Best of WWF & WCW: January 1996 (Part 2)

[Guest TSMAdmin]

Best of WWF & WCW: January 1996 (Part 2)

 

DVD OF THE WEEK

 

This week I'm gonna kick it old school with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. If anyone hasn't seen this movie, I would be very surprised, but I'll talk about it anyway. Jack Nicholson plays Randle McMurphy, a man who is in jail, but decides to act crazy in the hopes of being placed in a mental institution. In McMurphy's mind, a trip to the institution would be like a vacation from prison. While in the institution McMurphy tries to round up the patients and rebel against the dastardly Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher. Danny DeVito, Brad Doruif, and Christopher Llyod are all patients. This film also comes through with one of the greatest endings of all time. The music was also great throughout the film. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ended up winning five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screen Play. Unfortunately the DVD doesn't come through in the extras department. All we get is some text about the cast and the making of the movie. Supposedly a Special Edition DVD is being developed. 8/10

 

RANDOM THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK

 

Dr. Greene's final farewell in "At The Beach" was by far the most heart-wrenching episode of ER I have ever seen and I have seen almost all of them. After eight years of disappointment and letdown, Mark Greene was finally happy. He re-married, bought a new house, survived a brain tumor, became a father, but then he found out that he was terminally ill and only had 3-5 months to live. In a bold move, Greene decided to stop using chemo and move down to Hawaii for his final few weeks. Mark tried to reach out to his first daughter, Rachael, during the short amount of time he had left. Rachael didn't really care what he had to say to her until he was on his deathbed. The most touching part of the episode was when Mark asked his wife, Elizabeth, to help him write letters to his daughters that she could give them on important days in their lives. In the end, Dr. Greene saved thousands of lives on ER and will always be remembered as the best doctor on TV.

 

The following week we saw "Lockdown", the ER season finale. In Lockdown, two kids with small pox enter the ER and pretty much contaminate it. The doctors begin to get sick, the other patients begin to go crazy and try to escape from the hospital, one of the kids succumbs to the disease, and we finally get a real kiss between Abby and Carter. I liked this episode more than At The Beach because I prefer the medical end of the show. Whereas, At The Beach had almost nothing to do with medicine.

 

Lastly, the X-Files series finale. I have been looking forward to this since December and the truth is, I was thoroughly disappointed with it. "The Truth" was supposed to reveal the answers to all of the questions from the last nine years, but really all it did was tell us answers we already knew. I already knew about Samantha Mulder, the alien virus, the alien conspiracy, the Syndicate, the military conspiracy, and the super soldiers. The only real answer that I got out of the show was the date that the alien colonization will begin, December 22, 2012. The only redeeming part of this episode was seeing William B. Davis one last time as the Cigarette Smoking Man. As far as I'm concerned, the series ended two years ago. I guess all that is left are the movies Chris Carter has been planning to make for a few years now. As of yet, NO information has been released about any new X-Files movie, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

TAPE OF THE WEEK

 

In case you forgot what happened in Part 1 of the Best of January 1996, here is the link to it: http://thesmartmarks.com/artman/publish/ar...article_61.shtm >Part 1. I'll provide a quick recap to refresh your memory anyway. The WWF was putting all their money on the Goldust-Razor Ramon feud, which culminated at the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels was also a major player as he announced his return to the ring at the Royal Rumble. In WCW, Lex Luger had just cost Sting two WCW Title opportunities and Sting decided it was time to confront Luger once and for all. The Dungeon of Doom formed an alliance with the Four Horsemen to combat Hulkamania. Finally, Hulk Hogan was jealous that Randy Savage was granted a WCW Title match against Ric Flair and he wasn't. Let's get started.

 

January 20, 1996: WWF SuperStars

 

Dok Hendrix is here with Slam Jam. He hypes the Royal Rumble. We go to a pre-recorded promo from Goldust, "Razor Ramon, bad boy, naughty, naughty, do you know what happens to bad boys like you? They get spanked. Now just the thought of that makes my luscious, Golden body tremble with excitement. You and me, one-on-one, I will show you the way...and you will remember the name...GOLDUST." OK, that was awesome, yet it was so wrong. Speaking of wrong, the WWF made the wrong decision by allowing Ahmed Johnson to "talk" about his match with Jeff Jarrett at the Royal Rumble. I'm not even going to try to figure out what he just said. The Goldust bit was brilliant and disturbing, so I liked the segment overall. 17/25

 

