Coliseum Video Presents: UK Fan Favorites 1993
by Scrooge McSuck
"Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan are our hosts in front of the WWF's world-famous green screen. If it wasn't obvious this was taped along with a batch of All-American Wrestling segments, Heenan is wearing his All-American Wrestling windbreaker. With an international video, we can only assume there's going to be a ton of recycled content from television or from other home video releases.
WWF Championship Match:
Bret "Hitman" Hart (c) vs. Fatu (w/ Afa):
Taped on March 1st, 1993, from the Manhattan Center, and originally presented live on Monday Night Raw. NO ONE WOULD HONESTLY PICK THIS MATCH! At least we have new commentary from Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon. Bret starts with a head lock. He comes off the ropes for a body press, but Fatu catches and plants him with a slam. Elbow drop misses and Bret starts working the arm. Crisscross, Bret plays opossum and surprises Fatu with a roll-up for two. Bret rolls through a slam, hanging on to the arm-bar. He makes the unwise decision to go for a headbutt, pays for it, and gets laid out with a Super-Kick. Fatu with a short clothesline for two. Fatu slows things down with a nerve hold as we take a commercial break. We return with Bret looking like death on the floor. Back inside, Fatu with a back breaker for two. Piledriver for two. Bret appears to have a cut on his nose. Hard whip to the corner for two. Fatu with a side suplex and diving headbutt from the middle rope for two. He makes a trip to the top rope this time, but Bret pops up and straddles him across the turnbuckle. He goes up with Fatu and takes him over with a Super-Plex for two. Running bulldog for two. Back breaker and elbow drop, but before the Sharpshooter is applied, Samu runs in after a distraction from Afa. They pull the twin switch but only get a two count. They switch back (because that makes sense), Bret rams them together, hanging Samu up in the ropes. Afa gets knocked off the apron with a dropkick, and the Sharpshooter finishes Fatu at 12:55. For whatever reason, referee Earl Hebner counted three with the hold applied before calling for the submission. If only Botch-a-Mania existed in 1993. Surprisingly good considering we didn't get to see much of Fatu (or Samu) doing much in competitive singles roles on television. ***
Mr. Perfect vs. "Terrific" Terry Taylor:
Taped on January 18th, 1993, from the Manhattan Center, and another match originally presented live for Monday Night Raw. Taylor hen-pecks Perfect and quickly gets embarrassed with an easy takedown. Taylor with more trash talking so Perfect cock-slaps him. OK, enough Rooster references. Whip to the corner, arm drag and a dropkick from Perfect, sending Taylor to the floor for a breather. Back inside, Perfect remains in control with a side headlock and arm-bar. We return from commercial, with Taylor sending Hennig to the floor with a handful of tights. Back inside, Taylor connects with a jaw-buster and continues putting the boots to Perfect. Back breaker for two. Snap mare from out of the corner, and Taylor slaps on a chin-lock. Perfect fights free but walks into a nifty spine buster. Taylor with a gut-wrench into a Powerbomb, but it only gets two. Perfect mounts a comeback as Ric Flair makes his way to ringside. Taylor tries to take advantage of the situation, but he takes too long setting up for a suplex, allowing Hennig to counter with the Perfect-Plex for three at 8:01. Solid match, nothing spectacular. **½The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow:
Taped on March 7, 1993, from Fayetteville, NC, and originally featured on the March to WrestleMania special. They go nose-to-nose and Bigelow throws the first punch. Undertaker catches him coming off the ropes with a drop toe hold and claws the face. Bigelow leads Taker in a game of cat-and-mouse and works him over with headbutts. Whip to the ropes and Taker counters a back body-drop with the DDT. We come back from a commercial with Undertaker on the outside. Bigelow pulls him back in and connects with a back suplex. Whip to the corner and Bigelow with a power-slam. Undertaker sits up after both spots. Bigelow plants him with a slam and drops a headbutt across the chest. Taker sits up again, so Bigelow hits him with more headbutts. Bigelow makes the trip to the top rope and misses his signature flying headbutt. Undertaker comes off the ropes with the diving lariat and plants Bigelow with a Choke-Slam. Bigelow immediately rolls out of the ring and takes the Count-Out loss at 5:47 (shown). Post-match Giant Gonzales comes down the aisle for a stare-down, but nothing physical happens. *¼
