WWF: D-Generation X – In Your House XIX
December 7, 1997
Springfield, MA
Springfield Civic Center

The current WWF champs are as follows:
World Champion: Shawn Michaels (11/9/1997)
Intercontinental Champion: Steve Austin (11/9/1997)
European Champion: Shawn Michaels (9/20/1997)
World Tag Team Champions: Road Dogg & Billy Gunn (11/24/1997)

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

• WWF Light Heavyweight Title Tournament Final: TAKA Michinoku vs. Brian Christopher
  

I have to say that the LH title is just the dullest looking belts I’ve seen in the Big Two. To start us off, the much larger and obviously jacked Brian Christopher throws TAKA around like a rag doll. Eventually, TAKA flips out of a German suplex and kicks Christopher out of the ring for a beautiful springboard plancha. Not to be upstaged, Christopher dives on TAKA only to miss and hit his chin on the guardrail. He starts to bleed from the mouth. Back inside, TAKA hits a Tornado DDT for 1-2-NO! He takes Christopher back to the floor with a headscissors and delivers an Asai Moonsault! Jerry Lawler gets up from his seat to check on Christopher. He’s not his daddy, though! He helps Christopher back in the ring where he counters a monkey flip and hits TAKA with the Skull Crushing Finale. Sitout powerbomb scores a nearfall. He makes the age-old mistake by kneeling down on TAKA’s shoulders only to get his arms hooked by TAKA’s legs back into a nearfall. He lands a missile dropkick to the back of TAKA’s head, but doesn’t capitalize. Rocker Dropper connects. He does the Big Bossman spot where he chokes TAKA on the middle rope and slides out to the floor to nail him with an uppercut. Christopher slaps TAKA around and taunts him with a crane stance – because all Asians know karate. Skip ahead to Christopher missing the TENNESSEE JAM. With Christopher stunned, TAKA catches him with the MICHINOKU DRIVER for the win and the title. (12:02) You can’t fault them for trying a division that had worked so well for WCW, but they just didn’t have the talent to carry it out with all the top guys in WCW or New Japan and the ones they did have still tried to wrestle like a heavyweight. Instead of TAKA looking strong and the leader of the weight class, they worked the match like he was an underdog with a big finisher. **½

In the back, Kevin Kelly and Jackyl will be interviewing the wrestlers after their matches on the WWF Superstar Line. Jackyl will be asking the tough questions. It may get PG-35, but he won’t be giving softball questions like these other WWF announcers.

• Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas
  

Since Kane recently took care of Crush, this is just a six-man tag. He won’t be back though. Savio Vega is sent to the back to prevent some shenanigans. Chainz thinks he’s the man owning Miguel to start. Jesus receives the same treatment from 8-Ball. Now Jose gives the bald dudes a try. He gets a slam and a knee drop combo for two. Big spinning side slam gets two as well. Los Boricuas finally get a moment to shine as Miguel kicks either 8-Ball or Skull from the apron. Miguel tags in and leaps off the top, but hyperextends his knee and rolls out to the floor supposedly injured. Now Jose and Jesus are left to take on the other three while they isolate 8-Ball. Savio Vega returns to ringside to try and take Miguel’s place, but the ref won’t allow it. Hot tag eventually comes to Chainz, he delivers the Death Valley Driver to Jose. While 8-Ball and Skull handle Savio and Jesus on the apron and the ref’s attention averted, Miguel quickly runs back inside and does a somersault legdrop onto Chainz while he’s trying to pin Jose. HEY THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH HIS LEG! Those dastardly Puerto Ricans. Jose is laid on top of Chainz for the three-count. (7:58) It was what it was. I did like the finish though. *

Dok Hendrix meets with Butterbean and his crew. He had a fight last night and while he might be tired, his adrenaline will get him through the fight with Marc Mero. The way Mero treats Sable, it just gets his blood boiled. Anybody else think this is just Vince’s way of recreating the Savage-Steele feud from 1986?

After a video package highlighting the Mero-Butterbean feud, Michael Cole speaks with Sable. She was at the Butterbean boxing match last night and held up the title he has. Who’s corner will she be in tonight? She says she will be in Mero’s corner. That’s when Mero walks by and tells her to stop trying to steal his spotlight.

