- Well, the time has finally come. After months and years of reviewing random crap, from the Bastion Booger, Ludvig Borga, and Well Dunn, to the Hart Brothers feud, the evolution of Mr. Bob Backlund, and the 1995 King of the Ring Tournament. From classic matches between Bret Hart and the the Kid, and horrible crap like Tatana vs. "The Undertaker", and countless insults regarding Shawn Michaels, it's time for the swan song of these compilation reviews. The WWF was slowly changing its direction, first by changing their Raw schedule by featuring nothing but feature matches, as well as pushing a loud mouthed swearing redneck as one of it's brightest up and comers.
We start the tape off with the 1997 Royal Rumble PPV, held at the Alamo Dome in the hometown of Shawn Michaels. Despite selling about 40,000 tickets based on Shawn/Sid rematch alone, the crowd was still heavily papered, about around 20,000 tickets handed out to whoever wanted to come in and waste 4 hours. The show also featured one of the rarest moments in wrestling history, as well as the advancement of one of the biggest angles of 1997. With that out of the way, onto the PPV. Same rules though. No detailed review. Just random comments and insults. You know, the usual.
- Mascarita Sagrada Jr. & La Parkita vs. Mini Mankind & Mini Vader:If the state of the WWF couldn't even more sad and pathetic, I bring you the reintroduction of midget matches since the infamous Dink, Wink, Pink and Sleezy, Queesy, and Cheesy trio of midgets from the Survivor Series 1994 time frame. Somehow, dressing up two mexicans as Vader and Mankind didn't go over with the crowd. La Parkita is a midget form of La Parka (DUH!), and Mascarita Sagrada is better known as Max Mini. This was on the Free For All, which means no one got to pay for this piece of crap. Since I hate midgets, I'll do basic commentary. Everyone does about 500 arm drags and slams with a lot of no selling. This craptastic match comes to an end when Sagrada pins Vader with a crucifix at 4:31. N/R At least it was short, in case you ever bother watching this match.
- WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/ Mr. Hughes) vs. Goldust (w/ Marlena):Wait a minute you're probably saying... wasn't Goldust a heel the last time we saw him? Well, depending on who you ask, someone was getting on McMahons ass because of the Goldust character, resulting in a hot shot face turn where Goldust denied the accusations of being a homosexual and admited a relationship with his manager, Marlena. Mr. Hughes is making a VERY Brief return to the WWF for the 3rd time, as the "Butler" of Hunter H. Helmsley. He was fired probably the next week, for reasons ranging from the usual (Worthless) to the bizarre (moonlighting at an S&M bar). Speaking of bizarre... you'll find out later. The obviously papered crowd boos Goldust, because they obviously don't know he turned face, and probably aren't too big of fans. Anyway, a much too long and dull match between two sub-par workers. Goldust of course mounts the big babyface comeback, but a little altercation on the apron between Goldust and Mr. Hughes allows Helmsley to sneak up on Goldust and finish him off with the Pedigree to retain the title at 16:49. *1/4 Whoever thought giving these two guys more than ten minutes should've been hung by the balls, and if it was a woman, force her to sniff Pat Patterson's skidmark underpants.
- We get various promos from Rumble participants throughout the show from Bret Hart, Mankind, Terry Funk, Steve Austin, and most importantly, the Brtish Bulldog. Why do I say that about the Bulldog? I say that because he says he'll win the Royal Rumble... because he's Bizarre. I have no fucking clue what that is supposed to mean.
- Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq (w/ The Nation of Domination):After months of boring build up and Ahmed recovering from emergency surgery, we finally get the big meeting between Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq. I don't see how this is a Nation affair, considering Ahmed was attacked by Nerf-Helmet Gladiator Faarooq, not Black Militant Faarooq. Not that you'll be surprised, but this is worse than the last match. Not because it was long and boring, but because both men were barely were able to be carried to good matches by the greatest wrestlers, and it was boring. Both men do nothing more than punching and kicking, with the usual elbow being used. Although the match is pretty bad, at least Faarooq is smart enough to work the lower back/kidney area of Johnson. Johnson no sells a Spinebuster and nails his own. He calls for the Plunge, but in comes Crush and the rest of the Nation to draw the DQ at 8:44. 1/2* Like I always say, if you ever travel back in time, don't touch anything. In the only high spot of the match, Johnson does a Pearl River Plunge style move on one of the Nation lackies through a table! No, it wasn't D'Lo Brown. It was some other random black guy. Oh well, at least that was pretty damn cool. So much for the French table being labeled a pussy.
