WWF Monday Night RAW Review thread

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Off the ropes Brian catches him and then nails an eniguri. Its weird here since McMahon wants to play ECW and Candido as the heels in this , yet the fans clearly have no clue what a USWA is in the area of New York their at. Brian stays in control with laughing like a wild man and big back body drop. Then as Chris rallies back , he delivers a spinning neck breaker from ropes as he yells to Paul E. for approval.

Candido delivers a leg drop from 2nd rope as he gets a 2 count. Heyman sells ECW and its athletes plus PPV. As Candido delivers a big huricanrana off the top turnbuckle on Brian , Jim Ross pushes Paul Heyman to shoot. In fact he tells Paul how he scouted this guy from USWA so finally Paul E. decides to go full IN. He brings up what a disgrace Lawler is in Memphis and USWA and that Christopher is his son who he never claims there or here. This brings out Lawler mad as the match breaks down as Jerry bails out his son. RVD comes in as all 3 beat down on Candido.

Dreamer makes the save as the heels bail out quick as Heyman joins in and stops the 2 from going after them up the ramp. Making them calm down as Dreamer pulls out his ticket for tonights show. Uh oh , looks like we may see them later.

Backstage we see Ahmed Johnson reflecting on things. Here he claims that there was something Paul Bearer said how we can do things the easy way or the hard way. For the sake of everyone , he will do it the easy way tonight. After commercial we see replays of the ECW deal and learn yep , Dreamer foreshadowed whats ahead by his ticket. Lawler and RVD will be teaming up tonight.

McMahon & Ross promote the shows and cards from Shotgun Saturday Night to WWF RAW . They bring up the calendar that Sunny & Sable shot. We see clips of Shotgun Saturday Night and the hero reception the Hart's got in Canada. Bret even cut a promo claiming its an honor to be in Canada. Backstage Jim Neidhart claims he doesn't like being handcuffed like some common criminal and tonight he's gonna show Goldust ...crime pays...baby !

Jim comes out for his match as McMahon and Jim Ross describes the claims of Hart family over discrimination in America. Jim Ross claims they believe in 1st amendment and no one should sensor the fans signs. We see what happened last week between Marlena and Bulldog where he tried beating up Goldust. Then how he was threatening o use the chair possibly on her.

Anvil starts off in control and Goldust off the ropes seemingly hits a flying shoulder block but Jim seems off as he wobbles and doesn't go down. Dustin nails a good uppercut punch with more. Then delivers a standing type clothesline as Jim bounces off ropes. Seconds later we see the taunt spot in corner from Goldust. Later in a spot Jim Neidhart catches Goldust with a knee off the ropes to mid section. In control he screams GET UP as he kicks , stomps and chokes him.

In the ropes he chokes him and laughs. Off the turnbuckle reversal Goldust delivers a clothesline as Neidhart slowly comes down. Boos hit as we see Bulldog come down to ring. He starts stalking Marlena and she goes to slap him. He grabs her arm and is seemingly threatening her which has Dustin climb out and deliver a shot to him. This allows Neidhart to regain himself and both heels double team him outside.

Back in ring later off the ropes , Dustin does his trademark , drop down punch spot to the bent guy. This time ...shockingly he pins Neidhart with it ! Even Bulldog is stunned as he crawls in to check on him. An angry Neidhart with Bulldog leaves. Then we get Austin claiming he finally has Pillman right where he wants him , then he can get rest of the Hart Foundation too ! Plus if Ken Shamrock wants he too can get it too , cause thats the Bottom Line cause Stone Cold Said So !

Hour #2 begins with more pyro as Vince welcomes us to the warone. It appears Pillman vs Austin will be kicking the 2nd hour off against Austin. Jim Ross brings up the former history of the Hollywood Blondes and Austin/Pillman being a team. The WWF officials make the Hart Foundation all get cuffed to ring railings. Jim Ross claims Austin has to be licking his chops to get this now. And we see a nice big smile from Stone Cold as he sees everyone all his prey. He then goes to each one and trash talks em and flips em off !

In ring it starts quick as Austin punches down Pillman quick and delivers an atomic drop ! Brian ducks outta the ring as Steve chases and comically he takes a shot at hitting Bulldog for fun. Then Pillman catches him back in ring. Jim Ross brings up how tough Pillman was as a NFL player who was considered too small. At this moment Steve catches him and throws him chest 1st at top rope !

Owen tries to break the cuffs as Pillman begs off from Austin in corner and then extends his hand to shake. On his knees he extends the hand to say he's sorry. Austin smiles and shakes then starts stomping and kicking at him. He outta the turnbuckle nails a lariat ! In a spot later Brian gets some offense and tries a move off the top rope and gets crotches by Austin on ropes in a super plex type move !

He then outside seconds later beats down Bulldog and rams him face 1st into ring post ! Brian charges with a chair and eats it to the face as Steve blocks. This allows Austin to go target Neidhart and Owen next as he starts at each one. Pillman has a cord and catches him to choke with. Brian's nose is shown and it appears he either got a cut on the nose or its broken from the chair catching his face !

He stays on Austin as he keeps choking him down with cord. During commercial Pillman threw him into the ring steps as Jim moves. J.R claims its likely a broken nose for him and that its not gonna bother Loose Cannon as its another day at the office as he stays in control. Austin kicks out at a near fall , and goes to corner. This lures Brian in who gets hit with a low blow by him. Allowing Stone Cold a bit of control.

Pillman's nose is a bloody gory mess right now as he locks on a sleeper. Its bleeding so bad , Brian's teeth are bloody. Stone Cold tries to rally and gets locked in a sleeper again and chin drops Loose Cannon to break free. Then seconds later Brian starts messing around and mocking Austin by throwing him around. It pisses Stone Cold off who rallies back with punches and in corner starts a stomping a mudhole in him , walking it dry ! The referee gets in his face...KICK ..WHAM STUNNER for that !

Fans explode at seconds later Austin and Pillman collide in a slight botch , Brian thinking quick drops down and delivers a low blow. Brian then loads up a set of brass knucks. He then hammers Austin with a punch as he covers for the pin but ...Austin kicks out which stuns Pillman ! He argues in corner with referee. While this happens the referee Austin laid out for arguing with him , well Owen picked his pocket and got the key. Soon he frees everyone as Stone Cold can't hold off the numbers game.

All of them start a beat down as suddenly we see Mankind , Goldust and Shamrock make the save. Chasing off the Hart Foundation as Shamrock is left in ring with Austin. This has Steve stalk him and this time Ken's ready for him and blocks , into a belly to belly suplex. A weakened Austin tries to attack but Ken's ready as they roll on mat some. Finally the LOD hit the ring to pull em apart with Goldust there as well.

Finally Dustin gets on the mic and rips into both , saying week in and week out this is what happens Steve. He is doing exactly what they want him to do. Goldust brings up the challenge of the 5 of the best the WWF has to offer. Standing in that ring he believes they are that 5. They will come to Calgary and kick their asses. Cause Stone Cold said so. Austin grabs the mic and claims his body feels like crap right now , but since Gorilla Monsoon will force partners on him ..fine. He will step into ring with them in Calgary but once its over they aren't gonna be friends , they aren't gonna be drinking beers together ...no it will go back to this...DOUBLE BIRD salute as he leaves. He throws mic at Animal .

A sore battered Austin limps off as Hawk has to keep an angry Shamrock at bay. Which is wild considering this was the Road Warriors at one point being voice of reason here. Then we go into a nice ad for Austin's 1st VHS tape. (which isn't on WWE Network)

Backstage we see the Hart Foundation and Brian Pillman's face as the blood has stopped (likely during break he was treated) . We get a replay of what happened earlier from every spot in the match from brass knucks to Shamrock nailing belly to belly. Owen claims yeah mystery is over , they know who the scum is and who to destroy come Stampede. Pillman claims they don't discriminate , they are an equal opportunity destroyer and the battle lines have been drawn in blood , as he points at his face. Get ready to step into COMBAT ZONE STRAIGHT INTO HELL !! Vince cuts this off as Pillman goes insane.

