–Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix are in the booth and they are taped from Portland, Maine. SummerSlam is only a day away!
–Opening Contest: The 1-2-3 Kid (9-2) beats Skip (w/Sunny) (7-3) via count out at 4:28 shown:
The audience never gets to hear what Sunny has to say during Skip’s entrances because the commentary team constantly talks over her. This bout is a curious booking decision since Skip and the Kid both have matches at SummerSlam and usually the WWF tried to avoid having wrestlers on a pay-per-view take a loss before the event took place. The Kid does his usual job of flying everywhere, but Skip avoids a spinning heel kick and the Kid crashes to the floor. Sunny uses the opportunity to get some blows in on the Kid, but this brings out Barry Horowitz, who causes Skip to come to the arena floor and Skip becomes so preoccupied with this that he cannot beat the count back into the ring and loses. The crowd was really behind Horowitz here, chanting his name before he came out and then popping when he cost Skip the match. Skip is building something of a losing streak gimmick at this point too as this match constitutes his third straight loss on television. Rating: **½
–Dean Douglas defines “redundant” and then evaluates the 1-2-3 Kid. He gives him a grade of “HI” for “Hopelessly Incomplete.”
–Jim Ross takes over the Live Event News, saying that the WWF in Madison Square Garden is the company’s version of the Super Bowl. A new match added to the card is Shawn Michaels defending the Intercontinental title against the newly turned British Bulldog.
–Sid (w/Ted DiBiase) (4-2) beats Brian Walsh after a powerbomb at 2:45:
It would take six of Walsh to even make one of Sid and Walsh does a good job selling all of Sid’s blows, helping to put over Sid’s anger over being replaced at SummerSlam by Razor Ramon. Sid goes through all of his big moves – leg drop, chokeslam, and powerbomb – en route to winning today and sending a message to Shawn Michaels and Ramon that he is ready to face either of them in a couple of weeks on RAW for the Intercontinental title.
–A replay of the Goldust vignette on RAW is aired.
–Hendrix, decked out in Undertaker apparel, interviews the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Bearer brings out a casket and says that Hendrix is no Creature of the Night. He then says that Kama will join the list of those who have been buried by the Undertaker. The Undertaker pops out of the casket when Hendrix hypes Kama and says that it is time for him to deliver payback. He even throws in a new catchphrase, warning Kama that he is about to deliver “the purple hand of justice.” That one never caught on, though.
–Footage of the British Bulldog’s heel turn on RAW is shown. This gives way to some pre-taped promos, with Mabel saying that Diesel is stupid for falling for three of his royal plans and Diesel rebutting that he is going to take a blowtorch to Mabel at SummerSlam to ignite some of the Diesel fuel that Mabel has on him from his prior attacks.
–Call 1-900-737-4WWF to hear Lex Luger’s reaction to the British Bulldog’s heel turn!
–Henry Godwinn (19-5-2) defeats The Brooklyn Brawler after a Slop Drop at 2:17:
Jenna Nielsen is the guest fan ring announcer but she is too monotone in her delivery. Godwinn spends a lot of this squash working the Brawler’s arm, something that does not factor into the finish, as Godwinn slams the Brawler off the top rope and delivers a Slop Drop for his twentieth win of the year. Continuing a new trend, Godwinn slops the Brawler as McMahon marks out on commentary.
–We get a replay of the Isaac Yankem phone message that says Yankem will not be available for patients because he is headed for SummerSlam.
–Barry Didinski hypes a Bret Hart t-shirt. Get yours for $20 (plus shipping & handling) by calling 1-800-TITAN-91! You can also get a free three-month subscription to WWF Magazine and a box of Stridex pads!
–Bret Hart (9-2-2) beats Rad Radford (7-2) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 4:41:
Before the match, Jean-Pierre LaFitte comes out and grabs Bret Hart’s jacket from a ring attendant, further developing a feud that will occupy Bret after SummerSlam. Radford’s attire has now upgraded to more of a hoodie look, something that looks much more in character than the blue singlet he used to wear. Compared to most of Bret’s matches, there is not a lot of back and forth in this one, with Bret transitioning from the moves to doom to the Sharpshooter and Radford having no comeback heat segment for the heel. If anything, this was just an extended squash for the Hitman and it pushes Radford further down the card. Rating: *½
–Ross does more hype for the Madison Square Garden show in early October. Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels lets the British Bulldog know that he does not think that frustration is a good excuse for the Bulldog’s attack on his friend Diesel.
–Hendrix teases the idea of Lex Luger being the last part of the “royal plan” to help Mabel beat Diesel for the WWF title. His picks are not as good as they were for In Your House 2 as Hendrix picks all of the heels and says that the ladder match will be inconclusive.
–A video package hypes all of the big matches for SummerSlam.
–Tune in next week to see Bret Hart square off against Waylon Mercy!
The Last Word: Waylon Mercy will have a big test on next week’s show against Bret Hart, who was barely challenged on today’s broadcast. Poor Rad Radford did not even get the pleasure of kicking out of Bret’s second rope elbow drop. The build for SummerSlam has significantly improved over the last two weeks as a card that looked dead in the water now has some questions swirling around the Diesel-Mabel title match.
Up Next: The Action Zone for August 27, 1995!