WWF Monday Night RAW Review thread

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The Headbangers come to the ring after commercial. Mosh and Thrasher are out and then the BIG SURPRISE happens. Its the Legion of Doom ! Hawk and Animal are back as finally the ECW fans pop for something. The Headbangers look a bit scared as the LOD remove the spiked pads and are ready . Or think they are til the LOD jump them and throw em outta the ring. Mosh takes a massive shoulder block to start this tag team match.

The LOD stay in control , working over Mosh. Til he makes a tag as Thrash and him try double teaming Hawk. This doesn't last long as the ECW fans in attendance begin a NITRO SUCKS chant. Lawler asks what they are chanting as McMahon plays up that its New York. Mosh tries to use his shirt to choke Hawk , but he is forced into the corner and gets to face an angry Animal. Mosh suffers his wraith as fans start a BISCHOFF SUCKS chant as the Headbangers try to do heel double teams to no effect to Hawk. Even a pin attempt is blocked by Hawk after Mosh tries a roll up.

Then the LOD do heel acts by smashing Mosh in the corner while the referee is distracted. Thrasher is allowed to tag in so Animal can beat on him. Hawk catches Thrasher with a big boot. Finally in a shock , Hawk misses Thrasher in the corner and goes flying to the outside. He then gets held as Mosh comes off the top rope. Both Headbangers start doing good double team moves to Hawk. They try another one and Hawk delivers a double clothesline !

He makes the hot tag as Animal delivers a drop kick surprisingly. He clears the ring as all 4 men brawl around the ring. Animal throws Mosh into the steel steps. But this brawl has also cost the LOD. They lost by a double count out. The LOD aren't happy and set up Mosh to eat the doomsday device finisher. Just a weird return for the LOD. Hawk gestures they want the WWF World tag team titles.

McMahon brings up the Shawn Michaels video. The video plays up the whole "phony injury" Shawn suffered . The Lost his Smile deal. The surgery part was made up because Shawn had refused to put over Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13 .

In ring Paul E. gets on the mic and introduces D-Von Dudley as Tommy Dreamer's music hits. Making his WWF debut is the Innovator of Violence ...Tommy Dreamer. With (future wife) Beluh at his side. The match starts off quick as Tommy delivers a nice elevated atomic drop , as he catches D-Von off the ropes. Things are getting extreme as fans hand Tommy a frying pan. Then they had Dreamer a cane ! McMahon starts to worry things are gonna get outta hand. Dreamer throws D-Von into the ring steps and later drop kicks them into his face !

Paul E. claims this is ECW. Its about being extreme. In the corner Dreamer sets up the ring steps and gets reversed into them. Eating them as Lawler & Paul E trade angry barbs at each other. Tommy then eats a steel chair to the head from D-Von. Then gets a side walk slam onto the chair. D-Von drops an elbow drop on it as Lawler rips into ECW. Finally D-Von eats a face plant into a steel chair off the ropes. Sign Guy Dudley holds Tommy's leg , getting involved . They bring in Beluh by her hair as D-Von taunts Tommy with her.

Beluh low blows him as Tommy grabs and DDT's him onto the chair for the win. Undertaker cuts a promo on the Nation and Psycho Sid. Bubba Ray Dudley hits the ring to attack Tommy. Then outta the crowd (with fixed WWE style music) comes the Sandman. Who is the 1st wrestler on WWF TV to pop open a beer and drink it ! Outside the ring Lawler and Paul E. spar verbally til Lawler brushes him with his hand. Paul removes his jacket and wants to fight King as McMahon holds him back. McMahon claims that Lawler instigated that situation.

Jim Ross shows the clips of last Monday as we see Austin attack the new WWF World Champion , Bret Hart. The whole wild situation where Hart and Austin went at it. While Sid had his leg clipped out from under him. Cornette shows Austin attacking Bret Hart an hour later. Then we see the match that happened and how Austin cost Bret the title. On WWF Superstars we see an angry Bret , looking for Stone Cold. So angry as he starts to tear up the backstage. Finally making the camera man leave.

The 2 big matches are Undertaker vs Psycho Sid for the WWF World Title and Bret Hart vs Steve Austin. Todd Pettengill interviews Ken Shamrock , and its a real interview. Saying he enjoyed the action. Ken introduces his adoptive father Bob Shamrock and his wife Tina (divorced 5 years later). Its announced that Austin/Hart will be a Submission's match at Wrestlemania 13. Ken can't name a winner and says it should be good.

The Nation music hits as they come down rapping. Faarooq comes out and taunts Ken Shamrock about his fighting as we see Shamrock , tell him that he doesn't need back up. All he has is goons watching his back. So if he wants to make something outta it , McMahon can put something together and he will face him.

The Undertaker's music hits as he comes down. Once the lights click on , he's at the ring apron. Faarooq is in fear of the Undertaker as he watches him throw off his robe. As is the Nation. One sign in view has a DIE ROCKY on it. A sign to Rocky Mavia for sure. Faarooq takes his time getting into ring. Finally the Dead Man goes outside and chases after him , catching Di-Lo Brown with a face smash into the steel steps.

Faarooq catches Taker in ring but he eats a flying clothesline and then the walk across the rope spot. He gets clotheslined over the top ropes. Undertaker stays in control until he eats a back elbow in the corner. But Faarooq's run is short lived as Undertaker comes back. The NOD has to watch their leader struggle to try and keep Taker down as he clotheslines him outta the ring. The Dead Man lands on his feet and looks to climb back in. But Di-Lo chop blocks him and the heels beat down on him while the referee's back is turned.

Back from commercial Faarooq works over Undertaker's knee. But the Dead Man rallies and its cut off again as his knee is chop blocked again. Finally Faarooq gets too cocky and after the Dead Man bounces off the corner , he elevates himself into the air and delivers a flying leg drop. After the pin attempt , Faarooq takes control again. He then slams his leg into the steel ring post to work it over.

Undertaker tries a roll up on Faarooq and again the heel NOD leader takes control. This time using a sleeper type hold. Even with PG-13 trying to help him. Faarooq climbs the top rope seconds later and is caught with a nice power slam ! Di-Lo catches Taker and pulls the rope down , as the Dead Man lands on his feet outside. Faarooq tries to use the steel ring steps , but eats them in quick order.

Back in ring , Faarooq delivers a pile driver as Undertaker sits up and as they seem ready to go some more , Savio and Krush hit the ring. Faarooq looks surprised and then outta the back come the LOD. Who help run the heels off , helping Undertaker. The show ends as PG-13 are left to face the wraith of the LOD. Everyone else runs for the hills. The Show ends suddenly.


The Bad - This show was one that was pretty weird. You had ECW spots , but the matches weren't anything to write home about. Because they were done in a WWF style format , which if you saw this entire RAW ...was pretty bad. None of the matches clicked. The Main Event itself was even worse. As there was such little time , the run in was pretty sadly botched and the show ends , right where LOD start to take down PG-13.


OVERALL : **1/2 Outta 5. This RAW wouldn't be noteworthy if not for the appearance of ECW and what that meant for the business at the time. Lawler's USWA was failing as was the WWF at the time. McMahon needed anything he could grasp at to change things. So he saw ECW. Sadly for Lawler , an inter-promotional war with ECW would not save the USWA. This RAW had maybe one ok short match with Richards/Guido , but the rest are FF worthy. Beyond seeing ECW invade RAW for the 1st time , this one wasn't much to really care for.

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WWF Monday Night RAW - March 3rd , 1997



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon , Honkytonk Man & Jim Ross

Vince opens RAW and discusses the Berlin Wall and how it once split Germany. It came down in 1989 , and now there is a gate for a unified Germany. Tonight in Berlin 8 Superstars will compete for the new WWF European Championship. Vince opens up speaking some German that I can't translate and then we get a ring announcer call for the Honkytonk Man .

Tonight we will see Psycho Sid vs Mankind with the WWF World title on the line. As well as Rocky Mavia vs Vader. The 1st match of the tournament opens as Hunter Hearst Helmsley comes to the ring. He will be facing a very not happy Bret Hart. Backstage you can see his displeasure if he's focused or stays focused on Helmsley. Due to what Steve Austin did to him.

Bret claims Hunter drew the unlucky part of facing him and he hopes Austin watches at home , to see what he does to him. Because he's gonna do the same to him soon !
The German fans love Bret and one nearly pulls him down to embrace him coming to the ring. As he got a laugh from that and manages to keep walking to the ring. One kid at ringside is dressed nearly like Bret with ring tights and jacket. Bret gives him the sun glasses and high fives him. Hunter starts off with a low knee lift and soon Bret takes back over with a hip toss and headlock.

At WWF studios on a cold , snowy night is Steve Austin. Who tells the camera to get outta his face. Hunter tries to take a time out and once he comes back in ring seconds later ..back to the side headlock Bret goes. They show that Bulldog vs Owen will happen in the European Championship tournament as well as Vader vs Rocky for the IC Championship. In ring Hunter knocks Bret down and misses a side elbow drop. Honky claims Bret's such a cheater in ring , that no one but him can see it. Jim Ross jokes , I'm glad your not a MLB umpire.

As we go to commercial Hunter takes control. After a plug for the 1997 Slammy's , Hunter puts the boots to Bret and then seconds later , throws him shoulder 1st through the turnbuckle into the ring post . Bret reverses an irish whip seconds later , then Helmsley delivers a arm take down as he focuses on Bret's shoulder. Hunter stays on control til he tries to climb the top rope too slow. Bret runs and catches him , delivering a superplex off the top.

Then we see Hart start the 5 moves of doom sequence with an atomic drop and side back drop. A nice snap suplex is done by Bret. Hunter catches Bret and tries to hit a pedigree. Instead catapults him into the turnbuckle. He goes to lock on the sharpshooter as Hunter pulls his hair and pokes him in the eyes. This sets Bret off suddenly. He throws Helmsley into the corner , upside down as he hangs. Then Bret starts to kick and boot him senseless. Earl Hebner tries to get involved but the Hitman throws him to the side as he calls for the bell. Chyna finally comes in ring and saves Helmsley. As she dares Bret to hit her.

WWF security save Hunter and pull Chyna away as an angry , frustrated Bret Hart walks around the ring. Down the aisle , Hunter takes Chyna from security as we go to WWF Studios. There is no Steve Austin as we hear him in the bathroom it seems. We get some night time scenery from the camera. After this we go to the 1997 Royal Rumble where Owen Hart dumped his tag team partner and brother-in-law over the top rope.

Coming to the ring is Vader , who from clips of Final Four a couple weeks ago competed with a nasty cut on his face. As he got busted wide open due to a steel chair. Its shown that Vader got eliminated due to a low blow from Undertaker. Rocky Maivia comes out as he slaps hands and smiles happt. Its shown in clip that Vader 11 days earlier beat Rocky in the 1st round of the European Championship.

Vader starts off physically enforcing his will on Miavia , knocking him down with a big clothesline. He then locks on a big rest hold. In a nice spot , Rocky bounces off the ropes and does a nice side roll up pin attempt. But Vader seconds later takes back control and we get a spot where he smashes Rocky in the corner. Then we see Rocky try a sunset flip pin attempt , but the big guy jumps and sits down on him.

In a nice spot , Rocky manages to reverse a suplex and delivers a nice one. Seconds later after trading some punches Rocky delivers a nice back drop on Vader. After the commercial the tide has turned again as Vader body splashes Rocky on the ground. He then does a big body splash in the corner on Rocky. Getting a 2 and 3 quarters count. He locks on another rest hold to try and work on Rocky , this one a leg lock of some kind. Rocky finally makes the ropes to save himself.

After a sloppy body slam , Vader climbs the top rope and waits too long. As Vader comes off , Rocky catches him in a power slam. Then seconds later , he catches Vader in a belly to belly. Then a nice smooth DDT. Jim Ross claims this young kid is "cooking" now. A high cross body off the top rope and Rocky slides off from going for the pin. A drop kick sends Vader of the top rope. As Rocky goes out after him , suddenly out comes Mankind. He uses the urn to lay out Rocky as Vader asks why ? The referee calls for the DQ as an angry Vader throws Maivia back in and beats down on him post match.

