What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 07.06.96

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross call today’s action, taped from LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

Opening Non-Title Contest: Ahmed Johnson (Intercontinental Champion) (15-1) pins Brock Wagner after the Pearl River Plunge at 2:25:

Ahmed gets fireworks for his entrance. There is a bad sequence early when Wagner hesitates to run into an Ahmed clothesline and he awkwardly takes an Ahmed forearm instead and falls to the floor. Then Wagner throws some weak punches that Ahmed does not sell, going on to plant Wagner with a spinebuster and winning with the Pearl River Plunge.

Dok Hendrix’s Slam Jam hypes the Undertaker-Goldust match at In Your House 9: International Incident. Goldust, with Marlena, quotes Operation Pacific about how the Undertaker wants to hurt him like federal agents went after Bonnie and Clyde. But Goldust is not afraid to walk the dark side and rob the Undertaker’s grave. The Undertaker, with Paul Bearer, rebuts that Goldust’s future will be dark and there will be no sequel at In Your House. There is just nothing to this feud anymore.

Non-Title Match: The Smoking Gunns (WWF Tag Team Champions w/Sunny) (9-0) defeat Barry Horowitz & R.T. Williams when Billy pins Williams after the Sidewinder at 3:20:

Williams was a Sonny Rogers trainee who wrestled on the Michigan independent scene. He started his career in 1990.

Horowitz has a small history with Sunny because of his feud with Skip last year but there are no references or hints to it in this squash. The Bodydonnas and Cloudy pop up, complaining about the Gunns not putting the Tag Team titles on the line at In Your House. Cloudy jokes about Sunny having a bad hair day last week due to the Godwinns. Horowitz looks good in the match, neutralizing Billy for more than two minutes with arm drags and dropkicks. Predictably, Williams cannot sustain the offense and he is checkmated in a mere two moves with a Bart body slam and the Sidewinder.

Savio Vega (6-4-3) pins Who after a schoolboy roll up at 5:26:

Who was former WWF Tag Team Champion Jim Neidhart wearing yellow trunks and a yellow mask. Neidhart had one televised match in 1995, which was a squash on the January 15 edition of The Action Zone. He was fired for no-showing events shortly after the 1994 Survivor Series. Neidhart traveled the independent scene for much of 1995, having a few ECW house show appearances against Marty Jannetty and Ron Simmons, wrestling for the Maryland-based Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (MEWF) and winning its Heavyweight title, and wrestling in Austria for the Catch Wrestling Association (CWA). He was also involved in a controversial angle for the National Wrestling Conference (NWC) based out of Las Vegas, wearing a KKK robe with Barry Darsow and attacking Virgil, later hanging Virgil by his neck with a rope. Neidhart suggested that the Who gimmick was punishment for his previous firings from the WWF. It was a significant demotion as Neidhart was main eventing house shows against then-WWF Champion Bret Hart in late 1994.

Who is introduced as “From who knows where and weighing who knows what,” signaling that this is a comedy gimmick. The gimmick lends itself to jokes from the announcers, who go in circles about “Who?” when they say his name. The real losers are the fans as seeing Neidhart wrestle in trunks is a sight for sore eyes. Perfect jokes that Who has an endorsement deal from Fruit of the Loom. Neidhart did not have good matches in his last WWF run and this is no exception as he fills lots of time by choking Savio. Eventually, Savio gets tired of selling and fires off a clothesline and lays in some chops. Who reverses a whip into the corner but a blind charge misses and Savio pins him with a roll up. Obviously, Who was bad but this made Savio look terrible by association. Rating: DUD

After replaying most of the Duke Droese-Mankind match from Monday Night RAW and its aftermath, Jake Roberts offers a few thoughts. Addressing Jerry Lawler first, Roberts tells the announcers that Lawler has his own problems and they will catch up to him. When asked about Mankind, Roberts talks about how the Mandible Claw paralyzed him but he will exorcise Mankind’s demons at In Your House.

