The debut of Muggy!!

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Tape Reviews

WWF's Most Unusual Matches Ever

 

If they thought these were weird, they never saw Brisco and Patterson in an Evening Gown Match...

 

 

I would like to introduce myself to you all. My name is Matt Blythe. I live on the mean streets of Jackson, TN. Don't laugh, we have a bad crime rate around here. I was once a giant mark. Hell, at 3 I tombstoned my little sister on the floor one time. My mom saw it and I wasn't able to watch wrestling again until 1996. My first night back watching wrestling was a very big night. It was the night Scott Hall invaded WCW programming. I think you know how the rest of the story went. On another message board, I go by the name of Mean Muggin Matt. It's a nickname and a long story with it, so I won't bother you with it since you came to this column to read a tape review and not see me go on and on about a freakin' nick name. Anyways, this is a tape that came out around 1994, and it's called WWF's Most Unusual Matches Ever. Now keep this in mind, this was 1994. Back then this was weird. If they ever saw anything that goes on today back then, there would be definite changes to this tape. So takes these "unusual matches" as you wish.

 

We get the good ol' FBI warning and good ol' intro video package out of the way. We now go to Gorilla Monsoon (or better known as one of the BEST ANNOUNCERS EVER) giving us an introduction to our first match.

 

Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title.

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels w/ Sensational Sherri

 

First Mugshot: The first mugshot is basically my opening comments before the match begins.

 

The first time I saw this video was at a friends house. I had never seen a ladder match before (Hell, now NWA has to have one every other week), so this was new for me. I can't figure out the year this happened, but I'm guessing it was 1992.

 

The Match: Bret hands over the belt to the ref who suspends hangs it and suspends it above the ring. Dear God, Lord Alfred Hayes is on commentary. Thank God there is such a thing as the button MUTE.They tie-up and Shawn gets some good right hands in on Bret. Shawn goes for a hip toss but Bret counters. Shawn then flips over Bret... and eats a couple of clotheslines when he turns around. Bret whips Shawn into the ropes and drops him with a back body drop (or a shouder toss for you people in Japan reading this). Bret takes Shawn into the corner and punishes him with head and body shots before whipping him hard into the turnbuckle. Bret then hits a NICE European uppercut (complete with HBK oversell). Bret tries to get out of the ring to go after the belt, but Shawn gets up quick and clips his leg. Shawn starts to punch and kick away at Bret as Gorilla thinks Sherri may outweigh Shawn!! What an exaggeration. Shawn whips Bret into the ropes and hits a knee to the gut... and goes for the ladder in the aisleway.

 

Bret comes outside and takes out Shawn. He then throws him HARD into the ring post and rolls him back in the ring. He gives him a headbutt and an elbow drop before going back after the ladder. As Bret tries to put it in, Sherri grabs ahold of the ladder! Bret goes after her, as Shawn grabs the ladder himself, sets it up, and starts climbing. Bret chases Sherri up the aisleway and runs back into the ring to pull Shawn off of the ladder. Bret tries to punish Shawn some more before Shawn gets a couple of eye rakes in. Bret makes a comeback and tries to climb, but Shawn pulls HIM down. HBK throws Bret into a turnbuckle and picks up the ladder. He then uses the top end to ram it into the gut of the Hitman!! Back in 92' that would be BRUTAL.... but it's 2003, and everyone has taken one of those in wrestling careers these days. He goes to ram it into him again, but Bret moves out of the way. He then sets it up vertically in the corner. Shawn goes for a back drop, but Bret kicks him in the face for another HBK oversell LEAP OF PAIN!! Bret goes to whip Shawn into the ladder... but it's reversed! Bret goes into the ladder HARD, chest first. Shawn sets up the ladder and starts to climb. Bret pulls Shawn and the ladder down... and the ladder lands on Shawn!! Bret sets the ladder up and climbs. Shawn climbs up the same side as Bret and drives him face into it. Hayes thinks that could win the title for Shawn... I think Don West is doing a better job as a commentator then Hayes ever did.

 

Bret knocks Shawn of off the ladder. Shawn sets the ladder up vertically in the corner and rams Bret's face into the ladder. He whips Bret into the opposite corner and as Mr. Dames would say... EATS BOOT!! Bret catches him with a 2nd rope clothesline. Shawn goes after Bret, and Bret catapults him into the ladder!! HBK OVERSELL!! Sherri is acting like a lunatic on the outside. Bret Hart hits his BEAUTIFUL backbreaker. Bret climbs up and Shawn pulls him down again. They hit the ropes and we have a double KO. As they get up, Shawn goes for the ladder. They both climb the ladder on each side. They pull each other straight into a hot shot on the ropes!! They get up and blow and irish whip spot(!). They figure what they are doing and Brey hits the ropes only for Sherri to grab his leg. When Bret turns around... he EATS a superkick!! Monsoon calls it a reverse cresent kick. Ok...

