House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, CavemanLynn said:

You really can't appreciate how much cocaine HBK was on until you see it up close and personal. It's also mad how perspectives change - he's a camp obnoxious himbo even working face, and it's incredible that Vince wouldn't have realised he'd be a headache to work with.

Pat Patterson and Bruce Prichard spent about two years trying to tell Vince that Shawn would be a hell of a babyface one day and he always fought them and insisted it was never going to happen. It was the crowd reactions to him at Mania XI that apparently made Vince turn back to the rest of the office and go "He's a babyface, God damn it!! Why didn't anyone tell me??" ... and make the switch. Although the announced Diesel/Shawn rematch at In Your House was the plan until Shawn was legit injured during the angle with Sid, and its an interesting thought how that would have played out.

After SummerSlam 95 Meltzer was glowing in his review of Shawn with words to the effect of "There's no doubt who the best performer in American wrestling is anymore. You can call him the Ric Flair of the 90s or the most talented American worker of all-time, but you should be calling him WWF champion. It's ridiculous that WWF isn't building the company around him instead of Diesel. Even on his best day, Flair could not have had a performance better than Shawn did at SummerSlam" while rating the second Razor ladder match 4.75. Great matches, crowd noise and I'm guessing healthy merch receipts gave Vince the confirmation that he needed to go with Shawn and about that time he told Bret that he'd be moving the belt from Diesel to him and then to Shawn at Mania 12. Attendances show that Shawn wasn't really the tonic to 95s lows that Vince hoped, but I understand why he went in that direction even if he knew he was a prick, or perhaps BECAUSE he was a prick, and Vince respected that Shawn had stood up to him.

1 hour ago, CavemanLynn said:

It's great watching how the stars of the day work when they aren't having to play for the camera, and on a strict time limit. I'm sure both were in place in some form back then, but it's refreshing and fascinating watching them really working the crowd, and getting as much as they can out of the fundamentals. If any current talent and trainees aren't watching these, they're sorely missing out.

You get one or the other. You get lads going out there to have fun, try new stuff and see what pops a crowd, hone their craft, show off, see if they can get a rise out of the other boys, see if they can impress the office bods in attendance and get an improved push or payoff. Or you get certain Jims or Sids who just want to do their greatest hits and get out in 90 seconds.

[air_raid]

APRIL 1996
Kev and Scott are leaving, Bret's off for a break soon - they're fucked. But let's enjoy what we've got for now.

THE MAIN EVENTS
Every house show between TVs this month is going on in Germany. Its new WWF Champion Shawn Michaels vs Diesel in Dortmund, Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich. He's with Steve Austin in Kassel, Bielefield, Rostock, Bayreuth and Stuttgart, with British Bulldog in Bonn and Oldenburg, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley in Dusseldorf and Hamburg.

THE CARDS
Bret Hart is in Germany of course. He's beating Steve Austin, or Owen Hart, or Davey Boy Smith, or Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Undertaker vs Diesel happens every night Diesel isnt with HBK, otherwise Taker is doing screwy wins over Goldust, except in Berlin and Munich he's with Owen. Razor Ramon is also having his last hurrah, losing to Goldie or Hunter but winning a few with buddy 1-2-3 Kid after Goldie destroys his knee in Dusseldorf. Bulldog gets some wins over Jake the Snake but otherwise is doing the arm wrestling thing with Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed also sometimes wrestles Austin or Isaac Yankem DDS. Jake vs Owen happens a few times too. Savio Vega beats Owen by DQ, beats Yankem, swaps wins with Austin but loses to Bradshaw. Hunter wins a few more against Duke Droese. Bradshaw's flawless, also beating Dumpster and Jake. The Body Donnas are having tags with the Godwinns or the Bushwhackers but there are a rotating mix of Leif Cassidy & Kid or Cassidy & Bradshaw making up the other heel team, sometimes its an 8-man, sometimes Dumpster and Isaac make up numbers for a six-man.

VARIATIONS
Razor does two one offs, beating Bradshaw in Bayreuth and losing in Munich to Jake - there's no Yankem so they're another heel down. Dusseldorf is the only time Ahmed is with Owen, Munich has Savio losing to Hunter.

TVs
Post Mania we're obviously getting loads in the can including Mankind and Marc Mero with Sable getting their TV debuts and a repeat of the Jarrett/Holly ICT vacating/rematch stuff from last years Action Zone, between Savio and Goldust which pads out Goldie to two reigns, Vader "breaking Yokozuna's leg" and later busting out the moonsault for the first time to beat Fatu. Also the Godwinns win a squash where one of the opponents is Yoshihiro Tajiri. It's worth watching on YouTube for the inset comments from the Body Donnas and Sunny alone. If you're feeling a bit lonely. Boobs aside, San Bernardino gets Undertaker squashing Vader, Ahmed and Jake vs Owen and Smithers, plus the first Goldust v Ultimate Warrior match. Next night in San Diego excluding stuff that airs on Action Zone there's Shawn vs Hunter and Warrior/Goldust again. They tape the Caribbean Kid beating Austin on Superstars then unmasking to reveal himself as Savio plus a Bushwhackers sighting. We're also taping the Samoan Gangster Party (Samu & Big Matty Smalls) start to make their presence ringside during Fatu's matches. It goes nowhere, but its interesting I suppose. Matty is better know as Rosey. Also these are the tapings where The King starts the debut of bringing the mic into the ring to commentate on his own matches, which is incredibly tiresome until the eventual, hilarious pay off.

At In Your House the dark matches have Undertaker putting Mankind down, Hunter pinning Mero and Savio pinning Stone Cold. Our Coliseum Exclusives that should have been are Taker v Mankind and Shawn v Vader, and on Raw it’s Warrior pinning Yankem - a loss they actually proposed to (ironically) Diesel, but quite wisely Kevin told them to go fuck themselves. Glen won't use the gimmick again on TV but he'll pop up abroad right up until September. It's said the Warrior/Diesel match was actually advertised, as well as Razor vs Goldust. Kid tapes his final TV jobs, for Marc Mero and for Savio. Amusingly Tekno Team 2000 emerge out of the freezer to lose non title to Skip & Zip. Next night Taker's with Mankind again, Vader with Warrior, Mero beating Hunter with the Figure 4 (huh???) and Shawn vs Steve Austin. Advertised matches that didnt happen were Warrior/Smithers, Shawn/Vader, Taker/Diesel casket match, and Razor vs Mankind (fuck). On Superstars the Smoking Gunns beat Travis and Troy in the second of only three matches TT2000 will manage on TV in 96. The New Rockers actually beat the Godwinns for one episode of Superstars but fail to dethrone the Body Donnas the week after. There's also a Bushwhackers sighting, and over a year after claiming he'd retire if anyone escaped the Chicken Wing, Mr Bob Backlund is still taping the odd TV squash. Which at the time, I admit, I got a massive kick out of.

Random note from In Your House - if you wondered who Goldust's one night bodyguard was, it was the chap who used to be Mantaur.

DEPARTURES
Fatu does TV jobs for Bulldog, Mankind and Stone Cold, and that's the end of him "making a difference." Weirdly after starting and finishing the angle where the Samoa Gangster Party have been coming out to watch his matches inside one month, Samu & Rosey will actually get a cheque in May even though Fatu's been written out. He will of course shortly be repackaged and brought back as The Sultan.

He might technically be on TV longer than his more famous buddies, but this is the last month of paid work of any nature for 1-2-3 Kid. He'll miss the Curtain Call because he's gone to rehab, and not long after, Scott will call him about the money available for people joining WCW. Waltman says he'd have carried on gutting it out throught the $150 per night cheques if he'd been happy with how he was being booked, but he wasn't, and if you look at his results since turning heel you can understand why. He'll be let out of his deal and as soon as his 90 day no compete is up, he'll be showing up in WCW as the sixth member of the nWo called, umm, Syxx. Famously, he'll be back. Can't work with Kid, can't work.

If you fancy then-WWF Champion Shawn Michaels vs Stone Cold Steve Austin "on Coliseum Video" from April 1996 ;

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by air_raid

[HarmonicGenerator]

Had no idea Rosey was around as early as ‘96. Wonder why it took until 2002 for him to get on the roster proper.

[air_raid]

4 hours ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Had no idea Rosey was around as early as ‘96. Wonder why it took until 2002 for him to get on the roster proper.

He bounced around, he did a proper "territories" career. He was only 26 when him and Samu were doing their gig in 96 in ECW, him and Lloyd/LA Smooth had a couple of years back in (Afa's) WXW or Puerto Rico. Then he started teaming with Eddie Fatu and renamed himself Matty Samu and they went off to Japan for a couple of years before getting a development deal in 2001 when they became Ekmo & Kimo then eventually Rosey & Jamal (latterly Umaga, of course).

