Time for another exciting episode of Shotgun Saturday Night. Coming to us pre-recorded from the Deutchslandhalle in Berlin, Germany. I have a feeling we’re going to get another pretty mediocre episode this week since they’re still figuring out the new Shotgun format and we’ve got this European Tour to deal with but maybe I’ll be surprised and it will be good.
Also just as a note this is the last episode of Shotgun that is more or less the same show as that week’s Superstars. The following week Superstars would transition to being strictly a recap show which I honestly hope decreases some of the recaps we’re getting here. I’d much rather see Vader squash a dude who wrestled in my hometown indie fed at this point in ’97 than a five minute recap of junk that happened on Raw but I suppose we’ll have to wait until next week to see how that pans out.
Hype!
Jim Ross and Jim Cornette talk about being in Germany and hype up some of the stuff we’re going to see tonight. Ahmed Johnson will be in action and we’ll see footage of the European Championship Tournament finals as well as get the latest update on Hunter Hearst Helmsley’s “Bionic Woman” (the still unnamed Chyna).
Match 1: Ahmed Johnson vs. Leif Cassidy
Ahmed Johnson gets a pretty good pop from the German fans as he makes his entrance. His snarky chyron informs us that “Chicago is his kind of town.” As Ahmed comes down the aisle Jims Ross and Cornette wonder what Ahmed could have meant when he said he wasn’t going to show up alone for his Chicago Street Fight at WrestleMania.
Leif is already in the ring though he does get a snarky chyron informing us that “it’s all German to him.” As Cassidy and Johnson lock up over on commentary JR explains that Ahmed is still not at 100% and is nursing an arm that got infected after a splinter from 2×4 broken over him was poorly removed.
Cassidy looks to work over Ahmed’s bandaged arm and goes for a wristlock but Ahmed just hurls him to the mat. Cassidy pops back up and gets in Johnson’s face and then slaps him which seems like a dumb thing to do. Ahmed immediately goozles him and forces him into the corner and smacks him back.
Cassidy, however, cuts Ahmed off and targets Johnson’s bandaged arm. He then sends Ahmed off the ropes but Ahmed nails him with a shoulder tackle that sends Leif Cassidy flying out of the ring. Cassidy heads back in but Johnson continues to dominate, hitting him with a stalling vertical suplex and then coming off the ropes and killing Cassidy with a scissor kick.
Ahmed then sends Cassidy into the corner with an Irish whip but ends up posting himself when Cassidy avoids the charge. Cassidy then takes over on offense, bringing Johnson down with an armbar takedown. He stays on Ahmed’s injured arm, dishing out more punishment. Ahmed tries to fight back with a series of rights but Cassidy cuts him off with an arm wringer.
Cassidy looks for an Irish whip but Ahmed counters with a short-arm clothesline. He then lays into Cassidy with a series of rights before spiking him with a piledriver. Ahmed then sends Leif off the ropes and absolutely merks him with a spinebuster but he’s not done yet. Ahmed gets Leif Cassidy up and plants him with the Pearl River Plunge to pick up the win.
Winner: Ahmed Johnson
Not an all time great match or anything like that but this was a perfectly fine bout. Al Snow’s good at carrying people to passable TV matches and Ahmed is cool as fuck when he just starts hucking dudes around. [**]
Highlights for Children!
We the get clips of the Legion of Doom returning to the WWF on Raw two weeks prior (though they leave out the fuck finish in a match against the goddamn Headbangers) before we get a recap of the promo they cut to open the show on last week’s episode of Shotgun and how they want to be a part of WrestleMania 13 (or is that WrestleMania the 13th?) since it is in their backyard of Chicago.
Highlights for Children!
We then get highlights from last week’s Monday Night Raw where “the Bionic Woman” (the still unnamed Chyna) got in Bret Hart’s face during a match and seemingly wanted to fight him.
Match 2: Alex “The Pug” Porteau vs. Salvatore Sincere
Hell yeah a jobber vs. jobber match on a B-show! I live for this shit! Porteau actually gets an entrance where he borrows the Steiner Bros. old entrance music. Sincere, meanwhile, is already in the ring.
The two men lock up and Porteau grabs a side headlock but Sincere counters out of it. This leads to a series of holds and counters that ends with Porteau hitting a cross body for a near fall. He then sends Sincere flying with an armdrag but hangs on and slaps on an arm bar while over on commentary Ross praises Porteau’s wrestling acumen before taking a pointless shot at WCW by saying the fans in Germany would rather see a technical match like this than “bald men posing” in the ring.
In the ring we get more back and forth chain wrestling while on commentary talk turns to Helmsley’s Bionic Woman. Eventually we get a rope running spot. Sincere looks to leapfrog Porteau but Porteau stops short to avoid it and then hurls Sincere with a belly-to-belly suplex for a near fall.
Porteau then looks for an Irish whip but Sincere reverses it and plants Porteau with a powerslam. He then springs off the middle rope and nails Porteau with an elbow drop for two. Sincere then sends Porteau off the ropes and nails him with a clothesline for another near fall.
Sincere then gets Porteau in a chinlock to wear him down but Porteau manages to fight out of the hold. Sincere, however, immediately cuts him off and slaps on a sleeper. Porteau, again is able to get out of trouble, this time with a back suplex. He then sends Sincere off the ropes and catches him with a dropkick for two.
