Chairshot Classics

Chairshot Classics: Monday Night Raw #2 (1/18/93)

Published

5 years ago

June 11, 2018

Welcome everyone to the Manhattan Centre!!! Welcome to Monday Night RAW!!!!!!

It’s that time again where we travel through Monday Night Raw week by week. Last week we sat and watched the historic yet so-so first ever episode. This week, with just six days until the Royal Rumble, it’s time for

Raw#2
January 18 1993

Vince McMahon welcomes us to Raw. I’ve worked it out, THIS is what is missing from WWE in 2018. It’s not pyro exploding it’s someone like Vince (or in later episodes JR) screaming at us. It sort of pumps you up for the show.

Vince welcomes us to Raw and he is with Randy Savage and Rob Bartlet (noooooo). Rob Bartlet has a photo of Bobby Heenan. He says “Fight the real enemy.” as he tears it up. No idea why. In the middle of all of this, Repo Man attacks Randy Savage from behind and steals his hat before leaping over the barrier and escaping through the crowd.

Mr Perfect vs Terry Taylor

To the melodic tunes of The Red Rooster’s theme, out comes current (in 2018) NXT trainer Terry Taylor quickly folowed by his opponent Mr Perfect. Fun Fact: in the late eighties, WWE had two gimmicks and two wrestlers. They had the Mr Perfect gimmick and the Red Rooster gimmick. They had Terry Taylor and Curt Henning. WWE gave each wrestler a gimmick. Just think how different this match (and for that matter their careers) had WWE given the gimmicks the other way around. Would ‘Mr Perfect‘ Terry Talor have been a hit or miss? For that matter, how do you suppose Curt Henning would have done as the Red Rooster? Let’s make this interactive, tweet me with your opinions on that one @Callaweasy2220.

Taylor lunges at Perfect but Perfect manages to take him down with a Waistlock before rolling over Taylor to show his dominance. Taylor wins a Collar and Elbow Tie-up by pushing Perfect against the ropesbut he quickly breaks it as Randy Savage returns to commentary. Perfect catches Talor with a slap to the face. Another Collar and Elbow ends with Perfect pushing Taylor into the corner but Taylor then turns Perfect into the corner and Right Hands Perfect in the face before Chpping him twice and Irish Whipping Perfect who counters it sending Taylor into the corner. Taylor hits the corner so fast and hard that he rebounds back out of it right into a Hip Toss that Perfect follows with a Dropkick. Taylor scurries to the outside and Perfect gives chase. Taylor runs into the ring with Perfect behind him but the referee stops Perfect from following Taylor as ha bails to the outside again.

Having composed himself, Taylor is back in the ring. A Collar and Elbow is turned into a Headlock by Perfect who turns it into a takedown of sorts that gets Perfect a two count. Taylor gets back to his feet and sends Perfect off the ropes but Perfect clatters into Taylor with a Shoulder Block and a Right Hand that sends Taylor into the corner. Perfect hits a Chop and Taylor sticks his thumb in Perfect’s eye. Bobby Heenan is on the phone and he questions why Bartlet tore his picture saying that if he (Heenan) wanted the commentary job on Raw, he’d have it.

In the ring, Perfect catches Taylor with an Arm Drag that he turns into an Armbar (not to be confused with Eddie Guerrero’s former tag partner, he’s ART Barr). Taylor gets to his feet and sends Perfect off the ropes and hits him with a Hip Toss upon his return but Perfect, now on the canvas, kicks Taylor in the face wich allows Perfect time to get to his feet before hitting Taylor with a Bodyslam. Taylor, on the canvas, hits the same kick to Perfect’s face allowing him time to get to his feet where Perfect hits another Arm Drag.

