WWF Superstars (November 17, 1996)

 

Original Airdate: November 17, 1996 (taped October 22)

From Cincinnati, Ohio; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jim Cornette

Todd Pettengill is at Madison Square Garden, where they are setting up for tonight’s Survivor Series

Dok Hendrix is on the floor at the Garden, and I think his discussion of the Hall of Fame ceremony that took place the night before might be the first time they mention Shane McMahon on WWF programming (mentioning that he inducted his grandfather)

Jesse James v Goon: They announce Jesse’s Survivor Series team, and it’s such a collection of luminaries that the match isn’t even getting on the main card. Still better than some of those teams from the ‘91 show though, probably. Meanwhile, the announcers gossip about a ‘blow up’ between Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Mr. Perfect at the Hall of Fame ceremony last night, as they officially write Perfect out of the promotion. Jesse with a pumphandle-slam at 3:07. ¼*

At the Garden, Vince McMahon sits down with WWF Champion Shawn Michaels, who gives a sunny, smiley interview about his passion for the business. This felt like puff piece for the Today Show, or something, as opposed to a final hard sell for the pay per view

Billy Gunn v Bob Holly: Holly holds a hammerlock to start, so Billy forces a criss cross, but gets caught with a hiptoss, and Holly uses an armdrag to send Billy to the outside. Gunn gets control, and works a chinlock. Holly escapes, but Billy throws a knee to keep control, and a neckbreaker drops Bob. Another chinlock, and a kneedrop connects for him. Bob comes back with an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline, and a rana leads to mounted punches. Holly with a dropkick for two, but he gets slammed off the top rope while trying a dive. Billy looks to polish him off, but Bob manages to hook a backslide for two. Gunn grabs him for a swinging neckbreaker, however, and he goes up with a flying legdrop at 7:33. Gunn was terrible as a heel here, and he wouldn’t really improve until the New Age Outlaws team. ½*

A look at last night’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony 

Steve Austin paces around in a locker room at the Garden 

Shawn Michaels/Sid hype video, narrated by Pettengill 

Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart v Tony Williams and Frank Stilleto: The WWF Tag Team title is not on the line for this. Bulldog with a running powerslam to set up a Sharpshooter from Owen at 2:29. DUD

Tug-of-War Contest: Mark Henry v Crush: So this is a literal tug of war, with both guys taking a side of a rope, and trying to pull the other past a line taped diagonally down the middle of the ring. Henry gets him close, so Hunter Hearst Helmsley shows up, backing Crush up. They work together, but can’t get him over, so Goldust jumps in. All three start moving Henry toward the line, but Mark turns the tables for the win at 1:52. Afterwards, the three heels deliver a beatdown. Since the three heels were all on the same Survivor Series team, I have to assume that Henry was originally slated to be on the opposing team, before they decided to give up on him for a while. My guess is that Jake Roberts replaced him. 

At the Garden, that WWF blimp is in flight

Mankind v Dan Parks: And speaking of the WWF blimp, here’s Paul Bearer. Hendrix split screens in from the Garden, showing off the shark cage that Paul will be placed in during the Mankind/Undertaker match tonight. Mankind with the mandible claw at 1:37. DUD

In a locker room at the Garden, Pettengill sits down with Stone Cold, who is not nervous about facing Bret Hart, and talks a big game here. Austin was incredible during this period, and he really came into his own with this angle. It still astounds me that apparently Vince didn’t see anything in his as a promo when he first came in

BUExperience: I like this trend of in arena check-ins they’ve been doing on pay per view days since moving the show to Sunday mornings. Nothing special here, but watchable.