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Tape Reviews
WWF Wrestling's Fan Favorite Matches
Posted by Clint Dreamer on Dec 2, 2002, 14:40
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WWF Wrestling�s Fan Favorite Matches
This is my first ever tape review, and I hope you enjoy. The tape I chose was one that I picked up for about 3 bucks over a year ago, andI have finally decided to watch. From the looks of the box, I haven�t really missed much.
- Sean Mooney is our host for this Coliseum Video and he welcomes us from a desk covered in postcards and envelopes. Sean claims that the matches on this tape were taken directly from requests sent in by fans. I�m sure they are.
Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Ultimate Warrior
Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes are on commentary for this match, which they tell me is taking place in Fort Myers, FL. Earthquake attacks the Warrior from behind as Jimmy Hart distracts. The Ultimate Warrior no sells a few of Earthquakes best shots and charges him, knocking the big man down. Quake quickly rolls to the outside to receive some managerial advise from Hart. The Ultimate Warrior follows to the outside, to chase Jimmy Hart like a moron, and of course gets jumped from behind by the Earthquake. Sean Mooney mentions that this match is being shot exclusively for Wrestlefest 1991. Don�t I feel special now. Earthquake manhandles the Warrior outside the ring and quickly tosses him back inside to lay the boots to him. Quake picks up the Warrior with ease and dumps him on the corner to lay a choke on him. The majority of Earthquake�s offense here comes from punching and kicking, thus making the match not exciting at all. The Warrior starts to battle back but gets splashed in the corner to give Earthquake the advantage again and he goes right back to the punches and the kicks. Bearhug by Earthquake slows things down even more as the Warrior begins to lose energy. The bearhug spot goes on way too long, and Quake just releases the Warrior so he can drop fat elbow on him. Earthquake signals the end of the match by jumping up and down sending tremors throughout the ring. Giant ass splash by Earthquake gets two, and the Warrior starts to Hulk-up. Earthquake can�t believe it, but of course neither would I if someone had just killed my finisher. The Ultimate Warrior begins shaking the ropes furiously and mounts an offense, no selling all of the Earthquake�s shots. The tide officially turns as the Warrior hits three big clotheslines and then manages to slam the big man. A big splash finishes Earthquake off at 5:38. Standard Warrior match here. After the match the Warrior press slams Jimmy Hart onto Earthquake.
MATCH RATING: *
WHY?: Neither wrestler involved here is much of a worker in my opinion, so that is why the match is rated so low. I wasn�t happy to see the Ultimate Warrior no sell Earthquake�s finisher, because it made the Quake look very
weak. Of course he wasn�t given a chance after the match to get his heat back either but it was the Ultimate Warrior he was wrestling so I don�t know why I expected that.
�Macho Man� Randy Savage vs. The Berzerker (w/Mr. Fuji)
We get Mooney and Hayes on commentary again here. This match is from West Palm Beach, FL. Berzerker tries to get an early jump on Savage here but isn�t quick enough. Luckily for the Berzerker he has Mr. Fuji on the outside and he trips up Savage to give Berzerker the advantage. Savage is tossed to the outside, where he gets pushed around a little and then tossed right back in. I really don�t get the reasoning behind that. Once back inside, Berzerker quickly tosses the Macho Man over the top rope this time and sends him crashing to the outside. Berzerker pulls Savage back into the ring with a handfull of fried hair, and that causes Savage to fire back, only to get his eyes raked. He hits a piledriver on Savage that gets a two count before Savage�s foot on the rope stops the count. Savage to the floor again, and the Berzerker smashes Savage into the ring steps head first. Bodyslam to the exposed concrete floor puts the Berzerker in the drivers seat. Both men back in the ring as Berzerker hits another bodyslam on Savage. Knee drop from the Berzerker misses and Savage knocks him down with a clothesline from behind. Mooney mentions that his match is being shot exclusively for Battle of the Superstars 1992, which brings me to the conclusion that the WWF was really getting their money's worth out of these matches if they were appearing on more than one videotape. Savage grabs Berzerker by the face and pushes him into the corner, only to be met with a big boot to the face after he charges in. The Berzerker goes for his favorite move again -- you guessed it, the bodyslam -- but the referee catches one of Savage�s boots in the face and goes down for the weakest ref bump in history. Berzerker misses a splash (or something that looked like splash), but manages to keep control on Savage with a knee to the gut. He locks a full nelson on Savage, as Mr. Fuji climbs the apron with his baggy of salt in hand. Savage, of course, ducks the blinding salt, and floors Fuji with a right hand. The Macho Man climbs to the top rope with Fuji�s cane in hand and nails the Berzerker between the eyes with it. After tossing the evidence Savage goes to the top again and hits the flying elbow for the win at 4:03.
