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[1996-07-21-WWF-International Incident] Vader & Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs Shawn Michaels & Ahmed Johnson & Psycho Sid


Loss

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  • 1 month later...

This was a HELL of a match. If this exact match happened now on Raw, people would rave about it. It's one of the best WWF matches of the year, and is maybe the most legitimately overlooked match of the year, period. Sid and Ahmed don't do much, but they hit their spots, they're in and out, the timing is great and the crowd loves them. This match is really a credit to Shawn and Owen more than anyone. Vader probably sold more than he should have considering he was winning this match and being built up as the next big challenger, but he worked well with all three guys. Shawn and Owen do all sorts of things you don't see every day in the WWF, specifically doing high-end 70s wrestling for 2-3 minutes randomly in the middle of the match. It's a bit sloppy (Execution is not something I normally spend much time talking about, but Shawn is sloppy enough at times in '96 that I feel like it kinda has to be mentioned), but I admire the spirit of doing a legit rolling cradle in a WWF ring, and then working a bridge-up sequence that's straight from the Flair/Steamboat playbook. It's also interesting to see Shawn so wildly over in Canada. Great match!

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  • 1 month later...

I agree with Loss in this being awesome. It starts off with the fans going so crazy that the barricade breaks and some fans fall into the Isle. Shawn's reaction is great. Then half way into the match, A fan runs in and Bulldog takes him out. Ahmed looks to have been legit knocked out from the Owen' wheel kick. I also liked Ahmed's sorta rolling German's to Bulldog. Sid was over like crazy here. So far, this is my WWF MOTY.

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  • 1 year later...

I remember being in BC around this time. My cousin was so excited about the damn thing. A bit of a factiod, International Incident is touted as being the first event held in GM Place.

 

Watched this match for the first time today, great match. The crowd was real hot during the whole event. Loss, as usual you seem to beat everyone to commentary. I couldn't agree more.

 

My standout point was Vince selling the idea of Owen using the cast on Michaels off the top on commentary but instead Owen nails a nice dropkick. McMahon seemed a bit peeved that Owen wasnt playing his heel role.

 

Forgot Vader got the fall to set up the Summerslam match. Michaels looked so upset with himself for taking a pinfall loss.

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I remember being in BC around this time. My cousin was so excited about the damn thing. A bit of a factiod, International Incident is touted as being the first event held in GM Place.

 

Watched this match for the first time today, great match. The crowd was real hot during the whole event. Loss, as usual you seem to beat everyone to commentary. I couldn't agree more.

 

My standout point was Vince selling the idea of Owen using the cast on Michaels off the top on commentary but instead Owen nails a nice dropkick. McMahon seemed a bit peeved that Owen wasnt playing his heel role.

 

Forgot Vader got the fall to set up the Summerslam match. Michaels looked so upset with himself for taking a pinfall loss.

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  • 2 years later...

Babyfaces enter first. Interesting. Sid is absurdly over--any time he's not in, the crowd is chanting "SID! SID! SID!" There are some awkward moments--one caused by an interfering fan, some caused by Sid's timing being way off--and you could question some of the booking of the match layout. But this is a fun all-action match. The result is the correct one, but I really hated the babyfaces getting their shine back afterward. I guess that's the WWF for you, unless the heel is Shawn or Triple H.

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  • 1 month later...

Watched this last night for the first time in years and HOLY SHIIT is it awesome...there are some STIFF fuckin shots in this one...Shawn's early stuff looked really good, including his cross body over the top onto Vader that looked great and looked like it hurt. Ahmed's clothesline on Vader about 2/3 of the way through to save Shawn from a pin is AJPW type shot (He CRUSHED him with it). Ahmed's spine buster and pearl river plunge on Davey didnt look good as Davey landed on his shoulder both times, but that's Ahmed for you, and it still looked great. All of Vader's stuff looked great, stiff and typical good Vader. Sid was awesome in his limited action and man did he relish being a babyface, and the crowd ate him up. Sid's clotheslines looked great and hard as hell. Owen and Shawn's interractions were really good as usual. Even the end was great, as Cornette holds Shawn's feet and Vader fuckin buries Shawn with a splash in the corner, leading to the Vader bomb and the win...

 

The only negative was how fast Shawn recovered from the splash and Vader bomb post-match to do the plancha onto Vader....

 

Really Really good match...

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  • 1 month later...

This was really good stuff for the most part. Ahmed is clumsy and that rolling cradle from Owen and Shawn may have been ill-advised but the action and heat kept this match up as tremendously entertaining contest. Vader getting the victory sets up a good SummerSlam main event. I really liked Shawns dive on the outside at the very end. Say what you will about Shawn, but Beware of Dog excluded, he hasn't had a PPV outing less than ***1/2 and this match was no exception. ***1/2

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  • 1 year later...

Awesome match! All action with a ton of heat. The babyfaces are insanely over. The guardrail collapsing during Shawn's entrance is a famous moment. Pretty nuts. Sid's offensive flurry at the start is amazing. The place comes unglued! All of the pairings were really fun to see & they never slowed the pace down. Shawn's selling is fantastic in this & I loved the build to the Sid hot tag. He'd been getting chants all match. I have to point out how awesomely nuts Ahmed's offense is. He nearly killed Owen on those rolling German variations & took Vader's head off with a clothesline later on. I liked Vader getting the pin on Shawn to set up the Summerslam match. The post-match is fun even if the babyfaces looked like assholes for attacking Camp Cornette without being provoked. I would have been completely fine with it if the heel's had instigated the fight. Shawn's dive is great. This match shouldn't be overlooked because it is pretty great. Probably a top 5 WWF match in 96.

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Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & Sid vs Vader, Owen Hart & British Bulldog - WWF international Incident

 

Reminds me a lot of the super fun NWO vs Flair/Piper/Greene in just how much of a crowd pleaser this match is and how raucous the Vancouver crowd is. I mean the guardrail gets toppled by the fans on Shawn's entrance and it is mostly dudes. I believe this match that assured Sid would be getting the World Championship because he was over huge. At the end of his shine run, you would have thought peak Hogan just legdropped the entire Soviet Union out of existence. Hell even Ahmed looked good. This is a total bump 'n' run match. It is just the heels feeding the babyfaces all sort of fun spots and just eating great offense. Shawn's shine against Vader is great. The dropkick and splash to the outside looked great. He was on fire. Then Sid just destroying everything with clotheslines had me marking out. Vader fed Ahmed a bodyslam that was amazing by doing a crossbody in the corner and Ahmed just threw him down. It is kinda poetic that Ahmed's finisher was a Tiger Driver. After the shine, they do all these fun mini-face in perils. Like Bulldog hits a delayed vertical suplex on Sid, but then Side eventually overwhelms. It is cool how the heels are getting a little more offense but still not enough because the faces are so revved up. In the middle of the match, Shawn/Owen have this incredible two minute exchange which includes a rolling cradle. It was a really awesome mini-match. We finally get into an FIP when Shawn gets clobbered with Owen's cast and Shawn takes some big bumps.

 

I think this is when the match goes awry. Up until this point, it was all fun and action. I thought they slowed it down too much and also there were some weird timing issues. Twice Vader was left looking like an idiot waiting for Shawn to make the hot tag. I don't know if Shawn was taking too long or if Vader just sucks at looking busy. It was just weird there was no urgency from Vader to block the tag. HOLY SHIT THOUGH! Once Shawn makes that hot tag to SID...LORD HAVE MERCY! CHOKESLAMS FOR EVERYONE! GREATEST HOUSE AFIRE EVAH~! ROCKET LAUNCHER~! TWO! Shawn has the RACKET and clobbers Vader, but only gets two! Sweet Chin Music, but Corny holds his foot and Vader squashes him in the corner. VADERBOMB~! 1-2-3! Cornette had guaranteed a total refund to those in attendance and PPV if they lost. The babyfaces exact revenge for Shawn just powerbombing everything in sight.

 

This is one of those matches, I would show a non-fan to show how much fun wrestling can be. It is not the greatest match by no means, but it feels like a summer action blockbuster. Everyone is so over and the babyface shine is just so much fun. FIP is the one weak point, but once SID comes in, JESUS! Amazing! Loved the finish! Perfect protecting but also puts over Vader as a monster. Check this one out. ****

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  • 6 months later...

I really enjoy a big-name multi-man tag when it's done well and this one is done well. Great babyface shine early on from everyone, especially Shawn and Vader. Sid is super over and his winding punches look pretty good. Owen and Shawn work an extended stretch and pull out the moves, and I actually liked Owen's rolling cradle and Vince's reaction. Shawn is the face in peril for a while and then gets a great hot tag to Sid, Sid comes in and destorys the heels with chokeslams and Ahmed launches Shawn into a splash on Vader. Lots of action and the babyfaces all get a chance to look good, but Vader still scores the pin to build to Summerslam match.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1996-07-21-WWF-International Incident] Vader & Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith vs Shawn Michaels & Ahmed Johnson & Psycho Sid

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