A Taste of the New Generation: 1995: A RAWtrospective

It's over. It's finally over. 1995. A year that has been considered by many as one of the World Wrestling Federation's worst years. And while I can't in good conscience call the entire year a waste, I can at least see where the naysayers are coming from. Terrible pay per views, bland Raws, a general focus on more goofy gimmicks, a lack of interesting feuds and storylines. Hell, outside of the Kliq's reign of terror backstage and some other incidents, there hasn't been that much controversy to talk about. It's been a dull kind of year. But despite all that, there is still enough within to once again look at the best and worst of the year. So sit back and and enjoy what I felt was the best and worst of 1995's WWF.

How was Raw this year? Raw stuck to a pretty basic holding pattern for the most part. As the year went on there were far less jobber matches on the show, save for maybe one an episode. Raw is becoming the show that features the bigger angles. From Sid's debut and subsequent turn on Shawn Michaels, to British Bulldog turning heel and attacking Diesel, to Shawn Michaels collapsing in the ring to the shock of the fans. Raw had a lot of memorable moments for certain. And while I haven't paid too much attention to what Superstars or Action Zone have been up to, it feels that Raw is becoming more important a show, especially as the Monday Night Wars began.

What stuff happened in 1995? Diesel held the WWF championship for a year, the million dollar corporation existed, Men on a Mission turned heel and Mabel became King of the Ring. Jerry Lawler feuded with Bret Hart and sicced his wrestling dentist on him. We had pirates, ninjas, fitness freaks, dentists, lip syncing country music stars, evil teachers, a living bisexual Oscar statue, a hog farmer, a Greenwich snob, an evil Santa Claus, and some guy calling himself a modern day Kamikaze. And that's not even bringing up stuff like Undertaker's urn being melted into gold chains, or 1-2-3 Kid becoming a crybaby, or Bob Backlund campaigning for president. When you think about it, 1995 was kind of weird, even for this blog's standards.

And now it's time as always to look at what I felt was the best and worst of 1995. Starting with...

BEST PPV OF 1995: WWF SURVIVOR SERIES

Survivor Series was the light at the end of a particularly mediocre tunnel that was the mid-95 PPV scene. Save for a weak Goldust match with Bam Bam Bigelow, the show offered some surprisingly good elimination matches. From a mish mash of midcarders to open, to a brutal women's bout, a strange yet interesting wild card match, to a dominant showing by the Undertaker and his Darkside team, you definitely got your money's worth for what was perhaps the best Survivor Series card I've covered so far. But what put this show in the winning position is the main event with Bret Hart and Diesel for the WWF title. A hard hitting, brutal match that helped put Bret Hart back in the top spot and finally started the turn for Diesel that was desperately needed. This show is a must-watch from what is honestly a weak year.

WORST PPV OF 1995: WWF KING OF THE RING 1995

I kind of feel bad giving King of the Ring the second worst spot in these RAWtrospectives, but my god was this a show that really deserved it. A boring tournament that saw Shawn Michaels and Undertaker eliminated early, four Savio Vega matches, and the baffling choice to give the crown to Mabel. Something that by year's end feels like a big mistake, and I'm someone who defended the guy. Outside of that we get the stomach churning "Kiss My Foot" match with Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart (the best match of the night despite the stipulation), and one of the most boring main events with Diesel and Bam Bam taking on Sid and Tatanka. Wrestlemania XI came close to winning this, but after one of the dullest events in a long time, it's only fair to hand the crown of worst once again to the King of the Ring.

BEST MATCH OF 1995: SHAWN MICHAELS VS RAZOR RAMON: SUMMERSLAM 1995

In a year with some excellent Bret Hart matches and some great Shawn Michaels matches with other opponents, it's this match from Summerslam that sticks out as the most memorable for me from this year. In what I honestly feel is a batter match than their Wrestlemania outing in terms on in-ring, this match was far more hard hitting, with a lot more focus on in-ring psychology with the ladder. It wasn't just an exhibition for Shawn's crazy spots. It really felt like a brutal affair with both friends trying hard to destroy the other. It was hard to choose, but ultimately this was the match I felt was right to pick for best of 1995.

WORST MATCH OF 1995: HOWARD FINKEL VS HARVEY WHIPPLEMAN: TUXEDO MATCH

So, in a year with foot kissing, hog pen wrestling and some really bad main events (the aforementioned King of the Ring main event) none feel more stupid than having announcer Howard Finkel brawl with manager Harvey Whippleman in a match to strip each other down to their undies. This in itself being the culmination of one of the year's worst feuds doesn't help matters either. And especially since this was the main event of Raw's second anniversary show. What a way to celebrate two years on the air. It's surprising they've lasted for over 25 more. 

