The Year in PPV- 2011, Part II

The momentum shifts completely with 2 of the year's worst shows, and 2 of the year's best shows...


5. Over the Limit

It's shows like this that are part of the reason I don't miss Over the Limit. After the opening bout between R-Truth and Rey Mysterio, which was pretty solid and helped progress Truth's development as a heel, you can skip about the next 4 matches because they absolutely DON'T MATTER. These matches either don't get out of the starting blocks before they end, end with DQ finishes, or in the case of Sin Cara and Chavo Guerrero stink up the joint with its sloppy and botched ring work (one of the biggest problems with Sin Cara in 2011).

After you've skipped the meaningless midcard, we have a mixed bag of main events. First, we have a phenomenal encounter for the World Heavyweight Championship that highlights Randy Orton's fantastic feud with Christian. At this stage in their feud, it was purely out of competition, which created a setting where the crowd was able to root for both men. Then, we had a "Kiss My Foot" match between Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole. Remember what I said about this gimmick in my 1995 review? How it was completely embarrassing to watch? Add Michael Cole to that and you have a disaster. Thank God it was brief and it gave the fans a payoff they had wanted to see for a while. Finally, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against The Miz in an "I Quit!" match. This main event was ok, but it was in a very tough spot. It had to not only follow a classic World Heavyweight Championship match, but it also had to follow a travesty of a match featuring King and Cole. By this point, the crowd was at the point where they didn't care since it was quite obvious who would win.

Skip It


6. Capitol Punishment

As if the last show wasn't embarrassing enough. In our nation's capital, Washington D.C., the WWE actually put on a handful of really solid PPV bouts, but the problem was in the attempt to try and convince the fans that President Barack Obama was going to make an appearance. I just wanna get one thing clear: the picture on the poster looked more like Obama than they guy they brought out. It was an absolutely awkward in-ring promo to see. I get there is some self-awareness in what they were trying to do, but for God's sake this was just sad. Heck, Obama's at least put his face on other WWE products, like Tribute to the Troops and even Monday Night RAW when he was running for candidacy in 2008. So, why bother with this fake? If you couldn't book Obama, just accept it. It didn't need to be a political satire show to be entertaining, just let the wrestlers do their thing.

Like I said, there are some good matches with solid build up. Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler open the show for the United States Championship and they've had so many matches together they can entertain us in their sleep. Then, Alex Riley has the biggest moment in his career by facing his former mentor The Miz in his hometown to a HUGE ovation (seriously, he could have really been someone special had they booked him consistently). Like Kingston and Ziggler, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio had faced off so many times they can put on a quality match together without even trying. Randy Orton and Christian continued their World Heavyweight Championship feud, with Christian recently turning on Orton and turning heel in the process. Their chemistry is still off the charts even with this change in storytelling and just like at Over the Limit, they have the best match on the card. This night, while it is often forgotten, should be recognized as the culmination of R-Truth's heel run, as he had a main event match challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship. I think it's the underwhelming quality of this main event that also hurts this show (especially since it had to follow that atrocious Obama angle), with Truth doing about 80% of the ring work, only to come up short in the end (who didn't see that coming?). The culmination should've ended with at least a short run with the title, and since it didn't, this show really isn't worth remembering.

Skip It


7. Money in the Bank

"Magical" seems like an appropriate word to describe this night in Chicago. As if the show needed the boost in energy this smart mark crowd usually generates, but it works in all the right places. Even the Diva's title match with Kelly Kelly and Brie Bella, and the big man's showdown with Big Show and Mark Henry, matches no one should really care about are made more important thanks to the crowd. But now it's time to focus on the Money in the Bank ladder matches, both of which offer something different. The RAW ladder match featured Rey Mysterio, Alex Riley, R-Truth, Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, Alberto Del Rio, Kofi Kingston, and The Miz. While it lacks in some quality spots, and a VERY predictable winner, it makes up for it with a lot of star power to generate crowd responses. SmackDown put on a much better ladder match with Kane, Wade Barrett, Sin Cara, Sheamus, Justin Gabriel, Daniel Bryan, Heath Slater, and Cody Rhodes opening the show with a match that could have easily stolen the show on any other night (it's at least my top 3 Money in the Bank ladder matches of all-time). Even a World Heavyweight Championship match between Randy Orton and Christian (where Orton could lose the title via disqualification) wasn't what the crowd cared about.

