Original Airdate: November 10, 1997
From Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Your Host is Jim Ross, with Jim Cornette (hour one), and with Jerry Lawler (hour two)
DX open the show, and of course, the hate from the crowd is palpable here. Also, that’s a crazy amount of signs filling up the frame, damn. I’m kind of surprised Rick Rude went along with this, considering what he ended up doing shortly after. WWF Champion and European Champion Shawn Michaels immediately takes credit for running Bret Hart out of the promotion, and you can see how much he’s truly enjoying rubbing in that he did it in Canada and with Bret’s own hold. And so Bret is now “down south with the rest of those dinosaurs” - though he notes that the guys down there who aren’t dinosaurs are his friends, and are going to torture Hart down there as well. Shawn looks so tiny beside Rude and Triple H - I’m honestly surprised he managed to do as well for himself in this size obsessed promotion as he did. So all this gloating draws Ken Shamrock out, and he’d be getting canceled in about twenty seconds with the stuff he says to Chyna here. He gets in Shawn’s face, and I’m honestly not sure if he want to fuck or fight, considering he tells Michaels that he has ‘beautiful hair’ and a ‘sexy chest.’ Well, luckily, Commissioner Slaughter joins us to clarify that it will be ‘fight,’ and it will be at the next In Your House. Plus, Shamrock faces HHH right here tonight, with Slaughter at ringside, and the rest of DX banned. This was all well and good, though it felt like Shamrock needed Principal Slaughter to deal with his bullies for him a little
Marc Mero v Ahmed Johnson: Cornette, even if he is quite good, feels so wrong as a commentator during this era. They measure each other some to start, dominated by Johnson. Marc with rights and lefts to sway things, and a jumping backelbow finds the mark. More rights and lefts, but a whip into the ropes gets reversed, and Ahmed lands a bicycle kick. That looked terrible, like Ahmed was in terrible pain just trying to maneuver. Pearl River Plunge looks to finish, but he gets distracted by Sable, and Mero delivers a low blow for the DQ at 2:29. This was not good for a variety of reasons. Between Johnson’s really poor, sloppy work, and Mero’s completely new style eviscerating his work rate, this was pretty rough. Ahmed, in particular, was almost uncomfortable to watch, looking like every movement was putting him in intense physical pain. -¼*
WWF Light Heavyweight Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Taka Michinoku v Devon Storm: Sunny acts as the guest ring announcer for this one, with Brian Christopher joining us for guest commentary. Storm attacks before his introduction, since apparently he doesn’t want to hear Sunny say his name. He gets some shots in, but Michinoku lands on the apron when Storm tries dumping him, and Taka dives back with a missile dropkick. Storm bails, so Taka dives again with a springboard moonsault press on the floor. Another dive, but Storm catches him, and drops him on the apron to block. Devon with a splash on the floor, and a gourdbuster connects on the way back inside. Running dropkick and a snapmare set up a slingshot somersault legdrop for two, but Taka fights off a superplex with a tornado DDT for two. Clothesline, but Storm counters with a German suplex, and he goes upstairs, but Taka crotches him. Michinoku with a rana off the top for two, but a flying splash misses, and Storm uses a death valley driver for two. Bodyslam sets up a legdrop, and Devon goes up with a flying moonsault, but Michinoku dodges. Backdrop, but Storm blocks, and goes back to the top for another dive - only for Michinoku to vertical superplex him off before he can deliver. Taka with a flying spinheel kick (that he mistimes, and ends up connecting with Storm’s ankle), and it’s Michinoku Driver time, but Christopher distracts him. That allows Storm to recover, but Michinoku fights him off with the Driver at 5:02. Hard to believe both of these guys debuted in 1992, because Storm looked super green here compared to Michinoku. A good match, though. ***
Ross brings Goldust out to talk about abandoning his wife last week and his team last night, and damn, he’s like a country song in reverse, this guy. Vader joins them because he wants answers as well, but Goldust isn’t interested, so Vader attacks him instead. This segment is cut from the Peacock version of the show, which I think is odd, considering the face paint wasn’t meant to be racial at all
Backstage, someone has taken out Blackjack Windham, and Blackjack Bradshaw is tearing up a bathroom in response. Well, that certainly gives new meaning to ‘punching a toilet’
The Headbangers v Recon and Sniper: The Headbangers have the DOA in their corner here. Mosh dominates both guys to start, and it’s over to Thrasher to help with a combo. Powerslam follows, and this break down, with everyone brawling. The Headbangers get the better of it and clean house, so Jackyl tries getting involved, but gets dispatched as well. All the chaos allows them to pound Thrasher down, however, and they cut the ring in half on him. He manages to dodge a dropkick to allow the tag to Mosh, and Roseanne Barr the door! Heel miscommunication gives the Headbangers control, and a combo finishes at 4:48. This was energetic enough, though the crowd was completely disinterested. *
Michael Cole brings WWF Intercontinental Champion Steve Austin out, and you know, I think this guy might be pretty popular with the crowd. But before Austin can talk much about his victory the night before, Rocky Maivia shows up, and he wants the first shot at the new champion. Austin, of course, is glad to give him one, since he sucks anyway, so why not? I get that we all change as we age, but man, it’s almost hard to connect this guy with the movie star we all know today
Ross chats with Steve Blackman at ringside, congratulating him on his debut the night before, but Los Boricuas get upset that he’s taking their scheduled time, and attack him. This didn’t connect at all
Backstage, Billy Gunn and Jesse James gloat about taking Blackjack Windham out. Okay, but what about that poor toilet?
