Each week, members of the Place to Be Nation staff come together to watch a professional wrestling show from the past as a group. As they watch and interact, they also track their grades and overall thoughts in various categories along the way. We will regularly be bringing you their output here in a variety of projects and entries.
Uncensored 1995 (Viewed July 26, 2018)
Card:
Dustin Rhodes vs. Blacktop Bully – King of the Road Match
Jim Duggan vs, Meng – Martial Arts Match
Johnny B. Badd vs. Arn Anderson – Boxer vs. Wrestler Match
Randy Savage vs. Avalanche
Sting vs. Big Bubba Rogers
Harlem Heat vs. Nasty Boys – Falls Count Anywhere Match
Hulk Hogan vs. Vader – Strap Match
What Worked
JT Rozzero: KING OF THE ROAD; Dustin Rhodes dressed as Rip from No Holds Barred; early appearence from Sonny Onoo as ref; Rock Finnegan; Stud Stable and Johnny B. Badd’s themes; Arn Anderson and Johnny B. Badd had a fun, stiff match with good shenanigans blended in and a great finish; Randy Savage’s awesome manic energy; Harlem Heat’s promo; “I used to know a dancer named funnel cakes”; Poor Sherri sliding around and killing herself on the floor; classic Flair promo; The show coming to an end
Jennifer Smith: Disclaimer, I fucking love every moment of this show and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Favorites include: The Blacktop Bully’s win in the epic King of the Road match, even though they had to edit out all the blood; Arn Anderson’s glorious promo; Daddy Arn and the worst boxer ever, Johnny B. Badd, in a Boxer vs. Wrestler gem; Motherfucking Ric Flair in drag; Mike Tenay’s face; Randy Savage being extra and taking a hell of a beating; Concession stand chaos; Avalanche’s thighs; Sting’s ass; Absolute insanity with Hogan, Vader, Renegade, Ric Flair, Jimmy Hart and Savage; Tony, my love.
Greg Phillips: The truck driver in King of the Road; Martial arts master Jim Duggan; Ol’ Buckethead Arn Anderson; Johnny B. Badd’s body punches; Colonel Parker; Randy Savage’s promo; Sensational Sherri being zonked; Concession stand madness; Sting’s existence; Ric Flair cutting a serious promo while wearing eyeliner and mascara; The commentary all night long
Jacob Williams: Bobby Heenan and Tony Schiavone having fun; Mike Tenay just being completely over everyone and everything; Sweeping shots of rural Mississippi; The Rock Finnegan; Arn Anderson’s great selling; A boxing/wrestling match that was actually good; Arn’s promo; The mustard melee; Ric Flair being crazed and in drag; Randy Savage; Sting’s energy; General feeling of chaos during the main event
Neil Trama: Bobby Heenan; That boxing match for a couple minutes; And my imagination when thinking about Meng/Duggan and Savage/Avalanche as Coliseum Video exclusives
Tim Slomka: King of the Road Match; The Wrestler/Boxer match; Laughing throughout the whole show; Funnel cake/mustard fight; Johnny B Badd song and the whole boxer vs. wrestler match, especially the bucket head ending; Ric Flair being a team player; The awesome wooden chair shots; Arn Anderson’s pre-match promo; Sting’s selling
Trent Williams: Arn Anderson video package. Arn being smart and attacking Johnny B. Badd during the rest period. The KO Punch to Arn with the bucket on his head. Bobby Heenan and Tony Schiavone getting snappy at each other during the Sting vs. Big Bubba match. Sting’s selling of the leg. The hilarity of the absurdness of the Nasty Boys vs Harlem Heat match. Vader & Ric Flair pre-match promo.
Tyler Kelley: Knob Creek Rye and Boulevard’s The Calling IPA (highest unpaid endorsement to both) to get me through this show; King of the Road was the best match in the back of a truck, filed by a helicopter and delayed by a church bus I’ve ever seen (narrowly edging Okada/Omega 17); Jim Duggan’s church socks; Arn Anderson’s promo; Boxer vs. wrestler was fun nonsense; Macho Man calling Arn “ol’ buckethead”; Brawls by the funnel cake stand, funnel cakes in general, and the dancer named funnel cakes; The car crash absurdity of the whole show; Smart-ass comments of the PTBN Live Watchers (especially if you’ve been drinking); Bobby Heenan making smart-ass comments throughout this whole mess
Steve Riddle: Sadly not much did work, but thank god for Bobby Heenan trying his best to put this over; Nasty Boys and Harlem Heat a fun brawl and you can’t go wrong with a brawl in a makeshift concession stand, and Ric Flair in drag is a bizarre yet funny sight.
