King of the Ring '97

Legacy Review

King of the Ring '97

June 8, 1997 from the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jim Ross

While going through this show, at least the KOTR tournament portion, keep in mind Triple H was supposed to win the '96 KOTR before somebody had to be punished for the Curtain Call and he was, in Vince's mind, the only one available. Of course that gave us both Austin's win and the Austin 3:16 promo that was the launching pad for Austin's superstardom which literally saved the company when the WCW/NWO angle was putting them out of business so it all worked out in the end.

Semifinals: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) def Ahmed Johnson in 7:42- Huge pop for Johnson, who's called the favorite in the tournament by commentary. It's not mentioned by commentary, but HHH actually lost to Johnson by DQ in the first round but disputed it, threatened to sue and ended up getting a second chance by replacing an injured Vader against Crush in the first round. Johnson flashes his power advantage early. Really slow start, AKA Johnson's normal pace. Johnson mocks HHH's bow and wants a test of strength. HHH slowly locks up....then kicks him. Johnson no sells a chop. Press slam. HHH rolls to the floor then goes to the eye poke back in. Johnson comes out of the corner with a clothesline counter. HHH dodges an elbow drop. He gives Johnson a stair shot on the floor and a baseball slide. Ax handle off the top back in for 2. "Johnson" chants hulk him up and he does a scissors kick counter to a backdrop. Spinebuster. He sets up for the Pearl River Plunge. Chyna gets on the apron. HHH running knee to Johnson's back, Pedigree, and it's done. It's nothing special but it got its point across. It's definitely for the best they got Johnson out without having to work two matches tonight, he tends to get blown up with just one. *

 

Semifinals: Mankind def Jerry "The King" Lawler in 10:24- Vince mentions Mankind getting a pop. This is at the start of Mankind's slow face turn, and the emergence of Mick Foley's other characters. Mankind takes a mic and chides "Uncle Paul" for not being with him because he had "better things" to do (more on that later). He goes through a funny bit of talking about Lawler and he being naked. "BANG BANG!" is back. Lawler also does a promo coming down the ramp, mocking some aisleside fans before making fun of Mrs. Foley's baby boy. It all goes on a long while but it mostly works. Mankind attacks on the floor after Lawler gets his entrance gear off. Corner beatdown. He sets up for the Mandible Claw. Lawler sees it and bails. JR goes through Lawler's history, mentioning the USWA and Andy Kaufman. The reigns are definitely loose on commentary now. Lawler takes over with his usual "foreign object in the tights" hijinks, focusing on trying to hurt Mankind's half ear. JR says "I'm glad I don't have to say international object anymore". Lawler bulldog. Mankind gets tossed hard to the floor and takes a turnbuckle shot from the apron. Lawler bites on the ear. Now JR straight up calls him Mick Foley and mentions Cactus Jack. More brawling on the floor and Lawler goes into the guardrail. Lawler dodges and Mankind crashes into the steps. He tosses Mankind back of the head first into the rail. Piledriver on the floor! Lawler dropkicks Mankind off the apron. Piledriver in the ring. Mankind kicks out! He goes into comeback mode and hits a legdrop. Running corner knee. Bang bang! Lawler counters a backdrop with an ugly takedown that I don't think went as planned. Fist drop off the second rope again to the half ear. He sets up another piledriver. Mankind counters. Lawler tries to counter the counter with a sunset flip. Mandible Claw! Lawler goes out and the ref calls it. Call me nuts but I didn't hate that. Lawler's psychology combined with Foley's crazy bumping and skill at match layouts came together with at least a watchable match. **

Todd Pettingill (who's becoming more and more out of place as we get more into the Attitude Era) is in the back with super crazy Brian Pillman. Pillman takes credit for stirring the pot and getting Austin and Shawn at each other's throats, but also gives Bret Hart credit for the idea. But don't look behind you! Here comes Austin! Austin smiles at the camera and hilariously mouths along to Pillman's promo for a minute before jumping him. They go into a bathroom and Austin gives Pillman a good ol' swirlie.

