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Well, nothing more shocking could happen than what occurred on the January 4th, 2010 edition of Raw. Bret Hart returned to WWE TV and buried the hatchet live on air with Shawn Michaels in the opening promo. That is probably the basis for this month’s theme – the most shocking moments in Wrestling history! We’ll see just how shocking these really are!
---Week One---
This was a really weird start to the week. It seems that the regular Classics.com team is on vacation because this first update featured one PPV (Royal Rumble 2008 which I’m not reviewing since I have it in the archives for review) and only four videos added. For some strange reason, most of the videos from last month (all the episodic TV, Joey Styles ECW matches, and some of the Hell In A Cell and Cage matches) and it just looked really weird. A lot of people on the boards were complaining about the look of the updates and for good reason. From the time I’ve been a member, it’s always been well run with timely updates and a lot of content posted weekly. Now we hear that our episodes will only be on twice a month instead of four times a month and this week saw only four new videos added? That’s weak.
-Who is the New GM of Raw?-
This is from July 15th, 2002 and this was a Raw I remember taping and watching it later on and being shocked. We start Raw with the New World Order music and Vince McMahon walking out. Vince says that the NWO is dead. Vince talks about the different eras of the WWE (Rogers, Sammartino, Graham, and then Hulkamania, followed by the Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart and Steve Austin). He seemed to forget Bob Backlund. Vince says it is time for a new era. The dawn of this new era will see a new General Manager for both Raw and Smackdown. We see an interview with Flair saying he has no idea who the new GM will be or how anyone besides McMahon can run it. The Coach is outside McMahon’s door wondering who the new GM is when Paul Heyman goes into Vince’s office. All of a sudden, a woman runs in saying the new GM is here. The guy shows up and it is Shane McMahon. Vince says he’s not the new GM and Shane says he is just trying to prevent Vince from making the biggest mistake of his life. Coach interviews Booker and Booker makes Coach do a Coach-er-rooni. It was so bad Booker questions if he’s really black. All of a sudden, Eric Bischoff walks in and shakes hands with Booker T. We take a break and return with McMahon introducing Eric Bischoff as the new GM. The two hug and shake hands. That was very surprising when I saw it back then. Who knew that McMahon would hire Bischoff, the guy who almost put his company out of business, to work for him? Bischoff introduces himself as the guy who ran WCW (not the run-down version from the InVasion) and he took the competition right to McMahon. Bischoff mentions giving away Raw results and the throwing away of the WWE Women’s Title on Nitro. Bischoff notes that Nitro beat Raw 84 weeks in a row, but doesn’t mention how Raw rebounded and Nitro suffered 122 losses in a row before the company folded. Anyway, he promises changes will be coming.
-The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar(c) for the WWE Title-
This is a SmackDown match from June 10th, 2003 and I have no recollection of this one. Lesnar tosses the title at Show to distract him and charges him into the corner. Big Show responds with a clothesline for one. Lesnar tries a belly to belly that is broken by a headbutt from the Big Show. Show chops at Lesnar in the corner and he tries to clothesline Lesnar to the outside but Lesnar ducks out of the way and Big Show tumbles to the outside. Lesnar follows but he gets sent into the steel steps. We return to the ring with Show hitting a sidewalk slam on Lesnar for two. Show works on the leg with a single leg Crab, Lesnar makes the ropes and Show has to break. Big Show misses a charge in the corner and Lesnar clubs his back and hits a German suplex. That was impressive. Lesnar tries the F5 but he couldn’t hold him up and he drops to the mat. Show clotheslines Lesnar down and tries a chokeslam but Lesnar is able to break free. Lesnar runs into a big boot and Show follows with a legdrop for two. Show calls for the Choke Slam again and this time he connects with it. Big Show covers but Lesnar kicks out at two. Big Show grips Lesnar’s throat again and he tries a choke slam from the top rope. Lesnar crotches Show and he superplexes Big Show off the top rope! Their impact makes the ringposts and the ring collapse. Now I remember this match. Both Lesnar and Show are down and that ends the show as paramedics run out. Let’s call this the Sportz Entertainment finish at 10:00. The match was actually very good between these two and that definitely was a cool highspot. The crawl to the finish does impact the final rating. ***.
