Video: Todd Pettengill caught up with WWF Champion Diesel in the locker room earlier in the day, Big Daddy Cool trying to prepare for his match and not looking to answer any questions. Later on, Pettengill would sit-down with Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart before his title shot tonight, The Hitman stating that since he lost the championship, that’s all he has been focused on.

Match #3 for the WWF Championship: Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart vs. WWF Champion Diesel
Collar & elbow tie-up to begin, the champion simply powers Bret away to the corner, Hitman steps back in, avoids another lock-up and grabs a waistlock, looks to pick the leg, but Diesel gains the ropes. The challenger gets a little rough with him and Big Daddy Cool shoves Bret away, they start exchanging right hands, the champion getting the better of it. He shoots Hart to the ropes, The Hitman ducks under a clothesline, leaps for a crossbody, Diesel catches him in the air, delivers a body slam and hits the ropes for an elbow drop that’s off the mark. Bret hits the ropes and staggers Big Daddy Cool with a clothesline, goes back in and runs into a back elbow, Diesel with a clothesline of his own and The Hitman flies over the top to the floor.

He quickly hops back up to the apron and trades punches with the champion, gets knocked back down to the floor, Hart takes a walk around ringside, Diesel gets a bit overzealous and Hart picks the leg, then drags him under the bottom rope towards the ring post. The challenger rams the big man’s knee into the steel multiple times, slides back inside and starts working over the limb with knees and elbow drops before locking on a heel hold. The Hitman breaks it on his own accord and continues working over the left leg and slaps on a figure four, Big Daddy Cool hangs on and crawls his way to the bottom rope, Bret drags him back to the center of the ring, keeps doling out punishment to the knee and hooks the figure four on again.

The champion pulls himself to the bottom rope to force the break, The Hitman hangs onto the hold as long as possible, finally releases it and then puts the boots to the bad left leg, kicking Diesel to the outside. Hart gets a running start and flies outside with a suicide dive, pummels Big Daddy Cool with heavy rights, then deposits him face-first into the ring post. He goes to whip the champion into the steps, Diesel reverses and drives Bret into the steel instead, throws the challenger back inside and starts to take over. He whips Hart hard into the turnbuckles, clobbers him with the heavy artillery in the corner, pulls him out to the middle and hits a side slam for a count of 2. He chokes Hitman on the 2nd rope, builds a head of steam for a seated senton to the back, cracks him with a backbreaker and splits the challenger across his knee. Diesel drops Hart down for a 2 count, shoves him into the corner for knees to the breadbasket, The Hitman tries to battle back, but the champion goes to the eyes and hammers him with more big shots.

Another hard whip into the turnbuckles for Bret, Big Daddy Cool, powers him up for an over-the-shoulder rack, The Excellence of Execution slips out of it, jumps on Diesel’s back for a sleeper hold, but gets tossed away. The big man shoots Bret to the ropes and misses a clothesline, clocks him coming back through with a big boot, plants an elbow drop into the chest and covers for another 2 count. He sends Hitman into the corner and this time charges in, Hart gets a boot up into the chin, hops to the 2nd rope, comes off with a clothesline, then climbs to the top turnbuckle. The champion  staggers to his feet, grabs the challenger and powers him off the ropes with a military press, Hart squirming around and he falls on top of Diesel for a near fall. The Hitman spills to the outside off the kick-out, takes a breather and again catches Big Daddy Cool too close to the ropes, picking the leg and dragging him towards the post.

He ties the champion’s legs together with his wrist-tape, rolls into the ring and starts stomping away at the champion, the referee heading outside to untie Diesel. Bret brings him up and plants him with a bulldog for a count of 2, sends him to the ropes for a fist to the midsection, delivers a side russian leg sweep, but still only gets a 2 count. He lifts Big Daddy Cool up and cracks him with a backbreaker, The Hitman to the 2nd rope for an elbow drop, hooks the leg, but the big man has still got something left in the tank. The challenger goes to the legs and wants to lock on a Sharpshooter, Big Daddy Cool squirms his way to the ropes to avoid it, staggers to his feet, Hart charges in and clotheslines him over the top. Bret slinghots outside for a crossbody, the champion catches him in the air, drives him spine-first into the ring post, rolls him into the squared circle, calls for the Jackknife and delivers.

Diesel drops down and hooks the leg, Shawn Michaels sprints down to the ring and breaks the count at 2, then unloads on Big Daddy Cool with right hands before going after the knee. The referee doesn’t call for the bell and orders Michaels out of the ring, gives an explanation to our ring announcer, Howard Finkel announcing that this match must continue. Both guys stumble to their feet, the challenger with kicks to the left knee, sets it up on the bottom rope and drives down all of his body weight, pulls him to the middle and hooks on another figure four. Big Daddy Cool with heavy shots to the ribs to break the hold, The Hitman goes right back to the leg, backs Diesel to the corner and wraps it up in the ropes, the ref having to pull him away to force a break. Hart turns and charges right back in, the champion side-steps out of harm’s way, scores with big punches and knees to the abdomen, plants the challenger with a gutwrench suplex, lateral press and a 2 count.