BEST STORYLINE OF 1995: BOB BACKLUND RUNS FOR PRESIDENT

I love crazy Bob Backlund. That cannot be understated. So, the gods of the past rewarded me for that high praise with Bob choosing after Wrestlemania to run for President. In which we got great moments like Backlund smashing Man Mountain Rock's guitar due to his hatred of Rock and Roll, screaming that he wants to be god again, and locking everyone from Jim Ross to a sound engineer in the crossface chicken wing. It's all amazing stuff. The only downside is there really isn't enough of this and Backlund feels absent for a good chunk of the year. But in a year with foot kissing and dentists, this stands head and shoulders as my favorite thing to come out of 1995.

WORST STORYLINE OF 1995: SHAWN MICHAELS SYMPATHY TOUR

In October of 1995, Shawn Michaels was being a right prick to a marine in a Syracuse bar. After trying to hit on the marine's girlfriend, he would find himself the victim of a stiff beating. The WWF chose to turn this into an angle. And at first it was interesting with Shawn handing the Intercontinental title to Dean Douglas at In Your House 4 and the focus being on Shawn's well being. And then the collapse happens the Raw after Survivor Series and the angle goes from questions of if Shawn's career is over due to post-concussion syndrome to sappy videos like "Tell Me A Lie" that treat the situation as if Shawn is on his death bed. And all this from Shawn being a dick in a bar. By the end, it just feels really stupid and it's already gotten on my nerves enough to give it the worst of 1995 storyline spot. 

BEST TAG TEAM OF 1995: OWEN HART AND YOKOZUNA

In a year with really no major tag team division, it was hard to really give anyone the pick, but I have to give it to the team that held the belts the longest, and that's Owen and Yokozuna, the strangely put together tag team that bested The Smoking Gunns at Wrestlemania XI. With both Owen and Yoko's main event pushes in the past, this served as a good way to keep both men relevant on television, and while I don't feel they had the strongest chemistry, they still worked really good as a tag team. So in a year with really not much else to go for, it's only fair to hand them the best team of 1995 win.

WORST TAG TEAM OF 1995: THE LACK OF A DIVISION

Yes, there was the Smoking Gunns, Tekno Team 2000, PG-13 and alliances like Razor and the Kid or Sid and the Kid. But when you look at 1995 in terms of tag team wrestling compared to years prior, the division feels like a total afterthought. Even to the point in the blog where the tag team titles feel like they haven't been featured on Raw in months. It's a shame to see any division be mistreated and mishandled (look at my worst moment of 1995 for further comments) but the fact that tag team wrestling feels lacking is really sad. Makes me miss the days of the Steiners and the Quebecers far more.

BEST GIMMICK OF 1995: WAYLON MERCY

"Lives are gonna be in Waylon Mercy's hands" is the first thing you heard when Waylon Mercy made his way to the ring. A take on Cape Fear's Max Cady, wrestler Dan Spivey gave us a unique heel. Seemingly kindly and willing to shake your hand one minute, then the next minute he's snapped, beating the hell out of you and locking in a deadly sleeper hold. It served as a great gimmick in a sea of terrible ideas. It's a shame that Spivey retired by '95 due to mounting injuries and we never really got to see the character at its full potential. But what we got was still excellent and deserving of best gimmick of the year.

WORST GIMMICK OF 1995: MANTAUR

In a year with dentists and pirates, it was a man who thinks he's a cow that had to take the top spot for bizarre. Mantaur is a human minotaur of sorts. Originally coming to the ring wearing a giant furry cow head (we sadly never saw it during the blog), he would wrestle with decent power man offense and moo a lot. Because he was a cow. A man who thinks he's a cow. A man cow if you will. I'm sure that stupid radio jock took offense to this. Nonetheless this rotten beef carcass of a gimmick wins the prize for worst gimmick of the year, in a year worthy of terrible choices.

BEST NEWCOMER OF 1995: GOLDUST

I was close to giving this to Hakushi or Hunter Hearst Helmsley, but when I think about a character who had the biggest impact through the remaining days of the New Generation, my choice went to the bizarre one himself, Goldust. Dripping in gold paint, wearing blonde wigs and tight, exposing bodysuits, the living embodiment of an academy award would quote movies, and become more and more "sexually explicit" with his mind games. As we're seeing in this feud with Razor Ramon. There's a lot more strangeness to come in 1996, but Goldust is already making a hell of an impact. Deserving of the best newcomer spot.

