World Wrestling Federation presents Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: 5/31/1997
From:
Matches:
1.) Faarooq, Savio Vega & Crush defeated WWF World Champion The Undertaker, Vader & Mankind
2.) Phineas Godwinn fought Blackjack Bradshaw to a double count-out
3.) The Headbangers defeated Flash Funk & Rocky Maivia by disqualification
4.) Tony Williams defeated Scott Taylor
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Mankind and Vega kickoff the six man tag match. Mankind shoulder blocks Vega followed by a leg drop to the back of the head for a one count. Vega regroups in the corner before attacking Mankind from behind. Mankind is triple teamed in the corner and falls to the floor where Crush pummels Mankind with right hands. Vega continues to strike Mankind, but Vader delivers a knee from the apron to stop Vega. Vader tags into the match and headbutts Vega in the corner several times. Vader wants to tag in Taker, but Taker isn’t interested. Mankind drops Vega over the top rope throat first. Vega fights back with right hands on Vader and tags in Faarooq. Faarooq decks Vader with a clothesline and punches Vader in the corner. Vader nails Faarooq with a body strike and Crush tags into the match. Vader strikes Crush followed by a headbutt as the show goes to commercial.
Vega works over Vader with several strikes in the corner to maintain control of the match. Vader forearms Vega several times and Mankind tags into the match. Mankind pummels Vega in the corner, but Vega hits a spinning heel kick in the corner and delivers a few stomps. Mankind is triple teamed in the corner. Crush eye rakes Mankind in the corner and delivers a shot to the ribs. Crush scoop slams Mankind followed by a leg drop a couple of times. Faarooq enters the match and kicks Mankind in the ribs followed by strikes. Mankind drives Faarooq down to the mat face first to gain momentum. Mankind tries to tag out, but Taker decks Vader off the apron to prevent the tag. Mankind low blows Faarooq and tags in a distracted Undertaker. Taker stomps Faarooq and decks Vega to the floor. Taker tags in Vader, but Faarooq tags in and gets a rollup on Vader to get a three count. After the match, Undertaker grabs Vader, but Paul Bearer regains order amongst the trio. (*1/2. This is a pretty big match, but it was mostly used for angle advancement between Taker/Vader/Bearer and a little bit of promotion for the Taker/Faarooq PPV match. Action wise it was pretty basic and simple.)
2.) Phineas puts a headlock on Bradshaw to kickoff the match and continues with a shoulder block before playing to the crowd. Bradshaw clubs Phineas over the back and they trade strikes in the corner. Bradshaw comes off the ropes with a shoulder block, but runs into a clothesline. Phineas headbutts Bradshaw through the ropes to the floor. Phineas rams Bradshaw onto the apron and they return to the ring. Bradshaw clotheslines Phineas to maintain control of the match. Bradshaw clotheslines Phineas in the corner and plays to the crowd. Bradshaw hits a side Russian leg sweep and manages a two count on Phineas. Bradshaw slams Phineas and goes to the middle rope, but is met with a big boot. Phineas punches Bradshaw several times and delivers a back elbow. Phineas scoop slams Bradshaw and is tripped by Windham. Windham and Phineas brawl until Henry Godwinn comes over and all four men brawl on the floor causing the referee to throw the match out. After the match, Windham and Godwinn trade strikes in the ring. Bradshaw and Phineas continue to brawl on the other side of the ring. Eventually a second referee comes out to regain order.
3.) Backstage, Paul Bearer is pissed about Undertaker, Mankind and Vader losing the six man tag match. Bearer tells Undertaker that the days of him doing things his own way are long over with. Bearer tells Taker he will do what Bearer says and enjoy it. Vader and Mankind laugh at Taker’s expense.
