[1997-05-05-WWF-Raw] Ken Shamrock feature

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

At this point, they really gave it the college try with Shamrock. This is a super feature that really makes Shamrock stand out from the pack, but they needed to follow it up with a real main event push in order for it to meet its full potential. He wasn't buried in 1997 by any means, but he was just one of many guys near the top of the card. I still like my fantasy scenario of Bill Watts learning about this guy in 1992 WCW, signing him and building around him.

[Kevin Ridge]

I think this was perfect for Ken at the time as he was struggling to cut a wrestling promo where in this feature he could try to be himself. More challenges to Mike Tyson.

[soup23]

This was a cool feature showing how Ken's path has lead him to WWF. His past background makes him seem like a tough guy but someone that is able to channel that anger.

[PeteF3]

Great feature that makes Shamrock look unique--but that uniqueness would go away for Shamrock in the WWF once the bell rang, which was something that I really think sank him as a potential draw. He had a few big spots, one singular finish (the anklelock) when he was supposed to be a submission master...they took a guy with one-of-a-kind credentials and ran him right through the WWF Machine. Not to mention we were rapidly approaching a period where in-ring work mattered less and less. Anyway...in reporting the signing, Meltzer declared that Shamrock would either be a big-money success or a complete flop, with (exact quote) "no in-between." And funnily enough, "in-between" is pretty much precisely what we got: Ken won't change the world in this run, but he'll be a fairly over and useful member of the roster for the next few years.

[Exposer]

This is really good. They make Shamrock sympathetic here & generally likable. I love stuff like this. NXT does a pretty good job of it, but the WWE main roster needs more features like this so we can understand who these people are.