Written By: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling House Show
Date: 4/11/1997
From: Montreal, Quebec
NOTE: This house show was not aired on television at any point. There were three matches not recorded as the matches didn’t include WCW talent. Those matches were the following:
Nelson Veileux defeated Sunny War Cloud
The Prisoners defeated Jacques Compois/Richard Charland
Tiger Jackson defeated Little Broten
Opening Contest: Jeff Jarrett defeated Chris Jericho: Jarrett arm drags Jericho to kick off the contest and struts. Jarrett blocks a hip toss attempt from Jericho and connects with one of his own. Jericho dropkicks Jarrett and springboards off the middle rope nailing Jarrett with a shoulder block on the apron. Jericho heads to the top rope and connects with a flying cross body but only gets a near fall in the ring. Jarrett stops Jericho’s offense with an abdominal stretch and uses the ropes for leverage. The referee kicks Jarrett’s arm off the ropes and Jericho hip tosses Jarrett followed by a shoulder block. Jarrett drops Jericho throat first across the top rope and keeps control by choking Jericho for a few moments. Jericho sunset flips Jarrett for a near fall. Jarrett quickly recovers with a clothesline for a two count. Jarrett connects with a slingshot suplex but once again only gets a near fall. Jarrett has a sleeper hold locked in to maintain control of Jericho. Jericho soon gets to his feet and comes off the ropes but runs into another sleeper hold. Jericho shoves Jarrett away and has a sleeper of his own locked in until Jarrett drops Jericho with a back suplex. Jericho covers Jarrett with one arm and gets a two count. Jericho nails Jarrett with a spinning heel kick and a back drop. Jericho connects with a clothesline for a near fall. Double under hook power bomb by Jericho but Jarrett kicks out at two. Jericho shoulder blocks Jarrett and heads to the top rope. Jarrett crotches Jericho on the top rope and leaps off the middle rope looking for a body splash only to be met with a boot from Jericho who was lying on the mat. Jericho runs into a big boot in the corner and Jarrett rolls Jericho up using the ropes for leverage to win the bout. (the referee completely botched the finish) *1/4
After the match, Jericho tosses the referee to the floor.
Second Contest: Harlem Heat defeated Meng/Barbarian: Meng and Booker T start off with Meng working on Booker with right hands and a clothesline. Meng shoulder blocks Booker but is met with a forearm smash. Ray enters the ring and clotheslines both Meng and Barbarian. Barbarian and Ray end up tagging into the contest. Ray hammers away on Barbarian in the corner and plays to the crowd. Barbarian counters a scoop slam with a back suplex. Barbarian chokes Ray briefly to maintain the upper hand. Ray comes off the boots and big boots Barbarian down to the mat. Booker tags in and connects with a scissors kick but Meng breaks up the count. Double shoulder block to knock Barbarian down and Ray gets a two count on a cover. Booker legally tags in and punches Barbarian in the corner a few times. Booker runs into a big boot and Meng tags in. Meng drives Booker down with a back breaker but misses an elbow drop. Standing spin kick by Booker and goes off the ropes but Barbarian pulls the ropes down as the referee was distracted. Barbarian hits Booker over the back with a chair to get a few illegal shots in. Barbarian sends Booker face first into the ring steps as the referee has been distracted for quite some time at this point. Meng keeps the advantage by stomping away on Booker in the corner. Barbarian tags in but Booker rolls Barbarian up for a near fall. Barbarian gets up quickly and turns Booker inside out with a clothesline. Barbarian manages to get a near fall on a cover attempt as Ray breaks up the count. Booker is dumped to the floor where Meng again gets a few illegal shots in as the referee was distracted. Meng connects with a shoulder breaker for a two count. Booker elbows his way out of a nerve hold and attempts a scoop slam but Meng falls onto Booker for a near fall. Barbarian stops Booker with a big boot and gets a near fall. Meng chops Booker several times as Barbarian holds Booker up against the ropes. Booker delivers several right hands to Meng until Meng backdrops Booker over onto Barbarian who connects with a power bomb for a near fall! Side slam by Barbarian and leaps off the middle rope looking for a splash only to be met with a double boot to the face from Booker! Booker gets up and spin kicks Barbarian. Ray gets the hot tag and scoop slams both opponents. Faces of Fear no sell a head ram but Ray comes off the ropes dropping both men with a leaping clothesline. Ray is stopped with a double head butt shot. Barbarian accidentally big boots Meng and Ray rolls Barbarian up for the win. *1/2
Third Contest: Lex Luger defeated Steve “Mongo” McMichael: They line up like they are football players with Mongo tossing Luger down to the canvas and taunting the fans as a result. Mongo manages to toss Luger down a second time and Ric Flair gets on a microphone to yell at the fans. A third line up with Luger winning it by simply backing Mongo up against the ropes until the referee pulls them apart. Mongo gets a cheap shot in and works on Luger with a few right hands until Luger comes off the ropes with a clothesline and shoulder blocks Mongo to the floor. Mongo kicks Luger in the midsection and stomps away on Luger to regain control of the contest. Flair chokes Luger from the floor as the referee was distracted. Mongo hammers away on Luger in the corner and sends Luger hard back first into the corner. Mongo gets a near fall following a side slam. Mongo clotheslines Luger and gets a two count on a cover attempt. Luger fights out of a sleeper hold with several clotheslines and power slams Mongo. Luger attempts a back suplex on Mongo from the apron but Mongo punches Luger and gets a near fall as Luger gets his foot on the bottom rope. Ric Flair enters the ring and stomps away on Luger, which isn’t a DQ. Luger gets up and clotheslines Mongo to the floor. Luger places Flair in the Torture Rack and is awarded the contest. ½*
