In Your House 14: Revenge Of The Taker Review

Sunday, April 20th, 1997
Rochester Community War Memorial
Rochester, New York

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We get the usual intro and then some pyro to kick things off. Vince McMahon welcomes us to the show and the LOD music hits to kick it off. Like most of the In Your House shows, this is not one I have seen a lot. I think the two main events are on DVDs that I owned, but the undercard is definitely not something that I recall much of. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Legion Of Doom vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog

This is right after the recent reunion with Bret Hart and basically ended the storyline of Owen and Bulldog not getting along. Things are off to a pretty standard start which is the biggest difference between the old and new Legion of Doom. They are now at the point in their career where they are not the overwhelming favorites and wrestle more like a normal team. We get a nicely executed collision spot between Owen and Hawk and it leads to an enzuigiri. Hawk tries to make a comeback but he runs into an illegal kick from Bulldog. He's able to shove Bulldog into Owen and LOD hits a double clothesline. Hawk puts Bulldog onto Animal's shoulders while he is standing on the second rope and he hits a powerslam from there to pick up the victory and become new WWF Tag Team Champions. But wait just one minute, another referee is in the ring. They announce that they pinned the illegal man and the pin doesn't count. They have to restart the match and Owen and Bulldog want nothing to do with it. They then state that they will lose their titles if they don't return. The match restarts and they also show us how the tag never happened earlier on to Bulldog. Hawk runs through a double clothesline and hits one of his own. Hawk throws Bulldog into the steel steps and then goes back in the ring to do the Doomsday Device. They go for the pin and in comes Bret Hart to break it up and cause the disqualification. This was just kind of strange booking. They were probably better off not having this match given where we are with the Owen/Bulldog/Bret storyline. The match was a decent TV style match with a stupid finish. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Dok Hendrix interviews the champs and he informs them that Steve Austin is there and they don't believe them. Sunny and Brian Pillman are in the Superstar Line room. 

Kevin Kelly interviews Rocky Maivia and he talks like a loser saying how he's accomplished more than most will in 6 months and if he loses tonight it won't be without a fight.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Savio Vega vs. Rocky Maivia

Neither guy gets much of a reaction here. They tried giving Rocky safe opponents to help him make look good early on in his run. The only problem is that most of them were not over. Faarooq is out now in a sling and he joins the announce team. His microphone doesn't work so JR gives him his. We get a lot of Faarooq talking and not much excitement in the ring. We're 2 for 2 on feeling like an episode of Raw here so far. This is your typical match where Vince is trying really hard to make it feel exciting and it just makes it all worse. Rocky hits a Rock Bottom but Savio kicks out. He still needs to practice that one a little bit more. Savio moves out of the way and sidesteps Rocky and he falls onto Crush, who is facing the other way. Crush gets up and hits the Heart Punch on Rocky. They count Rocky out and Savio acts like he couldn't have broken the count. What terrible booking. The Nation has been together for what, two months? They aren't over in the least and we are already teasing breaking them up. Faarooq leaves to intervene here. They pull Rocky in the ring and they all start attacking him. Out comes Ahmed Johnson to make the save. This is the feud that never ends. The match stunk and couldn't even give us an ending that made sense. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Ahmed gets on the mic and says that he accepts his challenge. Faarooq is about to get on and try to help Ahmed out, but Ahmed realizes that he needs to remind us what the challenge was. He will be fighting all 3 members of the Nation. 

They show Ken Shamrock back in the AOL room before going to Marc Mero and Sable with Dok. I don't remember Sable talking this much so early. Mero says the knee is doing good and it will be a wild summer when he comes back. He talks about winning the New York state gold glove in this building and then there's a ruckus going on in the men's room by them. It's Owen and Bulldog and involves Austin. 

Jesse James vs. Rockabilly

Yes, it's finally time to learn who the protege of Honky Tonk Man is. He says that he used to be Billy Gunn but now he is Rockabilly. He gets absolutely no reaction. They're all confused because Billy knocked Honky out just 2 weeks ago on Raw. Honky said that he made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Let's make it 3 for 3 on Raw segments here on pay per view. This one is also floundering and the action isn't great. We see some of the charisma that would eventually carry James to success here in a couple of years. James falls out of the ring and Billy takes advantage. We then get a roll up and James sneaks out the victory. After the match Honky tries to hit James with his guitar from behind, but James is able to escape. What a debut for Rockabilly. Just awful, awful stuff. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Dok then tries to sell us an Undertaker door banner for $29.95. Kevin Kelly is with Austin now and Austin reminds him that he has to be dead to not fight Bret tonight. Gorilla Monsoon enters the locker room. Gorilla says that he is going to buy Austin some time and switch the match order up by putting Undertaker/Mankind next. We then go to Lance Wright, who I forgot existed, and he is with the Harts. Bulldog says that Austin tried to attack Owen, so he started it. Bret asks "Who's crying now?"

We get a video package of the very good, but also very long Mankind/Undertaker feud. Dok then interviews Paul Bearer and Mankind. Bearer says that Mankind will be WWF Champion and Mankind says that this will be the best night of his life. 

WWF Championship Match
Mankind vs. Undertaker

Mankind attacks Taker on his way into the ring and we are underway. Taker has a bandage over his right eye from the fire incident on Raw. Mankind hits a running clothesline over the top rope, sending both of them to the floor. Taker just starts launching Mankind into chairs and over the guardrail. We get back into the ring and Mankind gets in a shot with the urn. Mankind hits a neckbreaker and gets a 2 count. Foley is putting in a reall good effort here, the only problem is that no one buys him as winning. That's part of the problem of these extra pay per view shows. It took Taker over 5 years to regain the title, does anyone think that he's going to lose it 4 weeks later? Then we get the Attitude Era and all they did was pass the title around and showed you negatives that come along with that. Taker makes a comeback and a right hand drops Mankind to the floor through the bottom two ropes. Mankind takes a water pitcher and smashes it over Taker's head, causing it to explode. Then we get my favorite thing, unprotected chair shots to Undertaker's head. Mankind then hits an elbow drop from the ring to the floor. The bandaid is starting to rip off and we see the makeup job. The match is breaking down and not really making sense with Mankind putting the Mandible Claw on the referee and knocking him out. He brings in the steel steps to the ring but Taker sits up and hits a variation of a dropkick, knocking the steps into Mankind. Taker then wails Mankind with an unprotected chair shot to the head that was twice the velocity of the one Mankind gave Taker. Mankind's head is tied up in the ropes and Taker rips off his mask. Taker takes the steps and hits Mankind off the apron and through the table head-first. This is one of my favorite spots Foley ever did. Taker takes him back in the ring and hits a chokeslam, but Mankind kicks out at 2. Taker hits the Tombstone and that is all. This is one of my favorite Taker matches and about 95% of it is Foley just working like crazy. What it lacked in drama, it made up for it in pacing and physicality. Taker then goes after Paul Bearer. Mankind tries to do another fire spot and he can't get it to work. They are clearly in plan B mode and a slight panic. Taker then has the lighter and doesn't know what to do with it. Taker takes the lighter and lights the paper with it in his face. The announcers have no idea how to explain it and honestly they should have just abandoned it. This takes nothing away from the match, as it all happened after the bell. 

Match Rating: ****

In Your House is coming back May 11th.

Dok Hendrix is now with Bret Hart and crew. He says that he's going to end Austin's career tonight and then everyone else on the roster. 

Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin

They go right at it, as you would expect. We get an early ref bump and Bret taking out Austin's leg with a chair. This eventually leads to the Figure Four on the ring post spot and then some more chair shots to the leg. We get some footage of Paul Bearer being stretchered out of the arena. I really should also note that this arena is really dumpy looking. One would say that it is In Your House approved. Bret continues to dominate until Austin gets in a low blow. Austin then starts choking Bret with some of his wrist tape. Austin misses with an elbow off the second rope and a small contingent of the crowd actually cheers for that. Bret suplexes Austin into the ring and then puts on the Figure Four. Austin eventually is able to reverse it and Bret grabs the ropes. Austin lifts Bret over the guardrail and they brawl in the ringside seats for a little. Back in the ring, we get Bret's sternum-first spot and Austin hammers him with right hands. Austin goes for a piledriver, but he falls to the side and the announcers say his leg gave out. I'm honestly not sure if he meant to do that or not. It did make sense in the context of the story at least. Austin gets the Sharpshooter on in the middle of the ring and the crowd is on their feet. Out come Owen and Bulldog to interfere. He puts Bret back into the hold again and this time Bulldog has a chair and hits Austin in the back. This time that's enough to finally get a disqualification. What a lame finish. After the match, Bret tries to use a chair and Austin once again puts Bret into the Sharpshooter. They were having a good, intense match and it was ruined by a stupid finish. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

If you look just at the ratings, you see 2 duds, 1 in the middle and 2 good matches. Usually that's enough to make this a thumbs up and I guess for the most part it is for an In Your House. However, the two duds were both things that shouldn't have been on a show you have to pay for and the finishes of the first and last matches were horrendous. This is somewhere in the middle overall, despite the last two matches bringing it. 

Overall Rating: 60%

Monday Night Raw 3-31-97 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, March 31st, 1997
Peoria Civic Center
Peoria, lllinois

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We get a Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels video package showing Bret attacking Shawn and putting the Figure Four on the ring post before we go to the pyro intro. I really don't get why Netflix wouldn't put up the Raw from the night after WrestleMania. That always seems like it should be an obvious choice, even if it wasn't a good episode. They then show Owen Hart and British Bulldog brawling from last week and Owen challenging Bulldog for the European Championship. 

European Championship Match
Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog

Bulldog is slapping hands down to the ring and then Owen hits the baseball slide before he gets into the ring just in case you were wondering who the face and heel were for this breakup. Owen continues attacking him and we still have no ring bell. Owen throws Bulldog into the ring and hits a crossbody off the top rope for a 2 count after the bell rings. If you didn't know that Owen and Bulldog were brother in law's, you will after watching this match. They show that Bulldog and Owen will defend their titles against Legion Of Doom at In Your House. This one is off to another good start, as these two clearly bring out the best in one another. Owen nails Bulldog with a piledriver right into the commercial break. During the break, Owen hit a top rope elbow drop and we come back to Owen still in control. Bulldog blocks a top rope move by Owen and puts on the Sharpshooter. Owen quickly gets out and hits the enzuigiri. Owen dives to the outside and Bulldog catches him and drops him on the guardrail. Bulldog suplexes Owen on the steel ramp. Back in the ring, Bulldog hits a press slam and then accidentally hits the referee when running the ropes. Owen goes outside and grabs a chair but Bulldog knocks it out of his hands. Bulldog knocks him down and grabs the chair. In runs Bret Hart to grab Bulldog and then uses the chair on Bulldog's throat. He then tells Owen to let up and is getting in the middle to break up the fight. Bret grabs the mic and tells them that this is what all these people want. He talks about family values and then tells them that they need them. He blames the fans for what they made them do to each other. He says that Americans don't understand family and talks about how he was always there for Owen when they were kids. He tells them that he loves them and they all hug to boos. This was a pretty memorable moment, especially since Bret and Owen had feuded for about 2 years straight. The match was really good before all the drama.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Out comes Sunny to join the announce team. 

El Mosco vs. Super Nova

The crowd obviously has no investment in this one so a small amount start chanting "Sunny". Most of this revolves around live event dates and Sunny trying to speak Spanish. The match is fine so far. Super Nova tries a top rope into a hurricanrana but it doesn't look great. Sunny goes to the Spanish announce table and Nova hits a dive to the floor. Nova misses a moonsault and Mosco hits a powerbomb. He hits a springboard corkscrew and that's all for this one. They gave a good effort.

Match Rating: *

Legion of Doom are out for an interview with Jim Ross. Animal tells Bret, Owen and Bulldog to not threaten the integrity of the USA. He tells us that they will take those tag team belts back to Chicago after In Your House. Hawk talks about dog dumplings. 

Honky Tonk Man is out for the next match. 

Jesse James vs. Jerry Fox

Honky says that the search is almost over. James hits what JR calls a clothesline. It looks like Fox didn't know what to do. James hits an atomic drop and Fox leaps out of the ring. James hits a clothesline for real this time and then hits the pump handle slam for the victory. Babyface James is one of the worst characters of the 90s. Honky comes in the ring and offers James his guitar. James looks excited and calls Honky the greatest Intercontinental champ of all time. He says he doesn't know what to say right now, but he knows what to do. He tunes up the guitar and then smashes it. It gets a better pop than I was expecting. He tells him it is a little out of tune and walks awa. This was all bad. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Crush & Savio Vega vs. Adam O'Brien & Rod Bell

Don't miss La Femme Nikita after we are done with Raw tonight. This match doesn't matter so we go to Shawn Michaels on the phone. He says he has a lot to say to Bret Hart but he's not going to do it over the phone. Crush hits his backbreaker and Savio then holds him for his old Demolition finisher. This was a match. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Ken Shamrock putting on the ankle lock on Billy Gunn and his involvement in the Bret/Austin match. Next week, Shamrock will be in a No Holds Barred exhibition. 

Paul Bearer is headed to the ring and they show from last week when Paul Bearer was begging Undertaker to take him back. He tells us that he made a mistake. He says that he held Taker back but he needs to come back home. The lights start to flicker and the music hits. Taker says that he will never forget his betrayal, but he may be able to forgive. He hands the title to Bearer and then nails him with a right hand. He follows Bearer up towards the ramp and is about to hit him with the urn and out comes Mankind from under the ring and puts fire in the eyes of Taker. Out comes Sid and he goes after Mankind. Taker goes out through the crowd to go to commercial. 

We go backstage to Sid and he says that if Mankind wants to play with fire, he is dealing with someone who knows how to play with fire. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Goldust

Goldust runs down the ramp and goes right after Helmsley. Helmsley is able to eventually slow him down and hits a clothesline on the ramp. We get a pretty standard match from these two, so I start putting in my fantasy football waivers. Helmsley hits a leap off the top rope to the floor and Chyna is out on the ramp into the commercial break. Goldust hits the Curtain Call and in comes Chyna to kick Goldust in the ribs. The bell rings and Chyna hits a spin kick. They continue the attack and a bunch of officials come down to stop it. Helsley attacks Pat Patterson and Patterson fights back. Vince is doing his future heel voice and then he and Chyna are stomping away on Patterson. This was to continue the feud and put more shine on Chyna. 

Match Rating: **

Out comes Steve Austin for an interview with McMahon. Austin says that he never said "I quit". He calls out Bret for saying that he beat him to a bloody pulp. It was the ring post, not Bret. He doesn't care who you put him against, he'll get the job done. He calls out Bret, but Bret shows up on the Titan Tron. Bret says he's finished with Austin, but Austin says that you have to kill him to be finished with him. We get the famous line of Austin saying that when he looks at Bret's grave, it will say "Here lies Bret Hart, the biggest piece of crap that ever walked the face of the Earth". 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Rocky Maivia

They show Tony Atlas sitting in the crowd. The match gets off to a little bit of a slow start. Bret mostly dominates the entire match. We finally get a Rocky comeback and he hits a fisherman suplex for a 2 count. Rocky hits a belly to belly and another 2 count. Rocky sort of hits the tornado DDT. He would get much better at that in the future. Rocky climbs up to the top rope and hits the crossbody. Bret rolls through and almost squeaks out the victory. Earl Hebner was in a weird position for that. Bret trips up Rocky and he puts on the Figure Four on the ring post. Hebner tries to get him to break the hold but he doesn't listen and we get another DQ finish. Out comes Austin and he starts attacking Bret. Bulldog and Owen come out and we have a 3 on 1. Legion of Doom come out and they chase them away and that's how the show ends. The match was decent and picked up at the end. 

