WWF at Great Western Forum (January 15, 1994)

Original Airdate: January 15, 1994

From Los Angeles, California 

Opening Match: The Headshrinkers v The Bushwhackers: Samu and Butch start, and there’s lots of posturing. The Bushwhackers end up cleaning house, and the dust settles on Fatu and Luke. Fatu suckers him into accepting a handshake to set up a cheap shot, but an elbowdrop misses. That draws Samu in, but he accidentally ends up hitting his own partner, and the babyfaces clean house again. The Headshrinkers use some cheating to take control on Luke, however, and they cut the ring in half. Samu misses a charge and gets caught in the ropes to allow the tag to Butch, and Roseanne Barr the door! Butch tries ramming the heels’ heads together, but that goes nowhere, and they respond with a double headbutt to knock Butch silly for the pin at 7:46. This was a shorter version of the same match they did the day before in San Jose. Shorter is better with these four. ¼*

1-2-3 Kid v Diesel: Diesel powers him into the corner for a bootchoke to start, and he biels Kid clear across the ring from there (drawing ‘ooohs’ from the crowd). Diesel with more choking ahead of a cross corner whip, but the charge in misses, and Kid goes after the leg. Kid tries a figure four, but Diesel shoves him out of the ring with his good leg, and Diesel is actually doing a good job of selling the knee. Diesel presses Kid back into the ring, and he drives a forearm into the back. Kid tries coming back with a flurry of fists and a spinkick, but Diesel quickly puts a stop to that, and delivers a sidewalk slam. He works a headvice from there, but Kid fights free. He tries a sunset flip, but Diesel blocks, and chokeslams him. That allows Diesel a gutwrench powerbomb, but Kid counters another sidewalk slam with a headscissor takedown. Kid hammers him into the corner for a spinkick, and he ducks getting clobbered, before delivering a spinheel kick for two. To the top for a flying bodypress, but Diesel catches him in a snake-eyes at 7:04. A solid little big/little match. This was basically identical to the San Jose match the night before, but came off better. * ½ 

Bret Hart v Jeff Jarrett: Jarrett with some stalling to start, suckering Hart into going after him on the outside, and allowing Jeff to drop him across the guardrail. Jarrett puts the boots to him out there, and he delivers a turnbuckle smash on the way back in. Bodyslam sets up a 2nd rope fistdrop, but Bret dodges. That allows Hart an inverted atomic drop, so Jeff hides behind the referee, since you can take the boy out of Memphis, but you can’t take the Memphis out of the boy. Hart forces him out of the corner with a snapmare ahead of a legdrop, and the Hitman works the arm. Jeff forces a criss cross and throws a knee to the midsection to turn the tide, and he absolutely plants a dropkick on him from there. Hardly news, but  Jeff had a great dropkick. Jarrett with a pair of cross corner whips to rattle the ring, and a backelbow gets him two. Chinlock grounds the Hitman, and Jarrett works that for a while, though Bret makes sure to work in plenty of hope spots along the way. Jarrett then makes sure to add some illegal leverage to give the crowd more to get behind, but the referee busts him. Criss cross ends in Jarrett hooking a sleeper, so Hart tries falling into the ropes, but Jeff drags him to the center ring. Hart tries a rollup, so Jeff dumps him to the outside to block, then knocks him off of the apron when Bret tries getting back inside. Again, but Hart fights him off with punches, and uses a slingshot sunset flip for two. Jarrett tries a leveraged pin, but gets busted by the referee, and Hart schoolboys for two while Jeff is busy fuming about it. Bret tries a backdrop, but Jarrett boots him in the face to block. Back to the dropkick, but Hart dodges this time, and delivers a Russian legsweep for two. An inside cradle gets two, and a backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. Cross corner whip gets reversed, but Bret blocks the charge in, and dives with a 2nd rope clothesline - only for Jarrett to shove the referee into harm’s way. Hart stays focused for the Sharpshooter, but the referee disqualifies Jarrett at 17:03. Not the most exciting match, but solid. * ¾ 

WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Razor Ramon v Shawn Michaels: Stalling from Shawn to start, which was thankfully an aspect they dropped for the WrestleMania match. So, after four minutes of Michaels walking around the ring and insulting half the front row, we’re off. Razor backelbows him during a criss cross, and a clothesline sends HBK over the top. Ramon follows to pull up the mats for a Razors Edge on the floor, but Michaels escapes, and shoves him into the post out there. Shawn with a bodyslam on the exposed floor, and he whacks the back with a chair for good measure. Michaels hammers him with jabs on the way back into the ring, and a cross corner whip rattles it. Michaels with a series of axehandles to the back, and a pair of kneedrops keep the hurt going. Shawn tosses him over the top to allow him to go for the ladder, but Razor cuts him off before he can get it into the ring, and Shawn eats some post. Ramon with a cross corner whip that flips Michaels over the buckles, and the Bad Guy puts the boots to him before going for the ladder - only for Shawn to baseball slide it into him. Shawn bashes him in the stomach a few times with the ladder, and the crowd doesn’t know what to make of this kind of brutality. Michaels then ups the ante by dropping the ladder across Ramon’s back, then ups it further by chucking it across the ring at him in the corner. Michaels opens up the ladder and climbs, but Razor slugs him off, and Michaels takes a bump across the top rope. Shawn still recovers first, and pokes him in the eyes, allowing the challenger a backbreaker. He leans the ladder in a corner to whip Ramon into, but Razor reverses, and, of course, Shawn takes a big bump into it. Ramon adds a catapult into the ladder to give Shawn another chance to pinball around, and the Bad Guy grabs the ladder to get some revenge. A shot to the head sends Michaels flying out of the ring, and Razor climbs, but Michaels manages to dive with a flying axehandle to knock him off. And, just like in the WrestleMania match, they manage to have the ladder tip over right on Michaels to add to the drama. Both guys stagger up opposite sides of the ladder for a slugfest, and Razor gets the better of it by slamming Michaels off… only to fall off as well to leave both guys down again. Shawn is up first, and delivers a superkick to win a criss cross, but he’s still groggy. Piledriver allows him to climb, and he nearly gets it, before Ramon tips the ladder over - Michaels landing crotch-first across the top rope, and then falling out of the ring. Nice bump there. That allows Razor to climb, and he grabs the gold at 18:20. The structure of the match was really well done, with things getting progressively crazier throughout, and good psychology. The lengthy stall session at the onset nearly derailed this thing before it even got started, but once it got into gear, it was wonderful. They had pretty much the entire blueprint for the WrestleMania match down here, though the pay per view match omitted the stalling, and added some additional highspots. *** ½ (Original rating: ** ½)

Bob Backlund v Irwin R. Schyster: Backlund with an armdrag to start, so IRS immediately accuses him of hairpulling. Schyster tries a turnbuckle smash, but Bob reverses, and puts Irwin in a standing side-headlock. IRS forces a criss cross, but Bob reverses a hiptoss, and throws a pair of dropkicks to send Schyster to the outside to regroup. Bob forces him back in for another headlock, but IRS whips him into the ropes, and throws a knee to set up an elbowdrop for two. Schyster works an abdominal stretch, but gets busted using the ropes, and Bob hooks a cradle for two once the referee forces a break. IRS takes him down in a chinlock to cut off any comeback, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Backlund sunset flips him for two. IRS goes back to the chinlock to try and retain control, but Bob pops him with a jawbreaker to escape. Bodyslam, but Irwin topples him for two, and digs back in with the chinlock. Backbreaker sets up a dive off the top, but Backlund lifts his boot to block. That’s enough to allow him a comeback, so Schyster bails. Bob forces him back in, but gets caught with an elbow in the scuffle, and Schyster hooks a leveraged pin at 5:29. These two had a match that absolutely bombed the previous day, but this revised version was much better. The funny thing is that it was basically the same match, they just condensed it (from thirteen minutes to five), and it made a world of difference. They wouldn’t have the chance to mess with the formula any more, however, as this was their second and final pairing. *

