Raw is War - November 10th, 1997

• Raw kicks off with the first in-arena use of the D-Generation X theme song. Rick Rude enters first which is probably an interesting note of historical trivia. He gives a big introduction to the new WWF Champion Shawn Michaels (with Triple H and Chyna too, of course). The crowd chants Bullshit at Michaels right away - most fans probably didn’t know exactly what happened at Survivor Series and all of the insane backstage events that led to that finish but most fans did understand that Bret had been cheated. JR explains it but does keep it kayfabe, saying that Michaels cheated Bret Hart who has now left the WWF because of it. I’m sure we’ll hear more about that later. Shawn tells the fans who are chanting "We Want Bret” that the Hitman is gone and that he ran him “down south” with all of the other dinosaurs. Michaels, at the time, claimed that he had no knowledge of the way Bret got screwed but that wasn’t true. He does play it up and brags about making Bret “submit” to his own move, and mentions that he would never beat up a 52 year old man - that’s a reference to Bret punching Vince McMahon’s lights out last night after the PPV. Ken Shamrock has had enough and heads down to the ring showing no fear against the whole of DX. Shawn makes a joke about Shamrock being stupid, and then Ken calls DX “a disgrace to the human race” and then insults Chyna saying he can’t tell if she’s a man or a woman. That seems wildly uncool, no? I was on your side Ken but now? Nah. He calls Rick Rude an old man and shows zero fear of being beaten up. This promo gets very disjointed which is a sign that it's not tightly scripted, which is good but it does feel really awkward. It gets worse when Commissioner Slaughter comes out. He tells Shawn that he’ll defend the WWF title against Shamrock but not when, and says that Triple H will face Shamrock tonight. He’s going to sit and ringside to make sure there will be no interference and then his music plays to cut him off and end this segment which I assume was a decision made by the production truck because he was dying on the mic.

• Marc Mero (with Sable) faces Ahmed Johnson. Mero throws a lot of punches and hits a low blow right in front of the referee to lose via disqualification. He tried to deliver the TKO after the match but it looked a mess - he could barely lift the guy. This was terrible but to go along with Mero’s new boxer gimmick, “legendary boxer” Butterbean is shown sitting in the front row. We’ll see a bit more of him as he was a minor celebrity at the time. I’m not sure how big of a name he is, historically speaking and I’m not going to google it and find out until I have to! Later in the show, Michael Cole interviews Butterbean and tells us about his various championships in boxing but as he does. Marc Mero comes back out to interrupt and confront him. He calls himself a real boxer and asks all Butterbean has done is beat unemployed steel workers and truck drivers and tells him to stay away from Sable (no one was suggesting he wouldn’t?) and calls Butterbean a nobody! Mero shoves Butterbean, who has to be held back by the people he’s with.

• Sunny is on ring announcer duty for the next Light heavyweight Championship tournament match which is Taka Michinoku vs. Devon Storm. Devon wrestled in WCW for a while as well but he’s not a name I’m familiar with. I love Taka though and Brian Christopher on commentary spends the match mocking him and telling us how much better he is than him. This is a fun match and despite Christopher’s best efforts Taka hits the Michinoku Driver to advance to the semi finals. Taka takes issue with Too Sexy’s interference and hits a gorgeous springboard crossbody on him on the floor and sends him running for the back. 

• There’s chaos backstage as Michael Cole calls for a paramedic; Blackjack Bradshaw is all worked up and screaming about “two jackasses” and demanding a paramedic for Blackjack Windham who seems to have been beaten up! 
• Accompanied by the Jackyl and The Interrogator, Sniper and Recon of the Truth Commission face The Headbangers. Mosh and Thrasher aren’t stupid and have some backup in the form of the DOA, roaring to the ring on their motorbikes. The Jackyl joins commentary just like he did last night so he can tell us more about himself and his group which is smart. “I am a shepherd and I can lead these people through the savage garden to the promised land”. A little help from the DOA gives the Headbangers the win but then the Interrogator gets in the ring and plants Thrasher with a sidewalk slam. The DOA spill into the ring and it turns into a wild brawl where despite their best efforts, no one can knock the big man off his feet. He only leaves because the rest of the Truth Commission hold him back and drag him backstage.

• After the mid-show reset for the Warzone, new Intercontinental Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin marches to the ring and gets a mixed reaction. He is beloved, but he did feud with and beat Canadian hero Owen Hart for the gold so that’s fair enough. Michael Cole interviews him in the ring and he doesn’t say much beyond letting us know that he’s back. Before he gets into things he's interrupted by The Nation’s Rocky Maivia. This is a huge moment, historically speaking as The Rock speaks in the third person and tells us he was the best damn Intercontinental Champion there ever was, and he wants a title match with Austin. Stone Cold tells him he needs to get a haircut, flush himself down the toilet and if he wants a match he can have it any time he wants. “Rocky doesn’t suck because these people say so, Rocky sucks because Stone Cold says so!”

