Ryan's Dive into '95 - Part 50 (12/10 - 12/12)
North Carolina hates Hulk Hogan, Michinoku Pro and New Japan bring the quality, the ECW title changes hands, Mr. Wonderful calls it a career, and Aja Kong nukes the WWF Women's Division.
If you haven’t read it already, please check out my introductory article that explains what this series is all about. As a reminder, footage is sourced from the Goodhelmet 1995 Yearbook unless otherwise stated.
How ya now?
As I brought up last time, December 10th-16th is loaded to the brim with stuff, so I opted to only cover December 10-12 for this article. Well, technically, nothing happened on the 10th, so it’ll just be the 11th and 12th, but that doesn’t mean a shortage of content.
We’ll have some splendid juniors action from Michinoko Pro, a couple of great title bouts from NJPW, Shawn Michaels’ bad acting, a Three-Way Dance for the ECW title, Paul Orndorff riding off into the sunset via a Horsemen beatdown, vitriol against The Hulkster, and a spinning backfist so devastating that it killed an entire division.
Well…
DECEMBER 11th
Michinoku Pro From Lucha No Kuni '95 ~Senno~, Night 3
TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask IV - This is a rematch from a few weeks prior, where TAKA got the duke in a fun little spotfest.
We start with some neat NJPW juniors-style matwork, with substantial aggression from TAKA and agility from Tiger Mask. TAKA almost spikes himself on his head with a backflip off the ropes ala Christopher Daniels in late-era WCW, but he recovers nicely. Tiger fires back with some rapid kicks, then absolutely LAUNCHES himself into TAKA with a tope suicida. Back in, Tiger gets a slick flying armbar, but TAKA catches a kick and hits a Michinoku Driver II for two! TAKA then assertively works over the leg for a while.
TAKA cinches in a figure four BREE WOO, but Tiger Mask makes the ropes. TAKA then hits a BRUTAL top-rope kneedrop on the leg, then follows with a tree of woe dropkick to the exposed leg. TAKA continues a sweet string of offense with a leaping knee in the corner and a springboard dropkick to the back of the head, then BLASTS TMIV with a forearm after a Tiger Wall Flip! Tiger Mask bodydrops a charging TAKA to the floor, with TAKA taking a massive bump on the wood floor, then Mask follows with a top rope plancha! They try to prevent each other from going back into the ring, but both end up barely beating the count. Tiger hits a backdrop driver for two, then a leaping tombstone leads to a huge diving headbutt from clear across the ring.
TAKA dodges a missile dropkick and goes right back to the leg. Tiger Mask hits an enzuigiri to escape, then soon hits a German suplex for a close near-fall. TAKA hits a dropkick to send Tiger outside, then TAKA follows up with a GIGANTIC springboard dive…which is dodged by Tiger Mask! TAKA completely crashes and burns here, and ends up hurting his leg.
TAKA manages to head back in, but TMIV cuts him down with a series of stiff kicks. TAKA intercepts a crossbody with a dropkick to the breadbasket, then hits a sheer-drop brainbuster for two! TAKA hits a nice bridging German, but his knee is too damaged to hold the pin. Tiger Mask soon locks in a legbar for the submission!
***3/4 - This was much better than the first match as it had not only some insane highspots of its own, but there was more structure to this one. TAKA did a great job working over Tiger’s leg, working with aggression and focus. He also took some hellacious bumps on the wood floor. TMIV hit some great spots of his own, but I do wish there was more selling of the leg from his end. That’s the issue with trying to do a leg match with high-flyers. That aside, I really liked the story of TAKA punishing Tiger Mask’s leg, only for him to damage his own leg on a dive, leading to his downfall. Delightful wrestling overall.
NJPW Battle Final 1995, Night 16
IWGP Tag Team Championship: Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata (c) vs. Ookami Gundan (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masa Chono) - Shinya and friends have been warring with Ookami Gundan for most of the year, and this is the last meeting between these teams. This is Hashimoto & Hirata’s fourth defense of this reign, and the third defense against Chono & Tenzan.
