|
Yes, this would be the last episode of one of the WWF’s longest running show. It aired on primetime on Monday nights and this show would be giving way to a new show, Monday Night Raw. The next week would see the debut of Raw and this last episode of Primetime Wrestling would be an hour showing the more memorable moments in the shows history as well as the usual squash matches.
The hosts will be Bobby Heenan, Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon. They start off by informing Bobby he will not be a part of Monday Night Raw. This brings up the first highlight, The Bobby The Brain Heenan show.
1st Match: The Headshrinkers vs. Virgil/El Matador
This would probably be the “main event” of the show as it’s a team of established wrestlers versus some very high quality JTTS. Fatu you’ll recongnize as the now unemployed Rikishi. El Matador and Samu start things off with Samu pushing El Matador out of a lockup. The spot is so great, they do it again. They lockup again but this time Santana takes Samu down with a series of arm-drags. Samu comes back but Santana dropkicks him down and all, causing Samu to retreat to his corner. They lock up again and Santana grabs a side headlock. Samu sends him to the ropes but gets shoulderblocks down. Santana comes off the ropes and hops over Samu, then a leapfrog but stomps Samu as he tries for a reverse monkey flip. Santana takes over and tags in Virgil, who comes off the top with an axehandle on Samu’s arm. Santana comes back in and the two double team the Shrinkers.
---Commercial Break---
We come back with Samu knockin in Santana coming off the ropes. Fatu is tagged in and Santana makes the tag to Virgil. Virgil gets a crucifix pin on Fatu but that only gets a two. Fatu powers him down and bodyslams him. Fatu works him over and bites the head of Virgil. Fatu tags in Samu, but not after sending Virgil headfirst into Samu’s head. Samu gets a thrust kick and then casually picks him up and tosses him down. He sends Virgil to the corner but Virgil ducks out of a splash attempt. Santana comes in and cleans house. Backdrop to Samu, dropkick to Fatu, another backdrop to Samu. He tries for the flying forearm but Afa (at ringside) trips up Santana. This leads to a double chop by the Headshrinkers and Fatu works him over on the ropes. He sends him to the ropes but drops down to low so Santana uppercuts him. Virgil comes in before the tag so the referee pushes him back to the corner, allowing the Headshrinkers to double team. Heel miscommunication ensues as Fatu gets clotheslined down by Samu. Virgil is tagged in and its his turn to clean house. He makes the mistake of getting a double DDT, but they’re Samoan so blows to the head don’t hurt. He tries a double noggin knocker but that doesn’t work either. They chop him down and Fatu gets the flying headbutt from the top rope for the pin and the win at: 8:15. Longer than most Raw matches nowadays. *3/4.
---Commercial Break---
We return with our host talking about the most upcoming Royal Rumble. This segues into another memorable moment, this time it’s Bobby Heenan’s stuntwork.
---Commercial Break---
2nd Match:Terry Taylor vs. Dale Wolfe
They lock up to start and Taylor takes down Wolfe with a side headlock. Wolfe manages to escape with a legscissors so Taylor tries again, with the same result. Taylor takes down Wolfe with a single leg takedown and Wolfe kicks out. This pisses off Taylor who pushes Wolfe. Wolfe pushes right back and goes on the offensive. He bodyslams Taylor and works the arm, but that doesn’t last long as Taylor breaks the hold, and kicks Wolfe in the head. He gets a very bad overhead belly to belly suplex with a bridge for two. He works the arm of Wolfe but Wolfe reverses, and gets a short arm clothesline for his effort. Taylor drops a knee to his face. Taylor gets a spinning spinebuster catching Wolfe off the ropes and gets a gutwrench slam for the pin and the win at: 3:16. Hmmmm. 3:16? Match was pretty bad as Taylor blew a bunch of the moves but they were moves no one was really doing at the time. *.
A commercial for WWF Mania. 100% Caffeine Free
---Commercial Break---
Bobby Heenan tells Mr. Perfect that Ric Flair will finish him off but at the Royal Rumble, someone beyond perfect will be unveiled. It would of course turn out to be the Narcissist Lex Luger.
