WWF House Show – April 22, 1991: Hogan Steals The Thing?

WWF House Show
Date: April 22, 1991
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 12,000
Commentators: Jim Neidhart, Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan

I got on a bit of a house show kick on the treadmill so you know I have to come back and watch the shows again. This is one of the live events that was aired on the MSG Network, as tended to be the case. We are about a month removed from Wrestlemania VII where Hulk Hogan won the WWF Title back from Sgt. Slaughter. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence, as this is from the Old School series on Peacock.

Commentary welcomes us to the show and gives us a quick preview of the show.

The Dragon vs. Haku

Dragon is better known as Ricky Steamboat but couldn’t use the name at the moment due to a divorce. No entrance for Haku, which always feels a little weird. Dragon starts fast with the armdrag and then shoulders Haku down. Skinning the cat just frustrates Haku and there are some more armdrags to send Haku outside. Back in and Dragon takes him down again, this time for an armbar.

This time Haku fights up and strikes away, earning himself another armdrag into another armbar. Haku powers his way out of that and chops away in the corner. The chinlock goes on but Dragon is up in a hurry, only to get clotheslined back down. A suplex brings Haku back in and the chinlock goes on again. Dragon fights up after a good while and the chop off begins, with Dragon dropping him for two. Back up and Haku misses a charge into the corner, allowing Dragon to hit the high crossbody for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C-. The chinlocks weren’t the most interesting parts here but Dragon winning a match with that high crossbody is always worth seeing. The match wasn’t exactly interesting though as it was a lot of chopping and then sitting around, which made for a long match. At least we got some good Steamboat out of it though, which never gets old.

Bushwhackers vs. Power and Glory

Oh it’s 1991 all right. We spend the better part of a minute with the Bushwhackers looking around and rubbing each others heads. Roma: “Ref, there’s something wrong. These guys aren’t right!” Luke offers Hercules a handshake but gets a pose instead. Butch joins him but Hercules turns his back, earning a double clothesline (for the first contact in over two minutes). The Bushwhackers bite a lot and there are some more clotheslines to put Power and Glory on the floor.

Back in and it’s off to Roma, who offers a handshake of his own. This time it’s a sucker punch to Luke (slightly more direct way of a cheap shot) but Hercules’ double teaming doesn’t work. Everything breaks down again and the Bushwhackers clear the ring again. Back in and Hercules stomps away on Luke to finally put him in some trouble (and finally get to something after nearly six minutes). Roma elbows him in the face as Heenan goes over tag team rules, with Neidhart and Monsoon finding it hilarious.

Butch gets drawn in so the double stomping is on, unlike the fans’ interest in this so far. There’s a double clothesline into Roma’s big jumping elbow but he misses a charge into the corner. The hot tag brings in Butch to clean house, including a double noggin knocker. There’s the Battering Ram to Hercules but he trips Butch down, allowing Roma to drop another elbow. The referee has to get rid of Hercules though and Luke gets in a cheap shot, only to have Hercules do the same thing so Roma can steal the pin at 10:51.

Rating: D+. What else were you expecting from these guys? Power and Glory weren’t bad but the idea of the Bushwhackers getting this kind of time was never going to work. They were a lot of fun most of the time but the key was keeping up the energy. Luke selling for a few minutes isn’t going to work and this wasn’t much of a match.

The Mountie vs. Big Boss Man

During his entrance, Mountie stops to say that his jurisdiction is all of the WORLD….Wrestling Federation. Boss Man knocks him down to start and grabs Mountie’s shock stick but the yelling referee lets Mountie get in a shot from behind. A spinebuster plants Mountie though and Boss Man steps on him a bit. There’s a hard slap and a palm strike to the face to send Mountie outside so Boss Man hits him again out there. Back in and the running crotch attack connects but Mountie manages to backdrop him over the top and down onto the steps.

Boss Man seems to have banged up his knee so it’s time to kick away (as all fake Mounties would know how to do). The leg is tied in the ropes for more stomping/cranking as this isn’t exactly going fast paced. Boss Man gets out of the ropes and staggers around, allowing Mountie to wrap the knee around the post. Back up and Mountie grabs the mic to promise to read him his rights, allowing Boss Man to slug away. The Boss Man Slam finishes at 7:56.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one, but this feud was never built around the in-ring part. Mountie was such an over the top character and these two had a rather natural connection, but a lot of that was due to having Mountie being so annoying. Not a great match, though you know this isn’t going to be done anytime soon.

