World Wrestling Federation presents Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: 7/19/1997
From: San Antonio, TX
Matches:
1.) The Godwinns defeated Bob Holly & Jesse James
2.) Scott Putski defeated Nick Golden
3.) Flash Funk defeated Leif Cassidy
4.) The New Blackjacks (Bradshaw & Windham) defeated Jim Johnson & Kit Carson
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Henry and Holly kickoff the tag match with Henry backing Holly into a corner and they trade slaps. Henry clubs Holly over the back a few times, but misses a clothesline. Holly is met with a shoulder block and Henry runs the ropes, but is met with a dropkick causing Henry to regroup on the floor and tags in Phineas. Phineas spits into the air and rubs his spit into his hair. Holly kicks Phineas and tags in James to keep control of the bout. James is backed against the ropes and Phineas delivers a strike. James hip tosses and dropkicks Phineas through the ropes to the floor. Phineas kicks James and tags in Henry. Henry works over James with strikes. James kicks Henry coming off the ropes, but runs into a big boot. Henry covers for a two count. Phineas tags back into the match and elbows James over the back. Holly tries to get involved, but is stopped by the referee. Henry pulls the ropes down causing James to crash to the floor. Henry axe handles James on the floor as the show goes to commercial.
Phineas delivers a jawbreaker to James. Phineas keeps a front face lock on James. Henry distracts the referee as James tags in Holly, but of course the referee didn’t see it. Phineas tosses James over the ropes to the floor. Henry nails James with a clothesline on the floor. Phineas rolls James into the ring and Henry keeps control with strikes. James boots a charging Henry in the corner and both men are down. Phineas gets the tag as does Holly. Holly hammers away on Phineas and delivers a backdrop. Holly works over Phineas in the corner with right hands. Phineas stumbles out and is met with a clothesline for a near fall. Holly hits a standing hurricanrana, but Henry breaks the cover. James gets in the ring to punch Henry. Holly has a rollup on Phineas, but Henry plants Holly with the Slop Drop as the referee was distracted leading to the win. (*. You know that you’re cooked when there’s zero reaction to a hot tag for Holly. Sparky Plugg is a New Generation character and it does not fit in 1997 WWF at all. James was doomed from the beginning and nobody cared about the duo. I like the heel Godwinns, though.)
2.) Vince McMahon is in the ring to interview Bret Hart, WWF Intercontinental Champion Owen Hart, and WWF European Champion British Bulldog. Owen is disgusted by Steve Austin and Dude Love being the new tag champions. Owen claims they were thrown off by Dude Love. Owen wants a rematch and promises they’d win the tag titles. McMahon notes to Bulldog that if he loses at SummerSlam then he’s eating dog food. Bulldog promises it’s not going to happen and he’ll pummel Ken Shamrock on the mat. Owen talks about Austin and puts him over as a great fighter, but Austin isn’t going to beat him. Owen says when Austin loses to him he’ll have to kiss his ass. McMahon talks to Bret Hart about his match at SummerSlam. Bret knows the fans would love for him to not win the WWF World Championship and didn’t come back to the United States. Hart lives up to his promises and if he can’t defeat the Undertaker by hook or by crook then he will never wrestle in the USA again. McMahon mentions a challenge for RAW. Hart notes last week he was treated like a king and had respect. Hart notes the USA is shaped like a toilet. Hart says next week they’re going back to a country where the women are better and the better is better. Bret issues a challenge for any three Americans to a flag match. Bret promises they will never let down the Canadian fans.
3.) Putski wins his enhancement match following the Polish Hammer. After the match, Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher attack Putski. Christopher grabs a chair and whacks Putski over the head. They spike piledriver Putski onto the chair, as well. Christopher leaps off the top to leg drop the chair onto Putski’s face.
4.) Funk is sent into the ropes and shoulder blocks Cassidy. Cassidy hip tosses Funk and taunts the crowd. Funk gains control with a side headlock. Cassidy shoulder blocks Funk. Funk controls Cassidy with a headlock. Cassidy blocks a hip toss, but Funk hits a hurricanrana and kicks Cassidy to the floor. Funk dives off the middle rope to clothesline Cassidy. Funk covers for a two count. Cassidy kicks Funk followed by a clothesline. Cassidy superkicks Funk to the floor and kicks Funk from the apron. Cassidy hits a springboard moonsault to the floor. Cassidy tries for a cover, but Funk kicks out at two. Cassidy keeps Funk on the mat with a chin lock. Funk kicks Cassidy away, but Cassidy delivers a kick and strikes Funk to the mat. Cassidy keeps a chin lock on Funk and stomps Funk on the mat. Cassidy eye pokes Funk, but misses a clothesline. Funk hits a crossbody for a two count. Cassidy nails Funk with a superkick for a near fall. Funk kicks Cassidy and nearly wins with a victory roll. Cassidy plants Funk with a powerbomb to counter a hurricanrana attempt. Cassidy can’t believe it. Funk backslides Cassidy for a near fall. Cassidy decks Funk with a clothesline. Cassidy tries for another powerbomb, but Funk counters with a sunset flip and pins Cassidy for the win. (**. A decent match, which is kind of what I expected. Funk is a fresh breathe of air and he’s fun to watch despite the rather awful gear he wears. Cassidy is a good worker, but much like Holly and James is in a dead-end character.)
5.) The Blackjacks win their enhancement match in easy fashion following a vicious lariat by Bradshaw on Johnson. Blackjacks are quite enjoyable, I’d say.
Final Thoughts:
I’ll consider this an average episode of Shotgun. Funk/Cassidy was a solid match and the Hart Foundation getting an interview segment makes it feel like Shotgun has some level of importance. Blackjacks are a fun badass team that continues to grow on me. The beatdown on Putski was effective, as well.
Thanks for reading.