WWF on MSG Network (March 16, 1997)

Dok Hendrix’s constant hyping of the March 16th return to Madison Square Garden during episodes of Shotgun Saturday Night got to me and I have decided to go ahead and watch that show. I have, in the past, watched and reviewed “fan cam” footage of a wrestling show on this here website, but that is not what is going on here today. From the mid-70s through early 1997 the MSG Network would occasionally air WWF cards from Madison Square Garden. The show I’m reviewing today was (at the time of my writing this) the last of these broadcasts. So let’s see how things were on a quasi-house show from this time.

WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (March 1, 1997)

It’s time for another look at what WWF was up to over on their B-Show, Shotgun Saturday Night in the year of 1997. On Raw and the PPVs things are honestly getting interesting as the world title scene is heating up and ECW is invading and there’s a new title being introduced for the first time in 20 years, but that’s stuff for Raw and the PPVs. This is Shotgun Saturday Night where you ask yourself, “That guy was still with the company in 1997?” on a weekly basis. So let’s check it out!

WWF In Your House 13: Final Four (February 16, 1997)

It’s time for WWF In Your House 13: Final Four! It was a PPV that was supposed to determine the #1 Contender for the WWF Championship after all manner of Stone Cold shenanigans made the Royal Rumble less decisive than folks would have liked it to be. But between the Royal Rumble and Thursday Raw Thursday, Shawn Michaels lost his smile and relinquished the belt so now the WWF no longer needs to find a #1 Contender they need to find a WWF Champion.

WWF Thursday Raw Thursday (February 13, 1997)

My gameplan for this 1997 WWF deep dive had been to just watch Shotgun Saturday Night and the Pay Per Views unless I could not find an certain week’s episode of Shotgun online or if Shotgun did a decent enough job hyping a particular match on Raw that I felt inclined to tune in. This week is a bit of a special case as Shotgun is a Best Of episode to fill time while they rework the concept and move away from the live from a dive bar gimmick and start taping random matches before Raw instead. So I’m checking in with Raw this week and as fate would have it this episode of Raw might be the most significant episode of the year so strap in as we discuss lost smiles, the proto-People’s Champion, and whether or not this episode of Raw is called Thursday Raw Thursday or Thursday Raw! Thursday Live!

WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (February 8, 1997)

I have no idea why I’m still all in on these Shotgun Saturday Nights. The wrestling is generally pretty terrible and the “comedy” is dreadfully unfunny but there’s something kind of entertaining about how ramshackle it all is and I doubt they’ll ever get more ramshackle than this week when Shotgun comes to us live from Penn Station. That’s right folks! We’ve got a wrestling show coming to us live from a train station in New York City. Shit could potentially get wild!

WWF Raw Is War (December 7, 1998)

Time to get back on track and finish up my Raw ’98 deep dive. The previous week’s episode kind of sucked ass as it leaned WAAAAY too hard into the sports entertainment Vince Russo bullshit. This week’s episode is pre-taped so maybe it will feature a bit more actual wrestling but it’s also the go home show for Rock Bottom so who the fuck knows. Let’s just get this over with…

WWF Osaka Mania (May 9, 1994)

It’s Royal Rumble season as since the WWE Network’s cheap as free tier only has Rumbles I’ve seen already and have no real desire to revisit available, I’ve decided to go elsewhere for my guys throwing other guys out of the ring fix…specifically Osaka, Japan on May 9, 1994. It turns out that during a tour of Japan in 1994 the WWF decided to have an 18-man Royal Rumble match close out the show in Osaka and as someone in the crowd filmed the entire show with a camcorder I am able to watch in some 28 years after the fact so let’s get down to it.

WWF Raw Is War (November 30, 1998)

Well, it’s 2022 now and I didn’t quite finish rewatching Raw ’98 in its entirety like I planned to last year. I ended up, through no fault of my own, falling about a month behind but I’m not about to abandon the project now. So today we’re pressing on with the November 30, 1998 episode of Raw is War.

WWF Raw Is War (November 23, 1998)

So last week’s episode of Raw Is War from the year 1998 sucked so much ass and the week before that wasn’t so great either. Will this week’s episode be any better? I doubt it but I’ve committed to getting through all the Raws from 1998 so let’s just get on with it.

WWF Raw Is War (November 16, 1998)

I’m getting really burned out on this ’98 WWF deep dive but we’re coming down the home stretch so I’m going to try and just muscle through. This is the Raw after Survivor Series and we’ve got a new champion in The Rock which might help liven things up a bit. Who knows?