STW - IYH 9: International Incident [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Bruce today we’re looking back at one of the more interesting In Your House shows…International Incident 1996.

This show is more notable for who doesn’t appear…Warrior…but we’ve covered that extensively in the archives so make sure you check that out. Any thoughts on the A&E documentary about Warrior?

25 years ago professional wrestling was a much different landscape. Steve Austin cuts his infamous promo on King of the Ring…the Warrior and the WWF’s relationship comes to an end. Oh and by the way…Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Hulk Hogan form a super heel trio in WCW called the New World Order.

Before we get into the show…it’s always fascinating to find out your perspective on what your old friend Eric was doing on the other channel. What is the internal office reaction to Hulk Hogan turning heel and forming the nWo with two guys just left the company? And I don’t know mean office in terms of legal and protecting IP…the creative office. You, Vince & Pat?

Speaking of the landscape being different 25 years ago…it’s just a gigantic year for not just the pro wrestling business but wrestling in general. It is around this time that Kurt Angle wins the Gold Medal with a broken freaking neck. It’s crazy that all these big moments are happening, Austin 3:16 promo, Hogan turning heel, Warrior leaving, Angle winning the gold medal…and it’s all in a 6 week period. How crucial is this 6 week period for the future of pro wrestling?

The Raw taping the night after King of the Ring sets the stage for International Incident. Ahmed Johnson makes his first defense as IC champion over HHH, Sunny claims she’s going to be bringing in a singles wrestler who will be Ron Simmons, and Undertaker defeats Steve Austin in the main event of a match we’ll see numerous times in the coming years. The story has always been Austin cuts the promo, JR rips up his contract and gives him a new one on the spot and it’s off to the races. But it does take some time to get Austin going after this. Why is that?

At the Raw show you guys tape into the future and it includes a Warrior vs. Owen match which ends with Bulldog & Vader helping to leave Warrior laying. Was this done as pure coincidence as to what’s about to happen or was this something of a setup on Warrior because you knew there were issues?

International Incident is scheduled to take place in Vancouver and around this time the Molson Center is scheduled to open in August. How important is Canada to the WWF business in 1996?

Warrior and the WWF’s relationship explodes over missed shows and like I said check it out in the Warrior interview in the Archives. How quickly are you focused on finding a replacement for the main event which is scheduled to be Owen, Davey Boy & Vader vs Warrior, Shawn & Ahmed?

What names are thrown around besides Sid?

Was there a worry because it was summer and softball season Sid wouldn’t be reliable?

Bret is on hiatus at this point. Was it worth a phone call to contact him?

It’s reported in the Observer that Barry Wyndham had a meeting with Vince and he would eventually return as the Stalker. Why Barry here?

Sean Waltman meets with Vince also around this time and while no decision is made not long after this he also leaves for WCW. Was it just time for Sean to go elsewhere?

From the Observer … “Basil DeVito, a long-time Vice President with Titan Sports, who left a few years back, was hired back as a consultant when it comes to business development. In a sense he'll replace Lisa Wolfe, who was another company VP in charge of business development and human resources.”

Was this an improvement bringing Basil back over Lisa Wolfe?

Mark Henry is being sponsored by the WWF in his Olympic run. How does Mark Henry land on the WWF radar and does he come to you or you go to him?

It’s reported in the Observer that “McMahon is making an effort to sign a lot of the key guys to five-year deals as he apparently wants to avoid more Hall/Nash situations.” Was this Vince’s plan of attack at this time?

We’ve heard stories of guys having issues going in and out of Vancouver. What is your travel like for this show?

Well Bruce we’re here at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 21st, 1996. The gate is $214,985 Canadian with 14,804 fans and 11,955 paying. That’s gotta make the office happy, correct?

On the pre-show Jim Cornette and Jose Lothario get into it and Cornette promises a money back guarantee that he’d refund the entire house gate & PPV revenue if his team doesn’t win the main event. How southern is this gimmick Bruce?

1. In a non-title match, the Bodydonnas beat the Smoking Gunns in 13:05. Before the match, the Bodydonnas did an interview clumsily explaining why Cloudy wasn't there (they've dumped the character, it appears WWF has gotten sensitive about the charges of too many transvestite/lesbian/pervert type characters although the Cloudy deal clearly wasn't working at all). All four worked hard but it didn't click. Fans still aren't into the Bodydonnas as faces. There was a "buns of steel" chant, obviously directed at Sunny who still comes across as the only star of the tag team division. At one point Sunny did a fainting spot, and Skip acted concerned while Zip tried to talk him out of being concerned, and when he got by Sunny, she slapped him and the Gunns jumped him. There was another spot which looked awkward involving the Gunns doing a double-team move that appeared to be messed up on purpose giving a first tease of a possible Gunns split-up. Skip was mainly beaten on. Finally Billy came off the top rope and landed with his crotch on Skip's knee, and Skip made the hot tag. Zip, who in particular isn't good at working as a face, at least within this gimmick, was quickly cut off when Billy tripped him from outside the ring. Bart went for the sidewinder slam on Zip, but as the ref was distracted by Billy, Skip came off the top rope with a dropkick on Bart and Zip fell on him for the pin. 3/4*

First off Cloudy. Was it because of the gimmick getting some heat with everything going on with Goldust or was it because it wasn’t working?

Long match with baby faces that aren’t really over and Meltzer’s right Sunny is the star of the tag division…did the Bodydonnas have issues working as baby faces in this gimmick?

