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Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are here and Vince tells us to expect the unexpected. He gives us highlights of the Austin/Vega strap match to set up tonight’s rematch.
-Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega in a King of the Ring Qualifying Match-
Austin attacks Vega from behind and chops away but Vega quickly reciprocates. He connects with an enzuigiri for two. Austin bails and manages to pull Vega’s leg over to the ringpost and post it. Austin goes after the knee in the ring which is a solid game-plan for the former Ringmaster. Austin sends Vega to the outside. Vega turns that to his advantage and posts Austin’s leg now. Vega works over Austin in the ring and focuses on Austin’s knee until Austin pulls Vega’s trunks and sends him into the turnbuckle. Austin tries a bodyslam but his knee gives out and Vega falls on top for two. Vega gets a flying clothesline (flying is used in the loosest sense of the word) for two and a kneecrusher also gets two. Vega tries a big splash but Austin lifts his knees to block. Austin sells the knee after doing the move which I appreciate. Austin sends Vega into the corner and Vega bounces out hitting Austin in the head and both men are down. We head to break and return with Austin missing the Boss Man butt splash on the ropes. Vega wins a battle of rights and lands a kick to the gut. Vega follows with a spinning heel kick but Austin is too close to the ropes and gets his foot on the bottom rope to break the pinfall. Vega chops away and tries for a back suplex but Austin turns that into the Stone Cold Stunner, or WHATAMANUEVER according to Vince, to get the pinfall at 8:11. I thought Vega was dull and plodding in the ring but Austin’s selling of the knee was excellent. This was actually a fine TV match. **1/2.
Last month Mankind tormented the Undertaker and locked him in a casket. He then attacked Undertaker during his casket match against Goldust and then cost him a spot in the King of the Ring. Undertaker and Mankind’s feud of 1996 was one of the year’s bright spots.
-Mark Mero (w/Sable) vs. Owen Hart in a King of the Ring Qualifying Match -
Sable gets a much louder pop than Mero. Steve Austin joins the guys for commentary as he’s facing the winner of this match. Lawler mentions Owen Hart being in a bad mood and he doesn’t want Austin or Hart to go at it. They eventually did and Hart wound up nearly killing Austin with a piledriver that altered the course of WWE history. They show footage of Hart losing a match against Barry Horowitz thanks to the officiating of Harvey Whippleman. Owen Hart still has the cast on his arm. Owen and Marc exchange clean breaks in the corner to start. Owen grabs a hammerlock which Mero flips out of and Owen complains to the ref that Mero was targeting his bad arm. Owen is monkey-flipped over and Mero goes after Owen’s arm. McMahon complains that this is competition and you don’t want to seriously injure someone. Putting people out of business in the name of competition is okay, though. Mero heads upstairs but can’t connect with Owen and Owen goes to the reverse chinlock. You’d think that with these two guys in the ring the match would be more exciting but so far it hasn’t been. Owen connects with a spinning heel kick that gets two. Owen picks things up with a backbreaker and a gut-wrench suplex for two. A standing dropkick sends Mero into 619 position as we head to break. Owen celebrates blocking a sunset flip but Mero turns him over into a pinfall combination that gets two. Austin has been escorted down to the dressing room during the break according to McMahon. Owen suplexes Mero and puts him in a Boston Crab. Mero flips out of it and ends up on top of Owen for two. A fisherman’s suplex gets two for Owen. Owen tries a splash off the top but Mero lifts the knees to block. Mero backdrops Owen and follows with a kneelift. Mero flips out of a back suplex and rolls up Owen for the pinfall at 9:40. Owen’s not too happy with this and knocks Mero to the outside. Owen then hits Mero with the loaded cast. This was very dull before the first commercial break, though it did pick up towards the end. **.
British Bulldog is on the Attitude Adjustment tour and he’s with his wife in the ring with Jim Ross. Ross asks him about his upcoming match against Shawn Michaels at the King of the Ring. Shawn is in the arena with Ross and Bulldog. Okay, so you’re two main eventers at the next PPV are not at the TV taping? Why not show this Attitude Adjustment show than the Raw show? Michaels runs out and attacks Bulldog from behind (some champion, right?) and the WWE officials and jobbers need to pull them apart.
Jerry Lawler appears in a promo spot. He’s apparently died and gone to the great ring in the sky where he must battle other kings, like Elvis and Tut. That was a fun King of the Ring commercial.
Meanwhile, Mero has been taken to the back and he’s probably concussed thanks to Owen’s actions. Lawler changes the subject to his match against the Ultimate Warrior at King of the Ring.
Aldo Montoya is in the ring and Lawler goes in to interview him. He wants to show Vince what he’s going to do to the Warrior and he attacks Aldo. That’s Justin Sane! Lawler gets his piledriver on Aldo and that draws out Jake Roberts. Lawler runs out as Jake hits the ring.
Earlier today, just outside the WWE headquarters a Special Olympian ran past the building with the Olympic Torch. Meanwhile – inside the building Brian Pillman signed a contract to join the World Wrestling Federation. He gives a choked up statement about his dream coming true and all.
-Jake Roberts vs. Goldust -
McMahon mentions that Goldust will be eating a big python tonight and he hopes Goldust likes it. According to the current character I don’t think he’d mind sucking down some python. Goldust stalls early which leads to a cute spot where Harvey quick-counts Goldust just to get him back in the ring. During all this non-wrestling, McMahon and Lawler mention Marlena’s photo-spread in the current WWE Magazine. During the stalling we hear more of Jake’s “heart-felt” comments on the Action Zone. When the action does start Goldust makes his presence known by feeling up Jake. Goldust continues stalling so Jake slaps him on the ass and gets a pop for that. Goldust is sent to the corner and he tries to hide in the corner but it just happens to be the corner that the snake is in. Lawler mentions Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. Holy Crap – the first movie came out in 1996? The most recent one just came out now – at the end of 2011! Goldust sends Jake into the ringpost and Jake is knocked out so Goldust brings him into the ring and tries to give him CPR. Jake blocks and gives Goldust an atomic drop. Jake Roberts calls for the DDT but Goldust backdrops out of it. Meanwhile, Mr. Perfect tells us that he knows who the special guest referee is and he will tell them after the match. Goldust gives Jake an interesting version of the Bronco Buster (he just sits there) as we head to break. Goldust works the leg because this match needed more dead spots. Jake recovers and delivers a short-arm clothesline. Marlena puts some gold dust into Goldust’s hands and he throws it in Jake’s face as Marlena is distracted. Goldust ends with a right hand to the gut to end this at 11:01. Whippleman sees Jake’s eyes and immediately reverses his decision and he awards Jake the match via disqualification. Jake is blinded but he still manages to find Goldust and DDT him after the match. I guess Jake had all that experience thanks to his Wrestlemania match against Martel. Why did this go longer than the other two matches? Easily the worst match on the show and probably one of the worst of 1996. DUD.
Jim Cornette and Mr. Perfect reveal who the referee will be – Mr. Perfect himself! Perfect says he will be right down the middle, no ands, ifs or buts.
-The Bottom Line-
The first two matches will never be considered mat classics but they were decent **-ish TV matches. Unfortunately, the last match really just sucked the life out of the show. Goldust was an interesting character but his matches at this time were just awful stall-fests and the one on this show was just another example. Having Jake Roberts in there with him didn’t help, either. I’d suggest turning this off after the Pillman contract signing.
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