Most of his tag partners were cousins, but if you look real close at photos of his face, you might see a slight resemblance to little brother Joe, a/k/a Roman Reigns.

[air_raid]

MAY 1996

MAIN EVENTS
They're off for five nights in Kuwait getting massive business, 20,000 per night, for Shawn Michaels defending the belt against Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, Yokozuna, Marty Jannetty and finally Steve Austin although the final night will end with the final of the Kuwait Cup where Ahmed Johnson will go over Hunter Hearst Helsmley. Back home Shawn will defend against big buddy Diesel to disappointing crowds in Baltimore and the Spectrum, but MSG on 19th will sell out. Memorable night, do you think? The night of the Spectrum matinee, at Hershey Park Arena, its actually Davey Boy in the cage. End of the month post TVs we're in Savannah GA, West Palm and Tampa for Shawn vs Goldust - originally scheduled match at Hershey.

During the Kuwait tour, a loop through Pennsylvania, Canada and NY state have Ultimate Warrior vs Vader on top and the support isn't bad either, Chico.

THE CARDS
While its pretty well known Razor Ramon did his last few jobs for Hunter Hearst Helmsley on the same shows his other buddies were in the cage, less well known is that on the North America shows during the Kuwait tour he's back with one of his earliest opponents as a babyface - Jerry Lawler! Scott loses all these, in no small part thanks to guest ref Mr Perfect. The Undertaker comes home to a series with Mankind - the latter's been beating Jake Roberts beforehand. Ultimate Warrior works wins over Owen Hart at the big shows before In Your House. Between his win in Kuwait and the PPV, Ahmed Johnson is back with Davey Boy Smith. Vader recovers from Warrior to beat Yokozuna every night building to the PPV but has to lose to Ahmed after the PPV because Warrior's hurt his arm. Ahmeds doing double duty, we've resumed him and Jake vs Owen & DBS as a tag.

Hunter's losing to Marc Mero on the road just like he does at In Your House, earlier in the month on the B shows Marc's been wetting his head with Brooklyn Brawler. Savio Vega works a little run with Mr Bob Backlund on the big shows and after TVs resumes a healthy series of wins from Steve Austin. Stone Cold gets wins from Jake between the tour and the PPV. Body Donnas vs Godwinns happens every night with Skip & Zip retaining every night until MSG, and post TVs the Godwinns immediately start chasing new champs, the Sunny-led Smoking Gunns, and beating them by walk-off count out. The early month opponents for the Gunns are actually the Samoan Gangster Party - Samu (Sammy the Silk) and Tahitian Warrior (LA Smooth). Wonderfully the Bushwhackers work the New Rockers a couple of nights in Kuwait and then all month when they get home.

Bradshaw beats Barry Horowitz early and late month, Bob Holly in between. Bob's supposed to be with Backlund early month but instead there are a few substitutions.

VARIATIONS
In Kuwait, we have to start with Bret Hart, who beats Leif Cassidy in the cup on night one, Steve Austin (at his request) on night two, gets pinned by little brother in the cup quarters on night 3, gets a win over Smithers on the penultimate night then on the last one its Owen & Smith vs Bret and Undertaker. Taker beats Hunter non tournament then pins Isaac Yankem DDS and Bulldog in early rounds before getting disqualified against Helmsley in the semi ; Hunter having beaten Bushwhacker Butch (wtf) and Savio with Austin's help, before he'll succumb to Ahmed in the final. Yoko loses by count out to Owen in round one, next night he tags with Ahmed to go over the New Rockers, and he'll also beat dentist in a singles and tag with Savio to beat him and Bob Backlund. Austin beats Marty in the first round but loses to Ahmed in the quarters ; inbetween his matches with Bret and Shawn he also loses a Caribbean Strap Match to Savio.

The rest of the tour looks like this - first round is rounded out by Ahmed over Aldo Montoya, Savio over Backlund and Bulldog over Dumpster. The quarters we covered, Ahmed over Owen is the other semi. On night one the Bushwhackers go over Yankem & Backlund, and Savio beats Dumpster. On night 2, with Butch in the tournament Luke does a job for Aldo. Night three there are rare wins all round for Dumpster over Backlund, Aldo over Yankem and the New Rockers over the Bushwhackers. Night 4, Dumpster pins Aldo, with Marty wrestling HBK Cassidy teams up with Backlund to lose to the Bushwhackers. On night 5 Luke avenges his loss and beats Montoya, Butch beats Leif, and in a rematch from an Action Zone match from 95 that only nerds like me remember, Duke pins Marty.

