WWF Wrestling Challenge – June 18th, 1995

June 18, 1995

From the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, PA

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Stan Lane

Smoking Gunns vs. Brooklyn Brawler & Doug Stahl

Billy and Brawler start things off. Billy stomps Brawler then takes him down with an arm drag. Bart tags in and clotheslines Brawler before dropping an elbow. Bart goes to work on the arm briefly until Brawler rakes the eyes. Stahl tags in and Bart works his arm for a bit. Billy tags as the announcers talk about the Gunns wanting to get revenge on Men on a Mission and a shot at the Tag Team Titles. The announcers now want to know what team can overcome Yokozuna’s size as the Gunns hit a back suplex/neckbreaker combo on Stahl for the win (3:08).

Thoughts: Some focus on the Tag Division here but when the announcers listed off teams capable of handling Yokozuna’s size, the Gunns were not mentioned.

WWF Live Event News with Stephanie Wiand. They hype the next MSG show on August 12th then plug this show at the Catskills the end of the month with Allied Powers vs. Yokozuna & Owen Hart for the Tag Team Titles as the main event. The Powers cut a promo hyping the match and boy did it suck. Luger completely went through the motions.

Clips of Bob Backlund breaking Man Mountain Rock’s guitar and Rock vowing revenge.

Kama w/ Ted DiBiase vs. Jerry Flynn

The Creatures of the Night are sitting in the front row with the black wreath at ringside. Flynn backs Kama into the corner as he shows off his martial arts skills but turns his back and gets decked. Kama grounds Flynn and stretches the leg before looking over at the Creatures. Flynn fights back with some kicks but Kama punches him the gut then lands several kicks in the corner. The announcers talk about Kama/Shawn Michaels at King of the Ring then Kama hits a spin kick on Flynn for the win (1:47). After the match, Kama yells at the Creatures before slamming the wreath on the ground.

Thoughts: Some hype for the Kama/Undertaker feud and Kama/Shawn 1st round match at King of the Ring. And we get another confrontation between Kama and the Creatures.

The sitdown interview with Diesel & Bam Bam Bigelow from RAW airs.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Barry Horowitz

Gorilla says that Diesel is not even cleared yet to compete at King of the Ring and how that puts his team at a disadvantage. Gorilla does not like the odds for Diesel & Bigelow as Helmsley and Horowitz trade holds. Gorilla plugs Helmsley’s undefeated record as Horowitz pats himself on the back after a hip toss. Helmsley slaps Horowitz across the face but Horowitz comes back with an European uppercut then a dropkick. Helmsley pulls Horowitz in the corner then beats him down. Helmsley stomps away after a suplex and stays in control before using the Pedigree for the win (3:24).

Thoughts: Fun TV squash match but besides mentioning Helmsley’s undefeated record, like Jean Pierre Lafitte, he does not have any direction.

A scroll of places to see the WWF Blimp this weekend airs.

Video package on the WWF Hall of Fame inductees airs.

The hosts run down the history between Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler. It ends with previously seen prerecorded interviews from both men.

Jacob & Eli Blu w/ Uncle Zebekiah vs. John Crystal & Mike Khoury

Crystal & Khoury are back in the wrestling gear instead of the jean shorts like they had on for RAW. Jacob & Eli beat down Khoury to start. They send him outside as the announcers talk about this show at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills that will feature Alundra Blayze vs. Bertha Faye plus the return of the 1-2-3 Kid. Crystal tags in but gets beat down and this goes on for another minute or two until a knee drop from Jacob gets the win (4:02).

Thoughts: The crowd was absolutely dead for this as no one cares enough about Jacob & Eli to react. The announcers filled time by talking about this Catskills house show but also told us 1-2-3 Kid will be in action so expect him back on TV soon.

Clips of the Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna match from RAW are shown.

King of the Ring Report with Stephanie Wiand.

Bret Hart vs. Henry Godwinn from “Superstars” is shown. Some of the match was missed during the commercial break.

The Waylon Mercy vignette with the worm airs.

Next week in action are Sid & Tatanka and The Undertaker.

Final Thoughts: Nothing memorable here other than stuff that happened on other shows. I believe this was the last appearance of Lane as a commentator. And honestly, Gorilla seemed pretty good here and actually invested in the product. That makes one of us but still, nice to hear. The PPV is now officially one week away and in a little bit I’ll also have the Action Zone recap posted that featured Shawn Michaels vs. Rad Radford.