WWF Superstars (January 26, 1997)

 

Original Airdate: January 26, 1997 (taped January 21)

From Lafayette, Louisiana; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jim Cornette

Superstars Bowl Match: Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart v The Godwinns v Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon v Faarooq and Crush: Sunny is the guest timekeeper here, and I guess this is the follow up to the RAW Bowl from last year. The WWF Tag Team title is not on the line, though. Bulldog and LaFon start, and Philip quickly gets him down in a grapevine. Bulldog escapes, so LaFon tries a dive off the middle, but Smith catches him in the running powerslam position. LaFon blocks, and tries a side suplex, but Smith topples for two - reversed by LaFon for two. Tag to Owen, and he stomps Philip in the gut, and unloads a series of uppercuts, before trying a monkey flip, but LaFon blocks. A reversal sequence ends in Owen hooking a corkscrew legwhip, and he grounds Philip in a leglock. Owen delivers a legdrop before passing to Henry Godwinn, but Henry bodyslams Owen onto Philip before covering LaFon for two. Nice. Tag to Phineas Godwinn for a vertical suplex on LaFon for two, and he tries for the inverted DDT, but Crush runs in to stop it. That leads to a bench clearing brawl, and LaFon schoolboys Phineas at 3:44. Faarooq comes in, but Furnas powerslams him, so he tags right out to Davey. The tag champs dominate Doug in their corner, and then pass to Faarooq - with Smith hitting him with a clothesline on the change. That allows Doug to cover Faarooq for two, so Crush tags in, and gives Furnas a vertical suplex to set up a legdrop for two. Crush with a corner whip, but an avalanche misses, and Furnas goes to an armbar, as Hunter Hearst Helmsley split screens in to talk about his match against Ahmed Johnson later. Doug catches Owen with a rana to win a criss cross, and they trade near falls off of cradles, until Bulldog tags in to help Owen wishbone Doug for two. Bulldog passes to Crush, and helpfully leaves Furnas in the Nation corner for them to abuse. What a nice guy. Crush with a backbreaker for two, and he passes back to Smith for a hanging vertical suplex. He sets up the running powerslam, but Faarooq clips his leg, allowing Doug to topple for three at 9:44. Faarooq comes in to hammer on Doug, as we see Honky Tonk Man chatting Rocky Maivia up backstage. The Nation continue working Furnas over, as Ahmed split screens in to promise pain for Helmsley later. “Thank you for taking time off from your day job as a United Nations interpreter,” deadpans Cornette. Faarooq gets nailed while trying a 2nd rope axehandle, allowing Furnas an overhead suplex, ahead of the hot tag to Philip. LaFon runs wild, and Roseanne Barr the door! LaFon holds his own, but gets caught with the dominator from Faarooq, and Faarooq scores the pin at 14:00, as Crush holds Furnas at bay. Like the RAW Bowl in 1996, this was fun (though the RAW Bowl was a better match). * ½ 

Backstage, Bret Hart prepares to join us. His hair is did, he is officially prepared

Kevin Kelly brings Bret out to do more of his complaining. I get that the direction and reaction was intentional, but making Bret into a complainer was one of my least favorite things. Like, even when he got cheated out of the title in 1993 or 1994, he never came out and cried for weeks on end. Or, like, at all. Again, I get that this was the prelude to a heel turn, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it

Hunter Hearst Helmsley v Ahmed Johnson: This is non-title, supposedly with HHH giving Ahmed a taste ahead of their match for the title at In Your House. Which never happened. Ross and Cornette get into a weird argument here while hyping a show in Knoxville in February, fighting over whether it takes place on a Wednesday or Thursday. There’s no way Vince McMahon was paying attention to this show anymore, otherwise that would absolutely have been edited out. They measure each other early on, and Ahmed uses his power to take control. Johnson with a savate kick, and a bicycle kick leads to an axekick. It’s so weird seeing HHH getting powered around. Johnson misses an elbowdrop, allowing Hunter to put the boots to him, and Ahmed takes a bump over the top. Goldust and Marlena split screen in to observe as Hunter delivers an axehandle from the apron, and HHH starts working the bad kidney area as they head back inside. Helmsley with a kneedrop for two, but Johnson reverses a hanging vertical suplex, and cross corner whips him. Johnson charges in, but hits a boot, and Hunter throws a clothesline for two. A slugfest allows Johnson to get some traction, and he delivers a backdrop. Helmsley begs off, and Mr. Hughes sneaks in to brain Johnson with the title belt. HHH makes the cover, but Johnson kicks out at two! HHH stays on him with a cross corner whip, but Ahmed reverses, and Hunter takes a bump over the top. Johnson drags him back in for a spinebuster, and he sets up the tiger bomb, so Hughes just abandons all pretence, and runs in for the DQ at 9:42. This was solid enough. Afterwards, Johnson kicks the hell out of Hughes, as Helmsley runs away - only for Goldust to pop out to attack him in the aisle! *

BUExperience: Only two matches, but both were features, and this was a pretty entertaining episode overall. Especially for this period.