SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Below is the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter coverage of WWE Badd Blood ’97 including Keller’s detailed report with star ratings, plus staff Roundtable Reviews, Reader Reax, and Reader Poll results. Read all PWTorch Newsletter WWE WCW, and ECW PPV coverage dating back to the late 1980s by becoming a PWTorch VIP member. Read our updated VIP Info page and VIP Member Testimonials HERE.
WWF IYH Badd Blood ’97: Michaels vs. Undertaker, Bret & Bulldog vs. Patriot & Vader
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
When: October 5, 1997
Where: St. Louis, Mo. — Kiel Center
What: WWF three-hour pay-per-view
Attendance: 17,404 paid ($212,550)
Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler introduced the program.
(1) The NOD (D-Lo Brown & Rocky Maivia & Kama Mustafa) defeated The Legion of Doom at 12:17. Ken Shamrock was scheduled to team with the LOD, but he was not medically cleared to wrestle. As the match began, McMahon reiterated the news they received during the pre-game show that Brian Pillman had died the day before. At 9:50 Animal hot-tagged Hawk, but the ref didn’t see it. The NOD triple-teamed Hawk and scored a near fall. Animal did get a legal hot-tag on Animal at 11:00. A five-way brawl broke out. The LOD set up their finisher, but when Faarooq got on the ring apron, the LOD stopped in their tracks. Rocky then surprised Hawk with his finisher and scored a three count. (*1/2)
McMahon then addressed the Pillman situation, saying he was found dead in his hotel room earlier in the day.
(2) Mosaic & Tarantula beat Max Mini & Nova at 6:41. (**)
(3) The Godwinns (w/Uncle Cletus) beat The Head Bangers to capture the WWF Tag Team Titles at 12:16. Sunny was guest ring announcer. At 12:00 Thrasher powerbombed Mosh onto Phinneous, but Henry made the save during the pin attempt. Phinneous caught Thrasher coming off the top rope and powerbombed him for a three count. (*1/2)
Jim Ross hosted a ceremony in mid-ring honoring legendary wrestlers from the long time capital of the wrestling world — St. Louis. Gene Kiniski, Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race, Terry Funk, Lou Thesz, and Sam Mushnick were all honored in center ring.
McMahon addressed the Pillman situation again. “Authorities expect no foul play was involved in terms of the initial inspection,” he said. “They are concerned about the possibility of drug overdose, be it prescription or recreational. Of course, that is a problem in all sports and all forms of entertainment. That will not be definite for another seven days when the toxicology report comes and is made public.”
(4) Owen Hart pinned Faarooq at 5:50 to win the Intercontinental Title in the tournament finals. Steve Austin came to ringside so he could present the title belt to the winner. Austin wrested McMahon’s headset from him and began doing the announcing and got in McMahon’s face. Owen and Austin jawed at each other before the match. He then gave the headset back to McMahon. Austin then took Lawler’s headset briefly. Owen seemed to be affected by the Pillman news as he wrestled an unusually short match without much energy. In the end Austin nailed Faarooq with the IC belt leading to Owen scoring the pin. The announcers acted bewildered at Austin’s move. (*)
(5) The DOA beat Los Boricuas when Crush pinned Jesus at 8:43. Another nondescript brawl. (3/4*)
(6) Bret Hart & British Bulldog defeated Patriot & Vader at 21:08. Bret used a roll-up with a grip on his tights for the win. The flag match rules were changed since there was concern about the flag poles holding up with wrestlers climbing them. A good match, but a bit streaky at times. A fan entered the ring and the ref and Bulldog stomped on him until security came. Vader looked better than he has lately. The match was a bit longer than the content justified. (**1/2)
(7) Shawn Michaels defeated Undertaker at 29:50. Michaels’s pre-match interview was a bit subdued compared to earlier in the show. The roofed cage surrounded the ringside area, not just the ring. Undertaker opened with offense, including watching the ropes and coming off with a forearm. Michaels bumped over the top rope onto the floor. Michaels tried to climb the wall of the cage to get away from Undertaker, but Undertaker yanked him off. He then whipped Michaels into the cage. Michaels bounced off the cage and Undertaker gave him a clothesline. Michaels took yet another great bump. Undertaker set up a powerbomb, but Michaels tried to punch out of it. Undertaker turned around and rammed Michaels into the fence. The Undertaker offense continued until Michaels dove through the ropes onto Undertaker on the floor at 10:30. Michaels climbed the cage and dropped down with an elbow. He then threw the ringside stairs onto Undertaker and followed with a chairshot at 14:30. Undertaker caught his legs in the