WWF Monday Night RAW Review thread

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They will have the 1st ever BURIED ALIVE MATCH as the winner buries the loser alive. Jim Ross claims a real cemetery will be created for this match at the arena. Backstage Dok Hendrix wants to talk to Razor Ramon or Diesel hopefully as he stands by the locker room. All we see is the back of Razor's head as he slams the door back as Jim Ross claims he's in over his head. That is his interview , and his alone to do !

After the SLAM OF THE WEEK (by Playstation) which is Shawn Michaels and Mankind crashing through the announce table . we return to show. Vince plugs the tag team match . Steve Austin is on commentary as Austin tells Kelly to SHUT UP. Due to censors , he can't use the word he plans to say about Bret Hart. If his family was smart , they would have used safe sex to not have Bret Hart. He's gonna get a reaction from Bret one way or another...if he's gotta go beat up his old man...he'll do it !

Hunter Hearst Helmsley is out with another beautiful valet. He is facing The Stalker. Austin hates seeing all these people , these idiots with signs supporting Steve Austin. That all they can do is sit on their asses and wave their little signs around ! Barry starts off with a nice arm drag in early control of the match. Austin threatens to stomp Kevin Kelly good if he cuts him off again as they do commentary.

Austin keeps taunting Bret , that its personal now. He wants to see how good he's supposed to be. During this match out comes Mr. Perfect slowly. During the match Helmsley starts to have some control as fans chant a Mr. Perfect chant and its distracts Hunter. Dok Hendrix discusses Diesel and Razor and why they attacked Savio Vega on the WWF Superstar line.

In ring Barry delivers a very slow DDT earlier. Now Hunter is back in control as he works against the Stalker. Jim Ross will demand this match end soon , because he doesn't wanna run outta time to interview Diesel and Razor. Comically Austin jokes , what the hell is up with Barry Windham ? If he knows who he is as does everyone , why is he wearing goofy makeup ? Is he now ugly ?

Stalker remains in control as he works Hunter over. He then delivers a suplex and it wears him out it seems. Then Perfect has taken another lady as Hunter sees this as he tries to climb outta the ring from the corner. This allows Barry to nail the super plex for the pin. In ring Jim Ross runs into the ring so excited. He starts to pump the crowd as backstage we go see Mankind and Paul Bearer in a grave yard. Bearer isn't happy that Undertaker cost Mankind the WWF World title and he was in his casket !

Mankind isn't happy , he claims Undertaker took away something that was mine ! You took his destiny . For you taking away something that was MINE !! I'M GONNA TAKE AWAY YOUR LAST BREATH !! YESSS..... Jim Ross again goes to discuss Razor and Diesel in ring and about to reveal something to fans when suddenly Kelly claims they have 1 last commercial break as Ross isn't happy.

Back from commercial break Jim Ross will detail something personal for a long while. Many will question his loyalty to the WWF. But he only has loyalty to himself , good ole J.R. That he came there to be the primary play by play man for the leader in sports entertainment ! He isn't lying when he proclaims , I'm the best PLAY BY PLAY man in the entire industry right now (well Joey Styles ranked pretty damn close at this stage lol). The fans pop huge for that.

Ross claims that from the very 1st day he came into the WWF he was put into crap like wearing a toga at Wrestlemania 9. Then he reveals why he disappeared and he reveals that Vince McMahon's ego had him removed. That in 1994 in February , he suffered Bells Palsy and he shows how he can't close his one eye. So Vince fired him as fans boo Vince for this. Then he claims he was brought back and fired again , then rehired for 50 cents on the dollar . That if you think that all the guys leaving is an accident or the ones he brought in ? Well he's been busy folks as fans pop for him.

So he brings up how he's bringing back one of the favorites and its Razor Ramon.....except....its....WTF ? Its not Razor Ramon as even Lawler and Kelly say its not the original. Ross asks how Vince McMahon likes this ? How the WWF likes Razor as the guy goes to speak and is attacked by Savio Vega. The show ends here.


The Bad - Whoooee boy did the WWF have some mighty huge fail on this RAW. The IC Tournament finals start off RAW to try and hook fans to stay tuned as the company was promising Diesel and Razor Ramon. Of course over on Nitro , Bischoff done game planned ahead if you read my Nitro review. From the start of the 2nd hour he had both Scott Hall and Kevin Nash on camera basically to show viewers...they weren't leaving.

Barry Windham was sadly getting old and it showed in this "Stalker" persona which Steve Austin ripped big time. Plus he no longer was the guy at his peak in Crockett who could go so great in ring. Here he was slower and more outta ring shape.

This started the pretty short lived Jim Ross heel turn. As you can tell fans popped huge for J.R and they loved the guy and felt for him. I'm sure that Vince McMahon felt the fans would side instantly with the WWF , but as we saw they didn't. Then we got the ultimate in fail from Vince and showed how desperate he was getting. FAKE RAZOR ...FAKE DIESEL. It was so bad the crowd turned quick and I'm sure many of those alienated by this turned it to WCW.

OVERALL : *** Outta 5. The Opening match was ok and we got some nice moment for Marc Mero. This RAW will be known for the heel turn of Jim Ross and the debuts of Fake Razor Ramon and Diesel. It also will briefly be known for the 1st ECW Invasion that began in 1996. As the WWF was searching for anything to turn the tide of the company around. They would discover it soon , just not yet.

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WWF Monday Night RAW - September 30th , 1996



Your Hosts - Jim Ross , Kevin Kelly & Jerry Lawler

We get a replay of Jim Ross words from last week in his promo. How he has no loyalty to the World Wrestling Federation. He's been busy as he proclaims we see fake Razor Ramon. Kevin Kelly claims J.R. has tore apart the fabric of the WWF and tonight we will see Razor Ramon vs Savio Vega. They promote the rest of the show with Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario vs Vader & Jim Cornette.

But 1st were gonna see Steve Austin vs Jake Roberts. Lawler rips Roberts for wearing no shirt out there. Jake looks ...to be sweating huge , before he even locks up with Stone Cold. Jake takes 2 punches and moves so slow , Austin blocks a punch and nails him in the turnbuckle. Austin taunts Jake by holding the ropes open and asking if he needs to leave the ring.

On commentary , Jim Ross jokes that if Vince is there tonight he could be firing him for the 3rd straight time which wouldn't shock him. Jake finally catches Austin with a punch and he takes a minute outside the ring. He's having the advantage and soon outside the ring gets into it with Lawler , but the distraction costs him , as once back in ring Stone Cold works him over. Lawler takes the time to tell horrible jokes about Roberts claiming he's half empty like a beer bottle and more.

Jim Ross jokes how he got to work the In Your House - Beware of Dog PPV as it took an act of god to get him to do his rightful job at play by play. Jake manages to weakly kick out and you debate how he did it. Later after a commercial , the Snake rallies back against Austin and then does the set up for the D-D-T finisher. Lawler jumps up from commentary with yet another bottle of booze he has in store for Roberts.

After some reversals and Austin saves himself once , he then eats the DDT. Jake has him won til Stone Cold puts his leg on the bottom rope. Lawler then taunts Jake with the bottle and takes a big chug of it , spitting it in Roberts face ! This allows Austin to get to his feet as he nails the stone cold stunner finisher for the win against Roberts. Outside the ring Lawler celebrates and both men post match put a beating on Roberts in the ropes. Savio Vega saves Roberts. Vega vs Austin will happen at In Your House : Buried Alive.

We get a cool vignette of Mankind digging in the ground as Paul Bearer tells him about burying Undertaker alive. Meanwhile backstage we see fake Razorr and fake Diesel working out. Jim Ross proclaims how both men are in the house. Then suddenly out comes Hunter Hearst Helmsley as he's angry and challenges Mr. Perfect to a match as he claims he wants to see how Perfect he is plus claims he doesn't think Henning can handle the new WWF Generation.

Now its time for a tag team match as its the Grimm Twins (Jason and Jared Grimm) The Grimms are in fact ....The Bruise Brothers as they became more famous in WCW/TNA ....Ron & Don Harris. They are facing the Godwinns as now they have a pet goat with them for kids to pet near ringside. Hunter claims that Perfect is like no part of his family , they have class and more. Plus he believes Perfect is a has been.

The Godwinns are pretty much having their way with the Grimm Twins. And no I can't tell Ron and Don apart. On the split screen Mr. Perfect accepts the challenge from Helmsley. That he admires his guts from Hunter since none of today's WWF Generation has the guts to challenge him. He gives Hunter a couple weeks to get himself in shape for him. Helmsley believes Perfect is outta shape after so many years of not wrestling.

In ring the Grimm Twins have taken the heel advantage and one is working over Phineas. Then suddenly as the one tries a back drop on him , Phineas suddenly reverses it into the slop drop finisher as he gets the win. The Godwinns celebrate as Hunter jokes these Godwinns do stink. We go from the celebration of Godwinns to the Jeff Jarrett scandal no one gives a shit for.

Sources claim Jarrett struck a deal with his real talent behind the music. We go to footage from July 23 1995 where the Roadie actually in an empty arena performs the song and lays down the vocal track that Jeff would lip synch to. We see that Jesse James was the real singer (and yes he has talent folks). That was no lip synch folks as Jim Ross claims and Lawler jokes that Double J is like a real life Milli Vanilli.

Razor Ramon (the fake) comes out as the fans totally turn against it badly. One fans reaction is like....are they fuckin serious about this ? Rick Bogner is playing this fake Razor and its so sad in a sense. Bogner before he retired in 2001 actually had some decent success in Canada and Japan working for several promotions there. Jim Ross defends this and claims he never said Scott Hall or Kevin Nash's names.

