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This is the first ever episode of WWF Mania and is hosted by Todd Pettingill. He makes some jokes, that aren’t funny, and there are exclusives this week! OOOH!
We go to some Doink madness as he hits Tatanka with a mop, throws water on Jannetty, trips Bob Backlund using banana peels and Bossman with a trip wire. Last week, Crush had a warning to Doink after his match.
1st Match: Crush vs. Dave Sigfrids
Sigfrids goes behind Crush but Crush reverses and takes him down and rides him until Sigfrids makes the ropes. Doink comes out and annoys fans at ringside. Crush sends Sigfrids to the ropes and tries for a hip toss which Sigfrids reverses but he can’t take the big man over, so Crush hip tosses him. We get the split screen with a Crush pre-taped promo about the Rumble. Sigfrids gets some token jobber offense in but gets caught with a backbreaker coming off the ropes. Crush military presses the poor guy, drops him down and drops a leg. He gets the Kona Crush which gets the submission at: 2:41. ¼*.
After the match Crush gives Doink a stern warning and in the meantime grabs his arm. Doink would come back sometime later with a cast, but it was in fact just a loaded arm and he attacked Doink with it, making it his first feud.
Afterwards, Crush gives an interview with Ray Rougeau about clowns and how bad Doink is.
---Commercial Break---
Tomorrow, it’s All-American Wrestling.
2nd Match: Repo Man vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Hacksaw starts the USA chant before the match even starts! They lock up and they push each other around into the ropes and Repo Man does not break clean. He punches him a few times but an Irish Whip is reversed. Repo ducks a clothesline but gets elbowed down on the return. Hacksaw follows with a pair of clothesline and Repo bails to the outside. Repo comes back in and Hacksaw sends him to the ropes. He ducks down for a back body but Repo Man sunset flips over, but can’t get him down. Duggan punches him, then gets an atomic drop. Repo bails to the apron, where Duggan follows and he stuns Duggan over the top rope. He chokes Duggan on the middle rope and sends him headfirst into the turnbuckle. Repo is in control and stretches out his neck and then grabs on a chinlock. He sends Hacksaw to the corner but a charge hits Hacksaws elbow. Duggan backs him into the corner and gets a standing five punch count. He whips him to the opposite corner then bodyslams him on the rebound. Three-point stance clothesline and that’s all she wrote at: 3:50. ¼*. It’s Hacksaw, you know.
---Commercial Break---
3rd Match: Yokozuna vs. George Anderson
Anderson has about as much a chance as the proverbial snowball in hell. Yokozuna has the white tights and the red sash as his colors of choice tonight. Anderson charges, gets caught in a belly to belly suplex, gets legdropped, chopped down, takes a series of headbutts, gets another belly to belly suplex (Earthquake promo inserted here), takes a splash in the corner, an ass splat in the corner, and finally a Bonzai drop for the pin and the win at: 2:47, though most of that was waiting around and his pre-match ceremonies and all. DUD.
---Commercial Break---
We return with the Undertaker and Paul Bearer talking about Headlock on Hunger to help Somalia and Todd puts on the serious voice to tell us about the MSG event to help the Somalians.
