November '95

Raw/Nitro Nov 6th

Monday Night Raw 6/11/95 (2.5 Stars)

WWF starts the month well with a good opener that sees Bulldog defeat Marty Jannetty. We have some midcard foolishness with HHH slopping Henry O. Godwinn, President "Bill Clinton" promoting Survivor Series and Taker being announced to return at, you guessed it, Survivor Series! Finally a decent tag match finishes via DQ shenanigans involving Bret Hart, Hakushi, Jerry Lawler and Issac Yankem.

WCW Nitro 6/11/95 (2.5 Stars) Over on Nitro we saw Beniot/Eddie Mark 2. Eddie defeats Chris who had his foot under the ropes making it 1 win each. The fans had the chance to phone in and pick the main event, I wonder what would happen if they picked Big Boss Man Vs Jim Duggan? Sting defeated Flair in the actual main event. After the faces come out and persuade Sting to let Flair go, Lex Luger entered and he and Sting left together. Fun fact, this is officially the longest match in Nitro history at this point, at 9:14. Finally Jimmy Hart claims some BS about a contract Hogan signed, DQs etc. The commission mercifully shuts him up and vacates the World Title completely, putting it on the line at WW3

Raw/Nitro Nov 13th

Monday Night Raw 13/11/95 (2.5 Stars)

An underwhelming week for both shows preceded Survivor Series. VKM announces that due to 1-2-3 Kids actions on a recent house show, he can't be trusted and the main event will NO LONGER be a title match. Rumour has it that was because HHH wanted to be the one to take the belt of his friend, keeping the major titles in the Kliq. Raw showcases Ahamed Johnson defeating a pornstar moonlighting as a jobber (Jake Steel) Diesel and Bret Hart having a segment where Diesel says he's not "paid by the hour" which is quite funny out of context and "Bill Clinton" yet again promoting Survivor Series. To finish we have a predictable, yet fun main event, which see's 1-2-3 Kid help Sid knock off Diesel as the special referee.

WCW Nitro 13/11/95 (2.25 Stars) On Nitro we have a weird Hogan promo where he calls out Sting for leaving with Lex Luger and accuses him of joining the "darkside" and a short Beniot match where Bischoff tells us Japanese talent is "invading WCW" There is also a 10 minute time limit draw between Johnny B. Badd and Eddie Guerrero that somehow only lasts 9 minutes. WCW really don't like going past 10 minutes huh? Nitro closed with an uninteresting Sting/Malenko main event ending with Sting answering Hogan's challenge for next week. Neither show was great and although Nitro had the best match of the week (Mero/Guerrero) Raw had a meaningful squash match, a nice set-up promo and the main event while predictable, was more entertaining than Nitro's. WWF's overall presentation wins them the point

Survivor Series 1995

This was the first Survivor Series to take place on a Sunday instead of Thanksgiving. Public Enemy worked a dark match against The Smoking Gunns but refused a contract. The PPV kicks off with a fun SS match. It finishes with 1-2-3 Kid pinning Marty Jannetty as Sole Survivor for the heel team after a Sid distraction. We then saw a Womens SS match that has had no build whatsoever. Aja Kong pins 4 women, including the champion Alundra Blayze, to win the match for her team. Goldust defeats Bigelow involving a funny skit whereby "Bill Clinton" hides behind his security due to Bam Bam's pyro. The Royals (Jerry Lawler, HHH, King Mabel and DDS Yankem) lose to Darkside (Savio Vega, Henry O. Godwinn, Fatu & Taker) with Undertaker returning in his now famous "phantom of the opera mask" The wildcard match is next with British Bulldog, Ahmed Johnson, HBK & Sid defeating Owen Hart, Yokozuna, Razor Ramon & Dean Douglas. HBK superkicks Yoko, allowing Johnson to pick up the win and raises his hand, putting him over. Finally Bret Hart captures the WWF Title in an excellent main event against Diesel. Diesel doesn't take it very well, and loses his shit in the process. Apparently this match included the first time the announcers table was used as a "weapon" as well as the spot involving Diesel (Kevin Nash) getting hogtied in the corner, being inspired by an Owen Hart rib on Kevin's close friend Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) in Jerusalem. The story goes Bret Hart and Razor Ramon took on HBK and Owen Hart. Throughout the match Owen attempted and succeeded to make everyone crack up, as he exaggerated bumps, making himself deadweight and virtually impossible to lift, as well as the grand finale when he would hogtie Razor from head to toe! Ramon would be left completely helpless with Shawn having to come to his aid. Anyway, I can't fault the action and the opener as well as the main, burned the house down. The best overall show either side has produced so far (3.5 Stars)

Raw/Nitro Nov 20th

Monday Night Raw 20/11/95 (3 Stars)

The follow up Raw starts with a great shot of a packed out, energetic crowd. I don't know if this is something new, but I am only noticing it now for the first time. After 1-2-3 Kids victory over Hakushi, now aligned as a full fledged heel along with Ted Di Biase and Sid, Diesel interrupts Skip's match with Savio Vega and cuts a tweener promo. Diesel announces "Big Daddy Cool is back" and dons the black specs. HBK/Owen ends as a No Contest due to Shawn allegedly suffering from an injury (This would be a backdrop to a major angle)

WCW Nitro 20/11/95 (2.5 Stars)

Over on Nitro, we have an ok match in which Eddie scores an upset over Brian Pillman and the main event saw Hogan take on Sting. It ends via No Contest due to DoD shenanigans as the show closes with Hogan, Savage and Sting sending them packing. A poor week from WCW and seeing WWF shift into a more realistic and gritty style as they book one of their best TV's to date, and Raw wins a deserved point!

