Tonight will see the semi-final matches for the Intercontinental Championship Tournament as Owen Hart will face Marc Mero, and Sid will take on Faarooq. Plus, Gorilla Monsoon addresses the Razor Ramon/Diesel rumors from Jim Ross. But opening action tonight is Jake "the Snake" Roberts taking on the Raw debut of The Sultan. Jake chases off Lawler as we get situated.
So, the Sultan? Remember how we've been seeing Bob Backlund and Iron Sheik rambling in the past few weeks? It was to lead us to the debut of The Sultan. Who's The Sultan? Why it's our old pal Mr. "Make a Difference" Fatu, repackaged with a gimmick somehow more racist than Samoan savage. Apparently via Lawler, Sultan was captured and held hostage, and his tongue was cut out. Can you make a difference without a tongue?
Lawler, now confident, returns to commentary, joined by Backlund. He has some early control, until Roberts recovers. He tries a DDT, but Sultan escapes. Jake tries to work the arm, managing an arm drag. Meanwhile, J.R. continues to hype a big announcement tonight. Sultan whips Jake into the corner a couple times. Jake tries another DDT attempt, but is distracted by Lawler who throws a small liquor bottle at Jake, allowing Sultan to get the advantage. Camel cluch gets the win in a majorly mediocre debut. Backlund is so transfixed by The Sultan that he loses track and seems to be lost.
Brian Pillman is backstage with Owen Hart as they hype Bret's return at In Your House Sunday. Owen says that he can't wait to go to Philadelphia to be back together with his brother. Austin shows up and says he'll get his answers first hand from Bret this Sunday.
Up next, it's Bob Holly and Alex "The Pug" Porteau (coming out to the Steiner Brothers theme) taking on the WWF Tag Team Champions The Smoking Gunns in a non-title match. Not to mention Sunny and her big... poster. Headlock and shoulder block spot as Holly is in control on Billy to start. Jim Cornette and Owen Hart show up with chairs to watch on. Jim Ross meanwhile says it out loud. He promises Razor Ramon and Diesel on Raw next week. In the ring, Bart works on Porteau in the corner. He gets in a boot and clothesline. Double team work by the Gunns while Cornette splashes water at Sunny. Bart hits a running powerslam a la Bulldog and covers, but pulls Porteau up. Porteau misses a dropkick as Bart continues to apply damage.
Tag to Billy who goes for a suplex, but Porteau turns it into a cradle. Billy recovers and brings Porteau to the corner for a splash, but Porteau dodges and tags in Holly. Holly cleans house on the Gunns landing a hurricanrana. Cover, but only two. He goes up, but Sunny crotches him on the rope. Sidewinder connects from the Gunns. Owen distracts Billy long enough for Bob Holly to roll up Billy for the three in an upset in a decent match.
Interview with Gorilla Monsoon. He says his curiosity is peaked by Jim Ross' words. He says that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are signed elsewhere. He apologizes to the WWF fans for being hoodwinked. Ross leaves angrily.
Lawler interviews Cornette and Vader as Cornette prepares for his match with Jose Lothario. Cornette is worried about too many things right now, but the worst thing is that he has to wrestle Jose Lothario. He's going to embarrass the WWF and Jose, becuase Vader has been training him, and thus he'll be able to tear Jose limb from limb. And we have a young jobber named Tony Williams in the ring to face off with him. Cornette applies an arm lock, but gets countered. Same with his headlock. William continues to legit work Cornette until Vader just beats Williams down instead. Cornette wraps Williams in the corner and slaps him around, calling him Jose Lothario.
Up next, it's Owen Hart taking on "Wildman" Marc Mero in the first semi-final of the Intercontinental Title tournament. The first IC champ Pat Patterson is at commentary. Fast back and forth from both men to start off, focusing on arm work. Mero recovers with some arm drags. Lawler claims that Faarooq and Patterson are in collusion, meaning if Faarooq wins tonight, he might aid in his victory next Monday. Patterson denies it. Owen recovers with a spin kick, and a double arm suplex, going into a chinlock.
Jim Ross on commentary says that he's hurt by Gorilla Monsoon's accusations against him. Monsoon interrupts from his office saying that nothing has come across his desk that Kevin Nash of Scott Hall have returned to the WWF, but we'll find out next week. Patterson adds that he hasn't talked with Monsoon about refereeing the finals of the IC tournament next week either. Owen hits a neckbreaker and follows with a dropkick. Cover gets a two. Mero tries to gain momentum, but Owen catches him with the cast to the back of the head.
After a commercial break, Owen tries for a dive in the corner, only to get nothing. Mero hits an inverted atomic drop, a back drop, and a dropkick that sends Owen in retreat. Mero hits a somersault plancha over the ropes, catching Owen. He follows with a slingshot splash over the ropes and a cover for two. Both men collide into each other. Owen smashes Mero with his cast and reapplies it. Slow clover only gets a two. Owen argues with the ref as Mero steals the cast, smashes Owen with it, and covers him for the three. A pretty solid match that was a bit muddied with other storylines, but as usual, Mero and Owen put on a good show.
We get a recap of the WWF's live event in South Africa. The major focus being the first major appearance of Bret Hart since April. We get an interview with Bret saying that Pillman is a liar. He never made any commitment to be at Philadelphia. As for Owen, he's as bad a liar as Pillman. He hasn't forgotten his fans, but he's made commitments to a lot of people. He still hasn't decided about what he's going to do yet.
Up next, it's our main event. The second Semi-Final tournament match, Sycho Sid taking on Faarooq. Shoulder blocks from both men as neither go down, but Faarooq just gets in a knee strike and hits a powerslam, but Sid no-sells like his name was Warrior. He blocks some punches and nails a big boot. Faarooq finally recovers with a back suplex, but Sid doesn't get back up on that one. Cover only gets a two however. We get some pre-recorded words from Ahmed who says that he's a forest fire that's going to burn Faarooq up. Faarooq locks in a chinlock that leads to the arm drop spot, which means Sid recovers on the third drop. However, Faarooq hits a body slam to break momentum.
Faarooq goes up for a dive, but Sid catches him with a powerslam. Double clothesline spot takes both men down. Faarooq works the kidneys of Sid akin to the damage caused by Ahmed. He goes to the second buckle for a diving headbutt and connects. He tries for a powerbomb, but Sid slides out and lays a big chokeslam. Sunny distracts the referee while Faarooq grabs a steel chair and lays it into Sid. Cover, but Sid kicks out. Sid, like a moron, nails Faarooq with a chair, causing a DQ. But regardless, he lays out Faarooq with a few more shots. Overall, this was actually pretty decent stuff. Got slow by the end, but the power work was pretty fun regardless.
Interview with the Undertaker who promises that Goldust's will be the first on a list of many that Undertaker must destroy before he can get to Mankind and Paul Bearer. He promises the premiere of the new Undertaker. We get an interview with A super sweaty Paul Bearer in the boiler room as Mankind wonders if winning the title will make him a sexy boy.
Mindgames match card recap with this piece of nightmare fuel, and we're out.
No comments:
Post a Comment