WWF 1995 King of The Ring (6/25/95)

As 1995 continued to be a disappointing year for the WWF, their pay per view quality began to suffer along with house shows and other revenue sources. After Wrestlemania 11 and In Your House disappointed, Vince turned to King of the Ring to turn things around. After all, the last 2 years featured memorable tournament matches, deserving winners of the finals and other memorable events along the way. Unfortunately the same inept booking and writing that had plagued them for much of the year would haunt them again in this one. They were in hostile territory to begin with (Philly was ECW country) and with Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Yokozuna involved, there was no way they could screw it up.....right? Not only do we have the tournament, we also got a Kiss My Foot match between Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart and a peculiar main event tag match featuring Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow against Tatanka and Sycho Sid (yes that's how they spelled it).

JUNE 25, 1995

PHILADELPHIA SPECTRUM

PHILADELPHIA, PA

            

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Michael "PS" Hayes (I refuse to call him Dok Hendrix)

We go to Stephanie Wiand who tells us due to Razor Ramon's injury, a qualifying match between Savio Vega and I.R.S. had to be held during the Free For All to fill his spot, and we are now going to see this match as a Coliseum Video exclusive (yes this is the official tape). This match came about due to a rib injury to Razor Ramon, thus (no pun intended) royally screwing up most people's King of the Ring brackets. People thought it was going to be Taker vs Shawn in the semi-finals with the winner meeting Razor in the finals. With Razor out and the new Savio in, something fishy was going on.

Match 1

I.R.S. (with Ted Dibiase) vs Savio Vega (with Razor Ramon) in a King of the Ring qualifying match

Irwin hadn't won a big match in forever it seemed and Savio Vega was hyped up as the next big latino star. I'm not kidding, Savio was ALL OVER television during this time period, guess it was a reward for having to stick around Harvey Whippleman as Kwang the ninja the last year and a half. Razor is the cornerman for Savio and everyone knows I was a huge Razor fan so I rooted for Savio by association. I notice in the front row are the ECW superfans, you remember the guy in the straw hat and the other two guys flanking him at the ECW arena? Well they're in the front row tonight at the Spectrum just to give you an idea how powerful ECW was in the Philly area. Savio and Irwin circle to start before Savio gets a quick small package to surprise Irwin. Savio sunset flips him for 2, rolls him up for 2 and headlocks Irwin high school style for another two count. During downtime, Michael Hayes speculates an IRS vs Kama finals showdown and who Dibiase would root for....whatever he's smoking I want some. We get a camera shot of the French and Spanish announce teams before Irwin tosses Savio to the outside in front of Razor. Michael Hayes then redeems himself by saying if Razor was only to wrestle once, he'd be allowed but with his injury so severe the doctors wouldn't allow him to further injure himself by wrestling 2 or 3 matches in a night. Back inside IRS scoop slams Savio and goes upstairs, but Savio gets the foot up just in time. Savio rallies with right hands and a back elbow smash before a suplex rollover gets 2. IRS rolls outside and heads for the exit but Savio throws him back inside. Irwin goes off the ropes but runs right into a spinning wheel kick (Vega/Kwang's finisher). Savio covers for 1....2...3 and Vega wins it. I don't recall seeing IRS on pay per view again so lets all wave goodbye and thank you for 4 1/2 years of service from the tax man.

Time of Match: 4:00

Winner: Savio Vega by pinfall

 Since that was a Coliseum Exclusive, NOW we run the opening firework display/montage. Vince and Michael hype up tonight's events as we are sent to our first match...technically

Match 2

Savio Vega (with Razor Ramon) vs Yokozuna (with Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji) in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match

  Savio had won the qualifying match earlier during the Free For All while Yokozuna defeated Lex Luger by a count-out to set up this match. Yokozuna was one half of the tag team champions with Owen Hart as Savio Vega cuts a mile a minute promo with Todd Pettengill as Razor looks like he'd rather be somewhere else. Yokozuna waves the Japanese flag while Savio waves a Puerto Rican/American flag to a cheap pop. Yoko knocks Savio down with a shoulderblock to start then chops him into the rope. Savio ducks under a clothesline, runs into a back elbow smash but dodges an elbow drop attempt. Yoko backs Savio into the corner but Savio rams his head into the turnbuckle 10 times. Savio goes for the spinning wheel kick but Yoko wisely ducks under it to avoid the contact. Yoko beats down Savio in the corner as Vince tells us Owen Hart is chillin with Stan Lane in the back. Owen is shown yelling at someone on the phone while wearing a hilarious tuxedo with a bow-tie, his future Slammy Award winning outfit. Back to ringside Yoko goes for the banzai drop but Savio rolls out of the way. Yoko headbutts Savio and applies a nerve hold as Michael Hayes says Savio is at a severe disadvantage after already wrestled before then having to face the 2 time WWF champion Yoko. Savio rallies but Yoko heaves him over the top rope to the floor before Razor throws him back inside. They trade blows inside the ring before Yoko gets the upper hand and scoop slams Vega, but misses with the leg drop attempt. Savio rallies with right hands and clothesline before hitting his trademark spinning wheel kick. Cornette hops on the apron and his decked for his trouble by Savio. Razor comes over and taunts Cornette but all of a sudden Owen Hart runs out still in his tuxedo to attack Razor. Savio jumps out to follow Razor but is cut off by Yoko and they trade blows. Yoko pushes Savio against the ring post and charges, but Savio rolls out of the way into the ring causing Yoko to crash into the post. The referee completes the count and Savio Vega is your winner. Uh oh....with Razor out, the natural opponent for Shawn or Taker in the Finals was Yokozuna. With him out, who the hell wants to see Shawn or Taker against Savio, The Roadie or Bob Holly? Still, Savio gets his first ppv win (not counting the Free For All).

Time of Match: 8:23

Winner: Savio Vega by count-out

   Back to Jerry Lawler's dressing room who was so confident that he's going to beat Bret that he was walking around in horse manure the whole month, he's completely grossed out by his own foot so he's spraying Lysol around then once again says he's going to beat Bret.

Match 3

The Roadie (with Jeff Jarrett) vs Bob Holly in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match

  For whatever reason, the WWF IC champ Jeff Jarrett isn't even on the card while The Roadie is in the tournament....as much of a Jarrett hater I was, how can you have the IC champ not on the card, was he injured too?  We see highlights of The Roadie beating Doink the Clown to qualify before Holly enters, which makes me wonder if that was Doink's last match in the company because he's really not heard from again after this. Bob had beaten another Wrestlecrap.com (cheap plug) inductee Mantaur with a flying bodypress to qualify, thus robbing us of the potential Doink vs Mantaur showdown. Michael calls this the dark horse match and he's got a point, none of the 7 of us had either one of these guys beating Yoko/Savio in the semi-finals let alone winning the whole thing....but then again if you told us 5 years later both of these guys would be featured stars we would have laughed at you as well. Roadie runs into a powerslam pinfall to start the match but kicks out at 2. Holly shoulderblocks Roadie for a 2 count and a sunset flip for a loooong 2 count before cradling Roadie for yet another 2....We;ve had more pinfall attempts in the last 30 seconds than in the last 2 matches combined. Roadie retreats to the outside and regroups with Double J as Michael claims he doesn't like Bob's driving ability. Roadie goes on the offensive but runs into a leapfrog and a shoulderblock. Holly's on fire so far after two hiptosses and a body slam, makes another pinfall attempt for a 2 count. Bob goes for a frankensteiner but Roadie counters with a powerbomb as Double J celebrates on the outside. Michael calls Holly a crash test dummy as Roadie whips Bob hard off the corner and tries to Indian burn him with his dreadlocks (BRILLIANT!), interesting move but Hayes does not approve. Roadie struts and dances before dropping a few elbows to the lower back area of Holly. Roadie applies a rest hold as Hayes brings up Holly's WWF tag team title win with 123 Kid at the Royal Rumble. Bob powers out of the chin lock then hits a running school boy but Roadie grabs the rope at 2. Roadie quells the momentum with a clothesline then dances again....and horribly too. Roadie finally makes the cover 1....2...nope, foot on the rope. Roadie applies another rest hold as Michael says Roadie won't win if he keeps singing and dancing. Holly counters a piledriver with a back drop but hits a flying head scissors to counter a sidewalk slam attempt. Bob ducks under a clothesline and hits a dropkick then goes on the offense going to the ol fisticuffs before a powerslam pinfall attempt gets two. Roadie goes for a superplex but his thrown off the rope by Holly, Bob goes for a splash but Roadie gets the foot up. Holly crashes and Roadie covers for 1....2.....3 that's it...or is it? You can clearly see Holly's arm come up at 2 but the referee says its over and Roadie's your winner. Somebody goofed but in any case the first semi-final match is set, Savio Vega vs The Roadie. Something's wrong, neither of those guys is a good opponent for Shawn or Taker.....unless......

Time of match: 7:29

Winner: The Roadie by pinfall

   We go back to Todd Pettengill who's with the star of tonight's show The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. We see highlights of Shawn pinning the massive King Kong Bundy to qualify as Shawn tells us he's going to beat Kama with sweet chin music.

Match 4

"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels vs Kama (with Ted Dibiase) in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match

   Well, with conventional brackets out the window it was time for the saving grace. HBK had already been in the company for seven years but only now was he beginning to rise to the championship level after being a solid mid-carder for years. Kama had beaten yet another Wrestlecrap.com (yet another cheap plug) inductee Duke The Dumpster Droese to advance to this match. Come to think of it, I think this version of Kama is in Wrestlecrap.com along with his alter-ego Papa Shango. They take forever to start before exchanging go-behinds. Kama tries to throw hooks and jabs but Shawn dodges and hits some left jabs of his own, great now we're going into fisticuffs. Kama backs Shawn in the corner but Shawn leapfrogs over him then scoring with more left jabs. Hayes brings up Shawn's stamina and how he became the first man to enter at number 1 then win the Royal Rumble. Kama tries to throw Shane over the top but he skins the cat back in then backdrops Kama to the floor. Shawn goes to the arm-bar but is kicked in the ribs and clotheslined over the top to the floor by Kama. Back outside, Kama rams Shawn into the ringpost and rolls back in. The referee counts to seven before Kama breaks up the count, what an idiot! From a kayfabe standpoint there was no way Shawn was getting back in, but luckilly for the 5 of us he rolls Shawn back inside then taunts him. Kama goes on offense with boots as Straw Hat Dude gives him the finger. The camera shows former boxing heavyweight legend Smokin Joe Frazier in the crowd as Kama continues to beat down HBK. Kama continues to kick away as the crowd has gone silent, which isn't a good thing. We are now 7 minutes in and Kama has controlled the match from virtually the last 5 and he continues with boxing hooks in the corner. Kama locks in a Jesse Ventura style overhead backbreaker but Shawn counters into a reverse nothern lights for 1...2...nope. Kama whips Shawn who Flair flips onto the floor, where Ted Dibiase puts the clogs to him. Kama taunts Shawn from inside as Tim White begins to count 1...2....3....4....5...oh shit....6....7....8....9.....whew, just in time as Shawn rolls in. Kama hits a series of backbreakers as we get a shot of the French commentating team, I'd love to see Ray Rougeau come out of retirement to lock up with Kama but oh well. Kama puts Shawn in a backbreaker and we are now 11 minutes in.....this is kinda getting serious. Kama whips Shawn into the corner but a charge misses then Shawn flips off into a takedown. Kama gets up but Shawn rolls out of the way of the elbow drop attempt as a scrolling clock appears on screen showing 2 minutes left.....oh shit, the writing's on the wall folks. At this point I turned to Shayna and said, I think we're screwed as Shawn nips up to stomp away at Kama. Shawn goes upstairs and hits an axehandle for 1...2...nope, Kama gets the shoulder up. Shawn does the 10 punch in the corner with 1 minute left in the match and now Steve and Chris are on the edge of their seats.  Kama rolls through a bodypress for 1....2..NOOOO, now Phil and Kevin are into at as they had Kama to win. Kama runs into a small package with 15 seconds left for a 2 count, then Shawn hits a sunset flip for 1......2.....ding ding ding ding ding. The referee tells the ring announcer that the time limit has expired and both guys are gone, the crowd goes LIVID. Shawn hits sweet chin music to send Kama out of the ring but too little too late. In terms of WWF storylines, the King of the Ring is coming down to The Roadie, Mabel, Savio Vega and The Undertaker.  The Undertaker really didn't need the KOTR and the other 3 really didn't deserve it at the time which drastically lowers the standard the KOTR was (and will be again the next 3 years after this). The writing was on the wall folks.

