The SmarK Rant for WWE Vault Rarities – 06.15.25
By Scott Keith on 16 June 2025
The SmarK Rant for WWE Vault Rarities – 06.15.25
Hey, might as well review some of the odds and sods that the WWE Vault has been releasing because there’s some fun stuff here that’s either never been released or never been reviewed by me. Or both.
First up, a classic dark tag match from 1990.
Ultimate Warrior & Texas Tornado v. Mr. Perfect & Rick Rude
From Aug 8 1990, in Rhode Island judging by Rude’s pre match promo. So we’re actually before Summerslam and Perfect is still the IC champion. Warrior has a powder blue strap on the belt tonight, which makes me wonder: What the hell happened to the 18 or 19 different variations that he used? Did they let them keep them all? Are they stored in a warehouse somewhere? We get a lengthy stall to start before Tornado comes in and slugs away on Perfect in the corner, sending him flying over the top rope, and then Warrior slingshots him back in for another bump, and finally Tornado puts him on the floor again for a third crazy bump before Warrior runs him into Rude for a meeting of the minds. Back in the ring, Perfect comes out of the corner and walks into a clothesline from Kerry, taking a FOURTH flying bump in the match already, and Tornado goes to work on the arm. Over to Rude and he backdrops Kerry, but Warrior tags himself in and poor Rick immediately takes an atomic drop and then gets hurled repeatedly into the corner and faceplanted. Tornado with a suplex for one, but he walks into a knee from Perfect and the heels take over. Speaking of tornadoes, here in Saskatchewan we got hit with a bunch of tornado warnings on Saturday, but it was covering “the mobile area” on my phone and since Rogers is all over the province the actual affected areas were nowhere near where I live. Still, I appreciate the multiple scary heads-up. Rude goes to the bearhug as the crowd is pretty molten for the babyfaces and Warrior lives his best life by pacing the apron like a madman and screaming motivational platitudes like a tech bro on Threads, and the heels of course cut off the ring and double-team Kerry behind the ref’s back. Perfect with a spinning toehold as he threatens to break it off. Who’s gonna tell him? Tornado tries for the tag and Rude cuts him off and works him over in the corner again, before Perfect takes him down with a chinlock. Perfect with a kneelift and Rude chokes him out with the tag rope as we get all the greatest hits, but Perfect misses a dropkick and hits Rude by mistake, and it’s HOT TAG Warrior. He is DESTRUCITY RUNNING WILD and the heels go flying, and the shoulderblock and big splash finish Perfecto at 11:53. This was a fun TV taping main event and I would recommend it to my friends and/or neighbors without hesitation. ***1/4
Leakee (Roman Reigns) v. Seth Rollins v. Dean Ambrose
https://youtu.be/TSGwE5q-muU?si=SLShoeI6CpLsJeGf
From FCW in February 2012, which STILL isn’t archived on the WWE Network or Peacock or whatever. I’m pretty sure I’ve reviewed this one before as a part of Hidden Gems or whatever, but it’s such a fascinating rarity in retrospect, which should have main evented a Wrestlemania but never worked out that way. The storyline at this point was the rivalry between Dean Ambrose and future mentor William Regal, who was on commentary at this point, and Dean gets all distracted by him, allowing Rollins to toss him and attack Leakee. Regal talking about how he sees his sons in Ambrose, but with all the mayhem and chaos of his own younger days, proved to be prophetic. Ambrose and Rollins team up on Leakee and put the boots to him in the corner while Regal continues waxing poetic about Ambrose and we take a break. Back with Rollins and Ambrose continuing to double-team Leakee and whipping him into the corner. But then Ambrose inevitably turns on Seth and clotheslines him to the floor, and then gets two on Leakee. Leakee dumps Ambrose and hits Rollins with a shot for two, and then he tries his Checkmate finisher but Ambrose counters him into a Regal Stretch. Regal is grimly amused that he’s far into young Dean’s head, but Seth breaks it up with a flying clothesline. Ambrose gets rid of Rollins again and pulls down the kneepad before taking a run at him, but Seth counters and then hits Leakee with a dive instead. Meanwhile Regal hopes his children will forgive