Summer Slam is here.
Survivor Series – 1996 Madison Square Garden
Hey kids - It's Survivor Series 10.
(Dark - Smothers d. Windham)
JR and Cornette gettin' it done.
Show opens with a series of clips from Survivor Series history, Hogan legdropping Orndorff to end his career; Hennig pinning Owen in their mutual PPV debut; Jake Roberts - DDT'ing Rick Rude in a steel cage, finally getting the emotional pinfall - but then getting handcuffed by the Brainbusters as the Heenan Family forms.
Piper and Jake opening up on Snuka...Bret getting AA in a sharpshooter...Randy Savage taking the fork to Owen...Undertaker tombstoning Hogan...Michaels superkicking Marty...Hogan legdropping Dusty Rhodes...Owen knocking Ahmed out with the enziguiri
JR and Cornette sign on - say you'll be seeing clips of all the title matches in the 10 year history of Survivor Series later on in the evening.
Then...Cactus Jack...
“Hello, New York, it’s your old pal Cactus Jack. Tonight, I’m going to wrestle The Man they call Vader again in a Steel Cage Match for the Intercontinental Title_right here in New York City!
There are people who have been asking me, gently, lovingly asking me, “Cactus Jack, have you taken too many chair shots to the head? Cactus Jack, at Summer Slam, The Man they Call Vader busted your nose and powerbombed you off the ramp. Cactus Jack, the Man They Call Vader has never lost in the WWF, he beat Shawn Michaels. He beat the HeartBreak Kid right in the middle of the ring. Cactus Jack, the Man they Call Vader is an Unstoppable Beast, He’s a Mastadon, He’s a Rhinocerous, He is any one of a number of thick waisted mammals. He will hurt you, Cactus Jack. He will hurt you.
He already tore off your ear, Cactus Jack – what will he do to you in a Steel Cage?
I’d like to tell you a story. It’s a story about a man named Mike Christian.
Mike came from a small town outside of Selma, Alabama. He didn’t wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. When he was 17 he enlisted in the US Navy to go defend his country during the Vietnam War. In 1967, Mike Christian was shot down and held in a Vietnamese 5x9 cell in a Prisoner of War camp for 5 1/2 years.
One day, Mike acquired a bamboo needle from one of the guards; every day, for two years, Mike worked on one project -- sewing an American flag on the inside of his shirt. Every day, Mike would work on that flag – and every day, he and the other prisoners would stand up in front of that shirt and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Mike Christian and his buddies, shot down in Vietnam, held in the worst kind of torture chamber, every day, they’d say the Pledge of Allegiance:
I Pledge Allegiance. To the flag. Of the United States of America. And to the republic. For which it stands. One nation. Under god. Indivisible. With liberty. And justice for all.
Every day. Until one day he got caught. And for 17 hours he was beaten and mauled and burned and decimated within an absolute inch of his life – and when he got back to his cell – when he got back to his cell – he took that t-shirt – and he held it up – and do you know what he said? Do you know what he said?
I Pledge Allegiance. To the flag. Of the United States of America. And to the republic. For which it stands. One nation. Under god. Indivisible. With liberty. And justice for all.
And when he said the Pledge of Allegiance. When Mike Christian, who didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old, put his mangled hand on his tortured heart and said the Pledge of Allegiance – do you know what those North Vietnamese sons of bitches did to him? Do you know? Do you know?
They let him go.
The guards let him go because they knew that any man who would come back after a beating like that and stand right in their face and say, “Hit Me Again, You Bastards! I Will Not Back Down And You Will Hit Me Again!...” they knew that any man like that was more man than they could control – and they wanted to be as far away from that man as possible.
Well, I’m no Mike Christian, that’s for sure --- but I am Cactus Jack, and my pals here in Madison Square Garden know that Cactus Jack can take a pretty good beating. And every time I take that beating from you Vader – whether it’s in the NWA…or in Germany…or at Summer Slam…or right here tonight – every time I take that beating Vader – I am going to come right back at you and get in your face again…and again…and again…and again…and again…
And in a steel cage tonight, Vader, you won’t be able to get away from me, Vader, I Pledge Allegiance, Vader, I Pledge Allegiance to Kicking Your Ass! I Pledge Allegiance to Taking Your Title! I Pledge Allegiance to standing right in front of your face and saying Hit me Again, You Bastard! I Will Not Back Down and You will Hit me Again!”
1. Road Dogg/Billy Gunn d. Savio Vega/Bob Holly
-Opening fast paced tag. New Clique JV goes over. Much crotch chopping. They tell the people to suck it. The people enjoy that kinda thing,
2. Rocky Maivia (w/Nation) d. Undertaker
- And we welcome the Rock. All 4 Nation members (Simmons,Ahmed, Henry, DLo) on the outside interfere – Undertaker seems like he’s taking on five men until the save by…
Jacobs. Gone a year. He still isn’t Kane (now in real time, he’s the Fake Diesel) but now he's been unmasked, recall. If you've missed the backstory, Undertaker had a brother who was taken away when he was 5 - which is why he doesn't recognize him now - the only way to recognize him would be the Woody Woodpecker tattoo that both little boys got on their chests. Jacobs, obviously, wears a shirt. He battles with the Nation on the outside, eventually getting overcome by the numbers. He’s laid out on the Spanish Announce…DLo climbs to the top buckle – and frog splashes atop Jacobs, busting the table, drawing the ECW chant from the New York crowd.
Undertaker eventually also yields to the numbers. Rock Bottom for the win. The 5 strong Nation does the Black Power salute before and after the match. So called Madison Square Garden.
3. HHH (w/Road Dogg/Billy) d. Goldust
Hunter cheats to win. Goldust rubs himself. Goldust is a face, I guess, but does the full on Goldust bit, going as far as I can go. I want heat, daddy. Heat from the bottom.
Maybe that could be phrased differently. But the numbers are too much for Dustin, who gets Pedigreed. Clique triple teams after the bell…face save by….Sid.
Odd. I wonder what will come of that….
4. No DQ: 2 Cold Scorpio d. Al Snow
Al promos before the match. “I want to tell you a story, New York, it’s a story about A MAN WHO BORROWED MY PEN AND NEVER GAVE IT BACK!!”
Scorp Dog is a terrific high flyer, and we’re gonna totally rip off the ECW style here. They bring the tables into the ring, both guys crashing through tables, Scorpio’s gonna hit Al with chairs – Al will hit himself with chairs – Scorpio will dive into the crowd, they’ll hit each other with stopsigns and trashcans – Scorpio finishes Al off with the somersault legdrop through a table in the ring. Match gets both guys over huge at MSG. And it’s not even the top of the card yet. This is a good show.
5. Steve Austin d. Owen Hart
Austin and Owen rip down the building, a super intense, great, physical wrestling match. Austin eventually hits the Stunner and holds the tights for the win. Pillman, who hobbled down to the ring during the match, and Austin brawl in the aisle after the match. Pillman, see, is on both sides of the Hart family. He’s with both Bret and Owen – he hates the Clique, and above all – Austin. And he’s way over.
The tag title match is next - and clips from past tag title matches play...Neidhart turns on the Hart Foundation...Arn spinebusters Jacques...Marty hits the rocker dropper on Ray...the Road Warriors hit the device on both members of the Orients - then on Slaughter and the Warrior...Steiners suplex Ted and Rotundo all over the building...Undertaker chokeslamming both Steiners...Bret smiling as Anvil goes into hysterics as they win the straps...and Diesel and Razor, posing over the Gunns.
6. Tags: Mero/Bart d. Furnas/LaFon
Furnas and LaFon were excellent, and Bart and Mero were adequate enough to make this good. Ideally, they'd strap up Furnas and Lafon for a year like they were the Steiners, but I don’t have that option. Just their being so strong enhances Mero/Bart, though, so it’s fine.
Pat Patterson appears in a highlight package - he's the first ever IC Champ - and Survivor Series has seen great IC action - Savage elbowdropping Rude...Bret getting DBS to tap in the sharpshooter...Bobby hitting Rude with the briefcase and Ted slapping on the Million Dollar Dream...Bret getting the fall on Michaels...Piper using the ringbell on Bret...HBK winning his first strap with the elbowdrop on Savage - and then immediately losing it to Owen...Razor turns face on Michaels and Diesel..Razor's Edge on Waltman from the ladder through the table...Michaels pins Shane Douglas and then goes nose to nose with Hennig...Davey Boy submitting to Bret again - and then Owen knocking Bret out and disgustedly dropping the WWF Title on him.
7. IC: Cage Match: Cactus Jack d. Vader
Foley brings the barbed wire baseball bat to the ring, eventually setting it on fire. Vader takes shots about the head and neck, slicing him open and setting him on fire, Vader is able to quickly put it out by slapping at his own head. Vader brought handcuffs, cuffing Foley to the ropes and Vaderbombing him multiple times, –
--but it’s a cage match, so it can’t be stopped by the official – and it’s a real cage match, so no escape – you gotta pin the guy – and you can’t pin a guy if he’s in the ropes – so Vader has to let Foley loose to pin him – and Foley kicks out.
Vader, crazy strong, throws Foley hard into the cage, the cage giving slightly so that it slices hard into Foley – Foley wins after Vader missed the moonsault, Foley rolls up for the fall – and the huge pop as he wins the IC in MSG. Cactus Jack!
And then the montage of World Title Matches: Steamboat retaking his belt from Dynamite...Savage hitting the elbowdrop and winning the title from that same Dynamite Kid...Hennig perfectplexing Savage...Hennig standing on the buckle, holding the strap in the air with Kerry Von Erich laid out in the ring...Flair getting Davey Boy to submit to the figure four...then submitting himself to Bret's sharpshooter...Luger submitting to Bret and then the Undertaker making the motion for the belt...Michaels superkicking Owen, winning his first world title - tears in his eyes as he hugs Diesel..and then Diesel jacknifes him...DBS submitting to Bret again, and then getting knocked out by Owen - Owen dropping the belt disgustedly on Bret..
8. WWF Title: Bret Hart (w/Anvil and Pillman) d. Shawn Michaels
Another unbelievable match between Bret and Shawn – Bret cheats constantly – Shawn hits the superkick and has the fall – but the official is distracted by Neidhart and Pillman hits Michaels over the head with the cane. Bret wins soon later, using the ropes as leverage as he pins Shawn to regain the title for the third time, a WWF record.
We then get the “everybody in the pool” finish. Pillman, Bret, and the Anvil attack Michaels – save by the Clique, HHH/Road Dogg/Billy. Owen and a returning Davey Boy (hi Davey Boy!)enter on the side of the Harts – and it’s now 5 on 4. Austin enters, going after everybody in the ring. It’s a full scale brawl, as the face Harts and the heel Harts then go at it – Pillman not taking sides, trying to play peacemaker –and Michaels goes after the heel Clique – Austin still attacking everyone in the ring before settling on Pillman - as the show ends.
The year ends with the NWA. The Giant goes over Piper. Jeff Jarrett makes his NWA debut, beating Luger, just as he did in the WWF. DDP beats Hogan. Eddy beats Dean. Oh, so sweet. A Waltman run-in to attack Hall and Nash costs them their tag titles – they lose to Haku and the Barbarian.
Which, granted, seems unlikely.
Rey keeps the US in a terrific match over Ultimo Dragon. And Benoit keeps the NWA by beating his longtime rival from New Japan, former NWA Champ Jushin Thunder Liger. Some crazy good stuff.
Starrcade – 1996 Nashville
NWA Title: Chris Benoit d. Jushin Liger
US: Rey Mysterio d. Ultimo Dragon
Tags: Barbarian/Haku d. Hall/Nash (w/Waltman)
Eddy Guerrero d. Dean Malenko
DDP d. Hogan
Jeff Jarrett d. Lex Luger
The Giant d. Roddy Piper
Hall/Nash d. Barbarian/Haku
The Royal Rumble will be in San Antonio, hometown, obviously, of Shawn Michaels.
The war between the Undertaker and the Nation continues, this time it will be the Rock (w/ the appropriate four guys) against the mystery man (Jacobs) with the Undertaker in his corner. We’ll get HHH/Goldust again, with the New Clique JV and Sid in their respective corners.
Sid transforms during this run – we get a tag match against the New Clique, and when Sid enters – he’s dressed exactly like Goldust. He’s SidDust. Or GoldSid. Either way. He’s still Sid, goofy ass Sid – He’s the Master…and the Ruler…Of the World…but then he adds in the Goldust rubbing and touching. It would be extra creepy. “You will never forget the name of….Goldust” “And Goldsid! I am GoldSid!”
