WWF House Show 9/21/1990

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 9/21/1990
From: New York, NY

Opening Contest: Dustin Rhodes vs. Paul Diamond: This is the MSG debut for Dustin Rhodes. Rhodes takes Diamond down to the canvas with an arm drag and keeps control of the arm. Diamond goes for a scoop slam but Rhodes keeps a good firm grip on the arm. Diamond nails Dustin with a forearm shot and sends Rhodes into the corner but misses a splash hitting the corner shoulder first. Dustin shoulder blocks Diamond and follows up with a standing dropkick before controlling the arm of Diamond. Diamond scoop slams Rhodes but misses an elbow drop. Diamond blocks a hip toss with a clothesline. Dustin keeps control of Diamond wrenching on his arm. Dustin drives his knee into Paul’s arm in a hammerlock position. Diamond knee lifts Rhodes in the midsection and keeps control with an elbow drop several times for a two count. Diamond sends Rhodes chest first into the corner and plays to the crowd. Diamond stomps on Dustin to maintain control of the contest followed by a double stomp. They both miss elbow drops but Dustin gets up and punches Diamond a few times. Dustin tries for a clothesline in the corner but is met with an elbow strike instead. Dustin comes off the ropes and runs into Diamond like he’s a bull and they collide heads. Diamond gets up first and stomps away on Dustin. Dustin leapfrogs Diamond followed by a dropkick but a second dropkick misses. Diamond nails Dustin in the midsection with a strike for a two count. Dustin hammers away on Diamond but misses a splash in the corner. Diamond tries to get a cheap finish with his feet on the ropes but the referee sees it. Dustin nearly wins with a rollup. Diamond spears Rhodes in the corner followed by right hands. Dustin avoids a second spear and Diamond hit the ring post shoulder first. Dustin drops Diamond following a right hand. Dustin yanks Diamond out of the corner followed by a clothesline in the corner and a flurry of right hands. Dustin tries for a cover but can’t keep Diamond down. Diamond misses a clothesline and Dustin hit a flying clothesline for the win. (*1/2. A rather basic match but I’d say Dustin was pretty good in the ring and held my interest better than other guys who have been opening card acts.)

Prior to the next match, Slaughter rips on the fans and says he will be their leader.

Second Contest: Sgt. Slaughter vs. Nikolai Volkoff: Volkoff is using the same music that Lex Luger would use at Survivor Series 1993 and it just feels weird. It’s a slow start with Slaughter taunting the fans and getting some decent heat from it. Heenan says that Slaughter’s chin looks like Bossman’s mother, but Bossman’s mother is hairier and more wrinkles. HA! They are shoving each other and nobody is getting the advantage thus far. Slaughter tries to shoulder block Volkoff but doesn’t achieve it. Volkoff comes off the ropes and shoulder blocks Slaughter followed by a scoop slam a couple of times. Slaughter backs off into the corner and regroups. Slaughter gets control with several right hands and rams Volkoff head first into the turnbuckle. Volkoff fights back with jabs to the midsection and Slaughter goes to the ropes to stop the momentum. Slaughter tries to cheap shot Volkoff, but settles for an eye rake. Slaughter elbows Volkoff to the canvas followed by a knee drop for a two count. Volkoff ducks a clothesline and kicks Slaughter several times before hitting a knee lift for a two count. Volkoff hits another clothesline and nearly wins the match. Volkoff elbows Slaughter coming out of the corner and continues to work over Slaughter with strikes. Slaughter stops Volkoff with a clothesline. Slaughter kicks Volkoff on the lower back and locks in the Camel Clutch for the win. (1/2*. This was a boring match, but Slaughter was getting a good heel reaction from the crowd.)