- The Undertaker vs. Vader:I don't think this match had any traditional build up, as in anything that doesn't make it thrown together, but Jim Ross says the Undertaker assaulted Vader's manager, Jim Cornette on an episode of Superstars. These two ended up having a pretty kickass match at Canadian Stampede later in the year, so this should be good too, right? Well, you'll be disappointed, because neither guy looks to be into the match, especially considering the circumstances that Vader hasn't been pushed since jobbing out to HBK and Sid, and the Undertaker hasn't been given a meaningful push out of the midcard since his 2 week feud with Bret Hart in January '96. Paul Bearer makes his presence felt by assaulting the Undertaker with the urn, allowing Vader to land a Vader Bomb and pin the Undertaker at 13:19. Yes, the biggest moment of the night... The Undertaker did a fucking pinfall job! AND ON PPV! * Match was nothing to write home about, sorry to say.
- Perro Aguayo, Canek, Hector Garza vs. Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal, Fuerza Guerrera:Don't even fucking ask me about this, because I have no fucking clue at what the hell was going on. For some reason WWF was using these losers (and various others) on their programing for a few weeks until someone realized no one gave a fuck about them. Maybe Vince Russo was right this time... americans watch for american wrestlers, not mexicans. In a glorious moment of closed captions, they call Heavy Metal "Whatever Heavy." Some fans will recognize Hector Garza and Heavy Metal from the TNA Americas-X Cup Tournaments, and I'm sure the others are known to Lucha fans in Mexico. The match is drizzling shit bad, with a super deflated crowd, and everything either misses by a mile, or is no sold like the person was the Undertaker. The finish sees Aguayo pin Metal following a double stomp that missed pretty fucking badly at 10:57. DUD If I wanted to dip into the negative ratings, it wouldn't be much of a stretch here.
- 30-Man Royal Rumble Match:#1 is Crush, and to make sure we know the drawing is random, #2 is Ahmed Johnson, the guy feuding with the Nation of Domination, a group that Crush is a member of. They do nothing of note, and since the clock and buzzer doesn't work, Razor Ramon enters at #3 to little fan fair. He gets eliminated 7 seconds later to little fan fair. Soon after Ahmed jumps over the top to chase Faarooq down the aisle. What, don't black people know what it means to go through the ropes? #4 is Phineas Godwinn, but no one cares. #5 is Steve Austin, and he gets monkey spanked by a Hillbilly until heel miscommunication sees Godwinn dump Crush, and then Austin Stunner and eliminate Phineas. #6 is Bart Gunn, and he's gone as fast as I can type that. #7 is Jake Roberts, wearing his old school black trunks with a dark green outlining of a snake. He works a wristlock a while, but gets dumped going for the DDT. #8 is the British Bulldog, and he whoops Austins ass to face reactions because of his teased face turn. #9 is Pierroth, a somewhat famous heel (or rudo) in AAA. No, that's not the car repair and towing place. He gets no reaction though. #10 is the Sultan, and he gets even less heat. Lots of useless hugging all match. #11 is Mil Mascaras, a legend in Lucha Libre, and he gets some pretty good reactions for doing basically nothing to the Sultan. #12 is Hunter Hearst Helmsley sans heat, and the Sultan is dumped soon after by Bulldog. Austin and Hunter brawl years before they're supposed to hate each other. #13 is Owen Hart. Bulldog and Owen double team Austin until Owen double crosses Bulldog and dumps him out. He claims it was an accident, though. #14 is Goldust, and nothing happens. #15 is Cibernetico, another AAA loser that no one in the states cares about.
More nothing happens until Marc Mero's music hits, and then the eliminations are rapid fire. Pierroth dumps Cibernetico, Mil Mascaras dumps Pierroth, and Mil Mascaras does a plancha off the top rope to eliminate himself. Rumors are he said he would only do the match if he would eliminate himself. The elimination fun continues as Goldust dumps out his nemesis Hunter Hearst Helmsley. #17 is Latin Lover, another damn loser. After some nothing, Goldust gets dumped by Owen. #18 is Faarooq, and we get more rapid fire eliminations. Faarooq dumps the Loser, Ahmed runs in to eliminate Faarooq, and Austin dumps both Owen and Mero by himself to stay alone in the ring. #19 is Savio Vega, but he's a JTTS now, and he's gone shortly after. #20 is Double J Jesse James, but he too is nothing more than a JTTS, and Austin makes short work of him. #21 is Bret Hart, and Austin proceeds to shit his pants on cue with the music. They proceed to have the best exchange of the match until Jerry Lawler enters as #22. He starts a sentence "It takes a king" before entering the ring, gets knocked our 3 seconds later, then comes back and finishes with "to know a king." Funny shit I tells ya'! J.R. coins the phrase "through Hellfire and Brimstone" during an Austin/Hart exchange. No eliminations happen until the remaining 8 men enter, so here you go with the entries: #23 "Diesel", #24 Terry Funk, #25 Rocky Miavia, #26 Mankind, #27 Flash Funk, #28 Vader, #29 Henry O. Godwinn, and #30 The Undertaker. Undertaker chokeslams everyone then has an exchange with Kane... I mean Diesel. Flash Funk is the next to go, courtesy of a overhead slam from Vader. That had to hurt. HOG is out via the Undertaker. Mankind eliminated Miavia with the mandible claw. Mankind then eliminates Terry Funk, but gets dumped as well by The Undertaker. While Mankind and Funk brawl, Hart dumps Austin. He sneaks back in the ring to dump out Undertaker and Vader, Hart dumps out Diesel, and Austin hurls Bret Hart out... to become the winner at 50:27?! The referees apparently didn't see Austin being eliminated and declare him the winner and #1 Contender for Wrestlemania. Color me surprised, because at the time, I was pissed at that finish. Bret Hart of course cries about the loss to anyone that will listen. ** Not one of the better Rumble matches. Maybe one of the worst if I think hard about it.
