In Your House 13: Final Four Review

Sunday, February 16th, 1997
UTC Arena
Chattanooga, Tennessee

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I think I have seen this show two times. Once as a rented video and then once again when the WWE Network was launched. We get a short intro, but overall, I think it's a pretty good one. The Wildman's music hits and Jim Ross is here with Jerry Lawler. No Vince on this one. I guess he's still upset about Shawn stepping away. 

Marc Mero vs. Leif Cassidy

Leif does not get a televised entrance here in case you were wondering if he had any shot at winning this match. I do like that they are rewarding Leif here with some bigger showcases, especially since he delivered against Flash Funk in December. Leif takes out the legs of Mero with two low dropkicks. Leif uses some submission moves on the injured left leg. Mero comes back with an enzuigiri, but JR notes that it hits him in the shoulder and not the head. Leif goes after Sable, so she slaps him and then Mero hits a dive through the ropes. Mero gets him back in the ring and hits the Wild Thing for the victory. That was a little disappointing for me, as I typically like both of these guys more than most. It just never got that third act where they get into that extra gear to make it stand out. 

Match Rating: **

Honky Tonk Man is now out to the ring and then they flash us back to Shawn Michael's interview from Thursday Raw Thursday. They show almost all of it and then the announcement from Gorilla that the main event tonight is for the title. They then go to Kevin Kelly, who is with Sid to hype up his title match tomorrow. Why didn't they wait for Honky to come out? 

Flash Funk, Bart Gunn & Goldust vs. Faarooq, Crush & Savio Vega

Talk about one of the more random teams in WWF history, this is definitely near the top. The Nation comes down through the audience. The faces start off hot and we get the telegraphed top rope dive onto all three opponents early on. Funk hits a top rope hurricanrana on Savio and then Bart laucnhes Funk onto the Nation but they catch him and shift the momentum. Crush and Savio team up for a spike piledriver and a 2 count. Bart gets a mild tag and hits a powerslam for a 2 count. The match breaks down from there. Bart hits a top rope bulldog on Faarooq and looks to have the match won. Shenanigans happen and Bart gets pinned for the loss. This mostly existed. 

Match Rating: **

Dok Hendrix is sitting down with Steve Austin. He says that we can count on him being the WWF Champion tonight.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Rocky Maivia

We get the rematch here from the Thursday Raw Thursday that saw the title change hands. We get a more traditional wrestling style start here and for the most part, they let Rocky look like he is one step ahead. Helmsley sidesteps Rocky and throws him over the top rope. He follows it up with a baseball slide and Rocky hits the guardrail. Helmsley gets caught using the ropes as leverage during a submission hold but Rocky isn't able to capitalize on the opening and gets hit with a knee to the chin. Rocky does sneak in an inside cradle for a 2 count. Rocky tries for a dropkick but Helmsley is able to hold on to the ropes. Helmsley then misses with a knee drop and back and forth we go. Rocky hits Helmsley in the midsection when Helmsley goes upstairs and then hits an inverted atomic drop. It is pretty apparent that these two guys do work well together. Rocky hits a powerslam and then climbs upstairs. He hits the crossbody and Helmsley is able to kick out. Rocky goes for some punches in the corner and Helmsley is able to lift him up and Drop him face-first on the turnbuckle. Rocky hits his variation of the tornado DDT and they are starting to win the crowd over a little bit here. Helmsley hits him with a thumb to the eye and then the knee to the face. Out comes Goldust as Helmsley is hitting a reverse neckbreaker. The distraction works and Rocky hits a German suplex into a bridge for the victory. I didn't really care for that finish. They should have come up with a better distraction than him just coming out and acting goofy. I liked the match overall though. After the match, we get some words between Helmsley and Goldust and then we see Marlena being choked out by a large woman in the crowd. Yes, this is the debut of Chyna. Security has to escort her away with the announcers selling it as a crazed fan. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Vader is backstage with Kevin Kelly and he gives kind of a weird promo. Paul Bearer is here to try and save it by being his usual self. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog

It is weird to me that Clarence Mason manages both the Nation and Owen/Bulldog. We get a lot of talk about the dissention between Owen and Bulldog and about Owen's fake knee injury. The wrestling isn't bad, but they are using this match to tell their stories more than they are about caring about the match. Owen and Bulldog hit a nice double team with Bulldog suplexing LaFon and Owen hitting a splash while he is still up in the air. LaFon comes back and hits a double noggin knocker. LaFon then ducks the spinning heel kick and Owen accidentally hits Bulldog. Bulldog then hits a clothesline on Owen, which gets a good pop. LaFon goes for the cover but then Bulldog breaks up the pin. Furnas comes in and hits a suplex and again Bulldog makes the save. Owen hits a big enzuigiri to slow down the momentum. Furnas and LaFon are able to shove the champions into one another but then Bulldog is able to get LaFon up for a running powerslam. Owen runs in and hits him with the Slammy and that gets them disqualified. Bulldog is not happy to lose the match by disqualification here. Owen, Bulldog and Mason have a heated debate after the match and it leads to Bulldog breaking Owen's Slammy. Bulldog then goes after Mason. Things settle down and Owen raises Bulldog's arm and they walk to the back. This was a good story to help distract from the fact that the challengers are not over at all. 

Match Rating: ***

Undertaker is with Dok Hendrix and he talks about having his edge back. 

