WWF at San Jose Arena (May 15, 1994)

 

Original Airdate: May 15, 1994

From San Jose, California 

Opening Match: 1-2-3 Kid v Adam Bomb: They circle each other for a full minute before making contact, and Bomb powers him around once they do. Kid tries a headlock, but Bomb powers him into the ropes, and delivers a shoulderblock. Clothesline, but Kid ducks, and rebounds with a spinheel kick. A dropkick knocks Bomb out of the ring, and Kid tries a plancha, but Bomb catches him for a bodyslam on the floor. Bomb hits a slingshot clothesline on the way back inside, and a biel follows. Bomb lands a clothesline for two, and a corner whip follows, but the charge in misses - allowing Kid a schoolboy for two. Bomb cuts him off, and a snapmare leaves Kid trapped in a chinlock. Elbowdrop, but Kid dodges that, and throws a series of kicks. A spinheel puts Bomb down for two, and Kid goes up with a flying bodypress for two. They criss cross again, and Bomb catches him with a sidewalk slam at 5:49. The finish felt a little abrupt, but this was solid, and I wish they got another few minutes to find that next gear with it. * ½ 

WWF Women's Title Match: Alundra Blayze v Leilani Kai: Kai strikes first, and manages a corner whip, but Blayze flips over the buckles. She runs to the top rope, but Kai slams her off before she can dive, and uses a ropechoke on the champion. Kai with a bootchoke next, and an Oklahoma stampede leaves Blayze in a tree of woe. Kai with a cross corner whip, but Blayze counters the charge in with a sunset flip for two. Blayze follows with a leg-feed enzuigiri for two, and a cradle into a double-knucklelock gets two. Kai bridges up, and lifts her knees when Blayze tries pushing her back down, leaving Alundra looking up at the lights. Kai stays on her with a clawhold to the stomach, and wears Blayze down to cover for two. Kai uses a bodyslam to set up a dive, but Blayze is up before she can leap, and dropkicks the challenger over the top. Blayze follows with a baseball slide, and she dives with a tope. She didn’t look confident in her execution of that one. Blayze tries a suplex in from the apron, but Kai blocks, and snaps her throat across the top. That allows Kai to come back in with a few hairwhip facebusters for two, but Blayze counters a hiptoss to a backslide for two. Kai tries a wild punch, but Blayze ducks. She tries a German suplex, but Kai blocks. Blayze responds with a dropkick, but Kai sidesteps, and Blayze wipes out. That allows Kai a pop-up, but Blayze counters with a rana for two. A bodyslam leads to a 2nd rope dropkick, and a bridging German suplex retains at 7:13. Why didn’t they do this match at WrestleMania?? * ¾ 

Irwin R. Schyster v Tatanka: Tatanka pulls him out of the ring for a brawl right away, and Tatanka keeps the fire coming as they go inside. Tatanka rattles the ring with a cross corner whip, and he throws IRS around by his necktie. Tatanka with a hiptoss, followed by a clothesline. Tatanka dumps him to the outside for a whip into the post, but IRS reverses, and that’s enough to turn the tide. Inside, Irwin lands a jumping clothesline, and he puts the boots to Tatanka from there. An elbowdrop gets him two, so he grounds Tatanka in a chinlock. Tatanka fights free, so IRS throws a knee for two, and it’s back to the chinlock. Tatanka escapes, so IRS tries turnbuckle smashes, but Tatanka is on the comeback trail now, fuck off. A vertical suplex leads to a flying tomahawk chop for two, but Irwin ducks out of the ring to avoid a knife-edge. Tatanka drags him back in to deliver the knife-edge, and he starts choking the hell out of him. The referee tries to intervene, but an irate Tatanka shoves him down for the DQ at 9:42. Mike Rotundo was so much better as a babyface, it kind of drives me nuts that his biggest run was as a heel. And then, of course, Tatanka turned heel (also not his strong suit), and these guys ended up as a team that should have been called Wasted Potential. ½*

