What the World Was Watching: SummerSlam 1996

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross commentate, live from Cleveland, Ohio. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 17,000 people came to the event, with 14,926 paying for the privilege of doing so. According to wrestlenomics.com, the card drew a 0.58 buyrate (157,000 domestic buys), less than the 0.90 buyrate (205,000 domestic buys) of the previous year’s edition. That number made it the lowest purchased SummerSlam pay-per-view to this point in company history.

The Free for All begins with the Biki Beach Blast-Off. There is an above ground pool rigged up, surrounded by various potted trees and sand. As advertised, Sunny, Sable, and Marlena are in bathing suits but there is some ridiculousness as Jerry Lawler floats in the pool; Goldust wears a black thong over his tights and Marlena puts sunscreen on his buns; and Marc Mero is sitting by the pool, trying to get a tan even though they are not outside. Who is present, wearing sunglasses over his mask and Aldo Montoya and WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns put their kayfabe differences aside to play catch. When Todd Pettengill makes it to the pool, he spots something brown in it. T.L. Hopper investigates, picks up the brown object that looks like a turd, sniffs it, and bites into it in a lampooning of Caddyshack.

Pettengill catches up to Steve Austin backstage. When asked for his thoughts about his match with Yokozuna, Austin tells Pettengill that he will whip his ass just like Yokozuna’s if he does not get out of his way.

Free for All: Steve Austin (20-6-1) pins Yokozuna (3-4) after the top rope breaks when Yokozuna goes for the Banzai Drop at 1:53:

Yokozuna has not wrestled since losing in the first round of the King of the Ring Tournament on the June 10 edition of Monday Night RAW. After that loss Yokozuna talked about needing to take some time off and reflect but, as reported by house show attendees, that did not apply to weight loss as the former WWF champion is billed at 660 pounds. Austin attacks Yokozuna before the bell and flashes some middle fingers when the big man will not go down from some clotheslines but that gets him flattened with a Samoan drop and leg drop. Yokozuna, who is already winded, pulls Austin to the corner to do the Banzai Drop but as he scales the turnbuckles, the top rope snaps off and Austin pins him. The loss is yet another WWF effort to call attention to Yokozuna’s ballooning weight. Bill Apter’s wrestling magazines published a story after SummerSlam that Yokozuna intentionally rigged the top rope to fall off so he could get to the dinner buffets in Cleveland faster.

There is a great video package to start the pay-per-view that puts over Vader and Mankind as monsters and how WWF Champion Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker have unique approaches to slay them. The narrator cautions, though, that good does not always triumph over evil.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart (7-7) defeats Savio Vega (8-6-2) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 13:23:

Jim Cornette is not in Owen’s corner because he is sequestered with Vader to prepare for the main event. Owen tries to attack Savio from behind but referee Tim White intercepts him. A vocal portion of the crowd chants for Owen, happy when Owen stops an offensive on his cast-laden arm by kicking out of an O’Connor roll and sending Savio shoulder-first into the ring post. Owen then returns the favor, spending a lot of time working Savio’s left arm. Clarence Mason shows up in the aisle as the action proceeds, carrying a black binder. McMahon wonders if Mason is moving into Cornette’s territory. A series of near-falls follows as each takes turns rolling up the other and then Savio lands a side suplex and Owen lands a missile dropkick for close finishes. Savio crotches Owen when he goes back to the top rope but when Savio does a super back suplex, the back of his head hits Owen’s cast. A dazed Savio walks toward Owen, getting clocked again by Owen’s cast. Somehow the referee misses this and Owen proceeds to lock in the Sharpshooter, causing a stoppage because Savio is unconscious. Of all the choices on the card, this was a good one for the opener. It found a groove in its last six minutes and the crowd was into the action. Each man needed a win but the last month of television tapings have shown that Savio is more expendable. Rating: **½

Mason gets in the ring after the match, congratulating Owen on his victory. They hug it out and Owen sells his injured wrist in tongue in cheek fashion when Mason raises his hand in victory. Justin Bradshaw and Zebekiah come out and Bradshaw tells the announcers that he is going to send Savio back to the island where he came from. As Savio is being helped to the back by referees, Bradshaw hits him in the back of the head.

Pettengill ventures into the Gund Arena’s boiling room, telling viewers that the winner of the Boiler Room Brawl will be the first wrestler who makes to the ring and gets the urn from Paul Bearer. As Pettengill describes what the area is like he comes upon Mankind, who tells him there is no place like home. Mankind licks one of the boilers and warns the Undertaker not to come into the boiler room because a fate awaits him that is worse than death.

