Exposer

Bret has tons of heat here. Good promo where he says Shawn's stipulations weren't honered because he got involved & swung a chair at him. Bret says he's the new sheriff in town & Shamrock won't get another European title shot & Pillman won't wear a dress because the Hart Foundation is above that. Owen cuts a good promo saying that he made the mistake of showing compassion for Austin which he cost. He thinks Austin should give him the belt back because he's crippled him anyways. The new WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter comes out & awesomely puts the Hart Foundation in their place to huge pops. He says Bret will face the Patriot for the title at Ground Zero. He says Owen will get his rematch when Austin's doctors clear him & when Austin's ready. Austin comes out to a massive pop. Maybe the loudest one he's received so far & says he wants the rematch tonight & says he doesn't care what the doctor says he'll beat Owen's ass. Really fun segment to open the show.

This match had to go 30 minutes in part because of Austin's injury. I thought they did a really good job with the time & had a great match. The Bearer & Owen/Pillman appearances were made to kill time & create interest in a long match & I thought that was smart booking. However, it probably wasn't necessary since this New Jersey crowd is insanley hot for the entirety of this show & match. Bret's leg work is really good. He even busts out a sharpshooter over the ringpost which directly led to Shawn's ref bump. Shawn's work here is good too as he plays it straight but always get the feeling that one of the three guys may snap at any point. Taker is protected big time here which is the right move. He gets a visual pinfall over Bret after the first chokeslam & gets to power out of the sharpshooter twice, the first time being an incredible spot that got a thunderous pop. He also deserves a nod for toughness. He took two sick chairshots in the head here. The one at the finish is absolutely brutal. That finish is amazing. Holy shit the heat after the three count is unreal. That crowd reaction is of utter contempt for Bret Hart. I've never seen so much trash flung into a WWF ring. I didn't watch the whole thing but it seems like it was a great show. The crowd was into everything big time & all three matches I watched delivered (Austin's injury notwithstanding). It'll be interesting to see how things are moving forward with Bret's final months, Shawn's heel turn, & WWF without Austin being able to perform every week.

This match is fantastic before the injury. It's a shame to be honest. If that piledriver doesn't go bad we could be talking about a really great match here. They cut a tremendous pace & East Rutherford is hot as hell for it. Several Austin chants throughout the match. Brilliant work from both guys. I loved the finger manipulation spots from Owen. Really nasty work from him there. The work over the neck is great & there's several good cut offs in this. Owen & Austin both do stuff they rarely ever do. It's really a great match. The piledriver is just brutal. Austin lands 180 degrees on his head. The crowd knew something was up too. Owen does a good job of trying to get heat & keep the crowd interested as Hebner tries to figure out what's wrong with Austin. The finish is pitiful but understandable. It got a huge pop but the fans went back to concern when Austin couldn't even walk out on his own. Pretty scary stuff. This injury not only nearly ended Austin's career, which is most important of course, but it really affected WWF in the aftermath & had them sputtering a little bit in the Fall. I've always wondered if Austin doesn't get hurt here & he stays healthy & is a part of TV every week in a physical capacity, that they wouldn't have beaten Nitro in the ratings by January or February of 98.

Great match. There are some logical holes in it if one doesn't know the context such as HHH deciding not to exit the cage early or Mankind climbing back up to hit elbow. In context though those moments make sense because HHH had said in an interview after KOTR that he enjoys hurting Mankind & in the Mankind interview series he talks about being live for the Snuka cage splash & wanting that same kind of adulation. Lots of big bumps & spots from both guys in this. The superplex from the cage is nuts as is the famous flying eblow of course. HHH hanging upside down over the cage & getting hit with Mankind's running elbow is great too. This New Jersey great is incredibly hot. Chyna gets involved a lot such as slamming the cage door on Mankind's head in a nasty spot, but also messing up & getting in the cage to drag HHH out before the elbow. She takes her bump after HHH is slingshotted into the cage to a massive pop. Mankind climbs over before Chyna can drag HHH out. He gets an enormous pop for winning which is awesome to see & here. The post-match Dude Love stuff is tremendous & the camera work on it is fantastic. The fans ate that up too. I do wonder wonder how Dude Love's theme started playing all of a sudden. I'd have given an explanation for it, but that's a very minor complaint. I liked this a lot.

