Monday Night Raw
Date: October 30, 1995
Location: Keystone Center, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Attendance: 2,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We’re coming up on Survivor Series and the build to the show has already gotten started fast with two matches announced. Diesel will defend the WWF Title against Bret Hart and the Wild Card match sounds interesting. This week though, it’s Owen Hart challenging Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Title so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

It’s the night before Halloween so Todd Pettingill is doing a spooky voice on the intro. We’ve got a themed show people.

Opening sequence.

Commentary is in costumes, as Vince is dressed as a prisoner and Lawler is a doctor. Lawler says he heard Vince got that costume a year ago and is just getting to use it. There’s your inside joke and it would probably get people fired in later years.

Savio Vega vs. Goldust

This is Goldust’s Raw debut and Lawler is right there with every movie joke he can find. Goldust rips the wig off and starts hammering away in the corner, setting up a hard kick to the ribs. Vega fights up but misses the dropkick as Lawler wants Goldust to be more like a horror movie character. A hard posting bangs up Vega’s shoulder and Goldust grabs the logical armbar. Lawler: “He’s dominating Savio Vega!” Vince: “Which match are you looking at?” The match where Goldust is dominating Vega? Goldust cranks on the arm in the corner and we take a break.

Back with the armbar continuing as Vince admits that this is dominance. A running knee in the corner keeps Vega down as Vince calls Goldust a “masculine RuPaul.” Vega fights up but misses the spinwheel kick, allowing Goldust to go back to the arm. An arm trap rollup finishes Vega off.

Rating: C-. The arm stuff was a fine way to go and it was nice to see it play into the finish. There was obviously something with Goldust, but Lawler laying off the movie puns would help a lot. They needed to mold Goldust a lot more though, even if you could see something in him that would draw in attention.

It’s time for the Slam Jam, featuring the announcement that the Diesel vs. Bret Hart WWF Title match at Survivor Series will be no countout, no DQ and no time limit. Doc Hendrix, either as a pumpkin or a bad Legion of Doom cosplay, doesn’t know where the fans’ loyalties will lie.

Hakushi and Barry Horowitz play Karate Fighters. Horowitz Wins!

Marty Jannetty vs. Joe Dorgan

Lawler talks about the horse that won the Breeders Cup looking too much like Alundra Blayze. Marty starts with a wristlock and cuts off a charge with a raised elbow in the corner. The chinlock goes on, followed by a chinlock to keep up the theme. Marty drops him again and hits the top rope fist drop to complete the squash.

Video on Bret Hart and Hakushi vs. Jerry Lawler and Isaac Yankem, which makes sense given how things have gone for Bret this summer.

Here is British Bulldog, with Jim Cornette and someone new for a chat. Cornette isn’t happy with what happened at In Your House, but Gorilla Monsoon has made it even worse. British Bulldog beat Diesel (by DQ) and should be facing Bret Hart. The fact that Bret isn’t champion would make this an odd choice but oh well. Anyway, Bulldog wants another match with Diesel and to face Bret at the next In Your House in December.

Cornette introduces his new lawyer, Clarence Mason (Lawler: “Best litigator since Jerry McDevitt!”), who doesn’t like anything Monsoon has done. Cornette isn’t done either, as he rants about the Wild Card match at Survivor Series. As for next week, Bulldog promises to drop Marty Jannetty. Cue Jannetty to dropkick Bulldog and punch Cornette but won’t slap Mason. This went on for a long time and didn’t really say much other than Bulldog wants Hart in December.

Smoking Gunns vs. Phil Apollo/Joe Rashner

Non-title. During the entrances, we see a clip of the 1-2-3 Kid attacking the Gunns after losing their Tag Team Title shot at In Your House. Billy avoids Apollo’s (or Otis as Vince calls him for some reason) leapfrog to start and hits him in the face. Rashner comes in and we go split screen where the Kid apologizes and asks for one more title shot. It’s off to Bart for a double clothesline and the Sidewinder finishes fast.

Bret Hart doesn’t care what rules he has to deal with at Survivor Series because he’s winning the WWF Title.

Paul Bearer promises that Undertaker is coming back, even if his face is currently too gruesome to be seen.

Intercontinental Title: Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon

Hart, with Jim Cornette, is challenging. Razor charges in and knocks him to the floor to start before grabbing the wristlock. Owen can’t monkey flip his way to freedom and the cranking continues. Back up and Ramon takes him down by the arm again but has to punch Cornette off the apron. Cue Yokozuna (Lawler: “Here comes the wide load!”) with Mr. Fuji and we take a break.

Back with Hart dropping Razor on the top rope and knocking him outside for the dropkick through the ropes. The missile dropkick gets two and there’s the running crotch attack on the ropes. Hart cuts off a comeback attempt and grabs a chinlock, setting up a top rope elbow for two. We take an abrupt break and come back with both of them down off a suplex while we were away. Razor is back up with some right hands and a clothesline as we take another abrupt break. Back again with Yokozuna coming in for the DQ maybe five seconds after we were back to the action.

Rating: B-. The breaks here were weird as they had three of them in a match that had about ten minutes aired. Razor vs. Owen is something that would work just fine on its own and I don’t know why they needed to cut it up so much. That being said, it was only so good with the screwy ending but you don’t want either of them jobbing at the moment.

Post match the beatdown is on but the 1-2-3 Kid comes in. That has as much effect on Yokozuna as you would expect, as the big legdrop crushes the Kid. Ahmed Jonson comes in and slams Yokozuna (better than Luger) to end the show. Johnson looked amazing but that was about it aside from the power displays.

Overall Rating: C. The ending with Johnson was the big moment that the show was needing as there was only so much going on here otherwise. Johnson felt like a hot new star and now we could be in for some interesting ways to go. Survivor Series needs to get here, but the two matches they already have announced should be enough to carry it pretty far.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 23, 1995
Location: Keystone Center, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Attendance: 2,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We are fresh off of In Your House: Great White North, which featured one of the worst main events in company history as Diesel retained the WWF Title over the British Bulldog. Thankfully we are back to a live show this week after last week’s AWFUL show, meaning things can’t get any worse. Well in theory at least. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a quick pay per view recap and a quicker preview of this week’s show. This includes Diesel retaining the WWF Title and brawling with Bret Hart, plus Shawn Michaels having to forfeit the Intercontinental Title to Dean Douglas due to his injuries. Then about 14 minutes later, Razor Ramon beat Douglas to win the title.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Marty Jannetty, Bob Holly, Fatu, 1-2-3 Kid, Savio Vega, King Kong Bundy, Henry Godwinn, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Owen Hart, Jean Pierre LaFitte, Duke Droese, Bam Bam Bigelow, Skip, Rad Radford, Aldo Montoya, Barry Horowitz, Hakushi, Sid, Isaac Yankem, Kama Mustafa

The winner gets an Intercontinental Title shot against Razor Ramon next week. It’s a….well it’s a battle royal to start and Bundy, who hasn’t been around in months, is out fast. Aldo is tossed as Sid and Fatu keep fighting on and off. We are firmly in the brawling against the ropes with no one being eliminated phase until Holly is out, meaning we get race car jokes from commentary.

Sid kicks Droese out and Skip tosses Hakushi as we hear about the United Nations. Kama punches out Fatu as the ring is starting to clear out a bit. There goes Skip at Horowitz’s hands and we take a break. Back with some eliminations having taken place during the break, meaning we’re down to Jannetty, Yankem, Sid, Bigelow, LaFitte, Vega and Hart. There goes Yankem to get us down to six and Owen has to save himself. Bigelow knocks Sid out and we take another break.

Back again with Bigelow gone, meaning we’re down to four. Jannetty hits a clothesline on Owen and hammers away in the corner as Vince tries to tell us how interesting some of these people would be against Razor. Vega manages to save himself and avoids a spinwheel kick from Owen. Marty tosses Vega and LaFitte but Owen manages to hang on. A clothesline puts Owen on the apron but he (barely) holds on to various ropes to survive some right hands.

Back in and an enziguri rocks Marty, who manages to hang on as well. Owen sends him through the ropes, meaning Marty has to grab Jim Cornette’s tennis racket and chase him off, allowing British Bulldog to pop up and jump Jannetty. Back in and Marty makes ANOTHER comeback but Owen finally sends him out for the win and the title shot.

Rating: D. This was WAY too long and probably could have been done in about half the time, especially with how long it took to get rid of a lot of people. Owen vs. Razor will be fine for a title match but I would hope they could come up with a better way to set up the match than dragging King Kong Bundy out of mothballs. Bad match and even worse, it felt long.

Post break, Owen promises to win the Intercontinental Title.

We look back at Bret Hart getting involved with last night’s main event and brawling with Diesel after the match. They’re already set for the Survivor Series title match.

It’s time for the Survivor Series Slam Jam (Control Center) with the announcement of the Wild Card match. This is an idea that I could go for again, as they are having a Survivor Series match with friends and enemies being randomly paired together. That’s a nice twist and it could work again.

Bob Backlund is campaigning for Congress. In the wrong country.

