T.S. Eliot once wrote that April was the cruellest month. Looking back on it with a wrestling fans perspective, the five long weeks of March 1997 might just be crueller still. While the shows werent all that memorable, things behind the scenes would evolve at this time with dramatic consequences for the entire wrestling business.
As the month began, the NWOs power was largely unchecked. Savage had joined with the group, The Outsiders had seemingly gotten away with an automotive attack on The Steiners, and Bischoff had reversed two title changes. With Easy E at the helm, they looked untouchable. That would change soon. The show started with the NWO arriving in a hummer limousine, but shortly after they arrive in their pomp another car, less flashy, arrives behind them carrying Dr. Harvey Schiller, the director of Sports for the Turner Empire.
The show then moves towards a confrontation between Eric and his boss. Jarrett accidentally hit Mongo to cost them another match, this time to Konnan and Hugh Morrus, which is followed by the usual Horsemen hand-wringing. This was followed by the very-over DDP beating Rick Fuller, and Juventud Guerrera going over Rey Mendoza. Dean Malenko beat Mike Enos, and then the moment wed been waiting for arrived. Mean Gene interviewed Eric Bischoff. Eric calls himself the most powerful man in the wrestling industry. As he tells the fans they all owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing in Hogan, Savage and The Outsiders, Schiller appears behind him. Erics hubris melts away as Schiller asks him whether he believes his position means he can act as he has been. As Eric blusters, Schiller drops the axe until further notice, Eric Bischoff is suspended, and the NWO are no longer in control of WCW! Following this bombshell, hour one would conclude with Eddie Guerrero getting a cheap win over Ultimate Dragon. Malenko reappears during Eddies postmatch promo, and the first hour concludes with them shouting in each others face in the ring.
During the first match in the second hour (between Wallstreet and Scotty Riggs, won by the latter due to interference by Buff Bagwell) Schiavone tells us that Schiller is reviewing all the documents signed by Bischoff one of the consequences of tonight is that Piper, as the man most-wronged by Bischoff and the NWO, will be allowed to form a team and join the WCW vs. NWO match at Uncensored. Shortly after Piper arrives at the arena, and heads to the ring wearing a shirt which parodies the NWO, in their colours but bearing the initials I.C.O.N. instead. The fans are into Piper, and have been loud for most of the night, but what happens next kills the shows momentum stone dead.
Piper accepts the offer of forming a team, but rather than just picking guys from the roster says he is going to form a family by holding a series of tryouts. Hell wrestle six guys and, by popular opinion, pick the best of them to form his team. He goes through the first couple of wrestlers before a boxer emerges and the two spar. They fall to wrestling to boos and chants of boring. Piper tries to elect this guy for his team, but the fans arent having any of it, so they have to throw the fans choice element out of the window. A similar thing happens with the next entrant, a kickboxer that the fans dont take too any more than they had the boxer. Finally John Tenta, who weve not seen in WCW for months, emerges and the announcers remind us that he used to be a famous sumo. He fares a little better with the fans and also joins Pipers team, but there is no doubt that this portion of the show is long, dull, and kills the shows momentum.
Rey Mysterio beat JL in a short match next, before Madusa appeared on Nitro for the first time in months. She criticises Bischoff, saying that she came to WCW for a purpose but his fascination with the NWO meant that it wasnt worth her time, nor her throwing the WWF Womens title in the trash. She says that he should have been fired before she starts talking about other contenders for Akira Hokuto and the WCW Ladies Championship, when Luna Vachon charges the aisle and assaults her. Then the NWO have their weekly session. They may not have power but have recovered their composure, and Bisch and Hogan remind Schiller that he cant fire Eric because of the personal relationship the two have with Ted Turner. The main event then sees Lex Luger and The Giant against The Steiners. The fans are really into it when the NWO surround the ring. The four stand back to back, Schiavone speculates that they might form the WCW team, and time runs out just as all hell starts to break out.
Pipers segment hurt the show no-end, and most of the wrestling matches were either short affairs or werent connected to any angle. The thing is, though, that they really didnt need to do much to beat RAW this week. The show offered little to anyone who wasnt a wrestling purist. For the second time in a few weeks, RAW was international, this time emanating from Berlin in Germany. Production values were once again terrible, and most of the matches on show were cold and unconnected with the larger programme leading to Wrestlemania.