• Jim Ross interviews newcomer Steve Blackman who apparently isn’t keen on a full career in the WWF but he’s interrupted by Los Boricuas and beaten up four on one. Blackman manages to fight them off with his string of martial arts kicks - JR mentions that he has students but not what he teaches. I assume martial arts?

• I don’t know what a bunkhouse brawl match is but Road Dog and Badd Ass Billy Gunn are supposed to face The Blackjacks so it suddenly seems very clear who attacked and injured Blackjack Windham earlier. Michael Cole asks them how they can accept a two on one match against Bradshaw but they have no moral objections to beating up someone with a man advantage. Bradshaw shows no fear, coming out solo to fight them both anyway and uses powder to Billy’s eyes to give himself an advantage. I wasn’t expecting much but this was a very entertaining short brawl with Bradshaw hammering them with trash can and a steel chair. The odds are too much for him to overcome and a DDT onto a steel chair gives Billy and Road Dog the victory. Bradshaw doesn’t stay down for long and chases them both backstage once he gets back to his feet.

• Jim Ross’ sit down interview with Jeff Jarrett continues. I don’t really know what the point of this was as Jeff comes across as a quiet guy with not a lot to say. He talks about how he’s going to be WWF Champion one day, and that Vince got a bargain when he signed him because he’s worth more. JR plays a word association game with him and he’s very careful not to say anything insulting about anyone - what a politician.

• The Undertaker makes his first in person appearance since Badd Blood to face The Nation’s Kama. It’s a short match and after a chokeslam, Undertaker clotheslines Kama out of the ring. The lights go out and Kane and Paul Bearer arrive. Bearer tells The Undertaker that he is going to suffer for 20 years just like Kane did and he needs to accept his fate and fight Kane. Undertaker calls Bearer a leech and a poison and asks Kane not to listen to his lies; don’t come to me as an enemy, come to me as a brother. He repeats his promise from a couple of weeks ago - he will never, ever fight his brother. Kane summons his corner fire and Bearer cackles like a maniac and leads Kane backstage with no physicality. I wonder why he didn’t just attack him now?

• In the main event, Triple H takes on Ken Shamrock. Helmsley does enter with the rest of DX but, just as he promised earlier, Commissioner Slaughter is on the scene to chase them away and to sit and ringside to make sure there will be no interference. The crowd was chanting “We want Bret” during this match so JR and Jerry Lawler took the chance to talk about him; he’s gone to WCW and is apparently being paid $3 million per year! I’m not sure why they’d bring that up but Lawler’s tone suggests that WCW has wildly overpaid for him. WCW did always have a reputation for burning money which was absolutely justified. JR wishes him well, which was nice. Rick Rude comes down to interfere and Commissioner Slaughter has to physically restrain him. Chyna tries the same thing and is similarly held back. The Commissioner has his hands full with those too so Shawn Michaels is able to sneak down and blast Shamrock with Rude’s metal briefcase, unseen by the referee. We’ll never know if that would have ended the match as Raw, which was Live this week, ran out of time and so the show ends just as we see Shamrock kicking out of HHH’s pin. Hopefully they’ll fill us in next week! 

Raw is War - November 17th 1997

• Raw opens with a video telling us what happened last week after the cameras stopped rolling. DX rushed the ring to attack Ken Shamrock and during that chaos, the world’s most dangerous man took down Shawn Michaels and Commissioner Slaughter symbolically counted to three to let everyone know that Shamrock is capable of beating the new WWF Champion. In reality, that protected both Triple H and Michaels, neither of whom had to ACTUALLY lose to Shamrock. 
• In the arena, things kick off with Stone Cold Steve Austin and the breaking news that at the next PPV, Austin will defend the Intercontinental title against Rocky Maivia. Austin walks around the ring and up and over the announce table with a microphone asking if the people want to see The Rock get his ass kicked tonight. He dares Rocky and the rest of The Nation to come out and face him right now. They do just that and circle the ring but then only D’Lo Brown goes on the attack. He’s beaten up and dropped with a Stone Cold Stunner but that was just a distraction so that Rocky could steal the Intercontinental title belt. The Rock leaves with it but I’m sure Stone Cold won’t let that stand. Austin takes JR’s headset so that he can angrily tell both him and the fans at home that he will get that title belt back from The Rock because he isn’t safe from him anywhere. 