Final Four Match For The WWF Championship
Vader vs. Steve Austin vs. Undertaker vs. Bret Hart

It's so odd to hear Austin's music and there really not be much of a pop. Vader and Austin are the first two in and they flip each other off. JR then says that the feeling he has right now is bigger than the Super Bowls and World Series that he has attended and even WrestleMania. I understand his job is to hype up the shows but come on. They quickly break off into Vader vs. Taker and Bret vs. Austin, as you would expect. Vader throws Fink out of the way to grab a chair, but it backfires. Taker kicks the chair into his face and then hits a chokeslam. Vader is busted open already and right over his eye. Undertaker and Austin are now on the outside and Taker hits a back body drop on Austin to the floor. I love the chaos of this match. I love the chaos of this match. Vader goes for the moonsault on Taker and naturally he misses. Vader's cut has got to be top 10 of modern day WWF. I don't know how he can even see. In a big surprise, Austin is the first one thrown over the top rope by Bret Hart. I actually forgot that was the case and am still surprised almost 30 years later. Bret then hits a superplex on Vader in an impressive spot. Bret puts on the Sharpshooter and Undertaker breaks the hold, which is extremely stupid. Bret falls out of the ring and out comes Austin to attack him. Vader goes for a Vader Bomb, but Taker sits up and hits him with a low blow and that sends Vader to the floor and out of the match. Bret charges at Taker and Taker catches him for a chokeslam. The crowd is super into all of this and rightfully so. It's down to two guys they have a lot of history with left. Taker puts Bret up for the Tombstone and Austin tries to yank Bret over the top but they kind of just fall awkwardly. Bret rolls Taker up and gets a 2 count. Bret then clotheslines Taker over the top and he is your new WWF Champion. That was pedal to the metal action, but the finish was very weak. Great, great main event. 

Match Rating: ****1/4

Sid's music hits and he comes down to the ring. We get a quick confrontation ahead of their title match tomorrow night. 

This is kind of a good little show. Outside of the main event, there is nothing great, but it's all mostly enjoyable. The roster was very thin during this time, but this was a good example of making the most of it. 

Overall Rating: 69%

Thursday Raw Thursday 2-13-97 Review

Thursday, February 13th, 1997
Memorial Auditorium
Lowell, Massachusetts

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Call it a hunch, but I think this one is an important episode. I also am pretty confident that it takes place on a Thursday. We even get a unique intro with the voiceover guy saying Thursday Raw Thursday like 5 times and then Vince welcomes us to Thursday Raw Thursday. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Rocky Maivia vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Helmsley has kind of gained some momentum here for the first time in a long time with the new entrance music and slightly more aggressive style. Rocky has kind of been floundering a little bit. I do like the old school 1993 Raw vibe of this small arena. We're only 4 and a half minutes into this show and if you were drinking every time they said "Thursday Raw Thursday", you'd be dead. JR refers to Helmsley as "cerebral", which is kind of fun given his nickname down the road. JR had that one cooking for some time. They do keep bringing up the fact that Shawn Michaels is forfeiting his WWF Championship tonight, which truly is one of the biggest storylines of the late 90s that is still mocked to this day. Out comes Honky Tonk Man, as that is still a thing they are trying to make work. After Helmsley has been controlling most of the match, Rocky comes back with a back body drop. Rocky goes up top and hits a crossbody but Helmsley rolls through and gets a close call out of it. Helmsley hits a superplex and gets another 2 count. Helmsley sets Rocky up for the Pedigree, but he falls to his knees. He gets Rocky back up to his feet and Rocky uses an inside cradle to pull off the upset victory and become new champion. He gets the obligatory title change pop here and then is immediately interviewed by Dok Hendrix. He says he is going to give the best that he can give. This match actually was pretty good. They got time and I thought they mostly delivered here. 

Match Rating: **3/4

We get an In Your House: Final Four commercial. I'm looking forward to seeing that one again since it has been a long time. 

Out comes Sunny to a big pop. She's just here to announce the next match since no one cares about it. 

Headbangers vs. Aldo Montoya & Bob Holly

We're speaking my language with this match. This is very 1995 to me and I am here for it. The Headbangers were a fun team at the time. Holly hits a hurricanrana on Mosh and follows up with a dropkick. Meanwhile, Vince is talking about Shawn Michaels' belly button. This match really only exists so that they can talk about Shawn. We also get a Duckman promo during this match. Aldo gets a hot tag that isn't that hot. He goes up to the top rope and hits a crossbody for a 2 count. Headbangers quickly hit their powerbomb leg drop finisher for the win. That was a good finisher that I kind of forgot about, even if they kind of pull it off a little dangerously. This existed.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We come back from commercial and Vince introduces Gorilla Monsoon, who is already in the ring. He then brings out Shawn Michaels for the soon to be infamous moment. Shawn's trying to give this heartfelt interview and the crowd starts chanting "We want Sid!". He talks about his knee injury and that he's going to go back home and see what's left of him. This leads to the losing my smile moment and that he doesn't care if people are going to make fun of him. 29 years later, they still are. He says last year was the most wonderful year of his life as he's tearing up. He thanks Vince and the fans and says he's going home. He hugs Vince and Gorilla before heading out. 

When we come back from commercial, we get serious Vince thanking Shawn and hoping that he will return back to the ring after his surgery. Even Lawler is serious. 

Savio Vega vs. Undertaker

We come back from commercial and Taker is attacking Savio. Savio just recently joined that Nation at a house show and is still wearing his red cutoff tee. Taker hits a big boot and a leg drop for a 2 count. Savio does get some offense in, which makes sense because he is Taker's buddy. Taker runs into a spin kick in the corner. Shades of Kwang there. Taker makes a comeback and hits a weird looking leaping leg drop. Taker hits a chokeslam and that's all. The Nation comes in after the match is over and Taker starts brawling with all of them. Crush and Faarooq run in from the back and then out comes Ahmed Johnson to make the save. The crowd was really into all of this. I'm surprised the match got as much time as it did, but it was fine.

Match Rating: *1/2

Steve Austin vs. Sid

During Austin's entrance, we get a Gorilla Monsoon backstage interview with Dok Hendrix. He hypes up the Final Four match being for the WWF Championship. Gorilla says that Sid will get a title shot against the winner of the WWF Championship. We get a brawl and they keep up a pretty good pace to start. The crowd is very much into this match also. Lawler thinks we'll see this same exact match on Raw Monday. Bret Hart just randomly comes into the ring and attacks Austin, causing Sid to lose the match by disqualification. Sid confronts Bret when Austin gets thrown out of the ring and they start brawling. They go at it for awhile before they are finally split up. This was too short to be much.

Match Rating: *

We go backstage to Vader and he talks about beating both Taker and Austin and now Bret is next. 

Jerry Lawler is shown filling out a Western Union money transfer to his mom so that she can buy him a Valentine's gift. We then get a recap of the Shawn interview from earlier. 

