WWF at Dortumnd, Germany
March 27, 1994
by Scrooge McSuck
Taped from the Westfalenhalle, as the WWF immediately embarked on a European tour in the days following WrestleMania X. The video quality isn't the worst I've seen from the overseas fan-cam shows, but the audio is one of the worst, as it's almost non-existent, so when it comes to times of the matches, they are going to be as accurate as possible. Also, looks like we've got the COMPLETE card. Here's an unusual tidbit: They ran tours with two sets of lineups, with this group working in the Germany and Austria shows, while the other lineup ran the UK and Israel. On that card, the usual lineup included Bret defending against Owen, the Quebecers vs. Men on a Mission, Double J vs. Doink, and Bam Bam vs. Tatanka (though some shows mixed the under-card around a bit). In another random tidbit, Men on a Mission won the belts on March 29th because Mabel (allegedly) fell and knocked Pierre loopy, turning a pinning situation into a shoot. The belts would switch back on March 31st, but MOM would be recognized for their reign.
Adam Bomb vs. "The Model" Rick Martel:
Adam Bomb is still a heel, for those unfamiliar with the timeline. They wouldn't tease his turn until the next set of tapings that featured putting together the King of the Ring Tournament. Martel plays the chicken-sh*t heel on the floor, but then he's got Bomb hiding in the ropes when he decides to get in the ring. Lockup and Bomb shoves Martel into the corner. Looks like they're playing this as heel vs heel, based on how they're playing the crowd. Martel grabs a top wristlock, but Bomb throws him down. Bomb doesn't budge on several shoulder tackle attempts, but he is susceptible to boots to the midsection. Whip and Martel does a cartwheel to avoid damage, then does jumping jacks to rub it in Bomb's face. Martel hotdogs again and gets knocked through the ropes for his arrogance (pun 100% intended). Bomb follows and clotheslines the post like a geek. Back inside, Bomb cuts off whatever moment Martel had, only to miss a charge into the corner and allow Martel to regain control with an arm bar. Whip to the ropes and Bomb counters a cross body press with a back breaker. Martel avoids the elbow drop and goes back to working the arm. Another whip and Bomb throws Martel over the top rope. Bomb works the back. Martel throws some rights but Bomb cuts him off and grabs a bearhug. Martel fights free like he's a plucky babyface. Whip and Bomb hangs back to avoid a dropkick. Bomb drops a pair of elbow drops and grabs another bearhug. Martel fights free and runs into an elbow for a two-count. Bomb argues the count and Martel rolls him up for two. Bomb meets a boot in the corner and Martel throws a flurry of punches. Whip to the corner and Bomb rolls through a body press for three at 15:00. Weird dynamic here, starting as heel vs heel before Martel took on the role of a quasi-babyface. Lots of shtick and a little too heavy on rest-holds, but it was watchable. *½Thurman "Sparky" Plugg vs. Bastion Booger:
I wish I had something positive to say about this. Following this tour, Booger would only make sporadic appearances at live events, with his last TV appearance taped in White Plains before this tour began (in a losing effort to KOKO B. WARE, IN 1994, SO YOU KNOW YOU'RE JOBBED OUT). Booger with a slap to the face before hiding in the ropes. Lockup and Booger throws Sparky to the canvas with a handful of hair. Plugg grabs a side headlock and foolishly attempts a shoulder tackle. Booger challenges him to try it again, with the same result. Plugg learns his lesson, hitting Booger with a pair of dropkicks and sending him to the floor for a powder. Back inside, Plugg catches Booger with a drop toe hold and hooks an arm bar. Booger fights free and dances. Whip to the ropes and Booger with a clothesline, followed by a leg drop. Plugg fights out of a bearhug but runs into an elbow. Plugg tries a sunset flip but Booger counters with the teabag drop for two. Booger remains in control and this boy is going down fast. Booger misses a corner avalanche and Plugg finishes with a flying body press at 6:54. I'm just going to assume the wear-and-tear of being a heavy man can explain why Shaw (Booger) was moving so badly for his WWF run. I know you can blame the gimmicks, but even as Norman in WCW, he was doing a dumb character but seemed more mobile. Watchable, but less-so than the opener, even with a much shorter amount of time. *“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Crush (w/ Mr. Fuji):
THANKFULLY this isn't part of their "Falls Count Anywhere" stipulations that was boggling the minds of anyone unfortunate enough to watch the matches during the house show loop before the payoff at WrestleMania X, but still feels like there's nowhere left to go with these two. Savage's aggressive attitude does him no favors, as Crush nails him from the apron and starts pounding away. Crush with a snap mare and rake of the eyes as I believe I hear a "USA" chant. Crush with a back breaker, holding Savage on the knee for an extra couple of seconds in a nice little touch. He teases the cranium crunch, playing extensively to the crowd. Savage manages to fight out of the hold, clawing at the eyes, but Crush remains in control. Whip is reversed and Savage takes him out of the corner with a hip toss. Savage comes off the top with a double axe-handle to the back of the head for two. He climbs