[1996-10-21-WWF-Raw] Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Marc Mero

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The end of HHH's so-called burial for the MSG incident. HHH wins the IC title with an assist from Mr. Perfect in a swerve that made for a nice moment, but didn't totally make sense.

[flyonthewall2983]

Totally didn't make sense. I was at the taping, and I remember a general disappointment in the crowd that Curt didn't wrestle. I felt it at least.

[El-P]

It's funny that Hennig was part of two heel turn that didn't go anywhere in the mid-90's in the WWF. First on Luger at WM X, then on Mero in 96. Both time he was gone shortly after and there was no payoff.

[Dooley]

The Perfect Hoax! I loved this at the time, although I'm not entirely sure why. I remember they had been teasing Perfect getting back in the ring at various points during the year, most notably before International Incident when they teased him as Warrior's replacement in the 6 man main event before revealing it was Sid.

[El-P]

I was so disapointed he didn't get back in the ring at that time. Then I saw him work in WCW...

[Matt D]

I was tuned out in 96, VERY tuned out. I scramblevision watched Bash at the Beach's main event because of the hype (which is underrated these days. people forget the ad campaign for that) but the only other memory I have of the year was being excited for the idea of Perfect wrestling again.

[MikeCampbell]

Would this be Vince Russo's first ever non-sensical swerve?

[El-P]

10/21/1996 The day when the push that never ended began.

 

The match was so-so, a far cry from what Mero did with DDP a year earlier. HHH Had no momentum going into this, and it really falls flat to me, as the angle is both kinda nonsensical and predictable at the same time (yeah, a Russo staple, although I doubt he had any pull yet at the time). It's just too bad Hennig would leave the WWF, because he would have been much better as Mr. Perfect there during 1997 than he was in WCW, where he really never found his right place.

[PeteF3]

Yeah, I think they made a good-faith effort to get Perfect to get into the ring here, but they just couldn't make it worth his while to waive his insurance policy. So we get a lame bait-and-switch instead. That said, I think the idea of a Perfect-HHH alliance is a good one that could have gone places, and I remember the online community exploding with speculation that Perfect would be forming a junior Horsemen stable with Shawn Michaels. Not to be, obviously.

[Exposer]

It's kind of disappointing that they did all of this build for Perfect's return & they do a swerve instead with him getting "hurt." At least we got a match & a title match at that. Good match. Mero had to be one of the better TV workers of 1996 WWF. Mero's switching springboard moonsault is an awesome spot & serves as a great near fall here. Perfect aligning with HHH is fine, but it was a bit confusing. It sort of makes sense, but they need to explain it. The turn is a cool surprise nonetheless. Chair shots to the head are becoming more common I've noticed. Times are changing in the WWF.

[soup23]

Interesting to think if this was the long term plan or not. The action here was good and I did like Perfect being at ringside if he was going to turn. The action here was good and the Wild Thing was executed perfectly and provided a good near fall. The turn was done effectively even if as a viewer you will feel kind of cheated that Perfect didn't come back in ring. ***

[dawho5]

One of the more sensible things the WWF was doing at the time if you look at it as a whole.  So much of the other stuff is just completely off the wall or poorly executed enough to make a person not care.  At least here you have a couple of over workers (Perfect and Sable) helping to bring some interest to the proceedings.