You can tell straight away that we are on different ground. The negative reaction that had started for Bret in the States was completely absent here, and he is the most popular man, by far, on the night. One thing that was never in doubt was Brets ability to draw globally. He took on Hunter Hearst Helmsley, bossed the match but, due to clique politicking, wound up losing by DQ after pushing the referee. The musclebound woman, Chyna, emerged after the bell and stared down The Hitman. Vader challenged Rocky Maivia for the Intercontinental title next, but lost on a DQ after Mankind (unnecessarily) interfered.
A recap of ECW on the previous RAW is followed by Lawler on the phone. He is livid that theyve shown highlights of ECW, says that the WWF wrestlers dont think any more of the promotion than he does, and issues another challenge for the debut of RAW is WAR next week. Then The Sultan, who was the Samoan wrestler Fatu repackaged as a Middle Eastern wrestler managed by The Iron Sheik, beat Flash Funk. Ahmed Johnson then accepted the challenge of the Nation, but said that he wouldnt be coming alone. The mystery is then pretty much given away as a recap of the LoDs re-debut follows, and then some comments from Shotgun Saturday Night in which Hawk and Animal target the LOD.
Mankind delivers a promo in German, before he is defeated by the champion, Sid, in a non-title match. Up next is the main event, which is the final of a tournament to crown the first WWF European Champion. Its the centre piece of the show, the only match connected to an angle, and probably the only genuinely great WWF match of the year not to feature the talents of either Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. It begins with a recap from Shotgun Saturday Night. Clarence Mason had helped NoD member Crush to beat Bulldog, and Davey fired him in consequence. Now he wants to know what side Owen is on. The two have a great match which Bulldog wins, but while Owen shakes hands his face falls and he scowls at his brother in law once his back is turned. Putting the strap on Bulldog in Europe helped the title get off to a great start, though. A genuine main eventer only half a year removed from a lengthy programme with the champ, Davey got the title a certain credibility, not least when compared with the IC title, then around the waist of the callow and unpopular Maivia.
Of course, it did the shows rating no good in the long run, and the 3.4 pulled in by Nitro was easily good enough to not just beat, but decimate, the 1.9 rating for RAW. It is hardly surprising Bischoff getting his comeuppance was always going to draw better than a show that looked bad, with cold matches, and where the main event was ostensibly a heel vs. heel match, however good it wound up being. The man most responsible for booking the WWF product up to this point was Vince McMahon. Like a lot of rich and powerful men, though, he is inclined to blame others for his own mistakes. Following the 1.9, he lambasted his creative team for his own ideas. There was a man in that meeting who was fairly junior. A magazine editor with little actual experience of the wrestling business, he was relatively unconnected with the angles that had been running to this point. He took the opportunity to speak up, validate Vinces complaints, and suggest a new course of action for the company. McMahon agreed, and from this point on, Vince Russo would be a major creative force in the WWF.
He arrived on the scene at a pretty opportune moment, as the debut of RAW is WAR on the 10th of March saw the WWFs flagship show officially go to two hours, mirroring the move that WCW had made the previous summer. It also had a new soundtrack, in Marilyn Mansons The Beautiful People. If anything, this first show was something of an overcorrection, as there wasnt a match in the first hour that wasnt interrupted in some way. The show begins not with a match, as was standard, but with an interview. Sid talks with Jim Ross, but soon his WM opponent and partner for the evening, The Undertaker, gets involved. Their opponents (Vader and Mankind) head down and a brawl ensues, but it finishes with Sid and Taker facing off. Interruptions and mayhem would continue from there. Rocky Maivia would beat a jobber while Bob Backlund, the consultant of the man who would challenge him at Wrestlemania, berated him. A six man tag featuring the luchadors of AAA is interrupted by security ejecting Chyna (though we dont yet know her name, or much about her), and also by some comments from Brian Pillman about how hell be returning to Shotgun Saturday Night. Ahmed Johnson squashed Roy Raymond while the Nation of Domination watched on, and their music played throughout the match. After that, the still-very-popular Ahmed confirmed that at Wrestlemania the Legion of Doom would be his partners. Most of the thousands in attendance joined in as Johnson led a chorus of youre going down. Owen and Davey Boy take on the New Blackjacks next, with Owen still playing the jealous angle, interrupting JR as he tries to get a word with Bulldog and also snapping when Bradshaw taunts him. The Blackjacks beat the champs by DQ when the ref cant get Davey out of the ring. Its during this match that, after a backstage comment from Taz, Jerry Lawler utters the line he looked a lot bigger on the lucky charms box which prompted a heated confrontation a few moments later. A pretty poor match between Leif Cassidy and Miguel Perez concludes the first hour, with the Puerto Rican newcomer getting the duke.
