The Fan-Cam Files: WWF @ Montreal, Quebec – 08.02.1996

Welcome to another edition of the Fan-Cam Files. Last time we looked at a small show in the even smaller Cornwall, Ontario, and gave everyone a glimpse at what a B-tier house show lineup would look like during the “New Generation” era with a lack of superstars and a ton of goofy gimmicks to pad the under-card. This is the first WWF card held at the brand-new Molson Centre (now known as the Bell Centre), taking the place of the Montreal Forum, and to this day is still home of the Montreal Canadiens.

Matches not featured on this recording: The Bodydonnas defeated The Smoking Gunns, New Rockers, and Godwinns in a Non-Title Match, Aldo Montoya (subbing for Jake Roberts) defeated Jerry Lawler, Sycho Sid (subbing for the Ultimate Warrior) defeated The British Bulldog, and Carl LeDuc defeated Justin Bradshaw. Quite a bit of the show is missing, which means this is a LOADED card (by 1996 standards), with 6 matches and a 2-hour run-time preserved.

“Wildman” Marc Mero (w/ Sable) vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley:
Marc Mero, formerly known as Johnny B. Badd in WCW, made his surprise WWF debut at WrestleMania XII and immediately got into an altercation with Helmsley, who seemed to be extra-pissy towards his escort of the night, Sable. This would carry over to the next night of taping for Monday Night Raw, where Mero came to her aid, and soon had her become his valet in all appearances going forward. The two would meet at IYH: Beware of Dog on May 26th, with Mero walking away victorious. Since then, Helmsley’s been on the back-burner (a story worthy of another show) and Mero is going through a phase of 50/50 booking as they put him into a program with Goldust where the original idea behind the storyline was abandoned almost as quickly as it took me to type this sentence.

No time wasted getting the action started, as they fight for control of a headlock and Mero sends Hunter to the floor following a shoulder block. Back inside, we get a more extended exchange that again ends in Mero’s favor. He gets a pair of two counts off a body press and sunset flip. Helmsley with a roll-over cover, but Mero bridges out and takes him over with a back-slide for two. Another crisscross and Hunter dumps Mero across the top rope to take control. Helmsley with a delayed vertical suplex and running high knee for two. We slow it down with a chin-lock, with Hunter irking the fans by using the ropes. Mero with the escape, only to take a knee to the midsection. Mero escapes a second hold, and a double reversal sends Mero into the corner. He flips out of a back suplex and catches the arms of Helmsley with his feet, rolling him over for a near-fall. Mero meets a boot in the corner, then Helmsley meets a fist diving off the top rope. Whip and Mero with a spinning head-scissors. Hunter flips upside down on a whip to the corner and Mero pops him with a running knee lift. Flying axe-handle and slingshot leg drop for two that has the crowd on their feet. Hunter catches Mero off the ropes with a back breaker. He sets up for a Pedigree, but Sable hops on the apron. Helmsley confronts her and gets slapped, but a school-boy roll-up only gets two. Mero counters a second Pedigree attempt, Hunter tried turning it into a sunset flip but Mero leans forward and hooks the legs to get the three-count at 11:07. Solid under-card match to get the crowd going, wasting very little time with stall tactics or rest-holds, while still not trying to go all-out for the sake of trying to show-up anyone in a higher position on the card. ***

No Disqualification Match: Savio Vega vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin:
Another match that was TV fresh earlier in the year. They’re rivalry dates back to the weeks leading up to WrestleMania XII, where Austin got a bug up his butt about Vega and directly cost him a chance at winning the Tag Team Titles. The two met at Mania, with Austin scoring a victory under dubious circumstances. Several weeks later, Austin lost to the unknown “Caribbean Kid”, who unmasked to be Savio himself (it was one of those “obvious wrestler is under the mask” gimmicks). The two met on PPV again at Beware of Dog (with Savio having to become Dibiase’s chauffeur if he were to lose), but mother nature decided to interfere, and the rematch on the make-good broadcast included the added stipulation that Ted Dibiase would leave the WWF if Savio were victorious. Austin would claim he threw the match to rid himself of Dibiase hanging around his neck, and went on to win the King of the Ring, though his position on the card is questionable as he doesn’t have anything of substance going on except waiting for Bret Hart’s possible return. Vega has moved on to a feud with Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw, flying under the radar as most of their interactions were happening on Superstars.