In Baltimore, Razors actually meant to be with Goldust, so when Hunter steps in it leaves Savio with jobber Mike Khoury. Same night Aldo gets a cheque doing a job for Bradshaw. Backlunds missing at the Spectrum so Savio works Marty. In Hershey Bulldog stepping up to the main leaves Ahmed with nothing to do so after Bradshaw beats Holly, Ahmed comes out and beats him. While not booked for the rest of the loop, Dumpster vs Aldo makes up the numbers in West Palm. Those early month Bobcore matches? In Erie he wrestles the Brawler, Mero steps up to Mankind and Jake's not booked. In Hamilton, they have a look at local talent Sexton Hardcastle - You Think You Know Him?

TVS
OK... so the first In Your House : Beware Of Dog has some real dark matches, that being Spark Plugg beating dentist before the show, then Ahmed beating The King and Warrior crushing Owen after it. While the PPV transmission is out we're REALLY dark - Goldust beats Undertaker with help from loads of heels but NOT Mankind as they'll save that for when its actually on TV, Savio beats Austin as you'd expect, Jake beats Bradshaw in a match not announced and not repeated on the re-do, and oddly enough, just for the people in Florence, Yokozuna beats Vader this time round. Next two nights its TV tapings. They have a couple of tryouts for local stars The Ringlords (announced as "Overlords") against fellow North Carolina stalwarts the Hardy Boys. Warrior flattens Vader and Shawn beats the King in Fayetteville. We tape KOTR first round and two quarters so on the name night Austin beats Holly with the Dream then debuts the Stone Cold Stunner against Savio. We also debut - even better - Owen Hart's cast!! Next night in North Charleston we tape what comprised Beware Of Dog 2 plus more KOTR openers and quarters including Savio pinning Marty to advance in a tournament he's already been knocked out of - fucking WCW shit. Ahmed beats Owen, Shawn beats Goldust, Taker beats Mankind, all before the PPV. We also tape the Superstars where Marty Garner nearly gets killed by Hunter because he doesn't know its the Pedigree and not a butterfly suplex. We're doing Harvey Whippleman as a trouble-shooting ref by now too ; it doesnt last long but he does at least get involved in some TV finishes - for Superstars he reverses a decision when Owen refuses to relinquish the Sharpshooter on our Barry - HOROWITZ WINS!! HOROWITZ WINS!! HOROWITZ WINS!! ... because you could do that kind of shit with Owen and it never hurt him.

DEPARTURES
The pay cheques dry up as quick as they started for Samu (the end of a long and winding road there) and for cousin Lloyd who's been LA Smooth here and by proxy Big Matty Smalls who they had used on TV too - as we mentioned before eventually Matt will become Kimo and tag up with cousin Eddie as Ekmo, who eventually become Rosey (Matt) and Jamal (Eddie) in Three Minute Warning with of course Jamal ending up as Umaga. Both of 3MW, sadly, are no longer with us.

Their loss to the Godwinns on Raw is the end for Tekno Team 2000.

He won't leave the company as a TV personality, but its worth noting that his loss to Savio at MSG is the last match for Bob Backlund as an active member of the full time roster.

After taping the final Caribbean Strap Match this is the end of the long and storied relationship between the WWF and Ted DiBiase. He'll go to WCW for a payday. Good for both parties, being with him was a death sentence to Tatanka and to Kid, and Austin was going nowhere with him.

Here's some goods from Kuwait

Here's Bret vs Davey Boy, again

 

Edited March 19 by air_raid
Go away, Bacon

[Mr.Showtime]

Owen Hart v Ultimate Warrior and Party Marty getting World Title shots against HBK are super interesting to me. It's been great reading these as, although I've gone back and seen all the PPVs in 1994-1996, at the time as a 11-13 year old, that's when I forgot wrestling existed. As I'm sure was the same for others my age in the UK. I remember tapes in the local video shops completely drying up after around WrestleMania 9 and I didn't really see anything until my uncle told me about "this crazy Mankind bastard". Finding out about Sunny also accelerated my search for footage, I'm sure.

[air_raid]

11 minutes ago, Mr.Showtime said:

Owen Hart v Ultimate Warrior and Party Marty getting World Title shots against HBK are super interesting to me. 

Here's the Kuwait Shawn v Marty match.

Owen and Warrior of course wrestle on Raw later too which is easily found.

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by air_raid

[Mr.Showtime]

Thanks! You can tell I haven't gone back and watched every single Raw on the Network/Peacock like some of my mates have. I'd have remembered these otherwise!

