Guest Aero Report post Posted June 21, 2003 (edited) Heading into 1997, the WWF's hottest feud was easily Bret Hart and Steve Austin. While, Bret was clearly the face, Austin still received pops here and there. However, this wasn't exactly THE feud over the title. At the 1996 Survivor Series, Sycho Sid defeated Shawn Michaels for the title in a disgraceful fashion. He attacked Michaels' mentor, Jose Lothario with a camera and then Michaels, himself. One Powerbomb later, and Sid was declared WWF Champion. Michaels made it clear that he wanted a rematch, but Bret Hart was in line first, as he won this right by defeating Steve Austin on that same night in a classic match. At In Your House: It's Time, Bret and Sid fought, with Michaels on commentary. After a confrontation with the Champion, Michaels jumped on the apron. Bret collided with him on an Irish whip, sending him flying. From there, Bret walked into a Powerbomb, giving Sid another win. Bret, just starting his crybaby reputation, quickly pointed the finger at Michaels, blaming him for his loss. With the Royal Rumble being held in San Antonio's Alamodome, Michaels was given his rematch in his hometown. He vowed that with his hometown crowd behind him, he would once again bring home the gold. Meanwhile, Bret, still frustrated over It's Time, claimed that he shouldn't even have to be in the Rumble. The Rumble match doesn't have much star power, but it has a few big names: Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Undertaker, Vader, and Mankind among others. Then there's a strong mid-card featuring Hunter Hearst-Helmsley, Goldust, Marc Mero, Faarooq, Ahmed Johnson, Rocky Maivia, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog. --- --- --- --- --- --- Live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX, it's the 1997 WWF Royal Rumble! (Original Airdate: 1-19-97) Commentators: Vince McMahon, JR, & The King --- The Alamodome seems packed, with an attendance later stated to be over 60,000. --- Opening Match: WWF Intercontinental Championship- Hunter Hearst-Helmsley © (with Curtis Hughes) vs. Goldust (with Marlena) On the Free-For-All of IYH: It's Time, HHH made advances toward Marlena, infuriating Goldust, who then turned face. Curtis Hughes is serving as HHH's body guard, tonight. Goldust attacks HHH in the aisle, and tosses him back into the ring. He punches away in the corner. Goldust tries the 10 punches, but HHH counters with an atomic drop. Pedigree is countered, and Goldust slingshots him over the top rope and to the floor. He takes the steel steps and throws them onto HHH's back, as the referee threatens disqualification. HHH makes a comeback and hits an axehandle to the floor. He throws him into the post and attemps a high knee, but instead connects with the guard rail. Goldust again uses the stairs, this time on the knees. Back inside, and Goldust applies the figure-four, getting several two counts in the process. HHH manages to grab the rope, but Goldust is quick to hit him back down. HHH bails outside, but Goldust catches him and hits a kneebreaker onto the stairs. Back inside, and Goldust misses a crossbody and lands outside. HHH tosses him into the railing and stairs as a measure of revenge. He even grabs Marlena's director chair, but the referee takes it away. We cut to the crowd, where Todd Pettengill is interviewing Colin Ray. And this couldn't wait until after the match? HHH is still selling his knee injury. Back inside, and Goldust mounts a comeback with a flying clothesline and a backdrop. He heads upstairs but is crotched. HHH climbs up for a superplex but is tossed back down. Goldust misses a flying elbow. Hughes tosses HHH his title belt and distracts the ref. Marlena jumps on the apron, so HHH ditches the belt and steals a kiss. Goldust grabs the belt and nails HHH. He covers, but Hughes pulls HHH out. Goldust goes after him and gets a shot in. HHH sneaks around the ring and hits Goldust with a knee from behind, allowing him to hit the Pedigree for the win, at 17:06. Quite a long match, and a little too long, at that. Call the match 3/4* for a few nice spots and some psychology. HHH did actually sell his knee for a little bit but quickly abandoned that when he hit a jumping knee. The match was quite boring, at times, though. --- We hear some pre-recorded comments from Royal Rumble participants, Bret