Match Rating: **

This was another good show, even if there was some stuff that was pretty pointless. The stuff that was supposed to be good delivered though and the Bret/Owen/Bulldog reunion was something that always stood out to me as one of the better moments of 1997. 

Overall Rating: 68%

Saturday Night's Main Event II Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, October 5th, 1985
Brendan Byrne Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey

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I figured that since I recently realized that Saturday Night's Main Event was still on Peacock, that now would be a good time to start back up on these again. I already did the first one, so it's time to do the second episode. I don't really like 1985 much, but let's see how this episode is. 

Nikolai Volkoff and Freddie Blassie are with Mean Gene and we get a quick promo and then it goes to a solo Hogan promo. Hogan is all about the red, white and blue. Now it's time for Mean Gene with Hillbilly Jim and Uncle Elmer to talk about the first televised wedding since 1979. Piper comes in and makes fun of Elmer and then we go into the intro music. This takes us to Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura running through tonight's card. I have seen this show once before, but I really don't remember any of it. They show Volkoff in the ring while he waits for Vince and Jesse to shut up. Jesse says that the wedding has no business being on the show. 

WWF Championship Match
Nikolai Volkoff vs. Hulk Hogan

Volkoff sings the Soviet anthem and no Hogan run in. Mean Gene does a live interview with Hogan and he can't stand seeing our enemy's flag in the ring. Vince says that should be truly one of the best matches. I bet it won't be. Volkoff attacks Hogan as he is putting the flag down and we get the obnoxiously bad bell ringing that plagues this era. The attack naturally doesn't last long and Hogan hits a big clothesline. It is always weird to see Hogan wear something other than yellow in WWF. Hogan knocks Volkoff and he lands on the table outside the ring. Volkoff is able to shove Hogan into the ring post to regain control. Volkoff struggles to do so, but he holds Hogan up above his head to hit a backbreaker. He brags about it and only gets the 2 count. Volkoff has to be one of the least athletic looking wrestlers of the pay per view era. It looks like it takes every ounce of athleticism he has just to do a stomp. It's time for the Hulk up and he avoids a Volkoff charge in the corner. Hogan hits the leg drop and that's all. This was your normal non-threatening Hogan match from this era. Hogan grabs the Soviet flag and spits into it and then shines his boot with it. He holds up the American flag over it and please just get this off my television. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We get another interview with Hogan and he calls Volkoff "baby doll". Why did people ever like Hogan again? Mean Gene reveals that he'll be playing the organ at the wedding tonight. They show a shot of the bride getting ready and then back to Uncle Elmer and friends. This was not very good. 

Jerry Valiant vs. Uncle Elmer

Valiant runs right into Elmer and he body slams him and pins him for the win. Yes, this is real. This show is off to a roaring start. They say that it breaks the record of King Kong Bundy and then show the match that they claim is only 9 seconds and it clearly is way longer than that. Doubling down on stupidity, sort of like his buddy in office.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get another interview with the hillbillies, and it looks like it was taped at the same time as the last interview. 

It's time for the Body Shop with Bobby Heenan. Maybe we'll actually get something good here. Heenan confirms that Paul Orndorff fired him and the only reason he did was because he heard Heenan was going to dump him. They talk about the bounty on Orndorff for $50,000. It just kind of ends and then they go to Orndorff with Mean Gene and he cuts a terrible promo about Roddy Piper. Orndorff heads to the ring and now it's time to talk to Piper. He says he has no problem ripping Heenan's throat out if he doesn't deliver on the bounty and rips on Orndorff for putting baby oil on himself. 

Paul Orndorff vs. Roddy Piper

Piper gets the bagpipe entrance here. After a commercial break, they start brawling for a hot start. It's odd that they are both wearing blue trunks. Orndorff hits a clothesline but Piper comes back with a boot. Orndorff hits an elbow off the top rope and hits a back suplex. Piper comes back and hits a knee to the face. They collide in the center and both men are down. Piper goes for a splash and Orndorff gets the knees up. Orndorff goes for a crossbody and the momentum throws them both outside the ring. They continue brawling outside and we get the obvious double countout as they continue to fight. They fight under the elevated announce table and then into the backstage area. Piper goes into a dressing room and locks the door. We all knew this would have a non-finish, so I can't really be surprised there. They did give it their all for this one, even though it was really short. 

Match Rating: **

Mean Gene is indeed playing the organ. This feels so bush league. Jesse just keeps ripping on Elmer, who is wearing overalls and a tie. Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan are among those in the ring for this epic ceremony. This is just absolutely terrible television. Someone threw something in the ring and it hits the bride in the head. Somehow there is about 8 minutes of wrestling left and over a half hour left in the show. Elmer keeps screwing up his lines. Out comes Roddy Piper and he says there is no room for romance and wrestling. He says that everything stinks and leaves after Hogan gives him a dirty look. The wedding is over and they show the reception area with hay, chicken and pigs walking around. 

We go to Mean Gene with Bobby Heenan, Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. They say Andre is the 3rd best big man and Studd brags about cutting his hair before commercial break. 

Big John Studd & King Kong Bundy vs. Andre The Giang & Tony Atlas

Andre starts choking Bundy with the strap from ring gear. Atlas gets in a lot of offense for a guy who I forgot still worked here during this time. He goes for some sort of leaping move, but Studd hangs on to the ropes and Atlas misses. Andre and Studd distract the ref and Bundy splashes Atlas. Andre gets tagged in and gets in some kidney shots and a headbutt. Andre hits a boot and Bundy comes in from behind to attack Andre. On the outside, Studd drives Atlas into the ring post. Bundy hits an avalanche and then both men repeatedly double team him as the bell rings. Out comes Hulk Hogan, just in case he wasn't in this episode enough. He takes care of the villains and the crowd likes it. This was as bad as you would think it was. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mean Gene is out to interview Hogan still in his wedding gear. For someone like me who has hated Hogan since I started watching wrestling over 35 years ago, this is way too much Hogan for me. 

We now go out in the field to Mean Gene. He's in a tiger striped truck. He's Jungle Gene tonight and he's looking for George Steele. They are at the Detroit Zoo. Big shoutout to one of my favorite places to hang out at. He's at the camel exhibit that is still pretty much in the same state in 2026. They show Steele getting shock treatment and then they go around the zoo. This is a really bad variation of a Coliseum Video spots they liked to do. They show a hippo, which I can confirm is no longer at the zoo. This was stupid. 

Lanny Poffo & Tony Garea vs. Dream Team

We get a promo from the Dream Team before the match and say mostly nothing. Lanny looks quite different here I have to say. They show Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo in the crowd watching the match. This was not a great tag team title scene here in 1985. Poffo is able to withstand Valentine's early offense and hits a moonsault on Brutus. Garea gets a hot tag but it isn't long before Valentine is putting on the Figure Four. Garea submits and that was a match that happened. Beefcake dumps Lanny to the floor and continue to attack Garea. 

