World Wrestling Federation presents Superstars
Date: 4/13/1996
From: San Diego, CA
Matches:
1.) The Godwinns defeated Mike Starr & Larry Sampson
2.) Mankind defeated Jason Castro
3.) Marc Mero defeated Adam Grove
4.) Justin Bradshaw defeated Dave Starr
5.) The Caribbean Kid defeated Steve Austin
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) The Godwinns shared pre-tape comments during their match. Hillbilly Jim says they have something sweet for Sunny at In Your House and he sniffs the slop bucket.
2.) This is Mankind’s Superstars debut. Mankind dominated the match and won with the Mandible Claw.
3.) There was a meeting between Fatu and The Strangers. The Strangers wanted Fatu to join them and make money the easy way. Fatu insists that he needs to be a positive influence for children. Fatu walks off listening to Samu’s offer.
4.) This is also Marc Mero’s WWF Superstars debut. Mero won following a slingshot leg drop from the apron into the ring.
5.) Caribbean Kid came out to Savio Vega’s music, which may be a foreshadowing, right? After all, Kid is wearing a mask.
6.) Austin backs Kid against the ropes and they shove each other. Kid arm drags Austin to the mat and keeps arm control on the mat. Austin drop toe holds Kid, but Kid counters with a hammerlock on the mat. Austin takes Kid down to the mat, but Kid rolls through and Austin bails to the floor. Austin regains control and elbow drops Kid on the knee several times. Austin continues with elbow drops to the knee leading to a near fall. Kid uses his free leg to kick free from Austin. Kid delivers a few strikes, but Austin sends Kid into the ropes and Kid responds with a right hand causing Austin to bail to the floor as the show goes to commercial.
Austin hammers away on Kid and tries to remove the mask, but fails. Austin pummels Kid in the corner several times. Kid shoves Austin off the middle rope and delivers a clothesline followed by a slam for a two count. Austin knee lifts Kid and sends Kid to the floor. Austin leaps off the apron to club Kid over the back. Austin knee drops Kid on the back and delivers a forearm drop for a near fall. Austin locks in an STF, but doesn’t get a submission. Kid reaches the bottom rope to break the hold. Kid leaps off the middle rope, but misses a crossbody attempt. Austin tries for the Million $ Dream, but Kid counters with an inside cradle and pins Austin. After the match, Kid unmasks and reveals that he’s Savio Vega. (*1/2. I mean, the announcers made it obvious that Kid was in fact Savio Vega, so it kind of ruined the moment. The crowd seemed to think that it was Vega too. So, the surprise kind of fell flat.)
Final Thoughts:
The main event was predictable, but advances the issues between Austin and Vega. While they’ve already appeared on RAW, it was cool to have the Superstars debuts of Mero and Mankind on the same show, too..
Thanks for reading.