WORST NEWCOMER OF 1995: DOK HENDRIX

I think it's fair to give this to an announcer right? I never said it had to be a wrestler. Bringing Michael Hayes into the product on paper sounds like an amazing thing. From his freebird days we know the guy can be a helluva talker. But what we get in the WWF is some weird hippie dad character who is surprisingly more obnoxious than Todd Pettengill, and that's really saying something.

Also, hell with it, I'm giving this to Barry Didinsky too. A merchandise hocker with zero charisma and sticks out like a wet blanket. I could live without never seeing him on TV again. And it already feels like that's the case going into 1996.

BEST MOMENT OF 1995:  HOROWITZ WINS!

A feel good story is always welcome in the often cruel world of wrestling. And nothing feels more good in 1995 than seeing Barry Horowitz get a shot at superstardom. After years of being a jobber, spending more time on the canvas than Rembrandt, Barry finally got a shot on the July 9th edition of the Action Zone in a match against Skip, where the cocky bodydonna would have his hubris come back at him, and Barry Horowitz of all people would cradle him, earning his first ever televised win for the WWF. This led to a fun little feud as Skip continued to have problems keeping Barry down. Sure, this would be the height of Barry-mania, but for one brief shining moment, Barry had his ticket to immortality, and that's definitely worth a pat on the back.

WORST MOMENT OF 1995: KILLING THE WOMEN'S DIVISION

Women's wrestling. The often mistreated, red headed stepchild of the WWF. Sure, it's strong now and I'm happy to see actual effort being brought in to keep it working, but I wish 1995's division was that lucky. Alundra Blayze, Bull Nakano, Bertha Faye, Aja Kong and so many others worked their asses off, giving us some of the most hard hitting and high flying matches of the era. And just when it felt like it was getting a chance with an influx of Japanese talent, on December 13th, Vince fires Blayze and pulls the plug on the division. And it's a damn shame. So, I feel a bit of shadenfreude seeing Blayze show up on Nitro and trash the belt, a property of WWF.

BEST SUPERSTAR OF 1995: SHAWN MICHAELS

Part of me hates giving this to Shawn Michaels. Bret had great matches, Diesel held the title for a year's length. Razor was consistently decent. But despite his prickish behavior and his backstage politics, Shawn Michaels is the guy who I feel had the most prominent year. From winning the Royal Rumble from entrant #1, to getting the title match with Diesel at Wrestlemania. From coming back from a beat down by Sid to win the Intercontinental title, to then dropping the title due to injury from the "Syracuse incident". In a year where Diesel was the champ, Shawn felt like the biggest star of the company. Literally feeling like the "showstopper" if you will. Great matches with Diesel and Razor among others also strengthen this choice as he consistently brought in great action throughout the year. It pains me to give it to him, but I have no other recourse. Best superstar of 1995 goes to Shawn Michaels. 

WORST SUPERSTAR OF 1995: KING MABEL

I feel bad for Mabel, But when it's all said and done, this was a really terrible decision. Mabel wins the King of the Ring after he and Mo turn heel and go from positive kid-friendly rappers to generic heel thugs. Mabel wins a dull King of Ring tournament and becomes King Mabel. He continued to have boring squash after boring squash until ultimately facing Diesel for the WWF title in one of 1995's worst main events (eking behind Bulldog/Diesel and the KOTR tag match). Add in to the fact that he was becoming more and more unsafe to work with. Nearly injuring Diesel's back and dropping a leg on the Undertaker that broke his eye socket. By the end of the year I was happy to see the big man thrown in the casket and his push finally diminished. And like I said in the beginning, I feel bad to do so, because I know that Mabel really wanted this to work, and by all reports of how nice a guy he was, it's a shame that it didn't. And sadly, that leaves me with no other choice than to dub him the worst superstar of 1995.


And that finally finishes 1995. We can finally move forward into the far more interesting year of 1996. Some big things are going to go down this year with some major names making their debuts to the company, some big moments that will change the way kayfabe is presented, and by the end of 1996 the very kid friendly landscape of the WWF will change significantly. We're in for the most tumultuous chapter of TOTNG and I hope you stick around to enjoy it with me.