WWF Bloopers, Bleeps and Bodyslams

With the current state of the wrestling business being horrible, now seems like a good time to turn back the clock and enjoy some classic WWF programming. So I finally have all the Coliseum Home Video releases, and there is a lot of them, so I thought I’d recap them. These were a great way to see the main event matches before the days of every regular show on TV featuring them. Back in the 80s the odds of seeing Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, etc on TV was unlikely, and PPV was a rare thing, these tapes were the only way to see the stars. Coliseum released a lot of tapes in the 80s including twenty “Best of the WWF”, specific ones for big names like Savage, Hogan, Andre, Bulldogs, Harts, Jake Roberts, etc and some oddities as well. The first tape is an oddity of it’s own, as it is “Bloopers, Bleeps and Bodyslams”, not sure what we’re going to see on this show, been a long time since I’ve watched this one, so let’s see what Coliseum Video’s first release has to offer.

Wrestlemania XXVI – March 28, 2010

 

Well, it’s finally Wrestlemania time. I watched the show live last night and honestly some of the matches were really big let downs. I hope they redeem themselves upon second viewing, but not optimistic. I went into this Wrestlemania not expecting much, only three matches interested me (Jericho/Edge, MITB, Rey/Punk) and they just were not as good as they could’ve been. If you follow me on twitter (nala310) you’ll see I posted my opinions up after each match. For those that missed it, here are my quick thoughts on the show and we’ll see if the replay changed anything. The tag match was good but way too short, under five minutes, what a bad start to the night. The triple threat match was surprisingly better than I expected, but Randy winning was obvious. Money in the Bank was a massive disappointment this year, ten men is way too many and most of the time they spent laying around. Jack Swagger winning made me happy, but made little to no sense. Triple H pinning Sheamus was a stupid thing to do, Sheamus needed a win here, and a Triple H loss would’ve been a catalyst to his heel turn. Maybe Sheamus is on the future endeavor list? Rey wins of course, as CM Punk is basically dead and buried at this point. I don’t think he’s won much since the Rumble, and beating JTG on Superstars isn’t a big win. CM Punk is the best they have and they don’t know how to utilize his talents, way to drop the ball. The Bret and Vince match was just boring, basically ten minutes of Vince getting his ass kicked. Went too long for what it was, but always nice to see Natalya. Jericho beating Edge just seemed wrong, all the buildup for the return of Edge and he loses? That is what they call stupid booking! The best part of the match happened after the match, and I’ll get to that later. Screw the diva match; it was a load of shit and not worth mentioning. Although I’m glad I got to stare at Mickie in those tight jeans for a couple minutes! Cena wins, no surprise there as once again we get Cena shoved down our throats. Get over it WWE, stop shoving Cena down people throats, it’s just not working. Was really hoping Swagger would cash in the Money in the Bank at this point, but no, nothing good there. Undertaker ends the career of Shawn Michaels in a good match, not great but good. I assume Shawn won’t be gone for long, probably return around Summerslam. Wish they’d stay gone when they lose, Ric Flair we’re all looking at you. All in all this was a mediocre Wrestlemania, and could’ve been a lot better. With that said, let’s see how the replay holds up.

Monday Night RAW – March 15, 2010

 

After another horrible episode of Monday Night RAW, I’m actually looking forward to tonight. Of course it’s only for the guest host, as we finally get a good one, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Personally I think this should be the end of the guest host garbage, and leave Austin in charge of RAW, it’d be better than all these D-level celebrities they’ve been using. Along with the return of Stone Cold tonight we also get the announcement of the next member of the Hall of Fame and the final participant in the MITB match. That will bring us to ten men in the match, which I think is four too many, it just makes it too chaotic. I assume Kofi will get the final slot, unless they do something cool like have Kofi join with Orton to go after Legacy. With two weeks until Wrestlemania, let’s hope we get the finalized card tonight, so let’s get to it.

Monday Night RAW – March 8, 2010

 

The Monday Night Wars are in full effect, as TNA put forth a great show this week.WWE is countering TNA’s debut episode with John Cena facing Vince McMahon. Not sure how they decided this was going to be a good main event, as I don’t think it’ll be better than TNA’s main event. Also tonight we have special guest host Criss Angel, which should be moderately entertaining. At least he’s new and fresh, unlike Cheech and Chong from last week which have not been relevant since the seventies. I wish they’d give up on the guest host idea; it’s been a failure so far with only a few being interesting. Well, let’s see how WWE compared to TNA tonight.