Ahmed Johnson is ready for Survivor Series.

Avatar vs. Brian Walsh

Avatar is a masked ninja who comes to the ring unmasked before putting it on for the bell. Uh yeah. Avatar legdrags him down and cranks on the arm before hitting a superkick to the back of the head. A top rope dive has to be canceled so Avatar hits a slingshot dive instead as the crowd somehow goes even more quiet. Back in and Walsh hits some clotheslines but gets caught with a backbreaker. A standing moonsault and then a weird jumping splash finishes for Avatar. This gimmick was horrible of course, but Avatar would get a bit better when he would lose the mask and wrestle under the better name of Al Snow.

Next week: Goldust’s Raw debut.

Women’s Title: Alundra Blayze vs. Bertha Faye

Faye (a rather odd looking woman whose large size was emphasized) is defending and has her boyfriend Harvey Wippleman with her. Blayze gets run over to start and Faye drops some legs for two. Some chest bumps in the corner crush Blayze, whose sunset flip doesn’t get her very far. Faye sits on her chest as Lawler comments on Faye’s weight, because that’s the entire point of her being here. Blayze is knocked around again to continue the dominance as we take a break.

Back with Blayze being sent to the apron but managing to ram her face first into the buckle. A middle rope dropkick gets two on Faye (Big Bertha Faye according to Vince for the fifth or so time) and some running clotheslines connect for the same. Blayze takes her time loading up the powerbomb so Faye counters with a backdrop. Faye takes her own time going up though and a super hurricanrana pulls her back down. Harvey’s distraction fails and Blayze grabs the bridging German suplex for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. Commentary alone was hard to sit through and I was feeling sorry for Faye more than anything else. Blayze getting the title back was a fine story but come on with the treating Faye like some kind of disgusting slob. It’s one of those things that was bad at the time and then aged even worse, which is the case with too many things in this company’s history. Blayze wouldn’t lose the title, but she would indeed drop it a few months later.

We get a sitdown interview with Shawn Michaels, who has two banged up eyes after being wrecked by an unclear number of Marines (or Marine). Shawn worked hard to earn the Intercontinental Title and then he had to hand it over to someone he finds very overrated. Jim Ross brings up the Survivor Series Wild Card match but Shawn has to have more brain tests next week.

Lawler is near very real tears after the interview.

Overall Rating: D+. It was a two match show and neither of those matches were exactly good. That being said, you can indeed feel the difference between last week’s taped garbage and this week’s live show, which just wasn’t very good. There is a different energy there and it made a lot of difference. Now if they can actually have a good show next week, that might help the Survivor Series build, but we have a few weeks before we get there.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 16, 1995
Location: Grand Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We come to the end of a taping cycle with the go home show for In Your House: Great White North and that means it is time for the big final push. Instead of building off of the pretty awesome beatdown segment on last week’s show, we are building off everyone talking about it for about thirty minutes after the match. Other than that, we have Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem in a cage match before Bret has nothing to do at the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with dueling dentist/teeth themed promos from Bret Hart and Isaac Yankem/Jerry Lawler inside a cage. You have Bret Hart, one of the best wrestlers of all time, doing dentist lines. Is it any wonder why it didn’t take Nitro long to catch up?

Opening sequence.

Dean Douglas and Mabel have been fined $7,500 each for last week’s big attack.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Doink The Clown

Doink gets practical to start by grabbing Helmsley’s nose and drags him around. A head knocker makes it worse as commentary makes mention of Shawn Michaels getting beaten up by some undisclosed number of Marines (that number would wind up being one) at a nightclub in Syracuse, New York. A small package and backslide give Doink two each but Doink misses a middle rope crossbody. The Pedigree finishes for Helmsley in short order.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here, even if it is still weird to have such a young and unproven Helmsley. At the same time, Doink being around in late 1995 is almost hard to fathom. This was just a way to get Helmsley on the show as WWE seems to think something of him, as they probably should have.

Barry Horowitz teaches Hakushi about baseball, but Hakushi thinks Hank Aaron was better than babe Ruth. Aaron was great and somehow underrated but come on.

President Gorilla Monsoon makes King Mabel vs. Yokozuna for In Your House.

Tag Team Titles: PG-13 vs. Smoking Gunns

The Gunns are defending and apparently this was originally a dark match but was added to the show as the taping cycle was stretched out to include another episode. Billy armdrags Wolfie to start and punches both of them down without much trouble. Ice comes in with a cartwheel and gets clotheslined down by Bart. Back up and Ice gets thrown at Wolfie as this is one sided so far. Wolfie manages to spin out of a hiptoss though and a running knee to the back puts Billy on the floor. A headlock grinds Billy down some more and we hear more about Shawn vs. the Marines.

We take a break and come back with a double elbow…not dropping Billy so he catapults Ice into Wolfie for the knock off the apron. Bart comes back in to clean house to no reaction and the Sidewinder retains the titles (with Ice tripping over the ropes as he tries to make a save, leaving Bart not even having to throw a punch).

Rating: C-. PG-13 was little more than a side trip for the Gunns, who won the titles a few weeks ago and need some better opponents than a couple of small guys from the USWA. The Gunns were the definition of a pretty good team in a terrible era for tag wrestling so this was the kind of thing they had to do far too often.

We look at Bertha Faye crushing Alundra Blayze to win the Women’s Title. The rematch is next week.

We get an interview from earlier this week with Jim Cornette promising that the British Bulldog would take the WWF Title from Diesel. Bulldog has turned his back on all of his friends to get ready and then last week he pinned Diesel on Raw. The suggestion that Yokozuna dropping the leg on Diesel let Bulldog wins has him less than happy, with promises that he’ll beat Diesel anyway.

A new guy named Ahmed Johnson talks about honor (I think?) which he covers in a story about his mom earning minimum wage to take him to a WWF show and him working hard in school to thank her. His promos really hard that hard to understand and that was only one of several problems that held him back.

Dean Douglas vs. Joe Dorgan

Douglas wrestles him to the mat as we talk about Shawn Michaels being pulled from a car by ten individuals, who beat him up despite him still being unconscious. Dorgan gets in a dropkick as we hear from Shawn on the phone. Shawn makes it clear that he will be at In Your House no matter what as Douglas finishes fast with a fisherman’s suplex.

The cage is set up, along with Jerry Lawler’s shark cage. Lawler is not pleased.

In Your House rundown.

Goldust is ready for Marty Jannetty and promises to give him a makeover.

We recap King Mable vs. Undertaker over the last few months, capped off by Mabel and Yokozuna crushing Undertaker’s face last week.

Paul Bearer says that while Undertaker’s face is injured, he will return soon to hurt people.

Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem

Inside a cage in what was again originally a dark match that was added into the show, meaning the effort might not be so strong. Yankem hammers away in the corner to start but Bret comes back with some right hands. There’s the Russian legsweep to drop Yankem but it’s too early for Bret to escape. Bret cuts Yankem off as well, only to get dropped with a shot to the face. Lawler doesn’t want Yankem to leave, instead saying to “stomp a mudhole in him and walk it dry.”

Another escape attempt is cut off and Bret stomps Yankem down, only to get caught near the door. For some reason the referee can’t get the door open, which has Lawler revealing that he has switched the lock. We take a break and come back with Yankem going up and getting pulled right back down. The Sharpshooter goes on for a good while, at least until Bret decides he can go up.

Lawler is right there to cut him off though, drawing out Gorilla Monsoon to order his lackeys to put Lawler in the shark cage. Lawler, who is scared of heights, is raised into the air and screaming commences. Bret is pulled back over the top and slammed down as Vince is cracking up over Lawler screaming about a nose bleed. They keep slowly hitting each other as Lawler’s nose is bleeding (Vince: “You’re ok! You’re alright!”) and we take another break.

Back again with Lawler on his knees and screaming for help as Bret slugs away in the corner again. The side slam (not a backbreaker for some reason) lets Bret get over the top, only to be pulled back in. The DDS (yes DDS) plants Bret but he’s back up for another save as the crowd is just GONE. Yankem drops him again so Lawler throws the key down, allowing Yankem to….not open the door as Bret makes a save. Bret throws the key into the crowd, hits Yankem with the usual, and FINALLY climbs out to win.

Rating: D. Oh heck no, as this went about twenty minutes and had Bret in second gear at best. It was obvious that this wasn’t supposed to be on TV and was all about the live crowd, who didn’t care either. Horrible match which had no business making it to air but did anyway because they needed something to fill in most of the second half of this cobbled together show.

Some cable malfunctions leave Lawler hanging in the cage to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. This is the kind of show that gives 1995 WWF its reputation. The wrestling was bad, the stories weren’t interesting, and it was there to set up a Diesel vs. British Bulldog main event. Nitro felt like such a breath of fresh air over this stuff, which was literally built around two dark matches for the sake of getting another show together. Awful stuff and an all time bad episode.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 9, 1995
Location: Grand Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We’re still on the way towards In Your House: Great White North but first we have to get a pretty big six man tag out of the way. This week, Camp Cornette will face Diesel, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, which is a pretty big main event on any Raw. Other than that, maybe we can get some build towards the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence (dig that helicopter deal).

