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Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana; October 20, 1996
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry “The King” Lawler & Jim Ross
This is the first in your house that did not have the “house set” at the top of the stage; more like a graveyard fence and gate, to fit with the “Buried Alive” theme of the PPV. Jim Ross is in full heel mode here (Vince Russo idea) and goes off on various “shoot” rants only to get his microphone cut off. I’ve heard this JR incarnation referred to as “Bizarro Jim Ross”; as in Superman’s exact evil opposite.
Pre-match Steve Austin doesn’t care who his opponent is because they are all on his list; Austin feels Savio Vega (injured) is scared and he will retire Bret Hart, who is returning from a six month hiatus, the next night on Monday Night Raw. He says that if you got problem with the language he uses you “can kiss his ass”.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley: This could be called the “Curtain Call” match, since one guy [Austin] got the push the other one [Hunter] was supposed to get, if not for the Kliq’s Curtain Call at MSG. Savio Vega was Austin’s original opponent but he got hurt so Hunter is an alternate. Austin is still technically a heel here but the fans are beginning rally behind him; weird seeing these two open a PPV. This was also the pay-per-view debut of the glass-shattering Austin entrance theme. Jim Ross complains about “audio difficulty” as his microphone keeps going on and off; JR cites Vince McMahon and censorship. Hunter arm drags Austin and bows; both Austin and Hunter leave the ring to jaw with fans about ringside since both are heels. We get a shot of the audio guys “working” on JR’s headset. Austin arm drags Hunter and flips him off. Austin applies a side headlock and takes him down then reverses into a hammerlock; JR claims he is solely responsible for Bret Hart’s impending return. Austin reverses a hammerlock with a single punch; they quickly get into a slap fest and Hunter retreats to the floor. Another Vince Russo staple here as the commentators are discussing Helmsley’s match, against the returning Mr. Perfect on tomorrow’s Raw, in lieu of the actual match in the ring; the PPVs began to promote the next night’s Monday Night Raw instead of the visa versa. That always bothered me moving forward into the Attitude Era. They lock up again and Hunter side headlocks Austin but he uses the hair to free himself and clotheslines Hunter and drops elbows; Austin settles into an armbar and drives knees into the shoulder and segues into a wristlock. JR starts taunting McMahon with actual wrestling hold names to compensate for Vince’s usual “maneuvers”. Hunter tosses Austin into the buckle but eats a boot and a clothesline. We get a split screen of the commentators as Austin arm drags back into the armbar. Vince states that Hunter is from Greenwich, Connecticut; Jim Ross says a lot of “rich arrogant people come from Greenwich… where do you come from Vince?” JR then calls Connecticut an “overpriced Hell hole”. Notice the highlight of the match has been the banter on commentary? I think Austin and Helmsley dumbed down their match once they learned about the commentary angle during it. Helmsley punches away and kicks in the corner; Austin quickly reverses it but Hunter reverses a whip and backdrops Austin off the rebound. Helmsley hits a vertical suplex and drops a running knee; backdrop suplex gets a nearfall. Helmsley grounds Austin into a side headlock; we get more commentary split screen as JR’s microphone sounds like he is talking on AM radio with an echo. Jerry Lawler begins to support JR’s plight. Austin frees himself but runs right into a sleeper, Austin quickly reverses, but Helmsley fires him off the ropes and reapplies the sleeper; Austin uses the jawjacker to break the hold, once and for all. Austin tries a Thesz press but Hunter slips behind and runs him into the ropes; Stone Cold quickly counters into a Stungun and drops the second-rope finger flipping elbow. Helmsley drops Austin with a high knee and drops a Lawler-like second-rope fist drop. Lawler makes fun of both McMahon and JR in one sentence; “does that ever get on your nerves [Jim Ross] when he [McMahon] shouts ‘one, two, he got ‘em! He got ‘em! No, no he didn’t’?” It was funny to hear someone actually point that out, on WWF programming, meanwhile a double clothesline in the ring. Mr. Perfect comes out to the ring, to a standing ovation, and steals Hunter’s female ring valet. Hunter runs to the floor to cut Mr. Perfect off but Austin back jumps him and tosses him back into the ring, then Austin jaws with Perfect. Mr. Perfect takes exception to it, so Austin backs off, then spins Perfect around and tosses a cup water into his face. Austin runs back into the ring and gets nailed by Helmsley… so much going on in one match! Hunter hooks up the Pedigree but drops it in favor of going after Mr. Perfect who still in the aisle; Austin gives chase and drags Hunter back towards the ring but Helmsley hits a vertical suplex in the aisle. Now that this match has hit overdrive the commentary banter has subsided into actual in-ring commentary. Hunter tries a Pedigree on the floor but Austin reverses into a slingshot into the ringpost. Back in the ring, Austin hits his ropes leg splash and Helmsley wobbles into the Stone Cold Stunner (Austin didn’t kick in the gut until he started doing his “random Stunners”) for the three. Post-match Vince pleads to make sure we do not catch any of Austin’s foul-mouthed victory speech into the camera. 6.5/10 The ADD booking of the Attitude era raises its ugly head in this match but it still was highly entertaining. The commentary banter overwhelms the early part of the match, but it was all chinlocks, they have the sense to simmer it down when the entertaining portion of the match occurred. Seeing Hunter and Austin work a match two or three years prior to their main eventing is fun to see.
The Smoking Gunns talk to Dok Hendrix; Billy says once he wins the tag titles back Sunny will be right back at his side; the bare bones storyline here is Billy Gunn was enamored with Sunny. Bart tries to reason with him but Billy is steadfast.
WWF Tag Team Championship Owen Hart & British Bulldog (w/Clarence Mason) vs. Smoking Gunns: Here we go again with all heels, although Bart Gunn plays the sensible babyface role here; more “technical” issues with Jim Ross’ headset continue throughout this match as well. Billy Gunn starts off with Owen Hart and they work a side headlock series with Billy getting the better and hiptossing Owen and acting like a douche. Billy applies a standing side headlock and uses the hair pull to maintain it; Owen escapes and utilizes his flip-counter to another hiptoss but Billy clotheslines him instead. Jim Ross’ microphone is going in-and-out of AM radio-version and it is quite annoying. Billy climbs to the top in lieu of tagging out and eats a punch in the gut on the way down. The Bulldog receives a tag and they double clothesline Billy. Owen drop-toeholds Billy into a legdrop by Davey Boy; they wishbone his legs, keeping him grounded. Billy backs Davey into the corner and hammers him; Bulldog reverses a corner whip but misses the follow-up elbow and Bart levels him with a clothesline from the apron. Sunny is watching on a monitor in the back. Bart gets a nearfall and the Bulldog quickly clamps on a side headlock; Davey Boy runs the ropes but charges right into a powerslam. Bart Gunn heads to the top but misses a crossbody block; Bulldog counters with a running body press for two. Owen tags in and missile dropkicks Bart. Ross agrees and disagrees with Jerry Lawler proving he is on his own side. JR calls Owen highly underrated, which Lawler agrees with; Jerry adds it is because of his spotlight hogging brother Bret Hart which JR disagrees with. The brothers in law double clothesline Bart and Davey Boy tosses Bart into the corner a few times; Owen drops a leg and applies a reverse chinlock. Davey Boy goads Billy down the apron to flex at him so Owen flings Bart into the ropes knocking Billy off triggering a brief quarrel; Owen sneaks in a schoolboy for a nearfall. Billy swipes at Owen as he is coming off the ropes allowing Bart Gunn to nail him from behind; Bart distracts the referee allowing Billy to hotshot Owen off the top rope. The Gunns hit a double Russian leg sweep and Billy keeps the heat on Owen dropping elbows and a neckbreaker. Bart returns and they double up on Owen; the Gunns team up for Poetry in Motion with a forearm. They setup Owen for the Sidewinder but the Bulldog smartly sneaks up from behind and pulls Bart away from Billy’s top-rope legdrop, which took him FOREVER to deliver, to break up the move. Owen clobbers Billy with a spinning wheel kick for three. Post-match, Sunny is in the back, applauding the Bulldog and Owen. 5.5/10 This match was made by the characterizations since all four are heel, Bart being the closest thing to babyface, and with all of those heels you risk losing the fans’ interest because they have no one to root for, so the characterizations drove the match and the fan reaction.
Jim Ross heads into the ring and berates Vince McMahon for causing his microphone to malfunction. JR quickly recounts the story of Vince firing him twice and claims he is the sole reason why Bret Hart is returning to the WWF. Ross promises Bret will be uncensored on Monday Night Raw tomorrow. JR says Vince, the egomaniacal owner of the company, talks out of both sides of his mouth and he [Jim Ross] will see us on Raw tomorrow; JR tosses the microphone to Vince at the announce booth and storms off.
Faarooq rips Ahmed Johnson during the Free-For-All; Ahmed (I think) says he is mad at Faarooq for costing him the IC title. Ahmed attacked Faarooq in the back with a 2×4 so as a result Faarooq is unable to compete for the IC title tonight and will be replaced with Goldust. Back in the arena Mr. Perfect comes out, with his tie half off, selling the suddenness of the call to commentate. Jim Ross talks to him in the aisle.
WWF Intercontinental Championship “Wildman” Marc Mero(w/Sable) vs. Goldust (w/Marlena): Mero and Jerry Lawler get into an argument during his pre-match interview. Mr. Perfect acts just like Jim Ross on commentary except his microphone works; Perfect fights with Lawler over being the IC champion, can’t we just have good guys and bad guys? Perfect helped Mero win the title; Goldust tries to hit on Mero in the corner but gets pushed down. Goldust is much more aggressive as opposed the more methodical approach we are used to seeing but runs into a hiptoss. Mero hits a few arm drags and applies an armbar. Mero floats-over into an armbar DDT and then reapplies the armbar. Goldust lays into Mero in the corner and whips him cross-corner; and punches him in the corner. Goldust’s antics fires up Mero into a Thesz press, flying head scissors and a backdrop; Goldust retreats to the floor but Mero quickly follows him out with a somersault pescado. Mero slingshot legdrops back into the ring and tries to climb the ropes but Goldust pulls him off into a chokeslam-like move. Mero gets tossed to the floor where Goldust tosses him into the steel steps; back in the ring, Goldust clotheslines Mero and applies a chinlock. Mero fires up but Goldust cuts off the comeback with a knee and reapplies the chinlock. They both run the ropes and Mero strikes Goldust with a crossbody for two and clotheslines Mero. Goldust grabs the microphone and threatens to “stick his tongue” down every fan’s throats. Mero comes back with a back suplex and Mero drops his double-jump moonsault press for two. Goldust tosses Mero into the buckle and Mero counters the Curtain Call with a Victory Star roll-up for two. Goldust backdrops Mero to the floor; Mr. Perfect leaves the announce position to check on Mero on the floor drawing Hunter Hearst Helmsley out to argue with him. Goldust tries to sneak up on him but Perfect turns and nails him. Back in the ring, Mero hits a Samoan drop setting up the Wild Thing for three. Post-match, Mero, Sable and Mr. Perfect celebrate in the ring. 6/10 Pretty good match there; Mero was great in the ring, until his injuries forces him to become a boxer; Goldust began to move away from the theatrics in the ring and went back to a more aggressive style making his matches more entertaining as well.
Sycho Sid vs. Vader (w/Jim Cornette) number one contender’s match: Here we have the battle of the powerbombs; winner faces Shawn Michaels at 1996 Survivor Series (full review, click here), for the WWF title, who comes down for some color commentary. Shawn talks trash with both guys in the ring and blows his nose with Cornette’s hanky; I’m noticing a little more Attitude in Shawn here. Vader charges at him but Michaels retreats to the floor and he runs into Sid and they brawl. Sid knocks Vader down and drops a leg for two. Sid pounds away in the corner but Vader blocks a bodyslam and backs Sid into the corner and works him over; short-arm clothesline sets up an avalanche and Sid tumbles to the floor. Vader goes out after him but Cornette sneaks in a racket shot. Jerry Lawler claims Shawn suffers from “Fe Fi Phobia”, a fear of big men. Funny. Sid tries to reenter the ring but Vader cuts him off, Sid slingshot sunset flips to reenter the ring, but Vader sits down, squashing him underneath. Three trapped short-arm clotheslines takes Sid down; a standing side headlock is applied but Sid quickly counters into a back suplex. Sid hits a running boot in the corner but Vader reverses the cross-whip; Sid catches him with a boot coming in. Sycho Sid goes to the top but Vader CATCHES him in midair and drops him with a high-angle slam; Vader follows up with a big splash but it gets only two. Vader drops a second-rope splash but pulls Sid up before the count of three. BAD MOVE. Vader tries the Vader Bomb but it meets knees. Sid fires up with a clothesline and a bodyslam; HBK calls for his buddy Sid to finish him, on commentary. Sid sets up for the powerbomb but Cornette jumps up on the apron; Sid releases Vader and pulls the second rope up crotching Cornette as he is trying to enter the ring. Vader back jumps Sid but he casually reverses into another powerbomb attempt but Vader low blows him to block as referee Tim White is rolling Cornette out of the ring. Vader goes for the powerbomb but Sid blocks; Vader resorts to fisticuffs but gets quickly caught with a one-armed chokeslam for three. Post-match, Shawn joins Sid in the ring to celebrate. 6/10 The match was a good power match although the ending was quite abrupt; still it was kept relatively short so it was good.
Dok Hendrix tries to interview Sycho Sid but evil Jim Ross mugs in on the interview time and asks the tough questions. JR talks Sid’s checkered past, turning on Shawn Michaels, and asks if he will break Michaels’ back to get the WWF title. Sid delivers one of his classic “issues with the English language” promos but he says it is his destiny to win the title. Dok is a bit pissed at JR.
Undertaker vs. Mankind (w/Paul Bearer) Buried Alive match: This match is available on Tombstone: The History of the Undertaker DVD (available to purchase by clicking here). Mankind has been Taker’s toughest challenge to date; this is the first Buried Alive match in WWF history I believe. The object of the match it to incapacitate your opponent to put him in the grave, at the top of the entrance stage, and cover (bury) him with dirt; Vince McMahon says this match is unsanctioned by the WWF and not liable for anything that happens. They brawl at the bell as Taker’s entrance smoke obscures the ring. Undertaker pummels Mankind in the corner and tries to drag him to the floor but Taker kicks his leg and shoves Mankind backwards into the ring barricade. Taker jumps off the top onto Mankind on the floor! They brawl in the aisle and head towards the grave, scaring Mankind. Undertaker uppercuts Mankind onto the dirt pile and grabs a shovel; Mankind ascertains it and jabs him with it. Mankind tries to vertical suplex him into the grave but the Undertaker counters with an inside cradle and they roll down the dirt hill to the aisle. Mankind crawls towards the ring and Taker stalks him; he tosses Mankind into the steps and they reenter the ring, covered in dirt. They exchange fisticuffs and Mankind falls to the floor again where Undertaker wraps a microphone cord around Mankind’s throat. Taker and Mankind brawl out into the crowd (before that was a common occurrence) and Taker quickly tosses Mankind back over the railing and then leaps over the railing to deliver a diving clothesline. Back in the ring, Taker continues to punish Mankind including a head-butt; he goes for the Ropewalk Forearm but Paul Bearer shakes the ring ropes to crotch Taker. Mankind takes over and chokes the corner and squeals; Undertaker comes back so Paul Bearer passes a white plastic foreign object to Mankind who uses it to keep the Undertaker at bay. Mankind stabs away with the object and rakes and stabs Taker’s face with it. Taker rebounds out of the corner with a clothesline and ascertains the object and takes out Mankind with it and another flying clothesline followed by a legdrop. Taker goes out after Paul Bearer so Mankind snags a chair but Taker sees him coming so he kicks him; Bearer hits the Undertaker with the urn to distract him enough for Mankind to recover and waffle him in the head with the chair. Mankind rubs his face against the chair. Cactus knee into the steel steps and Mankind drags Taker back to the gravesite. Mankind gets Undertaker into the grave but he pulls Mankind in as well; they brawl there until Mankind tosses dirt into his face. Undertaker hiptosses Mankind off the grave pile down onto the floor; they head back to the ring. Mankind kills the Undertaker with a pulling piledriver and then a double-arm DDT, onto a chair, he tries pinfalls but they are useless here. Taker sits-up and clobbers Mankind’s back with the chair and places it onto his face and drops a leg onto the chair; we get a glance of Paul Bearer looking like Dr. Evil as he watches the match. Mankind crawls to the apron and hotshots Taker off the top rope. Mankind pulls the ringside padding up and tries another piledriver onto the concrete but Taker counters into an Emerald Flowsion and backdrops his back into the steps. Undertaker chucks the ring steps into the ring and tosses them at Mankind and drops them on his back; Tombstone follows and Undertaker points to the grave. Taker hoists Mankind up in a fireman’s carry and brings him to the gravesite where Mankind surprises him with the Mandible Claw. Mankind gets the urn and tries to nail the Undertaker with it but he goozles him and chokeslams him into the grave. Taker begins to shovel dirt onto him and buries him for the victory. Post-match, Undertaker continues to shovel dirt into the grave and referees try to stop him but he shoves them down the hill. The Executioner debuts and clobbers Taker from behind with a shovel; he rescues Mankind and they overwhelm him and toss him into the grave and begin to bury him as the lights flicker on-and-off. Goldust, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Crush and Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw all run out with shovels to assist in the burial, while Paul Bearer cackles, and then they all leave. In the boiler room Paul Bearer and Mankind celebrate and introduce the Executioner. Back in the arena, lightning strikes the headstone with the PPV logo on it; Taker’s hand bursts out of the dirt in a very Night of the Living Dead fashion, the Undertaker LIVES! 7/10 The match was quite a good hardcore brawl and the concept was new and fresh; some intense spots made this quite enjoyable. The ending was kind of silly but it fits into the mystique of the Taker.
OVERALL 7/10 Pretty good show, if you prefer lots and lots of storylines packed into three hours, the actual wrestling was average, not awful but not MOTY either. A slew of last-minute injuries neutered this card a little bit as well. Evil Jim Ross is an interesting selling point because I believe it fizzled away by the next PPV, so this is the one and only time (on PPV) you get to see the predecessor to the heel Michael Cole concept. The Buried Alive match is an interesting gimmick match and would become a little more common in the years to come to blow off major Undertaker feuds.