Backstage: Dean Douglas offers up his opinion on the last match, giving us the definition of “bad”, claiming the world saw exactly why ‘The Bad Guy’ Razor Ramon has that moniker. Razor Ramon walks in and informs Dean he doesn’t need him to tell him how to fight, Douglas claiming he has no right to barge in. Razor accuses Dean of being all talk, turns to walk away, Douglas tries to surprise him with a right hand, but gets clobbered back instead.

Backstage: Todd Pettengill is with WWF Champion Diesel, Big Daddy Cool talks about how King Mabel has used his “royal plan” to perfection with The British Bulldog turning on him, but if Mabel wants to be a knight in shining armor, he will get medieval.

Match #9 for the WWF Championship: King Mabel w/Sir Mo vs. WWF Champion Diesel
The two behemoths go face-to-face and the champion scores with forearm shots, irish whip to the ropes is reversed, Mabel flattens Diesel with a shoulder block, sends him back to the ropes and delivers another. King Mabel drives Big Daddy Cool head-first into the top turnbuckle multiple times, connects with stinging chops to the chest, then chokes the champion. He puts the boots to Diesel and looks to whip him across, Big Daddy Cool reverses it, follows him in with a clothesline, measures The King for another, then unloads with back elbows.

He hammers the challenger with rights and looks for a body slam, the champion can’t lift the weight, King Mabel rains down clubbing shots to the back, then shoots him to the ropes for a clothesline. Diesel ducks under it, scores with multiple clotheslines to get the big man rocking, goes back to the ropes for a shoulder tackle and The King spills to the outside. Sir Mo climbs on the and has some words with the champion, Mabel regroups on the floor, Diesel turns to him and slingshots over the top with a crossbody.

He attempts to whip the big man into the ring post, King Mabel turns the tables and introduces Big Daddy Cool to the steel, rushes in to squash him against the post, but the champion gets the boot up to cut him off. He rolls the challenger into the ring and steps back inside, Mabel tries to beg him off, gets clobbered by heavy rights in the corner, the champion buries knees to the breadbasket, then goes to whip him across. The King reverses it, Diesel hits the buckles hard and rebounds out, gets planted by a sidewalk slam, lateral press and Mabel gets a count of 2.

He rolls the champion over and drops down on the lower back, the cameras get a glimpse of a turnbuckle that got exposed and King Mabel slaps on a modified camel clutch. Big Daddy Cool works back to his feet, gets driven spine-first into the exposed buckle, The King scoops him up for a body slam, Mo jumping on the apron to have words with the official. Mabel goes to hit the ropes and runs into the ref from behind, Hebner gets knocked to the outside, the challenger goes for an elbow drop, but Diesel is able to avoid it. Mo rolls into the ring and assaults Big Daddy Cool with The King, the champion tries to battle back and Lex Luger sprints down to the ring.

Diesel hammers him with a right hand, fends off Mo & Mabel, clotheslines Luger to the outside, turns around and The King sends Big Daddy Cool over the top with a clothesline of his own. He goes out in pursuit, delivers a leg drop on the floor and slides back in, Mo deposits the champion into the ring, Lex comes from behind and clobbers Mo with a double axe handle. He rams Sir Mo into the barricade and chases him to the back, Mabel plants Big Daddy Cool with a belly-to-belly suplex in the ring, the referee pulls himself inside to count, but the champion kicks out at 2. King Mabel looks stunned, goes to the 2nd rope for a splash, Diesel rolls out of harm’s way, pulls himself to his feet in the corner and flies off with a shoulder tackle to retain.
Winner and STILL WWF Champion: Diesel (2nd Rope Shoulder Tackle)

• EA’s Take: Absolutely brutal main event, you’ve got to feel for Diesel for getting a bit of The Undertaker treatment and being lined up against monstrous men who couldn’t work a lick. Not that Big Daddy Cool is the definition of workrate by any means. Kevin Nash has told stories about this match as well, explaining that he specifically told Mabel to stay away from his back, which didn’t happen as the big man dropped onto the champion’s spine with all of his body weight. Additionally, the story goes that Vince McMahon was ready to fire Mabel after this match because of it and his pension for injuring other performers, however Nash stepped in to stop it from happening. King Mabel would swiftly be removed from the top of the card, but was still given a feud with The Undertaker as Diesel would partner back up with Shawn Michaels to go after tag gold.

EA’s Finisher: Certainly better than some of the efforts we’ve seen from pay-per-views in recent history here, but there’s still a long way to go before the industry as a whole sees a resurgence and in-ring ability plays a factor in who gets main event spots. The main event here was just awful, the undercard really carrying the weight of putting on a quality event. Of course the stars of the night were Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, however the rest of the card also delivered in areas with quality bouts between The 1-2-3 Kid and Hakushi, even Skip vs. Barry Horowitz. The entire wrestling business was about to change though, as WCW would launch Monday Nitro the following month and in direct competition with the WWF, forcing both sides to try and raise their games over the next few years. The WWF would go head-to-head with WCW in the ratings, but as Eric Bischoff would start to pine for talent, Vince McMahon would suffer blows such as losing Lex Luger within the next few weeks to come.

Top Three To Watch
1 – Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon
2 – The 1-2-3 Kid vs. Hakushi
3 – Skip vs. Barry Horowitz

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5