wrestling / Video Reviews
Raw History: Episode 170 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 46
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Raw History
Episode #170
July 29th, 1996 | Key Arena in Seattle, Washington
WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels (1) since 3/31/96
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Ahmed Johnson (1) since 6/23/96
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Smoking Gunns (3) since 5/26/96
TONIGHT ~ Who attacked Ahmed Johnson last week? We will get answers!
Sycho Sid def. Justin Hawk Bradshaw w/ Uncle Zebekiah via disqualification in 1:04
For the first time since 1/1/96, Sid has a match on Raw. He is way over. Bradshaw shows no fear and they get right into a slugfest. Sid hits a chokeslam, so Bradshaw comes back by hitting him with the cowbell for the DQ. Aw man, that had potential to be fun.
Zeb and Bradshaw continue the attack but Sid turns it around on them and hits powerbombs on both of them.
Backstage, Sunny introduces Faarooq Asad. She says that he’s the champion of the 90’s and apparently, Faarooq will face Ahmed Johnson for the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam. Faarooq isn’t Ahmed’s “brother” and will show him how the fight goes on the street.
Vader w/ Jim Cornette def. Marc Mero w/ Sable in 6:23
Jim Cornette joins commentary and disses Sable along with Jerry Lawler. Mero starts hot and I realize that he’s been on Raw very often lately. I think it’s the Sable effect. Vader stops him in his tracks and just starts throwing him around. He’s in full control and gets two on a splash. Vader wastes time by jawing with Sable and Mero finds an opening. He picks up a near fall before somersaulting out onto Vader. Vader weathers that storm and wins with a powerslam. Exactly what it needed to be. Vader looked dominant, Mero got in hope spots and the right guy won. **¼
We see footage again of Clarence Mason trying to get someone who spent time in jail into the WWF.
Vince conducts an in-ring interview between Jim Cornette and Jose Lothario. Cornette immediately tells Jose to keep his switchblade in his pocket. He wants revenge for what happened on the Free-4-All. Cornette mentions that Jose is a has been who is relevant again because of Shawn Michaels but Vader is going to take the WWF Title at SummerSlam and send him back to obscurity. Shawn Michaels is shown watching on a monitor backstage. Jim calls Jose trash, so Jose gets in his face and threatens to kick his butt. When Jose goes to leave, Cornette tries an attack but Jose sees it coming and knocks him down with a right hand. In the back, Mankind attacks Shawn Michaels. THIS IS MADNESS!
SUPERSTARS ~ Aldo Montoya beat Jerry Lawler with his new role model’s finisher, the DDT. Yes, it’s Jake Roberts. Lawler wants another shot at Aldo. I’m sure we’re all just dying to see that.
British Bulldog w/ Owen Hart def. Henry O. Godwin w/ Hillbilly Jim in 7:46
Aldo Montoya speaks on a split screen during the entrances and Aldo/Lawler happens next week. Oh boy. Owen Hart joins the booth. Like the tag match a few weeks ago, Henry gets in a lot of offense. More than he should against someone who was just competing for the WWF Title. For the second straight week, Bret Hart is mentioned when Owen calls him a quitter and says that he doesn’t know or care if Bret returns. Henry looks like he might win so Owen comes over and dumps out the slop outside. That distracts Henry enough for Bulldog to win with a running powerslam. Why give so much to Henry? Bulldog should have won this in less than five minutes, cleanly. Dull stuff. ¾*
A video airs to hype Mark Henry setting the US record by dead lifting 903 pounds. They also show him press slamming Jerry Lawler back in March. He’ll compete in the upcoming Olympics.
Steve Austin def. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer via countout in 10:02
Two of the greatest of all time here. They would go on to wrestle a ton of times over their careers, but I never loved their chemistry. Vince talks about how we’ve seen a more aggressive Undertaker lately. He goes for old school but Austin shakes the ropes to prevent it. While they go at it, we see that Mankind is lurking around the boiler room of the Key Arena. Austin stomps Undertaker in the corner and Lawler says it is stomping a mud hole and walking it dry. Could that be the first reference to that? They work through a commercial break and Undertaker sits up before Austin can come off the top rope. He stumbles to the ropes, crotching Austin. Taker pulls him down with a massive chokeslam. He goes for the tombstone, but Mankind strolls down the aisle. They brawl and for some reason, that isn’t a DQ. Instead, Undertaker gets counted out. This was going along nicely until the finish. Austin guaranteed to win and he did. **½
Undertaker returns to the ring and finishes with the Tombstone. He promises that at SummerSlam, Mankind will rest in peace.
Reliving Nitro
Episode #46
July 29th, 1996 | Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida
WCW World Heavyweight Champion: The Giant (2) since 4/29/96
WCW United States Champion: Ric Flair (5) since 7/7/96
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat (6) since 7/27/96
WCW Television Champion: Lex Luger (1) since 3/696
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko (1) since 5/18/96
Over the weekend, Harlem Heat lost the Tag Titles to the Steiner Brothers and won them right back, starting their sixth reign.
Larry Zbyszko and Tony Schiavone host hour one and Larry gets to debut his favorite phrase when he calls the NWO the “New World Odor.” Footage is shown of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash out in a parking lot. They lure Lex Luger away from Sting so they can attack. It was actually rather cool.
