WWE – Unreleased: Never Before Seen Matches
1986-1995
Disc Three

AT FIRST GLANCE: We pick up where we left off on disc two at WrestleMania 9. The 1993 stuff (besides one glaringly obvious match) looks pretty weak, but you never know. I’m interested in seeing these two ladder matches. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart teaming up against Jerry Lawler and Hakushi could be a hidden gem. No matter what, this should be a fun way to wrap up the set.

Your hosts are Charly Caruso and Sean Mooney.

Double Down on the Deadman: They talk about the mythical Undertaker. Mooney says he put some “benjamins” down for the Undertaker to lose to the Giant Gonzalez at WrestleMania 9 and lost BIG time.

• The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Giant Gonzalez (w/Harvey Wippleman) – (4/5/93 – Phoenix, AZ)
  

This one is HARD CAMERA ONLY. I don’t think seeing this match from multiple angles would make it any better. Gonzalez attacks at the bell and takes UT to the floor for some abuse on the ringsteps. Back inside, Taker gets a clothesline that takes him over the top rope where he lands on his feet to signal his comeback. Wippleman distracts Taker while Gonzalez gets the urn away from Paul Bearer and whacks UT for the DQ. (3:29) After the bell, Taker sits up and beats the Giant up the aisle and back to the dressing room. ½*

• Kip Winchester & Brett Colt vs. Barry Horowitz & Reno Riggins – (4/5/93 – Phoenix, AZ)
  

Another one where we’ve got HARD CAMERA ONLY. This is a tryout match for the Smoking Gunns. They are doing the cowboy gimmick they were already doing down at a Florida independent and calling themselves the Long Riders. Brett (or Bart) misses a crossbody block and crashes into the ropes for a great bump. That sets up some face in peril time. Riggins and Horowitz are working well together. Hot tag to Kip, he goes SLAM CRAZY on the heel jabronis. For the finish, Brett staggers Riggins with a Spinning Side Slam while Kip comes off the top with the Flying Bulldog. (9:41) The soon-to-be Smoking Gunns looked good here and wound up making their TV debuts in a few weeks.

• WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Mr. Perfect – (4/6/93 – Tucson, AZ)

This is our first look at Shawn as a singles competitor as he and Perfect start working their match out for SummerSlam. Perfect attacks HBK right out of the gate and bumps him around for the bumps Perfect usually takes when he works heel. They brawl around ringside with Perfect in control until he’s shoved off into the ringpost. Back in, Michaels starts choking him to get some heat. For some reason, the hard camera is going really wide here. They slow things down with a chinlock. Perfect breaks free and hair whips Shawn across the ring until his balls slide into the post. Michaels gets tossed in for the Ray Stevens corner bump and staggers around into a right hand for two. Perfect grabs a headlock and gets shoved off into the ref. With no ref, Michaels brings the IC title into the mix and fails to whack Perfect. There’s the PERFECTPLEX, but the ref is too hurt to count. A Hebner runs down and counts the pinfall. (6:08) Mr. Perfect REJOICES over winning the gold, but of course the refs argue over the decision. Shawn gets shoved around while Mr. Perfect is long gone with the IC title. Man, when was the last time you saw anyone get that excited about winning anything in wrestling? **½

• The Tazmaniac vs. Skippy Taylor – (5/5/93 – Portland, ME)

Here’s a tryout for Taz. He received tryouts in both the WWF and WCW in 1993, but didn’t end up getting jobs with either company and wound up in ECW. By the way, Skippy is just Scott Taylor. Not sure why they are referring to him as “Skippy” though. Taz is so short that he makes Scott Taylor look like a normal sized wrestler – whatever that means. Anyways, if you know anything about Taz before he got over in ECW, he’s pretty much a “suplex animal” instead of a “suplex machine”. Match is okay. Taz wins with the Overhead Belly to Belly Suplex in 3:30.

• Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) – (5/5/93 – Portland, ME)

Bret attacks Yoko as soon as the ceremonial salt is thrown in the air. As he runs the ropes trying to knock Yokozuna down, eventually Yoko catches Bret and knocks him down. Yoko starts choking him in the ropes and sends him to the floor for some ringside violence. Back inside, Yoko hits the Legdrop. He misses the Buttalanche though allowing Bret to deliver the flying bulldog for a one-count. A flying clothesline staggers Yoko for a bulldog. That puts him on his face to make it easier to lock on the SHARPSHOOTER, but Mr. Fuji gets in the ring for the DQ. (5:24) Fuji and Yoko start jabbing Bret with the flagpole until Owen Hart runs out for the save. Of course, not even Owen is enough to stop these two as Fuji whacks Owen with the flagpole into a Belly to Belly Suplex from Yoko! Before Yoko can BANZAI SPLASH Owen, Bret rolls his brother out of the way and smashes Yoko with a chair. With Yoko staggered, Bret and Owen DOUBLE DROPKICK him out of the ring. Cool deal. I love me some Bret and Yokozuna. **½

• Special Guest Referee: Sgt. Slaughter: The Mega Maniacs (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. Money Inc. – (6/14/93 – Columbus, OH) 

What – no bicycle shorts for Slaughter? This guy does not know how to special guest ref properly. Money Inc are without the tag belts, which means they had already lost to the Steiners earlier in the show and it’s an obvious sign as to who is going over here. See, *that* would be an interesting set where we get title changes from house shows. This is interesting since it’s the day after Hulk Hogan lost the WWF title to Yokozuna. Hogan seems fine to me. Hmm. Lots of stalling to start. Hogan and Beefcake cheat with eye pokes and hair pulls, but apparently it’s all good. They do some Memphis-y spots to make DiBiase and IRS look like fools. Eventually, Money Inc has enough as IRS catches Beefcake with a knee from the apron. Hogan really gets pissed while Money Inc chokes on Beefcake in the corner using the tag rope. DiBiase and IRS switch off applying chinlocks on Beefcake. Let’s just skip ahead. HOT TAG TO HOGAN! The match breaks down and the Halliburton briefcase gets involved. When IRS fails to hit Hogan, Hogan hits DiBiase with the briefcase. IRS tries to break up the pin with the briefcase, but the Sarge sees it coming and hits Money Inc with the briefcase instead before calling for the bell and DQ’s them. (12:18) Yeah, all of that seemed TOTALLY FAIR. Anywho, Hogan basks in the glory of Hulkamania for one of the final times during his big run in the WWF. **

• Lex Luger vs. Ludvig Borga – (10/20/93 – Burlington, VT)

Ludvig shows off his power advantage to start shoving Lex back into corners. There’s this mark in the front row who really bugs Borga. The guy literally takes off his shirt ready to go with Ludvig. I don’t think you want any Ludvig, bro. Crowd is all “USA” tonight. Luger works a headlock and later a wristlock. Borga takes over stomping and choking and kicking on flexy Lexy. He grabs a chinlock until Lex elbows out and hits a back suplex, but Ludvig pops right up and drills Luger with a clothesline. Eventually, Luger surprises Borga with the BIONIC FOREARM for the three-count. (11:12) Well, that guy in the front row was pretty entertaining anyways. *½

• Randy Savage vs. Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) – (2/1/94 – White Plains, NY)

Savage attacks Crush on the floor and goes to town on him, but Fuji distracts Savage by poking him with the flagpole allowing Crush to punch back. Crush delivers an inverted atomic drop and kicks him down. Savage rakes Crush in the face to get away from the HEAD VICE. Here comes Savage off the top with the double sledge that knocks Crush through the ropes. Out on the floor, Savage eats the ringpost for two. It’s BEARHUG time. When Savage escapes, Crush applies a bow and arrow lock. The TOUR OF THE ISLANDS gets two. After a double KO, Fuji hands Crush some powder that gets knocked back in his face. With Crush blinded, Savage slams him for the MACHO ELBOW to get the win. (8:52) Pretty fun little match. **

• WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Jim Neidhart – (10/21/94 – Montreal, QB, Canada)
  

