We recap the actions of Kama on Superstars the past weekend. After destroying the wreath by one of the Undertaker's "Creatures of the Night", Kama would follow by attacking one of creatures. Tonight, however, the Undertaker is taking on Tatanka. Undertaker promises to take out all of the members of the Corporation, starting by making Tatanka rest in peace.
But opening action tonight is Men on a Mission against Roy Raymond and Joe Adcock. It's Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler on commentary this week since Lawler isn't wrestling this week. King Mabel and Sir Mo sneak attack their opponents early on. Adcock and Mabel start as Mabel lays in some knees and chops, followed by some hard whips to the corner, and finishing up the combo with a clothesline. He lifts him up with a double arm choke slam. Tag to Mo as both members of Men on a Mission land a double clothesline. Mo picks up Adcock and drops him hard with a press slam.
Tag back to Mabel as they hit a double elbow to the face of Adcock. Mabel stomps down on Adcock and tags back in Mo. They slam Adcock into the buckle a few times and Mabel is tagges back in. Mabel lifts him up and drops a piledriver. Adcock finally tags in Roy Raymond, who tries some offense, but Mabel no-sells, and lands some strikes. Tag to Mo who whips Mabel into Raymond. Mo ascends the top rope and lands an elbow drop. Cover, but Mo is far from done as he tags in Mabel. Belly to belyl gets the win for Men on a Mission in a dominant squash.
Here once again is the report card with Dean Douglas, who is impressed by Men on a Mission, notably King Mabel. The lesson is on the word "Dominate", which Men on a Mission certainly were. He gives a grade of "N.C" to Mabel, which means "New Champion".
Up next is 1-2-3 Kid against the Brooklyn Brawler. Brawler gets a sneak attack on the Kid early on, and shows some actual dominance early on, avoiding a springboard and dropping the Kid neck first into the ropes. He lays a right to the Kid and bites the forehead. Kid ducks a clothesline and manages a spin kick and some more in the corner. Another spin kick and a roll up for three in a... match.
Up next, it's Tatanka vs The Undertaker. This week's shill from Barry Didinsky includes a decent Undertaker shirt, that comes with a WWF magazine subscription and a package of Stridex pads. Wow, I'm in pizza face paradise.
Taker rushes Tatanka early on and lands some strikes. That may just be the fastest I've seen Undertaker move since starting this blog. Tatanka tries a back body drop, but Taker slams his face first into the mat. Hard whip to the buckle an old school rope walk clothesline to the arm. Taker chokes Tatanka in the corner following with another hard whip to the buckle. Tatanka gets a thumb to the eye and lands a body slam... only for Undertaker to sit right back up and lays some more shots in.
Undertaker ducks a clothesline, but Tatanka catches him with a Samoan Drop. After realizing that he finally took him down, Tatanka lays in some punches. "Rest in Peace" chants play on as Paul Bearer revels in their reactions. Slam by Tatanka and a cover for two. Lawler makes a Jerry Garcia joke, which is timely. What doesn't feel as timely for the moment is a random as hell USA Network shill for "Down, Out and Dangerous".
Tatanka locks in a long chinlock, but Taker turns it around into a back suplex. Tatanka whips Taker hard into the buckle, but Taker lands a boot and a clothesline as we go to break. When we return, Taker ducks a clothesline, landing a flying variant of his own. He tries for a tombstone, but Tatanka lands a clothesline. Taker ducks another clothesline and grabs Tatanka, landing a chokeslam. He calls for the Tombstone, landing it for three.
This was actually not too bad a match. Nothing spectacular in terms of offense, mind you, but compared to a lot of Undertaker matches where it's him trying to work with a much bigger wrestler, having a smaller guy in Tatanka allowed for better spots, much more excitement and a lot more energy from both competitors. As you know, I'm no Tatanka fan, but he had a better match with Taker than expected, so I'll at least give him that credit.
It's the final Summerslam Insider as we're just a week away. Our finalized card is as follows:
Diesel defends the WWF title against King Mabel
Shawn Michaels defends the Intercontinental title against Razor Ramon in a ladder match
Bret Hart vs Dr. Isaac Yankem D.D.S
Alundra Blayze defends the Women's title against Bertha Faye
The Undertakr vs Kama
Barry Horowitz vs Skip
1-2-3 Kid vs Hakushi
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Bob Holly
It's "Tee Vee" Trivia, a weird commercial for the September 11th, season premiere. It's George vs George, with the questions involving award winning journalists, season premieres, and the show that featured William Shatner's return to TV. The answers all being Monday Night Raw.
