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2015 Scott Sez: In Your House / Beware of Dog II

- Okay, this is the semi-famous Beware of Dog PPV, famous not because of anything that happened in the ring, but rather because storms in South Carolina blew out the transmission satellite feed and left the arena in darkness for the better part of an hour. In order to make up for this WCW-like snafu, the WWF offered a makeup show on the following Tuesday in the replay slot, called Beware of Dog II, where they'd redo the matches missed by the outage. That's the show I'm reviewing here, as it was a spliced-together combination of the two matches from the first show and the three from the second. (That’s also the show that is featured on the Network, as it is now considered the “official” version of the show.  Holy shit was I pissed at this show back in the day, and Shaw Cable actually refunded the PPV for me and gave me the makeup show for free!) 

- Live from Florence, South Carolina / Charleston, South Carolina.

- Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler / Jim Ross & Mr. Perfect.

- Free 4 All Match, WWF tag team title: The Godwinns v. The Smoking Gunns.

This was taped at the first show. Sunny has her wagon hitched to the Godwinns, who upset the Bodydonnas to win their first tag title a week prior to this. Bart overpowers PIG, but they mess up a double-reverse spot and Billy comes in to work the arm. HOG comes in to break it up, but gets armbarred as well. Bart & HOG exchange wristlocks, and HOG clotheslines him for two. PIG stays on the arm, but now the Gunns work on HIS arm. That goes on for a while, until Sunny jumps onto the apron and gets kissed by Billy. I guess she must have been looking like Chuck Palumbo that night. (Well NOW she does…) PIG is so distracted by this that Bart is able to suplex him for the pin and the titles at 4:53. If you like armbars, this is YOUR match! DUD Billy's post-match interview sets up the Gunns' heel turn and Billy's eventual solo run.  (And wasn’t the world waiting for THAT)

- Onto the PPV.

- Opening match, Wildman Marc Mero v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

(Remember, you always have to say it like Vince, always as one word:  WILDMANMARCMERO!) Mero attacks and they chase, allowing Hunter to gain control. Mero slugs him out of the ring and follows with a dive over the top, then gets a slingshot legdrop for two. Hunter goes to the eyes, but gets KO'd for two. Mero charges and hits the post, however, hurting his shoulder in the process. Hunter gives him another trip to the post for good measure, and then goes to work. Armbar takedown and he stomps away on the shoulder. He pounds away in the corner viciously, and gets a high knee for two. Back to the shoulder, as he surfboards the arm, but Mero cradles for two. Hunter nails the shoulder again and posts the arm, however. Back in, he works the arm using the ropes and stomps a mudhole on the shoulder. To the turnbuckle, and into a cross-armbreaker, but Mero blocks it. Vince is totally out of his league calling this stuff, and I think he knew it. That's one thing about Vince; once he realized that a new style of UFC stuff was being worked into the matches, I think he knew enough to get out of commentating in favor of JR. (I wish he’d have the same realization about booking these days.)  Mero can't make it to the ropes, so Hunter starts cranking on the armbreaker and gets two before Mero makes it. Hunter kneedrops the shoulder, but Mero fights back. Hunter keeps yanking on the arm, however, and bars it with his own knee. Kind of a spinning toehold on the arm. Back to the turnbuckle, but Mero gets a fluke rollup for two. Hunter nails him from behind for two. Hunter stomps the shoulder again and snaps the arm off the top rope. He goes up and nails the arm coming down, and then goes to another armbar, using the top rope for leverage. Attaboy. Hammerlock slam and Hunter goes up again, but Mero crotches him and gets a top rope rana, making sure to sell the arm injury the whole time. Both guys are out, but Mero comes back with a flying headscissors and a kneelift. Backdrop and he's fired up. He goes up with a sunset flip for two. Dropkick puts Hunter on the floor, but he misses a plancha and blows out his knee. Back in, Hunter goes for the Pedigree, but Sable doesn't want to watch, and Hunter wants her to. So he yells at her until she gets in position to watch, goes for the Pedigree again, and Mero reverses to a catapult into the ringpost and falls on top at 16:22. Good finish, great match, as Mero keeps selling the arm the whole time. ****  (I don’t think it holds up that great, actually, and it’s probably more like *** or so.) 