Match Rating: *1/4

It's time for Elmer's reception. Vince is sitting with Hogan, Orndorff and Ventura. Vince is interviewing the wrestlers and Jesse just keeps mumbling over them talking. Mean Gene is with Captain Lou and Cousin Junior. He then goes over to Leaping Lanny and he does one of his lame poems. How was this ever a babyface gimmick? Everyone claps when it's over. The best man is Hillbilly Jim and he proposes a toast. I couldn't imagine trying to stay up for this at 1:00 am. Tiny Tim is now out and rambles on like anyone cares about what he has to say. He gives them a ukelele. Jesse comes up now and reads a poem. It ends with him talking about how love and wrestling don't mix. That brings up Orndorff and Hogan with some terrible acting and then Hillbilly Jim trips him into the cake. 

We come back after commercial that King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd will take on Andre The Giant and Hogan for the next Saturday Night's Main Event. Then we get another commercial. 

Vince signs off with Elmer and Joyce dancing in the background.

Look, I get it. I wasn't really around for 1985 TV, but I grew up close enough to all of this to know this wasn't good. I get that they were breaking some new ground, but I just don't care about most of the performers from this era. There have been worse shows, but I was checking how much time was left on this show far too often. 

Overall Rating: 36%

WrestleMania 13 Review

Sunday, March 23rd, 1997
Rosemont Horizon
Rosemon, Illinois

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

We get the standard serious hype video that we are accustomed to seeing before most of the pay per views from this era. The focus is naturally on the 3 big matches, as most of the rest of the card is pretty much filler. We go to the arena with some pretty low budget pyro compared to the new Raw Is War intro. Even with this being in possibly WWF's best city in terms of vibes in Chicago, the crowd is pretty tame. 

WWF Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Four-Way Elimination Match 
Godwinns vs. Furnas & Lafon vs. Headbangers vs. New Blackjacks

The New Blackjacks actually get a quick promo during the entrances. I guess they just wanted to remind us how dumb of an idea it is to do a "new" anything. We then get a sloppy looking suplex from Bradshaw to Furnas to the floor. The winner of this match will take on the tag team champs tomorrow. Bradshaw decides to shove the referee to the ground and gets himself eliminated. They got a promo and then got eliminated within minutes? Then they also count out Furnas and Lafon? What a weird match. Also, why is this the opening match of WrestleMania. I know philosophies have shifted through the years, but I don't think I would have gone with this match. Mosh hits a dive off the turnbuckle onto Henry on the apron. Mosh then throws Thrasher from the top rope onto Henry on the floor. King then asks Vince if he owns any White Zombie CDs. Mosh misses with a moonsault and that allows for the hot tag to Phineas. The Godwinn's face run seems to be basically over here, as the crowd doesn't respond to them like they used to. Phineas goes for the Slop Drop but Thrasher breaks it up and all four men are in the ring. Mosh hits the Stage Dive for the victory and I remember being surprised with the outcome at the time. This was not very good and I'm not really even sure why they bothered with having the four teams in the match. Good for the Headbangers though. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get an In Your House promo and then go to the Honky Tonk Man in the ring before joining the announce team.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Sultan vs. Rocky Maivia

The Sultan came in and just felt like a midcard act with no heat and then they put him in this spot and you wonder why Rocky Maivia couldn't get over. Obviously, the relationship between Fatu and Rocky was the reason for it, but no one was buying Sultan as a serious threat. I mean the first match didn't exactly light the crowd on fire and this one is boring them to tears. I actually have enjoyed Rocky more than I remember from the little I have been able to see in the rewatch so far, but this one just isn't working. After a long rest spot, we get a double clothesline spot. Rocky makes his comeback and hits a dropkick and a belly to belly suplex for a 2 count. Rocky hits a tornado DDT and that wakes up the crowd. Rocky hits a top rope crossbody but the referee is distracted by Iron Sheik. Sultan tries to attack from behind but Rocky is ready for it. Sultan recovers and hits a kick to the face. Sultan hits a piledriver and that gets a 2 count. Rocky then rolls up Sultan out of nowhere and picks up the win. It's safe to say that there would be better days ahead for Rocky. JR tries to interview Rocky after the match and Sultan immediately attacks him and we get Honky Tonk Man yelling into the mic. We've got Vince calling Sultan a sore loser as he hits a top rope splash. Sheik then puts on the Camel Clutch while Sultan slaps him in the face. Out comes Rocky Johnson and he takes down Sultan. Sultan hits Rocky Johnson with the flag and then rips his shirt off. Rocky Maivia comes back and knocks out Sultan and then hits a scoop slam on Sheik. Rocky Johnson then does one before hitting him with a double right hand. I'm sure this was an awesome moment for the family, but this was all really poorly done. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go to Todd Pettengill and he's backstage with Ken Shamrock. He talks about showing Billy Gunn who he is on Raw. He's here tonight to be a referee because he knows submission. 

We then go to Dok Hendrix and he's with Chyna and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He says that Marlena will be the big loser here tonight. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Goldust

This is our first actual feud of the night. By 1997 standards, this is easily a WrestleMania worthy match. I'm surprised they didn't give Goldust a promo spot here. Goldust goes for the psychological warfare before exploding with some quick offense. The Chyna build has been intriguing so far, as she was unlike anything that had ever been presented in WWF. Goldust gets Hunter tied up in the top two ropes and hits him with some right hands. He gives him a kick to the face as he's being helped out of the ropes for good measure. Goldust comes back with that big signature scoop slam and then heads up to the top rope. Hunter meets him there and goes for a superplex but it's blocked. Hunter is able to throw Goldust to the outside and Goldust's face hit the ring. Hunter hits a neckbreaker and gets a 2 count. We get lots of jokes about Chyna's appearance. Goldust makes a comeback, but it's short lived as he ducks too early and Hunter turns it into a DDT. Goldust is able to sneak in a couple pin attempts until Hunter levels him with a clothesline. Goldust attempts another comeback and it leads to them colliding in the middle of the ring. The crowd is not disinterested, but it feels like they are waiting for the Chyna spot. Hunter goes off the top and Goldust turns around and hits him with his butt. I don't remember that spot. Hunter charges at Goldust but misses in the corner. Goldust hits a back body drop and a bulldog. Chyna starts to move towards Marlena. Goldust goes for the Curtain Call but Hunter escapes. He goes for the pedigree, but Goldust counters that into a catapult. He sets him up for a Curtain Call again but sees Chyna by Marlena. Goldust lets go and picks up Marlena on the apron. Hunter knocks Goldust into Marlena and right into the arms of Chyna. Hunter hits the Pedigree and that's all she wrote. This was pretty standard stuff overall. They executed well and it never was boring, but it never really got exciting. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Goldust carries Marlena to the back and then we get the infamous shot of Shawn Michaels typing in the AOL chat room area. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Vader & Mankind vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog

JR goes out to interview Bulldog and Owen on their way to the ring. They yell at him for trying to stir the pot, but when JR asks who the leader of the team is, Owen says that it's him. This is such a thrown together match for four guys who really were heavily involved in a lot of storylines. Vader pounds away on Owen in the corner to start off the match. Vince says that this is the best condition that Vader has been in since being in the WWF. I'm guessing that was genuine in a negative way. I love the narrative that they didn't get the Vader from WCW. Well, I mean he is 41 years old here. Most big men aren't as good in their 40s as they were in their 30s. To go along with that, while I do agree he isn't as good as he was in like 1993, he still is a very high level performer, not some scrub. Meanwhile, Bulldog hits a double clothesline on his opponents and that gets a cheer from the crowd. Owen follows up with a double dropkick. The crowd has really not had a ton to cheer for tonight, so why not give them a heel vs. heel tag team match? Bulldog hits a vertical suplex on Vader and then goes to work on Mankind. Vader hits a big splash off the turnbuckle and the announce team is shocked that it didn't put Bulldog down for the count. I also just noticed that Peacock still has all the old Saturday Night's Main Events, so I may start sprinkling those in to break up the timeline a little bit. Vader climbs up the turnbuckles and Bulldog is able to slam him. He gets the tag to Owen and he hits the missile dropkick. He goes for a sunset flip and Vader goes for a splash, but Owen moves. Owen hits a top rope crossbody and that gets a 2 count. Vader then clobbers Owen off the ropes to slow down the comeback. The match starts to break down a little bit and it leads to Mankind hitting Demolition Decapitation off the ring apron. They show that Stu and Helen Hart are at ringside, which leads to some King jokes. They start talking about WrestleMania 2 being in this arena and Vince acknowledges that the first ever pay per view, The Wrestling Classic, was in this arena. Vince then says SummerSlam, even though it was at United Center. They kind of turn it into Chicago, which is accurate. Owen finally gets a tag into Bulldog and he cleans house. Mankind is able to slip on the Mandible Claw in a counter and now all 4 men are in the ring. Vader knocks Mankind and Bulldog out to the floor. Mankind has the Claw back on Bulldog outside the ring. They announce that this is a double countout, which is just such a terrible finish at WrestleMania. They had no story here and didn't want either team to lose, so why even book this? The guys put in a decent effort, but they had nothing to work with from a storyline point of view. 

Match Rating: **1/4

It's time for a Todd-narrated hype video for the Bret Hart/Steve Austin match. 

Submission Match
Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart

Shamrock is in the ring already after the video package. They go right at it as you would expect and we are underway. It doesn't take long for this one to leave the ring and they are into the crowd. The crowd is eating it all up, which is no surprise. This is the best feud WWF has had in years. Bret goes after the knee and then slaps on the Figure Four on the ring post to a huge pop. Bret wraps the chair on Austin's ankle and then climbs the turnbuckles. Austin gets out and slams the chair into Bret for another big pop. They have the crowd in the palm of their hands here. Any wrestler should dream of being able to have a match where the crowd is this invested and having an opponent who is your perfect match. Austin is busted open and Bret is wailing away on the injured knee of Austin. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but Austin is able to rake the eyes out of desperation. Austin stomps a mudhole in Bret in the corner and sets up Bret on the top rope. Austin hits a superplex and both men are spent. Austin has a cable and starts choking Bret but Bret hits him with a ring bell. Bret gets the Sharpshooter on in the middle of the ring and Austin is fighting it as much as he can. Shamrock is continuously checking in on him but Austin is fading. He starts to fight it back and looks to have kicked out of it but Bret is able to hold on. Austin continues to fight and then appears to pass out. Shamrock gets no response and decides to ring the bell. JR makes sure we know that he never gave up here. There is nothing that I can say that hasn't been said before about this. Absolutely one of the greatest matches in the history of professional wrestling. I don't know how a wrestling fan could really give this less than a perfect score. After the bell, Bret attacks Austin until Shamrock throws him across the ring. Shamrock challenges him but Bret wisely walks away to loud boos from the crowd. Austin is up in the ring and gives another referee a Stunner and walks to the back on his own.

Match Rating: *****

JR hypes up that the fans were chanting "Austin" to hammer home the face turn here. We go back to Todd with the Nation backstage. Faarooq gives a quick promo ahead of their entrance.

Chicago Street Fight
Faarooq, Savio Vega & Crush vs. Ahmed Johnson & Legion Of Doom

They announce that WrestleMania XIV will be in Boston next year. Ahmed is out wearing the black and red shoulder pads and I can verify that he has never looked cooler. LOD is wearing the black and silver, which I think is the first time they have in WWF? They bring down the kitchen sink also. Classic wrestling humor. The faces get rid of the goons first and then it's quickly to the outside for some brawling. Ahmed does a somersault over the guardrail onto Crush. I'm telling you, there is a timeline where Ahmed stays healthy and has a great run with WWF. Animal tries to hit a piledriver on Faarooq on a table that looks like it can barely support them and he sort of half does it and then just falls over. Animal hits Faarooq with some smoke from the fire extinguisher after and Savio is nailing guys with a trash can. The direction by Kevin Dunn hasn't been very good here. We have missed quite a bit of action with some odd timing choices. The smoke from the extinguisher looks like someone threw a dustpan instead. They have a noose around Ahmed's neck now. Hawk is able to break it up but he ends up with the noose around his neck. Faarooq goes up to the top but Hawk takes the rope with the noose and pulls him to the floor. We get some more fire extinguisher action and Ahmed is setting Faarooq up for the Pearl River Plunge. The rest of the Nation comes in to break it up. Animal gets Crush up on his shoulders and Hawk hits the Doomsday Device. Ahmed and Hawk then use the 2 x 4 to clothesline him and that's the finish. The brawl continues and the faces hit some more finishers on the sidekicks. The match was sloppy, but entertaining enough. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Shawn Michaels is out to join the announce team. We then go to Sid and Todd. He says that only one person is not scared of the darkness and it's him. 

No Holds Barred Match For The WWF Championship Match
Undertaker vs. Sid

The two big men are face to face and then here comes Bret and he grabs a mic. Bret calls Shawn a faker and tells him to go find his smile and stay out of this match. Bret then says that Undertaker shut the door on their friendship when he slammed the cage door on him. He then tells Sid that the title belongs to him and that Sid is a fraud. Sid clubs him and gives him a powerbomb. Sid is talking trash and then Taker attacks him and we are now officially started. Oh good, Sid puts on a bear hug in the first couple minutes. The announcers let us know that Sid and Undertaker requested that this be a no holds barred match as Sid slams Taker onto the French announce table. Taker kicks out of a pin attempt and now it's time for a Camel Clutch. Sid comes off the second rope and hits a double ax handle. Taker comes back and hits a leaping clothesline, but Sid is back up and hits him with a kick to the chest. Back outside the ring they go and Taker clotheslines Sid over the guardrail. That corner of the ringside area is getting their money's worth with these past few matches. We get another rest hold from Sid, so they hype up In Your House. Taker hits another clothesline and gets a 2 count. We get a double boot spot and both men are down. Sid is up and hits another second rope ax handle. He goes for a third one and this time it backfires. Sid still continues to work on Taker and then climbs to the top rope. Taker sits up and crotches him. Taker then powerslams him off the top rope and now Taker climbs to the top. He hits another clothesline and it's still not enough. Taker goes for the Tombstone but Sid counters it and hits Taker with a Tombstone. He goes for the Taker-style cover and Taker kicks out at 2. Out comes Bret Hart again and he nails Sid in the back with a chair. Back in the ring, Taker hits a chokeslam and Sid gets the shoulder up at 2. We get an awkward looking spot where Taker maybe went for another clothesline and Sid ducked out of the way. Taker just looked like he thought he was going to get a knee to the midsection. Bret is out again and that distraction allows for Taker to hit the Tombstone to become the WWF Champion for the first time in over 5 years. That Bret ending really felt a little unnecessary, but his character was also more interesting than both of these guys. This match was a little bit better than I remembered it being, but there is no doubt that they could have shaved 5 minutes off of this and it would have benefitted greatly from that. Taker celebrates and that's all she wrote. 

Match Rating: *1/4

This really is one of the more bizarre WrestleMania shows. There really is only 1 match worth watching and it is arguably the greatest match in the history of the company. Outside of a decent street fight and a big moment for Undertaker fans, this is about as forgettable show as you could have. That would be fine if it was SummerSlam or Royal Rumble, but WrestleMania was never really meant to be that way and it's kind of a shame. They just didn't have the roster depth yet to do much more than what they did here and they were just finding a groove with the main event. I just can't help but think that they could have found a better way to use Owen, Bulldog, Mankind and Vader to make this show a winner. 

