The Ultimate Warrior and the Legion of Doom vs. Demolition
As we come out of Summerslam and head into the fall towards Survivor Series, there was a bit of uncertainty surrounding the Ultimate Warrior and his reign as WWF Champion. After getting a fairly decisive win over Rick Rude in the cage at Summerslam, the number of credible challengers for Warrior had shrunken down pretty rapidly though they were looking to try and ramp Randy Savage back up to be the next challenger. At the same time, Demolition had lost the tag titles to the Hart Foundation at Summerslam and could now move on to facing the Legion of Doom as they began building this feud prior to Summerslam. For some bizarre reason, they decided to have Warrior team up with LOD to face Demolition on the house shows which was cool on one level seeing Warrior and LOD team up, but again it was a bad sign for Warrior’s title reign that he’s not even defending the title at house shows and instead is the outside party in this feud to help LOD against Demolition.
As mentioned, Randy Savage had begun challenging Warrior for the title on TV and at one point Sherri presented Warrior with a contract for a match, but Warrior instead ripped the contract up and Sherri slapped him in the face repeatedly. At the same time, LOD and Demolition had begun their feud leading into Summerslam as both teams accused the other of being rip-offs of the other team, and as we saw LOD would assist the Hart Foundation in winning the tag titles from Demolition at Summerslam. Warrior would start teaming with LOD against Demolition at the house shows on 8/30 and they would face each other throughout the month with Warrior and LOD usually winning the matches as it was announced the two teams would face off here at MSG. While the matches were the main event and it was a good rub for LOD and Demolition, it again felt like a major step backwards for Warrior as he wasn’t even defending the WWF Title anymore.
Demolition were pretty hot as heels while LOD and Warrior get big pops from the crowd, and it made sense to have this as the main event as nothing else on this show belonged in that spot. LOD and Warrior waste no time as they hit a trio of clotheslines on Demolition to start the match and Demolition roll outside to regroup, and Animal starts off the match with Smash who hits a clothesline on Animal and he pounds on him. He chokes Animal on the ropes and Animal reverses a whip before hitting a powerslam on Smash for a two count, and he drops an elbow on Smash and works the arm until Smash gets a shot in and he pounds on Animal. Crush tags in only for Animal to get a shot in and he works the arm before tagging Hawk who goes up top and nails a shot to Crush’s arm, and they exchange shoves before locking up with neither gaining an edge and they lock up again with neither gaining the edge. They lock up a third time with Crush raking the eyes and he pounds on Hawk before hitting a backbreaker, and he pounds on Hawk in the corner and whips him into the other corner before nailing him in the back. Hawk reverses a whip and Crush ducks a shot as both men hit a clothesline which both no-sell, and Hawk hits a standing dropkick on Crush and then he hits a flying tackle on Crush before dropping a fist on him for a two count. He pounds on Crush and hooks a headlock as Crush rakes the eyes to escape and tags Ax, but Hawk gets a kick in and tags Warrior as Ax begs off and Warrior stomps on him repeatedly in the corner. Ax reverses a whip into the other corner only for Warrior to catch him with a boot to the face and he hits a clothesline, and Smash comes in only for Warrior to get a kick in and he hits a slam as Crush comes in only for Warrior to kick at him and he hits a slam on Crush. He hits a slam on Ax only to miss the big splash and Ax pounds on him before tossing him to the outside, and Smash pounds on Warrior while Crush chokes him as Warrior tries to battle back only for Demolition to maul him. Ax pulls Warrior onto the apron and pounds on him as Smash tags in and he continues to pound on Warrior, but Warrior battles back as he hotshots Smash on the top rope and he rolls back into the ring only for Smash to pound on him coming in. He chokes Warrior on the ropes as Crush tags in and he continues to choke Warrior who tries to choke Crush in return, but Ax grabs Warrior from the apron and pounds on him as Crush does the same. Smash tags in and he continues to pound on Warrior before hoisting him up and he puts him on the top rope, and Demolition pound on Warrior as Hawk comes in and nails Crush from behind before throwing him over the top to the floor. Smash clotheslines Hawk through the ropes to the floor as Ax comes in and pounds on Warrior along with Smash, and Ax goes up to the middle rope as they set up for the Decapitation only for Animal to come in and nail Smash as he knocks Ax down as well. Animal gets the hot tag and he kicks at Ax before hitting a back elbow as he ducks a shot from Smash and he hits a clothesline, and he knocks Crush off the apron to the floor and then he whips Ax into Smash as Hawk goes up top and Animal looks to put Ax on his shoulders. Smash gets a shot in and Hawk comes off the top with a shot to Smash and Ax pounds on Animal in the corner, and Warrior pounds on Ax from the apron as Crush comes in and he pounds on Animal in the corner before hoisting him up in a bearhug. Animal fights his way out of the hold and hooks a bearhug on Crush as Smash comes in and breaks it up, and Smash tags in and chokes Animal with his boot on the mat before going outside and he chokes Animal on the apron. He rolls back into the ring and tags Ax who pounds on Animal only for Animal to catch him ducking with an axehandle, but Crush tags in and he gets a shot in on Hawk and he rams Animal into the buckle as Demolition choke him from the apron. Smash tags in and he pounds on Animal in the corner before hitting a back suplex for a two count, and he pounds on Animal and hooks a submission on who fights to his feet and breaks the hold only for Smash to get a shot in. Ax tags in and he pounds on Animal in the corner before hitting a snapmare and he goes back to the submission, and Animal fights to his feet and breaks the hold only for Ax to hit a drop toehold and Crush tags in as he stomps on Animal. He pounds on Animal in the corner and chokes him on the ropes before whipping him into the other corner only for Animal to hit a clothesline, and Warrior gets the hot tag and he fires up on Smash before hitting a clothesline and he knocks Ax off the apron. He hits a pair of clotheslines on Smash as LOD brawl with Ax and Crush on the outside, and then Warrior hits a flying tackle and the big splash on Smash which gets the three and he wins the match for his team.
The match itself was pretty good as both teams worked hard and put on a solid 6-man tag match. Demolition have started to gel well as a 3-man unit thought you could tell by this point that Ax was taking a backseat while Smash and Crush did most of the work, and LOD and Warrior looked pretty good here as a unit and it was cool seeing them team up together. You knew given who was involved that these matches weren’t going to be technical masterpieces, but they were good brawlers and the match quickly degenerated into a brawl to the point that you wonder if they could’ve done like a tornado match to really put it over the top. Again not to sound like a broken record, but it has become very clear that Warrior’s title reign is already starting to run out of steam as he’s not even defending the title anymore and is put in this match to give LOD an extra partner. The crowd was red hot for the match and popped big for Warrior and LOD when they won. LOD and Warrior get the win over Demolition, but this issue is not over yet though you have to wonder if Warrior’s title reign was nearing the end as well.
Final Grade: **1/2