- Meanwhile, Camp Cornette prepares to "drop the bomb" on Michaels later tonight, and Owen Hart gets a manager's license for one night only.  (Judging by the attendance, the only bomb was this show.  HEY-YO!) 

- Okay, here the power goes out. The show actually continued live in the arena in the dark, with all the babyfaces going over. If you want the full experience of watching the show live, turn off your monitor here and leave for an hour, then come back. I'll wait.

- Welcome back!

- WWF title match: Shawn Michaels v. The British Bulldog.

The "bomb" is Clarence Mason announcing a lawsuit for "attempted alienation of affection" on behalf of Diana Smith. As you might surmise, this angle went NOWHERE. In fact, according to Diana's glorified roll of toilet paper "Under the Mat", she was supposed to have seduced Shawn but had her advances spurned and sent Davey after him. (That’s kind of insulting to toilet paper.)  That's actually not a bad storyline, unlike this one, which IS a bad storyline. Bulldog attacks Shawn and he comes back with an armdrag and goes for the superkick quickly. Bulldog bails, but Shawn follows with a pescado. Back in, Shawn grabs a headlock and hangs on for two. Rollup is blocked and Bulldog catches a bearhug. Shawn escapes, and gets a rollup for two. Enzuigiri gets two. Shawn goes to an armbar and short-arm scissors for two. Bulldog powers out and stomps away. Hairtoss, and Bulldog hits the chinlock. It goes into a body vice and and a samoan drop. Legdrop gets two for Bulldog, and back to the chinlock as Vince points out that Shawn has never submitted or surrendered in any form. Unless of course you count Survivor Series 92, where he submitted to Bret Hart. Okay, now it's about 10 minutes into the match, and while they're doing this chinlock Earl Hebner quite clearly tells Shawn to go home, and Shawn equally clearly starts arguing like a 12-year old, nearly throwing a tantrum while supposedly incapacitated on camera. (Yeah, this was not a great time for Shawn’s maturity levels.)  It's quite blatant if you know what to look for. Shawn fights back and was supposed to take a kneelift from Davey on a criss-cross, but deliberately avoids Smith and misses by a foot, but sells it and takes a dramatic bump out of the ring anyway. They can't even find a replay to show that would explain the bump, and Vince & Jerry are totally at a loss to justify Shawn's behavior. Back in, Shawn slingshots in with a clothesline that again misses by a mile, and both are out. Another collision, both out again. Shawn makes the big comeback and goes up, and gets a double axehandle for two. Ref is bumped and Shawn gets the flying elbow, but Owen comes in and gets taken out by Shawn. Bulldog stomps Shawn as another ref comes in. Powerslam is reversed to a german suplex by Shawn, but both shoulders are down as both refs count the pin at 17:19. A big argument ensues, but tie goes to the champion so Shawn retains pending a rematch. Shawn's childish reaction to having the match shortened from 30 minutes to 18 minutes aside, the match was actually quite good for what it was, especially considering most guys today would kill to get 18 minutes. ***1/4  (Yeah, 18 minutes for a MAIN EVENT is considered pretty epic now.) 

- Okay, now we go live to the Tuesday show.

- Strap match: Steve Austin v. Savio Vega.

