Raw History: Episode 240 and Reliving Nitro: Episode 120

Raw History
Episode #240
December 29th, 1997 | Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York | Attendance: 11,243

WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels (3) since 11/9/97
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Rocky Maivia (2) since 12/8/97
WWF European Champion: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (1) since 12/22/97
WWF Tag Team Champions: Billy Gunn (4) and Road Dogg (1) since 11/24/97
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: TAKA Michinoku (1) since 12/7/97

It’s the final Raw of 1997! I can’t believe I’ve completed FIVE whole years of this review series.

LAST WEEK ~ Footage of HHH winning the European Title was shown.

Jim Ross, Michael Cole, and Kevin Kelly hosted our opening hour.

Surprisingly, the show opened with TAFKA Goldust and Luna Vachon. Goldust was dressed as the New Year’s Baby, because he must be stranger each week. He wished everyone a happy New Year, before mentioning that he would enter the Royal Rumble on January 18th. Steve Austin was doing the same, so Goldust planned on proving that he’s the real toughest SOB. Austin was set to be his opponent, but came out in jeans and his vest. He got on the mic and called Goldust a piece of crap who sucked. He had a Porta Potty lowered down to the ring, with the words CRAPPER 3:16 on the door. Goldust attempted to jump Austin, but got the door slammed on his face. Austin kicked his ass and threw him in the John. Goldust busted out and a Stunner. Austin threw him back in and tilted it over. What a strange segment.

Long Island Street Fight: The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas w/ Jose Estrada
Los Boricuas rapped their theme during their entrance. These teams had a shit match at D-Generation X. This got off to a better start, with the teams just brawling around ringside. A chair was brought into play, which was more interesting than their PPV outing. There were no tags or anything like that. Savio seemed to get hurt, so Jose Estrada hopped in. Commentary lost their minds at this bit of rule breaking, even though this was a brawl. Savio accidentally kicked Jose and Chainz covered him to win in 3:19. Yes, the guy who wasn’t in the match got pinned. It was better than the PPV match, but not by much. [*¼]

TONIGHT ~ HHH defends the European Title against Owen Hart.

We’re supposed to get The Undertaker here, but were instead greeted by Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna. HHH was on crutches and said he dislocated his kneecap the night before. He turned the attention to the Undertaker and said that Shawn Michaels was at home with a fever, so Taker would have to wait to “rest in pieces” until the Royal Rumble. HHH seemed to be doing a Shawn impersonation of sorts during this promo. The lights went out and druids brought out a casket to the Undertaker’s theme. BUT WAIT! Shawn Michaels popped out of the casket dancing around. Shawn got on the mic to introduce the two newest members of DX. IT’S CHYNA’S BOOBJOB! Shawn ran down Undertaker and Owen, but continued to get distracted by Chyna’s tits. His point was that 1998 would be the year of DX. Sgt. Slaughter came out, which Shawn said was happening because he was a horny man who wanted to see Chyna. Sarge confirmed that HHH was legitimately hurt, but since Shawn was healthy, he’d face Owen tonight. And the WWF Title would be on the line.

There’s a box on the stage that has commentary baffled. They’re dying to know what’s inside. That didn’t work out so well for Brad Pitt in Seven.

Kama w/ The NOD vs. Ken Shamrock
Shamrock seems to have forgotten about his beef with DX kind of quickly. He’s moved on to a lower card stable. Shamrock mostly dominated here, focusing on the leg. D-Lo attempted to get involved, but Kama accidentally knocked him off the apron. Shamrock then made Kama tap to the Ankle Lock in 3:37. Mostly a squash. [NR]

The Rock walked out because he had something to say. Rocky said that Shamrock’s luck would run out next week, because he’ll face the NOD leader, Faarooq. Faarooq stared at Rock in disbelief. WHO IS THIS ROOKIE TO GIVE ORDERS?

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~ Vince McMahon wished the fans one.

Brian Christopher and Jerry Lawler vs. George Steele and TAKA Michinoku
So, TAKA got a mystery partner and revealed it was “The Animal” to a pop. Such a strange pairing. Though, it probably prepared TAKA for teaming with Takashi Iizuka in the future. TAKA got worked over the heels, until Lawler seemed to want to try a moonsault. Steele snuck in and used an illegal weapon on Christopher. Steele just decided to keep using the weapon, getting DQed in 2:38. [NR]

George chased Jerry and his son to the back. He also stole a drink tray from the crowd and used it to chase the ref away. WHAT EVEN IS THIS EPISODE?

The big box on the stage began shaking.

WAR ZONE! Lawler replaced Cole and Kelly.

The New Age Outlaws kicked us off, wearing New York Rangers jerseys in the home of the Islanders. They got interrupted by Dude Love on the Titantron, saying he had broken ribs. He was letting someone else step in, which led to Mankind appearing. However, Mankind felt Cactus Jack was best suited for this. Cactus said he had help and mentioned a “Chainsaw Charlie.” Cactus came out with a barbed wire bat.

Cactus Jack vs. Road Dogg w/ Billy Gunn
Cactus got jumped by the Tag Team Champions, who wailed on him with hockey sticks. Cactus fought them off with weapons and did quite well for himself. Billy tried using the bat but got cut off. Dogg absolutely cracked Cactus with a chair to the back of the head. No DQ on that. Cactus still came back and hit a Double Arm DDT. Gunn broke up the pin, leading to a DQ at 2:13. So, why was that a DQ, but not the chair shot? Even commentary was confused. [NR]

Cactus left the ring and dared the champions to give chase. He made it up the ramp and brawled with them. He threw Billy into the giant crate. Suddenly, a chainsaw began cutting through the box like something out of a horror movie. Outburst a crazy man with pantyhose over his head and he wielded a chainsaw. Wild segment, as Terry Funk seemed legitimately crazy.

Sable came out for an interview with Kevin Kelly. She wore a robe and a green bikini underneath. Basically, she did a photoshoot for Raw Magazine and was here to give the fans a preview. Marc Mero stormed out and took a seat in the ring. He didn’t want her to do anything to embarrass or upset him. Kelly tried to calm him down, but got called fat and got knocked out. Tom Brandi hit the ring to make the save. He helped Sable out of the ring, but took a chair shot. Mero then rubbed the Raw magazine into Tom’s face as Sable scurried away.

Seven men who Kane has beaten up over the past few weeks came out. They’re all scrubs like the Headbangers. They called out Kane. The Big Red Machine responded. Before anything went down, Undertaker’s music hit. JR insisted it would be 8-on-1, but Taker helped his brother clean house. They had a stare down and Taker left alone, saying he’d never fight his brother.

The New Age Outlaws were interviewed backstage, but Chainsaw Charlie returned and ran them off. It’s like a horror movie and it’s great.

CORNETTE’S COMMENTARY ~ He basically said he thinks the state of wrestling sucks, from WCW to the nWo to ECW to the WWF. He misses wrestling and not sports entertainment. Cornette ran down Connecticut and how people don’t have respect for the sport of wrestling anymore. It’s pretty much what Cornette still rants about in 2018. His plan here was to bring tradition to the WWF in 1998.

SLAM OF THE WEEK ~ Austin beats up Santa.

We’re supposed to get an announcement regarding Mike Tyson, but instead, Sunny came out to show off her portion of the Raw Magazine bikini shoot. Following that, JR officially announced that the WWF was negotiating with Tyson to participate at WrestleMania XIV.

WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels [c] w/ Chyna vs. Owen Hart
Owen took out Shawn with a plancha to start. He proceeded to extract some revenge by wailing on Shawn up the ramp. Owen remained in control through a commercial break. HHH came down to ringside. Chyna tripped up Owen and it led to Shawn sending him into the guardrail. Shawn took over with a piledriver and DDT, then wore down Owen with a sleeper. Eventually, Owen brought the fire with his comeback on the spinning heel kick and belly to belly suplex. He missed a corner charge, but managed to duck Sweet Chin Music. That set up the enziguri, which basically killed Michaels back in 1995. Owen went into using the Sharpshooter, but HHH hopped in the ring and broke a crutch over his head for a DQ in 7:55. Such a good match. The fans were way into Owen and he brought the right amount of intensity to this match, with Shawn surprisingly willing to bump for him. [***½]

DX continued to beat on Owen and used a crutch to add to the damage.

Starrcade Results
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero [c] def. Dean Malenko in 14:56 [***¼]
Randy Savage, Scott Norton, and Vincent def. Ray Traylor and The Steiner Brothers in 11:05 [*]
Bill Goldberg def. Steve McMichael in 5:58 [¼*]
Raven’s Rules: Saturn def. Chris Benoit in 10:49 [*½]
Buff Bagwell def. Lex Luger in 16:36 [-***]
WCW United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page def. Curt Hennig [c] in 10:52 [**¼]
Larry Zbyszko def. Eric Bischoff via DQ or something in 11:24 [-**½]
WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting def. Hulk Hogan [c] in 12:53 [-****½]

Reliving Nitro
Episode #120
December 29th, 1997 | Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland | Attendance: 12,196

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Sting (3) since 12/28/97
WCW United States Champion: Diamond Dallas Page (1) since 12/28/97
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (6) since 10/13/97
WCW Television Champion: Disco Inferno (2) since 12/8/97
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Eddie Guerrero (2) since 11/10/97

I’ve always considered Starrcade the true turning point for WCW going downhill. They were doing well heading into that show, but their biggest show ever turned out to be a massive letdown. The main reason was the debacle of a main event that saw Hulk Hogan politic his way into giving us a shit finish that made Sting look awful in what should’ve been his triumphant moment.

LAST NIGHT ~ Still images were shown of Sting and WCW celebrating their tainted win.

Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko hosted hour one. Balloons fall from the ceiling in celebration.

NITRO GIRLS! Well, technically it was just Fyre getting a solo performance.

Glacier vs. Goldberg
I feel like Glacier and Hugh Morrus took a big chunk of the losses in Goldberg’s streak. It’s here that they really seemed to figure out the Goldberg formula. No BS. Glacier kicked him a bit and got thrown around. Spear, Jackhammer, and that’s all in 0:58. [NR]

Mean Gene introduced the newest member of WCW, Bret Hart. Bret said actions always speak louder than words. The nWo reminds him of the scum he just left behind. He puts over guys like the Giant, Chris Benoit, and Sting as the ones he wants to compete against. He’s in WCW to show why he’s the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. Bret said the guy who would pay the biggest price would be Hulk Hogan, who has been running from Bret for a long time.`

Raven and his Flock became the focus. He called Chris Benoit a masochist with serious psychological damage. Oh, lord. If Benoit wants to continue to take a beating from the Flock, they’ll keep giving it.

Chris Benoit vs. Hammer
Benoit hopped the guardrail and jumped the Flock. They beat him up and sent him inside. Hammer pounded on him a bit. Benoit fought back and put on the Crippler Crossface. The Flock hit the ring and it led to a DQ at 1:54. [NR]

Finally, Benoit got some help, as Mongo ran down to save his former Horsemen buddy. They cleaned house as Raven watched from the stands.

More Mean Gene, as he brought out Ric Flair for an interview. Flair congratulated DDP for winning the US Title and said he still wants to face Curt Hennig again. He also congratulated Sting, before focusing on Bret Hart. Flair wasn’t happy that Bret didn’t mention him in the talented guys in WCW earlier. Flair pulled out an article from the Calgary Sun that apparently featured Dave Meltzer calling him the greatest in the history of the sport. Flair strutted away after reading that.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero [c] vs. Ultimo Dragon
During Dragon’s entrance, Eddie jumped him from behind. Tenay noted that Dragon leaves tomorrow to compete for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title at the Tokyo Dome on the 4th. He’d lose, by the way. Eddie remained in control as they hit the ring and delivered a great looking tornado DDT. He wasted time talking smack, so Dragon caught him in the Dragon Sleeper. Eddie was stuck and had to submit at 1:27. I was not expecting a title change here. [NR]

A pissed Eddie jumped Dragon after the match.

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff made their way down to the ring. Bischoff continued to call Hogan the World Champion. Hogan rightfully gripes that JJ Dillon said only Nick Patrick would handle the referee work, but Bret Hart reversed the decision after a supposed Patrick fast count. In reality, the count wasn’t fast. Because of that, Hogan feels he’s still the rightful champion and he doesn’t fear Sting or Bret. With creative control, I wouldn’t either.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Bobby Heenan replaced Zbyszko. Schiavone and Tenay believed Heenan was part of the nWo, but Heenan said he was the only one who ran into the fire of the nWo last week and faked helping them to get information.

