[1997-11-24-WWF-Raw] Shawn Michaels vs Vader

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Slightly JIP. Shawn is calling spots really loudly, probably because he's pissed off about something. Anyway, Jim Neidhart interferes repeatedly to show his loyalty to DX. They treat Vader like a total joke here. As they are celebrating with Neidhart after the match, Chyna low blows him from behind and they attack him. I remembered them spraypainting WCW on his back, but I guess they didn't. That sure shows Bret. This was a bad RAW.

[Kevin Ridge]

I know it's about a paycheck for Neidhart, but as someone just watching a wrestling show I had very little sympathy for Jim. He joins up with DX far too easily and gets booted out of the group right away. Not that he was going to stick around but I don't feel like this even benefited DX by making them more heelish. It was just people again trying to pile on Bret Hart.

[Zenjo]

You will never see a more blatant example of a wrestler being punished than this. The Anvil gets humiliated and buried for something that was nothing to do with him.

[soup23]

This is utter shit and makes Anvil and Vader look like goofs. How this built to the PPV they had in less than two weeks, I will never know.

[Robert S]

You will never see a more blatant example of a wrestler being punished than this. The Anvil gets humiliated and buried for something that was nothing to do with him.

I was really inclined to feel sorry for him before realizing that this is Jim Neidhart.

 

The WWF stuff post Survivor Series is barely watchable. I remember not feeling sorry at all when WWF lost TV in Germany (and Austria) 1-2 months after this. This era put me off of WWF and I never returned watching their programs regularly.

[PeteF3]

This build to Michaels vs. Shamrock has only been marginally better than the WW3 build that was barely even acknowledged until 6 days before the show. Neidhart is with DX, and Stevie Wonder could see where this was going to go. Helmsley throws coffee at Vader (??!--are women's shoes next?) leading to a Michaels win. Vader is rolled out of the ring like a common jobber. Ross has to unconvincingly feign shock as Neidhart gets attacked. Another segment that completely fails: not only was the result patently obvious, but the swerve doesn't even draw heat because nobody gave a fuck about Neidhart or saw him as a sympathetic figure, even in the face of Survivor Series. Ken Shamrock sits in the back with his thumb up his ass while all this is going on. Again, no heat. Yes, the WWF literally feels like a dying company at this point.

[Exposer]

The Anvil has agreed to join DX. Great. Vader dominates most of the match, then Neidhart pulls the ropes down & leads an attack with Helmsley to show his loyalty to DX. The ref doesn't see this & the match continues. A few minutes later Chyna throws coffee in Vader's eye & Shawn hits two superkicks to end it. A nothing match really. The Anvil celebrates with DX after the match, but gets a low blow from Chyna. The beat him up as Shawn talks about how great he is. This is the worst segment of the year. Really terrible stuff.