Columns
Morning Glory #6: The
Most Underrated PPVs Ever (Part 1)
Wrestling pay-per-views (PPVs)
first came about in the mid 1980’s, with the advent of Wrestlemania, the
‘supercard’ of the WWF/E’s year. Since then, the market opened up and
increased some more, and by the time the 1990’s rolled around, the WWE was putting on
4 PPVs a year, in the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam and Survivor Series. This was
increased to 5 with King Of The Ring’s debut in 1993, 2 years later, despite having
the lowest drawing champion of all time in Diesel with the belt, the WWE expanded again,
and took one PPV per month. The extra PPVs were originally named ‘In Your House’
with an added title referring to the main event, but this has since been replaced by one
name for each month. The PPV names are now as follows; Royal Rumble, No Way Out,
Wrestlemania, Backlash, Judgment Day, King Of The Ring, Vengeance, Summerslam, Unforgiven,
No Mercy, Survivor Series and Armageddon. With this expansion to a PPV a month, it meant
that feuds went faster than ever, and the company was only given a month to build to each
PPV. Of course, this meant that we got a lot of crappy ‘throwaway’ PPVs,
especially in the days of ‘In Your House’. But on the other hand, we also got a
few PPVs that were underrated, and have long since been forgotten about by the fans,
usually due to the matches, although great, being meaningless. And that is what this
series of columns is about. The most underrated PPVs in the history of the WWE. And before
you say it…..yes, I know the WCW also had PPVs, with their supercard being
‘Starrcade’…but since the WCW is now dead, and I’m a total WWE guy
anyway, having seen very few WCW PPVs, this series of columns is going to be WWE
exclusive.
So, which PPVs have I selected? Well, there’s four PPVs in my mind that stick out as
totally underrated. Two are from consecutive months in 1996, one is from 1997, and the
other from 1999. This being the first column in the series, I won’t go into detail
about the other three, nor will I even name them…let’s keep it a surprise, huh?
So, onto the first PPV selected….the lucky winner is from September of 1996, and is
of course In Your House: Mind Games.
Mind Games is a largely forgotten PPV, due to it’s ‘throwaway’ status in
September, as the WWE built to their bigger feuds for Survivor Series. Shawn Michaels was
the WWE champion here, and was on a roll in storylines as well as in workrate. He had held
the belt since March, when he had defeated Bret Hart at Wrestlemania, and since then he
had put on incredible match after incredible match, having a decent program with Davey Boy
Smith, carrying Kevin Nash to the best match of his life, and putting on an awesome
Summerslam main event with Vader. After Summerslam, Michaels’ feud with Vader was
basically over, and he needed a challenger here, and the lucky man was Mankind. Mick
Foley’s original WWE character was at his awesome psychotic best here, in his feud
with Undertaker. Mankind had defeated Taker in the Boiler Room Brawl at Summerslam, and
gained a new manager in the heel turned Paul Bearer in the process. Mankind didn’t
really have an issue with Michaels, but of course, it was a title shot, so it was a big
match for him. So, the scene was set, and the match that I would consider 1996’s
Match of the Year was about to take place.
As many of you know, despite my match writing for the oWa, I completely suck at
play-by-play. Writing matches with your own booking, that people have to visualise is a
completely different thing to watching matches on TV and writing about what happened, move
for move. So, that’s the reason for minimal play-by-play here….that and the fact
that I cannot type at the same time as watching, nor can I take notes on matches as
I’m writing (which is just sad, really, taking notes!) so, if you’re looking for
play-by-play, this won’t be the column for you. However…continue
reading….cos I wouldn’t want to turn away readers, would I?
Sooo….live, from Philadelphia PA, comes WWF In Your House: MIND GAMES, hosted
by Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Mr Perfect!
We have the free for all first, and out comes Marty Jannetty, for a match against Savio
Vega. If anyone knows, could they tell me what happened to the ‘free for
all’ matches? A pointless aspect of WWE PPVs of the past, the ‘free for
all’ was usually contested by JTTS or newcomers, and gave no real indication of what
was gonna go down on the PPV, making it a pointless thing really. Leif Cassidy is
with Jannetty here, and he of course is now Al Snow. Speaking of people
nowadays…. An interview featuringJustin ‘Hawk’ Bradshaw pops up. He
shows his redneck tendencies, calling Savio a ‘Puerto Rican dog’, and looks a
lot thinner than today. Back to the match, which is shitty, Vince informs us that any
‘strange chants’ from the crowd are from a ‘local wrestling company’
and their fans. The company? ECW of course. This match is BAD, and I’m now
remembering why I disliked Savio Vega so much. Savio wins with a cross body, as finally
the suck is over. But Bradshaw runs in, and nails Savio with a cowbell, choking him out
with the rope. Bradshaw leaves to heat, and we go to a video package.
Wow, was Mankind’s original persona disturbing or what? The video urges us to
‘pray that Shawn Michaels defeats him'.
Another video package, this time of the Undertaker/Goldust feud, and once again, I
must highlight how good the original Goldust persona was. I mean, Goldust is cool enough
today, but back in 1996 he was a total envelope-pusher. Taker was feuding with him, and
also with Mankind at this point.
The PPV begins proper, and we begin with ANOTHER Savio Vega match, this time
against Bradshaw of course. Thankfully it’s a strap match, which means the
match will be more interesting than a usual Savio match. Bradshaw’s music ROCKS, and
he needs to use it when he returns from injury. Bradshaw begins in control, whipping Savio
with the strap, and touching one corner, but Savio comes back. We go outside the ring,
where the ‘ECW’ chants begin, and Paul Heyman, Jim ‘Sandman’
Fullington, and Tommy Dreamer are visible at ringside. Bradshaw chokes Savio, but gets
dragged into the ringpost. Just a note, I believe this, although he is in the WWE right
now, was Dreamer’s first and only WWE PPV appearance. I may be wrong though, but
I’m pretty sure. The ECW guys then get involved, as Sandman spits beer onto Savio,
and Heyman pulls him back to a HUGE pop. Heyman restrains Dreamer and Sandman, and they
are taken away by security. This was an angle of course, as ECW ‘invaded’ the
WWE in early 1997. Savio stops Bradshaw from touching all 4 corners, by backdropping him,
and the crowd being hot is the only good thing about this match, which SUCKS, and is
nowhere near as good as Savio’s with Austin earlier in 1996. After a few more minutes
of cruddy brawling, Bradshaw drags Savio around the ring, touching each corner, but with
Savio doing the same. Savio then manages to drag Bradshaw back, inches away from winning,
and dives onto the corner for the win. Bradshaw is pissed, and so am I for having to watch
this match.
We see a video package highlighting the feud between Jim Cornette and Shawn
Michaels’ legendary trainer Jose Lothario. Funny stuff.
Cornette enters to Vader’s music, and in a totally weird moment, Lothario
enters to HBK’s. Backstage though, we have an altercation, as Savio is left lying by ’Razor
Ramon’ and ‘Diesel’, in the horrific ‘fakes’ angle. You can
TELL, even from the poor camera shot, that it’s not Hall and Nash, and quite rightly
this angle is infamous. Cornette is like, round, and played a great heel manager, but of
course, the match is a squash. Lothario just beats up Cornette, and finishes him with a
big left hand. Funny for what it was, imagine Henber/Patrick from InVasion. Short,
entertaining, and didn’t really waste any more than 5 minutes. Perfect then reveals
he’s read my mind, by saying Lothario could use some new theme music, cos he’s
not really a Sexy Boy.
BRIAN PILLMAN heads to the ring, as we see Bret Hart call him a LIAR. Bret
says he never claimed he would return to the WWE for Mind Games, and calls Owen Hart
a liar too. Pillman runs down Philly, and does a perfect heel interview, only being
brought down by the fact that his voice is so raspy, and he sounds like he needs a good
cough. Pillman brings out Owen, carrying a Slammy, and once again, Owen does a classic
ad-lib to the camera, this time yelling “You got me instead of Bret!”. Pillman
runs down Bret, and Owen then does the same, trying to claim he’d patched things up
with Bret, but claiming he’s better than him at the same time. Pillman calls the fans
‘losers’, then claims Bret is scared of Owen, and also scared of STONE COLD
STEVE AUSTIN! Austin comes out to horrible music, looking in great shape, and he runs
down Bret too, using the classic line “If you add an ‘S’ to Hitman, you
have my exact opinion of Bret Hart”. This feud was just beginning, and without a
doubt, it’s the best feud in the WWE EVER. Pillman calls Bret a chicken, so Austin
then calls him chicken shit. Austin was such a good heel, but it’s understandable why
fans eventually cheered for him. Austin finishes the interview with “and that’s
the bottom line….”, before Pillman says “And Philadelphia sucks, cos I said
so!”. Pillman was THE MAN as a heel.