Ironically, on a night about Money in the Bank, the audience could care less over who won the briefcases, as all of Chicago's focus was on one man: CM Punk. After shocking the world with a Pipe Bomb promo weeks prior on RAW, Punk made it well known that if he won the title he was letting his contract expire the same night and leaving the company with their top prize. To make matters worse, if Punk prevailed, Mr. McMahon vowed to fire John Cena for losing the belt. Add that the show was in Punk's hometown, and you have a recipe for some combustible elements. The crowd was very solidly for Punk and heavily booing Cena out of the building (possibly the hardest I've ever seen him booed). This is definitely one of the era's most defining matches that left the Chicago crowd full of suspense, as they smelled the possibility of a Chicago Screwjob taking place at the hands of Mr. McMahon and John Cena. As a fan at the time, there was so much buzz surrounding this match, that whatever the outcome was, I knew this was going to be a memorable match for years to come. I wasn't wrong.

Highly Recommended


8. SummerSlam

If you thought Money in the Bank was a game changer, you haven't seen anything yet. SummerSlam takes what Money in the Bank established and alters it even further. The show starts with a fun six-man tag with R-Truth, The Miz, and Alberto Del Rio (PAY ATTENTION TO THESE THREE) taking on Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, and Kofi Kingston. This felt like a nice throwback to the classic multi-man tag matches during the early days of SummerSlam. Then we get some good matches in the form of Sheamus taking on Mark Henry (this was more important in establishing their star power than the actual quality of ring work), and Daniel Bryan going against Wade Barrett. Even the Diva's match has some intrigue thanks to the development of Beth Phoenix wanting to take the Diva's title from Kelly Kelly and establishing credibility to the division instead of having it run by "Barbie dolls." Then things really started to cook with the two main events.

Randy Orton sought to get his World Heavyweight Championship back from Christian by winning it in a No Holds Barred match. I've heard a lot of people say this match felt reminiscent of an Attitude Era classic and it's easy to see why. They take full advantage of the amount of spots and weapons they use to tell a story and with their chemistry, it's a fitting conclusion to their rivalry on PPV. If that wasn't enough, by the time we get from Money in the Bank to SummerSlam we have TWO WWE Champions. After CM Punk left with the title, Mr. McMahon was ready to fire John Cena, until he was interrupted by Triple H. The board named him COO of the company and relieved McMahon of his duties. Then, a tournament was held to crown a new champion, which was won by Rey Mysterio. Triple H then gave Cena his rematch clause against Mysterio and he won the belt back. Then Punk returned, declaring himself the true champion. So, with Triple H as guest referee, Punk and Cena stepped in the ring again to declare an undisputed WWE Champion at SummerSlam. The magical moment isn't quite as there as it was at Money in the Bank, but they still put on a great main event. And once their match is over...insanity ensues for the remainder of the year.

Highly Recommended


Thoughts: It's easy to say that CM Punk, Christian and Randy Orton's feud, and even Mark Henry's dominance, single handedly saved this year from sheer disaster. After Over the Limit and Capitol Punishment killing any momentum that Extreme Rules salvaged, a change needed to be made. It took some great competition from Captain Charisma and the Viper, the World's Strongest Man inducting opponents in the Hall of Pain, and some Pipe Bombs dropped from the Best in the World, but you finally had a product that had fans interested in the WWE again. And things were about to get even crazier, as the landscape was about to shift even further to close the year.

Concluded in Part III...


All rights and images are copyrighted and owned by World Wrestling Entertainment

The Year in PPV- 2011, Part I

2011 is considered a very important year in the PG Era, at least from the summer onward. The obvious element this year will best be remembered for is that it gave CM Punk that main event push he had deserved for quite some time. And, while I will be talking about that in depth in parts 2 and 3, there should also be some acknowledgement towards some good character development throughout the year to wrestlers that are NOT named John Cena and Randy Orton.