Faarooq & Crush vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog

Crush hits a dangerous looking piledriver on Bulldog before dumping him out of the ring. We get a Bret promo with Bret saying pretty nice things about Shawn for some reason. They probably should have done this during the Aldo Montoya match instead. Owen gets a hot tag and hits the spinning heel kick. He then gets thrown over the top and injures his knee. Faarooq and Bulldog battle and then the bell rings for Owen being counted out. They are dominating Bulldog and Owen tries to get back in but his knee hurts too badly. The Nation stands tall and their music plays. This was whatever.

Match Rating: *1/4

We get a Final Four commercial. Did they announce any of the other matches for this show?

Vader vs. Bret Hart

There isn't a whole lot of time left here. Right after Bret's music stops, Taker's music hits and he comes out. He says that he's not getting any respect and that he will win on Sunday. Vader then clubs Bret and we are under way. He dumps Bret out of the ring and then Austin comes down and stomps on Bret as we go on a commercial break. When we come back, Austin and Vader are in the ring with Vader in control. Bret is able to get the Sharpshooter on for a moment and then Vader grabs the ropes. Vader goes up for a moonsault and misses. Austin is in the crowd during this also. Bret covers Vader and gets the victory? This was short but solid. 

Match Rating: *3/4

This was a very energetic show with a hot crowd and matches that people actually wanted to see. You got a title change and a lot of interaction between the top contenders. However, this is most famous for the Shawn Michaels promo and that is a pretty historic moment in its own right. Overall, this is a good show that was a good example of what this era was like when it was on.

Overall Rating: 72%

Royal Rumble 1997 Review

Sunday, January 19th, 1997
Alamodome
San Antonio, Texas

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The hype video only talks about Shawn Michaels, just in case you were wondering who was winning tonight. We get some pyro and an impressive shot of the big crowd tonight. We have some crappy audio, as is the usual here on WWF pay per view. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Goldust vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

It's definitely pretty interesting that just a year ago, the heel Goldust probably hit its peak at the Royal Rumble beating Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship and now they are trying to boost his face turn at the same event for the same title. After a lengthy hype video, Helmsley makes his entrance with Mr. Hughes for the first time. Hughes does such a great job as his bodyguard that Goldust runs right down the aisle and attacks him and he just stands there. Goldust hits a catapult that sends Helmsley over the top rope and then Goldust slams the steps on Helmsley and the referee allows it. Helmsley is able to snap Goldust's neck on the top rope and then Vince lets us know that George and Adam were thrown out of the building by security. Vince is very upset about it. The crowd is pretty mild for this one, which isn't a good sign. They did have 3 matches prior to this, all featuring wrestlers not on WWF television, so that probably didn't help much either. Helmsley throws Goldust into the ring post and Mr. Hughes continues to just stand there. Helmsley misses with a knee and hits the railing and Goldust kicks out the same knee. Once again, Goldust gets away with using the steps, this time on the knees. This match is starting to get into too long territory, a Triple H staple. Goldust drops Helmsley on his knee into the step and Vince defends it by saying it's the Royal Rumble. Goldust goes up top until Helmsley crotches him. He goes up for a superplex but Goldust shoves him off and then misses with an elbow drop. We get shenanigans with Mr. Hughes and it backfires, allowing Goldust to hit Helmsley in the face with the title belt. Hughes is able to pull Helmsley out of the ring to avoid the pin. Helmsley attacks Goldust from behind, hits the Pedigree and picks up the victory. They could have easily shaved 5 minutes off that one, but it did build to something that mattered. 

Match Rating: **3/4

We hear from Bret Hart and Mankind talking about the Rumble match later on. 

Faarooq vs. Ahmed Johnson

Ahmed runs into the ring and starts wailing away on Faarooq. Ahmed starts using Faarooq's belt and the referee allows it, leading to JR's "government mule" line. Ahmed throws Faarooq into the steps, although Faarooq doesn't do much of a job running into them. Faarooq uses one of his cronies to shift the momentum and then body slams Ahmed's kidney onto the top of the chair. Faarooq slows things down but the crowd is more invested in this match than the opener. Ahmed makes his comeback and the crowd is here for it. Faarooq sends in the Nation and the ref calls for the bell. Well, that's about as unsatisfying of an ending as you could get considering how long we had to wait for these two to go at it. Faarooq retreats to the back but one of the Nation guys gets a Pearl River Plunge through the French announce table. That spot would be used quite a bit in highlights. This was going along pretty good until the abrupt ending. It's disappointing that Ahmed didn't end up with a better run because the fans really did respond to him. 

Match Rating: **

We hear from Terry Funk talking about how he's from Texas and ready to rumble. Todd Pettengill is back with the Nation and is sporting a buzz cut and goatee. Faarooq yells at a couple of his Nation members and gives a quick, but effective promo. 

Vader vs. Undertaker

We are now 3 for 3 on matches starting before the bell with Undertaker attacking Vader. Taker is in control until he goes for Old School and Vader counters it and Taker takes a spill. They go to Todd who is with a young fan that saved her babysitting money to follow Shawn Michaels around. They really did that during this match? I can promise that there will be plenty of time for that during the AAA match. The announcers speculate about Jim Cornette's absence, wondering if he and Vader are no longer associated. Taker misses with an elbow drop and Vader continues to be a step ahead of Taker. Vader goes off the second rope and Taker catches him for a powerslam. Vader comes back and hits a powerbomb and naturally Taker kicks out at 2 and is back on his feet. Vader misses with a clothesline an Taker snaps back with his leaping variation. Taker goes for Old School again and this time it works. Paul Bearer is now out and Taker hits a chokeslam. Taker clotheslines Vader over the top rope and then attacks Bearer. Bearer is thrown in the ring and does his over the top schtick. Vader tries to attack from behind, but it doesn't work and gets clotheslined over the top again. Taker runs and leaps off the steel steps but Bearer moves Vader out of the way and Taker crashes into the guardrail. Bearer leaps off the apron and hits Taker with the urn behind the referee's back. Vader puts him in the corner and hits the Vader Bomb for the surprising victory. I didn't get to watch this one live, but was in a WWF chat room to get results and was really shocked when people said he won. The match itself was a little disappointing, but I loved seeing Vader finally get some love. 