Shawn Michaels spoke to a group of students who had very high attendance and seems genuinely choked up by it. That’s not something you would regularly see from 90s Shawn.

Camp Cornette vs. Diesel/Shawn Michaels/Undertaker

That would be Owen Hart/British Bulldog/Yokozuna with Jim Cornette in their corner. Joined in progress with Shawn hammering on Owen and armdragging him into an armbar. Shawn clotheslines him over the top but skins the cat to stay inside, because Shawn is awesome like that. Everything breaks down and the villains are knocked to the floor, leaving Cornette rather flummoxed.

We settle down to Diesel beating up Bulldog and sending him outside where Undertaker choke….tosses him back inside. Undertaker comes in for Old School on Yokozuna but the Samoan drop cuts that off rather quickly. That doesn’t last long either as Undertaker grabs the running DDT and hands it off to Shawn to crank on the arm. You don’t do that to Yokozuna, who crushes Shawn and brings Owen in to hit a backbreaker.

Cue Waylon Mercy (basically 90s Bray Wyatt) to scout his match with Diesel and not much more. Bulldog adds the gorilla press, meaning the triple teaming can continue having Vince in hysterics as we take a break. Back with Owen grabbing an abdominal stretch as Dean Douglas comes out to watch too. The referee catches Bulldog helping Owen though and kicks the arms apart, allowing Shawn to get two off a backslide.

Since it’s just a backslide, Bulldog is able to come back in with a delayed vertical suplex as Diesel and Undertaker get angrier and angrier on the apron. Owen grabs the chinlock for a bit, followed by a spinwheel kick for two. That lets Owen go up for a top rope splash which….I have no idea as we take a break with Owen in the air.

Back with Owen and Shawn both down and crawling over for a tag. Bulldog and Diesel both come in with the latter hitting a side slam on Bulldog but having to go after Owen and Yokozuna as well. The distraction lets Bulldog hit the running powerslam but Undertaker makes the save. With Undertaker removed though, Bulldog gets the pin anyway as we get the hard push towards In Your House.

Rating: B. This was the kind of six man tag that is always going to work and the surprise ending does help boost up the pay per view title match. The good thing about this kind of a match is that you can put any combination together and get something out of it, which was the case here on a bit of a smaller scale. Mercy and Douglas didn’t add much here but I’ll take that over them watching awkwardly in the back. Rather good stuff here and a better than average Raw match.

Post match King Mabel comes in and, with Yokozuna’s help, crushes Undertaker in the corner. A bunch of legdrops crush Undertaker as Dean Douglas beats on Shawn and whips him into the steps. Splashes, legdrops and elbows continue as the good guys are thoroughly crushed. If I remember right, this was originally planned to end the show but Vince decided that it needed a happier ending, so the change was made.

Post break and the good guys are still being taken out.

We look back at Bret Hart beating Jean Pierre LaFitte but getting jumped by Isaac Yankem after the match. The result: a cage match next week.

Diesel, Shawn and Undertaker are back up.

We see part of Bret Hart beating Isaac Yankem at Summerslam via DQ when Yankem choked him in the ropes. Actually we see a lot of it so here’s the match from Summerslam.

Isaac Yankem vs. Bret Hart

Lawler handles Yankem’s entrance. As a bonus pun, Yankem is billed from Decay-tur, Illinois. Lawler is on commentary for a bit of a surprise as Bret gets shoved down to start. Yankem misses a big elbow but is fine enough to send Bret hard into the corner. Bret is back with an atomic drop and a clothesline for a trip to the floor. Back in and Bret hits a middle rope clothesline, followed by the headbutt to the abdomen.

The backslide gets two as Lawler is saying only Vince needs to be impartial tonight. Another hard whip into the corner takes Bret down again and Isaac chokes on the ropes until the referee drags him away by the hair. More choking ensues as Yankem doesn’t have the highest variety in his offense so far.

Bret is back up and sends him outside for a suicide dive as the comeback is on. Back in and it’s time for the Five Moves Of Doom but a Lawler distraction breaks up the Sharpshooter. Lawler stays up to cheer on Yankem’s beating (as he should) but Bret gets in a slam off the top for a rare power display.

In a change of pace, Bret ties Yankem’s legs around the post and stomps away until the referee unties Yankem’s feet. Lawler would do it but he’s too busy getting beaten up by Bret. The distraction lets Yankem hit a top rope ax handle to the back and Lawler helps him tie Bret’s neck in the ropes for the DQ at 16:10.

Rating: C+. Bret was doing everything he could here but Yankem wasn’t there yet and there’s only so much you can do as an evil dentist. The match felt straight out of Memphis with someone wanting to get at Lawler but he brought in his latest monster for protection. It’s a perfectly usable story and the match wasn’t bad, so I’ll take what I can get here.

Post match Lawler and Yankem pull at the still trapped Bret until referees break it up.

Skip vs. Fatu

Sunny is here with Skip, who isn’t making a difference like Fatu. Skip hammers away to start before grabbing a wristlock. For some reason Skip tries to ram him head first into the buckle and yeah that’s not how wrestling works. Sunny gets on the apron to get Fatu to chase her outside, allowing Skip to get in a few cheap shots. An enziguri drops Fatu for two and Sunny is NOT pleased with the kickout.

Skip goes for the head again, with Vince calling him an idiot as a result. The chinlock goes on as Lawler insists he will NOT be put in a shark cage during next week’s cage match and rants about President Gorilla Monsoon for a bit too. Back up and Skip tries a headbutt (Vince: “WHAT AN IDIOT!”), which only gives himself a headache. Skip catches him on top but hurts his back on a superplex attempt, setting up the top rope splash to give Fatu the pin.

Rating: C-. It isn’t a good sign when the best part of a match is hearing Vince call someone in the match an idiot, but that is about all we had here. Skip was a talented guy but how far is he going to go when his name is Skip and he is overshadowed by Sunny? The match was longer than it needed to be, but Fatu’s hard head bit was enough to keep it lively.

We look back at the six man tag and ensuing beatdown.

Doc Hendrix was in the men’s locker room and isn’t going to be interviewing Undertaker, Diesel and Shawn Michaels because they are too banged up.

Camp Cornette is very happy with what happened and Jim Cornette is ready for British Bulldog to take the title from Diesel at In Your House. We get a promise of a powerslam through the mat and Bulldog being the new WWF Champion. Bulldog promises to win the title as well because Diesel can’t run and hide. King Mable comes in to brag about destroying Undertaker and prove how awesome he really is. Of note: Mabel’s crown looked stupid and Bulldog shouldn’t wear a hat.

Jerry Lawler knows Bret Hart has been begging for help with him and is ready for next week’s cage match. Oh and he will NOT be in that cage.

A video on next week’s cage match wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C+. The opener was rather good and that is about all there is to the show, because the rest was about the possible injuries and Camp Cornette/Mabel bragging. Oh and Skip vs. Fatu, because they needed something else on the show other than one long six man. That being said, Cornette was right (if I’m remembering it right), as ending with that huge beatdown and doing regular stuff for the first half would have been better with a big cliffhanger ending.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 2, 1995
Location: Grand Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

I’m back to Raw as the WWF is on the way towards In Your House: Great White North. In this case, that means WWF Champion Diesel will be defending against the British Bulldog, which is as In Your House of a main event as you can get. Other than that, we are in that weird period between Summerslam and Survivor Series so this isn’t the hottest stretch. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Yokozuna accidentally splashing Owen Hart last week, allowing the Smoking Gunns to take the Tag Team Titles from them.

Here’s a quick clip of Lawrence Taylor beating Bam Bam Bigelow on the Wrestlemania Special from over the weekend, as we look at a match from about six months ago.

Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid

This is billed as the last match between the two and that isn’t the most out there of possibilities. Two weeks ago, Dean Douglas helped 1-2-3 Kid beat Razor (which Kid didn’t see) so tonight it’s a fair fight. Razor sends him outside to start but Kid is right back in with the rapid fire kicks in the corner. The fall away slam gives Razor two, only to have Kid come back with another kick for two of his own.

Cue Douglas to watch in the aisle as Razor punches Kid down but he leaves as Kid makes the comeback. Razor hits one heck of a clothesline for the pin and yes it’s as out of nowhere as it sounds. Hold on though as Kid slaps Razor in the face and I guess we’re just going to keep going. Razor chops him in the corner and grabs the abdominal stretch. A charge in the corner hits Kid’s raised boot though and we take a break.

Back with apparently a third fall, as Razor powerbombed him for the pin during the break, only to have Kid want to keep going. The belly to back superplex sets up the Razor’s Edge, but Razor lets him go and grabs a small package to pin Kid, who is already out cold thanks to the superplex.

Rating: C-. This was a weird one as Razor more or less squashed him three times in a row with Kid only managing a few kicks. Commentary kept hyping up the idea of it being about respect, which worked well enough as Kid wouldn’t stay down despite clearly being outclassed. Odds are there is more to this in the future, even with this one sided beating.

