What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 01.13.96

WWF Mania, the WWF’s Saturday morning program on USA Network, had an exclusive match:

WWF Championship Match: Bret Hart (Champion) defeats Buddy Landel via submission to the Sharpshooter at 3:50:

One of the unintentional stories that the WWF told throughout 1995 was Bret’s climb back to the top after losing the WWF Championship to Bob Backlund at Survivor Series. After that loss, Bret took some time off to film episodes of Lonesome Dove, where he played a character named Luther Root. When he returned in January, he was unable to regain the WWF title from Diesel at The Royal Rumble, as their match went to a double disqualification. Bret went on win a year-long feud against his brother Owen before WrestleMania XI, defeating him in a no holds barred match on Monday Night RAW. Then he won the feud with Backlund in a poor “I Quit” match at WrestleMania. Bret transitioned to a short program against Hakushi, which he won as well, and spent much of the rest of the year feuding with Jerry Lawler and his evil dentist Isaac Yankem. Lawler went down in a “Kiss My Foot” match at King of the Ring and Yankem was beaten by October. In the middle of that feud, Bret also had a mini-program against Jean-Pierre LaFitte, who stole Bret’s trademark ring jacket. Bret got the jacket back in a good match at In Your House 3. Finally, Bret got another WWF title match against Diesel at Survivor Series, ending the big man’s yearlong title reign in a no holds barred match with a small package. It was the third time Bret won the title. Bret had a strong title defense against the British Bulldog at In Your House 5 but the show drew a terrible buyrate. However, house show attendance was improving with Bret on top but the question was how long the WWF would keep him in that position since Vince McMahon always saw Bret as more of a placeholder in the main event until something better came along.

Landel was acquired by the WWF after Smoky Mountain Wrestling went defunct in late 1995. Landel became a cornerstone of Smoky Mountain in its final years, feuding with Brad Armstrong over the SMW Heavyweight Championship and wrestling in the main event of SMW’s Super Bowl of Wrestling card against Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. His debut was hurried as, according to Landel, McMahon needed someone to substitute for Dean Douglas against Ahmed Johnson at In Your House 5. Landel volunteered to do a quick job, getting squashed in less than a minute. Landel’s willingness to step up was respected by McMahon and he notched a few televised wins before the end of 1995. Unfortunately, the day after this match was taped Landel slipped on some ice outside of Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and injured his knee, scuttling whatever career he could have had in the WWF.

This match was supposed to air on Monday Night RAW as it took place in Newark, Delaware on December 18 but due to Landel’s injury, the WWF pushed it to a C-show that never had a WWF Championship match. Jim Ross and Dok Hendrix do commentary. The match does not live up to each man’s abilities, never getting out of the starting gates as no high impact moves are landed. The pacing seems to be prepping the crowd for a match that may go fifteen minutes but after merely taking Bret to the buckle, Landel gets caught trying a leapfrog and Bret submits him with the Sharpshooter. What was interesting about the match is there were some vocal chants for Landel at the end. Rating: *

Now on to WWF Superstars, commentated by Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross, who are still broadcasting from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette) defeats Henry Godwinn after an enzuigiri and putting his feet on the ropes for leverage at 5:03:

Godwinn was entering his second full year with the WWF, arriving in late 1994 and positioned as an evil Arkansas hog farmer. He became an Adam Bomb-like act on the heel side of the card, capable of defeating enhancement talents but never registering victories against better competition, dropping televised matches to the Undertaker, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Bret Hart, and Bam Bam Bigelow. Godwinn turned babyface a few weeks before SummerSlam, slopping Ted DiBiase for making negative comments about him, and that started a feud against the Million Dollar Corporation. Godwinn defeated King Kong Bundy but ran into a brick wall against Sid, losing against the big man at In Your House 3. In the fall, Godwinn moved to a feud against Hunter Hearst Helmsley, driven by their different socioeconomic backgrounds. The feud culminated at In Your House 5 where Helmsley beat Godwinn in a hog pen match that had Hillbilly Jim as referee.

This is just a standard feature match where each man spends an equal amount of time in control. Godwinn reverses a take to the turnbuckle to start a late comeback. When Godwinn prepares to deliver the Slop Drop, Cornette hops on the ring apron and distracts the hog farmer, allowing Owen to recover and catch Godwinn with an enzuigiri. To ensure a victory, Owen puts his feet on the ropes for leverage. Rating: **

After the match, Godwinn picks up his slop bucket. When he tries to douse Owen, Owen moves and Cornette gets the slop on him.

A video package recaps Shawn Michaels’ problems at the end of 1995 from forfeiting the Intercontinental Championship at In Your House 4 to the big blows he took at Survivor Series. Then there is footage of Michaels’ Royal Rumble press conference, putting over his fighting spirit.

Non-Title Match: The Smoking Gunns (WWF Tag Team Champions) (1-0) defeat Jason Ahrndt & Phil Apollo when Billy pins Apollo after a back suplex-neckbreaker combination at 2:01:

Ahrndt started his career in 1994, working in North Carolina with fellow WWF enhancement talents the Hardy Boys. That same year he started making appearances for the WWF. In 1995 Ahrndt appeared in ten matches, losing to Mantaur, Henry Godwinn (twice), the Gunns, Kama, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bob Holly, the Blu Brothers, Ahmed Johnson, and Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty. In a few years he would gain more recognition as Joey Abs of the Mean Street Posse.

Apollo was a Killer Kowalski trainee who was wrapping up his wrestling career when this episode was taped. That career had taken him through Northeast independents and World Class Championship Wrestling. Since 1991 he was a regularly feature WWF enhancement talent and in 1995 appeared in four matches, losing to Fatu, Man Mountain Rock, the Gunns, and Well Dunn.

Ross announces that the Gunns will defend their titles against the Bodydonnas at The Royal Rumble. That takes Skip out of the Rumble and McMahon and Ross point out that Sunny is telling Skip what to do. This was a booking pivot as the Gunns were supposed to defend against Sid and the 1-2-3 Kid but Sid quit after a house show on January 6, citing a neck injury. With the roster being so thin the WWF really needed to have wrestlers double dip between their matches and the Rumble but that is not their approach this year, as has been the norm since the pay-per-view’s inception. The Gunns do some basic work to show that Ahrndt and Apollo are not in their league, finishing Apollo with a back suplex-neckbreaker combination.

Dok Hendrix on the Slam Jam hypes The Royal Rumble. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer talk about how WWF Champion Bret Hart is a great wrestler but he is facing his toughest opponent and a grave challenge he cannot overcome. Bret fires back that the Undertaker will fall victim to him.

Non-Title Match: Jeff Hardy defeats Razor Ramon (Intercontinental Champion) via count out at 2:00:

Hardy was a young Carolina talent who started doing WWF enhancement work when he was a high school student in 1994. His first WWF opponent was Ramon, who was stiff with him throughout the match. In 1995 Hardy appeared in six matches, losing to Rad Radford, Waylon Mercy, Hakushi, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the Smoking Gunns, and Owen Hart.

Perfect calls attention to Ramon wearing yellow trunks, which might please Goldust. In the split screen, Goldust says that his fantasy will become reality when he is able to touch Ramon at The Royal Rumble. Hardy mounts no challenge to Ramon but when Ramon goes for the Razor’s Edge, Goldust’s usher comes to ringside. The usher reveals a centerfold of Goldust, causing Ramon to chase him off. Ramon wads up the centerfold in disgust but that causes him to get counted out, giving Hardy his first WWF victory.

An angry Ramon returns to the ring and gives Hardy three Razor’s Edges. Hardy gets a nice bounce when selling each of them.

Jeff Jarrett (1-0) beats Marty Garner via submission to the figure-four leglock at 2:14:

Garner was another North Carolina independent wrestler who affiliated with the Hardys, starting his career in 1993 and working for the Raleigh-based Southern Championship Wrestling as Cham Pain. Garner began doing WWF enhancement matches in 1994, appearing in three matches, but made no televised appearances in 1995. Eventually, he would work for ECW in 1999 and 2000 as Puck Dupp.

The former Intercontinental champion gives a split screen promo, arguing that Ahmed Johnson will find out why he is great at The Royal Rumble. Jarrett and Garner have similar black and white color schemes for their ring gear. Garner does an impressive leap from the ring to the top rope but his reverse flying body press crashes and burns. After that, Jarrett delivers a superplex and locks in the figure-four for a second win this week.

Duke Droese pins the Spider after the Trash Compactor at 3:03:

Droese was a wrestler who saw dwindling opportunities in 1995. Debuting in 1994 as a happy trash man after allegedly coming to the attention of the WWF after being ranked 500 in the PWI 500, he could only beat enhancement talents. Unlike 1994, when Droese had a brief program against Jerry Lawler, he had no feuds in 1995. His primary function was to put other heel midcarders over like Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Kama (in a King of the Ring qualifier), and Jean-Pierre LaFitte. The WWF did experiment turning him heel in a losing effort against Marty Jannetty in October on The Action Zone but nothing came of it.

Since the Spider has “Spider I” on their tights it will be inferred that this is Chaz Warrington, a Larry Sharpe and Glen Ruth trainee who started working in 1992. He appeared in six WWF enhancement matches in 1993, wrestling as Chaz Ware, and the next year started teaming with Ruth on the independent circuit as the Spiders. As previously noted, the duo recast themselves as the Headbangers in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1995, a gimmick that they carried with them to the USWA when Smoky Mountain closed in November.

This match must have happened near the end of the taping because there are a good number of empty seats facing the hard camera. The squash allows the announcers to hype the Royal Rumble match. Perfect picks Vader to try to make it seem like someone else could win other than Shawn Michaels. McMahon tries to sell Droese as a possible winner but that is laughable. A powerslam and Trash Compactor put the Spider away.

