Goody Bag 80: Under Cover of Darkness

 

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Davey Boy Smith: From New York City on October 6 1995. Bulldog tries to attack during the entrances, but Shawn dodges him, and uses a hiptoss and a high knee to clear the ring. Inside, Davey tries grabbing a standing headlock, but Shawn forces a criss cross, so Smith throws a shoulderblock - Michaels doing a nice oversell bump to the outside off of it. Back in, Shawn gets a headlock on, but Smith forces a criss cross, and throws another shoulderblock. Michaels goes right to another criss cross, and a poke to the eyes allows him a rana into mounted punches to win it. A crucifix follows for two, and Shawn clotheslines his challenger over the top. Smith beats the count, so Michaels puts him in another standing headlock. Smith tries a press-slam on the escape, but Michaels blocks, and the resulting criss cross ends in Michaels delivering a leg-feed enzuigiri. Smith goes for another press-slam, so Michaels tries another block, but Davey drops him over the top this time. Shawn was always crazy with the bumps he would take for nothing house shows. Smith presses the champion back inside and delivers a backdrop for two, and a hanging vertical suplex follows for two. Smith rattles the ring with a few cross corner whips for two, and a matslam gets two. Smith goes to an overhead backbreaker rack, but Shawn kicks off the ropes, into a backdrop cradle for two. Davey quickly cuts him off with another corner whip that sees Michaels flip over the buckles, and Bulldog covers for two. Smith slows it down with a chinlock, but Shawn fights free, so Bulldog throws a knee for two, cutting him off. Davey goes back to the overhead backbreaker rack, but Shawn finds an escape, so Bulldog drops a leg on him for two. Back to the chinlock to try and keep the champion grounded, but Shawn fights free, so Bulldog looks to end him with the running powerslam, but Michaels manages to block. Shawn tries a backslide, but Davey blocks. Davey throws a clothesline, but Michaels ducks, and manages to land one of his own, leaving both combatants down. Bulldog is up first, but misses a punch, allowing Michaels a side suplex to leave both looking up at the lights again. Smith still manages to get up first, and covers for two. Shawn manages a kip up, so Bulldog nails him with a clothesline. Michaels kips up again, same result. Third time, and Smith comes at him, but Michaels throws a dropkick this time. That allows Shawn to make a comeback, and the flying elbowdrop gets him two. A cradle gets two, and a cross corner whip sets up a charge, but Davey dodges. That allows Bulldog to go for the running powerslam, but Michaels counters to a rollup - reversed by Smith for two. Shawn tries a hiptoss, but Bulldog counters with a short-clothesline for two, and a criss cross sees Jim Cornette trip the champion up. Shawn takes the bait, allowing Bulldog to charge him, but Michaels is ready with a superkick… for two, when Cornette puts Bulldog in the ropes. Great dramatic near fall there. Shawn goes after Jim, allowing Bulldog to recover, but the sneak attack backfires. Shawn takes Davey into the corner for a ten-punch, but Cornette whacks him with the tennis racket for the DQ at 15:57. Cheap finish aside, this was a hell of a match, especially for a house show. This was actually better than some of their pay per view meetings later. Shawn was really at his best around this period, when he didn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders yet, and could just cut loose as the master level worker he’d become without having to deal with politics and pressure. *** ¼ 

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Goldust v Undertaker: A dark match from In Your House on February 18 1996 in Louisville Kentucky. Goldust stalls for a long while to start, before getting caught with a punch from Undertaker, and then bailing for more stalling. Undertaker stalks him, and goes to town as they head back in, but misses an elbowdrop, allowing Goldust a powerslam. Undertaker pops up and delivers a big boot, followed by the ropewalk forearm. Undertaker with some choking, so Goldust goes low, and that gets the challenger’s attention. Goldust bashes his head into the steps on the outside, and Goldust slaps on a sleeper on the way back in. but Undertaker escapes, and makes a comeback. He goes for the tombstone, but Goldust blocks, and throws a clothesline. Undertaker is back up, so Goldust drills him with a piledriver, but wastes time instead of going for the pin. He decides to try a follow up, but Undertaker grabs him in a choke, and gets vertical with it for a chokeslam. Tombstone time, but Goldust bails, and takes the countout at 11:42. I have no idea why they booked these two in a televised feud later, as this (and those) match was death. And I’m not just talking in a workrate sense, this was dull - these two just had no chemistry as characters. DUD 