- WWF World Championship Match:
Psycho Sid © vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Jose Lethario):The long awaited rematch from Survivor Series '96. Sid is supposed to be the heel you could say, but Shawn has been heeling it up for weeks, but no one bought into it and thus his scheduled heel turn was canceled. If the WWF broadcast team isn't lying, Michaels is suffering from the flu, which doesn't spell good news for anyone. Much shorter match than at Survivor Series, which is a good thing, but when Sid is relied on to carry a match in the main event of one of the WWF's Big-4 PPV's, it doesn't smell too successful. After a little referee bump or two, Michaels pulls a Sid and clobbers him with a camera, but Sid kicks out at two. Shawn then follows with Sweet Chin Music, and Hebner counts for three after about 15 seconds of delaying at 13:42. Way to go Sid. My mother could've kicked out of that slow ass 3 count. *3/4 Definitely not a BAD match, but again, Sid was doing most of the work, and you can see neither man had it in him to go much longer, resulting in one of the shortest WWF Title matches on PPV since Diesel and Yokozuna were champions.
End of PPV Broadcast, and it sure did suck.
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- The Godwinns vs. The New Blackjacks:Witness the random pairing of Barry Windham (with another repacking) and Justin Bradshaw, this time represing the roles of Blackjack Mulligan (Windhams father) and Blackjack Lanza. In a SPECIAL episode of Monday Night Raw, we are live from the Manhattan Center for the first time since September 1993, which featured such a classic moment as Irwin R. Schyster jobbing to P.J. Walker thanks to a Razor Ramon distraction. No Hillbilly Jim with the farming hillbillies, so draw your own conclussion where he is. This match is going to suck hard amounts of ass, so excuse me while I flake out on it. This is nothing more than a punch-kick contest, and a horribly sloppy one at that. Henry O. gets to play the Hillbilly-in-Peril as we get a glimps of Ken Shamrock in the crowd. Phineas is a house of fire following the hot tag, but Bradshaw KO's him with a Lariat and Windham covers for the victory at 5:49, despite Phineas getting his foot on the ropes. 1/2* Blech... not a good way to start the show off. Afterward, the Godwinns punk out referee Mike Chioda by giving him the Slopping of Doom. THEY'RE HARDCORE! THEY'RE HARECORE! THEY'RE HARDCORE!
- While some stuntman... I mean ring worker fixes one of the turnbuckles because of something that happend in the last match, Perry Saturn and John Kronus (The Eliminators) run in and give him the Total Elimination (a combination leg sweep and standing heel kick). Paul E. Dangerously comes in and formally accepts Jerry Lawler's challenge to bring ECW to Monday Night Raw.
- "Big Stevie Cool" Stevie Richards (w/ The Blue World Order) vs. Little Guido:To the surprise of me and probably everyone else, these two guys somehow are still employed by WWE, and even Hollywood Nova (currently Simon Dean) hasn't been cut. For those who are REALLY oblivious, the bWo is a mock of WCW's New World Order. Hollywood Nova is an obvious rip off of Hollywood Hogan, while The Blue Meanie imitates Razor Ramon. Richards doesn't stand out, but his name seems to mock the former nickname of Kevin Nash when he was Diesel. There also seems to be a guy mocking Syxx, who had goofy puffy hair at the time and was known to carry around a handheld. Little Guido is currently Nunzio, and Cruiserweight Champion. How come Stevie sounds like Raven here? I thought he had a raspy voice like Brian Pillman. Guido attacks from behind, but jumps into a fallaway slam. Irish whip and Richards with a twirling side suplex. We see that Raven is in the entrance area. Fun fact is he was at the last TV Taping at the Manhattan Center, debuting his managerial services to The Quebecers as Johnny Polo when they beat the Steiner Brothers. Raven gets in Richards face, but does nothing. Nunzio stomps away at Richards while we get a split screen Goldust promo. Nunzio with a scoop slam followed by an elbow drop for a two count. Irish whip to the corner, and Nunzio blocks a boot to the face with a sitout powerbomb for a two count. Paul E. puts over Goldust for reasons unknown as Nunzio goes to a reverse chinlock. Irish whip, and Guido with a face slam for a two count. Richards comes back with a Rocker Dropper for a two count as well. Richards with a powerbomb followed by the Stevie Kick for the victory at 3:39. * Not much of an ECW Style match, but it wasn't too bad. A little short on time though. Lawler makes fun of their innovation of that move by saying Michaels has done that every week for the last 10 years. Forgive me for saying Nunzio all the time. It's a lot more natural for me to type that than Guido.