Match Rating: **

After the match, Undertaker realizes what happened and he chokeslams the referee. 

They show Steve Austin walking through the back cutting a promo before telling the camera to cut. British Bulldog cuts a promo bringing his luggage into the arena and says he'll win because he's "bizarre". Legendary stuff.

Fuerza Guerrera, Heavy Metal & Jerry Estrada vs. Canek, Hector Garza & Perro Aguayo

I remember wanting to see this match really badly, thinking we were getting the WWF variation of Rey Mysterio and Psicosis. Boy, was I wrong. We do get a pretty decent start to the match and the crowd could not care less. I'm sorry, but I don't feel like calling this match and remembering which guy is which. Garza is the only one who looks like he maybe would have had a shot in WWF. It really is amazing that you have all these people in San Antonio and it seems like not one of them has ever heard of any of these guys. He hits a decent looking corkscrew dive off the top rope to the floor. Aguayo, who looks like he's 65, hits a stomp off the top rope and picks up the win to put this match out of its misery. To be fair, these guys had little to no chance of succeeding with this audience and that's a tough spot to be in. It also wasn't very good. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Fink announces the attendance as 60,477 and then they show a section with a bunch of empty seats. A lot of people realized it was a great time to use the restroom. 

Royal Rumble Match

We get some pyro and then the Nation of Domination's music hits. #1 is Crush. That can only mean one thing, #2 is Ahmed Johnson. They booked the Ahmed/Faarooq appropriately in order for this to make sense, but it definitely takes away from the excitement of this spot. Then again, anything with Crush lacks excitement no matter how you book it. With no countdown timer, out of nowhere, we see Fake Razor Ramon just walk out and Vince lets us know that they are having issues with the clock. Razor lasts about 10 seconds before getting dumped out by Ahmed. That was the only right choice there. Ahmed then decides to chase after Faarooq and eliminates himself. It's time for #4 and the terrible fake hillbilly music for Phineas Godwinn. The roster still needed some help here. With the clock still not working, Steve Austin's music hits and he seemingly gets no pop. It's just so odd to hear that music and it not be followed by a large ovation. This no clock nonsense is a real buzzkill and is something I forgot about. Phineas eliminates Crush and then Austin hits a Stunner on Phineas and dumps him out. Out comes Bart Gunn at #6. Bart messes up a Rocker Dropper and then gets clotheslined over the top and Austin starts doing some pushups, which gets a pop. We also get the famous "Austin looking at his wrist tape" stop. Out comes Jake Roberts with no vest at #7. He goes right to work on Austin and the snake is in the bag in the middle of the ring. Out comes British Bulldog at #8 and because of his entrance, we miss Roberts getting eliminated. They build on the mini feud we have been having between these two here. The clock is working and we get Pierroth to dead silence at #9. Apparently Dok Hendrix had him in his top 10 contenders. He and Bulldog work on Austin and now it's time for the Sultan to conclude the first 1/3rd of the entrants at #10. This match desperately needs a babyface and no, I did not mean Mil Mascaras, who comes out at #11. The crowd does react to him though, so that's a good sign. He is probably most famous now for his "No yob" from Bruce Prichard. Hunter Hearst Helmsley is #12 and he for some reason jogs to the ring and then goes after Bulldog. Bulldog then clotheslines Sultan over the top and he's gone. Now we finally get someone good in here with Owen Hart at lucky #13. Bulldog is trying to eliminate Austin and Owen tries to help, but instead Bulldog gets dumped and he is not happy about it. Goldust is #14 in another obvious choice. They show the replay of Owen eliminating Bulldog and it looks to be on purpose. #15 is Cibernetico and apparently is only 20 years old and Marc Mero is #16 with Sable. While Mero is coming out, Cibernetico is out. Mascaras goes up to the top rope and leaps to Cibernetico on the floor and is eliminated, hence the "No yob". Goldust messes up a clothesline spot with Helmsley and then re-does it to get him eliminated. Latin Lover is out at #17 and gets a little bit of a spot upon his entrance before we go back to the normal stuff. Owen is able to dump Goldust out and we now have Faarooq at #18. It also is kind of weird to see the wrestlers entering the ring from the right side for the Rumble. Austin and Faarooq start brawling and then Ahmed comes out with a super 2 x 4 and the crowd loves it. Faarooq eliminates himself to escape Ahmed. Austin then gets both Owen and Marc Mero out, leaving Austin by himself. Austin's old rival is out next at #19 and the announce team reminds us of the Caribbean Strap match from last year. Savio hits the big spinning heel kick but then Austin quickly turns things around and gets Savio out. Up next is #20 and it is Jesse James. Austin gets rid of him like the trash his character is. At #21 is Bret Hart and here we go! After some brawling, we get our comedy spot of the match because Jerry Lawler is #22. He goes in the ring and is immediately punched out of the ring by Bret. Oh good, it's Fake Diesel at #23. #24 is Terry Funk, who doesn't get much of a response. There is a group of people that walk through the crowd with a Terry sign though, so that's cool. Rocky Maivia is in at #25 and adds a little pep to the ring. Mankind is your 26th entrant tonight. Flash Funk is out at #27 and it already feels like this character is dead, which is a shame. At #28, it's time, it's Vader time. He had his biggest win of his WWF run about an hour ago and he goes right for Bret Hart. #29 is Henry Godwinn and we have to listen to the awful generic hillbilly music again. I do love me some Henry, so this is a good addition. He hits a huge clothesline on Vader, which is surprising that they let that happen, but I'm down for it. Your #30 entrant is of course, the Undertaker. Taker is able to use his strength to get Godwinn out of there. Mankind uses the Mandible Claw to remove Rocky out of the ring and that just makes me realize that Fake Diesel is still in there. Mankind suplexes Funk to the floor and barely hangs on himself. Taker then eliminates Mankind and he starts brawling with Funk. Bret launches Austin over the top rope, but since the referees were breaking up the Funk/Mankind brawl, Austin comes back in the ring. He gets rid of Vader and Undertaker at the same time. Somewhere in there Fake Diesel was eliminated too. Austin gets rid of Bret and the referees announce Austin as the winner. Bret is absolutely livid and starts yelling at the referee. As much as I love all of this, it is really easy to poke holes in the logic since everyone saw what happened. Bret starts yelling at Vince before cursing his way to the back. This is kind of a hard match to rate. The pacing was good and the Austin run was extremely memorable, but outside of that, there weren't many other notable moments. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

It's time for a Sid/Shawn Michaels hype video. We also see an interview from Superstars with Shawn before we see Shawn and Jose Lothario walking backstage. Sid also gets the backstage walk shot, which is a nice touch for this match. 

