WWE: The History of the Intercontinental Championship – Disc Two
Released: 11/25/2008

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect (w/The Coach) vs. Bret Hart – (SummerSlam – 8/26/91)
  

From my SummerSlam 1991 recap: The Coach is in no way related to Jonathan Coachman whatsoever. This coach is Canadian and well, white. John Tolos had been wrestling since the ’50s, but took over Heenan’s spot as a manager once Heenan went strictly into a broadcaster’s role. Coach is just a guy in sweats with a whistle and a clipboard. They lock up and immediately Perfect is bouncing out of the ring as only he can do. Back in, Bret delivers a crucifix for 1-2-NO! Then Bret goes to a headlock and both guys trade some hair pulling. Meanwhile, Heenan makes some funny jokes about Piper’s parents. Classic. Perfect buries a knee to escape, but Bret bounces off the ropes with a crossbody for two. The momentum from the kick-out puts Bret on the floor, but he comes back in with a sunset flip for 1-2-NO! Perfect gets out of another headlock with a cheapshot. Bret does that spot where he teases the Sharpshooter and instead just stomps Perfect in the stomach. They trade slams and then Hart clotheslines Perfect out to the Coach. The champ decides to leave and fight another day, so Bret brings Perfect back in and rips his singlet in the process. Perfect cowers away, but cheapshots Bret again and kicks him out to the floor. When Bret tries to get back in the ring, Perfect shoves him off into a cameraman who gets squashed up against the guardrail. Bret finally gets back in and rolls Perfect up for 1-2-NO! Perfect punches back and whips Bret from corner-to-corner for two. Perfect hits the Running Neck Snap and a jackknife cover gets 1-2-NO! Dropkick puts Bret back on the floor. Perfect follows him out and punches him away before he heads up top. Bret gets up on the apron and stops Perfect from coming down. They brawl on the middle rope until Bret falls to the mat for 1-2-NO! Perfect slings Bret across the ring by his hair and then hooks on the sleeper. Bret collapses, but his arm only falls twice! He elbows out and tries another crucifix, but Perfect remembered what happened last time and drops back on Bret. Cover, 1-2-NO! Perfect whips Bret in for the chest-first corner bump for 1-2-NO! It’s PERFECT-PLEX time! That gets 1-2-NO!! Perfect nearly decks Hebner for not counting to three. Here comes Bret with the comeback. He hits a pair of atomic drops and then slings Perfect by his hair straight into the ringpost. Suplex gets two. Small package gets two. Russian Legsweep gets two. Backbreaker/flying vertical elbow drop gets two. The crowd can’t believe it. While Bret is arguing with Hebner, Perfect rolls Bret up for 1-2-NO! The momentum from the kick-out puts Perfect on the floor, so Bret follows him out and sends him into the ringpost. Back in, Bret kicks Perfect’s leg out from under him as they walk halfway around the ring. Bret goes for the SHARPSHOOTER, but the Coach is up on the apron. Bret nails him, but gets low-blowed by Perfect. He then stomps Bret in the balls and nearly gets DQ’ed. Perfect starts giving Bret legdrops to the groin and does one too many, as Bret catches his foot and maneuvers Perfect over into the SHARPSHOOTER! (18:04) Fantastic match. While Shawn Michaels is the most consistently great performer at WrestleMania, Bret Hart is the most consistently great performer at SummerSlam, and it’s matches like this one that prove that fact. As for Perfect, he wouldn’t wrestle again until Survivor Series in 1992 due to all the back problems he was suffering through. ****¼

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith – (SummerSlam – 8/29/92)
  