Gorilla Monsoon isn't happy at all and questions this. He wants to know the name as Jim Ross claims Monsoon was never fired or had his lively hood threatened by the owner. The fans start a loud "FAKE" chant as Monsoon himself claims the crowd isn't happy since he's not the real Razor Ramon. Then as fake Razor beats up Savio , Monsoon jokes he can't wait to see what fake Diesel looks like.

Lawler tries to play peacemaker and advises J.R. he should get alone with Gorilla and discuss things. Fake Razor is bragged up as an outstanding athlete and Monsoon agrees , he is a solid athlete. A split screen comes up as Dok Hendrix will interview fake Diesel soon. Jim Ross does proclaim one great thing , everyone is worried over how Vince McMahon feels , he's a damn egomaniac !

Fake Diesel has disappeared on Hendrix as in ring Fake Razor still works over Savio. Jim Ross continues to defend this as he claims he never brought friggen clowns into the company. Suddenly as Savio rallies back we see fake Diesel as he pulls the top rope down . The referee calls for the DQ as Diesel (who is Glenn Jacobs) gets back into the ring as they decide to destroy Vega.


END OF PART #1

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Monsoon questions Kelly why he's calling these guys Razor and Diesel as Kelly claims he doesn't know what else to call them. The fans start a loud FAKE , FAKE chant as Jim Ross jokes that now the WWF knows what its like to be embarrassed. The two men celebrate as we go to the grave yard where Undertaker is at. He claims he knows Bearer and Mankind would come and he promises to ...DIG YOUR GRAVE....AND BURY ...YOU ALIVE !

Vader and Jim Cornette come out for this main event (that no one demanded honestly). We see replays of Sunny trying to help her man Faarooq in the IC title tournament. But it didn't work and we get a beautiful 360 splash from Marc Mero. Due to Sunny's blunder , Faarooq has let her go as manager. We get a vignette of Psycho Sid vs Goldust for next week ...at 8:57 pm !

Shawn Michaels comes out and does his pose down as usual. They bring up Shawn's schedule as he advertises the MTV "Rock the Vote" campaign as he signed autographs . Back to the RAW as next week we will see fake Diesel vs Marc Mero . On WWF Livewire we will see Vince McMahon as Jim Ross jokes that its like he's posing for an America's Most Wanted poster. Which has Lawler laugh.

Meanwhile in ring Shawn is getting demolished by Vader and his strength. Vader just throws Shawn with no effort over his head in a spot. Then Vader signals for his power bomb as Shawn suddenly reverses it into a frankensteiner. Then Shawn keeps working over Vader with one high risk move and suddenly tries hitting the ropes and attempts a flying body press , and misses by a mile as he flies outside the ring.

Jim Cornette wants in this tag team match as Shawn is beating beaten down . So finally Vader tags him in as Cornette practices some and wastes too much time comically as Lothario works over Cornette. Then he thumbs him in the eye as Vader tags in. It looks like its curtains for sure for the 62 year old Lothario but Vader throws him into the ropes as he manages to make the tag !

A minute later Shawn looks like he's gonna defeat Vader as he sets up sweet chin music. But Vader manages to block and nails a savage clothesline ! After the Sony Playstation Slam of the Week spot , we see Vader setting up Shawn for the Vader bomb ! Shawn of course gets his knees up , rallying back and in a wild spot...he body slams Vader !

Shawn tries the super kick finisher again as Cornette gets him distracted ! Shawn tries another body slam and Vader falls on him. Then Vader nails the power bomb and Vader Bomb onto Michaels for the shocking win ! Post match we see Vader attempt another Vader Bomb but out of the back comes Psycho Sid who smacks Vader and is ready to go !

Goldust comes down to cheap shot Sid , but Shawn has revived and flies across the ring to nail him as all 4 men brawl to end the show !


The BAD - The best parts of RAW was clearly the Steve Austin , Undertaker/Mankind promos and Shawn Michaels vs Vader. The worst of the night is everything else from the product clearly. This RAW was pretty damn bad as it presented things fans didn't wanna see. Like the fake Razor Ramon and fake Diesel . When an entire arena chants FAKE repeatedly in anger at your product , its not the best idea.

Another aspect was Jim Ross heel turn just wasn't working at all. Ross was a fake for everything else , except Vince McMahon as we see. Yet here was Ross proclaiming how foolish Jim Cornette was in ring and defending Jake Roberts.

The matches wasn't as good either for this RAW as Jake sadly looked way outta shape in this match with Austin. Plus the mid-card match was more about selling this fake Diesel and Razor angle than actual match in ring. The main event should have went longer than the brief time it had.


OVERALL : **1/2 Outta 5. Just a terrible RAW with no real point to any of what we saw. Shawn Michaels is placed in a tag team match no one demanded beyond the booker (Cornette) at the time. The silly fake Diesel and Razor angle was crashing and burning as expected 2 weeks in.

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WWF Monday Night RAW - October 7th , 1996



Your Hosts - Jim Ross , Kevin Kelly and Jerry Lawler[/U][/B]

We get replays of where Vader destroyed Shawn Michaels last week. Then we get Pettengill discussing Psycho Sid vs Goldust , plus the real Double J with the Roadie singing the song ...yet again. RAW begins with Jim Ross absent to start the show as Marc Mero comes out with Sable to start the show. She still isn't wearing her leather look again , possibly they were afraid she'd distract from Marc by now.

Fake Diesel comes out with Jim Ross who seemingly is his manager as both men question what the deal this is. Ross claims he had some VP of talent business to discuss with Diesel and time got away. The fans react as you'd imagine as fake Diesel takes early advantage of Mero. This quickly changes as Mero lands some punches and good drop kick to knock him over the top rope.

Less than a minute later , back in ring Diesel catches Mero running the ropes and guerrilla drops Marc over the top rope and takes advantage again. Fake Diesel moves quicker than his previous version it seems. He then delivers the big boot. Jim Ross defends his signings and that this isn't some Outsider deal , this is an Insider deal to create more talent in the company. On a split screen we see fake Razor Ramon who claims Big Daddy Cool is takin care of business but he needs to take a closer look chico.

As Mero rallies back we see Razor come out as fans don't even care for him . Marc then delivers a nice clothesline , knocking fake Diesel outta the ring. He looks and runs the ropes , doing a somersault plancha onto fake Razor Ramon on the other side. Mero is slugging it out with Diesel as Razor climbs back into the ring as they double team Marc Mero. Fake Diesel delivers a jackknife power bomb as the two do the signature poses . Sable checks on her man.

We go to Undertaker who has dug a grave as he claims his work is nearly finished. That all he needs to do is put his maggot infested corpse in the grave. He won't have ...a nice day....RIP ! The New Rockers are out and on the split screen we have Psycho Sid who is backstage . Tonight Goldust dances with the devil and he will discover who the MASTER....AND RULER HA HA HA OF THE WORLD IS ! Kelly promotes the real Double J later for tonight.

Then we get a vignette of 3 of the most popular WWF Superstars right now. You can own some gaudy WWF denim shirts with Bret Hart , Undertaker and Shawn Michaels pictures on the back of the for the low , low price of $49.000 a shirt. Also $7 shipping and handling ! After the shopzone commercial we get a vignette of Mr.Perfect and all his moments the last decade from those cool Pefect vignettes that introduced him , to working in ring and to recently. "Nobody beats Mr. Perfect ....nobody !"

Jim Ross claims that Perfect's return in ring is like Michael Jordan's NBA return. The Smokin Gunns is out ...without Sunny. In a split screen Billy and Bart discuss facing Owen Hart and British Bulldog for the WWF World tag team titles at In Your House. Billy is still hung up over Sunny being there as Bart tells him , its about the WWF World tag team titles. On the phone Sunny claims if they regain the belts , Billy maybe too cute to resist coming back too. Spoken like a true gold digger folks.

On the phone Sunny freaks the f---k out when she learns Ahmed Johnson will be in studio with her on WWF Livewire. She puts over how Ahmed will beg for her to be her manager. That she loves when men beg for her attention. Then she gives the fax and e-mail number to WWF Livewire. "Beg all ya want men...." Billy and Leif Cassidy have a trying out set of moves and they both tag out to their partners.

Bart then nearly gets pinned twice by Marty Jannetty. Billy tags Bart out as they seem to tease a little non-chemistry . While Marty uses this and pisses off Bart by making him chase him around the ring outside where Leif catches him with a clothesline. Both men start to work over Bart Gunn. Marty and Leif keep working over Bart and use a double hip toss on him. But Leif gets too arrogant and climbs on Bart's back taunting him , which nearly costs him as Bart tries to rally back.

Billy Gunn uses a heel move to kick Marty in the back as a cheap heel tactic. The fans start a Marty chant , as they decide they like the other heels better. Both men deliver a nice double team move into the turnbuckle as Jim Ross calls it the walk across Texas . Billy soon gets too cocky and goes over the top rope and later tags in as Marty makes the hot tag to Leif ! He starts to clean the ring as he ends up getting caught by Billy. A side winder finisher later the Smokin Gunns win and leave.

The Roadie with WWF music guy Jim Johnston play the song "With my Baby Tonight" as they discuss the music and how Jarrett slithered away (he debuted on Nitro the same week as Bischoff sent a FU to McMahon lol) Roadie doesn't blame Jarrett for what happened as he got took further than he ever had before. But Jeff can't dance and sing , then blames Jeff for being greedy and not able to wrestle on his own as he pulled the foot of him by accident. The Road Dogg asks Jeff if he wants him to come back and tote his bags around and drive him .

Goldust backstage cuts a promo claiming he will own the ruler of the world tonight and teach him a lesson. Then we get a WWF Livewire set of clips as people ask questions as Vince claims what horrible business ethics Ted Turner has . How Jim Ross is disgruntled because he was fired a couple of times. I mean honestly what an asshole lol. Sunny mocks Sable and we get an appearance by Vince Russo behind McMahon as he was going by ....Vic Venom then.