Here is a list of some of the main event talent that received extra attention in 2011: The Miz, Sheamus, Christian, Mark Henry, Big Show, Alberto Del Rio, the tag team division, the Divas division, and even R-Truth. Fast forward 3 years and these superstars aren't exactly running the main event scene, but this was definitely a refreshing environment that helped distance the constant need to shove Cena and Orton in our faces. Not to mention, there are a lot of good wrestling matches throughout the year as well, so let's not wait any longer.

Things get underway in 2011 with the biggest Royal Rumble match in history...


1. Royal Rumble

I understand that a LOT of the talent needed to be saved for the Rumble match, but with only 3 other matches on the card, there was a lot to be desired. The show kicks off the right way with a World Heavyweight Championship match pitting Edge against Dolph Ziggler. As an added stipulation, Edge would lose the title if he was caught using the Spear. I wish this feud wasn't a throwaway here, as they had some good chemistry and it could have started earlier or continued on, as long as it meant Edge and Ziggler could have continuously good matches with each other. The Miz and Randy Orton had a match for the WWE Championship that was pretty forgettable up until the end, which set a lot of the WrestleMania landscape into motion. The Divas match was thrown together during the show, so there really isn't a need to talk about it when the company doesn't even have any faith in their division to build up the title match prior to the show.

This is the first (and so far only) Royal Rumble match to feature 40 superstars. On paper, it sounds great to have a longer Rumble match. But there needs to be two things in order for it to work: a roster that can keep the audience interested, and match quality that causes the time to fly by. Sadly, both aren't present here. There are a handful of surprises that work, and the gang warfare between the New Nexus and the Corre works out well at the beginning (but goes ineffective once the match begins), but this could have easily been trimmed down to a traditional 30 man Rumble and it would've worked so much better. In fact, let me just quickly name off 10 superstars this match didn't need (Zack Ryder, Yoshi Tatsu, Chavo Guerrero, JTG, Chris Masters, Tyler Reks, Vladimir Kozlov, R-Truth, Hornswoggle and Tyson Kidd). If they would have eliminated a lot of the jobber spots from the match, the star power and pacing would have been far more superior. Here, it just looks like a failed experiment to make an already important match even more important.

Recommendation


2. Elimination Chamber

Let's get one thing out of the way: the in-ring segments are PAINFUL....and that's all thanks to Trish Stratus. Her promo for being a Tough Enough trainer was just uncomfortable and her teased in-ring return was heavily botched thanks to the heeled boots she was wearing. WEAK. Moving on, I really enjoyed the detail they gave in setting up the World Heavyweight Championship match for WrestleMania. After an opening bout between Alberto Del Rio and Kofi Kingston, we had the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight title (Edge vs. Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Wade Barrett vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Big Show). This Chamber match seems to be a favorite of the PG Era, and it's easy to see why. We have Big Show seeking revenge on Barrett for all of the Corre's antics against him, we have Drew McIntyre performing some really powerful spots and has the crowd behind him (such a missed opportunity), we have Kane laying waste to everything in his path (duh), and Rey and Edge having a competitive match with each other from start to finish. Then, once the match is over, Del Rio makes his presence felt, only for the World Champion to be saved by a returning friend who also wanted revenge on Del Rio. And just like that, you have a main event set for WrestleMania. Expertly done and a great example of why I love this time of year.

After a match for the Tag Team Championships (Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel so really...who cares?), it was time to set up the WWE Championship match for WrestleMania. In one of the most emotional WWE title matches in some time, Jerry Lawler challenged The Miz for the belt. Add to the fact that Lawler's mother passed away a week before the match, and Michael Cole (the thorn in the King's side) has been annoyingly biased towards Miz for months, and you have a formula for a match where majority of the audience wants the King as WWE Champion (even if it were for a day and Miz were to win it back the next night on RAW.....it would have worked....should have just given King the moment for crying out loud). Finally, RAW held a Chamber match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship (John Cena vs. R-Truth vs. Randy Orton vs. John Morrison vs. Sheamus vs. CM Punk). Go ahead...guess who won this match. I'll give you three guesses...and you'll only need one. Still, the match has great spots from Morrison, continues Punk's feuds with Cena and Orton, and features some interference from the anonymous RAW General Manager. It's a fine Chamber match, but definitely not one of the all-time greats, nor is it better than the one SmackDown put on earlier that night.

