Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents Action Zone
Date: 1/22/1995
From: Liberty, NY
Matches:
1.) Tatanka defeated Bob Holly
2.) Duke Droese defeated Mike Sharpe
3.) King Kong Bundy defeated Dave Thornberg
4.) Lex Luger defeated Mike Bell
5.) The Heavenly Bodies defeated Cory Student & Bob Knight
6.) Owen Hart defeated Mike Khoury
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Todd Pettengill is live at the Sun Dome in Tampa, FL. Royal Rumble is taking place tonight and Pettengill will be providing the live drawing for the Rumble match. The matches were obviously taped in NY.
2.) Holly takes Tatanka over with an arm drag to start the match. Tatanka scoop slams Holly and keeps a headlock on Holly for a moment. Holly leapfrogs Tatanka before hitting a standing dropkick. Tatanka catches Holly on a crossbody and delivers a backbreaker. Tatanka continues to beat on Holly with overhand strikes in the corner. Holly fights back with kicks and right hands, but an eye rake stops Holly’s momentum. Tatanka slams Holly and connects with an elbow drop. Tatanka sends Holly hard into the corners back first followed by a gut wrench slam. Tatanka keeps control on Holly with a bearhug in the middle of the ring. Tatanka drills Holly with a knee lift to stop Holly’s momentum. Holly counters a slam with an inside cradle but Tatanka kicks out and beats on Holly with overhand strikes. Holly beats on Tatanka with right hands. Tatanka blocks a backdrop with a kick to the chest as we go to commercial.
Tatanka goes for a cover as we return, but Holly kicks out at two. Tatanka slams Holly and goes to the top rope hitting an overhand chop for a two count. Holly plants Tatanka with a back suplex after ducking a wild strike. Holly nails Tatanka with an elbow strike and hits a standing dropkick for a two count. Holly goes to the top rope and hits a clothesline for a near fall. Tatanka counters a crucifix pin attempt to his a Samoan Drop, which is his finisher, for the win. After the match, Tatanka beats on Holly. 1-2-3 Kid enters the ring and helps Holly hip toss Tatanka followed by a double dropkick. (**1/4. That was quite better than I was expecting. They worked a good match and the action held my interest. Holly looked good in there and Tatanka has some decent heel work, too. This added some good heat for the tag title match happening at the PPV.)
3.) WWF World Champion Diesel and Bret Hart provide some last minute comments live on Action Zone in a split screen. Diesel is backstage reading the comic book section of a newspaper. Diesel is just casually hanging out. Bret thinks it is interesting that Diesel is so relax. Bret likes to be mellow before the big championship match. Bret thinks this is the calm before the storm. Bret insists that he’s not ribbing. Diesel has a copy of the WWF Magazine that has Bret on the cover. Bret suggests Diesel put that on the ceiling. Bret puts over the Jackknife as being a move you don’t want to feel. Bret doesn’t think Diesel can get the move on him. Bret thinks that the Sharpshooter is on Diesel’s mind. Diesel puts over Bret as being a great wrestler and the hold is lethal. Bret has been dreaming about long legs and Diesel quips of a woman Susan Anton, which makes Bret laugh. Pettengill switches out of the segment.
4.) Todd Pettengill has been around the wrestlers selecting their numbers, but they can’t reveal the number. Bob Backlund says that he has convinced the world that he’ll win the Rumble. I’m not sure what the point of this segment is if the wrestlers can reveal their numbers.
5.) Shawn Michaels picks his number for the Royal Rumble. They are literally using plastic Easter Eggs, by the way. Michaels says he’s mellow today and has had easy nights in the past. But, those nights involved 29-woman. Michaels thinks tonight is going to be an easy night for him.
6.) The Smoking Gunns pick their numbers for the Royal Rumble. Billy is happy about his number. Bart likes his number and doesn’t show Billy. They argue about not showing their numbers to each other.
7.) The British Bulldog picks his number for the Royal Rumble. Bulldog is quite disappointed with the number he’s picked. Bulldog is ready to become the Royal Rumble Champion.
Final Thoughts:
For a last minute hype show, I thought this was actually a solid show. The feature match was decent and the segment with Bret/Diesel added some interest to their match. I’m not sure why they have Diesel being comedic as it doesn’t really fit for his personality. Regardless, I enjoyed show and added interest to the PPV.
Thanks for reading.