From my SummerSlam 1992 recap: Funny how Davey Boy Smith gets suspended for steroids and then receives a big push that puts him on a major PPV main event in front of 80,000 people in his mother land. Only in wrestling, I tell ya. With the rumors still flying around that Bret might consider possibly at some point in time in the future that he may think about jumping to WCW, somebody else getting the belt was a must and it might as well be done right – even if the guy had broken a few rules in the company. Britain-born Lennox Lewis accompanies Davey Boy to the ring and carries a big ol’ UK flag with him. No dreadlocks back then, just a clean-cut fade. Talking about Lennox, not Davey Boy. By the way, this crowd is REALLY loud for the entire match. They get into a shoving match to start with obviously DBS winning that one. Bret grabs a headlock takedown. DBS sends him into the ropes, but Bret slips out of a slam and rolls up DBS for two. Inside cradle gets two, and we’re back in the headlock. Davey escapes into a hammerlock, but Bret elbows out and grabs a wristlock. Davey Boy cartwheels out of that and goes to an armbar. Davey Boy catches Bret off a leapfrog and then catapults him into the corner! DBS reverts to the armbar and then surprises Bret with a crucifix for 1-2-NO! DBS goes back to the armbar, but Bret slings him off into the ropes and buries a knee to the gut. That draws 100% boos from the crowd. Bret stomps the mid-section and delivers a legdrop before grabbing the chinlock. DBS elbows out, but then runs into an elbow. Bret hits an inverted atomic drop and whips DBS into the ropes. DBS tries the crucifix, but Bret is wise to it and slams Davey Boy to the mat. Cover, 1-2-NO! Back to the chinlock. DBS shoves off and delivers a monkey-flip! DBS takes Bret from corner-to-corner, but then runs into a boot. Running bulldog on the Bulldog! How ironic. Bret heads up top, but DBS is there to meet him with a slam to the canvas. DBS heads up top for a diving headbutt I believe, but Bret moves out of the way. DBS slips out of a slam and looks to roll Bret up off the ropes, but Bret ducks and the momentum sends DBS flying out to the floor. Bret follows him out with that badly mistimed pescado that could’ve easily broken Davey Boy’s neck or back. Bret posts DBS and brings him back in the ring. Corner-whip and a Russian legsweep gets 1-2-NO! Bret unloads with European uppercuts and then follows up with a backdrop for two. Bret grabs the chinlock again. DBS starts to stand up, so Bret maneuvers over into a front headlock to set up for a suplex! THEN, he goes back to the chinlock. Brilliant. DBS fights up again and gets a backslide for 1-2-NO! Bret comes back with the backbreaker and the vertical elbow drop for two. He grabs the sleeper and Davey Boy really fights it until he gets to the ropes. Doesn’t matter much, because Bret just whips him into the ropes and reapplies the hold. DBS stands up out of it and backs Bret into the corner for the break, but Bret is right back on top of him with the sleeper! DBS backs Bret into the corner again and this time he mounts a comeback. He lifts Bret up for a press slam, but winds up dropping him funny in the ropes. A bunch of clotheslines gets two for Davey Boy. He follows that up with a Press Slam for another two. Stalling suplex follows THAT for 1-2-NO! Davey Boy sends Bret into the corner for the chest-first bump for another near-fall. He delivers the RUNNING POWERSLAM! It’s over! 1-2-NO!! Davey Boy starts to get antsy, which Heenan calls the beginning of the end for him. Davey Boy knocks Bret out to the apron and gives him a suplex back in, but Bret flips out and hits a German suplex for 1-2-NO! Bret tries a suplex, but DBS blocks and places Bret up in the corner for a Top-Rope Superplex for 1-2-NO!! Is Dynamite Kid watching this, you think? They clothesline each other, but Bret still manages to apply the SHARPSHOOTER. The crowd is FREAKING OUT! Davey Boy looks to be done, but he fights through the pain and makes the ropes! Davey Boy reverses a whip into the ropes. He ducks low, so Bret attempts a sunset flip, but Davey Boy sits down and hooks Bret’s legs for 1-2-3!! (25:14) We’ve got a NEW Intercontinental champion! Absolutely humongous pop from the crowd. In the end, Bret, Davey Boy and Diana Hart-Smith all hug and everything is going to be okay. The only problem I have with this match was the few messed up spots that just can’t go ignored. I’m going to say that it was probably nerves more than anything else, but that pescado and the press slam was completely noticeable and could’ve really injured somebody. Davey Boy Smith would go on (and had already had some great ones in Stampede and the WWF, of course) to have a few more great matches with the Hart brothers throughout the ’90s. If not for those blown spots, this one would get the full monty if only because of just how many people showed up to see it. I’m probably going to get some flack for not going five stars, but oh well. ****¾