Hart and Mankind. Bret declares, "It's gonna be me!" (in winning the Rumble, of course). Meanwhile, Mankind, from the boiler room, looks forward to the oppurtunity of hurting 29 other competitors. --- Video package for Ahmed Johnson-Faarooq. In the summer of 1996, Faarooq debuted as Faarooq Asad, the Roman gladiator, and viciously attacked Ahmed, rupturing his kidneys in the process. Ahmed has been out ever since then, making a few appearances in October and in December. At the 1996 Survivor Series, Faarooq debuted his Nation of Domination as back-up. --- Faarooq (with Nation of Domination) vs. Ahmed Johnson Faarooq has the entire Nation with him, including Crush, body guards, women, and of course the rappers... PG-13! Ahmed tackles Faarooq to start and hammers away. They fight outside, and Ahmed uses the post to his advantage. Back inside, he starts kicking away at Faarooq's kidneys for revenge. Faarooq, however, makes the comeback and targets his kidneys. He takes off his leather belt, and Ahmed hits a flying shoulderblock. He grabs the belt, himself, and whips away, sending Faarooq outside. Ahmed follows and tosses him into the steel steps. Faarooq throws one of the random ring attendants into Ahmed and clotheslines him down. He again targets the kidneys. Chinlock applied, but Ahmed makes the comeback. Faarooq manages a spinebuster, but taunts the crowd too long, allowing Ahmed to give him his spinebuster. Pearl River Plunge time, but the Nation runs in, giving Ahmed the DQ win, at 8:46. Ahmed is fighting off the entire Nation, except for Faarooq, who's had enough and bails. Ahmed grabs one of the random body guards and Pearl River Plunges him through the French announce table, except without the sit-down part, in a nice spot. Call the match 1/2*, as much of it was just slow brawling. It's Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq, so what would you expect? --- Terry Funk gives his thoughts on the Royal Rumble, later on, as he will be one of the 30 participants. --- Todd Pettengill interviews Faarooq, along with the Nation. --- Vader vs. Undertaker Slugfest starts, and Undertaker wins the chokes away in the corner. Vader attempts a comeback, but Taker no-sells. Vader tries a few clotheslines, but Taker won't exactly budge, so Vader bails. Taker follows, hitting an axehandle off the apron. Back inside, Vader takes control. Taker hits a rocker dropper and a scoop slam. Leg drop gets two. Armbar, and he goes for the ropewalk, but Vader crotches him. Once again, we head into the crowd with Todd, as he now interviews a die-hard Shawn Michaels fan. Vader, again, goes low and hits a splash. Chinlock applied, but Taker makes his comeback, hitting several punches and managing a side suplex. Elbow drop misses, and Vader regains control. He goes to the second rope but gets powerslammed down. Vader hits a powerbomb for two. Taker quickly comes back and hits the flying clothesline. Ropewalk connects, this time, and out walks former manager, Paul Bearer. Inside, Taker hits the chokeslam and clotheslines him outside. While outside, he takes the time to nail Bearer. He chokes him, but Vader makes the save. Taker, again, clotheslines Vader outside. Taker goes upstairs and flies, but Vader sidesteps it, and Taker collides with the railing. They brawl outside for a minute. Vader heads back in and distracts the referee. Meanwhile, Paul Bearer is recovered and nails Taker over the head with the urn. Inside, and Vader hits the Vaderbomb to get the win, at 13:19. Paul Bearer now manages Vader, in case you didn't figure it out. The match was about *1/4, mostly due to more slow, plodding action. The WWF just can't catch a break on this night. Post match, Undertaker confronts the referee and chokeslams him. --- More Rumble comments, this time with Steve Austin and the British Bulldog. Bulldog's is semi-famous for confusing just about everyone. He jumps out of his car outside the arena and shouts to the nearby fans, "Who's gonna win the Rumble?" Then, he turns to the camera and claims he'll win the Rumble because he's BIZARRE! --- Six-Man Tag Team Filler- Perro Aguayo, Canek & Hector Garza vs. Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal & Fuerza Guerrera The WWF is in the works with Mexico's AAA wrestling organization. Here we have a six-man tag team filler match, and as you'll later see, the Rumble is loaded with more AAA wrestlers. The match isn't exactly worth recapping due to several reasons: Lack of star power, boredom, and sloppiness. Listening to JR put over these guys is hilarious, especially when he calls them fresh talent. Most of them look like they're in their 40's, at least. Perry Aguayo looks about somewhere between 50-60. The guy is quite sloppy, too. He tries to dive over the top rope with a plancha several times during the match, and each time, he cannot make it over. The commentators are left with nothing to talk about. In fact, during a silent period, all Jerry Lawler can say is, "I like Canek." Some of the guys to put on some nice lucha libre sequences here and there, but for the most part, it's brutal. The finish sees Aguayo hit a double stomp on Heavy Metal for the pin, at 10:57. DUD, and I think I already explained myself. --- Royal Rumble Match Crush, along with the Nation of Domination, is # 1, and Ahmed Johnson is # 2. Ahmed gets another shot at the Nation. Intervals are 90 seconds, this year. Crush attacks him with body shots and stomps away, but Ahmed takes control with a clothesline. The clock is screwed up, so Fake Razor enters at # 3 with no countdown and no music. He gets a few shots in, but Ahmed simply tosses him out to a pop. Faarooq begins to walk down the aisle, not as an entrant, so Ahmed stupidly jumps over the top rope and runs after him, eliminating himself in the process. # 4 is Phineas Godwinn. Feel the excitement. Phineas and Crush trade blows for a minute, and Steve Austin enters at # 5, waking the crowd up a tad. Heel beatdown on Phineas, but Austin accidentally axehandles Crush, allowing Phineas to throw him out. Phineas walks into a Stunner, and he's history. The clock is finally working, and Bart Gunn is # 6. He botches several spots, including a rocker dropper. Vince does seem quite excited to mention that Bart is, indeed, a South Paw. Austin easily tosses him and awaits the next entrant sitting on the top rope. Jake Roberts is # 7, and we have us a rematch from the KOTR Finals. They go through a standard fight for the 90 seconds, and just as the British Bulldog enters at # 8, Austin backdrops Jake out. The Bulldog stomps a mudhole in Austin and hits the Running Powerslam. Pierroth of the AAA is # 9, and the crowd could care less. Vince claims that Pierroth is actually on Dok Hendrix' top 10 list of who's going to win. Gimme a break, but don't you love it when the announcers make it seem like ANYONE can win? Austin and Bulldog work over Pierroth, and The Sultan is # 10, along with the Iron Sheik. Mil Masceras is # 11, another from the AAA, and the Intercontinental Champion, Hunter Hearst-Helmsley is # 12. The Bulldog clotheslines the Sultan out. Austin, after being down for a minute, explodes and attacks HHH. Owen Hart is # 13. Keep in mind, the Bulldog & Owen are the current Tag Team Champions. Owen immediately zeros in on Austin. The Bulldog jumps in and tries to toss Austin over, so Owen tries tossing both at the same time, except only the Bulldog is eliminated, as Austin hangs on. Bulldog, in a state of shock, complains and calls Owen an idiot. # 14 is Goldust, and Austin's right on him with a clothesline and scoop slam. More AAA, as Cybernetico is # 15. Goldust and HHH go at it, with HHH getting hit down with a lariat. The crowd is nearly dead, at this point. In a somewhat funny spot, HHH and the three AAA wrestlers all fight in one corner. HHH holds Pierroth back for some double-teaming, except the other two AAA jobbers just ignore him and carry on. HHH just lets go, and nothing happens. Now, today, HHH would never let jobbers get away with something like that. Just wouldn't be tolerated. "Wildman" Marc Mero is # 16. Meanwhile, Masceras tosses both Cybernetico and Pierroth out. He follows up by going to the top and diving out on top of both to the floor. Idiot. He tries to sneak back in, but the referees throw him out. JR claims that he was confused. Goldust clotheslines HHH out, and the Latin Lover of the AAA is # 17. Enough with the damn AAA! He superkicks Owen to start and mixes it up with others. Goldust tosses Owen over, but he skins the cat back in and eliminates Goldust in return. # 18 is Faarooq, and he quickly backdrops the Latin Lover out. Ahmed Johnson illegally runs back in and hits Faarooq out with a 2x4. As they fight into the back, Austin simultaneously tosses both Owen and Marc Mero out, leaving him all alone, once again. # 19 is old rival, Savio Vega, who hits a few heel kicks before being eliminated. # 20 is Jesse James, and he's gone in short order as well. Austin has regained his composure, by now, and he sits on the turnbuckle, again, awaiting the next entrant. As the countdown ends, a sudden screech blares through the arena, and Bret Hart enters at # 21! That woke the crowd up. Austin just shit his pants, as his facial expressions are gold! The crowd is totally into the slugfest. Bret hits an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline, and locks in the Sharpshooter! Meanwhile, the countdown comes to an end, and Jerry Lawler's music hits. Jerry Lawler, # 22, begins to get up from the commentary booth, saying, "It takes a king..." before leaving. He jumps in the ring, and Bret eliminates him with two punches, to a pop. Lawler, in a disgruntled manner, sits back down for commentary and finishes his statement from before with, "...to know a king!" Fake Diesel is # 23, and he immediately goes after Bret, to Lawler's delight. Terry Funk is # 24, as Vince mentions his THIRD, bah gawd, South Paw of the night. The second was one of the AAA guys. Funk hits a piledriver on Bret, and Rocky Maivia is # 25. He pairs off with Austin, right off the bat.. a precurser of things to come. Lawler desperately wants Bret to be eliminated, and he even says that HE should've been in there! Vince has to remind him that HE actually was in there. # 26 is Mankind, who goes right after Terry Funk. Bret applies a sleeper to Austin, who counters with a jawbreaker. Flash Funk is # 27. Bret hits Austin with a piledriver. Flash goes upstairs and hits both Diesel and Terry Funk with a crossbody. # 28 is Vader, and he attacks Bret with the body shots. Henry Godwinn is # 29, taking Vader down quickly with a clothesline. Finally, # 30 is the Undertaker, who immediately fights with both Vader and Mankind. Both Vader and Austin receive chokeslams from the deadman. Flash goes for a body press on Vader, but he's caught and launched out of the ring. Maivia nearly has Bret eliminated, but Austin saves, seemingly so that he can get the job done himself. Henry Godwinn goes after Taker, so he's chokeslammed out of the ring for his troubles. Maivia gets caught in the Mandible Claw, and Mankind pushes him out with it. Mankind cactus clotheslines Terry Funk out onto the apron. They trade blows on the apron, and Funk slides back in. Mankind then suplexes him over the top and to the floor. He remains on the apron too long, however, so Undertaker boots him off. Five men remain: Bret Hart, Undertaker, Vader, Fake Diesel, and Steve Austin, who's over forty-five minutes, now. After being eliminated, Mankind starts a brawl with Terry Funk, ringside. All the ringside officials try and break it up. Meanwhile, inside, Austin hits Diesel with a Lou Thesz Press. Suddenly, Bret yanks him off of Diesel and tosses him over the top rope and to the floor to eliminate him, to a HUGE pop! Unfortunately for Bret, with the referees preoccupied with the Mankind-Funk brawl, Austin manages to sneak in unnoticed. The pairs of Undertaker & Vader and Bret & Diesel fight off at opposite sides of the ring. The referees, outside, finally break up the brawl and turn their attention toward the match, once again. Austin, just after sneaking in, simultaneously tosses both Undertaker and Vader. Meanwhile, Bret eliminates Diesel. He thinks he's won it, but Austin comes from behind and eliminates Bret. The referees jump in the ring, and declare Austin the winner of the 1997 Royal Rumble, at 50:26. Austin is quick to jump out of the ring and head to the back, as Bret storms in the ring and grabs a referee by his collar complaining. Bret is pissed off, and rightfully so. Bret was SCREWED! He then goes ringside and gets in Vince's face. The entire situation is so surreal toward what would actually happen later that year in November. This is widely considered to be one of the worse Royal Rumbles, as it is painfully dull and heatless at points. Still, Austin gives a great performance throughout the match. At this point and time, I was a huge fan of Bret, and I was 90% sure that he was going to win. At the time, I was completely shocked that Austin