WWF House Show 5/19/1996

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 5/19/1996
From: New York, NY

There are only two matches missing from the historic night. The two matches were the following
The Bushwhackers defeating the New Rockers
Savio Vega defeating Bob Backlund

I’m not all that upset about missing out on those two matches, honestly.

Opening Contest: the British Bulldog vs. Ahmed Johnson: Early on, Bulldog stalls to get the crowd riled up. Bulldog wants to shake hands but Johnson refuses to do so, thus we get more stalling from Bulldog. Ahmed goes to the floor and attacks Bulldog on the entrance way and sends him into the ring steps. Johnson continues to hammer away on Bulldog on the floor but is soon sent into the ring steps! Bulldog lifts up the steps and casually drops them onto Ahmed! Bulldog scoop slams Johnson and drops a leg to continue his offense. Ahmed works his way out of the sleeper but is met with a knee to his midsection. Johnson gets a sunset flip but only a near fall and is ran over by Bulldog with a clothesline.

Ahmed counters a running power slam by sliding off of Bulldog’s shoulder and hitting a clothesline followed by a leaping kick. Ahmed delivers a scissors kick as well. Johnson plants Bulldog with a spine buster and goes for the finish. Owen Hart runs down and attacks Ahmed from behind to cause the disqualification. After the match, Bulldog taunts the fans but Johnson has gotten up and hits the Pearl River Plunge to leave Bulldog laying in the middle of the ring. (*1/2. I wasn’t expecting Bulldog to just drop ring steps on Johnson like it was nothing. The crowd was completely into the match and are behind Ahmed at this point. Bulldog being protected makes sense as he is soon to be in a main event feud.)

Second Contest: Jake Roberts vs. Steve Austin: Roberts arm drags Austin causing Steve to roll to the outside to stall in the early moments of the contest. Austin returns and delivers a shoulder block but doesn’t quickly follow up. Uh, Austin shoulder blocks Roberts and wins the match. Roberts is pleading with the referee but that was really freaking fast. Hang on a minute, they are going to have another match for reasons I don’t know.

Austin enters and is met with a hip toss and bails from the ring before a DDT could be delivered. The fans want the DDT. Austin leapfrogs Jake and delivers a boot to gain control of the match. Jakes quickly comes back with a knee lift but Austin rolls to the floor again. Savio Vega has made his way down to ringside to make sure Austin doesn’t try to leave the arena. DiBiase distracts Roberts from the floor and allows Austin to attack from behind. Austin delivers a forearm drop on the apron. DiBiase gets a few shots in while the referee is distracted.

Roberts sends Austin head first into the top turnbuckle while standing on the apron. Austin gets crotched on the top and flips into the ring. Jake follows up with a short arm clothesline. Roberts plants Austin with the DDT! DiBiase puts Austin’s leg on the bottom rope to stop the pin. Austin rolls Roberts up in the corner and has his feet on the ropes for a near fall. DiBiase distracts Roberts to allow a clothesline and Austin wins again. (*1/4. That was a dragged out segment here. Roberts simply can’t put on a good match and really only there to give fans the DDT they want to see.) After the match, Austin decks Roberts. Jake gets his snake and DiBiase bails while Austin has no idea. Roberts gets the snake on Austin briefly before he escapes to the floor.

Third Contest: Owen Hart vs. The Ultimate Warrior: The fans welcome Warrior with a pretty good reception. Hart runs away from Warrior but they eventually get in the ring where Warrior delivers a few hip tosses and a scoop slam. Owen is sent over the top with a clothesline for good measure. On the floor, Owen attacks Warrior but again runs away. Hart hammers away on Warrior back in the ring. Warrior press slams Owen and catapults him into the corner! Owen is driven face first into the canvas and slammed down by his hair.

Hart delivers a spinning heel kick and clothesline to finally drop Warrior. With the referee distracted, Cornette jabs Warrior with his tennis racket. Owen leaps off the top to hit Warrior with a strike to the face. Owen drops Warrior with a kick to the head but isn’t wanting to sell for Owen all that much it seems. Owen comes off the top with a missile dropkick for a near fall. Warrior fights back with a vertical suplex.

Uh oh, Warrior is beginning to “Warrior Up” and runs over Owen with a series of clotheslines. Warrior with a leaping shoulder block and that’s good enough for a three count. (*. Well, Owen was able to hit a few good moves but the match just wasn’t good. Warrior selling for someone smaller than him was something I would need to get use to considering he mainly wrestled larger guys. Warrior isn’t designed to sell and that hurt the match, too.)

Fourth Contest: Yokozuna vs. Vader: Yoko doesn’t waste any time trading blows with Vader in the middle of the ring. Yoko manages to scoop slam Vader and goes after Cornette in the corner, but he bails to the floor and Vader chop blocks Yoko’s left leg. Vader splashes Yoko’s leg from the middle rope. Yoko is able to hammer away on Vader in the corner before Vader turns it around and hammers Yoko several times as well. Yoko no sells head butts and drops Vader with one of his own. Yoko nearly wins with a Rock Bottom!

Yoko works over Vader in the corner until he drops down. Yoko lets him up and hits a splash. Vader delivers a splash of his own in the corner a couple of times and drops Yoko with a right forearm. Vader comes off the middle rope to hit a splash but doesn’t go for the cover. Yoko is up and starts his offense with a clothesline and a Samoan Drop! Yoko leg drops Vader as well! Vader is dragged to the corner and Yoko goes for the Bonzai Drop but Cornette gets on the apron. Vader gets up and hits Yoko with the tennis racket twice to win the match. After the match, Vader comes off the middle rope to deliver a splash. (**. I thought it was a decent big man match here. They kept a good pace and for the most part hit their moves well.)

