WWF at Nassau Coliseum (November 10, 1995)

 

Original Airdate: November 10, 1995

From Uniondale, New York

Ahmed Johnson v Skip: Skip stalls for, like, three minutes before they finally engage, and Ahmed hits him with a hanging vertical suplex. Skip regroups for a bit, then rakes the eyes, and hits Johnson with a cross corner clothesline. Ahmed no sells, so Skip hammers him with punches, but Johnson blocks a cross corner whip, and delivers a short-clothesline. Ahmed with an axekick, and a spinebuster, so Sunny hops onto the apron to try a distraction. That allows Skip to attack, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and gets caught with the sitout tigerbomb at 5:18. This was basically a two minute match, stretched out to five with lots of stalling. And it wasn’t even like the stalling was spread out, it was all front loaded. ¼*

Dean Douglas v Savio Vega: They feel each other out to start, with Douglas not shy to do some stalling of his own. Vega dominates the early going, but gets nailed charging into the corner, and Dean clotheslines him. Dean with a backelbow, and he grounds Vega in a reverse chinlock from there. Clothesline, but Savio ducks, and throws a bodypress for two, before Douglas fires back with a dropkick for two. Douglas goes to a chinlock, until Savio fights free, and starts making a comeback. He tries a sunset flip, so Douglas drops down into a cradle for two, but Vega reverses into the pin at 8:29. This match was so forgettable that HistoryofWWE doesn’t even mention it at all. DUD

Marty Jannetty v Goldust: Marty tries sneak attacking, but Goldust sees it coming, and knocks him down. Goldust adds a jumping clothesline, and he hammers Marty into the corner, then uses a bodyslam to set up a pointed elbowdrop for two. Goldust goes to an abdominal stretch from there, but Marty escapes, and hits a bodypress for two. He tries a bodyslam, but the ribs act up, allowing Goldust to throw a clothesline for two, and then unload some mounted punches. Goldust goes to a reverse chinlock, until Marty escapes, and hooks a backslide for two. A rollup follows for two, so Goldust hammers him down, and takes him to the outside for a smash into the steps - blocked by Jannetty. Goldust tries pulling him back into the ring, but Jannetty snaps his throat across the top rope to block, and Marty uses a cross corner whip, though he misses the charge in. That allows Goldust to clip the leg for two, and a snapmare sets up a chinlock. Goldust with a corner whip, but the charge in misses, and he takes a spill to the outside off of it. That allows Jannetty to crank on the arm, and a ten-punch count flops Goldust for two. Sunset flip, but Goldust blocks, so Jannetty reverses the cradle for two. Marty with a catapult into the turnbuckles to set up a sunset cradle for two, and Goldust is begging off now. Jannetty responds by cranking the arm again, and a punch to the brain gets him two. Clothesline, but Goldust ducks, and grabs him in Curtain Call at 11:48. This was, like, a proper match, and everything. It wasn’t a classic, but it was at least a TV quality match, as opposed to a stalling exhibition. * ¼ 

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Smoking Gunns v Jean Pierre LaFitte and Kama: They’re a team because… they both wear black and red gear…? That’s my best guess. Honestly, that’s probably more thought than the bookers put into it. Bart Gunn starts with LaFitte, and LaFitte immediately dominates. He takes Bart into the heel corner for a double team, and Kama tags in to cross corner clothesline the champion. Kama tries a sidekick, but misses, and Bart dumps him over the top. He looks for a tag, but Kama is quickly back inside, and cuts him off. Kama tries a big boot, but misses, and Bart responds with a dropkick. He adds a bodyslam before tagging Billy Gunn, with Billy diving off the top with a flying axehandle. Billy tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a slam, and Kama takes him into the heel corner for some abuse. The heels cut the ring in half on Billy, until he fights Kama off, and gets the hot tag to brother Bart. Bart runs wild, but Kama pulls the top rope down as he comes off the ropes, and Bart takes a spill over the top. That allows LaFitte a bodyslam as Bart is rolled back in, but a flying splash misses, allowing Bart to cover for two. That draws Kama in, but Billy cuts him off, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Gunns hit LaFitte with a combo to retain at 9:32. And this marked LaFitte’s final WWF appearance until the brief return of the Quebecers in 1998. ¾*

Henry Godwinn v Isaac Yankem: A fan acts as the guest ring announcer for this one. Stalling from Yankem to start. Yankem with a cross corner whip, but the charge in hits a boot, and Henry nails him with a shoulderblock. Henry adds a hiptoss before clotheslining him over the top, but Henry misses a charge in the corner once Isaac is back in, and Yankem side suplexes him for two. Isaac dumps him to the outside, but Godwinn beats the count, so Yankem hits him with a flying axehandle. Yankem works a reverse chinlock, and he tries a vertical suplex, but Henry reverses it on him. Yankem looks to recover with an axehandle, but Godwinn fights him off, and wins a criss cross with a clothesline, as Hunter Hearst Helmsley wanders out. Godwinn goes on the comeback trail, and looks to finish with the inverted DDT, but spots HHH and gets distracted. Helmsley nails him as Henry goes after him, and Yankem capitalizes with a DDT at 8:13. ¼*

