-Todd Pettengill does a horrible Dracula impersonation as he recaps last week’s 20 man battle royal. Goldust also makes his network debut tonight.
-Vince McMahon and Jerry “the King†Lawler are in the booth and they are still in Brandon Manitoba, Canada. Since it’s Halloween, McMahon is dressed up as a prisoner (taunting the federal government much?) and Lawler is pressed up as a dentist. The Spanish announcers are dressed up as a vampire and a devil. The WWF logo in the corner of the screen is done like a jack-o-lantern.
-Opening Contest: Savio Vega vs. Goldust:
This was shortly after Goldust’s debut at In Your House 4: The Great White North, where he defeated Marty Jannetty. McMahon says Goldust has his elaborate entrance written into his contract. I guess that explains why he doesn’t have this kind of entrance anymore. Goldust attacks Savio from behind to start but ducks his head too early on a whip and gets kicked in the face. Savio hits Goldust with an elbow off the ropes but Goldust holds the ropes when Savio tries a dropkick and regains the advantage. Goldust hurls Savio shoulder-first into the ring post, a move you don’t seen much of anymore, and proceeds to choke him and apply an arm bar. While he applies the pressure, the camera shows the Goldust fan club, four male fans with their faces painted and possessing Goldust-type whigs. With this scary image before us we wisely head to the break.
We return with Goldust working Savio’s arm some more but Savio gets up, goes under a clothesline, and gets a cross body off the ropes for a fluke two count. Goldust eventually misses a blind charge in the corner and Savio explodes with some offense as the crowd goes nuts…or at least that’s what the piped in crowd noise wants us to believe. Savio misses a spinning heel kick off the ropes and Goldust hits a running kick and a basic pinning combination gets the pin at 5:44. What kind of finish was that? Dustin was doing a good job playing up the gimmick, but his ring work was nothing to write home about early in his WWF run. Grade: D-
-Survivor Series “Slam Jam†with Doc Hendrix. Hendrix relives some of his Freebird days by wearing some makeup. Hendrix announces that the WWF Championship match between Diesel and Bret “Hitman†Hart will be a no count out, no disqualification, and no time limit match. Considering that the last two WWF pay-per-view main events had non-finishes this must have been the WWF’s way of saying “sorry we screwed up†to the fans.
-Razor Ramon is shown arguing with the 1-2-3 Kid backstage.
– Barry Horowitz plays Karate Fights with Hakushi. Horowitz wins and Hakushi says that they need to do two out of three so they square off again and the commercial ends. I bought a few Karate Fighters sets as a kid because of these commercials so if any former Milton Bradley executives read this column, your advertising dollars were put to good use.
-Marty Jannetty vs. Joe Dorgan:
Jannetty takes Dorgan down with an arm drag and monkey flip to start. Jannetty goes after the arm until Dorgan backs him into the corner and unloads. Jannetty gets another monkey flip and a fist drop off the ropes. After a snapmare-chinlock combination, Jannetty whips Dorgan into the corner and clotheslines him against the buckles. I’m so trained to see that become a blind charge that I didn’t expect Jannetty to hit it. Jannetty locks in another chinlock and when he releases that he drives Dorgan’s head into the canvas. A top rope fist drop finishes at 2:42.
-Vince McMahon interviews the British Bulldog, Jim Cornette, and Clarence Mason. Cornette argues that the Bulldog should be fighting Bret Hart at the Survivor Series because WWF President Gorilla Monsoon said the winner of Diesel-Bulldog would fight Bret and the Bulldog won at In Your House 4. This promo would set up a triple threat match today, but that concept didn’t debut in the WWF till 1997. He has a funny series of lines where he talks about how Mason’s writs are really well written. Mason claims that Monsoon is in breach of contract and demands a match for the Bulldog with Bret. Cornette rants about the Bulldog’s role in the Wild Cart match. The Bulldog warns Marty Jannetty about their match next week and Jannetty comes in, dropkicks the Bulldog in the back, and destroys Cornette. Mason begs off/warns Jannetty and that ends the segment. They crammed waaaaayyy too much into this.
-Highlights of the Smoking Gunns defeating Razor Ramon & the 1-2-3 Kid at In Your House 4 are shown.
-The Smoking Gunns (WWF Tag Team Champions) vs. Phil Apollo & Another Jobber:
Billy catches Apollo with a hard right hand, but can’t follow up as Apollo tags his partner. Billy catches him with a drop toe hold and tags in Bart. Bart works the arm as the 1-2-3 Kid comes into the screen and says that the Smoking Gunns had better grant Ramon & himself a rematch for the titles. Why work the arm in a match that won’t even go over three minutes? Bart works over the jobber in the corner and then tags in Billy, who hits a slam and a big elbow drop off the ropes. Tag Bart but he gets kneed in the gut. Apollo gets the tag but Bart goes under a double clothesline and clotheslines both jobbers. A Sidewinder finishes Apollo at 2:47.
-Bret “Hitman†Hart says that his match with Diesel will be a war at Survivor Series and all of the rules favor him.
-Call 1-800-TITAN-91 to buy your own WWF Championship or Intercontinental title belt. These are the foam replicas. They cost $20 along with $3.95 shipping and handling and if you order the WWF title belt you get some exclusive pictures of Diesel. If you order the Intercontinental title belt you get a few photos of Razor Ramon. Buy now!
-Paul Bearer is in the cemetery and he warns Mabel that the Undertaker will return.
-Intercontinental Championship Match: “The Bad Guy†Razor Ramon (Champion) vs. Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette):
Ramon charges the ring to start and clotheslines Owen over the top rope. Owen hops back into the ring after clearing his head and tells the fans to shut up. Back in, Owen and Ramon tussle over a wristlock, with Ramon winning the exchange. reverses it. Owen escapes and applies a headlock but Ramon whips him into the ropes and floors him with a right hand. Ramon catches Owen on a cross body off the ropes and hits a fall away slam. Cornette hops up on the ring apron, but Ramon makes him pay for it. Ramon goes back to an armbar as Yokozuna, accompanied by Mr. Fuji, slowly lumbers out to the ring. Cornette covers his left eye and cries to the camera and Yokozuna as we head to a commercial break.
When we return Ramon goes back to the arm. Is there a contest among the guys in the back tonight about who can employ the most submission moves that involve the arm? Owen tosses Ramon over the top rope to buy himself some time and when Ramon tries to get back into the ring, Owen hits a baseball slide and delivers an axe handle off the apron. Owen rolls Ramon back in and hits a missile dropkick for two. Owen pounds and chokes away, eventually catching Ramon with a beautiful spinning heel kick off the ropes for two. Chinlock time, which Ramon fights out of, and Owen hits a neckbreaker when Ramon puts his head down too early on a whip. Owen hits a top rope elbow smash for a two and we go to our second commercial break.
We return from the break and have a double KO situation, with Owen covering Ramon for two. Ramon unloads after both men get to their feet and goes for his trademark second rope side suplex. Owen reverses in mid-air, but Ramon turns it over for two. We then head to a thirty second promotional spot. Really? These breaks are really messing with the flow of the match.
When we get back from that stupid thirty second promotional interruption, Ramon has Owen up for the Razor’s Edge but Yokozuna comes into the ring and he pulls Owen down and that draws the disqualification at 10:11 shown. Disappointing match between Owen and Ramon that never got going, but you can’t blame Owen after being involved in the battle royal earlier in the TV taping. Grade: D+
After the match, Yokozuna leg drops Ramon for the sake of doing something and the 1-2-3 Kid comes out. The Kid unloads on Owen and tries to do the same to Yokozuna until Yokozuna realizes that he’s being punched by the freakin’ 1-2-3 Kid and takes him out with one shot. Ahmed Johnson runs out and when Yokozuna turns around he gets body slammed. This was only the second time that Yokozuna had ever been slammed. The British Bulldog rushes the ring and tries to attack Johnson from behind but when Ahmed turns to face him the Bulldog stops dead in his tracks. THIS is how to immediately get over a debuting talent.
-Tune in next week to see Bret Hart & Hakushi battle Jerry Lawler and Isaac Yankem D.D.S.! Also, Marty Jannetty attempts to get revenge against the British Bulldog!
The Final Report: This was not a bad show from a storyline perspective, but the ring action was horrible. The Ahmed Johnson moment would’ve been bigger if he hadn’t injured so many guys and he had won the WWF title a few years after this. Make no mistake about it, they pushed Johnson to the moon right out of the gate and fans loved the guy. Next week’s show promises to be better, but these Raw’s have really died lately and I’m not sure when they are going to pick back up.
Show Grade: D
