The Fan-Cam Files: WWF @ Montreal, Quebec – 03.06.1998

Welcome back to the Fan-Cam Files! Last time we dipped into the vault, we looked at a WWF B-Tour from Rancho Cucamonga in the Summer of 1994. Today, we’re skipping over the New Generation and jumping into the ATTITUDE ERA, from the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As far as the fan-cam library goes, it’s safe to say that a good chunk of it was recorded between 1992-1996, so it’s always interesting to find stuff outside that window, and until now, I’ve never had much interest in looking at a show from this particular period. I’d normally list other shows the WWF ran on the same date, but we’re barely able to put together one card, let alone two. It’s easy to forget how thin the roster was entering 1998. If you’re unfamiliar, just peek at the results of the 1998 Royal Rumble and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect.

WWF Light-Heavyweight Championship Match:
TAKA Michinoku (c) vs. “Too Sexy” Brian Christopher:
Man, WCW has this exciting Cruiserweight Division to balance the old guard stinking up the Main Events. I KNOW! We’ll make our own Division and push Jerry Lawler’s kid as the top heel! WE’LL SHOW THEM HOW TO BOOK LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHTS! Lockup and Christopher with a slam. TAKA counters out of a wrist-lock, but is sent to the canvas with a hip toss. Christopher showboats, of course, and mocks TAKA with your stereotypical karate poses. Brian takes TAKA to the corner with a handful of hair and sends him across the ring with a chest-first bump to the turnbuckle. TAKA lands on his feet on a German suplex attempt and strings together a flurry of offense that sends Christopher out of the ring. We need to shake off some of that Memphis style, so TAKA follows with a turnbuckle Asai moonsault. That’s enough out of the Champion, as Christopher blocks a suplex and straddles TAKA across the top rope. TAKA reverses a whip but a monkey-flip is countered with a full-nelson face-buster (see: Double J’s Stroke). TAKA surprises Christopher with an O’Connor Roll, but Too Sexy pops up and regains control with a clothesline. TAKA fights out of the corner, hitting a Tornado DDT, followed by a pair of basement dropkicks. Christopher counters a hurricanrana with a sit-out problem, and we start to lose focus of the ring. After a moment, we return with TAKA countering a slam with a sunset flip to retain at 5:10 (shown). It might have been a “oh crap, here comes security” moment, or like the WWF, the guy illegally recording the show treated the Light-Heavyweights like an afterthought as well! Incomplete match, but it was looking like **½-*** before cutting to the finish.

Faarooq & D’Lo Brown (w/ Kama & Mark Henry) vs. Savio Vega & Miguel Perez:
OH BOY, THE GANG WARZ! While that seems more like a Summer-Fall of 1997 thing, all the stables continued hanging around the roster, and hey, we need to pad house shows, so get out there and try not to put everyone into too deep of a sleep! Faarooq has pre-match words for Savio and Miguel and the way Savio and Perez play to the crowd, it looks like the Boricuas will be our designated babyfaces.

Savio doesn’t appreciate Faarooq’s comments and slaps the taste out of his mouth, but jokes on him, because Faarooq starts throwing fists. Whip to the ropes, Savio ducks a clothesline and connects with his signature heel kick. Faarooq rakes the eyes of Perez to escape a wrist-lock and tags in D’Lo. They work in an International and poor D’Lo bumps for a dropkick a solid second or so before Perez is within reasonable range of contact. Savio gets the better of D’Lo in a chop exchange and follows him into the corner with a spinning heel kick for a two-count. Perez continues to be a worthless partner, getting blasted from the apron and allowing the Nation to take control. D’Lo dumps him to the floor, where Kama and Mark get some shots in to earn their payday. The crowd surprisingly gets behind Perez as he fights out of a chin-lock, but D’Lo cuts him off and comes off the second turnbuckle with an elbow for a near-fall. More classic tag team chicanery, as the referee misses the tag as Perez fights through front face-lock, allowing for some heel double-team clubberin’. Perez counters a back body-drop with a DDT and finally makes the tag to Savio. He runs wild on D’Lo with right hands and a BAAAACK body-drop. Heck breaks loose with all four men in the ring. During the chaos, Kama trips up Savio and holds down the leg while Faarooq illegally covers for the three-count at 8:35. Nothing too fancy here, just a standard tag team formula. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great, just competent pro rasslin (minus the dropkick that D’Lo sold way too early). **½

