Summer Slam is here.
Survivor Series – 1994 San Antonio
One more Gorilla/Cornette.
(Dark – Bob Holly d. PJ Walker)
1. Smoking Gunns d. Heavenly Bodies
Hey, the Bodies got back together. Billy! Bart!! The Smoking Gunns! They make the sign for the belts! When will the Smoking Gunns finally get a title shot? When? When? When?
2. Undertaker d. Adam Bomb
-And that will do it for the Bomb. Thanks Undertaker!
3. Backlund d. Jerry Lawler
“You are not the King! The United States of America threw off its monarchical yoke in 1776 – Read Your History, Jerry Lawler! Sam Adams wore a headdress and painted his genitalia red! He dumped your tea into the Harbor, Jerry Lawler! No Taxation Without Representation! I Before E Except After C! You Must Learn About the Fox and the Grapes, Jerry Lawler! You are not the King – You are at best a Maid in Waiting Thrice Removed! And You Must Learn About the Fox and the Grapes!”
4. Jeff Jarrett (w/Road Dogg) d. Savio Vega
Jarrett remains undefeated.
5. Diesel d. Davey Boy Smith
Diesel gets a lot of cheers here, and plays up to them – it’s San Antonio and it’s a highly partisan Clique crowd. They play up heavily the Clique v. Harts nature of the matchup, and they show Michaels in his locker room watching the match – and Owen in his watching the match. It’s a big man brawl, they take it outside – topple over the retaining barrier and fight into the crowd – it’s Davey Boy’s first WWF singles match in over 2 years – since he lost his title shot to Bret in London, so this is a big match for him – and a big win for Diesel.
6. Tags: Hart Foundation d. Luger/Bigelow
This is a nice little show. Bret and Anvil get good heel heat with the Canadian flag – all of the pro Clique feeling in the crowd can coalesce against the Hart Foundation. And we are in Texas after all – any non US flag is gonna draw some heat. Bret wins his second tag strap to go with his two IC titles and his world title – Anvil is very excited with his first ever strap – Bret treats it more matter of factly, shrugging his shoulders like, “of course I won, I’m the Hit Man, haven’t you ever seen me wrestle?” Luger and Bigelow have words after the match.
7. IC: Ladder: Razor Ramon d. Sean Waltman
Razor runs through the entire Clique as 1994 belongs to the Bad Guy. Waltman’s bumping all over the place as we add a ladder match to the official WWF history. Waltman’s job was to take the punishment, and he has to take a lot of it here – we’ll have Razor set up a table in the ring – he and Waltman are battling at the top of the ladder – Edge through the table for the finish.
(Highlight package of Owen v. Shawn. The dark match from Summer Slam ’88 – Owen’s return after 3 years gone, losing to Michaels at Rumble ’92 – the epic Owen/Bret v. Shawn/Flair tag match from the last Saturday Night’s Main Event on FOX – Owen beating Shawn at VIII – Shawn putting Owen through the announce table at Summer Slam ’92 – Owen making a shocking return during Survivor Series ’92, taking away Shawn’s IC title minutes after he had just won it from Savage – Michaels regaining the title at Rumble ’93 in the 5 star Iron Man match -- )
8. WWF Title: Shawn Michaels (w/Diesel) d. Owen Hart (w/ Bulldog)
Diesel and the Bulldog brawl early in the match and fight their way away from ringside and to the back. Michaels is cheered throughout – the crowd doesn’t boo Owen, Owen never gets booed – but the combination of Michaels’s years of excellence, his heel charisma, the numerous humanizing taped pieces, his being gone for months, and it being his hometown, make the crowd highly partisan – and Shawn plays up to it. It’s a clean match and an all time great match – this is a feud building for years and years – a feud over who is the real future of the WWF – Shawn jealous of Owen’s hype – Shawn getting the early glory – Owen coming back and being the first to win the WWF Title – Owen beating Bret – which Shawn has yet to do –
This one belongs to Shawn. Fights out of the sharpshooter – a superkick out of nowhere – a pinfall. Crowd goes nuts – Shawn does the real world WM XIII celebration
dropping to his knees and weeping, clutching the title – Diesel runs in - grabbing
Shawn and lifting him high into the air – Michaels holding the belt high as the Clique stands atop the wrestling world –
--and then Diesel lifts up Michaels’s legs – and jackknifes him to the mat.
The shocked crowd boos lustily – Diesel picking up Michaels again – and again jackknifing him to the canvas.
Nash flips his hair, smirks to the booing crowd – takes Shawn’s newly won world title belt and throws it over his shoulder, “Thanks for the strap, Heart Break. See ya at the party.”
Diesel laughs his way up the aisle as the show ends.
The NWA run of great shows ends as Hogan and his boys hit town. Duggan, Beefcake, Earthquake – all on the show. Hogan beats a heel Mr T. – then turns heel, no face run in the NWA – they’re gonna boo him anyway – Hogan gives the “you fans can kiss my butt” turn speech and will now be Hollywood Hogan. A young heel named Jean Paul Leveques picks up a PPV loss – we’ll see him soon in New York. Harlem Heat wins the tag straps. Arn keeps the US, beating Mero, and Vader keeps the big strap, going over Sting.
Starrcade – 1994 Nashville
NWA Title: Vader d. Sting
US Title: Arn Anderson d. Marc Mero
Tags: Harlem Heat d. Nastys
Alex Wright d. HHH
Hulk Hogan d. Mr. T
Earthquake d. Brutus Beefcake
Kevin Sullivan d. Jim Duggan
Harlem Heat d. Armstrongs
The organizing force as we drive to the Rumble in Tampa is a tag team tournament, the winners to face the Hart Foundation at the Rumble. Bret/Anvil will promo at the top of RAW after Survivor Series, basically calling out the entire company, Bret says the WWF has got an IC champ who has never beaten him – and now a World Champ who has never beaten him – and doesn’t his family feel dumb now for siding with Owen -- and he challenges anyone in the back to take his tag straps.
The entire locker room (outside of the top guys) spills out, surrounding the ring – after ten years – is the entire locker room going to challenge the Hit Man???
Money, Money, Money, Money, Money.
DiBiase’s music plays, Ted makes his way to the ring. Hey, Ted's back! Ted says as he’s proven time and time again, everybody’s got a price for the Million Dollar Man – and he’s made a new financial acquisition – the WWF tag team division.
So, there’s gonna be a tournament – and he’s gonna pick the teams, the only rule is, no one who has ever teamed together before is eligible.
Ted names the first round matchups, whomever he calls comes to the ring, if he doesn’t call you – you ain’t in the tournament. The tourney plays out over multiple weeks, here be the results:
Bigelow/Chris Candido d. Luger/Rotundo
-Candido is doing the straight kid babyface. Luger and Bigelow have words again as they meet in the ring. In the match, Candido will get the fall on Rotundo – pissing Luger off, he starts to put the boots to Candido – Bigelow tries to calm his former partner down – Luger re-turns heel by blasting Bigelow – and the two men brawl to the back. Years later, Bigelow and Candido team up in ECW. Candido has a girlfriend, of course. We don’t even call her a manager or a valet – she’s a girlfriend. Tammy does the whole co-ed thing, she’s sweet and peppy and shows a little stomach, but she’s a nice girl and we emphasize the nice girl aspect of her – she gives Candido a little peck on the cheek before he wrestles. It’s sweet. She’s very, very, sweet. Fresh – that’s the word. Tammy is fresh.
Hakushi/Savio Vega d. Alabama Bob Holly/PJ Walker
-Yeah, Bob and PJ just worked dark, so they’ve already tagged together – but that’s why they call it dark. Hakushi brings a new level of aerial spots to the WWF (flying space tiger drop!) and is clearly a cut above here. We sell him as special. Crowd enjoys seeing the fast paced action. Announce speculates if any of these young stars will one day hold WWF gold. Bob and PJ brawl after their loss – they’ll work a singles at the Rumble.
Jarrett/Bart d. Road Dogg/Billy
-All four guys upset as they’re obviously getting broken up. We tease tension between both existing teams – Jarrett keeps his run going with the fall over Billy – but in the end, the sides switch – and postmatch, Jarrett and the Dogg brawl with the Gunns. Announce notes a good chemistry between the Road Dogg and Billy, and somehow I think we’ll see them again down the road.
Davey Boy/Backlund d. Fatu/Crush
-“I Respect the British Bulldog! Like Queen Victoria colonized India – the British Bulldog and Mr. Backlund will plant their flag at the Royal Rumble! The sun never sets on the British Empire – and that will be our name! Davey Boy Smith – we will call ourselves the British Empire – and you will plant your flag into Mr. Backlund! Plant your flag, Davey Boy Smith! Plant your flag deep inside of me! Claim your territory for the Crown and split me open in the name of the Empire!”
Backlund's way into the made up team. Bulldog's a little creeped out.
Davey Boy and Backlund then go over Jarrett and Bart. Bart gets pinned, he and Jarrett brawl – Road Dogg and Billy run in – and we’re set up for the Rumble. Hey, the Gunns have a program!
Hakushi and Savio go over Candido and Bigelow. Luger attacks Bigelow in the aisle – they brawl again – and there’s that match.
Davey Boy and Backlund go over Savio and Hakushi – and they will go to the Rumble to face Bret and the Anvil. The greatest tag team in WWF history, the Original Hart Foundation – now on opposite sides, will meet at the Rumble. And Bob Backlund, 11 years after losing the WWF title, and 13 years since he held the WWF tag titles with Pedro Morales, will be wrestling for the straps. Not a bad deal.
In fact, that’s what made him crazy. This works – see, Backlund not only never got a rematch for the WWF title – but he didn’t really lose it, as Skaaland threw in the towel when he was in the camel clutch – more than that – he didn’t really lose the tag straps either – he and Pedro abdicated the straps because they were the two singles champions at the time – Bob never lost – and the trauma of it all pushed him over the edge. Gives us a chance to talk history, and we love talking history.
What else…two veterans make appearances on the road to the Rumble. One is Rick Martel, doing a babyface veteran thing. Martel says he is ready to come back to the WWF and he’s ready to do it at the Rumble. He’s interrupted by Waltman, doing a “you’re a thousand years old, I am the Kid, if you don’t like it you can suck this thing…”
You know, Waltman. They’ll meet at the Rumble.
And it’s time for another veteran to come in and challenge the Undertaker as the legend of professional wrestling. This time it’s Dirty Dick Murdoch, doing a “I’m the best brawler who ever lived, y’all are a bunch of pussies.”
Razor’s defending the IC against Owen. They’re doing a face v. face thing, doing a Harts v. Clique thing – Owen wanted a rematch for the World Title – but that spot is taken, as we’ll see – Owen cut a promo saying he and his brother Bret don’t agree on much, but the one thing they agree on is that the Harts will always be better than the Clique – and there is no way that the Clique should have both singles titles in the WWF.
Razor’s Clique all the way so he takes that challenge. Says not only is he from the Clique – but he has spent the last year proving that he is the top member of the Clique. Hey beat Michaels, he beat Diesel, he beat Waltman – he has run through the entire Clique – and now he is ready to run through the entire Hart Family.
In the main, of course, it’s Shawn/Diesel.
Diesel promos at the end of the RAW after the Survivor Series – still holding Shawn’s belt. He says, “All day long, people have been coming up to me, saying, ‘why, Big Daddy Cool, why?’ and I’ve been saying, well, first of all, thanks for selling the gimmick, there are t-shirts available in the lobby, Christmas is around the corner, they make excellent stocking stuffers --- and second, the reason I jackknifed Shawn Michaels’s ass through the ring is pretty damn simple ---
I’m a bad guy.
See, sports fans, let me smarten you up a little bit – in the business that I’m in, there are two kinds of guys, there are the babyfaces – you know, the Ricky Steamboats, the Owen Harts, the Stings…yeah, I watch the NWA, you never know when they’ll come calling with a better offer – and Big Daddy Cool needs to watch his stories, oh yes he does, oh yes he does….
……and those are the guys who like the fans and care what you people think and sit up all night trying to figure out how they can work the words prayer, training, and vitamins into their promos…
…and then there are the heels. You know who the heels are? The Dynamite Kid was a heel. Randy Savage was a heel – until he lost his balls. Ric Flair, Whoooooo, is a heel. And whether you like it, or whether you don’t like it, you got to learn to love it – because it’s the best thing going today – Big Daddy Cool Diesel is a heel.
The Harts – they’re faces. I know you’re all booing Bret Hart right now – but that’s because you’re marks – the Harts – they’re faces.
And the Clique – we’re the heels. We make all the mo-ney. We have all the po-wer. We take all the wo-men . And we win all the gold, Chico.
I love Shawn Michaels. I have three friends in the world and Shawn Michaels is one of them. But Shawn Michaels forgot who he was. Shawn Michaels heard all of those people in San Antonio cheering for him – and he forgot that he was, is, and always will be – a bad guy.
So, Shawn, if you want your belt back – get your ass down here – hold up the fingers with me – tell these people to kiss your ass and lets go out and bang some fat chicks!”
Michaels enters. Says Diesel’s right about one thing – he is a member of the Clique – 4 Life – and he’ll hold up the fingers any time – but he’s wrong about something else – see, Shawn Michaels isn’t a bad guy…and Shawn Michaels isn’t a good guy…Shawn Michaels is the Heart Break Kid – Shawn Michaels is the Showstopper – Shawn Michaels is the Main Event – Shawn Michaels is the best wrestler alive – and Shawn Michaels is taking his property back – right now – crowd screams, Michaels and Diesel brawl – and we set up a No DQ match for the WWF Title at the Rumble.
It's Rumble '95. Michaels/Diesel for the big belt. Razor and Owen for the IC. How about Bret and the Anvil against DBS and Backlund. Waltman/Martel, Luger/Bigelow, Alabama Bob meets the not yet Justin Credible, Undertaker/Murdoch, and the Gunns meet Jarrett and the Dogg - winners go to XI to wrestle for the straps! Rumble! Call your thing!
