WWF Television Compilation: March 1987-July 1993
- I've always been looking to do this tape, since it has a few matches I'd want to do in the old style, but some of it just puts me off. Plus the fact this tape is nearly 5 hours long also makes me question doing a traditional review. Credit to an unnamed person for compiling these matches for me, and being a HUGE dick by tacking a match onto the end without telling me about it. The limey bastard.
Match #1: The Killer Bees vs. The Hart Foundation (w/ Jimmy Hart):
(B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell vs. Brett Hart & Jim Neidhart)
Taken from the February 15th, 1987 event held at the Maple Leaf Gardens, and rebroadcasted on the March 2nd, 1987 episode of PrimeTime Wrestling. The Foundation had won the title no more than a week earlier from the British Bulldogs (in T.V. time), but this is Non-Title because the match was signed before the Foundation won the Tag Titles. I should point out the Bees are wearing ridiculously faggoty ring attire: The traditional bees tights, long black tights, and Bee sneakers. Just a note: I have yet to seen a bad match between these two teams, which can be credited to them wrestling about 500 times from 1986-87. The Foundation spend the majority of the match wiping the canvas with Brian Blair, using all their dirty heel tricks and some nice double-team spots. The Bees eventually put on the masks (don't ask), and this gives Brunzell a chance to make both Foundation members his bitch. Bonzo Gonzo happens, and Blair comes off the top rope for a sunset flip on Hart for the surprise (and illegal) pinfall at 7:25. The tag champions just jobbed clean to the Killer Bees! Wait, they cheated... but Blair WAS the legal man the entire time, so technically it wasn't. A bit of a disappointment, as literally the entire match was Blair taking a licking, ans Brunzell putting his mask on and cleaning house for a minute. Still good, but not spectacular. (**1/4)
Match #2: The Killer Bees vs. Kamala & Sika (w/ Kim-Chee):
Back to the Maple Leaf Gardens once again, this time from March 15th, 1987. This is an opening round match of a special Tag Team Tournament, where the winner would face the Hart Foundation for a Tag Title Match. Kamala and Sika has to be one of the more unusual combinations. Sure, both are "wild", but it doesn't mean they gel well as a team. Monsoon makes a goof, refering to the Wizard (the former manager of Kamala) as "The Grand Wizard." The Bees make the match pretty watchable, but that also can be credited to the match being rather short, and the Bees controlling a good portion of the match. To the finish... Kamala accidentally belly-bumps Sika in an act of heel miscommunication, and Brunzell actually pins Sika with the dropkick at 7:27. M-AZING! I think this is the only time Brunzell pinned a non-jobber with that move on my tapes. (*1/2)
Match #3: Six-Man Tag Team Elimination Match:
Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Billy Jack Haynes vs. Paul Orndorff, Adrian Adonis, Hercules:
From the March 7th, 1987 event held at the Boston Garden (and rebroadcasted on Primetime Wrestling sometime after WrestleMania III), and billed as Piper's final appearence ever in Boston. Interesting that Orndorff was still wrestling Hogan at house shows, but had nothing to do for WrestleMania III. The other pairings, of course, were Piper/Adonis and Hercules/Haynes, both paired off for WrestleMania. The idea of a 6-Man Elimination Tag was rather new at this point, so the ring announcer makes sure to explain the rules. He even calls it an "elimination TOURNAMENT", giving me a nice long laugh. Last I checked, a Tournament consisted of more than 1 match/game, but what do I know? I'm just a wrestle...ing fan. Anyway, to say the crowd isn't jacked for this would be a lie. Hogan and Piper alone get insane reactions.
