WWF Superstars (January 27, 1996)

 

Original Airdate: January 27, 1996 (taped January 23)

From San Jose, California; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Mr. Perfect

Duke Droese v Steve Rizzino: For those who think Triple H didn’t pay his dues, I’ll remind you that he once feuded with Duke ‘the Dumpster’ Droese. And lost matches to him. Duke with a tilt-a-whirl slam at 2:17. Afterwards, HHH attacks him with the trash can, and clips some of Duke’s hair off. Kind of weird that Helmsley was able to use the can as a weapon here, after they freaked the fuck out about it during the Jerry Lawler angle a while back. DUD

Dok Hendrix is in the studio for the In Your House Slam Jam. They announce Bret Hart/Diesel for the WWF Title in a cage

WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust is giving his acceptance speech for his new title

Bob Holly v Justin Hawk Bradshaw: This is Bradshaw’s TV debut. Bradshaw attacks from behind, and hammers Holly down. Bradshaw with a bodyslam to set up a pair of elbowdrops, Backdrop, but Holly blocks, so Bradshaw creams him with a big boot instead. Bradshaw with an abdominal stretch into a pumphandle-slam, and a floatover suplex gets him two. Bradshaw with a Russian legsweep, but Bob wins a criss cross, and goes on the comeback trail. A charge in the corner misses, however, and Bradshaw levels him with a lariat at 3:44. Not the most exciting debut, but Bradshaw did look good here, like a real hoss. ¾* 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley v Tim Patterson: We get a fan doing the ring announcing here, which I guess we’re bringing back? I don’t think it lasted very long this time. Meanwhile, Helmsley has started the gimmick of bringing a different beautiful valet out with his every night, which would ultimately lead to the debut of Sable. He gets no crowd reaction at all here, except for cat calls for the girl, though. HHH with the Pedigree, but Duke Droese runs in on him for the DQ at 2:40. Looks like Duke missed his mark there, leaving Helmsley standing there in his Pedigree set up forever. DUD

Shawn Michaels v Tatanka: Shawn’s got the WrestleMania XI gear this week. I never realized that it was basically the same as the WrestleMania X gear, with only the way the hearts are filled in being different. Shawn dominates the early exchanges, and dumps Tatanka over the top with a backdrop. Shawn stops to make some racist taunts at Tatanka, and he brings Tatanka in hardway. A criss cross allows Michaels to try a rana, but Tatanka drops him across the top rope to block, and Shawn ends up falling out of the ring, where Ted DiBiase abuses him. Inside, Tatanka with a cross corner whip, and he pounds Michaels in the corner. Tatanka with a backdrop for two, but Shawn ducks a clothesline, and rebounds off the ropes with a jumping version. Michaels makes a comeback, so Tatanka bails to avoid the superkick. Shawn chases, so DiBiase gets involved, and Tatanka sneak attacks. Samoan drop, but Shawn blocks, and plants the superkick at 6:39. Michaels was incredibly over at this point, it’s a shame they dropped the ball by neutering the character in the lead up to WrestleMania XII. The match was okay, but a little short. Tatanka’s heat segment was all of a minute. * ¾ 

Dok is back with another In Your House Slam Jam

Billionaire Ted’s Wrasslin’ War Room. Ted wants an original idea for once, but no one has anything. Pretty sure I heard someone murmur ‘Goldberg.’ Might have just had a cold, or something. Covid, or whatever

BUExperience: Good episode this week, as they come off the Royal Rumble with some momentum.