WWF at Boston Garden (January 9, 1993)

Original Airdate: January 9, 1993

From Boston, Massachusetts 

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Money Inc v The Nasty Boys: The challengers attack on the outside to kick start the match, and the dust settles on Ted DiBiase in with Jerry Sags. Sags misses a corner splash, allowing Ted to take control, and he works the arm. Over to Irwin R Schyster for more of the same, as Money Inc take turns working the part. Sags fights DiBiase off long enough to make a tag of his own, and Brian Knobbs barrels in. A backelbow gets him two, and he and Sags work the Million Dollar Man’s arm. IRS assist with a distraction to allow Ted a knee, and Irwin tags in - only to quickly get taken down in a wristlock. Syracuse should revoke his letter on general principle there. The Nasties take turns working IRS’s arm, until Irwin manages to pop Jerry in the jaw, and he tags. A cheap shot allows the heels to get Sags on the outside for some abuse, and the tide has turned. Money Inc cut the ring in half on Sags, until the referee gets bumped, and Knobbs switches in illegally. He covers DiBiase, and we have new champions at 10:07! Well, that was pretty unexpec… oh wait, another official informs the referee of the illegal switch, and the match is restarted. Money Inc dump Knobbs out of the ring right away so they can get back to double teaming Sags, and DiBiase hooks the Million Dollar Dream! Sags fades, but manages to escape when Brian comes in to save, and Jerry makes the official tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The challengers double up on Irwin, and Sags looks to put him away with a flying elbowdrop, but DiBiase saves at two. Knobbs clotheslines Ted over the top, but gets distracted by Jimmy Hart, and Sags gets nailed with the briefcase - allowing IRS the pin at 13:53 (14:35 total). You’d think they, of all teams, would know better than to fall for that one. This wasn’t bad at all, just a little too long, with kind of a dull heat segment. The Nasties were surprisingly solid babyfaces, though. * ¼ 

Undertaker v Papa Shango: Undertaker wins a slugfest to start, allowing him to deliver the ropewalk forearm. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Papa dodges, so Undertaker hits him with a hotshot instead. Papa responds by grabbing his voodoo stick to knock Undertaker out of the ring, and Shango attacks him with a chair on the outside. Papa with a bodyslam on the floor, but Undertaker starts no selling him on the way back in. Undertaker with a turnbuckle smash, but Papa ducks a clothesline, and gets a sleeper on to try and take him out that way. It works, allowing Papa a series of elbowdrops, but a legdrop misses, and Undertaker chokeslams him at 5:38. I’ve seen Undertaker do this exact match (down to the multiple elbowdrop bit) with others (Bam Bam Bigelow and Razor Ramon, off the top of my head), and it was a surprisingly solid little formula he brewed. ¾*

Typhoon v Bam Bam Bigelow: They measure each other to start, and Typhoon gets the better of it with a slam, so Bigelow bails. Inside, Typhoon misses an elbowdrop to allow Bam Bam to turn the tide, and he works a front-facelock. Typhoon fights to a vertical base, so Bigelow drops him with a DDT for two, and goes to a chinlock. Bodyslam, but Typhoon topples him, and makes a fatback. Avalanche sets up a splash, but Typhoon stops short, deciding he wants another avalanche first. He delivers it, and adds an elbowdrop, but it still only gets two. I know, I’m shocked, too. I mean, after that onslaught. A third avalanche, but Bam Bam blocks, and the flying headbutt drop finishes at 6:50. DUD

Main Event: WWF Title Iron Man Match: Bret Hart v Ric Flair: Feeling out process to start, with Flair playing mind games, and Hart trying to avoid getting outfoxed. Ric suckers Bret into a cheap shot in the corner, then whips him to the other side, before taking him down in a hammerlock. Flair uses the ropes at will as he grinds various arm holds on, then takes Hart into the corner for some chops. Bret fights him off and tries a ten-punch, but Ric counters with an inverted atomic drop. Elbowdrop misses, however, and Hart reverses him into the corner for a backdrop. Figure four on the challenger gets a few two counts, but Ric gets the ropes to save himself. He bails for the apron, but Bret brings him back in with a vertical suplex, and adds a pointed elbowdrop.

