July '97

Monday Night Wars July '97

In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede

The WWF made its long awaited return to Canadian soil as the WWF brought us what is now regarded as an all time classic PPV, In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede!

Match 1- Hunter Hearst Helmsley Vs Mankind ends via double count-out

Match 2- Taka Michinoku def The Great Sasuke

Segment- Paul Bearer cuts a promo on The Undertaker. Paul Bearer calls The Undertaker a murderer.

WWF Title

Match 3- (c) The Undertaker def Vader

Match 4- The Hart Foundation def 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust & Legion of Doom

Analysis

Match 1

Very strong opener. The great chemistry shared between Hunter and Mankind, coupled with Chyna's involvement meant no gimmicks were needed (just yet) I'd have preferred if this match had a proper finish, but they were probably building towards the aforementioned gimmick style matches, so I was fine with it for the most part. History also tells us that the feud between Hemsley and Mankind was only just getting started!

Match 2

The LHW match between The Great Sasuke and Taka Michinoku was fantastic. Some of the notes I have for this match are: Sasuke was Michinuku's mentor, as well as Taka Michinoku being credited for inventing the Michinoku Driver. Hopefully this strong performance on PPV translated into the start of the division being treated with some respect.

Segment 1

Hunter and Mankind were shown to be brawling in the parking lot. Mankind was slammed into a yellow derelict school bus before taking a body drop off some wooden pallets. I miss the days when totally random objects were utilised in the WWF/E.

Match 3

Taker/Vader. This was yet another really good match. I knew I'd enjoy this one, and I wasn't disappointed. In my opinion, Taker and Vader didn't work together nearly enough. That's a real shame as Vader's stiff style complimented The Undertaker. Undertaker's size, talent and the way he worked in the ring, made him well suited to almost anyone, but especially Vader. One thing I would say, is having Vader as a last minute replacement did a disservice to this match. Vader was, in Vince McMahon's words "a mastodon" The WWF had an opportunity to really build him and make him seem like a legit threat to the deadman. And as good as the match was, the way it was presented to us, sadly the result was never in doubt.

Main-event

Main-event time. Huge pop for Bret Hart. This crowd had been electric all night, but this was something else! Jim Ross made mention of Bret Hart's now somewhat infamous documentary 'Wrestling With Shadows' but more on that later. A lot was made of this match, and it is quite rightly highly praised. That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of the finish. Stu Hart (Father of both Bret and Owen) jumped the guardrail prompting a mass brawl, Austin was thrown back into the ring with Owen Hart winning via a roll-up. In the closing moments, too much was going on all at once, with the finish coming out of nowhere. Security finally got things under control as The Hart Foundation's hands were raised in victory. Steve Austin runs back in the ring, alone but armed with a steel chair, before being smothered by The Hart Foundation as well as security. Austin finally left the arena in handcuffs.

Summary

Historically, this was a very well received Pay Per View. It has also been the best all round show I have watched since starting these reviews, so there's that. Yes, this show had excellent matches on it. Yes, the main-event was fantastic. Yes, the crowd was brilliant. For me though, the lack of intrigue I had going into the show, hurt it ever so slightly. I can honestly say I wasn't interested in any of the matches headed into the event. That being said, once they started, they were all fantastic. I would call this a flawless PPV, but for the reasons outlined, for me. It was just a very very VERY good one. (3.75 Stars)

Raw/Nitro July 7th

Monday Night Raw 7/7/97 (3 Stars)

Segment- Bret Hart in-ring promo. Bret vows to win his 5th WWF Championship, promising if he is unsuccessful, he will never wrestle on American soil again. Bret Hart invites his brother Owen as well as The British Bulldog to join him in-ring as the Canadian national anthem is played on the titan-tron. Steve Austin attacks the trio with a steel chair.

Match 1- The Great Sasuke def Taka Michinoku

Match 2- Savio Vega def Crush via DQ

Segment- Paul Bearer backstage promo. He says he won't apologise to The Undertaker while maintaining that Kane is still alive. Paul Bearer that Kane feels hate for The Undertaker, and they will come face to face one day.

Segment- 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin says he still hasn't picked his partner for the Tag Tournament, allowing the WWF to choose for him before claiming he doesn't care.

Match 3- Owen Hart & British Bulldog def Nation of Domination (Tag Team Tournament Finals)

Match 4- 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin def Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Match 5- Brian Christopher def Eric Shelly

Segment- 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in-ring promo. Austin learns he's facing Owen Hart at SummerSlam for the Intercontinental Championship, before saying if he doesn't beat Owen, he will kiss his bare ass.

Match 6- Bret Hart def Goldust

Analysis

Opening segment

Bret cut a pro Canadian/anti American promo to open the show. In all fairness, he made some good points about gun laws and healthcare in America.

Match 1

Fun rematch from the PPV allowing the TV audience to see the talents of Taka Michinoku and Sasuke. The Great Sasuke avenged his defeat, so no doubt a rubber match would be on the cards.

Match 2

Match two saw members of Los Boricuas and Disciples of Apocalypse pitted against each other. D.O.A chants heard for the skinhead biker faction. Match was eventually called off due to a brawl erupting between the two factions at ringside. This segment served solely to build heat between the two factions.

Match 3

D-Lo Brown and Faarooq represented the Nation of Domination as they took on The Hart Foundation in the ongoing tag team tournament. Decent enough tag match even with a slightly nonsensical finish, as members from The Hart Foundation and Nation of Domination brawled at ringside, with Owen Hart rolling back in to beat the 10 count. I understand they needed a finish in order to make the tournament work, but this one didn't land in my opinion.

Second Hour/WarZone

Strong match as expected between Austin and Hunter. Post-match, Austin called Mankind into the ring before hugging him. Austin then proceeded to hit a Stunner on Mankind before telling him "DTA…Don't trust anyone you sick freak" Mankind says he only ever wanted respect, before promising something big will go down next week. He finished by saying that Austin won't be the same, the WWF won't be the same, and Mankind won't be the same!

Main-event

The finish to the main-event made up for the bulk of the action, as they somehow resisted booking ANOTHER DQ finish! DOA, The Hart Foundation, Shamrock and L.O.D and even Steve Austin all walked out before Bret Hart defeated Goldust. The WWF did a great job building tension, as Jim Ross aptly said it was "like walking through a room full of dynamite smoking a big ole cigar"

Summary

Some really solid wrestling this week made Raw a highly enjoyable show. 2 strong matches (3 depending on how you look at the main) coupled with a decent end to the show. Sod it! Ratings bump for providing an actual finish to the main-event.

WCW Nitro 7/7/97 (3 Stars)

Segment- Curt Henning interview. Curt says he will wrestle at Bash at the Beach before saying he's a "free agent" and isn't aligned with anyone as of yet. Ric Flair attempts to persuade him to join the Four Horsemen.

Match 1- Public Enemy def Harlem Heat

Match 2- Konan def Joe Gomez

Match 3- Hector Garza & Juventud Guerrera def Villano IV & Villano V

Segment- Scott Hall and Randy Savage take over the commentary position. Savage promo's his and Scott Hall's match at Bash at the Beach against Randy Savage.

Match 4- Buff Bagwell & Scott Norton def Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero

Match 5- DDP def Randy Savage

Match 6- Glacier & Ernest Miller def Psychosis & Silver King via DQ

Segment- Eddie & Chavo Guerrero brawl backstage.

Segment- Ric Flair promo. Ric unveils a mannequin of Roddy Piper and proceeds to insult 'Hot Rod'. Roddy Piper chases Ric Flair into the ring, and the pair brawl. Chris Beniot and Steve 'Mongo' McMichael join the fight, before the Horsemen triple team Piper.

Segment- Mike Tenay attempts to interview Raven. Stevie Richards jumps the guardrail and hijacks the interview. Stevie Richards asks Raven if he's officially signed with WCW. Raven refuses to reply, and assaults Richards.

Match 7- Chris Beniot & Steve 'Mongo' McMichael def The Steiner Brothers

Segment- 'Hollywood' Hogan promo. Lex Luger and The Giant runoff Hogan and various NWO members

Analysis

Match 1

Sherri pushes one of Public Enemy off the top rope, making him collide with Stevie Ray in the process, costing Harlem Heat the match. Booker T scolds Sherri post-match, leading to her leaving the team. Wrong team went over and Public Enemy still sucked. Next

Match 2

A loss to Konan would be Joe Gomez's final Nitro match, although he would remain employed by WCW up until 1999, competing on WCW Pro as well as Saturday Night.

Match 3

This was a well booked, fun lucha style tag match. Juventud got the win for his team following a 450 splash. Juventud Guerrera and Héctor Garza looked like a great tag team and hopefully I'd get to see them pair up again.

Match 4

Eddie continued his 'tough love' approach towards his nephew Chavo, as he left him to fend for himself during their tag match against Bagwell and Norton. I enjoyed the storyline here, as WCW attempted to give the talented Eddie Guerrero something interesting to do on the mid card.

Second Hour

DDP was disguised as La Parka, hit the diamond cutter on Savage…1,2,3! Total swerve and one of the better moments Nitro had produced in its 2 year history to that point. Pop! Or should I say…BANG!

Match 7

Stiff match between The Steiners and Beniot/Mongo. Highly enjoyable. Beniot seemingly hit a diving headbutt 'outta nowhere' which was particularly impressive. Jeff Jarrett ran down and started fighting with Mongo, which provided the distraction for Kevin Sullivan to smash a wooden chair over Beniots head. The Steiners took advantage to win the match. Sullivan accidentally ran over Jackie with his ass upon leaving the ring, knocking her to the floor. Undoubtedly a botchamania moment if YouTube would have been a thing back then. During the match Randy Savage was shown assaulting WCW official Nick Patrick backstage.

Closing segment

Hogan promo in the main spot as per. Giant and Luger chase off the NWO hoodlums and it's onto Bash at the Beach!

Summary

The DDP/Savage stuff was fantastic and as an overall show, WCW was more entertaining than Raw in my opinion. Yet I'm still torn as even though Nitro was more enjoyable as a whole, it let itself down with one or two throwaway matches and a very bland/formulaic Hogan promo to wrap up proceedings. I expected to see something big in an effort to really sell the Hogan/Rodman match one last time before the PPV, but as it stood, that storyline wasn’t expanded on. However I do feel like this is as good as Nitro would be for the foreseeable future, so I don't want to grade it too harshly. That's my reasoning for a VERY hesitant tie this week.

