October 30, 1995
From the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler
We get a video package narrated by Todd Pettengill that is Halloween themed hyping up tonight’s show that features Razor Ramon vs. Owen Hart for the Intercontinental title and the RAW debut of Goldust who will be going up against Savio Vega.
Vince is dressed as a convict and Lawler as a surgeon.
Savio Vega vs. Goldust
Vega pays a visit to the Spanish commentary table as Hugo Savinovich and Carlos Cabrera are also in costume. Lawler says Goldust’s theme is similar to the theme of the film “Halloween.” Goldust attacks Vega before the bell and hammers away in the corner. Goldust stays on the attack but ducks his head for a back drop and Savio fights back. Goldust cuts him off then slugs away before sending Savio’s shoulder into the post. Goldust works the arm now as the camera pans to four fans in Goldust face paint and wigs. We go to break and return as Goldust continues to work the arm. Lawler now jokes that he is dressed as a proctologist as Vince talks about the Lawler & Isaac Yankem team. Vega hits a crossbody for two but Goldust decks him then takes Vega into the corner as Vince says Goldust reminds him of Grace Slick or a “masculine RuPaul.” Vince also keeps referring to Goldust as “strange” and “bizarre” as Vega avoids a corner splash. Vega then uses his good arm to hit a few clotheslines as the crowd is into his comeback. Goldust then boots Vega down after ducking the spinning heel kick and after that uses a hammerlock cradle for the win (5:45 shown) *.
Thoughts: Not the most exciting match to say the least but the crowd did seem into it at times. I thought the finish was weak though and Goldust continues to struggle working this gimmick as a heel. Working like 1985 Rene Goulet is not the answer to success.
Survivor Series Slam Jam with Dok Hendrix. Dok has pumpkin face paint and tells us this morning, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon made the Bret Hart vs. Diesel match a no countout, no disqualification match. Dok then wants to know who the fans will align with during the match. However, we get interrupted to go backstage where Vince says we have a shoving match. The camera cuts back and the 1-2-3 Kid is telling Razor Ramon to calm down as Razor says “we can do this right now.”
We now get Barry Horowitz vs. Hakushi in Karate Fighters as Horowitz wins. Pettengill once again is on commentary for this using his Howard Cosell impression.
Marty Jannetty vs. Joe Dorgan
Lawler makes another joke about Alundra Blayze having a horse face. Dorgan has “Hot Bod” written on the back of his tights. He works the arm briefly before Marty reverses. Vince says that next week, Marty will face the British Bulldog as Dorgan cheapshots Marty in the corner. Dorgan eats a back elbow smash and Marty takes him over with a monkey flip. Vince also says that next week, Lawler & Yankem will face Hakushi & Bret Hart. Marty hammers away in the corner then hits a clothesline before applying a chin lock. The announcers now talk about the stipulations of the Bret Hart vs. Diesel match at Survivor Series then Marty puts Dorgan away with a flying fist drop (2:45).
Thoughts: Just a win to build up Marty heading into next week’s match against Bulldog. In his return, Marty’s position has clearly been that of credible midcarder used to put over the guys that are being pushed.
We now get a hype video for the Lawler & Yankem vs. Bret & Hakushi match.
Vince is now in the ring with British Bulldog & Jim Cornette. There is also someone else in the ring that Cornette refers to as “Mr. Mason.” Cornette is irate over Bulldog constantly being passed over for title shots and that WWF President Gorilla Monsoon even stated Bret was going to face the winner of Bulldog vs. Diesel at In Your House, where Bulldog did win via disqualification. Cornette says that Monsoon keeps passing over Bulldog then Vince asks why Mr. Mason is here. Cornette says he is the “finest litigator” and his name is Clarence Mason. We then hear from Mason as he says justice will be served. Lawler says that Mason is the best since Jerry McDevitt. Mason said he came up here as quick as possible since Cornette called him and observed the footage from In Your House and obtained the contract for the match. He then says Monsoon’s actions are unacceptable as the contract clearly stated the winner would face Bret at Survivor Series. Vince interjects and says he thought the champion would face Bret but Mason says that is all semantics and the contract stated otherwise. Mason demands a match with Bret Hart because Bret cost Bulldog his title chance. Cornette then said the Wild Card match at Survivor Series is unfair and that Mason will investigate this as well. Vince asks about Bulldog vs. Jannetty next week as Cornette says Jannetty is in trouble. Bulldog yells at Jannetty and says he does not belong in the same ring and him and he’s just a stepping stone to get to Diesel. However, Marty runs out and dropkicks Bulldog from behind. He then takes out Cornette and points at Mason before backing him into the corner. Mason pleads with Marty then says he will sue him and that gets Marty to stop himself from attacking but not before teasing a punch. Long segment I thought with the Mason stuff not terrible or anything but also not exactly getting heat, either. Gives more heat to Marty/Bulldog for next week and really foreshadows that Bret is going to win at Survivor Series then defend the title against Bulldog.
