WWF In Your House - Ground Zero (September 1997)

In Your House: Ground Zero (notable for being the first In Your House event to expand to a three hour format) marked a change of the tide in the WWF. While Bret Hart had spent most of 1997 as the companies top heel with his Anti-American gimmick, focus shifted away from Hart (who won the WWF Title just the month before), and onto Shawn Michaels as the companies new top heel – engaged in a feud with The Undertaker. As Bret Hart had correctly predicted (well documented in Wrestling with Shadows) Shawn Michaels had ‘scooped up his heat’ at SummerSlam, leaving him twisting in the wind as a lame duck champion once more.

From Louisville, Kentucky; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler.


Opening Indecent Proposal Match: Goldust v Brian Pillman: If Goldust wins, Pillman has to leave the WWF. If Pillman wins, he gets Goldust's valet/wife Marlena for thirty days. And considering it's thirty days with 'loose cannon' era Brian Pillman, that could really either only go wrong, or very, very wrong. Goldust jumps him on the floor during the entrances, and gives him an inverted atomic drop in the ring. Ten-punch count, and he hits him in the nuts again - ensuring that even if Pillman wins, he won't get to have too much fun. Pillman throws a backelbow to come back, and starts chasing Marlena on the floor. Not surprisingly, that doesn't put Goldust away, and he just dives out after him. Chopfest goes Pillman's way, but a bulldog attempt gets him crotched again, and tumbles to the outside. Goldust suplexes him on the ramp way, and then crotches him on the post. Inside, he works the knee, but his bulldog attempt doesn't go any better than Brian's - with Pillman tossing him off. Unfortunately for Pillman, this is late 1997 Goldust, not late 1995 Goldust - and that doesn't mean as much to him. Reverse chinlock, but Goldust powers up into a visually impressive electric chair. Blind charge misses, though, and Pillman heads up top - only to get crotched again, then slammed off, and into the guardrail. Marlena takes the time to slap him in the face (at least someone left his poor misters alone), and inside, Goldust hits the Curtaincall - but the referee gets bumped along the way, so no count. That allows Pillman to get hold of Marlena's loaded purse, and get the pin at 11:06. Hell, considering the frequency of nut shots here, I'd say he only has a solid ten days to actually enjoy Marlena - so Goldust can rest easy.  This was Pillman's last pay per view appearance before his death the next month. So, I guess Goldust really won in the end, there. * ½

Brian Christopher v Scott Putski: Christopher misses a blind charge at the bell, and gets hip tossed by Putski. Dropkick puts him on the floor, and inside, he tries a series of armdrags - only to get clotheslined by Christopher. Flying axehandle misses, however, and Putski hits a rana for two. Clothesline, but Christopher dodges, and hits a forward-falling Russian Legsweep. German suplex, and he dumps him to the floor for a plancha. Christopher tries to drag him in, but gives up when he notices Putski hurt his knee, and instead heads in to demand a countout - which he actually gets it at 4:45. Bad ending, but a decent match, with both guys putting in an effort. ¾*

Triple Threat Match: Faarooq v Savio Vega v Crush: Another match in the endless 'Gang Warz' that branched out of the three main members of the Nation of Domination breaking off into their own factions - as, surprisingly, dropping out of a Black Militant group doesn't get you a 'thank you for your service.' Crush tries to rush them, but that just gets him ganged up on. Relations break down when Savio tries to schoolboy him to get the pin himself - so Faarooq starts whipping them both with his belt. More fighting over who gets to make a pinfall, so Faarooq sends Crush a cleared message - blowing him low. That allows him the space to spinebuster Savio for two, but Crush recovers (Pretty quickly! Most guys - myself included - need a good break after a good low blow), and powerslams Faarooq for two. I'd love to see some YouTube compilation of all of Ron Simmons' powerslams one day - both giving and receiving. Sure, it would be no less than a three hour upload - but fucking hell yeah, it would be worth it. Three way slugfest, and Vega tries a splash on Faarooq - only to hit the knees. Crush dumps Faarooq to get the pin on Savio himself, but a kickout leads Crush to grabbing a chinlock. Considering this is a Triple Threat, and there's always literally another guy to do some work if you're tired - that's new levels of lazy. Even for Faarooq, apparently, as he dives in with a flying headbutt to break it up. Crush gives him an electric chair for being nosy, but eats dropkick from Savio. Vega botches a swinging neckbreaker, so the others start double-teaming him for sucking. Double-team suplex, but relations break down, and Crush decides to team with Savio to spike piledrive Faarooq - only to get spinkicked and pinned by Vega at 11:37. Too long by a half, and worst of all, didn't really settle anything. ¾*

