The first match is Isaac Yankem versus Jake "The Snake" Roberts. We see clips of kids asking Roddy Piper to bring back the Ultimate Warrior. Diesel takes on Bob Holly. Ahmed Johnson faces Shinobi (Al Snow in a ninja mask. Oddly enough, he was also doing the Leif Cassidy gimmick as a member of the New Rockers at the same time as this gimmick). We see a great Mankind promo. Vince McMahon interviews Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Roddy Piper comes out and informs Bret and Shawn that their match at WrestleMania XII will be a 60 minute Iron Man match, which ends up being the most overrated match of all time. The main event is Yokozuna versus Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart in a handicap match. The Huckster and the Nacho Man are the guests on "Larry Fling Live". None of the matches in the episode really click and this episode isn't as good as some recent ones.
2 Reviews
All about buildup!
callanvass31 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
(02.26.96)
Live from Cincinnati, OH
Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
Issac Yankem DDS Vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Jake wins with the DDT. This was a pretty bad match. This was this the battle of the DDT, since both use the DDT as their finisher. Jake was clearly out of shape here and wasn't as sharp as he normally is in the ring. That being said, I don't think Jake could get a decent match out of Kane in his prime.
*
We get another return vignette of The Ultimate Warrior with a bunch of kids pleading with Roddy Piper to bring him back.
Diesel Vs Bob Holly
Diesel wins with a sloppy jackknife powerbomb. The only noteworthy thing about this match is that Diesel kept looking around for The Undertaker.
3/4*
Speaking of The Undertaker, as Diesel is on his way to the back, Taker's music hits and he appears in the ring. Before Diesel can get a chance to tangle with him, the lights keep flickering on and off. Taker appears on the jumbotron and says he's (Taker) is the master of mind games and he'll see him on the darkside.
Thoughts: I've always enjoyed the cheesy supernatural stuff from Taker's character. If you put your brain aside, you have to admit that this is pretty cool.
Next week on Raw, Bret Hart faces Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Shawn Michaels faces the 1-2-3 Kid. I bet Bret gave his match with Hunter a 4 out of 10.
Shinobi Vs Ahmed Johnson
Shinobi is Al Snow in weird black and white face paint. Ahmed wins with the Pearl River Plunge. Goldust phoned in during the match and recited a poem for Roddy Piper.
½*
Mankind is in a cellar with a rat he calls George. He says he's in agony and he needs to take his pain and frustrations out on the WWE roster. He talks a lot about his Mommy, too.
Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart come out for a face to face interview with Vince McMahon. Shawn says nobody has more respect for Bret than himself. He claims Bret might be the best there ever will be, but Shawn believes he (Shawn) is the best there is now. The crowd is booing both Bret and Shawn, but Bret seems to be getting more of them. Bret calls Shawn one of the best wrestlers he's ever seen, but he's gonna prove without a shadow of a doubt that he's (Bret) the best. He says Shawn's in for the biggest fight of his life come Wrestlemania. Both Shawn and Bret brag about their conditioning until Roddy Piper comes out. He says you should never boo a guy like Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. (He's right!) Piper also makes a reference to Bret beating Piper at Wrestlemania 8. Piper jokes and says he wasn't there. Piper says he doesn't want any flukey or controversial victories and announces an Iron Man Match. Bret and Shawn shake hands to end the segment.
Thoughts: This was good stuff from everyone involved. It's always weird to see Bret and Shawn be so tame around each other, considering they hated each other's guts. I felt both played confident babyfaces very well here to really help sell that they are the best. The Iron Man Match was a great choice because it gave two of the greatest wrestlers of all time a chance to strut their stuff. Piper's involvement was excellent as well. I was a bit surprised to see the crowd boo Bret and Shawn. I know they were desperate for something new, but what Piper said was true. You don't boo guys like Bret and Shawn.
2 on 1 Handicapped Match
Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (W/Jim Cornette) Vs Yokozuna
Yokozuna wins by DQ after interference from Vader. They try a 3 on 1 assault, but Ahmed Johnson and Jake "The Snake" Roberts run down to save the day. Jake scares Vader away with the snake.
*1/2
Thoughts: All of this would lead to a six man tag team match at Wrestlemania. Yokozuna is surprisingly effective as a face.
It's time for Larry Fling live with The Huckster and The Nacho Man. It's more of the usual from these skits. They make fun of Hogan and Savage's age, criticize them for selling out, make fun of the absurdity of Hogan's booking (The shoe thing is pretty funny) , and more. Billionaire Ted makes an appearance as well.
I actually had some fun with this episode. The matches aren't great, but the buildup to Wrestlemania is very good and I thought they advanced everything nicely. Even the anti-wcw skits gave me some mild amusement. The best thing about this episode is the face to face interview with Bret and Shawn.
Live from Cincinnati, OH
Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler
Issac Yankem DDS Vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Jake wins with the DDT. This was a pretty bad match. This was this the battle of the DDT, since both use the DDT as their finisher. Jake was clearly out of shape here and wasn't as sharp as he normally is in the ring. That being said, I don't think Jake could get a decent match out of Kane in his prime.
*
We get another return vignette of The Ultimate Warrior with a bunch of kids pleading with Roddy Piper to bring him back.
Diesel Vs Bob Holly
Diesel wins with a sloppy jackknife powerbomb. The only noteworthy thing about this match is that Diesel kept looking around for The Undertaker.
3/4*
Speaking of The Undertaker, as Diesel is on his way to the back, Taker's music hits and he appears in the ring. Before Diesel can get a chance to tangle with him, the lights keep flickering on and off. Taker appears on the jumbotron and says he's (Taker) is the master of mind games and he'll see him on the darkside.
Thoughts: I've always enjoyed the cheesy supernatural stuff from Taker's character. If you put your brain aside, you have to admit that this is pretty cool.
Next week on Raw, Bret Hart faces Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Shawn Michaels faces the 1-2-3 Kid. I bet Bret gave his match with Hunter a 4 out of 10.
Shinobi Vs Ahmed Johnson
Shinobi is Al Snow in weird black and white face paint. Ahmed wins with the Pearl River Plunge. Goldust phoned in during the match and recited a poem for Roddy Piper.
½*
Mankind is in a cellar with a rat he calls George. He says he's in agony and he needs to take his pain and frustrations out on the WWE roster. He talks a lot about his Mommy, too.
Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart come out for a face to face interview with Vince McMahon. Shawn says nobody has more respect for Bret than himself. He claims Bret might be the best there ever will be, but Shawn believes he (Shawn) is the best there is now. The crowd is booing both Bret and Shawn, but Bret seems to be getting more of them. Bret calls Shawn one of the best wrestlers he's ever seen, but he's gonna prove without a shadow of a doubt that he's (Bret) the best. He says Shawn's in for the biggest fight of his life come Wrestlemania. Both Shawn and Bret brag about their conditioning until Roddy Piper comes out. He says you should never boo a guy like Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. (He's right!) Piper also makes a reference to Bret beating Piper at Wrestlemania 8. Piper jokes and says he wasn't there. Piper says he doesn't want any flukey or controversial victories and announces an Iron Man Match. Bret and Shawn shake hands to end the segment.
Thoughts: This was good stuff from everyone involved. It's always weird to see Bret and Shawn be so tame around each other, considering they hated each other's guts. I felt both played confident babyfaces very well here to really help sell that they are the best. The Iron Man Match was a great choice because it gave two of the greatest wrestlers of all time a chance to strut their stuff. Piper's involvement was excellent as well. I was a bit surprised to see the crowd boo Bret and Shawn. I know they were desperate for something new, but what Piper said was true. You don't boo guys like Bret and Shawn.
2 on 1 Handicapped Match
Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (W/Jim Cornette) Vs Yokozuna
Yokozuna wins by DQ after interference from Vader. They try a 3 on 1 assault, but Ahmed Johnson and Jake "The Snake" Roberts run down to save the day. Jake scares Vader away with the snake.
*1/2
Thoughts: All of this would lead to a six man tag team match at Wrestlemania. Yokozuna is surprisingly effective as a face.
It's time for Larry Fling live with The Huckster and The Nacho Man. It's more of the usual from these skits. They make fun of Hogan and Savage's age, criticize them for selling out, make fun of the absurdity of Hogan's booking (The shoe thing is pretty funny) , and more. Billionaire Ted makes an appearance as well.
I actually had some fun with this episode. The matches aren't great, but the buildup to Wrestlemania is very good and I thought they advanced everything nicely. Even the anti-wcw skits gave me some mild amusement. The best thing about this episode is the face to face interview with Bret and Shawn.
See also
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