Television Rewind Episode 1: WWF Thursday Raw Thursday 2-13-97
Introduction:
Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of CrazyMax’s Television Rewind. I am your host xstat32x. What we plan on doing here is pick random television shows, no rhyme or reason to it, and review them. I am the type of person who gets bored with one thing so this will help me stay entertained with the reviews and do different things at the same time. So without further ado we are going to head to the ring and get this show started. First up on the list is Thursday Raw Thursday from February of 1997. Somebody loses something along the way here…..wonder what that could be?
Show Opening:
The show opens up with Vince McMahon talking about Shawn Michaels forfeiting the WWF Championship. He states that the winner of the Final Four match will be declared the new WWF Champion. Then we get the opening music video and its this jabroni saying “Thursday Raw Thursday” over and over again. What garbage is this? Rocky Maivia comes out to the ring as we head to the announce table with Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler. McMahon talks about Shawn forfeiting the title. Ross hypes up the Vader vs. Bret Hart match where Bret is hoping to get revenge on Vader. We then head up to the ring where Rocky Maivia is awaiting the Intercontinental Champion Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
Match 1: WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (C) vs. Rocky Maivia
The match opens up with Rocky Maivia and Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a collar and elbow tie up. Rocky puts Hunter in a head lock but Hunter throws him off the ropes and hits Rocky with a hip toss. Hunter gets a head lock then turns it into a hammer lock. Rocky reverses it and Hunter does a drop toe hold into a head lock on the mat but Rocky reverses it into his own arm. They end up with Hunter being in a head lock by Rocky. You can hear the crowd chant “Rocky Sucks” already. Hunter gets Rocky in a surf board type move and pulls the hair of Rocky then slaps him in the back of he had.
Both men get up to their feet. Hunter then does his classic bow to show up Rocky Maivia. Hunter gets Rocky in another head lock but Rocky throws him into the ropes but Hunter hits him with a shoulder block. Hunter goes off the ropes again and Rocky hits him with a hip toss then a big time drop kick and it sends Hunter out to the mat. Hunter gets in the ring and pokes Rocky right in the eye to get the advantage. Hunter then throws a couple of punches and gets Rocky in a reverse chin lock on the mat. Rocky gets up and throws Hunter into the rope, Rocky sizes up a big right hand but Hunter holds on to the top rope so Rocky drop kicks him over the top rope. It looks hilarious because Hunter’s momentum didn’t really carry and he got stuck on the top rope so he went over like it was in super slow mo. Pretty funny looking spot there.
Rocky follows Hunter outside and he slams his face into the apron. Rocky then sets Hunter up on the turnbuckle post and goes for a clothesline but Hunter moves out of the way and Rocky nails the post. Hunter picks Rocky up and throws him back into the ring. Hunter then hits Rocky with an arm breaker and he follows that up with a knee to the injured shoulder of Rocky. He gets Rocky in an arm bar to work it over. Rocky gets back up to his feet and sends Hunter into the ropes but Hunter blocks the back drop and hits him with another arm breaker for a 2 count. Hunter picks Rocky up and throws him into the turnbuckle and nails him with a couple of massive chops as we head to commercial break. We come back and Hunter is still working Rocky over in the corner. WWF sure is piping in the boos for Hunter because it doesn’t sound real at all. Typical bullshit not letting guys getting over or heat on their own.
Meanwhile, the Honky Tonk Man comes down to the ring to do commentary for the rest of the match. Hunter then sets up Rocky with a nice vertical suplex. Hunter then drops a Harley Race type knee to the face and goes for the cover but he gets a 2 count. Hunter whips Rocky into the ropes and he dunks a clotheslines but Hunter nails him with his high knee on the way back. He goes for the cover and gets a 2 count. Hunter whips Rocky into the ropes again and gets Rocky in a sleeper hold. Rocky gets back up to his feet and throws Hunter into the ropes and he returns the favor by getting Hunter into his own sleeper hold. However, Hunter reverses the hold by going into the turnbuckle and falling down sending Rocky head first into the top turnbuckle.
