–Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross are today’s commentary team and they are taped from the campus of Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the tapings drew 3,000 fans.
–Barry Horowitz is showing trying to tutor Hakushi on American politics, a segment that McMahon laughs at.
–Opening Contest: Barry Horowitz & Hakushi defeat Skip & Rad Radford (w/Sunny) when Horowitz pins Skip after a Hakushi splash off the top rope at 7:26 shown:
While Hakushi is turning into a quasi-comedy character with this “learning English” gimmick, Radford has his first long-term storyline by becoming a “bodydonna” in training. For the second time during a Skip match Dean Douglas comes out to watch. The one benefit of Hakushi becoming a babyface is that it allows him to do more high-flying offense. For example, Hakushi and Horowitz bust out a cool double superplex on Skip and then Hakushi splashes Skip from the top rope behind the referee’s back after Radford breaks up a pinfall. The finish did little for Skip, though, as he acted dead for more than ten seconds before Horowitz covered him. It also made for an awkward ending. Rating: **½
–Dok Hendrix does the usual Madison Square Garden hype. Bret Hart says that he is going to take care of business next week against Isaac Yankem in the Garden. Jerry Lawler and Yankem respond that they are going to thwart the antics of George “the Animal” Steele and remove the abscess that Bret represents in the WWF.
–McMahon recaps Razor Ramon’s loss to Dean Douglas at In Your House 3.
–Call 1-900-737-4WWF to hear about a conversation Dean Douglas and Razor Ramon had after their match at In Your House!
–Razor Ramon (16-6-1) pins Al Brown after a Razor’s Edge at 2:02:
Ramon makes very short work of Brown today, allowing the announcers to hype Ramon’s singles match with the 1-2-3 Kid on the next RAW.
–The first vignette for Ahmed Johnson is aired. It is simply him talking about how he learned about competition in the hood. He sounds intense as he recounts accepting the WWF’s offer for competition. The vignette implies that Ahmed will be coming into the company as a babyface since he did not bash any of the major superstars in the company.
–Bob Holly (13-10-1) defeats A.C. Connor after the Pit Stop Plunge at 1:52:
The future D’Lo Brown gets a few moves on offense, but they do not look as crisp as they will in the future. Holly simply moves out of the way of a top rope splash and counters with the Pit Stop Plunge, thereby stopping a three match losing streak.
–McMahon recaps how interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon had to reverse the outcome of the main event at In Your House 3 and how that resulted in the Smoking Gunns winning the tag team titles from Owen Hart & Yokozuna on RAW.
–Fatu tells the British Bulldog that he is going to make him “bite the dust” in today’s main event.
–The Blu Brothers (w/Uncle Zebekiah) (14-2-2) defeat Sonny Rogers & Joe Dorgan after Eli pins Dorgan after a modified double spinebuster at 1:46 shown:
Fans know Dorgan better as Johnny Swinger, a name he competed under in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and Total Nonstop Action (TNA). With the Smoking Gunns now having the tag team titles, the Blus would arguably be some of the top contenders, especially with Men on a Mission focusing more on Mabel’s singles career. The Blus overwhelm their smaller opponents, spiking Dorgan into the canvas for the win.
–Dean Douglas defines luck and compares Barry Horowitz and Shawn Michaels, saying both of them are riding a wave of luck. He issues a challenge to Horowitz for next week’s show.
–The British Bulldog (w/Jim Cornette) (10-5-1) pins Fatu (4-1) after a running powerslam at 9:23 shown:
Fatu is saddled with a poor gimmick, but he is a good in-ring worker, bouncing off the Bulldog and going up for the Bulldog’s power moves to put over the Bulldog’s newfound viciousness. And Fatu is also in that Tito Santana area of putting over new talent as he nearly wins the match with a flying headbutt until the Bulldog puts his foot on the bottom rope. Fatu ends up taking too many risks in trying to dive at the Bulldog, ends up on the arena floor, and the Bulldog finishes him when he crawls back into the ring. If the WWF could have run this kind of a finish in the Bulldog’s favor against someone higher on the card like the Undertaker on RAW then it would have really put him over as a threat to Diesel. Rating: ***
–Hendrix announces that Savio Vega will face Kama at Madison Square Garden, leading to Savio cutting an anti-Kama promo. Shawn Michaels also delivers a promo against the British Bulldog, arguing that the Bulldog turned his back on the people of New York City the last time he was there. The Bulldog rebuts by saying that he is going to strip Michaels of the Intercontinental title when they face off in the Garden.
–Jim Ross confirms that Barry Horowitz will face Dean Douglas next week. Kama, Sid, and Ted DiBiase rant about how they are going to beat up Henry Godwinn and Bam Bam Bigelow next week.
–Tune in next time to see Henry Godwinn & Bam Bam Bigelow face Sid & Kama! Also, Barry Horowitz wrestles Dean Douglas and Marty Jannetty returns to Superstars!
The Last Word: This show had a healthy balance of recapping In Your House 3 and giving viewers some fun feature bouts. Horowitz’s push is about to come to a screeching halt against Douglas on next week’s broadcast, though, since Skip is about the only guy Horowitz can beat.
The WWF ran some house shows near the Great Lakes following In Your House 3 and the RAW and Superstars tapings that followed. Here were the results of those shows (courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com):
Kalamazoo, Michigan – Wings Stadium – September 27, 1995 (2,000): Goldust beat Bob Holly…WWF Tag Team Champions The Smoking Gunns defeated the Blu Brothers…WWF Women’s Champion Bertha Faye beat Alundra Blayze…Razor Ramon beat Sid via disqualification…The Undertaker defeated King Mabel…Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels wrestled the British Bulldog to a double count out…WWF Champion Diesel beat Yokozuna.
Port Huron, Michigan – September 29, 1995 (2,000): Goldust defeated Bob Holly…Dean Douglas beat Doink…WWF Tag Team Champions The Smoking Gunns defeated the Blu Brothers…WWF Women’s Champion Bertha Faye defeated Alundra Blayze…Razor Ramon beat Sid via disqualification…The Undertaker defeated King Mabel…Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels wrestled the British Bulldog to a double count out…WWF Champion Diesel defeated Yokozuna.
And here were some news and notes about the company (courtesy of The Wrestling Observer for October 2 and 9):
*The WWF locker room was told prior to In Your House 3 that Bill Watts will be given more creative responsibilities in the company, allowing Vince McMahon to focus more on the business-related tasks of the promotion. Watts has been going to lots of house shows and evaluating talent, having sit down meetings with various wrestlers. Watts also wishes to get more people to watch Superstars and boost declining ratings. The power given to Watts, which McMahon will reportedly not overrule, probably means good things for Tony Norris (who will debut as Ahmed Johnson), because Watts traditionally likes to push a black babyface, and Bret Hart, whose ring work Watts is high on. Watts also noted in the talent meeting that the recent Time-Warner merger could mean bad things for WCW since it will make Ted Turner a minority player and WCW could be completely cut out of future television on TNT and TBS. McMahon also told talent that although some WCW talents were good like Sting, Brian Pillman, and Harlem Heat, he did not have high opinions of many others, reportedly saying that Hulk Hogan “would never work in the WWF again.”
*Owen Hart’s wife, Martha, gave birth to a baby girl shortly before In Your House 3. This does not appear to be why he was not inserted into the main event, though.
*Goldust is trying out a finisher on house shows and dark matches on TV tapings where he uses a loaded glove to give opponents a heart punch. This was an old gimmick of former WWWF Champion Stan Stasiak.
*A few changes have been made to the In Your House 4 card. Owen Hart & Yokozuna will not be getting a rematch against the Smoking Gunns for the tag team titles and Bam Bam Bigelow will not be facing Goldust. Instead, Razor Ramon & the 1-2-3 Kid will get the title shot against the Gunns and Marty Jannetty will face Goldust.
