WWE WrestleMania XI

WWE WrestleMania XI

April 2, 1995

Hartford Civic Center

Hartford, Connecticut

Right away you can see just by the venue how underwhelming this WrestleMania was going to be. Apparently Linda McMahon always wanted one WrestleMania show in WWE’s home base of Connecticut. I have no idea whether or not that is just a cover for something else. I will take Linda at her word despite the product itself being at one of its lowest points in history. The Royal Rumble overall was a really good show but the Rumble itself was very underwhelming and it really set the tone for what 1995 would be. That brings us to WrestleMania. Vince knew the rosters shortcomings better than anyone which is why this WrestleMania is loaded with celebrities to try and prop the show up as being a big deal.

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

Jacob and Eli Blu w/ Uncle Zebekiah vs. Allied Powers (Lex Luger and Davey Boy Smith)

Lex Luger goes from main eventing WrestleMania X to curtain jerker at WrestleMania XI. Easily one of the biggest falls from grace in WrestleMania history. The Blu Brothers are Ron and Don Harris in the first of a few different gimmicks over the next couple years. Luger and Bulldog were getting a little bit of a tag team push so this match is just a formality to put them over as a team. I feel that this was sort of a waste. You could’ve blown off Luger and Tatanka here, and taken advantage of Bulldogs sympathy from the Rumble and done something better with him. Match isn’t very good. ¾*

IC Championship

Jeff Jarrett (champion) w/ Roadie vs. Razor Ramon w/ 123 Kid

Coming off the Rumble, Razor began chasing Jarrett for his IC title. The feud was decent albeit rather heatless. Not sure the fans really ever bought Jeff Jarrett as being big time. I’ve always liked him, and thought he was a pretty good IC Champion, but I was really hoping Razor was going to win his title back here so the fact that it ended in a DQ win for Razor really left me disappointed. The match is ok but not nearly as good as their Rumble encounter. I would have preferred either Razor winning his title back, or Jarrett successfully defending it against someone else. I just don’t understand the logic of the booking here. I understand the theory of Razor chasing the title is more intriguing, but this is WrestleMania where baby faces are expected to go over, particularly considering the way he lost the title at the Royal Rumble. It’s a cheap DQ finish. Kid being with Razor served no purpose other than giving the cliques little buddy a WrestleMania payday I guess. He was injured at the time I believe so he couldn’t work a match. ** ¼

Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. King Kong Bundy w/ “Million $ Man” Ted Dibiase

So when we left the Rumble, the Corporation had stolen the Undertakers urn, and King Kong Bundy was directly responsible for allowing that to take place. Undertaker is forced to continue to feud with slugs. The match is literally as good as Undertaker could have possibly made it. At one point the Undertaker and Paul Bearer get the urn back and the crowd goes crazy. The joy is short lived as Dibiase’s new henchman, Kama, comes out and steals the urn back for the Corporation and Undertaker fans everywhere puke as Takers’ next feud is set up. Undertaker comes back and wins the match but doesn’t get his urn back. Match is really only notable for the first mention that the Undertaker is undefeated at WrestleMania. Lawler points it out during the match. Undertaker continues to get misused and mistreated in 1995. ½*

WWE Tag Team Championship

Smoking Gunns (champions) (Billy and Bart Gunn) vs. Owen Hart and ????

As mentioned at the Royal Rumble, the winners of the tag team title tournament were set to job the titles to the Smoking Gunns the next night on RAW. The story in this match was that Owen Hart had a special mystery partner to help him win his first title. The story is well built as Owen cuts yet another brilliant promo before the match where he let the audience know exactly why he chose the guy he chose. He said that he chose his partner because he was the only man to beat Bret Hart for the WWE title (not true but the promo works) and that man was Yokozuna. Yoko hadn’t been seen since he was buried in the casket match by the Undertaker at the Survivor Series and he was still a really big name within the company so this really works. The match itself tells a good story as the Gunns clearly aren’t prepared for Yokozuna and that plays out in the match. I always thought this was a really good way to use Yokozuna. He was clearly getting bigger and his weight was clearly causing cardio problems, so putting him in a tag team with a guy like Owen was a good idea. The match itself is pretty good too, and Owen gets his first title. Match isn’t an all-time classic or anything, but anytime you got Owen Hart you’re going to get a solid effort. ** ½

