WWF Superstars (August 12, 1995)

 

Original Airdate: August 12, 1995 (taped July 25)

From Evansville, Indiana; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix

Hakushi v Aldo Montoya: Hakushi attacks from behind, and hits a handspring backelbow right away. Hakushi unloads in the corner, so Aldo tries chops, but Hakushi goes to the throat to shake him off. Hakushi goes to a nervehold, but Aldo fights free, so Hakushi uses a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Another backbreaker, but Aldo uses a headscissors to send him to the outside, and Montoya follows with a plancha. Inside, Aldo delivers a knife-edge chop, and a flying bodypress gets him two. German suplex, but Hakushi blocks, and uses a side suplex for two. Vertical suplex, but Aldo counters to a bridging northern lights suplex for two, and a corner whip leads to a 2nd rope bulldog. Aldo looks for a flying twisting splash, but Hakushi dodges, and kills him with a gourdbuster to set up a flying headbutt drop at 4:01. All action here. **

Todd Pettengill is in the studio for the SummerSlam Insider

Hunter Hearst Helmsley v Brickhouse Brown: Brown is dressed like he should be crying over something Chris-tuh-fuh did. Helmsley with the pedigree at 2:12. “Nobody gets up after that,” notes Vince. Well, that would certainly become very, very true. DUD

Goldust teaser

Ten Minute Challenge Match: Skip v Barry Horowitz: So the deal here is that if Horowitz can last ten minutes, he wins. Skip attacks before the bell as Sunny distracts Horowitz, and Skip delivers a vertical suplex on the floor. Horowitz is broken, and can’t get in to officially start the match, so the decision is made to push it until later, so he can recover. Okay then.

Dean Douglas vignette. These are brutal

Adam Bomb v Nick Barberri: Bomb was just treading water at this point. He never gets any programs, doesn’t really make it onto pay per view (even with the expanded schedule), and only gets occasional squashes that the announcers use to talk about bigger stars. I always liked the guy, both as a worker and character. He wasn’t a Bret Hart or a Shawn Michaels, but he was solid for a lower mid card role, and I wish he had a more notable run. Bomb with a flying clothesline at 2:20. DUD

Bob Backlund is campaigning in the crowd. There’s a reason ‘campaigning’ and ‘complaining’ rhyme 

Ten Minute Challenge Match: Skip v Barry Horowitz: Horowitz comes in swinging this time, and a backdrop follows. Horowitz with a pair of headbutts, but a reversal sequence ends up with them in the ropes, so Horowitz uses a somersault cradle for two. Abdominal stretch, but Skip reverses, so Horowitz counters to an abdominal cradle for two. A somersault necksnap follows, but Skip sidesteps a charge, and Barry takes a bump to the outside. Back in, Skip uses a snap suplex and a legdrop for two, and I’m surprised they haven’t bothered to put a timer up on the screen. You’d think that would be a no brainer. Unless they’re planning to use a ‘wrestling timekeeper.’ Skip works a chinlock, but Barry escapes. He forces a criss cross, but Skip throws a knee to cut off any hopes of a comeback, and a snapmare allows him a bow-and-arrow. Horowitz reverses, but Skip is in the ropes, and Skip catches him with a right hand on the break. That allows Skip to go to a Boston crab, and finally they note the time remaining via the ring announcer telling us there are four minutes left. Which is completely accurate, which makes the decision to not have an on-screen timer all the more perplexing. Horowitz dodges a charge in the corner, and Barry unloads in the corner. Horowitz with a cross corner whip, but the charge in misses, and Skip uses a corner whip of his own. Another cross corner whip, but Horowitz rebounds with a rollup for two, and a 2nd rope bodypress is worth another two. A side suplex connects with two minutes left, but Barry is gassed, and Skip vertical suplexes him for two. Horowitz wisely bails, but Skip drags him back in for a bodyslam for two. Barry bails again, and Skip drags him back in with a small package for two, as they finally put up a timer. A bodyslam sets up a flying splash, but Horowitz dodges. Horowitz with a sunset flip for two, and a dropkick is worth two. Horowitz with a bridging backdrop suplex for two, and time expires at 10:00. The middle portion dragged a lot as Skip did hold after hold to stretch things out, but the third act was strong, and it was generally solid overall. * ¾ 

Isaac Yankem vignette 

Waylon Mercy v Buck Quartermaine: We get a fan doing the ring announcing for this one, and the kid gets a handshake from Mercy. Buck refuses the handshake, earning him a fiery beat down, and Mercy finishes with a sleeper at 2:43. DUD

Todd is back with another SummerSlam Insider. Razor Ramon heeling it up a bit for the ladder match sequel is a welcome direction. I’m surprised they didn’t turn him heel around this period considering how thin the heel side of the roster was. I mean, fucking Mabel was headlining SummerSlam!

BUExperience: A pretty strong episode this week, with two solid feature matches.