Hunter whips Rocky into the ropes and goes for a right hand but Rocky goes under and comes back with his own right hands. He hits him 2 times with the punches then sizes him up with his third one. Rocky then whips Hunter into the ropes and hits him with a big time back drop. Rocky then goes to the top rope and hits a huge flying body cross on Hunter but Hunter rolls through and gets a 2.5 count on Rocky. Hunter whips Rocky into the ropes but Rocky reverses it and then lowers his head but Hunter comes in drops Rocky face first on his knee. Hunter then does a neck breaker on Rocky and goes for the cover but he gets out at 2.
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Hunter gets frustrated and lays in the punches on Rocky. Hunter picks up Rocky and dumps him with a brutal piledriver. He goes for the cover and gets a 2 count. Hunter starts arguing with the ref as Rocky gets back up to his feet. Hunter picks Rocky up and sits him on the top rope. Hunter then proceeds to slap Rocky 3 times. Hunter then nails Rocky with a huge superplex off the middle rope. Hunter goes for the cover and gets a 2 count. Hunter then picks up Rocky again and it appears he’s going for the Pedigree but Rocky falls down to the mat. Hunter then picks him up slowly but Rocky falls down again. Hunter picks him up a third time and this time Rocky grabs Hunter and gets him in an inside cradle for the 3 count. The winner and NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION……ROCKY MAIVIA!!!!!!
Recap:
This was a pretty good opening match for the IC Title. Hunter had a lot of great heavy offensive maneuvers at the end of the match to lead up to the finish. I really liked the finish because it showed the resiliency of Rocky and it showed where they wanted him to go as far as a performer. I would definitely recommend checking out this match just to see these two go at it before they became the mega stars that they are now. At least one of them are a mega star anyways.
Post Match Interview: New Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia
Dok Hendrix congratulates Rocky Maivia on becoming the new WWF Intercontinental Champion. Dok asks Rocky how it feels and Rocky responds with “I can’t believe it.” Rocky then guarantees the people he will give the best that he can give always. Dok then said he thought he was out of the match but his resiliency was amazing. Dok then mentions that his parents must be really proud of him. Rocky then says “Dad, grandfather, my whole family thank you. I will make you and all my fans proud.”
In Your House: Final Four Commercial
Dok Hendrix is hyping the upcoming In Your House Pay Per View that airs live this Sunday. Dok mentions that all four men are linked by controversy. Four men with a history of bad blood. Now these 4 epic superstars will wage war in a winner takes all match. Who will become the new WWF Heavyweight Champion. There can be only one!
M&M’s Slam of the Week
We get an awesome replay of Undertaker tombstoning Hunter Hearst Helmsley on an escalator from Shotgun Saturday Night. Hunter had to be half nuts to take this bump because the escalator was moving and with his long hair he would have been screwed if that shit got stuck in it. Luckily he came out okay but man what a crazy ass stunt. WWF was starting to push that envelope a little bit here and it’s nice to see.
Match 2: Headbangers vs. Bob Holly/Aldo Montoya
Sunny comes out first to be the special guest ring announcer. She is wearing a paper thin white dress looking amazing like she did back then. She ends up losing her cheat sheet paper for her ring announcing duties but she ends up finding them in her dress between her boobs. She introduces the tag teams as we get ready for some action.
Mosh and Bob Holly start off in the ring together. They get in a collar and elbow tie up and Holly pushes Mosh into the turnbuckle. The ref tries to get a clean break but when he gets in between them Mosh nails Holly with a right hand. Mosh then whips Holly into the ropes but Holly reverses it and goes then hits a leap frog on Mosh on the way back through and he follows that up with a hurricanrana on Mosh. Holly goes for the pin but the ref has no idea its even a pin so Mosh gets out on a 0 count. Mosh gets up and Holly nails him with a big time clothesline. Thrasher gets in the ring and he gets hit with a clotheslines as well. Holly then hits Mosh with a drop kick and then an arm drag into an arm bar. Holly then tags in Montoya and he goes off the top rope with an elbow to the arm.
