Tag Archives: rdtworldofsport

Basketball

This Day In Sports 4-15: “Havlicek Stole The Ball!” (1965)

The great Boston Celtics dynasty of the 1960s boasted some of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game…and had a little luck along the way. In 1965 Wilt Chamberlain’s 76ers had a chance to get by Boston being down by 1 in a crucial game 7 with five seconds left. Interestingly, had the 76ers pulled it out, this would have been known as the one game where Bill Russell didn’t come through in the clutch. Russell accidentally hit a wire that held up the backboards with an inbounds pass that resulted in a turnover. This allowed the Sixers their one last chance.

There is an interesting story about this play chronicled in Bill Simmons’ Big Book of Basketball. Simmons writes that John Havilcek knew the ball wasn’t going to Chamberlain here, as Chamberlain was deathly afraid of being fouled and being put on the line in this clutch moment. Hall of Famer Hal Greer instead looked toward Chet Walker, and the rest is history. Johnny Most’s iconic call of “Havlicek Stole The Ball!” was perfect for yet another clutch play by the 60s Celtics dynasty.

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews: WWF Wrestlemania X7

WWF Wrestlemania X7
April 1, 2001
Houston, TX

It’s over.

Good bye WCW. It was a good run and you put on a great effort, but the WWF has won. When the last Monday Nitro basically became a commercial for Wrestlemania X7 it was over for good.

The WWF set one of the truly great stacked PPV cards of all time for Wrestlemania X7. They were fortunate as unlike last year, no top guys were injured. Last year the WWF was missing The Undertaker and Stone Cold. For Mania X7, they have both. The WWF also did an effective job making new stars, evident by Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit’s run in the latter half of 2000. The WWF owns the wrestling world now. Things can only get better from now on, right? (Hindsight says…ha!)

Let’s talk a little bit about Stone Cold.

Is he as popular as he once was? Is he on the way down? Is he stale? Why are ratings not as strong? Why didn’t his comeback lead to another big ratings streak?

All great questions. At the end of Wrestlemania we’ll see how Vince answered them.

The Card

Houston Astrodome is packed. This is also the first Wrestlemania promo where I really felt the epicness of the event.

Limp Bizkit’s “My Way” was a perfect fit for this event.

Paul Heyman, replacing the temporarily departed Jerry Lawler here, says ECW about three minutes into the broadcast. I chuckled.

Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho© vs. William Regal

It was an interesting time for Jericho. After spending last summer as nearly a top guy, Jericho found himself back in the midcard…at least for now.

Regal was still a relative newcomer, debuting in September. But, we are also at the beginning of perhaps Regal’s best work, as he was clean at this point and a great heel as the Commissioner.

This was the feud that had Jericho peeing in Regal’s tea. A legendary moment if there ever was one. This also had Jericho running in on Regal when he was dressed as Doink.

Fast start, probably because they know they only have about 8 minutes for this.
Jericho almost overshoots Regal on a flying bodypress to the outside. Would have been a bad start to Mania there.

Double underhook suplex on Jericho from the top. Nice move from our Commissioner!

Regal’s STF makes me wonder how WWE ever thought John Cena could pull it off.

Chris Jericho retains by pin in 7:08. Lionsault out of nowhere gets the win. Crowd even seemed surprised. They tried to jam a 15 minute match into an 8 minute match, and while it wasn’t a bad match, it was nothing special and a bit disappointing.

Shane McMahon arrives in a WCW limo!

Bradshaw explains just how important this match in Texas is by going over historical events that took place in the Astrodome. Six man tag is next.

The APA and Tazz vs. The Right to Censor

I don’t recall how Tazz got involved, but the APA and RTC didn’t get along for obvious reasons.

Weird botch when Tazz gets whipped into the ropes and just falls into them and rockets back. Quite strange there.

The APA and Tazz when Bradshaw pinned the Goodfather in 3:52. Clothesline From Hell wins it. Just a way to get the guys on the card and to pop the crowd early on. This would be the end of the RTC (well, Undertaker would end them for good a week later) and virtually the end of Val Venis, Goodfather, Steven Richards and Bull Buchanan. None of these four would ever regain the popularity they had before.

Trish Stratus rolls Linda McMahon into the Astrodome, and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley says she’s late. I kinda forgot about the whole Linda in a catatonic state thing.

Hardcore Championship
Raven© vs. Big Show vs. Kane

While a step down for both Kane and Big Show, Kane it seemed to work for while it just seemed like something for Big Show to do. Show would be stuck in mid and even lower card hell until Survivor Series 2002.

Big Show never even gets to the ring as we’re fighting in the crowd now.

Raven pops up out of nowhere to attack Kane. The story of this match will be Show and Kane going at it, and Raven attacking out of nowhere.

Kane tries to throw Raven through a wall. Ouch.

Smartest move of the match: Big Show locks himself, Raven and the ref in a cage with Kane out. Kane rips the door off its hinges anyway.

Raven gets thrown through a window by Kane. Crowd responded to that for sure.

Show and Kane actually go through a wall this time. Raven attacks. One thing I didn’t like about this match: Raven basically no sells being thrown through a window.

Raven nearly gets run over by a golf cart. I hope he got a good paycheck for this match.

Kane wins the title by pinning Big Show in 9:17. Big Show presses Raven over his head to throw him off the stage, but Kane boots him and they both go flying off. Kane follows with a flying legdrop and wins the title. Garbage wrestling, but it was well done garbage wrestling. This is one of my favorite Hardcore title matches in the history of WWE. Shame they went back to 24/7 soon afterwards. Paul Heyman also somehow makes Raven look like a million bucks on commentary, which is a bonus.

Kurt Angle angrily watches over his tapping out to Benoit. Edge and Christian joke around, but Angle’s serious. Alliances like Angle, Edge and Christian are just things you don’t see in wrestling anymore. They aren’t a team, but they work together and are friends.

European Championship
Test© vs. Eddie Guerrero

No one cared about Test at this point. He had just come off the T and A run, which got Trish over more than anyone else.

Unfortunately, Guerrero was on his way down too. Personal problems had been catching up with Guerrero and he wouldn’t last much longer.

Perry Saturn seconds Guerrero and has a ridiculous hat on. It would only get more ridiculous for Saturn as 2001 went on.

Test actually gets a decent pop. Maybe he was cared about here and I didn’t remember.

Test gets his foot caught in the ropes. I don’t think it was intentional. Guerrero gets him out.

Ref definitely saw Saturn interfere there.

Eddie Guerrero wins the title by pin in 8:30. Test has it won with a big boot, but Dean Malenko pulls him off. Guerrero hits Test with the European title for the win. Match wasn’t bad, it really looked like Eddie Guerrero was doing just about everything to make it good. Test would get a strong push in 2001, but by 2002 it was pretty much over for him as a top guy. Guerrero would fall apart…but then get his life together in 2002 and go on a great three year run. Still, in the long term this match meant nothing.

Mick Foley is the king of the cheap pop.

Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle

There wasn’t much of a story here, it basically spawned from Angle being shut out of the world title picture and Benoit and Jericho’s feud running its course. Most recent storyline between them: Benoit made Angle tap out on RAW.

Angle runs down Texas. Brilliant mic work.

We get a straight wrestling match to start. It’s an interesting way to start as 2001 didn’t have a lot of that.

Predictably, Angle takes the first liberty. Amazing how the can make a punch a heel move, but here it is.

This whole match is the prototype from their amazing Royal Rumble 2003 match. The biggest difference? The fans didn’t truly trust Benoit as a good guy yet.

Angle taps to the Crossface! But there’s no referee. That guarantees this program would continue (and it would be great).

Kurt Angle pins Chris Benoit in 14:04. Angle gets a crucifix pin after a sequence, and holds the tights for the win. Finish makes sense to continue the feud, but it was a pretty cheap win for Wrestlemania (next year would be worse). This is a very good match, but they would have better.

