Live Feed Mania – WWF Shotgun Saturday Night 02/01/97
By Maffew Gregg on 29 January 2025
WWF @ New York City, NY – Mirage Night Club – February 1, 1997
We’re on the road to In Your House 13: Final Four! This show sucks, let’s see if it sucks less with added Richard Land goodness.
We start the feed with the lights & music getting tested and also a dark match!
Phineas I. Godwinn vs. Headbanger Thrasher
Thrasher busts out his best move early, catching his spit in his mouth. PIG is face by default and the crowd cheer his shoulder tackles and messy clotheslines. Kicking and stomping affair that really needs Vince yelling about this being a romping stomping affair to really sell it. We get a shot of Vince, J.R. and Sunny at the announce table getting ready, including Vince with his reading glasses.
Thrasher gets a scoop slam before landing a moonsault he was supposed to miss because PIG rolled into it.
Thrasher gets two via a Dirty Pin. After a moonsault in the opening contest? PIG comes back with some clotheslines because I think it was the only move he could do in dungarees. Pretty sure these guys are going as possible while everything gets tested. Speaking of being tested: the fans! Who yell BORING. Phineas backdrops out of a potential Powerbomb and his theme music starts playing for half a second, resulting in the crowd laughing like Nelson Muntz. PIG whips Thrasher into the corner and wins with a roll-up at 9:05. If you ran over this match, even The Godwinns would think twice about eating it.
Afterwards Todd can’t hear anything through his headset as Vince gets mildly frustrated. Also I realise now Bryan Alvarez talks just like Todd. “I gave The Boat Movie minus Five Stars.”
Crowd chant “Bischoff Sucks” which is quickly drowned out by the house music they start playing. I don’t know how anyone would dare chant anything negative about WCW after that first match. Actually a quick look at WCW Saturday Night reveals the opening match was Glacier vs. Ace Darling so we’ll call it a 0-0 draw.
Vince requests a coffee with some sweet-and-low, and then we get the intros!
Which need to be recorded again because Sunny’s headset wasn’t on. Interesting that those voices you hear yelling stuff like “TONIGHT ON SHOTGUN” were done live. I assumed they were pre-recorded.
Then there’s a period of nothing as Vince talks to someone about sorting out the lighting while the fans yell about the nWo sucking.
Todd reminds us of that amazing moment when Ahmed Johnson delivered the Pearl River Plunge to D’Lo Brown on top of the car to make us think this show would be cool.
Paul Bearer is frantically searching for Mankind. Vader is checking the dumpsters behind the venue in a funny moment. Oh and then Mankind appears from across the street and nearly gets hit by a car. Mankind is still traumatized from the sexy women last week so Vader tells him to get a hold of himself cos he needs him tonight. Yeah, he needs him to take Ahmed’s bumps for him.
Hey I only now realised Mankind never wrestled against Vader in WWF, he only teamed with him. Weird for old WCW fans.
Todd gets the crowd ready and hyped and…oh that’s the end of the feed.
Overall: Well it was a quick one with a bunch of tech talk and an exclusive crap match. Starting this Live Feed Mania series was definitely a good idea.