Bash at the Beach '97

Live from Daytona Beach in Florida, WCW brought us Bash at the Beach 1997!

Match 1- Glacier & Ernest 'The Cat' Miller def Mortis & Wrath

Cruiserweight Championship

Match 2- (c) Chris Jericho def Ultimate Dragon

Segment- Raven speaks from ringside. He speaks cryptically before saying "quote the Raven nevermore" Raven assaults Stevie Richards for a second time.

Match 3- The Steiner Brothers def Masahiro Chono & The Great Muta (If The Steiners win, they get a shot at the tag titles)

Match 4- Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza & Lizmark Jr def La Parka, Psychosis & Villano IV

Match 5- Chris Beniot def Kevin Sullivan (Career match)

U.S Championship

Match 6- (c) Jeff Jarrett def Steve 'Mongo' McMichael

Match 7- DDP & Curt Henning def Randy Savage & Scott Hall

Match 8- 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper def Ric Flair

Match 9- 'Hollywood' Hogan & Dennis Rodman def Lex Luger & The Giant

Analysis

Match 1

James Vandenberg wrapped a chain around the boot of Mortis, allowing the heel team a victory following a kick to Glacier's chest. I'm not a huge fan of tag matches, nor was I a fan of this particular rivalry. But this was a fun match to watch and got the show off to a good start.

Match 2

Solid Cruiserweight action as expected from Jericho and Ultimate Dragon, even if at times it wasn't as smooth as it could have been. Although, that can sometimes be a good thing as it makes it seem like more of a struggle and a 'real fight' as opposed to two guys effortlessly trading moves. Chris Jericho kept getting better and better over the years, hence why I'm judging his matches so stringently. Good decision to keep the belt on Jericho.

Segment 1

Raven spoke from his ringside seat without saying much at all, before knocking Stevie Richards to the floor in an effort to prevent Stevie spilling the beans in regards to an alleged announcement by Raven on Nitro.

Match 4

The rudos (team La Parka) took on the técnicos (team Guerrera). I'm not overly familiar with Mexican Lucha Libre, but this seemed like as good an example as any. In an effort to cheat the technicos, Villano V rolled into the ring in place of Villano IV, but was eventually pinned anyway. Hilarious missed splash spot (5 consecutive missed top rope dives) Really fun six-man and MOTN so far!

Match 5

Story time delivered to us by the fine folks over at Dark Side of the Ring. As we know by now, the running joke was that Kevin Sullivan (then WCW booker) essentially "booked his own, real life divorce" with this angle involving Beniot, Nancy and himself. At this time, allegations of domestic abuse from Sullivan against Nancy, led to real life heat between Beniot and Sullivan. Their match at Bash at the Beach devolved into a shoot fight, with Chris Beniot striking Kevin Sullivan for real, breaking his eardrum, before going on to win the match. Backstage, Kevin Sullivan was visibly angry, with Nancy Sullivan leaving with Chris Beniot that night. Nancy and Kevin would soon split up, with Chris Beniot and Nancy starting a relationship. As for the match itself, it was a typical Beniot/Sullivan brawl (which isn't a bad thing!) These two had some great matches throughout this year-long rivalry, and while it wasn't quite on par with their classic '96 outing at The Great American Bash, it was still damn good! As per the stipulation, Kevin Sullivan would in fact step away from the ring, instead focusing on booking the matches and helping his buddy Hogan look strong (I don't remember that part of the stipulation)

Match 6

Jeff Jarrett retains as Debra turns on Mongo, deciding to align with Double J. Not a great segment if I'm honest, but I was getting bored with this storyline in general.

Match 7

Curt Henning was revealed as DDP's mystery partner! Curt turned on DDP in what proved to be a disappointing match. Maybe it was a poor decision to debut Henning for no good reason on Nitro. I doubt the suspense of him being the mystery partner would have boosted PPV sales, but the surprise live on PPV, would have made for a cool moment. Oh well, two matches to go. I'm starting to worry that this show will fall victim to WCW's typical 2nd half syndrome (the undercard outperforming the rest of the show)

Match 8

Great match between Piper/Flair with an even better finish. Piper fought off members of The Four Horsemen before locking Flair in his patented sleeper hold for the win. A wonderful back and forth affair with a ton of drama considering the match itself was pretty low stakes from a storyline perspective. Roddy Piper had now beaten Hulk Hogan clean, as well as Ric Flair. Surely he'd be the new number one contender with this victory, but somehow I doubt WCW followed the same logic as myself.

Main-event

Confession time. I already knew that the main-event between Hogan/Rodman and The Giant/Luger wasn't well received (shock, I know!) and as I wasn't looking forward to it anyway, I have to admit to tuning out of the majority of it. Fast forward to the finish, and Sting made an appearance, nailing The Giant with his bat (WHAAAAT?) only for Luger to lock Hogan in the Torture Rack anyway, and win the match for his team. Even though it was clearly an imposter Sting, I was still getting pretty tired of "Sting" doing questionable shit just for the sake of it, only for it to lead to some kind of 'aha!' moment. In my opinion it was lazy booking, but I still refuse to overly punish the rest of this card as a result. Usually I would as the main-event of a PPV is pretty important as it's what people, in theory, are actually paying for. But anyway, here are my final thoughts on Bash at the Beach 1997.

