Ryan's Dive into '95 - Part Eight (2/19-2/25)
Hogan has a good match (?!?), Paul Roma flushes his career down the pan, Shawn Michaels gets a new bodyguard, Memphis crowns a new champion, and ECW has a tremendous showing.
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?
We have a much busier week this time around as we have WCW SuperBrawl V (one match from the original Yearbook and one infamous BONUS match) and ECW Return of The Funker. Plus, we’ll have our usual Saturday stops and some super-soft WWF stuff.
Tragically, wrestler and booker “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert passed away on February 18th at age 33. We’ll see a couple of tributes to his life and career courtesy of ECW and the USWA. Interestingly enough, he worked with the WWF and WCW during his career, but neither company really acknowledged his passing (this was the case back in the day; it wasn’t a matter of the Yearbook comp skipping tributes from those companies).
Well, PITTER PATTER.
FEBRUARY 19th
WWF Action Zone - This week starts off with some fluff as we see highlights of the Health South Sports Council. We see Tecmo Super Bowl cheat code Bo Jackson, then-baseball guy Michael Jordan, legendary football man Emmitt Smith, multiple-time Hall of Fame reject Roger Clemens, race driving man Kyle Petty Jr., and Lex Luger sitting next to Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi.
Luger talks about THE GRIND and extols the virtues of AVOIDING performance enhancing drugs. Huh.
We then get a scene straight out of a car wash DVD bin-quality mob movie where a boss-like figure slides an envelope full of money to a milk-drinking Ray-Ban enthusiast. The unseen man rejects the payment, saying that “It's personal”.
That sunglasses fellow, now carrying a violin case, goes up a freight elevator. That mystery man turns to be DIESEL, and the violin case is filled with 8x10s and Sharpies! He refuses payment for any autographs! What a nice man!
WCW SuperBrawl V - It’s SuperBrawl…and we don't have much as it was a rather not-good show overall. We do have one match that made it to the Goodhelmet compilation, but there’s another match that gained a level of infamy over the years. What the hell, here's a BONUS review!
“Das Wunderkind” Alex Wright vs. “Pretty” Paul Roma - At this point, Wright was an undefeated rookie that WCW was looking to elevate, but Roma, viewing Wright as overly green and not deserving of this push, was all like:
Well, there's a dated reference for ya. Roma comes out to a “Sunshine of Your Love” knockoff and attacks Das Wunderkind from behind to start. Roma gets a bad-looking press slam, then MOCKS THE SACRED ALEX WRIGHT DANCE! And gets CHEERED.
Instead of selling pain while in an armbar, Roma chirps with fans and looks like he’d rather be in the back playing gin rummy. Wright comes back with some kip-ups and a flipping armdrag, and Roma is barely getting up for any of Wright's moves. Back to the dreaded armbar of mild inconvenience, but “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff comes out to support his former Pretty Wonderful tag partner. Pretty Paul comes back with a series of backbreakers, then plays to the crowd a LOT. Generic offense from Roma and teased involvement from Orndorff continues for a while.
Alex goes for a backslide, having to really FIGHT for that one, and Roma kicks out at one. Roma works Wright over in dull fashion, though I do appreciate Roma putting his feet on the ropes for a chinlock. This chinlock lasts so long that even Randy Orton would be like “going a bit long with that, guys”. After one eternity, Wright fights out, but Roma dodges a dropkick. While Wright is still down from the missed dropkick, Roma scales the ropes like a damn cat, poses A LOT, then drops a GORGEOUS flying elbow.
Bobby Heenan declares that “his career is over”. Well, that would be true for one of them, at least. Paul wastes ridiculous amounts of time and pulls Alex up at 2. Alex dodges a charge and hits some European uppercuts! Good man! They blow a hiptoss, then Roma kicks out of a spinkick (one of Wright’s signature moves) at ONE. Flying crossbody from Wright, but Orndorff pulls him off the cover at 2! Orndorff and Roma have a tete-a-tete for a while, leading to a dropkick and a roll-up for Wright. Roma fucking kicks out at 2.5, but the ref counts to three anyway! Heenan asks for a replay of the deciding fall, and Tony Schiavone is like “haha, nope, not happening”.
*1/2 - Oh, boy. This match, when it’s not being boring, is actually kind of a hilarious trainwreck because of how much of an unprofessional twat Roma was. It's a shame because when he gave a shit, Roma was a very solid worker, but he was SO not interested in playing ball that night. Wright did what he could, but Roma absolutely inhaled him like Kirby, made him look stupid and inept, and didn't do anything for the few moves Wright DID hit.
