The Fed Zone: Reviewing WWF 1995

[ChristianCaged]

RAW #129

Date: 2 October 1995
Location: Grand Center; Grand Rapids, MI (taped)
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

TONIGHT: 1-2-3 Kid and Razor Ramon settle the score! Jean-Pierre Lafitte gets another crack at Bret Hart!

We're taped from Grand Rapids again this week. RAW actually won the live battle with Nitro last time, and in style. We'll see how long that lasts for them.

After a recap of last week's episode, Vince and Jerry welcome us to the show.

Razor Ramon def. The 1-2-3 Kid (2:55)
Razor (who is still yet to beat the Kid) takes charge of the match early and roughs him up using his physical advantage. Kid responds with speed and throws a series of kicks at Razor to level the playing field. Razor grabs him off one of them though and hits the fallaway slam. We see Dean Douglas in the aisle now, taking notes. Kid tries to mount a comeback and goes for a couple of leg drops, but the spinning heel kick misses Ramon, and Kid gets nailed with a clothesline for three. That's where I'm officially calling the match, but Kid is not done and wants another round. We go to a break just as Razor puts Kid in a stretch, and when we come back, we learn that Razor pinned him again. They're going at it for a THIRD round now, and Razor has the chance to go for the Razor's Edge, but pins Kid with a small package instead out of kindness. Post-match(es), Kid tries to restart things for a fourth round and gets two off a roll-up, but Ramon again resists the urge to Razor's Edge the little runt and they hug it out. I guess all is well? Probably not. This was an angle, not a match, and thus I won't give it a rating. I don't think it was very effective though; it made Kid (the soon-to-be heel) look like a loser and Razor (the babyface) seem like a dick.

It really seems like PPV reports are dead, as Vince and Jerry run down some of the matches for IYH4 (basically the same ones announced last week, plus Goldust vs. Marty Jannetty).

Also, tonight, you can vote on whether you think O.J. Simpson is innocent or not! All proceeds will go to a child abuse charity, which wasn't consulted about being associated with a poll about a murder trial and demanded an apology. D'oh!

Hunter Hearst Helmsley def. Barry Horowitz (5:34)
Barry still has his theme music! F*** yeah! Hunter dominates the early exchanges with his technical prowess, but Barry continues trying to steal pins and makes Hunter, currently undefeated, look a little unsure of himself. Barry then gets a genuine near fall off a Thesz Press and rolls Hunter up for another two count. Let's go Barry! Hunter really looks all at sea here, but gets his deadly Pedigree over by catching Barry in a split second — just as it looked like Horowitz was on top — and hitting the finish. That ends it for the blue blood. Decent enough extended squash, and I appreciate they're giving Barry the opportunity to look like more of a legit roster member. HHH moves on to the next contest (which will be Fatu at IYH4). (*½)

PG-13 def. Al Brown & Sonny Rogers (3:45)
First appearance for PG-13 here, who came over to work for WWF as part of a talent exchange with USWA. They're actually the USWA Tag Team Champions, so you can think of this like The Heavenly Bodies coming over from SMW a few years prior (although these guys don't wrestle nearly as many matches). There's not much to this one and the jobbers barely get any offense at all. PG-13 are pretty good at playing to the crowd though and they work a pretty neat top-rope bulldog into otherwise unremarkable offense. A tilt-a-whirl combo finishes it for the newcomers.

Bret Hart def. Jean-Pierre Lafitte (12:04 shown)
Lafitte gets on top and is the aggressor early, but Bret absorbs that pressure and takes things outside, giving Lafitte a sick slam onto the side of the steps. That looked painful as shit! Back inside, Lafitte recovers and rattles Bret by sending him flying into the ropes, which Bret sells like a beast. A brief REST HOLD follows, but Lafitte gets bored of that and heads up top for a flying headbutt. That connects but only gets two. Bret recovers and rolls up Lafitte into a small package for two, but Lafitte kicks out. Back from a break, Lafitte stays on top but can't connect with a legdrop and has to take things out to the floor, where Bret gets absolutely HURLED into the steps. Ouchie! Bret gets back in the ring and begins to mount an offense, hitting the atomic drop and middle-rope elbow (the classics). Lafitte gets a roll-up to halt Bret's momentum, but Hitman kicks out and meets Lafitte at the top as he goes for a Cannonball. A superplex follows and the Sharpshooter is locked in for a quick submission. And with that Lafitte is basically done in the WWF (besides a short Quebecers revival in a few years). This wasn't as good as their PPV bout but a really enjoyable TV match for the time with only one commercial breaking it up. Both guys took some really stiff shots here too. (***)

Post-match, Bret celebrates and draws the ire of Jerry Lawler on commentary, as this feud will NEVER END. Bret and Lawler get into it and King gets sent over the barricade into the crowd, but the Big Red Dentist Isaac Yankem saves Lawler's bacon and DDTs Bret on the outside. We learn after a break that Gorilla has been watching and will sanction a STEEL CAGE match on RAW in a few weeks between Bret and Yankem.

Before we finish, we get promos from the two all-star teams clashing next week, and discover that 51% of WWF fans think O.J. isn't guilty! I'm sure that will swing things.

Not quite as good an episode as last time, although the main event here was the best match on either show. This has that slightly diluted, taped feel to it. Thumbs in the middle.

NEXT WEEK: All-star tag action as Camp Cornette team up to face Diesel, HBK and The Undertaker!

 

[ChristianCaged]

RAW #130

Date: 9 October 1995
Location: Grand Center; Grand Rapids, MI (taped)
Commentary: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

TONIGHT: Undertaker becomes the Third Dude with Attitude to take on Owen Hart, Yokozuna & The British Bulldog!

We're still in Grand Rapids and, for a second week in a row, RAW and Nitro were pretty much tied in the ratings.

Vince and Jerry welcome us to the show and we're right into the action, but not before we get a clip of Shawn Michaels getting all teary at the Survivor Series press conference. He loves kids, that's all!

Owen Hart, Yokozuna & British Bulldog def. Diesel, Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker (11:55 shown)
This is pretty much all the top talent — bar a few obvious names like Bret Hart and Razor Ramon — in one match. An early break means we join in progress, as Shawn works some catch sequences with Owen Hart, monkey flipping him across the ring. HBK then clotheslines Owen out of the ring and skins the cat, which always gets a pop from me. A massive brawl breaks up at this point, but Taker and Diesel DOUBLE BIG BOOT Yoko out the ring. After some order is restored Diesel and Bulldog tag in and mix it up a bit. It's just a quick tease for IYH4 though, as Big Daddy Cool tags in Taker, while Bulldog introduces Yoko. I don't need to see Yoko vs. Taker again, please and thank you. Undertaker goes up to the rope for OLD SCHOOL, but that doesn't keep Yokozuna down for long and he wipes out Taker with a big Samoan Drop. As usual, Undertaker barely sells and is up quickly to DDT his nemesis. Shawn enters now, as Waylon Mercy looks on from the shadows (you just lost to Savio bro, give it up), but Bulldog tags back in and roughs him up. A press slam and a lot of heat on Shawn follows, as we enter the commercials. Back from the break, Dean Douglas is out and taking notes, as everyone seems interested in this match. Owen tags Bulldog in as the heels continue to punish Shawn, and he levels HBK with a vertical suplex. Owen is back in now and puts Shawn in a REST HOLD. Shawn breaks free, only to get walloped with a spinning heel kick. That gets two as Owen goes up for a flying headbutt. Back from another break and both men are down (so I guess the headbutt missed), but Shawn makes it back to his corner and tags Diesel. He cleans house, but Owen clocks him from the outside and Diesel gets hoisted up for a power slam. That gets just two as Undertaker saves the day. The referee reprimands Taker, meanwhile Yoko drops the leg on Diesel. Bulldog covers and pins the champ! Pretty much exactly what you'd want from an all-star tag, setting up the PPV and weaving various other storylines in. None of the work was remarkable but I had fun with it. (***)

After the match, it's a full-on heel assault, as Dean Douglas and King Mabel join Camp Cornette in beating down the babyfaces. Everyone gets laid out, but this is famously where Undertaker fractures an orbital bone, leading to him wearing that weird mask for a while.

This beatdown is still being sold after another break, which means we should take it SERIOUSLY.

For some reason (maybe there were lacking for content or something) we now go back to Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem at SummerSlam, with Vince and Jerry commentating on the latter half of the match over the existing commentary? Feels like a waste of time, but this was all promotion for next week's Hart/Yankem cage match.

Fatu def. Skip (5:54)
Haven't seen Do the Right Fatu in a while, good to know he's still around. Skip tries to mash up Fatu's head on the turnbuckle, but he's Samoan you dummy! After a momentary distraction from Sunny on the outside, Fatu gets back to work, but his corner charge misses and Skip suplexes him to take charge. An enziguiri follows to give the Bodydonna a two count. Time for a REST HOLD now, as Skip continues to wear Fatu down. He then goes for a flying headbutt, plumbing new depths of stupidity. That has no effect on Fatu, who powers up. Sunny once again draws him outside for the distraction, allowing Skip to send Fatu head-first into the post. That knocks him loopy, finally. Back in the ring, Skip tries to end things with a vertical, but he can't get Fatu's big ass up. Fatu clocks him and flies off the top with a Samoan Splash (or an Uso Splash, if you will) for three. This was fine for a elevated squash, which Skip matches are at this point. Fun story with Skip being dumb about the attacks to Fatu's head. (*3/4)

Backstage, J.R. ambushes Cornette's crew in their dressing room, where some celebrations and strange hat-wearing is occurring. Cornette seems nigh-on orgasmic over the decimation earlier, which is pretty funny. Bulldog promises to take the WWF Championship back home to England at IYH4. Then Mabel storms in and threatens to bury Undertaker in the snow. I mean, his spirit literally levitated out of a casket a few years ago, I think he'll be fine.

A weird episode this week, although I did like the featured match quite a bit. That strange lull for the rest of the episode was just plain odd, though. Slight thumbs down here.

NEXT WEEK: The first Steel Cage match on RAW ever!