Savio jumps Austin before he can get in the ring. Considering all they’ve gone through against each other, it’s nice to see the pleasantries of sportsmanship are not always in effect. Austin reverses a whip, sending Savio crashing into the steps. Into the ring, Austin with forearms to the back of the head, followed by a spinning elbow for two. Savio fights off being choked out with the wrist-tape and kicks at Austin’s bandaged right leg. Austin thumbs the eye to cut him off, but Savio bounces off the ropes with a body press for two. Austin quickly regains control and slows it down with a chin-lock. Vega with the comeback, but a splash meets the knees. Austin with a snap mare and elbow drop from the second turnbuckle for two. Vega escapes another chin-lock and they slug it out until Austin dumps him out of the ring. Austin follows, teasing a piledriver, but Savio counters and sends him into the steps in retaliation for earlier. Austin begs for time, but Savio rejects and unloads with the mounted corner punches. Austin escapes a sleeper with a jaw breaker but straddles himself in the ropes attempting a seated splash. Another sleeper and Austin is sent into the corner. Savio picks him up for a splash, wiping out the referee in the process. Savio with the standing heel kick but the ref is still down. Savio meets a boot in the corner and gets stacked up with feet on the ropes for a near-fall. Savio yanks the tights and rolls Austin up for two. Austin with a punt to the testicles, and that’s good enough for three at 9:03 (shown). Yes, a hit to the genitals hurts, but I wish it would’ve built to a Stunner instead of being the finish right away. Seemed to hit the same notes as the Mero/Helmsley match, but with a less satisfying finish. **¾

The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. Mankind:
You know the roster is thin on underneath fluff where I can find something to talk about for every match as far as television storylines are concerned. Running fewer tours dates than ever before helps solve that problem as well. Mankind (Mick Foley) made his TV debut the night after WrestleMania XII, and immediately set his attention on Undertaker. Mankind was not only heavily involved in Taker’s matches with Goldust at Beware of Dog and International Incident, but picked up a victory over him at King of the Ring, with a little help from Paul Bearer’s miscommunication. Taker is still rocking the purple gloves and boot dressing, but we’re nearing the end of that particular look.

Taker removes his coat and immediately starts beating the tar out of Mankind in the corner, knocking him out of the ring. Mankind picks the ankle, dragging Taker out with him, and the steps are utilized again. He makes a move for Bearer, but Taker catches him mid-chase and a big boot sends him tumbling over the steps. Mankind goes to the eyes and wildly charges, only to get dropped face-first on the steel. Back inside, Taker with the rope-walk clothesline. Mankind cuts him over with a discus clothesline and unloads with punishment in the corner. To the floor again, Mankind throws the bell in to distract the referee from seeing him use a chair. Taker teases the comeback, but misses an elbow that allows Mankind to grab a nerve-hold. Taker escapes with a flurry of body blows, but a back body-drop is countered with a swinging neck breaker.

Mankind with a pair of leg drops, then wastes time playing the crowd as the Taker lay motionless, allowing the Mandible Claw to be blocked. Taker with the goozle and Mankind knees the midsection to escape. Taker rocks him with a big boot and scoops him up for the Tombstone, but Mankind escapes and has the Claw applied. Taker with every bit of his momentum to send Mankind through the ropes. Mankind tries dragging him out again, but this time Taker sits up and kicks him into the guardrail. Taker ragdolls him at ringside, sending him over the guardrail and back to ringside. Mankind tricks Taker into a spot he should be all too familiar, hanging him across the top rope after pursuing too aggressively. Mankind dives off the top, but Taker grabs the goozle on the landing, hits the Chokeslam, and finishes with the Tombstone at 11:12. If this were the main event of the card, I would’ve felt I got my money’s worth. Mick Foley unlocked something hidden away in Undertaker that we’ve rarely seen before, likely due to being stuck with slugs and freaks for the better part of the last 18 months. Mick took some good bumps without taking too many of his “stupid” bumps, and it was all action except for the short nerve hold. ***½

Yokozuna vs. Goldust:
That breaks the streak of interesting matches to talk about… or so you would think! This was originally advertised as Ahmed Johnson defending the Intercontinental Title against Goldust, but a real-life injury caused by the debuting Ron Simmons the night after International Incident derailed the rest of Johnson’s year, and he would never reach that level of momentum again. Yokozuna has been a non-factor for most of the Summer, written off TV with an injury and only making a handful of TV appearances before being removed from TV entirely as his weight got so out of control he failed a physical to be licensed by the New York State Athletic Commission. We’ve covered Goldust’s latest storyline, but it should be addressed that his stock is already reaching critically low levels, and no, they weren’t that high to begin with, at least not enough to justify being all over TV and pushed as hard as he was.