Jason Sherman: The Boxer vs Wrestler match; Rock Finnegan; Cotton Candy and funnel cake stands; Randy Savage; Sting; Mike Tenay’s facial expressions; Schiavone and Heenan; The Stud Stable theme; Ric Flair in drag
Logan Crosland: King of the Road match; Bobby Heenan on commentary, Boxer vs Wrestler match; Ric Flair’s wild promo; The concession stand brawl; Sherri busting her ass literally and figuratively during that match
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What Didn’t Work
JT Rozzero: Weird open with the announcers on the ramp talking; The cuts between light and dark during the opener are absurd; Bobby Heenan’s racist Sonny Onoo jokes; Jim Duggan vs. Meng was way too fucking long; Avalanche basically using the Earthquake theme; Ric Flair in drag; Randy Savage winning by DQ moments after Tony Schiavone says the match will go on regardless of the interference; Big Bubba’s pinstripe shirt; Bubba falling off the top rope; The finish to Sting/Bubba; Knobbs being gassed after the prematch promo; Harlem Heat’s spike piledriver was soft as shit; The cameramen missing the finish of the tag match; Renegade; Hulk Hogan basically squashing Vader for most of the match; the finish of the main event
Jennifer Smith: Nothing, it all worked for me on some level. Don’t @ me.
Greg Phillips: Blacktop Bully; The neverending King of the Road; Martial arts master Jim Duggan; Avalanche; Flair in drag; Jimmy Hart mystery; Bubba’s outdated gimmick; Bubba beating Sting; Most of Harlem Heat vs Nasty Boys until they got to the concession stand; Flair taking the fall in the main event despite not being in the match; the lame ass Renegade
Jacob Williams: Duggan’s interpretation of martial arts; Duggan vs Meng in general; Weird finishes throughout the night; Matches suffering from having to go long; Vader looking weak; WCW’s prop department for making those generic concession stands; Renegade; Hogan’s chair shots
Neil Trama: Jim Duggan doing martial arts; Heels winning almost every match; The director missing the finish of the tag title match; Mike Tenay giving zero fucks; The fake Ultimate Warrior; That match that was ON A TRUCK!!
Tim Slomka: All the Duggan stalling. Announcing that the boxing match would be ten rounds. All the Music. The Ultimate Surprise, Mike Tenay giving zero effort, DQ in a show with no rules, missing another pin, all the Jimmy Hart stuff with no payoff. Everything with the main event. Vader looking like a jobber.
Trent Williams: The King of the Road match being 13 minutes long. Duggan being an idiotic asshole at the beginning of match. A match ending in DQ after the announcers kept repeating anything was allowed at Uncensored. Big Bubba falling off the top rope. Nasty Boys promo felt very out of place in 1995 as they were still doing the 80s overly shouty promo style (especially Knobbs). The camera completely missing the pinfall in the Nasty Boys vs Harlem Heat match. The slipping hazard during the concession stand brawl. The Renegade. The overbooked Hogan vs Vader crap that felt like it lasted forever and ended up with Hogan winning by dragging someone who wasn’t in the match to all four corners.Vader depending too much on Flair and not looking like the monster he is. Ric Flair and Renegade antics on outside distracting from what was happening in the ring.
Tyler Kelley: Lack of monkey or orangutan as companion to truck driver in King of the Road match a la B.J. and the Bear or Any Which Way But Loose is very disappointing; Jim Duggan’s “martial arts”; Rock Finnegan’s “sleeper?”; Ric Flair’s dress choice and lack of sensible shoes; A DQ on a show with no rules, did I mention; To be the man you’ve gotta beat the man… in a dress… whoo!; Finish of Big Bubba/Sting; The Ultimate Final Surprise Solution Renegade!; Bobby and Tony shaming Jimmy Hart for being tied up backstage… and liking it; anything vaguely resembling wrestling in this shit show
Steve Riddle: What didn’t work with this show… let me count the ways it failed. So many gimmicks you would think Vince Russo either had a hand in it or this was one of his favorite shows, how did anyone think having a match in the back of a moving semi was a good idea? Jim Duggan in a martial arts match, enough said. How do you have a match on a show advertised as having no rules end in a DQ? The Renegade, again enough said. A complete burial of Vader as Hogan makes him look bush league and also how can Hogan be named the winner when he drags the wrong man to the corners?
