WWF at Rancho Cucamonga Epicenter (June 30, 1994)

Original Airdate: June 30, 1994

From Rancho Cucamonga, California

Opening Match: Thurman Sparky Plugg v Louie Spicolli: Pretty cool open air venue here, at  a baseball stadium that had only opened about a year prior. Gives this a really unique look compared to another arena show. Some feeling out to start, with Plugg getting the better of him. Plugg gets him down in a headlock, and a rollup gets him two. Legsweep for two, so Plugg goes back to the mat-based headlock. Louie fights him off in the corner to take control, but Plugg manages a sunset flip for two, so Spicolli superkicks him to cut that off. Snapmare allows Louie a chinlock, until Plugg fights out, but Louie throws a knee to cut him off again. Butterfly suplex gets him two, and he goes back to the chinlock from there. Plugg fights out, so Louie tries the knee again, but Plugg counters with a cradle for two this time. Louie desperately dumps him to the outside to cut a comeback off again, and he delivers a piledriver on the way back into the ring, but Plugg is in the ropes at one. Vertical suplex, but Plugg counters with a German suplex, and he makes a comeback. Schoolboy gets two, and a small package is worth two. Louie tries a corner charge in a last ditch effort, but hits elbow, and Plugg goes up with a flying bodypress at 10:45. This was fine. *

Virgil v Nikolai Volkoff: Volkoff doesn’t even have Ted DiBiase with him, which is just sad. Volkoff pounds him into the corner to start, but a charge misses, and Virgil schoolboys for two. Virgil adds a sunset flip, but Volkoff blocks the cradle, so Virgil knocks him over the top with a dropkick. Volkoff pulls him to the outside as well, but Virgil reverses a smash into the steps, and grabs a wristlock on the way back inside. Virgil with a flying axehandle to set up a splash on the wrist, and he stomps the part for good measure. Rollup, but Volkoff blocks, and delivers a clothesline to turn the tide. Volkoff works a bearhug, until Virgil fights free, but a bodyslam attempt gets him toppled for two. Volkoff puts the boots to his back before going back to the hold, but Virgil fights free again. He goes on the comeback trail, and a series of jabs get him two. Small package gets two, but Volkoff fights out of the cobra clutch. Undettered, Virgil dives with a 2nd rope clothesline for two, but a dropkick misses. That allows Volkoff a Boston crab, and Virgil is done at 8:32. I’m a little confused about Volkoff’s gimmick here. I thought he was supposed to be a babyface who got stuck working for a heel in order to pay his bills, but he’s working like a straight heel, and the fans are booing him. That would be the only way this angle would even make sense, honestly. ¾*

The Smoking Gunns v Tom Prichard and Barbarian: Bart Gunn starts with Tom, and they trade wristlocks. Criss cross ends in Bart delivering a bodyslam, and an armdrag leaves Prichard in an armbar. Another criss cross allows Bart a schoolboy for two, and he armdrags him into another armbar. Over to Billy Gunn for a 2nd rope axehandle, and a sunset cradle gets him two, ahead of his own armbar. Criss cross allows Barbarian to take a cheap shot to turn the tide, and he tags in with a pop-up flapjack. Billy gets worked over, until Barbarian misses a running big boot, and ends up straddled across the top rope. That allows the tag to Bart, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Gunns with a clothesline/schoolboy combo on Barbarian at 9:59. Barbarian looked like a much bigger star than everyone else in the match, which is pretty funny, considering he probably wouldn’t have even been booked on the card if Jimmy Del Ray wasn’t out. ¾*

Irwin R Schyster v Tatanka: Tatanka pulls him out of the ring for a brawl right away, and he hammers IRS with tomahawk chops on the way in. Cross corner whip works, and Tatanka slams him around by the necktie. Hiptoss and a clothesline connect, and Tatanka dumps him back to the outside, chasing after him to continue to unload on, but Irwin manages to reverses a whip into the post out there. Inside, IRS goes to work with a chinlock, and a clothesline gets him two. Back to the hold, this time with illegal leverage, but Tatanka starts dancing his way to freedom. Irwin eats a series of turnbuckle smashes, and a vertical suplex follows. Tatanka goes up with a flying tomahawk chop for two, so IRS bails, and Tatanka chases. Unfortunately, the sun has set, and there’s no lighting out there, so who knows what’s going on. Tatanka keeps unloading, but gets overzealous, and nails the referee in the process - getting himself disqualified at 6:35. Tatanka was pretty fired up here, but the match was nothing, coupled with a bad finish. ½*

