The Fan-Cam Files: WWF @ Madison Square Garden – 05.20.1994

For my first recap of the Fan-Cam series, I decided to go with one that stood out to me as a kid. For whatever reason, probably a marketing gimmick to make everything seem more important and juice attendance, the WWF started branding each tour with a unique name, a practice beginning after WrestleMania X with the “WrestleMania Revenge Tour”. Every time through the market, they would have a new name (The Summer Sizzler Tour, Hart Attack Tour, and Holiday Wish Tour being several of them) until the Summer or Fall of 1995, when they started using “World Tour de Force”, a name they would use for the live events branding until the early days of the Attitude Era.

Note: The WWF ran a benefit show at the Garden earlier in the day with the following results: Doink defeated Johnny Polo, Samu defeated Quebecer Jacques, Jeff Jarrett defeated Sparky Plugg, Fatu defeated Quebecer Pierre, and Mabel defeated Kwang.

Opening Match: Thurman “Sparky” Plugg vs. Kwang (w/ Harvey Wippleman):
Standard prelim options here. Plugg and Kwang both made their debuts as unannounced substitutes for the 1994 Royal Rumble Match, with their taped syndication debuts to follow later in January. Neither man is the center of any major storylines, but are regularly featured across all WWF programming, typically in competitive enhancement roles. For those curious, that’s what I would consider the bottom guys on the depth chart who rarely win but get 7-10 minutes in a losing effort against other “names”. Considering the era, you weren’t guaranteed to see the mid-level managers, but Wippleman is on the card tonight, so he gets the honors of coming

Kwang gets the jump before the bell, but it’s short-lived as Plugg runs wild with arm drags and a dropkick. Sparky unloads with the corner punches, with the crowd chanting along for 10 of those bad boys. He gives us an encore in the opposite corner and Kwang face-plants for a good little chuckle. Kwang powders and Sparky gives chase, eating a kick for his troubles. Back in the ring, Kwang with a standing heel kick and shows off some green mist. Sparky surprises Kwang with a cross body press and small package, but Kwang is mostly in control for the next few minutes. Plugg teases a comeback but eats a heel kick for a near-fall. Kwang busts out the spinning heel kick in the corner that takes him over the top rope (a spot I remember him using as Savio Vega in a Battle Royal and LOL WHAT A GEEK). Sparky blocks a super-plex and comes off the top rope with a flying clothesline. Sparky unloads with right hands and connects with a dropkick for… not-three. The referee DEFINITELY counted three, but that wasn’t the finish. They keep going for another minute or so, with Kwang putting Sparky away with a spinning heel kick for the three-count at 9:22. Solid opener, though the botched count at the end is always going to be a black eye in any match. They kept the resting to a minimum, didn’t overstay their welcome and the crowd seemed to enjoy what they were seeing, which always counts for something. **¾

Doink (the Clown) (w/ Dink) vs. “Double J” Jeff Jarrett:
If you weren’t a fan of the era, you would probably be surprised to know they did build up a feud between these two on television, and briefly had it penciled in as a match for SummerSlam before switching it to a battle of the musical genres with Mabel taking the spot against Double J. ANYWAY, there was a segment taped for Superstars where Jerry Lawler interviewed Doink and Dink, with Doink doing humiliating things to Dink before revealing himself to be Double J under the greasepaint. Why would Jarrett pull off such a dirty, underhanded tactic? Well, several weeks earlier on Superstars, Doink and Dink helped Sparky Plugg pull off a cheap victory over Double J, so honestly, this was justified retribution from the man who was going to use the WWF to launch his country music career.

