Jeff Jarrett vs Tatanka
So-so match with really baffling booking. They start off at
quite a quick tempo, with Tatanka hitting a nice powerslam, before settling
into a series of chinlocks and headlocks. I didn’t actually mind these too much
at first, as they both use them effectively. Jarrett is really fun at
shit-talking with Tatanka in a chinlock, and I liked Tatanka holding onto his
own headlock, managing to keep his grip every time Jarrett tried to fire him
into the ropes. The odd booking comes as Tatanka takes a huge bump over the top
rope and ends up getting counted out. Jarrett, the heel, demands the ref
restarts the match as he wants to pin Tatanka for the win. You could claim this
serves to highlight Jarrett’s ego, but it’s not consistent with the
cheap-shotting, win-stealing JJ we’ve seen on previous episodes. If he wasn’t
insult Macho Man whilst doing it, it would come across as a face action. Very
odd. Even stupider is that, after Tatanka fires up, Jarrett quits the match and
heads to the back. Doink comes out, driving him back to the ring, and Tatanka
rolls him up for the loss. So the crafty heel looks like an idiot and the
valiant face only won after losing the bout and having some help from outside. Terrible
booking.
Jim Neidhart vs Gary Scott
Decent enough squash, as Neidhart seemed fired up to be back
in the WWF. Nothing fancy, but everything looked good, and he seemed to put a
little oomph behind everything. Owen Hart is great on the outside, constantly
berating Scott. Neidhart hits a nasty looking stungun and a big powerslam to
win.
Duke Droese vs Iron Mike Sharpe
Yeah, I almost certainly enjoyed this far more than I
should, but both guys have a goofy charisma that makes this work. Sharpe
stooges about amusingly in the early stages, trying and failing to slam Droese
and acting all fearful when Droese has him in a prone position on the canvas.
Sharpe actually gets a small run of control, but Droese blocks a piledriver and
hits the big elbow to win.
“The Undertaker” vs Mike Bell
This is the Ted DiBiase-managed Brian Lee version of the
Undertaker. When I was 12, I knew this wasn’t the real Taker, as I was certain
he’d stay with Paul Bearer, but I remember being really impressed at how much
this guy was like the real thing. Fast forward 23 years, and the illusion isn’t
quite so convincing. Crucially, it’s really noticeable how much the camera crew
are desperate not to show any of his face. He’s also noticeably not as tall as
the Undertaker. He has a nice droptoehold, really forceful, and his version of
Old School looks good, but his flying clothesline is not a patch on the real
Taker. Tombstone gets the win.
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