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air_raid

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March 1995

MAIN EVENTS
On the way to WrestleMania there is an almost-nightly main event of Diesel & Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels & Double J, they get an impressive 10,000 paid and 15,000 total bodies into MSG for, to be fair, a huge card with all the other big guns wrestling. 7000 in Anaheim is back up and 9000 in Fresno is a sell out but 3200 at Boston Garden is disappointing. Its not all good news in California either - San Jose is cancelled due to a poor advance. 

On the 4th they do their usual contribution to the National Orange Show in San Bernardino and there, its Diesel & The Undertaker vs Double J & Bam Bam Bigelow.... with some sterling support, including Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels.

There aren't many B shows - Lex Luger vs Tatanka in a cage in Regina, a couple of regular matches refereed by The King through Ontario, a couple of lumberjack matches in conference centres and high school gyms in Pennsylvania.

THE CARDS
Bret Hart & British Bulldog vs Owen Hart & Jerry Lawler happens an awful lot. Bret vs Owen in singles still happens a few times scattered throughout the month. Davey drops a few more matches to King Kong Bundy early month but by mid month his singles matches are, logically, with the King. Bob Backlund is warming up for Bret with a series of wins in submission matches against Adam Bomb mid month and late month, Doink.
The Undertaker wrestles Bam Bam Bigelow most nights, winning by count-out or DQ but actually dropping a couple of DQ losses to him early month as they protect Bam Bam for Mania. Randomly in Anaheim (at least) Mr Backlund attacks Taker causing the DQ which goes nowhere. On the Ontario run he's already beating Kama. Lex Luger and Tatanka are still not divorced from each other. When Tatanka's doing tags, Lex has nights off.

1-2-3 Kid vs Hakushi happens most nights, again. They were great together. End of the month Hakushi moves on to Aldo Montoya mid month then Bob Holly. Adam Bomb has to do a few more jobs for Bundy early in the month before moving to Backlund ; his push has stalled. Rough month for Doink who puts over Henry Godwinn early month although in Ontario he does get wins over Brooklyn Brawler. Dumpster spends most of the month beating Mantaur then has to lose a few to HOG at the end of the month. In between Doink and Duke, Henry is beating Barry Horowitz. A few more Bull Nakano vs Alundra Blayze rematches happen. Most of the month the Smoking Gunns are with the Heavenly Bodies except at MSG and Boston the Corporation are getting to look a threat but Tatanka and Kama come up short. On those nights the Bodies are putting over Erik Watts & Chad Fortune, yet to be renamed Tekno Team 2000. Early month the Bodies also do a couple of defeats to the Bushwhackers. The Headshrinkers are still trying to make a threat out of the Blu Twins.

Another sandwich month for Aldo - he begins and ends the month with Kwang either side of Hakushi.There's more of jobber Mike Bell this month - losing to Kama on the month end B shows. Also in Pennsylvania we've got the new gimmick for Jean-Pierre LaFitte, against Duane Gil.

TVs
13th in Stockton is our only TV taping of the month - we have Diesel & Razor vs Jarrett & Shawn, Taker vs Bundy, the real fun Bob Holly & Alundra vs Bull & Hakushi from WrestleFest 95 (the last proper length tape of Coliseum exclusives) as well as jobber matches for Louie Spicolli and Miguel Perez Jr, plus a match between the two won by Spicolli. They also tape Sunday Night Slam and the Raw where Bret and Owen have their best-remembered no holds barred match.