No Marlena with Goldust. Goldust gets the jump on Yokozuna, laying into him with rights. Yoko reverses a whip and connects with a Samoan drop. He struggles getting to his feet before hitting a MASSIVE leg drop. More slow-motion movement and the Banzai Drop finishes at 1:16. I can’t stress enough that watching Goldust matches was usually a chore, so I would’ve been happy with this result. Nothing here to give a true star rating, as it was literally a couple of moves. It’s a struggle to watch this era of Yokozuna barely able to get to the ring. NR

Boxing Match: Ray Rougeau vs. Owen Hart (w/ Jim Cornette):
What… the… F- – -? I’m now forced to comb through a bunch of issues of the Wrestling Observer to get an explanation for this. I guess they shot an angle way back in JANUARY where Owen attacked Ray following a match against the Smoking Gunns, the last show held at the Montreal Forum. Owen jokingly said at a press conference that he beat Ray so bad they had to shut the place down. S-tier troll-job on that line. Ray took the assignment seriously and cut weight, and looks to be in great shape considering being inactive as an in-ring performer for more than 5-years. I know the history of the territory and the Rougeau name, but as an outsider looking in, it feels so weird how the WWF would book specifically for the Montreal market as frequently as they did.

Jim Cornette is on the house mic before anyone else comes out. He puts Owen’s training over with the help of George Chuvalo (a Canadian Heavyweight fighter who was never knocked down, and twice went the distance with Muhammad Ali). Owen deserves more respect because he comes from Calgary, where people are intelligent enough to speak English. “The Rougeau’s have never beat nobody, and it’s not going to start tonight!” Owen comes out in his wrestling gear and the ring announcer puts himself over by calling Cornette a cheese-head in French, then explaining the joke to Cornette in English. Ray comes out with his father Jacques and Deano Clavet and uses “Rien Changer” by Mario Pelchat as his entrance music.

I watched every second of this match and took detailed notes, and I’m not going to try and do too much play-by-play for a fake boxing match. The crowd is molten hot for Raymond, so that’s a plus. Owen is throwing jabs right-handed. I guess he’s a Southpaw? I never noticed his punching hand in wrestling matches, honestly. Owen’s form is the Dino Bravo of boxing. His guard is down at all times, he’s throwing punches off-balanced almost every time. Ray’s punches look good when he throws them. The guy recording this show complains we’re 3-hours deep and he needs to invest in a stronger battery next time. Kicking off the 3rd Round, I thought Ray was going for a takedown like this was a precursor for the Brawl For All. Tim White ignores Owen throwing rabbit punches. Ray lands a series of power punches, knocking Owen out of the ring. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fight where such an incident happened, so I needed to google the protocol.

Owen finally gets the better of Ray in the 4th Round, hitting a headbutt in clear view of the referee, followed by a spinning heel kick (unseen). Ray is slow and staggered getting up at 9, which would likely be a TKO under normal circumstances. Owen throws more crap in the corner and Ray takes a knee to save himself. White keeps allowing Owen to just attack without sending him to a neutral corner and wait for the signal to resume the bout. They start trading blows like a pro wrestling match and Owen ends the 4th with a flurry. Cornette creates a distraction to start the 5th, allowing Owen to dump Ray out of the ring. Really? TWO out of the ring spots in the same match? Owen dominates, knocking Ray down, but keeps interrupting the count by getting too close to his downed opponent. Raymond takes a pounding with his arms at his sides, another “that’s a TKO” moment. Ray comes out hot for the 6th, and Owen does a great job selling his knees buckling and losing his mouthguard. Now Owen is defenseless with his arms at his side. Owen is downed three times, but the 3-knockdown rule isn’t in effect. No worries, it’s a 10-count and victory for Raymond. Post-match, Owen argues with Chuvalo and gets knocked out again.

