WWF at Fleet Center (October 5, 1995)

 

Original Airdate: October 5, 1995

From Boston Massachusetts

Sir Mo v Barry Horowitz: Joined in progress, with Mo in control. Mo throws a knee, but Horowitz counters to a cradle for two, but Mo quickly cuts him off. Mo with a stomp for two, but Barry manages to hook a drop-toehold, which he hangs on to. Mo escapes, and cuts him off again, and gets a couple more two counts off of literally nothing. Mo is the laziest motherfucker I’ve ever seen. Horowitz with a rollup for two, and he tries holding a sleeper, but Mo shakes him off. Mo with a bodyslam, but a somersault senton splash misses, so maybe that’s why Mo never tries anything. Look what happens when he does! Horowitz makes a comeback from there, and a dropkick gets him two. A cross corner whip rebounds Mo into a backdrop for two, and a highknee follows. Horowitz looks for a follow up, but runs into a knee, and Mo covers for two. Mo lands a legdrop, and a flying elbowdrop gets two - only for Horowitz to counter the relaxed pin attempt into a cradle at 4:25 shown. I have no idea how much was cut out here, so I won’t rate this. The bit with Mo in control was boring, but it picked up a lot of steam when they were going back and forth in the third act.

Bob Backlund v 1-2-3 Kid: I feel like this is destined to be a major clash of styles. Backlund stalls early on, but manages an armdrag once they finally lock horns. They do some posturing, with Backlund still very much in stall mode. Kid manages a takedown into a pin, but Bob is in the ropes at two, so Kid goes to a waistlock, but Backlund has the ropes again. Kid gets frustrated, nearly allowing Backlund to sneak up with the crossface chickenwing, but Kid manages to avoid it after all. Bob grabs a waistlock of his own, but Kid reverses, so Backlund gets into the ropes again. He hops to the apron to stall, but Kid is sick of him, and dropkicks him off. That draws Backlund charging back in, but Kid is ready for him with a pair of hiptosses, and a series of kicks knocks Bob back to the outside. Kid tries pulling him back in, but Backlund wrenches on his arm, and Kid is in trouble as they head back in. That lulls Backlund into a false sense of security, and he casually tries a bodyslam - only for Kid to cradle at 7:14. I appreciated the psychology, but there was very little action here, with Kid working a Backlund style match, and unable to do any flying around or speed stuff. ½*

WWF Women's Title Match: Bertha Faye v Alundra Blayze: Faye whips her into the ropes, but Blayze catches her with a crucifix, then a series of kicks. Faye fires back with a series of bodyblocks, and that takes the pep out of Alundra’s step. Faye with a ropeburn, and a bodyslam sets up a pair of legdrops for two. Faye goes to a chinlock from there, then shifts it to a bow-and-arrow, then into a bodyscissors. Faye rolls the hold into a few cradles for two counts, but an avalanche misses, and Blayze takes her down. Blayze stays on her with strikes, and a spinkick gets her two. Blayze with a earringer, and she tries a powerbomb, but can’t get Faye up, and Bertha ends up backdropping her. Blayze responds with a rana into a cradle for two, and a 2nd rope dropkick follows. Again, but Faye sidesteps. Faye climbs to the middle, but Blayze follows, and both end up coming down. Faye gets the better of it, and a sitout powerbomb finishes for her at 6:39. That ending felt like they miscommunicated something somewhere along the way. ¾*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Smoking Gunns v The Blu Brothers: Billy Gunn starts with Jacob Blu, and Jacob dominates. A bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, and he passes to Eli Blu. A reversal sequence allows Billy to hook a sunset cradle for two, and he holds a wristlock to slow Eli down. Tag to Bart Gunn for another wristlock, but Eli decks him, and tags out. Jacob charges in, but Bart is ready with a drop-toehold, and he cranks a hammerlock. The Gunns work the arm with quick tags, until Eli catches Bart with a cheap shot from the outside, and the challengers take control. They cut the ring in half on Bart, but Billy gets the hot tag. He runs wild, but quickly gets overwhelmed, and Bart comes back in - Roseanne Barr the door! The Gunns manage to clear Jacob out of the ring, and quickly hit Eli with their finisher before Jacob can come back in, scoring the pinfall at 9:54. Formula, and little else. ¼*

Savio Vega v Kama: We get a fan doing the ring announcing for this one. Posturing to start, until Kama manages to stomp him down. Kama uses a cross corner whip to drop Vega again, and this time Kama stays on him with a camel clutch. Vega escapes, but Kama continues to work him over, until Savio is able to block a cross corner whip by rebounding with a 2nd rope bodypress for two. Kama tries an avalanche, but misses, allowing Vega a schoolboy for two, but Kama is still able to cut him off with a series of short-strikes. Kama tries a leveraged pin, but the referee busts him, so he delivers a bodyslam instead. Kama goes to the middle for a pump-splash, but Savio gets his knees up to block, and lands a spinheel kick at 8:17. ½*

