wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Uncensored 1995
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 7.23.26
-Source: YouTube
-Run Time: 2:25:16
-My 1996 Retro PPV Reviews Book has been sold in The UK, India, and Germany. Where will it end up next? Pick up your copy on Amazon and if you can, please leave an honest review.
-The is the first Uncensored PPV and I dug the idea of a themed show where there were no rules. It seemingly worked as it popped a buyrate.
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Tupelo Coliseum, Tupelo, MS
-March 19, 1995
-Attendance: 5782
-PPV Buys: 180,000
-The announce team hypes the matches and cover Hulk Hogan introducing The Renegade on Main Event. If you squint and look through the smoke, it still doesn’t look like The Ultimate Warrior.
King of The Road Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. The Blacktop Bully
-CINEMATIC WRESTLING! Dustin and Bully wrestle in the trailer of an 18 wheeler as it drives down the roads of Tupelo. They have a police escort and they are wrestling in a trailer filled with hay and a wire fence. It is an impressive visual, but is certainly a choice for an opener. The idea is to get to the front of the trailer and hit an air horn. There are sections they have to climb over to get towards the front so it’s like an obstacle course. Dustin is dressed for a fight and is sporting a blue bandana that reminds me of Hogan’s blue phase in TNA. I guess I should note there is show sections with cage and some with livestock wire. A helicopter is flying above to give us aerial shots. All the credit for trying something new. Amazing these guys are climbing the outside of this structure while the truck is moving. Dustin with a weak looking piledriver on a bale of hay. I saw weak with all the praise to even trying to do that in this scenario. A bale of hay gets dumped on Bully’s head and it seems Dustin is bleeding. He would be fired for blading and both Eric and Dustin have discussed the matter. Eric said he told both men no blood and he doesn’t care what anyone else says. Dustin said it was cleared by Craig Leathers and he would never disobey a boss. He then wondered why Hogan was allowed to bleed later in the show (SPOILERS). Bully is also bleeding as they continue to throw hay and punch each other. They both spill as the truck makes a turn. We have wood falling off the back of the truck. Bully gets close to the horn, but Dustin knocks him back down. We drive by a trailer park and Heenan can’t resist making jokes. “Mississippi Condos. You notice there were only 38 cars up on blocks.” We get nice views of the sun setting and Bobby makes more jokes. A trough gets introduced and it looks like manure was thrown on Bully. The truck comes to a stop as a church bus has to pass. We lose the helicopter feed so they cut to the camera in the back of the trailer. Bully gets crotched on the top of the trailer. They continue to fight and again no way would I be okay with hanging off the side of that thing while it’s moving. Bully knocks Dustin down and Bully reaches for the horn as the copter feed goes out again. Bully falls down and they start trading right hands. Dustin makes the climb, but Bully pulls him down. He misses a cartoon like right hand, but finds a bucket of water and throws it at Dustin. Bully stands on a section of the trailer and hits a dive. LUCHA BULLY? Both men are inches from the horn as the truck starts to come to another turn. Bully decks Dustin, knocking him down, and hits the horn for the win at 13:06.
Winner: The Blacktop Bully via hornage at 13:06
-So, points for effort I guess. I bet they could have made that work in the pandemic era. It at least set the theme of this being a different type of PPV. It wasn’t good, but it’s something I recommend every fan should watch once. I give Dustin and Bully credit for making the best of the situation. *
Martial Arts Match: Meng (w/ Colonel Parker) vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
-Sonny Onoo is the special ref and this was before he became a staple on WCW TV. Heenan is right there to make a joke about Cher and a joke about Sonny parking cars at Benihana’s. No bell, so I just start the timer when Sonny tries to get both men to toe the line and bow. Meng has face paint which thankfully didn’t last long. This is certainly a way to start the show as we are 25 minutes in and the live crowd has had no in ring action. They keep saying Ho with Duggan though. Duggan finally bows to Sonny in a mocking fashion, but refuses to bow to Meng. Duggan finally bows and Meng kicks him in the face. Fair! Meng gets a two count as I guess this is Mixed Martial Arts. Trendsetters! I bet Dana White was watching this at home and started thinking about the future. Meng uses a nerve hold in the corner as Tony tells us there are no rules all night and the ref is just there to declare a winner. Meng lands a kick to the chest and hooks a nerve pinch. Blah! The crowd starts a USA chant because they just can’t help but love Duggan. Hacksaw tries a shoulder tackle and that doesn’t do much. He goes for another, but Meng catches him with a chop to the throat. Meng goes to the eyes and delivers a chop. Back to a nerve hold! The crowd starts another USA chant. Meng shows them by releasing and then going back to the nerve hold. Sonny checks the arm three times, which is more pro-wrestling than MMA. Meng no sells Duggan’s comeback and uses his foot to choke. Parker chokes with his handkerchief behind the ref’s back. Meng lands a chop but misses an elbow. He misses another. Duggan starts pounding away with right hands and backs Meng into a corner. Sonny pulls Duggan off, so Duggan threatens to throw him to the floor. Meng over and Duggan catches him with The Old Glory clothesline, but Meng no sells. Parker gets decked for getting on the apron. Meng delivers a superkick in the chaos for the pin at 9:06.
