WWF Coliseum Videos #8 Page 2
- Demolition v. The Brain Busters. From SNME.
This is the match that led to the title switch a couple of months later. As
usual, the faces wipe out the heels to start, no-selling everything. Ax destroys
Tully,
who pulls out a Flair Flip in a cheeky segment. Tully goes over the top and
actually nails Heenan in the neck on the way down. Smash with a bearhug on
Tully, but Arn clips him to turn the tide. Spinebuster gets two. Tully is a
dick, strutting, taunting, and doing everything in his power to get Ax to come
into the ring so the Busters can double-team. And of course it all works.
Finally Ax goes nuts and comes in, and tosses Marella, drawing a DQ. Still, a
good match that set up a better match. 5 for 6.
- Demolition v. The Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji. From Wrestlemania V.
Well, at least it's short. Demos dominate to start, but Ax gets caught and
double-teamed. Powers are horrible by this point. Fuji tags in when Ax has been
beat down, of course. He goes to the top rope but misses, and Smash gets the hot
tag. Everyone gets some. Chaos ensues, but Fuji's salt toss misses and he gets
nailed with Decapitation. Demos retain. 5 for 7.
The Bottom Line: The Demos were an interesting team. Even after they turned
face, they kept wrestling as heels. Which is possibly why they
remained over. They'd fit in well today, I think. Anyway, if you're a new fan
and you want to know who Demolition was and why everyone thought
they were so cool, this is a great introduction to them and overview of their
glory years -- 1988-90.
Tape #2: The Best of the WWF #17.
- Opening match: Dino Bravo v. Ken Patera. Frenchy Martin rants en Francais
before the match. This is pretty much the same as every other
Patera-Bravo match on WWF Challenge that year. Patera is horrible. But then
prison will do that to you. If Patera did his comeback today Jerry
Lawler would be making "drop the soap" jokes during his match. Bravo
controls most of the match, but Patera makes the superman comeback,
doing his usual weak offense. Double axe-handle off the second rope and Patera
goes for the full-nelson, but Martin is on the ring apron, distracting Patera
long enough to hit the sidewalk slam for the pin. 0
for 1.
- Big Bossman v. Sam Houston. Mucho stalling as the ref makes Bossman take off
his badge. This is pretty much right after Bossman's debut. Total
squasharoo. I'd fast forward but I'm dubbing it. Houston with some token offense
to get the crowd back into it, but gets caught coming off the top and
powerslammed for the pin. 0 for 2.
- The coronation of King Haku. Harley Race had retired after a match with Hulk
Hogan, so Hennan needed a new king, which turned out to be
Haku for no particular reason. Vince and Jesse make "sitting on the
throne" jokes throughout the segment. 0 for 3.
- The Bolsheviks v. The British Bulldogs. You know it's a Philly crowd because
they're chanting "Volkoff sucks", "You both suck" and
"Russia sucks". It only lasts about two minutes, as Dynamite gets
caught in the corner and clotheslined by Volkoff for the pin out of nowhere.
Weird. 0 for 4.
- The Rougeau Brothers v. The Rockers. Here we go! The Rougeaus were in the
preliminary stages of turning heel at this point. Jannetty plays Ricky Morton,
getting caught in the corner as the Rougeaus work on his back. Nice move as
Raymond drops Marty on Jacque's knee. Marty gets
caught in an abdominal stretch, then a nice double-team dropkick->atomic
drop->splash segment. Jacques misses a move and Marty makes the hot tag to
Shawn. Pier-six brawl and Shawn gets the FLYING FIST OF DOOM! for two.
Back to the top, but Jacques pushes him onto the top rope and Raymond pins him.
Too short. 1 for 4.
- Honky Tonk Man v. Brutus Beefcake. "Peggy Sue" looks suspiciously
like Jimmy Hart here. Brutus has his girlfriend "Georgia", who has a
green tongue and looks suspiciously like someone else. You can pretty much infer
that this will be a comedy match. Georgia has his doll "Mine", which
is also in drag. Even the announcers are betting on a comedy match. Georgia
refuses to leave the ring and Honky waits around outside until "she"
leaves. Finally Honky jumps Brutus and we're underway. And of course it lasts
about 2 seconds before Brutus proceeds to wipe the mat with him in every way
possible. Honky gets no offense and gets hooked in the sleeper, but the
megaphone and managers get
involved, Honky whacks Brutus with the megaphone, and gets the pin. 1 for 5. And
to head off any exceedingly stupid questions that may
result, Georgia was George "The Animal" Steele.
- WWF tag title match: Demoltion v. Strike Force. As an addendum to the
Demolition video, we have another historic match. It was the rematch from WM4,
and it was the match that put Martel on the shelf for a year, thus satisfying
the legions of Strike Force haters. Demolition was getting serious Steve Austin
heat by this point. Santana plays
Ricardo Morton again, and again hits the flying jalapeno to stun Ax long enough
to make the hot tag. Martel is a house of fire, getting Ax in
the crab, but Smash quickly breaks it up. Martel goes tumbling out of the ring,
and Smash gets a chair and rams it right into Martel's neck,
which probably is the injury right there, and then for the ultimate humiliation
Demolition does Decapitation on Martel from the apron to the
floor! Whoa! Martel is either SERIOUSLY injured or selling really well. He
didn't reappear until WM5, so bet on the former. You know what, though...it
looked REALLY F'N COOL! It sounds terrible, but I
was young and markish at the time I first saw it. 2 for 6.
- Alleged main event: Hacksaw Duggan v. Andre the Giant. Lumberjack match. You
can just imagine how good this is. I'm glad the surgery was a success so we can
go back to making fun of him again. Kick, punch, lumberjack spot, kick, punch,
lumberjack spot. In case you're a really new reader, the point of a lumberjack
match is that there's 10 or 20 other wrestlers surrounding the ring, and their
job to is toss the guys back in if they leave the ring. Faces will be beaten up
by heels and helped by faces, and of course the opposite is true. Andre gets
tied up in the ropes as per his contract, but Duggan stupidly headbutts him
(HELLO?!?) and Andre takes the opportunity to untie one of the
turnbuckles. Duggan gets rammed to that a few times, but ducks a headbutt and
Andre hits it headfirst. Hacksaw with the THREE POINT
STANCE OF DOOM! and then nails Andre with the 2 x 4, but Andre rolls out and
destroys the lumberjacks who try to get him back in. Cute. Back in the ring,
Andre rams Duggan to the turnbuckle again, drops an elbow and gets the pin. Bad,
but not as bad as I expected. 2 for 7.
The Bottom Line: A decidedly mediocre tape. I wish that Demolition match had
been on the Demos tape rather than this one, but beggars and choosers and all
that. Not recommended.