Reviews from Across the Pond- WWF Shotgun Saturday Night January 25th 1997
Posted by Jack Stevenson on 02.06.2012
It's Domination by the Nation on Shotgun Saturday Night! See what I did there? I'm a comic genius.
WWF SHOTGUN SATURDAY NIGHT JANUARY 25TH 1997
The Royal Rumble has been and gone! We are travelling down the road to Wrestlemania at lightning speed! But we won’t be if I ramble on in this introduction and don’t get to the show quickly!
Shotgun comes to you tonight from Webster Hall! On commentary are the potentially fantastic trio of Vince McMahon, Sunny and Owen Hart. Sadly though, I don’t think Owen will be staying for long, since he’s quite focused on the opening contest…
MATCH 1- MANKIND VS BRET HART
Pre match, Mankind seems intrigued by some salacious female dancers at ringside. This intrigue quickly mutates into raw, animalistic lust, and he corners one of the poor girls against a wall. Thankfully, Bret Hart comes to the rescue, presumably in the hope that the lady will now let him fuck her senseless after the show.
Anyway, Hart rams Mankind into the steel steps, before guiding him into the ring and pummelling away. Snap suplex! Leg drop! Once again the action spills to the floor, where Mankind gets sent into the guardrail. They battle over to the announce table, where Hart suplexes his foe again right in front of the commentary crew. Sunny and Owen Hart both turn on Vince McMahon for Bret’s infamous outburst on the post-Rumble Raw as Mankind takes over on the Hitman. A legdrop from the masked maniac gets two. Foley charges at Bret but the would-be champion ducks and Mankind is catapulted out to the floor, where once again the skimpily attired ladies provide a distraction as we go to a commercial break.
We come back in time to see Hart crotch Mankind on the guard-rail before clotheslining him down and once again sending him into the steel steps. Meanwhile, Todd Pettengill stumbles across Princess Leia in the crowd. Hart nails another suplex, but misses an elbow drop off the second rope. A DDT from Mankind gets two. He misses a charge into the corner though, and Bret connects with the Russian Leg Sweep. Bulldog, but Mankind gets his foot on the bottom rope. Spinning neckbreaker gets a two count. Side backbreaker! Clothesline! Sharpshooter! Mankind seems on the verge of defeat, but Owen Hart hits the ring to clobber his brother for the DQ! The two brothers fight like it’s 1994, disappearing to the back.
Rating- *- Surprisingly dull, meandering match between two of the most talented men in the WWF at the time. It was far too one sided in Bret’s favour, and at times they seemed to be struggling with the ring, which was significantly smaller than the usual WWF one. Bret didn’t really get connect as crisply as usual with his suplexes or his bulldog.
MATCH 2- ROCKY MAIVIA VS SAVIO VEGA
Earlier in the day, over in Madison Square Garden, Vega turned on Ahmed Johnson while he was teaming with him to take on the Nation of Domination. Pettengill ambushes Vega as he makes his way down to the ring to ask him whether he has joined the N.O.D. Savio insists he hasn’t, and apologises for his Puerto-Rican temper getting the better of him. Fine, upstanding young man, that Savio Vega.
The two men put on a clean, competitive match in the early going. As we go to commercial break, Faarooq and Crush of the N.O.D wander out to ringside to take a closer look. We come back with Vega tearing into Maivia, and appearing to salute Faarooq at ringside. Baaaaaaaaaaack body drop! Maivia comes back with a crossbody for two. At ringside, Faarooq & Crush grumpily refuse an interview with Mr. Pettengill. Vega takes Rocky off his feet with a snap suplex for a two count. Rocky snags a roll-up out of nowhere for two, and clotheslines his foe down. He charges at the Puerto-Rican in the corner, but careens right into a spinning back kick. Vega slaps the bluechipper around a bit. Rocky tries to start a comeback with a sunset flip, but takes a fist to the face instead. Chants of “Rocky sucks!” ring around Webster Hall. A slugfest erupts, which Maivia gets the better of. Savio gets the better of a chop exchange though. Still the future Great One keeps fighting, dumping his opponent with a back suplex for two. Still the experienced Latino stays in control though, sending Maivia over the top rope to the floor where he appears to injure his knee. The referee has to count-out the rookie, but Vega has no sympathy and continues to target the knee in the ring to the approval of the fans. Crush & Faarooq join in for a gang beating, with the leader whipping away at the knee of Maivia. We head to a commercial break on that depressing note.
Rating- **- Decent, meat and potatoes match. Both men gave good performances here; Vega did well to make a 180 degree turn from a calmer, more subdued style to an angrier, aggressive one, and Maivia played up his naivety, which would have garnered him more sympathy in front of a less rowdy, more malleable audience.
MATCH 3- JAKE ROBERTS VS SALVATORE SINCERE
Hunter Hearst Helmsley is on commentary to be terrified of snakes and mock Roberts’ alcoholism. He also accuses New Yorkers of being gay. In the ring, Roberts easily controls Sincere. He decks him with a short-arm clothesline, and finishes him with the DDT. No rating. Helmsley rants about Goldust, only stopping to express his disgust as Jake drapes his snake over Sincere. And by snake, I don’t mean penis. Though he does drape his penis over Sincere as well. The Nation of Domination watch the spectacle from afar.
MAIN EVENT- SYCHO SID VS CRUSH
Crush is surprisingly unaccompanied for this match, Faarooq & Savio Vega nowhere to be seen.
Sid catches Crush with a big boot, drops him with a body slam and then drops the leg for a two count. Clothesline! Clothesline! And one more, taking the Convict right over the top rope. It’s here that the N.O.D representative threatens a fightback, but it doesn’t last long, as he finds himself going head-first into the steel steps. Faarooq now chooses to make his presence known at ringside. We go to commercial, and we come back to the horrifying news that pesky Nation members have been distracting the Psycho, allowing Crush to take control. Big slam, and Crush is ready for the Heart Punch, but Sid counters with the Goozle! Choke-slam, powerbomb, but the Nation prevent the cover from being made. The former WWF Champion seizes a chair and swings it wildly around, which I assume must be good enough grounds for a DQ. And that will do it for this edition of Shotgun. Too short a match to rate.
The 411: If you love the Nation of Domination, then you'll love this episode! If, however, you're indifferent to them, as I suspect the majority of you are, then there's no real reason to watch this show. Maivia and Vega have a decent match, while Hart and Mankind lend some star power to proceedings, but you'd get more out of a modern day edition of Superstars.