[wandshogun09]

I remember Sky showing quite a bit of that Kuwait tournament some time in 96. Probably on a fairly big delay though, most likely around the time Raw would be off for that dog show or whatever. I remember they had Kevin Kelly (announcer obviously, not Nailz) presenting it and they just spliced matches from the tour in. I was quite excited to see the Kuwait matches just because it was something different and I loved a tournament. Don’t think we got any Bret matches but I vividly remember watching Shawn vs Marty and Ahmed vs Austin on there.

The Warrior vs Owen match on Raw sticks out because it was the episode where Monsoon announced Warrior was done and they pivoted to Sid. Can’t recall much of the actual match but I imagine Owen made it at least watchable. 

[air_raid]

33 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

The Warrior vs Owen match on Raw sticks out because it was the episode where Monsoon announced Warrior was done and they pivoted to Sid. Can’t recall much of the actual match but I imagine Owen made it at least watchable. 

It was.

This version has Warriors entrance but cuts off at the bell ;

 

This one has the beat down at the end ;

 

[air_raid]

And speaking of….

JUNE 1996
This is the inverse of July 1995 when half a card worth of guys vanished - we're about to get a bunch of new faces. Even though Bob Holly is still starving.

THE MAIN EVENTS
Shawn Michaels vs Goldust is atop massive cards in the one roster, one show format. 13,650 at the Rosemont is superb, it must be said. 22nd in Winnipeg the night before the PPV its only a small roster, Yokozuna vs Vader on last. Post PPV Shawn has a night off so Madison has Undertaker vs Mankind on last, then 27th-30th we're off and running with Shawn Michaels vs Vader although <6000 in Detroit and <6500 in Pittsburgh is pretty rough.

THE CARDS
The Undertaker vs Mankind is every night. Ultimate Warrior vs Vader happens every night until the PPV, one week where Warrior is still pinning him then after that Vader's walking off. When Warrior flounces, the post TVs shows have the return of Sycho Sid to beat Owen Hart every night. Steve Austin spends a week with Jake Roberts but most of the month he's beating Dumpster but takes a week off hurt after King of the Ring. Ahmed Johnson vs Davey Boy Smith continues and concludes before the PPV, after it Ahmed is retaining his new title by count-out against Goldust, Bulldog is beating Yokozuna.

Marc Mero pins Hunter Hearst Helmsley every night. Savio Vega is pinning Owen before KOTR and Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw after it. Bradshaw beats Barry Horowitz until the PPV. Smoking Gunns vs Godwinns is relentless. The New Rockers spend a week (mostly) beating Aldo Montoya & Dumpster, then revert to the Bushwhackers.

VARIATIONS
Warrior's still hurt so Ahmed does one last double duty pinning Vader 1st in Orlando. In Winnipeg the night before King of the Ring he's with Owen. In Indianapolis Ahmed AGAIN does double duty because they haven't picked up the phone to Sid yet, so he pins Owen AGAIN after his scheduled win over Goldust earlier. In Orlando Austin does another job for Savio, then weirdly again in Winnipeg. Last old loop finishing in Orlando is Ahmed & Jake vs Owen and Smithers. Jake's back for Winnipeg, losing to Mankind. Madison is full of exceptions - Yoko vs Goldust, Jake going over Vader (!), Owen vs Dumpster. Someone's missing in Louisville and Indianapolis but I dont know who or why but either way Phineas beats Billy Gunn one on one - in three years time this would be Mideon upsetting Mr Ass!

Louisville on 27th is one of my favourite stories ever. Dumpster and Aldo go out to open, and they're the only wrestlers in the building, as the entire of the rest of the crew has had transport problems. They do a load of stalling including Duke winning by nefarious means, Aldo asking for a restart, getting it, and eventually winning. By the time they'd got out of there because enough wrestlers had arrived to do some of the rest of the card, they'd been out there for 45 minutes~! Bit harsh that Droese loves his job soon after a shift like that.

7th in Peoria - fuck me, BOB HOLLY GETS A CHEQUE!! He's losing to Bradshaw instead of Horowitz. I hope the payoff covered his petrol and a trip to Dennys.