Time of Match: 15 minutes

Winner: No one (time limit draw, both are eliminated)

     We go to Todd Pettengill who hypes up the Mabel/Undertaker showdown with a highlight package. Mabel had beaten Adam Bomb at last month's In Your House to qualify as The Undertaker pinned Jeff Jarrett....and he's the IC champ no less. Back to Michael and Vince at ringside who go over the events so far a then sends us to Bob Backlund.....oh great. The whole vignette was supposed to get Backlund over as the next president of the United States.....yeah ok. Back to ringside we get even more stalling as the French and Spanish teams put in their two cents before finally getting the next match started.

Match 5

Mabel (with Mo) vs The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) in a King of the Ring quarterfinal match

 With Shawn Michaels gone, it had dawned on me that the winner of this match was going to be King of the Ring. Savio and Roadie were nowhere near the talent level of the Hart brothers or the star power of these two, so for all intents and purposes, the winner of this is your King. Mabel struts out as Stephanie Wiand hits ringside to interview Mabel, who says he's gonna be the next king. They stare each other down to start before Taker starts with thrusts to the throat of Mabel then whips him in the corner. Taker clotheslines Mabel but he doesn't go down, a second attempt does nothing but the third attempt floors him. Taker goes Old School down across the back and chokes him in the corner. Michael Hayes asks if Taker's strong enough to chokeslam Mabel as Mabel slams Taker down. Mabel clotheslines him over the top to the floor where Taker lands on his feet, then snaps Mabel off the top rope. Taker's foot gets tied in the ropes so Mabel takes advantage with knees to the back. Taker's really caught and even Mabel almost breaks kayfabe trying to set him free, but back inside Taker staggers around before going back on offense. Mabel hits a belly to belly suplex as the crowd deflates completely, they weren't happy that Shawn wasn't advancing but they're really quiet now the last real favorite is being dismantled. Mabel locks in a rest hold as Hawaiian Shirt Dude yells at Mo. Mabel hurls Taker outside then stalks him around the area before ramming him into the steel steps. Mabel stands on him then rolls back in to break the count before Mo puts the clogs to Taker. Back inside Mabel stands on him once again before whipping him hard off the corner. Paul Bearer says "ohhhh nooo" as Mabel hits a snap suplex and covers for 1...2..nope, near fall. Vince scoffs at Hayes for his expertise of the obvious as Mabel continues to go to work. Mabel goes for an avalanche in the corner but the charge eats boot then a clothesline sends the big man down. Taker goes for a back body drop but Mabel counters with a piledriver for 1....2...noooooo. Undertaker ducks under a clothesline then does a double clothesline spot as we are now 9 minutes in, begging the question if THIS match ends in a draw. Mabel misses an elbow drop as Vince asks if The Undertaker is weakened by the fact the urn is not in his possession. Taker hits an avalanche of his own in the corner before Mabel whips him into referee Mike Chioda....uh oh. Taker ducks under a clothesline and hits his flying clothesline before giving the signal for the chokeslam. Taker hits the chokeslam on the big man as Mo hops up on the apron only to be knocked off for his troubles. Taker goes for the cover when all of a sudden Kama makes his appearance and boots Taker in the head. Mabel rolls over and covers the dead man as Chioda revives......1......2...3......its over. With that instant, the entire pay per view is a complete washout as Mabel is now in the finals. Funny how Taker had only been pinned once in his entire five year (at the time) career in WWF by way of a cheap roll up by Hulk Hogan. He's taken every finisher known to mankind and yet a simple boot to the head by Kama was enough?? The crowd begins chanting ECW as Taker revives and chases Kama out of the arena, ugh. I get the idea of the monster heel vs never say die babyface, but they picked the wrong guys.

Time of match: 10:47

Winner: Mabel by pinfall

   The next segment is the Class of 95 Hall of Fame ceremony, which wasn't the huge party it became since Wrestlemania 20 but a decent banquet nontheless. The seven inductees were Fabulous Moolah, George "The Animal" Steele, Ivan Putski, Ernie Ladd, Pedro Morales, The Grand Wizard and Antonino Rocca. Morales couldn't be there because he was working for WCW at the time so we had none other than Savio Vega accepting the award, told you he was all over the place. Grand Wizard and Antonino were long dead by this point but both of them were legends of their time, The Wizard was the precursor to Jimmy Hart in terms of flamboyant outfits and mic skills. Ernie Ladd, unlike Brock Lesnar was both successful in the ring and in the NFL and we all know the accomplishments of Moolah, Putski and Steele. It was a nice tribute to the old timers and the ceremony is now an annual tradition the night before Wrestlemania. After the feel good tribute to the past, its on to the semi-finals.

Match 6

Savio Vega (With Razor Ramon) vs The Roadie (with Jeff Jarrett) in a King of the Ring semi-final match

This match can only be classified as filler since if you had either of these guys winning it all going in, you were either crazy or stupid. Before the match starts we go to Todd Pettengill who's with Roadie and Jarrett. Jarrett refers to Roadie as the "Road Dog"....could he one day be one half of the WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WOOOOOOORLLLLDDDDDDDDD.....nah. Savio circles to start the match before Roadie backs him in the corner. Savio rallies in the corner with right hands before hiplocking him and clotheslining Roadie over the top to the floor. Roadie complains on the outside before slowly getting back in the ring. Savio goes for the top wristlock as Vince compares Vega to Rocky Balboa....um what? Savio chops Roadie in the corner as Hayes says Vega stole his hubcaps. Savio rolls through a bodyslam into a cradle for a near fall before Roadie hits him with kitchen sink. Roadie hits shake rattle n roll but the cover only gets 1 then Roadie chokes him in the corner then the second rope. Roadie kicks Savio in the head then applies a snap mare then hits a second rope headbutt. The cover gets 1....2...nope, Roadie gets the knee in the back then puts the boots to him as he says "How bout the Road Dog?" Roadie does his snap jabs but Savio fires back with chops of his own. Roadie irish whips Savio off the corner but goes back to the second rope where he misses the headbutt this time. Vince says Savio Vega will wrestle Jeff Jarrett for the IC title tomorrow night on Raw as Savio goes back on offense. Savio sends Roadie off the rope then hits a big boot but the cover only gets 2.  Savio goes off the ropes but Jarrett holds on to the leg. Savio turns his back so Roadie clubs him from behind. Razor comes over to investigate as Jarrett hops up on the second rope to get away. Savio whips Roadie off but stops himself before he runs into Jarrett, but Savio knees him into Double J knocking him off. Savio rolls up Roadie 1....2.....3 that's it, Savio Vega's going to the finals. Jarrett can't believe it as Savio has now won three matches in one night....with one more to go. If he can beat the massive Mabel then the comeback story is complete....a long way from Kwang that's for sure. The match itself wasn't great but what do you expect, these guys probably never worked together before.

Time of match: 6:36

Winner: Savio Vega by pinfall

      After the match Carlos Cabrera hits ringside to interview Savio in Spanish so Michael Hayes gets up to translate. Savio speaks Spanish as Hayes rambles off non-sense and says "I got no chance to beat Mabel" All of a sudden Razor Ramon appears behind Hayes and scares him away. Next is a highlight package of the upcoming Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler showdown. Two years ago at King of the Ring he attacked Bret Hart after Bret had won the King of the Ring tournament and w all know the awesome storyline that was Summerslam 93. What's not in the highlight package is due to a never proven rape charge to Lawler, these two never got to settle matters. Bret winning the WWF championship also put a lid on this temporarily, but with Diesel as champ the opportunity presented itself to heat up the feud and last month at In Your House Bret wrestled a brilliant match with Hakushi only to lose to Lawler later in the night. Bret immediately called for a re-match and Lawler was so confident he was going to win, in the storyline (or not come to think of it) he wouldn't wash his feet until after the pay per view. We even get a glimpse of YET ANOTHER Wrestlecrap.com inductee (another cheap plug) Aldo Montoya losing to the King and having to kiss the disgusting feet. I've thrown out so many cheap plugs is it so hard to believe WCW began to kick the crap out of WWF in the ratings in less than a year? Yes WCW had their lunatic writing at the time but at least it wasn't TOTALLY geared toward children. Anyway, we go to Bret in the back who cuts a promo saying the feuds going to be over and he's prepared to not make mistakes or let anyone interfere.

Match 7

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Jerry "The King" Lawler in a Kiss My Foot match

    Finally after 2 years this feud will finally be settled. King enters first and Stephanie Wiand hits the entrance way to interview him. King says he's gonna win and Stephanie is completely grossed out. Vince speculates if Bret loses this match he will retire due to the embarrassment. Even though this is a pro ECW crowd, the entire arena cheers for The Hitman, THAT'S respect. One sign says "Hulk Who? Hitman Rules." Lawler and Bret lock up as Hayes tells us Jerry cost Hart a match against Henry Godwinn the week before.....that's right, Bret jobbed to HIM.  Bret hammers away in the corner as Hayes says "If Bret gets disqualified he's gotta kiss some feet!" Jerry bails to the outside but Bret cuts him off then throws him into the retaining barrier. Back inside Bret rakes him over the top rope then fires away in the corner again. Bret follows Lawler outside as Vince tells about the Hakushi interference last month at In Your House. Lawler sends Bret into the steel steps as Hayes asks if Shinja and Hakushi would make an appearance during the match. Lawler sends Bret into the retaining barrier then looks for something to hit him with. He throws Bret back inside then taunt the crowd as Hayes hopes the outcome is clear cut. Lawler calls for the piledriver and hits it...uh oh. Lawler wastes time but then goes for another piledriver and hits that one too. Lawler calls for a third piledriver and delivers it cleanly....that's 3 piledrivers. Goodbye Bret...the cover 1...2....NOOOOOOOO. Bret kicks out as the crowd barely makes a noise, do they not know that was his FINISHER?  Lawler goes to attack but Bret rallies with right hands before Jerry heaves him outside. Jerry takes his shoe off as Michael Hayes pretends to gag. Lawler waffles Bret with the boot as Vince mentions how Hart's career is coming to an end. Jerry goes for the cover...1....2..nope, Hayes: "My nose is coming to an end" Lawler chokes Bret with the boot in the corner then takes the boot completely off as Hayes begs for him to keep it on. He goes to shove his stinking foot in Bret's face but he blocks it, trips him up and headbutts him in the lower abdomen. Lawler and Hart trade blows before Jerry crawls to the corner and whacks Bret with the boot again, then puts it back on. Lawler hops up on the second rope and hits the fist drop then covers for 1...2...nope. That's both finishers Bret has kicked out from, now Lawler goes to ram him nut first into the ring post but Bret counters. Bret goes on outside and goes to work on Jerry when all of a sudden Hakushi and Shinja make their appearance. Shinja distracts the ref but Hakushi misses Bret and chops Lawler instead. Back inside Bret runs through his offense....russian leg sweep, back breaker, elbow drop then calls for the sharpshooter. Bret locks it in and the crowd cheers, then Lawler gives up and the match is over. But wait....Bret refuses to break the hold, shades of Summerslam. Hebner begins to count...1....2.....3....4...nope, Bret breaks it showing he's learned from his mistakes. Bret hops up on the top rope and undoes his right boot and sock off as Lawler protests, his whole plan backfired. Hakushi and Shinja run back out to ringside. Lawler nails Bret from behind and holds him, but Bret moves out of the way and Hakushi hits a springboard shoulderblock on The King instead. Hayes "He's oh for two tonight" Hart knocks Shinja off the apron then clotheslines Hakushi over the top and out. Bret then shoves his foot into Lawler's mouth and Jerry begins to gag. Hart goes to leave but turns around, grabs Lawler's unzipped boot and takes it off, then shoves Lawler's stinking foot into Jerry's own mouth. Lawler continues to gag as Bret finally wins the feud, two years later. Bad match but they had to blow it off somehow, this was going for two years now.

Time of match: 9:20

Winner: Bret Hart by submission

      We go to a highlight package of the WWF stars helping out at the 1995 Special Olympics, it was a nice gesture and if nothing else it showed they cared about the special needs program. After that we are showed the last two KOTR winners just to show you how far we've fallen in the last year. Anyway lets get to this impending debacle.....