Sable comes out as guest ring announcer for this , plus plug the WWF RAW is War shirt. Sable gets on mic and introduces Bobby Fulton. Clips are shown last week of Marc Mero who drags his wife backstage. But Jim Ross claims it was because they were running late for something even as the online fans noticed it. Johnny him is Tommy Rogers. Its basically the old school team The Fantastics. Ok ...why didn't they come out together ? Is this some rights issues possibly with name and WCW at the time ?


end of part 2

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Jim Ross details the history and name Fantastics and how they formed in Mid-South and suddenly we realize its not a tag team match. Its a light heavyweight match as Fulton nails Rogers to start. Both men start with body slams apiece and Rogers does a slow head scissor take down on Fulton. Who begs off in corner. Vince claims that no one will be above 215 in this division. Jim Ross claims they are recruiting far & wide for it. (translation we have to look since Bischoff is signing every friggen Cruiser on planet lol)

Jim Ross details all the tag team titles the 2 men won together as Rogers delivers an arm drag. Plus how they worked against Midnight Express and Sheepherders etc. Fulton locks on a headlock in a spot and later delivers a spinning heel kick. He then plays to crowd for no response as he attempts a pin. Then the best spot happens seconds later as Fulton drops an elbow off the apron onto Rogers throat hanging. Then Vince questions how well the Fantastics would have faired in WWF then in 1980's as Jim Ross believes they would have done really well. (they would have , they were a solid tag team)

Fulton charges with a baseball slide and knocks Rogers into ring rail. He seconds later in ring attempts a pile driver and gets back dropped. Then Fulton attempts a heel pin with ropes. But the referee notices it. Then Rogers reverses a backslide into a neck breaker type move and gets the win. The crowd sadly doesn't seem to care much and its sad but this is just weird to see on RAW. Post match Marc Mero comes down as Sable is in ring waving to fans as he watches her closely. Then gestures for her to come on as she has ring announcer say his name. Finally she leaves.

In ring the Headbangers wait on Jerry Lawler and Rob Van Dam. This is also a 1st rd of the WWF World tag team tournament. Earlier Thrasher claims they are excited to win the titles because it will finally give them something to hold their skirts up. Mosh spits in his face...WTF. They both laugh loving this. Lawler looks around scared as he knows ECW is somewhere in building.

In the crowd is Dreamer and an unhappy Paul Heyman. RVD starts off and bends down as he gets hit with drop kick from behind. Then in a spot gets splashed in corner. Both men double team him and he gets thrown and dropped into the ground ala a flap jack move. They bring up last week and RVD kicks in as he catches Mosh and then monkey flips him by his leg power. Quickly jumping to ropes with a flying side kick.

Lawler is in as fans boo. He then taunts camera as he punches him and rips at his face in ropes. Rob back in with no effort and so easy bounds back to top turnbuckle and delivers a 5 star frog splash as the audience is stunned. Rob should cover but points at himself proud and tags in King who decides to make a relaxed cover as Thrasher kicks out. He chokes him on mat and misses his fist drop.

Mosh gets the hot tag and starts working over both men as soon all 4 men are in ring. Mosh then gets Rob outside as Lawler delivers a pile driver to win. But the referee is distracted as King taunts Dreamer as Heyman holds him back. Then we see the plan unfold. Sandman slides into the ring with a smile and just low blows King , as the Headbangers do their finish off top turnbuckle and advance. Outside the ring Rob and Tommy brawl in crowd as WWF Security get involved. Sandman tries to get at him as Heyman uses the can to choke him back from going !

Backstage we see Ahmed with Undertaker & Paul Bearer. Its hear that Ahmed swears they are ready as Bearer taunts Johnson if he knows who the leader of team is. Ahmed calls him Pillsbury Doughboy and to shut up. That he respects Undertaker , not him. Ahmed warns Dead Man if Bearer steps outta line he will take him down. We see 2 weeks ago where Ahmed was choke slammed by Undertaker.

Tonight Faarooq promised 2 new members of the Nation. So he's intrigued. We see where at King of Ring Ahmed was given the Pearl river plunge. Out comes Faarooq and Di-Lo. Then we see Faarooq introduce Kama Mustafa. But he comes from outta nowhere and jumps Undertaker quick with punches in the corner. The other man isn't mentioned. Big splash in corner by Kama who keeps working Undertaker down with punches and kicks. Ahmed tries to rally Undertaker back.

Seconds later in a spot Undertaker bounces off the turnbuckle and delivers an epic clothesline. But he later is distracted by Faarooq on apron and the heels stay in command with a double team clothesline. Faarooq in control til he tries a back body drop off the ropes and Undertaker does a flying ax kick ! Kama is in as he works Undertaker over now and dumps him outside. Where Di-Lo and Faarooq double team him.

Back from commercial Undertaker off the ropes delivers his trade mark epic clothesline. He rallies back and delivers a choke slam and goes for the pin attempt on Faarooq. Vince and J.R discuss possible candidates. Is it Butch Reed (would make sense) or maybe Mr. Hughes ? Outside the ring Ahmed gets angry at Bearer and gets in his face dropping off the apron. As Undertaker tries for a tag. We comically hear Junkyard Dog as a name. Kama delivers what appears to be a rock bottom type slam and...pins the Undertaker ?!

As the heels beat on Undertaker , Ahmed charges in to stop it. The NOD leave up the ramp as Ahmed stands over and helps him up. Then Ahmed delivers a pearl river plunge as he yells at fans he's finished. Both act stunned as we see Ahmed walk up the ramp and join the Nation of Domination. The show ends with the salute as all 4 men stand there. That this was quite the set up and we see Faarooq and Ahmed hug. The new Nation is a force to be reckoned with. What does the new Nation stand for ? END OF SHOW.


The Good : This promo by Mankind and Austin would become one of the early Attitude Era's most famous promos. With Mick wanting to team with Stone Cold and the whole ass line. It also illustrated that the WWF was kicking the show off with its growing strongest characters allowing them to go in this direction. The idea to pair Austin/Mankind was a great concept and idea to get Mick's character more over as a full face.

The HHH/Phineas match while not an epic one , actually lasted longer than the tag team match and had some decent work from both men. Hunter was slowly becoming the great worker he would become and we saw some fun spots with Chyna as the end showed. It was a good short match for this era.

The inter-promotional war of ECW/USWA/WWF was really making things interesting wrestling wise. As detailed before , the WWF never admitted other promotions existed til ECW arrived and they needed help. Now they were admitting USWA existed. Of course here it was June 1997. The USWA was limping towards closure by this stage and would end up closing its doors in November 1997. Unable to compete in this new cable landscape as the Monday Night Wars crippled its audience and a move to Thursday shows didn't help.

Austin/Pillman was a good wild match for sure which really sums up what the Attitude Era would become. Matches would start fast at times and we'd see wild brawls outside the ring. In fact Pillman's broken nose added to the match for how wild it was going. The ref taking a stunner really sold the wild nature of this as well.

This was a good bit of payback in a way as Lawler lost his chance at the tag team titles. No one knew Sandman was there.


The Bad : As RAW was pushing towards quicker fast matches as we saw , a botch would happen. Also this would ruin a good building tag team match as Blackjacks vs Owen/Bulldog could have used more time. It went so quick it was wild to see how Barry Windham went from dominating to start the match to face in peril within a couple minutes. The botch at the end as Barry realizes he's supposed to hit at Owen to sell the referee distraction spot was funny.

Jim Neidhart was a decent fun character to watch with his wild laugh and personality. But man this match was bad. At one point Anvil seems to no sell a shoulder block or wobbles to remember it. Then we get the finish which was ; ok that was a weird way without the shattered dreams finisher to see.

I really have good memories of Fantastics/Midnight Express matches but this coming was not a good way to promote the new Light Heavyweight division. It was off , the 2 guys were really slow compared to what we saw in WCW. Compare this to Mysterio/Syxx....yeah no contest. The 2 guys were in their late 30's at this stage and no one had any idea who they were either. Which is sad because both were solid 80's tag team workers. (Rogers passed in 2015 sadly) It was not the best way to start a division and at the end Jim Ross claims more recruiting will happen to start a tournament.

The big heel turn at the end which in watching was telegraphed so badly , it wasn't a shock. In fact Ahmed never tagged in and his whole promos was so un-Ahmed it was a foregone conclusion.The WWF saw that nothing was working with Ahmed and really had no where for him to go next. So they did a heel turn. Which was done so quick and shoddy it didn't help.

OVERALL : **1/2 outta 5. Really the matches just weren't solid to write home about. More or less Pillman/Austin was a nice wild type of match but it was the only noteworthy match of the whole show. A lot of matches ended too quick and some were question marks on how the company decided to air it. Like the Light Heavyweight match with guys who had never been seen before in the company. Austin/Hart Foundation and ECW carried this weeks show. A end of show head scratching heel turn didn't help.

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WWF Monday Night RAW June 23rd 1997



Your Hosts : Vince McMahon & Jim Ross

This week we get the RAW Attitude Era intro to start. Pyro explodes as do the explosions welcoming us to WWF RAW in Detroit Michigan at the Hobo Hall. The place is packed with signs for Steve Austin. To start we get the New Nation of Domination. We see Ahmed in black with the group. Vince McMahon will do this interview. Jim Ross wants to know why Ahmed would join , as well...frankly so does everyone given the last year of booking.