- Arm-Wrestling Match:
Marlena vs. Sunny:The master of ceremonies is NOT Jerry Lawler for once. Instead, it's the Honkytonk Man, because when you think arm-wrestling and hot women in tight clothes, you think of Wayne Ferris imitating Elvis. Sunny reveals a rather skimpy pair of shorts, but honestly, it's really nothing special compared to some of the stuff WWF has had their lady wrestlers trotted out in. We get highlights of the debuting Chyna assaulting Marlena last week. If you don't know what happens here, you suck. Sunny stalls several times before each "lockup", and then Marlena does it to fight fire-with-fire. Marlena is about to win the match, so Sunny throws baby powder (hopefully that's what it was) in Marlenas face to draw the DQ, and in comes Savio to tease a beating, but Goldust makes the save, leading us into...
- Goldust (w/ Marlena) vs. Savio Vega (w/ The Nation & Sunny):I don't know the reason behind this match from a booking stand point, because it was announced before the last segment's Arm-Wrestling Match. Much like the first match of the show, this one is just a pain in the ass bad to watch, so excuse me while I don't bother with much play-by-play. Goldust works over Vega to start the match, including slamming him into the little table, but after we come back from the Commercial, Savio is in control. Miguel Perez (the human chia pet) is doing commentary for more unknown reasons. Vega controls with nothing more than punches and kicks to the midsection. We even get a nerve hold. More choking, and Goldust with a surprise sunset flip for a two count. They exchange blows, with Vega taking control and pinching nerves again. He does this for a little longer until Goldust drops him with a clothesline. Goldust comes back with several more clotheslines and mounted punches. Scoop slam by Goldust and he heads up top to get crotched. Goldust kisses his way out of a superplex. He stomps away on Vega, but gets tripped by Crush. Vega misses the elbow drop, and Goldust rolls outside to attack Crush. Vega whiffs on the spinning heel kick, but Goldust sells it anyway. Goldust comes back, but keeps being distracted by the NOD, and Crush runs in for the DQ at 8:58. DUD Who the hell thought giving these two guys ten minutes on TV was a good idea? Perez tries making the save but gets dumped out. He comes back with a missile dropkick on Vega and sends him running. Perez beats on Crush to make him run away too.
- Mikey Whipwreck vs. Taz (w/ Bill Alfonso):More ECW matches makes me not happy, because I've always felt ECW was nothing more than an overhyped Independent Promotion. Taz is one of their biggest stars if verbal blowjobs of others are correct, and he's set to have a match with Sabu at the first ever ECW PPV, Barely Legal (or whatever it was called). Whipwreck is best known to me as the partner of Cactus Jack back in 1994-95. Alfonso blowing his whistle non-stop is fucking annoying to the point I want to stab myself in the ears with a ball point. Lockup, and Whipwreck with a waistlock. Taz counters with a snapmare and into a cross armbar, much like Craig Pittmans "Code Red" finisher in WCW. Taz with a standing side headlock and into a hammerlock. An unpleasent shot of Taz spread eagle makes me sad in pants. Whipwreck works the armbar into the match, but gets taken over with a Northern Lights suplex for a two count. Irish whip is reversed, and Taz nails a release butterfly suplex. Irish whip and Mikey with a sunset flip for a two count. Taz with a short clothesline and sends Whipwreck into the corner. Irish whip and a gsame of chasing leads to an Alabama Slam to Whipwreck. Taz stomps away as we see Sabu dive off the Raw "R" onto Taz's lackies and go after Alfonso. Taz with a belly-to-belly suplex on Whipwreck over the top rope and onto Sabu. Taz with a T-Bone Suplex, and the Tazmission finishes Whipwreck off at 3:32. ** Quite an entertaining squash, mainly because I'm a mark for stiff looking slams and suplexes (Go Dr. Death!), and because it wasn't a shitty garbage brawl.