Next up is supposed to be Mankind vs. Jake Roberts but supposedly Roberts goes AWOL and no-shows. What do you remember about what was going on here because Jake does eventually return?

2. Mankind beat Henry Godwinn in 6:54. Both worked hard but the match didn't really get going. Mankind at one point took the mats from the floor and gave Godwinn a neckbreaker. Mankind later took a slam off the apron and splatted on the concrete floor. Finish saw Godwinn try the slop drop but Mankind held onto the ropes, and then quickly used the mandible claw for the finish. *¼

Obviously not to the level of matches Foley would go on to have in his career on pay-per-view. Was HOG the fill in because he was really the only baby face available for Mick?

3. Steve Austin pinned Marc Mero in 10:48. They really pushed the accident from the King of the Ring show where Mero kicked Austin in the mouth. This was a Japanese style match in that they teased their regular spots, but then crossed things up with the idea that since they had wrestled before, the other person "knew" the spot. Since both are relatively new to the WWF and their spots haven't registered that strong with the fans, it kind of went over the people's heads. At one point Austin worked the idea that he'd been kicked in the mouth. When Mero hesitated, Austin took over on him which got a big face pop. Actually Austin got a lot of cheers in this match, particularly when he scored the clean win. Marlena and the Usher came out to apparently give a gift to Sable, but instead gave an envelope to Lawler, who handed it to McMahon and it was never referred to again. The timing of this was bad as she distracted the crowd with her entrance as the guys were building up to a string of hot moves. Mero made a comeback doing a moonsault block off the apron to the floor while the crowd was occupied with other things. The first time Austin went for the stone cold stunner, Mero blocked it. After Mero got a near fall with a legdrop into the ring from the apron, Austin caught him while attempting a huracanrana and turned it into a hotshot on the top rope, then used the stunner again for the pin. Good match, but nowhere close to as good as their King of the Ring match. ***

Austin’s baby face push from the crowd really begins here. What is the deal with the usher and Marlena as it did take away from the crowd but seemed like it never went anywhere. These two are always good in the ring but you can tell the crowd wants Austin to be pushed. What did you think Bruce?

4. Undertaker beat Goldust via DQ in 12:07. The first 3:15 was all stalling. Undertaker choke slammed Goldust on the stairs and picked up the stairs but Marlena protected Goldust so Undertaker dropped the stairs. Undertaker dominated the next several minutes. Goldust undid the turnbuckle padding on whipped Taker into the unexposed metal on his back. He then dropped the stairs on his back and went into a camel clutch. Taker made a comeback and hit the tombstone. As he went for the pin, Mankind came from under the ring and put the claw on him for the DQ and dragged him under the ring. A bunch of smoke again came from under the ring as the fans chanted "Rest in Peace." Finally Undertaker popped up from under the ring on the other side and chased Mankind to the back. The two theoretically continued to brawl backstage and they showed a brief poorly-lit clip of the two apparently fighting in a boiler room to set up their boiler room match on SummerSlam. **

The match is more the backdrop for the Mankind-Taker angle to lead to the infamous Boiler Room Brawl at SummerSlam. Goldust losing the IC title seemed to have cut off some of his steam at this point. What did you think Bruce?

5. Vader & Davey Boy Smith & Owen Hart beat Shawn Michaels & Ahmed Johnson & Psycho Sid in 24:32. Overall a very good main event with, as expected, Michaels carrying the match for his side. Michaels and Vader traded spots early ending with Michaels doing a plancha. Michaels came off the apron but missed a bodyblock and caught his throat on the guard rail. Finally Sid, who appeared to get the best crowd reaction of the show, tagged in doing a series of stationary clotheslines (where the heel basically does the entire running into him and taking the bump spot and Sid just stands there with his arm extended). Johnson tagged in and threw three dangerous back suplexes on Hart, whose landings didn't look too pretty and he appeared to have hurt his elbow and shoulder legit. He used the Pearl River plunge on Smith but Vader made the save. Sid tagged in and took two bumps, one from a vertical suplex being held up for a long time by Smith. Michaels tagged in, missing a charge and hitting his shoulder on the post. Michaels worked basically the rest of the match taking punishment from the heels and did a great job. At one point, where Vader held him in what was a move similar to a bearhug, a fan hopped the rail and made it all the way to the ring apron. At that point, both Johnson and Smith seemed to notice him and Johnson blocked him first and the fan took one look at Johnson in his face, and voluntarily jumped off the apron to the police to a big pop from the crowd. As Michaels set up the superkick, Cornette, grabbed his ankle. Vader then charged into the corner and gave Michaels a bodyblock and a Vader bomb for the pin. After the match, Sid power bombed Hart and Smith and when he went to bomb Vader, Smith & Hart pulled Vader out of the ring. Michaels then did a running tope over the top rope onto Vader. ***¾

What is it with fans jumping into the ring in Canada? Well worked main event which is more than can be said for a lot of Sid matches. The Ahmed suplexes on Owen were particularly ugly. Any heat there? At this point did you know of any of the issues building between Shawn & Vader working together or was everything still good at this point? This match is 15x better with Sid than with Warrior right Bruce?

The show was a mixed bag with reviews submitted to the Wrestling Observer. 38.7% thumbs up, 31.9% thumbs in the middle and 29.4% thumbs down. What say you Bruce?

The show is down in buyrate compared to Beware of Dog going from a .45 to a .37. Do you think the Warrior coming off the card hurt the buyrate or was just the show not appealing in general with WCW getting super hot around this time?