Jarrett with a pre-bell promo on the Garden crowd. Doink rushes the ring and gets the better of a slugfest. He holds Jarrett in place, allowing Dink to get some shots in while the referee casually looks on. Dink leads Jarrett around the ring, where Doink greets him with some right hands. Things slow down a bit, with Doink grabbing an arm bar. Jarrett escapes, but Doink outsmarts him and reapplies the hold. Dink accidentally gets knocked off the apron, causing Doink to give up a pin attempt to signal to the back for someone to help his little buddy. This allows Jarrett to recover and take control with a dropkick. Dink is still playing dead on the floor as Double J comes off the ropes with a pair of flying FIST ATTACKS. Jarrett with a piledriver but Doink gets his foot on the ropes to break the count. Jarrett with a suplex in the middle of the ring, forcing Doink to kick out on his own. Doink escapes a chin-lock but takes a knee to the midsection. We tease another comeback, cut off with Jarrett applying a sleeper. Dink makes his triumphant return to give Doink the motivation to make his real comeback. Jarrett wastes time yelling at Dink and misses a flying fist drop. Doink busts out a dropkick (move of the night, so far) but misses a twisting body press out of the corner. Jarrett decides it’s time to go after Dink and carries him around the arena floor until Doink saves. He sends Jarrett back into the ring and attempts a sunset flip, but Jarrett blocks, sitting across the chest and using the ropes for leverage to get the three-count at 13:21. Technically fine, but the wrestling took a backseat to the stuff involving Dink, like Doink giving up his chance to win the match to look away from his downed opponent, or Jarrett randomly going after Dink in the least-threatening way he possibly could, and at the end of the day, they went to the Dink well a little too much. **¼

The Headshrinkers & Afa (w/ Capt. Lou Albano) vs. The Quebecers & Johnny Polo:
Now we’ve got something to sink my teeth into! First, this was originally advertised as the Steiner Brothers taking on the Quebecers and Polo in a 2-on-3 Handicap Match, but the Steiners mostly disappeared from TV in 1994 as their relationship with company brass worsened and they were removed from the house show loop. In their place we have the freshly turned Samu and Fatu, and they not only went babyface without any kind of real build-up other than “they’re wrestling this team everyone hates”, but defeated the Quebecers for the Tag Team Titles earlier that month on Monday Night Raw. We’ve dusted off Lou Albano for the hell of it (NEW GENERATION!), I guess as a way to give fans a reason to cheer for the sudden change in direction with the Headshrinkers, but Albano was mostly a forgotten relic, having last made regular appearances for the company in the Fall of 1986. He would show up from time to time, but I didn’t know him beyond whatever Vince McMahon was force-feeding me on commentary. Honestly, I got more of a kick out of Jacques Rougeau calling him Captain Crunch than anything he said or did as the mouthpiece of the Headshrinkers.

Samu and Jacques start with shoves and slaps exchanged. Samu rocks Jacques with a headbutt, forcing a retreat to friendly territory. Pierre and Fatu have a go, with Pierre getting the better of things and hitting a flying clothesline for the first pin attempt of the match. They go back and forth a bit, including the spot where Fatu gets turned inside-out with a charging clothesline. Afa tags in against a relatively fresh Pierre, hits him with a chop and headbutt, and tags back out. Fatu no-sells a headshot and knocks Jacques into next week with a Super Kick. The heels try taking a walk, but Earl Hebner gives the slowest count possible. How is that supposed to entice them to return to the ring? They aren’t the Champions, this isn’t a title match, and the referee didn’t inform the ring announcer that he’s pulling an executive order on how title changes work under DQ/CO conditions! Impressively long criss-cross sequence involving Samu, capping it off with a pair of dropkicks.

Polo with the ankle pick from the outside, finally allowing the Quebecers to gain control of the action. Jacques hangs on with a chin-lock for a considerable length of time. Samu fights off both Jacques and Pierre but the referee misses the tag! Quebecers bust out a double snap mare and Jacques slams Pierre across the chest of Samu for a near-fall. Jacques spikes Samu with a piledriver, but the Tower of Quebec misses. If that isn’t enough, Samu hits them with a double dropkick to FINALLY get the hot tag to Fatu. He clears out Jacques and hits Pierre with a back breaker and flying headbutt, only for Johnny to make the save. Pierre eats canvas with the inverted leg sweep, and Fatu finishes with the flying splash at 13:35. Polo is too late for the save and gets caught by the Headshrinkers, allowing Afa to hit him with a Samoan drop for the biggest pop of the match. Bell-to-bell, Afa and Polo factored into about 25-seconds of the action, for those keeping track. Nothing too fancy here, we got the usual double-team spots from both teams and an otherwise average affair, with only Jacques’ lengthy chin-lock taking me out of the action for a moment. **½

WWF Women’s Championship Match:
Alundra Blayze (c) vs. Luna Vachon (w/ Bam Bam Bigelow):
I’m not going to have much to say about this one, as the Women’s division in the mid-90’s can be summed up like this: Alundra Blayze is the only babyface to make semi-regular TV appearances, and usually has one heel to work with, who is built up with a squash or two over outside talent. After the feud with Sherri was dropped due to an injury to her wrist and Sherri’s release, Luna was stuck in a manager role for the rest of 1993 alongside Bam Bam Bigelow. Luna and Alundra shared one segment on an episode of Monday Night Raw, and that’s about it (as far as building up this program). Alundra is coming off a successful defense at WrestleMania X against Leilani Kai, who stuck around for a few weeks as a house show opponent for Alundra on the European Tour and subbing for Luna (the last of which taking place a week prior at the San Jose Arena).

Lockup into the ropes, with Luna burying a series of knees to the midsection. Alundra comes off the ropes with a dropkick and gets a sunset flip out of the corner for two. Luna goes to the eyes to cut off the momentum, but gets caught by surprise with a leg sweep (a move I spammed the hell out of in MK 2). Blayze with another leg trip, sending Luna to the floor for a powder. Bam Bam hops on the apron for distraction, allowing Luna to get the jump. She takes Blayze over with a pair of hair mares and settles in with a nerve hold. Luna with a gut-wrench suplex and swinging neck breaker. Blayze blocks being rammed into the turnbuckle, introducing Luna to the buckle pad instead (approximately ten times). Luna with another cut off and swinging neck breaker, followed by a springboard splash from the second rope for two. Blayze avoids a top rope splash and goes into her finishing sequence, but Bigelow pulls her leg to break up the pin on a German suplex. Bigelow hops on the apron again, holding Alundra in place, but we get heel miscommunication and a second bridging German suplex allows Blayze to get the three-count and retain at 7:09. Not the worst match I’ve ever seen, but the worst of this show (so far). A lot of the spots had an awkward, uncoordinated approach to them, like two styles that couldn’t mesh well. There didn’t seem to be much rhythm transitioning from one spot to the next. *½

“Made in the USA” Lex Luger vs. Crush:
For several weeks, this was originally advertised as Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect, stemming from Perfect’s role as the guest referee at WrestleMania X and calling for a Disqualification after refusing to count a pin attempt with Luger having laid out Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette. Perfect would tape interviews for Monday Night Raw, Superstars and Wrestling Challenge, basically saying he still held a grudge over Luger beating him at WrestleMania IX, and as soon as those interviews made it to broadcast, Perfect was gone (for reasons that are best described as “Because Curt Hennig”), and suddenly Crush was put in his place, with both men instrumental in the other being eliminated from their King of the Ring qualifiers. As a kid watching along with the hype, going from Luger vs Perfect to Luger vs Crush was a HUGE disappointment. No Fuji at ringside either, likely with Yokozuna on a separate tour.

Lots of “USA” chants as they spend a lot of time just standing around. Honestly, with Perfect’s sudden departure, this was the (no pun intended) perfect time to switch away from the Made in the USA baby-kissing character and make Lex a jerk who said everyone turned their backs on him, justifying his new attitude. Instead he’s working around the horn with CRUSH. Luger busts out some clotheslines and calls for the loaded forearm, but Crush powders. He tries taking a walk, but Earl Hebner, the referee from the 6-Man, follows to talk him back to the ring. WHAT IS HEBNER’S DEAL ON THIS CARD? Crush briefly controls before getting knocked on his rear from a running shoulder block. They fight around the ring, with Hebner preventing Crush from using a chair. Gorilla Monsoon would be screaming “that’s not your job, ref!”. Back in the ring, Luger misses that jumping elbow that seems to miss 99.3% of the time.

Crush takes control, working on the lower back of the man Made in the USA. The way they are pacing themselves, this feels like we’re going long. We get our first bearhug of the night to really hammer home that theory. Hebner checks the arm, but it doesn’t drop on the third try, signaling Luger’s adrenaline surge. Crush cuts him off immediately with a gorilla press slam and jumping leg drop for a near-fall. Luger gets a pair of roll-ups and plants Crush with a DDT. They slug it out, with Luger getting the upper hand. Whip to the ropes, Luger with a fist to the midsection and a running knee lift for two. The referee gets wiped out, with Hebner taking that bump with gusto. Crush with an inverted atomic drop and Super Kick. He fetches a chair now that the referee can’t interfere with his shenanigans, but Luger avoids Crush attempting to decapitate him with it and hits Crush with the loaded forearm to secure a three-count from referee Tim White at 16:55. This one was alright, but mostly boring, with the first 10-minutes really being a nothing burger. What was done was executed well, with hardly a botch in sight, but it’s hard for guys with similar styles to make the most out of the amount of time they’re given, especially when you could argue their strengths are being the opposite roles of a heel and face alignment. *¾

Tuxedo Match: Howard Finkel vs. Harvey Wippleman:
Remember when I said Alundra Blayze vs Luna was the worst match on the card… so far? Yeah, I knew this one was coming, and you know it’s going to be terrible. We could probably spend an entire column talking about all the times Finkel was used in a humiliating role, but we’ll just stick to this. Wippleman and Fink’s issues were around for as long as Wippleman has been on TV, with the two often showing disdain for each other, with Fink’s sarcastic tone of introduction and Wippleman hurling insults in retaliation. Things finally got physical between them at WrestleMania X, used as a means to rush us through the scheduled match between Earthquake and Adam Bomb as the show was running long. They would feud throughout 1994, eventually adding the Bushwhackers and Well Dunn to the shenanigans.

The Fink comes out to “Real American”, because why the hell not. Hulk Hogan made his debut on WCW television earlier in the Spring, so might as well repurpose his entrance music for a comedy match (not to mention being labeled as an ancient artifact from a bygone era in ads for the “New Generation”). Fink bounces around like he’s taking this 100% serious, reminding me of Duke’s line to Apollo in Rocky: “He doesn’t know it’s a damn show, he thinks it’s a damn fight!” I think Wippleman comes out to “Stand Back” (from the Piledriver album), but it’s hard to hear. Harvey cuts a pre-match promo about stripping Fink naked. PLEASE GOD, NO. It’s 1994, so Harvey takes a shot at the Rangers and says he’s rooting for the Jersey Devils (the Conference Finals as the Rangers marched to their first Stanley Cup in 50 years, and last to date). Wippleman jumps Fink and the two fumble on the canvas, tearing at each other’s clothes. I feel like a lot of these spots would be repurposed for the Divas some years later. This goes on for a couple of minutes until Fink strips Wippleman to his boxers at 3:35. Post-match, Fink is stripped to his undies as well, so that the winner is still a loser. I’ll be generous because Wippleman bumped his ass off trying to give the crowd a show and it was short. It wasn’t GOOD, but it was short. Had they been in briefs instead of fluffy boxers, I might have a change of tune. ZERO STARS

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Diesel (c) vs. Razor Ramon:
Originally advertised as Razor Ramon defending against Diesel, Diesel (with some help from Shawn Michaels) defeated Razor on the episode of Superstars taped for the April 30th broadcast (and ended up being the final title change on Superstars, as syndication continued a slow death with most of the storylines of significance starting to be exclusively taped for Monday Night Raw). Diesel is usually accompanied by Shawn, who took a hiatus from the ring for most of the Spring and Summer, but maintains a regular presence on TV not just as Diesel’s second, but as the host of the interview segment “The Heartbreak Hotel” (featured on Superstars). For whatever reasons, Shawn didn’t make the trip to Manhattan, forcing Diesel to go it alone.

Razor rushes the ring, unloading on Diesel with right hands and knocking him to the arena floor. 30-seconds into the match, and Diesel already takes control of the action, working the back with forearms. Didn’t we just see this with Luger and Crush? We basically get the following formula for the next 5-6 minutes: Diesel controls with plodding offense, Razor gets some punches in (or the occasional clothesline), and Diesel regains control. Rinse, repeat. Diesel busts out his big ol’ side slam, followed by Snake Eyes. He uses the ropes for leverage on an abdominal stretch, and doesn’t bother playing the back-and-forth game with the referee, getting caught on the first glance. Razor applies his own version, but Diesel easily counters. Razor finally gains some momentum, posting Diesel and coming off the ropes with a flying bulldog. He signals for the Razor’s Edge, but he sets up near the ropes. Diesel predictably dumps him and soon follows for a ho-hum ringside brawl as they fight to a double count-out at 12:12. Referees and agents (including what looks like Bruce Prichard among the usual suits) fail to break things up, and we cap it off with Razor braining Diesel with his own title belt. Huge disappointment, as Razor just sold the entire match, with Diesel doing the heavy lifting and not having a whole lot to keep my interest. Shame too, because their title match on Superstars was solid, and they had a great match at SummerSlam. *

Mabel (w/ Oscar) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (w/ Luna Vachon):
Not much to say about this one. Mabel is going solo with Mo out of action until the end of the year. It’s interesting that there wasn’t more effort to push Mabel in ‘94, as crowds reacted well to him, but he ended up losing most of his matches against opponents with name value. Bigelow is coming off a lengthy feud with Doink, and doesn’t have much direction until later in the year. He would qualify for the King of the Ring, but met a 1st round exit, and shortly after ditched Luna as one of the earliest members of Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Corporation.

Lockup and Bigelow rakes the eyes. He backs Mabel into the corner with forearms, but Mabel reverses a whip and wipes him out with a diving shoulder tackle. Watching a 500-pound man do a move like that is mighty cool. Crisscross and Mabel with a BAAAAACK body-drop for two. OK, now Bigelow bumping for a back body-drop like he’s 200-pounds is pretty cool, too. Bigelow avoids an avalanche and knocks Mabel out of the ring with an enzuigiri. Back inside, Bigelow with a diving clothesline for two. Mabel fights out of a chin-lock but Bigelow rakes the eyes and hits another enzuigiri. He signals for a slam and that goes as well as one would expect, with Mabel landing on top of Bam Bam for two. Mabel with a MASSIVE leg drop. He misses a splash from the second rope and Bigelow puts him away with the flying headbutt at 4:32. Short and simple battle of the behemoths with both guys busting out some decent looking offense. Once again I’d like to put it out there I would’ve accepted a strong babyface Mabel push in ‘94 more than I did heel Mabel in ‘95. I don’t know why, it’s just how my brain works. **½

WWF Championship Match: Bret “Hitman” Hart (c) vs. “The Rocket” Owen Hart:
Main Event and the final match of the day. To try and keep this short, Owen and Bret’s relationship rapidly fell apart in the Fall of 1993, with Owen finally turning his back on his brother at the Royal Rumble, where he infamously kicked his leg from under his leg. Thanks to a coin toss to determine fate, Bret was forced to meet his brother in a one-on-one match at WrestleMania, and to the shock of most viewers, Owen was the one who walked away the victor, but the celebration was short-lived, as Bret upstaged him by defeating Yokozuna for the WWF title, complete with over-the-top celebration with the locker room emptying out to celebrate the moment with poor Owen looking on in disbelief from the shadows of the aisle. Owen’s left knee is heavily taped. I want to say he was working hurt, but I don’t have access to the “insider” newsletters to confirm that theory.

Lockup is a stalemate, but Owen celebrates anyway. Into the ropes with the referee struggling to get them to break, they trade shoves and Owen adds a slap, making sure to hide in the ropes to avoid retaliation. Owen spends a few minutes complaining about phantom hair pulls while Bret controls with the usual chain wrestling (Bret does it once for his own jollies). Bret finally gives Owen a receipt for the slap earlier and rolls him up for two. Crisscross and Owen with a knee to the midsection. He sends Bret into the corner with a thud and sits down across the back with a chin-lock. Bret keeps fighting to his feet, but Owen yanks the hair to cut him off each time. Bret finally makes a clean escape, only to run into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for a two-count. Bret starts lighting Owen up with forearm uppercuts, but Owen sends him crashing chest-first into the turnbuckle, and follows with a missile dropkick for another two-count.

Owen begins working the leg, wrapping it around the post as superfan Vladimir looks on, getting very animated. Back inside, Owen continues targeting the leg before applying an Indian Death Lock. He transitions to a Figure-Four, but Bret reverses the pressure, causing Owen to scramble to the ropes to release the hold. Whip to the corner, Owen meets a boot and Bret dives off the second rope with a clothesline, selling the knee after impact all the way across the ring. Owen pops up first, but walks into an inverted atomic drop. Bret with a fist to the midsection and Russian leg sweep for two. Inside cradle for two. Owen tries to run, but Bret pulls him back and hits the back breaker/flying elbow combo for another near-fall. Owen hits Bret low in another attempt to pull him from the ropes and sends him to the floor, where Bret’s back is rammed into the post. Owen fetches a chair, but Bret avoids the swing. Bret cuts Owen off on the top rope, straddling him on the buckle and taking him down with a super-plex for two. Sharpshooter attempt is countered with a poke of the eyes. Owen with an O’Connor Roll, but Bret counters for the three-count, retaining the WWF Title at 22:33. He slaps Owen on the rear in a “I got you this time” reaction. Owen seems upset with the loss, but Bret was clearly the better man tonight, and there were no shenanigans. Took a little time to get going, but that’s natural for them to pace out 20+ minutes without resorting to lame stand-around stall sessions. The action picked up once Owen started targeting the leg, and Bret’s formula for the final 2-3 minutes of a match is one of easiest to plug in with any opponent and always seems to get the crowd on their feet. Not anywhere near the caliber of their match at WrestleMania X, but a satisfying Main Event with a clean finish. ***½

Strength of Card: We’ve got all the recognized Champions in action, matched up with their natural opponents based on the storylines presented on WWF programming. More importantly, all but one person on this card was involved at or scheduled to compete at WrestleMania X (the lone exception being Kwang), so not only is the top of the card as loaded as you’re going to get with the roster available, but the under-card is deep as well. You can argue the strength of the star power against other periods in company history, but looking at it as is, you’re not getting a better use of the roster unless we expanded the card a few matches and added in guys running the B towns (Yokozuna being the most notable absence from this card). Grade: A

Highs: Bret and Owen have a satisfactory Main Event, sending the crowd home happy and putting on the best match of the night (without being a backhanded compliment). Mabel and Bam Bam Bigelow had a fun, short battle of the big men, getting in and out in under 5-minutes while trading big blows the entire time. Sparky Plugg and Kwang is a pretty good opener, though it loses a little luster because of the botch on a three-count near the end.

Lows: Can’t start this part without addressing Razor and Diesel underperforming. Based on the matches they’ve had throughout 1994, this ended up being such a nothing burger. Crush and Luger probably shouldn’t have gone 16-minutes, but I don’t think anyone expected much from them. Fink/Wippleman isn’t for anyone except maybe 1 person, but at least it was short, and the Women’s Title Match was just Luna hitting moves with awkward execution before we go home.

The Rest: Doink vs. Double J and the 6-Man with the Headshrinkers and Quebecers were neither good enough or bad enough to really fall under either category. They were technically fine, but also completely forgettable matches.

Final Thoughts: With a strong Main Event and four matches underneath that were of average or higher quality, that gives the show a batting average over .500, so hard to complain about that. Two of the top four matches in terms of importance weren’t good, but not bad enough to drag the rest of the show down. Running at 2 hours and 30 minutes without intermission or breaks between matches, this is a long and loaded lineup for a house show, and if you’re a fan of the WWF from this particular period, you’ll enjoy it enough to overlook the negatives. Grade: B-

As I continue with the series, I’m open to suggestions for other Fan-Cams (I’m sticking with the WWF, maybe WCW but they are few and far between). For my next show, I’m thinking of picking from the following choices:

September 7, 1991 @ Providence, RI (The 1991 King of the Ring)

January 29, 1993 @ Madison Square Garden (The Headlock on Hunger fundraising show)

May 15th, 1994 @ San Jose, CA (another WrestleMania Revenge Tour show, but with a B-Show lineup with very few similar matches from this card)

Other suggestions are always welcome, as is any criticism. Thank you for reading and have a great day!