- Legion of Doom vs. The Head Bangers:Yes, this is the surprise return of wrestling's greatest tag team, and the crowd is pretty into them, considering it's mainly ECW mutants. The Head Bangers you'll remember from a long time ago (1 year) as the masked Spiders, and they did a job on an episode of Raw to the Smoking Gunns in a Joined-in-Progress Squash. The LOD are fresh off a shitty run in WCW where they really didn't do anything of note, other than Hawks failed singles push in 1995 while Animal was injured. LOD ambush the Bangers and dump them out of the ring seconds into the match. "LOD" chant as the Bangers gather their brain cells. Animal hammers on Mosh and nails a diving shoulder tackle. Thrasher tags in, but is a little afraid to lock up. Animal boots him and applies a wristlock. Hawk tags in and comes off the seocnd rope with a fist drop. Hawk makes Thrasher his bitch, but gets double teamed momentarily. "Nitro Sucks" chant from the crowd, and McMahon seems to be happy about it. Hawk chops away at Mosh and connects with a gutwrench suplex. Fist drop by Hawk gets another two count. Mosh chokes Hawk with his shirt and now we get a "Hogan Sucks" chant. Animal tags in and kills Mosh with a Powerbomb, but Thrasher breaks up the pin. Irish whip, and Animal with a back elbow. Hawk tags back and now we get a classy "Bischoff Sucks/Dick" chant. Hawk with a rear naked choke on Mosh. Irish whip, and Hawk blocks a sunset flip with a punch to the face. Delayed suplex from Hawk, but Mosh comes back with rights and chops. Hawk is no selling like a champ though and cleans Mosh's clock. Animal tags back in to work over Mosh, and Hawk cheats. Irish whip, and Mosh is able to escape with a tag to Thrasher. The match takes a real nose dive to hell as the squashing of the Butt Bangers continues. Hawk finally gets to play face in peril as Mosh comes off the apron with a clothesline. Commercial Break and Hawk is in trouble. Hawk isn't down for long though, as he knocks both down with a clothesline. Animal gets the tag of hot and dropkicks Thrasher. Irish whip, and a powerslam to Mosh. Hawk sends Thrasher outside and Animal dumps Mosh. They brawl, and it results in a double Count-Out at 7:35. * Started off fine, but turned into a piece of crap for the last couple of minutes. After the match, Mosh is made the first victim of the Doomsday Device in the WWF since the Summer of 1992. I could never get tired of that move, unless Animal goes back with it, thus making it a lame electric chair drop instead.
- Super bullshit tribute video dedicated to Shawn Michaels. For those who don't know, on the previous episode of Monday Night Raw, Shawn Michaels decided to get out of doing multiple jobs (to Sid and Bret Hart respectively) by faking a crippling knee injury in a special interview which has become famous for Shawn claiming he "lost his smile." If there was ever something that would make me hate this guy, it's this bullshit act of being unprofessional. Insult guys like Hogan and Flair all you want about rarely jobbing big matches in their primes. At least they laid down almost every time when it came to losing the titles they held. Shawn Michaels holds a record for losing 6 titles without actually doing a Job. His 1st IC Title reign he was stripped, his 3rd he lost by forfeit, he had multiple tag title reigns without losing them, and of course, this World title reign.
- Tommy Dreamer (w/ Beulah) vs. D'Von Dudley:Final ECW Match of the broadcast, and the final match I taped from this particular episode of Monday Night Raw. The two exchange blows, and Dreamer kicks D'Von in the ass following an inverted atomic drop. Irish whip is reversed, but Dreamer comes out of the corner with a bulldog. Dreamer throws Dudley out of the ring and smashes a frying pan over his head. Dreamer grabs someones cane and whacks it across D'Vons back. Irish whip into the ring steps as McMahon seems to think this is getting carried away. Dreamer with a snap suplex on the outside, followed by a basement dropkick into a steel step into D'Von's face. Back into the ring and the garbage continues. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, meaning Dreamer gets sent into ring steps. D'Von gets a chair and bashes Dreamer over the head with it. D'Von with a side suplex onto the steel steps as Lawler "shoots" on Paul E. and his crappy promotion. Them two sound like they are really arguing. D'Von with a leg drop across a chair on Dreamers face. He heads up top and misses a diving headbutt. Dreamer with a piledriver onto a chair, but it missed. Dreamer gets another chair, but a trip up allows D'Von to bash the chair into Dreamer. Dudley Unknown goes after Beulah, and D'Von uses her as a shield. She low blows D'Von and Dreamer nails a DDT onto the chair for the victory at 4:30. 1/2* Crappy garbage match. Buh-Buh Ray Dudley runs in and we get the first 3-D (Dudley Death Drop) on WWF Television. The Sandman runs in to drink a beer, but gets double teamed. Buh-Buh charges the corner but chair shots himself, and Sandman cleans house with a chair on the Dudleys. The singapore cane never came into play. Paul E. and Lawler scuffle a bit, with McMahon trying to play peace maker, and out comes some ECW crapsters to hold Dangerously back.
Final Talley of ECW Wrestlers and Personalities used: Paul E. Dangerously, Perry Saturn, John Kronus, Little Guido, Stevie Richards, Blue Meanie, Nova, Raven, Taz, Bill Alfonso, Mikey Whipwreck, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Beulah, D'Von Dudley, Buh-Buh Ray Dudley, and The Sandman. Also D'Von had another Dudley with him, but I don't care which one.
