‘WWE Vintage Collection TV Report #89 – February 14th, 2010

Shown on Sky Sports in the U.K.

By Stephen Lyon.

This week: A Valentines' Day special, focusing on various relationships. Matches featured were: Macho Man Randy Savage vs Shawn Michaels (WWF 1992); Johnny B. Badd vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW 1995); and Triple H vs 'that sawn off midget' (HHH's own words on this show) Chris Jericho (WWF 2000, the infamous title change on Raw that was reversed, during the era of Jericho battling internal politics in the company). Plus clips of Brother Love getting squashed (1991), Savage reuniting with Elizabeth (1991), Sunny being slopped (1996), and HHH interrupting Test & Stephanie's wedding (1999).

No Austin vs Vince in the cage from the 'St Valentines Day Massacre 1999' ppv, which I was kind of disappointed by.

The Show:

Show opened with a Brother Love show segment from the March 2nd, 1991 edition of 'WWF Superstars' (taped in Macon, Georgia on January 28th), where Ultimate Warrior was the guest. Warrior was asked about his upcoming 'career vs career' match vs Macho King Randy Savage at Wrestlemania 7. Warrior said he would 'finish, destroy and end Savage's career'. When Brother Love appeared sceptical, Warrior said he would start 'ending careers' with Love, then proceeded to tear down the 'Brother Love Show' set and chase Love to the ring, where he then destroyed Love, nailing him with several clotheslines, a flying shoulder tackle and two big splashes. Love was carried out on a stretcher, with Vince McMahon on commentary calling Love a 'has-been'. This was the end of the Brother Love gimmick as a regular character, and would be the last time anyone would see him on WWF tv for four years. The character itself had ran its' course, but Love, aka Bruce Pritchard, had been 'battling his demons' in real life and this burial on his way out was thought to be linked to that. Dave Meltzer wrote about this in the March 11th, 1991 'Wrestling Observer Newsletter' (archived on this site): 'There's a difference between doing away with a character and personal humiliation and if you saw the Brother Love burial, you'd know the difference.' 

Next, clips aired from the finish of the aforementioned Ultimate Warrior vs Macho King Randy Savage 'career vs career' match from Wrestlemania 7, with Warrior defeating Savage. Afterwards, Sherri Martel attacked Savage, leading to Miss Elizabeth making the save for Savage and enjoying an emotional reunion with him in the ring.

1) WWF Champion, Macho Man Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth in his corner) defeated Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri in his corner). This match was from the 'WWF European Rampage Again 1992' live tv special on Sky tv in the U.K., held in Sheffield, England, U.K. on Easter Sunday, April 19th, 1992. Announcers for this match were Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan. Match was joined in progress, with Michaels and Savage exchanging hammerlocks. Savage took control, throwing HBK into the turnbuckles, then chasing him from the ring. When Michaels climbed back into the ring, Savage threw a chair into the ring. Back inside, Savage threw Michaels over the top rope. Michaels skinned-the-cat and came back into the ring, but Savage was waiting for him and clotheslined him over the top rope to ringside. Savage followed this up with a double axe handle blow from the top rope on to Michaels at ringside. Sensational Sherri decided to go after Miss Elizabeth at this point, and began woman-handling her in the aisle. Savage made the save, dragging Sherri off her, and ordering Elizabeth to go to the back for her own safety. HBK threw Savage into the ringsteps, before the commercial break.

The action restarted with the referee being bumped. Savage dropped Michaels throat-first across the top rope, then gave him the big elbow from the top rope, only for there to be no referee to count the pinfall. Sherri came in and put the boots to Savage. Savage chased her away and even spat in her face. A second referee came in and counted to two for a Savage pin attempt. Sherri continued to try to get involved, leading to Elizabeth coming out again and pulling Sherri off the ring apron on a couple of occasions. Michaels scored a nearfall with a sunset flip. Finish came when Savage pinned Michaels after a crossbody block off the ropes. Afterward, Michaels and Sherri attacked Savage. Michaels held Savage, as Sherri took off her high-heeled boot and climbed to the second turnbuckle, attempting to nail Savage with it. Savage moved, and Sherri hit Michaels instead. Savage then gave the pair, in the words of Monsoon, a 'double nogginknocker' and cleared the ring, as Savage posed with Elizabeth afterwards.