WWF Security comes out as we see Jim Ross bring up how Lawler and Paul E. clashed last week on WWF TV. We get some clips of ECW's invasion last week. And how both men traded barbs at each other. Then we get the most comical aspect , where the WWF blurs the image of Dreamer using a frying pan on D-Von Dudley and someone cane next. Yet later they show the full unedited version of D-Von smashing Tommy with a chair. Then we get Sandman and the beer is blurred. Its the silliest use of editing the company has done thus far.

Coming to the ring after that segment , we see The Sultan . They promote Sid/Mankind (which is a non-title) and British Bulldog/Owen Hart. On the phone Lawler calls in mocking ECW and Paul E. Lawler invites Paul E. and ECW again. As next week RAW will be WAR and that is no joke. After this exchange out comes Flash Funk to face the masked Sultan as Ross claims Paul E. will be on the phone next.

Dok Hendrix promotes that there is no love in WAR and we see bombs exploding and ships firing. Then we get the promotion "RAW is WAR" next Monday night.After that vignette we get to see Sultan working over Flash Funk. They show that during the commercial break the Sultan jumped him. Funk rallies back and dumps Sultan outta the ring.

The announcers plug what a high flying talent Funk is. As Sultan locks on a sleeper and tries to put the Funk down. Over the phone is Paul E. who is getting irked by Lawler's comments. That they came on to plug their PPV and show off their stars for that. Paul E. claims that Lawler is a has been from Memphis and his own employer (McMahon) doesn't think enough of him to buy him a ticket to Berlin. And he speaks for the entire WWF ? Meanwhile Funk tries to rally back and both men deliver clotheslines to each other.

McMahon thanks Paul for bringing the ECW guys there as Paul thanks him in return. Paul E. claims this challenge could be picked up anywhere , in Philadelphia , in MSG , anywhere . In a nice spot Flash delivers a frankensteiner to Sultan who sells it. Then Funk delivers a moonsault off the top rope as he gets a 2 count. Seconds later Funk tries a head scissor take down from the corner as Sultan grabs him and just slams him face 1st down. This sets up the finisher as Sultan locks on the camel clutch finisher as Funk taps out finally.

In WWF Studios , they show what happened in October. Where Stone Cold got pissed and threw the director around for counting him down. He then slaps the security guard for asking him to leave. The police arrive as Austin leaves and he gets in their face. Telling them a doughnut shop is 2 blocks and take a right. They finally get him to leave the property.

Mankind its claimed spoke German to the audience earlier , but now we go to Psycho Sid who is backstage. Gearing up for his now title defense against the deranged Mankind. Sid yells out for Mankind to listen and that he's glad he's brushed up on his German language. Sid tells him he should brush up on the GAME that will happen , when he steps into the ring. Cause at Wrestlemania he goes to the dark side...the dark side and face Undertaker ! And he's the MASTER....AND RULER...OF THE WORLD !

Jim Ross shows what happened at In Your House : Final Four last month. Where the two men got into it and Owen ate a clothesline from Bulldog. He thought it was over there. But Bulldog saved Owen from getting pinned. Tonight those 2 will clash. Out comes Ahmed Johnson who doesn't look happy. The camera pans back and show that this is likely the biggest live crowd the WWF has had at a RAW in a couple years.

The ring announcer in German discusses the challenge to a street fight at Wrestlemania. Ahmed Johnson accepts the challenge and claims he won't be by himself this time. He's gonna have backup too. Ahmed promises to put Faarooq down for the count. Then starts the YOUR GOING DOWN deal. As the German crowd chants that. After this we get a Wrestlemania 13 promo , running down the matches plus the Faarooq/Ahmed Johnson match. That is quick to add to a promo folks.

end of part #1

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McMahon shows what happened last week as the Legion of Doom came out as a surprise. Which pleased the ECW faithful watching RAW live at Manhattan Center. We get to see the LOD destroy the Headbangers essentially , even if they lost via count out. The Warriors claim they will be at Chicago and that the NOD claim they had it tough growing up on the streets. The Road Warriors came from the streets punks ! They will be there. Hawk claims that the last time they were mentally checked , it wasn't good and they love the way they are. Its the folks facing them that don't ! WHAT...A...RUSH !

Mankind comes to the ring as this WWF World title match is oddly happening halfway through RAW. Ok that is weird. We actually see Mankind in a split screen cut an entire promo in German. Who knew Foley knew German ? No clue what he said , since it mentioned Sid , Uncle Paul and Wrestlemania. Then after a commercial we see Bret Hart's anger unleashed on Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Then we go to Vader/Rocky where Mankind cost Vader the IC title. Sultan/Funk clips are shown and then Ahmed Johnson's promo is shown accepting Faarooq's challenge.

Psycho Sid comes to the ring for this match and it begins off the bat as Sid kicks Mankind. J.R claims this ain't gonna be a technical masterpiece , its gonna be a brawl. Sid clotheslines and knocks Mankind outta the ring to begin. Goes after and delivers kick n punches. Mankind however rallies back and charges the ring post , as Sid moves. Sid back in ring locks on a rest hold , then an arm bar. As they hype next weeks RAW is WAR.

On a split screen , as an angry Steve Austin fusses about his terrible airplane seat. Next to the airplane toilet. But he's more sick of Bret Hart with his whiny and crying. McMahon tells him he'll be back to him , as Austin says , "Damn right you will or someone gets knocked out." In ring Mankind has taken over and in his key spot drapes Sid throat 1st over the middle rope and delivers his leg drop. Fans boo Mankind as he keeps on Sid. Jim Ross claims whoever faces Mankind loses , even if they win since the guy doesn't care to risk his body.

Sid rallies back and delivers a nice running boot to the face 3 times in a row. Then he tries a 4th time in a corner as Mankind moves. After the commercial Psycho Sid is back in control as he knows Mankind outta the ring. Paul Bearer outside tries to distract Sid but he turns and catches Mankind , throwing him backwards into the ring post , the back of his head hitting it. Then Sid delivers a suplex outside the ring.

Mankind catches Sid throat 1st over the top rope as he gets back in ring. The German fans chant for Sid as he is in a rest hold. Mankind catches Sid off the rope seconds later with the mandible claw ! As he slowly works Sid to the mat with it. As the referee attempts to 2 counts as Sid manages to fight back. Sid literally breaks the hold as its a 1st it appears. Mankind leg sweeps him down to continue working him over. Then seconds later catches Sid off the ropes with a sleeper !

Sid works his way to the corner turnbuckle as Mankind climbs his back to lock the sleeper in. Then in the smartest move Sid can do he walks backwards and falls back. As Psycho Sid rallies back. Bearer tries to get involved as Sid lures Mankind to knock him off the apron. Sid delivers a big choke slam , gets a 2 count , then later catches Mankind with his Psycho Power Bomb finisher. Winning this decent short type match.

We see a clip of Shotgun Saturday Night as Bulldog vs Krush happens. But we see the anger Bulldog has when the NOD cheats to get the win. On the mic he demands Clarence Mason get in ring now. Demanding to know what side Mason is on and what side Owen is on. Davey then fires Mason as the fans pop. Backstage both are seen working out as Bulldog looks to be in A-1 shape.

Back live again with Austin at WWF Studios. We see McMahon discuss Bret Hart and this animosity that Austin has for him. Costing him the WWF World title. The only remorse Austin claims he has is , he didn't hit Bret harder with the chair. Austin then mocks McMahon's videos for Shawn Michaels. Whenever he gets a bad knee , a music video. Whenever he blows his nose ...a video. Its more mocking that Michaels didn't deserve the 2nd video for losing his smile. Then Steve claims he was sick as a dog at Final 4 and had a blown out knee he worked on for 25 minutes !

Steve Austin feels he's truly the WWF World Champion and no one can tell him different. This Submission match is a bunch of bull. As far as Shamrock goes , he is right on one thing ...Stone Cold ain't got no QUIT in him. Ain't no one in wrestling , can make him quit and that's the bottom line ! Then we see McMahon ask why all the bitterness and anger , which Steve replies , "You treat me like a dog , and I'll treat you like a jackass !"

After this out comes Owen Hart as Honky claims the WWF seems hellbent on breaking this family up. Davey comes out and is the clear face in this since he's from the UK and the European fans like him. Jim Ross claims its been 20 years since the WWF introduced a new championship and this one had a weird tournament finale. Since it suddenly just happened tonight with no real build at all on TV.

To start both men start testing each other out with some nice technical moves and reversals. In a nice spot , Davey does ...a spinnerooni to get outta a wrist lock. Both men do more reversals and after it slap hands in a nice gesture. Back to a test of power as Bulldog has that while Owen bridges. In a nice spot Owen shows his high flying skills , leaping to the 1st rope , flipping backwards with an arm drag take down. Bulldog counters with a power bomb as he catches Owen off the ropes in an attempted hurricarana and a catapult to Owen over the top rope.


End of part #2

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Davey invites his brother-in-law back into the ring as fans applaud. Then back in ring more reversals as Owen gets a roll up pin attempt on Davey , but he gets put back down and into a side headlock. Owen tried to do the flip and roll up , but Bulldog catches and throws him down as he works over the side of his arm. Seconds later Davey tries a crucifix pin attempt off the ropes on Owen. Then the Dark Heart misses an enziguri and misses.

Owen gets locked in a surfboard ! But the King of Hearts grabs the referee to break this submission hold. Seconds later we see Bulldog use his legs to throw Owen into the air off the ropes. As Davey looks like he's on a roll he misses as Owen uses his momentum to throw him through the ropes. He holds the ropes open for Bulldog to come in like Davey did for him a couple minutes earlier.

Both men are uneasy but share a hand slap of respect. As they begin again and Owen acts to wretch his knee , acting. Then we see him lure Davey in as he starts working his knee over. This leads to the anger as both men push each other . Seconds later as they hit the ropes Owen delivers a nice spinning heel kick. He starts off in heel control as he works over Davey's back area , with a side slam and knees to the back.

Seconds later Owen delivers a body slam , then a high leg drop into a pin attempt. But Davey kicks out again. Owen locks in a sleeper type hold , but the strength of Bulldog has em power out. Nice knee from Owen as he catches Bulldog off the ropes. Then as Davey is outside the ring , Owen allows him to rest up and get back in ring. Seconds later after another near pin by Davey , he gets caught with a clothesline by Owen !

After the commercial Owen catches Davey with a beautiful belly to belly suplex off the ropes. Owen sits on Davey's head with a sort of rest hold , but the Bulldog's strength has him lift him up and drop him. Seconds later Owen catches him and tries to get a cheap heel pin with his feet on ropes. Then a nice neckbreaker follows with an elbow off the top rope and another pin attempt. Davey won't stay down as Owen locks on a sleeper hold.

Owen sits Bulldog on the top rope and tries a super plex , but Davey counters into a cross body and nearly gets the pin. But now Davey is firing back and delivers 3 clotheslines and a nice suplex ! Bulldog picks up Owen , holding him in a guerrilla press slam and drops him crotch 1st over the top rope. Back in ring seconds later Owen delivers a nice German suplex into a pin attempt. Both men are doing so many pin attempts with roll ups and more. Owen then after this sequence locks in the sharpshooter on Davey !

The fans rally Davey as he crawls to the ropes , escaping as Owen believed he won. Then we go through some reversals again as Owen nearly looks ready to deliver a tombstone piledriver , Davey reverses it into his running power slam and nails it ! Then Owen stuns even Davey by kicking out before the 3 count ! Owen tries a victory roll pin attempt , but Davey reverses it and gets the 1...2...3 ! Fans pop for this win as this match was pretty damn good. Davey is the new European Champion (and 1st). He holds the WWF Tag team title and European one up to celebrate.

In ring both men stare at each and then slowly shake hands. Owen and Davey hold up the title and both seem to part on better terms for the time being. Bulldog ends the show with the European title around his waist to celebrate.


The Bad - This was a nice RAW with very little bad involved. I think a key problem was that they didn't do enough weeks before to even build up a European Championship. Nothing was ever promoted. Least of all the week before. In fact this RAW likely was filmed before and they needed something for last week. Hence why we got the ECW Invasion. Half the talent seemed to be over in Germany.

