So, I've been binge watching WWE on the Network, starting in 1995. I'm currently in 2003, but here's a random review from the strange time of 1995/96 WWF.

Live from Louisville, Kentucky, we are on the Road to Wrestlemania! The WWF is proud to present to you Monday Night errrrr... In Your House 6: Rage in the Cage!

Before the show began, a Free For All match took place as Jake Roberts beat Tatanka.

The show begins with a special "Crybaby Match" between former friends Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid. Despite the stupid stipulation, this was a solid opener between two guys that.. click. They always put on a good match. Razor wins after not one, but two Razor's Edges. He then proceeds to feed 1-2-3 Kid the bottle and put him in a diaper. Yep.

Next was Hunter Hearst Helmsley carrying Duke "the Dumpster" Droese through a 9 minute match. Besides the Royal Rumble the previous month, I had yet to see Duke in a match since I started these reviews, and that includes every Raw. Why he got a PPV match is baffling. Anyway, Triple H wins with the a trash can lid shot and a Pedigree, as he should.

Up next was a pointless match between British Bulldog and freshly-minted face, Yokozuna. But before that, for the first time in his 3-year WWF career, Yokozuna spoke in an interview. And you could really hear the Samoan in him. It was weird hearing him speak. As for the match, Bulldog got DQ'd after Jim Cornette hit Yokozuna with the tennis racket. Vader then came down and handcuffed Yokozuna to the ropes and him and Bulldog beat Yokozuna down. That whole thing could've been saved for Raw.

Up next was a match that almost saved this PPV, Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart. I knew these two would deliver, and they did. A 15 minute match that kept me interested throughout. I was expecting at one point that HBK would fake a head injury and roll Owen up for the win, but he won with Sweet Chin Music after Owen missed with an enziguri. With the win, HBK keeps his Wrestlemania title shot. And Owen goes back to being held down once again. Btw I must say, Owen had my favourite 90s entrance theme.

Up next was a rather long interview with Roddy Piper as they set up the steel cage for the main event. (How long until they start using the modern chain link cage?). He talks and talks and talks about Wrestlemania 12. Jim Cornette comes out and talks about something, and Vader. Piper sets up Vader vs Yokozuna for Mania. Are they done with the cage yet?

Ok, main event time with WWF Champion Bret Hart defending against Diesel in the cage. And it was very AVERAGE. Maybe even below average, for Bret standards. Zzzzz... Oh hey, it's the Undertaker popping up from Hell. Doesn't faze Bret one bit as Diesel is being dragged to Hell. Bret nonchalantly exits the cage and wins the match lol. Diesel climbs back out, followed by the Deadman, and quickly climbs the cage and runs away.

Fade to black.

But there were some dark matches after the show!

Ahmed Johnson beat Isaac Yankem.

The Godwinns beat The Bodydonnas.

The Undertaker beat IC Champion Goldust by countout. Goldust retained the title.

Grade: D+.

Match of the night: Owen vs Shawn. But even that couldn't save the show.

Apr 19, 2020 1:32:08 GMT KanetakerResurrected said:

Next was Hunter Hearst Helmsley carrying Duke "the Dumpster" Droese through a 9 minute match. Besides the Royal Rumble the previous month, I had yet to see Duke in a match since I started these reviews, and that includes every Raw. Why he got a PPV match is baffling. Anyway, Triple H wins with the a trash can lid shot and a Pedigree, as he should.

The Helmsley/Dumpster feud started at the Royal Rumble Free For All (Pre-Show). They had a match where the winner would be #30 in the Rumble and the loser #1. HHH won by cheating but then corrupt commissioner Gorilla Monsoon overturned the decision, awarding the match to Droese by DQ. This was Helmsley's first televised lost and it began a feud which primarily (exclusively?) took place on Superstars. This was about the last stretch of time in which Superstars kinda sorta mattered. Lots of tag title tournament matches took place on Superstars in the lead up to Wrestlemania 12, for example. Anyway, the big angle was HHH attacking Droese with a trash can shot and cutting his hair on Superstars. Pretty sure this aired a week after the Rumble. The trashcan shots were hardcore for 1996 WWF! You just didn't see stuff like that back then.

