RAW didn't have an episode on Christmas in 1995, and for some strange reason, the January 1st, 1996 episode of RAW isn't on the Network. Nitro did have episodes those days, but when I do a "RAW vs Nitro" when one of the shows doesn't have a show to review, it gets a tad difficult. So yeah, we're skipping forward two weeks. Nothing important happened, so it doesn't really matter.
So with that out of the way, let's get right into it, this is RAW vs Nitro #16!
RAW
- Jeff Jarrett vs Hakushi-The two lock up and go back and forth before Jarrett bodyslams Hakushi. Hakushi catches Jarrett's foot off a big boot and kicks him to the ground before being back body dropped to the outside. Hakushi lands on his feet before going to the top rope and hitting a diving shoulder tackle on Jarrett. Hakushi hits a dropkick before Jarrett rolls to the outside. Jarrett pulls Hakushi down from the outside before beating him down in the ring. Jarrett hits a body guillotine before the commercial break. We come back to see Jarrett with Hakushi in the abdominal stretch, using the ropes for leverage. Hakushi escapes with a hip toss, but Jarrett comes back with a DDT. Hakushi comes back with a jumping spin kick, but Jarrett avoids another dropkick and gets a near fall. Jarrett dodges a springboard crossbody for another near fall before locking in a headlock. Hakushi fights out and hits a spin kick before hitting a handspring back elbow and a flying forearm for a near fall. Hakushi hits a bodyslam before going for a springboard splash. Jarrett blocks the splash with his knees and locks in the Figure Four for the submission win. Fine little match, nothing special.
- Jim Ross hypes up the Royal Rumble. He reveals that Doug Gilbert, Jake Roberts, Jerry Lawler, Fatu, and the evil f*cking dentist will all be in the Royal Rumble match, along with the debuting Vader. Ross also adds Henry Godwinn, Marty Jannetty, Kama, and Skip will be in the match. Ross then throws it to "Scheme Gene"Ah yes, these not-at-all subtle jabs at former WWF employees who went to WCW. Believe me, this isn't the only one we'll be seeing in this post. They make fun of him for his hotline
- Ahmed Johnson vs Jeff Bettler-Look at this guy's pants:What the f*ck? Johnson squashes Bettler and wins easily with the Pearl River Plunge. After the match, Jeff Jarrett runs down and tries to smash his guitar over Johnson's head. Johnson dodges it and causes Jarrett to break it in half over the ring post, so he flees. Johnson smashes the rest of the guitar before walking off.
- Next week on RAW, the Undertaker & the evil f*cking dentist face off, along with Marty Jannetty vs Owen Hart.
- It's the Brother Love Show! Love's guest is the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, who is holding the Million Dollar Championship. Dibiase says he was looking for someone who could be a worth Million Dollar Champion, and he's found him. He brings out "The Ringmaster". Who is the Ringmaster? Take a look...Yep, that is pre-Stone Cold Steve Austin. He doesn't even have a goatee yet. Dibiase officially crowns the Ringmaster the Million Dollar Champion before the Ringmaster says that he is going to be in the Royal Rumble match and win it.
- Goldust vs Aldo Montoya-It's the Portuguese Man O' War Aldo Montoya, better known as the future Justin Credible. Montoya's appearance on this show leads me to ask one of professional wrestling's greatest questions...Why does Aldo Montoya's mask look like a jockstrap?The world may never know. Goldust attacks Montoya when he has his back turned. Goldust dominates the majority of the match before Montoya hits a clothesline. Montoya follows up with a back body drop, but Goldust blocks a hip toss and hits a lifting inverted DDT, called the Curtain Call, for the win. Pretty much a squash match.
- We go to a press conference held by Shawn Michaels. He says that his doctors, family, and friends think he should retire, but instead, he's going to compete in the Royal Rumble. He vows to win the match & the WWF Championship at WrestleMania. We then get thoughts from other superstars
- Diesel says that if he has face Michaels in the match, then he'll do what he has to do.
- Razor Ramon says it's too soon for him to return, but he thinks Michaels will win the match.
- Owen Hart says Michaels knows he's not ready to return and he'll make sure he never wrestles again after the Royal Rumble
- They actually replay the entire Bret Hart-British Bulldog match from In Your House 5.
- The Undertaker & Paul Bearer cut promos. Bearer says that Undertaker is finally getting his shot at the WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble before Undertaker says he plans on winning the title.
