WWF Raw, PPV's 1997 Reviews

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Stone Cold Steve Austin
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers
WWF European Champion: The British Bulldog

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 224
September 8th, 1997
Cincinnati, Ohio

Vince McMahon is in the ring with Commissioner Slaughter; Vince says things around here are out of control. Slaughter says it was utter chaos at ground zero, he says he wants everyone to listen to him when he says there will be law and order whether the wrestlers like it or not. That goes to the officials and fans too. He says he always does his job well, and he's sick and tired of what's going on here. Steve Austin’s actions were completely out of line and the WWF will not put up with it, furthermore, YOU ARE SUSPENDED! AND YOU WILL BE SUSPENDED UNTIL I GET A DOCTOR'S CLEARING! He says he's made a decision to make a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion starting tonight and ending at Bad Blood. He orders Austin to be at Bad Blood to forfeit the IC title and to present the winner with the title. Stone Cold’s music hits and out comes Austin, he calls Slaughter a jackass and says he will break every law he has and ain’t nobody gonna stop him. He says the only thing Sarge has been ordering is a whole bunch of cheeseburgers. He says Sarge claims to be concerned about his welfare, but he ain't been in his house, and the way they paying me while I’m hurt, pretty soon he'll be on welfare, talking about delivering the IC title, the only thing I’ll be delivering is a big can of whoop ass. AUSTIN THEN STUNS SLAUGHTER!!!!!! FUCK YEAH! Referees and agents come out and Vince yells at Austin. He gets a crazy look and tries to go for Vince, but everyone stands in front of Vince, and he goes to the floor. Austin chases him out then joins commentary teasing Vince to come and get his seat back.

Backstage: Refs and Officials force Steve to leave the building.

JR announces at Bad Blood it will be the Patriot/Vader vs. Bret/Bulldog in a flag match

No Holds Barred: Bret Hart vs. Vader
Before the match, Bret grabs a mic and calls all the fans idiots then makes fun of Pete Rose. He calls Vader a disgraced hero just like the rest of Americans. Bret attacks Vader with the title belt as Vader steps into the ring. Vader manages to fight back and he uses the title belt a weapon. He also gets some revenge by breaking the Canadian flag over his knee. They brawl onto the floor and Bret sends Vader into the steps before slamming the steps off Vader's back, which seems to have pissed Vader off who dishes out some stiff punches. Bulldog comes out to watch on as we go to a commercial. Once we return a low blow puts a stop to Vader’s offense and Bret takes over again. Bret begins to target the head, which is a nice changeup from his usual working the big man’s legs segment. VADER makes a comeback hitting a sweet little powerbomb, he pulls him to the corner looking for the Vader bomb but Bulldog rushes down to stop it. Vader manhandles the both of them until the numbers catch up to him. The Patriot runs out to even the odds, and then Owen comes out to help. Bret hits both faces with a chair, but Austin runs out with a chair of his own, and the Hart Foundation bails out. Austin chases them to the back. So I guess that’s the match then. **1/2

In the ring, the Godwinns beat up some locals, they then call out the Headbangers.

The Godwinns vs. The Headbangers
A Huge pile of shit. Some disgusting old man dressed as the Godwinns jumps the rail and interfering to give the Godwinns the win. After the match; JR goes to interview him, Henry says they got Uncle Cletus Godwinn to watch their backs. Uncle Cletus says he just got out and they ain’t gonna tell you that’s just money in the back.

Sunny comes out wearing these leather pants with confirms she has no ass, she also has this awful Headbangers fur bra on hiding the cleavage.

Dude Love comes out for his IC tournament match against Brian Pillman. Dude grabs a mic and says he’s having trouble getting into the groove. He says, he brought a friend with him and brings out Goldust to watch his back. Goldust has only half his face painted. Pillman never comes out, he phones in and says he’s not coming into work until the WWF can make sure he and Marlena are safe. Plus, he exhausted from last night. Pillman says he made a little tape and airs it. From his hotel room. He's in a towel and says he had a great time last night. The camera scans over the room and clothes are everywhere. He says it's almost 10 pm and asks Goldust doesn't know where his wife is, he does, and part two of Brian Pillman's XXX Files comes live. Back in the arena, Pillman says he will show part II later tonight.

Piratita Morgan vs. Max Mini
Morgan is just a midget pirate, which I find to be the funniest thing ever. His gimmick is a pirate for fuck sake Good fast paced spotfest for a few minutes. Max Mini wins with a crucifix pin.

Vince McMahon announces at the Bad Blood it will be a HELL IN A CELL match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. This then gets a video package, with this cool music to it.

The Undertaker comes down to the ring, and Vince joins him in the ring. Taker says he and Shawn open the gates to hell last night, and to Shawn credit, he looked death in the eyes and didn’t blink. Taker says he will not rest until the flesh is rotting from his bones. Vince asks him about Hell In A Cell. Taker says to call it what you must, it's the beginning of the end for Michaels. There’s no way out, and no way in. He says the music will stop and the tolling of the bell begins. Shawn appears on the TRON. Shawn says last night you and the WWF-backed him into a corner, and he barely escaped but he escaped. The HBK is a survivor and at Hell in a Cell, I will survive. He says he's not going down alone, and if he's going down, The Undertaker is coming with him. Taker says at Hell in a Cell, Shawn will rest in peace.

Backstage: Sunny Interviews the Hart Foundation, she asks if Owen should be concerned with Steve Austin still around. Owen says he put him out once before, he’ll do it again. He has Bret and Bulldog to watch his back too.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match: Owen Hart (w/Bret Hart & The British Bulldog) vs. Goldust
Goldust is pissed and takes it out on Owen for a few minutes, Owen low blows Goldust out of desperation Owen has yet to take his jacket off. Goldust low blows Owen right in front of the ref, but then he continues to punch Owen in the dick so the ref DQ’s him. After the match it’s a 3-1 until Austin comes through the crowd with a fuckin’ broom and chases off the Hart, he then turns to Vince and dares him to enter the ring. But Vince stays begins the desk shook so Austin leaves through the crowd. Pillman shows PILLMAN FILES PART II; He says this won't be long because Terri needs to take a hot shower. He says she’s almost ready for round 2. He tells Dustin to get a good night's sleep because he'll have a real hard time going to sleep tonight.See you next time.

