So I'm bored, with nothing to do, and I look at my tapes, and I realize, Canadian Stampede fucking rocks, so I'll watch it. So I just watched it. Here's my take. For this PPV, I allow myself time to look at each match individually and tell you the greatness, so here goes.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind was a great opening brawl with some great bumping from Mick, the great psychology from Hunter, and the great outside interference from Chyna. If I can say one thing about this match, it is that Hunter knew when to let Mick wail upon him like a hellish snowstorm, and when to take it into his own hands. He let Mick work him over with his brawling stuff, and then, he used the advantage on the outside, Chyna, to take over in the match, with Mick taking a HELLACIOUS bump into the stairs, knees first. Then Hunter was all quasi-Ric Flair like on Mick's leg, and then Mick made the comeback, and then they brawled on the outside, and then they head for the crowd, and then you got your double countout. This match was great because it got the crowd fired up, and then here, you got Hunter getting his ass tossed to the penalty box, and him blading, and then a nice little brawl to the back.
TAKA Michinoku vs. The Great Sasuke is the best light heavyweight match the WWF has probably ever put on, even with Dynamite Kid/Tiger Mask MSG 82 in that mix. But first, we go back to the Mankind/HHH brawl which was STILL going on. Sasuke gets all kicktastic to start, and we get a bunch of stalemates until Sasuke just NAILS TAKA with a spinning kick to the chest, and they work the mat some more, until Sasuke busts the first high spot with the Missile Sidekick from the top rope to the outside. Sasuke then just absolutely BLASTS TAKA with a spin kick to the the face. TAKA is all wobbly as he makes his comeback with a dragon screw and a rana, and then he busts the TAKA specialty, the no hands springboard plancha that pops the crowd madly. Back in, TAKA works Sasuke over some more, but then Sasuke comes back with the Asai Moonsault, and then they get to the nice little ending sequence, with TAKA hitting the Michinoku Driver II, but Sasuke kicks out, comes back with the run the ropes quebrada, then the Thunder Fire Powerbomb and the Tiger Suplex for the win. Outstanding match, featuring stiff work, nice matwork, and very nice high flying. This pretty much set the tone for what was GOING to happen down the line with the little people, but of course, this was scrapped since Sasuke and Michinoku weren't able to put on about 100 pounds of muscle within a month or so.
Vader vs. The Undertaker rules because it's Vader and Taker before Taker sucked. Vader isn't afraid to sell ALL of Taker's offense, here, and I mean ALL of it. Taker hits all the moves in his arsenal that aren't the Chokeslam or the Tombstone. In fact, Vader let's Taker hit EVERYTHING, and Taker actually hits it, so then Vader no-sells a corner whip and we get the Vader show, all the damn time. Vader just starts pummeling on Taker with those right hands, but this is the WWF, so the Vader stiffness is dumbed down. Vader's rest hold, the Nerve Hold, does nothing if it's anybody else, but that's 450 pounds pressing down on your neck, so you better sell that shit. Taker makes the comeback, but then he gets the wrong end of the Vader kick to the nuts, and then Vader goes for the Vader Bomb, takes too much time, and gets chokeslammed off the second rope in a great spot. I guess Misawa gained a few pounds or something, because Vader does that Misawa "1...2...2.99999" spot to perfection. Vader gets chokeslammed again, and then Vader kicks out again. And dammit, this IS All Japan Pro Wrestling, because then Taker has to go to his trump card, the Tombstone, and he gets the win and keeps the belt. Probably the best match the WWF has put on with two guys weighing over 300 pounds ever.
The 10-man Hart Foundation/Austin coalition match is one of the greatest booked matches ever, because the Harts are LOVED because it's Calgary, and Austin gets BOOED OUTTA THE BUILDING, so Austin pisses them off more by flipping them all off at certain points. The staredown was great, as Austin pretty much told Bret "I can whoop your ass here, there, anywhere" and he points all over the arena. Then the bell rings, and they go off on each other. Austin taking over in the corner rules because he whoops Bret's ass and flips off the crowd as this crowd is just absolutely NUKED. They fight for like five minutes and then we get everyone pairing off on each other. In general:
Austin: The absolutely awesome of the heels. His time with anyone and everyone in that ring was great just because of his mannerisms towards them and the fans. When he was in, the level of the wrestling skyrocketed. Him flipping off Bret WHILE PUTTING ON THE SHARPSHOOTER was pure genius from a booking standpoint.
Goldust: Had some great sequences, especially with Bret, and he was the man who did most of the saving for the heels. Nice work from him.
Hawk: He didn't blow anything, so he was good.
Animal: His big/small stuff with Owen was great, and he could definitely work his stuff in. Him pressing Bulldog was some kool stuff right there.
Shamrock: Only took him the entire match to realize he was a HEEL in there. His little opening stuff with Anvil was cute. At least he had a nutshot. That's all I asked for
For the Foundation:
Bret: You had this feeilng that Bret was in there to be the leader, and dammit, he performed like one. I absolutely love how if he got int trouble, he'd find a way to get out of it. And him working over Austin's knee to make up for what Austin did do Owen was absolutely great.
Owen: The sparkplug. THe man who when he went in that ring, he brought the speed and the high impact offense. The enzuigiri, the missile dropkick, all that good stuff. He was just so on it tonight. Plus, he went over, setting up Owen/Austin, which was the Owendriver 97 match. He was on it.
Bulldog: He hit the big transition spots, the Press Slam, the Superplex. This guy just knew how to get that crowd going. I like it. I like a lot.
Anvil: Yeah, baby. I truly liked how he brought the pain in this match. He didn't do much, but I liked what he did, ya know?
Pillman: Oh boy. Pillman was my favorite out of anyone in the match, because he cheated like HELL to win, and the crowd LOVED IT. His selling of Austin's stunner was great. I loved it. Plus, on that move, he rolled out of the ring so that Austin would get pummelled. He just loved being out there. The atmosphere was great.
Overall, as a whole, this is in that tier of WWF booking that is practically untouched. Only matches like Hogan/Rock or Hogan/Andre or Warrior/Savage. This was an absolutely superb match and this made the PPV memorable.
This is a great PPV, and a must own, and dammit, I LOVED THIS CARD.
