Raw/Nitro December '97 (Week 5)

Monday Night Raw 29/12/97 (2.75 Stars)

Segment- The Artist formerly known as Goldust in-ring promo. Goldust was dressed as a baby, as he declared himself an entrant in the 1998 Royal Rumble, before calling out ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Steve Austin came to the ring and stated that he was nearly paralysed earlier that year and has worked hard to get back to full health. Austin says that he has a present for Goldust, before a porta potty was lowered into the ring, leading to Austin attacking Goldust and pushing him inside.

Match 1- Disciples of Apocalypse def Los Boricuas (Long Island Brawl)

Segment- HHH in-ring segment. HHH says that he is injured, so can't compete against Owen Hart in the main-event. HHH also calls out The Undertaker, telling him that Shawn Michaels is home sick with a temperature so he too will have to wait until the Rumble if he wants to fight Shawn. Four druids wheel a casket to the ring, only for HHH to reveal it to be a ruse, as Shawn Michaels comes out of the casket! Shawn verbally runs down Owen Hart, before promising victory against The Undertaker, bragging about his two previous wins against him. Sgt Slaughter books Shawn Michaels in the main-event, making it a world title match against Owen Hart!

Match 2- Ken Shamrock def Kama Mustafa

Segment- Pre recorded message of Vince McMahon wishing the WWF audience a happy new year

Match 3- Brian Christopher & Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler def Taka Michinoku & George ‘The Animal’ Steele via DQ

Segment- New Age Outlaws in-ring promo. The Outlaws show footage on the titon-tron of them beating up Mick Foley in his various forms over the following weeks. Dude Love appears on the titon-tron saying he went 0-3 against the Outlaws, but that Cactus Jack will show no mercy!

Match 4- Cactus Jack def Road Dogg via DQ

Segment- Chainsaw Charlie escapes from a box using a Chainsaw, teaming up with Cactus Jack and chasing of the New Age Outlaws

Segment- Kevin Kelly interviews Sable in-ring. Sable promotes the upcoming swimsuit edition of the Raw monthly magazine, before promising fans in attendance a “sneak preview” Marc Mero interrupts and berates her, before attacking Kevin Kelly! Tom Brandi runs in to stop the attack, but is unsuccessful as Mero takes him down as well!

Segment- D.O.A, The Headbangers, Flash Funk and Scott Taylor call out Kane. The Undertaker clears the ring in order to protect his brother before saying he will “burn in hell” before he ever fights Kane!

Segment- The New Age Outlaws backstage promo. The Outlaws run away, as Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack saw their way through a door using a chainsaw, chasing them off in the process!

Segment- Jim Cornette state of wrestling promo. Cornette says the state of wrestling ‘stinks', chasting the drawn out segments, the silliness of DX and lack of actual ring-time for the more accomplished workers. Cornette closes by saying his new year resolution is to bring real wrestling back for the fans!

Segment- Jim Ross announces that Mike Tyson will be involved in WrestleMania XIV

WWF Title

Match 5- Owen Hart def Shawn Michaels (c) via DQ

Analysis

Opening Segment

The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust, was set to face ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Goldust came to the ring dressed as a baby and wished the crowd in attendance a happy new year, before declaring himself as an entrant in the ‘98 Royal Rumble. Austin came to the ring and gave Goldust a ‘present’. A portable toilet aka a ‘porta potty’ was lowered into the ring, leading to Austin attacking Goldust, shoving him inside before knocking it over! This was a pretty low brow segment, but the intensity and seriousness of Steve Austin made it work. The new direction of the WWF was never more evident than it was in this segment, as it clearly had Russo's and McMahon's fingerprints all over it, especially with the literal ‘toilet humour’ that opened the show.

Matches 1 & 2

The gang warfare that literally NO ONE asked for continued, as Los Boricuas beat D.O.A in a ‘Long Island brawl’. This rivalry would actually be named as the “worst feud of the year” for 1997, as according to Dave Meltzer's wrestling observer newsletter awards for that year. As a match, it was a total clusterfuck with far too much going on at once to have any actual meaning. That being said, a chaotic, no holds barred 6 man frenzy was never a bad way to open a show, so it gets a pass on that front. It was just a shame that none of the wrestlers involved seemed to resonate with the audience under these particular gimmicks.

After an in-ring promo by D-Generation X, which prompted Sgt Slaughter to book Shawn Michaels and Owen Hart in the main-event, Ken Shamrock defeated yet another member of the Nation of Domination in Kama Mustafa, as he submitted him with an ankle lock. ‘The Rock’ cut a promo on Ken Shamrock post-match, telling him he would face Faarooq next week on Raw. Faarooq didn't seem overly pleased to be thrown to the lions by Rocky, but wrestling logic obviously dictated that Shamrock had to face all 3 members of The Nation of Domination before his eventual championship showdown with The Rock at The Royal Rumble. When all was said and done, it was a pretty basic match, but it did a great job of making Shamrock look strong, and I found myself growing more and more intrigued by the prospect of his match against The Rock as a result.

