WWF Monday Night RAW Review thread

[SUPERECWFAN1]

They show the WWF Reality ad where Adam's wife details how he let himself go and wasn't much for passion. Then once he started acting like Shawn Michaels , he changed. She tells the camera guy he best leave as her husband comes in doing HBK .

After this Mankind is on the ramp. 4 Score and 7 weeks ago he brought fire to Undertaker. His goal was to permanent scar the Undertaker. He was not successful ; at In Your House he vowed to finish the job ! Mankind yells that if Undertaker had a problem with him , take it out on him ! He instead took the cowards way out. By burning him and ruining him physically for the rest of his life. A man who was like a father to him...Uncle Paul ! Paul is here tonight but he is asking for compassion as he is scared at how he looks. Please , be considerate as he brings out Uncle Paul.

Paul Bearer comes out wrapped up. He has a terrible secret that he has to unveil. Bearer brings up the fire that was close. That fire that seared his face seared the bond they once had. Remember Undertaker , remember for him and will give the Undertaker one more chance for them to unify. That he will reveal a secret only he knows and will reveal it to whole world. That is a secret he made over the grave site of his mother and father. Mankind pleads no more chances...but Paul will give him this. Mankind claims Undertaker better do what Uncle Paul wants.

After commercial we see the Hart Foundation in a locker room as you see the surgical scar on Bret's knee pretty close. They all look in a somber mood there. Hour #2 begins as Jim Ross welcomes everyone to it. One fan has a replica WWF IC title. Faarooq comes out for the 2nd hour as he comes out for an interview. They discuss the sacrifice of the PG-13 to the LOD earlier.

Faarooq is the #1 contender as McMahon brings it up. He starts how it feels great and pretenders like Ahmed never had that before. He questions Vince when was the last time a black man been WWF World Champion. Vince can't answer , but all the WWF and other companies had was token blacks like Ahmed as IC champion and Bobo Brazil as US Champion. Its basically how people feel black people ain't worthy enough to be World Champions. That black people can wash cars and raise your kids but now that is gonna change. Your white savior Undertaker will go down at King of Ring. King Faarooq will be World Champion.

McMahon questions this racist talk as Faarooq claims its not racism , its the truth. When was a black man granted a World Championship title shot ? He's for everyone and black girls can idolize him for what he's doing finally. This ends finally as Savio comes out for his match against Undertaker. The dongs hit as the lights go out. Undertaker finally arrives as he slowly makes his way to the ring.

Undertaker then raises his arms as the lights and a pop goes off as the Nation quickly all jump out of the ring. Outside Faarooq tries to rally the NOD for this match as Vega looks worried. After the commercial Undertaker is beating on Vega pretty easy. He then climbs and walks the top rope with the hammer smash. Finally Savio turns the tables with a back elbow in the corner when Undertaker charges in.

This doesn't last long as seconds in Vega eats a big boot to the face from the Dead Man. Finally Di-Lo distracts Undertaker as Savio chop blocks his bad knee , as he starts focusing on it. This is a non-title match as Jim Ross brings up that Savio may not even care for the win. Soften up Undertaker for Faarooq. Savio climbs the top rope as he chokes him with a strap , but the Dead Man rallies and throws him over his shoulder off the top rope seconds later.

The comeback is short live as Vega catches him with a spin kick off the ropes. But later gets too cocky and climbs the top rope and catches a boot to the face as he comes off. Savio eats a choke slam , Krush starts to get involved and gets knocked off the apron. Then he tombstone pile drives Savio as he goes for the pin. The entire Nation jumps in and attacks Undertaker as they keep trying to beat him down as Faarooq uses a leather belt at one point. Then he holds off the WWF World title claiming he'll be champion soon.

An angry Undertaker makes a referee go away as Lawler claims he has a big surprise ahead. After commercial Lawler has ...ROB VAN DAM out ! In fact in ring to face RVD is a young Jeff Hardy ! Lawler starts ripping the fans and Howard Finkel . Then he turns his attention to his anger at ECW. He calls ECW cheap , low talented and nothing. Rob backs up Lawler's assessment and claims that no one is as talented in ECW as he is. Its there Lawler coins the term that will be Rob Van Dam's career ..MR. MONDAY NIGHT. Anyhow Lawler then mocks Hardy as he leaves and calls him a Bon Jovi wannabe.

The fans starts a ECW chant as the match begins. Hardy gets elevated by Rob's legs and eats a bunch of kicks. Rob then delivers a double arm underhook front suplex in a spot. Spinning martial arts kick knocks Hardy to the floor seconds later. Then seconds later Rob stuns Ross by doing a suicide pauncha to Hardy against the guard rail and floor ! Fans start a Sabu chant as we get a replay from angles as Ross is impressed , Rob didn't even touch the top rope for that flying suicide front dive to the floor.

In ring Van Dam does a double leg drop as fans begin a YOU SOLD OUT chant loudly. Then in ring he delivers the 5 star frog splash ! Then Rob delivers a split leg moonsault as Jim Ross claims he's impressive , he may not be welcome in ECW after tonight but wow. We get replays of Mr. Monday Night. Ross claims he must have a WWF contract now.


End of Par #2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Then we get pt.2 of the Goldust interview. Lawler mocks him for crying in the interview. He claims what is next , is he wants to entertain folks with this character. To take care of his family and give them what they need. That he wants to make the fans happy and give them a show . That fans go , man that Goldust gave us a show. We get scenes of fans dressed as Goldust. Then we see them turn to how Dustin as a kid competed with fans and his dad's career for attention...as his daughter does. She was 3 years old when this aired.

There was things that happened in his past he claims that happened , that he has to let go for his girls sake. That when he's 70 years old and crippled up and sitting in his lazy boy flipping channels , his little girl can still think to come and sit in his lap. One of the best moments was seeing his daughter in the crowd watching and doing his signature Goldust taunt. That he would do that as a kid for his dad.

Jim Ross claims he's living the American dream and is his own man now. Dustin starts to discuss his father and tells him , all those years you were bigger than life to me. I wanted to be just like you. That he wanted to be him , so he became a pro wrestler like him. It was the hardest thing he ever accomplished. That no one can take it from him and he knows no one can be Goldust like him. He cries as he discusses his dad and tells him he loves him.

After this the bell chimes as the Undertaker has joined them. In ring Jim Ross interviews him from the announce booth. On the Titan tron is Undertaker as he's asked about Paul Bearer and attack by NOD for his physical condition. Its there Undertaker claims that Bearer is discussing things that have no place. But he turns to Faarooq where he tells him he never won a match with that , its about what he will do to them in their minds. Faarooq you have forced him to open the vault of souls and unleash a demon to help him destroy a Nation ! You will...REST IN PEACE.

In ring is a 4 way , 4 team tag team match with the New Blackjacks , Headbangers , Phil LaFon & Doug Furnas , and Hart Foundation. Jim Ross tells us the rules as LaFon and Owen start it. Phil and Owen go through some spots and reversals as both try side kicks and enziguri to each other and miss. Jim Ross brings up how he thought there would be an allegiance to each other. More tags happens as Doug Furnas delivers a flying shoulder block to Windham in a spot.

Later in a spot Furnas collides with LaFon as Barry Windham delivers a big vicious lariat which gets them the pin fall. That team is eliminated as the New Blackjacks work over Headbangers. During the commercial LaFon was able to hold the leg outside the ring as Bradshaw tried a suplex on Headbanger and gets pinned. Owen then in a spot hits the exposed turnbuckle sternum 1st. After a nice double team move , the Headbangers think they have the 3 count as Hart put his foot on the ropes unknown to them.

Davey is tagged in and nearly gets a roll up pin. Bulldog delivers a huge suplex holding a Headbanger up for a long while. Thrasher shockingly works heel and catches Bulldog with a kick off the ropes. In the corner Thrasher and Mosh work over Davey with a double team. Then we get told there is activity happening backstage according to Ross. In a spot the Headbangers double team Davey with him draped over the top rope throat 1st as one leap frogs and lands on him.

Seconds later both men deliver clotheslines and lay each other out. Finally both men make the hot tag and in a spot locks on a sharpshooter. But is stopped by the Headbangers. Then in a spot all 4 men work and both Headbangers soon each a finisher. Davey wins the match with a running power slam .

Out comes Bret and the other Hart Foundation as he is ready to reveal this big surprise. Bret then sends all of them to the back as they are puzzled. Owen is worried clearly but he says he wants to be by himself and do this. Neidhart , Pillman and Owen question this and slowly go to the back. Then Bret warns Steve Austin to not come out or he'll have his pack of lions rip him to shreds.

About his surprise now ...in person face to face he wants that gutless poser Shawn Michaels to come out . That he knows he's back there and wants him to come out. Shawn finally comes out as both question why Bret would do this as he's in a wheelchair. Then we see Bret claim there was a time he just couldn't stand him , but him standing there ...he just hates his guts ! Then Bret claims he could list all the reasons why he hates him. Shawn removes his jacket as Bret taunts him , how that symbolizes his career...he's hot..he's cold. One moment he's hot and next he's not !

What bugs him about Shawn is how he dances around , with that attitude and arrogance. That it finally hit him that this sums up Americans attitudes. That they believe their better than others. That they are rotten all the way through. That they hate it when people tell the truth. Shawn hates that. This country is rotten from inside like ancient Rome. They are led by scum ! Scum like Shawn Michaels !

You ripped him off he claims to Shawn at Wrestlemania 12 for the WWF World title. That when he decided to come back back he didn't have the guts to face him like a man. He was too busy posing for girly magazines. Too busy dancing around , getting tattoos. Shaking his ass , makin himself a horses ass. A self degenerate that is what he is. He took the WWF World title and led it to crap. Then he rips Shawn for being a damn coward to not face him at this years Wrestlemania (true).

That he has his family and signed the richest contract in WWF history and is dictated by the almighty dollar. Who doesn't work for the almighty dollar . Shawn starts to point at himself as Bret laughs and goes , that's BS and you know it ! Then he brings up the million dollar question as Vince McMahon brought up . You shouldn't be concerned if his mother n father sit in that front row and it shouldn't concern him what he's paid to work. What should concern him is whether he's as good as him or not. That he isn't and never will be ! Then the show ends.

But the camera's still roll as we see Bret standing barely and taunts HBK , that he doesn't have it inside to touch him right now. Shawn answers with a super kick as Bret falls over the chair. This brings out Hart Foundation who chase Shawn all over the ring and outside as finally at the ramp they work him over. Bulldog picks him up in guerrilla press slam and ready to throw him off the ramp ! Then out from the back comes Stone Cold who lays out Bulldog with a crutch. This has a big fight as the Hart Foundation get in ring and WWF security breaks this fight up....end of show !


THE BAD : This episode teased a big surprise and really seemed to continue the trend of the BIG SURPRISE always being a huge let down in wrestling. Bret claimed a big one was coming and Jim Ross promoted a possible new member of the heel group. Instead it was basically Bret Hart being told by Russo to go and do shoot style promo on Shawn in ring right there. Which while making great TV , started to impact the relationship the 2 had more n more.


OVERALL : **** Outta 5. 2 solid matches by the debuting Scott Putski and Rob Van Dam made the show as well as the WWF quickly programming Faarooq/Undertaker at the next PPV. This RAW became famous for the shoot super kick segment at the end. As I said before Russo had pretty much allowed Bret and Shawn to do these unscripted shoot style promos on each other. But things were getting edgier and edgier between the 2.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - May 19th , 1997




Your Hosts - Jim Ross , Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

The show opens with Vince McMahon detailing the lame surprise Bret Hart had for us. As Bret is shown berating Shawn Michaels in scenes. Which really was the best things Shawn had said about him comically. The shoot style promo lasted until Shawn super kicks Bret over the chair in a scene. Now Vince claims this was before Bret could reveal the surprise. This started a brawl with Austin/Michaels vs Hart Foundation. Bret may have united 2 people against them in contempt and he will be here tonight to reveal his surprise.

After the intro and explosions this RAW is coming from Mobile , Alabama. The show opens as Stone Cold is coming out and he's none too happy. Jim Ross is gonna interview him it appears as Austin paces around. Ross claims that Austin is here to address his actions of last week. Damn straight he's here to address it , he don't give a rats ass bout Shawn Michaels. The only reason he came out was because he saw the Hart Foundation turn their backs and he saw a cheap shot and hell yeah he took it !

Shawn Michaels should thank his damn lucky stars he was there cause he was about to get his ass beaten. The Hart Foundation run in a pack and he don't care if Shawn's with him or against him ! This brings out HBK to no music as he's in street pants and a cut t-shirt with bandana tied around front like how Nash does his in NWO. Shawn starts talking tough and starts off with , let me tell ya son. It wasn't too long ago he did the same thing for him. Shawn claims he didn't do it for him either , he just hates the Hart Foundation enough to do it. Let him make one thing perfectly clear , he's fallen off ladders long before him son. He's been thrown off cages long before him son ...and even if he got thrown off that stage he would have gotten back up as usual !

