Raw History: Episode 147 and Reliving Nitro: Episodes 24 & 25

SuperBrawl VI Results
The Nasty Boys def. Public Enemy in a Street Fight (***)
Johnny B. Badd def. Diamond Dallas Page to retain the Television Championship (***)
Lex Luger and Sting def. Harlem Heat to retain the Tag Team Titles (**)
Konnan def. One Man Gang to retain the US Championship (-**)
The Taskmaster def. Brian Pillman in an I Respect You Strap Match (½*)
Lex Luger and Sting wrestled the Road Warriors to a no contest (¼*)
Ric Flair def. Randy Savage in a Steel Cage to win the WCW Championship (***½)
Hulk Hogan def. the Giant in a Steel Cage (¾*)

Reliving Nitro
Episode #24
February 12th, 1996 | Florida State Fair in Tampa, Florida

We’re doing Nitro first this time since they aired an episode on 2/12, while Raw did not. We are twenty-four hours removed from a SuperBrawl PPV that was a mixed bag. They spend a lot of time recapping the PPV before going to the ring.

Hugh Morris vs. Randy Savage
Savage is fresh off of not only losing the World Title, but also Miss Elizabeth, who turned on him in favor of Ric Flair. They make a point to note that there isn’t much flash from Savage tonight despite his colorful get up. Savage comes out aggressive but falls victim to Morris’ size. Savage still rallies and hits a weak elbow for two. Morris’ offense is really dull and the crowd just doesn’t buy him as a threat. He finally wakes up the fans with a moonsault attempt, though it misses. Savage hits a body slam and hits the diving elbow. That’s not enough for him though, delivering a second to win.

Winner: Randy Savage in 4:52
Really standard stuff. Morris was very uninteresting at the time and I didn’t get enough of an angry Savage vibe throughout. ½*

Randy Savage goes for a third elbow after the bell but Hugh Morris escapes. He then says that he wants Ric Flair.

Mean Gene kills time by interviewing the WCW racecar driver. No one cares.

Loch Ness w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Scotty Riggs
Eric Bischoff has been talking about Loch Ness for the entire show so far. He’s just a really obese dude with nothing else seemingly interesting about him. This doesn’t last long as Loch Ness no sells Riggs and beats him with an elbow.

Winner: Loch Ness in 1:08
It barely lasted a minute and Loch Ness looked winded.

Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene is set to interview Ric Flair. Instead, Elizabeth and Woman wheel out a gurney. It’s revealed that Flair is on it under covers for some reason. He comes out hype as hell, putting over his title win and ladies. Elizabeth talks about taking half of everything from Randy and taking the belt was the final straw. She stumbles through this by the way.

Devon Storm vs. Konnan
Konnan holds the WCW United States Championship and the Mexican Heavyweight Title. You could tell how green Storm is here because he does alright spots but doesn’t seem to know how to work the crowd with it. Konnan brings the big spots including a plancha and hen a sick powerbomb on the outside. He hits another powerbomb inside before moving to submissions. Storm comes back with a springboard leg lariat. His rana attempt is blocked and turned into yet another powerbomb for the 1-2-3.

Winner: Konnan in 5:20
They seemed to try and cram in a ton of spots so this came off as very unfocused. Also, kind of an anti-climactic finish after the earlier powerbombs. I did appreciate the effort though.**

Arn Anderson w/ Woman vs. Hulk Hogan
Typical start from these two. Hogan no sells a lot of Arn’s offense. Bischoff has the nerve to call this the most important match of Arn’s life even though I’m pretty sure they just did this match a few weeks back. They brawl outside where Hogan targets Arn’s arm. Once inside, Hogan continues to show that he was always a heel as he delivers back rakes and such. As soon as Arn starts to gain control, here comes Ric Flair and Elizabeth. Spinebuster by Arn only gets two. HULK UP TIME! Instead of ending it with the leg drop, he sees Flair and applies a figure four instead. Flair runs in and Hogan pulls him into a cradle…Why? It takes powder in the eyes from Woman and Arn using Elizabeth’s high heel to strike Hogan and steal it.

Winner: Arn Anderson in 9:16
Like I said, this was basic stuff from the two men involved. I was happy to see Arn win at least. **

Mongo shits on Savage, saying that it’s one thing to do all of this to Randy, but it’s much worse for them to do it to Hulk. Like Hulk is that precious. Savage runs out to scare off Flair and Arn. While Mean Gene interviews them, Flair and Arn go and take over commentary. Hogan and Savage can’t be over talked so they go out and clear them off. Arn had challenged Hogan to a rematch for some reason, which Hogan accepts.

In Your House: Rage in the Cage Results
Razor Ramon def. 1-2-3 Kid in a Crybaby Match (**¾)
Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Duke Droese (**¼)
Yokozuna def. British Bulldog via disqualification (*¾)
Shawn Michaels def. Owen Hart (****)
Bret Hart def. Diesel in a Steel Cage to retain the WWF Championship (**¾)

Raw History
Episode #147
February 19th, 1996 | Cincinnati Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio

Things open with Sunny in a bikini telling us that viewer discretion is advised. Sunny alone is enough to not want to change the channel to Nitro. Just put her in a small screen in the corner all night and you’ll win the ratings. This is followed by a recap of the previous night’s Pay-Per-View, which ended with a stare down between Diesel and the Undertaker.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Goldust (c) w/ Marlena vs. Razor Ramon
At the Royal Rumble, Goldust took the Intercontinental Title from Razor. I actually believe this is Razor’s last match on Raw until returning as Scott Hall in 2002. He attacks quickly, beating on Goldust before he can get the title or his robe off. The champion takes a powder and makes sure to feel up Marlena in the process. I wouldn’t touch a woman while wearing an outfit as tight as Goldust’s. Lawler says hat Razor is manhandling Goldust but he might like it. Razor goes for the incredibly obvious Razor’s Edge by the ropes just so he can get back dropped outside. I hate that spot. Following the break, Goldust takes control. As payback for the Razor’s Edge spot, Razor sends Goldust out with a fallaway slam. Unfortunately, Goldust and Marlena bail to the back, getting counted out.

Winner via countout: Razor Ramon in 5:34
A perfectly acceptable match up until the finish. They worked at a good pace for the most part and I was enjoying it. **¼

Unlike Lex Luger, Razor wisely doesn’t celebrate a countout win too hard. He gets on the microphone and says he doesn’t want Goldust’s belt, he wants his ass instead. Whoa. Razor then tells Roddy Piper to make a match anywhere, any time. He throws weird shots at Piper too for some reason and mentions that Goldust thinks he’s sexy.

Dok Hendrix gives a lengthy recap of In Your House. He does make the big announcement that Diesel will go one on one with the Undertaker at WrestleMania XII. While this goes on, Vader and Jim Cornette make their way to the ring. Vader immediately assaults Aldo Montoya and Barry Horowitz, who were apparently set to face the Bodydonnas. He Chokeslams the shit out of Montoya. Vince hypes Vader vs. Yokozuna at WrestleMania until he finishes kicking ass.

A hype video airs to promote the Ultimate Warrior. Can you say “desperate for ratings?”

Continuing the desperate ratings ploys, Sunny is back in a barely there nightie, singing “Happy Birthday Mr. President.” Why?

Marty Jannetty vs. The Ringmaster w/ Ted Dibiase
According to Vince, Jannetty will have a new partner to form the New Rockers and they will be part of a tournament to crown new Tag Team Champions. The Smoking Gunns had to vacate the belts due to an injury to Billy Gunn. Vince says that the Ringmaster is a “stone cold” person. Hmm. Both men get early rollups for near falls so Austin just dumps him outside. Once back inside, Jannetty strikes with a 1980’s dropkick for two. STUN GUN by Austin sends us to commercial. They really hammer home the “Ringmaster” stuff as he works the STF and another Koji clutch like submission. Marty retaliates with his 80’s high flying stuff. Austin gets tired of Jannetty and puts him down with the Million Dollar Dream.

Winner: The Ringmaster in 5:16
Another fine little match. Nothing special but they did what they needed to. It got Austin a win over an established veteran. **

Mankind speaks for what I believe is the first time. He’s holding a rat and the promo would be used as part of his theme music on “WWF The Music Vol. 2”. It’s really good as he talks about god creating him on the eighth day and his lack of teeth and messed up ear.

NEXT WEEK ~ Yokozuna faces British Bulldog and Owen Hart in a handicap match, Jake Roberts vs. Isaac Yankem and we’ll hear from Shawn Michaels.

Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Oh fuck, who let Tatanka back on Raw? Vince has oversold the whole “wherever Undertaker is, you can expect Diesel to follow” stuff all night long. They do some really basic stuff that includes Tatanka hitting the Samoan drop. Once he does, Diesel shows up with an axe in his hand. He grabs a cameraman and heads to the back with him. After a break, Tatanka is working a chinlock. On a split screen, we see Diesel destroying Undertaker’s casket with an axe. Lawler calls the casket Undertaker’s home, like he’s a vampire or something. Undertaker beats Tatanka with a tombstone and nobody gives a damn.

Winner: Undertaker in 3:23
I’m not really going to rate this one. It wasn’t about the match. This was about the angle and it worked in that sense.

Undertaker sees the replay of what happened and heads to the back.

The shitty Billionaire Ted stuff continues for some reason. It has “Larry Flynn Live” as well. It’s horrible.

