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.


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