Adam Bomb v Duke Droese: Bomb attacks before the bell, and clobbers Duke with a clothesline, before dumping him to the outside. Adam bashes his head into Droese’s own trash can out there, but a whip into the ropes gets reversed on the way back in, and Duke hiptosses him. Clothesline sends Adam over the top, and Bomb regroups out there for a while. Duke works a wristlock on the way back in, but Bomb counters another hiptoss with a short-clothesline to turn the tide. Bomb with a slingshot clothesline for two, and he works a chinlock, but Droese slugs free. Bomb responds with a DDT for two, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Duke dodges. Droese makes a comeback, hitting a powerslam for two, but missing an elbowdrop of his own. That allows Bomb to go for a bodyslam, but Droese counters with an inside cradle at 8:07. Look, my mother taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, then you shouldn’t say anything at all, and so I won’t say that this match sucked. DUD

Mabel v Bam Bam Bigelow: Bigelow stalls for the first minutes, and then they get into measuring each other. Mabel dominates that, so Bigelow bails to the outside to do more stalling. Back in, Bam Bam gets him down for a splash, but Mabel dodges, and suplexes Bigelow. Mabel works the arm, but misses an avalanche, and Bigelow knocks him out of the ring with an enzuigiri. Bam Bam follows to ram him into the post out there, and he stops to mock Mabel’s dancing! Too far, Bam. Too far. Mabel beats the count, so Bigelow nails him with a jumping shoulderblock for two, and a snapmare sets up a chinlock for him. Mabel fights free, and they start throwing clotheslines at each other for a double knockout spot. Mabel’s up first, but a splash misses. That allows Bam Bam to try a bodyslam, but Mabel topples for two. And then he just hooks an inside cradle at 9:14. I think the bodyslam topple spot was supposed to be the finish there, but Mabel over hooked into the pin, pulling Bigelow’s shoulders up, and preventing a count. DUD

Main Event: WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Diesel v Razor Ramon: Diesel tries coming at him, but Razor ducks, and throws right hands until the champion falls out of the ring. Diesel breaks the momentum before coming back in, and he manages to pound Ramon with elbowsmashes. He hammers on the lower back of the challenger, and a short-clothesline drops him. Big boot, but Ramon ducks, and throws a clothesline of his own. Corner clothesline connects, but another charge gets blocked with an elbow, and Diesel bootchokes him. Facebuster follows, and Diesel works a sleeper to try and put it away, but Razor escapes. Razor tries a charge, but Diesel sidesteps, and the challenger goes sailing over the top. Ramon beats the count, so Diesel unloads in the corner, and uses a trio of corner whips to rattle him. Snake-eyes leaves Ramon loopy, and a straddling ropechoke follows. Elbowdrop gets Diesel two, so he works a chinlock, but Razor fights free. Diesel cuts him off with a big boot for two, and he works a leveraged abdominal stretch, but gets busted by the official. That allows Razor to reverse, but Diesel quickly escapes with a hiptoss. Elbowdrop, but Ramon rolls out of the way, and starts making a comeback. Bodyslam gets him two, and an inside cradle is worth two. 2nd rope bulldog drops the champion for two, so Diesel grabs the title belt, and drills Razor with it for the intentional DQ at 9:43. A weak finish to an otherwise decent match. * ¾ 

BUExperience: This show owed a lot to its venue. Holding it in an outdoor baseball park gave the card a very summery, laid back kind of feel, with the sun streaming in, and literal patio furniture strewn about ringside. The WWF at this point - outside of their major shows - more resembled a high level indy promotion than the worldwide standard in the sport, and this show felt like that exactly. 

Not ‘good,’ but it had charm.

*