What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 09.14.96

WWF President Gorilla Monsoon and Mr. Perfect host today’s show, the last of the syndicated WWF Superstars episodes. It is the end of an era as Superstars replaced WWF Championship Wrestling that had been syndicated since February 1971. Today’s episode is called a “Best of 10 Years of Superstars.”

There is a fun introduction to the show, which incorporates all of the openings that Superstars has had in its existence. It is clear that this show is not going to be limited to the WWF’s recent history as footage of the Ultimate Warrior and Lex Luger is shown.

Roddy Piper destroying Adrian Adonis’ Flower Shop in October 1986 is shown.

Highlights of then-Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage crushing Ricky Steamboat’s larynx in a title defense in November 1986 airs. Perfect does get in a jab at Savage, saying that the footage took place in Savage’s prime. Since this show is not on home video, Jesse Ventura’s original commentary with Vince McMahon is preserved.

Rick Martel’s reveal of Arrogance on the Brother Love Show in February 1990 is highlighted as a “Superstars Memory.”

A video package celebrates the life of Andre the Giant. It is the same one that aired for his Hall of Fame induction in 1993. Monsoon says that the next Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on November 16 in New York City.

Andre challenging then-WWF Champion Hulk Hogan for a title match on Piper’s Pit in February 1987, arguably the biggest angle in the show’s history, airs.

That same month, the Honky Tonk Man blasted Jake Roberts with his guitar on a Snake Pit segment. This was the infamous angle that legitimately injured Roberts’ neck since the Honky Tonk Man’s guitar was not gimmicked. According to Roberts, it accelerated his dependence on drugs.

The Mountie electrocuting then-Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart in November 1991 is another “Superstars Memory.”

Perfect’s sports vignettes are shown as another “Superstars Memory.” The best is arguably the one where Perfect threw a football to himself from one end zone to another.

Rick Rude hitting on Jake Roberts’ wife, Cheryl, and paying the price for it in April 1988 is shown. Perfect puts over Rude as “one of the great ones.”

There is a montage of Craig DeGeorge, Gene Okerlund, Sean Mooney, Jim Ross, Joe Fowler, Charlie Minn, Stephanie Wiand, Todd Pettengill, and Dok Hendrix hosting Update, Live Event News, Face to Face, and pay-per-view hype segments.

Hendrix hosts the week’s Slam Jam, reminding fans that In Your House 10: Mind Games takes place next Sunday. Jerry Lawler calls Mark Henry stupid and is confident that his experience in the ring will cause problems for the newcomer. WWF Champion Shawn Michaels puts over Mankind’s craziness but says that his Kliq will put Mankind in a straitjacket.

The Islanders and Bobby Heenan kidnapping Matilda in December 1987 is a “Superstars Memory.”

Gene Okerlund and Classie Freddie Blassie presenting Bret Hart with the Best Wrestler of the Year award in December 1991 is another “Superstars Memory.” Monsoon tells Perfect if he gets back in the ring that he might one day have as many honors as Bret has.

The Hart Foundation getting rid of Jimmy Hart in May 1988 is shown. That leads to Monsoon and Perfect debating whether Bret will show up at In Your House and whether he will come back to the WWF.

A video package shows off some of the more colorful characters who have wrestled on Superstars such as the Big Bossman, Sergeant Slaughter, the Mountie, the Headshrinkers, Papa Shango, Giant Gonzalez, Damien Demento, Jimmy Snuka, Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim, the Berzerker, the Warlord, the Genius, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Haku, Hakushi, Ricky Steamboat, Tugboat, Kama, Kamala, the Nasty Boys, the Steiner Brothers, the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, the Legion of Doom, the Texas Tornado, the Natural Disasters, and Monsoon. Poor Howard Finkel has to read these at a hundred miles per hour and he has a funny pause in the middle so he can catch his breath. There is also a new play on words to end it as Finkel notes “Earthquake, Typhoon, Monsoon!” as they are all weather events.

The Rockers debut on the program in June 1988 is a “Superstars Memory.”

Randy Savage proposing to Elizabeth in June 1991 is another “Superstars Memory.”

Earthquake attacking Hulk Hogan on the Brother Love Show and sending him to the hospital in May 1990 airs.

Papa Shango giving the Ultimate Warrior bad stomach cramps and making him vomit green liquid in May 1992 is a “Superstars Memory.”

Brother Love introducing Paul Bearer as the Undertaker’s new manager on the Brother Love Show in February 1991 is another “Superstars Memory.”

The Undertaker locking the Ultimate Warrior in a casket on the Funeral Parlor in April 1991, one of the adult-oriented angles of that year, is shown. It is still funny that then-WWF President Jack Tunney did not punish the Undertaker for the attack because he took him at his word that he did not mean to kill the Warrior.

A confrontation between Roddy Piper and Ric Flair in September 1991 that led to Vince McMahon accidentally getting hit in the back with a chair by Piper airs. Perfect finds the segment amusing since it caused McMahon to get carted away on a stretcher. Monsoon thinks that the chairshot is why McMahon had to get neck surgery in 1994. It would have been amusing if McMahon’s legal team used that as an argument if his neck brace was questioned at his steroid trial that year.

There is a montage of all of the Superstars introductions that feature McMahon and his different co-hosts.