If Austin loses, Dibiase joins the nWo. (WCW was offering a ton of money when his contract expired, and Lloyds of London paid him a giant amount of money for his career-ending neck injury at this point, so he was doing pretty well for himself.  About two years after this I got to meet him at a local church where he was giving a talk and he was a really awesome guy and very forthcoming about everything in his career to that point.)  Austin bails to start, but can't go anywhere. Austin pounds away but gets backdropped and bails again. Savio uses the strap to yank him into the apron, and then follows him out and pounds away with the strap. Back in, more vicious strappings follow, and Austin bails over the top. Savio fires down with the strap and suplexes him back in. A superkick from Vega allows him to touch three, but Austin goes low. He starts in with the stiff shots from strap, but Savio takes him down and they scuffle. They head out and Savio chops away, but gets sent to the apron. Austin chokes him over the top and suplexes him back in. Austin drags him around for two, but Savio uses the leverage of the strap to whip Austin around the ring and into the turnbuckle. That's some pretty wicked psychology, by playing up on Savio's knowledge of using the strap and making it mean something in the match. Savio gets a clothesline with the strap, but Austin dumps him. However, it backfires as the strap is too short and takes Austin with Savio. Savio suplexes him on the floor and keeps strapping him, but Austin comes off the stairs.and gets nailed. Back in, Savio hogties him and drags him to two corners, but Austin legsweeps him down and gives him the leather. Savio comes back with a superplex attempt, but Austin headbutts to block. Savio crotches him and gets that superplex after all. Savio touches three, but Austin gets a wicked spear to stop the fourth. Austin chokes him in the ropes and in the corner, then stomps him down. Austin touches three, but then hesitates for some reason and allows Savio to poke him in the eyes. Hmm. Tombstone reversal sequence leads to Savio tumbling over the top, but when Austin leans over to suplex him in, Savio kicks him in the head. Austin recovers and goes to the top, but Savio redirects him on the way down using the strap and Austin meets the railing facefirst. He sends Savio into the stairs, however. Back in, Savio fireman's carries Austin around, touching two before Austin uses Savio's pants to block. Austin piledriver looks to finish, but Dibiase wants another one for some reason. Austin obliges, but Savio reverses. Austin goes to the Million Dollar Dream, but Savio manages to touch two while fighting out of it, and then pushes off the corner to break. Austin stunguns him and chokes him down with the strap, then drags him around the ring. However, Savio sneaks in to touch each corner after Austin, and when they get to the fourth they fight over the strap until Austin "accidentally" pulls Savio right into the corner at 21:22. The finish actually works once it was revealed that Austin deliberately threw the match to get rid of Dibiase. (I am aghast at a pro wrestler possibly fixing the result of a match!)  And the match was incredibly stiff and featured neat stuff you don't normally see in strap matches, plus terrific psychology. Definitely an unappreciated classic, much like most of Austin's early WWF stuff. ****1/4  (Yeah, this match ruled and might be the only worthwhile thing Savio Vega accomplished in his run.  I know the Death Valley Driver guys were all about his Boriquas stuff, but….meh.) 

- Yokozuna v. Vader.

This was pretty much the last gasp for Yoko's babyface run, before leaving the promotion later in the year. Slugfest to start, won by Yoko. Stalling follows. They do a sumo challenge, but Vader chickens out and stalls. Again, and Vader balks again. Finally they go ahead with it, and Yoko wins easily and Vader bails. Back in, Vader wins a slugfest but gets taken down and bails. Back in, he slugs away again, gets taken down again, and bails again. They slug it out, and Yoko gets a Rock Bottom and avalanche, into a samoan drop. On the samoan drop, you can actually see Vader doing it all himself. Yoko goes for the Banzai drop, but stops to beat up Jim Cornette. When he goes for a Banzai on him, however, Vader drags Cornette out of the way, and it misses. Vader splashes Yoko for the pin at 8:55. This was like watching the main event of a show from England in the 80s. ½*

- Intercontinental title, casket match: Goldust v. The Undertaker.

(Having watched all the RAW shows leading up to this, I still have no idea why they were even wrestling each other.)  Taker attacks, and Goldust bails. Back in, he hammers away, but gets tossed around by Taker. Clothesline and Taker tosses him, but the lid is closed and he lands on top. They brawl outside, and Goldust eats stairs and has casket for dessert. Back in, Taker legdrops him and they slug it out. Taker gets the ROPEWALK OF DOOM and chokes away. Goldust slams him, no-sold. Tombstone by Goldust, no-sold. He gets a seated clothesline and rolls Taker towards the casket, but can't shut the lid. Aker gets a big boot, but gets dumped. They brawl outside, and Goldust takes over in the ring. Taker keeps fighting back, but Goldust gets a sleeper. Into the casket, but again the lid won't shut. Back in, Taker gets the flying clothesline and dumps Goldust. Chairshot is blocked and they head back in, where Goldust gets a powerslam and goes up. Flying clothesline, but he goes for a cover for some reason. Taker fights back and slams him off the top, then tombstones him. Into the casket.but Mankind pops up and puts him out with the Mandible Claw and into the casket at 12:36. I'm amazed two human beings can put on matches this boring on a regular basis. ** (And both still active!  Sort of.) 

The Bottom Line: The two matches from the original show are both great, and the strap match from the second show is even BETTER, so call this thing an easy thumbs up. I'm not sure if it was ever put on video, but definitely check out the strap match if you can find it somewhere. (Like the WWE Network, free for the month of April!) 