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels – Ladder Match (WrestleMania X – 3/20/94)
  

From my WrestleMania X recap: It’s the battle to determine the undisputed WWF Intercontinental champion. HBK felt he was wrongfully stripped of the IC belt back in September and has since carried a replica belt around and claimed himself to be the real champion, regardless of the fact Razor Ramon was the actual champion. To win the match, one of the two has to grab both belts. Other than the backstory, I don’t think this needs any sort of hyperbole. Every wrestling fan is pretty familiar with this match, I suppose. They do a little bit of wrestling to start. HBK flips out of a hiptoss into a Chokeslam. Shawn comes back with a swinging neckbreaker and tosses Razor out to the floor for a clothesline by Diesel. The ref suspects Diesel did something to Razor, which he did, so ref Earl Hebner sends Diesel to the back. Razor takes HBK to the floor and folds the ringside mats over to expose the concrete. Back in they go, Razor looks to give HBK the RAZOR’S EDGE from inside the ring on the concrete down below! HBK backdrops Razor over out to the concrete instead. It’s ladder time! Michaels brings the ladder towards the ring. Razor nails Shawn and grabs the ladder, so HBK baseball slides the ladder into Ramon! Shawn takes the ladder into the ring and jabs it right in Ramon’s gut a couple times. HBK follows up by slamming the ladder down across Razor’s back. Now Michaels makes the first climb. Razor grabs HBK by his tights – exposing a pair of cheeks. Shawn kicks him back and drops an elbow off the ladder! Shawn sets the ladder up in the corner and splashes Razor in a great highlight reel moment. Shawn makes another climb, but Razor turns the ladder over and causes Shawn to hotshot himself on the top rope. With both men up, they collide. Shawn folds the ladder up in the corner. Razor reverses a whip into the ladder and Shawn goes crashing out on the floor! SICK! Razor takes the ladder out to the floor with him and sandwiches Shawn in between the ladder and the ringpost. Razor tilts the ladder up against the apron and catapults Shawn into the ladder. Back in, Razor knocks Shawn over the top rope with the ladder and starts his first ladder climb. Shawn climbs up on the apron and comes off the top with a double-ax handle to save the match for himself. Now they both climb the ladder from each side. They slug each other until Razor slams HBK from the ladder to the mat below! Uh oh, the ladder turns over and takes Razor with it. Razor climbs again and touches the belts, but HBK dropkicks him off. Shawn hits the Superkick and a Piledriver. Shawn folds up the ladder and splashes the ladder across Razor’s body! Ramon is DONE! Shawn sets up the ladder over Razor’s body and starts to climb. Shawn touches the belts, but Razor gets up and shoulderblocks the ladder over. Shawn falls on the ropes and gets his foot tied up! That makes it easy for Razor to climb up and grab the belts. (18:45) This may not be the original ladder match, but it’s definitely the oldest one that everyone looks to when they think of great ladder matches. The bumps taken by Shawn Michaels in this match were unparalleled by anything ever seen before in the US– making this completely innovative. It may seem mild in comparison to what we’ve seen since then with more flashy moves while this match holds more substance and psychology. It’s a true classic and it always will be. *****

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie) – (Royal Rumble – 1/22/95)
  