Third Contest: Tito Santana vs. The Barbarian: Early on, Barbarian tosses Santana to the canvas to showoff his power advantage. Barbarian knee lifts Santana followed by a few chops and chokes him over the ropes. Santana comes off the ropes with a Thez Press and a dropkick to send Barbarian to the floor. Santana staggers Barbarian with a headlock. Barbarian doesn’t budge after a couple of shoulder block attempts. Santana goes for an inside cradle managing to get a near fall. Barbarian drives Santana down to the canvas with an atomic drop. Barbarian tosses Santana to the floor before taunting the fans. Barbarian clubs away on Santana while he’s on the apron. Santana fights back with a right hand and shoulder block. Tito hits a sunset flip into the ring but Barbarian sits down. Santana counties with a rollup for a near fall. Barbarian rams Santana into the corner with a few shoulder rams and chops. Santana is sent hard back first into the corner and crashes to the canvas. Barbarian works over Tito with a few strikes but Santana battles back with right hands. Barbarian locks in a bear hug. Santana gets out of the hold and headbutts Barbarian in the midsection but a big boot stops his offense. Santana gets trapped in the bear hug again. Santana is fading as the referee checks his arm. Santana gets a second wind before the arm drops a third time and hits Barbarian with several strikes. Barbarian rams Tito back first into the corner and hit a power slam. Barbarian comes off the middle rope but misses an elbow drop. Santana runs over Barbarian with a clothesline. Santana went for the figure four but Barbarian tosses him away. Barbarian drops Santana across the top rope for a near fall. Barbarian heads to the top rope missing a clothesline attempt. Santana comes off the top to hit a cross body but Barbarian rolls through and wins the match. (*1/2. It’s unfortunate that Santana isn’t getting pushed at this point. Barbarian didn’t do much of anything that was enjoyable. The offense was pretty slow and a lackluster finish finished it off.)

Power and Glory flip a coin with the winner then facing Marty Jannetty. Paul Roma is the lucky winner.

Fourth Contest: Marty Jannetty vs. Paul Roma: Jannetty dropkicks Roma into Hercules and blocks Roma’s offense early on before hitting an atomic drop. Jannetty hammers away on Roma in the corner. Jannetty takes Roma over with a hurricanrana followed by right hands. Roma sends Jannetty to the floor but doesn’t followup on the advantage. Roma knee lifts Jannetty off the apron and Marty hit the guard railing. Jannetty pulls Roma to the floor but Roma is able to ram Jannetty into the railing. Jannetty goes for a sunset flip but Roma misses a right hand. Jannetty slides into the ring and gets clubbed over the back as Marty blocks a backdrop attempt. Roma chokes Marty in the ropes and continues to work over Jannetty sending him hard back first into the corner. Roma comes off the middle rope to club Jannetty over the back for a two count. Roma drives Jannetty with a back breaker several times. Roma plants Jannetty with a power slam but doesn’t go for the cover. Roma eventually goes for the cover and gets a two count. Marty counters a hip toss with a backslide for a two count. Roma stomps on Jannetty but Marty nearly wins again with an inside cradle. Roma stops Marty with a headlock on the canvas. Roma nails Jannetty with a clothesline turning him inside out. Marty gets out of a sleeper driving Roma into the corner a few times. Marty misses a splash hitting the corner chest first. Roma hits an elbow drop and puts a headlock on Marty again. Roma uses the ropes for leverage but Jannetty isn’t going to give up. Jannetty gets up and punches Roma a few times. Roma stops Jannetty looking for a suplex but Jannetty counters a suplex of his own. They trade a few strikes until Marty atomic drops Roma followed by a clothesline. Marty hit a leaping elbow strike and a knee lift. Roma runs into a big boot and Marty came off the middle rope with a bulldog. Jannetty goes to the top rope hitting a fist drop but Hercules pulls Marty out of the ring. Jannetty punches Hercules on the floor before getting back in the ring. Marty super kicks Roma and goes for a suplex but Hercules pulls Marty’s leg and Roma lands on top for the win. After the match, Jannetty tries to attack them but is double teamed. (**. I’ve been seeing that finish a lot on the late 80s and 90s house shows. It was a more enjoyable match than anything else on the show, for sure.)

Sean Mooney is backstage to promote the next show on October 19th. There is four main event matches on that show. Koko B. Ware battles the Warlord. British Bulldog will meet Haku. The four main events include… Tugboat vs. Dino Bravo, Dusty Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase, WWF World Tag Team Champions Hart Foundation vs. Rhythm and Blues, and WWF Intercontinental Champion Texas Tornado defends against Mr. Perfect. That sounds like the B crew. We hear from some of the guys competing on the show to hype up those matches. I’m not going to review them.

Fifth Contest: Ron Garvin vs. Bob Bradley: Garvin wins the match following a rollup to counter a cocky cover that Bradley had. Yeah, this was just filler.