won, as I thought that if Bret didn't then Undertaker would. Nevertheless, although disappointed that Bret lost, I was happy that Austin was given such a main event rub. Call this Rumble **3/4 --- Video package for Sid-Shawn Michaels. You know the story. This is Michaels' hometown, and he wants revenge from Survivor Series. It's actually a good package, as it focuses on just who the real monster of the match is, as Sid's monster actions are natural, but Shawn's seem to be from provocation (Jose Lothario). --- WWF Championship- Sycho Sid © vs. Shawn Michaels For basically the first time of the night, the crowd is hot, cheering for their hometown hero, Shawn Michaels. Big staredown to start, and it sees Sid shoving Michaels. Sid hits a number of kicks, and Shawn is relentless in coming back. Irish whip sequence, and Shawn hits a crossbody for two. Shawn hits Sid outside and follows. Sid tosses him to the railing. He picks him up for a press slam, but Shawn rakes the eyes to counter. Back inside, he goes for crossbody off the top, but Sid catches him with a powerslam for two. Chinlock applied, and the crowd is backing Shawn enough for him to make the comeback with numerous body shots. Sid tosses him to the corner, and Shawn Flair flips to the floor. Sid heads outside, as well, and works Shawn's back by ramming it into the ring post a few times. Back inside, and Sid covers for two. Sid hits a big clothesline and gets massive heat when taunting the crowd. He tosses him into the turnbuckles some more, working the back. Ironic how the guy actually injures his back one year later, eh? Bearhug applied. Once again, the crowd rallies behind Shawn, allowing him to break loose and hit an atomic drop. He's caught off of the second rope into a bearhug, again, and slammed to the mat. Sid hits a leg drop for two, and goes into another chinlock. Back up, and Michaels counters a slam and hits one of his own to a pop. Irish whip sequence, and Michaels hits a flying forearm. Up top, and the flying elbow drop connects! Shawn tunes up the band, as the crowd gets louder. Sweet Chin Music attempt, but Sid catches the foot and backdrops him outside. Sid follows and actually Powerbombs him on the floor! Jose Lothario gets up, so Sid grabs both him and his son. Shawn makes the save, and they fight back inside. The referee is bumped, and Sid hits a chokeslam, but there's no ref to count. Another runs in, but it only gets two. Sid starts hammering away at Shawn. The second ref tries to break it up, so Sid takes him out, too. Shawn manages to grab a TV camera and nail Sid, in a measure of revenge from Survivor Series! Shawn covers, but it only gets two, and the crowd is shocked, so say the least. Shawn anticipates Sid's recovery and hits Sweet Chin Music as soon as he gets to his feet! The cover, complete with dramatic, slow count, and Shawn Michaels regains the WWF Title, at 13:48! The crowd was completely into the match the entire time. The problem with the match was quality, however. Going into this match, Shawn was battling the flu, so Sid mostly had to carry him through it. Survivor Series was much better, but this one had such a better atmosphere and crowd heat. Too many restholds in this match. Call it, **3/4. Post-match, Shawn, the Lotharios, and his parents celebrate his win, as the crowd goes home happy. --- --- --- --- --- --- Not much of a good show at all. The match quality is quite low, with the main event and Rumble Match at only **3/4. The Rumble match really helped build another block in the Bret Hart-Steve Austin saga, and the Rumble in-turn set up the Final Four in February. The main event was as good as it could be with Shawn Michaels battling a flu, so you can't blame him for a poor performance. This is worth a rental at best, if you can still find it. Otherwise... Recommendation to Avoid Edited June 21, 2003 by Aero Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest subliminal_animal Report post Posted June 22, 2003 I just wanted to get your hopes up. Sorry, but I'm mean. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Aero Report post Posted June 23, 2003 I just wanted to get your hopes up. Sorry, but I'm mean. Was I supposed to think that there was some feedback... and then after reading your post, am I supposed to be angry or something? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