Back from the ads and Perfect hits Talor with a chop in the corner but Taylor grabs Perfect by his singlet and tosses him out of the ring. Taylor rolls out of the ring and slams Perfect face first into the guard rail. Taylor drags Perfect back into the ring and hits a Jawbreaker followed by a series of kicks, a Right Hand and a Sidewalk Slam that gets a two count. Perfect fires back with some Right Hands of his own but Taylor cuts him off with another thumb to the eye and a Headbutt before taking him down with a Snapmare and wearing him down with a Chinlock. Perfect fights out of it with Axe Handles to the gut before bouncing off the ropes but Taylor catches him with a Double T Spinebuster that gets another two count and he gets another two from a Gutwrench Powerbomb. Both men exchange punches before Perfect puts Taylor’s head between his knees and jumps down (I have no idea the name of this move or how better to describe it, if you do tweet me @Callaweasy2220). Perfect catches Taylor with an Inverted Atomic Drop and a seated Throwback. Ric Flair is at ringside and his presence distracts Perfect allowing Taylor to knock Perfect out of the ring. Taylor distracts the referee allowing Flair to ram Perfect’s head into the steps and pummel Perfect with chops and punching before dumping Perfect back into the ring. Taylor picks Perfect up for a Suplex but Perfect blocks it and turns it into a Perfect Plex for the victory.

Winner: Mr Perfect

There is another girl in a bikini with a board saying ‘RAW‘

An ad is shown with Bret Hart for IcoPro, some nutritional thing that looks suspisiously like a steroid scandal waiting to happen.

Randy Savage is advertising Slim Jim’s (an American version of Pepperami for all the brits reading). He became famous for the slogan ‘Snap into a Slim Jim‘ from these.

Vince McMahon is in the ring with WWE Champion, Bret Hart. He tells us that Razor Ramon can say and do what he wants to Bret but Razor does not need to attack his brother, Owen, or threaten his father. Bret calls Razor ‘Scum‘. Vince asks if the match will be a technical masterclass. Bret says everyone knows he is the best at technical wrestling ut at the Royal Rumble he’s going to throw the rule book out the window. Bret says that Razor will find out why Bret is the WWE Champion because this Sunday, he’ll be the toughest, the meanest and the best.

The Undertaker and Paul Bearer appear in a pre tape advertising WWE’s ‘Headlock on Hunger‘ campaign to end people dying of starvation in Somalia. Not sure these are the best two people for this campaign though.

Marty Jannetty vs Glen Ruth

Its Enhancement Talent Time! No, not Marty…. yet. Anyone recognize Marty’s opponent? Glen will go on to become Thrasher of The Headbangers. Don’t know who they are? Google them! Or wait about four years, I’ll get to them on here.

Jannetty throws his shirt out of the ring and is attacked from behind by Glen who lays into Jannetty with an Axe Handle, Right Hands and kicks. Glen Irish Whips Jannetty but his charge is met with a Back Elbow from Jannetty who follows with a second rope Facebuster. Jannetty then Irish Whips Glen and catches him with an Arm Drag. Glen is back to his feet as Shawn Michaels calls into the show. Shawn tells us that The Rockers were a sucess due to Shawn Michales being part of it. He says The Rockers were famous for Shake, Rattle and Roll and that this Sunday he will SHAKE Jannetty’s world, RATTLE Jannetty’s bones and ROLL out of the Rumble still the Intercontinental Champion.

Jannetty is back in control and he hits a Suplex before a Snapmare into another Armbar. Glen gets back to his feet and Arm Wringers Jannetty and elbows Jannetty’s arm. Jannetty rolls out of the Arm Wringer and applies one of his own before turning it into a Hammerlock that takes Glen down before he gets a two count from a Roll Up. Glen hits a couple of punches in the corner (how is enhancement getting so much offence?) but Jannetty turns it around and hits a series of punches of his own and an Irish Whip. Jannetty applies another Hammerlock but Glen pushes him against the ropes breaking the hold before whipping Jannetty off the ropes. Jannetty slides under Glen’s legs and hits a Rocker Dropper (a move that would become the Fameasser) for the three count.

Winner: Marty Jannetty

We get the same ad for the Royal Rumble that we got last week.

Vince McMahon tells us that Crush will not be at the Rumble dueto an attack by Doink. He takes us to footage from Superstars that aired over the weekend. Following a Crush match, Doink has his arm in a sling. He wants to make peace with Crush and has a flower to give him. Crush takes the flower from Doink and heads up the isle. Doink rips his own arm out of the socket. I kid. The arm in a sling is a fake arm. Doink attacks Crush from behind with it beating him repeatedly with it.