Overall Rating: 55%

Monday Night Raw 3-17-97 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, March 17th, 1997
Onondaga War Memorial
Syracuse, New York

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We are now in the Raw is War era with the Titan Tron and the big pyro to kick off the show. Looking back on it, it still feels like a big momentum shift even after all these years. I wish we would have access to the first episode, but for some reason they chose to leave that one out. 

Legion Of Doom vs. Crush & Savio Vega

Apparently, Faarooq is barred from ringside. LOD starts the brawl outside the ring and we are underway. They interview Ahmed Johnson during the match to hype up the Chicago Street Fight at WrestleMania. We go to Faarooq now and he talks about the solidarity between he and the Nation of Domination. They show highlights of Ahmed at the Madison Square Garden house show last night. He was about to beat Savio Vega and then the Nation attacked him. Meanwhile, Hawk hits a dropkick on Crush as we go to a commercial break. We see a Slam of the Week and it is Undertaker chokeslamming Sid and then leaping over the top rope on top of Mankind and Vader. I wouldn't have to recap that if I could have seen it. They go back to Faarooq, but he's not there. They then go to Ahmed and he gets attacked from behind by Faarooq with a nightstick. Back in the ring, Animal has Savio up for the Doomsday Device but Faarooq attacks him from behind with the nightstick and we have our first non-finish of the night. The rest of the Nation joins in and out comes Ahmed with the 2x4 to even the score. He hits a Pear River Plunge on one of the PG-13 members and then D'Lo Brown gets hit with the Doomsday Device. This was all it really needed to be, which was to build a little more interest in this match before the big show. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Flash Funk

This is actually a match I would want to see go longer than you expect, since that's Hunter's favorite thing to do. Unfortunately, this will probably be quick. Funk clothesline Hunter over the top but misses with the baseball slide and eats a clothesline. La Femme Nikita is up next. Funk hits a top rope leg drop but Chyna grabs his ankle during the pin. Hunter hits a German suplex into a bridge and gets a 2. Hunter goes off the top and eats a superkick from Funk for a 2. Shenanigans ensue and Helmsley hits a Pedigree for the victory. This was a spirited squash. After the match, Chyna holds Flash so Helmsley can continue his attack. 

Match Rating: **

They show Shawn Michaels arriving in the building. 

Mini Vader & Mini Mankind vs. Mini Goldust & Mascarita Sagrada Jr. 

The mini's get the Vader entrance music. They show New Jersey allowing pro wrestling back in the state, which will lead to SummerSlam being there. Before the Raw after WrestleMania was really a thing, this year it will take place in Rockford, Illinois. Big back body drop by Mini Vader on Mini Goldust. It's pretty standard stuff until Mascarita comes in and the crowd responds appropriately. He honestly was the closest thing they had to a cruiserweight on WCW's level. Mini Vader comes in and kicks him in the back of the head though. Mini Goldust comes back with a dropkick and then does a flip off the apron. Mascarita gets a victory roll in on Mini Mankind and picks up the win. This was too short to be anything good, but the fans were very much into Mascarita and nothing else. After the match, Vader is thrown off the stage and then Mascarita hits a dive to the floor.  

Match Rating: *

We go to Gorilla Monsoon to explain what's going on with the title match tonight. Gorilla says he promised this match would be for the title because Bret deserves it even if the timing stinks and that the Undertaker hates it. Gorilla says it isn't unfair because Bret has ended up on the short end of the stick. Gorilla stands by it and it will be for the title. I love Gorilla. 

After commercial, Bret Hart is out for an interview in the ring with Kevin Kelly. Bret wants to change the face of WrestleMania 13 and he's thankful for Gorilla looking at the situation a little closer. He won the Royal Rumble, he won the Final Four and he's a 4 time champion. He says the Undertaker doesn't have to worry because he'll give him his shot. He shifts to Steve Austin and says that he is in for the worst lashing of his life. He hopes Ken Shamrock calls it down the middle and that he's close enough to hear the words "I quit". 

It's time for a WrestleMania 13 hockey jersey for $69.99 and the denim jacket for $99. For reference, that is $146 and $202 in 2026 money. That's insane. Rocky Maivia is out to join the announce team for the next match.

Sultan vs. Mike Bell

I always liked the Sultan's music. Sultan attacks before the bell and in less than a minute has the Camel Clutch on for the quick victory. This upcoming match has nothing going for it, so they give us a quick stare down and we see the closest to The Rock as we have seen so far. Out comes Tony Atlas to keep Rocky back. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a quick WrestleMania reminder before we go into intro #2 for the night. We get more pyro too. Kudos to the guy in the Barry Sanders jersey. Out comes Shawn Michaels to a mostly female pop. We unfortunately get the same generic interview here leading to him that when he comes back, the clothes are coming off. Shawn is a disappointed with Vince that he didn't call to invite him to WrestleMania. Vince is unbearable here with his facial expressions. Shawn invites himself to WrestleMania. The interviews tonight haven't been very good and I say that as fans of Bret and Shawn. 

They show Undertaker slamming one of the sides of the blue cage down to the ground. 

Vader vs. British Bulldog

I'm not really sure why they had Vader beat Undertaker at Royal Rumble, only to have him in a heatless tag title match at WrestleMania. Bulldog hits a nice delayed vertical suplex and the crowd is quite into Bulldog here. This is a lot more spirited than I was expecting. Vader hits a big splash and that gets a nearfall. Bulldog catches Vader during a splash attempt in the corner and hits a body slam. Bulldog gets Vader up on his shoulder and Mankind grabs Vader's leg. Owen goes after him and the bell rings. Owen is getting double teamed by Vader and Mankind until Bulldog snags the urn from Paul Bearer and attacks both men. Bulldog is your winner by DQ here. Like I said, this really had no right to be as spirited as it was, but I appreciate the effort.

Match Rating: **

Ken Shamrock is out to join the announce team.

Billy Gunn vs. Aaron Ferguson

Billy tries to show off to Shamrock with a submission hold. Did they have any reason for having Shamrock out for this match? He puts on an arm hold and Ferguson submits. He goes up to Shamrock after the match and invites him in the ring. Billy mocks the way Shamrock goes to lock up before Shamrock immediately takes him down. Shamrock then takes him down by his leg to put on the ankle lock. Billy grabs a chair, but the referee stops him from coming in. This made Billy look like a jobber, which I guess he is. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Austin and he sticks up for Billy. Austin gives us a Hollywood Blondes camera move by Austin as he's calling Shamrock a piece of trash. Austin says that he'll be the champion after WrestleMania. They show them setting up the cage, so it's time to stall some more, so let's go backstage to Sid. He tells Austin to stay out of his business. 

Steel Cage Match For The WWF Championship
Bret Hart vs. Sid

We have a good amount of time left here, so we should get a proper main event. Sid is trying to crawl out of the cage and Bret grabs his leg. Austin runs out and shuts the door and we go to commercial break. When we come back, Sid hits a powerbomb on Bret and starts to climb. Austin also starts climbing and starts hitting some right hands on Sid at the top of the cage. Sid fights back, but eventually Austin and Bret are both hammering away on Sid. This is about as spry as Austin ever looked in his WWF run. Out comes Undertaker and he climbs the cage. All 4 men are up there and Taker prevents Bret from climbing out of the cage. The best part of all of this is the squeaking noise the cage is making. Austin is the first man to fall and then Bret hits a superplex on Sid. Austin hits Taker with a chair on the outside. Inside, Bret is trying to leave through the door and Sid is climbing. Taker slams the door on Bret and Sid drops to the ground. What was Austin doing there? That was kind of odd. They even show a replay and make no mention of where Austin was. The chaos of this all was fun. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Vince goes into interview Bret and we get a lot of vulgarity from Bret as he talks about being screwed. This is as fired up as we had ever seen Bret up to this point and the most curse words we probably had ever seen up to this point. Austin is on the Titan Tron and he calls Bret a loser. They just start yelling on top of each other until Sid is out there again. Undertaker is out now too and Bret hits a dive through the ropes on Undertaker. Austin is out now and he starts wailing on Bret. Now Sid and Taker start going at it. Then out comes Shawn Michaels? He watches over Bret and Austin as they battle on the ramp and then makes his way towards the ring. Sid and Taker are now on the outside and Shawn grabs a chair and we go off the air? Well, like I said the chaotic nature of the ending made this enjoyable. 