All this while poking Austin which isn't wise. Austin himself tells Shawn he didn't say he's not tough , but he best take his ass with his bandana backstage before he kicks his teeth down his throat ! Jim Ross breaths hard as Shawn answers back he's telling him that as someone who is master of sweet chin music. So maybe he should go to the back before he stuns him and stomps a mud hole in his ass. The poking finally sends Austin over the edge as the 2 come to blows quick. WWF referees & security get involved fast to break it up.

This goes on for a couple minutes til on the Titon Tron as Davey & Owen mock these 2 idiots. The Hart Foundation claims that if the 2 morons can get their crap together then maybe they can accept a special challenge. for the WWF World tag team titles. Shawn takes the mic and says he wants to face those 2 nimrods but he doesn't want this sob as his partner and will find someone backstage to tag with. Austin takes the mic from him and says he sure as hell doesn't want this sorry ass piece of trash as his partner. That he'll find a 75 pound guy to just come stand out there. The 2 men go for the mic and brawl some more as security try and break it up !

Ross finally gets back to announce booth as the 2 men continue to go at each other. The King of Ring tournament will continue. Vader vs Krush was supposed to happen , but there is a surprise there. After commercial its not against Vader as he was pulled from the match due to broken nose from Ken Shamrock. They claim that he suffered a broken septum and can barely breath. Krush instead will face ...Hunter Heart Hemsley who is back in again.

Jerry Brisco as WWF official claims that due to pre-match instructions , Tim White claimed he could only advance due to pinfall or submission. This doesn't fully explain how or why someone thought losing by DQ would help them. This is 2 heels facing each other weirdly and Helmsley tries punching and kicking Krush down to start aggressive. Hunter delivers a spinning neck breaker off the ropes and poses.

But seconds later off the ropes , gets a round the world back breaker from Krush off the ropes. Then later in a spot Krush locks on a bear hug that he seconds later delivers a near spine buster slam. In a spot that really wasn't that good , Krush climbs up and tries a fist drop off the 2nd rope. He misses and really its not that big a fall from him. Hunter in a cool spot later does a near Flair flip in the corner , bounces back and eats a guerrilla press into a gut buster !

Hunter is struggling with Krush's size as he does a knee smash and then into a Rude Awakening. Anyhow in a comical scene that plays for both , Savio jumps up on the apron as Helmsley tries a pin attempt. Hunter signals for help from Chyna but can't do anything in time. Then we see Krush signal for help as Chyna has the ref by accident. Savio delivers a side kick , laying out Krush ! This allows Hunter to get the pin fall. Chyna stops Vega from getting involved as Krush later gets angry with Savio. The 2 men start pushing each other as they close to exploding.

Faarooq runs down to talk peace between the two for what happened. Finally the 2 men go to the back as things seem to have settled down finally. After the commercial out come the Hart Foundation in a non-title match . British Bulldog , Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart come out. This is non title match involving Bob Holly. The WWF to hype the home town favorite Holly have Alabama rednecks voice support for him. Lawler claims he spoke to some from Alabama fans as well.

In this segment we see Lawler introduce an old man named James Dees (or Dese) and his son Eugene. The father seems to act like he's hit a lot of beer. The son meanwhile sadly comes across as well....kinda sad goofy. Jerry soon starts ripping on Alabama and questions how many vechicles they have parked in their yard. Then asks James if he has gotten divorced from his sister yet. These are real Alabamians folks he claims.

Holly comes out as fans start a massive USA chant. This is the most popular Holly has been in years folks. He's out in spark plug get up and soon as the match starts quick he delivers a nice hurincanrana into a pin attempt ! Neidhart and Bulldog watch from the ramp as Holly tries another pin attempt as he stays on offense. Delivering a big clothesline and another pin attempt seconds later. Finally to change the pace Owen catches Bob with a spinning heel kick off the ropes.

Owen in a spot throws Holly hard into the ring turnbuckles back 1st and he sells it. Then later as Bob tries to rally , Owen uses the momentum to throw him over the top rope as he lands pretty hard. Then in a cool spot Holly does a sunset flip into a roll up pin attempt. Owen reverses and acts cocky as he goes for a sharpshooter , but Bob rolls him up in a small package for the shocking 3 count ! The place erupts as Owen is stunned.

The Hart Foundation charge the ring as Bob Holly is smart enough to get the hell outta there. The home town boy won as the Hart Foundation are incensed over this. Lawler is even mad at this. Then we get the hype of Paul Bearer's potential secret he swore on the graves of Undertaker's mother n father. We get a replay of last week where Undertaker claims to Bearer there are certain events in darkside that better not be said. Undertaker will be on later to discuss this.

We get a funny ad where Sunny and Jim Cornette sell the super soaker toy. Where Cornette gets drenched by it. Shawn backstage is with Ken Shamrock who he claims in this , its a dangerous situation and he needs the world's most dangerous man. So Shamrock will help him defeat Owen Hart & British Bulldog next week. Ken thanks him for this honor since he's not had much experience. Shawn all he needs for him is to handle Owen and he'll handle Davey.

Anyhow we come back from that promo as Lawler and Jim Ross are discussing this as we hear...voices. Its basically Vince McMahon yelling into the head sets folks...you can hear him yelling to Lawler and Jim Ross. Finally someone seems to stop it quick as we go into Jim Ross hyping the Mankind interview. A look into him as we see how brutal Mankind is.

A boyhood dream of Mick Foley's that turned into a living hell. Mankind claims a misconception fans have of him is ...he's a bad person. He's not , he played cowboys and Indians. That while cowboys raped and pillaged the land , he was always the Indian , the underdog. If that makes him a bad person so be it. We see a clip of Foley on his house diving off it ! Foley seemed to embrace physical pain as friend n companion as Jim Ross claims. Then we see Mick detail a story of being 8 years old and how he played ball with friends. He went to tackle a boy for the ball as the kid's foot hit his face. Busting his mouth open.

He loved it ! That people were scared but he seemed to thrive on that. That he wanted something that would give him that same attention every night. Stock brokers can't do it , bankers can't either. President's can't bleed. BUT PRO WRESTLERS CAN EVERY NIGHT !! He brings up Chief Jay Strongbow watching him and doing moves. His mom said no more wrestling ...BUT SHE NEVER SAID NOT TO DREAM !!

His son when he turns 15 , he's gonna tell him to not eat strange things like he did. How he was bullied and ate worms as kids threw them at him. It was a story where he ate 1 worm , it became something else where Mickie Foley eats worms every meal. How many dates you think I got Jimmy after it ? NO WOMAN WANTS TO KISS A BOY WHO EATS WORMS DAILY ! I'M A GOOD KISSER...I NEVER GOT TO SHOW IT !! I NEVER GOT TO SHOW THE WORLD I LOVE AND COULD BE LOVED !!

end of part #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The damage was done from that day forward. I went through high school without a date . That hurts me Jimmy . Its there Ross ends part #1 and claims we will learn about Dude Love next week and how Foley went from a high school buy to the maniacal Cactus Jack. Foley ends it with a gleam in his eye , "I was death match champion Jimmy , I could make people sick !"

In ring we see Leif Cassidy as he waits on his challenger. Its there that Lawler brings up Rob Van Dam and how he debuted last week. How much talent he has as we see clips. Paul Heyman did some legal moves that will block him from Monday Night Raw. Lawler claims he has something in store for him. Coming out for his debut on WWF TV is ...Scott Taylor. Cassidy delivers a flying body splash on the floor to jump Taylor.

Back in Taylor flips over Cassidy and delivers a drop kick knocking him to the floor. Then Taylor does a splash onto Cassidy on the floor as payback. Back in ring later Scott delivers a nice high leg to Leif in a spot. Al quickly takes control later and delivers a nice big clothesline in a spot. Then later in a big spot , Taylor tries to go monkey flip Cassidy outta the turnbuckle. Instead with some power , Snow delivers an epic power bomb as Taylor lands hard !

Cassidy delivers a face 1st suplex and taunts the crowd , one more time. Taylor reversals him into a roll up pin ! Leif goes crazy to Jim Ross screaming I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE ! Grabbing his head , stomping the floor. Backstage we see Austin walk in on Sable who is barely dressed. He asks if she wants to be his partner as she is like , really ? He compliments her on the Austin 3:16 shirt (great ad WWF !) as she requests he close the door , then he comically opens and questions what she said...its a funny spot as he searches on.

The Hart Foundation arrive fully as Jim Ross claims we finally will find out this BIG SURPRISE , that Bret has for us. We get a replay again of last weeks confrontation between Bret & Shawn that erupted into a full brawl. As hour #2 begins the Hart Foundation come out as Bret is walking better on crutches from things. Also Vince McMahon has joined the booth for hour #2.

Bret gets on the mic and asks the crowd to do him a huge favor and just shut up. Americans are full of this freedom of speech and expression. Last week the great American hero Shawn Michaels wouldn't even allow him the right of free speech. Just typical all you rednecks here ; the scum of America coast to coast. You all speak with a fork tongue and he has a right to free speech. Last week that great American hero is no better than Steve Austin. That he can beat up on someone who can't defend himself. That is some hero.

Shawn Michaels he doesn't care who he gets as a partner. It can be anyone cause he's gonna cut right to chase. Everybody wants to know ; every true fan he has across the world wants to know and even you scum want to know. Bret than claims that Shawn claims he's coming back from a bad knee finally as he chuckles at King of Ring. Well Shawn , there is someone coming back from a bad knee as well at King of Ring. Its him...and he knows its risky to return so soon as he's told family but he's coming back.

Then he offers Shawn a special challenge. He will defeat him at King of the Ring within 10 minutes or he'll never , ever wrestle in America again if he can't. Even the Hart Foundation are stunned by this. Shawn interrupts him to claim he's spoke so much babble last week the show went off the air. HBK then jokes , you couldn't beat me in an hour , now your gonna do it in 10 minutes. So Shawn questions if Hart Foundation be there as Bret claims they travel with him. So Shawn makes a stipulation that he'll do the match but each Hart Foundation member must be hand-cuffed to a ring post outside the ring !

Then the promo gets weird as Shawn details that Bret couldn't go 10 minutes sexually and he understands Bret has had some "Sunny days" recently. Which seems to allude that Bret was having an affair ? WTF ? Bret quickly drags this promo back and claims he accepts the challenge of Shawn Michaels and will do that stipulation. That he will smoke Shawn in 10 minutes. HBK mocks Bret for that line and claims he doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell.

After this Goldust comes out and gets on the mic. Asking if fans want to see Marlena tonight , so he claims he has 2 for the price of one. So he brings out his daughter Dakota who gets in ring with her dad and Terri. Her mother asks her , her name as the girl jerks the mic away. She's 3-4 years old as Goldust plays with her in ring as she calls him Dad , then bounces on the ropes. He tells the crowd this is the joy of his life. The 2 go to the backstage area.

Out comes Rockabilly with Honkytonk Man. Billy starts off by mocking Goldust and how he cried last week. Dustin answers with some hard punches and works him over in the corner with punches after he climbs up. He plants a kiss on him to make him crazy. Lawler then goes into full gay panic mode and claims no wonder his dad don't like him. In a spot Billy delivers a standing leg drop to Goldust. Taking heel control of the match.

Fans start a Goldust chant as Billy climbs up and tries a fist drop. He eats a big boot to the face after coming off. Dustin brings back the bionic elbow after so long in a spot. Then delivers a flying elbow off the ropes seconds later in a spot. He tries a pin attempt after a bulldog off the ropes. Then in a spot Billy goes flying near over the top rope as his arm gets trapped in rope. Honky climbs in ready to nail Dustin as the referee has his back turned. But is stopped and suddenly Goldust takes the guitar and lays him out with it ! The referee calls for the bell for this weirdly and awards the match to...Rockabilly ? WTF is that ? Honky is a manager , not the guy in the match.

Even the audience is look at each other like , this makes no sense. Billy tries to help Honky up as Goldust holds up the remains of the guitar and playfully mocks the 2 over this. Backstage we see a very angry Ahmed. McMahon brings up the things Faarooq said and played the race card. Faarooq is a liar , a sell out , a racist and more. He doesn't like Faarooq at all but one thing he did bring up that his white , black and other fans have asked ..that Vince couldn't answer. Why hasn't there been a black world champion before ? Vince stumbles over the answer as Ahmed isn't blaming him but that is telling.


end of part #2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Then Ahmed proclaims he's gonna be like Hank Aaron and become the 1st black WWF World Champion. That he'll be the 1st one ever. That is something he claims will happen . After this we go to Stone Cold's search for a tag team partner. Backstage we see Austin threatening a scared Harvey Whippleman who he tells , all he has to do is stand on ring apron and not do a damn thing. Harvey is scared as he questions this as up walks Brooklyn Brawler who tells Steve he's the guy he needs and volunteers. Austin beats him down and throws him into some things. Then tells Harvey he's gonna be his partner right...RIGHT !? Whippleman agrees.

