WWF Badd Blood 1997 results, retro live blog: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

It's undoubtedly going to be a slow Saturday night, so instead of sitting around and twiddling our thumbs how about we make use of that certain over-the-top service so many of us pay $9.99 a month for and go retro with a live blog?

Our latest retro live blog will cover Badd Blood: In Your House, which took place on Sun., Oct. 5, 1997, at the Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri and featured Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker in the very first Hell in a Cell match to determine the number one contender to the WWF championship.

We'll treat this live blog like we would any show airing live. It will kick off at 8 p.m. ET Saturday night, so if you want to follow along and chat with your fellow fans and friends here on the site, make sure you click "play" on the WWE Network at 8 p.m. ET and come back here for all the fun.

Coverage will roll below.

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BADD BLOOD 1997 LIVE BLOG

Geno here. Rock it!

They open with a promo on Shawn Michaels and how conceited he is. Then we get like a million replays of chair shots to Undertaker's head because 1997 was a different time and no one really gave a shit. He's a Deadman, he can handle having his brains scrambled, I guess.

Badd (that extra 'd' really lets you know how bad it actually is) Blood is presented by Playstation. 1997 ruled.

Vince McMahon is on commentary (this would be his last event as lead commentator) and I actually miss the old man screaming like a crazy person at all times. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler join him on the call.

While the Nation of Domination are making their entrance, Vince is telling us that Brian Pillman died earlier in the afternoon.

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Nation of Domination vs. Legion of Doom

The Rock (who was still going by Rocky Maivia at the time), D-Lo Brown, and Kama Mustafa were representing the Nation. The LOD were supposed to be joined by Ken Shamrock but Faarooq took him out before the event to make this a 3-on-2 handicap tag.

As soon as Rocky got in, they were showering him with "ROCKY SUCKS" chants. McMahon reminds us that Ahmed Johnson was excommunicated from the group when Rocky came in.

Hawk and Animal tagged in and out and had the early edge while the heels continuously regrouped. Then the heels took control while the announcers put over that Shamrock wasn't there to help and how much of a hindrance that was.

They set up a hot tag to Hawk and the crowd was really into LOD working Brown and Mustafa out so they could set up the Doomsday Device on Rocky. That's when Faarooq ran down for a distraction, which Rocky used to hit Rock Bottom for the pin.

Nation of Domination def. Legion of Doom

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They cut to Dok and Sunny to do a promo for 900 numbers.

Vince had to once again inform us that Brian Pillman had died because this was the point in the show that he was to perform a match. He got through it like a professional.

Max Mini & Nova vs. Tarantula & Mosaic

Vince pushed Mini as "the smallest athlete in the world." This was back when WWF was routinely running matches with little people. Lawler was telling jokes, because of course he was, and McMahon was playing straight man telling him to knock it off.

"I can't help it," Jerry said.

Yeah.

The work in the match was good with the referee routinely allowing all the wrestlers in the ring at the same time. They booked a spot where Mini was slammed on the commentary table and Lawler was dying laughing while pointing at him. A monumental waste of time, considering we literally just watched Mini walk back to the apron while the match continued in the ring. He wasn't even the legal man, apparently.

Tarantula was the biggest of the little people and he was dominating the match until Max caught him with a crossbody, an arm drag, and a roll up for the pin. It was a sloppy finish, like Mosaic didn't get in to break it up in time. Or maybe they were going for the close call. Good work, not a great finish.

Max Mini & Nova def. Tarantula & Mosaic

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The Godwinns vs. The Headbangers

Two disgusting tag team fighting over the tag team titles. We know they're disgusting because they were spitting into the air and trying to catch it in their mouths. No one was impressed by this.

Always loved, by the way, that the Headbangers, Mosh and Thrasher, were both bald.

They damn near killed Phineas with a flapjack early in the match. Naturally, Vince called for a replay. I must say, it's odd as all hell watching this and thinking WWF was in the process of a major turnaround for business. Two misfit punk rockers battling two chunky pig farmers for the tag titles on the undercard of a major PPV, folks. Proof that the big stars draw and you can get away with a ton underneath that.

This match was awful, by the way. It's not that the work was altogether bad, it was just standard tag team action you had to have a dog in the fight to get into. I had completely tuned out and suddenly Sunny was announcing The Godwinns as the new tag team champions.

The audience couldn't have cared less about this. In fact, during the post-match beatdown, like 12 people chanted for "LOD" and that was that.

Godwinns def. Headbangers

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They ran a promo for Stone Cold Steve Austin and his heinous actions recently. This was when he was injured and they were trying to get him to give up the Intercontinental championship.

Owen Hart cut a promo saying he was sick of hearing about Austin and if Stone Cold tried to mess with him tonight there would be a lawsuit.

They did a long in-ring segment honoring various

Owen Hart vs. Faarooq

This was the finals of the tournament and Austin was at ringside doing commentary after ringing the bell. He stole Vince's headset -- "shut up, don't say another word or I'll knock your damn lights out" -- before giving it back demanding that McMahon talk about the most important belt in the WWF, the Intercontinental title.

Hart and Faarooq had no idea how to react to Austin at ringside, who had stolen Lawler's headset to run his mouth some more while the match in the ring finally got underway.

They only went for just over five minutes and Austin actually helped Hart win the title by knocking Faarooq out with the title while Commissioner Slaughter was distracted. This kickstarted a feud between Austin and the Nation.

Hart def. Faarooq

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The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Baricuas

This was another match booked to make up time due to Brian Pillman's death. It was a nothing match won by DOA.

DOA def. Los Baricuas

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Bret Hart & British Bulldog vs. Vader & The Patriot

I would love to talk to you about this match but my WWE Network feed absolutely would not work for any of this.

Hart & Bulldog def. Vader & Patriot

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Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

There are no words for this match and I'm hardly going to try. It's one of the few WWE matches to get the five-star rating from Meltzer. It was expertly laid out and worked, with Michaels taking a few big bumps, one of which included his blading in mid-air. HBK was at his finest here, as was Undertaker. They battled all around the cage, on top of it, off the side of it, inside it.

The finish saw the debut of Undertaker's storyline brother, Kane, who ripped the door off the cage, hit a Tombstone, and allowed Michaels to crawl over to score the pin to become number one contender to Bret Hart's WWF title. This is what would lead into the Montreal Screwjob.

Michaels def. Undertaker