What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 05.18.96

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross commentate, continuing the four-episode taping in Des Moines, Iowa.

Opening Contest for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Bodydonnas (Champions w/Sunny) (9-3) defeat the New Rockers (1-1-1) when Zip pins Cassidy after hitting him in the back of the head at 6:52 shown:

Ross reports about how Sunny had a meeting with the Rockers last week and that the Rockers have confirmed it. When Leif Cassidy and Skip trade slaps on the ropes McMahon dubs the contest “a slobberknocker.” Ross does not bother to correct McMahon about what that term really means. As the match develops the Smoking Gunns and the Godwinns appear in the aisle to watch. Ross is sent to talk to them. The Gunns believe the Tag Team titles belong to them. Then Ross talks with the Godwinns, who ramble about Sunny taking advantage of Phineas and they have scores to settle with the Bodydonnas and Rockers. There is limited action after a commercial break, although there is a nice sequence where Cassidy puts Skip on his head with a hurricanrana and then Skip responds with one of his own to send Cassidy to the floor. If the match went somewhere after that it would be okay but it has a bad finish of Cassidy accidentally running Skip into Jannetty when trying to do an O’Connor roll and using the tights for a near-fall. Skip reverses and holds the tights for a near-fall of his own and when Cassidy kicks out Skip collides with Jannetty. Skip flies out of the ring and Cassidy is hit from behind by Zip, who covers and, since it has been established that the referees cannot tell the Bodydonnas apart, that leads to the Rockers losing the match. Rating: *½

Ross announces that the Bodydonnas will defend the WWF Tag Team Championship against the Smoking Gunns on the Free for All next week before In Your House 8: Beware of Dog. Meanwhile, the Rockers dance in the ring even though they lost because they are dorks.

Call 1-900-737-4WWF to hear hot news on Shawn Michaels, Sunny and the Tag Team titles, and a prized newcomer headed to the WWF!

There is another video package about the WWF going to Kuwait. Ahmed Johnson talks about how the Kuwaiti people wanted to be free of Iraq years ago. WWF Champion Shawn Michaels discusses how the WWF loves to put smiles on people’s faces.

Ahmed Johnson (12-0) pins David Haskins after the Pearl River Plunge at 3:23:

Haskins avoids some early Ahmed grapples and goes to the eyes. Ahmed shrugs off Haskins’ blows, blasts Haskins with a big right hand and then does his spinebuster-Pearl River Plunge combination to remain undefeated in singles competition.

Bob Backlund defeats Roy Raymond via submission to the crossface chicken wing at 2:40:

Backlund slowly slid down the card in 1995, starting the year as one of the company’s biggest heels and becoming an afterthought. His attempts to regain the WWF Championship from Diesel at the beginning of 1995 failed and their house show matches were so bad that Jeff Jarrett took his place and Backlund was slotted into matches against Razor Ramon. Backlund lost a long-running feud with Bret Hart at WrestleMania XI in an “I Quit” match that featured Roddy Piper as special guest referee. That match was also poor as Backlund never quit and the short time it was given did none of the participants any favors. After that loss, Backlund only wrestled three more times on television. He had a feud with Man Mountain Rock where he destroyed Rock’s guitar but that never had an on-screen blowoff. Instead, the two wrestled house show matches that featured lots of stalling by Backlund before getting pinned, leading Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer to dub one of them “The worst match in the history of Western civilization.” At the same time as the Rock program, Backlund was given a joke gimmick of running for president. This sent Backlund into crowds at television tapings to argue with fans or college spring break events to do the same. Some of this was for the best as Backlund’s style did not mesh well with many on the roster but without having regular matches he lost a significant amount of momentum.

Raymond started appearing in WWF enhancement matches in 1993 after a stint in Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the Stormtrooper. In 1995 he wrestled nine times on television, losing to Doink the Clown, Duke Droese (twice), Bob Holly, the Allied Powers, Razor Ramon, Men on a Mission, Mabel, and the British Bulldog.

