What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 08.24.96

Kevin Kelly and Mr. Perfect call today’s action from a new taping location in Columbus, Ohio. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping happened on August 20 and drew 2,739 fans. The arena is dark for the taping due to the poor attendance.

Opening Non-Title Contest: The Smoking Gunns (WWF Tag Team Champions w/Sunny) (12-2) beat Lou Marconi & Frank Stalletto when Billy pins Marconi after the Sidewinder at 2:17:

Marconi was trained by Charlie Fulton and started his career in independent promotions in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1993. He found success in tag team competition in the Irwin, Pennsylvania-based Steel City Wrestling between 1994-1996, winning the Tag Team titles multiple times, including one reign with Stalletto in early 1996. Marconi appeared for the WWF in two matches in 1994, losing to Bob Holly and the Headshrinkers.

Stalletto started his career in 1992 in the Midwest. On the independents he had a gimmick where he was deemed as handsome as country music star Billy Ray Cyrus. Like Marconi, he wrestled a lot for Steel City Wrestling around this time period. In 1994 he appeared in three squash matches for the WWF, losing to Lex Luger, Jim Neidhart, and Yokozuna.

Most of the match is taken up by an insert interview with Jim Cornette. Cornette repeats his accusations that there is a WWF conspiracy against Vader. As the match is wrapping up, Cornette issues a challenge on behalf of Owen Hart and the British Bulldog to the Gunns for the Tag Team titles. This is due to Sunny throwing a drink in the Bulldog’s face and accusing him of being a pervert on Monday Night RAW. That is an ironic twist of fate for the Bulldog, who levied those same accusations against Shawn Michaels earlier in the year. Owen and the Bulldog come into the split screen, hyping themselves as an unbeatable combination. After the Gunns win, Sunny unveils a massive poster of herself. It is the same poster showcased at SummerSlam.

Brian Pillman comes out to do color commentary for the next match.

Steve Austin (21-6-1) pins Tony Williams after the Stone Cold Stunner at 1:24:

These two wrestled earlier in the year, with Austin defeating Williams on the March 2 episode of Superstars. Austin’s complaints about a lack of suitable competition do not apply to Williams. He gets irritated when Williams schoolboys him, pummeling and trash talking his opponent afterward. Pillman hypes an interview that he plans to do with Austin next week.

Dok Hendrix’s Slam Jam announces that the tag line for the next pay-per-view is In Your House 10: Mind Games. WWF Champion Shawn Michaels, with Jose Lothario, says that his Kliq will stop Mankind’s insanity and they will “rock the asylum to the ground.”

Hunter Hearst Helmsley (12-8) pins David Haskins after the Pedigree at 2:18:

Helmsley has been AWOL for a month, last wrestling on television on the July 20 edition of Superstars against Marc Mero. Perfect tells Kelly that he has an issue with Helmsley and leaves the broadcast position to head to the ring. Meanwhile, Helmsley makes quick work of Haskins, pummeling him in the corner and delivering a Pedigree. Perfect takes Helmsley’s woman with him, infuriating Helmsley, who does not follow because the referee holds him back. By the time Helmsley gets around to covering Haskins he has waited too long and the Memphis wrestler kicks out at two. again,ley does the Pedigree again and after winning he quickly marches to the locker room. This gives Helmsley something to do again as he has been treading water since losing his feud to Marc Mero after WrestleMania.

WWF Champion Shawn Michaels beating Yokozuna with Sweet Chin Music on RAW is the Stridex Slam of the Week.

Bret Hart beating Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam is shown as an example of “Greatest Intercontinental Championship Moments.” Perfect is not happy with the selection.

Kelly announces that on RAW Championship Friday on September 6 there will be two other first round matches in the Intercontinental Championship Tournament: Marc Mero vs. Steve Austin and Sid vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

Faarooq (w/Sunny) (2-0) defeats Chris Walker after the inverted powerslam at 1:33:

Walker, who should not be confused with “Conan” Chris Walker of WWF fame in 1991-1992, was another Charlie Fulton trainee, breaking into the business on the Kentucky independent circuit in 1994. He would later acquire notoriety in Total Nonstop Action (TNA) in the 2000s as Chris Harris of the America’s Most Wanted tag team and would wrestle for the WWE in 2008 as Braden Walker.

Faarooq treats Harris like a nuisance, throwing him across the ring, blocking Walker’s dropkicks, and quickly finishing him with a powerslam off the ropes and the inverted powerslam.

A video package announces that WWF Superstars is moving to USA Network on September 22. The show will be taking the timeslot held by The Action Zone.

Jake Roberts (9-3-1) defeats Who (0-3) after the DDT at 2:44:

Who attacks Roberts before the bell and spends most of the match dropping clubbing blows on Roberts’ back. After a weird snapmare sequence, Roberts avoids a Who flying forearm off the ropes and wins with a short-arm clothesline and DDT. This was the merciful end of the Who character as it would not receive any more televised matches. After September, Jim Neidhart would leave the WWF, wrestling in England and various U.S. independent promotions before returning to the WWF in April.