• Marc Mero (with the lovely Sable) takes on Jerry Lawler. That’s a weird match isn’t it? JR says that The King wants revenge for his son Brian Christopher? Whatever. Butterbean is back tonight and in the front row again so maybe we’ll get another showdown between himself and Mero. Sable waves at Butterbean and that sets Mero off who goes out to confront him. Sable is gorgeous but isn’t someone I have a lot of love for, historically speaking. I’ll just take her as she comes for the time being. Lawler isn’t on commentary because for the past few weeks they’ve settled into a pattern of having Jim Cornette and JR on commentary for the first hour and then Lawler replacing Cornette for the second hour. JR mentions that Sable is hiding a black eye under her sunglasses because she was kicked by her horse? There’s a lot going on here. Brian Christopher comes down to the ring for a closer look at this match and to offer moral support for his daddy, which both of them still deny being the case. Lawler hits the piledriver and has the match won so Sable breaks up the pin, getting her man disqualified. Mero gives Lawler a low blow and a TKO but then berates Sable for getting him disqualified. We get a good look at her nasty black eye and while we have the commentators telling us how she really got it, the audience is left to draw their own conclusions.

• After a revamped version of the original WWF Attitude video with the scratch logo (the same one as we saw at Survivor Series, but with Shawn Michaels taking all of Bret Hart’s parts) Jim Ross conducts a sit down interview with Vince McMahon. This is the infamous “Bret screwed Bret” promo where they lay out the WWF’s PR spin on the Montreal Screwjob. Bret was leaving the WWF, he was going to take the title with him, he was refusing to lose and give the title back, he was refusing to show respect for the company so Vince stepped in to make sure that Bret lost the title to Shawn. Vince doubles down on what he said - he didn’t screw Bret, Bret screwed Bret. Vince gives us his side of the story - he didn’t think Bret was worth the money he was being paid and Bret was unhappy playing second banana to Shawn Michaels so they mutually agreed he would leave for WCW, and Vince helped him get a big money deal there. He says that he let Bret punch him in the face to get it out of his system but he’s very disappointed by his attitude and he hoped the two of them would work things out. He says that Bret’s legacy is as a gifted storyteller and wrestler and he wishes him all the best, but maintains that he did the right thing and doesn’t regret it. This is an important and powerful promo because ultimately, fans didn’t buy into Vince’s spin and this was the start of him being seen as the evil owner of the company. This interview was split into two parts over the two hours of Raw. 

• Los Boricuas are slated to take on Road Dog and B.A Billy Gunn. Earlier today, someone stole some of Los Boricuas stuff and it didn't take long to find out who did it. Road Dog and Billy enter dressed as Los Boricuas to their own theme music which just upsets the Puerto Ricans who rush them and start this match on the entrance ramp. JR breaks the news that they will challenge the LOD for the Tag Team titles at the Degeneration X PPV. The other two Boricuas run down and attack Billy and Road Dog who win this match via disqualification. They get out of the ring and escape without enduring too much damage. 

• There’s a video package about Ken Shamrock, putting over his impressive streak of making people tap out including Vader, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels as well as his temper - get out of his way when he snaps! JR and Cornette really put him over, asking if Shamrock will be the man to lead the WWF into the 21st century as champion. That seems like a lot of weight to put on a rookie’s shoulders. 
• Sunny is on special referee duty this week for a minis six man tag team match. Max Mini, Nova and Mosaic vs. Battalion, El Toro and Tarantula. Sunny looks great in her little shorts, obviously. The match is fun but doesn’t last long before the lights go out and Kane’s music plays. Cornette and Ross flip out at the idea of Kane attacking these Minis or indeed Sunny. They seven of them scramble out of the ring and hide behind the announce desk - surely Kane won’t do this? Fortunately we’ll never find out as The Headbangers come out to the rescue, smashing their boombox over Kane’s head. He doesn’t even flinch, and their tandem dive off the top rope doesn’t knock him off his feet. Kane gives them both a pair of chokeslams and Tombstones, leaving them laying but that gave the minis a chance to escape unharmed. Thank goodness. Paul Bearer says that this carnage will continue until Undertaker agrees to fight his brother, which the Deadman still says he will never do. This was a great segment.