Twenty minutes in, and the Hitman goes back to the figure four, but this time Flair rakes the eyes to block. Hart wisely rolls to the floor to avoid Ric capitalizing for a fall, but the count is growing, and he's forced in - still blinded. That allows Ric to pounce in the corner, and he tosses Bret over the top to try for the countout again. Bret beats it in, so Ric whips him into the ropes with a crisp backelbow for two, then hits a kneedrop - hurting his own leg due to the earlier figure four. He tries another one anyway, but Hart dodges, and immediately capitalizes with a figure four! Flair gets the ropes, so Bret drags him back after breaking, and hammers the knee. Leglock wears Flair down some more, but Ric goes to the eyes again, and dumps the champion to the floor. Love Ric's mastery of the psychology of multi-fall matches. The strategy backfires when Hart comes back in with a slingshot sunset flip, but Flair manages to block, and he dumps him again. The tenacious Hitman beats the count again, but with less zeal than before, and Flair is ready with a side suplex for two. Clothesline, but Hart has the presence of mind to duck it, and surprises Flair with a quick rollup at 27:17. Ric begs off in the corner, suckering Hart into a leveraged pin for two, but that just pisses the Hitman off. Sleeper, but Flair escapes with a kneebreaker, and he starts furiously working the champion's leg. I can see why Flair's psychology annoyed Hart. He spent the first twenty minutes working the arm, and now he suddenly switches to the leg. It's not necessarily poor psychology, but I can see why it would annoy a guy like Hart, who generally liked to pick and part, and then laser focus on it for the duration. Figure Four, but Hart blocks, so Ric snapmares him over, and hits him in the leg with a chair as Bobby Heenan distracts the referee! Figure Four with the ropes for leverage evens the score at 35:00. As noted, Flair is a master of this match types psychology, and he shows us why - going right back to the hold to pick up a second fall at 37:40! Flair now in the lead, and he doesn't change strategy - continuing to mercilessly pound the leg.

Forty minutes in, and Flair dumps him to the outside, but gets impatient waiting for the countout, and he follows with a chair! The referee stops him this time, and Hart beats the count, but Flair is ready and waiting with a kneebreaker. That shifts right into another Figure Four, but Ric gets caught using the ropes, and is forced to break before garnering the submission. Bret can barely stand as Ric keeps throwing bombs at the knee, then props him up in the corner for some chops. Leveraged pin gets a few two counts, but Bret starts slugging back at him in the corner, and a ten-punch flops Flair. The leg slows Hart down as he hits a Russian legsweep for two, and a well executed vertical suplex gets two. Hart keeps coming, so Flair pops him downstairs with a mulekick for two, and whips him chest-first into the corner for two. Hiptoss, but Bret counters with a backslide for two, so Ric goes to the eyes again. Can't keep a good cheater down! Criss cross goes Flair's way with a sleeper, but Hart fights out after two arm drops, so Ric drops the still battered champion with a chop for two before he can recover. Hanging vertical suplex is worth two, and an elbowdrop gets two. Ric goes up, but Bret manages to slam him down - aggravating his knee in the process. That allows Flair to go to work with chops in the corner, but Hart pulls down the straps, and hits a backdrop! Bulldog gets two, and a backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. Superplex gets two, but it's enough to damage Flair enough so that Hart can apply the Sharpshooter to even the score back up at 55:03. Heenan passes Flair a set of brass knux as they continue into the final five minutes, which Flair tucks away for safekeeping. Hart with an inverted atomic drop, but Flair rakes the eyes during another superplex attempt, and slips on the knux as the official checks on Hart. He lays Bret out with them for a dramatic two, then applies the Figure Four to finish this guy off! Hart gets the ropes quickly, and with time winding down, Flair desperately tosses him to the floor to try for the countout. Bret fights in with a slingshot sunset flip for two, but he's too battered to follow-up, and Ric hits another kneebreaker. Hart clings to the ropes to try and block a Figure Four, but a vicious Flair drags him off. He goes to apply it, but Hart deftly counters with an inside cradle at 59:42. With seconds to go, time expires, and Hart retains 3-2. The first twenty minutes were pretty much all feeling out process, but it really picked up in the last two-thirds. As great as this sounds on paper, the actual match was pretty disappointing. The problem with the Flair/Hart matches in general is that their styles tended to clash too much for them to ever have any blow away great matches with each other. Hart was much more of a 'plan it out in advance' style wrestler, while Flair had that old school 'call it in the ring as you go' mentality. This match was clearly Flair calling the shots (to Hart's annoyance, since he was the champion) throughout. Guys like Bret don't really plug into the Flair formula, which tends to work best with either a strongman (like Luger or Sting) or a highflier. They're both great wrestlers who were still at (or close to) their peaks as workers when they wrestled each other, but their styles just clashed too strongly. That's not to say that it was 'bad,' just disappointing more than anything else. *** ½

BUExperience: This version omits Crush/Skinner, and Terry Taylor/Jason Knight.

The Hart/Flair Iron Man is worth a look, if only to say that you’ve seen it, don’t bother with the rest.

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