Kamala has invaded Regal’s office! Great stuff.

Great line from Heyman. JR: “Why aren’t you in the gimmick battle royal?” Heyman: “What, you want me to bring my telephone in the ring?”

Benoit attacks Angle post-match, and Angle taps out again!

Women’s Championship
Ivory© vs. Chyna

This is the ending of the Chyna broke her neck angle. Considering Chyna is considered equal to the men, there’s not a chance in hell Ivory wins.

Chyna wins the title by pin in 2:38. Chyna begins the burial of the division here. Shame she went crazy, as she was still mega over. Chyna finished with a Gorilla Press Slam, which I wonder was a reference to Warrior going over HHH at Mania XII (or a shot at HHH).

Street Fight: Mick Foley is the Referee
Mr. McMahon vs. Shane McMahon

Vince foreshadows his alliance with Stone Cold in a quick interview with Cole.

I always wondered how Shane got away with being a momma’s boy without being booed for it.

This was also the famous feud where Shane showed up on Nitro and stole WCW.

Shane absolutely destroys Vince…until Stephanie pulls Vince off a table than Shane was flying towards.

That’s all it takes for Trish Stratus to wheel down the comatose Linda McMahon!

Trish turns on Vince! Trish beats up on Stephanie afterwards.

Trish chases Stephanie away, and Vince takes Foley out with a chair (including a chair shot to the back of the head, which Foley wasn’t expecting). Vince rolls the comatose Linda into the ring.

Of course Linda awakens and kicks Vince right in the jewels.

Shane McMahon pinned Mr. McMahon in 14:12. Shane-Terminator (ECW’s gone a month and already we’re stealing moves) puts an explanation mark on a very entertaining street fight. Sure, it’s not really the best “match”, but it was fun all the way. Also, if you’re into the McMahon storylines, you would have loved all of this, as I did.

This is already a pretty great show…and we’re only half way through!

World Tag Team Championship: Tables, Ladders and Chairs
The Dudley Boyz© vs. Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz

At No Mercy ’99, Edge and Christian along with the Hardyz changed the Ladder Match game with their tag team ladder match. At Wrestlemania 2000, the Dudleyz were added. Summerslam was the first official TLC match. All these matches were amazing and stole the show. There had also been lesser known matches in-between, such as a Tables match with the Dudleyz and Hardyz at the 2000 Royal Rumble, for example.

It doesn’t take long for E and C to introduce the ladder and take out the Hardyz!

Something you don’t see in a lot of multi-man ladder matches anymore: build up. We get some minor knockdowns off the ladder early on here.

The Hardyz bring it to the next level by doing their legdrop/splash combo onto Christian off a pair of ladders.

The Dudleyz build a table fort on the outside…back when we may have not realized they would be involved in the finish.

Spike Dudley runs in and hits a Dudley Dawg on Edge off a ladder, then hits Christian with one from the ring to the floor.

Here comes Rhyno!

GORE GORE GORE!

Now Lita’s here! She stops Edge from getting the belts.

Lita breaks a chair over Spike’s head…but then gets the 3D!

Jeff Hardy relives his moment from last year with another 20 Foot Swanton Bomb through a table on the floor!

I believe the hanging off the belts spot was invented here. Jeff Hardy almost hopsteps ladder to ladder to ladder, but the ladder gives. Still ridiculous.

Jeff Hardy in another famous spot, he ends up hanging off the belts…and Edge spears him off a ladder! Crazy. Just crazy.

Rhyno comes in and sends Matt and Bubba through the table fort create earlier off a ladder.

Edge and Christian win the title in 15:47. After that, Rhyno helped Christian up the ladder to get the belts. In my opinion, this is still the greatest multi-man ladder match in history. Innovative spots, crazy bumps, excellent use of Rhyno, Lita and Spike. Just crazy. 2001 is where WWE would oversaturate the ladder match though. Hell, they gave away a TLC on Smackdown two months later (that was also insane).

It’s a shame this match meant nothing in regards to the titles though. The Hardyz were supposed to win, but it was switched when it was decided Undertaker and Kane were getting the belts for Backlash, so heels needed to win.

Still. Amazing.

Gimmick Battle Royal

I won’t get into all the gimmicks, but Doink gets a huge pop. And of course the Gobbledy Gooker. Hillbilly Jim did as well.

The Iron Sheik wins in 3:07. Sheik last gets rid of Sgt. Slaughter. Slaughter with a post-match attack. It was horrible, but that’s the point. It was just a fun battle royal with all the old timers. Bobby Heenan seemed like he had more fun on commentary than he had in years.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H

The story was simple. HHH beat Austin at No Way Out and pointed out how he beat everyone that there is to beat. Undertaker told HHH he “ain’t ever beat me”.

HHH Motorhead Live entrance is pretty awesome.

JR brings up that Taker is 8-0 at Mania at this point. Probably the earliest mention of the Streak, other than a 4-0 mention at Mania XI.

This match had no waiting out period. Taker and HHH are just beating the hell out of each other right away. Well, Taker is at least.

It only takes about five minutes, but we have a sledgehammer!

The referee is bumped and Taker gets a chokeslam…but the ref only makes a 2 count. Taker then beats up the ref…and the brawl all over the arena is on!

They end up fighting in the tech/computer area, which is something you don’t see every day. It leads to some awesome visuals, especially when HHH hits Taker with the chair. It feels like a real fight with spectators surrounding them.

Speaking of cool visuals, Taker chokeslams HHH off the tech area, which is like a 10 foot drop (although a replay shows the soft landing for HHH). It looked like Taker dropped HHH off the face of the earth. The moment HHH is up in Taker’s grasp is awesome. Taker comes flying off with an elbow drop for good measure!

We get a Tombstone, which had just become special…but the ref is still gone (way for there to be no 2nd ref!)

In perhaps the forgotten great near Streak-stopper, Taker lifts HHH for the Last Ride, but HHH brings the sledgehammer with him and just whacks Taker in the head with it. I was amazed when I was younger that didn’t finish it.

Undertaker pins HHH in 18:57. HHH makes the mistake of corner punching Taker, as that leads to the Last Ride and 9-0. Just a great knock down drag out brawl. Easily the best Undertaker match of the early American Bad Ass era, at least until Mania X8.

We still have the main event left!

WWF Championship
The Rock© vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

Of course, the promo video for this may be the best over. (Limp Bizkit’s “My Way”).

Austin gets a huge pop and The Rock gets booed for the 1st time as a top babyface…although it wouldn’t be the last time.

Again, no wait period! Austin and Rock tear right into one another!

Kind of a funny moment, but Rock is on the announce table trying to get back to his feet, and the table just falls apart.

In all seriousness, this is an amazing brawl.

Rock explodes out of the corner and nails Austin with a clothesline and the crowd boos the shit out of him. It’s Austin’s crowd in his home state!

There’s something brilliant about having a bloodied Austin trapped in a Sharpshooter at Wrestlemania.

Another amazing idea: Austin busting out the Million Dollar Dream! And JR explains why it’s a big deal!

Here comes Vince!

Rock gets the People’s Elbow, but Vince pulls the Rock off. Some fans boo, realizing what’s about to happen.

It becomes official once Austin asks McMahon for a chair.

Stone Cold wins the title by pin in 28:07. In another genius finish, The Rock, who was getting booed out of the building earlier, gets some big cheers as he survives Austin’s onslaught. Austin pounds The Rock with a chair some 16 or 17 times and gets the pin. Austin and Vince shake hands, which basically marked the end of the Attitude Era and the last boom period in professional wrestling. Great great match. Arguably Austin’s last great match, although I like the Mania XIX match too.

