One Night Only 1997

[Guest JHawk]

Davey Boy was trapped in the figue four for several minutes. If I recall correctly, he never did submit, instead the referee stopped the match and awarded the decision (and European title) to Shawn Michaels.

And if you look at the history of WWF Title matches at Madison Squar Garden, that is actually a MAJOR logic gap, but never mind that now.

[Guest DoubleM]

Just to clear up the whole "Bulldog should'nt have lost to Shawn" thing and what was going on exactly:

 

When the match was booked, the idea was that Bulldog would go over Shawn as everyone expected. But then Vince decided he wanted Bulldog to lose to Shawn, in order to build up to a huge rematch at the Mayhem In Manchester PPV the following April. The idea, which has been effective in the past, was that the UK fans would pay more to see Bulldog avenge the defeat than they would to see him go over again. So Bulldog agreed and lost to Shawn (the finish saw Bulldog slip on the riser outside the ring and jam his knee, then DX worked on it, before hurling Davey back in, where Shawn trapped him in a figure-four and he passed out, prompting the ref to stop the match), safe in the knowledge that he would get his job back in a few months time and retain the European title.

The cracks began forming just a few weeks later, as Vince made the decision to push DX ahead of The Hart Foundation and set up the big rematch between Shawn and Bret, which meant the Euro title was made to look 2nd rate and was pretty much ignored for the most part. It obviously got worse when the relationship between Bret and Vince began to fall apart due to Vince wanting to back out of their deal, as Bulldog was lost in the shuffle and Shawn was pushed as the top heel.

After Montreal, Bulldog left and Shawn was left holding the WWF title, along with the European title. You don't need to guess which one took presidence, and which won Vince wanted to get off Shawn. Shortly after Owen Hart returned under the premise of a big push, Vince asked Shawn to drop the Euro title to him, but Shawn, as always, refused, and it ended up with him dropping the belt to HHH. In turn, HHH was meant to lose to Owen, but by then Shawn had rubbed off on him, and he refused to drop the title as well, so it ended up with Goldust dressing up as Hunter and jobbing to Owen on RAW.

 

As for Bulldog's ring work...

 

Im from the UK and will be the first to admit he was'nt the best in the ring. However, he was very agile and easy to work with, and with a more rounded opponent, he could have a fantastic match. When it came to carrying guys himself he was'nt so hot. His peak was pretty much 1997, when he shed alot of weight and had some good matches with a bunch of people, such as the Hart brothers and Steve Austin. After being signed by WCW, he was put with guys like Steve McMicheal and his weaknesses were exposed. His motivation also took a tumble as his competition and storylines were well below the level he had enjoyed in the WWF. The back injury was the final straw, as it turned a once-good and hard working wrestler into a pathetic shadow of his formal self.

 

RIP Bulldog.

[Guest DARRYLXWF]

...Another tragic life gone to waste