Post by Shatter Machine on May 7, 2016 12:39:22 GMT -5
So I set the Way Back Machinetm to January of 1997 to look at when the WWF was last this low, and see what they did to make the product better. They kind of had a perfect storm, with Austin drawing all of the insane heat leading to WrestleMania, Bret Hart turning into a grumpy prick, and Shawn Michaels acting like his true self. It really made for everything working. This is the beginning:
1997.01.06 WWF Monday Night Raw
Vader opens with a promo, and he will take on Bret Hart. The premier episode of Shotgun was the previous Saturday, and it really served as a prototype for what RAW would become later on. Highlights are shown of Terri Runnels taking off her top (we didn't get to see anything good, and she was wearing pasties, anyway), and Ahmed Johnson hitting the Pearl River Plunge on (I think) D’Lo Brown on the roof of a car. If they added Shotgun to the Network, I’d probably get it.
Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are on commentary
Owen Hart (with Clarence Mason)
Vs
Mankind (with Paul Bearer)
Mason was involved with Farrooq and the Nation at this point, but was still active with Owen and the Bulldog. Owen hits a belly-to-belly and mixes it up with Mankind right away. He goes for a sharpshooter, but Mankind wiggles to the ropes. Vince tells us that the official should probably allow a little more leeway with the rules. Mankind hits a knee in the corner, and then he rakes the face. They speculate on Owen and Davey Boy Smith splitting up, but Bret would put the kibosh on it to form the Hart Foundation. Owen goes after the mandible claw hand, but Mankind hits the Cactus Clothesline. They brawl to the floor, and Owen hits Mankind in the gut with his tag title belt, then he dumps him on the railing. Longish heat segment on Mankind, who was the most unsympathetic heel ever here. Owen kicks and punches, then gets an abdominal stretch. Mankind hip tosses out of it, but Owen hits the killer enziguiri. They go to the floor, and Mankind leverages him into the rail. He hits Owen with a monitor, and we go to a commercial. Back, and Mankind hits a suplex. Replay shows that it wasn’t a monitor but an empty plastic tub. Owen hits a DDT, then goes up. Mankind catches him with the Mandible Claw coming down, but Owen escapes. He misses a charge into the corner, and Mankind finishes him off with a piledriver. ** Mankind rocks with the urn after the match.
Vince does an interview with Shawn Michaels, Jose Lothario and Pete Lothario about Shawn’s match with Sid for the WWF World Title at Royal Rumble.
They show more highlights from the debut of Shotgun Saturday Night, including Ahmed Johnson beating up the NOD and the debut of the Flying Nuns.
Honky Tonk Man is out to do commentary with Vince and the King.
“Diesel” (Glen Jacobs) and “Razor Ramon” (Rick Bogner)
Vs
Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon
Furnas and Lafon were a pretty awesome tag team, but they couldn’t get over with American audiences because neither one of them could cut a promo. They wound up in ECW for a while, then went back to All-Japan. “Razor” hits a blockbuster slam, and there’s virtually no heat for this. Lafon hits “Razor” in the corner for 2. Snap suplex, and Furnas grabs a headlock. Razor gets an arm-wringer, then the spin around punch. (I give Rick Bogner credit, he did a nice job of aping Scott Hall. Not as good as Cody is doing currently in New Japan, but he's got genetics on his side.) Furnas hits a belly-to-belly on “Razor”, but “Diesel” hits a boot to the back from the apron. Lawler spends some time mocking Ahmed Johnson, and Vince shills tickets to the Royal Rumble. “Razor” hits a pump-handle blockbuster slam, though. Diesel hits Furnas with a sidewalk slam for 2. He gets caught in the corner, and the fans start shitting all over this match. “Diesel” misses a leg drop, but Furnas still can’t make the tag. He misses a charge, and there’s the hot tag to Lafon, who cleans house. Lafon jumps off the second rope into a boot, but hits a Northern Lights Suplex on “Razor”. Furnas and Lafon hit some double team stuff, and Furnas gets a Frankensteiner for 2. They clothesline “Diesel” over the top, then hit the top rope clothesline into a bridge for the pin on “Razor”. * ½
Last week, Hunter Hearst Helmsley tried to kidnap Marlena, and it degenerated into a brawl, leading to a tag team match featuring Goldust and Marc Mero Vs Hunter and Lawler.
Bret Hart does a quick back stage promo.
