WWF Heartbreak Express Tour at Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY

by Mike Lorefice (M.L.Liger@juno.com)

estimated attendance 3,200

This card will be known to me as the night Shawn Michaels showed his true colors. Michaels was the most over person on the show and he received a thunderous applause every time Lance Wright mentioned his name. I guess Shawn will never be happy, but more on that later.

The card was bad from the get go. Local DJ John Tobin welcomed everyone to World Wide Wrestling Federation action. I now know why he works for "the home of classic Rock N Roll." They played the national anthem and very respectful people started an NWO chant.

Dr. X (Tom Prichard) vs. Achim (Achim Albrecht). X got on the house Mic and said there was a punk in the dressing room that thought he could beat him. X said he would beat him in 2 minutes. Achim is a 295-pound bodybuilder who looked juiced up. Prichard has been training this guy and based on this match he isn't doing a good job. The transitions in this match were horrible. Achim only used common moves such as arm bars, hammerlocks, and hip tosses. X worked the crowd well and even though I doubt more than 10 people knew who he was he was wound up being one of the most over heels. We heard the first of the many USA chants. It was the in thing to yell USA during every match regardless of what nationality the wrestlers were. X's did a snapmare followed by a knee drop and went for the pin, but Achim pressed him off. That was the best spot of the match which pretty much sums up how good it was. Achim did a couple of clotheslines followed by an atomic drop for the victory. I thought using an atomic drop as a finisher went out with Backlund, but it appears Backlund may still be prominent in 2000. There weren't any blown spots, but they really didn't try anything that you could blow. Achim was so green that you couldn't tell if he has potential to even be mediocre. 1/2*

Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon vs. New Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Allen Sarven). This was the match I came to see. I am a huge Dan Kroffat fan and have been billing him as most underrated for years. With that said, this match sucked. There was no motivation at all. Jannetty barely worked and when he was in he didn't do a thing. Furnas and Cassidy are also very good, but they were nothing special here. LaFon was going through the motions. The match took forever to get started as Cassidy was working the crowd. Furnas was actually laughing in the ring a couple times because of Leif's outside the ring antics. The first of Kroffat's three decent spots was countering Leif's monkey flip by landing on his feet. Rockers kept inciting LaFon to enter the ring, so they could double team when the ref got him out. They did the century old spot where Furnas tagged, but the ref didn't see it. At one point, Snow must have forgot the next spot because he started to throw a punch then stopped it in mid air and stood there forever until Furnas punched him. LaFon got a near fall with a leg lariat. LaFon blew a knee lift. Furnas tried to shoulderblock Jannetty, who was in his corner, off the ring apron, but somehow he missed. Jannetty still leaped off the apron selling the missed move. Leif used a uranage. LaFon hit an enzuiguri on Leif and then tagged Furnas. Furnas came in, ducked Leif's clothesline, and blew his power hoist for the finish. I have never seen the Can Am's look even half as bad. *

Sultan (Solofa Fatu) vs. Jesse James (Brian James). Backlund came out and babbled about nothing. Finally he introduced Sultan. Luckily the Iron Sheik was "conspicuous by his absence." Sultan looks like he puts on ten pounds a month. It was fast paced in the beginning, but then Sultan had to leave the ring for three minutes so he wouldn't blow up. When Sultan reentered, they pondered a test of strength for 2 minutes. Sultan hit a belly to belly suplex and did a one hand cover for a two count. Sultan caught James off the ropes with a sleeper. James broke the sleeper with a jawbreaker and covered, but Backlund distracted the ref. James did a jumping clothesline and Sultan did the flip bump, which was the bump of the night. James dropkicked Sultan and then Backlund got on the apron. James went over to Backlund and started arguing with him, so Sultan did one of the worst looking roll ups you will ever see for the pinfall. James worked hard and Sultan was fairly motivated, but the finish was really bad. Are all Armstrong's destined for mediocrity? **

