Backstage: The 1-2-3 Kid & The Smoking Gunns chat with fans on the WWF Superstar Line.

Video: Two weeks ago on RAW, King Mabel & Yokozuna viciously attacked The Undertaker during a 6-Man Tag Team Match, The Deadman suffering a crushed face which will cause him to be out of action until Survivor Series.

Match #4: King Mabel w/Sir Mo vs. Yokozuna w/James E. Cornette & Mr. Fuji
The Mighty One gets some words of wisdom from Fuji & Cornette, The King talks some trash to Yoko and pokes him in the chest, Yokozuna fires back with a right hand and the two behemoths trade-off shots. Yokozuna gets the better of it, knocks Mabel to the outside with a clothesline, The King regroups and steps back into the squared circle. Yoko with some more advice from Mr. Fuji, they big men lock-up, Mabel unloads with heavy rights, irish whip to the ropes is reversed, The King ducking a clothesline, then leaves his feet for a flying clothesline of his own. King Mabel with a big elbow and Yoko spills to the floor, The Mighty One catches his breath, heads back into the ring, Mo distracts him from the outside and Mabel takes advantage, surprising Yokozuna with a big splash in the corner.

The King puts the boots to Yoko, shoots him across, lines up for another splash, but this time The Mighty One explodes out with a clothesline. He measures for an elbow drop that’s off-target, Mabel rises to his feet and unsuccessfully tries one of his own, both guys stagger to a vertical base and Yokozuna corners The King with fists. He rocks Mabel with  headbutt, The King comes back with his own headbutt, hits the ropes for a running bulldog, but Yoko stays on his feet and the spot is botched. The Mighty One inexplicably spills to the floor through the ropes, King Mabel comes out in pursuit, jumps off the apron with a double axe handle, then looks to drive Yoko into the ring post.

The Mighty One reverses and drives The King into the steel instead, Mo gets into it with Cornette on the floor, shoves him onto his backside, Yokozuna tries to chase after Sir Mo, but trips over Cornette and the ref’s count reaches 10.
Winner: Double Count-Out

• After The Bell: Yoko & Mabel roll into the ring and go face-to-face, Mo and Cornette step inside to try and calm them down, the two big men hugging it out.
• EA’s Take: Yowzers, this one was pretty bad. Slow, overweight, laboring individuals who do not match-up well one bit. Both of these guys need to be up against the right opponent in order to put on a good performance and that list doesn’t include one another. Yoko can give you some good stuff, but his weight was becoming a major issue because of his food addiction, meanwhile Mabel is already on thin ice with the company after Diesel saved his job, but his days were numbered after legitimately fracturing Undertaker’s orbital bone in his face.

In The Ring: Dok Hendrix introduces Dean Douglas, then welcomes out WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels who must forfeit the title. A somber, bruised Shawn Michaels steps into the squared circle, reluctantly hands the championship over to Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon, but Douglas swipes it away and begins to celebrate. The Heartbreak Kid starts to leave, watches Dean wrap the title around his waist and Hendrix announces Douglas as the new champion, Michaels continuing to look back at the ring as he walks away.

Match #5 for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: WWF Intercontinental Champion Dean Douglas vs. Razor Ramon
Razor charges to the ring, ducks a shot and fires away with right hands, the bell rings and we’re officially underway. The challenger shoots Douglas into the turnbuckles, follows with a haymaker off the rebound, the champion rolls to the outside and takes a walk to collect himself. He climbs back in and they lock-up, Ramon picks the arm for a wristlock, works over the left shoulder and knocks Dean down for an armbar. Douglas works back to his feet and The Bad Guy continues to punish the arm, continuously lifts the champion in the air to hurt the shoulder joint, then goes right back to an armbar, switching back-and-forth between a wristlock.

Dean finally backs the challenger to the corner, doesn’t break clean and scores with back elbows, sends Ramon across and charges in for an elbow, The Bad Guy side-steps out of harm’s way, then hooks the armbar back on to ground him. Douglas tries to roll him away with an arm drag and Razor maintains the hold, the champion finds his footing again, backs Ramon to the corner, doesn’t break clean again and hammers the challenger down to the mat with right hands and boots. Irish whip to the ropes is reversed, The Bad Guy swings wildly with a clothesline that misses, catches Dean attempting a crossbody, tosses him with a fallaway slam and then clotheslines Douglas to the outside.

The champion drags himself back up to the apron, Razor is there to meet him with a hot shot, Douglas pulls himself back up, surprises the challenger with a thumb to the eye, then goes to drive him head-first into the top turnbuckle. The Bad Guy blocks it and returns the favor, drops him to the floor with a big fist, he reaches over the ropes and hauls Dean back on the apron, then brings him in with a vertical suplex. Ramon puts the boots to the champion, shoots him hard into the turnbuckles, kicks Douglas to the floor under the bottom rope, then goes out in pursuit. He rocks the champion with a haymaker, grabs a bottle of water from the announce position, pours it over Dean’s head, then sends him back inside.

Razor rolls in and drives himself into the champion’s shoulder, Douglas comes back with right hands, The Bad Guy blocks one, splits him with an atomic drop, then sets for the Razor’s Edge. Dean counters it with a back body drop, the challenger flies over the top and crashes to the floor, Douglas goes out after him and batters Ramon with fists to the back of the head. He rams the challenger spine-first into the ring apron, throws him back inside, climbs to the top turnbuckle, but gets caught coming off by a chokeslam. They double down and both guys stagger back to a standing position, The Bad Guy connects with a succession of rights, drops the champion with a discus punch, props him on the top turnbuckle and readies for a super back suplex.

The champion fights it off and knocks him to the canvas, stands on top for a crossbody, Razor rolls through it into a lateral press and almost steals the match. Both guys back up quick and Douglas connects with a dropkick, crawls into a cover, Ramon gets his foot on the bottom rope at 2, Dean drags him back up and whips him hard into the turnbuckles. He tries to shoot the challenger back across, The Bad Guy reverses, Dean rebounds out of the corner for a clothesline, Razor ducks it and plants him with a back suplex. He drapes the arm over for a cover, the champion gets his foot under the bottom rope and the official counts to 3, the ref then informing our ring announcer that we have a new champion.
Winner and NEW WWF Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon (Back Suplex)

• EA’s Take: Considering Scott Hall was always known be to a pretty good worker, this one was a little rough and quite honestly, I found it to be boring. The Bad Guy basically squashed your new champion (by hook or by crook) and Douglas only got in offense during the last couple of minutes. Granted, the company was already sour on Dean and he was obviously never meant to win the title. All things considered, it was still history as Razor becomes the first four-time IC Champion and Douglas has the shortest-reign ever, but obviously the big story here was Shawn forfeiting the title. I think we’ve all heard the story now of how Michaels got beaten to a pulp by a group of Marines at a bar, which is why he was unable to compete. It would ultimately be the beginning of a concussion angle the company would run with Shawn.

Backstage: Shawn Michaels is speaking with fans on the phone and you can too if you call the WWF Superstar Line.

Backstage: Dok Hendrix shows off the newest Two Dudes With Attitudes t-shirt, which can be yours for the low price of twenty dollars. He catches WWF Champion Diesel before he heads through the curtain, simply stating that he’s feeling awfully funky.

Match #6 for the WWF Championship: The British Bulldog w/James E. Cornette vs. WWF Champion Diesel
Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart joins commentary for this match, The Hitman chasing Jerry Lawler off to take his spot. Collar & elbow lock-up to get us started, the champion powers Bulldog away, they tie-up again with the same result, the challenger calls for a test of strength, suckering Diesel in for a kick to the breadbasket. He slaps on a side headlock, Big Daddy Cool pushes him off to the ropes, misses with multiple shots, but finally connects with a forearm to stop The Bulldog in his tracks. He sends Davey Boy back to the ropes for a clothesline, the challenger ducks under it, looks for a crossbody, but gets caught and planted by a body slam.

Big Daddy Cool scoops Bulldog up for another body slam, Davey Boy rolls to the outside to regroup, reaches in and picks the legs of the champion, pulling him towards the ring post under the bottom rope. Diesel uses his leg strength to pull Bulldog face-first into the steel post, the challenger staggers back into the ring, tries to pick the leg again, but the champion hammers him with elbows. He whips Davey Boy to the corner and charges in with a clothesline, sends him back across for another, buries knees into the abdomen, then rocks the challenger with heavy back elbows. Cornette quickly hops on the apron to create a distraction, The Bulldog takes the opening to drive his shoulder into Diesel’s knee, unloads with headbutts and forearms, then shoots him to the ropes.

Big Daddy Cool reverses it and tries for a body slam, Bulldog slides out of it, pushes him to the ropes for a roll-up, the champion hangs on to avoid it, turns around and gets flipped over the top rope by a dropkick. Diesel winds up right in from of the announce position, Bret tries to help him from falling onto the table, but Diesel unceremoniously shoves The Hitman, Davey Boy rolls to the outside, chopblocks Big Daddy Cool from behind, then stomps away at the left knee. He tosses the champion into the squared circle, drives his knee down into the left leg, hooks on a heel hold, props Diesel’s leg on the ropes and drives himself down into the knee joint with all of his weight.

The Bulldog delivers a leg drop to the knee, Davey Boy locks on a modified heel hold, Big Daddy Cool reaches out for a right hand to break the hold, the challenger kicks him to the outside, then holds the ref’s attention. Cornette delivers an elbow drop to the champion’s knee on the floor, the official is busy with the challenger and doesn’t see it, Cornette then putting the boots to Big Daddy Cool. Davey Boy steps outside and drives the champion head-first into the steel steps, The Bulldog slides back in, Cornette gets in some more cheap shots, Bulldog coming back out to send Diesel into the ring. The challenger continues to target the left knee and grabs a single-leg crab, rams Diesel’s knee down into the canvas, then hooks on a Boston crab.

The champion powers his way out of it, Bulldog quickly goes back on the attack, stomps away at the leg, goes right back into a single-leg crab, then releases the hold to deliver a leg drop for a count of 2. Davey Boy grabs the left leg and slaps on another heel hold, Big Daddy Cool unloads with right and elbows to break free, The Bulldog smartly chopblocks him back down again, hits an elbow drop to the knee and regains the heel hold. The champion gains the ropes to force a break, Bulldog chokes him with the bottom of his boot, Diesel pulls himself to his feet in the corner, tries to fight back, but the challenger sweeps his leg out, locking the heel hold on yet again. He props the champion’s leg on the ropes and drops down with all of his weight again, Big Daddy Cool uses his other leg to push The Bulldog to the outside, uses the corner to pull himself to his feet, Davey Boy crawls back inside and Diesel lunges at him, but he’s off-target.

The challenger quickly pummels him with forearms, locks the heel hold back on, Big Daddy Cool fights his way out of it, staggers to his feet, Davey Boy setting him up for a suplex. The champion blocks it and hits a vertical suplex of his own, both guys struggle back to their feet, Bulldog misses a right hand, Diesel plants him with a back suplex, then drags himself back to a vertical base. The challenger fires first with clubbing blows to the back for a 2 count, wants to go back to work on the legs, looks back at The Hitman and locks on a Sharpshooter. Big Daddy Cool muscles his way out of it and finds his footing, The Bulldog clobbers him with forearms, goes back to the knee with kicks, lifts him up for a Running Powerslam, but can’t hold the weight and Diesel falls on top for a near fall.

Bulldog tries for the Running Powerslam again, this time the champion slips out of it, pushes him to the ropes for a big boot, then calls for the Jackknife. Cornette climbs onto the apron and Diesel flips him inside, grabs him by the tie, Davey Boy tries to ambush the champion from behind, Big Daddy Cool avoids it and Cornette gets dropped by a forearm instead. Diesel scores with right hands, drops the challenger throat-first across the 2nd rope, hits the ropes for a head of steam and jumps onto his back with a seated senton. Davey Boy spills to the outside, Diesel jumps out after him, The Bulldog shoves Big Daddy Cool face-first into the ring post, turns and sees Bret, then slaps his headphones off. The Hitman’s finally had enough, chases The Bulldog into the ring, batters him with fists and the official calls for the bell.
Winner: The British Bulldog (Disqualification)

• After The Bell: Diesel slides into the squared circle, grabs The Hitman and shoves him aside, they exchange words and tempers flare, punches being traded off. More referees come down to try and pull them apart unsuccessfully, the locker room emptying out to finally separate them.
• EA’s Take: I feel like this could have been much more than what it was. The psychology was fine, I just didn’t like that The Bulldog used the same exact hold numerous times throughout the match. If you’re going to use a rest hold to continually “work over” a body part, at least switch them up. Aside from that, this match was Davey Boy’s first opportunity at the WWF Title and the DQ finish involving Bret would allow him to claim a victory over the champion, which will come into play in the next couple of months. Plus, finishing the match that way also builds for Bret’s title shot at Survivor Series. Diesel has held the title for so long at this point, a change would be inevitable and this is the first time we start to see some glimpses of a heel turn.

EA’s Finisher: Not quite as good as the last In Your House in my opinion, but definitely still better than either of the first two. For what this show lacked when it came to any kind of classic matches, it was full of history-making moments like Goldust’s debut, Shawn forfeiting the IC Title, Razor becoming the first four-time champ and Dean Douglas with the shortest reign ever. You can see the potential in the roster as well, something that had been missing for a while outside of your main event stars. Was there anything horrible? Yokozuna vs. Mabel wasn’t exactly thrilling, but if you’re into sheer spectacle it could be for you. Beginning-to-end there was nothing exceptional, but this one still goes down at least as watchable, which is still a step in the right direction for the WWF in this period of time.

Top Three To Watch
1 – Razor Ramon & The 1-2-3 Kid vs. The Smoking Gunns
2 – Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Fatu
3 – Diesel vs. The British Bulldog

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