Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents Action Zone
Date: 10/23/1994
From:
Matches:
1.)WWF World Champion Bret Hart defeated Owen Hart to retain the title
2.)The Heavenly Bodies defeated Gary Scott & Rich Myers
3.)Tatanka defeated Mike Moraldo
4.)Adam Bomb defeated Bob Starr
5.)The Undertaker defeated Mike Bell
Angle Developments:
1. This is the debut of Action Zone. The premise of the show is more action and less talking. Charlie Minn is the host of the show. He is fairly new to the company and didn’t last all that long, I don’t believe. Bret squares off against Owen for the last time on this show.
2. Owen is posing with the WWF World Championship before the start of the match. They trade slaps early on with Owen avoiding Bret in the corner. Bret avoids a dropkick and catapults Owen into the corner chest first for a near fall on a roll up. Owen runs into a couple of hip tosses before bailing to the floor. Jim Neidhart has made his way out to the ringside to root on Owen. Bret gets another near fall with a school boy. Neidhart trips Bret as the champ runs the ropes. Here comes the British Bulldog to help out Bret and even the odds. Owen keeps control of Bret with a sleeper hold. Owen keeps on yanking Bret’s hair to maintain control of the match. Owen hits a belly to belly suplex for a near fall. Owen sends Bret chest first into the top turnbuckle. Owen hit a missile dropkick and Neidhart wraps Bret’s knee around the ring post. Owen begins to focus his attack on Bret”s knee. Owen has a figure four on Bret but can’t get the submission as Bret reverses the hold. Back from break, Bret hits Owen as he leaps off the top and Bret hits an atomic drop. Bret gets a two count after a side Russian leg sweep. Bret leaps off the middle rope to hit a forearm drop but Neidhart puts Owen’s foot on the bottom rope. Bret counters a roll up with one of his own for a two count. Bret attempts the Sharp Shooter but Owen gets out of it and hits a spinning heel kick for a near fall. Owen shoves Bret off the middle rope but Bulldog knocks Owen off the top and Bret gets the pin to retain the title. (**1/2. I don’t know, I thought this was a big disappointment for a final showdown. The match was really slow and the finish didn’t really sit well with me at all. A big main event that was a letdown for me, personally.)
3. IRS is hanging out at the funeral home again this week on the Action Zone. Irwin continues to talk about death and taxes. He wants to know how many people would escape their taxes by dying instead. IRS is going to audit a dead person. It would appear that IRS is going to be feuding with the Undertaker soon.
Final Thoughts:
A lackluster debut to the series, I thought. The featured match was disappointing and the rest were just squash matches. Another negative note of the show is Todd Pettengill on commentary. He is trying way too hard to be funny instead of just being natural on color commentary. It just sounds really forced and unnatural. Action Zone debut gets a thumbs down from me.
Thanks for reading.