Savio Vega

The Brain Buster’s finish is the piledriver but Koko’s theme is Piledriver and his finisher the Brainbuster.
-YouTube comment.

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week, I found a very odd one-off, as it’s the Brain Busters versus the makeshift team of… High Energy? Yes, it’s OWEN HART AND KOKO B. WARE, but several years early, as Owen’s the Blue Blazer and neither is in gigantic parachute pants, and they’re taking on the NWA-styled Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard!

Then it’s over to New Japan, as the IWGP Tag Team Champions, Rick & Scott Steiner, defend against the monster squad of Scott Norton & Tony “Ludvig Borga” Halme! Come see some real Hoss Style wrestling… at least until their cardio wears out! Then it’s a classic 1994 WWF match, with The 1-2-3 Kid & Thurmann “Sparky” Plugg vs. Adam Bomb & Kwang! Sting vs. Lt. James Earl Wright in 1995 WCW! And we cap things off with a jobber squash featuring Don Muraco in 1980s Florida dismantling a green rookie Barry Windham!

THE BRAIN BUSTERS (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. KOKO B. WARE & THE BLUE BLAZER:
* !!!!!! This was mentioned in a daily thread as a fascinating unknown match, and look at it! The Brain Busters vs. High Energy… three years early! Owen Hart at this point was a masked undercard guy in light blue gear for some reason, and Koko was on the JTTS train already. The Busters, in black trunks, are so NWA they look bizarre in late ’80s WWF, but they kinda fit because of that- two guys in regular gear with regular dad-bods like good NWA stars should look. Like, WWF was so full of weird characters that this actually STOOD OUT… and thus kind of worked? I mean the whole company was guys trying to stand out so “NWA Guys” was ironically a good fit. The jobber team is listed as 70 lbs. heavier than the Busters- that doesn’t sound right.

Beating a bunch of midcarders and you change the business forever. Wrestling is weird.

WWF KING OF THE RING QUALIFYING MATCHES (1996):
* You might have heard of this tournament before. So by this point, the tourney was kind of up in the air after Mabel’s failed Main Event push. It could have even poisoned the “King” title, in fact. Hopefully THIS year’s winner makes more of a go of it.

So the backstory here was that the crown was meant to go to the “Next Big Midcarder”, more or less- mid-tier heel Hunter Hearts-Helmsley was expected to win it. But instead, he was one of the few guys the WWF could punish for doing the infamous “Curtain Call” (the Kliq members all coming out for a group hug in the ring, “exposing the business” by confusing fans at an MSG house show). And so he had his big push taken away and they threw it on some other guy. Thus giving HHH a lifelong persecution complex and an obsessive need to look smarter and better than everyone else, covering his own ass at every opportunity. But who knows what effect THAT had on the business?

This review is comparatively massive, because I decided to put the trio of Quarterfinals in the same review instead of splitting them up. Easier to look at the tourney as a whole that way! Hopefully it’s not too long, haha.

HENRY O. GODWINN (w/ Hillbilly Jim) vs. JUSTIN “HAWK” BRADHSAW (w/ Uncle Zebekiah):
(WWF Superstars)
* Weirdness abounds as tag wrestler Godwinn is out there with absolutely ZERO chance, taking on rising midcard guy Bradshaw, then a super-green Stan Hansen wannabe in red trunks and a ponytail managed by Zebekiah. At this point, the future JBL was nowhere near as protected as he would be even as part of the Acolytes, but he was protected enough.

–A replay of Xanta Claus attacking Savio Vega at In Your House 5 is shown.

–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are doing commentary and they are kicking off some new tapings in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, only 1,500 fans attended because there was a blizzard during the show.  This was also the taping where Bradshaw made his debut in a dark match, losing to Savio Vega.  Also, this is the last Superstars of 1995 because next week’s episode is a “year in review” show.

(My reviews are a little out of order as I accidentally posted the Monday Night RAW that happened the night after this show on Friday instead of posting this In Your House review.  So if you missed that review, you can read this one and then go back and check that one out.  I will finish this series of 1995 WWF columns on Friday).

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary and they are live from Hershey, Pennsylvania.

–A video package hypes today’s Savio Vega-Bob Backlund main event.  Savio says that he is going to put spice on Backlund’s chicken wing, whatever that means.