This was the perfect match: two of the biggest wrestling stars of all time at the top of their games. It wasn’t like Hogan-Andre because Andre wasn’t in his prime. It wasn’t like Hogan-Warrior because Warrior wasn’t a sure thing and it was treated like Hogan was passing the torch. It was two guys at the very top of wrestling going toe to toe at the height of wrestling’s popularity at the WWF’s biggest event of the year.

And yet, that’s what makes the ending such a disappointment. Wrestlemania X7 is perfect with the hometown hero completing his comeback and winning the WWF Title. Instead, we got a shocking heel turn that no one wanted. No doubt, Austin was a great heel, but he was a once in a lifetime babyface. The WWF hasn’t reached the level they were at here since. The real Stone Cold was gone, as Austin devolved into a (still entertaining) comedy heel with a serious side to him. Austin wrote in his book about how he thought about just calling an audible when he saw the crowd reaction, realizing that Stone Cold still had the potential to be an elite top face. The finish also showed stubbornness, as Vince had to know he had to change plans after acquiring WCW.

Look, if you have any issues with this show, pro wrestling is not for you. I once thought Wrestlemania XX was the superior show, but really, it’s not. This is perfection, sans the ending. It’ll have to go with 99.9% then.

Hands down, the greatest professional wrestling PPV ever.

Final Grade: A+

Pro Wrestling

The Transitional Wrestlemania…and Wrestlemania XXXI Predictions

Wrestlemania XXXI is this Sunday, and truth be told, it’s looking similar to Wrestlemania XXVII in terms of it being a transitional Wrestlemania.

Remember Wrestlemania XXVII? That was the one where The Rock opened with a 20 minute promo, the one where Triple H and The Undertaker had either an amazing match or a match where they just laid down most of the time and just did big spots every five minutes, depending on who you ask (they had an amazing match). It was the one where The Miz won the main event of Wrestlemania, beating John Cena after a dubious double countout was overturned by special guest host Rock. In the end, seeds for HHH-Taker II and Rock vs. Cena (the latter of which was set the night after Wrestlemania) at Wrestlemania XXVIII were already planted.

With news about Wrestlemania XXXII already being leaked, Wrestlemania XXXI is that transitional Mania. It’s been reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is trying to get every part timer to be on the card that they can to pack 100,000 fans in the AT&T Stadium. If that’s true, expect a lot of empty pushes for talent in 2015. It’s going to hard to put a lot of value on some of the matches at Wrestlemania XXXI, especially those with newer talent, if WWE is going to treat them as secondary characters this time next year.

That WWE treatment of newer talent is a big reason why Wrestlemania XXXI feels a bit on the weaker side. Don’t get me wrong, on paper I believe this is a great show and I actually think we are going to get a very good show as well. But after years of Rock vs. Cena and Taker vs. HHH…and even last year’s Cena over Bray Wyatt it’s hard to completely believe in all of these new guys. Hell, if the fans didn’t revolt Randy Orton vs. Batista was your Wrestlemania XXX main event…and even the guy who actually won the main event last year, Daniel Bryan, is in a midcard match this year. Still, this is the pessimistic view. In reality WWE fans should be excited as every year we moan about there not being any new talent, and this year we have four new guys in big matches (Wyatt…although he did fight Cena last year, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Rusev), three of which have done a great job and one that isn’t as bad as everyone says. So, with that being said, how will Wrestlemania pan out?

Mania32tag

Pre-show: World Tag Team Championship: Cesaro and Tyson Kidd© vs. The Usos vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores

At first glance this looks like a way to just give the Usos back the belts to get an opening of the show pop. I do hope I’m wrong though. Kidd and Cesaro have amazing chemistry together and since WWE is looking in restoring credibility with their titles, a long Kidd and Cesaro reign would be the best idea. I think New Day and Los Matadoes have no chance here. I expect Nattie and El Torito to have some interaction as well…and maybe Cesaro spins El Torito around 100 times or something. Anyway, I’m going to go with Cesaro and Kidd. With the battle royal on the pre-show now, perhaps WWE thinks they can get that pop with that. Fans will probably pop for Cesaro anyway.

Mania32andre

Pre-show: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Shame this is pushed to the pre-show in only its second running. You know, now that these events are primarily on the Network, why do we even have a pre-show and show. Can’t the whole thing be the show?

Anyway, odds favor Damien Mizdow. Mizdow has been absolutely fantastic in his role as The Miz’s stunt double/personal assistant. Since it’s the only storyline going for anyone in that battle royal other than whatever Kane and Big Show had been teasing and #AXELMANIA, (Curtis Axel has a legit outside shot to win, especially with the Hogan segment this past Monday) it seems like a safe bet.

Or does it? I think it’s far more likely that Mizdow turns on The Miz at some point in the battle royal to cost him the match, but I don’t see WWE giving Mizdow the trophy. Instead, I think they’ll use the battle royal to help re-establish someone, and that someone is Ryback. Before I would be all on the Sheamus bandwagon here, but the match being pushed to the pre-show makes that unlikely now. I pick Ryback.

Mania32rollinsorton

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins

I think WWE may open with this to tease that Rollins will cash in Money in the Bank at the end of the show. Seth Rollins has made himself a star over the past year and his performance at the Royal Rumble showed he is ready for the main event. WWE will still give this one to Orton though. The loss shouldn’t really hurt Rollins, although it is preferable he’d go over. Rollins will get the win at Extreme Rules I assume anyway. So I’m going with Orton…probably on Rollins’ jumping from the top rope into a RKO.

Mania32ladder

Seven Man Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match

Interesting that they brought back a multi-man ladder match for Wrestlemania. Smart money here is on Daniel Bryan to win the title to give credence to the establishing the secondary titles that has been floating around. I think WWE uses Sheamus here, either in the match to set up a close finish with Bryan and Sheamus, and/or have Sheamus do a post-match attack to set up that feud. I’m going with Bryan.

Mania32CenaRusev

US Title: Rusev© vs. John Cena

As much as I would love Rusev to retain, they aren’t using Cena to just push Rusev to some higher level. It was a great run and a great story Rusev, and I hope WWE doesn’t ruin you afterwards. But Cena’s winning the US Title here for the same reason Bryan is winning the IC title. I also could see the Sheamus deal going on in this match too, especially since there is history here (Rusev beat Sheamus to win the US Title in the first place). I am picking Cena.

Mania32divas

The Bella Twins vs. Paige and AJ Lee

Believe it or not, this is one of the best built Divas’ matches in Wrestlemania history (despite some cringeworthy moments). We have here four legitimate Divas who can wrestle. After Nikki and Paige put on a great match on RAW I wouldn’t be surprised to see this get a little more time than usual. I also have the Bellas winning here with Paige and AJ continuing their story of not being able to co-exist. One will turn on the other here, and my bet is AJ does the turning to freshen her up, leading to AJ vs. Paige for the title once the Bellas leave at some point.

Mania32wyatttaker

The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt

There’s no reason to do this match and have Undertaker win. I love the Undertaker. He’s been my favorite wrestler since I was a kid and I’m thrilled he’s on this show. But he shouldn’t be going over Wyatt. He will draw in whatever match he’s in next year no matter what. Bray Wyatt needs to go over and be the top guy he can be. His promos are off the charts. I think Undertaker understands this. I think Vince McMahon understands this. You can do Undertaker vs. Sting next year anyway. There’s no streak pressure anymore. Bray Wyatt needs this win. And I think he gets it. I hate right now that betting odds have Undertaker as the favorite.