Somewhat of a disappointing match, as the strongest comparison around the time, which featured Steamboat/Piper/JYD vs. Savage/Race/Adonis, was more "smartly" booked and had Piper going over in his final match at MSG (until he came out of retirement in the Fall of '89). Just like in the MSG match, Piper and Adonis rarely spend time in the ring together, but unlike that match, and rather surprisingly, both men are Counted-Out for the first eliminations, leaving Hogan/Haynes vs. Hercules/Orndorff. Hogan plays the face-in-peril for the next few minutes before getting a quick roll-up to eliminate Orndorff, leaving Hercules down against 2 men. Orndorff remains in the ring though to beat on Hogan and the referee while Hercules lays an ass-whooping on Billy Jack, and eventually pinning him, leaving Hercules to go one-on-one with Hogan. We all know how it ends, with Hogan doing the running clothesline and leg drop at 17:53. Heenan takes a bump into the turnbuckle for good measure. A bit slow with too much resting to open the match, but the quick tags early on made it more watchable. I could've done without the lame last few minutes of lightning-quick eliminations, but thems the breaks. (**3/4)
Order of Elimination: 1. Roddy Piper and Adrian Adonis Counted-Out (11:19), 3. Paul Orndorff pinned by Hulk Hogan (15:13), 4. Billy Jack Haynes pinned by Hercules (16:12), 5. Hercules pinned by Hulk Hogan (17:53)
Match #4: The British Bulldogs & Billy Jack Haynes vs. The Hart Foundation & "Dangerous" Danny Davis (w/ Jimmy Hart):
From the June 15th, 1987 event held at Madison Square Garden. I should point out the Bulldogs were pretty much done at this point, with Dynamite Kid's seriously fucked up back and Davey Boy working the majority of a match. We all know the Bulldogs/Foundation & Davis storyline, so I don't need to go into a long detailed rant about it. According to the History of WWE, Haynes is subbing for Koko B. Ware... blech. Nice trade off. Rather boring (and much too long match), with heat segments that pretty much consist of nothing more than punching and choking (on Davey Boy and Haynes). Davis, of course, only comes in when he's in control, and tags out the moment he gets hit by anything, even a weak-ass punch. The finish comes with the Bulldogs and Haynes triple teaming Hart, and Davey Boy press slamming Dynamite onto the fallen Hart for the pinfall at 18:02. Maybe if they trimmed out about 5 minutes of that, it would've been more watchable, but damn, was this sucker boring me to tears. (*1/2)
- A Whole Bunch of WrestleMania V Reports! From the WM V Report, Event Center and WWF Update Segments, we get the run down of the WrestleMania V Card for about 27 minutes. Amazing, isn't it? I'll keep a record on all of the promos after I run down the card...
1. The Mega-Powers Explode!! World Champion Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan
2. Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Andre The Giant (Special Referee: Big John Studd)
3. IC Champion The Ultimate Warrior vs. "Ravishing" Rick Rude
4. Tag Team Champions Demolition vs. The Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji
5. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "Million $ Man" Ted Dibiase
6. The Red Rooster vs. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
7. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. Bad News Brown
8. The Rockers vs. The Twin Towers
9. Hercules vs. King Haku
10. The Bushwackers vs. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers
11. The Blue Blazer vs. Mr. Perfect
12. The Hart Foundation vs. The Honkytonk Man & Greg Valentine
13. "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin vs. Dino Bravo
14. Strike Force vs. The Brain Busters
Promos from the following spanning about 6 segments: Hulk Hogan (2), Randy Savage (2), Brother Love & Morton Downey Jr. (3), Run DMC (2), Honkytonk Man & Greg Valentine, Hercules, Jake Roberts, Andre The Giant, Big John Studd, Demolition, and The Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji.
Match #5: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (w/ Sensational Sherri):
From the July 1989 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. Recently on an episode of SuperStars of Wrestling, Savage and Sherri beat the pants off of Beefcake, and did a most dastardly thing... they cut off his ugly mullet, because mullets were only an in-thing for people under 40. Just a side rant on Savage: It may be me, but once Savage turned heel and paired up with Sherri, he basically flushed his workrate down the toilet. Sure, he was capable of having a good match here and there, but most of his matches included an insane amount of stalling, and when Savage used to be on offense, is now traded in for Sherri interfering. Savage must've had his work boots on for this match though. Hell, maybe Beefcake was REALLY motivated, because this was the high period of his career, being part of the main event storyline for a good portion of 1989, and was set for bigger things in 1990. Thanks to a pretty good pace, minimal stalling, and surprisingly good psycology, this match is pretty damn good (at least on Beefcake's scale). Of course, the only "great" Beefcake match goes to hell because Zeus, the Human Wrecking Machine, runs a foul of the rules, giving Beefcake the win by Disqualification at 9:43. Hogan comes in to make the save, but Zeus is impervious to selling anything. He even no sells a chair shot. Pfft... fuck WWF, Zeus was money for ECW doing something like that. Probably the best match of Beefcake's career, which is pretty sad considering almost everyone has had better. (***1/2)
The Brother Love Show with Hulk Hogan: From April 1990, a few weeks following WrestleMania VI. Jimmy Hart joins the set without Earthquake, who Brother Love said would be on the show. Hogan talks trash to a 130 pound manager until Earthquake attacks from behind, and drops ass on Hogan's face to put him out of action long enough to film another suck-ass movie. This lead to Tugboat starting a "send get well cards to Hogan" thing and something about yellow ribbons or whatever. I forget, and don't care. I never cared for this angle, so excuse my slacking.