*Doink did jobs for Dean Douglas on house shows during the week because the 1-2-3 Kid was injured again.
*Even though the WrestleMania XI special was given a poor time slot on FOX it still pulled a 3.8 rating, meaning that more than 3.5 million people watched it. That would make it the most watched wrestling show of the year.
Finally, since we are wrapping up the month of September, here is some data on where wrestlers stand in the company concerning wins/losses:
Top Twenty-Five Overall Records (Minimum of Twelve Matches):
1—Hunter-Hearst Helmsley (17-0)
2—Diesel (11-0-1)
3—Man Mountain Rock (15-1)
4—Shawn Michaels (20-1-1)
5—Kama (25-1-2)
6—Jean-Pierre LaFitte (19-1-1)
7—The Undertaker (12-1)
8—Bart Gunn (22-3-1)
9—Billy Gunn (21-3-1)
10—Waylon Mercy (11-2)
11—Bret Hart (15-2-2)
12—Hakushi (25-5)
13—Mabel (29-6)
14—Duke Droese (13-3)
15—King Kong Bundy (16-4)
16—The British Bulldog (29-7-1)
17—Yokozuna (16-4-1)
18—Mo (18-5)
19—Eli Blu (16-4-2)
20—Jacob Blu (15-4-2)
21—Owen Hart (21-6-2)
22—Henry Godwinn (22-7-3)
23—Bam Bam Bigelow (20-7-1)
24—Sid (10-4)
25—The 1-2-3 Kid (18-8)
Notables That Did Not Qualify: Dean Douglas (2-0), Marty Jannetty (1-0), Bob Backlund (8-2)
Inactive Wrestlers that Qualified: Lex Luger (25-3-1), Adam Bomb (19-3-3), Mantaur (14-4)
Top Twenty Singles Records (Minimum of Twelve Matches):
1—Hunter-Hearst Helmsley (17-0)
2—Kama (24-1-1)
3—Man Mountain Rock (15-1)
T4—Shawn Michaels (19-1-1)
T4—Jean-Pierre LaFitte (19-1-1)
6—The Undertaker (12-1)
7—Hakushi (24-3)
8—Savio Vega (13-2)
T9—Waylon Mercy (11-2)
T9—Mabel (11-2)
11—Bret Hart (13-2-2)
12—Duke Droese (13-3)
13—King Kong Bundy (14-4)
14—Bam Bam Bigelow (17-5)
15—Henry Godwinn (22-6-2)
16—Rad Radford (9-3)
17—The 1-2-3 Kid (11-4)
18—Razor Ramon (17-6-1)
19—Doink (9-4)
20—The British Bulldog (11-5-1)
Notables That Did Not Qualify: Dean Douglas (2-0), Marty Jannetty (1-0), Diesel (9-0-1), Bob Backlund (8-1), Sid (7-3)
Inactive Wrestlers that Qualified: Adam Bomb (19-3-3), Mantaur (14-4)
Top Tag Teams (Minimum of Nine Matches)
1—Owen Hart & Yokozuna (15-1-1)
2—The Smoking Gunns (21-3-1)
3—Men on a Mission (18-3)
4—The Blu Brothers (15-2-2)
Notables That Did Not Qualify: The Bushwhackers (4-0)
Inactive Teams That Did Qualify: The Heavenly Bodies (5-4)
Top Ten in Televised Match Appearances (Iron Worker Award):
1—The British Bulldog (39)
T2—Mabel (36)
T2—Bob Holly (36)
4—Henry Godwinn (34)
T5—Lex Luger (30)
T5—Hakushi (30)
T5—Owen Hart (30)
T5—Razor Ramon (30)
T9—Kama (28)
T9—Bam Bam Bigelow (28)
Most Appearances by Show: RAW-Owen Hart (13); Superstars-Henry Godwinn (14); The Action Zone-Barry Horowitz (12); Wrestling Challenge (for matches not shown on The Action Zone)-The British Bulldog, Hakushi, and Duke Droese (4)
Up Next: Monday Night RAW from October 2, 1995!