again, but Fuji whacks him with the flagpole as the referee has his back turned. The distraction buys Crush time to recover and surprise Savage with an inverted atomic drop. Short whip into the corner and Crush grabs a bearhug. At least it makes sense, since he's done nothing but target the back. Savage fights free but is laid out with a crescent kick. Fuji offers some instructions that likely translates to “work the back!” He busts out a bow-and-arrow and the referee saves Savage from defeat by giving up on the “arm drops three times” spot for the sake of counting Crush's shoulders down. Crush misses a flying knee drop, opening the door for Savage's comeback. He comes off the top, only to get caught in a bearhug. He fights free and a big right hand sends Crush tumbling backwards through the ropes. Savage follows and gets sent to the post. Back inside, Crush hits his signature tilt-o-whirl back breaker, but Savage gets a foot on the rope. Crush argues the count and gets rolled up for three at 11:57. I've never been a fan of the babyface formula of "Savage takes a butt-whooping for 99% of the match, makes miracle comeback". We didn't even get the big elbow drop! ½*WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Razor Ramon (c) vs. Shawn Michaels:
Hopefully we get out of the rut we've entered with the last two matches. With WrestleMania X behind us, Shawn wouldn't wrestle on TV again until the middle of the Summer, so him working live event dates is a nice surprise to see. Shawn with trash talk and a shove, so Razor tosses the toothpick in his face. Lots of shtick early with pantomiming. Uh-oh, please tell me we're not getting one of THOSE matches. Lockup and Shawn grabs a side headlock. Razor escapes and rocks him with a right hand, trapping him in the ropes. Shawn counters a follow-up assault, booting Razor in the face and sending him to the corner. Whip across the ring and Ramon blocks a flying sunset flip before sending Michaels over the top rope with a clothesline. Razor follows and teases a Razor's Edge on the floor, but Shawn escapes and sends him into the steps. Back inside, Michaels removes one of the turnbuckle pads while the referee is busy giving Ramon the count. In an interesting twist, Shawn directs the referee to the turnbuckle pad so he can exit the ring and jab Ramon in the face with a foreign object. Why would Shawn want to win by count-out? THIS IS FOR THE TITLE. Ramon beats the count and gets whipped into the exposed turnbuckle for his troubles. Ramon fights out of a chin-lock and takes Shawn over with a back-slide for two. Shawn pops up first and hits a clothesline for two. Ramon escapes a second chin-lock but gets caught in a sleeper with Shawn hanging on his back. Razor teases the lights going out before countering with a back suplex. Whip to the ropes and Razor with a punt to the chest. Crisscross and they smack heads for a double-down. Both men to their feet and its Razor unloading with right hands... and then the tape does a jump cut and we don't see the conclusion of the match! Well, that was a waste of time (about 14:30 shown), wasn't it? Match was looking to be the ** - **½ range, so nothing special, but not the complete dog I was expecting based on the first few minutes. I'm checking ahead to make sure I don't get stuck doing a match only for the finish to not be there and looks like we've got smooth sailing the rest of the way, otherwise I would've aborted this recap.
The Smoking Gunns vs. The Headshrinkers:
These two teams wrestled SO MANY TIMES for nearly a year on the house show loops. Both teams were scheduled to be on opposite sides of a 10-Man Tag at WrestleMania X, but the format sheet didn't allow it, so the match was bumped to the next night's taping of Monday Night Raw. No Afa at ringside. Both teams seem eager to get the fight going with a lot of trash talking and finger pokes. Billy and Samu start, with Samu missing a diving headbutt and Billy hitting a cross body press for two. He takes Samu over with a hip toss but immediately runs into a Super-Kick. Whip to the ropes and they somehow turn a sunset flip botch into a bridge and back-slide. Billy pops right up and hits a dropkick, sending Samu over the top rope. Fatu and Bart in now. Fatu dominates a shoulder tackle challenge and celebrates like he won the all-you-can-eat raw fish contest. Crisscross and Bart with a sunset flip for two. He throws a crummy dropkick and takes Fatu over into an arm bar. The Gunns take turns dropping bombs from the top rope. Bart with the blind tag and we get an awesome sequence of Billy, Fatu, and Bart all doing the inside-out sell for clotheslines in quick succession. The crowd chants USA, despite Samu and Fatu being from American Samoa. Samu grabs the hair of Bart on a crisscross and slams him face-first into the canvas. Fatu chokes Bart out with the tag rope. Even in complete control, Fatu feels it necessary to pull the ropes down on Bart on an Irish whip, then lays him out at ringside with a Super-Kick for good measure. Back inside, Samu with a slingshot under the ropes. Bart surprises Fatu with a small package but the referee is out of position. Fatu controls with headbutts. The easily distracted referee is out of position again, so Samu straddles Bart on the ring post. Back inside, Bart hits a DDT, but that's probably the worst move he could've gone for. Fatu no-sells and lays him out with a clothesline for a near-fall. Samu misses