INSIDE THE WWF

August 5, 2004
Louis Izzo

- WWF COLISEUM VIDEO PRESENTS...INSIDE THE WWF!!!

Released sometime between the 1994 Royal Rumble and WrestleMania X, this Coliseum Video highlights the WWF superstars in some of the "Greatest" matches of all time. Gorilla Monsoon is the host of the tape, and it's from the studio of All-American Wrestling, when it was dying a slow death before becoming the Action Zone. He promises us backstage footage that we wouldn't see anywhere else, which includes seeing Bret Hart practically naked except for wearing a towel. AH! Also we will have a tour of Titan Towers with the man, the myth, the legend...Johnny Polo! All this and more on Inside the WWF!

- The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Crush (w/ Mr. Fuji):
Well, this completely contradicts the greatest matches statement. Crush is in Evil Foreigner from Hawaii mode, and this was taped on November 30th, 1993 for Wrestling Challenge. Johnny Polo calls Taker "The Underwear Taker" for most of the match, annoying Gorilla Monsoon. Both men go face-to-face and Crush backs off, only to sneak attack Taker with some weak rights and a headbutt. Irish whip and Undertaker connects with a DDT. Undertaker misses the jumping elbow drop and is clotheslined outside the ring landing in front of Fuji. Undertaker drops Crush's neck across the top rope and heads back into the ring. Undertaker wrings the arm and heads upstairs and connects with the clothesline across the back of the neck. Undertaker connects with a clothesline, but a second one is badly missed. Crush with a reverse crescent kick and Polo asks what’s the difference between a reverse thrust kick and reverse crescent kick, shutting Monsoon up. Crush rams Undertakers head into the steel rail and smacks him across the back with a heavily padded chair. As usual, the two have a discussion if Bill Alfonso or Joey Marella is the worst referee, for the obvious reasons. Back inside and Crush with a series of "karate" kicks to the midsection and back of the head. Undertaker fights back but Crush rakes the eyes and rams his head into the buckle, which is no-sold. Undertaker chokes Crush in the corner, or in Polo language "Goozle him". Whip to the corner and Crush comes right back with a back elbow followed by a back breaker. Crush with a gorilla press slam on Taker including a series of reps. Atomic leg drop connects but Crush poses instead of covering Taker. Taker comes back with a series of blows and nails the flying clothesline. Irish whip again and Crush catches Taker with a tombstone set up, but Undertaker reverses it and plants Crush with it instead for the three count at 7:02. *1/2 Overall a decent match, but nothing to write home about. Paul Bearer holds Undertaker back from further beating on Crush.

- We go to another segment of Inside Look, with Shawn Michaels & Diesel. They apparently are scouting a Tatanka/Yokozuna match before Michaels notices the cameraman spying on them and has Diesel chase him off. Well that was pointless.

- Marty Jannetty & Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels & Diesel:
Taped on July 27th, 1993 from Plattsburgh, NY for another Wrestling Challenge taping. Jannetty & Michaels start the match out it seems, and its more than obvious Michaels was adding on a little weight, especially since his tights are almost up to his chest. Lockup and Jannetty with an arm drag takedown, so Michaels calls him out on a hair pull. Lockup again and once more Jannetty with an arm drag. Oddly, Jannetty & Ramon have on Red, White, and Blue wrist bands, and in Jannetty's case, wrapped around his bicep. Diesel tags in so Michaels has a conference with Ramon. Diesel pie-faces Jannetty on a lockup attempt. This is fairly early match for Diesel in WWF, as he only had been around for a few weeks at the time. Lockup try again and again Diesel shoves Jannetty in the face. Jannetty with a go behind but Diesel throws Jannetty off by the hair. Crowd chants Razor, so Ramon tags in to battle the big man. Lockup and Diesel with a knee to the midsection followed by an elbow across the head. Ramon is rammed into the turnbuckle and Michaels comes in from the top rope, but Ramon catches him and tags Jannetty in who nails him with a clothesline off the top rope out of Ramon’s arms for two. Side headlock takeover by Jannetty gets two again. Michaels whips Jannetty off and a crisscross leads to Jannetty nailing Michaels with a roundhouse right followed by a side headlock takeover for two again. Michaels back to his feet again and we get a Marty chant. Irish whip and Jannetty reverses a slam and whips Michaels to the ropes leading to a crisscross and Diesel pulling Jannetty down by the hair. Diesel back in with an awesome gut-wrench slam and again Michaels in to hammer away on the fallen Michaels. Diesel tags right back in and scoops up Jannetty for a back breaker followed by the back breaker submission across the knee. Irish whip and Diesel catches Jannetty with a Bear-Hug. Jannetty eventually breaks free leading to another crisscross, but Diesel catches him with a big boot right to the face. Michaels tags back in to pummel Jannetty. Irish whip and Jannetty catches Michaels with a face slam into the canvas. Diesel tags back in and prevents Jannetty from tagging. Whip to the corner, but Jannetty dodges. Michaels tags back in and whips Jannetty to the corner but eats a back elbow and Jannetty comes off the top rope with a bulldog headlock, putting both men down for the count. Ramon gets the HOT tag and hammers away on Michaels with rights. Irish whip and Ramon catches HBK with the fall-away slam. Diesel comes in and eats a right. Jannetty connects with a dropkick and Ramon clotheslines him out of the ring. Jannetty catches Michaels with a super kick and Ramon catches him with a chokeslam/rock bottom type slam for three at 11:32! **3/4 A Pretty good match, as expected, but the mid-match bear-hug hurt the match, although the final few minutes were very hot and was kept action packed.

- Time for the WWF Studio Tour with Johnny Polo, who badmouths the van driver...who is smiling the whole time. God, why not get GOOD extras. Polo pulls out his card key, but it doesn't work, until someone opens the door for him and tells the camera man it's not Polo's and was reported stolen, but Polo says he was borrowing it. Polo wants to know if he has any mail but the woman says no. Polo shows us great stuff like a plant and typewriter. Polo tries entering a restricted area, but can't open the door so he picks the lock. Come back later for more!

- Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (w/ Luna Vachon):
Tatanka scares Bigelow out of the ring with his tomahawk, so he nails Bigelow with a suicide dive and hammers away on him. Back into the ring they go so Bigelow stomps away on the Native American. Johnny Polo chants "Hey-How-Are-You" over and over, forcing a Will You Stop from Monsoon. Irish whip by Bigelow and he puts Tatanka down with a shoulder block. Bigelow with an Irish whip again and another shoulder block. Bigelow continues hammering on Tatanka but is staggered with a shoulder block and dropkick. Tatanka off the ropes with a cross body press for two. Tatanka chops away at the giant Bigelow and whips him to the corner, but Bigelow reverses. Tatanka catches Bigelow with a back elbow followed by a series of clotheslines, putting Bigelow down after three for two. Johnny makes fun of Tatanka's hair and says he has to be politically correct when he called Tatanka an Indian. Tatanka catches Bigelow with a high impact DDT and goes to the top rope but he misses a cross body. Bigelow connects with several headbutts to the shoulder of Tatanka for a two count. Tatanka tries fighting back but Bigelow puts him back down with a dropkick. Polo says when Ed "The strangler" Lewis was a kid, he'd carry around Gorilla Monsoons bags and then asks if he was growing up in the 1920's. Bigelow dumps Tatanka outside and Luna plants a kick right in his ass. Bigelow comes out to retrieve Tatanka and throws him into the steel steps. Tatanka back in and Bigelow misses a charge to the corner. Tatanka chops away at Bigelow but Bigelow connects with some sort of dropkick to stop the momentum. Irish whip to the corner and Bigelow actually hits the splash in the corner. Polo gloats about beating Marty Jannetty on Monday Night Raw while Tatanka attempts a sunset flip, only for Bigelow to sit down on his chest. Bigelow stomps away at Tatanka some more and puts him down with a Snuka-ish diving jumping headbutt for two. Bigelow applies a reverse chin lock and right now this match is really starting to drag, but Polo is still being entertaining. Tatanka starts do the dance of the Indians and no-sells Bigelow’s offense, but an enzuiguri stops him...for a few seconds. Bigelow does a mock dance but Tatanka catches him with a chop to the top of the head. Bigelow is sent to the outside where Tatanka follows and chops him some more. They brawl some more and Tatanka with the Wig-Wom Bomb (Samoan Drop)!! Tatanka heads back in the ring to win the match via count-out at 12:50. After the match Bigelow gets some revenge with a beatdown. He attempts to cut some hair, but referee's stop him and Tatanka fights him off. 3/4* Way too long for the finish they went with. I don't remember this feud ever ending until several months after the fact at the 1994 Royal Rumble.

- Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Adam Bomb (w/ Johnny Polo):
Taped from Grand Rapids, MI on August 31st, 1993. Hopefully this match will be good, but really, Adam Bomb isn't that good of a worker and Bret usually has trouble carrying him. Lockup and Bomb shoves Bret into the ropes. Lockup again and Bret with a go-behind, only for Bomb to pry Hart's hand apart to break it. Bret with a standing side headlock so Bomb releases with an Irish whip and puts Bret down with a shoulder block. Bomb with a series of forearms across the head followed by a snap mare and shoulder block. Crisscross leads to Bret catching Bomb with a series of arm drags followed by a clothesline sending Bomb over the top rope, to the floor. Bomb drags Bret outside the ring and hammers away on him fore forearms. Bomb accidentally punches the ring post and Bret comes back with a headbutt. Back into the ring and Bret stomps the hand of Bomb that hit the post. Wrist-lock by Hart and he turns it into an arm bar. Irish whip by Bomb and he catches Bret off the ropes with a powerslam. Bomb shoves Hart into the corner and stomps away at him in the midsection. Whip to the corner and Bret with the over-sell of course. Bomb rams Bret's head into the turnbuckle and pulls the face of Bret. Irish whip to the corner again followed by a choke across the top rope for a two count. Irish whip and Bomb catches Bret with a back elbow. Irish whip again and Bret comes back with a sunset flip for two. Bomb with a boot to the midsection of Hart followed by a big side suplex for two. Bomb applies a reverse chin lock and makes scary faces at the camera. Very intimidating from a man with those wacky contact lens. Bret battles back to his feet but Bomb powers him back to the canvas. Bret battles out of the headlock but has the eyes raked. Bomb continues the beating, stomping away at the midsection of Hart. Irish whip to the corner again but this time Bret catches him with a boot to the face followed by a second rope bulldog for two. Inverted atomic drop by Hart and he connects with a hart attack clothesline for another two count. Bret hammers away on Bomb and connects with the side Russian leg sweep for two. Bret to the second rope and he comes off missing an elbow drop. Bomb with a choke lift and he goes to the top rope himself now. Bret jumps up and slams Bomb off the top rope and quickly applies the Sharpshooter, which is good enough for the submission victory at 11:38. * Goes in the same category as the previous match, going way too long when they could have had a quicker, better match. Bret sure was dogging this one...

- More Johnny Polo with the tour. We see the Mechanical Room, filled with...Mechanical stuff. Polo takes us into the video library of the WWF, which is some-place I'd like to work, watching the stuff all the time. The video storing guy rambles so Johnny Polo ditches him and closes him in...to a very loud scream, causing Polo to run. Polo runs in on people in a control room, and notices a couch, saying if he wasn't in there they'd be sleeping. More later on I guess.

