WWF In Your House - Revenge of the 'Taker (April 1997)

Giving a rest to the Havoc series, as I don’t have copies of the ’91, ’95 or ’96 shows, and I don’t really want to pick things up with Halloween Havoc 1997.  Anyway, what do I look like, your little Halloween Havoc slave? You better watch it with that shit. I’ll have Reverend Jackson down here before you can say "doesn't use deodorant." Plus, he will come to your house, and should it be your birthday, he will insist on getting the flower part of your birthday cake, and should you resist, he will play his favorite card... you guessed it... the "birthday card."

So, yeah. Don't let it come to that, 'cause, your birthday could get ruined.

This is an interesting show from a personal standpoint, as it was the first and (to date) only pay per view I have ever attended. I was only twelve years old, but my friend and I were very quick to jump when tickets went on sale – snagging floor seats only a few rows back – which would have been all well and good, if we weren’t… twelve. As we quickly found out, we were so short, our view for 90% of the show became limited to the backs of other peoples’ heads, or any top rope moves. 

From Rochester, NY your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.



Opening WWF Tag Team Title Match: Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith v The Legion of Doom: I'm surprised Owen and Davey were never given some special, cool tag team name as opposed to just 'Owen Hart and The British Bulldog.' Animal (of the awesome sounding 'Legion of Doom,' or equally awesome sounding 'Road Warriors') owns Owen to start, to he tags Davey in to try to match him with power. That proves to be good strategy, as he catches Hawk with a hanging vertical suplex, and then Owen comes back in with a flying axehandle. He gets quickly overpowered again, however, and a powerslam gets two. Messy looking press slam, and a hairpull slam, and Hawk hits a flying splash for two. Owen with an enzuigiri to come back, and he gets off the tag to Davey. He goes right to a resthold, however, and tags right out to Owen. What, did he have the shits that night, or something? That takes a special breed of lazziness right there. So lazy I'm not even going to bother to properly spell it for him. Animal decides to punish him for it, too, with a powerslam off the top, and we have new champions at 7:00. Oh, but Davey wasn't the legal man, so a 2^nd referee orders the match to restart. Brawl to start, and Owen catches Animal with the spin heel kick. Neckbreaker and a legdrop get two, but Owen misses a flying headbutt. Doomsday Device looks to finish Owen, but Bret Hart runs in to save the titles, giving the LOD the DQ win at 10:11. As a kid, I think I was the only one in the building pulling for the heels to retain, as I was still a huge Bret fan, and an Owen/Davey fan by association. The match was fine, old style tag wrestling, that flowed well, and knew when to time the highspots and the comebacks. ** ¾.

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Rocky Maivia v Savio Vega: Rocky would of course go on to become The Rock, not to mention lead the very Nation that Vega is a member of. Oh, the irony. More interesting, of course, is that Maivia is so unover at this point that, were it today, he would never get a chance to stick around long enough to become Intercontinental Champion, let alone one of the biggest names in the history of the sport. He dominates Savio with armdrags and armbars, but gets caught in a nervehold to turn the time. Wow, talk about a Freudian slip. I totally meant to type 'tide,' but, yeah. Rocky comes back with a fisherman's suplex, but the referee is caught up with a Nation member, and misses it, allowing Savio to keep control. Hey, at least he's off the nerve hold. Hip toss gets two, as apparently Savio thought Rocky was eighty at the time of this match. Rocky with his tornado DDT to turn the tide, and a side suplex. Belly to belly suplex gets two, and a Rock Bottom gets two, as it's still 1997. Savio dumps him, where Crush (another Nation member) gives him the dreaded Heart Punch (I remember actually taking that move very seriously as a kid – like what would be the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique in Kill Bill years later), and Rocky's counted out at 8:33. Well, that's what you get for letting the white guy into your black militant group, guys. He may be good at beating hippies with pool cues, and shit, but is Man Mountain Rock the fucking Intercontinental Champion? Match was nothing, but at least kept to a reasonable length. DUD.  

Jesse James v Rockabilly: This was part of an angle where The Honky Tonk Man promised a surprise to face (of all people) Jesse James (still doing his 'Real Double J' gimmick), and word around the lunch table was that it was going to be Rick Rude - which would have actually been exciting. So, of course, we get Billy Gunn, but this is before he and James started teaming as the New Age Outlaws, so there isn't any intrigue there. To say we were disappointed in the audience that it was Billy Gunn would be like saying that Nazi's were bad. The rest of the crowd clearly agreed with us, as they are dead silent for what would pass for house show fare in 1997. James controls to start, dropkicking Billy to the floor, and following him out with a clothesline from the apron. Inside, he tries a backdrop, but takes the still unnamed fameasser for two. Neckbreaker for two, as Rockabilly is basically Billy Gunn, but moving at ½ the speed, and with a few dance moves thrown in. He misses a Stinger Splash in the corner, and James comes back with bunches of punches. And dancing. I think that's what this feud is actually about. They spill to the floor, and back inside Jesse catches him with a small package for the pin at 6:46. Well... that was... an... impressive debut. The crowd was asleep here, and Gunn looked to be miserable with the gimmick – moving like he was covered in Honky's cum – though I can't entirely blame him, considering he was booked to lose his 'debut' match. James tried hard enough, but he couldn't carry this. ¼*.