ropes, but when Michaels charged him, he backdropped Michaels over the top rope onto a cameraman below. Michaels blew his top at the cameraman, designed to look like a shoot given his chewing out of a cameraman at Wrestlemania in 1996. At 18:15 Sgt. Slaughter came to ringside and unlocked the cage door to get the injured cameraman out of the cage. Michaels then hit Undertaker with Chin Music, but Undertaker no-sold it. Michaels panicked and ran through the open cage door. Undertaker went after Michaels and catapulted Michaels head-first into the cage. Michaels bladed just before the catapult and came up bleeding heavily from the forehead. Michaels tried to run from Undertaker by climbing the top of the cage. Undertaker followed. Undertaker backdropped Michaels onto the roof of the cage. Blood dripped from Michaels onto the camera lens filming them below. As Michaels tried to climb down the cage, Undertaker knocked him off and Michaels bumped through the new announcing desk below, crushing it in the process. Undertaker press-slammed Michaels back into the cage at 25:00. He then gave Michaels a hot looking power chokeslam off the top rope. Undertaker nailed Michaels super-hard with a chair. At 27:30 the lights went out. Then Kane and Paul Bearer approached the cage. Kane ripped the cage door off its hinges. Kane is the former Isaac Yankem and “new” Diesel with a face mask. Kane entered the ring, had a staredown with Undertaker, and then tombstoned the stunned Undertaker. Michaels was still groggy from the beating Undertaker gave him a moment earlier, but he crawled over to drape his arm over Undertaker’s chest for the three count. Kane left and Hunter and Chyna entered the ring and celebrated Michaels’s victory. An excellent cage match, one of the best of all-time on a number of levels, with the finish being perhaps the major detriment, although that’s a matter of taste. (****3/4)
WWF IYH Badd Blood ’97 Roundtable Reviews
When: October 5, 1997
Where: St. Louis, Mo. — Kiel Center
What: WWF three-hour pay-per-view
Attendance: 17,404 paid ($212,550)
Bruce Mitchell, Torch columnist
Obviously this show was just a backdrop for the sad news about the death of Brian Pillman. Pillman gave wrestling some great performances both in and out of the ring. I’m sorry it came to this. Vince McMahon’s frankness in handling the situation was a credit to him and his promotion.
While the flag match was pretty good (and the rest of the show pretty bad) the wrestling story of the show was the incredible cage match between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Let’s start with the superlatives. This was the single greatest cage match I’ve ever seen, with the wide shot of the two fighting on top of the cage one of the most dramatic shots in any medium. It was the Undertaker’s best ever match, in no small part due to his own performance.
And then of course there’s the incredible paradox that is Shawn Michaels. The same person that can misbehave so ridiculously in recent works put on tour de force performances, bumping and bleeding his way into wrestling history. The best thing you can say about Michaels’s performance is that his effort matches his talent, both of which were at the top of the wrestling art.
The other superlative that describes this match is worst debut of a major new heel, along with worst finish. If anyone doesn’t understand one of the major reasons why WCW beats the WWF in the ratings every Monday it was capsulized in the moment Vince McMahon, after watching this incredible match, looked at Glen Jacobs in that cheesy bodysuit and burbled “look at the size of him!” while everyone around him in the Kiel just shook their heads, Vince McMahon, and the WWF better start realizing that ’90s wrestling is not big-man wrestling.
Chris Zavisa, Torch columnist
It seems rather trite to review a wrestling event when a major figure like Brian Pillman dies just hours before the first bell is rung. In the greatest scheme of life, another WWF, WCW, or ECW contrived event is just small potatoes. When a young man loses his life after struggling to come back from more adversity than most people ever have to endure, that is terribly sad. I imagine in the weeks ahead we will get the details and directly or indirectly, the lifestyle and downside of professional wrestling will be in for some not so favorable analysis. The great curse of my generation has been and continues to be the laissez faire attitude we introduced with drug use. It is our cross and it is unfortunate that it continues to reap victims. When will they ever learn?
Now the trite review. Usual garbage undercard with one wrestler after another that I could not care less about and matches that looked like a flat Raw taping. The semi-main tag event started fairly decently, but then got rather repetitive and seemed to lose both direction and steam with several of the participants noticeably blown up.
