WWF at Madison Square Garden (October 29, 1994)

 

Original Airdate: October 29, 1994

From New York, New York

Opening Match: Bam Bam Bigelow v Adam Bomb: Posturing to start, and Bomb briefly gets control after throwing hands. They get into measuring each other, and Bigelow cracks him with a headbutt, then a shoulderblock. Bigelow lands a clothesline, but misses a second, and Adam rebounds with a jumping clothesline, so Bam Bam bails. He strategizes with Ted DiBiase out there, but still ends up in an armbar after getting back inside. Bigelow fights him off, and tries a headbutt drop, but it misses, and Bomb goes back to the armbar. Bigelow fights into the corner, so Bomb cross corner whips him, and unloads a ten-punch count. Bigelow uses an inverted atomic drop to shake him off, however, and a clothesline gets Bam Bam two. Bigelow dumps him to the outside for DiBiase to abuse, but Ted just kind of trash talks him, and nothing more. He really learned nothing from Virgil, did he? Gosh, even broken down, near immobile Andre did more on the outside when he was in the corner. Truly one of the worst managers ever, no wonder the Million Dollar Corporation was such a dud. Inside, Bigelow delivers a headbutt drop for two, and he goes to a chinlock from there. Bam Bam puts the boots to him, and uses a ropechoke, as DiBiase continues to casually trash talk from the floor. Sit down, you bum. Bigelow dumps him to the outside to give Ted a chance to redeem himself, but again nothing, and Bomb recovers with a slingshot clothesline. Maybe if your manager wasn’t such a fucking loser, you wouldn’t be looking up at the lights right now, Bigelow. Bigelow tries an enzuigiri, but it misses, and Bomb officially goes on the comeback trail. A dropkick gets two, and a bodypress is worth two. Rollup, but Bigelow blocks, so Bomb tries a bodyslam, but Bam Bam topples him when DiBiase finally does something by sweeping the leg - only for the referee to see it, and disqualify Bam Bam at 13:07. This was almost like they were trying to make DiBiase look like the worst manager of all time. ½*

Mixed Tag Team Match: Doink the Clown and Dink v Jerry Lawler and Queezy: We get a fan doing the ring announcing for this one. Doink and Lawler start, and Doink frustrates him with some of the usual hijinks. I may not be a huge fan of the matches, but I will say that this version of Doink and this version of Lawler are tailormade for one another. And it’s not a waste of a guy, like putting Bam Bam or Jeff Jarrett in with the clown. The finish comes when Dink goes up with a flying bodypress at Lawler, but gets caught, and Jerry chucks Dink at Doink to topple him, then hooks Doink’s leg at 12:12. This was really long for what it was. ¼*

WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Jim Neidhart: Danny Davis is the referee for this (not acknowledged, he was just a referee at the time), which tickles me, given his history with both guys. Bret wins a criss cross with a bodypress for two right away, and he drags Jim to the outside, but it backfires when Neidhart feeds him the apron. Jim tries an avalanche against the post, but Bret dodges, and uses a slingshot sunset flip for two on the way back in. Hart adds a turnbuckle smash, but Neidhart reverses a cross corner whip to rattle the ring. Jim goes to a cobra clutch from there, and then turnbuckle smashes the champion after wearing him down. Neidhart with a bootchoke, but Bret fights back with a ropeburn, so Jim goes to a bearhug. Hart bites his way free, so Neidhart throws a shoulderblock for two, then adds a matslam. Neidhart with a cross corner whip, and a scoop powerslam is worth two. Jim takes him to the outside for some abuse, but Bret fights him off on the way back in, and goes to town in the corner. Bret with a bulldog for two, and an inside cradle gets him another two. Hart with a Russian legsweep for two, and a backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop, but Neidhart gets a boot up to block. Neidhart tries a vertical suplex, but Bret keeps blocking, so Jim takes it upstairs for a superplex. Bret blocks that as well, so Jim just slams him off the top, and Neidhart goes up with a flying splash to end it, but Hart rolls out of the way. That allows the Hitman to get the Sharpshooter on at 8:32. Bret went out of his way to carry this, putting in the kind of effort he usually only does in a televised match, to make sure to get something watchable out of a deteriorating Neidhart. Afterwards, Bob Backlund shows up to attack Hart, and gets him in a crossface chickenwing until officials are able to intervene. * ¾ 