Hirata and Tenzan start us off, with Hirata getting the upper hand. Hash tags in and kicks the tar out of the Violent Bull, then both guys hit top rope double-stomps on Tenzan! Yikes. One small touch I liked was that Hash held the top rope steady for Hirata. Tenzan continues eating midsection-based offense, including tandem sentons, then the faces begin to punish the leg.
Tenzan slaps Hashimoto. BIG MISTAKE. Hash fires back with vicious slaps and kicks to put that whippersnapper in his place. The camera shows that the padding for the babyface corner has been removed. Hmm. Tenzan manages a couple of Mongolian Chops, but Hash blocks one and SWEEPS THE LEG JOHNNY! The crowd loves Hashimoto whipping Tenzan’s ass. After more leg abuse, we get Hashimoto whacking Tenzan with the ring bell on the outside! Back in, Hirata gets a Fujiwara armbar, but Chono FINALLY asserts himself, breaking the hold. Chono then hits a nasty inverted atomic drop and an inverted DDT as Ookami Gundan finally gets an advantage.
Tenzan comes in and hits some Mongolian chops on Hirata, then Chono comes back in shortly after and rips away at Hirata’s face. The heat continues for a good while with Hirata’s tag attempts continually intercepted by Gundan. Hirata eventually fights back and it’s HOT TAG HASHIMOTO! The crowd goes apeshit as Hash kicks his opponents into quivering masses of protoplasm. Hash absolutely DROPS Chono with a brainbuster!
Tenzan breaks up the pin, but Hirata hits a diving headbutt for two on Chono. Hirata follows with a lariat, but Chono soon uppercuts him in the yambag to generate NUCLEAR crowd heat. Chono applies the STF as the crowd wills Hirata to survive. Hirata makes the ropes, but ends up eating more offense from Chono and Tenzan. Chono hits some Yakuza kicks, but Hirata POWERS THROUGH…until Tenzan clobbers him from behind with a lariat! Hiro Saito tries to assault Hashimoto on the outside, but Hash kicks the turd out of him. Hirata ducks an attempted sandwich lariat, causing his opponents to collide with each other! Hirata hits a sitdown powerbomb onto Chono for the pin to retain! The crowd is absolutely ECSTATIC with that result.
**** - Another great tag match from this combination. Really good story here with Hirata looking like the weak link of the team after enduring a couple of face-in-peril segments, but completely redeeming himself by scoring the winning pin on the biggest douchebag heel on the roster. That made for a feelgood ending.
Also, Hashimoto kicking the crud out of people is never not fun, especially when deplorables on the level of Chono and Tenzan are on the receiving end.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Keiji Muto (c) vs. Shiro Koshinaka - Big Kosh had pinned Muto in the G1 months prior (in a hell of a match), so he has a legit claim to a title shot despite not necessarily being a strong contender.
The Osaka fans are firmly behind Koshinaka here. We start off with some feeling out, with Koshinaka slapping Muto to draw “Oohs” from the crowd. Muto runs into a hip attack, allowing Koshinaka to take control in the early going. Muto hits a sweet dropkick to create some distance, then he takes the lead on the mat, working over the leg.
Koshinaka eventually escapes and they end up trading blows, with Koshinaka coming out on top with some right hands and a bulldog for two. Koshinaka pummels Muto with his ass, then applies a Boston crab, quickly broken via the ropes. Muto absorbs more hip attacks and catches Koshinaka with a spinning back kick!
Muto goes for the handspring elbow, but Koshinaka catches him in a full nelson and wrecks him with a dragon suplex. Koshinaka follows with a missile dropkick, but Muto catches an attempted hip attack with a back suplex! Koshinaka hits a powerbomb hold for two, but Muto catches a kick and hits a nasty dragonscrew legwhip.
Another one follows, but Koshinaka counters a figure four attempt with an inside cradle for two! Muto hits a NICE springboard dropkick, then hits a top rope Frankensteiner. Moonsault hits knees, and Koshinaka hits TWO powerbombs…but Muto kicks out! Koshinaka hits a dragon suplex…for two! Muto applies another dragonscrew and lands a BEAUTY of a moonsault…but Koshinaka survives!