Salvatore Sincere pins Dan Jesser after a full nelson slam at 1:54:

Sincere was Tom Brandi, a King Kaluha trainee who started his career in the Philadelphia wrestling scene in 1985. After a seven-year career on the independents, Brandi signed with WCW in 1992 and went by the name of Johnny Gunn. He had a short tenure there teaming with Tom Zenk before departing and winning the ECW Tag Team Championship with Tommy Dreamer at the 1993 November to Remember. Gunn did not stick around in ECW long enough to drop those titles, venturing abroad to All Japan Pro Wrestling and then coming back stateside to work for the American Wrestling Federation (AWF) that used a European round format.

Jesser was a Minnesota talent who had been working since the early 1990s. He wrestled a lot for the Minneapolis-based Pro Wrestling America promotion, mostly in an enhancement or opening match capacity.

Sincere is a heel character, an Italian who gives phony compliments. He sort of dresses like a Mafioso but no explicit connection if made that he is a mobster. Before the match, Sincere tells fans that he loves them all. One young fan yells back “Go fight Goldust!” At least Sincere wrestles better than Who, slamming Jesser in the corner and dropping an elbow off the second rope. He also has a good finish, using a full nelson slam to put Jesser away.

Ross does an in-ring interview with Vader, the British Bulldog, Owen Hart, and Jim Cornette. Diana Hart Smith will no longer accompany the Bulldog since the angle that involved her and WWF Champion Shawn Michaels was dropped. Cornette recaps how all of the babyfaces they are facing at In Your House have an issue with someone in his stable. That is partly true as Owen and Michaels feuded to start the year as did Ahmed Johnson and the Bulldog. However, the Warrior is not tied in at all. Cornette promises fans that they will see their heroes carried from the ring in Vancouver.

The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) (10-5-1) defeat Sonny Rodgers & Kevin Krueger when Phineas pins Krueger after the Slop Drop at 1:54:

Rodgers had been wrestling for sixteen years, first stepping into the ring in 1980 after receiving training from Bob Sabre and Kevin Clayton. Before doing WWF jobs in 1987 he did them for the AWA from 1980-1987. In 1995 he appeared on WWF television six times, losing to Tatanka, Mantaur, Hakushi, the Blue Brothers, PG-13, and Skip.

Krueger was trained by longtime WWF enhancement worker Tom Stone, making his in-ring debut in 1990. He became a staple of the WWF’s television tapings in the Midwest, making an appearance at least once for each of the past six years. In 1995 Krueger wrestled three times, losing to Men on a Mission, Tatanka, and Owen Hart & Yokozuna.

WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns and Sunny appear in the split screen and Sunny is unhappy about getting slopped. She promises revenge and the Gunns back her up. The Godwinns have a big match against Vader and the Bulldog on RAW so this match is meant to make them look strong for that. Phineas tags in, beats on Krueger while applying an armbar, and then quickly finishes him with a Slop Drop when Krueger puts his head down too early on an Irish whip.

T.L. Hopper, showing off his plumber’s crack, fiddles with a toilet. He calls his plunger “Old Betsy” and says that he is the best plumber in the world. The reason he is wrestling is to get respect because people look down on his profession. Since he calls out WWF Champion Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, Marc Mero, and the Ultimate Warrior and tells them they are “About to get flushed” it positions him as a heel. The character is low class fare but props to Tony Anthony for giving this promo his all. McMahon announces that next week Hopper will face Duke Droese in a battle of occupational gimmicks.

Aldo Montoya (0-6) defeats Steve Austin (18-3-1) via forfeit:

Even though Montoya is the WWF’s lowest ranked babyface he still gets a fireworks show for his entrance. Austin comes to the ring in blue jeans and a few necklaces, getting on the mic to tell Montoya that he is not suitable competition after Austin won the King of the Ring Tournament. He offers to forfeit the match so Montoya can tell his kids that he beat him but after demanding Montoya verbally accept, Austin beats him down and delivers a Stone Cold Stunner. Little things like this easily get people over because fans generally approve of people who kick ass. And the best part is that there is an element of truth in what Austin is saying because Montoya is not good competition for him. The WWF booked this because Austin’s lip was still sensitive after King of the Ring but this was a great cover for keeping him out of an actual match.