This was another good show in a string of them. Obviously, Netflix is probably trying to eliminate some of the weaker episodes, but I can only go with what they give me. I am definitely more excited to re-watch WrestleMania 13 than I was before this episode.

Overall Rating: 70%

Monday Night Raw 3-3-97 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, March 3rd, 1997
Deutschlandhalle
Berlin, Germany

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We get a Berlin Wall introduction before we get Honky Tonk Man's music kicking off the show. He's out to join the announce team. They interview Bret Hart during Helmsley's entrance and he says he's going to do the same thing to Austin that he's going to do to Helmsley tonight.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Bret Hart

As usual, Bret is very over in Europe. They show Austin heading into the WWF headquarters, as he is not in Germany. We get some mat wrestling from Bret to start. We get a commercial break and a reminder of the Slammy Awards. Hunter is in control after a knee to the midsection and then throws Bret's shoulder into the ring post. It should be noted that Jerry Lawler is not on the announce team tonight, it's just Vince and JR. Hunter gets too greedy and goes to the top rope. Bret greets him with a superplex and takes control. Bret hits a catapult in the corner and Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but Hunter is able to rake the eyes. Bret gets Hunter in the tree of woe and continues to stomp away. The ref tries to stop him and Bret shoves him away for a DQ ending. Out comes that woman to get in Bret's face. They never lay a hand on each other and WWF officials escort her away. That was kind of a weird finish, especially in Germany. The match was pretty good for what it was. 

Match Rating: **

They try to interview Austin, but he's not in his chair. They show Owen Hart dumping British Bulldog out during the Royal Rumble earlier this year. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Vader vs. Rocky Maivia

Vader defeated Rocky earlier in the European Championship tournament, so now we have a title match. Vader quickly is hitting Rocky with big blows in the corner and then hits a short clothesline. JR covers for Vader calling spots saying that he's trying to intimidate Rocky. Rocky makes little comebacks but nothing substantial and Vader hits a splash off the second rope for a 2 count. Vader goes off the second rope again and this time Rocky catches him for a powerslam. Rocky hits a belly-to-belly suplex and that gets a 2. Rocky hits the tornado DDT and goes up to the top rope. He hits the big crossbody but Vader is quickly out of the pin attempt. Rocky dropkicks Vader over the top rope. Rocky goes out there and Mankind is out there to hit Rocky in the head with Paul Bearer's urn. Vader isn't happy about it and Vader throws him back in the ring. Vader attacks him for a while until the officials come out to stop him. This was actually going along pretty well until another bad finish. 

Match Rating: **1/4

They then show the Jerry Lawler storyline with ECW and highlights from last week's Raw. 

Sultan vs. Flash Funk

They interview Jerry Lawler during the entrances. He tells Paul Heyman that if he shows up next week, he'll shove his fist down his throat. Sultan attacks Funk while he's taking off his jacket, but it doesn't last long. Funk hits a diving clothesline to the floor. As good as Honky Tonk Man was in the late 80s, he's equally as bad here in in the mid 90s. Sultan here felt like someone they thought they could give a good push to, but it felt like they gave up on it quickly. We join Paul E. on the phone and Vince thanks him for all the action ECW brought to Raw last week. Funk hits a moonsault but Sultan is able to kick out. Sultan catches Funk during a headscissors and slams him face first. He puts on the Camel Clutch and that is all. I expected this to be a little bit livelier. It was fine. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We now see highlights of the last time Steve Austin was at WWF headquarters in October. Lots of stalling here. 

We go to Sid, who looks like he fell asleep at the beach. Did you know that he's the master and ruler of the world? 

We now see footage of Bulldog and Owen fighting each other at In Your House and then Bulldog making the save after the attack. That sentence probably didn't make sense. 

Ahmed Johnson is brought out for an interview and he says that he's not coming to WrestleMania alone. The audio quality is horrible. He then starts a "You're going down" chant with the crowd. 

They show highlights of Legion of Doom's return and then their interview from Shotgun Saturday Night. 

WWF Championship Match
Mankind vs. Sid

They show a Mankind interview spoken in German during his entrance. Sid attacks Mankind immediately upon walking into the ring. I would have liked to have seen a feud between these two. I think Mankind could have brought out the best in Sid. Mankind misses Sid and hits the ring post as they battled outside the ring. Sid will be teaming up with Undertaker next week on Raw Is War. We go to Austin in Connecticut now. It seems like we could have done this during the Sultan match. Austin is complaining about his seat on the plane and the crappy food he was given. He then goes on to say he's so sick of Bret whining and crying. A Paul Bearer distraction doesn't work out and Sid throws the back of Mankind's head into the ring post. Mankind gets the Mandible Claw on and Sid is down. Sid uses his power to get out of it and then Mankind hits him with the double arm DDT. Sid hits a chokeslam but then Mankind kicks out. Mankind lowers his head and Sid hits the powerbomb for the victory. I didn't expect a clean finish there. The match was pretty good overall. 

Match Rating: **1/4

They show a clip of British Bulldog firing Clarence Mason on Shotgun. 

We hear more from Austin cutting a promo on Bret again ahead of his submission match with Bret. He says that no one can make him quit. 

European Championship Match
Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog

I guess one positive of the majority of the Raw episodes being deleted from streaming existence is that I get to watch this match sooner than I would have. I have not seen this one since it aired "live" if I am remembering correctly. We get some mat wrestling to start until Bulldog catches a hurricanrana and turns it into a powerbomb. Bulldog then catapults Owen over the top rope before holding the ropes open for Owen to come back in. It is really bizarre to me that Honky Tonk Man is announcing this match. Bulldog goes for a surfboard but Owen weasels his way out of it by grabbing the referee. We get more hype for Raw Is War which starts at 7:57. Talk about nostalgia. Owen is able to flip Bulldog out of the ring this time and he too opens the ropes for Bulldog to get back in the ring. We get some rope running action and Owen leap frogs over Bulldog and sells a knee injury. He of course is faking it and uses it to his advantage. He hits a big spin kick to the head of Bulldog. That looked like it may have actually connected. Owen hits a nice belly to belly suplex and Bulldog comes back with an electric chair. Owen goes for a superplex but Bulldog shifts his weight and falls on top of Owen for a 2 count. Bulldog hits some clotheslines and a big vertical suplex for 2. Owen comes back with a German suplex with a bridge for another 2 count. Owen hits a reverse crossbody off the second rope and Bulldog rolls over and we get another close call. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter and gets him in it in the middle of the ring. Bulldog crawls his way to the bottom rope and the crowd is happy about that. Bulldog reverses a piledriver into a powerslam and Owen kicks out of that. I thought that was it. Owen rolls Bulldog into a pin from his shoulder and Bulldog gets out at 2 and counters the pin and that's the finish to crown your first ever European Champion. This wasn't quite the classic that a lot of people say it is, but it was really good. They show that Bulldog won with a clean finish and Owen shakes his hand. They tease drama but it stays civil. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Even though most of the matches didn't deliver on their promise, they made this show feel important and that is a major upgrade from previous years. We are starting to see the progression into the Attitude Era but they are still working with a very small amount of actual talent that people care about right now. Good show overall. 