-Madusa shows up!-
This would be Madusa’s first appearance on WCW Nitro and it was a shocking one. It happened on December 18th, 1995. Basically, Alundra Blayze shows up on Nitro, now renamed Madusa, with the WWE Women’s Title in tow and she throws it away in the garbage. See, McMahon made the mistake of not signing her to a contract while she was still the Women’s title holder. I believe WCW got sued for this by having the WWE Title show up on a WCW show.
---Week Two---
The format problems still haven’t been fixed but there is new content so that is enough for now. I do have to say that this isn’t shaping up to be a stellar month for the Classics.com team. For instance, JR’s feature is dated February 19th, 2009 and celebrates Black History Month.
-The Hart Foundation(c) vs. The Rockers for the WWE Tag Team Titles-
This is a very famous match from October 29th, 1990 that was recorded for Coliseum Video and it is the very rare title change between the two teams. The Rockers get a decent pop here, but they don’t come out when they are introduced. This seems to be a match without commentary which is always interesting to watch. Bret and Marty start this up with a lock up and clean break. The two exchange side-headlock takeovers with head scissor counters leading to Marty arm-dragging Hitman over into an armbar and a hammerlock. Hitman uses the elbow to break and grabs the arm himself. Shawn is tagged in and Hart gets caught with a double back breaker. Neidhart charges only to take a double superkick. Hart is up quickly and responds with a double noggin knocker leading to an Anvil double clothesline. The Harts try to whip the Rockers into each other but the Rockers reverse it. Everyone puts on the brakes (with Bret tripping over Shawn) and it’s a stalemate. The Anvil is tagged in and he shoves Michaels into the corner. Shawn tries a hiptoss but Anvil won’t allow it. So Michaels takes him over with a headscissors. Michaels starts working the arm and Jannetty continues. Anvil sends Marty to the ropes but Marty’s not dumb enough to try a shoulderblock. So he goes underneath Anvil and trips him up. That doesn’t work for long and Jannetty is clotheslined to the outside. Anvil also knocks Michaels to the outside. Anvil tries to suplex Jannetty back in but Jannetty holds onto the ropes, slides beneath the Anvil and catches him with an atomic drop. Michaels makes a token tag in and gets a pinfall out of things, leading to Hart making a token pinfall in to take out Jannetty. Jannetty sunset flips the Anvil only to bring Bret in. This draws in Shawn and Bret is dumped to the outside. The Rockers try for their double fist-drop but Hart knocks Michaels down and breaks up the pinfall when Jannetty hits his fistdrop. Michaels is tagged in but he gets powerslammed down for two. Hart sends Michaels to the corner before hitting a backbreaker for two. A side Russian legsweep also gets two. A legdrop gets two, a piledriver gets two and Bret gets increasingly angrier at the ref. So angry that he doesn’t see Marty get tagged in. Marty sunset flips Hart to win the first fall at 9:32.
Marty and Bret restart the match and it is Marty’s turn to eat an atomic drop. Anvil comes in with clubbing blows to soften Marty up some more for Bret. Bret sends Marty hard into the corner and covers but Marty’s foot makes the ropes. Marty sneaks a blind tag to Michaels and Michaels stops Bret from suplexing Marty by catching him and rolling him over. This draws in the Anvil and the Rockers scurry to the corners. Anvil looks and charges at Michaels. He misses and hits the corner hard, hard enough for the top rope to break. Anvil looked stunned with that one. So Bret grabs Shawn in a reverse chinlock and things fall apart quickly. Anvil and Marty do some brawling in the corner, but the Rocker corner is completely missing the top rope while the other three corners have them. Shawn manages to send Bret into the corner and Bret does the chest-first spot but he slides enough so he only hits the bottom two turnbuckles. Marty makes the hot tag in and he superkicks Bret down for two. Bret comes back with a swinging neckbreaker Anvil comes in and Bret bodyslams Anvil on top of Marty for two. Bret hits a second rope seated elbow on Marty while he’s on Anvil’s knee and Shawn has to break up that pinfall. So the Foundation tries to press slam Bret onto Marty but Shawn dropkicks Anvil and Bret and they both fall to the outside. Shawn is tagged in and he tries suplexing Bret back in but Bret rolls out of it and hits a back suplex on Shawn. Shawn is sent to the ropes but he leapfrogs Bret right into the arms of the Anvil. This leads to the Hart Attack and that’s enough to win the second fall at 18:54, with Marty unable to make the save.