Mild Recommendation


3. WrestleMania XXVII

How can a show considered a disaster have so many hidden gems on the card? A lot of people are quick to point at the flaws with Mania XXVII, but I have a soft spot for it. Sure, the show has a really rushed 8-man tag match and an intergender tag match that features Snooki from the Jersey Shore, both are too short and feel out of place for WrestleMania. Yes, the show has a painfully long "clash" between Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole that is so bad even Stone Cold Steve Austin as guest referee can't salvage it. Granted, the anticipated United States Championship match (Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan) was moved to the dark match, which later turned into a battle royal won by the Great Khali (*sighs*). And admittedly, the main event just didn't click (I'll get to that a little later), but what about all the good stuff that happened on the card.

There are at least three gems on the card I wish people discussed more when it comes to modern Mania classics. The Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes match showcases a bitter feud and some good in-ring psychology revolving around knee braces and facial masks, and the Randy Orton vs. CM Punk match had great build up and star quality to give higher value to this upper midcard feud. I really enjoy both matches and they deserve more attention from the fans, at least offering more variety than the countless Undertaker and part timer matches we've been getting the last few years at Mania.

There's plenty of memorable moments on this show, starting with the obvious focus of the show: The Rock returning to host WrestleMania. His presence is felt in an electrifying opening promo and various backstage segments. It was painfully obvious from his return that he and John Cena were gonna clash down the road, and it's this payoff that makes the main event almost worth it. Cena challenged The Miz for the WWE Championship and while their match is awful (something just seemed really off about their ring work), the ending at least sets up some important stuff down the road for The Rock and Cena. The two matches this show will mostly be remembered for are the World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and Alberto Del Rio and the No Holds Barred match between Triple H and the Undertaker. Edge/Del Rio is memorable thanks to it being Edge's last match ever (didn't know that at the time, but it's quite the end to a career) and Taker/Triple H is memorable because....need I say more (there's a moment where Triple H was so close to ending the Streak that I nearly pissed myself in excitement...true story)?

Mild Recommendation


4. Extreme Rules

Now THIS is what I'm talking about. After an underwhelming WrestleMania, and following the draft special the previous week on RAW, Extreme Rules comes along and puts on a fantastic show to tease the changing landscape of the WWE for the rest of the year. Many Mania feuds came to an end on this evening, including Randy Orton and CM Punk's which culminated in a last man standing match, as well as Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes ending their rivalry in a falls count anywhere match. Both these matches do a really fine job at ending their respective rivalries, yet they won't be what this night is remembered for. Even some of the throwaway matches don't hinder the momentum of this night. Not even the WWE Championship main event (a steel cage match between The Miz, John Cena, and John Morrison) isn't what's important about this edition of Extreme Rules.

After WrestleMania, Edge shocked the world by announcing that he had to retire (wrestling your last match by retaining the World title at Mania is a pretty sweet way to go out if you ask me). A ladder match was held to determine the new World Heavyweight Champion. In one corner, Alberto Del Rio, who was already scheduled to face Edge at Extreme Rules in said ladder match. In order to determine who would replace Edge, a battle royal was held on SmackDown, which was won by Edge's best friend Christian. So, it's Christian vs. Del Rio, ladder match to determine the World Heavyweight Champion. Just watch this match and enjoy the moment. A moment that fans never thought they were ever gonna see, and a moment that sealed this evening as one worth remembering.

Highly Recommended


Initial Thoughts: The first couple of shows in this year definitely felt like the scraps of 2010. The big problem with this year, apart from the obvious amount of "Mild Recommendations" I gave them, is the primary focus on only handling proper booking in the main event picture. Obviously, stars like Orton, Cena, and Edge remain constant, but I was really impressed with the focus on Del Rio and Miz in the World Title picture. So many other ideas fall to the wayside though, including the New Nexus and the Corre, consistent booking for John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, and Sheamus, and the Divas division (that should come as no surprise though). However, things were definitely in the midst of a HUGE change coming within the next few months that would permanently change the landscape of the era.

Continued in Part II...


All rights and images are copyrighted and owned by World Wrestling Entertainment

The Year in PPV- 1995, Part II

Let's see if the WWF could screw up the rest of 1995 by going to the biggest party of the summer...


6. SummerSlam

From top to bottom, there are a lot of matches on this SummerSlam card, but that doesn't mean all of them are quality. Of those worth mentioning, there is an opening bout of Hakushi vs. the 1-2-3 Kid in a fun high flying match, a Women's Championship match between Alundra Blayze vs. Bertha Faye which is worth watching simply because at the time it was a women's equivalent to Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem, DDS, which is important only to see how Glen Jacobs was saddled with a ridiculous gimmick before being Kane, and Barry Horowitz vs. Skip, which had the fans rooting for Horowitz who was finally starting to win some matches (he is one of the most famous jobbers in history after all).

The main event saw Diesel defend his WWF Championship against Mabel. If you want to know why I thought it didn't work for Mabel, I refer you to my previous review of King of the Ring. If you want to know I think it didn't do any favors for Diesel, keep reading and I'll explain in my review of In Your House 4. Needless to say, this match also didn't win the crowd over thanks to the match that went on right before it. In a rematch from WrestleMania X, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon fought in another epic ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. The debate still rages on over which of their matches was better, and I tend to side with this one on actual in-ring work (the botched ending notwithstanding), while loving the Mania X match for the grand spectacle and moment that was created. For that, this is worth a look so you can decide for yourself which you enjoy more.

Mild Recommendation


7. In Your House 3: Triple Header

Surprisingly, this edition of In Your House has some lengthy matches attached. Bret Hart fought Jean-Pierre Lafitte, the British Bulldog fought Bam Bam Bigelow, and Razor Ramon fought Dean Douglas. Each of these matches went over 10 minutes and showcased the talent of the upper midcard, but history isn't too kind to remember most of the gems from the In Your House franchise.

The match that had everyone's attention on this evening was a match that saw the WWF and Intercontinental Champions take on the Tag Team Champions in a match where the winning team would take home all the titles. The match was originally supposed to see Diesel and Shawn Michaels take on Yokozuna and Owen Hart, but Owen was nowhere to be found throughout the show, leaving Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji, and Jim Cornette struggling to find a suitable replacement for Owen. By the end of the evening, they found their replacement in the British Bulldog, but that didn't mean Owen wouldn't make his presence felt during the match. His involvement led to a very controversial finish that eventually led to this match being useless. Knowing that in context, that kind of sucks because this match has arguably the biggest stars at the time all competing in one main event, which is pretty exciting, and there is quality ring work and a lot at stake, and then it's completely useless?!?! What a shame.

Skip It


8. In Your House 4: Great White North

The most memorable moment from this PPV is the controversy surrounding the Intercontinental Championship. Dean Douglas was originally supposed to challenge Shawn Michaels for the title, but Michaels came out to vacate the belt after he was declared unable to compete. Douglas was awarded the title, but then had to immediately defend the belt against Razor Ramon. With all that confusion, it's no wonder why it had everyone's attention. Nowadays fans would be salivating over the idea that the Intercontinental Championship was stealing attention away from the WWE Championship (c'mon Ziggler...you can do it).

I will say the concept for the main event feud was at least interesting, it just didn't go anywhere. After turning on Diesel in a tag team match, the British Bulldog set his sights on the WWF Championship. It's very simple but effective storytelling, and had they actually carried out their feud for more than this PPV we could've seen a very competitive rivalry play out between the two. For what they have here, it's a fine encounter, but still follows the pattern of "insert random feud for Diesel." In an attempt to build up Diesel by having him take on whoever challenges him, it actually damages any momentum for getting him to that Hulk Hogan level the company wanted for him because he didn't have any long term feuds. Heck, even Shawn (the potential for his greatest rivalry) became his ally after their WrestleMania match. Sure, Diesel's title reign had longevity, but I really believe he needed just one really good long term feud to establish credibility to his title reign.

