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%