Hendrix’s Slam Jam announces other names for the Royal Rumble like Bob Backlund, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Hakushi. Jerry Lawler says he has to win the Rumble because royalty is implied in the title of the match. Diesel reminds fans that he made a name for himself two years ago in the Royal Rumble and now he is the odds-on favorite to win. Even though Diesel has turned, the WWF still does not have him talk in the cadence of a regular person. Still, Diesel’s delivery is an improvement from his 1994 heel push when he spoke with bugged out eyes. Marty Jannetty talks about how “MJ” is coming to win the Rumble and make a lot of money so he can have lots of fun.

Goldust (1-0) beats Barry Horowitz after the Curtail Call at 1:54:

Horowitz was a feel good story in 1995, going from enhancement talent to lower midcarder because of upsetting Skip on The Action Zone on July 9. In the ensuing feud between the two, Horowitz scored the biggest win of his career at SummerSlam, owed to the help of Hakushi, who he beat earlier in the day. Fans started to get behind Horowitz, chanting “Barry!” in his matches, but the WWF was not willing to sustain his push, having him lose after SummerSlam to Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Dean Douglas, and Rad Radford. Horowitz got the chance to captain his own Survivor Series team but a match meant to be a blowoff for the Skip feud ended up enhancing the 1-2-3 Kid, not giving fans a definitive payoff for the program, so it seemed like Horowitz’s fifteen minutes were up as 1996 began.

Goldust’s entrance takes about as long as the Undertaker, giving the cameras a chance to catch up to Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, who calls him a “freak” when watching a backstage monitor. The match transpires quickly, with Goldust aggressively attacking Horowitz at first, allowing Horowitz a small comeback before avoiding a dropkick and finishing with the Curtain Call. So yes, Horowitz is officially back on job duty as this is his quickest match since the previous summer.

After winning Goldust does a small striptease with his tights, unzipping them to show a heart tattoo on his chest that reads “Razor.”

Tune in next week to see Diesel face Isaac Yankem! Also, Aldo Montoya & Avatar face Sid & the 1-2-3 Kid! And the Ringmaster and the Bodydonnas are in action!

The Last Word: The best parts of the show featured Goldust, who was using wild, sexualized tactics to get under the skin of Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon. Ramon being taken out of his element by the new character was a great way to shape the feud, even though Ramon was critical of participating in it behind the scenes. Aside from Goldust, though, the rest of the show fell flat. There is not a big selling point for this year’s Royal Rumble except for Shawn Michaels winning it. The WWF has done a poor job building other contenders, just giving lip service to Diesel and Vader. Even the WWF title match between Bret Hart and the Undertaker lacks a compelling narrative other than “See two babyfaces fight!”

The WWF stayed in the Northeast before giving talent a week off for The Royal Rumble. Here were the results of its Northeastern shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Burlington, Vermont – Memorial Auditorium – January 8, 1996 (2,500; sellout): Savio Vega defeated Barry Horowitz…Goldust pinned Bob Holly…Henry Godwinn beat Isaac Yankem…Fatu pinned Bob Backlund…WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns beat the Bodydonnas…Diesel & Razor Ramon defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Jeff Jarrett…Ahmed Johnson defeated the British Bulldog via disqualification…The Undertaker & Bret Hart beat Owen Hart & Yokozuna.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – The Montreal Forum – January 12, 1996 (10,016; 8,000 paid): This was the last show held at the Montreal Forum. Fatu pinned Bob Backlund with a roll up…The Bodydonnas defeated Bob Holly & Aldo Montoya when Zip pinned Montoya after a sit-down powerbomb…Ahmed Johnson pinned Isaac Yankem after the Pearl River Plunge…WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns beat Owen Hart & the British Bulldog. After the match, Owen argued with Ray Rougeau, who tried to interview he and the Bulldog…WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Diesel in a steel cage by escaping over the top of the cage…Duke Droese beat Barry Horowitz…Marty Jannetty pinned Sir Mo after the Rocker Dropper…Goldust pinned Henry Godwinn with a roll up…Razor Ramon & Savio Vega beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Jeff Jarrett when Ramon pinned Jarrett after the Razor’s Edge…The Undertaker pinned Yokozuna after a flying clothesline.

Backstage News*: After Monday Night RAW, Vince McMahon issued a challenge to Ted Turner to institute a stronger steroid testing policy “in the interest of the health and wellbeing of all the athletes under his umbrella.”

-Backstage at the Montreal show, a Montreal Canadiens player kept hitting on Sunny. Diesel had to intervene to tell the man to leave her alone.

-The WWF cancelled a house show in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada scheduled for January 11 because of poor advance sales.

-The WWF is raising the price of The Royal Rumble from $24.95 to $29.95.

-Al Snow will be receiving a new gimmick.

-There were discussions of turning Ashley Allen into Sister Love but those have been shelved.

-The British Bulldog will stand trial on January 29 for assault charges stemming from a bar fight in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 25, 1993.

-In talent relations news, the WWF reached out to Sabu about participating in the Royal Rumble, even proposing a finish where he would throw someone over the top rope and then do a plancha through a table to eliminate himself but Paul Heyman told Sabu not to do it because he has pay-per-view plans soon. The WWF will be bringing in John Hawk as a heel after The Royal Rumble.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for January 16 and 23.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for January 15!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990-1993 WWF, 1993-1995 ECW, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!