WEEK 2 - September 11th, 1995 - Husky Harris

WCW MONDAY NITRO

Best Match - Ugh. Alex Wright versus Sabu. First match of the night had a few really nice spots. I’ve forgotten that Alex Wright was actually pretty good in the ring, and Sabu is flat out insane, even in WCW. It is tainted with the ending, though. Sabu won the match with a top rope spot, but then continues to attack Das Wunderkind ultimately putting him through a table. Referee Nick Patrick reversed the decision, disqualifying Sabu and naming Wright the winner. Pretty shoddy ending to an otherwise solid match. Not much else of any ilk.

Worst Match - Hulk Hogan vs Lex Luger for the World Title. This is Luger’s big return debut match. Luger gets Hogan in the Torture Rack and goes to town for what seemed like 12 minutes. Hogan does not give up. He bursts out with his patented second wind and goes as far as dropping a leg on Luger before the Dungeon of Doom stops a match for the second time of the night.

Best Segment - Literally only two segments on the show. I’ll go with Hogan/Savage/Luger/Sting at the end of the show. Hogan and Savage are upset because the Dungeon did not attack Luger. Sting backs up Luger, and The Hulkster makes the decision to allow Luger to join his War Games team against the Dungeon of Doom.

Worst Segment - I thought this was going to be the best when I saw Ric Flair in the ring with “Mean” Gene Okerlund. Flair spouted off some stuff about his ongoing feud with “Double A” Arn Anderson. Fine, sweet, good. Then, for absolutely no reason, Lex Luger climbs in the ring, looks at Flair and says, “You know Ric, somethings never change, do they? You are too much.” And leaves…... What?

Hottest Feud - Hulkamaniacs vs Dungeon of Doom. Really the only thing that gets any heat on this night. Two matches ended by DoD run ins. Not much else to say here.

Coldest Feud - Flair vs Anderson. This is only here because it got a little play, but the segment was interrupted by Luger and never go back on track.

Star of the Show - If I’m honest, no one rose above the rest to be a star. I considered several, but nothing really stood out.

General Commentary - This show was not very good, unfortunately. Bad decisions throughout makes me wonder if Scott Hall was already working in WCW as a drunk booker. From the reversed decision in the opening match, to Ric Flair’s/Lex Luger’s segment making zero sense, to the announcers calling a wrestler the wrong name (Calling the Shark, Avalanche), to everyone screaming at Luger and then Hogan immediately accepting Luger onto his Fall Brawl team, it just seemed really, really poorly done.

GRADE: D+

WWF MONDAY NIGHT RAW

Best Match - Close one, but I’ve got to go with the opening match. Razor Ramon versus the British Bulldog was highly entertaining. Of course, we get the obligatory referee getting knocked out just in time for Ramon to deliver the Razor’s Edge, but no one to count the the pin! Dean Douglas then interfered allowing the Bulldog the upper hand. 123 Kid then interferes trying to even the odds for Ramon, but ends up costing him the match as the referee comes to just in time. A very solid match that set up a good segment.

Worst Match - Isaac Yankem vs Scott Taylor. This is a squash. And not even very entertaining. Kane...I mean Yankem destroyed Taylor in like two minutes. Eh….

Best Segment - Directly after the opening match, Vince McMahon left the announcer’s table to interview 123 Kid and Razor Ramon. This basically was vince stirring up trouble between the two costing each other matches in previous weeks. 123 Kid tells Razor that he is tired of being treated like a little kid and challenges Razor to a match. Ramon then summarizes everything that has happened and accepts the match at the next Raw. Good overall segment, in spite of Waltman’s poor delivery. Only thing that brought this down at all was Jerry Lawler talking over the interview. Not sure what that was about?

Worst Segment - I’m not sure if we can really call it a segment, but it took up like four minutes of a 45 minute show. It was a breakdown of the upcoming In Your House that gave the rundown on all the matches. It was unneeded and valuable time out of the show.

Hottest Feud - I’ll go with 123 Kid and Razor Ramon. The beginning of the show was the most interesting part with actual storyline progression. Interested in seeing how this goes.