Winner: Meng via pin at 9:06
-Not good and worse to me than the opener. At least they had a set of rules for the idea of the match and followed them. This was the crowd chanting USA to keep from being bored. DUD
-Video package on TV Champion, Arn Anderson. Lot of good Arn quotes in this one.
Boxer vs. Wrestler: Johnny B. Badd (w/ Roc Finnegan) vs. Arn Anderson (w/ Colonel Parker)
-This is scheduled for 10 three minute rounds with a 60 second rest period between the rounds. You can win by pin, submission, or KO. I guess this counts as another MMA contest.
-Round One: Badd lands a jab to the face. Arn shoots in, but Badd shoves off and fires away with a combination to the body. Arn bails to the floor and Parker tells him “don’t let him hit you on that chin.” Sound advice! Back in Arn takes a punch to the body and can’t get close enough to do anything. Another body shot knocks him down for a five count. Arn finally gets a knee in but makes the mistake of trying to box and that fails spectacularly. Arn shoots in, but Badd backs away. Badd closes the round with more body shots in the corner.
-Tony and Bobby discuss Ali vs. Inoki as we wait for the second round. Arn telling himself over and over again, “he’s mine,” is pretty funny.
-Round Two: Arn shoots in and backs Badd into the corner. He lands a knee and a left hand. Badd keeps from getting taken to the mat and lands a series of punches. The final one drops Arn. He’s up at eight and the ref lets this one continue. Arn finally gets a trip, but misses an elbow. Badd knocks Arn down again and this time he us up by seven. Jabs from Badd and he lands a liver shot in the corner. The body shots look good actually! Arn is down again, so I guess no 3 knock down rule. Any sensible ref would have stopped this one by now. Badd lands a nice shot to the jaw and goes back to the body. Arn gets dropped again and the ref lets him continue so Badd pounds away in the corner until the round ends.
-Arn decks Badd between the rounds and hits a DDT. Well, he had to do something! Credit to Badd’s cornerman for treating this seriously.
-Round Three: Arn gets a jump start on the round as he notes this is no DQ. He tosses Badd over the top to the floor and Parker gets a kick in. Back in the ring, Arn chokes away on the ropes and stands on Badd’s face. Badd with a body shot from his knees. Arn throws shoulders against the ropes and sends Badd into the corner where Parker is holding the stool. Spinebuster follows! Nice! Badd’s corner man jumps on Arn’s back to pop the crowd, but Arn shrugs him off. Jawbreaker from Arn! Badd starts throwing punches in bunches, so Arn pitches him to the floor again. The round ends with Badd outside the ring.
-Arn throws Badd into his corner and into Rock. Rock cuts his the glove off his left hand and tells him to finish this.
-Round Four: Arn gets a slam and talks trash to Rock. Badd drills him with a body shot and Arn falls into the corner where Rock puts a bucket on his head. Badd swings for the forces and connects with Arn’s head trapped in the bucket and he gets counted out at 12:40.
Winner: Johnny B. Badd via knock-out at 12:40
-This was entertaining and they went for it, so I give them all the credit. They had the crowd going by the end. Badd’s punches looked good as the issues with matches like this is if the boxer pulls his punches too much. Good story too as Arn could’t get in range to grab Badd and got dominated by his quick hands. He soon realized cheating was acceptable here and that’s how he gained the edge. Badd and his corner then did the same and we get a fun ending. ***
-Savage cuts a Savage promo with Tenay where he notes he doesn’t know what he is saying and he may just knock Tenay out. That’s our Macho!
”Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Avalanche
-At Starrcade Savage made his WCW PPV debut. SuperBrawl his PPV in ring debut and now, his first WCW PPV single’s match. Way to stretch that out and get interest in what he was doing each show. Interesting these two never really crossed paths in WWF unless I am completely blanking. Savage uses his quickness to avoid early, but tries a shoulder tackle and Avalanche doesn’t budge. Heenan makes more Tupelo jokes. Avalanche mouths off to Savage, so Savage slaps him in the face. Avalanche misses a charge and goes flying over the top to the floor. Savage up top and comes down with a crossbody. Don’t see Savage using that move all that often. I was expecting a double ax. Avalanche gets sent into the post and then the steps as this is no DQ. Like all the matches tonight. Savage goes for a slam, but no go, and Avalanche falls back for a two count. Avalanche drops an elbow and then a leg drop for two. There, Savage kicked out of a leg drop, so all good after Hogan kicked out of the Flying Elbow. Right? All good? Yeah, I stretched for that one. AVALANCHE WITH A DROPKICK! That gets two as Savage is close enough to the ropes. Slam but the elbow misses this time. Avalanche is up first and pitches Savage to the floor. The fans have a bullseye sign for someone to get thrown there. Avalanche notices, but he’s a heel and won’t do it. Makes sense as that should be saved for a face to get a pop. Savage fights to the apron, but Avalanche keeps knocking him back to the floor. Suplex, but Savage blocks and drops Avalanche throat first on the top rope. Savage off the top with a double ax to the back of the head. It only gets one as Avalanche kicks out with ease. Savage with a clothesline and stupidly tries a sunset flip. Avalanche flattens him and the reaction from the crowd is great. He walks over Savage’s back in a spot Andre loved doing. Splash gets a two count. The crowd is rumbling as they wants Savage back in this one. Powerslam and here’s the tremors! Avalanche Splash, but he doesn’t even try as Savage rolls away. Savage fires out of the corner with an elbow and gets a roll-up for a two count. Savage goes to the eyes and then back up top. Avalanche catches him on the way down and runs him into the corner. Another powerslam! Avalanche off the middle ropes, but Savage moves. The crowd seems distracted as Savage heads up top. Avalanche rolls to the floor, so Savage changes position and comes off with the double axe. A “female fan,” rushes the ring and attacks Savage. We know those chops and right hands. The crowd starts Wooing as they know what’s up. Back in the ring Avalanche hits The Avalanche Drop. Ric Flair removes the wig and goes back to beating on Savage as I guess we have a DQ at 11:40. So, there goes the no DQ rules I guess. Hogan comes out for the save.
Winner: Randy Savage via DQ at 11:40
-The match was fine as Savage is good at getting the crap kicked out of him and making the fans buy into his comeback. The ending sucked though. *1/2
-I just realized that Mike Tenay has been handling interviews. Where was Gene?
