WRESTLING 20 YEARS AGO PODCAST

Listen to our August 1995 podcast, reviewing Summerslam 1995 in full.

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There was about one week of build ahead of the Shawn Michaels/Razor Ramon ladder rematch at Summerslam in 1995. The best match of 1994, and the real origin of the modern day ladder match, Michaels and Ramon at this stage in the game were both babyfaces. At the beginning of August this was set to be Michaels vs Sid – a match which in storyline made far more sense, but had officials concerned about the work rate on the show. Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon changed the match to Michaels and Razor, and they added the ladder stip because why not?

Elsewhere, Diesel was on a collision course with King Mabel for the WWF Title in the main event, Bret Hart’s never ending feud with Jerry Lawler moved onto the debuting Issac Yankem DDS and Undertaker vs Kama was changed to a casket match. We’re in Pittsburgh, and Jerry Lawler joins Vince McMahon on the call.

123 Kid vs Hakushi

Hakushi, sans Shinja to accelerate his babyface turn went to a very nice opener with the 123 Kid. Both managed to showcase their athleticism without ever stretching things to a logic defying pace – which the Kid has definitely been guilty of in the past. The Pittsburgh crowd were louder than most WWF crowds at the time, and audibly began to get behind Hakushi. Kid goes for a running side kick, Hakushi pops up and nails a one handed powerbomb for the victory.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Bob “Sparkplug” Holly

Continuing on from his first appearance on pay per view at Starrcade in 1994 but now under the name “Hunter Hearst Helmsley”, Levesque demonstrates once again that he already has a good knack of working a crowd. A solid if nothing match, Holly shows he’s more than a solid hand in the ring, but Helmsley wins it with the pay per view of a double underhook face-first piledriver, aka “The Pedigree”.

The Blu Brothers (Eli & Jacob, with Uncle Zebakiah) vs The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart)

Two “proper” tag teams, and Vince McMahon still hasn’t worked a way of telling the Blu’s apart. A nice match, with the Blu’s showing their size and dominance as Billy plays the babyface in peril. A shame that the number one contendership wasn’t on the line here, but it at least made sense given the main event coming up for In Your House 3. In the end, the Gunns do their double team slam/leg drop for the victory.

Skip (w/ Sunny) vs Barry Horrowitz

We get a video package previewing this match. Horrowitz got the 1-2-3 Kid treatment in picking up the shock jobber victory over Skip on Superstars. The following week Skip offered Horrowitz a rematch, where to win all he had to do was not to lose in ten minutes – which he managed. This match got a lot of time – the longest so far and longer than the main event. The story is perhaps more compelling than the match, with the crowd rallying behind the babyface Horrowitz. But credit to both, as this could (and may well have) died a death in front of a different crowd. In the end we get Hakushi coming out to the ring, he provides the distraction for Horrowitz to pick up the roll up victory. The crowd like that.

Bertha Faye (w/ Harvey Whippleman) vs Alundra Blayze © for the WWF Women’s Title

They tried, and Faye despite not being great is by no means awful for someone of her size, but this just didn’t stick. I think part of the issue with this is that the crowd didn’t particularly seem to be into either act. The action was fine, Faye plays a decent big womens wrestler, and in Blayze they had a nice foil for that. Blayze goes for a trio of second rope dropkicks, but Faye sidesteps the third. She then hits a powerbomb, and just about pins Blayze – who did seem to kick out at the last minute.

Dr Isaac Yankem vs Bret Hart

Yankem comes out with music that’s just dental drilling, lovely.  Ever watch a wrestling match that lasts a while, contains some solid action but seems entirely inconsequential? Thing kind of felt like that. The crowd didn’t really care for Yankem, despite Lawler’s best efforts from ringside, Yankem does quite a nice leg drop from the top rope onto Hart who’s draped over the top rope across the ring. Match ends as Yankem doesn’t let go before five


Shawn Michaels © vs Razor Ramon – Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title

If I was being critical – I’d say their first match was slightly better. If I was also being critical, I’d say Michaels didn’t full sell the beating on his ankle later in the match. But screw being critical, this was excellent and well-paced with Razor quite rightly playing a not so subtle heel working over Shawn’s ankle. Shawn fights bravely back into the match as it crescendos towards the finish. These are now two for two in genuinely great ladder matches.