- Highlights from last weeks Bret Hart vs. Psycho Sid World Title Match. The match was canceled twice throughout the night, both times because of Steve Austin. The first time Austin came in to brawl with Hart and then clipped the knee of Sid after Sid pulled Austin off Hart. The second time, Austin attacked Hart backstage before he could come to the ring for the match. The third time the match actually started, with Hart controlling by working the leg, but while having Sid in the Sharpshooter, Austin ran in again, smacking Hart over the head with a steel chair. Hart, being out of it, was easy pickings for the Powerbomb, and Sid wins his 2nd World Title, just the day after Bret Hart won his 4th. This might've been the first time the WWF Title changed hands on WWF Monday Night Raw. We get footage of Hart backstage hunting for Austin, but he was nowhere to be found. This means at Wrestlemania 13, Sid defends the World Title against The Undertaker, and Bret Hart faces Steve Austin in a (at the time) No Holds Barred Match.
- WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
Rocky Miavia © vs. Vader (w/ Paul Bearer):We're in Berlin for the rest of the matches. Oh man is this going to be an ugly match. Vader is good, but Miavia was a few levels of suck. We see highlights of Vader at the Final Four PPV and being busted the fuck open. Miavia won the IC Title from Hunter Hearst Helmsley at a very special epsiode of Raw on Thursday night. The less said about this title reign the better, especially considering what WCW did. The on-screen graphics spells out "Maivia." Highlights of Vader pinning Miavia earlier in the European Title Tournament. Vader pounds on Miavia to start, then takes it into the corner. Short-arm clothesline by Vader, then into a modified abdominal stretch. Honkytonk Man, Jim Ross, and Vince McMahon on commentary. Miavia surprises Vader with a roll up for a two count, but Vader is up fast with a clothesline. Irish whip to the corner and Vader follows in with an avalanche. Irish whip and Miavia tries a sunset flip, but Vader sits on him, squashing Rocky like a bug for a two count. Vader tries for a suplex, but Miavia counters with one of his own for a two count. Miavia with a series of clothesline followed by roundhouse rights. Miavia with a back suplex, and that gets another two count as we go to a Commercial Break. We come back with Vader pinning Miavia. Vader to the second turnbuckle and he comes down with a splash for a two count. Vader applies a modified STF while the crowd mildly cheers for Miavia. Front slam by Vader, and he goes up the ropes again, but Miavia turns it into a powerslam for a two count. Irish whip and Miavia with a belly-to-belly suplex for another two count. Irish whip is reversed, and Miavia with the twirly DDT! Miavia heads up top with a cross body press. Vader has his mask off, making him about 50% less threatening looking. Miavia sends Vader out of the ring with a dropkick, but goes out after him. Here comes Mankind to KO him with the urn, and that gives Miavia the DQ win at 8:13. *1/4 Not an entirely bad match, but you could see that Rocky was as green as hell here. After the match, Vader pummels the shit out of Miavia and drills him with a clothesline.
- We see the entrances of The Sultan and Flash Funk (minus the Funkettes and with pimp hat and jacket), but for some reason, I don't have the match taped. From the History of WWE, the match apparently started during the commercial break, which could be why I didn't bother keeping it. For those who need to know, The Sultan beat Funk using the Camel Clutch. In no doubt what was a 5-star classic. We then cut to highights of Bulldog cleaning Owens clock at IYH: Final Four, but still saving him from being covered by Phil LaFon.
- Ahmed Johnson comes out for a very special in-ring Interview. He mumbles incoherently, but eventually accepts Faarooq's offer to have a Street Match at Wrestlemania 13. How will Johnson even up the odds against the Nation of Domination? I'd say wait for the next tape, but there is no next tape, so I'll just say he recruited the Legion of Doom as his partners, and it was changed to a CHICAGO Street Fight.
- Highlights of Legion of Doom cleaning the clocks of the Head Bangers on Raw last week, then cut to a promo from the LOD at Shotgun Saturday Night, talking about being at Wrestlemania in their hometown of Chicago, IL. Shotgun Saturday was supposed to be WWF's version of extreme and adult wrestling, but eventually it just became the usual D-Show recap broadcast with 2-3 crappy squash matches and battles of the JTTS roster.
Highlights from earlier tonight shows Bret Hart beating the crap out of Hunter Hearst Helmsley and losing by DQ because of shoving the referee (and had a post match verbal confrontation with Chyna). Vader beating the crap out of Miavia and Mankind running in to clobber him with the urn. Flash Funk hitting a moonsault on the Sultan, but eventually losing to the Camel Clutch. Finally, the Ahmed Johnson promo again.