WWF Title Match: The Undertaker v Mankind: 'Taker was fresh off of winning the title from Sid at WrestleMania (in a horrible match that I just re-watched as part of The Undertaker's Streak DVD - review up now!), and also fresh out of a one year feud with Mankind that completely changed his entire style - for the better. The feud had kind of simmered by this point, but they already had about a thousand matches (and blowoffs), but they needed someone in there for the first pay per view title defense, and Mick Foley made the most sense, especially considering the roster at the time. Brawl to start, and a Cactus clothesline puts them on the floor, where UT quickly (and quite viciously) dumps Mankind into the rail a couple of times. Into the crowd (unfortunately, not the section where I was sitting), allowing Mankind to take a few more bumps on the rail. Inside, 'Taker with the ropewalk forearm, but changes his mind mid move, and dives off the top rope with a clothesline. Tombstone, but Paul Bearer (at this point aligned with Mankind, for those poor souls keeping score), gets involved, and Mankind whacks 'Taker with the urn for two. Cross corner knee, and a neckbreaker, as I realize that, between his shape, the tights, and the mask - Foley was basically dressed as a turd while doing the original Mankind gimmick. Surprised I never noticed that as a kid, as you'd think an Undertaker v Turd Man program would certainly grab your interest, but, there ya go. Brawl on the floor allows Turd Man to nail 'Taker with a pitcher of water he grabs off of the announce table, and then using more conventional means, grabs a chair. Cactus elbow from the 2^nd rope to the floor, and inside, he hits a piledriver for two. Mick's piledriver always looked best on the Undertaker. He hits it again (which I thought was surely setting up a backdrop), but gets caught with a jumping clothesline off of a criss cross. The referee gets bumped off of another criss cross, just in time for Mankind to slap on the claw. That puts 'Taker out, so he grabs the stairs to finish him, but 'Taker kinda sorta dropkicks them back in his face. 'Taker with a chair, and he ties Mick in the ropes - Germany style. To this day, I can't believe he continued doing that spot after he lost his ear trying it in 1994. He ends up on the apron, so 'Taker bunts him off with the steps, sending him head first through the announce table, in one of the more visually impressive bumps I've ever seen - which I didn't see, live. Inside, 'Taker with a chokeslam for two, but the tombstone finishes at 17:26. This one gets forgotten because, as I mentioned, they had so, so, so many matches (with more to come - including, of course, the infamous Hell in a Cell match from the 1998 King of the Ring, where Mick would find even crazier ways to fall through tables), but it's a solid, well booked brawl from two guys who could do that in their sleep. ***.

Main Event: #1 Contendership Match: Bret Hart v Steve Austin: Bret was supposed to face Sid here, but they shifted gears after Sid no showed some bookings earlier in the month. This was also a very odd period for me, as I 'got into' wrestling because of Bret Hart - specifically the Hart Brothers feud in early 1994. When the Austin stuff started happening, I still sided with Bret completely, though I was very quickly becoming the minority among the growing number of kids who liked wrestling at school - and I didn't like that. I agreed with Bret that Austin was a troublemaker, and needed to be stopped, and couldn't understand why people were booing him for saying it, and cheering Austin. I would eventually come around on Stone Cold, of course, and now regard 'Anti-American heel Bret' as some of his best work ever, but at the time – I absolutely hated it. Gorilla Monsoon (playing the WWF's President at the time) bans Owen and Davey from ringside during Bret's entrance, which I bet will become important later on. Big brawl to start, of course, as these two were coming off of one of the biggest brawls in the history of big brawls the month before at WrestleMania, and desperately needed to follow up. Austin sends Bret into three of the four ring steps, and inside hits the FU elbow for two. Bret bails right away, goading Austin into a chase, and he unloads on Austin's bad knee with a chair. Figure four on the ringpost, and a leglock as he goes for the submission. Austin bails, but Bret just won't let up, so Austin throws him a low blow and chokes away. He tries to suplex Bret to the floor, but Hart's all 'you fucking crazy? I wanna get Garbage Plates later, not sit in the ER, shit' and reverses, then slaps on a figure four. That gets reversed, but Bret makes the ropes. It was the subtle differences in Bret's character that made so much difference - and which he was so brilliant in working in. The Bret of only a year or two before would never have had to make the ropes. Bret takes his chest first cross corner bump for two, and Austin tries a piledriver, but the knee gives out. Bret tries an Irish whip, but Austin's knee gives out mid way across the ring, and Bret goes in for the kill. Steve still has enough survival instinct to hit him with a stungun, but gets super-duperplexed off of the top. Sharpshooter, but Austin whacks Bret with his knee brace, and hooks on his own version. Owen and Davey run in (so much for that ban - were they just expecting them to stay away based on the honor system?), and Austin wins by DQ at 21:09. As with the IC title match, sorta goofy booking, as they cost Bret the #1 spot, as opposed to letting it play out, and seeing where he could take it on his own – like maybe, I dunno, countering the hold he’s most known for. The match was the worst of their series, but that isn't saying much, when you take into account that the other two are two of the best matches you'll ever see. Still, a solid, psychologically sound, brawl. ***.   

BUExperience:  Considering that the whole show doesn’t even clock in at two hours (less than what RAW runs today!), and the last hour is two solid brawls, you really can’t go wrong, but at the same time, it isn’t anything to go out of your way to see. Bret v Austin and Undertaker v Mankind are done better elsewhere, as these feel like house show versions of their classics, and while the opener is a lot of fun, too, it’s nothing more than that – a fun opener. **.