TVs
In the doghouse he allegedly is but Hunter does win matches in this period including beating Aldo dark before the Free For All. Night after at the Raw taping Shawn beats Goldust and Warrior beats Vader in two matches that don't last 2 minutes combined, Undertaker pins Mankind, and by far the most interesting dark match, Barry Horowitz pins Tracy Smothers. I bet the wrestling there was excellent even if that crowd reaction probably wasn't. Smothers will be renamed next night as Freddie Joe Floyd in among their group of hires that become "jobbers with gimmicks." For TV we've got the Body Donnas doing matches with Kloudy in their corner, Brian Pillman interfering with his crutch in Savio vs Bradshaw, the slow build setup starts for Snake vs The King, the first Undertaker vs Steve Austin TV match, a first TV match recorded for wrestling plumber TL Hopper (TL allegedly standing for Toilet Lid, a/k/a Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony) - losing to Mero, the start of the "Marlena infatuated with Sable" lesbian storyline which morphs into GOLDUST wants Sable due to pressure from various groups, the last TV match for Warrior beating Owen by DQ, and a Raw where Ahmed and Shawn defend their singles titles against Bart Gunn and Billy Gunn respectively after which Jim Cornette tricks them into the car park for an "ambush" as screeched by Vince before Sid tries to run the heels over with his car. Given that Sid won't get the call to fill in for Warrior on the road for five days after this taping, it's safe to say that this segment was taped later.

At the Superstars taping, Don Callis (who will be Jackyl) loses to Aldo and to Mero, Alex Porteau beats Barry dark (again, WRRRESTLING), Shawn pins Goldust, Warrior pins Vader (his last match in the company) and Jake beats Mankind by DQ. We tape Freddie Joe upsetting Bradshaw, Savio Vega going over Who (Yesssss!! Anvils back!!!), Salvatore Sincere (better known as Johnny Gunn) winning a squash, Montoya getting another decent TV win against Stone Cold Steve Austin - wearing jeans, Austin cant be fucked to wrestle so Aldo wins by forfeit then receives a Stunner. Plus "The Pug" (Porteau) pins Horowitz again for TV, The Goon wins his first count-out squash, Austin does another forfeit to Sonny Rogers, and Hopper pins Dumpster after Down The Drain, a suplex I THINK we were meant to confuse for a brainbuster, then puts his plunger on his face. If that sounds like an embarassment, then know that this will air on 13th July by which point Droese will be finished up.

DEPARTURES
You don't need to hear the story again but Ultimate Warrior misses house shows that immediately follow TVs and gets himself shitcanned. Announced as an indefinite suspension on TV, which was framed that the company were hoping he'd be back, and I think there's a modicum of truth to that.

[Loki]

Really feels like the gear change that kickstarts the attitude era.

 You have all the players now - Austin, Rock, HHH, Mankind, Goldust, Outlaws (well, when does Road Dogg reappear?).  And the old guard are moving on.

[air_raid]

July 96

THE MAIN EVENTS
Shawn Michaels vs Vader is the main event for the WWF title, drawing poorly. < 7500 at the Meadowlands even with the festivities of a Parking Lot Party before the show with music, competitions and the wrestlers present. 5000 in Fresno, where Shawn won the Rumble, is pretty bad, 8000 at the Arrowhead Pond where he won the belt is slightly better- Anaheim continues to buck the trend.

THE CARDS
The card is basically the same every night at this point. The Undertaker vs Mankind, Ahmed Johnson vs Goldust, Sycho Sid vs British Bulldog, Jake Roberts vs Owen Hart, Marc Mero vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Savio Vega vs Steve Austin in a no DQ match, that's your top half. Except after TVs Ahmed is legitimately injured so Goldie does a series of jobs for Yokozuna.

Underneath, Smoking Gunns vs Godwinns vs Body Donnas vs New Rockers is happening as an elimination match ; when the belts are on the line the Gunns of course win but often this is changed to non-title and Skip & Zip win nearly all of those except the pig farmers win a three-way version (see below). Also Bob Holly is finally getting paid - he's losing to Bradshaw.

VARIATIONS
There are transports problems for Marty, Owen and Davey Boy that manage to knock them out of THREE shows (hell of a party??) - at the Meadowlands, New Haven and Providence, the tag four way becomes a three way, Duke Droese turns up to beat Leif one on one, Jake goes over Bradshaw cutting Bobcore out of his payday, Salvatore Sincere vs Barry Horowitz gets added, and Sid gets the nights off. To be fair, he was told initially they'd only ask him to work weekends anyway, but as usual, either he was lied to, or the WWF said one thing and Sidney heard something else.

Spokane on 24th falls just too soon for Yoko to relieve Ahmed - thankfully the next three nights are in Cali and Yoko lives in San Fran - so Sid does double duty and drops Goldust in Spokane ON TOP of beating Smithers.