Nice review by the way. I'm the biggest fan there is of this era and even I thought this show was kind of blah. Owen/Michaels was its only saving grace, even though I was gutted when stupid HBK won. Even Bret/Diesel was dull. Only thing it had going for it was Taker popping out of the ring, which again, was a first of its kind. Still, it was far cry from the Bret/Diesel Survivor Series classic, or even their other two PPV matches.

The show begins with a special "Crybaby Match" between former friends Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid. Despite the stupid stipulation, this was a solid opener between two guys that.. click. They always put on a good match. Razor wins after not one, but two Razor's Edges. He then proceeds to feed 1-2-3 Kid the bottle and put him in a diaper. Yep.

Classic cheesy new generation era match. In fact between that and the Hogpen match, you may have the best encapsulation of the time period. Well laid out matches with some fantastic fundamentals that anyone can appreciate, but the gimmicks are clearly playing towards a kid friendly demographic. You can appreciate looking back on some level, but it's like going back and watching old cartoons.

Next was Hunter Hearst Helmsley carrying Duke "the Dumpster" Droese through a 9 minute match. Besides the Royal Rumble the previous month, I had yet to see Duke in a match since I started these reviews, and that includes every Raw. Why he got a PPV match is baffling. Anyway, Triple H wins with the a trash can lid shot and a Pedigree, as he should.

It just highlights how Droese was only getting these opportunities to showcase HHH and get him a spot on PPV. Back then you didn't need elaborate angles to sell matches, you could just say here's the upper-class snob vs. the lower class garbage man.

Up next was a pointless match between British Bulldog and freshly-minted face, Yokozuna. But before that, for the first time in his 3-year WWF career, Yokozuna spoke in an interview. And you could really hear the Samoan in him. It was weird hearing him speak. As for the match, Bulldog got DQ'd after Jim Cornette hit Yokozuna with the tennis racket. Vader then came down and handcuffed Yokozuna to the ropes and him and Bulldog beat Yokozuna down. That whole thing could've been saved for Raw.

This was the WWF's first February PPV so they were using it more like a SNME or MTV special to help create angles for the upcoming PPV. The match helps get Vader and Cornette on the PPV who were going to be future main event attractions and Bulldog/Yokozuna was a high profile match.

Up next was a match that almost saved this PPV, Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart. I knew these two would deliver, and they did. A 15 minute match that kept me interested throughout. I was expecting at one point that HBK would fake a head injury and roll Owen up for the win, but he won with Sweet Chin Music after Owen missed with an enziguri. With the win, HBK keeps his Wrestlemania title shot. And Owen goes back to being held down once again. Btw I must say, Owen had my favourite 90s entrance theme.

Great match up and they did an excellent job of making that victory mean something. I thought Owen was booked fine for this time period, he was in the biggest heel stable in the company who all had beef with Bret. When that was over, he'd go onto have an excellent year in '97. I wouldn't have been upset with a return match for the title at some point, but this accomplished the job.

Ok, main event time with WWF Champion Bret Hart defending against Diesel in the cage. And it was very AVERAGE. Maybe even below average, for Bret standards. Zzzzz... Oh hey, it's the Undertaker popping up from Hell. Doesn't faze Bret one bit as Diesel is being dragged to Hell. Bret nonchalantly exits the cage and wins the match lol. Diesel climbs back out, followed by the Deadman, and quickly climbs the cage and runs away.

Easily the weakest of their four matches together. Between this and the RR, it just seemed like Bret was happy to go through the motions since the angle was going to over-shadow everything they did in the ring. It's different to say HBK/Taker BB '97 which was an excellent match which was really just an angle to bring in Kane.