From my Royal Rumble 1995 recap: You’ve got to give it to Roadie working his butt off and getting some heel heat for himself and a little bit for Jarrett. Razor delivers a Fallaway Slam and a Chokeslam early on to send Jarrett rolling out to the floor. After some stalling with the humanoids, Jarrett gets back in and tries to embarrass Razor in front of his fellow Floridians by smacking him on the back of the head. Hey Jeff, that’s *his* thing. Ramon retaliates by clotheslining Jarrett out to the floor. Back in again, Jarrett catches Ramon with a dropkick and delivers the Bossman straddle. He whips Ramon from corner to corner. Razor gets a few hope spots that ultimately go nowhere and keep Jarrett in control. Ramon escapes from a sleeper, but gets caught with a swinging neckbreaker. Jarrett puts his feet on the ropes to try to gain the cheap pinfall, but ref Tim White catches him in the act. Ramon reverses a corner whip and slides underneath Jarrett to crotch him on the ringpost. OUCHHHH. Razor hits a flying clothesline for two, but then Jarrett tosses him over the top rope to the floor. Razor’s selling a knee injury or something. When he gets to his feet, Roadie comes by and clips him from behind to give Jarrett the countout win at 11:44. But Jarrett didn’t come here for a mere countout victory over Razor, he wants the strap! He calls Razor chicken. Hey buddy, them’s fighting words. Restart the match, ref. Ding ding ding. Well now Ramon has a knee injury which is quite convenient because Jarrett’s finisher just so happens to be the Figure Four Leglock! Jarrett can’t capitalize on that just yet. Ramon tries to get a quick pinfall on him first, but Jarrett keeps slipping away. Now he takes Ramon to school and applies the FIGURE-FOUR! Ramon is in the hold an awfully long time, but refuses to quit or be pinned. Pfft, typical good guy who calls himself the ‘bad guy’ behavior. Ramon starts punching Jarrett off him and mounts a comeback. He hoists Jarrett up in the RAZORS EDGE, but his knee gives out. Aww. Inside cradle by Jarrett gets him the easy three-count. (18:02) We’ve got a NEW Intercontinental champion! This sets up a rematch quite nicely and it makes Jarrett and Roadie as the new conniving duo who will stoop to any southern-style level to keep the IC belt. Good stuff. ***

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia (w/The Nation) – (IYH: D-Generation X – 12/7/97)
  

So a week after Survivor Series, Maivia swiped Austin’s newly regained IC title belt and started calling himself the Intercontinental champion and having all these “non-title” matches. Now Austin’s here to reclaim what’s rightfully his even though he has a belt of his own with *him*. This is the match where Austin drives his ‘Stone Cold’ truck down the aisleway to the ring. He stomps a mudhole in Rock before the bell even starts until the Nation beat him down. Once Austin’s on the mat, Faarooq and Kama check on Rock as D’Lo Brown charges into a backdrop that sends him flying onto the hood of Austin’s truck. Austin climbs out and gives D’Lo a STUNNER on top of the truck. This crowd is going insane for everything Austin does. Austin heads back in to right hands from the Rock as the bell finally sounds. Austin comes back with a Lou Thesz Press that Rock counters into a rollup sequence. Whoa. Rock dumps Austin out for Kama and Faarooq to put more hurting on Austin. Some black-on-black heel miscommunication causes Kama to smash Faarooq’s head into the drivers side window with a steel chair! To get rid of Kama, Austin whips him hard into the truck. Back in, Rock stomps Austin while the crowd chants “Rocky sucks!”. Rock delivers a less spectacular version of the People’s Elbow for two. Austin elbows out of a chinlock, but runs into a knee. Rock misses a second People’s Elbow to allow Austin to stomp him down in the corner. Austin has to let go of a Stunner to knock Kama off the apron. With the ref up against Austin’s back, he takes a STUNNER by accident. Austin doesn’t care though because he’s just an anti-authority type of fellow. Rock pulls out some brass knux from his tights, but Austin has none of that and gets the STUNNER. Another ref runs out, which calls for controversy, and counts the 1-2-3. (5:33) Because of the way Austin won in a situation where he should have been DQ’ed for giving a ref the Stone Cold Stunner, Vince calls for a rematch the next night on Raw. When Austin decided not to wrestle, he would have to forfeit the title to Rock. That was fine by him because he didn’t care about it anyway. He wants the WWF title. Once Rock got the belt, Austin gave him a Stunner and took the belt back, which would lead to Austin throwing the belt into a river so it could “sleep with the fishes”. This match received more votes than any other match for this DVD, says Grisham. It’s one of those matches that would lead to the WWE-main event style that seemed to creep into every main event in the WWF throughout the Attitude era. Plus, it’s Austin-Rock. How can you not love it? **½

• WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) – 2/3 Falls – (IYH: Fully Loaded – 7/26/98)
  

And the DX-Nation wars continue. This is the aftermath of the famous Nation parody that DX pulled off a few weeks earlier on Raw. It was almost as good as the first time we saw it – when it was the nWo Wolfpac as the Four Horsemen in ’97. Anyways, this has a 30-minute time limit, which gives away that this match is going thirty minutes because nobody mentions time limits these days. And by these days, I mean the last twenty years. This was also originally scheduled to be a title vs. title match until Rock cost Triple H the European title in favor of fellow Nation member D’Lo Brown six days earlier on Raw. Thanks to Commissioner Slaughter, both DX and the Nation are barred from ringside – excluding Chyna because she has a “manager’s license”. It’s crazy how much the WWF crowds hated Rock here and two months later, he was sharing face pops with Stone Cold. We’ve got a slugfest to start with both guys taking turns. Chyna gets in a forearm shot from on the floor to set up a PEDIGREE attempt, but Rock backdrops out. HHH tosses Rock to the floor so they can brawl up the aisleway and back around to ringside where H gets whipped into the steps. Back in, Hunter comes back with a swinging neckbreaker and a suplex to remind us that this is a wrestling match. Crotch Chop Knee Drop follows for two. They trade chops in the corner (WOO!) until Rock whips Triple H across for the Harley Race corner flip to the outside. Rock gives H a suplex on the floor. Hunter blocks a steel steps head smash and returns the favor, but takes a slam so Mark Henry can run down and SPLASH him! Billy Gunn comes down and scares Henry away. Rock throws Hunter back in and while Chyna argues Rock over how NSYNC is wayyy better than the Backstreet Boys with ref Mike Chioda, he decks H with the IC belt. Cover gets two! After a swinging neckbreaker, we hit the chinlock here at about thirteen minutes into this match. That shows you just about as far as the Rock could take a match at this point in his short career. HHH elbows out into a clothesline for two. Rock takes him to the floor for some cable choking. Back in, Rock delivers a Hurricane DDT (kind of) for 1-2-NO! Rock reverts to the chinlock. HHH starts a comeback with a High Knee, but runs into a hotshot. Here comes the Godfather, but he’s scared of two white men better known as the New Age Outlaws who stand in his way and walk him back to the locker room. With the Rock stomping a mudhole clean through Triple H, ref Mike Chioda moves him back as D’Lo Brown runs down to bash HHH with the European title from the top rope. HHH sees him coming and crotches him and then knocks him to the floor with the title belt. Just as it seems Triple H has the upper hand, he turns around into the ROCK BOTTOM for the 1-2-3. Rock takes the first fall. (20:24 | Rock – 1 | Triple H – 0) After the minute long rest period, they head back to the floor for more brawling. Rock shoots H off into the guardrail, but he explodes back in his face with a lariat. Rock quickly comes back with a catapult onto the SAT. Back in the ring, Rock delivers the People’s Elbow (back when it was more of an insult than a finisher) gets two. H hits Rock with a clothesline, which brings D’Lo back to life. He climbs up on the apron with his Euro belt in hand as Chyna storms over and yanks him down into the guardrail. Ref Mike Chioda heads out to put a stop to the shenanigans on the floor while X-Pac sneaks in through the crowd and delivers the X-FACTOR to the Rock. That’s important because he beat the Rock with that very move two weeks before on Raw. H crawls over and covers for 1-2-NO! Now Hunter brings a chair into the ring while Chyna has Chioda’s attention. Who knew those two had so much in common? Hunter and Rock fight over possession of the chair until H ducks a swing and Chioda takes the chair in the back. Rock levels H with a clothesline and looks to whack him with the chair, but Chyna stops that with a Low Blow. Chyna gives Rock a DDT on the chair and gets rid of the evidence as HHH covers for the 1-2-3. (26:36 | Rock – 1 | Triple H – 1) Another rest period eats up a minute of this match. Once the bell sounds and ref Earl Hebner runs down to take Chioda’s place, H covers the still unconscious Rock for 1-2-NO! Triple H takes Rock to the floor to send him into the guardrail. Back in, Triple H gets a Face Buster for two. Rock catches H for a desperate Samoan Drop for a nearfall. Hunter wins a slugfest, but runs into a ROCK BOTTOM attempt. HHH shrugs it off and delivers a PEDIGREE! Oh, but we’re out of time. Sorry, pal. (30:00 draw | Rock – 1 | Triple H – 1) Rock retains, but it wouldn’t be long before Hunter regains the IC strap from Rock in the ladder match the following month at SummerSlam. There was no way Rock and Triple H could go thirty minutes without exposing weaknesses, so they overbooked the crap out of this with multiple run-ins and ringside brawling. **½

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett (w/Miss Kitty) vs. Chyna – Good Housekeeping Match – (No Mercy – 10/17/99)
  

It’s the misogynistic IC champ versus the man lady in a match in which Jarrett wants to beat her up with household objects like…the kitchen sink, brooms, mops, trashcans and ironing boards. That’ll teach her to stay at home and clean house! Chyna proceeds to beat the holy crap out of Jarrett with the various items spread out around ringside, including crowning him with a toilet seat. Yes, a toilet seat. Chyna misses an elbow drop from the apron and goes through a table. Since it’s falls count anywhere too, Jarrett gets a two count off that. Jeff Jarrett and Kitty make some cake batter complete with eggs, flour, and milk! This is so Memphis, it’s not even funny. Flour gets thrown back in Jarrett’s face and Miss Kitty takes the bowl of cake batter on her head. Jarrett doesn’t take that lightly and clips Chyna from behind for the FIGURE-FOUR. Chyna makes the ropes and now tongs get involved. She gets them away from Jarrett thanks to a low blow and uses the tongs on Jarrett’s nether regions. Jarrett gets nailed with pots and trashcan lids before taking two pies to the face. Could this be anymore slapstick? Chyna creams Jarrett with the kitchen sink for 1-2-NO! Jarrett counters a PEDIGREE on a cake with a catapult into ref Teddy Long. HOLLA HOLLA! Jarrett whacks Chyna with the IC belt and gets the 1-2-3. BUT WAIT! Long restarts the match because he discovers that a title belt is in fact not a household item. Jarrett vows revenge on Teddy Long by tripping him up and applying the FIGURE-FOUR, but Chyna KABONGS him for the save and the final three-count. (9:53) Hmm I never even thought to use a guitar to clean my house before. Maybe I should try that some time. This was ridiculous and a low-point for the IC title, but I could see why they added this onto the DVD because Chyna’s technically the first ever “woman” to hold a man’s title in the WWE. As a matter of fact, this was Jarrett’s last night in the WWF, as he jumped over to Nitro the very next night to make him the last WWF guy to do one of those big jumps over to the competition before WCW died a slow and miserable death in March 2001. *½

Final Thoughts: Well you can tell the quality goes from awesome to not so awesome by the end. It’s just the way it is. Will it improve in the 2000’s? We’re about to find out. Disc 3 is coming!