August 26, 1995
From the Portland Civic Center in Portland, ME
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix
Show starts off with a clip of British Bulldog turning on Diesel from “Monday Night RAW.”
Skip w/ Sunny vs. 1-2-3 Kid
Vince calls Skip the only man to have lost to Barry Horowitz. Skip retreats after Kid starts throwing kicks. Sunny calls Kid the “toothpick Kid” as Kid now grabs Skip in a side headlock. Skip takes Kid over with a hip toss after an Irish whip sequence then does some jumping jacks and flexes. Vince mocks Skip for losing to Horowitz twice and that Horowitz could head to the “Letterman Show” if he wins as Dok wants to know if he will co-star with “Dick Assman.” Kid takes Skip outside with a flying headscissors then flies out with a pescado. Kid rolls Skip back inside and lands a chop in the corner but Skip counters a headscissor float over attempt with a slam as we go to break. Match returns with Skip hitting a suplex for a two count. The crowd chants “Barry” as Skip hits a running leg drop for two. Kid comes back with a spinning heel kick and lands more kicks in the corner. Kid now heads up top and hits a frog splash for a nearfall as Sunny fans herself off with a towel over Skip nearly losing again. Kid tries another spin kick but Skip ducks and Kid falls through the ropes. Sunny attacks Kid as the ref is distracted then we see Horowitz come out dressed like he came from the set of a Revenge of the Nerds movie. Skip goes out and flips out on Horowitz but gets counted out in the process and loses again (7:09) **1/2.
Thoughts: The action we saw was good but the story of Horowitz causing Skip to blow his cool and lose the match is the real highlight heading into the PPV. I still have no idea why Horowitz is dressing like a dork though but he is becoming a fan favorite in this new role.
The Report Card with Dean Douglas, who is now in his office. He grades 1-2-3 Kid as last time Kid received an incomplete grade. Douglas defines the word “redundant” and goes over how Kid missed a spin kick after hitting one prior and that means Douglas gives him a grade “HI” which means “Hopelessly Incomplete.” This sucked but given what we know through various shoot interviews where Kid gave the thumbs down heading through the curtain after wrestling Douglas for the first time it is somewhat amusing.
WWF Live Event News with Jim Ross. After reminding us to buy SummerSlam on PPV tomorrow he plugs the 10/6 MSG show. Two new matches have been added to that MSG show and they are: Bret Hart w/ George Steele vs. Isaac Yankem w/ Jerry Lawler plus Shawn Michaels defending the Intercontinental Title against British Bulldog. Giving away the SummerSlam result, aren’t we? I mean I dont think anyone thought Shawn was losing but still. Ross didn’t even mention how Shawn had to retain for this to be a title match. Later on we will hear from Shawn about this match.
Later on this show is Bret Hart vs. Rad Radford and Psycho Sid is in action.
Hype video for next week’s Bret Hart vs. Waylon Mercy match. Vince talks up Bret taking on all challengers as he is back to doing this again but this time without the title.
Sid w/ Ted DiBiase vs. Brian Walsh
Sid beats on Walsh in the corner with Walsh doing these incredibly overexaggerated jumping sells. Sid clotheslines Walsh as the announcers talk about the dangers of the ladder match and how the first time took Razor and Shawn months to recuperate. The announcers talk about Sid facing the winner of that ladder match on the 9/11 RAW as Sid continues to destroy Walsh. Dok takes a shot at Chicago Bears QB Steve Walsh as Sid takes Walsh down with a big boot as Dok says Sid will be at SummerSlam as part of the casket match then Sid finally puts Walsh out of his misery with the powerbomb as Dok plugs his interview with Undertaker that is coming up next (2:45). Sid stares into the camera after the win.
Thoughts: Sid dominates Walsh as they build him up for whoever wins the ladder match at SummerSlam for the 9/11 RAW show. And maybe hint at the next Corporation member for Undertaker to feud with.
We get the Goldust promo we saw on RAW.
