Match of the Day - Masked Team of Snow/Credible take on Heel 1-2-3 Kid and Sid

Avatar & Aldo Montoya vs. 1-2-3 Kid & Sid - WWF Superstars (1996)

For the first time ever, The Portuguese Man O' War, Aldo Montoya - later Justin Credible - teams up with Avatar, the first airbender - later Al Snow - against The Money Corporation's freshly turned heel, 1-2-3 Kid and not so psych, vicious or justice, Sid.

Both Al Snow and Justin Credible (PJ Polaco) would have very unsuccessful gimmicks at this time in their career which led them to seek success in ECW. Why didn't their masked characters work out, you  ask? Let's just say that while The Portuguese Man O' War sounds kind of badasss, it's actually a name of a jellyfish, a not so badass jellyfish either. Oh yeah, and that their costumes were a little ridiculous at this time. Remember that this was the beginning of the transition period for WWF - when flashy gimmicks and colorfully characters were no longer making it and new, realist, "attitude" characters were soon to be taking over.

They weren't the only characters begging for a realist makeover, though. No, most of the wrestlers in this video were eventually stripped of their ill-fated gimmicks and given a much more real, or at least workable, persona. For example, "The Ringmaster", who was said to appear later in the program, became, of course, Stone Cold; The rooted-teeth dentist, Isaac Yankem D.D.S. who would become the replacement to Diesel ironically as well,  later became The Undertaker's burn-victim brother, Kane; Even Skip from the Bodydonnas would eventually lose the "yeah, I lift" 90's get-up and become himself, Chris Candido, later on in ECW.

Whether or not Aldo Montoya and Avatar were meant to be, I sill think they made a cool tag team. I'm not sure if they made anymore appearances together, but I think it would have kept their characters alive for a little longer if they stuck together...

P.S. Avatar and Aldo's double flipping clothesline was way cool! What a maneuver that was.

Match of the Day - Bob Holly becomes the "Hardcore championship"

Al Snow vs. Bob Holly - St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House (1999)

It was either this or Al Snow wrestling himself.

Seriously though, this match actually came about because Al Snow decided to wrestle himself for the Hardcore title one night on Raw. It wasn't too long after Al had smacked his head with the microphone, hit himself with a chair, fire extinguished his face, broke a broom over his dome, and moonsaulted a table did his J.O.B. squad teammate, Bob Holly come out to talk some sense into him.

Sense was something Al could not grasp at this time however, and a hardcore match was set up at the Valentine's Day themed In Your House PPV between the two teammates, thus ending the J.O.B. Squad and turning Bob Holly into 'Hardcore' Holly.

Also at this time, Al Snow and Road Dogg were co-holders of the Hardcore title. Since Road Dogg was "injured backstage" and couldn't compete, the title was stripped of him and up for grabs in this match.

Al Snow vs. Hardcore Holly by Stinger1981

This match is pretty much a lost gem brought back to life by the WWE after they put it on their Falls Count Anywhere compilation DVD released earlier this year. It features Al and Bob fighting all over the arena, even outside and into the Mississippi River where Bob ends up wrapping Al in some wire fencing for the win.

Overall reaction to the match: While I remember renting this event on VHS at a local Blockbuster by my house as a kid, I truthfully can not recall watching this match. I remember the Blue Meanie/Bluedust/Goldust match, The Last Man Standing match between Mankind and The Rock, and, more clearly than the rest, the steel cage main event match between Mr. McMahon and Stone Cold where Paul Wight (Big Show) climbs out from under the mat and slams the rattlesnake right out of the cage... But I do not remember this match. 

It happened though, and this is proof. 

This is the match that Bob Holly really cemented himself as "hardcore". Before this he was a jobber/NASCAR driver named Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, a member of the failed attempt at a new 'Midnight Express' as "Bombastic Bob", or just a midcard wrestler in a jobber faction. So after winning this match and proving himself to be hardcore material, Bob became actully became somebody. he became Hardcore Holly, a very rough and tough SOB. 

Here's to two of the most underrated superstars in WWE history.

Bonus: "Bob Holly becomes the fourth hardcore "CHAMPIONSHIP" in WWF history." - Thanks Michael Cole for that wonderfully botched analysis.