• After the mid-show reset, D-Generation X heads down to the ring. Rick Rude introduces them and historically speaking this is a big deal. This marks Rude’s final WWF appearance as he walked out of the WWF over the Bret Hart screwjob after fulfilling his final couple of appearances. That’s not the reason this is a big deal though; this episode of Raw was pretaped and so Rude was able to quickly sign with WCW and appear on Nitro on the same night, at the same time. Over on the other channel, Rude came to the ring and cut an angry promo about Vince McMahon and the way he treated Bret which was probably the best use of him on the night. He’s not very well remembered as a founding member of DX but he deserves that credit. Anyway, back on Raw Shawn Michaels says that Shamrock beat him last week but that wasn’t a real match and it means nothing. Triple H then takes over and calls out Commissioner Slaughter, who comes to the ring to see what Helmsley wants. They do their best to intimidate and bully him but Slaughter doesn’t look particularly worried about them. Helmsley gets really personal, asking if his wife is thrilled with the Sgt’s “privates” and offering to go over and show her his “lance corporal” and how to “stand to attention” Funny stuff but thats too much for the boss and he punches Triple H right in the face! He pays for that as DX beats him up. Triple H hits him in the face with Rude’s metal briefcase and then plants him with a Pedigree, followed by DX laying out toilet paper in a big X across his body. Chyna and Rude even make sure that the officials and security can’t get to him to offer medical assistance as they point at their crotches and tell the crowd to “suck it”. That’s all silly but it was made unintentionally funny by JR and Jim Cornette angrily ranting like this childish stunt is the worst thing they’ve ever seen.

• My future boy Scott Taylor aka Scotty 2 Hotty faces Eric Shelley in the first round of the Light Heavyweight championship tournament. Those of you who were paying attention to the original graphic for this tournament will note that Taylor is replacing Jerry Lynn. I’m not sure if he was injured or if he was just signed to WCW or even ECW at the time but I’m happy to see Scotty either way. He wins this with a diving DDT off the top rope to advance to the semi finals of the tournament.
• Jeff Jarrett called in during the previous match with a “major announcement” which is that he will be making his in-ring return to the WWF next week on Raw is War. I’m still not sure what is going on with this gimmick but he says he’s going to prove that he's the greatest wrestler of all time. Good luck to him.

• Marc Mero comes back down to the ring with Sable in tow and he demands Jim Ross get into the ring to interview him. He rants that his woman is being stalked by “a big fat loser” and points at Butterbean. He dares Butterbean to get in the ring and fight him right now. Butterbean does get into the ring and Mero acts like a big man, but uses Sable as a shield and throws cheap shots at Butterbean. Referees and officials fill the ring to stop this from getting too physical and Mero leaves so that Butterbean can get back into the front row and enjoy the rest of the show. 
• Goldust is scheduled to wrestle Vader as the big man looks for revenge for Goldust walking out on him and Team USA at the Survivor Series. Goldust has gotten even stranger with checkerboard facepaint, a gold nightshift and black tights with golden slippers. He has his arm in a sling and a note from his doctor to say his arm is broken. It appears to be legit but then Goldust pulls a wrench out of his sling and whacks Vader in the head with a cheap shot, putting him out on his back! Goldust leaves - his arm injury is legit but he’s used it to great effect to get this check shot on Vader.

• Later in the show, Sgt Slaughter comes back to the ring having apparently shaken off the beating he got earlier. He says that he hung up his wrestling boots but after what happened earlier he’s going to get back in the ring at Degeneration X - he is going to fight Triple H! He calls him a maggot and a puke and a slime and dusts off all his old catchphrases which I’m sure made some older fans happy but I was never a fan personally.

• In the main event, The Rock battles Dude Love. He still has Austin’s Intercontinental title belt and says that this match will be a non-title match, acting like he’s the actual champion. He calls himself a world class athlete (true) and a highly intelligent man (also true) and the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time (debateable). Stone Cold is still in the arena somewhere so I’m sure we’ll be seeing him again before the end of this show. It’s nice to see Dude Love back - I was worried that the run-in with Kane had ended the character and turned him permanently back into Mankind. Not that I don’t love Mankind too. This is a really good match and Dude hits the Sweet Shin Music and then his double arm DDT. He has the match won but the Nation swarms the ring and goes on the attack, beating him up and causing a disqualification. Stone Cold picks that moment to run down and go on the assault but The Rock sees him coming and bails out of the ring, grabbing the Intercontinental title belt and runs away with it leaving D’Lo to take another Stone Cold Stunner on his behalf. Raw ends with Stone Cold Steve Austin in the ring, staring up at The Rock. Take a moment to let that sink in! This is the last we’ll see of Mick Foley for a few weeks as he was one of the people who contemplated leaving the WWF over Vince’s treatment of Bret Hart.