Tom Brandi vs. Barry Windham:
OH MY GOD, WHAT AM I DOING TO MYSELF?! Since I rarely talk about this period and will likely never get a chance to cover it again, we can dive deep into both men and still not spend too much time on what’s going on. Brandi came into the WWF in the early Summer of 1996 as prelim heel Salvatore Sincere, and sometime in the Fall of 1997, randomly turned babyface by being sucked into the vortex of heel “Marvelous” Marc Mero, who outed Brandi by name and called him a “jobber.” Vince Ruso is probably still proud of that one. With that said, it’s no surprise his stock as babyface Tom Brandi is LOWER. Windham returned to the WWF around the same time as Brandi’s debut, introduced as “The Stalker”, a character that changed immediately due to disapproval of the angle from… why, our friend Marc Mero! The first few appearances seemed to tease Windham and Mero with Sable as the center of their rivalry, but that was dropped immediately, and he ended up being a prelim babyface before turning heel and joining Bradshaw as “The New Blackjacks”, a team that stuck together for about a year until Windham turned to join Jim Cornette’s NWA stable.

In a minor snafu, the same music plays for both men. I hope someone got fired for that one! Windham whips Brandi with his chaps to start the match. Whip to the ropes, Brandi ducks a clothesline and snatches the gear to return fire. He takes Windham out of the corner with a hip toss, followed by a dropkick. They go with the International, with Brandi hitting a cross body press for a two-count. Windham cuts Brandi off with a knee to the midsection and dumps him over the top rope. Brandi hangs on and takes Windham to the floor with a head-scissors. He blows the skin-the-cat on the first try but recovers and follows Windham to the outside with a baseball slide. The action swings back in Windham’s favor, with Brandi getting a taste of the post. Back inside, Windham with a DDT For two. He works the abdominal stretch, using the ropes for leverage. If Rotunda were hanging around, he would be so proud. Brandi with the escape and a quick comeback attempt. He sends Windham into the corner and follows in with a clothesline. Brandi tries it a second time, but Windham pops out, turns Brandi inside-out with lariat, and covers for three at 4:24. Windham worked the entire match with his vest on. Not an embarrassment or anything. They rushed through things and it was mostly OK. *½

“Marvelous” Marc Mero (w/ Sable) vs. The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust (w/ Luna):
Hey, more heel vs heel work! This one is a bit more complicated, because for a solid stretch (a month, but in Russo time, that’s 5 years), Mero was all aboard the “treat Sable like dog crap” train with Goldust and Luna, but then that partnership broke down, and for a couple of weeks leading up to WrestleMania XIV, Mero was kinda working babyface, but he wasn’t all the way there.

Goldust straddles the middle rope a little longer than I feel comfortable watching and after grabbing the microphone, yells at someone to “shove it up your a$$, you french piece of sh*t!”. Sable wants some of Luna, but Mero and the referee do their best to keep them separated. Goldust gets on the microphone AGAIN and has threats for Sable. Mero brings the fight to kick things off, knocking Goldust out of the ring and sending him into the steps. The crowd is booing both men as Mero hits a spinning head-scissors and a clothesline. Goldust brings up a boot in the corner and lays out Mero with a clothesline of his own. Loud “Sable” chants as Goldust drops Mero across the top rope. Luna gets a shot in, triggering Sable, but MERO POWDERS TO CUT SABLE OFF. Back inside, Mero surprises. Goldust with a body press, but is quickly cut off with the drop-down uppercut. The referee is distracted by Goldust taunting Sable, allowing Mero to hit a low-blow and tell the crowd to stick it. Huh. Goldust counters a TKO with a DDT. Mero escapes a Curtain Call attempt and comes off the ropes with a knee lift. Luna gets involved again, but heel communication allows Mero to roll Goldust up for three at 4:38. At least they popped for the finish. Post-match, referees keep Sable and Luna separated. Mero gives Sable the business, so she shoves him on his bottom. They were working at a pace like they were on Raw, and it was OK, but the heel vs heel dynamic didn’t work, and that made everything feel more like a mess. *

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match:
The Rock (c) (w/ The Nation) vs. Ken Shamrock:
Thank Goodness, finally a match with a little bit of star power. It’s only Intercontinental Title level star power (for now), but it’s better than the corpses of Goldust and Marc Mero or some of the other prelim stuff we’ve sat through already. Shamrock has blown through the other members of the Nation leading up to challenging Rocky for the title at the Royal Rumble, but was screwed over due to heel shenanigans, and the feud continued on the Road to WrestleMania XIV, including Shamrock getting absolutely brained with a chair shot later in the month.