The match isn't good, but this is tremendous as a segment. Bret comes out to insane heat again & demands production to play the Canadian national anthem. Crazy heat for this. The Patriot comes out to Kurt Angle's theme! He asks for the Star Spangled Banner to be played to a big pop. Bret attacks him during the Star Spangled Banner. Holy shit. The fans are livid as Bret continues to attack The Patriot while the anthem is still playing. Surreal to see. The end of the anthem gets a huge pop. The match isn't much, but Pittsburgh hates Bret. There's a ref bump & Bret goes for the cover, but Shawn Michaels, who's his obnoxios self on commentary, pulls Bret off. Bret is pissed & gets distracted with Shawn leading to The Patriot rolling him up & pinning him to a massive pop! Bret is furious & goes after Patriot up the ramp as officials hold him back & fans throw miniature US flags at him! Insane. Shawn stands on the announce table & starts stripping to taunt Bret. Bret goes after him, but Taker's music hits & he shows up to an awesome visual as his entrance smoke engulfs him to close the show. Awesome go-home segment for Summerslam. The WWF is on a roll!

The Hart Foundation come out to nuclear heat in Pittsburgh. This US-Canada feud has been amazing to watch. The fans bought it hook, line, & sinker. Bret says the enema line which pissed Pittsburgh off. I loved Owen scowling at the Austin chants. Bret got in trouble for his behavior the previous week & had to go to a hearing. It was decided he'd still get a title shot but Gorilla Monsoon will name a new commissioner next week which could be grounds for more evaluation on Bret. Bret says he didn't mean that he wouldn't wrestle in the US again literally, but the WWF took it that way. He says the stip for Shawn is pointless because it's a lose/lose for him which he's right. I don't like the stip being put on Shawn too. It's not necessary. Great segment though with molten heat. Loss is right. Every week the heat has been incredible. What a summer for the WWF.

The pre-match is amazing as Halifax audibly sings along to "Oh Canada." Pretty good match that's got really good heat. I laughed when they went to break as Taker came out to be the third man with Austin & Dude. Gotta love WWF production errors. Austin & Foley understand wrestling very well so they work heel & let Owen sell & be baby face. This gets the crowd more into the match as a result. Bret gets the hot tag & his clothesline on Austin as he comes in gets a thunderous pop. Hot last few minutes with Bret & Taker having a fun exchange & both going for their respective flags. Pillman comes out from under the ring & prevents Undertaker from reaching the US Flag which allows Bret to grab the Canadian one. Huge pop for the Hart Foundation victory. Great post-match celebration with the Hart Foundation going into the Halifax crowd & getting swarmed as they wave the Canadian flag. This was an awesome show.

Vince is distraught & defends his actions about letting Shawn be referee during a Faarooq & Goldust match. He gets some bad news from the back & leaves the announce booth. We eventually here that Shawn Michaels has been attacked in the dressing room by member of the Hart Foundation, possibly Bret Hart himself. After the match we see Vince & Shawn arguing in the back as officials try to tend to a hurt Shawn. Shawn is cursing Vince out telling him he can't keep control & is bad at his job. This is great & fascinating to watch as a worked shoot angle. There seems to be some legitimate frustration coming out of both Bret & Shawn this week.

JR & Bearer bicker about the legitimacy of Kane being alive or not. Bearer brings proof & that is a statue that Kane & Undertaker cut in half & said they'd always keep as as brotherly bond as long as they live. Weird. JR doesn't buy it & I wouldn't either. Bearer is really starting to annoy me.

This segment is outstanding too. What a great RAW. Bret comes out in the middle of Patriot-HHH & confronts Vince about allowing Shawn to be referee at Summerslam. The heat for this is through the roof. Bret slaps Vince's headset off then grabs him & they get in a big tussle over the announce booth! Unreal. This is amazing with JR being excellent here yelling at Bret. The Patriot tries to get involved & gets jumped by the Hart Foundation for his troubles. HHH gets some cheap shots on him too. The Hart Foundation are removed from ringside as a visibly angry Vince tries to get himself together. This is an incredible segment.

