Pretty Good

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

So I've decided that if the makers of a PPV are going to put very little effort into their shows, then I'm gonna do the same for my reviews. This show is bad, this is show is boring, but most importantly, this show is predictable. Ahmed Johnson's match with Hunter is just Hunter getting destroyed and then winning with one move. Lawler's match with Foley drags on way to long. Crush vs Goldust is nothing, and solely exists to fill time. Sid's tag match with the Road Warriors is just there, not even the Harts can save it from being mediocre. Hunter's match with Foley just exists for 20 minutes, only really picking up in the last 3 minutes. The only really good match on the show is Shawn vs Austin, but the match isn't the best between them, and ends in a no contest, so it also isn't really worth your time. The main event is Taker vs Ron Simmons, and you should be able to predict the winner solely from the two guys involved. I don't know what they were thinking when they chose to make this a 3 hour show, and put only one match with potential on it. Not worth your time.

Live from Providence, RIAttendance 9,312Your commentators are Vince McMahon & Jim Ross King of the Ring: Semi-FinalsHunter Hearst Helmsley (W/Chyna) Vs Ahmed JohnsonHunter wins with the Pedigree. He advances to the finals. I didn't care for this match at all. It wasn't boring or anything like that, just pretty mediocre. Hunter wasn't good enough to carry a match at this juncture.*1/2 out of 5King of the Ring: Semi-FinalsMankind Vs Jerry 'The King' LawlerMankind advances to the finals after winning with the mandible claw. This match gets marks, simply for Foley's crazy bumping. Most of the match is Mankind getting his ass kicked by Lawler. It went on too long. *3/4 out of 5Steve Austin attacks Brian Pillman from behind and sticks his head in a toilet. 'Goldust (W/Marlena) Vs Crush (W/The Nation of Domination)Goldust wins with a DDT. This was a pretty boring match. It felt like a filler match and that's exactly what it was. Mediocre stuff all around.*1/2 out of 5Sycho Sid & The Legion of Doom Vs Owen Hart, The British Bulldog & Jim NeidhartThe Hart Foundation win after Owen Hart pins Sid with a sunset flip. I was excited about this match initially, but they didn't deliver very well. It moved too slowly for my liking. I'm surprised that Sid was pinned clean.*1/2 out of 5King of the RingMankind Vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (W/Chyna)Helmsley wins the King of the Ring after a pedigree to Mankind. I'm never fond of Triple H accomplishing anything big. Never have been, never will be. That said, this match accomplished a couple of things. It made Mankind look like a warrior for never giving up and helped get him more over. **1/4 out of 5Bret Hart announces that he's coming back at In Your House: Canadian Stampede. He tries to do some color commentary for the Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels match, but he's forced out by WWE officials.'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs Shawn MichaelsBoth men get disqualified after they attack referees. This is the match that saves this entire PPV. If it wasn't for this match, this PPV would one of the worst of all time. I think this match is as good the match they had at Wrestlemania 14, or at least pretty close to it. As good as this match is, the finish sucks.**** out of 5WWF ChampionshipThe Undertaker (C) (W/Paul Bearer) Vs Farooq (W/The Nation of Domination)The Undertaker wins with a tombstone. After the match, Ahmed Johnson turns heel by delivering a Pearl River Plunge to The Undertaker. Well, I expected a lot worse. It's not a good match, but I did expect worse. It was better than I remembered.** out of 5There is one good match on this entire show! Triple H Vs Mankind is OK, but that's about it. Everything else is completely forgettable. I have to give this PPV a big thumbs down.3/10

1. KoR Semifinal: Ahmed Johnson Vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - Crowd was 100% behind Ahmed... But he loses...again. Match was obviously nothing special with some mistakes and misunderstandings. 6.5/10 2. KoR Semifinal: Mankind Vs. Jerry Lawler - Ordinary match. Mankind advances. 7/10 3. Crush Vs. Goldust - They did some decent moves. Yes, even Crush. 6.5/10 4. Hart Foundation Vs. Legion of Doom/Sid Vicious - Nothing worth-for-watch occurred. 6/10 5. KoR Final Match: Mankind Vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - Mankind is one tough bastard. He could eat all the pain of the world! But HHH became KoR 1997. Exciting was only the 2nd part of the match. 8/10 6. Steve Austin Vs. Shawn Michaels - Pretty awesome match with terrible DQ ending. 8.5/10

King of the Ring 1997 continued the event's losing streak with another mediocre entry here. Triple H and Mankind put on a decent final, and Shawn Michaels PPV return, thankfully in a non-title match, had a good match against Stone Cold but the semi finals and WWE Championship match were rather disappointing also.The night started off with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, not long from becoming Triple H, defeat Ahmed Johnson in a KOTR semi Final match. This was one of Johnson's better matches, but still wasn't good.Mankind won the next match, the second semi final, defeating Jerry Lawler in a dull match that was longer than it needed to be and so he would be facing Helmsley in the King of the Ring Final later on in the night.Next match saw Goldust, still a good guy, defeat the Nation of Domination's Crush (with D Lo Brown and former manager Clarence Mason). This was just a filler match, but did the job. Pass.Our next match saw Sycho Sid making his first PPV appearance since Wrestlemania 13, teaming up with the Legion of Doom and losing to the New Hart Foundation (Owen Hart, The British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart). Given the talent involved this was about as good as could be expected. Sid wasn't much longer in the WWE, while the New Hart Foundation was gaining momentum heading into the next In Your House PPV where they would be fan favourites for a night in Canada.Next was the King of the Ring Final which saw Helmsley defeat Mankind thanks to interference from his female bodyguard Chyna. This was a fun brawl. Hunter and Mankind did some great work together and this match elevated both men. Helmsley broke his King of the Ring crown which would become a running joke with Hunter breaking two more at attempted coronations.Next saw WWE tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin collide in an excellent singles match. The feud was part of Bret Hart's evil plan to turn the tag champs against each other. And it nearly worked, but they got control of their emotions in time for no real damage to be done. The New Hart Foundation then attacked both men, forcing a double DQ.The Main Event saw the Undertaker retain the Title over Farooq, the leader of the Nation of Domination in an instantly forgettable match.And so there you have it, the extra our on this King of the Ring PPV actually served to hurt the card, as it meant they put on meaningless filler matches. But the big matches were all good, or at least watchable. Not a bad PPV, but not a good one either.