August '97

Monday Night Wars August '97

SummerSlam '97

Match 1- Mankind def Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Steel Cage Match)

Match 2- Goldust def Brian Pillman (If Brain Pillman loses, he has to wear a dress)

Match 3- Legion of Doom def The Godwinns

Segment- Million dollar giveaway.

European Championship

Match 4- The British Bulldog def Ken Shamrock via DQ (If Bulldog loses, he must eat dog food)

Match 5- Los Boricuas def Disciples of Apocalypse (8 Man Tag Match)

Intercontinental Championship

Match 6- 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin def Owen Hart (c) (If Owen Hart loses, he must kiss Steve Austin's ass)

WWF Title

Match 7- Bret Hart def The Undertaker (c) (If Bret Hart loses, he cannot wrestle in the United States again)

Analysis

Preamble

With Jim Cornette still on the booking team (he would leave in December of '97) he largely took credit for the amount of stipulations on this card, calling it a throwback to an "old Memphis dream match night" Anyway, onto the show…

Match 1

Hunter and Mankind kicked off the show with an exciting match that has great rewatchability. The suplex of the top of the cage looked brutal due to the size of both men. Mankind's 'Jimmy Snuka' dive spot ended it as he escaped the cage shortly after. Hunter and Mankind both had great looking 'working punches'. I much preferred the look of the old retro (blue cage) as it seemed more intimidating than the link fence style used today.

Match 2

I didn't have much interest in the Goldust/Pillman feud, and the match wasn't up to snuff either. A botched sunset flip leads to Marlena smacking Pillman in the face with her purse. Goldust picked up the win via a rollup.

Match 3

Ahead of their match with The Legion of Doom, The Godwinns came out with a confederate flag as an attempt to play the heels. I understand why they were presented this way, as L.O.D were extremely popular. But let's not forget that The Godwinns had a legitimate reason to be annoyed, due to Henry O. Godwinns legit neck injury at the hands of L.O.D. Apparently L.O.D were undefeated at SummerSlam, and that streak continued as they beat The Godwinns in another underwhelming match.

Segment 1

The million dollar giveaway segment failed spectacularly as Todd Pettengill struggled to work the phone. To make matters worse, the first two callers didn't even answer! The live crowd were getting audibly restless as boos rang out around the arena. At least Sunny looked cute in her high cut latex dress, showing off her million dollar booty. None of the contests would end up winning the convoluted competition anyway, rendering the entire concept pointless.

Match 4

British Bulldog defeated Ken Shamrock DQ after Shamrock lost his patience, smacking Bulldog in the head with a tin of dog food. Shamrock left a chokehold on Bulldog post-match as an expression of his frustration, before he belly to belly suplexed 100 referees just to really drive his point past home. This match had potential, but sadly, it failed to live up to the hype.

Match 5

If this six-man between Los Boricuas and D.O.A was on Raw, it wouldn't even get an analysis. But as this is a PPV, I'm legally obliged to at least give it a mention. This match was BAD, as outside of Savio Vega, there wasn't an abundance of in-ring talent. The Nation of Domination surrounded the ring mid-match as impromptu lumberjacks. A sit down powerbomb was delivered to a member of D.O.A by Ahmed Johnson onto the concrete, allowing Los Boricuas to pick up the win. D.O.A and Nation of Domination brawled post-match, before Chainz (D.O.A) awkwardly drove his motorcycle around the ring in an effort to either kill everyone or break up the melee. I'm unsure which but at the same time, I didn't really care.

Match 6

Steve Austin and Owen Hart tore the house down for over 15 minutes, until a botched piledriver stopped the match in its tracks. Austin would suffer this injury, at the hands of a visibly upset and concerned Owen Hart. Fears that Austin would be left paralysed were luckily quelled, although the injury would shorten Austin's career substantially, even forcing Austin to change his in-ring style in order to put less strain on his neck. Jim Cornette added that this move was legitimately dangerous, and he would have banned it outright, saving it as a blow off to special angles or matches. Anyone who knew Owen wouldn't have a bad word to say about him. He also had a reputation for being a "safe worker", but unfortunately mistakes can happen. Austin was legitimately upset with Owen at the time, but has spoken out publicly over his regrets as to not smoothing things over with him in person, before Owen's premature death in 1999. Austin would win the title on this night, but unfortunately for the WWF, any momentum he had gained would have to (temporarily at least) be put on hold. Injury aside, the two put on what would ultimately prove to be the best match of the night.

Main-event

This was a fantastic way to end the show. Personally I wasn't a fan of the 40+ minute Bret Hart style main event matches, but as they go, this one was pretty damn good. Some people may say that having Shawn as the guest ref overshadowed the match, but I would disagree. I was more interested in seeing who would walk out as champ, as at this point it could have been anyone! Owen & Pillman both ran down mid match, but that proved to be a non issue. A slowish start with great action in the middle coupled with a nice finish as the special guest ref Shawn Michaels, inadvertently nailed The Undertaker with a chair shot after Bret Hart spat at him. This was simply a case of two vets who knew how to work the live crowd. Shawn was also used very well, with him showing the right amount of emotion and obvious bias, but still allowing it to play into the storyline as he 'had to be impartial'. When all was said and done, Bret Hart would be your NEW WWF WORLD Champion! Overall it was a fun match and a great way to end the show, even if it was slightly too long, although I assume Austin's injury cutting his match with Owen short was the reason for this.