Muto hits another dragonscrew and applies the figure four! Koshinaka makes the ropes! Muto hits some more dragonscrews and reapplies the figure four! Koshinaka gives it up! Muto retains!
**** - My guy Koshinaka does it again. I can't imagine anyone would have put money on a Koshinaka title win, but the crowd was molten for him, and he played the underdog very well here. This got very exciting at the end, and the legwork was paid off well, even if some of the selling was a bit sporadic. The important thing is that they sucked me in with the storyline here.
Muto avenges his G1 loss and continues to establish the figure four as a legit match-ender after forcing Nobuhiko Takada to tap to it in the Dome. More than anything, this match would serve as a glimpse into the style Muto would adopt during his renaissance in 2001. All it needed was multiple Shining Wizards.
WWF Monday Night RAW
The first match we'll check out isn’t on the Yearbook compilation, but it's quite noteworthy. I'll put it here as BONUS CONTENT!
Aja Kong vs. Chaparita Asari - Young Rita, three years in the business at this point, is five-foot nothing. That puts her at a severe disadvantage against the much larger and more established Kong.
Asari sticks and moves at the onset, even hitting a couple of handspring mule kicks. Asari tries a crossbody, but she just bounces off of Kong like a tennis ball. Kong hairmares Asari a couple of times and follows with some HARSH kicks. Like, Asari slid several feet after the first one. Kong suplexes Asari, but pulls her up at one, then hits a SPINNING PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! On WWF television! In 1995!
Kong picks her up again at two as Jerry Lawler continues to make stupid jokes on commentary and Vince McMahon talks about Shawn Michaels. After some more kicks, Kong hits a big splash, but pulls her up again! Rita tries to fight back, but Kong repels a dropkick just by standing there…and she DANCES. Kong misses a second-rope splash, and Asari attempts a ridiculously fast Sky Twister Press, but Kong moves out of the way.
Kong then unleashes a uraken that breaks Asari’s nose, and THAT finally gets the pin. Jeezum Crow.
**1/2 - One of the all-time squashes here as poor Rita just got absolutely slaughtered by the brick wall that was Aja Kong. Asari had some fun hope spots, but this was all about Kong treating her like a Tonka WWF Wrestling Buddy and coming across as a monster. Kong also had the mannerisms that really could have gotten her over with the WWF fans had things been different. One of the more brutally stiff matches you’ll see from the Big Two in this time period.
Perhaps, it was too effective.
Allegedly, this was the match that resulted in The Fed completely shuttering the entire women’s division. Vince McMahon and some of the male wrestlers were apparently not too keen on how stiff the work was (and likely how much the women were showing up the men’s roster), so McMahon opted not to renew current champion Alundra Blayze’s contract and pulled the plug on the whole works. Before that, the WWF was building to a Blayze vs. Kong showdown for the Women’s title at the Royal Rumble PPV, but that obviously didn’t end up happening.
This would end up being the final women’s match broadcast on WWF airwaves until 1998. We’ll have one more appearance from Blayze and the WWF Women’s Championship belt before the year is out, but not on WWF television. I’ll get to THAT infamous segment soon enough.
We now join Shawn Michaels and Todd Pettingill for a chat.
Shawn thanks the fans for their concern and claims to not be suffering from any of the symptoms of post-concussion syndrome. The Toddster asks when he'll be back. Shawn says hopefully soon.
Todd brings up possible retirement due to what the doctors said, and Shawn has a bit of a snit over this. Shawn accuses Todd of not caring about his health, only about getting his reaction to the retirement question for the cameras. Shawn and his terrible acting refuse to answer.
Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Bob Backlund - Good to see the World Wrestling Federation asking the important questions.
The arena is darkly lit, so this must have not been a particularly well-attended taping in Salisbury, Maryland. I can't even find an estimated attendance figure. It may as well have been taped from a box under the stairs in the corner of the basement of the house half a block down the street from Jerry's Bait Shop.
You know the place.