I Quit Match w/ Rowdy Roddy Piper as Special Guest Referee

Bob Backlund vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart

So even though the WrestleMania was pretty pedestrian up until this point, you’re probably thinking that this match could redeem it. After all they had a classic match at Survivor Series, and Bret Hart pretty much at his peak as a worker. Easy ***+ match right? Not so much. In classic 1995-fashion, the WWE managed to take a perfectly acceptable storyline, and a perfectly fine wrestling encounter on PPV and turn it to crap. I love Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Bret loves Roddy, but even he admits that the involvement of him in this match was pointless, and actually hurt the match a lot. Really though, how hard is it to book this match. The story speaks for itself, and then you say, go out there and put on a good match. Instead we got Piper sticking the microphone in the guy’s faces during simple moves like headlocks. What we’re left was an average match that could have been better served to be on RAW. The ending comes when Backlund gets the cross face chicken wing on Bret but Bret reverses it and Backlund screams some nonsense which Piper interpreted as giving up giving Bret the match. Just a bunch of nonsense and definitely one of the most disappointing WrestleMania matches ever. * ¼

WWE Championship

Diesel (champion) w/ Pamela Anderson vs. Shawn Michaels w/ Sid and Jenny McCarthy

This is where they decided to load up with celebrities. At the Royal Rumble Pamela Anderson was told to be the escort of the Rumble winner to WrestleMania. Instead she came out with Diesel, while McCarthy came out with Shawn. Home Improvement star Jonathan Taylor Thomas served as the special guest timekeeper while NYPD Blue star Nicholas Turturro served as the special guest ring announcer. Everyone but Ms. Anderson seemed to be excited to be there. The inclusion of the celebrities did help this WrestleMania and it was a good thing because if there was ever a WrestleMania that needed the supplement of celebs it was this one. It was also in need of a match that could save it from being the worst of all time, and fortunately it was this one. This is easily one of if not the most underrated match in WrestleMania history as far as I’m concerned. Jerry Lawler says that Shawn told him to expect “The performance of a lifetime.” Shawn definitely delivered on the biggest stage of his career, and against a tough opponent to carry in Diesel. After Michaels won the Royal Rumble, in storyline, he felt he needed a bodyguard because he was a marked man and had pissed everyone off. His bodyguard was the returning Sid. So with the addition of Sid, Diesel was really viewed as a major underdog going into this match. The match is outstanding with Shawn pulling out all stops to make this an epic encounter. Diesel did a really nice job selling his ribs. I also like that Sid didn’t really come into play too much, though if the idea was to keep Shawn heel, then he probably should have been involved a little more. I don’t know when WWE decided they were just going to turn Shawn face. He was already starting to get face pops, but clearly Vince wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on a Shawn Michaels title run. Because Shawn was wrestling this match as if he was turning it sort of undercut Diesels baby face heat, and the sympathy heat at the end. Shawn hit Diesel with sweet chin music and had him dead to rights, but Sid had previously injured the official. The time lapse allowed Diesel to kick out at 2, and ultimately make the comeback and jackknife Shawn for the win. Diesel does the baby face celebration with all of the celebrities in a really nice moment in his career. The next night Sid would turn on Shawn completing the face turn and Shawn would be saved by Diesel. It almost seems as if Vince really didn’t know what he wanted to do with the main event scene. He had Diesel as champion, but the fans were firmly behind Shawn and that would be more evident as his face turn evolved. He also had Bret and Undertaker in the midcard. When you factor in Bulldog, Razor, and even to a lesser extent, Lex Luger, all of his biggest baby faces were also his biggest stars. That left him with no viable heel which means that Diesel’s title reign was doomed to fail. This match however is wonderful and like I said probably the most underrated WrestleMania match ever. **** ½