VARIATIONS
In Regina Davey Boy is stuck with IRS. Bob Holly loses to Kama in Regina and Backlund in Anaheim. There's no Kwang in Markham so Doink pulls double duty, losing to Kama before his scheduled win over the Brawler. Kama vs Kwang resumes as a one off in Kingston. 
The Orange Show has the following one offs as well as Bret vs Shawn - Razor vs Owen and Men On A Mission vs the Bodies. In Fresno for some reason Kid squashes The King. Either side of MSG he has issues with a concussion so Hakushi beats Scott Taylor in Boston. In Anaheim Kwang is between runs so he beats jobber Gary Key. In Markham Ontario Well Dunn - clearly on the outs, do their first booking for two months, losing to the Bushwhackers. 24th in Bushkill they do a tryout watching Crash the Terminator vs Devon Storm - years later that would be Hugh Morrus vs Crowbar. 25th at Danville High School Alundra is beating Candi Devine and there’s Mantaur vs Barry.

DEPARTURE
Not booked for a couple of months anyway, Crush cooks his own goose by getting arrested on 13th on drugs and guns charges. This one is an incredible memory for me, it was definitely the first time I found out someone got sacked because Todd Pettingil announced it on WWF Mania. He’ll be back, obviously. They’ve forgiven far worse.

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See, that’s another one. As much Bret vs Shawn as we actually got, I reckon Bret vs Shawn in 95 might’ve been some of their best stuff given the form they were both in and Shawn still just about being a heel at that point. I don’t think any of their singles matches from 95 are out there to watch, are they? I think the last one I saw before the Ironman match was from 94 on one of Bret’s Best Of’s for Coliseum.

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36 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

See, that’s another one. As much Bret vs Shawn as we actually got, I reckon Bret vs Shawn in 95 might’ve been some of their best stuff given the form they were both in and Shawn still just about being a heel at that point. I don’t think any of their singles matches from 95 are out there to watch, are they? I think the last one I saw before the Ironman match was from 94 on one of Bret’s Best Of’s for Coliseum.

I completely agree, their peaks as potential opponents didn't overlap by much. Mid 94-Mania XI was Shawn's (first) peak as a heel and indeed the last match they had that made TV or tape was 11th January 1994 in Florence SC, the same night Bret tagged with Owen against the Steiners. Probably as disappointing was that heel Bret vs babyface Shawn didn't happen in 1997.

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7 hours ago, air_raid said:

DEPARTURE
Not booked for a couple of months anyway, Crush cooks his own goose by getting arrested on 13th on drugs and guns charges. This one is an incredible memory for me, it was definitely the first time I found out someone got sacked because Todd Pettingil announced it on WWF Mania. He’ll be back, obviously. They’ve forgiven far worse.

How discreet was Pettingil with announcing it?

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1 hour ago, Chris B said:

How discreet was Pettingil with announcing it?

It was blunt. He moved on from talking about whatever squash or segment from Raw they'd just shown, and talking straight to the camera fully disclosed that (and I'm paraphrasing, it's been 27 years) "Brian Adams who wrestles here as Crush was arrested on (insert date) on firearms and recreational drugs charges, and as such, is no longer working for the World Wrestling Federation." It was incredible for a Saturday lunchtime show.

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To be fair it was way better than what they used to do which was say nothing and leave you to figure out two months later that that particular wrestler hadn't been on TV for all that time.

Inevitably they'd pop up on WCW Worldwide a bit after that.

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22 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

Inevitably they'd pop up on WCW Worldwide a bit after that.

That was me when the Anvil randomly popped up, still in full pink Hart Foundation gear, on WCW Worldwide one Saturday afternoon. It was like Phil Mitchell turning up in the Rovers on Corrie without any explanation or something. 

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11 hours ago, garynysmon said:

Inevitably they'd pop up on WCW Worldwide a bit after that.

 

11 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

That was me when the Anvil randomly popped up, still in full pink Hart Foundation gear, on WCW Worldwide one Saturday afternoon. It was like Phil Mitchell turning up in the Rovers on Corrie without any explanation or something. 

