June 19, 1995
From the Struthers High School in Struthers, OH
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The Undertaker vs. Mike McReynolds
Undertaker goes right after McReynolds and boots him in the face. The announcers talk about the Undertaker/Kama feud and the Undertaker/Mabel 1st Round match at the King of the Ring. Vince is disgusted over Lawler’s smelly feet then Undertaker hits a chokeslam before hitting a tombstone for the win (2:23). Vince then asks if Undertaker will be the next King of the Ring as the camera shows the Creatures of the Night. Vince complains more about Lawler’s feet as McReynolds is stuffed inside of a bodybag then hit with a stomp.
Thoughts: An easy win for Undertaker as Vince touted him as a favorite to win the King of the Ring Tournament.
We see the announcers with Lawler showing us his gross plastic foot. Lawler then calls out Bret and said that Helen’s gross feet will not even be as bad as his come King of the Ring. Getting a lot of mileage out of this prop at least.
Todd Pettengill lists off the rest of the World Tour de Force dates.
We are shown clips from last week when Bob Backlund broke Man Mountain Rock’s guitar. After that, we are shown Rock as he calls his guitar his “soul” and that he is focused on Backlund. This sensational feud continues. Reading through some old “Pro Wrestling Torch” issues and there was a rumor Rock was punished by being put in this feud. Rock “smarted” off to Vince when confronted about the amount of weight gained since he got hired and Rock replied “we all can’t look like movie stars, McMahon.” So, by punishing Rock, Vince punished everyone by subjecting us to this shit.
Adam Bomb vs. Bill Payne
Payne attacks Bomb from behind to start. Bomb runs over Payne then lands a few kicks in the corner. Vince now calls out Lawler for costing Bret his match against Henry Godwinn on “Superstars” as Bomb hits Payne with a dropkick. We learn that Lawler is on the cover of “WWF Magazine” and sponsored by the “APA” as Lawler tells us that’s the “American Podiatry Association.” Bomb hits Payne with a back suplex as Vince tells us Razor Ramon is questionable for King of the Ring then Bomb hits a flying clothesline for the win (1:57).
Thoughts: Zero focus on Bomb here as the focus on commentary was on the Lawler/Bret feud and whether or not Razor will be able to compete at King of the Ring.
King of the Ring Report with Todd Pettengill. During the report, they cut back to Lawler as he has another giant, gross plastic foot and rants about the Kiss My Foot match. And after all this time we get a second plastic foot.
Sid & Tatanka w/ Ted DiBiase vs. Headshrinkers
Barry Didinsky is back to shilling the Diesel t-shirt in the aisle now so good for him. Fatu looks quite a bit heavier than his last TV appearance abou two months ago in a Tag Team Title match on “Superstars” . Fatu fires away on Tatanka in the corner. Tatanka catches Fatu with a clothesline as we get more foot talk on commentary. Tatanka beats down Fatu then tosses him through the ropes. Tatanka hits a flying chop but Fatu brushes it off. Tatanka then hits a DDT but also does not have any effect as Fatu dances before hitting a thrust kick. More dancing by Fatu that gets some cheers but as he does that, Sid tags into the match. Fatu moonwalks to his corner as Headshrinkers no-sell a double noggin knocker then headbutt Sid. Fatu lands a few shots but gets turned inside-out with a clothesline. Sid then uses a chokeslam and hits a leg drop for two. We go to break and return with Tatanka attacking Fatu behind the ref’s back. Tatanka walks in as a tag was apparently not needed. Vince hypes Diesel’s benefit softball game with NFL stars like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Herschel Walker in Oklahome as Fatu gets double-teamed in the corner. Vince also added that Diesel has been cleared by doctors for the PPV. We get some Diesel chants but also see signs for Sid on the hard camera. Sid misses a leg drop attempt and tags out as Tatanka cuts off a tag attempt. Tatanka then misses an elbow drop and Fatu finally tags out. Sionne is now in and fires away on Tatanka. He catches Tatanka and hits a front falling slam for a two count. Sionne then hits a hotshot and follows up with another neck attack for at two count. Piledriver gets two after Sid made the save. Sionne punches Tatanka through the ropes in a terrible spot and takes a swing at Sid but ends up getting clotheslined. The match breaks down and Sid powerbombs Fatu and tosses him over the ropes. Sid heads out as the ref keeps yelling at DiBiase and Sionne is hit with an assisted powerbomb. Sid rolls Sionne back inside then Tatanka covers for the win (9:04 shown) *3/4.