Main Event

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor

Yes that’s right. The WWE Championship is not being defended in the last match. This of course was set up at the Royal Rumble when Taylor was teasing Bam Bam Bigelow for getting beat by the Kid and Bob Holly. I really don’t have a problem with this at all. WWE needed something big for this event. Lawrence Taylor generated some mainstream media attention and he proved to be a very good wrestler considering the circumstances. I mean this is a pretty good match, and probably the best “celebrity” match you’ll ever see. It’s once again supplemented by celebrities, or in this case other football players, backing up Taylor. This was Lawrence Taylor’s “All pro team”. It consisted of Ken Norton Jr., Chris Spielman, Rickey Jackson, Carl Banks, Reggie White, and future WCW Monday Nitro commentator and Pro Wrestler, Steve McMichael. Bam Bam was backed up by Dibiase’s corporation of Dibiase himself, Nikolai Volkoff, King Kong Bundy, Tatanka, IRS, and Kama. Also singing for Taylor is Salt n Pepa. Neither the Corporation nor the All Pro team get involved other than a couple skirmishes before the match starts. The match like I said is pretty good and considering its 1995 and the roster was this thin, I feel it is a suitable main event. Bigelow does not get enough credit for his performance in carrying Lawrence here. Bigelow does the job, as Taylor hits a flying forearm and gets the pinfall. Dibiase and the Corporation leave Bigelow, setting up his face turn as well. Grading this on a celebrity scale, this is Flair-Steamboat. ** ½

Final Analysis: Things just get worse after this. Add Bam Bam Bigelow as another potential heel that could’ve served as a good foil for Diesel. The big heels after this are Sid, Jeff Jarrett, Yokozuna, and Owen Hart. Yoko and Owen were set anchor the tag team ranks, and Jarrett was the IC Champion. That leaves Sid, who isn’t a bad heel, but after Diesel vanquishes him, who else are you left with? The roster is just a big f’ng mess at this point with seemingly zero direction or logic to anything that Vince is doing at this point. As a stand-alone WrestleMania, comparing it against other WrestleMania’s it is certainly on the bottom third. Shawn-Diesel is an unheralded classic and LT-Bigelow has its worth. I like the Owen-Yokozuna stuff, but it’s hardly historic. The WrestleMania isn’t completely unwatchable but I wouldn’t shed any tears if you haven’t seen it.

WWE Royal Rumble '95

WWE Royal Rumble ‘95

January 22, 1995

USF Sun Dome

Tampa, Florida

It really must have been difficult to be a wrestling fan in the beginning of 1995. I guess ECW had its cult following, but most of the country didn’t even know what ECW was. WCW was almost unwatchable coming off of the worst Starrcade ever to date at the end of 1994. The WWE’s roster was totally depleted and the mid-card was pretty much non-existent. I was still at the age where all things wresting were still great to me. I feel for those who were 5-7 years older than me at the time, which may have grown up watching the rock and wrestling era. The 1995 Rumble wasn’t terrible, but it did mark the beginning of one of the worst years ever for the WWE, from a financial standpoint and certainly a creative standpoint. The champion was Diesel, fresh off his squash of Bob Backlund in Madison Square Garden 3 days after the Survivor Series. Diesel was set to be a dominant world champion in 1995 as the main baby face as Vince really felt he had his new Hogan. The only problem is that Diesel got over by being a bad ass heel that just destroyed his opponents. This would be a huge problem as we go through the year.