 

He picks up Bret and hits him with his devestating finisher... the BACK SUPLEX~!! Yep, Shawn used a back suplex as a finisher one time. How sad don't you think?? Shawn sets the ladder up to climb again. Bret dropkicks it and Shawn crotches himself on the ropes!! I don't care who you are, that hurts. Bret sets up the ladder, and grabs the belt to win it and retain his title!

 

Winner: Bret Hart

 

Final Mugshot: The final mugshot is my closing comments on the match.

 

In this day and age, no one would like this ladder match. Back then though, people would have eaten it up. Bret and Shawn would go on to have many classics and some moment in Montreal that people tell me became pretty famous. **1/2

 

Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid

 

First Mugshot: Ah yes... once upon a time, Sean Waltman didn't suck!! Yes it's true!! This was that time. He came in as a preliminary wrestler who did the J-O-B to a few big names. He was called the Kid at that time. Then in one of the most shocking upsets in the history of wrestling, he pinned Razor Ramon live on RAW to the shock of everyone. Needless to say, Razor didn't like that. He offered $10,000 to get the Kid (now known as the 1-2-3 Kid) back into the ring. This is the $10,000 match.

 

The Match: The crowd is pissing Razor off with the "1-2-3" chant. OMG!! Sean Waltman without a beard!! I haven't seen that in a while!! The Kid stalls for a little bit scared of what Razor could do to him. Razor goes after him, but the Kid throws his head into the tunrbuckle and comes off the top with a sunset flip. ONE... TWO... NO!! The crowd almost went nuts again!! Razor misses a clothesline and catches a NICE spin kick for another CLOSE two count! He gets a couple more kicks in before he makes the one mistake that you never do in a Razor Ramon match... he goes for cross body. D'oh. It is turned into Ramon's Contractually Obligated Fall Away Slam. He chops and beales the Kid out of the corner. He then flips the Kid around with a clothesline. He then kicks him VICIOUSLY in the face. Ramon goes for a hip toss, but the Kid flips over his head. Ramon grabs him and choke slams him RIGHT ON HIS HEAD!!! OMG!!! HE WAS BENT IN HALF!!

 

Ramon goes right back after him and hooks on an abdominal stretch. He knocks him down and goes for Indian Deathlock varation and paintbrushes the Kid in the back of the head. Ramon picks him up and power slams him into the mat. He kicks him VICIOUSLY in the face again. He throws the Kid on the top rope and Back Suplex's him off the top rope and calls for the Razor's Edge. He throws the Kid out of the ring and pulls up the mats. He goes for the Edge on the floor... but the Kid backdrops out!! He goes for a leap off the top rope... but slips and falls face first into the concrete!! DAMN!!!

 

Razor throws him back in and whips him into the turnbuckle. He misses an avalanche as the Kid hits a top-rope moonsault!! That's how he beat Razor last time!!!! ONE... TWO... NOOO!! ONLY TWO!! The Kid says "oh screw this", grabs the money and walks away. Razor chases after him as the ref calls for the bell! The kid runs into a waiting car and speeds away with Razor's money!!

 

Winner: Double countout I guess...

 

Final Mugshot: It was a pretty good match until the Kid just runs away like a little kid (BAD PUN~!!). I didn't like the ending and detracted from a match that needed a good ending in my opinion. It still gets *3/4.

 

Survivor Series Match

Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Luna Vachon, Bastion Booger, The Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. Four Doinks

 

First Mugshot: Doink and BBB were feuding. Yep, a clown and a guy with tattoos on his head were in a "big" feud that would go on for a good while. Doink promised four Doinks for this match against Bam Bam's team. For the record, I think Doink sucks and is a picture perfect example of what was wrong with the WWF at this time, the cartoonish characters. Of course, now I'm a Hurricane mark, so I guess I have not room to argue then...

 

The Match: Everyone but BBB and Luna comes out eating turkey and bananas. It was Thanksgiving at the time as the camera catches a few people in the crowd kinda freaked out from the Headshrinkers, Booger, and the turkey carcass. We hear Doink's music... and then the Bushwhacker's music?? WHAT THE BLODDY HELL??? Oh God no!! Luke comes out riding a scooter and he has the Doink paint and hair on!! Butch comes out with a wagon and the same hair and paint. It's official... this match will definitely be a DUD. We hear the music again... and it changes to a rap beat. Oscar, Mo, and Mabel (Men on a Mission) come out with the Doink look as Oscar tries to rap.... but he sucks. The scary thing is... the crowd is in to MOM!! Thank God I didn't watch the WWF at this time. This thing may get negatives now that MOM is in this!!

