Andrew Lutzke
Hosted by Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon
A CGI plane drops IYH logos onto a map.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. The British Bulldog
Jim Cornette, Owen Hart and Clarance Mason all join The Bulldog. Jake is presented by legal paperwork that bans Revelations from ringside. Jake tears up the contract and covers Cornette and Mason with the snake. Corny faints from the shock. Roberts walks off and the crowd seems annoyed. Jake brings Ahmed Johnson to ringside with him. This somehow magically morphs into a tag match.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Ahmed Johnson vs. Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith
Bulldog has a legit knee injury, so Hart will have to carry this. Jake dominates Owen and Smith wants nothing to do with Johnson. The Pearl River Powerhouse tosses Hart around at will. Roberts tries to deliver a few DDTs but Hart is able to avoid them and tag in his partner. Johnson tags in again and Smith quickly tags out. Ahmed stomps on Hart’s fingers and then stomps a mud hole in him. Smith sneak attacks Johnson and now has the bravery to tag in. Smith and Hart work Johnson over. Roberts tags in and doesn’t fare much better. The Snake avoids a Sharpshooter near the end of his lengthy beat-down, Johnson gets the hot tag and tears through both heels. He foolishly tags a tired Jake in way too quick. Roberts gets cracked in the knee three times with Corny’s tennis racquet and a knee bar by Smith finishes it. Formulaic match. I would have liked a more direct shot to the knee by Smith to set up that finish.
Marc Mero and The 123 Kid yell at one another on the WWF Superstar line. Lawler calls Sable unattractive again.
We get clips from the “Free For All” where Goldust “fell” and injured his knee while being chased by The Ultimate Warrior.
IC Champion Goldust vs. The Ultimate Warrior
Mantaur, dressed as a gangster, is with Goldust. Goldust runs away. Warrior pursues him, then stops to smoke Marlena’s cigar. Warrior snags the director’s chair, puts Goldust’s robe on it and waits for the heels out on the floor. A “faggot” chant breaks out. Goldust walks to the entryway and back again. Goldust gets on the mic and threatens to kiss each member of the audience. Stalling. Stalling. Stalling. Goldust finally gets back in the ring. Warrior puts the robe back on Goldust and hands Marlena her cigar back. Goldust takes a seat. Warrior asks for the cigar again and burns Goldust’s hand with it. He then clotheslines Goldust and the champion runs away and is counted out as Warrior watches. The fans must have been thrilled to have paid to see that. Warrior beats up the body guard to try and appease the fans a bit. Vince and Lawler even are aghast at the shit they just saw. Warrior puts on Goldust’s wig and poses after the match.
The British Bulldog is screaming at Shawn Michaels dressing room door for unknown reasons. Knowing that Bulldog was going to have to draw against Michaels for the next two PPVs, you’d think his booking would have been stronger in that opening tag match.
Razor Ramon vs. Vader
Ramon has been suspended since the night after the February PPV. McMahon puts Razor over hard to help give Vader as much rub as possible since this will be Ramon’s last TV appearance. Vader chucks Razor over the top rope with ease at the opening lock up. Vader mauls Ramon with punches. Razor tries to lay in some of his own blows but a Razor’s Edge attempt sees Ramon dumped to the floor. Razor is back in quickly and he uses a series of punches to down the mastodon. Ramon then clotheslines Vader to the floor. Vader doesn’t lose much steam, smashes Razor into the corner and then downs him with more strikes. Ramon gets a desperation back suplex but Vader is not to be stopped. A power slam and Vader bomb isn’t enough to keep Ramon down. Vader keeps up the pressure with a back suplex and more clubbing blows. Ramon manages to reverse a suplex but Vader bullies right back into control. Razor catches Vader attempting a second rope leap and keeps control with a poorly telegraphed bulldog. Vader saw Ramon on the second rope, so he leaned over and walked toward him. Vader downs Ramon again and another Vader bomb is attempted. Ramon leaps up and tries a Razor’s Edge but Vader’s too fat. Vader attempts a moonsault but Ramon manages an electric chair drop. Vader flips out of another Razor’s Edge attempt and just sits on Ramon for the win. Good match. Props to Hall for not dogging it on his way out.
Paul Bearer and The Undertaker are chatting on America Online.
World Tag Team Champions Skip and Zip vs. The Godwinns
The heels try double teaming the big ol’ HOG but he’s too fresh and powerful for them. PIG tags in and chews on Zip’s arm. Skip gets tossed around by HOG. PIG and Zip tag in and Zip struggles with the country dumbkin before Skip dumps him to the cement from behind. PIG endures a lambasting for a while before HOG makes the lukewarm tag. HOG dominates both heels and delivers a slop drop. Sunny distracts PIG with a picture of herself and the ref is wrapped up with Hillbilly Jim and Sunny at ringside. This allows Skip and Zip to switch places and HOG is rolled up for the win. Bleh match. The crowd was dead for it as well. The next PPV line up is already coming together as Savio Vega vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Marc Mero vs. HHH, and Yokozuna vs. Vader are all announced. Mero cuts a goofy promo using “wild” puns.
“No Hold Barred” World Champion Shawn Michaels vs. “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel
Mad Dog Vachon is shown at ringside to establish his presence. Diesel chucks his leather jacket on Vince’s head. Shawn is very stern in the back and skips all the dancing and theatrics on his way to the ring. The two men toss bombs back and forth until Diesel takes a big bump to the floor. HBK then planchas onto him. Shawn grabs a boot from the Spanish announcer and blasts Diesel. Diesel rebounds by chucking Michaels head over heels into the corner and to the floor. Shawn is dumped with the Snake Eyes, which allows Diesel to come over and troll McMahon. Diesel batters Michaels in the corner and mocks Jose Lothario. Diesel then unravels some wrist tape and chokes out the ref! Didn’t see that coming. The ref’s belt is stolen and used for whipping Micheals. Diesel then hangs him over the ropes with it. A chair is cracked on Shawn’s back, then a second blow hobbles HBK further. Michaels is saved by Nash accidentally bouncing the chair off the ropes and rattling his own brain on the rebound. Shawn attempts to use the chair but is drilled in the nuts before he can. Diesel cracks HBK with blow after blow before sending him flying to the floor. Shawn is then powerbombed through a monitor covered table in a great looking spot. Nash goofs around with the title instead of going in for the kill. Vince begs Shawn to “let it be over!” HBK manages to find a fire extinguisher and blows it in Nash’s face. A steel chair wrapped in audio wires is dragged from the table wreckage and used on Diesel. Nash takes back control and tries a powerbomb. Michaels punches his way out and delivers a big elbow. Shawn tries a superkick but Diesel catches it and downs Shawn. Diesel collapses as well. Nash manages to get up first and tosses HBK to the floor. Nash drops Michaels on the railing for good measure. Diesel finds Mad Dog and drags him by the neck into the field of battle. He tears off Vachon’s artificial leg and brings it to the ring. Shawn low blows him before he can use it, then cracks Nash with the prosthetic limb . A superkick follows that and Michaels scores a hard earned victory. He shows tremendous fire in his post match “fuck you” mannerisms toward his fallen former ally. Very good match with a very memorable finish.
Final thoughts: The good was really good and the bad, well wasn’t too bad. Nash and Hall both had tremendous encounters on their last day of televised action, which makes you wonder what might have been. In all probability, the Kliq would have imploded the WWF, Austin wouldn’t have gotten the ball, and Bret Hart would never have come back.