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

IC Championship

Razor Ramon (champion) vs. Jeff Jarrett w/ Roadie

Roadie is better known as Road Dogg. It is Bullet Bob Armstrong’s baby boy as Jim Ross calls him. Here he plays Double J’s roadie and is pretty good at it. Jarrett spent all of 1994 floundering on the midcard, but the booking in 1994 suggests that Vince did have some pretty big plans for him; it was just a matter of Razor Ramon’s feud with Shawn Michaels/Diesel playing itself out. The match is pretty solid. These two had been wrestling on the house show circuit quite a bit before this show, and certainly most of the early part of 1995, so they had really good chemistry together. Razor is so over with the crowd. Easily one of the most popular baby faces in the company at this point, and Jarrett was one of the top 3 or 4 heels in the company at this time, so it makes for a good match in terms of heat. The match takes a turn when Razor is on the outside and Roadie clips his knee from behind. Razor gets counted out and Jarrett wins. Double J can’t win the title that way so he does the classic heel thing and gets on the mic and insults Razor, calling him a coward, etc. He challenges him to restart the match. Razor of course is the heroic baby face so he obliges and the match gets re-started. Really good psychology here of Ramon selling the knee. He goes for the Razor’s edge and his knee buckles. Jarrett then rolls him up with the inside cradle for the win, and the title. Really good match that I didn’t really like the first time I saw it. Definitely good solid wrestling here with some excellent psychology. ** ¾

IRS w/ “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase vs. Undertaker w/Paul Bearer

And so begins Undertaker’s 1995. Easily one of his worst years ever, through no fault of his own. Here is what I don’t get; he’s probably the most over worker in the company, business is floundering, and they have him tucked away on the midcard all year long feuding with Million Dollar misfits. Now I love Dibiase, and I like Rotunda in his role as IRS, but by 1995 they were long passed the point of anyone caring. They were still the big heel stable here, but by WrestleMania it was over Johnny. I just feel like of all the mistakes Vince made in 1995, burying the Undertaker was the biggest one. This match is an obvious formality but we can’t just have Undertaker squash IRS and be done with the feud. Nope, we have to extend this feud, so with the Undertaker there is only one way to extend a feud. Why, it’s the new and hip “let’s steal Undertaker’s urn” storyline. That always works for the heels. King Kong Bundy interferes in the match and allows IRS to run off with the urn, and we’re left clamoring for Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy. * ¼

WWE Championship

Diesel (champion) vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart

So we last left the Survivor Series with the Hitman at one of his lowest points character-wise in his career. His dirty rotten brother (as he always called him) Owen had just suckered his parents into basically costing him the WWE title against Bob Backlund in the submission match. Bret got some much needed time off to film the short-lived TV series Lonesome Dove between Survivor Series and this show. These two met before at the 1994 King of the Ring in an excellent match, and this one is even better. The match is sort of a microcosm though of what would be wrong with Diesel’s title run. As I said before he was built as this monster heel. From his dominating performance at the 1994 Royal Rumble, to his dominance for his team at the Survivor Series; he was built as a no pun intended, unstoppable diesel powered 18 wheeler. Here he is expected to be a baby face. This sort of goes against what Bret Hart usually does, as he is the one that is the master of getting the sympathy baby face heat. So the challenge in this match was for Bret to wrestle in a way that got Diesel the sympathy heat. So what you see in this match is Bret Hart as the aggressor. They both do a great job working the match brilliantly as this is easily Nash’s best match of his career up until this point. WWE did a really nice job hyping this match up as sort of a big match, or a big fight. It really helps to put over the WWE title itself. Bret being the aggressor fits the story as he feels he was cheated out of the title at Survivor Series and now wants it more than anything. This is evident right away as Bret immediately starts going after Diesel’s leg. He puts Diesel in the figure four and at one point Diesel gets to the ropes and Bret doesn’t break the hold and makes referee Earl Hebner count and break the hold himself. Little things like that are what make Bret so great, and I wish we would see things like that nowadays. The aggression from Bret Hart early makes it so when Diesel makes his inevitable comeback, him beating up Bret isn’t viewed as bullying by the crowd; it is viewed as a guy getting back at the aggressor. The crowd likes Diesel, but they cheer Bret and clearly want him to win. The aggressiveness continues when Bret takes the tape off of his wrist and ties Diesels legs together when they are around the ring post. It’s here that the crowd starts to boo Bret a little bit. Really have to hand it to Diesel here as he takes some really nice bumps for a big man and sells Bret’s offense making it totally believable that this guy he’s twice as big as could do this to. Diesel gets the advantage and jackknifes Bret. But before the ref can count 3, Shawn Michaels comes in and breaks the count. Normally this is a disqualification, but the ref says the match must continue. Bret regains his composure and begins to work on Diesel’s knee again; even taking a chair to the knee while around the ring post which draws a lot of boos. Eventually he gets him into the sharpshooter, and this time it is Owen Hart who saves Diesel from inevitably losing his title. At this point it is clear that there will be no decisive winner despite the referee re-starting the match again. Both guys brawl until the a ref bump. At that point Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Bob Backlund, Jeff Jarrett, and Roadie come out and attack the faces until finally they decide to end the match as a draw. Diesel cleans house and he and Bret do the baby face hug. Unheralded match because of the disappointing ending and the fact that these two would top themselves later in the year. **** ½

WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals

Bob Holly and 123 Kid vs. Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase

This is the result of the ego of the clique. As we’ve documented before, for some reason, they HAD to have the tag titles. Of course they wouldn’t put anyone over, and thus we had a tournament to decide the vacant tag titles and the culmination was here. I wouldn’t normally have had a problem with any of the four involved here, but this match only served to crown champions to job them to the Smoking Gunns the next night on RAW. The match itself is great, as all four guys are solid workers. The story they tell is that Holly and Kid are the plucky underdogs and they play it really well, especially when Bam Bam is in the ring. Bigelow really carries the match his combination of size, strength, agility, and the ability to sell offense from smaller guys in a way that most big men simply cannot do. It’s really too bad that they didn’t do more with Bam Bam during this run, especially with the lack of depth on the roster at this time. He could have been a much better opponent for Undertaker or Diesel as a heel. So much mis-management went on in 1995. Vince did a poor job of maximizing his resources. Ending comes when Bam Bam goes for the moonsault but Tatanka came into the ring and knocked him off the rope and Bigelow got knocked out. Kid crawled over and got the pin. The historic part comes after the match as great New York Giants Linebacker Lawrence Taylor is sitting at ringside and making fun of Bam Bam Bigelow. They get into an argument that ends in Bigelow shoving Lawrence down. This of course sets up the big match at WrestleMania. This was great heat. ***