After the match, we join Dean Douglas backstage analysing the end of the match. The gimmick still blows, but you can feel a bit more of the Shane Douglas character creeping in here. Razor confronts him, then lays him out.


Diesel © vs King Mabel (w/ Sir Mo)

Good luck following that. Mabel shouts “I’m ready to be the first black champion” early in the match. One big spot early, as Mabel seems to drop the entirety of his bodyweight on the base of Diesel’s spine. If I’m being kind, I’ll say this match really wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but that’d be where the compliments end. The ref takes a bump, out comes Luger (who Diesel initially fights off, thinking he might be turning on him like Bulldog did on Raw). Luger runs off Sir Mo, but Mabel hits a big belly to belly for the big near fall of the match. The ref takes an age to come around and Diesel barely kicks out of the slow count. Mabel goes to the second rope, misses his move, Diesel goes to the second rope, hits a sloppy clothesline/crossbody and retains his title.

Score Rating: 8/10
Go Back And Watch: Well, Shawn and Razor is an absolute must, but the entirety of the show has a good focus of in ring action (if you skip the main event). But Shawn and Razor add two points onto this scoreline.

Listen to our May 1995 podcast, looking at the first Eddie Guerrero/Dean Malenko match in ECW.

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There's a lot of false information about Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko joining WCW in late summer in 1995. It's often called a "talent raid", particularly if you're viewing a WWE version of history. This story overlooks two things: 1) You cannot "raid" a company who doesn't have any of their talent under contract (all three guys made more money outside of ECW than they made in it) and 2) that having signed Shane Douglas – a far bigger name to ECW than any of the other three were – the WWF were looking to add ECW "names" of their own – including Benoit. The fact that they were unwilling (or unable) does not excuse them.

The story behind the "talent race", if we want to call it that, is pretty well understood. WCW, getting ready for the launch of "Monday Nitro", realised they needed to expand their talent roster. Not only that, but they also thought that the batting average of their current roster – ability wise – wouldn't  be up to scratch. The bigger of this issue (i.e. how it got that bad in the first place) was conveniently overlooked, and is as good an indication of any of what would follow in the coming years, i.e. amazing wrestlers being used on television but rarely elevated.

ECW at the time was probably the biggest "independent" promotion in the United States, depending on the metric that you're using. As such they often had access to some of the best available unattached talent. In August 1994, during the NWA Title tournament where Shane Douglas threw down the belt, they debuted Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko. Both were guys with big pedigree's wrestling in Mexico, Canada and Japan – but came to a country where character could be just as big an attribute as technical ability was. Both were sorely lacking in the former.

Guerrero arrived in ECW in April 1995. Again, he was hardly an unknown when he arrived, being part of one of the best tag teams in Mexico alongside "Love Machine" Art Barr (who tragically had passed away six months earlier). In fact, it's said that Heyman initially wanted to bring them both in as a tag team. Guerrero, like the other two, had a massive wealth of experience all over the world. Even in his first match in ECW (against Too Cold Scorpio, where he would win the ECW Television Title), it was clear he was a cut above almost anybody working in North America at that time.

Sabu is a more curious case, and one who doesn't fit the WWE's version of history perhaps justifiably. Having "fired" Sabu in April 1995 (well, as much as you can fire someone who isn't under contract), he had returned to working Japan dates and other independent work in North America. Sabu, like Benoit, had held talks with the WWF (although, unlike Benoit, never got as far as having a try-out match) - but it seems both wanted to be able to combine dates with the WWF alongside their Japan commitments. The WWF were unwilling to offer this (although, they apparently were eventually willing to make an exception for Benoit, but it was too late), so neither joined.

The combined wrestling ability in the four that WCW would ultimately end up signing is quite frankly ridiculous. They were linked with about 60% of ECW's talent roster to one degree or another - and Too Cold Scorpio almost joined these four in joining in time for the debut of Nitro, but in going after the four they did they pretty much hoovered up four of the best in ring talents that were available. But the idea that this was a "raid" of talent is a line that doesn't hold up to most scrutiny. People believe WWE's story because the four names they signed were four of the best wrestlers in the world at the time. But they weren't signed *because* they were in ECW, they just happened to be in ECW, they also happened to work in Japan a lot. Believe it or not, Sabu first came to the attention of Eric Bischoff in January 1995 on a tour of Japan. Despite tearing it up in ECW for over a year by that stage, Bischoff simply hadn't seen him.

But while the "raid" part of the story doesn't hold up, WCW hardly comes out of this story as the good guys. First comes the story of Terry Taylor on WCW's Hotline. On reporting the rumours at the beginning of August (remember, WCW hadn't signed any of them by this stage) Taylor went off on a rant at how the four guys were batting way above their station asking for the kind of money they wanted. Taylor even went as far to say none of them had drawn any money in the States - which is bollocks anyway, Guerrero and Benoit were big parts of AAA's When World's Collide show held in Los Angeles, which while hardly a groundbreaking crowd would've been one of the better ones for WCW at the time.

The second half of this was that WCW needed a bitof help getting the names over the line. All of them were understandably quite protective of their gimmicks and how they might be used on television. They also wanted to ensure that their Japanese dates wouldn't be affected - so when it came to negotiations things weren't as easy as perhaps WCW were used to. It looked in early August like things may have fallen through, but there are unsubstantiated rumours WCW leant on New Japan Pro Wrestling to tell the guys if they turned down WCW their Japanese work would stop. While it probably isn't true, it's certainly a line that Paul Heyman and ECW were happy to run to the moon with once they had it.

But let's be honest, here. WCW's biggest crime was doing something that the WWF were either unwilling or unable to do. WWF wanted Benoit, WWF wanted Sabu - but were too strict to adapt to them. The idea that it was "a raid" overlooks the fact that (1) it wasn't and (2) it was no different to what Vince McMahon did during the expansion years in the 1980s. McMahon is (quite rightly) heralded for his efforts then. The line always was - "Well, if we didn't, someone else would have". Well, in 1995 - the WWF didn't, and WCW did. In Guerrero, Benoit, Malenko and Sabu they signed four guys who (if on the WWF roster) would've slotted in alongside Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels as their best talent. The fact that WCW could utilise the four is for another day.

Listen to our June 1995 podcast, reviewing all of the ECW action from the month and discussing the rise of Alfonso as a character in the promotion.

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It’s hard to work out the timeline where things went down-hill for Shane Douglas in ECW. He ended 1994 as legitimately one of the best, most must-watch acts in wrestling. A promo that could rival Ric Flair, and a platform that gave him cart-blanche to do literally that, he was thriving with the “Franchise” gimmick. Hell, Douglas even opened one episode of ECW Hardcore TV with a promo that went nearly half an hour, ten years before Triple H ran that idea into the ground.

But things started to go south in 1995. Douglas was still champion, but ECW were clearly more focused on other acts like Tommy Dreamer and Raven. Douglas, it turns out, was unhappy with a number of things within the promotion, and his relationship with booker Paul Heyman reportedly deteriorated. Douglas even felt Heyman lied to him with the title switch to the Sandman (assuming he’d get it back the following week). Douglas ended that night in April wearing a Monday Night Raw t-shirt and, while his departure didn’t happen until nearly three months later, he had all but checked out the door on his way to joining and subsequently being completed wasted by the Fed.

So where, pray tell, does Bill Alfonso come into all of this? Well, Douglas was the nearest thing to a heel ECW had going in 1994. Not that he didn’t have his fans – his anti Ric Flair stuff worked really well in Philadelphia – but the Franchise was an arrogant character, one who to a point represented the establishment that he was rallying against. But the 1995 Douglas character started to get a bit whiny, and the fans noticed. In his send-off promo, fans chanted “We Want Flair” and “Shane Is Dead”, a far cry from the days where Douglas could reasonably lead fans in “Flair Is Dead” chants.

Douglas did leave a parting gift, however. Around May time Douglas had got some “legal advice”, and bought in Bill Alfonso as a representative of the Philadelphia State Athletic Commission. Alfonso, an uninvited guest to everyone barring Douglas, was here to clean up ECW. Partly as a referee, partly as a trouble-shooter. Often both. At a time when there were legitimate concerns over the sustainability of the often times brutal ECW style, having an on air figure that could curb that would be a nice anti-dote.

The fascinating thing about Bill Alfonso was that most of the time, he wasn’t even a heel. In August 1995, when Sandman and Mikey Whipwreck had post match caning session so brutal* that Whipwreck was put on a stretcher after seven lashings… out comes Bill Alfonso to (quite rightly) remind viewers that the stipulation clearly said ten lashings would be required. Sandman had no issue in delivering the other three. Alfonso was right. (*the segment was also so violent that some stations refused to show it, and it caused ECW to lose coverage in certain markets).

When Axl and Ian Rotten decided they were going to put aside their differences and reform their tag team (and, let’s be honest, other than feuding with each other there was no demand for either man as singles acts), Bill Alfonso came out and reminded everyone in the area that the Rottens lost a tag match against the Pitbulls at the beginning of the year where the losing team must split and never team again. Alfonso was right. And in true ECW style – the Rotten brothers immediately started beating the living shit out of each other. If Ian and Axl couldn’t team up, they might as well fight.

But people who are right are often dicks, and this is where Alfonso got so much of his heat from. ECW was a place for outlaws and outcasts, but Alfonso being the voice that just about represented fairness and balance got lost in that mix. Looking for any excuse to end the Axl vs Ian glass taped fist match, Alfonso stopped the match after a small cut to Ian’s eye was causing blood to “impair his vision”.

Alfonso also had the one great trait that any non-wrestler always needed. However hard anyone tried, nobody could get their hands on him. Often it was because Alfonso simply said he’d have the place shut down if anyone did anything that went against his word. But there was a match in July where he turned up to finally confront 911 (who, along with manager Paul E Dangerously) had been on an absolute crusade against him ever since he arrived). 911 wanted to fight Alfonso, and for once Alfonso wanted to grant a fight, with his cousin, who was (yes) called “The Terrorist”. 911 duly won, and earned a session with Alfonso in the ring. He got as far as getting a fistful of Alfonso’s shirt, but Alfonso got away largely unharmed.

And that was the story of how it all began. Alfonso was great at bursting the crowd’s bubble when it came to violent and extreme matches. Tod Gordon once green lit at a death match between the Rotten’s purely on the basis “well, he’s left the building”. Alfonso, in front of that crowd, was likely the only kind of villain that would truly be able to draw any heat. Whether ECW were capable of turning that heat into cash would be another story.

Alfonso had barely been in the company a month, but there’s a great segment from June 1995 that illustrates how quickly he got over. He wasn’t in it, the match in question was actually between 911 and “Jungle Jim Steele”. Steele the latest in a long line of Ultimate Warrior knockout characters that seem to have all of Warrior’s negative attributes yet none of the positive ones (I’m looking at you, Renegade).

Steele came to ECW to write off his gimmick, and who better than 911 to do it. Having finished him off with a chokeslam the crowd demanded another. 911 obliged. Then another, 911 obliged. Then another – by this point Heyman as 911’s manager came into his own. Heyman didn’t want to give in, but would only agree if the fans allowed him to dedicate the chokeslams to the person of his choice.

First up was Sabu, who had been “fired” by ECW a couple of months earlier. The crowd popped, and up and down Steele went. Heyman was really keen to get going this time, but relented. Only if the crowd would allow him to dedicate this one final chokeslam to “BILL MOTHER FUCKING ALFONSO”. The place exploded. In less than two months, in a promotion without heels, an act that didn’t even wrestle was the most hated guy in the promotion.