MATCH RATING: *
WHY?: This was another standard heel vs. face match and not a very exciting one at that. I�m a big Savage mark, but the Berzerker�s offense was so weak during this match that I was bored with it. The ref bump was really embarrassing.
Six Man Tag Team Match
The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) & The Beverly Brothers (w/The Genius) vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) & The Legion of Doom (w/Paul Ellering)
Mooney and Hayes are on commentary again, just to try my patience. The Mountie enters first, and Hayes comments that he likes the Mountie�s theme music (Hey, me too!). Jacques takes the mic from the ring announcer decides
to treat us to a live version of his theme singing �I�M THE MOUNTIE, I ALWAYS GET MY MAAAAANNN.� The Genius leads Beau and Blake Beverly to the ring and he is going to treat us to a poem of his.
�The Undertaker�s teaming with three obnoxious sissies,
That some prefer to call the L.O.D.
The brothers Beverly and I have found them quite repulsive,
And the Genius knows the Mountie will agree.�
Anyways, back to the match. The Undertaker gets a nice pop here, as does the Legion of Doom. Lord Alfred wonders if the L.O.D. and the Undertaker will be able to co-exist in this match. Hart and Ellering have words outside the ring and Jimmy even threatens to put on the tights to kick Ellering�s ass. Animal overpowers Blake to start the match but a cheap shot puts the Beverly brother in control. Animal reverses an Irish whip and powerslams Blake, as Beau runs in and catches a shot in the face from Hawk. The Mountie starts to get into the ring but quickly hightails it to the outside when he sees the Undertaker getting in. The Mountie, Beau, and Blake all gather outside the ring for a heel meeting. Blake enters the ring, and quickly tags in Beau. Animal tags to Hawk and a funny bit occurs as Beau turns his back to pose for the camera, only to turn around and have Hawk scream in his face which makes him role to the outside in fear. Another heel meeting takes place outside the ring as Blake and The Mountie try to calm down Beau. Once back inside Beau hits Hawk with a few punches and kicks. A chase around the ring sees Beau keep control of the match, until Hawk turns the tides with an X-Factor. Hawk press slams Beau in a nice power display, and then tries to beg his way out of an ass kicking. Hawk sends Beau into the corner and controls him with a series of punches and chops. Hawk nails Blake with a chop that sends him to the floor. The heels stall again on the outside. The Undertaker gets the tag in and no one wants to face off against the Dead Man. The Mountie gets tagged in but stalls and tries to call a quick time-out. Suddenly the Mountie grows some balls and starts firing off shots at the Undertaker. Irish whip is reversed by The Undertaker but the Mountie is too smart for that and grabs the top rope yelling �I�M THE MOUNTIE� at the crowd while flashing a huge grin. Of course he turns around to get choked by the Undertaker as soon as he�s done. Undertaker off the ropes and hits a nice flying clothesline. Taker tags in Hawk and the Mountie brings in Blake. Blake off the ropes and tries a shoulderblock on Hawk, which sends Blake crashing to the mat. He tries it again, with the same result. Another funny moment occurs as Blake gets up and yells �YOU GIVE ME ONE� and Hawk runs off the ropes full speed and sends Blake crashing to the mat yet again. Hawk takes of on Blake and Blake tries to run to the outside, only to get caught and dropped to the mat face first over the top rope. Blake is whipped to the corner, but dodges a running Hawk who hits the ring post shoulder first, and falls to the floor outside. Beau around quickly delivers a shot to the back with a chair and then tosses Hawk back into the ring as the fans rally behind the L.O.D. Mountie in now and he hits an elbow to Hawk who was running off the ropes. The heels cut the ring in half and the Beverly Brothers double team Hawk, while the Mountie distracts, drawing the Undertaker into the ring. Beau comes back in and continues to work over Hawk. Beau hits a beautiful Mr. Perfect-like necksnap from the second turnbuckle and then kicks away at Hawk while the Mountie chokes him from the outside. Blake gets tagged in now and a quick double team on Hawk takes place. Beau back in now and he sends Hawk into the corner where he takes a Bret Hart bump and ends up knocking heads with Beau who was charging in. Beau is first to make a tag, and Blake is quick enough to prevent Hawk from getting to his partners. Blake hits a weak backbreaker and then misses a splash off the second turnbuckle allowing Animal to get the tag in. Animal fires away at all three opponents, and then hits a shoulderblock that gets a two count before Beau breaks it up. The Beverly Brothers try a double team and send Animal into the ropes, only to both get DDTed by Animal. A pinning attempt is broken up by the Mountie, which draws the Undertaker into the ring to kick his ass. The Undertaker and the Mountie brawl to the outside, as does Hawk and Beau, leaving Animal and Blake as the two legal men in the ring. Animal hits a backdrop on Blake and then holds him in the air for Hawk to hit a clothesline off the top giving the Legion of Doom and the Undertaker the win at about 12:36.