From the Pages of WWF Magazine, it's The Update: Hosted by Mean Gene Okerlund (who looks to be ready to cry), we take another look at the events on the Brother Love Show where Earthquake "seriously injured" Hulk Hogan. Earthquake and Jimmy Hart cut a promo, happy about what they did. Tugboat follows with his own promo, acting as if Hogan died, and the World is coming to an end. Oh come the fuck on... Tugboat is such a pansy. And don't make me bring up his Rumble promo from 1991, about life preservers and a rubber bong... I mean boat. Send Get Well Wishes to PO Box 911, Venice, CA 90294 today!
- Ted Dibiase Vignettes looking to dig up dirt on the Big Boss Man, during their forgotten feud from the Spring of 1990. Dibiase would pay off local yokels to bad mouth Boss Man, but no one believed it, and they would later deny saying anything. Dibiase sure got screwed with angles. His stuff with Boss Man, Sapphire, Kerry Von Erich, and Roddy Piper from 1990-1991 sure went nowhere fast when it came to television stuff.
Match #6: Shane Douglas vs. "Playboy" Buddy Rose:
From a July 1990 episode of PrimeTime Wrestling, and fairly early (if not the first match) from Shane Douglas' first run in the WWF. Douglas even has his Dynamic Dude boots for this match. Buddy Rose weighs around 350 pounds here, looking like Adrian Adonis #2. To sum it up in a sentence, both men are nothing more than Jobbers at this point in there careers. The canned heat for this match is incredible, considering a lot of people are walking around and/or not paying attention to the match. Very ultra-generic heatless match between two Jobbers, with plenty of chinlocks and armbars from Douglas, and not much of note from the really fat guy. Other than the Blow Away Diet Commercial (oh man, was that awesome), Rose never did much in the WWF to make me give a damn about him. Douglas eventually picks up the win with a hurricanrana at 7:26, but no one cares, so the crowd pipes in cheering as if Douglas were Hulk Hogan. Nothing match, and this was supposed to be Douglas impressing anyone, he failed miserably. (1/2*)
The Brother Love Show with Sensational Queen Sherri: Sherri is looking quite ugly for this, although she's hiding behind either a really weird head piece or the worst weave-job I've ever seen. This was to set up a possible Warrior/Savage feud, with Sherri questioning Warrior's manhood, and slapping him around like a bitch, to no response. Now here's the kicker... Roddy Piper is mad at Warrior for not hitting a woman. And people jumped all over Steve Austin's case, despite everyone promoting beating women in wrestling for many years. We see an Update of this event, with Warrior running backstage to beat up some Jobbers. Jesus Warrior, what did Jim Brunzell do to you?!
Match #7: Big Boss Man vs. Paul Perez:
From the September 23rd, 1990 episode of Wrestling Challenge, and only on here because of what happens before the match. Before Boss Man comes to the ring, he heads up to the broadcasters table to assault Bobby Heenan for talking bad about his momma'. BBM handcuffs Heenan, throws him off the stage, drags him to the ring area where he handcuffs the other half of the cuffs to the security rail, and then throws away the key. Standard squash match, with Boss Man beating Perez with the usual stuff, finishing with the Sidewalk Slam at 1:31. After the match, Boss Man threatens Heenan with violence, but then walks away with letting him go from the cuffing. (1/2*)
Match #8: Tugboat vs. Chrus Duffy:
Same match, and Heenan is still cuffed to ringside, despite attempts at paying off Slick and Power & Glory in a previous match, to no avail. Now Rick Rude comes to the ring to try and break Heenan free of his prison, but it doesn't work. The Heenan stuff is the main focus of the match, but for those that care about that thing, Tugboat pins the guy with the fat-ass splash from the second turnbuckle at 1:20. After the match, or at the end of the broadcast, Vince McMahon comes down from the broadcast position to talk to Rude and Heenan. Rude spends the whole time cursing for someone to help Heenan. Nice thing to do in front of a bunch of children, Rude. (DUD)
The Brother Love Show with Jake "The Snake" Roberts: From the October 6th, 1990 episode of SuperStars of Wrestling. Before we get the scheduled host, Rick Martel once again pimps his Arrogance cologne, which he has been doing for the past month or so on Brother Love. Short and to the point: Martel doesn't approve of the smell of Damian, and constantly sprays the bag with his arrogance, until Roberts gets in the way and accidentally on purpose gets a shot in the eyes, selling like he was shot in the eyes. Big Boss Man and a bunch of Officials come to his aid while Martel claims it was an accident.
