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[1997-09-20-WWF-One Night Only] Shawn Michaels vs Davey Boy Smith


Loss

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  • 1 month later...

Not as great as Bret/Undertaker as a wrestling match, but it makes up for a lot of that in being a pretty crazy emotional rollercoaster. Shawn does his usual flashy bumps and Davey Boy gives an inspired performance. As infuriating as the interference is (Rude and Hunter actually shoved Hebner out of the way at one point so they could interfere and WHERE IS THE HART FOUNDATION?), they went for the jugular and got the crowd worked into a frenzy. This is also noteworthy for Davey Boy being told he was going over and dedicating the match to his sister at ringside who was dying of cancer and Shawn refusing to do the job, giving us the result he got. Shawn got pelted with garbage here and this is pretty much the most hated I've ever seen a wrestler. The post-match angle has crazy heat. HHH leeching off of Shawn's heat is pretty funny.

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I think this one is one of the more bullshitty of bullshit things Shawn got away with. Shawn couldn't slip on the banana peel and put the hometown hero over in front of the guys dying sister? In a country that just lost Princess Diana a couple weeks prior to this (I know Davey Boy going over here wasn't THAT big a deal to equate with Diana dying in a car wreck, but still every little bit helps a rather depressed at the time island)?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just can’t really like this match. Shawn bumps like crazy and the early part of the match is good. But the long interference section by Rude and then Triple/Chyna is so frustrating to watch. I can't ignore this. Hart Foundation not watching what is going on from the back? It is almost 15 minutes from when Rude showed up to when finally the Hart Foundation ran down after the match was already over. Just ridiculous and made the Harts look so awful not backing up Bulldog when Bret was doing promos all year how he would fight along side the Harts. The heat Michaels had could have led to a great return match but that wasn’t happening. He doesn’t need the European title. Stuff with Bulldog's sister. I really hate this piece of garbage.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I don't know; I thought this made for a great piece of wrestling theater. The crowd loved Shawn bumping around for Bulldog in the early part of the match. And I didn't mind all the interference spots, stacking the deck against the local hero. I get the questions about the missing Hart Foundation. But I could also see Davey wanting to go it alone as the gallant native. The bit where Davey's leg went out on the powerslam at ringside came off well. And I loved Shawn tossing Davey's knee brace to Diana before applying the figure four. The heat at the end, with Shawn baiting the crowd, was just insane. This reminds me of the NWO Horsemen skit because it seems more dickish in retrospect, given the lack of revenge on Shawn. But the dude delivered an awesome heel performance and created a super-intense ending to a fantastic show.

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And I didn't mind all the interference spots, stacking the deck against the local hero. I get the questions about the missing Hart Foundation. But I could also see Davey wanting to go it alone as the gallant native.

What this really could have used was a pre-match interview where Bulldog tells the rest of the Harts to not interfere no matter what, or a spot mid-match where they come to the rescue but Davey waves them off.

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  • 3 months later...

One small segment saying Davey wanted to go at it on his own would have explained away all the interference nonsense. I justified my investment of the match around that anyway. I thought the match again was built really well with Shawn getting some decent pops coming out and being pelted with stuff by the end and a completely hated man. The cuts to Bulldog's family was sort of heartbreaking knowing the backstage stuff. Really good show overall.

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  • 2 months later...

Was there live for this, one of the most heated matches I've witnessed in person. The post show scene of Shawn Michaels and Triple H climbing up either side of the set and posing, while the fans throw shit at them to try and knock them off, is one of the favourite wrestling memories. Think I was the only guy there cheering for Shawn.

 

What taints shit like this is the knowledge that this wasn't being booked like a wrestling angle, this was two opposing real life factions and one side just out-politicked the other every single time and got their way without retort.

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  • 1 year later...

