WWF House Show 1/21/1991

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 1/21/1991
From: New York, NY

Sean Mooney and Bobby Heenan are the announcers tonight. They hype up the show as being a great night of wrestling. Tonight, we will see Randy Savage take on the Ultimate Warrior inside a steel cage!

Opening Contest: Paul Roma defeated Shane Douglas: Douglas go the early advantage on Roma, who seemed more concentrated on flexing his muscles then wrestling tonight. Douglas’s offense was pretty average consisting of arm drags to work on Roma’s arm in the opening minutes of the bout. Roma counters a go behind and sends Douglas throat first into the top rope to gain the advantage and works on Douglas’s throat for several moments. Roma nearly wins with a top rope axe handle shot but the referee gives him a really slow count allowing Douglas to kick out at two. Roma begins to work on Douglas’s back with forearm shots and a bear hug. Douglas breaks free and avoids a dropkick from Roma. Douglas nearly wins with a vertical suplex but only gets a near fall. Roma rolls through a cross body and pins Douglas, but the referee apparently messed up because they keep on wrestling! Roma power slams Douglas after sending him into the ropes and gets another win! Roma is pissed at the referee for screwing that up. (*1/2. Well, the most entertaining aspect of this match was the referee screwing up and just putting his arms up like he didn’t know what to tell Roma. It was a rather dull opener, though.)

Prior to the next match, there will be a test of strength between the Warlord and the British Bulldog. Jesus, Warlord stalls for at least five minutes before agreeing to do the contest. Warlord attacks Bulldog before his arm hits the table because he can’t accept defeat. Warlord rams Bulldog chest first into the table and puts the full nelson on Bulldog. Warlord keeps the hold on Bulldog until several officials come out and eject Warlord from the ring.

Second Contest: Tito Santana defeated Koko B. Ware: Neither man is able to get the clear cut advantage early on as they both deliver hip tosses or quickly get out of holds. They are both playing the babyface role tonight. Ware ends up hitting Santana as he goes for a handshake to pretty much take the heel role, I assume. Ware has a mean streak as he rams Santana into the ring post head first! Ware keeps control with several jabs but misses a top rope fist drop. Santana begins his comeback with a few scoop slams. Santana ducks under a clothesline and hits Ware with a leaping forearm shot for the win. (*. This was really bland match that didn’t garner much reaction. I did find Koko B. Ware having an attitude to being a nice surprise. I don’t think it was a scheduled heel turn or anything like that, just a way to prevent a complete face vs. face match.)

Third Contest: The Undertaker defeated Jimmy Snuka: Brother Love is the Undertaker’s manager for what would be a WrestleMania VII preview match. Snuka stalks Love on the floor until Taker stands in front of Love to stop Snuka. Taker attacks Snuka from behind in the ring to kick off the contest. Snuka actually manages to knock Taker off his feet with a running head butt which also sends Taker to the floor. Snuka continues to surprise me with a leaping head butt again to knock Taker off his feet and gets a two count on a cover. Taker catches Snuka on a springboard cross body attempt and plants Snuka with a tombstone pile driver to win the bout. (*1/4. Not a bad extended squash match if I’m totally honest. While I don’t think Snuka should’ve gotten that much offense in, Taker looked very good and it was a nice little finish.)

Fourth Contest: Legion of Doom defeated Demolition: Demolition attack LOD before the bell. Hawk is able to turn the tables on Smash while Crush beats down Animal. Hawk misses a shoulder ram in the corner and hits the ring post before crashing to the floor. Animal knocks Crush down with a leaping clothesline but Smash attacks Animal before the pin. Animal is double teamed with a clothesline while Hawk struggles on the floor. Demolition connects with a double suplex on Animal while Fuji hits Hawk with his cane. Smash twirls over the top rope to take Hawk off his feet but didn’t really hit him. Crush misses a clothesline on the floor as Hawk ducks and Crush hits the ring post. Hawk leaps off the top rope to clothesline Smash in the ring and Animal pins Smash to win the bout! (*1/2. That was a rather quick match but it was actually pretty entertaining. I thought the brawling was effective and didn’t hurt the match. It is a shame these two teams didn’t have more memorable matches.)
After the match, Mr. Fuji avoids being beaten down by LOD.

Sean Mooney hosts the WWF Event Center segment where he promotes a February 16th house show in Long Island, NY which will see Hulk Hogan take on Earthquake in a stretcher match and its being promoted as the final encounter. Also, the Nasty Boys square off against the Rockers. Pre-tape comments from the Nasty Boys are aired saying that this is pro wrestling and not rock and roll. They insult the Rockers good looks and party attitudes. Knobbs says that they are just two more victims towards their quest for the tag titles. The Rockers also share some pre-tape comments saying that they were Nasty before it was cool. Jannetty says that you don’t start with the Rockers when you enter the WWF. WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect meets the Texas Tornado. Pre-tape comments from Perfect and Heenan are aired. Heenan tells Tornado that Perfect isn’t going to lose because Tornado wants the title. Perfect tells Tornado he is the greatest athlete and the people will see him exposed. Tornado chimes in saying he proved that Perfect wasn’t so perfect. Tornado is coming for the title.

