WWF 1997: The Past Ends Here

 Monday / Week 1 /  December / 1997

Good O'l JR and Jerry Lawler are in good spirits as the show opens. Before they can finish their introduction they are interrupted as the Titantron comes to life.

             

A video plays informing us that we will see a Four Way Match tonight for a shot at Shawn Michaels' World Heavyweight Title. We will see The Undertaker, Ken Shamrock, The Rock and Faarooq square off in a main event match that surely favours the two Nation of Domination members.

As the video ends the trio known as Degeneration X are shown backstage talking.

 

 When they notice the cameraman they chase him away and continue talking in private, leaving Jim Ross to speculate on what kind of devious plan the three of them could be concocting.

   

LOD picked up a convincing victory when Hawk pinned Phineas Godwinn after a Dooms Day Device.

LOD celebrate their victory and make the classic hands around waist signal, putting The New Age Outlaws on notice that they want those Tag Team Titles.

 

Jeff Jarrett had the edge throughout this contest and just as it seemed Gunn was on the verge of gaining the upper hand...

D’Lo Brown appeared on the ramp, distracting Gunn long enough for Double J to take him down and wrap him in the Figure Four Leg Lock for the submission victory.

A pissed off Steve Austin hits the ring with a beer in hand and demands a microphone. He says he was sat in the back drinking a couple of Steve-weisers when he saw the biggest pile of crap he’s seen in a while. He says The Undertaker, Ken Shamrock, The Rock and Farooq ain’t fit to lace his boots and he’s damn sick and tired of being held back by the suits in the office...

Vince McMahon makes an appearance but stops on the entrance ramp. His words are short and to the point. He says it doesn’t matter what Austin thinks because Austin doesn’t make the decisions, Vince McMahon makes the decisions. And Vince McMahon has decided that it’s not Austin’s time.

W/

Kane made quick work of Bob Holly picking up the pin following a Tombstone.

Kane stands in the centre of the ring doing his signature taunt, after slowly raising his arms in the air he snaps them down and nothing happens. Fire fails to erupt from the ring posts. Paul Bearer looks confused as he leads The Big Red Machine to the back.

 

Ahmed Johnson won an evenly matched contest by pin-fall after a Peal River Plunge.

After the match Mero took his frustrations out on Sable. Ahmed went to intervene but Sable saw him coming and alerted Mero allowing him to counter Johnson’s attack into a TKO. Mero leaves with Sable following behind hesitantly.

Jim Ross remarks on Sables timid demeanour but Jerry "The King"  Lawler says she should know her place. An incredulous Jim Ross thinks that's a disgusting thing to say.

Winner: Ahmed Johnson

      

Road and Dog and Billy Gun get the jump on Hawk and Animal backstage, hitting them both in the back of the head with the WWF Tag Team Title belts, sending them down to the concrete floor. They continue laying into them with kicks and punches. Billy Gunn asks them “You wan’t these belts?" and Road Dogg tells them "You got ‘em!” before The Outlaws blast the downed LOD one more time with the WWF Tag Team Title belts.

 

Goldust had the upper hand at times but in the end Vader picked up a convincing win following a Vadersault.

  

Backstage, The Rock has a few things to get off his chest. He says "The Great One" and Faarooq are going to take out The Undertaker and Ken Shamrock then The Rock is going to pin either one of their candy asses and go on to beat HBK for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. Faarooq, standing behind The Rock, looks at him like he’s tripping and shakes his head.

     

The action spilled all around ringside and even into the crowd at one point, as The Undertaker and Faarooq fought among the masses.

Shamrock had The Rock on the verge of submitting to his Ankle lock until Faarooq escaped The Undertakers reach and rolled in to the ring to break the hold.

The Undertaker gave Faarooq a Tombstone and at the same time Shamrock took The Rock out with a Belly To Belly Suplex. Shamrock looked to up the skies and roared, only to turn around straight into a Choke Slam from The Undertaker.

Undertaker covered Shamrock...

Chyna and Triple H ran down the aisle.

Chyna pulled the referee under the bottom rope, breaking the count at 2 and three quarters, then laid the official out with a stiff right hand as Triple H rolled into the ring. The Undertaker, unaware of the interference, rose to his feet and was immediately dropped with a Pedigree by Triple H.