Monday Night RAW – March 1, 2010

 

 

Last week the WWE released four Superstars, Paul Burchill, Hurricane, Charlie Haas, and Maria. Three names were no surprise, but Maria’s came as a big shock. She’s been prominently featured on TV teaming with Matt Hardy & Great Khali & next week the Apprentice premiers. Seemed odd to let her go at the same time she’s is going to be on a major TV show, but they did. I doubt these will be the final four releases, as more will probably come. Getting to tonight’s show, the guest hosts are none other than Cheech & Chong, as Vince shows what decade he thinks it is. Seriously, they haven’t been relevant in about thirty years, but to Vince they’re hip and cool. Also last week three matches for Wrestlemania were announced, Edge v. Jericho, Undertaker v. Shawn & Batista v. Cena. I still say HHH gets in the middle of Cena/Batista; after all it’s not Wrestlemania without a Triple H title match. So let’s get to tonight as we continue on the road to Wrestlemania.

Saturday Night’s Main Event #21 – May 27, 1989

 

Tonight’s SNME comes to us about six weeks after Wrestlemania V, where the Mega Powers exploded. The fallout from the biggest PPV of they year happens tonight from Des Moines, Iowa. First let’s recap Wrestlemania V, which took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the second year in a row. Hulk Hogan overcame former tag team partner Randy Savage to regain the WWF World title for the second time, at the team that was a big deal. Only Bruno Sammartino had won the title twice, since Backlund’s loss & second reign was never recognized by WWF at this point. Also at Wrestlemania we crowned a new IC champion, as Rick Rude scored a controversial pin over the Ultimate Warrior, thanks to Bobby Heenan holding Warrior’s ankle. After the match Warrior destroyed Heenan, who still had a match with Red Rooster coming up. Rooster crushed Bobby in 32 seconds, but was attacked by Brooklyn Brawler in a feud that basically went nowhere. Strike Force broke up at Wrestlemania, when Tito Santana accidentally nailed Rick Martel with the flying forearm during the match. This prompted Martel to walk away and leave Santana alone with Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, and Santana got beaten. We also had the Wrestlemania debuts of Mr. Perfect, Powers of Pain, Owen Hart as the Blue Blazer, Shawn Michaels, and Bad New Brown. The tag team Champions, Demolition, were able to retain their gold beating former manager Mr. Fuji and his new protégés The Powers of Pain in a handicap match, as the Demolition celebrated one full year as champions. Finally we had a huge return at Wrestlemania, as Rowdy Roddy Piper returned after a two year absence. The Hot Rod hosted his classic Piper’s Pit with guests Brother Love and talk show host Morton Downey Junior. Piper did what he does best by humiliating both guests as he stripped Brother Love and sprayed Morton with a fire extinguisher. That brings us to tonight, as we have my favorite Hulk Hogan match as he faces Big Boss Man in the steel cage, so let’s get to it.

Monday Night RAW – On the Road to Wrestlemania

 