Main Event

30 Man Royal Rumble

Due to time constraints, and more likely due to the lack of talent on the roster at this time, this Rumble has the annoying 60 second intervals as opposed to the 90 seconds or 2 minutes. They make a nice excuse saying the “action is hotter and faster than ever”. Winner gets a title shot at WrestleMania. Shawn Michaels comes out #1 and Davey Boy Smith comes out #2. It doesn’t take long where it becomes apparent that these two would finish the match against each other as well. Shawn attacks Davey to start, but Bulldog quickly comes back and Shawn oversells everything. Ring fills up in a hurry due to the time intervals. Doink comes in to a big pop. You know you’re in trouble if Doink has gotten the biggest baby face pop of the Rumble so far. Rick Martel comes in at #10. At this point there had only been one elimination, and that was Jimmy Del Ray who was #4. Rumble is just flying by which again is probably a good thing. Owen Hart comes out at #11 but gets attacked by Bret Hart in the aisle. I like that they progress the storyline, but with the lack of talent you would think Owen could’ve added a little star power. He comes into the ring and gets tossed by Bulldog almost immediately. Timothy Well comes out next and gets a big pop but the crowd I don’t think realized who it was. At this point guys start getting tossed out left and right. Bushwhacker Luke comes out next and you can just see the star power. Almost half way through the Rumble and we’ve had next to no star power. Everyone gets tossed and it leaves Shawn and Bulldog again, and it’s almost deja vu as Jacob Blu comes out next just like Eli had done earlier. He doesn’t last long as Shawn tosses him and it’s down to Shawn and Bulldog again. That brings out King Kong Bundy who gets the biggest heel pop of the Rumble thanks to the Undertaker attack. Mo comes in next and Bundy tosses him immediately. Then Mabel comes out and that at least gives the crowd a showdown that they can get into between him and Bundy. Mabel eliminates Bundy. Again, not that I’m a big Bundy fan, but wouldn’t it create a little bit more suspense and drama if he stayed in a little longer? Luger comes in and eliminates Mabel immediately decreasing more suspense (again not that I’m clamoring for Mabel to win or anything, but he’s a big guy that the crowd was at least into). The crowd is just dead for this. It’s almost as if they cannot believe how little they don’t care about the participants involved. Bob Backlund comes out and like Owen gets attacked by Bret Hart. Once again, good storyline progression but Bob could’ve added something to this train wreck of a match. Like Owen he gets into the ring but gets eliminated right away, this time by Luger. Bret then attacks Bob again after he had been eliminated setting up their WrestleMania match.  Match dwindles down to the final four consisting of Shawn, Bulldog, Lex Luger, and Crush. Luger and Crush get eliminated right away. So that leaves Shawn and Davey Boy. Thank god for that, because the finish is really good, in fact one of the best finishes in Rumble history. Davey clotheslines Shawn over the top rope but only one foot touches. The brilliance though is that Davey Boy Smith’s music is playing and he’s celebrating. I remember watching this on scramble vision and marking out because I thought for sure Shawn was going to win, so I was happy that a baby face won. But then Shawn knocked Bulldog over the rope from behind and won the match. Great finish to a putrid Rumble. *** 1/4

Final Analysis: Rumble still gets a good rating strictly due to the finish and it’s really hard to book a bad match, unless you’re Vince Russo. The lack of star power sticks out like a sore thumb, but I guess that is why I can now forgive the 60 second time intervals. I’ve always wondered why Jarrett and Razor didn’t do double duty to add to the match. Razor selling the leg injury like Bret did in 1994 would have really added to this. When you look at Scott Hall’s WWE career, it is odd that he never participated in a Royal Rumble, even though it would have been perfectly logical for him do have done so, particularly after the 1994 event when guys doing double duty was the norm rather than the exception. Looking back the event really does foreshadow just how bad 1995 would be with the lack of depth on the roster and the inability to properly build up a mid-card. It wouldn’t be until 1996 where they started getting all of the old WCW guys that Eric Bischoff canned or didn’t want that you would see a resurgence in the product creatively.

WWE Survivor Series 1994

WWE Survivor Series 1994

November 23, 1994

Freeman Coliseum

San Antonio, Texas

The 1994 Survivor Series emanated from deep in the heart of Texas in San Antonio. And really, Survivor Series is sort of an extension of SummerSlam in a lot of ways. Razor Ramon was still feuding with Diesel and Shawn Michaels, although that feud was winding down. Bret Hart was still fighting with younger brother Owen, but that feud was also winding down. The Undertaker’s feud with Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Corporation was still simmering and set to explode here. For the second year in a row, the Survivor Series looks to blow off feuds and start others, as it did the year prior. One notable loss is of course Randy Savage, who left WWE not long before this show.

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon

10 Man Survivor Series Match

Teamsters (Diesel (captain), Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Jeff Jarrett) vs. The Bad Guys (Razor Ramon (captain), 123 Kid, Davey Boy Smith, and the Headshrinkers)