British Bulldog and Owen Hart come out for their shot at the tag titles, as the
announcers wonder where Jim Cornette is. Then we go backstage, to show Cornette still
half-concious from the beating he took from Lothario. Clarence Mason, the lawyer,
is with him. The tag champions, the Smoking Gunns come out, and talking of
smoking…check out Sunny! Holy shit….to quote Noel Gallagher, “That,
kids, is a bad advert for drug abuse”. Sunny was sooo hott here, and
now….she’s a fat crackwhore. Bart Gunn looks more focused on the match, Billy
focused on Sunny. Who can blame him? And to think, this guy was in a gay angle just 3
weeks ago! A huge poster of Sunny comes down, defaced by the Bulldog and Owen. Funny
stuff. Mason comes to ringside, and distracts Owen enough for a two count. Bulldog and
Owen were an AWESOME tag team, and they dominate Bart to begin with. The fans chant like
mad for Owen, showing the old Philly heel bias. Owen and Bulldog often drew cheers though,
because they were so good as a team. Davey and Owen take Bart apart, working on the leg,
using some awesome offense, but Billy distracts Bulldog, and Bart nails him to take
control. Billy hammers Bulldog on the outside, and the Gunns control, but Billy shows a
bit of ego, before tagging Bart. They set up, and nail the Sidewinder (somewhat like the
Demolition Decapitation but with a legdrop), and Billy goes for the cover, but Mason
distracts the referee, and Owen breaks the pin to a HUGE pop. Billy still controls though,
and tags Bart back in. Bart goes for a running powerslam on Bulldog, using his own move,
but Bulldog pushes out, and Bart collides with Billy, who is chatting up Sunny. Billy
slaps him, and he turns back into the Running Powerslam from the Bulldog for the one, two,
three, and the new champions! The fans go APESHIT, as Bulldog and Owen celebrate. Best.
Tag. Team. Ever. A great, underrated tag team match too. Sunny goes crazy after the match,
and FIRES the Gunns!
We see a disturbing Mankind and Paul Bearer interview, which threatens Shawn
Michaels.
Jerry Lawler is out, with a mic, and he insults the crowd, while we are shown
highlights of Lawler’s feud with the debuting Mark Henry. Lawler works the
mic, saying Henry can’t even get out of a headlock, which could well be true. Lawler
uses simple wrestling, while laughing to get at Henry, but Henry overpowers King, and
McMahon comments that “someone has REALLY been coaching Henry”. I think not
Vince….Henry is even worse here than he is now, if that is possible….he
dominates Lawler, with crude power moves, and finishes with a backbreaker submission.
After the match, in run the New Rockers, followed by TRIPLE H! Helmsley gets
punked out, and thrown down onto the Rockers and Lawler. OMG! MARK HENRY punked out HHH!!!
THAT’s one rare thing to see. Henry celebrates, as for some reason, pyro explodes.
We see another awesome video package, preparing us for Taker vs Goldust. One thing that
never changes in the WWE, is the awesome production. The match is a Final Curtain match,
and there MUST be a pinfall winner.
Goldust enters first, and BLOODY HELL, is Terri looking hott here. Taker’s old
entrance rocks too, and he hammers away at Goldust, and is noticeably in far, far better
shape here than today. The camera focuses on Marlena/Terri’s tits as Goldust
regroups, and takes UT down with a neckbreaker, but Taker no sells, and hammers away some
more. Taker is destroying Goldust here, and it’s pretty cool. Goldust regroups, as
Taker grabs Marlena, but Goldust uses powder to the eyes to take over. Goldust hammers
away, as the camera once again focuses on Terri’s tits. Is Marcus Madison the
cameraman here or something? Goldust remains in control, and both men, but more obviously
on Taker, are COVERED in gold specks. Taker finally comes back with the same move he did
to Lesnar on Smackdown before Unforgiven, throwing Goldust into the corner throat first,
and then hammering away to a huge pop. Goldust’s moveset, including a powerslam, and
a overhead belly to belly is pretty good here, as Taker hits him with the diving lariat.
Goldust comes back, but gets chokeslammed off the top rope! Awesome move, and then Taker
finishes clean with the Tombstone to a MONSTER pop from the fans. Taker ROCKED here, and
could work a great match too; his run from early 1996 to mid 1998 is one of the most
underrated of all time. Decent match, and a nice blowoff to the feud too.
Shawn Michaels interview, then back to the ring for the main event, as Paul
Bearer comes out with druids pushing a casket. Mankind is nowhere to be seen, until he
pops out of the casket! Foley rocks in the ring, as HBK’s music hits, and the man
himself comes down to the ring. The bell rings, as Michaels looks pretty indimidated.
