Backstage: Todd Pettengill is standing by with Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, The Excellence of Execution says Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler is still brooding over his loss at King Of The Ring, but Isaac Yankem, D.D.S. is a different story. Bret talks about the size of Yankem, but states The King can send a chiropractor or whatever he wants after him, the story will end the same and he will knock Isaac’s teeth down his throat.

Match #7: Isaac Yankem, D.D.S. vs. Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart
Bret avoids the opening lock-up and grabs a waistlock, Yankem simply powers him away, they go in for a collar & elbow, Isaac hooks The Hitman by the throat and backs him into the corner to choke away. He hammers Hart with shots to the back of the neck, rams him head-first into the top turnbuckle, The Excellence of Execution battles back with right hands, but Yankem goes to the ribs with a knee. He chokes The Hitman on the top rope, slings him backwards, Bret rolls to his feet, charges in for a crossbody, but gets caught and planted by a body slam.

Isaac hits the ropes for an elbow drop that misses the mark, The Excellence of Execution tries to build momentum with punches to the breadbasket, Yankem with a rake of the eyes to stop the onslaught, then batters him across the spine with clobbering shots. He whips Hart hard into the turnbuckles, rushes in with a back elbow, sends him back across to do the same, but this time Bret side-steps it. He splits Isaac with an inverted atomic drop, hits the ropes for multiple clotheslines, scores with another to send the big man over the top and Yankem spills to the floor.

The Hitman slingshots outside with a crossbody, tosses Yankem into the squared circle, hops to the 2nd rope and flattens him with a flying clothesline. He positions Isaac for the Sharpshooter, Yankem blocks it, Bret drops a headbutt to the lower abdomen instead, then bashes him head-first off the top turnbuckle. The Excellence of Execution drags Yankem’s face across the top rope, rolls him up for a count of 2, irish whip to the ropes is reversed, the big man attempts a hip toss, but Bret counters into a backslide for a near fall.

Hart stays on him with right hands, looks to send him to the ropes, Isaac reverses yet again, muscles The Hitman up with a military press, then drops him throat-first across the top rope. He corners Bret and unleashes heavy shots, shoots him across sternum-first into the turnbuckles, lifts him up with a choke, then does some more choking with the bottom of his boot. Isaac with a big elbow drop for a 2 count, props Hart in the corner for a shoulder to the midsection, hauls him up by the chin over his back, The Excellence of Execution flips to his feet, utilizes a small package and nearly steals it.

Yankem quickly goes back on the attack, chokes him on the 2nd rope, rips away at The Hitman’s face and the official has to pull him away. Isaac charges Hart near the ropes and clotheslines him to the floor, steps out in pursuit, drives Bret spine-first into the ring post, then heads back inside and allows the ref to count. The Excellence of Execution pulls himself up to the apron, Yankem’s there to choke him on the top rope, clubs him across the back with forearm shots, drapes Bret over the top rope and then heads upstairs.

He connects with a leg drop to the back of the head, makes a cover and only gets 2, starts stalking The Hitman for double axe handles, but Hart avoids them. Isaac finally scores with a clothesline to the back of the head, floors Bret with a short-arm clothesline for another 2, Yankem getting sent to the outside off the kick-out. Hart stumbles to his feet, builds a head of steam and flies outside with a suicide dive, rams Isaac head-first into the steel steps, then rolls him back into the ring. He plants Yankem with a running bulldog for a count of 2, shoots him to the ropes for a shot to the midsection, follows with a side russian leg sweep, but still can’t put it away.

The Excellence of Execution cracks Isaac with a backbreaker, comes off the 2nd rope with an elbow drop, signals for the Sharpshooter and locks it in. Lawler leaves the announce position, helps Yankem reach the bottom rope, the official catches him, but he forces Bret to release the hold. The Hitman turns his attention to The King, notices Isaac charging him from behind, dumps him over the top, but Yankem lands on his feet. He drags Hart to the outside and deposits him into the ring steps, throws Bret back into the squared circle, then ascends the corner to the high-rent district.

The Excellence of Execution spots him, slams Yankem down to the canvas, puts him in the corner and goes to the 2nd rope to rain down fists. He shoots Isaac back into the corner, slides out under the bottom rope, sweeps the legs and uses camera cable to tie-up the big man, leaving him stuck with his legs wrapped around the ring post. The Hitman puts the boots to Yankem, the ref goes out to untie him, Lawler tries to sneak into the ring behind Hart, gets caught and quickly tries to go back to the announce position.

Bret is out in pursuit, batters The King with rights, Isaac gets freed up, goes to the top and leaps to the floor with a double axe to The Excellence of Execution. He shoves Hart back inside, sends him to the ropes for a clothesline, Bret ducks it, comes back with a flying fist, then goes back to the ropes. The King reaches in and trips Bret up, The Hitman is distracted, Yankem jumps on him from behind and then wraps his neck up in the ropes, the official finally calling for the bell.
Winner: Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart (Disqualification)

• After The Match: Lawler & Yankem proceed to do a number on the helpless Hart, a group of referees coming down to ringside to stop the onslaught and unhook The Hitman.
• EA’s Take: As is the case with most of these pay-per-view matches over the past number I’ve covered, this wasn’t very good. You could certainly see that there was potential for Isaac Yankem, but the gimmick…my god the gimmick. By the way, did anyone else think he looked like ‘Dr. D’ David Schultz with that hair? Anyways, this was the big man’s PPV debut after being brought in as Lawler’s “heavy” in order to continue the feud with Bret. It’s been a long time since The Hitman was involved in the title picture, too long in my opinion and this rivalry would continue on into the fall before ultimately ending. Rightfully so.

Backstage: Dok Hendrix welcomes in Razor Ramon just before his match, The Bad Guy proclaims that history has a way of repeating itself, but reminds us that this time around against Shawn Michaels is a new time and new place. Razor warns Michaels that it’s not just the Intercontinental Title on the line, but their bodies as well, saying the time for talking is through.

Match #8 – Ladder Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels
Dok Hendrix joins commentary for this match. Both guys stare up at the title and exchange words, a shoving match ensues and Razor fires away with right hands. The challenger goes to a side headlock, Michaels pushes him off to the ropes, leapfrogs twice, looks for Sweet Chin Music early, but Ramon hangs onto the ropes to avoid it. Collar & elbow tie-up, The Bad Guy backs Shawn to the corner, swings wildly with a right, The Heartbreak Kid turns the tables and unloads with fists of his own. Irish whip across is reversed, Razor follows in, the champion tries to hop up-and-over, Ramon puts on the brakes, sets for the Razor’s Edge, but Michaels escapes and we have a stalemate.

They lock-up again and HBK wids up The Bad Guy with a wristlock, the challenger reverses to one of his own, works over the left shoulder, but gets rocked by right hands. The Heartbreak Kid looks to shoot him to the corner, Razor reverses, the champion spills over the top and falls to the floor. The challenger steps outside to go after the ladder, Shawn charges from behind and ambushes him, drags The Bad Guy back to ringside and drives him head-first off the apron. He rolls into the ring as Ramon climbs to the apron, the champion hooks him for a suplex back inside, but Razor blocks it and suplexes Michaels to the floor.

HBK starts crawling towards the ladder, The Bad Guy goes out in pursuit, drops an elbow to the spine on the floor, tosses him into the squared circle and attempts to send him to the ropes. Michaels reverses the whip for a back body drop, the challenger puts on the brakes, powers him up for the Razor’s Edge, The Heartbreak Kid slips out of it, goes for Sweet Chin Music, but Ramon ducks it and they both score with clotheslines. Both guys stagger to their feet, Shawn looks to whip The Bad Guy to the corner, Razor reverses, sends him hard into the turnbuckles, shoots him back across and the champion ends up planked across the top.

The challenger climbs to the 2nd rope, throws him with a super fallaway slam, rolls to the outside and goes to retrieve the ladder as Sycho Sid watches from backstage. Razor goes to put the ladder into the squared circle, HBK tries to drive it into him with a baseball slide that misses, The Bad Guy clocks him with a haymaker, then heads inside to stand up the ladder. Ramon starts to climb, The Heartbreak Kid slides in and pushes him over, swings the ladder into the challenger, stands it up and starts to go for the title. Razor reaches up after him and pulls Michaels’ pants down, Shawn kicks him away, goes up again, but this time The Bad Guy sweeps the leg, the champion’s knee getting caught in the rungs as it crashes to the mat.

The challenger sandwiches HBK’s leg in between the ladder and stomps away, lifts him in the air by the leg and drives the knee into it, then chops the champion down with a ladder shot. He hauls The Heartbreak Kid up, body slams him leg-first on the ladder, planks it across the 2nd rope in the corner, then goes back to work on the injured limb. Razor looks to whip Michaels into the ladder, the champion’s knee gives out on him, Ramon continues to punish the left leg, then sets for a figure four. Shawn kicks him away and The Bad Guy goes face-first into the ladder, HBK can’t capitalize on it, the challenger lifting him up and dropping him on the ladder with a knee breaker.

Razor continues to target the bad knee, jumps down across it using his body weight near the ropes, Michaels uses his other foot to propel Ramon over the top rope and he spills to the floor. The Bad Guy quickly grabs for the leg, drives the knee into the ring apron, pulls Shawn under the ropes in the corner, ramming the injured limb into the ring post multiple times. The challenger steps back inside and gets surprised by right hands, The Heartbreak Kid tries to send him to the ropes, Ramon reverses, scores with a drop toe hold and then goes right back to the left leg.

He gets the ladder and tips it over onto the champion’s knee, stands it up under the title and starts to climb for it. HBK rolls out to the apron, pulls himself to the top rope, comes off with a double axe handle and knocks the challenger to the canvas. The Bad Guy stumbles back to his feet, scoops the champion up for a body slam, Michaels slides out of it, shoves him face-first into the ladder, both guys struggling to a vertical base. Ramon looks to scale the ladder, Shawn follows him up, drives him into the canvas with a back suplex off of it, then props the ladder up in the corner.

The Heartbreak Kid unloads with heavy fists, goes to shoot the challenger into the ladder, Razor reverses, the champion reverses back and The Bad Guy crashes into the ladder, then falls to the apron. Michaels props the ladder up in another corner, whips the challenger into it again, drops him with a flying forearm, then delivers a body slam. He stands the ladder up in the corner and ascends up, flies off with a moonsault, then climbs the ladder again for a splash. Razor rolls out of harm’s way, both guys stagger back to a standing position, The Bad Guy positions the ladder under the championship, Shawn drags himself up and they climb opposite sides.

They meet at the top of the ladder and trade-off blows, the ladder teeters over, both guys get crotched on the top rope and the challenger spills all the way to the floor. The Heartbreak Kid grabs the ladder, builds a head of steam to knock Ramon off the apron, the challenger drops to the floor to avoid it, Michaels crashes outside with the ladder and Razor crawls to the other side of the ring. He pulls another ladder out as Shawn slides the first one back in, starts to climbs up, but The Bad Guy pulls him off with a Razor’s Edge.

The challenger sets a ladder up and goes for the title, HBK crawls to get the other ladder, stands it side-by-side with Ramon’s and they both reach the top at the same time. Michaels cracks The Bad Guy with Sweet Chin Music, Razor falls to the mat, the champion leaps to get the championship, but misses and drops to the canvas. They both stumble back to their feet, the challenger goes for another Razor’s Edge, The Heartbreak Kid sends him over the top with a back body drop, stands the ladder back up and tries to rip down the title, but falls down empty-handed. Michaels looks visibly angered, positions the ladder under the championship again and this time retrieves it.
Winner and STILL WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels

• After The Bell: The Bad Guy rolls back inside and rips the title out of Shawn’s hands, spins the champion around and hands it back to him, then offers a handshake as fireworks go off above the ring.
• EA’s Take: Easily the best match the WWF has put on a pay-per-view, tremendous storytelling even if it didn’t quite follow-up their original Ladder Match at WrestleMania X. Shawn is white hot as a babyface right now and the crowd was really split on who they were behind, the older male demo seemingly behind The Bad Guy while the women and children were backing Michaels. As HBK’s popularity rises, so does his attitude and this is when you really started seeing signs of it on-screen. Before the match, the ref accidentally hung the championship wrong and we saw “the real Shawn” peek through, then again at the end of the match when he visibly got angry. His star would continue to rise and he’d next see an old ally in Sid, while Razor was put with Dean Douglas in an effort to get the newcomer over.

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