Overall Rating: 70%

Monday Night Raw 2-24-97 Review

Monday, February 24th, 1997
Manhattan Center
New York, New York

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They followed up a huge title change with one of the most famous episodes to date for a big February for the company. How do they start the show, you ask? With the Godwinns and New Blackjacks, of course.

Godwinns vs. New Blackjacks

They start brawling right away and the Godwinns get the better of it. We get a big "Bradshaw sucks" chant once things slow down a little bit. It should be noted that the Manhattan Center is the original location of the early days of Raw for those who weren't aware. It's a fun location to have a show at once in awhile but it also is funny that Jerry Lawler was ripping on ECW for bingo halls and this is only a step up due to the uniqueness of it, not because of its size. I should also note that it is just Vince McMahon and Lawler here for the announcing duties. A distraction from Windham allows Bradshaw to knock Henry out to the floor. There are lots of bWo shirts in the crowd and not many women. They show Ken Shamrock in the audience. I did not expect this match to get this much time. Phineas has Windham in a sleeper hold but with Henry arguing with the referee, JBL comes in and clotheslines Phineas. Windham gets on top and gets the victory. However, Phineas got his foot on the rope. Another referee comes out and tries to argue the call, but the result sticks so the Godwinns slop the referee. This was actually a little better than I expected.

Match Rating: *1/4

Out come the Eliminators after the commercial break. They attack one of the ring crew and hit their finisher. Paul Heyman gets on the mic to say that ECW is in the house. After another commercial, Heyman introduces the next match. Heyman joins the announce team and the bWo grab the mic. 

Little Guido vs. Big Stevie Cool

Guido attacks them and we are underway. I'm not sure that I would have picked the bWo as the first thing to have a match here, but to each their own. Stevie hits a side suplex and then out comes Raven. The distraction allows a roll up and a 2 count. Guido hits a couple of dropkicks. They interview Goldust during the match to get an update on Marlena. He's here and then makes an "it" reference about Chyna and Lawler calls him out for it. Stevie hits a powerbomb and then hits a superkick for the victory. This was mostly nonsense. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Sunny is interviewed in a robe to talk trash about Marlena. Honky Tonk Man's music hits and we go to commercial. He introduces Sunny and she does her Body Donna schtick before taking off her robe, which reveals basically what she usually wears. Out comes Marlena next and they show highlights of her being attacked by that woman. Sunny offers her the opportunity to forfeit, but Marlena isn't having it. Honky goes over the rules and Sunny does the usual heel gimmick where she stalls. Marlena returns the favor but this time Honky threatens to disqualify her. They pan to Shamrock again, which is probably not a great choice during this. We finally have our arm wrestling match and just as Marlena is about to win, Sunny throws sand in her face. Out comes Savio Vega and he goes up to Marlena so Goldust comes out and attacks him. Goldust slams his head into the table and I guess we have a match?

Savio Vega vs. Goldust

After a commercial break, we are having a match. Savio is finally in his new Nation gear. Miguel Perez joins the announce team and this is something that I completely forgot existed. He says that he doesn't know what happened to Savio. He used to be proud of him. The crowd starts chanting "Candido" at Sunny, who for some reason is still out there. Goldust hits a crossbody for a 2 count but Savio immediately hits him with a spin kick. This one has lost me a bit. Just as I type that, Crush runs in and attacks Goldust for the DQ finish. Miguel Perez comes in and gets thrown right out. He then hits a missile dropkick on Savio and then helps Goldust with Crush. This was really dull. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They hype up that next week's Raw is from Berlin, Germany. 

We then see highlights of Jerry Lawler interviewing Tiny Tim from July of 1993. Lawler is now going to interview Ken Shamrock in the crowd. Lawler does his usual that he trained Shamrock and Ken then says that he doesn't even know Lawler. Lawler is of course flabbergasted and that's the whole segment. 

It's time to hype up the Slammy's on March 21st on USA Network. 

We go back to Paul Heyman and he says this show has sucked without ECW. He then announces Mikey Whipwreck, like that will make it better. 

Mikey Whipwreck vs. Taz

Taz hits some suplexes, Lawler makes some short jokes and Faarooq is interviewed during the match. Taz is on top of the Raw sign and leaps off onto Taz's team. Taz then suplexes Whipwreck over the top onto Sabu in what is a scary looking bump. Tazmission ends this one. This was obviously a Taz feature and it was fine. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Headbangers vs. Legion Of Doom

This was the big surprise that they alluded to during the show. The return of LOD was a huge one for me, as they were a childhood favorite. This run didn't end up being anything great, but in this moment, this was a big one for me. The crowd is into this one and then starts chanting "Nitro sucks". To their credit, this was not a total squash and actually treat the Headbangers like a legit threat. Now it's time for a "Bischoff sucks" chant. They actually give this match a commercial break and then we get a lame double countout finish. I did not remember that. After the match, LOD hits the Doomsday Device for good measure. I am shocked that they agreed to this. This was a little lackluster for a big return. 

Match Rating: *

We get the "Tell Me A Lie" Shawn Michaels music video. 

D-Von Dudley vs. Tommy Dreamer

We get a bunch of weapon shots from Dreamer on the outside. Dreamer then hits a suplex on the outside and then a baseball slide into the steps. Back in the ring, D-Von hits Dreamer with a chair to the head. Most of the match is Lawler and Heyman arguing on commentary. D-Von misses a headbutt off the second rope and lands on the chair. Dreamer hits a piledriver and then D-Von grabs Buelah in the ring. While the finish is happening, Undertaker is being interviewed. Dreamer wins and then Bubba Ray Dudley comes in and attacks Dreamer and Sandman is not far behind. We then get a bunch of unprotected chair shots to the Dudleys. This was probably the best representation of what ECW was at the time, for better or for worse. Heyman and Lawler then get into a physical altercation going into the commercial break. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Jim Ross recaps the chaotic title situation for us. It concludes with them confirming that Sid will take on Undertaker and Steve Austin will face Bret Hart at WrestleMania. 

Todd Pettengil is now with Ken Shamrock to conduct a real interview. He introduces his wife and father. He then picks Undertaker to defeat Sid and he can't make a choice between Austin and Bret. 

Faarooq vs. Undertaker

Faarooq insults Shamrock during his entrance and insults UFC. Shamrock says he'd be willing to step in the ring with Faarooq. Taker attacks D'Lo Brown and that allows for Faarooq to strike first but is quickly eating a flying clothesline from Taker. Taker walks the ropes and hits the mark on pre-Old School. It's kind of wild that they thought this match could headline a pay per view in a few months. Just in case you didn't hear Vince the first 10 times, Raw is from Germany next week. During the commercial break, the Nation attacked Taker and Faarooq is now working on the legs of Taker. Now this one is starting to drag on. D'Lo pulls down the top rope for Taker to fall over and he lands on his feet. Faarooq comes over with the steps and Taker kicks them into him. This naturally turns into a no contest and then the Legion of Doom make the save as we go off the air. This was pretty boring. 

Match Rating: *

This episode sure threw a lot of things at the wall to see what would stick. While on paper, it was memorable, it also wasn't that good. With every year, I become less interested in ECW and then knowing that the LOD run wasn't very good makes the return not mean as much in retrospect. However, this was definitely better than some random episode, I just wish we would have gotten at least one good match to go with the chaos. 

Overall Rating: 62%