WWF at Cornwall Civic Complex (October 2, 1994)

Original Airdate: October 2, 1994

From Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

Opening Match: Abe Schwartz v PJ Walker: What a terrible choice for an opener. They trade off in the early going, with Schwartz doing all kinds of baseball related trickery. I do kind of like the ‘safe’ symbol following a leapfrog during a criss cross, though it would be even funnier paired with a baseball slide. Abe tries a clothesline, but Walker ducks, and hiptosses him. Bodyslam and a dropkick follow, so Abe bails. Walker tries to keep it going once Abe climbs back in, but takes a swinging neckbreaker, and Abe adds a stomp to the groin. Bodyslam and a clothesline knock PJ over the top, and Abe is on him with a baseball slide. Back in, that gets Abe two, so he cranks on a chinlock. Walker starts to fight free, so Abe stomps him back down, and works a choke. Backbreaker gets him two, and he goes back to the mat with a side-headlock. Walker escapes, but gets clobbered with a clothesline before he can mount a comeback, and Abe delivers a series of stomps to the groin for two. That leads to a funny bit with Abe getting in the referee’s face like he’s an umpire, and Walker sneaks up with a schoolboy for two. Back to the headlock, but Walker fights free, and makes a comeback. Ten-punch count is blocked with an inverted atomic drop and a cradle for two, so Walker tries a rollup, but Abe reverses at 10:59. I appreciated Abe’s commitment to the bit, but the match was terribly boring. ¼*

Nikolai Volkoff v Doink the Clown: Volkoff pounds him to start, but is so slow during a criss cross, that Doink can’t help but clown him. Doink with a drop-toehold into a stepover-toehold, before switching to an armbar. Doink works the arm for a bit, but telegraphs a backdrop, and gets nailed. Volkoff stomps the groin a few times, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Doink dodges. Volkoff’s execution was terrible there, like a kid ‘playing wrestler.’ Doink with a schoolboy for the pin at 3:59. This was really short for a house show match from this era. That’s not a complaint, mind you. DUD

Tatanka v Duke Droese: Tatanka hammers him to start, but gets a hiptoss reversed on him, and Duke throws a dropkick to knock him to the outside. Tatanka takes a moment to regroup out there, and he calls for a test-of-strength on the way back in. Duke accepts, but gets nailed with a cheap shot right away, and Tatanka hammers him. Duke fights back with an atomic drop, however, and he cranks the arm. Tatanka forces a criss cross, so Duke hits him with a pair of clotheslines, but Tatanka sidesteps a third, and Duke goes crashing over the top. Tatanka puts the boots to him out there, and feeds Droese the steps before rolling him back in for more aimless pounding. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop for two, so Tatanka goes to the mat with a chinlock. Duke fights free, so Tatanka nails him with a knee to keep control, and delivers a vertical suplex for two. Back to the chinlock, until Droese finally (after, like, three minutes in the hold) makes his comeback. Backelbow gets him two, and a powerslam is worth two. 2nd rope bodypress, but Tatanka ducks, and delivers a Samoan drop at 14:16. Tatanka was a terrible heel, one who brought nothing to the table whatsoever with this performance, and Duke was hardly the guy to make up the difference on the other side. DUD

The Smoking Gunns v The Heavenly Bodies: Billy Gunn starts with Tom Prichard, and dominates him in the early going. That draws Jimmy Del Ray in without a tag, but Bart Gunn cuts him off, and the Gunns clean house. The dust settles on Bart and Tom, and Bart cranks on the arm to control. Billy tags in with a sunset cradle for two, and an armdrag leaves Tom grounded in an armbar. The Gunns keep working Tom over, and a sidewalk slam/legdrop combo gets them two. Bart eventually gets into trouble to allow the Bodies to turn the tide, and they cut the ring in half on the dark haired cowboy. Bart fights Del Ray off to allow the hot tag, and the Gunns hit Tom with the sidewinder, but Del Ray makes the save at two. He clobbers Bart for two, but Billy grabs a blind tag as they criss cross, and dives in on Del Ray at 15:29. This was generally fine, just totally paint-by-numbers and formulaic, not to mention quite long for what it was. ¾*

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Pierre: Really breaking out the high level challengers, I see. Razor really liked that red gear on the house shows, huh? Pierre goes after the arm right away, but Razor responds in kind, and holds an overhead wristlock. They trade hammerlocks from there, dominated by the challenger, until Ramon manages to dump him out of the ring to force a break. Pierre beats the count back in, and they trade wristlocks again, with Pierre taking control using a headlock. Razor fights him off, but telegraphs a backdrop, and eats canvas when Pierre uses a facebuster. Pierre with an elbowdrop and a legdrop for two, and a series of chokes follow. Corner whip rattles Ramon for a reverse chinlock, but he fights free, so Pierre backelbows him back down for two. Pierre hammers the lower back, and drops the Bad Guy with a short-clothesline, before slapping on an abdominal stretch. He gets busted using the ropes, allowing Ramon a reversal, but Pierre quickly escapes. Elbowdrop, but Ramon rolls out of the way, and delivers a chokeslam for two. Ramon mounts a proper comeback, and a clothesline sends Pierre over the top. Razor follows, but gets reversed into the rail out there, and Pierre picks up a countout win at 14:27. You know, everyone makes fun of Bret Hart for not wanting to job the title on Canadian soil in 1997, but then you see stuff like this, and remember that they take this sort of thing very, very seriously north of the border. ¼*

Main Event: 1-2-3 Kid v Owen Hart: They trade wristlocks to start, with Kid getting the better of him, so Owen complaining of non-existent hair pulling. They go back to trading wristlocks, and this time Owen manages to control. Kid counters into a headlock, but Owen forces a criss cross, only to have Kid reverse a hiptoss on him. Kid goes back to the mat with another side-headlock, until Owen manages to grab the hair to counter into a headscissor hold. Pinfall reversal sequence ends in Kid grabbing the headlock again, so Owen forces another criss cross, and catches him with a knee this time. Hart stomps the groin for good measure, and adds an inverted atomic drop. Kid fights back with a sunset flip for two, but Owen quickly clobbers him to prevent a comeback, and then goes to the eyes to make sure. Hart with a series of uppercuts, but a corner charge misses, and Kid unloads a series of strikes in the corner, ahead of a monkeyflip for two. Spinheel kick gets him two, but a whip into the ropes gets reversed, and Hart catches him with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex at 7:24. I don’t know if they were dealing with an injury, or what, but after the entire midcard getting tons of time, these two barely get seven minutes in the main event? This was really, really disappointing, as I was hoping for some sort of follow up to their King of the Ring match to save the show, but it was just a forgettable nothing match. *

BUExperience: More like a B- house show.

DUD