wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF D-Generation X: In Your House
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-I am nearly there as after this show I have Starrcade 97 and at some point I need to go back and do Uncensored 97 to finish off the year. I think I will get Uncensored next and finish out with Starrcade. For now off to the WWF as they are a month removed from Montreal and Shawn is once again WWF Champion. Let’s get to it!
-Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler
-Date: 12.07.97-Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA
-Attendance: 6358
-PPV Buys: 120,000
-Minimalistic set approach here as it’s just a black curtain with a D and X made of scaffolding/lighting rigs. No tron, no video wall, or anything.
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals: Taka Michinoku vs. Brian Christopher
-The Finals of WWF’s answer to WCW’s Cruiserweight Division. It didn’t work, but then again, WWF is still in business and own WCW so I guess they got the last laugh. Here is a quick run down of the participants in the Tournament: Aguila over Super Loco, Taka over Devon Storm, Scott Taylor over Eric Shelley, Brian Christopher over Flanagan and then Taka over Aguila and Too Cool exploded years before they became a team as Christopher beat Taylor. Again, there was no way this division was going to compete with WCW as they had most of the talent and Vince wasn’t going to unleash them like Bischoff did. JR immediately gets on Lawler about Brian being his son as it was still a running gag that Lawler was denying it. Christopher gets a slam and then struts. Brian with an arm drag as the crowd starts a “Jerry’s Kid” chant. Lockup and they trade wrist locks. Taka flips out but gets tossed across the ring and Christopher celebrates again. Taka lands on his feet off a German and gets a spinning heel kick followed by a dropkick. A clothesline sends Brian to the floor and Taka follows with a top rope springboard plancha. Nice! Suplex is blocked and Christopher gets one and drops Taka balls first on the top rope. Running forearm sends Taka to the floor. Christopher comes off the top, but Taka move and Christopher crashes on the security railing. Back inside Taka misses a crossbody off the top as we see that Christopher busted his mouth open on the railing. That had to suck! Christopher fires up as he sees the blood pouring from his mouth, but misses a charge in the corner. Taka gets a Tornado DDT for two and sends Brian to the floor with a rana. Taka follows out with a middle rope moonsault as Lawler leaves the announce table to check on Brian. Taka hits a dropkick that knocks Christopher off the apron. Back in a basement dropkick follows. Clothesline is ducked and Christopher ends up getting a Skull Crushing Finale which gets an audible gasp from the crowd. Sweet! Sit-out powerbomb gets two as Christopher tries a cocky cover. Taka turns that into a pin attempt for two. Christopher off the middle rope with a dropkick to the back of the head and he wastes time strutting. Ross is killing me with the dad jokes! Rocker Dropper followed by a backbreaker gets two. Christopher baseball slides through and lands a right hand as the blood continues to flow from his mouth. Christopher slaps the piss out of Taka’s mouth and then again as Lawler brings up slapping Andy Kaufman. Christopher yells clothesline and sure enough we get a clothesline. Usually I never hear that stuff, but the first 15 rows probably heard that one. German Suplex dumps Taka on his head followed by a legdrop for two. Powerslam and now Christopher tells us it’s over as he heads up top. Tennessee Jam misses and Taka gets the Michinoku Driver for the win and Title at 12:02.
Winner and New WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: Taka Michinoku via pin at 12:02
-Again, they weren’t going to touch what WCW was doing but this was still pretty good. It started to lose steam a bit, but Christopher worked as the heavy and Taka took a beating as he survived long enough to get The Driver. The crowd was into it was well. <b***
Los Boricuas vs. Disciples of Apocalypse
-Yes, this feud must continue! No Crush as Kane took him out so it’s 3 on 3 with Savio sitting out for Los Boricuas. Savio gets kicked away from ringside before the match even starts. Miguel and Chainz start us out and Miguel eats a boot to the face followed by a clothesline. Chainz decks the other two members of Los Boricuas on the apron. 8-Ball gets the tag and so does Jesus. Kick to the face from Jesus, but he gets dropped on his face. Tag to Jose and 8-Ball hits a powerslam. Skull gets the tag and drops an elbow for a two count. Double team clothesline from the future Gerald and Patrick. Sidewalk slam from 8-Ball gets two. Jose goes to the eyes on Skull, but sets too early on a backdrop and gets caught with a swinging neck breaker. Miguel lands a cheap shot from the apron which lets Los Boricuas get the advantage. Miguel back in with a slam and a standing moonsault as the crowd starts a “shave your back” chant. Miguel comes off the top rope and apparently destroys his knee or shin as he immediately tags out and rolls around on the floor. Jesus throws chops in the corner that Skull or 8-Ball no sells (JR isn’t sure which member it is either). Jose back in and he works the arms and back with a bow and arrow. He lands a leaping back elbow for two. Savio Vega is out and apparently is taking the place of Miguel. The ref isn’t letting that happen and forces Savio back out of the ring. This is just a mess as Savio goes to check on Miguel. Jesus misses a charge and hits the post. Hot tag (I guess to Chainz) and he hits a Death Valley Driver. Miguel miraculously recovers and gets a somersault legdrop on the back of Chainz. The cover is made and that’s enough for the pin at 7:59.