Four-Team Elimination Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Smoking Gunns (Champions w/Sunny) (11-2) beat the New Rockers (3-4-1), the Bodydonnas (16-4), and the Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) (13-6-1) when Billy pins Phineas after a Bart flying double axe handle to the back at 12:18:

Other Eliminations: The Bodydonnas are eliminated when Billy pins Zip after a falling forearm to the back at 4:00; The New Rockers are eliminated when Henry pins Marty Jannetty after the Slop Drop at 7:19

Skip is wearing a neck brace because of the neck injury that he suffered at Madison Square Garden. Billy is also banged up, wearing a black cast on his left arm to stabilize his thumb. After Phineas and Zip are tagged in they wrestle clean and tag in the Gunns. Even though the Gunns are supposed to make contact before tagging out they do not and Bart tags Zip. The Bodydonnas are quickly eliminated – no surprise considering Skip’s injury – but it is in terrible fashion as Jannetty trips Zip when he runs the ropes, Zip falls like a big tree, and Billy drops a weak falling forearm for the pin. The Gunns and Rockers form an alliance against the Godwinns. That does not last long as there are some miscommunications, resulting in Leif Cassidy battling Henry in the ring. When Henry kicks out of an O’Connor roll, Cassidy goes shoulder-first into Jannetty, who flips over the top rope and Henry pins him after the Slop Drop. So that brings the match down to another Gunns-Godwinns clash, which arguably should have just been the match anyway and the other two teams could have stayed home. Henry is put in peril, with the Gunns content to punch and kick him forever. Eventually, Henry uses a powerslam counter to stop a Billy avalanche and Phineas gets the hot tag. Phineas gives Billy the Slop Drop as Jim teases slopping Sunny. That distracts the referee and allows Billy to come off the top rope and do a flying double axe handle to Phineas’ back, putting Billy on top so the Gunns can retain the titles. Skip’s injury may have caused a reshuffling of the match’s booking but this was terrible even though all four teams had been doing matches like this on house shows for weeks. The only thing the crowd cared about was Sunny and the layout did not play to anyone’s strengths as the Godwinns rarely got sustained offense, the Gunns did not do any of their double teams, and the Rockers forgot the new double teams they were using on television. It is an open question where the tag team division goes from here after the Gunns defeated all of their challengers in one match, albeit cheating to once again get the better of the Godwinns. Rating: ½*

Billy screams at the fans that they are the best and they had better like it. Sunny grabs the microphone, gets in the ring, and gloats about her team winning. Then she goes into a Rick Rude routine of criticizing the ladies in the audience, unveiling a big picture of herself to make the place look better.

A video package recaps the WWF’s activities in the Cleveland area over the past week. The Godwinns and the Gunns and Sunny race a carriage against the city’s train system to see who can get to the Gund Arena first. Not surprisingly, the Godwinns arrived well ahead of the Gunns because they took the train. Jerry Lawler went to Jacobs Field with the Cleveland Indians, his favorite baseball team. Lawler asks catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr. how to throw a spitball and Alomar says that he will if Lawler shows him how to do a piledriver. Lawler then asks the same question to pitcher Charles Nagy and Nagy denies that he ever throws a spitball. The King went on to throw out the first pitch of a game but was saddled with the worst seats, so the video ends with him complaining about letting McMahon pick the tickets. WWF superstars then participate in painting over graffiti in the city, assisted by the newest superstar, Mark Henry. The video provides proof of life for Bob Holly, who has not been seen on television since early June. Later in the day, the Undertaker and Paul Bearer gave away a funeral to a lucky fan and the Godwinns signed autographs with Hillbilly Jim. Presumably, this long video package was put together to cover for the show not having the planned Ahmed Johnson-Faarooq Asad match for the Intercontinental Championship.

Dok Hendrix interviews Sid about the fan support he is receiving. Sid claims that he heard the fans screaming his name months ago and now the man has arrived and is here to stay. When the match with the Bulldog is over, Sid is certain the fans will know that he is the master and ruler of the world.