Respect is shown post match but Kid grabs a rollup for two, with the referee just going with this. Kid tells him to hit the Razor’s Edge but Razor shakes his hand instead.

We look back at British Bulldog and Yokozuna wrecking Undertaker last week until Shawn Michaels and Diesel made the save.

IS OJ SIMPSON GUILTY??? Call in and vote, with your 50 cents a call going to help prevent child abuse. Eh it’s for charity so fair enough.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Barry Horowitz

Horowitz is fresh off beating Skip a few times so it’s pretty much the hottest time of his career. Helmsley takes him down into something like a cross armbreaker, allowing for a kick to the face. A takedown has Helmsley bailing to the ropes as Vince brags about last week’s Raw being the most watched in history. Helmsley’s curtsy sets up a suplex as Lawler talks about the Simpson case.

Back up and Horowitz grabs a sunset flip for two, which just seems to annoy Helmsley. As expected, this leads to a discussion of the Pope coming to the United States, and Vince would love for him to come to the charity show at Madison Square Garden. Horowitz gets an elbow to the face into an abdominal stretch rollup for two (Patterson and Brisco’s back grapple special in No Mercy) but the Pedigree finishes him off out of nowhere.

Rating: C-. This went a bit long but the good thing is that Horowitz felt like he could pull off the upset. That is what you get out of the wins over Skip, as Horowitz goes from a total loser to someone who just won a few weeks ago. At the same time though, Helmsley was still new and undefeated at this point so he wasn’t about to be in any serious jeopardy to anyone, let alone Horowitz.

PG-13 vs. Al Brown/Sonny Rogers

PG-13’s (they’re white rappers from Memphis) USWA Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line but they want the Smoking Gunns’ WWF Tag Team Titles. Rogers works on Ice’s arm to start but it’s a running dropkick/Russian legsweep combination to take him down. Wolfie D knocks Rogers down and dances a lot as Lawler talks about the Simpson case gain. Rogers gets away and brings in Brown to clean house as Vince still can’t remember which one is PG and which one is 13. The illegal Wolfie uses a distraction to hit a middle rope bulldog for two on Brown before an assisted splash finishes for JC Ice.

Rating: C. PG-13 looked decent in there for a team who was far better known for their gimmick than anything they did in the ring. It isn’t like they were ever going to be anything important in the company but the annoying rapping deal will always work to some degree. If they can have an ok squash at the same time, that’s even better.

CALL THE SIMPSON HOTLINE!

Bret Hart vs. Jean-Pierre LaFitte

Rematch from Bret’s victory at the most recent In Your House. LaFitte pounds him into the corner to start and a hard clothesline drops Bret again. A missed charge in the corner sends LaFitte crashing out to the floor, where Vince sends him into the steps. This lets Vince call the match a “demolition derby” for about the fifth time in less than three minutes.

Back in and Bret gets dropped throat first onto the ropes, setting up the chinlock. A heck of a clothesline keeps Bret in trouble and a top rope headbutt gets two. LaFitte’s Stinger Splash sets off the LET’S GO BRET chants but another clothesline cuts off another comeback (that’s working for LaFitte).

We take a break and come back with LaFitte missing the Cannonball but running Bret over for two more anyway. They head outside again with Bret being whipped hard into the steps, sending Lawler into euphoria on commentary (Lawler’s hatred of Bret was always funny). Back in and Bret is fine enough to start the comeback, with the Russian legsweep getting two. LaFitte grabs a Regal Roll but the Cannonball is cut off again. Bret superplexes him down and puts on the Sharpshooter for the win.

Rating: B-. The match got some time and while it wasn’t quite as good as their In Your House match, there is still something to be said about any Bret match going almost fifteen minutes. Not exactly a hidden gem, but Bret being able to get something out of a pirate in 1995 is pretty impressive. Good enough here, but Bret needs to move on to something more important.

Post match Lawler yells at Bret, who goes after him until Isaac Yankem jumps Bret from behind.

Post break Vince announces a cage match between Hart and Yankem at some point in the coming weeks.

Camp Cornette is ready for Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Diesel next week.

Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Diesel are ready for Camp Cornette next week.

The fans say OJ Simpson is not guilty by a margin of 51-49.

Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t the best show but the main event and setup for the cage match worked well enough. Bret going from fighting a pirate to fighting a king to fighting a dentist is about as 1995 as you can get but at least we didn’t have to deal with King Mabel. The rest of the show wasn’t much to see, though Razor vs. Kid was certainly something different.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestling Spotlight
Date: August 14, 1988
Commentator: Gorilla Monsoon, Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura,
Hosts: Vince McMahon, Lord Alfred Hayes

This is one of the low level WWF shows from back in the Golden Era and upon seeing an episode of it pop up on YouTube, I figured it was worth a look. This is my favorite era of the company’s history and we would be coming up on the first Summerslam around this time. Odds are this is going to be promo based so let’s get to it.

Dang I love that WHAT THE WORLD IS WATCHING voiceover.

Opening sequence.

Vince and Alfred hype up the Summerslam main event and talk about who we might be seeing here.

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Rick Rude vs. Billy Brown

Bobby Heenan is here with Rude and before the match, Rude shows off his Cheryl Roberts tights. Brown actually tries to fire up the crowd as we get a voiceover from Howard Finkel for an upcoming show, which sounds like a fundraiser. The beatdown is on as we get an inset promo from Rude saying that Jake Roberts should get some WWF binoculars (because there are WWF binoculars) to see just how ravishing he REALLY is. Oh and Cheryl has never looked so good either. The Rude Awakening finishes at 1:15.

Post match Heenan brings in a woman (who is NOT like Cheryl Roberts) to get the kiss from Rude.

And now, the Brother Love Show. Love is SO excited this week because his personal benefactor, Ted DiBiase, is his guest. Instead though, here are Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth to interrupt, with Savage saying they have some very different definitions of love. Savage LOVES being the WWF Champion but he also loves his partner at Summerslam, so here is Hulk Hogan (in a weird looking red shirt/yellow trunks combination).

Love goes to leave but Hogan says hang on, because he has a different definition of love too. Hogan loves being the Hulkster and the Hulkamaniacs, but for now he would LOVE to get his hands on Love. That’s enough to send Love running off and the Mega Powers LOVE the idea of beating up the Mega Bucks at Summerslam. They lift up Liz and pose, with Hogan’s music playing because he’s still the real star.

From LaCrosse, Wisconsin, July 13, 1988.

Tito Santana vs. Tim Dixon

Jesse Ventura doesn’t buy that Tito is a singles star again because there is no way Rick Martel is STILL injured, but rather he’s just scared of Demolition. Santana works on an armbar to start before running Dixon over with a shoulder. Another armbar sends Dixon over to the ropes as Jesse insists that he will NOT be intimidated by Andre the Giant at Summerslam (which was a great story to the match as even Jesse was intimidated by Andre because, you know, it’s Andre).

Santana grabs the armbar again so Dixon makes it to the rope for the break. The armbar goes on yet again and Vince gets bored listening to Jesse talking about not being worried over Andre and acknowledges how boring this is. Tito FINALLY finishes with the flying forearm at 4:01.

Rating: D. Tito is one of my all time favorites but my goodness this was boring. They went four minutes and most of that was spent on various armbars. This is a match that could have had probably three minutes cut off for the same result. The match was there as a way for Jesse to talk about not being intimidated by Andre and that got old almost immediately.

We go to the Event Center with Sean Mooney to run down a card at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland (remember that this would be the show for the local market so this part would be different depending on where you were). Therefore, let’s hear from some people on the card.

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers are sure they’ll beat the Hart Foundation because they’re really brothers.

Ultimate Warrior is ready for Honky Tonk Man, who won’t be a challenge.

Video on Honky Tonk Man.

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Greg Valentine vs. Ken Patera

Joined in progress with Valentine begging off and getting punched in the corner. Valentine kicks him down though and hits a headbutt between the legs to take over. The Figure Four (with the Heartbreaker shin guard, which was a big deal for Valentine around this time) is loaded up but Patera kicks him away. A clothesline gives Patera two as commentary mocks the cover and Patera’s skills in general. I mean fair enough but you could be a bit nicer. Patera misses a charge in the corner so Valentine loads up the Heartbreaker, only to have Don Muraco come in and jump Valentine for the DQ at 2:58.

Post match Muraco goes after the Heartbreaker but has to deal with Jimmy Hart, allowing Valentine to escape. Muraco holds up Patera’s arm, even as Valentine is announced as the winner. Patera was AWFUL at this point and it was showing badly here.

The Mega Powers know how big Summerslam is going to be because…..kids have been asking for their allowance before doing their chores? Anyway, there are plans of elbows, bearhugs, slams and the Kiss Of Death. You can figure out who is going to do what.

Here’s how you can order Summerslam!