Coldest Feud - Not much to go with here. Everything was interesting and I have no pick here. Sorry!

Star of the Show - I’m gonna go with Shawn Michaels. He had a big match with Sycho Sid, which almost took my best match nod, a “segment” which he danced in the ring and stripped for the ladies, and then an interview in the back about the upcoming tag match at in your house. All around a good showing for the Heartbreak Kid.

General Commentary - Enjoyable show. Kept me entertained throughout. The segment about In Your House was too long, but other than that, it was a high quality show. Definitely worth a watch.

GRADE: B+

OVERALL

General Commentary on Shows - Well, in the first head to head meeting, it’s a tale of two shows. Raw was solid. Not a bad part to the entire show, and while I’d like to see more in upcoming weeks, I was impressed. A good quality, entertaining product. On the flipside, Nitro was full of add decisions. It had no flow, and was not very interesting. Easy choice for a winner this week…..

WHO WINS: WWF Monday Night Raw

My Score - WWF 1 - 0 WCW

Blog Score - WWF ? - ? WCW

Week #2 - DT

"Where the Big Boys Play"

WCW Nitro

Best Match: The opening match. Sabu, on his debut. The hype video from the previous Nitro had me up for this. Going up against Das Wunderkid aka Alex "Jobber" Wright. You actually forget that Wright could wrestle though, he just suffered from a lack of personality. Sabu is legit insane. Like absolutely nothing we see in Nitro at the moment. A very high energy match, with some great spots. Alex Wright does a lovely drop kick, just pulls it out beautifully. This bucked the trend of what I would class a typical WCW match, from the bigger guys. Really was a breathe of fresh air from what we are use to. Plus a real nice debut win for Sabu........ Or was it, check out worst segment.

Worst Match: Hulk Hogan v Lex Luger - For the world title. It just made no sense to have this match here and now, after Luger just coming back last week. In my head before we even get to the match, I think Hogan won't drop the strap, and to be fair it makes no sense for him to yet. I'm also thinking Luger wont eat a loss in his first match back either, surely? Of course neither of those happened as Dungeon of Doom stormed the ring. During the match though. I did like the Luger getting Hogan in the torture rack and Hogan essentially passing out, decent little moment, which made Luger look strong. All in all though, a nothing match, which I knew was one before the bell even rang.

Best Segment: Ric Flair w/ Mean Gene. GOLD!! Give Flair a mic with Mean Gene holding and you know it's always going to be good. ALWAYS. The show wasn't segment heavy, by any stretch. Flair talked about Arn. Charisma oozing from every word. Animated as hell. How can you not enjoy Flair on the mic. One minor spot. Luger comes out end of the interview... FOR NO REASON! He gets in the ring and Flair talks about his big biceps. Luger awkwardly says "Flair..... You never change, you're just to much". Not needed and cringy as hell!

Worst Segment: I'm not even sure if this classes as a segment but it pissed and confused the hell outta me. Sabu has won, centre of the ring 1...2...3. Announced as the winner. He does a little beat down after on Das Wunderkid, nothing new there. Happens in a lot of matches. Set's up a table after a few moves. Drives himself and Alex Wright through the table..... NICK PATRICK REVERSES THE WIN AND GIVES IT TO ALEX WRIGHT!!!! WTF? So I expect that to happen on any after match beat downs now, can't be one rule for one, another for others right? Also Sabu now has a debut loss. Makes zero sense.

Hottest Feud: Still Flair/Arn. We may not of seen much, if anything at all between them, but the interview from Flair was all that needed. It's nicely slow building to what I imagine is a blow-off match I will thoroughly enjoy. Not a lot of choice at the moment.

Coldest Feud: Norton/Mongo/Savage? I'm not even sure whats happening here. Norton keeps bumping his gums about Mongo. I can't really remember Norton and Savage having any involvement with each other. Not saying they didn't, but if it did happen I was suitably not interested enough to acknowledge it... Maybe I went to piss.

Star of the Show: Sabu - Despite the totally stupid way he lost, and the fact somebody thought it was a cool idea for him to lose. He still in ring wise stood held and shoulders above the rest for me. Legit insane. I think it's just that he is so different to anything we are seeing at the moment in Dubya See Dubya, that's making him so appealing to me. Flair & Sting are a close second, through nothing other than presence. That said I don't think anybody really shone this show.

General Commentary: A really, really borderline average show. I didn't understand some of the decisions. They either seemed to serve no purpose or in other cases just hurt wrestlers/angles credibility. Not even Heenan's fantastic humour could pull this one round for me. I struggled to pick a star of the show because nobody simply stuck out, and I don't think it was their fault. It was who ever was in charge of the show.

It won't take much, for me, for WWF Raw to top this.

_________________________________________________________________________________

WWF RAW

Best Match: Scott Hall v Bulldog takes it for me. It was a DQ finish, but I still enjoyed how they done it. Very interesting opener as well. Started the show off nice and hot. I absolutely love me some Scott Hall/Razor Ramon. Hits the Razors Edge and I think this ones over. Dean Douglas storms the ring with the ref down, hits him with a huge elbow drop from the top rope. Onto Hall who is in a pin covering position. 1-2-3 Kid tries to make the save gets absolutely nowhere. Dean Douglas takes off. Ref wakes up and thinks its 1-2-3 Kid who has interfered. Enjoyed all who were in on it.

Worst Match: Dr Isaac Yankem v Scott Taylor - Just nothing to it really. Ran a total of 2:14, which was exactly what I expected. Squash match. You forget Glenn Jacobs was in phenomenal shape round about this era (Mainly due to the Kane ring attire). Worst match seems harsh as Yankem looked strong, just really was nothing to this match. Pinfall victory for Yankem.

Best Segment: Goldust promo - I've always enjoyed Goldust's stuff. He's just so freaky and weird. It's awesome to watch. Very entertaining promo. Just him and a camera. Building up to a future match, standard stuff but enjoyable nonetheless. (Check out the observer notes below to find out something cool about this Goldust promo)

Worst Segment: After the Bulldog win over Scott Hall, we cut to break. When we come back Vince McMahon is in the ring. Scott Hall one side of him, 1-2-3 Kid the other. He interviews them, which leads to a match sometime next week between the two. 1-2-3 Kid reminding Ramon that he has beat him before. All of that is fantastic. Only reason this is here, is as he is interviewing them. Jerry "The King" Lawler is still in his commentary position and he talks over the whole bloody interview. It's not just talking, he's actually commentating on an interview. SHUT UP MATE! Really ruined the segment for me.

Hottest Feud: Dean Douglas v Scott Hall - It's probably more me, but I didn't notice a lot of active feuds at the moment. Or if they were, they were only shown in video packages of weeks gone by. This one at least got a little air time. I enjoyed the good old run in interference and the way it led to costing Scott Hall the match. I also enjoyed the little VT package from last week, which showed Hall flooring Douglas backstage. This seems nicely poised to me.

Coldest Feud: Now I don't even know if this is going to transpire into a feud, or if it was just a way to book a match for next week. Sean Waltman v Scott Hall. Hall is already in it with someone else. The interview seemed very much like it was leading to something and it did with the match for next week. Both seem liked by the crowd. So maybe this was more just to get the match booked for next week. I'm sure this probably won't even belong here, once I watch the weeks ahead unfold. I was struggling for anything to put here anyway so, meh!

Star of the Show: "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels - Good win in the main event over Psycho Sid, with the intercontinental belt on the line. It's great to see when that belt really meant something. Michaels always looks good in the ring and this was no different. His three kicks at the end, the last being sweet chin music was great. He stood in the ring after his win for a good few minutes and the crowd just lapped it up. They love him...... and so do I.

