WWF at Greensboro Coliseum (November 22, 1997)

Original Airdate: November 22, 1997

From Greensboro, North Carolina

Opening Match: Brian Christopher v Taka Michinoku: Feeling out process to start, dominated by Christopher. Taka eventually out thinks him and sends him over the top with a clothesline, and Taka dives with a springboard flying bodypress on the floor. Vertical suplex back in, but Christopher drops him across the top rope to block, and a reversal sequence ends in Brian delivering a Russian facebuster for two. Snap suplex follows, but a corner charge misses, and Taka wins another criss cross with a rana. Snapmare sets up a pair of seated dropkicks, and Taka dives with a missile dropkick from there. Bodyslam sets up a flying moonsault, but Christopher rolls out of the way. He tries a piledriver, but Taka counters with a sunset flip at 5:09. Christopher wasn’t a bad worker, but his overreliance on Memphis style crowd stuff hurt him, especially in this division. But, hey, points for trying something different compared to a lot of the guys who just did high spots without bothering to connect with the audience. * ¾  

Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Savio Vega, Miguel Perez, Jesus Castillo, and Jose Estrada v Crush, Chainz, Skull, and 8-Ball: I swear, I’ll still be seeing this eight-man in my nightmares fifty years from now. Just how many times did they book this stupid match in 1997? And did they ever really establish who the heels and babyfaces were? It seemed to shift on a week to week basis, and not in the cool way that the Hart Foundation angle did in the summer. The Boricuas seem to be playing heel for this match, though. Chainz eventually gets a hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! A double team allows Chainz a Samoan drop at 13:29. This was every Los Boricuas/DOA match you’ve ever seen and instantly forgotten about, only really long. ½*   

Ahmed Johnson v Sultan: Sultan tries a sneak attack, but that goes badly, and Ahmed unloads. Chokeslam gets Johnson two, but a corner charge gets blocked, and Sultan superkicks him down. Sultan stomps the groin, so Johnson bails, but Sultan drags him back in for a sleeper. Ahmed escapes, so Sultan piledrives him for two, but gets crotched while going upstairs. That allows Johnson to make a comeback, and a sloppy Pearl River Plunge gets the pin at 4:02 - despite Sultan pretty clearly getting a shoulder up at two. This was lazy and amateurish, with Ahmed looking like every movement was causing him tremendous pain, and Sultan looking disinterested in working. -¼*

Marc Mero v Flash Funk: Feeling out process to start, dominated by Funk. He uses a flying bodypress for two, and a dropkick finds the mark. Armdrag leaves Marc in an armbar, but Mero manages to bail to buy time. Funk chases, so Mero shoves Sable into him, and attacks to turn the tide. Marc with a clothesline on the floor, and an elbowdrop gets him two on the way back inside. Mero with a series of jabs for two, and a Samoan drop sets up the flying shooting star press, but Funk crotches him on the top to block. Superplex, but Mero counters with a sleeper. He works that until Funk escapes, and hits a kick for two, going on the comeback trail. Corner splash and a bodyslam set up a 2nd rope legdrop for two, but a flying twisting splash misses, and Mero throws more fists. Funk fights back with a victory cradle for two, and a spinkick finds the mark, so Marc goes low, and delivers the TKO at 9:02. Not terrible, but not notable either. * ¼ 

BUExperience: Sadly, that’s it, as this version omits the rest (Vader/Kane, Legion of Doom/Billy Gunn and Jesse James, Mark Henry/D-lo Brown, Triple H/Ken Shamrock, Rocky Maivia/Dude Love, and Shawn Michaels/Undertaker), which is a shame, since the top of the card sounds interesting. 

This, however, is not.