• Tough Man Contest: Butterbean vs. Marc Mero (w/Sable)
  

We’ve got four two-minute rounds here. Boxing rules apply.

1st round: Mero gets distracted by Sable chants and gets busted in the chops when he goes to lean through the ropes looking for a break. At the end of the round, Mero pops Butterbean with a cheapshot from behind.

2nd round: At the beginning of the round, Mero knees Butterbean from behind and chokes him a little with some wrist tape while the ref argues with Butterbean’s trainers. Mero thumbs him in the eye and gets in a few rabbit punches. Mero OWNS this round. Afterwards, he dropkicks Butterbean in the back of the head. Awesome.

3rd round: Now Butterbean is angry. At the end of the round, he reaches back and delivers a knockout blow to Mero. Unfortunately for Butterbean, Mero is saved by the bell. His trainers dump a bucket of water on Mero to revive him.

4th round: Butterbean catches Mero with one good punch, but he gets up to his knees and low blows Butterbean for the DQ. (9:59 total) Afterwards, Mero keeps the insanity going by breaking his stool over Butterbean’s back. Certainly not a great boxing match with nothing but worked punches, but this is WRESTLING after all and it was an entertaining ten minutes. Mero’s ability to be a dick or dickability as it were is quite impressive here. *

Talk to Dude Love on America Online tonight! Keyword: WWF. Kevin Kelly asks him about his buddy Steve Austin. Steve has his head right and the Rock is for a long time. Oww, how mercy!

TAFKA Goldust and Luna Vachon interrupt the PPV. They’re wearing lots of pink and they come out to express themselves. Goldust expresses himself by reading the book “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. JR apologizes to Ted Geisel for this. Eventually, Luna calls Goldust scum and drags him back to the locker room by his dog chain. Aren’t you glad you paid for this, folks? WHAT THE $#%@ IS HAPPENING ON THIS PPV?!

Michael Cole is with the Legion of Doom. They equate Road Dogg and Billy Gunn as their “boogers”. Yep.

• WWF World Tag Team Champions Road Dogg & Billy Gunn vs. The Legion of Doom
  

Road Dogg and Billy Gunn try to delay the game as long as possible until the WWF agents come through the curtain and force them to head right into the arms of the LOD in the ring. The tag champs are just totally annihilated for the first 5-6 minutes with VINTAGE ROAD WARRIORS OFFENSE. Road Dogg pulls out a foam ice chest full of soda and whacks Hawk to knock down and turn the tide. Hawk plays face in peril and it’s not all that good. Hot tag to Animal, there’s powerslams and shoulder blocks everywhere. After the series of clotheslines in the corner, Road Dogg is in prime position for the DOOMSDAY DEVICE. That’s when Henry Godwinn – still pissed about his neck injury, I suppose – sprints down and whacks Animal in the face with the empty slop bucket. Hawk leaps down and clotheslines Godwinn out of the ring. He picks up the bucket though and beats up the tag champs for the DQ. (10:34) This was just not very interesting and a bad finish, but Road Dogg and Billy Gunn had yet to find their groove just yet. ½*

Special look at Sgt. Slaughter. It’s the same one we saw on RAW this past week.

Over to Michael Cole, he’s with Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna. Helmsley continues to disrespect Slaughter by bringing a survival kit for him. A comb, Metamucil, some prunes, and even some Depends. Helmsley goes on a tirade about this not being Slaughter’s generation – this is D-Generation. Helmsley makes one more reference to porking Slaughter’s wife before they head to the ring.

Elsewhere, Sgt. Slaughter cuts a traditional promo on Helmsley, MAGGOT.

• Boot Camp Match: Sgt. Slaughter vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna)
  

Slaughter comes out to the future Kurt Angle theme song. JR mentions his accomplishments down south as a former NWA U.S. champ defeating Wahoo McDaniel and one-half of the NWA world tag champions with Don Kernodle in probably the only time his name was ever mentioned on WWF TV. He abuses Helmsley early with his riding crop and works the ribs a little bit. To the floor we go, Slaughter controls some ringside violence for a bit. Very slow pace here. Back in the ring, Slaughter whips out his belt and uses it on Helmsley. He tries for the Cobra Clutch, but Helmsley slips down to the mat and kicks Slaughter away. Next we get the Slaughter corner bump as he goes flying down to the floor. Pretty wild for a man his age and size. More ringside violence ensues. Helmsley steals the ring bell away from Mark Yeaton and knocks him out. In the ring again, Hunter wraps a chain around his fist and punches Slaughter a few times. Slaughter gets the chain away though, but he takes a backdrop to the floor. Back in, Helmsley flies down and eats a boot. Slaughter can’t slam Helmsley, but he can counter a suplex into one of his own. WHAT? Now Slaughter heads up top, but he is slammed down. Helmsley cuts him off with a sleeperhold and Slaughter’s arm drops once, twice, but NOT THREE TIMES. He escapes the hold and locks in the COBRA CLUTCH. Chyna saves the day by raking Slaughter’s eyes. Ref Jack Doan gets in her face, so Chyna knocks him out. When she goes to whack Slaughter with a chair, Slaughter throws powder in her face as she falls through the ropes to the floor. Helmsley whacks Slaughter with his boot, but he swings and misses a second time and gets caught in the COBRA CLUTCH again. Hunter’s arm drops once, twice, but then Chyna FIELD GOAL KICKS Slaughter in the nads to break the hold at the last second. PEDIGREE on the chair and even then Slaughter kicks out at three. (17:39) Come on man, you’re 49! You haven’t wrestled on WWF TV in five years. Your career is clearly over. Just take the pinfall. About ten minutes too long with way too much slow Slaughter offense. If you want to watch a good boot camp match, seek out the one with the Iron Sheik, because this ain’t it. *½

In the back, Michael Cole is with Jeff Jarrett. Once he beats the Undertaker, he’ll be at the top of the list of WWF title contenders.

• The Undertaker vs. Jeff Jarrett
  

Taker has been all but silent since Kane debuted back at Badd Blood in the Hell in a Cell. Jarrett think he’s got Taker right where he wants him after a few licks, but then Taker explodes on him in the corner. He connects with Old School and chokes Jarrett in the corner. Jarrett blocks a charge and comes off the second rope, but gets caught in a goozle. Jarrett kicks the knee and attempts to take UT to school here. Taker fires back and connects with a backbreaker and a legdrop for two. As the match slows down, the lights go out and then a few of them turn red. Straight from the mouth of hell, it’s Kane and Paul Bearer. They enter the ring to confront the Undertaker. Jarrett eggs on Kane to go after UT, so Kane gives Jarrett a CHOKESLAM and gets Taker DQ’ed. (6:54) After the bell, Kane goes nose-to-nose with his brother trying to get a rise out of him. He even goes as far as to punch him in the face, but Taker shows some SERIOUS restraint and refuses to punch back. Kane sets the corners on fire as he and Paul Bearer return to the locker room. Once they leave, Jarrett clips Taker from behind and tries to apply the FIGURE-FOUR, but Taker goozles in mid-move and gives Jarrett a less than stellar Chokeslam. Nevertheless, Jarrett sticks around once Taker is gone to do his Fargo shtick for all his fans. ¾*

Michael Cole chats with Mark Henry in the audience. He’ll be back in the ring ASAP. Stone Cold or the Rock? Henry picks Stone Cold, which seems odd for obvious reasons.

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia (w/the NOD)
  

