WWF at Madison Square Garden (June 3, 1991)

Original Airdate: June 3, 1991

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, Jim Neidhart, and Bobby Heenan

Opening Match: Ricky Steamboat v Smash: Smash looks like shit here - looking pudgy, and not even bothering to properly apply his face paint. Didn't take long for him to start letting himself go, did it? Feeling out process to start, and Steamboat takes a nice bump out of the ring after escaping a headvice, with Smash following him out for a trip into the ring post, then adding a bodyslam on the floor. Smash uses the top rope to bring Dragon back in hardway with a slingshot, and a backbreaker is worth two. Back to the headvice, but Ricky escapes, so Smash throws a series of clotheslines, and grabs a sleeper. Steamboat actually lets the arm drop three times here, leaving the poor announcers to make excuses for him and the referee. Steamboat escapes and blocks a backdrop as he mounts his comeback, sending Smash to the outside with a standing dropkick then diving out after him with a 2^nd rope flying bodypress! Smash manages to nail him on the way back in to setup a hanging vertical suplex for two, but he misses a cross corner charge, and Ricky hits a flying bodypress to put him away at 10:14. * ¼ (Original rating: *).

Warlord v Koko B. Ware: Koko has a totally different colored bird with him tonight, though the announcers still act like it's Frankie. And speaking of different colors, the ring crew accidentally switched the top and bottom ropes, giving us a blue top rope and a red bottom rope tonight. You almost never saw that happen past about 1986, even on house shows. Feeling out process to start, and Warlord hammers him in the corner, then puts him down with a big boot. Bearhug eats up a few minutes, but Koko fights free, so Warlord backdrops him over the top for getting spunky. Koko manages a slingshot sunset flip on the way back in, but Warlord blocks him, and adds a bodyslam - only to miss an elbowdrop. Ware capitalizes with a small package for two, and a missile dropkick is worth two, but he runs into a hotshot, and Warlord covers at 10:33. You know the match sucks when even the stupid parrot can't be bothered to show up. DUD

Jim Duggan v Col. Mustafa: Hopefully they didn't drive through Jersey together on the way to the show. Lots of stalling to start, as Duggan plays to the crowd. Gorilla notes that there are 'twenty thousand' people in the Garden tonight, which sounds like typical WWE math. And speaking of the crowd, it's astounding to me how many events I see Vlad the Superfan in the front row for during this period. And not all in the same geographical region either, like those ECW super fans. I've always wondered about those guys (Vlad, Faith No More Guy, etc). How could they afford it? I mean, they got great seats to event after event for years on end, all around the country, and not only did they have to buy tickets, but likely hotel, airfare, and rentals cars as well, all on a regular basis. That would amount to thousands upon thousands of dollars in expenses, and you have to wonder how they maintained a work schedule with all that travel, let alone for the type of job that would pay them enough to afford living such a lifestyle. Frankly, I find that more interesting than anything going on during this match, which sees General Adnan trip Duggan up to allow Mustafa to take control, so Jim chases him to the back, but gets counted out at 5:47 when Sgt. Slaughter attacks him behind the curtain. -½*

Bret Hart v Barbarian: Bret was still working out the kinks in his singles attire at this point, sporting an awkward combination of his Hart Foundation gear with some elements of his later look mashed in. Feeling out process to start, with Hart doing a great sell job for Barbarian's power stuff, including going flying out of the ring off a simple shoulderblock at one point. Barbarian with a bodyslam, but he misses an elbowdrop, and Hart manages to chop down that tree with some rights to send the big man to the outside. Back in, the Hitman works the arm, but runs into a big boot, and Barbarian drives him into the post a couple of times on the outside. Back in, Barbarian tries the boot again, but Hart ducks, so Barbarian tries a bearhug during the ensuing criss cross, but Bret quickly slugs free. Barbarian responds with a corner whip to soften him up for the bearhug, but Bret escapes before the third arm drop, so Barbarian punishes him with a sidewalk slam. 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop misses, however, and Hart manages an inverted atomic drop to setup a clothesline for two. Ten-punch count and a backbreaker setup a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, and a Russian legsweep is worth two. Barbarian kicks out with such authority that Hart goes flying out of the ring, but Bret manages to block a vertical suplex back in, so Mr. Fuji trips him up, and Barbarian clobbers him. Fuji tries to whack him with the cane to finish things off, but ends up nailing Barbarian instead, and Hart scores the fall at 12:09. Bret may have been guilty of phoning in house show efforts from time to time, but he was clearly still aiming to impress the higher ups in his still new role as a single, because he was bumping all over the place for Barbarian here. **

Jimmy Snuka v Bob Bradley: Feeling out process to start, with Snuka escaping headlocks, and chopping Bob around, before finishing with the Superfly Splash at 4:02. That probably sounds like I glossed over a bunch of stuff there, but I really didn't. DUD

