Raw History: Episode 224 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 104

In Your House: Ground Zero Results
Brian Pillman def. Goldust in 11:06
Brian Christopher def. Scott Putski via countout in 4:41
Savio Vega def. Crush and Faarooq in 11:40
Max Mini def. El Torito in 9:21
WWF Tag Team Championship: The Headbangers def. British Bulldog & Owen Hart, The Godwinns and the Legion of Doom in 17:19
WWF Championship: Bret Hart [c] def. The Patriot in 19:20
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker ended in a no contest at 15:32

Raw History
Episode #224
September 8th, 1997 | Cincinnati Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio

WWF Champion: Bret Hart (5) since 8/3/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Steve Austin (1) since 8/3/97
WWF European Champion: British Bulldog (1) since 3/3/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers (1) since 9/7/97

We opened with still images from Ground Zero last night, with commentary sound bites over them. Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler handled commentary.

Vince opened in the ring with Commissioner Slaughter. He was upset about the lack of law and order in the WWF (Law and Order SVU was probably already on the air in 1997 given the amount of episodes in that series). He promised there would be some going forward, whether the fans like it or not. Due to Steve Austin’s actions last night (including hitting JR with a Stunner), Sarge suspended him and stripped him of the Intercontinental Title. A Tournament will begin tonight and culminate at In Your House: Badd Blood on 10/5. He ordered Austin to be there to present the title to the new champion. Sarge throwing his weight around tonight. That brought out Austin to a huge pop. “Good God almighty, here he comes,” said JR. Austin said he wouldn’t be ordered around and all Sarge has been ordering lately is cheeseburgers. Austin said instead of delivering the IC Title, all he’d deliver is cans of whoop ass. STUNNER ON SARGE! The fans erupted for that. Vince and officials attempted to reason with Austin, giving us the first face to face altercation between Austin and McMahon. Austin hopped on commentary and talked smack for a short while before leaving. Hot way to start the show. Even with the injury, it’s clear Austin was the hottest act going.

Following the break, JR talked about how pissed he was at Austin. They gave us the footage of Austin hitting him with the Stunner. Backstage, various officials attempted to kick Austin from the arena.

Non-Title No Holds Barred Match: WWF Champion Bret Hart vs. Vader
They met two weeks ago on Friday Night’s Main Event, which ended with the Hart Foundation attacking Vader. JR noted that Bret and British Bulldog will face Patriot and Vader in a Flag Match at Badd Blood. Bret got on the mic for some cheap pre-match heat. To start, Bret blasted Vader with the WWF Title. Vader shook it off after a bit and threw some bombs at the champ. He broke the Canadian flag over his knee and ran straight over Bret. They exchanged blows outside as the Bulldog arrived on the scene. Following a commercial, Bulldog continued watching from the stage as Vader mauled Bret. The champ came back with a suplex, before trying to remove the turnbuckle pad. I miss that spot. He didn’t get it off and took the sternum bump there. Vader delivered the powerbomb and went for the Vader Bomb. Bulldog made it to the ring to set up a 2-on-1 attack. Vader did well at first, but the numbers were too much. The Patriot ran out to even the score, which brought out Owen Hart. The match was ruled a no contest around 7:46 or so. This was a lot of fun and the finish made sense given the ongoing angles, while keeping everyone strong. This show is off to quite the start. [***]

The fun continued as the Hart Foundation looked to plant Patriot with a spike piledriver, only for Steve Austin to come out and clean house. He finally got his hands on Owen, but Owen scurried before he could do damage with a steel chair.

Backstage, Sarge nursed his neck.

LAST NIGHT ~ The Headbangers celebrated their Tag Title victory with fans.

The Godwinns ran out and beat up some jobbers, before calling out the Headbangers for a fight.

Non-Title Match: WWF Tag Team Champions The Headbangers vs. The Godwinns
Commentary spent a good portion of the match making fun of the Headbangers. Why put the titles on them, then? The Godwinns dominated Thrasher for most of this. Mosh got a mild tag but had his pin broken up. He hit the Mosh Pit, but an unnamed man in overalls hopped in the ring and whacked Mosh, allowing Phineas to score the pin at 3:06. Nothing much to this match. [*]

Henry introduced the man in overalls as Uncle Cletus, portrayed by the former TL Hopper. He was not getting winning gimmicks.

LAST NIGHT ~ They discussed the “Indecent Proposal” match from last night.

