World Wrestling Federation presents Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: 5/24/1997
From:
Matches:
1.) Brian Pillman defeated Tony Williams
2.) The Godwinns defeated Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon
3.) Ahmed Johnson defeated D’Lo Brown
4.) The New Blackjacks defeated Karl Fergie & Reginald Walker
5.) Jesse James defeated David Haskins
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) This is Brian Pillman’s in-ring WWF debut and is joined by the Hart Foundation. Pillman dominated the match, as expected. Pillman won the match following a neckbreaker.
2.) Phineas and LaFon kickoff the tag match with LaFon slapping Phineas in the corner. LaFon backs off and taunts Phineas. Phineas backs LaFon against the ropes and is slapped again. LaFon offers a handshake, but Phineas doesn’t seem all that interested and spits on his hand. LaFon tries to deliver a boot, but is caught and atomic dropped. Phineas decks LaFon with a right hand. LaFon spin kicks Phineas in the midsection and delivers several strikes. Phineas elbows LaFon coming off the ropes followed by a clothesline. LaFon regroups in the corner and tags in Furnas. Henry tags into the match, as well. Henry controls Furnas with a side headlock, but is sent into the ropes and shoulder blocks Furnas. Henry hip tosses Furnas into the corner. Furnas hammers away on Henry in the corner and delivers a few headbutts. Phineas elbows Furnas charging into the corner to gain the advantage. Phineas runs the ropes, but is stopped by Furnas and LaFon enters the match. LaFon nails Phineas with a spinning heel kick and pulls Phineas backwards with a surfboard by his hair. LaFon taunts Henry allowing Furnas to enter and they hit a double suplex for a two count on Phineas. Furnas tosses Phineas overhead with a suplex. Phineas counters a double suplex attempt by hitting a double DDT. Henry gets the hot tag and cleans house on LaFon and Furnas hitting scoop slams. Henry tries for the Slop Drop, but Furnas makes the save. Henry hits the Slop Drop on LaFon and gets the three count. (*1/2. Since Henry is making his return from a broken neck he didn’t do a whole lot aside from the finish. It was a fine match, but I wish LaFon and Furnas were treated a little bit better.)
3.) Brown decides it’s a good idea to get in Ahmed’s face and is promptly knocked down several times. Johnson pummels Brown in the corner with several strikes and stalks the referee in the corner. Johnson kicks Brown in the corner and delivers a bicycle kick. Johnson hits a sit out front suplex. Johnson connects with a scissors kick. Johnson nails Brown with a clothesline and poses for the crowd. Brown strikes Johnson a few times to get control of the bout. Brown tries for a clothesline, but Johnson doesn’t budge. Brown delivers a spinning heel kick, but Johnson doesn’t move. Johnson blocks a strike and ends up hitting the Pearl River Plunge to cleanly pin Brown. After the match, Crush and Savio Vega enter the ring and attack Johnson until Rocky Maivia slides into the ring to make the save. Rocky is beaten down, too. Rocky fights back and the Nation bail to the floor as Ahmed got to his feet, as well. (*. Ahmed continues to entertain.)
4.) Jim Ross conducted an interview with the Legion of Doom in the ring. LOD challenge for the tag titles at King of the Ring. Animal hypes up the pay per view as a great WWF event. Animal notes they’ve beaten Owen and Bulldog once before and they’ve signed the contracts to get a title shot. Animal realizes that the tag champs are wrestling Michaels and Austin, but they don’t care who the tag champs are because they want the gold. Hawk chimes in and says that beat them, but pinned the wrong guy to save the titles. Hawk says that the champs only job they wil be qualified to have is being a babysitter.
5.) The New Blackjacks easily win their enhancement match when Bradshaw got the pin on Reginald following a lariat.
6.) Jesse James won his enhancement match following a pump handle slam.
Final Thoughts:
An average episode this week as there wasn’t much of anything to get excited about. KOTR is coming along nicely, but that card drastically changes over the next several weeks.
Thanks for reading.