Looking back at Monday Night RAW February 17th, 1997

Bret Hart vs. Psycho Sid: Take Three

This is it!

MATCH #6: BRET HART (c) vs. PSYCHO SID {WWF World Heavyweight Championship Match}

Psycho Sid makes his entrance for the third time tonight, & does not even bother to look over his shoulder.

The match finally begins. HAIL THE LORD!

Sid knocks Bret off his feet pretty early on. Bret does a great job of showing signs of fatigue from last night (…and tonight). The crowd is very confusing, & it makes for an interesting dynamic to watch. Sometimes they boo Sid. Other times they cheer Sid.

Psycho Sid also sells his knee problem from tonight’s opening pretty efficiently. After all, he didn’t say ‘Dammit’ three consecutive times in a row for nothing. Bret takes advantage of Sid over the knee situation, & Sid takes advantage of Bret over his fatigue. Great storytelling!

Sid goes for a backbreaker & only manages to get a two-count. JR says that there is ‘speculation’ that Sid was responsible for Shawn’s knee injury. Nope. Shawn screwed Shawn.

Bret reverses the momentum by targeting Sid’s left leg, & then, the Hitman proceeds to apply a figure-four hold on Sid using the ring post! He is trying to break Sid’s leg!

One of the best spots of the night...

One important takeaway here is that Sid was always a ‘big-move’ wrestler. He drew a huge crowd reaction based on more than 90% of his offense for this match. It is actually a huge advantage for him. Smaller wrestlers have to keep on wrestling with a faster pace to get the crowd involved, whereas guys like Sid can work at their own comfort level.

For example, we witness a great sequence in the corner where Bret grabs Sid’s leg. However, Sid reverses the situation by pounding the hell out of Bret Hart’s chest. It drew a huge crowd response.

People cheer for Sid as he goes for a leg drop. Later, Sid slams Bret onto the mat & executes a leg-drop from the second rope. Bret still kicks out at two!

Oh, here we go- Austin comes out again! However, Sid drops the redneck S.O.B with a hard punch before he can stir some sh*t up!

This gives the Hitman enough time to recover. He quickly locks Sid into a sharpshooter as soon as the latter gets inside the ring. Will Sid tap out?

Wait, what the hell is Austin doing on the ring apron? Austin uses a chair & hits Bret right in the face with it! Referee Earl Hebner does not see anything.

Steve Austin interferes again...

But Sid didn’t even realize what just happened. He still takes advantage of the situation & power-bombs his opponent. Sid goes for the cover…

1……2……3!

The master & ruler of the world, Psycho Sid is your new WWF Champion! Bret could not hold on to the title for more than one day!

People collectively chant ‘Sid!’ as he celebrates & poses in the ring. To be fair, it was a pretty sketchy three count, & the referee making that count just so happens to be Earl Hebner. Boy, I sure do hope that he doesn’t screw up a major match in the future…

Result: Psycho Sid is your new WWF Champion!

An interesting turn of events that only took place because of the perfectly-timed coincidences around this period of the WWF. But hold on a second.

So if Psycho Sid is the new champion that means….GONG!

The lights start flickering. Deadman is in the house!

“GET OUTTA THERE SID!” yells Jerry Lawler.

The Undertaker & Psycho Sid have an intense stare down as a purple shade of light reflects off their grim faces. Psycho Sid widens his eyes to show that he is not afraid of The Undertaker. What happens now?

Sid & 'Taker have an intense staredown in the ring

What happens to Psycho Sid? What happens to The Undertaker? What happens to Bret Hart? And most importantly, what happens to that ‘motherf*cker’ (Sid’s words) Steve Austin?

Oops. Looks like we’ve run out of time folks.

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What

did you think about this show? Thoughts in the comments section below!

The 17th February 1997 edition of RAW left us with a lot of talking points for next week. Psycho Sid probably had one of his greatest matches in the main event. However, apart from that, the wrestling aspect throughout the rest of the show was pretty unimpressive.

With that being said, how great does it feel to finally reach a point where things are perfectly shaping up? Chyna made her RAW debut, & so did The Hardy Boys. What happens next week regarding the ECW/Jerry Lawler angle?

GRADE: B+

Join me next week as I recap the 24th February 1997 edition of Monday Night RAW. Until then, you can check out the 'In Your House 13: Final Four' PPV Review by clicking here. You can also follow me here to stay updated. Send me interesting stuff/picture edits/facts/feedback regarding the old-school recaps at E-Mail: [email protected].

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