–Todd Pettengill hypes tonight’s tag team title match between Owen Hart and Yokozuna and Razor Ramon and Savio Vega.
–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are tonight’s commentary team and they are taped from Louisville, Kentucky.
-Opening Contest: King Mabel (w/Sir Mo) (9-1) pins Nick Barberri after a belly-to-belly suplex at 3:12:
Barberri lands on his head trying to do a 360 sell for a Mabel clothesline and Mabel smothers him, blasting Barberri with a spinning heel kick and tossing him into the ring steps just because he can. McMahon does his best to put over how big of a match Diesel-Mabel will be but the crowd reactions show how lukewarm audiences are to the new king of the WWF. This is Mabel’s thirteenth straight victory in overall competition and seventh straight singles win.
–After the bout, Mabel gets on the house mic and pledges to win the WWF title at SummerSlam.
–Fatu reminds us to say no to drugs.
–Footage of the verbal spat between Shawn Michaels and Jerry Lawler on last week’s show is aired. Lawler then goes backstage, finds Michaels, and says that he wishes he got to face him for the Intercontinental title at SummerSlam instead of Sid. Michaels says that he is more than willing to face Lawler at any time. Lawler tries to dodge committing to a match, saying that it violates his “journalistic oath” and both men trade some insults to end the segment.
–Goldust is coming!
–Bam Bam Bigelow (13-3) beats Bob Cook after a flying headbutt at 3:18:
If Jim Ross was calling this match he would put over some of the right hands that Cook throws at Bigelow early on. In fact, Cook gets in most of the offense in this match, boring the crowd to tears, but McMahon tries to fill time by hyping the WWF’s upcoming debut on America Online. Bigelow hits two moves to win tonight, which puts him over in the weakest way possible, and continues a disturbing trend line for his babyface character.
–Dean Douglas critiques Bam Bam Bigelow’s performance, making fun of Bigelow’s appearance by likening him to a walrus. He gives him an F, which one cannot really disagree with considering the quality of the match we just watched.
–Jim Cornette says that WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna are the Rolls Royce of tag teams and will be tough to defeat tonight.
–McMahon recaps Barry Horowitz’s “first” victory in the WWF over Skip three weeks ago on The Action Zone.
–Call 1-900-747-4WWF to hear WWF Champion Diesel talk candidly, especially about who his dream opponent would be, who he would like to face in a future title match, and which wrestler influenced him a lot.
–Skip (w/Sunny) (6-1) defeats Major Yates after a superduperplex at 2:21:
Skip rants about how he still considers himself undefeated before the bout. Yates is not used to being on offense in matches and it shows as he awkwardly tries to do things to Skip in some hope spots when Skip spends too much time taunting, showing that he has learned little from the Horowitz debacle. At least Skip does a good job selling how he is becoming paranoid over mistakes and is not in a good place mentally after the loss to Horowitz.
–After the match, Skip says he is going to get back at Horowitz.
–Todd Pettengill provides the SummerSlam “Insider” segment, which is the new way that the company is trying to frame these “reports” of upcoming cards. WWF Champion Diesel tells King Mabel that he will demand and get the respect he is owed at SummerSlam when they face off. We also get an Isaac Yankem promo where he and Lawler look inside of a patient’s mouth and discuss it, connecting it to the rotten state of Bret Hart’s career. Pettengill announces that Shawn Michaels will defend the Intercontinental title against Sid at the show.
–Barry Didinski tries to sell fans on buying a Razor Ramon t-shirt during Razor Ramon and Savio Vega’s entrance for their next match. You can call 1-800-TITAN-91 to get your shirt for $16 (plus shipping & handling)!
–WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Owen Hart & Yokozuna (Champions w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) (12-0) wrestle Razor Ramon & Savio Vega (0-2) to a no contest when television time expires at 13:22 shown:
The fact that Ramon and Savio are getting a title match here is laughable since they yet to win a match together as a team, losing to the Blu Brothers and Men on a Mission prior to tonight’s show, but the WWF rarely did heel vs. heel matches during this era and Owen and Yokozuna need some fresh opponents so it is time for Razor and Savio to get moved into this match. After a slow beginning, the match picks up after the second commercial break and Ramon and Savio appear to win the titles after Ramon pins Owen after a Razor’s Edge. However, this is reversed because Owen was not the legal man so the bout continues without Cornette at ringside, as he is tossed by referee Earl Hebner, which Lawler rightfully points out makes no sense. Lawler also tells McMahon that he will accept Shawn Michaels challenge for a match at a later date. Savio scores a series of near falls on Owen and we go through two more commercial breaks, which take place only mere minutes apart, and the bout culminates in Ramon signaling for another Razor’s Edge as we go off the air. McMahon says that we will see a restarted match next week. Both teams did their best to build some drama here, but the constant interruptions prevented that and some of the drama they were trying to convey felt forced. Rating: **
–Tune in next week to see Diesel face Sir Mo!
The Last Word: We are entering a very dark period for the company, especially when future shows will revolve around such thrilling matches as Diesel against Mo and Shawn Michaels against Jerry Lawler. This is a byproduct of the top babyfaces eating up most of the top heels over the past several months. The tag team match had some good moments, although the commercial breaks were irritating and did not allow viewers to get invested in it. Hopefully the rematch next week will be better.
And to conclude, here is where wrestlers stand as far as win/loss records are concerned since we are at the end of July:
Top Twenty-Five Overall Records (Minimum of Eight Matches):
1—Man Mountain Rock (15-0)
2—Hunter-Hearst Helmsley (11-0)
3—Kama (21-0-1)
4—Jean-Pierre LaFitte (13-0-1)
5—Diesel (8-0-1)
6—Shawn Michaels (14-1-1)
7—The Undertaker (9-1)
8—Skip (7-1)
9—Mabel (27-4)
10—Lex Luger (23-3-1)
11—Mo (17-3)
12—Yokozuna (13-2-1)
13—King Kong Bundy (16-3)
14—Hakushi (21-4)
15—Bart Gunn (17-3-1)
16—Billy Gunn (16-3-1)
17—The British Bulldog (24-5-1)
18—Duke Droese (13-3)
19—Adam Bomb (17-3-3)
20—Bret Hart (11-2-2)
21—Bob Backlund (8-2)
21—Razor Ramon (17-4-2)
22—Eli Blu (13-3-2)
23—Rad Radford (7-2)
24—Bam Bam Bigelow (17-5)
25—Jacob Blu (12-3-2)
Notables That Did Not Qualify: Waylon Mercy (7-0)
Inactive Wrestlers: Mantar (14-4)
Top Twenty Singles Records (Minimum of Eight Matches):
1—Man Mountain Rock (15-0)
2—Hunter-Hearst Helmsley (11-0)
3—Kama (21-0-1)
4—Jean-Pierre LaFitte (13-0-1)
5—Diesel (7-0-1)
6—Hakushi (21-2)
T7—Mabel (10-1)
T7—Savio Vega (10-1)
9—Shawn Michaels (14-1-1)
10—The Undertaker (9-1)
11—Bob Backlund (8-1)
12—Skip (7-1)
13—Lex Luger (8-1-1)
T14—King Kong Bundy (14-3)
T14—Bam Bam Bigelow (14-3)
16—Duke Droese (13-3)
17—Adam Bomb (17-3-3)
T18—Rad Radford (7-2)
T18—The 1-2-3 Kid (7-2)
19—Bret Hart (9-2-2)
20—Razor Ramon (14-2-1)
Notables That Did Not Qualify: Waylon Mercy (7-0), Diesel (7-0-1), Skip (6-1), Jerry Lawler (3-1)
Inactive Wrestlers: The Roadie (5-1), Mantaur (14-4)
Top Tag Teams (Minimum of Seven Matches)
1—Owen Hart & Yokozuna (12-0-1)
2—The Allied Powers (15-1)
3—Men on a Mission (17-2)
4—The Blu Brothers (12-1-2)
5—The Smoking Gunns (16-3-1)
6—The Heavenly Bodies (5-4)
Notables That Did Not Qualify: The Bushwhackers (4-0), Tekno Team 2000 (3-0)
Inactive Teams: Bob Holly & the 1-2-3 Kid (5-3), the New Headshrinkers (4-3-3)
Top Ten in Televised Match Appearances (Iron Worker Award):
T1—The British Bulldog (32)
T1—Mabel (32)
T3—Bob Holly (28)
T3—Lex Luger (28)
5—Owen Hart (26)
T6—Hakushi (25)
T6—Adam Bomb (25)
T6—Henry Godwinn (25)
T10—Jeff Jarrett (23)
T10—Tatanka (23)
Most Appearances by Show: RAW-Owen Hart (10); Superstars-Mabel (10); The Action Zone-Barry Horowitz (11); Wrestling Challenge (for matches not shown on The Action Zone)-The British Bulldog, Hakushi, and Duke Droese (4)
Up Next: WWF Superstars from August 6, 1995!