The Slam Jam recaps what Mankind did to Jake Roberts on RAW. Mankind does a boiler room promo about how Roberts is a hopeless drunk who is out of miracles and that Roberts’ soul is in jeopardy at In Your House.

Tune in next week to see Freddie Joe Floyd face Justin Bradshaw! Also, Duke Droese faces T.L. Hopper! And the Bodydonnas and Mankind will be in action!

The Last Word: Today’s episode was like a blast from the past because of the introduction of silly gimmicks, akin to what the WWF was doing in the early 1990s as the Golden Age was coming to an end and they were desperately grasping for the next big thing. The WWF has been lazy with many of these new gimmicks too, providing no vignettes to introduce them. While the aim was to pad the roster with glorified jobbers, the WWF could have at least attempted to make fans care about them before that beyond giving them a token win or two on the B-show. T.L. Hopper is getting the best run of them all but, as was noted above, the character had a limited ceiling despite what Tony Anthony was trying to do on the mic. It goes without saying that the best part of the show was Steve Austin at the end, providing a stark contrast in energy and attitude to what the rest of the product was offering.

The WWF revisited the Northeast after July 4. Here was the result of one of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

East Rutherford, New Jersey – The Meadowlands – July 5, 1996 (7,309): Duke Droese pinned Leif Cassidy after the Trash Compactor at 9:22…Salvatore Sincere pinned Barry Horowitz at 9:38…The Bodydonnas defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns and the Godwinns in a non-title elimination match. Kloudy’s interference in kissing one of the Gunns caused them to be pinned. The Godwinns were eliminated earlier when Phineas was counted out chasing Sunny around the ring…WWF Champion Shawn Michaels beat Vader via disqualification when Goldust interfered at 6:56. Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson made a save at the end of the match…Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson beat Goldust via count out when Goldust left ringside at 7:10…Steve Austin pinned Savio Vega in a no disqualification match after a low blow at 14:22…Jake Roberts defeated Justin Bradshaw after the DDT at 7:34…Marc Mero pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley at 12:42…The Undertaker beat Mankind after the Tombstone at 17:01.

Backstage News*: The Ultimate Warrior was not unhappy with his WrestleMania payoff but he was upset that the WWF was using his “Always Believe” slogan. This led to an angry phone call with Vince McMahon on June 28, which is when the Warrior no-showed in Indianapolis even though he was reportedly in town. While the Warrior maintains that he no-showed because of the death of his father, the WWF argues that his father did not pass away until June 30 so that does not match why he missed shows on June 28 and 29. There is also anger at the Warrior because he recently did an interview with Bob Ryder on Prodigy, a rival of America Online (AOL) and the WWF has a close relationship with AOL. The Warrior still believes that he can get back on the road with the WWF by July 11 when there will be a house show in Albany, New York.

-The Goldust character continues to receive criticism as the Village Voice on July 9 argued that Goldust is contributing to rising homophobia in the WWF.

-The British Bulldog and Marty Jannetty missed weekend house shows due to family emergencies. Jannetty’s mother broke her hip.

-5,826 tickets have been sold for In Your House 9: International Incident so far. This translates into a gate of $110,000.

-SummerSlam will take place on August 18 in Cleveland, Ohio and more than 7,500 tickets have been sold for a gate of $240,715. The show is likely to trail WrestleMania as the largest gross for a wrestling event in North America this year.

-The tentative site for next year’s WrestleMania will be the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

-In talent relations news, Barry Windham has been offered a contract. Bret Hart is not under contract anymore. The 1-2-3 Kid had a meeting with Vince McMahon about returning but details have not been worked out. There are rumors that Jesse Ventura would like to return. Ventura is currently doing drive-time radio in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The WWF is sponsoring Olympic weightlifter Mark Henry and the expectation is that he will appear as a talent when the Summer Olympics are over.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for July 15.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for July 8!

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