WWF at Madison Square Garden (January 15, 1990)

 

Original Airdate: January 15, 1990

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Hillbilly Jim

Opening Match: Jim Neidhart v Genius: Genius stalls to start, and manages to outsmart Neidhart through some sequences. It isn’t until some four minutes in that the first significant contact is made, and it ends in Genius down on the outside. For more stalling. Neidhart finally gets upset enough to chase him, but eats a dropkick on the way inside, and Genius puts the boots to him. Genius unloads on the ropes, and a bodyslam sets up a flying moonsault, but Neidhart gets the knees up. Jim makes a comeback, and Genius ends up on the outside. Neidhart chases, but gets nailed by Mr. Perfect out there, and Genius covers at 9:19. Genius is a talented worker, but he was all character at this stage. DUD

The Rockers v The Powers of Pain: Shawn Michaels and Barbarian start, with Shawn pinballing around for him, of course. Marty Jannetty comes in with a double team to get Barbarian off his feet, and the Rockers stick and move on him, switching off with quick tags. Stereo superkicks knock him silly, so Warlord runs in to try and save, but meets the same fate, and the Rockers clean house! Dust settles on Shawn and Warlord, and Michaels manages a rana after an assist from Jannetty. The Rockers keep overwhelming Warlord with combos, until Marty tries his own rana, but gets powerbombed. Warlord sends him to the heavens with a backdrop for two, then sends him even higher with a pop-up flapjack for two. You'd think two guys going out there and killing themselves like that would only serve to get their opponents over (especially during this era), but somehow it made the Rockers even bigger stars than ever. The Powers go to work on Marty, until Barbarian misses an elbowdrop off the middle, and Michaels gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Shawn hooks a sunset flip on Warlord for two (with an assist via superkick from Marty), and a bodypress gets two (again with an assist from Marty via dropkick). Shawn ends up getting tripped up by Mr. Fuji while running the ropes, however, and Barbarian clobbers him for the pin at 9:57. This was fun, with everyone playing their part just right, and the Rockers seemingly having a contest to see who can sell power moves harder. Jannetty won that one, by the way. Afterwards, the Powers and Fuji triple team Jannetty, until Shawn chases them off with a chair. This was setting up a six-man rematch for the next Garden show, with Duggan backing the Rockers. And that would pretty much be it for the Powers as a team. ** ½

Paul Roma v Al Perez: They posture forever, and Perez generally controls, but it mostly goes nowhere, as the announcers discuss how much Hillybilly Jim can benchpress to pass time. Finally, Roma dives with a flying bodypress, but Perez rolls through at 11:17. This was really long for what it was. ¼*

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Mr. Perfect: Hulk powers him around to start, with Perfect stalling him out as they go along. Hulk chases him to the outside and abuses Genius for good measure. Inside, a backelbow knocks Perfect into hanging himself in the ropes, and a pair of atomic drops send Genius over the top. Hogan keeps ping ponging between the two, and it’s bumps galore from the heels. Axebomber on Perfect finds the mark, and a turnbuckle smash triggers a huge oversell, with Hillbilly noting that Perfect is “going to have a huge drug problem” when this is over. He means because Perfect is getting ‘drug’ all over the ring. Ahem. Hulk goes for a backdrop, but Perfect uses a kick to the kisser to block, and the challenger puts him down with a clothesline. Genius lends some illegal assists as Perfect goes to work, but even with the two-on-one deal, it really is hard to buy Perfect as any kind of threat to Hogan. I’m not a size mark, but he really was just too small to make that work, especially in that era. Perfectplex looks to put it away, but Hogan kicks out at two, and it’s HULK UP!! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! They spill to the outside, where Perfect rakes the eyes, but misses a chair shot. That allows Hulk to grab the chair and… just stands there for a while. And then we see Perfect come around with a set of knux to knock him silly, so I guess he was having a hard time retrieving them, and Hulk was stalling. Anyway, Hogan beats the count after that too, and the referee gets bumped. That allows Hulk to steal the knux and unload, setting up the legdrop. Cover, but the referee declines to count, instead disqualifying Hulk for using the knux (that he still has wrapped around his fingers, the moron) at 13:44. Good effort from both men here, with Perfect game to bump around, and Hulk doing his share of selling as well. * ½ 