Jim Duggan def. Mike Enos in 7:31
Why would you do this to me WCW? They do some brawling mixed in with rest holds. Enos hits a suplex for what might have been the highest impact move of the match. I’m not even kidding. He misses a diving headbutt while Zbyszko disses both of them for not having brains. As the referee pulls Enos off of Jim in the corner, Duggan reaches in his tights to tape up his fists and win. Total garbage. Too long, too boring and one of the worst matches in Nitro history. -***
Mean Gene interviews Duggan after the match. He feels betrayed by Hogan and talks about how Hogan has met his kids and was their hero. Duggan has the balls to say that Hogan is a great technical wrestler but he wants to fight him. Wow.
Chris Benoit, Ric Flair and Steve McMichael w/ Debra, Elizabeth and Woman vs. Lex Luger, Randy Savage and Sting ends in a double countout in 13:00
The six men brawl before the bell even rings, giving this an intensity that a lot of Nitro matches are missing. Tony Schiavone still believes that Ric Flair is the fourth NWO member but Zbyszko makes more sense and knows it isn’t Ric. Savage beats up Flair outside by the buffet table. I’m glad they still hate each other. Flair draws more ire from Savage by planting a kiss on Elizabeth’s lips. Things slow down when Flair and Savage get replaced by Luger and Mongo. Yikes. It doesn’t last long at least. Benoit kicks the shit out of Luger in the corner, so insane Savage runs in and starts brawling with Benoit. Sting enters and connects on a superplex on Flair before we get some Benoit vs. Sting interactions. The crowd eats everything up, especially when the babyfaces rush in angrily. As Sting no sells some Flair chops, Jimmy Hart frantically runs out to tell a cameraman that we need help backstage because of the Outsiders. He gets on the apron and pleads with the six competitors to stop and come assist. Luger calls for the Torture Rack but sees Jimmy. Everyone leaves, resulting in the double countout. This was going very well and was a lot of fun even without a clean finish. ***
In the back, which is outside, Arn Anderson and Marchs Bagwell are on the ground. The Outsiders are shown with baseball bats. Scotty Riggs runs out to help but gets taken out by Scott Hall. Rey Mysterio Jr. comes out of a trailer and tries to leap onto Kevin Nash. Nash catches him and launches him like a dart into the trailer. The Outsiders hop in a limo to leave and Randy Savage jumps on the top of the limo as it drives off. HE’S A MADMAN! It’s a giant panic as everyone is out to check on the fallen WCW stars. Mongo yells incoherently and feels super unnatural. If you base this purely on how Mongo and Woman react, you’d think the Outsiders just murdered everyone. Rey is shouting to Eddie that there were four men. Um, I’m pretty sure Rey didn’t come out until it was only the Outsiders around. Rey’s mask has to be removed, but he covers up, which Schiavone sells as a big deal. The poor fans have no tron or anything so they’re clueless.
Mysterio was scheduled to defend the Cruiserweight Title against Eddie Guerrero, the Steiners were supposed to face the American Males and Arn Anderson had a WCW World Title shot against the Giant but none of the attacked men can compete. Hour number two begins and Bobby Heenan tells Eric Bischoff that he will not do the broadcast because he doesn’t feel safe, especially with his history of neck injuries.
The fans start a boring chant because nothing is happening in the ring and they have no way of seeing what’s going on.
The Steiner Brothers def. High Voltage in 4:46
High Voltage are the replacements for American Males. They actually do pretty well, possibly because the Steiners are selling being distracted by what just went down. Rick even paces around the ring instead of waiting for a tag on the apron. Scott gets his mind right and they start kicking Voltage’s ass. Scott makes up for the lack of excitement tonight with the STEINER SCREWDRIVER! That gets the 1-2-3. Nothing match. *½
Eddie Guerrero def. Big Bubba w/ Jimmy Hart in 10:47
Big Bubba is certainly an out of the box replacement for Rey Mysterio Jr. Why not give him another cruiserweight? They try to sell Eddie as being concerned and off of his game. Bubba wears him down and plays up his big power advantage. I get the idea of it but Bubba’s offense is unbelievably boring at this point. He’s almost on IRS levels of bad. Eddie begins to rally and Bubba’s attempt to use Jimmy’s megaphone fails when Eddie uses a sunset flip. That is enough for the win in a match that went far too long and was far too dull. *
The show takes a positive turn when we get the first ever black and white NWO announcement. It’s so good and groundbreaking. Twenty years later and it still rules. Kevin Nash talks about the fourth man and says “don’t call us, we’ll call you.” Scott Hall talks about them being new, taking over the world and giving the orders. Hulk Hogan drops in some Humpty Dumpty lines and it all works so well. Nash’s “WHADDAYA BENCH LEX?” is another great line. They end things by promoting their matches at Hog Wild.
They go over what happened earlier tonight again. Those poor live fans.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: The Giant (c) w/ Jimmy Hart def. Greg Valentine in 1:41
Another shitty replacement. Greg tries to fight but is way overmatched. Giant hits a middle rope chokeslam and then adds a regular chokeslam to win. Complete squash. The less Greg Valentine, the better.
Mean Gene interviews Giant and Jimmy to end the show. Giant does a Hogan impression and basically says that he’s going to end the façade that is Hogan at Hog Wild.
Raw Rating: 2.1
Nitro Rating: 3.1
Nitro: I wanted to really like this episode. It is memorable for the big NWO angle for sure. Rey getting thrown like a dart is something I remember from my childhood. The problem is that the fallout took too long. I totally get why they tried to make it feel like a big deal, but that was a lot of nothing going on and it made the show drag on. Add in that none of the matches outside of the six man tag were any good and I can’t give this episode a good score.4.0