After this we get more adventures of Sunny with the super soaker. But the segment seems to repeat the same spot we just saw where Cornette is soaked again. Wetter is better she claims...ohhh k. Due to being a live program the WWF can't air the Godwinn's tag team match and have instead moved it to Shotgun Saturday night. Instead we see Faarooq coming down to face Rocky Maivia. Also the Nation of Domination no longer has JC Ice and Wolfie D as both were storyline written out as being dropped by the Nation after the destruction of the Road Warriors.

Faarooq asks Rocky to do the NOD salute as he questions to fans and then gives him the middle finger gesture. This makes him jump Maivia as the young guy quickly takes control for awhile. In a nice spot Rocky delivers a nice power slam off the ropes and goes for a pin attempt. Then much later in the match Rocky delivers a rock bottom in a spot ! He later shows off his great skill set with a slide over DDT off the ropes. Finally to end this decent short match , Faarooq catches him at the top turnbuckle. He delivers the dominator for the win.

Anyhow post match Faarooq stops his guys from beating down Rocky. Telling them no , to stop and tells em they are going to the back. Backstage we see things are going off as we see Bob Holly is jumped by the Hart Foundation. Taking a beat down for beating Owen Hart. Jerry Lawler claims Bob should have hopped in that race car and left after that match.

The Undertaker comes out for this interview as Vince McMahon conducts it. Vince questions the Paul Bearer secret but Undertaker wants to discuss Faarooq and his playing the race card. Faarooq needs to understand he's not the white savior , he's the reaper of lost souls ! After the King of Ring is over , as he sits in dressing room wondering why he's not WWF World Champion , its not because your black. Its because you couldn't beat Undertaker. Vince tries to speak about Bearer as he says this is not the time.

Bearer comes on Titan Tron as he is still bandaged. He claims that he should remember the dark morning , that fire opened old wounds. Undertaker wants him to wait as Paul yells he's gonna open up Pandora's box. Undertaker requests more time as Bearer claims he will give him 7 days , 7 sunsets and he will have to be back with him. If not he opens the box.

After that we see Neidhart in the ring as Austin carries the crutch as the 2 men go at it ! Austin starts stomping on Neidhart quick as the Hart Foundation come out. Brian Pillman joins em on commentary claiming its time for some balance. He claims this is the greatest assembly of talent on gods green Earth ! Its payback time as Neidhart delivers a kick to him and a big clothesline in a spot.

Later Austin catches Anvil with a throat drop across the top rope , runs around the ring and attacks Pillman at announce booth. Neidhart has to save Pillman. Then we see all 4 attack Austin in ring. Out from the back Shawn arrives with a steel chair laying into them. This drives them off as Vince McMahon brings up that Gorilla Monsoon has made the special announcement , Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin will have to team up to face the Hart Foundation for the WWF World tag team titles.

Jim Ross gets in ring and tells them this as both react as well as we'd imagine. They argue with each other and soon come to blows as WWF Security come down to break them up. The show ends.

The Bad : This show had some silly decision making taking place. In what world would a DQ not cost someone a match ? In this some way Chyna attacking Ahmed would somehow not lead to a DQ and Hunter losing really ? Then there was the decision where a manager somehow gets DQ'd but not the wrestler. It was bizarre to see these absurd moments happen on

But the biggest deal was this is the episode that Shawn Michaels basically caused Bret Hart's marriage to take a big turn in real life. Its been said that Shawn basically claimed Bret was having an affair with Sunny with that "Sunny days" comment. Bret's wife at the time saw this and it led to marriage issues the 2 had that led to separations and divorce by 2002. But like a typical Shawn deal , he pretty much was the one having that affair with Sunny . Just more ******* Shawn at the time.

OVERALL : *** Outta 5. The WWF had stumbled onto a successful situation and that was weaving people into the Hart Foundation/Steve Austin angle. They did it with Shawn Michaels and crafted a solid storyline. The main issue was lack of really good matches beyond the short ones of Holly/Hart and Faarooq/Rocky. Also Its kinda weird to see that Ahmed made the claim in 1997 he would become the 1st black WWF World Champion.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - May 26th , 1997



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon & Jim Ross

The WWF starts off with the graphic , in 80 countries and languages ...worldwide leader in sports entertainment. Then the Austin Attitude era opening as fireworks start the show. As the crowd explodes ! The signs all over the arena is pretty sweet. Anyhow tonight Steve Austin & Shawn Michaels are unlikely partners forced together to face the Hart Foundation. This will be for the WWF World tag team titles. Tonight Paul Bearer and Undertaker will come face to face.

Austin kicks off RAW as the glass shatters. The more he cheats McMahon claims , the louder people cheer for him. HBK comes out after so many months gone after losing his smile and fake knee injury. Shawn is wearing a Homer Simpson shirt with him on a couch. Jim Ross gets in ring to do this interview. Can you 2 men put aside your personal differences and coexist. Austin proclaims he's the Captain of this team and as HBK goes to interject , SHUT YOUR MOUTH. He can coexist with anyone as Captain , even this sorry son of a b-tch. Shawn tells him he can exist with him and they will kick some ass tonight !

The Legend of Doom come out in a surprise , they go nose to nose. The LOD make it known as Hawk claims if you win tonight against the Hart Foundation they want a WWF World tag team title shot. Shawn is like , not IF....when we win you get that shot. This starts the match finally as out comes Hart Foundation as Bret walks out finally. No wheelchair needed now as they all stand at top of ramp.

Finally the match will be LOD vs Brian Pillman & Jim Neidhart . This will be Pillman's 1st match back officially in some time. You can tell Pillman is walking with a slight limp sadly. His ankle had been fused after the auto accident he suffered. The match begins as all 4 men go at it brawling. Pillman gets tossed quick as the Hart Foundation settle down into a normal tag team match. Back in Brian starts as Hawk no sells and throws him hair 1st to the mat ! Then takes over showing his power with a guerrilla press.

Jim Ross brings up the storied history of the LOD who won tag team titles in AWA , NWA and WWF. Anvil and Animal are in as Animal takes control quick with a flying shoulder block. The fans are massively for LOD. The Hart Foundation try a double team move and eat a big double clothesline from Hawk. Then in a spot Pillman begs off and gets on his knees to extend his hand. He ends up eating a couple kicks and power slam off the ropes from Hawk !

Finally after a tag , Animal ends up outside. The Anvil uses this to ambush Animal. But this heel advantage is short lived as seconds later Animal powers through both guys and delivers a big clothesline. Then makes the hot tag to Hawk. The LOD attempt the Doomsday device finisher but the Hart Foundation charges the ring as the match ends in DQ. As Owen , Davey , Neidhart and Pillman work over the LOD ....out comes Austin & Michaels who help clear the ring. Then after its over the 2 men shove each other at the ramp and end up fighting as referees try and break them up !

Jim Ross comically brings up these 2 could end up as tag team champions. LOD wants the referees to let em go at it. But the WWF refs aren't listening to that as they finally get them apart. What led to the fight was Neidhart moves Austin into Shawn's path of a baseball slide which Austin felt Shawn did on purpose. Now we go to Sunny selling a Super Soaker gun and its episode #3. This time her target is Honkytonk Man. She asks him if wet look is still in style as he gets blasted. Jim Ross and & Jerry Lawler question if that was Honky getting washed down the hallway.

Backstage we see a partly bandaged Paul Bearer who keeps checking his watch. McMahon brings up if he spills the beans ; is he worried about his well being ? Bearer claims that his secret is safe with his attorney under lock n key. If something happens he'll reveal it. He's not the same Paul Bearer , he's been scared and even his voice has changed (its not...folks) . Tonight the Undertaker and him reunite or the SECRET will be exposed !

Faarooq leads the Nation of Domination out as we see Di-Lo Brown is gonna compete for the 1st time on RAW. Di-Lo had been a background member for months. He'll be facing Bob Holly. Jim Ross shows us the clip of Holly's shocking upset last week ! The rest of the Nation has left the ring side weirdly as Faarooq joins them on commentary. Holly starts off with a huricanrana quick as he has a quick advantage over Di-Lo in the corner with punches. Meanwhile Faarooq tells McMahon how racist he is because he will be the 1st black champion.

Di-Lo takes control and drops 2 quick leg drops with a suplex. Faarooq brings up the Civil War and slavery , how people wanna see a white man fight a black man. Di-Lo does a flying leg drop as Vince calls Faarooq on playing the race card right now. This brings up more race relations of this country as the match continues and Di-Lo delivers the sit down power bomb finisher for the win. Decent debut for Di-Lo against Holly.

Undertaker joins us as the audio isn't working live so well as we see him talk and nothing comes out. Vince realizes it quick and then we go back to it. Undertaker will deal with Faarooq when the time is near. But right now he has Bearer on his mind and this can effect his life time. Meanwhile Jerry Lawler is backstage and ready for the King of Ring tournament. He claims Goldust is having an identity crisis , one day he's Dustin Runnels , the next he's Goldust and now he wants to be King. Then last week he cried like a baby over his dad. Well your daddy doesn't like you since you married the biggest whore in Georgia and wear a wig and act like a ____ . Also you named your daughter Dakota , well maybe you should have named her target since everyone could be her daddy !

The King of Ring promo is shown but folks you can buy a King inflatable chair from WWF-TV right now. For only $59.99 you can have this inflatable chair folks for your kids ! Elvis even appears in the commercial and tells us its good to be the King. Up next is Goldust with Marlena who is smoooking in her pretty revealing dress. They show last week where Dakota made her WWF debut at 3 years old. He'll be facing Jerry "The King" Lawler in this match. They show from December 16th's RAW where Lawler asked if Goldust was gay and he took a punch after a NO.

Goldust starts off in anger as he back drops him high as they bring up that Dustin heard what Lawler said earlier. Anyhow the King delivers a sit down punch and reacts like he won. Jerry delivers a pile driver later in the match but Goldust recovers and and seconds later delivers his own pile driver. Jim Ross brings up Marlena's past history as a makeup artist at CNN and he was appalled by the words that Lawler said about her.

In the corner as Goldust beats down Lawler , the fans in Indiana starts a big chant for Lawler since he is known from that area mostly the past 20 years. Which makes me wonder why the WWF tried making Lawler do heel in this in front of his home town crowd. He takes the heel advantage and chokes him in the ropes. They bring up how cagey a veteran Jerry Lawler is as he chokes and works slow. But suddenly seconds later Goldust delivers a big bull dog as the tempo picks up.

Goldust decides to do his corner taunt and tease Lawler in the corner after climbing up and doing some punches. Lawler later goes outside and Marlena smacks him in a spot as payback. Then later back in ring Lawler uses the ropes and gets a cheap win over Goldust ? Really ? This was the finish here ? Jim Ross claims that Lawler stole one as post match he gets chased down. Lawler sells the bionic elbow as he rolls down the ramp himself comically to the ring where Marlena comically steps on him walking up the ramp to leave !

Backstage Vince asks Steve Austin about his chances of being WWF tag team champion. Before Stone Cold can answer he's ambushed by Brian Pillman and the rest of the Hart Foundation. WWF Security manage to get them away. In ring we see Flash Funk , but then we go backstage where Austin goes to Shawn's locker room. Its there Shawn was jumped as well as he demands at least 1 week Austin watch his back. Austin yells he was just jumped himself as the 2 men argue about things.

End of Part 1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Meanwhile in Flash Funk world he's lost the Funkettes as part of the dancing deal. He is facing Rocky Maivia who has cut his hair and slowly walks out as its questioned if success came too soon for him. Both men break from ropes and shake hands as respect. During the match in the crowd the Headbangers have the WWF King of the Ring inflatable chairs with them. They walk around and set the chairs beside the table and do commentary for no reason. They brought a boombox and popcorn as they laugh and act crazy.

In ring Funk catches Rocky off the ropes with a flying clothesline as he works him over in the corner. Seconds later Rocky reverses and delivers a Rock bottom that gets a 2 count. Later in a spot Rocky misses a drop kick that almost looks like a swinging heel kick. But Flash Funk catches him and knocks him outside. Then delivers a flying body splash onto the floor on Rocky. As the 2 men are slow to get up Mosh & Thrasher for the hell of it decide to jump Rocky and Flash Funk. Flash Funk gets the boombox to the side of the head. Maivia has no clue that it was used and back in ring delivers a flying cross body off the top turnbuckle for the win !