Anyhow beyond the lack of promotion for the European title , this would be its undoing. If your creating a new championship in the company after 20 years , do little to promote it. Is it any shock the belt didn't really have any hype to it ?


Overall : **** Outta 5. Last weeks show wasn't good in ring at all. This RAW seemed more like a normal show , with RAW announce crew. Very little angles happened as we saw Steve Austin and Bret Hart's angle , plus Psycho Sid vs Undertaker being brought up. Beyond that , the show stealing match was the main event. Davey Boy Smith never gets discussed as a great in ring worker , but the man could work damn well. Owen Hart has been gone nearly 20 years , but he also knew how to work. When you put those 2 in ring together the result is a great main event. This RAW was also the end of an era. RAW number #199. It put an end to the Next Generation era...because next week a whole new era was about to begin.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW : March 10th , 1997




Your Hosts - Vince McMahon , Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

RAW opens with a brand new intro. With explosions and more as Steve Austin walks through what looks like a battlefield . While guys brawl in ring as fire erupts around the ring. Then we get welcomed by Vince to RAW...IS WAR ! Which has a big huge tron above the ring. Out comes Psycho Sid to discuss tagging with Undertaker later tonight as Jim Ross will interview him.

Sid seems to have decided to sweat a bucket in ring as he tells Undertaker somethings fishy about him and Paul Bearer. And he doesn't trust the Dead Man and refuses to tag with him later. Sid proclaims that at Wrestlemania the Undertaker will just be another victim and symbol of what he is at champion. That he will learn a lesson to stay dead and in the cemetery where he belongs. This makes the dong happen as the lights go out.

The Dead Man isn't pleased as he arrives in a slow walk as he eyes Sid. He tells Sid that if he's scared , just say it. That his logic makes no sense about tonight. That if anything happens to Psycho Sid tonight , he doesn't get to bring the belt home to the creatures. That if something happens to him , he won't be able to become WWF World Champion. Undertaker declines Sid's offer to tag and he will handle Mankind & Vader himself. That he will have the night off to enjoy his final days as WWF World Champion. And he will....Rest....in....peace.

Out comes Paul Bearer with Mankind & Vader. Bearer taunts both men for feeling the wraith of both men. They use a sneak attack as this doesn't work as both battle against the heels. Vader's arm hits Taker as he believes Sid did that. They have a stare down in the middle of the ring as we go to commercial finally.

After the commercial we see Rocky Maivia come down to the ring as fans are lukewarm. He's facing jobber Tony Roy (a guy trained by Killer Kowalski) in this opening match. Right before the match begins the Iron Sheik and Bob Backlund out comes out at the top of the ramp to talk trash to Rocky. This allows Roy to get the brief jump on him. Backlund keeps ranting and raving over the Sultan winning the IC belt at Wrestlemania. Rocky meanwhile works over Roy with a nice step over DDT.

Maivia does a flying cross body for the win as suddenly the Sultan hits the ring to try and jump him. But Rocky delivers a nice drop kick and knocks Sultan outta the ring with it. Then knocks Backlund outta the ring on the other side. Rocky sees his chance to leave up the ramp way as he sees Tony Atlas as they slap hands. Atlas decides to get up and be with Rocky , to watch over him it appears as they share a moment walking up the ramp to leave.

The WWF Slam of the Week is brought by Playstation. We see Ahmed Johnson destroy Leif Cassidy on Shotgun Saturday Night. Out comes a 6 man tag team match with AAA's biggest stars. One team is Pierroth, Heavy Metal, & Pentagon . They are facing Latin Lover, Hector Garza, & Octagon. Hector Garza would later go on to WCW since he had a very unique look as Bischoff would just bring in more luchadores work for WCW.

Sadly Garza would pass away in 2013 due to cancer. Lover would get ripped on because he had a in ring style and heel act close to Shawn Michaels. Garza starts off with Heavy Metal as they start working through reversals and more. Both men work around on the mat and then tag out. Now its Lover and Pierroth . Those 2 end up giving each other some slaps into some arm drags and reversals. Til Pierroth delivers a nice clothesline. Lover however rallies back and in a nice spot delivers a sweet super kick with ease to Pierroth. Then he rocks his hips playfully as Ross & McMahon won't call.

Finally we get Octagon and Pentagon in ring as Lawler jokes about telling them apart. Octagon is the original and Pentagon is his evil clone from AAA. J.R tells us that Octagon is in red while Pentagon is in white. They work some nice reversals and flips as Octagon comes away with the lead as both tag out. Then back in is Heavy Metal and Garza as they hit the ropes and Metal does a flip into the ropes , bounces off with a nice back elbow in a Muta type style on Garza.

Garza rallies back and does a nice back flip over Metal and he goes flying over the top rope. Garza hits the ropes and ...slides under the ropes on a baseball slide kick to Metal as he misses ? Then back in ring both men shake hands and tag out ? Meanwhile we go to the RAW crowd as Chyna sits ringside as McMahon asks her to be kicked out. WWF Security escorts her out finally. On a split screen as Latin Lover and Pentagon work . Finally in ring is dropped to show Chyna being escorted out.

After commercial Vince shows us the big moment as Chyna was escorted out of the building. In ring Heavy Metal works a submission leg hold on Garza as we see Latin Lover make the save and tag in. Pierroth is back in working with Lover as we get another side screen to promote Chyna and how she took out Marlena 2 months earlier and challenged Bret Hart last week. Lover delivers a nice power bomb on Pierroth. Then we get another side screen ? WTF is this ?

Brian Pillman is back folks. Pillman tells us he can't wait to return to...WWF Shotgun Saturday Night. Which is 12 midnight as he can say whatever he damn well wants . Cause he got his finger , on that damn trigger ! Meanwhile outside the ring , Pentagon does a nice moonsault over the top rope to the floor onto everyone against the guard rail. Jim Ross finally apologizes for all these split screens and missing the match as suddenly we see Hector Garza deliver the big spot of the match. He does a cork screw splash onto everyone off the top turnbuckle to the floor !

Back in ring Heavy Metal and Latin Lover work as he misses a flying cross body. He misses again seconds later as Heavy Metal does a side roll up pin to end this match for the luchadores. Which was pretty tame for what WCW would offer. Bischoff was clearly watching and signed Garza later. A Wrestlemania 13 promo airs as we get the run down of the card with narration. Which is pretty damn awesome and something missing from current WWE and TNA PPV cards.

Coming to the ring is Ahmed Johnson as it gets a decent pop from the crowd. Ahmed clearly went to Sid's school of sweating a ton to the ring. Ahmed weighs 305 according to Jim Ross. He's facing jobber Roy Raymond as he gets jumped by him as the Nation of Domination. PG-13 raps as they stand at the top of the ramp. Ahmed doesn't care as he quickly dumps Raymond outta the ring quick. Then goes after Raymond to inflict punishment. He delivers his big epic spinebuster , then delivers the Pearl River plunge finisher to send that message.

Ahmed turns his back to show he doesn't fear Faarooq. Then we get Faarooq gets on the mic and discusses being on the streets. How he grew up with a missing father and an Uncle Tom showed up like him. Faarooq claims he will have the entire Nation with him at Chicago and Ahmed will be alone as usual. Finally Ahmed gets on the mic and claims he went and recruited the 2 toughest , craziest , insane men he could find walking the streets of Chicago. He tells him to bring his nation , he's bringing the whole city of Chicago with him as the LOD music hits ! The Nation aren't happy.

The Road Warriors come through the crowd as the odds drastically go up for Ahmed. The fans are massively for the Legion of Doom. Hawk quotes the line , Hell...Hell...the gang is all here and ready. He claims once they get done with them the Nation will be raw sweaty gym socks. Animal tells the NOD to take heed of the WWF audience as they chanted for Ahmed and when they yelled for the Legion of Doom. He tells em at Wrestlemania its a 6 man now. Ahmed jokes even the black boys in the Nation are turning awful white about now. Then starts the YOUR GOING DOWN chant.

Jim Ross stops Owen Hart and British Bulldog at the top of the ramp. Jim Ross tries to ask Owen if he's jealous of his brother-in-law after a great match last week. Owen tells J.R to leave em alone and stop planting seeds there. They have the New Blackjacks (Windham and Bradshaw) to worry about now. On the mic Windham tells both men , if this was a title match , they'd be in trouble. Windham compliments Bulldog as having won the European title and having a feather in his cap. Then we get Bradshaw as he mocks Owen and then claims he got some real pretty lips.

This sets off Owen who tackles Bradshaw to the ground as he starts wailing on him. Bulldog takes Windham to the corner to work him over. Davey comically keeps trying to clothesline Windham over the top rope , but his size is so big ...he can't get him over the top rope. Its a funny spot as after 2-3 attempts he just says , hell with it. Outside Owen stops Bradshaw and smashes him into the ring post. In ring as they go , finally Davey is able to take momentum and get Windham seconds later over the top rope with a clothesline as he tried earlier.


End of Part 1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Bradshaw ducks out as Owen kicks him away and finally a normal tag match begins as Davey and Bradshaw starts off. Bradshaw quickly takes advantage as they start working over Davey in double teams. Suddenly another split screen as Vader starts off the promo breathing and snarling as McMahon waits seconds for him to talk. Finally he starts with how at Wrestlemania the Bulldog & Owen aren't good enough , tough enough or bad enough to stop them. The pain game begins and Vader feels no pain ! Vader puts over Mankind as loving pain and more. Its Vader time and destiny as Vince cuts it off finally. Mankind stayed oddly silent.

Back in ring Owen takes Barry into the corner and takes a low blow from him as the referee didn't see. The 2 Blackjacks start double teaming Owen and work him over outside the ring. With Windham body slamming him on the ground. They hype the great debate between Lawler and Paul E. tonight. Back in ring seconds later Owen and Barry trade punches back and forth but Windham gets the better of that.

The WWF promotes WWF Full Metal : The Album and its months old at this point with WWF themes from 1995. In fact here is how silly it is , 3-4 of the guys on the album , they are no longer on the roster as Diesel , Razor Ramon , Hakushi and Jeff Jarrett were all gone. Back from that we see that Bulldog tries a sleeper hold and eats a chin buster . This allows Windham back in ring to work. Next week Vince promotes that Bret Hart will get Psycho Sid inside a steel cage for the WWF World title.

All while Bulldog gets worked over as on a split screen Taz joins us with Bill Alphonso ! Taz tells Vince he can hire all the joke tellers and jesters he wants to sit beside him. But he warns Lawler , you make one more joke about me ...your gonna say it to my face. Fonzie blows the whistle as Lawler starts again. As you know he's writing a check his ass can't cash. Saying Taz is so short he could step on him.

Owen Hart gets the hot tag and delivers 2 nice swinging heel kicks. Davey delivers a clothesline knocking Windham outta the ring as Bradshaw works him over. Then slams his knee into the corner at Owen and misses. This allows Owen to lock on the sharpshooter on him to try and make him tap. Bulldog keeps trying to protect Owen as the referee keeps getting in the way to stop him. Finally Davey throws the referee to the side as he gets DQ'd. Finally Windham saves his partner and the match is over.

After the commercial Taz keeps his word as Fonzie pleads with Taz to not do this. Trying to keep him pulled away to save Lawler. Taz yells come on if you want it and say it now ! Lawler gets up as the 2 have each other in a grip by each others throat. Suddenly outta nowhere Sabu goes flying over the top rope as both manage to avoid him. Ross wonders who he was aiming for. Taz ? Lawler ? Both men ? Jerry is obviously spooked now as he stares. He gets brave again as the ECW guys hold back Taz from Lawler again.

We get an epic replay of Sabu's table dive as fans chant Sabu. Who gets to his feet and chases to the back as Lawler watches stunned at that maniac getting up. Leif Cassidy will be facing Miguel Perez Jr. Who 2 weeks ago saved Goldust against Savio Vega and the NOD. Perez has one noticeable thing ..he has more back n body hair than Albert did. Which is distracting him.

Lawler rips Perez for being jealous as he works an arm drag into an arm bar. But the hair is just so distracting as hell to not keep seeing. Guy is athletic as he does 2 nice kip ups. In a botch where Perez & Snow (Cassidy) doesn't know what each other will do , they run into each other as Perez then delivers a drop kick. Perez goes back into the arm bar as on split screen is Paul E. As McMahon asks him if he can contain his group out there.

Paul E. tells him that he will constrain them if he can get a grip on his comedian at ringside. That this isn't about inter-promotional working together anymore and proclaims its no longer fun and games. That he's Paul Heyman (the 1st time he'd proclaim his real name on TV) to everyone and Lawler can bring his friends and he will gladly bring his. Because they are Extreme ! He gets outta line one time and his friends will show ya how far will go. Ross claims that he's known Paul E. a long time and he's the guy (Lawler) started this.

In ring Leif Cassidy works over Perez and tries a big moonsault in a spot and misses. Cassidy gets the advantage again but Perez manages to slide around and hook him into a roll up pin. McMahon proclaims that Perez is the pride of Puerto Rico as Lawler finally brings up what we all have seen. Hair removal finally.

Backstage we see Psycho Sid backstage as he still drips. He is asked about his reaction to Bret Hart facing him next week. Sid yells he doesn't react , he acts. He gets guys in a tag team match , then next week he beats Bret Hart in a cage ! Then he goes and vanquishes Undertaker at Wrestlemania ! He just goes on ...and he's the master and ruler of the world. Backstage we see Ken Shamrock.

At the next hour we get the same RAW intro we saw to start. Vince welcomes us back as hour 2 begins as in ring is Ken Shamrock and Jim Ross. J.R. reveals that the submission's match at Wrestlemania between Austin/Hart will have Shamrock as special guest referee. Ken thanks the WWF fans for being there and its an honor being part of Wrestlemania 13. He knows submissions well and that there will be no rule breaking. He will be fair and won't be intimidated by anyone there.

As Shamrock discusses being fair on the Tron is Steve Austin as we see Stone Cold rip him. That he don't know what Bret's done to earn all these title shots. But as much as he don't care for the guy , he hopes to hell that Bret Hart wins. Since it will make his match at Wrestlemania a WWF title match. That Shamrock can keep lookin at him all stupid but as he warns Bret , he can bring his sharpshooter with him. Cause he ain't never quit before or will now. Then he warns after he beats Bret , he may sweep the ring with Shamrock.

Ken takes awhile to tell Steve that if he wants to come on out he can , that he ain't scared of him. This leads to Bret Hart's music hitting as Steve proclaims he needs to go knock Bret on his ass. In street clothes Hart arrives as he eyes Shamrock. He's finally happy the WWF woke up to address what happened to him and his situation with how he was ripped off of the WWF World title. He's tired of the lack of justice in the WWF but finally his crying and complaining worked. He gets Sid in a 15 foot high cage next Monday night.

He warns Sid that he's not as good as him , he'll never be as good as him. And next Monday he's gonna be looking at the 5 time WWF World champion. That he feels for Undertaker when he wins. Since he deserves a title match , but Steve Austin gets that lucky break. And he warns Stone Cold to bring everything he got , to bring everything since he gets a title shot. But he will be sorry he ever crossed his path. Bret discusses how Shawn Michaels , the referees , Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon have screwed him over.

Then he tells Shamrock he is cool with him. That he has a good reputation and seems like a good guy. But Shamrock better not screw him over at this Wrestlemania or it will be the worst mistake he makes. Ken tells him he's not his marriage counselor and he will call the match fairly. He will raise the winners hand after calling it fair. Stone Cold comes out at the top of the ramp pointing at both guys as Bret removes his shirt to go. We go to commercial.

Honkytonk Man is in ring after commercial as he proclaims its been a long time since he's played Wooster. He wants to know if they want him to sing , but since that crowd didn't treat him right last time so no singing for them. Aldo Montoya vs Billy Gunn as he makes his return. The WWF seemed to drop the injury angle between Billy and Bart pretty quick for really no reason.

Billy Gunn starts off with a couple body slams as Honky claims he has 2-3 guys on his list for the next star that will carry his legacy on. Billy sits Aldo up in the corner as he stomps away. Also tries a rally but gets cut off with a big clothesline by Billy. Finally seconds later Aldo catches Billy with an enizguri and a flying ax handle off the ropes.

But his come back is quickly taken down as Billy throws him face first to the mat off the ropes. On the split screen Sunny joins us to discuss "Undercover with Sunny" She promotes her spot on Shotgun Saturday Night which distracts from the finish. Billy wins with a leg drop off the top rope. Backstage we see Mankind hug the urn in an embrace. Then he starts as he tells his Uncle Paul , he don't need urns (and throws it away) as Bearer is stunned. He pulls his hair and proclaims he don't need a mommy. That the WWF would like folks to believe he crawled outta a boiler room , but that ain't true. He's spent his life on these moments.

end of part #2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

He smacks himself a few times in the promo and a close up shows that Mick has busted his own eye brow open. That Undertaker knows him and tonight Psycho Sid will get to know him well enough ! He yells about the match as they go to commercial.

In ring is Goldust and Marlena as the gold dust drops from the ceiling. He's facing jobber Tim McNeedy , as out comes Hunter Hearst Helmsley with Chyna at the top of the ramp. Goldust starts the match and delivers his butt to the face off the ropes to McNeedy. He then quickly delivers the Curtain Call to finish this match as Chyna removes her jacket. She comes down to the ring as we see Hunter has disappeared.

Goldust keeps his eye on her as we see that Hunter has sneaked behind and delivers a flying shoulder tackle. The 2 start working over Goldust as suddenly in a spot , Marlena dives on Chyna's back. WWF Security get them separated as Marlena delivers a couple slaps to Chyna's face. She takes a referee and throws them with little effort. Finally Hunter gets her outta the ring. McMahon promotes the great debate as we see Paul E. hype his guys up backstage.

Jim Ross starts it off as Lawler gets booed as Paul E. Dangerously comes out to debate Lawler. Lawler questions if ECW should exist and J.R claims that Lawler won the toss 1st. Jerry starts off that ECW really shouldn't exist since this is the biggest crowd ECW will ever get seen by. Then mocks the guys as they come out. Paul holds his hand up to save Lawler as he rants on about them going to a rinky dink place in Philadelphia.

Paul watches as Jerry rants on about them working at a bingo hall and beating each other into oblivion. That 1,100 folks watch weekly and keeps going as Ross tells him is time is up. Heyman finally tells Lawler to shut the hell up and he starts. That the fact the WWF draws big crowds isn't on Lawler , that ECW works hard for every fan they draw even if its 1,100 folks in the ECW Arena. By bleeding , fighting and sweating , they will give them everything. To show that they wanna earn their money. They have a PPV and will bust their asses for those folks who watch and attend !

Sandman gets in ring and pleads with Paul , "Give me the high sign and I'll cane his ass right now !" Paul to his credit says no and holds him back. Tommy Dreamer holds his pal back. Lawler claims if he's proud 1,100 folks watch his product it means 1,100 folks would watch paint dry. Paul asks if he wants to shoot and he does. Then the gloves are off as Paul E. brings up that USWA is essentially in shit shape and asks how it drew at the Fairgrounds recently. Then mocks that Lawler's own son is ashamed of him and won't use his last name.

Lawler mocks him for being a 35 year old man who's parents fund this. Then he is asked why he hangs around these guys as Paul claims his men and women give their all every single night for the Extreme cause. That he is proud of them all. As Lawler goes to mock , Tommy Dreamer demands Lawler if he wants a f'n war to go get everyone from the back and this can start ! Dreamer pounds the podium so hard , it shatters as its breaking down. Sandman drinks a beer live again and smashes his head. Paul keeps trying to tell Lawler to hit him ...one punch ...come on.

Lawler claims he has guys back there as the ECW guys wait. Sandman stands at the entrance ramp bleeding from busting his head open as Paul tells him , Lawler take your pick. 1st 2 punches on my guys are for free. Paul tells Lawler he best get his ass outta the ring right now or they will make him go. Lawler tries taunting Paul as Tommy dares him to a fight. They go to commercial finally.

The Main Event is next as Vader/Mankind arrive with Sid coming out 1st. His lit up sign is above the ring. Psycho Sid gets jumped by Vader and Mankind 1st. Undertaker isn't out yet as Sid quickly takes both men down. Vader catches him as both men double team in the corner where McMahon wonders where Undertaker is. Finally wes see Undertaker run out to save Sid . He delivers a nice big clothesline and chokeslam to Vader ! Then a big boot over the top rope to the big man.

Mankind takes Undertaker over the top rope but he lands on his feet. Mankind lands on his hip and the Dead Man plants him back 1st into the apron. Vader meanwhile works over Sid as this becomes a normal tag match. The fans start a Psycho Sid chant as Vader locks on a sleeper , taking him to the ground. J.R claims that Lawler hasn't came out since the debate and McMahon jokes that the King asked for all his friends to come out...and no one did.

After the WWF Karate Fighters Rewind , we return to the match as in ring Sid delivers a big suplex to Vader. Outside the ring Mankind and Undertaker brawl. McMahon claims they have asked for more time and got it. Sid's rally is cut off by Vader with a clothesline and Mankind is in. Finally Sid delivers the hot tag as Undertaker rolls. He delivers a big choke slam to Mankind as all 4 start brawling again. Undertaker goes to deliver a big punch off the top rope to Vader and misses on Sid. This leads to Psycho Sid and him brawling now.

Undertaker delivers a big choke slam to Sid , then goes flying over the top rope to Vader & Mankind. Then seconds later Sid recovers and throws Undertaker back in and delivers a big power bomb to him. Vader makes the cover and gets the win. Post match Sid watches as Vader goes to beat the Dead Man down more. He throws him off the top turnbuckle as Undertaker recovers. He quickly clears the ring and goes after Sid.

Before the show ends , Bret Hart cuts a promo about next week. Maybe he cried enough for a title shot . That next week in a steel cage they will find out who the king of the jungle really is.


The Bad - This was the 1st RAW of the whole new era of the WWF. It still was facing problems of the old era by holding onto the concept of star/jobber matches while promoting big angles. That was the big problem. WCW was offering a 2+ hour show that almost was like a PPV each week live. With star vs star matches. The WWF seemed scared to do it fully for the time being and it showed. As many matches were jobber ones.

Another bad aspect was the luchadors that Vince brought in. The guys were clearly told to tone it down and work a more in ring style and it killed whatever idea was to bring in luchadores. WCW had it right , new awesome moves , fast break action and more. This 6 man was such a WWF driven type match , only Hector Garza stood out and was quickly snatched away because of his high risk moves.


OVERALL : *** Outta 5. RAW needed a fix. USA Network asked McMahon what he needed to compete and Vince told them he needed to go live each Monday night. The move would be seen as the smartest thing McMahon would do. Revamping a stale set and show of RAW was the best. There was kinks that needed to be worked through but the Attitude Era had begun. Using ECW as a jumping on point , RAW would never be the same again. This show is more known for the big 3 angles of ECW/WWF , Undertaker/Sid and Bret Hart/Austin. All of them clicked.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - March 17th , 1997



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon , Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler

The new Attitude era intro kicks off the show as usual with sirens , explosions and Stone Cold walking through a war zone. The show explodes with fire works and more as RAW is WAR is LIVE for the 2nd week in a row. This time from Syracuse , NY. There is no announcing yet , just the Legion of Doom's intro hits as fans pop for the Road Warriors ! Finally Vince welcomes us to Monday Night RAaaaaaaw.

The LOD will be facing the Nation of Domination in a tag match to open RAW. PG-13 does the rapping as usual as we see that Krush and Savio Vega have drawn that unlucky card to face a pissed Legion of Doom. The rest of the nation quickly get back up the ramp once the LOD attack Vega & Krush. Outside the ring Hawk delivers a drop kick , inside the ring we see Animal working over Krush. Vega finally gets a bit of an advantage on Hawk as they finally get back in ring as the Warriors work the 2 heels over.