We see the Mania comercial we got last week. Probably going to get this ad for a few weeks.

For reasons unknown, Sean Mooney is STILL outside after last week. This week, however, he is with Repo Man. Repo says it was great when he attacked Randy Savage earlier in the show and sent him flying. He then tells Sean that Savage is behind on the payments for the had and that’s why he reposessed it. Repo says that Savage never paid any attention to him until now and they have a match coming up. Repo then takes Sean’s earpiece and tells Savage that what he did was just the begining.

We go to the Royal Rumble Report. Mean Gene runs through the card for the Rumble including: Bret Hart vs Razor Ramon for the WWE Title, Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty for the Intercontinental Title and The Royal Rumble itself. I personally will catch everyone up next week so we are all on the same page.

Randy Savage is now outside with Sean Mooney looking for Repo Man (he really likes this hat).

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Attitude Of Aggression #277- The Big Four Project Chapter 4: Summer Slam ’88 & Survivor Series ’88

Published

3 weeks ago

March 2, 2023

David Ungar

Attitude Of Aggression #277- The Big Four Project Chapter 4: Summer Slam ’88 & Survivor Series ’88

The Attitude Of Aggression returns for Chapter 4 of The Big Four Project, a chronological analysis, review, and discussion about WWE’s Big Four PPVs/ Premium Live Events. On this Episode, Dave is again joined by the one and only PC Tunney to discuss two more huge events in pro wrestling history, the inaugural Summer Slam and Survivor Series’88. However, the guys are also joined by the debuting DJ of The Mindless Wrestling Podcast to join in the festivities. Summer Slam ’88 was a key event in the story of the rise, and eventual fall, of The Mega Powers. But it also saw a different kind of explosion as The Ultimate Warrior burst upon the scene like few had before him with an iconic dethroning of The Honky Tonk Man. The fellas look at how the events of that night in MSG nearly 35 years ago redefined an industry. From there, Dave & DJ recap the second Survivor Series. While not as unique or good as the first Survivor Series, there were still many key moments that took place that night. The Mega Powers would be the sole survivors of their match that night,,,,but they would not survive as a united force for much longer. What changed that night in Richfield, Ohio so long ago? We have the whole story for you here on Chapter 4 of The Big Four Project!

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Chairshot Classics

Chairshot Classics: What I Watched #16 – ECW Guilty As Charged 1999

Breaking up the 2018 time travel with a much deeper dive! Harry goes back to some prime ECW with Guilty As Charged 1999!

Published

7 months ago

September 2, 2022

Harry Broadhurst

Greetings, salutations and welcome back. Harry here once again with another edition of ‘What I Watched’. As the calendar year turns to 1999 on my watch-through of all things ‘big three’ wrestling, I covered Starrcade 1998 in an earlier edition of WIW. I figured since this is probably the last year where all three major companies are relevant (at least at the start), it could be fun to compare and contrast how I feel about the respective PPVs when compared to some of the independent wrestling I’ve been covering recently. Or even going back to the PROGRESS or Impact Wrestling shows that I’ve covered before. I am fully aware there are going to be some bad shows in 1999. But there is also a lot to talk about in a drastically changing industry. Let’s do this, shall we?

ECW is in flux as talent losses haven’t yet gotten to what they would become but names like Sandman, Mikey Whipwreck, Bam Bam Bigelow and others are no longer with the company. To make matters worse, the ECW-FMW relationship is falling apart now as well as a Chris Candido and Sunny (sorry, Tammy Lynn Sytch) no-show of a scheduled FMW appearance. Paul Heyman himself is the first person we see telling us the card is going to change…how much does it change? The WayBack Machine takes us to January 10th, 1999 in Kissimmee, FL as it’s time for ECW to be Guilty as Charged!