Midget Match: Max Mini v El Torito: Max really puts the 'Mini' into his name, as even by midget standards, he looks like Rey Mysterio to Torito's Big Show. Mini with a quick headscissors takedown to put Torito on the outside, and he dives out after with a somersault plancha. Back in, Torito uses his size to take control, but gets caught in a wristlock. Torito counters with multiple bites to the tushy, but the referee doesn't see it - so Mini demonstrates the offense by biting the referee's ass. He tries a rana, and a sunset flip, but Torito just shrugs him off. He continues to overpower the little(r) guy, but gets caught with another sunset flip to finish at 9:21. I don't care for midget matches as a general rule, and this one didn't do much to change my mind. ¼*

WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter brings out WWF Tag Team Champions Dude Love and Steve Austin to surrender the titles, as Austin had suffered a legit career-threatening neck injury at SummerSlam, and was out of action. Dude surrenders it, but Austin doesn't like the idea of giving up something he bled for, and throws the title at Slaughter (what is this, a restaurant in Chinatown?), then stuns Jim Ross for good measure. I hated Austin as a kid (it took me until after WrestleMania XIV to warm up to him), because I agreed with Bret Hart's character that he was an instigating piece of shit (I'm paraphrasing) - though the sea of 'Austin 3:16' shirts in the crowd indicate that I was in a clear minority. Bits like this really exemplified the new direction of the WWF (and early days of 'Attitude') as if someone had behaved like Austin had only a couple of years before - they would be clear heels, and not embraced by the fans for doing something like Stunning Jim Ross, and flipping literally everyone off.

WWF Tag Team Title Four-Way Elimination Match: The Legion of Doom v The Headbangers v The Godwinns v Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith: This is for the now officially vacant titles. Thrasher and Henry Godwinn start, and it's all Henry all the time - so Thrasher makes a tag. To Phineas Godwinn. Since this is elimination-style, laying down for the other wouldn't get them the win, so Mosh tags in to avoid robbing us of a suitable conclusion to an epic Headbangers/Godwinns match. He works an armbar, then passes to Animal, who quickly puts Phineas on the outside. Tag back to Henry, and he unloads on Animal in the corner, and a clothesline puts him on the floor. Tag to Hawk, and he's a house of arson, but a Doomsday Device attempt fails. Animal grabs the Godwinns' slop bucket in frustration, and gets the LOD disqualified at 10:00. Mosh runs in to take advantage, and hits a flying splash on Phineas for two. He bails, so Thrasher springboards off of Mosh's back to follow with a bodypress to the outside, and finishes him with a sunset flip at 13:00. Owen (who had been playing it cool on the apron with Davey) charges in on the worn Thrasher, and Davey gives him a hanging vertical suplex for two. Owen missile dropkick gets two, and a neckbreaker for two - as the Hart Foundation cut the ring in half. Davey botches a double knockout spot (which they sell anyway), and both guys tag. Mosh is a nightclub of fire, but gets caught in the Sharpshooter from Owen, so Steve Austin runs back in to drop him with a Stunner, giving the 'Bangers the titles at 17:15. The inherent problem with this match type is that (for at least a good portion of it) the guys can't work proper tag team wrestling with only part of the ring is accessible to them. And while that's true of all tag wrestling ('cutting the ring in half'), a quarter isn't as good as half to work spots in. Really dull match, too, but, at the very least, it saved us from having to sit through any kind of tournament with what the late 1997 tag division had to work with to crown new champions. Davey and Owen probably should have gotten the belts back here, but the Hart Family was rapidly falling out of favor - with even Davey losing his vanity European Title later in the month at a show pretty much designed to put him over. ½*

WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v The Patriot: If there was ever a guy who could say he was in the right place at the right time - it's The Patriot. Bret jumps him right at the bell, hammering away in the corner, and hits a side suplex. Tree of woe, but an ill-advised bite on a masked man gets rightly no-sold, and Bret gets knocked to the floor. Bret hides in the ropes to stall, and ends up in an armbar when he tries to charge Patriot. Patriot works the shoulder, but Bret supermarket sweeps the leg, and works the knee. Leglock, and the ringpost figure four (one of my least favorite later-career Bret Hart spots), and he keeps pounding away as Davey Boy Smith comes down to ringside to cheer him on. Russian legsweep gets two, and a backbreaker sets up a suplex - but Patriot reverses. Sunset flip for two, and a DDT gets two. Uncle Slam (a full-nelson slam), but Davey pulls him out to save the title. Patriot heads out to deal with him, and Vader shows up to back Patriot (masked men gotta stick together!) - giving us a four-way brawl. Vader kills Bret with a shot to the steps, allowing Patriot a big boot back inside. Flying headbutt gets two, and a side suplex for two, so Bret throws a desperation stungun. Bulldog, and the 2^nd rope elbow get the champ two. Slugfest bumps the referee, and he's late to make the count when Patriot hits another Uncle Slam. Bret throws an inside cradle for two, reversed by Patriot for two, and Bret takes his chest-first corner bump to set up a Sharpshooter from the challenger. Bret manages to reverse, and even though Patriot's only inches from the ropes, he submits at 19:20. Lazy bastard. I never liked the dynamic of Bret's heel matches, and I couldn't even buy Patriot as a threat to the title when I was a twelve - so this wasn't exactly one I was dying to see again. That being said, it heated up quite a bit towards the finish, but was definitely a phoned-in effort from Hart - who didn't appreciate getting the WWF Title, and then being shunted down the card. There was a time when he took that kind of booking as a challenge to show up the rest of the roster (1993, 1995), but that Bret Hart was dying and dying quickly. * ¼

Main Event: The Undertaker v Shawn Michaels: 'Taker goes right for Shawn, so he tries to hide behind the referee. That only gets the referee slaughtered, so Shawn bails to the floor, and tells Vince McMahon (who was becoming increasingly acknowledged as the owner of the WWF as each week went by) that, sorry, he ain't doing it - and heads for the back. Commissioner Slaughter stops him on the ramp, and directs him back to ringside, where 'Taker throws the poor referee out onto him like a missile. He beats Shawn all the way to the entrance area - press slamming him onto the stage - then beats him all the way back to ringside. Into the stairs, and 'Taker chokes him with some electrical cable, before tossing him into the guardrail. Shawn desperately tries to get away, but 'Taker drags him into the ring - though the match hasn't officially started, since they killed the referee. That doesn't stop 'Taker from taking him apart, and Shawn Flair flips to the floor as Slaughter sends another referee down. Shawn pleads on his knees to help him get away, but no go, so he uses that as a distraction to clip 'Taker's knee. Ten-punch count, but 'Taker tosses him off, and goes for the chokeslam - only to get kneed in the nuts. Sunset flip, but 'Taker shrugs him off with a chokeslam, and crotches him on the top rope. Clothesline gets two, and 'Taker starts in on an armbar - kept interesting by Michaels' fantastic selling. Ropewalk forearm, but Shawn returns the favor by crotching him on the top, and knocking him to the outside. Baseball slide sets up a plancha, but 'Taker catches him in midair, and posts him. Inside, 'Taker keeps stalking, and backdrops him to the heavens for two. Shawn tries to bail again, but 'Taker literally drags him in by the seat of his pants for another backdrop, so Shawn counters with a swinging neckbreaker. Doesn't even phase 'Taker, but it's enough to allow Shawn to bail for a chair. That backfires, but another ref bump allows Shawn to catch him with a diving forearm. Pair of flying elbowdrops get a delayed two count, as Rick Rude heads for ringside. He tosses Shawn a pair of knux to lay 'Taker out with, but the referee is still dead (he counted two off of the elbowdrops instinctively), so Triple H and Chyna rush a new referee in. He counts two, so Shawn responds by simply decking him. He dumps 'Taker out for Triple H to lay into, and follows out himself with a flying axehandle. HHH rolls him back in for a Superkick, but 'Taker catches the foot, and then (in a disturbing turn) reaches his hands into Michaels' pants. Turns out he's looking for knux, not nuts, but still, dude, BYOK. He knocks Shawn out, and the one of the poor referees makes another delayed two count - so 'Taker chokeslams him. He turns back to Shawn with a jumping clothesline, as yet another referee runs in to throw the match out at 16:20 of official bell-to-bell time, but closer to twenty two minutes with all the pre-match stuff. It doesn't stop there, though, as Shawn manages a Superkick to tie 'Taker in the ropes, and DX beats him down. The locker room starts clearing out to try and break them apart, but 'Taker just chokeslams his way free, and then dives out after Shawn with a crazy tope - also taking out the six or seven guys holding Michaels back. With ninety percent of the roster trying to stop them, Shawn finally makes his escape - setting up the first Hell in a Cell match for a blowoff for the next month. Match was wild - especially at the time - and memorable for the brawling, complete disregard for the referees, general havoc, and especially Shawn's brilliant display of absolute terror, which set up offense that often relied on desperation. *** ¼

BUExperience:  The main event is a great, memorable match, but they would go on to have an even better, significantly more memorable one the next month at Badd Blood. The show isn’t helped by the fact that the rest is junk – with a phoned-in Bret Hart match, midget stuff, and the Gang Warz not really enough to carry the undercard. The expansion to three-hour length for minor shows was still obviously a formula that they had to tinker with, and the roster in late 1997 didn’t exactly make things easier. *