END OF PART #1

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In ring J.R will interview who many believe is the uncrowned WWF World Champion ....Vader. The fans give Vader the big thumbs down as we again see clips of Vader destroying Shawn as usual. Vader vs Psycho Sid will happen at In Your House and the winner gets a WWF World title match at Survivor Series. Jim Cornette gets angry over this as he demands that Vader had beaten Shawn twice in tag matches and that the WWF is worried and protecting Shawn. To keep the merch pouring in for Shawn !

Cornette claims Vader will show Sid who truly is Psycho and how he will show who has the best power bomb in the business. The WWF advertises the Hall of Fame banquet in New York November 16th , and on the 17th at MSG we will see Survivor Series. Once we return we have the Sultan with Backlund and Sheik with him. He is facing Aldo Montoya.

Backlund joins us on commentary finally as Kelly has to try and convince him to do it. Then we get a vignette promo of Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels for next weeks RAW. This should be good folks. Jim Ross claims he been waiting to see that match for a long time. The Sultan has the power advantage as Aldo tries drop kicks and more , but is finally caught. Backlund claims he can't hear if he doesn't have his sunglasses on ?! Backlund puts on a pair of dark sunglasses as he claims the WWF told him he can't look kids in the eyes and tell em to stop doing drugs !

Sultan works over Aldo as Backlund rants more and flips the sunglasses part up and claims he can look them in the eyes now and that the Sultan will one day be WWF World Champion ! Then flips em down as his man works over Aldo in ring and throws him with force into the turnbuckle. They try and ask Backlund a question as he won't answer. During this Lawler brings up something Cornette said , why was he thanked for bringing Vader in ? Ross goes to answer as we see Sultan make the signal for the camel clutch !

Then Jim Ross admits he recruits and signs talent to the WWF and Vader was one of them. Lawler is surprised that he is a VP. After the match ends we get Mankind scared as he is on all 4's over a grave and goes inside it , claiming he doesn't wanna be a carcus and rotting in a grave. Bearer claims he won't as he claws at the dirt.

Goldust arrives to the ring as we see a split screen and fake Razor Ramon is watching this for some reason. Then we go to the Playstation Slam of the Week and as Henning shows so many clips of him doing the perfect plex on guys. That he warns Hunter he has 1 more left for him. Coming to the ring is Psycho Sid as the kids did the Psycho act as they wanna touch his fist !

Sid yells out WHO'S THE MAN ?!! Sid turns his back to check his pads as Goldust jumps him from behind. Jim Ross claims that McMahon will assign himself the key play by play for Mind Games , a job he should have as usual. This sneak attack doesn't work as Sid starts fighting back. He nearly nails the psycho bomb as Goldust gets away. Seconds later Marlena distracts Sid as Goldust again jumps him from behind.

On the phone Shawn admits he is in a rock and hard place come Survivor Series. He will either face Sid or Vader. Even if Sid's a friend , once the WWF World Championship is on the line , there are no friends. In ring Goldust works over Sid . Out comes Jim Cornette to join them on commentary as J.R is less than pleased since his loose lips revealed his job. Sid meanwhile after commercial nails a choke slam on Goldust and does the signal as he delivers the psycho bomb ! Its over folks.

Post match Cornette cheers Vader on to jump Sid as he does and then delivers a Vader bomb in the corner. This makes Sid angry as he stands and shakes like a fuckin psycho he is. Vader turns in horror as he realizes Sid isn't Shawn Michaels and he eats a choke slam . Cornette screams in horror as he has no clue how Psycho Sid stood up so quick. Vader and Cornette run from this as the referee stops Sid from going after em. The show ends there.


The Bad - None of the matches were really good beyond some spots with Mero/fake Diesel and Sid/Goldust . There wasn't enough time for the opening match or the Main Event for fans to care.

In terms of caring , no one gave 2 shits for Roadie singing that song as much as the WWF wanted us to care. Comically I expect next week Roadie will perform the song yet again in a spot. All Bischoff did was actually have Jarrett debut on Nitro this same week and did more with Jarrett than the WWF had with this entire silly expose. It also promoted Jarrett which the company didn't seem to realize.


OVERALL : ** Outta 5. The best part of this RAW was the reveal that Jim Ross was the VP of talent for the company. A role where he'd sign and rebuild the roster full of old and new stars for the Attitude Era. Anyhow FF through this episode to where you see Sid scare Vader. Plus the promotion of Shawn Michaels vs Austin for next week. Beyond that there isn't a lot here folks to care for.

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WWF Monday Night RAW - October 14th , 1996



Your Hosts - Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly

We get a promo before RAW begins of Stone Cold Steve Austin with him talking trash. He's vicious , angry and defiant ! Shawn Michaels is the champion but he's been wore down it seems as Vader has shown that. Austin proclaims tonight its Austin 3:16 and he's gonna whup his ass ! We come to RAW as Kelly and Ross run down the matches tonight and Vader is out 1st for the night.

Jim Ross brings up how Vader and Psycho Sid had a brief clash last week. Then we learn that next week Vince McMahon will return to host RAW as J.R. claims Kevin Dunn as producer gave him the note on WWF Superstars yesterday. He's got some angry words to say about that deal soon , but before he can say anything Vader attacks Phineas Godwinn (the guy he's facing).

Phineas is clotheslined 3 straight times and finally knocked off his feet by Vader. Jim Ross lashes out at the decision and claims that Kevin Kelly should be doing RAW , but he isn't gonna be bow down to Vince's ego and he will be calling RAW next week. Kelly brings up being a team player , but Jim Ross is like the hell with that. Meanwhile as Vader destroys Phineas , out comes Sid to taunt Vader and act crazy which distracts Vader. This allows Phineas to rally back and he soon knocks him outta the ring with a clothesline !

J.R. blasts Jim Cornette and its claimed maybe Ross used his VP of Talent role to make Cornette not do WWF Livewire this past week. Phineas tries his slop drop finisher , but Vader grabs the ropes and stops it. This allows Vader to get the advantage and he soon nails the Vader bomb and finishes off Phineas finally. Jim Ross claims that Vader has to step it up this Sunday or he won't be happy.

After a vignette for Survivor Series in New York , Jim Ross brings out Mr. Perfect who is returning to the ring after 13 months away. We see how Perfect has taken his women the past couple months. Henning claims there is only 1 Mr. Perfect and its him. He never backs from a challenge and next week he will do what he claims. Curt claims he keeps himself in Perfect shape all the time. Then in anger he claims this new WWF Generation walk around with cocky hair dos and more , but he's the greatest IC Champion and he's the greatest athlete !

The WWF has renamed its tour from the Attitude Adjustment Tour to now the Big Bang Boom Tour. Jerry Lawler is out next for his match . Then we go to that WWF Shopzone commercial where you can buy denim shirts of Bret Hart , Shawn Michaels and Undertaker for $49.00 a shirt. Lawler gets on the mic before the match and rips Jake Roberts some more with some bad jokes. Then he tells Howard Finkel about Jake's drinking and more.

The music hits and Jake slowly....walks out ...slowly stumbling. He has a bottle in a covered bag as he tries to hide it. Jake covers it as the referee tries to check on him. Lawler wants to face him as he mocks him as Gorilla Monsoon checks on him. Jake smiles n whispers , I'm ok....he's getting it tonight. Jim Ross puts over this is a scheme . Then we see as Lawler goes to lock up with a seemingly drunken Roberts , he is grabbed and planted with a DDT. Then he drags him into the corner and pouts the liquor all over him ! Jake then throws the snake on him as he gets away.

Jake stands tall as Lawler coughs over the beer in his face. After this we go to the WWF discussing the real Double J some more as Roadie discusses how Jeff left and said he can come with him or not. Roadie claims he could take him outta dive bars to the big bright lights of cities. Then we again get Roadie singing the song yet again. That evil Jeff Jarrett left him unemployed. They plan to re-release "With my Baby Tonight" since that song didn't get enough play last time. Also there is talk of a big duet with a country music star ! Next week Roadie discusses his time in Desert Storm (which actually happened).

Freddie Joe Floyd is happy and smiling in ring as we see Hunter Hearst Helmsley with yet another beautiful woman. Kelly advertises WWF Magazine as we see a photo of where Paul Bearer turned on the Undertaker. Jim Ross again proclaims that he won't be listening to Kevin Dunn and will be on RAW next week. Then comically before the match , Helmsley has become so paranoid ...he handcuffs his new valet to a ring pole. So Curt Henning can't take them away.

This starts off nice as Tracy Smothers (Floyd) nails a couple arm drags and more. But after both men hit the ropes as the pace quickens , Hunter lands a high knee ! Taking control of this match as he starts demonstrating his skills. Out comes Perfect to inspect the latest lady. He realizes she is handcuffed as Helmsley taunts he has her cuffed and no way. But Henning has a key as he shows.

Floyd takes advantage awhile as Hunter rallies back and nails a pedigree. But it doesn't finish Floyd off. He then realizes Perfect is taking his latest woman as he goes after them . He goes at Perfect and he turns and eats a punch to the face. Getting a count out loss at the end. Backstage we see Stone Cold who taunts Bret Hart , "I'm gonna tonight kick the man's ass who kicked your ass months ago !"


END OF PART #1

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After the Sony Slam of the Week , we get a vignette hyping next weeks RAW where Mr. Perfect will face Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Out comes Sunny in a short red dress looking hot as fans go insane. She introduces the newest , hottest , sexiest thing goin in the WWF right now ....HER. She drops a huge poster with her on it. Then we go to Mankind and Paul Bearer in the rain by the grave. Bearer holds an umbrella.