Owen Hart v Bam Bam Bigelow: Bigelow had some classic matches with Bret, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him work with Owen. A bit of research shows that they did wrestle on TV in 1993 when Owen was a babyface, but this is basically their only other singles encounter (and only a couple of tags otherwise). Owen makes him chase him around, and clobbers Bigelow when Bam Bam gives up the high ground. Irish whip, but Bigelow reverses, and blasts Hart with a shoulderblock, so Owen begs off. Bam Bam cranks on the arm, and throws a headbutt as Owen tries escaping. Bigelow with a bodyslam to set up a headbutt drop, but Hart dodges, and ropechokes the man. Owen with a ropeburn, and Mr. Fuji lays in a couple of shots with his flag pole for good measure. Owen with a missile dropkick for two, and a leg-feed enzuigiri gets two. Owen with a corner whip, but a bronco buster misses, and Bigelow plants a backelbow on him. Bigelow with a backdrop, and a corner whip, but Hart blocks an avalanche, and delivers a bulldog. Hart with a cross corner whip, but Bigelow reverses, and grabs Hart in a bridging German suplex on the rebound - only for Owen to lift his shoulder, causing Bam Bam to pin himself at 6:06. This wasn’t on track to be a classic, but more time would have been welcome here. ½*

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Hunter Hearst Helmsley: Posturing to start, as they measure each other. HHH dominates that, so Razor starts slugging him, and delivers a fallaway slam. Razor clotheslines him over the top, and the champ grabs an armbar after Hunter climbs back in. HHH slugs free, so Razor charges, but Hunter is able to backdrop him over the top. Razor beats the count in, so Helmsley welcomes him with a barrage of right hands, and a corner whip rattles the ring. Helmsley with another corner whip to rebound Ramon into a swinging neckbreaker for two, and a trio of elbowdrops to the lower back follow. Helmsley drives a few forearms to the lower back, but goes to the well once too often, and Ramon clobbers him. Razor looks for a backdrop, but HHH counters with a facebuster for two, and the challenger grabs an abdominal stretch from there. Razor reverses, so HHH tries a hiptoss, but Ramon blocks. HHH responds with a backslide, but Ramon nearly reverses, before HHH is able to use a neckbreaker for two. HHH grabs a sleeper, and Ramon fades, but ultimately manages a side suplex to escape. Hunter is up first, and tries a 2nd rope axehandle, but Razor catches him in a chokeslam, and both men are left looking up at the lights. Both guys are up at the same time, but a criss cross results in another double knockout situation. Hunter crawls over to cover for two, but Razor staggers up, and starts making a comeback. Ramon with a clothesline for two, but Helmsley blocks a side superplex, and hooks a leveraged rollup for the pin at 17:15. So he’s announced at the champion, but 1-2-3 Kid runs out, alerting the official to the cheating. The referee takes him at his word, and restarts the bout. What a guy. So Razor tunes HHH up, and goes for the Edge, but the referee is bumped. That results in Kid running in to count the pin himself, and everyone acts like that’s somehow official for a second, before Razor tells him he’s a fucking moron. So they get into a shoving match, and HHH recovers with a high knee - knocking Ramon into Kid. HHH adds a Pedigree, and the dazed referee crawls over to count - only for Kid to attack Helmsley for the DQ at 20:53. They didn’t work poorly together, and they probably could have had a really entertaining encounter with the heat turned up for TV, but this was firmly on a low flame here. The overbooking was fun though, and added to the match. *

Main Event: Six-Man Tag Team Match: Diesel, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels v Yokozuna, Davey Boy Smith, and Mabel: I feel bad for that apron any time Smith is in the legal man in this. Shawn and Bulldog start, and they take forever circling each other. Were they trying to get their steps in, or something? A criss cross is won by Michaels with a rana into mounted punches, and he tries a rollup, but Smith blocks. Another criss cross ends in Shawn landing a leg-feed enzuigiri, and he passes to Diesel for a corner clothesline, followed by a sidewalk slam for two. Tag to Yokozuna, and Diesel puts him in a headlock, so Yokozuna shoves him into the ropes, and Diesel accidentally collides with Hart. They have words, allowing Yokozuna to attack,  and he drops Diesel with a Samaon drop for two. Tag to Bulldog, who promptly misses an elbowdrop, so Mabel comes in - and also misses one. Tag to Bret, and he unloads on Bulldog with rights. A Russian legsweep gets him two, and a backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop. Sharpshooter applied, but Mabel makes the save, and Bulldog tags him in. Mabel goes to town on Bret in the neutral corner, and he passes to Yokozuna to trap Hart in a nervehold. He’s done literally nothing and is already digging into the restholds. Yeah, this wasn’t the best period in Yokozuna’s career. It’s incredibly sad how much he declined, considering his WWF debut was only about three years earlier. The guy was world champion less than two years before this, and he can barely string a short series of moves together by this point. The heels cut the ring in half on the Hitman, until Mabel misses a splash, and Diesel catches a tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The babyfaces whip all three heel into one another, and Diesel hits Mabel with a big boot, then tags Shawn for a rocket launcher. Yokozuna and Smith save, so Diesel and Bret get rid of them, and Shawn superkicks Mabel at 10:51. This was extremely basic. ½*

BUExperience: This version omits Fatu/Rad Radford, and Mo/Hakushi. No big losses there.

This was a solid enough house show for the time period. It certainly had star power, though a lot of the actual matches were very much in low gear. Ramon/Helmsley was an interesting bit of gaga, though, and made me wish we got a proper TV match between the two before Razor left the promotion the following spring.

*