   Tonight begins the true road to Wrestlemania, as we have no more PPVs between now and the big day. Last night at the Elimination Chamber PPV we crowned new champions, as John Cena survived the RAW Chamber and won the title, only to fall to Vince McMahon’s new henchman Batista. Meanwhile on the Smackdown show, Chris Jericho scored a pin on the Undertaker to win the title, but not without controversy. When it got down to the final two, Undertaker was ready to finish off Chris Jericho when Shawn Michaels appeared from under the steel structure. Shawn nailed the Deadman with Sweet Chin Music and stood over him as Chris Jericho scored the victory. It was not a great night for the Undertaker, as earlier in the night on his way to the ring his pyro went off at the ring time and lit him on fire. Also last night Kane fell to the undefeated Scotsman, Drew McIntyre and The Miz defeated long time rival MVP, thanks to the Big Show. The Diva title tournament was once again pushed to the back burner for the sake of a storyline, as Vickie Guerrero came out and postponed the RAW match, even though she’s on Smackdown. Vickie made the match a tag match between Maryse & Gail Kim facing Smackdown’s Michelle McCool & Layla, which was won by Smackdown when Maryse turned on Gail. Great way to get McCool on PPV when she’s not scheduled, must be nice to have that much ‘stroke’. I don’t understand the Vickie part, so if she shows up she gets to make match for RAW too, or just the divas. That’s a loophole big enough to drive a Big Daddy V through. People complained that I was critical of the Batista/Cena match, well it was technically a match, so it should be given a rating. I never said Cena and Batista have been at it too long, they’ve been on top too long. It’s time for some new blood to rise to the top and get a shot. I’d rather have seen Kofi and Morrison win the chamber matches last night, would’ve been new and fresh. Everyone predicted that Jericho was going to win, so they should’ve swerved us and had JoMo get the victory. Then at Wrestlemania we could have JoMo v. Jericho and Edge v. Kofi, I’d love to see that as the main events. I just want to see someone new with the title instead of the same group of guys, but someone who they get behind and push, that is. Not like what they did to Sheamus, did he even win a match via pin while champion? He was pushed to the back in favor of storyline advancement for others, and his title reign became a joke, like Jericho’s when he was the unified champ back in 01. I enjoyed the PPV last night, even though the end was very predictable the matches were great and I’m happy that HHH didn’t leave with the title. Tonight on RAW we have our special guest host Jewel and Ty Murray, and also Edge will pick the champion (Jericho) he will face at Wrestliemania (Jericho). Should be an interesting show.

WWE Elimination Chamber – February 21, 2010

 

   Tonight the road to Wrestlemania becomes a little clearer as we have the final PPV before Wrestlemania 26. Tonight is the first PPV named Elimination Chamber, as WWE has gone just a little crazy with the renaming of PPVs. I liked the No Way Out personally, but guess it could be worse. This should be an interesting PPV as only four matches were announced, the two Chambers, the finals of the Diva tournament and Kane v. Drew McIntyre. I assume they’re going to add a match or two during the show, much like they did with MVP/Miz at the Royal Rumble last month. Supposedly they are going to start with a chamber match, which is interesting, if they do pull JoMo out and put Shawn in the Smackdown one, that won’t be the opening match. If they leave the match alone, then that’s the opening match, as I can’t see Truth, JoMo and Punk getting a main event shot. I still say Triple H wins the RAW Chamber, and Shawn wins the Smackdown Chamber, but if Shawn is not in it, then it will be Jericho. Of course if Shawn does win, where does that leave Edge? I can’t see Edge/HHH at Wrestlemania, although that would be interesting, I don’t think they’ve had a one on one match. Well, whatever happens this should be a fun show, I hope, so let’s get to it.

Saturday Night’s Main Event #20 – March 11, 1989

 

   While I wait for my copy of last night’s Elimination Chamber PPV, let’s continue our journey through the Saturday Night’s Main Events. Tonight’s episode comes to us from Hershey, PA and is about three weeks before Wrestlemania V, the Mega Powers explode. Last month on the Main Event, Randy Savage attacked partner and friend Hulk Hogan and accused him of having eyes for Elizabeth. Hulk was knocked silly with the World title and left laying by the Macho Man, and stormed the backstage area looking for him. At Wrestlemania the Mega Powers will face off for the World Title and Miss Elizabeth! But before we get to Wrestlemania we have to go through SNME 20!

The Main Event II: February 3, 1989

 

The Main Event II: February 3, 1989

   After the massive success of the original Main Event last year, headlined by the Hulk Hogan v. Andre the Giant controversy, WWF decided to do a second one. Tonight’s episode is headlined by the Mega Powers v. The Twin Towers. At the first PPV Royal Rumble Hulk Hogan eliminated Randy Savage causing friction between the Mega Powers. Miss Elizabeth had to come down to the ring and calm things down, and Savage finally left, still irate. Randy Savage started to believe that Hulk Hogan had eyes for Elizabeth, while Hulk kept claiming the relationship was business only. Slowly the pot started to simmer, as the Mega Powers were becoming unstable, would tonight be the boiling point? Let’s find out.