World Wrestling Federation presents: Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: 1/11/1997
From: New York, NY
Matches:
1.) Fake Diesel defeated Marc Mero
2.) Faarooq defeated Savio Vega
3.) Rocky Maivia defeated Fake Razor Ramon
4.) Doug Furnas & Phil LaFonn defeated the Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher)
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Honkytonk Man cuts a promo while someone gets their shoes shined.
2.) Sable and Marc Mero arriving to the venue via a limo is shown.
3.) Todd Pettengill says that the Sisters of Love were arrested for soliciting. Thus, they won’t be competing tonight. They show footage of the arrest outside the Disney store.
4.) Diesel attacks Mero from behind with several right hands. Diesel nails Mero with an elbow strike as Mero came off the ropes. Diesel goes to the floor to stalk towards Sable. Sable throws food into Diesel’s face. Mero rams Diesel onto a table that someone is eating on and they return to the ring. Mero drives Diesel down to the mat with a facebuster. Mero continues to work over Diesel with strikes in the corner. Mero ducks a clothesline and knee lifts Diesel followed by a few clotheslines, but Diesel only staggers. Diesel nails Mero with a big boot. Sable is interviewed saying she didn’t like what Diesel was doing and makes a cake joke. Diesel rams Mero into the corner to maintain control of the bout. Diesel clotheslines Mero in the corner and taunts the crowd. Diesel kicks Mero a few times followed by strikes and chokes Mero on the mat. Diesel clotheslines Mero and connects with an elbow drop for a near fall. Mero fires back with right hands, but a knee lift sends Mero to the apron and then the floor. Razor Ramon comes out and attacks Mero on the floor as Sable screams. Rocky Maivia comes out and attacks Ramon to help Mero. The show goes to commercial.
Mero elbows free from Diesel, but is met with a knee lift. Diesel chokes Mero in the corner Diesel knee lifts Mero in the corner several times. Diesel chokes Mero over the middle rope as we see Pettengill talking to Honkytonk Man. Diesel drives Mero down with a side slam for a two count. Diesel drives Mero down with a vertical suplex leading to a near fall. Diesel continues with a few forearms and right hands in the corner. Diesel taunts the crowd while Mero struggles in the corner. Mero fights back with a boot and right hands. Diesel clubs Mero over the back with a strike and rams Mero into the corner. Diesel scoop slams Mero to the mat. Diesel climbs to the top and hits a flying clothesline. Mero fights back with strikes out of the corner, but Diesel cuts Mero off quickly. Diesel clubs Mero over the back with several strikes. Mero fights back with a few strikes, but Diesel delivers a swinging slam for a two count. Mero fights back with a head scissors takedown. Mero ducks a clothesline and hits a leaping clothesline of his own. Mero boots Diesel in the corner and delivers another clothesline. Mero heads to the top rope and hits an impressive springboard moonsault. Mero goes to the floor to confront Honkytonk Man. Diesel axe handles Mero from the apron and rolls Mero back into the ring. Diesel plants Mero with the Jackknife and pins Mero for the win. (**. So, this was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Diesel hitting a top rope clothesline felt a little bit weird because if you’re cosplaying as a previous performer doing a move that he never did comes across a little bizarre. Anyway, this is a big win for fake Diesel, and I wonder if this is the WWF pivoting away from a face Mero.) After the match, Sable gets in the ring to talk to Mero, but Mero looks frustrated and walks off as Sable cries apologizing for essentially costing Mero the match. Honkytonk gets in the ring, but Rocky Maivia enters the ring to scare Honky out of the ring. Rocky helps Sable to her feet, but Mero comes back to the ring and shoves Rocky. They begin to trade right hands in the middle of the ring as Sable freaks out in the corner. Several referees come out to break them apart. Yeah, this sure feels like a potential Mero heel turn.
5.) They show mugshots of the Sisters of Love.
