WWF at Madison Square Garden (January 17, 1994)

Original Airdate: January 17, 1994

From New York, New York

Opening Match: Ludvig Borga v Rick Steiner: Lots of stalling to start, with a full two minutes of walking around the ring before the first contact is made, when Rick grabs a standing side-headlock. Borga quickly escapes with a side suplex, and he grabs a headlock of his own. Rick uses his own side suplex to break, and he quickly ups the ante with a flying bulldog for two! Armbar, but Borga is in the ropes right away, and he drives Steiner into the corner for some knees. Cross corner whip hits, but a charge in is countered with the Steinerline for two, so Ludvig gutpunches him to take the wind out of his sails. And, you know, his lungs. Borga with another corner whip, but this time Steiner doesn't block the follow-up, and Ludvig adds a flying clothesline for two. Rick fires back with a powerslam for two, and this time he's able to apply the armbar away from the ropes. Borga fights to his feet, so Rick backelbows him, and adds an elbowdrop for two. Clothesline gets two, and it's back to the armbar. Borga escapes and hits a jumping clothesline for two, and they spill to the outside for a slugfest - Steiner winning with a chairshot, but both guys getting counted out at 7:03. This actually ended up being Borga's last WWF match, as he suffered an ankle injury here that cost him his spot at the Royal Rumble pay per view a few days later, and he never returned. Decent enough house show fare here. * ½

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Jeff Jarrett: Razor was working the house show circuit doing Ladder matches with Shawn Michaels during this period, but I guess they didn't want to give that away at the Garden ahead of WrestleMania. This is Jarrett's MSG debut, and he didn't really have any credibility on a national level yet at this point. He makes the referee read Ramon the riot act before the bell, accusing him of all sorts of cheating before the first contact even occurs. And then, once the first contact does occur, Jeff's accusing him of hair pulling right away! I love it! He bails to the outside to avoid a right hand, and after Razor gets frustrated, Jarrett is able to pull him to the outside for a shot into the post, guardrail, and steps. Well, he sure is making the most out of the accommodations, give him that. Back in, Jarrett keeps coming with a fistdrop and a backelbow, followed by a 2^nd rope flying fistdrop for two. Chinlock time, but Ramon escapes, so Jarrett delivers a facebuster, and he chokes the champ on the ropes. Dropkick gets two, but he argues the count, and Ramon schoolboys him for two. Jeff cuts him off with a clothesline, and a pair of 2^nd rope flying punches follow. He gets cocky and goes all the way to the top, but Razor gutpunches him out of the air. He looks for a follow-up, but Jarrett cuts him off again, this time with a sleeper. He gets two arm drops before Ramon elbows out, so Jeff tries raking the eyes, but eats a chokeslam for two when trying a hiptoss. Razor mounts his comeback, so Jarrett tries a bodypress during a criss cross, only to end up taking out the referee! Ramon ignores it and tries for the Razor's Edge, but here comes Shawn Michaels! Edge hits, but Shawn pulls Ramon out at two, and the dazed referee disqualifies the challenger at 12:31. Afterwards, the heels try to gang up on the Bad Guy, but get chased off. Nothing special. ¾*