Sixth Contest: Jim Duggan vs. Rick Rude: Duggan gets the crowd behind him at the start as he locks up with Rude. Duggan shoves Rude away at the start. Rude decides to do some pushups to taunt Duggan. Hacksaw knocks Rude to the canvas a second time and Rude complains of a hair pull, which didn’t happen. Rude puts a hammerlock on Duggan but is met with an elbow strike as he was moving his hips. Rude goes for a test of strength but cheap shots Duggan with several strikes against the ropes. Duggan fights back with a backdrop and an atomic drop. Rude sells it amazingly as he always does before getting clotheslined. Duggan continues with a scoop slam. Duggan twirls Rude around connecting with another slam. Duggan puts a bear hug on Rude after Rude came off the ropes. Rude tries to fight his way out of the hold but Duggan won’t let go. Rude settles for biting Duggan but Duggan bites him back against the ropes. Rude kicks Duggan followed by a clothesline. Rude goes to the top rope hitting a forearm shot on Duggan. Rude comes off the top a second time to knock Duggan down to the canvas. Duggan gets out of a headlock with several blows. Rude stops Duggan with a sleeper hold. Duggan rams Rude back first into the corner. Rude tries for another forearm shot but Duggan hits him jun midair. Duggan sends Rude into the corner several times but misses a splash. Rude works over Duggan with strikes in the corner. Rude shoves the referee down and that causes a disqualification. After the match, Rude sends Duggan into the ring post. Duggan gets his 2×4 and goes after Rude and Heenan, who both leave the ring quickly. (*1/2. They didn’t do much here it felt like, but the fans seemed to be digging the action. The finish was lame. I didn’t even realize that Rude actually stuck round after SummerSlam, so this was surprise to see.)

Main Event: WWF World Champion Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom vs. Demolition: Warrior and LOD take Demolition out with three clotheslines before the bell even sounds. Smash kick off the main event with Animal clotheslining him and choking Animal over the middle rope. Smash continues to work over Animal with basic strikes to the body. Animal plants Smash with a powerslam for a two count followed by an elbow drop. Crush tags in to try his luck but Animal controls him and Hawk comes off the top to strike him. They shove each other a few times before locking up. Crush eye rakes Hawk followed by a back breaker down to the canvas. Crush works over Hawk with a chop and a lower back strike. Hawk and Crush attempt clotheslines but neither go down. Hawk dropkicks Crush and follows up with a leaping shoulder block and a fist drop. Hawk goes for the cover but Crush kicks out at two. Hawk chops Crush several times but here comes Ax. Warrior gets tagged in as well and works over Ax in the corner with several strikes. Warrior is fired up. Warrior big boots Ax and connects with a running clothesline. Warrior scoop slams all three members of Demolition. Warrior misses a big splash coming off the ropes. Ax works over Warrior with several overhand strikes. Ax tosses Warrior to the floor where Smash and Crush cheap shot Warrior behind the back of the referee. Ax beats on Warrior on the apron with a few more strikes. Warrior drops Ax throat first across the top rope but Demolition keep control. Crush is tagged in and Warrior is held by Smash agains the ropes to allow Crush to deliver more strikes. Smash lays Warrior over the top turnbuckle and is triple teamed. LOD ever the ring make the save but Warrior driven down with a back breaker. Warrior gets a second wind and tags in Animal. Animal knocks Ax and Smash down. He also knocks Crush off the apron. Animal goes for the Doomsday Device but Smash saves Ax. Warrior gets a few shots in from the apron. Crush puts a bear hug on Animal. Animal gets out of the hold but is still worked over by Demolition. Animal is choked by Smash on the apron. Ax works over Animal with a few strikes but they collide heads. Animal fails to make the tag as Demolition continues to work over him in the corner. Smash drives Animal down with a back suplex for a two count. Animal gets to his feet and breaks free from Smash. Smash knocks Animal into his corner and is worked over again. Ax tags in and has a chin lock on Animal. Animal tries to reach his corner but is tripped by Ax. Crush tags in and works over Animal with right hands in the corner. Animal comes out of the corner and clotheslines Crush. Warrior gets the tag and hammers away on crush with clotheslines. Warrior knocks Ax off the apron and he’s freaking out. Everyone is brawling at this point as Warrior hits a leaping shoulder block. Warrior hits a big splash and pins Crush for the win. (**. A decent main event, but not strong enough to save an otherwise disappointing show. They kept a good pace and the brawling was enjoyable. Demolition was presented fairly well even in defeat, I thought. This would have been better as an undercard match instead of a main event.)

Final Thoughts:
There’s nothing really redeeming on the show this time around. This felt like a B show and they gave a B effort for the fans. It’s a skippable show unless you’re a huge fan of WWE house show footage.

Thanks for reading.