Foley knocks Michaels to the mat with an elbow, the takes over with brawling skills,
before going to the outside. Foley pulls up the mats, but Michaels dropkicks them back
into his face, and then stomps on them, with Mankind underneath them! Foley was the KING
of weird bumps and spots. Michaels hits a cool plancha, and then jumps from the steps,
taking Mankind down with a head slam. Michaels with a top rope axhandle, and then hammers
away to loud pops from the crowd. He slams Mankind to the mat, and goes upstairs, hitting
the flying elbowdrop. He warms up the band early, but Mick bails. He gets back in, and
they brawl, with Michaels going all out intense. Foley locks on a Tazmission, and chokes
Michaels out, but Michaels fights out and hammers away with rights.
This match is seriously awesome, as Foley pulls out the announcer’s table, but
Michaels charges and hits a flying forearm over the table. He suplexes Mankind right into
the steps, knee first, and they brawl on top of the casket. Michaels works on Foley’s
knee, stomping away like mad. Foley fights back, but Michaels hits a dragon screw, and
works on the knee some more. Awesome psychology here, as Michaels goes into the Figure
Four. Michaels takes apart the knee with a dropkick, then goes into an Indian deathlock
variation, then turns it into a half-crab. Foley fights back, and drops Michaels onto the
top rope as he goes for a huracanrana. Foley then slams a pencil into his knee, trying to
get the feeling back! CRAZY. Foley takes the match to Michaels now, and rocks in the ring
as Michaels is on the outside. Foley kicks Michaels in the head, and hammers away, and the
fans begin a ‘HBK!’ chant. Foley hits a facebuster, but Michaels comes back with
a back suplex. HBK hammers away, and they brawl again, and Mankind whips Michaels hard to
the corner, and he flips over, hanging in the tree of woe position. Mankind charges, and
hits a FLYING HEADBUTT! Jesus, these guys are mental. They brawl on the outside, where
Michaels drop toeholds Mankind onto the floor, and then throws him onto the steps.
Michaels tries to suplex him back into the ring, but can’t, and Mankind misses a
charge and hits the ringpost.
They brawl in the ring again, until Michaels hits a powerslam for two. Michaels whips him
to the ropes, and Mankind gets caught by the neck, but as Michaels goes to attack, Mankind
locks on the CLAW! On the outside, Foley gets the claw again, but they fall over the
tables. Michaels clocks Mankind twice with a chair, and back inside Michaels BITES him,
and works on the claw hand! Michaels charges, but Mankind backdrops him, and sends him
FLYING over the top rope. Foley elbowdrops him from the apron, and then hits a neckbreaker
on the outside. Michaels crawls back in, and Foley meets him with the double arm DDT for
two. Foley with a piledriver, and that gets two as well. Mankind brings a chair in, and
opens the casket, rolling HBK inside. They brawl in the casket, and Michaels goes APESHIT,
hammering Foley and putting him down with the five-arm. He kips up and stomps away, then
hits a top rope crossbody for two. They go to the top….where Michaels BACK SUPLEXES
MANKIND FROM THE TOP THROUGH A TABLE! Holy shit…..neither man is moving, but Michaels
then gets to his feet! They get up, and Foley gets a chair, and takes it to the top rope,
but Michaels charges, springs off another chair, and hits a VAN DAMINATOR on Foley,
sending him crashing to the mat! He goes for the pin, but in runs Vader for the
copout finish. UGH. HBK brawls with Vader, and takes him out, but Paul Bearer clocks him
with the urn! SID now runs in, and makes the save, brawling with Vader, but Foley
tries to roll Michaels into the casket after putting him out with the claw. He rolls him
towards it…and UNDERTAKER pops out, and kicks Mankind’s arse!!!! BLOODY
HELL! Chokeslam for Mankind, over the top, and Taker and Mankind brawl to the back, as the
PPV finishes with Michaels celebrating.
Well, that’s that. The only ***** match without a decent finish, Mankind/Michaels
would have wiped the floor with most other matches, even Cactus Jack/HHH from the Royal
Rumble, if it had a decent finish. Still, it’s definitely one of the greatest matches
of the 90’s, and is easily Foley’s greatest ever performance. They just beat the
living shit out of each other, for half an hour or so, and what a match it made. As for
the PPV overall, easily one of the most underrated ever. Not only is there the incredible
Mankind/Michaels match, but Taker/Goldust is rockin, and so is Bulldog/Owen/Gunns. If you
see this PPV on the cheap, BUY IT. You won’t regret it.
Join me next time when I look at the second underrated PPV on my list, which comes from
October 1996. You should be able to work out which PPV it is, but if you can’t,
you’ll have to wait for next time. Any feedback is always appreciated…..the addy
is always the same.
Until next time….
Scott Newman: scott.newman@ntlworld.com
AOLIM: thesuperstar24
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