What I Watched #16

ECW Guilty as Charged 1999

1/10/1999

Millenium Theatre in Kissimmee, FL

Runtime: 2:40:30 (Peacock)

Commentary By: Joey Styles (PBP)

THE RESULTS

Match 1: Axl Rotten/Ballz Mahoney win 3 team tag elimination match, eliminating Little Guido/Tracy Smothers @ 10:44 (Danny Doring/Roadkill eliminated @ 8:15)
Match 2: Yoshihiro Tajiri pins Super Crazy, dragon suplex @ 11:37
Match 3: Psycho Sid Vicious pins John Kronus, powerbomb @ 1:31
Match 4: Bubba Ray and D’Von Dudley def. New Jack/Spike Dudley, both Dudleyz pin Spike @ 10:05
Match 5: ECW TV Title- Rob Van Dam pins Lance Storm, bridged German suplex @ 17:46
Match 6: Justin Credible pins Tommy Dreamer, That’s Incredible on ladder @ 18:44
Match 7: ECW Heavyweight Title- Taz defeats Shane Douglas © by KO, Tazmission @ 22:15

THE BREAKDOWN

Three Team Tag Elimination Match
Started as a straight up 2 vs. 2, but within the first two minutes, Ballz and Axl (Axl making his return to the company after the passing of his grandmother) join the frey and it becomes your traditional ECW three team brawl. Nothing really stands out here but the overall work is good enough for what the match is supposed to be. The elimination of Doring and Roadkill is well done, as a FBI double-team fishermanbuster looks really cool and gets a decisive win for what was to be the original match. They do give the win to Axl and Ballz here, which I get given the fact they are a popular act, but I personally think that Guido and Tracy were a better team during the time frame. (**½)

Super Crazy vs. Tajiri

Yes, it’s the feud that never ends. But this is where it begins. Both men were relative newcomers to the American wrestling scene with both having had limited exposure on WWF TV (both were in the Light Heavyweight title tournament). This is a good match but not a great match and honestly, I think timing is the issue here. Eleven minutes may seem like a lot but knowing what these two would be capable of down the road once there is more of a fan and time investment into their matches, it ends up being a good starting point but probably not the blow away match that ECW was expecting to deliver here. (***)

John Kronus vs. Mystery Opponent

So, ECW fans are notorious for their belief that the “big oaf” style of the WWF and WCW wouldn’t work in ECW. Obviously, they are wrong. Guys like Big Dick Dudley and 911 became massive fan favorites due to their look, not anything they could do in a wrestling ring. You can add another name to that list, as Psycho Sid makes his ECW debut here (following an introduction by the ‘Judge’ Jeff Jones) and absolutely kicks Kronus’ ass in less than two minutes. Sid was never anything special in the ring but he is one of the more charismatic big men in wrestling history so the cult-like following is easy to understand. Too short to rate, but fun for what it was. (X)

Dudleyz vs. New Jack/Spike Dudley

Sixteen year old Harry getting into ECW was a huge Joel Gertner fan. Thirty seven year old Harry going back and watching these shows is an even bigger fan of Joel Gertner. Granted, his shtick is incredibly juvenile but sometimes, you just want to laugh…

The match is your standard ECW garbage brawl. Most New Jack matches definitely have a similarity to them that does not hold up well for re-watching. I will openly admit to being a Spike Dudley mark and he does well taking an ass whooping from Bubba Ray. The Dudleyz definitely have their moments in ECW (the best is still to come in my opinion) but this isn’t one of their best performances. I will give props to New Jack for taking 3D on the ramp, even if it doesn’t come across the cleanest. About what you’d expect, but nothing more. (**)

Rob Van Dam vs. Masato Tanaka was the originally scheduled match and I think it could have been fun. However, Tanaka apparently has visa issues which prevent him from being able to get into the US for the show and thus ECW has to pivot quickly. I do have to give credit to Lance Storm for his pre-match promo here. For someone who is not known as one of the better talkers in wrestling history, he does a really good job explaining the situation with the 3 way that was supposed to happen (Storm vs. Spike vs. Jerry Lynn (cracked pelvis)) and then calling out Rob Van Dam since his opponent wasn’t there either. Storm has a really good closing line for the promo too: “I’m not the ‘Whole F’n Show’, but I am the best damn part of it’. That is one of the lines that sticks with you and you remember it.

