WTWWW WWE — page 2

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross call the action for the third episode of four of WWF Superstars taped from San Jose, California.

Opening Contest: The Ringmaster (w/Ted DiBiase) (2-0) defeats Fatu via submission to the Million Dollar Dream at 6:25 shown:

Fatu entered the singles ranks in 1995 after working the first three years of his WWF tenure in tag teams. In 1995 he was part of a New Headshrinkers duo with Sione, who replaced Samu shortly after SummerSlam in 1994. The New Headshrinker team disbanded in June after a loss to Sid and Tatanka before King of the Ring. The next month Fatu started showing up wearing a multicolored jacket and was given a “Making a Difference” gimmick, talking about growing up in a rough San Francisco neighborhood and how kids should avoid drugs, stay in school, and avoid gangs. The character fit the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program vibe of the 1990s but was one dimensional. As a result, Fatu became an elevated enhancement act like Bob Holly and Aldo Montoya. His highest profile singles match of late 1995 was a loss to Hunter Hearst Helmsley at In Your House 4. However, Fatu did team with the Undertaker, Henry Godwinn, and Savio Vega in a sweep of the Royals (Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yanke, and Helmsley) at Survivor Series.

There is a small story to this match as Fatu tossed the Ringmaster out of the Royal Rumble, albeit inadvertently. Steve Austin is already refining elements of the Ringmaster gimmick, wearing black trunks instead of green ones. In the split screen, the Ringmaster wears sunglasses, talking about taking advantage of people’s weaknesses in the WWF and torturing them. This is Austin’s effort to give a serial killer vibe to his character. There is some good, basic action between the two before the show heads to a commercial break. When it returns, Fatu gives Austin a Samoan bulldog – his name for a Diamond Cutter – but when he goes to the top rope DiBiase trips him. Austin capitalizes with a superduperplex and locks in the Million Dollar Dream for the first feature match victory of his WWF career. Fatu gets to hang in for a while in the Million Dollar Dream so the WWF was still high on doing something meaningful with him, poor gimmick aside. Rating: **½

Austin refuses to break the hold for a few minutes afterward with crazed eyes. McMahon shouts about how Austin is “stone cold.”

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are commentating, concluding the taping in Stockton, California.

Opening Contest: Diesel & Shawn Michaels defeat Yokozuna & the British Bulldog (w/Jim Cornette) via count out at 10:51 shown:

This is a rematch of In Your House 3 with less stakes because no titles are on the line. Michaels is placed in peril when the Bulldog pulls down the top rope and beats him up behind the referee’s back. The crowd is hot for a third hour of the taping cycle, owed in part to how well Michaels sells. Diesel gets a hot tag after Yokozuna misses a splash, leading to Michaels splashing Yokozuna off of Diesel’s shoulders. The Bulldog interrupts the count by trying a leg drop but Michaels moves and Yokozuna takes the blow. Diesel knocks the Bulldog out of the ring as Michaels gives Yokozuna Sweet Chin Music and the big man tumbles to the arena floor. Owen Hart runs out and he and the Bulldog try to revive Yokozuna and get him in the ring but he is too heavy and the heels are counted out. Overall, this was an enjoyable tag team match, owed to an engaged crowd. Rating: **½

After the match, Cornette chews out Yokozuna in the ring. An angry Yokozuna pushes Cornette into the corner and lays in a few shots before he is attacked by Owen and the Bulldog. Yokozuna does not sell it, causing his former allies to flee and this turns him babyface. The crowd pops so that turn is off to a good start.

A video package hypes today’s Razor Ramon-Jeff Jarrett main event, playing some of the song “With My Baby Tonight” that fans heard a lot in the summer of 1995.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are back on the call, taped from San Jose, California.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, taped from Stockton, California.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross call the action, kicking off a new taping in San Jose, California that took place on January 23.

Opening Contest: Duke Droese (2-0) pins Steve Rizzono after the Trash Compactor at 2:20:

Rizzono was in the early stages of his career, wrestling his first match on March 29, 1995. He received training at the All Pro Wrestling School in California. While working for All Pro Wrestling he became a Tag Team champion with Mike Modest and Tony Jones. Both of those teammates appeared in the 1999 wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat.

