The WWE is heading to a foreign country for Super Show-Down this Saturday in Australia, so today we’re looking back at another event in a different country as the WWF visited our neighbors to the North for In Your House 4: Great White North! Shawn Michaels is forced to relinquish the Intercontinental Title to Dean Douglas, but Dean must then try to defend it against Razor Ramon. Plus, ‘The Bizarre One’ Goldust makes his debut, so let’s get into it!

Open: The crowd rises for the singing of the National Anthem, performed by Canada’s own Toni Wilson, complete with fireworks above the ring.

Video: Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon states that he is not allowing WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels to compete tonight, due to the severity of his concussion. Gorilla says there will still be an IC Title match however, asking The Heartbreak Kid to forfeit the title in the ring, announcing it will then be given to Dean Douglas who must defend it against Razor Ramon. Monsoon then claims this is one of the most difficult decisions of his career to make.

Match #1: Fatu vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Helmsley enters the ring and taunts Fatu by spraying a cologne bottle at him, Fatu rips it away, drops Hunter with right hands and we’re officially underway. He sends The Connecticut Blue Blood to the ropes for a back body drop, corners him and goes to the 2nd rope, raining down fists. Fatu shoots Helmsley hard into the corner, Hunter spills over the top to the floor, finally removes his ring jacket and staggers around ringside. Fatu steps out in pursuit, drives him head-first into the steel steps, rolls him back inside and The Connecticut Blue Blood tries to beg him off.

He reverses a whip to the corner and follows in, Fatu hops up-and-over, walks into a back elbow and is driven head-first into the top turnbuckle multiple times. Fatu absorbs it, scores with fists, hits the ropes for a head of steam, Hunter side-steps and swipes him over the top, Fatu getting his head caught between the ropes and left hanging. Helmsley fires away with punches and kicks, the referee works to get him free, The Connecticut Blue Blood going up top and connects with a flying knee. The official finally breaks Fatu free, Helmsley drags him in for a piledriver, takes a bow, connects with european uppercuts and pummels him in the corner.

Fatu starts to battle back, The Connecticut Blue Blood with a rake of the eyes, plants him with a swinging neckbreaker and goes into a lateral press for a count of 2. He bludgeons Fatu with right hands, shoots him to the ropes for a knee to the breadbasket, hooks the leg for another 2 count, then hooks on a rear chinlock. Fatu works to a standing position, Hunter surprises him with a shot to the throat, whips him hard into the turnbuckles, then hits the ropes and turns him inside-out with a clothesline. Helmsley goes into a cover and still can’t put it away, argues with the ref about the count, Fatu with a schoolboy from behind, stacks him up and nearly steals it.

The Connecticut Blue Blood quickly goes back on the attack, irish whip to the ropes is reversed, Fatu ducks down for a back body drop, Hunter puts the brakes on and sets him up for a Pedigree. Fatu powers out with a back body drop, can’t capitalize and gets spiked with a DDT, it has no affect on him and Fatu pops back up, clocking Helmsley with a savate kick. He sends Helmsley to the ropes for a back body drop, levels him with a clothesline, delivers a backbreaker and goes to the 2nd rope for a diving headbutt. He covers and Hunter barely kicks out at 2, Fatu drags him up, connects with a running Ace Crusher, then scales the corner for the Samoan Splash. The Connecticut Blue Blood rolls out of harm’s way, staggers to his feet, quickly hooks Fatu for a Pedigree and gets a 3 count.
Winner: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Pedigree)

• After The Bell: Jerry Lawler grabs a word with Hunter at ringside, The Connecticut Blue Blood speaking about how repulsive it was having to make physical contact with the “odorous” Fatu. Henry O. Godwinn sneaks up from behind him with his slop bucket, Helmsley grabs The King and holds him, using Lawler as a shield long enough to sprint away to the back.
• EA’s Take: Solid opening bout as Helmsley’s push continues, nothing really special in-terms of the backstory to the match and a pretty basic premise. After his partner in The Headshrinkers left the WWF, Fatu was repackaged as an amped up version of himself, speaking on his tough upbringing in the ghetto and being the victim of a drive-by shooting. He was definitely hip-hop inspired, but more like The Fresh Prince was and not like 2Pac who was gaining notoriety at the time, aiming to “Make A Difference”. Hunter would embark on his first program with Godwinn.

Backstage: Dok Hendrix is standing by with James E. Cornette & The British Bulldog in the locker room, first referring us to video of when Davey Boy turned on WWF Champion Diesel. Cornette tells us to stop worrying about the set-up, but the execution as they have made Big Daddy Cool “bite the dust” in every encounter. He claims The Bulldog is perfectly set-up to win the WWF Title, Davey Boy reminding Diesel he beat him last week and tonight will be no different.