Sid (3-0) pins the British Bulldog (9-4-2) after the powerbomb at 6:24:

Sid takes his time getting to the ring, talking about the upcoming match with fans and bumping fists. That gradually works the crowd into a frenzy as they chant “Sycho!” before the bell. Clarence Mason again visits ringside, cheering the Bulldog on because Jim Cornette is shown monitoring Vader’s preparation in the locker room. Ross wonders if Cornette is aware that Mason is at ringside. The match does a good job working around Sid’s limitations as the Bulldog showcases his power with a vertical suplex and looks to the do the move again before dumping Sid chest-first across the ropes. The Bulldog hits the running powerslam after Sid misses a blind charge but he gets distracted by Cornette coming to ringside and arguing with Mason. That lets Sid get back up. The Bulldog goes for his finisher again but Sid gets off his shoulder, hits a chokeslam, and a really nice powerbomb, where Sid dumps the Bulldog from a high position, finishes. Rating: **

The Bulldog is not happy with Cornette and Mason, rightfully believing that they cost him the match. As McMahon and Ross talk about how much support Sid has in Cleveland one can almost hear the gears turning in McMahon’s head about what he can do with Sid back on the roster.

Pettengill interviews Marc Mero and Sable. Mero, changing his look to include a sequined robe and sporting red and white trunks and white tassels on his kneepads, is asked about Mankind calling Sable “mommy” on Superstars. Mero just says that he does not understand Mankind and that Goldust will be a falling star tonight.

Goldust (w/Marlena) (12-7-1) defeats Marc Mero (w/Sable) (16-5) after the Curtain Call at 11:00:

As Mero makes his entrance, Ross talks about how Mero might unleash a new offensive move in the match called the Wild Thing. The angle between the two got a lot of play on WWF Superstars, but whether due to the declining syndication of that program or Goldust playing early mind games, the reaction to the match is muted. Fans perk up six minutes into the action when Mankind comes to ringside and resumes his stalking of Sable. This time, officials are able to get the deranged individual to retreat so the Undertaker does not have to make another save and start the Boiler Room Brawl early. After that Mero picks up the pace, going into his more athletic offense to daze the former Intercontinental champion. He opts not to cover after a slingshot leg drop, opting to do his Wild Thing move which is a shooting star press. Marlena distracts the referee and delays the count, so Goldust kicks out at two. Still, though, the crowd does not care. The finish is weak as Goldust simply reverses a whip into the corner – causing Mero to go chest-first into the turnbuckles – and then the Curtain Call finishes. It marks a third consecutive pay-per-view defeat for Mero, who continues to lose traction each time he tries to climb out of the midcard. Mero did his part but Goldust was lethargic. Rating: *½

Sable tends to Mero after the match but Goldust grabs her. That gets Mero to his feet and he decks his opponent, crotches him on the top rope, and dropkicks him to the arena floor. He clotheslines Goldust in the aisle and Goldust gets the hint, retreating backstage with Marlena.

Pettengill does an in-ring interview with Faarooq and Sunny. Faarooq’s last name has been dropped. Faarooq complains about WWF President Gorilla Monsoon ordering a tournament for the Intercontinental Championship because he should be receiving the title via forfeit. Faarooq talks about how “Sunny days” await the WWF if Ahmed is the best that the WWF can put against him. Sunny repeats that Faarooq is her modern-day gladiator and is confident that her man will win the tournament.

A video package recaps the Jake Roberts-Jerry Lawler feud.

The WWF turns the clock back to 1993 as “Stars and Stripes Forever” plays. This time, though, it is not for Lex Luger but Mark Henry. Henry does commentary for the next match.

Just like King of the Ring, Jerry Lawler antagonizes the crowd before his match with Jake Roberts. Lawler brings a green bag to the ring like Roberts does for Revelation. Lawler also has bottles of Jim Beam and Jack Daniels, dubbing them Roberts’ tag team partners. When Lawler removes his jacket, he is wearing a Baltimore Ravens jersey and he makes fans angrier by saying that he left tickets for former Browns (and then-Ravens owner) Art Modell. Then, Lawler takes aim at Henry, criticizing him for failing to medal at the Summer Olympics.

Jerry Lawler (4-3) beats Jake Roberts (9-2-1) after hitting him with a bottle of alcohol and using the tights at 4:08:

Roberts has not wrestled on television since King of the Ring. Before the match begins, Lawler reaches into his green bag and pulls out a big bottle of wine, offering it to Roberts. When referee Harvey Wippleman wrestles with Lawler to get it away from him, Roberts pulls out Revelation and throws it on Lawler, causing him to run down the aisle in terror. Henry does not do much on commentary except laugh at some of Perfect’s jokes at Roberts’ expense and wonder what a fan will do for a drink when Lawler grabs their soda and throws it in Roberts’ eyes. The pre-match antics have more action than the match, which sees Roberts dominate. However, he cannot hit the DDT as Lawler backdrops out of one and then grabs onto Wippleman to stop another. After the second failed attempt, Roberts confronts Wippleman, giving Lawler the opportunity to grab a bottle of alcohol off the canvas and jam it into Roberts’ throat for a win. The ending does not come off well because from Wippleman’s vantage point he should have been able to see Lawler use a foreign object. Rating: ½*