Perfect insists that Hunter Hearst Helmsley would have won the Royal Rumble if he had received the #30 number, blaming WWF President Gorilla Monsoon for his misfortunes. Droese pummels Rizzono, defeating him after a clothesline, powerslam, and the Trash Compactor.

When the match is over, Droese brings his trash can into the ring and poses. Helmsley attacks him from behind and Pedigrees him on the trash can lid. That is not enough, though, as Helmsley takes some scissors out of his pocket and cuts Droese’s hair.

Sunny is still playing billiards to open the show and the camera shows her from the back as she bends over the table. This leads into a video package to recap the events of last night’s Royal Rumble.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary, live from Stockton, California. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a sellout crowd of 2,904 fans.

Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect commentate, live from Fresno, California. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, a sellout crowd of 9,600 fans attended. According to Wrestlenomics, the show drew a 1.10 buyrate (269,000 domestic buys), higher than the 1.0 of the previous year (194,000 domestic buys). This was the highest buyrate for a Royal Rumble pay-per-view since 1993.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley, attempting to talk with an accent, tells Todd Pettengill in the aisle that WWF President Gorilla Monsoon has lost his mind by having him wrestle for the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble.

Duke Droese is also interviewed by Pettengill. He promises to win, get the #30 spot, and win the Rumble later in the evening.

Shawn Michaels tells people that the clock is ticking for him to fulfill his lifelong goal of winning the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are commentating the last episode of the taping cycle in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This is the last WWF television broadcast before The Royal Rumble.

Vince McMahon narrates a video package to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.

McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, concluding a long taping in Newark, Delaware.

Dok Hendrix tells fans that Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon is heading to the arena to confront Goldust.

WWF Mania, the WWF’s Saturday morning program on USA Network, had an exclusive match:

WWF Championship Match: Bret Hart (Champion) defeats Buddy Landel via submission to the Sharpshooter at 3:50:

One of the unintentional stories that the WWF told throughout 1995 was Bret’s climb back to the top after losing the WWF Championship to Bob Backlund at Survivor Series. After that loss, Bret took some time off to film episodes of Lonesome Dove, where he played a character named Luther Root. When he returned in January, he was unable to regain the WWF title from Diesel at The Royal Rumble, as their match went to a double disqualification. Bret went on win a year-long feud against his brother Owen before WrestleMania XI, defeating him in a no holds barred match on Monday Night RAW. Then he won the feud with Backlund in a poor “I Quit” match at WrestleMania. Bret transitioned to a short program against Hakushi, which he won as well, and spent much of the rest of the year feuding with Jerry Lawler and his evil dentist Isaac Yankem. Lawler went down in a “Kiss My Foot” match at King of the Ring and Yankem was beaten by October. In the middle of that feud, Bret also had a mini-program against Jean-Pierre LaFitte, who stole Bret’s trademark ring jacket. Bret got the jacket back in a good match at In Your House 3. Finally, Bret got another WWF title match against Diesel at Survivor Series, ending the big man’s yearlong title reign in a no holds barred match with a small package. It was the third time Bret won the title. Bret had a strong title defense against the British Bulldog at In Your House 5 but the show drew a terrible buyrate. However, house show attendance was improving with Bret on top but the question was how long the WWF would keep him in that position since Vince McMahon always saw Bret as more of a placeholder in the main event until something better came along.

Landel was acquired by the WWF after Smoky Mountain Wrestling went defunct in late 1995. Landel became a cornerstone of Smoky Mountain in its final years, feuding with Brad Armstrong over the SMW Heavyweight Championship and wrestling in the main event of SMW’s Super Bowl of Wrestling card against Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. His debut was hurried as, according to Landel, McMahon needed someone to substitute for Dean Douglas against Ahmed Johnson at In Your House 5. Landel volunteered to do a quick job, getting squashed in less than a minute. Landel’s willingness to step up was respected by McMahon and he notched a few televised wins before the end of 1995. Unfortunately, the day after this match was taped Landel slipped on some ice outside of Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and injured his knee, scuttling whatever career he could have had in the WWF.