Triple H rolled out the ring and taunted the fans with his back to the ring. The Undertaker sat up and snapped his head in the direction of "The Game". Chyna tried desperately to warn Triple H of an advancing Undertaker, as the the big man stepped over the top rope and dropped down to the floor. Outside the ring, The Undertaker gripped Chyna by the throat but Triple H spun around just in time to prevent "The Deadman" from Choke Slamming her on the thinly covered concrete floor. With 'Takers grasp released Chyna struggled to regain her breath while Triple H and The Undertaker fought all the way to the back.

With The Undertaker seemingly out of the match and the referee still down outside the ring, and the number advantage firmly in their favour, it seemed all but certain that The Rock or Faarooq would be going on to face HBK for the WWF World Heavyweight Title at In Your House.

The Rock was on his feet first, and he slid out of the ring as Shamrock and Faarooq slowly rose to a standing base. "The Great One" rolled back under the bottom rope with his Intercontinetal Title in hand. He took a short run up and swung the gold strap at Shamrock's head, however "The World’s Most Dangerous Man" ducked, and The Rock sent the belt crashing into Faarooq's forehead instead, busting him open.

The referee slowly made his way back into the ring and Shamrock quickly lifted The Rock up and slammed him down with a powerful Belly To Belly Suplex then covered Faarooq for the victory and a shot at Shawn Michaels' World Heavyweight Championship. 

                

Triple H is joined by HBK backstage and the two DX members assault The Undertaker, who keeps fighting back.

Despite it being The Rock who laid Faaroqq out, The Rock seems to be blaming Faarooq for the incident and their loss, as the pair argue on their way to the back.

In the ring Ken Shamrock celebrates in front of a cheering crowd, suddenly the fans roar even louder...

 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin slides into the ring. Austin waits, poised behind Shamrock, and as Shamrock turns around Austin gives him the finger then drops him with a Stone Cold Stunner.

 

Michael Cole opens the show in an excited manner, briefly recapping the events of Raw Is War that saw Ken Shamrock named Number One Contender for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. Sunny talks about how pissed The Undertaker must be with D-Generation X and Michael Cole says the same for Ken Shamrock with regard to Steve Austin. Sunny mentions that Chainz can't be too happy either, what with Kurrgan taking out both Skull and 8 Ball last week, but unlike The Undertaker and Steve Austin, Chainz will have a chance to take revenge as he goes up against Kurrgan one on one in tonight's main event.

A fast paced match saw TAKA Michinoku come out on top following a Michinoku Driver.

Jim Cornette tells us that "Camp Cornette is open for business and we ain't pitching tents. While nameless nobodies and gormless giants are picking through leaves and shovelling shit, Camp Cornette is sculpting the landscape of the WWF for years to come. And all the evidence of that is stood right beside me for all to see...  "The Future" of the WWF, Brian Christopher".

As the video playback ends Michael Cole reminds us that "The Future" needed a helping hand to get the job done against Marcus Laurinaitus last week.

  

Savio Vega took control early on, forcing John Bradshaw into the Los Boricuas corner, where they exploited the referees count as they continually double teamed the burly Texan. A surge of adrenaline saw Bradshaw fight his way out and make the tag to Barry Windham, who eventually scored the win for his team, pinning Miquel Perez Jr. for the three.

W/

In a pre-recorded interview filmed after his Raw natch with Ahmed Johnson, Marc Mero had this to say "Ahmed Johnson is the luckiest man in the WWF! If Sable hadn't got in my way, AGAIN, Ahmed Johnson would have never beaten me.".

Kevin Kelly began to correct Marc, about to remind him that Sable had nothing to do with his defeat, but Sable cut him off by apologising to her man for getting in the way. Kevin looked dumbfounded, but Marc told Sable to shut up and stormed off.  Sable apologised to Kevin on Marc's behalf, called out "Honey, wait up." and quickly followed after The Marvellous One. 

W/

Kama's power and strength were equally match by Bob Holly's resilience in what was a hard hitting match from the start. A couple of times it looked like Kama had it in the bag but Bob Holly dug deep to get a shoulder up. Just as it seemed Holly was starting to gain the upper hand D'Lo Brown provided the distraction and Kama capitalised for the three count.

    

D'Lo Brown slides in to the ring as Kama rolls out and lays on the floor, breathing hard. D'Lo starts laying the boots to Bob Holly until...