So a week after Survivor Series, Maivia swiped Austin’s newly regained IC title belt and started calling himself the Intercontinental champion and having all these “non-title” matches. Now Austin’s here to reclaim what’s rightfully his even though he has a belt of his own with *him*. This is the match where Austin drives his ‘Stone Cold’ truck down the aisleway to the ring. He stomps a mudhole in Rock before the bell even starts until the Nation beat him down. Once Austin’s on the mat, Faarooq and Kama check on Rock as D’Lo Brown charges into a backdrop that sends him flying onto the hood of Austin’s truck. Austin climbs out and gives D’Lo a STUNNER on top of the truck. This crowd is going insane for everything Austin does. Austin heads back in to right hands from the Rock as the bell finally sounds. Austin comes back with a Lou Thesz Press that Rock counters into a rollup sequence. Whoa. Rock dumps Austin out for Kama and Faarooq to put more hurting on Austin. Some black-on-black heel miscommunication causes Kama to smash Faarooq’s head into the driver’s side window with a steel chair! To get rid of Kama, Austin whips him hard into the truck. Back in, Rock stomps Austin while the crowd chants “Rocky sucks!”. Rock delivers a less spectacular version of the People’s Elbow for two. Austin elbows out of a chinlock, but runs into a knee. Rock misses a second People’s Elbow to allow Austin to stomp him down in the corner. Austin has to let go of a Stunner to knock Kama off the apron. With the ref up against Austin’s back, he takes a STUNNER by accident. Austin doesn’t care though because he’s just an anti-authority type of fellow. Rock pulls out some brass knucks from his tights, but Austin has none of that and gets the STUNNER. Another ref runs out, which calls for controversy, and counts the 1-2-3. (5:33) It’s one of those matches that would lead to the WWE-main event style that seemed to creep into every main event in the WWF throughout the Attitude era. Plus, it’s Austin-Rock. How can you not love it? **½

Jim Cornette speaks with the challenger Ken Shamrock one last time before his big WWF title match. Even with all his PPV experience, there’s never been a fight bigger than this one for Shamrock. However, he knows that Shawn Michaels will not be able to handle him once he’s in the zone.

• WWF Champion Shawn Michaels (w/DX) vs. Ken Shamrock
  

I guess the WWF felt with all the hype they had put behind him that they needed to at least try Shamrock in the main event spot to see what would transpire. This was certainly the time to do it with no real challengers for Shawn until come Royal Rumble time. Most wrestling fans in December 1997 were saving their PPV dollars for Starrcade anyways to see Sting battle Hogan, and the buyrate reflects that. If it turned into a disaster, at least not as many people would see it as there normally would be. Word on the street is, Shawn was telling Vince that Shamrock wasn’t a good worker since you had to yell all the spots in his ear. While I’m not going to point it out every time Shawn obviously calls out a spot, it’s certainly evident here. I never noticed other guys having to do that with him, which makes the whole thing seem odd. Pretty standard start for an HBK match as he takes a beating and bounces all over the place. Shamrock tries the Belly to Belly Suplex, but Shawn grabs hold of Hebner to block and low blows to escape the waistlock. Shawn clotheslines Shamrock out to the DX wolves. Once he’s down, Shawn comes off the top with a dive. He also tries a baseball slide, but Shamrock moves out of the way. As he stalks Shawn, Chyna comes over and runs Shamrock into the post. Just a ton of DX interference here. Couple of hope spots by Shamrock get thwarted with a sleeper hold. He goes down on the mat, but works his way up and backs Shawn in the corner. That leads to Shamrock’s comeback. Frankensteiner by Shamrock! Shawn attempts the crucifix into a sunset flip, but Shamrock rolls through and covers Shawn for two. He also wants a headscissors, but Shamrock counters with a sitout powerbomb for 1-2-NO! Helmsley and Chyna trip up Shamrock and beat on him a bit to turn the tide. Back inside, HBK hits the Flying Elbow and tunes up the band. Shamrock ducks SWEET CHIN MUSIC and delivers the Belly to Belly Suplex! He applies the ANKLELOCK, but here comes Helmsley and Chyna to break it up for the DQ. (18:14) So now that he’s taken the WWF champ to the limit, you can stick him as a solid IC title contender in the midcard. However, this might be Shawn’s worst PPV main event of all-time. While DX does a number on Shamrock, Owen Hart makes a surprise return to knock Shawn off the apron through the announce table. Owen continues to pound on him until Helmsley and Chyna come by for the save, but then Owen hops up and jumps over the rail into the crowd. Good stuff at the end. Unfortunately, it seemed that nobody on top at this time wanted to work with Owen. They had a one-off match on the last Raw of 1997, but that’s about it. **½

Final Thoughts: With all these cop-out DQ finishes and lack of talent depth, how can you possibly have a good PPV here? This show is memorable only for the first Austin versus Rock PPV match and it’s the best thing on the show even with both men being pretty limited for their own reasons. Thumbs down for DX: In Your House.