a splash in the corner and meets the post, over-selling like he's Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2005. Billy FINALLY gets the hot tag, running wild with right hands and clotheslines. Samu gets sent over the ropes, giving him an excuse to get his head stuck. Billy with mounted rights on Fatu before hitting Samu with a twisting forearm. They no-sell a DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER and lay Billy out with a double headbutt. Billy gets planted with an assisted Powerbomb, but Bart comes to the rescue before they can execute their finisher. Now Fatu is over-selling being straddled while Billy rolls Samu up for three at 13:34. These two teams were incapable of having bad matches together. Not only a good match, but you can see them having fun mixed in with the standard action. ***½WWF Women's Championship Match:
Alundra Blayze (c) vs. Leilani Kai:
Good to see Leilani get some extra dates other than WrestleMania X. Looks like she worked the full European tours before and after Mania, as well as some spot shows filling in for Luna Vachon. Leilani felt like she belonged in a different era, but was ONLY 34 at the time, only 4-years senior to Alundra. The makeup, the hair, and the full-body tights just aged her appearance drastically (at WrestleMania, at least). Lockup and Blayze with a side headlock. Leilani counters with a head-scissors, but Blayze quickly kicks out. Whip to the corner, with Alundra flipping to the apron and coming off the top rope with a wrist-lock arm drag. They lock knuckles with Leilani quickly planting a boot to the midsection to gain the advantage. Alundra fights to her feet and executes a Northern Lights Suplex for a near-fall. Leilani with knees to the body, followed by a big headbutt. She's Hawaiian, I guess that makes it OK. Blayze fights out of a nerve hold and takes Kai over with a sunset flip for two. Leilani with a double choke-lift and slam, followed by some gratuitous choking in the ropes. She plants Blayze with a deep scoop slam, but it only gets two. Whip to the ropes and Blayze with a Franken-Steiner for two. She lands a series of kicks to the chest, followed by an enzuigiri for two. Blayze starts working the leg, but Kai escapes and throws a flurry of short rights. Blayze sends Kai across the ring with a monkey-flip. She tries it again, but Kai blocks and sends her across the ring with a double handful of hair. Leilani with a double underhook suplex for two. Whip to the ropes, Blayze slides between the legs and grabs a waist-lock, but Kai fights it off. Blayze blocks the O'Connor Roll and a crucifix cradle gets two. Blayze with a slam and missile dropkick, and the German Suplex finishes at 8:41. This seemed a little all over the place, but it was nice to see them get time to breath compared to the Mania rush-job despite that. **
Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji):
Will Luger get that definitive victory over Yokozuna? I've checked the spoilers, and I'm going to let you guess the answer. You know what always impressed me? They had a fairly good match at SummerSlam '93, then their next match at WrestleMania X, was about as bad as you could've imagined by comparison. Luger doesn't appreciate the finger poking. He blocks a right and throws rights of his own until Yoko cuts him off with a rake of the eyes. Whip to the ropes, Luger ducks under a pair of elbows and hits a clothesline. Yoko lays him out with a clothesline of his own but misses an elbow drop. Luger with more rights, sending Yokozuna staggering through the ropes. Back inside, Yoko calls for a test-of-strength. At this point, the bell rang 5-minutes ago. We end up not getting that and they lockup into the ropes. Yoko with the predictable cheap shot, followed by a clothesline. Fuji gets a shot in with the referees back turned. Yoko with a snap mare into the nerve hold. OH GOD, START THE CLOCK. Luger escapes, only to run into an elbow. Luger gets tossed out, and he hurls himself into the guardrail for added effect, dramatically over-selling as he struggles to get in the ring. Meanwhile, Yoko poses with the Snuka “I love you” sign. THE FAWK? Back inside, Luger's comeback is cut short yet again and we get our second nerve hold. Both last approximately 90-seconds each, if you were wondering. Luger avoids the corner avalanche and this time the comeback is real. The referee gets wiped out on an Irish whip reversal. Fuji passes along the salt bucket, but Luger blocks and whacks Yoko with it instead. The referee wakes up and gets in position for a slow near-fall. Whip and Luger with a clothesline, followed by the slam! He nails Yoko with the bionic forearm, knocking him through the ropes, and you know the result at 15:42. Luger celebrates like the win means something. I guess the confetti and balloons is only for when the title is on the line, and he wins by count-out. Match was what you'd expect, maybe slightly better than their WrestleMania X encounter. ¾*Final Thoughts: Two of the top three matches were poor quality, the third is incomplete and below-par for the talent involved, and the rest of the card is watchable, but nothing you should go out of your way to watch with the handicap of this show having poor quality audio. Find any fan-cam from the Summer of 1993 through the Spring of 1994 and you'll likely find a good match between the Gunns and Headshrinkers.
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