4.) Vince McMahon conducted an in-ring interview with Brian Pillman to promote Pillman’s match with Steve Austin at King of the Ring. Pillman notes they are not strangers. Pillman is glad that Vince got this assignment and knows that Vince knows how it feels to get stabbed in the back. Pillman says that nothing can mask the dark, cold realities behind the scenes. Pillman remembers their time together in the bush leagues (WCW). Pillman says that Austin cut his blonde hair and left that federation. Pillman thinks that Austin has tricked the fans into thinking he doesn’t care. Vince reminds us of Austin breaking Pillman’s ankle back in October. Pillman gave Austin his great gift of revenge. We see footage of Austin breaking into Pillman’s home, but not the gun scene. Pillman makes note of them not airing his response on the show. Pillman promises we will see whatever it takes at KOTR to get the job done. Pillman says that Austin can’t wash the blood from his hands to forget what they accomplished together. Pillman says that Austin better hope that John 3:16 shows up instead of Austin 3:16.
5.) Rocky and Funk attack the Headbangers before the bell. Rocky and Funk hit double clotheslines and dropkicks to send the Headbangers to the floor. Mosh works over Funk with several strikes and tries for a backslide, but Thrasher enters and punches Funk several times. Funk backdrops Thrasher and takes Mosh over. Mosh dropkicks Thrasher on accident and Funk dropkicks Mosh to the floor. Rocky tags into the match as Thrasher tags into the match, as well. Thrasher leapfrogs over Rocky, but is met with a clothesline. Thrasher eye rakes Rocky, but Rocky powerslams Thrasher for a two count as Mosh breaks the cover. Thrasher clotheslines Rocky and Mosh returns to the match. Rocky is driven down to the mat gut first as the show goes to commercial.
Thrasher returns to the match and hits a top rope clothesline on Rocky for a two count. Rocky plants Thrasher with a Rock Bottom and both men are down. Funk gets tagged in and pummels Mosh with strikes and a dropkick. Funk dropkicks Thrasher into the corner, as well. Funk fights off Mosh and Thrasher. Funk slams Mosh and hits a top rope moonsault, but Thrasher breaks the cover. Rocky dropkicks Mosh through the ropes to the floor. Rocky clotheslines Mosh over the top to the floor. Mosh comes back with a boombox, but Funk nails Mosh with the boombox several times, and the referee calls for a disqualification. (*1/2. There was actually a reason for the match since the Headbangers hit Funk with a boombox on RAW, but for the most part, the crowd didn’t care for this one. There was a few decent moments, but it was a boring match.)
6.) Backstage, Faarooq is having a state of the nation meeting with his group, Crush and Savio Vega. Faarooq says he needs to constantly prove himself as a black man. Faarooq declares that there’s no problems with the Nation. Faarooq notes that there has never been a black heavyweight champion. Faarooq says it is time for a black champion and promises that Undertaker is a deadman. Savio says “by any means necessary.”
7.) Taylor and Williams shake hands and they trade wrist locks in the opening moments of the match. Taylor shoulder blocks Williams and runs the ropes to deliver a few chops. Taylor dropkicks a seated Williams and plays to the crowd. Williams arm drags Taylor and manages a two count. Taylor plants Williams with a tilt a whirl slam for a two count. Taylor slams Williams and heads to the top rope. Williams dropkicks Taylor off the ropes to the floor. Williams takes Taylor out with a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Taylor backdrops Williams over the top to the floor. Taylor baseball slides Williams on the floor and goes to the apron. Taylor hit a springboard twisting crossbody on the floor. Taylor climbs to the top, but avoids Williams and misses a spear in the corner hitting the post. Williams hits a snap suplex leading to a near fall. Taylor backdrops Williams coming off the ropes and is dumped to the apron. Taylor rolls into the ring and gets a rollup on Williams, but Williams rolls through and keeps Taylor down for the three count. (**. I enjoyed Williams and Taylor is usually good in his performances. It’s a bit weird that Taylor had a major upset win on RAW over Leif Cassidy and then loses here for seemingly no reason.)
Final Thoughts:
An average episode this week as the main event scene manages to get some more hype and the undercard matches were fine for what they were.
Thanks for reading.