Raw/Nitro November ‘97 (Week 1)

OK, so it's THAT month. I have a more in depth write up detailing the Montreal Screwjob that I will attach separately after my Survivor Series review. Although at this point in time, there's not that much people don't already know, or haven't spoken/written about. But it was still a monumental and historic event, so I will cover it while including opinions and statements expressed by Kevin Nash, Jim Cornette, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, as well as tidbits included in the excellent documentary 'Wrestling with Shadows'. Finally, I will include a timeline of all of the events leading up to it, as documented by pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer. But before Survivor Series, we have some TV's to review. So let's get into it!

Raw/Nitro November 3rd

Monday Night Raw 3/11/97 (2 Stars)

Segment- 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in-ring promo. Vince McMahon announces the match between Steve Austin and Owen Hart at Survivor Series for the Intercontinental Championship. Austin says it won't be a wrestling match, but payback for the injuries suffered at Owen's hands. Austin adds that last week, Ahmed Johnson was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, before Johnson confronts Austin, challenging him to a match. Austin accepts!

Match 1 Aguila def Super Loco (Light Heavyweight Tournament- Round One)

Segment- J.R sitdown interview with Marlena and Dustin Rhodes. Dustin says that Marlena doesn't understand him, and that he has found someone else, before adding that he doesn't love her anymore!

Segment- Kane assaults Ahmed Johnson before his match with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. Mankind runs in and attacks Kane with a pipe, but Kane sits up showing no effects.

Segment- 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in-ring promo. Austin issues an open challenge that is met by Kama of the Nation of Domination. The Legion of Doom brawl at ringside with the other members of the Nation before Austin stuns Kama and leaves!

Segment- Rick Rude introduces D-Generation X. Triple H pushes Michael Cole out of the ring, before Shawn Michaels cuts an in-ring promo ahead of his title match with Bret Hart. Shawn calls out Ken Shamrock for next week's Raw, leading Sgt Slaughter to officially book the match for later the same night!

Match 2- Marc Mero def Savio Vega

Match 3- Vader def The British Bulldog (Dog Collar Match)

Match 4- 'Road Dogg' Jesse James & 'Bad Ass' Billy Gunn def Los Boricuas

Match 5- Ken Shamrock def Shawn Michaels via DQ

Analysis

Match 1

Light Heavyweight Tournament action kicked off Raw, with the winner of the tournament (presumably) receiving the new LHW Title. Loco had a few botched spots here as he got caught in the ropes trying a dive over the top, as well as a missed kick from the turnbuckle as Aguila was sitting on the ropes. Not the best outing from Loco if I'm being totally honest. Between Loco generally having an off night, and Aguila being only 19 at the time and a rookie in every sense of the word, this one didn't impress me if I'm looking at it analytically. But as an opening high flying segment, it was ok I guess.

Only one actual match in the first hour of TV, as what followed were multiple segments in the form of pre-recorded interviews, unofficial in-ring beatdowns and unanswered open challenges. Cornette was on commentary for this episode and had me in stitches as he continually yelled "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE READ A FORMAT!" This shotgun style of booking most likely irritated him to no end, but he took it in his stride, and called out the ridiculous nature of what was going on, almost making it work. That said, it was still a really poor and sloppy first hour from team WWF!

Second Hour/WarZone

Hour two kicked off with D-Generation X, as Shawn Michaels cut an in-ring promo ahead of his match with Bret Hart. Ironically, he made NO attempt to actually talk about Bret Hart or the PPV that was only 6 days away! Perhaps it was intentional, as they were still presumably scrambling around in the offices of Stamford CT, trying to figure out how the hell they could take the title of an unwilling Bret Hart before his contract expired! Unfortunately for us, that meant that the segment itself was a typical late 90's DX skit, as they mocked Sgt Slaughter and called out Ken Shamrock instead. Honestly, I found the whole thing dull and unfunny. Maybe DX hadn't come into their own yet, but the humour seemed childish and it wasn't a good segment in my opinion.

The camera cuts to backstage as Marc Mero harassed his wife Sable as she was getting changed, leading us to see her exposed back, because you know…ATTITUDE! Marc Mero would go on to defeat Savio Vega in what was only the second match of the night. Post-match, Mero would yell at Michael Cole for trying to interview Sable instead of him, teasing further on-screen tension between the real life married couple.

Match 3

Vader defeated The British Bulldog in a dog collar match that concluded with members of The Hart Foundation having a pull apart brawl with Vader. I had no idea why this was a dog collar match, as the pair weren't involved in a noticeable feud, but on paper it should have been a good, hard hitting contest. Unfortunately the reality was that the short TV format of Raw matches made this style of gimmick match pretty pointless. Dog Collar matches usually work best when you can actually build up some drama (typically reserved for a blood feud, so colour was always a nice added bonus) Additionally, Vader was a man who at this time, was already fairly limited in his movements, and for whatever reason, someone thought it was a good idea to restrict him even further by chaining him to another man! This match gets a thumbs down from me.

Main-event

Perhaps rather predictably, Shawn Michaels fought Ken Shamrock in the main-event, with DX getting involved causing the DQ finish. Beside the predictability of the screwy finish, this match actually wasn't half bad. I still wasn't a fan of all of the non finishes that plagued both Nitro and Raw main-events around this time. But if you removed the involvement from Triple H, Chyna and Rick Rude, this match was pretty solid and for the most part, fun to watch. Ken Shamrock had improved massively, essentially learning on the job, and Shawn Michaels was, well, Shawn Michaels (It was always pretty hard for him to have a bad outing) This match alone managed to save the show from sub 2 star territory.

Summary

The Dustin/Marlena segment was weird. I didn't understand what point it was trying to make, or what audience they were trying to serve. It was obviously a 'Jerry Springer' style shock moment. But what's the angle and how could they pay it off in the ring? Cornette was hilarious on commentary pleading with people to "read a format" following Ahmed's impromptu appearance and Austin's promo following it. Corny probably wasn't a fan of the shotgun style booking exhibited on this episode and good lord he let it be known! He wasn't wrong either, as the show overall was pretty bad. The segments were off and the matches either felt rushed, or were just poor in quality to begin with. One of my lowest rated Raws all year, with only the passable main-event saving it from being a complete disaster!

WCW Nitro 3/11/97 (2.25 Stars)

Segment- The announce team recaps the events of last week. Footage is played from the MGM of the contract signing between Hogan and Sting for Starrcade '97.

Match 1- Eddie Guerrero & Dean Malenko def Rey Mysterio & Steve Regal

Match 2- Fit Finlay def Dave Taylor

Segment- Eric Bischoff calls into WCW Nitro. Bischoff says that Hogan has challenged Sting multiple times and isn't afraid of him. Bischoff takes a shot at Roddy Piper before putting over Assault on Devil's Island and bragging about the 4.0 rating. Finally, Bischoff promises a huge surprise from the nWo that will take place live next week!

Match 3- Yuji Nagata def Psychosis

Segment- Raven pre recorded promo. Raven talks about his time in school, and how he pretended that he was some else who actually fit in.

TV Title

Match 4- Perry Saturn def Disco Inferno (c)

Segment- Mean Gene interviews Ric Flair. Ric Flair calls out Curt Hennig, saying that he's looking for him, and when he finds him he's getting an ass kicking.

Segment- Scott Hall in-ring promo. Scott says that Nash and Syxx are absolutely fine and not hurt, before taking shots at Larry Zybysko.

Match 5- Chris Jericho def Scott Hall

Segment- The Giant interferes in the 8-man Lucha Libre Battle Royal. He cuts an in-ring promo and calls out Kevin Nash and the nWo ahead of the 60 man Battle Royal at WW3!

Match 6- Ric Flair def Alex Wright

Match 7- Ray Traylor def Steve McMichael

Segment- Mean Gene interviews DDP. Dallas says he's not satisfied beating 'Hollywood' Hogan by DQ, but he respects that he was injured and beat up, yet still stood toe to toe with Hogan.

Tag Team Championships

Match 8- (c) The Steiners def Public Enemy (Philadelphia Street Fight)

United States Championship

Match 9- (c) Curt Hennig def Lex Luger via DQ

Analysis

Matches 1 & 2

A wasted opportunity with the opening tag match between the team of Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko, as they defeated Rey Mysterio and Steve Regal. This one was over before it even started. It also felt extremely random with the selected pairings, but the story was that Dean Malenko stole the pin from Eddie, so essentially the angle here was, hopefully, WCW laying the foundations for a three way fued between Mysterio, Guerrero and Malenko (Which sounds FREAKIN' AWESOME) Anyway, pointless match as it was over in under 4 minutes. If they simply doubled that time and gave these guys even 7 or 8 minutes, it could have been a really fun opening segment.

The second match was better, as Fit Finlay pinned Dave Taylor. Not an instant classic by any means, but a solid bout given the time both men were given. Fit Finlay is massively underrated from a historical perspective in my opinion. His match against Lord Steve Regal at Uncensored '96 being the true definition of a hidden gem.

Match 4

Perry Saturn of Raven's flock wasted no time picking up gold during his Nitro debut, as he won the TV Title, pinning Disco Inferno in the process. By late 90s mid card standards at least, this was actually pretty good! Lots of emphasis was placed on the actual wrestling, with WCW particularly trying to highlight Saturn's powerful mat based, grappling style. They did an excellent job in that respect, so I have to give Bischoff and WCW credit on this occasion for how it was booked. A simple yet effective debut.

Post-match, Raven shit cans Stevie Richards out of the ring, as the flock all 'celebrated' Saturn's victory.

Second Hour

The second hour opened with a Scott Hall promo. Hall was wearing a tag belt (presumably stolen or bought, in storyline terms at least) Hall took verbal shots at Larry Zybysko before putting over Chris Jericho in a scheduled match! Scott Hall may have eaten the pin, but he still beat the ever loving shit out of Jericho afterwards, somewhat protecting himself and also forcing Larry Zbyszko to interfere on Jericho's behalf to stop the attack. During a radio interview in 2015, Hall revealed that he and Jericho changed the finish on the fly without notifying management. According to Scott, this was so Jericho could continue his momentum and potentially work with him (Scott Hall) again. Eric Bischoff also allegedly took no issue with the segment, albeit he was initially left confused that the scheduled finish was changed.

Segment

The Giant interfered in an 8-man Lucha Libre Battle Royal (presumably to make him look dangerous ahead of the convoluted mess that was the 60 man, 3 ring Battle Royal at WW3) Seriously, who thought this gimmick was a good idea! Anyway, The Giant called out the nWo and Kevin Nash in a quick promo, before saying he was THE big man in pro-wrestling.

Match 7

Goldberg mercifully cut the DREADFUL Ray Traylor/Steve 'Mongo' McMichael Match short, as he caused the distraction leading to 'Mongo's' loss. Worst segment of the night by far!

Match 8

You already know my thoughts on Public Enemy (If you're new here, I REALLY didn't like them) but this gimmick match against The Steiners was the perfect spot to inject some energy into the show, following some slower paced segments. That being said, Public Enemy could have used a few sessions at WCW's Power Plant. I was always baffled at just how bad their fundamentals were! This was further proved as Rick Steiner seemingly caught a rogue knee to the head following an ugly looking table spot, busting him open. The Steiners retained their titles by way of pinfall but it was safe to say that neither Steiner looked happy following the match's conclusion.

Main-event

Lex Luger took on Curt Hennig for the US Title in the main-event. Rather predictably, Ric Flair caused the DQ finish, seeing Hennig retain. Not a particularly interesting match, but I wasn't counting on it to be one. Luger gets hot at Flair for costing him his title shot, and WCW is off air!

Summary

At the top of the show, the announce team REALLY put over 'Assault on Devil's Island' saying it was one of the top four rated cable movies in the history…of cable movies I guess? They didn't really clarify that part. Anyway, a much better balance of in-ring and promos this week, with the match timings being slightly better. I also liked the mentions of the WW3 Battle Royal, as they had me mildly intrigued to see what they'd do exactly. In my mind, the top contenders were Ric Flair, The Giant and possibly Nash or Goldberg. Point being, they did a good job of portraying and putting over who the top contenders were supposed to be. It was actually the first time I could recall this ever being the case. The main-event and closing segments were slightly disappointing, and not much actually happened in this episode if I'm being honest. Like Monday Night Raw, it was pretty boring, but at least Nitro had one or two good matches, a solid debut in Perry Saturn, and actually made sense! Overall, a perfectly average episode of Nitro sees them passively beat a lacklustre edition of Raw.