A Typhoon of Berzerker!!

What news! Recently, two handhelds of Berzerker's last couple matches in WWF were uploaded to YouTube, the kind of upload that excites me more than any other. Berzerker's final WWF appearance was in a Raw battle royal (sadly his only Raw appearance, as his two year run cruelly ended right as Raw was beginning), and before that he worked a week long house show series with Typhoon. He spent most of January 1993 working a house show series with Backlund, and one of those matches exists as a handheld, but none of the Typhoon matches had shown up until now. 

Berzerker vs. Typhoon WWF 1/29/93 - FUN

ER: This is a very simple match, with a lot of Berzerker mugging and stalling, trying to bait Typhoon into a knuckle lock, ending badly for him each time. He takes two of his backwards bumps over the top to the floor, once getting shoved by Typhoon, and against after getting the knuckle lock and kicking Typhoon down to his knees, only for Typhoon to power up and throw Berzerker back over the top again. Typhoon misses a corner charge and Berzerker kick him some more, chokes him over the ropes (including standing on Typhoon's back while he is being choked over the middle rope). But this is a simple house show match, so there aren't any nearfalls or shifts in momentum, and the only pinfall Berzerker attempts is with his feet on the bottom rope after Typhoon's missed charge. Typhoon basically just comes back after a Berzerker missed charge and nails him with a nice avalanche for the win. This was about the minimum I was expecting from their matches, and it's a testament to Berzerker that at minimum I expect him to get knocked backwards over the top to the floor on a house show. 

Berzerker vs. Typhoon WWF 1/30/93 - VERY GOOD

ER: This was the much better version of the previous day's match, even though it was essentially the same match. Everything they did in the first match they did here, they just did more stuff in between. The first match was a slow paced 6 minutes, whereas this had much more movement and was more physical, with extra strikes and spots and bumps added where there was only space before. This one starts with an aggressive lock-up, and both rolling with it across the ropes and into the corner. We still get both Berzerker backwards bumps over the top, with the first coming after a shoulderblock exchange. Berzerker gets sent backwards after running into a Typhoon, then stalks ringside yelling at fans. This match had a lot of Berzerker crowd work, beyond Hussing. He was yelling at fans and working heel in a way that he never really did on any footage we have. He gets back in the ring and does something cool I've never seen him try before, as he fakes a single leg takedown and then knees Typhoon in the stomach. Later he does a head fake before dropping into Typhoon's stomach with a headbutt. They kept filling in the dead space of their earlier match with extra, cool touches. Typhoon still gets choked in the ropes, but this time Berzerker also chokes him in the corner with a fully extended leg. When he chokes Typhoon across the top rope, this time he snaps the rope back into Typhoon's throat, and Typhoon takes a big leaping back bump. The finish isn't very inspired, as Berzerker gets schoolboyed after celebrating a win that was getting waved off (due to his feet being on the ropes, again). I don't like when a 350 lb. guy wins a match with a schoolboy, but the rest of this was a great companion piece to the earlier, emptier match. With an extra minute or two finishing stretch a couple close falls this could have been a real gem. As it was, it's another engaging and energetic Berzerker house show performance. Bonus: The video quality on this one is immaculate for a handheld. The prior match was not only weaker, but was out of focus enough that the two men looked like large round beings made of bright white light. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BERZERKER

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE WWF 305 LIVE