Yeah. While WCW being a retirement home for wrestlers once the WWF decided they weren’t good enough was never an official company rhetoric at the time, I certainly believed it. I’ll never forget watching Worldwide the first time and seeing matches or mention of Bulldog, Flair, Rick Rude, Sid and the aforementioned Anvil, ripping off the Million Dollar Dream with fellow WWF cast off Jesse Ventura telling me it was “the Anvilizer.” Later I’d see Mean Gene and the Nasty Boys show up which didn’t help. True, even as a kid the “But Sting” argument existed, but I saw a guy painting his face like Warrior and announced as “from Venice Beach, CA” like Hogan, and decided he was ripping off TWO icons instead of one.

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APRIL 1995
SHIT, they turned Shawn babyface. He also gets proper hurt by Sid and takes six weeks off.

THE MAIN EVENTS 
Straight after TVs we're off back to Europe for Diesel & Razor Ramon vs Sid & Double J!.... that's your main events covered nicely.

THE CARDS
The card is the same every night this month because Germany shows are all the live events of the month - the no holds barred Bret Hart vs Owen Hart, Undertaker vs Bam Bam Bigelow, 1-2-3 Kid vs Hakushi, Allied Powers vs Tatanka & Kama, Adam Bomb vs Kwang, Aldo Montoya vs Henry Godwinn.

TVs
"The Raw after WrestleMania" taping has Diesel vs Bam Bam, Taker vs Jean-Pierre LaFitte and the Allied Powers beating King Kong Bundy & Tatanka plus Bret beating Double J non title. Next night after Superstars tapings its Undertaker vs Sid (!), Bret vs Hakushi (advertised as Bret vs Shawn, aw man), the Powers beating Owen & Yokozuna by DQ, Razor & Kid beating Double J & Roadie, and The King cheating Adam Bomb as seen on Coliseum. Next night in Lowell Phantasio (USWAs Spellbinder) loses to Mark Harlow (no idea), Diesel/Bigelow and Taker/Sid again, plus Bret & Razor vs Jarrett & Hakushi. They also tape the debut on TV of Pierre as the pirate and two episodes of Superstars where Double J drops a non title match to Aldo then beats him the week after.

There’s another TV before month end - there are dry runs in Omaha for Hunter Hearst Helmsley and of rather less historical note, Bertha Faye. Plus babyface Bam Bam vs Tatanka (this is the night they film the turn) Kid & Razor vs Double J & Roadie where Kid fucks his neck ruling him out of In Your House, Taker vs Sid, Bret vs Hakushi and Bomb vs Mabel. Next night in Des Moines there’s Diesel vs Sid, Razor vs Jarrett with Roadie in the shark cage from WrestleFest 95, the Powers beating Owen & Yoko by DQ again, Bret/Hakushi and Taker/Kama. We’re taping Sid having matches for TV now and here he squashes Aldo for Superstars which I loved at the time ; think he busts out the whirlybird which was always fun. In Moline it’s Diesel/Sid and Taker/Kama again plus The Smoking Gunns winning the DQ over the champs. It’s also where they tape the fake title change with Double J/Bob Holly for a “rematch next week” shtick which they’d repeat almost exactly one year later with Goldust and Savio. They sure made Jarrett look a vulnerable champion, didn’t they?? We’ve also got the TV debuts in the can for Hunter, Bertha and Rad Radford, vignettes airing for the Body Donnas and in Moline the Heavenly Bodies tape a win over Lenny Carlson (Lenny Lane) and Jerry Lynn - of course, Lynn looks far flashier than most jobbers in 95 but that contract will elude him. Plus in Des Moines Hakushi beats Kwang in the last appearance of that gimmick - of course at In Your House he’ll be repackaged as Savio Vega.

DEPARTURE
After Bull Nakano loses the belt back to Alundra on Raw (not Mania as originally planned) thats the end for her. She'd failed a drugs test for cocaine months earlier.

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MAY 1995
"What if there was a PPV every month?" - oh shit, there is. Let's see how the cards they are promoting for the PPV every month affect what's happening on the road. I don't know whether its just a lack of reports but there are only results available for two house shows before In Your House. Hmm.