Raw is War - November 24th 1997

• It’s been the case for a while now but the WWF has settled into a pattern of Raw being Live one week and then taping the next. This episode of Raw is live and do you remember what I said about Rick Rude last week, jumping to WCW and cutting an angry promo about Vince and the WWF? Well this week’s episode starts with Rude’s theme music and Harvey Whippleman coming to the ring and doing a bad impression of Rude to introduce D-Generation X. That’s pretty great stuff. DX give us the full version of their theme music and intro; the DX theme song is still awesome nearly 30 years later. Michaels looks all business but Helmsley has fun crotch-chopping and telling the fans to suck it as he walks to the ring. Michaels sarcastically says that Harvey had a tough spot to fill and then shoves him out of the ring. Michaels stays serious and tells us that Bret Hart is still under WWF contract until November 30th and that he thinks Vince and the WWF treated Bret badly. Michaels says that unknown to anyone else he and Bret have been in contact with each other without anyone knowing and that Bret WILL be here tonight on Raw to get face to face with HBK. It might end in a handshake, it might end in a fight but either way it's up to Bret. Even Triple H and Chyna seem shocked by that, and it was obviously news to Jim Ross and Jim Cornette too! Later in the show, a limousine is shown sitting in the parking lot which we are led to believe contains the Hitman. Him still being under WWF contract was true by the way; his deal with WCW didn’t start until December 1st which does make Vince’s paranoia about him leaving the company with the WWF Championship harder to defend - he literally could have lost it to someone on this very episode of Raw.

• The LOD defends the WWF Tag Team Championships against Road Dog and Badd Ass Billy Gunn. This episode marks the debut of their tag team theme song and they enter wearing the LOD’s spiked shoulder pads (which they stole) and Road Dog calling Hawk and Animal a pair of dinosaurs. That’s too much for the LOD who rushed up the ramp and started this fight right away, hammering on the two outlaws down to the ring. These two teams were supposed to face each other for the gold at the next PPV but Billy and Road Dog have antagonised everyone in the tag team division so much lately, Hawk and Animal demanded that the match take place tonight on Raw. Road Dog and Billy do their best to cheat, using the tag title belt as a weapon but Hawk kicks out. The referee is knocked down and that allows them to use a steel chair. Billy rolls up Animal and a second referee runs down to count! They win the Tag Team Championships and sprint out of the ring, up the ramp, through the backstage area and right into a waiting car to make their getaway. Road Dog and Badd Ass Billy Gunn stole one and, for the first time, Jim Ross refers to them as “outlaws”. During the commercial break the LOD refused to leave the ring and demolished referees and security in a rage, delivering the Doomsday Device to a poor security guard! 

• There’s a video package about how great Sgt Slaughter was in his prime (he wasn’t) to get us ready for his match with Triple H at the DeGeneration X PPV. They sidestep his WWF title reign because he was a Iraq-loving heel at the time. Michael Cole interviews him on Raw (he came out to Lex Lugar’s old theme song!) to chat about him putting aside his being Commissioner to get back in the ring and “teach Helmsley some respect”. Slaughter puts on his hat and fires up with an old school wrestling promo, screaming that HHH is a puke and a maggot and makes their match a Boot Camp match. He also claimed that the Cobra Clutch was the most devastating submission hold in wrestling history which is obviously nonsense. It’s a decent promo but all of the heavy handed military talk feels a bit overdramatic. 

• Jerry Lawler accompanies “not my son” Brian Christopher to the ring for the final first round match in the Light Heavyweight Championship tournament. His opponent is Flash Flanagan who I’ve never seen before but Jim Cornette is full of information about their past in the USWA and how Flanagan is a former USWA Tag Team Champion which is helpful. Lawler cheers on Brian and helps him a little, pulling him out of the way of Flash’s give to the outside and causing him to crash and burn. Christipher picks up the win and then daddy dearest beats up Flanagan a little and throws him out of the ring. 

• This week the mid-show reset and change over to the War Zone debuts a new intro video! Jerry Lawler swaps out with Jim Cornette on commentary for the second hour.

• We waste no time with D-Generation X coming back out to the ring for this confrontation with “Bret Hart”. I’ve mentioned before but the reason the show was laid out this way is that this second hour was head to head with WCW Monday Nitro so they had to throw everything they had to try and steal fans away, turning the first hour into a sort of preview setting up the main event and whatever big promo segment they had planned for the War Zone. Shawn Michaels is still all serious but Triple H takes some time to respond to Sgt. Slaughter and makes more dick jokes about how he’s going to shag Slaughter’s wife. That’s become his trademark! They bring out Bret Hart and of course, it’s not him - it’s a midget dressed as Bret! They recreate Survivor Series with Shawn putting him in the Sharpshooter and Triple H making jokes and describing Bret submitting to his own hold. He’s come up a little short, and he’s always been short on talent! They slap a WCW logo on his ass and kick him out of the ring to “go where garbage belongs” which was a good line! D-Generation X’s fun is cut off by Jim Neidhart; I know I said he’d left after Montreal but he was still under contract and so Vince and the WWF were happy to make him perform during his final contracted appearance. Jim wants to kick DX’s asses for what they’ve done but Shawn stops him and talks some sense to him. Bret left him behind, Bret overlooked him, never gave him a chance to step up and asks where the rest of the Harts are. Jim mentions that the British Bulldog is having knee surgery and Shawn just drops all pretence about his previous antics with “oh the old fake knee surgery? I know that scam very well”. Shawn says that they all abandoned him but his name isn’t Hart, it's Neidhart but he’s going to offer him a chance which Bret never did! He asks Jim Neidhart to join D-Generation X and matter for the first time in his career and he has until the end of the night to think about it! 