For the second year in a row we get a great opening match. Interesting pairing for commentators. This is notable because it is Gorilla’s final PPV broadcast. For my money he is the best play by play guy of all time. He had a special way of articulating exactly what the fans at home needed to know about storylines and angles. Gorilla takes a more heelish role on announcing duty tonight, although he doesn’t go Jesse Ventura but is interesting to listen to. Also interesting to note that Samu is no longer part of the Headshrinkers. He had since been replaced by Sione. Sione is better known to most fans as the Barbarian. Teamsters come out first and this is the first WWE PPV that really started to use pyro for ring entrances. During the entrance Shawn Michaels is walking right behind Diesel. As he gets introduced by Howard Finkel, he steps right in front of Diesel. He did this at SummerSlam too, but it just sets the tone, and you realize that based on the storyline progression that something was likely to go down tonight. Diesel and Shawn had won the tag titles right before SummerSlam, but at SummerSlam we remember Shawn cost Diesel the IC Title against Razor Ramon. Then on a new WWE Program called the Action Zone, Shawn and Diesel defended the tag titles against their good buddies (in real life) Razor Ramon and 123 Kid and had a wonderful tag team match. During the match however, Shawn caught Diesel with sweet chin music again. Once again though they made up and reconciled, but the payoff was inevitable. I love the match up here because there are so many storyline arcs and feuds within this match that it reminds me a lot of the 1987 opener. Davey Boy obviously has issues with Owen and Anvil from what they did to Bret at SummerSlam. Headshrinkers were still chasing Shawn and Diesel, and a Razor-Jarrett feud was brewing. The match is great too. The first several minutes everyone but Shawn and Diesel go at it and we get some really solid wrestling from everyone involved. Then Diesel gets tagged in and jackknife power bombs everyone. Fatu, Kid, and Sione all get jackknifed and pinned in the span of about 2 or 3 minutes. Then Bulldog gets counted out thanks to Owen and Jarrett keeping him from getting back in. Diesel then is selling the fact that he’s probably tuckered out a little and tries to tag Shawn. Shawn says, no he’s not ready yet yelling at Diesel to finish Razor. Diesel then jackknifes Razor, and in classic heel fashion, Shawn now wants the tag. But Shawn wants Diesel to hold Razor up so he can clock him with sweet chin music. Take a wild guess as to what happens next. Shawn misses and nails Big Daddy Cool with some sweet chin music once again. Three strikes and you’re out, and Diesel chases Shawn back to the dressing room, and somehow all 5 members of the Teamsters got counted out and Razor is the sole survivor. Crappy ending to what was a wonderful match. I feel they should’ve had Razor pin Diesel and then Diesel chase Shawn to get counted out. Then maybe have Razor pin Neidhart, then have Jarrett and Owen beat Razor and be the sole survivors. I think you build Owen up, and continue Jarrett’s push. Instead we got a ridiculous finish. After the match Shawn cuts a promo running down Diesel and throws his half of the tag title down on the ground and leaves. The match is very good, the ending leaves a lot to be desired, but it did accomplish its primary objective; push Diesel as a monster and set up their WrestleMania main event. *** ¾

8 Man Mixed Survivor Series Match

Royal Family (Jerry Lawler (captain), Queasy, Weezy, and Cheesy) vs. Clowns ‘r us (Doink (captain), Dink, Wink, and Pink)

Total comedy match for the kids here. I have nothing really to add. It’s about as bad as you would think. Lawler’s team wins, heel midgets join up with face midgets and turn on Lawler, Doink puts a pie in Lawler’s face. DUD

WWE Championship

Submission Match

Bret “The Hitman” Hart (champion) w/ Davey Boy Smith vs. Bob Backlund w/ Owen Hart