–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Bob Backlund are doing commentary and they are taped from Salisbury, Maryland.

–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are calling today’s action, which is taped from Salisbury, Maryland.

–Marty Jannetty gives Razor Ramon a leather jacket backstage and asks for Ramon’s help against the 1-2-3 Kid.  Ramon agrees to the idea and agrees to watch Jannetty’s back as long as Jannetty watches his in the weeks ahead.  It seems like this angle ran behind their television storylines as McMahon already told fans on RAW that Ramon and Jannetty would be facing Sid and the Kid at In Your House.

–A video package recaps how Bret Hart defeated Diesel at Survivor Series to become the new WWF Champion.

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are on commentary and they are live from Richmond, Virginia.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the tapings were attended by 4,500 fans.

–Howard Finkel announces Mr. Perfect, who is returning to the company after a year and a half hiatus.  Perfect comes to ringside to serve as a color commentator.

–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are doing commentary and they are live from Landover, Maryland.

–Todd Pettengill does a horrible Dracula impression as he recaps last week’s twenty man battle royal and how Goldust is making his television premiere tonight.

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary, still calling the show from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.  Since it is Halloween, McMahon taunts the federal government by dressing up like a prisoner.  Lawler even asks if he got fitted for that outfit a year ago.  For his part, Lawler dresses up like a dentist.  Even the Spanish announce team gets in on the act as they are dressed like devils and WWF logo in the bottom left corner of the screen is done like a jack-o-lantern.

–Vince McMahon recaps parts of In Your House 4, noting how WWF Champion Diesel and Bret Hart brawled at the end of the show and how Razor Ramon became a four-time Intercontinental champion.

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary and they are live from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the tapings drew 2,000 fans.

–Toni Wilson sings “O Canada” to kick off the show.  Vince McMahon bills her as an “up and coming star” but no significant achievements came to her career the best I can tell.

–Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon tells the viewing audience that due to Shawn Michaels concussion he will not allow him to compete.  Monsoon promises that there will still be an Intercontinental title match tonight as Michaels will be asked to forfeit the title to Dean Douglas, who will then defend it against Razor Ramon.  The crowd is heard noticeably booing this announcement from the arena as the company has yet another “bait and switch” for the second pay-per-view in a row.

–Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross are doing commentary and they are live from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

–Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross are calling today’s action and they are still in Valparaiso, Indiana and on the campus of Valparaiso University.

–Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross are today’s commentary team and they are taped from the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the tapings drew 3,000 fans.

–Barry Horowitz is showing trying to tutor Hakushi on American politics, a segment that McMahon laughs at.

–Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross are doing commentary and they are live from Saginaw, Michigan.  Lawler predicts that Owen Hart will become the new Intercontinental Champion, while Ross predicts that Yokozuna will win the Intercontinental title.

–Vince McMahon recaps how Henry Godwinn has been on a “slopping spree” in recent weeks and chronicles his battles with the Million Dollar Corporation.

–McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross are in the booth and concluding the tapings in Erie, Pennsylvania.

–Clips of the end of last week’s British Bulldog-Razor Ramon match are shown, along with the 1-2-3 Kid’s challenge to Razor Ramon for a match on tonight’s show.

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary and they are concluding the tapings in Canton, Ohio.  This is our last RAW before In Your House 3.

–A video package recaps Hakushi’s recent problems with Skip and hypes their match on today’s show.

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are calling the action and they are taped from Erie, Pennsylvania.  In a weird taping quirk, most of the September Superstars tapings took place in Erie except for the September 9 episode, which was taped in Canton, Ohio along with several Monday Night RAW episodes.

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary and they are live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  McMahon announces that 18,062 fans are in attendance, setting a record for the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, this was the reported attendance figure with 17,000 of those fans paying to attend the show.

–Jim Ross and Todd Pettengill are in the booth and they are taped from Worcester, Massachusetts, the site of the final Wrestling Challenge tapings, as well as from Portland, Maine.  It is SummerSlam Sunday!

–Jim Ross and Todd Pettengill are in the booth and they are taped from Portland, Maine.  This was the same site as the recent Superstars tapings as the company was reducing television tapings due to budget cuts.