NITRO GIRLS!

WCW United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page [c] vs. Mortis w/ James Vandenberg
POSITIVELY KANYON! Wait, that’s a few years away. They started this hot and Mortis countered ten corner punches with an electric chair Facebuster. You don’t see that often. Mortis took control from there, until DDP scored with the Diamond Cutter from out of nowhere at 3:51 as a Flatliner counter. Short, but sweet. Good back and forth. [**]

Mean Gene returned to bring out WCW Chairman, JJ Dillon. He is tired of hearing the nWo make excuses. Though the decision from last night is final, Sting has challenged Hogan to a rematch tonight to remove any controversy.

WCW Television Championship: Disco Inferno [c] vs. Booker T
The Booker singles push continues. Tony Schiavone spent the early portions of this saying how Nick Patrick’s count was clearly fast at Starrcade. It wasn’t. Booker busted out an early SPINAROONIE. Disco turned it around with a modified Chartbuster on the ropes. Disco on offense was easily the worst part of this match. He got two on a swinging neckbreaker. Booker caught him with a forearm and side slam, to set up the Harlem Hangover. That got him the win and the title in 6:55. Good choice to change the title. Too much Disco on offense. [*¾]

Mean Gene spoke with JJ Dillon again, who said the nWo hadn’t responded to the challenge yet. Eric Bischoff came out to accept for Hogan.

Chris Jericho vs. Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude
I wonder if Bobby Heenan misses hanging around with Hennig and Rude on TV. No mustache for Rude anymore. It looks weird. Hennig took Jericho lightly and got overwhelmed for his troubles. He regrouped outside and was frustrated. From there, it was mostly all Hennig. He avoided the Liontamer and won via Hennig Plex in 3:34. Basically a squash. [NR]

A frustrated Jericho tossed Dave Penzer aside and began beating up the ring post with a chair. “I’M A SICK OF THIS,” he yelled.

NITRO GIRLS!

Scott Hall came out wearing his fake Tag Team Title, which was a riot in the mind of the commentary team. All he did was conduct the survey, which seemed pro-WCW tonight.

Buff Bagwell w/ Scott Norton vs. Lex Luger
Again? Seriously? At the very least, unlike their recent matches, this one was kept short. It took forever for Luger to get a win over Buff. After failing again at Starrcade, he’s just given a rematch here and wins with the Torture Rack in 3:02. Okay. [NR]

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting [c] vs. Hulk Hogan
Hogan attacked Sting with the title before the bell. This felt more like what we should’ve gotten at Starrcade. Hogan seemed desperate and he jumped Sting because of it. Lots of choking and such. Sting fired up and fought back, with the crowd engaged. They battled outside a bit. Inside, Hogan hit the big boot for a near fall. They also ran a spot where they ran into each other and Sting fell onto Hogan’s groin. Eventually, it all led to Sting making the big comeback. Sting hit the Stinger Splash and went for a second. Hogan pulled the official in the way as the show went off the air. We saw 5:45 or so of this. Not a fan of ending in the middle of a match. Leaving us hanging is one thing, but this was excessive. I will say, this match was much better over Starrcade and more along the lines of what that match should’ve been. A desperate Hogan and a fiery Sting. [*¾]

Raw MVP: Owen Hart
Raw LVP: Jim Cornette
Nitro MVP: Booker T
Nitro LVP: Buff Bagwell

Raw Rating: 3.6
Nitro Rating: 4.6

7.3

The final score: review Good

The 411

Raw: 1997 ends with a bang. There was so much to like here. The Owen stuff was killer, including giving us a strong main event. The segment involving Kane and the Undertaker was very intriguing, while the Rock/Shamrock/NOD angle was enjoyable. Throw in the debut of Chainsaw Charlie and you’ve got a winner. Meanwhile, the episode managed to set things up perfectly for the start of 1998. 8.5

Nitro: Though I noted how bad Starrcade was for the company, the fallout was rather good. Sting and Hogan had a more efficient and superior match, while they made two title changes and one was great, as Booker was much better than Disco. Most of the matches were too short to mean much, but they forwarded several angles quite well. 6.0