I know it’s not Royal Rumble 89 but I don’t like my version of that so I’ll do a fresh one some day. Until then enjoy this!
We’re in Washington D.C
You’re hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Mr. Perfect
Marty Jannetty, Hakushi, Bob Holly and Barry Horrowitz
Vs
Skip, Rad Radford, Dr Tom Pritchard and 1-2-3 Kid
Radford is Louie Spicolli and Skip is Chris Candido. The Kid had sold out to Ted Dibiase the week before on Raw. Razor Ramon tries to storm the ring to get The Kid but a host of refs pull him to the back. Pritchard and Jannetty start the match and Jannetty ends up in the heel corner but manages to fight all 4 of them off and get a back body drop sending Pritchard bailing to the outside. Radford comes in next as does Bob Holly. Holly gets a rana on Radford and then counters Radford’s attempt at one with a power bomb and goes to the arm. Hakushi comes in, with a big pop, but runs into a spine buster and The Kid comes in with a big Frog Splash for two. Kid gets the kick combo in the corner and then Skip comes in and attempts a super back drop but Hakushi shifts his weight and lands on top. Holly comes in with some clotheslines and goes back to an arm bar. Fans chant “Barry” as Pritchard gets a gut wrench power bomb for two. Pritchard misses the moonsault and Holly comes off the top with a cross body to eliminate him. Skip shoots in quickly with a roll up to get Holly though making it 3 on 3.
Hakushi is quickly in and he hammers away on Skip but takes some knees to the gut when attempting a pump splash. Skip hammers away and gets a super frankensteiner but then he falls over after banging his head on the way down. Candido was such a fantastic worker and had brilliant timing for stuff like that. Both guys are down but Skip gets a tag to Kid. Hakushi out kicks Kid and then gets a blistering series of moves that has the crowd rocking. How the hell did this guy not get a title reign in this period? He was an awesome breath of fresh air. Hakushi misses a high flying move though and Kid uses the chance to tag in Radford. Hakushi gets cheap shotted and rolled up by Radford to eliminate him. Horrowitz comes in and gets double teamed as the crowd give him their support. Horrowitz was really popular too but his push lasted all of a few months before he was gone from the WWF.
Radford pounds away on Horrowitz but Skip keeps telling him to let him kick out so Skip can finish him out. Rad stops to showboat and Horrowitz gets a half nelson to eliminate him making it 2 on 2. Horrowitz and Skip go at it with Horrowitz with Horrowitz getting the advantage but Kid gets a blind tag and a cheap shot to eliminate him leaving Marty 1 on 2. Skip crotches himself on the turnbuckle but gets back in control. Marty and Skip have a great segment which ends with Marty getting a Rocker Dropper. Marty heads up top but Sunny crotches him there and Skip goes up for a superplex. However, Marty plants him with an awesome top rope power bomb to eliminate him leaving him 1 on 1 with the Kid. Kid quickly gets a top rope leg drop but only gets a two from it. Kid heads up again but misses a swanton bomb and both guys are out. Jannetty hammers away in the corner and gets a dropkick for two. Sid comes down to the ring, as he’s also under Dibiase’s management, and Marty gets the Rocker Dropper but Kid gets his foot on the ropes at two. Dibiase distracts the ref allowing Sid to get a cheap shot in and give The Kid the win
SURVIVOR – 1-2-3 KID
***1/4 – The match was action all the way and was a lot of fun. Razor destroys the locker room in anger.
Tod Pentingill is with Yokozuna, Owen Hart and Dean Douglas who say Razor better get his head straight for the Wildcard match later.
Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Lioness Aska and Tomoko Watanabe
Vs
Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa and Chapatita Asari
Asari and Aska start out and Aska gets a Giant Swing for two. Blayze comes in and gets a slam on Aska setting up the Sky Twister Press from Asari and a German Suplex eliminates her soon after. Watanabe comes in and misses a standing moonsault and Blayze knocks her outside and dives on her. There’s too much action to call here as the women are hitting some crazy top rope moves and slams including Hasegawa getting multiple underhook suplexes. Kong comes in and goes at it with Hasegawa and gets a devastating back suplex to get her out. She bulldozes through Asari and heads to the second rope with a big splash to eliminate her leaving Blayze’s team 2 on 3. Inoue comes in and gets some clotheslines but Kong sits down on a sunset flip leaving Blayze 1 on 3. That looked like a mistake and Inoue should have kicked out. Blayze gets triple teamed but is able to get a piledriver on Watanabe making 1 on 2. Bertha comes in and pounds away but some miscommunication with Kong leads to an ugly looking German Suplex from Blayze to eliminate her. Kong has her way with Blayze but takes a rana for two. Blayze gets two from a standing moonsault but gets shoved off on a leapfrog attempt. Kong keeps hammering away on Blayze and gets an open hand strike to the face for the winning fall.
SURVIVOR – AJA KONG
**3/4 – Good match that got a little disjointed towards the end. It could have done with another 5 minutes. Blayze would leave for WCW soon after and dump the women’s title in the trash along the way
Tod Pentingill is with the Bill Clinton impostor
Bam Bam Bigelow Vs Goldust
Goldust was still new to the WWF at this point and didn’t have Marlena with him yet. His entrance takes about 5 minutes annoying Bam Bam. Goldust peppers Bam Bam with right hands to start and then bails before Bam Bma can get him. From a character standpoint Goldust was always rather good in the way he would play mind games with his opponents but the down side was that his matches were normally fought at a snails pace and had about 2 minutes of contact if he was feeling adventurous. Goldust actually keeps the stalling to a minimum to start and takes it to Bam Bam knocking him outside.
Back inside Bam Bam fights back with some head butts but takes a knee lift for his trouble and Goldust goes to a front face lock. Bam Bam gets thrown outside again and eats some steps. Bam Bam fights back with a back suplex but misses a falling head butt for two. Goldust goes to a camel clutch as the fans try to get behind Bam Bam. Bam Bam electric chair drops out of the move but can’t capitalise. Goldust gets a big clothesline and knee drop for two and goes to a side headlock. Bam Bam gets another back suplex and some clotheslines of his own for two. Bam Bam misses a charge in the corner and Goldust gets a bulldog for the win.
WINNER – GOLDUST
*3/4 – Energetic squash for Goldust. Not surprisingly Bigelow was on his way out of the WWF at this point so they used him to put Goldust over
Tod is back with the fake Clinton and Bob Backlund shows up and hilarity ensues
Jerry Lawler, King Mabel, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Isaac Yankem
Vs
The Undertaker, Fatu, Henry Godwinn and Savio Vega
Undertaker is wearing a protective mask here due to Mabel smashing his face on Raw a month before and he is of course very angry about that meaning Mabel better run. Yankem is better known as Kane these days, Mabel is Viscera and Fatu is Rikishi when he was considerably slimmer. Helmsley and Fatu start out with Fatu mocking the HHH bow. HHH tries to Pedigree Fatu but backs off from Taker. Godwin comes in and HHH promptly bails and tags in Lawler who then tags in Yankem. That was pretty funny. Yankem hammers away but takes a hip toss and body slam. Yankem pounds Godwin down and HHH comes back in to choke Godwin on the ropes. HHH gets a high knee for two and stays on Godwin but takes a press slam. Lawler comes in as does Savio with Savio getting the better of that.
