What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 06.08.96

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross commentate, taped from North Charleston, South Carolina.

Opening Contest: The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) (9-4-1) defeat the Ringlords when Henry pins an unnamed Ringlord at 3:16:

The Ringlords were Speedy Gonzalez and Rick Slagle. They had teamed together for more than six years, working for independent promotions along the East Coast like South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW) and NWA Mid-Atlantic and doing enhancement appearances for WCW in 1990. They also had appearances in Global in 1994. Around this time the WWF gave them a set of tryouts against the Hardys but neither team was said to impress.

The Bodydonnas do guest commentary, reiterating their need for a manager and casting a wide net to get one. Sunny does an insert promo, saying that she carried the Bodydonnas and she was the real draw of the team. Skip fires back that he is done with her and she is ugly. Then Zip piles on, allowing his real hatred of Sunny to shine through by arguing that she is sleeping around, which McMahon is quick to cut off. McMahon is skeptical that the Bodydonnas will find a good manager. Phineas causes the Ringlords to flee when he gets worked up and Henry counters a drop down by one Ringlord with a splash, hitting the Slop Drop moments later. Again, the Sunny drama overrode the in-ring work, which is becoming a staple of the tag team division.

Dok Hendrix’s Slam Jam hypes The King of the Ring. Intercontinental Champion Goldust, with Marlena, quotes more Color Purple and talks about fantasizing in the night.

Steve Austin (14-2-1) beats Jason Arhndt after a three-quarter facelock jawbreaker at 3:02:

With the Bodydonnas gone, Ross takes their place on commentary and hypes Austin’s technical acumen. McMahon repeats what he said on RAW about Razor Ramon and Diesel and that “a rival organization” is trying to capitalize on their former star power. Austin beats down Arnhdt, making for a relatively dull squash, but he uses a new finish that gets no attention on commentary, dropping Arhndt with a three-quarter facelock jawbreaker. It looks like a cool move and that makes Arhndt the first person on WWF television to take it. According to Austin, Michael P.S. Hayes is the person who invented the move and urged him to use it.

Ross interviews Austin on his way to the locker room. When Ross asks for Austin’s thoughts if he has to face Savio Vega in the King of the Ring quarter-finals, Austin responds that he is sick of Savio and he would have beaten him at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog if he had not listened to Ted DiBiase.

A video package recaps the Shawn Michaels-British Bulldog feud.

Mankind (6-0) beats Bruno Batista via submission to the Mandible Claw at 2:28:

The enhancement talent has a fun name but there is no other information that exists about him. Regardless, he takes a beating as Mankind rams his knee into Batista’s in the corner, delivers a swinging neckbreaker, and then remains undefeated with the Mandible Claw.

Harvey Wippleman presents his findings on WWF officiating to WWF President Gorilla Monsoon. Monsoon says that he is impressed and he makes Wippleman a referee. Wippleman is shocked. What is funny is this is classic bureaucratic reshuffling as Monsoon gives Wippleman a job but never implements any of the recommendations of the report. McMahon tells viewers that Wippleman will referee his first match next week, which will feature Owen Hart.

In a new weird Warrior University commercial, a blind man who sells newspapers is nearly ripped off by a young guy. The younger man has a moment of conscience and decides not to. When questioned by another customer, the blind man says that he would have considered being ripped off a gift and that the person taking the money must have needed it. A narrator urges fans to “Choose the path of the Warrior.”

Jerry Lawler (2-1) pins Marty Garner after the piledriver at 1:46:

Garner survived last week’s Pedigree to stand on his feet and face the King today. Pedigree botch aside he knows how to bump and it makes this a fun squash. Garner nearly upsets Lawler with a reverse flying body press but Lawler pushes him off the second rope after taking some corner punches. A flapjack, fist drop off the second rope, and piledriver put Lawler over as he gets ready to face the Ultimate Warrior at The King of the Ring.

When the Slam Jam returns, the Undertaker and Paul Bearer talk about how Mankind has awakened the beast and a force of evil awaits him at The King of the Ring. Mankind is easily winning the promo battle in this feud, calling out the Undertaker’s lack of action against him while the Deadman recites cryptic language.

King of the Ring First Round: Savio Vega (5-3-3) defeats Marty Jannetty (1-3) with a spin kick at 7:26:

Again, the winner gets Steve Austin in the quarter-finals. Jannetty does not work well as a heel, falling into the trap of thinking it just involves lots of taunting and stalling. He spends more time dancing than wrestling. Jannetty stops some second rope corner punches with an inverted atomic drop but Savio floats over a backdrop effort and catches Jannetty with a spin kick to win a disappointing match. Rating: *½

A video package recaps Jake Roberts’ career, noting his struggle against drugs and alcohol. It frames his quest in the King of the Ring Tournament as a redemption story.

The Last Word: The show was a mixed bag as the opener was not good, nor was the main event. However, the squashes in the middle were fun to watch and Steve Austin’s new finisher was not only effective but created further distance between his old Ringmaster persona. Speaking of Austin, Savio Vega’s win creates an intriguing quarter-final matchup between the two to continue their feud. Not to mention, Savio has his own redemption arc going in the King of the Ring Tournament as he was the runner-up last year.

The WWF’s house show circuit went through Illinois during this week in its history, culminating in a big show in Chicago. Here was the result of the Chicago card, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Chicago, Illinois – The Rosemont Horizon – June 9, 1996 (13,650): Justin Bradshaw pinned Barry Horowitz (substituting for Bob Holly)…The New Rockers defeated Aldo Montoya & Duke Droese…Savio Vega pinned Owen Hart…Marc Mero beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley…The Ultimate Warrior defeated Vader via count out when Vader walked out on the match…WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns beat the Godwinns after Sunny interfered…The British Bulldog beat Ahmed Johnson via count out when Goldust distracted Ahmed…Steve Austin pinned Jake Roberts…The Undertaker defeated Mankind after the Tombstone…WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Intercontinental Champion Goldust after Sweet Chin Music.

Backstage News*: The Rosemont Horizon show drew a gate of close to $230,000, making it the largest non-pay-per-view event in Chicago since January 1990. Better house show attendance this year has been credited to better promotion in cities by marketing reps and by working the grassroots. Local advertising budgets were also made bigger and direct mail is being used to reach fans in the vicinity of the shows. Aside from the Chicago show, gates in Rockford and Peoria, Illinois were the best they have been since 1987.

-The King of the Ring has officially sold out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin two weeks ahead of schedule. The WWF will have a gate of more than $139,000 there.

-The WWF does not plan any more European tours this year for fears of wearing out the market. The WWF does plan to go to South Africa in early September and then go to Southeast Asia and Australia in late November and early December.

-WWF Champion Shawn Michaels appeared on Chicago radio to hype the Rosemont Horizon show and when asked about Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair he said that some guys do not know when to quit.

-Bret Hart is not expected to be back before Survivor Series.

-In injury and medical news, Bob Holly suffered an ankle injury and missed this week’s house shows. Yokozuna will be given more time off after the month ends to get his weight under control.

-In talent relations news, Brian Pillman signed a three-year, guaranteed contract on June 7. WCW initially had the upper hand, offering Pillman a $1 million deal but WCW could terminate it every 90 days, which was a dealbreaker for him. The question, though, is whether Pillman can work after experiencing a life-threatening car wreck on April 15 and shattering his ankle. If not for the wreck, Pillman would have been a great opponent for Shawn Michaels. The WWF is also close to signing former WCW World Champion Ron Simmons, who Vince McMahon reportedly visited after recent television tapings in the Carolinas. Simmons is expected to debut at the end of the month.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for June 10 and 17.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for June 10!

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