THE MAIN EVENTS
At Providence there is a notable exception of Diesel & Undertaker vs Sid & Kama otherwise Diesel vs Sid for the belt headlines the last show at Boston Garden (a papered 10,000) the night before In Your House and several nights thereafter ; interestingly the PPV customers don't get the finish but at the live gate, Kev's pinning him. They carry on through French Canada including 8500 at the Montreal Forum but then they clock Diesel needs elbow surgery so through Alberta and Winipieg its Bret Hart (naturally) pinning Sid.

A tour of the Phillippines and Singapore has Undertaker vs Bam Bam Bigelow (perhaps Bam Bam's turn hasnt aired in those markets yet) on last supported by Shawn and the tag belts.

THE CARDS
Bret Hart vs Hakushi is the usual match for Hitman until he has to move to Sid. Shawn Michaels is back from injury at TVs and he's off on the Asian tour working IRS. Double J vs Razor Ramon is going on in ladder matches all through Canada, interestingly Razor wins the title in Montreal, and beats Jeff again in Halifax, but loses the title on the second night after winning it, in Three Rivers. Yokozuna & Owen Hart vs Allied Powers is the tag title match. 

Adam Bomb is swapping wins with King Kong Bundy, Doink vs Kwang is a 50/50 run abroad though Doink vs Hakushi is happening in Canada when Bret subs for Big D... no idea who is doing the clown gig there. Maybe Lombardi. The Smoking Gunns are getting revenge on Men On A Mission, the Headshrinkers are putting over the Blu Twins. Henry Godwinn vs Dumpster is also going on and Kama is crushing Aldo Montoya

Initially Tekno Team 2000 are beating a thrown-together Dr Tom Prichard and Barry Horowitz. We start with Tatanka beating Bob Holly and Man Mountain Rock beating Mantaur, but we switch to Tatanka and Rock swapping wins (Christ) between Quebec and Alberta. Mantaur is filling the Barry spot in Alberta as Barry vs Skip gets added. Finally in Quebec, Jean-Pierre LaFitte is beating Scott Taylor but when we get to Edmonton... fuck me, it's Virgil!!!

VARIATIONS
Providence and Boston are near 100% variations. In Providence Bret is beating Jerry Lawler in a Kiss My Foot match even though the foot related stuff (ugh) hasn't been done on TV yet, in Boston its Hitman & Smithers over the King and Hakushi. In Providence Double J is with Bob Holly and Razor squashing the Roadie before they revert to wrestling each other in Boston, leaving Roadie to cheat his way to a win over Bobcore. Undertaker is pinning Kama in Boston, Bam Bam is beating Tatanka both nights and actually has both Chief Jay Strongbow in his corner and an unexpected assist from Nikolai Volkoff in his final WWF appearance chasing Ted DiBiase away. The Bushwhackers are doing a job for Jacob & Eli in Providence but then beating the Heavenly Bodies in Boston ; the Bodies lost to the Headshrinkers in Providence. Both nights Man Mountain Rock is beating Kwang and in Boston, squashing Phil Apollo is the first road match for Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

TV
Night after In Your House, Shawn is back taping TV matches and dark we have further rounds of Bret v Hakushi, Diesel/Taker vs Sid/Kama and Gunns/MOM, plus the Allied Powers going over Jarrett & Roadie from the WrestleFest tape. Next night we've got Bret/Hakushi again, the Gunns/MOM they used for WrestleFest, Taker/HBK v Sid/Kama because they've figured out Diesel is hurt, a really interesting double count out tag title defence for Owen & Yoko against Razor and the rechristened Savio Vega, and the Bulldog/Jarrett ladder match that made it to Unreleased (not worth it, to be honest) plus TV debuts in the can for TT2000 and the Body Donnas - a seminal moment, that one. Next night in Springfield there's lots of the same and for reasons unknown there's The Fink vs Harvey Whippleman, Owen and Yoko beating the Powers by DQ and Adam Bomb beating Double J by count-out when the IC champ walks off... this is a really weird one to unearth because at the time I was 100% fantasy booking that Bomb was going to take the belt from Jarrett as Razor was getting injured all the time and Adam seemed really over with the kids with his little foam missile gimmick.