Fatu comes in rams Lawlers head into the corner 10 times. Yankem cheap shots Savio and comes into to work him over. Lot’s of cheat shotting happening in this show isn’t there? Mabel comes in and crushes everyone who comes near him. Savio gets worked over by the heels for a while but none of them try to really eliminate him. Lawler gets a beauty of a piledriver but hesitates when covering allowing Savio to kick out. Savio gets a Rock Bottom on HHH but takes another piledriver from Lawler however he just manages to tag in Taker. No one will tag in so Lawler is quickly Tombstoned and eliminated. Yankem comes in, oh the irony, and he is quickly deposed of by a Tombstone. It would take 2 more at Wrestlemania XIV to get the job done. HHH tries to run away but is stopped by Godwin and gets Choke Slammed leaving Mabel 1 on 4. Mabel comes in and gets a big leg drop but Taker sits up and Mabel runs for his life to end the match.
SURVIVORS – UNDERTAKER, FATU, GODWIN AND SAVIO
* – Seeing Taker annihilate everyone was fun but the match sort of plodded along until that bit. It was watchable though.
Bret Hart and Diesel give their thoughts on the main event tonight and the prospect of fighting British Bulldog at In Your House V
Wildcard Match
Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, Sycho Sid and British Bulldog
Vs
Yokozuna, Owen Hart, Dean Douglas and Razor Ramon
Michaels and Owen start out and have a great opening segment full of counters and reversals. It spills outside where Michaels spanks Cornette with the tennis racquet. Back inside Owen gets an overhead belly to belly and tags in Douglas who gets a hanging vertical suplex. Michaels fights back with a running forearm and an axe handle from the top for two. Douglas fights back with a body slam but misses a pump splash and Michaels gets a moonsault press for two. Ahmed comes in and hammers away on Owen and Douglas but gets triple teamed before he can slam Yoko. Douglas goes to a rear chin lock and rakes the face for good measure. Owen comes in for some double teaming but Ahmed fights back with a power slam on Douglas. Ahmed presses Shawn onto Douglas for two but Douglas bails before he can get the Chin Music. However, Razor nails Douglas after a row on the outside and Michaels gets a roll up to eliminate him. Owen and Bulldog go at it next with Owen going nearly 10 feet in the air from a monkey flip. Owen gets the enzuiguri on Bulldog for two and Shawn comes in as does Razor.
Shawn sends Razor outside but Razor comes back with a clothesline but eats some forearm. Razor gets The Edge but Ahmed saves at two and both guys are down. They get up but bang heads and are down again. C’est la vie I guess. Sid gets tagged in hammers away on Razor in the corner. Sid yells “shut up” at the crowd and stomps a lot. Yokozuna comes in for a semi save attempt but does no good and Razor has to fight back himself. Double clothesline leaves both guys out. Sid gets up first and heads up top but Razor throws him off. Sid gets the Choke Slam and holds Razor up for Sweet Chin Music but Michaels hits Sid by accident instead and gives a hilarious “oh well” look. That of course leads to Sid’s elimination. Sid power bombs Shawn in anger before leaving. Razor gets two on Shawn from that. Owen comes in with a back breaker and back body drop and here comes Yoko.
Yokozuna pummels Shawn in the corner and whips him into the turnbuckle as Shawn sells in dramatic fashion. Yoko goes to the nerve pinch even though Owen and Razor are right there to tag if he’s tired. Shawn attempts a comeback but runs into an elbow to stop that. Owen comes in with a vertical suplex and heads up top for a swandive head butt but Shawn moves. Ahmed gets the hot tag and is a house en feugo. Owen takes the Pear River Plunge making it 3 on 2. Razor comes in with some right hands and preps for a second rope Bulldog but Ahmed wanders too far across the ring putting an end to that. Razor hammers everyone in the corner but takes a spine buster.
Ahmed taunts in the corner but gets Razor’s Edged but Bulldog gets a blind tag while he’s on the way down. Bulldog hammers away on Razor but Razor gets a fall away slam for two. 1-2-3 Kid and Sid come out again and the distraction is enough for Bulldog to get the Power Slam leaving Yoko 1 on 3. Michaels slugs away on Yoko but that goes about as well as you’d expect and soon enough he eats the Hulk Buster Leg Drop. Yoko drags Shawn into the corner for the Bonzai Drop but Shawn moves at the last second. Shawn tags in Ahmed who slams Yoko but Bulldog breaks up the pin. Shawn and Ahmed dump Bulldog and finish Yokozuna for the win.
