From The Vault Recap: WWF Shotgun Saturday Night – February 8, 1997

Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!

Oh, that’s a different show. Wrestling certainly wasn’t new to Saturday nights. WWF/WWE had Saturday Night’s Main Event for years on NBC and then briefly FOX, while WCW Saturday Night was a mainstay of the TBS Superstation at 6:05 p.m. However, 1997 brought a new Saturday night experiment.

Shotgun Saturday Night was WWE’s latest attempt at capturing the syndication market. Syndication was always a tricky deal for viewers, as shows weren’t bound to one network and one time slot across the country. Instead, the episodes are sold to individual local networks to air whenever they want to air them. Saturday and Sunday mornings were usually WWE’s hotspot with Superstars and Wrestling Challenge. Other times, you’d find shows sandwiched randomly at midnight between episodes of god knows what. It all depended on the network and their programming gods.

An hour of WWE programming was an easy sell – you’d get 52 new episodes of new content a year that brings in the sponsors. And 1997 WWE when things are peaking? You’ve gotta give it a try, right?

Shotgun was an attempt to bring an edge to WWE’s syndicated programming. Things that were not so PG – while shot in a way that didn’t really show things – were a bigger part of the show, as were weird gimmicks like the Flying Nuns, Mother Smucker and Sister Angelica (the Headbangers in nun outfits paired with Brother Love, of course). Did it work? Your mileage may vary, but it did create more content.

It also aired in unique locations in New York City during its initial run, including nightclubs and the All-Star Cafe. One of those was Penn Station, the scene of tonight’s episode. For those of you that don’t know New York City – which is probably a larger group than Vince McMahon thought – Penn Station is the city’s largest transportation hub and is located below Madison Square Garden. Like everything else in the bustle of NYC, it is full of lights and advertisements and people.

This episode was rebroadcast on WWE Vault as a featured livestream. As always, my recommendation for Vault content and particular live streams are to consume them. We’ve complained for years about the lack of classic content. It’s here – watch it! I’d say participate in the YouTube chat with the WWE Vault crew, but we also know YouTube chat is not a great place. If a social media hashtag is advertised for the show, tweet along with it on Twitter or, uh, skeet along with it on Blue Sky. The more people that are drawn to the classic content, the more they keep doing it (and the more I, the Senior Vault Correspondent of Blog of Doom, get to write about).

We start with “WARNING – The Following Program Contains Action of a Graphic Nature. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.”

The World Wrestling Federation – for over fifty years, the revolutionary force in sports entertainment!

Intro video. It is a pretty cool video, with scenes clearly shot in New York City. There is Shawn Michaels dancing on top of a limo. Mr. Bob Backlund is harassing taxi drivers. Sunny is stepping out of a limo in front of Radio CIty Music Hall. Goldust is taking a shot in a bar in full gear. Undertaker rises from a smoky manhole, where he probably told the Ninja Turtles to stop playing video games and play dominoes like real men.

Jump scare! The voice of Vince McMahon bellows that tonight, Undertaker goes one on one with Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the Intercontinental Championship. Sunny pipes up to add that the Godwinns take on Savio and Crush from the Nation of Domination. All this and more from Penn Station, the home of Amtrak! Truly exciting for all of us who have no connection to Amtrak!

The Godwinns (Love Hee Haw) vs Faarooq & Crush (Feel at Home in New York)

You see, it’s clever because they have witty things under their names in the chyron! Nothing is as timely as a Hee Haw reference in 1997, but we all know that Vince’s entertainment references stretch back about forty years in time. The first thing we notice is that the picture quality is quite good for this, likely better than when it aired. The WWE Vault crew seem to be running video through and cleaning it up and giving it better definition, which is a very cool touch.

The Godwinns are already in the ring, which seems a bit smaller tonight – probably because it’s in a train station. The most noticeable thing behind them is the giant “Bloomberg TV” advertising screen, including a smaller screen on the right showing stock prices. The Nation of Domination heads down a set of stairs in the station, with D’Lo Brown and Clarence Mason leading them out. Sections of the area are blocked by simple layers of caution tape, sticking a barrier between the entrance and the fans. Vince makes a reference to Boxcar Willie, a performer who was big in the late 70s/early 80s and peaked at #54 on Billboard’s country charts in 1981 with “King of the Road.”

Sunny notes on commentary that she’s managed the Godwinns and Faarooq in the past and knows what both can do. The Nation does their salute as the bell rings. We cut to our commentary team talking about Sunny appearing in the Enquirer. Sunny is wearing a cool zebra top that I kind of want, while Vince is wearing a leather jacket that is about five different colors. It’s a shame that Sunny’s demons won the battle, because she was awfully cool to me back in the 1990s. Of course, her broadcast partner also was quite the demon himself. This is one of those commentary teams that don’t hold up, in retrospect.

