WWF Action Zone (February 19, 1995)

 

Original Airdate: February 19, 1995 (taped January 25)

From Fort Myers, Florida; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Todd Pettengill

Bob Backlund v Davey Boy Smith: Bob has Owen Hart in his corner, and Bulldog has Bret Hart. And Bret’s gear feels like a throwback to something from 1992. Davey attacks before the bell, as Ross compares Backlund to Forrest Gump. Yeah, great way to keep him over as a dangerous heel. Bulldog works a headlock, but Bob escapes, so Davey throws a shoulderblock, and goes to a chinlock. Backlund escapes, so Smith throws another shoulderblock, but Backlund goes for the arm. Davey fights him off with another mat-based side-headlock, and man, they’re really going for it with this one, aren’t they? Really making the most of their time out there. Backlund gets into the ropes, but he’s dazed, and Bulldog takes him right back to the mat in the headlock. Into the ropes, but this time Backlund throws a cheap shot on the break, and he bootrakes the Bulldog. That allows Bob to go after the arm/shoulder, but Davey blocks the crossface chickenwing, and manages a sunset flip for two. Bob cuts him off and goes back to the arm, as Owen pulls a large case out from underneath the ring. “Looks like a shotgun case,” notes Pettengill. Why would you even go there, dude? Backlund misses a charge in the corner, allowing Bulldog to make a comeback, and a vertical suplex gets him two. A small package is worth two, so Owen starts taunting Bret. He suckers him into the chase, and Bret trips on that case, as Bulldog delivers a running powerslam. But instead of covering, idiot Smith goes to see what’s going on with Bret, and Backlund slaps the chickenwing on! Davey fights, but the ropes are out of reach, and he’s fading. He refuses to quit though, so Bret comes in and attacks Backlund to draw the DQ at 11:06 to save Smith from injury like he suffered at the Survivor Series. The last couple of minutes were fine, but it was all headlocks and chinlocks before that. ¾*

Adam Bomb v Sonny Pruitt: Musician Rickey Medlocke acts as the guest ring announcer here. Yeah, no idea what that’s about. Random as random gets. Adam with a flying clothesline at 1:59. DUD

Jeff Jarrett v Leroy Howard: The WWF Intercontinental title is not on the line here. The announcers give Jeff shit for wearing leather pants here, which seems like a random thing to focus on in the world of professional wrestling outfits. Especially considering the world champ is well known for his Ross pants. Meanwhile, ‘President Bill Clinton’ calls in to express his disappointment over what happened during the Backlund/Smith match. What was up with them constantly trotting out Clinton impersonators? I remember they did it with Obama when they did Capitol Punishment in D.C. in 2011, but with Clinton it was just again and again and again over years. Jarrett with the figure four at 2:11. DUD

Lex Luger attends some charity event, along with ‘baseball player’ Michael Jordan. Well, at least they finally sent a babyface to one of these events, instead of Ted DiBiase

Men on a Mission v Barry Horowitz and David Sierra: “That’s a lot of glitter,” notes Todd about Mabel’s outfit. Okay, now that was fair. You’d never guess that two of the guys in this match would be involved in two of the biggest matches on the card by SummerSlam. Mo with a superkick at 2:34. They were really trying to put some focus on the tag division during this period. DUD

WWF Champion Diesel still doesn’t want money for signing autographs. I’m starting to think it’s just that people don’t want to pay him for them

Raymond Rougeau brings Shawn Michaels out, and since he’s got such a big target on his back as the Royal Rumble winner, he’s decided to find a new bodyguard, who he will unveil this Monday on RAW. Michaels continues to be entertaining during this period, but did anyone really believe he was any kind of threat to Diesel’s title? Not that they weren’t trying really hard, but he just wasn’t there. Yet

Bob Holly v Bob Cook: Give one thing to Todd as a commentator: at least when he does pop culture references they don’t sound forced. And that’s about the only nice thing you can really say about him as a commentator. Chief Jay Strongbow phones in to express his disappointment at Tatanka’s behavior last week. He should do a conference call with Clinton. Maybe they can start a support group. Meanwhile, Ross tries to put Cook, of all people, over as an underrated star. That’s certainly a hill to die on. Holly with a flying elbowdrop at 2:40. DUD

Backstage, Backlund and Owen challenge Bret and Bulldog to a tag match next week

Henry Godwinn v Jim Tilquist: Todd is so fucking excitable. Meanwhile, Ross keeps pushing the Hotline, where you can call in to find out which superstar may be retiring soon. No idea who that was supposed to be, but I’ll give them credit, it’s thirty years later, and I still kind of want to call. Godwinn with an inverted DDT at 2:17. DUD

Diesel music video

BUExperience: The feature match was interesting from a storyline perspective, but that’s about the only thing going on this week.