Yeah, this has good action but it's almost impossible to view as an actual angle/long-term booking instead of an outright political hit. Just like the Horsemen/NWO stuff in North Carolina, it would work great as theater if this led to *anything*, but it has the same flaws that can't be ignored. No Hart Foundation until it's too late, palpable bullshit surrounding everything, and with hindsight we know there's no payoff or redemption coming either. Shawn throwing Davey Boy's knee brace at Diana would be fantastic heeling, but it comes off more as Mike Hickenbottom being a dick rather than Shawn Michaels. I am somewhat amused by the implication in the video package and post-match that Diana's accusations from 1996 were actually correct.

 

Edit: Also, the interference was overbooked to the point where it's almost impossible for anyone to cover for, but man oh man is Earl Hebner an awful official. Tommy Young and even his brother Dave had the ability to seemingly just miss interference, while Earl practically makes a show of turning his back on obvious bullshit. Another thing that overwhelms the match and makes evaluating the work just about impossible.

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  • 11 months later...

WWF European Champion British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels - WWF One Night Only 1997

 

Lets talk about the match first and then I will get to all the backstage stuff. Incredible match, one of my all-time favorites, I have this at number three in WWF 1997 in a loaded year for the promotion. The heat for this is nuclear. Bulldog is insanely over and Shawn Michaels is at the height of dickish heel superpowers. Shawn makes out with about 5 young girls at ringside. What a fucking asshole! This only gets him more heat from the men. You think Cena is bad. This is the sharpest male vs female divide I have ever heard. Shawn flirts with the line, but never crosses it as he bumps like a madman for the Bulldog. This has to go down as one of the all-time greatest shines. Shawn is flipping over himself getting the Bulldog over as one man runaway freight train of power and speed. I always think of the back drop over the top rope tumble spill onto the floor bump. The clothesline bump into railing was nasty. I loved him trying to climb the ropes in the collar-elbow tie up to try to gain a leverage advantage only to be thrown off. The Press Slam spot with the ref running to stop Bulldog from throwing him into the crowd was great as Bulldog just dropped him. Michaels poking Bulldog in the eyes only to eat a powerbomb when he tried for the hurricanarana left me pumping my fists. The delayed vertical suplex had me cheering on the Bulldog. Then the insurance policy, Rick Rude comes out. He flips Bulldog over on an O'Connor Roll, then fucks with him while he is running the ropes and finally Michaels gets the advantage. Rude liberally helps out.

 

Michaels was having an all-time great heel run, but the one thing that would always keep him from being the best heel ever is that he just does not have much in the way of offense to sustain a heat segment. I am as big of a Shawn Michaels fan as there is (without being worked by the WWE political machine), but I am not delusional, it is his biggest flaw. They keep it simple focus on Bulldog's selling and the other key is they keep it short. The short arm scissors into the a powerbomb (play off their 92 IC Title switch, which JR reminded us of) was a great spot as knocking their heads to level the playing field. Here comes HHH & Chyna. If the heat was nuclear before, this is fucking Hydrogen Bomb level shit that is about to happen.

 

Two top rope elbows from Michaels and he looks to set up Sweet Chin Music. Smith deadweights him. This is my biggest problem with moves which require your opponent to stand up, just don't stand up OR hit the move when your opponent you know is STANDING. This whole waiting thing is my least favorite thing in wrestling. But I digress. He props him up in the corner and Bulldog misses and hoists him up on his shoulder. He is going to plant him in the ground, but Rude has his leg. Confrontation ensues and it is chaos. Outside the ring, Bulldog looks like he will hit the Running Powerslam on the floor, but his leg slips off the platform wrenching his right leg which has a kneebrace on it. At this point, you can just feel everything boiling. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! Rude & HHH ram the railing into the knee as the fans are just trying to fight against them by holding the railing back. THAT IS PRO WRESTLING! That spot gets me every single time. So powerful. Pedigree on the floor. Triple H is such a fucking leech. HBK removes the knee brace and tosses to Davey Boy's wife and terminally ill sister. Fucking douche. Michaels applies the Figure-4. HHH & Chyna are holding on to him stretching him to apply extra leverage, but when Davey Boy is about to turn him, Rude cleans his clock with a right hand The British Bulldog passes out from the pain. Michaels gets his vanity trophy and sticks it to the Hart Family. The crowd is at a near riot. PELTING THEM with garbage. Michaels is goading the Hart Family and Diana. Diana comes in and chokes Shawn with the knee brace when he re-applied the figure-4. FINALLY The Harts come out to save Davey Boy, but don't get in any licks.