WWF Title Match: Yokozuna v Tatanka: Yoko attacks before the bell, and they spill right to the outside, where Tatanka manages to reverse him into the steps. In, Tatanka hammers away with mounted punches, and a pair of tomahawk chops him, but a third is cut off with an elbow. Legdrop, but Tatanka rolls out of the way. He throws a dropkick, but it misses by a mile - as does Yoko's attempt at an elbowdrop. Tatanka goes up with a flying bodypress for two, and he tries slowing it down with a standing side-headlock. Yoko uses a headbutt to escape, and grabs a nervehold. Fuji waving the Japanese flag to urge 'USA' chants in support of a Native American Indian is pretty funny. The crowd loses interest as the hold drags on forever, until Tatanka finally escapes, and starts throwing clotheslines to stagger the big guy. Flying tomahawk chop looks to knock him over, but Yoko swats him out of the air, and hits an elbowdrop. Avalanche misses, however, and both men are left down to take the count - Tatanka able to get an arm across the moobs for two. Yoko responds to that blatant sexual harassment with another nervehold, and I feel like the entire crowd should file a class action suit against him for it. Tatanka escapes, so Yoko tries a turnbuckle smash, but the challenger starts dancing around! He mounts his comeback, and a flying clothesline is worth two, but a cross corner whip ends up bumping the referee. I'm sensing a trend tonight. Fuji capitalizes by passing Yoko the salt bucket, but it backfires, and Tatanka has him pinned - with no referee, of course. He eventually wakes up, but it's only a two count by then. Tatanka goes up, but Fuji whacks him with the flag to knock him off, and Yoko destroys him with a pair of legdrops at 14:54. The long nerveholds killed any mojo this had going. ½*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Marty Jannetty and 1-2-3 Kid v The Quebecers: I've wanted to see this one since Stan Lane kept calling in with 'live' updates during the taped episode of RAW that was airing this same night. The funny part about that is the matches airing on that episode were actually taped the same night Jannetty and Kid won the title from the Quebecers to begin with. The challengers sucker them into playing to the crowd, and they attack before the bell, but Jannetty and Kid quickly fight them off, and clean house! The dust settles on Marty and Jacques, and Jacques suckers him into a test-of-strength - taking a cheap shot. Unfortunately for him, Marty quickly fights him off, and Kid tags in for some tandem offense, but Pierre comes in with a double clothesline to kill them off. The Quebecers toss both champions to the outside, but they slide back in with stereo superkicks to clean house again. Marty dives onto them with a plancha, but the challengers catch him, so Kid adds a sloppy dive to knock them all over like bowling pins. He rolls Jacques back in, but Pierre pulls down the top rope as Kid tries bouncing off of them to setup an attack, and Pierre drives Kid into the steps on the outside. Back in, Jacques hooks the leg for two, and then delivers a backelbow before putting the boots to the Kid. Tag to Pierre for a vertical suplex to setup a 2^nd rope flying legdrop, but Kid dodges, and Marty gets the tag! He comes in with a jumping backelbow on Jacques, but stupidly unloads a series of turnbuckle smashes in the heel corner, and gets clobbered. Serves him right. That's something you would expect from the rookie youngster, but not the veteran. Kid comes in with a flying bodypress to try and save his buddy, and Marty hits Pierre with a superkick to stay alive. A vertical suplex/flying bodypress combo hits, but the referee is busy trying to desperately restore order, and misses the cover. Jacques capitalizes by whacking Jannetty with the polo mallet for two, and the challengers deliver a tandem hotshot for two. The Quebecers cut the ring in half, allowing Jannetty to sell his ass off. They were terrible in later years, but man, that initial Quebecers WWF run was just the best, wasn't it? The theme song, the outfits, Johnny Polo - what's not to love? Marty takes a backdrop over the top and Jacques delivers a piledriver to setup a tandem move with Pierre on the way back in, but the champ dodges, and schoolboys Jacques for two. The Quebecers cut him off, however, and Pierre delivers a sidewalk slam to setup a 2^nd rope flying splash, but Marty is able to lift his boot to block! That's enough for the hot tag to Kid, and he's wildly throwing kicks! He goes up to finish, but Polo crotches him to stop the effort, and Pierre vertical superplexes him down to setup the Tower of Quebec at 21:24. Perhaps a little slow in the middle, and ideally Jannetty should have taken the fall after getting destroyed for such an extended period of time, but good stuff and historically significant to boot. ** ¾

