WWF Monday Night RAW Review thread

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WWF Monday Night RAW - June 3rd , 1996



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

We get Goldust discussing how he saved Mr. Johnson's life last week. That he wasn't happy with the mouth to mouth CPR done to him. Goldust is seen posing on a couch with the IC Title daring him to come get it. Gorilla Monsoon has announced that Ahmed Johnson will face Goldust for the IC title at King of the Ring. Then we go right to the ring where Bob Holly waits to face Stone Cold Steve Austin in the 1st round qualifier match.

McMahon brings up that Austin is alone due to what has happened at the last 2 In Your House : Beware of Dog shows. The 1st match between Savio Vega and Steve Austin was in the dark and Vega won. Then Ted Dibiase put his career in the WWF on the line and Vega won the 2nd Beware of Dog strap match on Tuesday. The fans serenade Dibiase with "NA NA GOOD-BYE" as he slowly walks outta the WWF for good.

Austin is alone without the Million Dollar Championship and without Dibiase. Stone Cold is still using his technical wrestling skills that made him Dibiase's pick of a superstar. McMahon runs down the rest of the show and will re-air footage of what happened at both Beware of Dog PPV shows that happened. Then we see Austin in ring concentrate on Holly's leg and working it over.

Lawler claims he has footage of Clarence Manson being assaulted by WWF President Gorilla Monsoon. Holly soon rallies back against Stone Cold as McMahon claims he's pulled some upsets before (none that I have seen in these reviews thus far). Then Stone Cold gets back in control and delivers a pretty hard core back breaker as some fans boo. He looks out and smiles , then goes back to work. Austin is starting to form his full Stone Cold character as we watch this.

This match is lasting longer than many would expect a Bob Holly/Steve Austin match would. Holly rallies back yet again and its then we see Stone Cold get behind him and locks on the million dollar dream. Austin will face the winner of Savio Vega/Marty Jannetty on WWF Superstars this weekend in the 2nd round of King of the Ring. Then we get clips of we see Lawler trying to get involved in the Ultimate Warrior end by jumping him from behind. He now has a match against Warrior at King of the Ring as well.

Lawler proclaims he should have been the artist of Warrior's comic book and actually shows a page he drew mocking the Warrior. The one page is better than all of Warrior's comic. So he proves his point pretty well here. McMahon claims the Warrior will join us next week for an interview. Then in ring we see Barry Horowitz ready to face Mankind. The match at King of the Ring 1996 will be Undertaker vs Mankind. Jim Ross brings up that this will be the most intense battle the Dead Man has ever faced.

We get replays of how Mankind appeared in the casket outta nowhere on the Beware of Dog PPV match against Goldust. He choked out Undertaker with his mandible claw and pushed him into that same casket. He disappeared once Bearer raised the lid. In ring Mankind is making short work of Barry Horowitz as he screams in Horowitz's face after stomping him and then throws him outside.

The WWF airs a promo where we can ...LIVE IT.....FEEL IT.....TOUCH IT......EXPERIENCE IT LIVE ! Its the WWF Attitude Adjustment Tour folks. I guess they had to do something better than the WWF Tour-de-Force stuff. Back from commercial Horowitz tries some European uppercuts and Mankind gives him a kick off the ropes and locks in the mandible claw for the win. Then he sits all peaceful as Jim Ross comes out to speak to him about the Undertaker.

Mankind is hoping the Undertaker stands up and SHOWS A LITTLE BIT OF PRIDE !! That he has the fortitude to come to King of the Ring. He then proclaims that the Undertaker can't take his ear , its ALREADY GONE !! That he can't take his mind ....HE LOST IT A LONG TIME AGO !! He screams out as Jim Ross leaves.

We get replay of the controversy of the WWF World title with British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels. Where the original referee and 2nd referee disagreed on who won. Its then we see Gorilla Monsoon declare this match a draw. A rematch will happen at King of the Ring. Then we get Goldust who is posed sexually and claims he's in his den and the clips where he performed mouth to mouth to revive him.

Goldust quotes the Color Purple movie line and he proclaims he gave Ahmed the breath of life. He just couldn't let the man...expire. Because he has a heart ...of gold. Then its more sexual as Goldust claims he loves a taste of chocolate and slowly licks a chocolate bar and takes a small bite from it. He claims that he will face the mighty mandigo at King of the Ring and he will never forget the name...Gooooldust.


END OF PART #1

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In ring we see the Godwinns ready to face Techno Team 2000. Sunny is out to taunt the Godwinns on commentary and shows off the WWF World tag team titles. Vince questions how she can do the things she does by leaving each team so quick. Sunny proclaims that its obvious she goes where the gold is. Backstage the Body Donna's cut a promo proclaiming they are having a manager search and looking for the right person to lead them back to the top where they belong.

Sunny claims there is no replacing her. That there are numerous chicks in the WWF like Marlena and Sable , but there is no Sunny. The fans start a loud Sunny name , because they love a devious hot babe of course. Then we see poor Phineas give her a look as he still has a crush for her. Its there we see Phineas and Troy (Eric Watts) share a hand shake as both teams are playing faces. TT delivers a nice double big boot. Then we see more double team moves by Techno Team as Troy tries to suplex his partner Travis (Chad Fortune) onto Phineas and misses. Once Henry Godwinn is tagged in this match ends quick with a slop drop.

Then we see Clarence Mason file a frivolous lawsuit against Gorilla Monsoon for aggravated assault and battery for his actions at RAW 2 weeks earlier. Where Monsoon had basically pushed him to walk past Michaels . He claims he was hurt seriously and its why he wore the neck brace at Beware of Dog.

In ring we see Hunter Hearst Helmsley as he waits to face Jake "The Snake" Roberts in this 1st round of the King of the Ring tournament. Hunter knocks Jake down and does his pose as Jake laughs and soon nearly in an exchange lands a DDT. The fans chant DDT as Helmsley has Jenny Lee with him tonight. A very hot lil blond who the King seems to really want.

While this happens in ring Jake is punishing Helmsley. McMahon brings up that Jake has had quite a return to the WWF since his return at the age of 43. Its then Vince claims that Diesel and Razor Ramon aren't under contract to the WWF and are creating a ruse that they are. They are under contract to a rival organization right now. Vince then claims on AOL Online he will discuss the Diesel and Razor Ramon situation. (He'd file a lawsuit quick..)

Helmsley gets in control and hammers on him. Then Lawler claims during commentary he has a surprise for Warrior next week. McMahon proclaims Warrior has revolutionized the world of comics (yes by doing a shitty comic). Jake Roberts fires back and the fans get revved up. They wanna see the DDT as he signals it , and gets pushed into the corner by Hunter to stop that.

Dok Hendrix advertised the WWF Superstar Line. Dok will reveal what Vince has to say about the latest corporate raid by Billionaire Ted. Well karma basically as Vince taunted that Ted couldn't take his WWF New Generation guys as well as lawsuits.

Back from commercial as Hunter pounds on Jake and throws him into the corner. Jake shocks Helmsley by leap frogging him and nailing the DDT outta nowhere as fans explode. The referee counts 3 as Roberts has advanced as Lawler is stunned. The fans wanna see the snake as Jenny Lee grimaces and watches Jake lay the snake over him. For fun Jake taunts Jenny and points to her man with the snake as the show ends.


The Bad - The opening match really wasn't that good as Austin was still trying to find himself and his characters move set essentially. He was starting to put the pieces together on who he'd become in ring as you'd see flashes of things. The match wasn't that interesting and there was few key spots honestly. The rest were 2 squash matches and a slow main event match.

After last weeks stunning debut of Razor Ramon , Vince sensed he was in deep damn trouble. He quickly launched back by claiming that Diesel and Razor Ramon weren't working for the WWF and soon would file a lawsuit over this. Vince didn't realize that karma wise , his taunting that Billionaire Ted couldn't sign away his New Generation stars and wouldn't think up anything original was backfiring huge on him.

Years later it was revealed that Hunter Hearst Helmsley was actually supposed to be booked to win this match and the 1996 King of the Ring tournament. But his actions at a MSG show weeks earlier where he said good-bye to his fiends and broke "kayfabe" cost him his push. He would be punished as a result of this and get de-pushed awhile.


OVERALL : **1/2 Outta 5. The best things were the programs that had started to catch fire. Mankind vs Undertaker was gonna happen for the 1st time at King of the Ring , Ahmed Johnson vs Goldust for the IC belt was also happening. Plus you had a very big King of the Ring tournament and seemed booked towards someone winning we'd never expect. Also it seems that Warrior/Lawler was gonna happen as well. The bad thing was , none of the matches was good tonight.

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WWF Monday Night RAW - June 10th , 1996




Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

RAW has the full opening this week , unlike last week that seemed so full of energy . In ring is Yokozuna who healed fast after nearly getting his leg destroyed by Vader weeks ago. Lawler has the portrait he made for the Ultimate Warrior and its pretty awesome. I gotta admit Lawler did a better job than what Warrior had in his comic book.

Owen Hart comes out and he wants to repeat as King of the Ring . Vince shows a picture of Owen from 1994 when he won that year as King. Then we get a clip of where Owen won his 1st ever Slammy. If anything Owen Hart made the Slammy's a legit award since it became part of his character. Owen is still wearing the arm cast as he tries to jump Yokozuna . Who as Vince proclaims is ...660 pounds folks.

Owen pays for trying to jump Yoko , as the big sumo is just beating him with his power , until he misses a monster elbow drop. Jim Cornette gets involved and smacks on Yokozuna with his tennis racket. Shawn Michaels as Vince claims will be joining us from WWF Studios. The fans start a very disrespectful chant towards Owen , demanding his brother Bret.

The WWF fans get louder for Bret as they chant his name as Yokozuna takes control again. He sets up for the bianzhi drop and misses as Owen moves. He then in a great moment of genius , bridges Yokozuna's legs and pins him using the ropes as the referee can't see. Getting a win to advance to the quarterfinals. Lawler claims Owen won a Slammy for knocking out Shawn Michaels , he knocked out Ahmed Johnson 2 weeks ago and now he's knocked out Yokozuna ! Owen will face the winner of Marc Mero/Skip (who will meet later that night).

McMahon shows a video of what happened at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago at a card. Where the Ultimate Warrior was there as well as Shawn Michaels. Its part of the WWF Attitude Adjustment Tour. Then we get that WWF ad for it . This cuts away to a segment on WWF Action Zone this past weekend where Jake Roberts details the dark path his drug abuse led him. Where his wife suffered and she'd have to stop him from choking due to so many pills and cocaine he'd do.

In ring Skip (Candido) waits on his challenger Marc Mero. Roberts is doing commentary and puts over the tough challengers that the WWF has to offer. He claims his next tough challenge is Justin Bradshaw next week. Then we go backstage to where a very down Yokozuna brings up how he's not the same Yoko due to his anger at Jim Cornette. That he needs to go and find himself.

Roberts claims he'd rather face a man like Bradshaw than someone who can fly around the ring so fast like Skip or Mero. And the match begins as Mero illustrates his athletic gifts and then somersaults back over the top rope back into the ring. Mero is in control til Skip catches him racing into the corner with a foot to the ribs. As Skip is leading on Mero , the anger with Wildman takes over as he throws him to the ground and pounds on him as the referee stops it.

Sadly for Mero him and Skip have little chemistry in ring and both men blow some spots. One of them is a double drop kick that really , no man landed. Even on a replay. The best part of this match is to watch Mero's eyes and the weird shit he does with them. To again claim he's a WILD MAN. Later Skip misses a frankensteiner off the top rope and nearly gets pinned with Mero's finisher. Then some reversals happen and Skip takes control again.

Sable keeps cheering her man on as Skip keeps working him over. Lawler yells for Skip to tame the Wildman , tam him. Mero mounts the come back and does his boxing spot , knocking Skip down. Then we see Mero try a flying body splash as Skip ducks and he flies over the top rope. Then Skip tries a high risk move over the top rope in a dive ...and misses. Mero then gets back in ring and does his high risk spot nailing it.

So Mero finally gets Skip to the corner and sits him on top. What seemingly is now his finisher , Mero screams out like a crazy man and executes a top rope frankensteiner for the win. Jake leaves as Lawler thanks him for being boring . Mero vs Owen Hart next week and Steve Austin vs Savio Vega will be next week. We get the Sega Saturn SLAM OF THE WEEK which is Savio Vega vs Steve Austin 2 weeks ago at Beware of Dog. Where Jim Ross called the action and it was pretty solid.

Then we go to a fun promo for King of the Ring. Which is a classic where Jerry Lawler is a greedy king and chokes on food in front of starving kids. He's finally made it to Heaven. A fit place for a King. But then Elvis and others show up and beat him up as he learns he's in WWF hell.

In ring we see Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler as its brought up that in 2 weeks he will step into the ring with the Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior runs to the ring and the fans explode as usual. There is no Warrior symbol tonight but the weirdest deal is.....Warrior is wearing a ball cap. This makes no...sense. Lawler gets on the mic and claims he isn't to blame for losing his shot at being a King at WWF King of the Ring. So after complimenting him on his comic book , Lawler shows off the portrait he did of him.

Lawler is accused of wanting to get outta the match as he doesn't wanna face Ultimate Warrior. By giving him the painting. Then we see Warrior accept that Lawler is an artist and his time he spent on it , but he's a con artist. Then Warrior points at his hat and proclaims that he is founded by destiny and more. That at King of the Ring he's gonna kick his ass. Lawler then smashes the picture over Warrior's back or head...as it doesn't effect him. Lawler runs for the hills as Warrior chases after him !

We get a vignette of the controversy over the British Bulldog/Shawn Michaels finish at Beware of Dog. That at King of the Ring things will be settled once and for all regarding the WWF World title. Coming to the ring is British Bulldog with his wife , Owen Hart and Jim Cornette. Then the bell chimes as its the Undertaker . The lights go out as Undertaker follows his manager Paul Bearer.


END OF PART #1

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McMahon shows replays of 2 weeks earlier where Mankind jumped him at Beware of Dog. At WWF Studios is Shawn Michaels holding his treasured WWF World Title. Shawn pledges to go out and do what he usually does. That he will right a very serious wrong. Jim Cornette muscles in and grabs a headset and starts ripping Shawn. He felt empty the moment they rang the bell and named Bulldog possibly the WWF World Champion.

Cornette claims that due to his lawsuit and settlement with Gorilla Monsoon , he gets to pick the special guest referee. This irks Shawn who feels that Cornette has dragged his name and more through mud. Cornette laughs and claims he won't tell who it is. But its Monsoon who approved the referee . In ring we see Bulldog trying to use his speed to stay away from the Dead Man.

Undertaker soon shows his power and is completely owning Bulldog as Cornette cries over what is happening. Bulldog rallies back and takes the heel advantage as he has to use a rest hold after a commercial to keep ahead. Owen Hart looks over at Bearer and makes a gesture for the urn as Bearer holds tight to it. The fans start a loud REST IN PEACE chant. To get him back in this match.

The Bulldog nails a swinging neckbreaker and drops a leg drop as he tries for a pin. Then the Undertaker raises up as you hear Bulldog swear in frustration at trying to keep the Dead Man down. The fans rally behind Taker again as Bulldog tries another rest hold to wear the Dead Man down. Eventually Taker breaks the rest hold and both men are down . Then Undertaker rises up yet again.

In a cool spot the Bulldog sets up Undertaker for his running power slam. Taker slides out of it and throws Bulldog into the ropes. We go to commercial where Jim Ross advertises the WWF Superstar line and asks if Brian Pillman has joined the ranks of WWF Superstars. In ring , Undertaker is getting his comeback as he monster choke slams Bulldog and clotheslines him outta the ring.

After brawling with Bulldog , Undertaker throws him back into the ring . Then he's held up by something , and the camera shows Mankind is under the ring holding Undertaker's foot. Taker pulls him from under the ring ready to destroy as Bulldog starts to help Mankind. Cornette realizes he doesn't want his men helping some insane freak like Mankind and leaves commentary and yells for Bulldog to leave with them. This leaves Mankind alone as he delivers a piledriver onto Taker as security and referees arrive.

They hold off Mankind from doing a mandible claw on Undertaker and the show ends.

The Bad - Match wise the only really decent match was Mero/Skip , and they had a couple spots blown in it. Overall there wasn't many good moments in this RAW and it seemed to slug along.

In the Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD , Jerry Lawler brings up a comical aspect of his confrontation with Warrior. He was supposed to smash Warrior with the painting across the top of his head and they had spent time going over the spot earlier. Well out comes Warrior wearing a ball cap and he's not supposed to have it on , since it pretty much makes the smashing the portrait over his head ...kinda silly now. So Lawler had no choice but go ahead and do it since they were filming.

This RAW would be the last Ratings win the WWF Would have for nearly 2 years.

OVERALL : ** outta 5. When your best moments are from a show in Chicago and Undertaker/Mankind, you know your product is in trouble. Vince didn't seem to take the warning signs coming and he'd pay the price. This was the last time his show would win a ratings match up with WCW until 1998.

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WWF Monday Night RAW - June 17th , 1996



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon tells us right when the WWF symbol for the 50 Years promo airs that RAW will be an eventful night. In ring is Stone Cold Steve Austin and they are waiting on his opponent Savio Vega in the 2nd round of the King of the Ring tournament. Vince then shows us clips of the last strap match the two men had 2-3 weeks ago. On his face , as Lawler points out is some intense glare.

Right when Savio gets into the ring he's jumped by Stone Cold. But the beating into the corner doesn't last long as Vega rallies back and Lawler brings up that Savio has 2 straight victories over him , so he wants to make it three in a row. Austin regains the momentum by smashing Savio's foot against the ring post and concentrates his offense around the leg.

McMahon runs down the show of we see Marc Mero/Owen Hart , an interview with Mr. Perfect where we learn from Jim Cornette who the special guest referee is. And finally the surprise contract signing of Brian Pillman ! Vega regains control and takes out Austin's leg the same wrapping it around the ring post. In a cool spot he yanks Austin off the top rope by his leg and its replayed.

Austin sells the leg pretty well , while Vega seems to have became John Cena and isn't selling his leg at all. As he bodyslams and works over Austin with no ill effects. The tide turns again as Austin gets his knees up on Vega as he tries a body splash. Austin kicks Vega but suffers from his bad leg. Then back from commercial Austin misses a move by smashing Savio's throat across the ropes. Landing on his bad leg as Vega regains control. As Savio does his spinning kick and nails Stone Cold , he goes for the pin. Steve puts his leg across the rope to save himself.

Back up Vega is behind Austin working his back over. Suddenly Austin reaches and grabs Savio's head and with a quick move....NAILS THE STONE COLD STUNNER ! It shocks Lawler and McMahon at how quick he beats Savio with his new finisher. Austin looks out at everyone and holds his finger up. We go quickly from this to the Mankind/Undertaker feud that began 3 months ago. Undertaker vows to make Mankind pay for his sins and he will take his tormented soul to pay for what he's done.

The next match is Owen Hart/Marc Mero in this King of the Ring match up. Sable is out with Mero as Lawler gets Austin to sit down and do commentary. Austin claims he has no sympathy for no man who wins to face him at King of the Ring. The commercial that airs next is the Sega Slam of the week which is Jake Roberts last week shocking the world and beating Hunter Hearst Helmsley to advance in King of the Ring.

McMahon airs a tribute vignette to the late great Dick Murdoch. He was only 49 years old when he passed away from a heart attack. Murdoch likely will never make it into the WWF Hall of Fame due to the fact he was pretty much a racist. The man according to numerous wrestlers (Tito Santana , Dusty Rhodes , Bad News Brown and Rocky Johnson) was a member of the KKK.

In ring we see Owen Hart ready to wrestle. Owen isn't in a good mood as we see a clip from WWF Superstars where Harvey Whippleman reversed the match once Owen wouldn't turn loose of the sharpshooter when he had won. Austin gives Owen props for competing with his arm in a brace , but he's still gonna go down to him. Then later he is asked about Mero and Austin claims , "Mero was built for show , I'm built for Go...in that ring."

Thus far both men are feeling each other out with lock ups and arm bars . Austin claims he's been held back for years and he's pretty much at a win at all costs attitude now and that won't stop. Mero grabs onto Owen's arm in a brace and holds an arm bar , as the Dark Heart tries to spring him away. It fails as Mero is on fire now as he's playing Wildman to the crowd. He then tries a dumb high risk move as he misses Owen Hart by a mile in a spot that didn't go well.

Owen takes control and does a spin kick after Mero bounces off the rope and its pretty perfect timed. Austin claims he just doesn't like Marc Mero and hates his guts. After commercial we learn Stone Cold was escorted back to the back so he wouldn't get involved in this singles match. Owen nearly gets pinned as he celebrates too arrogantly . In a nice spot minutes later Owen nails a perfect plex and gets a near pin against Mero.

Seconds later Owen tries his own high risk move and fails from it as Mero makes him eat his knees. As they trade reversals , outta nowhere Mero rolls Owen into a weird sit up roll up pin. After the win an angry Owen Hart jumps him , knocking him outta the ring. He then comes off the apron , smashing Mero across the back of the head with his loaded cast. Owen brags that Mero's a coward for targeting his hand in a cast the referee and Sable tend to the Wildman. Lawler claims we need Goldust there to perform mouth to mouth to save Mero.

In ring as this happens we see Jim Ross talking to British Bulldog and Diana . Ross claims he knows Bulldog is in the best shape of his life right now. But how mentally prepared is he for King of the Ring. Bulldog proclaims that Michaels messed with the most prized possession in the world , his wife Diana. So he's gonna take his most prized possession...the WWF World title. Jim Ross claims that Shawn Michaels is actually in the arena tonight and listening to what he has had to say.


END OF PART #1

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Bulldog taunts Michaels claiming what a coward he is and half a man ...this pisses off Shawn who charges from the back and tackles him to the ground. Referees , security and jobbers from the back have to keep them apart. They brawl at each other as each one breaks free to fight. Then we go from this to Dok Hendrix selling the WWF Superstar line. For $1.49 per minute Jim Ross will tell you have the 5 new superstars coming to the WWF. Well I can say that 1 of them is Pillman , so we will discover the 4 others soon.

After the comical King of the Ring 1996 PPV trailer with Lawler , in ring is Aldo Montoya. McMahon taunts The King that he's gonna face the Ultimate Warrior this Sunday. The King decides to get in ring to talk to the budding young superstar Aldo. So he gets in ring and then outta nowhere he slugs Montoya with a mic as he claims this is what he's gonna do to Ultimate Warrior. He yells and tells Warrior this is what he's gonna do as he pile drives him.

Jake Roberts music hits as he knows he better get outta that ring fast as the Snake comes with his snake. He gets his coat and gets outta the ring. Its there we see Lawler gets in the camera and proclaim this is what destructivity is all about. We go from that scene to a special Olympian Eric Norgren running with the torch in a nice ceremony outside.

After that inside WWF HQ , Brian Pillman has his contract signing where he claims that events have changed quite a lot in the last 8 weeks of his life (yeah he pretty much got the big contract he wanted all along lol). He thanks for the chance that Gorilla Monsoon and JJ Dillion have gave him. McMahon claims that the full transcript of the signing will be on AOL Online tomorrow night as well. Goldust comes to the ring for this main event.

McMahon airs the clip of what happened last month with Ahmed Johnson and how Goldust performed mouth to mouth to revive him after being knocked out. Lawler claims that Goldust will still be IC Champion after King of the Ring. Harvey Whippleman is the referee as he demands Goldust get in the ring and delivers a count to make him wrestle.

Lawler promotes the WWF RAW magazine where Marlena posed ala Janet Jackson with her breasts covered by hands. McMahon shows a clip of Action Zone where he put over the WWF Generation of talent. Claiming they have the athletic gifts and more hair than him , but they need the experience which he has. He also wants to make sure they don't travel down his same road he did.

Goldust is playing mind games and pisses off Jake at one spot. We see a clip of this past week where Jake advanced to the finals of the King of the Ring with a DDT to Justin Bradshaw. Goldust stays in control awhile , til Jake rallies back and slows the pace way down. As Curt Henning is ready to deliver the news , Jake signals the DDT as McMahon cuts away to see what happens and its reversed as Goldust takes control.

Perfect claims that he knows who the special guest referee is for this weekend. But he wants to wait til the end of this match to reveal it. Goldust meanwhile sits near Jake's face in the turn buckle and hits on him as we go to commercial. After the commercial he's still in control as we see Jim Cornette and Mr. Perfect laughing and seemingly happy with what they will do.

As Jake rallies back , Goldust gets in the corner as Marlena hands him some gold dust in his hand. As Harvey is distracted Goldust throws the dust into Jake's eyes and low blows him for the win. Harvey is ripped for being distracted but as he inspects Robert's face he sees the powder and calls it a DQ and rewards the match to Jake. Marlena and Goldust can't believe it as post match Goldust stays in ring and taunts the blinded Jake.

Jake stumbles around as Goldust toys with him. But pays the price for taunting a dangerous Snake. He eats a DDT outta nowhere as we go to the back where Perfect and Cornette. Its there we learn that Cornette needed a referee who is strong and can be a perfect referee. So he went to...Mr. Perfect ! Henning claims he will call this match straight down the middle fairly.

The Bad - The sad part was the main event was terrible and slow. Its like the program did the worst , slow main event and it took minutes for it to get interesting. This is the case they should have had Mero/Hart be the main event and had Jake Roberts/Goldust be the opening match since it didn't seem to be at all important.

Another silly fact is Jerry Lawler/Ultimate Warrior which really made me question if anyone honestly believed Lawler stood a chance in hell of that match. The WWF had Lawler get in ring and destroy a jobber in record time , but honestly that doesn't make me think he will get anything close to a guy who bulldozed Helmsley in 12 seconds at Wrestlemania.


OVERALL : ***1/2 outta 5. Steve Austin's transformation was pretty much complete as a character at this stage. He found a finisher that was his. The 1st Stone Cold Stunner on WWF TV folks is this RAW. The opening match was pretty decent as Vega/Austin had a very fast fun vibe to it. While Mero/Hart built into a solid match. The only weakness of this RAW was a main event that just dragged along. But seeing Stone Cold become Stone Cold was pretty cool.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - June 24th , 1996





Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

RAW begins with no intro as we see Hunter Hearst Helmsley who is still being punished for what he did a month ago. His punishment .....having to face the new WWF Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson. Who comes out as fans reach out as he slaps some hands. Ahmed was a rocket ship and 9 months after his debut he was IC Champion. In the locker room after the PPV win everyone was celebrating with Johnson , pouring champagne on him and he gets a big hug and congrats from WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels.

Hunter tries to lock up and use his strength , but it pails in comparison to what Ahmed has as power. The fans pop huge once he body blocks Helmsley across the ring. Harvey Wippleman is the special referee for this match . Hunter takes control and in a cool spot does a baseball slide as Ahmed's outside. Then he throws him into the steel ring step as fans boo. Except for Hunter's valet for the night named Julie. Who cheers this on big time. Then a couple minutes later Hunter throws him into the ring post outside.

Standing by to cut a promo backstage is Goldust as he quotes Terminator to start the promo. But after last night where he tried to save Johnson's life again (he did mouth to mouth CPR again lol) , he just wants to hurt him. He calls him mandigo and pledges to make him pay. Then in tonight's main event he will do commentary for the Steve Austin/Undertaker match. But he done buried Undertaker once , he will put him down in the ground again.

Hunter has been in control awhile and keeps Ahmed from rallying back . Then he gets too arrogant and starts slapping him in the face in the corner. This wakes up the angry Ahmed who fires back on him. But Ahmed's still wounded and Hunter after getting some offense climbs the top rope. He tries a move and is caught , then eats an impact spine buster from Ahmed.

Ahmed minutes later in an exchange nails another one and makes the signal its time to fans. But he waits much too long as Helmsley manages to power out of the hold. Helmsley takes control again and pounds away on him and then gets over confident again slapping Ahmed across the head. Then he stands him up and slaps him across the head. Then throws him into the ropes and wants to do a back drop , instead Ahmed stops and delivers the pearl river plunge finisher. All Julie can do is sit and shake her head.

In ring we see Dok Hendrix interview Ahmed Johnson. Hendrix points out that Ahmed is the 1st ever African American Intercontinental Champion of the WWF. Ahmed proclaims he's not just defending this belt for black people , he'd defending it for white , green , and everyone across the world that watches. He claims this belt hasn't been defended right and tells Goldust (or pretty lips as he taunts) to come and get it if he can. Or he can come to the hood and face him there. Ahmed is pouring sweat just standing there.

We get a TV promo of the 1996 King of the Ring. We get clips of Undertaker/Mankind as Jim Ross proclaims "This is an all-out War ! This resembles a prison riot !" Then we get Lawler who tried cheating and gets destroyed soon after Warrior. Then Ahmed Johnson vs Goldust clips. Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog is shown. An encore will air tomorrow night.

Out comes Sunny who will join us for commentary for this Body Donna's tag team match. A replay from the King of the Ring PPV shows New Rockers vs Body Donna's and in a cool damn spot Marty Jannetty delivers an epic power bomb off the top rope to Skip ! We see that Sunny has a low cut top showing off the assets and the camera gets a good view. The Body Donna's have a new manager ....named Cloudy.

There was 5,000+ people who sent cards , letters , photos and videos in to be the manager of them. One lady sent in a picture of herself with her hands covering her breasts and her name was Jeannette Cates . Germain Wilson from Toronto does a video doing his best impression of Clarence Mason. Then some dude named "Seven" shows a pic of Sunny and its creepy as hell and he's from Nebraska. Then we get Rick Cruz who complains what a gold digger Sunny is. Then we get Randy Blake who seems to actually be a pro wrestler as he's on the indies (there is a small ring behind him with guys working). Blake is from Parts Unknown and actually has a weird look. (Lawler claims he looks like Andre the Giant's love child)

And the selection Vince went with ? Dressing up pro wrestler Jim Heaney (aka Jimmy Shoulders) as the transgender Kloudy. Half the announce time is to tell us how ugly a beast Kloudy is by Sunny and Jerry Lawler. The Body Donna's are facing the Brooklyn Brawler and Jerry Fox . Anyhow the Body Donna's are doing pretty solid in this tag team match as Vince questions Sunny's ethics and why she'd leave her tag team. But as Sunny claims , the Body Donna's are morons and lost the belts. She's watching out for her future because she's 23.

Sunny is so friggen hot and spoiled in this as she proclaims she is gonna bring possible singles wrestlers to manage in and take a shot at getting the IC and World Titles. Lawler pleads to know as he's heard the rumor , but she won't tell. Then she proclaims that two men aren't enough to keep her occupied.

Sunny and Lawler proclaim what a beast Kloudy is as the Body Donna's win. Then she gets angry that people seem to like them since she left them. Kloudy chases poor Sunny around the ring . We get a promo of next weeks RAW as Marty Jannetty will face his former tag team partner ...Shawn Michaels in a non-title match. We get clips of them together and the turn we saw. Then as Vince claims , as Shawn's career exploded further , poor Marty's burned out. Time does not heal all wounds.

Then comes Kloudy who wants to get close to the King. Lawler jumps into the crowd to escape her. Now its time for 6 man tag team action as Vader , British Bulldog and Owen Hart will face Aldo Montoya , Savio Vega and Barry Horowitz. Which you have to feel sorry for Savio Vega who is allied with 2 jobbers in this 6 man tag match. Jim Cornette complains in anger over how the King of the Ring match went for his man British Bulldog.

There isn't much offense for the good guys in this. Aldo delivers a couple nice drop kicks to Owen Hart , but this match is to promote Shawn Michaels , Ahmed Johnson and Ultimate Warrior teaming up on July 21st to face Vader , Bulldog and Owen Hart. In a comical moment Jim Cornette claims that Jose Lothario pulled a switchblade on him last night. Owen locks in the sharpshooter and wins for his team.


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

We go to the same King of the Ring vignette that aired earlier showing some action. Then we see Brian Pillman who is on crutches and acting as insane as he was in WCW come out. Before we see him in ring , we cut to a promo for Warrior University. Where a young man lifts weights as a voice over discusses how some aspire to just be better. Then we see the young man is in a wheel chair. Nice promo here for it.

Outside the ring is Pillman who is interviewed by a very wary Vince McMahon who claims they don't know what he'll say or do. Pillman yells at Vince he better get his g-d damn money because he's reaped the fortune of his signing this past week. Vince again isn't ready for a wrestler to call him the owner and acts like he didn't hear as Brian yells back..."Did it look like I stuttered , McMahon ?!!"

Vince claims Brian hasn't been in ring yet as Pillman gets right in his face and proclaims he doesn't need to get in his ring , because he'll do it at his face. Vince seems a bit flustered as Pillman is the 1st one to seemingly make him crack as he ends the interview suddenly. Vince starts to discuss the match as he brings up what Austin said last night and apologizes for what he said when he won King of the Ring. He then apologizes for what Brian Pillman said.

McMahon discusses how Paul Bearer tried to help his man win last night using the urn , but he hit Undertaker. Jerry Lawler claims he doesn't feel it was an accident. Vince puts over how Stone Cold suffered a cut lip and had 18 stitches put in his lip. Steve tries to jump Undertaker from behind and pays the price soon after as Undertaker is in a very ANGRY mood it appears. During the match Jerry Lawler comes out and starts mocking Paul Bearer and how he used his urn to cost Undertaker the match. Bearer won't answer him.

Austin had a bit of control and he loses it as Undertaker smashes him into the ring post and then the steel steps. Undertaker is dominating the match until he tries the big elbow drop and misses. We go to commercial as the tide starts to turn yet again in this match as we get a promo again for the WWF Attitude Adjustment Tour. During the commercial , Steve Austin tries using a steel chair and took a kick to the guts for that.

Eventually Austin realizes that he needs to chop Undertaker down to size and does a chop block to the man. Then smashes his leg against the ring post. Concentrating his attacks on the leg. During the match Vince discusses that Jake Roberts had bad ribs which didn't help him in King of the Ring. But at 43 he fought on. Its there that Lawler claims that Roberts likely fell off the wagon again.

The fans start a big REST IN PEACE chant for Undertaker as Paul Bearer leads them on. In ring Austin continues to work over the leg as out comes Goldust who strolls over to do commentary. McMahon digs on Goldust over his losing the IC Title to Ahmed and how he will face him at the next In Your House. We go to commercial as Dok Hendrix is advertising the WWF Superstar Line.

Hendrix asks the question ...why would Paul Bearer cost the Undertaker a win at King of the Ring ? Well I'm sure all of us who saved our money kinda knew why. In ring we return as Undertaker moves as Austin tries to smash Undertaker's throat across the ropes and misses. The Undertaker has revived as he monster choke slams Austin and then sets up for the tombstone piledriver.

Goldust leaves the announce booth and throws his gold dust in Taker's eyes , ending the match in DQ. Blinding the Dead Man as Austin works him over in the corner. The anger of Undertaker won't be stopped as he grabs Austin with both hands by the throat and throws him into the turnbuckle. He is laying it on him as Austin gets the hell outta there.

Lawler comes from the announce booth and accuses Paul Bearer of betraying him some more post match. The Undertaker nearly attacks Lawler as Bearer stops him as the show ends.


The Bad - The matches weren't again anything special after the opening match or the main event (until it became...a DQ). We sadly again got some tag team squash matches (the 6 man as well). So its not like wrestling wise there was a lot here.

The worst idea was again how the WWF was marketing things towards characters. Goldust was an evil heel villain and playing up being bisexual. So of course he became a disturbed heel who scared other wrestlers in mind games , because he was "gay". This had been going on for months since his debut. Then we get introduced to a transgender character named "Kloudy" and half the announce time is spent by Lawler and Sunny to proclaim what a horrible looking beat she is. This is why the WWF/E hasn't had the best record with this stuff.


OVERALL : ** Outta 5. The best moment is the opening match , some of the main event and Brian Pillman. Vince clearly didn't expect Pillman to say some things as he did. Because then guys were allowed to cut their own promos in a sense. Anyhow in Pillman's case years later on WWE Network (ECW Exposed) Paul Heyman told Joey Styles that Brian Pillman loved ECW and was gonna put over Shane Douglas at a PPV. Well Brian gets in a car wreck and fucks his ankle up and it ends that. Brian had already signed with WWF and was due to start soon so the angle had to be changed. Either way....not much of a RAW to care about.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - July 1st , 1996



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Monday Night RAW begins with yet another no intro as were gonna get Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty right off the bat. Shawn has the Kliq Cam in hand as he records his entrance to the ring. We see that Jose Lothario is with him as his mentor. With Jannetty is Leif Cassidy. At ringside with the New Rockers is Jim Cornette as well. This is a non-title match and Shawn struts and poses down in ring before it starts.

I do feel for Marty who really never became more than a Rocker sadly. Plus as you can tell , Shawn put on some muscle mass since his Rocker days. Both men nearly equal each other. McMahon pretty much hints that Jannetty isn't as smart as Michaels to ascend further (and its likely due to his outta the ring issues). We get some great reversals and Jannetty grows frustrated as he tries for a big clothesline as Shawn ducks it.

Jannetty finally gets the best of Shawn as he does some arm drags and slugs him down. Then a minute later Shawn equals back in the same spot and drop kicks him outta the ring. Shawn does some Jannetty like celebrating over it. Back in ring Shawn soon takes over on Marty as they have some great chemistry in ring. In a cool spot Leif pulls Marty away from Shawn , outta the ring to avoid a super kick finisher. This has Michaels lose his concentration on Jannetty , as he does a baseball slide outta the ring into Leif Cassidy.

Marty soon takes control and gets Shawn from behind. The fans aren't happy as Jannetty taunts Michaels and them over this. Eventually Shawn rallies back from a rest hold by his fans. But gets cut off by Jannetty quick again and locked into another rest hold. In another spot as Shawn rallies , he charges shoulder 1st into a turnbuckle and misses. Then seconds later Jannetty eats the turnbuckle. Shawn runs over and monkey flips him as Marty lands on his feet and clotheslines him down.

Shawn rallies yet again and face plants Marty and then sets his sequence up. He nails the flying forearm and does the body slam. But Shawn doesn't go for the super kick yet as the two men nearly get near pins in a stunning set of reversals and moves. This match has been damn good. Jannetty nails the rocker dropper finisher he does and then climbs the top rope.

Then another set of reversals happen and Shawn finally nails a pile driver onto Marty. Then he climbs the top rope and drops the elbow from the sky. Its time for it....as he signals the super kick. The fans clap along as Shawn readies....and nails Marty. The match ends and its a hell of an opening match and finish. After the match Leif Cassidy jumps into the ring and starts beating on Shawn. Then Shawn reverses outta the turn buckle and nails Cassidy with a super kick.

Cornette tries to nail Shawn Michaels with his tennis racket as Shawn turns and catches him. He goes to leave and eats a fist from Jose Lothario. Then Shawn goes into his celebration pose down in ring with the WWF World title.

In ring on WWF Superstars we see Sunny in ring with Jim Ross and Phineas. She pours her heart out on how sorry she is to him and she wants to know from him how he feels and more. He finally reveals he loves her and she tells him to pucker up. The Smokin Gunns have no clue what is going on as she slaps him across the face. It breaks poor Phineas heart as the Smokin Gunns outside the ring laugh over it as Sunny calls him a complete moron and lets him have it. Soon both Gunns jump poor Phineas.

Hillbilly Jim and Henry Godwinn make the save as they beat down both brothers , leaving poor Sunny alone to be slopped. As she is cornered and left alone. Phineas can't slop her at first as she laughs and taunts him with blowing a kiss. Its then we see Phineas get angry and slops her with the bucket. She is drenched as she screams. Paying the price for what she did.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts is out to do commentary as he will be facing Mankind at the next In Your House PPV in 3 weeks. We get clips of shows that the WWF had been running from Cleveland (Summerslam will be at) where tickets went on sale to Pittsburgh. Duke Droese is out to work against the deranged Mankind as Jerry Lawler rips on him for being an alcoholic and more. Asking if he's drinking outta a brown paper bag there and how many Mankinds does he see.

In watching Mankind dismantle Duke , Jake points out how unorthodox he is as a performer and what he does out there. Lawler continues to mock Jake and more over his things. Then we see Droese deliver a big spine buster , but Mankind manages to get up quick. Duke gets in some control of Mankind and during the match locks on a bear hug in the middle of the ring. Its then Mankind manages to shove his fingers into his mouth for the mandible claw.

Post match Lawler and Roberts get into it and The King slaps Jake twice , then gets dragged over the announce table and choked out by Lawler. Scaring poor Lawler as he begs for help. Then Mankind saves Lawler by doing the mandible claw. Referees manage to get Mankind away from Roberts as they help him up. All while the King proclaims Jake is leaving for Last Call and more.

On the WWF Superstar Line , Jim Ross asks for $1.49 a minute to tell us why Ultimate Warrior is in the WWF doghouse right now. Back from commercial we see from Mankind's view as he left the ring and choked out Jake Roberts with that mandible claw. But now we see Goldust come out to the ring. Replays of last week are shown where he tossed that gold dust into Undertaker's face. Goldust will face Undertaker at the next PPV.

END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Steve Austin is doing commentary and will face Marc Mero at the next PPV as well in a rematch of the King of the Ring finals. Mero is facing Goldust tonight and Austin proclaims ..."I beat his ass last time and I'll do it again..." Then Austin claims Marc Mero is the biggest joke in wrestling as Mero comes out. Stone Cold proclaims he should get in that ring right now and get Mero and then threatens Vince he'll take him out right now if he continues to cut him off.

As the match begins its a fast paced style as Mero is in control as Goldust takes time off to rest. Austin puts over how Jake Roberts was great in his day. That he's an old timer now and back in his day as a kid he idolized him. This is his WWF now. The fast pace continues as soon Goldust eats a drop kick from Mero after some arm drags.

Back from commercial Mero & Goldust brawl outside the ring and once in ring Goldust takes control of the match and the pace suddenly slows. McMahon brings up that Steve Austin was the 1st one to defeat Marc Mero since his debut in the WWF. During this match Austin points out he beat everyone nearly in the WWF at King of the Ring except Shawn Michaels and British Bulldog since they weren't in it. Then as McMahon brags up Mero , Austin takes offense ..."You keep braggin him like a million bucks while ole Stone Cold is beside you , I'm gonna reach over and smack you across the face McMahon !"

Goldust stays in control of the match as we go to commercial and get another WWF Attitude Adjustment tour deal. After commercial Mero is in control and works over the shoulder. But misses a big elbow drop. Then Goldust beats and smacks around Mero to taunt him. He locks in a chin hold and in a nice show of strength , Mero stands with Goldust on his shoulders and drops back. Later in the match Mero delivers a very big power slam and we nearly get a pin.

Outside the ring as Sable cheers her man on , Marlena walks over and eyes Sable. She is checking her out and slowly eases towards her. All while she slowly tries to ignore her and she then corners her and blows cigar smoke in her face. This has Marc Mero look over distracting him. Goldust nails the curtain call finisher for the pin as Austin claims that unless he gets his mind off looking at Sable he's gonna lose every time.


The Bad - This weeks RAW had some very solid matches in the opening and main event spots. I still question why Vince put Shawn Michaels/Marty Jannetty on first since its his WWF World champion working a non-title match. But I suspect he did this to lure viewers from Nitro as that show was now 2 hours and putting a major hurting on his company.

The final two matches had more happen outside the ring as Jake Roberts nearly choked the King out on the announce table in a spot. While Steve Austin stole the show on commentary. His character had now been fully launched and he was a no nonsense Texas redneck as we saw.

Why was the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF doghouse ? Well given that Vince was taping weeks of RAW's , he pretty much had to wait a week or two to explain what would change at the next PPV. The supposed 6 man tag match of Shawn Michaels/Ahmed Johnson/Ultimate Warrior against Vader/British Bulldog/Owen Hart had to be changed due to Warrior being fired from the company. There are 2 things that each side claims.

1) The WWF claimed Warrior no showed house shows and it made them fire him after his excuse failed. Warrior claims his father had died and he wanted to spend time with him. Well as Vince claims in the Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD , Hellwig was never close to his dad in 10 years and he found this excuse to be very bad. So the WWF fired him.

2.) Jim Hellwig claims that the WWF started selling merch of the Warrior and he didn't get his agreed upon number for it. So he pretty much terminated his deal with the WWF and left.

Either way the Warrior was on his way outta the company....


OVERALL : **** Outta 5. Shawn Michaels kicked off a pretty good RAW as we saw. His match with Jannetty was pretty damn solid and a hard one to top. Both men knew what they could do in ring and what worked. In the end RAW had a fun show with good angles for the PPV. Its just a change was coming to the main event scene and well....we'd see it coming soon.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - July 8th , 1996



Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

Gorilla Monsoon opens the WWF RAW by giving an indefinite suspension to the Ultimate Warrior for no showing cards the last week or two. Monsoon claims the Warrior needs to put up a special appearance bond to insure the WWF he will show up at cards and they will lift the suspension. Tonight the Warrior will compete on RAW against Owen Hart. As Monsoon claims no one wrestler is above answering to the loyal WWF fans. (This RAW was filmed weeks earlier...hence where Warrior was showing up).

Owen Hart waits on the Ultimate Warrior as he charges to the ring insane. McMahon wonders if this is the last time they see the Warrior compete in the WWF. Lawler claims that the little Warriors need to get a camera and take pics , because this will be his last appearance. The Warrior sign is lit as Jim Cornette tries to coach his guy up.

McMahon runs down the card for RAW as the Godwinns will face British Bulldog/Vader tonight. Owen tries to jump Warrior and after some running the ropes , the Warrior throws Owen like a football over the top rope to the floor ! McMahon goes to Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson who are standing by to discuss the new partner they got. Both men show off the gold they carry. Shawn claims the new partner they have will be arriving shortly for RAW.

The Ultimate Warrior is in full control as Owen again gets knocked outta the ring. Lawler claims no matter how much they beg him , he won't be their partner. Back in ring , Owen is suffering a beating from crossing the Warrior as he's picked up and dropped onto his face. Then in a Bret like spot , Owen gets thrown hard into the turnbuckle sternum 1st !

Minutes later Owen takes control with a spin kick and in a funny spot he clotheslines Warrior once , the guy gets up shaking his arms and Owen nails him with another clothes. The Warrior repeats this and Owen again nails him finally in a 3rd spot where he seems to be wore down enough to be beaten on. The Warrior tries to rally back and nail his big splash , but the King of Hearts cuts him off.

Then we see Owen start to mock the Warrior (which is never wise). Cornette even gets involved and takes a cheap shot or two during this. The fans are chanting for the Warrior to make the come back and then we see Owen nail an enziguri in a cool spot. Owen then tries to lock in Bret's finisher , the sharpshooter. But the Warrior throws him with his legs. Outta the back comes the British Bulldog.

The Ultimate Warrior has regained his power. He starts shaking and doing his arms. The Warrior nails a running shoulder block and signals the end as Bulldog blows the spot by being so slow into the ring. Because Warrior has turned and watched him climb in and throws him outta the ring. Vader arrives and the Warrior is beating on all 3 until the numbers game gets him.

After Bulldogs finisher , Owen is set up to come off the top rope as referees and security try and stop this. Of course this fails as Vader threatens them. Then after the hard cast from the top rope , we see Vader perform a Vader Bomb and all 3 kick and beat on Warrior. After the commercial we see that referees had to help the Ultimate Warrior to the back as Jerry Lawler laughs and says ..."Good-Bye Warrior...."

Now we return to WWF Studios where Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson are together and its time to reveal who the tag team partner is. Shawn claims he's had his differences with this guy he's picked. But he's had differences with a lotta guys. But we will see him later tonight.

We return to the ring where Brian Pillman is gonna use his crutch and lay out Savio Vega until J.J Dillion comes from the back and stops him. Dillion demands he leave and points for him to go backstage. Lawler claims Vega ran over Pillman clearly. McMahon claims that Brian Pillman is a walking , ticking time bomb. We get clips of WWF Superstars where Savio Vega and Justin Bradshaw brawled. This is a rematch of that one.

On the latest WWF Magazine , we see Sable and Marc Mero and how both are clawing their way to the top of the company. In ring Bradshaw tries to play a bully but Savio ain't having that shit and smacks him. Taking control of the match to start. In a cool spot Savio does a spin kick against Bradshaw in the corner , and flies over the top rope and lands on his feet.

The referee gets after Bradshaw as him and Vega trade punches , during this Mantell distracts Savio to allow the big Texan to take control. Bradshaw stays in control as Vega rallies back. During this McMahon and Lawler debate who will be Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson's partner at the PPV on July 21st. A new wrestler debuted called WHO. (Basically Vince wanted a wrestler so him and Lawler could do a dumb routine from 40 years ago comedy wise)

Savio's rally is short lived as Bradshaw takes control again and slows the pace down and tries ...a sleeper. Vince believes that it could be Yokozuna and they joke around. Because the match is so boring and Bradshaw is such a boring worker , the only bright spot is Savio's rallying back. Then we get Mr. Perfect who gets the call from Jerry Lawler as he too is so bored with this match.


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

After a WWF Attitude Adjustment tour Lawler seems to have lost Curt Henning over the phone. Even the phone doesn't wanna be a part of this boring match. Vega reverses an attempted pile driver as he starts again to rally back. The fans barely seem to care for this match and aren't even responding much to Vega's rallies anymore. Zeb takes a backhand chop from Savio for jumping on the apron. In a comical finish , Bradshaw throws Vega into the ropes and Mantell trips him as Bradshaw goes for the big lariat clothesline. And misses completely. This allows Vega to hit his running spin kick and pin Bradshaw.

Post match Zeb gets into the ring ready to jump Savio as he cuts him off. This allows Bradshaw to recover and nail the lariat from behind. Bradshaw takes the cowbell on his rope and just lays out Savio Vega. Then we see Savio get branded.

We cut back to Shawn and Ahmed who claim they just got off the car phone with the guy and he's coming. And they will bring him out soon as he arrives. Next week Ahmed and Shawn put their titles on the line in singles matches . HBK will face Billy Gunn while Ahmed Johnson will face Bart Gunn. After this Vince airs a special tailgate party that the WWF aired for fans at the Meadowlands Arena outside. WWF Superstars signed autographs and more for thousands of people. Then we get the weekend shows where we see Shawn Michaels and others at those same type of things.

Hillbilly Jim brings out the Godwinns as they will face British Bulldog and Vader in the main event. Jim Cornette gets on commentary (yes this was getting old folks). Cornette claims that its been a banner day for Camp Cornette with how they took out Warrior. Bulldog starts off struggling against big Henry Godwinn until Vader delivers a sneak low blow when the referee was distracted.

In a cool spot Henry Godwinn reverses a suplex against Vader , which took a lot outta him. Cornette spends time to tell us how Warrior no showed events because he knew he was gonna be beaten by his men. Phineas tags in and just seems to be humbling Vader with ease as Cornette asks pleading , "Where is Sunny at when you need her ?"

Vader finally ends this come back as Bulldog is tagged in and Phineas has a flurry of offense before he gets cut off as the two big heels stay in control. Cornette proclaims how Camp Cornette is on a roll right now and that he got rid of one idiot in Warrior so no one wants to be their partner. Big Henry Godwinn is tagged in and is working over Vader til he tries a Stinger type splash into the corner and misses by a mile.

Henry tries to rally back but is cut off quick by the Bulldog. Cornette grows frustrated by the fact that Vader can't seem to put away Henry Godwinn. So he removes the head set to leave commentary , then runs back to instruct his men. Then we see Vader deliver the Vader bomb and gets a near pin. Then Bulldog tries to put away the hog farmer but grows frustrated he can't after a near pin.

In a comical spot Vader delivers 2 straight smashes into the turnbuckle into Henry Godwinn. Then on the 3rd one , Godwinn catches him and power slams him as Cornette goes insane. He goes from commentary and tries to cheer his men on. Then as the match breaks down with all 4 as Cornette is freaking out insane , we see Vader clothesline Phineas from behind as Bulldog delivers his finisher for the win.

McMahon cuts to Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson who will reveal the surprise partner. Both claim they are gonna bring him in as he's out in the parking lot. Jim Ross advertises the WWF Superstar line with one insane story being the alleged love triangle with Marlena , Sable and Goldust. And somehow Mankind fits into this as some disturbed horrible Penthouse letters fantasy.

Backstage we get Jim Cornette who waits on the news of who will be the surprise partner. He claims they don't have no one. Its clear this was recorded different times. With Shawn and Ahmed they reveal the partner is.....PSYCHO SID ! Cornette's face does a holy fuck. "For you Camp Cornette....ITS NOT GOOD NEWS !!.....I can hear you screaming out for help , but HA HA HA HA ....THERE IS NO ONE THERE HA HA HA !!"

Cornette freaks out as the show ends.

The Bad - Beyond a decent Main Event tag match , this show was pretty bad on matches and basically was Vince and the WWF having to record new material for this RAW due to Ultimate Warrior's suspension. Which is so damn comical as the WWF had Warrior un-suspended for 1 day so he could face Owen Hart as they claim. The show was redone to fit that.

It wouldn't shock me if Vince had himself , Lawler and Cornette record new audio commentary for this RAW as well since again , this was recorded a couple weeks earlier and they had to redo things.


OVERALL : *** Outta 5. Built around a surprise tag team partner , the WWF kept people guessing the whole show. At the end Shawn reveals who the partner is and its Sid Vicious turning face. This sadly was Ultimate Warrior's last WWF match and its such a shame his in ring career there ended like this.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - July 15th , 1996




Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler and Vince McMahon

This RAW begins as we see a clip from earlier tonight where Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson arrived as Camp Cornette was there to start an argument as the referees and security get between that. However right after the RAW intro in ring is Bart Gunn with Sunny. She is sparkling like a diamond so happy as Lawler claims that Sunny could walk away tonight with all the gold !

Ahmed Johnson comes out as Vince puts over how Ahmed has a lot going on. Will Goldust possibly get involved ? Will Billy Gunn ? Or what about Camp Cornette ? Sunny gets a very nice camera angle and we see her claim that tonight she will have the IC title and the World Title. Lawler gets to get kiss her hand and as Vince extends to shake her hand , she pulls it away laughing.

Both men are testing each other out and start the match arm dragging each other. Bart however can't seem to answer Ahmed's strength as he gets arm dragged twice and then he suddenly delivers a clothesline outta nowhere as he starts in control. Bart starts working over Ahmed's arm. He even rams it into the ring post in this match. Vince brings up Shawn Michaels who as we see in a video split screen is watching this match backstage and gonna watch his partners back. Psycho Sid however isn't there as McMahon claims.

Bart stays on the arm and even as a heel uses Sunny for leverage in a spot. She's a special hot devious woman. Then she does it again for leverage and is finally caught by the referee. Ahmed starts to rally back , but is still feeling the effects of his arm being worked over. Then in a spot he throws Bart into the turnbuckle , charges and rams his injured arm into the ring post as the Smokin Gunn moves !

Sunny cheers her man on calling Ahmed a loser as he nearly gets pinned by Bart. McMahon himself brings up Warrior's situation and claims that he missed shows in 3 cities and once he puts up the performance bond , he can return from suspension. No one man is bigger than the WWF as he claims.

In ring Bart has been working over Ahmed and delivers a hard DDT to him. He nearly gets the pin , then does a near off the top rope type bulldog to Johnson. Then as he tries a running bulldog on Ahmed , he gets caught and thrown onto the top rope crotched. Then Ahmed does a power tackle and throws him and Bart over the top rope.

Back in ring Ahmed delivers the IMPACT SPINBUSTER ! Then makes the symbol its OVER. He delivers the pearl river plunge as Sunny's dream of managing an IC champion goes up in smoke. We get replays of Ahmed taking out Bart , then we go backstage to Shawn Michaels who cuts a promo about Psycho Sid joining them at the PPV soon. Then we get a discussion about having to always watch his back whenever he defends his WWF World title. He warns Cornette to not bring a knife to a gun fight with them at the PPV.

Coming to the ring is Marc Mero with Sable. As they walk , out comes the movie usher who is usually seen with Goldust and Marlena. In his hand is a gift for Sable . She throws it away and walks on with Mero. We go to commercial where Jim Ross advertises the WWF Superstar line 1-900 . And showing how the WWF had little actual "news" at times...Jim Ross wants people to pay $1.49 a minute to learn how Jim Cornette plans to destroy Shawn Michaels confidence before the In Your House PPV.

Facing Marc Mero is the famous ...ok infamous idea of T.L Hopper. The wrestling plumber. I'm shocked Vince didn't have a wrestling mail man since he had a plumber , dentist , and garbage man. Anyhow T.L Hopper is in fact Tony Anthony who had actually as the Dirty White Boy moniker had a decent run in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. In this we get a clip of him working on a toilet as he scratches his ass with his handkerchief and blows his nose. How this character failed amazes me.

Anyhow in a match on WWF Superstars against Duke "The Dumpster" Droese he wins as Lawler jokingly called it a Home Improvement match. Hopper has Betsy as we learn he calls his plunger Betsy and after winning rubs it in peoples faces. Marc Mero starts off in control of T.L Hopper and soon he's knocked outta the ring.

Backstage on a split camera is Jim Cornette who has Camp Cornette in a happy mood as they all do the cool put their hands together to show they are UNITED as a group. Cornette can't hear as Vince asks for him. T.L. gets some control as a heel in this as McMahon tells us once the audio problems end , they will go backstage again to him. The fans are so not into T.L Hopper , his yelling out at them to try and get heel heat is non-existent. A pin could drop.

Then we go to Stone Cold Steve Austin , who is backstage. Before he can speak , Vince cuts to commercial and when we return ...the WWF seems to forget about talking to Austin. A couple minutes later , we go backstage to Stone Cold who has a PPV meeting ahead with Marc Mero. Steve Austin don't try to be a pretty boy or some hot shot ! Mero's gonna pay for what he did to ole Stone Cold's lip and that's the BOTTOM LINE ! Austin even tells someone backstage to shut up !

The fans get so bored as this match goes on they start a Sable chant. Hopper yells out to the King and claims he's going for some type of finisher maybe , and its a simple splash ...he misses. Mero takes over control and goes complete Wildman ! Hopper throws Mero into the ropes as Mero leap frogs , turns him and delivers the KNOCK OUT punch for the win.

Backstage we see Cornette claim that Camp Cornette won't get involved Shawn or Ahmed's match. That they started things off getting the 1st shot in before In Your House : International Incident , by getting rid of Warrior. Then they got the next shot in at bringing in Psycho Sid ! Now its their turn and they will wait til the PPV. Cornette brags up how Vader has a clean win over Shawn , how Bulldog beat him for the WWF World title but never was able to become champion and how Owen Hart nearly ended his career !

After this Vince airs a promo video (that was supposed to air last week but time constraints of reshooting them) Its a masterpiece video of the spirit of the Undertaker and we get clips of him putting down various WWF superstars. Then we see the attack by Mankind spliced in as we get more clips of Undertaker always returning to conquer his foes at some point. With the Mankind clips sprinkled in , you know its a matter of time before the Dead Man gets his vengeance against the deranged Mankind as this shows us. He always does.

END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

McMahon promotes the Undertaker/Goldust match at International Incident . Sunny brings out Billy Gunn for this main event. Then after a WWF Attitude Adjustment tour promo , Shawn Michaels makes his entrance for this main event. Sunny sits on the ring turnbuckle and rubs her mans arms , and its pretty hot. I'd rather watch that , than Shawn's usual striptease segment.

Vince airs a clip of Michaels facing a lot of children at the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation tennis charity. He signs autographs and the children all playfully pelt him with tennis balls in a nice spot. In ring Billy is starting out ahead on Shawn as it seems to frustrate him a little. Ahmed Johnson talks on the split screen as he's backstage as he claims Shawn watched his back , and he will watch his.

In ring Shawn is in full swagger mode as he knocks Billy out and comically as Sunny gets on the apron and bad mouths him , he reaches and kisses her once. She goes to slap him and misses as he gets another big kiss from her. Eventaully back in ring Billy Gunn nails a rocker dropper on Michaels to get the heel advantage in this.

Then a couple minutes later , Shawn comically crotches Billy against the ring post. He has the advantage until Sunny distracts him as he climbs the top rope and is caught by Billy Gunn. During the commercial Billy beats on Shawn and after the break stays on him. Sunny is so happy and celebrates with Lawler as he claims she has this. That they will celebrate at the party.

Shawn tries to rally back as Billy nails a big clothesline on him. Backstage we see a clip of Vader , British Bulldog and Owen Hart leaving. Then in ring Shawn finds his 2nd wind and seems ready as he nails the flying arm handle. He's in full control and nails the elbow from the sky. Shawn looks at the crowd and makes the symbol....its coming. He warms up the band and nails sweet chin music ! Sunny watches her dreams go in smoke completely. Post match Shawn tosses Billy Gunn as he poses in ring with the WWF World title.

Replays of that and seeing a very sad Sunny as Shawn walks to the back for an interview with Ahmed. Then outta nowhere Cornette arrives and throws coffee in Michaels face ! The good guys chase after him as its a trap as he's lured them outside. As the heels look ready to dismantle the good guys suddenly outta nowhere Psycho Sid nearly runs everyone over in his car ! He pulls up and jumps out as Cornette and his group get the hell outta there !

The Bad - Ahmed may have been a dominant strong man and built like a tank. But his promos weren't that good and its why he was a man of few words and his promos wasn't long. Before Goldberg would arrive on the scene , the WWF had that with Ahmed and his mic promos.

T.L. Hopper summed up a 2-3 year stretch where Vince was throwing ANYTHING at the wall to see what would stick. He would do countless gimmicks and actually have some talented guys do some insane shit. Like with Tony Anthony who had been a very decent pro and had a nice run in SMW. Then he goes to New York and becomes an idiot plumber. So you can see why Vince had started losing in 1996 and it would get worse for him.

Plus the entire match was just ...boring. I mean the fans didn't give a shit and a pin could have dropped in the arena. That is how bad it was.


OVERALL : **1/2 Outta 5. The opening match was just ok and the main event sadly should have been longer. The company could have cut T.L. Hopper's match against Mero to be honest. The only saving grace is Austin drops the 1st from what I can see promo where at the end he delivers his BOTTOM LINE . Also Sid should never drive a car...ever.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - July 22nd , 1996




Your Hosts - Jerry Lawler & Vince McMahon

RAW opens pretty quick and were LIVE at the Key Arena folks. This is a live show right after the PPV and we start kick off with the Smokin Gunns coming out to defend the WWF World Tag Team titles tonight. Coming out with a birthday cake is Sunny who taunts its for Shawn Michaels. In some weird irony , its also the same birthday of Bob Dole and Fabulous Moolah.

Shawn comes out dancing happy , even after suffering a loss at the hands of Vader last night. He walks over to Sunny who has the cake and the two are jumped by Bart and Billy Gunn. Shawn super kicks Billy in quick asap order , knocking him out before the match even begins. So he comically goes outside and puts some icing on Sunny's nose in a very (wink , wink) moment. She gets mad and decides to get even by throwing the cake on Shawn , who turns and she stops. Ahmed takes the cake and throws it into her face.

Before he rolls into the ring Shawn takes a good lick off her face as poor Sunny is covered as she cries. Then as she's there he rolls back out and takes another lick of the cake. Shawn celebrates with cake on his face since its his birthday. Billy Gunn is shown in replay getting ..KNOCKED THE F---K OUT by Shawn with a super kick. So they have to reschedule a match in its place and its ...the debut of The Goon.

The Goon is yet another insane gimmick by Vince. This one is a hockey player who was so evil , he was kicked outta every league he played in for hurting guys. He's Bill Irwin , a long time WCCW wrestler who spent years in Texas. At this stage Irwin is 42 and at the end of a 17 year career essentially. The Goon has a sports anthem to pump up the crowd. Meanwhile backstage Gorilla Monsoon informs us all that the WWF World tag team match will happen later tonight or the Smokin Gunns will be forced to vacate the belts.

The Goon is facing Marc Mero with Sable. In comedy's sake I actually dig the Goon who throws down his gloves like during a hockey game and charges to fight Mero , jumping him from behind. During this match out comes Stone Cold Steve Austin who has the black vest now and claims he opened up a can of whup ass on Mero ! McMahon brings up facing Undertaker as Austin runs down facing Ahmed Johnson , Shawn Michaels and finally Bret Hart. Its there Austin claims he's the excellence of execution.

On the phone as The Goon controls this match as a heel , Jake Roberts calls in and claims that after his injury he will. Lawler claims he has Jake's best partner and shows a bottle of Jim Beam. Mero rallies back with a drop kick and nearly pins the Wildman with a weird roll up pin. Austin threatens to beat McMahon up as this match continues and the Goon gets control again. Its there Stone Cold brings up Lex Luger , "You once painted up a school bus in red , white and blue so a guy could go across the nation and kiss babies. Why don't ya paint up a school bus for me and I can go across the country kicking everyone's ass !"

McMahon claims he should start with Undertaker 1st and Austin drops his catch phrase ..."I'm gonna beat the Undertaker's ass ..and that's the bottom line cause...STONE COLD SAYS SO !" In this Mero rallies at times and The Goon cuts him off. In a blown spot that makes fans boo , Mero tries a head scissors in a reversal on The Goon and Irwin can't sell it well. Then seconds later outside the ring Mero is laid against the ring post as he's supposed to move as Irwin charges. Instead ...its where the cake pieces are and Irwin falls on his ass and slides into the post comically.

Mero ends the match with his latest finisher...the 1-2 punch. Backstage we go to the WWF World and IC Champion. Shawn is wished a happy birthday by Vince McMahon and he thanks Sunny for the cakes and action there. He claims that the cowboys are gonna get the action since their girl can't get none. Ahmed doesn't cut a promo and just sticks his tongue out.

We get a Summerslam 1996 promo where 50 people can win a sweepstakes and get tickets. In the crowd is Bob Backlund who is campaigning for the Presidency. In ring is a newcomer named ...Freddie Joe Floyd who is actually....Tracy Smothers. As Floyd he's facing the deranged Mankind. Anyhow we go to earlier today where Clarence Mason is having a hearing with Gorilla Monsoon to get his newest client his job back with the WWF. All we can see is its a tall man with his back to the camera.

Mason argues his client wasn't convicted of a crime and should get his job back to Monsoon. McMahon brings up clips of last nights PPV where Undertaker had Goldust defeated. Then outta nowhere Mankind dragged him under the ring. Mankind loses him under the ring as Taker returns and brawls with Mankind into the boiler room under the arena. Due to that Monsoon makes a Boiler Room match at Summerslam.

Floyd starts off in control but soon can't handle the unpredictable Mankind who starts brawling and punching him down. He then delivers his running knee into the face in the corner. Floyd battles back and delivers some punches until Mankind delivers a big clothesline and rattles him. Mankind stacks him up in the tree of woe in the corner and takes a running face dive towards his head , and misses.

Tracy Smothers then busts out some karate chops and a wild back kick to Mankind. He delivers a flying back elbow off the top rope as well nearly getting a pin. Then he tries a fun side roll up pin. But once he tries to climb the top rope , he's caught by Mankind and crotched onto the ropes as he tries to fight it off. Then he locks it in as he's on the ground for the win.

McMahon promotes the shows next week as Austin vs Undertaker and Vader vs Marc Mero . Then we will also get Psycho Sid vs Justin Bradshaw. Comically as Mankind walks up the ramp , he passes Brian Pillman as he takes a glance at him. Its the convergence in a silly way of 3 insane guys ...Sid in the promo for next week , Pillman walking out and Mankind on his way back that is pretty cool.

Pillman has a walking boot and close to returning it seems. He has one crutch and threatens to hit someone with it. He joins the announce crew for commentary as in ring Barry Horowitz's theme plays. Pillman claims he could say the seven words your not supposed to say on TV. And nearly utters the F word as he taunts Vince he'll be in a lotta trouble.

Goldust comes out with Marlena as he seems to have dropped some of the mind game actions . He will be facing Marc Mero at Summerslam who is backstage as he cuts a promo on facing Vader. Mero claims he's ready for some jungle warfare against Vader next week and then quotes some of a Jim Croce song about tuggin on Superman's cape and spittin in the wind. You don't mess around with his Sable and he's sick. Pillman claims that Sable's gonna be a part of Goldust's harem and laughs.


END OF PART #1