Original Airdate: June 10, 1996 (taped May 27)
From
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Owen Hart v Yokozuna: Owen attacks from behind before the bell, but Yokozuna fights him off in short order. Hart tries reversing a cross corner whip, but Yoko is too big for that to work, and he chops the King of Harts down. Owen tries to reverse another cross corner whip, but again can't move the anchor of a man, and Yokozuna short-clotheslines him. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Owen rolls out of the way, and Jim Cornette is quick to take a cheap shot to set up a straddling ropechoke from Hart. Owen unloads on him with shot after shot, but he can't get Yokozuna off of his feet, so he throws a spinheel kick, and that finally does the job. Owen goes to the middle rope for a flying elbowdrop, but Yokozuna dodges, and drops Owen with a headbutt. Yokozuna starts making a (rather lazy) comeback, and it's Banzai Drop time, but he slips off the ropes, and Owen hooks a leveraged pin at 4:01. Man, Yoko was looking rough here, with even the most basic of stuff blowing him up. ½*
Last night in
Yesterday on the Action Zone, Jake Roberts was talking about substance abuse... while sounding like he's abusing a whole lot of substances
Backstage, Yokozuna is so broken over the loss that he's setting off to find himself. He's 600 pounds, how hard can he be for anyone to find?
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Marc Mero v Skip: Jake Roberts does guest commentary for this one, for whatever reason. I mean, yeah, he's in the tournament too, but he's on the other end of the brackets, and won't have a chance to cross paths with either of these guys outside of the finals. But how likely is that to happen? I mean, can you imagine how weak and shitty a tournament it would be if 1996 JAKE ROBERTS makes it to the finals on pay per view? Exactly. Feeling out process to start, and Mero gets a series of overhead armdrags and a dropkick to send Skip to the outside. He tries a dive, but Skip distances himself, so Mero lands on the apron to avoid wiping out, and Skip stalls to break the momentum. Back in, Marc takes him down with an armdrag, and uses a cross corner whip, but Skip blocks the charge with a boot, and he drops Mero front-first across the top rope to take control. Skip with a snap suplex to set up a 2nd rope flying fistdrop, but Mero manages a double-leg takedown, and he throws mounted punches. Skip fights him off in the corner, bit gets nailed with a dropkick when he tries a flying axehandle. Skip cuts off the comeback again with a bow-and-arrow, as the announcers have some of the weirdest conversations you'll ever hear on a wrestling show. Skip takes him up for a rana off the top, but Mero blocks, and dives with a flying sunset flip for two. Reversal sequence ends in Skip keeping control with a headbutt drop to the groin for two, and he grounds the Wildman in a chinlock. Mero fights free, so Skip puts him down again with a knee, and delivers a neat gutwrench suplex where he twists Mero around to land on his front on the landing. It looked like it might have been a miscommunication, but it looked cool regardless of the intent. Anyway, it gets two, so Skip goes back to the chinlock for a bit, then bodyslams him to set up an elbowdrop for two. Backdrop, but Mero is able to block, and he throws fists of fury to signal a comeback. Kneelift hits, but Skip hits the deck to avoid a bodypress, and Marc takes a pretty wild bump to the outside. Skip goes after him with a corkscrew plancha, but Mero moves, and then dives with a somersault plancha! Marc with a slingshot splash for two on the way back in, and he takes Skip to the top for a rana down for the pin at 11:19. I didn't peg that as the finish. Totally thought Skip was kicking out there. Not a classic, but a fine and competitive TV match. ** ½
And now the Sega Saturn Slam of the week: clips from the
King of the Ring promo
And speaking of 'kings,' Jerry Lawler brings Ultimate Warrior out so that the King can apologize for what happened between them during Warrior's match with Goldust. But in a roundabout way, of course. So, as a peace offering, Lawler offers a custom framed portrait of the Warrior. That must have been so confusing for the fans in the building, considering the angle in question took place earlier in the taping. Like, when did Lawler have a chance to draw that, let alone get it framed? I get that it's a show, but this was still a time period where they respected kayfabe to a much stricter degree. Warrior isn't interested in the King's gift, however, telling Jerry that the only kind of artist he is is a 'con-artist.' Warrior threatens to kick his ass (in those words), so Lawler freaks out, and breaks the portrait over his head, sending shards of glass flying everywhere in the process. This is, of course, the infamous 'baseball cap incident' that they tore into Warrior over on that Self Destruction DVD. It's been twisted around so it felt like they were being petty by getting all worked up over the 'disrespect' of wearing a cap, but the original point (and the position that Lawler has held over the years regarding the matter) is a valid one. It isn't that 'oh, Warrior wore a cap to the ring, what an asshole,' it's that it telegraphed the angle, and was disrespectful to Lawler personally because it was Warrior's way of saying he didn't trust the King, despite Jerry's assurances that the spot would be safe. Anyway, that controversy (or manufactured controversy) is more memorable than the angle itself
King of the Ring promo
WWF Champion Shawn Michaels appears via satellite from WWF Studios to discuss the upcoming rematch with Bulldog for King of the Ring, and they've completely dropped the whole Diana angle by this point. Which is a shame, because it was a great angle. Like, now the whole focus is on Michaels trying to 'right the wrong' of not lifting his shoulder for the double-pin, as opposed to proving his innocence from the accusations. Jim Cornette calls in to announce that, in exchange for dropping the assault lawsuit against President Gorilla Monsoon,
Undertaker v Davey Boy Smith: Jim Cornette sits in on commentary for this one. Bulldog stalls, and tries to corner Undertaker, but gets the tables turned in the corner, and Smith bails for more stalling. This is far from the most rinky-dink arena they ran in the mid-90s, but it's still a pretty rinky-dink arena. It's almost hard to believe how hot wrestling got in such a short period. I mean, the entire sport was pretty ice cold at this point, and then between the nWo and the Attitude Era, it's more popular than it ever was before but two years later. Undertaker works him over in dull fashion, but misses a charge in the corner, allowing Bulldog a hanging vertical suplex. Undertaker sits up and pounds him, so Bulldog tries a powerslam for two, and grounds the dead man in a chinlock. The Network's closed captioning department believes Owen Hart is a 'Slamboree award' winner, by the way. Undertaker escapes the hold, so Bulldog drops him with a swinging neckbreaker to set up a legdrop for two. Back to the chinlock, as they clarify that the accusations against Michaels were all thrown out of court as a way to officially close off that angle. Again, too bad, because it was an intriguing and unique angle, especially considering a challenger like Bulldog (who had already lost multiple high profile pay per view title challenges in the last year) needed all the extra help he could get. After what feels like an eternity, Undertaker escapes the chinlock and goes for the
BUExperience: Once again proving that quality doesn’t always translate to ratings, this – THIS – has the distinction of being the WWF’s last ratings win until all the way in 1998.
Monday
Night Wars Rating Chart
6/10/96
|
||
Show
|
RAW
|
Nitro
|
Rating
|
2.7
|
2.6
|
Total Wins
|
17
|
17
|
Win Streak
|
1
|
|
Better Show (as of 6/3)
|
8
|
24
|
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