Backstage: The Hart Foundation are standing by as Vince replays Austin attacking them, Bret says when is the WWF gonna do something. He says Austin is out of control and says Slaughter needs to suspend him forever and bar him forever. Bulldog says the UK will respect the truth and justice. Owen says he will win the IC title back.

Savio Vega comes out to join commentary.

It's supposed to be Bulldog vs. Patriot vs. Hunter, but during Bulldogs entrance Shawn Michaels and Hunter attack Bulldog as he comes out, and they keep slamming his knee on the ramp. They then hit his leg with a chair, and Bulldog is taken to the back. Savio Vega takes his place in the match.

The Patriot vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) vs. Savio Vega
This is whatever, Vince clearly has this hard on for triple threats now because this is the 2nd in 24 hours. The wrestlers are trying to adjust to the match too because Savio and the Patriot join up to take out Hunter in the early going. So a heel and a face join up to take on a heel. Okay. This goes 10-11 minute it’s pretty boring for the most part, really uneventful. Shawn joins commentary mid-way through. Shawn shits on Vince every chance he gets which is pretty funny. The match ends when the ref gets bumped Hunter slingshots Savio into the Patriot they bump heads and Hunter rolls him up for the win. After the match; Los Boricuas run down but Chyna brings in chairs for them. Vader then comes down to join the Patriot, eventually, the Harts lazily come out on the ramp, they tease a fight but RAW just ends lolz. *1/2

 

[Deezy]

was that during his entrance, because the camera's cut to that stupid crowd shot midway, but they came back to him doing the suck it and blowjob taunt

as for the Pillman papi thing, I guess it makes sense Goldust rejected the first match so he needed to piss him off. I think I read that she was gonna turn on Goldust at the next PPV, but then RIPillman and Goldust went into my 2nd favorite Goldust gimmick

It was during the triple h and Chyna run in when hbk was selling on the outside, being knocked out until he bolts to his feet and spits in the crowd.

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Vacant
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers
WWF European Champion: The British Bulldog

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 225
September 15th, 1997
Muncie, Indiana

Video recap of Austin being a crazy SOB, as JR wonders whose next on the Austin 3:16 hitlist.

Vince McMahon is off on “assignments” so it’s just JR and King.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match: Ken Shamrock vs. Faarooq
This is fine, they don’t too long. Ken has a bunch of great looking strikes as Faarooq plays the physical veteran. Ken either bit his lip or he’s just bleeding from the mouth for no reason, he hits a desperation Belly-to-belly for the win. After the match; Faarooq hits him with a dominator as the rest of the Nation run down to get their shots in. LOD run down for the save, as JR announces it will be Shamrock/LOD vs. Nation @ Badd Blood. *1/2

Tonight: Pillman/Dude, Slaughter has banned Goldust from ringside for that. Up NEXT! Steve Austin

Backstage: Stone Cold says nothing is on his mind, except for whipping anybody's ass that gets in his way. He does what he wants to who he wants. King asks him about Owen Hart’s celebration. Austin says he doesn’t care, the bottom line is he’s got some payback coming.

El Pantera vs. TAKA Michinoku
A solid mix of Lucha and jr’ Japanese style wrestling. Spots, dives, counters all crisp. No one sold, they just went a million miles an hour. TAKA does his amazing running no hands jump to the top rope and dives onto Pantera, he would finish him off minutes later with the Michinoku Driver.

Backstage: Truth Commission says they will remind Americans that in war, second place doesn’t matter.

The Truth Commission (w/The Truth Commission) vs. The Legion of Doom
I refuse to call these geeks by their names or sniper, recon, interrogator, and tank. So it’s just Truth Commission, it’s not like they’re gonna be around soon. LOD are back to No-selling and run through your shitty green offense. The big fuck on the floor interferes for the DQ. After the match; it’s a 3-2 until Shamrock runs down for the save. 3on3 brawl. But the Nation run down to help the Truth. It’s a 7-3 and they assault the faces until refs and Brisco break it up.

Sunny comes out to do her weekly special guest ring announcing gig. She’s looking amazing and it wearing this super hot mini-low cut dress. Man, I can see why Shawn ruined her.

El Torito & Piratita Morgan vs. Max Mini & Mr. Lucky
Like I’ve said, I don’t have a problem with the mini’s getting a match, but I don’t need to see it for 7 minutes. Especially when I just saw a light heavyweight in TAKA do it better like 15 minutes ago. Space that shit out, or just do one a night. But with that being said, it’s the usual. Spots, dives, counters all that shit. Max Mini hit a Diving Headbutt off the top for the win.

Pillman/Goldust video with this amazing, softcore porn music

Brian Pillman and Marlena come out, Marlena is now dressed all in black dressed as a gothic thot. JR goes to them for an interview, Marlena says she just wants to go him and she misses her babies.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match: Dude Love vs. Brian Pillman (w/Marlena)
I know they're the same person, but Dude is terrible. He doesn’t take mankind bumps or is violent on offense as Cactus Jack. At least he becomes awesome 6 or 7 months. This goes a couple of minutes, Marlena tries to leave but Pillman brings her back. Goldust runs out from the crowd though, and he attacks Pillman, so he wins by DQ. He begins beating Pillman up until refs and officials break it up. They hold him down, which allows Pillman to slither away dragging Marlena with him.