These things usually come down to the main event that sells the show and years from now the two things that will be remembered is that, and of course Pillman. I can’t understand anyone out there who does not respect Shawn Michaels as a first class worker in a league by himself. Michaels yet again staged one of the more memorable performances of his career. And that is a developing career that is filled with memorable performances.
Mark Calloway, meanwhile, is the recipient of the most generous gimmick of all time and and a long line of people who risk life and limb to make him look good. If that does not sound very charitable, tough. In the spirit of Steve Austin, I am feeling rather put out.
John Williams, Torch contributor
Not an easy show to write about. When death, the most real element of “reality,” breaks through into this little fantasy world of pro wrestling, it’s not easy to get fired up by what you’re watching. Most of the card felt like a sleepy little show, closer to a WWF house show than a PPV. I don’t know if that was me being distracted, the wrestlers themselves not having their heads into it, both, or if it was just plain mediocre for more than two hours. Regardless of which it was, the undercard felt like the low point of 1997 for the WWF.
The main event, despite Shawn Michaels being the bump machine, felt a bit sleepy over parts of the first half. It wasn’t the fault of the workers, as what they were doing was good. It just seemed to be “stretched” to fill time, feeling slow at least five minutes into the match. The feeling watching it was one of waiting for the big “something” to happen, knowing there was a key spot planned that would pick it up. That’s not being analytical about the match. It was more akin to the NWA fans in the mid 1980s being trained to look back for the Horsemen to do the run in to save Ric. Here the thing clicking in the brain was that Michaels would do something nutty that would not only keynote the match, but also the card. That certainly does cause one to under appreciate the solid quality of the work in the first half of the match.
However, when it was time to get nutty, Shawn held nothing back. From camera man bump to Muta-Hase juice job, to working on top of the cage, to taking the bump off of the cage, to building to the taking of the tombstone, Michaels put on probably the best stretch of work in his career. A sleepily and depressing card exploded, building perfectly over about ten minutes from spot to spot to spot to tombstone. Compelling drama that drove all other thoughts from one’s head.
The finish run-in by Kane was predictable from the start of the match. It served many purposes and was done dramatically. Given that, I’m somewhat ambivalent about the finish. It worked for what it was. But I do wish, as a fan, that at the end of this one day, after all of what happened, and after Michaels’s amazing performance, that a more satisfying finish could have been there. Though I suspect that many found this satisfying.
Plenty is said elsewhere, and will be said in the coming weeks, about Brian Pillman. I doubt I have much to offer that hasn’t been said, or won’t be said by others. What comes to mind first are Art Barr and Eddie Gilbert. Not in the sense in waxing poetically about the three of them. Simply the parallels in life and in wrestling, in more ways than I have space to write. Some positive, so much negative. And the same finish.
WWF IYH Badd Blood ’97 Reader Reax and Poll Results
When: October 5, 1997
Where: St. Louis, Mo. — Kiel Center
What: WWF three-hour pay-per-view
Attendance: 17,404 paid ($212,550)
Chuck Morris (7.5): I was so sorry to hear about Brian Pillman’s death. At first I thought it might be an angle. The worst match was Los Boricuas vs. DOA. It was interesting to hear the announcers talk about the wrestlers’ limitations. I didn’t think there was much to the Owen vs. Faarooq match. I think the whole Austin deal is beginning to get stale. To me the biggest way he has gotten over is just with the language he uses. I didn’t care for all of the distracting he did at ringside. But it was good to see Owen as the champ again because he is so talented. It was nice the American flag got a pop when it was raised. Good, also, to see Vader shine in the flag match. I enjoyed the refs saving the day when some stupid fan ran into the ring, not to mention how much fun it was to watch wrestlers kick the fan. Was that the first time Michaels has bladed since he was in the NWA? His match, especially his bumps, were incredible. Michaels showed he is still the MVP of wrestling. Cane’s debut was cool, also. It was good to see the legends again.
Dave Petrishen (8.0): If there was any doubt that Shawn Michaels wasn’t the best U.S. wrestler, I believe he erased it on Sunday. This had to be the best cage match in WWF history, but sadly the WWF ruined it with the debut of yet another silly gimmick that will not last long. The flag match seemed disjointed at times, but was fought in a very stiff style. Owen Hart winning the IC Title sets up a great run with Austin that should take them right up until Wrestlemania. Why-oh-why subject us to another Godwinn title reign? And why bother with these “eight man no storyline” street fight tag matches. When will we see the LOD return to glory and not be glorified jobbers? Overall, a very courageous effort by all personnel on the same night that one of their own mysteriously passed away. Pillman will be missed.