On a split screen Ahmed Johnson seems to be half asleep as I can't make out half of what he says. Or maybe he just ate. Anyhow back in ring things have settled down to a normal tag match. In ring Savio delivers a nice pile driver as Hawk stands up shaking it off like it was nothing. Faarooq comes on discussing the streets as usual , when ya look up streets ya see his name. Meanwhile the fans chant for the LOD as Animal locks in a chin lock. Then they each tag out. On a split screen Vince shows how Ahmed Johnson was beaten by the Nation at MSG last night.

Hawk delivers a nice drop kick and then body slam to Krush in a spot. After the Playstation slam of the week spot , things have changed as Vega is now working over Hawk. With a nice spinning heel kick. They go to show Faarooq again as he's disappeared. As they talk to Ahmed backstage , he's nailed with a loaded pipe by Faarooq. The referees break it up as in ring Animal has made the hot tag finally. He soon starts taking care of business and double clotheslines Vega & Krush.

Then we see Faarooq hit the ring and nail Animal with that same pipe. The Nation starts a beat down on the LOD as out from the back comes Ahmed with his 2x4. He lays out PG-13 with it as the others run for cover. Di-Lo Brown is left in ring alone as the LOD deliver the Doomsday Device finisher to him. In ring they demand that the NOD come back if they want it. The announcers plug the Chicago street fight at Wrestlemania.

After a Slammy Awards plug for USA Network we see that the announcers have changed to fit RAW is War NOW. Jim Ross wears his cowboy hat , Vince McMahon has dropped suits and ties for a cargo type jacket and Lawler still dresses the same. McMahon discusses the rumors of this WWF World title match inside the steelcage. Lawler claims he's heard rumors Shawn Michaels is on his way to the arena tonight. Also Gorilla Monsoon is on his way to address the rumors regarding tonight's steelcage match.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley comes out with Chyna as she finally gets her name and is his valet. We get repeats of what she did in Germany a couple weeks ago and how she debuted against Marlena. Out coming to face Helmsley is Flash Funk and the Funkettes. Who spend minutes dancing , scooting , writhing on the ground down the entrance ramp folks.

Finally Funk gets his hat and earrings off as he shimmies to the middle of the ring to face Hunter. Chyna wants to face Flash , but the referee gets her outta the ring . Hunter starts off with an arm drag and does his bowing taunt. Then we see Flash answer back with some speed and a drop kick. Then delivers a nice clothesline to knock him over the top rope to the floor. Funk gets too cocky and tries a baseball slide as he misses Hunter. He gets pulled out and dropped on the floor.

Back in ring later Flash rallies and leap frogs Hunter , he tries a back leap frog as Helmsley stops and catches Funk on his shoulder. Dropping him backwards. He follows up with a nice suplex and gets a 2 count. Lawler wishes he'd take out Funk once n for all so we didn't have to see him dance or watch his music. Flash takes back control in the corner and delivers 2 nice clotheslines and a really lacking stinger splash in the corner. Funk delivers a body slam and leg drop.

He makes the sign to go up top and delivers a big leg drop off the top. Chyna breaks up the pin attempt and distracts Flash from Helmsley who delivers a dragon suplex into a pin attempt. Later Hunter goes up top as Funk manages to catch him with a super kick as he comes off the top rope. Funk tries a pin attempt and delivers a nice suplex. He climbs up again as Chyna distracts him again , this allows Hunter to deliver the pedigree for the ..1...2..3. Post match Hunter and Chyna work over Funk in ring. With WWE Security getting her from the ring.

By some miracle Shawn Michaels arrives walking again backstage. Meanwhile the WWF would do something beyond silly in ring as we were gonna get Mini-Mankind & Mini-Vader. We go to a press conference with then New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman. Whitman was the typical Republican and cut taxes across the board and cut a pro wrestling tax that cost the WWF when they ran there. The Undertaker is there as well and presents Whitman with a written tombstone document.

Coming down to face Mini-Vader and Mankind is Mini-Goldust and Mascarita Sagrada Jr (from Mexico). Mini-Goldust tries to play mind games with Mini-Vader , then eats a kick to the ribs and starts taking a beat down. With a big body drop off the ropes by Vader. Then Mini-Goldust moves quick and soon takes advantage. They move so quick and soon Sagrada Jr. is in as he shows off his high flying skills. Soon Mini-Vader enters and takes him down with a big clothesline. Soon again another tag in as Mini-Goldust comes in and does a flying body press off the apron. Things are moving so fast as Sagrada Jr is back in and delivers a nice drop kick to Mini-Mankind. He comes off the top rope in a flying body press getting the quick 1...2...3.

Post match the fight continues as Sagrada knocks Mini-Vader outta the ring and up the apron they go. He then comes flying off the top of the ramp in a body press in a nice great spot. He ends up paying the price as both are down. Finally the referee helps Sagrada Jr up. Then as a commercial we get a nice Wrestlemania 13 run down. When we come back the WWF replays the high cross body dive off the ramp !

Gorilla Monsoon is backstage live , as the mic is a bit off. Monsoon addresses the rumors that he doesn't care who is happy or sad , he promised Bret Hart a WWF World title match tonight in a steel cage. Undertaker isn't happy , Bret Hart has been unhappy for weeks. Undertaker fans aren't happy and says how unfair this is. Monsoon brings up that how many times has Bret literally been screwed over and he has a valid reason for this match. He tells both Lawler and McMahon , that they either like or not , Bret Hart is getting this WWF World title match !

Bret Hart's music hits as he comes down . The fans are split on him as Kevin Kelly plans to interview him in ring. Bringing up Monsoon's statements and that the entire world is watching what happens. Bret jokes about changing the face of Wrestlemania 13. He doesn't care what anyone thinks as he won the Royal Rumble , won the Final 4. He's a former 4 time WWF World Champion and he deserves a little respect. Bret brings up a new motto in the WWF , you scratch my back ; I'll stab yours. Undertaker need not worry , he will give him a title shot .

Bret brings up thrashing Steve Austin , how he plans to take all those moments of Stone Cold jumping him from behind. All those times he screwed him outta the title. He will make him scream for mercy for that. Hart brings up how he respects Shamrock and he can get in close as Austin's says the magic words....I QUIT. He claims after tonight he will be a 5 time WWF World Champion.

After this the WWF does a silly commercial mocking themselves for some of the inane products they'd slap together to sell. Jim Ross believes in different colored cowboy hats , Howard Finkel holds up a VHS tape of the greatest announcements by him , McMahon plugs a toupee with announcer headset. Finally 2 guys promote a Wrestlemania 13 customized hockey jersey and denim jacket.

After the commercial Rocky Miavia comes down to the ring as he acts like a smiling baby face , slapping hands. He joins the announce team on commentary as he will watch the Sultan in action. Studying him for his match ahead at Wrestlemania 13. The Sultan jumps his jobber challenger , Mike Bell. Who became infamous for a situation where during the ECW Invasion era , where he snapmared Perry Saturn , who lands on his neck in the spot. This pissed off Saturn who completely broke the from and started beating Bell down legit , throwing him into a set of stairs outside the ring and injuring his neck. Post WWF he'd go onto star in the documentary "Bigger , Stronger , Faster" with his brother detailing his sad decent into substance abuse. He'd pass away in 2008.


End of part 1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Here the Sultan jumps Bell to start and delivers a huge clothesline. Then delivers a nice pile driver spot. Off the top rope seconds later , he delivers a flying splash onto Bell. Then he locks in the camel clutch as the referee calls for the bell. Post match the Sultan comes outta the ring as he stares at Rocky. The Sheik talks trash as Rocky claims its "The People's belt" and says they can go right now as he looks pretty cocky. As things look ready to go , outta the stands comes Tony Atlas as he holds the young man back , telling him he can wait til Wrestlemania. Shawn Michaels waives to the crowd as he'll join us next !

The 2nd hour begins with explosions and fireworks as we get the same hour 1 intro. Jim Ross welcomes us to a sold out show. Then we here Shawn Michaels music hit as he comes out , touching folks hands. Jim Ross tells us , whether we love em or hate em ...there is only one HBK. He's a franchise ball player and he's back tonight. Lawler brings up Shawn's doctor as a joke. But as we know , its bull crap. Shawn claims he found his smile back in Texas in his home town where he left it a long time ago. He thanks the fans for sending all the cards and letters to him.

He claims to be the world's most emotional wrestler as no one knows except his parents & Vince McMahon. Then we have Vince have to try and get this back to the storyline reason he was wrote out over his knee. Shawn claims he will have Dr. Andrews look at his knee next week. And hopefully next week he will be back in this ring if folks like it or not. He's gonna be back busting a move and the clothes will be coming off. Then he stops to tell Vince he has a bone to pick with Vince. Then he wasn't happy because Wrestlemania is right around the corner and he didn't have his phone ring. Shawn wasn't invited and McMahon brings up his knee injury.

But Shawn claims his knee is ok to walk. And he will be at ringside commentary to call the WWF World title match. He also brings up that he wants to go Slammy's since he's up for some awards. He is building a brand new house in San Antonio and plans to have some spaces to fill. Post match Shawn struts around the ring as we see Undertaker backstage. As he destroys the cage.

After the commercial Vader is in ring waiting in singles action. He will be facing British Bulldog as we see Owen Hart with him as they show off the belts they carry as well as Owen's Slammy's. Both men test strength against each other to start . To start we watch Vader get Davey in the corner and pummel him down with punches and all. Then he throws him into the ropes and body blocks him down.

He stays in control as he works over Davey til the Bulldog stops him. They then try and shoulder each other down. Finally Davey off the ropes does a high flying shoulder block. Then seconds later in a power of Davey spot , he picks up Vader in a big vertical suplex ! Seconds later knocking him outta the ring as we go to commercial.

After the commercial the tide has turned and Vader comes off the top rope in a big splash. Seconds later Bulldog catches him in a sunset flip roll up pin attempt. His rally is soon cut off seconds later as Vader catches him. Then big splashes him. Vader comes off with a high flying body block into Davey off the 1st rope. He taunts the fans who aren't into this match.

Vader comes off the top rope again with a body block attempt , instead Bulldog catches him with a power slam. Then in another spot to show Davey's power , he gets thrown into the corner . Vader goes for a big splash and caught by Davey in the air. He carries and slams him with little effort. Mankind jumps up on the apron to get involved which brings in Owen to take up for Davey.

This starts Vader & Mankind to double team Owen. Davey recovers and grabs the urn as he lays out Paul Bearer. He then charges over and takes out both bad guys from his brother-in-law. Post match the 2 men recover. After the WWF commercial we get to see Ken Shamrock come to the ring for commentary. Lawler again brings up being best buddies with Shamrock as McMahon shuts it down quick.

In ring is Billy Gunn as he will face Aaron Ferguson (a jobber) . Billy starts taking down Ferguson as we see him look at Shamrock and lock on a leg lock on his ankle. Then he seconds later does an abdominal stretch. Which he turns loose seconds in and slams him. He then gets down and face punches Ferguson as he locks on arm bar seconds in. Getting the submission win. Post match Gunn walks over to taunt Shamrock. Claiming he doesn't think Ken can live up to the hype.

Billy invites him into the ring as McMahon claims he doesn't need to do this. But Shamrock claims he never backs down and not to this chump. Ken gets in ring as Vince claims this won't be pretty. Shamrock gets in and quickly takes Billy down quick into an arm bar as he screams to be released and taps. It was that quick as Billy wants to go once more. Then in some nice technical wrestling spot , Ken reverses outta a hold and gets Billy down into an ankle lock ! Which Gunn screams and taps quick as possible. Billy feels shamed and tries to bring a chair in ring as the referee stops it. Finally Billy walks off as Shamrock stands on guard for him.

Steve Austin is on the Titan Tron as Vince brags up that he has to be impressed. Austin claims that whats to be impressed with ? Billy had a match and was tired. That all he was in was a couple fights and he believes he's famous. This is Stone Cold's company and he doesn't care bout Shamrock. Austin is asked about him being there and he claims that its his damn job. That by hook or by crook , he's gonna make damn sure that Hart wins so he can become WWF World Champion ! On his best day Bret Hart couldn't lace his boots .