Jerry Lawler is in the ring, and out comes Stone Cold Steve Austin. Lawler sucks up to Austin saying the way the WWF is treating him is a crying shame, he says he loved him stunning JR and Commish Slaughter. He says the only thing he’s waiting for, is for him to get his hands on Vince. Austin says JR was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, as far as Slaughter goes nobody orders Stone Cold around. He says it’s a good thing Vince isn’t here, Owen Hart. With a snap of my fingers I can take you out, and that’s the bottom line. The entire Hart Foundation has hell to pay, the Hart Foundation comes onto the stage. Bret says in Canada they have a name for people like him. HOESERS! Bret says the WWF can’t put an end to his crap, but they can. Bret hen sends a guy in a suit to the ring. Owen says for once they have taken the American justice system, and used it to their advantage. Because he’s been served with a T.R.O. A temporary restraining order which means he can’t come in 100 feet of if. Lawler looks over it and keeps talking so AUSTIN HITS HIM WITH A STUNNER!!!!

Jim Cornette comes out to replace Jerry Lawler.

The Patriot vs. Owen Hart
This is acceptable, the mat work the start is pretty basic. Patriot contributes pretty much nothing to the match. He’s just so generic af. Austin comes out on the stage and is surrounded by cops as we go to a commercial. When he return the cops are on the stage, but Austin is not. Late in the match, Owens seems to have the match won but Austin comes from the crowd with the papers. He tears them up, distracting Owen, and the Patriot gets a schoolboy for the win. After the match; Owen demands that the cops arrest Austin for violating the restraining order, the cops don’t even run they just casually walk down which allows Austin to leave through the crowd. I bet if Austin was black they would have caught him, or never let Austin leave the cops sight

JR is in the ring and brings out Shawn Michaels, who is just in this tight spandex pants and boots. He’s clearly on drugs, pills and drunk off his mind. JR asks him about attack Bulldog last week and Shawn says he has done everything there is to do in the WWF and that’s winning the European title. He says he has taken it upon himself to be the first ever to win all 4 titles in the WWF. JR asks him about Hell in a Cell. Shawn says desperate times calls for desperate measures, he says the powers to be in the WWF are the cause of all of this. They begged him to be the ref, and how was he rewarded for all his accomplishments by being stuck in a cell with Death itself. Shawn says if this is the death of Shawn Michaels, if I go down I’m taking everyone with me, and I’m going out in a blaze of glory. So Undertaker at Hell in a Cell, you, me and everyone in the WWF is going down to the depths of Hell. Taker appears on the TRON and says "HELLO, BOY! REMEMBER ME?!" He welcomes Shawn to his own personal Hell and says he can still taste the blood, and with them in a cage, there's no place to run anymore. He'll leave with his soul, no one can help him the end is near and he will pay. Shawn says he made Taker bleed once, and he better have liked the taste, because he'll taste it again at Hell in a Cell.

Wait was this the promo where Shawn was jumping up and down pointing at his dick telling JR to suck it? Cause I think they edited that out.

WWF Tag Team Championships: Bret Hart & The British Bulldog vs. The Headbangers
It’s the little things in wrestling that get me excited that yeah, Bret and Bulldog are bigger stars and yes Bret is the world champion of the world but the tag champs, the title on the line come out last. This goes about 10 minutes and is clearly the best Headbangers match to date, they’re clearly taking it serious and isn’t doing the usual goofy, sloppy shit. Well, they have some sloppy moment but that’s because they suck and isn’t for the lack of trying. Headbangers get the better of the Harts to start, I just realized someone in the crowd has the same USA flag the patriot had earlier, so keep that in mind. JESUS! Headbangers dominate for 6 straight minutes until Bulldog hits a spinebuster and a delayed suplex for two. The Harts iso mosh for a few minute it’s pretty uneventful, Thrasher gets the hot tag and cleans house. The match breaks down and all 4 get in. Bulldog hits the running powerslam for the win, Hebner then waves it off because the wrong man was pinned. WHAT?!?!?! Since when do refs care about the legal man. Bulldog is pissed and takes that American flag from that fan. He begins using it on the Headbangers for the DQ. The Patriot and Vader come down for the save. Dammit, I kinda wanted Bret and Bulldog to win just so they could drop the title to Vader and Patriot, they could be Team Masked America. Plus it would have gotten Patriot out of the WWF title picture and Vader more TV time. **1/4

 

[Deezy]

Minis have that 205 heat

 

[Crippler]

A Little bit of a back-story on this show, okay so I remember when I was a kid I think it was months later after this aired. I had already discovered wrestling by that point. I was in the sun newspaper that it came with a free tape of this show. So I got my mom to pay for the paper. I never read the paper at 6, just threw it in the trash and watched the tape. Anyway, the tape only included the Shawn/Bulldog match so I was duped but also didn’t mind. So yeah my first ever WWF VHS was the main event, I watched it almost every day for 2 months straight.

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Vacant
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers
WWF European Champion: The British Bulldog

WWF One Night Only
September 20th, 1997
Birmingham, England

Did not watch
Hunter Helmsley vs. Dude Love
Tiger Ali Singh vs. Leif Cassidy
The Headbangers vs. Los Boricuas
Flash Funk vs. The Patriot
The Legion of Doom vs. The Godwinns

Vader vs. Owen Hart
Owen is super fuckin’ over, and he soaks it up. Lawler is confused at the fans BOOOO’ing Bret but loves Owen. They smartly tell the story of Vader being a monster so he overpowers Owen throwing him around. Owen begins quickening the pace, with a stick and move stuff. Owen tries to lock in the sharpshooter but Vader is still too strong so he kicks him off, Owen then tries a crucifix but Vader drops all his weight on him with a Samoan drop and OWEN LOOKS DEAD! Vader begins to control and is back to monster Vader just throwing Owen around, Owens’ bumping is phenomenal he dies on everything. I like that they’re building the match to Owen trying to slam Vader but can’t. Vader randomly works body parts before giving it up and going to the next thing. Just weird, Owen has these cool little comebacks but he keeps wanting to slam Vader which is his mistake and Vader takes over again. Owen after 3 tries manages to slam Vader, which fuels Owens comeback. But Vader simply catches Owen in mid-air with a powerslam and covers for the win. Good match. **3/4