The match itself is very good but not great. It is better than anything else on the show, so perhaps I’m rating it on a slight curve for that. Van Dam’s selling is sporadic but to be fair, Van Dam’s selling is always sporadic. The biggest thing for me is that despite that, they still keep an impressive pace and the match is by and large clean. There is a super weak chair shot by Storm (which the crowd gives him a good ration of shit over), but they do manage to turn that crowd around for the finishing sequence. A little surprised by the choice of finish, but I imagine that has something to do with telling the idea that Storm got caught and wasn’t soundly defeated like most of Van Dam’s prior opponents had been. (***½)

Stairway to Hell- Justin Credible vs. Tommy Dreamer

The problem for Credible in ECW is that Paul wanted you to believe that Justin was this huge deal but truthfully, the booking never actually treated him as such. Yeah, he won…A LOT…but more often than not, it was almost treated as an afterthought. He very rarely won the big matches on his own and while I get that as a heel, you want to give him that sense of dickishness, as a wrestling fan eventually you have to make it look like the dude could stand up on his own. Dreamer has long been a favorite of mine, even if he has overstayed his welcome in the ring on occasion. You know going in that win or lose, Tommy will bust his ass to give you as good a match as he is capable of.

As for this match, it never reaches that next level that you expect a gimmicked semi main event of a PPV to reach. It’s not actively bad or anything (in fact, probably up there for Credible’s best match in ECW to date) but with the stipulation and the gaga around it, it feels like there was so much more it could have been. The finish comes off really flat as well as it renders the whole point of the stipulation useless and only serves to put more heat on Credible by way of Funk. (**½)

So, I’ll be a little nicer to this match then some other reviewers I’ve seen for a couple reasons. It completely accomplishes the goal that Heyman set out for it. Taz comes out of the match looking like a world beater. Douglas comes out of the match as the face of the company who “went out on his shield” as the old phrase goes. Sabu looks like a lunatic and a viable threat to take the title at any time he damn well pleases. Candido comes off as a huge dick and sticks the final knife in Douglas’ back for the end scene. So the story telling is magnificent.

The match itself? At least a good five to seven minutes too long for that story. I get wanting that epic storytelling to fold out but when you guys are down and low on ideas, it might not be the worst idea to take it home. The other issue is that by trying to serve so many masters, Heyman causes the main event to end up being epically overbooked. Granted, that is an ECW trademark but for what was to be the crowning moment for Taz, I don’t think the 73rd Airborne needed to be a part of it. Sabu could have just as easily returned post match to set up a run with Taz. Or Candido could have turned on Douglas post match to give him a direction going forward since Taz would be occupied with Sabu. I’m not saying it completely takes away the moment but it does make it mean less than it could or should have in the overall scheme of things. (**)

THE FINAL REACTION

Best Match/Moment: Rob Van Dam vs. Lance Storm, although I do think their match at the first ECW PPV ‘Barely Legal’ (which I imagine I’ll eventually do) is better
Worst Match/Moment: The main event. What could have been an awesome moment for the ‘Human Suplex Machine’ and the biggest ass kicker in the company is ruined with a boring crowd brawl (to the home viewer) and a couple of run-ins that either end up actively taking away from it.
Overall Show Score: 5.5/10
MVP: Joey Styles is the best thing about this show with his one man performance. There is a reason he was such a major influence on what I did as an announcer.

THE SIGNOFF

It’s not a bad show. It’s just not a particulary good one either. And while ECW would put out worse, it only barely outdoes Starrcade 98 to avoid the worst show of the return thus far.

So, where do we go from here? January of 1999 had no chill. The very next Sunday would see the first WCW outing of 1999, called Souled Out. The Sunday after that would be the 1999 edition of the Royal Rumble. I’m going to hit both of those but as a fair warning, I’ll probably try to mix an Independent show from 2018 in the middle of them. Hope to see you guys at Souled Out. And feel free to check out my archives by clicking on my name at the top of this review. Thanks for reading, everyone.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!