End of Part 2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

As the cage is being worked on , Psycho Sid is backstage and asked if he's ready. Sid claims he knows what Austin is there for. And he will power bomb Bret Hart to hell because he's gonna go onto Wrestlemania as champion. Cause he's the MASTER....AND RULER....OF THE WORLD !

Bret Hart comes down 1st as they bring down the rules. Bret Hart can win by 2 ways. Beating Sid inside the cage or he can win by escaping to the floor 1st. Jim Ross and them joke about Bret's bad luck. Sid is next as he arrives full of intensity and sweat. This cage is the classic 1980's blue one for guys like Sid and Hogan. Who couldn't climb well in the cages that was around in Crockett.

Bret Hart starts off quick on Sid , pounding him down in the corner as he then chokes him with his boot. Sid powers back and delivers his big punches. Steve Austin watches backstage on the monitor as Bret takes back over. With a nice snapmare and tries to escape. Bret is crotched on the top of the cage. Sid then uses Bret as a battering ram , holding him in a body slam , then ramming him back 1st into the cage. Psycho Sid then tries to climb out as Hitman is back up to stop him.

On the top rope they fight with punches and Bret falls on the top turnbuckle. Bret regains himself and gets Sid down and delivers a double ax handle. Seconds later the Hitman tries to escape and is power slammed off the top rope. Sid tries to escape as Bret grabs his leg. Outta the crowd comes Austin who shuts and locks the door to stop Sid from escaping as he stands outside on guard.

In ring Bret Hart works over Sid til he gets reversed Irish whipped into the corner and bounces off the cage and eats a big Psycho power bomb ! Sid climbs to leave as Austin meets him at the top of the cage , cutting him off. They fight as Austin nearly gets knocked off the top. Then in a wild spot Bret climbs up and actually helps double team Sid on the top of the cage. Then from the back finally the Undertaker arrives to stop Stone Cold. He also stops Bret Hart from leaving to the ground.

Now all 4 are brawling at the top of the cage as Austin finally falls 1st. In a big spot Bret Hart delivers a super plex on Sid. Rocking the entire ring. While outside Austin grabs a chair and lays out the Dead Man. In ring both men slowly get up. Bret goes for the door while Sid goes to climb out. Bret is gonna win the match as suddenly over comes Undertaker who slams the door in his face , costing Bret Hart the match ! Sid escapes with the win as Bret slowly recovers in ring while Undertaker goes to the backstage . Jim Ross claims Bret would have won seconds ago as McMahon counters Sid would have won earlier without Steve Austin's involvement.

McMahon claims he will speak to Bret as a frustrated Hitman stands slowly. We get a replay of what happened earlier in this title match in WWF Rewind. McMahon finally gets in ring to talk as Bret paces pissed. Then brings up how he must be frustrated. Bret answers by throwing him across the ring when he shoves him. Then he starts to swear as he drops the God D--mn several times and how this is absolute bull shit. He's pissed off and tired of the folks screwing him backstage repeatedly .

Vince watches angry as Bret rants on as he points at Vince. And as fans boo , Bret tells em tough shit. Then as he continues , on the Titan tron Steve Austin mocks Bret for being such a damn loser. That he tried to help him but he's so pathetic. Bret mocks his name and says , he has stone cold balls to come face him man to man. That he couldn't do it without jumping him and to come to the ring if he wants it.

Bret swears on as McMahon apologizes for the language used. Sid comes down as Bret talks trash about him as things look to explode. Out comes Undertaker as Bret dives over the top rope onto him to fight him. Austin comes out to jump him then. Undertaker gets in ring to brawl with Sid now as things have broken completely down . As outside Bret lays out Pat Patterson for getting in his way as he attacks Austin and slams him face 1st into the ring steps. They keep brawling outside and in ring as Shawn Michaels walks out to see what is going on.

Austin and Bret brawl on the apron ramp on up as Shawn grabs a chair as he seems to slowly stalk Undertaker and Sid. While up the ramp goes Hart & Austin brawling as the show ends.


The Bad : Match wise nothing really stood out as the show went through several jobber matches. This was spent more hyping the big clashes ahead at Wrestlemania 13 and what laid in store there .

The WWF was starting its rebound and Bret's swearing outburst suddenly threw a small wrench into plans. McMahon didn't inform the USA Network that there would be a lot of unedited swearing live ahead. After this the WWF started airing on a 6 second delay to give them a chance to catch anymore God D-mns or worse words that would come from the program. And who would believe it came from Bret Hart ?


OVERALL : ***1/2 Outta 5. From a pure storyline aspect the show spent time promoting its big feuds and gave us some new additions to what would be a big summer coming up. One of them was the return of Shawn Michaels who had walked outta the company in January angry over a proposed storyline where he was due to drop the belt back to Bret Hart. Michaels exit actually gave Austin more TV time at the right moment. Also the company debuted Ken Shamrock and he'd be a nice addition for them.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - March 24th , 1997



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon , Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross

You know the drill , the War Zone intro begins as usual. After this dynamic intro we see the explosions begin in the arena as fans explode. Its the day after Wrestlemania 13 . Finally after showing off the crowd awhile , Vince welcomes us to RAW...IS ....WAAAAAR. The new WWF World Champion will be there tonight ; Undertaker. Also the new #1 contender will be there tonight ...Mankind. He faces Undertaker on April 20th. Before all this though we get to see the Headbangers come to the ring to face Bulldog/Owen for the world tag team titles.

Jim Ross questions if there is still descension in the ranks between them both. As they come down the aisle , Owen playfully jumps ahead of Davey to show off his 2 Slammy Awards. Jim Ross brings up that on April 20th , the LOD will face the WWF World Champions there. To start we see Mosh and Owen start off through some reversals and Owen delivers a nice arm drag. Finally in a nice double team move , the Headbangers use distraction to take down Owen as Thrasher delivers a clothesline.

Owen soon recovers as Davey makes a quick tag in and after Owen does a nice leg trip , Davey drops a leg drop. Seconds later they do another quick double team move with Owen being picked up high and guerilla pressed slammed down on Mosh. It gets a 2 count. On the split screen the Legion of Doom joins us. Animal yells out they came with one purpose to the WWF , to be the tag team champions. Hawk brings up medical terms about ripping out brain stems. Hawk is asked about the kitchen sink as they joke about it , in ring the Headbangers work over Owen during this. Both do a nice double team clothesline.

Owen finally catches one of them with a kick and makes the big tag to Bulldog. Who delivers a big vertical suplex . Then after a spot , Davey goes to bounce off the ropes and runs right into Owen by accident. Outside the ring they start arguing back n forth. Finally in anger we see Owen Hart walk off frustrated as he leaves poor Bulldog alone. After the commercial we see that Owen is back on the corner. During the commercial we see how he was double teamed.

One of the Headbangers tries to provoke Owen and it causes them to do more damage to Davey. He keeps trying to tag Owen as he acts to try and tag as his arm is held back short as McMahon points it out. The fans start a Bulldog chant . The Headbangers do another big double team move where they hold Bulldog's arms and another one does a big splash. In a surprise , Davey does a sunset flip into a pin attempt. The WWF Superstar line is advertised.

Finally Davey makes the hot tag as Owen catches one with a swinging heel kick , then catches another off the ropes with an overhead belly to belly slam as he gets a 2 count. With a side back breaker , he tags in the weak Bulldog in as he questions this. Davey then repays the favor seconds later after a move , tagging in Owen. Then off the top turnbuckle he delivers a nice missile drop kick.

Owen tries a sharpshooter but is blasted from behind by Thrasher. Davey sees his chance and delivers a his running power slam to Mosh as he tries to put the weak Owen over him. This pisses off Owen Hart who start arguing as they finally shove the referee down. Ending this match for good as Davey explains what he was doing, Then he gets slapped by Owen and it breaks down as both Owen & Davey fight. WWF security hit the ring to break them apart. They are held apart by security as fans chant Owen Sucks.

On the mic Owen rips into Davey Boy. Claiming he's sick of this crap. That he's carried this tag team for awhile. That he could beat Davey for the European Championship any time and wants a title shot. He then calls him a gutless coward and asks if he got the guts to face him. Davey gets on the mic and claims he doesn't care if he won 10 Slammy's. That he beat him fair n square in Berlin weeks ago , that he doesn't care when ...he will give him a title shot. And its the only championship match he'll get. That he carries the team and Owen claims he'll set family aside to face him.

The announcers discuss the divorce we saw between the two men. Backstage in a dark room , Mankind lays against the wall. He is called the Undertaker's nemesis. Mankind claims "he's gone" repeatedly and that he will be facing Undertaker alone. That his Uncle Paul is gone and left him all alone. That he can beat Undertaker for the WWF World title. Its there Mankind begs Uncle Paul to come back to him.

After the commercial in ring is Bart Gunn as he will be facing Hunter Hearst Helmsley. On the Titan Tron we see Bret Hart who wants to say something to the American people. That he has to get it off his chest. He promises no profanity later. That it will be heart felt on what he has to say. Then we see Hunter Hearst Helmsley come out with Chyna in tow.

We see an image of Wrestlemania 13 where we see Marlena get knocked into Chyna's arms where she was shaken . Goldust had to carry her out after the match. The match begins as Bart and Hunter try each other out with some arm bars and head lock reversals. Finally in the ropes , Hunter delivers some mid-section blows. They exchange more blows and go back n forth. Bart Gunn finally takes the advantage and throws him into the corner where he goes upside down and comes back wobbly into a big guerrilla press slam. Then Bart delivers a big suplex.

Finally we see Bart try an elbow off the top turn buckle as Hunter moves. He quickly takes advantage as on the split screen Goldust pets an empty directors chair. That his sadness over his hurt Marlena is shown. He promises that since Helmsley took the lamb , his pain will be definite. Next week it will be one on one , no Marlena & Chyna. Its gonna be an even match up. Goldust promises no more sequels. Next week is war , he will never forget the name of ...Marlena.

During this Hunter stays in control as Bart tries to rally. He eats a high knee off the ropes . Next week will be very personal as Jim Ross claims for each man. Hunter delivers a high elbow drop off the ropes. In the corner Helmsley taunts Gunn with slaps to the face and climbs up to punch him. It seems to wake up Bart who carries him over , flap jacking him across the top rope. Bart starts to work back and catches Hunter off the ropes with a big power slam !

He goes for the pin attempt , and as Bart tries to bounce off the ropes ...Chyna pulls the top rope down. Chyna meanwhile outside the ring picks up Gunn and body slams him. An angry Bart Gunn stands and eyes Chyna. He can't hit a woman of course and he goes to climb back in , as she takes him and throws him into the ring post ! This allows Hunter to get Bart back in ring for the pedigree for the win. Post match he laughs as Chyna stands behind him as we get replays of Chyna's work outside the ring.

The next match up is a AAA match with the luchadores . The one team is Hysteria, Abysmo Negro, & Maniaco vs Venum, Super Nova, & Discovery . Maniaco has had a long career and currently works in CMLL. His mask and face paint look like a member of KISS. Venum Black now wrestles without his mask and works indies in Mexico. He was trained by Rey Mysterio Sr. Not much is known of Discovery as he's a masked Mexican wrestler.

The match begins as we see Maniaco and Super Nova. They go through a slow feeling out process and suddenly we go to the split screen where Bret Hart is there. He is surprised at this and questions why he won't get the time he was promised. Lawler tells him to come out and start blabbing as Hart tells him to shut his mouth. Vince promises later he can come out and say what is on his mind.

Venum is working on Hysteria and its got some nice moments as Venum walks the top rope and delivers a nice arm drag. In a spot later he knocks Hysteria outta the ring and goes with a forward somersault over the top rope ...and lands on his feet as Vince is stunned. Back in after some quick tags with Discovery and Abysmo Negro in. Finally in a wild spot , Discovery does a back moonsault off the top rope onto the floor as Jim Ross stops to go "Oh my !" . Then we see Super Nova deliver a forward splash off the top turnbuckle onto Maniaco !

