The Fan-Cam Files: WWF @ Rancho Cucamonga, CA – 06.30.1994

Welcome to another edition of the Fan-Cam Files! This time we’re coming from the Epicenter Stadium, home of Minor League Baseball team the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (a Class A affiliate at the time of the San Diego Padres, and a team currently under the Los Angeles Dodgers system). The stadium capacity is listed around 6,500, but you can bet that not every seat is filled on this night, while the Quakes themselves were a hot ticket, quickly breaking the California League record for attendance. (In all seriousness, the crowd is a decent size here, considering the set-up and the fact it’s on the baseball field).

While I enjoy the more familiar territory of Madison Square Garden or even the San Jose Arena, I always find it quite fun to come across a show from a unique location, and a minor league baseball stadium definitely fits that category. With that knowledge at our fingertips, we can probably assume we aren’t getting the A-Tour, and after a few seconds of research… oh yeah, we’re getting the most B-Show you could get in the Summer of 1994. The WWF ran Peterborough, Ontario (with a listed attendance of 2,000 warm bodies) with the following results… WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Owen Hart, Lex Luger defeated Crush, Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze defeated Luna Vachon, Jeff Jarrett defeated Doink, Yokozuna defeated Typhoon, The Bushwhackers defeated The Executioners (Duane Gill and Barry Hardy), and The 1-2-3 Kid defeated Kwang. That looks like what the WrestleMania Revenge Tour looked like when it came through the New York and California stops in mid-May (with Typhoon in Earthquake’s spot). Better late than never, I guess.

Sparky Plugg vs. Louie Spicolli:
Well, I’m not going to complain too much here, this might be a good match. Sparky Plugg made his debut for the WWF at the start of 1994 and was immediately slotted into a spot that would put him on the level of later years Tito Santana or Koko B. Ware. At the time, his highlight was trading wins with Double J on Superstars in matches meant to drive the Jarrett/Doink rivalry for the house shows. Spicolli is a name that pops up from time to time, usually called in for TV to do enhancement work when the WWF was in California to tape for syndication (and getting the occasional work on live events, as we see here). He would become a regular for the WWF in the Spring of 1995, introduced as grunge rocker Rad Radford… yeah, I know, that name is terrible, and doesn’t sound very grunge.

Lockup to the corner and a clean break. Is that Jesse Hernandez as the third man in the ring? Can’t run California without Jesse Hernandez. Spicolli quickly complains about hair-pulling. I see no reason why he would lie. He grabs a hammer-lock, but Sparky uses his momentum to send Spicolli through the ropes. Back inside, Spicolli wastes no time escaping a hammer-lock from Sparky, hitting him with an elbow and shoulder block. Plugg counters a second attempt with an arm drag and controls with a side headlock. Spicolli blocks a head-scissors out of the corner and takes Sparky’s head off with a clothesline. Lots of choking from Madonna’s Boyfriend, followed by an elbow drop for two. Sparky builds some momentum, but is cut off with a Super-Kick. Spicolli prevents another comeback, hitting a double under-hook suplex for two.

The crowd gets behind Sparky, chanting his name, as he fights out of another chin-lock and counters a knee lift with a rolling school-boy for two. Spicolli grabs the tights, throwing Sparky out of the ring. Back inside, Spicolli with a piledriver, but a lazy cover allows Plugg to get his foot on the ropes. Sparky blocks a suplex and hits a release German suplex. He unloads with right hands and rolls Spicolli up for a near-fall. Whip is reversed and Sparky counters a back body-drop with a small package for another two-count. Sparky makes the trip to the top rope, and a flying body press finishes Spicolli’s night at 11:19. Quite the solid opening match, keeping things simple enough with the traditional work you’d expect from a prelim match (the chain wrestling and heel complaining spots, the cut offs coming out of a rest-hold etc) but also included a little sizzle, with Sparky showing some good athleticism and a few big moves that were allowed to breath with a silly thing called “selling”, so it wasn’t moves for the sake of moves. One of my favorite openers since doing these fan-cam reviews. ***

Virgil vs. Nikolai Volkoff:
Well, there goes the nice, warm feeling of a good wrestling match right out the window. First, YES, VIRGIL WAS STILL THERE. His presence on TV was limited, but they did bring him on for syndication to do a short-term storyline with Dibiase and Volkoff across a couple of weeks of Wrestling Challenge (yes, Challenge was still a thing in 1994, too, but only barely). For those unfamiliar, Volkoff was dusted off after WrestleMania X, down on his luck and desperate for money, so of course, Ted Dibiase hires him and seems to do it only for the amusement of humiliating the guy, with Volkoff being a reluctant victim in all of this… and then it was dropped and Volkoff was just a standard heel, and the people who didn’t care in the first place forgot he existed.

I swear, this doesn’t feel like a match that should have happened in 1994 WWF. Volkoff is wearing the glorious “Property of the Million Dollar Man” tights. Volkoff with a cheap-shot to open the match, utilizing thumbs to the throat and biting to his advantage. Virgil leaps over a charging Volkoff and rolls him up for two. Volkoff blocks a sunset flip attempt but ends up punching the canvas. Virgil with a dropkick that sends Volkoff over the top rope. Back inside, Volkoff blocks an O’Connor Roll and lays Virgil out with a clothesline. Virgil escapes a bearhug, but a slam attempt backfires. Another bearhug spot and it’s time for the big comeback. Volkoff meets a boot in the corner and actually bumps for it. Virgil unloads with jabs and lands an axe-handle sledge for a near-fall. Volkoff breaks out of a Million Dollar Dream but is nailed with a flying clothesline for another two-count. Virgil whiffs a dropkick and Volkoff finishes with the Boston Crab at 8:32, but not before Virgil holds on for nearly an entire minute in the hold. Virgil was trying, bless his heart, and I guess I’ve seen worse from Volkoff. This isn’t me saying it’s a match deserving high praise, but that they kept it from being an all-time stinker at least. *

The Smoking Gunns vs. Tom Prichard & The Barbarian:
I LOVE matches like this! Yes, that’s The Barbarian, formerly known as one half of the Powers of Pain and the guy in the Heenan Family who wore antlers to the ring, subbing in for the Gigolo, Jimmy Delray. (Edit: He’s rocking his POP/singles run in WCW gear) With the Headshrinkers on the babyface side of the depth chart, now the Gunns are getting to work regularly with the Heavenly Bodies, so if you pull out any fan-cam from the Summer of 1993 through the end of 1994, and you see the Gunns in action, 90% of the time you’ll see them opposite those teams and they’re all decent matches, sometimes the best on the card. We’re still a bit of time away from the angle shot for TV where the Gunns and Bodies destroyed each other’s gear, which Cornette said was unscripted and an excuse to have the stupid robes with wings torn apart. This wouldn’t be a one-and-done for Barbarian, either, as he was brought in immediately after SummerSlam when Samu abruptly left and they briefly teased a three-man team, never knowing which two would compete (though in reality Samu was gone and it was always going to be Fatu and Sionne, the new name given to Barbarian).

Bart and Prichard start. They go through the International and Bart takes control following a slam and deep arm drag. Whip to the ropes and Bart with a rolling school-boy for two. The Gunns take turns working the arm until Barbarian lands a knee across the back of Billy, allowing Prichard to lay him out with a clothesline. Barbarian pounds away in the corner and connects with a back breaker. He takes a shot at Bart, drawing him into the ring to keep the referee from seeing Prichard work Billy over from the ringside floor. We get some heat on Billy, with Prichard doing very little of the work, to my surprise. Whip to the ropes and Barbarian turns Billy inside-out with a clothesline. Prichard demands a tag and makes the cover himself, but Bart saves. The ring has a nice glow from the sunset as the match progresses. Billy ducks a big boot, then avoids getting sat on after Barbarian blocks a sunset flip. Another big boot misses, this time with Barbarian straddling the top rope. Bart with the hot tag, running wild with clotheslines and dropkicks. Heck breaks loose with all four men in the ring. A double whip causes everyone to get bunched up in the middle of the ring. Bart nails Barbarian with a clothesline, and Billy rolls him up for three at 10:24, despite Bart and Prichard still being the legal men. Prichard and Barbarian argue afterwards, but leave peacefully. Perfectly fine action, with Barbarian working most of the match. If this was an audition, he definitely put the work in to stand out and didn’t slack off at any point. **½

Tatanka vs. Irwin R. Schyster:
This isn’t the first time covering a match between Tatanka and I.R.S. from this period, but we’ll cover it as quickly as we can; Earlier that Spring, Tatanka was awarded a ceremonial headdress from Chief Jay Stromboli, Wahoo McDaniel and Ray Little Turtle. I.R.S. began pressuring Tatanka on unpaid gift taxes (don’t use real world logic for tax filing, I know, it would be reported in 1995 filings), and on an episode of Superstars, got heavy heat by destroying the headdress while Tatanka helplessly looked on while tied in the ropes, and to really add to the heat, Chief Jay Manicotti took some bumps for I.R.S. as well.

Tatanka rushes to the ring and the fight is on like Donkey Kong Country (which wasn’t released until November, so whoops on me making that reference too soon), with Tatanka pulling I.R.S. out of the ring and throwing him into all the ringside furniture. Tatanka sends Irwin into the ring and continues to dish out the punishment, throwing him across the ring by his tie and snapping his suspenders. Tatanka follows Irwin to the floor and pays for it, getting sent into the post. Back inside, Irwin slows it down with a chin-lock. We get a false comeback spot, and back to the hold, this time with feet on the ropes. DASTARDLY HEEL TACTICS. Tatanak’s arm actually drops three times, but we’re going to pretend it didn’t happen. He starts no-selling the turnbuckle shots and makes the comeback, throwing chops. I.R.S. powders, but Tatanka sends him back inside. The referee tries to stop Tatanka from ramming the back of Irwin’s head repeatedly into the canvas and gets shoved, and THAT is your weak-a$$ disqualification at 6:36. This felt like a match for Superstars. Running out the questionable finish for a market that won’t see the rematch is a bold choice. *½

Duke “The Dumpster” Droese vs. Adam Bomb:
Weird match to fill the card. Bomb turned babyface in TV canon weeks before King of the Ring and immediately ditched Harvey Wippleman for a short program with Kwang, and he’s playing to the crowd a bit like a babyface, but he’s still using the heel music that isn’t designed to pop a crowd. Duke Droese is… a garbage man. Also a garbage human-being, but we’re not here to dive deep into what kind of a piece of sh*t he is. He’s a prelim tier babyface who beats the random geeks and loses to the stars (a.k.a JTTS).

Bomb jumps Droese before the bell, so we can automatically assume he’s working heel for this one. Duke gets dumped to the floor (pun intended) and Bomb rams him face-first into his own garbage can, like this is an Attitude Era hardcore rules match! Jesse Hernandez is letting it go, since it’s happening outside the ring, and everything is legal there. Bomb stomps and punts Duke’s cap, which makes him the babyface with the crowd. Back inside, Duke finally mounts some offense and sends Bomb over the top rope with a clothesline. Back inside, Duke controls with an arm bar. Bomb blocks a hip toss and levels the man from Mt. Trashmore with a short-clothesline. Bomb busts out the slingshot clothesline, popping the crowd. Duke fights out of a chin-lock but gets cut off with a boot to the midsection and DDT for a near-fall. Duke avoids an elbow drop and catches Bomb off the ropes with a powerslam for two. Duke misses his twisting elbow drop. Bomb goes for a slam but it’s countered by Duke with a small package, and that gets the three-count at 8:07. Bomb is a sore loser and attacks Droese after the bell and the crowd is all for it. Well, the heel got cheers and the face of the match got crickets, but the work was fun, at least. **½

Mabel vs. Bam Bam Bigelow:
I feel like these guys were regular dance partners throughout the Spring (and sure enough, they were actually near the top of the card for the rare run of C-Tours, usually for high schools or fundraiser purposes). They didn’t have a TV angle, it was just too beefy guys slapping meat. I’ll say it every time he’s a topic of conversation; babyface Mabel should have been a bigger deal. Crowds reacted to him and he was putting in the effort in the ring. Yeah, he was a bit careless, but guess what? YOU PUSHED HIM AS A TOP HEEL WITH EVEN MORE EXAMPLES OF CARELESS EFFORT. Bam Bam has thankfully moved on from Doink after WrestleMania X and is just a guy until joining Dibiase’s Corporation early in the Summer (heck, might have made it to TV at this point) and ditching Luna Vachon as his main squeeze. No Oscar with Mabel. Those cross-country tickets are not in the budget, pal.

Mabel gets the crowd going with a “whoomp, there it is” chant, sending Bigelow angrily to the outside. They have the big man battle of shoulder blocks, which Mabel ends up winning, sending Bigelow to the floor to rethink his strategy. Bigelow offers a handshake, which I’m sure is 100% trustworthy. Bigelow rakes the eyes because Mabel takes too long accepting the code of honor. Whip to the corner and Mabel pops out with a clothesline. Mabel misses an elbow drop and Bigelow follows by missing a headbutt. Mabel takes Bigelow to the canvas with an overhead slam and hooks a short-arm scissors! Yes, that is really what happened, not me making stuff up for my own amusement. Mabel misses an avalanche and an enzuigiri knocks the mammoth through the ropes. Loud chants of “Mabel” as Bigelow takes him on a trip around ringside and sends him to the post. Bigelow celebrates in the ring with some fancy footwork. Back inside, Bigelow with a diving clothesline for a two-count. Mabel takes a bump for a snap mare and we slow it down with a chin-lock. Mabel fights to his feet and a series of double clotheslines leave both men down on their backs. Mabel with the hot comeback, but a splash misses the target. Bigelow goes for a slam, but Mabel lands on top of him! I think that was meant to be the finish, but the momentum pulled Bigelow’s shoulder up, so Mabel cradles him for the pin-fall at 9:14. Well, that was a sloppy way to end things, but this match was a ton of fun with both men hitting the right notes in a match featuring men of their size. ***

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Diesel (c) vs. Razor Ramon:
The Main Event and final match of the card (as I’ve pointed out before, especially for house shows or pre-attitude era TV, the main event is the match on the poster, the place on the lineup doesn’t matter, and this is that match and it just happens to go last). My usual concerns pop up… babyface Razor Ramon is way too giving. For someone of his size, I can’t accept him selling for 95% of it, even if in matches like this where his opponent has a slight height advantage, he’s still a big dude himself. Diesel won the belt back in April and these two have worked a ton on the house show loop since WrestleMania X.

Razor tosses the toothpick in Diesel’s face (with a bit of over-sell) and unloads with roundhouse rights, sending the Champion through the ropes. Diesel with forearms and Razor fires back with right hands. Diesel cuts him off with a short clothesline, but winds up missing a boot and Razor lays him out with a clothesline of his own. They go back-and-forth until Razor is sent face-first to the canvas while attempting a back body-drop. Ramon escapes a sleeper with a back suplex, but a running clothesline whiffs and Diesel sends him over the top rope. Back inside, Diesel whips Razor back-and-forth to the turnbuckles and rolls snake eyes. Seated splash with Razor across the rope and Diesel drops an elbow for a two-count. Razor teases a comeback, cut off by running into a big boot. Diesel with a rope-assisted abdominal stretch, but Earl Hebner eventually catches it and forces the hold to be released. Razor slaps on a stretch but can only hold for so long before Diesel counters with a hip toss. Diesel misses a rare leg drop attempt, opening the door for a legitimate comeback. Ramon staggers Big Daddy Cool with rights and plants him with a slam for two. Diesel meets the boot in the corner this time around and the flying bulldog gets another near-fall. Diesel powders, rolls back in and whacks Ramon with the title belt for the ultra-lame disqualification at 9:43. Post-match, Ramon gives Diesel a receipt to send the fans home happy. That was a spectacularly lazy finish to what I felt was one of the better matches I’ve seen between these two, with Razor getting a bit opportunistic offense while still selling that Diesel is bigger and stronger. ***¼

Strength of Card: Clearly a B-Tour lineup, but it’s on the weaker side of that description with only two matches featured that have any television presence (that being Diesel/Razor and Tatanka/IRS). The rest is a collection of lower-to-mid level guys who don’t have much going on or are outright job duty guys at best. Grade: C

Highs: Diesel and Razor put on a pretty strong effort for the main event, which is always worth a little more than good matches being reserved for the prelim filler. The finish wasn’t too inspiring, but they found a great formula and didn’t overstay their welcome. I actually would have liked a couple of more minutes with the way they were building before the DQ. Bam Bam and Mabel deserves recognition for having weird meaty-men chemistry with each other, and the opener with Sparky and Spicolli was the perfect way to set the table for the rest of the night. Visually, I love the open-air arena and watching it transition from sunset to nightfall, and sneaking in a random name like the Barbarian is always a treat for fan-cams.

Lows: The top two matches advertised and with TV presence had lame DQ finishes. I can accept not jobbing Razor too much by pin-fall, but with Tatanka having little spark left as a babyface, it wouldn’t hurt too much to let I.R.S. steal a fall from him, even if it meant shenanigans like using the ropes. Virgil and Volkoff was the worst match of the night, but it was thankfully respectably bad and not “my God, this is embarrassing to watch” levels.

The Rest: Some decent if unspectacular stuff in the middle from the Smoking Gunns vs. Dr. Tom and The Barbarian, and the awkwardly agented match between Adam Bomb and Duke Droese. I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising the crowd sided with Bomb over Droese, but Bomb was clearly working heel, so if you were one of the three people who liked the Dumpster, this is a good sign that no matter how good he could have been, the guy was going to be a TV loser and reacted to as such.

Final Thoughts: A very balanced show that could easily be described as a fun night of professional wrestling. Everything kept to reasonable lengths and a nice variety of styles presented, as well. I will stand by my take that the top matches needed a little more creativity for their finishes instead of going lazy in both cases, but we’re in the early days of the New Generation and being over-protective of guys, even ones with plummeting stock, was still a thing. Running 90-minutes and none of the matches cut down for whatever reason (battery energy conservation, piss break etc), this is a breeze to sit through and worth a look despite a shallow pool of star power. Final Grade: B