 

Goldust (w/Marlena) def Crush (w/The Nation of Domination) in 9:56- More commentary looseness: JR directly calls Goldust Dustin Runnels, The Natural and says he's Dusty Rhodes' son. Goldust and Marlena are also being openly acknowledged as husband and wife. Crush jumps before the bell. They fight to the floor and Crush takes a stair shot. Back in Goldust gives Crush mounted punches and an old fashioned Goldust chest rub. Flying clothesline. Swinging neckbreaker for 2. Crush counters a corner whip and hits a belly to belly suplex, then goes into slow beatdown mode. Goldust tries to slam him but Crush falls on top for 2. Crush backbreaker for 2. Match killing double chinlock time. JR mentiones WWF President Gorilla Monsoon is at home sick. Sadly it was the beginning of the illness that would force Monsoon to retire fully soon after this show and eventually lead to his passing away in the fall of '99. Goldust crotches Crush to get the match going again. A long speed run ends with a Crush press into a gutbuster for 2. Now Crush locks on a nerve pinch. Goldust counters a backdrop with an uppercut and goes into Dusty-style jabs. The Nation goons circle Marlena. Goldust bulldog. He sees Marlena in trouble and goes to help her. Crush attacks from behind. Back in kick wham Goldust DDT and it's over. There was only so much you were going to get out of Crush at this point in his career but Dustin tried. 1/2*

Promo time with Sid and LOD. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Sid and Hawk being in the same promo doesn't turn into a giant train wreck, but there's a funny moment as you can see Sid mouthing Hawk's promo like he's reading off the same cue card. During the Harts' promo Owen says LOD wears "funky" makeup, but the way it comes out it sounds like "fucking".

 

The Hart Foundation def The Legion of Doom and Sycho Sid in 13:37- It's former tag champs Owen Hart and the British Bulldog along with Jim Neidhart representing the Harts in this one. Even though they lost the tag titles Bulldog and Owen were still European and Intercontinental champion respectively. I love the Hart Foundation jackets with the logo and individual names. Sid milks and sucks up every last drop of crowd adulation as he slowly makes his way in. Legend in his own mind. I mean yes, he is I'd say a low level wrestling legend, but in his mind he was Mount Rushmore material. Animal and Owen start with Animal tossing him around with a possibly flubbed spot in the middle of it. Owen gets slingshot into the face corner and powerslammed. Sid playing to the crowd so much is hilarious. Bulldog delayed suplex on Sid. Sid says eff that, pops right back up and knocks the heels off the apron. Anvil and Hawk try to out no sell each other. Hawk clothesline off the top for 2. The crowd chants for Sid and Animal says go for it. Bulldog piledriver on Hawk, who also pops right back up and hits a clothesline for 2. Owen spinning heel kick on Animal. Anvil runs him into the steps and gives him a chairshot, sending Animal face in peril. Owen and Anvil do the old Hart Foundation slingshot tackle. Animal gets a sunset flip but Hebner is distracted. He gets stuck in the heel corner for a bit. Animal catches Bulldog coming off the second rope and slams him, then goes up top. Bulldog meets him and superplexes him. After some more generic FIP stuff Owen puts a sleeper on. Animal reaches over and tags Hawk. Owen dodges a Hawk fistdrop off the top rope. Hawk double clothesline and tag to Sid. DONNYBROOK! Sid choke slams Bulldog. He sets up the powerbomb. Owen sunset flips him off the top and that gets the pin. Not a lot of effort going on out there. This would be Sid's last major WWF appearance. He'd take some time off and work in the indys before going back to WCW in '99 for his last big run there. *1/2

To my point at the top of the review, we get a short recap of Austin's huge run and rise to stardom since winning the KOTR tournament the previous year.

 

