Dok Hendricks gives us a quick preview of the “Lion’s Cage” match between Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock later. It is basically a UFC cage with high sides like a traditional WWF cage. He then turns it over to Michael Cole who is joined by The Rock. He is asking The Rock about his attack on the knee of Triple H, with the IC Title, during Sunday Night Heat earlier in the day. The Rock cuts his usual amazing promo with stuff like ” How is Triple H going to climb The People’s Ladder and reach The Rock’s Intercontinental Title with only one leg?” Good stuff as Rock kicks it back to the Jabronies at ringside.

“Marvelous” Marc Mero enters first for the next match and is joined by Jacqueline for a mixed-tag match. At this point Jim Ross mentions that Sable still hasn’t announced who her partner will be tonight. For the record this may be the coolest Mero ever looked in his career and that isn’t saying much. There is a quick clip of the events leading to the feud; Jackie attacking Sable during their arm wrestling match and then assaulting her with her own Bikini Contest trophy, then the following week coming from the crowd to attack her again. Sable enters next, alone, and the crowd is popping for the beautiful diva. As she makes her way to the ring we get some classic perverse King commentary. He says things like ” I’m not Elmo but she can tickle me anytime”. Sable goes straight to the mic and says ” Now let me introduce you to my partner”. The “You Think You Know Me” Edge theme begins to play and he is seen entering from the fans. JR is shocked that she would choose the “undefeated rookie” for a partner.

Sable is in the ring first and is calling for Jacqueline to join her. She isn’t having it, so Edge and Mero get the start. Mero starts with an early advantage but after a hurricanrana from Edge he is quickly tagging out. Jacqueline is telling Edge to tag Sable in but as soon as he does so She runs to tag Mero back in. Edge gets the edge after he flapjacks Mero and receives a pop for doing so. The advantage would not last long as Jackie’s well timed foot grab opens a window of opportunity for Mero. Edge manages to reverse Mero’s TKO into a DDT, that leaves both men laying on the mat. The crowd is on their toes as the hot tag is made and both ladies enter the ring. Sable quickly shoots the legs of Jacqueline and begins to deliver blows to the face of Jackie. Sable hair whips Jacqueline before she heads to the corner to deliver an elbow to the face of Mero. A move that the crowd loved. Mero soon finds himself between the women and is threatening to punch Sable. This avails him a kick to the family jewels and Sable is soon setting up to SableBomb Mero. Jacqueline interrupts the attempt with a double ax handle to the back of Sable. After some rope chokes from Jackie, Sable regains the advantage and hits Jacqueline with Mero’s own TKO. But Mero manages to break the cover by pulling Sable from the ring by the foot. Sable is returned to the ring, after some double teaming by Jackie and Mero, and it continues as Marc holds the arms of Sable so Jacqueline can deliver a running elbow. Sable moves from harms way and Mero receives the elbow instead. This sends him crashing from the apron. Sable tags Edge back in and he is soon leaping over the top rope, to the outside, for a suicide splash onto Mero. How Marc Mero managed to end up outside the ring where this took place I’ll never know. Regardless, it was a sweet spot. He throws Mero into the steps but Jacqueline is soon jumping on his back. Edge soon bends her over his knee and proceeds to spank her on the entrance ramp. They return to the ring and Edge has a great high spot with a crossbody off the top rope. Edge attempts the pin but Jacqueline puts Mero’s foot on the ropes.

Mero regains some steam after he reverse into a Samoan drop and climbs the top rope, presumably to attempt his finish, The Wild Thing. Edge gets to his feet in time to knock Mero, spread eagle, onto the top rope. Edge tags in Sable and she hit the frankensteiner off the top rope on Marc Mero. She attempts the pin but has to move as Jacqueline is coming off the top turnbuckle and this cause her to instead land on Mero. Edge enters the ring and this sets up the finish. Edge hits the Downward Spiral on Mero and this lead to a double team move, that was a popular finish of Edge and Christian in the indies. Edge does a lift of sorts on Sable and drops her on Mero for the three count. Edge has said he came up with this finish because the original didn’t put him over in anyway. Besides a few Edge highspots, the match wasn’t that good and the main takeaway I found here is how far the Women’s Division has came in recent years. Match Time: 8:24

Michael Cole is in the back and is joined by one half of the Tag Team Titles, Mankind. Cole tells him that The Undertaker has said Kane, who is Mankind’s partner, isn’t going to show up tonight. Cole than ask if he is going to forfeit. Mankind concedes that maybe he should because he’s lost everything including his sledgehammer. They would go back and fourth over disappointing the fans before Vince McMahon enters to remind him of the time he hitchhiked to The Garden and how this is where he is destined to be. He then tell Mankind to envision “One man successfully defending the Tag Team Championships” and personally guarantees that Mankind will be in the MSG Hall of Fame by next week. Vince convinces him and Mankind finishes with “If the Outlaws don’t like it, I’ve got thirteen words for them, How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” This is amazing stuff and shows as to why Mankind is fighting alone later in the evening. Michael would the introduce us to a closer look at The Lion’s Den.