This match was supposed to air on Monday Night RAW as it took place in Newark, Delaware on December 18 but due to Landel’s injury, the WWF pushed it to a C-show that never had a WWF Championship match. Jim Ross and Dok Hendrix do commentary. The match does not live up to each man’s abilities, never getting out of the starting gates as no high impact moves are landed. The pacing seems to be prepping the crowd for a match that may go fifteen minutes but after merely taking Bret to the buckle, Landel gets caught trying a leapfrog and Bret submits him with the Sharpshooter. What was interesting about the match is there were some vocal chants for Landel at the end. Rating: *

The show has a new opening, going back to the old show theme and providing action silhouettes of the main superstars. This replaces the opening that had wrestlers fighting on top of Titan Towers.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, taped again from Newark, Delaware.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are in the booth, taped from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on December 19 in the midst of a blizzard but 1,500 fans still attended.

The first match of the show is scheduled to be Ahmed Johnson against Jerry Lawler to build off a confrontation at In Your House 5. However, Lawler limps to the ring on crutches and tells Johnson that he broke a bone in his leg so he cannot wrestle. He brings Spider #2, who he dubs “The Royal Spider” to replace him.

The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was on the defensive when 1996 began because 1995 was a fiscal disaster. James Dixon’s Titan Sinking argues that Vince McMahon and Titan Sports lost $6 million, and, according to Wrestlenomics, the WWF’s revenue declined from $89.2 million to $87.4 million. While the WWF was venturing back outside of the Northeast for house shows and trying to expand its national footprint after weathering years of federal investigations, those shows drew poorly. Ever since the national expansion began the WWF had run multiple circuits of house shows. By 1995 this dwindled to an “A” and “B” circuit but in September the WWF decided to abandon “B” shows due to poor ticket sales. The last straw was a loop through Florida where less than 1,000 fans attended a card in Palmetto, Florida headlined by Razor Ramon facing Sir Mo. The fact that WrestleMania, the promotion’s biggest annual pay-per-view, was held in the Hartford Civic Center was a testament to how far it had fallen because the venue was second-rate compared to previous venues like the Pontiac Silverdome, Toronto Skydome, or Madison Square Garden. While television ratings for Monday Night RAW for the first six months of 1995 achieved new heights this was not translating into higher levels of pay-per-view buys or arena attendance.

It is not as if the WWF was not trying. 1995 ushered in new experiments to try to bring in new revenue sources for the company or reorient it creatively. The pay-per-view schedule was adjusted from five shows per year to ten as two-hour, B-level cards entitled In Your House began in May, fitting into the gaps between bigger cards like The King of the Ring, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. This was in response to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) adopting a larger pay-per-view calendar. However, the low price point for the shows – a mere $14.95 – did not lead to more people buying them. If anything, they gave the impression that In Your House was a sub-standard product compared to the longer, more established shows that were priced at $29.95. By December, the WWF raised the price of In Your House events to $19.95, realizing that the people buying them were already diehard fans. In terms of creative direction, McMahon reached out to Bill Watts, a territory star and former owner of Mid-South Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Federation in the 1980s. McMahon and Watts competed against each other in the territory wars and Watts went on to a poor stint as WCW’s booker in 1992-1993. McMahon brought Watts in to reportedly book the promotion while McMahon focused on the business side. Watts only stayed for three months, though, angry at McMahon continuing to micromanage decisions. However, the Watts months did lead to some interesting concepts like a “wild card” match at Survivor Series that put babyfaces and heels on the same teams.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler call the last WWF television episode of the year, which is also the last episode of Superstars taped in Poughkeepsie, New York. Lawler tells McMahon that his New Year’s resolution is “to get a co-host with real hair.”

Opening WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Contest: The New Headshrinkers (w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (3-0) beat Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart (0-1) via disqualification when Owen hits Fatu with a boot at 7:47 shown:

The winner of this match faces Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka in the semi-finals. Fatu, who has been trying to incorporate more personality by dancing during comebacks, is quickly placed in peril when he runs the ropes and Neidhart pulls the top rope down. The heel team’s offense is not very exciting. They come closest to winning when Owen hits a missile dropkick. Fatu gives Sione the hot tag after popping up from an Owen DDT. Sione shows off his power, blasting Neidhart with a Mafia kick. That is supposed to set up Fatu’s splash but boot problems slow him down. The delay allows Owen to crotch Fatu and the heels land a Hart Attack. However, Sione breaks up the fall. Fatu covers Neidhart after that and Owen grabs Fatu’s ring boot and comes off the top rope to reverse the cover but gets caught and the heels are disqualified. The last few minutes picked up the pace but the ending was lame. Owen does not seem as sad to lose as one would expect. Rating: *¾

Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels call the action, taped in Liberty, New York.