Overall the first hour was fairly solid. No outstanding in-ring action to speak of, but it did a good job of setting up the second half of the show with the promise of a blockbuster main-event between Shawn and Owen, as well as teasing a Mike Tyson announcement surrounding his involvement with The WWF. ‘Iron Mike ' was still a HUGE deal in ‘97/98. Fresh out of prison following an alleged rape charge, and following his boxing licence being temporarily revoked due to biting his opponents ear, there was still plenty of buzz surrounding the former boxing Heavyweight champion of the world and what he would do next, and ultimately his involvement would prove to be a huge piece of business for Vince McMahon and Co!

Second Hour/WarZone

The New Age Outlaws kicked off the WarZone as they antagonised Mick Foley, showing footage of him being brutalised by the Outlaws, Road Dogg and ‘Bad Ass’ Billy Gunn. Dude Love appears on the Titontron, saying that the only reason they beat him 3 times in a row, is because he showed them mercy, but this man won't, before switching to his Cactus Jack persona. Jack also teased an appearance from ‘Chainsaw Charlie’ before saying he has a surprise waiting for The Outlaws!

It must be noted that Cactus Jack/Mankind/Mick Foley or whatever you want to call him, is actually from Long Island (the place where the show emanated from on this night) So safe to say, the return of his Cactus Jack persona got a HUGE pop in front of his hometown crowd.

Anyway the match eventually began, as Cactus Jack took on Road Dogg W/Billy Gunn at ringside as his manager. The match ended pretty quickly as Billy Gunn broke up a pin and started to assault Cactus Jack. What followed though, was simply brilliant! Cactus Jack led the New Age Outlaws up the ramp towards a wooden box, only for wrestling legend Chainsaw Charlie (better known as Terry Funk) to escape from the box using a literal chainsaw! This was more of a segment than a wrestling match, but my god what a segment it was!

I did have one slight concern however, as it seemed to be a working chainsaw, so the image of Chainsaw Charlie (an older man in this stage of his life) running down a slippy, metal entrance ramp with rows of fans 10 feet either side of him, as he wildly brandished and swung it over his head, had the capacity to go SO SO wrong! (thankfully no chainsaws were harmed during the filming of this segment)

Anyway, to me, this was when the attitude era was at its best! People may look back at this time and remember the smutty humour or the OTT shock factor moments. But in my opinion, the compelling angles and stories were THE SOLE REASON why the Attitude Era was as successful as it was, with Mick Foley's character work being a HUGE part of that. He was still edgy and he was certainly always “hardcore”, whatever that means. But he utilised these traits selectively, instead choosing to focus on his ability to create a compelling story. Mick's split personality gimmick was and still is one of the better produced long running angles in the history of pro-wrestling! This entire segment was FANTASTIC, as Mick Foley seamlessly switched between his various personas on the Titontron, to the match/brawl itself, followed by the amazing reveal of Chainsaw Charlie. In tandem, it easily made this the best segment of the night, if not the entire month!

Main-event

Owen and Shawn faced off for TV time remaining, which was about 10 minutes. This worried me as I feared the insta DQ, but if they were given at least 8 minutes or so to work, this could still be something special!

Indeed they were given this time to actually, you know, wrestle and the end result was as good of a condensed TV main-event as you're likely to see from this era, and that is NO exaggeration! It worked so well as Owen's character at the time was very much chaotic and out for blood, so him flying about the ring at 100 mph and tossing Shawn from pillar to post all worked to perfection. There were even a few moments that Shawn looked in danger of losing the title, but my ONLY criticism would be this. Owen Hart had a sharpshooter locked in too close to the ropes, allowing Hunter to smash Owen with his crutches almost immediately, killing any suspense. If Shawn was in the middle of the ring, crawled towards the ropes and JUST as he looked like he would tap, Hunter got involved, it would have been perfect. But for the time both men were given this was a very VERY good match. Slightly predictable but that's no one's fault and I was still able to enjoy it for what it was.

Summary

The DX segment in hour one was probably their best/most legitimately funny promo to date! Chyna had recently gotten breast implants, so D-Generation X ensured that during the promo, their two new “breast” friends as HHH put it, were in the camera shot as much as humanly possible. It was nice to see them all having fun here, and Chyna, who generally portrayed a serious character, was trying her best not to start cracking up!

The 7 man Kane callout was also brilliant, and a really clever spin on Kane cleaning house every week with seemingly zero consequence! Kane/Taker could have been a difficult angle to book for a few reasons.

A) The whole thing is predicated around Taker refusing to so much as lay a finger on his ‘little brother’ Kane

B) There was only so many times Kane could cause carnage, so it made sense that the locker room would catch on to this eventually. Even the rampant cocaine use aside, that was ever clear in the late 90's, wouldn't make an entire roster of pro-wrestlers this dumb and unaware.

C) The lack of contact between both men meant it could have been hard to keep the audience's attention. Something had to give eventually.

This mini swerve where it looked like the two would unite for a moment, while it only lasted seconds, was still good TV and kept the angle bubbling along nicely. I've already spoken at nauseam about the Chainsaw Charlie segment, but overall this was just a really REALLY fun show. The ‘state of wrestling’ promo by Jim Cornette was gold as usual, with my personal favourite line being ‘moving from Tennessee to Connecticut is like trading a Hawaiian vacation for a bed in a cancer ward!”

So in summary, the segments were all entertaining and the main-event delivered. I would have graded this one 3 stars outright, but it was still segment heavy with the only real wrestling to speak of coming in the main-event, and there were still some low points as you'd expect. The part with Austin/Goldust was the kind of thing you either liked or you didn't, and overall it served zero purpose outside of the live crowd getting to see Austin in person. And as funny as I found the whole DX/’Chyna has big boobs now’ stuff, I have to be fair and say the same for that segment also.

Overall though, a nice end to the year of 1997. Onwards and upwards! (Hopefully)

WCW Nitro 29/12/97 (2.25 Stars)

Segment- Larry Zybysko returns to a standing ovation after he beat Eric Bischoff at Starrcade, reclaiming WCW as a standalone brand.

Match 1- Goldberg def Glacier (12-0)

Segment- Bret Hart in-ring promo. Bret says that the nWo reminds him of the “scum he's left behind” and is looking forward to his future in WCW.

Segment- Raven calls out Chris Beniot. Raven says that if Beniot insists on receiving punishment, he is happy to deliver it!

Match 2- Chris Beniot def Hammer via DQ

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Ric Flair. Flair calls out Curt Hennig and praises Sting for beating Hogan, before antagonising Bret Hart by reading a Dave Meltzer excerpt claiming that Ric Flair is the “greatest in the history of the sport without question!”

Cruiserweight Title

Match 3- Ultimo Dragon def Eddie Guerrero (c)

Segment- ‘Hollywood’ Hogan in-ring promo. Hogan chastises Bret Hart for getting involved in his match! Hogan ultimately asks for his title to be returned to him, citing WCW can “save face” after screwing up!

Segment- Bobby Heenan claims that he only aligned with the nWo as he had no choice before returning to the commentary position.

Match 4- DDP def Mortis

Match 5- Mean Gene interviews J.J. Dillon. Dillon says the decision at Starrcade stands, but Sting has offered a rematch to Hogan in the main-event!

TV Title

Match 6- Booker T def Disco Inferno (c)

Segment- Eric Bischoff accepts Sting's challenge on Hogan's behalf, officially booking the World Title match set to take place later that evening!

Match 7- Curt Hennig def Chris Jericho

Segment- Scott Hall conducts his weekly nWo survey.

Segment- Buff Bagwell calls out Lex Luger.

Match 8- Lex Luger def Buff Bagwell

World Heavyweight Championship

Match 9- (c) Sting Vs ‘Hollywood’ Hogan ends in a no-contest

Analysis

The show opened with a Larry Zybsko love fest, fresh off his tainted victory against a non-wrestler in Eric Bischoff. But HE got WCW back, whatever that meant. Did anyone actually expect the nWo to go away completely, or was it more a case of branding, because that aspect was never actually explained! Anyway, this show should be interesting, so lets get to it!

Matches 1 & 2

Goldberg squashes Glacier. But like PROPERLY squashes him, as well as shouting “WHO'S NEXT!” for the first time. We all know how this goes, but it's soooo easy for me to write up, so no complaints here!

We then saw a Bret Hart in-ring promo, where he called the WWF “scum”, and generally said that he was looking forward to testing his mettle in WCW. For me, this promo massively lacked any real bite. Bret failed to make me feel excited to see him wrestle, well, anybody! And it wasn't all Bret's fault either, but rather a combination of different things.

1) How he was presented/booked initially was ALL WRONG. The whole thing came across as exceptionally anticlimactic.

2) It seemed as if WCW didn’t have any real plan in place for him to begin with. Someone the calibre of Bret Hart should never have been wantonly calling out random members of the nWo all at once. He needed focus. Some of his best mic work was when he was taking personal shots at Shawn Michaels, and when he had that focus, he was actually a really good promo. Anyway, sadly this was another wasted Bret Hart segment. They really need to pick things up with him and do so quickly!

The second match of the evening saw Chris Beniot take on Hammer from ‘Raven's Flock’, in a continuation of that storyline. Even though at first I wasn't super into this, I was starting to respect the long form storytelling. I still think not having the one on one between Raven and Beniot at Starrcade aka THE BIGGEST SHOW OF THE YEAR, was somewhat of a cop out. That said, I was enjoying the angle. Beniot eventually won a pretty dull match, following DQ shenanigans after the Flock intervened. Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael ran out to help his former Horseman friend Chris Beniot, and successfully chased away the Flock.

Hour two ended with a ‘Hollywood’ Hogan promo citing bullshit on the Starrcade main-event. The only problem with that, from a kayfabe perspective at least. HE….WAS...RIGHT! I've already spoken about the clusterfuck that occurred, but the ramifications were even being felt on the following Nitro as it was IMPOSSIBLE for the heels in Eric Bischoff and ‘Hollywood’ Hogan to gain any heat, because everything they said was true. It wasnt a fast count, and WCW's newest premiere babyface Bret Hart seemingly screwed Hogan for no apparent reason. What happened to the whole “I know more than anyone what it's like to get screwed”. They DID however, have an opportunity to fully lean into it, turn Bret heel/tweener and start antagonising Hogan as revenge for being linked with Shawn's boys aka the clique/aka the nWo. But that's some 3D chess AEW level booking, so I'm almost more satisfied that they kept it simple and stuck to THEIR version of events. This must be how Donald Trump feels whenever he screams about a rigged election, the poor guy.

Second Hour

DDP kicked off the second hour with a BANG! as he pinned Mortis. I loved the creative finish here as Page reversed a snake eyes on the turnbuckle into a diamond cutter. Hopefully DDP would continue to be pushed well into 1998 and beyond, as WCW finally seemed to be realising his potential as a box office star.

J.J. Dillon was interviewed by Mean Gene. Dillon announces a world title rematch set to take place in the main-event, so I'll rejoin you all for that as I'm sure it will give me PLENTY to write about!

Match 7

Quick interlude guys as we had yet ANOTHER title change (Ultimo Dragon quickly rolled up Eddie for the CW title in match 3) Booker T pinned Disco Inferno to win the TV Title, but sadly his moment would be completely overshadowed! Whie match itself was fine, but with all of the gaga on commentary regarding Hogan/Sting in the main-event, I found myself disengaged from the actual match itself. Not to mention that the fact it was an ACTUAL TITLE MATCH, wasn't mentioned once in commentary until Booker T actually won it at the end! A small criticism perhaps, but when you're watching any show or movie, the smallest details really matter and can make a world of difference.

Main-event

Sting defended against Hogan in a rematch from Starrcade with the title on the line! Hogan came out of the gates like a man possessed! If only he possessed this high level of workrate for the majority of his time in WCW. Bad joke, sorry. Anyway, it was a really fun match for as long as it lasted, which admittedly was only around 4 or 5 minutes, but WCW made the bizarre decision of cutting away before the finish of the match! I'm actually done. I don't even have the energy to rant and rave about how stupid this was. I understand they were trying to drag it out, but even a DQ finish would have made more sense. Apparently the match ends via a no-contest after Sting's splash hit the referee, but it was never actually televised so we have no evidence of the official result! A cut away non finish, kind of sums up WCW’s year in review quite nicely if you ask me.

Summary & final scores

Obviously Hogan's heel promo in hour one didn't work WHATSOEVER, because it WASN'T a fast count, so the face commentary team claiming otherwise made NO sense at all! But that's more a gripe towards the booking at Starrcade rather than this episode as the damage was already done, so they had to run with it. As a standalone edition of Nitro, it was fine I guess. They annoyed me glossing over what should have been a nice moment for Booker T, and the main-event was, well the less said about that the better.

Overall, Raw takes the point this week due to the quality of their main-event in a direct comparison to WCW shitting the bed with their bizarre non ending! Cutting away like that is simply inexcusable (It also happened on an episode of Raw and I was equally annoyed, before anyone accuses me of picking on WCW)

I will also be posting a brief (and I do mean BRIEF) yearly summary, detailing some of the best PPVs, as well as my MOTY award. The scores at the end of the year look like this. Nitro still leads the way with 55 weekly wins, only 13 draws and Raw trails on 46. As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you all in 1998!

“I learned how to take the night off watching Larry Zybysko wrestle”- Kevin Nash 2016

Match of the Month: Chris Beniot Vs Billy Kidman (WCW Nitro)