In ring is Venum as he is alone against Hysteria. He does a nice baseball slide into him. Climbs up and does a springboard moonsault off the top rope onto the floor. And nearly lands on his feet again ! In ring Abysmo catches Super Nova off the ropes and throws him high into the air to crash to the floor. Super Nova regains himself and after delivering a great drop kick , comes off and catches Abysmo with a Rey Mysterio Jr type victory roll up pin.

In a segment taped in an empty RAW arena we see Rocky Maivia with his father Rocky Johnson. Who brings up how great it was to see his dad there. Then we see Rocky Johnson bring up how he paid for his own air flight and ticket to Wrestlemania. That maybe Vince would have gave him a ticket , maybe not. But he was proud of his son and he got so angry at seeing those 3 guys (Sheik , Sultan and Backlund) trying to hurt his boy. But he needed to help him and he won't be getting involved anymore. They share a hug after he thanks his dad.

End of Part 1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Honkytonk Man is on commentary as we see Brooklyn Brawler in ring. Coming to the ring is Flash Funk as they discuss Honky's scouting his future protege. Lawler mocks Vince's knowledge of music claiming he thinks Snoop Doggy Dog is Charlie Brown's dog. Brawler in ring jumps Funk. Giving him some punches and kicks til Funk delivers a nice side leg kick. He then later catches him in a huricanrana. Flash then does a sloppy type back suplex that he barely gets Brawler up in the air and lands with him.

Brawler rallies back and elevates Flash into the air , high. Then comically Jim Ross promotes Major League during this match. Flash rallies back himself and after knocking a winded Brawler outta the ring , he then elevates himself over the top rope in a flying body splash. Lawler claims that Funk is trying to impress Honky , but the Honkytonk Man claims Funk is a loser. Back in ring Flash tries a pin attempt and seconds later does a side sloppy suplex pin attempt. Finally he delivers a 360 body splash off the top rope to end this match. Flash struts and more to his music post match.

On the Titan Tron after the commercial is Ken Shamrock. He is asked why he stopped the match , and as Shamrock claims after asking Austin if he wanted to quit. But he passed out and physically couldn't continue or protect himself , so he stopped the match. After the match was over Bret Hart attacked Austin in anger. But to protect Steve Austin and his career , he had to stop Bret. Shamrock claims him and Austin had bad words and while he isn't his friends with him. But he's one tough character , one of the toughest he's seen to never give up and pass out as he did.

The 2nd hour begins as Bret Hart comes to the ring as Jim Ross stands in ring to interview him. Lawler taunts McMahon as being scared to face him in ring possibly. Bret takes the mic and the crowd is waiting as Bret starts to apologize. He apologizes to fans in Germany , to all the fans in the UK , to them in Europe , the Far East and in Africa. Then he apologizes to his great fans in Canada. Then he starts to discuss America and claims he doesn't apologize for anything . That no matter how much he tries and beats up Austin to a bloody pulp , no much he wins and walks to the back , he feels like he lost.

That they cheer Steve Austin like he won after he beat him senseless. That this started last year as they cheered on Shawn Michaels as he was screwed over being champion. That he set at home and saw the WWF . That it needed a hero , needed a role model. Not someone who poses in girlie and gay magazines. That he came back to clean up the WWF. That he beat Austin at Survivor Series. That it should have gave him respect. Then he was screwed over when he faced Psycho Sid by the pretty boy. Bret claims he went into the Royal Rumble and won , yet somehow had folks justify him being screwed there.

Bret brings up how he should have quit. But Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon begged him to come back. Don't quit...think of the fans. Bret brings up how he was supposed to settle the score with Shawn Michaels and suddenly he gets a mysterious knee injury and loses his smile . Bret mocks Shawn by wiping fake tears. As Bret brings up how fans seemed to accept him crying over that. So he wins the Final Four , beating 3 other guys. For the 4th time as Lawler starts to side with Bret on what he brings up.

Hart claims like a man he is , he defended the belt the next night against Psycho Sid. No running , no forfeiting a title. Because he's a man who accepts challenges. He brings up how he had Sid beaten until Austin nailed him with a chair. That only American fans can justify this as being "ok". He begs and pleads for a match against this man who has made his life a miserable hell. Then he gets Sid in a 15 foot high steel cage and no one will get involved. Yet somehow , outside interference happens and Undertaker costs him the WWF World title.

Bret claims that after being screwed over by everyone and the fans turning against him in America , he decides to give Austin what he deserved. That he beat Austin to a bloody pulp and yet fans turned on him there. He tried being everything that they could respect. That he brought prestige , dignity and class. Yet these fans will rather cheer Charles Manson , OJ Simpson and that Americans don't know what is right n wrong. That its clear American fans from coast to coast don't respect him , so he won't respect them . From here on in , American wrestling fans from coast to coast can kiss his ass (bleeped out).

Shawn Michaels comes out on the ramp to claim that the WWF World title means so much , Bret would need a letter from god almighty to get him to forfeit the title I'm sure. Also Shawn claims he lives his life open and freely , but he doesn't put on an act like Bret. He has faults like everyone. Then Shawn brings up that Austin didn't quit. That he passed out and somewhere there has to be a piece of the old Hitman in there that has to respect the toughness of Steve Austin. That he's one tough SOB.

Shawn claims he has tried to take the high road repeatedly. He's not healthy yet and that he obsessed with being #1. Then mocks him , calling him mark man that he believes all this is his. That the fans pay to cheer or boo whoever they want with money they spend. Then he claims that they used to boo him and he doesn't care really. Then he points out fans comically in the audience. One guy can get a piercing that is his right. A woman can date whoever she wants. Then finishes asking Bret if he wants to go now , they can. Then claims America has a saying , love it or leave it.


End of Part 2

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Bret tells Shawn he best go back to the dressing room and get the hell outta his face. Then Shawn eggs him further claiming Bret flipped through the pages to look at him. Michaels turns his back as Bret takes advantage. Taking out his leg and then locking in the famed figure-4 around the ring post ! Trying to take Shawn out as WWF security try to pull him away. McMahon even gets involved trying to break the hold. Finally we see Psycho Sid arrive as Bret walks off slowly , not caring at all.

Back in ring a hurt Michaels is in agony . After the commercial , the announce team is stunned at the actions of Bret Hart. Lawler claims that HBK shouldn't have came out like he did. They show what happened as McMahon promotes the era of the anti-hero. They debate Bret Hart's legacy.

Coming to the ring is Rocky Maivia who comes out to face Leif Cassidy in a non-title match. Right at commercial Vince learns , Bret's coming back out as Rocky works on Cassidy. Back in ring Leif catches Rocky with a nice pile driver as Bret sets at commentary. McMahon questions what made him snap. Bret claims he just opened his eyes finally. These people out here made him sick , he wore a white hat and tried to be a role model. We see Shawn carried out as Vince claims he is flushing his legacy down a toilet. Bret doesn't agree and that people outside America cared more as he swears angry as its bleeped out.

In ring Rocky wins with a flying cross body as Bret claims if folks wanna see him be BAD , he will show you wickedly bad. He gets in ring and jumps Maivia. Taking out Rocky's leg He stops and leaves up the ramp slowly as he doesn't care. McMahon claims that Bret Hart has turned his back on the WWF fans. We go to commercial.

Back from commercial Ahmed Johnson waits in ring , Faarooq its learned suffered a separate shoulder and punctured lung . So he's in the hospital. The Nation of Domination come out as Savio Vega tries to jump Ahmed. But he soon throws him in the corner and charges as Vega moves. Vega keeps working over Ahmed over and delivers a nice side head kick in the middle of the ring. He works him over as the NOD works.

Ahmed finally rallies back and delivers a kick. Its soon cut off in the corner as Vega keeps working over Ahmed again. Finally Ahmed rallies and crotches Vega on the top rope. Then in a weird spot he runs and does a flying shoulder block , knocking himself and Vega over to the floor. Back from commercial Johnson delivers a monster suplex. In a shocking spot , Ahmed climbs the top turnbuckle and delivers a flying somersault splash into Vega ! He then misses a running elbow drop.

Back up Vega delivers a nice side kick. Seconds later he catches Johnson off the ropes with a sleeper hold , slowly working the big man down. Suddenly Ahmed starts to pump up and then catches Vega off the ropes with an epic spine buster slam. Then does it again as we see the NOD come down as we see Krush come down and pull Savio from being Pearl River plunged. Ahmed gets the mic post match with his 2x4 by his side , and taunts that he knows Faarooq isn't with them.

Then he makes a challenge , if he beats one of them , they gotta leave the WWF. Take that stinky crap with them and leave. Lawler and McMahon sum up that its a loser leaves WWF match and would the Nation do that ? Backstage we see Paul Bearer backstage pacing around. Bearer isn't happy and claims he knows who he has to talk to.

After the commercial the dong hits as we see the Undertaker arrive. He shockingly arrives in a bit of a western hat as he carries his WWF World title finally. Jim Ross claims that Bret Hart's interference helped cost Sid the title. He also promotes the upcoming title defense against Mankind. McMahon does the interview and congratulates the Undertaker. The Dead Man thanks the Creatures and claims its a new era of darkness in the WWF. That this championship means a lot in sports and he will face anyone who opposes him.

Undertaker thanks Sid for being a man and facing him. He will get a rematch in time. The the Undertaker is asked if he can survive Mankind and admits that his 1st reign was short because he lost his edge. That won't happen now and he knows that Mankind is dangerous with his mandible claw. Out from the back comes Paul Bearer who claims if the Undertaker wants to beat him up still he can. But he then claims everything he's done , he's done it for him as we see Mankind come on at the end as he pleads for Uncle Paul. The show goes to an ending as we see Mankind on the Titan tron and a shocked Undertaker staring at Paul Bearer in ring.


The Bad - There really wasn't much bad about this show . I'd say one of the things was that the Nation/Ahmed Johnson feud weirdly kept going and folks wondered if Honkytonk Man storyline would ever get anywhere close to a solution. Since it had been weeks and his scouting really hadn't went anywhere.




OVERALL : **** Outta 5. This RAW became famous for the episode where Bret Hart went full heel for the 1st time in a number of years. The Anti-American storyline began as Hart would challenge the morals of American fans and how he felt they turned against him. Bret struggled some as he was adjusting to his heel role as seen in this episode on the mic. Meanwhile the storylines seemed to be heating up after Wrestlemania as you had to wonder what would happen next.

Also in the most funny things was the breaking of kayfabe by Bret Hart who openly mocked Shawn Michaels for faking a knee injury to avoid dropping the title to him as we saw. Shawn's speech about being #1 really echoed him as he'd refuse to do jobs for folks and walk out at a moments notice.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - March 31st , 1997



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon . Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross[/U][/B]

This RAW opens with a TV-14 rating , as the Attitude Era continues. The show then really opens with Bret Hart's promo from last week in a gray tone. The big parts of it where he tells the American fans can kiss his ass. Then we get Shawn Michaels saying , America : Love it or Leave It. Then we get the beat down that Bret Hart does to Shawn with the figure-4 around the ring post.

McMahon promotes that Bret has declared war on Rocky Maivia for the IC Title and we will hear from Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Hart family has disintegrated last week where Owen Hart will face Davey Boy Smith tonight for the European title. Bret has flushed his legacy down the toilet according to Vince. The Undertaker according to Lawler may reunite with Paul Bearer !

Owen Hart opens the show coming to the ring. We get a replay of the fight between the two men and challenge Owen made last week. Davey Boy comes down to a pop as fans have picked him as the face in this . To start Owen jumps Davey with a sliding baseball slide drop kick on the floor. Then throws him into the steel ring steps. Smashing him back 1st seconds later into the ring post several times.

Back in ring the bell sounds as Owen tries a quick pin attempt. In the middle of the ring both men trade punches as Bulldog tries to rally. But suddenly Owen does a low blow to take advantage again. Hart keeps working over Smith , delivering a nice clothesline off the ropes. The fans chant how Owen sucks . Davey's nose is busted as he is locked in a sleeper hold. Then in a nice spot as Bulldog tries a rally , bounces off the ropes and eats a high knee from Owen Hart !