OK, I had to suffer through this nonsense because BOTH the Wrestling Observer and TheHistoryofWWE.com have different details published, and both are wrong. The WON says Owen lost when Chuvalo had enough of Owen and KO’d him and HistoryofWWE says it ended in 4 Rounds. Six full rounds of excruciatingly awful fake boxing. The crowd would pop for Raymond, who performed the best and by a considerable margin, looking like he took the gimmick seriously, and even he had moments of “what is this mess?” It’s unfair to rate a worked boxing match like a worked wrestling match, especially one intended for a specific market, but in the near 30-minutes this went on, I was amused by about 2-minutes of the shenanigans. I think it would’ve been cool to see Ray work a WRESTLING match.

WWF Championship Match: Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Jose Lothario) vs. Vader (w/ Jim Cornette):
The final match of the night, but I’m not 100% sure it was the main event the way the crowd reacted for Raymond Rougeau’s match. Shawn had a problem with “Camp Cornette” for most of his reign (so far), having defended twice against the British Bulldog on PPV. At IYH: International Incident, Vader pinned Shawn Michaels in the Six-Man Tag, Michaels’ first loss by pin or submission since WrestleMania XI. I don’t mean for TV or PPV, I mean period. This immediately made Vader the top contender and Shawn’s challenger for SummerSlam, which itself is quite the spectacle.

Shawn has the Kliq-Cam with him. Bell rings and Vader decides to smash up the steps. Haven’t those things worked hard enough tonight?! They play to the crowd a bit. Shawn ducks a right hand and unloads with punches and kicks. He hits the ropes for a diving clothesline, then slides out of the ring to trip Vader up and introduce him to the post. Back inside, Vader blocks a sunset flip but misses the seated splash. Michaels with the roll-over snap mare (Curt Hennig spot) and hits a ridiculous jumping butt drop. Vader finally cuts him off, countering a hurricanrana with a powerbomb. He does the usual Vader stuff before tossing him to the floor. Vader takes a shot at JOSE, drawing the referee’s attention away from a Racket Attack from the Louisville Slugger. Back inside, Vader rests with that weird “hook under one arm and around the neck” hold. Shawn escapes but runs into a body block. Vader misses a charge in the corner but pops out with a clothesline, followed by a splash for two. Shawn blocks a Powerbomb and topples the big man with short right hands. Shawn with the big forearm, kip up, and flying elbow drop. Cornette gets wasted on the apron and Sweet Chin Music finishes at 10:09. An abbreviated version of what was brought to the table at SummerSlam. It was fine, but never hit a different level, and you can tell there’s not much chemistry between them for whatever reason. I’m not going to outright point a finger at one person, because that implies the matches are bad. I guess they’re bad based on the standards set, but it’s just a bad marriage, and it didn’t matter if the matches were short or went long. **½

Strength of Card: Basically everyone of value that was featured on Pay-Per-View in the months surrounding this period are present, and all paired up with their natural dance partners. As always, I’m not grading based on star power weighed against other eras, but the star power the company had to offer in 1996. The only thing that could’ve improved the star power is Ahmed Johnson working the show, but the injury was out of his control. Grade: A

Highs: The Undertaker and Mankind delivered the best match of the night, a hard-hitting brawl that didn’t overstay its welcome and gave us a clean finish. Lower on the card, you’ve got solid matches pitting Marc Mero against Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Savio Vega against Steve Austin. Maybe on paper those don’t sound spectacular, or maybe the reputation of several of them turns people off when looking back at the period, but I believe mid 90’s Helmsley and Savio are seriously underrated for what they were able to do in the ring.

Lows: I already spent an entire paragraph burying the Boxing Match. Watching Yokozuna working in 1996 is always tough to watch, but at least it’s ridiculously short (out of necessity).

The Rest: Shawn vs Vader for the WWF Title is a perfectly fine main event, but something held it back from reaching another level in an era where the main events were, at times, the only positives for a given WWF Pay-Per-View. Four matches didn’t make the cut, and we can assume most of them, on paper, would not make the “highs” category.

Final Thoughts: Cut out the 30-minutes dedicated to fake boxing, and you’ve got an entertaining, though incomplete, live event. The roster is not deep, but the talent is there, it was all about finding the right spot (or the right character) for some of them. I would’ve liked to have some tag team representation to keep things fresh, but based on what those teams delivered at SummerSlam two weeks later, I probably would’ve hated it anyway. Grade: B (based on what content is available)

Thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of your day.