Owen Hart and the British Bulldog take on Jake Roberts and Ahmed Johnson in the opening contest. What's somewhat confusing is that this was supposed to be Bulldog vs. Roberts one-on-one, but when Jake's snake is barred from ringside it somehow turns into a tag team match. I'm guessing this was because Vince realized that Bulldog and Roberts would've absolutely stunk up the joint, Ahmed Johnson was damn over, and Owen Hart could probably do enough to make this one passable (he does). Roberts isn't at his worst here but he's nowhere near his best either, slow and worn down and unable to make his offense or his bumps look good. I like that this match also teased a Bulldog/Johnson showdown, a battle of powerhouses that I'm not sure was ever actually realized. The finish comes when the distracted referee misses out on Bulldog using Cornette's racket to take out the Snake's knee. If Bulldog was penciled in to be Shawn's next challenger, why doesn't he get a stronger win? Not a good match, but not the worst thing I've ever watched. (1.5/5)
Next up - Goldust defending his Intercontinental Championship against The Ultimate Warrior. This could've and should've been great but because Warrior was an unprofessional prick, it is arguably one of the worst matches I've ever seen. Even if you don't count it as a "match" and just consider it a "segment," it's awful. Warrior intimidates Goldust out of the ring and then proceeds to sit in Marlena's Director's Chair, smoke her cigar, put on Goldust's robe, yadda, yadda, yadda, until he somehow convinces Goldust and Marlena to come back into the ring. Warrior plays nice and they share a cigar before Warrior burns Goldust with it and then runs him out of the ring, basically winning the "match" by count out. I'm not sure whose idea this bait-and-switch was but it is not a fun segment at all and make even Warrior's worst 80s and early 90s segments - the body contests, the visits to the Undertaker's crypt, the voodoo episodes with Papa Shango - look like TV gold. Oh, and just because the trivia is worth mentioning, Warrior also takes out Goldust's one-night bodyguard, who goes unnamed but was played by the same guy who played Mantaur. (0.5/5)
Backstage, the Bulldog is enraged and trying to get into Shawn Michaels' locker room. This would serve as the start of the Bulldog/Michaels feud, which was based on Michaels supposedly hitting on Bulldog's wife, Diana.
Vader took on Razor Ramon in what I believe was Scott Hall's final WWE appearance (though he might have showed up on Raw the next night?). What's shocking about this match is how much Vader/McMahon gives to Ramon, including having him kick out of the dreaded Vader Bomb. That move should've been booked as an absolute death move, especially considering that Hulk Hogan kicking out of it had already hurt its credibility, but here we are in Vader's first year with the company and Ramon gets to kick out of it on his way out. It just makes no sense and makes me even more sympathetic for the Man They Called Vader and his plight in the WWE. This is an example of a match that is technically decent but because it doesn't accomplish what it should - at least in my mind - it fails. Maybe Vince wanted to have them go out and do a 50/50 match as a way to at least give the fans something good after the godawful matches that preceded this? Vader eventually gets the win because Razor can't get him up for his finish, which is not a good finish at all. Why not just save the Vader Bomb till the end? The only thing that finish accomplished was making Vader seem like he was just another big, fat guy - a Yokozuna or a King Kong Bundy - when Vader was much more dangerous beyond just being 300+ pounds. Vince never understood him and this match might be the perfect example of it. (2/5)
The WWE Tag Team Champions, The Bodydonnas, put their titles on the line against The Godwinns next. The WWE's tag team division had fallen on very, very, very hard times after the Legion of Doom left in 92' (?) and didn't recover until the late 90s when the Hardys, Edge and Christian, and the Dudleys started putting on ridiculous spotfests. The most over performer in this match is Sunny at ringside and its not remotely close. Not a great match or even a good one, but its passable because Henry Godwinn was a decent big man and it doesn't stretch too long. (1.5/5)
Main event time - Shawn Michaels defending the WWE Championship against Diesel in a No Holds Barred Match. This match has been hailed as one of the best of the 90s and is worth revisiting (or viewing for the first time) if you've never seen it. I'm not sure its quite up there with the Mankind match at Mind Games a couple months later, but I think an argument could be made that it is the perfect endpoint of the New Generation Era. Diesel and Michaels have lots of history and I appreciate the pre-match video going through the bulk of it, something the company should still be doing but inexplicably doesn't these days. Heel Diesel in 96' is the best Diesel and isn't dissimilar to the "Kevin Nash Character" he'd bring to nWo as, even here, he gets some verbal jabs in against Vince McMahon (he also throws his leather jacket at him, another nice little moment that foreshadowed Diesel's departure in a way). Michaels comes out and instead of doing a big dance or posing, the fight kicks off immediately. Good psychology there as these two were promising a fight - not a technical wrestling contest - and they went right at it. Michaels grabs a cowboy boot from one of the Spanish announcers to introduce the first weapon into the match, something you typically don't see a babyface do but makes perfect sense in this environment as Diesel has the height and weight advantage. Michaels takes a huge, chin-first bump into the guardrail off the apron. We've seen that one before but, hey, it looked devastating so who cares? Diesel takes over and while he's been criticized for his limited offense, he makes everything he does look impactful and Michaels doesn't no-sell anything so it all looks good. When you watch a match like this, with this sort of pacing and selling, you really wonder what Shawn is teaching the kids in NXT. Diesel attacks Earl Hebner for seemingly no reason - I mean, why would he need to if the match was No DQ, right? - but then takes Hebner's belt off, which answers that question. Diesel then hangs Shawn Michaels by the neck outside the ring! Wow. That spot would be extreme in 2021 so in 1996 it comes across as absolutely insane. Good on Shawn for "hanging in there" but that was maybe too grotesque. Diesel grabs a chair and uses it twice before Shawn dodges and the chair hits him in the face to a huge pop! Shawn tries to take advantage but Diesel cuts him off with a low blow! The crowd is into this. At this point we get one of the most memorable spots of the 90s as Diesel powerbombs Shawn Michaels through the announce table. Bret Hart had taken a table bump in a match against Diesel in 95' that is often cited as the WWE's first table spot but this one was arguably even more impactful and significant because Hart's was designed to almost look "accidental" while this one was purposeful. Diesel grabs the WWE Championship and puts it on, celebrating what he assumes to be an assured victory. This is the first "misstep" of the match to me as Diesel looks like an idiot not bringing Shawn into the ring and just pinning him. I understand that they wanted Shawn to sell the bump - especially considering it had never been done before in a WWE ring - but they should've come up with a better way to buy time. Shawn eventually gets up to crawl into the ring, wisely grabbing a fire extinguisher and blowing it into Diesel's face. This is also where the match gets a bit cartoonish as Michaels goes into "Hero Mode" a bit, the cut-offs no longer really cutting him off as much as momentarily fazing him before he fights back. Diesel ends up going to the outside and tearing Mad Dog Vachon's prosthetic leg off and looks to use it, but Michaels hits him with a lowblow! Very good callback to earlier in the match there. Michaels uses the prosthetic and then hits a Sweet Chin Music to get the victory. Arguably a top 5 match for both guys - Nash for sure, maybe for Michaels - and, nudging it into All-Time Classic territory is that its also an interesting match historically. If you're going to put on a 1-Match-Show, you want that 1-Match to be this good. (4.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.0-out-of-5, this show is impossible to recommend in its entirety and would likely be considered one of the worst pay-per-view events in company history if it wasn't for the excellent main event, a WWE Match of the Year candidate for 96'.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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