- WWF World Championship Match:
Psycho Sid © vs. Mankind (w/ Paul Bearer):This could be an interesting match, depending on how the booking laid the match out. We get a pre-record split screen promo from Mankind regarding the match comnig up. Mankind actually speaks in german for a little while, but he didn't know enough to save his ear back in 1994. Sid hammers on Mankind before the bell and drops him with a clothesline. Sid follows him outside with a boot to the face, followed by kicks to the midsection. Mankind comes back with roundhouse rights, but misses a charge into the ring post. Back into the ring, and Sid pounds on him and applies a chinlock... ALREADY?! Mankind tries escaping, so Sid applies an armbar. He's just a chinlock away from the Crippler Crossface. Sid stomps away at Mankind, sending him out of the ring. We get a split screen promo from steve Austin. Mankind drags Sid out of the ring and hammers away with rights. Back into the ring and Mankind claws at Sid and chokes him across the middle rope. Mankind with a guillotine leg drop followed by an elbow across the jaw. Mankind continues pounding on Sid, who is still on the apron. Sid comes back with clubbing blows across the back of Mankind, then kicks him across the side of the head. Sid gets crotched cross the middle rope as we go to a commercial. Outside the ring they are, and Sid connects with a back suplex on the floor. Mankind stuns Sid across the top rope to take control, then comes off the second turnbuckle with a leg drop for a two count. Mankind goes to a chinlock and I go to the kitchen. Sid fights free, but Mankind applies the Mandible Claw! Sid is able to survive the hold, but gets caught with a double-arm DDT for a two count. Mankind applies a Sleeper hold, but Sid breaks it by backing Mankind into the turnbuckle. Sid runs face first into a boot from Mankind, and the Sleeper hold is applied again. Sid breaks again, this time with a back drop slam. Sid with a series of roundhouse rights and mounted blows in the corner. Sid goes after Paul Bearer, then avoids a charge from Mankind. Sid with a chokeslam, and that wins it... oh wait, it doesn't. Only a two count. Irish whip, but Sid catches Mankind with hs head down, and a Powerbomb DOES finish him at 9:40. 3/4* Not too pretty of a match, but it did it's job. Mankind had been a huge threat to the Undertaker, and by Sid surviving this match and pinning him, it gives Sid a chance in the fans eyes against the Undertaker.
- Highlights from Shotgun Saturday Night 9 days ago, featuring the British Bulldog going one-on-one with Crush. Bulldog tried taking Crush into the ring with a suplex, but Savio Vega hooked the leg of Bulldog and held it down, allowing Crush to pin Bulldog. After the match, the Bulldog calls Clarence Mason into the ring (who also manages the Nation) and fires him as Owen and his manager to a big pop (probably canned heat).
- WWF European Championship Tournament Finals:
The British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart:And it all comes down to the final match of the tape and my long stretch of recording crappy matches and the occasional good one. First, here's a link to another topic devoted to this match...
http://s7.invisionfree.com/Da_Wrestling_Bo...wtopic=344&st=0We know the build up, as there's been tension between the Bulldog and Owen since November of '96 when Bulldog saved Bret from a beatdown, not to the liking of Owen. Miscommunications after another followed, and it all came to a head at Final Four when Bulldog attacked Owen. I forgot to mention that Bulldog and Owen are still the Tag Team Champions. Bulldog defeated Mankind and Vader to get here, and Owen went through Flash Funk (pfft) and his own brother, Bret. Lockup to start goes into the corner, an we get a clean break. Lockup, and Owen applies a wristlock. Bulldog rolls through with his reversal, and Owen returns the favor with his own style counter. Bulldog does his break dancing counter to take Owen down with the wristlock. Owen kips up and takes it to the corner. Irish whip, and Bulldog counters a monkey flip with a cart wheel. Owen rolls through an arm drag but Bulldog mule kicks him off and we get a stand off. Holy damn, that was a hot sequence. Greco-Roman Knucklelock is won by Bulldog, but Owen powers up and flips off the ropes with a counter and hip toss. Owen tries a hurricanrana, but it's blocked with a powerbomb and Bulldog slingshots him out of the ring to a big pop. Holy shit, when did Davey Boy EVER do this shit since his return in 1994? Crowd cheers for Bulldogs sportsmanship. Owen with a hammerlock, and Davey Boy counters. Owen escapes over the head of Bulldog and rolls him up for a two count. Bulldog with an arm drag takeover into an armbar. Bulldog drives a knee several times into the left arm of Owen and goes into the hammerlock. Owen tries the counter again, so Bulldog slams him down as we go to a commercial break.