DEPARTURE
When Doink loses his King of the Ring qualifier to Roadie, it's the last time they tape him with Dink. Not that it matters, Doink will only tape two more matches for TV anyway.

Here's Providence


 

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What if there was a PPV every month?


JANUARY 1994
Lex Luger & Tatanka VS Yokozuna & Ludvig Borga
Bret Hart VS IRS
Randy Savage VS Crush (falls count anywhere)
ICT Razor Ramon VS Shawn Michaels 
The Undertaker VS Adam Bomb (casket match)
TTT Quebecers VS Steiner Brothers
1-2-3 Kid VS Diesel
Doink VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Marty Jannetty VS Double J
Smoking Gunns VS Headshrinkers 
Sparky Plugg VS The Model
Owen Hart VS Bastion Booger
Men On A Mission VS Red Knight & Black Knight

FEBRUARY 
Bret Hart & Lex Luger VS Yokozuna & Kwang 
Randy Savage VS Crush (lumberjack match)
ICT Razor Ramon VS Shawn Michaels 
TTT Quebecers VS Steiner Brothers
Marty Jannetty VS Diesel
Tatanka VS IRS
Doink VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Men On A Mission VS Headshrinkers
Owen Hart VS Bart Gunn
Adam Bomb VS Billy Gunn
WT Alundra Blayze VS Heidi Lee Morgan
Sparky Plugg VS The Model
Double J VS Jim Powers
Bastion Booger VS Tom Stone

MARCH
Bret Hart & Lex Luger VS Owen Hart & IRS
Randy Savage VS Crush
ICT Razor Ramon VS Shawn Michaels 
Men On A Mission VS Yokozuna & Bastion Booger
TTT Quebecers VS 1-2-3 Kid & Jim Powers
Doink & Dink VS Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon
Diesel VS Virgil
Earthquake VS Adam Bomb
Tatanka VS Kwang
Smoking Gunns VS Headshrinkers
WT Alundra Blayze VS Leilani Kai
Bushwhackers VS Heavenly Bodies
The Model VS Double J
Sparky Plugg VS Brooklyn Brawler

APRIL
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Owen Hart
Lex Luger VS Crush
ICT Diesel VS Razor Ramon
Earthquake VS Yokozuna
Tatanka VS IRS
Doink VS Double J
Mabel VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
TTT Headshrinkers VS Quebecers
1-2-3 Kid VS Kwang 
Duke Droese VS Adam Bomb
Sparky Plugg VS Bastion Booger
WT Alundra Blayze VS Leilani Kai
Smoking Gunns VS Heavenly Bodies
Bob Backlund VS PJ Walker

MAY
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Owen Hart
Lex Luger VS Crush
ICT Diesel VS Razor Ramon
Typhoon VS Yokozuna
Tatanka VS IRS
Doink VS Double J
Mabel VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
TTT Headshrinkers VS Quebecers
1-2-3 Kid VS Adam Bomb
WT Alundra Blayze VS Luna Vachon
Koko B Ware VS Kwang 
Smoking Gunns VS Heavenly Bodies
Bob Backlund VS Brooklyn Brawler
Duke Droese VS Dave Heath
Bastion Booger VS Cuban Assassin

JUNE
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Owen Hart
Lex Luger VS Crush
Razor Ramon VS Barbarian
Typhoon VS Yokozuna
Tatanka VS IRS
Doink VS Double J
Mabel VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
TTT Headshrinkers VS Quebecers
1-2-3 Kid VS Sparky Plugg
WT Alundra Blayze VS Luna Vachon
Duke Droese VS Bastion Booger
Bushwhackers VS Adam Bomb & Kwang
Virgil VS Nikolai Volkoff
Smoking Gunns VS Executioners
Bob Backlund VS Brooklyn Brawler