Michaels asks Ted DiBiase if he got everything he wanted for Christmas. DiBiase says that every day is Christmas for him and that the British Bulldog will get a taste of what Lex Luger got last week.

Gorilla Monsoon and Ted DiBiase are announcing the last Wrestling Challenge episode of the year, taped in Lowell, Massachusetts. Monsoon is dressed as Santa and called “Gorilla Claus” today.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart (42-5) beats Buck Quartermaine via submission to the Sharpshooter at 2:36:

Monsoon argues that 1994 was a down year for Owen. That assessment is wrong because while Owen failed to win the WWF Championship, he beat his brother at the biggest show of the year and won the King of the Ring Tournament. Quartermaine gets a spirited comeback at the end but runs into a belly-to-belly suplex, leading to his submission to the Sharpshooter. After winning, Owen throws Bret’s Survivor Series towel on Quartermaine.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, taped from Poughkeepsie, New York. Lawler refuses to wear a Santa hat because he likes his crown.

Opening Contest: Lex Luger (34-4-1) beats Chris Avery via submission to the Rebel Rack at 1:45:

One of the issues with Luger’s fan flag bearer gimmick is that they give the kids too big of a flag to wave and it is too heavy for them. It seems like every time that Luger has a setback that he is given a squash on Superstars to reheat him. He does not want to go to the canvas with Avery when doing a powerslam off the ropes and finishes him in less than two minutes with the Rebel Rack.

Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels, who are wearing Santa hats, are in the booth, taped from Poughkeepsie, New York on November 28.

Opening Contest: Irwin R. Schyster (w/Ted DiBiase & a Druid) (34-3) defeats Lex Luger (34-3-1) via count out at 6:56 shown:

Michaels calls attention to the fact that Luger’s flag bearer does not look enthusiastic. This is a stellar match in terms of win-loss records for the year and has more heat than anything on the last episode. IRS’ druid gets involved for the first time in a match, distracting Luger and putting the boots to him when IRS knocks him to the floor. As the show goes to commercial it zooms in on the druid’s hand to show several rings, which McMahon says look familiar. IRS is not in much of a working mood, stalling and then killing time with rest holds. The crowd gets invested in Luger’s comeback after he blocks an IRS right hand. The Druid grabs Luger’s leg as he runs the ropes, providing a distraction that allows IRS to get a schoolboy for two. After kicking out, Luger goes after the druid and removes his hood to reveal Tatanka. He keeps fighting with Tatanka, getting counted out in the process and losing a twelve-match winning streak in singles competition. The result explains why Luger dominated much of the contest. Rating: *½

After the bell rings, IRS knees Luger in the back and the heels walk away victorious as Luger probably questions his life choices on the arena floor and wonders what Sting’s phone number is.

Vince McMahon and Todd Pettengill commentate the last Action Zone and Wrestling Challenge taping of the year in Lowell, Massachusetts. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping happened on November 26 and drew a crowd of 1,700 fans.

Opening Contest: The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) (19-2) beat the 1-2-3 Kid & Aldo Montoya (1-0) when Tom Prichard pins the Kid after a clothesline at 7:42 shown:

The Bodies are in the weird spot of a heel team seeking revenge from a previous defeat. There is a great opening sequence where Montoya uses the ropes to headscissors Jimmy Del Ray, leading to a four-way fight that sees the Bodies sandwiched in the corner and then Prichard accidentally monkey flipping Del Ray when the Kid moves out of the in the corner. Montoya ends up in peril when Del Ray knees him in the back when he runs the ropes. The heat segment does not last long as Montoya delivers the hot tag out of a Camel Clutch. Prichard breaks up a Kid pinfall on Del Ray after a missile dropkick and when the referee escorts Montoya back to his corner, Del Ray blasts the Kid with a clothesline for the pin. It seems like the Bodies were supposed to do a double clothesline there but Prichard was out of position. This was not as good as their first encounter because the heat segment was so short so there was not much drama when the Kid came back in. Giving the Bodies a win was the right call because of their participation in the Tag Team Championship Tournament. Rating: **¼

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate once again, starting a new taping in Poughkeepsie, New York. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping happened on November 29 and drew a sellout crowd of 3,000 fans. Poughkeepsie had just done a Monday Night RAW taping the day earlier, but this drew more fans than that show.