Skip It


9. Survivor Series

Nowadays Survivor Series is such a forgettable show (not every time, but most), that it is really bizarre to say that it was always such an entertaining show back in the day and 1995 is no exception. It goes without saying that the traditional Survivor Series elimination tag matches are always pretty entertaining, as is the case with The Bodydonnas (Skip, Zip, Rad Radford, and the 1-2-3 Kid) vs. The Underdogs (Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Bob Holly, and Barry Horowitz), The Darkside (the Undertaker, Savio Vega, Fatu, and Henry Godwinn) vs. The Royals (Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Isaac Yankem, DDS), and a match of teams captained by Bertha Faye and Alundra Blayze and filled with Japanese women wrestlers.

This Survivor Series also has the PPV debut of Goldust, which is always entertaining to see how androgynous he was in the beginning and evolving to just being the Bizarre One. We also have a Survivor Series elimination match that tried to shake things up by creating teams that mixed up the heels and faces. On one side it was Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, Sycho Sid, and the British Bulldog, and on the other side it was Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, Yokozuna, and Dean Douglas. This was a very entertaining concept that never made it to another Survivor Series, which is a shame since it creates tension among the teams and leads to some fun spots and storytelling. The main event saw a great no disqualification match for the WWF Championship between Diesel and Bret Hart. In terms of the WWF, this was the birth of the table spot, and things definitely get physical between the Hitman and Big Daddy Cool. Kevin Nash normally has a reputation for not having the greatest of matches, but I think he just needs the right opponent, and Bret Hart is definitely one of those opponents that Nash had tremendous chemistry with.

Highly Recommended


10. In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings

Finally, we have an In Your House that offers a bit of variety throughout the evening. The show actually boasts two in-ring segments that are actually worth talking about. The first is a musical performance from Jeff Jarrett for his new single Ain't I Great, which actually proved to be a lot of fun if you can embrace how goofy the future founder of TNA used to be. There's also a moment of Savio Vega and Santa Claus distributing toys to the crowd, only for Ted DiBiase to come out and try to interfere. What transpired next was a moment so goofy and over the top that only the Million Dollar Man could make it work and look diabolical.

A lot of fans remember the Hog Pen match between Henry Godwinn and Hunter Hearst Helmsley for being a lot of fun, probably boosted in popularity nowadays for the sheer embarrassment of seeing the future Cerebral Assassin participate in this concept. But the true reason to see Seasons Beatings is for the rematch people had been waiting since SummerSlam 1992 to see: Bret Hart vs. the British Bulldog. This time, it's for the WWF Championship, this time there is a definite heel and face established, and this time it gets BLOODY. What's beautiful about this match is that it builds off their SummerSlam match, but there's no need to compare the two. Both are different types of matches, and in my opinion, both are equally great for different reasons. SummerSlam had a more iconic moment, but I love the Seasons Beatings match for its brutal physicality.

Recommended


Final Thoughts: As you can see, they had something near the end of the year. Once they embraced the roster they had and put some of those goofy gimmicks to the wayside, they let the physicality speak for itself. Those last few shows had some great matches and more than one moment that defined the shows as classics. They definitely opened the door wide open for some potential heading into 1996, but there were still some flaws in the design showing. For starters, they needed some more big name superstars towards the main event. They also needed to drop the cartoon characters they had on the roster. And finally, with WCW starting Monday Nitro in the fall of '95, the WWF needed that right spark to win the Monday Night Wars. As history would prove, the WWF got their butts kicked in '96 and '97, so it took a while for those changes to happen. Still, the potential was there for a change to happen sometime in the near future.


All rights and images are copyrighted and owned by World Wrestling Entertainment

The Year in PPV- 1995, Part I

1995 is not a year I was too fond to watch on the WWE Network. When most people discuss worst years in the company's history, 1995 finds its way near the top choices alongside 1993. With a roster that had Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Bret Hart, Yokozuna, Owen Hart, and the Undertaker...where could they go wrong? The problem was with one thing: booking. At a time when WCW was providing higher quality matches on a weekly basis, WWF was relying on characters and so many of them had gimmicks that were too cartoony for older fans to get into. A year from this point, the nWo would begin in WCW and become the biggest thing in wrestling. In 1997, D-Generation X and Stone Cold Steve Austin would both show signs of how the Attitude Era would begin. For the attitude to develop, their needed to be a breaking point where fans had had enough. With years like 1995, it's easy to see that they wanted the new generation to be injected with some attitude.