Mania32hhhsting

Triple H vs. Sting

It’s a deceptive match, as on one hand you can’t imagine Sting would come in just to lose to Triple H at Wrestlemania. On the other hand, the feud primarily was about WWE vs. WCW, and it would be weird to see WCW go over at Wrestlemania. Good thing Sting said fighting for WCW was ridiculous at this point. Sting is winning. He didn’t wait all this time doing shoot interviews about how was worried about how he’d be used, just to job to HHH right off the bat. Sting wins.

mania32lesnarreigns

WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar© vs. Roman Reigns

I don’t blame Roman Reigns for his reactions. He was pushed way too fast way too soon for this spot. I also don’t think he’s winning the WWE Title now. The only hope Reigns has now is if The Rock flies in from New York to help him win the title to set up Brock vs. Rock at Mania XXXII. That’ll kill Roman dead though, as that would be twice that Roman Reigns needed The Rock’s help to get things done. I don’t think WWE makes the same mistake twice in regards to having Lesnar lose and thus hurt his special attraction status, at least not yet. Brock Lesnar wins, and leaves as Champion. I expect some Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Rollins deal (Reigns wins Elimination Chamber perhaps and Rollins’ MITB contract) in the future. Rock might show up to close the show and attack Lesnar, just like he did to Miz at Wrestlemania XXXII. It’s all set up for Wrestlemania XXXII.

Basketball

This Day In Sports 3-24, Tom Chambers Drops 60 On the Sonics

On March 24, 1990 Tom Chambers scored 60 points for the Phoenix Suns in a dominating performance against the Seattle Supersonics. He went 22 for 32 from the field, with 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks as well.

Tom Chambers that year was having the best season of his career as he was on his way to a 27 PPG season for a playoff bound Suns team. His performance here showed he was a deserving top scorer of his time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWvGlbSZQCA

Basketball, Football

Two Examples of Unlucky #13 in Sports

unlucky13

Friday the 13th, for whatever reason, is considered an unlucky day (Wikipedia says something about Jesus and the Middle Ages). Specifically, the number 13 is considered unlucky, with skyscrapers often omitting a 13th floor for example. In sports, the number 13 doesn’t seemingly have any real significance with luck. For example Kurt Warner won a Superbowl for the Rams wearing #13. But still, there are some examples, and I am going to cherry pick two of them.

Dan Marino is in the discussion of greatest Quarterback of all-time. He’s somewhere from #4 through #7 on my list. Before the NFL got all pass happy and before Brett Favre played for what seemed to be forever, Marino set virtually all the major passing records. When he retired Marino was 1st in passing yards (3rd now), 1st in TDs (now 1st), had the single season passing record for yards and TDs and countless other records. What he didn’t have, was a Superbowl ring.

Marino couldn't get by Montana...and never got there again
Marino couldn’t get by Montana…and never got there again

Marino got close early on with a Superbowl appearance in his 2nd season (the same year he set the single season yards and TD records), but lost to Joe Montana’s 49ers. The next season Marino and the Dolphins were upset by the New England Patriots in the AFC Title game. At that point Marino would never get farther, going back to one AFC title game in 1992 and losing to the Bills. In 1993 the bad luck really took hold, as the Dolphins were the AFC favorites but fell when Marino tore his Achilles Tendon. Marino was still quite good afterwards, but the Dolphins never got past the Divisional Round again (yes, as of 2015 this is still true).

The Dolphins never surrounded Marino with any elite talent, especially a top rusher to ease the pressure on him (like John Elway getting Terrell Davis). How can the most prolific QB of the pre-Manning-Brady era make only 1 Superbowl and 3 AFC Title games in 17 years? This

The other example of a cursed #13 in sports is two time NBA MVP Steve Nash. Nash had some early back troubles that limited his effectiveness, but came on strong for the Mavericks and transformed into a MVP candidate when the hand checking and defense rules changed for the 2004-2005 season. Nash would average over 11 assists a game in five different seasons and over ten in two others. He got to the Conference Finals three times, losing each time to a team led by a top 15 player of all time (Tim Duncan’s Spurs, Kobe Bryant’s Lakers and Dirk Nowitzki’s Mavericks). Despite being perhaps the top offensive player in the league for several seasons and producing the best possible basketball out of Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and countless others, Steve Nash never played a NBA Finals game.

Nash never played in a NBA Finals
Nash never played in a NBA Finals

Nash will most likely go down as the player who played the most games without playing in a NBA finals game. In his post #13 days, Nash looked to engineer a Lakers offense with Bryant and Dwight Howard. That unfortunately fell apart and one of the reasons is Nash’s body fell apart. Nash is expected to retire this off-season without ever having that chance to play in the finals. Did #13 curse him too?

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF In Your House XIX: De-Generation X

IYH19

WWF: In Your House De-Generation X
December 7, 1997
Springfield, MA
Reviewed on March 15, 2014

Background: Where to start? This was the first PPV after the infamous Montreal Screwjob. The WWF was looking toward the Stone Cold Steve Austin era, but now had this lull between Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble. Reportedly, Bret vs. Shawn was supposed to be the top feud to get us to Mania for Austin vs. Bret, but here we are.

The WWF had just turned to the Attitude phase of their marketing. You can’t really blame them for their lack of success though…WCW was promoting the Match of the Century: Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting which everyone watched. All eyes for the short term were on Bret Hart as well, so WCW really had all the momentum (and with a great Starrcade could have really put the pressure on the WWF). As the WWF was in the lame duck status, they decided to try to get some money out of Ken Shamrock and threw him in the main event with Shawn. The WWF had two really big time things here: DX was in fact revolutionary, and Austin was on the rise.

The Card

WWF Lightheavyweight Championship Tournament Final
Taka Michinoku vs. Brian Christopher

You knew the WWF blew the Lightheavyweight title when Brian Christopher was in the final of the inaugural tournament.

Match starts off with a LOT of stalling.

Taka’s springboard plancha was always a thing of beauty.

Taka is doing all he can to steal the show. Nice Asai moonsault using the corner.

Most of the commentary is about Christopher being (or not being) Jerry Lawler’s son.

Taka Michinoku wins the title when he pins Christopher in 12:00. Christopher misses the Tennessee Jam and Taka gets the Driver for the win. Way too much stalling from Christopher for this to have any flow. At least Taka gets a good pop when he wins the title.

The Disciples of Apocalypse (Chainz, Skull and 8-Ball) vs. Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez Jr, Jesus Castillo Jr, Jose Estrada Jr.)

The sooner this is over the better.

Does anyone care about this feud anymore? This spawned from when Crush and Savio Vega were members of the Nation of Domination, but were fired. They created their own gang and have been feuding with each other ever since. The Truth Commissionalso got involved at some point. The Gang Warz these are, and they suck.

Miguel Perez gets the Albert shave your back chants.

Miguel Perez with a standing moonsault. More excitement that I expected.

Skull or 8-Ball (can’t be assed to figure out who is who) can’t even take an Irish Whip correctly.

Los Boricuas win when Estrada pinned Chainz in 7:58. Perez was faking a knee injury! Somersault legdrop on Chainz! Perez puts Estrada on Chainz for the win. Ridiculously boring.

Toughman Match
Butterbean vs. Marc Mero

Story: Mero thinks Butterbean is a nobody. Mero’s also been treating Sable like crap, which Butterbean doesn’t like.

The only person to get over from this whole thing was Sable, and well, that’s how it should be.

Four round boxing match here. This is a WRESTLING PPV you know.

A whole lot of nothing happens in round 1.

Mero takes a cheap shot in between rounds.

Mero with some heel tactics in round 2. A knee to the back and a choke with tape.

Boring chants are faint, but there.

Mero nails Butterbean with a dropkick after the bell.

Mero gets his ass kicked in round 3 but is saved by the bell. Butterbean then tosses ice cold water on Mero at the end.

Butterbean wins by DQ in 10:20. Mero gets nailed again early in round 4, and Mero lowbridges Butterbean for the DQ. This sucked and the finish sucked. What a waste of PPV time. No one cared.

Oh god…here comes The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna. This shit is just disturbing. He reads Green Eggs and Ham.

JR wins the segment by apologizing to Dr. Seuss.

You know there’s not a Mick Foley or Kane match on the card for this shit.

Luna then shoves Goldust down and then pulls him by his chain. It’s over thank god.

LOD promo. Hawk compares the Outlaws to a booger. At least there was intensity there.

