Welcome one and all.  I was light on reader feedback this week, so I wanted to take the opportunity before we get into today’s review today to run something past all of you out there.  I’ve been mulling over an idea for a while and wanted to see what the response would be before I went ahead with it.  
 

I am currently in the process of transferring over all of my wrestling tapes from VHS over to DVD.  Seeing how relatively easy the process is, I began to think what else I could do with them.  I then starting thinking that it would be really cool to add a commentary track to the shows.  Basically, an audio version of my reviews found

here.  I think it would be really neat if I could do the recordings and then for anyone that’s interested, they could have a copy with my audio comments.  The other option would be to just record my commentary into an MP3 file and for those that already own the show, I could offer the file to them that they could then play as they watch their own tape.  If I decided to go really crazy with it, I could see me inviting guests to come in and also do commentary with me.  I know I have some friends that would love to do it.  And who knows, maybe I could even convince the Rick to sit in on one as well.  So if you think this is a neat idea or if you have other ideas that you would like to share with me, don’t be afraid to drop me a line.  OK, now that I’ve taken care of business lets take a look back at a show no one probably even remembers…

OOld Tyme Rasslin Revue for WWF Survivor Series 1997

Emanating from the Centre Molson in Montreal, Canada

Your commentators are Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler.  Goodbye Vince!  I’ll miss your “baaaaack bodydrops” and your “1, 2, he got him…no he didn’t”.

Opening Match: The Headbangers and The New Blackjacks vs. The Godwinns, “Road Dogg” Jesse James and “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn.

Story time…so a few weeks ago, a guy who’s been saddled with endless bad gimmicks by the name of Billy Gunn met this other guy plagued by wrestlecrap named Jesse James.  They decide, “Hey, let’s combine our crap and see what happens”.  What happened was they defied all odds and became one of the most over tag teams in WWF history.  Let that be a lesson to all you Chris Masters out there.  You too could someday reach stardom if you learn how to channel your crap.  Phinneas and Blackjack Windham begin with some power moves.  Blackjack Bradshaw takes over and gets Phinneas in a powerslam for 2.  Phinneas boots a charging Bradshaw and then goes for a tag, but no one wants in.  A Russian legsweep by Bradshaw gets a nearfall on Henry.  Henry blocks a suplex attempt by Bradshaw and gets one of his own.  Bradshaw turns an abdominal stretch into a pinning combination and gets 3 on Henry.  FACES UP 4-3.  Windham dominates Phinneas with a pair of suplexes and a clothesline.  When Windham charges at Phinneas, he gets elbowed.  A follow-up clothesline by Phinneas is enough to eliminate him.  TIED UP 3-3.  Crowd is less than enthralled with this match thus far.  Bad Ass is finally tagged into the match and receives a kind “faggot” and “Billy’s gay” chant.  Mosh goes for a bulldog on Bad Ass, but he slams him into the mat and ends his night.  HEELS UP 3-2.  Thrasher begins to work over Phinneas’ arm and in the process bites Phinneas’ fingers.  I see he’s been taking moves out of the Bushwackers’ playbook.  After a whole lot of nothing, Thrasher hits that move from the top rope that Doink called the ‘whoopie cushion’ and Molly Holly called it the ‘Molly-go-round’.  I think they called it the Stage Dive.  Well, whatever it’s called, it was good enough to pin him.  TIED UP 2-2.  Road Dogg comes in for the first time and gets manhandled by Bradshaw.  Bradshaw goes over to attack Bad Ass, which allows Road Dogg to roll him up for 3.  HEELS UP 2-1.  Road Dogg whips Thrasher, who gets kicked in the back by Bad Ass.  After making a blind tag to Bad Ass, Road Dogg goes for a pump handle slam on Thrasher.  Thrasher falls on top of Road Dogg and covers.  Bad Ass, however, comes off the top rope and whiffs on a legdrop.  The wind from the move evidently was enough to stun Thrasher as Bad Ass is able to pin him afterwards.  Survivors: “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn and “Road Dogg” Jesse James.

Bottom Line: Bleh…what a waste of time here.  There was a whole lot of boring action here followed by pinfalls that came out of nowhere.  A poor choice for an opener as the Canadian crowd was forced to watch teams, consisting of crude American stereotypes (i.e. cowboys, hillbillies, and punk rockers).  It’s no wonder the only time they came alive was to make homosexual references to Billy Gunn.  Proving once again that no matter what year it is or where you are: people hate Billy Gunn.  ½ *

The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. The Truth Commission

So to add a little more “spice” to the Gang Wars, yet another quartet of worthless jobbers were brought in, the Truth Commission.  These guys were a bunch of wacky ex-militants or something like that.  All 8 men brawl to begin this one.  Things settle down with the Interrogator taking on Chainz.  The Interrogator (later on known as Kurrgan) takes a few shots from Chainz before quickly ending his night with a sidewalk slam.  HEELS UP 4-3.  Recon (more recently known as Bull Buchanan) beats up 8-Ball and then tags in the Jackyl (current Internet columnist Don Callis) who delivers a top rope kneedrop.  8-Ball no-sells it and gives him a sidewalk slam, which is enough to put him away.  TIED UP 3-3.  Evidently, a sidewalk slam was the equivalent of the Pedigree back in ’97.  Sniper begins attacking 8-Ball as Jackyl joins the commentary team.  Just so you know, the Jackyl wasn’t typically wresting with the Truth Commission; he was moreso their manager.  He also had a cult leader-like gimmick.  Many will know him also from his ECW days as Cyrus.  For the record, the Jackyl wasn’t their original manager.  A guy by the name of The Commandant was, but for whatever reason, he was quickly replaced.  I know way too much about a group of guys who were barely a blip on the wrestling landscape.  Crush is in now and he gets a belly-to-belly suplex on Recon for 2.  Skull and 8-Ball do a phantom switch, which allows the fresh one to clothesline Recon and pin him.  FACES UP 3-2.  Now, Skull and 8-Ball hit a flapjack on Sniper, but the Interrogator holds the referee up from counting.  The Interrogator nails 8-Ball as he was coming off the ropes.  That allows Sniper to hit him with a bulldog and pin him.  TIED UP 2-2.  Sniper makes a blind tag to the Interrogator, who comes in and nails Skull with a sidewalk slam.  And you guessed it…it’s enough for the 3 count.  HEELS UP 2-1.  Crush doesn’t back down though, as he quickly hits a tilt-a-whirl slam on Sniper to end his night.  TIED UP 1-1.  However, just as quickly, the Interrogator comes in and hits the most devastating move EVER, the sidewalk slam and pins Crush to win it.  Survivor: The Interrogator.

BL: Wow, nothing says tough guys like having 3 of your 4 men get pinned by a freaking sidewalk slam.  You know these gang wars aren’t really effective when you constantly job out the only face gang.  Once again, this match was solely here to get the Interrogator over like the last match was used to get over Bad Ass and the Road Dogg.  And once again the crowd was bored to tears as a result.  ½ *

- We’re shown clips of various fans and their opinions on who will win tonight’s main event.  You know, I took four years of French in high school and one semester in college and I still couldn’t understand what these goofballs said.  Bottom line though, is that based on what was shown here, crowd is split 50/50.

Team USA: Vader, Marc Mero, Goldust, and Steve Blackman vs. Team Canada: The British Bulldog, Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon

Some explanations before we begin…Steve Blackman debuted just 6 days prior to this event…as a fan.  During a match between Vader and the Bulldog, Team Canada was attacking Vader, so Blackman jumped into the ring to fend them off.  The storyline then goes on with Blackman being arrested and Vader bailing him out and asking him to join the team.  I’ll assume he is replacing the Patriot, who isn’t on the card and likely would have been on this team.  As for the other members, they were in transition.  Mero had just come back from an injury and was rather moody lately.  He also was now embracing his boxing roots.  Goldust, also was always in a bad mood lately.  He recently dumped Marlena and was now sporting phrases like “FU” (forever unchained) and “alive again” on his face.  Clearly this is not a cohesive unit, which is fine by this crowd as they give a huge response to Team Canada.  Mero and the Bulldog kick things off.  A dropkick by the Bulldog sends Mero to the outside and then he proceeds to mime some martial arts moves to mock Blackman.  Already this match has been more exciting than the first two combined.  Vader is in now and he tries a move from the second rope.  However, the Bulldog catches him and slams him.  The Bulldog then follows it up with a vertical suplex, which draws a big pop from the crowd.  It’s now LaFon and Mero in there and LaFon nails Mero with a spinning heel kick.  Blackman gets his first chance in there and begins strong.  A DDT by LaFon puts Blackman down for a 2 count.  As a “Sable” chant rings out through the crowd, (she’s the only one who’s over on Team USA) Blackman begins taking on all members of Team Canada.  The fight spills to the floor, where Blackman unknowingly gets himself counted out.  HEELS (or is it faces?) UP 4-3.  Neidhart misses a charge and Mero rolls him up for 2.  Mero avoids a move by Neidhart from the second rope and tags Vader.  Neidhart initially has the advantage, but soon Vader overpowers him with a pair of bodyblocks and a big splash.  And that’s all she wrote for the Anvil.  TIED UP 3-3.  LaFon knocks Vader to the outside and then throws him into the steps.  Back inside, it’s a different story as Vader hits a belly-to-belly suplex and then finishes him off with a splash from the second rope.  FACES UP 3-2.  Mero hits a springboard moonsault on Furnas, but Furnas wasn’t prepared and the whole thing turned ugly.  After hitting Mero with a spinebuster, Furnas tags the Bulldog.  The Bulldog goes for the running powerslam, but Mero escapes.  Furnas back in and he gets into a slugfest with Mero.  Mero avoids a charging Furnas and rolls him up, but Furnas reverses it and gets Mero for the 3 count.  TIED UP 2-2.  Furnas and the Bulldog beat up Vader, until he gets a suplex on the Bulldog.  Vader tries to tag Goldust, but he doesn’t want in.  A lowblow by Furnas gets 2.  Again, Vader tries to tag out, but Goldust hops off the apron.  An overhead belly-to-belly suplex by Furnas somehow only gets a nearfall on Vader.  Another 2 count for Furnas after he hits Vader with a hurricanrana.  Vader gets to his feet and slaps Goldust to tag him in.  Goludst, however, just leaves the ring and gets counted out.  Just call him Bad News Gold(dust).  HEELS UP 2-1.  Vader fends off both guys and sets Furnas up for the Vader Bomb.  Vader connects with it and pins him.  TIED UP 1-1.  However, while that was going on, the Bulldog grabbed the ring bell.  As soon as Vader got up, the Bulldog clocked him with it.  The referee never saw it and the Bulldog is able to score the cheap pinfall to win it.  Survivor: The British Bulldog

BL: Better than the first two, but still pretty lame.  If this match happened on U.S. soil, there probably wouldn’t have been much heat behind it.  This was used more to establish the personas of Team USA than anything else.  But at least the Canadian crowd had something to cheer for.  * ¼

- Interesting note…at this point on the PPV, Jim Ross announced the winner of the “Super Supper Sweepstakes” where the winner would get themselves and 10 of their friends dinner with their favorite superstar.  They talk to the winner on the phone and she says she wants to have supper with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.  I was just thinking, though, what if she had said Bret Hart.  Talk about a PR nightmare!

- We’re now shown how Kane cost the Undertaker his match last month at Badd Blood.  Taker says he’ll never fight his brother.  So Paul Bearer says that Kane will run through the entire roster until he changes his mind.  So far on Kane’s list, the Hardy Boyz, Flash Funk and Ahmed Johnson.  Also on that list was Dude Love.  In fact, the next week Mankind came out and said Kane killed Dude Love and now he would exact his revenge.  That brings us to our next match…

Mankind vs. Kane

For some reason, the arena stays only lit with Kane’s red light throughout this match.  Mankind meets him in the aisleway and begins his attack.  However, Kane comes back by throwing Mankind into the steps twice.  The two come into the ring, where Kane sets the posts ablaze.  It must mean he loses.  Oh wait, that rule didn’t apply yet.  They brawl briefly before heading back outside.  On the floor, Kane throws the steps in Mankind’s face.  Back inside, Kane just keeps knocking him down with fists and boots.  Kane hits a sidewalk slam on Mankind and clearly that has to be it.  He neglects to pin Mankind, so I guess we’ll never know.  Again, they head to the floor and again Mankind is thrown into the steps.  Kane charges, but Mankind grabs him and drops him across the steps.  Mankind grabs a chair and blasts Kane in the head with it.  In the ring, Mankind connects with a piledriver.  Then Mankind places the Mandible Claw on Paul Bearer.  Meanwhile, Kane sits up, goes over to Mankind, and from the apron, throws Mankind into the Spanish announce table.  Wow!  As usual, Mankind does an awesome bump.  In the aisleway, Kane tries for a chokeslam, but Mankind kicks him low and then hits him with a DDT.  From the apron, Mankind hits the Cactus elbow on Kane.  Mankind goes up to the second rope, but Kane gets up and slams Mankind to the floor.  Back inside, Kane nails Mankind with the Tombstone to end it.

BL: Mankind was trying his darndest to bump like crazy and get Kane over.  However, aside from a couple of big spots, Kane wasn’t all that impressive.  Still, having Kane score a win over someone that the Undertaker frequently lost to goes a long way to advancing that feud.  Oh, and thankfully shortly after this match, someone realized that unless anyone is trying to develop film, keeping the arena in red light isn’t a good idea.  **

- In an interesting backstage segment, Michael Cole interviews Sgt. Slaughter and Vince McMahon.  Slaughter says there is extra security in place for tonight’s main event.  Then Cole puts Vince on the spot and asks him who he thinks will win.  Vince hesitates and then says, “I don’t know”.  Right there, in my opinion, was the birth of “Mr. McMahon”.

Ahmed Johnson, Ken Shamrock, and The Legion of Doom vs. The Nation of Domination

So nice to see Ahmed healthy enough to actually compete tonight.  We begin with D’Lo not being able to budge Hawk.  Rocky comes in and doesn’t fare so well either.  That is, until Hawk gets nailed coming off the ropes and receives a Rock Bottom.  Just like that, it’s all over for Hawk.  HEELS UP 4-3.  Ahmed comes in, but the Nation take turns attacking him.  Farooq sets him up for the Dominator, but Ahmed escapes and connects with the Pearl River Plunge.  That is more than enough to put him away.  TIED UP 3-3.  Well, I guess that’s the blowoff to that feud.  D’Lo comes in and quickly goes to work on Ahmed.  He even hits the frog splash, but opts not to cover.  Ahmed comes back, however, and hits D’Lo with a front suplex.  Farooq, who had never left, trips Ahmed and holds his leg while Rocky pins him, despite the outside referee watching the whole thing.  HEELS UP 3-2.  So I guess this feud isn’t over.  Ahmed chases Farooq down the aisle and they brawl to the back.  Shamrock dominates Rocky until he gets thumbed in the eye.  Nothing much happens as Animal and Kama tangle with each other.  Kama does the Nation fist pump while Animal is down.  Animal gets up and sends Kama crashing into Rocky and then rolls him up for the 3.  TIED UP 2-2.  D’Lo and Rocky double-team Shamrock while the referee is tied up with Animal.  Now the crowd is doing a “Rocky’s gay” chant.  Ouch, Rock, you’re in some pretty bad company there.  D’Lo goes for a moonsault from the second rope, but misses.  Animal gets the hot tag and goes to work on both guys.  With Animal in control, Road Dogg and Bad Ass stroll down to ringside.  Rocky clotheslines a distracted Animal out of the ring.  Animal attacks Bad Ass, but Road Dogg comes from behind and throws powder in his face.  Blinded, Animal fails to make it back into the ring before the 10 count.  HEELS UP 2-1.  Rocky and D’Lo try to double clothesline Shamrock, but he stops it and dumps Rocky out of the ring.  Shamrock hits D’Lo with a belly-to-belly suplex and then slaps on the ankle lock.  D’Lo has no choice but to tap out.  TIED UP 1-1.  As the referee tends to D’Lo, Rock comes from behind and nails Shamrock with a chair.  Rocky covers, but Shamrock kicks out at 2.  A float-over DDT by Rocky gets another nearfall.  After slamming Shamrock, Rocky hits the as-yet-to-be-named People’s Elbow, but again Shamrock kicks out.  It’s weird seeing the People’s Elbow get no response from the crowd.  Rocky tries the float-over DDT again, but this time Shamrock reverses it into a Northern Lights suplex.  Shamrock then catches Rocky coming off the ropes with a hurricanrana.  Now Shamrock snaps and quickly puts Rocky in the ankle lock.  It doesn’t take long for Rocky to tap.  Survivor: Ken Shamrock

BL: They were smart and got rid of the duds early on.  As the match progressed, things got better.  Shamrock, Rocky and D’Lo did some decent stuff near the end to really help the match’s rating.  This would also be a nice start to a lengthy feud between Rocky and Shamrock.  ** ½

- A video package once again illustrates how Austin had his neck injured at the hands of Owen Hart back at Summerslam.  But the good news here, is that we actually get to see Austin wrestle after this video promo.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Owen Hart (champ) vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

Owen comes down to ringside, but he is flanked by Team Canada.  Owen tosses Austin his “Owen 3:16” t-shirt, which Austin promptly tears up.  Neidhart tries a sneak attack, but gets a Stunner for his troubles.  However, it does allow Owen to jump Austin.  Owen quickly tries for a piledriver, but Austin reverses it into a backdrop.  On the floor, Owen sends Austin into the post, but when he tries it again, Austin pulls him into the post.  Owen tries to bail, but Austin attacks him in the aisle.  The two brawl over by the announce tables and Owen gains the advantage with a mule kick.  Owen chokes Austin with mic cables and practically begs the referee to disqualify him.  Back inside, Owen kicks away at Austin in the corner, until Austin thumbs him in the eye.  Now Austin does some mudhole stomping of his own.  Austin whips Owen to the ropes and they tease the infamous spot that broke Austin’s neck.  But this time Austin sets Owen down and just gives him the Stunner.  Just like that, Austin pins him and becomes the new Intercontinental champion.