Winner: Los Boricuas via pin at 7:59
-Again this was a mess, but points for the creative finish as Los Boricuas outsmarted the DOA no matter how much JR objected. *
-Butterbean cuts a promo backstage as he competed last night in Atlantic City on the De La Hoya card.
-Todd is backstage with Sable and throws to a video package for the Mero/Butterbean Tough Man match coming up. Back to Sable who was in the ring with Butterbean last night. Mero pops in to yell at Sable for stealing his spotlight.
Tough Man Fight: “Marvelous” Marc Mero (w/ Sable) vs. Butterbean
-So this is 4 rounds that are 2 minutes each.
-Round 1: Mero hides in the corner as the crowd starts a boring chant. This has bad idea written all over it. Butterbean lands a right hand while Mero was in the ropes which knocks him to the floor. Mero decks Butterbean from behind after the bell.
-Round 2: Mero charges over at the bell and lands a knee to the back. He chokes away with some wrist tape before landing some rights and lefts. Butterbean battles back with body blows so Mero rakes the eyes with his gloves. Kidney punches and he tees off as Butterbean can’t see. The round ends and Mero hits a dropkick.
-Round 3: Butterbean drops his hands and just dares Mero to punch him. Butterbean throws blows in the corner as Mero starts clinching whenever he can. More boring chants as nothing of note is happening. Butterbean lands a comedic right hand that sends Mero to the canvas and he gets saved by the bell.
-Round 4: Butterbean dumps the water from his bucket on Mero to wake him up between rounds. Big overhand right sends Mero to the floor, so he hits a low blow to get disqualified. He breaks his wooden stool over Butterbean’s back and bails to the dressing room.
Winner: Butterbean via DQ at :10 of 4th Round
-No rating as this wasn’t a wrestling match and obviously wasn’t boxing either. Butterbean’s next match was much more memorable.
-The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna are out as TAFKAG wants to express himself in verse. This is just awful! Goldust reads ‘Green Eggs and Ham.” I mean really. What are we doing here? Luna then drags him away by the collar around his neck. Lawler: “What was that?”
-Backstage as Cole interview a pissed off Legion of Doom. They throw to video from two weeks ago when Road Dogg and Billy Gunn upset LOD for the Tag Titles. Hawk compares the soon to be NAO to a booger that takes a while to get out of his nose.
WWF Tag Team Championship: “Road Dog” Jesse James and “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn vs. The Legion of Doom
-As mentioned they weren’t called The New Age Outlaws yet and Dog was still working out the kinks on his opening spiel. The champs get chased to the back as they haven’t stretched yet and they go through their entrance again. They try to bail again, but WWF refs and officials back them towards the ring. LOD attack and Gunn gets tossed into the stairs. Dog gets beat up with his Championship Belt in the ring. Animal drops Dog with a clothesline and tag is made to Hawk. The optics are off for me here as they are set up in the wrong corners than we have been trained to see teams in for the last twenty years. Hawk gets a reverse neckbreaker for two. Dog bails to the floor where Billy consoles him, but Hawk comes off the apron with a double clothesline. Animal gets in a shot on Billy and Dog eats a boot to the face from Hawk. Dog gets sent back into the ring and he crawls for a tag, but Gunn is still knocked out on the floor. Dog gets bounces off the announce table and then Animal back in. He catches Dog with a powerbomb off a leap frog for two as Billy makes the save. Dog gets sent to the floor where Hawks unloads with more chops and sends Dog into the security railing. Gunn comes off for the save, but Animal just press slams and drops him on the stairs. This is just an ass beating! The Champs try to bail but get cut off and all four men brawl around the ring. Animal gets put into the corner by the ref which lets Dog blast Hawk from behind with a cooler while Billy landed a low blow. The cooler loses it’s visual effectiveness when it shatters and you realize it’s Styrofoam. Even Lawler says no ref is going to DQ someone over Styrofoam. Gunn gets the tag and is into the match for the first time nearly seven minutes into it. He chokes away and then distracts the ref so Dog can land shots from the apron. Gunn goes to a neck crank as the crowd starts a LOD chant. Hawk fights back, but gets cut off with a knee to the midsection. Someone curses as we get a very loud bleep. I wonder what was said? I have this show on a VHS to DVD transfer, but it’s much easier to use Peacock anymore. They crack heads in the corner which leaves both men down and the race is on. Hot tag is made to Animal and he runs wild with clotheslines, powerslams and shoulder blocks. Dog gets set up for The Doomsday Device, but Gunn has the ref which lets Henry Godwin run in with a bucket shot to Animal. Hawk ducks and grans the bucket and tees off on Dogg and Gunn right in front of the ref which sends us to another DQ at 10:33.
Winners: Road Dog and Billy Gunn via DQ at 10:33
-LOD destroyed them and didn’t want to do the clean job for the new, hot tag team. They would rematch later and eventually The NAO would get the last laugh in the feud. Match was pretty bad. 1/2*
-Video package hyping HHH vs. Slaughter. DX had been antagonizing Commissioner Slaughter for months and it leads to this. Slaughter makes sure to work in Pearl Harbor references.
-HHH is backstage with his survival kit for this match: depends and prunes among other things for Slaughter. He makes dick references and talks about having sex with Slaughter’s wife. Twenty five years later, he is running the WWE. Wrestling is weirdly awesome yo!
Boot Camp Match: HHH (w/ Chyna) vs. Sgt. Slaughter
-JR lets us know this is going to be a rugged match which means probably better than bowling shoe ugly, but still pretty bad. HHH with long flowing hair and clean shaven is so weird to see. Speaking of weird, Slaughter has Kurt Angle’s music and much like when the Patriot used it, I can’t help but hear “You Suck” in my head. The brawl is on to start as Slaughter throws chops in the corner. JR is all about the history as he brings up Slaughter’s accolades in the NWA. Sarge uses his riding crop to whip HHH across the back a few times. JR mentions Sarge was about 310 lbs at his peak and probably more than that today. That’s a safe bet! Gutbuster from Sarge followed by a double stomp. Lawler gets in a funny line about how HHH was four years-old watching Slaughter wrestle and he was six. It made me laugh! To the floor where HHH gets tossed into the stairs. HHH gets dropped throat first across the railing as this one has a very slow and methodical pace. Slaughter covers on the floor and the ref has to tell him the fall has to take place in the ring. HHH gets tossed back into the stairs as he is bumping all over the place. Slaughter removes his belt and starts whipping HHH and then uses the belt to choke. HHH drops down and gets a mule kick to avoid The Cobra Clutch. Sarge takes a good bump in the corner as he bounces over the top to the floor. JR mentions Slaugher is only 49 in this match. Funny he is viewed as past his prime and yet today, he would be in the Main Event scene as a part timer. HHH decks the timekeeper so he can grab the ring. JR goes off on HHH and nearly calls him a bastard, but Lawler shushes him. JR being pissed at HHH’s actions would become a great running gag. Go find the tweet of all the various times JR went off on him. Chyna hands HHH a chain and he wraps it around his fist and decks Sarge. He drops a fist from the middle rope which gets two. Slaughter fights back with a few punches before collapsing in the middle of the ring. Sarge tries a shot with the chain, but gets backdropped over the top to the floor. Kudos to Sarge for taking some of these bumps, but this has already ran too long. HHH heads up top, tells Sarge to suck it, but gets caught with a boot to the face on the way down. Slaughter tries a slam that HHH was going to turn into a small package, but it gets butchered. They improvise and you can hear HHH tell Slaughter to reverse the suplex and head to the top. Sure enough it happens and Sarge gets tossed off the top with a slam which gets two. Sleeper from HHH which is exactly what I want in a hate filled Boot Camp match. You know this could have been solid if it was 8-10 minutes of hate featuring blood and all the smoke and mirrors they could use. Slaughter fights out of the sleeper and gets The Cobra Clutch which pops the crowd. Chyna in and she shoves the ref away and rakes Slaughter’s eyes. Chyna decks the ref and grabs a chair, but Sarge has a bag of powder and tosses the powder in her face. HHH pulls off his boot and decks Slaughter in the head. A second shot misses and Slaughter gets The Cobra Clutch again. The ref checks on HHH as his arm drops twice, but Chyna delivers a sick kick to Slaughter’s Privates to force a break. HHH positions the chair and hits a Pedigree on it for the win at 17:40.
