–Vince McMahon hypes today’s Shawn Michaels-Skip main event.
–McMahon and Dok Hendrix are in the booth and they are taped from Evansville, Indiana.
–Opening Non-Title Contest: Shawn Michaels (Intercontinental Champion) (14-1-1) pins Skip (w/Sunny) (7-1) after Sweet Chin Music at 4:38:
Normally this would be a test of where Skip stands in the company hierarchy just like what happened with Rad Radford a month ago on The Action Zone when Radford faced Michaels, but Skip already lost to Barry Horowitz so that issue is taken care of. It is also completely logical that this is non-title due to Skip absorbing that loss. Skip takes the fight to Michaels early on, scoring several near-falls, but Barry Horowitz walks out, distracts Skip and that leads to Michaels blasting the young heel with Sweet Chin Music moments later for a win. This match made it clear that Skip was not on Michaels level, but it was a fun five minutes between two very capable wrestlers. Rating: ***
–After the match, with Skip laid out in the middle of the ring, Michaels dances for Sunny, who appears overcome by the Heartbreak Kid. Sunny leans in for a kiss but Michaels walks away, causing Sunny to throw a tantrum.
–Howard Finkel takes on the Barry Didinski role of hyping a t-shirt for Shawn Michaels, which you can buy for $16 (plus shipping & handling)! Michaels, likely encouraged by McMahon, interrupts Finkel and takes off the shirt, revealing Finkel’s pale body. Hendrix takes on the role of shilling the t-shirt and a magazine about great steel cage matches. Finkel keeps trying to sell stuff, with his voice heard in the background, but McMahon and Hendrix completely ignore him.
–The new Dean Douglas vignette criticizes Shawn Michaels lack of charisma against Skip since he was laying on his back for part of it. Douglas has a deadpan delivery in these segments, which are lacking in charisma, but according to Douglas, McMahon had him adopt this presentation style because McMahon wanted the character to resemble a boring teacher he had in school.
–Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon is congratulated by the announcers on his recent appointment, with Monsoon saying that he is going to make some changes to the SummerSlam card. The biggest change that he makes is switching the Intercontinental title match from Shawn Michaels versus Sid to a ladder match between Michaels and Razor Ramon because Monsoon does not think Sid should be the number one contender. He also promises changes in rules and regulations soon as well.
–McMahon recaps Jean-Pierre LaFitte stealing Hakushi’s severed Bret Hart head two weeks ago on RAW.
–Jean-Pierre LaFitte (13-0-1) pins David Haskins after Le Cannonball at 2:18:
LaFitte works a much more toned down style in this bout, possibly because some of his high flying spots were getting him cheered at house shows and some television tapings. Haskins sells LaFitte’s beating well, working a 360 sell off of a clothesline and acting dead to rights after a DDT. After LaFitte wins the match, he steals a pair of Bret Hart sunglasses from a young kid at ringside, who does his best to cry and look sad for the camera.
–Stan Lane hosts the Live Event News segment, hyping how Razor Ramon will face Sid in Madison Square Garden. Ramon sells the match as a chance for him to get revenge for Sid’s sneak attack on him on RAW several months ago. The card will also feature the Allied Powers against the Blu Brothers and Savio Vega against IRS.
–McMahon urges “megabyte maniacs” to dial 1-800-916-9966 to get ten free hours of America Online so they are ready for when the WWF launches its page there in the near future. There will be chats after televised shows and with WWF superstars!
–Bam Bam Bigelow (14-3) beats A.C. Connor after a flying headbutt at 2:46:
Connor is the future D’Lo Brown, wrestling under his real name here against the Beast from the East. It was around this time that Connor was signed to a developmental deal with the WWF, being sent to the Heartland Wrestling Association in Cincinnati, Ohio to continue working on his craft while making periodic television appearances to do jobs to bigger stars. Bigelow is coming off as more and more of an afterthought, lacking an interesting feud and putting together lackluster efforts in squash matches where he absorbs lots of offense and hits a few power moves to eke out wins.
–Hendrix interviews King Mabel, who says that there is a royal plan to deal with Diesel on RAW when Mo faces off against the WWF Champion. Mabel gets angry when Hendrix tries to pry into the plan, but says that it will be easier for him to give Diesel a belly-to-belly suplex than for Diesel to Jackknife him. He says if fans want to see the “royal plan” unfold they should watch RAW.
–The Allied Powers (15-1) beat The War Machines after the British Bulldog pins War Machine #2 after a running powerslam at 3:00:
The War Machines are a masked team that looks like a really cheap Demolition knock off (minus the BDSM look), composed of Nile Davis and Adam Windsor from the independent circuit. Both men wrestled for the IWA-Mid South promotion, as well as the USWA under this name. McMahon and Hendrix discuss how the Allied Powers are on the road to get another WWF tag team title shot in the future, and the Allies help that cause by cruising to a win in easy fashion, with the War Machines inflicting no damage.
–Skip challenges Barry Horowitz to a ten minute match at a later date, spurred on by Horowitz distracting Skip in today’s opening match.
–Henry Godwinn (15-5-2) pins Jerry Flynn after a Slop Drop at 1:52:
Flynn has abandoned his short trunks for more of a kickboxer-like look, which better plays to Flynn’s offensive strengths. He does score a few near-falls, one after a Godwinn blind charge, and one after a spinning kick to Godwinn’s stomach, but that just makes Godwinn angry and a Slop Drop puts Godwinn over, helping him recover from a loss to Bam Bam Bigelow at In Your House 2. This is also the second time that Flynn has lost to Bigelow in two weeks on WWF television.
–Goldust is coming to the WWF!
–Kama (w/Ted DiBiase) (21-0-1) defeats Scott Taylor after a spinebuster at 1:26:
This is Taylor’s second crack at Kama, having jobbed to him on an episode of RAW back in April. The Creatures of the Night continue to stalk Kama in arenas around the country, causing me to wonder whether Ted DiBiase can afford a legal team so these people leave one of his top talents alone. Tamara Towery is the guest fan ring announcer but she speaks too quickly to be effective at the job. Razor Ramon is found in the locker room and interviewed during the match, saying that he is happy to be booked to face Shawn Michaels in a ladder match at SummerSlam. Kama makes short work of Taylor, beating him in a shorter amount of time when compared to their previous encounter, and he yells at the Creatures of the Night at ringside after the bell.
–Stan Lane continues to do the hard sell for the New York house show circuit later in the month.
–Barry Horowitz accepts Skip’s challenge, saying that he thinks he can last ten minutes against the WWF’s resident bodydonna.
–Tune in next week to see Aldo Montoya square off against Hakushi! Also, see if Barry Horowitz can last ten minutes against Skip!
The Last Word: Although this Horowitz feud is really sinking Skip’s ranking compared to other superstars, it is one of the best feuds that the company has going at the moment as fans seem to be naturally gravitating to Horowitz’s underdog character. In addition, the decision to change the Intercontinental title match at SummerSlam gives that pay-per-view a desperately needed hook because it was highly unlikely that Diesel-Mabel or Bret Hart-Isaac Yankem was going to be strong enough to pull a respectable buyrate. Combine all of these developments with the opening match and you have quite a good show on your hands.
Up Next: The Action Zone for August 6, 1995!