Fourth Contest: Carl Oulette defeated the Giant by disqualification: Oulette avoids a clothesline and punches Giant in the side a few times. Giant is wearing an eye patch, but eventually takes it off and works on Oulette in the corner with knee lifts and chops. Giant clotheslines Oulette in the corner and delivers a few chops. Giant delivers a flurry of knee lifts and overhand strikes to keep the advantage. Giant sends Oulette shoulder first into the corner and works on Oulette’s left arm with a leg drop and a knee drop. Giant has a bear hug locked in but Oulette gets out of it and attempts a scoop slam but Giant falls on top of Oulette for a near fall. Giant big boots Oulette and connects with a side slam for a two count. Giant grabs the referee for counting extremely slow. Giant scoop slams Oulette several times but misses a knee drop. Oulette works on Giant’s right knee with several stomps and hammers away on Giant for a few moments. Oulette shoulder blocks Giant several times and is able to clothesline Giant over the top to the floor. Oulette punches Giant until Giant sends Oulette into the guard railing. Giant shoves the referee away on the floor and tries to enter the ring but the referee prevents Giant for entering? The referee rolls into the ring and awards the match to Oulette by disqualification. DUD
Main Event: Jacques Rougeau defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan in a non-title match: Jacques avoids a cheap shot from Hogan and hammers away on the champ with right hands. Jacques comes off the ropes and nails Hogan with a running forearm smash. Jacques rams Hogan face first into the top turnbuckle a few times and punches Hogan to the floor. Hogan returns to the ring and nails Jacques with several right hands. Jacques battles back with a few right hands but Hogan stops the momentum and punches Jacque several times in the corner. Hogan chops Jacques several times in the corner and connects with a running clothesline in the corner. Hogan chokes Jacques briefly as well. Jacques tries to fight back with right hands but Hogan pokes Jacques in the eyes several times. Jacques ducks a right hand and punches Hogan to the floor. Jacques and Hogan brawl to the floor where Jacques punches Hogan several times until Hogan comes back with chops and right hands of his own. Hogan rams Jacques face first into the guard railing. Hogan botches an attempt to crotch Jacques on the guard railing. Hogan delivers several punches on the floor to add more punishment. Jacques rams Hogan face first into the guard railing and delivers a few shots. The referee is not counting these guys because if he were, this would be a double count-out. Jacques whacks Hogan over the back with a flag but Hogan sends Jacques chest first into the ring post. Hogan whacks Jacques over the back with a chair and continues to stomp away on Jacques. Back in the ring, Hogan connects with a back suplex and taunts Jacques. Hogan rubs Jacques face into the mat to add insult to injury. Hogan backdrops Jacques and connects with a few elbow drops for a two count. Hogan big boots Jacques and goes for the cover but Jacques kicks out at two. Hogan bites Jacques forehead after having a chin lock on Jacques for a few moments. Jacques ducks a clothesline and both men go down following a double clothesline! Hogan comes off the ropes but misses an elbow drop. Jacques connects with a leaping uppercut and leaps off the middle rope hitting Hogan with a fist drop! Jacques comes off the middle rope with another fist drop but doesn’t go for the cover. Hogan avoids a springboard cross body attempt and Hogan connects with the leg drop but doesn’t go for the cover. Hogan instead hits Jacques with a second leg drop. Hogan stands over Jacques slapping and punching Jacques several times. Hogan goes for a vertical suplex but Jacques rolls Hogan up and picks up the clean win! *
My Take: Well, I am pretty shocked at just how awful of a show this was.
Jericho/Jarrett was a match I was thinking could possibly be a *** star match but they didn’t deliver a good showing. Jericho had a few good moves in there but they didn’t really flow well together. The referee for the match butchered the finish, by the way.
The tag match was pretty much a formula tag match, really. I couldn’t get into it as I honestly didn’t have much interest in it. Booker T is really over with the fans and at this point needs to be a singles wrestler.
Luger/Mongo was awful. The finish reminded me of Hogan/Vader at Uncensored where Flair lost to Hogan despite not being a legal participant in the match and was actually retired. I hated the finish here as I can’t imagine WCW feeling the need to protect Mongo.
Oulette/Giant was just a complete and utter disgrace to wrestling. I’m not sure if they were having a crooked referee angle or something but the referee really killed the match. They did absolutely nothing and the fans were not happy with the finish.
The main reason I watched this show was for the Hogan/Jacques main event. It is a rarity to see Hogan lose a match cleanly. Surprisingly, Jacques managed to pin Hogan. Not so surprisingly was the fact that the match blew completely. I was very happy to see the end of the match as I felt like I wasted an hour and a half of my life watching the show.
Overall, there is nothing good about this house show. One of the worst shows I have ever witnessed in my life. This house show is only remembered for the fact that Hogan lost cleanly to Jacques. To prove how bad of a show this was, even the guys working the jumbo screen spelled Luger and Hogan’s names incorrectly. “Les Luger” and “Hulk Hoogan” were the names spelled. When that happens, you know it’s going to be a long night. No need to search for this show, avoid at all costs.
Thanks for reading.