4th Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Jim Brunzell
This could be good. They lock up and Shawn gets a fireman’s carry. He showboats a bit and they lock up again, and Shawn arm drags him and showboats some more. They lock up but this time Brunzell grabs a side headlock. Shawn sends him to the ropes and leapfrogs him. He tries another leapfrog but Brunzell is ready. He knocks him down, gets an atomic drop and starts working the arm. Michaels sends him to the corner to break but doesn’t break clean. He works him over and sends him to the opposite corner. He dives but Brunzell moves and Michaels hits the top turnbuckle shoulder first. Brunzell goes back to the arm and Shawn sends him to the ropes to break. Brunzell hops over Shawn and goes for a roll up off the ropes but Shawn elbows him in the face. He starts choking Brunzell on the mat and sends him head first into the corner. Brunzell fights back but gets a poke in the eye. Shawn hits a dropkick on Brunzell, then another and covers for two. Shawn punches away at Brunzell in the corner but Brunzell makes the big comeback, until ducking down for a back body too soon and getting kicked in the face. An Irish whip is reversed by Brunzell and Brunzell catches Shawn in a sleeper, but Shawn drops down into a jawbreaker. Shawn goes to bodyslam Brunzell but gets rolled up in a small package for two. Shawn sends Brunzell to the ropes but ducks down and gets booted in the face. Brunzell with another comeback and hits a pretty nice dropkick for two. Shawn recovers and sends Brunzell to the ropes. Brunzell ducks a clothesline but gets hit with the crescent kick (which hits Brunzell’s gut) for the pin and the win at: 6:26. Actually a pretty decent Mania match. *1/2.
In two weeks, at the Royal Rumble, Shawn vs. Mart Jannetty with a special stipulation that will be announced soon.
---Commercial Break---
We come back and Rougeau is interviewing the Rocket Owen Hart. It’s just an average interview until Razor Ramon comes in and attacks him.
We get pre-taped interviews from Razor Ramon and Bret Hart about said incident.
They follow with a Royal Rumble Report. The usual stuff here as they run down the people involved and cut to some pre-taped interviews. The pre-taped interviews this week are: Macho Man Randy Savage, Mr. Perfect, and that's it.
Commercial for Monday Night Raw
---Commercial Break---
Todd Pettingill talks about Monday Night Raw.
5th Match: Mr. Perfect vs. Bezerker
Bezerker huffs in Perfect’s face and Perfect punches him. They criss cross and Perfect ducks a big boot, then a clothesline, then dropkicks Bezerker to the outside. Bezerker comes in and headbutts Perfect in the gut. He sends him headfirst into the turnbuckle and works him over in the corner. An Irish whip to the other corner is reversed by Perfect but a blind charge misses and Perfect lands shoulder first into the ring post. Bezerker bails to the outside and gets his sword and swings it but he misses Perfect. Bezerker comes back in and works Perfect over until he gets backdropped over the top to the outside. Ric Flair comes down to distract Perfect allowing Bezerker to attack from behind. Perfect fights him off so Flair distracts again and Berzerker again attakcs from behind. He gets knocked down again so Flair is still at ringside and Bezerker knees Perfect in the head out of the ring.
---Commercial Break---
We come back with Perfect getting slammed on his back and Bezerker gets a two. Bezerker sends Perfect to the ropes and ducks down allowing Perfect to get the Perfectplex for the pin and the win at: 4:24. Afterward, he dropkicks Bezerker over the top rope. Eh, ½*.
WWF update and Bobby Heenan talks again about his new wrestler, the Narcissist. Afterwards, Okerlund gives us the definition of narcissist.
Todd closes the show and the first Mania in history is ov-ah.
Overall Mania Thoughts
It’s the first Mania and in between all the corny Pettingill moments, it’s not a bad show, probably on the same level as a good Velocity. I always enjoy looking back at the old days when I started getting into wrestling, so it’s good enough for me.
Mania Rundown
1) Crush vs. Dave Sigfrids (1/4*)
2) Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Repo Man (1/4*)
3) Yokozuna vs. George Anderson (DUD)
4) Shawn Michaels vs. Jim Brunzell (*1/2)
5) Mr. Perfect vs. Bezerker (1/2*)
Mania Ratings
Match Rating: (.25 + .25 + 0 + 1.5 + .5)/5 = 2.5/5 = .5 * .5 = .25
Interview/Backstage Segments Rating: (2.5)/1 = 2.5/1 = 2.5 * .2 = .5
Overall Enjoyability: 3 * .3 = .9
FINAL PRIMETIME RATING: ( .25 + .5 + .9) = 1.65
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