TVs
Dark in Vancouver, Phineas gets a rare singles outing and pins The King (!). At Seattle Raw taping, Taker beats Mankind in a casket match, Sid pins Bulldog, Shawn pins Vader, and Ahmed does a double count-out with new bitter enemy Farooq - all four matches are insultingly short. We tape the Shawn/Ahmed vs Gunns match notable for Sunny getting covered in birthday cake in the false start, and Farooq debuting and kicking Ahmed so hard in the kidney he essentially ends his career. We've also got Clarance Mason becoming a manager as here's the return of Crush with a shitty full nelson finish going over Savio (ouch), Ahmed winning a top contenders battle royal for a title match they don't get to do plus brawling with Farooq to build the match that won't happen, Farooq (Asad) murdering Skip with the first and best Tiger Bite (later Dominator), Sid CRUSHING Bradshaw in one of my favourite short matches ever, and The King pinning Aldo Montoya to avenge a loss he hasn't taped yet - WCW shit. And from 29th July a fun Vader/Mero match nobody remembers. Next night Superstars taping in Yakima has three of the same four dark matches (Ahmed hurt obvs), we have a Bushwhackers sighting, Sid squashes Marty which I also love plus afterwards he gives Leif a powerbomb too. I love Sid. Also we tape Mero vs Austin where Mankind comes down because he thinks Sable is Mommy (welll....), we have Stalker vignettes starting, and - can I shock you? Aldo upsets The King with the DDT adding his name to Double J and Steve Austin in his list of Superstars scalps. His momentum is ended before the nights taping is even done, he does a job for Crush.

DEPARTURES
Duke "the Dumpster" Droese finishes up after those three wins, at least he's on top on the road at the end, on TV he's metaphorically flushed away by TL Hopper on 13th episode of Superstars. Does Kloudy count as a departure? It didn't get over so by the PPV, the deal's finished.

Here's Shawn vs Vader from Yakima ;

 

 

[air_raid]

AUGUST 1996
I mean, it COULD have been the month Bret wrestled Shawn in a ladder match, but it wasn't.

THE MAIN EVENTS 
Over 9000 for Shawn Michaels vs Vader at the new Molson Centre in Montreal (sad face) is very good for the times. We've got a couple of Massachusetts shows where Shawn's off so Undertaker vs Mankind goes on last, then we have 11,000 paid at MSG for Shawn vs Goldust which also runs Bethlehem PA before its Vader again in Scranton, the last spot before SummerSlam. After TVs its Steve Austin for Shawn in Toledo and Chatham Ontario before 24th in Toronto its Goldust again in a ladder match before a frankly stunning 21,000. Fewer than 7000 however turn up to Nassau Coliseum on 25th which to be honest, you'd understand - its Shawn & Jose Lothario vs Vader & Jim Cornette in a tag. I imagine that gate put an end to plans for a tag main event for Septembers In Your House which Meltzer seemed to think was on the cards at the time.

THE CARDS
The Undertaker pins Mankind every night until SummerSlam, after TVs they have a couple of days rest then in Toronto the casket matches start. Through an early Canada loop Sycho Sid carries on pinning Davey Boy Smith but thereafter he's with whichever of Vader or Goldust that Shawn isn't with, in Toronto the lumberjack matches with Vader start. Bulldog beats Marc Mero through Mass then after SummerSlam starts losing to him. Owen Hart bounces around a little but spends a long run playing babyface (!) in wins over Hunter Hearst Helmsley but after the PPV he's with slumming it with Aldo Montoya.

Early month through Canada we conclude Yokozuna vs Goldust and then Savio Vega's actually getting good wins over Dustin in strap matches in MA between runs of losses to Stone Cold Steve Austin before starting to get revenge wins over Bradshaw after the PPV and TV. Austin's mid month is beating Aldo (with Jake Roberts in his corner). Hunter vs Mero wraps up early month and post PPV HHH returns to the winners circle against Bob Holly - himself a winner for most of the month over Bradshaw. How did that happen? That's the opposite to how they were being booked on telly.

The four way tag continues for a while although most nights after the first week of the month its Smoking Gunns vs Godwinns. After SummerSlam its supposed to be a second tag feud with Body Donnas vs New Rockers but at MSG the Gunns defend against Skip & Zip and Candido does his arm in, he won't wrestle much more for the company hereafter. We end up with Zip vs Leif as a singles.

