WWF at Arrowhead Pond (June 17, 1995)

 

Original Airdate: June 17, 1995

From Anaheim, California

Opening Match: The Heavenly Bodies v Tekno Team 2000: I’ve said it before, but I’m the single fan of Tekno Team 2000 out there. Jimmy Del Ray starts with Troy, and Troy dominates him early on. Troy with a backdrop, and an armdrag allows him an armbar. Over to Travis for a wristlock, but Del Ray slugs free, and tags. Tom Prichard charges in, but Travis catches him with an armdrag into an armbar. A criss cross allows Travis another armdrag into another armbar, and he passes back to Troy for a bodyslam, and a tandem elbowdrop for two. The babyfaces continue dominating Tom, until Travis runs into trouble, and the Bodies cut the ring in half on him. Del Ray superkicks him for two, and a bodyslam sets up a combo that gets Tom two. Prichard bodyslams him to set up a flying moonsault, but Travis rolls out of the way, and gets the hot tag to Troy - Roseanne Barr the door! Troy with a flying bodypress on Jimmy, but Del Ray rolls through for two. He tries a piledriver, but now Troy counters to a backslide for the pin at 10:57. This was mostly fine, but they took a little too long with it. ½*

Skip v Aldo Montoya: A main event in Philly, though. Aldo throws him around early on, and they speed through criss crosses, all ending in Montoya getting holds. One criss cross too many allows Skip a powerslam to turn the tide, and he delivers a snap suplex to set up a lightning legdrop for two. Skip unloads in the corner, and a cross corner whip rebounds Aldo into a slam, but Montoya counters to a rollup for two. He tries a 2nd rope bodypress, but Skip hits the deck, and Aldo wipes out. Skip with a flying headbutt drop for two, and he grabs a chinlock from there. Montoya fights free, but attempting to criss cross bites him in the ass again when Skip sidesteps, and Aldo takes a spill to the outside. Skip tries suplexing him back in, but Aldo reverses it over the top, then dives at him with a plancha. Inside, Montoya keeps coming with a backdrop, and a knife-edge chop follows. Aldo with a jumping forearm, and he dives with a missile dropkick next. Clothesline, but Skip ducks, and grabs a bridging German suplex for two. Vertical suplex, but Aldo counters to a bridging northern lights suplex for two. Aldo with a cross corner whip, but Skip reverses - only to get the charge in blocked. That allows Aldo a 2nd rope bulldog, and he goes upstairs, but Skip superplexes him off for the pin at 8:44. This probably should have been the opener, it was much peppier. **

Doink the Clown v Henry Godwinn: We have a fan doing the ring announcing for this one. Doink outmoves him early on, and even casually bodyslams the much bulkier Godwinn. Good for him. Doink works a spinning toehold, then a standard toehold, putting the leg in trouble. Godwinn fights free and hammers him down, delivering a kneedrop for two, before dumping Doink to the outside. Back in, Godwinn corner whips him, and he uses an axehandle drop to the back. Godwinn with a ropechoke, and he holds a chinlock, but Doink fights free. Doink makes a comeback, and a dropkick gets him two. Backdrop, but Godwinn blocks, and hits the inverted DDT at 7:31. Extremely basic. ½*

Bob Backlund v Man Mountain Rock: Rock interrupts Backlund’s unhinged ranting before the bell, so Bob attacks to kickstart things, but Rock fights him off, and runs wild. Rock with a bodyslam to send Backlund bailing, but an attempt to pull him back in allows Bob to snap the arm across the top rope. Bob works it, and tries for the crossface chickenwing, but gets distracted by the crowd, and Rock schoolboys at 1:42. I get this pairing from a gimmick perspective, but yikes, what a clash of styles. At least they had the foresight to keep it short. DUD

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Yokozuna and Owen Hart v The Bushwhackers: Owen starts with Butch, and hammers him down right away, then delivers a turnbuckle smash. Clothesline, but Butch ducks, and pounds Hart into the babyface corner for some pinballing with Luke. Butch hooks a schoolboy for two, and he passes to Luke to bring him into the match officially. Luke holds a wristlock, and the challengers take turns with it, until Yokozuna catches a tag in, and there’s business. The heels cut the ring in half on Luke, until he’s able to escape, and he gets a hot tag to Butch. Butch runs wild, and has Owen pinned, but Yokozuna comes lumbering in with a legdrop to save, and Hart pins Butch at 7:57. I mean, if you buy the Bushwhackers as title contenders in 1995, more power to you, I guess. ¼*

