WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Big Daddy Cool Diesel (1995)

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Big Daddy Cool Diesel (1995)

Coliseum Video compilation. The front cover of the tape features Diesel, and I have no idea what the back cover features because I can’t find a picture of it on Google. Probably Diesel

Stan Lane hosts from the studio, and he's really excited to talk about Diesel! Aren't we all?

WWF Title Match: Diesel v Bret Hart: From Royal Rumble '95 on January 22 in Tampa Florida. The version here is clipped down to about nineteen minutes, but I'm just going to copy-and-paste my review of the full match. Diesel overpowers him to start, so Bret starts shooting at the leg, and that quickly breaks down into a slugfest. Hart with a bodypress, but Diesel catches him in a bodyslam - only to miss an elbowdrop following. They trade clotheslines from there, and you can guess who gets the better of that - Bret getting knocked over the top. The Hitman tenaciously hops right back up onto the apron to slug it out with the champion, but that ends badly as well, so Bret decides to sweep him down, and bash Diesel's leg against the post a few times. That allows Hart to climb in without getting hit, and he goes to work on the leg. Figure four is applied, but tall Diesel is able to make the ropes. Hart doesn't want to let off, however, and milks the full extent of the referee's leniency before he does - then slaps another figure four on as soon as he does release! Diesel again gets the ropes, so Bret starts stomping the knee instead, until the big man rolls to the outside to get away from him. Hart dives right after him with a tope, then sends the champion into the post, but a whip into the steps is reversed. Diesel rolls him back in for a cross corner whip, and a few elbows against the turnbuckles set up a sidewalk slam for two. Straddling ropechoke connects, and Diesel applies a backbreaker submission. Bret gets out of it, so Diesel hammers him in the corner again, and hits a cross corner whip. Bret is just doing a marvelous job of selling here, which is perfect, since his earlier aggression bordered on losing him sympathy from the crowd. Diesel with an overhead backbreaker submission, but Bret escapes that as well, so Diesel big boots him down for two. Charge in the corner, but Hart dodges, and dives with a 2nd rope flying clothesline. He hustles to the top to follow-up, so Diesel tries to slam him off, but Hart rakes the eyes, and topples him for two. Again, masterful control of the audience, as Hart walks that thin line - keeping his sympathy, while also playing a heel. To give you an idea of what he's working with, literally the entire front row are Hart fans, but he's making Diesel look like the hero. Hart bails to the outside again, and when Diesel tries to pull him back in, Bret sweeps him down in the corner, then uses his wrist tape to tie the big man's legs together! That leaves Diesel prone for Bret to stomp, and he adds a pointed elbowdrop before the referee can free Big Daddy Cool! Hart with a bulldog for two, and a Russian legsweep gets two. Backbreaker sets up the 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, but Diesel grabs the ropes before Bret can even think about the Sharpshooter. Hart responds by clotheslining him over the top, but at attempt at a plancha is stopped when Diesel catches him, and rams his challenger into the post. Back in, Diesel lands the Jackknife, but Shawn Michaels runs in to break up the count at two, causing a DQ at 15:18. It's worth noting that the crowd popped pretty big for Shawn attacking Diesel there. However, the referee decides not to call for the bell, instead clearing Shawn out, and ruling that the match must continue. Both guys are down for the count, but both manage to stagger to their feet at the same time. Diesel tries cornering the Hitman, but Bret is able to fire off some kicks at the leg to stop that particular effort, and he works the leg again. Figure four, but the ropes are a long way away this time, so Diesel starts clubbing at the ribcage to break himself free. Bret keeps after the leg to prevent a comeback, but gets hammered in the corner while wrapping Diesel's leg around the middle rope, and the champion hits a gutwrench suplex for two. Bootchoke in the corner follows, but trying to charge with a big boot against the buckles misses, and Hart bashes the knee against the post. He ups the ante by using a chair on the leg next, testing the referee's patience. Sharpshooter is successfully applied, but now Owen Hart runs in to break up the hold for the DQ at 22:13. He doesn't get a massive pop like Shawn did, however. The referee again doesn't call for the bell - instead ejecting Owen and allowing the match to continue - but not before Owen manages to expose a top turnbuckle, and whip his brother into it! Unlike the last interference, Bret isn't moving as quickly as Diesel, and the champion staggers over to make the cover, but only gets a dramatic two. Diesel tries ramming him into the exposed buckle, but Bret manages to reverse - nicely sold by the champion. Hart capitalizes by drilling the dizzy Diesel with right hands, and he manages to knock him down, but that just inspires Diesel to get right back up and hammer Bret with fists of his own! Hart ends up falling out of the ring, so Diesel grabs a chair, but Bret manages to get away from him before he can use it. Bret fakes a knee injury as Diesel climbs back in, using the distraction to hook a small package for two. Rollup, but the referee gets bumped in the process, and everyone ends up down. That brings Shawn and Owen back out - this time with Bob Backlund, Jeff Jarrett, and Roadie all in tow! A massive beat down commences, but the referee has had enough, and rules the match a no contest at 27:26. Even with the non-ending, this was one hell of a match, with both guys working hard and working aggressively, and Bret doing everything in his power to try and get Diesel over in his new role. ****