This might be our first “house show” match that wasn’t part of a TV taping. Jeff Jarrett comes out to help Neidhart do a number on Bret before the bell sounds. Bret goes on the offensive to start because now he’s pissed. Jeff Jarrett – who remains at ringside – gets kicked by Bret. Back inside the ring though, Neidhart reverses a corner whip on Bret sending him into the buckle for the chest-first bump. Neidhart then starts working over Bret’s lower back for a few minutes. Bret makes a comeback with the bulldog and the Russian legsweep for two. He hits the backbreaker, but Neidhart brings up a foot to block Bret as he tries the flying elbow. Bret gets slammed off the top. However, he avoids Neidhart diving on him. Jeff Jarrett hops up on the apron to help out Neidhart, but of course heel miscommunication ensues and Bret rolls up Neidhart to the three-count. (6:34) Better than I thought it would be. I’m curious about the Jarrett alliance though. **

Climbing Unseen Heights: Mooney comes across a pair of ladder match tapes. Charly starts womansplaining to Mooney and gets destroyed. He puts in the wrong tape (naturally because he’s a man and all men are idiots!) with HBK and Ramon at WrestleMania 10. Charly complains that match is on every set and puts in the real tape before the internet explodes. Ugh.

• Ladder Match: WWF Intercontinental Championship: Jeff Jarrett (c) (w/The Roadie) vs. Davey Boy Smith – (5/16/95 – Danbury, CT)
  

Roadie distracts Davey Boy to start allowing Jarrett to jump him from behind. Bulldog comes right back with an Hourglass Suplex. Once again, Roadie distracts this time by hooking Davey Boy by the ankle as Jarrett knocks him to the floor. When Davey Boy puts the brakes on getting his head bounced off the apron, Roadie is right there again hiding on the side of the apron to clothesline Bulldog down. HE IS JUST EVERYWHERE RIGHT NOW. That leads to Lex Luger coming out to run him off. Davey Boy makes a comeback and brings the ladder into the ring. They take turns climbing the ladder and jabbing each other in the ribs with the ladder. They meet at the top of the ladder and punch each other down. Jarrett gets whipped into the ladder a few times. After Davey Boy press slams Jarrett, he goes for the belt only to take a dropkick down to the mat. Jarrett then climbs up the ladder and as Bulldog turns the ladder over, he falls to the mat with the IC belt in his hand for the win. (7:15) Afterwards, the Roadie comes back out again to prevent Jarrett from taking the Running Powerslam. Lex Luger runs down and makes the save again. **½

• Ladder Match: WWF Intercontinental Championship: Jeff Jarrett (c) vs. Razor Ramon – (6/5/95 – Struthers, OH)
  

No Roadie tonight. Jarrett wants the belt lowered because he thinks it’s hanging too high, but of course Razor gets it raised back up. Razor and Jarrett are running them ropes to start. Ramon catches Jarrett with some crazy right hands, but then comes back with a swinging neckbreaker. To the floor, Jarrett baseball slides the ladder into Razor as he tries to bring it into the ring. After bouncing Ramon’s head off the steps, Jarrett makes the first climb. Razor grabs him by the ankle and gets kicked in the head. Jarrett comes off the ladder with the fist drop and then jabs Razor with the ladder. Razor then knocks Jarrett off the ladder and hits the Fallaway Slam. Jarrett stops a climb and turns the ladder over on top of Razor. As Razor punches back and goes for the Razor’s Edge, Jarrett backdrops him over the top rope to the floor. They meet back in the center of the ring both trying to climb the ladder. As Ramon hiptosses Jarrett to the mat, the ladder turns over causing Razor once again to not be able to get the IC belt. After Jarrett takes a couple bumps into the ladder, Ramon jabs Jarrett with the ladder until he goes flying over the top rope. Now comes Razor’s best chance! He touches the IC title, but Jarrett comes in and dumps the ladder over so that Razor falls into the ropes and gets his leg stuck. Oh boy. That’s enough to help Jarrett climb the ladder to get the win. (10:22) They pretty much just tried to recreate the WrestleMania 10 match. It even had the same finish there. Afterwards, Razor grabs Jarrett while he’s celebrating up in the turnbuckle to give him the RAZOR’S EDGE and drops the IC belt on him. Jarrett so had it coming. ***¼

Strange Bedfellows: Mooney and Caruso are doing a bit where they make it seem like Mooney lives in that warehouse. Mooney also does a really bad pun – at least I think it was a pun.

• Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler & Hakushi – (7/26/95 – St. Louis, MO)
  

This is just two nights after Bret and Hakushi tore the house down on RAW. Lawler and Hakushi BUM RUSH THE SHOW on Bret and Shawn to start. Hakushi hits the Handspring Elbow on Bret. Tag to Lawler, he lays in those great punches and antagonizes Shawn. He delivers a PILEDRIVER to Bret, but would rather bother Shawn than try to pin Bret. Back to Hakushi, he delivers the Bronco Buster. Lawler grabs hold of Bret on the floor and runs him into the guardrail. It looks like there’s a bit of an edit here as Hakushi puts Bret back into the ring for Lawler instead. Hakushi catches Bret with the Pump Splash and chokes Bret in the corner. While Lawler is messing with Shawn, Hakushi tries to stop Michaels and gets punched. Meanwhile, Bret pulls Lawler face-first into the ringpost to shut him up. Bret flips out of a suplex and rolls up Hakushi for a nearfall. Lawler tags in and catches Bret with a nice left jab that puts him down. Lawler comes off the top only to get punched in the gut on the way down. HOT TAG TO SHAWN! He is rolling, folks. The Flying Elbow to Hakushi gets two. Bret tags back in and delivers the atomic drop and turns Hakushi inside out with a clothesline. After he nails Lawler, Hakushi is easy pickings for the SHARPSHOOTER as Bret gets him to submit. (11:43) Boy, everybody had their working boots on tonight. This was a good one and the best match on the tape. I had a feeling it would be. ***½

• Cage Match: WWF Championship: Diesel (c) vs. Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) – (7/26/95 – St. Louis, MO)
  

Yoko is subbing for Sid here since he’s home suffering from bone spurs in his neck. Big dude staredown to start. Diesel wins a slugfest, but it’s no fun getting knocked down by Yoko. He misses an elbow drop though and now they act like they have worked 20 minutes both lying there on their backs. When Diesel’s punches won’t knock down Yoko, he tries a headbutt. That winds up hurting both guys as they fall on their butts. Diesel tries climbing out and gets crotched. He avoids a splash from Yoko and crotches the big guy as he’s walking through the ropes to get to the door. I bet Yoko has forgotten what his dick even looks like. Diesel tries climbing out again for some reason and gets poked in the ribs with the flagpole by Fuji. As Yokozuna walks towards the door, Diesel trips him up causing Yoko to fall flat on his face. Man, this guy with his bumping. They struggle over at the door trying to crawl out. Yokozuna runs Diesel into the cage, but then Diesel rolls away from the Legdrop. Yoko intercepts Diesel at the door and forces his head on the steel bars. Now for some reason I truly do not understand, Yoko tries to CLIMB OUT OF THE CAGE. Cornette is trying to tell him what a bad idea this is. Diesel comes over and stops him before tossing him into the cage. A couple clotheslines and a Big Boot puts down Yoko. A double-KO ensues for even more lying around. Diesel then drops an elbow on Yoko and climbs over the cage wall to reach the floor while Yoko crawls for the door. (13:23) Lots of lying around to build drama that just wasn’t there. Crowd really popped for the finish though. *½

What A Day!: They mention Lord Alfred Hayes’ “God Save the Queen” party, which is kind of funny. We also find out that Sean Mooney does in fact live in the top secret basement of the “Event Center”.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I’ve come to the conclusion that if something is “unreleased” by WWE and it’s 20-30 years old, there’s either a fair reason for it or it just wasn’t that great to begin with. Does that mean there aren’t any good matches on this set? No. There’s like five matches that I would consider worth a look, but there’s over 40 matches here. I also didn’t find anything that would be considered a hidden gem that the world just needs to see like they want to advertise on the box. I don’t think it’s an awful set – I just think there are better options out there. A lot of times these matches were done on TV tapings and house shows to work out the kinks so that they could deliver their finished product in front of a worldwide TV audience. I’m going with a stone cold “thumbs in the middle” for the three-disc Unreleased: Never Before Seen Matches set. If the first set is probably the best stuff they could come up with, I’m not really dying to see another one and that’s okay.

If you did buy the set, does yours also say “1985-1996” on the back instead of “1986-1995”?