WWF at Madison Square Garden (January 26, 1996)

 

Original Airdate: January 26, 1996

From New York, New York

Jeff Jarrett v Ahmed Johnson: Joined in progress here, with Jeff stalling on the outside. Jeff suckers Ahmed and clobbers him to take control, and he ropechokes the big Johnson. Jeff with a pair of straddling ropechokes, and a 2nd rope axehandle finds the mark, but Ahmed no sells. Jeff tries another, same result. Backdrop, but Ahmed stops short, and delivers a sitout tiger bomb at 4:59 shown. I’m not sure how much was cut out here, so I won’t rate this, but what was shown wasn’t very notable.

Ringmaster v Henry Godwinn: This is Steve Austin's MSG debut. “I go straight to the top, Ari!”Is that Keith Hart as the referee here? Posturing to start, and Henry gets control with a few elbowdrops, but Ringmaster quickly fights him off. Ringmaster tries a 2nd rope clothesline, but Godwinn blocks, and works a chinlock. Ringmaster escapes, so Godwinn tries a charge, but Ringmaster dodges, and clips the leg. That allows Ringmaster a kneedrop, and a snapmare sets up a springboard kneedrop. Ringmaster with a pointed elbowdrop on the apron, and he grounds Godwinn in a reverse chinlock. Ringmaster misses a straddling ropechoke, allowing Godwinn a clothesline, and Henry makes a comeback from there. He goes for the inverted DDT, but Ted DiBiase distracts him, and Ringmaster gets a cobra clutch on at 11:21. ½*

Yokozuna v Undertaker: God, they ran this match forever in the mid-90s, didn’t they? And this is already over a year after the big, final casket blow off on pay per view. This was one of the last ones, though. Undertaker goes at him with a jumping clothesline right away, so Yokozuna tries an avalanche, but takes the referee out. That allows Undertaker a chokeslam, but there’s no referee to count. Cue Owen Hart, and though Undertaker fights him off, Yokozuna recovers with a Samoan drop. Yokozuna adds a legdrop, and Owen helps him drag Undertaker to the corner for the Banzai drop. Still no referee, so Yokozuna gives him a second one, and Owen goes to revive the official, but Undertaker kicks out at two. Undertaker makes a comeback, and fights off Owen on the way to pinning Yokozuna at 4:23. These two had surprisingly good chemistry back in late ‘93/early ‘94, but Yokozuna had deteriorated so much by this stage that he needed Owen to do the heavy lifting for him even in singles outings. There just wasn’t much here. Afterwards, Yokozuna shoves Owen, as they continue to tease his babyface turn. ¼*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Smoking Gunns v The Bodydonnas: Bart Gunn starts with Zip, and they feel each other out a little bit. Bart manages a press-slam, and Zip bails to regroup with his team on the outside. Back in, Bart works a wristlock before tagging to Billy Gunn, and Billy cranks on the arm himself. Zip manages to tag during a criss cross, and a nice criss cross ends in Billy landing a clothesline for two. Billy goes to an armbar from there, and he passes back to Bart to deliver a combo for two. A criss cross sees Sunny trip Bart up, and he goes after her, allowing the challengers a combo of their own to turn the tide. The Bodydonnas cut the ring in half on Bart, until he manages to fight off a superplex attempt from Skip, and make the hot tag to Billy - Roseanne Barr the door! Billy catches Zip with a sunset cradle to retain at 8:34. These teams always had chemistry, and this didn’t overstay its welcome. A house show match for all intents and purposes, but not a bad effort at all. * ½ 

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Goldust v Savio Vega: Lots of stalling from Goldust early on, but a criss cross allows Vega to slug him down, and Savio stomps him in the crack of his ass. That’s not an expression, that’s a literal description. Vega with a ten-punch count on the corner, but Goldust fights him off with a hotshot on the top turnbuckle. Nice execution on that one. Goldust follows up with a hip attack, and he dumps Savio to the outside, following with a dive from the apron. Goldust puts the boots to him on the way back inside, and a schoolboy gets him two. A criss cross allows Vega a bodypress for two, but Goldust quickly cuts him off, and pounds him into the corner. Goldust wins a criss cross by blocking a backdrop, and a bodyslam sets up a dive, but he takes too long getting up there, and Vega crotches him. Vega tries a superplex, but Goldust blocks, and finishes his dive with a flying fistdrop - only for Savio to block. That leaves both men looking up at the lights, and Savio makes the comeback as they stagger up. A clothesline sends Goldust over the top, so he tries to walk out, but Vega chases. Vega lands a superkick in the aisle before dragging him back in, but a backdrop gets blocked. That allows Goldust to try for the Curtain Call, but Savio blocks. Spinkick, but Goldust ducks, and bails for real, taking the countout at 12:38. Savio not even bothering to chase him that time was weak, but this was a completely solid match otherwise. * ¼ 

