WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Most Unbelievable Matches (1994)

 

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Most Unbelievable Matches (1994)

Coliseum Video compilation. The front cover features Shawn Michaels diving at Razor Ramon from a ladder at WrestleMania X, while the back features Lex Luger, unbelievably, holding a side-headlock

Paul Bearer hosts, from inside a dilapidated old apartment, but the looks of things

Yokozuna v Mabel: From Youngstown Ohio on May 23 1994. Great reaction for Mabel here. He also makes Yokozuna look small, which is somewhat unnerving. They measure each other to start, doing very little in terms of actual work or physical contact, but doing a good job of engaging the crowd. Never underestimate the appeal of watching two fat guys collide, I guess. Mabel gets the better of it, so Yokozuna tries triggering a slugfest, but loses. Mabel with an avalanche, but Yokozuna dodges, and belly-to-belly suplexes him on the rebound. Yokozuna adds a legdrop, but Mabel fires back with a clothesline, setting up a legdrop of his own. Both guys end up down after that giant burst of athleticism, and Yokozuna is up first with a bodyslam, but it takes a lot out of him as well. Yokozuna looks for the banzai drop, but he can’t drag big Mabel to the corner to deliver it, and Mabel recovers with a bodyslam of his own. Both guys fall out of the ring after that one, and we have a double countout at 10:53. This wasn’t good, but more entertaining than you’d imagine. A good exercise in how to work a crowd. ¼*

Rick Martel v Lex Luger: From the March 28 1994 episode of Monday Night RAW in Poughkeepsie New York (taped March 21). Luger controls through the first few lockups, but Martel ducks into the ropes to avoid him following up on anything. Rick with a kneelift after frustrating Luger, but he gets the tables turned on him in the corner, and hiptossed. Lex with a series of clotheslines to put Martel on the outside, as DiBiase counts his money at ringside. Luger blocks a turnbuckle smash and takes Martel down in a mat-based side-headlock, as Vince goes back to his favorite 1994 pastime: making fun of Bill Clinton. Lex cranks on the headlock through a series of escape attempts, so Martel gets into the ropes to force a break. Lex responds with a slingshot, and he slaps the headlock right back on the dazed Martel. Criss cross goes Luger's way with an atomic drop, and a clothesline knocks Martel out of the ring. He follows, but Rick nails him on the way, and chokes him as they head back in. Cross corner whip gets reversed, but Luger misses a charge into the corner, and takes a clothesline for two. Chinlock, as Jim Cornette busies himself by ragging on Roddy Piper for his refereeing job at WrestleMania. Martel with a 2nd rope axehandle, but Luger blocks - only to miss a dropkick. Martel stomps him, but a hiptoss gets turned into a backslide for two. Martel desperately tries to retain the momentum with a vertical suplex, but Luger reverses! Rick tries to hang on with an axehandle, but Luger dodges a backdrop, and hits one of his own! Powerslam, and the Torture Rack finishes up at 15:47. Not a classic or anything, but a good little match, with both guys working hard, keeping the pace up, and demonstrating excellent timing. **

Randy Savage v Jerry Lawler: From Worcester Massachusetts on September 28 1993. Lawler offers Savage the chance to forfeit if he just kisses his feet, which Randy responds to in a calm and friendly manner. The King fights him off, and goes to work, hammering on Macho. Jerry with a 2nd rope fistdrop, and he feeds Macho the steps after they spill to the outside. Polo has been doing impressions of various classic wrestling commentators throughout the tape, and it’s been both great and hilarious. I’m honestly shocked at the things they were getting away with for this tape, clearly Vince wasn’t involved in the production at all. Lawler tries crotching him on the post, but Savage feeds it to him to block, and then adds a shot into the steps for good measure. Macho makes a comeback, but a flying axehandle gets blocked. That leads to the piledriver, but Savage backdrops him to block. Back up for the big elbow, but Jerry bails before he can dive. He decides to walk, but here’s Bret Hart to cut him off, and force him back in - Macho waiting with a schoolboy at 6:01. ¼*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Quebecers v The Headshrinkers: From Monday Night RAW in Burlington Vermont on May 2 1994 (taped April 26). I'm redoing this one instead of copying and pasting from my RAW review. Pierre and Fatu start, and they size each other up a bit. Whole lotta nothing going on here. Over to Jacques and Samu for more of the same, until they criss cross, and Samu blocks a monkeyflip with a headbutt drop. Cover, so Pierre dives in to break the count, but Samu sees him coming, and Pierre lands on his partner! The challengers clean house, so the Quebecers decide to walk out, but the referee rules that if they don't return by the count of ten, they lose not only the match, but the belts as well. That was always a cute gimmick, though I haven't seen it done in ages. It would be neat to see them break that out of the booking bag again, instead of the same tired finishes I see all the time. Back in, the challengers cut the ring in half on Pierre, but Fatu walks into a cheap shot from Jacques during a criss cross to turn the tide. The champs go to work, and you know they mean business, because they even manage to successfully bash Fatu's head into the steps without any no-selling. Hard to believe the Quebecers were only around for less than a year. Still one of my favorite teams from that era. Though not related to this particular performance. Fatu manages to backdrop Pierre over the top during a charge to allow the hot tag to Samu, and Roseanne Barr the door! Samu sends up getting his head caught between the ropes after missing a charge, allowing Jacques to try a piledriver, but the Tower misses. Samu tags, but the referee misses it, so the champs go for the kill again - only to accidentally hit each other in the process! That leads to them turning on each other, and Samu capitalizes with a superkick before tagging to Fatu to finish with the flying splash at 14:21. Some decent moments along the way, but way too long overall. ¾*

WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Razor Ramon v Shawn Michaels: From WrestleMania X on March 20 1994 in New York City. I'm guessing some of you may have heard of this one, yes? Reversal sequence starts us off, ending in Ramon hitting a chokeslam, and a criss cross ends in Michaels returning fire with a swinging neckbreaker. He tries following up with a turnbuckle smash, but Ramon reverses - only for a charge to end in the Bad Guy taking a bump to the outside, where Diesel lays him out with a clothesline! The referee catches him, however, and Big Daddy Cool is ejected. With Diesel gone, Ramon corner whips Michaels into a flip on the turnbuckles, and a clothesline sends HBK over the top. Razor follows out to pull up the floor mats, but Shawn goes to the eyes before he can do anything with it, and they head back in. Ramon wins a criss cross, and tries for the Razor's Edge, but Michaels counters by backdropping him over the top - right onto that exposed concrete! Shawn drags the ladder down the aisle, but Razor slugs it away from him before he can get it inside. Ramon picks it up, but Shawn thinks fast - using a baseball slide to send the ladder crashing into the champion! Michaels adds a smash into the steps, and he gets the ladder inside for the first time - using it to bash the Bad Guy in the stomach with! Again, but Razor is still crawling around, so Michaels ups the ante by slamming the ladder down across the Bad Guy's back! He STILL won't take the hint, so Shawn ups the ante again by pitching the ladder at a vertical Ramon, and that's seemingly enough to finally stifle him. Shawn climbs, but Razor pulls his tights down to stop him from reaching the gold, and Michaels is forced to abandon his climb attempt. He hits Razor with a flying elbowdrop off of the ladder instead, and a bodyslam sets up the iconic flying splash off the ladder! The camera angle on that one was just perfect. Shawn climbs, but a battered Razor is able to tip the ladder over, and Michaels takes a bump across the top rope. The crowd doesn't quite know what to make of all this, but they know they like it. Criss cross ends in a double knockout spot, and both men are left looking up at the lights. Shawn is up first, and tries whipping Ramon into a corner leaning ladder, but Razor reverses, and HBK takes a bump into the ladder, and over the top! Ramon follows to the outside, chasing Michaels around the ring with ladder shots, and he sends HBK flying into it with a catapult out there! Back in, Ramon bashes Shawn with the ladder again - triggering another over the top bump from the challenger. With the ring clear, Razor decides to make his first climb attempt of the match, but a tenacious Michaels comes off the top rope with a flying axehandle to knock him off - only for the ladder to tip over in the process, and land right on Michaels! Unbelievable timing here. Both guys stagger up, and end up climbing opposite sides of the ladder, leading to a slugfest at the top! Razor manages to win by slamming Shawn down, but the ladder tips in the process, and Ramon crashes to the canvas. He dusts himself off for another climb, but Shawn has recovered enough to dropkick him off - the ladder left teetering ominously at center ring. Shawn crawls over and give it a shove to tip it onto Ramon, then blasts the Bad Guy with a Superkick! The ladder is bent and beat up by this point, but this isn't like today's versions of these matches, where they have a dozen of them scattered around the ring. I'm not even sure if they had a backup on hand. Shawn with a piledriver, and he climbs up onto the top rope while leaning against the ladder, then rides it down into a splash on Ramon! Shawn makes another climb, and he very nearly pulls it off this time, before Ramon manages to tip the ladder over - Michaels falling into the ropes, and ending up tied up in them! That's a complex spot to pull off there. With Shawn tied up, Razor makes another climb, and despite Michaels' desperate attempt to free himself, he can't stop the Bad Guy from victory at 18:49! Unbelievable! This one might seem tame to newer fans who grew up in the era of Money in the Bank and TLC, but without this, those don't exist. This is, without a doubt, one of the most influential matches in wrestling history, and though the bumps aren't quite as big or crazy as more modern versions, the storytelling and psychology are generally far superior. Most modern ladder matches are basically little more than spot fests. This actually used the high spots and bumps as tools to tell a story, as opposed to being the story. A total game changer. It's rare enough to see one match that could be called a bonafide masterpiece, but two in the same afternoon? *****

BUExperience: Everything on here other than the Yokozuna/Mabel match was a warmed up leftover, and even though the Ladder match is an all time classic, it isn’t really worth sitting through this for on its own. Plus, Paul Bearer isn't exactly a warm and convivial host.

Not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection.