I've been waiting to watch this. Just so much here worth seeing.

___________________

We jump right into the first match, that being The Ultimate Maniacs vs. Money Inc. w/Jimmy Hart for the WWF Tag Team Titles.

Blow-by-Blow: The Maniacs are the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage. Money Inc attacked the Maniacs, before they got ditched. They get tossed out again, before Savage and DiBiase start things off proper. A Savage atomic drop gets two, as he gives DiBiase his slingshot clothesline into the ropes. Warrior comes in with a suplex, that gets a two count. As Warrior tries the flying shoulderblock, DiBiase gets out of the way and slams Warrior into the canvas, allowing him to tag in IRS. IRS comes in with a sleeper, then we go to a split-screen view with Razor Ramon and Ric Flair cutting a promo in the back. DiBiase comes into the ring with the MILLION DOLLAR DREAM, but Savage knees DiBiase in the back. After both Warrior and DiBiase clothesline each other, the tags are made, so that IRS and Savage can enter. Savage backdrops IRS, clotheslines DiBiase and slams IRS, before going to the top. FLYING ELBOW, but the cover gets broken up by DiBiase. A brawl ensues, but after Warrior and Savage clear the ring, Money Inc. decide to leave. They get counted out at 6:11. The Maniacs go to attack in the aisle, but Flair and Razor ambush them and beat them up. Good job!

Match Analysis: Wasn't the best match, of course. But I still enjoyed it, because the pace didn't really slow down. *1/2. Obviously a finish was not on the cards, and I probably wouldn't have liked it had there been.

___________________

After a Bret Hart music video, Shawn Michaels faces The British Bulldog for the Intercontinental Championship.

Blow-by-Blow: Bulldog pushes Michaels down after the initial lock-up, and Shawn's shoulderblocks don't do anything. We resort to drastic measures, those being punches and eyepokes. After an eyepoke, Shawn hiptosses Bulldog, and applies a short arm scissors. Bulldog picks Shawn up out of the short arm scissors and drops him to the canvas from his shoulders, which is nice. Bulldog press slams Shawn and clotheslines him over the top, but Shawn ducks under on the inside and we go into a reversal sequence. Bulldog ends it with an armdrag, but misses a charge to the corner. When Shawn turns his back on the Bulldog like a moron, Bulldog clobbers him, only to get tossed outside. Shawn begins to untie a turnbuckle pad, as we go to a...

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Back, and the buckle pad is untied, but still left on the corner. Shawn kneedrops away at Bulldog, and applies an abdominal stretch. We go back to the abdominal stretch after Bulldog hiptosses out, and really, this one lasts way too long. Bulldog hiptosses out for a second time, before the turnbuckle pad comes off when Shawn's running the ropes. Uh-oh. Bulldog gives the challenger a facebuster, then sends him upside down in the corner before slingshotting him back towards it and giving him a clothesline. The cover only got two, as does the cover after a Bulldog delayed vertical suplex. Shawn sends Bulldog back first into the exposed turnbuckle (oh no!), and both stay down for a bit, as they're worn out. When both get up, Bulldog places Shawn up top, for a superplex attempt. Bulldog's back gives out, Shawn lands on top of him and gets the three count at 10:26 (shown). Shawn's got his first taste of Federation gold! No, I'm not counting the WWF tag belt win that never aired.

Match Analysis: The abdominal stretches nearly killed the match for me, but it could've been a lot worse. I watched this on DVD a while back, and my rating actually went down from then. I didn't really realize how long that portion of the match was until yesterday. ***1/4 is my rating. I know I'm focusing on the negative, but there's a ton of positive in that match. For one, pacing. Two, psychology. Michaels not taking the buckle off and it just falling down by chance was great. There's obviously more, but I don't have all the time in the world.

___________________

Mean Gene is with Razor Ramon, Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect, who praise Michaels' Intercontinental Title victory. Flair says that it's going to be champion vs. champion at Survivor Series, and he'll be waiting to face the winner.

___________________

Papa Shango vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Championship is our main event...

Blow-by-Blow: Before Bret's entrance, he cut a promo in the back with Mean Gene. Also, Bill Alfonso's the referee. Shango works Bret over, but Bret whips Shango into the corner and monkey flips him out. A few Bret shoulderblocks and a crossbody only get one, so Bret follows with an inverted atomic drop. Bret clotheslines him over the top, and follows him down to the floor with a PESCADO. Now, we go to a

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We're back, with Shango sending Bret into the buckle. He applies a bearhug, but Bret pokes him in the eye to break. Shango responds with a back elbow, and headbutts Bret down low. Way down low. Shango goes to the nerve hold after a choketoss, but breaks it and clotheslines Bret. Back to the nerve hold, but Bret gets up, and gets whipped into the ropes, after which he gives Shango a sunset flip. At least he tried. Shango punched the canvas, and misses a charge to the corner, leading to a Bret sleeper. Shango charges at the corner and ducks down, causing Bret's head to get rammed into the buckle. Shango gives Bret two elbowdrops, but misses an UGLY elbowdrop off the top rope. Bret gives Shango a gutshot, before a russian leg sweep which gets two. Bret backdrops Shango for a two count, before coming off the second rope with a clothesline for another two count. Shango misses the HO TRAIN, so Bret locks him into the SHARPSHOOTER, forcing Shango to give up at 7:15 (shown).

Match Analysis: What a carryjob. One of the best I've ever seen, to be 100% honest. I thought that was going to be a shitter of a match, but it wasn't. Surprising. I don't know if I'm rating it too high or not, but **1/4 sounds just right.

___________________

Paul Bearer's out, for an edition of his funeral parlor. We see clips of The Undertaker making a casket for Kamala, before Taker comes out of a coffin to speak. Rotting corpses of the maggots below the souls of all that lie beneath the earth and that sort of thing, then Kamala will REST IN PEACE.

___________________

Bret Hart is with Gene Okerlund again, to talk about his earlier victory. BUT, Shawn Michaels interrupts. Oh yes. He runs down Bret's opposition, and they push each other, before we cut away to Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan. Heenan's on the phone with someone, who says that one of the teams is going to have a new partner at Survivor Series. Which one could it be?

___________________

Rating: Good. Well, I thought so. Take into account that I love both 1992 and 1993's wrestling from both major promotions.

Best Segment: Bulldog vs. Michaels

Worst Segment: Bret Hart's music video. It was SO corny.

___________________

Ok, um, RAW and Nitro review from 8/4/1997 will be up on Friday. Nitro this time is a famed THREE HOUR SHOW.