Mankind claims that Undertaker will beg for mercy as he takes his final breath ! That this weekend Uncle Paul , he won't be responsible for what he does. Bearer cheers his man on in the rain. Then we get Faarooq vs Alex Porteau . Sunny joins us for commentary to discuss the amicable split they made. She still is friends with him and gives him advice. But she isn't his manager.

Jim Ross himself mocks the decision that Faarooq must wear goofy headgear and brings up how stupid Vince is to make someone wear that. Simmons nails a solid spine buster. J.R. claims that if Faarooq's game plan is sound he will be the next IC Champion. Faarooq nails his tiger bite front power bomb and finishes off him. On WWF Livewire , Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq talk as both men compliment each other but being from the streets . In ring or not they are both from the streets and will settle this soon.

Undertaker walks around his grave he dug. The rains have stopped and the time draws near. Each time they clashed , Mankind grew more evil. So if it takes destroying himself to destroy Mankind....he will. He wants Mankind to imagine his final breaths , his crawling to escape....imagine....RESTING....IN ...PEACE. Then he throws dirt into the grave onto a camera placed there.

The main event is now as Stone Cold is out as is Shawn Michaels. Shawn struts and dances as Austin doesn't seem to give a crap. J.R. brings up the hard schedule Shawn has been on as WWF World Champion and claims Vince McMahon doesn't care. Just saddle that horse and ride him til he drops. On a split screen Jim Cornette claims that his man Vader will be facing Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series !

The match begins as Austin and Michaels try each other out to start as Shawn uses an arm bar and soon both men start trading punches. Shawn stays in control with a head lock and even flips off the top rope holding it. Then we go to Sid who laughs and jumps so happy like a school girl. He can't wait to drop Vader again on his skull at Buried Alive. He apologizes to his buddy Shawn but he will face....the MASTER...AND RULER....OF THE WORLD !!

Both men are doing reversals and its a very technical match as they each counter a backslide. Then we see Austin nail the Lou Thez press move on Shawn , seconds later Shawn nearly lands the sweet chin music on him. Back in ring seconds later , Austin catches Shawn with a flap jack and then goes for the stone cold stunner , Shawn manages to back outta it as they continue.

Then to ruin what is becoming a solid main event , Vader lumbers into the ring to attack Shawn for no real reason. Shawn realizes this and starts to fight off both men. He handles both Austin and Vader awhile and then Savio Vega tries to help. He eats a stone cold stunner for that. As things look bleak Psycho Sid runs into the ring FAST. I mean I never imagined Sid was this fast folks , he's down the ramp and into the ring like...the Flash. Vader wants none of the Psycho and bails quick !

Outside the ring we see fake Razor and Diesel starting outside the ring at the ramp. Then as Sid is eyeing them in the corner , Austin throws Shawn into Sid as they start to discuss things as it looks heated. Both manage to settle it as soon Vader and Austin attack again ! They get handled pretty easy as Austin goes flying over the top rope and crashes to the floor as the show ends.


The Bad - This RAW had no real good matches at all. The big Austin/Michaels main event they teased pretty much started off solid and then due to the company wanting to promote the big main event #1 contender match at Buried Alive (Sid/Vader) and Austin/Vega , it broke down into that. The show didn't start off well and even the mid-card matches lacked anything at all.

Vader destroys a Godwinn to promote himself , then looks pretty bad the end of the night. How was this possibly gonna sell him facing Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series if that happens ? Helmsley vs Perfect seems like a mismatch given how Hunter had been booked for months on end (his punishment for the MSG incident).

Vince McMahon returning to call play by play was like the worst move the company could do as Jim Ross , Kevin Kelly and Jerry Lawler had started to build a chemistry. Kelly had shifted to being the color commentator while Ross shifted to play by play and telling the stories to sell things. That was gonna be thrown aside as usual.


OVERALL : ** Outta 5. Austin teased more of who he was and fans were happy to see this guy not care. The bright spots of this RAW was clearly Jim Ross telling it like it was. Faarooq looked like a goofy sob with the helmet on. Vince was being an idiot to return and ruin the chemistry on RAW that had developed and we got some nice Undertaker/Mankind promos. Its just , even with Nitro having a weak night , they still was weaker than them.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - October 21st , 1996



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon , Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler

Vince begins this RAW bringing up how Bret Hart seemed to depart the WWF 6 months ago after his bitter loss at Wrestlemania 12. Then Jerry Lawler brings up Mr. Perfect vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Vince ends the segment garbling out Moooonday Niiighht RAAAAAWWW.. Then after the intro Vince is out to do shitty commentary folks as Psycho Sid is out 1st. He's covered in sweat or oil and when he jerks his head , he nearly covers the whole front row in it.

Jerry Lawler hopes the greatest words come from Bret Hart's mouth ...I RETIRE. Sid will be facing the self proclaimed Greatest Hart of them all....Owen Hart. Clarence Mason is out as his manager and Owen is part of the WWF World tag team champion. The fans start a big SID chant as Owen comes at him and gets bounced off the mat by the huge Psycho twice, then gets tossed throat 1st over that top rope !

Outside the ring Mason tries to distract Sid , but he catches Owen off the top rope. But Owen has his work cut out for him and uses his speed to nail the Psycho one from behind. Soon the British Bulldog comes down to get involved as he gets caught by Sid. This has Owen come up with the best strategy before we go to commercial , clipping Sid's leg out from behind.

The WWF Superstar Line has returned after weeks away as Dok Hendrix plugs on the Ross Report , Jim Ross will tell us why Psycho Sid will be WWF World Champion soon. Back from that Owen works over Sid's leg. McMahon promotes the Survivor Series coming November 17th . Bulldog even gets some licks in as fans start a huge SID chant to try and rally him back. He does rally briefly and tries a big leg drop on that bad leg ...and misses.

Owen tries to lock on the sharpshooter on those big legs of Sid and is kicked across the ring it seems. But Sid stands up and then rallies back as fans explode as he delivers a huge choke slam. Then as it looks like Sid is gonna deliver the Psycho Bomb onto Owen , Bulldog jumps in ring and delivers a clothesline. As the two heels start to beat down Sid , out runs Shawn Michaels to make the save. Vince promotes that these two men will collide at the Survivor Series PPV in a few weeks.

Post match Sid thanks Shawn but they discuss the match ahead some. Shawn claiming he wanted to save Sid from a beat down. They both seem to understand that its all about the WWF World Title come the next PPV. Then we get pictures of Buried Alive with some nice orchestra playing behind it. Then we see Undertaker choke slam Mankind 6 foot down into the grave , but was jumped by Executioner . Then we see the Bradshaw , Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Goldust help bury him. Undertaker emerges from this with his hand coming from he grave.

Jim Ross arrives finally to save this broadcast as they discuss the sound quality of the show and J.R. claims that Vince should fire the sound guy if he hasn't already. Then we get the Godwinns vs Smokin Gunns . Jim Ross and Vince McMahon discuss that the Smokin Gunns didn't work well together of late and due to losing the rematch at Mind Games. That Sunny is likely responsible for this as King jokes how Sunny wouldn't date Bart since he's ugly.

Both teams start testing each other out til Billy Gunn , for pulling the top rope down . Lawler claims Billy needs to do this to impress Sunny as Jim Ross replies back , who cares about that. Then later as they try the double team move , walk across Texas ...Billy crashes into the turnbuckle missing Phineas Godwinn. He makes the hot tag to Henry Godwinn as soon it breaks down to all 4 men involved.

Billy is thrown outta the ring as Bart is double teamed and threw into the ropes. He smacks right into Billy who is climbing into the ring. Bart then eats a slop drop from Henry Godwinn. Billy outside the match looks upset and smacks the ring apron as he can't believe they blew this chance. Post match him and Bart discuss things.

The WWF shows the Hall of Fame deal as we get a clip of the 1996 inductees. The 1st one is Pat Patterson (the 1st Intercontinental Champion) , Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and Vincent McMahon Sr. are the inductees this year before Survivor Series. Backstage as Henning warms up , Hunter Hearst Helmsley rolls a big equipment box into him to take out his leg !

On WWF Livewire , Stone Cold took over the show as he comes out and even scares Sunny as he rips into them for making him wait 30 damn minutes back there like some dumb jabroni. Then he recounts how he slapped a sharpshooter on Stu's old ass and made him tap. In ring is Jim Ross as he promotes Bret Hart who comes out , his 1st WWF appearance since back in April. The fans pop as the Hitman walks out to discuss what he has planned.

Bret brings up how he had to deal with a certain few things to decide. That he was negotiating with WCW (a rival organization) and puts over how honorable they were to him in talks and what they offered. Bret puts over , he's not a greedy man , he's just greedy for respect. So he did some soul searching to see if he wanted to continue his career and how he owed it all to the WWF fans ....and he's not going anywhere ! He plans to be in the WWF forever.


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Then he jokes about being a sore loser and maybe he is. But Bret puts over that Shawn Michaels beat him fair and square ...no excuses. He climbed back into the ring and lost that match. That he knew the risks of losing. Bret puts over how Shawn is younger than him , is more agile ...and likely more cuter than him (which has women pop in the audience) but Shawn will never be more tougher than him or be as smart. That like Nixon once said , you learn from defeat. Then Bret accepts the match against Steve Austin at Survivor Series.

Backstage Brian Pillman gets excited as Austin turns and gives him ...really ? Bret claims he could be rusty , or he may not be. Then in a very nice spot and one that makes you think of what Bret Hart is going through now , he claims Madison Square Garden is like holy ground to him and he will see who kicks who's ass there ! That he takes himself seriously as a role model for kids and that has been missing from the WWF for 6 months.

Bret puts over how he went to see a sick child at the hospital in Canada and promised he'd return for him. If he could just kick outta this and get well , he'd return for him. The boy started to recover some but as Bret seems to get a bit sad ...he reveals the child never recovered fully and passed away. That child was his nephew. Bret claims people can think whatever they want about him and how he had it planned but this was it. "I can't dance very well ...i can't really pose in girlie books. But I can wrestle..."

After this we get a Milton Bradley Karate Fighters tournament spot from Todd Pettengill and Jerry Lawler. Seeing both men advertise this game is pretty silly since it looks like junk. Anyhow in the 1st round Bob Backlund will face Sunny. Who as Todd proclaims ...has great wrist strength. I'm sure that is what helped Sunny land her latest role in a porno film.

Dok Hendrix vs Sable is up as Lawler claims its a bumbling idiot vs a known cheater. Psycho Sid vs Marlena is also gonna happen as Lawler jokes Sid already hears voices . Mr. Perfect vs Henry Godwinn which ...is kinda odd. Since this seems to have faces against heels , and Perfect is supposedly the face ...right ?

Anyhow as Mr. Perfect comes down , he hobbles some on his bad knee. With Perfect is Marc Mero , Sable and Gorilla Monsoon. Jim Ross gets into the ring as he interviews Perfect and Monsoon. Due to the rolling cart he rolled into his knee , Gorilla Monsoon won't allow Henning to wrestle on his bad knee. Marc Mero claims he will wrestle in Perfect's place. Hunter isn't up for that since he's not up for this.

Hunter then claims he will face Marc Mero if he puts up the Intercontinental Championship. Henning claims the type of champion Marc Mero is he'll put up the title for sure. Mero claims Perfect helped him get the belt so of course he agrees to the match. Monsoon signs off on it and after commercial we return as Henning is on commentary as Mero is working a fast paced match against Helmsley.

Helmsley ducks outta the ring and tries to use Sable in a way , she turns and slaps him across the face. Both men get back in ring as Mero gets several close near pin falls. Then is caught by Helmsley who does a tilt the whirl back breaker onto Mero. Henning claims its such a disappointment that for the 1st time in his career he can't be out there to please the fans. That the doctors claim he needs a MRI tomorrow.

Mero gets another close pin fall on Helmsley as he has the momentum again , then delivers a Samoan drop. Mero climbs up to signal for the Wild Thing 460 splash , but Hunter throws the referee into the ropes blocking it. After blocking Helmsley's superplex , Mero delivers a nice moonsault. Suddenly the referee takes a bump by accident in the corner and is down.

Hunter grabs a chair at ringside as we see Sable reach for it to stop him. Perfect is in ring and grabs the chair and threatens Helmsley as Mero climbs to his feet slowly. Then takes a chair shot to the head by Henning as Mero collapses like a ton of bricks. Sable goes off as we see Helmsley drag Mero up as he nails a pedigree finisher. To win the WWF Intercontinental Championship ! McMahon proclaims the entire thing was a hoax ...THE PERFECT HOAX as him and Hunter celebrate in ring.


The Bad - This episode of RAW wasn't terrible for what we saw in ring. Beyond the fact that Sid vs Owen ended way too soon and had interference as usual , it sold the storyline. Even the Godwinns/Smokin Gunns tag team match that had been done countless times had storyline reasons.

Curt Henning's heel turn was coming from miles away as we saw. He goads Marc Mero into putting up the title and it was only a cart ran into him from behind. Plus he stayed at ringside to do commentary. You could telegraph this coming a mile away. It was that clear folks of a heel swerve. And this ends Mero's career highlight in the WWF by the way.

Vince McMahon was back after like 2 months to ruin commentary as not only had Ross , Kelly and Lawler started to develop a nice chemistry announce wise ...he junked it to do his over blown commentary he was famous for.


OVERALL : ***1/2 OUTTA 5. While the matches weren't special , this RAW had a lot of solid things going for it. Sid/Shawn was starting as a program for the next month , Bret Hart had returned to face Steve Austin as we saw and finally ...Hunter's punishment was over as he won the WWF Intercontinental Title.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW October 28th , 1996



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

On WWF Superstars Vince McMahon shows what Stone Cold destroyed Brian Pillman's surgically repaired ankle for mentioning Bret Hart. On tonight's show Bret Hart and Steve Austin will be on interviewed at their homes. Also Shawn Michaels will put the WWF World title on the line against British Bulldog. But 1st , starting RAW off is Jesse James who sadly is now forced to use the dumb "Real Double J" ring name. Even Lawler seems to joke he's tired of the song.

McMahon shows the pictures of James from Desert Storm in 1991. James is facing Salvatore Sincere (mobster type gimmick) and right off the bat Vince fucks up by calling James "Double J , Jeff Jarrett" as Lawler has to correct him. The two in a comical spot try reversing hip tosses and in a sloppy style move , James gets Salvatore outta the ring.

Later in the match after an exchange with James , in another comical spot James catches Sincere in the ropes trapped and slugs him a few times. Then Salvatore catches him with a punch but turns to do his mob gesture and is caught by James and knocked into the ring railing outta the ring off the apron. Back in ring later Sincere turns the tide and it doesn't last long as this match is to show off Jesse James offense and moves. He does a comical Elvis Presley shaking his leg and runs into Salvatore in the corner.

As the match is going Sincere locks on a full nelson as James slowly works his way free and does an under hook slam into a pin. McMahon proclaims this was an impressive return to action for Jesse James. After this match Vince promotes Milton Bradley's "Karate Fighters" being the advertiser behind Survivor Series. Dok Hendrix brings up the 8 new members of the WWF Hall of Fame , then suddenly Stone Cold appears and gets in Hendrix's face claiming no one cares about 8 old farts who need to be handed something , so do his damn job later !

Dok breathes easier as Austin leaves and promotes the Survivor Series PPV. Coming up is a WWF World title match between Psycho Sid facing his friend Shawn Michaels for the title. Also Jerry Lawler , Crush , Hunter Heart Helmsley and Goldust will face the team of The Stalker , Marc Mero , Mark Henry and ..some rookie making his debut named Rocky Maivia. A 3rd generation star.

Inside in a steel cage Mankind vs Undertaker will happen with Paul Bearer and Steve Austin vs Bret Hart. Who later tonight will be interviewed from Calgary. Austin storms back and is in anger claiming why ain't Bret there ? He's gonna whip his ass come Survivor Series and thats the bottom line ! Then we return to RAW as we see Krush. Who will be facing Aldo Montoya. On the phone Marc Mero swears revenge against Helmsley and he's now the hunted . He is begging Gorilla Monsoon to reinstate Perfect to take him out ! He blames himself for letting Mr. Perfect in his inner circle so close.

Krush is dominating the match as usual and beating down Montoya in slow motion. Finally joining on commentary is Jim Ross who claims he has some big news coming and he mocks this match . Ross brings up that Faarooq has now retained him as a manager. Also the fact that big changes are in store for Faarooq , you'll see em on WWF Livewire this Saturday. J.R. then mocks Vince's idea for Aldo to wear a sweat sock around his face as his rally ends up being stopped pretty quick. Krush nails a heart punch as Jim Ross delivers the best line , "That move would not have an effect on Vince McMahon ...he has no heart."

Post match Krush isn't happy with the name jailbird . And he then grabs a WWF plant in the audience and beats the holy hell outta the guy . McMahon claims there will be a lawsuit here as Clarence Mason has to get his man to stop. Then we see clips of Curt Henning faking his injury last week as the Perfect Plan came into action as Helmsley won the IC title. The two men have a celebration and Monsoon then suspended Henning . On WWF Superstars Perfect calls the suspension crap.

Before we head to commercial McMahon promotes Austin as ole Stone Cold warns Vince to stop jerking him around ! Then we get a crappy Karate Fighters segment. The Holiday Tournament. Perfect vs Phineas Godwinn in this as he talks about sittin down and eating biscuits and gravy. Perfect cheats of course by distracting the dumb hillbilly by claiming he sees Dolly Parton behind him. Next week Psycho Sid vs Marlena will happen.

Vince promotes that next week Brian Pillman will be live at his home to talk. Steve Austin jumps in angry and asks why they don't come to Victoria , Texas ? That they will interview some crippled freak. Then he will be there ! We get a clip of what happened on Superstars where Austin called him a crippled freak and then claims Pillman made the mistake of taking his interview time and making it Bret's as he starts to destroy him. He uses the can on Pillman on his bad ankle. Then locked a chair around the ankle and stomped on it twice !


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Austin then wouldn't let the ambulance take Pillman as we see. Its there that Austin claims he's tired of the WWF jerking him around and how he doesn't have any friends. Dropping the next famous line of his character "DTA , DON'T TRUST ANYBODY" He rips Pillman for his raspy voice claiming who gives a rats ass about that. Its questioned why Gorilla Monsoon won't suspend him , but Austin proclaims that he's just a damn puppet for him. That he (Vince) is the real boss and he's just a greedy , selfish promoter who wants to see that Bret Hart/Steve Austin match because he'll make money !

Back from commercial Bret Hart is on the TV camera with his kids as Austin doesn't seem impressed at all. The audio is screwed up as McMahon quickly ends this and cuts to Sunny coming down in some kinda segment where she joins them on commentary. Sunny hugs the King and sits on his lap as she kisses his head and cheek. Lawler seems in heaven for this.

On WWF Superstars we see that Billy and Bart had problems against the New Rockers. Billy left Bart alone to face the New Rockers , who he managed to beat. Sunny claims that Billy and Bart are fighting over her obviously. Its Billy against Freddie Joe Floyd as Sunny admits she liked Billy more because he has more of a killer instinct and that makes champions she loves.

As the match really begins out comes an angry Bart who wants to face his brother in ring. Billy proclaims he has Sunny and doesn't need him. This distraction lets Floyd (Smothers) get the advantage from behind awhile. Then gets a flap jack throat first across the ropes . This allows Billy to deliver some kind of knee/boot to the throat off the top rope for the win. Sunny claims maybe there is hope for Billy ahead.