WWF Championship Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Sid

They go face to chin and Sid shoves him down a couple of times before going to work. Out of the ring they go and Sid throws Shawn into the ring and gets him up in the air, but Shawn uses a thumb to get out of it. Shawn goes up to the top and Sid catches him and hits a powerslam. They show Jose's son in the crowd. Sid puts on the Camel Clutch in the center of the ring. Sid continues to work on the back with Shawn doing his bumping. Shawn tries to make a comeback and Sid nails him with a big clothesline and that gets big boos from the hometown crowd. Sid hits a big leg drop and that gets a 2 count. Shawn makes a comeback and hits the flying forearm. He climbs the top rope and hits the elbow drop to a big pop. He starts to tune up the band and Sid blocks it. Shawn ducks a clothesline and Sid hits a back body drop that sends Shawn to the floor. Sid then hits a powerbomb on the outside of the ring. The referee is knocked down during some of the Lothario nonsense. Sid has Shawn down for the count and the referee is still down. In comes a second referee and he only counts to 2. Sid then shoves the new referee to the ground. You can see Shawn trying to warn Sid and he goes to Jose and Shawn grabs a camera. Shawn nails him a couple of times with the camera and the referee crawls over to make the count but Sid gets the shoulder up just in time. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music and we have a new champion. This was a much better match than I remembered. We all knew what was going to happen and the crowd was there for the ride. Very solid main event.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Shawn celebrates with the crowd and his biggest fan, Vince. A highlight reel of the show finishes us off and we are all done here in San Antonio. 

I have always liked this show and feel like it's one of those shows that just is fun to watch. It's far from perfect and there isn't that one match on here that you have to see, but it's a good time capsule for this era. 

Overall Rating: 71%

Monday Night Raw 1-6-97 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, January 6th, 1997
Knickerbocker Arena
Albany, New York

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We get a quick promo from Vader ahead of his match with Bret and then Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler hype up the crazy premier of Shotgun Saturday Night. I remember staying up until 2 am because that's when it would show in my area only for it to never air. 

Owen Hart vs. Mankind

Vince calls this a type of a tough man match, which is not really what I would consider it at all. Mankind is on the offensive early on and a clothesline sends Owen to the floor. The crowd actually cheers that in this battle of the two smark favorites. Owen fights back and drops Mankind gut first into the guardrail. These two are putting on a solid match here and Mankind hits Owen on the head with a bucket before we go to commercial break. We get a Full Metal commercial and it's still the best. Owen goes off the top but runs into the Mandible Claw. He escapes out but is thrown into the ring post. Mankind hits a piledriver and that's it? They were on their way to a great match before the abrupt finish. I love hearing Mankind's outro music though. Weird finish aside, this was a good opener. 

Match Rating: ***

We go to Jose Lothario and Shawn Michaels. Jose is doing better and says that Shawn is going to get his title back. Jose's son is there too and he says that Shawn needs assistance, he'll be there. Shawn's return to his cockier persona really doesn't work with Jose standing there at all. 

We see some more highlights from Shotgun Saturday Night. They definitely will not stop caring about that show. 

Fake Razor Ramon & Fake Diesel vs. Furnas & Lafon

Honky Tonk Man is out at the announce table. This could be combining 3 of the worst things from this era. The crowd is absolutely dead for this and appropriately so. I know I certainly don't feel like typing what is going on. Then they give this match a commercial break? What were they thinking? We get a Royal Rumble commercial and it's the best part of the match so far. This whole hype of Honky finding his protege is even funnier than it was back in 1996. Furnas finally makes a tag and Lafon hits some kicks to kind of wake up the crowd. Lafon leaps into a big boot of Diesel but then hits a suplex on Razor. Furnas runs into a Razor clothesline and goes for the Razor's Edge. Lafon hits Razor from behind and then Furnas hits a hurricanrana but the pin is broken up. They double clothesline Diesel over the top and hit a crappy variation of the Doomsday Device for the victory. The last 60 seconds were fine and the rest was garbage. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show Marlena flashing the Sultan on Shotgun Saturday Night. They then interview Bret Hart talking about Shawn Michaels. He hopes that Shawn sticks his nose in his business and then starts talking about Vader until Sid's music hits and Bret goes to the ring and we go to commercial. We see the George and Adam commercial of them being at the Royal Rumble early. 

JR introduces Sid into the ring. This is very much LOUD NOISES Sid but I like that they had his music playing during it. Shawn's music hits and out he comes. He goes to the announce table and dances while Sid laughs at him. 

Bret Hart vs. Vader

Wow, we even get Superstars highlights of Undertaker hitting a Tombstone on Jim Cornette. We get a pretty basic start to the match and we see Steve Austin watching in the back. Vader goes for the Vader Bomb before teasing the moonsault and then going back to the Vader Bomb. He takes too much time and Bret gets his knees up. Sid comes out and grabs a cameraman and brings him to the back. Austin is out and he gives Bret a Stunner. Vader rolls him in the ring and sets him up for the Vader Bomb. Vader hits it and that's all. The crowd was not as into this as you would have expected. The finish wasn't as well done as they were probably hoping for either. Vader needed the win to have some momentum going into his match with Undertaker and Bret had bigger things coming in the long run. The match was decent overall. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We go to the back and Sid hits a powerbomb on Pete Lothario onto a table in the locker room. They show Shawn in the back with Bart Gunn, Aldo Montoya and Savio Vega checking on Pete while Shawn yells. 