Shawn Michaels v Hunter Hearst Helmsley: HHH tries to knock him around through a few criss crosses, but an attempt to toss Michaels over the top backfires when Shawn skins the cat, and delivers a hiptoss. Michaels with a turnbuckle smash, and a cross corner whip ends in Hunter flipping over the buckles and to the floor. HHH stalls out there, but still ends up in an armbar once he climbs back inside. HHH fights to a vertical base, so Michaels tries a rollup, but Hunter blocks. They criss cross, allowing HHH a backelbow, and he unloads on HBK in the corner. A cross corner whip rebounds Michaels into a backdrop, and a clothesline sends him over the top. HHH stays on him with a baseball slide, and he sends Michaels into the steps out there. Inside, HHH delivers a pair of cross corner whips, and a clothesline gets him two. Helmsley goes to a sleeper, but Shawn fights free, only to run into a boot while charging in the corner. HHH goes upstairs, but Michaels slams him off before he can dive, and HBK goes on the comeback trail. HHH bails to avoid the superkick, so Shawn chases him back in. Hunter tries for the Pedigree, but Michaels counters with a catapult into the corner, and a cross corner whip sends Helmsley back over the top. As the referee counts, Owen Hart runs in to blast Michaels with an enzuigiri for the DQ at 16:04. Shawn is out, but when he comes to, he doesn’t want the decision that way, and challenges HHH to continue. Hunter attacks the groggy Michaels as the bout restarts, and he gives him a vertical suplex on the floor before taking it back inside. Cross corner whip, but Shawn reverses, only to miss the charge in. That allows HHH to go for the Pedigree, but Shawn counters with a backdrop, and wins a reversal sequence with the superkick at 19:22. Pretty basic for the most part, but they had chemistry, and they did a good job with the storytelling aspect. * ½ 

WWF Title Cage Match: Bret Hart v Diesel: Bret pounds him into the corner to start, so Diesel tries to smash him into the cage, but Hart reverses. Bret with a second smash for good measure, and he makes a climb attempt, but Diesel catches him as he’s going over the top. Diesel throws a few knees up there, and he takes Bret down for a trip into the cage. Diesel with a corner whip, so Hart starts kicking at the leg to try and slow his challenger down. He gets some traction, but Diesel pops him with an elbow to end the effort. Elbowdrop, but Bret dodges, and the Hitman makes a climb attempt, but has to abandon it when he sees Diesel going for the door. Bret drags him away so he can go after the leg again, but Diesel fights him off, and uses a sidewalk slam. He goes to escape, but Bret kicks him down low to cut it off, and he attacks the knee again. Hart tries to climb, but Diesel slams him off the top rope to cut it off. He tries a charge, but Hart blocks, and dives with a 2nd rope clothesline to ground the challenger. That allows Bret to climb, but Diesel stops him at the top again, and corner whips him. Diesel goes for the door, but a fiery Hitman stops him, and goes for it himself, but Diesel grabs the ankle in time. Diesel with an elbowdrop, but Bret starts targeting the knee again. Diesel responds by trying a snake eyes, but Bret shoves him into the corner to block, and he tries for the Sharpshooter, but the challenger blocks. Bret instead tries to climb, but Diesel is on him again, so Bret uses a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop. Another climb, but Diesel pulls him off, and Bret ends up crotched on the top rope for his efforts. Both guys stagger, and Diesel crawls for the door, but Bret manages to climb, and wins the foot race at 13:22. This was definitely not at the level of their three pay per view matches in 1994/1995, but rather closer to the level of the In Your House match the month after this. ¾*

BUExperience: This version omits the Bob Holly/Fatu v Tatanka/Isaac Yankem opener, 1-2-3 Kid/Duke Droese, and Owen Hart/Hakushi. Shame, Hart/Hakushi is one I’d like to see. 

The rest has a few decent matches in the mid-card, but hardly any hidden gems, or anything worth going out of your way to see.

*