Backlund stalls, giving time for Ross to chat with Harvey Wippleman in the aisle. Wippleman tells him that his report on the WWF’s refereeing is not finished yet. After more stalling from the former WWF champion, Raymond corners Backlund and when the referee forces a break, Backlund catches Raymond with the crossface chicken wing, winning with one move. This would be Backlund’s last televised match of his mid-1990s WWF run. After this, he was shifted to be more of a personality and manager.

Savio Vega (3-3-2) wrestles Justin Bradshaw (w/Zebekiah) (9-1) to a double disqualification at 9:14 shown:

McMahon and Ross hype the Wrestle Vessel where fans can go on a cruise with WWF superstars like Bret Hart. It will happen in July. Savio and Bradshaw struggle to get on the same page early, having some miscommunication issues. They also struggle to tell a story about where the match is going. It is just move after move with no reason or justification to them. After a second commercial break, Savio makes another comeback and goes after Zebekiah. This leads to Bradshaw grabbing his bullrope and Savio grabbing his Caribbean strap and the two hit each other for a double disqualification. The ending was the best piece of the match. It did not need to go this long for that kind of a finish, though. Rating: *

Tune in next week to see Fatu square off with Steve Austin! Also, Marc Mero and Vader will be in action!

The Last Word: This was a bad episode. Nothing important occurred other than Jim Ross informing fans that the Smoking Gunns are getting a Tag Team title shot on the Free for All. Next week’s feature match between Steve Austin and Fatu should be good and may make the last episode of the taping worthwhile.

The WWF returned from its tour of Kuwait to build towards a big show at Madison Square Garden. Here are the results of that Garden show, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

New York City, New York – Madison Square Garden – May 19, 1996 (18,800; 16,564 paid; sellout): The Bushwhackers beat the New Rockers…Savio Vega pinned Bob Backlund…Ahmed Johnson beat the British Bulldog via disqualification when Owen Hart interfered at 10:34…Steve Austin pinned Jake Roberts after a clothesline and using the tights for leverage at 13:54…The Ultimate Warrior defeated Owen Hart after three clothesline and a flying shoulderblock at 7:17…Vader pinned Yokozuna after using Jim Cornette’s tennis racquet at 7:02…The Godwinns defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Bodydonnas when Phineas pinned Zip after the Slop Drop after kissing Sunny on the apron to win the titles at 10:56…Hunter Hearst Helmsley (substituting for Intercontinental Champion Goldust) pinned Razor Ramon after the Pedigree. After the match, Ramon tried to say goodbye to the fans but his microphone was cut off…WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Diesel in a steel cage match after escaping through the door after using a chair and hitting Sweet Chin Music. During the match the British Bulldog interfered to keep Michaels from escaping the cage over the top. After the match, Razor Ramon came out and hugged Michaels and then Michaels revived Diesel. Helmsley was waved out and all four men embraced and held each other’s arms up to end the show.

Backstage News*: The recent Madison Square Garden show was the first non-pay-per-view, indoor WWF card to draw more than a $300,000 gate. It was also the second straight sellout of the Garden by the WWF, which has not happened since 1985. Merchandise sales averaged more than $7 per person as well, doubling expectations.

-Fans at Madison Square Garden loved the ending to the show with the Kliq but some WWF personnel and wrestlers were furious because it was not approved and broke kayfabe.

-Ticket sales have moved slowly for In Your House as less than 1,800 tickets have been sold a week before the event. The Florence Civic Center holds 9,400. However, King of the Ring tickets are more than 60% sold even though no matches have been released for it.

-The Ultimate Warrior was two hours late to an autograph signing the day before the recent Madison Square Garden event. However, people backstage say he has been easier to work with since his last run.

-Yokozuna will return to the Duke University weight loss clinic after In Your House for another month.

-Shawn Michaels will be in the October edition of Playgirl.

-In injury news, Goldust’s knee has not fully healed, which kept him off the Madison Square Garden card this week. The WWF hopes he can have a decent match with the Undertaker at In Your House and they do not have to do a smoke and mirrors match like what was done against the Ultimate Warrior at the last pay-per-view.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 27.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for May 20!

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