This was a pretty good show overall that seemed to just be lacking a spark from the crowd. The middle match really sucked the life out of them and they never recovered. I definitely would not be upset to see more of Owen and Mankind going forward though. 

Overall Rating: 58%

In Your House 12: It's Time Review

Sunday, December 15th, 1996
West Palm Beach Auditorium
West Palm Beach, Florida

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I think I have only seen this show one time, so I guess it's time for another viewing. We get a short, but decent intro video hyping up only Sid/Bret Hart. We get some cheap pyro and we are in another auditorium, so that means one thing, it's time for In Your House. From what I can tell, this was the least purchased pay per view up to this point for WWF. This opener is a perfect example of a reason why. 

Leif Cassidy vs. Flash Funk

While I just crapped on this match, it's not because I don't like these guys. I actually like both of them quite a bit. This had no story and neither guy had really done anything to deserve to be on a pay per view. With that being said, I like that they are putting on a match to help showcase these guys and it also tells me that they believe they can have a good match. I really don't get why the Flash Funk gimmick didn't get over because for the time, the presentation was pretty good. Funk kind of messes up his first high flying move and Cassidy hits gets the first big impact move with the face first powerbomb. He then hits a belly to belly over the top rope. Cassidy then hits a somersault dive over the top. Cassidy then hits a running clothesline from up the entrance before throwing him back into the ring. We get some of the youngsters chanting for Flash, but it is short lived. Cassidy goes for a powerbomb, but Funk counters out of it and does some Dusty Rhodes inspired offense. Cassidy comes back with a variation of a powerbomb that gets a nice reaction. Cassidy misses with a second rope leaping moonsault and Funk makes his comeback. Funk hits a cartwheel into a Pele kick. Funk then hits a big dive over the top rope. Funk hits a top rope moonsault and Cassidy kicks out of 2. The crowd is invested in the match now and you love to see that. They do the multiple pin attempt spots before Funk hits an enzuiguri. Funk goes up top again and hits the 450 splash for the victory. They did a good job of making both guys look good here and they earned the attention of the crowd by the end of it. The problem is that they did nothing with Funk after this and Cassidy actually became the winner, with him going to ECW to develop his next persona. 

Match Rating: ***

We get a Royal Rumble commercial for the Coliseum Video release. I'm guessing the feed here on Netflix is from the Coliseum Video then?

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Fake Razor Ramon & Fake Diesel vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog

Who in the world thought booking this match was a good idea? JR is all worked up that people are booing the fake boys. We go to Kevin Kelly with Bulldog and Owen. Kelly tries to poke the Bulldog with asking if Steve Austin is around. They show Austin celebrating his victory on Superstars this morning and Bulldog came out. Before he could get to the ring, the fake boys attacked him. Fake Diesel struggles to get Owen up for the press slam because he sucks at wrestling and meanwhile, Cibernetico and Pierroth come out and no one cares. Fake Razor does his imitation of Razor and Bulldog looks like he is second guessing his life decisions that led him to this moment. The AAA stars go to the back and Vince tries to sell that it meant something. It didn't. Steve Austin now comes out and the whole arena stands up. Bulldog attacks him from behind and they start brawling. What a random and strange storyline. It really is a credit to Bulldog and Owen here that the crowd cares about this match whatsoever. And let's be honest, it's mostly Owen. Fake Razor hits the fall away slam and gets a 2 count. Fake Diesel hits a big boot and that gets a 2 count. Bulldog gets a hot tag and hits a suplex but can't hold him up for more than a split second. We have all four men in the ring and it leads to Owen being thrown into Fake Diesel and him catching Owen. Bulldog dropkicks him and it sends both over the top. Bulldog goes for the running powerslam and Fake Razor counters out into the Razor's Edge. Owen hits the spinning heel kick on Razor and Bulldog pins him and JR is livid. After the match, Austin attacks Bulldog during the celebration. This was actually not that bad overall, with the champions carrying the match. 

Match Rating: **1/2

They show the Nation of Domination back in the AOL chat room, which leads us to Vince introducing Ahmed Johnson to the ring for an interview. Ahmed says that he's lost his girlfriend, his house, he's lost everything because of his injury. Are his pet's heads falling off too? It should be noted that he did not lose his fanny pack. Out come the Nation into the stands. Faarooq says a bunch of words followed "By any means necessary". Ahmed says that they don't need to wait to the Royal Rumble and then gets a small "You're going down" chant going before his music hits. 

We get a video package for Marc Mero and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. They surprisingly do focus most of the video on Curt Hennig despite him being gone and they actually call him Triple H here. I didn't think it was quite this early. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Marc Mero vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Helmsley has his much better entrance music here. Helmsley is showing off a more aggressive side here, using the steel steps while outside the ring and now working on the back of Mero. Helmsley goes a little too far and the referee gets in his face, allowing Mero to shift the momentum. Mero hits a hurricanrana from the top rope and then signals for the Wild Thing. Helmsley shoves the referee into the ropes and that's enough to crotch Mero. Mero is able to hit the catapult and Helmsley's head hits the ring post and Mero crawls over to get a 2 count. Mero goes back up top and hits a Mero-sault for another 2 count. Helmsley ducks a Mero clothesline and he accidentally hits the referee. Helmsley grabs the Intercontinental belt to use on Mero but Mero kicks him in the gut first. Mero gets him into a pin attempt but the ref is still down. He wakes up with assistance from Sable and Helmsley kicks out at 2. Mero sends Helmsley over the top rope and then sort of hits a somersault dive. Out comes Goldust. He looks to nail Helmsley and he ducks and Goldust hits Mero. Goldust then goes after Helmsley again and this time it works, so both men are down on the floor outside the ring. Mero is able to get up and crawl into the ring just in time for the 10 count and the ref rings the bell. Mero isn't happy to not win the title so he grabs Helmsley and puts him in the ring and hits the Wild Thing. This was a pretty good match that had a stupid finish. 

Match Rating: ***

While they are showing some highlights and Fink is announcing that Mero doesn't win the title, we miss Goldust attacking Helmsley. Officials help him walk to the back. 

