By Justin
The first-ever Sky Box Office exclusive UK PPV takes place at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England. The commentators for the event are Vince McMahon, Jerry “The King” Lawler & Jim Ross. They make a lot of “Austin Powers”, “The Full Monty”, “Spice Girls” and futbol references. You know, because they’re in England. Topical!
1. Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/Chyna vs. Dude Love
A decent opener. These two have had better matches in the past (not to mention the future), so this one comes off as them being on autopilot. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the usual notes they hit are solid. You’ve got your usual psychology, as well as Chyna constantly getting involved. Highlight of the match has her laying out Foley after he sprints into her while chasing after Hunter. It looks as if the hippie has it won after a double arm DDT, but Chyna puts Helmsley’s foot on the bottom rope (she practically hops into the ring). When he complains, Hunter sneaks up from behind and nails the Pedigree for the win.
Final Score: 6/10
2. Leaf Cassidy vs. Tiger Ali Singh w/Tiger Jeet Singh
Forgettable filler put on the card solely to cool the crowd down and put Singh over. He, along with Cassidy (aka Al Snow) put on a rather sloppy match, with quite a few moves being botched. The finish, Tiger flying off the top rope and connecting with a bulldog, was crisp and the highlight.
Final Score: 3/10
3. WWF Tag Team Championship: Headbangers (c) vs. Los Boricuas
Solid tag team match is one of the Headbangers first title defenses after winning the gold at “In Your House: Ground Zero”. The crowd absolutely loves them and plays along well as Mosh (I believe) gets worked over for the first half of the match. Vega & Perez make for good opponents, working over one member and sneaking in and out behind the refs back (despite not looking similar whatsoever). When Thrasher (I believe) gets the hot tag in, the place comes unglued and he annihilates. This leads to all four wrestlers going at it all over the place, with Thrasher capitalizing after Perez hit a power bomb on Mosh, only to eat the Bombs Away.
Final Rating: 7/10
4. Flash Funk vs. The Patriot
Another filler match, this one designed to put The Patriot over (who just came off a WWF title loss to Bret Hart at “Ground Zero”). The crowd loathes Patriot and is fully on Funk’s side. The two put on a passable match, with one great spot having Funk put the masked American in a modified surfboard. We also learn that Funk’s family is starving because he’s constantly losing matches. At least steal some food from catering! Patriot picks up the victory shortly thereafter with a full nelson slam out of nowhere.
Final Rating: 5/10
5. The Legion of Doom vs. The Godwinns
The crowd is red hot for LOD, eating up everything they do. Unfortunately, they’re stuck in a generic big man match that doesn’t have much to offer. It’s kept relatively short, meaning both teams pull out their signature moves swiftly. LOD wins with the Doomsday Device.
Final Rating: 4.5/10
Jim Ross is in the ring to conduct an interview with Ken Shamrock, who was scheduled to wrestle Owen Hart, but had to bow out due to an injury suffered the previous night. He goes through the generic “I’d fight if I could” spiel until Rockabilly (aka Billy Gunn) comes out and talks trash. He calls him a sissy for not competing and gets his ass handed to him via the Ankle Lock. The only reason this took place was to give the crowd a glimpse of Shamrock whipping ass, which was fine, I guess. I’m surprised they didn’t do the same for Austin, who was doing so on many events at the time while nursing his neck injury. I assume he couldn’t fly over due to his injury.
6. Owen Hart vs. Vader
Vader subs for Ken Shamrock and does a damn fine job! He and Owen put on a fantastic David vs. Goliath match, with Hart going after the Mastadon’s legs. He also teases body slamming the behemoth, which he eventually does (only gets a two, though). Vader takes his opponent too lightly in the beginning, only to take him more seriously after Hart kicks out of a top rope splash. He, as well as everybody else, is flabbergasted. The crowd universally praises Owen and it looks like he has the victory when he snares in the Sharpshooter. Vader narrowly escapes and eventually plants the Slammy award winner with a power slam when he catches him off the top rope.
Final Score: 7.5/10
7. WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. The Undertaker
What a fucking match! These two could’ve toned it down a bit if they wanted, due to this being an overseas event (I tend to get this vibe a lot from these events), but they weren’t partaking in that. They put on a clinic that trumps their solid “Summerslam” match from two months prior (though that one’s ending was better). They start off brawling, with Hart quickly exposing the turnbuckle. He regrets this decision a few minutes later, as Taker sends him careening chest first into it. Later, he tries to avoid receiving the same damage, only to slide under the turnbuckle and collide awkwardly with the ring post. Bret eventually gets the upper hand by working over the legs, applying figure four leg locks (one on the ring post), as well as some Sharpshooters. Undertaker refuses to give up, almost nailing a choke slam on a few occasions. The match ends when Hart gets tangled in the ropes and the Deadman, who at this point grew very frustrated, began pounding away until the ref disqualified him. He responds by choke slamming the ref, as well as Gerald Brisco (who came out to untangle Hart). He went after the ring announcer too, but he got out of dodge.
Final Rating: 8/10
8. WWF European Championship: British Bulldog (c) vs. Shawn Michaels
This match is notorious for Michaels throwing a hissy fit and demanding he win the European title. Bulldog was originally scheduled to win, even having his sister, who was battling cancer, in his corner. They may have wanted to go with that finish, as the fans trashed the ring after HBK won. As much of a dick as he was at this time, I will give him credit for reveling in it and being a tremendous heel. Too bad he never got his comeuppance from Smith. With that being said, the match is solid. The first half has Davey overpowering Shawn, including a great spot where he carries him around the ring in a gorilla press position, ultimately dropping him in the middle of the ring (the ref prevented him from tossing him outside). Once Rick Rude, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna came down to ringside, the pace changed. Bulldog got his foot caught between the guard rail outside, prompting HBK to hit the Sweet Chin Music & Hunter to hit the Pedigree. Back inside, HBK took off Smith’s knee brace and applied the Figure Four Leg Lock. The Bulldog passed out, giving HBK the victory, the title and mountains of trash from the audience. This also marks the first time somebody became a Grand Slam Champion with all four belts (WWF, Intercontinental, Tag Team & European) being counted.
Final Rating: 7/10
Overall, this was a solid show! While a lot of these Sky Box Office events are passable at best, this one had four matches that received a seven or higher rating from me. The final three matches were amazing, with the WWF Title contest stealing the show! Seek this out if you can!
Final Rating: 7.75/10