The tasteless feud and angle continues after the match as Lawler says Roberts is grabbing his throat because it is dry and Roberts needs a drink. Lawler takes the Jim Beam and pours it on Roberts’ face. When Lawler goes to do the same with another bottle, Henry leaves the announce position and intervenes, although when he does some poor fans in the front row end up having the alcohol dumped on them. Lawler thinks better than to fight the larger Henry, retreating to fight another day. Beyond the real life circumstances that made this angle tasteless, Lawler used actual alcohol here, which burned Roberts’ eyes and made him ill. Roberts had heat with Lawler for years, believing that the Memphis legend was having too much fun in the feud at his expense. However, Lawler told Roberts that the angle also made him uncomfortable and he was only doing what McMahon told him to do.

Bob Backlund continues his presidential campaign in the crowd as Henry helps Roberts to the locker room.

A video package recaps the Undertaker-Mankind feud.

Boiler Room Brawl: Mankind (13-0) defeats the Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (9-4) at 27:04:

Again, the match starts in the arena’s boiler room and the first man who makes it into the ring and gets the urn from Bearer wins. One of the problems for the presentation of the match is that fans near ringside do not have a good sight line to a screen so they have to watch the boiler room part on 20-inch televisions that have been placed around the ring. Another presentation flaw is that the boiler room portion – filmed the night before the event – does not have much commentary because, according to Mick Foley, McMahon thought it would make the action feel more realistic. There are a few “transmission feed errors” and fans boo these loudly since they are not paying to watch the match on “scramblevision.” The boiler room portion features lots of weapons as each man hits the other with pipes, lumber, and garbage cans. Mankind’s use of one pipe to deliver a few low blows gets a loud reaction. Mankind also climbs a ladder and drops an elbow. He tries to repeat it minutes later but the Undertakes tips the ladder over and Mankind crashes through some cardboard boxes. By this point, both men have exhausted themselves, which puts over the physical nature of the contest, and they start making their way to the ring. Mankind gets out of the boiler room first, trying to barricade the doors like he is escaping a horror film villain. The Undertaker bursts through and, in a nice touch, babyface and heel talent poke their heads out of their respective locker rooms and cheer each man on but think better of getting involved. With the door plan thwarted, Mankind throws hot coffee at the Undertaker but that does not incapacitate his rival either. After 21 minutes they come through the entrance way and start fighting down the aisle. They have to clear a television out to fight near the apron, with Mankind piledriving the Undertaker on the concrete floor. Before Mankind can enter the ring, the Undertaker grabs his foot and they battle on the apron, with the Undertaker slinging Mankind onto the concrete with the help of the ropes. That seems to pave the way for an Undertaker victory. He enters the ring and poses for Bearer to give him the urn. However, his longtime manager turns his back and Mankind re-enters the fray, applying the Mandible Claw to the Deadman. Bearer laughs, polishes the urn, slaps the Undertaker as Mankind holds him, and then cracks the urn over the Undertaker’s head. Eventually, Mankind gets the urn and that makes him the winner, handing the Undertaker another devastating defeat in the feud. It is a surprising result with an even more surprising finish but it was time to freshen up the Undertaker’s direction and this was a great way to do it. Rating: ***½

Bearer is elated as he walks to the locker room with his new charge, telling the camera “I’m Paul Bearer and you’re not!” When Mankind and Bearer are gone from the scene, lights in the arena go dark and druids march to the ring. They carry the Undertaker’s body away.

Hendrix interviews Vader and Jim Cornette. Cornette says Vader has proved he can pin Shawn Michaels and will do it for the title tonight.

