![]() ![]() You can tell Vince likes TAKA as he chuckles when TAKA gives a thumbs up to the crowd during his entrance. Interestingly it was Sasuke who was supposed to be the big star whilst TAKA was just coming in to put him over, but Vince McMahon ended up being higher on TAKA and he ended up becoming the inaugural Light Heavyweight Champ as a result. TAKA and Sasuke had impressed on the ECW pay per view Barley Legal back in April 97, so they got brought in here. The WWF was going to try and compete with WCW’s Cruiserweight division so they were looking for big lighter weight stars across the world who they could bring in. Sadly the match has an unsatisfying double count out ending, but it led to two very good rematches, so I’ll let it slide. They’ve done an excellent job of making sure the referee has missed all of this cheating, with the heat going on the Heels for being devious rather than the ref for being dumb. Chyna again rescues her boss though, whilst Hunter grabs hold of the ref so that the much harangued official misses it. Mankind keeps coming though and jams the ropes when Tri goes up top before following with the Mandible Claw. Tri bails following that and Chyna again takes Mankind out, this time with a clothesline, whilst the ref tries to prevent Hunter from using a chair. ![]() Mankind gets a piledriver following that, but his injured leg slows him down in making the cover, which allows Tri to kick out, which is a smart way to protect the big move as the delay played it’s part in the kick out and left the question as to whether Mankind would have won if he’d been able to get the pin earlier. Mankind accidentally falls shoulder first right into Hunter’s summer residence soon after that, which of course levels the playing field and Mankind makes the comeback soon after, with the crowd still being very into this match. Mankind does a good job selling all of that and Hunter’s offence looks solid, including a rope assisted Figure Four at one stage. I know, Mick Foley taking a wild crazy bump onto an inanimate object, what else is new? Mankind comes up selling his leg following that, so Hunter adds a weapon shot whilst Chyna is distracting the ref and then goes to town on the injured appendage back inside the ring, whilst Jim Ross refers to Tri as being “cerebral” for possibly the first time. The crowd gets into the action and Mankind gets some really good reactions, showing that the WWF was doing an effective job at getting Mick Foley over as a sympathetic figure in the mid-card.Ĭhyna ends up being the difference maker for Tri, as she clobbers Mankind when the ref isn’t looking and then gives Mankind a hip toss onto the ring steps. Tri is taking some darn impressive bumps here, including his customary one from inside the ring to the floor following an Irish Whip. Mankind sends Tri to the floor and follows with his trademark elbow from the apron, which gets a two back inside. ![]() This one is a brawl right from the off, with Mankind laying out Tri with a Double Arm DDT before mocking Hunter’s formal bow in a fun moment. A funny line in the video package is Chyna telling Mankind to kiss her butt, to which Mankind replies that it’s her lucky day as he’s a good kisser. ![]() He was on his way here though, and by 1997 he was a solid in-ring performer, so once he got a gimmick that clicked he was well on his way. Tri was more of a generic Heel with a meaty bodyguard at this stage in his career, which was more effective than his previous Connecticut Blueblood gimmick that he’d had prior, but he didn’t really start getting significantly over until he teamed up with Shawn Michaels as part of DX. ![]()
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