WWE King of the Ring PPV Flashback
June 25, 1995 - 15 years ago
Top Ten Things To Know!

(1) King of the Ring winner: Mabel beat Savio Vega in the tournament finals.

(2) Main Event: Diesel & Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Sid & Tatanka.

(3) KOTR First Round: Vega beat Yokozuna via countout, Roadie (B.G. James) beat Bob Holly, Shawn Michaels vs. Kama went to a draw, Mabel beat The Undertaker.

(4) KOTR Semi-Finals: Savio Vega beat Roadie, Mabel was given a bye.

(5) Kiss It: Bret Hart beat Jerry Lawler in a Kiss My Foot match.

(6) Best Match: Roadie vs. Bob Holly. (**1/2)

(7) Worst Match: Mabel over Savio Vega to capture the KOTR crown. (3/4*)

(8) Anyone Still In WWE: The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon, Dok Hendrix (Michael Hayes).

(9) Anyone Now In TNA: Jeff Jarrett, recently - Diesel (Kevin Nash).

(10) Location Significance: Final WWE PPV at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

***

WWF KING OF THE RING
June 25, 1995
Philadelphia, Pa. - Spectrum
Live Attendance: 16,000 (not a sellout)
Report by Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

The program opened with Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix announcing that Savio Vega advanced by beating I.R.S. earlier that evening to fill the slot vacated by the injured Razor Ramon.

(1) Savio Vega (w/Razor Ramon) defeated Yokozuna (mgd. by Jim Cornette) via countout at 8:25 in a first round match. Early in the match, Vega attempted flying moves on Yokozuna without much effect, including Yoko ducking a flying spin wheel kick. At 3:45 the match slowed with a nerve hold by Yokozuna. Late in the match, Owen Hart, who was doing commentary backstage for the 900 line, ran to ringside and attacked Ramon. Ramon chased him to the back. Vega battled Yokozuna at ringside and eventually rammed him into the post. He then returned to the ring just in time so Yokozuna was counted out. There wasn't a lot wrong with the match, but not much right, either. (*)

(2) Roadie (w/Jeff Jarrett) pinned Bob Holly at 7:23 in a first round match. At the start, both men turned it on high speed with some fast-paced action including a sunset flip at 0:14 by Holly for a two count and another quick small package for a near fall seconds later. After the opening flurry, Roadie left the ring to stop the momentum. He returned for more fast-paced action. At 5:08 Roadie went for a piledriver but Holly backdropped out of it. In the end, Holly came off the top rope and caught Roadie's extended boot in the face and went down for the pin. Certainly the most athletic and well-paced match of the night, but nothing more than a good "Action Zone" main event. Holly is a solid worker and Roadie is showing that he has a tremendous up-side in terms of workrate and ring presence. His gyrating during the match showed more interesting charisma than his brothers have in all their matches combined. (**1/2)

(3) Shawn Michaels fought Kama to a 15 minute draw in a first round match. The combination of Michaels being entertaining enough to have a decent match with a broom stick and his effort to make Kama look credible made this more than watchable. After an opening series of moves, they re-locked up at 2:10. At 2:30 Kama threw Michaels over the top rope, but Michaels flipped back into the ring a la Rick Steamboat. Kama soon took over offense on Michaels, settling into a single leg lock at 6:25. At 7:44 he moved to an inverted bodyvice. Michaels pushed off the top rope with his feet and flipped onto Kama for a two count. Kama quickly sent Michaels into the ropes,. but Michaels did a Flair flip over the turnbuckle to the floor. Michaels soon took over offense and hit a double axe handle at 13:40 and then punched Kama in the corner ten times. Kama scored a near fall at 14:28. Michaels scored a near fall seconds later with a small package. The fans were into the final seconds as the time limit approached expiration. Michaels sunset flipped Kama in the final seconds but the bell rang at the two count. After the match, Michaels kicked Kama out of the ring. (**)

