FEBRUARY 15
1992
Jim Cornette announced on SMW television that he would bring in a new tag team very soon. Also on the show, Dutch Mantell interviewed Ron Wright, a tremendous whiny old man heel who used his promo time to complain about Medicare reimbursement rates.
The Moondogs took part in another brutal squash match on USWA television, this time making mincemeat of Brian Collins and Ricky Hutchens.
One of the best TV matches of the Dangerous Alliance happened on WCW Pro when Rick Rude defended the WCW U.S. Title against Brian Pillman in a ***1/2 match, which was taped on January 27 in Gainesville, GA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw6ELDs7izo
On WWF Superstars, it was announced that Wrestlemania VIII would have a “Double Main Event”, at a time when such a concept was still novel. The announced matches were Ric Flair defending the WWF World Title against Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan facing Sid Justice. The build for Flair-Savage was underway immediately, with Flair hinting that he knew something Savage did not.
1993
WWF Monday Night RAW aired a show taped on February 1 at New York’s Manhattan Center. In the main event, Brutus Beefcake made his in-ring return after a nearly three-year absence to face Ted DiBiase. Beefcake’s legitimately damaged face was used as storyline fodder, as Money Inc. attacking Beefcake with a briefcase. This marked a completely unnecessary babyface turn for Jimmy Hart and paved the way for Hulk Hogan to return to the WWF after an absence of nearly one year. The show drew a 3.3 rating, placing it in the top ten cable shows for the week, part of a short-lived ratings resurgence in both the WWF and WCW. You can watch this show on the WWE Network.
1996
New Japan Pro Wrestling held a card in Marugame, highlighted by Jushin Liger and Black Tiger (Eddy Guerrero) facing Shinjiro Otani and Koji Kanemoto in a ***1/2 match.
CMLL held a show at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, highlighted by a **** match when El Hijo del Santo teamed with El Dandy and Dos Caras to take on Blue Panther, Apolo Dantes and Emilio Charles Jr.
1998
WWF presented No Way Out on pay-per-view from Houston, TX, in front of 16,110 fans. In the main event, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack, Chainsaw Charlie and Owen Hart defeated the New Age Outlaws, HHH and Savio Vega. Shawn Michaels was originally scheduled to be in the match, but was unable to perform after injuries sustained at the Royal Rumble a month earlier. When poor Savio Vega was announced as his replacement, the air seemed to come out of the arena. In a moment far more memorable than the match itself, Steve Austin gave a confrontational Chyna a Stone Cold Stunner to close out the show. This was the first time anyone had ever laid their hands on Chyna, which made this quite a memorable moment. The show did approximately 189,000 buys, and you can watch it on the WWE Network.
1999
WCW Monday Nitro aired live on TNT from Tampa, FL, in front of 2,500 fans. Fans both in attendance and watching from home were treated to one of the worst episodes of Nitro in the show’s history, which was mostly centered around a series of awful vignettes where the NWO attacked Ric Flair and left him lying in the middle of nowhere, leaving Flair to hitchhike his way back to the arena. Eric Bischoff, who was Flair’s limousine driver in their weekly angle designed to make Bischoff look smart and Flair look stupid, drove the “Nature Boy” away from their planned destination and led him to slaughter. The point of view of the vignettes was awful, as there was absolutely no reason for the camera to be present. Hogan and Nash wore ski masks for no apparent reason other than to look evil. The most asinine part of the angle was that the announcers had no idea what happened and when Flair showed up battered and bruised later in the show seeking revenge, they were forced to play dumb. The idea was that we as viewers at home could see things that the announcers could not. Also on the show, Bret Hart squashed Will Sasso in a pointless match when MadTV co-star Debra Wilson turned on her cast mate. The show did a 3.9 rating, which was disastrous for the time period considering that they pulled a 5.7 the week before (when running unopposed) and bounced back up to the mid-4’s the next week.
WWF Monday Night RAW aired live on the USA Network from Birmingham, AL, in front of a sellout 13,906 fans. A beat up Vince McMahon told us he was humbled and broken and asked to bury the hatchet with a skeptical Steve Austin, and that all he wanted was for Austin to say he was sorry. Vince also announced that Big Show would be the special guest referee in the Wrestlemania XV main event when Austin would challenge Rock for the WWF World Title. Rock was now champion after defeating Mankind in the main event ladder match of the show. The episode did a 5.9 rating, trouncing Nitro by two ratings points.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21gvpu_wwf-raw-is-war-02-15-1999-part-1_sport
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21h0qd_wwf-raw-is-war-02-15-1999-part-2_sport
In The “To Watch” Queue:
