WWF at Providence Civic Center (May 12, 1995)

Original Airdate: May 12, 1995

From Providence, Rhode Island

Opening Match: Kwang v Man Mountain Rock: Lots of posturing to start, and Kwang hammers him into the corner, but ends up getting dumped to the outside. He regroups out there, and throws a sidekick during a knucklelock, then pounds Rock into the corner again. Bodyslam, but Rock topples him for two. Kwang keeps control, but quickly loses it when Rock takes him down in a fujiwara armbar for the submission at 5:10. This was really weak stuff, but at least it didn’t drag on for thirteen minutes, or something. This is also one of the final appearances of Kwang, as he'd debut as Savio Vega at In Your House two days after this, and then quietly retire the Kwang gimmick after working a few more matches during an international tour later in the month. DUD

The Bushwhackers v The Blu Brothers: Butch gets pounded down to start, but fights back. That draws both heels in, but here comes Luke to back his buddy up, and the babyfaces clean house with the battering ram. The Bushwhackers continue to dominate with luck, but Luke runs into trouble, and the twins cut the ring in half on him. A missed 2nd rope elbowdrop allows the tag to Butch, and Roseanne Barr the door! The babyfaces bash the heels’ heads together, but get clobbered when going for the kill, and Butch is pinned at 7:35. A total nothing match. ¼*

Razor Ramon v Roadie: Stalling by Roadie to start, which frustrates Ramon enough to get suckered into a chase, and clobbered. Roadie unloads in the corner, but the Bad Guy turns the tables. Cross corner whip sets up a backdrop on the rebound, but Roadie manages a facebuster to block, and he works a Muta lock, for what might be the first (and only) time in his career. Ten-punch count follows, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and takes the Razor’s Edge at 2:38. This was barely a contest. DUD

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Jeff Jarrett v Bob Holly: I never liked that white leather version of the classic Intercontinental title. Really, the only non-standard color that worked was Ultimate Warrior’s yellow one. Feeling out process to start, controlled by Holly. Holly hooks a backslide for two, and he takes Jarrett to the mat in a side-headlock from there. Jarrett escapes, so Holly hooks an inside cradle for two, then takes him back down in another headlock. Jeff escapes, and this time manages a drop-toehold to set up an elbowdrop, but a cross corner whip backfires when Holly rebounds with a 2nd rope backelbow for two. Jarrett throws a knee to cut him off, however, and he nails him with a straddling ropechoke. Vertical suplex gets Jeff two, so he goes to a chinlock, with the ropes for leverage. Bob escapes, so Jeff cuts him off with a knee, but Holly counters into a schoolboy for two. Jarrett throws a clothesline to properly cut him off, however, and he slaps on a sleeper. Holly escapes, so Jeff tries a backdrop, but Bob blocks with a facebuster. Backelbow gets the challenger two, and a dropkick is worth two. Clothesline finds the mark, but Bob gets distracted by Roadie, and Jarrett clobbers him. Jeff with a trio of cross corner whips into a ten-punch, but Holly fights him off with an inverted atomic drop. Holly goes up for the flying bodypress, but Jeff dodges, and Bob wipes out, allowing Double J to hook the leg at 9:48. These two definitely had some chemistry. Afterwards, the heels do a beatdown, but Razor comes back out to make the save. **

The New Headshrinkers v The Heavenly Bodies: Fatu and Tom Prichard start, and they measure each other, with Fatu dominating. Tag to Jimmy Del Ray, who promptly makes the mistake of trying to bash the babyface’s heads together. It’s like wrestlers know nothing about wrestling. He then tries a facebuster on Fatu that goes equally poorly, and Fatu superkicks him out of the ring for his efforts. Sionne tags in, so Jimmy uses an eyerake on him, but Sionne fights off the blitz, and delivers an inverted atomic drop, Tom tries a cheap shot, but Sionne shurgs it off, then blasts Jimmy with a clothesline to further voice his displeasure. Sionne keeps knocking Del Ray around at will, and passes to Fatu, but fails to cut the ring in half, and Jimmy tags out as well. Fatu gets Tom in a wristlock, and a corner whip sets up a backdrop for two. Sionne with a cheap shot for laughs, so Del Ray responds in kind, and the Tom quickly shoves Fatu to the outside for Jimmy to abuse with the guardrail and post. The heels go to work on Fatu, until Prichard misses a dive, and Sionne gets the tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Big boot knocks Del Ray silly, and Fatu tags back in for the flying splash at 13:14. This was a perfectly respectable bit of tag team wrestling. * ¼  

Kiss My Foot Match: Bret Hart v Jerry Lawler: Considering that Bret had a habit of underwhelming performances against even top level workers at live events, and considering that Lawler is not exactly a workrate guy to begin with, and considering that all of their high profile televised matches (where you’d expect them to turn in their best work) weren’t particularly good either… I’m not expecting much here. Lawler stalls in the early going, running through all of his usual Memphis playbook spots, until he can sucker Bret into a cheap shot to gain control. The King works him over, until Hart manages to block a flying axehandle, and the Hitman delivers a bulldog. Lawler shoves him into the referee to buy time, and King tries a fistdrop, but Hart dodges. Hart with a backbreaker to set up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop, and he gets the Sharpshooter on, but Hakushi attacks while the referee is still down! He gives Bret a pump-splash before exiting, and the battered King crawls over to hook the leg at 8:27. Lawler gets his boot off to prepare for the foot kissing, but before it can happen, another official (in fact, assigned referee Earl Hebner’s twin brother Dave, in maybe the only time I’ve seen them associated after 1988) comes out to alert Earl to the cheating, and the match gets restarted. Bret blitzes the shoeless King, and the Sharpshooter looks to finish, but Hakushi is back. Bret lets off to chase him away, so Lawler grabs his boot to go for the kill - only to have Hart knock it away from him! The Hitman absolutely goes to town on Lawler with the boot, and that’s enough to knock him out for the pin at 9:55 (11:16 total). The match was all smoke and mirrors, and overbooking, but it was entertaining enough. ¾*

Bam Bam Bigelow v Tatanka: It’ll be kind of interesting to see this match with the heel/face allegiances reversed. Tatanka sneak attacks to get the ball rolling, and he unloads in the corner. He works a headlock, but Bam Bam fights to stay vertical, so Tatanka pounds him down again. Vertical suplex, but Bam Bam reverses, and hits a clothesline. Another, but Tatanka ducks this time, and Bigelow’s momentum takes him over the top. Tatanka uses the reprieve to remove a top turnbuckle pad, before jumping to the outside to send Bigelow into the steps. Bam Bam beats the count, so Tatanka clotheslines him, and takes it to the mat with a chinlock. Bam Bam escapes, and lands a clothesline of his own for two, but misses a headbutt drop. That allows Tatanka to hammer him into the corner, and a cross corner whip rattles the ring - only for Bigelow to rebound with a clothesline! Tatanka tries keeping control with another corner whip, but Bam Bam reverses into the exposed corner, and catches him with a powerslam at 6:47. A little clothesline heavy, but I’ve certainly seen worse. ¾*

Main Event: Diesel and Undertaker v Sycho Sid and Kama: I realize that Kama was feuding with Undertaker at the time, but he feels really out of place with this group of bonafide main eventers. After lots of posturing and pre-match stalling from the heels, we finally get Undertaker and Kama to start… and Kama promptly runs away. Undertaker chases, and hits him with a matslam on the way back in, followed by a pair of corner whips. Undertaker with the ropewalk forearm ahead of a choke in the corner, but Kama fights back with a vertical suplex. Undertaker shrugs it off, but misses a jumping clothesline, and Kama unloads in the corner. Cross corner whip leads to a bodyslam, and he passes to Sid. Backdrop, but Undertaker blocks, and tags out. Diesel comes in to win a slugfest with Sid, and a cross corner clothesline connects. Another one leads to a short-clothesline, and Sid bails. Diesel drags him back in, and throws him into the corner to unload on. Bodyslam has Sid bailing again, but this time he sweeps Diesel off of his feet when the WWF Champion tries going after him. That allows Sid to drop Diesel across the apron, and Sid has control as they head back in. Inside, the heels cut the ring in half on Diesel, until Undertaker just decides to come in, tag or no tag. The heels respond by… running away… which is certainly a unique take for a top monster heel and a supposedly unstoppable MMA fighter. Points for originality, I suppose? The referee restores order, and Kama misses a pump-splash, allowing Diesel to tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Undertaker hits Kama with a jumping clothesline as Diesel takes Sid out with ease, and the tombstone finishes at 12:47. Diesel was looking particularly fired up and motivated here, but the match was poor, with Kama looking especially terrible. ¼*

BUExperience: This period in 1995 was one of the lowest points in the promotion’s history, and there’s certainly nothing on this card that would make you think otherwise.

DUD