Strongly recommended.

Comments

  1. Yeah but of Diana hits on Shawn what would people at the IGA think of Stu?

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  2. can anyone confirm if Mero/Helmsly holds up?

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  3. I think ****1/4 is actually short changing that strap match but some people (not necessarily Scott) are afraid to give a high ranking to a Savio match so I understand.

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  4. Personally I didn't like it, but I can say both guys did work hard to try and have a great match, but the match was pretty boring in parts and HHH's offense was just way too vanilla around this time.

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  5. Sadly, the line about lightening hitting Jerry's crown was removed from Dog II.

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  6. You know, we always give Vince crap for horrible puns and stuff like that but come on, PIG and HOG? That's actually somewhat humorous looking back on it.

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  7. I've heard Goldust had a run of house shows with Shawn and the matches were great. Seems to me that would have been the natural way to go given what Goldust was at the time. Any reason why that didn't happen or if it was even supposed to happen?

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  8. AverageJoeEverymanApril 13, 2015 at 8:24 PM

    And kinda subtle as I don't remember it being mentioned every match they had. But I could be wrong.

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  9. AverageJoeEverymanApril 13, 2015 at 8:26 PM

    Savio was also the super special secret partner for DX and the Outlaws at IYH No Way Out in the 5 on 5 tag.

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  10. I agree 1000% that a Goldust/Shawn Michaels feud makes too much sense to have not happened (let's see, Goldust is gay and Shawn is a "Boy Toy," the feud writes itself). But they severely toned down Goldust's gimmck, and I I guess they never got around to doing the feud on TV?

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  11. Yeah, I don't remember it being beat over our heads either.

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  12. Knowing what a dud Vader turned into - Shawn/Goldust may have been better for Summerslam

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  13. Shawn/Goldust did happen on Raw Championship Friday.

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  14. I don't think Shawn had a bad match in 1996

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  15. Shawn admitted that as champion he thought he would have to go above and beyond in every single match. But its funny that his temper tantrums are almost legendary.

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  16. Goldust is both the only guy to have a successful televised defense of the IC title against Ultimate Warrior, and the only IC champion to go over in an IC main event title defense on PPV. Greatest IC reign of all time?

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  17. I still enjoy HHH/Mero. **** sounds about right and its kind of a forgotten classic overshadowed by the strap match. Shame injuries derailed Meros career. He could go and his douchebag husband character was awesome.

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  18. I really like that match

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  19. Austin talks about it on his podcast, that Goldust was rolling and tearing it down but his pushed was stopped. I think he asks Russo about it and he said it was due to the backlash Vince got from the character.

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  20. I can see why they wanted Bulldog to make it as a main evented - he had the look and could go with the right opponent. He just didn't have it though, never did take him seriously above the Midcard.

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  21. He looks miserable, too. Some of his promos you can tell he's just dying to be the DX Shawn we got the next year.

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  22. Maybe that's why it was so awesome not much of a stretch for him.

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  23. ppv in Florence, South Carolina. All you need to say

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  24. Giving him meaningless wins over geeks and DQ finishes over a washed up Jake the Snake didn't help.

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  25. Kinda like the fact that the dad on Family Matters had the name Carl Otis Winslow.

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  26. warrior successfully defended his ic title at the main event of wrestlemania

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  27. lol, I actually put that in my post but then edited it out. But yep. Carl was C.O.W.

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  28. Triple H also successfully defended the IC title in the main event at Backlash in 2001.

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  29. shawn michaels successfully defended his ic title in the all the titles match on the line match at iyh (w diesel vs bulldog/yoko)

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  30. It's there. Vince and Lawler are shown on camera during Bulldog's entrance, and Lawler says his crown took a direct hit.

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  31. I like Austin pelting Billy with the trash can lid.

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  32. Almost 20 years later, it's bonkers to me that the angle was supposed to be Diana seducing Shawn, Shawn getting sued over it...for some reason, and Davey Boy wants to beat the shit out of Shawn for rejecting his wife that was trying to cheat on him.

    Holy fuck, wrestling is weird.

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  33. The big tantrum wasn't because of the match being cut, but because Shawn and Bulldog weren't told until that chinlock that this match was going out live coast-to-coast and wasn't just for the live attendees. Shawn and Davey had been under the impression that they'd be re-doing their match in Charleston as well, so they set their workrate levels accordingly.