We return to the third fall after the ropes have been fixed. Anvil sends Shawn to the ropes and Bret knees him in the back. Anvil backdrops Shawn and Bret comes in with some wicked forearm uppercuts. He tries tying Shawn up in the ropes but Shawn frees himself after Bret charges at him. Marty is tagged in and he powerslams Bret for two. Marty follows with a bulldog off the second rope that Anvil breaks up. This draws Shawn in and they whip the Foundation into each other and dump the Anvil. We see a criss-cross and Marty dropping to the mat first and Bret just dropping on top of him. Bret suplexes Jannetty and brings in the power. Jannetty ends up in the heel corner and Anvil gets whipped into Jannetty like a battering ram. Michaels has to break up the ensuing pinfall attempt. The Anvil bodyslams Hart onto Jannetty and Michaels breaks up that pin, too. Michaels is dumped and the Harts try for another Hart Attack. This time, however, Michaels makes a return and dropkicks Jannetty on top of Anvil. Michaels takes out Bret and that is enough for the pinfall and the titles at 23:30. The two teams share a handshake after the match. This wasn’t a great match, mostly due to the wackiness of the second fall and the rope breaking. The bookend falls were a lot more interesting and a better representation of the match. Let’s go *** for the whole thing. Of course, the title change was later overturned and this match was never really seen, until now thankfully.
-Raw Beer Bath-
This is from March 21st, 1999. Basically the Rock Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon are in the ring when Austin drives out with a Coors light truck. He showers the three of them with Coors light in one of the truly great moments of the whole Austin/McMahon feud. By the way, Austin would go on to win the WWE title just 6 days later at Wrestlemania.
-ECW Invades Raw-
This is a very famous segment that aired in the heat of the Monday Night Wars and it aired on February 24th, 1997. We start with Paul Heyman introducing D-Von Dudley (with Sign Guy Dudley) and he’s going to wrestle Tommy Dreamer (with Beulah). Paul even plugs the ECW PPV that is coming up. Tommy hits a spinebuster before tossing D-Von. They brawl on the floor and Tommy gets some weapons from the crowd. Paul and Lawler bicker about ECW and King’s disdain of it. Dreamer sends D-Von into the steel steps and then suplexes him on the mat. He then baseball slides some stairs he set up on the apron into D-Von. The fans break into an EC-DUB chant as Heyman says that Lawler could never be extreme. So Lawler calls him Dangerously and they continue arguing. D-Von reverses an Irish Whip and Dreamer is sent into the steps. D-Von gets chair and whacks Dreamer in the head with it and leg drops Dreamer’s head into the chair. D-Von tries a diving headbutt from the second rope but misses and Dreamer follows with a piledriver. Sign-Guy holds Dreamer back and D-Von punches the chair Tommy’s holding into his face. They bring Beulah into the ring and hold her in front of Tommy but Beulah kicks him in the balls and Dreamer DDT’s D-Von onto the chair to get the pinfall (during an Undertaker promo no less) and the victory. So Bubba Ray comes in and they hit the 3D on Dreamer. This draws in the Sandman and he cleans house with a chair. The best part of this match was the bickering between Heyman and Lawler the whole time. Heyman also thanks McMahon before taking off the headset and having to be restrained going after the King. This did a good job showing off what ECW was more or less about, but minus the blood. The verbal sparring of Heyman and King was really fun to listen to (and they sounded too serious for it to be just scripted stuff). The match was **, the commentary was *****.