Dok Hendrix is with Sid in the locker room. They show the confrontation with Sid, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels outside the arena this morning. 

Executioner vs. Undertaker

Executioner comes out before we get our video package. This is basically a Last Man Standing match. It doesn't take too long for Paul Bearer to get involved, but as usual Taker doesn't sell long for just about anyone, especially someone on the level of the Executioner. Mankind comes out to try and clip Taker's leg but kind of trips and misses and tries to make up for it. This thing all just feels very "house show". They battle up the aisle and Taker throws Mankind through the house and then back out through the door. They start battling outside the arena and back inside the ring they are putting a straitjacket on Mankind. Taker throws Executioner into the fountain outside and then comes back towards the ring and starts attacking Mankind. Executioner meets him in the ring and Taker quickly hits a Tombstone. For some reason he pins him and counts to 3. He doesn't win though because the ref has to count to 10. He does and that's it. I mean, they knew they had to dress this up and they did what they could. They didn't play into the 10 count at all as far as psychology goes and that was probably for the best. They kept it short and sweet and let Mankind cook. This was better than I had remembered, but it also wasn't necessarily good. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Dok is now with Bret Hart and he says that all he's thought about for the last 12 months is Shawn Michaels, but Shawn doesn't matter anymore. Just as he says that, Shawn's music hits and Bret is furious. Shawn joins the announce team for the match.

WWF Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Sid

Sid turns his back and Bret jumps him from behind and Shawn mocks him for it. Shawn is doing most of the talking here, basically cutting a promo throughout the match. They start brawling outside the ring and Sid rips up the mat. Bret is able to drive Sid back into the ring post multiple times. Shawn pays Bret some respect for adapting to Sid's style and Bret starts working on Sid's back. Bret works on it for quite a while before Sid is able to throw Bret off the top rope. Out comes Steve Austin and he clips Bret's knee from behind. Out come British Bulldog and Owen Hart to defend Bret. Sid continues his offense on Bret. Sid gets him up on his shoulder and Bret escapes, but Sid counters that. Sid lifts Bret up again and they do the same spot, this time with Bret landing into the exposed turnbuckle. Sid hits the chokeslam in the center of the ring, but Bret is able to kick out at 2. Sid tries to clothesline Bret over the top, but he ducks and Bret clotheslines Sid instead and both fall over to the floor. Shawn grabs a chair from Shawn and he once again mocks Bret for being a great role model. Sid hits Bret before he can use it and then has words with Shawn. He shoves Shawn. Shawn gets up on the apron and Sid throws Bret into him. Sid hits the powerbomb and pins Bret Hart in the middle of the ring. I actually forgot that he beat him by pin here. That was a really good ending to a pretty good main event. Bret has definitely had better big man matches, but this was still pretty solid overall. 

Match Rating: ***

After the match, Bret attacks Shawn and this is the main event scene that I was so invested in back while this was happening. You never knew what was going to happen between the top guys and it carried the show for months until they were finally able to build up their roster. Shawn is livid and they show the ending one more time. 

Call me crazy, but this was a pretty entertaining show overall. It flew by and nothing was really boring. I mean obviously this has little historical significance, but at the end of the day, I was entertained.

Overall Rating: 66%

Monday Night Raw 12-9-96

Original Airdate: Monday, December 9th, 1996
New Haven Coliseum
New Haven, Connecticut

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This is the go home show before In Your House and we're getting Mankind vs. Undertaker.

Sid vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

It's champion vs. champion here. Sid runs down the aisle and attacks Helmsley during his entrance. Sid completely dominates here and hits the powerbomb after just a couple of minutes. He doesn't go for the pin for some reason and Helmsley rolls out of the ring. Helmsley is crawling up the aisle and we have a countout. I'm not really sure how that made him look any better than eating a pin. This established Sid as a force and made Helmsley look like a con. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show highlights of the Boiler Room Brawl between Mankind and Undertaker. They then claim that we have never seen them go at it in No Holds Barred. Minus the fact that the Boiler Room Brawl was exactly that. 

Goldust vs. Bart Gunn

Vince loves JR's Cruella de Vil joke, showing the power of terrible humor. Goldust is pretty aggressive here to start. The action spills outside and Goldust shoves Bart into the steps. They continue to hype up how we have never seen Mankind and Undertaker No Holds Barred. We get a live interview with Billy Gunn watching the TV on an angle. It's about as cookie cutter of a "I'm a heel now" promo as you'll see. This match actually gets a commercial break for some reason. Bart hits a crossbody and gets a 2 count out of it. Bart hits a bulldog, which is an interesting choice since it's one of Goldust's signatures. They are trying to work a quicker pace, but they both look a little gassed. Bart misses off the top rope, hurting his knee. Goldust clips him and picks up the victory. They were definitely trying; I'll give them that. Out comes Billy after the match and grabs a mic. He says that this is what happens when he's not around. Billy gets in his face and Bart hits him with a left hand. Billy scoots out and we are reminded that they are going to have a match next week. 

Match Rating: *1/2

They show clips of the Buried Alive match, which was most definitely not No Holds Barred. 

We then get a Justin Bradshaw and Uncle Zebekiah promo about their handicap match with Jesse James. I can't imagine why they were losing to WCW. 

Speaking of ratings, we go to Todd Pettengill for the Karate Fighters tournament and get highlights of the tournament. 

Handicap Match
Justin Bradshaw & Uncle Zebekiah vs. Jesse James

Double J does his singing entrance and cuts it short so he can attack both opponents. The crowd is absolutely dead for this match and that's no surprise. Even for Double J's comeback, absolutely nothing. Bradshaw holds James for Zebekiah and of course James ducks and Bradshaw gets hit with the branding iron. He does it right in front of the referee and he does nothing, so James pins him and gets the win. After the match, Bradshaw attacks Zebekiah and Vince is baffled by it. The guy has done nothing so far in his run, so not really sure why he would keep him around. This stunk.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jim Ross is in the ring and introduces Bret Hart for an interview. Bret says that you take the technical wrestling and throw it out the window. All Bret has been thinking about is getting the title back. Bret says they call him Sycho Sid when he snaps, but when Bret snaps, they'll call him the WWF Champion. 