WWF World Heavyweight Championship: The Undertaker vs. Bret Hart
AWESOME opening moments with Bret taking the fight to Taker early, but Taker’s like fuck this no one can out punch me and delivers some of his epic punches. Taker intimates the ref, which leads to Bret taking off one of the corner turnbuckles. They brawl onto the floor as Taker targets Bret’s back slamming him on the ramp and into the ringpost. Back in, Bret begins working the head and neck in traditional Bret manner, really aggressive. But his ringpost spot backfires and Taker sends him chest first into and Bret does his amazing chest bump. Taker begins working it, I love that he punches Bret chest which is new. He then does some submissions stretching it, some better than others. Bret just spots selling it and goes to work on Taker’s knee, JESUS, so they just gonna no sell one another’s shit and just work body parts to further fill 30 minutes? The crowd has no turned on Bret it’s now 70/30 BOOOOO’s. See they don’t even want 8 straight minutes of leg work for it to not even be a factor in the finish. I’ll tell you what I really liked, I’m probably reading too much into this or giving Bret way too much credit, is when Taker would begin to fight back out of Knee holds Bret would go to work something else and Taker would forget so Bret would go right back to the knee with better success. Real good stuff. Bret locks in the sharpshooter but Taker kicks out of it, which I think might be the first time ever. Bret tries to bring the ring bell in but Taker kicks it out of his hand, the ref stops Taker from using the bell and Bret chop blocks him going to work briefly on the leg again. They go back and forth, both countering one another’s signature moves. Bret goes for a tombstone but Taker counters, but Bret grabs the ropes so Taker traps Bret’s head in between the middle and top rope. He begins punching away at him until the ref DQ’s him. After the match; the ref and Brisco gets chokeslamed. Owen comes out to help Bret, Taker stalks them up the ramp. The ring announcers announces Bret as the winner so Taker marches after him and he bails through the crowd **1/2 - **3/4

WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels vs. The British Bulldog
Shawn is wearing these awesome red and metallic silver attire on, these have to be top 5 too. Man, I really need to go to the WWE warehouse or Shawn’s house and steal this shit; so I could walk around in my house wearing this. Vince says Bulldog is dedicating this match to his sister who has been battling cancer all her life, damn Shawn, what a dick move. Bulldog is obviously over, this is almost of the level of Canadian Stampede crowd support. Bulldog is super on tonight, and this is 1997 HBK so his bumping is fuckin’ phenomenal. It’s like that for 5-6 minutes, Bulldog mixes up powermoves and mat wrestling and Shawn is just bumping his ass off trying to weather the storm and hope Bulldog makes a mistake or gasses out. AWESOME! Moment which I don’t know if it’s planned, with Bulldog having Shawn in the Bowen arrow but his shoulder were down to the ref Heber counts. Bulldog quickly breaks the count and asks him “WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING?” As when was the last time the ref ever checked shoulders on that, that allows Shawn to gets some shots in but Bulldog counters back. Rude comes out to give Shawn some assistance, Rude continues to get involved and Shawn finally takes over. Shawn works the head then the arm, just kinda filling time until Hunter and Chyna come out. Shawn hits 2 elbows off the top but Bulldog counters SCM by ducking the kick and countering into the powerslam, but Rude grabs his knee preventing it. Rude then distracts the ref as Shawn and Bulldog are on the floor. Bulldog has him up in the powerslam but as he goes for it Bulldogs foot slips on the mat and gets caught in between the rails. Shawn then hits him with Sweet Chin Music. Rude, Chyna and Hunter begin slamming the rails on Bulldogs knee further hurting it. But they’re not done, Hunter pedigrees him on the mats before rolling him in. Shawn takes off the knee brace and throws it at Bulldogs wife and family, what a dick Shawn then applies the figure four with both Chyna and Hunter pulls Shawn’s arms for assistance. He fights it and then the ref just stops as Bulldog passes out. ***1/4 - ***1/2

After the match; the fans begin to trash the ring. Shawn says Hart family this is for you……And Diana Smith, my sweetheart this one is especially for you sweetheart. Shawn locks in a figure four again and Diana runs into the ring and begins choking Shawn with the brace but Chyna pulls her off. Bret who is wearing a “Maple Leaf !” t-shirt which is the greatest t-shirt ever made make the save. Shawn, Chyna, and Hunter celebrate as fans continue to throw trash at them AWESOME!

 

[Deezy]

Bulldog match really made the Hart foundation look like useless pricks in England.

 

[Crippler]

Yeah, it did, it made no sense why the Harts wouldn't even the odds during the match just allow a key member to get wrecked.

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Vacant
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 226
September 22nd, 1997
Madison Square Garden: New York City

Video package airs on the history of the WWF in MSG

The Nation make their way down to the ring, but Slaughter comes out sending the rest of the Nation to the back. Leaving it a one-on-one match. JR also announces Shamrock was injured in his match last week, so Faarooq will take his place.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match: Rocky Maivia vs. Ahmed Johnson
FUCK YEAH! Babyface Ahmed is back, the pops aren’t huge like they once were though. Ahmed dominates early on, it’s not really good. Lou Albano randomly comes out taking notes, Rocky’s heat segment isn’t good at all. But he’s new to this heel thing, at least his bumping is good enough. So, Rocky whips him into the steel steps and as Ahmed takes the bump he slices his hand open, shit looks pretty brutal. Lawler calls him injury prone He still wins with the Pearl River Plunge out of nowhere and covers for the win.

Tonight: Owen/Pillman (IC title Tournament) & Hunter/Dude in a Street Fight, Bret/Goldust & Shawn Michaels LIVE

Stone Cold Steve Austin is in the crowd, he says ain’t no way you can have a WWF show in New York and not invite him. He says someone is gonna eat the stunner tonight.

