WWF Superstars (March 9, 1997)

 

Original Airdate: March 9, 1997 (taped February 26)

From Berlin, Germany; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jim Cornette

Salvatore Sincere v Alex Porteau: Like the JTTS WrestleMania main event here. Sincere with a full nelson slam at 4:45. ¼*

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WWF European Title Match: Davey Boy Smith v Owen Hart: From Monday Night RAW on March 3 (taped February 26) in Berlin. This is a tournament final to crown the first champion. Feeling out process to start, and wow, does anyone else get freaky Tommy Wiseau vibes whenever Vince does his little forced chuckle? Bulldog dominates the various reversals, and catches Owen with a powerbomb, then sends him flying over the top with a catapult. Back in, Bulldog tries grabbing a hammerlock, but Owen counters with a rollup for two, so Davey armdrags him down for a wristlock to keep things grounded. Back to the hammerlock, so Owen tries his rollup counter again, but Bulldog has it scouted this time, and drops him with a hammerlock slam. Crucifix gets Smith two, so he tries the hanging vertical suplex, but Hart slips free. Leg-feed enzuigiri, but Bulldog ducks it, and takes him to the mat again with a surfboard. Owen quickly escapes, leading to a criss cross, won by Bulldog with a monkeyflip. He charges, but Hart is ready with a backdrop over the top, and he holds the ropes open for Davey to climb back in. Bulldog grabs a headlock as he does, but Owen whips him into the ropes for a criss cross, only to jam his ankle on a leapfrog. Of course, he's faking, and he puts the boots to an advancing Bulldog. Sharpshooter, but Davey blocks, so Owen immediately starts acting like the ankle is bad, but Smith is not a moron. That leads to another criss cross, and this time Hart throws a spinheel kick to win it. Hart with a backbreaker and a cross corner whip, followed by a bodyslam to set up a legdrop for two. Chinlock, but Bulldog starts to escape, so Owen throws a knee to the gut to cut him off. He puts the boots to his brother-in-law until Smith falls out of the ring, but Davey comes back at him with a slingshot sunset flip for two, so Hart clotheslines him back down, and drops an elbow for two. Back to the chinlock, but Bulldog fights free, so Owen overhead suplexes him for two, and goes back to the mat with a camel clutch. Bulldog powers out with an electric chair, as Ross rants about how they'll 'stay with the match as long as it takes,' and guarantees a 'new champion crowned tonight.' I get that it's a shot at WCW, but your show is taped, dude. Hart tries a leveraged pin, but only gets two, so he uses a neckbreaker to set up a 2nd rope elbowdrop for two. Chinlock, as Ross goes into annoying hype man mode again. Hart takes Smith upstairs for a vertical superplex, but Bulldog topples him for two on the way down! Owen tries to keep control with a whip into the ropes, but Bulldog ducks the clothesline, and hits a jumping version of his own. Smith with another pair of clotheslines and a vertical suplex for two, and a cross corner whip rebounds Hart into a press-drop - crotch-first across the top rope! Bulldog with another vertical suplex, but Owen counters with a bridging German version for two. Davey tries for the Running Powerslam, but Hart topples him for two. Hart dives with a 2nd rope bodypress, but Bulldog rolls through for two, so Owen blasts him with the leg-feed enzuigiri. I like how Davey was able to avoid it earlier, but Owen got him flustered enough to land it the second time. Sharpshooter is applied, but Bulldog makes the ropes, leading to a reversal sequence that ends in Smith hitting the Running Powerslam for two. Another great sequence there, with Smith getting to the move in a way I've never seen him get there before, thus something Hart couldn't scout. He makes the mistake of arguing the count, however, and Owen comes at him with a victory roll for two - only for Bulldog to reverse at 18:22. Great finish, playing up on both men's famous matches with Bret Hart, at SummerSlam '92 and WrestleMania X. I really dug this one, as they were working very hard, cutting loose, and doing a bunch of unique counters and setups that you didn't see from either guy too often. Probably the last great singles match of either guy's career, and maybe Smith's overall best ever. **** ½

 

The Slam of the Week is Sycho Sid powerbombing Mankind on RAW 

 

Ahmed Johnson v Leif Cassidy: Cassidy goes after Ahmed’s bad arm early, but gets powered off, so Cassidy decides to slap him across the face. That goes badly for him. Cassidy manages to get a few shots off at the bad arm, but a criss cross allows Johnson a shoulderblock to send Cassidy to the outside. Ahmed brings him back in with a hanging vertical suplex, and he adds a legdrop. Ahmed with a cross corner whip, but the charge in misses, and Cassidy goes to work. In rather dull fashion, sadly. Ahmed fights him off with a short-clothesline, and a piledriver drills Cassidy. Johnson adds a spinebuster, before polishing him off with a sitout tiger bomb at 6:16. ½*

Bob Holly and Aldo Montoya v Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon: Holly and LaFon start, and they trade wristlocks. LaFon forces a criss cross, but misses a (nice) spinheel kick, and Bob delivers a shoulderblock. Tag to Furnas, and he challenges Bob to a test-of-strength - Holly obliging. Furnas dominates, so Holly forces a criss cross, but walks into a hiptoss. Doug adds an armdrag into an armbar, but Bob escapes, and wins another criss cross with a hiptoss of his own. Holly with an armdrag, but Furnas blocks the armbar, and tags out. Holly bodyslams LaFon, but a flying splash lands on LaFon’s boot, and Doug gets the tag back in. Doug with a dropkick for two, and a powerslam is worth another two. Bob hooks backslide for two, so Furnas tries a gourdbuster, but Holly counters with a small package for two. Doug tries a rana, but Holly counters with a powerbomb, and both guys are left looking up at the lights following that one. Aldo catches a tag, and he dives with a flying bodypress, but Furnas catches him. Tag to LaFon for a combo for two, so Aldo hooks a sunset flip for two. He tries to keep it going, but gets caught in a snap cobra suplex at 5:24. This was good, competitive action. ** ¾ 

BUExperience: The last ever episode of Superstars before it became a recap show features what might be the best match in the history of Superstars… which is a recap.