Summary

If you replaced what was bad on this card (the main-event) with literally anything else, it had the potential to match IYH 16: Canadian Stampede (best top to bottom card I've viewed in this series as of yet) Overall, this was a really fun show with some solid wrestling. But sadly the main-event let it down in a big way. Jarrett/Mongo was boring yet inoffensive, but upon reflection, the bulk of the card was really good. From a ratings perspective, you could argue that the Flair/Piper match saved the show. It served to break up a run of poor matches before the main-event and gave us something memorable towards the close. Final rating (3.25 Stars)

Raw/Nitro July 14th

Monday Night Raw 14/7/97 (3 Stars)

Segment- Hart Foundation in-ring promo. Bret says he will win the WWF Title at SummerSlam. Owen Hart promises to regain the tag-titles with his brother, before saying Austin will kiss his ass at SummerSlam. British Bulldog finds out that he will defend his European Title against Ken Shamrock at SummerSlam.

Match 1- Brian Christopher & Jerry Lawler def Scott Putski & Ivan Putski

Segment- Paul Bearer says Kane wants to confront The Undertaker, and says he will prove he's still alive next week.

Match 2- Taka Michinoku def Tajiri Yoshihiro

Match 3- Miguel and Jose def The Headbangers

Segment- The Patriot backstage promo. The Patriot says he's in The WWF to stand up for America.

Segment- Shawn Michaels in-ring promo. Shawn says he's not 100 percent, but he's wrestled hurt before and is willing to do it again. But ultimately it's up to Steve Austin. Shawn asks Vince McMahon to be a part of SummerSlam.

Segment- Savio Vega runs out, screaming about a terrible accident. Someone is trashing one of D.O.A's bikes, which leads to a backstage brawl between the biker gang and Los Boricuas.

Match 4- Ken Shamrock def Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart

Match 5- Vader def Flash Funk

Vacant Tag Team Championships

Match 6- 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin & Dude Love def The British Bulldog & Owen Hart

Analysis

Opening segment

We learned last week that Owen Hart would kiss Austin's ass if he lost his European Championship at SummerSlam. But the weird stipulations didn't stop there. British Bulldog said he'd eat a pile of dog food, Brian Pillman said he'd wear Marlena's dress on Raw, and Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart promised to shave his goatee. I think Jim was playing it safe with that one. What was up with all of these weird stips anyway. Most of the matches really didn't need them, and it made the feuds feel silly. After the Hart Foundation promo, Austin came out followed by various top tier WWF stars, in an attempt to tease his tag partner. With Ken Shamrock, Shawn Michaels, Sid and even The Patriot all throwing their metaphorical hats into the ring. This was The Patriot's WWF debut of sorts, if you count standing atop a ramp with 3 other men as a debut.

Match 2

Tajari debuted with a whole ass second name that I had no idea he possessed! Good LHW match between Tajari and Taka Michinoku anyway. This was clearly the WWF's attempt to compete with WCW's Cruiserweight division. Apparently Tajiri came from a "long line of dentists" Shame he didn't take up dentistry, as he could have been D.M.D Tajiri.

Match 3

Miguel and Jose represented Los Boricuas, who were clearly getting a push of sorts. Miguel was Miguel Perez who previously wrestled on WCW Nitro. Following their victory against The Headbangers, D.O.A surrounded the ring on motorcycles leading to a mass brawl between Headbangers, D.O.A and Los Boricuas.

Segment 4

After his promo, Shawn started to strip in the ring, with Vince McMahon looking genuinely annoyed and forcing him to stop. The camera cuts away before the hour two VT plays.

Second Hour/WarZone

The Godwinns attack L.O.D with chairs ahead of their scheduled match with The Blackjacks. The contest was called off as a result. This was a result of an ongoing rivalry revolving around the very real injury that Henry Godwinn suffered at the hands of L.O.D.

Main-event

Mankind adopted a new persona, teaming up with Austin as 'Dude Love'. Dude Love's reveal was perfect! Mick Foley aka Mankind appeared on the tron, talking smack about the "sick mutilated freak Mankind" as he donned his trademark tie dyed hippie looking apparel. This was the foundation of his s gimmick and the "three faces of foley" Mick had an uncanny ability to make most things work, and the sight of him dancing with three hot girls after he and Steve won the titles was only made this moment better, as J.R claimed "He's a heartthrob, he's a sex idol, he's DUDE LOVE!" Austin shakes his hand and Raw is off air.

Summary

Some really solid in-ring action for a second week in a row with a really fun moment at the end to cap it all off. Long may it continue.

WCW Nitro 14/7/97 (2.5 Stars)

Segment 1- Nitro girls are introduced.

Match 1- Alex Wright Vs Prince Iaukea ends in a no-contest due to outside interference by The Giant

Match 2- Eddie Guerrero def Chavo Guerrero

Segment- DDP interview. Dallas says that he had a positive interaction with Curt Henning during a night out, before saying he misjudged him and will get revenge for his betrayal.

Segment- Harlem Heat hype up their match against The Outsiders.

Match 3- The Steiner Brothers def Vicious ànd Delicious via DQ

Match 4- Chris Beniot def Mike Enos

Match 5- La Parka def Super Calo via DQ

Segment- Curt Henning calls DDP a mark before disrespecting both Dallas and his wife Kimberly. Ric Flair tries to recruit Henning once again.

Segment- nWo promo. Kevin Nash comes out in a wheelchair, before inducting Konan/K-Dog into the New World Order.

Match 6- Scott Hall & Syxx def Harlem Heat

Match 7- The Great Muta & Masahiro Chono def Public Enemy

United States Championship

Match 8- (c) Jeff Jarrett def Ric Flair via DQ

Segment- Lex Luger in-ring promo. Luger challenges Hogan for the WCW World Title at Road Wild. The nWo attempt to attack Lex Luger, but Sting stops them.

Analysis

Preamble

On this day, we would see the debut of the now fondly remembered 'Nitro Girls' Kevin Nash said that he believed it was important to add girls of any description to the show. Kevin also tells a story about a former woman who had worked with the Falcon cheerleaders and was brought in to coach the girls. She put rules in place, preventing the 'Nitro girls' from "mixing" with the male wrestlers. Kevin Nash said that these rules were ridiculous and unachievable. He added that he made it his personal mission to get this woman fired.

Opening segment

Nitro girls debut. They walked to the ring with 5 folding chairs set up. At first it seemed like they were going to play a game of musical chairs. Instead they walked around them and did some sort of dance routine. It was something different at least, and the Nitro girls would improve and evolve over time.

Match 1

The Giant walked down and chokeslammed the ref, Iaukea as well as security. He cut a promo saying he is sick of the nWo. The Giant says it wasn't Sting who hit him with a bat, and he knows it was Kevin Nash in disguise.

Match 2

Good match between Eddie and Chavo but far too short. Hopefully we'd get to see them go for longer at a later date. During the match, Konan was shown leaving a limo with Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Syxx, alluding to the fact he had joined the nWo. Oh joy!

Match 3

Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta got involved in the tag match between The Steiners and Vicious and Delicious, ending it in DQ as a result. The nWo were still trying to wear down the number one contenders, but The Steiners fought them all off anyway because they were total bad asses.

Match 5

Randy Savage assaulted La Parka believing it was DDP, but it wasn't. DDP then jumps Savage from behind before Curt Henning gets involved, knocking out DDP.

The first hour of Nitro didn't quite click for me, but surely bigger things were to come! Although a feud between DDP and Curt Henning could be interesting IF it was booked properly. Also, was Curt's interview the first true "nod to the internet" as he called DDP a mark? I'm unsure of how common knowledge 'Wrestling lingo' was back in 1997, but my guess is only a handful of people would have understood what he meant.

Second Hour

Ok match between Harlem Heat and Scott Hall/Syxx. Nash was shown to be feigning his injury, as he got up from his wheelchair mid-match in order to interfere on behalf of the nWo.

Main-event

Flair/Jarrett ended via DQ after a Four Horsemen beatdown. Sting also made an appearance as the nWo got involved for some reason. It was a shame they booked it this way, as Jarrett and Flair could have had a great match, but as Tony Schiavone said "It's only the beginning"

Summary

A Lex Luger promo, a foiled nWo beat down and a Sting appearance wrapped up a perfectly average episode of Nitro this week.

The matches weren't bad, but they weren't great either. The same can be said for the segments. But we got the debut of the Nitro girls as well as Curt Henning, so I can't complain too much.

Raw/Nitro July 21st

Monday Night Raw 21/7/97 (3.25 Stars)

Match 1- Vader def Ken Shamrock via count-out

Segment- Hype video for new WWF superstar 'Brakkus'

Segment- Hart Foundation in-ring promo. Bret runs down North America. Bulldog cuts a promo on Ken Shamrock and Owen Hart cuts a promo on Steve Austin. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin interrupts, naming himself as a competitor in the USA Vs Canada six-man flag match

Match 2- Brian Christopher def Bryan Walsh

Segment- On-screen promo hyping the 'Truth Commission'

Segment- Video package explaining Mick Foley's journey and why he utilises multiple personas.

Match 3- The Godwinns def The Headbangers & The New Blackjacks (Number One Contenders Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Segment- Shawn Michaels in-ring promo. Shawn has a 'big announcement' to make. Shawn said that he will compete alongside 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in the main-event, as well as announcing he will also compete at SummerSlam as a special guest referee. The added caveat is if Shawn Michaels doesn't call the match fairly, he will be banned from wrestling in America with the WWF.

Match 4- The Patriot def Hunter Hearst Helmsley via DQ

Segment- Paul Bearer insists that Kane is still alive. Paul Bearer shows a statue that the two brothers split in half as children, vowing to keep their half as long as they live.

Match 5- Goldust def Faarooq via DQ

Segment- Shawn Michaels is shown limping in his locker room.

Match 6- Bret Hart, Owen Hart & The British Bulldog def 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Dude Love & The Undertaker (Six-Man USA Vs Canada Flag Match)

Analysis

Match 1

Fairly good opener considering how new Shamrock was to the business. While he would never turn into someone with the technical ability of Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels, he didn't have to. He had a legitimate background in MMA and his gimmick suited him not being particularly polished or perfect. Vader won via count-out after The British Bulldog powerslams Shamrock onto the steel entrance ramp behind the ref's back.

Segment 1

Brakkus hype promo. He was a former Mr Universe bodybuilder hence why Vince signed him.

Segment 2

Austin filled one of the spots for the main-event 6-man flag match. This was an awesome main-event on paper. It had the opportunity to be star studded, and given the competitors involved, highly entertaining. It would also be the first of many 'gimmick on a pole' matches during the Vince Russo era. This would start a running joke that he booked them far too frequently.

Segment 3

Dude Love segment. It is explained that Mick Foley used different personalities to better achieve his goals. We are told he used Dude Love early in his career, which represented his dreams of receiving respect and adulation while possessing charisma and sex appeal, but he ultimately failed. His other personality Cactus Jack, achieved some success, but disfigured him in the process. He then turned to Mankind in order to express his anguish, as a "combination of his physical and mental anguish" It's my opinion that this split personality gimmick is one of the most layered and well produced in the history of the WWF! Mick Foley executed them all to perfection, establishing himself as one of the all time greatest performers in wrestling history.

Match 3

The three way tag match was a bit of a clusterfuck, but most likely, it was intentionally designed that way. All in all, it was something different and it didn't last too long. I also love number one contenders matches so there's always that.

Second Hour/WarZone

Shawn is booed out of the building (Raw was in Canada) Shawn opened by saying that the USA is "free to gays, transvestites and pretty much everybody." Not sure if that still remains the case today sadly. Shawn also puts his name down for the flag match. He then announces his involvement at SummerSlam as special guest referee. Shawn says he only works main-events. This was a really good promo. I always prefered when Shawn was slightly more 'heelish', as his natural cocky personality shone through. It was simply more authentic.

Match 4

The result of The Patriot/Hunter was and still is, very unclear. But that's unimportant, as the main takeaway was this. Bret Hart came out and screamed at Vince McMahon during the match, presumably over the bombshell that Shawn would ref his title match. Bret slaps Vinces headset off him, leading to a scuffle between the president of the company and Bret Hart. The match was called off as The Patriot got caught up in the brawl. This was a BIG moment towards Vince McMahon's character development. Until this point, he had simply been an announcer taking on the occasional interview. Comments were made about him being the real life owner of the company, but he rarely showed emotion…until now! He looked PISSED when Bret slapped him. Was this the first true sign of "Mr McMahon".

Main-event

We are told by J.R that Bret Hart was seen coming out of Shawn Michaels locker room, and Shawn is supposedly injured. He was replaced by The Undertaker mid match.

The main-event could have been better but flag matches are famously anti climatic/BAD anyway. Luckily the talent, along with being a hot angle in front of a great crowd, carried it through. Brian Pillman interfered on behalf of The Hart Foundation, giving the heel team a win in front of their hometown crowd.

Summary

Despite my criticisms, the main-event was still very fun, and made up for the storyline driven card. It can be exhausting at times having as many segments as were showcased on this edition of Raw, but most of them did a good job of building heat for angles. Whereas the previous weeks received a 3 star rating due to a constantly high quality of wrestling, this edition received 3 Stars due to some entertaining segments paired with a fun main-event.

WCW Nitro 22/7/97 (2 Stars)

Tuesday night Nitro for some reason.

Segment- 'Hollywood' Hogan promo. Hogan accepts Lex Luger's challenge for Road Wild.

Match 1- K-Dogg def Tsubasa

WCW TV Title

Match 2- Ultimate Dragon def Steve Regal (c)

Segment- Ric Flair was set to announce the latest member of The Four Horsemen, before being interrupted by Syxx. Ric Flair slaps Syxx, and the pair get into a confrontation.

Match 3- The Giant def The Great Muta via DQ

Match 4- Dean Malenko def Steve 'Mongo' McMichael

Segment- Jeff Jarrett attempts to persuade Dean Malenko to join his side. Malenko says he will answer when he's "good and ready"

Match 5- Eddie Guerrero def Hector Guerrero

Segment- Stevie Richards announces that he's signed a deal with WCW, before taking J.J. Dillon to ringside in order to get Raven to sign an official WCW contract. Raven rips up the contract and attacks Stevie Richards.

Match 6- Lex Luger def Scott Norton via DQ

Match 7- Wrath & Mortis def Psychosis & La Parka

Match 8- Booker T def Buff Bagwell def Booker T

Segment- Rey Mysterio speaks about his injury. K-Dogg interrupts and takes Mysterio's crutch. The luchadores of the division come out to protect Mysterio.

Match 9- Curt Hennig def M. Wallstreet

Tag Team Championships

Match 10- (c) The Outsiders def Ric Flair & Chris Benoit

Analysis

Opening segment

The show kicked off with a promo from Hogan and Bischoff. Decent promo to be fair, but Bischoff usually carried these segments with his natural charisma.

Match 1

K-Dogg squashed Tsubasa in under a minute. Nothing to report here outside of WCW attempting to make the latest member of The nWo (K-Dogg) look strong. I'm not sure a meaningless squash match against someone most of the crowd have never heard of accomplished that.

Match 2

We see a new champ as Ultimate Dragon beats Regal for the strap. WCW could have and should have done SOOO much more with the TV Title match. It was over before it even started. Disappointing, considering it involved two really strong workers.

Match 3

Following the DQ due to Muta using the "green mist" (FYI, matches have been allowed to continue for much worse) The Giant was jumped by The nWo, leading to a save from Lex Luger. Typical WCW run-in malarkey.

Match 5

Fun yet short match between the Guerrero brothers, Eddie and Hector. Dean Malenko runs out to destroy Eddie post match, with Hector fighting off Dean. Dean Malenko then turned his attention to Hector, with Eddie ignoring the assault on his brother and walking away. Good storytelling from the perspective of making Eddie a despicable heel.

Second Hour

J.J Dillon kicked off the second hour with a big announcement. He was interrupted by Stevie Richards who railroaded the announcement of Raven. Raven refused to sign and punched Richards. An entertaining segment even if I had no idea whatsoever what they were trying to do with Raven.

Match 6

Luger wins his match against Scott Norton via insta DQ, after Buff Bagwell gets involved. Luger fights off the nWo members, before Hogan comes out and cuts a promo on him. Oh Brother.

Match 9

Curt Hennig made his Nitro debut. Another short match that failed to showcase Hennig's abilities. Post-match, DDP came out in order to find retribution for Hennig turning his back on him at Bash at the Beach, and managed to hit him with a Diamond Cutter to a nice reaction from the crowd.

Main-event

The main-event saw The Outsiders retain their tag titles against Ric Flair and Chris Benoit. This match was fine for the most part, but the pacing felt slightly off. It went from being relatively slow in the middle, to a frantic finish and a big boot out of nowhere ending things. Post-match, Syxx locked in a sleeper on Ric Flair, until Steve 'Mongo' McMichael saved Flair. The Steiners show their faces as Nitro finally goes off air (thank god!)

Summary

4 matches, 2 segments and 1 dance routine in the first half hour of the show. Far too much in a short amount of time. What followed wasn't much better. We saw some angle advancements, but if I wasn't writing all of this down I'd have already lost track of what was going on. Raw with an easy win this week!

Raw/Nitro July 28th

Monday Night Raw 28/7/97 (2.25 Stars)

Segment- Hart Foundation in-ring promo. Bret Hart responds to the news that his WWF contract will be under evaluation post SummerSlam. Bret promises to win the WWF Title from The Undertaker at SummerSlam before calling out Shawn Michaels for his disparaging remarks against Canada. Bret Hart also calls out The Patriot.

Match 1- Legion of Doom def Los Boricuas via DQ

Match 2- The Truth Commission def Jesse Jammes, Flash Funk & Bob Holly

Segment- The Patriot accepts Bret Hart's challenge.

Match 3- Crush Vs Faarooq ends in a no-contest

Tag Team Championships

Match 4- The Godwinns def 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin & Dude Love (c) via count-out

Match 5- Devon Storm def Ace Darling

Segment- British Bulldog assaults Ken Shamrock with a steel chair and covers him in dog food following an arm wrestling match.

Match 6- Goldust Vs Rockabilly ends in a no-contest

Segment- Shawn Michaels refuses to apologise to Bret Hart, before saying he will commentate on Bret's main-event match.

Match 7- The Patriot def Bret Hart

Analysis

Opening segment

The opening segment with Bret Hart was good, but seemed to be slightly long winded at times. Bret Hart never delivered the most 'to the point' or punchy promos in the world. It was still a decent heel promo that hit the right marks and achieved what it needed to.

Match 1

Savio Vega & Miguel Perez represented Los Boricuas as they took on L.O.D in a losing effort. The Godwinns ran-in and assaulted Hawk post-match. I was a fan of Savio Vega, so it was a shame to see him in a faction that was clearly not going anywhere.

Mankind (posing as a cameraman) assaulted Hunter with a TV camera before his match with Vader. The bell never rings as the pair brawl throughout the crowd. Cool moment, but I was kind of disappointed not to see Hunter take on Vader

Match 2

Recon, Sniper and The Interrogator represented the Truth Commission. I loved the idea behind this faction and looking forward to seeing what they did with it. It was a nothing match sadly, even if the gimmick was intriguing.

During the 'action', Vince called a very underwhelmed child to inform him he'd won free tickets to SummerSlam as well as a shot at 1 MILLION DOLLARS! The person on the other end of the phone expressed the same level of excitement one would have upon being told that wonderbread is 50 percent off!

Match 3

D.O.A Vs Nation of Domination as Faarooq took on Crush in one on one action. The match was thrown out as both factions engaged in "gang warfare" Los Boricuas got involved also, piledriving a member of D.O.A on the steel steps.

Second Hour/WarZone

The tag match between Austin/Dude Love and The Godwinns was called off, as Owen Hart started brawling with Steve Austin at ringside. I was getting pretty tired of all of the non-finishes.

Match 5

A LHW match between Storm/Darling went under a minute. The WWF clearly had no interest in this division.

Match 6

Brian Pillman got into a brawl with Goldust following his match with Rockabilly. Yet ANOTHER non-finish. I didn't care about this match whatsoever, but still.

Main-event

Nice main-event to make up for the rest of the card. Post-match Shawn Michaels dances on the announcers table, antagonising Bret Hart.

Summary

I wasn't a fan of this edition of Raw. Too many non finishes coupled with a low standard of wrestling. The main-event was ok from an in-ring perspective, but had zero heat. I'm not sure how many people would actually switch over from whatever Nitro were doing, simply because Bret Hart was wrestling The Patriot. Shawn's involvement added some mild spice, but if it was a nando's meal, it would still be a "plain-ish"

WCW Nitro 28/7/97 (2.25 Stars)

Match 1- Ric Flair & Curt Hennig def Vicious & Delicious

Segment 1- Lex Luger in-ring promo. Luger says he's wrestling 'Hollywood' Hogan next week on Nitro, for the World Title!

TV Title

Match 2- (c) Ultimate Dragon def Prince Iaukea

Segment 2- Ric Flair tries to announce Curt Hennig as a Horsemen, Henning says he's still a "free agent"

Match 3- Chris Beniot & Steve 'Mongo' McMichael def The Texas Hangmen

Cruiserweight Championship

Match 4- Alex Wright def Chris Jericho (c)

Segment 3- Dean Malenko & Jeff Jarrett form an on-screen partnership.

Match 5- Syxx def DDP

Match 6- Dean Malenko def Hector Guerrero

Segment 4- K-Dogg cuts a promo on Rey Mysterio, saying he will work one by one to eliminate all of his protégés, starting with La Parka.

Match 7- The Giant def The Great Muta

Match 8- K-Dogg def La Parka

Segment- J.J. Dillon gives an update on Sting. Dillon says he believes Sting is firmly behind WCW, so they are assembling an offer to get Sting back in action by September.

Match 9- Scott Stiener def 'Macho Man' Randy Savage via DQ

Analysis

Match 1

Curt Henning had joined forces with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen, as the duo teamed up against Vicious and Delicious (Bagwell & Norton) during the opener. Hennig and Flair made a good heel tag team, with their in-ring styles and cocky personas meshing well, although the match itself was nothing to write home about (not that anyone would do that anyway)

Segment 1

It was somewhat confusing as to why WCW would book a world title match between Luger and Hogan on free TV, just 6 days before the EXACT SAME TITLE MATCH would take place on PPV. But whatever.

Match 4

Good match between Jericho/Wright, yet I couldn't help but find Alex Wright to be bland. Technically proficient in-ring, but I didn't care about anything he did as he failed to elicit any emotion. Wright would defeat Jericho and become the new cruiserweight champion in the process

I enjoyed the pacing of the first hour as it made Nitro much easier to stomach. A decent match between Jericho and Wright capped it off, along with some clarity across the various segments.

Second Hour

DDP/Syxx kicked off hour number two. Hennig cost Dallas the match as he blasted him in the back of the head behind the ref's back. I wish this was booked in a way that allowed more wrestling (run-in came too quickly) but I anticipated the expected match between Dallas/Hennig

Segment 4

K-Dogg saying Mysterio's place on the card was a result of "affirmative action" was creative and low-key funny, as was the idea of him knocking off all of the Mexican wrestlers one by one as a result of jealousy. K-Dogg may have been a stupid name, but a good promo nonetheless.

Match 7

Following the exceptionally bland match between The Giant and Great Muta, Eric Bischoff and Larry Zbyszko got involved in a screaming match, resulting in Zbyszko grabbing Eric by his neck and rolling him into the ring, only for Eric to receive a chokeslam from The Giant.

Match 8

K-Dogg/La Parka could have been given more time, but with approx 20 mins of TV remaining, and the main-event still to come, this was a rather predictable throwaway. A shame considering the talents of both men.

Main-event

The quality of the card kind of hinged on this match. What came before had been acceptable, but a solid main-event would have ensured the show's quality. Randy Savage Vs Scott Stiener. One on one. Mano e mano. Unfortunately, it still failed to hold my attention. The Outsiders attacked Scott Stiener causing the DQ, before The Giant ran them off post-match. So at least it served a purpose in that respect. It still felt frustrating as Randy Savage and Scott Stiener were much more capable of putting on a show than what they delivered here.

Summary

Well rounded episode of Nitro with an underwhelming main-event. Raw had a poor undercard and an ok main-event, whereas Nitro had an ok undercard and a poor main-event. I hate doing this, but I have to score this week as a draw even though I prefered Nitro overall. If you can't deliver on your main-event, you'll never crack a 2.5/average rating for me. WCW CONSTANTLY hyped the HUGE show set to take place next week, so there's always that to look forward to I guess.

Summary & final scores

A mixed bag this month. Both brands put on a solid PPV, and both brands had at least one week of good TV. But both brands also tapered off towards the end of the month. The WWF had done a good job of building towards SummerSlam. The main feud for the company was clearly Shawn/Bret. The main feud for WCW was Hogan Vs…everyone I guess? We'd seen him face off with Luger 100 times already (at least it seemed that way) and I struggled to see where WCW's next one on one money feud would come from. The WWF had done a good job of positioning their card so that Taker, Hunter, Mankind, Austin, etc, could all seamlessly transition into the main-event scene once Hart/Michaels is over with. WCW had a handful of defined "main-eventers", a Cruiserweight division, and DDP. They'd need to work on building a more meaningful midcard as well as some more creative angles outside of The nWo. Anyway, the scores see The WWF have a better month with 2 outright wins, and 2 draws. The final scores are: WCW 43-39 WWF with 12 draws.

Match of the Month: The Hart Foundation Vs 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust & Legion of Doom (IYH 16: Canadian Stampede)