WWF Raw, PPV's 1997 Reviews

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Owen Hart
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Godwinns
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 228
October 6th, 1997
Kansas City, Missouri

Vince McMahon is in the ring and tells the crowd about Pillman’s death, all the superstars are on the ramp. They then do the 10 bell salute. Nice little “Pillman” chant breaks out.

Michael Cole is in the ring and introduces Shawn Michaels, Chyna and now Triple H. Cole asks Shawn on his thoughts on his match last night, Shawn and Triple H give him an official hello from the Kliq, they proceed to give him wedgies. Shawn says last night the WWF put all their hopes and dreams of ending the HBK, well I’m here and guess who’s not here. Last night I proved to the world that I am simply the best sports entertainer in the world today, I took down the Undertaker. He says he is now an official icon in the WWF and the only icon that can still go. H asks who the man is, and Shawn says he is. He asks who the showstopper is, and he says he is. He asks who the main event is, and again Shawn says he is. He goes to show footage from last night, but instead…….the Curtain Call from MSG in 1996 airs Vince is pissed and upset, Shawn says what’s the matter. Is your dad rolling in his grave, he says has his family traditions come to an end because me and my buddies mad an ass out of you? Come on. You were and ass long before I made on out of you. Shawn and Hunter continue to troll as we cut to a commercial

When we return Shawn, Triple H, Chyna and now Rude are still at ringside. The Hart Foundation come out on the stage, Bret says boy toy, yeah USA go look at your big hero. Because this is what is has come down to. Shawn Michaels, you are a disgrace to wrestling. I’m a 2nd generation wrestler, you are nothing but the lowest form of scum. HE CALLS SHAWN A DEGENERATE! And says he knows what the HHH in HBK stands for, YOUR NOTHING BUT A HOMO AND THAT GUY IN THE GREEN (Triple H) IS NOTHING BUT A HOMO lmao Bret says he may have barebacked your way to some kind of the main event, one PPV after another but the face is I make more money than all 3 of you combined in the ring and the WWF title is what it’s all about. Bret says Shawn will never be the showstopper until he beats him for the title. He says he’s gonna run Shawn out of the WWF like he did Diesel and RAZOR, but first, he challenges Hunter to a match first. Shawn tells Bret to suck it and says he may have made more money but he doesn’t have more money. He says he wrestlers once a week, once a month while the hitman wrestles every day because he needs it He says he’s in the business because the business needs him. Bret is a 0 my hero, and the only way for him to get into the main event is to wrestle him. He calls Bret a paper champ and a good supporting cast to his PPV. Shawn says Bret didn't destroy the Kliq and says the expansion is not destruction, and the Kliq owns pro wrestling, and at Survivor Series, they'll own him.

Lumberjack Match: The Headbangers vs. The Godwinns (w/Uncle Cletus)
I hate lumberjack matches, it just a waste of time and always ends in terrible fuckery. All the stables are at ringside along with all the jobbers. Thankfully it’s only 4 minutes or so, LOD are the most over and get the majority of the chants. The ref gets bumped so LOD interfered hitting one of the Godwinns with the bucket, everyone brawls in the ring and out on the floor that allows Mosh to roll up Godwinn for the win.

Jim Cornette is getting a LIVE mic put on him.

Miguel Perez vs. Marc Mero (w/Sable)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY GOD WHY?! Sable tho, but still fuckin’ Mero he comes out with this new boxing attire and not the fully shaved head. The majority of this is a terrible Mero showcase outside his cool little body blows, I’ll give him that. He wins with the TKO.

​

Rocky Maivia (w/The Nation of Domination) vs. The British Bulldog (w/The Hart Foundation)
This is fine, weird clash as both men are heels so it doesn’t really click. Rocky is getting better, but his corner kicks look god awful, he looks like he was doing the Stanky leg. Neither sells because neither work a body part it’s just moves and random stuff. Bulldog hits the running powerslam out of nowhere for the win. After the match; The Harts are celebrating but Faarooq rushes over and begins whipping them like they his kids all 8 begin to brawl until refs break it up. *1/2

Vince McMahon is in the ring, and out comes Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince asks Austin why he helped Owen win, and Austin says he does what he wants when he wants he doesn’t give a rats ass if Vince owns the company. Vince asks for Austin’s papers, and Austin says he ain’t been to see no doctor so he ain’t got no paper, jackass. Vince pulls out his release paperwork. Austin says he'd like to get back in the ring so he'll sign it, and he'll sign it under the condition that he gets Owen Hart in a match for the IC title. Vince says he'll shake on it, but Austin wants it in writing because he doesn't trust his word. Faarooq and the Nation appear on the TRON and says Austin ain’t tough, tough is having to fight you brothers to see who gets to wear the only jacket to school. Tough is waking up on Christmas watching your younger siblings cry because they don’t have bikes to ride like the rest of the kids. Faarooq says Austin’s ass belongs to him and the Nation. Austin tells him to shut up and once all this legal BS is done, he’ll take on him and the Nation. It ain’t a race thing or a color thing it’s just a him kicking their ass thing.

Backstage: Hawk says Owen Hart is gonna be the shortest IC champ ever.

Owen Hart comes down to the ring and gets on the mic, he says he hopes Austin is reinstated. He can’t wait to get his hands on him. He knows Austin tried to have him DQ’ed but it backfired, and if Austin ever wants to get back in the ring with him. Don’t let papers or neck injury hold him back.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Owen Hart vs. Hawk
They go no longer than 2 minutes before the Godwinns come out to watch, they hit Hawk with a bucket but gets two. Animal tries to run out to save, but they stop him from getting in. One of the Godwinns hits Hawk with a horseshoe and Owen covers for the win.

Vince interviews Pillman’s wife from her house, very emotional and hard to watch. I don’t feel comfortable watching or writing about it. They air a nice little video tribute afterward.

The lights go out……….AND KANE COMES OUT! Along with Paul Bearer, they come down to the ring and KANE kills the Hardy Boyz. Bearer introduces Kane he says Kane will destroy everyone until The Undertaker faces his brother, and welcomes The Undertaker to his worst nightmare.

Triple H (w/Chyna) vs. Bret Hart
Cool for 8 minutes, obviously MOTN. Bret is super aggressive and Triple H is doing his best mid-card bumping since the Mankind feud. Both guys go back and forth hitting moves and stuff, Bret comes out and puts the Canadian flag up his nose, he pretends like he’s a fish hooked Owen and Jim also come down to watch. They continue to go back and forth until Chyna distracts Bret on the floor, and Shawn Superkicks him behind the ref's back. Bret is counted out as the harts chase Shawn around the ring. **1/2

 

[Deezy]

Fuck Shawn Michael's and triple h during this time.

Booking themselves to be so much better than the guys carrying the heel side for like 7 months. Scooping their heat and making them homophobes and racists during a time when one of their members died.

And I'm not even going to talk about Melanie Pillmans interview, it's not the interview that's a scumbag move, but advertising all night is. Probably one of the absolute worst things this company has done that wasn't an angle.

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Owen Hart
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Godwinns
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 229
October 13th, 1997
Topeka, Kansas

A video package on LOD airs, in the video package JR says the LOD have vowed to win the tag titles or will retire, WAY TO CONFIRM THE TITLE CHANGE!

Vince McMahon is in the ring and brings out the Hart Foundation minus the Bulldog. Vince confirms Bulldog isn’t here as he’s celebrating both an Anniversary and a Birthday. Vince asks him about his upcoming match with Shawn…………..Before Bret can talk, Shawn and Hunter appear on the TRON! Shawn says Bret is curtain jerking on his card and at Survivor Series they will be in Canada, Shawn replays last week when he stuffed his nose with the flag. Triple H says he’s younger than him, better than him and bigger than him in more ways than one. Bret challenges them to fight right now, Shawn says he would take him up on his challenge and the last time he did it was WrestleMania and he beat him, Shawn says at SSeries he’s gonna take that stupid piece of tin off his shoulders. Triple pretends he wants to fight, and Shawn holds him back. Shawn says he’s tired of Generation X getting a bad rep, Triples H says you think you’re a degenerate? Shawn asks the same to him and says he’s positive he’s one, Triple H says he guess he’d have to be one. Shawn says DEGENERATION X, IS THAT US? D-GENERATION X, TRIPLE H, HBK, RAVISHING RICK, CHYNA! WE ARE D-GENERATION X. YOU MAKE THE RULES AND WE WILL BREAK THEM, YEAH! Bret says they won’t make it to Survivor Series. The Nation of Domination comes out.

Owen Hart (w/The Hart Foundation) vs. Kama (w/The Nation of Domination)
D-Generation X come out, Rude, HHH and HBK do commentary. They pretty make jokes on the Harts all match long. They also get 50% of the air time so you miss most of the match and the flow of the match. Shawn taunts Bret so he tries to fight him, so the Nation then comes over and every brawl. Shawn trolls Bret as he gets his ass kicked and taunts him the whole time.

Backstage: The Godwinns say they are gonna get rid of LOD forever, tonight is gonna be a war and it’s gonna be worth it to get rid of LOD.

Mosaic & Tarantula vs. Max Mini & Nova
Really short, no pun intended.This had the usual spots, dives, and comedy. Max wins off a sunset flip pin.

On Shotgun Saturday Night; Rockabilly and the Road Dogg join forces.

Flash Funk comes out for his match against Shawn Michaels………………….BUT INSTEAD KANE COMES OUT, Kane destroys him and leaves him dead after a tombstone. DX come out, Shawn covers Funk while HHH counts the pin. Shawn acts like he won the WWF title as Rude announces Shawn as the winner.

Disciples of Apocalypse vs. The Truth Commission
I think this is Jackyl’s RAW debut, cause I haven’t seen him until now. I’m sure he’s been on Shotgun though. This is pretty shit, Lawler and Vince just use the time to talk about the president and all his fuckeries. This also ends in DQ fuckery and a gang brawl.

Vince McMahon is in the ring and introduces Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince has the contract with him reinstating him for Survivor Series, Austin says he wants Vince to sign first so Vince does, and Austin follows. Vince says it’s official, Austin says theirs just one thing left to do……………..Shake my hand. Vince looks nervous and does shake his hand, Austin goes to leave but Vince asks him about Badd Blood. Austin says Faarooq was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's got nothing against him or his Nation. He says he wants Owen Hart and the IC Title, and he wants them both real fast. Faarooq and the Nation are on the stage, Faarooq says what he did was cross the railroad tracks and he thought his people knew what happens when that happens. And now his ass belongs to The Nation. Austin says he didn't understand one damn word he says, but it sounds like he's pissed off at him, so he challenges him or any one of them to fight. Rocky runs down and takes a stunner, The Nation runs out and Austin leaves through the crowd.

Backstage: LOD shit on Hogan and Savage saying they are over the hill and say they’re not lmao

Brian Christopher vs. Tajiri
Fine Tajiri carry job, he does what he can. Lawlers kid gets the win on a roll up and by holding the tights

Jim Cornette SHITS on Phil Mushnick.

Vince is on one tonight, he spends 2 minutes just shitting on Hogan

Savio Vega (w/Los Boricuas) vs. Goldust (w/Marlena)
JR says Goldust and Marlena were scheduled to renew their wedding vows last week, but since Pillman passing, they decided against it out of respect to his family. This is fine for what it was, Boricuas interfere and the ref catches them, so he sends them to the back. Savio has now added spin kicks to his heel offense, it’s like the majority of his stuff is chokes and spin kicks Goldust nails Savio with her loaded purse for the win.

Up Next: Triple H vs. The Patriot

Triple H along with the rest of DX come out, The Patriot comes out but Rude throws hot coffee in his face and hits him in the head with the briefcase Triple H and Shawn celebrate but Slaughter comes out…..He stumbles through his promo before bringing out Ahmed Johnson as his replacement. Ahmed comes out but The Nation run down and attack him, so DX use this time to bail up the ramp. Rude brings out popcorn and hey all eat it while watching. LOD make the save which brings out the Godwinns.

WWF Tag Team Championships: The Legion of Doom vs. The Godwinns (w/Uncle Cletus)
I should mention during the whole night they air these mini clips of LOD talking about LOD e.g. the LOD name, Wemberly in ’92 & Paul Ellering. Way to confirm even more that LOD are winning. They try to work it as some big epic match, but the Godwinns are so bad and unbelievable at being the champions, "top guys", best tag team in the company or even a threat that it’s a fail. It also doesn’t help that LOD are in way better shape and not really that smaller, so they can’t even do the underdog story. Plus this is LOD, they give no fucks about your offense and make sure they get their shit in before no-selling yours. They work this story were halfway through the match Animal has to go to the back after being sent to the back, he doesn’t even make it to the back he makes it the ramp before coming back. But while that was happening one of the Godwinns hit the slop drop on the ref confirming they can’t even beat Hawk in a 3-1, which i'm fine with but you have to at least show frustration or need a bit of a longer match, no a 45 seconds max of 3-1 then attacking the ref. Animal no sells the arm, but they can’t hit Doomsday as Cletus pushes Hawk off, he then comes in and accidently hits Henry with the horseshoe. The other Godwinn goes for a piledriver but Hawk comes off the top with the flying clothesline for the win. After the match; The Godwinns attack Uncle Cletus and drop him with the slip bucket.*

 

[Deezy]

Would've been great if Bret just started calling Shawn a junkie and trips was his enabling little sycophant looking for a run back then.

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Owen Hart
WWF Tag Team Champions: Legion of Doom
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 230
October 20th, 1997
Oklahoma City

Ahmed Johnson & Ken Shamrock (w/Legion of Doom) vs. The Nation of Domination (Rocky Maivia & KAMA w/The Nation of Domination)
All 8 brawl before the bell with the faces cleaning house, as the match settles down and they clearly stall for a bit, DX come out on the stage with their own personal signs. “I’d rather be in Chyna”, “Spank me Vince”, “Who booked this crap?” stuff like that. Ahmed is terrible in this; he tries to cripple Rocky several times and even botches a clothesline to the floor. Ken great in showing intensity and stiffness. The match never develops, the Nation has a brief heat on Rock and ROCK debuts the people’s elbow, which is not named the “Peoples elbow” Rude comes down and begins talking with Faarooq. The match breaks down, allowing Faarooq to nail shamrock with Rude’s briefcase allowing Rocky to cover for the win. After the match; Ahmed brawls with the Nation to the back while LOD just casually walking up the ramp watching him The Godwinns then jump them from behind with trashcans.

Vince announces a former WCW champions will be here tonight:hm:

Tonight: The Undertaker & Bret vs. Faarooq & OWEN VS. SHAWN (TITLE VS. TITLE) WHAT!!!!!

Backstage: Michael Cole tries to get an interview, but he says they didn’t want to talk to him. He goes into their locker room and sees it’s been trashed. They spray-paint the walls with “WE HATE YOU” “GO HOME” “Anti-KFC” But also a “CANADA RULES” with a Canadian flag.

Faarooq comes down to the ring and gets in Vince’s face; he asks if Vince is a racist. He yells this is the doing of the white man; he grabs a mic and says this country was born off the black people. He challenges Bret to get his pale ass out here.

Faarooq (w/The Nation of Domination) vs. Bret Hart (w/The Hart Foundation)
Way too fuckin short, especially with them forcing this feud on us randomly. DX again comes out to do commentary. Bret sees Shawn and tries to get to him, which leads to all hell breaking lose as we go into a commercial. DX bail to the back and the match continues. Bret briefly works the knee it’s fine, Faarooq half ass sells it. Again everyone brawls, Austin randomly comes through the crowd and hits Faarooq with a stunner and leaves. I guess he’s cool with Hart’s now, or his hate towards BLACKS is stronger than his hate for the Harts. Bret covers for the win. *3/4

Jeff Jarrett comes down to the ring and grabs the mic, he says he knows Vince wanted this big introduction, but this couldn’t wait. Jeff says last week, on Monday Nitro, Jeff Jarrett was declared everything but dead since he refused to re-sign with WCW. Eric Bischoff tried to bury him like a coward and hid behind his computer and told the world he pulled the offer. He says the only thing he ever pulled from Jeff Jarrett was opportunity since he wasn't one of his boys, he put a lid on his potential. He says there was never any ladder of success for him to climb and he was one of the youngest and most talented guys there, but he was let drown in mediocrity, just because his stroke was strong enough. Look at who you book me with? an ex-football player who can't even lock up, and his wife who gives the meaning to the phrase dumb blonde. He tells Vince to stop smiling because he left WWF two years ago for the same reason, he says Eric did it out of either ignorance or inexperience, what were your excuses? Remember the gold tooth? The country music star? He says Vince’s vision sucked. Jeff says he got booked with a clown, a drug addict, a black man who can't even speak, and Vince tried to kill him off too, but couldn't get the job done. Since he couldn't put out his dad's company like every other company, the next best thing must have been to kill off his son, but not only did he survive, but he walked out on HIM. And now he's paying him a whole lot more money the second time because he needs Jeff Jarrett. He can take "With My Baby Tonight" and stick it up his butt, and now it's Jeff Jarrett's way. If he tries to stop him, he'll pack his bags and walk right out the door again, he asks Vince if he can afford it. He says Bret Hart is living on past recognition, Shawn Michaels is proud of only wrestling once a week he asks can Shawn still go this dumb fuck not watch HIAC or even ground Zero? And all he is doing is running around and point at his crotch and give hand signs to his boys in Atlanta. He WAS the main event, the attraction, now he’s just broken hiding behind his attitude. He says Austin will always be the Ringmaster and as far as your blasphemous merch, Austin 3:16 offends him. And someday it will be his Judgement Day.

Brian Christopher (w/Jerry “The King” Lawler) vs. Marc Mero (w/Sable)
LOOOOOOOOOOOL Lawler left commentary during the commercial to come out with Lawler just to go back on commentary. Pretty obvious, Sable was the only highlight, Mero’s body blows look great as usual. Lawler leaves commentary and gets Sable to wear an Austin hat, to sell his merch. Mero doesn’t care until he sees it. He throws the hat into the crowd allowing Lawler kid jump him from behind. Mero doesn’t care and hits a low blow followed by the TKO for the win. *

Awesome video package on Owen/Shawn, they call Owen the real hitman as they show clips of Owen concussion Shawn and Breaking Austin’s neck, I guess this match is up next and not in the main event.

WWF Intercontinental Championship vs. WWF European Championship: Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
I have no idea why this isn’t the main event, I have no idea why this was booked, I have no idea why this didn’t get any build? Just like 2017, 1997 is just weird, man. Before the match; Owen says he wants to keep all the stable members in the back, leaving this just them. Rude, Chyna and H come out. Rude’s mic doesn’t work so they stall until it gets fixed. Rude says “what he’d like to have right now, is for all you sleazy, slimy, Oklahoma idiots button their lips and open their eyes. It’s time for the Main Event……….He then introduces Shawn Michaels. Shawn sends DX to the back. No real story to the match, just two amazing wrestlers with great chemistry bumping for one another. During the commercial; Shawn piledrives Owen on the floor, Owen pretty much no sells it and goes right into offense when we return. Shawn’s bumping is just so fluent and amazing, Shawn hits the elbow but misses the kick. Owen then hits the Enzuiguri but makes the same mistake by celebrating and not covering. Austin hops the railing and stuns the ref, cause why challenge for two titles at Survivor Series when you can just have the one. Owen is in shock but walks right into SCM. Bret Hart runs out now and attacks Shawn. DX make the save and pulls Shawn to safety, refs and officials rush down before the Harts can to stop the brawl before it can happen. I guess the match is over and a no contest then. Good match. ***

Up NEXT: Undertaker breaks his silence & Dude/Bulldog

In the back; Taker says for 20 years he’s been carting the grief of a family lost. And in one moment the brother that he lost forever, or so it seemed is standing before him. And as he looked in his eyes he didn’t see the love of a long lost brother, instead of the hatred of a man whose mind has been poisoned. And yet Paul, I am living in hell. I looked into his eyes and saw the demon. I WILL NEVER FIGHT MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD! I WILL NEVER FIGHT KANE!

Next WEEK: Shamrock/Bret for the WWF Championship

Dude Love comes out for his match…………But, instead of the Bulldog KANE comes out. Dude punches at KANE but it has no effects, he clotheslines Kane to the floor but just like Taker, Kane lands on his feet. Dude nails him with a chair but no effect so KANE chokeslams him n the ramp. He picks him up and again chokeslams him onto the steel.

The Headbangers vs. Billy Gunn & Road Dogg
Road Dogg comes out with a mic, he says “Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Children of all ages. I bring to you the original badass of the WWF, Bad Ass Billy Gunn. And for those of you who don’t know, you should call somebody. Call me Road Dogg” Dogg pelvic thrusts towards JR so JR shits on him calling it uncreative and pathetic He then calls Dogg and idiot Match is short, just here to give the new tag team a win over former champions. Gunn absolutely destroys the Headbangers boombox over one of their heads and Dogg covers for the win. After the match; Dogg goes over to commentary and calls Vince and JR freaks, then just calls Lawler a smurf really getting in their faces.

Sunny comes out making me question my all time THOT list, wearing this silver short dress. She’s here to do her weekly ring announcing.

Tajiri vs. TAKA Michinoku
Awesome 3-minute match, great dives, and spots. JR announces the light heavyweight tournament starts, November 3rd. It’s pretty much the same match they had the last time they wrestled just much shorter. TAKA hits the Michinoku Driver for the win. **

Jim Cornette SHITS on Phill Mushnick again.

The Godwinns vs. DOA, never happen as DOA attacks the Godwinns before the bell. Truth commission comes out and attacks DOA, IDK if they came out to help the Godwinns or just to get revenge. IDK even know anymore, I think every stable are heels? Nevermind fuck all that……………MANKIND IS IN THE BOILER ROOM! He says if the Undertaker has qualms about fighting his own brother, he has no principles because KANE I will fight you. Have a nice day.

 

[Deezy]

Cornette sound offs need to make a comeback imo

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Owen Hart
WWF Tag Team Champions: Legion of Doom
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 231
October 27th, 1997
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Vince McMahon is in the ring and brings out the Nation of Domination; Rocky has this all black t-shirt with just a big ass R on it. Faarooq says he wants to know why racism is still in the WWF. Vince says he and the WWF are sorry, Faarooq says you think you can just come out here and apologize for over 400 years of slavery. He says he’s a new breed of black man, he threatens Vince so Vince quickly changes the subject. Rocky grabs the mic, and they force Vince to leave. He says Hart Foundation crossed the line last week, now it is a black and a white thing. Being the straight shooter he is, he’s dealt with racism every day. He gonna knock their asses down and they won’t get back up. Faarooq challenges the Harts to a match next week. The Hart Foundation comes and Bret accepts the match, but then says, more importantly, he comes from a country where there is no racial prejudice. We love people for what they are inside, he says Shawn Michaels and his boy top Triple H are responsible for these problems. DX comes on the TRON. Shawn says Bret is a grand wizard and his KKK buddies don't believe him, it was the Harts all along. Shawn says Bret’s leather jacket wasn’t his first choice it was a white sheet. Triple H said while the Harts were spraypainting the room he overheard then using the N-WORD! The Nation runs up the ramp to attack the Harts. It is all pulled apart. Bret hurts his ankle during this.

Tonight: Shamrock/Bret & Owen/Ahmed

Goldust (w/Marlena) vs. Triple H (w/D-Generation X)
Shawn Michaels joins commentary, this is fine, nothing special. Just like their early in the year matches. Chyna slams Goldust onto the steel ramp. Triple H doesn’t work the back, he just does a bunch of moves and Goldust is just mailing it in at this point. Hunter takes his shitty corner bump to the floor, so Marlena comes over and slaps him twice. That allows Chyna to pick up Marlena’s loaded purse and nail Goldust in the head with it behind the refs back. He follows up with the Pedigree. Shawn trolls post match and tells Vince to “SUCK IT” *3/4

​

Earlier tonight, WWF showed respect to the legends again. JR, Bill Watt, Brisco brothers and Danny Hodge.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Owen Hart vs. Ahmed Johnson
Damn, Ahmed is getting fat now. He must be so depressed with all the injuries or wants to be fired. Or he’s trying to get pregnant like Neidhart. Owen bumps well for all of Ahmed’s terrible looking power moves. Ahmed kicks and spits on the Canadian flag while Owen stalls on the floor, Owen slaps Ahmed before low blowing him behind the ref's back. The Nation come out onto the stage, Owen awesomely works the hand, he slams it in between the steel steps and steps on them. Ahmed doesn’t sell BECAUSE FUCK REAL LIFE INJURES!! He starts hulking up and makes his comeback, he hits this god awful scissors kick followed by a spine buster……………But, Stone Cold comes through the crowd and stuns Ahmed Johnson for a DQ. *3/4

Mankind comes down to the ring, JR joins him in the ring. JR replays footage of KANE destroying Dude Love. Mankind says Dude Love, just wanted to make people smile. He wanted to have fun, he wanted the people to have fun. He wanted to make the world a little happier. what Paul Bearer did is he took an innocent kid and ruined him, and now he's here to pick up the pieces. So what disturbs him is that they parted ways without a cross word, and he thought they had an unspoken truce that he doesn't bother him, and he won't bother him. But last week bothered him a great deal, and now he has no choice but to make his life a living hell. If he thinks Kane will roll over everyone en route to The Undertaker, he just ran into one hell of a road block. Think back, matches no human can endure. Slaughter comes out and says he cannot sanction a match between two men, and Mankind says it's a shame he's standing between him and Kane. Because he has some very bad things planned for Kane, but in order for him to do those things, something very bad has to happen to him……………..MANKIND APPLIES THE MANDIBLE CLAW TO SLAUGHTER!!!!!!

WWF World Heavyweight Championship: Ken Shamrock vs. Bret Hart
Real good mat wrestling opening segment, Ken isn’t the most fluent but he’s getting better he keeps going to submissions to end it early, Ken smartly works the ankle and we see how smart Bret is, because he “injured” it earlier in the night, so we kinda believe that Ken might be able to pull off the upset. Ken randomly stops working it once Bret gets to his feet and starts using strikes, so Bret clips the knee and begins targeting it. Shamrock sells really well and has a nice comeback, Bret tries to bring a chair in but Ken steps on it before nailing Bret with an elbow. Ken blocks the Russian leg sweep into a belly-to-belly. Shamrock counter the Sharpshooter into the Ankle Lock but Bret bumps the ref, Ken breaks the hold to check on the ref which allows Bret to nail Ken with the steel chair. Bret applies the sharpshooter but Shawn runs down and superkicks Bret. He begins punching away at him, but KEN SNAPS AND HE BEGINS BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF HIM! Refs and Officials come out to put a stop to this along with DX and the Harts. Bret and Shawn are slow to get up, but then lock eyes and they have a great little pull apart brawl. ***

Backstage: Bret says everytime he turns around Shawn is jumping him, and after SSeries he won’t have to deal with this anymore. He says this will be the end, in CANADA!

The NEW Blackjacks vs. Bill Gunn & Road Dogg
Pretty dead heel vs. heel match, they kinda just do stuff for 2 minutes until Gunn sneaks in a chair shot as Bradshaw runs off the ropes and Road Dogg covers for the win. After the match; The Godwinns attack the blackjacks, WHY!!!! BECAUSE VINCE ANNOUNCES THAT THE Godwinns and Gunn/Dogg will be teaming up at SSeries NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Headbangers come out to save.

JR is in the ring and out comes KANE and Paul Bearer, Paul tells JR to keep his mind out his business.He calls Mankind an idiot and says he’s just a pebble on KANE’S path of destruction. He says Taker is not living in hell, he has no clue what hell is. Kane is the one that was living in hell. He tells Taker to come meet his brother and face his judgment day.

Marc Mero (w/Sable) vs. Flash Funk
Terrible Mero showcase, Funk bumps for him well and hits a sweet moonsault but a low blow and the TKO ends it.

JR interviews, Jeff says last week after his promo a lot of people called him cocky, he says there's a line between cocky and confident, he’s just confident. JR asks why he left the WWF? Jeff says he waited all his life for the WWF, but when he got here Vince, had this vision for double J. Jeff pretty much repeats the promo saying is forced it on him and he just wanted to be himself. Jeff says the day he left was one of the greatest days ever, JR asks him about WCW. Jeff says WCW gave him nothing, no ladder and says if you don’t have a stroke you don't get any spotlight. He says WCW stars had great track records in the past. But for me and Shawn In the ring, and I’ll put that up against anything. He says in-ring doesn’t matter in WCW. Jeff says go to a WWF show, you get action bell to bell for 2 hours, at WCW you don’t get that. Their top 6 wrestlers are over 40, in WWF you have maybe 1? NEXT WEEK; Jeff shoots on Shawn, Hogan and future opportunities.

Road Dogg and Bill Gunn come down to ringside, JR tries to interview but they ignore him.

Los Boricuas vs. The Legion of Doom
Typical LOD match, Gunn, and Dogg steal the LOD shoulder pads and put it on to mock them. The Doomsday Device ends it. LOD chases them to the back to end the show.

Backstage: Ahmed Johnson says what Austin did by putting his hands on him, was enter his ZONE! He says his zone is like the end zone. You scored on me, so now it’s my turn to score on you. He says look out. I’M COMING TO GET YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

 

[Deezy]

So basically Hart foundation are racists and the Nation are gullible dummies.