Match 8

Savio Vega (with Razor Ramon) vs Mabel (with Mo) in the King of the Ring finals match

   Anyone who predicted this going into the night was either high, insane or stupid, but with the inept booking and cartoon characters of the time period, are we really that surprised? From an in ring standpoint the 6'8 500 pound Mabel certainly had the size to be believable and at only 23 years old could be considered a "new star" but like I said numerous times the King of the Ring standard had been set so high because of the last 2 years that he didn't have the credentials, especially since he was still dressing in gold and purple. The fans were not going to get behind Mabel because his in-ring ability was limited meanwhile Savio Vega was a relative newcomer and after spending a year and a half as the Wrestlecrap.com (yes...another cheap plug) inductee Kwang, the fans were going to turn on him for rising to the top so fast. In terms of the match the massive Mabel was fresh after wrestling Undertaker in the quarter-final while Savio Vega plays the face long-shot who's wrestling his 4th match in the night.  Mabel enters and turns to the camera then says "If the dead man couldn't beat me, nobody will" He's got a good point, if The Undertaker couldn't stop him how could Savio Vega? Savio's music plays for the 7th time tonight as Vince continues to hype him up on the same level as Rocky Balboa. Michael Hayes compares Savio in the finals to the 94-95 New Jersey Devils taking home the Stanley Cup the night before.....except Savio Vega is not Martin Brodeur or Scott Niedermayer. Mabel throws Savio in the corner to start the match but ducks out of the way of a charge. Savio fires away in the corner then sticks and moves, what he has to do to win I guess. He double chops Mabel in the corner then punches him 10 times as Mo protests outside the ring. Mabel whips Savio in the other corner but Vega once again ducks out of the way. Mabel scoop slams Vega but Savio rolls out of the way of the earthquake attempt, then clotheslines the big man over the top to the floor. Mabel pulls Savio out of the ring but Vega blocks a head ram attempt then rams Mabel's head into the steel steps. Savio rallies with fists but Mabel whips him into the steps, then rolls inside to break the count. Back inside Mabel chokes Vega on the top rope then whips him into the corner, then locks in a bearhug....BOOOOOORING. Razor tries to wake the crowd up but Mabel continues to work the bearhug spot. Savio does the fade then revive routine as Hayes says Mabel's fatigued after being chokeslammed by the Undertaker. Savio powers out of the bearhug as Hayes hypes up the tag team match coming up. Mabel whips Savio off the corner then locks in another bearhug....come on! Savio powers out of it but Mabel hammers him in the back then lariats him to the mat. Mabel covers for 1...2....thr...noooooo. Mabel locks in another rest hold as Michael Hayes gives us an anatomy lesson. Razor tries to wake the crowd up again and this time Savio powers out of it. Mabel avalanches Savio in the corner as the crowd chants ECW again....and Vince acknowledges it! Mabel charges in the corner but Savio moves then rolls him up for 1.....2...nooooo, Mabel gets the shoulder up. Savio bounces off the ropes and hits his Spinning Wheel Kick. Savio crawls over 1.....2.....Nooooo, almost. Mabel sends Savio off then catches him midair and front slams him down. Mabel covers for 1......2...nope, Savio kicks out and Hayes is shocked. Mabel bounces off the rope and big splashes Savio.  Mabel covers 1....2......3 and its over, Mabel is your 1995 King of the Ring....what pathetic booking. After the match, Razor Ramon hops in the ring to check on Savio. Mo gets in Razor's face so Ramon begins to attack M.O.M. with right hands. Eventually they overpower him and Mabel hits a second rope elbow on him. 123 Kid hits ringside....begging the question why he couldn't have wrestled Jarrett for the IC title on the ppv but no matter. Kid goes to town before he too is overpowererd, Mabel is about to splash Kid but the referees save him. I wonder why Aldo Montoya didn't join in since he was friends with the faces but I guess Mabel squashing Razor, Savio and Kid was strong enough booking.

Time of match: 8:33

Winner: Mabel by pinfall (1995 King of the Ring)

    We go to Todd Pettengill with the coronation ceremony and the fans are completely livid, Mo throws Pettengill off the stage (not literally though) and does the coronation himself. They chant ECW, throw garbage at M.O.M. and really send a message that this was NOT what they wanted to see, could you blame them? You had two former WWF champions in Yokozuna and The Undertaker as well as perennial star Shawn Michaels and yet finals featured the near immobile Mabel and the relative unknown Savio Vega. Mo reads from a scroll...and yeah, Mabel is the king. This is ECW country, so the fans pelting him with garbage is a sign of the times...maybe not now but years later booking like this will come back to haunt them. 123 Kid, Razor and Savio rush the throne but are held back by WWF referees as Mo taunts them, oh sure NOW the faces make the comeback. We cut to the backstage area to see Jerry Lawler puking his guts out in the sink....I'd rather see the coronation than that. We then go to Stephanie Wiand to interview Ted Dibiase's corporation about their upcoming tag match with Bam Bam and Diesel. Sycho Sid says he destroyed Diesel's elbow and he's going to finish the job while Tatanka says he's going to take out Bam Bam once and for all.

Match 9

Bam Bam Bigelow and Diesel vs Sycho Sid and Tatanka (with Ted Dibiase)

    As if the show couldn't get any worse, we got a completely random tag team match to finish off the night. Why couldn't this be earlier and the Kiss My Foot match be here? Tatanka in the four years he's been with WWF at this point had never main evented a ppv, Bam Bam had begun to fizzle out, Diesel wasn't drawing well as champion and Sid was not being booked properly. Bam Bam enters wearing a pyromatic armband set which shoot flames out, why didn't he just shoot those at Tatanka? They brawl in the ring to start before the faces clean house, that didn't take long. Sid and Tatanka stall outside for about a minute and a half before Tatanka gets in to start. Diesel clothesline him down but Sid interferes and nails the injured elbow off the second rope. Tatanka tomahawk chops the injured elbow as the kids in the crowd chant for Diesel. Sid tags in and picks up where Tatanka left off. Sid misses with a leg drop so Diesel tags in Bam Bam who cleans house with clotheslines. Bam Bam dropkicks Tatanka out of the ring and ddt's Sid before going upstairs. Bam Bam hits the top rope headbutt but Dibiase distracts the referee long enough for Sid to kick out at 2. Bam Bam hops up in the second rope to yell at Dibiase so Sid runs over and hammers him from behind with clubbing blows. Sid chokeslams Bigelow off the second rope and the older fans cheer for the big man. Sid poses then tags in Tatanka who covers for 1...2...nope. Tatanka puts the boots to Bam Bam and chops at Bigelow in the corner. Tatanka hits a back suplex and Hayes brings up how Bam Bam and Tatanka were beaten at the Royal Rumble by the Kid and Holly. Tatanka continues to put the boots to Bam Bam then tags in Sid who charges into Bigelow with a big boot. Nine minutes in I think we've seen 5 holds, all but one done by Tatanka. Bam Bam rallies to the outside but Sid boots him to the outside, who goes for the slingshot but Tatanka stops him in time. Sid gets outside and punts Bam Bam in the head, then rolls him back inside. Sid locks in a rest hold and Hayes messes up words during down time before Bam Bam makes the tag to Diesel. Big Daddy Cool cleans house with clotheslines and a scoop slam on Sid. Diesel drops a big elbow but it hurts him to the point where he rolls in pain before tagging in Bam Bam. Tatanka also tags in and chops away at Bam Bam and hits a flying bodypress for 1...2...nope. Tatanka locks in a rest hold as Vince asks if Diesel is too hurt to continue. Bam Bam runs into a jumping ddt and Tatanka covers for 1....2..nope. Tatanka continues to work over Bam Bam before BIgelow  just stands up. They do a double clothesline spot and Bam Bam gets the cover for 1....2...negative. Sid looks very confused as Tatanka locks in yet another rest hold.....wow this is boring. There really is no point to this match because they were setting up Sid vs Diesel anyway and Bam Bam vs Tatanka had already happened a million times in the last 2 years. Bam Bam ducks under a leapfrog and front flips (!!!) onto Tatanka. Bam Bam hits an enziguiri (!!!) and tags in Diesel. Diesel hits a sidewalk slam and a big boot then taunts Sid. Diesel call for the jacknife and he hits it, then covers for 1....2.....wait, he pulled him up. Diesel points at Sid and calls him out, but Sid waves him off then leaves. Sid walks towards the entrance way, abandoning Dibiase and Tatanka as Vince calls him a chicken. That was the final straw for the crowd because the smart fans knew that this meant they were saving Diesel and Sid for the next In Your House. Diesel scoffs then drops an elbow on Tatanka and covers for 1....2...3 that's it. Diesel and Bam Bam celebrate in the ring as the crowd boos loudly, that was a horrible match and the fans knew it. Sid's got some explaining to do when Dibiase gets a hold of him in the back, that's for sure. The crowd has been angry all night but they become damn near riot like because now they have to wait another month before Diesel gets another crack at Sid. Again, bad match and a fitting ending to a ppv that made absolutely no sense and was pretty much the harbinger of the worst rated Summerslam of all time.

Time of match: 17:33

Winners: Bam Bam Bigelow and Diesel by pinfall

 THAT SUCKED!!!!  Other than the Kiss My Foot match, the whole ppv was a complete and giant let down. Razor Ramon was out with an injury and the whole tournament was a fiasco. Mabel was being groomed to feud with Diesel and no one wanted to see either one of them as champion at this point. This was without a doubt the lowest point in WWF history talent wise, the ratings may have been worse the next year or two but at least the cartoon era was finally over in 96. Other than Bret, Shawn and Bob Holly's performance, I can't think of one saving grace to this ppv.  The fans were even chanting ECW at various points, now that's embarrassing. The very next ppv after this would be the July 95 In Your House, Buy this tape only to complete a collection because its AGOOBWA, or you're a major Savio Vega fan   1 out of 5

Wrestlemania 4 (3/27/88)

Wrestlemania 4

March 27, 1988

Trump Plaza

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

There was no way Vince McMahon could top Wrestlemania 3 in terms of ticket sales and a main event that could come close to topping Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant so he had to come up with something different. He decided that, similar to The Wrestling Classic, that the night should be centered around a tournament to crown a new WWF Champion. To do this he had to get the title off Hulk Hogan who had it for 4 years running. The LONG backstory to this was they used the long two count in the opening minute of the Wrestlemania 3 match as an angle to say Andre the Giant should have been champion. Hogan and Andre hooked up at Survivor Series but that resolved nothing. In the winter of 1987, new top heel “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase wanted to buy the WWF Championship from Hulk. Hogan famously shouted “HELLLLL NOOOOOOO!” as a response to Dibiase’s purchase attempt. At the 1988 Royal Rumble, an official re-match between Hulk and Andre was signed for The Main Event. Before that match, Andre promised Dibiase that after he won the title, he’d hand it to him. During the Main Event match, everything was going hunky dory until Andre got the upperhand on Hogan and covered him. Hogan raised his shoulder at one but referee Dave Hebner kept counting to three anyway. Everyone in the world was shocked as Hebner handed the belt to Andre and proclaimed him new WWF champion. Suddenly another Dave Hebner ran to the ring and confronted the one reffing the match. It was revealed that this wasn’t Dave reffing the match but rather his “evil twin” Earl (who had been working for the NWA up to this point) who ran away laughing with Andre, Virgil and Ted Dibiase. The fans were completely confused as to what just happened. Later on, sure enough, Andre handed the world title to Dibiase. Soon after, WWF president Jack Tunney announced that Andre had officially defeated Hogan for the championship, but the title exchange to Dibiase was illegal and the championship was vacant. There would be a 14 man tournament at Wrestlemania 4 to decide a new champion. It was 14 and not 16 because Hogan and Andre had byes in the first round so they could open the Quarterfinals against one another. So Hogan and Andre were going to lock up for the second year in a row but in an entirely different situation. This presented the fans a whole list of candidates to root for and who could possibly be the new champion. Joining Hogan and Andre in the tournament would be Dibiase, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Dino Bravo, “The Rock” Don Muraco, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, “The Natural” Butch Reed, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, One Man Gang, Bam Bam Bigelow, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and “Ravishing” Rick Rude. That literally was the best in the roster not on a tag team at the time or involved in another feud. Other matches included a showdown between powerhouses Hercules and Ultimate Warrior making his ppv debut. The Intercontinental title was on the line as Honky Tonk Man defending against Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. Finally the tag team belts were on the line as Strike Force defends against Demolition. To give everyone else something to do, a 20 man battle royal was booked with the winner getting a 7 foot tall trophy. So with this unique Wrestlemania format in place, they wouldn’t be able to top Wrestlemania 3 but they were trying something different. Say what you will about Vince McMahon but he was always willing to try something new.

