Raw History: Episode 217 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 95

In Your House: Canadian Stampede Results
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind ended in a double countout in 13:14 [***¾]
The Great Sasuke def. TAKA Michinoku in 10:00 [***¾]
WWF Championship: The Undertaker [c] def. Vader in 12:39 [****]
The Hart Foundation def. Goldust, Ken Shamrock, The Legion of Doom and Steve Austin in 24:39 [****¾]

Raw History
Episode #217
July 7th, 1997 | Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

WWF Champion: The Undertaker (2) since 3/23/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Owen Hart (1) since 4/28/97
WWF European Champion: British Bulldog (1) since 3/3/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: Vacant since 6/16/97

LAST NIGHT ~ The show began with highlights from Canadian Stampede, which Vince called a show of “blind patriotism.” I mean, that’s what Americans ALWAYS do.

Jim Ross, Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler were on commentary.

Bret Hart’s music hit to a huge reaction, as Vince McMahon brought him out for an interview. Bret sported an Edmonton Oilers jersey, adding to his already massive pop. Vince mentioned that Bret’s scheduled to face the Undertaker for the WWF Title at SummerSlam. Bret thanked the fans for letting him remain their hero. He was told “America: love it or leave it,” and he loves leaving it. Classic. Bret put over Canada for their gun control, health care and lack of racial prejudice and hatred. Sounds like a lovely place. He promised to never wrestle on American soil again if he doesn’t win the WWF Title at SummerSlam. Bret then introduced the man who pinned Steve Austin last night, Owen Hart. He also brought out British Bulldog and they stood for the beautiful Canadian national anthem as a Canadian flag waved on the Titantron. Steve Austin attacked them from behind with a steel chair to MEGA HEAT. Austin celebrated up the ramp and I loved how he didn’t care about the reaction. Bret was magnificent in this segment and the Austin stuff worked to perfection.

During the break, Bret promised “they” will not walk all over Canada. Surprisingly, Vince took time to apologize for the interruption.

The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku
It’s wild that I’m watching wrestling 20 years later and I can see TAKA and he’s still not 40 years old. Brian Christopher joined the booth for this. Sasuke got this started with a big somersault to the outside. Christopher and Lawler remained unimpressed. TAKA responded with a missile dropkick. His first dive outside resulted in a slip, but he made up for it a sweet Asai moonsault. They brought big offense inside, like a German suplex and the Michinoku Driver, but it wasn’t enough. Sasuke nailed the Space Flying Tiger Drop, before finishing TAKA with the Thunder Fire Bomb in 5:47. That was a fun little sprint. It didn’t reach the levels of their PPV outing, but had some strong offense for a Raw match. [***]

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ Clips of the NOD split and debuts of DOA and Los Boricuas were shown.

Crush w/ The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Savio Vega w/ Los Boricuas
It’s the OG Nation. I popped for Los Boricuas making a point to greet the Spanish announce team. The match was just a lot of punches, kicks and no real wrestling moves. The two factions just started brawling, resulting in a DQ at 2:22. It was just here to advance the storyline. [NR]

The units continued their fight until officials came to separate them.

Paul Bearer was interviewed backstage. Vince asked if he would apologize, but Bearer found that appalling. He didn’t do the killing, Undertaker did. Vince wondered why we should believe him, so Bearer reminded him that Undertaker admitted the story was true. Bearer hopes that one day, the disfigured and pure Kane could come face to face with his brother.

WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals: British Bulldog and Owen Hart w/ Brian Pillman and Jim Neidhart vs. D-Lo Brown and Faarooq w/ Kama Mustafa
The winners face Steve Austin and a partner of his choosing next week. The Hart Foundation got a wildly positive reaction. Austin got promo time and said he’d rather let the WWF screw him and pick his partner than pick Mankind. Bulldog got to play the face in peril after some posing and a hot start. The tag got cut off a few times. Bulldog avoided the Dominator and made the hot tag to Owen. His run was fun, until Kama slammed him outside. Pillman and Neidhart made the save to a great pop. Faarooq and D-Lo got involved, leaving Owen to beat the count and win the tournament via countout in 6:49. Solid tag formula and a hot crowd helped this along. The finish was cheap, though. [**]

Mankind came out in an Austin 3:16 shirt to threaten the Foundation. Meanwhile, Steve Austin was questioned about facing HHH later. He promised to open a can of whoop ass on him and said he wasn’t above doing the same to Chyna.

WAR ZONE!

Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/ Chyna vs. Steve Austin
The 1996 King of the Ring meets the 1997 winner. They came face to face at the bell, but then opened the match is traditional fashion. I expected a brawl. The intensity did pick up, with HHH taking a hard bump in the corner. The pace slowed again heading into a commercial break. The crowd reacted oddly to everything. It was as if they wanted to cheer for Austin, but couldn’t because of his actions earlier. HHH took control and wore down Austin. As Austin made his comeback, Chyna grabbed a chair and laid it on the apron. She then tripped Austin, who got leveled before he could do anything about it. Chyna distracted the referee, but here came Mankind. He got whacked with the chair instead of Austin. HHH turned around right into the Stunner for the finish in 6:16. I thought this was solid, though the crowd was certainly strange. They were clearly capable of better. [**¾]

Steve Austin got on the microphone and told Mankind to get up. Austin admitted he didn’t like Mankind, but would go to war with him. They shook hands and even hugged, before Austin dropped him with a Stunner. DTA! Austin called him a long haired freak who sucks and would never be his partner. Before Austin fully exited, Mankind got the mic to say he was just looking for a friend. He promised drastic changes next week that would change him and the WWF. Perfect character moment from both.

Brian Christopher vs. Eric Shelley
Sunny provided guest ring announcing duties for this one. Due to Lawler helping Christopher against Scott Putski last week, it set up Ivan returning next week to team with his son. Christopher did some basic heel stuff, as the match played background noise to Lawler’s commentary. They botched a few moves and Shelley did an awful looking plancha. Christopher won with the Tennessee Jam in 3:49. The crowd didn’t care and this was total shit for a squash. [NR]

Post-match, Lawler got in the ring and they gave Shelley the spike piledriver treatment.

Time for more Steve Austin, as Vince brought him out for an interview. They mention Raw being in San Antonio next week, where Austin will be more well received. Austin doesn’t care about that, though. Vince questioned him about his partner next week, but Austin continued to say he didn’t care. Since Bret added an ultimatum to his SummerSlam match, Austin did the same. If he doesn’t beat Owen for the IC Title at SummerSlam, he’ll kiss Owen’s ass.

Bret Hart vs. Goldust
Due to their match last night, this opened with a brawl outside. It calmed down as Bret took control. He mostly worked the back to set up the Sharpshooter. Goldust was set up in the tree of Joey Lawrence, with Bret stomping away on him. The DOA revved their motorcycles and drove to the ring. No word on why. The Hart Foundation followed suit heading into commercial. Returning, Bret worked the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM. Goldust turned the tide and took control, while Ken Shamrock and the LOD also made their appearance on the stage. To cap it off, Austin appeared at the very top of the stage. Bret ended up countering a sunset flip for the win in 7:57. Decent little match. Bret’s offense was fine but the distractions outside took away from it. That also ended up not going anywhere, so I didn’t get it. [**¼]

The Hart Foundation celebrated, while everyone outside did nothing.

Reliving Nitro
Episode #95
July 7th, 1997 | Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan (2) 8/10/96
WCW United States Champion: Jeff Jarrett (1) since 6/9/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (1) since 10/27/96
WCW Television Champion: Steven Regal (4) since 5/18/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (1) since 6/28/97

LAST WEEK ~ Nitro’s wild ending was shown, involving Sting, the nWo, Curt Hennig and Raven.

The hour one commentators are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko.

Mean Gene introduced the show, not the commentary team. He brought out Curt Hennig, looking to give us answers right off the bat. Not much of a reaction for Hennig. He put himself over as the best athlete in the world and said he had his reasons for being in WCW. He promised that he will participate at Bash at the Beach. Gene assumed that means he’ll be DDP’s partner, but Hennig shot that down and called himself a free agent. Out came Ric Flair and a random woman. Flair hugged Hennig as I guess any issues from their Loser Leaves WWF match on Raw back in 1993 (****) are forgotten. Flair offered him a spot in the Horsemen, but we get no true answer. Hennig did leave with Flair and the woman.

Harlem Heat w/ Sister Sherri vs. Public Enemy
Commentary relentlessly hyped the Bash at the Beach main event. Zbyszko compared wrestling your first match to using a typewriter for the first time. What an odd thing to say. Grunge got the first near fall, hitting Booker with a neckbreaker. Stevie Ray fared better than his brother and took it to Rocco Rock. Vincent came out, causing Sherri to inform Booker. Booker went after Vincent, leaving Stevie alone. He took down both opponents. Rocco looked to come off the top, so Sherri shoved him off. However, he fell into Stevie and Grunge covered to win in 4:57. An average outing. Some of the stuff was fine, but that finish was kind of weak. [*]

Mean Gene hopped in for an interview. Harlem Heat were sick of the issues involving Sherri and threatened her to get her act together. She decided to quit, ending their partnership.

THIS SUNDAY ~ A video package aired to hype Benoit/Sullivan.

Joe Gomez vs. Konnan
They recapped Konnan injuring Rey Mysterio last week. He’s not officially in the nWo yet. While Konnan got in standard offense, Raven was shown in the front row. Konnan worked a dull arm submission for a while before hitting the rolling clothesline. He used the Tequila Sunrise to win in 3:11. Squash match that went too long. [NR]

Hector Garza and Juventud Guerrera vs. Villano IV and V
WCW should’ve built up Villano IV and V to beat the Outsiders. Don’t try to change my mind. I’m not sure which is which, so I’ll just say “Villano” for either. Garza started against one and flew around a bit before tagging Juvi. Villano also made the tag and they used a backbreaker/leg drop combo. Larry and Tony argued about tag rules, with Tony liking this lucha style of not needing tags, while Larry preferred the traditional style. Juvi took out both opponents with a cross body. Then he and Garza performed Poetry in Motion, with Juvi going so high he fell outside. They tried again, but Juvi was caught and slammed. Garza became the legal man and Juvi nailed a dive to the outside. Garza got two on a moonsault, before Villano got two on a powerbomb. The Villano brothers were sent outside and one got taken out with the TORNILLO! Inside, Juvi hit the Juvi Driver and 450 splash to win in 6:17. Where did that come from? There wasn’t a ton of story, but it was wildly fun. Lots of great spots and a fast pace, with no botches. [***¼]

The nWo music hit as Randy Savage, Scott Hall and Elizabeth made their way to the commentary booth. Tenay and Schiavone booked, but Zbyszko stayed put. Hall got on the mic, while Savage laid out on the table. They said they couldn’t wait to get to Daytona and Hall called DDP a mid-card jabroni. Ouch. Savage admitted they were taking them lightly and promised to give someone a wrestling lesson tonight. On their way out, Hall threw his toothpick at Larry, leading to them nearly going at it, but Savage held Hall back.

VIDEO PACKAGE ~ Lex Luger and Giant being unselfish partners was highlighted. They spoke positive words about one another. PEOPLE, LET ME TELL YOU BOUT THE BEST FRIENDS!

Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Eddie Guerrero vs. Vicious and Delicious w/ Vincent
LOS GUERREROS! A limousine arrived at the arena just before this got started. WHO COULD IT BE? Buff started against Chavo, but his showboating allowed Chavo to take him down. Norton got the tag and overpowered his opponents. He countered a double suplex into one of his own. Being a big dude in wrestling must be fun. Eddie got manhandled for a bit, before tagging in Chavo. Chavo also got in trouble and when he went to tag back out, Eddie dropped off the apron. Vicious and Delicious hit the tandem Blockbuster to cap a beating in 8:02. Way too long for what it was. They could’ve gotten the same thing over in much less time. [¾*]

HOUR TWO! Bobby Heenan joined the booth, but had to stand because Larry Zbyszko refused to leave due to the nWo coming out.

La Parka vs. Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth and Scott Hall
This is an odd place for La Parka. Why not have Savage do whatever he’s about to do to Super Calo or something? Savage took La Parka lightly from the start. Scott Hall strolled over to commentary to taunt Zbyszko. La Parka got his feet up on a Macho Elbow and then hit the Diamond Cutter for the win in 3:09! He removed his mask to reveal himself as DDP to a huge pop. More of an angle than a match and it was an excellent one. [NR]

Scott Hall thought Savage won and celebrated. Once he saw DDP, he hit the ring, but DDP exited through the crowd. DDP’s been the best part of WCW 1997 so far.

Ernest Miller and Glacier vs. Psychosis and Silver King w/ Sonny Oono
Just as soon as this began, cameras went backstage where the Guerreros were brawling. Back to the ring, the guys hit a few springboard moves. Miller took out both opponents with a springboard chop of sorts. It looked like he wanted a dropkick but didn’t get enough air. Miller powerbombed Psychosis, just as Mortis and Wrath hit the ring for the DQ in 2:32. That was just getting slightly interesting.[NR]

Mortis and Wrath cleaned house until Silver King and Psychosis took them and Miller/Glacier out with dives. All six men brawled heading into commercial.

Mean Gene brought out Ric Flair for an interview. Flair said Roddy Piper was in attendance, but brought out the mannequin from last week instead. Flair ran down Piper, with the help of his random chick. The real Roddy Piper appeared behind him and Flair didn’t notice. When he finally did, he backed towards the ring and Piper gave chase. Piper won the brawl inside by putting Flair in the sleeper. Chris Benoit and Mongo showed up, but got taken down as well. The numbers became too much and Piper ate a Benoit headbutt. They cut to commercial as Jeff Jarrett arrived to make the save. The crowd ate it up but the bad production meant we mostly missed it.

Mike Tenay attempted to get answers from Raven. Surprisingly, Stevie Richards interrupted, because he thinks Raven will only talk to him. Stevie took over, asking Raven if he signed with WCW. He just got slapped for his actions.

Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael w/ Debra vs. The Steiner Brothers
I’ll never understand having guys in one segment leave and come back out if they’re in the next segment. A lot of this was slow, but Scott was sure to throw in suplexes and powerslams to pop the crowd. Rick also busted out a German suplex. Backstage, Randy Savage attacked Nick Patrick and seemed to injure his arm. Meanwhile, Scott hit Benoit with a gorilla press and applied an STF. That’s Chono’s move, so the Steiners were sending a message to their BATB opponents. Scott ended up taking a short heat before tagging Rick. Things broke down and out came Jarrett. He beat on Mongo, while Jimmy Hart also arrived. He distracted Benoit, allowing Kevin Sullivan to appear and hit him with a chair. Rick covered Benoit to win in a strange 9:17. How was none of that a DQ? The match was going quite well until that terribly overbooked finish. [*¾]

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came out for the main event promo. Hogan spent the time talking himself and Dennis Rodman up. A bunch of trash got thrown in the ring. Giant and Lex Luger heard enough and came out. Luger put Bischoff in the Torture Rack to a huge pop, while Giant backed Hogan into a corner. Vincent and Buff Bagwell ran in, only to take Chokeslams for their troubles. That allowed Hogan to bail and leave Bischoff behind, which made commentary wonder if the same could happen to Rodman. I appreciated the slight alteration to the show closing format, with no Sting and the nWo not coming out on top.

Raw MVP: Steve Austin
Raw LVP: Brian Christopher
Nitro MVP: Hector Garza & Juvi
Nitro LVP: Konnan

Raw Rating: 2.5
Nitro Rating: 3.4

6.8

The final score: review Average

The 411

RAW: Other than that lackluster ending, this was a strong episode. There were several solid matches and story development. The gang warfare stuff was mostly kept short, while the Austin/Mankind angle was enjoyable. Bret’s opening promo was also a treat. I enjoyed Austin/HHH, Sasuke/TAKA and the Tag Tournament Finals. I could’ve done without a double dose of Brian Christopher, though. 7.5

NITRO:  This worked as a solid go-home show for the PPV. The Flair/Piper segment was solid and the show closed in a positive way. I loved the DDP segment as it made for one of the better Nitro moments in history. I also enjoyed the luchador tag. They also took time to give shine to several other BATB matches. 6.0