We’ve got Mexicans coming in for the Rumble, they're gonna stick most of them in the opening tag, an 8 man that will just be for the workrate – but we also have Hector Garza, a really good matchup for 2 Cold. Crazy Al's in the angle, since he’s still around and has that program with Scorpio. Al gone for a month, then comes out in a full body cast, cutting a promo on Scorpio, “2 Cold Scorpio, after our match at Survivor Series, after you legdropped me through a table at Madison Square Garden, after I spent the last month in a New York hospital undergoing 27 surgeries on virtually every bone, organ, and connective tissue in my entire body, afrer hearing that my entire career may now be in jeopardy, and that I will never reach my dream of winning the WWF Intercontinental Title, I have one thing to say to you, 2 Cold Scorpio….
GIVE ME BACK MY DAMN PEN! I LOANED YOU MY PEN OUT OF THE GOODNESS AND GENEROSITY OF MY HEART AND YOU HAVE NOT RETURNED IT!! I WANT MY PEN 2 COLD SCORPIO!! I WILL SEE YOU IN HELL!!!”
Somehow, they hook up Al with the Mexicans. Maybe he shows them how to slam their heads into the turnbuckles. Maybe Al calls them his family. “I will bring my Family, My Brothers and Cousins – the Fightin’ Snow Brothers and Cousins—to the Royal Rumble, 2 Cold – and They Will Get My Pen Back!!
For the IC…Foley promos after Survivor Series, he is clearly touched by the warm reception, the appreciation of the WWF fans – Foley is IC Champ and is declared by whomever is interviewing him in the middle of the ring (well, it’ll be Pillman, see below) to be the unquestioned King of Hardcore Wrestling….
…enter Terry Funk. Funk will pummel Foley into unconsciousness, wrap him up in barbed wire and set him on fire – right in the middle of the RAW ring.
On the road to the Rumble, we’ll meet Funk, he gets the Up Close and Personal Treatment. Hasn’t been in a WWF ring since WM II – we’ll talk about him as an NWA Champion, as a legend in Japan since the 1970s. And as Cactus Jack’s mentor, role model, personal hero. We’ll get clips of Funk/Foley from Japan, see the thumbtacks and the explosions and the crazed action. Funk and Foley will each cut promos about how they’ve wrestled all over the world – Funk will say how in ECW Foley set him on fire and almost killed him. How the WWF fans don’t know who Cactus Jack really is – they see this guy, this underdog, fighting Vader and they cheer him. They don’t know that Cactus Jack is the second most sadistic, evil, genetically deranged, chemically imbalanced man on the planet – with the most sadistic, evil, genetically deranged, chemically imbalanced man on the planet being himself.
Foley will promo that he owes his whole career to Funk. That before he met Terry he was just plain Michael from Long Island, destined to wrestle unsuccessfully for a couple of years and then go back home and become a schoolteacher. But then he got to know Terry…and now he’s rich, famous, the Intercontinental Champion, and known around the world as a man who can take more punishment than any man alive…
And for that – he’s going to pay.
Funk. Foley. Death Match. For the IC.
Then there’s the big angle.
Pillman gets a talk show, like Piper’s Pit. The Pillman Show. And it’s basically like Piper’s Pit, he brings guys on, then stomps them out. He’ll use racial slurs when the Nation is on, gay slurs when Goldust and GoldSid are on, he’ll talk about Razor and Diesel with the Clique, tell Foley and particularly Austin that the one thing he has has that they’ll never have is a world title.
We’re gonna get Bret/Shawn...one last time at the Rumble. It was in San Antonio, at Survivor Series 94 where Shawn beat Owen to win his first WWF Title and to win the Triple Crown. Pillman will needle Shawn about losing the title at Survivor Series, taunt him about what it would be like to lose his shot in his hometown, and goad him into signing the stip that this will be the very last time that Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart will ever wrestle in a singles match.
Last Ever Match and it’s for the WWF Title: Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels.
The Clique will enter. HHH will tell Shawn that they don’t like him, they’ve never liked him…but he’s Clique 4 Life – and HHH knows that deep inside, in their core, they are united by their hatred of the Harts and at the Royal Rumble – in the biggest match of Shawn’s life against Bret Hart – in the Ultimate Clique v. Hart matchup – in what might be the end of the greatest feud in the history of wrestling – HHH says he, Billy and the Dogg will be in Shawn’s corner.
And Shawn accepts.
They’ve got a year and a half to use the Pillman show to get over any angle. Pillman's fun.
He announces one RAW that his special guests for next week will be two members of the greatest Wrestling Dynasty of All Time…the Hart Family.
And so, they come out…Owen and Davey Boy.
But then he says, wait, wait, wait….I mean Bret and the Anvil….
So, all four men are in the ring with Pillman – and Brian’s looking to broker a deal. ‘Cause he just wants the family renunited, after all. All those years in the NWA – all he ever wanted was to be with his adopted family. He knows he’s gone a little crazy over the years, and he thinks if he could just bring everyone together again, he might quiet the voices in his head.
Everyone says no way, too late, it’s gone too far….
Pillman says, okay, well, can we take a step….
He says now that The Pillman Show is the highest rated segment of every RAW, and that’s earned him some stroke in the office. He’s been able to secure a match for next week….Owen and Davey Boy will team up to wrestle another tag team –
Steve Austin and Vader....
...and the winners of that match will go on to the Royal Rumble to face Mero and Bart for the straps.
See, Owen is feuding with Austin – and Davey Boy lost his only NWA World shot to Vader, so that’s good matchmaking.
This is of interest to Davey Boy, a chance to become a three time tag champ with three different partners – unprecendented in WWF history. And this is of particular interest to Owen…because Owen’s been IC Champ…and WWF Champ…meaning he’s only a tag title away from the Triple Crown.
The Mythical Triple Crown. The Greatest Accomplishment in All of Sport.
But there’s a catch, the WWF wants Owen and Davey Boy to use the name Hart Foundation, you know, for the marketing. And since Bret won the name in their best 3 of 5 series in ’94 – they need Bret’s permission.
So, Bret stands between Owen and a shot at the Triple Crown.
Why would Bret help?
Well, Bret would help because he’s about to go into the Royal Rumble, in the last ever Bret v. Shawn match ever – and have to deal with the entire Clique on the outside. And maybe the whole city of San Antonio. And Bret could use some backup.
So – Owen and Davey Boy will promise to be in Bret’s corner.
They agree. We have a deal. A deal. A handshake deal. Wow.
Pillman says there’s one other thing. On the RAW before the PPV, as a warm up, we’ll get an 8 man – Bret/Anvil/Owen/Davey Boy v. Shawn/HHH/Dogg/Billy – and if either side turns on each other – everything’s off – the title match, the last match stip, the tag title match – everything.
They agree.
We get the Austin/Vader v. Owen/Davey Boy tag. Austin, of course, turns on Vader during the match, allowing Owen to get the fall – so Owen and Davey Boy – as the Hart Foundation – will go to the Rumble to face Mero and Bart – Owen having a chance to become only the 4 th man in WWF History to win the Triple Crown.
And we also will get Austin v. Vader, you know, cause of what just happened.
We see the 8 man, crazy hot match. Pillman is named special guest referee – as he’s considered the only guy crazy enough to handle Harts v. Clique. The Clique is upset – ‘cause Pillman’s a Hart and all – but, in fact, he does call it right down the middle – and when Shawn gets the fall on Bret – Pillman gives a fair three count. The match is filled with garbage, chairs, steel steps, title belts, tables, trash cans. But Pillman’s able to maintain enough control to keep it a match. The announced stip is now altered a little bit; at Pillman's suggestion, the Bret/Shawn Title match will officially be a Lumberjack match, with the Harts and the Clique as lumberjacks, who will be allowed to bring weapons.
The Clique wins. Shawn pins Bret going into the Rumble in San Antonio – and because of Pillman’s fairness – he’s named guest referee for the Title Match.
Bret/Shawn, once Final time. Foley/Funk. Owen’s chance at the Triple Crown. Austin/Vader. The lucha match. Garza/Scorpio. Goldust/HHH. And the Rock, with the Nation against the Undertaker’s not yet brother.
Call your local cable company. Royal Rumble '97!
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