World Wrestling Federation presents Shotgun Saturday Night
Date: 8/9/1997
From: Bethlehem, PA
The show opens up with several fans expressing their thoughts on what happened at SummerSlam where the fans believed Undertaker got screwed over and Shawn Michaels is a traitor.
MATCH #1: 20-MAN BATTLE ROYAL
FINISH: The final three for the battle royal are the Sultan, Vader and Patriot. Patriot backdrops Sultan to the floor and decks Vader over the ropes with a clothesline to win the match. Patriot gets a title shot against WWF World Champion Bret Hart on September 7th.
Bob’s Take: There’s plenty of star power featuring guys such as Vader, Mankind, Helmsley, Shamrock, Bulldog, and Patriot. As you’d expect in a battle royal, a good portion of the match is the wrestlers trading strikes. Shockingly, Shamrock and Bulldog eliminate each other as the first two men out of the match. The crowd didn’t seem to like that development. The final five are Sultan, Patriot, Vader, Mankind and Helmsley. I wasn’t expecting Sultan to be in the final five, but he does have a good interaction with Vader. Mankind eliminated Helmsley, but was quickly knocked off the apron by Vader. Patriot fighting off two over-sized guys is the typical booking trope to expect to get Patriot over. The closing sequence was good, and the crowd popped for Patriot winning.
Match Rating: **
Jerry Lawler comes out to cut a promo and he wants the crowd to stop calling him Burger King. Lawler is out there to stop the rumors that are spreading. Lawler is going to bring out a couple. Lawler calls out Sable and Marc Mero for an interview. Lawler plugs the new WWF Magazine and suggests there is trouble in the jungle between them. Lawler talks about how well Mero started off in the WWF, but then suffered a knee injury and became sidelined. Sable has been getting more popular than Mero, and Lawler asks how that makes Mero feel. Mero asks Lawler if he thinks Sable is beautiful. Mero knows that a lot of people do, and he does too. Lawler turns his attention to Sable and her rumors. Lawler brings up a rumor with the Undertaker. Sable tells Lawler that you can’t believe all the rumors and says everything is just fine with Mero, but Mero chimes in and says fantastic. Lawler notes that Mero can’t perform and asks how it makes Sable feel seeing the big WWF wrestlers. Mero notes that he’s been out five months, but he’ll be back in a few weeks. Mero promises when he comes back he’s going to the top of the WWF and Lawler could be his first target on his hit list.
MATCH #2: TIGER ALI SINGH VS. BOB HOLLY
FINISH: Ali Singh picks up the win following a top rope bulldog.
Bob’s Take: It feels a little counterproductive to have Holly upset Brian Pillman on RAW only to turnaround and lose to Singh on a secondary show. There’s not really much of anything about Singh that I’m all excited about. Singh has a good finishing move, but he doesn’t do much to keep the audience engaged.
Match Rating: *
MAIN EVENT: THE TRUTH COMMISSION (RECON, SNIPER & THE INTERROGATOR) VS. GEORGE FOUTS, HAMMOND HAGAR, & ZOLTAN BIGG
FINISH: Interrogator pins Bigg following a side slam.
Bob’s Take: Recon is The Punisher from SMW and would be later known as Bull Buchanan. Recon is probably the best worker of the three displaying some great agility during his segment of the match. Fouts looks to be out of it due to the beating that he took and collapsed to the floor after being sent into the ropes.
Match Rating: *
Final Thoughts:
There’s actually some developments here to promote to the PPV. Patriot is a guy that I enjoy, but it is a bit surprising to see him getting a World Championship shot on PPV. The Mero/Sable segment was good, and Mero did a few subtle things to make it clear he’s a bit jealous of Sable. This is an average episode for Shotgun.
Thanks for reading.