World Tag Team Championship
The New Age Outalws© vs. The Legion of Doom

Let me say this, the LOD may have not really worked here…but they way they put over the Outlaws was fantastic. They received instant legitimacy from this feud.

Very strange start with LOD trying to fight NAO and the Outalws just running to the back to stretch.

Funny spot where Road Dogg crawls to a corner where Billy Gunn isn’t.

It ends up happening again, but at least Dogg crawled to the correct corner (Gunn was knocked out from Hawk earlier).

Ice bucket shot to the head! This match kinda sucks.

Road Dogg busts out the worm? The hell?

Hawk sells the knee to the gut with a spin. Well at least he sold it.

The New Age Outlaws win by DQ in 10:32. Doomsday Device set up…but Henry Godwinn comes down and smacks Animal with a bucket. Hawk goes nuts with the bucket and gets DQed. Match and finish sucked. I guess putting over the Outlaws again was too much to ask.

Promo video putting over Sgt. Slaughter. Look, Slaughter looked washed up against Hogan at Mania VII. This was a bad idea at this point.

Boot Camp Match
Triple H vs. Sgt. Slaughter

Slaughter has the Kurt Angle music…although I assume it was considered The Patriot’s music at the time.

This match starts with all Slaughter. What?

Slaughter goes for the cover on the outside but ref says it has to be in the ring. What was the point of that?

HHH finally takes control. Slaughter takes his over the top rope corner bump which shocks the hell out of me to be fair.

HHH tries to grab the ring bell, and the timekeeper holds on for dear life. HHH smacks him with it. How randomly awesome was that?

Slaughter does the Ric Flair slammed off the top spot.

Powder to Chyna!

HHH pins Slaughter in 17:36. Chyna saves HHH from the Cobra Clutch. Pedigree on the chair for the win. Horrible match. Slaughter shouldn’t be in the ring. What was the point of making HHH barely beat Slaughter and for Slaughter to look like the better wrestler? Absolutely horrible on all accounts.

Jeff Jarrett interview! He calls Michael Cole “Mark”.

The Undertaker vs. Jeff Jarrett

This was a quick push Jarrett got as he just returned from WCW. His gimmick was to shoot on things. It would lead to the midcard and the NWA North American Champion gimmick. I’m a Jarrett fan, but this sucked.

This is a pretty random match for Undertaker.

Jeff Jarrett wins by DQ in 2:52. Here’s Kane! Jarrett tells Kane to attacks Taker, so Kane chokeslams him for the DQ. Funny as he got Taker DQed the same way at Deadly Games. Kane wants to fight Taker. Taker doesn’t want to fight him…yet. Nothing match that felt longer than three minutes, but I guess the postmatch is what mattered.

Jeff Jarrett with the postmatch attack! This Jarrett push did not last. Jarrett gets chokeslammed for his troubles.

Michael Cole is in the crowd with [Mark Henry! Henry will return from an injury soon! Woo?

Intercontinental Championship
Stone Cold Steve Austin© vs. The Rock

There are a lot of similarities between early Randy Orton and early Rock.

This was the classic feud with the 3:16 beeper. This was the first real attitude Austin feud.

Rock is out with the entire Nation.

Austin drives the truck into the arena!

D’Lo gets backdropped on the truck. Stunner on the truck!

Austin whips Kama into the truck!

People’s Elbow didn’t have a name yet!

Austin accidentally stuns the ref! Nice spot that worked into the story on RAW!

Steve Austin retains when he pinned Rock in 5:31. Stunner gets the win. You can see the first ref calling for the DQ. Fun little match, although too short. The ref bump would led to Austin forfeiting the title to Rock on RAW. This became the standard Stone Cold main event style, so historically, this match is a huge deal.

We get a recap of HBK vs. Shamrock. Then a bland Shamrock promo.

WWF Championship
Shawn Michaels© vs. Ken Shamrock

Great kick from Shamrock that HBK sold like a million bucks.

Overall HBK is just making Shamrock look like a million bucks.

Despite the great selling from HBK this match isn’t clicking. A lot of slow Shamrock stuff with HBK ducking and moving.

DX getting involved. Slam by Chyna!

HBK with a splash from the apron. That’s new.

Shamrock near the end gets caught in the top rope in a weird way and it hits his eye it seems. Strange.

Ken Shamrock wins by DQ in 18:27. Shamrock makes a comeback and hits the belly to belly. Ankle Lock but HHH and Chyna cause the DQ in record time. Match didn’t click at all and I assume how this went ended any chance of a Shamrock main event run (I always assumed it would have been Austin vs. Shamrock at some point in 98). Finish blew as well. You know that was the fourth DQ finish of the PPV. Not good.

As HBK celebrates on the apron Owen Hart shows up out of nowhere and shoves HBK off and through the announcer’s table (although the camera misses it). It’s a cool moment though and it’s a shame they don’t run with HBK vs. Owen (this would have worked at No Way Out, as both had a history with Stone Cold). Rumor has it that HBK didn’t want to work with Owen (ugh) and we know Austin didn’t (a lot more understandable). So, Owen’s main event push was DOA.

Anyway, this PPV is awful. No really good matches. A lot of crap. A boxing match. Whatever the fuck that was with Goldust. Bad finishes. Boring main event. Very close to F status. But this show has a big redeeming quality that helps it tremendously.

This was THE SHOW where Stone Cold vaunted to the main event. He was still really an upper midcarder at this point. This also showed The Rock could have a fun match and be that upper midcard guy for a while. HHH was also shown off here, even if the match blew, as another guy at that Rock level. Kane too continued his path of destruction. At least storylines showed progression here. This PPV also showed that some guys just weren’t going to make it on top. Shamrock and Jarrett, I’m looking at you two.
And again, the Owen thing was pretty cool, just a shame it went nowhere.

Final Grade: C-

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWF Summerslam ’97

summerslam-97-poster

WWF Summerslam ‘97
August 3, 1997
East Rutherford, NJ
Reviewed on July 27, 2014

Even before all the raunchy Attitude stuff, the WWF was putting on a solid product in 1997. It wasn’t the best in all cases (Gang Warz, for example) but the main event and the upper midcard titles had some good stuff in it. The roster was also bolstered from 1996, with LOD, The Headbangers, Ken Shamrock and Brian Pillman all debuting or making their returns.

Of course, the return of Bret Hart in late ’96 was a big reason for it too. Bret coming back helped a main event scene that was basically all Shawn Michaels (to be fair, Goldust, Vader and Mankind were good to great, it’s just, in Goldust’s and Mankind’s case, didn’t have that mainstream view as a main eventer yet, and in Vader’s, he wasn’t the man he was in 1993 unfortunately). Undertaker was also there, usually in the semi-main. He finally got his 2nd reign as WWF Champion in 1997, which kinda went off the rails a little in June but came back strong with the Hart Foundation angle.

The WWF was clearly in a period of transition here. We were getting some better characters up top: Stone Cold Steve Austin was coming into his own and was arguably the biggest draw in the WWF even at this time. It was pretty clear that he was gonna be the man by Wrestlemania XIV. Mankind and Hunter Hearst Helmsley were in a feud that helped give Hunter the edge he needed to be taken more seriously. Foley himself had just debuted Dude Love and was getting over with the dual (and soon, triple) personality.

The Hart Foundation were the hottest heel group not named the NWO, and this was unfortunately their peak as the WWF changes course and old school heels weren’t the way to go anymore. Still, a WWF Title Match with Undertaker and Bret Hart, with special referee Shawn Michaels was the biggest match the WWF could have at the moment that wasn’t Bret vs. Shawn.

The Card

Of course with the hot USA vs. Canada angle, we start with the National Anthem.

The opening promo here is one of my favorites. It’s a “if life were fair montage”, mentioning Bret’s turn, HBK’s injury and Undertaker’s secret (which led to Kane).