Rock’s showing disinterest in Faarooq’s leadership is obvious as he milks it before giving the Nation salute with the rest of the squad, then gets on the house mic to tell the Montreal crowd this is the largest gathering of trailer park trash he’s ever seen. D’Lo taunts Shamrock, allowing Rock to get the jump, but Shamrock quickly fights back with a flurry of rights. He winds up for a roundhouse kick, but Rock powders as the crowd is all over him with chants of “Rocky Sucks.” Back inside, Rock ends up eating that roundhouse kick and Shamrock hooks a magistral cradle for a two-count. More ringside distractions allow Rock to knock Shamrock out of the ring, where D’Lo and Mark are ready to give him the business while the referee looks everywhere but that side of the ring.

Back inside, Rock with a slam and the People’s Elbow for two. Amazing how that move went from getting zero reaction to gradually becoming the most electrifying move in sports entertainment. Shamrock fights out of a chin-lock, but a Fisherman Suplex is for naught as D’Lo continues to be a pest. Another chin-lock escape and Shamrock surprises Rock with a swinging neck breaker. Rock ducks a clothesline and hits the float-over DDT. Another fired up comeback from Shamrock, hitting a jumping heel kick and powerslam for two. Shamrock with the world’s sloppiest Frankensteiner. The referee gets wiped out with a clothesline and a second referee’s attempt to hit the ring is cut off by Kama. During the chaos, D’Lo sneaks into the ring and whacks Shamrock with a chair. Tim White gets in to count, but Earl Hebner (the original referee) stops the count! They argue as Shamrock hits Rock with a belly-to-belly suplex and applies the Ankle Lock, but D’Lo rushes in for 10th time and… we cut to Shamrock celebrating with the belt, despite the referee’s protest that the title didn’t change hands, so we can assume the battery died on them as the DQ took place around the 7:30 mark. Well, I’m disappointed we didn’t see the conclusive finish ourselves, but they really packed a lot into such a tight window. I think they leaned a little too hard on “D’Lo gets involved”, but considering the era, it is what it is. ***¼

The Quebecers vs. The Godwinns:
This card goes to show that a deep roster wasn’t the most important factor in turning business around. I was almost ready to start ranting about our third match that is basically heel vs heel, but we’re in Montreal, and Jacques Rougeau and Carl Ouellet were always treated as babyface heroes, so we’ll let it slide for now. The Quebecers were a very random act to return to the WWF late in 1997, having spent the previous 18-months in WCW as The Amazing French-Canadians. Gone is their Not-Mounties gear from their first run as a team in the WWF. The Godwinns are at their lowest at this point, having little to do after their program with the LOD ran its course in the Summer-Fall of 1997. Don’t worry, they’ll be repackaged shortly after this.

Phineas gets on the house mic to run down the crowd, promise to whoop the cans of the hometown boys, and salute the only flag that matters. Well, it’s a mixed reaction for the Quebecers, but credit to Phineas trying to get the desired reaction for them. Not a sentence I’m used to typing with all the mid 90’s WWF content I’ve suffered through. The Godwinns threaten to leave, but THEY AIN’T NOTHING BUT LIARS. Jacques and Phineas start. Phineas comes off the ropes with a shoulder block, but Jacques nips up and sends him to the floor with a dropkick. OK, Jacques has his working boots on, I can already tell. Henry and Pierre have a go, with Pierre hitting those ropes with some quickness for a shoulder block before getting cut off and briefly double-teamed. Jacques cuts off Phineas as he climbs the ropes, allowing Pierre to take him down with a hurricanrana for a near-fall. The comeback is short-lived, as Henry pulls down the ropes and sends Pierre into the steps.

Back inside, Henry with a slam and running elbow drop for two. Pierre gets dumped out again and whacked across the back with a chair. He fights out of a lengthy chin-lock, but Phineas cuts him off with a knee to the midsection. Henry meets a boot in the corner, but has the wherewithal to prevent a tag. Pierre ducks under a double clothesline to hit one of his own, setting up the hot tag for Jacques. He runs wild with right hands and hits Phineas with a DDT. Henry is sent to the floor with a dropkick and Jacques follows WITH A DIVE FROM THE TOP ROPE?! Jacques comes back in with a missile dropkick on Phineas, but Henry saves. Henry is dumped and Jacques with a back-drop assist for Pierre’s tope con hilo. Jacques with an O’Connor Roll, but Henry takes his head off with a clothesline. Phineas covers, but Pierre comes off the top with the guillotine leg drop, and Jacques rolls on top for the three-count at 10:29. Get the hell out of here, a good match between the Quebecers and Godwinns in 1998?! Never underestimate the power of a French-Canadian working in front of his home crowd. ***