Billy Gunn v Tom Prichard: This was originally scheduled as the Smoking Gunns against the Heavenly Bodies, so I’m guessing an injury derailed that. They feel each other out to start, all dominated by Billy. Gunn with a sunset cradle for two, so Tom bails, and regroups. Back in, Prichard gets a standing side-headlock, but Gunn escapes, so Jimmy Del Ray distracts him, and Tom takes the cheap shot. Del Ray (on crutches) gets ejected, but the damage has been done, and Tom goes to work. Prichard tries a half crab for the submission, but gets busted using the ropes before he can get it, so he snapmares Billy into a bow-and-arrow instead. Prichard with a vertical suplex for two, and another vertical suplex follows. I hate when guys do that, unless it’s part of a gimmick, like Brock Lensar. Prichard goes up with a flying backelbow drop, but it misses, and Gunn makes a comeback. Prichard tries a rollup to cut it off, but Billy rolls through into a reversal for the pin at 6:45. This was competent, if not especially interesting. ¾*

Lex Luger v Tatanka: Tatanka hammers away, but Lex fights off the blitz, and uses a clothesline to send Tatanka to the outside. Lex gets frustrated with the stalling, and chases, but is actually sharp enough to avoid letting Tatanka get the high ground, and cuts him off. That’s one of the rare times I’ve seen a babyface figure that out, and it ends up being Lex Luger, of all people. A distraction allows Tatanka to sneak back in, and he drives Lex into the corner with a turnbuckle smash. Tatanka unloads with tomahawk chops, but regular chops get no-sold, since Lex is a racist. Lex throws hands, and a turnbuckle smash of his own leads to a ten-punch count. Tatanka tries an inverted atomic drop to shake it off, but Lex rebounds with a clothesline, and he corner whips Tatanka - Tatanka rebounding into a backelbow. That allows Lex a few mounted punches before the referee can intervene, and Tatanka dumps him to the outside to buy time. Tatanka gets control as things come back inside, and he goes to work. A knife-edge chop gets him two, and a bodyslam sets up a trio of elbowdrops for two. Good cardio from Tatanka there. Tatanka cues up a vertical suplex for two, and a flying tomahawk chop is worth two. Lex pops off a schoolboy for two, so Tatanka tries a backdrop, but Lex hooks a sunset flip for two. Tatanka responds by punting him in the ribs to prevent a comeback, and he goes at him with tomahawks, but Luger no-sells. Okay, fine, maybe he’s not a racist. I guess. Tatanka dodges him in the corner, and delivers a side suplex for two, then a cross corner whip. Another corner whip rattles the ring, and he grabs a bearhug, but Lex escapes, and manages a side suplex of his own. Tatanka tries more chops, but Lex is in firm comeback mode now, fuck you. Luger with a one-handed bulldog, and a series of clothesline, but Tatanka falls out of the ring. Lex goes after him with an axehandle from the apron, and he feeds Tatanka the steps, but doesn’t make it back in in time, and we have a double countout at 12:32. For two guys who almost always had disappointing outings on TV, this wasn’t bad. * ½ 

Main Event: Casket Match: Undertaker v Yokozuna: Yoko is in full ‘goofy motherfucker’ mode, doing pratfalls just from seeing the casket. He’s awesome at that, though. Undertaker slugs him out of the ring early, and he goes to drag him back in, but Yoko fights him off. Yoko looks to pull Undertaker in, but Undertaker snaps his throat across the top rope to block, and follows with a ropewalk forearm. Yoko fires back with a Samoan drop, but Undertaker blocks a trip into the casket, so Yoko tags him with a headbutt. That draws Irwin R Schyster out to attack, but Undertaker kind of shrugs it off, and hits Yoko with a flying clothesline. Way to build that Rumble feud, really making it a must see. Undertaker rolls Yoko toward the casket, but IRS shuts the lid to prevent Yoko from ending up inside. That draws a bunch of officials down, but IRS doesn’t budge, so Undertaker chases him off himself. Unfortunately, that allows Mr. Fuji to sneak up with a handful of salt, and Undertaker is blind. Uh oh, a blind Undertaker could make a blunder! Blindertaker Blundertaker! Yoko stays on him with a series of headbutts, and he rolls Undertaker into the casket, but Undertaker blocks the lid getting shut at the last second. Yoko gives him a belly-to-belly suplex to simmer him down, and he unloads in the corner to leave Undertaker limp. He’s left in perfect position for the Banzai drop, but Yoko doesn’t go for it. Instead, he throws a clothesline and a legdrop. He rolls Undertaker into the casket, but forgets to shut the lid, and Undertaker makes a comeback. He lands a jumping clothesline and a chokeslam, and Yoko is toast at 12:16. These two had some fun matches in early 1994. This was late 1994. ¼*

BUExperience: This version omits Abe Schwartz/Jim Powers and Irwin R Schyster/Duke Droese, but still somehow made time for a lengthy Bob Backlund in-ring interview. This certainly wasn’t a blockbuster house show, but it wasn’t unwatchable. I wouldn’t have hated attending this, back in the day.

*