Five From The Vault #4

Welcome back to another round of Five From the Vault! Just since the last time I wrote one of these, they’ve really jumped on uploading rarities into the Vault. We’ve had an Omni show plus almost one unique entry a day for the last week.

We’ve also had a show reclassified as new rarities. With NXT’s streaming rights expiring on Peacock in the United States, every episode of the baseline NXT show prior to the CW episodes have vanished into the Vault. I’m hoping they reappear somewhere like Netflix in the future, but for now they’re in the Vault for those of us who aren’t sailing the seas or using VPNs to cross borders. Only one NXT match that was on the show was uploaded to Vault before the move – and we’ll cover that one today – though they’ve since added a second.

If you’ve missed the previous trips into the Vault, here’s a quick plug. The first edition featured a Rhea Ripley dark match, a WCW Football Match, a 2003 LOD match and Moreshima tryout matches. The second edition had a match from WCW Millennium Final, the weird crossover of Drew McIntyre and the Nasty Boys, Bayley vs Meiko in Japan, Bo & Duke Rotundo, and the legendary El Generico. The third edition included the women of Japan in 1980s WWE, Vader destroying a man, Minoru Tanaka, and Cody and Punk teaming up in OVW.

As always, my star ratings don’t matter. They’re very subjective and you should watch the matches and form your own opinions, not base them around mine. I have questionable taste. You don’t have to take anyone else’s star ratings as the standard. Not even Dave. If you’re spending more than twenty seconds arguing that Dave’s star ratings are wrong, you’re doing too much.

Also, just as a plug, I’m working on a recap of the WWE Speed Women’s Tournament. I know, you’ve all been waiting so patiently for such a thing! I expect it to have four comments. It’s fine. That’ll be the next thing I write, and then it’ll be right back into the Vault.

Now, onto this week. We have Dom’s father, Eric Bischoff in the mud, Purple Mortis, and one of the Shield’s rare appearances as a trio in NXT.

November 6, 1994 – AAA When Worlds Collide – Two out of Three Falls Masks vs Hair Match: Octagon & El Hijo del Santo vs Art Barr & Eddy Guerrero (link)

AAA When Worlds Collide was the first exposure a lot of American fans had to the AAA style, as WCW produced it and did the work to have it aired on pay-per-view. With that, it went into the WCW library that WWE would eventually buy for cheap in the purchase of the company. It wasn’t added to WWE Network, though this match was on the Eddie Guerrero documentary DVD as a bonus feature. It’s long been heralded as a five-star match. It’s also a memorable match as it was the last for Art Barr, who died just weeks later. I can’t recall seeing it before, though I probably have. I also think I’m going to struggle to do it justice.

The video is introduced by Eddie’s son Dominik, who is sad about the loss of beautiful mullets at the end of the match. Dom WOULD be one of those people that give spoilers. He never deserved Rhea. Eddie and Art are wearing American flag tights and the crowd is HOT. Mike Tenay and Chris Cruise are on the commentary call. There’s a gigantic Corona ad across the ring mat, which surely would infuriate the fans that can’t handle the Prime logo today. Ruining the sanctity of PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING! All that is pure is dead to advertising!

Art and Eddy walk out first, going back towards the entrance. Art does a swimming taunt towards the other team, with Cruise explaining he is showing the Mexican team that the only way they can get to America is “by swimming the river.” Ah. Yeah, that’s something. There was more story here than what we’re seeing. Eddy is first with Santo. Santo with an armdrag and tries for a takedown as the crowd chants “Santo.” Eddy with an armbar which is reversed. Headlock takedown by Eddy that Santo powers out of, flipping Eddy out of the ring. Tag to Barr and Octagon. Barr offers a handshake but gives a kick instead. Octagon rolls out of the way of a dive and takes down Art with a clothesline. Santo tagged in and Eddy runs in to take him down.

Barr lifts Santo on his shoulders and Eddy hits a Frankensteiner on him from the top rope for a quick three count, winning the first fall… or not. We’re that both men on a team have to be pinned to win the fall. Eddie takes Octagon to the top rope and superplexes him off, then Barr hits a splash from the top rope for the pin and the actual end of the first fall. He tells the crowd, “That’s made in America” and the fans hate him.