McMahon tries the Bret Hart segment coming back and decides to not bring up Pillman and instead asks if Bret took so long to return because he was afraid of Austin . Bret claims he's been going pretty non-stop since he came to the WWF for 12 years and the few years he competed before that. He needed time away to recharge and be back. After Austin taunts about kicking his ass , Bret chuckles and claims he may wanna rethink that because he isn't man enough to kick his ass. He's more ready than he's ever been.

McMahon brings up the layoff after 6 months and facing Austin with some ring rust. Bret Hart doesn't think that way and claims Steve Austin is the best wrestler ...until November 17th and that will change. Then Vince brings up if Austin beats him , will he keep going ? Bret answers by claiming like a gunfighter if he loses , he'll get back on his horse again. Steve Austin taunts Bret by using his catchphrase and then claims its Stone Cold's house now. As the WWF people go to count down and end this segment Stone Cold snaps.

Steve Austin throws one of the WWF production guys across the floor into a ladder area. Nobody counts him down as Austin smashes the monitors and throws crap on the guy. Coming to the ring is the WWF World tag team champions British Bulldog and Owen Hart. Owen joins the announce team as he has his Slammy Award. Meanwhile the poor WWF Security guard has problems with Austin.

Shawn Michaels comes out to face Bulldog , due to what happened last week. Owen questions what makes Shawn so great ? He doesn't have a Slammy like he does. Jose Lothario is with Shawn as he gives him so advice. McMahon promotes the next great WWF plan to try and turn the tide of the ratings war...moving to 7:57 pm , to try and get the jump on Nitro's 1st hour.

To start Shawn comes off as usual quick and does a quick frankensteiner and soon clotheslines Bulldog outta the ring. Vince claims that Shawn is a show man of course. To taunt the Bulldog , Shawn relaxes in the ropes as fans are pretty solid behind him. McMahon claims that the security guard Austin assaulted backstage has called the cops. Then we see Shawn deliver a nice enziguri that Owen Hart did to him last year as Owen wishes he could do another one and take him out.

Eventually Shawn's quick pace catches up to him as Bulldog catches him in a guerrilla press on the ropes. After the commercial with Freddie Blassie we see Shawn guerrilla pressed back into the ring over the top rope. Seconds later in a cool spot , Bulldog delivers a nice long suplex on Shawn as he holds him for like 30 seconds.

Shawn tries to rally back as Bulldog locks in a nice rest hold. Lawler jokes that Austin will have to get to Pillman's house an hour earlier ! Then seconds later Shawn does a reversal and near pin in a roll up. But Bulldog kicks out and then delivers a monster clothesline ! After the commercial , Shawn manages to catch Bulldog as he runs into the turnbuckle with a boot. The rally begins as Shawn soon delivers his trademark flying ax handle. Then the kip up as fans pop.

In a cool spot Shawn is reversed thrown into the turnbuckle as Bulldog sets him up for the running power slam . Shawn reverses outta it and nails a nice clothesline , then does the elbow from the sky off the top rope. He then signals for sweet chin music ! Owen Hart has seen enough as he grabs Shawn's leg. As the bad guys start to work over HBK , out comes Psycho Sid. By accident Sid hits Shawn as this pisses off HBK. Both men start to argue over things as Owen Hart taunts both men and then puts the WWF World tag team titles on the line against them next week !

McMahon shows what happened earlier tonight with Austin as we go to the security guard at WWF HQ being told that Stone Cold can do whatever he wants ! Then he walks outside as the cops wait on him as Austin doesn't seem to care.

The Bad - Match wise the night started off pretty bad. Jesse James offense was pretty sloppy at times and showed someone who had some flash , but really needed to work on things better. The fact that seconds in he screws up a simple hip toss reversal to throw Sincere through the ropes outside , you knew he needed some work. Also the fact the name was sinking him and Vince would screw up and call him Jeff Jarrett.

The 2nd match we got was Billy Gunn who also wasn't showing much at this stage as the WWF had broken up the Smokin Gunns tag team. The WWF had used this formula once with Rockers and felt Billy was destined to become the Shawn of the team. It was gonna take some time of course before that happened.


OVERALL : **** outta 5. Perhaps the best thing of this RAW was Stone Cold Steve Austin who took over the entire show it seemed. He would jump in and scare Dok Hendrix , taunt Vince McMahon and tell him what a greedy selfish man he was , and finally taunt Bret Hart for his match. Factor in the beat down on Pillman , this RAW was geared completely around Steve Austin. The main event itself was a good match until the interference at the end ruined it. But a very nice night as Austin dropped the famous DTA catchphrase.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - November 4th , 1996



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

McMahon shows what happened when Stone Cold Steve Austin did his interview onscreen at WWF HQ. How he threw around the staff and had a WWF security guard call the cops on him. Brian Pillman is at home and will talk in an interview , but as Lawler claims guess who is coming to dinner ...its Steve Austin ! Also last week Psycho Sid and Shawn Michaels teased possible sparks flying in the lead up to their match at Survivor Series.

After the intro we see that Kevin Kelly is now an interviewer and is at Pillman's home in Walton , Kentucky. In a few moments he will do this special live interview but people are worried that Austin will show up. Also Pillman sent his children to his parents due to this. He will discuss his injury as well. Vince plugs the new 7:57 pm start time to RAW to try and stop the bleeding from WCW (didn't work).

Goldust comes down to the ring while Vince plugs the new time slot. He will be facing Barry Windham ; The Stalker. Back in early 1990's WCW this would be a great singles match of Dustin Rhodes vs Barry Windham. But Barry is sadly not at his peak anymore. The Survivor Series heel group is with Goldust , so Barry brings out his team to watch his back. Also Barry has dropped the goofy face paint a couple weeks after Austin comically joked on TV , "Why's he wearing goofy face paint ? Don't we already know who he is ?" He's also grown a nice western mustache which seems like a wink to his father Blackjack Mulligan.

Rocky Mavia makes his 1st appearance on WWF TV as he's part of the group behind Windham. Barry tells Goldust to come get it as he does. Dok Hendrix comes on the split screen and warns that Steve Austin has left the airport and has a rental car. He's demanded to talk to Vince and he does over the car phone. Then he tells that Pillman brought this on himself. That Austin 25:17 is , he will strike down upon him with great force and vengeance , cause Stone Cold said so. McMahon warns him Pillman has friends there waiting as Austin claims numbers don't scare him in the least , cause he got a full can of whup ass riding shotgun with him !

In ring Barry dominates this slow prodding match as he looks more like himself beyond the silly pants and Stalker moniker he was given. Lawler claims that crazy Pillman has a gun possibly there as Austin taunts he doesn't have the guts ! Stone Cold claims he doesn't give a rats ass and will do whatever he wants and hangs up. In ring Goldust goes for a cross body as Barry ducks and he flies outta the ring. The good guys toss him back in as Lawler decides to leave the announce booth alone to Vince.

Windham sets up Goldust for his super plex finisher and he knocks him off. Then in a slow spot comes off as Windham gets his foot up to his face. We go to commercial where a Stone Cold vignette airs as he talks some trash in some ally he walks that night. That he's no pretty boy who beat his ass as he quit. Taunting Bret Hart and ripping him that he's got 7 years of frustration and anger to work off on him at Survivor Series !

The match soon breaks down as both men fly over the top rope. This leads to a skirmish with both teams starting to erupt in a weird slow paced sloppy brawl that you can tell the men involve question exactly what they are supposed to do. Anyhow Henry stalks Lawler up the ramp as his spot was that. The rest break down to where finally Henning holds Windham so Helmsley can hit him while Krush and Goldust double team Mero until Rocky makes the save. Soon all the good guys clear the ring and the heels have to retreat til Survivor Series.

McMahon after the Karate Fighters plug will take it to Pillman's home as we see Melanie Pillman and her husband. She doesn't look too happy about things. The final perhaps blow off match will happen between Undertaker/Mankind as the mysterious Executioner will be part of it as well in a steel cage. Paul Bearer will be held in a cage above the ring as well. Mankind cuts a promo on one of the shows that Undertaker will wish he was BURIED ALIVE again after Survivor Series. Then Taker's music hits as he has a message for the Creatures of the Night and Mankind. Then he shows Paul Bearer the small cage he will be in...upside down !

Finally we go to Pillman where we see Kelly start to interview him. Pillman claims Austin done crossed a line with him and made it personal. He will be ok for 1997. McMahon takes over this interview asking questions as Brian starts off calm and claims he knows his strength and weaknesses and then ...the most epic line ever is uttered and shown on WWF TV at this point.

"Ha! Steve is a dead man walking! Because when AUSTIN 3:16 meets PILLMAN 9 MM GLOCK [brandishes weapon and loads it], I'M GONNA BLAST HIS SORRY ASS STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

Everyone freaks the hell out as the camera instantly goes to commercial as Pillman holds the gun. After this wild edgy segment , Vince has us go to the kid friendly Karate Fighters Tournament he's running. Psycho Sid vs Marlena. She talks to the toy very sexually hints about making it a star. Sid wins as Marlena breaks character and comically tells the toy it will never work in this town again and wants a reshoot.

Outside Pillman's house , Austin is attacked by his friends who he brawls with. One he throws into the kids wadding pool and tries to drown while he smashes a car door in anothers face. Austin taunts the one guy claiming he should never mess with him. The kids toys are tossed at them as the can of ass whip is just being epic. Now he's throwing trash from trash cans on them. Austin I believe is even wearing an ECW shirt as he does this , as the front has red marks across the face of it while on back it proclaims our bad boys are EXTREME. He goes to the door and tries to break into the house.