Jake Roberts v Earthquake: Jake attacks before the bell, blitzing Earthquake with rights until the big guys backs down in the corner. Jake plays mind games with him for a bit, but ends up getting whipped into the corner, and Earthquake tries a choke, but the referee intervenes. That allows Jake to go for the DDT, but Earthquake holds onto the top rope to block, and knocks Roberts to the outside. With Jake down, Earthquake goes for the snake bag, but Jake stops him in time, and dodges an avalanche against the post out there. Back in, Jake hits a short-clothesline, but Earthquake again blocks the DDT - this time by railroading Roberts into the corner. He dumps Jake to the outside and actually threatens to dive at him, climbing all the way to the top rope before the referee forces him to think better of it. I'm surprised he got that far, frankly. Inside, Jake tries for the DDT, but Earthquake is again in the ropes, and he sweeps Roberts down for a splash onto the knee. Jake can't stand after that, but manages to roll out of the way of the Earthquake Splash, and falls to the floor for a breather. That allows Earthquake to grab the snake bag, and he looks to Splash that instead, but Jake manages to come in for the save, and he chases Earthquake away with Lucifer - getting himself disqualified in the process at 10:56. Based on this one, I honestly believe that these two probably could have gotten a good match out of each other if they did a proper pay per view blow off. * ¼

Big Boss Man v Mountie: Jesus, how many times did they run this match at the Garden before SummerSlam, anyway? Mountie tries to hold the high ground with his shock stick, but Boss Man comes right at him, and beats him down in the corner. Series of turnbuckle smashes setup a pair of straddling ropechokes, and Boss Man adds a running powerslam. Mountie bails, but Boss Man is quick as a cat, and goes after him with a right hand on the outside, then brings him in for more of the same. He tries a flying axehandle, but Mountie gets out of the way, and Boss Man ends up landing throat-first across the top rope. That allows Mountie to take control, and a jumping backelbow gets him two. A slugfest doesn't end well for him though, and Boss Man hits a backelbow of his own to setup a splash, so Mountie zaps him with the shock stick for the pin at 5:50. Fun little brawl. *

Animal v Paul Roma: Hercules is in Roma's corner, though Animal is going it alone. Roma manages to sneak attack following a distraction from his partner, but runs into an inverted atomic drop during a criss cross, and Animal clotheslines him. Falling headbutt to the groin and a ten-punch count follow, but Roma manages to escape by dumping Animal over the top. Hercules is right there with a cheap shot on the outside, and Paul follows to ram the Road Warrior into the apron. Back in, Roma hits a dropkick, then adds an impressive three-alarm no-release backbreaker! Wow! Flying axehandle follows, but Animal manages to duck a haymaker, and hit a side suplex. Roma tries saving things with a piledriver, but Animal authoritatively kicks out at two, and starts no-selling everything. The referee ends up getting bumped as Animal bounces Roma around, however, and Hercules comes in to work him over - only for Paul to accidentally nail Hercules with a missile dropkick, and gets powerslammed by Animal at 5:00. This was energetic as fuck, and a lot better than I expected it to be. ** ½ (Original rating: ¼*)

Main Event: WWF Title Desert Storm Match: Hulk Hogan v Sgt. Slaughter: The match can only end by surrender. The crowd is hot for this one! Hulk is dressed like a commando here, which I'm guessing (see also: hoping) he borrowed from the set of his latest movie. He may also be ‘going commando’ here, though hopefully we won’t have to find that out for certain. Hogan throws powder in his eyes right away, then blasts him with the title belt, and his own helmet. Hulk steals the riding crop and goes to work with that, then dumps Sarge to the outside for a trip into the steps. Hogan chokes him with some electrical cables out there before bringing the now bloody challenger back in, and choking him with a flag. The referee isn't even in the ring for this, since it's not even standard submissions that will end it, but 'unconditional surrenders.' Hulk continues to beat him from pillar to post with anything not tied down, and the axe bomber sets up a slingshot into the corner. Slaughter tries going low, but Hogan ignores it, and starts working the cut, so Sarge goes to the eyes to buy himself some time. He uses it to undo his tool belt to whack Hogan with a canteen, and another shot with it sends the Hulkster to the outside. Slaughter follows to smash Hogan into the guardrail, and we get a funny spot where Sarge knocks Hulk into the rail so hard that it sends some poor little Hulkamaniac flying back a couple of seats. Poor little bugger. Back in, Slaughter works him over with a belt, but gets overpowered by a chair (in a silly spot) to allow Hogan to get hold of it and use the weapon. Slaughter fights him off with a poorly executed Russian legsweep before successfully using the chair to setup the Camel Clutch, but he can't get it properly applies, and Hulk escapes. Sarge goes up to try and finish, but he's so battered that he ends up falling off of the top rope, and by the time he's able to pick himself up and try again, Hulk slams him down. Slaughter gets desperate, and takes off his boot to use as a weapon, but Hogan blocks by throwing a well timed fireball in his face, and I'm guessing poor Sarge's mustache got good and singed on that one! Hulk unloads with the boot, and slaps on his own (sloppy) camel clutch for the win at 15:34. Given how definitive that ending was, I'm surprised they still tried to market SummerSlam with Hulk/Slaughter on top in this same building. ** ½

BUExperience: Not a bad little house show, overall. Nothing to go out of your way to see, of course, but fairly entertaining, and I’ve certainly seen much worse

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