General Commentary: Really solid first Raw (for us). Great first opener, many more little segments than WCW Nitro had. Two basic squash matches in the middle which really aren't for my liking. I'd rather they just trimmed one of those from the show altogether and let the other get a bit in ring time. It's nothing major though. Razor Ramon looked like a star, Shawn Michaels looked like a star. Bulldog looked menacing as hell. Psycho Sid looked like a psycho. I hate Vince McMahon on the commentary team and it kills me knowing we are still quite awhile away from that changing. Jerry Lawler may of contributed to my worst segment but outside of that he was solid. Some great one lines. Overall, really enjoyable.

WHO WINS : WWF RAW

My Score - WWF 1 - 0 WCW

Blog Score - WWF 1 - 0 WCW

Week 1 - Observer Notes

Wrestling Observer Notes:

(Taken from the 9/11 edition mostly, with some clarification on Luger matters in the 9/25 issue)

Lex Luger:

• Very interesting info on WWF Contracts at the time. All wrestlers were hired in under two-year deals, at $1500 to $2250 guarantee per year (based on $150 per television taping). The contracts would auto-renew if the wrestler did not give notice during the last 13 weeks of their contract. Wrestlers made their actual money on percentages of gates and merchandise. 
• Luger actually was the first WWF Superstar under a guaranteed deal due to his first year in the WWF being under his WBF (World Bodybuilding Federation) contract. 
• Due to the nature of their contracts, the WWF actually had to give permission for Luger to negotiate with WCW at all. They did this after McMahon wouldn’t meet Luger’s demands for money.
• Even so, WCW wouldn’t even meet Luger’s demands for money, only initially offering a deal at $1000 per night. 
• However, Big Van Vader and Paul Orndorff got into a fight at a television taping. Orndorff was on the booking committee, so Vader was suspended and later terminated. Since Vader was making a maximum of $750,000 a year, it opened up money for Luger to get the money he wanted. 

Tidbits:

• There were some interesting notes in there about Time Warner negotiating to purchase Turner. In September of 1995, Dave Meltzer called that there is no way that Time Warner would allow a money loser of WCW’s caliber to stay on the air very long. Come 5 years and change later, he would be right.
• Two guys named Dean Malenko and Eddy Guerrero debuted at the TV tapings for Saturday Night and the other syndicated programming. I sure hope they don’t suck!
• Diesel suffered a minor injury working against Mabel, keeping him off of the latest TV tapings.
• 1-2-3 Kid was already showing some neck issues at this point. He would have surgery on it in mid to late 1997.
• Goldust made his debut at the TV tapings that we are about to delve into next week.
• Tatanka was suspended from the WWF with no reason given, except that it wasn’t related to drugs.

WEEK 1 - September 4th, 1995 (Nitro Only - No Raw this week) - Husky Harris

WCW Monday Nitro 

Best Match – Sting vs Ric Flair. Hands down. These two work so well together. No noticeable botches, just solid content throughout. The slight repetitiveness of Sting Gorilla Press Slamming Flair five times is the only downfall. From Sting’s high flying, heavy impact attacks to Flair’s “Dirtiest Player in the Game” approach, I enjoyed every second of it. 

The first match of the night, Brian Pillman vs Jushin Thunder Liger was solid as well, but a couple of bad botches pulls down the score for me.

Worst Match – Hulk Hogan vs Big Bubba. This wasn’t a bad match, but the worst out of the three. It was basically “let’s watch Hogan do what Hogan does,” all the way up until the Dungeon of Doom runs out into the ring and attacks Hogan. Lex Luger comes out, helps clear house and leads to….

Best Segment – Hulk Hogan and Lex Luger meet in the ring to discuss why Luger is there. He is there because he’s “Tired of playing with kids, and wants to play with the big boys.” And Hogan is the biggest boy in town. They set up a title match for Nitro the following week.

Worst Segment – The introduction of Michael Wallstreet. This backstage segment felt very disjointed and off. He stared off camera and rarely looked at us. Mike Rotunda, who had most famously played Irwin R. Schyster in WWF, even made a forced mention of the IRS watching him closely. I would have liked to have seen something less robotic and more charismatic.