Up NEXT: The Undertaker

The Undertaker comes down to the ring, Vince McMahon leaves the commentary table to interview him. Vince says another twist as been made to the Cell match, the winner of it will face the WWF champion at Survivor Series. Taker says Bret Hart, the day will soon be upon you. When the reaper comes calling. But Shawn Michaels has his date with destiny. At HIAC only one way out, OVER MY DEAD BODY! Unfortunately for Shawn Michaels, I can never rest in peace. But I can sure can enjoy watching Shawn's rotting corpse burn in eternal damnation. Shawn comes out on the stage now, he says the WWF again is giving him the shaft. He says why didn’t he just give him a title match? Just because I’m the only man to ever hold every title in the WWF, YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TELL ME TO EN IT! Do you know who the hell I am? Deadman, I got news for you. I do not lay down for anybody. At Hell in a Cell, the heartbreak kid will do what he always does, and that's one step ahead of everybody. I WILL BRING THE PAIN! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SHOW UP!

Sunny comes out to do the ring announcing.

The Legion of Doom vs. The Nation of Domination (Faarooq & Kama)
Typical LoD match, they give no fucks so Rocky and D-Lo runs down for the DQ. After the match; Ahmed tries to make the save but it’s still 4-3, so the faces get their asses kicked.

Owen Hart debuts his new theme music He is surrounded bt 5 cops. Pillman comes out but he has his arm in a sling, Pillman has Marlena dressed in all latex leather and her cleavage is insane. Pillman grabs the mic and says tonight is a dark day, he says the WWF is robbed of the greatest match ever…..Because, late last night he had Marlena squealing like a pig as Dustin read his daughter the 3 little pigs And as he bent her over he slipped and fell and broke his arm, so he has to forfeit this match. Slaughter comes out and says this is the first he's hearing of it, Slaughter asks for x-rays and doctor reports. Pillman says he left them in the car, he then says think fast and throws the mic.Pillman then catches with the “BAD” Arm so Slaughter says the match is on.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match: Owen Hart vs. Brian Pillman (w/Marlena)
Way too short made shorter after all the stalling and trolling, the first minute or two they wrestle in slow motion it’s hilarious. During the break, Marlena hits Owen with her purse so all the fun and games are over. They do some stuff, Goldust runs out, he punches Owen out of the way before he tackles Pillman to the mat, but Goldust is held back by refs and officials. Which allows Pillman to drag Marlena to the back. Owen wins via DQ.

Owen Hart grabs a mic and says it was a hard fought match, but he did it. He’s in the finals. He dedicates the match to his loving brother Bret. Austin comes through the crowd and attacks Owen, the cops rush in and they pull Austin off of Owen. He keeps trying to get at him, but Vince leaves commentary and yells at Austin to get a hold of himself. He asks Austin what's the matter with him, he had to let go of the tag and ic titles and he understands being upset. But don’t break the law, Vince says don’t you know you're not physically able to compete. He says Austin isn't allowed to compete because he's not ready and he could paralyze himself. He says the WWF cares about him and so do the people, so he needs to go with it. He asks Austin to work within the system. Austin says. This is what he does for a living, he’s the best in the world at it. He tells Vince he ain’t the one sitting at home, but if that takes what to make him happy. AUSTIN THEN SAYS I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT YOU AND THE WWF CARE! AND I ALSO APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT HELL YOU CAN KISS MY ASS! AUSTIN THEN STUNS VINCE FUCK YEAH! The cops handcuff Austin and drag him to the back, a ton of refs and officials check on Vince.

JR and Lawler recap what just happen, with Austin stunning Vince, JR also drops in Vince is the owner of the company.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna come out…………Dude’s music hits but he doesn’t come out, instead he’s on the TRON. He says a street fight is not his thing, he’s got a man. A kind man for this. Mankind then appears on the TRON. Mankind says as much as he dreams about hurting him, he knows someone that wants it more…….CACTUS JACK!!!!!

Falls Count Anywhere: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) vs. Cactus Jack
This is still really fun, the crowd was super hot for this and both men take some incredible bumps. Hunter does a great job playing the coward mid-card that only gets aggressive once his female bodyguard gives him the slight edge. Hunter targets the midsection but that pretty much gets no sold, Jack then hilarious does a sunset flip onto the concrete with his back pretty much taking the worse of it and he rolls Hunter onto the padding for two. They continue to brawl up the ramp to the stage, Hunter brings this old ass table from the back, but Jack Piledrives him through it and covers for the win. ***1/4

Shawn Michaels comes out with a mic and a steel chair, he says he wants the Undertaker to bring his DEAD ASS out here to face him like a man. Taker doesn’t come out so Shawn says he’s afraid of him. After a commercial break, Taker marches out but Triple H runs out behind him, Taker sees him coming and decks him which allows Shawn to nail him with the steel chair. Chyna and Rude come out making it a 4-1. Shawn tells two elderly black women to suck it. Taker gets up though, and all 4 just run away

Bret hart comes down to the ring and gets on the mic, he says he doesn’t give a crap who wins the cell match. He says he’s not afraid of Taker and what he did to Bulldog their paths will cross again.

Bret Hart vs. Goldust
Fun but weird, Goldust comes out swinging with awesome punches and uppercuts, but then they randomly go into a feeling out process, Bret begins targeting Goldust’s knee and Goldust sells that motherfucker so well, it’s so good seeing a man sell for Bret’s knee work, it makes Bret work look so much more vicious and legit. Bret locks in the figure-four around the ringpost and the ref asks him to break it, Bret then asks why? And Hebner says nothing for at leat 3 seconds before starting the 5 count Shawn comes out onto the stage to watch on. Goldust has a nice little comeback, before locking in the sharpshooter for the win. After the match; Shawn attacks Bret, Hunter, and Chyna run out. Goldust and an injured Bulldog come out to join in. So does Rude and Neidhart…………THE UNDERTAKER COMES OUT AND CLEANS HOUSE! He then hits a double chokeslam on Shawn and Bret as RAW just ends.**3/4

 

[Deezy]

One of the goat shows ever.