After this performance, Roma stated that he received a FedEx essentially saying “finish your dates, then fuck off”. He would be gone from the company in March.
We cut to Mean Gene, who is with Vader. Vader is a DEMON, and it's VADER TIME! Hogan will say that VADER IS THE MAN!
Mean Gene next interviews Ric Flair in the entrance aisle. He claims he wasn’t in Vader's limo. He came to Baltimore came to PARTAY! He takes his seat in the front row for the main event.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Vader - Vader comes out wearing a white cape, which is certainly a choice.
We get the big match intros from Michael Buffer, who says that Vader held titles on EVERY continent. Even Antarctica? Well, it's Vader, so probably. The Hulkster gets a bit of a mixed reaction here, which isn’t surprising considering some of the face reaction Paul Roma got earlier. Hogan throws his 80's punches, slaps, and a clothesline at the start, but Vader is having NONE OF THAT, no-selling them all. The muzzle is now OFF, so you know Vader means business. Hogan gets a rolling armbar (!), probably because Great Muta is at ringside and is JUDGING HIM. Vader backs Hulk into the corner and LAYS IN some blows. They brawl on the outside for a bit, where Hulk gets the upper hand.
Back in, Hogan's strikes start to have an effect. BIG BOOT, but Vader doesn't go down, but a clothesline puts him out of the ring. Back in, Hogan continues to beat Vader down, as the idea of selling Hogan's sad offense must be eating away at his soul. Vader takes back over and beats Hulk down for a while, mauling him like a bear.
Vader Bomb gets two, but Vadersault misses! Back outside for more brawling, where Hulk Hogan, role model to children everywhere, smacks Vader with a chair! No DQs come as a result. Back in, CHOKESLAM lays out the Hulkster. Vader covers after a vertical suplex…but Hogan HULKS UP! Punches, big boot, and legdrop…GETS A ONE COUNT! Ref is bumped, then Vader nails the powerbomb for a visual pinfall. Flair comes in to revive the ref, and stomps Hogan.
Splash from Vader, but Hogan HULKS UP…again! Hogan clotheslines Vader out of the ring, then Flair attacks Hogan, ending the match in a DQ! Hogan bests Flair in THAT encounter until Vader comes in for the double-team beatdown. Randy Savage and Sting chase off the heels.
*** - This was actually not bad for a Hogan match. Hogan was game for taking some good shots from Vader, and I liked how it strayed from the typical Hogan formula a bit. Vader no-selling some of Hogan's bullshit at the start was fun, and I loved him kicking out of the legdrop at one. The DQ finish sucked ass, though.
FEBRUARY 20th
WWF Monday Night RAW - RAW returns from the dog show-related bye week with an edition of The King's Court. Jerry Lawler starts off by accusing Bret Hart of racism against the Japanese, which is an angle I totally forgot about, probably for good reason. Shawn Michaels, this week’s guest, gloats for a while, then introduces his new bodyguard…SID! YES!
Sid cuts his usual batshit promo and sprays saliva into the camera. That's not sanitary!
From the awesomeness of Sid to the softness of WWF Champion Diesel hanging around at NBA All-Star Weekend. He rubs elbows with Salt-N-Pepa, Conan O’Brien, Tatyana M. Ali, some girl from “Blossom” that isn’t Mayim Bialik, Cal Ripken Jr., and various NBA fellas. This is more desperate “we are so in with all of these celebrities” pap in an attempt to try to show how cool, hip, and “with it” the WWF is. Hell, their WrestleMania main event is one giant permeation of this.
I mean, I can’t imagine people were sitting at home going “Oh, shit, Diesel is chilling with Cal Ripken Jr. I’m gonna go pay actual money to see him wrestle!”. It all just comes off as so ham-fisted.
FEBRUARY 21st
ECW Hardcore TV - We start with in-ring footage of T-shirt wearing short-tights Tommy Dreamer (!) punching Stevie Richards in the nards. Dreamer gets a nice DDT counter out of a hiptoss, but Raven comes in to help Richards. That doesn't help Richards as he’s a total putz. A ballshot-assisted sunset flip gets three for Dreamer.
Raven comes in for a staredown, but Richards holds him back, and they leave the ring. Dreamer rallies the Extreme faithful and goes into the crowd to end the segment.
We cut to Joey Styles who informs the fans of “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert's passing. We get a music video comprised of clips of Eddie's run in the early days of ECW set to Donna Summers’ “Hot Stuff”.
