The Flashback (WWE Vintage Collection Recap)

WWE Vintage Collection July 16/2011

We’re back with another edition of The Flashback! I know I know, you’re all excited for Money In The Bank and who can blame you? It’s the most exciting “wrestling” has been in quite some time. Let me just go on a little blurb here and give you some of my thoughts. First off, great MITB matches booked with great superstars in each match. I see The Miz winning on the Raw side, just to give him that main event edge again. On the Smackdown side, I honestly see Wade Barrett taking it. He needs it like a computer needs a restart after a bunch of shitty updates. The Corre was basically a shell of Nexus, and IMO didn’t do much for any of the superstars involved. I also think Mark Henry needs this win over Big Show just to push him up the ladder that much more. Then I might actually be able to stand Mark Henry. The guy slapped my hand once coming down the aisle….it stung for the rest of the show. This time, I’m thinking Christian will pin Orton cleanly, making the feud that much more interesting. Then we have the popular Cena vs. Punk….wow. Now some of you will shutter but this is what I think will happen. I can really see Vince McMahon coming out sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong but I also see HHH getting himself involved to start a program for Summerslam. If you haven’t noticed, CM Punk has been insulting HHH and his lovely wife Stephanie. To me this gives HHH every good reason to come down and interfere against CM Punk. I don’t think Punk is going anywhere, and I think he will have a program with HHH up until Summerslam saying he’s resigned a contract and got his main event spot at WM28. This of course would set up Punk vs. Steve Austin which to me sounds a lot more interesting than John Cena vs. The Rock. Anyways, onto my job. Sorry for that Blurb.

Vintage Collection starts off this week jumping right into an episode of MNR where we see Razor Ramon smacking around the 1-2-3 Kid. This would be shortly after MNR had its debut and right when a lot of names were just starting to bloom into big stars.

Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid – May 17, 1993

The bad guy is shown smacking Kid around making a mockery of the youngster with his oozing machismo attitude I’ll always love. In a matter of a minute Razor misses a clothesline in the corner and 1-2-3 Kid jumps up and hits a moonsault getting him the upset victory! Kid ran through the crowd in amazement not believing that he just got a victory over Razor Ramon. This started a great feud between the two setting up Razor trying to bribe 1-2-3 Kid into another match for first $2500, then $5000. 1-2-3 Kid still was unsure if he should accept or not being scared of what might happen to him forcing Razor Ramon to bump up the ante to a nice $10,000. These two went on to have incredible chemistry whether they were opponents or partners in crime

Horrible upset on today’s episode…no Mean “woooooooo” Gene as he’s on assignment; instead we have the every so dorky Jack Korpella. Today’s show seems to have a money theme to it, as I get to see one of my favourites up next, ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase.

Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil vs. Nikolai Volkoff – December 17, 1990

Before the match can begin we have Ted and his servant/manager Virgil both in the ring trying to bribe Nikolai into dropping the match for over $1000. Volkoff pretends to accept the money and stands back while DiBiase and Virgil bloat to the fans that even Nikolai has a price and can be paid off. But wait! Not so fast as Nikolai comes up behind and grabs the head of the Million Dollar Champion and his servant and gives them a big double noggin’ knocker. Volkoff clears the ring with some big punches which infuriates DiBiase. We have some great fist drops from Ted which I still enjoy seeing today from Ted Jr. which is a nice tribute to the family name. The match goes back and forth a bit but with a little distraction from Virgil and one of my favourite finishers of all time, The Million Dollar Dream, Ted picks up the victory and we get to hear one of the greatest themes ever pumped out of the WWE studios.

