Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 6/9/1995
From: Long Island, NY
Matches:
1.) Jean Pierre Lafitte defeated Aldo Montoya
2.) The Smoking Gunns defeated The Blu Brothers
3.) Shawn Michaels won a 20-man battle royal
4.) Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Doink the Clown (was not recorded by the people at the show)
5.) Skip defeated Duke Droese
6.) WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Razor Ramon in a ladder match to retain the title
7.) Adam Bomb & Man Mountain Rock defeated Tatanka & King Kong Bundy
8.) Bam-Bam Bigelow defeated Psycho Sid
The Show:
1. The Intercontinental Championship is actually already hanging from the ceiling as the show starts, but the ladder match doesn’t start the show. Instead, it is Jean Pierre Lafitte taking on Aldo Montoya. Montoya got the early advantage after dropkicking Lafitte to the floor and following up with slingshot cross body on the floor. Montoya leaps off the top back into the ring to hit Lafitte with a fist for a near fall. Lafitte gets control by stomping Montoya in the lower midsection area. Montoya fights out of a body scissors and goes for a big splash. However, Lafitte gets is knees up to block it and drops Montoya gut first over the top rope causing Montoya to fall to the floor. Montoya looks for a top rope cross body but Lafitte avoids it. Lafitte ties Montoya up in the ropes and splashes onto Montoya two times. Montoya won’t go away as he counters a power bomb with a hurricanrana for a near fall but is met with a clothesline as soon as he gets up. Montoya fights back with a running forearm shot and a clothesline. Montoya hits a top rope cross body for a near fall. Lafitte blocks a backdrop attempt by planting Montoya with a DDT and heads to the top rope where he hits a swanton bomb for the win. A surprisingly fun, competitive opener to the show. I like Lafitte and the fact that they did something new and not the typical slow opener.
2. Psycho Sid is making his way down to the ring to apparently cut a promo. Sid takes the microphone from a local DJ, I assume. Sid cuts a promo on Bam-Bam Bigelow saying that he knows Bigelow can hear him. He wants Bigelow to go home because if he doesn’t he will end up in the hospital. That was just your standard heel getting heat promo.
3. The Blu Brothers attack before the bell and slam Billy Gunn with a double side slam. Billy rolls Eli up out of the corner but only gets a near fall. Bart gets the tag and works on Eli’s left arm. The Gunns hit a double snap suplex on Eli for a two count of their own. Jacob yanks on Bart’s hair as he runs the ropes giving Eli the advantage. Bart almost rolls Jacob up for a three count. Bart is double teamed for a few more moments until he avoids a middle rope elbow drop by Jacob and tags in Billy. Billy cleans house with right hands and rams the Blu Brothers head first into each other. The Gunns hit a side slam/leg drop combo but Billy is pulled to the floor where he trades blows with Eli. All four men brawl to the floor where they are counted out. After the match, the Gunns dropkick the Blu Brothers to the floor. Not that good of a match, but they didn’t do anything wrong. It was just dull and uninteresting to me.
4. With the 20-man battle royal being next, I’m just going to list the eliminations in the order they occurred. Yokozuna, Billy Gunn, Eli Blu, Jacob Blu Bart Gunn, Adam Bomb, Mabel, Aldo Montoya, Jean Pierre Lafitte, Doink the Clown, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Bob Backlund, Man Mountain Rock, Mo, Duke Droese, Owen Hart, Tatanka and King Kong Bundy. Tatanka eliminated himself after a clothesline because Shawn Michaels held onto the ropes. Bundy thought he had won but Michaels dropkicks Bundy over the top to the floor. In a hilarious moment, Michaels gets fireworks as if he had just won the Royal Rumble match and is going to WrestleMania. That was completely unnecessary. It was a fine battle royal, though.
5. Sunny rips on the pollution in New York before the next match. She calls the fans disgusting, fat and ugly. Droese gets down on his knees to mock Skip and their size difference. Droese gorilla press slams Skip but Sunny distracts him and allows Skip to attack from behind. Droese recovers by hitting a vertical suplex but missed an elbow drop. Skip counters a side slam with a roll up and uses the tights to get the win. There was no interest in that match, and who can honestly blame the crowd for not caring?