Steel Cage Match
Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Story here began at King of the Ring where HHH beat Mankind to win it. Mankind didn’t like the interference from Chyna and wanted a rematch, which led to a double countout (one of the best done double countouts ever, if that makes sense). Here are are. The story is the natural rich blueblood vs. deranged, er…, presumably not rich weirdo.

HHH goes for the door right away. Brilliant start.

Foley’s stump piledriver was always pretty awesome.

Chyna finds some early ways to get involved, first closing the door when Foley was going for it, and grabbing Mankind’s hair when HHH was in the Mandible. Clever.

Foley then tries to escaple, but Chyna climbs up and hits a low blow…and HHH superplexes him off the top of the cage, which looks pretty damn awesome.

It looks like HHH could have left, but he decides he wants to punish Mankind and does so by throwing him into the cage, which looks great with the old school blue cage. I’m torn on this, as it makes sense,, but it did make Mankind look a little too easily beaten.

Chyna again keeps finding ways to get involved, and she punches Foley through the cage holes here. Good heel stuff.

Really cool spot where HHH gets put in the tree of woe, but he’s hanging from the cage and not the corner.

Mankind gets backdropped into the cage, which seems pretty dangerous. Cool stuff though.

HHH’s let gets caught in the rope (intentionally), and Chyna slams the steel cage door right on ankind’s head. Cool as it looked, this hurt Foley big time and I believe he said it hurt worse than his toss off the Hell in a Cell a year later.

Chyna takes out the ref and throws a chair in the ring, but Mankind gets the advantage and slingshots HHH into Chyna, who was hanging on the outside of the cage.

Double Arm DDT on the steel chair!

Chyna actually fucks up here, as Mankind is leaving the cage and Chyna gets in to drag HHH out (the finish)…BUT there’s one more spot left!

Mankind wins in 16:13. Mankind takes off the leather mask and tears a bit of his shirt…Superfly Dive off the top of the cage! Also looked incredible. Chyna now does the correct finish and tries to drag HHH out, but Mankind gets to the floor first…and eventually turns into Dude Love! Anyway, great opener. Back and both hard hitting cage match with some innovative stuff and a great finish. Nevermind the awesome character development with Dude Love and all, and it continued to show that HHH had a bit of a mean streak. What a start!

Gov. Whitman comes out with The Headbangers and Gorilla Monsoon. Apparently she helped get wrestling back to NJ.

Tiger Ali Singh sighting. Woo?

If Pillman Loses, He Must Wear a Dress
Brian Pillman vs. Goldust

The Hart Foundation all made stipulations against themselves (except Owen, which we will get to) to put pressure on themselves to win. Pillman said he’s wear Marlena’s dress on RAW if he couldn’t beat Goldust.

Face Goldust was an interesting character. They did a similar thing with Mankind and it worked, but Goldust never gained too much traction as a face.

According to Goldust’s book, there was already some issues with Goldust and Marlena behind the scenes, and he was also a bit intimidated by Pillman as, in real life, Pillman and Terri had a history.

It’s worth noting that Pillman changed his entire ring style after his car accident. It’s pretty jarring after watching a lot of early 90s Pillman matches.

Goldust misses the throw that is supposed to crotch Pillman and Pillman falls to the floor, but it still looked good.

Pillman does a great job acting crazy and as a heel. Using Marlena as a shield, taunting her, etc.

I should point out wow on Marlena’s dress.

JR puts Pillman over by just pointing out his eyes. This is why JR is the best in the business.

Awesome throw counter of the bulldog by Pillman.

Goldust pins Brian Pillman in 7:17. Goldust goes for a sunset flip, but Pillman fights it. Pillman gets to the ropes…and Marlena smacks him in the face with his purse (JR thinks there is a brick in there). It completes the sunset flip and gets the three! Decent match, still jarring how much Pillman had to change his style.

The Legion of Doom vs. The Godwinns

Story here: LOD vs. Godwinns on Shotgun a couple months earlier, LOD broke Henry’s neck with the Doomsday Device and Godwinns wanted revenge and had been attacking LOD, biggest part being hitting them over the head with buckets. Godwinns had turned heel and were pretty disgusting overall.

All LOD early on. Vince and Lawler tell the story on how LOD breaking Henry’s neck first was on accident…but this time they said it would be intentional.

Impressive hangman’s neckbreaker submission from Phineas on Hawk. Godwinns looking to break Hawk’s neck. Surprisingly great psychology here.

Hawk’s hot tag sequence is pretty good. Then a neckbreaker on Henry!

They keep working on the neck with two big clotheslines in the corner.

LOD wins when Hawk pins Henry in 9:15. Phineas breaks up the Doomsday Device…but Hawk takes him out. LOD then hit Henry with a spike piledriver! Pin gets it done. Probably the best possible match LOD and the Godwinns could have. Good psychology and hard hitting all around.

We waste time with a Million Dollar Challenge that no one wins…but damn does Sunny look hot during the segment.

Is the Discovery Zone still a thing?

This might be Todd Pettengill’s last show, come to think of it.

One of the guys they call says he’s not watching Summerslam. Nice.

Vince sounds disgusted on commentary watching this. Like he knows this is a waste of good PPV time.

At least it wasn’t rigged. Key #3 does open the casket with money in it. This for some reason was more entertaining that I thought it would be. Which doesn’t say much but still.

European Championship: If the Bulldog loses the title, he will eat a can of dog food
The British Bulldog© vs. Ken Shamrock

The Bulldog has humiliated Shamrock after an arm-wrestling match by putting dog food all over him.

Shamrock had debuted as a ref in the Mania I Quit Match, and then got put over huge when he beat Vader at In Your House (where was that feud? That would have made money).

Match early on is dominated by Shamrock, and seems designed to get him over.

Bulldog is now kicking all kinds of ass.

They mess up a suplex on the floor, and collapse.

The British Bulldog wins by DQ in 7:29. Bulldog puts dog food on Shamrock, and Shamrock snaps! Shamrock smashes the can on the Bulldog’s head, causing the DQ. He keeps going on the Bulldog, then shoves a ref. He then locks the Bulldog in a chokehold and no one can break it up. Bulldog is out. Shamrock finally lets go and takes out every official in sight, screaming “GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Crowd was hugely into this. This of course, made Shamrock a star (even though he storyline wise nearly killed someone). Kinda weird he’d only last two more years, but at this point it looked like him and Austin were the future of the company.

Interview with HBK. Can he be impartial?!

Los Boricas vs. The DOA

Vince calls it a 10 man tag, but this is an 8 man tag.

This all spawned from when Faarooq fired Savio Vega and Crush from the Nation of Domination. Crush and Vega formed their own factions. The Gang Warz!

I actually never got why DOA and the Boricas hated one another, other than the implied racial tension. Wouldn’t Crush and Vega want revenge on the Nation?

This match has mid 90s WWF legends the Underfaker, the Jacob and Eli Blu and Kwang. No idea why I think that’s relevant, but I do.

Skull already blew the correct selling of a top rope bulldog.

I like how Vince can’t tell the difference between Chainz and Crush, but Skull and 8-Ball (near identical twins) no problem.

Savio Vega with a cool spin kick that sends him over the top rope, landing on his feet. I always thought Vega was a little underrated.

Here comes the new Nation through the crowd. The Nation did help the careers of The Godfather, D’Lo Brown and later The Rock, but it killed Ahmed Johnson off.

The Boricas win when Miguel Perez pins Chainz in 9:08. Chainz gets thrown to the outside, where he takes a shot at Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed hits a bad looking Pearl River Plunge and Chainz gets tossed in by Vega. Perez hits an elbow for the win. NOD and DOA go at it. I mean, not all matches can be good on a show, right? It could have been a lot worse, and at least the characters are developed here, for what its worth.