Blue Panther comes in to check on Octagon between the fall as Eddy spits water into the infuriated crowd. Tenay says that there aren’t t-shirts at the souvenir stands in Mexico but there are a ton of masks. We’re watching replays as we wait for the second fall to begin.

Santo and Eddy start the second fall. Hammerlock by Eddy with a slam and a two count. Eddie with a suplex and another two. Octagon is tagged in. Eddy drops to his knees, hands behind his back and offers a free shot for Octagon, but Eddy (of course) cheats out of it. Standing dropkick by Barr with a slam. Eddy is tagged in and jumps over the rope onto him. It’s almost too far for me to call. I am no Mike Tenay.

Santos with headscissors and a double dropkick gets Guerrero and Barr out of the ring. Octagon and Santo hit a double suicide dive to take them down outside. Again, the fans are HOT. We clip back into the ring with Santo getting a two count, then going up top. Eddy stops him and hits a top rope frankensteiner for a three count. That’s half the fall, but they have to defeat Octagon as well. Octagon in and the heels hit a double clothesline. Whip in again, but this time Octagon hits a flying frankensteiner for a three count on Eddy behind Barr’s back. Side suplex into a lock and Barr gives up, giving them a fall and a 1-to-1 tie.

After replays, we start the final fall. Barr tells Eddy to do it for the United States. He also says “187,” which was a proposition in California that was anti-immigrant. The politics were RAGING in this story. Eddie locks on a chinlock on Santo, but Octagon kicks Eddy in the head. He locks a Camel Clutch on Eddy, but Barr with the kick to save him. Barr falls into a rollup for a two-count. Octagon with savate kicks, and they hit a double elbow on Barr. Santo with a suplex as the tags are fast and frequent. Octagon gets locked into a stretch by Eddy, but is saved by Santo by a kneelift. Eddy goes up top but is dropped by Santo for a one count. The heels with a double dive through the ropes, Santo moving out of the way somewhat.

Santo hits a sunset flip over the top rope and onto the floor on Guerrero. Barr hits a spiked tombstone in the ring for a pin on Octagon, eliminating him from the fall. It’s all up to Santo. Eddy bridges Santo for a two-count. Eddy hits a top rope suplex and Barr dives with a frog splash, only hitting a two count. Barr accidentally clotheslines Guerrero, with Santo doing a fantastic top rope dive onto Eddy. Blue Panther comes in to hit a piledriver on Barr. Santo with a three and it’s down to just Santo and Eddy. Santo seems out. Santo sneaks out a two count. Eddie with a powerbomb into a pin but only a two. Octagon is being loaded onto a stretcher as Eddy lifts Santo to the top rope, hitting a belly-to-belly suplex from the top. To another corner and Eddy hits a top rope Frankensteiner for another two. Eddy hits a full nelson into a bridge, again only getting a two count. Santo swings Eddie into a pin for a quick three and we are losing some hair. We don’t get that part in the Vault video, unfortunately.

Yeah, what a ride! I didn’t do it justice and I recommend taking twenty minutes out of your day for that one. *****, or ******** if it happened in Tokyo

August 14, 2013 – WWE NXT – The Shield vs Xavier Woods, Adrian Neville & Corey Graves (link)

Here’s some randomness, one of the few matches of the Shield on NXT after they became the Shield. They’ve moved to the main roster but still appear here. Neville & Graves are the NXT Tag Champions for this one, while Woods is still new to the company. Ambrose has already won the U.S. Title while Reigns & Rollins hold the World Tag Team Titles. This aired on NXT, but that of course is now lost to the US audience until it reappears somewhere.