-Edge gets CM Punk’d-
This is from the June 30th, 2008 Raw. This starts with Jim Ross coming out. He was drafted to SmackDown last week and this was his farewell. He talks about going to SD, he thanks the King, and talks up Cole (who is booed by the fans). Ross keeps talking until Edge’s music goes off and Edge walks out with two other guys. I don’t know who they are. Edge won the title the night before from Batista at a PPV and Edge is taking the WWE World Heavyweight title with him to SmackDown, leaving Raw without a World title. Edge ushers Ross out of the ring and to the back using the two goons he brought out. Edge berates Raw, saying he will never be on the show again. Edge walks off and makes it halfway down the ramp when Batista’s music hits and Davie boy makes his way to the ramp. Batista is the newest member of Raw, you know. He chases Edge to the ring and manhandles him, ramming his back into the apron and the guardrail before sending him shoulderfirst into the ringpost. Edge tries to run away but Batista catches him. Batista sends him to the stairs, brings him to the ring and powerbombs him down. Batista leaves and makes it to the entrance when CM Punk’s music goes off and CM runs down with his Money in the Bank and a ref. CM cashes it in, hits the GTS and wins the WWE Title at 0:12. CM’s reaction to Lillian announcing the match was great, trying to rush her so he could start the match and take advantage of Edge’ wooziness. It was a nothing match but it was so well done in how it was set up, and CM’s facial reaction made this segment.
---Week Three---
Well, it looks like the WWE Classics.com guy is back from wherever he went because the main page is FINALLY cleaned up. However, there were only like 4 things added this week.
-Stone Cold Meets Mike Tyson-
This is from the January 19th, 1998 Raw and was part of the build-up to Wrestlemania XIV. I’ve seen this before but I needed to watch something this week! Basically, McMahon brings out Mike Tyson and Mike says he’s a big WWE fan. McMahon has a big announcement about Tyson at Wrestlemania but Steve Austin breaks up that announcement with his entrance. He wasn’t crazy over just yet, based on the pop he was getting. Austin badmouths Tyson, says he wants a piece of his ass and says he can kick Tyson’s ass. Austin flips him off, too, leading to Tyson shoving Austin and the Austin getting shoved back by everyone. McMahon is not too happy and yells at Austin as he’s escorted to the back. The announcement was that Tyson was going to be the enforcer at the Wrestlemania main event, though he would turn on DX and count Austin’s pinfall to give him the title.
-DX Invades WCW Nitro-
This is from the May 11th, 1998 Raw and is another clip I’ve seen before. DX, dressed in military regalia, head to Norfolk to invade WCW at a Nitro taping. DX at the time was Triple H, Bad Ass Billy Gun, X-Pac, Chyna and the Road Dogg. Basically DX talks to WCW “fans” who admit they got free tickets. They even try to sneak into an open gate at the arena but it closed on them before they could make it in. This was pretty revolutionary at the time. They even give a shout-out to Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
-Mae Young Goes Through a Table!-
We end this week with a clip from the March 12th, 2000 Raw and it is three out of three on Raw clips I’ve seen already that have been posted this week. Basically the Dudley Boyz put Mae Young (Mark Henry’s girlfriend at the time) through a table. This was continuing the Dudley’s early WWE reputation of putting women through tables. There wasn’t much to this, really.
---Week Four---
I guess we should get used to the 4-5 new videos a week now, if I've read into the WWEClassics.com messageboards.
-Bret Hart Returns-
This was from the first Raw of 2010 (January 4th) and it is one I actually saw live. Isn’t it funny that I referenced this in the opening? I wrote that opening the day it happened and here we are, four weeks later, and this is actually on the website! This is the opening segment of that night’s episode, with Bret Hart appearing in a WWE ring for the first time since November, 1997. It started with a nice Hitman montage, as well as Shawn Michaels telling Vince to bring Bret back from a previous Raw. So Bret comes out (in freaking jean-shorts, a major faux pas) to a nice pop for someone who hasn’t been seen in the WWE for over a decade. Bret tells us that Hell must’ve frozen over for this to happen. Bret says he’s wanted to come back in the past but Vince didn’t want him back. Bret calls out Shawn Michaels to the ring. Shawn comes out and tells Bret he deserved what happened in Montreal since Bret disrespected both Shawn and the business. Shawn says that his memories of Bret are not of Montreal but of the Iron Man match they had, and he also wants to move on and bury the hatchet with Bret. Bret’s ready to bury the hatchet, and they shake hands (after Shawn takes awhile to decide if he should shake his hand) before hugging it out. I thought the opening segment was really well done, and it was right for Shawn and Bret to bury the hatchet like this. Of course, later on in the show, Vince McMahon would make his way to ring and kick Bret in the gut. That’s not shown here, though.
