Wrestling Results: February 2019

Saturday, February 23, 2019

1994-01-03 Raw

Segment: Paul Bearer/Undertaker

I always liked it when Taker spoke few words

Recap: Interview: Jim Cornette/Mr. Fuji/Yokozuna (WWF Champion)

I could listen to Corny read the phone book I think
Yoko had great facials for rarely speaking, you understood what he was thinking, something missing at times today

Yokozuna (WWF Champion) vs. Dan Dubiel

Johnny Polo was great at the “sound byte” that they loved back in the day
It is shocking that Yoko didn’t hurt anyone with that massive weight especially with the leg drops and Bonzai drop
Dear lord I think I would have soiled myself seeing Yoko coming down at me like that.

JIP: Lex Luger vs. Jacques (WWF Tag Team Champion)

Go back to my review of 1994-01-01 Superstars
But I love Polo being 1994 wrestling personality!

Interview: Lex Luger

What is with Flexy Lexy’s hair?!

Lex wasn’t great at interviews and it was weird he wasn’t sure where to look during this interview. Do I look at Vince or the camera?

Billy Gunn/Bart Gunn vs. Bam Bam Bigelow/Bastion Booger

I think I have mentioned it before but how did ANYONE think that Bastion Booger was going to get over?
How good was Bam Bam. I never understood why he isn’t included in the best of the big man conversation
Poor Mike Shaw, another big man who could move in the ring but never got a fair shot in the US
Not only did Shaw get a horrible gimmick it was then all about his “hump”
Billy and Bart get the win which shouldn’t surprise anyone but who thought we needed to see Booger vs. Bam Bam?

Jeff Jarrett vs. John Chrystal

I love first run Jeff Jarrett outfits with all the ribbons and streams and what not
They sure didn’t do much to get Double J over early on with him having issues with the enhancement talent

Segment: Marty Jannetty/1-2-3 Kid/Johnny Polo

I miss Polo, I think I liked that character better than Raven, and I really enjoyed Raven
Uggg, I have never liked Waltman’s voice and he just got worse over the years

Shawn Michaels (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Brian Walsh

Loved having Jacques on the phone during the match talking about the title match
How smooth was Michaels? I mean it is amazing!

It is so weird to see Raw mostly being squash matches. It wouldn’t be that way in about a year! For Raw to basically be an hour infomercial for the PPV is so interesting, things sure changed once Nitro started

Friday, February 22, 2019

Smackdown 2019-01-01

Segment: Xavier Woods/Big E/Kofi Kingston

I do love me the New Day but they are starting to get slightly long in the tooth
Steiner Math? Ha ha!
Now I want Lesnar to come out and take all three to Suplex City!
Those things are in his diaper!

Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy

I do love me some Samoa Joe! It is too bad that his injuries seem to have caught up with him the last few years
I’d love to see a series of Styles vs. Bryan vs. Joe matches!
I know some didn’t like the storyline of Jeff’s demons but you can’t ignore that can you?
Jeff is loved by the fans but for me I just never got it personally
WHY ISN’T THE REF COUNTING!
Great finish to get that the Clutch is a threat by using it to beat a top guy like Hardy

Segment: Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon/AJ Styles

Interesting that they are teasing Styles vs. McMahon, hopefully they don’t go that direction

Interview: Rusev (US Champion)/Lana/Shinsuke Nakamura

Finally giving him the title here seems to be a little too little to late in my opinion. Mania is where it should have happened at the height of Rusev Day
Remember when Lana was the hottest thing in WWE? Yeah me neither
Interesting idea of hurting Lana to further to storyline

Naomi vs. Mandy Rose

I just don’t care about either of these two
I feel like Rose is a step back for the division
Wait, it is DeVille and Naomi, I do care about DeVille! I am a big fan of DeVille
Wait that pic in a towel upsets Naomi? The beach pics are more revealing

Segment: Randy Orton
Segment: Randy Orton
Segment: Mustafa Ali

All about the Fatal Five Way, I like that they are all after the title

Segment: New Years Resolutions

Was that Shelton Benjamin? Where has he been?

Segment: Samoa Joe

Again the title is what is important and I like that about Smackdown

Segment: John Cena

John Cena is slowly morphing into Ernest P Worell and JBL
I still can’t get over Cena’s hair! It makes his face expressions even goofier
I do enjoy Cena and his interviews and jabs at himself and others
IT’S THE MAN BECKY LYNCH!
For the record, even before she became the man, I have always loved me some Becky Lynch!
How great is Zelina!

John Cena/Becky Lynch vs. Zelina/Andrade Cien Almas

Why did Zelina have her gear on? She doesn’t usually wrestle
Much like the Rock, having Cena off TV made me miss him and want him back on TV
Also how great is Cory at the desk?
Almas is slowly growing on me. I’d like to see him in a true long term feud
I hate the “new” thing of running into one corner hard and then charging your opponent. If you can run yourself into the corner without pain why does it hurt if thrown in? Almas, Wyatt, Bryan all do it and I hate it
Love Becky’s character, why wouldn’t you want to be the best!

Segment: Shane McMahon/Miz

I am not sure about this idea of Miz becoming a good guy

Segment: Triple H/Asuka (Smackdowns Womens Champion)/Charlotte Flair/Carmella/Becky Lynch

Pointless segment building up challengers that we already knew

AJ Styles vs. Rey Misterio vs. Randy Orton vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Samoa Joe

I am not sure about the idea of pushing Mustafa Ali but I am willing see where they go
It is interesting to see a more aggressive Styles, even though I don’t think it fits him personally
These 5 really are good in the ring, like amazingly good
I hate the masks Misterio has been using lately with the stupid mohawk
Uggg, the Spanish Fly is such a stupid move
Love that it was without a finish, even if the 450 from Styles was slightly sloppy (not that I could do better mind you). While I love finishers the matches don’t have to always end it, just don’t kick out finishers constantly!

Thursday, February 21, 2019

1994-01-02 Challenge

Tatanka vs. Ton Devito

My copied joined this match in process but what you’d expect from this time, a complete squash
Gorilla and JR talk about Tatanka coming back from his recent injury at the hands of Yokozuna and Ludvig Borga
Devito was a good hand in the ring. If he was a little taller I think he could have a decent lower midcard run
I believe he ended up being one of the Baldies in ECW now that I think about as that lower midcarder
Tatanaka ended it with a chop from the top, not his usual finisher which was interesting

Special report is next and is all about the Royal Rumble

Alfred Hayes was such an interesting person to run this with his proper English voice and pronunciations.
I love that we would see some of the same segments on all shows since not everyone saw the same shows. It is interesting to see where wrestling was some 20+ years ago

Samu/Fatu vs. Russ Greenberg/John Crystal

Rikishi sure looked like his kids back during these days! US – OH!
I remember watching the Headshrinkers as a kid and thinking they were actually just beating these guys up. Always looked stiff in the ring. Believable!
Always makes me laugh when JR or Gorilla randomly say stuff about the enhancement talent, made it interesting

Face to Face

Time for some Face to Face. I actually liked this concept for when shows were going to be in the local area. Better than the event center but not as good as when Mean Gene or someone would just do standups
Diesel talks about the New York Royal Rumble and sure wasn’t the Nash that we have grown to love. He was just starting to come into his own.
Shawn Michaels also talks about the NYRR and he was good as that cocky heel....but you have to wonder was he acting or was he just being himself?

Doink vs. Duane Gill

I really liked the original heel Matt Bourne Doink. Then Doink became a good guy then we got Dink and I was over it.
One thing about however was in the Doink makeup they were always really good in the ring.
Good grief Dink was annoying!
Quick squash for the clowns

Interview time!

Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette interviewed by Stan Lane
I wonder how much fun Stan and Corny had together doing things like this. I was disappointed that they rarely referenced Stan’s career as a wrestler as an announcer
How bad was Stan’s hair?
Also how great was and is Corny?

Mabel/Mo vs. Reno Riggins/Louie Spicolli

I never got Men on a Mission, especially with Oscar
But the fans really loved them so who am I to argue
Neither were really great in the ring at this point, Viscera, as I will always think of him as, would get better
I think Riggins and Spicolli were better performers than MOM even though we never saw the late Spicolli in the ring

Video Package for Sparky Plugg

This video was HARDCORE! (get it...hardcore...holly....I am sorry)

IRS vs. Mike Khoury

I love the idea that he had Razors gold in the case even though he knows the camera will try to look into it!
How great was IRS in the ring?
I think Money Inc was one of my favorite teams
Second match this week that didn’t end with the stars usual finisher. IRS used a snapped belly to back suplex instead of the clothesline or samoan drop. Very interesting and I think I like it!

Royal Rumble Report

His weird little jabs at the guys still make me chuckle
“Mabel from MOM, Scott Steiner from his Mom”. Ha ha
“Fatu from the Headshrinkers, Samu from the Headshrinkers, Shamu from Seaworld”

Shawn Michaels vs. John Santana

Shawn has the IC belt but wasn’t recognized. This obviously was building toward the famous ladder match
Shawn was always so smooth in the ring till his back injury.
Interesting to see Shawn finish with the elbow from the top ala Randy Savage who was still with the company.
Yet another non-finisher finish even though he used the superkick earlier in the match
I don’t know if he was using Sweet Chin Music as his finisher her or still using the suplex

Face to Face

Crush and Randy Savage continue to build their feud here. Nothing special

This match reminded me how good the in ring action was at this time if the characters and storylines were great. IRS, Shawn Michaels, Doink, Gill, Spicolli, Riggins, Tatanka and DeVito were all good to great. Sad that this time isn’t remembered for the good in ring but instead for the bad gimmicks and storylines.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

1994-01-01 Superstars

Start off with Stan Lane and Vince McMahon but they throw it over to Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon for our first match
Start off with Stan Lane and Vince McMahon but they throw it over to Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon for our first match
Jacques (WWF Tag Team Champion) vs. Lex Luger

They are playing off Lex Luger knocking out Pierre prior to the Survivor Series
A little bit of stick time for Jaques before the match playing off the steel plate in Lugers arm
Jacques says he isn’t wrestling because there is no doctors note....but here comes Timmy White and Danny Davis saying otherwise
He comes Flexy Lexy in his Red White and Blue
I think Lex’s biggest problem was always his selling. He was fine on offense but when in trouble he just wasn’t always believable.
Same goes with Jacques, but it was more the more cartoony selling of the 80’s I think. Lots of floppying around
I haven’t mentioned Johnny Polo on the outside. As big as Raven became, I would have liked to see more Polo personally
Nice attempt at “twin magic” there but of course it doesn’t work
Pierre gets knocked out and counted out so it is over...wait Jacques is arguing and the match continues till he gets knocked out!
I think Polo is going to get one for good measure!
It's nice to see that the WWF always buried their tag champs for their top stars, I would hate to think that they weren’t constant in their thinking

It is weird to see PPV on days other than Sunday. Starrcade was on Monday and the Royal Rumble is on Saturday!
Face to Face is up which is local promos and they are doing a NYC Royal Rumble. I believe this is the one that Owen ends up winning
Razor Ramon telling me not to pollute my body....is that the definition of irony?
Time for the Headshrinkers to face Tim McNeany/Mike Khoury

Samu always looked wild....Fatu however was kind of normal
Stan Lane never really fit in as an announcer. Much like Terry Taylor he was okay but nothing great
Not a lot to say about this match, a typical squash with no offense from the enhancements

Next up Raymond Rougeau is going to interview Razor Ramon

This was all about Razor missing his chains, taken by IRS. I know that gets me excited about a match between these two!
Good grief I am going to have a birthday during this interview. If there was ever an interview that needed “What” chants this is it!

Bastion Booger vs. Tony Roy

Poor Mike Shaw, he could actually wrestle but how was this gimmick going to get over?
Another quick squash and again poor Mike

Its time for a Sparky Plugg promo!
Owen vs. Barry Hardy

Look at that hair cut on Barry Hardy!
None of the Hart Family really look like each other which is weird
How great was Owen, seriously I know I just wrote that but it is true. I actually would say Owen was better than Bret but that is me

Time for Todd Pettengill and the Royal Rumble Report
- Todd was annoying but he did seem legit excited anytime you saw him
- I miss Paul Bearer! I couldn’t understand a thing he said but you knew it was bad for Yokozuna!
Ludvig Borga vs. John Crystal

Borga should have had a bigger career in WWF. I am not sure exactly what happened with him
He ticked every box that Vince likes and he wasn’t HORRIBLE (wasn’t good either) in the ring either
Borga wins with the torture rack

Back with another Face to Face about Jarrett taking on Razor

A typical syndicated show with a little storyline movement with Lex Luger to continue his quest to get another shot at the title. Meanwhile we see the continued push of Razor Ramon who honestly from day one was a top guy but never THE guy.

Saturday, February 9, 2019

1994-01-01 WCW Saturday Night

We start off with Mean Gene, Tony and Jesse Ventura
Next we have a video package for Ric Flair, his history with WCW
Funny to see at this point he was the man for the company...yet a few months down the line that will shift brother
I hated that WWF looking WCW World Title. I was glad they merged the titles into the Big Gold Belt
I am looking forward to this! Terry Taylor against Steven Regal for the TV Title

Regal is easily one of my favorites and Taylor was always underrated thanks to being the Red Rooster
Yeah those ladies in fancy dresses weren’t plants...nope not at all
I don’t remember this “comeback” for Taylor. I remember the 92 run with the Hammer and then returned briefly to WWF in 93 but this one I don’t remember.
If I could only watch one wrestler for the rest of my life I think I’d pick Regal. Especially this era and the Blue Bloods with Bobby Eaton
I always liked the TV Title and the time limit involved. I miss the time limits
Nice move with Regal hooking the trunks but not talked about. It’s the little things that Regal did that made me like him

Oh Col Parker, what a great character! Love him talking and Austin just looking smug
Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma, a staple for the next couple of years, take on Scott Studd and Brady Boone

Is that Scotty Riggs? It sure is!
They are using the wrong corners...weird
Riggs looks so young, it's amazing what a year or two will do for appearance

Starrcade Control center is next

We see footage of Austin against Rhodes for the US Title
We also see Flair winning the title and an interview with Sting and Flair

We come back from break and it is time for Johnny B. Badd against Tony Zane

Wow the fans LOVE Badd! Honestly they were all on their feet which is shocking
I miss enhancement talent like Zane, those you know who have no chance just by looking at them
One thing about Badd, he was quite athletic and the fans loved him

Interview: Johnny B. Badd/Shanghi Pierce/Tex Slashenger

His interview weren’t that good though were they?
Wait...he had a tag team partner?
Michael PS Hayes teamed with Badd? I don’t remember this
I do like Tex and Shanghi however!

Cactus Jack/Max Payne vs. Robbie Eagle/Mark Kyle

Kyle was working for Smokey Mountain and WCW at this point? Interesting. Maybe Kyle had left SMW at this point
Payne never did it for me. He was okay with Cactus here but honestly he wasn’t anything special
Payne and Jack win with the Payne killer
I honestly would rather have seen Kyle and Jack as a team, I really thought Kyle was a good hand

Interview: Cactus Jack/Max Payne

I never liked Jack as an interview prior to ECW because of the way he spoke. That little vibrato he put in his interviews bothered me at times
Payne had a decent voice but was just missing that one thing. I think this team needed a manager to speak for them. Should have had Kevin Sullivan and Jack do the talking and Payne make weird faces

Colossal Kongs vs. Ben Jordan/Scott D’Amour

I believe Ben Jordan had a run in the GWF and of course Scott is the team captain of Team Canada
That match is over and exactly what it should have been, a complete squash

Shockmaster vs. JL Sullivan

Poor Tugboat being stuck as the Shockmaster and having to wear a construction helmet
Tugboat is going to squash this guy
I will say Tugboat looked in pretty good shape at this point
Never understood his theme music though

Brian Pillman vs. Buddy Lee Parker

Never understood the love WCW had for Buddy Lee
I thought they said on Pro that Pillman was facing Col Robert Parker no Buddy Lee
Buddy Lee was average at best and probably the rest that most of the Power Plant guys are out of the business
Pillman is giving Buddy Lee way too much offense.
Jesse just asked why do they always stop punching at ten...one reason I kind of liked Jesse at this point. He didn’t care and would just say random stuff

Interview: Brian Pillman

He has a chicken suit!
Pillman was much better as a heel plain and simple

Marcus Bagwell/Too Cold Scorpio vs. Pat Rose/JD Wolfe

Bagwell is another guy, like Pillman, that was much better as a heel. Mostly because just looking at him you could tell he was a douche so why not embrace it.
I understand the company keeping him a face as much as possible as the female fans loved him
Scorpio never got a fair shot in WCW to be a player in my opinion

Interview: Marcus Bagwell/Too Cold Scorpio/Teddy Long

Giving this team Teddy as a manager made sense because neither of the other guys could really talk at this point
Every time I hear Bagwell talk all I think of is Piper embarrassing him on Nitro live

Sting vs. Steve Austin (US Champion)

It's weird to think a few years later that Stunning Steve would be the biggest star of all time
These two always meshed well in the ring, its easy to forget that Austin as once a great technician
A very interesting hair style Sting has too, like a mix between the LOD and Rattail Sting. Maybe because he was teaming with Hawk
Nice way to keep both guys strong and makes sense from a storyline standpoint with Pillman interferring

Interview: Robert Parker/Steve Austin

Basically setting up what appears to be a tag match next week against these three and Rick Rude

One thing about WCW, the in ring action was always solid. Look at who was on this show. Pillman, Austin, Sting, Scorpio, Cactus, Orndorff and Regal. While some of the storylines were bad and the announcing at time was painful the in ring action was always good.