Rollins and Graves start as commentary discusses NXT being fertile soil for development, with so many stars going to the main roster. Yeah, that would continue. Graves with a dropkick and Neville tags in. He drops Rollins with dropkicks and tags in Woods. Woods locks in an armbar as commentary describes Woods as the scholar athlete, studying for his PhD. Woods with a Hurricanana but only catches a one. Graves tags back in with an armbar, hitting several shoulders before Rollins reverses. Rollins kicks Graves in the corner, with the referee breaking it up. Graves pulls Rollins from the top with a legwhip, but the other members of the Shield pull Rollins to the floor. Woods and Neville hit running leaps from the ring to the Shield on the floor as we go to commercial break.

Back from break, the future Tribal Chief is pounding Woods in the corner. Dean Ambrose is tagged in, taunting Woods. Ambrose elbow drops Woods for a cover and commentator William Regal calls out how well the Shield team up. Woods flips out of a backdrop to tag in Graves, who nails Ambrose with a flurry of punches followed by a front slam. Graves hits a chop block and locks the Lucky 13 for the submission attempt, but the Shield interrupts it. Dean limps to the corner and tags in Roman, who tries for a pin. Roman with a massive slam and elbow drop for a two. Rollins with a standing arm lock and Graves tries to fight out, punching and pushing his way out. Graves tries for a sunset flip but Rollins holds up, reaching an getting a tag to Roman. Roman punches Graves down on the mat again, putting Graves into a headlock. Reigns punches Graves to the corner, Ambrose tagging in and punching Corey down in the corner. Dean taunts Woods and Neville as he hits a suplex on Graves, tagging Rollins back in. Shield are super effective as a team, which Regal continues to remind us of. Regal talks about Roman being such a presence and having an aura. Graves battles back and dives out of the way of a Roman spear in the corner. Neville tags in and springboards over Ambrose to hit the other Shield members in the corner. Kick to the temple and Ambrose is down. Neville goes up and lands on Ambrose’s knees, ending the comeback. Rollins tags in and suplexes Neville, but Neville tags Woods in the process. Woods rallies, taking down Seth. He yells “It’s Morphin Time!” in the corner, hitting an explosive move on Rollins but Dean saves the pin. All six men are in, Neville hurancanranas Reigns out of the ring. Ambrose back suplexes Graves from the ring to the arena floor.

We’re down to Woods and Rollins again. Woods tries for a suplex off the second rope, but Rollins slips under to grab him. He runs him into the other corner, which is followed by a Reigns spear. It’s academic there and the Shield win the main event, holding up their U.S. and World Tag Team Titles.

I enjoyed this. It was a good early look at all six men, and Corey Graves was pretty fun as an in-ring competitor. ****

Bad Blood: The Found Footage (link)

This is an interesting feature that isn’t a match but, well, footage It’s cut from behind the scenes footage of every Bad/Badd Blood event except for this year’s event, which hadn’t happened when the video was released.

It starts with warehouse footage of the original Hell in a Cell being built. If you’re into watching men in flannel weld things, this is the footage for you! There’s an audience for that on the internet. It is interesting to see one of the guys climb the cage to see if it will actually hold him.

We cut to a director counting in the Undertaker, standing behind a piece of fencing. Undertaker: “HELLO BOY, remember me?” He welcomes Shawn Michaels to his own personal hell, saying he can still taste the blood. There’s no escape in the cage – two men enter, only the Undertaker leaves with your soul. It’s interesting to see the behind the scenes cut, I’ll say that.

To the Hell in a Cell match as Kane’s organ plays. This is alternate footage that stays on Taker in the ring the entire time. You can see the camera desperately trying to zoom in on Taker’s face in the dark and failing. Taker watches as Kane enters the cage, then confronts him in the ring. It’s wild to watch 1998 stuff in one continuous take and not from 48 different camera angles. Kane makes the ring posts go boom then Tombstones Undertaker.

We get some moving match graphics that must not have been used, then watch the fireworks explode at the 2003 edition. We see an alternate take of Goldberg spearing the ringside barrier, then Stone Cold throwing Eric Biscoff off the stage and into the hogpen. We stay with this footage of Eric in the hogpen, threatening “I’ll fuck you up” with his fist towards the pigs. Watching Austin run down the ramp entirely in the background is neat. Another camera angle shows Eric exiting the hogpen, still yelling at the pigs as Austin’s music plays.

