*


WWF GROUND ZERO REPORT
September 7, 1997
Louisville, Ky.
What: First three-hour IYH PPV
Attendance: 4,963 ($82,228)
Originally Published: PWTorch Newsletter #457
Report by Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

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Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler introduced and previewed the event.

(1) Brian Pillman pinned Goldust (w/Marlena) at 11:04. Marlena swung her purse at Pillman, but Pillman caught it, yanked it away from her, and hit Goldust in the face with it. He then covered the KO'd Goldust for the pin. With Goldust knocked out in the ring, Pillman grabbed Marlena against her will and dragged her out of the arena. Goldust came to and ran down the rampway to catch up to Marlena. At ringside Lawler pulled a brick out of Marlena's purse to show what Goldust got hit with. They went to the alley where Pillman threw Marlena into a car and drove off. Goldust chased after the car down the street. The quality of the match was nothing special, but it wasn't all that bad either since they wrestled a match with an intensity level that lived up to the personal issues at stake in the storyline of the match. (*3/4)

(2) Brian Christopher beat Scott Putski via countout at 4:40. Christopher dove over the top rope onto Putski at ringside, but Putski twisted his knee in the process and didn't get up again. Christopher went to drag Putski back into the ring, but Putski didn't budge. Christopher returned to the ring and the ref counted to ten. A paramedic came to the ring and checked on his knee. Dr. Ross observed, "It looks like his patella has been separated." To fill time Lawler mocked Putski to his face and insulted him over the house mic.

Backstage Sunny said Pillman called him from his cell phone. She said viewers who called the 900 line could hear what actually was going on in the car. Lawler started moaning and said those are the sounds Pillman would be making on the 900 line. They then showed Putski being stretchered out with his hands covering his face in an expression of pain.

(3) Savio Vega beat Faarooq and Crush in a three-way match at 11:43. The match began as a three-way brawl. Whenever a wrestler went for a cover, the third man out would pull the other wrestler off the wrestler since the first man to score a pinfall would be declared the winner of the match. At 11:15 when Savio signalled for him and Crush to work together, Crush gave Savio a cheap shot sending him out of the ring and then gave Faarooq a heart punch. Savio returned to the ring and gave Crush a blind-sided spin wheel kick and scored the three count. (1/2*)

(4) Max Mini pinned El Torito in a minis match. They apparently put all of five seconds into coming up with names for these two. Torito was quite a bit bigger than Max. The fans popped early for some great moves by Max Mini. At 4:30 Max ran over to Lawler and sat on his lap. Fans chanted, "Jerry's Kid" again. The usual array of midget comedy spots (Max biting the referee's butt) mixed with some flashy lucha minis spots. In the end, Max won with a sunset flip. It appeared they meant to end the match a few seconds earlier, but Max failed to hold Torito during a roll-up out of a huracanrana. (**)

They replayed Owen Hart giving Austin the infamous piledriver at Summerslam '97 and Sgt. Slaughter's suspension of Austin in reaction to Austin wanting to return to the ring right away. "Simply put, Steve Austin has more guts than brains," Slaughter said, and then ordered Austin to forfeit his half of the tag team titles. He said nothing about the Intercontinental Title, though.

In the ring live, Ross interviewed Slaughter who explained his decision. He said he owed it to the fans to protect the wrestlers from their own reckless motivations. Dude Love then came to the ring and said, "Tonight there is no joy in Dudeville." He said he could give it an old college try and attempt to defend the tag titles by himself, but he said Austin is "his racehorse" who brought him to the dance. He said it was "with a heavy heart and a pained pancreas that I relinquish the title belt." Ross then introduced Austin. Austin got the biggest pop of the night to that point. Austin gave two middle fingers to Ross, which popped the crowd again. Austin stood face-to-face with Slaughter. When Ross began asking him a question, Austin said, "I want you to blow it out your ass" and then told McMahon, "I want you to wipe that stupid look off your face or I'll come out there and stomp your ass into the ground." Austin ripped on Ross and Slaughter for continuing to air the piledriver footage. He told Slaughter that he has no business telling him what to do. He said he can wrestle. He asked Slaughter if he wanted the belt. "Is that a yes or a no, jackass," he told Slaughter. He then yanked the belt away from Slaughter as Slaughter reached for it. He dropped the belt to the mat and ordered Slaughter to drop down and give him 20. Slaughter eventually bent over and picked up the title belt, keeping his eyes on Austin the whole time. Slaughter left. Austin then turned to Ross and said, "You make me so sick it makes me want to throw up all over you. The whole damn WWF makes me sick. Say something if you want to say it, fat ass." McMahon called Austin out of line. Ross kept his composure and said there is no doubt the fans want to see him wrestle. Ross wished Austin the best of luck during his recovery period. Austin then kicked Ross in the stomach and gave him the Stone Cold Stunner. Dude Love then got down and went "bang bang" into Ross's face. Several WWF officials and referees stepped into the ring. McMahon reacted with outrage. Austin then left the ring, but not before giving the WWF officials the finger and playing to the crowd. Ross was helped from the ring as fans chanted very loudly, Slaughter sucks, Slaughter sucks."