Clarence Mason has joined the commentary crew, saying he is making Sunny an honorary member of the Nation tonight. Then he leads the viewers at home in the pledge of allegiance to the Nation of Domination. We’ve stalled the entire first minute of the match, but we’re finally starting with Crush and Phineas. Stall city here. I know, you come to Godwinns matches for excitement. Several lockups and Crush hits a headlock. Clarence calls them “Phineas and Other Godwinn.” Phineas hits a clothesline and nails Faarooq running into interference. Henry is tagged in and he has the slop bucket, threatening to throw it in on the Nation at ringside. Vince throws to Todd Pettingill!

Todd is doing crowd work, kneeling next to a young fan and saying, “It’s Crush as a boy!” He also meets a shorter gentleman with questionable teeth, who Todd says is his dentist and saves $100,000 a year on dental floss. The fan introduces himself as Hank, who would go on to win an online fan vote a year later for People’s Most Beautiful People (he would compete with other beautiful people such as Leonardo DiCaprio of Critters 3 fame and Mankind of the New York Times Bestsellers List fame).

Phineas comes back in and leads the crowd in a “Nation sucks” chant. Phineas takes down Crush with several punches, who tags in Faarooq. Faarooq slams Phineas, taunting the fans and nailing a running elbow drop. Savio Vega arrives, walking through the crowd to join his team at ringside. Shotgun continues after this!

We’re back and live from Penn Station. Faarooq picks up a road case and slams it on the back of Henry Godwinn, throwing him back in the ring. Two count and a kick out. That would’ve only been a one count on Lola Vice. Crush rests and holds Henry in a nervelock. Henry fights out with elbows but is stomped down by Crush, who tags in Faarooq. Faarooq with a kick to the stomach. Faarooq slings Henry in, who fights out. Crush is tagged in while Henry can’t make it to his partner. Sunny asks if Crush once had braids. Double clothesline as both men take each other out. Henry makes the hot tag to Phineas, who takes down Crush with an elbow and a slam. Faarooq runs in and catches a slam of his own. Savio trips Phineas, getting up on the top rope but being accidentally knocked off by Crush. The referee is distracted by Henry, allowing Savio to help take down Phineas and give Faarooq the pin. Sunny questions if perhaps the Godwinns are considering finding a partner to take on all three men. Good question!

We come back from a break (or a cut in the program) to see a limo pulling up on the street in front of the building, complete with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. We see the cold air in his breath as he walks up to the building, stopped by Todd. He says there’s a better chance of seeing him ride “one of these stinkin’ trains” than losing the Intercontinental Title. The visuals in this are cool, I’ll give them that, as he walks down stairs to a sea of people. He’s stopped by an Entertainment Tonight reporter who is apparently there to report on Sunny.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Thinks His Pits Don’t Stink) vs The Undertaker (no on-screen graphics)

Taker’s bell tolls and he walks down an escalator that is turned off, tearing through the caution tape and pushing through the crowd to jump into the ring, Hunter attacking him as we cut to commercial.

We’re back and Taker has HHH in the corner with a choke. Hunter is whipped into the official, who is already down. HHH gets the title and hits Taker in the head, taking him down. Stay with us, ladies and gentlemen! Already commercial time a minute later!

Back again, Taker is being choked on the rope. Hunter drops a knee. Taker punches out, whipping Hunter in but being reversed into a knee. Hunter with stomps and kicks in the corner. Rude Awakening for a two count. They fight in the corner, Undertaker punching Hunter down. Taker strikes but fails again when he tries an Irish Whip. HHH gets the belt and tries again, but is blocked this time. Taker hits HHH with the belt, leading to the bell and a disqualification. The fans chant “Tombstone” and Taker hits a big chokeslam in the middle of the ring.

Taker points at the title on the ground then does the neck motion, but HHH runs into the crowd. Taker follows as they fight up the stairs. Taker catches him and scoops him up, doing a Tombstone on top of the escalator. HHH’s defeated corpse takes a ride down the escalator as the referees walk him back to wherever they walked to in this building.

Todd Pettingill is in the crowd on somebody’s shoulders trying to interview a kid on someone else’s shoulders. The cameramen miss almost all of it.