Survivor Series 1990 Report: Only a few matches are announced, those being the Hulkamaniacs (Hogan/Tugboat/Bossman/Duggan) vs. Natural Disastors (Quake/Bravo/Rude/Barbarian), and the Warriors (Warrior/Tornado/LOD) vs. The Perfect Team (Perfect/Demolition). No promos from any of the teams, and we're off to the next thing on the tape.
The Lost WrestleMania VII Interviews: Since I only have the hacked-to-hell Coliseum Video Version of WrestleMania VII, here are some of the Interviews clipped out to make room for everything in the 2 hour 40 minute slot. First, Regis Philbin interviews the Undertaker & Paul Bearer. They ignore his talking while Undertaker measures him for a casket. We throw it to Alex Trabek with Demolition & Mr. Fuji, who try and incorporate Jeopardy into their promo. Back to Philbin, and he's with Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao, who don't understand english. And back to Trabek again, and he's scared shitless by Jake Roberts and Damian.
Match #9: The Dragon, The British Bulldog, The Texas Tornado vs. The Warlord, Hercules, Paul Roma (w/ Slick):
From SummerSlam '91 held at MSG, and damn, is this match depressing, with a 50% ratio of dead wrestlers. The entire face team being relegated to such a worthless match despite main eventing else where during their careers kinda pisses me off (well, Bulldog later, but he was a big deal during the prime of the Bulldog tag team), but Bulldog/Warlord STILL had issues, so I guess that's why the Bulldog is in this. Oh, and the Dragon is Ricky Steamboat. Not too exciting of a match, with the faces all going through the motions, and a rather heat segment done on the Dragon. In a booking form used way too often now, everyone starts going for pins after hitting big moves, despite not being legal men in the ring. After Warlord no sells the Tornado Punch and Bulldog lays out Roma with the running powerslam (for only a two count), Dragon comes off the top with the leaping body press on Roma for the pinfall at 10:44. Good finish, boring middle portion where Hercules and Warlord worked over Dragon with lots of resting and punching. (*1/2)
Match #10: The Dragon vs. Tanaka:
Joined in Progress to a Dragon side headlock, from an episode of PrimeTime Wrestling, with Monsoon and Hayes on the call, instead of the more common team of Mooney and Hayes. Despite being a former IC Champion and headlining B-C Arena Shows before, Dragon had been relegated to fighting with the likes of Skinner, Haku, Paul Roma, and other JTTS' during this run of his career. Not exactly a classic match and a bit dull despite being a rather short match, but nothing wrong here. Dragon makes his opponents look credible, no matter how low they are on the card, and Tanaka is no slouch in the ring either, just mis-used by the WWF. Dragon takes a beating for a few minutes, but makes the inevitable comeback and finishes Tanaka off with the leaping body press from the top rope at 5:46. One of the last non-squash matches the Dragon would have on WWF television, as he would soon head back to WCW for better times. (**)
Match #11: WWF Tag Team Championship Match:
The Legion of Doom © vs. The Rockers:
(Road Warrior Hawk & Animal vs. Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels)
From the December 28th, 1991 episode of SuperStars of Wrestling, and I match I more than well remember more than others from back in the day. The Rockers had been having problems with each other for the past few months, and this is a semi-historic match. The Rockers hold their own well against the LOD, or as well as a JTTS team can do against the fucking Road Warriors. Shawn plays the face-in-peril for once, and Jannetty comes in as a house of fire. Pretty cool finish with double team work, but the "I dropkick my partner on top while the other guy holds him" spot goes wrong, as Michaels accidentally dropkicks Animal, causing Animal to powerslam Jannetty, and that's all she wrote for the Rockers at 3:29. After the match, Michaels and Jannetty argue, and this leads to some shoving. A few weeks later on the Barber Shop, Michaels would turn heel, and Jannetty's career flushed down the toilet. If memory serves correctly, this was the last time Michaels and Jannetty teamed up (on T.V. at least) until March 2005. Not much of a match, thanks to the rush-job, but it wasn't too bad. (*1/4)
Match #12: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts:
