WWF at Madison Square Garden (November 26, 1994)

Original Airdate: November 26, 1994

From New York, New York

Kwang v Aldo Montoya: Kwang attacks before the bell, but loses a criss cross when Aldo pulls out a hiptoss. A dropkick and a clothesline knock Kwang to the outside, and Aldo dives after him with a plancha. They trade wristlocks once Kwang climbs back in, and Aldo tries a ropewalk, but gets clobbered. Nervehold, but Aldo fights to a vertical base, so Kwang tries a slam, but gets toppled for two. Kwang chops him in the throat to prevent a comeback, however, and it’s back to the nervehold from there. Aldo escapes, and uses a sunset flip for two, before getting nailed with a big boot for two. Nervehold, but Aldo escapes, so Kwang whacks him with a chop. Bodyslam sets up a somersault senton splash, but Aldo dodges, and makes a comeback. Clothesline gets him two, and a 2nd rope bodypress is worth two. Kwang tries a spinkick, but Aldo ducks, and uses a rana into a cradle at 7:02. Kwang seemed more motivated than he has in a while here, and the match was decent, even if Kwang was still leaning really heavily on the nervehold stuff. * ¼ 

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Jeff Jarrett: Some posturing to start, and Razor hits a fallaway slam for two, before trapping his challenger in an armbar. Jarrett escapes, and lands a trio of dropkicks for two, but Razor blocks a sunset flip for two - only for Jarrett to finish the thought for two. Cross corner whip, but Ramon reverses, so Jarrett nails him with an elbow on the charge. Jeff successfully cross corner whips him on the second try, and adds an extra one, ahead of a leg-feed enzuigiri for two. Chinlock grounds the Bad Guy, but he fights to a vertical base, so Jarrett tries a hiptoss, but Ramon counters with a backslide for two. Jeff fires back with a clothesline for two, and he goes back to the chinlock, using the ropes for leverage this time. Razor fights out, so Jeff hits him with a swinging neckbreaker for two, and dives with a 2nd rope punch. That’s a spot he did a lot on the house shows, but I don’t really remember him ever doing it on TV. Jarrett with another 2nd rope punch, but a third gets blocked with a gutpunch, and Ramon adds an atomic drop. Razor’s Edge, but Jarrett backdrops him over the top to block, and rolls him back in to hit with a flying bodypress - only for Ramon to roll through for two. Jarrett cuts him off with a clothesline for two, and he tries keeping him grounded in a chinlock to hold control. Razor escapes with a side suplex for two, and he makes a comeback, but gets dumped to the outside. Jarrett follows to brawl with him out there, and Razor gets sent into the post for the countout at 16:20. Jarrett is unhappy with that kind of win, however, and challenges Ramon to restart the match. Marty McFly obliges, and Jarrett unloads on him as soon as the fired up champion is back in the ring. Backdrop, but he telegraphs it, and Ramon counters with the Edge at 18:20 (20:12 total). The match itself was pretty basic, but these two had natural chemistry, and so it was smooth sailing. ** ½ 

Mabel v Pierre: I never really thought of Mabel as a singles worker before the 1995 heel turn, but man, he was almost never tagging with Mo outside of TV through the entire second half of ‘94. Pierre tries grabbing a headlock to start, but Mabel side suplexes him, so Pierre hides out in the ropes for a bit. Pierre engages again, but ends up on the outside, and he stalls out there for a while. Mabel tries suplexing him back in, but Pierre snaps his throat across the top rope to block, and he delivers a straddling ropechoke on the stunned big man. 2nd rope dropkick gets him two, so he works a choke for a while, and delivers a 2nd rope elbowdrop for two. Mabel tries coming back with an avalanche, but Pierre is literally miles away, and Mabel just keeps running into the corner like a complete moron. What was that? Pierre with a flying legdrop, so Mabel bails, but Pierre is on him with a somersault plancha. Pierre tries dragging him back in, but Mabel shoves him into the steps to avoid that, and makes a comeback. Spinheel kick gets him two, and an avalanche leads to a 2nd rope bodypress ends it at 9:59. This probably deserves negative stars, but Pierre at least did a few interesting moves, so let’s just call it a DUD

WWF Title No Holds Barred Match: Bob Backlund v Diesel: Diesel is subbing for Bret Hart, who is selling the injury from Survivor Series. Diesel kicks him in the gut right away, and delivers the powerbomb to win the title in a huge shocker at 0:09, drawing a big pop in the process. I think the fans could have really gotten behind Diesel as champion if they didn’t completely change the character right after he won it. While this isn’t really even a proper match, it’s certainly historically significant, marking one of only two times the big belt has ever changed hands at a non-televised event since 1984. DUD

The New Headshrinkers v The Executioners: The Executioners (Duane Gill and Barry Hardy under masks) are subbing for Shawn Michaels and Diesel, since they broke up at Survivor Series. Sionne starts, and works a wristlock. The Executioners go to the eyes and try a double team, but Sionne casually fights them off, and Fatu tags in to toss them around as well. The match slows down as both sides get into posturing, until the heels manage to take control, and work Fatu over. Sionne just kind of casually puts a stop to that, however, and the Headshrinkers look to put it away, but Fatu is having trouble climbing the ropes in his new boots. But then he just does anyway, and hits a flying splash at 10:11. DUD

Davey Boy Smith v King Kong Bundy: They measure each other to start, and Bulldog manages to knock him off of his feet with a shoulderblock. He stupidly tries to add a bodyslam from there, however, and that does not end well. But then he just kind of shrugs it off, and holds Bundy in an armbar anyway. Back to the bodyslam, but he gets toppled for two, and this time pays the price when Bundy traps him in a chinlock. I guess this is like one of those ‘if one kid gets detention, the whole class does’ kind of deals, because I know I ain’t done shit to deserve a chinlock. Bulldog escapes and tries a sunset flip, but Bundy blocks, only to have Davey dodge the avalanche. Smith makes a comeback, but they spill to the outside, and it’s a double countout at 6:53. DUD

Main Event: Undertaker v Irwin R Schyster: IRS dives to the outside to stall right away, and manages to sucker Undertaker into a chase (the world’s slowest chase), putting the boots to him on the way inside. Undertaker fights back with a big boot, and the ropewalk forearm finds the mark. Backdrop and a clothesline knock Irwin over the top, so Undertaker follows, but gets reversed into the post out there. Inside, IRS works an abdominal stretch, using the ropes for leverage until Undertaker fights him off. Undertaker with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, but IRS dodges, and turnbuckle smashes him. Irwin connects with the jumping clothesline, but Undertaker sits up, so Irwin pounds him back down. Elbowdrop and a legdrop both connect, but IRS takes forever getting to the top rope, and gets slammed off. Undertaker makes a comeback, and the Tombstone finishes at 8:05. DUD

BUExperience: This version omits the Bushwhackers/Well Dunn opener, which, frankly, should increase the rating, if anything. 

I wouldn’t call this a ‘good’ show by any means, but it gets something of a pass for historical significance, and it was also nice to see the roster look a little more fired up, after basically sleepwalking through the last few months of live events.

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