A clip aired from the June 29th, 1996 edition of 'WWF Superstars' (taped on June 25th in LaCrosse, Wisconsin). Jim Ross interviewed Sunny and Phinneus Godwinn mid-ring. Sunny apologised for her mistreatment of Phinneus in recent weeks and said she had feelings for him. She asked him to say how he feels, and he became emotional, saying that he loved her. She asked him to close his eyes and bend over, so she could kiss him. He did, and she slapped him. The Smoking Gunns ran in and attacked Phinneus. Henry Godwinn and Hillbilly Jim made the save, clearing the ring. The Gunns ran away, leaving Sunny cornered and alone. Phinneus teased throwing the slop bucket over her, but Sunny said that she knew he wouldn't, even blowing him a kiss. He'd had enough though and slopped her at ringside.  

2) WCW Television Champion, Johnny B. Badd defeated Diamond Dallas Page (w/'Diamond Doll' Kimberley in his corner) to retain the title and release Kimberley from her contract as Page's valet. This match was from the 'WCW World War 3' 1995 pay-per-view event, held in Norfolk, Virginia on November 26th, 1995 (not 1996, as the on-screen graphic incorrectly labelled it as). Announcers for this match were Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan. The story of this match was that Page had been mistreating his valet, the 'Diamond Doll' Kimberley, and that Badd had objected to this. Badd agreed to put his TV title on the line against Page, if Page agreed to release Kimberley from her contract as his valet if he lost. Badd took Page down with a spinning head-scissors, and used the 'Badd Mood' (twisting splash over the top rope), only to land on Page's knees. Page took control and scored a nearfall. Page attempted a tombstone piledriver, only for Badd to reverse the move and give Page one of his own, scoring a two count in the follow up pinfall attempt. Badd punched Page, knocking him off the ring apron, then executed a somersault splash on to Page outside the ring. Badd then threw Page back into the ring and finished him off with a springboard legdrop for the pinfall win. Afterwards, Kimberley was initially stunned, then embraced Badd.

A clip aired from the November 29th, 1999 edition of 'WWF Raw Is War'. This was Stephanie & Test's wedding, and they showed Triple H interrupting the ceremony and airing the video where Triple H married an unconscious Stephanie. This segued into the Gene Okerlund voiceover describing: 'although seemingly forced, the Triple H-Stephanie marriage was soon revealed to be a cynical ploy to gain power within the company'. The wording of this greatly amused me. He meant in storyline terms, of course. This led into the 'McMahon-Helmsley era, with Triple H as WWF Champion and Stephanie as the bitchy heel in his corner. Upcoming babyface Chris Jericho badmouthed Stephanie at every turn, which led into a furious (though still heel) Triple H defending the honour of his offended wife. Jericho goaded Triple H into putting his title on the line in an impromptu match, in the opening match of the April 17th, 2000 edition of 'WWF Raw Is War', held in State College, Pennsylvania. As Triple H had both Shane McMahon and Stephanie in his corner, Jericho then revealed that he'd hired protection to be in his corner for this match, the Acolytes, Faarooq & Bradshaw. 