"El Matador" Tito Santana vs. "The Model" Rick Martel:
Taped on March 9th, 1992, from Mobile, AL and featured on the April 27th episode of Prime-Time Wrestling. Three years later, and we still get our annual rematch between the former Strike Force. Lockup into the ropes and Martel gives a clean break. Mooney references their former friendship and break-up. Martel does a cartwheel to avoid a monkey flip. Martel with knees to the midsection. Santana blocks being rammed into the turnbuckle and pounds away. Crisscross and Santana stomps on the face of Martel to counter his monkey flip attempt. Martel whines about a broken nose, but Santana shows no sympathy and brings him back in with a slingshot. Santana wins a backslide battle for a two-count. Martel takes control, working over the back and slaps on an abdominal stretch. Take one guess what he does for an unfair advantage. Santana catches him coming off the ropes with a fist to the midsection. He pounds away with rights, then rams Martel face-first into the turnbuckle ten times. Whip to the corner and Santana with a hip toss, followed by an inverted atomic drop. Whip to the ropes and Santana with a back body-drop. He comes off the ropes and hits the Paso del Muerte, but Martel rolls out of the ring. He grabs his Arrogance spray can and nails Santana on the chin with it for the Disqualification at 7:11. Santana recovers and gives chase, but Earl Hebner holds him back. Decent match until we got another lame finish. **¼WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan:
Taped on April 26th, 1993, from the Manhattan Center, and featured on the May 3rd episode of Monday Night Raw. I'm surprised they added this match to the tape and not the rematch that pays off the finish to this one! Michaels stalls on the floor to start. Duggan with clotheslines, sending him back out of the ring. Duggan blocks a cheap-shot attempt and unloads with lefts. Shawn tries to walk out but Duggan carries him back to the ring. We come back from commercial, with Shawn hanging Duggan up across the top rope. Michaels rakes the eyes and comes off the top with the double axe-handle. Duggan escapes a chin-lock but runs into a boot. Michaels with three elbows for two. Duggan fights out of a second chin-lock and comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Michaels meets him on a second try with knee and sends him to the floor. Back inside, snap mare into a third chin-lock. Duggan comes back with a series of rights and lefts. He hits the big clothesline, knocking Michaels out of the ring (a theme of the match). Michaels walks off again, and this time for good, at 11:07. Post-match, Duggan stages a protest until he's given a rematch. Dull and too much resting. *
Virgil vs. The Berzerker:
Taped on December 15th, 1992, from Madison WI, and featured on the penultimate episode of Prime-Time Wrestling. Berzerker shoves Virgil into the corner and misses an avalanche. They do an awful Irish whip to the corner and Virgil meets a boot charging in. Berzerker with a slam for two. Whip to the ropes, Virgil ducks a clothesline and takes Berzerker off his feet with a clothesline of his own. Berzerker fights out of an arm-bar and hits a clothesline for two. Virgil with shoulders to the midsection and sunset flip for two. Berzerker regains control with a rake of the eyes, then plants Virgil with a slam. Jumping knee drop to the chest for two. Berzerker slows things down with a seated chin-lock. Virgil escapes with elbows and slams Berzerker face-first to the canvas. Clothesline from the second rope gets two. Virgil comes off the ropes with a shoulder tackle, sending Berzerker out of the ring. Virgil lays into Berzerker with a flurry of strikes, knocking him off the apron. Berzerker has enough of these shenanigans and chases Virgil with the sword for the cheap Disqualification at 6:04. It could have been worse. *WWF Championship Match:
"Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) vs. Ric Flair (w/ Mr. Perfect):
