August 5, 1995
From Roberts Stadium in Evansville, IN
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix
This week’s featured match is Shawn Michaels vs. Skip. Plus, we will hear from interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon as we learn about this for the first time here.
We get a video clip of Barry Horowitz defeating Skip a few weeks ago as Skip will be facing Shawn Michaels.
Skip w/ Sunny vs. Shawn Michaels
Vince says he believes that Sunny was mesmorized by Shawn’s antics. (4:47) Shawn keeps looking at Sunny, who stares back but that allows Skip to attack from behind. Skip lands a corner clothesline then places Shawn on the top rope but Shawn blocks a superplex and tosses Skip off. Shawn hits a double axe handle for a two count then we get a reversal sequence ending with Shawn ramming his shoulder into the post. Skip does laps around Shawn and slaps hands with Sunny before hitting a flying leg drop for a two count. Shawn manages a sunset flip for two but runs into a clothesline as Vince brings up Shawn vs. Sid at SummerSlam. Skip flexes then slams Shawn for a two count before using a surfboard. Skip then charges but Shawn backdrops him to the floor. Sunny looks over at Skip but keeps looking over at Shawn, who has the mic. Shawn tells Skip that Horowitz told him he is a crybaby. Horowitz then comes down the ring, wearing his shirt tucked into jeans shorts and glasses. Shawn comes out and rolls Skip back inside and runs wild before hitting the super kick for the win (4:47) **. After the match, Shawn waves Sunny into the ring as Skip is out on the mat. Vince screams about Sunny being attracted to Shawn as she goes for a kiss but Shawn pulls away and Sunny throws a fit.
Thoughts: An easy win for Shawn as they portrayed him as the sexiest man ever that Sunny could not even resist. And, that turned out to be true in real life. However, they also continued the Skip/Horowitz feud and now we see that Horowitz is dressed as a dork. No idea what they are going for here but Skip went from Tony Little impersonator to a short-tempered spaz so I guess this is supposed to be dork vs. spaz here. Its like that old SNL skit called “Geek, Dweeb, or Spaz.”
We now see Howard Finkel, calling himself the “Maven of Merchandise” as he sells the brand new Shawn t-shirt. Shawn then goes over to him and takes the shirt off of Finkel and throws it over to the desk (All shown off camera of course) as Dok finishes shilling the shirt and a magazine about the greatest cage matches in history that comes with the purchase. Fear not as Barry Didinsky is still employed. I guess Vince felt the need to do this to Finkel on air.
Dean Douglas now talks about Shawn Michaels’s charisma. He runs through the definitions of charisma and shows Shawn on his back after a suplex and receiving a leg drop is not charismatic so Shawn gets an “F-” in the charisma department, despite his class having a different opinion. These aren’t getting any better, that’s for sure.
We go split screen to interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon. Vince references an interview Gorilla had with Todd Pettengill this morning on “WWF Mania” as Gorilla says he will be a fan favorite and will now make changes to the SummerSlam PPV. Gorilla does not believe that Sid should be the #1 contender so now it will be a ladder match for the Intercontinental Title as Shawn will face Razor Ramon in a rematch of their WrestleMania X match. Gorilla says he has unlimited power and can change rules and regulations, not just matches. The real reason for the IC Title match switch is due to the fact even Vince himself realized the card looked awful on paper in terms of match quality and wanted to avoid a PPV poorly received like King of the Ring so they decided to do a rematch of a ladder match we saw at WrestleMania X. And I’m all for it as Shawn vs. Sid makes sense but you can always go back to it especially when the PPV main event here is Diesel vs. Mabel.
Jean Pierre Lafitte vs. David Haskins
We see a clip from two weeks ago where Lafitte stole the burlap sack from Shinja that contained the Bret Hart mannequin head. Haskins uses a hip toss early but gets taken down. Lafitte boots Haskins in the face then turns him inside out with a clothesline. Lafitte hits a back suplex as Vince says that Bam Bam Bigelow and Kama will be in action later on in the show. Lafitte ties Haskins up in the ropes and hits a pair of crossbody blocks then a DDT before the Cannonball gets the win (2:18). Dok says Bret Hart better hope that Lafitte does not “steal” his career. After the match, Lafitte goes over the guardrail and takes the Bret Hart sunglasses from a young kid who is almost in tears.
Thoughts: They are building up Lafitte for a feud against Bret as Lafitte keeps stealing Bret-related items from people.
WWF Live Event News with Stan Lane. More hype for the 8/12 MSG show as we hear from Razor Ramon hyping his match against Sid. Other matches announced for the midcard are Allied Powers vs. Jacob & Eli Blu and Savio Vega vs. IRS. Definitely two matches you don’t want to miss.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. A.C. Conner
Conner is the future D’Lo Brown. Here, he is heavier and much less defined. Vince says the locker room is buzzing over Gorilla’s change to the Intercontinental Title match. Bigelow works the arm to start as the announcers talk about the ladder match at SummerSlam. Bigelow back drops Conner then hits a clothesline. Bigelow stays in control as we get more talk about the ladder match as Vince believes Razor has the advantage since he won at WrestleMania. Conner fights back and rams Bigelow in the corner as Dok wants his special vest for the King Mabel & Sir Mo interview. Bigelow catches Conner with a clothesline as Vince shills AOL and how you can get 10 free hours. Bigelow then slams Conner before putting him away with a diving headbutt (2:48). Dok then says he has to leave for his interview.