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Vacant
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 227
September 29th, 1997
Albany, New York

Vince McMahon is in the ring and brings out Shawn Michaels, he comes out but not alone as he has Hunter, Chyna, and Rude with him. Vince asks Rude why he’s here, Hunter and Shawn troll by doing the peace bunny ears behind his back. Rude says Vince is in need for a serious insurance plan with Austin running around. Vince asks Shawn how in the hell is he gonna survive hell in a cell. Shawn says he wants to talk about the garden party last week when we beat the hell out of The Undertaker. Shawn says he doesn’t have to get out of hell in a cell, he showed everyone that I came, I saw and I kicked the dead man’s ass. Shawn says he wants Triple H to unload on the WWF. Hunter says the WWF and Vince has always been afraid of Kliqs, he says this is one Kliq you will never break up. He says he sat back for years and watched as he and the WWF speared their legs like cheap whores for all the so called superstars. He says none of them could lace his boots, so instead of sitting back and waiting for his break not anymore. Hunter says he loved last week so much, that this ring is his ring of pain. Slaughter comes out and says Shawn needs all the luck and them makes a match between Taker and Hunter. The Hart Foundation comes out onto the stage, Bret says they’ve got more problems than the Undertaker; they crossed the line and will pay for those crimes tonight. Shawn and Hunter do that trolling look back and forth scared look

The British Bulldog vs. Vader
Bulldog doesn’t have a knee brace on; he just has it bandaged up. JR says those knee braces are custom made so you just can’t get one made in 9 days. Once again a really fun power/power match, both men trying to punk the other out with power moves and punches. Bulldog hits a front suplex onto the steel railing hanging up Vader, which looked and sounded awesome. They do some stuff but the rest of the Hart Foundation run out for the DQ. It’s a 4-1 until the Patriot tries to make the save; it’s still 4-2. And the Americans get murked. The Harts then bury them under the Canadian flag and leave.

Vince says Ahmed injured his hand last week it ripped on a nail that was exposed, he has no feeling in it and he tore tendons, destroying the nerves. JR claims Ahmed has put off surgery because he doesn’t want to miss this match. Fuckin’ Ahmed man

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match: Faarooq (w/The Nation of Domination) vs. Ahmed Johnson (w/LoD & Ken Shamrock)
Faarooq smartly works the hand, it’s cool for Faarooq offense, he steps on it and punches it a few times. Ahmed pretty much no sells it because FUCK REAL LIFE INJURES!!!! Ahmed hits Faarooq with the steel steps then the ref for the DQ Vince claims Ahmed is in too much pain to know what he’s doing Both stables or groups have a big brawl afterward, the faces run off the Nation and stand tall. Owen/Faarooq this Sunday for the IC title.

Brian Pillman’s XXX Files: Pillman and Marlena are in bed, Pillman says he’s pretty beat and bushed. But like he promised, he’s got news for the WWF. He says he will not fight dude love at Badd Blood unless Goldust is handcuffed to a ringpost.

Dude Love comes out for commentary.

The Sultan (w/The Iron Sheik) vs. Goldust
Dude says he was talking to Slaughter in the back, and as soon as his match is over Goldust gets a NoDq match with Pillman. The match is pretty boring, way too much Sultan and not enough Goldust uppercuts, Goldust wins with a running bulldog.

Stone Cold Steve Austin comes down to the ring, he says if Vince has something to say to him. He better come in thing ring and say it to his face. Vince says he either a lunatic or he doesn’t give a damn. Vince says he’s allowed refs and officials to put themselves at risk to save you. But it stops now. Austin says it sounds like you want to fire my ass, so do it. Vince says he’s got 3 options. 1, bring the doctor's note clearing him. 2, he can return to the ring, but he has to sign a document saying it’s his fault, not the WWF’s 3, TERMINATION! Austin says if he wanted to he would drop him on his neck. Austin says no doctor knows his neck better than he does, he tells Vince to bring that little paper maybe he signs or maybe he sticks it up his ASS! But if you fire me I will beat your ass like it’s never been beaten before. And that’s the bottom line.

JR shits on Slaughters idea of having Austin hand the winner of the IC tournament hand the title over

WWF Tag Team Championships: The Headbangers vs. Los Boricuas (Jesus & Jose)
NO! GO FUCK YOURSELF! Godwinns run down for a DQ to ensure they face the Headbangers for the titles at the PPV. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Vince McMahon is in the ring and brings out Owen Hart who is wearing the OWEN 3:16 “I just broke your neck” t-shirt WWE Shop needs to retro this Owen also comes out with the riot squad to watch his back. Vince asks him about the shirt, Owen says it’s true and I’ll do it again. He says Faarooq is a great wrestler, but he’s just better. Owen says the only reason he lost his belt is because of compassion. That won’t happen again. Owen says Austin is out of control and he needs to leave the WWF. He pleads to Vince to make the right decision. Owen is celebrating but Austin who is dressed in one of those riot gears on comes into the ring and stuns Owen. Damn, Austin jumps the shark too soon on taking off the helmet. The cameraman missed it so the pop was delayed.

The Undertaker makes his way down to the ring, but the Bulldog and Bret attack him on the ramp. The Patriot and Vader make the save. Those 4 brawl to the back, Shawn and Hunter then attack Taker on the ramp. Taker fights back and stalks Shawn into the ring, Hunter then attacks Taker from behind and the bell rings.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna & Shawn Michaels) vs. The Undertaker
This goes about a minute or so, Taker chokeslams Hunter. Rude comes down and nails Taker in the back with a metal briefcase. It’s a 4-1, as Rude pulls out a body bag. They place Taker in it and celebrate but Taker does the sit up and breaks free. They try to put the boot to him but Taker fights back, he stalks Shawn up the ramp. He tries to run through the certain but a weird red light and smoke scared him off. Shawn begins to climb the tron to get away, Hunter is then tombstoned on the steel ramp as RAW goes off the air.