Dok interviewed Owen Hart & British Bulldog. Owen said what Austin did to Ross was wrong. He said Ross is a friend of his and the stupid American fans cheer such actions. Owen said he would be lobbying for Austin to be fined, suspended, and jailed. He said Austin should be stripped of the IC Title belt and it should be given back to him.

McMahon responded to Austin's actions. "Let's just say this and set the record straight. Certainly everybody in the WWF appreciates the caliber of athlete that Steve Austin is, but he is a jackass himself." He said Austin had no business doing what he did and said Austin is being protected from himself. He said without the WWF protecting him, Austin might wrestle too early and suffer paralysis and the WWF isn't willing to let him do that to himself.

In a pre-match interview, Animal said it had been six years since they were WWF tag champs and they wanted to prove they were still the best. They vowed to jam the Godwinns' buckets "where the sun don't shine." It's a small thing, but the LOD using a term such as "where the sun don't shine" shows why they aren't over like Austin is. In the modern day wrestling world saying, "shove it up your ass" has become acceptable and common, making the LOD's language seem like that of parents rather than hip, anti-authority, contemporary wrestlers.

(5) The Head Bangers won a four way tag match with The Godwinns, Owen Hart & British Bulldog, and The Legion of Doom to capture the vacant WWF Tag Team titles at 17:15. The match ended when Austin ran to the ring and gave Owen the Stone Cold Stunner leading to the Bangers scoring the pin. A crowded match with a bunch of seemingly random moves, with no wrestlers really shining or even getting across their personalities. The Head Bangers celebrated in the crowd and got a good pop. (1/2*)

They went backstage and showed Slaughter checking on Ross, who had an icepack on the back of his neck.

(6) WWF champion Bret Hart defeated Patriot via submission at 19:15 to retain the WWF Title. At 17:40, after a double collision, they exchanged small packages for two counts. Patriot began to show some fire and applied the sharpshooter on Bret. Bret managed to power out of the move (giving away to all of his opponents how to reverse the hold?!) and applied it himself. Patriot reached for the ropes, but couldn't quite get to them. The ref then called for the bell. The ring announcer never said Patriot submitted, although it probably went without saying. After the match Bret stomped away at Patriot and piledrove him. Bret then broke the U.S. flag pole over his knee and choked Patriot with it. (***1/2)

(7) Shawn Michaels beat Undertaker via DQ at 16:00. Undertaker knocked the ref down before the bell rang and in fact Michaels and Undertaker brawled for six minutes before another ref came to the ring to officially start the match. Before beginning the brawl, Michaels played the role of a chicken heel. It took a threat from Slaughter to get him to actually enter the ring. They brawled to the In Your House set (which unfortunately they didn't destroy). Michaels took a bump down the rampway back to the ring. Dave Hebner ran to the ring at 5:30 and by 6:00 signaled for the bell to officially start the match. Michaels took advantage at the official start of the match with a series of punches. Undertaker soon took over again setting the theme for the match -- Michaels being a bump machine for Undertaker's office. Undertaker walked the ropes, but Michaels shoved him off (why don't Undertaker's opponents do that every time he walks the ropes?!) Michaels slidekicked Undertaker and then flew over the top rope onto him. Michaels gave him a backbreaker at 7:00, but sold that he injured his back in the process. When Undertaker sat up to no-sell the neckbreaker, Michaels rolled out of the ring. At 8:00 the ref stopped Undertaker from using a chair. As Undertaker argued with the ref, Michaels dropkicked him from behind into the ref. That's ref bump number two during the match. Michaels hit two top rope elbows at which point Rick Rude then made his way to ringside. Undertaker powered out of Michaels's pin attempt by tossing Michaels into the ref. Rude tossed Michaels some brass knuckles which Michaels used to KO Undertaker. Rude then left and didn't appear again. A minute later at 10:00 Hunter and Chyna came to ringside. Hunter threw Undertaker into the ringside stairs. The match returned to order at 12:00 with Michaels on offense. Michaels clotheslined Undertaker over the top rope at which point Hunter held Undertaker as Chyna punched him. Michaels choked Undertaker at ringside with a cable. Michaels returned to the ring and was bleeding under his eye. Michaels went for Chin Music, but Undertaker blocked it and went for a tombstone, but Michaels escaped from that. Undertaker then reached into Michaels's tights and pulled out brass knuckles. He knocked Hunter off the ring apron, punched Michaels, and scored a near fall at 15:20. Undertaker then turned to the referee in frustration with only getting a two count and chokeslammed the referee. He then chokeslammed Michaels. Another referee came to the ring to disqualify Undertaker.

After the bell Michaels gave Undertaker a superkick who then fell into the ropes and got his arm caught. Hunter then hit the third referee as Chyna went after Michaels with a chair. Undertaker kicked the chair into Michaels's face. Tony Garea and Jack Brisco came to the ring, but they were soon beat up by wrestlers. The locker room empties and it appeared Ground Zero would end much like ECW Hardcore Heaven. Undertaker got in one last highspot, diving over the ropes and into a crowd of wrestlers on the floor. He then returned to the ring to celebrate that he retained the WWF Title. A good match, one of the better matches in the WWF this year, although the attacks on the refs and officials reached the point of overkill. If it's used as the impetus for Slaughter instituting stricter rules in the WWF, it makes sense. If they don't follow up on it, then it was a mishmash for no reason. (****1/4)

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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