WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Mega Matches (1995)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Mega Matches (1995)

Coliseum Video compilation – hosted by Gorilla Monsoon and Stan Lane. The cover of the tape feature Tatanka dropping an elbow on Lex Luger, and promises exclusive matches shot for this release.


Lex Luger v IRS: From Monday Night RAW, December 1994. Luger uses his power advantage to toss IRS around a bit in the early going, so Irwin bails to the floor to regroup. He manages to frustrate Luger enough to sucker him into a kneelift and a turnbuckle smash, but gets reversed going into the ropes and hiptossed. Luger with a bodyslam and a clothesline for two, but IRS' Druid (part of an angle he was doing with the Undertaker) distracts Lex, and Irwin knocks him to the floor with a high knee. Back in, IRS puts the boots to him, and hits a backbreaker for two. Pair of elbowdrops get two, so IRS tries a rope-assisted chinlock. Lex powers up with a side suplex, and hits a running kneelift followed by a series of clotheslines - but the Druid trips him up, and IRS schoolboys him for two. Lex jumps out to the floor to go after the Druid, and pulls his hood off to reveal rival Tatanka, but isn't mindful of the referees count, and IRS gets the victory at 8:25. Just your average TV match with the usual screwy ending. ¼*

WWF Tag Team Title Tournament Quarter Final Match: The New Headshrinkers v Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart: From Superstars, November 1994 (aired in December). Sione starts with Neidhart, and wins a quick power-showdown before hooking an armbar. Quick pass to Fatu, but he walks into a forearm, and Owen comes off the top rope with an axehandle. He tries turnbuckle smashes, but Fatu no-sells (And dances! Shades of Rikishi!), so Neidhart fires off a cheap shot from the apron. Hart and Neidhart cut the ring in half on Fatu, but Owen makes the mistake of going for the head again (DDT), and Fatu makes the tag. Sione is a hut of fire, but they have trouble finishing (this was during the period where the Headshrinkers tried to become 'civilized' and wear boots - which they (kayfabe) couldn't wrestle in), so Owen makes one last ditch heel effort, but the referee catches him using Fatu's boot as a weapon, and the Headshrinkers get a cheap disqualification to advance at 9:10. Owen busted out some fun stuff during the heat segment, but this was a paint-by-numbers non-thriller, otherwise. ¼*

Davey Boy Smith v Jeff Jarrett: From Monday Night RAW, November 1994 (aired December). Jarrett tries to get cute in the early going, but makes the mistake of trying to match power with Smith, and ends up getting hiptossed out to the floor. He regroups with the Roadie (Jesse James, in his debut appearance), and comes back in bitching to the referee about Davey hooking the tights. Jeff tries taking it to the mat, but Davey finds counters to everything Jarrett tries, and ends up shoving Jeff across the ring. Criss cross ends in Smith hitting a hanging vertical suplex, and Jarrett falls back out to the floor. Jarrett sweeps Bulldog off of his feet on the way back in, but runs into a boot during a cross corner charge, and Davey unloads a series of turnbuckle smashes. To the top rope, but Jarrett knocks him onto the turnbuckle, and superplexes him for two. Chinlock, but Davey powers up, so Jarrett blasts him with a flying clothesline for two. Criss cross ends in a double knockout, but Davey's up first with a cradle for two. Backelbow, but Jarrett ducks, and slaps on a sleeper - Smith fading fast. Jarrett rides him with his full weight, but Davey still dead lifts him, and falls into the corner to break. He can't capitalize before Jarrett bulldogs him though, but kicks out at two. Davey fires back with a fisherman's suplex for two, but Jarrett takes it back to the mat with another chinlock. Into the ropes, Davey counters a leapfrog with an inverted atomic drop, and follows with a backdrop to set up a series of clotheslines. Jarrett is quick to bail, but Bulldog follows to drag him back in (in this case, carrying him over his head), but Roadie grabs Davey's leg as he tries to re-enter, and Jarrett gets a countout victory at 14:00. A bit too long (they went back to the chinlock one time too many there), but decent back-and-forth stuff otherwise. Plus, somewhat historically significant for the debut of Jesse James, if for nothing else. ¾*

King Kong Bundy v Duke Droese: From Action Zone, November 1994. Droese attacks during the entrance and knocks Bundy to the floor, so manager Ted DiBiase runs interference, and lures Droese into a chase up the aisle. Duke hears Bundy coming though (wouldn't make the best cat burglar, that guy), and fires off a series of closed fists on the way back in. Bundy with an elbowdrop and a backelbow to turn the tide, but another elbowdrop misses as the announcers discuss Diesel winning the WWF Title from Bob Backlund the day before this aired. Into the ropes, Droese manages a bodypress for two, and hooks a wristlock. Bundy clips him with a clothesline and slaps on a chinlock, but Duke powers up, and they get into a power-stalemate - Droese actually winning with a shoulderblock. Duke with a jumping clothesline, and a legdrop for two - only to miss a charge into the corner, and get Avalanched. Bundy gives him a second one for good measure, and gets the pin at 6:52 - though he has to settle for a three count when the referee won't play ball with five. Heh. Managed to be energetic and dull at the same time. ¼*

Bob Backlund v Doink the Clown: From Monday Night RAW, December 1994. They look to be wrestling in a high school gymnasium here, which is just depressing beyond description. The place is so small, that the standard 'RAW' banners hanging in the background look 10x larger than usual. Doink uses Dink to orchestrate a sneak attack before the bell, but can't match Backlund on the mat, and ends up grabbing the ropes to escape a waistlock. Bob with a single-leg takedown into another waistlock, but Doink is back on the ropes to force a break. Doink fires back with a takedown of his own, and cradles Backlund for two, but Bob gets him on the mat in a side-headlock. Doink counters with a headscissors, but Bob bridges, so Doink hooks a backslide for two. Doink with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and he hooks a side-headlock of his own. Backlund makes the ropes to break, but fires off a forearm after teasing a clean break, then starts ripping at Doink's arm. Sadly, it doesn't pop out of the socket tonight. Bob stomps the arm to set up the dreaded Crossface Chickenwing, but Doink grabs the ropes to block, and hits a sunset flip for two. Bob takes him back to the mat with a hammerlock, and shifts into an armbar when Doink gets uppity. Doink with an inside cradle for two, but Bob pounces back on the arm before he can follow-up - this time with a wristlock. Doink tries to force it back up to a vertical base, but Backlund hangs on to the arm, and monkeyflips him back into an armbar - rolling the hold into a couple of pinfall attempts. Doink makes the ropes to break, and counters a cross corner whip with a 2^nd rope bodypress for two. Inside cradle for two, and a backslide gets two. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Bob rolls out of the way, and Doink lands on the bad arm. Chickenwing, but Doink fires off a backelbow - only for the arm to give out as he tries a slam, and Backlund to apply the hold for a submission at 14:00. As weird as it was to see Doink trade holds with Backlund like it was 1981, these two actually worked well together, and it was a nice change of pace to see a Doink match without comedy spots, and gimmicks. ** ¼

Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow v Lex Luger and Davey Boy Smith: From Monday Night RAW, December 1994 (aired January 1995). Big brawl to start, until the dust settles on Bigelow and Smith. Bam Bam controls, but a tag to Luger allows Lex a 2^nd rope clothesline for two. He goes after the arm, but a cheap shot from Tatanka on the apron takes the pep out of Luger's step. Bigelow with a couple of headbutts before he makes the tag, and Tatanka unloads tomahawk chops. A pair of elbowdrops (as seen on the video artwork) get two, and a flying tomahawk chop is worth two. Series of knife edge chops in the corner, and I guess Luger's Flair-tolerance was pretty low by late 1994, because he's selling and everything. Bearhug, but Lex slugs free, and hits a side suplex. Tag to Bigelow for a splash before Lex can capitalize, but he gets too cocky, and walks into a powerslam. Both men tag, and Davey's a doghouse of fire, but a four-way brawl ends in a double countout at 8:43. Cheap ending aside, this was decent, well paced action. *

Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow v Lex Luger and Davey Boy Smith: From later on the same episode of RAW, though the editing makes it appear as if the match just continued right then and there. Because of that, we're joined in progress with Bigelow unloading on Luger with a suplex, and the heels cutting the ring in half. Lex manages to clothesline them both to allow the tag to Davey, and he's a doghouse of fire again - slamming both guys around. Four-way brawl ends with Davey whipping Tatanka into Bigelow on the apron, and diving on top for the pin at 5:00 shown of 11:13. Much slower here, though if it were actually one continuous match, it would have been fine. As a standalone match, pretty dull, though. No rating, since it was heavily clipped.