Smoking Gunns vs. Otis Apollo & Scott D’Amore
We see footage of the Gunns retaining against Razor & Kid at the PPV then Kid attacking the champs from behind after the match. Billy works over Apollo to start. We now go split screen and see Kid apologize to the Gunns for his behavior after their match. He then says if they are the champs like they say then they’ll grant Razor and himself another title match before adding they better do it soon. He was a lot meaner at the end. The Gunns are now working over D’Amore as the announcers talk about the Intercontinental Title match for tonight while adding that Owen tried to mix it up with Razor earlier. Apollo tags in but is then quickly put away with the Sidewinder (2:50).
Thoughts: Quick win for the Gunns but the real story was setting up for another title defense against Razor & Kid as we saw that Kid’s apology did not seem too sincere. Kid’s babyface promos from this era were quite bad. Really wooden acting here but a Kid full heel turn seems imminent.
Bret Hart tells us that its tough when good friends go to war and says he respects Diesel but in “The Survivor Series” a winner must be declared and he will be champion once again. We cut back to the announcers as Lawler takes umbrage with Bret for overlooking their tag team match next week.
Barry Didinsky once again is shilling the replica belts with the complimentary 8×10 photos.
Back from commercial, we see Paul Bearer in the graveyard warning Mabel that Undertaker will return. Vince also plugs Paul Bearer’s American Online appearance tomorrow night at 11pm.
WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Owen Hart w/ Jim Cornette vs. Razor Ramon (c)
Owen tries to attack Razor before the bell but fails and gets clotheslined over the top rope. The crowd gets behind Razor as Owen regroups with Cornette before getting back into the ring. Owen yells at Razor then takes him over with a monkey flip but Razor hung on to his wrists and works the arm. Razor attacks the arm as a scroll comes across the screen telling us if we want an update on Shawn Michaels’ condition that we should call the Superstar Line, option six. Razor stays on the arm for a while then hits a fallaway slam and knocks Cornette off of the apron after Owen slapped him across the face. Razor goes back to the arm as the announcers once again talk about the Wild Card match at the Survivor Series. Yokozuna & Mr. Fuji now make their way ringside as Cornette tells them that Razor hit him in the eye. We go to break and return with Razor using a hammerlock toss to counter a float over then goes back to the arm. Owen is able to toss Razor outside then takes him out with a baseball slide. Owen heads out to toss Razor back into the ring and heads up top with a missile dropkick for a two count. Owen continues to rough up Razor then cuts off a comeback with a spinning heel kick that gets two. Owen goes up top after a reverse neckbreaker and drops an elbow but that only gets two. Owen yells at the ref as we go to another commercial then come back to see that Razor hit a back suplex as both men are down on the mat. Owen rolls over and drapes his arm across Razor’s chest for a nearfall after the ref nearly counted both men out. Razor fights back and punches out Owen then sets up for his super back suplex as Owen falls on top in midair but Razor rolls through for a two count. We must get another break then see Owen up in the Razor’s Edge and Razor has to keep him up until Yokozuna is able to make his way into the ring and yank Owen down. Yokozuna then punches Razor for the DQ (10:45 shown) **3/4. Yokozuna then hits Razor with a leg drop and its 2 on 1 until Kid runs out for the save. Yokozuna is able to headbutt Kid then hits him with a leg drop as Kid convulses. We now see Ahmed Johnson come into the ring standing Yokozuna and when Yokozuna turns around he gets slammed by Yokozuna. Bulldog is in the ring and Johnson dares him to make a move as the show goes off air.
Thoughts: I thought the match itself was pretty good although the finish looked bad as it took Yokozuna forever to get into the ring. However, the debut of Ahmed Johnson in front of a crowd was great. Him coming in and slamming Yokozuna as the first thing he does in a WWF ring positions him well. He already has a great look and the fans reacted favorably, which is a great sign since the introductory vignettes were awkward.
Thoughts: A lot more enjoyable than most WWF offerings this month. The main event was good and they set up next week’s show well. The Survivor Series, however, does not seem must see at the moment with only the title match offering much intrigue as the “wild card” match feels thrown together for no good reason. Anyway, the march towards Survivor Series will continue.