Post match Mountie grabs the shock stick to shoot Boss Man a few times. Rematch a go-go.

WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt Slaughter

Slaughter, with General Adnan, is challenging and it’s not like there was any other option for the title match on this show. Hogan slides in and gets jumped, only to shrug them off without much trouble. Adnan gets sent outside and Slaughter is tossed over the top as well, setting up some choking with a camera cord. Back in and Hogan scores with a backdrop, setting up some right hands to the head. It’s back to the floor with Hogan hitting him in the back with a chair and waving an American flag, because breaking the rules is the American way.

There’s the boot scrape to the face as Heenan isn’t sure if he is still on the air after Hogan ran them over. Slaughter goes to the eyes but has to stop and fix his belt, so Heenan suggests he just get a new one (because Heenan is smart enough to think on his feet like that). They head outside again with Hogan being sent head first into a few things, breaking open his already bandaged forehead. Hogan is sent head first into the steps and there’s a belt to the head for a bonus. That leaves Hogan mostly dead on the floor and Slaughter kicks near his head to make it worse.

Adnan offers a distraction (because that’s needed) so Slaughter can get in a bell shot, sending Heenan into a rant about how Hogan can use the chair but DON’T YOU TOUCH A BELL! Totally fair point, as tends to be the case with Heenan. That’s good for two back inside and Hogan starts his usual strange looking selling, so Slaughter pokes him in the eye again. The fans chant for the USA, which could apply to either guy here.

Slaughter grabs the camel clutch and claws away at the cut as commentary is suddenly a lot more quiet. Hogan slips out and sends Slaughter outside but another rake to the cut takes care of the comeback. Slaughter hits a top rope stomp to the back for two but NOW it’s time to Hulk Up. The big boot doesn’t put Slaughter down so he shoves Hogan into the referee and goes to the throat to cut Hogan off.

Adnan throws in a chair so Slaughter…hits the already down referee. Another, very delayed, shot misses Hogan in the corner and yet another hits the top rope, sending the chair bouncing back into Slaughter’s head. Adnan comes in and gets chaired down but the referee pulls the chair away from Hogan and gives Slaughter the DQ win at 15:58.

Rating: B. This was a lot more fun than their more famous Wrestlemania match as they went with a straight brawl here instead of having anything close to a match. The violence and weapons helped a lot, as this was much closer to a street fight than anything else. It felt like they were willing to take some more chances here and having some fun, which was a great surprise over what I was expecting from these two.

Post match Slaughter and Adnan whip out a fireball but Hogan uses the chair to block the flame in a smart move. I’m sure a rematch will abound, much like Hogan’s post match posing. A fan gets to come in and pose with Hogan, which is always going to work. Gorilla: “How on earth are you going to follow this???”

IRS vs. Jimmy Snuka

Apparently you follow it with quite the midcard letdown. IRS only debuted less than ten days earlier and this is his first time in the Garden in years. As expected, he doesn’t think much of the tax cheats around this town. His gear is rather different too here as he has trunks (with IRS on the back) and leggings instead of the usual black pants.

Feeling out process to start with Snuka grabbing a headlock. That’s broken up in a hurry, with IRS complaining of a hair pull. There’s a hiptoss to send IRS down and the fans hoot with Snuka. The leapfrog into the chop puts IRS on the floor but he heads back inside and tosses Snuka over (Heenan: “I believe hitting the floor is a deduction.”). We hit the abdominal stretch as Heenan talks about how stupid Snuka is compared to the educated IRS.

Monsoon is RIGHT THERE to complain about IRS, this time saying his hand is turned the wrong way around Snuka’s head. I’ve always pictured Monsoon’s house with hand drawn abdominal stretch diagrams lining the walls. Anyway, Snuka escapes and hits some Mongolian chops in the corner. A middle rope crossbody connects for Snuka but IRS rolls through and grabs the trunks for the pin at 6:24.

Rating: D+. This was about as generic of a match as you could have had, though I don’t think anyone was expecting IRS to light the world on fire. That being said, it makes sense for him to not be that thrilling in the ring. It wasn’t that the match was bad, but it was rather dull, and that’s a lot worse most of the time.

Alfred Hayes tried to talk to Roddy Piper earlier but Piper said he’ll do his talking in the ring. On the other hand, Ted DiBiase promises to send Piper out on a stretcher.