6.) Faarooq controls Vega with a sleeper as the match started during the commercial break. Faarooq uses the ropes for leverage, but Vega doesn’t give in. Faarooq clubs Vega over the back, but Vega comes back to hit a double clothesline and both men go down. Faarooq clubs Vega over the back a few times. Pettengill chats with fans in the crowd about Sunny’s sex tape and of course they wish it was them with Sunny. Faarooq chokes Vega over the bottom rope. Vega stands up with Faarooq on his shoulders and hits an electric chair slam. Vega backdrops Faarooq coming off the ropes and hits a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Vega overhand chops Faarooq followed by several chops to the chest. Vega spin kicks Faarooq to the mat and plays to the crowd before managing a two count. JC Ice and Wolfie D get involved with Ice hitting an axe handle off the ropes to help Faarooq. Faarooq takes Vega over with a snap suplex leading to a near fall. Faarooq continues with strikes in the corner and an eye rake stops Vega’s comeback. Vega delivers several punches, but Faarooq locks in a sleeper until Vega drops down with a jawbreaker. Vega misses a splash in the corner and Faarooq hits a spinebuster for the clean win. (*1/2. I’m not entirely sure how much was missed due to the commercial, but this wasn’t too bad, really. I appreciate the clean finish as a heel Faarooq getting more momentum leading into Royal Rumble showdown with Ahmed Johnson makes a lot of sense to me.)
7.) Sunny warns the audience to send the kids to bed as we see her home sex tape. Sunny is with an Elmo doll. Sunny teases a reveal of the man she makes love to every night. There’s a knock at the door and it’s a guy dressed in an Elmo costume. The lights go out and sexual noises are made. The lights come on and Sunny is covering herself with sheets. It’s suppose to be humorous, but I’m not able to find the humor.
8.) Todd Pettengill and Honkytonk Man decide to take some time and sing because that’s what this show needs.
9.) Ramon attacks Rocky in the corner before the bell for the cheap advantage. Rocky responds with a right hand and a couple of dropkicks. Rocky controls Ramon with a side headlock before switching to a hammerlock. Rocky sends Ramon into the ropes and Ramon is met with a drop toe hold. Ramon crawls to the corner to regroup. Rocky takes Ramon down with another headlock. The show goes to commercial with Rocky having a headlock on Ramon. Back from break, Ramon clotheslines Rocky to the mat. Ramon forearms Rocky in the corner followed by a chop. Ramon misses a clothesline and Rocky hits a crossbody off the ropes for a two count. Ramon recovers with a clothesline. Ramon forearms Rocky in the corner and continues with a snapmare and locks in a chin lock. Rocky runs into a throat thrust by Ramon. Ramon keeps Rocky on the mat with a chin lock. Ramon keeps an arm bar on Rocky and pulls Rocky’s hair. Ramon knee lifts Rocky in the midsection and clotheslines Rocky from behind to send Rocky to the floor. Honky attacks Rocky on the floor before rolling Rocky back into the ring. Ramon signals for the Razors Edge, but Rocky counters with a backdrop. Rocky gets out of a slam and drives Ramon down with a shoulder breaker for the clean win. (*1/2. It’s a little weird to see the NYC crowd respond to Rocky in a positive way since they tend to hate the character. It’s a decent match for what it was, but it felt rushed likely due to time.)
10.) Outside, Todd Pettengill is trying to explain how being homeless is worthwhile. Nikolai Volkoff appears out of a cardboard box and they cut away from him.
11.) Goldust on Vanity Fair magazine is shown and Vince McMahon says that Goldust is pregnant and giving birth next week on Shotgun Saturday Night. Uh, what?
12.) Mosh and LaFon kickoff the tag match with LaFon tossing Mosh with an arm drag. LaFon continues with a jawbreaker, but Mosh delivers a strike out of the corner and slams LaFon. Mosh misses an elbow drop coming off the ropes. Furnas tags into the match and kicks Mosh against the ropes. Mosh clotheslines Furnas out of the corner as Thrasher tags into the match and leaps off the top to clothesline Furnas for a two count. Thrasher strikes Furnas against the ropes. The show goes to commercial during the bout.
We return to Todd Pettengill promoting next weeks show in San Antonio. LaFon kicks Mosh followed by a clothesline and a snap suplex. LaFon gets a two count after a senton splash. LaFon plants Mosh with a DDT, but Thrasher makes the save. Furnas and Thrasher brawl in the ring as the show goes off the air. We’ll see the finish next week on the show. (NR. It’s a bummer that they couldn’t finish the match on the show. I was enjoying the action.)
Final Thoughts:
It looks like Mero is going to be moving towards a jealous husband character and feud with Rocky over Sable. I’m wondering if this would lead to Sable bailing on Mero to be with Rocky down the road. It’s a decent overall episode as there were angles that kept the viewer interested.
Thanks for reading.