Bret Hart v Akeem: Akeem is subbing for Bob Orton here, in what was scheduled to be Orton's return to the WWF. Bret uses speed to frustrate the big guy, and Akeem ends up taking a spill out of the ring after missing a charge. Akeem tries punching him out there, but Bret sidesteps, and Akeem hits the post with his hand. Inside, Hart works the hand, until Akeem is able to successfully clobber him, and the tide turns. Akeem works the Hitman over, until Bret is able to rattle him with a series of turnbuckle smashes, and a clothesline gets him two. A schoolboy gets another two, so Akeem tries a backdrop, but Bret counters to a sunset flip, so Akeem sitdown splashes him at 8:03. It had some mojo with Bret’s psychology and storytelling talents, but overall it wasn’t a great match. ¾*

Rhythm and Blues v Jimmy Snuka and Ron Garvin: Honky Tonk Man starts with Jimmy, and Honky eats an atomic drop, then a 2nd rope axehandle. Tag to Greg Valentine, and that puts Snuka into trouble, but he manages to reach Ronnie, and Garvin runs wild on the Hammer. Garvin locks a sleeper on, which wears Greg down for the stomp series. Ron tries for the sharpshooter, but Greg pokes him in the eyes to block, and unloads with chops, before passing to Honky. The heels are able to get control on Garvin, but Snuka tags in, and holds Honky in a wristlock. Tag to Garvin, and he catches Valentine with a somersault cradle for two, so Honky distracts him, and Greg goes to the eyes. Valentine gets the figure four on, but Garvin has his ‘Hammer Jammer’ on, so it’s ineffective. Garvin hooks a small package for two before tagging to Snuka, and Greg eats chops. A 2nd rope bodypress misses, and the heels cut the ring in half on Snuka, until he fights off a double team, and gets the hot tag to Ron - Roseanne Barr the door! Garvin gets a near fall on Valentine, but gets hung up in the corner, and the Hammer Jammer is removed, as the referee restores order. Greg hammers him with elbowdrops, and he gets the figure four on, but Snuka saves. Greg goes back to it, so Garvin hooks a small package for two to block, but can’t tag. Greg uses a backbreaker to set up a dive, but he takes too long, and Ron slams him off. That allows Garvin to take Greg’s own shinguard off, and Ron tries for the sharpshooter, but Honky breaks it up, as time expires at 18:46. This one didn’t have great flow, or any real storytelling, so the crowd was bored with it. And then that bullshit finish, on top of everything. ¼*

Million Dollar Belt Match: Ted DiBiase v Jake Roberts: DiBiase tries attacking before the bell, but things backfire on him when Jack backdrops him over the top. Back in, Jake wrenches a headlock on, and though DiBiase escapes from a vertical base, Jake is able to get it back on, and takes it to the mat this time. Jake grinds with it, until DiBiase escapes again, so Jake clotheslines him for two, then goes back to the hold. DiBiase tries to side suplex out of it, but Jake keeps him locked. Ted is finally able to really escape, and he hammers on Jake in the corner, then cross corner whips him. DiBiase puts the boots to Roberts, and a piledriver gets him two. DiBiase works a reverse chinlock from there, but Jake escapes, so Ted hits him with an atomic drop for two. Ted with an elbowdrop for two, and he grabs a front-facelock to continue grinding Jake down. Jake fights to a vertical base, and tries a swinging neckbreaker to escape, but DiBiase hooks the ropes, and Jake drops himself. That allows DiBiase a swinging neckbreaker of his own, which is such a wonderful dick move. It gets two, and a powerslam gets another two. Ted gets the cobra clutch on, but Jake is in the ropes, and they spill out of the ring. DiBiase keeps it locked after the landing, so Jake drops him into the post to shake the hold off, and both guys are down on the outside. DiBiase is up first, and rolls Jake back in for a 2nd rope backelbow drop, but he takes too long, and it misses. Ted is still up first, and he tries for a bodyslam, but his back is messed up, and it’s a no-go. That allows Roberts to go on the comeback trail, but Ted keeps bailing, so he can’t put it away. Jake drags him back in again and again, and a short-clothesline gets him two, before DiBiase bails again. Jake rolls him in and pounds on the lower back, and a backbreaker follows, but Ted rolls out before a cover can be made. DiBiase is just a perfect dick, and I’m here for it. This time, Virgil is able to nail Jake while he’s going after DiBiase on the outside, and Jake destroys him, but gets counted out in the process at 20:31. Man, these two doing twenty minutes with each other could qualify as a cure for insomnia. It was psychologically sound, but so lowkey and dull, before picking up in the last leg. * ¼ 

BUExperience: The Rockers turn in a great performance here, and the Hogan/Perfect match is fun, but the rest is mostly not worth your time.

*