 

Yes, by far the most frustrating thing about this is that Bret & Owen don't even get their hands on HHH & Shawn. That is bullshit. Like give the Harts a bone, you just screwed them out of a meaningless title because you can and did it in front of a man's dying sister and in his home country where they go like once a year.

 

The match is fucking awesome. The shine rules. Smith is a powerhouse and Shawn is a bumping freak. Shawn's heat segment is weak, but it is also short. The finish is insanely powerful and heated. Yes some of that heat comes from the backstage antics so it is hard to decouple the two, but for my money this is an all-time classic.

 

Davey Boy is well-protected in this match. It takes Rude to turn the tide initially and once Davey Boy overcomes that, HHH & Chyna interfere. So it is four on one plus a bad slip cost Davey Boy the match. So it is not like he was buried. What Shawn did was pretty bullshit. If you are judging just what was on screen this is amazing pro wrestling. So I will rate it as such. ****1/2

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Great match. The crowd is really behind Davey Boy in this. His sister coming out with him is a cool moment. Shawn's entrance is absurd as always. HBK takes some huge bumps in the early going including a crazy back body drop to the floor where he rolls onto his head hard at the end. Davey has the advantage for awhile but Rude, HHH, & Chyna show up. Tons of heat for Rude & company getting involved. Davey takes a great post bump after Rude sends him into it. Most of the heat is worked around interference spots & Davey using his strength to get out of holds. Really simple but fun wrestling. I wish the Hart Foundation would have helped poor Davey though. The finish is crazy with Davey fighting off DX & attempting a running powerslam to Shawn on the floor but his leg slipping underneath the small drop off at the railing. Clever. HBK superkicks him then DX slams the rail against his knee. HHH pedigrees him on the floor too. He's brought back into the ring & Shawn locks in the figure four as the crowd cheers big time for Davey. Shawn had taken off his knee brace & chugged it at Diana in the front row in an amazing asshole moment. My goodness. Davey's in a lot of pain & tries to fight out but DX keep assisting Shawn at the ropes & such. Davey passes out & can't respond awarding the match & European Title to Shawn. This gets MASSIVE heat. I've never seen heat like this in the WWF. Good lord. Shawn gets on the mic & mocks the Smith family in the front row & locks on the figure four again. Diana runs into the ring & starts choking Shawn! Chyna grabs Diana & starts ragdolling her. This is nuts. Tons of trash being thrown into the ring here. Bret & Owen run down to make the save as DX gets pelted with trash as they taunt on stage. HHH trying to be cool is hilarious. Totally insane post-match with mega heat. This was a great show.

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  • 2 months later...

Watched this match again today, after not seeing it for many years. This was perhaps Dave Boy's last Great match, and what a performance from Shawn! This was one of the top heel performances in 1997. Shawn is a complete ass the entire match, to Davey Boy, the crowd, and the Hart Family. The crowd heat is insane on this match. Sure Undertaker vs Bret from this show was better, but Shawn and Davey Boy really put on a show. ****

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  • GSR changed the title to [1997-09-20-WWF-One Night Only] Shawn Michaels vs Davey Boy Smith
  • 2 years later...

Incredible stuff here from start to finish really. From the amazing, memorable entrances right up until the final shots of DX celebrating up the ramp whilst being pelted with trash and the Harts in the ring, with Diana in tears over the fallen body of Davey Boy. The crowd heat is insane throughout. Hell of a performance from Shawn, bumping around and helping Davey Boy to look amazing. DX do their jobs as well as they get involved and screw over Bulldog. The match itself is very good but the whole package is just electric. Feels like a moment in time. There's no Pillman or Neidhart here but Pillman would be dead within weeks and three of the other four Hart Foundation members gone from the company within 2 months.  

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