- And I'm not even kidding, we close the show not with a match, not a promo, not even a hype video...but with "Billionaire Ted's Wrasslin' Warroom." Jesus, this is just sad. In this segment, "Billionaire Ted" asks some other people what the slogan should be for their new "wrasslin' show". One man suggests "Uncut. Uncensored. Uncooked." That man was Vince Russo...I'm not even joking, the guy who suggested that was, in fact, Vince Russo.Ted says that they've "already stolen that one." Two men suggest it should be "Ted's wrasslin' is not believable" but Ted says they "shouldn't start telling the truth." Another suggestion is "This is where the good ol' boys play!" He then takes a suggestion from...ugh...the "Nacho Man"
He suggests "This is where the big boys play!" and Ted agrees. The "Huckster":
then jokes that they can take steroids because they aren't in the WWF. Just shameful. This was awful. It's not funny and it just makes the WWF look incredibly bitter.
But first! A quick recap of Starrcade 1995, which happened a week before this episode of Nitro.
- It's WCW vs New Japan Pro Wrestling for the World Cup of Wrestling. Seven of WCW's wrestlers faced off against seven of New Japan's wrestlers. WCW won the cup 4-3. These were the matches:
- Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Chris Benoit with a hurricanrana after a distraction from Kevin Sullivan
- Koji Kanemoto defeated Alex Wright with a jackknife cover
- Lex Luger defeated Masahiro Chono by submission with the Torture Rack
- Johnny B. Badd defeated Masa Saito by disqualification after Badd was thrown over the top rope
- Shinjiro Ohtani defeated Eddie Guerrero with a roll up
- Randy Savage defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan with a top rope elbow drop
- Sting defeated Kensuke Sasaki by submission with the Scorpion Death Lock.
- Ric Flair defeated Sting and Lex Luger in a triple threat match by countout to become the #1 contender to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. How do you win a triple threat by countout? Doesn't that completely go against the rules of a triple threat match? Yes. Yes it does. Flair tossed Sting & Luger out of the ring, where Luger held Sting back from getting back into the ring, getting them both counted out.
- Immediately after, Ric Flair defeated Randy Savage to become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion after Arn Anderson hit Savage with brass knuckles.
- In what has to be one of the strangest title changes in wrestling history, Kensuke Sasaki retained the WCW United States Championship against the One Man Gang. Before that, Gang had gotten the win when the referee counted Sasuke's shoulders down when they weren't. The match was restarted and Sasuke retained the title...HOWEVER...when WCW showed the match on Saturday Night, they cut out the restart, meaning that the One Man Gang is now the United States Champion.
Nitro
- Chris Benoit with Brian Pillman vs Alex Wright-We kick off with a cruiserweight match, which is always a plus. Benoit jumps Wright when he gets in the ring before he gets his jacket off. Benoit beats down on Wright and suplexes him around the ring before throwing him out of the ring. Pillman takes the opportunity to choke Wright with his t-shirt. Back in the ring, Benoit continues the beat down before Wright hits a jumping wheel kick. Wright hits a top rope crossbody before slingshotting Benoit to the outside. Wright hits a baseball slide, sending Benoit into the barricade before Wright dives off the top rope to the outside. Wright turns his attention to Pillman before he & Benoit enter the ring again. Wright hits a dropkick for a near fall before hitting a bodyslam for another near fall. Wright locks in a Boston Crab before turning it into an STF. Wright breaks the hold before the two trade strikes, ending with Wright hitting a back elbow. Wright gets a near fall off a snap suplex before taking out Pillman with a slingshot body press. Wright goes for a slingshot corner splash, but Benoit blocks it with his knees and goes for the dragon suplex. Wright blocks that and the two continue to counter eachother before Benoit hits the dragon suplex for the win. Good match, a great way to open the show. After the match, Pillman spits on Wright. Gross. Bischoff says "Don't be surprised if you don't see Brian Pillman in WCW much longer." Foreshadowing.
- Lord Steven Regal with Jeeves vs Eddie Guerrero-The two lock up before Guerrero locks in a wrist lock, which Regal breaks by getting to the ropes. Guerrero then mat wrestles Regal to the ground before Regal takes control with a wristlock. Guerrero turns it into a wristlock of his won before Regal escapes. Regal takes down Guerrero with a single leg before going to the ground & pound. Regal continues the beat down on Guerrero and cuts off a comeback attempt with a knee strike. Guerrero turns a butterfly suplex attempt into an arm drag before hitting necktie takeover and a dropkick. The two trade near falls before Regal jams his thumb in Guerrero's eye. Guerrero avoids a hip toss and gets a near fall off a pinning combination before Regal knocks him down with an uppercut. Regal hits an inverted suplex for a near fall before continuing the beat down. The two trade near falls again before Regal floors Guerrero with a back elbow. Regal gets three near falls before Guerrero fights back with a dropkick. Regal floors Guerrero with a back elbow before beating the sh*t out of him. Guerrero manages to turn one uppercut into a backslide for the surprise win. I enjoyed this, I thought this was a pretty good match. Afterward, Regal hits Guerrero a few times before Guerrero leaves the ring.