Main Event: 30-Man Royal Rumble Match: Yep, this is an actual full Royal Rumble, at a house show just days before the pay per view version. Two minute intervals for this. Diesel gets #1 and Mo draws #2. Good thing it wasn't Mabel, or else they'd have to air this on pay per view. Diesel hammers him right away, and ignores Mo's attempts at fighting back. He tosses him with ease, but Mo gets his foot caught in the ropes while going over the top, and Diesel is forced to free him to get the elimination. Outstanding. I mean, how hard is it to get thrown over the top rope? Actually, on second thought, probably not that easy. Butch is #3, but Diesel quickly discards him, as they're clearly testing the waters for the famous run he had at the pay per view that weekend. Nothing wrong with that. #4 is 1-2-3 Kid, but he's still pretty battered from the previous match, and gets destroyed. Diesel bootchokes him in the corner, and delivers a sidewalk slam, but a second is countered with a headscissors. Kid shows some fight with a kick combo in the corner, but Diesel quickly shrugs that off, and dumps him. #5 is Scott Steiner, as we finally get a dude with a last name! Diesel knocks him off the apron before he even gets into the ring, then stupidly steps over the top rope to go post him on the outside, but the referee's ignore it. Nice one, Big Daddy Cool. But, he also steps over the top when he climbs back in, so maybe it negates it? Scott gets pounded in the corner and eats a few clotheslines, but Diesel misses a charge, and Scott tosses him out - albeit through the ropes. Scott follows to beat on him with a chair, and he actually managers a sloppy tiger bomb on the way back in. Yeah, that did not look good. Why would you even try that with a guy Diesel's size? Iron Mike Sharpe is #6, but Steiner quickly tosses him. That allows Diesel to recover, however, and he blasts Scott with a big boot. He goes for the elimination, but Scott fights him off, and delivers a vertical suplex. He very nearly gets Diesel up and over, but ultimately fails, as #7 entry Samu walks down. He goes right for Scott, and gangs up with Diesel on the All American. Their alliance falls apart before they can garner an elimination, however, and #8 draw (and then current longevity record holder) Bob Backlund joins the fray. He goes for Samu, as Diesel and Steiner take it to the mat. #9 is Jeff Jarrett, and he tries attacking everyone, but eats a short-clothesline from Diesel, and a gutwrench suplex from Samu. Nice that they would be able to put aside their differences in time to help Yokozuna at the pay per view a few days later. Diesel hits Steiner with the Jackknife, but Jeff fails to backelbow him, and eats a press-slam. Virgil gets #10, and goes for Jarrett, but Samu saves him, as Diesel works to get Backlund out, but fails. #11 is Bam Bam Bigelow, and he puts a beating on the man they call Virgil. Randy Savage is #12, and the crowd is hot for him! I still don't get what the fuck they were thinking making him a commentator when he so clearly still had a lot left to give. He dumps Diesel and Jarrett in short order, as Backlund hangs on through a Bam Bam elimination attempt. You know, it's kind of shocking Savage never won a Rumble, now that I stop and think about it. Adam Bomb gets lucky #13, but eats a 2^nd rope flying axehandle from Macho (nice detail there, as he avoided going to the top in a battle royal), as Bigelow tries to press-slam Virgil, but gets toppled. #14 is Sgt. Slaughter, and that ends Bomb's night. He nearly gets Steiner out as well, but Savage saves, then grabs Samu - using Samu's head to headbutt Bigelow with! That's awesome! Again, how could they not see anything more than a commentator role for this guy? Crush draws #15, and you can guess who he goes right for. He hits Macho with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then stops to toss Steiner out - Scott taking a nice bump in the process. #16 is Mabel, as Crush tosses Savage out. Randy doesn't take that very well, to the surprise of absolutely no one, and several officials have to restrain him from coming back in with a chair. Crush ignores it and tosses Bigelow, then gets rid of Sarge via the patented corner bump. He took about a dozen of those tonight. #17 is Jim Powers, but Mabel devours him, and he's gone. There's an interesting collection of guys in this one, with various eras of rosters intersecting. #18 is Bastion Booger, and he helps everyone gang up to toss Mabel - Virgil and Backlund collateral damage in the process. Crush dumps Booger, leaving him alone with Samu, but Luke joins the party at #19. Samu gets tossed, but Luke has significantly less luck with Crush, and a superkick ends his night. Crush stands tall until #20 draw Owen Hart buzzes in. He Thesz-presses Crush down for some mounted punches, and a standing dropkick follows. Clothesline and a spinheel kick hit, but Hart runs into a pop-up flapjack before he can continue the barrage. Crush with a backbreaker, but a stinger splash misses, and Owen nearly gets him out before #21 draw Rick Martel saves. Lots of guys do that, and I'll never understand that strategy. Owen fights him off and hits Crush with a missile dropkick, then sends Martel to the outside (through the ropes) with a clothesline. Owen gets overwhelmed and hit with an inverted atomic drop from Crush, however, and the heels deliver a tandem clothesline. They work him over, but #22 is Bret Hart, and he quite literally helps a brother out! You know the booking is good when you're watching this over twenty years later, and you're hoping Bret is going to come through that curtain! Meanwhile, there's something going on in the crowd, as a bunch of officials suddenly run out to deal with something. #23 is Irwin R. Schyster, just as Bret dropkicks Crush out. He jumps the Hitman, and #24 is Johnny Polo. Bret goes right for him, allowing Martel and IRS to gang up on Owen, and Bret is forced to abandon his elimination attempt to save his little bro. The Hart Brothers work together to hold their own despite being outnumbered, until #25 draw Scott Putski enters. I totally thought that was Ultimate Warrior at first, for a second. Or, at the very least, Renegade. Fatu draws #26, as Owen continuously saves Bret from eliminations, which the Hitman is teasing like crazy. #27 is Marty Jannetty, and he goes right after Polo! Bart Gunn gets #28, as Marty STILL hasn't tossed Johnny. What a loser! Also, how is Putski still in this? Bart hits Polo with a leg-feed enzuigiri, as #29 draw Shawn Michaels struts down the aisle. He goes right for Marty, and they engage in a wild slugfest! Marty hits a superkick, but Fatu saves HBK from an elimination, and IRS helps Shawn pound on his former partner. Michaels tries to suplex Jannetty out of the ring, but fails, as Doink the Clown rounds out the field at #30. Owen gets Polo out, and Fatu backdrops Putski out to clear the real deadweight. IRS eliminates Martel, and Owen very nearly does the same to Shawn, but HBK hangs on. Doink vertical suplexes Bart out, but gets clotheslined over by Michaels. Shawn and Fatu gang up on Owen as IRS works over Bret, but the taxman eats an atomic drop, and he's done, as the middle rope seems to have broken at some point. We're down to Owen Hart, Bret Hart, Fatu, and Shawn Michaels, which is a damn good final four. In fact, that would be the same final four on the pay per view, only with Lex Luger instead of Owen. Shawn hangs Owen in a tree of woe then gangs up with Fatu to toss Bret. That leaves the Rocket alone, and Shawn tries to form an alliance with the savage. They go to work on Hart in the corner, but a criss cross ends in Owen double clotheslining them! Dropkick for Shawn, but bashing their heads together only hurts Michaels, and Fatu nails him. A bearhug/superkick combo leaves Owen in a heap, but here comes Razor Ramon! He distracts Michaels from the aisle to allow Fatu to sneak up with an elimination, and those two brawl to the dressing rooms as Owen battles it out with the Headshrinker - the middle rope now snapping off completely! I blame Yokozuna for this. They work around it, as Fatu hits a backbreaker and a headbutt drop, but he fails to toss the Rocket. Owen sneaks up with a ten-punch in the corner, so Fatu goes low, as Bret marches back down to stand in his little brother's corner. And probably bitch to the referee about the broken rope, if history is any indication. Fatu hits another backbreaker, but a trip to the top rope ends badly, and Owen wins at 70:06! A really fun, well booked Rumble - honestly better than a lot of the pay per view versions have been over the years. Very fascinating stuff, as you see a lot of the things that ended up on the pay per view, as well as many bits that didn't. ***

BUExperience: This is actually quite the fun house show, with three title matches, one belt changing hands, and a unique main event.

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