WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape IV (1991)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: SuperTape IV (1991)

Coliseum Video compilation – hosted by Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes.  The theme this time is that the security crew won’t allow Mooney into the building, so they have to watch the tape (which he literally carries around with him – and not even in its official Coliseum Video case!) in a completely non-sketchy van.

The cover of the tape features the Big Bossman, and promises a profile on him. I would be remiss in not noting the awesome WWF action figures commercials at the start of the tape. I used to envy those kids so much, as they seemingly had unlimited access to all of the figures – most of which I could never find in my local stores. Roddy Piper missed his calling as a spokesperson for children’s toys.


WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Mr. Perfect v The Texas Tornado: From a TV taping, December 1990. Perfect jumps him coming in, and quickly dumps him to the outside, but gets caught in a wristlock coming back in. Perfect chops his way free, so Tornado goes to a Boston crab. Perfect makes the ropes, so Tornado whips him around - with Perfect doing his usual fantastic oversell. Clawhold, but Perfect goes to the eyes, and hooks a sleeper. Tornado powers out into his Discus Punch, but Perfect blocks him, then dodges a blind charge. He takes the time to tear the top turnbuckle pad off, and rams him into it after some minor objection from the challenger. Perfect-plex gets two, and Tornado cinches the claw on, so Perfect bumps the referee to break free. Pair of Discus Punches, but the referee calls for the bell at 7:30, deciding to disqualify Perfect for the bump. Really pedestrian stuff. ¼*

Koko B. Ware v Tito Santana: From a house show, January 1991. Handshake to start, since both guys are babyfaces. They trade armdrags and hiptosses - with neither capitalizing, or showing aggression. Things break down when Koko accuses him of a hairpull, and they start shoving each other. Tito feels cooler heads should prevail, and offers a handshake - only to have Koko nail him with a cheap shot, and dump him. Can't say I'm surprised. That's the way those people are. You know I always say it: can't trust guys managed by parrots. Tito comes in with some right hands, but a monkey flip attempt allows Koko an inverted atomic drop for two. Nervehold wears Tito down, and Koko looks to put him away with a Golden Gloves routine, but Tito matches him blow for blow. Ware slams him to stop that effort, but misses a flying fistdrop, and Tito unloads a pair of his own bodyslams. Koko begs off, but takes an atomic drop, and Santana finishes with the diving forearm at 10:00. Well paced, but never really went anywhere. ¼*

The Undertaker v Tugboat: From the same December '90 TV taping as the first bout - shortly after 'Taker's WWF debut at Survivor Series. Power-stalemate to start, so 'Taker just straight up starts choking him. Botched jumping clothesline, and he misses an elbowdrop, allowing Tug to clothesline him. He gets no-sold, however, and 'Taker hammers away. Slugfest goes 'Taker's way, and he tries a ropewalk forearm, but gets tugged off, and powerslammed. Tug misses a blind charge, and 'Taker hits a flying fistdrop to finish at 5:30 The usual plodding early-Undertaker match, not helped by the fact that he was paired with a big lug who couldn't oversell for him. ¼*

Shawn Michaels v Crush: From a TV taping, January 1991. Shawn was still a Rocker at this point, and Crush still a member of Demolition. Crush overpowers him to start, but Shawn dodges a blind charge, and superkicks him. It's still 1991, though, so that doesn't mean instant death. It doesn't even get Crush off of his feet, in fact. Crush responds with a press slam, but Shawn catches him with a headscissors on the way down, and hooks a front-facelock. Crush powers out for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and keeps at it with a nice torture rack driver for two. Crush hugs him like a bear, but Shawn hustles his way out, so Crush starts pinballing him around. Bodyscissors grounds Michaels, so he goes to the eyes. Crush responds by biting, and another backbreaker sets up a missed flying kneedrop. Shawn starts firing off shots at it, and clips him. Bodypress, but Crush catches him, so Marty Jannetty comes off of the top rope with a flying shoulderblock - knocking Michaels on top for the pin at 7:00. Fun big/little match, with both guys working hard. Shawn was the kind of guy they should have paired 'Taker with. They'd figure it out eventually. * ¼

Handicapped Match: Mr. Fuji and The Orient Express v The Legion of Doom: From a TV taping, January 1991. Long bit of stalling where the referee keeps patting down Fuji for foreign objects, while he plays 'hide the salt' with Kato. Guess they've got high blood pressure, or something. He's only saving him from himself! Kato and Animal start things proper, and Animal no-sells a series of chops, and powerslams him. That draws Tanaka in, and the LOD clean house. The dust settles on Tanaka and Hawk, with Hawk dominating with power moves. He gets caught with some well timed double-teaming, but manages to clear both guys out with ease. The LOD continue to no-sell and dominate with power stuff, until Animal gets caught in the wrong part of town, and blinded by a handful of Fuji-salt. He shrugs that off pretty quickly, though, and the Doomsday Device finishes Kato at 8:00. This could have been fun, but the LOD didn't really work with them at all. Fuji's inclusion was pointless, too, as he could have thrown salt from the floor like he always does. ¼*

Big Bossman v Earthquake: From a house show, September 1990. Long time spent stalling, with the initial lockup not coming until some three minutes after the bell. Bossman gets a side-headlock out of it, but Earthquake quickly breaks, and hides out in the corner for more stalling. He lures Bossman into a bodyslam, but misses an elbowdrop, and Bossman railroads him into the corner for fists of fury. He makes the mistake of unleashing his fury on Earthquake's gut, though, so it has no effect (so. much. padding.), and 'Quake crushes him with his buttocks - leading to a brilliant facial expression from Bossman that has to be seen to be properly appreciated. Atomic drop hits, but a backdrop doesn't, and Bossman unloads an enzuigiri. Series of clotheslines tie 'Quake up in the ropes, and Bossman bodypresses him that way. The draws out Dino Bravo, and 'Quake jumps him for the pin at 10:30. Really slow, horrible match, with tons of stalling, and hours between spots. Like the sequence 'Atomic drop hits, but a backdrop doesn't, and Bossman unloads an enzuigiri' took probably a total of three minutes to get through. Bad choice for a profile match, too, as he loses. - ½*   

Big Bossman v Bobby Heenan: From a TV taping, November 1990. Bobby tries to beg off, so Bossman responds by beating him with his nightstick. Wow, glad this guy was a paid 'law enforcement officer.' Not surprisingly, that gets him a quick pin at 0:30. DUD

Big Bossman v Barbarian: From a house show, December 1990. Bossman dumps him early, but misses a blind charge once Barbarian decides to lumber back in. Atomic drop and a clothesline put Bossman on the floor, where Barbarian posts him. Inside, Barbarian works the back (stomp, stomp, forearm, stomp), and hugs him like a bear, but Bossman bites free. Bearhug > bite though, so Barbarian retains control - only to miss a 2^nd rope elbowdrop. Slugfest goes Bossman's way, and he hits an enzuigiri for two. Stungun gets two, and a flying bodypress, but Barbarian rolls through. Bossman tries a piledriver, but Barbarian backdrops him - only for Bossman to turn it into a sunset flip for the pin at 11:20 These two would square off at the Royal Rumble the next month, as the house show circuit was used both to develop pay per view matches, and give guys a chance to get familiar with each other on a smaller stage - particularly in an era when 'star v star' matches weren't a fixture of weekly television. I was expecting a double DQ or countout here, but I guess they weren't counting on that Barbarian/Bossman battle to sell the show. Match picked up towards the end, but was really dull and plodding the rest of the time. DUD

WWF Title Match: The Ultimate Warrior v Sgt. Slaughter: From a TV taping, January 1991 - just weeks before Warrior dropped the title to Slaughter at the Royal Rumble. Slaughter goes right to an eye rake, and drives Warrior into the corner, but gets no-sold, and knocked to the outside. Warrior with a slingshot to bring him back in, then dumps him back out with Slaughter's patented cross corner bump. He drags him back in for some chops, but misses a blind charge, and goes tumbling over-the-top himself. Slaughter tosses him into the timekeepers table, and tries to keep control inside, but gets backdropped, and clotheslined. Warrior with a slingshot into the corner, and a criss cross ends in a double knockout. Slaughter recovers with a slam, but he's still dazed, and Warrior topples him for two. Backbreaker goes better, and a series of elbowdrops get two. Camel Clutch, but Warrior's feet are in the ropes - a spot they would lift note for note at the Rumble. Slaughter goes back to war, but Warrior's BLOWING UP!! Series of Clotheslines! Diving Shoulderblock! Splash! 9:30! See, now this match they were counting on to sell the Rumble pay per view, so an absolutely clean win for Warrior is strange booking. Match was terrible, to boot. ¼*

BUExperience:  Really bad tape, though it interestingly highlights the difference between TV tapings and house shows during the early 90s – as at a TV tapings the crowd would usually sit through over four hours of stuff (they would tape several weeks works of programming at a time – if not more), so the action usually had a quicker pace to it, versus house shows, where they need to fill time and give the crowd their monies worth, but with most guys only putting in a token effort off camera, they generally tended to be slower, and more restholdy. Either way, definitely not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection.