Nutter Center
Dayton, Ohio
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King Of The Ring First Round Match
Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
These two had a fantastic match at the Royal Rumble earlier this year. I'm a huge fan of Razor's green gear here. We get some back and forth action to begin. The ring tonight has a little extra pop to it here tonight. Hart runs into a knee from Ramon and then gets thrown shoulder first into the ring post. The crowd is starting to chant "1-2-3" in reference to Razor's loss to the Kid. Back in the ring, Razor hits a fall away slam for a 2 count. Bret avoids a couple of elbow drops and Bret starts firing away with some right hands. Bret brings out the inverted atomic drop and the side Russian leg sweep. The elbow drop off the second rope gives us our closest pin attempt. Bret goes for the bulldog, but Razor is able to shove him into the turnbuckle. Bret counters out of the Razor's Edge, uses the ropes to leap over Razor and gets a small package for an awesome nearfall. Bret gets into it with the ref, allowing Razor to attack him. Razor goes for the back suplex from the second rope, but Bret falls on Razor and gets the victory. They really should have gone back to this feud at some point.
Match Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)
They show us clips from Superstars with Mr. Hughes and Giant Gonzalez beating on Undertaker.
King Of The Ring First Round Match
Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect
Perfect takes Hughes down with a hip toss and then follows it up with a dropkick that Hughes doesn't sell. Hughes then rocks Perfect with a right hand. Hughes then slows it down more than anyone would ever want it to. We get an in-match interview with Bret, who says that he would rather take on Perfect next. Hughes gets crotched on the second rope and Perfect fights back with a hip toss and then snaps the neck of Hughes. Hughes grabs the urn and nails Perfect in the face with it and gets disqualified. What a stupid finish. I get you are protecting Hughes here, but why book this then?
Match Rating: 1/4*
Mean Gene is in the locker room with Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji. Fuji claims that Hogan cheated against Yokozuna and that tonight he will see a better Yokozuna. Banzai!
King Of The Ring First Round Match
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
I remember renting this VHS years after it happened and being really excited for this one. Heenan goes off on Jim Ross when he's talking about his football accolades by telling him it's all about cash. They start slugging it out and Bigelow misses a splash in the corner. Duggan is selling his ribs though and Bam Bam takes advantage. Duggan fights out of a bear hug, but Bam Bam takes him down again. Bam Bam misses with a headbutt. Duggan for some reason goes for a body slam, but Bam Bam falls on him for a 2 count. Duggan goes for a body slam again and this time it works. He misses the shoulder tackle into the turnbuckle and Bam Bam hits the top rope headbutt and gets the victory. There were some flaws in the psychology, but they were smart to keep this quick and to the point. Bam Bam was the man.
Match Rating: *3/4
We go back to Terry Taylor (?), who is with the Smoking Gunns and the Steiner Brothers. Terry is really going all out cheesy here. This was really lame.
King Of The Ring First Round Match
The Narcissist vs. Tatanka
I don't care what anyone says, I think the Narcissist gimmick was the way to go with Luger and he could have been a legit main eventer. The referees try to put a pad on his arm for his loaded forearm. The Fink announces that if he doesn't put it on, he will be eliminated. Luger attacks Tatanka as he comes in and the mirror is still in the middle of the ring. Tatanka pushes the mirror over on Luger and somehow that isn't a disqualification? Tatanka hits a chop on Luger and sends him over the top. Tatanka gets a nearfall after a back body drop and a clothesline. Savage declares that the WWF Champion and the King Of The Ring winner are equal. Bam Bam says that he wants to get his hands on Tatanka next. Luger finally gets in on offense and hits a backbreaker. Luger argues with the ref's count and Tatanka gets a close call with a roll up. Mike Chioda's mullet is really something. Tatanka gets his second wind and starts taking down Luger with three minutes remaining. Tatanka hits a powerslam and gets another close call. He hits a top rope chop and once again it's not enough. Tatanka goes up one more time, but Luger gets out of the way. Luger hits a big clothesline and a powerslam and gets another 2 count with a minute to go. Luger hits a vertical suplex and it's really weird that they aren't having the Fink announce how much time is left. As a result, the match just ends and both competitors really weren't rushing at the end. Luger is furious with the result and grabs the mic. Luger says that he wants five more minutes and the crowd agrees. Luger takes the pad off his arm and clubs him with the loaded forearm. This was a 15 minute match that featured Luger and Tatanka, so it obviously wasn't great. However, it probably wasn't far off from the best case scenario given their skill sets.
Match Rating: *3/4
Mean Gene is standing back with Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect. Mean Gene tries to stir the pot since Hart said he'd rather take on Mr. Perfect over Mr. Hughes. Bret then claims that Stu beat Larry and they start arguing over that. Perfect says that he will do what he has to do to win. Bret says that he couldn't do that at SummerSlam. This was neither guy's best work, but still good fun.
King Of The Ring Semifinal Match
Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
You may have heard of this one before. After some mat wrestling, Bret Hart gets the early advantage with a side headlock. Bret sneaks in a few pin attempts and then goes back to the side headlock again. Perfect is finally able to get some offense in, using a dropkick to knock Bret out of the ring. Perfect welcomes him back in and lowers the rope for him. However, Perfect shows off some heel tendencies and kicks him on the way in. Perfect pushes Bret off the apron and he lands on the concrete and hits the fencing. Perfect hits the missile dropkick, but Bret is able to get his foot on the rope to break the count. Perfect begins showing some urgency and sends Bret sternum-first into the turnbuckles. Perfect goes up top again, but Bret meets him up there and hits a superplex. Bret goes for the Figure Four and has it in the middle of the ring. Perfect is able to get to the ropes and then is able to get Bret put into the sleeper hold. Jim Ross lets us know that we are at the 15 minute mark, meaning we are at the halfway point of the second round time limit. Bret is able to break the hold and then slugs Perfect with a big forearm. We then get the classic Perfect spot where he's tossed across the ring and gets crotched on the ring post. Bret follows with an inverted atomic drop and a side Russian leg drop for a 2 count. Bret hits the backbreaker and hits the second rope elbow drop, but again Perfect gets his shoulder up. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Perfect grabs Bret's hurt hand and is able to get out of it. Perfect goes for the Perfect Plex, but Bret blocks it. Perfect tries to go for a vertical suplex instead, but Bret counters that and hits a suplex of his own and it sends them both over the top rope to the floor. They get back in the ring and Perfect gets a small package for 2 before Bret shifts his weight and turns it into a pinfall victory. Perfect confronts Bret after the match, but calms down and shakes his hand and heads to the back. This was fantastic wrestling, but I still prefer the SummerSlam match.
Match Rating: ****
Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart are with Mean Gene. WWF definitely had to have sent out a memo about making sure they refer to Dayton as the heartland of America, because I feel like it's been said about 20 times here tonight.
WWF Championship Match
Yokozuna vs. Hulk Hogan
There are a lot of photographers documenting this match. You have to wonder if that's going to play a role? Nah, that would never happen. Kudos to Heenan for reminding us that the WWF Championship is more prestigious than winning the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals. Yokozuna shows off his strength and throws Hogan to the ground. Yoko goes into full monster Hogan heel mode and hits the slow paced offense. Hogan is able to avoid a charging Yoko and starts hitting him with some right hands. Hogan goes for the body slam, but Yoko clubs him in the back. Hogan is able to hit a couple of clotheslines, but Yoko is still standing. On the third attempt, Yoko hits him first, but then misses with the splash. Both men are up and Hogan charges at Yoko, but Yoko still knocks him done. That was actually a really nice sell by Hogan there. Yoko puts on the dreaded bear hug. Hogan gets his arm up on the third drop and starts wailing on Yoko. Hogan is still selling the back and Yoko is able to hit him with a back elbow. Yoko hits the belly-to-belly suplex, but Hogan kicks out with authority. It's Hulking up time now. Two kicks and Yoko is still not down. Hogan hits a third one and it finally knocks him down. Hogan hits the leg drop, but Yoko kicks out. Hogan knocks Fuji off the apron and signals for the body slam. There's a photographer up on the apron and he hits Hogan with the exploding camera. Yoko hits the splash and we have a new WWF Champion. After the match, Yoko hits the Banzai Splash to end Hulkamania. Jimmy Hart rolls Hogan out of the ring. Despite the cheap ending, Hogan does deserve credit here for really putting Yoko over here hard. This wasn't good, but it was a lot better than I remembered it being.
Match Rating: *
Terry Taylor is back now with Mr. Perfect, who is frustrated with his loss. Mean Gene is with Shawn Michaels and Diesel. Michaels says that lightning won't strike twice because Hogan isn't in his league. Shawn officially lets us know that his insurance policy is known as Diesel.