 

The crowd starts chanting "We want Doink", and I ask God why? He says he doesn't himself. Great, God himself doesn't have the answer to a Doink chant. Bastion goes after Luke and hits some weak ass shots. He hits the WEAKEST. SPLASH. EVER. Luke retaliates by biting his ass!! If that man could eat that much, I would not put my face anywhere near his ass. Butch pokes his eyes and Luke stomps on his feet. Bastion is actually in pain and tags out to Samu and we finally get some good shots in by Samu. Butch gives Samu a balloon... and Samu bites out to bust it. Mo gives him a balloon... and he bites it again. Mo gives him another one... and it busts open with confetti! It actually stuns Samu into a Luke roll-up for a 3 count!! Shoot me already please!!

 

Fatu goes after Butch but Butch attacks him. He then makes the cardinal mistake when wrestling a Samoan, he goes to headbutt Fatu and hurts himself. Fatu hits with a suplex and headbutt before tagging out to Bastion hits a legdrop. He tags BBB who just beats the crap out of him for a while before taging Bastion again. Bastion slams Butch and jumps in the air and sits on his neck! He could have had the cover... but he goes to eat a banana!! WHAT THE BLUE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?? Luke pulls Butch out of the way of another sit down and drops Bastion with the really stupid battering ram into the giant gut. Mabel comes in (not the legal man mind you) and drops a BIG ASS LEG on Bastion who is covered for the 3 count with the banana still in his mouth!! This is becoming retarded... BBB is pissed... and I wouldn't blame him.

 

Fatu lures Butch into a trap by offering him the turkey carcass and beats him up with a turkey carcass. Isn't that a foreign object?? Mo gets in the ring with a scooter and scoots around the ring on it!! WHAT THE FREAKING FUCK?!?!? BBB comes in and gives Mo a dropkick! He then just HURLS the scooter outside of the ring! You tell him Bam Bam!! Fatu hits a sloppy side slam on Mo before going up to the top rope. He connects with his awesome splash! he goes for the cover... and is distracted by a banana peel! This match is now officially in the negatives already. Luke comes in and threatens to splash Fatu with whatever he has in a steel bucket. He fakes the throw and Fatu slips on the same banana peel and falls into a pin for the 3-count!! Thank God, this match didn't kill any careers.... Oh wait... the Bushwhackers career was pretty much dead to begin with.

 

BBB comes in and just beats the HOLY HELL out of Mo, Butch, and Luke until Mabel comes in. Two shoulder blocks don't knock the big man down. He comes off the ropes again and gets knocked down by Mabel. Mabel hammers his back and whips him into the turnbuckle. Mabel misses an avalanche and finally goes down from leaping shoulder block. BBB then powet slams Luke. As that happens, Butch throws all sorts of stuff from the bucket onto Luna. BBB is distracted and gets sandwiched into the ropes by Mo and Mabel. Mabel then gives him a big splash as everyone on Team Doink dogpiles for the pin. My IQ has just dropped 30 points from this match. After the match, Doink taunts BBB from the video screen.

 

Winner: Men on a Mission and the Bushwhackers

 

Final Mugshot: And the Lord looked down on creation, and it was good. And then Matt looked at this match and said, "God, you forgot something." This match was just brutal, as in brutal to the eyes, not hardcore brutal. It was a crappy comedy match. BBB tried to hold it together with the beatdowns, but the Bushwhacker can't sell if their lives depened on it. I'll give BBB a * for trying to be normal compared to everyone else. That makes this match a -****.

 

I pray to God I never have to watch that match again...

 

And now we are down to the last match...

 

Lumberjack Match for the Intercontinental Title

©Shawn Michaels vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

 

First Mugshot: Keep this in mind. Before the match, Mr. Perfect and Shawn Michaels got into a brawl out in the streets of New York. Mr. Perfect ended up throwing Shawn into the windshield of a car!! And Shawn had to wrestle later this night with Mr. Perfect as one of the lumberjacks!!

 

Lumberjacks: Mr. Hughes, Bam Bam Bigelow, Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji, Tatanka, Terry Taylor, Typhoon, Bob Backland, Mr. Pefect

 

The Match: Jim Duggan comes out and right away hammers Yokozuna with a right hand. That was for revenge when Yokozuna busted up Jim Duggan's ribs with a few Banzai's a few weeks earlier. Shawn Michaels comes out on crutches and his street clothes and says he can't wrestle. As he talks to the ref, Mr. Perfect attacks Shawn!! He throws him into the ring as Shawn jumps around in anger to show his injury was FAKE!! Duggan clotheslines Shawn out of the ring just for Mr. Perfect to throw him back in. Duggan hits a BIG atomic drop on Shawn. He picks up Shawn and drives his back into the turnbuckles before body slamming him into the mat. Duggan drops an elbow for two.

 

The crowd is totally into Duggan in this match!! Duggan just HAMMERS him with the lefts and rights and Shawn does a leaping oversell!. Duggan with a nice vertical suplex for anthoer two count. Duggan whips Shawn into the turnbuckle and he does the FLAIR FLIP~!! before failing face first back in the ring. Duggan nails him with a clothesline and beats the crap out of him and chokes him in the corner. Shawn tries to leave, but Typhoon pushes him back in. Shawn is whipped and is hit by a STIFF back elbow from Duggan. Duggan then puts on a camel clutch and punches away at him again. He puts him in a bear hug as a "Shawn is gay" chant starts. The bearhug turns into a scoop slam. Another 2 count.

 

Duggan beats on him some more and goes to the corner for the 10 punch before the ref gets him to come down. Duggan ties up Shawn in the ropes and punches away at Shawn before releasing him and HURLING him over the top. Shawn takes a nice bump and lands on the heel side. The heel side lets him leave until Mr. Perfect and Bob Backland drag him back into the ring.

 

*MATCH CLIPPED*

 

Duggan hits yet another body slam and goes for a knee drop, but misses. Shawn takes off his boot and nails Duggan with it that the ref doesn't see. Duggan falls out and the heels push him back in. Shawn kicks him out again and the push him back in again. Shawn chokes Duggan on the 2nd rope and drops his leg across his back. Duggan gets up and no-sells all the punishment before driving Shawn's face into the mat. Duggan now sells the knee he hurt on the kneedrop. Duggan counters a turnbuckle splash but is nailed with a boot to the face going after Shawn. 2 count for HBK. WE HIT THE CHIN LOCK!! Yay!! Duggan gets back up and just runs over him with a clothesline. Duggan whips Shawn into the ropes and drops him with a HIGH back body drop. Duggan goes NUTS and chokes away at him. The crowd all of a sudden could care less about the match as they are now doing and Indian chant for Tatanka!! 1993 was just weird. Shawn makes a comeback only to get caught in a cross-body. Duggan bodyslams him down again for a CLOSE two count. How can I body slam get a close two count I ask you??

 

Duggan now goes for the chinlock as we hear more Indian chants. Duggan goes to the 3-point stance and clotheslines Shawn out of the ring.

 

*CLIP*

 

We now see Shawn beating up Duggan. He goes for a flying avalache and misses as Bam Bam Bigelow gets on the apron and distracts Duggan. Shawn attacks him from behind and throws him to the side Yokozuna's on!! As BBB distracts the ref, Yoko drops a BIG ASS LEG on Duggan and Duggan looks DEAD. Yoko throws him back in so Shawn can make the cover. Before we can even reach two, Perfect runs in to attack Shawn and draws a DQ.

 

*CLIP*

 

Shawn is shown running into the ring attacking Perfect as all the lumberjacks brawl in the ring except Yokozuna who left. Duggan runs everyone out with a 2 x 4 as the tape ends with Gorilla Monsoon hoping for more unusual matches to come in the near future.

 

Winner: Shawn Michaels

 

Final Mugshot: Ok... this definitely wasn't a Shawn Michaels classic, that's for sure. Duggan on offense was boring as hell and Shawn barely got any offense in. The lumberjacks did their thing and I have no problem with that. Duggan was just blah. Not to bad for a brawl though. *

 

THE LAST MUGSHOT

 

These matches were unusual?? Well, I understand that God forsaken 8 man match, but the $10,000 match?? The definition of unusual has definitely changed over time. Overall, I can't recommend this tape AT ALL. Why would you want to see a only a "decent" ladder match, a double countout, a horrid 8-man tag, and a DQ in a lumberjack match?? I wouldn't.

 

Recommendation: HELL FREAKIN' NO!!

 

till' next review,

 

"Muggy" Matt Blythe

 

I can be reached at [email protected]. I can also be found on the Gamefaqs.com social boards under the name MeanMugginMatt. Also, my AIM is MeanMugginMatt. Pretty simple isn't it??

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

This review is more humid then muggy.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I thought the ladder match was great for free TV in 1992, back before the WWF had done one to my knowledge. I liked this tape. I still pop it in today for some good, early-90s fun. Kid's SPLAT on the floor is worth the $5 I paid for the tape all by itself.

[The Dames 0]

Geez...could you have ripped off my format anymore?

 

Dames

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Dames, you're right.... I need to change the format...