WWF at Madison Square Garden (April 22, 1991)

Original Airdate: April 22, 1991

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, Jim Neidhart, and Bobby Heenan. Neidhart’s already decked out in what we would come to recognize as his New Foundation gear

Opening Match: Haku v Ricky Steamboat: Steamboat is introduced simply as 'the Dragon,' and looks completely uncomfortable with the outfit and the fire breathing. Feeling out process to start, with Steamboat dominating Haku with mostly armdrags, until he misses a charge, and Haku takes over. He works a headlock, so Steamboat tries criss crossing, and gets blasted with a short-clothesline for two. Back to the headlock, so Steamboat tries criss crossing again, and this time manages to avoid the short-clothesline, but telegraphs a backdrop, and gets clobbered. Haku dumps him to the outside, then brings him on from the apron with an extended hanging vertical suplex for two. Chinlock wears the Dragon down, but he fires off some chops, and it turns into a blistering chopfest! I mean, wow, they are really letting each other have it, and for an extended period of time, too! Ricky gets the better of it for two, and then goes up with a flying bodypress at 9:35. Slow stuff, though that's pretty standard for house show fare. *

Power & Glory v The Bushwhackers: Hercules starts off with Luke, and the Bushwhackers go right into playing the match for laughs as they mess with him over a handshake. Biting follows, with Paul Roma getting his cheeks gnawed as well for good measure. The heels stall on the outside, until the dust settles on Roma and Luke. Luke tries the handshake gag again, and gets decked, but Butch comes in to prevent a double-team, and we're treated to more 'comedy' until the heels bail again. Even after all these years, Hercules still looks weird to me with the long tights. They manage to beat down Luke long enough to take control to cut the ring in half, but Roma misses a charge in the corner, and Butch gets the hot tag. He's an outhouse of fire, but gets tripped up while running the ropes, and pinned at 9:30. These four took a night off here, doing the absolute minimum with this basic house show comedy match. ¼*

Big Boss Man v Mountie: Mountie manages to get the jump on him while Boss Man is being disarmed by the referee, but runs into a spinebuster, and Boss Man slaps him around. The lighting crew are using a weird spotlight on the ring for this one, making for some interesting shadows. Palm strike knocks Mountie out of the ring, and Boss Man follows to abuse him on the outside for a bit, then brings him in for a straddling ropechoke. Boss Man works him over in kick-punch fashion, but misses a cross corner charge, and takes an over the top bump to the floor. Mountie capitalizes by going after the leg on the outside, and he keeps after it on the way back in. He gets overly cocky, however, and walks into the Boss Man Slam at 7:56. Psychologically sound enough, but really boring. ¾*

WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Sgt. Slaughter: Slaughter and General Adnan attack as Hogan slides into the ring, but Hulk fights them off, and sends Sarge to the outside with a cross corner whip. Hulk follows to ram him into the guardrail out there, and he chokes him with some cable before bringing it back in. Slaughter begs off, but Hogan cross corner whips him to setup a backdrop, the blasts him with the axe bomber. Slaughter bumps all around creation for the champion, but Hull telegraphs a backdrop, and Sarge takes over. He pounds Hogan down until the champ is bleeding and falling to the outside, where Slaughter follows to abuse him with the apron and the steps. A shot with the title belt lays Hogan out (he's lucky this isn't a few years later, or that spot would be enough to crown a new champion), and another with the ring bell sees Hogan nearly get counted out, but Slaughter keeps breaking it. Hulk pulls himself in, but is met with a barrage of rights for two. Slaughter works the cut, and the Camel Clutch looks to finish, but Hulk escapes, so Sarge goes to the eyes. Backbreaker gets two, and Slaughter goes up with a flying kneedrop across the back for two, but triggers the HULK UP!! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! More Fists of More Fury! But, the referee gets bumped in the process, and Adnan passes Sarge a chair! However, instead of hitting Hogan, he hits the still downed official (on purpose), before going for Hulk - and missing. Slaughter ends up knocking himself out with the chair, and Hulk steals it. He takes out Adnan, and then blasts Slaughter - only for the referee to wake up and see it for the DQ at 16:00. Say what you will about this program in general, but you can't fault the effort here, as both guys worked hard to give the fans their money's worth. Entertaining beyond its rating. ** ½