Postmatch: Furnas and LaFon come out, but both quickly receive Stunners.

BL: Clearly Austin was still not fully ready to compete in a full match, hence the quick squash.  At least, I hope that’s the case because I’d hate to think they would job out Owen like that.  Then again, given what’s coming up, maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised.  *

- Now we get the history of the Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels saga.  When they say that these two hate each other, it’s not meant to sell tickets, it’s the truth.  Get ready for one hell of a fight.

WWF Championship Match: Bret “the Hitman” Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

Shawn quickly jumps Bret, but Bret comes right back with rights and lefts.  Bret clotheslines Shawn to the outside.  On the floor, Bret throws Shawn into the post, the steps and then into the crowd.  The two brawl amongst the fans until all sorts of officials, including Vince McMahon, come down to try and retain order.  They come back to ringside and Shawn takes over on offense.  Now they are back in the crowd on the other side of the ring.  Shawn tries for a piledriver, but Bret backdrops him over the guardrail.  The fight now heads down the aisle.  Both men get their shots in as Vince yells for them to get into the ring.  Finally, they get back inside and now the bell rings.  The match has just now officially started.  Bret dominates until Shawn hits him with a flying forearm.  Shawn kips up and then puts the boots to Bret.  After dumping Bret to the floor, Shawn taunts the fans by beating Bret up right in front of them.  Now, Shawn uses the steps and a flag pole in his attack on Bret.  Back inside, Shawn wears down Bret with a front facelock.  Bret throws Shawn off and tries to work over Shawn’s leg.  Shawn comes off the top with a crossbody, but Bret rolls through it for 2.  Now Bret is able to wrap Shawn’s leg around the post and puts on the figure four leglock.  Back inside, Bret continues to work over Shawn’s leg.  A figure four is applied in the ring by Bret, but Shawn manages to somehow turn it over.  Bret remains in control as he whips Shawn to the corner and Shawn does the flip, flop and fly.  Now Bret begins to go through his Trademark 5.  As Bret comes off the top rope, Shawn pulls the referee in front of him, causing Bret to hit him instead.  Shawn then locks Bret in the Sharpshooter.  And then it happened…Earl Hebner gets up and almost instantly calls for the bell.  Shawn is the new champion.  Clearly though, Bret never gave up.

Postmatch: Bret gets up in disbelief and spits right on Vince McMahon.  Shawn clearly mouths “What the fuck?!?” to Vince, then takes the title and is escorted off.  End show.  However, what we would learn later is that Bret spelled out WCW with his hands to the crowd.  Then, later on, Bret would have a confrontation with Vince in his office and deck him.  This was truly a sad end to Bret Hart’s illustrious WWF career.

BL: How to rate this one?  Well, for historical value this is *****.  However, I can’t rate it based on that.  If you strip away all of the politics, you have a good, but not great brawl.  Interestingly enough, the true chaos that was exhibited in this match would be emulated in most of the main events for the next couple of years after this.  If I have to score this, I’ll go with ***.

Final Thoughts: OK, let me talk more about the Bret Hart situation first.  When this first aired, I wasn’t really part of the Internet community yet, so I had no clue what was going on.  Eight years later and in some ways, I don’t know how much more I know now than I did back then.  I mean, I’ve certainly heard all sides of the story, but I don’t know how closer we are to the truth.  In fact, I’m sure we’ll never know the full story.  As for how I feel about the whole situation, I’m mixed.  On one hand, it’s a true shame what happened to Bret and it’s so sad to see the downward spiral he’s had since then.  But on the flip side, there’s no denying that this event sparked WWF’s run to overtake WCW in the ratings war.  As a WWF fan all of my life, I can’t help but appreciate that.  The bottom line is that I still hold out hope that one day both sides can mend fences and we can have Bret back on WWE television.  But, I won’t hold my breath.  What this all means for this show is that everyone should see the main event at least once.  The rest of the show is a waste though, so just fast-forward to the end.

Next time, we find out who really is the World’s Most Dangerous Man: the man who fights Shawn Michaels in the main event, Ken Shamrock or the man who wants revenge on Shawn Michaels for his brother, Owen Hart.

Until then, thanks for stopping by the OOld Tyme Rasslin Revue.