Royal Rumble 1993 Report! Sometimes I miss the good old days when there were only 4 pay-per-views and they’d start hyping the Rumble as soon as Survivor Series was over. This year, 1993, they’d actually add a third PPV, King of the Ring. Onto the report, we get pre-taped interviews from: Bret Hart (who is facing Razor Ramon in the main event), and we get a rundown of the individuals already in the Rumble along with pre-tapers from Money Inc, Ric Flair and the Steiner Brothers.
---Commercial Break---
We return with the announcers talking about the Rumble, again. McMahon talks about Yokozuna possibly winning. This segues into Bobby Heenan on a ship, hitting on some ladies.
---Commercial Break---
3rd Match: Shawn Michaels(c) vs. Skinner for the IC Title
Shawn has the old Sherri sung music (so weird to hear it now) and the canned heat is blatantly obvious. Wasn’t this on some Coliseum Video or something? They circle and lock up. Skinner pushes him to the ropes and they break clean. Skinner ends up punching him, working on him in the corner, sending him to the turnbuckle, bodyslamming him, then punching him to the outside of the ring. Skinner follows and chases Shawn around but HBK comes in first and stomps on Skinner. HBK does some flipping around and gets elbowed down as a result. He sends Shaen to the ropes and kicks him down then hits a spinning neckbreaker. Skinner works him over pretty well and gets a shoulderbreaker for two. He sends Shawn to the ropes and elbows him to the outside. It’s weird, Skinner was always a heel here but was the de facto babyface to due Shawn’s heat. Skinner follows Shawn to the outside but gets sent into the steel ringpost. He makes it to the apron and Shawn hotshots him on the top rope. He brings him to the ring and hits him with a standing dropkick. Shawn tries to send Skinner to the corner but Skinner reverses. Shawn flips out of the corner but Skinner didn’t charge, and simply elbows him down. Skinner works him over and tosses Shawn over the top (that’d be a DQ in the NWA). Skinner stands by the ropes and Shawn slides in through his legs and hits the thrust kick (not yet Sweet Ching Music) for the pin and the win at: 4:26. Bad match as Shawn was not yet the Showstopper or any other moniker, just an average IC champ. *.
Another memorable moment: Bret painting and the Nasty’s destroying a painting.
Sean Mooney is at the event desk hyping Raw.
We return with the hosts as they too hype Raw. Bobby Heenan won’t be there, remember. Another Bobby moment as Andre shows Bobby how to make wine.
---Commercial Break---
4th Match: The Steiner Brothers vs. Red Tyler/WT Jones
Scott and WT start and Scott basically gives the jobber no chance of offense. Scott works in an abdominal stretch than just pucks up WT and slams him. He follows with a belly to belly suplex and tags in Rick. They cut to split screen as we get a Steiner interview. WT is pushed to his corner so Red can tag in. Red gets a little bit of offense but Rick catches him mid-air and almost literally kills him with a powerslam. He follows with a clothesline and tags in Scott. He gets a double underhook slam. Rick comes in as Scott foes to the top and they get their DDT from the top for the pin and the win at: 2:31. Total Squash gets the squash rating. ¼*.
Our hosts thank us for supporting Primetime all these years, and next Monday will be, MONDAY NIGHT RAW! Jamison shows up and now I know where Vince got the idea for Eugene. Jamison gives Bobby a piece of corn since he’s the corniest guy on television. Oh the humor.
Overall Primetime Thoughts
It’s the last fricken show, so it’s pretty gosh darn historic. The last show before WWF Raw would recreate wrestling anew (well not for another 5 years but who’s counting?) I mean, Raw is still on, 11 years later. Hard to believe there was a time before Raw but here it is. The show was pretty bad, but enjoyable when watching many years later, still it’s history man.
Primetime Rundown
1) The Headshrinkers vs. Virgil/El Matador (*3/4)
2) Terry Taylor vs. Dale Wolfe (*)
3) Skinner vs. Shawn Michaels(c) for the IC Title (*)
4) The Steiner Brothers vs. WT Jones/Red Tyler (1/4*)
Primetime Ratings
Match Rating: ( .75 + 1 + 1 + .25 )/ = 3/4 = .75 * .5 = .375
Interview/Backstage Segments Rating: (3)/1 = 3/1 = 3 * .2 = .6
Overall Enjoyability: 3 * .3 = .9
FINAL PRIMETIME RATING: ( .375 + .6 + .9) = 1.875
|