Winner: HHH via pin at 17:40
-Way too long for what they were trying to accomplish. Slaughter was well past his prime (though credit for the bumps and doing what he could) and HHH was still a few years away from being good enough to get a great match out of someone else. Again, make this 8-10 minutes of just carnage and blood with HHH winning then we have something. 1/4*
Jeff Jarrett vs. The Undertaker
-JJ is back after his awful run in WCW. JR is just unloading on Jarrett here as he buries him on commentary. This is the weird Aztec phase for Jarrett before he finally found traction after getting his hair cut and developing more of an attitude. This had bad idea written all over it as it makes no sense to bring Jarrett back in a spot where he’s not going to win clean and Taker sure isn’t losing without shenanigans. Jarrett tries to win a punching contest and that goes bad as Taker unloads with strikes in the corner. Jarrett whipped to the corner and eats a clothesline as he bounces out which gets two. Taker works the arm and goes old school as JR puts over that Taker is walking the ropes like their new light heavyweight champion which is a small part of the reason the division didn’t get traction. Jarrett goes low and attacks the knee. He works the knee for a bit, but Taker is back to his feet and delivers more strikes. Backbreaker from Taker followed by a legdrop for two. Big Boot to the face as the leg work Jeff did has done nothing. The lights go out at the 5:45 mark and the red lights hit which brings out Kane with Paul Bearer. Kane chokeslams Jarrett which costs Taker the match at 6:54.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett via DQ at 6:54
-Not much of a match as it was all Taker other than Jarrett working the knee for about 90 seconds. Another DQ ending in a series of them tonight. 1/2*
-Kane slaps Taker in an effort to get him to fight and sets off his pyro, but Taker doesn’t retaliate.
-Jarrett attacks Taker and looks for the Figure 4, but Taker gooses him and hits an ugly chokeslam as he nearly dropped Jarrett. Taker leaves and Jarrett gets announced as the winner and he celebrates.
-Todd is in the crowd with Mark Henry as he is hanging out with the suits from Milton Bradley (sponsor of the PPV). Mark tells us he will be back soon and is ready to get going. He picks Austin in the match with Rock as that is his man.
-Video package on Rock’s heel turn and new rivalry with Stone Cold. I’m sure Vince had dollar signs in his eyes with this feud, but even he couldn’t predict how huge this rivalry would end up being. THE BEEPER GOING 3 1 6 AND ROCK’S BUGGED EYE SELL ARE EVERYTHING GREAT ABOUT WRESTLING!
WWF Intercontinental Championship: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (c) vs. The Rock (w/ The Nation of Domination)
-Austin famously drives his Stone Cold pickup truck down to ringside and this crowd is just crazy for him. Austin attacks before the bell which draws The Nation into the ring and it’s a mugging. D-Lo charges and gets backdropped over the top and onto the windshield of the truck. Austin gives him a stunner on the roof and now the bell sounds. They trade blows in the middle of the ring and the crowd is losing it. Finally something for the crowd to sink their teeth into here. Rock sends Austin to t he floor and Faarooq and Kama assault Austin as the crowd starts a “Rocky Sucks” chant. Kama accidentally hits Faarooq with a chair and ends up getting tossed into the truck. Replay shows the chair completely missed Faarooq, but it sounded good as it caught the truck. The Rock just punches Austin in his rattlesnake and again, it’s so refreshing to hear a crowd invested in a match tonight. Rock gets a slam and what would become The People’s Elbow (to no reaction) for two. Funny to see Rock working out the kinks of what he would keep and get rid. Austin, still with his vest on, tries to rally, but gets caught with a knee to the gut. Another People’s Elbow, but this one misses. Austin back with right hands and he stomps a mud hole in the corner. Stunner is blocked and Austin goes after Kama. Austin stuns the ref by mistake and Rock pulls out brass knux. Austin blocks and hits The Stunner for the win as another ref counts the fall at 5:30.
Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin via pin at 5:30
-Fun little match with a super hot crowd for the first time tonight. Austin was still working his way back from the neck injury and Rock was still developing. Obviously, they would end up creating magic together and this is historic for being the first big time meeting between the two. The D-Lo spot on the truck was in video packages for a while and is one of the few things people remember about this show. **1/2
-Video Package on Michaels/Shamrock including Jim Neidhart being turfed from the promotion by DX.
WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Chyna and HHH) vs. Ken Shamrock
-Shamrock was fine as a challenger of the month as really there was nobody else since they were saving the Taker rematch for Royal Rumble. Shawn cuts a promo backstage with Chyna and HHH and makes a bunch of fat jokes at JR’s expense. Shawn was still European Champion at this point as well. Shawn tries to clown Ken by mocking his fighting stance and that doesn’t seem smart. Shawn lands some rights to start and avoids a clothesline and a press slam. He doesn’t avoid a kick to the chest and bounces out to the floor like a fish. Shawn slowly gets back into the ring and uses the ropes to stall. They lock-up and Shawn works the arm, but gets too close and Shamrock tosses him by the throat into the corner. Back drop sends Shawn flying and then he takes the corner bump where he bounces to the floor and then rolls half-way up the aisle. See, it wasn’t just Hogan that he bumped like a pinball on speed. Chyna tries to run interference, but Shamrock decks Shawn. He gets desperate and spits on Shamrock to get him flustered. Shawn gets the mounted punches in the corner, but Ken catches him running in a third time with an elbow. Lawler: ”He’s got rid of Bret Hart as he has gone South.” Shawn gets decked and bails to the floor again to regroup with HHH. Shamrock rams them into each other, but gets caught with an eye rake on the apron. Shamrock blocks a sunset flip and throws Shawn into the corner with a double choke. Shawn bounces in the corner again and ends up landing balls first on the top rope. Shamrock bounces him off and looks for the belly to belly, but Shawn grabs the ref and gets a mule kick to Ken’s shamrocks. Shawn distracts the ref so HHH can unload with right hands. Shawn up top and he comes off to the floor with a crossbody. Weak baseball slide from Shawn. He nearly stopped before he reached Shamrock on that one. Another try, but Shamrock moves and fires off strikes on Shawn and HHH, but Chyna shoves him into the post. Chyna gets a slam on the floor as the Hebnar is with Shawn. Man, Shamrock probably should have asked for a different ref after what happened the previous month. More fun behind the ref’s back as HHH sends Shamrock into the security railing. Shawn comes off the middle ropes with an elbow to the back. Shawn lands a dropkick as JR and Lawler fight on commentary. I forgot how much I missed them tormenting each other after years of them working as good friends. Shamrock reverses a crossbody for two, but Shawn goes to the eyes to stop the comeback and then hooks a reverse chinlock. Shawn and the ref have a conversation during the chinlock as I think Shawn was asking Hebnar to check the time. Shamrock gets up and blocks a hiptoss with a roll-up, but Shawn is out at two. Shawn goes to a sleeper which isn’t going to wake up this crowd. Shawn gets a few two counts as he takes the sleeper to the mat. Shamrock gets to his feet and has Shawn on his back and he tries to break like Hogan did with the camel clutch. Shawn maintains the hold, until Shamrock lands a few elbows. Shamrock gets a pari of running clothesline the corner followed by another high backdrop. Powerslam gets two! Rana next and then Shamrock gets top position and lands some rights and lefts. Shawn tries a crucifix, but Shamrock rolls through and gets a press for a near fall. Shawn to the eyes and Shamrock fucks up running the ropes as his head snaps back. Shawn tries a rana, but Shamrock sits out into a powerbomb for two. Shawn takes the ref away again so HHH and Chyna can pull Shamrock to the floor. HHH gets in about a half a dozen punches and sends Shamrock back into the ring. Shawn gets a slam and drops the top rope elbow as JR goes on about how nobody does it better. I always laugh because he wishes he could do it like Savage. Sweet Chin Music is ducked and Shamrock hits the belly to belly and goes for the ankle lock, but HHH hits the ring for the DQ at 18:29.
Winner: Ken Shamrock via DQ at 18:29
-You could hear Shawn talking Ken through the match. The constant interference killed anything they were doing and then the ending was awful after having disqualifications in three other matches. This wasn’t Shawn’s normal effort of carrying someone to a classic match to save the PPV. **1/2
-HHH and Chyna beat on Shamrock on the floor as Shawn celebrates on the apron. Owen Hart returns and sends Shawn flying off the apron and through the announce table. He beats the piss out of Shawn as he thunders down with right hands and tears at the eyes. HHH tries to save, but Owen escapes through the crowd. Shawn still has time to pose with HHH even after getting his ass beat by Shamrock and Owen.
-Now you would think that would set up Owen as a Main Event Challenger, but no, Taker got the shot at The Rumble and Owen was stuck with HHH.
-Thanks for reading!