Vince gets right to it , Why Ahmed Why ? He starts off by telling the audience that he will tell em if they all shut the hell up. Ahmed then calls Vince , white man. That he knows why he did. That he came out there and tried for a belt. That no one backed him up except his crew ? WTF ? He tells all fans they know why they never supported him..cause he's a black man ! He questions Vince if he backed him up ? That when he came back from injury did he get a title shot ? Vince measly says he would have but Ahmed ain't having that .

He claims one man lived in peace in MLK and what happened. But Louis Farrakhan tells it like it is ! Now Ahmed tells it like it is , that Undertaker his super hero he has no more respect for. That any man who listens to another man ain't no better than a stinking dog. Di Lo speaks up for 1st time ..holy f-ck. That this is why he joined the NOD , Vince McMahon. Its amazing Di Lo speaks ! Faarooq brings up that he fired those 2 cause they weren't team players. Now the biggest fear was MLK Jr and Malcolm X coming together now that is the new Nation.

Di Lo speaks again to chime in. Then we get Ahmed physically threatening Vince about crossing his eyes one more time. That he doesn't care who he is. That if he crosses his eyes at any one of them he'll regret the day he was born. Then we get Kama speaking as he was proud of what he did to Undertaker last week. Mustafa claims he single handedly beat the Undertaker himself last week. That he's so proud of this Nation , he's proud of Ahmed for getting a chance to beat Undertaker this week ! Di Lo ends it by saying they will rule this promotion BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY !

As the music hits to end segment out rolls guys on motorcycles. Its Krush leading the pack of bikers. Brian Lee is one of them and so are the Harris brothers who have shaved their heads since ECW run. Anyhow Krush calls Faarooq a punk and proclaims he wasn't fired , he quit. That this is a real brotherhood , this is the D.O.A "Disciples of Apocalypse" . This brotherhood lives together , rides together and then Krush tells Vince ...we sure fight together and then its on ! All 10 men go at it as referees and WWF Security hit the ring ! Jim Ross claims its like a be gang fight war happening.

The fans really have no idea who to cheer for as they are puzzled at this entire deal. As Krush isn't exactly a face either or given a turn that way for weeks. Security gets everyone settled down as uniforms are in ring. Finally the audience decides to that DOA are really better than the Nation. So they chant DOA. In comical spot Lee has to move ring steps to get the bikes out of there. The WWF Tag team tournament will continue since Shawn's injured again (he's not).

The Godwinns will face the Legion of Doom after Henry suffered broken neck weeks ago. Also in the main event Vader (holy crap he's back) will team with Undertaker to face Ahmed/Faarooq . Then we go to LOD backstage as Hawk claims its their type of night as all hell will break loose. Animal chimes in that is just the way they like it ! As we go to commercial Ken Shamrock is seen working out getting ready.

We get clips of Ken angry at Austin and challenging him for a match on RAW later. Then we see the LOD , Goldust and Shamrock in ring keeping the peace after it. Dustin creates the tag team for the Canadian Stampede PPV coming in July to face Hart Foundation. On guest commentary is ...Dan "The Beast" Severn. What hurts this is the audio cuts out on Severn discussing Shamrock due to Rockabilly's crap music intro.

Severn's audio is bad or either he talks so low. They lock up as Ken starts mat wrestling quick with a fireman's take down and arm bar. Vince is quick to change the head set for Severn. Jim Ross brings up how the 2 men had fought twice and both are 1-1. Ken in a spot seconds later gets Billy down and locks on an ankle submission as they are close to ropes. Vince actually defends UFC and blames the out of touch officials trying to ruin its business. Severn chimes in that there has never been a death in a UFC contest and in 75 years of fighting no holds barred there have been no deaths.

Ken is working Billy and as the referee distracts him a few seconds Rockabilly catches him off guard to get heel advantage. Shamrock's selling punches isn't there yet as he's still working as Billy throws punches. Then in a spot as Billy attempts a body slam , Ken reverses out into a belly to belly suplex. Then into an ankle lock submission. Post match Honky Tonkman tries to hit him but Ken turns as Honky acts to be playing it. Jim Ross jokes he better be doing that as Shamrock isn't one to mess with.

Post match Ken spots Dan outside the ring at announce booth. The 2 men have a stare down as Ken extends his hand. They shake hands as Shamrock raises Severn's had as a code of respect between them. The 2 part as respected allies for now. We go to the new angry Henry Godwinn who is with his brother Phineas. He claims that the LOD claims it was an accident on what happened to him , but it damn sure didn't feel like an accident. No sir , now this boy and him are gonna make sure they do things their way from now on. No more square dancing anymore.

After an Army Slam of the Week promo with Ahmed pearl river plunge on Undertaker , we go to Sable promo in a hot bikini and look. She is Miss Slammy 1997. This brings up Jim Ross who details the relationship of Marc Mero and Sable . Then plugs the WWF Magazine and mentions ...Vince Russo as editor. The article points at them breaking apart over jealously it seems.

The angry Godwinns come down as Henry's brutal neck injury is shown on TV. Jim Ross keeps showing the impact of the fall and C-4 injury he had to his neck on Shotgun Saturday night. As mentioned Henry was told to rest 15 weeks to heal but raced back too soon (8 weeks in). The Godwinns meet them in aisles with slop buckets and toss slop on them. Road Warriors are PISSED and storm the ring and knock both guys outta the ring. The fans are hot for LOD.

Vince gets word that Shamrock was just attacked backstage by Hart Foundation. Then we go to Godwinns trying a double team on Animal and failing as he nails a double clothesline on both ! After this Hawk and Henry start out , and both try clotheslines and don't go down. Then in a move you rarely expect Hawk to have done , he does an enziguri to Henry Godwinn ! Later in a spot as Henry has control he does a big pile driver on him. Hawk stands up unknown to him , no selling it as he clears the ring !

Jim Ross brings up how the LOD are the only tag team in history to be NWA , AWA and WWF World tag team champions. And 2 of the companies are outta business. Then we see Animal in and somehow Phineas gets him outside. This allows Henry to ram him into the steel ring steps unknown to referee. Phineas does a big body slam and tries a flying move off the top turnbuckle and in comical fashion , Animal's forearm misses EVERYTHING as Phineas acts like he was hit by air !

Hawk makes the hot tag and soon all 4 men are in ring as LOD signals for Doomsday device on Henry as Phineas makes the save a little. Henry in a weird way still gets clotheslined over Animal on the ground. Hawk makes the pin in this weird way for the pin. Post match the Godwinns jump Animal & Hawk. They use the slop bucket on Hawk. Then a slop drop backwards DDT on him. Animal makes the save with a steel chair but drops it to check on Hawk.

Out runs the Hart Foundation who start a big beatdown on him and Hawk to finish things.Bret Hart watches on apron smiling as his family destroys the LOD in ring. Both men are left laying as Bret looks on cool style with his shades. They leave finally to go to back. In the crowd is Tommy "Hitman" Hearns watching this show with his family. Undertaker is backstage. He goes to speak as Paul Bearer starts screaming its all about ME , all about WHAT I WANT ! This is all Undertaker can stand as he grabs Bearer by the throat and then grabs Vader who tries to attack. Bearer yells to remember the fire repeatedly. He releases and walks off finally.

After the commercial we see Owen Hart with his Intercontinental Championship. On the tron Owen is asked about this match tonight in a 3 way match , as he proclaims its a conspiracy ! A huge conspiracy as a Canadian because he doesn't have to get pinned to lose the title tonight. But its 2 Americans as well against him. But don't worry he has a surprise ready. Then we get Steve Austin personally selling "Cause Stone Cold Says So..." In it Austin claims if you want some stupid sparklers or someone dancin , you bought the wrong damn video ! He hawks the video Austin style.

end of part 1

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Flash Funk is out as Funk does a half weird Muhammad Ali promo mixed in with the whole , they say your suicidal , homicidal...its time for Raw is War to find out. Paul E. is out again to promote Sabu. Your gonna see the most suicidal , homicidial , genocidal maniac ! He is the lord of the hardcores. Then we see Bill Alphonso making his RAW debut in corner. Jim Ross brings up his history as a referee. Paul goes back to selling Sabu and his history in ECW. How he's gonna be headlining the 2nd ECW PPV "Hardcore Heaven 1997" and we see clips of his ECW acts.

J.R is stunned at the scars on his body as we see Sabu point to sky. Flash starts off in some control but Sabu is a wild maniac and quickly catches him with a spinning heel kick and then knocks him to floor. Then we see how fast Sabu is as he quickly does a somersault plancha to the floor as he collides with ring railing as well. Sabu and Fonzie drag a table out from under the ring as Heyman brings up Bischoff and WCW. That they are wrong about Public Enemy being the ones who made tables etc , it was Sabu. He should know since he helped create Public Enemy !