FEBRUARY 25th
USWA Championship Wrestling - We start with Dave Brown and Lance Russell who discuss the passing of Eddie Gilbert. They put over his success in the industry despite being (at the time) undersized. We get another tribute video, this one set to “The Dance” by Garth Brooks. He spent a lot more time in Memphis than most places in his career, so we get footage of him as a teenager in his early days, at his peak, and near the end.
Both tributes were actually quite nice. With size not being as much of a hindrance, Eddie would absolutely be a high-level talent today. He had the in-ring skills, a hell of a mind for the business, and was a GREAT talker, but his demons derailed his career many times and eventually led to his passing.
USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship: Jerry Lawler (c) vs. Bill Dundee - Holy SHIT, we get an actual match from the USWA studio show? That never happens! Lawler rocking a sleeveless vest is certainly a look.
Both men follow the Code of Honor, then they have a feeling out session with neither able to gain a sustained advantage until Lawler socks Dundee with a closed fist. Superstar threatens to nail Lawler in the junk, but applies a spinning toehold instead. Lawler escapes with a boot to the face, then we hit the CRISS CROSS SEQUENCE! Thesz Press from Dundee is countered by Lawler for two. Dundee double stomps Lawler into putty but only gets two. Double axehandle (I WILL RULE YOU) gets two as the King gets his foot on the ropes. Lawler counters another axehandle with a gut punch. DDT gets two. We take a break as USWA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING ROLLS ON!
We're back (A Dinosaur's Story) with both guys kicking each other, with Lawler getting the upper hand. Dundee comes back with punching. Lawler gets his own punches, then the ref gets bumped! Dundee hits some knee clips, but Lawler hits a piledriver…for TWO, as JC Ice (Dundee’s son) pulls the ref out. He snitches on Lawler about the piledriver, which was illegal in Memphis at the time. Among the confusion, Dundee rolls Lawler up for three! We have a new champion!
*** - Your mileage is going to vary with the Memphis/southern style of wrestling, but I thought this was actually pretty fun. I liked the story of both guys starting off as babyfaces but reverting to their natural heelish tendencies to get the advantage. The finish was a bit of a mess, but I still had a good time with it.
Dundee offers a hand to Lawler, but Lawler initially refuses, then challenges Dundee to a future title match. Dundee says he’ll defend against Lawler in 30 days as he wants to enjoy some time as champion, but Lawler goads him into defending it sooner, to which Dundee agrees. They then shake hands before Dundee rants and walks off.
Now we get Big Daddy Cyrus (the former Cousin Junior of 80s WWF quasi-fame, and onetime Moondog Cujo) coming out as Dundee was leaving. HE challenges Superstar to a title match. Dundee offers the second shot after Lawler, which Cyrus doesn't like.
Dundee punches Cyrus for a while, then Cyrus’ tag partner, Crusher Bones (which is an AWESOME wrestling name) comes in for the double-team. Lawler runs in to the rescue as we go to commercial.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling - We join “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel wearing a pink tie and little else as a result of his run-in with Dirty White Boy. He goes on a legit HILARIOUS rant against DWB after he tore off Buddy's absurdly expensive suit last week.
We then kick it over to Les Thatcher and Jerry “The King” Lawler. We are HOURS away from The Brawl in the Hall (and a day away from Sunday Bloody Sunday II), and Lawler launches threats toward Dirty White Boy and Buddy Landel.
Jim Ross is standing with Dirty White Boy. He addresses Lawler briefly, but absolutely launches onto a tirade on Buddy Landel for the things Landel has said about his family. I’ve made it clear that I’m not entirely on the Dirty White Boy bandwagon, but he does a solid fired-up babyface promo.
This week on CONFRONTATION WITH JIM ROSS, we have The Gangstas. We see clips of last week's business between them and Bob Armstrong, Jim Cornette, and the New Southern Boys. New Jack threatens to beat up some folks because he don't LIKE DAMN NOBODY.
We don't have anything from The Brawl in the Hall show, but in the notable matches:
Boo Bradley defeated Chris Candido in a Loser Eats Dog Food match
The Gangstas beat Bob Armstrong and the New Southern Boys, but lost to the Heavenly Bodies later that night
Dirty White Boy defeated Jerry Lawler via DQ, so no title change
We will have some footage from Sunday Bloody Sunday II next week, though. Yay, I guess?