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Cactus Jack vs. “Bad A$$” Billy Gunn:
Can I assume Road Dogg was injured? It feels like Cactus and Gunn worked the houses quite a bit in singles matches around this time, and quick research shows he didn’t work a match all month (after the March 2nd Raw taping) until WrestleMania XIV. The Cactus and Outlaws feud really kicked into high gear when the Outlaws ran interference on a match between Cactus and Chainsaw Charlie (the alter ego of Terry Funk) and seizing the opportunity with both men inside a dumpster, sent it crashing off the side of the stage. It’s one of those feuds that feels like it has gone 90% in favor of the Outlaws, but dammit, we’re gonna hope Cactus and Chainsaw eventually get the best of them once and for all (Spoilers: Nope. Also, good thing they didn’t, the Outlaws needed a rocket push).

Billy comes out with a table and Cactus has a garbage can. They start on the floor, with Cactus bopping Gunn with the trash can lid. Billy counters a suplex with a small package for a two-count. They fight down the aisle and out of view, annoying most of the crowd. We cut ahead to them returning to view, with Cactus bashing Gunn with a baking sheet. They take the fight into the ring as Cactus uses a pair of serving tongs on Gunn’s testicles. The table gets positioned in the corner, but Gunn cuts Cactus off with a low blow. He charges across the ring and Cactus with a hip toss, sending him through the table for a near-fall. That is the lowest of the low budget tables I’ve ever seen. Mandible Claw applied, but Gunn used the ropes to pull himself out of the ring. Cactus follows, only to get sent into the steps, but he has STRONG STYLE POWER and rebounds to hit a clothesline. Cactus goes for the steps but Gunn knocks them into his face with the aid of a chair. Back inside, Gunn brains Cactus with the trash can, followed by a piledriver for two. Cactus avoids a flying leg drop, using the trash can as a shield. Gunn gets whipped into the leftovers of the table and hit with a clothesline. Gunn counters a back body-drop with the Famouser. Cactus prevents more weapon use, hitting a low kick and finishing the double-arm DDT onto the trash can at 8:03. This was OK, but ultimately, a “your mileage will vary” stipulation match. I’ve never been much of a fan of these types of matches, but it wasn’t unwatchable, just not my style. **

Skull vs. Kane (w/ Paul Bearer):
Yep. We’re thin on star power to begin with, so one of the few Main Event names is out here squashing a JTTS tag team geek. There’s absolutely nothing of interest to mention about the Harris Twins or DOA at this point, while Kane is part of a long-term storyline with The Undertaker that will pay off at WrestleMania XIV with their first match against each other. Shawn vs Austin with Tyson involved might have been the Main Event, but Taker vs Kane was my #1 reason to order WrestleMania XIV.

The lights aren’t dimmed down for Kane’s entrance. I sure hope someone got fired for that one (I feel like I’ve already used that joke earlier… oh yeah, when Tom Brandi and Barry Windham used the same entrance music!). Skull starts right away, throwing right hands. He comes off the ropes with a boot and sends Kane over the ropes with a clothesline. Kane hops back to the apron and hangs Skull up across the rope. Back inside, Kane catches Skull out of the corner with a powerslam and drops a series of clumsy-looking forearms. Skull gets dropped across the top rope and Kane dives off the top with a clothesline across the back. Skull mounts a comeback, but a flying nothing is caught with a goozle. He kicks Kane low and hits a sloppy piledriver, but Kane no-sells and finishes with the Chokeslam and Tombstone at 3:05. 8-Ball shows up to take a shot at Kane and eats a Chokeslam as well… and while we’re at it, a Chokeslam for the referee! Well, that was short, I’ll give it that. Kane squashing a big guy with relative ease is the right way to go. Hard to rate short matches like this, but it served its purpose if nothing else.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Triple H (w/ Chyna):
This is our Main Event and the final match of the evening. Yeah, how thin is the heel side of the roster? With Shawn Michaels only available to work in a non-wrestling role leading to WrestleMania XIV, there’s nobody else available that can fill the spot, and Helmsley, by early 1998 standards, is generously a stretch for that spot. We’re still in that awkward phase where he’s introduced as Triple H, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Austin with the best reaction tonight and it’s not even close (and that shouldn’t come as a surprise, of course).