Sunny came out to the stage to say she was going to be backstage getting all the HOT SCOOPZ tonight. She then introduced Dude Love for an Intercontinental Title Tournament match. After dancing with Sunny for a bit, Dude said he needed a friend for moral support against Brian Pillman tonight. That friend was Goldust, who had a new look of painting only half his face. Pillman got a pop for being announced from Cincinnati, but he wasn’t in the arena. He called in from home to say he wouldn’t return to the WWF until they could guarantee his safety. He said he was exhausted from last night and had a tape played called “BRIAN PILLMAN’S XXX FILES.” It’s like Val Venis before Val Venis. The video was Pillman in his underwear with clothes thrown around the hotel room, insinuating they had a bunch of sex. Pillman threatened to show part two later.

WAR ZONE!

Max Mini vs. Piratita Morgan
Lots of typical arm drags, head scissors and flying around by Max. Morgan was obviously bigger and ran him over. He missed a middle rope moonsault and Max delivered a missile dropkick. He used La Magistral cradle to win in 2:40. Decent fun, though the minis felt out of place in this era. [NR]

Jim Ross took time to explain Hell in a Cell, which would be debuting at In Your House: Badd Blood to house the next Shawn Michaels/Undertaker battle. That led to a video package that chronicled their rivalry.

Vince brought out The Undertaker for an in-ring interview. Undertaker said he and Shawn opened the gates of hell and that he wouldn’t rest until Shawn’s flesh was rotting from his bones. Jesus Christ, dude. He also put over some of the Cell rules and that it would be one on one. Shawn interrupted on the Titantron and admitted escaping last night, but he did that because he’s a survivor. He promised that if he goes down at HIAC, he’s taking Undertaker with him. Undertaker ended the promo by saying Shawn would rest in peace. Good, straightforward build.

Backstage, Sunny interviewed the Hart Foundation. Owen Hart said he didn’t care if Steve Austin was around tonight, because he put him on the shelf and he’d do it again if he had to.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Goldust vs. Owen Hart w/ Bret Hart and British Bulldog
A furious Goldust beat up Owen before he even got his jacket off. He also threw in a shot on Bret, before continuing the beating inside. Goldust hit him low out of anger to get himself DQed at 2:09.[NR]

The Hart Foundation jumped Goldust until Steve Austin returned and sent them packing with a broom. A broom! Or maybe it was a rake. Austin threatened McMahon a bit before leaving. With Goldust still in the ring, Pillman’s voice was heard again and it was time for “THE XXX FILES PART TWO.” He filmed a steamy shower with I <3 You drawn on the mirror.

The Hart Foundation complained about Austin in the back. Bret said this is the kind of thing he’s been talking about for six months. Davey got time to hype his match with Shawn Michaels for One Night Only in the UK, while Owen promised to win back the IC Title.

We’re supposed to get a Triple Threat main event between HHH, Patriot and Bulldog. Savio Vega joined commentary as the “king” of the Triple Threat match because he won one at the PPV. During Bulldog’s entrance, Shawn Michaels and HHH jumped him with a steel chair. To replace the European Champion, Savio was added.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/ Chyna vs. The Patriot vs. Savio Vega
The match was a whole lot of nothing. Savio and Patriot surprisingly teamed up for a bit, but then Savio turned on him. There are random pin attempts broken up and nothing comes of it. One guy would stand around and watch the others do stuff. The only thing to get a reaction was Shawn walking back out for commentary. Shawn’s commentary was the only entertaining part of the match, as his random Spanish made me laugh a bit. Nothing continued to happen inside. They worked through a commercial break where Chyna got involved. Lots of “boring” chants and they’re all earned. HHH took a spinning heel kick after Hebner ate one. With the referee down, Savio couldn’t win. The finish was poorly convoluted as Patriot got crotched on the top rope and HHH beat Savio with a slow rollup at 11:43. The worst triple threat match I’ve ever seen. Complete dog shit and a waste of time. [DUD]

Los Boricuas and Vader made their way to the ring, but Shawn, HHH and Chyna prevented them from entering the ring with steel chairs. The Hart Foundation came out just as the show went off the air.

Reliving Nitro
Episode #104
September 8th, 1997 | Wisconsin Center Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan (3) 8/9/97
WCW United States Champion: Steve McMichael (1) since 8/21/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (3) since 2/24/97
WCW Television Champion: Alex Wright (1) since 8/21/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho (2) since 8/16/97

HOUR ONE! Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko were on commentary. The Nitro Girls danced in the ring.

Commentary discussed the Four Horsemen parody last week, but refused to show the footage. Eric Bischoff stormed out to say he had more stroke than them and demanded they roll the tape. The video started playing, but out came the real Horsemen to shut it down. They threw out a challenge for the nWo to meet them in the ring. The Horsemen were greeted by Mean Gene in the ring. Curt Hennig made some odd references to poop, while Mongo got booed out of the building by Packers fans. Probably not best to have him talk when the Horsemen are trying to play faces. Ric Flair put Arn Anderson over huge and said their bond is truly 4-ever. After commercial, the Horsemen remained in the ring for the fight, but no nWo arrival. Security arrived to escort them out so the show could go on, while commentary wondered why this didn’t happen last week.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
This should be good. Rey hadn’t had a match since Road Wild. They opened with a very quick exchange. Eddie hit a stiff looking tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and went to work on the arm heading to break. Rey came back with a gorgeous slingshot headscissors and then a double jump moonsault that he struggled on. Eddie caught a leaping Rey into another backbreaker, before adding a powerbomb for two. He continued to show his power by straight up tossing Rey over to the outside. Rey came back in with a springboard hurricanrana to score the win in 5:38. Quite a fun run. Nowhere near their best work, but a good return for Rey. It sets up a potential feud if Eddie wins the title on the PPV and both guys played their roles well. [**¾]

Tony Schiavone ran down upcoming tour dates, while the Nitro Girls danced in the ring.

Mean Gene returned and brought out DDP to discuss his issues with Lex Luger. Gene wanted them to patch things up with War Games coming up. DDP said they haven’t been able to fix things with words, so they should try in the ring. Luger showed up and accepted the challenge, as long as DDP held nothing back. DDP accepted those terms.

Disco Inferno vs. Hugh Morrus
Disco’s first Nitro match in a while. It stemmed from Disco costing Morrus his TV Title match last Monday. Morrus dominated, beating Disco from pillar to post. The fans began to pop as Alex Wright showed up and danced at ringside. He slide the TV Title inside as Disco was set up for No Laughing Matter. Like an idiot, Disco held it over himself and didn’t move as Morrus came off the top, losing in 3:14. A squash that furthered the Disco/Wright angle. [NR]

Wright and Disco argued after the match, as Disco blamed him for the loss.

The nWo music played as the War Games team (Kevin Nash, Syxx, Buff Bagwell and Konnan) came out. Syxx did another short Ric Flair impersonation and said Flair was mad because he showed him how stupid he looks. Nash declined the fight challenge, but Buff (after doing more spot jokes) and Konnan accepted.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Brad Armstrong
Eddie Guerrero came out to try and get the match from Brad, who declined. Brad then jumped Jericho from behind. The guys traded stuff while commentary discussed JJ Dillon resigning as commissioner. Why wasn’t that treated as a bigger deal? Jericho dropkicked Armstrong to the outside, opening the door for Eddie to jump him for the DQ at 2:36. Not much of a match. [NR]

Eddie’s assault backfired as he ended up in the Liontamer. Brad Armstrong got back in the ring to attack Jericho and he helped Eddie beat him up.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Bobby Heenan replaced Zbyszko.

More Nitro Girls!

The JJ Dillon segment from last week was shown, while the booth discussed how the new commissioner must be someone who could rule with an iron fist.

The nWo theme hit again to trigger the arrival of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Hogan started the promo by calling himself the man and the god in wrestling. He said nobody touches Eric Bischoff anymore, or they’ll deal with him. He granted Sting his World Title shot tonight and demanded he get out there now. Suddenly, in a distasteful move, a Sting dummy fell from the rafters and they called out a stretcher for help. They brought the mannequin in the ring, where Hogan proceeded to beat it up and pin it after hitting the leg drop. That would’ve been a solid segment if not the dummy falling from the rafters. Just bringing it out and having Hogan do that could’ve worked.

The Faces of Fear vs. The Steiner Brothers w/ Ted Dibiase
I usually like when these teams mix it up. Commentary didn’t care, instead focusing on the nWo. Rick got worked over at the start for a while. He remained the face in peril until tagging to Scott, who came in with suplexes. Meng put the Tongan Death Grip on Rick as Harlem Heat, Jacqueline, Wrath and Mortis all ran down for a brawl. The DQ was called at 5:28. There was no explanation for any of this. The match was fine until that point. [*¾]

Scott Hall vs. Super Calo
This was about as one sided as you’d expect. Calo did get in a near fall on a strange looking move out of the corner. Hall delivered the super fall away slam and won with the Outsider’s Edge in 2:33.[NR]

Ray Traylor hit the ring and got in Scott Hall’s face. Hall hit him and they traded shots until Traylor hit a spinebuster. Vincent hit the ring for the save and ran right into the BOSSMAN SLAM! Hulk Hogan showed up next, which commentary sold as a big deal since Hogan never showed up for stuff like this. The distraction was enough for Hall to get in a cheap shot and hit the Outsider’s Edge. Hogan, Hall and Vincent beat up Traylor and painted his back.

Don’t be in a bad mood after that segment, because the Nitro Girls danced some more.

Dean Malenko vs. Psychosis w/ Sonny Oono
Heenan noted that Oono used a disposable camera to save money, because he’s a smart businessman. Schiavone announced that the winner of Jarrett/Dean at Fall Brawl earns a US Title shot at Halloween Havoc. This match had some earl mat work until Dean dropkicked him outside. A fan hopped the guardrail, slid in the ring and referee Mark Curtis stopped him with a knee to the face and front face lock. MARK CURTIS FOR WORLD CHAMP! Apparently, another fan hopped the rail and was also ejected. An Oono distraction allowed Psychosis to take over and he hit a plancha to the outside. Schiavone questioned why anyone would do a move like that. Something else must’ve happened in the crowd, as the fans popped while nothing went on in the ring. Psychosis hit the guillotine leg drop for a good near fall. Oono was knocked off the apron just before Dean countered a rollup into the Texas Cloverleaf to win in 7:11. It was hard to fully focus with the fan stuff, but what we got was solid. Good back and forth stuff. [**¼]

Jeff Jarrett and Debra walked out, with Jeff suggesting they wrestle tonight. Dean went to fight, but Jeff backed away and ran to the back. Debra tried stopping Dean by calling him a troll. He ignored her and moved on. She finished her promo and called him a troll some more. Riveting.

Mean Gene was in the ring to bring out the new acting commissioner. IT’S RODDY PIPER! He mentioned he was President in the WWF and was now the Chairman of the Board in WCW. He’s not taking any shit from anyone. Piper made some waves already, first saying he would do all he could to book Hogan vs. Sting before the year ends. Second, he booked himself against Hogan in a Steel Cage for Halloween Havoc. Lastly, he took DDP and Luger out of War Games and made it Horsemen vs. nWo. Fun segment that had a crowd, was kept short and got shit done.

Buff Bagwell and Konnan vs. Curt Hennig and Ric Flair
The motivated Horsemen team came out firing. They had the crowd roaring for that, but then Flair took a heat segment. Konnan’s awful. At least Buff had the decency to throw in taunts and other stuff to spice up his work. Curt got a hot tag and ran wild before he ended up in trouble. The nWo targeted Curt’s leg for a bit. It led to the second hot tag of the match, this one to Flair. He put Buff in the Figure Four, but Konnan broke it up. I must’ve missed another tag, because Hennig hits the HENNIGPLEX on Konnan to win in 9:24. Decent little tag. It had a good formula, but Buff and Konnan weren’t an interesting/good team. [**]

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Lex Luger
The buddies looked to sort out their problems here. Lots of basic stuff to start. Headlocks and shoulder blocks. Some fans chanted “boring.” SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES! That’ll wake you up! The nWo sensed the greatness of those clotheslines and strolled to ringside. They didn’t get a theme, though the voiceover “NEWNEWNEW WORLD ORDER” guy soundbite played. Luger was sent outside and took a small beating. He came back with SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES! My god. He fell outside again for another beating. DDP saw it this time, and followed to help him. The match was thrown out at 4:40. I’m not really going to rate it because it was more of an angle. The clotheslines were at least four stars, though. [NR]

DDP and Luger worked together to fight off the nWo, but it wasn’t until the Giant showed up that they made headway. They cleaned house and stood tall to close things out, giving WCW some actual momentum.

Raw MVP: Bret Hart
Raw LVP: Savio Vega
Nitro MVP: Eddie Guerrero
Nitro LVP: Konnan

Raw Rating: 2.2
Nitro Rating: 4.3

6.3

The final score: review Average

The 411

Raw: This was a good episode until the awful main event. What even was that? The show did well to build Badd Blood, giving us great segments involving Steve Austin and setting up Taker/HBK well. The HBK/Bulldog build felt thrown in at the end. The Pillman stuff was interesting and the minis were a fine addition. Bret/Vader was a good opening match too. 6.5

Nitro: I’d say Raw and Nitro were about even this week. Nitro certainly had highlights, like Eddie/Rey, Dean/Psychosis and the Piper segment. The Horsemen tag was solid and the show ended on a rare high note for the good guys. The Sting mannequin stuff was dumb, as was the strange big brawl involving the tag teams. 6.0