WWF House Show 5/30/1997

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation House Show
Date: 5/30/1997
From: San Jose, CA

Opening Contest: Bob Holly vs. Leif Cassidy: Holly blocks a cheap shot in the corner and punches Leif away in the corner. Holly continues his offense with right hands until Cassidy rolls to the corner. Holly runs the ropes but Leif hits a hip toss. Holly rebounds with a side headlock quickly. Holly hip tosses and a scoop slam on Cassidy. Leif clips over onto the apron but manages to clothesline Bob anyway. Leif super kicks Holly and stomps away on Sparky. Holly hits a standing hurricanrana for a near fall. Cassidy comes back with a snap suplex and heads to the top after taunting the fans. Leif looks for a moonsault but Holly rolls out of the way! Holly backdrops Leif and hits a dropkick for a near fall. Holly runs over Cassidy with a clothesline for a near fall. Leif counters a hurricanrana attempt with a sit down power bomb and wins the match. (**. A fine opener to kick off the show. They got about six minutes of time and they kept it basic for the most part. Holly really has fallen down the card if he is losing to Cassidy at this point.)

Second Contest: The New Blackjacks vs. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon: Furnas and LaFon attack before the bell to get the upper hand on the bigger opponents. Bradshaw sends Furnas to the floor with a big foot and Windham punches LaFon to the floor. Furnas and LaFon leave the ring and start to walk to the backstage area but are caught by the Blackjacks. Eventually, Bradshaw has Furnas in the ring and hits a back suplex. Furnas continues to be worked over by Windham. Bradshaw enters and big boots Furnas. LaFon distracts Windham and Furnas gets a low blow in to get the upper hand. LaFon takes Windham over with a gut wrench suplex and along with Furnas they hammer away on Windham. Furnas gets a near fall after a suplex on Windham. Windham nearly wins with an inside cradle. LaFon continues to kick Windham in the corner several times to maintain control of the bout. Windham takes LaFon over with a vertical suplex. Bradshaw and Furnas get the hot tags with Bradshaw cleaning house. Bradshaw scoop slams both men and drops Furner with a leaping clothesline for a two count. Bradshaw is taken down with a double suplex. Windham switches places with Bradshaw while the referee is distracted. Windham gets an inside cradle and pins Furnas. (*1/2. A boring match between two teams that don’t exactly give me a reason to care. Blackjacks playing the face role when I thought they were always a heel. Oh well.)

Third Contest: Jesse James vs. Rockabilly: Billy quickly stomps away on James as he rolled into the ring for the match. James goes to work on Billy in the corner and strikes him in the midsection before hitting a clothesline over the top to the floor. Billy decides to leave to the back as well but James catches him and delivers a right hand. Billy pokes James in the eyes while in the corner and hits the Fame-Asser but only gets a two count. James ducks a clothesline and delivers a few jabs before a clothesline in the corner. Billy comes off the ropes and quickly plants James with a DDT for a near fall. Billy hits a swinging neck breaker and gets the win. (*. A short match and a decisive win for Billy right in the middle of the ring. These two would end up being a better tag team than his match, obviously.)

Fourth Contest: Goldust vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley: Goldust ducks a wild clothesline and delivers a few jabs before dropping Hunter with clotheslines. Goldust keeps control with punches in the corner. Goldust places Hunter’s hands on his buttocks and plays to the crowd. Hunter comes out of the corner and is met with a butt strike. Hunter drags Goldust to the floor and delivers a right hand but misses a splash attempt and hits the ring post face first! Hunter is also sent into the ring steps. Hunter atomic drops Goldust out of the corner. Hunter keeps working over Goldust in the corner with stomps and strikes. Hunter shoves the referee away and gets his hair pulled as a result. Chyna drops Goldust throat first across the top rope while the referee is distracted. Hunter sends Goldust hard into the corner and taunts the fans. Goldust punches Hunter several times and tries to fight back into the match, but Hunter drops Goldust across his knee to regain control. Hunter has a sleeper hold on Goldust for a few moments. Goldust gets out of it and hammers away on Hunter. Goldust follows up with a running bulldog for a near fall. Goldust sends Hunter into the corner and Hunter falls over the top to the floor. Goldust attempts to suplex Hunter from the apron but Chyna grabs Goldust’s foot and holds him down so Hunter gets the win. (**. A basic match with a basic finish to protect Goldust moving forward. These two have had way better matches.) After the match, Goldust has Chyna in the ring but Hunter comes in with a chair. Goldust senses it and backdrops HHH. Goldust picks up the chair but Hunter bails to the floor to get away.

