The laboured and long battle between Jake Roberts and Rick Rude could have been a rare case of a feud actually making it to pay-per-view had the match not preceded the war the two waged later that year over the honour and respect of 'The Snake's real-life wife Cheryl.
Rude's aggressive affection towards Mrs Roberts spun off from this utter stinker in fact, with the two eliminating one another from the tournament to facilitate One Man Gang's coast to the semi finals in a draw that probably did the exact opposite for future house show clashes between the pair.
This wasn't just Rick Rude's worst night on pay-per-view for WWE, it was - 1996 alcoholic angle excluded - Jake's too. The man was expert in doing lots with little. Here, he found a way to nothing with everything. Had it not been for the Ultimate Warrior's rampaging madness in the following clash, this could have been a card-killer.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
