World Wrestling Federation presents Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: 3/29/1997
From:
Matches:
1.) Mankind defeated Aldo Montoya
2.) Crush defeated Barry Horowitz
3.) Histeria defeated Venum
4.) Jesse James defeated Sony Rogers
5.) New Blackjacks (Bradshaw & Windham) defeated RT Williams & Rod Bell
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Mankind pummels Montoya with strikes in the corner and stomps to the midsection. Mankind sends Montoya into the corner, but is met with a boot. Mankind continues to forearm Montoya several times. Mankind nails Montoya with a running knee strike in the corner and screams in Aldo’s face. Mankind pulls his hair out and stuffs the hair into Montoya’s mouth. Mankind continues with a running boot off the ropes and delivers an elbow drop. Mankind stomps Montoya several times to maintain the advantage. Mankind puts Montoya in the tree of woe and hits a running forearm smash. Mankind spikes Montoya with a piledriver and signals for the Mandible Claw. Mankind locks in the claw and Montoya passes out giving Mankind the victory. (*1/2. A dominate performance for Mankind, as it should be. I’m surprised Montoya didn’t even get a little bit of a hope spot to make the match interesting at least.) After the match, Mankind pit the Mandible Claw on Gerald Brisco.
2.) Horowitz gets on Crush’s back and delivers an eye rake followed by a few uppercuts. Horowitz ducks a clothesline, but is met with a big boot. Crush drops Horowitz throat first over the top rope and heads to the top rope delivering a strike over the back. Crush controls Horowitz with a nerve hold, but Horowitz doesn’t submit. Horowitz breaks free, but Crush hits a belly to belly suplex. Crush continues with a leg drop. Crush taunts the fans. Horowitz shoulder rams Crush, but Crush responds with a backbreaker for a two count as Crush pulled Horowitz up at two. Crush tries for a suplex, but Horowitz counters with a DDT. Horowitz knee lifts Crush and delivers a dropkick. Crush nails Horowitz with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Crush nails Horowitz with a Heart Punch to win the match. (*1/2. A simple and effective match for Crush. Remember when Horowitz had a brief push in 1995? That feels like a decade ago.)
3.) Histeria and Venum trade strikes until Venum delivers a dragon screw leg whip. Histeria snapmares Venum and follows up with a leg sweep. Venum hits a wheelbarrow suplex before going to the top and missing a corkscrew dive. Histeria goes to the top rope missing a corkscrew dive of his own. Venum hits a spinning heel kick and hits a sit down powerbomb for a two count. Venum sits Histeria on the top turnbuckle, but Histeria blocks the move. Histeria hits a nice somersault hurricanrana off the top rope. Venum misses a running knee strike and falls to the floor. Histeria misses a suicide dive to the floor. Venum takes Histeria out with a springboard moonsault. Histeria hits a a hurricanrana off of Venum’s shoulders and hits a springboard dropkick. Histeria heads to the top rope and takes Venum out with a corkscrew dive to the floor! Histeria stops Venum on the top rope and slams Venum off to the mat. They trade a series of pin attempts. Venum hits a standing moonsault for a two count. Venum misses a splash in the corner. Histeria plants Venum with a powerbomb and heads to the top rope. Histeria hits a shooting star press for the win. (***. They are trying their best to compete with the WCW Cruiserweight division, but it comes across as a cheap knockoff. This was a good match, though. The high flying and daredevil tactics certainly connected with me. Especially when you compare it to anything else in WWF it’s going to deliver better results.)
4.) Rogers backs James into a corner, but James breaks free and puts a hammerlock on Rogers. Rogers puts a headlock on James, but James responds with a hip toss and a shoulder block. James punches Rogers against the ropes and sends Rogers through the ropes to the floor. James leaps off the apron to clothesline Rogers on the floor. James kicks Rogers and hits a pump handle slam for the win. (1/2*. James basically did his finisher and that’s it. This character isn’t going to last. There’s no way.)
5.) Bradshaw works over Bell in the corner with knee strikes and boots. Bradshaw continues with a back suplex and taunts the crowd. Windham enters the match and double shoulder block Bell. Williams tags in and is met with a right hand by Windham. Windham hooks Williams to hit a suplex. Windham continues with several strikes and a dropkick as Williams comes off the ropes. Williams is rammed into Bradshaw’s boot in the corner. Bradshaw delivers a big boot followed by several elbow drops. Windham hits a clotheslines on Williams and hits a back suplex. Windham delivers another suplex and Bradshaw destroys Williams with a vicious clothesline for the win. After the match, Jim Cornette comes out and seemingly offers the Blackjacks a contract. Blackjacks reject the offer. Windham kicks Cornette on the ass. (*. Are the Blackjacks turning face? In any event, I like the Blackjacks.)
6.) Sunny hosts Sunny Undercover. Sunny asks how many people know what happened behind the scenes when WrestleMania was over with. Sunny says that Steve Austin refused medical attention and abused EMTs. Austin notes that Austin tried to drive with a concussion. Sunny brings up Bret Hart. Sid was so mad over Bret’s involvement, but couldn’t find Hitman. Sid demanded a match against Bret, and we’ll have to find out when the match will take place. JR says the match may happen April 20th (IYH). Sunny wonders if Paul Bearer is trying to make Undertaker easy prey for Mankind. Sunny knows that Mankind will do whatever it takes to get his claw on the gold. Owen & Bulldog are defending the tag titles against LOD on April 20th, but they are wrestling for the European Championship on RAW. Sunny says that everyone is wondering how she feels about not winning the Ms. Slammy award. Sunny says that she could have won the award if she did a few favors for an unknown official. Sunny suggests that Sable did the favors instead of her because she wanted the award so badly.
Final Thoughts:
Sunny Undercover feels like an attempt to be a WWF tabloid segment. I don’t think it connects well. The show overall was an enjoyable one, though.
Thanks for reading.