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Guest TSMAdmin

Best of Oct. 21, 1996 - Nov. 17, 1996 (Part 1)

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Guest TSMAdmin

Best of October 21, 1996 – November 17, 1996 (Part 1)

 

After about a month away from tape reviewing, I feel rejuvenated and motivated again. Therefore, you get this, another WWF and WCW TV comp. The tape, which I will link you to at the end, runs four hours. In order to prevent burning out again, I will be breaking this tape up into four parts. I don’t plan on following any kind of schedule from here on in. Whenever I finish one of these is when it will go up. No weekly shit or anything like that.

 

For the first time in my life I actually feel old. I still can’t get over the fact that all of the upcoming matches and segments occurred about six years ago. I remember this stuff like it happened last month. So lets reminisce about one of wrestling’s greatest time periods. Of all four comps like this that I own, this is my favorite. Tons of good stuff is on here.

 

WWF Monday Night Raw: October 21, 1996

 

The tape starts off with Hunter Hearst Helmsley pushing a steel cart into the back of Mr. Perfect’s knee. The main event was supposed to be Perfect’s comeback match against HHH, but obviously that is now in jeopardy. This lasted all of five seconds. 0/1

 

Jim Ross calls Bret Hart down to the ring. This is Bret’s first live WWF appearance since WrestleMania XII. Ross speculates as to whether Bret will return to the ring, go after a front office job, or do movies. I don’t know about you, but I never considered Bret much of an actor. He would never be able to headline a movie. Bret brings up that a “rival wrestling organization” made him a great offer. He adds that they treated him with nothing but him respect. At first I thought Bret was talking about WCW, but that last sentence sort of knocked them out of contention. The camera pans to a very nervous Vince McMahon at the announce table. Bret continues about how he is not greedy for money, but for respect. He owes everything to his WWF fans; therefore he plans on staying with the promotion forever. Here comes my favorite part. “I accept the challenge of the best wrestler in the WWF…Stone Cold Steve Austin at the Survivor Series.” Clip to the other wrestlers watching the interview in the back. Pillman gets all giddy, so Austin stares him down. Bret tells a story about a little boy in Canada. The boy became gravely ill. Bret told the kid that he would return to the ring if the kid were able to pull through his illness. Just when they thought the boy would be ok, he croaked. That little boy was Bret’s nephew. As usual Bret goes into how he is the role model that the WWF fans need. Not someone who dances and is portrayed in “girly magazines”. 1/2

 

Mr. Perfect limps down to the ring with an entourage, which includes the WWF Intercontinental Champion Marc Mero, his valet Sable, and the WWF President Gorilla Monsoon. At this time Perfect was sort of mentoring Mero. HHH is already in the ring awaiting Perfect. After speaking with the doctors, Monsoon bans Perfect from wrestling HHH tonight. Perfect suggests that Mero take his place. The Wildman has no problem with that, but HHH does. HHH will only agree to the match if Mero puts his title on the line. Mero obliges and Monsoon makes it official. 2/3

 

WWF Intercontinental Title: Marc Mero w/Sable & Mr. Perfect vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

The match started during the commercial break. We join with HHH working in the corner. Mero hits a backbody drop. Perfect is on commentary for this one. Mero with the armdrag -> to armbar. HHH gets dropkicked to the floor. Mero goes for the somersault plancha, but HHH pulls Sable in front of him. Sable slaps HHH. HHH goes after her until Mero rolls him back into the ring. They trade lots of nearfalls. HHH scores with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Kneedrop gets 2. High knee also gets 2. Mero slingshots HHH into the corner. HHH comesback with a quick clothesline for 2.

 

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

 

Mero gets 2 off a springboard legdrop. Mero sets up HHH with a samoan drop. While Mero is up top, HHH pushes the ref into the rope, crotching Mero in the process. Mero blocks a superplex attempt and sends HHH to the mat. A moonsault gets 2. Mero collides with the ref in the corner. Hunter leaves the ring and returns with a chair. Mr. Perfect follows him back in. Sable tries to fend the chair away from HHH. Mr. Perfect gains control of the chair. He looks towards HHH and LAYS OUT MERO! Sable screams in the ref’s face as he gets up, but to no avail. HHH wins the title with the pedigree. (6:41) *** Vince dubs this, “The Perfect Hoax”. Did I mention that I fucking love that angle?

 

WCW Monday Nitro: October 21, 1996

 

Jeff Jarrett comes down to the ring for a match with Ron Studd. Before the match can start, Ric Flair makes his way to the ring. They have a Strut-Off. The fans go wild for Flair’s demented looking struts. The ironic part about all of this is that Flair actually stole his strut from Jarrett, who previously stole it from Jackie Fargo. Flair must be impressed with Jarrett because they shake. 2.5/4

 

After Jarrett’s match with Fuller, Tony Schiavone gets a word with Jeff. Double J hypes his upcoming match with the Giant at Halloween Havoc. Originally Flair was supposed to face the Giant, but Flair had a surgery scheduled on the date of the PPV. Speaking of the Nature Boy, he joins Jarrett at ringside to cut a promo on the nWo, who are in the crowd. Flair promises to be in Jarrett’s corner for the big match and looks forward to teaming with Jeff in the future. 3/5

