Raw History: Episode 234 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 114

Raw History
Episode #234
November 17th, 1997 | Civic Complex in Cornwall, Ontario | Attendance: 3,754

WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels (3) since 11/9/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Steve Austin (2) since 11/9/97
WWF European Champion: Shawn Michaels (1) since 9/20/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Legion of Doom (2) since 10/13/97

LAST WEEK ~ We start with a video recapping how last week’s show ended. The show ended as Ken Shamrock kicked out. After it went off the air, Sgt. Slaughter got in the ring and DX shoved him around. He shoved Shawn Michaels into Shamrock, who rolled him up and Sarge counted three. Okay.

Jim Ross and Jim Cornette hosted.

WWF Intercontinental Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin made his way to the ring to start the show. JR announced that Austin would face Rocky Maivia at the next PPV for the title. His pops in Canada were never as good as they were in the States. He attempted to goad Rocky to come out, but instead, he got the rest of the Nation of Domination. Austin fought them off and dropped D-Lo Brown with the Stunner. As he did this, Rocky slid in the ring and stole the Intercontinental Title. Austin took JR’s headset to bet that he’ll get his title back. Fine opening segment.

TONIGHT ~ The Untold Story of the Bret Hart situation. DX will be here. Butterbean is in the front row again. Rocky Maivia vs. Dude Love! Marc Mero vs. Jerry Lawler!

Jerry Lawler vs. Marc Mero w/ Sable
Sable waved at Butterbean, causing Mero to get in face again. Supposedly, this match is so Lawler can get revenge on Mero for hitting Brian Christopher with a low blow a few weeks ago. I doubt anyone remembered. Speaking of Christopher, he strolled to ringside during the match and joined commentary. Mero lit up Lawler with a bunch of strikes. Christopher tried getting Sable’s number, giving Lawler a distraction to set up the Piledriver. As he went for the cover, Sable used her whip or whatever on Lawler’s neck for the DQ in 5:00. That barely went five minutes and still felt long. Lots of time killing.[½*]

Post-match, Mero berated Sable for getting his disqualified. She was sporting a black eye that was now visible with her shades off.

WHY BRET WHY? ~ JR conducted an interview with Vince McMahon about the Bret Hart situation. When asked if he screwed Bret, Vince said Bret would say that. The referee, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon didn’t screw Bret. Bret Hart screwed Bret Hart. Vince said if you’re leaving a company, it’s tradition to do the right thing for the company who made you a star. He couldn’t believe that Bret was unwilling to do this job. Bret’s 20-year contract came up. Vince said he and Bret discussed things, where he told Bret they would do what was best for Bret. That meant something good financially and a situation where he wouldn’t be “second banana” to HBK. Vince offered a 3-year deal worth $3 million per year, which was the richest in wrestling. Vince said he was disappointed in Bret for hitting him and claimed he suffered a concussion from it. He insinuated that if there were a real confrontation, even at 52 years old, things would’ve gone differently. He also wished Bret would’ve gone out the right way and gone down as the greatest Superstar ever. Vince ended by saying he had no sympathy for Bret because he didn’t do the right thing for the business. Fantastic stuff and the true birth of the Mr. McMahon character. Must-see television.

Earlier today, Los Boricuas had some of their stuff stolen. Savio Vega and Jose Estrada came out for a match, only to find out Billy Gunn and Road Dogg had their stuff, coming out to mock them. The teams brawled until the rest of Los Boricuas showed up to give their guys the upper hand. Dogg and Gunn were sent scurrying.

VIGNETTE ~ Ken Shamrock highlights were shown.

Battalion, El Torito, and Tarantula vs. Max Mini, Mini Nova, and Mini Taurus
Sunny played guest referee for this one. This was the expected quick paced stuff from the minis. Everything moved very fast and there were a ton of lucha style offense. None of it matters, as Kane’s pyro goes off and everyone freaks out because he might kill a mini. [NR]

The Headbangers rushed out and broke a boom box over Kane’s head, for no real reason. Maybe they like mini wrestling. It had no effect, as Kane put them both down with Tombstones.

WAR ZONE!

Rick Rude was in the ring to introduce D-Generation X. His appearance on this episode becomes noteworthy for a reason explained later on. Shawn called Shamrock’s pin on him last week meaningless. Well, it was. Shawn said he ran Bret Hart out of the WWF, beat his entire family, and was now set to get rid of his friends, including Shamrock. HHH took over and called Sgt. Slaughter to the ring. Sarge obliged and got right in HHH’s face, prompting Cornette to wonder if HHH’s nose or Sarge’s chin was bigger. HHH told Sarge to stop sticking his chin in their business, before making a bunch of juvenile jokes about Sarge not being able to get it up for his wife. Having heard enough, Sarge clocked HHH. The numbers game was too much, and he got leveled in the back with the briefcase. He proceeded to take a great looking Pedigree. If only Kane took note of how to bump for that move. DX covered him in toilet paper to end the segment.

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Eric Shelly vs. Scott Taylor
Wow, nobody cared about this. Due to that, Jeff Jarrett called in with a supposed big announcement. He first complained that they barely promoted this announcement, instead focusing on Bret Hart, who wasn’t even with the company anymore. Jarrett will re-debut next Monday. Taylor showed off a few high flying moves, but nothing to write home about. He eventually won with a flying DDT at 5:28. Ho-hum. [*¼]

After the match, Marc Mero and Sable returned to the ring. Mero pulled Jim Ross into the ring to cut a promo on Butterbean, complaining that Sable’s being harassed by him. Mero called him out into the ring, because he’s a FIVE-TIME NEW YORK STATE GOLDEN GLOVES BOXING CHAMPION. Butterbean entered the ring and they shoved each other, with Mero getting knocked on his ass. Officials rushed down to keep things apart.

WHY BRET WHY? II ~ Vince was asked if he’d ever let Bret Hart return to the company. He said he would, but only with an apology and a frank understanding between each other. He’d also tell him, “No more free shots.” Vince is such an egomaniac, it’s great. He said Bret sold out and it’s not a big deal, because he helped him get there. If Bret says he didn’t do it for money, he loses credibility. Vince’s only regrets are that Bret’s fans and family had to go through this. He added that he felt he did what he had to for the company and the fans. When asked when he would be over this, he said he already was. That’s hilarious considering the amount of Montreal screw job related stuff the company has done since then. His last line saw him say that Bret failed to live up to being the best there is, was, and ever will be.

Goldust vs. Vader was scheduled, but Goldust came out with his arm in a sling. He also had black pantyhose, checkered face paint, a pajama top, and slippers. He brought Gerald Brisco with him. Goldust called himself an invalid, who couldn’t compete. However, he pulled a weapon from the sling and whacked Vader with it, before walking off.

Sgt. Slaughter came out to basically challenge HHH to a match at In Your House.

Dude Love vs. Rocky Maivia w/ The Nation of Domination
While Austin and Rock are starting their first feud, we also get a preview of another historic Rock rivalry. Lots of “Rocky sucks” chants. He also got some promo time before the match. Dude was clearly having fun, dancing around and getting in taunts in between offense. Rocky had to regroup with his buddies at ringside for a bit. They worked through a commercial following the People’s Elbow. Dude rallied and went for Sweet Shin Music, but the NOD jumped him for the DQ in 4:56. They felt like they were just killing time until the finishing angle. [*]

As the NOD attacked Dude Love, Rocky went outside to retrieve the IC Title. Steve Austin ran out to take it back, but Rocky escaped. Austin beat up some NOD members, as Rocky remained atop the ramp with the title.

Reliving Nitro
Episode #114
November 17th, 1997 | The Crown in Cincinnati, Ohio | Attendance: N/A

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan (3) 8/9/97
WCW United States Champion: Curt Hennig (1) since 9/15/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (6) since 10/13/97
WCW Television Champion: Saturn (1) since 11/3/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Eddie Guerrero (2) since 11/10/97

LAST WEEK ~ Sting got beat up by the nWo and looked like a fool.

Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, and Mike Tenay hosted hour one.

Speaking of the nWo, they opened the show to a rare chorus of boos. I guess beating up Sting is what gets you that heat. Well, the entire nWo except Hulk Hogan came out. Scott Hall opened with the survey, which WCW seemed to win this week. Hall turned the attention to Zbyszko, saying they watched his old matches on fast forward and he still barely moved. Ouch. Kevin Nash spoke next, telling the Giant he doesn’t care about being the biggest guy in wrestling, because he’s happy being 6’10 and too sweet. Eric Bischoff then introduced Hogan, giving him a solo entrance. The big news was that behind Hogan stood RICK RUDE! The guy who was also on Raw tonight. Since Raw was taped, he did that last week and jumped ship to the WCW since then. Rude said that Shawn Michaels claiming to be World Champion, even though he didn’t beat Bret Hart, was wrong. He, like Bret, jumped off the “titanic” that is the WWF and are now with the nWo. In a cool bit of continuity, Rude brought up the destruction of Sting, his old rival, as part of why he joined the nWo. Hogan ended the segment with some words, though it was easily the least interesting of the bunch.

NITRO GIRLS!

TONIGHT ~ Lex Luger vs. Curt Hennig in a rematch! Saturn vs. Scotty Riggs! Alex Wright vs. Mongo! Scott Hall vs. The Giant!

Still no wrestling, as we went to Mean Gene for an interview with Ray Traylor. He spoke about how he didn’t like who he became when he was with the nWo. That triggered an attack from behind by the nWo guys. Even Hogan got involved. They painted his back and beat him up, with nobody from WCW doing a thing about it.

Glacier vs. Meng w/ Jimmy Hart
Glacier’s entrance took forever. Commentary tried to sell how Meng never feels pain. It’s an interesting idea, though clearly not true because he’s lost in the past. He beat Glacier around to start and choked him in the corner. Glacier made a small comeback. Meng ducked a roundhouse kick and used the Tongan Death Grip to win in 2:56. Mostly a squash. Glacier’s fallen. [NR]

Barbarian instantly hit the ring and put the boots to Glacier. Ernest Miller made the save, but also ended up in the Tongan Death Grip. I believe this led to a tag on the PPV.

DDP sent a quick word about Bret Hart, saying he didn’t personally know him, but couldn’t understand why a respected wrestler like him would join the nWo.

Alex Wright w/ Debra vs. Steve McMichael
Commentary accounted that Mongo/Goldberg was signed for World War 3. Wright got beat up for the most part, though a Debra distraction put Wright in the driver’s seat for a bit. He missed a flying cross body, leading Mongo to punt him in the ribs. Debra hopped on the apron, so Mongo beat up Wright even more, until he shoved Nick Patrick away for the DQ in 2:57. [NR]

NITRO GIRLS!

Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
These two were over a decade away from incredible Intercontinental Title matches in the WWE. During the feeling out process, Jericho’s able to showcase his power advantage, while Rey responded with speed. Speaking of Jericho’s power, he busted out a SUPER gorilla press slam! You don’t see that often, especially from cruiserweights. Things slowed down a bit after, though there were still some nice moves like a butterfly backbreaker, stalling vertical and a powerbomb. Jericho went for his triple powerbomb spot, but Rey escaped the third and hit a weak looking springboard rana to win in 6:31. A fun little match, though it missed something in the middle that kept it from standing out. [***]

Like DDP earlier, Chris Benoit spoke about Bret Hart. He finds it hard to believe Bret would affiliate himself with the nWo.

Eric Bischoff showed up at commentary to taunt and mock Larry Zbyszko. Tony and Mike scattered, but Larry got in Eric’s face. Bischoff got Larry to go after him, leading the nWo B-Team to jump him. Bischoff capped it off with a kick to the stomach and celebrated.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Bobby Heenan replaced Larry.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Villano V w/ Villano IV
DDP nearly won with a rollup in the opening seconds. Los Villanos did a fair amount of cheating to find a way to possibly beat DDP. He took them out with dives outside and eventually hit the Diamond Cutter to win in 3:23. Surprising amount of offense for the Villanos. [NR]

DDP brought Villano IV off the top with another Diamond Cutter for good measure.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero [c] vs. Dean Malenko
Loud “Eddie sucks” chants. He was getting the most heat of any non-nWo member. He opened with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and kept up an aggressive style throughout. They exchanged some suplex counters as Rey Mysterio came out for a closer look. He didn’t last through the commercial, though, returning backstage due to a bad back. A Triple Threat involving these guys would’ve ruled. Eddie played the “beg for forgiveness” card, but Dean wasn’t falling for that. Lots of intensity from the “Iceman” tonight. They provided us with a rollup sequence, leading Dean to go up top for a rare high risk move. Eddie cut him off with a superplex. He went up, so Dean stopped him with a super back suplex. Both men were down and couldn’t get up by the ten count, so that’s a double KO in 11:39. That was great. Really good action, intense as hell, and a creative finish. [***½]

Lex Luger spoke about Bret Hart, also calling an nWo run hard to believe.

Clips of a Nitro Party were shown.

WCW Television Championship: Saturn [c] w/ Raven vs. Scotty Riggs
Like he did against Disco, Saturn went after Riggs’ arm. He also hit some nice looking suplexes. Riggs’ eye patch got removed, but he fought through it and got two after a standing splash. Riggs did a rare col spot where he jumped off the top and over the guardrail onto the Flock. It didn’t help him though, as back inside, Saturn hit a guillotine leg drop and put on the Rings of Saturn to retain in 5:37. A few decent spots, but nothing special. [**]

Post-match, Raven knelt over Riggs and seemingly prayed.

NITRO GIRLS!

The Steiner Brothers against Vicious and Delicious was set, but the nWo attacked the Steiners during their entrance. Again, Hogan was part of this.

WCW United States Championship: Curt Hennig [c] vs. Lex Luger
Hennig came out with Ric Flair’s robe. Clueless Luger came out and didn’t even once look over his shoulder to see if the nWo was coming after him. Luckily, he wasn’t attacked. He got to start the match hot, bringing the SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES early. Hennig took control after a cheap shot to the eyes, before turning the attention to Luger’s neck. Luger rallied out of a rest hold and began the comeback. Hennig over bumped on an atomic drop that sent him flying to the outside. A fight outside led to Nick Patrick being tossed around. Hennig used the title as a weapon and hit the Hennigplex inside. However, Patrick called for the DQ at 6:44. Lame finish, but a decent little match. Hennig was doing solid work each week. [**¼]

Hennig continued beating up Luger until the Giant made the save. Finally, someone from WCW put in effort.

The Giant vs. Scott Hall
Kevin Nash joined the commentary booth for this, replacing Bobby Heenan, who ran away. Nash called Giant one-dimensional and said he only had the Chokeslam. Hilariously, Giant just kept taunting for it. Hall goaded Giant to the outside and slammed his hand on the ring post and steel steps. PSYCHOLOGY! Giant wasn’t in peril for long, using headbutts and his size. He went for the Chokeslam, signaling the arrival of the nWo for another attack and another DQ in 5:12. Most of the match was either boring or part of the lame finish, but at least they tried telling a story. [*½]

The WCW guys began fighting back, as various midcarders hit the ring to even the score. Higher card guys like DDP and Mongo also joined the fray, giving us a preview of World War 3 as the episode ended.

Raw MVP: Vince McMahon
Raw LVP: Jerry Lawler
Nitro MVP: Eddie Guerrero
Nitro LVP: Ray Traylor

Raw Rating: 3.1
Nitro Rating: 4.1

7.3

The final score: review Good

The 411

Raw: An improvement on the first post-Bret Hart Raw. The matches weren’t any good, but the segments worked very well. They touched on every key program (HHH/Slaughter, Bret Hart, Rock/Austin, Kane/Taker, Mero/Butterbean) and the Vince McMahon stuff was fantastic. 6.5

Nitro: Sure, most of it was an nWo lovefest, but this was one of the finer episodes of Nitro in a while. Most of the matches, even the squashes, had some redeeming qualities. Look at Giant/Hall trying for some psychology or DDP/Villano having all the cheating from the Villanos. Jericho/Mysterio was a good match, while Malenko/Guerrero was great. A few other solid matches, an overarching story for the duration of the show, and some decent promos and you’ve got a winner. 8.0