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Rockers vs. Dave Wagner/Tom Burton

Jannetty hiptosses Wagner down into an armbar to start before a drop toehold sets up Michaels’ legdrop to the back of the head. A belly to belly drops Wagner again as Heenan is teasing his own team. Brown comes in as Monsoon doesn’t seem to know which Rocker is which. Michaels drops a running elbow, setting up the top rope fist (off of Jannetty’s shoulders….so I guess it’s a top shoulders) fist drop for the pin at 2:59. Total and complete squash.

Vince and Alfred talk about Jesse Ventura being the guest referee for the Summerslam main event, which has been a major topic for this show.

UPDATE with Gene Okerlund looks at Summerslam, or at least the main event. This show is starting to look like a one match card. We do at least get some more matches discussed, which has barely been done all show.

From LaCrosse, Wisconsin, July 13, 1988.

Terry Taylor vs. Chris Todd

Taylor armdrags him down a few times as Jesse compliments Todd’s tights. We get an inset interview from Taylor, where he brags about being so handsome and thanks his parents for making him into Scary Terry Taylor. Vince: “Thanking his mom and dad? For what?” Anyway Terry keeps hammering away and we talk about Jesse being guest referee AGAIN. Some stomping and an awful looking spinebuster (Taylor dropped him) sets up the Scorpion Deathlock to finish Todd at 2:24. This was BAD and Taylor would actually get worse as the Red Rooster.

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 14, 1988.

Brutus Beefcake vs. Warren Bianchi

Bianchi is rather short and….I guess we’ll say ugly. We get an inset interview from Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart, who aren’t happy with Beefcake being on the cover of the new WWF Magazine instead of Honky Tonk. Beefcake unloads on Bianchi with the usual array of right hands and stomping before finishing with the sleeper at 2:01. Total squash and Gorilla says this is a win on Wrestling Challenge, as this was from a taping of another show (and probably aired on there too).

Post match, Bianchi gets an unwelcome haircut.

King Haku is ready for Tito Santana at the Capitol Center, with Bobby Heenan demonstrating proper bowing procedure.

Randy Savage is ready for the taller and heavier Andre the Giant, also at the Capitol Center.

We get the rest of the Landover card and….yeah I think I’m good.

Vince and Alfred wrap us up and give us one more Summerslam push to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It’s pure nostalgia and I’m not even going to pretend it’s anything else. This show was all about Summerslam (mainly the main event/Jesse’s referring) and that got a bit old fast. Other than that, this is basically the poor man’s version of Superstars or Prime Time and that didn’t exactly make for a fun 45ish minutes. That being said, it’s late 80s WWF and I’m always in for that, so odds are I’ll be back on this period sooner rather than later.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 2001
Date: August 19, 2001
Location: Compaq Center, San Jose, California
Attendance: 15,293
Commentators: Jim Ross, Paul Heyman

I’m not sure how it happened but this show was twenty years ago. We’re in the middle of the Invasion so this is going to be a rather Alliance heavy show. That may or may not be a good thing, but the double main event of Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle and Rock vs. Booker T. would likely fall on the good side. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a naration-less highlight package set to Bodies by Drowning Pool. I guess you don’t need words for a story as simple and easy to follow with so few moving parts as the Invasion.

Intercontinental Title: Lance Storm vs. Edge

Storm is defending and feels the need to explain the issues with offbeat shenanigans. After saying that the silence from the crowd is “splendid” (such an awesomely underused word), Storm is cut off by Edge’s entrance and we’re ready to start fast. They run the ropes a bit until Edge knocks him outside. That doesn’t last long and Edge comes back in with a high crossbody for an early two. Storm sends him crashing to the floor though and it’s back inside for those unique stomps.

A gordbuster gets two on Edge and Storm starts in on Edge’s ribs. Storm tells him to get up so Edge does with some right hands, only to miss a dropkick. So now Storm is happy that Edge is back down. Make up your mind dude. Edge gets shouldered in the corner as we cut to the WWF locker room, including Christian (with Edge’s King of the Ring trophy) watching (as they are known to do).

The chinlock with a knee in the back has Edge in more trouble and we hit the abdominal stretch. Edge fights out and sends him to the apron so Storm springboards back in, right into a powerslam. A spinwheel kick gives Edge two and the Edge-O-Matic gets the same. Storm is fine enough to roll him into the Canadian Mapleleaf but Edge makes the rope (to a heck of a reaction). Edge gets his own Mapleleaf so here is Christian….who spears Edge by mistake to give Storm two. Edge has had it with this and Impales Storm for the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. The Christian stuff advanced the story, but the point here was everything else going on. Storm and Edge had some good chemistry together and while Storm was always in need of a better finisher, they had an exciting match here and it got the fans off on the right foot. That’s why you put these two in this spot and it worked out well.

Post match Christian grabs the title and seems to think about something before handing it to Edge.

Test, who recently joined the Alliance, and the Dudley Boyz are ready to destroy the APA and Spike Dudley. Test is sick of the WWF sounding stupid and the Dudleys are sick of being overshadowed by Spike. Tonight, Test will show you loyalty.

Test/Dudley Boyz vs. Spike Dudley/APA

Molly Holly is here with Spike and the APA. Faarooq slugs away at Bubba to start but it’s quickly off to D-Von for a clothesline. Test gets a chance of his own and is clotheslined down by D-Von. The fast tags continue as D-Von comes in and gets DDTed. We get to the important part as Spike comes in for some rollups until Bubba drops him onto the top rope. The stomping is on in the corner as Heyman is very pleased with the “tough love”.

It’s table time (JR: “This is not a tables match!” Heyman: “It’s a Dudleys match!”) but Spike slips out of a gorilla press. He gets caught with a double flapjack though and the villains get to beat on him a bit more. Spike gets in a shot of his own though and the hot tag brings in Bradshaw to clean house. Everything breaks down and Bradshaw powerbombs D-Von for two. Spike gets puts through the table as the Clothesline From Bradshaw blasts D-Von. The referee is distracted though and Alliance boss Shane McMahon chairs Bradshaw to give D-Von the pin.

Rating: C. The match was nothing memorable but it kept a midcard story going and give us some nice action at the same time. The chair shot at the end will give them somewhere else to go and Spike vs. his brothers would work almost every time. I can always go for a good six man and this was close enough.

Some WWF wrestlers are upset but others are too busy congratulating Edge. Christian interrupts and says he has a European Title match tomorrow. Edge doesn’t seem thrilled with Christian stealing his moment but Grandma Edna calls Christian….so she can talk to Edge instead. With plans made for later, Grandma hangs up instead of talking to Christian again. This continues to work.

Shawn Stasiak interrupts Debra (Steve Austin’s wife) and complains about his trunks. Debra tells him to buzz off because Austin has a big match tonight. If Stasiak wants to impress Austin, go beat someone up.

Cruiserweight Title/Light Heavyweight Title: X-Pac vs. Tajiri

Title for title and I do miss the X Factor theme. Both guys hold up both titles and we’re ready to go. Pac takes him down in a hurry to start and the posing is on. Tajiri sweeps the leg and hits a standing moonsault as we hear about Pac’s career in Japan. Back up and Tajiri sends him outside for a baseball slide as the pace picks up in a hurry. Pac manages to send him into the barricade to take over and hits a spinning kick to the face back inside. There’s the surfboard, which seems almost required in this spot.

Back up and Pac grabs a sitout powerbomb for two but the Bronco Buster misses, mainly because Pac takes WAY too much time running around like a moron. Some kicks give Tajiri two and the Tarantula makes it worse. Tajiri’s bridging German suplex gets two but Pac sends him outside for the big running flip dive. The handspring elbow is broken up and a quick X Factor gets a delayed two. Cue Pac’s buddy Albert, who gets misted down in a hurry. That’s enough for Page to hit a low blow into an X Factor to retain/win.

Rating: C. The one good thing about Pac is he could have a fine match with just about anyone and did so here. Tajiri can go with all kinds of opponents as well so they had a nice setup here. I wonder if that first X Factor was a timing issue, as it was a finisher that didn’t go anywhere and then they did the angle to finish it. Either way, perfectly fine match for titles that mean nothing.

Perry Saturn is at WWF New York and is looking for Moppy (his mop). He even has her on the side of a milk carton.

Stephanie McMahon gives Rhyno a pep talk about all the things she wants him to do to Chris Jericho.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Rhyno. Jericho has tormented Stephanie McMahon for months so she is sending Rhyno after him. Violence is promised.

Chris Jericho vs. Rhyno

Stephanie is here with Rhyno. The slugout is on to start until Jericho hits a running forearm to take over. A top rope elbow to the head has Rhyno in trouble but it’s way too early for the Walls. Rhyno misses a charge and flies out to the floor so Jericho goes up. Stephanie grabs the foot, earning herself a kick away, but the distraction lets Rhyno Gore Jericho out of the air (which doesn’t get the reaction it deserves). It takes some time for both of them to get back in, where Rhyno drops him ribs first across the barricade.

Stephanie gets in a slap (the most lethal move in the company) and Rhyno grabs a bodyscissors to (wisely) stay on the ribs. With that not getting very far, Rhyno changes things up a lot with an airplane spin into a TKO of all things. The chinlock doesn’t last long as Jericho fights up, only to get knocked down again. Rhyno misses a top rope splash (because Rhyno is known for his flying) and they’re both down. Jericho fires off some running shoulders but slips on the Lionsault attempt.