Sincere cuts Porteau off with a rake of the eyes and then looks for a suplex but Porteau counters with an inside cradle for a close near fall. Porteau then goes for an Irish whip but Sincere reverses it and hits a pump handle slam (apparently called the “Sincerely Yours”) to pick up the win after five minutes of action.
Winner: Salvatore Sincere
Umm…this kind of ruled! I’m a big fan of the random jobber vs. jobber matches you’d sometimes get on WCW Worldwide where it was like Rick Fuller and Hardwork Bobby Walker having a five minute match and you had no clue who was going to win because neither guy actually won matches against anyone that was pushed. They were pretty common in WCW but this is honestly the first time I recall seeing the WWF do it and I loved it. If you like wrestling without any bigger overarching story than “These two guys are having a match and both want to win,” this is honestly a pretty great match. It’s just a nice little five minute TV match between two guys doing cool shit in the ring and sometimes that’s enough. [**¾]
Meanwhile in Dok Hendrix’s Lair…
We check in with Dok Hendrix who hypes up the upcoming Madison Square Garden show on March 16th. They’ve actually gone and updated the card some two weeks after Shawn Michaels forfeited the WWF Championship and now the main event is Sid defending the title against Bret Hart in a steel cage. Also on the card we’ll see Ahmed Johnson taking on Savio Vega and looking for revenge after what happened the last time the two were at MSG. The Undertaker will meet Vader in a casket match and the Intercontinental Championship will be on the line!
I think I’m going to watch this since it aired on the MSG Network back in the day and that broadcast’s pretty easy to find online and sort of fits the weird vibe of this “Watching anything but Raw” trek through WWF’s 1997.
Highlights for Children!
We then get the European Championship Tournament Finals from the March 3, 1997 episode of Raw shown if not in full than damn near close to it. Ross talks about how it’s already in contention for “Match of the Year” and honestly, yeah it probably would have been. Of the WWF stuff I’ve seen up to this point the only thing I’d probably rank higher was the Final Four Match from In Your House: Final Four but I wouldn’t really argue if someone had this match ranked higher than that one.
I’m not going to recap the match here because that’s not how I do things here at Atomic Drop but it’s definitely one worth checking out. It’s just two of the best to ever do it having a hell of a match in front of a hot crowd. You add to that the fact that it’s stylistically very different from the average WWF TV match of the time and it’s something really special. Go check this one out if you haven’t seen it before or if you have seen it but haven’t seen it in a while.
Highlights for Children!
We then get highlights of Rocky Maivia defending the Intercontinental Championship against Vader. Ross explains that Vader more or less beat the shit out of Rocky for the entire duration of the match but then Vader’s tag team partner Mankind just randomly ran in and interfered, costing Vader the match and the title.
Match 3: Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon vs. Aldo Montoya & Bob Holly
As the match gets underway Jim Ross explains how the German fans appreciate the wrestling acumen of guys like Furnas and LaFon as if it’s some alien concept and folks in America only like guys that suck in the ring.
Regardless of the differing tastes of German and American wrestling fans LaFon starts things off with Bob Holly whose chyron this week informs us he “rides shotgun.” The two of them lock up and LaFon works over Holly’s arm for a bit before sending him off the ropes with an Irish whip. LaFon looks for a spinning heel kick as Holly rebounds off the ropes but Holly ducks it and then comes off the ropes and nails LaFon with a shoulder tackle.
Furnas makes the tag and he and Holly have a test of strength that ends with Holly kneeing Furnas in the gut and then grabbing a headlock. Furnas sends Holly off the ropes to get out of the hold and we get a criss-cross rope running spot that ends with Furnas hip tossing the stock car racer. He follows with an armdrag and then an arm bar while over on commentary Jim Ross informs us that Furnas and LaFon will be taking part in a four team elimination tag team match at WrestleMania 13 and the winner will earn a shot at the tag team titles at a future date. Furnas continues to work on Holly’s arm as we head to commercials. TAPE MACHINES ARE ROLLING!
Back from the break we find Bob Holly slamming Phil LaFon to the mat. Holly then heads up top for the flying nothing but ends up eating a boot. The tag is then made to Furnas who comes in with a shoulder tackle and then follows up with a dropkick that earns him a near fall. He then sends Holly off the ropes and hits a powerslam for another near fall.
Holly cuts Furnas off with a boot to the gut and then gets a near fall of his own with a backslide. Furnas gets back to his feet and looks for a suplex but Holly blocks it and gets another two count off an inside cradle. There’s then an Irish whip and Furnas goes for a hurricanrana but Holly stuffs it and powerbombs this shit out of Doug.
Montoya tags in and comes off the top rope but Furnas kind of catches him, stumbles backwards towards his own corner and then loses his grip on the Portuguese Man of War and drops him on the ropes. Furnas then gets Montoya up allowing LaFon to hit him with a flying clothesline that’s good for two. Montoya then gets sent off the ropes but manages to hit a sunset flip for two/ LaFon then sends Montoya off the ropes and catches him for a snap dragon suplex for the win.
Winners: Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon
This was another okay wrestling match though I wonder if some stuff got cut because towards the end it felt a little disjointed. Still the action was pretty decent overall. [**]
Final Thoughts
I came into this not expecting much. It was, after all, dark matches filmed during a long overseas tour but shockingly this was a pretty great episode of Shotgun. The new matches were all the sort of shit I watch these shows for and the highlights (rebroadcast?) of the Bulldog vs. Owen Hart is the sort of shit I’m fine with them doing when they have an absolute banger of a match on their hand that people should see. Definitely worth checking out.
Atomic Drop 