WWF Superstars – September 30th, 1995

September 30, 1995

From Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, IN

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “The King” Lawler

The show starts with the hosts telling us that the Smoking Gunns are the new Tag Team Champions.

We go split screen to see Barry Horowitz teaching Hakushi about American politics as he is trying to “Americanize” Hakushi. The joke here was Hakushi saying that Hillary Clinton was the actual president, causing Vince to cackle like an idiot.

Barry Horowitz & Hakushi vs. Skip w/ Sunny vs. Rad Radford

We get a clip of the history between these four men. Lawler tells us that Radford wants to be a Bodydonna and has been working on his physique. The crowd gets behind Barry and that pisses off Skip. Horowitz and Radford start off and trade moves for a bit. Radford tags out after decking Horowitz but Horowitz takes down Skip and uses a pair of mat slams. Radford knees Horowitz from the apron then Skip roughs up Horowitz in the corner. Skip uses a snap suplex and tags out as Radford uses a butterfly suplex for a two count. Radford uses a neck snap then we head to break and return with Skip hitting a gutwrench suplex for two. We saw a clip from the break with Sunny tripping up Horowitz then Skip cheap shots Hakushi and that distracts the ref so Radford can hit Horowitz with a spinebuster. Skip covers for two as we see Dean Douglas in the aisle once again scouting the competition. Skip & Radford continue to run interference but Horowitz keeps kicking out. Douglas leaves but Horowitz avoids the Rocket Launcher and tags out as Hakushi runs wild on Skip. Radford runs in and accidentally avalanches Skip. Hakushi goes nuts as the fans are into his fast-paced offense. Hakushi & Horowitz then hit Skip with a double superplex and Horowitz drops the leg but the ref stops counting at two as Radford ran into the ring. Hakushi yells at the ref then Radford hits Horowitz with a flying fist drop but the ref now yells at Radford then Hakushi splashes Skip. Both Horowitz and Skip are down as the crowd gets behind Horowitz, who crawls over and drapes his arm over Skip for the win (9:57) **3/4.

Thoughts: Good TV match here that was wrestled at a fast-pace. The crowd was into the Horowitz & Hakushi team too. My only complaint was the finish as Skip had to sell the effects of a top rope splash for quite a long time before getting pinned. Douglas coming down the aisle was a surprise and we will wait for the fallout from his appearance.

WWF Slam Jam with Dok Hendrix. More hype for the 10/6 MSG show.

We see a clip of the finish to Razor Ramon vs. Dean Douglas at In Your House and the aftermath with Razor and Kid getting into it afterwards. This leads to the two having another match this coming Monday night on RAW.

Razor Ramon vs. Al Brown

Lawler claims to have seen 1-2-3 Kid and Ted DiBiase conversing as Ross plugs the Superstar Line. Razor boots Brown then chops him hard in the corner a few times. Razor then uses a fallaway slam as the announcers talk about Razor vs. Kid on RAW this coming Monday night and how Kid has beaten up both times so far. Razor stays in control then plays to the crowd and hits the Razor’s Edge for the win (2:03).

Thoughts: Hype for Razor vs. Kid this Monday night. However, and more importantly, they are having Lawler play up a conversation having taken place between Kid and DiBiase. He mentioned it casually on RAW but went a bit more into it on this show.

Up next, Fatu vs. British Bulldog.

Now, for the first time we hear from Ahmed Johnson. He talks about competition and how growing up in the hood and being told you will not be more than a “gun-toting thug” to survive and in the NFL being told you need to power through everyone to survive. But now, his greatest competition is the WWF. He talks about the WWF calling him up on the phone and how he doesn’t think the WWF knows how he is never backed down from a challenge and survived all competition. He accepts the WWF challenge and wants all of their competition. Ahmed showed great intensity but the promo itself was a bit all over the place. Per Ahmed in his shoot interview with Highspots, he first met with Bill Watts and was never given any direction for his character. Ahmed also said as a teenager he was part of the “Bloods” gang before joining the military and also claimed to have played for the Dallas Cowboys. Johnson also mentioned in an interview in 2013 that he lied to the WWF about his age and that he was already 32 years old when he signed, not in his mid 20’s. Regardless, he looked intimidating and like a star.

Bob “Spark Plug” Holly vs. A.C. Conner

We learn that the Gunns will defend their Tag Team Titles against Jacob & Eli Blu at MSG. Holly hits a pair of slams but runs into a spinning heel kick as the announcers continue to talk about the MSG show. Conner heads up top but misses a splash then Holly drops him with a clothesline. Conner then eats boot on a charge and Holly puts Conner away with a flying body press as Ross says Holly is quick just like the Marty Jannetty (1:53).

Thoughts: Just a backdrop for the announcers to hype the MSG show and let those unaware how Marty Jannetty is back in the WWF.