Jeff Jarrett v Fatu: From Action Zone, October 1994 (aired November). Fatu is having trouble with his boots again as the bell sounds, and Jarrett is quick to take advantage with a sneak attack - only to get pounded as he goes for the head. Criss cross allows Fatu a clothesline for two, and a backbreaker hits, but Fatu gets distracted by his footwear, and Jeff bulldogs him. Jarrett with a dropkick and an armbar, as Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart stroll down to ringside. Jeff with a standing dropkick for two, but he makes the mistake of trying a DDT, and takes a savate kick. Fatu with a powerslam, but Owen distracts the referee as he covers - only for Jarrett to get into a miscommunication with Neidhart, and pinned at 4:37. This was just a quickie to push Survivor Series (these guys were on opposite teams at Series), which took place a few days after this aired. It also served as a nice bit of foreshadowing, considering what happened to The Teamsters at Survivor Series. DUD

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Tatanka, IRS, and King Kong Bundy v Lex Luger and Men on a Mission: From Monday Night RAW, January 1995 (aired February). Bundy ends up starting with Mabel, and loses a power-showdown when Mabel hits a forearm for two. Enzuigiri gets two, and Mabel's winded, so Mo tags in with a flying axehandle. He stupidly tries to slam Bundy and gets swatted, and IRS tags in with an uppercut and a backelbow. Swift elbowdrop for two, but a criss cross ends in Mo hitting a bodypress and a dropkick. Bodyslam gets two, and Mo goes after the arm, but gets his eyes raked, and IRS passes. Tatanka in with a series of tomahawk chops, but Mabel gets the tag, and knocks Tatanka around with shoulderblocks. Elbowdrop sets up a tag to Luger, but he stupidly flexes at Tatanka instead of attacking, and Tatanka dives into his home corner to tag IRS. A criss cross ends with Luger hooking him in a backslide for two, and clobbering him with a clothesline for two. Tag back to Mo, but another criss cross allows Irwin a kneelift, and Tatanka fires off a cheap shot from the apron to make sure Mo gets the message. The heels cut the ring in half until Bundy misses an Avalanche, and Mo manages to make the tag to Luger. He's a house of arson to trigger a six-way brawl, and Bundy pins Luger after Tatanka DDT's him at 12:00. Energetic, but not much else. ¾*

Bam Bam Bigelow v 1-2-3 Kid: From Action Zone, December 1994 (aired January 1995). Kid tries to keep Bigelow at bay with lightning kicks, but walks into a headbutt, and gets launched across the ring with a hiptoss. Kid manages to dodge a cross corner charge and schoolboys Bigelow for two, but gets swatted with a forearm before he can follow-up. Kid fires back with a pair of backelbows and a dropkick, but Bigelow clobbers him with a clothesline, and tosses him onto the corner for a few body shots. Bam Bam misses a cross corner charge (taking a weird Flair flip in the process), but manages to take over again, and toss Kid over the top with ease. Bam Bam drags him back in with a press slam for two, but Kid won't stay down, and eggs Bigelow on. Bam Bam responds by tossing him across the ring again for two, and he grabs a chinlock on the mat. Kid tries a roundhouse kick to comeback, but Bigelow quickly stops him with an enzuigiri, and follows with a well executed suplex. Bigelow's jaw drops as Kid keeps coming, so Bam Bam tries putting him in a torture rack. Kid tries a side suplex counter, but  Bam Bam turns it into a bodypress for two. Flying moonsault, but Kid slams him off, and cradles for two. Kid to the top with a bodypress, but Bigelow catches him in a powerslam for the pin at 10:30. Fun big/little stuff with a great story - Kid selling wonderfully throughout, and making Bigelow look like a true beast, and himself look like a 'never say die' underdog. * ¼

The Smoking Gunns v The Heavenly Bodies: From Sunday Night Slam, November 1994. The Gunns clean house before the bell, and the dust settles on Billy Gunn and Tom Prichard to get us started. Gunn controls an armbar, but a kick to the gut allows Tom a headlock, and a big criss cross ends in Billy bulldogging him. Tag to brother Bart Gunn to work an armbar, but an eye rake allows Prichard to tag Jimmy Del-Ray. Bart quickly swats him down with a shoulderblock, and a reversal sequence ends in Bart hooking a side-headlock on the mat. Tag to Billy for a double-team sidewalk slam/legdrop combo that gets two, but Bart walks right into a cheap shot from Prichard as he comes back in, and the Bodies cut the ring in half. After taking an epic shit-kicking, Bart manages to dodge Prichard coming off the 2^nd rope, and gets the tag to Billy. He's a house of arson to trigger a four-way brawl, and Billy pins Prichard with a sunset flip at 14:00. Like the earlier Jarrett/Fatu match, this was booked to push Survivor Series, which took place a couple of days after this originally aired - though unlike Jarrett/Fatu, this overstayed its welcome a bit. *

BUExperience: Well, if you’re really into the Lex Luger/Million Dollar Corporation feud, or if you want to see a bunch of the TV stuff that built to Survivor Series ’94 then, yeah, this is the tape for you. Otherwise, don’t bother. Not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection.