Ryan's Dive into '95 - Part Three (1/15 - 1/21)
Our first AJPW match, a hidden gem from Action Zone, more build to bigger shows, MORE SHATNER! Plus BONUS Mantaur content!
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?
When last we left our heroes, we saw only two full matches, but several title changes, William Shatner, and ECW saw the debut of Raven. This week also features only two full matches, but they could not be any more different than the blood-soaked bouts from the prior week. We also have some big shows coming up in the form of WWF Royal Rumble, WCW Clash of the Champions XXX, and, of course, SMW's SUPER SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, so we'll see some more build towards those.
Well, PITTER PATTER.
JANUARY 15th
WWF Action Zone - We kick off the third week of 1995 with a rare look at WWF Action Zone. Action Zone was a relatively new show, having debuted in October 1994. The show started off hot with matches like Bret vs. Owen and the famous all-Kliq tag title match. However, it quickly became just another B-show, then later devolved into a recap/magazine show until the plug was pulled in September 1996.
1-2-3 Kid vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - Bam Bam is an all-time Big Boy, and Kid is an all-time underdog, so this should be good. This serves as a preview of the tournament finals for the vacant WWF Tag Team Championships at the Royal Rumble PPV. The titles were vacated after prior champs Shawn Michaels and Diesel split up at Survivor Series 1994. Kid is representing his makeshift team with Bob “Spark Plug” Holly (who were actually last-minute substitutes for The Smoking Gunns, who had to bow out due to injury), while Bammer represents his heavily-favored tandem with fellow Million Dollar Corporation lackey Tatanka.
Holy CRAP, this arena is small. I know they were playing some really small venues at this point, but it's still pretty jarring to see. This is a literal high school gym in Liberty, NY.
This goes how you'd expect: Kid sticking and moving with quick kicks, dives, and flash pins while Bigelow uses his size and power to assert an advantage. Kid makes the mistake of trying to bodyslam Bam Bam, so Bigelow just fucking yeets him out of the ring.
Small as is may be, the crowd is mightily into it. Kid fights out of a chinlock, but Bigelow nails an enzuigiri to stop that comeback short. Bigelow goes for a moonsault, but Kid slams him down from the top rope for a close two. However, an upset was not to be as Bigelow catches Kid coming off the top with a World's Strongest Slam for the three.
***1/2 - I hate to use the term “hidden gem”, but this match is a terrific example of one. An exciting little TV match as expected between these two. The David vs. Goliath story is very easy to pull off, but these guys worked at a terrific pace and had the crowd in their hands. The children in particular lived and died with the 1-2-3 Kid. The heat and the comeback spots were well-timed, and Bigelow was very effective as the bully here. This is a great way to set the story for the tournament finals at the Rumble.
JANUARY 16th
WWF Monday Night RAW - You thought we were done with The Shat? Hahaha, nope. Commentators Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels interview William Shatner and his good friend, Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
Not much to this one. Bret says there is NO RING RUST! No rust in his blood! Captain Kirk talks over him a couple of times, then turns his attention to The Roadie (as Bret is facing Jeff Jarrett later that night). Shatner threatens to turn The Roadie into ROADKILL.
No, not THAT Roadkill. Be careful, though, Bill. The Roadie may be the kind of guy that watches TEKWAR.
STAY TUNED FOR THE MONDAY NIGHT RAW DEBUT OF MANTAUR!
Dude’s supposed to be a monster, but this render makes it look like he’s taking his passport photo. Sadly, the resulting match is not on the Yearbook compilation, so we'll move on…
“Ryan, you can't just tease us with the splendor that is Mantaur and just move on to some ECW bullshit! The world demands Mantaur!” - The general public
OK, fine. Don't say I'm not a man of the people, so it’s time for some BONUS CONTENT!
Mantaur vs. Walter Slow - I can’t find decent footage of the RAW match, so I'll cover his debut on the January 7th episode of WWF Superstars instead. I promise to try not to jump around the timeline too much in the future, but at least I can justify it here, because MANTAUR. Mantaur is paired up with Jim Cornette and comes out with a full-on bull's head and MOOS as Vince and Jerry discuss how dumb the jobber’s name is. I mean, it does sound like a caveman complaining about Gunther's working style.
Mr. Taur overpowers Mr. Slow while barely selling any jobber offense. You know this is enthralling when the commentators would rather discuss Howard Finkel vs. Harvey Wippleman. A standing splash finishes poor Walter and Manuel Taur builds momentum on his way to the Royal Rumble match.
Yeah, this was pretty much doomed to fail. More silly than intimidating, and The Taur would immediately trade his unwieldy bull's head for painted-on horns, which is somehow a step DOWN in badassness.
Mantaur would spend his time being a Jobber to the Stars before leaving the WWF later that year to join ECW under his prior “Bruiser Mastino” name. He would show up at WWF In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies, serving as a bodyguard for Goldust during *that* match with Ultimate Warrior and would pretty much disappear into the USWA and Catch Wrestling after that.
Alright, we touched on Mantaur! I know everything else in this series will be an anti-climax, but we will continue to soldier on.
JANUARY 17th
ECW Hardcore TV- And we move on from Mantaur and awkard William Shatner promos to the grittier ECW. Coming off the heels of Raven's debut last week, we get a music video set to his theme song, “Come Out and Play” by The Offspring. He is seen walking around wearing cutoff jeans in winter like some goddamn Canadian. Basically, me.
No, the picture isn't upside down. That's a shot from the video. It's nothing more than Raven walking around while the camera goes apeshit, like the video was being produced by Kevin Dunn on angel dust.
We then cut to Raven in a stairwell somewhere, who has ominous words for Thomas “Tommy” Dreamer.
JANUARY 19th
Triple Crown Championship: Toshiaki Kawada (c) vs. Kenta Kobashi - Well, hello there, All Japan! Good to finally see you in our little review series.
Kawada vs. Kobashi matches aren't held in reverence the same way as feuds like Kobashi/Misawa and Kawada/Misawa, but these two have their own interesting dynamic. At this point, Kobashi has NEVER beaten Dangerous K in a singles match, even dating back to 1988. Sure, Kobashi pinned him in some tags, but Kobashi had Mitsuharu Misawa to assist him. Kawada had always gotten the best of Kobashi. Kawada also turned on Kobashi and Misawa in 1993 to join up with Akira Taue to form the Holy Demon Army, so that's only added to the bad blood between the two. Add the Triple Crown Championship to the mix, and Kobashi has a TON of motivation to finally get one over on Kawada.
I have seen people write articles, reviews, and history pieces on these AJPW matches that would put many doctorate theses to shame, and I am not going to attempt to do that, so I apologize in advance if I miss some context when discussing these matches. All I know is that these Four Pillars matches DID NOT MISS at all.
Things start off with some lockups and strike exchanges, and you absolutely get that big fight feel from the crowd reaction and the presence of both competitors. Neither man is able to sustain an extended advantage over the other for quite a while. The first portion of the match is deliberate, but done with intensity and meaning. They make a fight over a double wristlock into an event, until Kawada nails the first suplex of the match with a nasty German. Kawada then starts to punish Kobashi's perpetually injured knee.
Kobahi makes a quick comeback with a series of legdrops, which is one of his trademark moves, but I like to think of it as a “fuck you” to Kobashi for trying to work the leg over. Kobashi then chops Kawada in the back of the neck, giving us this sell as Kawada crumples to the mat:
Ol’ Tosh looks to be rethinking some life choices there. After a period of Kobashi control, Kawada comes back with some chops. They fight over a vertical suplex, but the bigger, stronger Kobashi nails it to regain the upper hand. Kawada absorbs some Kobashi chops and gets in some kicks as the crowd is firmly behind Kobashi. Kawada lays in some chops, which Kobashi powers through…until Kawada chops him in the fucking throat! Nasty, dude!
Kawada keeps up his advantage with some double stomps, slams, and STIFF kicks. Kawada nails a powerbomb and a backdrop driver, but is too knackered to quickly follow up on each move. After some battling on the outside and on the apron, Kobashi comes off the top rope, but Kawada kicks him in midair, but fucks his knee up in the process. Kobashi sees the opening and dropkicks the leg.
Koabshi works the leg over, absolutely relishing in paying Kawada back for earlier, while also trying to negate the effectiveness of those Kawada kicks. Kobashi slams Kawada knee-first into a ringside table, which doesn't break, but DOES collapse. I’ll spare it the “I AM THE TABLE” treatment. Kobashi does a half-crap while stepping on Kawada's ear! Nasty business.
Kobashi even chops the leg a few times, which is a creative way to use your favorite strike. Kawada attempts an enzuigiri, which Kobashi blocks…then Kawada dropkicks the knee! That's brilliant psychology. They then proceed to kick each other’s legs out of their…uh, legs. Kawada lays in some chops and goes for multiple pin attempts. Multiple tries at a powerbomb are thwarted by Kobashi, so Kawada sticks with the kicks until Kobashi comes back with a lariat. Kobashi then gets his chop series and hits HIS powerbomb attempt. After some legdrops, Kobashi goes upstairs to finish it off with a moonsault, but Kawada rolls out of the way, forcing Kobashi to climb down. Kobashi wears him down with some DDTs and tries the moonsault again, but misses!
Kobashi gets in some chops, but Kawada again goes to the throat to put that comeback bid to an end. A couple of enzuigiris net a close two for Kawada. Kawada finally nails that dang powerbomb for another very close two count as the crowd is coming unglued, willing their hero Kobashi back into it. That same crowd shrieks with terror when Kawada nails a backdrop driver. Kawada locks in the STRETCH PLUM.
This results in another couple of close two counts. An attempt at another Stretch Plum is countered with a Manami Toyota-esque rolling cradle for another close two! Jackknife Hold Powerbomb gets two! MOONSAULT GETS TWO! Second rope legdrop…misses! Kobashi tries for a dragon suplex, but Kawada gets a couple of rolling kicks for two. Kawada gets his own dragon suplex for two! Big German suplex from Kobashi gets two as the time limit is rapidly approaching! Kawada hits some Germans but Kobashi keeps blocking the powerbomb until time expires! WE HAVE A DRAW!
***** - Well, there it is. In one of the least surprising developments ever, the AJPW pillars gave us a five-star match, the first fiver of the series (though the Joshi tag from the first part come close). This was absolutely sensational. It was a slow burn for the first while, but the story with Kobashi as the rising star looking to eclipse the grumpy veteran in Kawada is always compelling, and everything had meaning to it. Kobashi still hasn't beaten Kawada, but he did go the distance, so he gets a bit of a moral victory. There were so many threads woven throughout the match, so it never got boring or dull for the entire 60 minutes. The near falls at the end were absolute fire, whipping the crowd into a fervor. Hell, I was shouting at my TV at times, which is impressive for a nearly 30-year old match. This match was very much My Shit™.
So, watch it, I guess.
JANUARY 21st
WWF Superstars - From our second WWF B-show of the week, we check in at the Heartbreak Hotel, which Shawn Michaels says is the show that can “knock ‘Home Improvement’ out of the number one timeslot”. Yes, this IS 1995, why do you ask? Also, did the Heartbreak Hotel ever get its own Super Nintendo game? I don't think so, Tim!
Shawn's guest is Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Shawn rips on Bret for “that five o'clock shadow you called a beard” that Bret sported for his role in “Lonesome Dove”. Yes, again, this is 1995.
Shawn accuses Bret of being Hollywood-pilled after “Lonesome Dove” and hanging with William Shatner. Bret addresses Owen and Diesel, while Shawn continues to antagonize him and cut him off. Bret grabs the mic and does the hard sell for the WWF Championship match with Diesel THIS SUNDAY (i.e. tomorrow) at the Royal Rumble. Man, things got tense between Shawn and Bret there. I hope they at least sat down and worked out their differences. I'd hate to see things get worse over the next couple of years.
USWA Championship Wrestling - We're coming to ya from the WMC-TV 5 studio in Memphis for one of our usual Saturday stops.
Dave Brown is joined by Roy Orbison “Superstar” Bill Dundee. He complains about his loss in a recent title match with Jerry Lawler, accusing him of CHEATING! Lawler comes out to rebut. YOU BROUGHT THE CHAIN INTO THE RING, DUNDEE! Dundee challenges Lawler to a FIGHT!
