21 years ago we sure had some great laughs at the last true run of WWF Coliseum Videos. Released in late 96 and early 97, the WWF put out a number of these one hour tapes filled with completely random matches. At the time, we chuckled whenever we saw these tapes in stores like Zellers, where they seemingly sat for years. Confirmed Hits especially was a long running joke with its ridiculous title and funny Davey Boy Smith cover. But now, I find these tapes to be really interesting and quaint time capsules for the twilight of the WWF’s Federation era. Once the Attitude era was in full swing, simple videos such as this no longer existed for the most part. Matches were no longer exclusively taped for Coliseum video, and the simple TV taping entrances would soon be replaced with the enormous Titantron, stage and runway, a look that has stuck ever since. I’ve really enjoyed watching all of these random 96 Coliseum Videos as they take me back to the simpler times of wrestling.
As is always the case for these 96 tapes, Handsome Dok Hendrix is our host, and is as over-the-top and grating as you would expect. His enthusiasm and excitement for these matches is hilarious though, and I chuckled my way through all of his overselling.
1) WWF World Champion Diesel pinned Yokozuna (w/ Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) at 1:08 after avoiding the Bonzai Drop (9/26/95; Valpariso, IN)
At first I was excited – an exclusive, truly taped for Coliseum Video title match between Diesel and Yokozuna. Should be a unique power battle between these beasts. Instead, we got Yoko beating up Diesel for one minute, then missing the bonzai drop and Diesel covering him for the pin. That’s fucking it! Diesel didn’t even land a damn punch! What a huge disappointment.
2) Goldust (w/ Marlena) pinned WWF IC Champion Razor Ramon at 14:15 to win the title after the 1-2-3 Kid came off the top with a spin kick to the champion’s head (Royal Rumble 96 – 1/21/96; Fresno, CA)
We then get this IC match from Rumble 96 joined in progress. I hadn’t seen it in a long time, so it was fun to watch it again. The early days of the Goldust character were terrible, really pushing the limits with his antics. The wrestling itself was really good though, as Ramon was at his peak and brought great energy to the match. I forgot about the Kid’s run-in at the end, costing Razor the title.
3) WWF World Champion Bret Hart pinned Davey Boy Smith (w/ Jim Cornette & Diana Hart Smith) at 21:09 with an Oklahoma side roll after kicking the challenger in the face as he ran towards the corner (In Your House V – 12/17/95; Hershey, PA)
Another joined in progress match, but one of my all-time favorites so I definitely wasn’t hitting fast forward. This match is a tremendous companion piece to their Wembley battle from three years earlier. I love how hard fought and fluid the wrestling was, with no wasted time or moves. It was tight and back and forth all the way through. Bret bleeds a ton, which really added something extra to the match and made it seem that much more gruelling. Definitely an all-time classic.
4) The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) pinned Isaac Yankem DDS with the tombstone at around the 8:30 mark (12/18/95; Newark, DE)
Haha, for some reason they threw this random Raw match on the tape. Just think, two years later these guys would be in the beginning stages of a feud that would carry on for many many years. These were the final months for the Yankem character, and he was mostly used as a jobber to the stars, putting over guys like Bret, Taker, and soon the Warrior (did you see the Warrior kicking Isaac Yankem’s butt?). This was surprisingly good battle, with some funny hi-jinx involving Lawler trying to steal the remnants of the urn from Paul Bearer. Undertaker’s tombstone looked damn good still, and he crushes Yankem with it for a solid win.
5) Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, & Savio Vega defeated Hakushi (w/ Shinja), WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Yokozuna (w/ Jim Cornette) when Savio pinned Hakushi with a clothesline at 11:35
Get a load of this weird Coliseum Video exclusive! I love strange Coliseum matches like this and I wish there was more of them from this era. The match was kind of all over the place, but was so much fun to watch. The ending was a clusterfuck, and Savio just beats Hakushi with a clothesline, which seemed so cheap. Still, loved seeing this wacky six man tag!
the RepoDan Wrestling Institution 