The Body Donnas w/Sunny vs. Glen Ruth & Chaz Warrington

Glen Ruth & Chaz Warrington are more well known as the Headbangers. Zip and Chaz start. Zip stalls for about a minute. Zip wrenches Chaz's arm and tags Skip. Now Chaz wrenches Skips arm and tags Glen. Glen comes in with an azehandle to Skip's arm. Glen continues to work the arm, but Skip fights back and catches Ruth with a powerbomb for 2. Zip tags and gets Glen with a gutwrench suplex. Skip tags back in and the Body Donna's doubleteam Ruth in the corner. Skip hits Glen with a suplex and a legdrop. Skip hits Ruth with a rana off the top and tags Zip. Zip wins the match with a whoopee cushion. (3:01) 1/4*

 

January 20, 1996: WCW Saturday Night

 

Chris Benoit w/Brian Pillman vs. Eddy Guerrero (finish)

Benoit jumps Eddy before the bell and works on his leg. Pillman gets a cheapshot in on Eddy.

 

[CLIP]

 

Eddy is punching Benoit in the corner. Benoit fights out and holds Eddy for Pillman to hit, but Pillman hits Benoit by mistake. Eddy covers for the pin. (0:53) They show some clips from the match including one of Eddy hitting Benoit with a rana. Dusty is doing the commentary and says something like, "Look at him, hittem with dat suplex." Come to think of it, since Jim Ross left the WCW in 1992, the only competent play-by-play commentator in company was Mike Tenay. 18/26

 

Mean Gene is with Eddy in the back. Eddy, without Spanish accent, talks about his upcoming match with Brian Pillman at the Clash. Eddy’s regular voice sounds so weird because he rarely uses it. 18/27

 

Now Mean Gene is with Brian Pillman. Pillman talks about how he injured Paul Orndorff. Pillman doesn't think there are any problems in the Horsemen. The best part of this interview is the crazy look Brian had in his eyes the whole time. The really sad thing about Pillman is that he finally came into his own in 1996, but then he was in a car accident, shattered his ankle, and eventually died. The wrestling world lost a great up and coming star on October 5, 1997. 19/28

 

Dean Malenko vs. Alex Wright

Dean was only in WCW for about three months by now. He was using the "Iceman" gimmick, which is demonstrated at the end of this match. Funny note, midway through the match Dusty yells, "DIS IS WHERE DA BIG BOYS PLAY!" Normally that wouldn't be funny because Dusty would say that during every match, but this time he was practically singing it with a melody and everything. OK, I'm sure most of you hate Dusty, but I think he was the only reason to watch Saturday Night. Anyhow, the match starts with a very nice hammerlock-armbar sequence resulting in Dean getting a quick 2 count. Wright catches Dean with the headscissors into a front facelock. They put on another nice sequence and Malenko clocks Wright with a clothesline. Wright comesback with a backbody drop and a headscissors takedown. Alex dropkicks Dean to the floor. Back in, Wright works the arm, but Dean fights back and goes to work on Alex's leg. Dean goes for a quick Texas Cloverleaf, but Wright cradles him for 2. Dean kicks Wright's knee a bit. Alex gets Dean with a doubleleg takedown out of nowhere. Dean gets pissed and applies a leg grapevine. Dusty suggests Wright "gets a lil' fire under his BUTT". Yeah, I agree. Malenko works on Wright in the corner. Wright comes back with a gutwrench for 2. Right about here Wright stops selling the leg injury. Wright goes for a german suplex, but Dean rolls him up for 2. Alex hits Dean with some lame uppercuts. Alex goes up to the top, but Dean dropkicks his knee. Wright falls to the mat where Dean applies the Texas Cloverleaf. Alex reaches the ropes. Dean won't let go of the hold, so the Nick Patrick disqualifies him. (5:40) ** The late Randy Anderson runs in to help get Dean off of Wright. The match could have been better than the Wright-Benoit match earlier if Wright actually sold his leg injury and if there was a clean finish. A rematch between the two is announced for the Clash.

 

Gene is backstage with Johnny B. Badd and the Diamond Doll (Kimberly). Badd cuts a lame promo on Diamond Dallas Page. I'm not even going to bother explaining their feud because it doesn’t come up again on this tape. 19/29

 

WCW World Tag-Team Titles: Harlem Heat vs. Lex Luger & Sting (finish)

Who thinks they can call the finish? We join the match as Sting hits both members of Harlem Heat with a back elbow. Sting covers the ILLEGAL man Booker T. Luger is fighting with the LEGAL man Stevie on the other side of the ring. Sting puts the Scorpion Deathlock on Booker. Meanwhile, Luger dumps Stevie Ray over the top. Randy Anderson calls for the disqualification since the legal man was sent over the top rope. (0:33) A rematch is announced for Nitro. 20/30

 

Randy Savage and Ric Flair have a face-to-face interview, meaning they can see each other on the monitor and talk back and forth. I find it funny how these face-to-face interviews used to be such a big deal and now almost every interview is face-to-face. Slick Ric starts the interview by talking about how after he beats Savage on Nitro he will have a whole lot of girls waiting for him. Savage responds by telling Ric to warm up the girls, so that way after he beats Flair on Nitro he can seal the deal. They talk about the upcoming tag match at the Clash of Champions. Ric ends the interview by bringing up how he went through Elizabeth once and he'll go through Randy at the Clash. Savage gets pretty pissed at the mere mention of Elizabeth. The odd thing about that is Elizabeth hasn't been on TV for over three years, so why would Ric bring her name up during this interview? Hmmmmmmmmmm.... 21/31

 

January 22, 1996: WWF Monday Night Raw (Rating- 2.9)

 

Sunny kicks off Raw by reminding us that viewer discretion is advised. OK, I'm going to stop giving points to the Sunny segments just because she is hot. From now on the segments must also have some substance to them. 21/32

 

A very cool recap of the Royal Rumble is shown. It makes the show look 100x more important than it really was, so kudos to whoever made the video. 22/33

 

In case you aren't familiar with the show, here are the results:

 

*Free For All: Duke Droese d. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, meaning Hunter was #1 in the Rumble and Duke was #30. (6:25)

*Ahmed Johnson d. Jeff Jarrett via disqualification after Jarrett smashed a guitar over his head. (6:41)

*WWF Tag-Team Titles: The Smokin' Gunns d. The Body Donnas (11:12)

*WWF Intercontinental Title: Goldust d. Razor Ramon, with help from the Kid, to win the title. This was also Marlena's (Terri) first appearance in the WWF. (14:15)

*Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble, last eliminating Diesel. (58:46)

*WWF Title: The Undertaker d. Bret Hart via disqualification after Diesel interfered. After the match Diesel flipped off Bret, I'm pretty sure that was the first time someone did that on WWF TV. (28:31)

 

Vader w/Jim Cornette vs. Savio Vega (finish)

This is Vader's first singles match on WWF TV. We join the match as Vader beats Savio with the Vader Bomb. (0:12) That's not important though...After the match, Vader hits Savio with another Vader Bomb. Vader headbutts the referee a few times, which gets Vince a little hot under the collar. Vader powerbombs another ref. The late Gorilla Monsoon, WWF president at the time, comes out to try to get things under control. Vader gets in Monsoon's face, so Gorilla suspends him indefinitely! Cornette tries to calm Vader down, but gets shoved to the side. Vader slaps Gorilla on the back. Monsoon hits Vader with some STIFF CHOPS. Monsoon goes to back to the fallen referee giving Vader the chance to avalanche him in the corner. Vader follows that up with a VADER BOMB! Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon chase Vader out of the ring. Vince is absolutely losing it on the mic. AWESOME SEGMENT!! That my friends is how to create an effective heel. 23/34

 

Another great Rumble video is shown. I seriously want to see that show now. They made it look so epic. 24/35

 

The EMTs place Gorilla on a stretcher and replay is shown. Jim Cornette and Vader are backstage. Vader pushes Cornette out of the way and declares war on everyone in the WWF, including Vince McMahon. Vader goes on to destroy a garbage can and I don't mean one of those aluminum pieces of the shit the WWE uses, this garbage can had some body to it. It's too bad Vader was never able to get his career going in the WWF. 25/36

 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/Shai Mark vs. Razor Ramon

Back in the day Hunter would come out with a different girl every night, so Shai Mark is really a "nobody" in the wrestling world. As the match gets started, the screen splits for some comments from the Kid and Ted DiBiase. The Kid calls Razor a crybaby after losing the Intercontinental Title. DiBiase suggests they shove a bottle in his mouth and put a diaper on them. Ted of course actually has a giant bottle and diaper with him. This was all build-up for the Cry Baby match between Razor and the Kid at In Your House VI. Helmsley by the way lasted 48 minutes in the Royal Rumble the night before. Hunter tries to work on Razor's arm, but Razor nails him and goes to work on his arm and shoulder. Hunter reverses an armbar and gets thrown to the corner. Hunter gets some punches in the corner. He sends Ramon to the other corner and clotheslines him. Razor gets him with an atomic drop. Ramon charges at Hunter, but he ducks, sending Ramon over the top.

 

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

 

Razor is still outside. Hunter hits him with a baseball slide. Hunter crotches Razor on the top rope. Back in, Hunter hits him with some shoulder thrusts in the corner. Hunter whips him hard from corner to corner. Razor comes back with some of his punch-kick offense, but Hunter dropkicks him causing Ramon to hit his head on the top of the ringpost. Hunter gets him with a clothesline for 2. Helmsley continues his attack with some Road Dogg-like jabs. The Kid comes out and shoves the huge bottle in Razor's mouth. Razor knocks Hunter out and chases the Kid around the ring. Hunter wins by countout. (5:56) 1/2* Razor comes back to the ring. He gets Hunter up for the Razor's Edge, but Hunter slides off and leaves with Shai.

 

It's time for the final edition of Billionaire Ted's Wrasslin' Warroom.

 

Billionaire Ted: I built this company to what it is today by doing one thing well. That's buying old assets and repackaging them. AAAAA...I bought old movies, I bought old cartoons, oh heck, I even bought old wrasslers. But I'm tired of stealing every idea, so one, just one, lets put out heads together and try to come up with one original idea.

 

[Jeopardy Theme]

 

Scheme Gene: Ted, I have a new idea, but it's too hot to tell you now. Call my hotline and I'll tell you all about.

 

[EVERYONE picks up their cell phones and starts dialing]

 

Vince sort of lied before. Although this was the last "Wrasslin Warroom" edition, he started other types of segments with the same characters, which culminated at the Huckster-Nacho Man match at WrestleMania. I think they both passed out ten seconds in and the match was a draw. 26/37

 

Vince is in the ring to interview Shawn Michaels. Shawn's hair, minus the ponytail, looks very much like my mom's. Shawn calls out Owen Hart for talking trash about him while he was out. Shawn debuts the "clique" when addressing his fans. Jim Cornette, Owen's manager, comes out to talk for Owen. Cornette says that Owen already beat Shawn and doesn't want another match with him. Cornette says the only way Owen will fight Shawn is if he puts the WrestleMania title shot on the line. Shawn agrees to the match, as does the clique. Shawn dumps Cornette over the top to end the interview. 27/38

 

Bret Hart vs. Goldust w/Marlena & The Usher (clipped)

Although both competitors are champions, this is a non-title match. Some pre-recorded comments from Goldust are shown and they do not include any innuendo. I have no idea why the Usher is with Goldust and I'm sure he is not even involved in wrestling. Goldust is wearing a looser full-body suit, which was done to tone down the homosexuality of his character. This is also why Marlena was introduced and the two got a little romantic at the Rumble. Bret is still selling a knee injury from his match with the Undertaker the night before. In the very beginning of the match, both Goldust and Marlena provocatively rub themselves so Vince says, "What is going on?" in a very serious yet confused voice.

 

[CLIP]

 

Goldust is on the floor in the aisleway after an attack from Razor Ramon. Razor rolls Goldust back in the ring.

 

[CLIP]

 

Bret comes off the second rope with a shoulderblock to Goldust. Bret hits him with an irish leg sweep. Bret applies the Sharpshooter and Goldust quickly gives up since no titles were on the line. (2:02) This was Goldust's first WWF loss. Vince enters the ring to talk to Bret about Diesel and the Undertaker. Bret offers the Undertaker a rematch somewhere down the road. As for Diesel, Bret says that he is looking forward to his Cage match with Diesel at In Your House VI. 28/39

 

January 22, 1996: WCW Monday Nitro (Rating- 2.7)

 

Konnan makes his WCW debut by coming out to the announce table. He has the Mexican Heavyweight Title with him. Konnan plugs his Mexican Heavyweight Title match against Psicosis at the Clash. 28/40

 

WCW World Title: Ric Flair w/Jimmy Hart vs. Randy Savage w/Woman

Randy comes out with about 8 woman including Woman and Debra McMichael. Hulk Hogan comes out and declares himself number contender for the WCW World Title. Eric Bischoff announces that Miss Elizabeth has reunited with Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan. Ric and Woman have some history between them, but I'm not sure exactly what happened there. Ric comes on to Woman at ringside and she slaps him. Savage smashes Flair's head on to the railing. Randy continues to beat Flair on the floor. Flair comesback with a chop and a whip to the rail. Back in, Savage hits Ric with a clothesline for 2. Savage works on Slick Ric in the corner, but Flair hits him with a quick elbow to the face. Eric announces that the ROAD WARRIORS will reunite at the Clash. Why is WCW giving away ALL of the surprises? There is no fun in that. Jimmy Hart distracts the ref, so Flair can throw Savage over the top to the floor. Hart kicks Randy on the floor. Flair comes out and whips Randy sternum first into the guardrail. They trade punches and chops. Randy comes off the top with an axehandle smash, but Flair moves, sending him into the rail.

 

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

 

They are back in the ring now. Flair hits him with a few chops, but Randy responds with the 10 punch in the corner. Flair Flip to the floor. Outside, Randy smashes Ric's face into the guardrail. Back in, Flair begs off. Savage punches him a few times, Flair Flop for 1. Savage gets him with a backslide for 2. Flair catches Randy with a shinbreaker. Meanwhile, Eric announces that Kevin Greene will also be in Hogan and Savage's corner at the Clash. There went ANOTHER surprise. Flair applies the Figure-Four. Flair uses the ropes for leverage. Randy Anderson catches him and physically breaks the hold. Anderson and Flair push each other. Flair hits Randy with a running kneedrop and goes up top. Savage catches him up top and slams him to the mat. Randy hits Ric with TWO axehandles off the top. Hart distracts the ref and Arn runs in with brass knux in hand. Arn accidentally hits Ric. The bell rings for no apparent reason since the ref didn't call for it. Hogan attacks Arn outside the ring. Randy covers Flair for the pin and the real bell rings. (7:53) **3/4 Good enough match, but Flair never worked the leg until the Figure-Four and Randy didn't sell the leg after the Figure-Four. After the match Hogan celebrates the win. Randy takes offense to this, telling Hogan that this is his moment. Too bad he didn't do that at WrestleMania IV. Hogan wants a match, Randy tells him to become the number one contender first. They confuse me by talking about fighting tonight at Caesar's Palace.

 

WCW World Tag-Team Titles: Harlem Heat vs. Lex Luger & Sting (finish)

We join the match as Booker T comes off the top with a senton, but misses as Sting moves out of the way. Sting makes the hot tag, but the ref missed it and sends Luger back to the apron. Both members of Harlem Heat throw Sting to the floor. Jimmy Hart, who Lex reportedly told not to come out to the ring tonight, hands Lex something. Back in, Sting makes the tag. Lex nails Booker T and silver dollars fly all over the ring. Lex covers for the win and the titles. (1:41) Sting celebrates the win, but doesn't know that it was tainted. 30/41

 

January 23, 1996: WCW Clash of the Champions XXX (Rating- 3.5)

 

Public Enemy vs. The Nasty Boys

Believe it or not, these teams have had great brawls (SuperBrawl VI & Bash At The Beach 1996), so just maybe this match won't suck. The match immediately degenerates into a huge fight. Rocco Rock and Saggs fight on the floor, while Knobbs hits Grunge with a clothesline in the ring. Saggs whips Rocco into the guardrail. Rocco returns the favor by sending Saggs face first to the rail. In the ring, Knobbs misses an avalanche and gets caught by Grunge with a belly-to-back suplex. Back on the floor, Rocco gets crotched on the rail. Saggs goes backstage and returns with a table. Meanwhile, Knobbs sends Grunge over the top to the floor. Knobbs flies off the apron, but Grunge moves, so Brian hits the guardrail. Saggs sets the table up in the corner. Rocco enters the ring and hits him with a bulldog. Knobbs gets in the ring, but Rocco gets him with a moonsault off the top for 2. Outside, Saggs whips Grunge to the rail and follows that up with a backbody drop. Knobbs knocks Rocco to the floor. Back in, the Nasties are with Grunge. Saggs hits Grunge with a piledriver. The Nasties set up the table as Nick Patrick finally calls for the bell. (3:39) *1/2 Rocco makes the save by knocking Saggs to the floor. Grunge puts Knobbs on the table and Rocco hits him with a moonsault. Saggs gets back in the ring and beats Grunge with a piece of the table. Grunge goes outside, but Saggs THROWS THE WHOLE TABLE on him. Saggs fights with Grunge all the way to the locker room. Energetic, fun, WCW style brawl, albeit on the short side. It seems like these teams could only put on watchable matches with each other and no one else.