• At the PPV, Marc Mero will face professional boxer Butterbean in a “four round tough man contest” which is just a boxing match, but scripted basically. There’s nothing really about that on this show but JR mentioned it and its official so I’ll throw it in.
• Ken Shamrock faces Savio Vega. This is an exhibition match for Shamrock who is scheduled to face Shawn Michaels for the WWF title at DeGeneration X. Jesus from Los Boricuas runs down to get in some cheapshots and allow Savio to control the match more than you’d expect him to but Shamrock powers through with a belly to belly suplex and locks in the ankle lock for a tap out victory. 

• The Nation of Domination heads down to the ring for an interview with Michael Cole. The Rock still has Stone Cold’s WWF Intercontinental Championship belt. This promo marks a couple of big firsts as JR keeps correcting Rocky Maivia to “The Rock” making it clear that that’s his preferred name now. He talks about himself in the 3rd person, calls the fans Jabronis and declares that he will face Stone Cold for “his” intercontinental title at DeGeneration X. On the titantron, Rocky Suck flashes on and off to get the crowd chanting it for him. We know Stone Cold is here tonight so it’s easy to believe that he’s behind it. The promo is plagued with technical issues as the microphone keeps cutting out, and the arena lights start flashing on and off too. The Rock sends The Nation to go and find out what's going on but we get the answer on the titantron; the Rattlesnake is in the production truck! He tells The Rock that wherever he is, if his beeper goes off and it says 3:16 he knows he’s about to get his ass kicked. In the arena with Rocky all alone in the ring his beeper does go off and The Rock’s eyes bulge before the Rattlesnake attacks him from behind! Stone Cold played The Nation like a fiddle. Faarooq, Kama and D’Lo run back down to make the save so he grabs a steel chair and dares all four of them to come and fight him. He’s not afraid to fight all four of them at once. This was a very fun segment! Stone Cold stands on the announce desk and puts on Jerry Lawler’s headset to tell all of us at home that he’s going to whip The Rock’s ass at DeGeneration X and that’s the bottom line cuz Stone Cold said so! 

• Here’s the updated WWF Attitude signature with Bret Hart now removed from it. It’s the same one as we saw at Survivor Series, but with his lines given to someone else (mostly Shawn Michaels, ironically).

• Jeff Jarrett is supposed to make his in-ring return against Crush of the DOA (making his final appearance because, as I mentioned before, he left the WWF over the Bret Hart screwjob) but Jim Ross explains that Jeff has new contract clauses including us having to follow him all the way from the locker room and treat him like a big deal. Jeff says that Vince McMahon hasn’t lived up to his end of the bargain because he doesn’t have a nice enough locker room or a catered meal. Jeff actually keeps calling him Chainz rather than Crush, which makes me think that in the original script for the show it was Chainz and they changed it last minute to get their money’s worth out of Crush before he goes to WCW. Crush wins the match via forfeit which sounds like a weird thing to do for a guy who’s about to leave the company but Kane enters to make sure that it's not a happy ending. Crush goes on the attack but his blows have no effect and Kane demolishes him and puts him down with a Tombstone. The rest of the DOA runs down to attack Kane but officials and referees are on the scene to stop this from escalating. Kane plants official Gerald Brisco with a chokeslam instead and then triggers his pyro which scares everyone enough into backing off and leaving him alone! 

• In the main event in a non-title match, Shawn Michaels faces Vader. The big man comes out with his eyes bandaged and JR says that earlier tonight Goldust introduced us to his new love, Luna and threw alcohol in Vader’s eyes, blinding him. Now obviously none of that happened and appears to have been removed from my copy of this show which tells me that the segment must have been deeply offensive for some reason; the handful of times in WWF history that someone wore blackface has been removed from these shows too. I wasn’t able to find out the details of the segment online so we’ll just need to accept JR’s version of events. More on Goldust and Luna in the future.
• Shawn Michaels introduces Jim Neidhart as the newest member of D-Generation X and The Anvil walks down to the ring with them and joins Triple H and Chyna at ringside to cheer on HBK against Vader. Neidhart helps out with cheap shots and sneak attacks and Michaels picks up the win with a pair of Sweet Chin Musics. Post match the new version of DX celebrates in the ring…until Chyna surprises Neidhart with a lowblow! DX beat the hell out of the Anvil and rolled him out of the ring before declaring that D-Generation X rules the wrestling world. It’s hard to argue with that at the moment. 

