1st Match: Savio Vega vs IRS. A dark match that's actually shown on the PPV, strange, but it's a good start. If anything it's less than 5 minutes, so it's pretty harmless. Rating: 3/5 2nd Match: Savio Vega vs Yokozuna. An OK match until it ends via countout. Rating: 2.5/5 3rd Match: The Roadie vs Bob Holly. Interesting to see Bob Holly before his Hardcore gimmick. The match is pretty good, even if I have to put up with Jeff Jarrett for 7 minutes. Rating: 3.5/5 4th Match: Shawn Michaels vs Kama. The match of the night, even though it ends in a time-limit draw. A lot of action crammed into 15 minutes. Rating: 4/5 5th Match: Mabel vs The Undertaker. Strange to see Taker lose this, but they were taking a chance pushing Mabel. Not much to this. Rating: 2.5/5 6th Match: Savio Vega vs The Roadie. Vega had quite a push, 4 matches in one night, and the crowd is with him throughout the whole night. Another decent match here. Rating: 3/5 7th Match: Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler, Kiss my Foot match. As I've said before, watching a heel Lawler getting beat up is always fun. The match stipulation is pretty gross, but it's at least better than a "Kiss my Ass" match. Rating: 3.5/5 8th Match: Mabel vs Savio Vega. So Mabel wins, and becomes probably the most uninteresting King of the Ring yet. The crowning ceremony goes on way too long, mostly because the crowd isn't buying it at all and throwing garbage at Mo and Mabel. The match is OK, certainly not the worst match I've seen, but it's hard to take Mabel seriously as a threat. Rating: 2.5/5 9th Match: Tatanka and Sid Vicious vs Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow. A pretty good tag team match to end the show, not as good as Michaels' match from earlier, but as a replacement for a title match, it's a good way to end the show. Rating: 3.5/5 Final Rating: 6 out of 10. Often considered to be one of the worst PPVs WWE's ever put out, I've seen a lot worse. It's not great, but a lot of the matches are less than 10 minutes, so even if they aren't great, they're over and done with pretty quick.
... View MoreBret Hart finally got some revenge on Lawler, Diesel continued his feud with Psycho Sid, Razor Ramon pulled out with injury and we got a bizarre winner on this third annual King of the Ring PPV, one that's frequently mentioned in discussions regarding the worst WWE PPV of all time, I think unfairly.The big story going into the King of the Ring Tournament was that Razor Ramon, scheduled to face Yokozuna in the first round, had been forced out of the event by injury, so immediately before the event a match was held between Ramon's friend Savio Vega and the Million Dollar Corporation's Irwin R Shyster. Vega won the match and so advanced.The first match of the event proper saw Vega in action again, taking on former WWE Champion, and currently one half of the tag team champions, Yokozuna. There were shenanigans aplenty with Razor, Mr Fuji and Jim Cornette all at ringside. Vega won a real rubbish match by countout.Next up saw the Roadie, accompanied by Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, taking on and defeating Bob Holly. Neither one of these guys was the most exciting to watch, even at this stage. While this isn't terrible, it isn't good either. So Roadie wins through and will Savio Vega in the semi.Here's where things take a turn for the worse. In our next match we see reformed bad guy Shawn Michaels taking on the Million Dollar Corporation's Kama. In probably the best match of the night, Michaels and Kama fight to a time limit draw. Both are out, meaning the winner of the next match gets a bye through to the final.The next match was between Undertaker and Mabel, unfortunately, the Undertaker was in a feud with Kama at this stage, who of course interfered in a poor match and Undertaker was defeated and knocked out. This meant that the only men who could win the King of the Riung in 1995 were The Roadie, Savio Vega and Mabel.You can cross The Roadie off after our next match, in which he defeated the Roadie, overcoming the antics of Jeff Jarret at ringside. This was a decent match. So it would be Vega and Mabel in the King of the Ring final.The next match saw Bret Hart finally get some revenge on Jerry Lawler. Hart and Lawler had been feuding on and off since Hart had won the King of the Ring Tournament in 1993. At the previous PPV, In Your House, Hart had been forced to face Yakushi and then later lost to Lawler by interference. But tonight saw Hart victorious in a Kiss my Foot match. And that on deep kiss I can tell ya.Next up came the King of the Ring Final which saw Mabel defeat a gallant Savio Vega in a pretty poor wrestling match. All hail King Mabel, and that's all I've got to say about that.Finally brings us to the main event which saw WWE Champion Diesel teaming up with Bam Bam Bigelow to take on the Million Dollar Corporation's Psycho Sid and Tatanka (with Ted DiBiase at ringside). This match also stemmed from the In Your House PPV. At that event Tatanka had interfered in a title match between Diesel and Sid to prevent Sid from winning. Tatanka and Sid then destroyed Diesel with a vicious beatdown before Bigelow, who had recently been kicked out of the MDC, came to the Champion's aid. Well there'd be no disqualifications here as the good guys won, with Bigelow getting some revenge on he group that betrayed him, pinning Tatanka in a passable main event.This was not a great event. Mable was a strange choice for a winner, and Vega an even stranger choice as his opponent. The matches weren't great either. But there is a certain charm to this show, and, while missable, this is nowhere near the worst WWE PPV of all time.
