Lex Luger vs Austin Steele
Really dull squash, where Luger doesn’t do much to warm up
the crowd. For example, why is buffed-up super-face Luger holding a side
headlock on the mat on lumpy jobber Steele 2 minutes in? Steele gets in some
basic looking offence before Luger finishes with a superplex.
Jeff Jarrett vs John Paul
Jarrett is proving himself to be a great squash worker on
these old Raws. Loved his big dropkick here, and a nice heavy clothesline on
Paul. Jarrett lets Paul get in a few flash pins throughout, but I love the fact
that Jarrett will cheat even when in total control. What a heel. Dug seeing
Jarrett bring out a slingshot suplex. The match ends with a fun little sequence
of counters, and Jarrett wins with a roll-up and a handful of tights on a
jobber squash. Great dickish work by Jarrett
Men On A Mission vs the Headshrinkers
This had been advertised prior to the Rumble as the Harts vs
the Headshrinkers, so this is a real step down. Mo is really positioned as the
weak link of the team, so you can see Vince plotting a Mabel push already. Mo
even makes the mistake twice of trying to slam a Headshrinkers head, which
doesn’t work. I liked a fun spot where, unbeknownst to Fatu, Mabel had tagged
in and Samu refused to accept his tag. Fatu takes control on Mo with a pair of
superkicks, so you can see where the Usos get their main offensive move from. A
kick to the back makes Mo the face in peril, and the heat section is a little
bland. Mo gets a few hope spots including a terrible small package. Mabel
finally gets the hot tag, and I like that they paid off the “Headshrinkers
no-sell head shots” story by having Mabel do a noggin-knocker with Afa and a
Shrinker, with the payoff being that both heads were so strong that both felt
pain. Things turn into a bit of a mess towards the end, before the Shrinkers finish
Mo with the top rope splash. Not much to recommend here.
Adam Bomb vs Tommy Angel
Interestingly, both Vince and JR talk up the bland looking
Angel as a decent talent pre-match. Curiously, the commentators spend a lot of
the match slamming manager Harvey Whippleman, stating that Bomb is wasting time
and Harvey should order him to put Angel away. It’s odd, as Bomb is in complete
control, bar a little flurry by Angel at the start. A flying clothesline and
the Atom Smasher finish it.
Doink vs Joey Stallings
This is an odd state of affairs, as the recently sacked Matt
Borne had been playing Doink as a talented mat wrestler and working all kinds
of fun holds on guys. However, the replacement Doink (and I’m not sure which
one it is here) is not as talented as Borne so, after an admittedly great
overhead belly-to-belly, Doink hits some perfunctory armwork to try and
maintain character. Problem is, he’s not as fluid or vicious as Borne was.
Stallings gets to hit a nice side slam, before Doink folds him up with a side
suplex (again, pretty good), and the Whoopee Cushion gets 3.
Shawn Michaels vs Tyrone Knox
As good as Jeff Jarrett has looked on these old Raws,
Michaels is proving to be a dull squash wrestler. He stooges too much for the
stocky Knox here, then slowly works him over when he is on offence. This
includes a chinlock that goes on for too long. Knox is allowed to no-sell a
turnbuckle shot, but a superkick and piledriver win it for Michaels.
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