Mankind's inner look is brought up as we get part #2. In this we learn Mick Foley played high school lacrosse as goalie....without pads. Losing protective gear wasn't a big deal and he even removed his protective cup . Then that one May day he took a shot there during a game and it caused swelling. Girls from the high school team got him ice and he was advised to not go back to school for weeks. HE WENT BACK THE NEXT DAY ! And Jimmy , it was the greatest day...BECAUSE GIRLS ACTUALLY LOOKED AT MY GENITAL REGIONS FOR THE 1ST TIME !

We get a clip of Jimmy Snuka at MSG in 1983. He saw the move that would change his life. Suddenly we get cut away from this as McMahon claims we will see more of that soon. But 1st , we got Ahmed vs Vader hyped as this has a special stipulations involved. The Sega Slam of the Weeks shows Pillman doing a new finisher and its a neck breaker like the Rude Awakening.

Bret is backstage as he brings up the 10 minute match. Its like a wild jungle come that PPV Shawn Michaels. You got what you wanted HBK. Each member will be handcuffed to the ring post. But all he needs Boy Toy is 10 minutes to mess up your pretty face. Then Brian Pillman chimes in , true friends know and care everything about you Steve Austin. Well were friends and I hate your friggen guts Austin ! I'm gonna do what should have been done a long time ago , gonna pull your head outta your ass June 8th ! Bulldog is angry and claims Austin put 15 stitches in his head the other night and its time for payback. Owen finishes this as he claims he's gonna enjoy watching these 2 stupid fools not get along.

Hour #2 begins as Ken Shamrock will join the announce booth for commentary for this match. They comically left the Headbangers inflatable chairs still at ringside by the announce booth. Vader comes out as he will be facing Ahmed Johnson. Finally this special challenge stipulation is that if Vader defeats Ahmed , he gets his slot in King of Ring. This was Vader who couldn't compete last week due to broken nose. Jim Ross seems to point to Ahmed being an idiot for agreeing to this as he claims he doesn't know when to say no.

Vader tries taunting Ahmed as they both go eye to eye. Its there Vader shoves Ahmed twice , but before he can do a 3rd time ...Ahmed takes Vader down and delivers a huge body slam. This wakes up Vader who charges as the 2 men roll on canvas a few seconds. Then both start trading punches and what looks like a legit spot , the 2 men start trading actual boxing punches. Vader finally low blows Ahmed as he backs off a few seconds before starting to work the match again.

He knocks Ahmed down with some lariat clotheslines as he poses to fans. Then in a spot which shocks everyone watching , Vader charges slowly forward for a shoulder block as Ahmed catches him and delivers a big spine buster slam for the pin ! Jim Ross promotes the WWF Superstar line ...the Ross Report folks. After this we see Paul Bearer be asked if he believes Undertaker will rejoin him. Like sands through the hour glass Undertaker , this SECRET has been on his mind. Undertaker he will do what no Warrior has done ; what no Immortal has done and what no Giant has done. Dead Man time is ticking down.

Hunter Heart Helmsley is out as Jim Ross brings up his fake history being a blue blood as we see the old vignettes. This is a King of the Ring tournament match as Helmsley will face Rockabilly . His win last week is shown over Goldust by DQ (which still makes no sense). Hunter watches Rockabilly shake n all as he's not impressed. Hunter tries to take control of the match and he ends up eating a big atomic drop off the ropes. The fans have no clue who to cheer for since its a heel vs heel match.

Helmsley in control delivers a nice swinging neck breaker and then a suplex spot. Rockabilly catches Hunter with a eye rake , then a standing leg drop spot he delivers. Chyna stops it at a 2 count. Chyna stops Honky from using the guitar on Hunter. Then body slams him as Rockabilly is distracted by this and soon eats a pedigree. Hunter scores the quick 1...2...3 after this. On the Tron , Undertaker is asked if he made his decision. Sometimes in life , we are forced to do things we do not want to do. So you Paul , do what you have to do....and he will do what he will have to do.

After the commercial Sable comes out to sell the inflatable chair and sexually sells it by sitting down in it , in spots. Now we return back to Mankind's origin and that MSG night he was influenced. Sure some people look at fall as a time to hunt or perhaps go horse back riding , but not for him. It was time for him to go watch Jimmy Snuka vs Don Muraco in a steel cage ! I WANTED TO BE WHERE THE BLOOD & GUTS WERE , JIMMY ! It took him 16 hours to get there and all the money had had. A video is shown of Foley watching it as a kid and he saw him dive off the cage.

That he saw this emotions it caused. People crying or cheering. He wanted the same thing Jimmy. So he created a fun alter ego for his wrestling and it was a movie as a HS kid he did. Years later he met Shawn Michaels who saw his scarred and battered body and asked if this was how he always wanted to be. He knows Shawn was looking down on him in a way , but as he told Shawn...no I envisioned myself as you. Not the champion but the whole girls , the tattoos and the love. In that movie he wasn't Mick Foley ...sure as hell not Mankind....no he was Dude Love.

The video shows a young Mick Foley with a drawn tattoo as he cuts a promo. In the course of the movie he decides to climb his friends roof to recreate the Snuka moment. So he dives off the roof through a concrete patio. The video became an underground sensation and found its way to Dominic DeNucci who trained Foley more because he loved his heart. For the next 2 years , he'd travel 800 miles each way to realize that dream.


End of part #2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

So he wasn't ready to be Dude Love yet , but he needed a name. So here is a horrible name for someone Cactus Jack. But once I get the experience Jimmy , I'll get that tattoo and be Dude Love ! Clips are shown of him and Terry Funk in exploding ring matches. Its there in those death matches....he realized....I'M FINALLY HOME ! MRS. FOLEY'S BABY BOY IS FINALLY HOME !

The segment ends we go to the WWF World tag team title match. Shawn Michaels is out to work for the 1st time in 4 months. Austin is out next as fans pop as Vince proclaims that Austin's about ready to open a can of whoop ass. The 2 men try and get along as they wait for he Hart Foundation. At the top of the ramp Bret , Neidhart and Pillman discuss strategy as they watch. Austin & Michaels charge quick as all 4 men brawl.

Austin catches Owen off the ropes once back in ring with a knee . He then tries a sharpshooter as Bulldog breaks it up. Steve is working and then they slowly make a tag as HBK is in. Bulldog shoulder blocks Shawn as he bumps across the ring. Then Shawn is back to his full cocky demeanor as he thumbs him in eye. Delivers a nice drop kick in a spot and then an enziguri to Davey.

Shawn distracts the referee in a spot as Austin delivers a low blow to Bulldog. Finally after a couple tags and working over Davey , Steve is caught by Owen. A kick to the back catches him and outside the ring he's thrown. Stone Cold eats the ring railing seconds later throat 1st. After commercial Owen is working over Austin , and gets him in a head lock or sleeper type move. Steve delivers a chin buster to break the hold. Seconds later he does the hot tag to Michaels.

Its there Shawn is on a roll with a flying forearm and then a drop. He's rolling til Bulldog catches and drops him groin 1st across the top rope. Then once outside he gets slammed back 1st by Owen against the ring post. Later in a spot Davey delivers a catapult into the corner face 1st for HBK. Then the bumping has Shawn nearly flip into the corner as Davey delivers his running power slam. Austin saves the pin fall.

Owen is now in and Shawn is a bit gassed it seems as he spits across the ring in a chin lock. Later in a great spot Owen catches Shawn off the ropes with a great belly to belly slam. Austin again saves Michaels from a pin fall. In a spot later Shawn catches Davey with a sunset flip into a pin attempt. Owen keeps the referee distracted as he has the pin. Bulldog quickly gets him down with a clothesline to stay in control.

As Shawn plays the face in peril role , he makes the tag as Owen had the referee distracted so it doesn't count. Owen tries a super plex attempt as its blocked. Shawn delivers a nice flying body press for a pin attempt. Then in a spot later Owen catches him with a enziguri . Then later finally Shawn makes the hot tag ! Austin is like a rapid animal as he kicks Davey down in the corner. As all 4 men brawl , suddenly Austin delivers the Stone Cold stunner to Davey and gets the WIN. We have new WWF World tag team champions as its Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin !

Post match the Hart Foundation attack as Austin has one of the tag team titles and looks in ring as Shawn is taking a beat down. Then he see's that Bret Hart is alone as he smiles and goes for him. He attacks and takes him down as the Hart Foundation realize whats going on and leave the ring to stop Stone Cold. Bret holds his knee as he's down , Shawn in ring is down. And Paul Bearer paces backstage.

In his locker room is Stone Cold as he congratulates him on being WWF World tag team champion. You don't have to congrats him for nothing jack. He did it all himself out there and won this. An angry Shawn comes to the locker room and claims it takes 2 to be a team as Austin tells him he didn't see him do anything as he did it all ! Who helped set up Bulldog for him as Shawn claims ? Well who won the damn match Austin contends. We leave them arguing.

Paul Bearer comes out with no music as he shows his watch. Vince McMahon gets in ring as Bearer claims he's been more than fair to Undertaker. He's given him 7 sunsets , and now its time. Undertaker he's carried this secret since the start when Brother Love brought him in. He has known him for him many years before this. So now its came to tell it as he reveals he was there that cold morning his parents passed. He was the Mortician that day Undertaker. There wasn't 2 graves at that cemetery that day , NO DEAD MAN...there was 3 graves !

This brings out an angry Undertaker who comes to ring quick as he proclaims that he hates Paul Bearer . Yes he hates you Paul Bearer , he despises you with a passion unseen. Yes your attorney may have the letter , but he hopes its there when he destroys him. Its then Undertaker claims he hopes those who do love him understand what he does tonight. Then he grabs Bearer by the throat and holds him as Bearer is scared as he points and tells him.

The fans do a RIP chant as Bearer starts to beg and look on slowly to his knees. Finally the Undertaker breaks the choke hold and gets down to his knee. Symbolizing he will work with Bearer again. Jim Ross leaves the show ending with a Oh My God.


The Bad : In the realms of make no sense , Dustin Rhodes reveals his family and struggle weeks ago in a nice segment. You would think the company was preparing to push him in some way. Instead Dustin had one week where he gets DQ'd in a comical fashion (which the company realized was crap) and this week can't beat Jerry Lawler ? Really ? Its the most bizarre deal to do and then have the guy not win anything.

Also this entire King of the Ring tournament is so damn bizarre booking wise. You have guys who lost suddenly thrown back in (Hunter , Goldust) guys who weren't in the tournament making challenges to get spots (Vader to Ahmed) and an announcer (Jerry Lawler). Its like each week this tournament gets more insanely bizarre with people going in and out.


OVERALL : ***1/2 Outta 5. Some ok matches and a decent main event which saw Vince Russo establish the 1st , wacky team who don't get along and somehow win the tag team titles concept. Its one that has existed beyond Russo and to this day a team like The Bar was founded on that a couple years ago. The last angle was a nice hook with Undertaker for sure. And as I mentioned just disregard everything about the King of the Ring tournament as even the WWF doesn't even know what round they are on and will show a chart for us at home.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW : June 2nd , 1997




Your Hosts - Vince McMahon & Jim Ross


We get the typical WWF intro , in 50 countries across the world etc...etc. Vince McMahon narrates what happened last week as the chaos team of Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin won the WWF World tag team titles. We see how Austin left Shawn to take a beating from Hart Foundation while he jumped Bret to hurt his leg. Then we see Undertaker detail his hatred and loathing of Paul Bearer so in blackmail he reunites with him.

Vince welcomes us to Huntington WV (West by Gawd Virginia !) as the Undertaker kicks off the show. The Dead Man slowly makes his way to the ring as Jim Ross wonders what the secret is that Bearer has on him. Undertaker gets bragged up by J.R as the Phenom of the company that Andre once was. Vince tries to get answers off the bat. While Taker details its very simple , yet very complicated. Its blackmail essentially. He only did this to protect those he loved.

Undertaker claims as he held Bearer by the neck , he so wanted to snap his neck. But it wouldn't help his circumstances. Dead Man claims he knows he won't be going to hell , cause he's living it right now. Good people will be hurt so he has to take Bearer as his manager. He then warns Bearer that he'll make a deal with the devil himself when he passes that he burn for eternity itself ! This brings out Paul Bearer who claims the Dead Man talks too much and threatens him.

Bearer claims that Undertaker is his personal instrument of destruction. How dare he come down to the ring and speak to McMahon alone about him. They will go through the WWF roster one by one. That he will be the ruler of the world ! The whole wide world !! The music hits as there is only one MASTER....AND RULER of the World. That is SID. Who comes out looking like he took a shower as he's dripping .

Sid yells out , 1st of all Fat Man ..you don't rule nothing. Then Sid puts over Undertaker for beating him clean. That he won that title with pride and honor. Sid then rips on Undertaker for laying down to this no good leech he has no choice but take his rematch now. And he will power bomb him straight to hell ! So he demands his match as he gets in Undertaker's face . This has Undertaker warn Sid that he may see weakness with whats going on right now , but he will drop him on his head again tonight. He accepts the challenge !

Faarooq comes out with NOD as he gets on them both. Saying next week there will be a 1st Black WWF World champion and its him. Even he mocks him for selling out. The Nation take off quick as Undertaker comes after them up the ramp. This leaves Sid alone to pose. J.R and Vince promote the WWF World tag team title match ahead as the Legion of Doom will face the current champions ; Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin.

Then we get an Ahmed Johnson promo who doesn't care for Faarooq's plans on being champion and will take him out ! We get a vignette of the Ahmed/Faarooq feud which featured his real life kidney issues. The 2 men would battle once Ahmed returned and how he injured Faarooq as payback. Jim Ross discusses his past as a member of a gang etc. Ahmed has his back turned as his music still plays as Faarooq jumps him from behind to start this match.

He gets thrown in corner by Faarooq and bounces back with a big clothesline. Then he takes the belt from him and starts whipping Faarooq like a dog. Following him outside the ring to beat on him. As Faarooq tries to battle back , Ahmed delivers a big ax kick. Its here we see Faarooq on top as he taunts Ahmed which is a mistake as he gets picked up and spine bustered quick. The NOD try to help their leader until we see Undertaker arrive. As he finally caught up to them and starts fighting them all .

Faarooq gets outta the ring and brawls with Dead Man as Ahmed follows standing off to the side battling others. Then we see Undertaker try to throw Faarooq into ring steps as he collides with Ahmed , knocking him on the ring steps and out ! Faarooq sees this and quickly throws him into the ring and gets the win. Then we see the Nation stalk Undertaker as he debates what action he should do. Faarooq tries to taunt Dead Man in ring as Undertaker makes his way there as the NOD leader bows out quick. By this point Ahmed has recovered as he gets in Undertakers face. BIG MISTAKE as he eats a choke slam for ticking him off !

We get a replay of Austin beating Bret's surgically repaired knee. We will find out from the entire Hart Foundation tonight as we see them talking strategy. We see a King of Ring PPV promo and chair . The chair itself costs $59.95. No idea what it costs now as I tried searching on E-Bay and elsewhere to see if someone actually sold one of these or still had it.

In ring we see the entire Hart Foundation as Bret is on crutches. On the Titan Tron we see HBK and Stone Cold as this should be a fun debate. Bret is asked if he can compete at King of Ring ; Bret brings up unlike sorry American wrestlers like Steve Austin who act hurt , he has a legit leg injury. That Steve Austin caused more damage too. Its pure jealously of these 2 to try and keep him from wrestling. Bret claims Shawn will have to wait on this dream rematch the 2 want and to blame his tag team partner right there for it. Both men will have to wait as the doctor refuses to clear him.

Shawn mocks Bret for making excuses. Then he brings up how he doesn't really fault his tag team partner for leaving him to take a beating from 4 guys. No he blames him for denying his chance to get Bret out of the United States. Austin doesn't give a rats ass on any place ; he just wants to take Bret out for good ! Shawn rips him for taking that choice away as the stipulation would have had Bret gone if he lost. Austin gets mad and soon HBK goes to his locker room where they argue about who's ass is gonna be saved and then they can handle each other !

Vince questions Bret's reaction as he smiles and whispers to Brian Pillman and others. Then we see Pillman reveal the idea as he will give Shawn his spot at King of the Ring and let the 2 settle their issues. In exchange he later gets a shot at Stone Cold. Austin loves that idea and tells that crippled horse sob he will gladly accept this offer and kick his ass tonight on Raw ! Which freaks Pillman out as he likely didn't expect him to want a match that soon.

Backstage we see Shawn with WWF officials talking as we don't know if he will accept this offer or not. Last week we get to Bob Holly on replay beat Owen Hart in a non-title match. Tonight he gets his chance at the Intercontinental Championship. Owen is all business as he locks up quick with Holly to start. The Hart Foundation watch at top of the ramp. At a nice spot after hitting the ropes Holly hits a huricanrana and then a nice power slam as Owen comes off the turnbuckle later. Its amazing to watch Holly work so well like this. Owen nails a solid belly to belly suplex to turn the tide.

He slows the pace down and in a nice cool spot nails a spinning heel kick catching Holly off turnbuckle and then a side back breaker. Fans start a USA chant. Bob tries to fight back but eats a head butt from Owen. Then later in a nice spot Holly face plants Holly by his hair off the ropes. Holly delivers more solid offense with an atomic drop then clothesline . This is Bob Holly ? Anyhow within a few seconds Owen catches Holly off the ropes with a swinging neck breaker.

Jim Ross brings up that Holly was a welder before he became a wrestler. Vince trying to keep his fake era kayfabe nonsense up claims this was before Holly became a stock car driver. Bob Holly tries another hurincanrana but Owen catches it and power bombs him , then rolls him into a sharpshooter. To end this brief solid match. Which is a shame it ended so soon. Shawn Michaels is on tron and McMahon asks him if he would face Steve Austin at King of the Ring. HBK claims he's not doing it for Brian Pillman but to help his great tag team partner out of course. Pillman can have whats left of Austin after he's done at King of the Ring. Also they can beat the hell outta each other for all he cares. With that he walks off.

We go into the look at Mick Foley and his evolution into Mankind. We see clips of Foley discussing Jimmy Snuka diving off the cage in 1983 and watching as a fan. He wanted the same thing as Snuka had. He wanted to be loved by fans and have that. Then we see him in a clip of a Death Match with Terry Funk. Where he claims he's home ! Mrs Foley's baby boy is home ! More to come tonight .

After seeing a spot of HHH working out beside Chyna backstage we get a clip of Sunny's "Search & Soak Mission" episode 4. Backstage we see Jim Cornette , Honky Tonkman and Headbangers plotting to stop Sunny. They have super soakers. Sunny tells us not that easy. As Cornette and Honky tries to lure her into a soaker trap she springs out the triple sprayer and gets all 4 of them !

END OF PART 1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

In ring we see Hunter in ring as Goldust come out. Dustin and HHH start off quick as Dustin gets early advantage with punches and a flying clothesline off the ropes. Soon he punches him in corner and does his mental games where he taunts someone sexually there. Big elbow later as a homage to Dusty . Seconds later Hunter gets Goldust outside the ring and tries to stinger splash him against the ring post and instead his face eats the post as Dustin moves.

Hunter back in begs off as Dustin stalks him with more punches. Then Hunter tries an atomic drop from corner as Dustin blocks it and hits a clothesline. Later HHH turns the tide with a face to knee drop. Off the ropes later in a spot Hunter delivers a flying knee. Jim Ross brings up that Chyna trained at Killer Kowalski school and had to dress in drag to wrestle against men due to her size. Trips throws Dustin into the corner turnbuckle hard as he says this.

Jim Ross is selling Chyna hard , as a licensed female boxer and can dead lift 400+ pounds. All while HHH works over Goldust. In a spot that is well timed Chyna tries to help her man win as she grabs Dustin to attempt a suplex outta the ring. Marlena races over and grabs at her foot. This distracts her as her grip on Dustin is loose while Hunter runs over to deliver a high knee. He ends up knocking her off the apron and he's off his game (hey cheap pun) which has Dustin roll him up for the 1..2..3. In ring HHH is pissed at the referee. Dustin does a smack to his behind for Hunter to kiss it. Chyna ends up tossing the referee out.

Jim Ross plugs his 1-900 number about some superstars being part of a music video. Then he plugs how one WWF Superstar nearly had his career ended. We get the Sega slam of the week promo part as we see how good Shawn Michaels was in his return last week. After this we go to Animal & Hawk as Hawk claims they plan to surprise em and come at them. Also kick Shawn's teeth right down Austin's throat.

Before that we see a replay of how Austin & Michaels became WWF World tag team champions. Then a clip of them from tonight arguing comically. That ends the 1st hour. Which was really a lot considering it was hour #1.

In hour 2 , Vince welcomes us again to a show he had already welcomed us to in hour 1. Yes its silly , but this was a company fighting for its life at this stage in 1997. They hype the 2 big title matches. The 1st one up is the WWF World tag team title match with Legion of Doom vs HBK/Austin. Vince shows us a replay of Summerslam 1991 where the LOD won their 1st WWF World Tag team titles against Nasty Boys. Jim Ross gets props as he mentions the AWA World tag team titles here !

Shawn comes out strutting with his title as women scream. Then we have Stone Cold who carries his belt like he doesn't give a crap. The men pop for Austin as he hits each turnbuckle. Then we get a staredown between Michaels & Austin. Shawn acts a bit afraid of the LOD to start and eats a shoulder block from Hawk to start off ropes. Playing a heel role Shawn gets caught by Hawk as he acts arrogant and takes a comical double team to start from both as he gets knocked into the corner where Animal is and back to Hawk. Austin finally jumps in as all 4 men start going at it.

Shawn ends up getting a power slam and clothesline to the floor where Austin landed. The Hart Foundation comes out to block the ramp as they watch this. Back from commercial Austin ducks out of the ring and gets caught by Hawk. In ring later Animal is working him over. In a spot where referee is distracted , Austin low blows Animal with a reverse kick. The heel advantage doesn't work long as Animal brawls from corner to make a tag to Hawk.

Later in the match Hawk is caught as Austin and HBK work on their heel strategy to double team him. They are working well together for now. In a spot Austin climbs up to the top rope n smiles at crowd n drops his ax handle smash on a fallen Hawk. The 2 men later deliver a double back elbow catching Hawk off the ropes in a spot. Shawn later hooks a front headlock resthold to wear Hawk down. Who tries to power himself towards Animal to make the hot tag.

Austin jumps in to distract the referee to stop the hot to Animal. As he jumps in Animal by accident with his momentum knocks Earl Hebner to the ground as the match could have been DQ'd there but he doesn't. Austin uses this to nail Hawk with the tag title belt ! Shawn makes the cover and suddenly Hawk kicks out at 2 stunning Shawn who makes a tag to Austin. Later in a spot we see Austin & Hawk catch each other with clotheslines.

Finally Animal makes the hot tag and clears the ring almost. Leaving Austin alone who catches Animal to catch time. At this point seconds earlier the Hart Foundation had came out and distracted Shawn on outside as he walks up the ramp towards them. Stone Cold pissed grabs Shawn from behind with his hair and those 2 start fighting in front of the ring. The referee calls a DQ here for....well no reason.

A bunch of referees have to get Shawn off Austin. Now comes road agents and security as the 2 men trade punches. Its now announced it was a count out as LOD won. This had to be quickest count out in history I think. Shawn finally shoves Austin into steel steps as he goes flying. The same ring steps that took out Ahmed earlier comically.

We get clips of Mick Foley wrestling on explosives and thumb tacks as Cactus Jack. We see clips of Mick as Jack Foley in 1986 in WWF. That his biggest success was as the evil maniac Cactus Jack. Mick claims Cactus just wanted it more. That he'd go that extra length , to go so far to be the best. That he forgone sexual relationships and more to achieve it. That in a world of body builders and bleached hair Cactus stood out.

Jim Ross brings up how Foley's work as Cactus and the dangerous matches led indie promoters to not want to risk it as Mick went overseas for Death Matches. Barbed wire as ring ropes , he claims he was finally home ! Mrs. Foley's baby boy was home. He wrestled on bed of nails , 10000 thumb tacks and explosives. He didn't care how brutal it was. Because for the 1st time he was respected. To see him and chant his name as we see ECW clips of fans saying good-bye to him. Mick claims its unlike here where fans spit at him and call him names.

He had his dignity but he's not sure he has it anymore. J.R points out the arm scars and its brought up they came from Japan. We see bloody clips of Foley and Funk working together. The scars tell him he's not alone or anything. That his body has a road map of every scar he's been. Japan , Germany and Kentucky. His run as Cactus Jack ran 11 years and his biggest mark was a scared disgusted passenger of his body a bit burnt , wrapped in bandages etc. That this lady moved back to coach to get away from him.

We get a promo of next week where Mankind arrives in the WWF and Mick screams out , why didn't you take me when I was young ! When I was good ? That is for next week.

Out comes Savio Vega to face Mankind in this King of Ring tournament. Jerry Lawler will get to face the winner. In a shock the J.R profile has started to turn Mankind face as he acts shocked to hear people cheer him. The match after commercial has been going as Mick is punching on Vega. Then he baseball slides into him from ring. In a spot Mick charges at him on the floor and eats a back drop on the ramp ! Then later in a cool spot Vega has climbed up on top turnbuckle and does a flying body press onto Foley on the floor !

Back in ring later Savio and Mankind trade punches a few seconds. Then Vega chokes him on 2nd rope. All while Lawler is irked at J.R for this profile piece he's doing on Mankinds goofy backstory . Lawler claims no one cares about his childhood or his stupid acts as a kid jumping off the roof. Mick rallies back with punches but his comeback is short lived as Vega throws him in corner and delivers a spinning heel kick to him.

Later in a spot Vega misses a splash in corner and eats a back drop from Mick. Then we see the trademark clothesline to the floor taking himself out spot from Foley. On the floor Lawler mocks him as a freak as Mick gets time to drag a scared Lawler over the announce table as pay back. Freaking him out. In ring Vega is locked in the mandible claw as the referee has went outside to stop Lawler from getting involved. Krush climbs up and delivers his heart punch to Vega , laying him out by accident. This allows Mick to make the cover and win ! Advancing to face Lawler at King of the Ring !


END OF PART #2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Krush acts like it was no big deal he eliminated Savio as Lawler is still freaking out over it. In ring we see Savio and Krush start to shove and fight each other. Jim Ross claims this is a Nation divided as Faarooq has decided to not get involved. He walks to the back. Now its time for the Main Event of the night ! Undertaker vs Sid , as we get the promo where Sid pledges to power bomb Taker straight to hell !

Sid comes out like he drenched himself in a shower again. How he can do this twice in a night is impressive. Jim Ross brings up Sid's past under a mask in Memphis territory. Then he brings up his love of softball. Which would be a bigger deal later we would find out.

After the Undertaker entrance and commercial break , were back as Sid is hammering on Dead Man in ropes. Its said Sid jumped him to start this match. Psycho Sid stays on offense and punches him in corner , taking him down physically to the mat where he punches and kicks on him. Jim Ross brings up very few men can physically stand up to Undertaker but Sid is 6'9 and can. Undertaker attempts to fire back with punches. After hitting the ropes Undertaker is caught by his throat and epic choke slam by Sid !

He gets a near pin at 2 as Undertaker kicks out. After Sid throws him into corner turnbuckle later , Taker awakes ! He throws Sid who is shocked at this ; into corner and starts punching him down. Then does his trademark choke out there. Then later Sid catches the heel advantage as Undertaker attempts a back drop off the ropes. He gets him in bottom rope and chokes him with it.

Sid comically hammers Dead Man down and then tries another pin attempt. As Sid locks in a chin lock rest hold , Jim Ross informs us in 7 days Brian Pillman will face Steve Austin. Its been a long time coming. Then off the ropes seconds later Undertaker delivers his flying trademark clothesline ! Then we see the throat gesture as Undertaker delivers the tombstone pile driver ! And a 3 count ! (a clean fall ..holy crap).

After this the NOD attack Undertaker . Faarooq and everyone included work together (Krush and Savio). Anyhow the group are beating on Undertaker until Sid wakes up and after 2 big choke slams seems to miss Faarooq who chops his knee out. Faarooq continues to beat down on Undertaker and whips him with the belt. The Dead Man lays there as security and WWF officials try to get the NOD outta the ring. Fans chant for LOD then as finally the Nation do a pose and leave. Undertaker lies there out with Sid as the show ends.

The Good : Bob Holly vs Owen Hart was really a solid good match for what we saw. It was shocking to see that Bob Holly was a decent worker and the 2 men did seem to work very well together. Sadly it was too brief and part of the Attitude Era. Which was ...shorter matches to get more "hit" segments in as Russo planned. Because they wanted every quarter hour to be something people tuned into and this solid match had to end quick.

Not to say I hate the promos. They made sense for the fact they needed to sell this shades of gray storyline with Undertaker and Paul Bearer where he's being blackmailed by him . Plus promote 2 big title defense in a way with Sid later and now Faarooq coming. Plus we got a solid promo from Hart Foundation. Which was nice to see Pillman get his time to shine in the group and step into major issues.

Goldust and HHH was also going along very well before it too ended so soon. It also had the interference play a part. But it was something we saw them build up during the match with Jim Ross selling Chyna big time and her costing HHH. So I can understand it happening here. Also no idea if this was the final match as part of their feud or not , I kinda think it is here. Given the ending of it.

The Foley promo continues to really make people see what was behind Cactus Jack and Mankind. The profile by Jim Ross took a man who many saw as a 1 dimensional maniac type who worked in death matches and loved pain ; to making him a man who really people could identify with. A lot of people saw themselves in Mick Foley with his not perfect body and his willingness to hurt himself to make it. As he tells Jim Ross , Cactus Jack just wanted it more !

Michaels/Austin vs LOD was really good for the shades of gray we were seeing. HBK doing a quick heel act at times was weird but they were facing the bigger face group in Legion of Doom.

It was wild to see a clean finish for the WWF World title. As I fully expected a DQ or outside interference to happen. Yet we saw Undertaker beat Sid clean. Then it was wild to see Undertaker not do his classic sit up and scare the hell outta the heel spot. But the show ends with the beat down and build to make Faarooq a serious threat for the WWF World title at King of the Ring.

The Bad : Ahmed Johnson was never a good promo cutter a fact Jim Cornette and others have brought up. His promos and injury is what tanked his WWF run by 1997. He once was considered a rising star of the New Generation. But as tonight shows his slow de-push was starting. Austin was catching fire and they had to go with the hot hand at the time.

The WWF here would hit on a successful formula that for years they would run (and take heat for later). Where to start RAW they would do a mic segment in ring that would run 10-20 minutes. Then do a brief match and back to another mic segment. The segments were placed so close together it would irk people if you wanted in ring action. Instead you got promo time.

The entire King of the Ring tournament is a booked nightmare. As brought up in last review people were dropping in and out of it comically. To add , the company forgot what rounds they were on and so forth. Now the Pillman deal was an added bonus for a clusterfuck tournament. Also to make it more funny is the fact they seemingly had people believing that Austin would face Pillman tonight it seems yet now its coming after KOTR.

Speaking of King of the Ring again , Mankind vs Savio was a wreck. The biggest spot was more or less Lawler and Mankind having a skirmish as we saw. Where fans popped huge for Mick pulling Lawler across the announce table. The match going on was just ...there. It was like the company wanted to do 2 things. Create the future split of Nation of Domination and promote Mankind/Lawler as a KoTR match.



OVERALL : ***1/2 outta 5. Even though there was fewer matches , the spots we saw was just better. Sure the Mankind/Savio match was not good but the in ring work of Owen/Holly , the WWF World tag team title match and Sid/Undertaker made it all a great main event. The Foley profile really made Mick Foley a star and created his face turn that would last the rest of his career. This would end Sid's run the main event in WWF basically. His run had lasted awhile but later other circumstances would happen.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night Raw : June 9th , 1997



Your Hosts : Vince McMahon & Jim Ross

The Worldwide leader in Sports Entertainment brief promo begins and we get the Attitude Era intro. Fire and pyro explodes as the crowd is hot. 1997 was the start of some huge things in both companies and audiences were hot for both shows from this. Vince welcomes us by saying people brought their sons , their daughters and even their grandmothers. Then we start off with the Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson as a team. This will be a 6 man tag match.

No promo to start weirdly as the Nation theme hits. To start off Faarooq , Savio Vega and Krush will be a team. Vince claims he almost became WWF World Champion last night. Savio isn't about doing the respect gesture as Faarooq is less than happy. Krush seemingly didn't care either as things are building within group. Jim Ross promotes that Faarooq came very , very close last night as well.

Hawk and Savio start as fans pop huge with chants for LOD. Hawk off the ropes catches him in power slam and later drop kick . Seconds later outside Vega catches him but can't slow down Hawk in this one. Back later , Vega attempts to catch Hawk off the ropes and bends his head down , Hawk catches him and slams his head backwards to mat. A tag to Animal has the power of team in as Vega eats a shoulder block off the ropes.

A tag to Krush has both men try each other with shoulder blocks in a spot. Finally in a spot Krush tries to cheat and catch Animal with a big boot but gets a super shoulder block off the ropes and later...a drop kick ? From Animal ? Outside Krush gets to his feet and eats a clothesline. Faarooq gets tagged as he clearly doesn't want in there. Animal gestures to fans as does Ahmed who tags in. Finally the 2 come at each other with kicks and punches. Faarooq throws him in corner and in a delayed spot due to Ahmed being so slow...Faarooq has his head down to flip Ahmed outta the turnbuckle. Ahmed does his ax kick instead.

Ahmed goes crazy as he talks trash as weirdly the LOD act heelish and act to beat on Faarooq in corner as the referee is distracted . The announcers plug this current enviroment where its happening. In a comical spot as Faarooq gets worked over he crawls to corner later as Clarence Mason has Krush and Savio distracted so they can't make the tag. The faces are doing heel type work on Faarooq in corner with tags and double teams.

Finally as Faarooq later lands outside the Nation members try to get around him to protect. But he is angry at whats going on as he starts to argue with them. LOD sees this and sandwiches all 3 in a spot. Back in ring all 3 men triple team Faarooq and Ahmed delivers the pearl river plunge finisher as even the LOD make the 3 count too. The NOD walk off leaving Faarooq to be destroyed. The Nation seems to be destructing as only Di-Lo and Mason carry him to back.

We get the hype for tonights show as Pillman vs Austin will happen. Then we get to see who won King of the Ring 1997 and it was Hunter Hearst Hemsley. Who has his crown as he speaks strategy with Chyna. A WWF King of the Ring promo airs showing the wild action of the PPV. The encore will air tomorrow. HHH comes out with his royal attire and crown. Vince is in ring to do this interview with him. Where he gets congratulated for the win but what methods he did to win against Mankind.

The post match methods he shows , its here where Triple H brings up how he should have won the 1996 King of the Ring. That he wasn't allowed to due to his politics cost him that. And he knows it did. HHH brings up how no one will ever hold him back again , not Ahmed , Mankind , Austin or even him Vince McMahon. Mankind comes on tron and wants to enter the house of pain as he starts off promo with KNOCK KNOCK. Hunter admits that he got a thrill and shiver up his spine punishing him . This has Chyna talk who tells Mankind he needs to come down to the ring and kiss her ass.

Mankind chimes in , its her lucky day then because he's a great kisser ! So out he comes to a face pop. This has Hunter get the drop on him smashing the clearly easy crown helmet on Mankind repeatedly. As Hunter goes to leave he reaches to grab it back as Mankind gets it and crowns himself comically with a smile. That he wants the rematch. Vince takes this time to remind us how un-lady like Chyna was for that language and how Mick responded back.

Post this Mankind slowly leaves the ring as a fan showing Respect Mankind. Then we get a Sunny promo to sell a RAW is War shirt. Which is ...well she tells us not just watch it....wear it. Vince and J.R promote the WWF European Championship. That Jim Ross claims a title stretches back to 1970's. In this we see clips of how Bulldog back in March won the 1st WWF European championship established. He beat Owen Hart in a great solid match.

Now were getting Goldust vs British Bulldog for this title. Both men try each other out in a lock up. Jim Ross brings up how Bulldog has it all , quickness n size. Plus his power to. Then off the ropes Goldust delivers an arm drag to Davey. This irks the Bulldog who starts using his power for blows. Seconds later Goldust catches Davey off the ropes with a flying clothesline and exchanges blows back on canvas.

Davey back in charge later delivers a beautiful holding suplex to demonstrate his power he has. Later back in a spot Goldust does his signature off the ropes , to his knees shot to face. Goldust continues and delivers another punch to show. Then way later Bulldog try to set up his running power slam finisher. But Goldust reverses out and delivers an epic DDT. He goes for the pin and Tim White (referee) seemingly realizes Davey's foot is on the rope and stops as Dustin believes he won ! But he tries to tell him what happened.

After a commercial Bulldog is on heel advantage and Dustin punches him down to try and rally. Then we see Davey after a pin attempt delivers a snap mare into a sleeper hold to slow pace. Goldust rallies but eats a knee off the ropes to mid-section. Then we see Bulldog deliver a front flip to show fans his athletic prowess. Back into a sleeper hold to wear Goldust down.

Off the ropes later , Goldust does a flying body press but rolls off Bulldog to the outside where they brawl on the floor. Davey gets the best of it and sloppy style gorilla press slams him barely onto steel ring steps as the referee counts both out. Its here he keeps kicking at him where Marlena gets involved and slaps Bulldog. This ticks him off and she slaps him again as back in ring she crotches over him to protect . While Davey has a steel chair.

As Bulldog holds the chair up , from the back charges Ken Shamrock to a huge pop. He throws Davey over his head in a German suplex deal. Then both men get ready to go at it. But the referee gets between them both as Davey seems ready and finally back off. Backstage after a Discovery Zone million dollars challenge promo from Jim Ross , we Dok Hendrix outside the NOD locker room. A loud argument is happening.

