World Wrestling Federation presents Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: 4/5/1997
From: Peoria, IL
Matches:
1.) Mankind defeated Bob Holly
2.) Psycho Sid defeated Jerry Fox
3.) Ludxor, Super Nova, Discovery & Venum defeated Abismo Negro, El Mosco, Maniaco, & Histeria
4.) Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon defeated Aldo Montoya & RT Williams
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Bob Holly has gotten to the point in his career where he doesn’t get an entrance. He’s still sporting the Sparky Plugg attire, which has been about two years past its expiration.
2.) Holly starts off with strikes and stomps in the corner for the early advantage. Holly pummels Mankind with several strikes in the corner. Mankind strikes Holly several times and bites Holly’s forehead before delivering another strike on the mat. Holly comes off the ropes to tackle Mankind, but Mankind ends up on top and gets the advantage. Mankind comes off the ropes to deliver an elbow drop and rams Holly face first onto the mat for a one count. Holly knocks Mankind down with a dropkick, but can’t followup. Mankind headbutts Holly and avoids a dropkick by hanging onto the ropes. Mankind signals for the Mandible Claw, but Holly ducks under and puts a sleeper on Mankind, but they fall through the ropes to the floor. Holly leaps off the apron and lands on the railing chest first as the show goes to commercial.
Mankind continues to work over Holly with strikes in the corner. Mankind charges and hits a running knee strike. Mankind locks in the Mandible Claw and wins the match as Holly passes out. (*1/2. I feel bad for Holly as his career is completely down the drain being regulated to literal enhancement work on the lowest level show the company has. Mankind is the number one contender and gets a highlight on the show, makes the show a little more important.)
3.) Kevin Kelly conducted an interview with Paul Bearer and Mankind with Kelly asking if Bearer is ashamed for what he did to Undertaker. Bearer gets in Kelly’s face and asks who Kelly thinks he is and shoves Kelly away. Bearer praises Mankind and says they buried the deadman again. Mankind chimes in and says that in his heart and soul he knows he’s the better man. Mankind had an Undertaker BBQ. Mankind enjoyed the stench of Taker’s burning flesh. Mankind says anything he does to the Undertaker has already been done to him. Mankind promises they will change places forever at IYH. Mankind says that Undertaker is the cream of the crop, but sometimes the scum in the lake rises to the top, as well. Mankind declares that he’s going to walk out the WWF World Champion on April 20th.
4.) Sid works over Fox with strikes in the corner to gain the early advantage. Sid kicks Fox several times in the ribs and delivers a big boot after missing a clothesline attempt. Fox bails to the floor and is followed Sid. Sid drops Fox over the railing ribs first and rolls Fox back into the ring. Sid tosses Fox with a whirly bird slam. Sid grabs Fox by the throat and signals for the chokeslam. Sid plants Fox down to the mat and plays to the crowd. Sid signals for the powerbomb and hits it for the easy win. (*. Sid is the man.) After the match, Bret Hart, British Bulldog and Owen appear at the top of the ramp watching Sid. Sid plays to the crowd. Bret, Bulldog and Owen make their way down towards the ring. Sid finally sees them and is ready to fight. Hawk and Animal enter the ring from behind to have Sid’s back.
5.) A special look at Ken Shamrock, who put an ankle lock on Billy Gunn three weeks ago on RAW. We see footage of Shamrock competing at UFC events.
6.) Nova and Maniaco kickoff the eight man tag match with Maniaco getting control, but Nova comes back with a shoulder block. Nova overhand chops Maniaco, but Maniaco drops Nova to the mat gut first. Maniaco hits an electric chair slam, but Nova comes back with a head scissors and a slam. Nova hits a slingshot elbow drop from the apron. Nova leaps off the middle rope, but is met with a big boot. Maniaco misses a spear in the corner and hits the post. Nova chops Manaico and hits a twisting crossbody off the top to the floor. Luxor and El Mosco are in the ring with Luxor delivering a few chops. Luxor hits a head scissors and a hurricanrana. Mosco powerbombs Luxor and taunts the crowd. Mosco heads to the top, but misses a splash attempt. Luxor clotheslines Mosco to the floor and hits a dive to the outside. Discovery and Negro enter the match with Negro hitting a spinebuster as the show goes to commercial.
Venum dropkicks Histeria upon returning from commercial. Histeria misses a dive and Venum hits a nice hurricanrana followed by a head scissors. Venum sends Histeria to the floor. Venum takes Histeria out with a corkscrew dive to the floor. Negro dropkicks Discovery to the floor and hits a senton splash. Nova arm drags Histeria, but gets kicked off the apron. Histeria misses a somersault dive to the floor. Venum hits a hurricanrana, but misses a splash in the corner. Negro kicks Venum to the floor and hits a somersault dive to the floor. Luxor dropkicks Maniaco, but Luxor comes back with a backdrop. Maniaco is stopped on the top and Luxor hit an arm drag. Luxor manages to keep Maniaco down with a standing rollup for the win. (**1/2. The finish was a bit… odd. It almost felt like as if it wasn’t suppose to be the finish. Anyway, it’s the typical car crash kind of match that is hard to cover when you don’t know the guys. It was enjoyable, but mindless stuff.)
7.) LaFon and Montoya kickoff the main event with LaFon backing off from Montoya in the corner. LaFon heel kicks Montoya to the mat and continues with a chop in the corner. Montoya monkey flips LaFon out of the corner, and they have a standoff. LaFon forearms Montoya followed by a strike, but Montoya delivers a kick to the head. Williams tags into the match and gains wrist control on LaFon before delivering a slam. Williams misses a leg drop as Jim Cornette makes his way down to ringside. Furnas tags into the match and dropkicks Williams as Cornette is scouting LaFon and Furnas. Furnas tosses Montoya with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Montoya takes Furnas over with a hurricanrana and Williams tags in, but is knocked down by Furnas. LaFon enters to deliver a few knee strikes and takes Williams down to the mat and deliver a flurry of strikes. LaFon decks Williams with a clothesline. LaFon continues with a snap suplex and tags in Furnas. Furnas scoop slams Williams and locks in a Boston Crab, but Williams doesn’t give in. Furnas follows up with a powerslam and knocks Montoya off the apron to the floor. Williams is met with a double backdrop as Montoya struggles on the floor. LaFon hits a cobra clutch suplex for the win on Williams. (*1/2. I like Furnas and LaFon and their shine here was done well. Their style of wrestling is different than the heavy brawling that is currently in the division.)
8.) Sunny Undercover is up next with Sunny laying in bed on the top of the aisle. Sunny says everyone is wondering if Mankind has something else up his sleeve. Sunny says that he does, according to a source, and it could be his daddy. Sunny brings up Honkytonk Man having a new protege since Jesse James declined the offer. Sunny brings up WWF Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia and how shocked he was when his father showed up at WrestleMania. Sunny wonders why Tony Atlas was in the crowd (looking for work, according to Pillman on commentary). Sunny says the Hart Family will continue to grow and by the summers end they will be a foursome to be reckoned with. Sunny suggests the fourth person may not be a wrestler, or even a man. Sunny says they may be in for some sunny days.
Final Thoughts:
The added star power this week made it an easy watch. Plus, the lucha eight man tag was a fun match for a mindless spot fest match. I enjoyed the episode.
Thanks for reading.