SURVIVORS – MICHAELS, AHMED AND BULLDOG
***1/2 – Bulldog has the gall to celebrate with Shawn and Ahmed post match in a funny bit.
WWF Championship Match
No DQ
(C) Diesel Vs Bret Hart
This match stemmed from the two men having two PPV matches that went to non finishes so this match was designed so that there would be a clear winner. Both men undo turnbuckle pads to start to show they both mean business. Stand off leads to Bret shoving Diesel into the corner. Diesel pounds his way back and corners Bret leaving him open to some big right hands. Bret bails to buy himself some time but Diesel slowly stalks him and beats him up in the aisle. Bret gets dropped neck first on the guardrail and then sent face first into the apron. Bret rolls outside again and Diesel follows, choking him with his boot on the outside. Back inside Bret gets some kicks to the knee but Diesel slugs him down and sends him outside where Bret gets sent into the steps. Diesel is slowly demolishing Bret here.
Bret gets sent spine first into the ring post and Diesel nails him there with a chair too. Inside Bret gets sent spine first into the turnbuckle and collapses. Diesel signals for the Jacknife but Bret fights it off with everything he has. Bret slugs his way back into the match and even starts biting Diesel. Bret rakes Diesel’s face and chokes him for good measure. Bret goes to work on Diesels legs weakening them for the Sharpshooter. Figure Four continues the work on the legs of Diesel but doesn’t get a submission. Both men have brought a methodical approach to this match and as a result the crowd is fixated on the action. They’re not going nuts but are watching intently. Bret tries the Sharpshooter but Diesel kicks him into the exposed turnbuckle. Bret fights back by wrapping Diesels leg around the ring post a few times. Bret then gets an electric cable and ties Diesel down to it.
Diesel is trapped in the corner now so Bret can get an axe handle from the second rope. That’s such awesome story telling. Bret grabs the chair Diesel hit him with but Diesel is able to kick him away in desperation. Second time around though, Bret is able to use the chair and drives it into Diesels left leg a few times. Bret drops some elbows and gets a back breaker. Bret grabs the chair and heads up top but Diesel recovers in time and crotches Bret on the top before flinging him across the ring. The break gives Diesel a chance to undo the cable around his foot and choke Bret down. Side Slam gets two for Diesel. Bret is sent chin first into the unprotected corner and is out cold.
Diesel gets the snake eyes and then tries it in the unprotected corner but Bret is able to counter just in time and send Diesels face into the metal bolt. Hart Attack gets two for Bret as does a second rope bulldog. Bret gets a Side Russian Leg Sweep for another two count and sends Diesel outside. Diesel shows the best way to counter a plancha, get out of the f*cking way! Bret is knocked out on the floor now as Diesel rolls back inside. Then one of the most business changing moments in history happens as Diesel knocks Bret off the apron sending him crashing through the Spanish Announce Table. 11 years later and it’s STILL happening. In fact it’s one of the biggest running jokes in wrestling today. Back then of course this was shocking cutting edge moment and Bret sells it like death. Back inside Diesel tries a Jacknife but Bret just collapses. Diesel goes to pick Bret up but Bret is able to get an inside cradle and win third WWF Title.
WINNER – BRET HART
****1/2 – This is one of the best examples of storytelling in a wrestling match I’ve ever seen. Everything from start to finish has you engrossed in the action. Every move in this match had a purpose and a meaning. Just a great match to cap off a solid show. After the match Diesel does the mother of all beat downs with THREE, count em, Jacknifes on Bret and he takes out about 10 officials for good measure too. Now THAT’S a sore loser!
The Inside Pulse
Well this show is pretty much watchable to excellent throughout with even guys like Goldust contesting fun matches. The show never really drags except for a small portion in the middle so I would recommend it for the main event alone.