him for the horrible things he’s going to be forced to do against Ambrose in the coming year. Ambrose and Rollins slug it out and they team up to get rid of Leakee again while Regal remains personally torn on the whole Dean Ambrose thing, and now he’s fearing he’ll end up in the electric chair someday. Ambrose tries for a Deadeye on Rollins, but Leakee puts them both up with freaky strength and gives them both a Samoan drop, and then hits Dean with Checkmate to finish at 9:22. I wish he’d bring that move back. Also Regal predicts that Leakee will be a big star within the next 12 months. Well OK them Mr. Smarty Pants. Ambrose and Roman were still green as grass here but Seth held it together well enough. **1/2
Val Venis v. CM Punk
https://youtu.be/21aqvumPNU8?si=ZqamhJQ8I98rtMeb
From Heat, May 15 2005. Punk has apparently done very well on the independent circuit. Punk works a headlock on Val as the announcers clarify that Punk is from Chicago and not related to Punky Brewster. Val takes him down with armdrags, but Punk waits for Val to offer a handshake and then clobbers him into the corner. Punk works the leg, but Val beats on him with chops until Punk clips the knee again and wraps it around the post. Back in the ring, Punk goes back to the knee, but Val makes the comeback and backdrops him. Val with a series of clotheslines in the corner and a neckbreaker gets two. Punk with a sleeper and Val reverses to a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Val with the seaman’s suplex, but his knee gives out and Punk takes him down again and goes to a half crab. Val makes the ropes and fights back with a uranage before going up with the Money Shot to finish at 6:35. If this was a tryout for Punk he did a hell of a job in losing. ***
Sabu, Cactus Jack & Psicosis v. Rey Mysterio, Super Calo & Winners
https://youtu.be/aFnDJ2KEEgo?si=OHUSgibzYakySgtW
From AAA and ECW teaming up in Chicago of all places, in 1995. I don’t even know the story here but it’s gonna be wacky as fuck. I’m assuming it’s at the UIC Pavillion because it looks like SuperClash III did. This Rey Mysterio kid seems to be incredibly popular with the crowd. Calo charges in and Jack clobbers him right away and slugs away in the corner and hits a corner clothesline, as Calo takes a facefirst bump off that. Jack goes up and misses an elbow, allowing Calo to put him on the floor, so Sabu comes in. He trades some stuff with Winners and they fight to a stalemate, but then Winners goes up and misses a splash, allowing Sabu to get two and take over. Michinoku Driver and Psi comes in, but Rey flies in and takes him down with a monkey flip in the corner before they fight to the apron. Calo comes in and dances and Sabu just punches him to shut him up. Calo seems like a lot more of a hyperactive doofus than he was in WCW a year later. Jack charges Calo and misses, landing on the floor, and Calo hits him with a dive and then goes to the top and dives onto Sabu as well. So Rey bounces in and hits Psi with a West Coast Pop to finish at 6:00. This was definitely a curiosity but wasn’t a great match or anything. **
Speaking of Sabu…
Sabu v. Scott Taylor
https://youtu.be/5RQLNzf3Q2U?si=5CGoGZd53UrqC0gq
This is his dark match tryout from RAW in October 1993. Sabu was known by tape traders and nerds at this point, but wasn’t any kind of a nationally known name yet. He trades leg takedowns with Scotty to start, and Taylor works on the knee off that, but Sabu beats him down and chokes him out on the ropes. Slingshot legdrop gets two. He flips off Taylor’s back and hits him with the spinkick to put him on the floor, and then follows with a somersault plancha and a quebrada, smashing his knees into the railing as a result. Taylor comes back with a backdrop and slugs away on him to set up a dropkick, and his own somersault kick for fun. Taylor to the top, but Sabu brings him down and hits a top rope rana for one. Springboard moonsault gets the pin at 4:29. I’m gonna say, he was WAY too far ahead of his time in 1993 for WWE and it would not have worked at all with the New Generation audience.
Hey, so this was a fun little hour of stuff on a Sunday night. They’ve got a bunch of other cool rarity videos I can review as well, like “Best of Giant Tag Teams” and “Bangers Under 10 minutes” and stuff like that. As always, the WWE Vault channel continues to RULE.