 

[Crippler]

Guess the Nation can't put the colors DX used on their signs to the same colors used to wreck the dressing room.

 

[Deezy]

Guess the Nation can't put the colors DX used on their signs to the same colors used to wreck the dressing room.

WWF saying black men can't do math

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Bret Hart
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Owen Hart
WWF Tag Team Champions: Legion of Doom
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 232
November 3rd, 1997
Hershey, Pennsylvania

Jim Ross and Jim Cornette are on commentary

Vince McMahon is in the ring and brings out Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince says finally the match he’s wanted since SummerSlam is his. Austin says it pisses him off that he had to wait this long, he says Survivor Series will not be a wrestling match, and paybacks are hell. Vince says he’s ticked off everyone in Canada, the Harts, the nation and now Ahmed. Austin says what he did was watch Owens back to make sure he’s the one to take the title off him, he says the Nation and Ahmed were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Ahmed comes out as refs surround him, trying to stop him from coming down. He doesn’t listen. Ahmed says up until last week he respected Austin, now he promises to kick his ass, he challenges Austin to a match tonight. Austin asks the crowd “IF ANYBODY WANTS TO SEE AHMED JOHNSON GET HIS ASS WHIPPED, GIVE ME A HELL YEAH” “HELL YEAH”

Tonight: Bulldog/Vader in a dog collar match.

Sunny comes out for her weekly ring announcing.

WWF Light Heavyweight Title Tournament: Super LoCo vs. Aguila
Fuckin’ Lawler's kid joins commentary; good match a shit ton of flips, dives and fancy moves. Lawler's kid just spends the majority of the match shitting on the wrestlers. JR spends most of the match making jokes about Lawler’s kid being Lawler’s kid. Jim doesn’t know the moves so he says a bunch of stuff, this is one blended up mess. Aguila hits a twisting crossbody splash off the top for the win.

JR shows an interview with Goldust and Marlena, JR says the future is bright for them. Marlena says it is, it was hard being away from the two people she loves more than anything. It’s nice to be home. Goldust looks mad and upset, during this. Marlena says her kid is now in pre-school. Goldust says everything out her mouth is making him sick. He says for long he’s lived for his father and for her, he says for the 7 years he’s been treated as a dog. He asks her, who is he. She has no idea about him or his life. And now he’s tired of it, he says while she was gone he want not just sitting at home playing dad. He says he found something that understood him. He says when she was gone he found somebody that knows him and believes in him. Goldust says he does not LOVE her anymore. He says right now he’s starting his life over, so she can take this ring, her marriage, and Marlena and shove it up her ASS.

An AMAZING video package on the Shawn/Bret feud.

Ahmed Johnson comes down to the ring and demands the match now………………BUT, THE LIGHTS GO OUT! AND KANES COMES OUT. Ahmed tries to fight Kane but ends up getting chokeslammed and Tombstoned twice. Mankind comes down and applies the CLAW to Bearer the nails Kane with a metal pipe bending it around his head, Mankind leaves but Kane sits up so Mankind grabs a chair as refs stop him from getting back in. Kane just watches on.

Stone Cold Steve Austin comes down now and says he said Ahmed was gonna get his ass whooped and that’s what happen. But he got off light, he calls Ahmed out but says if he can’t he’s opening and open challenge to the WWF locker room…………………….The Nation come out and make their way down to the ring. LOD attack the Nation on the floor and Kama gets stunned in the ring. Austin leaves laughing.

If we’re going off actual TV time with commercials we only got one match that first hour. Vince and Lawler join JR for commentary for the second hour.

Michael Cole is in the ring and brings out D-Generation X; Vince says Bret has refused to be here tonight after what Shawn said about him last week. Cole asks Shawn about last week, as well as shows footage. The crowd starts a Shawn is gay chant so he Kisses both Triple H and Chyna. Hunter grabs the mic and tells Cole to shut up, he says cole did one heck of a job putting up with them. He then shoves Cole and he falls over Chyna back, he’s pissed and leaves Shawn says he would like to be known as the WRESTLING GOOO. Hunter stops him and saying to be a God you have to be as old as a god, Triple H shits on WCW and Shawn says he’s right and says he says next week he’s gonna come out here and walk naked, then he’s gonna show Ken the WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS MAN!!!! They call SLAUGHTER out to make it official, but as he begins to talk HHH and HBK pull out the riot gear head protectors, they cut him off and add wipers to it Slaughter says the match will not be happening next week, it will be TONIGHT!

Oh hey, we have a match.

Savio Vega vs. Marc Mero (w/ Sable)
More Mero terribleness, low blow, and TKO ends it.After the match; Cole interviews Sable, Mero ends it and says next week if they want to interview a real star they can come talk to him.

Dog Collar Match: Vader vs. The British Bulldog (w/Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas, & Phil LaFon)
JR says the Patriot has torn his triceps and is out of action FUCK YEAH! Fuck yeah Pill and Doug are back. This goes for 3 minutes, because fuck life. Vader does an amazing job brutalizing Bulldog and he even brings back the corner punches, Bulldog throws Vader over the top and hangs him, which allows Team Canada to beat the shit out of him on the floor. During the fuckin’ match, Cole interviews Pill and Doug, what the fuck. He asks them why are they on team Canada, Phill says he is from Canada, you idiot. Doug says he thought the US fans were the best but when they were in a car accident 5 months ago and almost died, we got letters from every fan all over the world except the USA. He says he’s embarrassed to be from the US. The match ends minutes later with Vader touching all 4 corners, God I fuckin hate that, that’s the way you win these matches. So lame, after the match; Team Canada attack Vader until some fan jumps the barricades and helps Vader. Vader pulls him off and protects him as the Canadians stop away at them. The fan was Steve Blackman by the way. **

Los Boricuas vs. Road Dogg & Billy Gunn
Pretty bad, the fans chant “smurf” towards Billy and Dogg, that was the highlight. I feel like 90% or the WWF roster are heels because it’s like we get one of these heels vs. heel matches a week and it’s just so shit. Dogg and Billy win, I don’t care. Wake me up when they become the Outlaws.

Ken Shamrock vs. Shawn Michaels (w/D-Generation X)
AWESOMELY! Ken doesn’t even allow Shawn to do his in-ring pose or even get his ring extras off before attacking him. This is really good, Ken is pissed and Shawn bumps like a fuckin’ madman to make all of Ken's stuff look stiffer and violent than it is. Funny you can openly hear Shawn call spots, you can usually hear Shawn talk but now it’s so loud you can hear him say clothesline etc. DX get involved which allows Shawn to take over, he targets the head softening it up for SCM. Ken’s comeback is really fun, he shows he’s still really green but he’s trying and he busts out some new stuff. Ken ducks the superkick and hits the belly-to-belly. Hunter tries to get involved but Ken knocks him down, Shawn again goes for the superkick but this time Ken grabs the ankle and applies the ankle lock. Chyna distracts the ref as Shawn taps, but Rude nails him with the briefcase and the rest of DX come in for the DQ. Triple H then pedigrees Ken onto the case as RAW goes off air. ***

 

[Deezy]

I remember Super Crazy and Aguila being such a botchfest, I laughed with the Lawler's.

Light-heavyweight division was dead on arrival after that imo.

 

[Crippler]

FUCK SAKE! So I got 2 hours in and my Word program did some not responding shit, so I lost everything. I'm not redoing it, so here.

The Godwinns, Billy Gunn & Road Dogg vs. The Headbangers & The NEW Blackjacks DUD
The Truth Commission vs. D.O.A DUD
Team U.S.A vs. Team Canada **1/2 - **3/4
Mankind vs. KANE ***
The Nation of Domination vs. LOD, Ken Shamrock, and Ahmed Johnson **

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart
Owen comes out with Team Canada for protection, Owen stalls for a bit as Neidhart tries to attack him from behind and eats a stunner. That allows Owen to jump him from behind, Owen tries to piledrive Austin but Austin backdrops him and Owen bails to the floor. I think Team Canada gets ejected off screen because they just leave. They fight on the floor for like a minute as Owen chokes Austin with the camera cables and begs the ref to DQ him Back in, both men trade corner offense until Austin hits the stunner and pins Owen for the win. Okay for 4 minutes I guess. Doug and Phill run out post match but both eat stunners. **

WWF World Heavyweight Championship: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
I've probably said it during every PPV main event in this review, but I love, love, love the pre-match interviews and backstage walk before getting to Gorilla. Those need to make a comeback. Shawn's disrespect to the Canadian flag entrance is the greatest entrance in the history of wrestling, it's the best, "Shawn is a FAG" sign is top 10 all time too, damn outside all the fuckery this is tremendous, they have this amazing really hate filled yet professional brawl in and out of the ring. Shawn puts on a bumping clinic and Bret is just letting out all his anger, Vince, Pat and Slaughter and a bunch of refs come out trying to get it back into the ring. Shawn then gets all his frustrations out and Bret bumps around for Shawn. After what has to be like 10 minutes of brawling they finally get it into the ring and the bell rings. God bless Shawn, theirs a section of the crowd that is really giving it to Shawn with chants, middle fingers and all of that, so as it's Shawn time to get heat on Bret he takes it right to that section of the crowd and beats up Bret in front of them Shawn applies a front face lock but Bret fights out and goes to work on Shawn's knees, for a bit. The ref gets bumped and SHAWN LOCKS IN THE SHARPSHOOTER AND EARL HEBNER YELLS “RING THE FUCKING BELL” And the match is over, Shawn is pissed and leaves with the belt with DX. Earl runs away. Bret is confused and is pissed. Vince comes down so Bret spits in his face, good times. So here it is the arguably the most famous and most talked about match in wrestling history, maybe outside Andre/Hogan WM3. Call it a shoot, call it a work. it's been talked about to death and with the 20 anniversary of it this year I'm sure hundreds of threads will be made on it. Good match, shame we never got the full match. Anyway, thanks for all the memmories, Bret. ***

 

[Crippler]

WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Stone Cold Steve Austin
WWF Tag Team Champions: Legion of Doom
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels

WWF RAW is WAR: Episode 233
November 10th, 1997
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

“Break it down” debuts as Rick Rude comes down to the ring, he says what he’d like to have right now….is for all you fat, out if shape Ottawa idiots. Shut your mouth and open your eyes to the man against all odds became the NEW WWF CHAMPION! D-Generation X come out, Jim Cornette and JR are on commentary, JR confirms Bret has left the WWF. Rude congratulates Shawn on his big win, Shawn says DX are on top of the world. Shawn says he thought about coming out and becoming politically correct, but since someone drew first blood. HBK is now gonna unload on everybody. Shawn says for those who are chanting “We Want Bret” they can chant it all they want, I ran him out of the WWF with his own hold. He says the WWF wasn’t big enough for the both of them so what he did was put his sharpshooter on him and ran him down south with the rest of those dinosaurs. He says those who are not dinosaurs down there are his friends, and they are going to beat the hell out of him. Shawn then goes on to say he is the only man that will be on top forever because they don’t have the WILL to be the best, he is willing to out WILL them because he has GOD GIVEN talent. He says he would never beat up a 52-year-old man…….Suddenly, Ken Shamrock comes down to the ring. Shawn says he gave Ken a wrestling lesson last week and he possibly can’t want more of him, but here’s what he’s gonna do. He’s gonna give him the mic and see if he can put a few words together to make a sentence that’s funny coming from Shawn, Ken says all of them are a disgrace to the human race. He tells Chyna to go take a seat whatever she is. Ken then challenges Shawn to a fight NOW! And says Rude is a backstabbing old man punk. Shawn grabs the mic away from him and says Chyna could knock him out any day of his life and says Rude may be old but he too can knock him out. He then says Triple H can beat him anytime…..Slaughter then comes out and makes Ken/Shawn for the WWF title, then says it will be Triple H/Shamrock later tonight. He then bans DX from ringside.

Marc Mero (w/Sable) vs. Ahmed Johnson
This goes about 2 minutes or so, it’s god awful. Ahmed sells Mero’s punches like a drunk man getting rocked in a street fight, he really tries to put it over. Ahmed goes for the Pearl River Plunge but like a typical black man, he gets distracted by a pretty white woman doing nothing. That allows Mero to low blow him for the DQ. After the match; Mero hits him with the TKO and leaves with his hoe.

Butterbean is at ringside.

Lawler’s kid comes out to do commentary, Sunny then comes out to do her weekly ring announcing. She’s wearing this long black dress covering up her legs with no cleavage smh.

WWF Light Heavyweight Title Tournament: TAKA Michinoku vs. Devon Storm
TAKA showcase, it’s fine. Devon Storm is CROWBAR from WCW. TAKA hits the Michinoku Driver for the win.

JR is in the ring and brings out Goldust, Goldust comes out wearing the fame face paint as worn at the PPV. But now he’s wearing Hugh Heffner pajamas, or I think it’s just this awful GOLD suit. Either way shit looks hilarious. Goldust says his dad put him through a lot of crap and left that just to go into a terrible marriage. JR says not only did he leave his wife and family but last night he turned him back on his tag partners. Vader comes out and says nobody walks out on him. He says he’s known him for over a decade and he wants to know why? He says he told him before the fight he was ready, that cast is BS. Vader then just decides FUCK this and powerbombs him. YEAH!

Backstage: Michael Cole is calling for doctors, Bradshaw is losing his mind while Windam is on the floor DEAD!

The Truth Commission vs. The Headbangers (w/D.O.A)
Terrible, god awful. I can’t wait for this year to end.

Stone Cold Steve Austin comes down to the ring and joins Michael Cole, Cole congratulates him on his match and Austin says what he did was prove was he is back. Sat on my couch for 3 months, came back and took my IC title back. Why? Because I’m the toughest man in the WWF and can’t nobody stop me. Cole says he’s always been a marked man, but now with the IC title, he has a bullseye on him. Rocky Maivia comes out to the stage. He says he knows that fans all around the world and everyone here tonight felt when he was the Intercontinental Champion he was the best damn champion there was. He says is Austin got enough manhood to accept his challenge, then his bottom line will read, "Has Been, compliments of The Rock". Austin challenges him to get a decent haircut, to flush himself down the toilet and says all he has to do is sign a piece of paper and he'll beat his ass in this ring. He says Rocky sucks, but not because the people say so, he sucks because Stone Cold says so, and that's the bottom line.

Okay so, Jerry Lawler comes out to do commentary while Los Boricuas are in the ring. But on the floor JR interviews Steve Blackman, JR says Blackman had a great showing. Blackman says he’s not familiar with the rules but felt he helped the team. One of the Boricuas threatens him so Blackman gets in his face, the rest of the Boricuas jump him on the floor. In the ring, Blackman beats them all up until refs stop it.

Backstage: Michael Cole interviews Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, he tells them that Windam is injured and they say he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. And now Bradshaw has to go alone against them.

Bunkhouse Battel: Billy Gunn & Road Dogg vs. Blackjack Bradshaw
So this is smartly booked and the best showing possible, Bradshaw throws power in both their eyes blinding them. Which allows him to beat the shit out of both of them with weapons, he keeps it one on one with him beating the shit out of one of them in the ring and the other on the floor, he goes back and forth. It’s great, violent and stiff goodness for 2 minutes. Gunn just hits a DDT onto a steel chair for the win. CRAP! Way too short could have been so much better. Bradshaw basically no sells the finish and chases them to the back.

Jeff Jarrett/JR interview part II; Jeff claims WWF has gotten him for a steal because he’s 30 and has never taken a drug in his life. He says his goal is to be the WWF champion and to be the greatest and most respected champion of all time lmao JR asks him about Bret, Jeff says he’s never beaten him but he’s now better than Bret ever was. This interview is clearly out of date as Jeff says Shawn will probably win at Survivor Series. They do a word association game, it’s terrible.

Michael Cole interviews Butterbean at ringside, Bean says he’s got a fight coming up and is in town to train but had to watch the show. Marc Mero comes out and says if he wanted to interview a real boxer interview him. Mero asks Bean who has he ever beaten, then says he should never look at Sable and he is the star of this team. He says he can knock bean out in 4 rounds or less.

Kama vs. The Undertaker
Goes about a minute or 2 before the lights go out……….Kane and Paul Bearer come out onto the stage, Bearer says it would be so easy for Kane to come down and end him, he says he wants him to suffer just like he did. Paul says he must face his brother 1on1, so Kane can prove to all his leeches of the night, that he is superior. Taker says Paul needs to shut up before he rips his throat out, he says Kane, this isn’t the place and Bearer is nothing more than a disease that is poisoned his mind. He says somewhere behind that mask is his little brother, and he knows that there's good left in him. Taker says don’t come at me as an enemy, come to me as my brother. Stand beside me. He says he will NEVER fight him. Bearer says Taker will pay in the fires of hell, and Kane sets off the pyro from the ring posts.

Ken Shamrock vs. HHH (D-Generation X is barred from Ringside)
They haven’t given Triple H the Triple part on the graphic yet, it’s just HHH but everyone calls him Triple H. This is good, Ken dominates in the early going. Hunter throws Ken into the crowd before getting in Slaughter's face, Rude then comes out and Slaughter just allows him to stay so what’s the point of the BARRED FROM FUCKIN’ RINGSIDE GIMMICK?!!? Why doesn’t Slaughter just kick him out again??? This goes a few more minutes, the ref gets knocked down as Ken applies the ankle lock. Chyna runs down but Slaughter pulls her out and yells at her and Rude as Hunter taps. Slaughter is too busy with them and doesn’t see Shawn runs out and takes Rude's briefcase and hits Shamrock with it, Hunter covers him and during the count, the show just ends AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA WHAT KIND OF WCW FUCKERY IS THIS? **1/4

 

[Deezy]

gets worse.....Dx booking sucked balls imo.