An interview with Ken Shamrock starts the second hour in which it is confirmed that he will be the referee for the Hart and Austin submission match. Austin appears on the tron and taunts Ken, but when Shamrock offers him the chance to back up his words it is Bret who heads to the ring instead. Back in the states, the audience is pretty split, with probably around 70% of the crowd behind Bret but plenty of 3:16 signs in the crowd. Hart plants some of the seeds for his turn, talking about how people had said hed been crying and naming an overlong list of the people whod screwed him. After his diatribe and a brief response from Shamrock, Austin appears at the top of the ramp and flips him off before leaving. After this, Honky Tonk Man is still scouting for his next protégé, and appears to be watching Billy Gunn as the returning Texan beat Aldo Montoya. After some words with Mankind (which undo some of the wilder elements of the character and place him, and his relationship with the WWF, in more of a real-world context), Goldust beat Tim McNeany as Hunter, and the now bailed out Chyna, watch on. After the curtain call these two charge the ring, and do a number on Goldie, prompting the terrified Marlena to jump on Chynas back in a vain effort to protect her man. Eventually a number of officials get them separated but not before Joanie press slams one of them. The real set piece of the night is a great debate between Lawler, and Paul Heyman representing ECW. Lawler is still hot after the incident with Taz, and this one quickly degenerates into name-calling, with Lawler saying that ECW draws 1100 people in a city of 4m, and Heyman says that The Kings kids dont go by the surname Lawler because they are embarrassed to be associated with him. Eventually Lawler is cornered by half the ECW roster, and when he calls for his friends to help him out, not a single WWF wrestler comes through the curtain, leaving Jerry to hightail it. The main event is something of an anti-climax after this. Undertaker and Sid routinely broke off to fight each other, and it is after a powerbomb from Sid that Vader eventually manages to beat Undertaker. The show ends with Bret hyping the fact that hell wrestle Sid for the WWF title in a cage on RAW next week, and that it would be his match with Austin that would be the mania title match.
After a video clip of Hogan and Dennis Rodman in front of the latters movie poster, Nitro got underway with Mongo and Jarrett winning their first match as a tag team at the expense of High Voltage, before Piper and his family have some interview time. Piper begins by targeting the WWF, as a response to the comment that there were no one-hipped wrestlers on their shows. Piper says that there is no one hip on their shows, which is why everyone watches WCW. Then he changed tack, and called them liars, pointing out that when he beat the snot out of Goldust at Wrestlemania XII, he only had one hip then. The real purpose of this segment, though, is damage limitation, and soon the Horsemen arrive and offer to take the place of Pipers family in the upcoming match. Theres some twisted logic which allows Piper to keep his new allies but ditch them in favour of the Horsemen, and all seems to be well.
Prince Iaukea defended the TV title against Squire Dave Taylor, but meanwhile the NWO arrived at the arena. As they made their way in, Michael Wallstreet fell down at the back of the group. Its very similar to the situation a few weeks previously with Big Bubba, and again no one is sure who is responsible. Eddie Guerrero then beat Jim Powers, with the typical Ill see you at the PPV promo afterwards. Dallas Page continued to give the fans what they wanted next, a quick win punctuated by a Diamond Cutter. Page talks with Okerlund after the match. The subject is Randy Savage, but the interview is hurt by technical problems. The first hour concluded with a pretty straightforward win over Galaxy for Rey Mysterio Jr.
Hour two began with the introduction of Miss WCW Spring Break. When the wrestling resumes, team WCW (Steiners, Giant and Luger) have a tune-up match against The Amazing French Canadiens, Roadblock and Greg Valentine. The result is never in doubt, and it is the big Roadblock who eventually does the job for The Giant. An advert for the WCW hotline seems to suggest that Debra likes listening to it in the bath, before Juventud Guerrera gets beat by Ultimo Dragon. Scotty Riggs mini-push then continued with a DQ win over Jericho. Bagwell interfered again, but both babyfaces fought Buff off, before Gene interviews Madusa in a short and fairly inconsequential segment.
Kevin Sullivan (and has become the norm, Jacquelyn) beat the crap out of Hardbody Harrison, but the match ends up being called a double countout. Sullivan gets a pretty unintelligible interview, before the NWO get their weekly slot. They confirm the rumours that have been flying around all night concerning Rodman, showing a video in which Hogan presents him with his colours. They also hand the colours to Sting, who doesnt put them on but leaves the shirt laying on his shoulder. The show ends, though, not with the New World Order but with the Public Enemy. They comment on the Horsemen being switched from their match to join Pipers side. Their match is now not a triangle, but instead a straight tag match with Harlem Heat, and they are not happy about it. The show ends with a brawl when Harlem Heat interrupt their verbal attack on the Four Horsemen.