- "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Doink The Clown:
Taped from Columbus, OH, home of the late great Frankie Williams, on June 14th, 1993, the night after King Of The Ring. Savage grabs the STICK~! and gives us an "Ooh Yeah!". Both men have to be held back from sneak attacking so Savage spits at Doink. Lockup and Savage ducks a cheap shot. Savage attacks Doink from behind with a double axe-handle and rams Doink into the buckle, sending him outside. Savage holds the ropes open for Doink to come back in, but no go. Lockup and Savage with a knee to the midsection. Irish whip is reversed to the corner but Doink misses an elbow and heads outside again. Back in the ring and they lockup, and we get a Sky Low Low reference as both men trade rights. Irish whip and Savage with a back body drop to send Doink outside again. Savage follows and rams Doink into the steel steps. Savage pulls Doink back outside but is thrown into the steel steps by the evil clown. Doink rams Savage into the steps as Polo is wondering why Mike McGuirk has a man’s name. Doink comes off the apron with a double axe-handle across the back. Doink continues hammering on Savage while Polo gloats about being undefeated at 2-0. Doink chokes Savage with his boot as the crowd chants Macho Man. Doink with a boot to the face sends Savage off the apron and to the floor. Savage with a series of blows to the midsection but Doink rakes the eyes and chops him in the corner. Doink unloads with lefts and rights and Savage comes back with rights of his own. Savage to the top rope but Doink catches him with a fist to the midsection on an axe-handle attempt. Scoop slam by Doink and he goes to the top rope. Savage rolls out of the way of the Whoopee Cushion and nails a clothesline to send Doink over and out of the ring. Savage comes off the top rope with a double axe-handle, and we get the old Doink switch-a-roo. Savage & Doink #2 brawl until Doink #1 holds onto Savages leg from under the ring, causing him to be counted out at 9:17. WAIT! Savage chases off Doink #2 and shows the referee there’s another Doink under the ring, and pulls him out. The referee reverses the decision and Savage is the REAL winner of the match. *1/2 Too much stalling in the beginning of the match didn't help this one from falling into the OK folder.

- WWF-Intercontinental Championship Match:
Razor Ramon (c) vs. Ludvig Borga:
Taped from Lowell, MA on December 14th, 1993 for a Superstars taping. Unique match, seeing as Ramon was feuding with I.R.S and Borga was feuding with Luger at the time. Borga's always been one of my favorite "crap" gimmicks from 1993, so I expect myself to be a little biased here. I never noticed before, but it appears Borga's legs were weirdly bent around the calves/knee. We get some trash talking and a shove from Ramon. Lockup and Borga shoves Ramon over the top rope to the floor. Lockup again and Borga shoves Ramon down across the ring this time. Another lockup and Borga with a blow to the midsection followed by a choke lift. Borga with a standing side headlock and Ramon hammers the back. Irish whip by Ramon and Borga puts him back down with a shoulder block. Borga calls for a test-of-strength and obviously wins it. Ramon tries fighting back up but is put back down with a knee to the midsection. Ramon fights back again and breaks the hold with a northern lights suplex followed by a clothesline, forcing Borga to recover outside the ring. Borga with a shot to the midsection again and tries suplexing Ramon to the outside, but Ramon blocks and suplexes Borga back in hard for a two count. Borga continues hammering on Ramon and puts him down with a blow to the back of the neck. Irish whip to the corner and Borga puts him down with a clothesline. Borga scoops Ramon off the canvas and connects with a headbutt. Ramon bounces back with roundhouse rights but is caught with a scoop slam. Borga off the ropes and he nails a twisting elbow drop. Borga off the ropes again but he misses the elbow drop this time. Ramon with a boot to the midsection followed by rights. Irish whip and Borga nails a diving clothesline. Borga to the top rope and he connects with another clothesline for THREE at 6:58?! Ramon's leg was on the ropes though, so the match is restarted. I was about to say what the hell. Borga with a side suplex in the middle of the ring for a two count. Borga with an irish whip across the ring but he misses a splash and Ramon with a big back suplex for two. Ramon ducks a clothesline and plants Borga on the top turnbuckle. Ramon follows and connects with another back suplex off the top rope this time. Ramon signals for the end and goes for the Razors Edge, but Borgas feet hit the referee on the way up. Ramon tries again,and this time Michaels runs in and smashes HIS Intercontinental Title across the back of Ramon, and everyone is down. Michaels left the title in the ring though. Borga crawls over for the cover as the referee comes to. Borga with one arm across the chest and the referee counts three AGAIN at 10:05, and Borga is AGAIN the New Intercontinental Champion! BUT WAIT! Another referee comes out and tells Hebner about what happened and shows him that the REAL Intercontinental Title is still at ringside, so the decision is REVERSED, giving Ramon the cheap win. Borga comes in to attack but Ramon fights him off and takes possession of both titles. **1/4 Oddly one of the better Borga matches I've seen, as he usually stuck to just punching opponents. Both men actually put in some wrestling in here and made it a decent match, but TWO Dusty Finishes in one match doesn't set well with me.