We see Mankind in Dubai saying he wants to go home and then into a Royal Rumble commercial with George and Adam. January 19th. 

We see the highlights from the Boiler Room Brawl, which was most definitely not No Holds Barred. 

Mankind vs. Undertaker

Mankind doesn't even get a televised entrance. The action starts off quick and Undertaker hits a leaping clothesline. Taker hits Old School, which I am still shocked to this day that they didn't come up with a name for that move for years. Taker has Mankind up for the Tombstone and out comes the Executioner. Taker sets him down and goes after Executioner. That leads to a Full Metal commercial, which is an album I listened to every morning while getting ready for school that year. We come back and they are brawling against the guardrail. Taker then stomps on Mankind's Mandible Claw hand on the steps. Taker then takes one of the steps and slams it on Mankind's hand. Mankind goes by the announce booth and sets up Taker's leg on a chair. Mankind leaps off the ring and hits an elbow right on Taker's leg. JR lets us know that he heard a pop. Mankind tries to use a padded chair but Taker kicks it into him. Mankind is then able to get the Mandible Claw on so I guess the early attack on his hand didn't end up working. Taker is in the hold for a long time and slowly starts to stand up. Taker escapes and we get a really weird looking move in the corner. They just kind of pretend it never happened and Taker hits the Tombstone for the win. This was a good main event, even if we have seen this 500 times by now. Right after the match, Executioner attacks Taker from behind and puts on the worst looking sleeper you will ever see. We go off the air with Taker about to pass out. 

Match Rating: ***

The Bret interview was short, but sweet and the main event was good enough for an hour long show to make this enjoyable. The rest was stuff that no one cared about, especially the Jesse James match. This really did nothing much in the way of getting you hyped for In Your House, so in that respect it was kind of a failure. 

Overall Rating: 55%

Monday Night Raw 11-25-96 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, November 25th, 1996
New Haven Coliseum
New Haven, Connecticut

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Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart

I would say that this is a pretty good way to start a show, even if we have seen it 100 times. While Owen is entering the ring, we see Shawn Michaels and Jose Lothario at home and we will hear from them later on. We get a little bit of a slow pace to start, so I'm guessing they are going to get some time here. Owen hits a nice belly to belly suplex to regain control. I kind of stayed away from typing too much waiting for something to happen and just as the match finally picks up a little bit, out comes Steve Austin to hit Bret with a chair. This leads to Owen arguing with Austin and then British Bulldog as well. Lots of arguing, but not much action. I feel like they could have had a better match in their sleep, but this was far from bad. It just was nothing memorable.

Match Rating: **

Executioner vs. Freddie Joe Floyd

It is pretty obvious in the first 30 seconds that the Executioner is not long for this roster. Floyd is a very solid hand and you know he was likely giving it all he had here to make him look good, but it's very much a Waylon Mercy scenario here. Floyd hits a nice kick and gets a 2 count. Executioner then no sells some punches and hits a couple of turnbuckle clotheslines. He uses the Asian spike or something for the victory. Not good.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Shawn and Jose are sitting in a couch at Jose's house that just screams early 90s. Jose apologizes to Shawn and Vince cuts him off to ask him his status. They let us know that Shawn will take on the champion at Royal Rumble. Vince then tells Shawn that his boyhood dream has been shattered and he wonders if he can pick up the pieces. Shawn says he lost his edge and it wasn't Jose's fault. Lawler then calls Jose a fossil and says that he cost Shawn the title. Shawn sticks up for him and says that Sid is the man he wants. Vince asks about the crowd cheering for Sid and Shawn said he's good with it because he wants them to enjoy themselves, but he won't beg to anyone to cheer for him. Shawn is all fired up here. Shawn says he's going to take more risks and do what he did to become the top guy. That was kind of a fun segment since it didn't seem overly polished.

Back to the arena and out comes Sunny to join the announce table. Now it's time for the Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament. It's Sable vs. Sunny, the biggest feud behind the scenes. Sunny pulls off the big victory, but the referee finds out that she used gum to hold her figure down and then punches the referee. That leads to dad jokes from Lawler and Todd. 

Salvatore Sincere vs. Rocky Maivia

My favorite themed jobber, Sal Sincere. Sunny says she has her eyes on Rocky. After hyping Rocky up for a minute or two, we go to Dok Hendrix during the match for an update on Bret and Austin to interrupt the match. Sincere does a nice job of trying to make this feel like more than just a squash. It's basically a Superstars main event. Rocky hits the shoulder breaker and that's the victory. Not a great finisher. I wonder if he'll ever change that? 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Marc Mero tells us that it's time to get wild. 

We come back to Dok Hendrix and he says that Bulldog and Owen seem to be ready to defend their titles at In Your House. 

Billy Gunn vs. Marc Mero

Mero is in the ring already and Hunter Hearst Helmsley is at the announce table. Helmsley distracts him and it allows Gunn to attack. Back in the ring, Billy runs into a boot from Mero. Mero goes up top and hits a moonsault for a 2. Billy hits the Rocker Dropper, but Mero kicks out at 2. Billy is controlling the majority of this match and definitely has a big future coming up for him pretty soon. Mero gets a small package for 2, but Billy levels him with a clothesline when they get back up. They actually are giving this a commercial break. When we come back, Mero hits a hurricanrana from the top rope for a 2 count. Helmsley gets up and says he is going to help Sable. Mero hits a Samoan drop and then goes after Helmsley. He hits him but then Billy hits him from behind. Helmsley is in the ring with Billy and they attack him, causing the DQ. Out comes Jake Roberts to try to make the save, but he doesn't even get in a move before being attacked. Mero basically is able to clear the ring for himself. The match was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *1/4

This was a pretty good episode overall, but nothing really happened. They tried to play up the whole Owen/Bulldog/Bret/Austin stuff, but they never showed anything and it didn't seem like that big of a deal. I did like the Shawn interview and helped bring back some edge to his character. The wrestling was nothing special, but inoffensive.

Overall Rating: 51%