Faarooq comes out as he yells to Dok he has something to say ! Then Hendrix tries to talk to an angry Savio and Krush as we hear Savio saying words in his language we can't translate. Krush warns Dok to never come in there and proclaims the Nation is doing...just fine. He finally chases off Hendrix physically. Back in ring J.R. has an angry Faarooq who mocks Vega for being a Jalapeno pepper guy for picking them with how he carried him to the top (really ?) and then fires him ! He is fired as of today for stabbing him in the back. Then angry at Krush who he helped too can join the Jalapeno pepper boy in unemployment line too. So he's fired both. Faarooq fires the 3 silent black men behind and claims one last guy has to go.

Clarence Mason is comically believing Di-Lo will be fired as a worried Di-Lo looks scared. Mason is told to get to stepping ! This has a wild Mason yelling how he helped him and can't do this. But Di-Lo holds the ropes and he's forced out. Faarooq claims from this day forward your gonna see a new Nation. One that is more powerful and not back stabbers. Faarooq then claims he challenges the 2 men he hates the most , Undertaker and Ahmed Johnson to a tag team match. That they will experience the New Nation.

We get a promo of Pillman/Austin where the insane Pillman had his ankle destroyed or Pillmanized as the saying would become later. This was one building a long while as Pillman had suffered an auto accident and he needed time to recover ankle wise.

Then after the commercial we see Tommy Dreamer and Paul Heyman coming through the crowd down steps. Dreamer has his elbow taped up. Vince jokes the 2 men are coming down to watch at ringside more than likely. We get no intro music for Doug Furnas and Phillip LaFon. Remember how solid this team was at one point ? This is how low Vince regards them as the 2 men come down with no music or anything.

They plug themselves as the most exciting tag team as Jim Ross comically rips how they had it all , pyro and music. They are excitement. Out comes the Headbangers to some music. At ringside Dreamer and Heyman steal the heat from this as fans start an ECW chant. We get some arm drags and drop kick from Mosh. Thrasher and Mosh do a double team later into the air flap jack ! Furnas is getting worked over and gets a nearly pinned as LaFon stop it.

end of part 1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Later in a comical spot the 2 heels do their own flap jack dropping Thrasher throat 1st across the ropes. Furnas does a beautiful belly to belly slam , and later LaFon does a nice back kick to the head in a spot. Jim Ross brings up how the 2 men had high hopes as a team coming from Japan and its not worked out for them. LaFon works various submissions and even does a bridge to showcase himself. Then a quick snap suplex. Jim Ross plugs how the 2 men clearly have talent.

Furnas delivers a nice drop kick off the ropes. Thrasher continues to be worked over as we get an epic power slam from Furnas off the ropes into a pin attempt. Later ina cool spot Furnas delivers a huricanrana ! Then we get to a sloppy finish , LaFon goes up top to deliver a flying body splash onto Thrasher in ring. But he moves and LaFon lands and has to literally where Furnas is too far across the ring , land n jump splash to make it onto him. This allows Headbangers to get the sneaky win.

Backstage we go to Jerry Lawler and Rob Van Dam together. Lawler can't believe McMahon let that trash from ECW be there. Also Heyman has done everything and anything legally to stop his man from working. Tonight he will teach them a lesson if they get involved. Then after this we go to the infamous Pillman home invasion angle that nearly had USA Network threaten to cancel the show and that had a 5 second delay after it.

The Sega Slam of the Week is shown and its Mankind eating a pedigree through the announce table from Hunter at King of the Ring. We get a replay of Savio , Krush , Mason and the background guys fired from Nation. Then we get replays of all what happened and Dreamer with Heyman. In a spot Dreamer high fives some fans there around him which is kinda cool to see. (Yes I'm a Dreamer fan)

The 2nd hour begins as Jim Ross welcomes us to it and we have Stone Cold come out. Austin is a WWF World tag team champion as J.R promotes him as the nastiest , meanest SOB who ever walked into a battle. Vince McMahon is doing the interview . Vince starts off claiming how Austin has done some dasterdly things the last few months but last night was a topper as he jumped Pillman during his interview and shoved his face in toilet. McMahon is like , I bet your proud of it.

Austin admits he is damn proud of himself. That he loved shoving Pillman's face there and wished there was something in the toilet when he did that ! So he brings up King of the Ring that Pillman wanted him to face Shawn Michaels and he did just that ! That he also helped flush his face down a commode as well. Tonight he can't wait to kick his ass up n down that ring and then deliver stone cold stunner . He then can drag his weak carcass to the back !

McMahon brings up that Bret Hart is ready to return to wrestle after his surgery and wants a 10 man tag team match at the July PPV. Which will be Calgary and its nicknamed "Calgary Stampede". Austin accepts this match and mocks this Stampede of cowboys and bulls etc. He doesn't need partners because Stone Cold will stampede their asses all by himself ! Gorilla Monsoon made him get a tag team partner which had him be forced with Shawn Michaels so its a bet he'll be forced into this. So he will beat Gorilla Monsoon's fat ass if he gets in his face !

Austin continues to warn how he'll take on the entire Hart family , bring Stu and Helen . So he can whip all their asses in Calgary ! That's the bottom line...as he's done. Jim Ross is stunned at the popularity of this guy. A pure rattlesnake. He then discusses the classic of Austin/HBK , which we get a King of Ring PPV encore advertisement again.

Vince to promote how good the PPV was , shows comments from those starting to get more online. Posts from ILuvHB and more is shown here. Then we get Psycho Sid vs Owen Hart later , Pillman/Austin as J.R brings up the Hollywood Blondes. Out comes RVD and Lawler which starts the scuffle with Dreamer & Heyman. Dreamer at 1st is being held back but soon 2 men are yelling and trash talking at Rob and Lawler !

In ring is Flash Funk as we get a Summerslam 1997 promo. Funk will be facing Rob Van Dam here. McMahon shows ECW footage from the ECW Arena where Lawler and RVD jumped Dreamer leading to this clash ahead. Funk and RVD start shoving each other. But soon Funk side kicks him. Then off the ropes and more reversals. In a cool spot Flash does a cross body over the top rope to floor. In ring Rob delivers his leg drop apron move over the ropes to floor.

Jim Ross stops and does a OH MY as Rob does a suicide plancha to the floor over the top rope ! All while Lawler sells mandible claw with his throat sore as he promotes his ECW invasion. Rob plays to the audience as a heel and taunts Paul E. and Dreamer by this. Which has Funk rally back. Off the ropes Funk does a spinning leg kick catching Rob. Then later delivers an inverted suplex on Rob . He does his moonsault finisher and gets a 2 count on RVD. Then we get Rob rallying back with a backwards splash onto Flash for a pin attempt.

Funk later reverses and tries a huricanrana but Rob catches and power bombs into a bridge attempt pin so easy. Then as they stand Flash delivers a spinning kick to the back of RVD's head. Lawler continues to rant about how McMahon can't control these guys and needs security as Rob catches Funk in corner with a big boot. He then gorilla press slams him and delivers the split legged moonsault into a pin.

Post match all hell breaks loose as Dreamer and Heyman go right after them. Heyman isn't a wrestler and is up for a fight as Lawler is able to knock him down but Paul E. won't give up coming at him. Tommy is fighting both guys comically as WWF Security try repeatedly to hold everyone at bay. But the guys won't stop as Dreamer wants to fight Rob and Lawler. Jim Ross blames ECW for this jumping the railing while Vince rails along that "The Warzone isn't about this , its about athletic competition !" I SH-T YOU NOT.

Ken Shamrock joins us on commentary to watch Owen Hart vs Psycho Sid . The 2 time Slammy Award winner comes out with Jim Neidhart. McMahon continues to rail on how ECW was wrong to jump across the railing and its a no no. So fans don't do that. Seemingly fans must have gotten so heated that they threw stuff into the ring as Jim Ross warns fans against that as well.

Sid comes out as the Master ...and Ruler of the World. A guy in attendance that Sid points out has SID IS GOD wrote on his body. Shamrock claims he couldn't watch Bulldog pull a chair on a woman gonna hit her. Sid is basking in the glow as ruler of the world as Owen decides to jump him from behind. He uses Sid's vest to try and choke him down. His advantage doesn't last long as he eats canvas and then a big boot from Sid.

In a spot Sid nearly nails a choke slam. This gives Owen and Neidhart a chance to plot as he distracts Sid. Which allows Owen to jump him and smash his leg in corner. Jim later does it as well. This gives Owen something to work on as he starts on the leg. This irks Shamrock as he doesn't like 2 on 1 or tricks like this. Owen locks in a leg submission and works the leg still.

In a spot Owen calls for the sharpshooter but Sid powers out shoving him back by his legs. As Sid stands he Psychos up as Owen keeps kicking at his leg. Sid paint brushes his face 2-3 times and throws some awful punches (a Sid trademark) . His rally doesn't last long as he charges corner and soon gets dumped to floor with a drop kick from top turnbuckle by Owen. On the floor Neidhart keeps jumping Sid as Ken snaps. He's had enough of this unfair play. He comes over and grabs Jim and belly to belly slams him on the floor !

In ring Owen has no clue Jim is out til after a pin attempt. Off the ropes Owen is caught and choke slammed . He gets pinned quick as Ken joins Sid in ring to keep Owen and Jim at bay. But this ends it. On Shotgun Saturday Night last Saturday Austin and Pillman clashed again.

After a commercial out comes Sable to sell the WWF RAW is War shirt. Strutting her stuff and more as Vince forgets the athletic competition seemingly he claimed his show was about to use this to sell shirts. Dok makes sure to hawk the shirts sexually like crazy. The Wildman comes to the top of the place and makes Sable leave as we see.

We get the final installment of Mick Foley's profile. Jim Ross admits at the end he wishes he didn't take the assignment. We get ECW clips of Cactus Jack. Then we see Mankind cry out why didn't Vince take him when he was young ?!! Why did he take him now ?!! The mandible claw is that part of him lashing out. Its brought up about how he feels about Shawn Michaels and Foley brings up how both of them were boys with dreams. Why does HBK look how he does and why does he look like he does now ? He claims how unfair it is , as he has had a lifetime of misery . All he wishes is all WWF superstars to a lifetime of personal trauma and pain. Is that so wrong ?

end of part 2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Jim Ross brings up asking if he's been treated for multiple personalities before ? Foley claims he doesn't believe he has that as J.R gets harder on him. That maybe its time he takes a hard look in the mirror. That maybe all these issues is his responsibility to take finally. Mick claims its time maybe for J.R to start doing his damn job. That he needs journalistic integrity . That he will tell people that Mankind doesn't feel no pain , that he is inhuman. So maybe he needs to stop telling people that at home !

Foley hits himself , see that he yells ..see I feel pain. He brings up his son wanting to play ball but he hurts so bad he can't ! Is that where the FUN starts ?!! Is it where a doctor injects a 12 inch needle into his back ? So he can wrestle 1 more match ! He stands all angry now as he proclaims how Jim Ross makes it appear he's having the time of his life out there and it makes him sick. He smacks at J.R's cowboy hat yelling how he makes him sick looking all smug at him. That he outta smack him and as he grabs him , he locks on mandible claw putting Ross out !

But suddenly Mick snaps back and shocked at himself as he starts yelling for help. Jim Ross after this admits he will take some responsibility for how this ended. That he asked some things that went too far. The music hits as its Honkytonk Man and Rockabilly (Billy Gunn). He will face Bart Gunn as he gets jumped by his brother.

This is the 1st time they have met in ring. Billy is caught by Bart off the ropes and thrown into air and shoved down hard. Then clotheslined outta the ring. On the floor later Billy takes advantage. The 2 reverse as Billy ducks a wild clothesline and delivers his own big lariat clothesline twisting Bart in the air. He stays in heel control as Honky trash talks him.

Bart catches him and does some weak offense and does a back elbow off the ropes against Billy. He then lets loose with a WEEEHOOOO as fans are not knowing how to react since he barely is on TV. Off the ropes Rockabilly delivers a rocker drop on Bart catching him. We then get Billy deliver a spinning neck breaker to win this squash match basically against his brother. Billy screams in camera he can't help it , he's just really good !

Before the commercial we see the Hart Foundation plot backstage as the group shoves the camera man down as his camera is left laying on ground. In ring Pillman waits as Austin comes out. As he comes down the aisle he's jumped by Hart Foundation as its 4 on 1 beat down. Pillman gets his revenge in a way using the tag team title belt to whip Austin with it.

