Savage-Flair in September of '92 - something I've never seen. Savage is in yellow and purple, and he really made that top work for him. It always bugged me with Rey, but worked for Savage since he frequently had tops on, so it wasn't a huge deal. Maybe Rey would look better just with a tanktop shirt on, but that wouldn't really fit the gear design as well. Good basic heel work from Perfect on the floor here distracting Savage, who eats shots to the knee and chops instead of losing to a schoolboy. Savage gets an abdominal stretch, which I never remember him doing - let alone with the neck wrench added in. Perfect's in his black and silver Mr. Perfect suit, which looks so much better than his usual bright neon tracksuit that looked horrible. It didn't fit Perfect, and looked low rent for a main event manager hanging around Ric Flair. Great chop/punch exchange in the corner.
Heenan and Vince are on commentary and they have shockingly little chemistry together. I think this is a match that was retaped because the original was thought to be awful by Vince. Savage gets the elbow mid-ring after doing a backdrop on the floor, but the knee's too hurt to cover. Razor's out and FLAIR DROPKICKS SAVAGE TO THE FLOOR! Perfect distracts the ref and Razor kicks the knee and stomps him once. Vince is yammering on about machismo. Figure four is on and Savage is in the hold for minutes and doing a few little things that sell that he's trying to escape. Savage blacks out from the pain and the ref slow counts him for the win. I love that being a pin, but man did Savage look really weak here. This match never really got out of first gear either.
Arn vs. Savage for the World TV Title on Saturday Night in January of 1995 with no exact airdate given. Arn's got Bunkhouse Buck's theme, which is great. Very odd to see Savage vying for the TV Title right after coming into the company and being a top-level guy, but it kind of works because it makes the TV Title seem more important. One great thing about the Xbox One as a Blu-Ray player is that you can stop a video anywhere you want and get a nice clean screenshot - makes me wish I had 1080p capturing equipment, although for this archival set, the 720p output is going to be just fine. Arn's got the second to last TV Title design, which I loved even though I always associated that belt with Regal. TV Title's only on the line for the first 15 minutes of the match, so I'll guess we get Savage winning at 15:01.
I LOVE the pre-match close-up of the belt - I remember making a paper replica of this belt by freeze framing my tape of Starrcade '93 on it and then cutting out cardboard. This title actually has a lot more intricacy to it than I remember, with the almost grill-like lining on the main plate and either a silver plate or a really badly-faded gold which given the damage on it, could be the case. I like the caution tape-colored railings and step markings - the latter is actually great for if you have depth perception issues since you can clearly tell where the step begins, and it looks good on TV. Lots of basic stuff here, but no real story being told. Arn starts choking away at 5 while they talk about the clock being Savage's enemy here. Arn attacks in the corner with body blows, but Savage gets 2 off a sunset flip. Arn gets a chinlock and the crowd chants "Macho" because unlike today, they care about the babyface.
They fight on the floor and Arn rakes the face with his boots - now that needs to be in a game, and also done more because it's a simple, logical move. Arn goes for a suplex, but Savage counters into one of his own. Double head bonk sends them both down. They go back and forth with hard shots on their knees and Savage gets this and then rakes the eyes. Tony says this is odd, but Heenan says no, he'll break the rules as much as he wants and he's done so far years. I love that - Heenan's a heel, but he's not wrong here and Tony just moves on because he's fighting a losing battle and knows it. Arn battles him on the floor, they go back and forth some more and Savage knees him to the floor before hitting a double axehandle off the top to the floor. Savage goes up top for a crossbody and gets counters, but Arn only gets 2. Snap Hart attack from Savage gets 2. Savage telegraphs a backdrop and eats an elbow to the neck. Savage slams him and gets a quick elbow, but he goes on the apron and eats an outside-in suplex. Savage slams him off the top and he gets the flying elbow for the win, but he doesn't get the title at 15:20. Buck, Slater, and the Bully come in before Dustin and Sting come in for a save.
Hundred Dollar Bill Guy is a great little bit with them talking about cheap the Poffos were and how Savage would always "reach for a 100", but he never had anything less, so guys would pay for him and how they'd always sleep in their cars. Ted says that you'd usually only get two hours of sleep, and that now, guys wish they did that - so yeah, be cheap folks. Safety Net has Ted talking about everyone but Randy calling it in the ring and we get some Memphis and ICW footage. They show a hand-written note with move-by-move instructions. Ted and Randy's MSG cage match, the one with the fan running in, was largely called in the ring and Ted puts the planning over as Randy's safety net. Very Generous is about Flair talking about how Randy opened some of his Gold's Gyms and flew out on his own dime, played with his kids, and didn't have to do any of it. Okay then - great morale, but this should've been part of something bigger instead of on its own. There's a spot in the doc with a woman who Randy was friends with when she was younger that this would've fit into nicely with since it was all about his out of ring generosity.
Jimmy Hart talking about getting Savage into the WWF is nice and Jake talking about the snake bite bit is something else, and man is he ever red. He does a hell of a Savage impression too. Roberts allowed his leg to be bitten, which pissed him off, so he smacked the snake around before putting it on Savage and then "remembered" Saving saying when they carted him away to put it back on, and Savage yelled "GET THAT MOTHERFUCKER AWAY FROM ME!". So yeah, Roberts came off as a bit of a prick here, and I'm worried about how red he was because damn did it not look good.
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