Lawler runs down their history, stating that Superstar was never able to best The King. If Dundee wants a fight, he's GOT IT!
We then cut to some arena clips as the Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert vs. PG-13 rivalry continues. They start beating the crap out of manager Scott Bowden.
We then join a match between the teams in progress, with the USWA Tag Team Championship up for grabs. Rich and Gilbert had won the belts back on January 14th, so they are defending here. Doug Gilbert is seen grabbing a chain (man, they liked their chains in Memphis) out of his boot, but Wolfie D intercepts him and gets the chain for himself. The referee is distracted, so Rich throws him another chain, allowing Gilbert to pin Wolfie D to retain.
We're back at the studio with Parental Guidance-13. JC Ice brags about taking out Scott Bowden. Wolfie D calls Rich and Gilbert out for a match. Not for the titles as the champs refuse to put them on the line, but in a HOSPITAL ELIMINATION MATCH! From what I understand, it's an elimination tag with first blood rules.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling - After last week's Cactus Jack-heavy review, the sole Mick Foley segment sees Jim Ross running down the Cactus/Boo Bradley/Chris Candido/Tammy Fytch/Boots the Cat saga before we cut to Cactus Jack and Boo Bradley at a farm. Cactus gifts Boo the very trunks Jack wore when he lost his two front teeth and his ear in Munich. He hopes they'll bring Boo the same luck on SUPER SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER that they brought Jack in the past. Not sure if I’d want THAT kind of luck with me, but Boo is very appreciative of the used trunks.
We then cut to Jim Cornette and the Heavenly Bodies, who have words for The Gangstas.
Jim Cornette does an impression of New Jack and accuses him of perpetuating racism for profit, then goes into an uncomfortable rant about Black representation. Yeah, not gonna go into this one too much, but Corny apparently got some heat from the WWF because of the content here.
Lastly, we cut to New Jack and commissioner Bob Armstrong having a chinwag.
New Jack accuses Bullet Bob of racism, but Bob refutes this, stating he has never fined or suspended The Gangstas even though he has just cause. He doesn't dislike them because of their skin color. He dislikes them because they're ASSHOLES. New Jack lays down a challenge to one of the Armstrong boys, to which Bob (very awkwardly) retorts “KISS MAH GAH-RITS!”, then storms off.
SUPER SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, GUYS!
WCW Saturday Night - And we close out another edition of the review series with a visit to The Mothership. First, we get UP CLOSE with Flyin’ Brian! Pillman recounts his football days, both his college career and his time with the Cincinnati Bengals, notably tackling Hall of Famer Walter Payton.
He's overcome size and 33 throat operations to make it onto the big stage. That stage, of course, being BAYWATCH.
Again, 1995. Pillman thinks Baywatch is the hottest show on television today. OK then, Peggy Hill. THE EYE OF THE TIGER IS BACK, and he's ready to take the WCW Cruiserweight Championship! That didn’t exactly pan out as the cruiserweight title wasn’t introduced until March 1996, and Pillman was gone from the company by then.
Next, we see Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage, collectively known as the MONSTER MANIACS, with Jimmy Hart. Kevin Sullivan and The Butcher (Ed Leslie, not the far superior Andy Williams) attacked David Sullivan, cutting his hair and his MAGIC SLIPPERS! Those BASTARDS!
Hogan and Savage are focused on Caesar’s Palace and Clash of the Champions, BROTHER, where they will square off against those slipper-cutting reprobates. Ric Flair and Vader will be there, too! Macho Man declares that everyone on the wrong side of the Monster Maniacs will be in the *Archer impression* DANGER ZONE! More threats are launched at Flair, Vader, Butcher, and Kevin Sullivan.
So, yeah, two matches this week, but both are well worth seeking out. Other than that, it was a another fairly light week that focused on angles and build for upcoming shows. We'll see some of these shows in Part Four, actually!
NEXT TIME: It's a BIG one! We have the WWF Royal Rumble, WCW Clash of The Champions XXX, and, most crucially, SMW SUPER SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. And if THAT isn't enough, we have another AJPW epic from the Pillars, and MUCH MORE.
See you again (hopefully) soon!