Jim Hinson (6.5): Overall the event was pretty poor, but had to be expected given the death of Brian Pillman. Morale was obviously down so the matches were really lackluster. Overall, the best match was, of course, Michaels vs. Undertaker. Worst was DOA vs. Los Boricuas. The debut of Kane was decent, but his tombstone was poor.
Jim Bartlett (9.0): The wrestlers really pulled through considering the Pillman announcement.
Harry Simon: Badd angles, badd interviews, badd matches, badd show. It was well on its way to “topping” NWO Souled Out, but Michaels again saved the day. I can’t remember the last time I marked out for an Undertaker match (or the first time, either, for that matter). But I just can’t take Kane seriously as long as he looks like a goofy luchador. Florescent red may get heel heat for Alex Wright, but nobody else should take the gamble. Suddenly, the “new” Diesel wasn’t such a bad idea. DOA vs. Boricuas was awful, the excuse no doubt being that it was thrown together at the last minute. But that still doesn’t change the fact that the whole race war is perhaps the most offensive angle I’ve ever seen. The TORCH would save its readers a lot of head-scratching by changing its annual award to “Fourth Most Insulting Stereotype.” The minis match was maddeningly choppy and disjointed, but it was a night at the ballet compared to that train wreck of a flag match. Did anyone check to see if it was really The Renegade under Del Wilkes’s mask? Bret Hart seemed embarrassed to be involved with this. I know I was. Hey kids, as a “specially added stipulation,” one match tonight can be decided via pinfall or submission! And as an extra bonus, the ring will have ropes and turnbuckles! When did Todd Pettengill get the book? Two title changes met with indifference ought to tell you something. The WWF simply does not have the roster to put on three-hour PPVs. When the coma-inducing Ahmed Johnson injured his knee, the WWF had to re-book their July PPV WWF Title match from scratch. On the other hand, an exquisite talent in Eddie Guerrero sat out from WCW for three months with a torn pec, and was barely missed. But with all the above said, my mind really wasn’t on the ring tonight. At least I know I’m not the only one.
Tom Ferreira (8.5): This PPV had the worst workrate (with the exception of the cage match) of perhaps any PPV ever. However, considering the circumstances surrounding Brian Pillman, it was amazing that any effort was put in at all. The cage match was incredible, and again goes to prove that when he wants to, Shawn Michaels is still one of the best workers in the game. When is the last time that any major star bladed to that extent? This was a candidate for match of the year.
Shawn Robinson (8.5): I thought everybody really kind of banded together in a bad situation to put on a good show. The LOD looked better than I’ve seen them in a long time. I’m really going to miss Brian Pillman.
Ronnie Nunn: I’m a bigger WCW fan than WWF fan, but the WWF showed they are really lean on talent on the undercard. The undercard matches were really boring. We were yawning through two hours of the card. But then Shawn Michaels showed why he is the flying Cactus Jack. I don’t know how he gets up from those bumps. He showed he is probably the hardest worker in wrestling today. The tumbles he took most guys wouldn’t even attempt. That match was alone worth the price of the PPV. One of the best PPV matches I’ve seen in a long time. Brutality and good wrestling moves. I was really sorry to hear about Brian Pillman, but in this day and age it really doesn’t surprise me.
Michael Andrusis (4.5): This was a one-match card. What was going through Vince McMahon’s head when he turned perhaps the match of the year into the tailspin ripoff screwjob match of the year ending with that stupid gimmick-looking costume that Kane was wearing? We’re supposed to buy into that crap? Why not give the fans what they want to see? I paid over $30 for opening matches that weren’t even good enough to be on Raw. We got a flag match without a flag match ending.
Brian Mazza (7.0): The entire score goes to the Michaels vs. Undertaker match. Michaels once again saves the card. I have to give a lot of credit to the wrestlers and announcers and the whole staff regarding the Pillman situation. Shocking news and it adds to the disturbing trend of wrestlers overdosing in hotel rooms. The entire Kane angle with James Vandenberg, I mean Paul Bearer, was a very dramatic introduction. It was an awesome spectacle for the WWF. It made the main event even more spectacular.
WWF BADD BLOOD READER POLL
Average Reader Score: 7.8
Best Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (100%)
Worst Match: DOA vs. Los Boricuas (47%), Faarooq vs. Owen Hart (30%), Godwinns vs. Head Bangers (13%), NOD vs. LOD (6%), Minis match (4%)
Funny to read all the idiots trashing Kane. Guess it ended up working out for him after all.