 

[Deezy]

New Shining Stars should adopt this gimmick.

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Vacant
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF In Your House: Badd Blood
October 5th, 1997
St. Louis, Missouri

Commentary: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler

RIP Brian Pillman

The Nation of Domination vs. The Legion of Doom
JR confirms Shamrock is still injured from his match against Faarooq. LOD say they want it 2-3, the Nation accepts. Typical LOD match, run through you, no sell your shit. Oh, you can get some heat on them, but don’t expect them to sell a body part or even the effects of the match. The Nation isolates Animal after hits a sweet DDT, it’s alright D-Lo shines like the future mid-card star he is. Rocky is getting better, match by match. Kama is just there. The best part of the match is the two false Hawk hot tags, the Nation would sucker the ref in so he wouldn’t see the Hawk tag. So as the ref is forcing him back out, the Nation would do a double or triple team for a near fall. Hawk would eventually get the hot tag and clean house, this might be the soberest I’ve seen Hawk all year. The match breaks down, LOD seems to have the match won as they go for the Doomsday, but Faarooq runs down to distract Hawk allowing Kama to spin kick him into a Rock bottom (Not yet called the Rock Bottom) for the win. *1/2 - *3/4

Sunny and Dox is backstage, hyping up backstage interviews and the WWF Phone lines.

At ringside, Vince McMahon talks about Brian Pillman’s death. He says he was found dead in his hotel room, and as soon as they find out more information he’ll let us know.

Tarantula & Mosaic vs. Max Mini & Nova
The usual, tons of dives, spots, and comedy, this also has a ton of botches and mishaps. I don’t think it went longer than 20 without one, it also ends just out of nowhere when Max goes his crucifix pin for the win.

Sunny comes down to the ring to do her weekly ring introductions.

WWF Tag Team Championships: The Godwinns (w/Uncle Cletus) vs. The Headbangers
FUCKIN’ 12 MINUTES, FUCKIN’ 12 MOTHERFUCKIN MINUTES!?!?!?!! I did like that both teams tried their best to cripple one another as well as themselves, just a shame they failed to do so because they can’t do anything right. The match was so bad, that they had to get a replay on one of the headbangers tongue piercings. JR, Vince, and Lawler pretty much shit on everyone in this match just making jokes. The Godwinns win the title and I don’t care, I just want this year to be over already. After the match; The Godwinns attack the headbangers because this is what the people want.

A video package airs on Stone Cold running rampage the past couple of weeks on RAW.

Michael Cold is backstage, he says Austin is here but won’t talk to anybody. Owen interrupts saying if Austin interferes he will sue the WWF.

Jim Ross is in the ring and introduces a lot of the legends of St. Louis wrestling and a video play on the TRON to give background. JR brings out Gene Kiniski, Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race, Terry Funk, Sam Muchnick, and Lou Thesz. Cool 8-minute segment.

Backstage: Dox interviews Faarooq and the Nation, Faarooq says Austin needs to stay out of Nation business.

Vince says Police seem to think it might be an OD that killed Brian Pillman

Both Owen and Faarooq make their way down to the ring, Stone Cold then comes out with the IC title. Slaughter is at ringside with a chair set up for him to sit at ringside Austin sits but then grabs the ring bell and rings the bell, he then takes Vince’s headset and proceeds to do commentary before giving it back.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Faarooq vs. Owen Hart
This is about 6 minutes, not the best heel vs. heel match. IDK wanna say Owen doesn’t care, but he’s clearly not feeling it. Austin takes it upon himself to troll Vince, JR, and King. He also joins the Spanish and French announce table to talk trash. It’s pretty much the Austin show with two guys in the ring to fill time. Neidhart comes out, which I think is his first or second tv appearance in like SummerSlam. He distracts the ref, and Austin nails Faarooq in the head with the IC title, Owen covers for the win and everyone is confused. Austin then throws the belt into the ring and leaves.

Vince McMahon announces the flag match will now be won by capturing the flag, Pinfalls and Submissions LOOOOOLZ Why even make it a flag match, wait does this mean neither Vader or Patriot is in shape to climb a pole

8 Man Tag Team Match: Los Boricuas vs. The Disciples of Apocalypse
Fuckin Atrocious, way too long, way too shit. Biker smurfs are not over, Boricuas are just as bad. Shitty traditional match for 8 minutes, if you’re gonna book guys who just brawl, why not just make it a tornado no tags match and make it chaotic. You can do that without using weapons too. Fuck this company.

Backstage: Michael Cole interviews Bret Hart and The Bulldog, Bret says Americans are dreaming if they think they are winning tonight.And they will prove once again that they're better than any two Americans.

Backstage: Dox interviews The Patriot and Vader, Patriot says he will not let Vader down….the usual shit. But, Vader says “The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be? WHAT A LOAD OF HORSESHIT”

Flag Match: Bret Hart & The British Bulldog vs. The Patriot & Vader
This starts off fuckin amazing, Bret/Vader brawl along with Patriot/Bulldog, but the camera is mostly on Vader/Bret which is shades of the Final 4 amazingness. Sadly it goes all downhill from here, 1st it goes 20 more minutes. 2, Bret and Bulldog regroup on the floor, and Vader and Patriot just fucking stand in the ring and watch them instead of going for the fuckin’ flag. IDIOTS! It turns into a normal tag, Vader carries his team as best as he can. So does Bret, this just seems to go on forever. Harts isolate Patriot and Bulldog, so we get the rare double heat segment on a tag team. Bret got a roll up on Patriot with the tights for the win. Thank god this feud is over. **

Survivor Series, November 9th, 1997 Live from Montreal

Backstage: Dox interviews Shawn Michaels, Shawn says there's some good news and some bad news, good news this match is not for my European championship, that will stay around my waist. Now, the bad news. A 15-foot cage, no way in or no way out. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m THE HEADLINER, THE SHOWSTOPPA, THE MAIN EVENT! And that I’m the most tenacious man in the WWF, and ain’t nobody crazy enough to do this gig apart from the Heartbreak Kid.