6. Ramon greets Jarrett with a right hand to start the match but Jarrett quickly takes Ramon down with a swinging neck breaker and sends Ramon to the floor following a dropkick. Jarrett walks up the aisle way to get the ladder and bring it back to the ring. Ramon cuts him off and tosses the champ back into the ring so he can go get the ladder. That doesn’t make sense; he will get cut off by Jarrett. Sure enough, Jarrett baseball slides the ladder into Ramon’s midsection. Jarrett climbs the ladder but is stopped by Ramon. Jarrett kicks him away and leaps off the middle rope to deliver a fist drop. Jarrett rams the ladder into Ramon’s gut and drops the ladder across his back. Jarrett climbs up again but Ramon tips the ladder over and Jarrett hits the top rope chest first. Ramon connects with a fall away slam. Ramon climbs the ladder but isn’t able to grab the title. Jarrett tips over the ladder sending Ramon crashing to the mat. Jarrett tips the ladder over onto Ramon’s midsection. Ramon looks for the Razors Edge but is back dropped to the floor. Jarrett looks to climb the ladder after falling through the bottom rope to the floor as well. Ramon is on the other side of the ladder. Ramon is touching the belt but trades rights with Jarrett. Ramon tosses Jarrett off the ladder but falls off as well! Jarrett recovers first but is sent back first into the ladder in a corner two times by Ramon! Ramon rams the ladder into Jarrett and tosses it into Jarrett’s back and chest. Ramon knocks Jarrett to the floor after hitting him in the face with the ladder. Jarrett tips the ladder over as Ramon gets close to the belt. Ramon falls to the floor and Jarrett climbs up the ladder to retrieve the belt and wins the belt. It was a good ladder match for house show standards. They used the ladder plenty of times and the false title grabs by Ramon were convincing enough to me.
7. I can’t imagine the work-rate for the next match to be all that thrilling, so excuse me as I look to fast forward through this one. Bomb and Rock work on Tatanka early on until Tatanka hits a leaping shoulder block on Rock that has zero affect on him. Tatanka ends up bailing to the floor to regroup. Bundy tags in once Tatanka gets the advantage but literally does nothing worth stating. Rock slams Tatanka and tags in Bomb who hammers away on Bundy followed by a leaping forearm shot. Bomb leaps off the top to hit Bundy with a clothesline to win the match. That match sucked.
8. Sid backs Bigelow into a corner to deliver a right hand and just casually walks away. Bigelow knocks Sid to the floor after connecting with a leaping shoulder block. Ted DiBiase gets on the apron to distract Bigelow and it works as Sid is able to soon hit a splash in the corner. Bigelow avoided a second splash and plants Sid with a DDT. Bigelow heads to the top rope but gets off to stare at DiBiase. So, Sid attacks from behind with a knee lift to his back. Sid drops a leg across Bigelow’s chest for a two count. Bigelow clotheslines Sid but misses a falling head butt. Sid kicks Bigelow through the middle rope to the floor. DiBiase punches Bigelow on the floor but Sid leaps off the apron to hit Bigelow with a double axe handle and rams him head first into the steps. Sid sets up for the power bomb but Shawn Michaels comes down to the apron and Bigelow rolls Sid up from behind to get the win! Another boring match, but that had to be expected.
Final Thoughts:
There were only two matches on the card that I found to be entertaining. The opener and the ladder match were competitive matches and were fast paced. Actually, if you include the battle royal that would make it three matches that had some level of enjoyment. But, despite those few enjoyments the bad stuff really sticks out in my mind. Skip/Droese was lackluster and the tag team matches, especially the later one with Bundy just phoning in his performance.
Plus, from a top name perspective you are missing a lot of guys. No Undertaker, Bret Hart, or WWF World Champion Diesel. I don’t know why Michaels was just wasted in a battle royal and the same goes to Owen and Yoko. Perhaps they got the night off.
Overall, this house show gets a thumbs down from me.
Thanks for reading.