 

We catch the aftermath of a nWo Sting vs. J.L. (Jerry Lynn) match. Sting has the Scorpion Deathlock on, but here comes the real Sting. The real Sting destroys the imposter with the Scorpion Deathlock and the Stinger Splash. The rest of the nWo enter the ring. DiBiase, Nash and Hall all take turns trying to convince Sting to join them. Sting isn’t sure that he is in their price range. The only thing he is sure of is…nothing at all, thus making him a free agent. Tony is bewildered and that starts screaming that Randy Savage has arrived at the arena. It’s hard to believe that the nWo lasted for so long considering they were out of steam a mere four months after their inception. 3/6

 

Eric Bischoff intercepts Randy Savage on his way to fighting Chris Benoit. Savage looks like a goth cowboy. Eric, who was not yet in the nWo, shows Savage a video sent in by Hulk Hogan. Hogan is on the set of his Three Ninja movie. He is sporting an UGLY looking wig. It seems like Hogan is trying to force Elizabeth to profess her love for Savage. She refuses to, yet it seems like she really does love Randy. Hogan gets mad at her and has the Giant take her to his trailer. Hogan enters the trailer and starts yelling at her about how time is money. Liz still refuses. Somehow Hogan thought this video would lead to the demise of Randy Savaged, yet all I got out of it was confusion. Savage says, “Friendship and relationships can be fragile. Even marriage is fragile…life is fragile.” Obviously this gives us the impression that Savage is off to kill himself. Why this video would cause Savage to consider suicide is beyond me. I have come to expect this stupidity when watching the WCW portion of ANY television comp. 3/7

 

WWF Livewire: October 26, 1996

 

Dok Hendrix and Sunny were the hosts at this point. Gorilla Monsoon calls in and revokes Mr. Perfect’s wrestling license because of the Perfect Hoax. Dok talks about how Mr. Perfect’s plans of becoming the WWF Champion have now been foiled. Riiiight…Gorilla also suspends Ahmed Johnson for 30 days because he attacked Faarooq with a 2x4 at Buried Alive. Well, Ahmed was never seen physically attacking Faarooq. He was just seen holding a 2x4 and standing over Faarooq, who was laid out, so Gorilla promises to investigate the situation. 3/8

 

Dok and Sunny hype a Cauliflower Alley Club meeting in Tampa. Sunny shows off her CAC award. This segues into a promo video for Jesse James. Mostly Gulf War footage is shown. Sunny mentions that James will make his in-ring return this Monday on Raw. Hopefully that match will not be on this tape. 3/9

 

WWF SuperStars: October 27, 1996

 

The screen is split as a Sunny promo is on the left and a Smokin’ Gunns-New Rockers match is on the right. Sunny calls the Gunns losers, although insinuates that there is a chance of a reunion between her and Billy if he became a singles competitor.

 

CLIP

 

Billy walks out on Bart during the match. The finish is never shown. 3.5/10

 

Lame Rocky Maivia promo follows. It features some footage of Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson. The Rock had curly-ish hair and a very full face in 1996. It’s amazing this loser became a fucking household name. 3.5/11

 

Brian Pillman calls out Steve Austin for an interview. Pillman was still on the shelf from a car accident a few months prior, where he shattered his ankle. Austin is pissed off at Pillman because of how excited Brian got when Bret returned. Pillman claims he was excited because Bret was willing to fight Austin at the Survivor Series. Austin reminds Pillman that he led him to the World Tag-Team Titles. Steve adds that Brian rode around in his back pocket for years. Pillman ends the interview by hyping the big match. “At the Survivor Series, Steve Austin will face the best there is, the best there was…” Austin attacks Pillman. He brings a chair in the ring and places Brian’s ankle inside of it. Austin stomps the hell out of the chair, which is of course where the term “Pillmanizer” came from. Gerald Briscoe runs in. He takes a big bump through the ropes to the floor. Austin with the Pillmanizer off the top rope. Bob Holly, some jobber and a horde of officials finally get Austin out of the ring. The EMTs try to stretch Brian out of the ring, but Austin takes forever to go to leave. Awesome segment. This was probably the last episode of SuperStars that featured a meaningful angle. 4.5/12

 

A recap of the Ahmed-Faarooq saga from Buried Alive is shown. Basically it includes an Ahmed promo from the Free For All and footage of Ahmed, with 2x4, standing over a downed Faarooq. 4.5/13

 

Pillman is put into an ambulance. As soon as it is about to drive off, Austin parks his car in front of it and throws his keys into the parking lot. He opens up the back door and starts yelling at Pillman. Dave Hebner tells Austin to back off. Finally someone finds the keys and moves his car. Good stuff here, although not as good as the time Austin attacked Bret Hart while he was in an ambulance. 5.5/14

 

Part 1 is now in the books. This tape is #316 at Wrestling Power. I will refrain from commenting on the tape until all 4 parts are finished.

 

Drop me a line, or check out my Amazon' target='_blank'>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/registry...quot;>Amazon Wishlist, or take a look at my ridiculous DVD collection.

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