Fifth Contest: Big Bossman defeated Hercules by disqualification: Bossman opens the bout sending Hercules and himself over the top to the floor with a clothesline. Hercules returns to the ring and gets the upper hand in a test of strength. Bossman breaks free and dropkicks Hercules followed by several clotheslines. Hercules recovers with a clothesline on the floor. Bossman gets out of a sleeper hold by ramming Hercules into the top turnbuckle and gets a two count with a roll up. Bossman plants Hercules with a side walk slam but doesn’t go for the cover. Paul Roma runs down and nails Bossman with a missile dropkick off the top causing the DQ. (It wasn’t much of a match but seemingly more of the continuation of an angle of some sort.)
After the match, Hercules delivers a back breaker and Roma drops several elbows. Roma leaps off the top to hit a big splash. Hercules wraps his chain around Bossman as Bobby Heenan enters the ring and slaps the tied up Bossman several times. The Legion of Doom run down and make the save by tossing Power and Glory out of the ring. After Heenan bails from ringside, Brother Love joins Mooney at commentary for the remaining of the show.

Sixth Contest: Greg Valentine defeated Dino Bravo: Valentine heads to the floor after avoiding a few elbow drops and chases after Jimmy Hart but slides back into the ring to hammer away on Bravo. Bravo avoids a middle rope elbow drop and works on Valentine with several stomps before dumping him to the floor. While on the floor, Jimmy Hart gets a few shots in. Valentine makes his comeback and goes for the figure four but is distracted by Hart allowing Bravo to regain control. Valentine counters a figure four attempt and pins Bravo with a roll up! (DUD. That was really, really boring.)

Seventh Contest: The Nasty Boys defeated The Bushwhackers: I just can’t stand the Bushwhackers. Thus, this will be even shorter than the other matches. Sags hits Luke with an elbow drop as he had Knobbs pinned behind the referees back. Knobbs rolls over and pins Luke to win the bout.

Backstage, Lord Alfred Hayes is with the Big Bossman who has Hercules’s chain around his neck. Bossman says that he has been dealing with trash all his life. He believes Bobby Heenan is the worst of them all because he will pay anyone to end Bossman’s career. Bossman will meet Heenan on February 16th in Long Island, NY! Bossman is not letting Heenan get away without serving hard time!

Backstage, Lord Alfred Hayes is with Randy Savage and Sherri Martel. Hayes talks about the Royal Rumble. Savage says that you don’t say no to the Macho King and that’s the bottom line. Savage believes that Warrior lives in his shadow like everyone else. He is too hot to handle and too cold to hold! He wants Hayes to watch what he will do to Warrior in the cage tonight!

Main Event: Randy Savage defeated the Ultimate Warrior in a steel cage match: Savage tries to attack Warrior on the aisle way but is unsuccessful. Warrior rams Savage into the cage head first and whacks Savage with a chair. Warrior tosses Savage onto the announcers table before tossing Savage into the cage. Warrior climbs the cage from the outside and plays to the crowd. Warrior pulls Savage down from the top rope and delivers an atomic drop. Warrior continues to work on Savage with several short arm clotheslines. Savage is able to pull Warrior face first into the cage to allow him some time to regroup. Savage pokes Warrior in the eyes and follows up by delivering a clothesline to the back of Warrior’s head. Savage charges towards Warrior and they both go down following a double clothesline. Savage covers and a referee enters the cage to count a two. Warrior blocks being sent head first into the cage and knocks Savage away. Sherri distracts Warrior long enough for Savage to knee lift Warrior head first into the cage! Warrior is choked by Savage until he fights back with right hands. Savage goes back to choking Warrior and delivers a few jabs in the corner. Savage scoop slams Warrior and heads to the top rope. Savage leaps off and connects with an elbow drop but Warrior powers out at two! Savage punches Warrior several times as he shakes the ropes and gets a second wind. Warrior knocks Savage off his feet with several clotheslines and goes for the big splash but Savage gets his knees up! Savage climbs the cage and is over the top of the cage and is nearly at the floor but Warrior grabs Savage by his hair. Savage tries to kick Warrior through the cage but Warrior is pulling Savage back into the cage by his hair! Sherri Martel has entered the ring and begins to hammer away on Warrior but Warrior isn’t letting go. Martel begins to choke Warrior with her top and Savage manages to drop down to the floor to win the match! (**3/4. It wasn’t a bad match, but it wasn’t all that good either. I thought the match really lacked the typical close call escapes by a heel and all that stuff. I didn’t find it to be thrilling like cage matches should be and usually are.)
After the match, Warrior rips off Martel’s top and skirt before she can escape the cage. Savage returns to the ring to save Martel. Savage leaps off the top of the cage but is hit in midair. Warrior beats down Savage sending him into the cage. Warrior tosses several referees away so he can get more punches in. The Nasty Boys run into the ring to hold Warrior but Warrior breaks free again. Martel whacks Warrior with a specter and Savage escapes. However, Warrior recovers in time to grab Martel before she leaves the cage. Warrior press slams Martel and plays to the crowd.

Final Thoughts: A few of the matches had brief entertaining moments but aside from the main event, nothing was particularly entertaining from start to finish. Even looking at the card on paper it’s pretty obvious that this show is a one match show that match being the main event. There aren’t any sleeper matches or anything of that nature. If you want to see a good Warrior/Savage match just watch WrestleMania VII because there really isn’t anything good on this one, folks.

Thanks for reading.