The Steiner Brothers & The Smoking Gunns vs. Money Inc. & The Headshrinkers
DiBiase and Scott are starting things off. Scott hits a dropkick and then clotheslines DiBiase over the top rope to the floor. Rick is there to throw him right back in, which leads to Scott to clothesline him over the top again. Rick again throws him in and DiBiase tags in Fatu. In comes Bart, who hits a drop toe hold. He tries slamming Fatu face-first to the mat, but up pops Fatu and he hits a superkick. The heels are using quick tags to isolate Bart. The Headshrinkers hit a double back body drop and Bart is in trouble. This is a tough spot for these guys, coming off Hulkamania pretty much officially dying here just moments before. IRS hits a top rope right hand and gets a 2 count. IRS and Bart hit a double clothesline and tag in Billy and DiBiase. Billy gets some quick offense, but DiBiase hits him with a Stun Gun and slaps on the Million Dollar Dream. For some reason DiBiase lets go of the hold and Billy gets a small package and steals the victory. Did Rick even get in the match? After the match, they all start brawling until the heels retreat. Well, that was a little disappointing. They hardly got any time and they got the death spot on the show.
Match Rating: **
Yokozuna is backstage with Jack Tunney, who congratulates him on the victory. Fuji confirms that Hulkamania is over.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Crush vs. Shawn Michaels
You may never see another match that features a better mullet representation than this one if you include Diesel in the mix. Michaels shows off his athleticism and sneaks in a left jab to make Crush mad. Crush then gets a chance to show what he can do, who hits two dropkicks after a leapfrog. Crush hits a military press, which wakes up the crowd a little bit. He then hits the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, leading Diesel to pulling Michaels out of the ring. Diesel distracts Crush and Michaels sends Crush into the ring post. Diesel then gets in a cheap shot. Michaels then repeatedly hits Crush's head into the ring post. Michaels gets him back in the ring, but Crush is able to kick out. Michaels puts on the front face lock and Crush finally is able to toss Michaels across the ring. He then tosses him over the top rope and to the floor. Savage is just obsessed with thinking that Crush can slam Yokozuna. Michaels goes up top and Crush pushes him face-first into the mat. Crush gets a close call after a backbreaker and then follows it up with a big boot. Crush hits a clothesline over the top rope and Crush heads up to the top rope. Two Doinks come out, causing Crush to come down and turn his attention to them. Michaels hits a super kick to the back, which causes him to hit the turnbuckle and Michaels picks up the victory. Crush goes and chases the Doinks to the back. Both guys looked good and the result was a fairly entertaining match. However, Crush continues to get booked to look like an idiot.
Match Rating: **1/2
Mean Gene is with Bam Bam, who is fresh as a daisy.
King Of The Ring Finals
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bret Hart
Bret tries to match right hands with Bam Bam and it doesn't work out for him. Bam Bam tosses Bret over the top rope and Bret is in bad shape. Bigelow begins working on Bret's lower back. Bam Bam goes methodical and slowly beats on Bret. Hart finally fires back and hits Bam Bam into the guardrail. Bam Bam catches Bret out of the air and drives him into the ring and then slams him on the floor. Out comes Luna Vachon and shes hits Bret with a chair to the back while Bam Bam has the ref distracted. Bam Bam tosses him in the ring, hits a body slam and follows it up with the top rope headbutt. Bam Bam makes the pin and gets the victory...or does he? Out comes Earl Hebner, who tells the official that Luna interfered. Fink first announces that they will reverse the decision, but comes back and says that the match will be re-started. Bam Bam continues the assault once the match gets going again. Bam Bam once again gets Bret in a bear hug. Bret is able to get out and hits a back suplex. Bret can't capitalize, as Bam Bam throws him into the turnbuckle. Bret is able to slap on a sleeper hold in the middle of the ring. Bret hits a dropkick and then tips Bam Bam over the top. Hart then launches himself over and then starts leveling Bam Bam with right hands. Bret hits a second rope elbow drop and is unsuccessful in his attempt to put on the Sharpshooter. Bret gets a knee up on Bam Bam, who was charging at him in the corner. Bret gets up on Bam Bam's shoulders and gets a victory roll and becomes the first ever King Of The Ring. I liked this match, but not quite as much as I thought I would.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Bret heads to the coronation stage and gets the king costume on. Out comes Jerry Lawler and he tells Bret that he is the only king in the WWF. Lawler says that he'll let Bret be a prince if he gets down and kisses his feet. Bret then says that Lawler is the Burger King. Lawler attacks him from behind with the sceptre. Lawler says he's going to make Bret kiss his feet and then hits him with a boot to the face. Ross, Heenan and Savage sign off.
This was a good show pretty much from top to bottom. There were a couple of clunkers, but other than that, the show was quickly paced and an enjoyable way to spend nearly three hours. This is not an all time classic by any means, but one that is definitely worth re-watching.
Overall Rating: 78%
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