Before the show starts we get a Coliseum Video exclusive segment with Craig DeGeorge who had lost his voice the night before, isn’t that too bad? “Mean” Gene Okerlund greets the crowd to open the show and sends it over to Gladys Knight for a wonderful rendition of America The Beautiful. She gets a well deserved hand from the crowd as the show begins with the huge trophy being brought to the ring. The winner of the opening match Battle Royal gets the trophy. We go to Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura who run down the card as the battle royal entrants make their way to the ring. Monsoon asks what Jesse thinks of Bob Uecker and Vanna White and right on cue, Bob joins the broadcast booth. Bob isn’t too happy to see Jesse and vice versa. Monsoon sends it to ringside but not before Jesse makes a fist at Uecker, hahaha.

Match 1

20 Man Battle Royal

The participants are Bret Hart, Jim Niedhart, Jim Powers, Paul Roma, Sika (making his PPV debut), “Dangerous” Danny Davis, Jim Brunzell, Brian Blair, Bad News Brown, Sam Houston, Jacques and Raymond Rougeau, Ken Patera, “Outlaw” Ron Bass, Junkyard Dog, Boris Zhukov, Nikolai Volkoff, Hillbilly Jim, “King” Harley Race and George “The Animal” Steele. Before the match starts Bob somewhat breaks Kayfabe by saying Vince McMahon called and asked him to repeat his performance at Wrestlemania. Vince was presented as just the babyface announcer 99% of the time in those days so for Bob to mention Vince had any sort of pull was a rarity. The bell rings and everyone goes at it. A host of guys gang up to try to dump Sika while Bob Uecker says this reminds him of the final day of cuts during Spring Training in baseball. Sam Houston and Danny Davis go at it as the Harts doubleteam Hillbilly Jim. Bob Uecker says Billy Martin has to be there somewhere. You’re 3 years late Ueck. It should be noted that George Steele doesn’t actually get in the ring, he’s just chilling outside. Gorilla mentions Jesse will be doing some baseball commentary as Ron Bass whips SAM HOUSTON into Davis who shoulder dips him over the top and gone. First guy out 41 seconds into it. Moments later Hillbilly Jim, Brian Blair, Junkyard Dog and Nikolai Volkoff team up to dump SIKA out. Ventura says Houston went out first because he’s too light and Gorilla counters by saying Sika is certainly not light and he’s gone. Blair hits an atomic drop on Davis but is nearly tossed out by Nikolai. The Rougeau’s double team Niedhart for a bit. Jesse finally notices Steele outside and Monsoon says he never got in. Ventura says George is smarter than anyone thinks if that’s his strategy to chill outside and let everyone tire themselves out. Junkyard Dog goes at it with Race, shades of last year. Brunzell saves Patera by ramming Bass and Davis’ heads together. Bob asks if anyone’s seen Vanna White because he’s supposed to meet her there. Monsoon says she’s definitely there. Jesse scoffs and jokes that she’s in love with him, not Bob. Bret comes off the top and nails Raymond. Niedhart starts swiping at Steele outside the ring as Jacques backdrops Blair over the top rope but Brian catches himself on the apron. Suddenly Steele grabs JIM NIEDHART by the goatee and pulls him out. Once again, great strategy by George. Bret is steaming mad as Monsoon says George is already out (he’s not). Jacques stomps away trying to get rid of Blair and Bad News joins in. Jesse says if Vanna has great taste than she’s less filling. Gotta love a beer joke on a family show. Bad News nails BRIAN BLAIR with a chop to the throat and he crumples off the apron to the floor, he’s gone. Ken Patera matches up with Bret as Brunzell tries to dump Raymond in retaliation for Brian. Brunzell does manage to dump RAYMOND ROUGEAU but Jacques sneaks up from behind and JIM BRUNZELL is tossed out. Bob on commentary says the Bees are gone. Boris Zhukov matches up with Hillbilly Jim as JYD hits a headbutt on Ron Bass. Race tries to dump Patera as JYD tosses out RON BASS as Steele comes up and pokes him in the eye, hahahaha. Bob and Gorilla think Steele is out while Jesse correctly points out he never got in the ring. Bret nearly dumps Jacques as the Bolsheviks double team JYD. Jesse randomly makes fun of Uecker’s lifetime batting average in the big leagues but Ueck is a good sport about it. Zhukov dumps out HILLBILLY JIM as Uecker said that was his pick to win the battle royal. If you pay attention outside, referee Jimmy Korderas more or less disqualifies GEORGE STEELE and sends him to the showers without ever getting into the ring. The real reason he never got in the ring was that he was nursing a knee injury suffered at a house show prior to Wrestlemania. Paul Roma picks DANNY DAVIS up in a fireman’s carry and dumps him out to the crowd’s delight. Unfortunately for Paul, Bad News dumps his partner JIM POWERS on the other side of the ring. Uecker says the guys that went out early got their per diem money. Monsoon says he’s gonna have trouble with Jesse and Bob tonight as JYD stares down his old nemesis Race. Harley headbutts him and sells it like HE got hit with a chair. Jesse mentions the only tag team intact at that point is the Bolsheviks. Right on cue Ken Patera shoulderdips NIKOLAI VOLKOFF out. Patera then dumps out BORIS ZHUKOV as Uecker says “USA IS IN, YES SIR!” Unfortunately for Bob, KEN PATERA is dumped by Bad News. We’re down to 6 men left…make it 5 after JACQUES ROUGEAU is dumped out by Race. Roma is in the corner with the Hitman as JYD fends off Bad News and Race JYD then nails HARLEY RACE with a right hand that sends the King over the top and out. Roma unloads on Bad News but an eye rake stops him. Bad News dumps out PAUL ROMA and its down to Bret and Bad News against JYD. All three of them represented Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling at one point so this must have been fun to see for the Stampede fans. Bad News drops Bret with a clothesline by accident. Dog headbutts Bad News down and does his Doggie headbutts on the ground to both Brown and the Hitman. JYD stops to rev up the crowd which allows Bad News enough time to collect himself. He and Bret double team JYD until he goes down. Bret and Bad News high and low five each other and Bad News whispers in his ear to set up a strategy. Jesse says its like talking to the third base coach before dropping down a bunt, but in Uecker’s case he’d have to make contact for that to happen. Once again Uecker runs with it in a hilarious fashion. Uecker was pretty lousy but nowhere near the worst baseball player of all time even though that was his gimmick that he claimed to be. Bret and Bad News continue to work over JYD. Bret and Bad News try to dump JYD as Jesse says this is Bad News style of match since he’s a loner anyways. Another attempt by Bret and Bad News succeeds and JUNKYARD DOG is gone. Bret and Bad News celebrate as Monsoon reasons that Bret and Bad News are going to split the purse money. Jesse correctly asks how they’re going to split the trophy? Just wait Jess. Bret and Bad News continue to pose for the crowd as Monsoon says one keeps the trophy for a year and then hands it to the other. Jesse says they’re going to have to tell the referee to call it off and right on cue, Bad News nails Bret with the ghetto blaster out of nowhere. Uecker says that’s the last time he’s going to listen to Gorilla and Jess because he thought they were friends. Bad News goes to town on Bret and Jesse says when money is involved, there are no friends. Bad News whips Bret sternum first into the corner as Monsoon says its like running into the centerfield wall. Bad News finally tosses BRET HART out and there’s your winner. Bad News dumped Brian Blair, Jim Powers, Ken Patera, Paul Roma, JYD and the Hitman to win it. The triophy is legit 7 feet high and its brought into the ring. Ring announcer Howard Finkel declares Bad News the winner as Brown holds up the black gloved fist. I always thought that was an awesome gimmick that should have been taken to a higher level in the main events. Bad News taunts the irate crowd as Jesse says this is going to propel him up the ranks. Suddenly Bret sneaks back in the ring and dropkicks Bad News out of the ring. What a sore loser! Then again, he got double crossed. Bret then smashes the trophy must to Bad News’ dismay. The crowd pops for the Hitman as Bret destroys the trophy and throws it at him. Bret holds up pieces of it in the ring as Bad News bails. Uecker says he’s glad he never won MVP for reasons like that. Hahaha I would have loved to have seen Bob win the 1964 National League MVP instead of his teammate Ken Boyer only for Boyer to attack him in the clubhouse, destroying the plaque. Jesse says that’s why he hit .200 in his career. The battle royal win DID somewhat help Bad News on his quest for title shots against the Mega Powers depending on who had the belt. Honky Tonk Man once said in a shoot interview that Vince could have saved so much money by having Bad News as the black power world champion back when racism was more rampant than it is now instead of having to waste millions of dollars on Ultimate Warrior. He’s right in a sad sort of way. Imagine the anti-white Bad News standing over the body of a defeated Hogan or Savage, holding up the black gloved fist in one hand and the WWF Championship in the other. To be fair, even Bad News wasn’t really broken up about it. He said in his own shoot that he was never in wrestling to win “fake wrestling belts”, he was in it to make money. He didn’t understand that being world champion gave you a chance to make more money in private appearances, endorsements and main event money. Then again, he wasn’t a personable guy anyway so its not like you could market him as such. Still, Bad News had his Wrestlemania moment…even if it was ruined by a pissed off Bret Hart.

Time of match: 9:44

Winners: Bad News Brown

Bob Uecker hightails it out of the announce booth to find Vanna White. We then go to a Coliseum Video exclusive interview with Craig DeGeorge and Ted Dibiase. Dibiase is in the “plush” locker room which is probably Donald Trump’s suite at the Plaza. Ted says you’ll never see him in a “stinky, dingy locker room with a bunch of bubbling buffoons”. Ted predicts he’s going to be WWF Champion. DeGeorge asks about Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Ted says Duggan is the lowest form of scum and he’ll plow through him. He tells DeGeorge to beat it and we cut back to ring side. Obviously Dibiase was one of the favorites otherwise he wouldn’t get this kind of interview. We go back to The Fink who introduces Robin Leach of the popular tv show The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (for you youngsters, think MTV Cribs or Vanderpump Rules). Robin reads a proclamation from a golden scroll to let the tournament begin. Really? I know it was a big deal to crown a new champion but a golden scroll? Well he IS Robin Leach and he does know why. Finally we get to our first tournament match.