Alex Porteau has now became The Pug as his name is dropped. The Sultan comes to the ring with Bob Backlund and Iron Sheik for this match. On the mic the insane Backlund screams out loud. He introduces the star of the 21st century. He proclaims they will build that fence , Sultan will build that fence and make them cross over it. So oddly , Backlund had predicted Donald Trump's bizarre wall concept. Sheik gets down in the middle of the ring and does a prayer to Allah on the carpet he has brought before the match.

McMahon acts worried over things happening at Pillman's house as Lawler claims someone needs to warn Austin not to go inside. In ring the Sultan works over The Pug as Lawler pleads with Brian Pillman to call the cops. To put the gun away as McMahon himself claims that Pillman has always been high strung , which is light code for ...he's bat shit insane. Also brings up that they were close friends and former World tag team champions at one point. Which is a rare thing to see Vince accept former wrestlers past histories as his company was changing. The camel clutch finishes off this squash match for the Sultan.

Inside the home of Kevin Kelly as he's freaking out as Pillman holds the gun. Then we see Austin smashing the back glass to come through the back door as Melanie Pillman screams . Austin walks around the corner as a crazed Pillman stands and points the gun at him ! The screen and camera suddenly go on the fritz as McMahon claims they lost the feed. Jim Ross is in ring as he will interview Psycho Sid as he comes down.

Sid looks like he's dripping enough oil , water or sweat that he's soaked up the world. I mean he is the MASTER ...AND RULER....OF THE WORLD ! In weird fashion Sid isn't acting insane at this with his crazy laugh or eye gestures. Shawn Michaels comes out as he's wearing the WWF Shopzone denim shirt the company is selling. This is made into some kinda weird debate. Given the 2016 Republican debates I think Psycho Sid would be a welcome to debate Ted Cruz.

Things start off with Jim Ross showing some history the two have. April of 1995 , Sid gave 2 Psycho bombs to Shawn and its asked how he could be his friend now. Shawn brings up how that was last year and time has changed , but he knew Sid was needing a chance as he went and got him from the loony bin he was from. Which Sid reacts angry and yells that is utter bull shit and he's never been in a loony bin and came from it into the WWF.

Shawn however claims he knows himself he was there and that people have been there. Sid does his crazy act and rubs his face. Its questioned why he hit Shawn from behind last week and we see Sid is trading punches and he throws his arm back to deliver a punch and it hits Shawn. You really can't tell if its by accident or purpose but he calls J.R. a fatso and said it was an accident and that HBK can take it any way he wants. Shawn accepted Sid's apology over it and claims he knows it was an accident . That they are friends to a certain point and it being the WWF World title.


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

McMahon then takes us away from Michaels/Sid : Friend or Foe 96 debate , to Brian Pillman's house. But they can't cut yet as Shawn proclaims he will beat Sid once and he'll do it again. Jim Ross questions if Sid can beat Michaels since he's a bigger , stronger athlete. Sid laughs and seems giddy at this and proclaims he is also an athlete. Shawn taunts worse that Sid's not in his league as the Psycho one taunts , yeah your a little league star ...little man. This irks Shawn it seems who does Flair's line about being the MAN. Sid seems to sense he's getting at Shawn's nerves as he calls him little man and acts giddy some more laughing.

At this point Shawn gets pissed and throws down the debate podium. Picture Ted Cruz finally snapping on Donald Trump folks wanting to fight him. Jose gets close to Sid who he warns to stay back old man. Shawn gets more angry and questions why he believes he can push a 60 year old man around. Sid answers by shoving Michaels and they nearly come to blows as Shawn throws off his shirt. Jim Cornette stops the two men from ready to destroy each other right there.

Cornette rips into Sid and HBK over what happened. That Psycho Sid cheated Vader from his WWF World Title shot , Shawn has never beaten his man Vader. So they come to the ring as the brawl begins. Shawn gets the best of Bulldog while Sid is handling Vader with ease. Then Owen Hart uses the steel chair and nails Sid. At this point Shawn grabs the chair and chases the heels away as Sid slowly gets to his feet. Then Psycho Sid sees the chair as Shawn explains what happened .

As they talk Owen sneaks back in as we see them clean house together , then Shawn and Sid argue and have to be separated by WWF Security. As Lawler jokes one moment they get along , the next they are ready to fight. Freddie Blassie advertises WWF : Full Metal the album with Shawn's theme. A little boy does Shawn's dance routine. Also comically the album was made in 1995 and features guys who no longer was in the company from Jeff Jarrett to Hakushi.

The feed is still down as Vince claims they are still attempting to regain the satellite feed as we see what happened earlier where Austin beat up Pillman's friends in his front yard. McMahon claims that is what they have right now. That he's heard authorities have been called over it. Coming to the ring is Marc Mero and Sable. Mero's symbol has changed as its now just fireworks display.

Mero is facing fake Razor Ramon who comes down as they discuss Pillman and Austin some more. Then we see Jim Ross join them on commentary who rips Vince and claims he's the only guy who will tell it like it is. Ross is questioned over things as he claims he knew Austin was gonna go to Pillman's home yesterday and they spoke then. That he's obsessed with Bret Hart and Survivor Series.

The match in ring has Mero in control to start as some guy in the WWF satellite truck named Kerwin Silfies calls in and claims everything went black regarding things and they are on the road right now. No power inside the house and no one has came outta the house. Silfies claims that a couple explosions was heard and its shaken everyone up. They are working on things and they don't wanna leave the truck right now.

Ross speaks up and claims they had better stay safe and not worry about getting pictures. Mero is finally caught from the top rope by fake Razor as he taunts him with some pushing his head with his boot. Vince questions the likelyhood of restoring the feed as Silfies claims they don't wanna go back outside. Jim Ross rips on him for knowing he had to realize what would happen and he should feel responsible because all he cared for was TV ratings. Then McMahon starts to crack as he warns Jim Ross to not be getting wise on him right now.

Lawler speaks up that they should focus on this match. McMahon claims that responsibility should be taken by proper people and Jim Ross goes...yes you. You sent a film crew out there and you knew Austin was a wild card. Mero rallies back as they bring up Perfect trying to hit on Sable. He will be on WWF Livewire. During the match out comes Perfect and Helmsley.

Mero does his gesture to set up for his big 460 splash as Perfect distracts the referee , as Helmsley throws him off. This allows fake Razor to deliver the razor's edge finisher. Him and fake Diesel celebrate the win. Then we go back to Pillman's house as the feed is back as Pillman acts insane as his friends hold him back. Kevin Kelly claims no shot was fired and Austin left. Oh nooo...he's back !

Pillman's friends all grab Austin and block him outta the house as Pillman limps over and has his gun drawn , yelling , "Turn the son of a bitch loose ...you don't know who your f---king with !!" . All while Kelly screams to call the cops as Melanie Pillman screams in terror. The show ends there.


The Bad - Vince had seen the answer and decided that if last week's show focused on Stone Cold Steve Austin , this one should as well. Austin was becoming the hottest damn heel in the business at this stage and Vince was intent on selling it to new levels. He of course would do so in epic style screw up as this became so infamous ...it became the "Brian Pillman gun incident RAW" .

USA Network had moved the show to a kid friendly hour to get the jump on Nitro (which aired from 8pm-10pm) . So much like the Billionaire Ted skits that pissed off the network , this had the network go ballistic on him. The increased violence and fact that it hinted that someone was shot or killed by a gun had the network react so angry , they demanded an apology and its claimed nearly cancelled RAW. But Vince took the heat and would get to keep airing WWF programming on the network. (Basically because WWF programming accounted for a ton of USA Network's program hours and losing it would cripple them)

While this angle raged on RAW had some of the worst matches to air during this time. We got a very slow prodding bad opening match as Windham was allowed to change his Stalker character some. You also got a squash with the Sultan and finally a lackluster main event.


OVERALL : *1/2 outta 5. This RAW was more infamous for the Steve Austin/Brian Pillman deal. Fast forward through everything else. Even the debut of Rocky Mavia. He did nothing at all really. This show set the stage for what USA Network would later allow in 1997 , plus push the show back to 9pm to do that. But for now , the company had to handle a very bad show and press from it. Still ...who else doesn't like the line... "Steve is a dead man walking! Because when AUSTIN 3:16 meets PILLMAN 9 MM GLOCK , I'M GONNA BLAST HIS SORRY ASS STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

[SUPERECWFAN1]

WWF Monday Night RAW - November 11th , 1996



Your Hosts - Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

RAW has the classic intro this week with no McMahon vignette discussing things. Its a rarity but its clear Vince doesn't wanna show any of what happened at Pillman's house due to USA Network's anger at what they aired. We get the WWF World tag team match to kick off the show to lure viewers from Nitro. Its gonna be Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs Psycho Sid & Shawn Michaels. They show clips of the last few weeks of this tag team clash building and the heat growing between Sid and Shawn.

Vince questions if Sid and Shawn can trust each other tonight to work together. Sid comes out 1st and looks like he literally is soaked with oil , sweat or water as he moves his head and it soaks people near the ramp. Psycho Sid , the Gallager of pro wrestlers ladies and gentleman. Shawn is out next as Vince brings up HBK being on Regis & Kathie Lee this morning. A nice spot has a 2-3 year old dressed as Michaels clapping.

McMahon apologizes to people for what happened last week with Steve Austin who is on split screen. Austin is tired of Vince apologizing for him and its PATHETIC SON . He will do whatever the hell he wants , when he wants to do it ! He's gonna find Bret's dressin room and lock his lil sharpshooter on before MSG this weekend. The match in ring starts quick as Owen Hart tries jumping Sid to start and that doesn't work as well as you'd imagine. Him and Shawn do a nice tag and double team move.