He is blind sided by Bart Gunn. Kama is up and in the fight, and Gunn continues trading blows with both NOD representatives. The numbers disadvantage is starting to take it's toll, but Bob Holly is up just in time to help Bart, and together they evict Kama and D'Lo from the ring.

W/

Chainz, by no means a small man, looked up at the giant Kurrgan with what some might call misplaced confidence, but as the match progressed those people would have ate their words. Chainz held his own against The Jackal's monster and it was by The Jackals command that this match came to a end. Kurrgan held Chainz in the corner in a blatant choke hold, and when the referee begun his count The Jackal ordered Kurrgan not to release the hold, leaving the referee no choice but to call for the bell.

The time keeper rings the bell with increasing urgency as Kurrgan refuses to release the strangle hold. The Jackal laughs at ringside and even Recon, standing next to him, has a slight look of concern, a look that doesn't go unnoticed by his cackling Commander.
Kurrgan releases his grip on Chainz, who slumps to the mat, when he sees...

 

Skull and 8 Ball sprint to the ring.

Kurrgan stands his ground, ready to meet the remaining Disciples head on. Skull and 8 Ball hesitate momentarily then charge with successive blows. Kurrgan stands strong, weathering the attack, but eventually through combined effort the two Disciples force The Jackal's giant backwards and over the top rope, where he lands on his feet.

A pleased looking Jackal orders his Commission to leave, and Skull and 8 Ball check on Chainz, who is back to his feet in the corner.

Just before disappearing to the back The Jackal stops and says something to Recon. Recon's head rears back with surprise, The Jackal then walks away, followed by Kurrgan. Recon, resigned to his fate, sprints back down to the ring where he is immediately mobbed by all three Disciples Of Apocalypse.

Sunny opens the show, emphatically reminding us about the closing segment on the last episode of Raw Is War that saw Steve Austin and Ken Shamrock laid out by Degeneration X members Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Michael Cole chimes in, jogging our memories of how The Rock abandoned the NOD's founding member, Faarooq. Then Sunny tells us that the rest of The Nation, Kama and D'Lo Brown, will be in action tonight when they take on Bob Holly and Bart Gunn in the main event.

    

To Taylor's credit, he came out fighting against his much larger opponent but to nobodies surprise he was no match for The Jackal's Giant. Kurrgan man handled Scott for the duration of the match before putting him down for the pin with a Powerbomb.

Not content with the dominant victory The Jackal commands Kurrgan to continue his assault on Scott, and the giant obeys without hesitation. The Jackal turns to Recon and orders him to join Kurrgan in his attack. Recon hesitates for a second then slides under the bottom rope and puts the boots to Taylor.

The Disciples of Apocalypse rush to ring where Chainz immediately dumps Recon to the floor before joining Skull and 8 Ball in attacking Kurrgan. Kurrgan swats their blows away for a while but soon becomes overwhelmed as the DOA shows no signs of stopping. With Kurrgan's back to the ropes, Chainz hits him with a huge running clothesline, knocking him over the top to floor where he lands on his feet.

Kurrgan goes to re-enter the ring but The Jackal commands him to stop then leads both him and Recon to the back, casting a scowl at Recon the entire way.

 

A close match from start to finish saw Christopher come out on top, only due to Jim Cornette distracting the referee, allowing "The Future" to catch Smiley with low blow followed by a Full Nelson Face Buster for the pin.

Michael Cole speaks with Sable on the phone about her relationship with Marc Mero and the way he's been treating her lately. Sable shrugs it off, telling him "Look, Marc's a really intense guy and sometimes it gets the better of him and... I've gotta go, he's coming."

The call ends abruptly as Sunny lets out a sincere "Oh my god."

 

Miguel Perez Jr. kept himself out of this one, only offering his tag team partner moral support from ringside. It would turn out that would be all Savio needed as he evaded a Moonsault attempt from Flash Funk and quickly covered him for the pin.

In a pre-taped promo Ahmed Johnson promises to defeat The Rock for the WWF Intercontinental Championship at In Your House.

   

Tension had been simmering between these four men during recent weeks and it came to a boil here in a hard hitting brawl that spilled out of the ring and never returned to it, forcing the referee to count both teams out.

Despite the match being over the two teams refuse to stop fighting and they continue clubbing each other with thudding blows as Michael Cole urges us to tune in for the next episode of Raw Is Raw.