WWE In Your House: Ground Zero
Louisville, Kentucky - September 1997
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Bret Hart is the WWE World Champion coming into tonight's show, Steve Austin is still recognized the Intercontinental Champion (but was severely injured at SummerSlam), the European Championship is held by the British Bulldog, and the WWF World Tag Team Champions are Dude Love and Steve Austin (again, injury would prevent them from defending the titles on the show).
COMMENTARY: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross
A video package brings us to our opening contest - Goldust taking on Brian Pillman, who had mocked the Bizarre One by telling him that Dakota, Dustin's real-life daughter, was actually his lovechild. The last time these two tangoed, Pillman ended up having to wear a dress, but this time, he put his career on the line against the managerial services of Terri "Marlena" Runnels. Rhodes goes right after the Loose Cannon before the bell, unloading on him with everything he's got. Unlike their match at the previous month's SummerSlam, this one has good heat and a number of well-received high spots, including a huge suplex on the steel ramp. Pillman eventually gets the upper hand and Goldie puts just as much energy into his bumping and selling as his opponent had. Goldust gets the upperhand back and launches Pillman into the guardrail from the top rope and, minutes later, lands his Curtain Call finish but is unable to capitalize due to a ref bump. Marlena tries to make the save, but one can guess how that ends up. Solid opener that the crowd enjoyed and improved on their previous match considerably. (3/5)
Scott Putski makes his WWE pay-per-view debut to take on Brian Christopher, who King denies is his son (though, it was widely known at the time). A "Jerry's Kid" chant breaks out early as Putski gets in some textbook offense - rights and lefts, a hiptoss, a decent dropkick. Christopher does most of the work, hitting a big german duplex and then following it up with a nice splash to the outside of the ring. Putski seemingly injures his knee on the outside, leading the referee to award the match to Too Sexy in a lackluster match that made Putski look like a wuss. In an interview years later, Putski explained that his injury was real and that when he healed, he was told the company had nothing for him. While he did show up months later in WCW, I'm guessing this is the only time we'll be featuring one of his matches at Kwang The Blog. A somewhat interesting match due to the participants involved, but not worth seeking out in any way. (1/5)
A video package, spliced in with some words from the particpants serves as hype for our next match - Farooq vs. Crush vs. Savio Vega in a showdown of gang leaders. Fairly predictable triangle bout with guys taking turns getting their spots on and loads and loads of broken pinfalls. Crush gets the most crowd support from the Louisville crowd which makes the finish a touch confusing. I think there were some boring chants at various points, but this wasn't too offensive. Still, well below average even if there was some effort on display. (1.5/5)
Cause Stone Cold Says So VHS commercial.
El Torito (the original) makes his way down the aisle to take on the 83-pounder Max Mini. The duo perform a tremendous lucha match, though, Lawler can't be bothered not to just racistly shit on it. The crowd is, unsurprisingly, interested in only the biggest spots and don't react to much of the heat segment or Mini's penchant for wristlocks. The broad comedy in the middle of the bout makes no sense but wins the crowd back over momentarily (El Torito's offense hushes them rapidly). Several amazing spots separated by some slow sections that the crowd was bored by. The finish doesn't live up to any of the brighter moments from earlier (Torito's stiff powerbomb and big boot, Mini's Asai Moonsault). A notch above filler. (2.5/5)
A video package replays Austin's injury at SummerSlam followed by Commissioner Sergeant Slaughter's ridiculous segment demanding Austin to turn in his World Tag Team Championship. We're then in the ring with Ross and Slaughter, joined soon after by the other half of the World Champs, Dude Love. Steve Austin comes out to a massive pop - remember, he'd suffered a major stinger not a month earlier - and proceeds to absolutely own the crowd (and the Commish). We then get one of the most badass moments in Austin's history. NNofA. (+1)
Owen Hart and the British Bulldog are backstage with Dok Hendrix. They make their feelings known about Austin.
A Fatal 4-Way is next, the WWE Tag Team Championships on the line in a bout featuring The Headshrinkers, The Godwinns, The Legion of Doom, and the previous champs, The British Bulldog and Owen Hart. Nothing remotely interesting happens for the first 10 minutes, Owen Hart finally getting in for a big press slam that wakes the crowd up. A loud "LOD" chant breaks out as the Godwinns put the boots to Animal. Thrasher hits an ugly Mosh-assisted dive to the outside and the next minutes that follow are just as sloppy. There's a huge, noticeable botch as the match winds down, but it doesn't impact the timing and excellence of the finish, a somewhat-anticipated run-in that sets the crowd on fire. That moment alone scores a point, but man, what a slog to get to it. (2/5)
Another commercial for Austin's video and we see the new champions celebrating with their fans.