World War 3 '95

World War 3 starts with Hogan swearing off the "Dark Side" and simultaneously burning both his dark clothing and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, for claiming Savage was hurt meaning The Giant would win the Title. He says Randy is 100 percent. Take that Dave! Johnny B. Badd defeats DDP with the Diamond Doll putting herself on the line and saying that if the title is all that matters to Page, she may as well. Mean Gene then implores fans to call the WCW hotline for all of the tea on the WWF steroid scandal. They do remember Hogan works for them right? Big Bubba defeats Jim Duggan in a taped fist match. If you watch this one, take a drink every time Jim screams "USA!" and thank me later. Then we see some tag action involving the world famous wrestler (and later semi famous pro golfer) Bull Nakano teaming with Akira Hokuto as they took on Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki. Nakano's much smaller opponents double-team her with consecutive diving foot stomps but to no avail. Nakano picks up the win for her team in a good match. Chris Beniot who is now a horseman, takes on Kensuke Sasaki for the WCW US Title. Sting lost it in Japan apparently. No title change tonight anyway as Sasaki retains in a match you feel both men would have been disappointed with. Luger defeats Savage making it 2-1 Luger for those keeping score. Why these two can't have a good match is beyond me. The first one was OK, the second was bad and I was just plain bored throughout this one. Now onto the best feud in pro wrestling at the time, in my opinion. Sting Vs Flair! Sting defeats Flair in a good match involving "Vintage Flair" cowardly escaping to different rings in an effort to avoid Sting. Someone else described this match as the "greatest hits" of all of their previous bouts. Now the main event. Ok, I'll be honest. I didn't actually sit through all of this as it lasted over an hour. I'm glad I didn't as what I did see was confusing to follow at best, god awful at worst. It was shown on 3 split screens which was very distracting. Savage wins via screwy finish after The Giant pulls Hogan under the bottom rope and Savage "allegedly" eliminates one man gang for the win! I say allegedly as the camera's were too busy following whatever Hogan was doing and completely missed the finish OF THE GOD-DAMN MAIN EVENT! Hogan cries about it and demands a rematch before shaking Randy's hand. Average PPV overall with 4 solid matches. I really dislike screwy PPV finishes and the prolonged main-event really hurt this one (2.5 Stars)

Raw/Nitro Nov 27th

Monday Night Raw (2.25 Stars)

Can WWF keep up their momentum and deliver another solid show. The answer is kind of. WWF does a good job of building hype for Ahmed Johnson/Dean Douglas following a Johnson squash match, promo and a skirmish between the pair nearly leading to a match. Kevin Nash recounted a story involving Shane (Dean Douglas) that took place two days prior, during a house show at MSG. First I would like to add, having met Shane and seen his in-ring work for numerous companies, as well as hearing him talk in interviews, I am a big fan of his! He is well spoken and comes across as humble and extremely intelligent. Shane has even been quoted as saying on his podcast, "Without the fan's, we're nothing" A statement often echoed yet rarely practiced by modern era stars. Shane certainly seems to hold that sentiment as true, as he took the time to fully engage with everyone on the night I met him, and was nothing but polite and charming. Anyway, Kevin stated that Shane refused to work, citing back pain, only to get called out by Yokozuna who told him "There ain't no days off, we're all hurt" He also asked Shane if he watched the match he was originally booked in, with Razor. When Shane told him he didn't, Yokozuna allegedly replied with "Well you should have because that's what he (Razor) needs from a guy" Speaking of taking time off, a video package informs us that HBK now suffers from post concussion syndrome after being attacked by 9 thugs (entirely unprovoked might I add) A clever idea for a story prompting the famous "Boyhood dream" nonetheless. Kevin Nash once described his close friend Shawn, as a teacher who "only works nine months" and "enjoys his summer holidays" alluding to the fact that he exaggerated the extent of his injuries in an attempt to gain time off. Aja Kong pins Alyundra Blayze during tag action in what would be Alyundra's last WWF match. After a Brother Love segment involving Bret Hart, we see Taker knock off Sir Mo and regain possession of his urn that's actually a chain. King Mabel stole it. This show is universally panned online, but I liked it's pacing, segments and variety. Keep in mind I'm judging it based as a show overall, not purely the quality of matches, which to be fair, weren't very good.

WCW Nitro 27/11/95 (2.5 Stars)

November ends with Nitro continuing the Johnny/DDP/Kimberly love triangle. Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto defeat Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki in a good PPV rematch that served to show the non PPV buying TV audience the talents of these women. Hogan made light work of Hugh Morris (Bill DeMott) before interrupting Randy's segment with Mean Gene and "tells" him about 1000 things. The Giant hits Randy with a Chokeslam and Hogan saves the day with some of the weakest chair shots I've ever seen! The main event saw Lex Luger make a genuine effort to help his tag partner Sting against Pillman and Arn Anderson, which ended with Hogan yet again saving the pair of them against the 4 (well 3 as only Flair interferes) horsemen. Hogan then talks with Sting and was left as confused as me wondering what has gone down. WCW wins the final week, and in retrospect I enjoyed Nitro a lot more, even if I didn't think WWF was half as bad as the reviews you will find online.

Summary and Scores

Survivor Series was the best top to bottom card either show had produced so far. It's just a shame WWF couldn't seem to string multiple quality shows together. The scores are WCW 6-3 WWF with 3 draws

Match of the Month: Diesel Vs Bret Hart (Survivor Series)