Raw History: Episode 152 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 29

Raw History
Episode #152
March 25th. 1996 | Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas

It’s the go home show before WrestleMania XII!

Shawn Michaels w/ Jose Lothario def. Leif Cassidy in 8:34
I believe this is the debut of the stupid Kliq Cam as well as Jose Lothario. It’s hilarious that Shawn introduced him so he had to walk out to “Sexy Boy”. Bret Hart strolls out for commentary, causing Jerry Lawler to head to the back. We get a quick paced start in the ring, while Bret says that the “Mexican style of wrestling” isn’t the best. He is going to pound Shawn into the mat for sixty minutes. Marty Jannetty comes out while Cassidy is stretching Michaels heading to the break. Bret gets in all sorts of jabs, saying Shawn was jumped by nine cheerleaders last year. Classic. Cassidy tries a reverse powerbomb of sorts by the ropes but Shawn’s feet get caught and they both take an ugly spill. Shawn begins a rally when Jannetty interferes and just pulls on his tights, giving the fans a view of his cheeks. Bret gets up and shoos Jannetty away. Shawn scores with the Sweet Chin Music and takes the win. This was way too much Cassidy to be really good and Shawn should have done more considering he has a WWF Title shot in six nights. It did advance the angle at least. **

Shawn tries getting in Marty’s face but he shoves Bret to do so. Bret pulls him back and they go face to face until Jose Lothario breaks it up. Vince interviews Bret after Shawn leaves. Bret says that he respects Shawn but he’s going to pound him so bad. Bret’s obsession with pounding Shawn is strange.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Aldo Montoya in 5:03
It’s a Kliq member against a Kliq B team member. Actually, Aldo might be the only B team member. Montoya is a gentlemen and helps Hunter’s random valet out of the ring. HHH attacks from behind and takes quick control. Vince spends the match plugging the upcoming Slammy awards. HHH hits the high knee before Aldo makes a mild comeback with a flying body press and head scissors. Aldo sets too early on a back drop and eats the Pedigree. Not going to rate this since it was mostly a squash.

Goldust is in the Hollywood backlot with a mannequin dressed like Roddy Piper. He cuts a promo about Roddy being in “his backlot” and pretty much flirts with the doll.

NEXT WEEK ~ Mankind debuts!

Undertaker and Paul Bearer make their way to the ring. They take so long that it goes to commercial and Dok Hendrix stops to plug some overpriced merchandise. Undertaker is finally in the ring and Vince McMahon interviews him. Bearer runs down the rivalry and Undertaker says that he was originally just content with beating Diesel. Now though, after Diesel laid his hands on Bearer, he is leaving Diesel’s fate in the hands of the reaper.

We are taken to video packages hyping the training of both Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Before it though, we got a short clip of Dok Hendrix performing “Badstreet USA” for the live crowd. I’m not lying.

Ahmed Johnson def. Owen Hart w/ Jim Cornette via disqualification in 3:49
Diana Smith is in the front row, watching her brother take a bit of a beating from Ahmed. Ahmed just runs him over like a train. British Bulldog comes to ringside as Vince says that Yokozuna and Jake Roberts aren’t there from what he knows. Ahmed wants a test of strength so Owen goes to a cheap kick because he’s smart. After a commercial, Ahmed plants Owen with a spinebuster and goes for the Pearl River Plunge but Bulldog runs in to cause the DQ. Not much to talk about there. ¾*

Vader runs out and they give the three on one beating. Vince was wrong because Jake Roberts and Yokozuna come out to even the odds. They brawl to help set up the six man tag in six nights.

The show closes with Bret Hart’s incredibly cheesy “Start the Fire” music video.

Uncensored 1996 Results
Konnan (c) def. Eddie Guerrero to retain the WCW US Championship in 18:25 (***)
Belfast Bruiser def. Lord Steven Regal via disqualification in 17:27 (***¼)
Col. Robert Parker def. Madusa in 3:46 (DUD)
The Booty Man def. Diamond Dallas Page in 15:58 (-***½)
The Giant def. Loch Ness in 2:34 (½*)
Booker T and Sting def. the Road Warriors in a Chicago Street Fight to retain the WCW Tag Team Titles for Lex Luger and Sting in 29:34 (*¼)
Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage def. Arn Anderson, Barbarian, Kevin Sullivan, Lex Luger, Meng, Ric Flair, Ultimate Solution and Z-Gangsta in 25:16 (-*****)

Reliving Nitro
Episode #29
Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, Alabama

Less than 24 hours removed from one of the worst PPV main events ever, it’s Nitro! Tonight, there are THREE title matches.

Randy Savage def. Belfast Bruiser in 5:05
This could be interesting. Belfast Bruiser reportedly injured Steven Regal’s cheekbone in their stiff match a night earlier. All sorts of heel reactions for the Bruiser. His name annoys me. Just be Fit Finlay already. He looks to wear Savage down before firing off some of his vicious uppercuts. Savage sells them like they knocked him senseless and it’s great. Wait. How is Savage completely healthy after an 8-on-2 match last night? Savage tries to rally but Bruiser sends him into the ring post outside. Bruiser continues to kick ass and hits a short clothesline for two. He misses a charge though, leading to Savage winning with the big elbow. Typical match from Savage at this point but I’d say the Bruiser bumped this up. He came to play and hit Savage as hard as he could. **¾

It’s time for Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene to interview Ric Flair. Flair has Elizabeth and Woman on his arms. Woman spends the promo flirting with Gene. Flair does his usual screaming promo about defending his title against the Giant tonight. He brings up Lex Luger accidentally hitting him last night and says he’s on the long list of people that can’t style and profile with him anymore. Flair asks both women if he’s more of a man and has a better body than Luger and they say yes.

WCW United States Championship: Konnan (c) def. JL in 6:22
I still want to know what happened to the “Mr.” part of his name. Konnan’s entrance gear makes it seem like he’s still in Max Moon gear. Wow, I reviewed Moon/Michaels so long ago. Commentary begins by discussing Brian Pillman’s recent issues. I’m pretty sure he’s gone from the company now. The guys in the ring work some Lucha style stuff that never fully clicks. JL takes Konnan out with a back elbow and both guys are down. They talk about Konnan retaining against Eddie Guerrero last night because of a low blow. JL recently advanced in WCW’s Cruiserweight Tournament. He rolls Konnan up for two and it looks so sloppy. DDT off the middle rope gets JL two because Konnan gets his feet on the ropes. Konnan then hits the Alabama Slam and rolls through to retain. They tried but this felt very disjointed and sloppy. **

The Booty Man def. Disco Inferno in 1:17
Let me tell you how hilarious it is that commentary shits all over Disco Inferno for being a goof, yet they treat a guy named the “Booty Man” like a legitimate contender. His theme says “SHAKE YOUR BOOTY SHAKESHAKESHAKESHAKESHAKESHAKESHAKE”. The Booty Babe doesn’t come out with him but shows up midway through and slaps him on the behind. Oh god. He just easily wins with the high knee. The match was awful but Kimberly’s nipples were out in full force and had to be at least four stars. DUD

WCW World Tag Team Championship: Lex Luger and Sting (c) def. the American Males in 6:31
They’re still doing the Jekyll and Hyde stuff with Luger. He literally panders to the fans when Sting looks and ignores them behind Sting’s back. The American Males do well early on, causing Luger to back away and cower in the corner. He tags in Sting, who looks very disappointed in his buddy. Commentary really plays up Bagwell being Sting’s protégé. Their back and forth is actually kind of fun and Sting wins out before flexing, as the teacher has not (and never would be) surpassed by the student. Luger ends up in there again with Bagwell, but this time he’s like an enraged animal. Bagwell knocks Luger off the apron but loses to cross body. I rather enjoyed this. The Sting/Bagwell and Sting/Luger stories were rather enjoyable.**½

Lex Luger nearly leaves with his titles and Sting’s, but Sting gets his half of the Tag Titles back. He then stays behind to raise the hands of the American Males.

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) w/ Elizabeth and Woman and the Giant w/ Jimmy Hart wrestled to a no contest in 8:56
During Flair’s entrance, Elizabeth is tossing money around, which is supposedly Savage’s. He tries to get involved but is held back by security. She throws the money at him and Woman slaps him. This oddly is heel against heel but Giant quickly changes that. He no sells Flair’s offense and stats busting out press slams to pops. Giant continues to no sell Flair while Bischoff promotes Hog Wild on commentary. Mind you, Hog Wild isn’t until August. Giant misses a top rope splash and corner splash before falling outside. Flair starts getting in a bunch of heel stuff. Choking with a wire Woman gives him and a well-timed low blow are the highlights. Giant rallies and THE STRAP IS DOWN! Giant hits the Chokeslam and the ladies enter to plead on Flair’s behalf. Arn Anderson comes in and whacks him with a chair. Kevin Sullivan is out to stop Arn by taking the chair. Giant only sees Sullivan with it so he Chokeslams him. Arn celebrates only to get chokeslammed too! This was pretty standard but I’ll bump up the score because Giant seemed to be enjoying the babyface teases. **¾

Giant can’t trust anyone, even Jimmy Hart, so he leaves on his own.

Raw Rating: 2.8
Nitro Rating: 3.1

4.8

The final score: review Poor

The 411

Raw: Not the best go home show. The matches were highly lackluster for one thing. Shawn Michaels should not be in a match six days before the Mania main event where Leif Cassidy gets in most of the offense. They tried their best to build other Mania matches but most of it fell flat. Even Goldust’s segment didn’t hit as well as his previous ones did. 3.5

Nitro: This week’s Nitro had some highs and lows. The opener is a fun little match and the main event was surprisingly solid considering how green the Giant was. The babyface teases and Flair getting his ass kicked was enjoyable. I thought the Tag Team Title match was pretty good too. My only issues were the sloppy US Title (though it wasn’t even that bad) and the awful Booty Man/Disco Inferno stuff. 6.0