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match 1 (Match 2 overall)

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase (with Andre The Giant and Virgil)

Ironic as these two Mid-South Wrestling stablemates would be competing to open the tournament on WWF ppv while their former comrades in Mid-South would be working for Crockett that same night at the first ever NWA Clash of Champions. Monsoon instantly bitches about Andre being at ringside with Dibiase as Ventura speculates what would happen if Dibiase beats Duggan and Andre beats Hogan later. Monsoon correctly points out Dibiase would have to face the winner of Don Muraco and Dino Bravo before he’d meet Andre. Ventura says suppose Ted wins that one, then what? Monsoon says Andre would step aside as Ventura says Dibiase may. Yeah right Jesse. Andre tried to hand him the belt once and President Jack Tunney said no way. Both men are in standard attire as the bell rings. Duggan backs Dibiase in the corner as Jesse says we got a contrast in styles, Dibiase the classic mat technician and Duggan the brawler. Duggan was a pretty good amateur in his home state of New York but he made his career brawling. They lock up as Ted breaks clean while Duggan says “HOOOO!”. Duggan unloads with right hands as Jesse says he saw it coming. Dibiase tries to go toe to toe with him but Duggan ducks under a punch and delivers an atomic drop that sends Ted over the top to the floor. Duggan poses for the crowd as we get a panoramic view of the crowd. Ted regroups with Andre and Virgil before getting back in. Jesse asks if Gorilla scalped his comped tickets for money for the tables at the Trump Plaza the night before. Ted backs Jim down with chops but Jim ducks under one and clotheslines him down. Duggan pounds on Dibiase in the corner as Jesse says he’s not a Rhodes scholar. Jim charges but eats a boot from the Million Dollar Man. Dibiase unloads on Duggan before whipping him in the corner. Dibiase drops Duggan with a clothesline as Monsoon says whoever wins the tournament will have earned it having to face 4 opponents. Dibiase floors Duggan again, drops the Fistfull of Dollars Punch and covers for a 2 count. Duggan rallies with right hands but an eye rake stops the momentum. Dibiase whips him but Duggan sunset flips him for a two count. Jesse can’t believe Duggan was capable of a technical move, ha. A knee to the gut drops Hacksaw as Jesse says it would be a disgrace if Duggan won the title. Duggan blocks a suplex and delivers one of his own. Dibiase hops on the second rope but eats a punch to the ribs on the way down. Duggan rallies with right hands and a clothesline. Monsoon says we may see the three point stance soon as another whip by Duggan ends with a body slam on Ted. Duggan goes for the 3 point stance clothesline but is tripped up by Andre on the outside. Duggan reaches through the ropes and eats not only a right hand from Andre but a knee to the back by Dibiase. Referee Jack Kruger was looking right at Andre too, logically that should have been a disqualification. Duggan drops like a dead deer and Dibiase lands the Fistfull of Dollars Punch. Monsoon bitches as Dibiase covers for the 1…2..3 and Dibiase wins the match. Horrible officiating by Kruger as he was looking right at Andre but whatever, Dibiase advances to the next round. Virgil and Andre get in the ring to celebrate with Ted as the crowd is irate. Duggan grabs the two by four as the heels bails to the back. Jesse says its too little too late and Dibiase moves on. We get shown the replay where Duggan is blasted by Andre and Ted at the same time. Most of these matches are going to be short due to a tournament night so no sense squawking about the length of any of them. The contrast of style worked to tell the story of Dibiase trying to evade the brawling tactics of Duggan long enough for the equalizer outside (Andre) to help him win. Some would call this a bad match but I say the hell with em. This would be a recurring theme throughout the night with Ted, Andre and Virgil watching each other’s backs as Dibiase advances to the second round with Hogan and Andre already there.

Time of match: 5:02

Winner: Ted Dibiase by pinfall

We cut to “Mean” Gene Okerlund who interviews Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake on his upcoming Intercontinental Championship challenge against Honky Tonk Man. Brutus says you don’t get his tights on the boardwalk. “When its all said and done, I will be the new championnnnnn.” Gene asks what about Jimmy Hart? Brutus says he’s gonna give him a haircut. That would be fun wouldn’t it? Brutus “It could happen to YOUUUUUUU” Back to ring side.

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match 2 (Match 3 overall)

Dino Bravo (With Frenchy Martin) vs “The Rock” Don Muraco (with Superstar Billy Graham)

The battle of the powerhouses with the winner facing Ted Dibiase in the second round. Back in those days that’s a dead giveaway Muraco wins it. Let’s see what happens though. Muraco is in the light blue trunks and Bravo in the green for this one. Before the match starts Jesse says Billy Graham is rubbing off on Muraco since Don wears the tie-dye t-shirts to the ring too. Also the 39 year old Muraco was in much better shape than he was 2 years earlier during Roddy Piper’s face turn. Ventura bitches that he invented tie-dye and taught Graham everything he knows. Monsoon scoffs and says Graham is a former WWF champion and Jesse is not. Jesse takes a shot at Bruno Sammartino by saying Graham beat an easy champion. Frenchy and Billy leave as Monsoon points out that Muraco is in better shape than he was as IC champion. Gotta love steroids. Ventura teases that Graham is thinking of making the big comeback as they lock up in the ring. Bravo gets the upper hand as Monsoon says if it wasn’t for Muraco, Graham would have been in a wheelchair at the hands of the One Man Gang and Butch Reed. That was the kayfabe reason Graham became a manager as the real reason was his artificial hip left him a shell of himself and couldn’t work anymore. Bravo shoulderblocks Muraco in the corner but Muraco whips him into the other corner. Murao hits a clothesline and a scoop slam then goes up to the second rope. He goes for a Vader bomb but switches to a forearm smash at the last second and covers for a deuce. Don backdrops Dino then takes him down with an armdrag. Muraco goes for a second one but Dino drops it and he drops a couple of elbows. Dino hits a gut wrench suplex and puts the boots to Muraco. Bravo rams Don into the buckle then whips him to the other one. A charge eats knee and Don kicks the left leg. He goes to work on the left leg with a toe hold as Graham on the outside chases Frenchy away. Dino kicks Muraco away but again Don goes back to the leg lock. Dino kicks Muraco off and he gets his head caught in the ropes. Bravo takes advantage with a piledriver and poses for the irate crowd. He covers for two and goes for a second piledriver, only to be backdropped. Don ducks the line and they wipe each other out with a double clothesline. Muraco rallies with a forearm to the chest and another scoop slam. Muraco goes for another running forearm but Bravo pulls the ref in the way, Muraco wiping him out instead. Dino gets the sidewalk slam and covers but the ref just taps him. Finkel announces Muraco has won by disqualification as Ventura asks why. Bravo protests in the ring as Monsoon says he pulled the referee in the way. We go to the replay that does show Bravo pulling the ref in the way and Ventura has to admit that's what happened. Big hoss match here and Vince wanted the face to advance without Bravo losing too much heat. Modern fans wouldn't like it but nobody cares what they think.

Time of match: 4:54

Winners: Don Muraco by DQ

We cut to Bob Uecker who says he’s going to take a walk with Vanna White after the interview. Jimmy Hart and Honky Tonk Man crash the party and Bob says Hart is gonna get a haircut. HTM makes fun of Uecker’s lifetime batting average. Uecker “You guys ain’t ever comin to my house! Back to you Gorilla and Jess!”

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match 3 (Match 4 overall)

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) vs Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (and "Little Dragon" Richie Steamboat)

Yes, this began the ridiculous process of Ricky bringing his infant son to the ring before his matches. Jesse jokes that Ricky will tag out to the baby. Jesse “He’s got cheeks fatter than Bundy.” Ruh roh, you're not supposed to mention guys no longer in the company! Anyway a lot of people at the time picked Ricky to win the whole thing after he was IC champion the year before. Fans also wanted a Savage/Steamboat re-match from last year, just have to get by Valentine first. Tie ups go nowhere to start but Ricky slides under Greg before catching The Hammer with a hiptoss. Ricky gets in an armdrag and locks in an arm-ringer. Valentine gets dropped three times with shoulderblocks and near falls after. Ricky gets thrown over the top but skins the cat back in. Steamboat dropkicks Valentine in the back but Greg falls on top of Ricky to negate the schoolboy. Instead Ricky gets a lateral press for 1...2..nope. Jesse Ventura gives a shoutout to Barry Blaustein by saying he predicted Steamboat to win. Monsoon picks Hulk Hogan. Valentine gets some forearms and a big elbow to drop the dragon. Valentine chops Ricky down and chokes him with his boot. Valentine drops Ricky on the external occipital protuberance area as Jesse says "The WHAT?" Ventura drops a forearm and covers for a deuce but Ricky rolls out of a back suplex. Ricky rams Valentine into the buckle who falls backwards down. Ricky drops a knee and gets in an arm-ringer, but Valentine counters with an inverted atomic drop. Valentine levels Steamboat with a clotheslines then delivers elbows right between the eyes. Valentine elbows Ricky on the apron and hits a series of left jabs. Donald Trump is shown in the crowd as Steamboat chops Hammer down. Ricky covers for a deuce and goes for a scoop slam but couldn't hold him. Valentine lands on him and gets 1...2...nope. Valentine hits a stomach breaker and delivers a headbutt to the midsection. Valentine goes for the figure four but Ricky kicks him off. They trade blows in the middle of the ring and Valentine lands a forearm. Ricky hits a huge running chop and Valentine does the tree flop face first. Ricky covers for a deuce but gets a thumb to the eye. Valentine hits a shoulderbreaker and covers for 1..2....nooo. Valentine goes up to the top rope and hits the big forearm. Valentine taunts the irate crowd but Ricky blocks the figure four attempt. Ricky slams Greg's head into the mat three times. Ricky catches Valentine with a back elbow then goes up to the top. Ricky hits the top rope chop to the head and covers for 1..2...noooooo. Steamboat rams Valentine's head against the buckle 11 times but referee Earl Hebner pushes Ricky away and Ricky shoves him to his knees. Ventura says "Wait a minute!" Ricky goes up to the top and hits the flying crossbody....but Hammer rolls through and hooks the tights for 1....2....3..to win the match. So much for Ricky going all the way as Valentine pulls off the upset. That was a great match and people are stunned. Ricky waves goodbye to the fans as the reason why he didn't win it all....was that he was leaving. This would be the last we'd see of Steamboat until his various appearances in WWE nearly 20 years later.

Time of match: 9:10

Winner: Greg Valentine by pinfall

We go to Mean Gene who’s with The British Bulldogs, Matilda, Koko B Ware and Frankie. Davey boy says Matilda is on a weasel hunt. Koko says he smells a weasel hunt. He wants Matilda to eat Heenan’s lunch. We go to a Coliseum Video exclusive where Craig DeGeorge tries to snoop into a package being delivered to Bobby Heenan’s dressing room. The courier tells DeGeorge to get lost and he doesn’t know what’s in the package. Heenan tells the camera crew to get lost and says its none of Craig’s business what’s in the box.

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match 4 (Match 5 overall)

“The Natural” Butch Reed (with Slick) vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth)
With Valentine in the second round, conventional wisdom has Macho Man taking this one. The Peacock overdub of Jive Soul Bro during Butch's entrance is downright criminal if you choose to watch that version. Ventura says Monsoon is drooling over Elizabeth so much that he looks like Matilda. Savage and Elizabeth enters with matching blue outfits with Savage in the beige trunks. Ventura says he was on the Macho bandwagon 2-3 years ago which is true. Ventura says Reed is more powerful and Slick is the better manager compared to Elizabeth. Savage ducks a line to start but Reed backs Savage into the corner. He gets some knees in then delivers a snapmare. Reed drops a fist and rams his head into the buckle. Savage rams Butch into the buckle and kicks him in the ribs. Reed blocks a vertical suplex and executes one of his own. Reed drops an elbow and covers for a deuce. Butch punches away on Randy as Monsoon says so far the Quarterfinals are Andre vs Hogan, Dibiase vs Muraco and the winner of this faces Valentine. Butch snaps Randy off the top rope and he falls to the floor. Reed stomps away at Randy and drops him with a back elbow smash. Butch goes up to the second rope and drops the forearm to the head. Reed drops his head and gets kicked for it. Randy rallies with left jabs. Reed misses a charge in the corner but lands a clothesline. Butch starts taunting Elizabeth by saying its all over girl as he slowly goes up to the top rope. Savage slams Butch off the top, goes upstairs himself and hits the flying elbow drop. Savage covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Ventura says he was wrong about Elizabeth as she distracted Reed long enough for Savage to take advantage. Crash style match with Reed dominating until the Savage rally at the end. Much like Steamboat, this was Butch Reed's last match with the WWF as he would go back to the NWA soon.

Time of match: 4:09

Winners: Randy Savage by pinfall

We go back to Bob Uecker who’s holding the Wrestlemania 4 program. He's happy that Vanna and him are in the progam next to each other. Bobby Heenan and The Islanders walk in and Uecker taunts them all. Best line is Uecker saying the ASPCAKGBY will be after Heenan. Heenan scoffs and cuts his own promo saying he's got the Islanders and he's not afraid of the miserable mutt Matilda or the bird. Bob Uecker says Matilda will have a smorgasbord with Heenan and the Islanders.

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match 5 (Match 6 overall)

One Man Gang (with Slick) vs Bam Bam Bigelow (with Sir Oliver Humperdink)

The battle of the super heavyweights and rematch of the Survivor Series was the dark horse match of the first round. All eyes were on Hogan, Andre and Dibiase but nobody was talking about Bam Bam or Gang. Monsoons says Bam Bam is not too far from his hometown. Gang attacks at the bell and clubs away in the corner on Bam Bam. Gang continues to club away with forearms and right hands into the other corner. Gang whips Bam Bam into the corner and Monsoon says his highest weight was 440. Gang clotheslines Bigelow in the corner and whips him in the other. Gang misses a charge and Bam Bam drops him with a shoulderblock. Bam Bam does a cartwheel and does a terrible splash. He covers for 1...2...no. Bam Bam had no air on that and Gorilla says he can't beat Gang that way. Bigelow ducks under a clothesline and hits a crossbody for 1....2...no. Bigelow works over Gang as Ventura says Vanna White won't have to worry about being chased around by these two. Another cover gets a deuce and Bam Bam goes to town with forearms to the side of the head. A headbutt and a clothesline drops Gang as Ventura says this match will come down to who has the most endurance. Monsoon said he could go an hour when he weighed 440 as Ventura says Slick won't be happy if Gang loses because Butch Reed already lost. Another headbutt drops Gang and Bigelow lands a diving headbutt. Instead of covering Bam Bam tells the crowd one more is coming....uh oh. Bam Bam goes off the ropes but Slick pulls the top rope down in plain view of referee Jack Krueger. Krueger starts counting while Bam Bam makes it to the apron. Gang pummels him yet Krueger is still counting. Bam Bam headbutts Gang down, kicks Slick off his leg and gets in the ring as Krueger STILL COUNTS HIM OUT AS HE'S ALREADY IN THE RING! Bam Bam cartwheels and Gang bails as the bell rings. Ventura and Monsoon was too busy yapping to notice anything that just happened. Fink gets on the mic and says Bam Bam has been counted out. Good grief did Bam Bam attack Jack Krueger when he was still an active wrestler? That was one of the worst ref performances ever. Still, Gang goes over and that was a pretty bad big man match. Oh well.

Time of match: 2:55

Winner: One Man Gang by count-out

We go to Mean Gene who’s with the former champion Hulk Hogan himself. Hulk cuts one of the weirdest, asinine promos ever. Basically saying how he’s going to slam Andre so hard that Trump Plaza will sink into the ocean and Donald Trump will have to forgo his riches to dog paddle his family to safety, and if he can’t swim anymore Hogan will dog paddle everyone to safety. This is why you don’t script interviews, nobody could have POSSIBLY wrote something that hilariously stupid. Still though, Hogan was Hogan for a reason and he's ready for Andre. We cut to Trump himself signing autographs in the front row and the replay of Slick pulling the rope down. On to the next match.

WWF Championship Tournament First Round Match 6 (Match 7 overall)

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs “Ravishing” Rick Rude

With the Gang winning his match, the natural set up would be Roberts winning this one. Rude gets on the mic and says all the little boys are taking a gamble by letting their women see his ravishing body. He says the odds are in his favor as Jake makes his entrance. They tie up to star and Rude pushes Jake into the corner, posing for the irate crowd. Another tie up has Jake throwing Rude face first to the ground. Ventura says Jake has more experience but Rude has the size. Rude scoop slams Jake and clocks him with a series of rights. Rude scoop slams him a second time but Jake blocks the third attempt. Jake hits two scoop slams of his own and Rude begs off in the corner. Jake drops him with a right hand and Rude crawls right onto Damien's bag causing him to crawl away. Jake gets in an arm-ringer and ducks a big right hand. Jake continues to work over the left arm while ducking right hands. Jake turns it into a wristlock as Ventura says he's been out of the ring for two years & can still go. Monsoon says he'd buy a ticket to that. Jake continues to work over the wristlock but Rude shoulderblocks him in the corner to break the hold. Rude props him on the second rope but runs right into a knee lift. Jake gives the sign for the DDT but Rude slides out of it and regroups with Heenan on the floor. Rude slides back in and Jake locks in another left arm-ringer. They criss-cross and Jake catches Rude with a scoop slam. Jake goes for the knee lift but Rude gets out of the way. Rude takes advantage and stomps on him as Heenan says don't waste any time. Rude drops Jake with a clothesline and poses again. Rude covers for a deuce then locks in a chinlock. Ventura says there's only 15 minutes in the match so wear down holds aren't the best decision. Hmmm, they haven't mentioned time at all until this match, what's the implication here? Jake gets to his feet but Rude yanks the hair to get Jake back on the mat. Referee Jimmy Korderas tells Heenan to get lost as Jake finally powers out of it with an arm-drag. Rude goes up to the second rope and decks Roberts with a forearm. Heenan yells at Rude to hurry up as Rude clobbers Jake with right hands as Monsoon again brings up the time limit. Rude clotheslines and covers for a deuce before going back to the chinlock. Someone in the crowd shouts "BORING!" as right on cue Jake elbows out of it only to be face planted on the mat by Rude. Rick goes to the top rope and lands a flying fistdrop. Rude covers for 1..2...nope. Rude goes for another chinlock as the crowd starts to chant "weasel". Jake goes for the back suplex but Rude held on to the chinlock. Rude rolls over on top for 1...2...nope. Rude kicks Jake against the bottom rope and covers again for a deuce. Rude goes back to the chinlock as the "boring" chant gets louder. Jake grabs the hair but it doesn't work as the crowd continues to chant boring. Monsoon and Ventura bicker out of boredom as Jake tries to rally the crowd with a comeback. Jake hits a jawbreaker and rallies with left hands. Jake hits a backdrop and hits the short armed clothesline. Jake signals for the DDT but Rude drives him in the corner. Rude whips Jake in the corner but a charge eats knee. Jake hits a stomach breaker and covers for 1...2....nope. Ventura says they gotta be getting close to the time limit and you know where this is going. Rude hits a back suplex and covers for a deuce. Rude ducks the line but they clothesline each other down. Jake goes for a DDT but Rude scoops the leg for the Flair Pin for 1.....2....DING DING DING. Monsoon says he didn't see a three count but the bell rang anyway. Rude thinks he's won but the Fink announces the time limit draw, both men are gone. One Man Gang has a bye into the semi-finals. Jake grabs Damien and chases Rude & Heenan away. That match was brutally boring even by 1988 standards and its mostly due to the booking. They were supposed to go the full 15 so they worked the chinlock for half the time.

Time of match: 15:00

Winners: No one (Time limit draw)

We go to Mean Gene who’s with Vanna White to check out the updated brackets. Hogan and Andre received byes in the first round so they will kick off the quarter finals. After that Ted Dibiase battles Don Muraco. Greg Valentine takes on Randy Savage and One Man Gang has a bye into the semi-finals. Pretty straightforward here as Vanna says she loves the Hulk, Randy & Elizabeth.

Match 8

Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules (with Bobby Heenan)

Power vs power as rising star Warrior takes on the perennial mid-carder Hercules. Funny how Heenan just left with Rude and had to come back with Hercules. Warrior sprints down the stairs at Trump Plaza and gets a big pop. Bell's gone and they circle to start. A shoulderblock goes nowhere and a second one is ineffective. Hercules and Warrior shove each other then tie up. Warrior backs Herc in the corner but Warrior clubs away with punches and chops anyway. Herc ducks a line and it takes three clotheslines to drop Warrior. Warrior lands a left arm clothesline then does another one. Warrior tries to drop Herc on the top rope but misses so he sends him off the ropes. Herc runs right into a chop but dumps Warrior over the top to the floor. Warrior pulls Herc out and they brawl on the floor. Warrior rams Herc into the ring steps then rolls him inside. Herc punches away at Warrior and hits an elbow. Warrior punches the back of the neck then chokes him in the corner. Warrior does 10 punches in the corner but Herc hits an inverted atomic drop. Herc rams Warrior into the buckle but gets whipped into the corner. Warrior misses a charge and backs right into the full nelson. Warrior kicks off the ropes and Herc turns it into a German suplex bridge for 1.....2....Warrior gets the shoulder up....3 to end the match. Monsoon notices right away Warrior got the shoulder up as Herc and Heenan think they've won. Referee Earl Hebner says Warrior has won it. Herc attacks after the bell and grabs his chain. He wraps the chain around Warrior's neck but Warrior uses his strength to pull it off and chase Hercules away by swinging the chain wildly. Ventura says the rivalry is far from over but Warrior gets the duke this time. That match sucked as Ted Dibiase once said Hercules and Warrior both could work if they had someone to lead them, but against each other they were lost. It showed here.

Time of match: 4:29

Winner: Ultimate Warrior by pinfall

We show Sugar Ray Leonard in the crowd as Ventura said Marvin Hagler won that fight....don't get me started. We go to a highlight package of the events leading up to Hogan vs Andre starting the previous year where Andre turned heel to challenge Hulk at Wrestlemania 3. We get a highlight of Wrestlemania 3 then to Ted Dibiase saying he's going to buy the world title. Hogan says HELLLL NOOOOOOOOO! Then Andre attacking Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event leading to Andre promising Ted Dibiase he'll deliver the world title. Then we cut to The Main Event where Andre pinned Hogan due to the crooked referee. We cut before the twin ref angle and we're back at ringside for the next match.

WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match 1 (Match 9 overall)

Andre The Giant (with Ted Dibiase and Virgil) vs Hulk Hogan

The monster match of the second round would pretty much set the tone of the remainder of the tournament. After all, if Hogan won, logically that would mean he’d face One Man Gang in the finals. If Andre won, that would mean logically taking on Randy Savage in the final. Why have Andre beat Hogan just to lay down for Dibiase? Virgil and Dibiase accompany Andre to the ring and Monsoon scoffs there's too many guys. Monsoon says he had "Wild" Red Berry as a manager as Hulk makes his entrance. Hogan runs to the ring and Andre kicks him at the bell. Hogan didn't even take his shirt off as Andre rams him into the buckle. Andre chops him and hits a big roundhouse right. Andre chops and hits the big headbutt. Hogan rallies with running forearms but Dibiase hops up on the apron. Hogan chokes Dibiase then grabs Andre for the double noggin knocker. Hulk chops Andre until he's tied up in the top rope. Dibiase and Virgil free Andre as Hogan punches away at the giant. Hogan fires away and finally Andre goes down. Hulk drops an elbow but Andre snatches him by the throat for the blatant choke. Andre does the seated splash and puts the boots to Hogan. Andre grabs Hogan and chokes him again. Andre locks in a nerve hold and Hogan goes down to one knee. Hogan's arm drops twice but Hogan revives and rallies with a knee to the ribs. Hogan punches away at Andre, runs off the ropes and clotheslines Andre in the corner. Hogan calls for a slam but Virgil distracts the referee. Dibiase clobbers Hogan with a steel chair but Hogan chases Dibiase away. Hogan grabs the chair and goes to hit Andre but Andre blocks it. Hogan kicks him in the ribs and nails him with the chair. Ventura correctly points out that's a disqualification but Andre grabs the chair and waffles Hogan with it. The ref calls for the bell....oh NOW you call for the bell? Hogan nails Andre with it a third time as Hogan chases Dibiase and Virgil away. Dibiase throws Virgil to Hogan and runs off. Hogan hits a vertical suplex on Virgil and goes back to the ring. Monsoon says double disqualification is the official rule as Hogan slams Andre again. Ventura says both men are gone so the winner of the next match gets the bye to the Finals. Ventura scoffs at Hogan posing for the crowd since he didn't win. People want to say it was a bad match but considering they had five minutes, it served its purpose. Hogan poses and poses....and poses some more.

Time of match: 5:22

Winner: No one (Double DQ)

Mean Gene Okerlund is with Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Okerlund says he's surprised that Hogan & Andre are gone as Savage says "Hogan is a cheated man not a defeated man." Gene asks Savage about his chances and Savage says nothing's going to stop the Macho Man now. Elizabeth says she believes Randy will win it all. Savage "ALL THE WAY, YEAH! DOIN IT YEAH!" On to the next match.

WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match 2 (Match 10 overall)

“The Rock” Don Muraco (with Superstar Billy Graham) vs “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase

Muraco comes out looking cool, calm and collected while Dibiase comes out in just his tights, looking distraught without Andre and Virgil. After Hogan manhandled Virgil, Dibiase is going for it alone. That actually is a cool set up considering he needed both Andre and Virgil to beat Duggan in the first round. Muraco also has Billy Graham in his corner so actually Dibiase is the underdog here. Monsoon and Ventura points out the winner of the match is in the finals. Muraco grabs him onto the apron and rams his head into each buckle as the bell rings. Muraco slams Dibiase in the ring and clotheslines him. Muraco drops an elbow and hits a powerslam, covering for 1...2..nope. Muraco unloads on Ted and drops him with a back elbow smash. Muraco hops on the second rope and drops a fist then covers for a deuce. Dibiase is sent into the buckle and snap mared. Muraco does a neckbreaker as Ventura says Graham isn't above bending the rules. Muraco hits a dropkick and covers for 1...2...nope. Dibiase bails to outside and Graham threatens to hit him with his cane. Back inside Muraco nails him with a series of right hands. Muraco whips Ted into the corner and Dibiase slingshots The Rock into the ring post. Ted stomps away on Muraco and goes for the blatant choke. Ted stomps Muraco and rams his head into the buckle. Dibiase hits a left armed clothesline as Ventura says the favorite to win is One Man Gang with Hogan & Andre gone. Dibiase does his million dollar fistdrop but Muraco's foot is on the rope. Ted goes back to the blatant choke and a headlocked punch. Ted chops Muraco but puts his head down, eating a boot. Dibiase recovers and goes for the eye rake followed by a scoop slam. Ted misses the second rope elbow and Muraco unloads in the corner with right hands. Muraco clotheslines Dibiase and Ted begs off. Ted sends Don off and eats a shoulderblock. Ted catches a charging Muraco with a stun gun and covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Dibiase is in the Finals. Today's fans hate the match but I dug it. Muraco was just a fading mid-carder but the fact Dibiase was in distress and didn't have Virgil gave the illusion Don could win. We go to the replay of the stun gun as one half of the Finals is set before the second round is even over! That leaves the Macho Man the only babyface left.

Time of match: 5:44

Winner: Ted Dibiase by pinfall

We go back to Bob Uecker who’s nervous that he can't find Vanna White. All of a sudden Demoltion and Mr. Fuji walk in. Smash in baseball you get hit in the head with a bat, you go down. Strike Force is going down. Ax says they're grabbing the golden goose in Atlantic City and ringing its neck. Uecker says it must be October 31st already. "I've never eaten sushi either!" Ha. Before the next match starts, One Man Gang is in the ring with Slick. Howard Finkel announces Gang advances to the semi-final via a bye and the ref raises his arm for the obligatory victory pose. He makes his exit as we begin the next match.

WWF Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match 3 (Match 11 overall)

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine (with Jimmy Hart) vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth)

Valentine had defeated Steamboat who defeated Savage the year prior, if there was a kayfabe reason to go with Greg, that would be it. Otherwise Savage is now the only babyface left in the tournament. Savage and Liz come out with matching pink outfits. Savage is in the orange trunks this time as the bell rings. Ventura says this is a nightmare as the winner faces the One Man Gang. Valentine clobbers Savage and rams him into the corner. Valentine forearms Savage and Randy turns it around with an elbow. He takes Hammer over with a snapmare and covers for a deuce. Hammer goes upstairs and nails Savage with an elbow. Hammer drops a conventional elbow and covers for a deuce. Valentine executes a shoulderbreaker and covers for 1...2..nope. Monsoon scoffs at the nonchalant cover. Valentine heaves Savage over the top to the floor and drops another elbow to the back of the neck. Ventura says he's giving Savage a taste of his own medicine. Greg chops Randy twice and sends him into the barricade. Greg grabs Randy and elbows him twice in the chest on the apron. Hammer stomps away on Randy and drops an elbow on the apron to Randy. Valentine does a blatant choke as Ventura says to get back in the ring. Valentine starts going to work on the right leg but the figure four attempt is blocked when Randy grabs the rope. Greg hits a vertical suplex as Monsoon goofs by saying "The ravishing one took a lot out of him" Ventura "Who??" Ventura "You mean Butch Reed?" Monsoon "Oh, what did I say? I'm sorry, The Natural" Greg hits a backbreaker and covers for a deuce then fights back in the corner. Elbow drops Valentine with a back elbow smash and a scoop slam. Randy goes upstairs and hits an axehandle then covers for 1...2...nope. Greg gets a chop to the throat and hits a back elbow of his own. Savage hits a vertical suplex and goes up a second time. This time Valentine catches Randy with a shot to the ribs but falls down anyway. Randy goes for the knee to the back but Hart pulled Greg out of the way. Randy crashes into the ropes and Greg goes for the figure four in the middle of the ring. Savage turns it into a small package for 1..2.....3 to win the match! Heads up play by Savage puts him in the semi-finals. Great match for what it was, Valentine was CRIMINALLY underrated and his matches with Savage & Steamboat proves he could go. Savage goes on to the next round.

Time of match: 6:06

Winners: Randy Savage by pinfall.

Back to Mean Gene and Vanna White to check out the updated brackets. Vanna White says she has no idea who Bob Uecker is. With Hogan and Andre gone, Dibiase is in the finals. The semi-final match to determine his opponent will be One Man Gang against the Macho Man. Gene sends us back to ring-side for the next match.

Match 12

Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake vs Honky Tonk Man with Peggy Sue and Jimmy Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

In case you didn’t know, Peggy Sue is actually Sensational Sherri in a blonde wig. Honky Tonk had dethroned Ricky Steamboat nearly a full year earlier and Beefcake was the next in line for a title shot. Why do you ask, because he's Hogan's best friend. Brutus enters second without his goofy, catchy entrance music and he threatens to cut Peggy Sue's hair off. That would be easy since Sherri aka Sue was just wearing a wig. Ventura delivers his classic Honky line "What he doesn't have in ability, he makes up for with luck" Luck runs out on everyone Jesse, could this be the night he's dethroned? Ventura says he's playing the piano in Honky's theme as Monsoon scoffs. The commentators commentate on the unusual wrestling attire on Beefcake as the bell rings. They do nothing at the start so Ventura gives a shout out to his kids at home, then they lock up. Honky goes for a chop but Beefcake runs underneath and catches the foot on the way back. Brutus spins him around and delivers an atomic drop before messing up Honky's hair to psych him out. Beefcake punched him down before Honky bails to the outside to regroup with his entourage. Back inside Honky begs off as Beefcake makes the cutting sign until they lock up again as the commentators discuss the rules of a championship title change. Ventura says its a good thing because "you could have a biased referee make a garbage disqualification call"....and I can't count how many times we've seen that in the damn near forty years since Wrestlemania 4. Beefcake rams Honky's head into the top turnbuckle 10 times before delivering his High Knee.....but doesn't make the cover. Honky bails to the floor and regroups with Jimmy/Peggy again. Beefcake pulls him to the apron and delivers forearm smashes to the back of the head, finishing by snap maring him inside. Beefcake sends him off and puts his head down, then moves when Honky goes to kick causing Man to fall on his back. Brutus misses a jumping elbow drop so the champ goes to work with boots. Jimmy says to Peggy "We got him now" as Monsoon says we may see the Shake Rattle N Roll...the same move that put Beefcake away at the first Survivor Series. Honky delivers sloppy looking right hands and delivers a fistdrop then taunts the crowd. Honky delivers a headlock/punch combo then stomps away again. He distracts the referee so Jimmy Hart gets in a few cheap shots. Honky teases the Shake Rattle N Roll but instead delivers a knee to the sternum. Honky brings him near the corner and Shakes....Rattles....but Beefcake grabs the top rope so Honky rolls himself down. Beefcake rallies with right hands and delivers a backdrop, causing the champ to beg off. Brutus sends him off and catches him with THE SLEEPER.....Honky flails about trying to make it to the ropes but gets caught in the center of the ring. Honky begins to fade as Peggy tells Jimmy to do something, so he hops up on the apron. Referee Jimmy Korderas tells him to beat it and turns around, which Jimmy takes the opening to clock him in the back of the head with the megaphone. Beefcake puts Honky to sleep and celebrates thinking he's won the title. Brutus turns around to see the ref out cold and points the finger at Jimmy. Brutus goes to cut Honky's hair but Jimmy swiftly grabs the barber bag and takes off. In a comical spot, Brutus catches Jimmy and cuts HIS hair instead. Jimmy flails away but Beefcake holds him down to give him a haircut, Ventura "This is horrible" Inside the ring, Peggy Sue and 2 referee's try to revive the unconscious Korderas to no avail. Peggy grabs a water bucket and douses Honky with it, waking him up. Beefcake gets the hedge clippers and gets in the ring but the refs cut him off. Jimmy and Peggy roll Honky out of the ring as Howard Finkel announces that Brutus Beefcake is the winner by DQ. Its kind of funny how the original referee is still knocked goofy so apparently Hebner interjected himself into the spotlight again by awarding the match (but not the title) to Beefcake. Honky still remains champion but Brutus has humiliated both the champ and his manager, everybody wins in this instance. I don't think Honky Tonk Man did 2 technical wrestling holds the whole match, how Vince kept him as champion for so long and still be able to draw was a testament of how over Honky was.

Time of match: 8:58

Winner: Brutus Beefcake by DQ (Honky retains)

We go back to Bob Uecker who’s nervous since we’re getting close to the main event and he hasn’t found Vanna White. Andre The Giant crashes the party with his hand on Bob's shoulder. Andre says he's still undefeated and he got paid to keep Hulk out by Dibiase. Andre says Hogan is the ex-champion HA HA HA! Andre says don't worry about Vanna White because Hulkamania is over. Uecker says to get his foot off his shoulder and Andre hilariously throttles him. We cut to a Coliseum Video exclusive interview where Craig DeGeorge interviews a hysterical Jimmy Hart, Peggy Sue and Honky Tonk Man. Hart says he looks like Little Lulu with his haircut which is a reference that would be completely lost today but HILARIOUS for its time. Honky covers up Jimmy's head and says no one will ever see him like this. He vows revenge on Beefcake....ha!

Match 13

Bobby Heenan and The Islanders (Haku and Tama) vs Koko B Ware and The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) with Matilda and Frankie

The Islanders actually have music? I didn’t remember that at all. Heenan’s surprise package was an attack dog suit worn by animal trainers and Bobby looks ridiculous in it. Still, Ventura pointed out that Bobby used his brains to negate the effects of Matilda. Dynamite doesn't wait for the bell to slingshot Tama into the ring. Haku charges but eats a hiptoss. Dynamite gets sent off and he shoulderblocks Tama. Dynamite hiptosses Tama and hits a backdrop before Tama wants a handshake. Dynamite chops Tama in the throat and slingshots him over the top rope to the outside. Back inside Davey Boy tags in as Tama slides back in. Davey scoop slams Tama but msises an elbow drop. Haku tags in but the shoulderblock goes nowhere. Davey hits a crossbody on Haku for a two count. Davey scoop slams Haku then hits a crucifix for 1...2...nope. Davey Boy snap mares Haku and goes to the chinlock but Haku escapes with an arm-ringer. Tama tags in and he chops away at Davey, but Smith hits the hanging press slam. Tama tags out to Haku who clubs away at Davey before dropping him with a back elbow smash. Haku and Davey exchange forearms but Davey flips out of a sidewalk slam attempt to tag in Koko. Ware dropkicks Haku then nails Tama in the corner. He does a head scissors takedown to both Islanders then tags in Dynamite. Kid hits a left arm lariat to Haku but a charge in the corner eats foot. Ventura says Heenan looks like a Chinaman in that suit as Bobby tags in. He stomps away on Dynamite but Dynamite hits him in the ribs. Tama tags in and backdrops Dynamite before taunting the irate crowd. Tama slams Dynamite but misses the Vader bomb as Dynamite got the knees up. Dynamite tags Koko and he backdrops Tama. He headbutts Haku then whips the Islanders into each other. Koko puts his head down and gets kicked in the head by Haku. Haku clotheslines Koko and rakes the face. Tama tags in and goes upstairs. Tama comes off the top with a chop and Heenan tags in. Bobby hits a knee lift and kicks him in the ribs. Bobby punches away at Koko and gets in a blatant choke. Koko breaks Bobby's grip and punches him in the head. Heenan rakes the eye but Koko whips him in the corner. Koko dropkicks Bobby into the ringpost. Heenan begs off but Koko gets attacked from behind. Everyone gets in for a pier six brawl. Tama slams Koko and both Islanders slam Bobby on top of him. The ref counts 1.....2....3 and the heels win. Heenan pins Koko but  the Bulldogs rally to drop the Islanders. Davey Boy grabs Matilda and chases Heenan, Davey sicks Matilda on Bobby but according to Heenan, Matilda was so scared with all the people around it wasn't moving. Bobby had to roll around with the dog to make it look like he was being attacked. Anyone who knows dogs know they HATE loud noise and most likely Matilda got freaked out by the roar of the crowd. Either way that was not a formulaic tag match and Heenan got the pinfall much like Danny Davis the year before.