We get some nifty amateur-style grappling to start as expected from these two. It actually feels like a struggle here, with each guy looking for counters instead of wasting time. While they continue their mat war, Jerry Lawler goes in the audience to talk to Diana Hart, who says she hopes history repeats and husband Davey Boy Smith wins the WWF title on Sunday. She answers questions with the same level of emotion and inflection as one of those AI voices you hear on TikTok.
Backlund ends up on the apron after escaping a Bret hold and jaws with the crowd, allowing Hart to dropkick him onto the floor as RAW ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back with Hart getting a backslide for two, then Backlund rolls out and stalls for a while. Hitman drags Bob back in with an arm wringer and keeps working the hold until Backlund escapes and almost gets the chicken wing. Backlund then punishes the arm for the next several minutes. Hart tries to apply an arm wringer, so Bob fucking smashes him with a forearm! BattlArts Bob over here! Bret scores a couple of near-falls and mounts his comeback as RAW ROLLS ON…
…and we’re back with Bret resuming his usual comeback, culminating in a Sharpshooter…but British Bulldog runs in for the DQ finish. Backlund applies the chicken wing as Bulldog stomps the prone Hitman until referees and agents break it up.
*** - Well, it was better than the WrestleMania XI match at the very least. There was some fun grappling here, Backlund doing a good job working the arm, and Bob going full Konosuke Takeshita with that forearm was great. The DQ finish really brings this one down, though. Backlund really did not need to be protected like that. Bret also isn’t exactly carrying a lot of momentum at the moment, and that’s something that would become all too common during this reign.
WCW Monday Nitro
“Mean” Gene Okerlund brings out three of the Four Horsemen. Absent is Chris Benoit, who is in Japan for the Super J-Cup, which we’ll get to next time. Since we’re in Charlotte, North Carolina, the trio gets a very warm reception.
Brian Pillman extols the virtues of being a Horsemen and is generally unhinged in general. He goes on for a long time, but it’s pretty hilarious. He brings up Paul Orndorff and his recent palling around with Gary Spivey. Mr. Wonderful comes out and explains that he respects Arn and Ric, but lays into Pillman. Orndorff tells Pillman that if he likes carrying bags and chauffeuring the Horsemen around, then he can be a Horseman. Orndorff and Pillman come to blows, and Anderson and Flair intervene. They triple-team Orndorff and spike piledrive him onto the concrete floor!
And that would be it for Mr. Wonderful’s in-ring career other than a handful of matches in later years. He injured his neck during his series with Hulk Hogan, but the money he was making each night was INSANE, so he kept grinding to the point where he developed atrophy in his entire right side. Despite overcoming that for years, his body just had enough, and he had to retire and take on road agent and trainer duties.
A bit of an odd segment in that they were all heels here, but it was quite effective. It also further established the Horsemen sticking together, even if one rogue member causes trouble. You fight one, you fight them all.
Hulk Hogan & Sting vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson - Sting comes out first without Hulk because there’s apparently trouble (not Thunder) in paradise. Hogan shows up after and isn’t happy with his partner coming out alone. Because Jim Crockett’s NWA was practically religion in Charlotte, Hogan gets MASSIVE heel heat here.
The Stinger and the Arner start off, with Arn getting a rather slick fireman’s carry takeover. Sting comes back with a press slam as “HOGAN SUCKS” chants fill the arena. Hogan tags in and the crowd heartily boos! It’s almost like John Cena at ECW One Night Stand 2006, and it’s awesome. Flair tags in and the crowd is much happier. Hogan no-sells some Flair offense and tosses him around the ring, but Arn cheapshots him from behind to rapturous applause. Flair cheats to regain the advantage, and the heels work over The Hulkster for a bit.
Hogan hits a clothesline to come back and tags in Sting. Sting and Flair have their usual solid little match, with Sting gaining the upper hand until Flair hits an inverted atomic drop. Anderson tags in and heads upstairs, but Sting tosses him off and applies the Scorpion Deathlock! Flair comes in, so Sting releases and applies the hold on him…allowing Anderson to DDT him while Hulk has the referee distracted! Jimmy Hart and Lex Luger run in, with the latter attacking Hulk on the floor! Luger racks Hogan!