The story here is that there was a match shortly before SummerSlam between Bret and Backlund. Bret won, but shortly after the match, Backlund snapped and put Bret in the cross face chicken wing. After Bret successfully defended the title against Owen at SummerSlam, this match was signed. Backlund was playing the crazy old man heel and doing it really well. I didn’t appreciate his character as much then as I do now. Backlund was playing off of the fact that when he lost the WWE title to the Iron Sheik in 1983 that he had never given up. This match is a submission match. Instead of a regular submission match however, this match would be determined by which corner man throws in the towel. Backlund chose Owen, and Bret chose Davey. I must caution you; this match isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I love it, but you cannot have an attention span of a fly to enjoy this match. It’s over 30 minutes and it is total old school. The psychology is both guys going for their submission moves. Sharpshooter vs. Cross face chicken wing. The crowd really doesn’t know what to do here, but they get into it as it builds, and especially when Bret is on offense which keeps them interested. Things get really interesting when Bret gets Backlund into the sharpshooter and Owen comes in and saves Bret. Davey then chases Owen around then ring and dives at him and goes headfirst into the steps and gets knocked out. Backlund then gets a distracted Bret into the chicken wing. Then one of the best illustrations of heel work of all time takes place as Owen pleads with Stu and Helen Hart at ringside to take the towel and throw it in as surrogates for the knocked out British Bulldog. Owen is brilliant as he makes himself cry saying things like “That’s my brother in there, I’m sorry, that’s your son, its Thanksgiving.” Helen begins to start falling for Owens antics. Stu isn’t having any of it and it is clear that Helen is the one that is going to show mercy. Watching this smarmy dirt bag Owen sucker his own parents into ending Bret’s title reign is legendary. Finally Helen does give in and takes the towel from Stu and throws it in making Backlund the new WWE Champion. Owen then leaps into the ring in joy, grabs the pink and black towel, and runs off in jubilation. Two of my favorite heel moments ever transpire. The first is Backlund’s reaction to being the new champion is phenomenal. His celebration is so awesome. He acts so surprised at first and then he acts like he is on top of the world. Then Owen Hart delivers one of if not the best heel promos of all time, just gloating about how Bret is a loser and how he tricked his own mom and dad into costing Bret the title. Unfortunately all of the heat from this match for all involved was quickly gone because literally days after this Diesel would beat Bob Backlund in about 10 seconds and become the new WWE Champion in Madison Square Garden making all of this meaningless. The match is much underrated, but like I said, a lot of fans who aren’t into more of a 70’s or 80’s style may not be into it. ****

10 Man Survivor Series Match

Million $ Team (Tatanka (captain), King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Heavenly Bodies) vs. Guts and Glory (Lex Luger (captain), Mabel, Adam Bomb, and Smoking Gunns)

Here are the rest of the midcarders at the time. This is the continuation of Tatanka-Luger feud that began at SummerSlam, and that turned into Luger vs. the Million Dollar Corporation. Match is ok but heatless compared to the opening match. The match served its purpose, but no one cared about any of the feuds after this, and it’s unfortunately sort of a microcosm of what you would get in 1995. Match gets down to Tatanka, Bundy, and Bam Bam vs. Luger. Luger pins Tatanka, but then gets beat himself by Bundy and Bam Bam. Whatever. ** ½

Main Event

Casket Match – Troubleshooting Referee Chuck Norris

Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette vs. Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer

The blow off from the Royal Rumble debacle. The rematch is awful. Chuck Norris is hired on to be the ref on the outside to make sure that 9 guys don’t show up and attack the Undertaker to help Yoko win. I like Yokozuna selling of how scared he is of caskets but that’s about the only redeeming quality of the match. Bam Bam and Bundy come out and distract Norris and allows Million $ Corporation member IRS to come in and attack Undertaker. Taker makes the comeback and wins the match. Crowd gets the big pop for Norris kicking Jeff Jarrett. Undertaker gets his revenge. Everyone is happy. Match isn’t good. ¾*

Final Analysis: No big complaints about the show. As a standalone show it has a little of everything. A lot of people didn’t like the Backlund stuff that much and admittedly at the time I didn’t either. Looking back I found it very creative, and wish he would have gotten a longer run than he got, but the clique had to get their way. Diesel would take 1995 into the toilet but that is another story. The fans were sent home happy with the Undertaker, but unfortunately he would spend 1995 stuck with horrible feuds over his stolen urn. Bret Hart would also be stuck in feuds with dentists and pirates. Again, that is for another day. I like Survivor Series ’94 though.