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Randy Savage v Crush: Speaking of matches that absolutely bombed the day before. Savage attacks in the aisle to kick start the match, and bumps Crush into the post for two. He chokes him on the rail next, and another shot into the post gets him three at 1:00. So now Crush has sixty seconds to return to the ring, but Macho doesn’t want to give him a breather, and grabs a chair. The referee cuts him off to give Crush the time, and the Hawaiian beats the count. Macho is on him with a series of jabs and a clothesline for two, and he ropechokes him. Macho tosses him over the top for more abuse on the outside, and a shot into the steps gets him three at 3:33. Crush beats the count, so Macho hammers him with a series of rights, and goes up for the flying elbowdrop, so Mr. Fuji whacks him with the flagpole, and Randy gets distracted. That allows Crush to recover, and he pounds Macho into the corner, then snapmares him for a bootrake. Crush works the ribs, and a superkick puts Randy down for a chinlock, but Savage goes to the eyes to force a break. Macho with a cross corner whip, and he hiptosses Crush on the rebound, then dives with a flying axehandle to knock him to the outside. Savage follows to send him into the post out there, but Crush reverses, then goes back to pounding the ribs. He rams the ribs into the post to set up a backbreaker on the floor, and Savage takes a pin at 8:40. Randy beats the count, so Crush puts the boots to the ribs, and corner whips him to set up a bearhug. He works a Mexican surfboard next, and a backbreaker gets him two. Another backbreaker sets up a flying kneedrop, but Macho moves out of the way, and he hustles to the top rope with a flying axehandle - only to get caught in a bearhug, and rammed into the buckles! Crush tosses him over the top, and they fight up the aisle, where Crush is able to score a pinfall at 14:14. Savage fights to beat the count, but Ludvig Borga shows up to attack him, and Crush gets the win at 15:21. This was likely setting up a program between the two for after WrestleMania, but Borga got injured, and left the promotion before they got there. This was another one that, despite being very similar, worked much better in Los Angeles than it did in San Jose, but it was still pretty dull for such a long outing. There were some nice moments peppered in, but the stop/start nature of the gimmick really hurt it, and luckily that aspect would be dropped when this match type became more commonplace later in the 90s. * ¼ 

Main Event: Yokozuna and Ludvig Borga v Lex Luger and Tatanka: Yokozuna and Lex start, and we get the big staredown. Yoko tries getting in his face, so Lex starts throwing clotheslines, but one from Yoko ends that party. Splash, but Luger dodges, and passes to Tatanka to dive in with a flying axehandle. Tatanka works a wristlock, so Yoko goes to the eyes, and passes to Borga to pound Tatanka in the corner. Corner whip works, but the splash in doesn’t, and Tatanka throws shoulderblocks - only to have them no-sold. Borga puts him down with a backelbow, and a headbutt rattles him, but Borga telegraphs a backdrop, and takes a DDT. Tatanka with a flying bodypress for two, and he grabs an armbar, but Borga catches him with a clothesline for two after forcing a criss cross. He passes back to Yoko for a combo, but Tatanka dodges a clothesline, and unloads tomahawk chops. Yoko tries a legdrop, but Tatanka dodges. Tatanka tries a dropkick, but Yoko dodges. Yoko tries an elbowdrop, but Tatanka dodges… and then Yoko just clotheslines him to put a stop to the shenanigans. All that cardio has killed Yokozuna dead, however, and it’s nervehold time. For a long time. Funny bit in there, where Tatanka sells an eyerake three seconds after it happens, which is obvious even from the cheap seats. Yoko misses an avalanche to allow the hot tag to Luger, and Roseanne Barr the door! Lex knocks Yoko silly with the forearm smash, but Borga nails him with Mr. Fuji’s salt bucket as he tries for the pin, and both men are left looking up at the lights as the referee restores order. The count is on, and Lex manages to roll over first, pinning Yokozuna at 9:30. So, yes, that terrible finish wasn’t just a one time thing in San Jose, they were running with that ball. This one is another match that benefited from getting less time in LA than it did the night before. *

BUExperience: This was a really fun house show! It’s no secret that WrestleMania X is my all time favorite show, so seeing this proto version is a joy for me. And though this was the same card as the night before in San Jose, every single match was much better here (except for the Ladder match, but the version here is still really good regardless). I would have been thrilled to attend this one back in the day.

**