Time of match: 7:30

Winners: Heenan and The Islanders by pinfall

Just to kill time, Howard Finkel points to the announce booth where Jesse poses for the crowd for a few minutes. We cut to a Coliseum Video exclusive with an irate Bobby Heenan who doesn’t even allow DeGeorge into camera view. He says they threw him to the wolves or in this case the dogs, but he's still standing and talking. Nobody is going to shut him up. He was right, only throat cancer could stop him, not anyone from Matilda to Monsoon. Back to the Fink with Ted Dibiase in the silver suit in the ring. Ted gets the obligatory hand raise as he's announced as going to the Finals. Ted leaves and we go to our semi-final match.

WWF Championship Tournament Semi-Final Match (Match 14 overall)

One Man Gang (with Slick) vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth)

Before the match even starts Monsoon and Ventura speculate the severe disadvantage the Macho Man has considering Gang had a relatively short match with Bam Bam while Randy had two knock down drag out affairs with Butch Reed and Greg Valentine. Not to mention the 200 pound weight difference. Ventura admits normally he’s a Savage fan but the smart money would be on Gang. Kayfabe wise that does make sense, logically it makes zero sense because who the hell would want to watch a Ted Dibiase vs One Man Gang final? Randy and Liz come out to matching black outfits with Randy back in the beige trunks. Bell rings and Gang rolls around with Randy to start Gang misses a big right hand and Savage goes to work with right hands. He bites Gang and grabs him by the beard. Savage snaps him off the top rope but Gang shoulderblocks him into the corner. Gang chops Savage in the throat and elbows him in the back of the neck. Gang elbows Savage into the corner and avalanches him. He steps on Savage and scoop slams him. He covers for 1...2..no, foot on the rope. Gang drops an elbow in the center of the ring an covers for 1...2...no. Gang scoop slams Randy but misses the big splash. He charges in the corner and misses. Savage punches Gang into the ropes and Randy hits an axehandle to send him through the ropes to the outside. Savage hits the axehandle from the top rope to the floor. Slick rolls Gang back inside but Savage foolishly goes for the scoop slam. Gang choke bombs Savage as Slick chases Elizabeth away. Elizabeth hops on the apron to get away and referee Jack Krueger tells her to beat it. With the ref distracted, Slick hops up on the apron but Savage grabs him. Slick tosses the cane to the One Man Gang and Gang clobbers him with it. Gang keeps trying to hit Savage with it but Savage keeps rolling out of the way. Krueger finally notices it and calls for the bell. Gang waffles Savage through the ropes to the outside but is disqualified, Savage is in the Finals. Gang and Slick hug in the middle of the ring but Savage goes upstairs and axehandles Gang in the back. Gang falls on top of Slick and Macho Man hightails it out of there. Not much they could do with 4 minutes but the design was to get Savage to the Finals. Its Dibiase vs Savage for the WWF Championship.


Time of match: 4:05

Winner: Randy Savage by DQ

Back to Mean Gene and Vanna White at the brackets and there’s nothing to it, its down to Dibiase and Savage in the finals. Vanna leaves to get ready and Uecker runs in, just missed her. He says some guy named Vance White has been calling him all week. Okerlund says VANNA White is here. He apologizes to Bob then sends up to Gorilla and Jess for the next match.

Match 15

Demoltion (Ax and Smash) with Mr. Fuji vs Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) for the WWF Tag Team Championship

Demolition enters first to their kickass Rick Derringer theme while Strike Force enters to their cheesy Girls In Cars theme. Demolition had run rough-shod on the babyface tag teams of the WWF for about a year and they would get their shot at Strike Force tonight. Ventura predicts Demolition is too big and strong for Strike Force. Bell's gone and Smash starts with Martel. Smash beats him down instantly with axehandles but Martel ducks the line and goes for the crossbody. Smash catches him and Santana dropkicks him on top. Ax runs in and beats down Santana but the double whip has Martel hitting Ax with another crossbody. Strike Force chases Ax away and hits a double clothesline on Smash. Martel covers for a deuce and locks in an arm-ringer. Monsoon and Ventura start bickering as Santana tags in to keep the arm-ringer. Santana arm-drags Ax as Monsoon says he doesn't think the Boston Crab will work in either one of Demoltion....which makes zero sense since Jim Niedhart is as bulky as Smash and Ax. Martel tags in and continues to work the left-arm but Ax headbutts him. Smash tags in and Martel hits a hiptoss before tagging to Santana. Ventura says Strike Force needs to keep Smash isolated. Santana leapfrogs Smash but Tito gets caught and clotheslined by Ax. Demoltion double-teams Santana in the corner and Ax rams Tito face first into Smash's boot. Smash tags in and he unloads in the corner before tagging Ax back in. Ax powerslams Tito and covers for a deuce. Ax kicks Tito in the head and rams him into Smash's boot again. Smash tags in and steps on Santana's throat. Martel tries to help Santana out but the ref gets rid of him allowing the double team to continue. Smash hits a snap suplex and covers for 1...2...nope. Smash "Hey come on that was" and starts clapping his hands. Smash slams Tito but misses the big elbow drop. Ax tags in and sends Tito off but Santana hits an elbow to the head. Smash pulls Santana back into the corner and Ax unloads with right hands. Santana hits THE FLYING JALAPENO out of nowhere and both men are down. Ax tags in Smash and Martel gets the hot tag. Martel unloads on Smash and hits a backdrop before punching Ax. Martel dropkicks both members of Demoltion and locks the Boston crab on Smash. Santana clubs away on Ax but the ref tries to get him out of there. Mr. Fuji hops up on the apron and Tito nails Ax with the flying jalapeno to knock him off the apron. Tito then decks Fuji on the apron and he drops the cane. Ax slides in the ring, grabs the cane and nails Martel in the back with it. Ax leaves with the evidence as Santana knocks the referee into the center of the ring. Smash covers Martel with Santana busy beating up Fuji for 1....2...3 to win the match. We got new tag team champions as Santana's haste to beat up Fuji costs Strike Force the match. Demolition gathers the belts and Fuji and walks to the back. We go to the replay with Santana hilariously smashing Fuji's head into the mat. Good match for what it was and the era of Demolition had begun.

Time of match: 8:02

Winners: Demolition by pinfall (New WWF Tag Team Champions)

We go to a Coliseum Video exclusive interview with the new champs conducted by Craig DeGeorge. Shockingly good editing by Coliseum as Ax and Smash literally look like they just came through the curtain. Ax and Smash say they knew they were going to win and they did it. Before we get to our main event we have the obligatory hooplah. Robin Leach brings the new WWF Heavyweight Championship belt to the ring on a red pillow. We know the belt as the winged eagle design that lasted for 10 years. Vanna White is introduced as special guest timekeeper and Bob Uecker is the special guest ring announcer. Bob swings and misses as he enters as Jesse scoffs and says he can’t even hit an airball. Finally, after two months, its time to crown a new champion.

Match 16  (WWF Championship Tournament Finals)

Ted Dibiase (with Andre The Giant) vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) for the vacant WWF Heavyweight Championship

If there were two heirs to the top heel and top babyface mantle to supplant Hogan and Andre, it was definitely Savage and Dibiase. Savage was wearing the same tights he wore against Valentine and they lock up to start. Dibiase backs Savage in the corner but Randy elbows his way out only to be tripped up by Andre outside the ring. Referee Dave Hebner was looking at a slot machine or something because he missed it. Savage locks in a headlock-go behind combo before they reverse each other. Dibiase sends Savage off the ropes then ducks down and when Savage bounces off, he's tripped up again by Andre. Gorilla scoffs as Savage points at Andre and shouts at the big guy. The crowd starts chanting for Hogan as Dibiase goes back to work and the announcers say the advantage goes to the million dollar man. Dibiase chops Randy in the corner then elbows the back of the neck. Dibiase delivers a left armed clothesline and covers for a near fall. Savage sends Dibiase off the ropes but Ted sunset flips only to be punched in the face for his troubles. Savage executes a left armed clothesline followed by a pinfall attempt for a near fall. Dibiase goes over strategy with Andre until they lock up again. Dibiase gets the upper hand with heel tactics then delivers a back elbow smash. Dibiase riles up the crowd before continuing to work over Savage. Ventura says the 3 matches have taken too much out of Savage and right on cue Randy ducks under a clothesline to deliver a running elbow to the head. Savage does the over the top guillotine that snaps Dibiase backwards into the center of the ring. Randy delivers a running knee to the back that sends Dibiase spiraling over the top rope to the floor. Savage goes upstairs but Andre stands in the way. Savage goes over to Elizabeth and whispers something to her and she takes off to the back. The crowd cheers as they know what's about to happen and start chanting Hogan. Dibiase nails Savage from behind and does his trademark Fistful of Dollars Punches as Ventura says he's seen Miss Elizabeth run off before. Dibiase covers but only gets a 2 count as Monsoon says "She may be gone too long, Jess." Dibiase locks in a rest hold as the crowd chants for Hulk Hogan until finally he appears with Elizabeth in the entrance. The crowd goes nuts as Hulk and Liz walk down to ringside as Ventura speculate that neither Dibiase or Andre know he's coming. Dibiase finally spots him and drops Savage to protest at Hogan being here. Hogan grabs a chair and....WAFFLES ELIZABETH WITH IT!!! Just kidding, he just sets it down in Savage's corner and sits to watch the proceedings. Ventura says that Hogan's got Dibiase's attention which could distract him from the bout. Dibiase attacks Savage in the corner until he distracts the ref allowing Andre to strangle him. Hogan comes over and nails Andre before Savage rallies with right elbows. Dibiase sticks a thumb to the eye then executes a clothesline. Dibiase covers but only gets a near fall. Ted delivers a suplex and covers for 1....2...nope. Dibiase executes a gut-wrench suplex and covers for 1...2..nope. Dibiase scoop slams Savage then goes upstairs. Savage recovers and throws Dibiase off the top. He quickly goes up to the top but misses the flying elbow drop attempt. Dibiase locks in the million dollar dream and leads Savage over to the ropes where Andre takes a swipe at him. Hebner leans through the ropes to scold Andre which allows Hogan to slide into the ring with the chair. Hogan cocks and WHAM...nails Dibiase in the back as Ventura has a heart attack at the thought of Hogan cheating. Savage recovers and goes upstairs to progressively louder cheers. Randy delivers THE FLYING ELBOW DROP. Savage covers for 1....2....3..WE GOT A NEW CHAMPION! Hogan runs in and gives the new designed belt (which would last exactly 10 years) to Savage. Dibiase and Andre protest in the isle as Savage hugs the belt in the corner. Ventura protests the cheating as Savage shakes Hogan's hand then celebrates with Elizabeth and the Hulkster. Monsoon says he's the undisputed champion as Savage says he couldn't have done it without Hulk's help. Savage puts Liz on his shoulders with the belt on her shoulders.


Time of match: 9:14

Winner: Randy Savage by pinfall (New WWF Champion)

Monsoon and Jess sign off after running down what just happened. Wrestlemania 4 was doomed to be a let down no matter what the card was after the previous year. Still, it was a landmark event for "Macho Man" Randy Savage as he became the new WWF Champion. It would have been nice if Hogan wasn't THAT involved in it but the Mega Powers are the Mega Powers for a reason. This was only the beginning for Randy as he finally got his due as one of the best in the business. This would also be the last pay-per-view appearance for a lot of guys for years including Bam Bam Bigelow, Sika and Ricky Steamboat. Butch Reed also quietly left shortly after this. Bad News Brown put himself on the map winning the battle royal although Bret Hart isn't too happy about it. Honky Tonk Man remains Intercontinental champion and Demolition are the new tag team champs. The question now was could Randy Savage carry the load as WWF Champion the way Hogan had for years. Unlike Hogan, he'd have to share the spotlight with the almighty Hulkster. The next show after this would be the yearly overseas tour which would eventually be called "UK Rampage". The first stop would be in Switzerland on April 1st in Lugano. I'll see you there.