Jason Sherman: JIM DUGGAN; King of the Road Match; The Renegade; Hogan’s chairshot
Logan Crosland: Pretty much all of the finishes of the matches; Martial arts match; Renegade; Ric Flair in drag; Vader basically being squashed; Sting losing; The concession stand brawl (as fun as it was it was a little bit of a disaster)
Match of the Night
JT Rozzero: Badd vs. Anderson
Jennifer Smith: Rhodes vs. Bully; Badd vs. Anderson; Harlem Heat vs. Nasty Boys
Greg Phillips: Badd vs. Anderson
Jacob Williams: Badd vs. Anderson
Neil Trama: Sting vs. Avalanche
Trent Williams: Sting vs. Bubba; Badd vs. Anderson; Harlem Heat vs. Nasty Boys
Tim Slomka: Badd vs. Anderson
Tyler Kelley: Badd vs. Anderson; Harlem Heat vs. Nasty Boys
Steve Riddle: Harlem Heat vs. Nasty Boys
Jason Sherman: Badd vs. Anderson
Logan Crosland: Badd/Anderson
Worst Match of the Night
JT Rozzero: Duggan vs. Meng
Jennifer Smith: If I have to pick one… Duggan vs. Meng
Greg Phillips: Hogan vs. Vader
Jacob Williams: Duggan vs. Meng
Neil Trama: Duggan vs. Meng; Rhodes vs. Bully
Trent Williams: Hogan vs. Vader
Tim Slomka: Duggan vs. Meng
Tyler Kelley: Duggan vs. Meng
Steve Riddle: Duggan vs. Meng
Jason Sherman: Duggan vs. Meng
Logan Crosland: Duggan vs. Meng
MVP of the Night
JT Rozzero: Arn Anderson
Jennifer Smith: Ric Flair
Greg Phillips: Bobby Heenan
Jacob Williams: Bobby Heenan
Neil Trama: Bobby Heenan
Trent Williams: Arn Anderson
Tim Slomka: Bobby Heenan
Tyler Kelley: Bobby Heenan
Steve Riddle: Bobby Heenan
Jason Sherman: Mike Tenay’s facial expressions; The truck driver
Logan Crosland: Bobby Heenan
Best Live Chat Comment of the Night
JT Rozzero: “My aunt was obsessed with Sting’s legs for some reason.” – Greg Phillips
Jennifer Smith: “This being the show that sold pro wrestling to Jennifer Smith…makes a weird kind of sense actually.” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Greg Phillips: “This being the show that sold pro wrestling to Jennifer Smith…makes a weird kind of sense actually.” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Jacob Williams: “Mike cutting everyone off before they finish is a mood” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Neil Trama: “I am inexplicably obsessed with Avalanches thighs” – Jennifer Smith
Tim Slomka: “Another Coliseum video exclusive here, just missing Mooney and Lord Alfred.” – Jason Sherman
Tyler Kelley: “I’ve got the magic fingers.” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Steve Riddle: “Meng looks like he’s holding his boner.” – Jennifer Smith
Jason Sherman: “You guys just don’t appreciate martial arts” – Jacob Williams
Logan Crosland: “I was going to ask Logan Crosland if he was driving around and saw this truck but he probs was even born.” – JT Rozzero
Show Grade:
JT Rozzero: 3.5/10
Jennifer Smith: 10/10
Greg Phillips: 6/10
Jacob Williams: 4/10
Neil Trama: 2/10
Trent Williams: 2/10
Tim Slomka: 6/10
Tyler Kelley: 2/10
Steve Riddle: 3/10
Jason Sherman: 4/10
Logan Crosland: 4/10
Match Grades
JT Rozzero: *¼; *; ***; **½; **½; **; **¼
Jennifer Smith: ****, **½, ****, ***, ***, ****, ***
Greg Phillips: *; *; ***½; **½; ***; **½; **
Jacob Williams: *, ½*, ***, **½, **, **, **
Neil Trama: ¼*, ½*, **, **½, **, **, *
Trent Williams: *½, *¼, **¾, **½, ***, **¾, *¼
Tim Slomka: **; ½*; ***½; **½; **; ***; ½
Tyler Kelley: *½; ½*; **½; **¼; **½; ¾*
Steve Riddle: ½*, ½*, **, **½, **½,***, *
Jason Sherman: *; *; ***½; **¼; **½; **; *½
Logan Crosland: **, ½ *, ***, **, **½,**, **