Instead Jericho connects with the top rope elbow to the face but Stephanie gets up for a distraction. That warns her a kiss (which makes me wonder how much money there would have been in a forbidden roman angle between these two) and Jericho catches Rhyno with the bulldog. Now the Lionsault connects for two but Rhyno grabs a belly to belly to set up the Walls on Jericho. The rope is grabbed so Jericho snaps off an enziguri but has to avoid the Gore. The missed charge lets Jericho get the Walls for the tap.

Rating: C+. This worked well and a lot of that is due to Stephanie, who made this whole story work in the first place. I know she gets a lot of flack but when she actually has someone show her up, it really does make things better. The match itself was Jericho vs. a (talented) monster and that was going to work all day. This wasn’t the show stealer or anything, but it was a rather nice match with a well told story. That’s all you need a lot of the time.

Stephanie storms off, as she should.

William Regal stops the Rock to ask if he’s ok after an attack from Booker T. on Smackdown. Of course the Rock is hurt but he’s here at Summerslam and the only thing Booker T. did was tick him off. Rock asks if Regal can hear the crowd and feel the….unspecified something. Regal certainly can, but can he smell it? They step aside for a charging Shawn Stasiak, and Rock confirms that you certainly can smell it. Stasiak is a guilty pleasure but Rock didn’t have much to say here.

Hardcore Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy

Hardy is defending in a ladder match, which should write itself. They actually go technical to start for an early standoff, though the fans stay into it because they know what’s coming. Van Dam misses a dropkick and gets caught with the legdrop between the legs. Back up and Hardy is sent to the apron, where he hiptosses Van Dam outside. A springboard Whisper in the Wind drops Van Dam again but he’s right back with a kick to the face.

There’s the spinning kick off the apron to the back and it’s time for the first ladder. As usual, that takes too long so Hardy gets in a shot of his own, only to have Van Dam see saw the ladder into Hardy’s face. Hardy is right back by pulling Van Dam onto the ladder for an Arabian press onto Van Dam onto the ladder. Van Dam ties him in the Tree of Woe for some shoulders to the ribs and the ladder is laid across the bottom rope.

That means Rolling Thunder out of the corner to crush Hardy again, setting up a slingshot legdrop over the top, onto Hardy and onto the ladder. Hardy gets in a shot of his own and goes up, only to have Van Dam come off the top to kick the ladder down. Now it’s Rolling Thunder onto the ladder onto Hardy, leaving him down again. Van Dam goes up so Hardy dropkicks it down this time to leave them both in a heap.

This time it’s Hardy going up, and promptly being superplexed back down. They both go up again, with Hardy hitting a heck of a sunset bomb for another double crash. Hardy goes up and grabs the title but Van Dam moves the ladder, leaving Hardy hanging. Since Van Dam can’t pull him down, it’s a top rope spinning kick to knock Hardy out of the air for the huge crash. That’s enough for Van Dam to pull down the title, with Hardy not getting there in time.

Rating: B. This wasn’t about psychology or anything else, but rather “can you top this”. That was the absolute right way to go for these two as they’re both insane high fliers who can do that style like few others. It’s also what the fans wanted to see here and the guys delivered, leaving very little room for complaining. Sometimes you need a human car crash and these two are as good as there were at it at this point.

Shane McMahon gives Booker T. a present: bookends made from the table he put the Rock through on Smackdown. Booker dedicates his match to Shane, who is rather pleased.

We recap Diamond Dallas Page/Kanyon vs. Undertaker/Kane. Page stalked Undertaker’s wife Sara, filming her at home and passing the tapes around the locker room. He even had a shrine to Sara set up at the arenas (must have been the travel version). Page got Kanyon to help him so Undertaker found Kane, and since we need all the wacky titles around here, this is title for title in a cage.

WCW Tag Team Titles/WWF Tag Team Titles: Undertaker/Kane vs. Diamond Dallas Page/Kanyon

Title for title in a cage with pinfall, submission or escape. Undertaker slams the door shut (with a good THUD) and we’re ready to go, with Sara holding the key. The violence begins in a hurry with Page and Kanyon getting beaten down without much trouble. Page manages to send Undertaker into the cage and hits a clothesline, only to get kicked in the face. Kane kicks both of them down and the first chokeslam plants Kanyon.

A powerbomb drives Kanyon into the cage and Undertaker’s running boot drives Page into the wall as well. Kanyon is back up and tries to escape in the corner, allowing him to hammer at Kane’s head. The Brothers are actually down but sit up at the same time, meaning the double chase is on. Undertaker winds up on top of the cage and punches Page down, but tells Kane to let Kanyon go.

Page gets up and realizes what is going on, meaning torture can ensue. A side slam plants Page again but Undertaker pulls him up at two. Undertaker pulls out a chain to send Page into the cage before telling him to get out of here and live. Page tries to leave and is chokeslammed back down. Serves him right for being an idiot. The Last Ride ends Page for the pin and both titles.

Rating: C. I think I remember hating this one before, but it makes sense in context. No one was expecting Undertaker and Kane to have trouble with these two goons and that’s what happened here. This should have been a squash, both for the sake of who was in there and the story they were telling. It wasn’t a competitive match, but why should it have been? Who in the world is supposed to be able to hang with Undertaker and Kane in a cage anyway?

The Rock tells the trainer that he’s fine and, after sidestepping a charging Shawn Stasiak, promises to win the WCW World Title.

We recap Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle for Austin’s WWF Title. Austin turned on the WWF at InVasion because he thought Vince McMahon wanted to hug Angle instead of him. Angle became the face of the WWF and went on a roll throughout the company, tearing everyone apart along the way. Austin was all that was left and it’s time for the big showdown. This gets the well deserved music video treatment.

WWF World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin

Austin is defending and they start in the aisle before the bell. Angle gets tossed inside to officially start and takes Austin down without much effort. An exchange of right hands in the corner goes to the more aggressive Angle but he gets elbowed in the back of the head. It’s already time to go after Angle’s knee with some cannonballs and a twist, but Angle reverses into a quickly escaped ankle lock.

Austin gets two off a suplex, with JR saying it won’t be the last. On cue, Angle rolls some German suplexes, ducks a clothesline and rolls some more German suplexes. After getting Austin away from the ropes, Angle rolls some more German suplexes but the Angle Slam attempt is reversed into a whip into the corner. A top rope superplex plants Angle again but Austin’s own back is messed up. There’s a Stunner out of nowhere for two and Austin (who is walking a bit funny) yells at the referee.

Another Stunner sends Angle outside and Austin whips him into the post to draw some blood. More postings have the blood flowing even faster and Austin sends him in a fourth time for a bonus. Back in and Angle kicks out at two so Austin throws him outside again. Angle manages to send Austin over the barricade for a breather but Austin puts him down on the concrete as well.

That’s fine with Angle, who grabs the ankle lock on the steps and drags Austin back inside (that was cooler than it should have been) but Austin crawls back outside to escape. A belly to belly on the floor rocks Austin again and there’s a belly to back to make it worse. Back in and Angle ACTUALLY HITS THE MOONSAULT (I’m actually not sure when I’ve seen that work so you know it’s a big match) for two but Austin is right back with the Million Dollar Dream.

That’s good for two arm drops, plus a great closeup of Angle’s bloody head. Angle powers out but walks into another Stunner for two. A desperation Angle Slam gets a delayed two and the ankle lock goes on, but Austin hits the referee. Angle grabs a DDT for two from a second referee, so Austin hits Angle low and Stuns the referee. A third referee comes in and gets hit with the belt, meaning the Angle Slam gets no count. Cue Alliance referee Nick Patrick to DQ Austin instead.

Rating: A-. This was a heck of a fight with both guys laying into each other and telling a great story. Both guys were on their game and Austin simply could not beat him. That is how you set up a rematch, which is exactly what they did next month when Angle won the title in his hometown. Outstanding match, and the last great one of Austin’s career.

Angle destroys Patrick to blow off some steam.

JR EXPLODES on Heyman, shouting about how Austin couldn’t beat Angle, with Heyman basically no selling the whole thing.

We recap Booker T. vs. the Rock. The Rock had returned and confirmed that he was still with the WWF by laying out Shane McMahon. He was still the People’s Champion, which Booker didn’t like. Rock didn’t care what Booker had to say but Booker challenged him for Summerslam. Game on, complete with Booker putting Rock through a table with the Book End to bang up his ribs.

WCW World Title: The Rock vs. Booker T.

Booker, with Shane McMahon, is defending. Rock knocks him outside to start but stops to chase Shane, allowing Booker to get in a few shots. The Samoan drop gives Rock two abut Booker is back with a knee to the ribs. A side kick gives Booker two but Rock tosses him over the top for the crash to the floor.