Taped on June 2nd, 1992, from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. OH. MY. GOD. We have a match that wasn't previously used for television or home video! OK, it was used for international TV, but that doesn't count for us slumming around in the states! Ross calling matches almost a year old seems like a weird choice. Lockup and Savage with a side headlock. He comes off the ropes with a shoulder block and starts going to work with rights and lefts. Whip to the corner and Savage pops Flair on the chin with an elbow. Perfect blatantly interferes and referee Earl Hebner is cool with it. Flair sends Savage to the corner and Savage pops out with a clothesline. Savage with more jabs and an elbow to the top of the head. Flair cuts Savage off with a thumb to the eye and throws him over the top rope. Savage decides to chase Perfect around the ring, allowing Flair to go the eyes again. Flair tosses Savage over the top again and fetches a steel chair. Hebner dives off the apron to prevent the use of the weapon, sending Flair off the deep end. Savage takes advantage of the distraction to yank the tights and roll him up, but Hebner won't count because he sees the cheating. Hebner gets involved again, blocking Savage from throwing a closed fist. Whip to the ropes and they smack heads for a double-down. Flair lures Savage to the corner and rolls him up with the feet on the ropes for two. Perfect wraps Savage's leg around the post while the referee confronts Flair for using the ropes on the previous pin attempt. Flair starts working the leg, with involvement from Perfect, of course. Flair applies the Figure-Four Leg Lock, using the ropes for leverage. WE CUT AHEAD IN THE ACTION (international TV commercial break?) with Flair still punishing the knee. Whip and Savage counters a hip toss with a back-slide for a two-count. Crisscross and Savage sends Flair over the top with a clothesline. Back inside, Flair climbs the ropes and is slammed down. Savage climbs and connects with the double axe-handle. He nails Flair with clotheslines and a second axe-handle for a near-fall. Flair retrieves a foreign object from Perfect and nails Savage with it for two. Savage counters a slam with the roll-up for two. Savage plants Flair with a slam and connects with the flying elbow for two! Perfect grabs the WWF Title and taunts Savage. The referee gets knocked down during the chaos. They try using the belt on Savage, but Superman Hebner stops them and awards Savage the match by DQ at 11:54. Hebner's involvement seemed excessive, but this was good for a Challenge taping dark match. ***
"El Matador" Tito Santana vs. "The Narcissist" Lex Luger:
Taped on March 9th, 1993, from Augusta, GA, and recycled from the March 20th episode of WWF Mania. Yeah, now we're ripping off matches that were part of the USA Network package programs. Lockup easily won by Luger. They fight over a wristlock until Santana knocks Luger into the corner. Luger with an elbow to escape a hammerlock. Whip to the ropes, Santana ducks a clothesline and comes off the ropes with a body press for two. Santana with an arm drag into the arm-bar. Luger tries a slam but Santana rolls through with the hold. Luger uses the tights to throw Santana into the turnbuckle. Monsoon says the pendulum has swung a complete 360 degrees (shakes head). Santana with a sunset flip out of nowhere for two. Luger is up first and lays Santana out with a clothesline. Santana with a small package for two. School boy for two. Luger again pops up first and drops him with a forearm (not THE forearm). Santana keeps doing hope spots. He connects with dropkicks and a running knee lift. He hits the Flying Forearm, but Luger kicks out at two. Whip to the corner, Santana meets a boot, and Luger KOs him with the forearm for three at 8:54. Surprisingly competitive, and overall, a decent effort. **Tatanka vs. Papa Shango:
Taped on October 28th, 1992, from Louisville, KY, and featured on the November 30th episode of Prime-Time Wrestling. Shango attacks from behind and sends Tatanka to the turnbuckle. Whip to the ropes, Tatanka hangs back to avoid a dropkick and lays into Shango with chops. Whip to the corner and Tatanka meets the buckle on a charge. Shango controls doing as little as possible, like choking Tatanka across the top rope. We slow things down even more with the token nerve hold. Tatanka escapes with elbows to the midsection. He connects with a pair of dropkicks, followed by a diving body press for two. Tatanka comes off the ropes with more chops for two. Shango has enough, grabs his voodoo stick, and sprays Tatanka for the Disqualification at 5:54. Nothing match with a terrible finish. ZERO STARSThe Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart):