Match #2 for the WWF Tag Team Championships: WWF Tag Team Champions The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart) vs. Razor Ramon & The 1-2-3 Kid
The challengers offer a handshake then pull away from the champions, Billy & The Kid to kickoff the action, they lock-up and The 1-2-3 Kid with a quick arm drag. They tie-up again and Billy powers Kid away, The Kid kips back up, another collar & elbow and Billy gets caught in a side headlock. He pushes The 1-2-3 Kid off to the ropes and drops down, leapfrogs over and hits the ropes himself, blocks a hip toss then launches Kid with one of his own. The Kid pops back to his feet for a lock-up, Billy winds him up with a wristlock and makes a tag, Kid slips away and then makes a tag of his own.

Razor & Bart step in, they go into a collar & elbow, Bart muscles Ramon to the mat, they tie-up again and this time The Bad Guy grabs a wristlock, then works over the shoulder. Bart reverses to his own wristlock, takes him to the mat with a fireman’s carry, both guys back to their feet, another tie-up and Ramon gains a waistlock, Bart counters out and then sweeps the legs. The Bad Guy regroups, another collar & elbow sees Bart go back to a wristlock, Razor fights it off with fists, shoots him to the ropes for a clothesline, Billy argues with the ref about the punches, The Kid low-bridges the top rope and Bart spills to the outside. Billy continues to distract the official, 1-2-3 Kid rolls Bark back into the ring, Ramon puts whips him hard into the turnbuckles, shoots him back across and follows in with a clothesline.

Razor backs Bart to his corner and unloads with right hands, Kid tags in and fires away with a flurry of kicks, whips Bart to the ropes and connects with a spinning wheel kick. He taunts Billy and delivers multiple short leg drops to Bart, tags back out, The Bad Guy scoops Bart up for a fallaway slam, then brings Kid back in. He shoots The Kid to the ropes, launches him into Bart with a fallaway slam, 1-2-3 Kid falls on top of him for a cover and gets a count of 2. Kid scores with stinging chops in the corner, Ramon re-enters the match, batters Bart with stiff punches, tags back out, sending Bart to the ropes for a double back elbow. 1-2-3 Kid hits the ropes for an elbow drop that gets 2, quick tag back to Razor, The Bad Guy shoots Bart to the ropes for a back body drop, Bart sees it coming and drives him into the canvas by the hair.

Both guys stagger back to their feet as Dean Douglas watches from backstage, Bart shoots Ramon off to the ropes and drops down, they collide heads and both guys hit the mat to double down. They crawl to tags, The Kid gets rocked by a right hand, Billy sends him to the ropes for a high back body drop, drops Razor coming in from behind, then sends him to the outside with a dropkick. He scoops Kid up for a body slam, hits the ropes for an elbow drop, hooks the leg and gains a near fall. Billy makes a tag and Bart buries a kick into the ribs, cracks 1-2-3 Kid with multiple backbreakers for 2, The Bad Guy coming in to break up the count. Bart hauls The Kid up and makes a tag, elevates him for a vertical suplex, Billy drops him to the mat with a dropkick, lateral press and a count of 2.

He shoots Kid hard into the corner, charges in for a splash, The 1-2-3 Kid side-steps it, Ramon reaches in for some words of encouragement and the official works him back to his corner. Bart steps in behind the ref’s back, rolls Billy on top of Kid for a cover, the referee notices he’s out of position, then forces him back to the corner. The Bad Guy sees the opening and comes in to roll The Kid on top of Billy, 1-2-3 Kid nearly stealing it, but Billy kicks out at 2. The Kid crawls to his corner to tag out, Ramon comes in with heavy right hands, catches Bart stepping in with fists for his troubles, then shoots Billy to the ropes.

Billy reverses for a back body drop, The Bad Guy puts on the brakes, muscles him up for a Razor’s Edge and hits it, but The Kid calls for a tag. Ramon gives it to him, Kid comes in and makes a cover, Billy kicks out at 2, goes into a roll-up on the kick-out and the champions retain.
Winners and STILL WWF Tag Team Champions: The Smoking Gunns (Billy/Roll-Up)

• After The Bell: The 1-2-3 Kid can’t believe it and is incensed, Razor tries to console him, but Kid pushes him away and The Bad Guy walks off. The Gunns celebrating their win and The Kid knocks Bart to the outside with a dropkick from behind, then clobbers Billy with a spinning heel kick. He fires away with kicks to the ribs, connects with a spinning back kick to send Billy over the top, Kid grabs the titles and The Gunns both slide back inside. Razor comes back to the ring and stands beside The Kid, takes the championships from him and hands them back to The Gunns, the challengers then taking their leave.
• EA’s Take: Solid tag team bout here, the main plot of the match obviously being the continued tensions between Razor & The Kid. Clearly Kid was going through an attitude change and we’d see that come to fruition as he eventually would complete his heel turn on The Bad Guy just before Survivor Series. The Smoking Gunns were merely a conduit here to further that angle as the Tag Team Division remains depleted at this time with it being a few more years before a renaissance for tag team wrestling.

Backstage: Dok Hendrix is in the locker room with a deal for us, promoting life-size stand-ups of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

Match #3: Marty Jannetty vs. Goldust
Goldust removes his wig and charges Jannetty from behind, Marty sees it coming and side-steps out of harm’s way, the bell rings to make it official and Jannetty unloads with right hands in the corner. He shoots The Bizarre One across, delivers a fists off the rebound, sends him to the ropes for a back body drop, the clotheslines Goldust over the top to the floor. Goldust takes a walk to clear the cobwebs, Marty heads out in pursuit, turns him inside-out with a clothesline in the aisle, then rolls him back into the squared circle. The Bizarre One rolls right back to the floor for a breather, Jannetty mocks him from the ring, Goldust slides in and goes face-to-face with Marty and they exchange words.

The referee separates them, collar & elbow tie-up and Marty with a go-behind, standing switch from The Bizarre One, he pushes Jannetty to the ropes for a roll-up and gets a quick 2 count. He rocks Marty with uppercuts, scoops him up for a slam, Jannetty slips out behind, pushes him to the ropes for a roll-up, The Bizarre One hangs on to block it, turns around and gets surprises by a hurricanrana. Goldust pops back up and shoves him, Marty fires back with fists, irish whip to the ropes is reversed, The Bizarre One drops down, tries to leapfrog over, but Jannetty puts on the brakes and connects with an uppercut of his own. He sends him back to the ropes and leapfrogs over, Goldust puts on the brakes this time, turns Marty inside-out with a clothesline, then grinds his face into the canvas.

The Bizarre One drives Jannetty head-first into the top turnbuckle, fires off a couple of uppercuts, shoots him hard across into the opposite corner, then drags him face-first across the top rope. He snapmares Marty over and hits the ropes, drops down with a fist for a 1 count, hooks in a chinlock to wear him down, Jannetty works back to a standing position, Goldust rakes the face to stop the momentum, shoots him to the ropes for a back body drop and covers, but they’re too close to the ropes. The Bizarre One batters Marty with punches and dumps him to the outside, steps out to the apron and comes off the steps with a fist, then drives Jannetty head-first into stairs.

He slides into the ring and Marty climbs back to the apron, surprises Goldust with right hands, snapmares him over the top and The Bizarre One drops all the way to the floor. Jannetty rams him head-first off the steel steps, looks to whip him into the ring post, Goldust reverses it and Marty goes flying into the steel. The Bizarre One rams him head-first off the apron, slides into the ring and drags Jannetty up, brings him back into the squared circle with a suplex, then hooks the leg for a count of 2. He looks to wear Marty down some more with a rear chinlock, Jannetty finds his footing, earns a break in the ropes, but The Bizarre One goes to the breadbasket with a right hand.

He sends Jannetty to the ropes for a back body drop, Marty flips himself over the top of Goldust, shoots him into the corner, looks to follow in with a splash, but nobody’s home. Marty falls to the apron, The Bizarre One drags him back inside, sends him to the ropes for a boot to the gut, spikes Jannetty with a DDT, but only gains a near fall. He hauls Marty back up, whips him back to the ropes for a clothesline, Jannetty counters it, plants him with a Rocker Dropper, then heads to the high-rent district. Goldust rolls out of the way and Marty lands on his feet, scores with an elbow drop to the back of the head for 2, Jannetty sends him for the ride to the ropes, connects with multiple clotheslines, snapmares The Bizarre One over and goes back up top for a Flying Fist Drop.

Goldust gets the boot up under the jaw this time, he lifts Jannetty up and plants him with a gordbuster, hooks the leg and that’s all she wrote.
Winner: Goldust (Gordbuster)

• EA’s Take: So here is the debut of one of the strangest and most groundbreaking characters there’s ever been, Goldust. Not the most exciting match in-terms of psychology and The Bizarre One’s gimmick is still a minor work in progress, but for its time it was absolutely a fresh idea and was incredibly outside the box. Jannetty had just returned to the WWF again less than a month prior, but at this stage in his career it was clear that he couldn’t be trusted as anything more than a mid-carder at-best. His workrate was still fast-paced, but he was not as crisp as he used to be.

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