-The Mauler vs. Steve Doll-
This is from WCW Nitro 1996 and it aired on May 27th, 1996. The match isn’t important, but the moment was. We start this JIP, but it could be just because of commercials. The Mauler sets up Steve on top of the ropes and does a fallaway slam off the second rope. Mauler, though sounding like a fierce name, is wearing pink pants and chaps. Yeah, that’s scary. Mauler picks up Doll and charges over the top, sending both to the outside. Steve is sent into the ringpost and into the steel steps as we head to break. We return with Mauler continuing his mauling. Doll is bodyslammed when a disturbance in the crowd diverts the people’s attention. Who is this guy coming to the ring? What the hell is Razor Ramon doing here? Yes, this is when Scott Hall invaded WCW, starting the Outsiders angle, which eventually led to the New World Order. Hall comes out, doing his Razor Ramon persona (and getting a lawsuit from McMahon as a result), giving a cryptic promo (you know why I’m here) issuing a challenge to WCW, and promises a war. Schiavone doesn’t pay attention to Ramon but just asks about the match. So there was no match here but this was probably one of the most surprising things that ever happened during the Monday Night Wars.
-WWE Raw & WCW Nitro - Simulcast-
This momentous occasion was from March 25th, 2001. I remember watching this with my friends at the dorms, all of who were big wrestling fans, and it was surreal moment. I believe I recorded both episodes. Vince had already made his big announcement on Monday Nitro at 8:00pm and this was the opening segment on Monday Night Raw at 9:00pm, something that was shown on WCW Nitro on TBS. In storyline terms, Vince hasn’t signed the contract yet, and he wants to wait until this Sunday at Wrestlemania to sign it. Vince says the way he beat a billionaire was to become one himself. Vince doesn’t know what to do with his newest property. Will he just sit there and watch videotapes of WCW? Vince wonders who he should keep from WCW based on the crowd reaction. Hulk Hogan? Seemed kind of in the middle. Lex Luger? Definitely a no. Buff Bagwell? Surprisingly yes. That earned his contract right there. Booker T? A very loud cheer from the fans. Scott Steiner? An even bigger reaction. McMahon then hears the fans chanting for Goldberg, and the fans explode for him. They’d have to wait a while for that one. Vince thinks he’s just gonna fire everyone since WCW is now buried. Vince keeps ranting until Shane’s music hits. Vince waits for Shane to come down to the ring but Shane isn’t in Cleveland for Raw. He’s in Panama City, Florida for WCW Nitro. Shane reveals to his father that the contract is signed and the name on the contract is McMahon. However, it is Shane McMahon who bought WCW, not Vince. Shane promises that WCW will kick his ass yet again.
-Mr. McMahon, Paul Heyman & Eric Bischoff in the same ring together-
This is from the May 23rd, 2005 Raw and it is the only time that all three of these men appeared in the same ring at the same time. This is the ECW funeral, which is presided over by Eric Bischoff. Bischoff brings up the fact that he ransacked ECW for their talent and he killed them. But then he saw ads for One Night Stand and he wanted to kill ECW again. During his diatribe, McMahon’s music hits and Vince interrupts. McMahon is cheered, so I guess he must be a face at this point. McMahon says he has a vested interest in ECW since he was supporting (financially, too) the company for years and mentions some of the ECW stars who excelled in the WWE, including Mick Foley, the Dudley Boys and Steve Austin. Therefore, Vince wants One Night Stand to be a success. Vince goes on to say that there is a brand that is dead, WCW, and Vince did kill it. McMahon introduces his next guest, Paul Heyman. Paul notes this is the first time all three of them have appeared in the ring together. Heyman defends ECW as not just garbage wrestling but also Lucha style wrestling and Heyman notes that ECW discovered Rey Misterio. Eric ignoring Paul the whole time was well-done acting on his part, though I think he didn’t have to act too much to show his disdain of Heyman. McMahon says that the fight is on, and Heyman promises gang warfare to the extreme. Bischoff says that won’t be a problem. Well, it was cool seeing these three in the ring at the same time. I would’ve liked to have seen a payoff, though.