Warlord vs. Texas Tornado

Oh boy this could be rough. They lockup after about a minute of circling and the lockup goes nowhere. Tornado shoves him away and poses as commentary compares the kinds of strength these two have. It’s off to the required test of strength with Warlord getting the better of things. Back up and Warlord’s boot to the foot is caught so Tornado can hit the discus punch. That doesn’t even knock Warlord down as he grabs the bearhug to put Tornado back in trouble.

Commentary mocks Heenan’s lack of success with anything in college as Warlord takes it outside for a ram into the steps. A posting makes it even worse and Warlord gives him a backbreaker back inside. Tornado comes back with some right hands and a clothesline, eventually setting up the discus punch for a delayed two. They fall out to the floor though with Warlord landing on Tornado. The slugout is on and that’s a double countout at 9:19.

Rating: D+. What else were you expecting from these two going nearly ten minutes and ending in a double countout? Tornado was rapidly falling apart, as he looked great but just wasn’t reliable in the ring and it was showing badly. Warlord was his usual self here, meaning this was a barely passable power match at best.

Rockers/Virgil vs. Orient Express/Mr. Fuji

Big pop for the announcement of a six man tag before any names were mentioned. The Rockers are starting to peak as a team and Virgil is on fire just after beating Ted DiBiase at Wrestlemania. We get the salt ceremony before the match and Neidhart uses a voice that would probably get him pulled off the air today. Shawn and Tanaka start things off as even Heenan has to admit that Shawn is a great athlete. Tanaka scores with a superkick but gets hit by a harder than expected clothesline.

Everything breaks down with the Rockers hitting stereo atomic drops, setting up Virgil’s double clothesline. Virgil comes in to snap off some jabs to Kato, who sends him into the corner for the break. It’s off to Fuji for the chops but Virgil hits him in the….near facial area I guess you would say. A chop from Fuji drops Virgil though and it’s back to Kato for more chops in the corner. Kato winds up on the floor and gets caught in a triple team, which hardly seems fair.

Shawn hits a double noggin knocker on the Express before sending Kato back inside, where Marty is waiting. It’s quickly back to Shawn, who gets kneed in the back by Tanaka to put him in trouble. Some shots to the back have Shawn in trouble and we hit the reverse chinlock. Shawn fights up and is almost immediately caught with a running forearm. Jannetty has to come in for the save but it’s Kato putting on his own reverse chinlock.

That’s broken up with some power but Shawn falls down as he tries the electric chair. The double clothesline works better though and the hot tag brings in Marty (even though Virgil was a lot closer). The powerslam gets two on Tanaka and there’s the double superkick. Virgil comes in for a clothesline and the Million Dollar Dream finishes Tanaka t 11:11.

Rating: C+. This was one of the better matches of the night, which shouldn’t be a surprise given how good the Rockers vs. Express matches usually were. Virgil and Fuji were kept to a minimum here and that is better for everyone, as Fuji was an old manager and Virgil was Virgil, so what else were they supposed to do?

Ted DiBiase vs. Roddy Piper

DiBiase, with Sherri, brings out a crutch as Piper has a bad lep. Piper takes him down to start and whips away with a belt. Said belt is used to drag DiBiase into the corner for some race first ramming into the buckle. Piper crotches him on top but the leg gives out, so here is Sherri to jump on Piper’s back. That earns Sherri a kiss to send her back outside but she grabs Piper’s leg so DiBiase can get in a few shots. Piper charge into a boot to the face and DiBiase ties him in the Tree of Woe for some shots to the bad knee.

That’s not enough so Sherri throws in a chair so DiBiase can nail Piper in the head for two. The knee is rammed down into the mat before DiBiase mixes it up a bit by wrapping the good knee around the post. Somehow Piper fights up again and starts slugging away so Sherri shoves Heenan down and sends the chair back in. Another shot to the leg puts Piper down and we hit the Figure Four….with the referee stopping it at 7:33, despite Piper trying to break the hold. The referee makes it clear that Piper did NOT give up.

Rating: C+. The energy was there but this was designed to set up a rematch rather than being much of a match on its own. Granted there was only so much that you can do when Piper is on a bad knee. DiBiase is still a great heel and knew how to make the fans want to kill him, including working over Piper’s knee rather well. Not a bad match, but much more a step in a bigger story.

Post match Piper beats up DiBiase and steals Sherri’s shoe to go after him. With that not working, Piper pulls off Sherri’s skirt to send the villains running.

Overall Rating: C. This show was back and forth all night long and it made for a not so great night. The problem here was that there were only so much good to be seen throughout the night, with Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter of all people having the best match. It had its moments, but watching IRS and the Warlord wasn’t exactly the most inspirational evening.

 

 

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