On Brand Segunda Caida: Bob Cook in WWF Pt. III

Bob Cook/Howard Nalley vs. Tekno Team 2000 WWF Wrestling Challenge 6/4/95

ER: I never saw Tekno Team 2000 during their brief run, but I really loved this match. Cook and Nalley (who did job work in WCW as Butch Long) are a cool team, as Nalley is basically a smaller Cook. And this wasn't worked as a squash, instead worked fairly even. TT2K clearly came off like the team that should win, but Cook and Nalley kept after them the whole match and the whole thing was very go go go. The first minute was just a bunch of cool exchanges between Troy (Erik Watts) and Cook, both men joined at the arm and chaining together a really nice sequence. Cook really buckles people with his stomach kick, arguably the best stomach kick of the era (and for something that was so commonly used as a set-up to bigger offense, you'd think more guys would have worked on theirs), grabs and arm to set up a drop toehold, and the two keep rolling through into new things. TT2K worked a lot of armdrags and Cook/Nalley are good guys to make armdrags look good, and I especially liked Cook whipping over for their tandem Japanese armdrag. The bit of Cook/Nalley on control was so great, with Cook waiting on Travis (Chad Fortune), who turns around right into Cook's perfect right hand, eats a couple more, Travis turns and slumps over the top rope to shield himself, leading to Nalley snapping his neck down over the top rope from the apron. Great sequence. Watts works a nice superkick out of a wristlock, and the tag team sunset flip is a fun if odd finisher for a big tag team. This might be the best overall match from the WWF Bob Cook that we've watched, this was just so much fun.

Bob Cook vs. Man Mountain Rock WWF Raw 6/12/95

ER: One minute of perfection. One minute of pure wrestling perfection. Man Mountain Rock is a star that never was, with such a weird specific charisma, but a charisma that fans were clearly responding to. He works this quick as hell, voluntarily running the ropes hard to build up speed to absolutely level Cook, then launches Cook with a backdrop. Cook's comeback is swift, powerful, and violent, as he gets the drop on Rock and throws 5 all time perfect worked punches in the corner. Cook throws one of those aesthetically sweet worked punches, a punch where you really appreciate the steps he takes to work it. The camera knows what gift Cook has and doesn't cut away, framing Cook punching Rock towards the camera, then finishing with a shot to the appendix. He runs to go on the attack, and Rock catches him and sticks him to the mat with the Whammy Bar. This was wrestling boiled down to its basics, and it should be seen.

Bob Cook vs. Bam Bam Bigelow WWF Raw 7/31/95

ER: This was far and away the most generous squash match of Cook's run, as Bigelow gives Cook half of the match and makes him feel like the underdog babyface. Just like the Cook/Droese match from a couple months before, this match *also* features a babyface chinlock spot and this is getting really weird for me, as this was not happening to any other squash match guy in 1995. 1995 WWF TV has a lot of squash matches, still the bulk of the TV output, and I've now seen two different babyface monsters put Bob Cook in a rear chinlock during their own feature match. I have not seen ANY other babyface from this era work a chinlock into their own squash match. It's so weird! You guys are the ones being featured, why let Bob Cook be the one fighting back from a hold? I mean, I love it, but it's weird! And Cook really goes toe to toe with Bigelow here, and if someone watching had no idea who either guy was, but they somehow knew what a jobber was (this is quickly becoming a unicorn hypothetical), Cook came off like Bigelow's equal. He probably threw more punches in this match than in any of his other WWF appearances, and Bigelow sold them like Cook was caving in his eye socket. Bigelow treated Cook like a threat and the match was so much more interesting for it. Cook even turns that bizarre chinlock into a chinbreaker (again, so many babyface hope spots for a guy supposedly getting squashed)! This match was 70/30 Cook! Cook outstruck Bigelow in many of the standing exchanges! Cook's offense was all great punches, that chinbreaker, and kicks to the stomach, and Bigelow sold like he was getting taken apart by Sycho Sid. Really Bigelow "only" gets some nice headbutts, a great vertical suplex, finishes things off with his diving headbutt. But the fun of the match is seeing the promise behind Cook as an actual regular roster member, and it was an absolute blast.