Booker is sent into the announcers’ tables a few times but is back up to crotch Rock on the barricade. They go over the barricade to keep up the brawl and then head back inside for the slugout. Rock punches away until another kick to the face cuts him down. The chinlock goes on as commentary gets in another argument over the Spinarooni. That’s broken up and Rock grabs the Sharpshooter, drawing Shane back up to the apron.

With Rock taking care of Shane, Booker is able to get back up for another kick to the face. A catapult sends Booker face first into the (exposed) buckle for two so Shane grabs the title…and is taken out by the APA in revenge for earlier. The referee checks on Shane so the Book End only gets a delayed two. Rock’s big jumping clothesline into the belly to belly gets two and the spinebuster connects. The People’s Elbow gets two as Shane grabs the referee and Booker is back with a spinebuster of his own. The ax kick sets up the Spinarooni….but Rock nips up into the Rock Bottom for the pin and the title.

Rating: B. They were in a tough spot here for a few reasons. First of all, the Rock was several levels above Booker and there was no way around it. As great as Booker was, he wasn’t the Rock and that was very obvious. On top of that, you can only get so far when you’re following Austin vs. Angle going 22 minutes. They tried to have all of the extra stuff going on here to make it feel huge, but it came off as a matter of time rather than a big showdown.

Rock celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a heck of a show with some great matches and almost nothing close to bad. The one two punch of the main event is awesome, with Storm vs. Edge and the ladder match making it even better. Angle vs. Austin is still white hot as a main event story and things should get better heading into the fall. They wouldn’t, but based on what they had here, they should. Awesome show and worth watching for sure.

Ratings Comparison

Edge vs. Lance Storm

Original: B

2013 Redo: B-

2021 Redo: B-

APA/Spike Dudley vs. Test/Dudley Boys

Original: C

2013 Redo: D+

2021 Redo: C

Tajiri vs. X-Pac

Original: C+

2013 Redo: D+

2021 Redo: C

Rhyno vs. Chris Jericho

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B-

2021 Redo: C+

Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B

2021 Redo: B

Diamond Dallas Page/Kanyon vs. Undertaker/Kane

Original: C+

2013 Redo: D+

2021 Redo: C

Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle

Original: A-

2013 Redo: A-

2021 Redo: A-

The Rock vs. Booker T

Original: B+

2013 Redo: B

2021 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B+

2013 Redo: A-

2021 Redo: A-

I think we’ve come to just about as definitive of a version of this show as I’m going to have.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/04/history-of-summerslam-count-up-summerslam-2001-summerslam-gets-all-alliancey/

And the 2013 Redo:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2021/08/03/summerslam-count-up-summerslam-2001-2013-redo-the-alliancey-one/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Summerslam 2000
Date: August 27, 2000
Location: Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Attendance: 18,124
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

JR brags about the gate, which is WEIRD to hear on a WWF show.

Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi

Rating: C. Basic six man tag here to get the crowd going. A fast paced act like Too Cool and Rikishi is always a great choice to start up a show as the crowd gets fired up for the entrance and hopefully stays hot for the rest of the show. The RTC was a fine choice for a heel stable as they took away what the fans wanted to see and the people were glad to see them get beaten up.

We see Angle arriving earlier tonight with Stephanie arriving a few minutes later. Later on Kurt went into her locker room with a smile on his face. Angle kissed Stephanie on Smackdown after Stephanie was hurt in a match.

X-Pac vs. Road Dogg

These are the last members of DX but Pac accidentally knocked Dogg through a table on Raw so Dogg walked out on Pac on Smackdown, leaving him alone against Undertaker. X-Pac easily takes him down and slaps Dogg in the back of the head because he can. The fans are all over X-Pac as he is sent to the floor via a shoulder block. Back in and Dogg blocks a spinwheel kick and clotheslines Pac down for no cover. Another kick sends Dogg into the corner but he rolls away from a Bronco Buster attempt.

Eddie sucks up to Chyna (basically in a bikini here) but she says one of them is getting lucky tonight.

Intercontinental Title: Trish Stratus/Val Venis vs. Eddie Guerrero/Chyna

Val drops him face first onto the buckle and puts Eddie down with a Blue Thunder Bomb. They headbutt each other to put both guys down but Trish tags herself in and gets two on Eddie. Jerry tries to give the blonde pointers but Eddie easily takes Trish down. Off to Chyna and the mauling is on, but Val breaks up the handspring elbow attempt. Chyna avoids a double team and Eddie pulls Val to the floor, allowing Chyna to gorilla press Trish for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing but the girls looked good enough to carry it. This would be another part of a long storyline as Eddie would cost Chyna the title in about two weeks, accidentally stealing it for himself. Val would split with Trish after this and join up with the Right to Censor for the next few months. Not much to see here other than Trish in the shorts.

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler

Hardcore Title: Shane McMahon vs. Steve Blackman

Shane took the title from Blackman with the help of a small army on Monday. Steve brings in a kendo stick so Shane runs to the apron. They throw the stick back and forth until Blackman offers him a free shot to the back. Shane picks up the stick but Blackman spins around to block it, starting a chase through the crowd. Blackman finally catches him with a trashcan shot and the beating begins. Shane gets caught in the crowd and some chops to the chest put him down.

They go up to the entrance with Test shoving what looked like a speaker over onto Blackman but Steve avoids to prevent death. Blackman finds a kendo stick to take the big guys down but Shane gets in a cheap shot. He runs away and climbs up the set like a crazy man and Blackman goes after him. They go WAY up into the air with Blackman hitting Shane in the back with the stick, knocking him probably thirty feet down onto a crash pad. Blackman climbs down a bit before dropping a big elbow to take the title back.

Stephanie is freaking out about Shane when Angle comes in. She freaks out so Kurt hugs her but Foley comes in to interrupt. He takes Stephanie with him to check on Shane, leaving Angle annoyed.

We recap Jericho vs. Benoit. Pick a reason for them to be fighting and you have a good feud here. In this case, Benoit has been attacking Jericho and injured his ribs so Jericho retaliated, setting up a back and forth battle with Jericho coming up with an awesome series of rhymes (“I will fight Benoit on a boat or when Chris Benoit is with a goat. I will fight Benoit when he is taking a quiz, and I will make him look like the jackass that he is.”)

Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit goes up top but gets caught in a great hurricanrana to put both guys down as Jericho landed on his shoulder again. Back up and Jericho hits the flying forearm followed by a spinwheel kick but Benoit grabs the bottom rope at two. The Lionsault connects but Jericho hurts his shoulder again. He grabs a rollup but Benoit counters into one of his own with a grab of the ropes for the pin.

Rating: A-. Yeah this was awesome. Benoit and Jericho could wrestle for an hour a night every night and it would never get boring. Both guys looked great and the arm told a great story to center the match around. This is a big reason why the WWF was so hot this year: you could take any combination of these guys and Angle and have a great match on any show.

HHH arrives over 80 minutes into the show.

We recap the HHH/Stephanie/Angle stuff.

Tag Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian

Both Hardys drop legs from the ladder and Matt lays the ladder down next to Edge. Matt puts Edge inside the ladder and crushes him inside of it before throwing Christian off the top and onto the ladder, destroying Edge even worse. Jeff climbs a ladder outside the ring and tries a Swanton to Bubba but only hits the tables, knocking Jeff out cold. Christian knocks Bubba silly with a chair on the floor to put him down.

Matt goes up but D-Von shoves the ladder backwards, sending Matt back first through a pair of tables in a SCARY bump. Edge spears Lita down, drawing a bad swear from JR. D-Von is climbing but somehow Jeff is on the other side. Both guys grab a belt but Edge moves the ladder, leaving both guys hanging. D-Von is knocked down and the Canadians spear Jeff in the ribs with a ladder to bring him down. Everyone else is dead so Edge and Christian go up and get the belts to retain.

The Kat vs. Terri

The APA is at WWF New York.

Kane vs. Undertaker

Angle calls someone.

Stephanie is giving HHH a pep talk when the phone rings. She freaks out when she answers it and says Hi Mom. HHH wants to say hi to Linda but the “reception” cuts out. Nice scene there.

WWF World Title: HHH vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle

They brawl on the floor with Rock sending HHH into the announce table before heading back inside for HHH to pound on Rock in the corner. HHH looks down as Angle is being wheeled out and Rock gets in some right hands but the Game drapes Rock over the top rope, sending him out to the floor. HHH chases Angle down and pulls the stretcher back to the ring before getting in some right hands which are pretty dangerous given his actual injury. Rock makes the save to let Angle be taken back for the needed medical attention.

Rating: B. Like I said, if I have to watch HHH vs. Rock for fifteen minutes plus then so be it. Angle being injured that early made for an interesting ending here as the majority of the match was heavily improvised. The HHH vs. Stephanie stuff would be cranked up even higher when Angle would win the WWF Title the next month.

Angle carries Stephanie out to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The first half took a bit to get through but the last few matches are all great. This was still a great time in the WWF as you had everything clicking and all the big matches being better than you would expect. Austin would be back in a few months to bring things up even higher. Great show here and a forgotten classic.