Goldust v Steve Austin: Dark match from In Your House It's Time on December 15 1996 in West Palm Beach Florida. Posturing to start, and Goldust gets control, taking Steve to the mat in a wristlock. Austin reverses, so Goldust counters to a headlock, but Steve forces a criss cross. Looks like they get their wires crossed there, as Austin goes for a Thesz press, but Goldust doesn’t go down with it, leaving Steve to just awkwardly hit him with ‘mounted’ punches while they’re still vertical. Steve takes it to the mat in a chinlock, but Goldust escapes, and slugs Stone Cold down. Goldust drops him throat-first across the top rope, and he bootrakes Steve from there, then bootchokes him in the corner. Goldust goes to a reverse chinlock from there, but Steve is fighting, so he switches to a sleeper. Steve quickly uses a jawbreaker to escape, and Austin covers for two. Austin goes for a straddling ropechoke, but it misses, and Goldust clotheslines him for two. Chinlock, but Steve fights, and they spill to the outside. Austin catches him with a mulekick on the way back in, and he follows up with a ten-punch count, then a clothesline. Goldust bails, but Steve drags him back, so Goldust goes to the eyes. Rollup, but Hunter Hearst Helmsley is out, and the distraction draws Goldust over. HHH whacks him with the Intercontinental title belt, and Steve capitalizes with a stunner at 8:30. Not the most interesting piece of work. They had it in low gear here. ½*

Shawn Michaels v Mankind: Also a dark match from In Your House It's Time. Shawn looks tired, bored, and moody here. Like an entirely different guy than in the October ‘95 match with Bulldog. Also, a little drunk looking, if we’re being honest. They start brawling during the entrances, and Mankind smashes Mankind’s head into the announce table, then whacks him with a chair. Inside, Mankind unloads in the corner, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Mankind clotheslines him. Mankind stays on him in the corner, and a baseball slide knocks HBK to the outside. Mankind is on him for a smash into the steps, and he puts the boots to Michaels on the way back in. Mankind goes for the mandible claw, but Michaels blocks, and side suplexes him. Shawn goes to town in the corner, and hits a jumping forearm as he goes on the comeback trail. The crowd isn’t giving them anything here, not even responding when Shawn bangs his boot on the mat ahead of his kip up. His kip up lands him in the mandible claw, but Shawn manages to fall out of the ring in the hold. Mankind keeps him hooked, so Shawn drops him into the steps to shake it off, and delivers a flying elbowdrop on the way back in. That cues Paul Bearer, but the interference backfires, and Michaels lands a superkick at 7:05. A far cry from their pay per view match, and a pretty lazy effort from both guys, with neither of them looking like they wanted to be out there. This has to be one of the worst Shawn Michaels matches I’ve seen from the mid-90s. DUD

WWF Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Mankind: From New York City on January 25 1997. Shawn at least looks like he’s on the same planet as Mankind this time, so fingers crossed. Mankind tries a sneak attack, but gets dumped to the outside. Shawn is on him with a baseball slide, but a second one misses, and Mankind pounds him on the outside. Mankind sends him into the guardrail out there, and he brings a trash can into the ring with them, but Shawn knocks it away from him. Michaels unloads with the weapon, and hits Mankind with a flying axehandle. Into the corner for a ten-punch, but Mankind shakes him off, so Shawn throws a clothesline. Backdrop, but Mankind blocks, and throws a clothesline of his own. Mankind with another clothesline that sends them both tumbling over the top, but Shawn gets the better of it. He tries dragging Mankind back in, but Mankind sends him into the rail to block, and tees off with a chair on the champion. Mankind keeps the hurt on him as they head back inside, and delivers a running kneesmash, followed by a double-arm DDT for two. The challenger works a bodyscissors, but Shawn fights free, and hooks a sunset cradle for two. Mankind pops up with a clothesline before Michaels can mount a comeback, and a cross corner whip leaves HBK in a tree of woe. Mankind misses an attack in the corner, allowing Shawn a 2nd rope axehandle, but Mankind blocks. Mankind goes for a piledriver, but Shawn backdrops him onto the apron to block. Mankind grabs him for a suplex out of the ring, but Shawn lands on the apron, so Mankind charges - and ends up hitting the post. Inside for a slugfest, and Michaels goes on the comeback trail with a jumping backelbow, followed by a leg-feed enzuigiri. Shawn with a flying elbowdrop, but the superkick gets countered with the mandible claw. They fall out of the ring in it, and Shawn viciously sends him into the post to break. That draws Paul Bearer over with a chair, and the distraction allows Mankind to nail him. Mankind goes to pull up the mats, but Shawn dropkicks him, and bodyslams him on the floor, before burying him under the mats. Shawn unloads with a chair, and he rolls Mankind in for a series of turnbuckle smashes, but Mankind throws a mulekick for two to fight him off. Both guys collide for a double knockout, and Shawn kips up right into the claw. He goes low to break, so Bearer passes Mankind the urn, and the challenger knocks the champion silly with it for two. Backelbow, but Michaels ducks, and plants a superkick at 14:34. This wasn’t great, but it didn’t feel like both guys hated the world the entire time, so that was at least an improvement.  * ¾