Jeff Jarrett v Doink the Clown: Doink has the San Jose Sharks’ mascot in his corner, and they spend a good chunk of time playing off of that, before finally getting started. Though, by ‘getting started,’ in this case, that means ‘stalling.’ They do some posturing through all the stalling and clowning around, mostly just measuring one another. Jeff gets a wristlock on, so Doink whips him into the ropes, and manages a pair of hiptosses, then a bodyslam that leaves Jarrett bailing out of the ring. Jarrett stalls on the outside, as Dink comes into the ring to do his taunts. Finally, Jarrett gets sick of them, and stages a sit-in until Dink fucks off. Of course, this leads to the clowns pranking him, so Jarrett grabs a chair, and decides to go that route instead. That backfires as well, and Dink ‘pins’ Jarrett (with Doink counting the unofficial pin). The ‘fun’ and ‘games’ continue, until Jeff dodges a charge in the corner, and hooks a leveraged pin at 12:54. This wasn’t horrible if you’re into the style, but since I’m generally not, this wasn’t my cup of tea. But, if you are into this style of comedy match, it isn’t a bad example of one. ½*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Headshrinkers v The Smoking Gunns: These two teams had so many matches during this period that eventually one of them became champions, and now it’s a title match. Fatu and Bart Gunn start, and Gunn uses a rollup for two, then a dropkick. A bodypress gets another two, and he armdrags Fatu into an armbar. Bart with a cross corner whip to set up a monkey flip, but Fatu blocks. Fatu tries a crescent kick, but Bart ducks, and both guys tag. Samu wins a slugfest with Billy Gunn, but misses a bodypress, and they criss cross - ending in Samu landing a facebuster. A pinfall reversal sequence ends in Billy backsliding for two, and a dropkick puts Samu on the outside. Tag to Fatu, so Billy tries slugging, but it goes badly. A criss cross ends in Fatu clotheslining him, so Bart runs in to clothesline him, so Samu runs in to clothesline him. Fun! The dust settles on Samu and Bart, and Samu delivers a headbutt drop to the groin. The champs cut the ring in half, until Bart dodges a charge in the corner, and Billy gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Billy gets some shine, but gets caught in a double team, and the Headshrinkers deliver a combo at 11:45. As noted, these two teams had a million matches around the horn for about a full year, and this was one of the last ones. They definitely had it down to a science by this point. **

Crush v Lex Luger: Luger wins a criss cross with a few clotheslines, so Crush bails, and stalls. Inside, Crush tries a hiptoss, but Luger counters with a backslide for two. Another criss cross ends in Luger using a shoulderblock to knock him out of the ring, but an attempt to deliver an axehandle from the apron gets blocked, and Crush feeds him the post. Crush grabs a chair, but the referee cuts him off, and Luger shoves him into the post. Lex adds a smash into the steps for good measure, but gets distracted by Mr. Fuji, and Crush nails him. A backbreaker into a backbreaker submission follows, and a 2nd rope fistdrop gets Crush two. A shot with the flagpole from Fuji is worth two, and Crush goes to a bearhug from there. That wears Lex down for a legdrop for two, so Crush hammers on the lower back to keep the hurt on him. He tries a vertical suplex, but Lex counters to an inside cradle at 11:18. Another finish that felt out of nowhere. This is one of those pairings that, in my head, is always pretty cool, but in actuality is always dull. ½*

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Owen Hart: They posture to start, with Owen being a punk. Bret works a wristlock to take control of things, but Owen manages to reverse. Bret counters to an armbar, so Owen whips him into the ropes, but is met with a crucifix for two. Back to the armbar from the Hitman, so Owen forces a criss cross, but takes a hiptoss, and bails. Back in, Bret schoolboys for two, and grounds his challenger in an overhead wristlock. Owen forces another criss cross, and manages to tag his brother with a knee this time, then adds a stomp to the groin for good measure. Owen slaps on a camel clutch, but Bret escapes, so Owen uses the hair to shift to a chinlock. Bret starts to escape, so Owen shifts again, this time to a side-headlock. Bret tries whipping him into the ropes to escape, but Owen uses a handful of hair to keep the hold. Bret escapes, but a criss cross ends in Owen delivering an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for two. Chinlock, but Bret escapes, and hooks a sunset flip for two. Bret with shots in the corner, but Owen reverses a cross corner whip, and the Hitman rattles the ring with his bump. Owen goes up with a missile dropkick for two, and he bashes Bret’s leg into the post to up the ante. That allows Owen to work the leg some, and he tries a figure four for the submission, but no dice. A corner whip works, but the charge in doesn’t, and Bret dives with a 2nd rope clothesline to buy time. Owen is up first, but Bret manages an inverted atomic drop to set up a clothesline for two. A Russian legsweep is worth two, and a small package gets two. Bret uses a backbreaker to set up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, so Owen tries to bail. Bret grabs him, so Owen puts him down with a mulekick, buying himself time. That allows Owen to put the boots to Bret until the champion falls out of the ring, and Owen follows to bash his back into the post. He tries using a chair, but Bret gets into the ring to avoid the shot. Owen goes up for another dive, but Bret superplexes him off before he can leap, and covers for two. Bret looks to slap on the Sharpshooter, but Owen goes to the eyes to block, and hooks a rollup for one - reversed by Bret for three at 23:49. Very derivative of the WrestleMania X match, but that was possibly the single greatest match ever contested, so that’s not exactly a bad thing. This was much lower key, and filled with more restholds, but still a solid piece of work. ** ¼ 

BUExperience: This version omits a Yokozuna/Earthquake match. While I wish it was there for the sake of completeness, it doesn’t feel like a huge loss, and honestly, I would have enjoyed attending this show. Fun stuff all around, and worth a look.

**