World Wrestling Federation presents Superstars
Date: 6/15/1996
From: North Charleston, SC
Matches:
1.) Vader defeated Tony Johnson
2.) Owen Hart defeated Barry Horowitz by reverse decision
2.) Marc Mero defeated Jason Ahrndt
3.) WWF Tag Team Champions the Smoking Gunns defeated Matt & Jeff Hardy
4.) Jake Roberts defeated Justin Bradshaw in the quarter-finals of the KOTR Tournament
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Justin Bradshaw cut a promo during Vader’s match saying that Bradshaw is looking for a fight with Jake Roberts. Bradshaw warns Vader that he’ll go through him, too. Uncle Zeb believes that Jake Roberts is the last guy to stand in Bradshaw’s way to be the King of the Ring. Bradshaw promises to kick Roberts teeth out.
2.) Horowitz and Hart trade waist locks until Horowitz takes Hart down to the mat and keeps arm control until Hart counters with a head scissors on the canvas. Horowitz breaks free and puts a headlock on Hart. Hart counters with a hammerlock, but Horowitz doesn’t give up. Horowitz counters with another hammerlock. Hart elbows Horowitz and tries for a kick, but Horowitz delivers a dragon screw leg whip and a backdrop for a two count as the show goes to commercial.
Horowitz uppercuts Hart in the corner, but Hart comes back with a belly to belly suplex. Hart stomps on Horowitz on the lower midsection. Hart drives Horowitz down with a backbreaker. Hart hits a gut wrench suplex and keeps arm control. Hart delivers strikes to the lower back of Horowitz to maintain control of the match. Horowitz counters a suplex and gets a rollup, but Hart kicks out at two. Hart headbutts Horowitz into the corner and delivers a strike. Horowitz elbows Hart out of the corner and punches Hart a few times. Horowitz hip tosses Hart out of the corner and hits a dropkick. Horowitz delivers a leg drop for a two count. Horowitz hits a northern lights suplex for a near fall. Hart hits a spinebuster and locks in the Sharpshooter forcing Horowitz to submit. However, Hart refuses to let go. Harvey Wippleman is the referee and calls for the bell calling for a reversal of the decision. Thus, Horowitz wins the match! (*1/2. Wippleman is going to be that kind of referee, I guess. JR tried to make this seem like a major upset, but considering it’s a reversal of a decision kind of makes it not that big of a deal compared to Horowitz brief push in ’95.)
3.) Owen Hart is on commentary for Marc Mero’s match.
4.) Vince McMahon is in the ring with the WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust and Marlena for an interview. Goldust quotes Hairspray about their souls being black, but skin being white. Goldust would have never guessed that McMahon is as stiff as he is. Goldust got down on his knees to say that, which made McMahon uncomfortable. McMahon asks for an explanation regarding Ahmed Johnson on RAW. Goldust claims he was trying to save Ahmed’s life and it’s something he’d do again. Goldust offers to show it on McMahon, but he declines. Goldust says at King of the Ring Ahmed Johnson will feel so much better. Goldust says that Ahmed will see why they call him the master. Goldust finishes off saying that Ahmed will never forget the name… Goldust.
5.) Sunny joins the commentary team for the Gunns tag match.
6.) The Godwinns and Hillbilly Jim provide comments during the Gunns match. Jim calls Sunny a crook. Phineas still acts a bit smitten by hearing Sunny’s voice. Phineas is confused why Sunny isn’t with him. Jim says he will make sure Sunny doesn’t get involved again. Phineas says that Sunny loves him and she just laughs.
7.) Bradshaw controls Roberts with a side headlock, but Roberts punches free. Bradshaw shoulder blocks Roberts and taunts the crowd. During the match, Roberts comments from Action Zone are shown. Bradshaw shoulder blocks Roberts to the mat a second time. Bradshaw controls Roberts with a top wrist lock, but Roberts breaks free. Roberts decks Bradshaw in the midsection and delivers a knee lift. Roberts tries for the DDT, but Bradshaw bails to the floor as the show goes to commercial.
Bradshaw knee lifts Roberts in the corner several times. Roberts boots Bradshaw in the corner and signals for the DDT. Bradshaw rams Roberts back first into the corner to avoid a DDT attempt. Bradshaw elbow drops Roberts on the back. Bradshaw delivers another elbow drop to the back causing Roberts to retreat to the corner. Bradshaw chokes Roberts over the ropes and delivers a kick to the back. Bradshaw sends Roberts hard into the corner. Bradshaw kicks Roberts over the back and sends Roberts hard into the corner again. Bradshaw stomps Roberts in the corner to maintain the advantage. Bradshaw tries for a cover, but Roberts kicks out at two. Roberts avoids a backdrop with a kick and jabs Bradshaw several times. Bradshaw big boots Roberts to the mat and taunts the crowd. Bradshaw misses a lariat and almost crashes to the floor. Roberts takes advantage with the DDT and eventually goes for the cover managing to win the match. (*. It’s kind of weird that Roberts is presenting in the way that he is since he had just been in the company four years ago. Roberts is being made out to look like an old drug abuser who can’t work anymore. I don’t know it’s just a little weird to me.)
8.) Next weeks Superstars is a hype show for King of the Ring and will not be covered.
Final Thoughts:
Action wise it’s not that good of a show, but they are advancing some feuds and getting a little edgy with the promo work directed towards Sunny.
Thanks for reading.