Owen stays on him as he works over his face , fans chant for the Bulldog. In a quick spot seconds later Davey does a side roll up pin attempt outta nowhere as he again tries to rally. Getting cut off yet again. Then later Davey tries a baseball slide pin attempt that gets a 2 count. Owen cuts that soon off with a pin point drop kick. Seconds later he catches Bulldog off the ropes and delivers a near perfect pile driver ! Davey gets his foot on the rope by luck as Owen believes he won.

Later we see Owen deliver a nice snap suplex as he again tries a pin attempt. Another sleep hold is locked on but we see Davey power out of it. Seconds later Owen tries a drop kick off the top turnbuckle , is caught as Davey tries a sharpshooter. He locks it in a second as Owen powers out and stands , delivering an enziguri in a nice spot ! Then in a top rope spot , Owen tries a super plex , its blocked as he back flips ...charges and knocks Davey off to the floor !

Outside Owen seconds later tries a cross body splash over the top rope as Davey catches him on the floor , and drops him throat 1st across the security railing. Owen begs off as Bulldog delivers some big clotheslines. Then sling shots him into the corner , face 1st . He catches Owen off the ropes and then guerrilla press throws him into the air as he crashes. This match goes up the ramp soon after. Suplexing Owen onto the steel ramp in a spot.

Then he catches Owen off the ropes seconds later and guerrilla press slams him . As they work , the referee gets ran into by accident as he gets knocked outta the ring. Owen grabs a steel chair as Davey blocks it and clotheslines him onto the chair. He picks it up ready to finish him off as we see Bret arrive. He tries to talk to Bulldog but has to tackle him and tries to speak to him 1st. He shoves Owen to listen to him. all the while keeping the two men away from each other to listen.

They all shove each other as Bret finally gets the mic. Then telling them that this is what folks want . They have fought between them for years due to these folks having no family values. That he questions why both are fighting for. That America has brother against brother , and that its turned everyone against each other. Bret brings up how Bulldog won at Wembly Stadium in 1992 , and he hugged him post match. That they came back to America and they never got along again. Then he brings up what happened between him and Owen. That it was Bret who got him into the WWF back then.

That the American people pushed Owen, and pushed him. Then they pushed him as well. Bret brings up how he used to dress up Owen for school. To get him to the school bus. That at 13 he went to the school and set a teacher straight to not pick on him as Owen starts to cry. That he talked him into becoming a wrestler . That they were considered the best workers of all the brothers. The Americans don't give a damn for family. Then he pleads for their help. That he was there more times for Owen and he claims he loves him. Then in a scene we haven't seen in years , Owen embraces Bret as they hug. They all share a hug and apology. Bret Hart has united the family.

After the commercial , out comes Sunny . McMahon claims she's the queen of Cyberspace. She has a thin black leather dress on as fans pop. Then she sits and laughs at J.R's cowboy hat as she sits there. The next match is up as El Mosco is out. He wrestles currently without a mask and is known as X-Fly. He's facing Super Nova in a singles match. As this is part of the AAA talent exchange deal.

Nova is nailed with a drop kick by El Mosco but his advantahe is short lived as both men go through so quick reversals. Super Nova does a weak belly to belly slam in one spot. After bouncing off the ropes , Mosco delivers a swinging heel kick. He tries to charge the corner and comes flying with a drop kick as his legs hit the ropes. Seconds later Super Nova catches Mosco with a power slam. Sunny meanwhile does weird jokes as the camera splits to her doing Mexican numbers and more. In a spot Super Nova catches Mosco off the top turnbuckle into a sit down power bomb.

This gets a 2 count as we see them do a spot later where Super Nova does a huricanrana. To distract further from this match on the split screen Sunny gets with the Spanish announce team as Super Nova does a flying cross body outta the ring. But Sunny starts mocking this as the announce team tries to translate what she's doing. Super Nova crashes with a back moonsault. El Mosco takes advantage and delivers a top rope moon sault into a pin as Sunny hugs Lawler post match. That she holds him over the emotional reunion of the Hart family.

Coming to the ring is the Legion of Doom as J.R will interview them. Jim Ross brings up that the Hart Foundation is now back together it appears . Animal gets angry over how Bret Hart insults the integrity of the United States and the people watching. Nobody remembers in the NFL , MLB and NBA that no one remembers the losers. They remember champions. Then to be #1 in pro wrestling you have to be WWF World tag team champions. They pledge to win those belts and bring em back to Chicago. Hawk gets on the mic and claims they will doggy dump every deal outta Bulldog. And get every carpiscle outta that stinking Owen Hart....what a ruuuush.

Coming to the ring is the Honkytonk Man as he continues his worldwide search for the protege he's been looking for in the WWF. Honky shows us how he can pick that guitar and details its the finest guitar ever made. Out comes Jesse James who has a 6 year old named Nathan Arnold as his guest manager. James sings to the ring . And its weirdly his song about hooking up with a woman (With My Baby , Tonight). Anyhow as weird as hell as this sounds , I tried looking up what happened to Arnold and I really can't find much. There is one article about a 21 year Nathan Arnold who in 2014 assaulted a woman and stole from her. But its doubtful its him since age wise it wouldn't link up.

Honky claims he loves how James sings and his search is almost over. James catches jobber Jerry Fox with a clothesline , then does his comical atomic drop spot. He seconds later as Fox is outside , does a flying clothesline off the apron to him. James is caught and gets nailed with Jesse James pump handle slam finisher. James struts in ring as we see Honky get in ring as they share a hand shake.

Then we see Honky gets in ring to compliment him by , discussing how he himself is great. That he can take James career all the way to the top. Offering to dye his hair jet black and side burns. That he can even dress like him as well. Then we see Honky claim he's gonna gift the guitar to him , only he can carry it. James seems awe struck as Honky wants to seal the deal for this relationship right now. All he has to do is tell Honky , he wants to be the greatest of all-time . James claims he has no words right now , the greatest IC champion of all time is there.

The guitar is priceless , it should be sealed in a glass case as Honky tells us. That he's trusting James with it. James hasn't got the words as he acts to tune the guitar and suddenly SMASHES IT TO PIECES in front of Honkytonk Man ! Who can't speak as he's stunned at this. Then comically hands the one piece of the guitar and tells him , "Honkytonk Man , its a little outta tune for me !" to a huge pop from the crowd.


End of Part #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

After the Slam of the Week , the Nation of Domination come out as we see PG-13 rap them out. Krush and Savio Vega are facing Adam O'Brien & Rod Bell. O'Brien is actually Adam Pearce who would become known as being a very talented independent wrestler for Ring of Honor and the NWA. Pearce currently is retired (2014) and helps work in the WWE Performance center now.

To start this match both heels jump said jobbers quick. O'Brien is thrown outta the ring as Bell is worked over by Vega. Outside PG-13 beat down O'Brien as this happens in ring. Finally Adam O'Brien gets on the apron and tags in as Krush meets him with a boot. Then he rallies back and tries a flying cross body as Krush catches him and back breaks him 2-3 times. Shawn Michaels calls in to detail about the attack Bret Hart did on him last week. His knee wasn't 100 percent , and now its clear its not 100%. Next week he will be on RAW is WAR.

Lawler thinks Michaels is crazy to do that. Anyhow Bell tags in O'Brien who does a small rally and is caught off the top turnbuckle and back suplexed ! He then gets side walked slam by Krush as well. Finally , O'Brien is caught in the finisher. Post match we see the NOD beat him down. We go from this to Ken Shamrock making Billy Gunn tap out quick 2 weeks earlier. Then what he did at Wrestlemania 13. Shamrock will be in a no holds barred exhibition next week folks.

The 2nd hour begins as Vince will see if Paul Bearer will reunite with the Undertaker. He comes out as we see Bearer carry the urn out now , then we see last weeks clips where Bearer pleads to return to his side. Now in ring Bearer claims how big a mistake he made leaving. That it was done for him , so he could become his own man. That by himself he could become WWF World Champion. That he pleads he needs to come home to the darkside. The music finally chimes as we see the Undertaker come to the ring slowly.

Jim Ross brings up the 6 year history that Bearer & Undertaker have together. And how Mankind last week pleaded for Uncle Paul to come back. In a sign the Undertaker eyes the urn and walks past it. In a nice spot the Undertaker returns and locks the casket just in case. Undertaker brings up how betrayal is something he can never forget. That he can however forgive . Undertaker brings up how for many years they took on those in the WWF. And they put many to rest. Then in a spot Undertaker seems to forgive and kisses the title and hands it to Bearer.

Then he waits and as he turns , Undertaker lays him out with a punch ! He stalks Bearer slowly and has the urn over his head ready to lay him out. From under the ring comes Mankind who catches the Dead Man with a fireball to the face. Bearer and Mankind embrace as they seem happy. Then we see Psycho Sid chase them both off as Undertaker fights to get his vision back. He ends up knocking a referee down with a wild punch. WWF officials try and help him as he goes over the security railing as he goes through the fans.

We get replays from various angles of Mankind's fireball to the face. Backstage we see Sid bring up how Mankind is playing with fire , and he'll burn by the Undertaker. Like how Bret Hart played with fire with him. And finally we see Sid claim , "You mess with Undertaker and you will burn...IN HELL." Hunter Hearst Helmsley comes down as his music plays. We get replays of Chyna's work the last 2 months. And her body slamming Bart Gunn outside the ring.

There will be no managers tonight as Goldust hits the ring at a quick run. He throws the wig at Hunter , and just starts beating him down in the corner. He keeps knocking him down with punches and then throws him upside down into the corner. Then seconds later repeats the spot so Hunter can flip back onto his feet and do the knock down spot. Seconds later as Helmsley is outside the ring , he gets caught with a clothesline on the floor.

Finally Hunter tries to rally , but seconds later eats a butt smash to the face off the ropes from Goldust. Finally in a spot Hunter dives down as Goldust tries a flying cross body and eats the canvas and rolls to the floor outside. In ring Hunter is wore out from this assault and slowly moves delivering a baseball slide as Goldust crashes on the floor. In a cool spot he body slams Goldust on the ramp. Then seconds later comes back with a hard clothesline !

Tossed back in , seconds later Helmsley delivers a nice high knee off the ropes. In the ropes Hunter kicks Goldust down pretty hard. Then off the ropes a minute or two later , delivers a nice swinging neck breaker. Helmsley plays to the crowd and after a knee drop , tries a pin attempt . Then into a nice sleeper hold. On the split screen we see the announce team as Lawler acts to cry over his emotional night where the Hart Family reunited. In ring Goldust gets the fans support behind him.

Golddust delivers a cross body off the ropes and gets a 2 count. Back up Hunter catches him with a big clothesline and stays on him again. The bizarre one rallies back and delivers a nice atomic drop spot on him. His rally is short lived as he eats a high knee in the corner ropes. Up on the stage Chyna is there as we see Hunter deliver a double ax handle smash off the top turnbuckle to the floor on Goldust.

After the commercial we see Goldust work over Hunter and he sets him up for the curtain call and delivers it. He goes for the pin as Chyna climbs in and delivers a huge kick to the ribs as the match ends in DQ. Chyna does a spinning heel kick to Goldust as both heels work over the fallen Goldust in ring. Referees and WWF security get involved as Hall of Famer , Pat Patterson gets in ring and tries to stop Helmsley. He gets throw hard and the 2nd time he just erupts on offense on Hunter in the corner to a huge pop. Chyna has to save Hunter. Then they both work over the old man.

Goldust recovers and soon takes care of Hunter in good fashion. With a big clothesline to the floor . Chyna faces Goldust daring him to hit him as Hunter reaches in and makes her go. We see Stone Cold backstage. After the commercial we see a replay of the Hart Foundation reuniting as we get a loving hug from all 3 family members.

Coming to the ring is Stone Cold Steve Austin who will be interviewed by Vince McMahon. Vince seems to eye Austin slowly as the Texas Rattlesnake has a small bandage on his head. He is asked of his view point of Wrestlemania. Austin proclaims his view point is he never ever quit. That Shamrock could have had 10 hearing aids and never heard an I QUIT. Stone Cold claims that Bret never beat him to a bloody pulp but thats a damn lie , he busted his head open on a guard rail.


end of part 2