Big Bubba Rogers vs. Sting
-Sting’s white face paint with red accents looks weird for some reason. Sting bites Bubba’s fingers to start and pounds away with right hands. Sting puts on Bubba’s hat and then throws the coat at him. Dropkick sends Bubba to the floor. Sting drops a leg on the hat and tosses it into the crowd. Bubba charges and Sting catches him with a backdrop. Sting goes to the eyes and uses his foot to push Bubba to the mat. I appreciate Sting getting nasty here as THIS IS UNCENSORED! Sting continues the beating as Bubba is bouncing all over the place. Bubba tries to crotch Sting on the posts, but Sting counters and Bubba goes face first into the post. Splash from Sting and he slaps Bubba in the face. Man, who pissed in Sting’s cheerios? We needed this Sting against Hogan in 97. Heenan: “It’s like Sting is beating up the town bully.” Exactly! That’s what we needed in 97. Sting goes for a leap frog, but Bubba catches him in the groin and he injures his knee on the way down. Bubba has something to target and after five minutes of being dominated, takes over the match. Bubba work the knee with a submission and Tony mentions Sting blowing out his knee back in 1990. Bubba soaks in the boos from the fans. That lets Sting start a comeback, but Bubba kicks him in the knee. Heenan: “You know the Prom Queen from last year round here was named Bubba.” That one gets a chuckle out of Tony. Bubba slides to the floor and hits the uppercut. Bubba with short punches to the ribs in the corner. Sting continues to show signs of life with a random strike here and there. Sting backdrops out of a piledriver, but collapses to the ring as the knee is damaged. Bubba up first and right back to the knee. Standing knee-bar from Bubba and that forces Sting to fight off his shoulders or be pinned. The crowd is very quiet for this one. Bubba continues to work the knee. The crowd tries to get into it, but die back down as Bubba keeps a leg submission. Bubba with a slam and he decides to head to the top rope. Sting is up and Bubba just falls off the top rope. That seemed to be a mistake. Sting comes off the top with a chop and then gets a slam, while selling the knee. Bubba goes for another uppercut, but Sting avoids and gets a sleeper. Jawbreaker from Bubba breaks that. German Suplex from Sting dumps Bubba on his head. Sting up top and hits a splash for two. Sting decks Bubba, who falls against the ropes and falls forward into the back of Sting’s knee. That’s a unique take on a common Sting spot. Bubba misses a charge, and that lets Sting go for a slam. The knee gives out and Bubba falls back on top for the pin at 13:48.
Winner: Bug Bubba Rogers via pin at 13:48
-The opening five minutes with an aggressive Sting dominating was pretty fun. After that it got kind of boring and the fans checked out. Crowd seemed bummed by Sting losing. The finish was kind of out of nowhere as well. Just a weird match after a hot start. **
Texas Tornado Match: Harlem Heat (w/ Sister Sherri) vs. The Nasty Boys
-A year earlier the Nasty Boys had one of my favorite matches of all time against Cactus/Sullivan at Slamboree. I had my hopes this one could be similar. Sherri is out without Harlem Heat. The Nasty Boys make their entrance and Sherri fakes them out so The Harlem Heat can attack from the other side of the ring. All four men brawl to start as expected. Sags and Stevie pair off on one side and Knobbs/Booker on the other. The crowd is rather quiet to start. Booker tells Stevie to “shoot that punk in for a side kick.” So that’s not really calling a spot like John Cena, but still was calling a spot. Heat with a spike piledriver to Knobbs. Sags takes a boot to the face and doesn’t sell. He just walks away and then runs Booker into the railing. That at least wakes up the crowd. Sags with a slam to Booker on the floor. Back in we get a double punch to the head of Stevie and then Sherri gets pulled into the room. She takes The Pit Stop because it’s Sherri and she works as hard as the men in the match. A garbage can gets dumped on a head and they start brawling up the ramp. They get into a fight in the concession stand as a wink and nod to the infamous Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl. I give them credit for the reference. Sherry chokes Sags and that’s deserved. Cotton Candy get used which is silly, but whatever. Knobbs slips in the soda on the floor and that could have gone badly. Stevie slips as well as I waiting for someone to tear their ACL. Mustard gets used as they are going for it. I wonder if Booker had flashbacks when he did the Grocery Store Brawl with Austin. The crowd is not as into this as you would think. Heenan has no clue what funnel cakes are. That’s sad as he missed out. Sherri nearly has her top ripped down. We get a two count in the chaos. Sherri is rolling around in the pop as this is just a mess due to the floor being soaked. Booker gets tossed into one of the concession stands, causing it to collapse and that gets the biggest pop of the night. We just randomly have a bell and I am not sure what happened. Apparently the Nasty Boys got a pin somewhere in the popcorn area according to Tony, but Heenan thinks it was by the funnel cake. Heenan: “I used to know a dancer named Funnel Cake.”
Winner: The Nasty Boys via pin at 8:38
-Replay shows Knobbs for the pin after a powerslam onto the remnants of one of the concessions stands. This was a rather weak brawl, but there was a kind of charming goofiness about it at times. *
-Vader cuts a promo backstage and Flair is with him. Flair cutting a promo with eye liner and nail polish is something.