22 man over the top rope battle royal for $50,000 – July 21, 1986

I see King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd…wow this is an oldie! Bobby Heenan was even wrestling in this match, which tells you just how old it is. This isn’t a horrible match as I enjoy most battle royals. The novelty of seeing all the legends makes it better than it actually is. Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy are so young here, same with Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake. Good to see Brutus as I always enjoyed his gimmick and his showmanship. Now here’s someone I was never really fond of….Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine. I can’t tell you why, I just always thought he was horrible and quite boring in the ring. It’s down to Junk Yard Dog and The Hammer and its obvious JYD is the fan favourite. What’s this? Jimmy Hart is found hiding under the ring (snuck under during the beginning of the match) but pulled out by JYD and thrown back into the ring from hiding. Oh lord! JYD and Greg Valentine both fall over the ropes at the same time and ‘The Mouth Of The South’ Jimmy Hart wins the match and takes home the $50,000. ***Delete memory***

Our native American Tatanka and All American Lex Luger are having words backstage with Todd Pettengill who is showing the results of a SummerSlam WWE Hotline opinion poll asking the fans if Lex Luger sold out to the Million Dollar Man. Both men are playing faces, but over the last few weeks it’s seemed Ted DiBiase has been helping Lex and trying to coax him to join his group of heels. Lex and Tatanka are going to get to settle this in the ring, as Luger wants to prove he didn’t sell out even though 54% of the fans who voted think he’s sold out.

Lex Luger vs. Tatanka – August 29, 1994

These two men start off the match evenly in this SummerSlam matchup. After some back and forth action Lex takes control but seems to be distracted from the crowd. At this point the crowd is fairly neutral as they don’t want to believe their American hero, Lex Luger could really join the Million Dollar Corporation. Tatanka is now in control and hits some vintage tomahawk chops with his famous native dancing around the ring. Tatanka off the top ropes with a ‘high risk’ chop to the head. Out of nowhere Lex gets pumped up and hits Tatanka with some powerful clotheslines….and look who we have here! Ted DiBiase comes down to the ring and climbs the stairs offering a handful of cash to Luger, distracting him as Tatanka steals the quick roll-up. The two opponents get in each other’s face while DiBiase gets in the ring with a bag full of money. As Luger and diBiase have words Tatanka sneaks up behind and attacks Luger, showing he was the one conspiring with the Million Dollar Man all along. This was Tatankas heel turn in which we saw him join the Million Dollar Corporation.

Our final match of this week’s episode is a WCW gauntlet match with a prize of $15,000. Our theme of money is down to this final match.

Scott Steiner vs. Arn Anderson – September 23, 1990

Scott takes control of the match and puts the figure four leg-lock on Arn Anderson as a rub in the face to the Four Horsemen. I always find it funny when I hear Jim Ross on announcing WCW matches. The match ends up outside for a bit where Arn takes control. Arn does a bit of damage on Steiner until the momentum shifts and Scott starts hitting Arn with some huge power moves. A running power slam to the corner gets Scott a two count, but it isn`t enough. Arn once again gets control and takes Steiner down. Anderson gets Steiner into a pin while holding the ropes and the ref counts to 3! It seems Arn has won the $15,000 until another referee comes down and the match gets restarted. Fellow Horseman Ric Flair comes down and pulls the ref out of the ring to cause a DQ and Scott Steiner ends up winning. The two Horsemen start a heavy beat down on Scott Steiner until Rick Steiner runs into the ring and scares off the two legends.

Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid – June 21, 1993

Razor finally got what he wanted and bribed the Kid into taking the match with $10,000 on the line. Razor once again starts by humiliating the 1-2-3 Kid with a few smacks to the back of the head. A great announce team with Bobby Heenan, Macho Man and Vince McMahon. Razor keeps control of the match with more smacks and kicks to the head. Taunting the crowd, Razor feels confident and keeps the match going while taking it to the outside. Razor pulls back the padding on the concrete and goes for a Razors Edge but 1-2-3 Kid reverses it into a backdrop. Kid goes to the top rope to hit a high flying move but seems to fall onto the outside floor in front of Razor. Ramon throws him in the ring and once again is toying with 1-2-3 Kid until the Kid runs up the ropes and hits the moonsault again but only gets a 2 count. 1-2-3 Kid grabs the $10,000 bag of money and runs to the back with Razor chasing behind him. Out the back door a car is waiting for the Kid and he escapes with Razor`s $10,000 to end the match. I`m guessing double countout.

Thanks again for reading The Flashback. I hope everyone gets to watch and enjoy Money In The Bank this weekend as it could be a huge turning point for the WWE. See you next week! 🙂

James Bones
@violentshadows / violentshadows@hotmail.com