Irwin R Schyster v Jimmy Snuka: Of all the branches of the federal government, you wouldn't think it'd be the IRS Snuka would have to worry about. This is still very early into the character's run, and IRS comes down in a full suit, then strips down to wrestle in short black tights (with weird brown leggings), topped with the usual white dress shirt, suspenders, and tie. It's really weird, compared to the look we'd become used to. Feeling out process to start, with Snuka controlling. A big knife-edge chop sends Schyster to the outside, where he loads up his boot with a mystery object he finds underneath the ring. Back in, he manages to toss Snuka over the top, and a vertical suplex brings him back in for a pair of elbowdrops for two. IRS grabs an abdominal stretch, but gets caught using the ropes, and Jimmy escapes. He unloads on the tax man in the corner, but Irwin manages to roll through a 2^nd rope flying bodypress for the pin at 6:33. Not much to this one. ½*

Warlord v Kerry Von Erich: Feeling out process to start, with Kerry playing mind games with him. Hey, who better? Warlord manages to take the pep out of his step with a bearhug, and a trip into the steps on the outside disorients Kerry. Or, at least we hope that's what did it. Warlord rams him into the post for good measure, but Kerry comes in with a sloppy slingshot sunset flip that Warlord blocks. Good for him. Von Erich tries a bodyslam, but gets toppled for two, and Warlord delivers a backbreaker. Splash misses, allowing Kerry to hit the Discus Punch, but Warlord's in the ropes at two. Sleeper, but Warlord falls into the ropes to escape, and both men go tumbling over the top. They slug it out on the floor, and we've got a double countout at 9:15. Why in the world did they single THIS, of all matches, out to feature on a Coliseum Video release? -¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Virgil and The Rockers v Mr. Fuji and The Orient Express: Shawn Michaels starts with Tanaka, and a criss cross ends in Tanaka superkicking him down. Shawn returns fire with a clothesline, so Kato comes in illegally, but is cutoff by the rest of the team, and they clean house! Dust settles on Virgil and Kato, and Virgil is fiery, but runs into a cheap shot in the heel corner, and Fuji tags in to abuse him with chops. They cut the ring in half on Virgil, but Kato is an idiot, and runs into Marty Jannetty on the outside. Tags to Marty and Tanaka, and Tanaka messes up a skin-the-cat spot. We get some comedy spots with the Rockers messing with the Express, but a cheap shot from Tanaka knocks Shawn right into a backbreaker from Kato. They cut the ring in half on Michaels, but he escapes a reverse chinlock to get the hot tag to Marty - Roseanne Barr the door! Tandem superkick for Tanaka, and Virgil finishes him with the Million Dollar Dream at 10:33. Energetic enough, but pretty weak overall, with Virgil and Fuji bringing things down a lot. *

Main Event: Ted DiBiase v Roddy Piper: Piper jumps him before the bell, and whips him with his belt. The Network's crack closed captioning team identifies Piper's outfit as a 'quilt,' by the way. Roddy beats DiBiase from pillar to post, so Sensational Sherri tries to get involved, but Roddy shrugs her off, and punishes her with a kiss. Ted uses the distraction to attack, but Piper shrugs him off as well, and delivers a facebuster - only to miss a charge in the corner. DiBiase uses a tree of woe to abuse Piper's bad knee, and Sherri distracts the referee to allow Ted to use a chair for two! DiBiase keeps working the leg, but Roddy blocks a spinning-toehold, and throws a cup of water in Ted's face! That prompts Sherri to pass him another chair, and he blasts the knee while she distracts the official, then goes for the kill with a figure four a 7:33 - the referee stopping the match to prevent permanent damage to the leg despite Piper not submitting. Not a great wrestling match, but fun nonetheless. ½*

BUExperience: The WWF Title match is fun, the rest is not

DUD