He puts Bret back in the corner and chokes him with the bottom of his boot, gets a running start and rushes in for a big boot, The Exellence of Execution ducks it, rolls outside, pulls the big man towards the post and rams the knees into the steel. Hitman grabs a chair at ringside and clocks the champion on the knee, slides back in, drags the big man to the middle and slaps on a Sharpshooter. Owen Hart comes running down to the ring now and ambushes Bret from behind, exposes one of the top turnbuckles, whips his brother sternum-first into it and marches off to the back. The official informs our ring announcer that the match will still continue, Big Daddy Cool uses the ropes to pull himself to his feet, drapes an arm over the challenger to cover, but it’s not enough. He brings Hart back to his feet, attempts to ram him face-first into the exposed turnbuckle, Bret blocks it and returns the favor, delivers big fists to the head, finally dropping the big man. Big Daddy Cool staggers to his feet and fires away with big forearm shots, knocks The Hitman to the outside, Bret’s stuck hanging upside down, Diesel grabs a chair, but the challenger breaks free in the nick of time.

The champion steps back in the ring as Bret grabs for his left knee, surprises Diesel with a small package and nearly takes the title. He throws more hands with the big man, irish whip to the ropes is reversed, Diesel looks for a slam, Hitman slips out of it, pushes Diesel towards the ropes and they knock down the official. Michaels comes running back down to the ring and goes after the champion, Bob Backlund & Owen hit the ring to put the boots to Bret, Jeff Jarrett & The Roadie now out to join Shawn and the ref finally calls for the bell.

• After The Bell: A group of referees and WWF officials come out to break up the melee. The referee informs Howard Finkel that the match has been declared a draw. Backlund steps back into the ring and cinches the Crossface Chicken Wing on The Hitman, Big Daddy Cool starts fighting everybody off including Backlund, then helps Bret back to his feet.

Winner: Draw

• EA’s Take: Easily the best match of Diesel’s career, but I found this to be very strange, in my opinion. Their last match with the roles reversed (Bret as champion) at King of the Ring the year prior also ended in controversial fashion. Perhaps that was the reason the referee allowed so much blatant breaking of the rules, but to me it seemed unusual to allow multiple run-ins without calling for a DQ, then ultimately ending the match in that manner anyhow. These two would tie-up again down the road for one of my favorite matches as a youngster, but Michaels and Hart/Backlund’s interference were not coincidence as we get a glimpse into Diesel and Bret’s WrestleMania futures.

Backstage: Todd Pettengill is in Pamela Anderson’s dressing room, Pam is getting changed for her appearance tonight and asks Todd for her purse, Pettengill nervously handing it over with the thought of her being nude. Stephanie Wiand in in the interview area with The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob ‘Spark Plug’ Holly, The Kid speaks about tonight being a big opportunity for them to win the WWF Tag Team Title Tournament, stating they’ve already picked up two wins and now only need one more. Spark Plug compares himself and Kid to the San Diego Chargers getting a shot at the Super Bowl, their Super Bowl chance being tonight.

Match #4 – WWF Tag Team Title Tournament Finals: Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka w/’Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase vs. The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob ‘Spark Plug’ Holly
Holly & Tatanka will kickoff the action, they tie-up and The Native American powers Spark Plug away. Another lock-up and Holly goes to a side headlock, Tatanka again uses his power to throw him off, The Native American avoiding another collar & elbow, scores with kicks and chops, then shoots him to the ropes. Spark Plug ducks a couple of shots, gets planted by a side slam, Tatanka whips him back to the ropes for another, but Holly counters with a headscissors takedown. He delivers a body slam, scores with multiple dropkicks, Tatanka makes his way to the corner to tag, Bam Bam charges in and gets taken down by a drop toe hold.

The Kid gets a tag, they double whip Bigelow to the ropes for a double back elbow, The Beast from the East runs right through, comes back with a double clothesline, then hammers Kid with headbutts and tosses him across the ring. Bam Bam in complete control now, sends The Kid to the ropes and elevates him into the air, 1-2-3 Kid reverses into a hurricanrana, misses a spinning back kick and gets clocked by an enzuigiri for a count of 2. He drives Kid head-first into the top turnbuckle, The Native American re-enters and bludgeons him in the corner with right hands, whips him hard across into the turnbuckles multiple times, then tags back out. The Beast from the East picks him up and Kid tries to battle back, scores with a standing dropkick, Bigelow with grabs him by the hair, faceplants him into the canvas, then executes a vertical suplex.

