We’re in October 1997 for WWE Badd Blood: In Your House. Needless to say, 1997 has been a dicey year for WWE as far as the pay-per-view game. However, each show always had at least one or two bangers. WWE Badd Blood is no different as we see the introduction of the Hell in a Cell match. It is also another PPV where tragedy struck for the company as Brian Pillman’s death was announced on the show.
The Best of WWE Badd Blood
The semi-main event saw the Hart Foundation of Bret Hart and British Bulldog take on the masked team of Vader and The Patriot. All involved had the tools for a really exciting match. Even The Patriot—who could be pretty fundamentals-heavy in the ring—could put on a solid bout.
Into the Vault: WWE Badd Blood 1997
I’d say there wasn’t much too exciting or special about this match but it was definitely the best match up until this point. You can take that as a warning about the rest of the show. The match did suffer from being too long when it honestly shouldn’t have been for a Flag Match.
Of course, the hot Hart Foundation picked up the win.
A match that should’ve been 23-minutes and did run a bit long after you get past the spectacle was the Hell in a Cell main event. HBK and The Undertaker would face off to see who would be the number contender to Bret Hart’s recently won WWE Championship. I love a gimmick match—especially a debuting one. This was actually a really good, exciting maiden match for the stipulation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXbcT1bqJ1A
It didn’t have too much gaga going on compared to future Hell in a Cell matches and established how dangerous WWE’s ultimate match could be. Again, it just ran a little long. It was meant to be this epic match which makes sense for the length but it could’ve been shorter, still been an epic, and still be the undisputed best match on WWE Badd Blood.
The Rest
Collectively, the undercard was…uninspired. I’m sure this wasn’t intentional to make the main event and semi-main event look better by comparison. They were just TV matches on PPV.
The handicap match that saw The Legion of Doom fighting The Nation of Domination two guys to three was actually decent enough.
It wasn’t a dismal match but I’d say that’s down to it being a handicap match and The Nation of Domination just doing as they should’ve as the heels. That’s honestly what made the match watchable but this was a pretty stock match that could’ve also been on television.
We got a minis tag match which was not good or entertaining. So, we’re giving that a skipperoonie. We could do the same for The Godwinns defeating The Headbangers for the WWE Tag Team titles as well.
Neither team was particularly entertaining to watch on PPV or for an extended period of time but I did rock find The Godwinns somewhat entertaining during the New Generation.
Owen Hart and Faarooq faced off for the vacant Intercontinental title and it was alright. It wasn’t particularly good but I can’t just say it was a horrible match. Actually, it was probably shorter than it should’ve been considering it’s sandwiched between two matches that were longer than necessary.
Rounding out the rest was a boring gang war eight-man between The Disciples of Apocalypse—which I thought was a badass stable when I was 12—and Los Boricuas.
WWE Badd Blood Verdict: Bronze Medal (2.1/5)
Overall, this wasn’t a good PPV. On the bright side, it’s an In Your House event so fans at the time weren’t paying full price for a below mid PPV. The Flag Match between The Hart Foundation and the team of Vader and The Patriot could’ve been much better with some time shaved off.
Capture matches—anything on a pole or whatever—tend to just have this period where things just meander for no good reason. The match of PPV goes to the Hell in a Cell bout between HBK and The Undertaker.
You have to sit through a lot of blah to get to it but it’s an enjoyable match worth catching.
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