The new RAW format cut into Nitros lead, but just barely. Had they not just had the poor week of the 1.9, then you know that theyd have been unhappy with the 2.3 they had got. As it stood, it still counted as progress as they were nearer to Nitro, even though that rating had also gone up to a 3.5, which is a very solid pre-ppv rating.
Uncensored 1997 managed a 0.89 buyrate, which is pretty decent (although oddly not matching the impressive rate done by Hogan and Vader at Uncensored 1995). The event itself was a good night for the NWO, Hogan beating Luger last to pick up the duke for their team. The upshot of this is that the NWO can now book for themselves any title match where the championship is held by a member of WCW at any time. Bagwell also beat Riggs in their strap match, while Savage and Miss Elizabeth (much happier now Macho Man is in the group) tagged Page and his wife, Kimberley. The NWO didnt have things all their own way, though, as Sting revealed that he hadnt joined the group, taking out everyone with the baseball bat and pointing symbolically at Hogan, suggesting that he was coming for him. The US title also changed hands, Dean Malenko beating Guerrero to capture the strap for the first (and, indeed, only) time.
The following Nitro is probably most notable for the announcement that Arn Anderson, WCW mainstay and former WWF Tag champion, had a potentially career-threatening spinal injury. Following a Rey Mysterio victory over Psychosis in the opener, Anderson said that hed been putting off the surgery until the Horsemen were strong enough to stand without him, and now that was the case. DDP beat Maxx Payne in the second match of the night. He talks with Okerlund afterwards but Savage soon appears, his taunts eventually leading to Page chasing him through the crowd. The rest of the first hour saw Konnan and Hugh Morrus defeat Gomez and the Renegade, Malenko successfully defend his newly won US strap against Scotty Riggs, Lex Luger and The Giant celebrate Stings return to the WCW fold after they had despatched Tarantula and Knuckles Nelson, and Ultimate Dragon beat Bobby Eaton in quick fashion. The opening hour closed out with an appearance by the NWO, and after the usual Hogan/Bischoff gloating The Outsiders say they will do The Steiners a favour and put the straps on the line against them at Spring Stampede. Scott Hall gets blasted with a cup in the face to end the first hour; his only reaction is to make sure that his hair is still how he wants it.
The second hour began with Mongo and Jarrett beating Mark Starr and Alex Wright, but Public Enemy head for the ring and end up brawling with the Horsmen. Two NWO wins follow this; Scott Norton, one of a number of WCW wrestlers who have spent much more time in NJPW of late, made short work of Chavo Guerrero, before The Outsiders did the same thing to Mike Enos and Bunkhouse Buck. Next up its the turn of the Horsemen to administer a squash, and Benoit demolishes Kidman in near record-time. After the match, Okerlund gets into the ring to talk with Benoit and Woman but Flair makes his way down. Benoits comments are forgettable, but Flair targets Piper, saying that, according to those Horsemen who were in the match, the reason they didnt win was that Piper had dropped the ball. Flair mocks Roddy for his speech from some weeks ago about wanting to go home, and says maybe he should have listened. The main event was Harlem Heat and The Steiners, but as you might expect The NWO attack. They dont have things their own way, though, as Luger and The Giant head to the ring and WCW overpower the attackers. Sting rappels down from the ceiling and for the second time points his bat symbolically at Hogan. The show ends with Hogan incensed as Buff Bagwell tries to calm him down.
This was all up against the Wrestlemania go-home show, which was almost as one-dimensional as Nitro. Other things happen, but the show is filled with little segments and comments that build towards the events of the last half hour. The night kicks off with the Legion of Doom against Crush and Savio Vega, with Faarooq and Ahmed Johnson banned from ringside. As Ahmed watches on to make sure the leader of the Nation doesnt try to interfere, he is jumped from behind by his rival, who soon prevents the LoD getting the clean victory by interfering with a nightstick. Once recovered, Ahmed enters the fray and cleans house with a 2x4. Hunter Hearst Helmsley beat Flash Funk next, with an assist from Chyna who also roughs Funk up a little after the bell. A minis match follows, with the babyface minis (Mascarita Sagrada Jr. and Mini-Goldust) getting the win, and a nice response from the crowd too. Bret Hart has some interview time tonight, to build towards the evenings main event a steel cage WWF title match with Sid, that Hart had been lobbying for. Bret and Austin are still getting pretty mixed receptions at this point, with most of the audience still just about behind Hart. With this promo out of the way, The Sultan beats Mike Bell while the IC Champ, Rocky Maivia, provides commentary. Sultan and Rocky are about to brawl after the match when Tony Atlas jumps the railing and holds Rocky back. I think it says a lot about Maivias position at this point that the only chant you can hear after this is Tony.
The second hour begins with Shawn Michaels, in front of what sounds like a babyface-friendly crowd. HBKs reaction is overwhelmingly positive, following on from Bret still getting a good response despite the seeds for his turn being very well planted. The purpose of this promo is to try and undo the damage caused by the lost my smile incident. Michaels makes light of it, talks about seeing his knee specialist, and then says that since Vince hadnt invited him to Wrestlemania 13, hed have to invite himself. When the action returns, Bulldog and Vader have a good match to set up the tag bout at Wrestlemania which Bulldog wins by DQ when Mankind interferes. Ken Shamrock joined the commentary team, as Billy Gunn then proceeded to beat Aaron Ferguson. Billy, though, is not impressed by Shamrock and calls him into the ring. Despite McMahons protestations Ken agrees and quickly teaches him a lesson. Billy first dismisses the takedowns as luck, but is irate when forced to tap-out to the anklelock and leaves irate.
Finally, the main event arrives. Its an interesting little bout which combines Brets experience of the cage match with some Russo booking. The upshot is that whoever wins, their match at Wrestlemania will be for the title, which leads to Austin trying to help Bret, while Taker tries to help Sid. Its a rather weird stipulation if you try and think about it for too long, but provides some entertainment on the night. In the end, Taker wins the battle with Austin on the outside and, with Bret about to capture his fifth title, slams the cage door on his head to give Sid the win. More significant than this, though, is the aftermath. Vince tries to get a few words with the irate Hitman after the match, but Bret throws him to the floor. While profanity was not unheard of in wrestling at this point, it was almost always bleeped out, but this is live TV and Bret (with official backing, it must be said) delivers a profanity laden promo. Austin appears on the tron and says Bret couldnt get the job done, but his insulting words have brought Sid back out (the camera picks up him swearing back at Bret), and soon a full on melee featuring Hart, Sid, Austin and Undertaker is underway. Weirdly, Shawn Michaels wanders down and just watches the carnage which continues until the show fades out.
The WWF werent able to close the ground on WCW going into Wrestlemania, but both ratings rose slightly. WCW managed a 3.6, while RAW got a 2.4. In ratings terms, this would be the only good news for Vince and company this week. Wrestlemania itself, hampered by a weak midcard, constant reshuffling of ideas, and the absence of Shawn Michaels, saw the event fail catastrophically in commercial terms. Very few people actually shelled out their hard- earned money to see Undertaker defeat Sid to win his second WWF title. Managing a 0.77, it marks the low point in Wrestlemania history and, embarrassingly, was outdrawn (for the only time) by WCWs Uncensored. The show was almost as big a flop in artistic terms, but was saved by one very special match. Bret Hart and Steve Austin fought in a submission match, the result of which was a Hart win when Austin was judged unfit to continue, passing out in the Sharpshooter. While the match now carries a weight of expectation that Im not sure any match could live up to, its important to ignore that reputation and think about the bout in its own contexts. Not only did it go a long way towards saving the Wrestlemania card, it may even have saved the company because it was the foundation stone for the summer that was about to come.
The following night got underway with a bang. Fresh from defending the tag titles, Owen and Bulldog had to defend them again, this time against The Headbangers. Tensions between the brothers-in-law run throughout the match and eventually boil over, the referee gets pushed and the challengers win by DQ. Owen and Bulldog push at each other and eventually they explode into an all-out brawl, which brings officials down by the barrelful. Owen eventually gets the microphone and challenges Davey to a match for his European title, which is accepted. Up next, Bart Gunn took on Hunter Hearst Helmsley. The crowd are very flat after the previous action and Hunter does not appear to be very over at all at this point. Eventually he wins, albeit with another assist from Chyna. A match featuring some Mexican wrestlers comes next, but is really very secondary to Bret in the back demanding some time to air his grievances. A brief video in which JR talks with Rocky Maivia and Rocky Johnson about the latter saving his son from a three-on-one attack at Wrestlemania leads seamlessly into Flash Funk winning his match against The Brooklyn Brawler. An interview with Shamrock, where he justifies both his decision to stop the Hart vs. Austin match (plus his decision to drag Bret off the prone Rattlesnake) ends the first hour.
A lengthy interview with Bret Hart starts the second half of the show. The myth goes that Bret was turned in one night, but he still gets a lot of support from the fans and there are still signs in the audience lauding him. Austin, though, as definitely pulled ahead in terms of fan support, and Bret will seal that in the next 15 minutes. He begins by apologizing to his fans around the world, before turning and saying he wont apologize to American fans for anything. He gets on them for cheering anti-heroes like Austin, as well as for supporting Shawn Michaels. Its a long time to control an audience, but considering the accusation that Bret is terrible with a microphone he does it really well here, eventually building up to the two big lines that really bring about a lot of boos. First he says it is clear that American wrestling fans dont respect him, but the truth is he no longer respects them too. The big go home line is that they can kiss his ass. This last comment brings out Michaels, who despite stopping the anti-US tirade isnt received all that positively. He makes a few comments about Bret criticizing him but putting up a façade of respectability, before getting a big reaction by telling Bret to love it or leave it. Shawn makes the point that people have booed him before, but unlike Bret he didnt get bent out of shape about it (a comment which draws a shout of liar from someone in the crowd). A jibe about Bret leafing through his issue of Playgirl magazine leads to Hart attacking HBK from behind, kicking his injured knee, before applying the figure four leglock around the ringpost. McMahon tries to put this over as a disgusting act, but there is no denying that there are some cheers. Brets actions the previous night had played a part in Undertaker winning the title, and Sid heads after Bret with his mind on revenge, but Hart wants no part of the big psychopath. He makes his escape quickly, pausing only long enough to flip off the fans. Rocky Maivia beats Leif Cassidy in the next match, but Bret reappears (again, to a mixed reception) and joins the commentators before attacking Maivia post-match. The main event saw Ahmed Johnson take on Savio Vega of the Nation of Domination. Ahmed and the LoD won at the big show the previous night, hospitalising Faarooq in the process, and Ahmed gets a DQ win here when Crush interferes. After the match Ahmed challenged the Nation to a match, the upshot of which is that if he wins they have to disband. The final segment is an interview with The Undertaker, but the Deadman doesnt say very much of consequence (belt is for the people, wont lose my edge this time, Mankind will be a tough opponent, etc.) but Paul Bearer appears and says he wants to talk with Undertaker. Mankind, on the titantron, pleads with Uncle Paul not to leave him, as Bearer proclaims that he did it all for The Undertaker. The post-Wrestlemania show concluded on this rather bizarre note.
Nitro continued with the format of everything really building towards one match at the end of the night. Right at the top of the show, the announcement was made that the New World Order were cashing in on their right to challenge for any title, by having the legendary Macho Man take on the rookie TV Champ, Prince Iaukea. While we waited for that, Dean Malenko continued his transition from the guy people shouted boring at to one of the most popular guys in wrestling with a win over Konnan. News breaks that after Arn Andersons announcement from the previous week, he was attacked backstage the announcers immediately blame the NWO. Next is the Nitro debut of Mortis. This masked man had wrestled Glacier at Uncensored, and was another example of WCW trying to capitalise on the popularity of the Mortal Kombat games. A feud would begin between the two, but with better wrestling skills, James Vandenberg (TNAs James Mitchell) by his side, and some almost Wagnerian entrance music, fans immediately warmed more to the heel than to Glacier, cheering wildly as he beat Jerry Flynn here. The wonderful La Parka injected a lot of character into the next match, beating Juventud Guerrera, before a typically dull babyface interview with The Steiners led into High Voltage getting their biggest win to date at the expense of Public Enemy, with an assist from Jarrett, Debra and Mongos Halliburton case. The first hour concluded with a Psychosis win over Super Calo, in a short but spot-heavy bout.
Hugh Morrus opened the second hour against Chris Benoit, and won when his Dungeon of Doom stablemates get involved. Kevin Sullivan and company lay a beatdown on Benoit, and bizarrely it is Malenko, the man Benoit will face at Spring Stampede, that runs in before any of Benoits supposed allies do. The numbers are too much for Dean and Chris, and eventually the injured Flair as to intervene. He cleans house (which makes the healthy DoD guys look great), but the announcers note that there was no sign of the healthy Horsemen, Mongo and Jarrett. A good tag match follows between Harlem Heat and The Faces of Fear, with Booker and Stevie getting the best babyface reaction since they had turned the previous autumn. Mean Gene invites Flair and Benoit back out to the ramp for some interview time, in which Flair reveals that it was Sullivan, not the New World Order, that had attacked Arn, before Madusas mini-revival continued with a win over Malia Hosaka. Jim Duggan got a huge reaction in beating Renegade, The Steiners won a match against The French Canadians to prepare them for the battle theyll have with The Outsiders, and finally we reach the main event between Savage and Iaukea. As the group make their way to the ring, Kevin Nash makes the clique sign at the camera and offers a shoutout to Shawn Michaels. Iaukea holds his own in the match, but Savage soon takes over, and when he pulls the kid up after a flying elbow that clearly has him beat DDP comes through the crowd. This buys some time, but numbers are too great and the whole group beat up on Page and Iaukea, with Eric Bischoff even getting involved. He hits Page with a karate kick to the head at one point, while Nash goes on jack-knife frenzy. Savage gets the spray paint out and tags the pair to end the night
. although, with a DQ finish, he doesnt end the night with the TV title.