Bam Bam shoots him to the ropes and drops him with a big shoulder, charges The Kid near the ropes and gets dumped over the top, Kid sets for a slingshot to the outside, but Tatanka comes in and clobbers him from behind. He hooks him for a back suplex, The Kid flips out, delivers a dropkick to the back, The Native American is sent into Bigelow on the apron and they stumble into the ring. Holly & The Kid climb opposite corners, come off the top with in-sync crossbodies, both get caught in the air, Tatanka & Bigelow looking to drive them into each other. Kid & Spark Plug both slide off the shoulders and shove The Native American & Bam Bam into each other, Holly grabs a roll-up on Tatanka and almost steals it. He whips him to the ropes for a dropkick and another 2 count, levels The Native American with multiple clotheslines, tries for another, Tatanka ducking out of harm’s way, Bigelow pulling down the top rope and Holly spills to the outside.

The Native American baits Kid into the ring, The Beast from the East takes the opening to drive Spark Plug into the ring post, tosses him back inside and Tatanka plants him with a body slam. He hits the ropes and drops an elbow, picks him up, sends Holly to the ropes for a big clothesline, then plants him with multiple body slams. He gives a cheap shot to Kid on the apron, shoots Spark Plug to the ropes for a powerslam, hooks the leg, The Kid comes in to break it up at 2, but misses Tatanka and hits Holly instead. The official works Kid back to the corner, Bam Bam steps inside and holds Spark Plug up, The Native American ascends the corner for an overhand chop, but Holly slips away and Bigelow gets decked. Holly crawls towards his corner as Tatanka hurls some words at The Kid, baits him to leave his corner, Bigelow measures Spark Plug and squashes him with a splash.

Kid realizes what happened, Bam Bam rips Spark Plug to the mat by the hair, throws him to the outside and motions for the titles. Holly climbs back on the apron and buries shoulders to the midsection, attempts a sunset flip coming back in, The Beast from the East uses the ropes to block it, then comes down on the chest with all of his weight. He drills Holly with an enzuigiri for a near fall, Spark Plug drags himself to the wrong corner to try and tag, The Native American tags in and double teams Holly, Kid stepping into the ring only lengthening the beating. Tatanka hits a gutwrench suplex, sends Holly into the corner, floors him with a clothesline off the rebound, then rams him head-first into Bam Bam’s skull.

Spark Plug staggers away, starts fighting back with kicks to the ribs and fists, The Native American rakes the eyes to stop the onslaught, shoots him to the ropes, both guys go for crossbodies and collide in mid-air. Tags on both sides now, The Kid connects with a spinning heel kick to Bigelow, quickly goes up top for a dropkick, knocks Tatanka off the apron with another dropkick, then takes him out with a slingshot somersault. He quickly scales to the top rope, scores with a crossbody to Bam Bam, hooks the leg and The Native American just barely breaks it up at 2. Holly hits the ring and dropkicks Tatanka back outside, DiBiase climbs on the apron and distracts the official, The Beast from the East presses Kid over his head, then drops him all the way down to the floor.

The Native American heaves him back into the ring, Bigelow goes upstairs for a Bam Bamsault, Tatanka hits the ropes at the same time and The Beast from The East falls down to the mat. Spark Plug disposes of Tatanka, the referee starts counting Bigelow and Kid down, The Kid crawls to a cover and wins the titles.
Winners and NEW WWF Tag Team Champions: The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob ‘Spark Plug’ Holly (Kid/Pinfall)

• After The Bell: Bigelow gets left in the ring by himself, staggers to his feet, then goes outside and has words for the people at ringside. He comes across NFL great Lawrence Taylor, sees that he’s being laughed at and challenges him. LT stands up and offers a handshake, Bigelow instead shoving him to the ground and security has to hold Taylor back.
• EA’s Take: Yet another pay-per-view and yet more unusual match placement. Again, I’m unsure as to why the WWF Title is being stuck in the middle of the card. It should have gone in this spot before the Rumble. At this time, the WWF Tag Team Championships had been vacated by Diesel & Shawn Michaels after their friendship dissolved, thus leading to the Tag Title Tournament. If you need any further evidence of just how weak the tag team scene was at this stage, look no further than the past two sets of champions that were merely solo stars put together. The same can be said for the men who lost, Bigelow & Tatanka, although they were part of DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation at the time. Oddly enough, Kid & Holly’s reign would only last one day, losing the belts the next night on RAW to The Smoking Gunns. Bam Bam would move onto his most notable match of his career, his shoving of Lawrence Taylor setting them on a collision course to take place at ‘The Showcase of the Immortals’.

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