Then we get single-camera stage footage of Goldberg and Shawn Michaels making their entrances as well as Austin celebrating above the announce table and Triple H entering. It’s definitely a spare video but I’m all about seeing different angles. I’m also not sure I’ve watched Bad Blood more than one time ever, because I feel like I’d remember the giant blood balls hanging on the stage.

We see a Triple H video package set to Drowning Pool’s version of “The Game” from the Forceable Entry album. I assume this aired somewhere at some point just because of how incessantly they tried to plug the albums back then. Then we get moving graphics for the 2004 card and the intro fireworks for that one with the blood balls. We watch crane camera footage of Shawn dropping the elbow on HHH through the table, then a view from the ramp of Shawn saluting the crowd on his way down the ramp after the match.

I really dug this. It’s not a match obviously, but 12 minutes of random camera angles I haven’t seen before is exactly the kind of nerdiness I’m looking for out of this. I know a lot of the Vault commentary from many is “I want to see that 1984 match!,” but for me it is, “I want to see all the weird angles and the outtakes from commercial shoots.”

August 12, 2003 – Dark Match – Mortis vs Austin Aries (link)

We’ve long heard about Chris Kanyon’s WWE dark matches as Mortis, but it has taken us until 2024 to see them. A lot of the talk around it was this being the purple version of Mortis. WWE uploaded four matches in one video, I’m taking two for this column today and the other two are on the list for future editions.

This has the Velocity graphics and Mortis gets a good reception upon his entrance. He has a pretty cool horror rock theme that has to be out of the Jim Johnston vault. He gets cool lighting and all. There’s no commentary for this. Austin Aries gets his own intro as well. Austin is best known for being needing a step stool to reach things on the bottom shelf of the pantry and fumbling Zelina Vega, which is certainly a bullet dodged by her.

The bell rings and we’re underway. Mortis starts with a kick. He whips Aries into the rope, which Aries ducks into several blows. Aries misses a top rope dive, with Mortis hitting him with a back kick. The audio is rough on this. Mortis kicks Aries repeatedly in the corner, then goes up and jumps down with a bulldog variation. Mortis hits a reverse Liontamer of sorts that I can’t even explain but is immediately cooler than anything Jericho will ever do. Aries forces a rope break. Aries clotheslines Mortis over the top rope, but Mortis lands unaffected on his feet. Aries misses a dive, but hits a dropkick from the top rope for two. He whips Mortis into the ropes, but Mortis drops him from a shoulder breaker position into a backdrop for a three count. Neat! Mortis gets a really good reception from the crowd.

This was neat. Mortis was awesome. ****

April 19, 2003 – Dark Match – Mortis vs Truth Martini (link)

I don’t know much about Truth, but it looks like he spent some time in Ring of Honor. This one has the time tracking at the bottom of the footage and i to a lot more empty seats. It’s just like watching an episode of… nah.

Mortis starts with a kick to down Truth, misses a leg drop from the top. Truth also tries for one and also misses. Another kick takes Truth down. Mortis drapes Truth over the rope for a kick. A whip reverses in Martini’s favor, but not for long as Mortis drives him into the corner. Then, with Martin against the pole on the second rope, Mortis goes up TOP and does a Liontamer from the top rope. Insanity. Mortis hits Martini with a running slide. Martini jumps right into a catch, which Mortis turns into a backdrop variation. Mortis whips him into the corner but runs into a boot. He runs into a second boot. Martini tries to come out punching, but Mortis takes advantage again. Martini hits a running DDT onto Mortis but can’t even get a one count. Martini tries to jump on Mortis in the corner, but Mortis catches him on his shoulders and drops him face first for the pin.

Mortis was just out there doing cool stuff and it rocked. They could’ve put this character on TV and made some money. He slightly played as overpowered as well and I dig that. I highly recommend both these matches and probably the two that follow as well. ****

That’s our trip into the Vault for this week. Join me again next time, we have plenty more to explore!