#1: HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (c) (w/ MR. HUGHES) vs. GOLDUST (w/ MARLENA) {WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH}.
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‘Since becoming Intercontinental Champion, Triple H’s ego has expanded more than his stock portfolio.’ - An excerpt from the video package for this match.
HHH has an obsession over Goldust’s wife, Marlena. Hunter tried to kidnap her, to you know— do things that aren’t PG-friendly. That is the focal point of this whole feud (The Intercontinental Title feels secondary in this case).
Goldust interrupts Hunter by attacking him mid-way through his entrance. The commentary team is surprised to see that HHH is accompanied by his butler, Mr. Hughes.
The match starts off more like a brawl initially, but it slows down immediately, which enables me to point out some interesting (and sometimes irrelevant) stuff.
Somewhere in between, the camera pans to Marlena for 2 seconds, and the crowd goes insane for it. Hunter & Goldust are trying to put up a good match, but a 2 second shot of Goldust’s wife standing outside the ring yields the loudest pop of the night (so far).
And hey, it’s not just the audience who cannot control their urges, our very own Jerry “The King” Lawler is a part of this frenzy too, who goes—
“…Can’t stand Goldust. But I (you know), I can’t say anything bad about Marlena, especially when she wears that outfit, it brings out the BUST in her…I mean the best in her!”
Sigh.
Goldust uses the steel steps, the guardrail, and the ring-post also come into play. Things seem to get out of hand, and as the commentary team points out, Goldust should have been disqualified by now, and the referee is very lenient (Surprise, surprise. The ref is Earl Hebner, who will soon officiate The Montreal Screwjob in the future). This is personal.
Goldust even chop-blocks HHH outside, which reminds us of Stone Cold Steve Austin doing the same to The British Bulldog last week on RAW. Oddly, there is a mid-match mini-interview with a country singer (Colin Raye) sitting in the audience, who is prompted to sing a line from one of his smash-hits whilst the action is going on in the ring.
Mr. Hughes throws the IC belt into the ring and distracts the ref. HHH is too busy kissing Marlena though, and that allows Goldust to get the upper hand. Goldust even jams Marlena’s cigar right into Mr. Hughes face.
But all of this chaos results in Hunter delivering a nasty clothesline to Goldust and finally using the pedigree to win the match via a three-count.
I mean, this was an undercard match, and it was certainly presented as one. The crowd wasn’t too hyped for it. Goldust’s wife, a country singer and Jerry Lawler’s hormones stole the spotlight in this one.
RESULT: HHH retains via pinfall.
Pre-taped shorts show a cool mirror shot of Bret Hart claiming that he’s gonna win the Royal Rumble even though everybody will be targeting him in the ring.
Mankind wants to win the Royal Rumble, but main-eventing WrestleMania isn’t the top priority on his list, no— he just wants to hurt a LOT of people, that’s all.
Cool.