Bret Hart v Isaac Yankem: Bret has George Steele in his corner, in an attempt to counter Jerry Lawler’s presence. Bret rushes in to kickstart things, and he takes Jerry out along the way. Hart unloads on Yankem, as the crowd goes wild for him. He’s getting the biggest reaction of anyone thus far, and Steele is getting a lot of love as well. Hart knocks Yankem around, and an inverted atomic drop leads to a clothesline. Bret tries to add a dive off the middle, but Lawler hooks him to prevent it, so Steele saves. That allows Bret to recover with a 2nd rope clothesline, and he goes to work on the leg from there, as Steele continues to beat up Lawler on the outside. Hart goes for the Sharpshooter, but Yankem blocks, and hammers the Hitman down in the corner. Yankem with a cross corner whip to rattle the ring, and he grounds Bret in a chinlock from there. Yankem shifts it to a bearhug, but Bret fights free, so Isaac barrels into him with a clothesline, then adds an elbowdrop for two. Back to the bearhug for a bit, wearing Hart down for a two count. The Hitman is in a bad way, but manages to get some distance, and forces Yankem to chase. Hart fires off a few shots when Isaac does, but Yankem clobbers him to cut that off, and goes to a reverse chinlock from there. Bret escapes, and again distances himself. He manages to hammer Yankem into the corner, but Isaac punches him in the throat to shake him off, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop. Yankem works a chinlock, and a short-clothesline gets two two. Hart manages to spill the action out of the ring on the kickout, but a whip into the steps out there gets reversed on him. Yankem adds a shot into the post for good measure, but a trip to the top rope on the way back in ends in him getting slammed off. Hart keeps coming with a bulldog for two, and a small package is worth another two. A backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, but Yankem manages a sidewalk slam to win a criss cross. That allows him to go back to the top for a flying fistdrop, but Bret dodges, and gets the Sharpshooter on at 12:19. This was solid and fun. Even with Yankem’s reliance on restholds, they told a good story here, which made it work. Afterwards, Lawler comes in to attack, but Steele makes the save to close things out. * ½ 

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Davey Boy Smith: Bulldog stalls a bunch after the bell, jawing with the fans, and such. They don’t actually make contact until about four minutes in, when Shawn grabs a side-headlock. Davey quickly reverses, so Shawn whips him into the ropes, but Smith wins the criss cross with a shoulderblock. Michaels grabs another standing headlock, so this time Davey whips him into the ropes as an escape, and again tags him with a shoulderblock. Shawn goes back to the headlock, so Bulldog triggers another criss cross, but this time Michaels is able to poke him in the eye to block a shoulderblock. Michaels with a rana into a cradle for two, and a crucifix gets two. A clothesline knocks Bulldog over the top, and once back in, Shawn wrenches another headlock, this time on the mat. Bulldog fights to a vertical base, but loses a criss cross to a leg-feed enzuigiri. Michaels looks for a follow up, but Davey catches him with a press-drop across the top rope, and Shawn takes a bump over the top. Smith presses him back in from the floor, and the tide has turned. Smith goes to work with a three-alarm no-release backbreaker for two, and he slaps on a backbreaker rack from there, but Shawn manages to escape. A backdrop driver gets him two, but Smith quickly cuts him off in the corner. Davey uses a cross corner whip to flip Shawn over the buckles, and the champion rebounds into another backbreaker rack. Shawn escapes into a cradle for two, but Smith cuts him off with a clothesline for two, and he grounds the champion in a chinlock from there. Shawn fights free, and a reversal sequence ends in him clotheslining Bulldog, leaving both men looking up at the lights. They stagger up, and Michaels manages a side suplex, but he’s too battered to follow up, and both guys are down again. The referee counts, but Bulldog stirs, and is vertical first. He advances on Michaels, but Shawns kips him, and slugs him. Shawn lands a jumping forearm, and a bodyslam sets up a flying elbowdrop for two. Shawn with a rocker cradle for two, but a corner charge misses, and Bulldog grabs him for the running powerslam - only for Michaels to shove him into the ropes to block. That allows Michaels a rollup for two, reversed by Bulldog for another two. Both pop up, and Michaels tries a hiptoss, but Bulldog counters to a short-clothesline for two. Another criss cross sees Jim Cornette trip Shawn up, and Bulldog charges to capitalize - only for Michaels to tag him with a superkick! Cover, count, but Davey is in the ropes at two. Shawn drags Cornette in to get some revenge on, so Bulldog tries saving, but it backfires. Shawn corners him for a ten-punch, so Cornette hits the champ with his tennis racket for the DQ at 17:25. The extended stall session at the beginning had me worried that they were going to phone this in, but they really kicked it into gear once that was over and done with, and this was really good for a house show match. ** ¾ 

Main Event: Undertaker v King Mabel: Undertaker knocks him around early on, and a cross corner whip rattles the ring, but fails to take Mabel down. Undertaker responds with a series of clotheslines, but Mabel blocks the third of them with a scrapbuster. Mabel tries a clothesline, but Undertaker ducks, and he knocks the big man out of the ring. Undertaker follows, so Mo comes over to attack, but gets smacked. It does buy Mabel time, though, and the big man is able to ram Undertaker into the post. Inside, Mabel works him over, but Undertaker blocks a snake-eyes, and hammers him in the corner. Undertaker with a cross corner whip, followed by a corner splash. Another cross corner whip, but Mabel reverses, and follows in with a clothesline. Mabel adds a northern lights suplex, and he delivers an elbowdrop from there. A bearhug comes next, until Undertaker slugs free, so Mabel jumping clotheslines him down for two. Elbowdrop, but Undertaker rolls out of the way, and he makes a comeback. Mabel withstands it, and manages a belly-to-belly suplex for two, but a clothesline misses, and Undertaker chokeslams him at 8:14. Honestly? This was a lot better than you’d expect it to be. It wasn’t good, but at least it wasn’t a series of restholds. ¾*

BUExperience: This version omits a Hakushi/Skip opener, which is a shame. This event also marked the WWF’s first show at the then brand new Fleet Center.

Not surprisingly for a card in 1995, the two best matches featured Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. The rest isn’t very good, but I’d check out the Michaels/Bulldog match.

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