WWF LiveWire (November 30, 1996)

Original Airdate: November 30, 1996

Your Hosts are Dok Hendrix and Sunny from the studio

We listen to the pop Bret Hart got this past Monday on RAW, followed by the closing moments of his match with WWF Tag Team Champion Owen Hart, including the attack from Steve Austin, and save from WWF Tag Team Champion Davey Boy Smith

On tour in England earlier this week, Bret responded to the attack from Austin and save from Bulldog, and he it’s a whole lot of family drama

Also on tour in England, Owen thanks Austin for his help, but he’s not pleased with Bulldog for saving Bret

Shawn calls in from New Jersey, and he CAN’T BELIEVE Bulldog helped Bret. Why? They used to be allies and are related. And it’s the holiday season! How jaded are you, Shawn?

Someone emails in clarifying that Bulldog is ‘not even a blood relative,’ making the situation even more confusing to them. It’s a wonder society hasn’t crumbled

Hank calls in from Pennsylvania, and he clarifies that blood is thicker than water, and that’s why Bulldog made the save. Did we not just establish that he’s not a blood relative?! Can you not be bothered to pay attention to the emails, HANK?!

Ron calls in from Minnesota, and he takes a different angle, thinking that Diana Hart-Smith might have put Bulldog up to saving her brother. Dok immediately throws cold water on it, and his personal take is that Davey just wanted to ‘keep Owen focused’ 

Billy Gunn stares off into space in the green room. He’s lucky he’s not traveling with Elaine

Vic Venom stops by, and he’s worried that Austin doesn’t have any friends. Yeah, that’s a real concern

Joe calls in from Connectitcut, and just like every single male who calls, he needs to stop and hit on Sunny. Joe thinks Bulldog and Owen are going to break up, but Joe’s connection is so bad, that he’s the one breaking up

Carlos calls from Puerto Rico, and he thinks it’s unfair that Bret is getting a title shot at In Your House instead of Austin. Dok correctly reminds him that Bret, uh, beat Stone Cold at Survivor Series, so why shouldn’t he?

It's the semi finals of the Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament, this week featuring Sable going over Sunny. By DQ

Billy Gunn joins us, fresh off of his turn on brother Bart. He’s annoyed that we’re all talking about Stone Cold, when clearly Billy Gunn is the real star in this promotion

Lola calls in from Pennsylvania, and she wants to remind Billy that family is everything, which seems to be the running theme this week. But, of course, Bart is Billy’s kayfabe brother, while Owen is Bret’s actual brother, and Davey is his actual brother-in-law. We need to get Hank back on the line to help us sort through all this

Dok wants Billy’s predictions for In Your House. Gunn picks ‘Diesel’ and ‘Razor Ramon’ over Owen and Bulldog for the tag titles, which is proof positive of why he’s never gotten a booking job

Dominick calls in from New York, and he thinks Billy is a ‘great’ wrestler, but his only problem is his ego. Interestingly enough, that was probably his strongest point

Last week on Superstars, Billy distracted Bart, allowing Austin to deliver a Stunner for the pin. But then afterwards, Austin hit Billy with one as well, which Gunn is flipping out about back in the studio - throwing a tantrum and storming off of the show

The Acclaim Slamo of the Week is Flash Funk delivering a flying 450 splash

Shawn Michaels (dressed like he's auditioning to be an extra on Better Call Saul) is visiting a recuperating Jose Lothario at his home in San Antonio, and even while just sitting there and listening to his manager talk, Michaels manages to come off as completely insufferable. He then cuts a promo on WWF Champion Sycho Sid that mostly amounts to TALKING VERY LOUDLY. He's lost his edge since becoming WWF Champion at WrestleMania, but no more Mr. Nice Guy! This felt like they were desperately trying to recapture the coolness of 1995 Shawn, but it came off really forced, and Shawn just didn't have that same cool attitude that made him so hard to ignore a year earlier

Dok notes that Shawn was the most fighting WWF Champion ever. Which he had to be because of how much the WWF was growing as a company under his reign. I think he said some other things too, but I’m not sure, I was laughing so loudly that I couldn’t hear everything

Mark calls in from New York, and are we getting the same callers every week? We’ve had at least three people call in this week that I can say for certain have called in on previous shows, and they’re not even bothering to hide it with different names/locations. And just like a few weeks ago, Mark asks Sunny for a date again. Mark suggests that they book a four corners match between Sid, Michaels, Hart, and Austin to crown an undisputed champion. Like, say, a ‘final four’ of sorts? Interesting concept

Marya calls from New Mexico, and her heart breaks for Shawn. Well, they do call him the ‘Heartbreak Kid’

Jim Ross calls in to rant at everyone, telling them, in detail, how they suck as journalists 

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BUExperience: Weak episode this time out, without much meat for them to sink their teeth into.