From the first ever episode of Saturday Night's Main Event... to be broadcasted on the FOX Network, from February 1992. This is, I believe, the blow-off to the Roberts/Savage angle that began when Roberts had his king cobra bite Savage on an episode of SuperStars the weekend of Survivor Series '91, and transfered Roberts into a program with the Undertaker before his departure from the company. Much like all of their matches, it's pretty good, but horribly rushed to less than 7 minutes, but the "intensity" from both men makes up for it. You would think both men would want to punish their opponents for hours instead of going for a pin at the earliest opprotunity. Savage goes heel a bit, by doing the double axehandle to the floor with Roberts' throat across the security railing, and the elbow drop from the top is academic, giving Savage the win at 5:25. Savage adds another elbow drop despite the protesting of referees and Rene Goulet. Savage goes for the ring bell, but Roberts rolls out of the ring with the help of a referee. Elizabeth comes to ringside to celebrate with Savage, but Roberts is backstage ready to pounce... and we end the broadcast. (***)
Match #13: Jim Duggan & The Bushwackers vs. The Mountie & The Nasty Boys:
From the unaired portion of SummerSlam '92, rebroadcasted on an episode of PrimeTime Wrestling. I guess I can't complain about this match not making the cut for the Pay-Per-View version, considering everyone in this match sucks. When Jacques Rougeau is the best worker of the match, you're in trouble. A long and dull suckfest that includes maybe 2 actual wrestling moves. I fast forward until I see the whites of everyones eyes, because this match blows dogs for quarters, man. The Bushwackers clean house of everyone with the battering ram, and Duggan nails Mountie with the clothesline. Saggs accidentally elbow drops Mountie from the top rope, then covers the Mountie for the three count at 10:16. Messy match is all I have left to say. (DUD)
- From the PrimeTime Wrestling Studios with panelists Vince McMahon, Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Bobby Heenan, and Mr. Perfect. But first, we go to the Event Center, hosted by Sean Mooney, for a promo from the Beverly Brothers & The Genius. Back to the studio, and in comes Jameson, who starts choking on something (dick?). Bobby Heenan later recieves a phone call, and is almost in tears... apparently, Jameson... lived. (sobs)
Match #14: "El Matador" Tito Santana vs. Papa Shango:
Also from SummerSlam '92, but taken out for the U.S. Pay-Per-View Version, and once again we're from PrimeTime Wrestling. Shango and Santana wrestled plenty of times throughout 1992-93, and all of the matches were the same. Santana gets his token offense in, Shango no sells and works over Santana with some crappy offense, Santana gets a two count off the Flying Jalupeņo, and Shango finishes Santana off with the reverse shoulder breaker thing at 6:11. Totally pedestrion stuff here, but it was a bit better than the Six-Man Tag before this. (3/4*)
Match #15: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "Million $ Man" Ted Dibiase (w/ Jimmy Hart):
From the February 15th, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw, and Beefcake's first match back with the WWF since the Summer of 1990. The previous week on Raw, Beefcake made his return and issued an open challenge, which was accepted by Money Inc., but since only one of them could wrestle, a flip of the coin made Dibiase the opponent. Jimmy Hart had been teasing a face-turn, warning Dibiase from accepting the match. Rather generic match, as Beefcake frustrates Dibiase by posing a lot, and generally doing nothing more than the most basic of moves (headlocks and punches). It's not long before Irwin R. Schyster comes to ringside, and not long after that until he runs a foul of the rules, and blasts Beefcake across the back with his steel metal briefcase, giving Beefcake the win by Disqualification at 4:26. Now the fun begins... Money Inc. stomps away on Beefcake, then prepare to bash his head in with the briefcase, but Jimmy Hart gets in the middle, until I.R.S. throws him out of the ring. I.R.S. gets ready and knocks Beefcake's face into the 5th row. They try again, but officials and Hart talk them out of the ring, as Beefcake leaves raspberry jam on the canvas, because he would probably bleed metal if he bladed. Nothing much of a match, but a pretty good storyline, and I doubt many people saw Jimmy Hart's face turn coming. (1/2*)
Match #16: WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Shawn Michaels © (w/ Diesel) vs. Marty Jannetty:
From the July 19th, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw, and voted the PWI 1993 Match of the Year. I'll do full blow-by-blow reviewing of this, to see if it beats my personal pick for 1993, Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart from King of the Ring '93. History Lesson: Jannetty returned to the WWF (again) on May 17th, 1993 to win the IC Title from Michaels. Michaels then won it back in Albany three weeks later with the help of his new bodyguard, Diesel. Here's the rubber match. Michaels jumps Jannetty from behind to start, and pounds away with elbows across the back. Irish whip, and Jannetty flips out of a bak body drop, and counters a back slide with a clothesline for a two count. Jannetty with a roll up gets another two count. Irish whip, and Michaels escapes a slam attempt, but flies out through the ropes on his own momentum while attempting a roll up. Back into the ring, and Michaels applies a standing side headlock. An Irish whip escape leads to a crisscross, some blocking of hip tosses, and Michaels missing the Super-Kick. Lockup into the corner, and Michaels gets in a cheap shot, followed by choking across the top rope. Irish whip to the corner, and Michaels misses a diving charge. Jannetty with a series of hip tosses and a scoop slam for a two count. Wristlock applied by Jannetty, and then he bars the arm. Jannetty turns the hold into an overhead wristlock. Irish whip to escape, and Michaels puts Jannetty down with a back elbow. Jannetty is introduced to the buckle, but Michaels charges into the boot. Jannetty with a second rope clothesline, and then he heads to the top rope, but Michaels rolls away. Jannetty saw that coming though, landing on his feet mid-move, and lays out Michaels with a DDT... for the three count at 5:08?! Marty Jannetty is the NEW Intercontinental Champion!
Until we return from the commercial break, and Bobby Heenan convinced referee Earl Hebner to watch the instant replay, which shows Michaels getting his foot on the bottom rope, so the match is restarted. Outside the ring, Jannetty hammers away on Michaels. Back into the ring, and Jannetty takes over Michaels with a snap suplex for a two count. Jannetty hammers away on Michaels with rights, and connects with a back breaker for another two count. Jannetty continues beating on Michaels with rights. Irish whip to the corner, and Jannetty catches Michaels from behind with a Sleeper Hold. Michaels manages to escape with a well-timed back suplex. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Jannetty runs into a back elbow. Michaels follows with a running high knee to the back, causing Jannetty to go out through the ropes to the outside. Back into the ring, and a crisscross leads to a double shoulder tackle and a double head collision, which causes Michaels to stagger out of the ring. [Commercial Break] We come back with Michaels elbowing Jannetty in the corner and coming off the top rope with a double axehandle for a two count. Reverse chinlock applied by Michaels, and now the match suffers. Jannetty manages to escape with elbows to the midsection, but Michaels lays him out again and applies a front facelock. Jannetty teases escaping, so Michaels moves to the ropes to use them for leverage to keep Jannetty down. Both men are sweating bullets, and I should remember they are about 18 minutes into the match including the commercial breaks (which are cut out, of course). Jannetty powers Michaels up into the corner, crotching him across the top rope in the process. Jannetty hammers away on Michaels and connects with a diving back elbow for a two count. Irish whip, and Michaels catches Marty in the piledriver position, but Jannetty counters with a hurricanrana for a two count! Irish whip to the corner, and Jannetty eats buckle on a charge. Michaels heads to the top rope, and a cross body press is countered by Jannetty for another two count! Rocker Dropper connects, and Michaels is down, then gets tied up in the ropes a la Andre the Giant. Jannetty hammers away, but he goes for a cross body, and goes SPLAT on the arena floor. Diesel tosses Jannetty back into the ring, and Michaels crawls on top of Jannetty for the three count at 14:13 (minus several commercial breaks). If there was ever an example of anti-climatic finish, THAT was it. ****1/2 Easily the best match Michaels and Jannetty had (on television). The action was too fast to call, the execution of everything was crisp, the resting wasn't nearly as bad as I remember it being, and they had a perfect ring-presence when wrestling each other. However, If not for the lack of psychology other than Michaels is desperate to not lose and Jannetty wants to win, this could've been a 5-star match and easy MOTYC, so I stand by my original decision for Perfect/Hart as my personal choice.
Final Thoughts: A great combination of rare matches from arena shows and crappy stuff from television tapings. Outside of a few matches, nothing here is to die for when it comes to the workrate, but what is good is very good. The only match I'd recommend hunting down though, is Michaels/Jannetty, since it's quite easily (is that a word?) the best match here and a true television classic during a time frame when WWF Television wasn't producing many matches this good, unless they were with Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, and Marty Jannetty, and even then, they had some stinkers. No recommendation since this is a comp tape, but get the HBK/Jannetty match, bitches.