... View MoreHere are the matches...First round - Savio Vega v Yokozuna: Both show off their flags at the start of the match gaining cheap heat before the Philadelphia crowd and ECW's 'Hatman' sits in the front with his mate in the same seats he always has. Savio squeezed a count-out victory from Yokozuna after Owen Hart interfered and hurt Razor's 'injured' ribs getting him some cheap heat. Savio and Yokozuna battle on the outside but Vega sneaks back into the ring before the 10 count.2/10 Bob 'Sparkplug' Holly v The Roadie: The hardcore legend and one half of the New Age Outlaws start the match with a multitude of near pinfall attempts. The Intercontinental champion Jeff Jarrett is at ringside as Roadie's assistant. I think Holly gets frustrated during the match because he can't seem to get the apathetic crowd to react and would be furious by the time the match finishes because he clearly gets his shoulder up but the referee counts the pinfall anyway. Probably the best match of the night but that really isn't saying too much.5/10 Shawn Michaels v Kama: After his appearance as Papa Shango and before his Godfather days Charles Wright would appear as the rather lacklustre human killing machine Kama. As he arrived to the ring, Shawn tries the crown on but it is too big for him which sends out warning bells that he isn't going to win the tournament. Because the pace is rather slow for a King of the Ring match and nobody seemed interested in going for a pin, we determine early on this is going to the end. As predictable as night and day, Shawn Michaels attempts a sunset flip just as soon as the bell sounds for the time limit and both men are eliminated from the contest. Shawn obviously shouts 'bullshit'. I agree with Shawn but he isn't the poor sod that's watching this. Yokozuna is gone and now Shawn Michaels is eliminated...Things aren't looking so good.4/10 Undertaker v Mabel: This match would epitomise Undertaker's year, the phenom facing and carrying a bloke, often overweight, who had absolutely no talent whatsoever. Apart from an interesting bit where Undertaker gets his foot trapped in the ring ropes, everything else here was lead-paced. Mabel gets help from Kama who distracts Undertaker enough so Mabel can drop his big leg across him for the pinfall.4/10 Semi final - Savio Vega v The Roadie: You've got to wonder what the bookers have been smoking. This match ends when Vega Irish whips Roadie who doesn't see Jarrett on the ring apron but avoids the collision with him. Vega knees Roadie into Jarrett who falls off the apron and rolls Roadie up for a 3 count. Nothing remarkable about this match and the crowd notably get annoyed during it.3/10 Bret 'Hitman' Hart v Jerry Lawler in a 'kiss my feet' match: Lawler, as usual, stalls everything with his cheap heat. During the match Lawler pile-drives Hart no less than 3 times and Bret still kicks out at 2. Lawler takes off his boot to smack Hart in the face. Hakushi comes to the ring and manages to mess up his interference. Bret applies the sharpshooter and gains victory by submission. Not only does Bret ram his foot down Lawler's throat, he manages to bend Lawler's own foot into this throat! Bret was underutilised here which is a massive shame because 1995 was when they needed him the most. Lawler tries his best to work the crowd and, considering how disillusioned the fans are at this point, he doesn't do a bad job of it.5/10 Final round - Savio Vega vs Mabel: There is very little point in talking about the match. Quality-wise it stunk. Vega to his credit tried but Mabel just wasn't interested in entertaining the people. Chants of 'ECW...ECW' ring out and this must have disturbed McMahon at the time. The writing is on the wall when Mabel uses the fall-away slam and splash to become the 1995 king. The crowd are stunned in silence, they are shocked but not in a good way. This is such a mess that the crowd are rabid by the time Mabel and Mo start the coronation.3/10 Once on the throne, Mabel gets hit in the face with a piece of rubbish. I don't think even he was prepared for such hostility. Mo attempts to read the coronation while chewing gum or something - idiot. He takes so long to read it but it is such a WWF moment for all the wrong reasons. Mabel wanted heat and he got it from a merciless Philadelphia crowd.Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow v 'Psycho' Sid and Tatanka: Bam Bam arrives to the ring with a weird outfit on and some pyrotechnic gloves or something. Diesel damaged his elbow and so therefore does very little during the course of the night. I loved Sid Vicious and was intrigued by Vinnie Vegas in WCW so how did Sid Eudy and Kevin Nash suddenly become useless in 1995? The only man trying in that ring was Bam Bam Bigelow and unfortunately one man does not make a tag match. Sid bailed out on Tatanka in the end and Diesel drops the elbow on Tatanka for the pin. The fireworks go off and nobody gives a toss. What a sad night for wrestling.2/10 Many people say this is the worst WWE PPV of all time. If it isn't it's close. The booking was the pits and Mabel as King is an absolute nightmare because you've got to wonder where such a terrible worker can possibly go from here. Bret Hart tried his best but unfortunately Philadelphia was robbed that night.
... View MoreKing of the Ring was pretty average as far as King of the Ring events go but there was a bit here that could be enjoyed.(SPOILERS AHEAD)The King of the Ring tournament itself was fairly mediocre. The match between Shawn Michaels and Kama was awesome but the rest of the tournament matches were nothing special.Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow beat Tatanka and Psycho Sid in the main event-it was okay.Bret Hart battled Jerry "The King" Lawler in a "Kiss My Foot Match." Hart and Lawler were bitter enemies (at least on TV)which made this a great match and the ending of the match was great where Bret Hart put his foot in Lawler's mouth before forcing Lawler's own foot into his mouth. Lawler then hurried back to the locker rooms almost spewing up-it was classic WWF comedy at the time.King of the Ring 1995 is worth checking out for the "Kiss My Foot Match" and the Shawn Michaels/Kama match.
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