Raw is War - December 1st 1997

• Raw opens with a video package about last week’s big Tag Team title change and a promise that the Legion of Doom are far from done with Road Dog and Badd Ass Billy Gunn. That’s how the show starts with the new champions heading down to the ring. This episode features Road Dog’s “oh you didn’t know?” intro for the first time and a prototype of his famous pre-match spiel. He says that he and Mr. Ass dedicate this promo to the memory of the LOD who aren’t here tonight because they’re licking their wounds. He calls them dinosaurs and says that in the rematch at DeGeneration X the gold is staying with Road Dog and B.A Billy. They have a non-title match with The Headbangers and Road Dog reminds us that they smashed their boom box over Thrasher’s head last time they wrestled. Their cockiness is ruined by Hawk and Animal coming through the crowd and attacking them from behind! The LOD are in their street clothes and with no face paint so we know how serious they are but the new champions quickly escape and run off through the crowd. Animal says that they’ll be lucky to escape this building tonight, never mind the PPV! 

• Tonight we need to have both semi-final matches in the Light Heavyweight Championship tournament because the finals are scheduled for 6 days time on PPV! Sunny is on guest ring announcer duty again and the first is Taka vs. Aguila. I was very excited for this one because both these guys are awesome and I wasn’t disappointed. There’s a lot of very impressive dives and flips to the outside. Taka wins with the Michinoku Driver to advance to the tournament finals on PPV. 

• Here’s a commercial for the DeGeneration X: In Your House PPV which is pretty cool! 

• In the ring, Jerry Lawler interviews Luna and “The Artist Formally Known as Goldust” who is dressed in the most bizarre, degrading outfit, on a leash with a ballgag. He looks insane, and this all gives you an idea of why their segment was missing from last week’s show; Luna talks about whips and chains and bondage as Goldust rolls around on the mat groaning and whimpering. The two of them passionately make out and lick each other’s tongues as JR and Cornette tell us this interview feels like it should be illegal. Jesus Christ, this was a LOT to take in. Luna also addresses Vader who wants to get his hands on Goldust and promises him the torture has just begun. Alright then. 

• With all of their respective stables in their corner (minus Crush from the DOA who really is gone now), D’Lo Brown, Chainz, Miguel Perez and Recon have a fatal four way match. There’s a lot of people at ringside as this match serves to demonstrate the four stables making up the WWF’s faction warfare. The Jackyl has leat more into his Cult Leader gimmick and has changed up his look, no longer matching the rest of the Truth Commission and wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses. It’s elimination rules and Recon is out first, followed by D’Lo Brown. Neither of those groups leave and the match is thrown out with no winner when everyone spills into the ring and it turns into a 15 man brawl. The Jackyl joins commentary so he can scout the talent and stay out of the fight. I’m sure he thinks the Interrogator can handle things for the Truth Commission. It’s the three DOA members who manage to hold the ring so I think Chainz officially wins with Miguel eliminated by disqualification because Savio was the first man into the ring? That’s fair.

• D-Generation X came out onto the stage with the WWF Champion in a wheelchair. Triple H speaks first and says he’ll have all the heavy artillery for Sgt Slaughter but will save “the big bazooka” for his wife. He also says that Jim Neidhart shouldn’t use his brain so he’ll make a decision for him tonight; he’s talking about Jim leaving for WCW. Shawn says he’s in the wheel chair because Chyna has been helping him train his legs so that he can withstand Shamrock’s brutal attack and ankle lock submission. Triple H demonstrates by turning Michaels’ leg and rotating it around and around as HBK says that he can feel a little bit of pain - it’s obviously a prosthetic leg but looking at it, I’m not sure how they did this because I couldn’t figure out where Shawn’s real legs were! That leads into them replaying the ending of the WWF Championship match at Survivor Series so that the fans at home can decide whether Bret Hart really submitted or whether he got “screwed” Obviously anyone who knows the real story knows exactly what happened to Bret and who was responsible but on TV they need to keep it a little bit within kayfabe and not give away that wrestling is fake. They also showed a bunch of footage of Bret’s temper tantrum after the PPV went off the air as the commentators bury Bret, saying its behaviour not befitting of a champion. All of that goes hand in hand with Vince’s promo a couple of weeks ago where he called Bret unprofessional. “Bret screwed Bret”.