Reliving Nitro
Episode #25
February 19th, 1996 | Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland

Arn Anderson w/ Woman vs. Hulk Hogan
It’s the rematch from last week. Subtle shots at the WWF from Bischoff during Hogan’s entrance about then whining. This starts almost identical to last week except for the fact that Hogan is willing to cheat a bit more since that’s how Arn beat him last week. He bites Arn and rakes his eyes several times. While Hogan continues to cheat, Bischoff says that they are the most watched wrestling show in the world and “it’s not even close”. The actual numbers beg to differ at the moment. Hogan has the WrestleMania IX eye bandage working and is just dominating. Big boot connects but like last week, he does a figure four. The Taskmaster runs out but is SO SLOW that Randy Savage beats him to the ring and levels him. For some reason, that is a disqualification.

Winner via disqualification: Arn Anderson in 7:02
A piss poor version of last week’s match. Too much Hogan dirty brawling and a horseshit finish just really made this worse. ¼*

Alex Wright vs. Loch Ness w/ Jimmy Hart
Wright is wearing a big ass elbow pad and it looks weird on him. He tries to roll away from Loch Ness a few times and does a good job of dodging him. Loch Ness throws Wright off of his back and is already winded so he goes to a bearhug. Loch Ness ends it with the elbow and shouts about Hogan.

Winner: Loch Ness in 2:21
This lasted 141 seconds and Loch Ness was blown up for about 138 of them.

Belfast Bruiser vs. Brad Armstrong
The Belfast Bruiser is Fit Finlay for anyone unaware. Commentary says that he’s here for Lord Steven Regal due to beef from way back in the day. Armstrong gets some USA chants in the early goings. Bruiser works Armstrong over and takes him down with a shoulder block. Armstrong is incredibly generic. He comes back using the power of America and applies a headlock. Bruiser gets free and bruising Brad. He just beats up Armstrong and twists him around. It’s actually pretty entertaining. Armstrong gets a boot up and hits a facebuster followed by a back suplex. He makes a mistake and runs into a tilt-a-whirl slam that ends it.

Winner: Belfast Bruiser in 6:47
That was pretty fun. Belfast Bruiser is a stupid name though. Finlay did well in his Nitro debut though I think it went a bit long for what they wanted to accomplish. **½

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Ric Flair (c) w/ Miss Elizabeth and Woman vs. Randy Savage
Man, Nitro is flying through matches and I like it. None of that Mean Gene bullshit we get a ton of usually. Surprisingly, Savage isn’t as angry as he should be. Commentary hyped him as unstable and pissed but he’s not that aggressive. Flair is on the offense quickly and ends up sending him over the guardrail. Savage rallies and scares the ladies to the back, opening the door for Flair to elbow him. Woman returns and rakes him in the eyes. They trade chops and punches in the corner until Savage wins out. Savage locks Flair in the Figure Four, because all of the babyfaces are stealing finishers now. Flair gets out but ends up in a sleeper, only to end up in a sleeper that he counters with a back suplex. Stalling suplex by Flair leads to a classic “OH GOD” from the champ. Flair locks in the figure four but Savage slips out. Savage starts to lay in the right hands and goes for the babyface ten punches. Woman throws the shoe in but Savage, like a cornerback, intercepts. He hits Flair and covers. Kevin Sullivan is out and Woman uses her other shoe by the referee is apparently blind. Hogan runs in to beat up Sullivan, while Arn Anderson shows up and DDTs Savage, allowing Flair to retain.

Winner and Still WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair in 11:23
That was going really well until the interference in the end. I get that it helps keep Savage strong but it is so repetitive at this point. Solid stuff beforehand though. ***

The heels beat up Hogan and Savage until Brutus Beefcake shows up as the “Booty Man”. The crowd is so confused and commentary acts like nobody knows who this guy is. Sure, like he wasn’t the dumbass Zodiac in recent months. Brutus is the epitome of the “guys getting pushed because they’re close to Hogan” mold. Booty Man chases the heels to the back. Then the faces go to commentary where Hogan introduces the Booty Man and they hype a six man tag for next week.

Nitro Rating: 3.7 (2/12/96)
Raw Rating: 3.1
Nitro Rating: 2.9

5.2

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Nitro (2/12): Most of the episode isn’t very good but there are some decent points. The closing few minutes mostly deliver even if it is something we’ve seen more than a few times. Konnan and Storm put in a lot of effort though it wasn’t anything special. The first half of the show is pretty dire though. Loch Ness is awful. 4.0

Raw: That was a decent enough episode of Raw. The two matches that mattered were alright, while the main event delivered a big angle heading into WrestleMania. The Billionaire Ted stuff will continue to bring down the overall scores until they go away for good. 5.5

Nitro (2/19): A mostly good episode of Nitro this week. They cut out all of the extra Mean Gene stuff and, outside of the beginning and end, they didn’t repeat the same few acts. The Loch Ness stuff and Hogan/Anderson match both sucked. Everything after was enjoyable despite the awkward debut of the Booty Man. The episode flew by. 6.0