it, I thought this was a good episode. Instead of going the typical route of having a ton of Mean Gene interviews, most of the show was focused on the in-ring stuff, which was mostly good. The first two matches showcased four good wrestlers, the next one gave a cool glimpse into the future and the main event highlighted top stars. I like it. 7.0