Taped on May 18th, 1992, from Cincinnati, OH, and good golly, this is our second exclusive for the tape! AND IT'S UNDERTAKER VS MOUNTIE. YAY. Mountie with the false bravado. I can't imagine this combination giving us much more beyond shtick. Mountie with right hands and kicks. Whip is reversed and Taker with a rarely used PRESS SLAM. Mountie powders out and agitates Paul Bearer, with Taker slowly chasing him into the ring. Taker blocks a slingshot and sends Mountie flying over the top rope. Back inside, Mountie ducks the diving lariat. Hart distracts the referee while Mountie weakly bops Taker across the back with a chair. Mountie with a piledriver, with Taker popping right up. Mountie with a second piledriver with the same result. A third, package variant piledriver, finally keeps Taker down (if only briefly). Mountie decides now is the time to tell the crowd that he's DA MOUNTIE. Taker sits up and grabs Mountie by the throat. Whip and Taker with the diving lariat. Mountie bails out and takes a walk, but Sgt. Slaughter blocks his exit (minus the fact he can hop the rail). Taker greets him in the ring with the Tombstone and we're done here at 7:29. This wasn't good and was thankfully kept reasonably short. ½*"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Repo Man:
Taped on January 18th, 1993, and featured on the January 25th episode of Monday Night Raw. Repo Man stole one of Savage's hats last week to set this up. Savage attacks Repo during his entrance. Savage with a snap mare and knee across the throat. Repo tries dumping Savage out, but he hangs on and comes right back with a running high knee. Repo takes control, sending Savage into the steps. Back inside, Repo with a snap mare into a body scissor. We come back from commercial with Repo in control. He takes Savage over with another snap mare and drops the leg for two. Savage fights to his feet but runs into a clothesline. Repo with a back suplex for two. Savage makes his big comeback, plants Repo with a slam, and finishes with the Flying Elbow Drop at 8:55 (shown). The usual babyface Savage match with the opponent taking most of the offense before Savage made the 30-second comeback. *½WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Bret "Hitman" Hart (c) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Sensational Sherri):
Taped on April 29, 1992, from Syracuse, NY, and featured on a handful of other home video titles. It seems like these two had plenty of matches featured on Coliseum Video, and all of them were recycled through 1992 and 1993. Lockup and Shawn with a snap arm drag. Shawn yanks the hair to take control with an arm bar. Bret with a leverage move, sending Michaels through the ropes. Bret's patience wears thin, dragging Shawn across the top rope and going to work on the left arm. Shawn forces a break in the corner and lands a right hand. Whip is reversed to the corner and Bret pops out with a clothesline for two. Whip and Bret with a shoulder block. Crisscross and Shawn buries a knee into the midsection. Shawn with a hard whip into the corner, followed by boots across the back. Sherri gets her token shot in with Shawn distracting referee Joey Marella. Whip to the ropes and Shawn with a high knee for two. Bret fights out of a chin-lock but runs directly into a Super-Kick. Don't worry, it's 1992, back when it was a transition move. Bret blocks the tear drop suplex and comes off the second rope with a clothesline. Bret with an inverted atomic drop and clothesline to the back of the head for two. Back breaker and elbow from the second rope for two. Bret grabs a sleeper, but Shawn uses the ropes to take both to the floor. They trade right hands, with Shawn getting the better of the exchange. Shawn uses a distraction from Sherri to launch Bret from the apron into the guardrail, and Bret is counted out at 8:52. Post-match, Shawn celebrates with the belt, because heels are doofuses. Bret ends up clearing the ring and regaining his property. Another solid match, with the predictably weak finish for the shlubs who had to sit through the marathon taping. ***
Final Thoughts: We've got a lot of recycled TV content, so as I usually say, that's a turn-off to me for someone looking to Coliseum Video for stuff that isn't as readily available. At least we have a handful of solid performances sprinkled throughout (including what I think is the last battle of Strike Force), and the worst matches featured are short. This is a little longer than the usual coliseum video release, clocking in at just shy of 2.5 hours. If you're a fan of the Spring of ‘92 through early ‘93, then this is a decent time capsule.
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