WWF Title Match: Diesel v Jeff Jarrett: From Monday Night RAW in Macon Georgia on February 20 1995. Let's give this one a fresh look, since my original review is a good four years old anyway. Jeff tries to sneak attack, but gets shrugged off, and hit with a straddling ropechoke. Clothesline sends Jeff over the top, so Roadie tries distracting the world champion to allow Jarrett another sneak attack. This one doesn't go any better for him though, and Diesel unloads with elbows in the corner, then bootchokes him. Jeff dodges a charge, but an attempt at a cross corner whip goes nowhere, and Diesel hiptosses him across the ring. Snake-eyes, but Jarrett manages to slip free, and uses a ten-punch count. Charge, but Diesel sidesteps, and sends his challenger flying over the top and right onto Roadie! Diesel abuses him with clotheslines on the apron as Jeff tries to climb back in, and we get a funny spot where Diesel and Roadie end up playing tug-of-war with Jarrett. Diesel works a wristlock, but Jeff manages to dump him over the top, where Roadie is waiting with a flying clothesline off of the apron! Roadie then distracts the referee so Jarrett can post the champion out there, and Jeff uses a 2^nd rope flying clothesline for two on the way back in. Standing dropkick gets two, and a swinging neckbreaker sets up some ropechoking from the challenger. He hits his own straddling ropechoke, and uses a 2^nd rope flying bulldog for two. To the top with a flying bodypress for two, but a charge gets caught with a sidewalk slam, and Diesel starts making a comeback! Snake-eyes leads to the big boot, and the Jackknife finishes clean at 9:49. I'm honestly still surprised this actually had a clean finish, given that Jarrett was Intercontinental champion at this point. That's almost always going to result in a screw job finish of some sort during this era. *** (Original rating: ** ½)

Back in the studio, Stan can't believe Jarrett was ever able to get up after taking the Jackknife. Yeah, what a piece of shit. He should still be selling it today

WWF Title Match: Diesel v King Kong Bundy: TV taping dark match from Fort Myers Florida on January 25 1995. Diesel tries to shove him around to start, but Bundy uses his weight advantage to his... advantage... and pounds on the champion. Diesel seems to be acting like kind of a dick here, as he's selling, but also making goofy faces the whole time. Bundy with an elbowdrop for two, and he goes to a chinlock, with Diesel literally looking like he's having a nap in there. Avalanche, but Diesel lifts his boot to block, and a jumping clothesline finishes at 3:57. Quite the Coliseum exclusive. DUD

WWF Title Match: Diesel v Owen Hart: From Action Zone on February 5 1995 (taped January 11) in South Padre Island Texas. Some fans have taken the time to make a large banner with an old school dot matrix printer reading 'Owen owes so make him pay.' That was really a great use of eight pieces of paper. Diesel unloads in the corner to start, but Owen dodges a charge, and rakes the eyes to allow him a headbutt. Cross corner whip, but Diesel reverses, and Hart eats a snake-eyes, then gets clotheslined over the top. Hart manages to snap the champion's throat across the top rope on the way back in, but he gets slammed off the top before he can capitalize with a dive, and Diesel cross corner whips him. Short-clothesline follows, so Shawn Michaels shows up at ringside to distract his former tag partner. Shawn's look in early '95 was one of the worst he had before the second run, where he constantly had terrible gear. The distraction allows Owen to send Diesel to the outside with a dropkick, and he dives after him with a flying axehandle out there. Back in, Owen works the leg, and hits a missile dropkick to set up a figure four, but Diesel uses his free leg to shove Hart into the corner to block. He starts making a comeback, so Owen tries going to the eyes, but a trip to the top ends badly when Diesel crotches him up there. He adds a matslam and an elbowdrop, and the big boot sets up the Jackknife at 7:17. * ½

WWF Title Match: Diesel v Shawn Michaels: From WrestleMania XI in Hartford Connecticut on April 2 1995. This one is joined in progress (showing only the last nine minutes or so) so it's copy-and-paste time. We pick things up with Shawn hitting a flying elbowdrop to the lower back for two. Nice execution on that one, with a long jump. Michaels tries a front-facelock, but Diesel backdrops his way out of it. Shawn tries again, same result. Diesel tries a snake-eyes, but Shawn shoves him into the corner to block, and he grabs a sleeper. Diesel powers out and unloads with elbows in the corner, and pair of cross corner whips lead to a pair of clotheslines. Snake-eyes sets up a straddling ropechoke, and Shawn takes a flip to the outside off of another cross corner whip. Diesel is on his tail, but runs into the Superkick on the way back in - only to find that the referee is down on the outside! Shawn gets a visual pin as Sid pulls the referee back in for the official dramatic two count. Sid exposes the top turnbuckle, but Diesel hits Michaels with a side suplex before the challenger can use it. The referee is doing a great job of selling a twisted ankle here while counting both guys for the double knockout, better than anything either of the wrestlers are doing. Even though Diesel executed the suplex, Shawn actually gets a two count out of it, but another 2nd rope flying bulldog is countered with a sidewalk slam. Nice spot there. Shawn STILL recovers first, but gets sent into the corner with a catapult - Diesel out of position, resulting in Michaels missing the exposed buckle. Oh well. Diesel does his best Hulk Hogan impression as he mounts a comeback, and the big boot sets up the Jackknife (and a sloppy one at that) at 20:37. This was the Shawn Michaels Show, with Shawn bumping and flying around, dominating Diesel without even having to resort to much cheating, and generally showboating like crazy. Which is great, except that he kinda got himself over at the expense of Diesel. Good - but not great - match. ***

Stan wraps up from the studio. Boy, this tape must have been an easy payday for him. I think he had a total of five minutes of screen time

BUExperience: A pretty lazy release, as 80% of it is matches that aired on TV or pay per view, and the only exclusive match is a four minutes piece of shit. The TV matches are all good choices, but considering three-quarters of those are available on the Network in other places (the exception being the Owen match, which isn’t especially notable), I wouldn’t really consider this worth your time in 2018. It worked better in 1995, when those TV matches didn’t exist to rewatch unless you happened to tape them, and you’d have to buy/rent Royal Rumble and WrestleMania separately to see those matches.

Not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection.