BACKGROUND NOISE
This match took place on February 13, 1997. A rare Thursday edition of Monday Night RAW. I do not recall this match but do remember this RAW very well. It was on this show that Shawn Michaels forfieted the WWF Title due to his “smile being gone”.
Rocky was challenging for the WWF Intercontinental Championship here. Hunter Hearst Helmsley had been the champion for 74 days at this point. A title reign that actually was more established than Maivia’s WWF career at this point. An interesting fact about this match, Helmsley was scheduled to defend the title just 3 days later against Ahmed Johnson at a PPV. Rock’s position at that event was not announced.
Helmsley was the heel in this match and Maivia thus was the babyface
THE BELL
Rocky was at this point still a commodity with in the company, the first 3rd generation Superstar. The story early in this match was simply that as much of a blue chipper as he was, Rocky was still outmatched. He went for a headlock early and was downed after a moment. This gave Helmsley a chance to posture. Helmsley was using his experience and arrogance to get into the youngster’s head.
As the match progresses, Rocky finds his niche and the move that can throw Helmsley off of his tracks, a dropkick. A dropkick that while seemingly missing twice at this point, does send Helmsley to the outside of the ring twice.
What happens next is something I don’t necessarily understand. Maivia places a dazed Helmsley up against the ring post and goes for a clothesline. A move that would, if connected, sandwich Hunter’s head between Rocky’s arm and the post. That I get, but what I don’t get is the fact it was done by the babyface. In the Andre The Giant/Hulk Hogan match at WrestleMania 3, the spot makes sense. Andre tried for a headbutt but Hogan gets out of the way. Andre was the villian in that match. It doesn’t seem like the “right” thing to do here. Its kind of a dick move. Luckily Helmsley gets out of the way and Rocky’s arm gets hurt.
When the match gets back in the ring, Hunter goes full force over the arm. After a few minutes he starts a simplistic beat down. Chops and a neck breaker, asserting his dominance. Every time Maivia starts firing back, he is set back down. He demonstrates a counter to a sleeper hold by running Maivia face first into the corner. Something that Rocky could have used just seconds earlier because Helmsley had him in the same position.
The match takes a brief turn in Rocky’s favor when he starts firing up and is even able to hit a crossbody from the top rope. It is reversed and we go back to Hunter’s dominance. He even hits a neckbreaker that commentator Vince McMahon indicates he believes to signal the end (in fairness, this was a commentary trademark of his). After a piledriver doesn’t get it done, Helmsley begins to show frustration. He keeps going for bigger and bigger moves. After a superplex does not work, he signals it is time for The Pedigree, which he cannot hit because Rocky cannot remain standing. After a third attempt, Rocky grabs a small package (NOT A PENIS JOKE) and gets a surprise three count.
Winner of the Match: Rocky Maivia
Final Verdict
While it is historically significant in the career of The Rock, it actually isn’t much of a match. Rocky didn’t do a lot in the match other than manage to not lose. The actual loser of this match however was not Helmsley, it was Ahmed Johnson. The man who was supposed to face Helmsley at the PPV three days later. That match was dropped and replaced with a rematch of this encounter. Ahmed Johnson instead battled nobody. He was off the show.
Rating: **
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