• The Rock takes on Vader in a match which Rocky tells us is “non-title” because he still has Stone Cold’s intercontinental title belt. Before the match can even begin, Stone Cold’s pickup truck rolls into the arena at the back of the audience, blaring music to distract Rocky and he has a six pack of beers with him too - I think that’s the first appearance of beer as part of Austin’s gimmick. I’m not sure what song he was playing to provide the distraction but it’s heavily dubbed on my version of the show so obviously they didn’t have the copyright for it! The distraction works and Vader dominates The Rock but Rocky shows off some really impressive power in this match, powerslamming and even suplexing the huge Vader! That deserved a bigger reaction than it got. Thanks to interference from The Nation and Goldust Rocky gets back in control but Vader ends up chasing after the Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and losing the match via count out. The Rock and Austin talk trash across the distance with Rocky holding up Austin’s belt to taunt him but Stone Cold firing back with an old fashioned middle finger salute. 

• The second Light Heavyweight tournament semi final is supposed to be future tag team partners Scott Taylor and Brian Christopher but before Too Sexy can enter, Kane does instead. The Big Red Machine slowly walks to the ring but Taylor shows some guts, refusing to run and throwing some dropkicks which have no effect on Kane. He spikes Taylor with a pair of chokeslams and then Paul Bearer repeats his threat to The Undertaker; this path of destruction will continue until the Deadman accepts Kane’s challenge. Kane might run through the entire roster before that happens. Jerry Lawler is quick to point out that with Taylor now unable to compete, Brian Christopher advances to the tournament finals and a match with Taka Michinoku at DeGeneration X: In Your House!

• Jeff Jarrett is supposed to wrestle again tonight, this time against Ahmed Johnson. Side note but Ahmed Johnson thankfully survived a brutal car accident only 8 days before this. Man, he has no luck at all does he? Jeff once again refuses to wrestle calling Ahmed the reason he left the WWF and not on his level (Ahmed calls Jeff “chicken shit”) Commissioner Slaughter comes out and he’s had enough of Jarrett; he needs to wrestle at the PPV or he’s suspended and he can have the top notch, top level, main event opponent he wants - he’ll face The Undertaker!

• As promised at the start of the show, Road Dog and Billy Gunn take on The Headbangers in a non-title match. The LOD is still here and were shown in their dressing room getting prepared for a fight so no doubt they’ll make an appearance here to get their hands on these “outlaws”. The match doesn’t last long before Hawk and Animal run down to get involved. The Headbangers don’t appreciate the interference so Road Dog and Billy use that bit of tension to escape, running out of the ring and just like last week sprinting backstage and into a waiting car to make their getaway! 
• Jim Cornette conducts an in-ring interview with Marc Mero and the lovely Sable who’s showing a bit more skin this week wearing a short ring jacket and what appears to be nothing else underneath it! Cornette lays some brutal honesty on Mero; he’s got a decent winning streak and is a talented guy but the audience doesn’t care at all about him. Sable is the star of the show. The crowd seemed to agree by chanting her name. Cornette says that Mero is just drifting along in Sable’s shadow. Marc asks Sable if she can do a Merosault, or if she’s ever been Intercontinental Champion. He tells off the audience for failing to realise his athletic ability or good looks and says that Sable is his property. He will give us all an exhibition against “Butterball” on PPV and then gets Sable to hold up a pair of boxing pads with Butterbean’s face on them so that he can show off how quick his jabs are. Poor Sable looks like she’s struggling to withstand and when one of the pads goes flying he makes her go and pick it up for him! He rants at poor Sable for stealing his spotlight as JR and King tell us how jealous he is. Sable is crazy popular, and it is 100% because of how she looks but she does at least do a different job of crying and making me feel sorry for her as he rants at her that she’s pathetic and useless. 

In the main event, Triple H faces Jim Neidhart. During the show, JR kept asking the rhetorical question of who from the Hart family might show up to give Neidhart some backup against DX. The WWF won’t be able to milk this Bret Hart controversy for much longer as it won’t be long until he made his WCW TV debut. If this kind of real life drama happened nowadays the WWE would never mention it on TV and pretend it never happened but back in the 90s when grabbing headlines and viewers was all that mattered, real life drama was continually folded into storylines as often as possible. Everything was part of the show no matter whose feelings got hurt. Vince, to his credit, was still taking 100% of the blame for what happened at Montreal which I’m sure made it easier for people to work with Shawn and Triple H who were “as innocent as Bret himself” in the whole thing. With help from a steel chair, Triple H wins and then DX beats up Neidhart some more, Pedigreeing him onto the chair and then spraypainting “WCW” on his back to send him packing. They handcuff him to the ropes to keep the beating going but Triple H and Shawn’s PPV opponents Slaughter and Shamrock run down to make the save! Raw ends with Neidhart holding Chyna back from interfering as Slaughter locks HHH in the Cobra Clutch and Shamrock locks HBK in the ankle lock so that both members of DX are left flailing in pain and tapping out.