Fifth Contest: The Legion of Doom vs. Savio Vega & Crush: Hawk and Vega kick off the contest with the crowd well behind LOD for this one. Vega and Crush decide to stall by walking to the backstage area (the third time heels have done this). Animal and Hawk don’t go after them and they instead come back to the match. Hawk grabs Vega on the aisle way and they get started in the ring. Hawk hammers away on Savio in the corner but misses a clothesline only to deliver a big boot. Hawk dropkicks Vega to the floor. Vega rolls back into the ring and clubs away on Hawk to get the advantage. Hawk whips Vega down to the mat by his head and tags in Animal. Animal runs over Vega with a shoulder block. Crush tags into the bout and comes off the ropes but can’t knock Animal down with a shoulder block. They test each other’s power with neither man getting the advantage. Crush gets the better of Animal with a test of strength but Animal comes back only for Crush to deliver a head butt to the midsection. A double clothesline sees neither man go down. Animal drops Crush with a leaping shoulder block and a clothesline over the top to the floor. Hawk enters but Crush traps him in their corner. Vega tags in but Hawk quickly fights out of the corner. Vega avoids a spear in the corner and Hawk hits the ring post shoulder first. Crush chokes Hawk over the middle rope while the referee is distracted. Crush hits a belly to belly suplex on Hawk for a near fall. Crush plants Hawk with a piledriver, who no sells it to deliver a neck breaker. Animal gets the tag and goes after Crush with a dropkick. All four men are going at it in the ring when Vega accidentally hits Crush with a spinning heel kick and Animal gets the win. (*1/2. A boring contest between these two teams. LOD comes across as nostalgia act at this point for me.)

Sixth Contest: Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia: Mankind sends Rocky to the floor where Mankind sits Rocky on a chair but Rocky cuts him off with a right hand. Rocky rams Mankind head first into the top turnbuckle. Rocky leaps off the top rope to strike Mankind with an overhand strike. Rocky backdrops Mankind and delivers a dropkick. Mankind strikes Rocky with a few forearm shots and Rocky sends Mankind to the floor. Mankind hits Rocky with a baseball slide. On the floor, Mankind sends Rocky into the ring steps. Mankind drops Rocky over the top rope throat first and Maivia crashes to the floor. Rocky goes for a sunset flip from the apron and gets a two count. Mankind drops Rocky with a double arm DDT but can’t get a three count. Mankind continues his offense with an elbow strike as Rocky came off the ropes. Rocky manages to fight back with a clothesline to knock Mankind off his feet. Maivia blocks the Mandible Claw and hits the Rock Bottom but Mankind kicks out before three! Rocky plants Mankind with a float over DDT and goes to the top rope. Rocky hits a cross body but Paul Bearer is on the apron and that means Rocky only gets a two count on the cover. Rocky hits a shoulder breaker but Mankind gets his feet on the ropes. Mankind puts the Mandible Claw on Rocky and wins the match. (**1/2. A fine match in comparison to the other matches thus far. The fans weren’t booing Rocky all that much, and they had a good chemistry it seemed. Of course, their matches would be a lot more memorable and violent two years later.)

Seventh Contest: Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq: Ken Shamrock is the special referee for this one. Before the match, Faarooq tries to convince Ahmed that the fans don’t care about him. Vega and Crush are in the ring trying to recruit Ahmed as well. Johnson hugs Vega and Crush! Ahmed turns on them and strikes Vega as Crush bails. Faarooq enters but Ahmed beats him up as well with clotheslines. Faarooq gets the upper hand thanks to Crush and Vega getting a cheap shot in. Ahmed elbows Faarooq in the corner and delivers another clothesline. Faarooq shoulder blocks Ahmed down to the canvas. Ahmed fights back with a spine buster and signals for the end. Ahmed goes for the Pearl River Plunge and hits it! Vega enters but Shamrock takes him down with a belly to belly suplex. Crush jabs Johnson with a chair and Faarooq pins Ahmed. (*. Um, that was quick and not nearly enough time for me to get invested into it. This feud has gone on for far too long.) After the match, Johnson talks to Shamrock about Crush hitting him with the chair. Ken is defending the fact he didn’t see it. Ahmed gets over it and they play to the crowd.

Main Event: WWF World Champion the Undertaker & WWF World Tag Team Champion Steve Austin vs. WWF Intercontinental Champion Owen Hart & WWF European Champion the British Bulldog: Taker and Owen kick off the main event with Taker working over Owen with right hands and choking the IC champ. Austin tags in and hammers away on Owen. Owen runs into a knee lift and Austin comes off the middle rope to hit a forearm drop for a near fall. Bulldog tags in and works over Austin with strikes in the corner. Austin comes out of the corner to deliver a clothesline. Taker tags back into the match and knocks Bulldog down with a right hand. Taker climbs the top and leaps off to come across Bulldog’s arm. Taker is double teamed in the corner for a few moments. Taker tries to fight back but Owen kicks Taker in the knee. Owen has a sleeper on Taker for a brief time. Taker punches his way out and knocks Hart down to the mat. Owen counters a backdrop attempt with a swinging neck breaker. Taker runs over Owen with a clothesline. Austin gets the tag and cleans house on the heels. Brian Pillman enters the ring and causes the disqualification. Pillman gets a Stunner and Owen is met with a choke slam. Austin hits the Stunner on Crush! Savio Vega is met with a choke slam from Taker too! Faarooq is out as well but Taker puts him down with a choke slam. Faarooq bails to the floor and the babyfaces stand tall. (**. A basic match with the top four names in the company but it failed to deliver a satisfying finish to the show.)

Final Thoughts:
A boring two hour house show with there not being a match worth the time to sit down and watch. A disappointing show at a venue that is usually a big market for the WWF.

Thanks for reading.