3) WWF Champion, Triple H (w/Stephanie & Shane McMahon in his corner) defeated Chris Jericho (w/The Acolytes in his corner) to retain the title, after the referee reversed his original decision. Announcers for this match were Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler. This was a very fast-paced match. Jericho grounded HHH with kicks and chops. HHH missed a charge into the corner and Y2J back body dropped HHH to ringside. HHH climbed on to the ring apron, only for Jericho to use a springboard dropkick to knock him off the ring apron. HHH regained control of the match, punching Jericho in the corner, then slamming him into both the announcers table and the ring steps, as the crowd chanted 'Shane's a pussy!' very loudly. Different era, folks. After a commercial break, both tried going for their finishers, with Jericho blocking a pedigree attempt, and HHH blocking a 'Walls of Jericho' attempt. Jericho catapulted HHH into the corner, bumping referee Mike Chioda in the process. Y2J used a bulldog on HHH, but when he climbed to the top rope, Shane shook the ropes and crotched him. The Acolytes chased Shane from ringside, as Jericho nailed HHH with the WWF title belt, then pinned him. Earl Hebner ran from the back and counted to two. Hebner had been involved in recent controversies with HHH, Shane and Stephanie, with all three frequently badmouthing his calls during matches and physically chastising him. HHH gave Y2J a facebuster, then engaged in a shoving match with Hebner, knocking him down. Jericho then nailed the distracted HHH with a spinning heel kick, and caught him with the lionsault, as Hebner delivered a fast count and Jericho won the match and seemingly the title. The crowd popped huge, with people jumping up and down. HHH tried to run after Hebner, who ran up the aisle, but the Acolytes stopped him. Jericho celebrated with the belt. But this wasn't over yet.....

After a commercial break, Shane had Earl Hebner in a chokehold, as HHH & Stephanie confronted him centre-ring. HHH ordered him to reverse the decision of the match, so that he retained his title. "That match never happened, and nobody saw anything," said HHH. Hebner refused. HHH went to attack him, but Hebner than had second thoughts and changed his mind. He agreed to reverse his decision if HHH, Shane and Stephanie 'never touched him again, as long as he was a WWF referee'. A smiling HHH agreed, then ordered Hebner to retrieve the title belt from 'that sawn off midget Chris Jericho' in the back and bring it back to the ring, and put it around his waist. Hebner did so, and returned to the ring to put the belt around HHH's waist. HHH then addressed the terms of his original deal with Hebner, where he wouldn't touch Hebner as long as he was a WWF referee. HHH fired Hebner, then beat him up with the help of Shane, with nearly every referee and official in the back running out to make the save for Hebner. Jim Ross was going nuts on commentary, calling it 'the most appalling thing I have ever seen', 'This man has a family to feed!' and 'I can't believe what we're seeing'. Lawler, as a heel, was tons better on commentary than he is nowadays, and retorted as quick as a flash, 'I can't believe what we DIDN'T see here tonight!'   

Show closed with Gene Okerlund announcing that the annual Wrestlemania retrospective will begin next week. Let's hope they cover Wrestlemanias 19 to 23 at some point over the next six weeks, as they never reached that stage last year.

Closing thoughts: Okay show this week. Savage vs Michaels was entertaining, and Badd vs DDP was something of a rarity, so that was interesting. HHH vs Jericho was a good match and featured an entertaining aftermath, that showcased both the good and bad of HHH. Must be said that he was in his prime here, and was a phenomenal heel when he was serious and not sarcastically joking his way through angles and promos.

Match Results:

1) WWF Champion, Macho Man Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth in his corner) defeated Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri in his corner) ('WWF European Rampage Again 1992' – Sheffield, England, U.K.: 19/04/92). 

2) WCW Television Champion, Johnny B. Badd defeated Diamond Dallas Page (w/'Diamond Doll' Kimberley in his corner) to retain the title and win the services of Kimberley ('WCW World War 3' 1995 pay-per-view event – Norfolk, Virginia: 26/11/95). 

3) WWF Champion, Triple H (w/Stephanie & Shane McMahon in his corner) defeated Chris Jericho (w/The Acolytes in his corner) to retain the title, after the referee reversed his original decision ('WWF Raw Is War Live' – State College, Pennsylvania: 17/04/00). 

Please note: I DO NOT sell DVDs or tapes of any of these shows. Sorry!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s report. For other reports like this one, be sure to check it out my website archive at http://www.classicwrestlingreports.com .

It’s no longer updated, but this website carries all of my previous WWE Classics tv reports that have been featured on the old WrestlingObserver.com website.

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Until next week, have a good week.

Stephen Lyon,
St Helens, England, U.K.