One interesting thing to note about 1995 is that it was the beginning of the WWF's PPV expansion. For years, the WWF had 4 PPVs a year: Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. In 1993, King of the Ring was added to the calendar, and now 1995 takes it to the next level by introducing the concept of the In Your House PPV. The best way to summarize the early years of In Your House was that they were 2 hour PPVs spaced between the Big 5 shows throughout the year. Are they the greatest things out there? No. But each does have at least one or two special moments to offer, and hey, they're two hours so they're easier to blow through on the WWE Network.

So let's head to the Royal Rumble to see how 1995 got started...


1. Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble gets kicked off with an appearance by Pamela Anderson. At the time, she was one of the biggest names on TV thanks to Baywatch, and here she has promised to escort the winner of the Rumble match to the main event of WrestleMania. Naturally, they show tons of promos where the wrestlers are salivating over her presence, but she's not the only celebrity to make an impact on this show (watch the WWF Tag Team Championship match to see what I mean). On top of that, we have an excellent Intercontinental Championship match between Razor Ramon and Jeff Jarrett, and an epic contest of Diesel vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Championship that ends poorly but extends existing rivalries, so it's forgivable. It's a really good thing this midcard is excellent, because it makes up for what the main event lacks.

Here we have my nomination for the absolute WORST Royal Rumble match EVER! There are only a handful of legitimate main event talent thrown in this match and about 90% of the Rumble is filled with jobbers and some of the most ridiculous gimmicks of the decade. On top of that, in this match they had competitors entering every 60 seconds (the fastest in any Rumble match), which would work if there was a fast and furious work ethic on the roster, but it translated out more to cramming a 60 minute match down to 30. It's the shortest 30-man Rumble match we've seen, and it might be best to keep it that way. Even superstars like the British Bulldog, Owen Hart, and Lex Luger couldn't save this from being a stinker. The only man in the match that makes this worth watching is Shawn Michaels. Thanks to his performance in the Rumble match, we have the "Shawn Michaels rule" for having both feet touch the floor, as well as being the first man to enter first in the Rumble and walk out victorious.

Mild Recommendation


2. WrestleMania XI

For years, I called WrestleMania XI my least favorite Mania. Is it the all-time worse? Probably not, but it is the one I enjoy watching the least and here's why. They had the roster. They had the talent. The matches that were booked sounded good on paper. How do you screw up Mania so badly? The "I Quit" match between Bret Hart and Bob Backlund could've been a masterpiece like their Survivor Series match in 1994, but it's an absolute disaster. Lex Luger and the British Bulldog could've were over enough as a tag team to either challenge or defend the WWF Tag Team Championships, instead of opening the show in a throwaway tag squash match. The Intercontinental Championship match could have showed a great contest between Jeff Jarrett and Razor Ramon had it not been for the ending. And the Undertaker could've taken on anyone else in the Million Dollar Corporation and it would've been better than his match with King Kong Bundy.

With so much crap on one show, is there anything redeeming about it? Well, I guess there was some build up on who Owen Hart would select as his tag partner to challenge the Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team Championships. As you can see in the picture, his decision had a BIG impact on the match's result. Diesel and Shawn Michaels had a match for the WWF Championship that has grown in popularity over the years, and had it been the main event it at least could have ended with a solid match. That isn't to say the match with Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow isn't entertaining, but it belongs nowhere near the main event. It should have been a upper midcard main event attraction thanks to Taylor's celebrity involvement, but that's it. And that really sums up the problem with this show. With so much focus on the "A-list" celebrities (seriously, I'm sure they were big in the '90s, but their star power hasn't aged gracefully at all), and little focus on the solid roster of talent they had, you have the result of a WrestleMania that was lacking in direction for putting on a quality show. Still, I'll slap a "mild recommendation" on this, since it's one of those train wreck shows you need to see to believe.

Mild Recommendation


3. In Your House

The first In Your House PPV gets off on the right foot thanks to an opening contest from Bret Hart and Hakushi that is usually referred to as one of the best matches from the In Your House franchise. After that, not much is memorable on the card. This will become pretty repetitive on most of the In Your House PPV reviews since the shows are best known for about one or two moments on each show. Here, it's the opening match for quality and historical value.

