Madison Square Garden House Show
New York, NY
November 24, 1990
Announcers: Sean Mooney, Jimmy Hart & Honky Tonk Man
- Our announcers welcome us and wax poetic about tonight’s card and then we head up to our opening contest. This show is taking place just two days after Survivor Series and we should have some good action as always. Ah, plus we have the Fink in the house, already making this show a winner.
1) Davey Boy Smith defeats “Playboy” Buddy Rose with a running powerslam at 8:47
Buddy Rose grabs the mike and tells us that he does not weigh 317 pounds, and he has proof because his scale tells the truth. He hops on the scale and informs us that the scale reads 217 pounds. Jimmy Hart puts over the “Blow Away Diet” and I would tend to agree. Fink corrects himself and announces Rose at 217 pounds. Rose is wearing some sweet red pajamas, but those quickly come off and Rose is as beefy as ever. Honky says the pajamas are very loose and Hart talks about how good he looks and then says Bulldog needs the Blow Away diet as well. Rose does some jumping jacks and then takes Bulldog over with a hiptoss. Rose slams Smith down and taunts the crowd a bit. Bulldog shoots Buddy in and lands a big hiptoss and scoop slam of his own. He follows with a dropkick to send Rose out to the floor in a nasty backwards bump. Rose is back in and we get a lockup, which Bulldog wins. Smith takes him over to an armbar, but Rose kips up! He takes Davey down, but Davey kips up as well and goes back to the arm. Davey hits the ropes, but catches a knee to the gut and hits the mat. The announcers debate Rose’s weight some more as Buddy drops his girth onto Bulldog’s back. Rose grabs a reverse chinlock as the crowd tries to rally Davey. He starts to get to his knees, but Rose drives him back down and then tosses him to the floor. Mooney quips that Rose weighed 217 bounds in his baby pictures. Jimmy thinks Davey is missing his tag partner, but Mooney clears that up quickly. Davey buries a shoulder and comes over the top with a sunset flip attempt, but Rose sits down on Davey’s chest. Bulldog gets the sunset flip as Buddy tries to pin him while sitting on him and gets two. Both men collide, but Rose lands on Davey and gets two. Rose heads up top, but Bulldog catches him and takes him over with a huge slam. Davey runs Buddy’s head to the buckle and then takes him over with a big back body drop. Davey hits a back elbow for a near fall. Bulldog goes for another back body drop, but Rose boots him in the face. Sean asks Jimmy if he would ever manage Rose and Hart puts him over a bit and Honky puts over Blow Away again too. Rose grabs a reverse chinlock, but Davey fights to his feet. Rose runs him into the knuckle and then hits some rights as Jimmy compares Rose to George Foreman. Buddy kicks away at Davey and continues working him over in the corner. He drops a knee and gets another near fall. Rose shoots Davey to the buckle, but misses a charge. Bulldog scoops him up and plants him with the running powerslam for the win. Decent opener with some neat power spots and a pretty hot crowd, but it went on a few minutes too long. I think if it ended after the first heat segment, the match would have been better overall. Still, a good win for Davey as he continues on the comeback trail. Grade: *1/2
2) Tugboat defeats Boris Zhukov with a big splash at 5:58
Boris graces us with the Russian National Anthem, much to the excitement of Jimmy and Honky. Sadly, the song is interrupted midway through by the sound of a boat whistle as Tugboat hits the ring. Mooney says there are a lot of sailors in the crowd, as well as fans of Tugboat. Boris attacks before the bell and pounds away on Tugboat. Honky says you need to do what you can when you have a whale like Tugboat in the ring. Tugboat recovers and splashes Boris in the corner and then slams him down for a near fall. Boris hits the floor, but Tugboat follows him out and tosses him right back in. Tugboat yanks Boris' beard and snaps him to the mat with it. He grabs a headlock as Honky continues to call Tugboat a whale. Jimmy references Tugboat’s friendship with Hulk Hogan as Tugger goes to a reverse chinlock. Mooney admits to having worn a Hulkamania bracelet while Hogan was on the shelf, much to the amusement of Honky and Jimmy. Boris works out of the hold and gains control with some strikes. Jimmy says the Hart Organization will succeed in taking out Hogan. Boris comes off the second rope with an axehandle for one. He chokes Tugboat on the middle rope and then hits a headbutt to stagger the big man. He lands another headbutt to the gut and then tries to slam him, but Tugboat blocks it and slams Boris instead. Tugboat splashes Boris in the corner, but eats a boot on a second charge. Boris mares Tugboat over and goes to a neck vise as Mooney tells us that Jimmy Hart has snuck off. Honky says he is going to prepare the Earthquake for his match. Tugboat turns out of the hold and pounds away at Boris. He lands a back elbow and hits another pair of splashes in the corner. More whale references from Honky as the crowd is just dead here. Tugboat slams Boris down and hits the big splash to end it. Well, that was a bit slow and repetitive I must say. The crowd was in it to start and this match was screaming to be a squash, but Boris was given too much offense and all Tugboat did was punch, slam and splash. Grade: 1/2*
3) Earthquake defeats Hulk Hogan by countout 8:37
Whoa, what alternate universe is this? Hogan is going on third at MSG? Earthquake and Jimmy Hart make their way to the ring to some nice heat as we are set for our next match. Honky puts over both men and says this will be the end of Hulkamania. Hogan is out next to his usual sick pop and we are set for this big time match. Quake jumps him and stomps away to start. Hogan fights to his feet, but Quake continues to assault him. Quake whips him to the corner and kicks him down. Quake stands on Hogan’s chest and then continues to pound away. Hulk still has his shirt on as Honky is ecstatic on the stick. Quake misses an elbow drop and Hogan tears the shirt and the crowd is going bonkers. Hogan lands some rights and then hits the big boot. Hulk lands some chops and then clothesline Quake in the corner. He goes to the middle buckle and pounds away at Quake’s head. More chops from Hogan and he is able to get him down to a knee. Jimmy is up on the apron, but Hulk swats him down. He goes to the eyes and tries to slam Quake, but Quake blocks it and slugs Hulk to the mat. Quake stomps away and then locks in a Boston Crab. Hogan is pretty close to the ropes, but it takes him a moment to finally grab them. Hulk reverses a whip and buries a boot to the gut. He pounds away at Quake and calls for another body slam. He gets him up this time, but Quake shifts his weight and falls on top for two. Quake hits the elbow this time and gets another two. Honky is calling for Quake to target the ribs here, playing off Hogan’s previous injury. Quake goes to the bear hug as the crowd is rallying the Hulkster. Hulk is trying to turn out of it, but Quake cinches it in tighter. Sean warns Honky to stay at ringside and not get in the ring or he may be reprimanded by Jack Tunney. Hulk keeps his arm up on the third try and hits some rights to break the hold. Quake stops him short, though, and puts him down with a shoulderblock. Quake scoops Hulk up and hits a big powerslam. Quake taunts the fans as he rips off Hogan’s poses. He lines up the Earthquake splash, but Hogan kicks out at two and starts to Hulk up. Quake is trying to quell the fire and Mooney informs us that Dino Bravo has hit ringside. Hogan blocks a right and hits his own and the crowd is red hot. He hits the big boot and then knocks Jimmy and Dino off the apron. Quake and Hulk both fall out to the floor and battle. Hulk tosses Jimmy and Quake back in the ring, but Bravo nails him in the back as he was getting back in. The ref keeps counting and Hogan can’t make it back inside in time, giving Quake the win. Hogan slides back in and abuses Jimmy Hart, press slamming him and tossing him into Quake. Quake catches Hart and places him down. Hogan attacks and finally slams Quake, but Dino is in and putting boots to the Hulkster. They hit a double clothesline and Dino drops some elbows. Quake lands a big elbow as well and then Jimmy paintbrushes him a bit. Bravo holds Hulk down and Quake is setting up another splash, but Tugboat comes in and runs off Hart, Quake and Bravo. Well, up until the ending that was basically an exact rehash of their Summerslam match. I suppose you can’t fault them, though, as the crowd was into it the whole way through. The match had an interesting ending, but I guess they wanted to keep Quake strong for a rematch or a tag match next time through MSG. Grade: **
4) Shane Douglas defeats Haku with a cross body block 7:47
Jimmy Hart is back at ringside and Mooney is grilling him as to why Dino Bravo was in the house tonight. Jimmy says he always has an ace up his sleeve just in case. Shane hits the ring to a nice pop and we are set for our next match. We get a lockup and the two trade off some go behinds with Shane eventually taking Haku down. Haku buries a knee off a second lockup and sends Shane down. Haku then misses an elbow and Shane lands some rights and a dropkick. Shane follows with a pair of armdrags and sends Haku out to the floor. Honky chastises Shane for not following Haku out to take advantage. Haku is back in and Shane is able to grab an armbar as Sean questions the whereabouts of Bobby Heenan. Haku lands a right to break the hold, but Shane keeps control. He slams Haku down and drops an elbow for a one count. Haku shrugs Shane off on a roll up attempt, but Shane hits a nice monkey flip take over into a pin attempt and gets a two. Shane goes to a wristlock and the crowd is pretty flat, which is to be expected after a Hogan match. Haku fights out of the hold and catches Shane off a whip and drills a stiff backbreaker. Haku slugs away and then hits a back suplex for two. Haku keeps kicking away and eventually knocks Shane out to the floor. Shane pulls himself back in and Haku goes right back to the offense. Shane is able to get a sunset flip off a whip for two, but Haku regains control with a kick. Haku scoops Douglas up and nails a shoulderbreaker and then goes to a nerve hold as Jimmy brags over Earthquake’s win. The hold continues as the announcers bicker and the crowd remains silent. Shane finally breaks out and rallies a bit, but Haku sends him right back down with some kicks. Haku whips Shane in, but puts his head down and Douglas plants him with a facebuster. Haku stalks Shane around, but Douglas keeps kicking him off. Shane hits a back elbow and a clothesline two. Douglas gets a Lou Thesz press for another near fall. He rams Haku to the buckle a few times and then hits a nice cross body block off the middle rope to pick up the win. Well, I was hoping for something better here, but they just never got on track. The match was pretty sloppy and just the most basic of stuff with a couple of decent moves mixed in. The crowd was dead throughout, most likely burnt out from the Hogan match. Grade: *
5) Kerry Von Erich defeats Mr. Perfect to retain the Intercontinental Championship when he lifts his shoulder during a back suplex at 11:37
Before we get our participants, the Fink brings out our special guest referee: Roddy Piper. Sean says he was specially appointed by Jack Tunney to try and keep some control in the match. Jimmy says Piper is all mixed up and wonders whether he wants to be a movie star, a TV star or a referee. Mr. Perfect is out next, sans the Brain, but still garnering some nice heat. Sean says that Perfect has been obsessed with getting the belt back since he lost it. Honky says he knows what it’s like to be champ and then have to walk around without the belt, and then both he and Jimmy question Piper’s bias. Tornado is out last and gets a good little ovation and Mooney says he thinks Piper will call it down the middle as he has no allegiances. Piper pushes both men apart, raises the belt and gives the ring instructions before calling for the bell. Jimmy and Honky mock Piper for not knowing where the bell was when he called for it. We get a lockup to kick things off and Piper forces a clean break. Honky calls Perfect “Hennig” which was odd. Perfect pushes Tornado to the corner and loads up a right, but Piper blocks it and Tornado lands a punch of his own. Perfect jaws with Piper which allows Von Erich to sneak in and grab an armbar as Jimmy comments that he thinks Piper looks scared. Perfect hits a chop, but Tornado spins and buries a punch to the gut to send Perfect out to the floor. Piper’s count is a bit fast and Perfect slides in to break the count and then goes right back out. He repeats this a few more times, so Tornado heads out and slugs away at Perfect. Von Erich slides back in as Piper is fast counting the hell out of Perfect. He finally gets back in, but Tornado goes right back to an armbar to stay in control. Perfect pushes him back to the corner and lands a knee. He whips Von Erich across, but Kerry reverses it and sends Perfect into the corner. He charges, but Perfect dodges and Tornado nails the post shoulder first. Perfect chops and punches away in the corner as we pan down to see that one of the turnbuckle pads in the opposite corner had fallen off. Piper tries to put it back on and tells Perfect to not whip Tornado into it while he is doing so. Perfect ignores him and whips Tornado, but Kerry reverses it and sends Perfect crashing into the uncovered corner. Kerry winds up and crushes him with the discus punch as he comes out of the corner, and Perfect barely kicks out before three. I thought that was the finish for sure. Tornado locks in a Boston Crab as Honky says this is one of the biggest matches in Perfect’s career. Tornado shoots Perfect into the corner, but eats a boot on a charge and Perfect takes over with some punches. Perfect nails a nice standing dropkick to send Kerry out to the floor. Tornado pulls himself up to the apron, but Perfect meets him and slugs away. He tries to run Tornado into the exposed buckle, but Kerry blocks it. Perfect kicks Tornado in the gut and sends him back outside. He gets back in and Perfect locks in a sleeper. Tornado is fading as Jimmy and Honky keep ragging on Piper’s ref job. Tornado keeps his arm up on the third attempt and is able to pry open the arms of Perfect to break the hold. He goes for another discus punch, but Perfect blocks it and nails a right of his own. He slugs away in the corner and then takes Kerry down with a kneelift. Perfect gets a small package for two as Honky and Jimmy surmise that Piper is lost out there because he was never a champion or in a major championship match. Perfect clubs away some more, but Tornado battles back with some punches and kicks. Tornado reverses a whip and sends Perfect crashing into Piper, who is then still able to administer a two count. Both men collide off an Irish whip, but both are up by 7. Tornado blocks another right and hits a discus punch and then locks in the clawhold. He pushes Perfect down to the mat, but Perfect is able to get his foot on the rope to force the break. Perfect battles back up and slugs away as Jimmy says Perfect is getting mad. He goes for a slam, but his back gives out and Tornado goes back to the claw. Perfect pushes him back to the corner and lands some strikes and then a big chop to put Kerry down for a two. Perfect hits a nice slingshot back suplex and Piper counts three. Perfect believes he is the IC Champ and the crowd doesn’t like it, but Piper is talking to the Fink…and he lets us know that the Tornado won the match. The crowd pops and Jimmy, Honky and Perfect are not happy. Mooney lets us know that Tornado got his shoulder up before the three to retain. Perfect is standing with the belt and staring down Piper. They start yelling at each other and Perfect nails both men with the belt and then kicks away and beats on Piper. He catches Tornado again as the referees hit the ring to try and break things up. Perfect is just wailing away at Piper and lands a sweet smack to Tornado’s head as he is pulled off. Piper pulls himself up, and snags Perfect’s hair through the ropes, but the refs pull them apart. Piper decks a ref and chases after Perfect, but then comes back to raise Tornado’s arm. Well, I feel like the potential was there, but every time they got cooking, the Piper storyline took over and derailed the action. Perfect didn’t look to into things, but still gave a good performance, especially during the beatdown at the end. Piper got pretty annoying and a lot of the spots just seemed contrived, but the finish got some good heat, so that part worked at least. Grade: **
- We head backstage where Alfred Hayes is with Mr. Perfect. He says this is the worst officiating job he has ever seen. He tells Piper he is a terrible announcer, wrestler and referee. He tells Piper to step in the ring and take on the best, as he has something to prove. He tells Piper he has made the biggest mistake the WWF has ever seen. If Piper is still as rowdy as he used to be, he should step in the ring and prove it.
- After a break, Alfred is now backstage with Piper. Roddy says that those who don’t know who he is should steal his wallet to find out. He says he has never been perfect at anything in his life. For Christmas, he doesn’t want two front teeth…just Mr. Perfect in the Big Apple. He says he doesn’t color his hair, lay in a tanning bed and he has hair on his chest and ripples on his stomach. He says he has fought real men in the Garden before and he will get a piece of Mr. Perfect.
- We go back to ringside as Honky, Jimmy and Sean break down our last match and the impending battle between Roddy Piper and Mr. Perfect.
6) Ted DiBiase & Virgil defeat Dusty & Dustin Rhodes when Virgil pins Dustin after a DiBiase powerslam at 8:49
Mooney says our next match is a family affair as DiBiase and Virgil make their way out. The Rhodes’ follow them to a nice pop and they immediately crash the ring and trigger a brawl. Dusty and Dustin are able to send DiBiase and Virgil crashing into each other and send both men out to the floor. Honky doesn’t think either Rhodes can last long enough to pick up the win. Jimmy recaps the feud for us as the match is finally getting back on track. Dustin and Virgil start things off with a lockup as Sean reminds us that Dustin lasted ten minutes with DiBiase recently. Dustin takes Virgil over with a back body drop and then sends him backwards over the top rope and to the floor. The spot was a bit botched, but Honky and Jimmy cover nicely for it. Honky says that Virgil knows how to punch, kick and fight because he is a bodyguard. Virgil buries a knee, but Dustin sends him down with a shoulderblock and follows with a pair of dropkicks to send him back to the floor. Honky says he calls Dustin a kid because he has respect for the TV audience and doesn’t want to call him a punk. Virgil climbs back inside and tags in Ted. Ted buries a quick knee and follows with a clothesline and a pair of fist drops. He taunts Dusty and then he scoops Dustin up and hits a vertical suplex. He runs Dustin to the buckle and then whips Dustin in. Ted puts his head down, allowing Dustin to spike it to the mat. The Rhodes pinball DiBiase back and forth with right hands and Dustin knocks Ted to the floor. He tags Dusty in and Dusty slides outside and rolls Ted back in. Dusty hits some elbows to the head and even works in the flip, flop and fly. He shoots Ted to the buckle and then mounts him and lands ten elbows to the skull. Honky claims the elbow pad is loaded as Dusty goes after Virgil. The distraction allows Ted to come crashing in with a knee to the back. DiBiase drops a couple of elbows as Honky says his motto has always been: “give them enough rope to hang themselves”. Virgil is tagged back in and he chokes Dusty and then tags Ted right back in. Ted follows with some elbows to the head and grabs a reverse chinlock as Honky says that he is the only song and dance man in the WWF and not Dusty. Ted tags Virgil in and he takes over with the chinlock. Dusty slips out and hits a couple of elbows and then tags his son. Dustin lands some fists and a shoulderblock, but he gets kneed in the back by DiBiase as he hits the ropes. Virgil draws in Dusty to distract the ref, so Ted chokes away at Dustin. Dusty runs around and hammers Ted and slams his head into the steps. Virgil works over Dustin in the ring as Ted and Dusty battle on the floor. They get a bit too close to the announce table, which draws Honky into the fracas. He gets in Dusty’s face as Dustin hits a dropkick. Dustin follows with a bulldog, but DiBiase sneaks in and powerslams Dustin as Dusty is still tussling with Honky outside. Virgil slinks over and covers Dustin to pick up the win as Dusty slides in a second too late. The match was actually pretty entertaining and they worked in a couple of quick heat segments which kept things rolling along. The crowd stayed fairly into it as well. I wonder if they were planning a Honky/Dusty angle before they both ended up bailing on the Federation shortly after this show. Grade: **1/2
- Honky hits the ring and grabs the mike as the Rhodes family leaves. He says he knows the crowd came to hear him sing, and he has the crew fire up “Hunka, Hunka Honky Love” and belts it out for us. Jimmy says that Honky has the best voice in the WWF so Sean quips back that he should let us hear it. We actually get the whole performance with no interference which surprised me. Jimmy runs down the tracks on the upcoming Honky Christmas album as Honky comes back to the table. I am curious if they were considering a renewed Honky push in 1991.
7) Sgt. Slaughter defeats Jim Duggan with a clothesline at 9:09
Slaughter, Adnan and the Iraqi flag are out to some really solid heat from the New York crowd. Sean says that the Iraqi flag shouldn’t be allowed in the country, but Jimmy says we have seen more US flags burnt on our soil than Iraqi flags over the years. Not sure what his point is, but whatever. Fink says that he has an announcement, and is forced by Slaughter to tell the crowd that today is Veteran’s Day in Iraq. Fink requests that the crowd stand up and observe ten seconds of silence for all of the Iraqi soldiers who died in the invasion of Kuwait. Fink’s delivery is priceless and this is drawing some crazy heat. I guess I can see why Vince wanted to run with this, as Slaughter and Adnan are just getting booed out of the building. Not saying it was in good taste, but I still see why he did it. Adnan is yelling at the crowd as the Fink brings out Slaughter’s opponent to a huge pop. Jim Duggan comes powerwalking to the ring and the MSG crowd is 100% behind him here today. Duggan hits the corners to rally the fans and they are ready for a beatdown. Mooney and Honky talk about Duggan saving Tito Santana from Slaughter this past weekend and then stomping on the Iraqi flag. Duggan is yelling for the bell and he gets his wish as the match is officially underway. Duggan is reaching for Adnan, but turns to catch Sarge sneaking up behind him. We finally get a lockup to start after some more posturing. Sarge ducks out under the top rope off the break and the ref pushes Duggan back. The “USA” chant is rocking as we get another lockup, another clean break and another duck out by Sarge. Sarge lands a shot and takes control, peppering Duggan with punches in the corner. He clubs on his chest and chokes away at Duggan, but Hacksaw reverses a whip and catches Sarge with a boot. He winds up and lands a huge right hand, which sends Sarge over the top and causes him to hang himself under the bottom rope. Adnan pulls him loose and down to the floor to recoup a bit. Duggan stomps on Sarge’s hand and then mugs for the crowd as Sarge complains to some fans at ringside. Sarge heads back inside but he begs off a bit and asks for a handshake. Duggan thinks it over and then kicks him instead. Duggan shoots Sarge in, but puts his head down and gets kicked and sent to the mat. Sarge follows with some rights and then chokes him on the second rope. Slaughter continues to stomp and choke away at Hacksaw as Mooney and Honky talk about Sarge’s military history. Sarge slides outside and kicks Duggan in the head as he hangs over the apron. Slaughter rams Duggan to the buckle, but Hacksaw shakes it off and fires back with some right hands. He whips Sarge to the buckle but misses a charge and gets taken down with a clothesline. Slaughter goes to a reverse chinlock to slow things down as Adnan waves the Iraqi flag. Duggan elbows his way out and slugs away in the corner, but Sarge catches him with a shot to stop the rally. He follows with a chop and snap mare and then stomps on his chest. Sarge drops a knee for two and then pulls Duggan to his feet and sends him back down with a backbreaker. Slaughter heads up top, but Duggan rolls away and Sarge crashes to the mat while attempting a knee drop. Hacksaw pulls himself up and buries a boot and then runs Sarge into the post over the buckle. He shoots Sarge in to the buckle and takes him over with a back body drop as he rebounds out. Duggan lines up the three point stance, but Adnan trips him up. Sarge comes up from behind, but the ref steps in between and pushes Sarge back as Duggan was in the ropes. Duggan turns around, but Adnan smacks him with the flag from behind and Slaughter follows with a clothesline for the win. Duggan isn’t happy and he paces around the ring area until he finds his board. He leaps in the ring and rams Slaughter in the back with the 2x4, sending him to the floor. He chases Adnan around the ring, but Adnan escapes unscathed. Well, the heat was really good as the crowd was hot throughout, but the match was nothing. Both men worked kind of loose and the action was just choppy all the way through. Grade: **
8) Bret Hart defeats Barbarian with a sunset flip at 4:07
We get a quick little promo about how great the WWF is and then hit the ring for our next match. Bret is one half of the tag champs here, but he is in for a big test in the Barbarian. Jimmy takes credit for launching Bret’s career and then talks about the lump he got from Hogan earlier tonight. Bret grabs a side headlock to start things off and then tries for a hip toss, but Barbarian crushes him with a clothesline. Barbarian stomps away and then hits a headbutt. He continues to kick away at Bret, keeping him grounded, and then chokes him in the corner. Barbarian whips Bret into the buckle hard as Jimmy says he called Bobby Heenan during the week and gave him tips on how to beat Bret Hart. Mooney thinks Bobby is hiding from the Big Boss Man. Barbarian scoops Bret up and slams him back down to the mat. He heads to the middle rope but misses an elbow drop as Bret rolls out of the way. Bret lands some right hands and hits a reverse atomic drop to stagger Barbarian to the corner. He mounts him and lands ten punches and then takes him down with the Russian leg sweep. He goes to the second rope and hits an elbow drop for two. Bret hits the ropes and hits a nice clothesline for two. Well, the ref botched it and counted three, but Barbarian got his shoulder up in time. Bret hits the ropes again, but this time Barbarian catches him and takes him over with a powerslam for two. He pulls Bret up and whips him in, but puts his head down and gets kicked in the face. Bret goes for a piledriver, but Barbarian back drops him over to block it. Bret goes for a sunset flip, but Barbarian chops him in the throat. He drops down to his knees for a two count, but Bret is able to pull him over into the sunset flip to pick up the win. Well, I was expecting more here but they must have been running long on time because they went right into the heat segment and even that only lasted a minute or so. Oh well, too bad they didn’t get more time as this was during Barbarian’s hot streak. Grade: **
9) Rockers defeat Demolition when Crush pulls the referee out to the floor at 10:50
Smash and Crush make their way to the ring as Mooney tells us that this past weekend Jack Tunney ruled there could no longer be three members of Demolition. He then tells us that for the first time we are learning that the remaining two members will be Smash and Crush. The Rockers make their way out next to a good sized pop and we are set for some tag team action. Hart thinks Shawn’s knee may still be weak, but Mooney says he looked fine at Survivor Series and that Michaels himself believes it was as strong as ever. All four men stand off but Joey Marella gets thing in order as Marty and Crush will start things off. Mooney informs us that Tunney also said Demolition is on probation, but they aren’t sure that really means. Marty goes behind Crush to grab a waistlock and dodges some elbow attempts, but Crush finally breaks the hold. Marty gets another waistlock and Crush again pries his hands apart, but Marty smacks him on the back. Crush swings wildly, but Marty ducks it and goes behind again. Crush tries to back him into the corner, but Marty slides out the way and Crush hits the corner. Jannetty takes him down with a drop toehold and then grabs a front facelock. Crush picks him up out of the hold and sits him on the top turnbuckle. Marty kicks Crush and then leaps off the top, but Crush catches him in a bear hug and runs him into the corner. He clubs away at Marty, but Jannetty ducks a clothesline and tags in Shawn. Shawn dropkicks Crush, sending him tumbling over a kneeling Jannetty and then grabs an armbar. Crush breaks the hold and hits some rights and then grabs Shawn in a bear hug. Shawn goes to the eyes and breaks the hold, but Crush tags in Smash and he lands some rights to take control. He chokes Michaels in the corner and then drills him in the gut. He shoots Michaels into the corner and charges, but Shawn floats over and lands a right. Smash whips him in again, but Shawn jumps to the second rope and comes off with an axehandle. He hits the ropes and hits a back elbow and then goes for a sunset flip, but Smash blocks it. He tries to punch Shawn, but Michaels dodges it and he nails the mat. Shawn hits a dropkick for two and then tags in Marty. They trade quick tags and work the arm a bit and eventually hit a double clothesline for a near fall. Marty grabs a side headlock, but Smash pushes him off and takes him down with a clothesline. Smash shoots Marty in and lands another clothesline to send Marty to the mat. Smash scoops him up and just tosses him to the floor and then taunts Shawn, allowing Crush to work Marty over on the floor. Smash pulls Jannetty back inside and clubs away before tagging Crush in. Crush heads up top and comes down with an axehandle to the back of Marty. Crush scoops Marty up and plants him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and then locks in a bear hug. The crowd has died off again as Marty is fading in the hold. The fans wake up a bit to try and fire Jannetty up, and he does with an ear clap. Crush is able tag in Smash and they keep Marty in the corner. He sends Marty crashing to the corner and then grabs a neck vise. He whips Marty to the corner again, but eats a boot on a charge. Marty ducks out to the apron and then he slides back in and he attempts a tag. He mule kicks Smash off of him and hits the hot tag. Shawn hits both men with dropkicks and nails Smash with a neckbreaker for two. Smash recovers and thrusts Shawn in the throat and then pitches him over the top. Shawn hangs on, though, and slingshots back in for a sunset flip. Crush holds Smash’s hands, but Marty breaks them up and Shawn gets the flip for a near fall. Shawn hits a superkick for two and then they hit a double superkick on Crush to send him to the floor. They hit another double superkick to Smash and then Shawn heads up top. Marty launches Shawn off the top onto Smash and they get a two count before Crush yanks Joey Marella out to the floor to draw the DQ. Honky puts over the tremendous card we just witnessed as the crowd starts to file out and we fade to black. Well, weak ending aside, this was a pretty good tag match that worked the basic formula. Both teams did a good job with quick tags and developed a decent heat segment. The crowd was pretty worn out at this point, but they still popped for the big moves. I thought the Rockers would go over clean here, but I guess they were still protecting Demolition a bit at this point. Grade: **1/2
Final Analysis
Man, talk about flat cards. The crowd seemed like they really wanted to be into this show, but everything just felt flat and a bit rushed. None of the matches really got going and they were all choppy and disjointed. I kept expecting a great match to bail the show out, but it just never came. The commentary was fairly weak throughout as well as all three men were just bland and didn’t quite click. I don’t care for commentary teams with two heel color guys because they just sit there and agree with each other as their partner slips in the play by play in between. The two tag matches were the best of the night, but even those were pedestrian at best. The heat for Hogan/Earthquake and Duggan/Slaughter was tremendous but the matches didn’t really deliver. Taking a look at the archives, WWF actually ran four shows on this day. There was a matinee in Pittsburgh and an evening show in Detroit with Savage and Warrior on top and then a matinee in Landover and the MSG show at night with this crew. I guess that explains why Hogan went on third, because he was probably burnt out and wanted to get the hell out of there. Maybe that explains why the guys seemed lethargic as well, as basically the same exact card took place earlier in the day. Oh well, there really isn’t much here unless you got some time to kill and are craving some early-90s WWF. Final Grade: D+
MVP: The Crowd
Runner Up: Sgt. Slaughter
Non MVP: Tugboat
Runner Up: Dusty Rhodes
Review Date: March 2008
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