- More with Johnny Polo, and this time we walk into a studio that’s filming Lord Alfred Hayes talk about some crap. Polo makes fun of what he talks about and then insults his sneakers. Hayes says he was out jogging with Clinton, and Polo wisely calls him out on bullshit. Hayes gets pissed off so he has security take Polo out of the studio.

- WWF-Intercontinental Championship Match:
Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Diesel) vs. Lex Luger:
Oddly, this was taped BEFORE the previous match by about three months, so the order of the matches is a little weird. Taped from the same arena as the previous Bret/Bomb match. Lockup and Luger with the shove into the corner and some gloating. Lockup again and Luger applies a standing side headlock. Michaels tries breaking free with a hammerlock but Luger keeps the hold on and jerks Michaels around. Michaels hammers the midsection of Luger but is sent down and out with a MIGHTY shoulder block! Michaels back in with a wrist lock but Luger reverses it into an arm bar. Michaels hammers Luger with forearms and whips him to the ropes. Michaels tries a slam but can't so Luger scoops him up for a slam of his own. Luger watches out for Diesel so Michaels jumps him from behind and hammers away on him with axe-handles and rams his back into the ring apron. Back in the ring and Michaels continues pounding on Luger. HBK to the top rope for another double axe-handle for a two count. Irish whip and Michaels connects with a diving back elbow for another two count. Reverse chin lock applied by Michaels and thankfully it kills some time. Luger with a series of elbows to the midsection but he runs right into a super kick for a two count. Michaels goes for a piledriver but Luger back drops Michaels off of him. Irish whip to the corner by HBK but he runs into a big boot and runs shoulder first into the post. Luger kills Michaels with a clothesline followed by a back elbow. Irish whip again and Luger with a powerslam for a two count. Irish whip to the corner and Michaels gets hung up and kicked into the midsection several times sending Michaels to the floor. Michaels grabs the title belt and walks off, giving Luger the win via count-out at 9:05. Diesel comes in and takes a bearing from Luger and Luger KO's him with the loaded forearm of doom. 1/2* Pretty bad match and all punch/kick with a bunch of rest-holds. This wins worst match of the tape by a bare margin. So Luger wins a World Title Match on 8/30/93 (SSlam) via count-out, and wins an IC Title Match via count out the next day. What a loser.

- Johnny Polo in the master controls studio, and he slides across the ring on a chair...crashing off screen. We get a bunch of video s shown and Polo screams in some dorks ear, who looks like he's taking it in the mouth. This continues on for a few moments longer until we head into the final match.