Sycho Sid is out for an in-ring interview with Jim Ross. His music keeps playing during the interview, and it’s really annoying. Sid was so BAD on the mic. My God. He says he was “Born the man.” And he will beat Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble. He will walk in the man and walk out the man because he’s the master and the ruler of the world. And of bad promos. Shawn Michaels and Jose Lothario join us. Shawn dances on the announce table, and Sid leaves.
Bret Hart
Vs
Vader
Shawn mocks Bret’s all white boots. This past weekend on Superstars, Jim Cornette, Vader’s manager, ran his mouth for way too long and got hit with a tombstone by Undertaker. Vader plays to the crowd, and Shawn keeps running his mouth about Bret. It comes off really dickish and petty, knowing what was to come. I mean, I know you don’t like the guy at all in real life, but why bury him on commentary? You’ve got a big money program coming up with him, so why not try to make him look a little better, as opposed to coming off like a petulant asshole? I realize that is the overriding factor in Shawn’s psychological make-up, the need to be as abrasive as possible, but it really kills whatever they were trying to build to here. Anywho, Vader and Bret brawl to the floor, and Bret whips Vader to the steps and posts him. Then the railing. Back in, and Bret works an arm-wringer, taking Vader to the mat. Vader knocks him down with a body attack, then punches in the corner. He hits a short clothesline, and Bret is down. He comes off the middle rope with a clothesline, and before we go to the break, we see Steve Austin looking on. We come back, and it's the same move. He sets him and hits a second rope splash for 2. Vader teases the Moonsault, but decides on the Vader bomb. Bret gets his knees up, and that starts his comeback. Shawn mocks the Five Moves of Doom, and Bret hits the Russian Leg Sweep and the second rope elbow. Back suplex gets 2. Bret hits a cross-body, and they tumble over the top to the floor. Sid comes out and hijacks a cameraman, and Steve Austin ambushes Bret in the aisle as the referee deals with Vader. Vader rolls Bret back in and hits the Vader Bomb for the pin. Wow. That kind of shocked me, Bret doing a semi-clean job on TV. * ¾
Back stage, Sid has attacked Pete Lothario, power bombing him on a table. Shawn cuts an irate promo, but there’s no sound. Slo-mo replay of the powerbomb takes us out.
The bottom line: Holy crap, I forgot this was only an hour long. I love that they had three matches, all with finishes, and they did a really good job of building to the next PPV. Shawn’s heel turn tease was just that, a tease, and everyone knew they were putting him over Sid strong at the Royal Rumble. I also like the slow burn of Bret’s turn, as well as Steve Austin raising hell. Good show this week. Thumbs up.
1997.01.06 WWF Monday Night Raw
Vader opens with a promo, and he will take on Bret Hart. The premier episode of Shotgun was the previous Saturday, and it really served as a prototype for what RAW would become later on. Highlights are shown of Terri Runnels taking off her top (we didn't get to see anything good, and she was wearing pasties, anyway), and Ahmed Johnson hitting the Pearl River Plunge on (I think) D’Lo Brown on the roof of a car. If they added Shotgun to the Network, I’d probably get it.
Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are on commentary
Owen Hart (with Clarence Mason)
Vs
Mankind (with Paul Bearer)
Mason was involved with Farrooq and the Nation at this point, but was still active with Owen and the Bulldog. Owen hits a belly-to-belly and mixes it up with Mankind right away. He goes for a sharpshooter, but Mankind wiggles to the ropes. Vince tells us that the official should probably allow a little more leeway with the rules. Mankind hits a knee in the corner, and then he rakes the face. They speculate on Owen and Davey Boy Smith splitting up, but Bret would put the kibosh on it to form the Hart Foundation. Owen goes after the mandible claw hand, but Mankind hits the Cactus Clothesline. They brawl to the floor, and Owen hits Mankind in the gut with his tag title belt, then he dumps him on the railing. Longish heat segment on Mankind, who was the most unsympathetic heel ever here. Owen kicks and punches, then gets an abdominal stretch. Mankind hip tosses out of it, but Owen hits the killer enziguiri. They go to the floor, and Mankind leverages him into the rail. He hits Owen with a monitor, and we go to a commercial. Back, and Mankind hits a suplex. Replay shows that it wasn’t a monitor but an empty plastic tub. Owen hits a DDT, then goes up. Mankind catches him with the Mandible Claw coming down, but Owen escapes. He misses a charge into the corner, and Mankind finishes him off with a piledriver. ** Mankind rocks with the urn after the match.
Vince does an interview with Shawn Michaels, Jose Lothario and Pete Lothario about Shawn’s match with Sid for the WWF World Title at Royal Rumble.