Hunter Hearst Helmsley v Bob Holly: Posturing to start, with Helmsley dominating. He takes Bob into the corner to hammer, and a cross corner whip rattles the ring. Another one does the same, and Helmsley uses a backbreaker to get two. HHH grounds Holly in a reverse chinlock from there, but Bob escapes, and gets fired up. HHH tries cutting him off with another corner whip, but Holly reverses this time, and delivers a backdrop on the rebound. Bob with a dropkick for two, and HHH begs off. Holly corners him, but HHH takes a shot to the gut. He tries the pedigree, but Holly backdrops him to block, and delivers a powerslam for two. Backdrop, but this time HHH counters to the pedigree at 6:51. Nothing special, but solid. ¾*

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Jeff Jarrett v Savio Vega: Jarrett tries to sneak attack, but Savio is street smart, so that goes nowhere for him. Roadie distracts him, allowing Jeff to successfully attack, but Savio fights him off, and delivers a hiptoss. Roadie trips him up to buy Jarrett more time, but Jeff blows it again, and gets whipped into the corner. Vega with a 2nd rope punch, and he wins a criss cross with a bodyslam, setting up some mounted punches. Cue Roadie again, but Jeff’s resulting sneak attack backfires, and Jarrett ends up getting clotheslined over the top. Jarrett stalls out there to break the momentum, and he’s finally able to successfully put Vega down to take control. Jeff with a straddling ropechoke, and a swinging neckbreaker follows. Jeff stays on him with a knee, and he goes upstairs for a flying bodypress - only for Savio to roll through for two. Jarrett cuts him off with a backelbow, and he slows Savio’s roll with an abdominal stretch. Vega escapes, and hooks a schoolboy for two, but Jarrett cuts him off again, this time with a clothesline. Jeff keeps working him, but a punch gets ducked, allowing Vega a side suplex, leaving both men looking up at the lights. Savio rolls over to cover for two, and a uranage gives him some renewed momentum. Vega goes on the comeback trail, and a sidewalk slam gets him two. Supposedly, Roadie gets the foot in the ropes to break the count, but he kind of misses his mark, so we just pretend he did. Vega takes Roadie out, and hits Jarrett with a spinheel kick, but it knocks the champion out of the ring. And then Savio just stands there like an idiot while the referee counts Jarrett out at 10:35. The finish was poorly executed, but the match itself was engaging. * ½ 

Davey Boy Smith v Tatanka: Criss cross to start, won by Bulldog with a hiptoss, and he adds a bodyslam, then a clothesline. Tatanka wisely bails after that, and manages to nail Bulldog on the way back in. He tries grabbing an armbar, but Bulldog reverses, so Tatanka forces a criss cross, but ends up taking a hanging vertical suplex for two. Davey looks for a follow up, but Tatanka dumps him to the outside to buy time. Davey beats the count, but he’s hurting, and Tatanka goes to work. Tatanka with a pair of corner whips and a clothesline for two, and he grounds Bulldog in a chinlock from there. Davey fights free, but runs into a knee, and Tatanka bootchokes him. Tatanka with a DDT for two, and it’s back to the chinlock to wear Davey down. Bulldog escapes, and hooks a crucifix for two, but Tatanka quickly cuts him off with some stomps. Tatanka with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, but Davey dodges. Bulldog with a pair of clotheslines, so Ted DiBiase deploys a distraction, and Tatanka recovers. Tatanka with a cross corner whip, but Bulldog reverses. He goes for the running powerslam, but Tatanka topples him for two. Tatanka throws a knee, but Bulldog is ready with a schoolboy counter at 8:44. ¾*

Main Event: Cage Match: Sycho Sid v Bam Bam Bigelow: Sid is in the thick of his running scared period, and tries to leave before the match, but WWF Champion Diesel shows up to force him inside. You know, technically, he climbed over the top of the cage and escaped to run away, he kind of won the match, to be fair. That allows Bigelow to knock him around, but a charge misses, and Bigelow takes a bump into the cage. Sid puts the boots to him from there, and he tries to climb out, but Diesel blocks his path. Okay, now it’s just actually unfair. Sid stays on Bigelow anyway, but Bam Bam fights him off, and climbs. Sid manages to slam him off, and he goes for the door, but Diesel cuts him off again. That allows Bigelow a schoolboy, and the referee runs in to count two. Oh, that bullshit rule, then? Bam Bam throws him into the cage, but the rebound takes Bigelow out as well, and both guys are left down. Bigelow is up first, and climbs, but Sid cuts him off, and delivers a chokeslam. That allows Sid to set up the powerbomb, but he takes too long, and Bigelow sends him into the cage. That allows Bigelow to climb, but Sid gets hold of the boot just as Bam Bam is getting over the top. Bigelow kicks him off, however, and escapes at 8:28. This wasn’t good. ¼*

BUExperience: The main event was a complete joke, but the rest of the show was mostly fun. Not a bad effort.

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