So out from the back to attempt to save Stone Cold comes....Mankind ? WTF ? Even Ross is stunned at this as now in ring Mankind and Pillman are going at it. This match is seemingly started as Austin is being helped up after being beaten up. In corner Pillman gets worked over by Mankind. Brian is caught off the ropes and tries to take 5 outta the ring but Mankind follows to beat on him. As he walks up apron with him , Brian delivers a back suplex onto Mick. Dropping him on his head on steel entrance ramp.

Mankind works on him outside and stays on heel advantage. Jim Ross claims both men are deranged and crazy as we see Mick and him head butt each other. Then Pillman tries to slap him which pisses Mankind off as he stands. Back with Pillman in advantage later as Pillman yanks hair from Mankind and tries to make him eat it ?! Due to how physical the brawling match is , Mick's losing the Mankind mask as he struggles to keep it snapped back on. The strap hangs down due to this.

Mankind and Pillman trade kicks and finally Brian seems to have the advantage. This changes as Mick catches him with atomic drop. This is followed seconds later by a running kick to ribs and then a double arm DDT. We see Mankind lock on mandible claw on Pillman as the Hart Foundation arrives. As they start to beat down on Mick , out comes a limping Steve Austin followed by Ken Shamrock !

Then after they chase off Hart Foundation in ring Austin stares over in disbelief that Mankind of all people came out here. Then we see Shamrock have his back to him. He turns and eats a stunner from Stone Cold. With some middle fingers as a welcome to WWF from him. He rolls out and gives Foley some middle fingers and leaves him alone. The show ends right here.


The Good : Mick Foley's face turn was complete by this stage as fans felt for Mankind. That he was a human who could take punishment but had these feelings. In losing King of the Ring it made Foley more popular. Which the WWF would use to promote his angle against Hunter to get him over on a mid/upper card level.

Speaking of Hunter he like Nash decided to continue breaking the wall of kayfabe and helping push the Mr. McMahon era closer. In it he brings up the 1996 situation where he was supposed to win that year but due to the Kliq deal in MSG he was the only one to get punished for the send off. McMahon punished him for months after it and finally by 1997 started pushing him seriously again.

Faarooq firing the 1st Nation of Domination became a pivotal moment as we saw. The 1st group was starting to splinter and the firing would be shown in replays years later with what would unfold later. But here we saw Krush and Savio who really didn't mesh with Nation anyhow.

RVD really got to showcase his skill set for the WWF audience in this one. Its said that Vince wanted to control how he was booked but Heyman fought on that one and would win out. Where he couldn't control the overall angle as usual , Vince would pull the WWF side of things after an ECW PPV coming up. But it showed that Heyman got what could make things work , Vince however didn't and lost what could have been a bigger angle long term.

The final Foley/J.R profile was good to see. At the end we see how Mick yells he's a human being and feels pain. It was one of those deals that humanized the guy after so long.

The main event swerve situation would become a standard in WWF at times under Russo. Say your expecting a big match between 2 guys , well suddenly something insane happens and its changed right at match time. This was one of the WTF moments as Mankind's programs hadn't involved the Hart Foundation. But the company seemingly was turning Mick face and needed him for this.


The Bad : At this point Ahmed was pretty much done as a solo push. He was needing the rub from LOD as fans were massively even then still into the older tag team. It helped that guys sold great for them at this point as well. But your thinking how many more Ahmed/Faarooq matches can we get solo and in tag teams ? This entire deal should have ended at Wrestlemania.

The Goldust/Bulldog match was slowly rolling and could have been solid had they gave it more time. But it was weird how it was used to set up a Shamrock/Bulldog program from this. Considering Dustin had done his TV profile spot with Jim Ross and the effect wasn't really much at all. While Dustin was playing a face and getting some ok pops , his character seemed to be drifting along. A fact we'd see more of ahead.

The WWF/E is a weird company where they have a history of signing talented workers and then basically not getting why they worked so well. The case with LaFon and Furnas was they were an old school Brain Buster type team and let their ring work speak for itself. They weren't huge promo cutters and had solid ring talent. This match illustrated it on how they came out to no music , was done on commentary and lost. The 2 men were a solid tag team overseas and champions.

OVERALL : *** Outta 5. The WWF had some decent storylines going on with Hart Foundation/Austin , Mankind/HHH , and the ECW angle. This show had some great promos and the ECW spot was nice. Its just match wise beyond RVD/Funk a lot was short and sweet with not much to write home about. This is where the WWF had really some things that couldn't match WCW's success at times. WCW had better in ring action with luchas and cruisers. They also had solid ring workers in mid-card. WWF at this stage was starting to push the characters aspect and more mic work and promos. To hook fans onto Austin and Mankind....

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - June 16th , 1997



Your Hosts : Vince McMahon & Jim Ross

RAW has its actual intro with the Attitude opening as Austin walks through the battle area. We see things explode to open with pyro as fans pop excited. Vince McMahon welcomes us to Lake Placid , NY. Vince reports last week a fight broke out backstage between Shawn & Bret which led to HBK losing another injury to his lost smile knee injury and Bret had that same deal. But Bret Hart won't lose any time as well as the fact Steve Austin now needs a partner since he is co-holder of the WWF World tag team titles and a tournament is happening for those belts.

Steve Austin's music hits as he's not in a good mood. So Vince has the pleasure as Jim Ross jokes to interview the Texas rattlesnake. Who claims he's heard Vince ramble on bout some tournament happening , shut your mouth before you answer. Bottom line he doesn't give a damn about Shawn Michaels any way so its no loss he's out. But he don't need no partner anyhow.

Suddenly on the tron comes Mankind. Who tells Steve last week he sensed a strong bond develop between them both as Stone Cold gave him the middle finger. Austin gives a look of wtf . Mankind makes his plea to let him be the man , so they can set the tag team scene on fire. Austin yells back he don't need a freak like him , like he didn't need a long hair guy shaking his ass last time. Mankind claims he has long hair , he has 1 ear for an earing and he can shake his ass too ! Austin counters he has a big fat ass as Mick agrees. HAVE A NICE DAY !

Then Vince shows what happened last week. That as he went to face Brian Pillman , Mankind made the save. Then so did Ken Shamrock who went to make the save as well and was repaid with Austin chiming in WHAM as he got stunned for helping. Brian Pillman is gonna get his face flushed down commode and join all his friends in sewer system. This brings out Shamrock who isn't happy about what happened and brings up how Austin stunned him last week and compares him to Hart Foundation being bullies.

Vince looks like he's lost control of things as he tries to calm Ken down , who issues a challenge and decides lets go right now. Throwing off his shirt. Austin loosens his shirt and claims after he beats the hell outta Pillman tonight for Shamrock to go wrestle up a lucky 4 leaf clover and he'll kick his ass too ! Thats the Bottom line. Shamrock tells him fine , its time to knuckle up so be here.

As we go to commercial we get hype for the tag team match tonight of Undertaker/Ahmed Johnson vs mystery partner and Faarooq. Jim Ross claims we will speak to Loose Cannon himself next. Then we go into a Steve Austin home video advertisement by the WWF. CAUSE STONE COLD , SAID SO. The image on VHS has a bloody Steve Austin and shows how quick the WWF was building on Austin's character.

Summerslam has a $1 million dollar challenge as we see Pillman backstage. Vince shows a repeat of what happened at King of the Ring. Where he flushed Pillman's face in toilet. Also Vince reveals the Hart Foundation members will be handcuffed to ring post as Pillman doesn't look happy. Pillman brings up how the Hart Foundation has severed the shackles of oppression and lets the world know what they think , he has the audacity to cuff his comrades ! Like common thieves , you didn't put those cuffs on a convicted felon (Austin) did ya. So then Pillman tells Shamrock he has nothing to worry about. He can stay the world's most dangerous referee and work on his 3 count.

Then with an evil deranged look Pillman proclaims Stone Cold is going down , tonight ! Music hits as the New Blackjacks make their way to ring. They are kicking off the new WWF World tag team scene. Barry Windham who if you google pictures looks nearly like his father with black hair/mustache claims the Blackjacks ain't tasted gold yet but on their way so sorry Owen and Davey. Then Bradshaw chimes in the Canadian boys are gonna taste the lariat tonight ! They both share a laugh over it.

Owen Hart & Bulldog come out , as both men are still champions. Davey is European Champion and Owen is IC Champion. So the 2 want to regain their WWF World tag team titles. Earlier the 2 spoke and Owen pledges to go through the Blackjacks like a hot knife through butter. They plan to get tag titles back as they claim Austin cheated to get em. So they will get them back.

Owen and Barry start out this one. Owen after hitting ropes with Barry misses a spinning heel kick and Barry hits a clothesline. He stays in control as as Blackjacks work on their double team moves. Bradshaw nails a big kick to face and Barry is back in working. J.R brings up Owen's past as Blue Blazer when he debuted years ago in company. Then in a nice set of work Owen works an arm bar into a back slam and makes the tag to Bulldog. He does a big back body drop seconds later off the ropes and then follows with an epic suplex as he hold Barry a long while.

Then we get Owen with a nice drop kick from top turnbuckle in a tag spot. Seconds later in a head lock Barry powers out and delivers a back suplex ! Bradshaw makes the hot tag and gives a big boot to Davey. Then some big clothesline to Owen. Later he delivers a big power slam but the 3 pinfall is broken up by Davey. Seconds later as Bradshaw works , Windham tries to get involved but realizes he's in the wrong spot to distract the referee as he's supposed to hit Owen 1st and then distract him to set up finish ; we see Owen deliver a spinning heel kick on John right after . Which Davey bridges in a way to get the pin. Its a silly botch for sure. They advance to 2nd rd of the tournament.

Backstage we see Paul Bearer and Undertaker. Then we go to a replay of last week where LOD and Ahmed Johnson seemingly destroyed the 1st incarnation of the Nation. The entire thing should have ended here as Faarooq ate the pearl river plunge. A bruised . angry Faarooq fired 90% of the Nation later. McMahon questions Undertaker about him facing this mysterious new Nation. As Undertaker goes to speak , Bearer yells out for him to hush up rigimarous and proclaims its about ME , ME ME now. So Undertaker will listen to him unless he wants secret exposed and Ahmed better listen later too !

Up next we see Chyna working out some as we go to commercial. Then once we return we see a still pissed Shamrock as he is asked about facing Austin after his Pillman match. But Shamrock claims Austin forced that by stunning him. So Stone Cold better knuckle up ! In a shock in ring is Phineas Godwinn ! Yes one of the Godwinns is still here. The 1997 King of the Ring winner ; Hunter Hearst Helmsley is out to face him. After we saw what happened last week of Mankind/HHH , a rematch is coming in July at Canadian Stampede.

Outside the ring in a spot a WWF employee who takes things backstage takes Hunter's King robe as Chyna throws him to the ground over it. The guy telling her it goes backstage as he manages to take it back there. Phineas goes for a clean break but Hunter brawls with him instead and loses that one. He eats a mule kick for that one. Then we see Phineas in control til he drives a knee into Godwinn's face. This allows HHH to take control and start a beat down in Phineas in the corner with kicks and choke with his boot. Finally the referee pulls him from corner over his aggressive act.

Seconds later off the ropes HHH delivers a running knee. J.R brings up Hunter's issues with Henry Godwinn and how he is on the shelf right now with a bad neck due to LOD. Mark Canterbury (Henry) would suffer a cracked C-7 vertebra in his neck at this point. He would race back too soon (he was advised to sit 15 weeks , he returned in 8) . Outside the ring Chyna delivers a punch to Phineas knocking him down.

Back in ring seconds later Hunter comes off the top rope with an ax handle attempt and eats a clothesline instead. Then Phineas delivers an epic back body drop and later a big lariat. He signals for the slop drop finisher but Chyna jumps up on apron. She slaps him and arouses Phineas who grabs her and gives a big kiss. This allows Hunter to get up and deliver the pedigree finisher for the win.

Post match we see an angry Henry Godwinn come to the ring and get in his brothers face. Mad his brother lost and after verbally and shoving him around , tells McMahon he's at fault here. Backstage we see Faarooq with Di-Lo together. We will speak to Faarooq next about this new Nation. Then we get Sega Slam of the Week.

We then go to Faarooq and Di-Lo standing behind him. He proclaims tonight that he keeps his promises and tonight were gonna see 2 new bigger , better and blacker members of the NOD. With that he walks off. Sunny comes out as guest commentator and we get Paul Heyman also here. Paul E. claims you wanted ECW on RAW so your gonna get it ! ECW was made for Monday Night RAW. This is gonna be a special inter-promotional match as Brian Christopher comes out from USWA 1st.

Now out representing ECW is ...Chris Candido. In fact there is a bit of a war going on between the promotions McMahon claims. Heyman brings up Candido unlike many leaving ECW at times actually left WWF to come there. Sunny ends her introduction with a go get em baby. Which is clearly directed at Candido here. Candido throws his jacket at Christopher to start as we get some punches to start.

end of part 1