A video package chronicles the arrival of Del "The Patriot" Wilkes, who has to have set a record for fastest rise from complete unknown to challenging for the WWE Championship on pay-per-view ever. The video includes ample footage of his college football days and experiences in Japan, but absolutely no mention of his WCW run (or even his work in GWF), which at least a portion of the audience might have remembered. The audio is horrendous for the whole package too for some reason. Odd stuff.
Bret Hart defends his WWE Championship against The Patriot next, the Hitman at an early advantage in this relatively heatless bout. Wilkes has a decent repertoire of clotheslines and dropkicks, but its painfully obvious from the first few minutes how out of place he is in such a big spotlight, how shallow the depth chart was to necessitate thrusting such an unproven talent into a World Title program based entirely on his one-dimensional gimmick. This one isn't as bad as it is lazy and derivative, the involvement of the British Bulldog and Vader and, later, a ref bump, serving as all-too-obvious attempts to add heat and intrigue to a match whose finish was never in doubt. As the match wears on, things just get more tedious, though, credit should go to Hart and Wilkes for actually filling the time with action and not shortchanging the live audience. Extra half-point for the post-match beatdown, more vicious than any other part of the match. (2/5)
After a promo from the Hitman, we get a video recap of the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker feud, and then a very brief, very seemingly "battling demons" Shawn Michaels delivering some lines about how he's going to take out the Undertaker because...he can.
Main event time - As Shawn Michaels makes his way down the aisle, he's pelted with a mix of garbage and cries of ecstasy from the crowd. His opponent, The Undertaker, gets a much better reaction and, upon entering the ring, immediately pops the crowd by basically ending the match before it has even begun. Sgt. Slaughter arrives to make sure it will continue, but Taker doesn't care a bit, attacking HBK up the ramp. Michaels' overselling would be annoying if it weren't for the fact that the bumps he's taking are genuinely stiff and almost suicidal, putting his body through all sorts of unnecessary pain. Honestly, there are some Foley-esque bumps here that, again, while cartoonish, are undeniably entertaining and put over the mythos of the Undertaker better than maybe anyone had ever done before. As the match wears on, the crowd's enthusiasm dies down a bit, though, this is to be expected with an opening stretch as hot as this. The arrival of DX further quiets things as the Deadman is finally outmatched after dominating almost the entirety of the contest. A second referee gets bumped and it is almost as if the audience is more shocked than anything, unaware how to react at what should be, at the very least, the second or third justifiable Disqualification. The bell does not ring, though, and the "match" continues into a pretty much unnecessary third act that culminates in a clearing of the lockerroom. Undertaker shows off his own athleticism in the final moments, giving the crowd something special instead of leaving them with the lasting image of a "cop out" finish, but as a whole, its an entertaining 15 minutes of action, a great chapter in their rivalry but far from a definitive battle. Worth watching, especially if you're someone who believes their only gems were the first Hell in a Cell match and their WrestleMania clashes. (4/5)
Ground Zero is an interesting show, but not a particularly good one. In 1997, the WWE was throwing shit at the wall and seeing what would stick and this show exemplifies the new approach. Sexualized storylines? You get Goldust and Pillman fighting over Terri Runnels in the opener. You wanna see some race wars? Try a triple threat match between pseudo-neo-nazi bikers, stereotypical Puerto Rican thugs, and Nation of Islam-inspired militants for size. If that doesn't work, well, why not blatantly rip-off WCW's hot cruiserweight division? They give you Guerrero and Jericho, we give you Scott Pustki and Brian Christopher. The Hart Foundation's war on America was getting stale, so they introduced us to a challenger we'd never seen before - Del Wilkes the Patriot. And how about a main event that isn't a main event, where the basic rules of pro-wrestling are tossed out the window within the first 30 seconds? It wasn't quite "The Attitude Era" yet, but Steve Austin gets CHEERED for stunning babyfaces! Impossible to recommend, but fun to discuss, Ground Zero earns a decent score of 2.43-out-of-5 thanks to the heroic efforts (and multiple appearances) of Steve Austin and a unique main event.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
...and just because it's fun trivia, here are some other shows that received the exact same score (or within .01 of it):
* WCW Clash of the Champions XXXV
* WCW World War III 96'
* WWE Extreme Rules 2015
* WCW UnCensored 95'
* WWE Roadblock
No comments:
Post a Comment