They show more highlights from the debut of Shotgun Saturday Night, including Ahmed Johnson beating up the NOD and the debut of the Flying Nuns.
Honky Tonk Man is out to do commentary with Vince and the King.
“Diesel” (Glen Jacobs) and “Razor Ramon” (Rick Bogner)
Vs
Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon
Furnas and Lafon were a pretty awesome tag team, but they couldn’t get over with American audiences because neither one of them could cut a promo. They wound up in ECW for a while, then went back to All-Japan. “Razor” hits a blockbuster slam, and there’s virtually no heat for this. Lafon hits “Razor” in the corner for 2. Snap suplex, and Furnas grabs a headlock. Razor gets an arm-wringer, then the spin around punch. (I give Rick Bogner credit, he did a nice job of aping Scott Hall. Not as good as Cody is doing currently in New Japan, but he's got genetics on his side.) Furnas hits a belly-to-belly on “Razor”, but “Diesel” hits a boot to the back from the apron. Lawler spends some time mocking Ahmed Johnson, and Vince shills tickets to the Royal Rumble. “Razor” hits a pump-handle blockbuster slam, though. Diesel hits Furnas with a sidewalk slam for 2. He gets caught in the corner, and the fans start shitting all over this match. “Diesel” misses a leg drop, but Furnas still can’t make the tag. He misses a charge, and there’s the hot tag to Lafon, who cleans house. Lafon jumps off the second rope into a boot, but hits a Northern Lights Suplex on “Razor”. Furnas and Lafon hit some double team stuff, and Furnas gets a Frankensteiner for 2. They clothesline “Diesel” over the top, then hit the top rope clothesline into a bridge for the pin on “Razor”. * ½
Last week, Hunter Hearst Helmsley tried to kidnap Marlena, and it degenerated into a brawl, leading to a tag team match featuring Goldust and Marc Mero Vs Hunter and Lawler.
Bret Hart does a quick back stage promo.
Sycho Sid is out for an in-ring interview with Jim Ross. His music keeps playing during the interview, and it’s really annoying. Sid was so BAD on the mic. My God. He says he was “Born the man.” And he will beat Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble. He will walk in the man and walk out the man because he’s the master and the ruler of the world. And of bad promos. Shawn Michaels and Jose Lothario join us. Shawn dances on the announce table, and Sid leaves.
Bret Hart
Vs
Vader
Shawn mocks Bret’s all white boots. This past weekend on Superstars, Jim Cornette, Vader’s manager, ran his mouth for way too long and got hit with a tombstone by Undertaker. Vader plays to the crowd, and Shawn keeps running his mouth about Bret. It comes off really dickish and petty, knowing what was to come. I mean, I know you don’t like the guy at all in real life, but why bury him on commentary? You’ve got a big money program coming up with him, so why not try to make him look a little better, as opposed to coming off like a petulant asshole? I realize that is the overriding factor in Shawn’s psychological make-up, the need to be as abrasive as possible, but it really kills whatever they were trying to build to here. Anywho, Vader and Bret brawl to the floor, and Bret whips Vader to the steps and posts him. Then the railing. Back in, and Bret works an arm-wringer, taking Vader to the mat. Vader knocks him down with a body attack, then punches in the corner. He hits a short clothesline, and Bret is down. He comes off the middle rope with a clothesline, and before we go to the break, we see Steve Austin looking on. We come back, and it's the same move. He sets him and hits a second rope splash for 2. Vader teases the Moonsault, but decides on the Vader bomb. Bret gets his knees up, and that starts his comeback. Shawn mocks the Five Moves of Doom, and Bret hits the Russian Leg Sweep and the second rope elbow. Back suplex gets 2. Bret hits a cross-body, and they tumble over the top to the floor. Sid comes out and hijacks a cameraman, and Steve Austin ambushes Bret in the aisle as the referee deals with Vader. Vader rolls Bret back in and hits the Vader Bomb for the pin. Wow. That kind of shocked me, Bret doing a semi-clean job on TV. * ¾
Back stage, Sid has attacked Pete Lothario, power bombing him on a table. Shawn cuts an irate promo, but there’s no sound. Slo-mo replay of the powerbomb takes us out.
The bottom line: Holy crap, I forgot this was only an hour long. I love that they had three matches, all with finishes, and they did a really good job of building to the next PPV. Shawn’s heel turn tease was just that, a tease, and everyone knew they were putting him over Sid strong at the Royal Rumble. I also like the slow burn of Bret’s turn, as well as Steve Austin raising hell. Good show this week. Thumbs up.