Fifth Contest: WWF World Tag Team Champions Skip & Zip vs. The Godwinns: Henry and Zip kick off the title match. Henry drives Zip into the corner but Skip quickly tags in only to be met with a press slam and a clothesline after Phineas delivered a right hand. Phineas tags into the match to work over Skip. Skip runs into Phineas legs and is kicked out of the corner. Henry tags in but is knocked down. Henry catapults Skip over the top onto Zip on the floor! Phineas tags into the bout and is backed into the champs corner where Phineas fights out with wild punches. Henry has to tackle Phineas on the floor to prevent him from going wild on the floor.

Phineas is attacked by the champs from behind and they hit a double slingshot suplex to gain control of the bout. Skip drops a leg on Phineas and tags in Zip to work over Phineas in the corner. Skip has a camel clutch on Phineas for a brief time before being knocked down. Henry gets the hot tag and cleans house on the champs. Henry backdrops both Skip and Zip. Zip knees Henry from the apron to help out Skip. Zip is legally tagged in and Phineas enters to clean house again. Henry sends Skip to the floor with a clothesline. Sunny distracts Phineas on the apron and is kissed for her troubles. Phineas his the Slop Drop on Zip and gets the pin to win the titles! (*1/2. The fans really erupted for that title win and it’s always neat to have title changes happen on the house shows, especially in MSG. Skip had a few nice bumps in an otherwise uneventful match, really.)

Sixth Contest: Razor Ramon vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley: Hunter attacks Razor as he was posing for the fans by delivering a clothesline. They go to the floor where Hunter rams Ramon back first into the apron several times. Hunter sends Razor into the ring post as well. Hunter is choking Razor with a cord on the floor now. Back in the ring, Ramon stops Hunter on the top and punches him in midair. Ramon kicks Hunter and delivers an atomic drop and drops Hunter with a right hand. Razor sends Helmsley flipping into the corner and catches Hunter to hit a fall away slam for a near fall.

Ramon places Hunter on the top rope and hits a back suplex! Razor goes for the Razors Edge and hits it but the referee got knocked out by HHH’s feet hitting him. Ramon has the cover but there isn’t a referee. Hunter gets up and plants Ramon with the Pedigree to get a clean win right in the middle of the ring. (*1/2. That was a rather quick display of Hunter pinning Ramon. A huge win for Hunter and probably the biggest victory for him up to this point in his career.)

Main Event: WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel in a Steel Cage: Michaels works over Diesel with right hands but is quickly cut off with a clothesline from the challenger. Shawn blocks being sent into the cage but is sent backwards. Diesel is successful in tossing Michaels into the cage this time. Diesel drops Michaels with a short clothesline. Diesel hits a spinning side slam and taunts the fans afterward. Diesel grabs a microphone but I can’t hear what he is trying to say. Michaels recovers and dropkicks Diesel into the cage. Shawn begins to climb the cage but Diesel stops him with a back suplex. Diesel tries to go through the door but is pulled back by the champ.

Shawn tries to escape through the door but is grabbed by Diesel. Michaels is worked over in the corner and sent flipping into the corner by Diesel. Michaels is sent into the ropes and back dropped into the cage. Diesel begins to climb the cage but comes down and hammers away on the champ. Michaels rams Diesel head first into the cage a couple of times. Michaels is at the top of the cage and fights Diesel off with right hands. Michaels is close to escaping and on the other side. Diesel recovers and has Michaels by his throat and hair. Diesel is able to pull Michaels back into the cage and delivers knee lifts on the top turnbuckle. Diesel tosses HBK off the top rope as well.

Diesel has Michaels on his shoulders but Michaels gets off and sends Diesel into the cage. Michaels comes off the ropes to hit a leaping forearm shot! Both men are laid out for quite some time. Shawn ducks a big boot and sends Diesel into the cage several times. Shawn drops Diesel with a clothesline and again both men are down. Shawn is at the top of the cage but leaps off the top rope to deliver an elbow drop. Shawn again climbs up the cage but is stopped by the British Bulldog. Bulldog leaves as both men are down again. Diesel knocks HBK down and has control of the match now. Diesel goes for a power bomb but Michaels gets on the top rope only to be press slammed off by Diesel.

Diesel begins to crawl towards the door but Michaels stops him. Diesel has a chair now inside the cage but misses a shot. Michaels has the chair and whacks Diesel over the back with it. Shawn hits the Sweet Chin Music! Michaels steps over Diesel and walks out the door to win the match. (***1/4. A good main event to close the show as they put on a really fun match. The fans were completely into it and gives Michaels a big win as Diesel leaves for WCW.) After the match, Razor Ramon comes out and hugs Michaels. Michaels wakes Diesel up and here comes Hunter Hearst Helmsley! Hunter hugs Michaels and the guy recording this is going nuts. All four men embrace and everyone is loving it.

Final Thoughts:
On paper it’s a strong show, but outside of the main event and the title change there is nothing all that memorable on the show. The fans were hot for everything, but a lot of it failed to entertain me personally. The Curtain Call is a memorable moment on an otherwise forgettable show.

Thanks for reading.