Aldo Montoya (no graphic) vs Savio Vega (Hates Car Jokes)

Aldo is already in the ring as the Nation music plays Savio. Sunny explains that Savio joined the Nation “to show he respects his race and nationality and is in defense of it.” Vince tells us that Savio joined the Nation above where we are now in Penn Station. Clarence Mason has joined us again on commentary.

Aldo with a dropkick, knocking Savio outside. He springboards outside onto Savio, throwing him back in and hitting a very clean flying bodypress for a two. Savio chops Aldo with a very loud chop in the corner. He whips him hard into the corner. Vince calls Aldo “the little engine that could,” having once read a book to Stephanie. Savio hits Aldo with several elbows in the corner, then spirals himself out of the ring while hitting a flying spin kick on Aldo in the other corner. Savio was kind of cool.

Savio suplexes Aldo into the ring from the apron, holding him up in the air for about fifteen seconds. Todd has another big scoop, in the crowd with a man named Terry. Terry has the old Vince McMahon action figure. Vince: “You were young, you were like 40 back then.” Vince calls it a collector’s item. “That was back when I had hair.” In the ring, Aldo is pounding Savio on the mat and then in the corner as we see Faarooq and Crush walking down the stairs. Shotgun continues!

Savio hits another spinning kick in the ring, taking Aldo down. He locks him into a nerve block. Aldo fights out, kicking Savio in the corner. Irish whip into an elbow. Savio uses an eye take to take advantage, locking the nerve hold back in. Vince plugs a boxing match. Now the Godwinns are walking down the stairs. Haven’t we suffered enough?

The Godwinns confront the Nation at ringside, threatening to throw the slop bucket on them. In-ring, Savio again locks in the nerve hold as the faceoff continues at ringside. The fight is on and we’ve lost all control, Henry threatening to slop Faarooq. The good guys ask for a six-man tag as we go to break.

The Godwinns & Aldo Montoya vs The Nation of Domination

Back from break, we’ve turned into a six-man battle. Crush lifts Aldo above his head and drops him into the ring before taunting the Godwinns. All three men briefly come in to attack Aldo before Crush tries for a suplex, reversed into a DDT by Aldo. Todd has found a woman in the audience, threatening another woman who then get into the worst acted fight on this show. Savio is tagged in, slamming Aldo with a running clothesline. He runs him face-first into Crush’s boot as Crush is tagged in. Crush holds Aldo in a backbreaker before tagging in Faarooq. Aldo reverses an Irish Whip, but Faarooq gets the tag first to Savio.

Double-team by the Nation as the referee is distracted by the Godwinns trying to come in to save their partner. The fans chant “boring.” Vince: “Some of the fans are actually bored by the Nation of Domination’s activities.” Faarooq is in and tries for the Dominator, but Montoya hooks him from behind for a backslide for two. Crush is tagged in as they continue to take down Aldo in the corner. The fans aren’t feeling much of this extended beatdown. Savio is in and gets a two count, broken up by Henry. We almost get a tag but no, the Nation continues to triple team Aldo as the Godwinns keep getting distracted. Vince notes that the officiating is lax tonight.

Aldo fights back, finally escaping to the top and hitting a dropkick but all six men are in. Bodies everywhere! Phineas runs after D’Lo with the slop bucket while Savio hits a spin kick for a three. Phineas continues following D’Lo up the stairs as we go to break.

Back from break, Vince and Sunny rejoin us on commentary. Before we hit our big ending, let me give some credit here – Sunny was very good on commentary. We all know she was a natural at talking, and she did a very good job here working with Vince. She’s also way better without Jerry Lawler there to make perverted jokes the entire time. Granted, she was sitting next to Vince, so take that for what it’s worth.

Backstage we see Phineas sling the slop off stage. The camera pans to the left and there’s Pat Patterson and the ugliest sweater ever worn on WWE TV, freshly coated in slop. He gives a look to the camera – you know this was a Vince joke. Patterson threatens to come to ringside and kiss Sunny. Vince: “Look at that sweater. That sweater’s been slopped before.” Ew.

Here’s a better replay of the Tombstone onto the escalator. Sunny correctly notes that his hair could have gotten caught in there – “people have died that way!” Todd’s back with Curtis, the leader of the Guardian Angels. He threatens the Nation of Domination, saying perhaps they should “be sucked into some concrete.” Yikes. We end on a shot of Pat Patterson, slop dripping from his hair.

Alright, so the matches weren’t great. Nobody needs two Godwinn matches or half an hour of Aldo Montoya. The show, however, was fun. The atmosphere was unique, the crowd was vocal, commentary was entertaining and it felt different. I’d recommend it if you haven’t seen it.