Hell In A Cell Match: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
Cool moment as the Cell is lowered and the door is chair shut, the realization sits on with Shawn, he tries to run but theirs nowhere to run. Taker pretty much beats the shit out of Shawn it’s not on the Ground Zero level but he’s still pretty dominant. Shawn’s bumping is still the best ever along with his facial expressions. Taker is like that dead man evil boss final boss level in his element, everything Shawn did Taker would walk through it with his slow walk and dishes out even more deadly offense. Shawn gets his real first flurry of offense in that are not punches when he knocks Taker off the ring apron into the cage mesh. He would follow with a sweet suicide dive to the floor showing Taker back first into the cage. Shawn begins using the steps as a weapon dropping them onto the back of Taker, he then piledrives him onto the bottom steps which looked and sounded AWESOME! I liked that Shawn’s offense is aerial and high flying, but Taker keeps coming. Shawn brings in a chair, which started it all. So that’s a nice little tie-in to how this all began, it would come into play later and is used better. Shawn nails him in the back 2 times and covers for two. Shawn is backdropped and falls on top of the cameraman, Shawn is pissed and begins beating up the cameraman which forces Officials and Slaughter to come out to open the cage. As it is opened, Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music, but Taker sits up. Shawn decides that it and bails through the door. Taker chases him to the outside and Shawn goes for a dropkick but Taker catches both legs, he slingshots him and sends him face first into the cage mesh busting him open. Taker smells blood, pun intended and proceeds to send Shawn into the cage over and over again until Shawn tries to climb away by climbing to the top. TAKER THEN CLIMBS UP TOO AND BEATS HIM UP ON TOP OF THE CELL TOO. AWESOME! Moment is as Taker is grinding Shawn’s face on the top mesh blood is pouring down out of Shawn’s head, it hits one of the camera lenses and you hear one of the camera men yell “AHHHH SHIT” Shawn tries to climb down but just like a scene in a movie Taker steps on Shawn;s hands and SHAWN FALLS OFF THE CELL CRASHING THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE HOLY SHIT! Taker climbs down and drags Shawn lifeless body back into the cell and into the ring. Taker hits a fuckin’ chokeslam off the top, but he’s not done HE GRABS A CHAIR AND ABSOLUTELY KILLS SHAWN WITH A CHAIR SHOT FOR REVENGE, NOT JUST THE CHAIRSHOT AT SUMMERSLAM BUT THE RAW CHAIR SHOT WHICH BUSTED HIM OPEN!!!! IT ALL COMES FULL CIRCLE! He’s not done, Taker signals for the tombstone but the lights go out…………….. "THAT'S...THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE” Kane along with Paul Bearer make their way down to the ring, Kane rips off the chain off the door and rips the door off its hinges. Taker is in shock as Kane does his fire taunt, Taker doesn’t know what to do so Kane picks up the Undertaker and tombstones him and leaves, Shawn lifeless body somehow manages to drop his arm over Taker’s chest and the ref counts the three. This holds up really well. It’s top 2 all time in WWF/E history of matches and has to be top 5 in all wrestling matches. Everything was done to perfection, it's a really important match in that not only did it debut Kane, but it set the standard for future HIAC matches. Triple H and Chyna come to pick Shawn up from his poodle of blood and bring him to the back. FUCKIN’ GOAT MATCH. *****

So there it is the match that changed my life forever. I remember it like it was yesterday and not 20 years ago. As a young 6-year-old, I stayed at one of my mom's friends house. He was a couple of years older than me, we were playing with lego’s, green army men and these little Ninjas. When he said I have something to show me, he pulled out this bootleg VHS and put it on the TV. As soon as it hit play it was the spot when Shawn falls off the Cell through the table and MY YOUNG 6-YEAR-OLD MIND WAS BLOWN!!!!! I had so many questions but didn’t know how to say it as my eyes were glued to the screen. With my jaw dropped. He immediately rewinds the tape to the start of the match and I put down all the toys and just watched. In amazement of these two mean just beating the holy hell out of one another, with no remorse. But not the craziest part, seeing a man who was dressed in all red as my friend told me he was supposed to be dead as he was burnt as a kid make his way down and ripped off a cage door I was sold, oh I thought this was the greatest and most real thing I’ve ever seen. It wouldn’t be until 4 or 5 months later that I would watch another wrestling match or show, that show being the first RAW of the Austin era, I don’t know why I never followed up after watching, I just kept being a kid until I met other kids who liked wrestling and I got to what VHS recorded RAW’s the next day. No way, I was allowed to stay up at 1 am on school nights.

 

[Deezy]

I had Badd Blood on VHS and watched it more times than I probably should've. I know the exact moment when you can see HBK pull the blade out and when he slides it across his forehead.

Bret and Davey Boy were not working heel in that flag match.

And Headbangers/Godwinns highspot was phinneus and Josh catching their spit.

 

[Crippler]

I had Badd Blood on VHS and watched it more times than I probably should've. I know the exact moment when you can see HBK pull the blade out and when he slides it across his forehead.

Bret and Davey Boy were not working heel in that flag match.

And Headbangers/Godwinns highspot was phinneus and Josh catching their spit.

it was just before the catapult he cuts himself. IDK what they did in that flag match, shit was house show level nonsense. FUCK EVERYTHING Headbangers/Godwinns

 

[Deezy]

Headbangers will come back and become tag team champions.