Thoughts: This match was better than I thought it would be since Sid & Tatanka are lousy but I was shocked at how much offense The Headshrinkers got in here since Sid & Tatanka are in the PPV main event. This was the final TV appearance of The Headshrinkers and they wrapped up as a team a few days later when the World Tour de Force ends. Sionne will get released soon and Fatu will get repackaged as we are going to see later.
We get a video package on the events that lead to the King of the Ring main event.
Diesel & Bigelow are backstage as Vince interviews then from the desk. Diesel is not afraid to get powerbombed again as he survived it in the past as Bigelow says there is a lot of positivity. Vince notes that these two seem to lack confidence, which is incredibly obvious, but they tell us otherwise. Man, this was no good. There is zero chemistry between these two and its tough to even buy them as friends on screen. We know behind the scenes they disliked each other but yikes.
Back to the announcers as the crowd behind them chants for Bret Hart.
Another video of Lawler training for the Kiss My Foot match.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Buck Quartermaine
Vince puts over Helmsley’s ringwork as Quartermaine is shoved to the mat. Lawler makes more foot related jokes this time about Stu Hart. Helmsley beats down Quartermaine then chops away in the corner. He hits a jumping back elbow smash then bows as the announcers talk about the Kiss My Foot match. Helmsley catches Quartermaine with a backbreaker as Vince tells us that Jeff Jarrett will put up the Intercontinental Title against Savio Vega next week on RAW as Helmsley puts Quartermaine away with the Pedigree (2:45).
Thoughts: Lots of talk about King of the Ring and the news of Jarrett vs. Vega for the Intercontinental Title next week.
A video package hyping next week’s Jeff Jarrett vs. Savio Vega match.
The confessional booth New Generation ad airs. This hasn’t been seen in a while.
Shawn Michaels vs. Gus Kantarakis
Vince says the ladies love Shawn’s looks while the men love his athleticism. Shawn toys with Kantarakis then outsmarts him by running around the ring. Shawn then skips over the guardrail and sits in a chair before hopping back to ringside. Kantarakis tries a sneak attack but that fails. Back inside, Shawn heads up top for a double axe handle but gets caught with a punch to the gut. Kantarakis hammers away as Vince plugs the Superstar Line and how Jim Ross will update you on what will happen in case Razor Ramon is unable to compete at King of the Ring. Shawn sends Kantarakis outside and heads out to hit a suplex. Shawn rolls back into the ring then back out as he hits the super kick and rolls back inside. Shawn rolls out again and brings Kantarakis back inside and goes to cover but the crowd chants “one more time” and Shawn gives them what they want with another super kick for the win as he covers by sitting on Kantarakis (4:22).
Thoughts: Shawn easily came off as the biggest star on this show and this taping (this was the 3rd and final show of the taping). The crowd loved his antics and Vince put him over huge on commentary. Also, given Vince’s description of what you can hear from Ross on the “Superstar Line” its looking more and more clear that he is not going to be at the PPV.
After the match, Kama runs into the ring and tries an attack but Shawn avoids it and hammers away. Kama is restrained by officials from the outside then we see Undertaker head down the aisle. And after Undertaker is Mabel with Vince screaming about who knows what will happen at the PPV. A last minute effort to get some hype on the competitors of the tournament.
The announcers hype the PPV with Lawler proclaiming he will win and after Bret kisses his feet, he will have to kiss his career goodbye.
Final Thoughts: Nothing much newsworthy unless you include hints that Razor wouldnt be able to wrestle on the PPV. There was tons of hype on Bret/Lawler, the King of the Ring main event, and even some of the tournament competitors. It was reported in the “Pro Wrestling Torch” that behind the scenes, WWF officials were confident the tournament results would surprise a lot of people. And boy were they right. Anyway, next week will also have the PPV fallout as well as an Intercontinental Title match.
Here is my schedule the next several days:
Wednesday: WWF Superstars 6/24/95, WWF Challenge 6/25/95
Thursday: WWF Action Zone 6/25/95
Friday: WWF 1995 King of the Ring
Saturday: WWF Monday Night RAW 6/26/95
Sunday: WWF Superstars 7/1/95, WWF Challenge 7/2/95
Monday: WWF Action Zone 7/2/95
Tuesday: WWF Monday Night RAW 7/3/95