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  34. Well I think Diana comes on Shawn, he turns him down so she claims he came onto her and sends her jealous husband after him. But they really didn't explain it much other than her accusing him and I guess we're all supposed to know it was a lie and read between the lines.

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  35. Think they were going for a Disclosure type thing (was that book or movie out yet?), with Davey Boy believing Diana and Cornette's story.

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  36. I thought him and Sable had a very amicable splitting

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  37. That's the impression I've gotten. Mero could be pious and sanctimonious but he's never struck me as a bad guy at all.

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  38. He said in his book there was a loud fan heckling him on top of everything else so he snapped. I think he visibly shouts at her during a rest hold.

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  39. They had a really good ladder match at CNE Stadium in Toronto that's out on handheld. It's not a blowaway great bout like the WM/SummerSlam ladder matches but it's really good and the baseline for what could have been a hell of a show on PPV.

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  40. Theberzerker, #1 HUSS CHOMPIONApril 13, 2015 at 9:36 PM

    Yeah, you can hear her & then see Davey Boy yell back at her to shut up during that point in the match. Watch it again it's as clear as day.

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  41. Gotta say that while he was rarely put in position to have good matches and had a pretty lame and generic character, Savio has looked really, really solid every time I've seen him in '96. He was a good worker in a poor role. Glad to see to some love for the strap match--I thought it was terrific and helped by a fantastic Jim Ross call as well.

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  42. Book came out in '93 and the movie was out in '94 so it's unlikely Vince saw it by May '96.

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  43. I recall Henry O. Godwinn being referred to as "HOG man" many times on commentary, but I don't recall the same being done for Phineas (maybe "Phineas I." but never "PIG man"). I don't care enough to watch another Godwinn match to confirm however....

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  44. yeah i can tell shawn puts his hand up in frustration like "well what are we going to do you guys didn't tell us and we put this on"

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  45. on top of that clearly the match wasn't being cut short as they went on for a while longer

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  46. yeah the idea was diana was setting up shawn. British bulldog believed her

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  47. She came on Shawn? Maybe during the attitude era. ..

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  48. Sable's rise doesn't start off quite so meteoric if she doesn't have an asshole partner to play off of and Mero played his part perfectly. He was quietly one of the best heels of that year.

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  49. I was surprised to hear him say in his shoot interview that he and Sable were still together up until Sable returned to the WWE in 2003 and 'allegedly' had the affair with Brock Lesnar. For some reason I was under the impression that they split just after he left WWE in late 98. Although Mero did say that they both went their separate ways not long after she returned to WWE and didn't have a bad word to say about her.

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  51. because as HartKiller pointed it, that wasn't what happened in that angle.

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  52. AverageJoeEverymanApril 14, 2015 at 6:26 AM

    Austin's throwing of the trash can from the apron and perfectly nailing Billy Gunn in the face is incredible.

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  53. I'm pretty sure he killed what was left of his own career to support her vs Vince, so when he went back I wasn't surprised they separated soon after.

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  54. It could be argued he killed his career when he allowed Sable to powerbomb him.

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  55. I checked this out on the Network last night to see where he threw his tantrum that Scott described - you see for a quick second but they pretty clearly edited it out.

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  56. The Marvelous Marc character was great at a time where the midcard wasn't that deep, too bad his knee injury was so devastating.

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  57. I ordered this show back in the day, but for the life of me I don't know why. I think my brother's college graduation party was going on, so maybe it was something for me and my friends to do. I think I worked the night of part 2 as well.

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  58. Cornette, Russo, or Prichard may have known about it, though. The controversial subject matter of the book was a mainstream news story at the time.

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  59. God what a hell hole that place is. Used to have to go there several times a week for work.

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  60. Even WCW knew to only put a Nitro or Thunder there.

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  61. They sure did. I remember going to one they headlined in 96 when I was a kid.

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  62. not the last time Shawn Michaels throws a tantrum in the middle of a ppv main event that fans paid to see... but Shawn is all about Shawn, and didn't care... what a "legend"

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  63. yeah except the camera crew was filming Shawn leaving his locker room and everyone backstage was celebrating the feed being restored... Shawn reinventing the past to cover him being an unprofessional prick

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