Shawn has INSANE heat here. Oh my God they hate him. He is incredibly obnoxious here saying the US has taken care of Canada for years & they should be thankful for that. He throws his name in the hat to team with Austin in the flag match later. He then announces that he will be the special referee for the main event of Summerslam (I loved him shooting a bit here & saying he always works the main event) between Bret & Taker for the WWF Title. If he doesn't call it right down the middle then he will be banned from working in the US which is an unnecesarry stip in my opinion. The stip should have been more like Shawn will be fired or Shawn will be banned from working in Canada (that's silly too, but at least there'd have been a great pop for it). Shawn ends this amazing interview by shoving two miniature Canadian flags down his crotch. Good lord.

This Halifax crowd is one of the loudest in WWE history. The ovation for The Hart Foundation is amazing here. Bret cuts an anti-American promo & Vince is indignant about all of it. This was a strong promo as Bret, Owen, & Davey run down their Summerslam opponents & name them as the guys they want to face in tonight's flag match. Austin comes out & accepts the challenge saying he'll stick their toes up their asses in response to Owen's "toe sucking" comment. Tremendous segment.

This gimmick doesn't have a place in 1997 WWF. One of the last gimmicks that feels very New Generation era in the WWF.

This is hell of a match! Austin works maybe the best WWF handicap match of all time before the amazing Dude Love debut. Foley is tremendous here cutting a funny promo on the tron as an introduction. Austin's facial expressions are great. Dude Love comes out with to his awesome theme music & dances down to the ring. This gets a great reaction from the crowd. Austin reluctantly tags him in to another big pop. Dude gets a little bit of offense in before the finish. Austin stuns Davey Boy behind the ref's back & Dude gets the pin to a huge pop. I loved Owen's final attemp to make a save as he sort of trips over himself to try & stop the pin. The post-match is amazing. Dude celebrates in the corners like Austin & gives him both tag belts in gratitude & then suddenly two women show up & smother Dude Love in celebration! That's a great callback to the Mankind interviews about the Dude Love character & who Foley really wanted to be. Awesome. Austin indeed kind of has his first true baby face moment when he gives Dude Love the tag belt back & shakes his hand. One of the best RAW moments of all time.

Obnoxious Shawn is back. Thank God this is one of the last times he's Obnoxious baby face Shawn. His entrance is completely ridiculous. Even more so than usual. He addresses possibly being Austin's tag partner & says they won the belts while both not at 100%. He doens't really tease being his partner any more than that. He fucking gets on his knees & begs Vince to be a part of Summerslam because he wants to see Bret lose & not have to wrestle in the US anymore. Vince is loving it. This is absurd. Shawn then does a terribly over the top dance routine where he threatens to to take off his shorts. Vince tries to cover him up with something playfully. Unreal.

Solid match, but I didn't like it as much as others. If it got a few more minutes I'd probably have gotten really good. It was on it's way to being something interesting. I do love it when Austin works a more basic style & goes to the mat. He's really underrated in that department. Mankind comes out to help Austin & gets whacked with a chair for his troubles. This helps though as HHH turns around into the stunner for the Austin victory. The post-match is great. Austin tells Mankind to come in the ring & says he hates him & that he's a freak but will go to war with him for the tag titles next week. He offers a handshake & in a funny moment Mankind asks for a hug! They hug & Mankind is ecstatic doing the bang bang gesture. It's a trick though & Austin stuns him to a huge pop! Austin calls him a freak & says he'd never team with him. Mankind gets the mic as Austin leaves & says he was just trying to make a friend & now Austin has made him do something he thought he'd never have to do again. He says the WWF will never be the same after what he does next week. I like that they teased Cactus Jack here & maybe the fans weren't thrilled with Dude Love coming out, but the Cactus return on 9/22 probably felt a little big bigger because of it. Solid TV match followed by a tremendous post-match. These spring & summer RAWs have been great.

Paul Bearer's starting to annoy me in this new WWF. His over the top facial expressions & promo style don't really fit in this era. He says Kane is disfigured & has been physically & mentally scarred by the fire. He of course can't end the promo without calling Undertaker a murderer. I didn't care for this. Not bad, but not as interesting as some of the more extreme moments in this feud.

I liked Canadian Stamped better. This is ok, but has even less heat than the night before. I did like that they changed up some of the spots. Brian Christopher on commentary is obnoxious.

This is tremendous. The opening video with the Canadian fans being interviewed is awesome. Bret, Owen, & Davey Boy get amazing ovations from the Edmonton crowd. Bret's promo is great. He talks about how Canada has better treatment for the sick & elderly, better healthcare, & gun control. He says if he doesn't beat Undertaker at Summerslam he won't wrestle in the States again. It's obvious that still wanted to do that stip so they put it there which is fine. It being a title match makes the stip even bigger. Owen has Austin for the IC belt at Summerslam & Davey has Shamrock for the European Title. Bret says everything in the WWF is American so tonight he asks everyone to stand up for the Canadian national anthem! Awesome. Austin sneaks up behind the three of them during the anthem & hits them with a chair to great heat. This is an awesome segment. Definitely a bold segment but one that worked. I loved this.

This is an incredible viewing experience. One of the most entertaining & satisfying I've ever had watching the WWF. I've seen this before but in context the specialness is huge. Everything from the Canadian National Anthem, to the incredible entrances, to the action packed match, to the atmosphere, & to the heartwarming post-match is wonderful. The Hart Foundation entrance is probably the greatest entrance in WWF history. The crowd is probably a top five crowd in company history. Austin is a riot here jawing with fans, brawling with crazy Bruce Hart, grabbing Stu in a holy shit moment, etc. Owen's shine segment is amazing. The opening exchange between Bret & Austin causes the building to literally shake as Bret comes out on top. There are flaws. There's no true FIP segment which I think the match really needed in order to make it a classic in-ring encounter. Pillman's heeling is entertaining but at times it gets annoying as I think the match would have been better served if Pillman had toned his character down a bit at certain points. Being Loose Cannon Pillman a time or two for a pop is great & fun but multiple times in this environment is aggravating. The match is also full of a lot of random exchanges that don't really go anywhere. Back to the positives, there is a story here with Austin & Owen getting their knees attacked & coming back & finishing the match. The Hart Family's involvement at ringside slowly boils over in the match as well. There is plenty of nitpicking to do on this match, but this match isn't one about details. It's the whole package. The whole experience. I was actually extremely happy for the Canadian fans & the Hart Family. I got goosebumps several times watching this. It's the Hart Family's shining moment in WWF. It's one of the greatest WWF main events & experiences of all time. One of the truly special events in WWE history.

I really enjoyed this. It's not great, but it's really good. They won the crowd over by the end of it. Some great spots & dives in this. It's a greatest hits match between these two but good version of it. Sasuke pulls out the win.

This is great. We get cool highlights of all the festivities in Calgary over the weekend. The Harts are pretty beloved & it's neat to see. The interview segment is great with Austin trying to get at the Hart Foundation but Bret saying they won't do anything until it's 5-on-5.

Taker's side isn't much different from Bearer's story. The key here is Taker says he didn't cause the fire, Kane did. He says he tried to save them but the funeral home was engulfed in flames. The dramatic language used in this is a bit much but this was fine. The next segment is great though with Taker attacking Vader & threatening to kill Bearer if he doesn't tell the truth. Bearer spills the beans that Kane is alive & is the one who told him that Taker killed his family. Taker is shocked to here that. I liked JR's "What?!" when Bearer first said "Kane told me!" Intriguing night of storytelling involving The Undertaker.

I won't even begin to go over all of this. I know the story & I was still fascinated. I like soap opera wrestling, so I enjoyed this. Basically, the secret is The Undertaker killed his parents & little brother Kane in a fire at their funeral home business. The highlight of this is the "creature of the night" as JR calls her tackling Bearer as he approaches ringside & Bearer loses his temper at the end calling Taker a "GODDAMN MURDERER!" That was great.

Taker asks that the fans listen to his side once Bearer is done revealing his secret. Ok promo & pretty captivating actually. The Undertaker-Kane soap opera begins.