The video shows the events that started this feud between Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock. Michael says that Owen Hart has been training with Dan “The Beast” Severn. Dan Severn is a UFC Hall of Famer and is most famous for fighting in the tournament style of UFC past. He is also the only person to hold NWA and UFC titles concurrently. Take that Brock Lesnar. Owen and Shamrock had a match in Stu Hart’s dungeon at the previous PPV, Fully Loaded. Owen won that submission match and Severn was the special referee. The video ends with Shamrock telling Owen that he is stepping into his world now. We enter the arena’s basement next and this is where we first see the cage. The match was in The Garden’s basement, which was the Theatre, because there wasn’t enough room to house both rings in the main arena. It is similar to a MMA style cage but it is smaller and has higher cage walls. Due to its size the official must patrol the top like he’s in a prison watchtower. Owen Hart enters the theatre first and receives a negative response from the fans. He is joined by Severn, who gives him a pep talk before he enters the cage. Before we hear Shamrock’s music Owen is greeted with “Nugget” chants from the fans. When “The World’s Most Dangerous Man”, Ken Shamrock enters the top nearly comes off the place, and he wastes no time entering the Lion’s Den. If you don’t know the career of Shamrock I would suggest you take a look at some of his UFC SuperCard Championship wins. He also holds the record for longest UFC fight clocking in at 36 minutes at UFC 5.

An official chains the door shut and the match is soon underway. Ken drives Owen into the cage and after some rolling around both men find their footing again. This leads to Owen driving Ken into the cage. The pair exchange some punches, from different ground positions, and the match is shaping up to be very UFC-like in comparison. It’s early and Ken is already applying a rest hold sleeper that Owen escapes with a low blow delivered off the heel of his boot. This allows Hart to whip Shamrock into the cage but Shamrock would explode back off the cage and deliver a vicious clothesline. Ken rips the shirt off the back of Hart and proceeds to choke him with it. At this point we can notice a little blood coming from the mouth of Owen. The match goes on pretty slow for a bit and the crowd re-enters the match when Ken springboards off the cage and hits Owen with a forearm. Owen finally regains some steam when he reverses an Irish whip that sends Shamrock face first into a support beam. This allows him to mount an offensive as the crowd chants “Shamrock” repeatedly. The chants have no effect and they soon pop for Owen when he nails the enziguri. It amazes me how, back then, this kick never failed to generate pop. I need to pay attention and see if this is still a thing.

There is a spot next that looked brutal, Owen pancake drops Shamrock face first into the cage. The “Nugget” chants are in full force and this time they help to rally the beaten Shamrock, who reverses what looks like a piledriver setup with a back body drop. They exchange some blows before Owen’s attempted hurricanrana is met with a powerbomb reversal, that leaves both men on the mat. This is were we can see a small laceration on the top of Shamrock’s forehead. The “Owen Sucks” chants begin and so does Shamrock’s rally. He again leaps of the cage and this time hits Hart with a spinning back elbow. This was definitely one of the coolest spots in the match. He goes to attempt it one more time but Owen sees it coming and catches him for a powerslam. This leads to Owen Hart locking in the SharpShooter. Shamrock makes his way to the cage and begins to climb it while Owen still has the hold applied. This is quite goofy but it works to break the hold, I guess. Both men soon find themselves on the mat again after a tornado DDT from Shamrock. Shamrock unleashes an onslaught of various punches and kicks but Owen manages a reversal eventually. This leads to the headlock that Owen learned from Severn and the commentators have been teasing the whole bout. Its a standing variant of a dragon sleeper. Shamrock runs up the cage, in his best Jackie Chan re-enactment, to escape the hold by flipping over the head of Hart. This allows for Shamrock to apply his signature Ankle Lock. The crowd is popping in anticipation of the tap-out and Owen is doing a great job selling it. Owen taps and we see Severn walk to the back in disgust. Shamrock climbs to the walkway above the ring, to celebrate his victory, and the crowd is going bonkers. It ends with JR teasing a match between Shamrock and Severn. For a gimmick this match was a positive one and it is worth taking the time to stop on. Match Time: 9:16

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