JULY
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Owen Hart
ICT Diesel VS Razor Ramon (cage match)
Lex Luger VS Crush (stretcher match)
Typhoon VS Yokozuna 
Randy Savage VS Jerry Lawler
Tatanka VS IRS (strap match)
Doink VS Double J
Mabel VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
TTT Headshrinkers VS Heavenly Bodies
1-2-3 Kid VS Kwang 
WT Alundra Blayze VS Luna Vachon
Duke Droese VS The Model
Adam Bomb VS Pierre
Smoking Gunns VS Well Dunn
Sparky Plugg VS “The Undertaker”
Virgil VS Nikolai Volkoff
Bob Backlund VS Greg Valentine

AUGUST
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Owen Hart
ICT Razor Ramon VS Diesel
The Undertaker VS Yokozuna (casket match)
Lex Luger VS Barbarian
Tatanka VS IRS (strap match)
Typhoon VS Bob Backlund 
Doink VS Double J
Mabel VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
TTT Headshrinkers VS Well Dunn
Adam Bomb VS Kwang
Duke Droese VS Jerry Lawler
WT Alundra Blayze VS Bull Nakano
1-2-3 Kid VS Knuckleball
Smoking Gunns VS Executioners
Bushwhackers VS Heavenly Bodies
Sparky Plugg VS Pierre
Virgil VS Nikolai Volkoff

SEPTEMBER 
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Anvil
The Undertaker VS Yokozuna (casket match)
ICT Razor Ramon VS Owen Hart
TTT Shawn Michaels & Diesel VS Headshrinkers
1-2-3 Kid VS IRS
Doink VS Double J
Mabel VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
Adam Bomb VS Kwang
WT Alundra Blayze VS Bull Nakano
Duke Droese VS Tatanka
Smoking Gunns VS Heavenly Bodies
Bushwhackers VS Well Dunn
Bob Holly VS Knuckleball

OCTOBER
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Anvil
The Undertaker VS Yokozuna (casket match)
ICT Razor Ramon VS Double J
TTT Shawn Michaels & Diesel VS Headshrinkers (Fatu & Sionne)
Lex Luger VS Tatanka
1-2-3 Kid VS Owen Hart
Adam Bomb VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Mabel VS Kwang
Doink VS King Kong Bundy
WT Alundra Blayze VS Bull Nakano
Bob Holly VS IRS
Smoking Gunns VS Heavenly Bodies
Bushwhackers VS Well Dunn
Duke Droese VS Pierre
PJ Walker VS Knuckleball

NOVEMBER 
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Anvil
The Undertaker VS Yokozuna (casket match)
ICT Razor Ramon VS Double J
Lex Luger VS Tatanka
Davey Boy Smith VS Owen Hart
Diesel VS Fatu
Adam Bomb VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Mabel VS King Kong Bundy
Doink VS Jerry Lawler
1-2-3 Kid VS Kwang
WT Alundra Blayze VS Bull Nakano
Bob Holly VS IRS
Smoking Gunns VS Heavenly Bodies
Bushwhackers VS Well Dunn
Duke Droese VS Brooklyn Brawler

DECEMBER 
WWF TITLE Diesel VS Bob Backlund 
ICT Razor Ramon VS Double J
The Undertaker VS IRS
Lex Luger VS Tatanka
Davey Boy Smith VS King Kong Bundy
Adam Bomb VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Men On A Mission VS Owen Hart & Anvil
Smoking Gunns VS Heavenly Bodies
Bob Holly VS Henry Godwinn
1-2-3 Kid VS Nikolai Volkoff
Duke Droese VS Kwang
Aldo Montoya VS Pierre
Doink VS Brooklyn Brawler
Headshrinkers VS Executioners
Bushwhackers VS Timothy Well & Barry Horowitz
Wink & Pink VS Queasy & Sleazy

 

…. there was a lot of yellow in the 1995 WWF colour palette, it dawns on me.

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