The Horsemen work Sting’s knee over, with Flair applying the Figure Four (with assistance from Arn). Sting powers over and makes the tag…but Arn had the ref distracted, so it doesn’t count! Flair works Sting over for a bit more and tries some chops…but STING IS NOT FAZED! Sting tosses Flair off the top but can’t quite get the tag. Sting hits a facecrusher on Arn, and it’s MILD TAG HOGAN. The crowd gave him NOTHING on that one. It’s amazing. Hulk runs into a spinebuster! Hogan pops up! Big boots to both guys, and a legdrop to Anderson nets the three to a HOSTILE crowd reaction.
***1/2 - This was a really enjoyable tag match, with classic heel tactics and good babyfacing by Sting, but the heat elevated it. The crowd being so anti-Hogan was incredible, and the crowd loved everything the Horsemen did.
Brian Pillman runs in immediately and attacks Sting, then Luger comes in to pull Pillman off of Sting and tells him to go after Hogan! The Horsemen assault Hogan while Luger tries to hold Sting back. Sting manages to fend off the Horsemen, then Randy Savage runs out and Sting attacks HIM!
Mean Gene comes down to sort out the chaos. Sting explains his position while Hogan begs for Savage to overlook Sting’s position. Savage asks everyone to take a CHILL PILL.
They all make nice and Hogan tells Savage to get his act together ahead of his WCW title match against The Giant next week.
DECEMBER 12th
ECW Hardcore TV
ECW World Heavyweight Championship: Mikey Whipwreck (c) vs. The Sandman vs. “Superstar” Steve Austin - This was actually from the non-televised “December to Dismember” show on December 9th. As is tradition with ECW three-way dances, this one is elimination rules, rather than one fall to a finish. Austin is rocking a short crewcut, looking much closer to The Ringmaster character he would debut in the WWF with shortly after.
This actually starts off with just Mikey and Austin, with Austin condescending to his younger opponent in the early going. Steve schools Mikey on the mat for a while until Mikey gets his own side headlock. Austin pummels Whipwreck in the corner, but Mikey tries the same sunset flip that beat Austin last time, but it doesn’t work this time.
“Enter Sandman” hits as The Sandman FINALLY decides to show up.
Mikey hits Austin with a missile dropkick and clotheslines him out, but Austin piledrives him on the floor as Sandman chills with Woman outside the ring. Austin politely allows him to finish his beer and his dart, choosing to do Hogan taunts in the ring to rile up the crowd. Sandman hits the ring and we have drunken donnybrook! FrankenMikey to Sandman, but Austin catches him with a spinebuster when one is attempted on him. Austin and Sandman brawl on the floor for a bit, so Mikey does a somersault dive onto both guys. Mikey takes on both guys in the ring, culminating in a double Johnny Cage to the junk!
Mikey wipes out on a rebound crossbody, then Austin and Sandman eyepoke each other. Austin piledrives Mikey and hits the Stun Gun for the three! Mikey Whipwreck has been eliminated, guaranteeing a new ECW champion.
Austin and Sandman again brawl on the floor and into the crowd. Sandy tosses a table onto Austin, but Austin comes back and chairs Sandman’s head! Stun Gun onto the railing! Sandman fights back with a chair to the head, but Austin runs him through a table and pummels him with the chair. Back in, Austin hits a gourdbuster and continues the assault, then grabs Sandman’s beer and drinks it!
Austin spits beer on the Sandman, so Woman pours beer down his gullet…and SANDMAN COMES ALIVE! Sandman makes his comeback, but a bodyslam ends up bumping the ref. Austin pulls out some knuckles and decks Sandman…but Sandman gets his foot on the ropes! Sure, why not. Sandman backs into Austin in the corner, clobbers him from behind, and falls on top for the three (despite Austin’s foot being on the ropes). Sandman regains the ECW title!
**1/2 - This was an overlong, drawn-out, messy brawl, but there was some good parts here. The early Austin stuff was great character work, and Sandman going full Popeye with the beer entertained me. I don’t think anyone expected an extended run from Mikey, and Austin was Fed-bound, and a big feud was on the horizon for Sandman, so the title change made sense here.