Intercontinental Championship: If Austin doesn’t win the title, he’ll kiss Owen’s ass
Owen Hart© vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Owen got a pin on Austin in the 10 man tag at the Canadian Stampede. Of course, he reminded everyone of that fact. Austin made the challenge and the stipulation.

Notably (or not), Austin gets interviewed by a rookie Michael Cole, who gets shoved away, and verbally chewed out.

Owen attacks Austin during his corner taunts. More heels needed to do that.

Owen works on the knee right away!

Action packed start. Austin’s got the advantage now and begins to kick Owen’s ass.

Austin is mega over here.

This is the last technical wrestling match Austin would really wrestle barring some 2000 stuff with Benoit and Angle. There are two reasons for this. One: the WWF style changes with the Attitude Era. The second reason comes up later in this match sadly.

Owen now works on the hand, and moves bodypart to bodypart.

Austin with the old school stun gun, and powerbombs Owen out of a hurricanrana!

Now Owen goes for the neck with a neck breaker.

Austin tries to use a sharpshooter, but Owen gets out.

Owen keeps wearing Austin down. This has been a great match, with Austin’s comebacks coming at awesome times.

The moment that changed everything: Owen tombstones Austin in a sitting position…and paralyzes him.

Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the title in 16:16 by pin. After the tombstone, Owen plays to the crowd to buy Austin time, and somehow, Austin, with a legitimate broken neck here, gets a weak rollup and the pin. Austin was legit angry that Owen kicked out right after three as well. The match was great other than the tombstone at the end, obviously. This changed everything as well. Austin’s style moved to a brawler when he came back. He also needed more surgery in 1999 (the who ran over Steve Austin angle) that stemmed from the piledriver, and was a huge factor that caused him to retire in 2003.

This got Austin over even more though, as when he actually got to his feet with a legit broke neck it fueled the toughest SOB in the world environment. The piledriver just looks scary. Austin’s head is a good eight inches under Owen’s ass. Of course, with Austin in the main event, there was 0% chance Owen would ever become a main eventer in the WWF. Austin even said in his book that he didn’t want to work with Owen, and past Survivor Series ’97, he didn’t really have to.

WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels is the guest referee. If Shawn favors Bret, he can never wrestle in the USA again. If Bret doesn’t win the title, he can never wrestle in the USA again.
The Undertaker© vs. Bret Hart

Huge heat for Bret.

Bret calls for the Canadian National Anthem. More huge heat.

Huge cheers for referee HBK, although that would change soon…

Undertaker’s character in the ring has gotten more realistic at this point. He wasn’t sitting up from everything anymore, but still showed that he could take immense punishment, while we’ll see later.

Bret actually hits Taker with the title belt before the bell. Common theme with the Harts tonight.

Taker quickly gets into indestructible mode and beats the hell out of Bret.

Nice backbreaker submission by Undertaker. It’s Taker who’s actually working on a body part early, the spine.

Bret gets a chance and begins his going for the knee strategy that was obvious before this match began.

Figure Four from the Hitman!

Here comes Paul Bearer! He and Taker were not on the same page here…

Taker gets out…then goes right outside and takes out Paul Bearer, which allows Bret to take out the knee again. Bearer does a great sell job on the punch.

Bret with one of my favorite moves, the Figure Four around the post! This causes a Bret-Shawn argument.

Here come Owen and Pillman now.

Tremendous psychology here. Bret Hart and Taker are building a great match.

Taker uses the damaged leg to stagger over the top rope…and surprises Owen and Pillman by taking then out.

HBK gets Pillman and Owen out of here, and Taker chokeslams Bret and pins Bret, RIP pin and all, but HBK doesn’t see it! Taker grabs HBK here, the first seed planted. Bret then almost steals a win before Taker knocks him down again. Taker confronts Shawn one more time.

Bret now goes for the spine, we should be getting into Five Moves of Doom territory.

Backbreaker! Two count, but Taker gets out with authority.

Vertical Suplex, then Bret with some sign language for the crowd before dropping the forearm. Taker sits up after a kick out.

Russian Legsweep. It’s almost time…

Sharpshoot….no, Taker grabs the throat!

Taker makes his comeback…but Bret fights it off.

Taker hits the flying clothesline!

Taker chokeslams Bret from the apron to the inside of the ring! Fans react there, as JR points out no one has kicked out of two of Taker’s chokeslams.

Bret with the logical counter to Taker’s rope walk…kicking the top turnbuckle.

Sick top rope superplex!

Sharpshooter! Crowd is stunned, but they light up when Taker tries to fight out…no one gets out of this one…

EXCEPT The Undertaker! First break of the sharpshooter ever.

Taker gets a clothesline and suddenly he’s calling for the end!

Tombstone?! No, Bret gets out and pulls Taker toward the post…and locks in a Sharpshooter around the ringpost! It doesn’t look great though. Taker escapes and Bret lands on Shawn, incapacitating him at the moment.

Bret gets a chair and wallops Taker. Bret doesn’t toss the chair out far enough (intentionally).

Taker actually kicks out of the chairshot, which leads to a huge pop!

Shawn sees the chair and grabs it, then confronts Bret about it. Bret denies it. Shawn keeps pressing and Bret denies it again…then spits in HBK’s face!

Bret Hart wins the WWF Title in 28:19 by pin. Bret denies the chair usage…then spits in Shawn’s face! Shawn goes for a chair shot…and Bret moves and Shawn LEVELS Undertaker! It’s a hell of a chairshot. Bret gets the pin and Shawn is forced to count it, and Bret wins title #5. Amazingly built match with a super hot finish here. Bret’s reaction right after the pin is perfect too. An almost I told you so like taunt. Great match, and Bret Hart’s last great moment in the WWF, at least for 12 years.

Anyway, everything pretty much hit for Summerslam 1997. The only low points quality wise were the Million Dollar Challenge and the 8 Man tag. Even LOD vs. The Godwinns was solid. The WWF needed a strong show as WCW was still ahead in the ratings, and a strong show they got that allowed them to hang on until Steve Austin put them over the top. Of course, Steve Austin barely survived this show.

Historically, you have the creation of the great Undertaker vs. HBK rivalry. A piece of the Montreal set-up. Austin somehow looking more badass than he already was, although it was an unfortunate way to get there. Even the development of Ken Shamrock was shown here, as he would be a solid upper midcarder for the next two years. Mankind and HHH also furthered their storyline, with Mankind breaking into Dude Love for the next few weeks before Cactus Jack would show up.

A great show all around with a lot of historical significance.

Final Grade: A

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews In Your House XVI: The Canadian Stampede

IYH16

WWF In Your House: Canadian Stampede
July 6, 1997
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Reviewed on September 19, 2014

WCW was still winning…but suddenly, the WWF had something hot on their hands.

Say what you want about Bret Hart, his 1997 heel run is one of the great heel runs in pro wrestling. This heel run made Stone Cold Steve Austin and established him as THE face of pro wrestling.

At this point Vince was still in trouble financially (practically because of Bret’s deal), but in reality he just had to hang on. Austin was on his way. The WWF in 1997 was an exciting show once again.

Now in Canada, Austin would have a chance to further his legacy. He might have been a face…but in Canada because of the Harts he was still the biggest heel in the world. And…he would.

Careful WCW, the WWF is coming.

The Card

One of my favorite intro promos here. A black and white montage…explaining that the world is black and white. One of the fantastic things about Bret’s heel turn was that he felt he hadn’t changed…he felt the fans changed. He actually wasn’t wrong.

Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Story: HHH won the King of the Ring over Mankind last month (Pedigree on the table for the first time). Chyna interfered immensely. Mankind wanted a rematch.

Pretty hot start, including the elbow off the apron.

One of the brilliant aspects of this feud was that before it, Mankind was higher up the card than HHH. Yet Foley and HHH told a great story that brought HHH up.

Mandible Claw! Chyna though breaks it up.