We see a video package leading to the Smoking Gunns defeating Owen Hart & Yokozuna for the Tag Team Titles this past Monday night on RAW.

Fatu tells us Bulldog its time to make a difference and how Bulldog will bite the dust in one incredibly corny promo.

Ad for the WrestleMania XI Special airs.

Jacob & Eli Blu w/ Uncle Zebekiah vs. Sonny Rogers & Joe Dorgan

Match joined-in progress with Jacob hitting Rogers with a gutwrench suplex. Ross hypes the WrestleMania XI special showing unseen footage as Jacob & Eli work over Dorgan, who has “Hot Bod” on the back of his trunks. And if Dorgan looks familiar its because he would later become Johnny Swinger. Jacob & Eli stay in control until they put Dorgan away with the H-Bomb (1:46 shown).

Thoughts: Quick win to put over Jacob & Eli as the #1 contenders to the Smoking Gunns tag team titles. However, they would not be in that spot much longer since they would be giving notice or might have already done so by the time this match aired due to the fact they were not making enough money to stay on the road. A problem many talents were having at this time with the business being down across the United States.

Hype video for next week’s Henry Godwinn & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Sid & Kama match. Also, the Superstars return of Marty Jannetty.

The Report Card with Dean Douglas. This time, Douglas is in his gear and behind of a curtain while cutting a promo on Shawn Michaels then challenging Horowitz to a match next week. No grades given here. And this was a lot like Douglas’s ECW character in terms of how the promo was structured.

British Bulldog w/ Jim Cornette vs. Fatu

Vince hypes Bulldog vs. Diesel for the World Title at In Your House. Fatu fires away to start then skies him with a back drop. He then follows with a corner clothesline and then a backbreaker for a two count as Ross notes how both men are former Tag Team champions. Cornette tries to trip up Fatu but Fatu heads out to chase him. Bulldog tries a sneak attack but Fatu was ready and kicks him down. They head back inside with Fatu hitting a knee drop for a two count. Fatu slams Bulldog but Cornette grabs him again and this time it allows Bulldog to clothesline Fatu. Bulldog heads out and rams Fatu into the steps a couple of times then returns to the ring and taunts the fans. Fatu crawls back inside and Bulldog hits a delayed vertical suplex then hits a leg drop. The crowd taunts Bulldog with USA chants then we head to break. Match returns as Bulldog works a side headlock on the mat. Fatu escapes but runs into a knee smash then drops the elbow for a two count. Bulldog now goes to a nerve hold as Lawler says he, like Bulldog, appreciates silence in the ring. Bulldog switches to a sleeper but Fatu escapes and pops right up after getting DDT’d and drills Bulldog with a thrust kick for a two count. Fatu hits a backbreaker for two then uses a running cutter then a flying headbutt but Bulldog was able to roll over near the ropes so when Fatu covered he was able to break the pin. Cornette gets up on the apron and that allows Bulldog to attack from behind. He knocks Fatu outside and heads up to beat him before taunting the fans. Bulldog heads back inside and we then see Fatu roll back inside and get hit with a glying knee drop then Bulldog picks him up for the running powerslam and the win (10:26) **.

Thoughts: Match was decent enough as Bulldog gets a win over a name opponent to build him up as a top heel. Fatu’s gimmick is not working and comes across as inauthentic. And losing already clean on TV signals the company does not have much faith in it either.

WWF Slam Jam with Dok Hendrix. We hear Savio Vega cut a promo on Kama for their match (and also see Dok impersonate Savio like he is Ricky Ricardo) and then Shawn cuts a promo on Bulldog for their match.

Barry Horowitz heads to the ring before the break.

Back from break, we learn that Horowitz has accepted Douglas’s challenge. They wouldn’t even show us Horowitz accepting.

We then close things out with a promo from Sid & Kama with Ted DiBiase as they hype up their match against Godwinn & Bigelow. This featured DiBiase pissed over getting slopped repeatedly with Sid and Kama just screaming gibberish. It was quite awful and really shows how lame The Corporation are as a stable.

Final Thoughts: A decently paced show that had two featured matches that didn’t suck. Next week we get two more featured matches as Superstars is also having shows and angles for the lower card guys, which again is a nice change of pace than trotting out the same jobbers in squash matches weekly as since the Fall premiere the pacing of the shows in general have been improved.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Tuesday: WWF Monday Night RAW 10/2/95

Wednesday: WWF Fleet Center 10/5/95

Thursday: WWF Superstars 10/7/95

Friday: WWF Monday Night RAW 10/9/95

Saturday: WWF Cologne, Germany 10/10/95

Sunday: WWF Superstars 10/14/95, WWF Action Zone 10/15/95

Monday: WWF Monday Night RAW 10/16/95