A handful of the matches capitalized on the post-Mania feuds and rivalries, like Bret's feud with Jerry Lawler and Razor Ramon's feud with Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie. A lot of build up was on the main event match for the WWF Championship. In a battle of the big men, Sycho Sid challenged Diesel for the title, but the match is insignificant to Sid's career. Rather, it's his live screw up during his promo that is more synonymous with his career (you know...the one where he asks Jim Ross if he can start over, with J.R. replying that they're live). Classic Sid mediocrity at its finest. Still, you can see that there was effort in making Diesel a fighting champion and trying to build Sid up as a legitimate threat for the title...so give them a C- for overall quality: that being a B for the concept, and a D+ for the actual execution.

Skip It


4. King of the Ring

This year's King of the Ring tournament had some big names attached, including Yokozuna, the Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels. Just thinking of the idea that Shawn and Taker could have been the tournament final and they weren't blows my mind. What an opportunity they had, they just didn't know it. Watching it, it's obvious they were building Savio Vega up in this tournament as the underdog, and Mabel as the definitive favorite. Sadly, that's the tournament final, and sadly Mabel won King of the Ring. Not Shawn Michaels. Not the Undertaker. Not even Yokozuna. Mabel...from Men on a Mission...won the King of the Ring tournament, and became the number one contender for the WWF Championship. Had they repackaged Mabel...it could have worked, but they still had him wearing the purple and gold and keeping his previous affiliation with Men on a Mission part of the storyline...with the only difference in his character being that he was a heel. Can you see where the problem was? Because I sure can.

As if the tournament wasn't bad enough, we have to endure a "Kiss My Foot" match: a match where if you lose the match, you must kiss your opponent's foot. Not only is this match gimmick absolutely ludicrous, but it also features two of the all-time greats in Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler being subjected to a stipulation that is so embarrassing that it lands in the "so bad, it's good" category. The main event also saw Diesel team with Bam Bam Bigelow to take on Sycho Sid and Tatanka, but by the time we got to it, the show's momentum is straight up GONE. There is nothing this main event could have done to get the audience to care. And why should they? Shawn didn't win King of the Ring, even worse...Mabel did, and their golden boy Bret Hart was in the middle of the ring with his foot in Jerry Lawler's mouth. THIS. SHOW. SUCKED!

Skip It


5. In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks

Here we have a much better concept for the Diesel/Sycho Sid rivalry: a gimmick match. As you can tell by the show's title, the main event is a Lumberjack match, which opens up a handful of opportunities for the shortcomings in their match quality (particularly on Sid's part) to be overshadowed by the concept of the match stipulations. There's an exceptionally entertaining part of the match where Diesel goes airborne, something that he wasn't well-known for doing....ever in his career (with quads that fragile, it's easy to see why). Is it the best match in either Sid or Kevin Nash's careers? Absolutely not, not even close. But it's still fun and improves where their match at the first In Your House PPV left off.

Like the last In Your House (and pretty much EVERY In Your House show), the midcard is fine, but there should be significance on one match in particular. That match is for the Intercontinental Championship and saw Jeff Jarrett square off against Shawn Michaels. Whether or not it was planned this way, the crowd was fully invested in this match and showed they were fully behind Shawn to win the Intercontinental Championship. It's glimpses like this that you can clearly see that the fans wanted Shawn as the next face of the company. Wouldn't it have been so much better if he had won King of the Ring? We will never know.

Mild Recommendation


Initial Thoughts: It's easy to see that the first half of 1995 was the Shawn Michaels and Diesel show, and how could it not be? Even with Razor Ramon being a constant staple of the midcard at the time, the Kliq was running wild on booking and the crowd was firmly behind them. Guys like Bret Hart, Lex Luger, and the British Bulldog felt absolutely wasted during this time, and some of the main eventers being groomed (Sid and Mabel specifically) weren't exactly striking the chord with the fans that the company had intended. The In Your House shows were also an interesting concept that was introduced, but would need some fine tuning if it wanted to be a permanent part of the PPV lineup. Would anything change in the second half of 1995?

Concluded in Part II...


All rights and images are copyrighted and owned by World Wrestling Entertainment