Thank God for that commercial, because that last few minutes was too quick to call. We come back with Bulldog working the arm and slamming Owen down to the canvas. Irish whip to escape, but Bulldog catches Owen with a crucifix for a two count. Owen counters a delayed suplex, but misses his enziguri. Bulldog applies a modified surfboard/bow and arrow submission hold. Owen uses the referee for leverage to escape. Bulldog with a snapmare, and he applies an armbar. Irish whip, and a criss cross sequence leads to a monkey flip from Bulldog. He tries for a charge, but Owen back drops him out of the ring and celebates much like Bulldog did earlier. Owen holds the ropes open for Bulldog, and DOESN'T try a cheap shot. Bulldog applies a standing side headlock and takes Owen over into a cover for a two count. Irish whip, and another criss cross leads to Owen hurting his knee... oh wait, he faked it and stomps away at the left knee of Davey Boy. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter, but Bulldog is too strong and powers out from the attempt. Shoving from both men, and Bulldog applies a side headlock. Owen catches Bulldog off the ropes with a nasty looking spinning heel kick, then dances around to show he's not hurt. Owen with a back breaker followed by knees into the lower back. Irish whip to the corner, and Bulldog sells it like he's been shot. Scoop slam by Owen followed by a jumping leg drop for a two count, then into a reverse chinlock. Bulldog battles out with elbows to the midsection, but he runs into a knee from Owen. Honkytonk mocks Stu Hart on commentary while Owen stomps Bulldog out of the ring. Bulldog with a shoulder to the midsection from the apron, and he takes over Owen with a sunset flip for a two count. Owen drops Bulldog with a clothesline and connects with an elbow drop for another two count. Owen with a chinlock as we go to another commercial break.
Bulldog with elbows to the midsection, but he runs into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for a two count in Owens favor. He rolls over Bulldog and applies a camel clutch. Bulldog powers free of the hold and slams Owen back with an electric chair drop. Bulldog charges the corner, but gets booted in the face. Owen covers with a little leverage on the ropes, but Bulldog is able to kick out at two. Swinging neck breaker by Owen, and he goes to the second rope with an elbow drop for another two count. Owen goes back to the reverse chinlock. Owen hammers on Bulldog and sets him on the top rope, but Bulldog falls on top with a superplex attempt for a two count. Bulldog almost won the title the same way he lost his IC Title in 1992. Bulldog bounces off the ropes with a diving clothesline, then drops Owen several times with more of them. Bulldog with a (short) delayed-suplex for a two count. Irish whip to the corner,, and Owen does the chest bump and walks into a press slam. Bulldog drops Owen crotch first across the top rope. Bulldog with a suplex attempt, but Owen counters into a german suplex for a two count. Owen gets whipped to the corner and gets caught in a powerslam attempt, but Owen shifts his weight to land on top for a two count. Owen with a cross body press, but Bulldog rolls through another two count. Owen nails the enziguri on this attempt, then applies the Sharpshooter. Bulldog is able to make it to the ropes, but Owen thinks he won. Irish whip is reversed by Bulldog, and a back breaker attempt is reversed into a Owen tombstone attempt, but Bulldog counters that and nails the running powerslam, but Owen kicks out at two! Bulldog can't believe that one. Owen tries a surprise victory roll, but Bulldog counters at two and is able to keep Owens shoulders down for the three count to become the 1st European Champion at 22:46 (including commercials). Wow... just, wow. What an awesome match. Easily one of my favorite TV matches from this time frame. I honestly don't know what to give this match in terms of ratings. Just some awesome chain wrestling from both sides in the beginning of the match. Both men knowing each other well enough to keep countering the others big moves brought in some cool and fast paced spots. The ending seemed out of nowhere, but super energized with the crowd eating the match up with a spoon. I'm fighting between ****1/2 and *****, so I'll split the difference and go with ****3/4. Just an awesome match, and one of the few last great matches of Davey Boy's career. After the match, Owen and Bulldog shake hands to make up, but Owen doesn't seem to be 100% into losing to Bulldog. Tension between the two? You decide.
Final Thoughts: And with a classic match, the compilation tapes from 1993-97 comes to an end. I don't remember the exact reason for stopping these tapes, maybe because of lack of motivation of sifting through matches every week, or just tired of what WWF was selling me. Following Wrestlemania, the only show I saw within the next 6 months was SummerSlam, which was usually my birthday PPV, but this year was held on August fucking 3rd. The next time I would watch WWF television would be the October 6th, 1997 episode of Raw, featuring the TV debut of... well, I'm sure everyone knows, and if you don't, you can go through hellfire and brimstone. It took some time, but eventually I got into wrestling again on a more full-time basis, and after Royal Rumble '98, I was hooked again permanently. I still kick myself for not keeping some of the Raw's from 1998 I had, but them's the breaks.
Anyway, I'm rambling. As for this tape, it hosts a lacking PPV and a lot of of mediocre and disappointing TV matches. It also has the honour of being one of those "favorite bad tapes" to watch, because I'm a mark for the Manhattan Raws, and the Raw in Germany footage was at the time a big thing, because I don't remember the WWF ever filming overseas for their weekly broadcasts. If you've never seen Bulldog/Owen, I recommend hunting it down, but the rest is stuff you could live without seeing.