It's Jean Pierre LaFitte in action next against Scott Taylor. He attacks Taylor early on in the corner with some strikes. Taylor ducks a clothesline and lands some dropkicks. He goes to the top buckle and lands a cross body, getting a two count. He tries another dropkick, but LaFitte catches him, landing some stomps to the midsection. He follows up with a gutbuster. Body slam by LaFitte and a diving headbutt off the second buckle. Vince brings up that LaFitte has stolen stuff from Bret Hart including a pair of sunglasses given to a young fan. LaFitte ties up Taylor and lands some cross body blows. Rib breaker by Yankem, who places a pirate flag over Taylor and lands the cannon ball off the top for the win.
Another Goldust vignette as he focuses on Shawn Michaels, promising that there will soon be a permanent vacancy in the Heartbreak Hotel, following with some Terminator references. Lawler mentions that the inernet "lit up" after the first appearance of Goldust last week, shilling Vince on America Online. Oh boy, if Vince is out of touch now, I can't imagine him on he early days of the internet in 1995.
Vince is in the ring with Diesel. Diesel says that Mabel's crown has gone to his head, but he admits that Mabel has kicked it up a notch. He thought he had a clean win against Sir Mo, and thought his backside was safe for once, but Mabel attacked him. But thankfully his pal Shawn Michaels came to his aid. When it comes to the jackknife, maybe he can't to Mabel, but maybe he can. Find out at Summerslam. Diesel's babyface promos are terrible, but at the very least, he felt a bit more energetic for once.
British Bulldog comes to ringside and wishes Diesel good luck. He brings up that Lex Luger isn't here due to injury, so he's not here to challenge Men on a Mission. But he suggests that Diesel should be his partner instead to take on Men on a Mission. Which leads us immediately to our main event.
Decent "Diesel" chants as the champ and Sir Mo start. He lands some elbows on Mo and follows with a clothesline in the corner. Another whip to the corner and a clothesline. Diesel hits some more elbows and knees on Mo, and follows up with a boot. He calls for a jackknife, but Mabel enters the ring and...
BAH GAWD KING! It was all a set up! The British Bulldog clotheslines Diesel from behind, sending him into a sidewalk slam by King Mabel. Bulldog slaps around Diesel as Jim Cornette suddenly shows up, holding the WWF title. Diesel breaks out of the hold by Mabel, but Bulldog catches him in a power slam, as Mabel drops the leg.
Cornette and Bulldog hand Mabel the WWF title as Lawler congratulates them. Lawler, Cornette and Bulldog leave as Mabel drops a leg on Diesel, celebrating with the gold.
Lawler is backstage with Mabel, Mo, Bulldog and Cornette. He asks them why this happened, but Cornette says they won't divulge why just yet, but surprises will keep coming for Diesel. Mabel promises that at Summerslam, the gold will go from his shoulder to his slim waist. Vince shills Raw's return on September 11th, with Sid vs the winner of Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon and we go off the air.
Another really good edition of Raw leading to Summerslam. We got some decent squashes from Men on a Mission and Jean Pierre LaFitte (the Kid match was okay for how brief it was). More focus on Goldust and Dean Douglas as their debuts approach. Undertaker vs Tatanka was somewhat better than expected. But the big angle involving Bulldog's heel turn was easily the highlight of the show. Even if it did feel predictable considering the random disappearance of Lex Luger, and Davey Boy's over enthusiasm when it came to partnering with the champ. In then, it did a great job in immediately making not only Mabel a serious threat to the champion, but Bulldog as well, showing that Diesel may have the gold, but he is now more than ever extremely vulnerable. Also, something for Jim Cornette to do since his alliance with Owen and Yokozuna has felt kind of dull at this point. So with glowing thoughts on the end angle, I give this Raw an A-. Not perfect in-ring, but the heel turn makes it worth the watch.
Next time, it's time to head to Summerslam 1995. Mabel challenges Diesel, Shawn and Razor climb another ladder, and the WWF get their last breather before the Monday Night Wars begin. Find out what all goes down next time.