Hunter powders and heads for the curtain. I guess the referee isn’t calling his bluff, waiting until he returns to ringside before trying to make a count, reaching 9 before Hunter rolls in to break it and rolls back out. After 3-minutes of schtick, they lockup, with Hunter doing some chain work before getting popped with an elbow. Hunter powders again after a shoulder block, prompting Austin to ask the audience if they want Hunter to get his butt in the ring, to give him a “Hell Yeah.” Austin continues to have an answer for everything, catching Helmsley with an inverted atomic drop and sending him over the top with a clothesline. Austin follows this time, throwing Hunter into the overworked steps and drops him across the guardrail. Austin works the arm and there’s a cut in the action with Hunter sending Austin to the ropes and connecting with an elbow. He tries to wrap Austin’s leg around the post but ends up kissing it himself. Hunter counters a back body-drop with his signature knee to the face and sends Austin out of the ring, crashing into the guardrail.

Chyna wanders over and blasts Austin with a forearm. He makes a move to get a receipt, but Hunter cuts him off and sends him into the rail again. Hunter brings Austin back in with a suplex, followed by a slam and measured knee drop for two. Austin’s comeback is cut short, and Hunter puts the boots to him in the corner. Austin fights out of a sleeper and we get a clothesline double-down. They exchange strikes and hit the ropes, with Austin hitting a Thesz Press and coming off the ropes with an elbow drop. We get some MUDHOLE STOMPING. Hunter cuts Austin off with a kick and sets up for the Pedigree but Austin sweeps the legs and sends him into the corner, sandwiching the referee. Chyna picks the ankle, tripping up Austin. Hunter holds him in place for shenanigans, but Austin escapes with a low blow. Stunner to Chyna, Stunner to Helmsley, and that’s good for the three-count at 13:03 (shown). This was a very safe, very competently worked match to fill the final slot of the card, but was it MAIN EVENT quality? No. Triple H wasn’t ready for the position, and while the work was solid, it wasn’t like they had amazing chemistry, hitting the same notes repeatedly (not to mention some cuts, which I think only trims the length of some resting). **½

Strength of Card: Hmm… No Shawn Michaels. No Undertaker. No Owen Hart. No Jeff Jarrett. One half of the New Age Outlaws not available. Yes, I know, those last 2-3 are a stretch, but considering how thin the roster was to begin with, every little bit helps. The quality of stars drops significantly after the top two, with one stuck wrestling a squash against half of a geek tag team, and there’s several heel vs heel matches filling out the undercard. Grade: C+

Highs: If we’re going strictly on match quality, Shamrock vs Rock is the best match of the card, though for us watching it nearly 30 years later, we didn’t see the definitive ending, and can only assume the finish was the most obvious presented in the moments before cutting away. Never in my wildest dreams would I consider the Quebecers and Godwinns for this section, but Jacques and Pierre brought their working boots with them and put on a fun match put together specifically for this market.

Lows: The weak card in general, including several heel vs heel matches on paper. At least Savio and Miguel Perez worked around that problem, playing face in their match, but that doesn’t change how they were presented for the market. The bottom-tier stuff, for the most part, was kept reasonably short, but Marc Mero and Goldust was just a mess to watch and easily my least favorite match, more so than the Skull/Kane quasi-squash.

The Rest: The Falls Count Anywhere was fine, and again, something where your enjoyment depends on how much you like/dislike a bunch of weapon blows. The Main Event of red-hot Austin vs. barely accepted mid-card second banana Triple H on top was competently worked, but didn’t feel like a suitable main event, especially on top of a card as weak as this one.

Final Thoughts: Times have certainly changed. With the Monday Night Wars reshaping how televised wrestling was presented, house shows were less of an attraction if you’re looking to see your favorite stars wrestling each other. With that available every week, whether you were watching Monday Nitro or Raw, the allure of the local shows had faded. It’s a little funny that while the roster is decimated on top with injuries and thin on stars, there was more buzz than they’ve had in years, and would continue to build on that… oh, sorry, I guess I started rambling about the state of the WWF in 1998, and how house shows almost felt like off-menu items at this point. Circling back to this show itself… It’s fine. There’s little here that attracts my tastes, but most of the people featured put in their better efforts (some less successful because, at the end of the day, poor workers are still poor workers). This era is such a weird one to find a fan-cam, and that might be the only part that is worth giving this a recommendation that keeps it from being a thumbs firmly in the middle rating. Final Grade: C+

Adding this comment late in the game, but the top three matches on this card (Austin/Helmsley, Rock/Shamrock, and Cactus/Gunn) are all represented on the Attitude Era Vol. 3: Unreleased DVD set, with matches taped on March 13th from Anaheim, CA and March 22nd from Madison Square Garden, and all three matches mostly follow the same script, and it’s professionally shot footage too, so figured I would throw that out there.