Other stuff that happened at December to Dismember:
The Dudley Brothers (Buh Buh Ray Dudley & Dances With Dudley) squashed The Bad Crew (Dog & Rose).
Taz submitted El Puerto Riqueño with the Tazmission.
Hack Meyers pinned the ex-Mantaur, Bruiser Mastino.
The Eliminators defeated The Pitbulls via pinfall on Pitbull #2.
This was the first of three matches to determine the advantage for the Ultimate Jeopardy match in the main event.
Raven defeated Tommy Dreamer by TKO via use of a beer bottle.
This was the second match in the advantage series. As Raven and the Eliminators won, their team will have the advantage.
JT Smith pinned Tony Stetson.
The Public Enemy defeated the debuting Heavenly Bodies via a Johnny Grunge roll-up on Dr. Tom Prichard.
This was the third match to decide the advantage for Ultimate Jeopardy, but it didn’t mean anything as the heels already won the series.
In the War Games-esque Ultimate Jeopardy match, Tommy Dreamer, The Public Enemy, & The Pitbulls defeated Raven, The Heavenly Bodies, The Eliminators, & Stevie Richards when Dreamer pinned Richards.
This one had a LOT of stipulations going into it, depending on who took the loss:
If Dreamer was defeated, he would have his head shaved.
The Pitbulls would have to split up and whoever won the decision would have Francine for a week.
The Public Enemy would be forced to wrestle each other.
Whoever defeated Raven would have Beulah McGillicutty for a week.
The Eliminators would be made to leave ECW and Jason (their manager) would have his head shaved.
Stevie Richards would be locked in the cage for five minutes with everyone from Dreamer’s team.
If Tom Prichard or Jimmy Del Ray dropped the decision, ALL of the stipulations for their teammates would be enforced.
As Stevie took the loss, he was to be locked in the cage with all of his opponents, but everyone but Dreamer was handcuffed to the cage. Everyone else on Raven’s team quickly ran in and attacked Dreamer until new ECW Champion THE SANDMAN came out and ran everyone off with a Singapore cane! That would kickstart a LONG Raven/Sandman rivalry.
You know what they call a “Quarter Pounder with Cheese” in Paris? Well, they call it PULP FICTION! The Sandman cuts a promo after his title win! Joey Styles explains that Woman has control of all three titles (with Sandman being the new ECW champ and co-holders of the tag titles with TV champion 2 Cold Scorpio)! The Sandman is politically incorrect and damn proud of it! Big Dick Dudley growls while Dances With Dudley tries (and fails) to calm him down in Spanish! Taz confronts Joey Styles! Beulah hangs out with the Heavenly Bodies and talk about Beulah’s Box!
Bill Alfonso rants about his holidays being HELL because Mexican massage parlors close down early! Yikes! Buh Buh Ray Dudley crosses his eyes! Dr. Tom Prichard just wants to know about Beulah’s Box! Dances with Dudley (badly) sings “Feliz Navidad” as Buh Buh Ray calls him a schmuck!
Bill Alfonso wants to make Tod Gordon wear a toupee and Beulah wear a bag over her head! Jimmy Del Ray continues to try to woo Beulah! The Pitbulls say they are too much for The Eliminators as Francine calls Jason a bitch! Beulah apparently did stuff with the Heavenly Bodies! Buh Buh Ray stutters! The Pitbulls address the Eliminators again (at least it’s a different promo this time)! The Public Enemy threaten to eat hearts!
Joey closes the episode out by confirming that The Sandman has a broken hand, already putting his second title reign in jeopardy. He has defenses coming up against Steve Austin and Cactus Jack during the Holiday Hell tour.
The Dudleys had some fun character stuff here, but I question the decision of having Jimmy Del Ray going after Beulah after all the stuff that resulted in his WWF firing. I wouldn’t have booked him in the first place, but that’s just me.
NEXT TIME: In a special detour, I will bring a review of the full 1995 Super J-Cup show. It's a good one, guys!
Smell ya later!