 

Eric is with Sting and Lex Luger. Lex claims that there is no controversy surrounding their title win. THE ROAD WARRIORS come out and it's high-fives all around, except from Lex. Animal tells Sting and Luger that if they want to be the best tag-team ever, they have to beat the best tag-team ever. Sting is excited about fighting the Warriors, but Luger doesn't want to since Animal just recovered from a serious back injury. Hawk tells Lex not to worry about Animal and to be ready for a fight. I love the LOD...31/42

 

Paul Orndorff, who was injured by the 4 Horsemen, is sitting outside somewhere in a neckbrace. Orndorff claims to have been on a roll before his injury. Ironically, they only show clips of him winning matches on the Main Event. Orndorff goes on to say that he turned down being a Horseman and group always resented that. A clip of Arn and Flair hitting Paul with a spike piledriver on the concrete is shown. 31/43

 

Eric talks to Brian Pillman. Pillman threatens to say the seven words no one is allowed to say on cable TV. He asks Eric what he will do about it. Eric freaks and is like, "I'LL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!!" That was a cute bit. Brian goes on to say that he will teach everybody respect, even if he has to hack their thumbs off. BRIAN IS GOD! 32/44

 

Mexican Heavyweight Title: Konnan vs. Psicosis

Iron Mike Tenay comes out to commentate and cancel out Tony's stupidity. Let me start by saying that I am not a big fan of Lucha wrestling. Puroresu is cool, Lucha is just weird. They start by screwing up a flip-flop sequence. Konnan goes to work on the arm and catches Psicosis with the rolling german suplex. Konnan slingshots Psicosis and applies a Regal Stretch (?). Psicosis makes the ropes and hits Konnan with a spinkick. Psicosis uses an arm grapevine, but Konnan comesback with a single leg boston crab. Psicosis makes the ropes and they have another fast-paced sequence. Psicosis sends Konnan outside with a missile dropkick. Psicosis flies on to Konnan with a tope. Back in, Konnan get Psicosis with a german suplex off the top rope. Konnan wins it with the "Ziplock" (standing Figure-Four with the arm hooked as well). (5:24) *1/4 It was just a whole bunch of spots with no real pace or psychology.

 

Oh boy...it's time for Col. Parker and Sister Sherri's wedding. PLEASE LET IT BE SHORT! Mean Gene tells us the wedding is being held in a drive-thru chapel because of a financial situation. Gene tells Sherri that he heard her on the phone with Parker earlier. She has no idea what he is talking about. The ceremony begins and Dick Slater sheds a few tears. Mean Gene keeps butting his way in-between the bride and groom. All of a sudden Madusa runs out of Parker's trailer and attacks Sherri. They brawl and Sherri's dress almost falls off. GOD HELP US!! Tony suggests that Madusa was Parker's mistress. Funny moment as Disco Inferno is clutching the bottles of champagne after everyone else clears out. 32/45

 

Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage w/Kevin Greene & Elizabeth vs. Ric Flair & The Giant w/Jimmy Hart (finish)

Liz was HOTTER THAN EVER in 96. Woman and Debra were also part of the Hulkamaniac's entourage, but they didn't stay at ringside. We join the match as Savage comes off the top with an axehandle to Flair. Hogan and Giant fight on the floor. Savage comes off the top with the elbowdrop, but Hart distracts the ref. Savage knocks Hart to floor. Meanwhile, Flair pulls something out of his tights. Flair nails Savage for the pin. (0:47) Kevin Greene tells Hogan what happened. Zodiac and Brian Pillman charge the ring. Greene and Hogan clean house. 33/46

 

THIS IS IT

 

I like statistics, so here are a few:

 

Overall this tape had 12 matches and 46 other segments. The matches totaled 83:42, which is pretty good. The average match rating was 1.56. The percentage of good segments was 72%. Pretty impressive. Now for those of you who are interested, here is the breakdown from each federation. The WWF's five matches totaled 48:45, averaged 1.55, and the segments averaged 81%. WCW's seven matches totaled 34:57, averaged 1.57, and the segments averaged 53%.

 

I really enjoyed this tape. The first two WWF matches are both goodgreat. If you have been looking to buy Bret-Bulldog, but don't want the other In Your House matches, definitely buy this tape. The WCW stuff was surprisingly fun to watch towards the end and the WWF segments consistently kicked ass. Once again, I bought this tape at Wrestling Power. It is American Tape #281 there.

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Next up: NWA Starrcade 1988 (Turner Home Video). Until then, you can send me hate mail and what not at [email protected]