Handicap Bunkhouse Match: Blackjack Bradshaw v Billy Gunn and Jesse James: Bradshaw throws powder before the bell to try and even the odds a little, and he unloads with weapons. Big boot on Billy finds the mark, and he cracks a trashcan lid over Jesse’s head before cleaning house. Bradshaw follows to bash Jesse with the timekeeper’s table (ouch), and he adds a shot with a chair for good measure. Inside, Bradshaw tries a superplex on Gunn, but Billy counters with a tornado DDT, and both heels cover at 1:41. Not much of a match here, but they were really letting each other have it with those weapon shots. ¼*
More of Ross’s sit-down interview with Jeff Jarrett, and Jeff is confident that not only will he become WWF Champion, but that he’ll be the most respected champion in the title’s history. That’s just delusional. But then, if Steve Austin would have made a similar comment just a few years earlier it would sound equally insane, so I guess you never know. Except that in this case we have the benefit of hindsight, and we do know. So, shut up, Jeff. Weird bit, as Ross asks his prediction for the title match at Survivor Series, which seems kind of a day late and a dollar short. And yes, I know this was taped prior, but it still comes off as odd. Another odd bit, as they do word association, and he calls Randy Savage the ‘hardest working wrestler he’s ever known.’ Oh, also, Triple H is a ‘tagalong’
Cole catches up with Butterbean (in the crowd), but Marc Mero comes back out to get in his face, since he’s a ‘real boxer,’ while Butterbean just beats up ‘truck drivers’ and ‘unemployed steel workers.’ Marc gets in his face, and talks trash, but nothing really comes of it
Undertaker v Kama Mustafa: Undertaker is in a mood, and takes it out on Kama - unloading rights at the bell, and planting a bit boot on him. Corner whip rebounds Kama into a clothesline, and Undertaker adds a legdrop for two. Cross corner whip works, but the charge in doesn’t, and Kama unloads in the corner. Undertaker comes back with a chokeslam, and a clothesline sends Kama over the top, when suddenly the lights die. They come back up in red, and Kane joins us - the match getting thrown out at 2:54 so we can have promo time instead. Kane formally challenges Undertaker to a match, but Undertaker doesn’t want to fight his own brother. We already saw this angle in 1994, and it was better then. DUD
Triple H v Ken Shamrock: Ken unloads until HHH bails, but Shamrock chases him up the ramp, and continues beating him up on the entrance stage. Hunter takes a bump back down the ramp, and inside we go, where Shamrock keeps pounding. I feel like the crowd wants to get behind Ken, but his offense is so limited that they just can’t. HHH fights him off with a kneeling facebuster and a DDT, as the crowd finds an outlet for their energy by chanting ‘we want Bret’ instead of supporting Shamrock. Hunter works a chinlock as Rick Rude shows up at ringside, since apparently Slaughter’s ban is worth shit. Hunter with a kneedrop for two, and he dumps Ken to the outside for a trip into the steps. Hunter stops to jaw at Slaughter as they head back in, allowing Shamrock to corner him with a ten-punch, but HHH fights free with an inverted atomic drop. High knee gets Helmsley two, but Shamrock escapes a chinlock with an electric chair, and he makes a comeback. Jumping backelbow gets him two, and a corner whip sets up a rana. Rude tries to get involved, but Slaughter cuts him off, and Shamrock unloads in the corner. HHH responds by decking the referee, which allows Chyna to run in - Slaughter missing his mark, and forcing her to just stop until he’s ready to cut her off. That looked horrible. Shamrock gets HHH in the anklelock, but Shawn Michaels runs in to blast him with Rude’s briefcase, and the referee recovers to call a no-contest at 10:00. Well, at least according to HistoryoftheWWE, because the show also missed their cue, and went off the air before a finished aired. Triple H was trying, but Shamrock wasn’t really at that level yet, and sticking him in the main event of the next pay per view (especially when they really needed a slam dunk after Montreal) was a really dumb idea.* ¼
BUExperience: On the heels of Montreal, this episode managed to draw RAW’s highest head-to-head number since May of 1996, but watching it, it felt oddly like business as usual for the promotion, rather than the aftermath of one of the most significant historical moments in the history of the sport.
Monday Night Wars Rating Chart
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.