Ratings Comparison

Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi

Original: B-

Redo: C

X-Pac vs. Road Dogg

Original: C-

Redo: D

Val Venis/Trish Stratus vs. Eddie Guerrero/Chyna

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler

Original: C+

Redo: D

Steve Blackman vs. Shane McMahon

Original: B

Redo: B-

Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho

Original: A

Redo: A-

Dudley Boys vs. Edge and Christian vs. hardy Boys

Original: A-

Redo: A

The Kat vs. Terri

Original: F-

Redo: N/A

Undertaker vs. Kane

Original: B

Redo: C

The Rock vs. HHH vs. Kurt Angle

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: A

Redo: A-

As always I rated things a bit higher back then.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/03/history-of-summerslam-count-up-2000-why-does-no-one-remember-this-show/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Summerslam 1999
Date: August 22, 1999
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 17,130
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Jesse lectures Chyna and HHH about not cheating. Chyna is allowed to be out there but the pinfall has to be in the ring and it has to be legal.

The recently debuted Chris Jericho yells at Jericholic Howard Finkel for being late.

Edge and Christian are ready for Tag Team Turmoil (a tag team gauntlet match) tonight. They outgrew Gangrel and are ready for his new team: the Hardys.

Tag Team Turmoil

The Hollys fight again.

Big Show and Undertaker arrive.

Al Snow grooms his dog Pepper and warns him of Boss Man singing Ethel Merman songs. Good advice actually.

Hardcore Title: Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man is defending and Dogg is doing commentary. Before the match Snow leaves Pepper in a small kennel in the back. Snow: “You know Head came to the ring with me.” Snow is waiting on Boss Man on the set and hits a high cross body to get us going. Dogg gets up and is going to be a roving reporter. Snow hits Man with a chair and they go to the back almost immediately.

Snow runs back across the street to check on Pepper but has to beat up Stevie Richards and Blue Meanie for some reason.

Rock verbally massacres Michael Cole by insulting his tie and implying Cole is a bit coome ci coom ca. Not that it matters as Rock is going to destroy Billy Gunn tonight. This was a bad time for Rock as he had a bunch of nothing feuds until he got back into the title hunt to close out the year.

Billy Gunn has a surprise under a tarp.

Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman

We see Shane attacking Test earlier today.

Test says this is serious tonight.

Test vs. Shane McMahon

Test takes Shane down to start but Shane hits a quick spear back inside, only to be pounded in the corner. A backdrop puts Shane down as the Posse drinks champagne. Shane is sent HARD into the steps and then into the crowd for a drink to the head. Test catches Shane diving off the barricade and powerslams him down onto the floor. Shane staggers around ringside so Test launches him at the Posse to tip the couch over.

Stephanie comes out to celebrate post match.

Tag Titles: Kane/X-Pac vs. Big Show/Undertaker

Taker is knocked to the floor and Pac dives off the apron to take him down. The crotch chop earned X-Pac an elbow to the face and a smile from me. Kane saves him little buddy and take Undertaker down with the top rope clothesline. Taker comes right back with his running DDT but Kane is up almost immediately. Big Show comes in to throw Kane around and drops him with a superkick.

Jesse gives Austin the same speech.

Billy Gunn vs. The Rock

WWF World Title: Steve Austin vs. Mankind vs. Triple H

Triple H and Austin start fast in the ring but Mankind pulls HHH to the floor and sends him onto the announce table. All three head into the ring with HHH being ping ponged back and forth by right hands from both guys. Mankind offers Austin a handshake but gets punched in the face instead. HHH is knocked to the floor and Mankind misses a charge at Austin to send him to the outside as well.

HHH loads up the Pedigree on Mankind but Austin clotheslines HHH down to break it up. Austin punches both of his challengers and hits a Stunner on HHH but Mankind breaks up the count at two. Austin sends Mankind into the post but walks into the Pedigree. Mankind pops back up though and knocks HHH down before hitting the double arm DDT on Austin for the pin and the title in a surprise.

Post match HHH destroys Austin and his knee with a chair, putting him on the shelf for a month.

Ratings Comparison

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Tag Team Turmoil

Original: B-

Redo: C-

Big Boss Man vs. Al Snow

Original: B

Redo: C

Ivory vs. Tori

Original: F

Redo: F+

Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman

Original: B-

Redo: D+

Shane McMahon vs. Test

Original: B

Redo: B

Unholy Alliance vs. X-Pac/Kane

Original: D+

Redo: D

Billy Gunn vs. The Rock

Original: B-

Redo: D+

HHH vs. Steve Austin vs. Mankind

Original: B+

Redo: D+

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: D+

WOW and I thought 1990 was screwed up.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/03/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1999-the-body/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 1997
Date: August 3, 1997
Location: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 20,213
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon, Jim Ross

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind

Chyna comes inside and tries to drag HHH out as Mankind climbs over the top. He gets down to the apron and takes off his mask but climbs back up. The fans chant SUPERFLY as Mankind goes up, rips open his shirt to reveal a Dude Love heart, and drops an elbow off the top of the cage. Mankind climbs out and reaches the floor just before Chyna can drag HHH out to the floor.

Rating: A-. This was great stuff with Mankind overcoming everything HHH and Chyna could throw at him before hitting the huge spot to win it. There was a very good story built up between these two which would finally be blown off in a street fight at the first Raw in MSG. Great opener here and the fans were WAY into it. You could see the future in these two and it was awesome.

Call the Hotline!

Todd Pettingill (he still had a job at this point?) brings out the governor along with Gorilla Monsoon and the Headbangers for some reason. She got rid of some entertainment tax on wrestling shows to allow the first show in New Jersey since the 80s. Gorilla gives her a WWF Championship belt as a thank you present.

Video on the local festivities leading up to Summerslam.

Goldust vs. Brian Pillman

Goldust is a face by this point. Pillman jumps him to start but Goldust hits a jumping back elbow out of the corner. He pounds on Brian in the corner and kisses him to the floor but Pillman is ticked off. Brian drops Goldust with a clothesline and goes after Malena, only to be headed off by Goldie with an uppercut. Back in and Pillman takes him down with a snap suplex but Goldust crotches him off the top.

Godwinns vs. Legion of Doom

The LOD are actually referred to as Road Warriors here which is rare for the WWF. LOD cleans house to start, sending the Godwinns to the floor with Hawk hitting a clothesline off the apron. We get started with Phineas vs. Animal with the latter missing a charge into the corner, allowing the hog dudes to double team him. Animal comes back with a double clothesline of his own to send the Godwinns to the floor.

Rating: D+. This was supposed to be about revenge but the match never acted like that at all. The Godwinns were horrible as heels and this was a very dull match as a result. LOD still had a little bit in the tank here but they were going to explode in the next few months but almost no one cared.

We recap British Bulldog vs. Ken Shamrock which is another spinoff from the Border War. Bulldog was about to lose an arm wrestling match on Monday so he laid Shamrock out with a chair and shoved dog food down his throat.

European Title: Ken Shamrock vs. British Bulldog

Post match Shamrock chokes Bulldog out for a VERY long time, to the point where Bulldog would be dead. The referees get suplexes.

Los Boricuas vs. Disciples of Apocalypse

Jesus hits a Fameasser on Skull to set up another four on one beatdown. We hit a chinlock but 8 Ball breaks it up to prevent further boredom. Skull finally gets over for the tag and everything breaks down. Chainz is sent to the floor and punches Ahmed who responds with a sitout powerbomb on the concrete, giving Miguel an easy pin in the ring.

A 12 man brawl follows.

Intercontinental Title: Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart

Owen takes him down by the knee and wraps it around the ring post right after the bell. Back in and Austin fires off right hands and hits the Thesz press before hitting the HARD whip into the corner ala Bret. Austin pulls him around by the hair and stomps the stomach for two. Back up and Austin works the arm with a wristlock as the fans chant USA. Owen does his spinning nip up to counter but Steve casually pokes him in the eye.

WWF World Title: Undertaker vs. Bret Hart

Bret brings a chair into the ring and lays out Undertaker with no Michaels to see it. Shawn limps back into the ring but the count only gets two. Bret erupts on Shawn and flips him off before pounding away in the corner again. Shawn picks up the chair and is spat on by Bret. Shawn swings the chair but knocks Undertaker out cold, giving Bret the pin and the title.

Rating: B+. This took a lot of time to get going but with thirty minutes to use they had more than enough time to waste. Hart winning was definitely the right move after he spent all summer on top of the company. This opened up a lot more options than Taker was providing, which is what a champion is supposed to do.

Post match Undertaker is FURIOUS and goes after Shawn. The Hart Foundation celebrates to end the show.

Ratings Comparison

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind

Original: A

Redo: A-

Brian Pillman vs. Goldust

Original: D

Redo: D

Legion of Doom vs. Godwinns

Original: C-

Redo: D

British Bulldog vs. Ken Shamrock

Original: D-

Redo: D

Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas

Original: D

Redo: D-

Owen Hart vs. Steve Austin

Original: B

Redo: B

Undertaker vs. Bret Hart

Original: A

Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: C+

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/31/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1997-shawn-vs-taker-begins/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.