Funk realizes whats going on and cuts it off. Flash thrown him in corner and does a weak spin splash move in corner. Paul guarantees Funk is going through that table. We see Funk do a big flying body splash , changing direction in air. He gets a close 2 count. Vince and J.R. then both pop for Sabu's jumping spring board huricanrana off top turnbuckle on Funk. That gets a close count as the match continues.

Paul jokes that they adopted Fonzie from Vince's company since he was a long time referee for them. He was taken from Betty Ford Clinic as Vince shrugs that off. Jim Ross plays back , he graduated with honors. Funk in a spot catches Sabu with a back side kick to the head dropping him. Then we see Funk climb up slowly as Sabu recovers and he attempts the same jumping springboard huricanrana but Funk nails him as he falls on ropes and a flying kick knocks Sabu nearly landing on his head on ring apron !

Then we see Funk do something pretty awesome as he runs , cartwheels and delivers a side kick knocking Sabu off the apron ! Then he does a suicide plancha to the floor ! This is Flash Funk folks doing this. Jim Ross is excited at this as is Heyman telling Vince his guy is showing how he has to go to Extreme to face Sabu ! Then we see Sabu drop kick the knee to take advantage. Then later we see Funk do his 460 splash but Sabu kicks out !

In a wild spot seconds later Sabu does a spring board using the apron to huricanrana Funk on the floor as Jim Ross is in awe of this. Then Sabu loads Funk on table as we see him do a springboard moonsault onto table...and it doesn't break right. Instead Sabu is knocked off Funk. Then he flips onto it and still won't break as Sabu is hurting but doesn't care. The referee DQ's the match or count out as Sabu runs and leg drops Funk through it finally ! The table finally breaks as Sabu recovers. Sabu then takes off into the crowd like a wild man.

We get replays of last weeks RAW where Mankind wanted to be Austin's new tag team partner. Which Austin kindly did not accept. The promo became a pretty legendary promo for what was said then. They blurred the ass parts out in replay now comically. Then we go into Stone Cold Says So promo ! Vince promotes the Summerslam Million Dollar Chance. Then we get a replay of Sabu breaking table. Jim Ross praises Sabu as an amazing athlete. Now its time for Bulldog as European Champion to defend the belt. This belt is praised as the 1st new title the WWF introduced since 1979 since the IC Title. He is facing Mankind who has a Pick Me Steve sign. Campaigning to be Stone Cold's partner. He gets on the mic.

He is going to dedicate his efforts in the ring tonight to the toughest SOB in the WWF. His friend , Stone Cold Steve Austin ! Mankind starts off on fire on Bulldog. We learn this too is non-title as a bout. So yeah , shows you the importance of the belt. He kicks and mauls him in corner as Austin is on phone. Bulldog hits a running clothesline as Steve warns Vince to never call him collect ever again as he won't accept the charges. Austin calls out his buddy Kevin who hurt himself on a bull. He knows he'll be ok as he needs his $30 bucks he owes lol.

Mankind back in control as Steve praises him for knowing who the best wrestler is right now , but he was forced to tag with HBK so he's likely gonna have to keep him. He attenpts a suplex and is blocked by Bulldog as Austin claims Mankind's a kind man n he tips his hat to him , but he;s still a freak. Vince brings up how he'd still try to take him out at a moments notice and Steve admits he would. He doesn't give a rats ass about him. Mankind reverses out of an irish whip and nails a double underhook DDT. Then follows him up with a knee smash in corner turnbuckle to face !

Austin ends the call telling McMahon if he ever calls him collect again he'll whup his ass. Mick takes him and Davey outta the ring with his trademark clothesline over the top rope. As he falls Davey grabs his knee in some pain. He shakes it off quick and delivers a big lariat. Then follows it by throwing Foley into steel ring steps ! Seconds later he does a modified suplex slam with Mick hitting the steel hard ramp. Back in ring later Bulldog goes for his running powerslam as Mick reverses out and locks on mandible claw ! Davey to break it in corner low blows him. He grabs a steel chair from outside the ring and way lays Mick twice and finally a head shot with it. He backs up as Mankind sits up and then sideways with a wicked shot that we wouldn't see today ever to the face ! Bulldog is proud and gets down facing away posing about what he did. But Foley starts to regain life as Vince & J.R are stunned as he grabs him in mandible claw !

The referee has to force Mick to turn loose as Davey tries to escape from ropes. He manages to get away as he's stunned at this outside. This is one of the toughest people in WWF. Austin couldn't choose any better than this guy. The announcers plug the Friday-Monday shows. As Foley leaves with his hands raised. The fans pop for him as they had began to feel for Mick.

There is a Triple Threat match next for the IC Championship. It will be Goldust vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Owen Hart. Backstage Owen is ranting to Gorilla Monsoon he wants Brian Pillman in his corner since Chyna and Marlena were in both corners as well tonight. Monsoon said it was fine , Owen keeps ranting on about needing him in his corner and Monsoon again tells him its fine. Finally Pat Patterson tells Owen , he just said it was fine. Owen is like see , glad you understand.

Before the match we get a history of the championship as the WWF admits Pat Patterson was awarded the title as 1st champion in 1979. Then Pedro Morales had 2 reigns , so did Don Muraco , Tito Santana won it , so did Honky Tonkman for longest reign , Ravishing Rick Rude wore it too , British Bulldog won it to as did Ahmed Johnson and so did Marc Mero. Your thinking what the hell ? There was more than this right ? -- People not mentioned as IC Champion : Randy Savage , Ricky Steamboat , Ultimate Warrior , Razor Ramon , Diesel , Curt Henning ... (all of these guys Vince had issues with it appears and decided to not mention comically)


Hour 2 begins as Vince welcomes us to Warzone ! Pat Patterson is special guest referee for tonights match as the 1st champion. We see how Hunter won his 1st IC Championship from Marc Mero that October. Which began Mero's slow downfall. Then we see Goldust in January 1996 would win his 1st IC Championship against Razor Ramon. He'd be a 2 time champion. Now its time for Owen as Brian Pillman carries his 2 Slammy's.

We see Owen win the championship back in April. Rocky Mavia is who he won it from as all 3 men start slugging into each other. Goldust catches Owen off ropes with flying clotheslines. All 3 men are in at same time. For a few seconds Hunter & Owen work together. But he ends turning on Hunter trying to sneak pink him. Goldust seconds later stops Hunter from a pin attempt. Atomic drop by Goldust on Hunter , as Owen stalks and seconds later delivers a snap suplex on Dustin for a pin attempt. Goldust & Owen slug it out as HHH comes over and ends up in a double knocker knocker with Owen. Seconds later Goldust is thrown out as Owen catches Hunter off ropes with a belly to belly suplex. That pin is broken up. Then we see all 3 men trying pin attempts comically later.

Then we see later in a spot see Hunter & Owen work together again as Hunter tries a pedigree. Owen nails him off the ropes with a spinning heel kick and Goldust catches him in the curtain call DDT ! Patterson doesn't see Owen's foot on the ropes as he makes the 3 count. Pillman is in ring yelling about it. The other referee runs in (Earl Hebner I believe) who is telling Patterson his foot is on the ropes. But Pat contends he didn't see it on ropes and makes the call he did. Goldust is declared the winner as his music plays as Pillman shoves Patterson , who shoves him backwards and gestures for a fight !

end of part 2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Gorilla Monsoon comes down to talk this one over and calm it down. He points at the Titan Tron and shows him what happened. The match is restarted again. Both heels work Dustin into corner as he brawls out and does the flip flop n fly in middle of the ring ! His run ends as Owen side suplexes him and sets up for sharpshooter. Helmsley sees it and clotheslines him ! Hunter has a pin attempt in a spot and Goldust kicks him away.

Seconds later Owen delivers a neck breaker as Dustin slowly paces around as he watches Owen make a pin attempt. Breaking it up. Dustin delivers some uppercut punches on Hart in corner. Then Hunter grabs his legs and sandwiches him between the steel ring post comically. Much later as Goldust & Hunter trade punches , Owen climbs the top turnbuckle and comes flying with a double drop kick on both men. Then he follows up with a spinning heel kick off the ropes on Dustin.

As Owen & Hunter later trade punches outside the ring , Patterson jumps out to get em back in ring. Chyna takes this time to jump in and huricanrana Dustin ! He's outside as Owen catches Hunter with a spinning heel kick and then Dustin makes his way up to top turnbuckle half out of it. He comes off as Owen makes the cover. But Owen spotted him and he lands on an already weakened Helmsley as Owen makes the pin ! Owen is drenched in sweet given this pace the match was on. Pillman celebrates with him.

Backstage Bret and Jim Neidhart watch from monitors happy at how Owen won his match. After commercial we see them reply Chyna's help with huricanrana. Coming to the ring is Bret Hart with Anvil. Vince will do this interview. Vince starts off the interview with bringing up the 10 man tag team match at Canadian Stampede. Bret claims its gonna be a Canadian Stampede alright. He details Legion of Doom believe they are the best team in WWF ...NOT. Because as he hugs Jim Neidhart , Bret proclaims they right here are the greatest tag team in WWF history. There are some Canadian fans in attendance.

Ken Shamrock is fresh outta the Ultimate Fairy Championship and wants to use him to make a name for himself , thats fine. He's welcome to try. Then he has Goldust with Marlena. If she wants to get involved and make a name for herself as she did against Bulldog , well he has 4 sisters at home that will knock her block off if she tries it again on Bulldog ! As far as the Captain of the team "Stone Cold Steve Austin" , he is nothing but scum of the Earth. Stone Cold look over your shoulder cause justice is coming. Its called Hart Foundation ! They will pound them into Calgary ground and no one is gonna steal a victory in their town.

Then Bret brings up speaking of thieves , he heard there's a guy who calls himself "Hitman". He decides to mock Hitman Hearns. Vince points out a non too happy Thomas Hearns in the crowd. Bret proclaims there is only room for 1 Hitman in Detroit , and challenges Hearns there. He then claims that you know as well as these fans know , you stole his name. He then mocks Hearns accomplishments getting them wrong and then is like , ya know just get your ass in here.

Hearns tries to be calm then Bret mocks him by claiming , he's not the Hitman ...he's the Chicken Man. Which really looking at it now , not a good thing to say here Bret (maybe cowardly lion would work best). Hearns charges the ring as Bret has his jacket half off as he finally starts to get ready. A boxer vs wrestler match possibly as Hearns is getting psyched up ! Then as Jim tries to possibly coach Bret to not do this now , he somehow backs in and Hearns believes he's coming at him. He throws some punches as his stomach shot makes Neidhart groan loudly (that connected) as he collapses to mat after a head shot.

Anvil plays it like Hearns laid him out as he acts all confused and not knowing where he's at. This has WWF Security and others charge the ring as fans start a USA Chant . Bret checks on him and they leave the ring. After commercial we see a replay and Hearns is happy in crowd as he demonstrates his punch as fans pop for him. Backstage is Faarooq who claims that just like Hitman Hearns did tonight , they plan that to Undertaker. Suddenly Savio steps in and talks trash on him claiming he disrespected Puerto Rico people. Then he takes a beat down from all of them and gets whipped by Faarooq.

In ring in a special WWF Light Heavyweight match is Scott Taylor (Scotty Too Hotty) as he has longer hair. Jerry Lawler brings out Brian Christopher. Brian cuts a promo claiming that for years he's dominated the USWA down in Memphis so tonight he plans to start dominating this division in WWF. Also fans will discover why he's called Too Sexy !

Taylor is wearing weird blackish tights with strands in this. The 2 men trade arm bars and Taylor n Christopher botch a spot after an arm drag take down then we see later Brian deliver a dragon suplex as he's in control. Jerry Lawler gets on commentary to trash Paul E. In ring Scott takes over and delivers a spinning heel kick. Lawler takes the time to claim real talent like Christopher from USWA is here.

Then we see a spot later as Taylor gut punches Brian , hits the ropes and does a front roll type splash with his legs onto Christopher's back. We see a near pin fall. Then later Taylor in a spot is caught with a fameasser , dropping across the back of his neck , driving his face into mat. Brian in control seconds later does a missile drop kick to the back of Taylor's head. All while Lawler claims Paul E. is a liar as Vince brings up that Christopher is his son. This has him try to weasel outta admitting it as Jim Ross questions this , are you denying he is your son ?

In ring later Taylor does a spring board clothesline onto Brian in a nice spot. The tide turns as Lawler doesn't care who has sons or families , all he cares is if a man kicks butt or not. In ring Brian hooks a 2nd rope backwards DDT on Taylor and then finishes it with an Alabama jam (Leg drop off top rope). Lawler is happy as Vince claims he's as happy as a father would be. The King comically wants to give their numbers out for this as they plug Jim Ross 1-900 number line.

After a replay of last night where Undertaker nearly snapped on both Bearer and Vader backstage earlier , we see Vader now with Bearer. After a Stone Cold Says So promo...Then we have Vince decide to question Bearer backstage about the whole fire line. Bearer tells him he's reading too much into it. Now we go to the main event and already the company is having issues with this Ahmed Johnson turn as he isn't in the match tonight. Vader is out 1st and then we hear Undertaker's music. Undertaker brings the light to arena as he isn't in a good mood clearly. Tonight it will be Faarooq/Di Lo Brown , as Di-Lo makes the mistake of jumping the Dead Man , he eats a flying clothesline off the ropes seconds later.

Now we learn Ahmed hurt his knee somehow tonight as he watches on a monitor. Undertaker works over Di-Lo as payback for this as he does an arm bar. Brown rallies back and in a spot throws Undertaker in corner and spears him in the corner. As the match works out comes the D.O.A who once Undertaker clotheslines Di-Lo over the top rope ..lands on the ramp in front of them.


end of part 3

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The D.O.A starts brawling with the Nation members there as in ring Vader and Undertaker have a heated conversation. For who knows what reason , the Undertaker decides to jump out and brawl with everyone ! Also why this hasn't been DQ'd is beyond me as the referee seems to be allowing this wild brawl with everyone. After the commercial the match continues as Brown and Vader are trading punches in ring. Why is this match still going ? It clearly was a DQ. Vader in corner sets up Di-Lo for his trade mark Vader bomb. Faarooq makes the save and we see a tag in for him . He's on fire until he runs right smack into Vader outta the corner in his trade mark spot. Vader then climbs up waiting on Faarooq for some reason who catches him as he comes off into a power slam !

Di-Lo comes in and starts kicking and punching. Vince McMahon claims that Ahmed blew his knee out due to D.O.A and that makes sense. Vader in a spot seconds later delivers a big splash on him. Then we see Vader come to the corner and shove Undertaker to make a tag. This has Undertaker hit him , as Faarooq nails a running tackle and gets the win. This leaves Undertaker alone in ring as Bearer is screaming at him.

Undertaker is fed up and waives at Bearer to leave him alone as he starts to walk off. Vader jumps him and pays the price . Big boot into a huge tombstone as Vader goes down. Bearer quickly leaves the ring as Undertaker walks off up the ramp. Bearer gets on the mic claiming next week he will spill the beans on his secret and ruin him. Undertaker turns and makes a gesture Paul's a walking dead man. Which he realizes his time is ticking short now , Undertaker is coming after him next week . A worried Bearer looks around as he gets angry at camera. Trying to shove it away. End of show.


The Good : It was nice seeing Brian Lee back in WWF. If anyone doesn't remember he was fake Undertaker in his last run and now was being given a chance to basically be who he was in ECW in a sense.

This was likely the best match that Flash Funk (2 Cold Scorpio) had done in the WWF at this point. The match wasn't a WWF match and Vince clearly was stunned at the spots as it really was an ECW style match. Funk busting out moves we hadn't seen and Jim Ross getting excited was fun moments. Its clear this was a match that people hadn't seen on RAW before. It also was a solid debut for Sabu on a Monday Night program where he could bust out his insane offense and move set. The finale showed how wild he could be with table.

Mankind/Bulldog won't win a match of the week but was decent for how it was done. It also was done to sell how tough Mick Foley really is. That last chair shot would never happen today given how dangerous it really is now. The shot was a sideways chair shot to the face !

Owen/Hunter/Goldust was a really fun triple threat and a nice swerve to start it. But they let it run a good while to really show that any of the guys could win. It was close at points. But Owen showed how good he really was then by working this fast match with all 3 men . You can tell the pace started to wind Dustin in a spot.

The Bret Hart/Thomas Hearns spot was just a classic fun sports moment. Where Bret starts a fight with a legendary boxer and nearly pays for it. This is something that the WWF really has been good with using athletes well enough in angles like this and not really looking bad from it.

The Bad : Ahmed Johnson's heel turn was so insanely stupid , that his promo made no sense. In this he proclaims how his crew backed him up ? This is the same crew that he feuded with for months by the way and beat up. A week later he decides to join them. Russo heel/face turns in his booking made little sense as there is no build and this was really the start of them in WWF. The only sense the promo made was when Ahmed claimed Vince didn't treat him right and give him opportunities to win championships after he returned. That made sense.

The Big problem the WWF Light Heavyweight division was having was that , yes Brian Christopher was a decent star and could cut a promo. But him being tied to Lawler wasn't helping. Plus no one knew who Scott Taylor was so like the Fantastics last week , the division 2 weeks in was floundering. The match wasn't bad at all , just a pale attempt at trying to do what WCW was doing and smoking Vince's ass with.

It was amazing that a tag match could bury 2 men who really needed the help. Vader himself was made to look like he was essentially useless as a monster out there and got destroyed within a minute by Undertaker post match. Then we had the fact this tag team match was to sell Ahmed Johnson's new heel run. Instead what happens was ...he either got hurt for real which really was a blow so early to him or the WWF was doing a stupid move here and not helping him. If its #2 it just made Ahmed not look good ala Vader here.

Overall : *** outta 5. The WWF had some fun storylines and spots tonight for sure. Their biggest successes was the developing Mankind into such a face fans loved him. To the spot with Thomas Hearns. The best match of course was the ECW Invasion one with Sabu/Funk & the Triple Thread for IC Title . The biggest problems was the big Ahmed Johnson heel turn which already in its 1st night hit a problem. Not a bad RAW , but the matches lacked and Main Event was used more to sell Undertaker/Bearer storyline at the end.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - June 30th , 1997




Your Hosts : Vince McMahon , Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross

Jim Ross opens with a vignette discussing the Paul Bearer & Undertaker relationship from manager/student to him turning against him for more power. Then we see Undertaker burn him at one point. But Bearer claims he has a dark secret and started blackmailing him for weeks. Until last week that finally the Undertaker decided enough was enough. Bearer claims this week he will tell his secret to the whole wide world.

After the opening we get Vince welcoming us to Des Moines , IA. The arena doesn't look that big for this show but the crowd seems hot for it. The opening match has Ken Shamrock walk out like a man possessed. Now nicknamed "World's Most Dangerous Man" fully , we see Hunter Hearst Helmsley with Chyna. The King of Ring will be facing Shamrock in this opening match. His comments earlier tonight , as Hunter claims Ken maybe the world's most dangerous man but he's bringing something. Chyna chimes in claiming , The Most Dangerous Woman as she flexes her arm !

Shamrock with a nice arm drag starts it. Then a nice fireman's carry next by him in a spot. Then seconds later off the ropes Hunter tries an arm drag , Ken blocks and reverses it into a weird rolling type sideways pin attempt . Ken stays in control with an arm bar until Hunter distracts the referee with a thumb to his eye. This has fans boo of course. Helmsley stomps on him as finally the referee gets tired of counting and trying to stop him in corner , grabbing Hunter's hair n yanking him back !

Off the ropes later Hunter delivers a high knee. Then his trade mark knee drop to face on mat. Ken tries to rally back with punches but Hunter cuts him off. Then later takes his momentum , throwing him over top rope to floor. Where Chyna throws him into the steel ring steps pretty hard. Then we see Mankind come down the ramp as Hunter is distracted , wanting him to come in ring. Ken uses it to belly to belly super plex him for the win !

Post match Mankind tries to attack Hunter but he ducks out in time. Shamrock looks on stunned at how Mick helped him and he gives Mick some props for the help at the end. The announcers plug this huge secret coming and what Bearer plans to reveal. They then decide to bring up Ahmed Johnson turning on Undertaker and him going with Nation of Domination. We get Ahmed's anger at fans for not backing him up for title shots and then crediting his crew (NOD) for it. They cut to part where he blames fans for him saying he was black thats why and warns Vince McMahon for his hero is kept in. Then we get Krush and D.O.A out there.

It appears Ahmed really did suffer a knee injury during this brawl with D.O.A as he had knee surgery done. Its here Ahmed blames Undertaker for the D.O.A attack. He pledges to come back and show him what Dead is . That he's gonna run through D.O.A too and that the Nation & him will be like a bad storm. The promo suddenly cuts away as Ahmed is still talking , likely insane nonsense.

Backstage we see Legion of Doom with the newest WWF employee , interviewer Michael Cole. Animal starts off screaming that NO TEAM HAS EVER BEATEN LOD LEGALLY ! And tonight Nation will discover that as they go towards getting those WWF World tag team titles. Hawk gets on the mic and tells the Nation to get ready for Road Warrior World and they will be a steaming pile of mush coming soon !

Back from commercial we see Sunny with money stuffed between her breasts , as she plugs the million dollar challenge and case full of fake money. She teases about taking some. The New Nation is out as its Faarooq , Di-Lo and and Kama. The LOD is out to a monster pop as usual as the Legion don't scare easy as they do their turnbuckle pose mocking them. We get another replay of how LOD by accident with a Doomsday devise broke Henry's neck.

The match starts quick as Hawk dumps Di-Lo outside as Faarooq starts with Animal. He catches Animal with knees in corner and tries coming off top rope and is caught with a big power slam instead ! Then a big jumping elbow drop to finish. Hawk in next as he allows Faarooq to make a clean tag ? Ok that was weird. Di-Lo tries fighting against Hawk but eats a big suplex after some punches and then into rest hold.

Then later in a spot Di-Lo catches Hawk with a boot to face as he's bent and starts working him over in heel control. Then we see Di-Lo or Hawk botch a spot a few seconds here as Di-Lo bends his head down as to catch Hawk off turnbuckle. The delay is so slow , Hawk just performs a neck breaker. After a pin attempt all 4 men are in ring as Faarooq dumps Hawk outside as Animal power slams Di-Lo off the ropes.

Then we see Faarooq eat ring steps as Animal signals for doomsday device time as Di-Lo takes it. The referee has his back turned dealing with issues outside ring with Animal and Faarooq as Hawk makes the cover. Then we see Godwinn's use slop bucket on Hawk. Faarooq makes the pin as he's smart to do so. As Animal is stunned at this. LOD realizes what happened as they chase after the hillbillies.

Faarooq wants Vince in ring to interview them. Then we see Faarooq demand to know if Ahmed couldn't take the title shot against Undertaker at the PPV then why wasn't he , Di-Lo or Kama selected (which is a good point). Vince claims Vader was chosen. Faarooq tells Vince , look at the color of their skins vs Vader's . He was chosen cause he's a white man ! Tell him why he was chosen. Di-Lo gets on the mic and slams Vince on choosing Vader for the title shot. McMahon turns it back to Krush and he claims he fired those 2 losers cause they couldn't get job done.

He whipped Savio like a dog last week . Then as he's dissing Savio , out he walks with in white pants n shirt. Vega claims he didn't get the job done with his people. He didn't get fired , he too quit. Faarooq challenges him to come to the ring as Vega starts down and whistles. He signals to the back as more men come out wearing white outfits as they out number the Nation now ! All of them brawl in ring as WWF Security & officials get in ring to break it up.

Things get more wild as D.O.A decide to join the party on motorcycles. This is like full on gang warfare now as all 3 groups do not like each other. Soon all of them are now in ring brawling. Uniform security and more are in ring trying to stop this. After the commercial order has been restored as we get replays of how Godwinn's cost the LOD the match in tournament.

Michael Cole is with Savio Vega and his friends as they are speaking Spanish as he finally speaks English at Cole's urging. Its here Vega claims he knows all about gangs. He brings his blood with him. Then he calls the group Los Boricuas. Vega is cutting an intense promo about gangs but the guy beside him is screaming in Spanish which distracts from Savio's intense angry promo. Finally Vega gets to finish it as his friend stops (likely a producer there gave a signal to stop) as he proclaims they are there to kick some ass !

Sunny's music hits as we get a close look at her bikini photo spread of her and Brian Pillman together. Which was very wild to see at the time. The idea was to create an angle possibly with this. Of course according to a book excerpt from Pillman , him and Sunny did hook up there. No clue how true it is. You can google this by the way. Backstage the Undertaker is in some personal torment. And I don't mean straining at 2am on the john.

Out comes Scott Putski (son of WWF Legend Ivan Putski) as he was back in WWF. Putski had worked for various promotions and tours of Japan and Mexico by this point. We get clips of his father who , while not the most great wrestler had a unique move (Polish hammer). Fans digged it and Ivan would wrestle up til he was 58 years old. Lawler mocks Ivan as we see Brian Christopher come out. Vince cues up Lawler's footage as a nod towards his son. Vince tries pushing him on it , as King isn't happy pledging to start sticking fist down some mouths over it.

In ring Brian flexes to show off his physique. Scott shows off his (and he has a great look n hair) as we see Brian shove him. Off the ropes Brian is caught with a good belly to belly suplex. Both men trade punches and Scott catches him with a side walk slam. Then later a nice back breaker , followed up with a clothesline seconds later from turnbuckle. He tries for a pin attempt.

Then seconds later Brian catches Scott with a front Russian leg sweep planting him face 1st . Then in what is bad taste even then , Lawler starts mocking both Putski's for being Polish and using racial stereotypes with a terrible word. Christopher in full control does a snap mare and then follows with a drop kick off top rope to Putski's back of head. Brian makes a late cover after laughing for a few seconds.

Brian in control as Lawler claims Ivan's kid is a loser repeatedly. Then he tries for a huricanrana off the turnbuckle and Scott catches him with power bomb. Some big clotheslines follow and one off the top rope. Then we see Scott deliver a flying body splash across the ring as he makes the cover. Lawler climbs on apron and distracts Scott . They then have Scott reverse an Irish whip into Lawler knocking him off apron.

end of part 1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

As Scott sets up for a running power slam , Jerry trips him as Brian rolls it into a cradle pin. Post match Putski jumps Brian as he starts beating him up. This has Lawler get in ring and help lead a beat down on Scott. With the 2 men doing a spike piledriver to lay him out. Then we have Lawler get on the mic and do more horrible stereotype lines. Mocking Putski's Polish heritage with boat line and telling him to go home to his daddy. You dumb ---- . Its pretty bad then and even now.

We get a preview of Cause Stone Cold Says So as the clip is from ECW. Which shows you how far the working relationship had went to let Paul E. allow WWF use the clips and more. Vince applauds the actions of Austin ripping Hulk Hogan in the clip. Then we go to the Undertaker who is down with hair in his face. Creatures of the night , my friends in WWF ; tonight your gonna hear a slanted version of things. A night that would change his life forever. Paul Bearer will try to poison their minds ^ hearts on him by telling this. These events have burned in his mind for over 20 years. All he asks is after he tries poisoning their minds & hearts , he gets the opportunity to tell his side...the truth.

We get a promo of the Great Sasuke , one of the best light heavyweights in the world. Sasuke clips are shown which is amazing is he wasn't in WCW at the time. Anyhow on PPV this Sunday at Canadian Stampede he will face Taka Michinoku ! Sasuke was the guy clearly the WWF was really interested in given this vignette and hype by Jim Ross. Instead the company walked away more impressed with Taka and signed him instead after the PPV.

In ring is Brian Pillman as Vince McMahon brings up his actions on WWF Shotgun Saturday night. When Brian was fired from the show after yanking a fan over the guard rail and beat them up. Pillman is told he has to apologize for that as he prerecorded his apology. Brian starts off saying he deeply regrets his actions with a fan , but he'd also like to apologize for being the only athlete in WWF with any GUTS ! He'd also like to apologize for being the only guy who has what it takes as the voice of reason...FOR TELLING IT LIKE IT IS ! He's not gonna apologize for taking his teeth and taking a BITE OUTTA MANKIND'S GOOD EAR ! He will show Marv Albert what its all about HA HA .

Mankind comes out with a box and his Pick Me Steve sign. He comes over to announcers and hands Jim Ross the box. J.R finally opens it and its ...a maniquin dummy's hand ala his mandible claw. Pillman takes this chance to jump Mick , and snatches the gift to use it. He then goes after J.R as he gets pushed back as he seems to blame him for being fired. In ring he stays on Mankind. Off the ropes with an elbow.

Then we see Brian try a drop kick on Mick as he wobbles his way , stepping outta the way. Now on him Mankind does a running knee on Pillman's face in corner. Steve on the split screen brings up that Mankind of course knows he's the best wrestler right now. But he sucks of course. You don't know if your going out there with Mick Foley , Cactus Jack , Mankind or Dude Love each night. He doesn't care about Shawn Michaels or a lotta things these days. But no one is gonna take those World tag team belts from around his waist or whoever is his partner cause thats the BOTTOM LINE.

Pillman back in control with kicks and chokes on Mankind. Off the ropes we see Mick catch Pillman's boot off the ropes , swirls him around and delivers a lariat . On the ramp is Chyna and Hunter. Mick gestures for him to come on down. After commercial in control Mick does a baseball slide and kicks Pillman outta the ring. Then outside the ring Brian grabs the ring bell and uses it on Mick !

Then Brian slams his bad ear into the ring post ! After hitting it he goes for a pencil to stab it as the referee grabs his hand from doing it. Back in ring Mankind rallies back with scratching the back . Then after dumping him outta the ring , Mick charges towards Brian and collides head 1st with steel ring steps. In ring later Brian chews on Mick's ear ! As payback later Mick takes Brian's bad leg and ankle and starts ramming it into ring post ! He then crotches him there too.

Mick loosens his shoe to keep attacking as Brian falls down. Then as he hooks mandible claw , Hunter charges into ring and gets met. Outside as Mick locks on the claw on him , Pillman uses his shoe on Foley. Then grabs him as Hunter runs with a chair and nails Brian by mistake as Foley moves. Mankind gets the chair as Hunter knows to get the hell outta dodge. But Mick has chased Hunter and cost himself match by count out as Brian is happy to get this over with. Foley yells on the mic about Helmsley in crazy rage.

Hour 2 is getting ready to start as we see Paul Bearer being asked about the secret. The moment has arrived McMahon. The moment of the end for the Undertaker...DEAD MAN. Then after hour 2 officially starts Vince brings out Paul Bearer. A female fan jumps the railing and attacks on Bearer as security quickly jumps in. Vince no sells the fan really as Bearer is taken down pretty well.

McMahon warns Bearer that Undertaker is here tonight. Bearer starts off saying they need to go back a few years , 20 to be exact. A little funeral home , oak trees all around. A wonderful , wonderful family lived there. The father was a mortician and mother book keeper. One kid was a red headed punk. The other was a sweet kid called Kane. He worked as an apprentice there under the father of the red headed punk aka Undertaker. He learned everything from his father and burial etc.

While he was working at funeral home , this little red headed punk ..there was something about him. He had the look of the devil , he was devils seed ! What made it worse was little Kane followed Undertaker around. He was Kane's hero. Whatever Undertaker did was fine ! It went on about 2 years there working , both kids would run around the place like wild men. But he could see what those kids would do.

They would take embalming fluid from the lab and smoking cigarettes. One afternoon he was leaving to go to school , he looked behind and saw that red head devil seed with his little brother. Something wasn't right but went on to school. But he comes back and what does he see !! He sees smoke , fire trucks , etc. Someone burned down the funeral home ! Inside the funeral home this poor family was there. Then he saw in bushes he saw Undertaker !! Undertaker you burnt the funeral home to ground. You killed your FAMILY UNDERTAKER ! He's had secret on his mind 20 years. He killed them , you killed them ! Your a G-D DAMN MURDERER !

The arena suddenly has thunder hit as it goes black. Then after commercial we see a happy smiling Bearer with Vader. Claiming he had to do it. Then we scroll over to Marc Mero with Sable. As they tease the Summerslam Million Dollar chance. We see Mero not happy at all as he steps in front of Sable as she shows off some money. Then we go to the 1st clue video promoting it.

In ring is the Headbangers waiting on Owen Hart & British Bulldog. This is a semi-finals match for a shot at the WWF World tag team titles. Mosh starts off with Owen as he takes early advantage until Mosh nails a big back drop off the corner turnbuckle and drop kick to follow. Then seconds later both Headbangers do a double big flap jack onto Owen. He finally tags out as Thrasher nails some nice arm drags on Davey.

Then we see Hart Foundation do a nice double team with a spinning heel kick off a tag catching Thrasher. A big suplex by Owen and pin attempt. Then we see a double clothesline by both. Bulldog is tagged in with a big suplex and work over Thrasher. Bret Hart is on the phone from Canada as he's questioned why he didn't show up tonight. Bret explains that he's not afraid of Steve Austin but is playing his cards close to his vest and will see him in action come Sunday night.

Mosh breaks up a pin attempt by Owen as both heels work over Thrasher. Owen seemingly waits seconds to do a suplex as he's likely discussing match in Thrasher's ear. Finally we see a cradle pin attempt by Thrasher as Owen kicks out. Hart follows with a big clothesline ! Finally Bulldog who is in attempts a back body drop and eats a boot to face. Bret pledges that the fans in Canada will see these scoundrels for what they are and that he plans to wrestle a good clean match. Vince brings up how Bret has claimed he wrestles a different style in America or Canada as he claimed earlier as a question.

