WWF at Grugahalle (July 12, 1994)

Original Airdate: July 12, 1994

From Essen, Germany

Opening Match: Adam Bomb v Thurman Sparky Plugg: Plugg sticks and moves in the early going, and even manages to knock Adam over the top with a clothesline. Bomb regroups, but Plugg is on him with a plancha, and he rolls Adam in for an armbar. Bomb fights him off by press-dropping Plugg across the top rope, and he snaps Sparky’s throat across it next. Bomb with a slingshot clothesline for two, Bomb with a standing dropkick for two, and he grounds Plugg in a chinlock. Plugg fights free, so Bomb powerslams him for two, and adds a clothesline before going back to the chinlock. Plugg slugs free, but Bomb cuts him off again with a DDT for two, and adds a pair of corner whips, but Plugg reverses a third - only for Bomb to rebound with another clothesline. Backelbow finds the mark, so Bomb goes upstairs, but Plugg cuts him off with a vertical superplex. Plugg makes a comeback, landing a dropkick for two, and a clothesline leads to a flying bodypress for two. Into the ropes, but Bomb reverses, and catches him with a sidewalk slam at 11:48. This was a fun, peppy opener. * ½ 

WWF Women's Title Match: Alundra Blayze v Luna Vachon: Blayze knocks her around to start, until Luna bails. Luna swipes at the eyes when the champion goes after her, allowing Vachon to snap her throat across the top rope, but Blayze comes back with a sunset cradle for two. Blayze calls for a test-of-strength, and Luna is nervous about accepting, in a weird babyface/heel reversal. They lock hands, and Luna quickly takes a cheap shot to get control, and she uses a three-alarm no-release snapmare to set up a nervehold. She wants that Yokozuna money! Corner whip flips Blayze over the buckles, but a corner splash misses, and they end up on the outside. Blayze suplexes her on the floor, but Luna sweeps her as the champion tries climbing back inside, and she uses the post. Inside, Luna locks on a Boston crab, but Blayze fights out with a cradle for two, so Luna turnbuckle smashes her. 2nd rope backelbow drop gets her two, and a swinging neckbreaker sets up a pump-splash for two. Bodyslam sets up a flying splash, but Blayze rolls out of the way, and recovers with a bulldog. Series of matslams leave Luna loopy, and a bridging German suplex finishes at 10:20. This was mostly okay. ¾*

Mabel v Bam Bam Bigelow: This was almost our King of the Ring semifinal. Thank God it wasn’t, Art Donovan’s head would have straight up exploded. Bigelow stalls on the outside to start, with Mabel getting increasingly angry. Inside, it’s power showdown time, as they trade shoulderblocks to a stalemate. Mabel eventually wins the exchange to knock Bigelow to the outside, and once Bam Bam gets back in, they each miss splashes. Mabel manages an avalanche for two, and a legdrop to the arm sets up a short-armscissors. Corner whip sets up another avalanche, but Bigelow dodges, and blasts him with a pair of enzuigiris, before knocking him out of the ring with a shoulderblock. He who laughs last, I guess. Bam Bam follows to the outside to beat on Mabel with the ring bell, and Bigelow delivers a clothesline for two on the way back into the ring. Chinlock, but Mabel fights free, so Bigelow drops him with another enzuigiri. Vertical suplex, but Mabel reverses, and makes a comeback. Bodyslam sets up a legdrop for two, but now it’s Bam Bam’s turn to reverse a vertical suplex. Both guys throw clotheslines to a stalemate, and a criss cross ends in a double knockout spot. Bigelow is up first with a bodyslam, and a flying moonsault looks to finish, but Mabel rolls out of the way. The miss allows Mabel to go to the middle with a splash, but Bigelow dodges, and covers at 10:56. This was better than it had any right to be. *