The night after Wrestlemania saw only the slightest bump for the WWF, as RAW moved up by 0.1 to a 2.5 overall. If you were to look at the positives, though, youd see a continual build throughout the month as the rating gradually improved. Not only that, but this represented a much higher percentage of the fans watching wrestling on this night, as the Nitro audience plummeted to a flat 3.0. While this Nitro wasnt too bad, the weak showing the night after Uncensored seems to have hit them here.
The following RAW was, looking at it in hindsight, really anchored around Bret Hart. It began with a video of his previous weeks comments and the announcement that hed challenge Rocky Maiva for the IC title. There was also some speculation about The Undertaker reuniting with Paul Bearer, before the strong opener of Bulldog vs. Owen for the Euro title. With the feud reaching its climax, this one replaces the great wrestling of their tournament final encounter with violence, and as it finally comes to a head the referee is bumped and a chair enters proceedings. It is at this point that Bret runs in and breaks apart the warring tag champions. Grabbing a microphone, he blames American fans for the troubles the Hart family have had since 1993. He addresses Bulldog first, mentioning how they had fought at Wembley, and how they had hugged when Bulldog had won, before immoral Americans had turned them against each other. The real highlight comes when he talks with Owen. Given their history, his brother is more hostile, but plays it brilliantly, and the promo builds to Bret telling his brother that he loves him. The boos when the brothers embrace are amazing, and it is a perfectly played heel promo. Bret has committed two palpable Attitude era sins he has broken up a fight, and has shown some genuine emotion. When Owen breaks down and grabs his brother, the crowd are as hot as any wrestling crowd since Bash at the Beach.
Next up is a match between AAA stars El Mosco and Super Nova. The former wins, but this is more notable for Jerry Lawler coming close to bawling his eyes out at the Hart family reunion, and guest commentator Sunny mocking Vince McMahon for his poor spelling before joining Carlos Cabrera and Hugo Savinivich at the Spanish announcers table. A forgettable LOD promo (based around them winning the tag straps at IYH 14) leads into the Honky Tonk Man joining the commentators, for a match between Jesse James and Jerry Fox. The future Roaddogg comes to the ring with a six year old guest manager before getting rid of his jobber opponent to little fan reaction. Honky gets into the ring after the win, says that James is the man he has been searching for and offers him his vintage guitar. James, with a tedious inevitability, smashes it to smithereens. Crush and Savio Vega beat a couple of jobbers next (with the real focus being HBK on the phone saying that hell be there next week with some words for Hart), before a lengthy Ken Shamrock video (and the announcement that hell have some sort of no holds barred challenge next week) wind up the first hour.
Paul Bearer attempts to snare The Undertaker in the second hour, but after a feint that The Deadman will present his former manager with the WWF title he attacks him. Mankind appears from under the ring and throws fire in his eyes, and it is only his Wrestlemania opponent, Sid, that saves him from the devastation. With news that the champion may have been blinded, HHH and Goldust enter the ring with news that both of their seconds have been banned from ringside. Predictably, Hunters lady arrives and this gives Goldust a DQ win, although Chyna ends up staring down The Bizarre One. Next up is the first Steve Austin interview post-Wrestlemania. Its an interesting one because Bret Hart interferes as he is being slammed by The Rattlesnake and pretty successfully refutes a lot of Austins points about Wrestlemania, but there is no doubt that Austin is tapping into something in the popular mood. He arrives to a lukewarm babyface reception, and leaves to a fairly strong one. The main event is then Bret against Rocky, and is actually a very nice TV match that, had it had a more natural conclusion, may have gone on to be a bit of a minor classic. However, Bret gets frustrated with Rockys resistance and gives up on the title, clapping the ringpost figure 4 on Rocky in much the same manner he had on Michaels the previous week. Austin runs down to save the young champion, but Bulldog and Owen run down and the numbers game gets the better of Stone Cold. Before things can get too bad, the Legion of Doom run out to save Steve, with the Harts fleeing through the crowd to end the show.
A quick word about this match - in his book, Bret suggests that Hunter and Michaels actually wanted him to take the IC title from Rocky, mainly due to Hunter's insecurity concerning the man that Vince was clearly very high on. Now, I've not seen support for this elsewhere and I'll usually not include something if I've only got one source for it, but I'll mention it here for three reasons. First, Michaels and HBK were known to essentially rewrite huge segments of shows as they saw fit at this point. Secondly, when Hunter and Rocky were in the main event together, there were constant rumours that there was legitimate heat between the two men. Thirdly, while there is no other evidence concerning this one event, the idea of Hunter's insecurity has been raised by many other stars. All circumstantial evidence, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it given how important both men will be. You can make your own minds up.
Meanwhile, while Raw was centred around Bret, Nitro was organised around the idea that there was dissention in the ranks of the NWO. A greatly reduced version of the group (sans Bischoff, Hogan, and Hall, amongst others) arrived at the arena, before the opener saw Luger and The Giant beat Rick Fuller and Roadblock. Harlem Heat attack at the should-be champs at the break and get a heel reaction as they talk with Mean Gene about the four corners tag match at Spring Stampede. A match from the tournament to crown a WCW Womens Crusierweight champion is next, with Toshie Uematsue of GAEA getting a win to progress before Psychosis beat Villano IV (who had lost to Juventud earlier this month under the name Ray Mendoza). Mean Gene invited Flair out next, and after a few words to a huge reaction Roddy Piper joins them. They dont say very much, but they dont need to. Ten years after their prime these are still two of the most magnetic characters in wrestling and with them both on screen together they draw the attention so easily. The whole purpose is to undo some of the damage done by Pipers recent segments, and Flair invites a woman into the ring who loves Hot Rod before convincing Piper to go out partying with him. Steven Regal is up next, and blames his loss of the TV title on the dwarf Rey Mysterio, but contrives through his arrogance to lose to Chris Jericho. After the match, and in a rage, Regal beats down not only Jericho, but half the babyface roster, including Joe Gomez, Renegade, Billy Kidman, and Lenny Lane. I cant think of a time in wrestling where Regal will appear quite so dominant.
The second hour of Nitro begins with Mike Tenay speculating that the absence of NWO members, which has caused problems throughout the night with Nash and those footsoldiers who are present (including Scott Norton and Wallstreet), is due to a movie premiere connected with Rodman. Akira Hokuto then beat Debbie Combs in the 2nd womens match of the night. Madusa has some interview time after this match but is jumped from behind by Hokuto, which leads in to the Amazing French Canadians against Mongo and Jarrett. The Public Enemy soon appear and there is a proportional response from the previous week, with the Horsmen suffering similar loss to the one inflicted on PE by High Voltage. Benoit beats Hugh Morrus next, but predictably with a Horseman and Dungeon member in the match it soon descends into a brawl which is followed by a piss-poor Horsemen interview which is misguidedly dominated by Benoit.
Moving into the final phase of the show, DDP beats Lance Ringo before the obligatory interview shot with Mean Gene. This segment mostly revolves around how Page is proud that his wife is in playboy until Savage and Liz interrupt from up in the crowd. After a bit of verbal sparring, Page says hell bring the lady, and that Savage can bring the tramp. Macho looks livid, but Liz doesnt react anywhere near like what youd expect. This heads in to the main event, a tag bout between The Steiners and High Voltage. Obviously Scotty and Rick win, and just as the show is winding down Nash and his cronies invade the announce position. They excuse Scott Hall, saying he is taking care of more important things (and the likelihood is that he was already missing shows because of his drink and drug problems), but accuses other members of the group of putting fame before taking care of business. The former Big Daddy Cool is pissed at Hogan and some of the others, but the show also finishes with Nash saying hell fight WCW by himself if he needs to. The month of March would wind down with the potential for a four way power struggle in the Atlanta company Horsemen, WCW, Hogans group and Nashs faction.
When the ratings came in, there would have been celebrations all round. Bischoff would have been celebrating, because the gap between the two shows had actually increased. Nitro had rebounded considerably and posted a 3.4, quite an improvement on the night after Wrestlemania. The WWF wouldnt have been too disheartened, though; not only did the shows rating improve once again, meaning it went up every week in March, but eventually averaging to a 2.7 this gave them their best showing since the night after Summerslam. After almost seven long months, there was finally a genuine reason to be cheerful.
At the start of the month, things had looked bad for the WWF. The picture still wasnt perfect, but now they had the top heel in America on their roster, and things were looking up a little bit. This would just be the first step towards a memorable summer.