King of the Ring Finals: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) def Mankind in 19:26- Another new matchup that had a huge future no one knew about yet. Mankind's coming in with a hurt neck from the semis that will play into this one. Basic back and forth start. Mankind lays in the beatdown. On a whip HHH grabs the top rope and bails. Back in HHH stomps Mankind out of the ring. Mankind runs HHH into the rail. Mounted punches from Mankind back in. HHH drops him over the top turnbuckle. Swinging neckbreaker. Slugfest. HHH hits a clothesline and Chyna gets a shot in. Mankind hits a desperation low blow. HHH ducks a charge and Mankind gets hung in the ropes. He gets himself out. HHH baseball slide. Kneedrops to the back of Mankind's hurt neck back in. Mankind hits a couple of hot shots. Running corner knee. Trips flip! He ends up upside down and Mankind drops an elbow on him. They go to the floor and Mankind backdrops HHH on the aisle! Cactus Elbow! Double underhook DDT. Chyna distracts the ref and HHH manages to kick out at 2. That finally woke the crowd up. HHH hooks up the Pedigree, kicking off a counter run like the previous match ending with Mankind hooking the Claw on! Chyna pulls Mankind out to the floor by his hair. The ref has some words with her for that. HHH neckbreaker over the top rope! That'll hurt the bad neck some more. The mask is off. HHH goes up top. The Claw is back on! HHH eye pokes to get free. Mankind inverted atomic drop and clothesline for 2. Cactus Clothesline! Chyna pulls HHH out of danger and Mankind goes crashing into the rail head first again. HHH clears the main English announce table off. Pedigree on the table! Mankind is up quickly so Chyna grabs the KOTR scepter and whacks him with it, breaking it completely. Running knee from HHH and Mankind falls to the floor again, taking out a photographer in the process. Arrogant cover. Mankind kicks out! Pedigree and good night. The crowd deflates on that result but I'd say it was the right call. The first half of the match was a pretty dull brawl but they got going better in the stretch run and the psychology was tight throughout. **1/4

HHH and Chyna call Pettingill into the ring for an immediate coronation ceremony. HHH beats Mankind some more with the crown.

 

Before the next match the Hart Foundation joins us in full. The original plan was Bret was going to join commentary but their whole setup was destroyed in the last match and there's no headset for him. Bret takes Pettingill's mic to cut a promo in the ring. He says he's almost cleared to wrestle again and challenges any five wrestlers to take on the Harts at the next In Your House, Canadian Stampede in Bret's hometown. If they have the guts. Bret gets out and takes Vince's headset but WWF officials force him and the rest of the group to leave. They're still in Gorilla as Austin comes out for the next match. Words and fingers are exchanged.

 

WWF Tag Team Champions "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels double DQ in 22:29- Austin and Shawn ended the 8 month tag title reign of Bulldog and Owen Hart on Raw a couple of weeks prior (the longest WWF/E tag title reign there would be for nearly a decade), Shawn's first match back after finding his smile again, but still can't get along and are trying to settle their differences here while being fully egged on by the Harts. It's the start of the "tag champs who hate each other" trope that will be a thing in wrestling for quite a while after this. Austin's pops continue to get bigger, while Shawn's is so high pitched it almost hurts your ears. They have a discussion in the ring after the bell. Lockup and hard Austin shoulderblock. He gives Shawn the double bird. Everything stops when a Special Olympics athlete jumps over the rail. Shawn goes out to help. Austin jumps him from behind! Speed run, Shawn armdrag, and now Shawn gives Austin the double bird. Shawn goes out again to help the kid that went over the rail as his mother? and officials get him out of harm's way. Really good job by Shawn in handing that situation, showing that maybe there really is a good person in there underneath all the dickishness he was showing at that time. He just needed help to bring it out. Austin holds the ropes open for him to get back in. Lockup and Austin works the arm a bit. Shawn works a headlock. Speed run and stiff Austin back elbow. He mocks Shawn's pose to a pretty big pop. Classic Austin elbows to the head. Shawn escapes and hooks on a chinlock as the groundwork continues to be laid. More crazy speed. Shawn tries to do Austin's Thesz Press! Austin says UH UH, grabs him in midair, gives him and inverted atomic drop and clotheslines him 360 to the floor. Mega Shawn selling on the floor. Austin tries to suplex him back in. Shawn counters into a roll up for 2. Austin takes a rope break on a hammerlock and rolls out to shake his arm off. Back in we get a test of strength for a bit with Austin having the clear advantage. Shawn hits a backdrop and goes back to the ARMBAR. More speed. Austin Thesz Press with fists flying! Quick cradle exchange for near falls. Bridge up spot and Austin escapes a backslide. Momentum push and Shawn FLIES over the top rope to the floor. Austin knocks Shawn off the apron into the rail. He goes out and pulls the floor mat up. Austin press slams Shawn onto the bare floor! More speed back in. Austin ducks Shawn's flying forearm! Shawn slides back to the floor. Back in Shawn flash small package for 2. Austin clothesline for 2. Elbow off the second rope for 2. Austin hooks on a chinlock and plays the rope leverage game before getting caught. Slugfest. Austin get tossed over the top to the floor. Shawn baseball slide. Austin with a suplex counter. Shawn hits the flying forearm! Kip up! Austin dodges a charge and Shawn flies shoulder first into the post. Austin pulls Shawn's tights down for the mandatory bare ass shot while pulling him off the ropes. Shawn reverse crossbody off the second rope. Austin rolls through it and covers for 2. Another Austin clothesline for 2. Corner whip reversals and ref Tim White goes down. Austin blocks the superkick! Stunner! No ref. Austin pulls White back up.....and Stunners him! Superkick! Backup ref Mike Chioda comes in.....and checks on White! Oh, Shawn does not like that. Superkick on Chioda! Shawn covers and White counts. Austin kicks out! Shawn berates White as ref #3, senior ref Earl Hebner, runs in. Hebner says enough of this shit and throws the match out, DQing both guys. Huge boos for that. Austin tries to cheap shot Shawn with his belt but Shawn was ready for him. They argue all the way to the back while the crowd chants "bullshit". Clearly, nothing is settled. What a match. Austin and Shawn meshed beautifully, the crowd was nuclear through the whole thing, and even the non-finish really doesn't hurt in context of the story. All the ref bumps were funny as hell too, well done and at this point it was still fresh and not a cliche. ****1/4

 

WWF Championship: The Undertaker (c) (w/Paul Bearer) def Faarooq (w/The Nation of Domination) in 13:44- Good luck following that last match. Bearer is back from the burn unit and back with Taker, but not by Taker's choice. Bearer is keeping himself attached to Taker, and championship money, by blackmailing Taker with a "dark secret" from his past. There's a lot of talk about Faarooq possibly becoming the first black WWF Champion, though no one mentions the fact that he was already the first black world champion in wrestling period, winning the WCW World title as Ron Simmons in '92. Faarooq attacks from behind while Bearer is giving Taker grief over not giving him the belt quickly enough or something. Taker double goozle, corner toss and body shots to counter. Big boot. Bearer bitches about...well, everything. Faarooq powerslam. The Nation goons reach in and attack Taker. Taker gets a boot up on Faarooq in the corner. He hooks up for old school and does the rope walk.....and falls backwards into the Nation! Taker snaps Faarooq over the top rope. Old school rope walk again, but this time Savio Vega shakes the rope and Taker gets crotched. Faarooq suplex for 2. Taker sit up and clothesline. Faarooq with a low blow. Nation goons choke Taker. Faarooq gets the ring steps but Taker big boots them right back in his face. Back in Faarooq counters a backdrop with a piledriver. Slow cover for 2. And here we go with the Chinlock of Match Killing +3. After a while Taker cutters out. They go through a long run of every attempted move being countered or dodged with long pauses between each. The Nation guys start getting into it with each other for some reason. Faarooq goes over to try to restore order. Taker scoops, hits the tombstone, and it's done. That might have been a passable title match on Raw, not a PPV main event. A couple of weeks after this on Raw Faarooq would clean house in the Nation, leading to new groups being created and eventually new leadership of the Nation itself. 3/4*

Vega and Crush both take chokeslams after the bell. Bearer demands Taker chokeslam Faarooq too. Taker reluctantly does it. Bearer wants another one. And another. Taker resignedly goes through with it. Finally Ahmed Johnson comes out and asks Taker what the hell. Bearer tells Taker to get him too. Johnson ducks Taker's punch and plants him with the Pearl River Plunge. Taker sits up with Bearer's help, and Bearer bitches at him as the show closes.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Outside Shawn/Austin there's not much going on here wrestling wise. However, WWF was in the midst of one of the hottest creative periods in the company's history. Almost everything on this show was part in some way or another of a larger whole, and it's creative fires like this that can raise a show up to being at least watchable even if the matches themselves aren't that great. Plus Shawn/Austin is must see great.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C