30 YEARS AGO – WWE LIVE EVENT RESULTS (9/7/1996): Shawn Michaels vs. Goldust for WWE Title, Jose Lothario vs. Jim Cornette, Sid vs. Vader, plus Barry Windham, The Smoking Gunns, Bushwackers

PWTorch features unmatched archives of live wrestling reports (not just results, but match details, context, and analysis). The following is a report originally published in the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter #407 (Cover-Dated Sept. 21, 1996). To read more pre-Internet wrestling coverage, become a PWTorch VIP member to unlock nearly 2,000 back issues of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter going back to the late 1980s. VIP INFO PAGE

WWF “Big Bang Bam Tour”
September 7, 1996
Dallas, Tex. at Reunion Arena
Report by Greg Proctor, PWTorch contributor

Attendance: 7,326 / Ticket Revenue: $106,425)

(1) The Bushwackers beat Justin Hawk Bradshaw & Uncle Zeb when Luke pinned Bradshaw. All comedy. The finish came after Bradshaw accidentally clotheslined and elbowdropped Uncle Zeb. The crowd popped.

(2) Faarooq Asad (w/Sunny) pinned Bob Holly. The crowd was not into either wrestler, but Sunny got a nice response. Faarooq won with a face-first powerbomb.

(3) Jose Lothario pinned Jim Cornette with a punch to the face. Worse than you’d think, and boy am I glad this wasn’t part of a pay-per-view main event. Mercifully short.

(4) The Stalker (Barry Windham) pinned Jerry Lawler with a piledriver. No one knew who Stalker was, a problem that could have been alleviated had he been announced with his real name also. Before the match Lawler insulted the crowd and the Cowboys. The match itself was mainly stalling. Lawler held the advantage for a while by using a foreign object stuffed in his tights, but Stalker powered out of Lawler’s signature piledriver and executed his own for the win. On paper, a Windham-Lawler match doesn’t seem so bad, but when you see them live at this stage of their careers…

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

Check out the latest episode of “PWTorch ’90s Pastcast” with Patrick Moynahan and Alex McDonald, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)

The ring announcer interviewed Mark Henry, who showed zero charisma. Paul Bearer wheeled out the casket and told Henry he wouldn’t make it to his first match as Mankind crept up behind him. Henry turned and caught Mankind in a bearhug and then dropped him in the casket. The crowd chanted “USA.” It really put lots of heat on Mankind, headlining the next pay-per-view in two weeks, that he got manhandled by someone who’s not even a wrestler. After getting dumped, Mankind came into the ring, pulled out his hair, and hugged the urn. Pretty moronic. This replaced the scheduled Undertaker vs. Mankind match.

(5) The Smoking Gunns (w/Sunny) fought The Grim Twins to a DCO. For the third time in the card no one knew who the wrestlers were. The match was so short and pedestrian. At least in this match wrestlers actually left their feet, a rare occurrence until this point in the card. Lots of weak brawling led into the DCO.

(7) Sid pinned Vader. No Cornette at ringside. Vader received a big pop; Sid got a bigger pop. The match wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. Sid won cleanly after a chokeslam. No psychology or storyline. Sid simply got tired of fooling around with Vader and smooshed him.

(8) Shawn Michaels pinned Goldust to retain the WWF Title. Before the match Goldust taunted Mexicans and hilariously mocked Michaels’s pre-match dance. The match itself was the same as had aired on USA Friday except Michaels won with the chin music. Best match of the night, but that’s not saying much. Michaels got the biggest pop of the night.

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF EVEN MORE RECENT PWTORCH FLASHBACKS