They aired a highlight package revolving around the injury sustained to Steve
Austin's neck as a result of a piledriver given to him by Owen Hart at Summer Slam.
The WWF is good at this sort of drama in order to get across a story
Shawn Michaels gave a good heel interview to Jim Ross to start off the show.
Michaels received a mix of boos and cheers and is now basically doing a "tweener"
gimmick (so is everyone on top in the WWF, really). Shawn was always a better
character when he was a heel and this was in some ways a return to that side.
Extra points for mocking Commissioner Slaughter, who just isn't working at
all.
They aired a highlight package revolving around the injury sustained to Steve
Austin's neck as a result of a piledriver given to him by Owen Hart at Summer Slam.
The WWF is good at this sort of drama in order to get across a story
Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart lost to the Patriot and mystery partner Ken Shamrock
when the Patriot pinned Smith after a full nelson slam onto a chair. Great heat
for the faces and the finish helped to get the Patriot over for his title match
against Bret Hart.
Bret Hart attacked the Patriot backstage and later on the Patriot challenged Hart
to an impromptu match. Bret Hart came out and they had a decent brawl until the
Hart Foundation put a stop to it. Nothing special but it served its purpose to
add heat to the title match at In Your House.
Shawn Michaels returned to action and beat Mankind with the help of Rick Rude in
a very good brawl. Both wrestlers took super bumps and Shawn looked like he
wanted to prove that he's still the number one showman in the WWF. And that he is.
They did a bunch of spots on the announcers table, highlighted by Michaels dropping
an elbow from the ring apron onto a prone Mankind. Rude coming out as Michaels'
"insurance policy" and the plugs for Hardcore Heaven must point to the relationship
between ECW and the WWF being back on. Rick Rude hit Mankind with a stiff chairshot
to set up a Shawn Michaels superkick and the pinfall. The whole thing was great.
Brian Pillman lost another match which means he has to continue wearing one of Marlena's
dresses. This time it was Flash Funk who scored a cheap pinfall with a small package
when Pillman was distracted by video footage of himself putting on the dress before the
match. Of course it was Goldust who supplied the tape. I don't mind this angle so much
because it does get heat for Pillman and the pay-off could be good but the matches
are just backdrops to Goldust playing with Pillman's mind and are generally flat.
Dude Love came out for an interview and did ok and said some half-funny lines but I
prefer Mick Foley's interviews as Mankind (and Cactus Jack's were even better). The
groupies at the end is what killed it totally for me. The original Dude Love appearance
is still one of the best things I've seen all year though.
They aired a taped interview with Bret Hart interspersed with comments from fans who
were there to greet Hart at the airport when he returned home to Canada after winning
the world title. I'm a Canadian and these fans embarass me with their jingoism. I like
the Hart Foundation because it's a group of good wrestlers who can generate great heat,
not because I was born in the same country as half of them.
Farooq pinned Chainz with the help of Rocky Mavia who thus joins the Nation of Domination.
The whole NOD vs. DOA vs. Los Boriquas feud is a candidate for worst of the year because
NO ONE CARES!
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