WCW Saturday Night - Before we get to the ECW supercard, let's hop aboard The Mothership. Tony Schiavone introduces Vader and Ric Flair to the interview area. Vader briefly discusses the SuperBrawl match, which prompts Hulk Hogan to run out brandishing a strap! Security prevents Hogan from fully getting his strap on, then commissioner Nick Bockwinkel kicks Vader and Hogan out of the building. He then alludes to Hogan and Vader having a match at Uncensored, the newest addition to the WCW PPV calendar. The strap is likely going to figure into things.
ECW Return of The Funker - And we close out this week with the second big ECW show of the year.
Raven and Stevie Richards come out to join Joey Styles at ringside. Raven cuts his usual promo until Tommy Dreamer comes out. Dreamer wants Raven RIGHT NOW, which Raven declines. Dreamer warns Raven NOT to cross the line, then leaves. Raven tells Dreamer that he can't escape his past.
Richards then talks about two guys he met while doing rock music in a club. They beat him up, and they're going to beat Dreamer up. Those guys turn out to be former ECW Tag Team Champions The Broad Street Bullies (Tony Stetson and Johnny Hotbody). The balding mullet on Johnny is incredible.
Dreamer comes back with a stop sign and takes out the newest members of Raven’s Nest. He repeatedly goes after Raven, who is just standing in the corner like a statue, but the bad guys keep pulling Dreamer off…then Raven COMES ALIVE and jumps Dreamer! They brawl like crazy until the locker room comes to break it up. The Raven/Dreamer stuff is definitely intriguing and keeps you wanting to find out more about the animosity between the two.
ECW Heavyweight Championship: Shane Douglas (c) vs. Marty Jannetty - Man, Marty Jannetty in the 1995 ECW locker room must have been a WILD scene. This was Jannetty's return to a prominent American wrestling promotion after disappearing from the WWF in February 1994, rumored to be due to the Charles Austin lawsuit. Shane cuts a promo before the match, reminding us that him and Marty tagged in the WWF for a bit (while Shawn Michaels was injured) and asks for a wrestling match, not a fight.
Douglas offers a handshake, which Jannetty eventually accepts, then catches Douglas’ boot after he tries to kick him. Douglas bails after Jannetty gets some early two counts. Marty gets a hurricanrana (called a “forward victory roll” by Joey. The fuck?) for two. More stalling from Douglas ensues. Back in, Marty maintains the advantage after a powerslam. The match has been pretty much all Marty as any attempts by Douglas to turn the tide are immediately snuffed out.
Douglas does evade the superkick a couple of times, then kicks Marty in the nutsack to finally gain an advantage. Even that doesn't last long as Jannetty clotheslines Douglas out of the ring. They brawl for a while on the outside and amongst the crowd. Douglas front-suplexes Jannetty onto the guardrail! This leads to Douglas working over the midsection. Great bumping from Marty here, including the 360 degree clothesline bump. We go back out, and Marty is launched into the ringpost! Marty then takes a sick back body drop onto multiple chairs!
SUPERKICK PARTAY from Jannetty on the outside, but Douglas takes back over in the ring until he hits the ringpost shoulder-first. After some brawling, ROCKER DROPPER gets two! Atomic drop and a LOUD Superkick, then a DDT gets a two after a rope break. Marty goes for another rana, but Douglas counters with a powerbomb (and a handful of tights) to retain!
***1/2 - This was a hell of a performance from Jannetty here, who bumped like crazy, worked a fast pace, adapted well to the hardcore environment, and somehow got the ECW faithful on his side despite being considered an outsider. I'm definitely not a Shane Douglas guy, but he did well in his role here. He wasn’t completely washed at this point, so he can still have an exciting match, early stalling aside. Jannetty would stick around in ECW for a bit before heading back to The Fed later in the year.
ECW Tag Team Championship: The Triple Threat (Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko) (c) vs. Sabu & The Tazmaniac - The Public Enemy (including Rocco Rock in a wheelchair) scrap with Malenko and Benoit after they come to the ring, and that doesn't go well for the hoodies.
Sabu and Tazmaniac come in to start the match, and it's a big ol’ donnybrook. Sabu hits a flying leg lariat on Malenko while Taz hits an overhead belly-to-belly TAZPLEX on Benoit. Malenko dodges a charging Sabu, who flies to the outside, leaving Taz to fend off both guys for a bit. Sabu comes in and eats a pair brainbusters from Dean, further damaging the neck that was broken by Benoit months prior.