The Slam Jam returns with more In Your House hype. Footage is shown of Mark Henry’s training. Mankind and Paul Bearer do a promo in a boiler room. Mankind likens Shawn Michaels to a brother he once had who tried to take things from him. Mankind wants to make Bearer happy in “The City of Brotherly Love.”

Goldust showing off a tattoo of then-Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon in January 1996 is a “Superstars Memory.”

Phineas Godwinn slopping Sunny in June 1996 is another “Superstars Memory.”

The WWF title match between Bret Hart and Bob Backlund in July 1994 that led to Backlund’s heel turn is shown. That leads into Monsoon announcing that Backlund and the Iron Sheik will reveal their protégé this Monday on RAW.

Shawn Michaels doing a segment on his Heartbreak Hotel with a cardboard Diesel in January 1995 airs. This was hardly a notable segment during Superstars run but the WWF wanted to have something where Michaels was prominently featured.

Monsoon reminds fans that WWF Superstars will begin airing next week at 11 a.m. on USA Network. The show was moved an hour earlier than The Action Zone’s old timeslot so that it did not clash with the National Football League’s (NFL) pregame show. Monsoon also tells Perfect that there is no evidence Razor Ramon and Diesel are returning to the WWF.

The Last Word: For longtime fans this was an enjoyable show and was a fitting sendoff. It was refreshing for the WWF to dive into some of its history, which it usually ignored in this period for political reasons since many of the 1980s stars had migrated to WCW and it was a great call to have Gorilla Monsoon host because he was associated with some of the big moments of that decade. Of course, classic shows like this also exposed how the acts of the past were more over than many of the acts on the present roster. The loss of Superstars in syndication hurt some of the fan base that did not have cable but the end of the show demonstrates how the wrestling business was changing to one that was focused more on cable television ratings and pay-per-view buys. Hopefully the move to USA Network will make the show better as it has been struggling since the end of the King of the Ring Tournament.

The WWF continued to run two tours of talent during mid-September as one crew stayed in the United States while another was in South Africa. Here were the results of some of these house shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Johannesburg, South Africa – September 12, 1996 (6,000; sellout): Barry Horowitz beat Marty Jannetty…Aldo Montoya defeated Leif Cassidy…The Sultan beat Phineas Godwinn…Crush wrestled Savio Vega to a double count out…Steve Austin pinned Yokozuna…Henry Godwinn beat Isaac Yankem…Jake Roberts pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley…Bret Hart & Marc Mero defeated Owen Hart & the British Bulldog.

Sun City, South Africa – September 14, 1996: The event was known as the “Sun City SuperBowl” and was televised on SuperSport with Jim Ross and Owen Hart on commentary. Crush pinned Aldo Montoya after the heart punch…Yokozuna pinned the Sultan after a leg drop…The Godwinns beat the New Rockers when Henry pinned Leif Cassidy after the Slop Drop. After the match, Henry slopped Marty Jannetty…Savio Vega defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by blocking a sunset flip…Marc Mero defeated the British Bulldog via disqualification when Owen interfered after Mero hit the Wild Thing…Bret Hart pinned Steve Austin with an inside cradle at 19:56.

Louisville, Kentucky – The Louisville Gardens – September 14, 1996 (3,262): The Bushwhackers defeated Justin Bradshaw & Zebekiah…Freddie Joe Floyd defeated T.L. Hopper…Faarooq beat Bob Holly…Jerry Lawler beat Barry Windham…WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns wrestled the Grimm Twins to a double count out…Sid defeated Goldust…The Undertaker beat Mankind in a casket match…WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Vader.

Backstage News*: J.J. Dillon, who has served as the WWF’s Vice President of Talent Relations since 1989, resigned on September 12. Vince McMahon was shocked by Dillon’s resignation. It is assumed that Dillon will be going to WCW because there were reports that he visited Orlando during the time that WCW was doing television tapings there. If Dillon goes to WCW, it could help the promotion because he would have inside knowledge of when various WWF contracts were ending. WCW could also plug him into a Four Horsemen angle.

-As part of its fall production changes the WWF will do commentary for Monday Night RAW and Superstars live and will also film some angles live to stop leaks and spoilers. The WWF will have a new show on WGN called Blast-Off that will be a WWF Mania-like show of recaps. It will air at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings to go head-to-head with WCW Pro.

-Tokyo Sports ran a story about how Rick Bogner will be brought in as a new Razor Ramon and how the WWF told Bogner that the information is top secret. Glenn Jacobs, who previously worked as Isaac Yankem, will be repackaged as Diesel.

-Jake Roberts has been added to the WWF creative team, something that Roberts has been vocal about wanting to do for months. Roberts will partner with Jim Cornette and Bruce Prichard to write television shows.

-The WWF’s tour of South Africa was successful, selling out every show and turning people away. When giving local interviews to newspaper and radio outlets, Bret Hart has been attacking Shawn Michaels, laying the foundation for a program when he returns.

-Michaels is getting more split crowd reactions at house shows after he posed for Playgirl.

-Juanita Wright, who was known to fans as Dusty Rhodes’ manager Sapphire from 1989-1990, passed away after a heart attack in St. Louis, Missouri on September 10. She was fifty-seven years old.

-In talent relations news, Gene Okerlund’s contract expired with WCW and he reached out to McMahon but there was not a lot of interest in bringing him back.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for September 23.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for September 16!

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