- Mean Gene interviews Sting & Lex Luger. Sting asks why Luger held him back from getting into the ring. Luger says he did it because he was injured and wanted Sting's help. Luger asks Sting to be his tag team partner at Clash of the Champions. Sting says they could be a good tag team, so Sting agrees.
- Diamond Dallas Page vs Sting-While the referee is checking Sting's gear, DDP takes the opportunity to rush Sting. DDP continues to beat down on Sting until Sting dropkicks him out through the ropes. Sting hits a slingshot body press to the outside before getting Page back into the ring. DDP doesn't duck on a leapfrog attempt by Sting, causing Sting to get headbutted in the dick. DDP hits a side suplex on Sting before hitting a swinging neckbreaker for a near fall. DDP then proceeds to lock in a headlock for TWO STRAIGHT MINUTES! Piss off. Sting finally fights out and hits a bulldog before punching DDP to the ground. Sting runs wild, hitting an atomic drop, a dropkick, and a Stinger Splash before going for the Scorpion Death Lock. DDP manages to grab the ropes to avoid the hold before hitting a hangman on Sting. DDP hits a neckbreaker for a near fall before Sting gets a near fall of his own off a roll up. DDP jabs his thumb into Sting's eye before getting a near fall off a back elbow. DDP goes for a side suplex again, but Sting flips out of it and locks in the Scorpion Death Lock for the submission win. Man, this was not good. Anytime there's a two-minute headlock spot with nothing in between, it's a down in my book. It's a shame, I really like DDP & Sting, but this was just not good.
- Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage-Anderson & Savage start, but both immediately tag out, bringing Flair & Hogan. Hogan floors Flair with a shoulder tackle, causing Flair to scurry to the corner. The two lock up before Flair takes Hogan down with a drop toe hold. The two exchange holds before Flair chops Hogan in the corner. Hogan no sells it, so Flair pokes him in the eye, only for Hogan to come back with a big boot. Hogan runs wild on both Flair & Anderson before they both roll out of the ring. Anderson tags in and he & Hogan trade holds before Savage tags in for a double axe handle. Savage locks in an armbar sending Anderson into a big boot from Hogan off the ring apron. Savage hits a double axe handle to the outside before throwing Anderson back in the ring for another one. Flair enters the ring, so Hogan comes in after him. This distracts the referee, allowing Flair to jab Savage. Despite no tag, Flair continues to beat down Savage before going to the top rope. Savage pops up and throws him off the top before locking in the Figure Four. Anderson tries to break it up, but Hogan gets in the ring and puts him in the Figure Four. The referee tries to get Hogan out of the ring after he breaks the hold, allowing Anderson to hit a DDT on Savage. Flair throws Savage out of the ring, allowing Anderson to beat him down at ringside before the commercial break. We come back to Anderson locking Savage in the abdominal stretch. The Horsemen continue to beat down on Savage. Savage locks in a sleeper hold on Anderson, but Anderson backs him into the Horsemen's corner, allowing Flair to rake Savage's eyes and make him break the hold. Savage rolls out of the ring, so Flair beats him down at ringside. Back in the ring, Savage reverses a hip toss from Flair with a backslide for a near fall, but Flair comes back with a knee breaker. Flair goes for the Figure Four, but Savage reverses it with a roll-up for a near fall, followed by another. The two trade strikes before Anderson tags in and prevents the tag. Anderson goes for the DDT, but Savage blocks it by grabbing the ropes and makes the tag to Hogan. Hogan runs wild on Flair & Anderson, clotheslining them both out of the ring, only for Savage to immediately toss Anderson back in the ring. Anderson hits a spinebuster on Hogan, and Hogan COMPLETELY NO SELLS IT! F*CK OFF. I can understand stuff like chops and punches, but the spinebuster is one of Arn Anderson's big moves. Seeing someone take the move and then just spring right back up completely kills it. Hogan hits a big boot followed by the leg drop for the win. As soon as the match ends, Brian Pillman, Chris Benoit, The Giant, Kevin Sullivan, the Zodiac, and Jimmy Hart all come down to ringside, where everybody fights. Hogan & Savage toss Flair from the ring before they each take a chokeslam from the Giant. The Zodiac then enters the ring and stops the Giant from hurting them anymore. Foreshadowing. The match was pretty good, that is all.
RAW: 5
Nitro: 11
That's it for this edition of RAW vs Nitro. Stay tuned for the next one!
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