VARIATIONS
Owen Harts mad August starts at the Molson Centre where, set up previously, he’s actually in a boxing match with Raymond Rougeau!! I’ve covered this before but… what a treat. Ray also gets involved in Owens business in Quebec City. Sticking with Montreal, Aldo goes over The King again with the DDT. Finally in Canada they take a look at a very young Carl Le Duc (son of Paul, not Jos) who goes over Bradshaw in Montreal and Ottawa but in Quebec City he’s losing to Owen by Sharpshooter promoting Ray to jump in when Owen doesn’t break. For completion - Owen beats Aldo in Ottawa before moving onto his Hunter series. Of interest, Le Duc is best remembered as the guy getting tortured by old man Stu in Wrestling With Shadows.

Much mix up on three shows before SummerSlam. Undertaker vs Stone Cold (!) goes on last at the Garden, Mankind beats Jake. Yokozuna is back to beat Owen at MSG and in Bethlehem. Owen loses to the Wildman in Scranton, Davey Boy loses to Savio in the Garden and in Scranton but beats Jake in Bethlehem. Mero vs Hunter reprises for two nights then in Scranton Hunter is the odd heel out and beats Bradshaw. JBL beats Aldo the previous two nights, neither Aldo nor Yoko work Scranton. At MSG Godwinns work Leif & Marty instead, in Bethlehem and Scranton its a non title three way involving the Rockers, won by Henry and Phineas.

In Toronto, Owen & Smithers get their first crack at the Gunns and win by DQ - odd booking all round if they think David might be leaving ; the Godwinns beat the Rockers underneath, again. Meros back with Austin for one night. Also in Toronto Farooq hits the road, he’s pinning Aldo, and a one off Jose vs Cornette.

Nassau of course plays by its own rules. Ahmed Johnson's missing so - how am I only learning this now? - Anvil works a tag as "himself" (as opposed to Who) partnering with Sid against Owen & Smithers. Bulldog pins Anvil then Jim walks off when Sid's getting triple teamed by Camp Cornette. What a time to be alive. There's a couple more loaded cross feud tags with Mero & Savio beating Austin & Hunter, and Mankind/Goldust beating our 91 dream team, SnakerTaker, when Jake ends up in the Mandible Claw. The New Rockers get beaten by The Grimm Twins - of COURSE you're delighted to see the Harris boys back! "Jason & Jared" sounds even worse than "Jacob & Eli" did. Best off all - the Bushwhackers are getting a cheque and a win, over Bradshaw and Zebekiah.

TVs
There’s nothing dark at SummerSlam, you saw everything you wanted as a bonus (cough) on the Free For All. Next night in Wheeling at Raw tapings Taker pins Mankind and Mero pins Lawler in pathetically short matches, and we have Barry Windham back as The Stalker going over soon to be frequent opponent and eventual tag partner Bradshaw. Also testers for Flex Kavana (who will become Rocky Maivia) and Rick Titan who will get the Fake Razor gimmick. We tape all the Intercontinental title tournament quarters and semi finals, the hastily arranged four man battle royal to move Ahmed’s title shot onto Goldust and the subsequent Shawn v Goldust match for Raw Championship Friday, the final notable singles match of Yokozunas career (against Shawn), we introduce Mark Henry to the TV audience, debut Stalker against TL Hopper, have the Gunns lose a non title match to Bob Holly and Alex Porteau thanks to Owen and Smithers, and we start airing instances of Mr Perfect stealing Hunters valets, Brian Pillman starts the (cheap) promotion of him bringing Bret Hart for an interview to Mind Games, and JR starts the (even cheaper) promising to bring Razor Ramon & Diesel home. Oh, and we debut The Sultan.

Next night in Columbus for the Superstars taping it’s Shawn over Goldust, Sid over Vader, the Grimms beating the Rockers and SnakerTaker over Mankind & The King. Nothing much interesting happens on the episodes themselves except we have a Bushwhackers sighting and Bradshaw goes over a young Chris Harris, latterly (if not necessarily “better”) known as Braden Walker. Jake Roberts vs Who might give you nightmares if you saw the Heroes of Wrestling PPV.

Here’s Shawn vs Vader
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzyWoFIaFGEuu

Here’s a little look at Owen vs Raymond

Here's Toronto including Shawn vs Goldie ladder match and Sid vs Vader lumberjack ;

 

Edited March 19 by air_raid
NEW video

[NavigatorFan]

15 hours ago, air_raid said:

What a time to be alive.

I feel like this every day reading these amazing digests!! Keep up the good work