-Bret Hart vs. Sid(c) for the WWE Title in a Steel Cage Match-
This is from the March 16th, 1997 Raw, or the Raw right before Wrestlemania 13. I can’t believe we have an honest to goodness match on here, though I haven’t seen and it could be just crap and all storylines and no wrestling. We’re off to a good start because of the “graphic content” screen that popped up prior to the match. This is still the old blue cage version. Hart slugs away at Sid in the corner which leads way to some stomps. Sid responds with punches of his own. We cut to Stone Cold watching the match in the back and you know he will play into this match. Hart snapmares Sid over and drops a leg before trying to climb out. Sid pulls him back in, picks him up and charges him into the steel cage. Sid tries to escape but Bret is able to stave him off at the top rope. Hart comes off the top with a fist to the face and headbutts the back of Sid before he tries climbing over the top. Sid catches him and press slams him off. Sid heads to the door but Bret trips him up. Steve Austin makes his way to ringside and he closes the door on Sid as we head to commercial. We return with Bret pounding away at the lower back of Sid. Sid reverses an Irish Whip and powerbombs Bret after Bret hits the corner. Sid starts climbing to the top but Steve Austin climbs up the opposite side and slugs away. Sid hammers back but Austin gets the better of that ordeal, kicking at the legs of Sid as Bret climbs up to double team Sid. This double-teaming draws out the Undertaker, who is challenging Sid for the WWE title in less than a week and wants to ensure that Sid keeps the belt. He climbs up and stops Bret from climbing out and we have all four guys at the top of the cage battling away. Undertaker pounds Austin off the cage and Bret superplexes Bret off the top rope. Undertaker comes down and Austin catches him with a chair. Sid, after getting superplexed, is up first and he tries climbing over the top. Bret is too smart and starts walking out through the door. Of course, Undertaker drives the door into his face and Sid drops to the mat to retain the title at 7:57. Well, it looks like it was more of an angle than anything else. We stick with the footage for the Shock Zone and Vince interviews Bret. Bret shoves down McMahon and Bret goes on a curse-filled tirade about everyone being against him and Bret getting screwed over constantly. This is Bret at his whiniest, which didn’t really look too good a few months later after the Montreal Incident. Steve Austin even calls him out on being a baby and he calls Bret a loser. Sid comes out, too, followed by the Undertaker, and Bret charges with a pescado onto Taker. Austin runs out to stomp a mudhole in Bret as Undertaker and Sid brawl in the ring. The actual cage match was very short, but it had some decent spots. Once Taker and Austin got involved it got a bit convoluted but it was fun while it lasted. The segment after the match was a great build to Wrestlemania, too. **1/2.
-The Bottom Line-
The only thing shocking about this month was how bad it was in terms of quality and quantity. This was by far the worst in terms of things that were updated and how it was presented. The first two weeks were way too cluttered with old videos and once it was cleared away you saw just how little there actually was to this month. There were hardly any matches presented here either (only five that I reviewed, with the rest being from a big four PPV). This was the first time I ever felt that I was being ripped off for the service, and that’s not a good thing. It was just a really down month and I hope it improves for February. Actually, I just saw that February is Divas month and I cannot stand watching Divas wrestle so it may be two forgettable months to start the year off.
Here’s a rundown of matches I didn’t watch this month.
--Week 1--
--Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (Survivor Series 1997)
I’ve seen this one a ton of times already and I will be getting to it when the eventual Survivor Series Anthology comes out.
--Week 2--
--Shane McMahon vs. Steve Blackman (SummerSlam 2000)
This was one of Shane’s first suicide bumps of his career and this is one I will review when I wade through the Summerslam Anthology Series.
--Week 3--
--Royal Rumble 2002 Match (Royal Rumble 2002)
Well, we’ve had something from the Survivor Series Anthology, and then from the Summerslam Anthology, so I guess it is only fitting a Rumble match gets missed by my this month, too.
--Week 4--
--Royal Rumble 1995 Match (Royal Rumble 1995)
What was shocking about this? That Shawn went the whole length even though it was one-minute intervals and the match was the shortest in Rumble history?
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