Mosh makes hot tag as he delivers drop kicks and body slams to both men . Bret claims he's still same ole Bret Hart. That fans in Canada will see it , those in USA may not be happy. The Headbangers set up for their finisher as Thrasher climbs on top rope , and is knocked off. Owen uses this to victory bridge roll Mosh for the pin fall. Post match Mosh doesn't take the loss so well as he jumps Owen. Davey comically walks around with his back turned to this as we see him finally get involved.

Then we see Jim Cornette at the top of the ramp. Getting boos as he taunts the fans for staying away forever. Cornette claims he has a tag team that didn't make the tournament . So he asks Davey & Owen if they wanna see how bad they are ? Then he blows the whistle like Bill Alphonso as he waves for these 2 big obese black men to come to the ring. They are wearing boots ala the Iron Sheik would wear. For some unknown reason the Headbangers decide to jump back in ring and brawl with both teams as they weren't even brought up in this.

end of part 2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Davey manages to body slam one of the guys showing his power. Finally the Hart Foundation duck out of this as it leaves Headbangers who one of the big guys attempts a top rope move and they block it. Then do a double drop kick to them. Cornette jumps in distracting these 2 big men who do body slams and one comes falling off top rope with a head butt. The other one stuns everyone by doing a moonsault ! A 400+ guy doing a moonsault !

Backstage we go to Undertaker who is battling some inner issues as he reveals its true. He reveals his mother , father and little brother all burned to death in family funeral home. Yes , Kane & him was playing matches that day. But he was caught by his father and they were punished. That after his dad punished him , he was sent to do his daily chores. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kane with those embalming fluids. That it never occurred to him what he'd do.

That he lived with that every day of his life. That Kane was his little brother and responsibility. He returned home and discovered the sirens and fire trucks. He knew what happened , he ran n ran. Ran til he got home. He tried running inside but was grabbed by firefighters who stopped him from entering. Yes Paul , he wasn't at funeral but you didn't explain that 2 nights before you dragged him to neighboring funeral home to see his family. Til this very day that image of his mother laying on table ; as he pulled sheet back n saw the most wonderful person he ever knew. He couldn't breath and think. But he insisted he go look , this little boy go look.

He changed forever. That from that day he chose to walk a path that no one else did. Then we see Undertaker's voice change as he claims he draws strength from the spirit of the dead. From the spirits of his mother , father and little brother. That he will strike you down Paul Bearer. WILL...STRIKE...YOU DOWN .

In ring we see Honkytonk Man bring Rockabilly to the ring. Billy takes the guitar and plays. For poor Billy he's facing Vader with Paul Bearer. Bearer looks around nervous as we see Billy smash the guitar over Vader's back. But he barely flinches. Undertaker runs down as he's on a path of destruction and humbles Vader in quick order in the corner. Bearer screams murderer on the mic as Undertaker jumps outside and starts paint brushing him across the face with slaps.

Demanding Bearer tell the truth or he'll die right here. Finally Bearer screams Kane told him ! Which has Undertaker stop...frozen. Then we see Bearer scream that Kane is alive. That its the truth ! Vader nails Undertaker and saves Paul Bearer from the Undertaker's wraith. As now Undertaker is stunned at this. We go to commercial.

In ring after commercial we see Jim Neidhart as Steve Austin will be facing him in main event. Stone Cold gets jumped as he removes his vest by Anvil who brawls him into corner as Ken Shamrock watches back on monitor. Austin battles back with punches and off turnbuckle nails a lariat. Then another ! Austin finally does a rest hold as later Jim nails a big shoulder block on him.

Austin off the ropes does his Thesz press but Jim sells it so wrong , Steve lands sideways on the mat with him. Then in a fun moment Austin goes for a sharpshooter but is blocked. Then we see Stone Cold cheating by using ropes on an abdominal stretch. Jim Ross admits Austin doesn't care about being a role model , he just tells it like it is. Neidhart battles back of course from this as soon both men are battling with punches outside ring.

On the floor Anvil goes for a body slam on ramp , but Austin reverses out and delivers his own slam ! Then after a commercial we learn Bret Hart has tricked everyone. He is there and has jumped Ken Shamrock backstage using a trash can to do it. Then driving can down onto Shamrock who stomps him. Security tries to stop him as he beats on Ken , as Austin is getting worked over by Neidhart in ring.

Steve catches Jim in corner as announcers wonder when Bret will come out. But Neidhart stays on weakened Stone Cold. He battles back later as he chin drops Anvil as he attempts a sleeper. Steve tries a pin attempt. Jim later locks on a front face lock as Anvil seems winded out from this. He slams him and tries a silly bad splash from 2nd turnbuckle and misses pretty badly landing.

Then as Austin beats and pummels Jim in corner stomping him , out runs Bret Hart as he starts fighting Austin. Both Anvil and Bret work over Stone Cold in corner. Bret locks on his trademark figure-4 around the ring post to take Austin out as suddenly out runs Mankind ! Who locks on the mandible claw on Bret in that position ! He won't turn loose as Pillman comes out to pull him off. Then we see Davey and Owen use steel chair shots as Mick releases n then locks it back on ! Show ends here.






The Good : Ken Shamrock showed some more decent work. Having Hunter helped of course. But Shamrock showed he could mat wrestle as well.

The summer of 1997 era was famous for the idea of "Gang Wars" as the company created 2 stables very quickly. It also helped their weak tag team division as the most serious teams was Hart Foundation , Headbangers and Legion of Doom. By revamping the NOD and creating 2 more tag teams the WWF was trying to fix a division that really needed lots of work.

Perhaps the best WWF Light Heavyweight match at this point Putski/Christopher had some solid moves and featured 2 young stars who could work. Both men were solid and Scott clearly had athletic skill set and talent in ring. The WWF starting a program between these 2 in the division made sense since they needed 2 young guys who could start and carry the division.

While the Foley/Pillman match really was just ...not good it had a lot of insanity of 2 wild characters clashing for the 1st time. It had Pillman who was a psycho facing a disturbed Mankind as well. I'd rank the match as bad , but wild for what we saw with both men offering up their body parts that was hurt before. Plus the Pillman promo was SPOT ON cool for his wild character.

Paul Bearer's promo that expands on the Undertaker's past was really a top heel promo. No one can forget Bearer screaming YOUR A MURDERER !! And his reveal about Kane was a big surprise as no one knew Undertaker had a brother. It really humanized the Dead Man in a way , as he was now more than some undead zombie character.

Hart Foundation/Headbangers , while not a terrible match did have some nice spots. Owen was constantly having solid matches in spots and making these quick RAW type things work. The funniest part was Davey who walks around no clue his partner is getting beat up post match. We did see his power though , that was a big suplex to do.

Undertaker baring his soul was a good touch. As I posted above he was seen as such an inhuman character so long that this era was now humanizing him more. Expanding his backstory and giving him a brother who we had heard was alive.

Bret Hart pulling a nice heel trick was a good touch here. Bret had been beat down for weeks earlier and now he had pay back on Austin finally. The ending with Austin locked in figure-4 around ring post while Mick did mandible claw was a solid touch.

The Bad : It appears Ahmed legit suffered a knee injury last week in that brawl . Guy can't catch a break. The funniest part was him blaming Undertaker for D.O.A which is the most silly thing possible. Of course Ahmed's character was full on possibly suffering head issues at this stage as he claimed his crew backed him up ; which this is same crew he spent a year kicking their asses.

The feud not many wanted to care to watch was Road Warriors vs Godwinns. Even with a new heel turn the Godwinn's still was a silly team for this legendary team to feud with. Hawk & Animal getting beat up by guys with a steel slop bucket was just not that good.

The debut of the Headhunters aka Arabian Butchers was just a weird story. The team while not good wrestlers had became known for their big agile size on the indies in ECW etc. They had debuted at Royal Rumble 1996 as Squat Team (1 n 2). Now they were repackaged again. As detailed here the debut again failed because the guys weren't selling with no matter how much the announce team was selling them.

https://ringthedamnbell.wordpress.co...bian-butchers/

Vader needed to look impressive and squash someone since he was suddenly thrown back into Main Event picture to face Undertaker. Instead the match ends in quick DQ as Undertaker comes down , humbles him quickly and goes after Paul Bearer. Then Undertaker takes off asap to get away. This really didn't sell a guy who should get a title match.

The company really , really needs to stop with Jim Neidhart matches. Its clear he was gassed pretty much halfway in and blown spots didn't help. He was more of a hired muscle really.


OVERALL : **1/2 . Not a very good wrestling show for those who expect classics. The show more or less had 1 solid match (Putski/Christopher) and was carried more by the main angles (Mankind/HHH/Austin/Hart Foundation , Undertaker/Paul Bearer). The company was in a spot and had to suddenly push Vader back into main event after Ahmed's injury and we have what we see basically.