Dok is in the ring and brings out Undertaker & Paul Bearer. However, its Bearer that comes out wheeling out the casket. Dok heads out at ringside and interviews Bearer as the lights are still off. Bearer wants us to look at the tombstones of the people Undertaker has beaten. Dok brings up how Kama has had Undertaker’s number but Undertaker pops out from the casket to say its payback time as Dok acts terrified. Undertaker says Kama might be a supreme fighting machine but lacks heart and soul and the attack on his Creatures of the Night did nothing but seal his fate as at SummerSlam. Undertaker tells Kama when he feels the chill coming up the back of his neck, the purple hand of justice follows and that Kama’s soul will be sealed in the casket and that he will rest in peace. Dok being petrified here was amusing and Undertaker cut a good promo for a feud many people do not seem to care about.
Another WWF New Fall Season ad airs.
Back to the announcers as Vince talks about the new look and attitude we will see in the new Fall season.
We get a clip of the entire saga from RAW that lead to Bulldog turning on Diesel. This is followed by a promo from Men on a Mission as Mabel refers to Diesel as “Big Daddy Fool” and that he was stupider than he thought as he promises to become the next champ. Diesel is then shown mostly calling out Bulldog then says he will cause armageddon in King Mabel’s kingdom.
Jenna Nielsen is the guest ring announcer.
Henry Godwinn vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Vince plugs how we can hear from Lex Luger with Jim Ross on the Superstar Line talking about Bulldog’s actions. Godwinn catches Brawler with a powerslam then follows with an apron leg drop. Godwinn works the arm as the announcers talk about Shawn/Bulldog at MSG. Brawler rakes the eyes and hammers away. Brawler then heads up top and gets slammed off and then Godwinn hits the Slop Drop for the win (2:17). After the match, Godwinn rolls Brawler outside and slops him as Vince says that Godwinn will team with Savio Vega to face Tatanka & Kama on that MSG show. By the way, that match never took place.
Thoughts: We get another mention of Luger this time how you can pay to hear his thoughts on Bulldog’s turn on the Superstar Line. Once again they are really trying to push Godwinn as a midcard face with the slop gimmick.
The clip of Dr. Isaac Yankem’s answering machine airs. Same was saw on the SummerSlam Insider segment from RAW.
Barry Didinsky shills the newest Bret Hart merchandise in the aisle that comes with a free three month subscription of WWF Magazine.
Rad Radford vs. Bret Hart
As Bret gives his sunglasses to a young fan, Jean Pierre Lafitte comes out and steals Bret’s jacket. Bret is about to go after him but is attacked from behind by Radford. We see Radford fire away on the outside then roll Bret back inside. Bret fights back and slingshots Radford into the ring. Bret uses a back drop as the announcers talk about Bret facing Waylon Mercy next week. Bret continues to fire away until Radford catches him with a spinebuster. Radford drops an elbow then chokes out Bret on the mat. Radford stomps away but ducks his head for a back drop and gets kicked in the face. Radford rakes Bret’s eyes and hits a neck snap as Dok wonders if Lawler & Yankem paid off Radford to soften up Bret. Radford chokes out Bret with his foot then whips him into the corner. Radford taunts the crowd as Vince talks about no one but Lawler having scene Yankem in action before. Bret fights back and hits his trademark moves and gets a few nearfalls in the process. Bret then signals for the Sharpshooter and puts that on for the win (4:41) **. Vince then lists off how you can order SummerSlam on PPV.
Thoughts: Match was fine and now that Lafitte actually stole something from Bret it means that this feud is on. Radford is a lower midcard talent and while a talented worker the gimmick is garbage. Speaking of Bret, the match with Yankem hyped solely through interviews and Yankem vignettes isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. No idea why you didn’t give Yankem at least a squash win on TV.
WWF Live Event News with Jim Ross. We hear from Shawn as he runs down Bulldog for their match at MSG.
Back to the hosts as they run down the SummerSlam card as we get a video package on all the key matches. The package was cool I thought as it featured actual key moments from the feuds.
Final Thoughts: We had two matches that featured name opponents to go along with the typical last-minute PPV hype. I thought the Undertaker & Bearer interview was good and they set up a Bret/Lafitte feud over a stolen jacket.
Here is my schedule for the next several days:
Friday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 8/27/95, WWF Action Zone 8/27/95
Saturday: WWF 1995 SummerSlam 8/27/95
Sunday: WWF Superstars 9/2/95, WWF Action Zone 9/3/95
Monday: WWF Superstars 9/9/95, WWF Action Zone 9/10/95
Tuesday: WWF Monday Night RAW 9/11/95
Wednesday: WWF Superstars 9/16/95
Thursday: WWF Monday Night RAW 9/18/95