Vince predicts the WWF World tag team titles will change hands tonight. As we go to commercial Shawn in a nice spot helps flip Owen outta the ring as he skins the cat and slides back into ring. Then after the commercial Bulldog is in ring working against him and not faring any better. In a nice spot Bulldog catches Sid from the ropes and does a huge suplex. Bulldog then makes the mistake of trying a leg drop as Psycho Sid played possum and moves.

Sid and Shawn continue to make solid tags in and outta the ring. Finally Owen catches Michaels with a kick to the back as he hits the ropes and the heels start to work him over. Sid tries to rally the crowd to get behind Shawn to rally back. After hitting the ropes Shawn does a side roll up in a near pin , but his rally is killed as Owen catches him with a clothesline and tags into Bulldog. Who acts all cocky kicking him repeatedly.

McMahon brings up that Steve Austin will be on later tonight while Bret Hart is also there. Owen nails a nice neckbreaker in a good spot. Sid reaches for the tag as Owen climbs the ropes and tries a flying body press. Shawn rolls it over with momentum and gets another close pin fall. Sid gets angry as he tries to get in there as the heels work over HBK.

We then get a vignette of Bret Hart and his return. That he accepted the best challenge from what he considers the best wrestler in the WWF right now. Its Stone Cold Steve Austin. Bulldog & Owen do more nice double team move as again seconds later , Shawn gets yet another close pin fall as he tries a small cradle on Owen. McMahon advertises that Shawn will be on America Online to chat with fans.

Sid keeps trying to save Shawn but gets held back by the referee allowing Shawn to take punishment. Lawler believes its a good strategy to soften up Shawn before this Sunday. Finally Shawn is able to make the hot tag as Sid is dismantling the bad guys in quick fashion. Psycho choke slam to Bulldog. He then gestures for the Psycho Bomb to him as Owen gets tossed over his back. This allows Bulldog to reverse it and flip Sid over.

In the corner as Shawn dumps Owen Hart , he sees Bulldog rising to his feet as he steadies his super kick. No clue Sid is rising up as well. Then outta the corner Sid charges to do what exactly at Bulldog ? He eats the super kick as Shawn covers his face in shame. So much in shame he doesn't make the save as Bulldog makes the cover. Owen pulls him outta the ring as they fight. Shawn goes to save Sid from more punishment as soon Owen gets back in and nails an enziguri. Leaving both men laid out !

Dok Hendrix on WWF Superstar line , Dok Hendrix brags up the shocking surprise person at WWF Survivor Series (it was Jimmy Snuka). After this McMahon replays the super kick that took out Sid. As he seemingly wanted to taste the super kick from the angle we saw earlier. Vince makes sure that angle doesn't play again. Backstage Kevin Kelly claims WWF officials have separated both men in different locker rooms til things get discussed.

Hendrix is back to promote WWF Survivor Series. Lawler begs for Dok to discuss his team as he does. The King calls them losers. We get promotion for the mystery partner who is part of the team of Savio Vega/Flash Funk/Yokozuna/ (it would be Jimmy Snuka). This team is facing fake Diesel/Razor Ramon/Faarooq/Vader. That is how far Vader had fallen folks.

Then we see that a new tag team of Doug Furnas/Phil LaFon will be with the Godwinns against Owen Hart/British Bulldog and the New Rockers. Finally we go backstage where Kelly claims Psycho Sid is very upset. He will get word with him soon , but before that ...out comes Mankind with Paul Bearer and the Executioner. The Executioner folks is the legend ...Terry "Bamm Bamm" Gordy. Which is nice to see Gordy get the paycheck before his career would end , but I wish he was under his real name.

Mankind is facing Freddie Joe Floyd (Tracy Smothers) in this. Floyd goes right at him as Vince claims he's upset WWF Superstars before (not that I have seen). Floyd nails a nice back side kick to Mankind but soon gets dumped from the ring for his trouble. In the ring , in the corner Mankind slugs him down. Then seconds later delivers his running knee into the face. Seconds later Floyd tries to fight back and eats a piledriver for the hell of it. He then signals and waves for the mandible claw ...and puts Floyd out !

As Mankind cradles the urn , the Undertakers chime rings as we see the arena go dark. Then we see that small cage lower as the Paul Bearer dummy is upside down. Bearer freaks out in horror at this as Undertaker tells the Creatures to say good-bye to these poor souls who will pay come Survivor Series. This is ONLY THE BEGINNING PAUL BEARER.....OF YOUR TORMENT AND PAIN ! REST.....IN......PEACE bwa ha ha ha.... Mankind tries to fight the small cage in anger. Both men yell never and Mankind foams at the mouth !

A WWF Hall of Fame spot shows Killer Kowalksi who rose in fame due to being one of the most vicious sobs in ring ever. He by accident ripped off Yukon Eric's ear (which WWF plays up) due to years of damage to it. The Valiant Brothers are next to be inducted. Jimmy and Johnny Valiant are being inducted , even though they had a third storyline brother who was added in 1979. But the WWF is inducting the classic Valiant brothers here.

McMahon airs a promo of the 1st ever 3rd generation superstar to compete as Rocky Mavia is excited to debut at Survivor Series. We see him working out in gym and with Kelly as they walk. Rocky claims its something else to imagine that 30 years ago people screamed his grandfather's name "Peter Mavia" and his fathers name 20 years ago "Rocky Johnson". We see Rocky introduce his father Rocky Johnson into the Califlower Alley club in a nice spot. Then we see him work in ring and shows some skills.


END OF PART #1

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Rocky then looks at the camera and claims , in 5 years I wanna look back and ask if I gave 110% effort to achieve what I wanted and I wanna make sure I did. That the fruits of his labor will show then. We return to Kevin Kelly as Pyscho Sid paces as he's snapping more. Throwing a trash can in anger backstage.

After a Big Bang Boom tour advertisement , we see Sid snap on camera. He tells Kelly to shut up as he brings up the mistake , that he was kicked right in the face. Friend or not , he will not be kicked again. Then he quotes a bible verse about no man turning to stone....BECAUSE.....I AM....THE MASTER....AND RULER ...OF THE WORLD !! Sid seeths in anger.

Backstage we see Stone Cold Steve Austin who tells McMahon all he does is talk. Then he warns Bob Holly he's in for the lesson of his life tonight. Then he warns Bret Hart what is coming at Survivor Series. That its the most important match of his life making that big comeback. That he's busy trying to please the people and his family. All he pleases is himself ! He claims they don't have to wait after he finishes Holly off , as he will find his locker room !

Then after a great Steve Austin promo we get the Karate Fighters deal. With Sable vs Dok Hendrix. Sable of course beats the animated Dok Hendrix. I wonder if Hayes ever imagined 10 years earlier he'd be on TV playing with toys in a commercial and acting like he lost the tag team titles over it. Next time we get Bob Backlund vs Sunny.

Another backstage spot has Kevin Kelly discuss things with Shawn Michaels. Shawn claims him and Sid have always had personalities that have clashed at times and not clicked fully. He's also tired of people thinking he's chump change as Bret believes he's a role model and super hero and Sid claims to be the Master of the World. They always end up eating a boot in the teeth. He then tells Sid that tonight was an accident , but he will make sure he eats a super kick at Survivor Series ! Shawn yells he wants respect and he will damn well earn it this Sunday !

Austin comes out as fans have Austin 3:16 signs , then we have Jim Ross come out for commentary for Austin vs Bob Holly. Jim Ross claims he ate with Austin earlier and his mind is on Bret. Holly has a full epic mullet . Backstage we see that Bret Hart is watching Austin on the TV monitor , studying Stone Cold for this Sunday's match.

Stone Cold is having some trouble to start with Holly , but thumbs him in the eye in quick fashion. Jim Ross claims he tried talking to Austin and convince him to make the right decision , but he's in his typical vile mood. Then J.R reveals that next week we will see who the toughest man in the WWF is as Austin will face...Vader one on one ! This is likely a tryout to see how fans accept Stone Cold as a face.

Ross brings up that for charity Bret Hart will be at C & M Variety for the kids. As Austin stays in control we go to commercial as we get the Austin vignette as he talks trash in an alley about Bret Hart. That he will beg for mercy at MSG. In a cool spot Austin does the Thez press and nearly gets rolled up by Holly for a pin. In a cool spot Holly later nails a frankensteiner on Stone Cold as he rallies back !

In a slow prodding match , Austin makes a mistake by charging late into the turnbuckle as he eats a shoulder in the ring post. But he later nails a stone cold stunner as Bret Hart seems to nod it was impressive. Then we see Austin leave the ring as he comes to the back , as they know he's going backstage to find Bret Hart. Then we see Austin at the door as McMahon says go ahead and do it. But Stone Cold stops and taunts Vince claiming he wants to see it. But he wants him and others to pay to see him beat Bret's ass at Survivor Series.

Austin pounds the door and taunts as he claims he's giving him the week til MSG. Then by accident he opens the door some. Then walks off as the show ends.


The Bad - The super kick on Sid was completely funny as the one angle showed Sid throwing himself into the kick as he was completely in the turnbuckle and not rising beside Bulldog as planned. McMahon used the other camera angles to sell it better.

Rocky's debut onscreen to talk about his family was nice. But as you can tell , he was a long way from being that polished guy he would become. The segment was so sentimental nice guy Rocky Mavia , I'm sure fans barfed at it.

Comically the door is opened by Austin after he claimed he wasn't gonna open the door. You can tell he screwed up and quickly walks from the door to end the segment.


OVERALL : *** Outta 5. After last weeks utter horrible performance in ring , McMahon started off RAW with a hot tag team match. Of course the finish was wonky but it added to the Psycho Sid/Shawn Michaels clash coming , plus we got more hype for the other big matches of Mankind/Undertaker and Bret Hart/Steve Austin. The character of Austin was becoming a slow fire as people were carrying Austin 3:16 signs to show. And it seems like Vince was gonna test Austin out for a face turn next week.