Hottest Feud – Arn Anderson and Ric Flair. This apparently has been building for a while now. Anderson came out to the ring and caused a no contest in the Flair/Sting match and then proceeded to beat Flair until the Nature Boy ran away. This one will build quite a bit in coming weeks.

Coldest Feud – Scott Norton and Randy Savage. Nothing wrong with this, as much as it hasn’t really gotten started. Let’s see where this goes next week, since a match has been booked!

Star of the Show – Lex Luger. A huge pop for the Total Package showing up unannounced. He walks out of WWF and into WCW and directly into a World Title match at Week 2. Luger was never the best on the mic, but he was decent on this night. Looking forward to what this brings.

General Commentary – I think it’s a solid show. The first two matches were really good, and the Hogan/Bubba match was not bad either.  The personalities are good, and Bobby “the Brain” Heenan was great. Steve “Mongo” McMichael leaves a lot to be desired, but what do you expect from a guy like him. Eric Bischoff was solid, though the oversells on minor moves got kind of annoying. Mean Gene is always enjoyable. 

The wrestling was extremely good, the interviews/segments were above average. For a the very first Nitro, and only 45 minutes long without the commercials, I think it did a good job of introducing WCW to Monday nights.

GRADE: B+

Week #1 (Nitro Only) - DT

"Where the Big Boys Play"

WCW Nitro #1

Best Match: Ric Flair v Sting. Decent match, obviously the moves are limited with the two involved. The selling and the psychology of the match is top notch though. Both men with their "Woo". Flair pleading and begging. A big top rope suplex. The no contest through Arn Anderson was the only way to finish it. Pillman/Liger just behind, two botched moves that I noticed, means it's just pushed out of top spot.

Worst Match: Hulk Hogan v Big Bubba - Nothing really wrong with it in my eyes. Just The two matches that came before it appealed to me more. I'd still be fairly happy with it had I been in the crowd. Typical Hogan match, you got what was to be expected.

Best Segment: Segments in these shows are few and far between. Keep in mind its a 47 minute show (An hour but with ad breaks taken out). I'm going to go with directly after the Hogan/Big Bubba match. The dungeon of doom storm the ring, attacking Hogan. Obviously its Hogan so they don't get anywhere near. Lex Luger comes out, they clear the house together, followed by a stare-down. Macho Man & Sting come out to calm things down. That's why I loved the segment. Standing in the ring you have Hogan, Luger, Sting & Savage. NOSTALGIA BUZZ! (Shout-out to the Sabu hype video as well, that was great.)

Worst Segment: Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff in PastaMania. Just Hogan basically turning a segment into an advert with him. Screaming kids all around him. Sure that's who Hogan is. Jimmy Hart in the background looking like a sex pest holding the belt high in the air. Take a shot for every time Hogan says "PastaMania". You will be drunk. Hated it.

Hottest Feud: Ric Flair/Arn Anderson - Love anything that has these two with each other. Be it  fighting with each other or side by side. Arn looks seriously pissed at Flair. Really looking forward to see what happens with this one.

Coldest Feud: Has to be Savage/Norton. Again not a lot wrong with it. I just don't remember it. I love Savage, hate Norton. In the weeks to come this has every chance to re-deem itself with me. It's only here because Flair/Arn are always gold and Luger/Hogan has barely started.

Star of the Show:  Lex Luger - Kind of has to be. Told Hogan why he was there and what he had came for. Luger on the mic ain't the best, but he still looked like gold tonight. In my eyes the man is WCW, it's who I associate him with the most. I wasn't a big fan as a kid, but my mind was changed (not on this show alone of course)

General Commentary: Very good first show. Two great matches, one decent. Segment wise it was light, as I said above that is to expected with the time frame though. Bobby Heenan is a god among men. Mongo not so much. The mall environment didn't do much for me either, although I wouldn't let that deter me from the actual show.

Flair v Sting was the high point. Got me looking forward to what they are going to put out next week. From what I remember of the WWF roster, they are going to be hard pushed to appeal more to my tastes than what I've just watched. Stranger things have happened though.

