WWE ends 1997 with D-Generation X: In Your House and all of the recently minted DX faction are in action! We also have the finals of a tournament to crown the first Light Heavyweight champion and HBK defends his World title against Ken Shamrock!
The Best of WWE: D-Generation X: In Your House
The opening match to crown the first WWF Light Heavyweight champion between TAKA Michinoku and Brian Christopher was pretty damn exciting. This is the match that should’ve set the pace for what to expect in the division. It’s also new in that we got a WWE PPV opener that was really good and started things off on a high note.
Sometimes, just because you can do lengthy matches doesn’t mean you should. If the story can be told in less time, do it. Use the time needed to tell the story. The story between Triple H and Sgt. Slaughter did not require almost 18 minutes to tell.
That said, their Boot Camp match wasn’t bad or anything. Actually, it would’ve been good if it was 10 to 12 minutes. It was just way too long and started to drag on. At times it seemed longer than it was, as well. Hey, this one didn’t end in a DQ, at least.
Steve Austin defending the IC title against The Rock was another good match on the show. Actually, the lead-up to this showdown was also really good and that always adds to the match. Their mini-feud over this belt was enjoyable and the match had its chaotic moments as Austin was fighting against the Nation of Domination’s numbers advantage.
I’d say that if anything—and this is rare for me to say in these reviews—the match could’ve used more time. The crowd was really eating the mayhem of this bout up.
The Rest
Listen, any of the gang war matches featuring Los Boricuas and Disciples of Apocalypse are getting out into “The Rest” pile. These matches are just not good at all. At most, they’re always surprisingly mediocre at best. There honestly hasn’t been a gang war storyline match that was decent or good. Butterbean claps Marc Mero in a boxing match that went too long and ended in DQ.
I’m not sure why the Tag Team title match between the New Age Outlaws and the Legion of Doom needed a DQ finish. There are so many on this show, so it doesn’t matter. Adequate match that wasn’t awful but was far from good.
Returning to DQ finishes, we have Jarrett beating Taker in a match that actually could’ve been pretty good if given some of Triple H and Slaughter’s time. Shamrock challenging for HBK’s World title featured some pretty good action but it wasn’t exactly a thrill ride or anything. Not only that, what is this match length paired with a damn DQ?
I feel that this match could’ve actually been better all around. It also could’ve been a match that made Shamrock a World title threat of sorts but there’s no star-making performance here.
Verdict: Bronze Medal (2.12/5)
The title of this show sounds more like a D-Generation X best of tape released by Titan Home Video, or something. Overall, this wasn’t an enjoyable PPV. There was some strong potential for a couple of good matches without any nonsense but only TAKA vs. Brian Christopher and Austin vs. The Rock delivered…and the latter was too short.
Everything else either ran a little long or ended in disqualification. This is wild—in the worst way. Triple H vs. Slaughter was low-key good but ran too long for no reason. The same goes for the main event. If it was going to end in a DQ, WWE could’ve just shaved the time and given another match more time!
Yeah, it’s an In Your House event but enough with these mediocre shows, already. This show marks the end of 1997 for WWE, so we’ll see if it’s a hard turnaround in 1998. The match of the show goes to the Light Heavyweight title-deciding match.
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