WELCOME TO ROCK STAR GARY REFLECTIONS!

Live from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Airdate: October 22, 1995

Attendance: 10,339 (9,000 paid)

Hosted by Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “The King” Lawler

To say that I’m not thrilled by reviewing this show would be putting it mildly. Not only have I seen this show previously but also I read about it in Titan Sinking. Since even Vince McMahon hated this show (more on this later) I’ve enlisted the services of Sir Charles Barkley of Alabama. Sir Charles will make a commentary here and there. After all Sir Charles is never short on words.

Toni (“Don’t call me Anthony”) Wilson sings the Canadian National Anthem. Not a bad rendition.

WWF interim President Gorilla Monsoon rules that due to the severity of Shawn Michaels’ concussion he will not be permitted to compete tonight. However, there will be no bait/switch on this show as the Intercontinental title will be defended. Monsoon has instructed Michaels to forfeit the title making Dean Douglas the champion; in turn Douglas will defend the title against Razor Ramon. So one Clique member can no longer hold the title so let’s try to pass it off to another member, right? Stay tuned!

On Superstars Fatu took exception to Helmsley’s poor imitation of “The Model” Rick Martel spraying of perfume/cologne.

Match 1: Fatu versus Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Highlights:

Rating: **

Summary: OK, not an awful opener. The “Round Mound of Rebound” offers nothing bad to say about this match.

After the match Lawler shakes Helmsley’s hand and interviews him. Behind Helmsley’s back Henry Godwinn sneaks up and tries to slop him, but Helmsley scurries away.

Back in the locker room Dok Hendrix interviews Bulldog and Cornette. Included was the highlight of Bulldog’s pin of Diesel during that six-man tag match on RAW a couple of weeks ago.

Backstage Razor and the 1-2-3 Kid get a quick pre-match interview.

Match 2 for the WWF tag team titles: The Smoking Gunns (champions) versus Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid

Highlights:

Rating: *1/2

Summary: Subtle heel gestures by the Kid told the story in this one. However, since the Kid didn’t turn heel on Ramon here Barkley calls BS on him.

After the match the Kid throws a tantrum then delivers a dropkick to Bart and a spinning heel kick to Billy. Next he takes the belts, but Ramon returns to calm the situation down. In what would become a trend tonight the crowd boos the champs. In this case it’s not the Gunns’ fault as they were pitted against a crowd favorite (Ramon).

Back in the locker room Dok Hendrix shills standees for both Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Unfortunately the Shawn standee falls down in Syracuse.

Goldust whispers in a pre-match snippet. Somehow the Colonel’s secret recipe wasn’t disclosed.

Match 3: Goldust versus Marty Jannetty

Highlights:

Rating: *

Summary: While Jannetty brought the workrate Goldust erased it. Poor debut for Goldust. What did Sir Charles think? My thoughts exactly.

The Gunns as well as the 1-2-3 Kid are on the Superstar line.

Next we get the highlights of the demolition of the Undertaker then a pre-match diatribe by Cornette.

Match 4: Yokozuna (w/ Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji) versus King Mabel (w/ Sir Mo)

Highlights:

Rating: -*

Summary: This match definitely needed a member of the audience to hold up the sign: “Who booked this crap?” Sir Charles, how would you rate this match? 1 2 3

After the match both men get back into the ring and stare each other down. After Cornette and Sir Mo attempt to smooth things over the big men embrace. Aw. The crowd boos this out of the building and rightfully so.

The Undertaker will return to Survivor Series. Also, Bret “Hitman” Hart will face the WWF champion for the title on November 19 only on PPV!

Vince and Jim Ross briefly discuss the upcoming wild card match at Survivor Series.

Match 5 for the Intercontinental title: “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels (champion) versus Dean Douglas

Highlights:

Rating: NONE

REAL Match 5 for the Intercontinental title: Dean Douglas (champion) versus Razor Ramon

Highlights:

Rating: ½*

Summary: Someone please hand Ramon a phone because he called this one in. This was boring, pedantic, and unnecessary. The future of Douglas’ WWF tenure doesn’t look bright. Sir Charles, what do you think of this crappy Intercontinental title situation?

Ramon’s reaction to the less-than-enthusiastic response from the crowd tells the story of the PPV right there. Yikes!

Call the Superstar line to talk with Shawn Michaels. The cuts on his face are very pronounced in this light.

To appease the Canadian crowd the #1 contender (after this match) to the WWF title Bret Hart, wearing a Calgary Hitman jersey, comes to ringside to add commentary. He then chases Lawler around the ring, nails him, and sends him scurrying to the back.

Backstage Dok Hendrix shills the “2 Dudes with Attitude” t-shirt for $20. He then tries to interview Diesel. In pure Kevin Nash-fashion he says that he’s “feeling awfully funky.”

Match 6 for the WWF title: Diesel (champion) versus “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith (w/ Jim Cornette)

Highlights:

Rating: *

Summary: While I admire the ring psychology of working a body part it neither factored into the finish nor was it entertaining whatsoever. This is one of the worst PPV main events I’ve ever witnessed.

After the match Diesel and Bret trade fisticuffs as officials and wrestlers from the back try to break it up.

Conclusion: WORST PPV EVER! This show has ZERO redeeming value. The main event proved two things: (1) Diesel is not over as WWF Champion, and (2) Smith was not built up enough as an adversary for the crowd to care. To top it all off Smith used a ground attack on the big man rather than using speed combined with power to knock Diesel off his feet.

In order to send the 10,000 disgruntled fans home happy Bret won a dark match against Isaac Yankem. While Lawler and Bodydonna Skip were in Yankem’s corner Brett McNeill and Miles Gorrel of the hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) were in Bret’s corner.

Regarding Vince’s thoughts before this show he knew without the Undertaker and Shawn to liven it up that the show would not be as good as it should have been. However, he was disgusted not only by the product itself but also the crowd reaction thereafter. According to Meltzer the Winnipeg fans booed Diesel along with the finish of the main event. In my eyes it made sense that the crowd booed Diesel when up against a Canadian superstar like Bret but that main event deserved their disapproval.

With Vince’s antiquated idea of big men matches and the hopeless attempts to reinvent Hulkamania with anyone besides Hogan the WWF was far behind in the Monday Night War with respect to workrate (Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, Pillman, Badd versus Michaels, Bret and Owen Hart) and star power (Hogan, Savage, Flair versus Michaels, Bret Hart, and Diesel). If they expect their fan base to keep buying their lower-priced PPVs then they have to deliver a better product than this.

To summarize I’ll leave it to Sir Charles to tell you my reaction to this PPV. Thanks, Chuck. Keep it clean on TNT, ok?

See you on the Monday Night War week 7!

Buyrate: 0.40 (Yikes!)

Comments? Suggestions? Send them to me at rsg@rockstargary.com and follow me on Twitter (@rockstargary202).

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