Summary

It's no secret that this ISN'T a popular show, and I can understand why. Everything in the middle was either bad or outright awful! That being said, the opener was fantastic, Owen and Austin were on the verge of delivering a potential MOTY candidate, with the main-event being very good also. Claims from 411Mania that the final two matches stopped this event from being classed as "The worst PPV ever" are slightly histrionic, as some of the early IYH events in the mid 90's were so bad, they bordered on war crimes! In summary, I will concede that the midcard was terrible, but they bookended this show to perfection. On top of this, Austin suffered a freak injury halting a potential MOTY contender (I'm not even kidding, up to that point, it was an amazing match) I can’t score this PPV any higher than 3 stars due to the poor midcard action, but personally I choose to reward the good more than punish the bad. The show still gets a mild thumbs up from me. (2.75 Stars)

Raw/Nitro August 4th

Monday Night Raw 4/8/97 (2.5 Stars)

Segment- The Hart Foundation in-ring interview with J.R. Bret Hart says that as per the stipulation, Shawn Michaels shouldn't be allowed to wrestle in the U.S again, as he wasn't impartial. Owen Hart says he beat himself by showing compassion to Austin and that Austin should forfeit the title as he's a "crippled freak who will never wrestle again" WWF commissioner Sgt Slaughter announces his first decision as commissioner is that Bret Hart will defend his title on PPV (IYH: Ground Zero) against the Patriot, Bulldog will have a rematch against Shamrock and Pillman will be forced to wear a dress or face suspension. Finally, Owen Hart will only get his rematch when Austin is medically cleared. Austin enters and says he's ready to go now, challenging Owen Hart one on one!

Segment- Ahamed Johnson triple threat match announced against members of Los Boricuas and D.O.A announced for the next PPV.

Match 1- Ken Shamrock def Kama

Match 2- Taka Michinoku def Brian Christopher (Light Heavyweight Match)

Segment- Brian Pillman is told he will wrestle every week on Raw while wearing a dress, until he wins.

Match 3- Hunter Hearst Helmsley Vs Vader ends via double count-out

Match 4- The Patriot def The Sultan

Segment- Shawn Michaels in-ring promo. An agitated Shawn Micheals says he called it down the middle. Shawn makes unsavoury remarks towards Vince McMahon, who books him in a match with The Undertaker at the next PPV. The Undertaker responds to Shawn Michaels by saying he's been doing too much talking. He tells Shawn that he will pay for his crimes and 'rest in peace' Paul Bearer appears on the titan-tron saying Kane is coming soon.

Segment- Austin injury update. A doctor backstage recommends that Austin shouldn't wrestle tonight.

Match 5- Ahamed Johnson def Chainz

Match 6- The Godwinns def The Headbangers

Match 7- Bob Holly def Brian Pillman

Match 8- Owen Hart def Dude Love

Analysis

Preamble

With Austin hurt, would he appear on Raw? With WCW dominating the 'ratings war' at this time, Vince McMahon and The WWF could scarcely afford to lose a major player like Austin to an injury…

Opening segment

A nice opening segment that answered a lot of unanswered questions coming from the SummerSlam PPV. They addressed Austin's injury status, the number one contenders for both of the main titles (I-C & World) as well as introducing Sgt Slaughter as the new commissioner. Obviously Austin wouldn't wrestle in the immediate future, but having him show got a nice pop from the live crowd.

Match 2

Taka Michinoku wins with a shock roll-up in his match with Brain Christopher. This was mildly entertaining (emphasis on the word mildly) but this was most likely the start of a feud I had zero interest in. I would have preferred if they used the 'true' Light Heavyweights in their own spot, allowing them to showcase their abilities. Brain Christopher was actually closer to the 200 pound mark, and was unlikely to be utilised in this division permanently as a result.

Match 3

Would we ever actually get to see Hunter and Vader work together properly? There was so much unlocked potential there. It ended via double count-out after the managers, Chyna and Paul Heyman, both got involved.

Match 4

The Patriot used Kurt Angles 'You Suck'' as an entrance theme. Quick match designed to put The Patriot over ahead of his PPV bout with Bret Hart. Post-match, Patriot and Bret Hart fought at ringside before being pulled apart.

A more enjoyable first hour than I expected. The in-ring side of things wasn't very apparent, but it managed to hold my attention with the Christopher/Michinoku match, as well as the various segments and announcements.

Second Hour/WarZone

Hour 2 kicked off with a great in-ring promo from Shawn Michaels. He was clearly fired up, before attempting a heel turn that fell kind of flat because people liked him too much during this time period. He called Vince McMahon an idiot while getting in his face, then he told the fans to go to hell before talking trash to the deadman ahead of their upcoming PPV match. The Undertaker/Paul Bearer stuff at the end was a nice twist reminding us that we can still expect to see 'Kane' sometime in the near future. Nice start to Hour Two!

Match 5

Following his victory against Chainz, the Nation of Domination turned on Ahmed Johnson, whipping him with a belt. Were they making space for a new member perhaps?

Match 7

Pillman 'in a dress' match Vs Bob Holly. Today's opinion might be that this segment was rooted in transphobia, but the way I see it, it was designed as a 'comedy segment', and to his credit, Pillman's acting abilities combined with his charisma allowed him to pull it off to a modest degree.

Main-event

This had the potential to be a fantastic match, but sadly Owen Hart and Mick Foley (Dude Love) just weren't given any real time to make magic (slightly under 10 mins) Although this was fairly typical of the era, as a much bigger empathise was placed on PPV's than it is today, so it made sense not to give away 30 minute classics on free TV. Stone Cold provided enough of a distraction to hit Owen in the face with his Slammy award, allowing Dude Love an 'upset victory'.

Summary

So-so this week. Not the best in-ring action but that could be expected with many top names not appearing on the card. The segments just about carried it through for an average rating. As a side note, throughout the night, the feud between Nation of Domination, Los Boricuas and D.O.A was furthered, as members of Los Boricuas interfered in both of Kama's (Nation of Domination) as well as Chainz (D.O.A) matches, costing them victories in the process. Anyway, this was an average show carried by the segments and its build towards future shows. Even though the main-event was short, I was still able to enjoy it for what it was.

WCW Nitro 4/8/97 (3 Stars)

Segment- Hogan/Bischoff in-ring promo hyping the main-event between Hollywood Hogan and Lex Luger for The World Title.

Match 1- Curt Hennig def Mortis

Match 2- Jeff Jarrett & Dean Malenko def Hector Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero

Segment- Mean Gene attempts to interview Raven. Stevie Richards interrupts again in an effort to get Raven to sign a WCW contract. Raven knocks Stevie Richards to the floor.

Match 3- The Giant def Joey Maggs, Lenny Lane & Scott D'Amore (3 on 1 Handicap Match)

Segment- Randy Savage calls out The Giant.

Match 4- Public Enemy def High Voltage

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Alex Wright ahead of his match against Chris Jericho at Road Wild.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship

Match 5- (c) Alex Wright def Scotty Riggs

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Lex Luger ahead of his World Title match with Hollywood Hogan.

Match 6- Chris Benoit def Syxx via DQ

Match 7- Booker T def Vincent

Segment- Mean Gene interviews DDP ahead of his match with Ric Flair.

Match 8- Wrath def The Barbarian

Segment- Ted Di-Biase announces his new partnership with The Steiners. Ted Di-Biase says that his time off from wrestling allowed him to realise his time with The nWo was a mistake, before saying he wants to right his wrongs.

Match 9- Konnan def Psychosis

Match 10- Glacier & Ernest Miller def Silver King & Damien

Segment- Eric Bischoff in-ring promo. Bischoff calls out commissioner J.J. Dillon in response to his assault at the hands of The Giant last week, as well as threatening legal action on The Giant. Bischoff also calls out Larry Zbyszko for his part in the attack.

Match 11- DDP def Ric Flair via DQ

Match 12- Villano IV & Villano V def Hector Garza & Lizmark Jr

Segment- J.J. Dillon addresses Sting's contract dispute. Dillon says that a contract is ready for Sting, that includes a match against Curt Henning. Sting rips up the contract before leaving.

World Heavyweight Championship

Match 13- Lex Luger def Hollywood Hogan (c)

Analysis

Preamble

This edition of Nitro would be a three hour special. Yay! I mean, on occasion I've had a hard enough time sitting through 2 hours. But this show has been hyped up for a while now so let's give it a chance. As with most of Nitro's special editions, Bruce Buffer opened proceedings. WCW also claimed this to be their 100th episode, although that seems to be slightly inaccurate as official records marked this as episode 99. Anyway, onto the show. Kevin Nash also added that he and Scott Hall were big ambassadors of the title change at the end of show, stating it was "his time"

Match 2

I liked the idea of Jeff Jarrett's new partnership with Dean Malenko, and was looking forward to seeing how they'd be used as a tag team going forward. They picked up a victory against the Guerrero's, in Chavo & Hector. Nothing spectacular here either, but this was by no means a bad match.

Match 4

The first poor performance of the night came at the hands of Public Enemy (no surprise there) as they defeated High Voltage. Even the roll-up from Johnny Grunge looked awkward. There seemed to be some potential in High Voltage at least. They had a great look as well as not being too flat footed around the ring. But sadly, they never found their niche and it just wouldn't work out for them in the long run.

Match 5

Typical showcase style match for Alex Wright ahead of the PPV, as he easily defeated Scotty Riggs. It kind of worked, as Wright's offence looked impressive, but that was about it. He would retain his title ahead of the PPV.

The first hour was hit and miss. 2 OK matches, 2 squash matches as well as Public Enemy and their attempt at wrestling. In all fairness to P/E, when I spoke about how High Voltage hadn't 'found their niche' Public Enemy not only found theirs, but smacked you across the face with it! At the risk of sounding disrespectful, their style was what is now known as 'garbage wrestling' aka lots of spots involving weapons with little to no reason or psychology behind it. But fans of Public Enemy LOVED IT. And they loved Public Enemy just as much! I wasn't a fan of them personally, but that's fine. Some people like chocolate, some like vanilla. Onto hour number two!

Hour Two

Syxx and Beniot kicked off the second hour with what could have been the best match of the night…if they had been given the chance. What we saw instead, was a disappointing DQ finish as Jeff Jarrett blindsided Beniot, giving him a win via DQ. Mongo made the save on behalf of Beniot, before Dean Malenko got also involved, setting up the tag match at Road Wild. WCW had THREE HOURS to work with, yet they still couldn't give two of their better workers 15-20 minutes to actually wrestle. Sigh…

Match 9

Following Konnan's victory against Psychosis (he had finally dropped the silly K-Dogg moniker), Rey Mysterio came out to confront Konnan whilst on crutches. Mysterio lured Konnan into a false sense of security, before beating him with a wooden crutch furthering their feud.

Much like the first hour, the second was relatively inoffensive. There was some potential in the Syxx/Benoit match, Di-Biase leaving the nWo was a surprise (even if you could see the potential swerve from a mile away) and Mysterio being shown as healthy was cool I guess.

Hour Three

DDP over Ric Flair kicked off the third hour with a bang! This one had some heat behind it, although the match was eventually called off when Curt Henning got involved on behalf of Ric Flair. It was disappointing not to see a payoff, but if they are saving that for a PPV, I don't mind as much.

Main-event

Lex Luger defeated Hollywood Hogan for the world title in the main-event, in what would be a 'shock moment'. Although the real surprise would be if he kept hold of the title past Road Wild! Lex Luger was shown celebrating backstage as The Giant attempted to remove the nWo spray paint from the title, as Hogan was also shown to be freaking out flipping tables over 'brother'

Summary

OK, so this was a 3 hour show from WCW. If their usual format was anything to go by, you could have expected A LOT of matches. 13 was slightly overkill in my opinion as most 3 hour PPV cards didn't even host that number of matches! As an overall show it was still enjoyable, yet ultimately, the title change felt like the only thing that gave the episode any value. As previously mentioned, Kevin Nash says he and Scott Hall gave the idea of the title change, as it was clear and obvious how over Lex Luger was. Nitro wins the point this week.

Road Wild '97

Live from Sturgis, South Dakota, WCW presented its second iteration of Road Wild…

Match 1- Harlem Heat def Vicious & Delicious

Match 2- Konnan def Rey Mysterio (Mexican Death Match)

Match 3- Steve 'Mongo' McMichael & Chris Beniot def Jeff Jarrett & Dean Malenko (Tag Team Elimination Match)

Cruiserweight Championship

Match 4- (c) Alex Wright def Chris Jericho

Match 5- Ric Flair def Syxx

Match 6- Curt Hennig def DDP

Match 7- The Giant def Randy Savage

Tag Team Championships

Match 8- The Steiners def The Outsiders (c) via DQ

World Heavyweight Championship

Match 9- Hollywood Hogan def Lex Luger (c)

Analysis

Match 1

The rowdy white biker crowd managed to behave themselves as they refrained from booing the newly minted heel team of Harlem Heat. At last year's event, the African Americans weren't given the warmest of welcomes, so it was nice to see that change.

A surprisingly fun match that saw Harlem Heat defeat Vicious & Delicious after Miss Jacqueline held down Scott Nortons boot, preventing him from kicking out.

Match 2

Mysterio/Konnan had an interesting 'death match' stipulation. The crowd was dead silent for most of this one and to be honest, I can't say I blame them! The match consisted of Konnan working Mysterio's leg for about 8 minutes before Rey was temporarily unmasked. Rey then botched a scary looking double springboard moonsault, potentially injuring his knee for real this time. Mysterio eventually tapped out to the tequila sunrise. This was a rare case of a match having great psychology, while simultaneously not being very good. Konnan took FAR too much time working the leg at the start, but once that was established and Rey started to get some offence in, it wasn't terrible. It was still extremely underwhelming and the 'deathmatch' aspect of the gimmick didn't play into the match whatsoever.

Match 3

Jeff Jarrett and Dean Malenko teamed up to take on Chris Beniot and 'Mongo' McMichael of the Four Horsemen. Beniot and Mongo spent the first 5 minutes double teaming Dean Malenko in the corner. Again, a smart strategy that plays into the psychology of the match, but not very entertaining to watch. Jeff Jarrett finally got the hot tag, before intentionally getting himself pinned in order to leave Dean Malenko by himself. Presumably because Malenko was a contender for his U.S Title but who knows. Malenko was once again destroyed two on one seeing The Horsemen pick up the win. Another really strange match

Match 4

Jericho/Wright rematch for the Cruiserweight Title in what was a really entertaining portion of the show. However, a technically proficient wrestling match with the young star in Chris Jericho going over and winning the title, sounds simple to book right? Well you'd be wrong because POLITICS! The initial plan of Jericho regaining the C.W title was allegedly nixed by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash who complained that there were "too many title changes" Alex Wright eventually won via a rollup…This was still a decent Cruiserweight match, just a shame that the wrong guy won (in my opinion anyway)

Match 5

Flair over Syxx. The bike revving is a sign of respect apparently, but it was still really annoying. Syxx gets most of the offence for the first 10 mins playing into Flair having a bum shoulder. I was getting confused by this point. Why were WCW doing this thing whereby all of their talent were 'injured'? First Mysterio with his leg, now Flair's shoulder. In any case it needlessly slowed down what could have been a really fun match. Great finish as Flair lifts his leg before Syxx could deliver the Bronco Buster, kicking his groin in the process. Surprisingly the worst match of the show so far, even if I did enjoy the cool and creative finish.

Match 6

DDP/Curt Hennig next. Dallas got colour after colliding with the exposed turnbuckle. Ric Flair runs-in, prompting DDP to nail him with a Diamond Cutter, which still provided enough of a distraction for Hennig to hit the perfect-plex and pick up the victory. Not a great match by any means but at least it wasn't as one sided as Flair/Syxx. Then again, the constant bike revving from the 'fans' made my ears hurt watching this one with headphones, so it loses a bunch of points for that aspect alone.

Match 7

The Giant over Randy Savage. Not a very captivating match and that's putting it mildly. I liked The Giant in WCW but this has to be one of his most underwhelming PPV performances so far. This show could easily be marked under 2 stars so far, but with the co-main and main-events still to come, I'll be patient.

Match 8

Knowing how Hall and Nash supposedly felt about 'title changes' I'd be shocked if they dropped the titles in this one. The Outsiders did a good job generating heat, constantly cutting off the tag. Hot tag, The Steiners hit their finish and boom! The match was called off via DQ after Nash pulled the ref out of the ring preventing the 3 count. I would have enjoyed this one a lot more if there was A) More of a prolonged sequence between Rick Steiner and Scott Hall at the end B) The Steiners ACTUAL WON THE TITLES! The fact they didn't after Hall and Nash spent 10 minutes generating heat made the match feel somewhat redundant. And yes, supposedly Hall and Nash vetoed the planned title change the day of the show. I was kind of enjoying the match until the screwy finish, which was a shame.

Main-event

Main-event time as 'Hollywood' Hogan took on Lex Luger for the World Title. According to Schiavone, Luger/Hogan from the prior Nitro was the "most watched World Title match in the history of pro-wrestling" I'd believe that it may have been the most watched on Cable TV for the year of '97, but that's hardly a huge achievement with only two mainstream promotions at the time, and one of them not putting title matches on free TV! Anyway, Luger/Hogan was pretty much what you'd expect. Aka a slow punch and kick fest. nWo Sting costs Lex Luger, as he nails him with his bat, gifting Hogan the win. Hogan then celebrates with The nWo before Dennis Rodman does a terrible job re-applying the nWo logo to the beautiful big gold championship during the post-match sign off. In a way, Rodman botching the spray paint moment, kind of summed the show. At least it was finally over.

Summary

Interestingly, Kevin Nash added that the work rate was intentionally low on the Road Wild PPVs, as the workers thought the idea to be ridiculous and didn't enjoy doing them. If you watch this show, that idea becomes even more credible as this was one of the worst overall PPVs I've seen from this time period with very few redemptive qualities! As with the inaugural edition, the crowd were more interested in revving their Harley's than watching a wrestling show. Except this time, I couldn't really blame them. The PPV had its moments, saving it from sub 2 star territory, but WCW were cutting it fine in that regard. Final score (2 Stars)

Raw/Nitro August 11th

Monday Night Raw 11/8/97 (3 Stars)

Segment- Shawn Michaels in-ring promo. He says he called the match at SummerSlam right down the middle. He calls out Vince McMahon for not properly informing him of his main-event against Mankind before calling out The Undertaker. Sgt. Slaughter chastises Michaels for complaining, before Shawn says he has an 'insurance policy' to guarantee him victory on the main-event.

Match 1- Hawk def Henry Godwinn (Country Whippin' match)

Match 2- Scott Putski def Tony Williams

Match 3- Flash Funk def Brian Pillman

Segment- Vince McMahon interviews Dude Love Dude Love says that his tag team partner Steve Austin will be back soon. Dude Love promos his upcoming 4 way tag match at IYH: Ground Zero. Shawn Micheals interrupts to remind Dude Love about his 'insurance policy'.

Match 4- Ken Shamrock & The Patriot def Owen Hart & British Bulldog

Segment- Bret Hart assaults The Patriot backstage.

Match 5- Faarooq def Chainz

Segment- The Patriot in-ring promo. The Patriot chastises Bret for attacking him backstage and calls him out. The Patriot is attacked 4 on 1 by The Hart Foundation.

Match 6- Shawn Michaels def Mankind

Analysis

Opening segment

We saw shades of a heel turn for Shawn Michaels in what was a good promo to start the show.

Matches 1 & 2

The opener wasn't great. I would have imagined they would have relied on the gimmick aspect more (it was a strap match) in order to detract from their limited in-ring capabilities. Hawk dumped Henry O' Godwinn out of the ring to take the victory.

Scott Putski pinned a jobber in Tony Williams during LHW action. Picture in picture as Pillman was shown getting into his dress backstage as per the stipulation as the match went on. I'm not sure what was more interesting, the match or Pillman pretending he didn't know how to put a dress on. Regardless it rendered the match redundant, as it was totally unnecessary and completely distracting.

Match 3

Goldust distracted Brian Pillman, costing him his match against Flash Funk. The loss meant that Pillman had to continue to wear a dress. This storyline was depressing on many levels. But mainly due to the fact that Pillman used to be an elite worker, but you have to imagine that his injuries forced him into this "comedy role"...if you can even call it that.

Second Hour/WarZone

Entertaining tag match to open the second hour as The Patriot & Ken Shamrock upset The Hart Foundation. Ken Shamrock was really starting to improve a lot by this point, as he would become a permanent fixture in the WWF for years to come.

Match 5

Rocky Maivia heel turn as he attacked Chainz and joined The Nation of Domination! A really cool moment that wasn't overbooked and made for a nice surprise during the show. A much needed role change for 'Rocky Maivia'.

Main-event

Fun, wild brawl between Shawn Michaels and Mankind closed the show. Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna walked down mid-match in support of Shawn, Rick Rude nails Mankind with a chair shot, before Mankind walks onto a sweet-chin music and gets pinned. The Undertaker walks out before Paul Bearer appears on the titan-tron, taunting the deadman before Raw goes off the air.

Summary

Solid show but the second hour along with the phenomenal main-event is what really made it! Rocky's heel turn and the early signs of the now famous DX faction forming, would all be pivotal building blocks for the rest of the year. The show ended with a number of cliffhangers, and personally I think it was one too many. Paul Bearer appearing took some attention away from why Hunter and Chyna were ringside, and why Rick Rude decided to cost Mankind the match. We know the Paul Bearer/Kane angle wouldn't receive its pay off for a few more months, so it was unnecessary to force him onto this show. A minor complaint against what was a really fun episode of Raw.

WCW Nitro 11/8/97 (2.5 Stars)

As the show opened, The Giant was handed some papers from police officers as he was prevented from entering the building.

Segment- Wolfpack in-ring promo. Scott Hall calls out The Steiners. Kevin Nash puts over nWo and The Wolfpack. Nash and Hall agree to put the titles on the line ahead of their match with Starr & Moore.

Tag Team Championships

Match 1- (c) The Outsiders def Bobby Starr & David Moore

Match 2- Meng def Wrath

Segment- Mean Gene interviews The Steiners. Scott Stiener says Hall and Nash know they were beaten and they are coming back for a rematch. Ted Di-Biase accuses Nick Patrick of showing favour towards The nWo, as he got the match called off before The Steiners could win. Nick Patrick calls out Randy Anderson for improperly officiating the main-event.

Match 3- Eddie Guerrero def Chris Jericho

Segment- Mean Gene interviews the new Cruiserweight champion Alex Wright.

Match 4- Dean Malenko def Jeff Jarrett via DQ

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Ric Flair and Curt Hennig. Flair says he saw Hennig talking to Bischoff and wants to know if he's Team Horsemen. Hennig refuses to commit, although agrees to partner with Ric Flair at Clash of the Champions.

Segment- Eric Bischoff in-ring promo. Bischoff says The Giant was handed a restraining order, so can't come within 50 feet of Bischoff. The Giant comes out and breaches the terms of his restraining order, before he is arrested and agrees to walk away.

Match 5- The Steiners def Chris Beniot & Steve 'Mongo' McMichael

Segment- Lex Luger in-ring promo. Luger says Randy Anderson let things go allowing Luger to win the title on Nitro, so holds no ill will as Anderson essentially remained consistent, doing the same thing on PPV. Luger closes by saying he will become the world champion again!

Match 6- DDP def Buff Bagwell

WCW TV Title

Match 7- (c) Ultimate Dragon def Mortis

Segment- J.J Dillon in-ring promo. It is clarified that it was nWo Sting who attacked Luger last night, before Dillon offers Sting a new contract including a match against Syxx! Sting rips up the contract.

Match 8- Curt Hennig def 'Macho Man' Randy Savage via DQ

Analysis

Match 1

Interesting open to the show as The Outsiders put the titles on the line against two job guys in Bobby Starr and David Moore. Post-match, The Steiners jump the guardrail and beat up Hall and Nash.

Matches 3 & 4

Fun match between Jericho/Guerrero. Eddie selling the 'lionheart swing' was unique, as the commentary team added that the "high altitude of Denver added to Eddie's dizziness" An entertaining match, but a little bit short for my tastes.

Eddie Guerrero caused a DQ in the next match, as he attacked Dean Malenko during his bout with Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett and Guerrero then double teamed Malenko. Steve 'Mongo' McMichael ran down to even up the numbers game, before Malenko shit canned him out of the ring. They effectively had 3 different angles running in one segment here (Malenko/Eddie, Malenko/Jarrett, Jarrett/Mongo and The Horsemen) It was messy, confusing and massively overbooked.

Hour Two

Lex Luger's promo wasn't the greatest, but it made sense and did a good job of explaining why he wasn't hot at the referee post Road Wild, as the same official didn't call for the bell too early, allowing Luger to win the title on last week's Nitro. Why it mattered I'm not entirely sure, but it played into WCW's fetish of involving ref's into key angles.

Segment

I don't usually analyse promos, but J.J Dillon offering Sting a match against Syxx bordered on comedy! It was obvious that the offers would get progressively more desirable as the weeks went on, but the fans chanting 'Hogan' was a dead giveaway that was the match everyone wanted booked. It may have been smart to delay it and draw it out as much as possible, but this was a poor way of doing it.

Main-event

Complete throwaway as DDP causes the DQ within minutes, going after Curt Hennig. The nWo run-in and beat down Dallas. Lex Luger with the save before Nitro goes off air.

Summary

The good matches were too short and the show in general was let down by its lack of a real main-event. Decent enough show to watch, but nothing special. Raw wins it this week.

Raw/Nitro August 18th

Monday Night Raw 18/8/97 (3 Stars)

Segment- Rick Rude in-ring promo. Rick Rude says that he was paid off as an "insurance policy" last week, in order to protect Shawn Michaels.

Match 1- The British Bulldog & Owen Hart def L.O.D

Match 2- Flash Funk def Brian Christopher

Match 3- Ken Shamrock def The Sultan

Segment- Faarooq denounces Ahmed Johnson calling him a "white man under black skin" before saying he will beat him at IYH: Ground Zero. Faarooq then puts over the latest member of the Nation of Domination Rocky Maivia. Rocky cuts a heel promo saying he felt disrespected by the fans. Disciples of Apocalypse challenge Nation of Domination to an unsanctioned parking lot brawl.

Segment- Nation of Domination & Disciples of Apocalypse brawl backstage in the parking lot. Los Boricuas steal bikes from The D.O.A.

Match 4- Jesse Jammes def Brian Pillman via DQ

Segment- As a result of interfering in his match, Brain Pillman calls out Goldust in a retirement match. If Pillman wins, he gains the services of Goldust's wife Marlena for 30 days. Pillman drops the bombshell that he is Dakota's father, from a previous affair with Marlena.

Match 5- The Patriot def Vader

Segment- J.R sit down interview with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. Austin says his neck is in a bad way, but he is determined to defy the doctors orders and get back into the ring. He adds that Owen Hart has "hell to pay" for injuring his neck.

Match 6- The Undertaker & Mankind def Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Mankind via DQ

Analysis

Preamble

Due to the U.S Open (tennis tournament) clashing directly with Monday Night Raw, this would be the last edition for the month of August. Two editions of 'Friday Night's main-event' would air in place of the absent Raw shows. Unfortunately, these shows are hard to find and not on the WWE Network.

Let's see if Raw can finish August with a bang…

Matches 1 & 2

Following the tag opener between L.O.D and The Hart Foundation, The Godwinns attacked L.O.D costing them the match, leading to a brawl between the two teams. Short and formulaic opening match used to build heat for the upcoming four way tag match at IYH: Ground Zero.

Jerry Lawler inadvertently cost Brian Christopher his match, as he was pinned by Flash Funk. Seeing Sunny as the special guest ring announcer was probably the best part of this segment.

Segment

Rocky Maivia's first WWF promo. He showed early signs of charisma, but the character was still in its very early stages. After the promo the cameras cut backstage to the parking lot brawl, as Los Boricuas stole D.O.A's motorbikes amidst the chaos.

Hour Two/WarZone

Hour Two kicked off with The Patriot defeating Vader. Bret Hart got involved post-match, leading to Bret and Vader going at it. The Hart Foundation intervenes, beating down Vader, only for The Patriot to chase them off. As a match it was nothing special, but the primary goal was seemingly to further the feud between Bret Hart and The Patriot. Seeing as this was technically the go-home Raw for IYH: Ground Zero (albeit a couple of weeks early) it's understandable why the match was booked this way.

Main-event

Awesome main-event between Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Shawn Michaels as they defeated The Undertaker & Mankind. The first match involving the team who would later be known as D-Generation X or 'DX' was highly entertaining. HBK/Hunter worked well together, working over Mankind for the majority of the match. Undertaker received a hot tag, leading to him cleaning house! Shawn Micheals cracked the deadman in the head with a brutal looking chairshot that busted The Undertaker open. Hunter and Shawn escaped the ring before Undertaker could deliver any form of retribution. Fun match with some nice drama built for the coming weeks.

Summary

The segments in the first hour were more entertaining than the wrestling, but propped the rest of the show up nicely. The second hour was more of the same but the main-event is what made the show! It did a great job of building drama while also leaving some questions unanswered. The DX stuff was brilliant, and the best part is watching it back, is that ⁸it seems more organic than most people may think. You never quite know what will work in wrestling, but it was instantly clear that Hunter and Shawn had great chemistry as far as working together. If this match or the coming segments were poorly received, then maybe we wouldn't have seen a D-Generation X. Vince McMahon was in the midst of a ratings war so didn't have the time to be patient and experiment with different ideas for the sake of it. Although Jim Cornette would go on to call the concept of DX 'largely unserious', stating that they buried talent by not treating the programs and feuds with any respect, before adding that he was surprised they were allowed to get away with acting like that on TV!

WCW Nitro 18/8/97 (2.5 Stars)

Segment- Raven pre-recorded promo.

Match 1- Harlem Heat def Vicious and Delicious via DQ

Match 2- The Barbarian def Mortis

Segment- Eric Bischoff in-ring promo. Eric promotes Clash of the Champions before demanding his own show for The nWo.

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Ric Flair & Curt Hennig. Flair says he's confident Curt Hennig will become a Horseman, and Hennig says he will beat The Giant later tonight.

Match 3- Stevie Richards def Scotty Riggs

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Jeff Jarrett, Eddie Guerrero and Queen Debra (aka Debra McMichael) Alex Wright interrupts, asking to be a part of the new faction. Debra says if he wins a title, she will consider it.

Match 4- Chris Beniot & Steve 'Mongo' McMichael def Eddie Guerrero & Jeff Jarrett

Segment- The Outsiders in-ring promo. The Outsiders say they will continue to dominate ahead of their upcoming one year anniversary in WCW.

Match 5- Ric Flair def Syxx via DQ

Segment- J.J. Dillon confirms Nick Patrick is no longer under investigation, before Patrick accuses Randy Anderson of costing Lex Luger the world title. Randy Anderson comes out to defend himself, before J.J. Dillon shuts down the argument.

TV Title

Match 6- (c) Ultimate Dragon def La Parka

Match 7- Curt Hennig def The Giant via count-out

Segment- J.J. Dillon calls out Sting demanding to know his desires in order to resign with WCW. Dillon gives Sting a 72 hour deadline to answer. Sting comes out and holds a fanmade sign saying 'Sting Vs Hogan'.

Tag Team Championships

Match 8- DDP & Lex Luger def The Outsiders (c) via DQ

Analysis

Segment

The show opened with Raven cutting a promo explaining how being considered an 'outcast' can be emotionally traumatic. He ended with what would become his trademark line, "Quote the Raven, nevermore" This was a good promo that got me invested in his character, and a smart way to start the broadcast. It was an attention grabber and different to anything else on TV at the time, with Scott Levy aka Raven being largely responsible for most of this character's direction.

Segment

Eric Bischoff promoted the upcoming Clash of the Champions show. I've never watched them before and I wasn't planning to start now. He further antagonised The Giant, before demanding his own show for The nWo from J.J. Dillon.

Match 3

Short and sweet win for Stevie Richards as he pinned Scotty Riggs on his Nitro debut. Raven attacked Richards post-match, furthering their feud together. They would go on to have a match on Clash of the Champions. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing that one.

Match 4

Quick tag match as Steve 'Mongo' McMichael made Queen Debra drop Jeff Jarrett's U.S Title, before using it on Jeff himself. Mongo then ran into the ring and tossed Eddie Guerrero out, allowing Chris Beniot to pick up the pinfall victory for his team. I'm not usually a fan of Mongo's tag matches, but he did a great job here and the finish really delivered.

Second Hour

Hour two opened with a pointless Outsiders promo where they said absolutely nothing of note whatsoever, as well as a rematch from Road Wild, as Ric Flair took on Syxx. This had potential to be much better than their PPV outing, which never really got out of first gear. Unfortunately, Ric Flair picked up the win via DQ before the match had any chance of achieving that. This was ultimately a setup for the upcoming tag match at Clash of the Champions, which on the surface is ok, until I found out that the Clash offering only lasted 5 minutes anyway. Post-match, Curt Hennig saved Flair from an nWo beatdown.

Match 7

Eric Bischoff attempted to get The Giant counted out as he came out in an effort to enforce his '50 foot' restraining order. It didn't work, as Bischoff is told that HE was the one breaching the order, but The Giant chased him away and got counted out all the same.

Main-event

Luger/DDP Vs The Outsiders. The titles being on the line added some much needed drama as well as the match having good storytelling. They took their time in what proved to be a nice change of pace to the hectic format of the rest of the show. The nWo run-in DQ finish spoiled it for me, but I can understand why it was booked this way and some people may have liked it.

Summary

A mixed bag. Personally I found this episode dull to watch at times. Far too much emphasis was placed on building heat towards matches at the upcoming Clash of the Champions event, to the detriment of the in-ring action. The Sting segment could have been a highlight, but J.J. Dillon not responding left it on a cliffhanger, even though it was clear and obvious where it was all going. Intentionally stringing things out for added drama doesn't always work, and in my opinion the payoff now needed to happen at Clash of the Champions. Speaking of, the August '97 edition of Clash of the Champions would transpire to be its final iteration, so seeing as I've spent over an hour and a half watching the build, I'll watch the Sting segment as well as any rematches from this edition of Nitro. Overall, the main-event was enjoyable and salvaged an average final grade of 2.5 Stars. Raw still wins the week with a more entertaining show.

Nitro August 25th

WCW Nitro 25/8/97 (2.5 Stars)

Segment- Mean Gene announces that Sting wants a match with 'Hollywood' Hogan, as stated at Clash of the Champions. J.J. Dillon calls in and promises to book Hogan Vs Sting. Eric Bischoff protests this saying Hogan is booked up and the match won't happen. Sting enters and pushes Bischoff to the ground.

Segment- Raven pre-recorded promo.

Match 1- La Parka & Psychosis def Glacier & Ernest Miller

Match 2- Ultimo Dragon def Super King

Segment- Scott Hall mockingly says that DDP is the newest member of nWo. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage calls out Lex Luger.

Segment- Mean Gene interviews DDP. Dallas says he isn't nWo and was simply blinded from an eye poke, causing him to accidently strike Luger.

Match 3- Jeff Jarrett def Chris Beniot

Match 4- The Faces of Fear def Wrath & Mortis

Segment- Ric Flair in-ring promo. Flair demands to know if Curt Hennig is a Horseman or not. Curt says he doesn't have an answer yet. Arn Anderson makes his on-screen return in an effort to persuade Hennig. Curt accepts.

U.S Championship

Match 5- (c) Steve 'Mongo' McMichael def Eddie Guerrero

Segment- Mean Gene gets an injury update from Rey Mysterio. Rey says he will have an answer soon. Konnan comes out to bully Mysterio, but The Giant chases him off.

Cruiserweight Championship

Match 6- (c) Chris Jericho def Yuji Nagata

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Harlem Heat. Booker T announces Jackie as the newest member of Harlem Heat, before calling out The Stiener Brothers, saying Harlem Heat should be number one contenders for the Tag Titles. The two teams argue before nWo Vicious and Delicious come out and say they are better than all four of them (Harlem Heat/Stieners) A brawl between the three teams breaks out.

T.V Title

Match 7- Dean Malenko def Alex Wright (c) via DQ

Match 8- Lex Luger Vs 'Macho Man' Randy Savage ends in a no-contest

Analysis

Preamble

At the Clash of the Champions show, Sting non verbally called out 'Hollywood' Hogan by sending a crow into the ring, Steve 'Mongo' McMichael won the U.S Title from Jeff Jarrett, with Alex Wright also winning the TV Title from Ultimate Dragon (now correctly being referred to as 'Ultimo Dragon)

Opening segment

Entertaining opening segment. Sting/Hogan promised on TV. You have to wonder if this was in fact the money match of 1997?

Matches 1 & 2

During the opening tag match, La Parka used a chair on Glacier behind the ref's back giving his team the win. Ultimo Dragon comes out in an effort to fight the heels, but gets triple teamed by La Parka, Psychosis & Silver King. Bland opening match

The beatdown would lead into Ultimo Dragon Vs Super King. Dragon won in what felt like a disjointed lucha style matchup. Super Kings' offence seemed pretty bland, in comparison at least to the spectacular in-ring repertoire of Ultimo Dragon.

Second Hour

Arn Anderson's retirement promo kicked off hour two. This was fantastic, really pulling me into the show. Double A talked about time catching up with him, his surgery etc. Arn Anderson was a great talker, and this was a great segment culminating in Anderson giving Curt Hennig his spot in The Four Horsemen.

Match 5

U.S Title match. While it's true that Steve 'Mongo' McMichael wasn't the most accomplished singles wrestler, he was in-ring with one of the best. It would have been interesting to see Eddie shepherd 'Mongo' through a 10-12 minute match, instead of the shortish squash style affair we saw. Mongo retained.

Segment

Harlem Heat came out demanding their shot, before The Stiener Brothers defended their position as the number one contenders. Vicious and Delicious stated that neither team would have a chance against them, prompting a mass brawl between all three teams. I'd usually call this a chaotic, overbooked multiman segment, but WCW seemingly trying to rank their 'top 3 teams' was a nice idea, so I applaud them for that. Bischoff was on commentary for hour two, and some of his snarky one liners during this segment made me laugh.

Main-event

Luger and Savage have had some entertaining matches before, sadly this wasn't another example of that. This was a basic, rushed sub 10 minute Nitro main-event with another non-finish, as Luger sees DDP interfere, and puts him in the Torture Rack. The match ended in a no contest as a result. WCW could have provided much more drama with Savage potentially taking advantage of the situation and pinning Luger as a result. That's more of a booking suggestion, albeit a really fucking obvious one, but it's a booking suggestion nonetheless and I'm supposed to be impartial. Basically, the drama DID add to the match, but it could have done soooo much better.

Summary

An average show overall. The in-ring wasn't great for the most part but I did enjoy some of the segments. I also learned that Bischoff was REALLY good in small doses. His OTT heel persona worked perfectly for the second hour, but could have become annoying throughout an entire show. There was a missed opportunity with the main-event in my opinion. Having a clear winner under dodgy circumstances = rematch. Hell, they could have even booked a three way between DDP, Savage and Luger if they wanted to play on that whole storyline! Nitro was unopposed so no winner this week.

Summary & final scores

OK, so the major talking points from this month were obviously Austin's injury, Shawn and Bret's carry on as well as the 'potential' money match between Sting and Hogan. Looking back it wasn't a hugely interesting month, but Owen/Austin as well as Arn's retirement promo are both worth checking out if you haven't seen them before. Team WCW see their lead get sliced, with Raw winning the month 2-1 with one unopposed show, making the final scores WCW 44-41 WWF and 12 draws.

Match of the Month: 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs Owen Hart (SummerSlam '97)