Andrew Lutzke
RAW
Bob Holly vs. British Bulldog
Bulldog out powers Holly to start, but is quickly out wrestled. That doesn’t bode well for the Bulldog’s chances against The Hitman in a few weeks. Even after the Bulldog regroups on the floor, Holly still nails a powerslam and locks in an armbar. Bulldog presses Holly up and drops him crotch first on the top rope. Bulldog gets a vertical suplex but Holly ends up with control again almost right after. Holly is caught mid-move and powerslammed for what amounts to a fluke pin. Match was fine, but Bulldog should have been presented way stronger if he’s expected to draw as the PPV headliner.
Jerry Lawler interviews Bob Backlund who had just attacked Jim Ross over the weekend. Lawler informs Backlund that his match with Bret Hart next week is non- title and Backlund goes nuts. His mic is turned off and so Bob runs to the back to find the sound engineer.
Fatu vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Fatu vs Brooklyn Brawler + Mr. Bob Backlund Promo by TSteck160
Brawler attacks Fatu from behind and I’m struggling to think of a purpose for this match. Fatu takes control and hits a Diamond Cutter. He hits the splash for the mercifully quick finish.
Dok Hendrix tries to announce Diesel vs. Owen Hart for the PPV, but Bob Backlund attacking the sound engineer interrupts him. They are spending a lot of time and effort to push a guy that won’t even be working on the PPV.
Razor Ramon vs. Dean Douglas
They take turns tossing Razor’s toothpick at each other. Dean then strikes Razor from behind. Douglas stomps away until Razor flings him head over heels and then clotheslines him to the floor. Razor has a piece of tape with “Shawn” written on it attached to his boot. That’s like the lowest rent version of a support campaign possible.
Dean hits a modified bulldog and locks in an abdominal stretch. Dean gets a near fall on a crossbody, but Razor drops him with a big clothesline. Razor then hits a Razor’s Edge for the clean win and kill off any heat Dean may have accidentally kept through his 3 months of being booked to be a chump. Have fun in the bingo hall Shane.
For what it’s worth the Wrestling Observer at the time says Douglas worked this match with two broken vertebra in his back and had intentions on retiring soon. He was back in ECW on January 5th…
King Mabel and Sir Mo on The Brother Love Show by TSteck160
Oh God more Brother Love and he’s interviewing charisma machine Mabel. Mabel claims to be the first man to pin the Undertaker and the first to put him out of action. Both lies! Love reveals that he has a surprise for him. A druid pushes out a casket. The druid is Moe and the casket is spray painted. Eh. The Observer says Brother Love is expected to get a huge push and add a woman to be his sidekick…
Marty Jannetty vs. Sid
Sid vs Marty Jannetty by TSteck160
Marty attacks before the bell and drives Sid’s head into the mat a number of times. Sid power slams Marty and slams his head into the mat. Sid runs into a boot and Jannetty hits a reverse blockbuster. Sid nails Marty with a forceful clothesline that sends Marty rotating thru the air. Sid chucks Marty over the top rope and Dibiase adds his licks in. Marty starts to stalk Ted and that draws out The Kid who runs down to save his boss. Razor runs down to go after The Kid and a 4 way donnybrook breaks out. Razor chases The Kid to the back and Marty is powerbombed.
We close with an interview with Shawn Michaels’ doctor who feels Shawn may be risking his life if he ever wrestles again. Vince then melodramatically covers the dangers his superstars are put in every time they step in the ring.
Nitro
World Tag Champions Harlem Heat vs. The American Males
The Males defeated Heat for the titles on an early Nitro, then lost them back, so this will be the rubber match. Ray clubs away on Riggs to start. Scotty tries to use speed to neutralize Ray’s power. This ends with Riggs being side slammed. Bagwell comes in and has much better luck as he takes out both heels. Riggs comes back in and runs into the ringpost almost right away. Sherri and Col. Parker continue their courtship at ringside. Sherri walks off with Parker after he gives her a ring. Riggs eats a backbreaker and a back suplex. Booker T hits a nifty twirling kick to the face. Scotty is downed with a double face first suplex. Crowd is bored and doesn’t even pop for Riggs’ hot tag. Bischoff congratulates Marcus Bagwell on his recent steroid use. Bagwell is double teamed and pinned with the Harlem Hangover. Paint by numbers stuff.
If you didn’t think the tag division could find even more crappy tag teams to torture the viewer with, the Observer states that THE BUSHWACKERS were close to signing at this point. Thank goodness we dodged that bullet.
Sting vs. Kurasawa
Before the match, Sting justifies his friendship with Lex Luger because Lex’s heel turn was just business. Sting and Lex are facing off in a triangle match with Ric Flair at Starrcade. Flair can’t beat Sting one on one, so that sure seems like a bad idea on the part of the Nature Boy.
Funny bit before the bout as Sting forgets he has a match and almost follows Luger to the locker room before turning around and heading to the ring. Sting sends Kurasawa to the floor with a clothesline right away. Kurasawa kicks away on Sting and takes control. Kurasawa tries to snap Sting’s arm twice and wrenches away at the limb. Sting hits a Stinger splash out of nowhere and locks in the Scorpion Death Lock. This had a good start and finish but they forgot the meat of the match.
We get a promo for Starrcade that doesn’t do the card justice as it states “Japan’s High Flyers will battle WCW’s stars” as we see the muscular men who populate the top of the card. To me, this would imply that it’ll be cruiserweights vs. roid monsters.
Scott Norton vs. The Giant
Heel vs. Heel here. Norton can’t budge the Giant. Giant hacks away on Norton and scoops the 300 pound Norton up like nothing. Norton nails an ATOMIC DROP! Scott still can’t get the Giant off his feet. Norton gets desperate after several moves fail to down the big man and Norton takes to the top rope. Giant catches him in a choke slam and gets the pin. Another brief spectacle between two monsters. It was good while it lasted.
Charles Barkley joins Ric Flair for a promo. Barkley cuts a heel promo despite being in his NBA hometown. Nothing much said – I guess this was just an excuse to show off a celebrity rubbing shoulders with a WCW star.
World Champion Randy Savage vs. Lex Luger
Lex trolls the fans as he comes down the aisle. Savage stalks Lex and starts choking him out once he gets his hands on him. Nitro does its first over run here as this match goes past the top of the hour. Macho hits a flying double axe handle and controls Lex with fisticuffs and assaulting Lex’s arm to try and avenge Luger’s previous attacks on Macho’s injured arm. Lex has his arm slammed in the post and locked in arm locks. Savage is caught in the bread basket on another flying plunge and Lex is able to gain the advantage.
Lex starts dropping bombs on Randy’s bad limb. The two men are now both wounded and they trade blows back and forth. Jimmy Hart removes the turnbuckle pad from the corner and Lex attempts to drive Savage’s skull into it but Savage reverses the move and the Total Package is knocked out. He hits the ref on his way down though and the ref falls out of the ring. Savage hits the big elbow and Jimmy Hart frantically calls for help. Ric Flair comes down and whacks Savage with brass knuckles and then struts his way back down the aisle. In the midst of gloating, Hulk Hogan sneaks up on Flair and chases him to the ring. Flair runs away so Hogan abuses Luger. Hogan pulls the ref away to prevent a pin and Savage is DQ’d.
Sting comes in to break his friends up and Hogan accidentally punches him. Hogan and Sting almost go at it again. Savage and Hogan grill Sting on his alliance with Luger again. Sting thinks it’s Savage’s fault that Luger went heel because of the distrust Randy showed him. They shake hands to end the show.
Final thoughts:
Neither show was a blow away effort but Nitro’s main event angle remains intriguing and layered, meanwhile Bret Hart is slumming with Backlund and Shawn and Diesel are not involved with RAW goings on for the most part for the second straight month. The Giant and Scott Norton may have had the most intriguing match of the week, if only because the WWF mid card is dead.