Week #1 - Lane

WCW Monday Nitro

Mall of America

Minneapolis, MN

Attendance: 2,000 estimated

Rating: 2.5

Best Match: Ric Flair vs. Sting ended in a no contest (11:31). I felt that this match was a shade better than the lauded Pillman/Liger encounter, which was hurt by not much time. Part of it may be the absolute familiarity that Sting and Flair had even at this point. Run-in finishes don't tend to bother me, and this one was needed to save a conclusive finish for this angle. A midcard match was never going to end Flair and Sting's program, and the ongoing Arn Anderson issue with Flair was going to take precedence. 

Worst Match: Hulk Hogan beat Big Bugga Rogers (7:08). This match wasn't so much about the in-ring action, but was about the angle. Rogers was always a stand-out talent, one of the best big men in the business. He and Hogan meshed well, but all of the usual Hogan tropes played out until the run in from the Dungeon of Doom. 

Best Segment: Lex Luger walking out to get in Hulk Hogan's face. Huge shock to see Lex in the house. I will have more on the details behind the deal in my Observer notes post later in the week. He always felt more like a WCW guy anyway, and he and Hogan were immediately broken up by Macho Man and the Stinger. 

Worst Segment: Scott Norton facing down Steve McMichael before Savage makes the save. I know that we are in prime "monster heel gets beat down by babyface" era, but Norton could have been so much more. Mongo almost ruined the segment with his reaction to Norton's threats, and Savage's run in saved the day for both the viewer and the announcer. 

Hottest Feud: Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson. 

Coldest Feud: Scott Norton vs. Randy Savage.

Star of the Show: Lex Luger. He appeared in the middle portion of the show and then showed back up at the end. The shock of his appearance made him what everyone would have been talking about after the show. He has to be the star, based on that alone.

General Commentary: The first WCW Nitro is in the books, and it was a pretty decent show to me. Using the formula that WCW would use for many years to come, they started off with a hot match to get the crowd pumped up. Then they used the matches and angles featuring the talents that the traditional WCW fanbase wanted to see like Ric Flair and Sting. Then they capped off the show with whatever Hulk Hogan is doing. Hogan is Hogan, and I'm sure I'll be just as tired of him as the fans were by the time this project is deep into 1996. 

I'm a WCW guy, through and through, so I definitely feel like I may favor them in the head-to-head shows. That said, I feel like this was a perfectly serviceable first episode of Nitro. Once we get more into the weeks to come, we will see how well they do with the collection of talent that they have massed.

Next week, I'm excited to see what Raw comes forward with. 

Intro, Part II

Hello everyone,

So here is what you can expect from myself and my two co-authors of this blog.

• Beginning with the very first WCW Monday Nitro, we will be reviewing each week of the Monday Night Wars, using a standard template with our own frills. 
• We will be picking a winner for the week. Since there are three of us, it will have a conclusive winner each week.
• In addition, I will be using the Wrestling Observer archives to post news and notes from WCW and the WWF. This will give everyone a better idea of the era and how things played out behind the scenes for the Big Two. I may touch upon ECW or international wrestling if there is something of note there.

The first week (with the first Nitro) is this week, so expect three reviews to go up. We will be going week by week with the shows, so expect three different reviews each week of the MNR shows. We may consider expanding that schedule as Nitro and Raw grow to 3 and 2 hours respectively, but that will be a bit down the line.

Introduction

Welcome to the Old School Wrestling Review blog!

This may or may not be a thing that lasts for a long time. It's a labor of love from wrestling fans, both lapsed and still currently following the sport.

Our first project will be to follow the Monday Night Wars from their inception in 1995 as far as the WWE Network will allow us to continue. I'm not certain how many writers will be joining me in this endeavor, but we are looking to post one breakdown a week. This may or may not fluctuate depending on life for us.

These breakdowns will be in the vein of whatever the individual commentator wants. Once I have the writing roster broken down, I'll let them introduce themselves. I should be pulling from different demographics in terms of geography and even wrestling preference. I want to hit as many bases as I can here. 

I hope everyone enjoys, and more information is to come.