MATCH RATING: ***
WHY?: I really enjoyed this match, mainly because of the performances by The Beverly Brothers and the Mountie. Watching those three play cowardly heels was very funny at times. I would have liked to have seen more of the Undertaker and the Mountie in the match, because it was mostly all L.O.D. and the Beverly Brothers, and I am a big Mountie fan. Very enjoyable though.
Intercontinental Title Match
Bret �The Hitman� Hart vs. Skinner
This match is from the This Tuesday In Texas pay per view which of course took place only days after the 1991 Survivor Series. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are on commentary, which boggles my mind, since it is the commentary from TTIT and they talk about Hogan vs. Undertaker a lot in the match. Would it really have been that hard for Mooney and Hayes redo the commentary on this
tape? I mean I know it�s a lot to ask but stuff like this makes the tape seem worthless. Gorilla mentions that Skinner is undefeated at this point. Hart gives his shades to screaming teenage girl that Heenan has an easy time making fun of. Bret hits a nice armdrag on Skinner to start. Lockup and Bret armdrags Skinner to take control of the match. Hart off the ropes and takes Skinner down with a shoulderblock and two atomic drops, one of which was inverted. Skinner bails to the outside. Back in as they lockup and Bret goes to work right away on the arm of Skinner. Skinner gets an armdrag of his own but Bret rolls through to maintain the advantage and he keeps on top of the arm. Heenan comments, �I heard they were going to tear down the Alamo and open up a fast food restaurant.� Not sure why that is funny but it made me laugh. Bret drags Skinner to the middle of the ring and holds an armlock, until Skinner is able to make it back to the ropes. They lockup again and Skinner gets an armbar on Bret, only to be reversed and put into the same hold. Damn, Bret sure knew how to work a part of the body over. Skinner tries to reverse but catches a pair of elbows from the Hitman. A headbutt knocks Skinner to the mat which allows Bret to hit his trademark stomp to the midsection, which draw and nice pop. Bret goes right back to the arm but an eyerake sees Skinner get a quick advantage. Skinner grabs Bret and throws him between the top and middle turnbuckles, shoulder first, into the ring post. Bret falls to the outside selling the shoulder perfectly. The Hitman tries to crawl back into the ring but is met by a number of stomps from Skinner. Both men back inside now as Skinner locks on an Abdominal Stretch, to which he uses the top rope for leverage. After giving up on that hold Skinner drops Bret and bites him. A beautiful shoulderbreaker gets a two count. A boot to the face in the corner sees Bret start to mount a comeback, but that is quickly thwarted when Skinner gives him a shot to the throat with his Alligator claw, while the ref�s back was turned. Skinner chokes Bret now, working over the throat, using the ring ropes and his boot. Skinner whips Bret to the corner where Bret takes his full tilt sternum first bump in the turnbuckle and the crowd GASPS on that one. Skinner begins working over the leg for some reason (even Bobby and Gorilla don�t understand his logic there) before finally returning back to the injured throat with a chokehold. The crowd begins to rally behind Bret, but Skinner hits the Gatorbreaker (inverted ddt, called a neckbreaker by Monsoon) and that gets a two count. Skinner quickly goes to the second rope but eats a foot jumping off and Bret is quickly to his feet. Bret fires away on Skinner and hits a nice elbow off the ropes. Side Russian legsweep gets a two count, as does a suplex from the Hitman. A backbreaker and a second turnbuckle elbow get another two count for Hart. Bret takes time to argue with the ref, which allows Skinner to roll Bret up for a two count of his own, but the kickout sends Skinner to the outside. Bret follows and gets met with an eyerake and then gets rammed into the ring. Skinner tries to suplex the Hitman into the ring but Bret floats over and gets knocked down. Skinner to the top rope but he is caught by Bret and slammed off the top. The Hitman locks in the sharpshooter for the submission victory at 15:35.
MATCH RATING: **1/2
WHY?: Good match here but it was obvious that Skinner was out of his league with the Hitman. While Skinner was on offense he didn�t seem sure of what he was doing and Heenan and Monsoon didn�t do a very good job of covering for him either. Bret Hart, as always, was smooth on offense and did the best job he could of making Skinner look good when he was in control.
The Natural Disasters vs. The Nasty Boys (w/Jimmy Hart)
Back to Mooney and Hayes on commentary here. The match is slow to start with the Nasty Boys stopping to pose for some god awful reason. Typhoon and Jerry Sags start the match. Sags hits a few elbows on Typhoon and then tries a
bodyslam but fails. He catches a bodyslam of his own from Typhoon for his troubles. Whip to the corner and Typhoon hits an avalanche on Sags. Brian Knobs tags in and wants a piece of Earthquake. Why you ask? Who cares, it's Brian Knobs. Earthquake in and he and Knobs get into a shoving match with Earthquake getting the better on Knobs. Earthquake hits a bodyslam of his own on Brian Knobs. Quake off the ropes now and although Knobs rolled to avoid contact, he gets hit with an elbow to the back. That looked like a painful blown spot for Brian. Quake off the ropes again but gets hit with Jimmy�s megaphone from Jerry Sags behind the referees back. Sags tagged in and he hits a series of elbow drops to Earthquake which leads to a two count on the big man. Knobs back in now and
he fires away on Earthquake, but catches an elbow to the gut. Sags is tagged back in and he starts to fire away on Earthquake. Damn the Nasty�s are tagging in and out a lot here. Knobs back in (!) now and the Nasty Boys double team Earthquake. Quake fires back and Sags gets another tag in. Sags gets a couple of running elbows in and then brings Knobs back into the ring. Knobs works over the Earthquake in the corner but he gets a boot to the face
on a charge and Sags is back in now. Sags is able to stop Earthquake from making a tag to Typhoon. He tries a sunset flip off the ropes only to get sat on by the Earthquake�s fat ass. Knobs breaks up the count which draws in Typhoon and now all four men are in the ring. The ref tries to get Typhoon out as Knobs gets caught in a bearhug by the Quake. The Natural Disasters sandwich Knobs between them and Earthquake hits an elbowdrop for the three count at 6:29. Jimmy Hart is dragged into the ring tossed onto Brian Knobs for his second bump on the tape.
MATCH RATING: ZERO STARS
WHY?: Boring, boring, boring. These two teams sucked so bad I can�t imagine anyone actually booking them into a match against each other. Putting it as the main event on this tape was just wrong too. Typhoon was in the match for literally seconds. The Nasty Boys offense consisted of Knobs and Sags hitting Earthquake with a few kicks and punches and then tagging right away. Horrible crap and certainly not the way to end a videotape.
- Alas, we end up back with Sean Mooney who promises that more of these tapes will follow if the WWF fans keep writing. God ,I�m glad they stopped.
OVERALL: While this tape offered a couple of decent matches (the 6 man, Bret/Skinner) there was just too much recycled crap on it to be able to recommend it to anyone. While watching Fan Favorites I got the sense that the whole tape was just one more way to make a few bucks, and whoever put it together didn�t even take the time to fix the obvious errors, and make the tape at least seem original.
Thanks for reading and please send any and all feedback, questions or comments to [email protected].
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