Barefoot Taz with a full head of hair is an absolute trip. The challengers nail a powerbomb/clothesline combo, but Taz hits an Exploder and a belly-to-belly! Inverted suplex (YES!) from Taz on Malenko, then a release German on Benoit! It's almost as if Taz is some sort of machine programmed to suplex people. Taz goes for an electric chair, but Malenko clips the leg. Malenko gets a legbar on Taz while Benoit staves off Sabu. Malenko eventually releases the hold as Taz does not submit, but the damage is done. The injured Taz is carried backstage by 911 by order of Paul E. Dangerously, leaving Sabu alone with The Shooter and The Crippler.
After some double-teaming, Sabu comes back with a somersault plancha on Malenko, a suicide dive onto Benoit, an Asai moonsault on Benoit, then a crossbody on the outside to both guys! Sabu then sets up a chair and hits ANOTHER dive! Holy shit, Sabu rules when he's feeling it! A chair is set up on top of a table laying over the corner pad, but Benoit thwarts that potential insanity.
Sabu lands on the chair in nasty fashion. Sabu is placed on the table, then powerbombed off by Benoit for the pin and the belts!
**** - That was 10 minutes of insanity. Tons of action, suplexes, and a relentless pace. It also wasn’t just MOVEZ either, as there was some great storytelling with the champions being outmanned by the more vicious challengers. Sabu was ON POINT here, flying around to keep his title reign alive after Taz was taken out. Benoit and Malenko were great antagonists, and that finish was awesome.
After the match, the new champs challenge The Public Enemy, who come out to get them some. 911 brings Taz back out, then throws him on top of everyone who isn't Sabu! This kerfuffle would lead to a future three-way tag title match. 911 chokeslams a ref twice as everyone else brawls to close out the segment.
Cactus Jack vs. DC Drake - DC Drake, a regular in the Northeast US indy scene, was introduced as a mystery opponent for Cactus Jack by The Sandman and Woman. Styles notes that he was managed by Woman at one point, so there's the connection. He comes out of a box!
Jack works the arm to start, then both guys take turns biting each other. To the outside, where Jack attacks Drake with a chair and a frying pan, thankfully not completely scrambling his brains like he did with Sandman. Back in, Drake gets the timekeeper’s hammer and attacks Jack. Who does he think he is, PAC? Drake takes a swipe at Hat Guy, getting some HEAT from the ECW faithful. Cactus with the CACTUS ELBOW and a stop sign. Who does he think he is, Mad Man Pondo? Double arm DDT gets the three, then Sandman immediately attacks after the bell.
3/4* - Not much to this one, but that’s immaterial as something MUCH bigger will shortly play out. This actually ended up as DC's last match until 2005. Paul Heyman apparently asked Drake to come back for some matches with Tommy Dreamer, but Drake opted for retirement instead.
The brawl between Sandy and Cactus continues with Woman and Drake getting involved. Jack throws Sandman into the tarped box. Jack throws what he thinks is the covered Sandman into the ring, but it was a RUSE! The tarp comes off, revealing NOT The Sandman, but Gene Parmesan TERRY FUNK! HOLY SHIT!
ENORMOUS pop for that one. We get a brawl between the two, then Sandman joins in. Cactus canes Funk repeatedly, but Funk does NOT sell! Funk and Sandman beat the turd out of Jack and several jobbers that try to rescue him. Tommy Dreamer comes to the rescue and gets the best of Sandman, but hesitates with father figure Funk…then Sandman canes him from behind!
With Dreamer ousted, the beatdown continues while Jack calls for help. Shane Douglas comes out and ponders an alliance between the Triple Threat and Woman, Sandman, and Funk, but NOPE! Douglas uses the belt on Sandman and Funk, saving his friend and training classmate Cactus! Well, that whole thing was an awesome piece of business. Paul E. was in his BAG for this show.
Whew, what a week THAT was. This was definitely a longer review than I was expecting, but there was a lot of noteworthy stuff crammed in that seven day span. ECW wins the week again with multiple hot angles and some excellent in-ring action, but the Memphis and Hogan matches were pretty fun. Eddie Gilbert received a couple of nice tributes. Paul Roma jettisoned whatever was left of his career. Plus, SID!
NEXT TIME: We get some action from SMW's Sunday Bloody Sunday II. In better news, All Japan makes a return to the series, and we get our first appearances from CMLL and Michinoku Pro. Plus, more SID!
Until next time, keep your feet on the ground, a song in your heart, and please put your shopping cart in the corral when you're done with it. No need to be an asshole.
See you again soon!