The Board's got a thread on the Diesel turn, and when this got mentioned as a key show for it, I had to watch. The show starts with a recap of Diesel-Bret and Bret winning with cunning, then Diesel snapping due to the loss. HBK faces Owen Hart later, and we get a long recap of the Kid-Razor issues that thoroughly hits every possible story point. The intro for the show is the building fighting one, and it's amazing how much footage got re-used for the DX intro - like the gate-rushing stuff and some of the dancing. Hakushi's mid-ring for a match with Kid. Speaking of Hakushi, he's featured on NJPW World, which is amazing use of $8.50 a month. They call Razor and he talks to McMang and coming after Kid. The match is just a backdrop for an angle as they're just in first gear and then Jannetty comes out since Kid and Sid cost him at the PPV.
They take Marty out and now the match gets going with some kicks. Vince talks about Hakushi being Americanized, of course, because he's a face now. Hakushi misses a dropkick and eats a horrible flying elbow from Kid. Superfly dive from Kid gets 2. Hakushi fights back with chops and throat thrusts and then the handspring elbow! He takes him down and gets 2. Silky-smooth flying shoulderblock gets 2.5! Hakushi backdrops him and superkicks him to the floor. He tries to fly to the floor, but Ted shoves him to the mat and Kid hits the spin kick for the win! Fun match, but not as good as their Summerslam match. Kid's perm is something else.
Marty comes up to the Kid and Sid protects him, and then they beat him down. Powerbomb on the floor...wow is that ever stupid for a mid-card angle. Dok Hendrix is in complete Don West mode here just being all over the place. Bret-Bulldog is made for IYH and they show clips of Bulldog winning at Summerslam '92. Jim Cornette is dressed like Lupin the Third here - it's amazing.
HHH-H.O.G. is made in a hog pen match. So the night after the last PPV, they've already got TWO MATCHES SET for the next PPV. It's amazing. Skip's mid-ring for a match BUT DIESEL'S IN THE BUILDING! He's backstage with HBK and Sunny's in the ring with her thong over the blue spandex gear. It's Skip vs. Savio - truly a main event in any middle school gym in the country. They cut to some goof in the crowd shilling stupid denim jackets with the faces of wrestlers on the back. $60! Nice chops to Skip from Vega. Suplex. Nothing much of note going on here beyond the commentary bringing up the government.
Diesel's out after a backdrop to the floor in street gear including a fanny pack. He grabs the mic and says MAYBE he'd apologize for what he did to Bret and ALL MY DEAR FANS! Nope - he's in it for himself. He says that he went to sleep and slept great for the first time in a year. He saw himself as something other than a corporate puppet that VINCE made, and 24 hours after he won the title, he was with the marketing team learning how to be more corporate! BIG DADDY COOL'S BACK (and "shooting" in a WWF hat). All that matters to him is his family, his friends like HBK, and he'll smack hands with ya - if you've got his glove. This would've been right at home in the '97 era of getting into worked shoots, and done far better than most of those were. The screen seemingly goes black, but it's just Diesel's black leather jacket pressed against the camera, and he leaves while walking past HBK. They run through PPV highlights that really make it seem like a great show - more games need to the outside-in chokeslam Taker used. HBK-Owen is up and next week's show will have Taker-Kama and Bret on the Brother Love show. No result for Vega-Skip, and they never got to the fireworks factory, either.
Owen's out followed by HBK dressed as a candy cane. Vince is overjoyed as HBK strips off his gear. Fast-paced action to start leads to some basic arm work and a clothesline to the floor from Owen. Vince puts over HBK returning from an attack by NINE HOOD-LUMS outside a nightclub. Vince puts over the damage that HBK took last night too. You know, it's a shame the image for the show is of him down from the concussion angle, because it spoils what was a really well-done angle at the time. I remember watching it live and being glued to the screen - haven't seen it in full since then though. Chinlock from Owen leads to elbows to the gut and he eats a dropkick on the rebound. HBK ducks and eats a neckbreaker. Legdrop ON THE HEAD Vince notes gets 2. HBK gets a backslide for 2, but struggles. HBK is a step off tonight, but they're not tipping things. King puts over Tony Randall at 75 marrying a 25 year old. Owen superplex is countered with a crossbody for 2. Flying lariat, not a forearm, hits Owen. Nip up leads to a punch exchange a toss in the buckle and THEN the flying forearm. HBK whips him in for the chest bump and wants the superkick, but Owen isn't out of the corner. He grabs the foot and eats an enzuiguri.
My memory is that's it, but no - they do some stuff until a skin the cat and then he faints. Cornette's on the outside with Owen looking stunned. The ref nudges HBK and he doesn't move. Ref blows a whistle to get help. Owen is standing cautiously, almost exactly how they did the real Austin thing two years later. EMTs are out and some kid yells BULLSHIT! Vince is now mid-ring and they're giving HBK oxygen. They give him treatment through TWO COMMERCIAL BREAKS and call for Pat in the back to talk to him. Girls are just crying here. Old women are worried. HBK comes to and Pat tells them to do something. He's blinking now. They go off the air with him getting treatment, and yup, this was just as well-done as I remembered it.
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