Awesome spot here: Mankind looks to whip HHH into the steps…but HHH reverses and Chyna slams Mankind into the steps! It’s interesting that so many wrestlers didn’t want to sell for Chyna, and Mankind had no problem getting his ass kicked by her. (SeeJohnson, Ahmed).

Loving Mankind’s selling of the knee. Even the small grasp of the knee after piledriving HHH matters so much.

Chyna is playing the role of equalizer perfectly.

Double Countout in 13:14. HHH and Mankind brawl on the outside and are counted out. They keep going at it though, fighting in the penalty box. HHH shows great aggression here. Anyway, great opener. Normally I’d hate the double countout, but it made sense in this context. HHH owes Foley pretty much everything in his in ring career.

We get a Hart Foundation interview…until Stone Cold looks to fight he Foundation 1 on 5. Bret points out that he wants 5 on 5, not 5 on 1.

The Great Sasuke vs. Taka Michinoku

The WWF Light Heavyweight Division had pretty much been a joke before this point. I guess Brian Christopher vs. Steve Rogers or whomever wasn’t getting it done.

JR says that Taka is making his American PPV debut…in singles competition. It’s like he remembered Barely Legal midway through the sentence and added the single thing.

Mankind and HHH are going at it again! Brilliant!

Anyway, here we go. Lawler explains this Japanese style using Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali as an example.

Nice kick from Sasuke! Crowd isn’t into it yet. Slow build so far.

Knockout spin kick from Sasuke! Crowd reacted to that!

Nice slap by Taka and Sasuke does a great sell.

Taka with some nice dropkick spots. Shame no one would care about them later.

Sasuke with a karate kick off the top to the outside!

More crazy kicks from Sasuke! Taka is getting killed.

Taka goes airbourne, springboard plancha! Another move people stopped caring about over time sadly.

Taka perfectly lands on his feet out of a German. Hurricanrana gets two.

Awesome backspring elbow from Sasauke…and a perfect Asai Moonsault to follow up!

Michinoku Driver gets a huge reaction…and Sasuke kicks out! JR talks about it being his finisher…which should tell you who they were gonna build the division around.

The Great Sasuke pins Taka Michinoku in 10:00. Thunder Fire Bomb then Tiger Suplex for the win. What a match! This may be the greatest match in the history of the entire division…which sadly tells you how much they screwed that up (Malenko vs. Scottyis the other contender). Incredible though. Lawler screaming everywhere is also awesome.

HHH and Mankind are STILL going at it outside! Shovels, garbage cans! Everything! Great stuff.

We are told Ahmed Johnson was injured and can’t wrestle The Undertaker for the WWF Title. Bullet dodged there…because Vader is taking his place for what should be a good match (although their Rumble 97 match was a mess).

Paul Bearer interview. Wonders how Taker can live with himself for killing his family. Of course, this all led to Kane.

WWF World Championship
The Undertaker© vs. Vader

Undertaker in 1997 looked like a freaking bad ass World Champion.

Paul Bearer hides behind the apron. What a great heel.

Taker just levels Vader with a clothesline. Somehow this is already better than the Rumble.

I wonder when Taker added that Stinger Splash to his arsenal.

This was a couple months after the Vader Kuwait thing. I wonder if Vader knew he was only going downhill from this point forward in the WWF (unless you think him getting his ass handed to him by Shamrock in May was good for him)…and looked to make the best out of this opportunity.

Vader hot some height on that 2nd rope body tackle.

You know what’s weird? Bearer and Vader here remind me of Heyman and Lesnar in 2014.

Low blow from Vader! Ref letting it go…

Vader Bomb time? No, Taker sits up and low blows Vader! Good symmetry with the letting it go from the ref! Then Taker Chokeslams Vader off the second rope! Wow! I woulda bought that as a finish.

Taker had to be in top form physically here. He’s throwing the 450 pound Vader around like he’s Taka.

The Undertaker retains by pin in 12:39. Vader kicks out of another chokeslam…but Taker puts him away for good with a Tombstone! We are THREE for THREE with great matches here. Vader’s last great match (in the USA at least) ever. I mean, imagine if this was Ahmed?

The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and Brian Pillman) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust and L.O.D.

We get interviews from team Austin side. Austin doesn’t say a work though. I also don’t think Hawk knew where the camera was.

We get the Canadian National Anthem from Farmer’s Daughter. Weird group name.

Stu and Helen Hart get huge ovations.

Huge boos for Austin. Amazingly though, he’d actually get cheered beating Owen at Survivor Series four months later.

Brian Pillman gets the biggest pop of his career. Pops get bigger and bigger with each guy. You can barely hear Owen’s music. Unless you listen closely…it’s difficult to hear when Bret’s theme begins. I argue this is the biggest pop in wrestling history, although I know it has competition.

We get an awesome face off between both teams…and then Hart and Austin go at it!

Hart beats the hell out of Austin and the crowd is has come unglued!

Austin takes over…and HUGE boos.

They randomly bust out the Survivor Series 96 finish!

Neidhart mocking Shamrock was great.

This is one of the all time great crowds.

Huge Austin sucks chants…he’s not even in the ring…

We get our first out of control brawl when Goldust gets trapped in the tree of woe.

Owen with a perfect missile dropkick and a nip up! Animal stuns the crowd by powerbombing Owen though.

Anvil breaks up a pin and it’s a melee everywhere!

Austin slams Owen’s knee across the ring post, then beats it with a chair! Bruce Hart attacks Austin from the crowd, but Austin takes him out.

Owen gets carried to the back as crowd gets on Austin again.

Stunner to Pillman!

Bret grabs Austin though and slams Austin’s knee into the ringpost! Then he hits Austin’s knee with a fire extinguisher! Of course…he follows it with a Figure Four around the ringpost! Now Austin is being helped to the back.

Some old school Hart Foundation!

Brian Pillman was absolutely brilliant in this thing…just being a pesky jerk.

Another brawl!

Shamrock gets the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM!

JR with an awesome Dusty impression here.

PILLMAN AGAIN!

Austin’s back! Austin’s back!

We get Bret vs. Austin again! This time Austin stomps a mudhole in Bret though!

Sick DDT on Austin by Bret!

FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! He didn’t finish against Shamrock.

Bret gets the Sharpshooter…but Animal saves Austin to huge boos.

Austin locks Bret in the Sharpshooter…but here comes OWEN!

Austin clotheslines Owen out, and Austin goes after him.

The Hart Foundation win when Owen pinned Austin in 24:31. Bruce Hart throws his drink at Austin, and Austin goes after Stu! The Harts get involved and it’s chaotic everywhere (and Bruce begins to kick ass and gets a Bruce chant, which apparently pissed Vince off). Austin gets rolled back in by Bret…and Owen rolls him up, 1…2…3! HUGE pop. Security breaks up the fight and the Harts remain tall in the ring….Bret’s music plays and everything, they wave the flags, etc. etc…

Until Austin comes back with a chair! Austin comes in by himself and everyone beats him up! “THAT RATTLESNAKE IS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING!”

Austin gets handcuffed…but makes sure to give the Canadian crowd the middle finger on hos way out. As Austin would say, “you might have tied my hands behind my back…but you didn’t shut up the fingers!”

Anyway, with all due respect to all the War Games matches I’ve seen, this is the best ten man tag team match ever. Ever. 24 minutes of nonstop action. Incredible.

An incredible PPV. Four great matches out of four. Bret Hart’s last great moment in the WWF as a babyface. Further established Austin as a not caring rebel. Helped establish HHH as well. Random awesome light heavyweight match. There’s just so much greatness on this show. There’s not ONE bad moment.

It’s a shame it all went downhill for Bret after this. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as good as the Attitude Era…but Bret Hart showed he could be a draw and a top guy. It would have probably always been in 2nd place…but the WWF would have survived surely.

Anyway, this whole show was incredible.

Final Grade: A+