Review: WCW Monday Nitro and WWF Monday Night RAW from 8/11/1997.
After Road Wild, and The Giant has been given a restraining order. Oh Lord, these angles suck. Also, we're from Denver!
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The Wolfpac come out, talk about the Steiners, and then, The Outsiders take on two jobbers.
- The Steiners music hit, which introduced the Outsiders opponents. How cute. Nash jackknifes the one with red hair for the win at 1:28. 1/4*. Lame. Steiners run through the crowd and beat the Wolfpac up. Good!
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Meng is taking on Wrath w/James Vandenberg...
- They meet in the aisle, and Meng beats him up on the inside. Haku vs. Adam Bomb is the stuff of dreams. Meng applies the TONGAN DEATH GRIP, which gets THE WIN at 2:40. So, Wrath's first TV loss is to a lower midcard guy in less than three minutes. That makes a lot of sense. *. Mortis and Barbarian run down to beat each other up.
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The Steiners and Ted DiBiase are with Gene Okerlund, for an interview. They say that the Outsiders were lucky to have had such an incompetent official for their match at Road Wild.
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Eddie Guerrero faces Chris Jericho here...
- One of many matches soon to take place between these two. After Jericho german's Eddie on his head, he gives Eddie a GIANT SWING. Eddie crotches Jericho on the top rope, and FROG SPLASHES him from all the way across the ring. All over at 4:33. **1/4. Entertaining.
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Alex Wright invades during a Nitro Girl performance, then cuts a promo about how bad these fans are.
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Now we've got Dean Malenko against Jeff Jarrett w/Debra for the US Title.
- Road Wild explains this matchup. Read the results. Jarrett wanted to leave the area, but an appearance from Mongo brought him back to the ring. Some WarGames hype follows from our commentary crew, and then Dean applies the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF. Eddie Guerrero runs in, and along with Jarrett, beats Dean up for the DQ at 4:13 (shown). *1/2. Mongo hits all the heels, and Dean beats up Mongo when he comes to. Weird.
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Mean Gene is with Curt Hennig and Ric Flair...then the other Four Horsemen come out, and they talk about Hennig's match against Savage later tonight, and the Clash XXXV tag between Hennig & Flair who are facing Konnan and Syxx.
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Hour #2 begins, with Scott Norton and Eric Bischoff coming down to the ring. The Giant was supposed to face Norton, but this whole restraining order thing got in the way. Other NWO guys came out and sung happy birthday to Hogan...so, the guy wins the World Title on the previous night and doesn't come to TV the next day. That makes a ton of sense. Buff Bagwell spraypaints the fifty feet line, and the Giant comes out to cross it. WHOA. Larry Z comes out to bring him back, and Scott Hall toothpicks Larry. They nearly fight. All done!
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Lex Luger calls out Hulk Hogan, and then, we have Buff Bagwell w/Vincent vs. DDP.
- Strange matchup. Not very entertaining, although competitive. DIAMOND CUTTER finishes at 4:09 after Vincent botches interference. *.
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On the Road...
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We've got Mortis w/James Vandenberg vs. Ultimo Dragon for the Television Title...
- Now THIS is a strange matchup. Dragon powerbombs Mortis from the second rope and locks in the DRAGON SLEEPER for the submission at 3:09. *3/4. I do not understand why Mortis and Wrath have been jobbed out tonight.
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JJ Dillon wants Sting back, Sting comes to the ring, and Dillon offers him a contract to face Syxx. Syxx? That's a step down from last week, when Dillon asked him to face Curt Hennig. Sting rips the contract up and leaves.
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In our main event, we have Curt Hennig vs. Randy Savage w/Liz.
- All I can think about while watching this is, if only this had happened 9 years earlier. Page runs down for the no contest at 3:05, and he gets beaten up by Hall and Savage. Elbowdrops galore, as Hennig has been tossed out. Luger runs down, and we have our Clash XXXV main event. Easy as that. 1/2*, end show.
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Rating is poor, didn't care for this at all. Best segment was Eddie/Jericho, worst was Savage/Hennig. Cause it was disappointing, you know?
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RAW this week is from Biloxi, Mississippi.
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Shawn Michaels is out, talking about SummerSlam and such, before the crowd chants that he's gay. "Why don't you ask your mom and sister how gay I am?" Slaughter comes out, spits in Shawn's face, and tells him to face Mankind. Okay. HBK talks about his insurance policy...
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The British Bulldog and Owen Hart are out, to watch Hawk face Henry Godwinn in a Country Whippin' Match.
- To win, you must toss your opponent out of the ring. Both guys have straps, but they are not attached to each other. Owen and Bulldog both challenge the Patriot during commentary...
- Both men's partners run in, and Henry gets knocked out by Animal at 3:48, so Hawk wins. 1/2*.
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Slaughter tosses Pillman his ring gear, as a guy named Tony Williams faces Scott Putski.
- Goldust comes out to watch, because he's going to show us a split-screen view of Pillman putting on his dress. Oh Lord. Pillman's really distraught about this whole situation, and he can't even get the dress on. Polish Hammer wins, I had to open the front door so I don't have the etime. Anyway, Slaughter makes Goldust leave after the match. *.
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Taker's going to watch Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind later. Okay.
Flash Funk is facing Brian Pillman.
- Nice dress! Vince and the crew hype Hardcore Heaven 1997 a bit, then Slaugher says that Bulldog and Owen will face the Patriot and a partner of his choosing. All these fucking cameos during matches are pissing me off. Ridiculous. Goldust comes out, and shows us the footage of Pillman putting on his dress. Funk cradles Pillman from behind for the win at 3:16. *1/4.
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Dude Love comes out, for an interview. It's pretty funny. He talks about the damage Mankind will do to Shawn Michaels, until Shawn Michaels appears on the TitanTron and rebutts these statements.
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Warzone begins, with Owen Hart and the British Bulldog facing the Patriot and his mystery partner...KEN SHAMROCK!
- With Shamrock being the partner, Bulldog is quite terrified. After a commercial, we come back, and Bret Hart is on the walkway. Patriot makes the hot tag, and cleans house. Slaughter keeps Bret from walking down the ramp, and the referee is distracted as well. A chair comes in, the Hart Foundation can't use it, but Patriot full-nelson slams Bulldog onto the chair for the win at 8:06. **.
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Shawn's with his insurance policy...but you can't see his face.
During a Patriot interview, Bret attacks the Patriot. Of course, he kicks his ass. Obviously.
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Faarooq is scheduled to face Chainz...
- This will suck. Chainz clotheslines Faarooq into the referee on accident, and...Rocky Maivia(?) runs into the ring. ROCK BOTTOM on Chainz(!), and Faarooq pins him for the win at 3:04. What a surprise. 1/2*. I like it!
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Sable's supposed to be the ring announcer for this next match, but Patriot comes to the ring and calls out Bret Hart. Bret Hart comes, and they fight. When the Hart Foundation come down, they really kick the Patriot's ass. Nobody runs in either.
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Mankind tells Shawn Michaels that his insurance policy had better be life insurance...
and after a Brakus vignette, we have
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Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind in our main event.
- Mankind brought a trash can. Unfortunately, Shawn put it on Mankind and the trash back stayed on the big lug. All covered up! This is a huge brawl, featuring lots of weird shit. Mick gets backdropped onto the announce table, and then for some reason, Shawn flies off the apron with an elbowdrop onto the announce table. These two have good chemistry. After Shawn rans Mankind's head into the post and back suplexes him onto the announce table, HHH and Chyna make their way out, as we head to a commercial.
- We're back, and Mankind's mask has been ripped off. RICK RUDE(!) walks down to the ring, stands there for a moment, and then grabs a chair. He clocks Mick in the head with it, and SWEET CHIN MUSIC leads to the pinfall victory at 8:42. ***1/2 for an outstanding TV match. Undertaker heads down to the ring, but Paul Bearer shows up on the TitanTron. KANE IS COMING. You will BURN IN HELL!
So yeah, show over.
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Raw was good this time around, best segment was HBK/Mankind and the worst was Putski/Williams, in which we had to watch Pillman get dressed. Ugh.
Way better than Nitro.
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REVIEW WCW THUNDER
Yeah, I'm reviewing that next.
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