(4) Mabel pinned Undertaker at 10:26 in a first round match. It started with the two big men battling to knock each other to the mat. Mabel was the first to be knocked down after a hard shoulder tackle off the ropes at 1:27. Mabel fought back to one-arm slam Undertaker, but Undertaker then clotheslined Mabel from the ring. At 3:45 Undertaker sat on Mabel with a chinlock. A moment later the action spilled outside where Mabel rammed Undertaker into the stairs. Mabel executed an impressive vertical suplex at 6:20. At 6:55 he slammed Undertaker and sat on him for a two count. At 7:17 Mabel caught a boot to the face. Undertaker went for a backdrop, but Mabel stopped short and turned into a piledriver for a near fall. At 9:35 Mabel reversed Undertaker into the referee. Undertaker fought back to chokeslam Mabel. At 10:26 Kama bashed Undertaker as Undertaker had Mabel covered, but the ref was still down. Mabel then dropped a leg and scored the pin on Undertaker. Undertaker rose to his feet and chased Kama to the locker room. Given the two men's styles and size, this was on the better end of what you'd expect. (*1/2)

(5) Savio Vega (w/Ramon) defeated Roadie (w/Jarrett) in the second round. Vega responded to Roadie's opening bell attack with a flurry of punches and a clothesline over the top rope. At 2:20 Roadie took over with a neckbreaker. Roadie scored a two count at 3:50 with a second rope headbutt. At 5:00 Roadie missed a second rope headbutt. Vega showed some fire, which received little response, and went to work on Roadie. In the end, Jarrett got on the apron. Roadie almost ran into Jarrett when Vega reversed him. When Roadie stopped short, Vega rolled him up from behind for the pin. Okay while it lasted. Because of the Michaels-Kama draw, Mabel advanced to the finals automatically to face the winner of this match. (*)

(6) Bret Hart pinned Jerry Lawler in a "Kiss My Foot" match at 9:18. This was what you'd expect. High-energy and full of comedy spots, but low on athleticism. Bret dominated the first two minutes, but then Lawler took over offense. He hit three consecutive piledrivers on Bret. Vince talked as if this could be the end of Bret's career. Lawler gloated before going for the cover, giving Bret time to rise to his feet. Lawler raked Bret's eyes and tossed him from the ring. He then took off his boot to reveal his foot. Lawler stuck his bare foot in Bret's face, but Bret grabbed his leg, dropped him to the mat, and headbutted his groin. At 7:00 Lawler went back on offense and hit a second rope fist. At 7:45 Hakushi and Shinja came to the ring to interfere. Hakushi hit Lawler when Bret ducked. Bret then Russian legsweeped Lawler, hit a second rope elbow, and applied the sharpshooter at 9:05. At 9:18 Lawler submitted. Hakushi then returned to the ring and distracted Bret so Lawler hit him from behind. Bret, though, ended up sticking his foot in Lawler's face and then jammed Lawler's own foot into his face. Lawler made facial expression that rivaled Steven Regal's from the "pit stop" a week earlier. After the next match they showed Lawler throwing up in the bathroom (including the projectile into the sink) and brushing his teeth frantically afterward. (**1/4)

(7) Mabel pinned Savio Vega at 8:35 to win the King of the Ring. After decent opening minutes, Mabel went to a bear hug. At 7:38 Vega scored a near fall on Mabel, but at 8:12 Mabel caught a Vega bodyblock attempt and splashed him for a near fall. He hit a second splash for the clean win. After the match, Mo proclaimed Mabel the "King of the Ring." Mo's segment was long and tedious. (3/4*)

(8) Diesel & Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Sid & Tatanka (w/Ted DiBiase) when Diesel pinned Tatanka at 15:51. In the opening minutes Tatanka worked over Diesel's injured shoulder. Sid tagged in and did more of the same. At 3:20 Bigelow got the hot tag and DDT'd Sid (who missed hitting the mat by several obvious inches). Bigelow hit a second rope elbow, but the ref was distracted by DiBiase. Sid then chokeslammed Bigelow off the second rope. He tagged out to Tatanka who took over on Bigelow. At 9:58 a babyface rally ended when Diesel injured his elbow while dropping it on Tatanka. He sold his injury and tagged out to Bigelow. Diesel took a moment to struggle back to the apron. At 14:00 Bigelow hot-tagged Diesel who sideslammed Tatanka, gave him a boot to the face, and jack knifed him. He lifted his shoulder at the count of two and asked for Sid. Sid jumped off the ring apron, acting scared in an arrogant way (however that's possible) and returned to the locker room. Diesel then elbowed Tatanka for a three count. Diesel and Bigelow celebrated as the show went off the air. (*3/4)

[Torch photos credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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