Lex Luger v Crush: They literally just walk around looking at each other for the first minute+, so I think we’re in for a long one here. Crush overpowers him in their early engagements, and it’s just endless posturing here. Crush continues to control, until Lex manages a backslide for two, and he throws a shoulderblock to knock Crush over the top. Lex dives after him with an axehandle from the apron, but Crush avoids it, and sends him into the post. I should note that the time between the last two sentences was about two minutes, as Luger just stood around celebrating that he’d knocked Crush out of the ring for an extended period. Crush grabs a chair, but Luger fights off the attack, so Crush hits him with an inverted atomic drop on the way back in. Pair of corner whips rebound Luger into a sidewalk slam for two, and Crush works him over in dull, punch-kick fashion. Backbreaker gets him two, so he moves on to a bearhug to really kick things into high gear. Lex fights free, so Crush press-slams him to cut off a potential comeback, then delivers a legdrop for two. Suplex, but Lex counters with an inside cradle for two, so Crush corner whips him. Charge misses, however, allowing Luger a schoolboy for two. Criss cross ends in both men looking up at the lights, and Luger goes on the comeback trail as they recover. Backelbow gets him two, and a DDT is worth two. Headlock, but Crush shoves him into the referee to bump the official, and Crush is able to grab a chair as a result. He dives at Luger from the middle rope, but it misses, and Lex knocks him out with the forearm smash at an indecently long 21:02. These two had no chemistry. DUD

The Smoking Gunns v The Rock 'n' Roll Express: Interesting! The Express were randomly joining the WWF for the European tour, on loan from SMW, it would seem. Billy Gunn starts with Robert Gibson, and he wins a criss cross. That draws Ricky Morton in, but Billy fights them both off, until the referee can restore order. The dust settles back on Billy and Gibson, and Gibson takes a cheap shot to allow him a cross corner whip, but Bart Gunn blocks it for his partner, and the Gunns clean house. Dust settles on Bart and Ricky, but Morton is too short to lock horns for a test-of-strength, so Bart offers to work it from his knees. It’s weird that they’re doing this as a comedy match. The Express try a double team, but end up colliding when Bart outsmarts them, and they end up getting in each other’s faces. Bart responds by bashing their heads together, but the Express have better luck with their next double team, and get control. They cut the ring in half on Bart, until he fights off a double team, and gets the tag off to Billy - Roseanne Barr the door! Bart gets a sunset flip on Gibson at 13:18. I was a little disappointed (though not especially surprised) that they booked this as a comedy match, because a real match between the two teams might have been pretty good. *

Jeff Jarrett v Doink the Clown: Jeff tries grabbing Dink, but Doink saves to kick start the match. He holds Jeff in a full-nelson for Dink to get some revenge on, and a schoolboy gets him two. A backslide is worth two, and Doink cranks on the arm, holding Jarrett on the mat for Dink to mess with again. Sunset flip, but Jarrett blocks, and delivers a backelbow. Straddling ropechoke connects, as does a 2nd rope punch for two. Clothesline leads to a chinlock, until Doink fights free, and delivers a bodyslam. Elbowdrop, but Jeff dodges, and locks on a sleeper. That wears Doink down for a 2nd rope fistdrop, but the clown dodges, and comes back with a powerslam. Pair of corner whips work, but a charge misses, and Doink is knocked silly. Unfortunately, instead of going for the kill, Jeff decides to go after Dink on the outside instead. Doink saves, and uses a slingshot sunset flip at 9:31. Total crap. ¼*

Main Event: WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Diesel v Razor Ramon: Razor slugs him out of the ring to start, and Diesel nearly falls all the way up the aisle in a neat bit of overselling. Back in, Diesel manages to catch him with a right hand, and he hammers on the lower back. Short-clothesline finds the mark, and Diesel works him over, until the feed cuts out at 4:58 shown. Apparently the finish would be Razor winning by DQ. I won’t rate an incomplete match, but considering it was going along identically to all the other house show matches I’ve seen between them from that summer, I’m guessing we didn’t miss a whole lot.

BUExperience: Even if the main event was complete, there would be nothing about this card to recommend.

DUD