River City Wrestling #554
September 24, 1994
Winnipeg, MB
Opening Bout
Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Caveman Broda by pinfall after a running forearm smash at 5:43
**the unpopular but always fun return of Canada's Greatest Athlete Iron Mike Sharpe to RCW was a successful one. Where is one of the members of the Demon family when Broda really needs a victory?
Bout #2
Richard Charland defeated Judge Dread by pinfall after a somersault clothesline at 4:45
**with the big battle royale looming the competitors in the preliminary matches are trying to get through them as fast as possible.
Bout #3
Damien Demento defeated Chi Chi Cruz by pinfall after a jumping kneedrop at 6:02
**the short winning streak of Cruz comes to a halting conclusion.
Bout #4
Jim Brunzell defeated Timothy Flowers by pinfall after a flying dropkick at 8:29
**A better outing for Flowers but the same negative result for the rulebreaker.
Bout #5
Jimmy Snuka defeated Dark Patriot by pinfall after the Superfly Splash at 4:37
**quick match for Snuka's premiere in RCW. Dark Patriot is better then his results, but has not been able to really get on track in the RCW.
Bout #6
Derrick Dukes defeated Makhan Singh by pinfall after a victory roll at 6:53
**Dukes controlled early in this rematch from Singh's countout and then attack from behind on Dukes. Singh though made a comeback and after a splash in the corner, sat on Dukes for the pin, 1, grabbed the middle ropes for leverage, 2, caught by the ref who pulled Singh's hands off the ropes...Dukes applied the victory roll and got a pretty quick 3 count.
Bout #7
Ben Bassarab defeated Jesse Hennig by pinfall after a diving crossbody at 9:18
**Could be a big night for Bassarab who has a history of winning the Heritage title in tournaments (1985 & 1986) and battle royales (1988). His warm up match though was particularly tough as he had to face Hennig in a rematch from their no-contest last card. The two went at it right from the start, tooth and nail, with punches, kicks, and suplexes everywhere. The match spilled outside on several occassions and by the end of the match both men were wearing the proverbial crimson mask. Hennig went for a flying bulldog but Bassarab pushed him off, then caught him on the rebound with a German suplex, then came off the top rope for his finisher.
Bout #8
Six-Man Elimination Tag Match - Special Guest Appearance Andrew Dice Clay
Robbie Royce, Dan Kroffat, & Andrew Dice Clay vs Destruction Crew: Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom & Jon Paul Demans
**Royce eliminated (by Bloom) at 3:35
**Demans eliminated (by Dice) at 5:47
**Dice eliminated (by Enos) at 7:09
**Enos eliminated (by Kroffat) at 9:32
**Kroffat eliminated (by Bloom) at 12:29
[Enos, Bloom, & Demans defeated Royce, Kroffat, & Dice Clay in an elimination Match]
[Bloom was the sole survivor]
**Andrew Dice Clay obviously had no skills other then kicking, punching, and choking, and getting under the skin of his opponents. Some of the crowd seemed to really get into his act, while others were silent. This was a rare foray into a celebrity appearance for RCW. The Dice Man will also be entered into the Battle Royale.
Semi-Main Event
RCW Heavyweight Title Match
Harley Tragger defeated Greg Valentine by pinfall after a powerslam at 17:15
[Harley Tragger wins the RCW Heavyweight Title]
**This has to be considered a major upset. Tragger came out strong, basically just ducking under a collar elbow hook-up and bodyslamming Valentine, then dropping a knee on his head. He whipped Valentine to the buckle, and then knocked him down with a big back elbow. Next whip to the buckle sent Valentine high up in the air, with Valentine crotching himself on the top rope. Tragger made the mistake of resting on his laurels a bit with a reverse chinlock, only to have Valentine counter with a jawbreaker. Valentine went to work with a low teck attack of boots, punches, and chokes. A series of knife edge chops, a body slam, and a vertical suplex got the champ only a 1 count. A whip to the ropes was reversed and Tragger shook the ring with a thunderous clothesline. Tragger controlled the bout for a couple minutes, but then Valentine made a comeback. The champ slowed the match down and worked a laying front facelock, propping his feet up on the bottom strand, then the middle strand to get more leverage, and moving it into a chokehold whenever possible. Valentine then worked a series of throwing the challenger out of the ring, allowing Tragger to get back in before tossing him out the far side. Finally Tragger managed to tackle Valentine to the mat and the two men went at it, wrestling on the mat and exchanging punches. Valentine applied a standing doublehanded choke which Tragger broke with forearm shots, then pulled out a surprising standing dropkick. The challenger then nailed a very prolonged hanging vertical suplex for a 2 count. Tragger continued to press the advantage and got a couple more near falls. Tragger tried to lock in a full nelson but Valentine squirmed out of it and took the challenger down with a Watanabe armbar. Tragger managed to get to the ropes for the break but Valentine then stomped away at him. Finally Tragger caught the bottom of Valentine's foot, stood himself up while dropping Valentine to the mat and then applied Valentine's finisher, the figure-four. They were too close to the ropes though and Valentine got the break. The champ fired back with chops, a couple elbows (for a 2 count), and then a piledriver (for another 2 count). He went for another piledriver but Tragger countered with a back bodydrop. Tragger then whipped Valentine to the ropes and took him down with a clothesline, stood him up and hit him with a short arm clothesline. Tragger then pulled another trick out of his hat charging at Valentine and hitting him with a bicycle kick. The challenger smelled blood and took the champ to the top buckle. The crowd grew nervous smelling potential doom for Tragger taking such a big chance against the veteran champ. Valentine tried to punch his way out of it, even knocking Tragger down to the mat, but the challenger just climbed back up, absorbed some weak punches and knees, and took Valentine to the mat with a thundering superplex. He needed a couple seconds to recover himself which is probably why he only got a 2 count. Undeterred the challenger grabbed the champ, scooped him up and nailed him with a powerslam, for the 1, 2, 3!! NEW CHAMPION!!!
Main Event
20-Man Over the Top Battle Royale
Winner Gets $5,000; Heavyweight Title Shot in October; and the vacant RCW Heritage Title
listed in order of elimination; (who eliminated them) and the time
20. Jon Paul Demans (Clay) 3:24
19. Judge Dread (Enos, Bloom) 4:02
18. Iron Mike Sharpe (Snuka, Demento, Dukes) 5:56
17. Robbie Royce (Flowers, Charland, Hennig) 7:11
16. Dan Kroffat (Enos, Bloom, Patriot) 7:48
15. Caveman Broda (Singh) 8:10
14. Chi Chi Cruz (Dukes, Snuka) 9:03
13. Jim Brunzell (Patriot) 9:45
12. Makhan Singh (Demento, Snuka) 12:33
11. Timothy Flowers (Clay, Bassarab) 14:11
10. Andrew Dice Clay (Enos, Hennig, Patriot) 16:01
9. Derrick Dukes (Charland) 16:09
8. Dark Patriot (Enos, Bloom) 17:42
7. Damien Demento (Hennig) 19:31
6. Jesse Hennig (Charland) 19:35
5. Mike Enos (Snuka) 21:23
4. Ben Bassarab (Bloom) 23:45
3. Wayne Bloom (Snuka, Charland) 27:09
2. Richard Charland (Snuka) 33:34
Winner: Jimmy Snuka 33:34
[Jimmy Snuka Wins the RCW Heritage Title]
**a very long Batttle Royale with the veteran Snuka coming out as a bit of a surprise winner. Add that to Tragger winning the Heritage title and you have a major shake-up in the RCW power dynamics, and a posing showdown between RCW's two new fan favorite champions.