- WWF-World Championship; Steel Cage Match:
Yokozuna (c) (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Bret "Hitman" Hart:
Final Match and it was taped on December 15th, 1993 from Augusta, ME. Bret attacks Yokozuna when he finally enters the ring and staggers him with roundhouse rights. Bret off the ropes and Yokozuna with a slam. Yoko misses the elbow drop that always misses and Bret already tries escaping. Yokozuna takes forever to get up and grabs him by the leg and slams Bret off the top rope across the ring. Yokozuna misses the leg drop for once and Bret goes back to work on Yoko. Headbutt barely staggers him but a dropkick does and Yoko rams his own head into the steel. Bret with a series of roundhouse rights but Yokozuna puts him down with a headbutt. Yoko goes to escape but Bret trips him up. Yokozuna catches Hart with a low blow and headbutts him in the crotch. Yokozuna staggers around and falls on his ass again. Yokozuna tries leaving through the door but Bret pulls the middle rope up between his legs to stop the attempt. Bret attempts climbing out again but Yokozuna again stops him in the knick of time. Bret hammers on Yoko with a fury of rights and climbs again but is pulled back down. Yokozuna with a headbutt and he rams Hart face first into the steel bars. Bret tries going through the door but Yoko stops him and rams his head into the turnbuckle. Yokozuna drops Bret and connects with an elbow drop across the throat of Bret. Yokozuna goes for the exit but Bret stops him with a series of rights. Yoko rakes the eyes and connects with another headbutt. Bret bites away at the forehead of Yoko and connects with more rights. Yokozuna quickly puts Hart back down with a clothesline and is apparently gasping for air. Irish whip to the corner rattles the cage and Yoko misses the back splash. Bret to the second rope and he connects with the bulldog headlock. Hart tries climbing out again but Fuji pokes him in the midsection with the pole holding the Japanese Flag. Yoko puts Hart down with a double thrust to the throat, and Polo actually brings up Fuji's tag team title reigns with Prof. Toru Tanaka and Mr. Saito. Yoko goes for the banzai drop but Bret rolls away for the escape, but Fuji holds the cage door closed. Bret kicks it into Fuji’s face, knocking him out and both him and Yokozuna struggle around trying to go through the door. Hart gets as close as possible without winning but Yoko drags him back in and slams his head into the canvas. Both men slowly get back to their feet and end up falling back down. Hart stomps on Yoko and continues the beating and rams his head into Yoko into the canvas. Polo claims he has a 1450 on his S.A.T's while Bret goes for the escape again but is stopped and dropped legs apart across the top rope. Yoko goes for the door slowly but Bret comes charging on his knees and pulls Yoko in from the ankle. Yoko pulls the salt bucket into the ring while Hart hammers on him. Yokozuna with a hard scoop slam and he misses a big splash. Yokozuna chokes Hart across the top rope and drags him back into the ring, only for Hart to ram his head into the steel cage and connect with a swinging neck breaker. Both men back up and Hart connects with the hart attack clothesline putting both men down again. Bret finally grabs the bucket but drops it and Yoko grabs it. Bret blocks and rams him in the midsection with the bucket followed by a shot across the back of the head to put him down again. Hart slowly crawls over...for a cover, and Danny Davis comes in to count the fall for a two count. Polo says Davis reminds him of Schemp of the three stooges. Bret has the bucket again and slams it across the head of Yokozuna. Bret goes for the climb but Fuji throws salt in Hart's eyes!!! Bret staggers around so Fuji salts him again! Bret blindly climbs the cage but Yokozuna is out the door about 2 seconds before Bret, making Yokozuna the winner and STILL WWF Champion at 18:19. **1/2 Decent for a Bret cage match, but could've been better with a better opponent. Odd how This match was longer than both their WrestleMania matches combined.

Final Thoughts: For the Coliseum Video curb of rating, this tape has several good matches to make it a thumbs up. Although nothing earth shattering is on it, some nice matches like the tag match and cage are good rare matches that should be seen. The tape has a limited amount of bad matches, but overall enjoyable...and it's from 1993!