WWF Championship Match: Shawn Michaels (Champion w/Jose Lothario) (15-0-1) pins Vader (w/Jim Cornette) (12-1) after a moonsault at 18:56:

A young girl jumps the barricade and hugs Michaels during his entrance. She is not jumped by security, at least on camera. Vader weakens Michaels with strikes early but Michaels soon uses his speed and agility to turn the tables, doing a plancha onto Vader that will find its way into WWF video packages for years to come. There is a mixed reaction to that, though, showing how Michaels’ title reign is becoming divisive with the fan base. Vader pounds away after countering a hurricanrana attempt on the floor into a powerbomb and Ross does a great job selling the match as a real, athletic contest, usurping McMahon’s play-by-play role. One fun part of the heat segment sees Michaels try to do his skin the cat spot and Vader counter by merely lifting Michaels back into the ring and dumping him face first on the canvas. When Michaels makes a comeback after a low blow there is a botch by Vader as he fails to move during a Michaels aerial spot. As Michaels is coming off the top rope, he lands on his feet, kicks Vader hard in the head, and screams “Move!” at him. Moments later, Vader drops Michaels throat-first across the guardrail from a gorilla press position and the champion gets counted out at 13:50. Cornette refuses to accept that result, demanding the match continue. Michaels obliges and is quickly blasted by Cornette’s tennis racquet on his way back to the ring. Michaels soon recovers after kicking out of a belly-to-belly suplex and is ready to deliver Sweet Chin Music but Cornette grabs his leg. An angry Michaels grabs Cornette’s tennis racquet and hits Vader with it, along with Cornette, but that gets him disqualified at 15:59. Still, Cornette is not happy because that does not allow his man to win the title so he urges another restart. Again, Michaels accepts. What is funny about these restarts is that they cause fans who were heading for the exits to go back to their seats. Within a minute of the third restart, Michaels floors Vader with Sweet Chin Music but the big man kicks out. Vader pushing out of a headlock sends Michaels into referee Earl Hebner, who flies out of the ring, and that does not let Vader win after a powerbomb. Vader decides to follow up with a moonsault after Cornette calls for that instead of the Vader Bomb even though Michaels is not far enough away from the corner. That misses and Michaels hits a moonsault to stun Vader and beat him. All of the restarts interfered with the flow of the match, which was not quite the WWF’s version of Vader’s epic series against Sting in WCW from 1992-1994. It was akin to what fans might see at a house show and felt cheap as a pay-per-view main event trick. Rating: ***¾

The Last Word: There were rumors for years that Vader was supposed to win the WWF title at this show but Shawn Michaels complained and vetoed it. That has never been substantiated. What is true is that Michaels disliked working with Vader because of Vader’s stiff style. The notable botch – and Michaels reaction to it – in the main event would soon spell problems for Vader’s push. This is a pay-per-view where the last two matches save it and from top to bottom it is one of the weaker SummerSlam efforts since 1988.

Backstage News*: An independent trade journal is reporting that the WWF is exploring the idea of running weekly Saturday night pay-per-views. These would take place in New York City at midnight and would be aimed at an adult audience like ECW. However, Request and Viewers Choice are not showing interest. Part of the WWF’s motivation is to have a television product beyond USA Network and syndication so it could have a fallback in the future if its relationship with USA Network turned sour. If the shows took place they would have a price tag of $9.95. Industry experts say that for the shows to be profitable the WWF would have to average about 62,000 buys per week out of a pay-per-view universe of 25 million homes. This also assumes the shows would have very low production values. Another concern is that WCW is beating the WWF with fans 18 and over as demographics from the previous Monday night broadcasts show that WCW captured 68% of this age group. There is a healthy amount of skepticism about the weekly pay-per-view idea because over time fewer fans would probably purchase the shows, arena partners may not want a violent product in the New York area, sponsors may get skittish were the product to become more adult oriented, and it could impact Saturday house show business on what is usually its best night of the week.

-WWF and WCW agreed to a consent order that ended the WWF’s pursuit of a restraining order against WCW for trademark infringement over Scott Hall and Kevin Nash’s Razor Ramon and Diesel characters. As part of the deal Hall and Nash cannot use their old nicknames and WCW cannot say that they still work for the WWF. The WWF is still pursuing damages for trademark infringement, though, as well as “unfair competitive practices.” The ongoing disputes have impaired the ability of Sean Waltman (the 1-2-3 Kid) from appearing in WCW as the WWF’s granting of a release for him said that he cannot use any mannerisms, dress, or the look of the character so WCW is keeping Waltman on the shelf until things are cleared up. It has also come to light that Lex Luger did have a loophole that allowed him to exit the WWF last year after SummerSlam. That kills the WWF’s claims that Luger was under contract when he left.

-SummerSlam drew a gate of $413,168, setting an Ohio state record and creating the second-largest gate for professional wrestling in North America this year. Only WrestleMania XII drew more.

-When the WWF does its Friday night RAW special on September 6 some believe it is a test run to permanently move the show to that timeslot.

-In injury news, Ahmed Johnson’s kidney continued bleeding, forcing him to be re-hospitalized.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for August 26.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for August 19!

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