Salvatore Sincere (Tom Brandi) vs. Savio Vega (Juan Rivera). Sincere played "mind games" by kissing Vega. Savio hiptossed Sincere over the top rope. Sincere did a reverse elbow drop off the middle rope. Unfortunately Sincere did the Macarena. They did a double shoulderblock spot where Sincere went down immediately and Vega bounced off the ropes and fell with a headbutt to his groin. Sincere missed a clothesline and Vega did an atomic drop plus two clotheslines for a near fall. Vega missed a dropkick and Sincere used the jackknife cradle for a near fall. Finish saw Sincere attempt a sunset flip, but Vega grabbed his legs and sat down for the victory. I thought this would be lousy, but it wound up being one of the best matches. *3/4.

Marc Mero vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Paul Levesque) for the I-C title. Aside from Michaels, Sable got the biggest pop. Not surprisingly, these two actually tried to have a good match. The match went to the floor early. Mero whipped Helmsley into the bars. They brawled to the back of the building and Mero whipped Helmsley into the wall. Helmsley grabbed Sable, pushed her into Mero, then punched Mero. Mero turned a flying crucifix into a sunset flip for a near fall. Helmsley got a near fall with the jackknife cradle. Mero whipped Helmsley into the corner, but missed an elbow. Helmsley pushed him out of the ring and rammed his head into the steps. Helmsley used a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a near fall. Mero used a samoan drop and went to the top, but Helmsley pushed the ref into the ropes which caused Mero to lose his balance and crotch himself. Helmsley tried the pedigree, but Mero pulled his legs out from under him and slingshotted him into the post. Mero used his Merosault for a near fall. Mero applied a sleeper. Helmsley broke the sleeper by pulling the ref into Mero. Helmsley tried to clock Mero with the belt, but Mero ducked, kicked him in the gut, and hit him with the belt. The ref was up and looking at Mero by the time he used the belt. The ref gave the signal to ring the bell after Mero used it. Everyone thought Mero was DQ'd, but Mero was announced as the winner. Apparently Helmsley was DQ'd for pulling the ref into Mero, but the ref got up too early and had to wait for Mero before ringing the bell. **1/2

Wright announced the songs on Full Metal. Michaels got a huge pop and Sid got a mixed reaction. When Sid was mentioned earlier, he received roughly 85% boos. This time it was maybe 55% boos. The announced 15 minute intermission turned into 30 minutes.

Diesel (Glen Jacobs) and Razor Ramon (Rick Bogner) vs. Grimm Twins (Ron & Don Harris). It is sad to see Bogner who is one of the few talented big men be wasted in this crappy imposter gimmick. His best asset was his aerial ability, which he can't use as Razor. This was a total nothing match. Ramon used the fall away slam. There was a long segment that consisted of one lame blow after the other. A Grimm (who can tell which one) used a spinning side suplex drop. The wrestlers weren't into it at all. There was no heat, no motivation, no psychology, no good spots, nothing creative, etc. Grimm bugged Diesel, who was on the apron for a while, so finally Diesel came in and decked him. Diesel did a horrible body slam. Diesel used a side suplex drop followed by a flying clothesline. Grimms did so little that a clothesline was notable. A Grimm ran off the rope and Ramon tripped him. When he got up, Diesel gave him a boot to the gut followed by a lame jackknife where he got him up 3/4 of the way for the pin. Nothing happened, the blows were horrible, and the finish was bad. -1/2*.

Billy Gunn (Monty Sopp) vs. Bart Gunn (Mike Polchlopek). Having this as the semi tells you how good this card was. Sunny chants were rampant, but of course she wasn't there. Bart ducked a clothesline and hit one of his own for a 2 7/8 count. In the spot of the night, Bart put his head down for a back body drop, but Billy jumped and gave him the rocker dropper. Billy missed an avalanche. Bart got a 2 ½ count after an elbow off the ropes. Bart used a side suplex drop. Bart went to the top, but Billy shook the ropes and he crotched himself on the top. Then Billy pinned him with his feet on the ropes. One crotching per night is enough. A basic nothing match between two unmotivated lousy workers. 3/4*.

Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) vs. Goldust (Dustin Runnels). No Marlena. Michaels came out to a thunderous ovation. Not one person flocked to the guard rail the whole night, but when Shawn came out at least 100 were there. There was only a handful of fans that weren't cheering for Michaels, but he still wasn't happy. Michaels deemed it necessary to spit at the two fans that were cheering Sid. Then he faked punching a kid in the front row that was getting on his case. Because of this, the fans turned on him. Michaels got on the house Mic and said he would kick Sid's ass if he was here. He said that Sid couldn't work his way out of a wet paper bag. I popped big time for that one. Then he got wise and told a Sid fan to "sit down before I knock you out." He threw Goldust out of the ring right in front of a fan wearing a shirt of the overrated scrub Deion Sanders. The Deion fan had started yelling for Sid after Michaels started whining. Michaels pressed and dropped Goldust onto the bars and hit him with a chair. Then he was jawing with the Deion fan. It seemed that he purposely did these spots in front of the Deion fan, who was bugging him, to prove himself. Shawn said he would wiggle his ass for the Sid fans. Twelve minutes went by before the actual match (if you can call it that) started. Michaels used a Frankensteiner. Michaels ducked a clothesline and then grabbed Goldust's nads and squeezed them for ½ a minute. Michaels wasted a lot more time. At one point he pulled his pants down revealing his red shorts underneath. The fans eventually got sick of his time wasting and started yelling for Sid. This of course pissed Michaels off. Michaels went out of the ring to get the house Mic again and two fans were really getting on his case. Michaels said that if the people couldn't drown out those two Nimrods he was going to go home. The Deion fan held up a sign that angered Michaels, so he spit in his direction. Michaels left the ring for at least the 6th time and got the house Mic again. He taunted another fan, but the Civic Centers p.a. and speakers are really bad and I couldn't make out what he was saying. Around this time Michaels pulled the side of his pants down to show Goldust his tattoo. Michaels did the flying forearm then kip up. Michaels immediately went to the top and delivered a flying elbow. When Goldust got up, he gave him Sweet Chin Music and pinned him. After the match, Michaels pulled his pants and shorts down to his knees exposing himself. I am glad I was writing in my notebook, because I certainly don't want to see his family jewels. Then he invited a kid into the ring to pose with him. The whole ring wound up filled with kids. This was a complete disgrace. It lasted more than 25 minutes and I detailed basically every move that was used. Michaels could have had the same match with a broom stick and saved Goldust the trouble of standing in the corner for 22 minutes. I used to like Michaels a lot, but after this it will be hard to have any respect for him. He is a complete and total egomaniac. How can he expect 100% support? I am serious that it was only a couple people that were chanting Sid in the beginning. Once people saw what a whining baby he is then they started getting on his case. His pouting only makes it worse for him and if this keeps up the fans will start instigating him the minute he hits the ring. He certainly isn't helping his popularity any and wait till he faces Bret who will get as many cheers as him. What kind of face spends the whole match taunting, spitting, and nearly punching the fans? Why is he swearing and exposing himself in front of an audience that was predominantly kids? He might be a good worker, but he is really becoming a disgrace to the sport. DUD.

In closing, this show was horrible. The guys weren't motivated. The finishes were bad. There was ten minutes of stalling to every one minute of wrestling. There were more blown spots than on any of the ECW shows I've seen. At least in ECW the guys try something. I can forgive Sabu for constantly blowing spots when they are difficult springboard dives a lot easier than I can forgive someone for blowing a shoulderblock. We are all suckers to attend these spot show where the workers don't work and the bookers don't book. The show could have been bearable if Michaels worked up to his capabilities rather than whined up to his capabilities. The sad thing is that after all this complaining I will probably be back the next time.