Exposer

Match is nothing. HHH eats a bunch of offense then gets one chairshot to the back & takes it home. DX beats up the Anvil afterwards. Hunter pedigrees him on a chair & Shawn spraypaints WCW on his back. Anvil no selling the pedigree is hilarious. He fights back, but is overwhelmed & handcuffed to the ropes. Slaughter comes out to help & goes at it with HHH. It's still 3 on 2 so Shamrock comes out to a huge pop & goes after Shawn. He puts him in the ankle lock & Sarge locks Hunter in the cobra clutch as Neidhart manages to hold onto Chyna as she tries to save her boys. Shawn taps for Shamrock & this has a lot of heat with DX getting their asses kicked, but that final close-up with Shawn sucking on the lollipop like an asshole is the perfect example of how Shawn was at the time. Hot ending, but not something I particularly care about. DX sucks.

HHH cuts a dumb promo on Neidhart. Shawn is in a wheelchair & talks about how he's been training with Chyna & Hunter on how to withstand Shamrock's ankle lock. He's wearing a gimmick boot & Hunter twists his ankle around while Shawn feigns pain with a lollipop in his mouth the entire time. This is stupid. DX are the most overrated act in WWE history.

Lawler calls Tito Taco Bell & then after he beats him tells him to eat another burrito. I'm trying to remember if I ever played with one these toys.

This is one of the strangest things I've ever seen on WWF televison. They go all the way with it here which makes it work. Luna drags Goldust out on a chain. He's got a gag in & pink hair. Totally bizarre. Luna's promo is good here & this might be the weirdest angle WWF ever did. It's enough to where I'm interested to see where this goes.

The Anvil has agreed to join DX. Great. Vader dominates most of the match, then Neidhart pulls the ropes down & leads an attack with Helmsley to show his loyalty to DX. The ref doesn't see this & the match continues. A few minutes later Chyna throws coffee in Vader's eye & Shawn hits two superkicks to end it. A nothing match really. The Anvil celebrates with DX after the match, but gets a low blow from Chyna. The beat him up as Shawn talks about how great he is. This is the worst segment of the year. Really terrible stuff.

The Rock comes out & cuts a promo calling Austin a jackass. He had stolen Austin's IC belt during a melee the work before. This must of have been one of the first angles where a heel steals the belt. A loud "Rocky Sucks!" chant starts after the phrase pops up on the tron over & over again. The lights begin to dim as well & their seems to be production problems. Austin is hilarious in the production truck saying a kindergartener could do better than the production guy. He says whenever 3:16 shows up on Rock's beeper he knows he's in trouble. The tron cuts out & Rock is confused & angry. In a classic moment, his beeper goes off & realizes Austin's behind him. I've always loved his face there. Austin attacks & The Nation swarm. Austin retreats & brings a chair into the ring running them off. Hot segment. The crowd loved this & it's obvious the only thing really worth seeing in the WWF during this period is Austin.

This is so stupid. They call out Bret Hart & it's a midget wearing a Bret mask & doing all of his mannerisms. They reenact Montreal to a silent crowd as they laugh at their own jokes. Anvil shows up & cuts a lame promo about being upset. Shawn buries Bret, Owen, & Davey then offers the Anvil a spot in DX. The offer is off the table at the end of the show. Bad segment. WWF was truly in a lull between Survivor Series & the Austin-Tyson angle.

I loved this. Goldust is pushed down the aisle in a wheelchair with a nurse & claims he's a paraplegic. He then claims he's a quadraplegic. This is hilarious. He ends up asking Michael Cole to cross his legs & remove his blanket. He gets turned on by his nurse using rubbing alcohol on his shoulders. Bizarre. Vader comes out & confronts him & wants to fight him. He attacks him, but the nurse pours rubbing alcohol in his eyes! It's Luna! This is weird, but I loved this angle. It felt old school with a mix of absurd Attitude Era booking.

Not a bad match. I liked this way better than the Godwinns title switch. Road Dogg & Gunn bump well for the Roadies & we have a fun hot tag sequence too. Road Dogg whacks Animal with a chair & Billy pins him to win the titles. The Outlaws run after the bell & leave the building. It'll be interesting to watch the Outlaws get more over in the next few months.

Harvey Whippleman impersonating Rick Rude is funny. Shawn is upset over the Montreal situation & wants to clear the air. He claims he's been in contact with Bret & he will be here tonight. Apparently, Bret's WWF contract doesn't expire until November 30. Shawn says he & Bret will meet face-to-face tonight. There will either be a handshake or a fight. This is a good promo from Shawn if it's actually taken as sincere, but the punch line comes later in the night. So lame.

I'm beginning to love TAFKA Goldust. He's awesome. He & Vader are scheduled to have match, but he comes out in a sling. Gerald Brisco comes out with him & has a doctor's waiver that says he can't compete. I love Goldust curtly saying he's an invalid. Vader still doesn't buy it & crumples up the doctor's note. Goldust pulls something out of his sling & whacks Vader in the head with it. Fun segment.

Famous interview that's still as compelling as ever to watch. The thing that stuck out to me the most are Vince clearly being humiliated about Bret giving him a black eye & desperately defending his "manhood" by saying he let Bret punch him. The most disgusting part of this is Vince saying he has no sympathy for Bret. I wouldn't expect him to, but him outright saying it left a bad taste in my mouth. Most importantly, the Mr. McMahon character is born.

Another cool commercial highlighting Austin ending in the scratch logo. The church line is great.

Fun commercial. The LOD action figures come to life essentially & slam a locker door into the Headbangers faces.

Really cool commercial. The debut of the scratch logo. The final line is great. This first aired at Survivor Series I believe with Bret saying "Try lacing my boots!"

I can't find this. I did see the one where she beats Lawler in the finals. These are always fun.

Average match. HHH still isn't much in the ring at this point. 1997 Shamrock needs people who can help him & HHH isn't one of those people. Sarge is able to prevent Rude & Chyna interfering, but Shawn shows up & whacks Shamrock with Rude's briefcase. There's a near fall & the show just ends. I don't know why the Network doesn't keep the footage rolling until the end here. Weird. Apparently Shawn taps again. The WWF needs something huge to get them out of this funk after Bret's departure. The slide is immediate. Austin-Tyson can't come soon enough.

Good interview. The best Jarrett stuff yet since he's been back. A lot of it is funny in hindsight though with him saying he'll be a great WWF Champion. The discussion about Bret is funny too. The highlight though is Jarrett calling HHH a tag along while doing word association. That's hilarious.

Austin has an interview but is interrupted by The Rock. The Rock is definitely getting there as a promo. He's solid at this point. He challenges Austin for an IC title shot. Austin talks trash & makes fun of Rock's haircut. He accepts the challenges & says Rocky doesn't suck because the fans say it, it's because Stone Cold says so. Good segment. I'm interested in watching this program & seeing how The Rock develops over time.

Goldust looks ridiculous. I understand it gets even more so. He calls Dusty a fatass & again says he's found someone that finally understands him. He says he turned on his team at Survivor Series because of his hurt arm which is in a cast. Vader comes out, who was on his team the night before, & wants answers. He's not buying the injury excuse. Goldust keeps on about the injury & Vader powerbombs him. I'm looking forward to wacky Goldust. This segment is fine for what it is.

JR confirms Bret has left the WWF. DX comes out to their theme for the first time. Shawn cuts a promo on Bret. They're in Canada so there's pretty good heat here. He brags about beating Bret in his own country with his own finishing move. He says Nash & Hall will beat up Bret in WCW too. Whatever. He says he'd never beat up a 52 year old man. Shamrock interrupts & I want him to whip Shawn's ass. This isn't his worst promo, but he can't compete with these guys on the mic. Him telling Chyna to leave the ring because she's a woman or a man or whatever is hilarious. Sarge comes out & says Shamrock is the #1 contender to the WWF Title at IYH. Shawn doesn't like that. Sarge announces HHH-Shamrock for later in the night. Ok segment, but WWF is already less interesting with Bret gone.

Really good match before everything goes downhill. The entrances are awesome. I love when they used to follow the wrestlers through the curtain. WWE should bring that back. The pre-match brawl is great with Shawn bumping big & both guys beating the tar out of each other. One fan is literally hitting Shawn after he's thrown over the railing. Wild. Once the match gets going, it's pretty good with both guys choking each other with the Quebec flag. I liked Shawn's soccer kick to Bret's face. Nasty moment that's rarely seen out of him. Bret makes a nice comeback & gets a few near falls. Hebner takes a bump & Shawn eye rakes Bret. Shawn puts in the sharpshooter & the rest is history. Bret's facial expression seconds after the bell rings is one of the great images in wrestling history. Bret spits in Vince's face & Shawn snatches the belt. Montreal is left more confused than angry it seems. There are many fans who realize what's happening though & are beginning to throw things. Shawn & Hunter flee. The show fades to black about exactly a minute after the bell rang. They wanted to get this over with quick. Back to Wrestling With Shadows & we get Bret going to the back & he's extremely upset. HHH lies to Bret's wife's face. We see Vince stumbling out of his office after Bret punched his lights out. Intense stuff. All parties are to blamed here really. I dislike Vince, Hebner, JR, Shawn, & Hunter more for their dishonesty. Bret should have put someone over. This feud having no finality & then Bret forfeiting the belt would have been terrible. No one looks good here, especially Vince.

Owen's entrance is fun. I loved him stalling & showing off the Owen 3:16 shirt. He sends the Anvil in first who eats a stunner. Owen attacks Austin from behind & goes for the neck. This is really well laid out match with Owen teasing a pile driver early & trying to win any way he can. He tries to get counted out & later tries to get DQed by choking Austin with a production cord. He starts working over Austin's neck for a bit, then Austin makes a comeback. They do the tilt-a-whirl spot from Summerslam teasing another pile driver spot, but they land on their feet & Austin hits the stunner for the 1-2-3. I liked this. It's booked very well while also protecting Austin's health.

This looks to be a really great documentary in full. Funny to watch the Headbangers & Brian Lee play toss with Bret's kid. Bret & Vince discuss the finish. Stu sits down to watch the match. Time for the most infamous moment in WWE history.

Solid match with Shawn having to carry the load. Shawn audibly calls spots in this a few times & Shamrock looks lost. I think it's mostly Shawn's style though because the Bret match the week before is better. Bret simply has an easier template for a good match with inexperienced & lesser workers than Shawn does. They protect Shamrock here as he actually makes Shawn tap, but the ref is distracted by DX. Rude nails Shamrock with his briefcase & HHH pedigress him on it to close the show. It's weird they didn't do a Bret-Shawn confrontation as the go-home segment. The Shawn-Shamrock feud is set for next month nontheless.