Strap Match: Hulk Hogan (w/ Renegade) vs. Big Van Vader (w/ Ric Flair)
-Listen to the pop of the crowd as the play a music that sounds rather similar to that of a certain Warrior with an Ultimate presence. Then look at the crowd as they realize this isn’t The Warrior. Poor Renegade was set up for failure from the start. Renegade chases Flair up the aisle as Hogan and Vader start brawling around the ring. They are hooked by the strap and Hogan is pounding away with right hands. They head back into the ring and Hogan goes to the eyes. Flair is back by the ring on one side and Renegade is on the opposite side. Hogan bites at Vader’s head and uses the strap to choke. Flair is ready to crawl into the ring, but Renegade growls at him and that’s enough to keep him from attacking. Hogan starts laying into Vader with the strap and that brings Flair in and of course he has to take some shots. Renegade gets in his face and Flair throws punches and chops that have no effect. Flair backs away as we focus on that instead of what’s happening in the ring. Hogan calls Renegade back down and he sends Vader back into the ring. We get a tug of war between Hogan and Vader as Heenan notes he was once in a strap match with Pepper Gomez and had to get stitches in his head and back. Vader with a modified World’s Strongest Slam. He hits a Vader Bomb and and we get more screaming between Flair and Renegade. Vader chokes with the strap and hooks a head scissors. The crowd Is going crazy, but there really isn’t much happening in this one. Vader releases and starts whipping Hogan with the strap. Jimmy Hart finally shows up and his clothes are torn and he has tape on his wrists. Vader with a chair but Hart stops him and then Hogan uses the chair. Some shots are kind of weak and some are kind of okay. Hogan straps Vader across the chest and back. Another chair shot! Hogan yanks on the strap and sends Vader into the post and repeats that a few times in a fun spot. Another chair shot and again, the crowd is with them. Flair and Renegade end up in the ring as we really need a split screen if they are going to show everything. More whipping to Vader and then a ball shot. Flair: “Hogan you’re a dead man.” Well, now I am sad! They head to the floor and Hogan continues to fire away with right hands and then a clothesline. Vader is getting the brakes beaten off him. Hogan is the first to try to win the match as he touches two corners on the outside of the ring. Yes, this is touch the buckle rules. Vader stops Hogan’s momentum and yanks him into the railing. “Hogan,” chant from the crowd. Vader gets some offense in as he boxes Hogan’s ears. Vader takes a shot at Renegade, who doesn’t sell it. Back in the ring Vader gets a choke slam to many boos from the crowd. Splash from Vader! Tony notes there is no ref for this match, and honestly I didn’t even notice. Suplex from Vader, but Hogan is back up on his feet and he starts whipping Vader again. Big Boot followed by the leg drop! The crowd counts as Hogan gets three corners and starts walking to the fourth. Someone in a mask runs out and hits Renegade with a chair. Flair in and breaks a wooden chair over Hogan’s back. Flair with the wooden chair to Renegade again. Vader drags Hogan to two corners and Flair is dog walking Renegade in the floor with that chair. Vader is about to win, but Flair stops him and wants more damage. They put Hogan’s head on the chair and Vader comes off the middle ropes with a Senton, but Hogan rolls out of the way. I’d hope so because that would have sucked for Hogan. Loud “Hogan” chant from the crowd. Flair back in the ring with another chair and he breaks it over Hogan’s back and struts. Hogan no sells and starts Hulking up. Flair gets whipped some more and takes the big boot. More lashes! Hogan rips Flair’s shirt off and puts the strap on his wrist. He drags Flair around all four corners and I guess that counts as a win at 18:17 as THIS IS UNCENSORED!
Winner: Hulk Hogan (over Ric Flair?) at 18:17
-We didn’t really get a winner between Hogan and Vader. The crowd loved it though. I guess with no ref it didn’t matter anyway, but it was still silly. Hogan dominated and they hit each other hard enough with the strap. It wasn’t what you would call good, but I found it entertaining in some weird way as they just threw everything they had at the match. Flair bumped around for a match he wasn’t in and was nice enough to take the loss. If you judge it by crowd reaction, then it worked for the people in the building. The match last month was better. This was just chaos and never boring at least. **1/2
-Vader and Flair try to attack, but Hogan takes them on by himself. Renegade in with a chair and here’s the masked man again. We see Arn Anderson coming out tied up and in the ring, the masked man starts blasting Vader and Flair with a chair. It’s The Macho Man and the crowd goes crazy. There is just a lot going on with this match and to it’s credit, the crowd is going crazy for all of it.
-Thanks for reading!
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