Thoughts: Once again, Bigelow has the match used as a backdrop to talk about the big segment that just took place. They at least give Bigelow a replay of his finish and fireworks for his entrance so its more than his last televised match.
Hype video for next week’s Aldo Montoya vs. Hakushi match.
Dok now welcomes King Mabel & Sir Mo to the ring. The camera zooms in on the painful faces being made by the guys carrying Mabel to the ring. Dok asks about Mo’s upcoming match against Diesel. Mabel then tells us he is the king of the New Generation. Dok basically asks him to answer the question as Mabel says this match is part of the “royal plan” then removes his glasses and reminds Dok he is the king and asks the questions and gives the answers. Mabel asks Dok if he thinks Diesel can jackknife 568 lbs. Dok says no. Mabel then asks Dok if he thinks he can belly-to-belly 307 lbs and Dok says yes as Mabel laughs and tells Dok he is starting to catch on to the royal plan and to tune in Monday night for RAW as Sir Mo yells “long live the king.” Mabel then tells Diesel he is a “stupid” champion and will go down. Again, Mabel comes off like an early 90’s PG movie villain that you’d expect Kenan Thompson to foil or something. This stuff is so bad and corny its embarrassing to watch, much like modern day RAW.
Allied Powers vs. The War Machines
The War Machines have a cool look and masks. However, I do not know their identity. Luger takes down one of the Machines as the announcers talk about the Powers getting robbed of the Tag Team Titles at In Your House and Razor & Savio also getting robbed for at RAW. Bulldog tags and hits a delayed vertical suplex then a running powerslam for the win (3:00). Dok then tries to create dissension by saying Bulldog has won a title before while Luger has not.
Thoughts: Not much of a match as its not clear if the Powers are getting another rematch. Dok also tried to make like there was dissension between the duo but at this point I don’t know how many people even care if they split up the act.
We go backstage to Skip & Sunny as Skip challenges Horowitz to a ten-minute challenge.
The segment where Isaac Yankem & Jerry Lawler are at the dentist office looking into the camera like they would into a patient’s mouth to hype Yankem against Bret Hart at SummerSlam as Yankem’s yellow teeth are zoomed in on by the camera.
Henry Godwinn vs. Jerry Flynn
Godwinn uses a single leg takedown as Vince hypes up smaller house shows for this upcoming weekend. Godwinn misses a charge in the corner and Flynn rolls him up for a two count. Flynn gets a couple more nearfalls but ducks his head and gets kicked in the face. Godwinn now taunts the crowd then hits a wheelbarrow slam and finishes Flynn off with the Slop Drop as Vince talks about the ramifications Diesel vs. Mo on RAW can have on the tag match at the MSG show (1:54). After the match, Godwinn grabs his bucket but is stopped by the ref as Flynn is able to roll outside.
Thoughts: A quick win for Godwinn as the announcers hyped up the house shows this weekend. Only a brief mention of the Godwinn/Adam Bomb feud at the end of the segment.
Another Goldust graphic airs.
Guest ring announcer is Tamara Towery, a teenage girl.
Kama w/ Ted DiBiase vs. Scott Taylor
The camera shows the Creatures of the Night sitting front row again as the black wreath is placed in front of the guardrail. Kama takes down Taylor then we go split screen to see Razor in the locker room. They ask him about his match at SummerSlam and put over the previous match at WrestleMania X. Razor says its always special when he faces Shawn but is sick of hearing the match was the greatest of all-time and that they have many good matches ahead as we can see Kama put Taylor away with a spinebuster (1:25). Razor says he doesn’t care if he is booed or cheered as his ego demands everyone watches him. We now end split screen and see Kama flip out on the Creatures of the Night.
Thoughts: The focus here was on hearing Razor’s thoughts about facing Shawn in another ladder match. And he definitely came off a bit heelish here as he showed a lot of edge. Typically, you have the champion act slightly more heel when its a face vs. face title match but since Shawn is the most over act by a mile I can see why they went against tradition.
WWF Live Event News with Stan Lane. We hear from Shawn & Diesel as they tell Men on a Mission their fans do not bow or kneel but rather cheer load and squeal. Diesel says the fact they have the belts means they are top of the food chain as we get a dumb promo to hype the MSG tag match.
Now we get to hear from Barry Horowitz, who accepts Skip’s challenge. He knows its a big mountain to climb to win again or last ten minutes and thinks he can succeed while not showing a lot of confidence. They’ve now made Horowitz into a wishy-washy dork. Awesome.
Final Thoughts: The biggest news here was learning Gorilla Monsoon is the interim president and his first action was making Shawn vs. Razor in a ladder match at SummerSlam to give the fans what they want. And an exciting match to an otherwise awful card is certainly a plus. We also saw Horowitz finally accept Skip’s ten-minute challenge match as that will happen next week. With SummerSlam just over three weeks away we will learn about the other matches that will fill out the card and get more hype for the top matches.