The Slam Jam announces that Jose Lothario will face Jim Cornette at In Your House. It is also revealed that to the Undertaker-Goldust “Final Curtain” match must end via pinfall. The Undertaker tells Goldust that Paul Bearer’s deception has not weakened him. Goldust rebuts by quoting The Fan and talks of dropping the curtain on the Undertaker’s “traveling horror show.”

Tune in next week to see Brian Pillman interview Steve Austin! Also, Sid, Vader, and Goldust will be in action!

The Last Word: This was easily the worst Superstars episode of the year, which is saying something because the show has been trending downhill during the summer. It had poor production values reminiscent of the WWF before its national expansion and Kevin Kelly is not the person who can lead a play-by-play broadcast, at least in this era. The bulk of the show were recaps of Monday Night RAW – which were omitted for the sake of brevity – and it appears that the WWF is going to run out the clock on the remaining syndicated episodes before caring about the show when it heads to USA Network at the end of next month.

After doing the RAW and Superstars tapings the WWF’s house shows went from Ohio into Canada, ending with a big show at Toronto and another at the Nassau Coliseum for the weekend. Here were the results of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Toledo, Ohio – Toledo Sports Arena – August 21, 1996 (3,379): Zip (substituting for Skip) defeated Leif Cassidy…Owen Hart defeated Aldo Montoya…Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Bob Holly…WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns beat the Godwinns…Savio Vega defeated Justin Bradshaw in a Caribbean strap match…Marc Mero wrestled the British Bulldog to a double count out…Goldust defeated Jake Roberts with a Flair pin…Sid pinned Vader after a chokeslam…WWF Champion Shawn Michaels pinned Steve Austin after Sweet Chin Music.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Exhibition Stadium – August 24, 1996 (21,211): The Godwinns defeated the New Rockers when Phineas pinned Leif Cassidy…Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Bob Holly…Savio Vega defeated Justin Bradshaw in a Caribbean strap Match…Jose Lothario beat Jim Cornette with a punch at 3:30…Steve Austin defeated Marc Mero via count out when Mankind tried to steal Sable at ringside and Mero fought Mankind at 14:03…Sid pinned Vader in a lumberjack match after a chokeslam at 9:23. Members of the Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts were the lumberjacks for the match…Faarooq pinned Aldo Montoya after the inverted powerslam in 46 seconds…Owen Hart & the British Bulldog beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns via disqualification at 7:56 when Sunny pulled the referee out of the ring after the Bulldog delivered the running powerslam…The Undertaker beat Mankind in a casket match at 13:24…WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Goldust in a ladder match.

Long Island, New York – Nassau Coliseum – August 25, 1996 (6,823): The Bushwhackers defeated Justin Bradshaw & Zebekiah…The Grimm Twins (substituting for the Bodydonnas) beat the New Rockers…Marc Mero & Savio Vega defeated Steve Austin & Hunter Hearst Helmsley when Mero pinned Helmsley after a body press after avoiding a double clothesline…Goldust & Mankind beat the Undertaker & Jake Roberts when Mankind submitted Roberts with the Mandible Claw…The Godwinns beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns via count out. The Godwinns initially won the match but their pin was invalidated because Henry did not pin the legal man…Owen Hart & the British Bulldog defeated Sid & Jim Neidhart (substituting for Ahmed Johnson) when the Bulldog pinned Neidhart with a roll up after Owen kneed Neidhart in the back when he ran the ropes. Neidhart was Sid’s mystery partner for the match. After the bout, Neidhart walked out on Sid, who was triple teamed by Vader, Owen, and the Bulldog…Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario wrestled Vader & Jim Cornette to a no-contest when a brawl broke out between Sid, Mankind, Goldust, Michaels, Vader, and the Undertaker after Cornette knocked Lothario out with his tennis racquet.

Backstage News*: The idea of doing weekly pay-per-views has been poorly received and that idea will not be going anywhere.

-At its Toronto show the WWF announced that it would be returning to the city on January 31 for a show at Sky Dome. The WWF has not been there since WrestleMania VI.

-Next year’s Royal Rumble will take place in San Antonio, Texas.

-Bob Freed, the ring announcer for WWF cards in the early 1970s before Howard Finkel took the role, passed away on August 23 at the age of 77.

-In injury news, it is unclear when Skip will return as he has a fractured fifth cervical vertebrae. Skip was working with two fractured lumbar vertebras for months and was unaware of it. Ahmed Johnson’s condition is steadily improving. His doctors think that he might be able to return before December.

-In talent relations news, the WWF gave a tryout to Rick Titan, who wrestles as Big Titan in Japan’s Wrestle & Romance (WAR) promotion at its RAW taping. The WWF was not high on Titan but liked Frank Stalletto enough to give him another look at its Superstars taping the next day. Dwayne Johnson, who is wrestling as Flex Kavana, had a dark match against David Haskins at the RAW taping as well. There are concerns that Bret Hart may not return, although he is contracted to wrestle for the WWF’s South Africa tour between September 8 and 12. WCW is offering a three-movie deal, which Bret may find attractive because he is 39 years old and his wrestling career is winding down. Mark Henry’s contract is reported to be $250,000 per year for the next ten years. All of the years are guaranteed.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for August 26, September 2, and September 23.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 31!

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