Mosh backs Aldo into the ropes and sends him off but Aldo slides through and hits Mosh with another drop kick as he tags in Holly. Holly tries to whip Mosh into the ropes but Mosh reverses it and bends over so Holly jumps over then decks Mosh with a big right hand. Holly tries to whip Mosh into the ropes but both guys hold hands and go into the ropes together and it looks really awkward and like crap. Finally Holly whips Mosh into the ropes but Mosh reverses it and Thrasher nails Holly in the back with a knee to get the advantage over to the Headbangers. Mosh gets the tag into Thrasher and Mosh whips Holly into the ropes. Mosh falls to the mat and Thrasher comes off the middle rope and nails Holly with a clotheslines.
Thrasher then picks up Holly and drops him over the top rope. Thrasher then tags in Mosh and they hit Bob Holly with a double flapjack. Mosh then puts Holly in the corner and he distracts the ref so Thrasher can choke him in the corner. Thrasher gets the tag then he drops the knee on Hollys face. Aldo starts to clap to get the crowd in it and they don’t oblige so it’s just one guy clapping to get Bob Holly going. Mosh gets tagged back in and he hits Holly with a jumping side suplex and he goes for the cover and gets 2. Mosh then body slams Holly. Mosh then climbs to the middle rope and Thrasher front suplexes Mosh down on Holly.
Thrasher then gets the tag and he goes for a moonsault off the top rope but Holly moves out of the way. Thrasher gets the tag to Mosh and Holly tags in Montoya. Montoya hits Mosh with a clothesline and he sends Thrasher packing as well. Aldo goes up to the top rope and hits Mosh with a beautiful cross body for a 2 count. Montoya whips Mosh into the ropes and as he does this Thrasher tags in. Montoya bends over and Mosh hits him with a clubbing ax handle. Mosh then picks Montoya up and hits him with a power bomb as Thrasher comes off the top rope with a leg drop. Thrasher goes for the cover and they get the 3 count. The winners are the Headbangers!
Recap:
This was a decent match. Nothing special but not total trash either. Sunny looked hot as the ring announcer and she got the crowd going because they knew nobody would care about this one. Bob Holly had some pretty good offense especially throwing out the hurricanrana at the start there. Montoya worked fast and was entertaining to watch as well. The Headbangers are trash but their finisher was pretty damn awesome, at least on this show. I would recommend skipping this match but you may be entertained if you didn’t. Who knows at this point.
In Ring Interview: Shawn Michaels
The show comes back from commercial with Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon standing in the ring. Vince McMahon introduces Shawn Michaels by saying he is the most flamboyant and most charismatic WWF Champion of all time. Shawn comes out looking subdued and “injured.” Vince says this comes as a shock to WWF fans all over the world. Vince says maybe it shouldn’t be considering what he gives and what he brings to the World Wrestling Federation. What you bring to the WWF has taken it’s tole on him and his knee. Vince says that Shawn is facing a knee operation and wants Shawn to share what is going on inside his head.
“Well it seems like we have done this before.” Well no shit we’ve done this before because you have no idea how to drop a belt to someone. Dean Douglas anyone? He says this time its a lot more severe and a lot more serious than last time. Shawn says he has never had a doctor look at him in the face and say he may never be able to wrestle again. He said he was told that the other day by his doctor. Shawn says it is not something he believes but it is something he has to deal with. He says time has taken a tole on his body. Meanwhile, the crowd can give two shits about this sob story as they start reigning down the “We want Sid” chants. I don’t care what anyone says about Sid, the guy was super over for the majority of his career and he hardly had to do anything to accomplish that.
Vince says we know Shawn is just as disappointed as anyone that he can’t defend his title against Sid or the winner of the Final Four match. Vince then hypes up Shawn like it’s his job description by saying that no one in the history of the WWF, who has held the title, has had the schedule or has had to endure what Shawn has. Are you serious right now? Hogan was all over the place and doing promotional work for days and built a company as the WWF champion and you say this guy had the most grueling schedule? Better yet, didn’t you push this same garbage on Bret Hart 4.5 years prior when he first won the title? I do believe the promoting of Bret involved the whole “no one has ever defended the title this much this often” back in 93. Get off his nuts Vince.
Shawn states that he can’t do anything half way. He comes here and they chant a lot of different wrestler names like Sid, Bret, and anyone else. Shawn says they are going to have a lot more of that in the near future. Shawn then comes out and says, no matter what they think of him, he always wanted them to come out and have a good time and he wanted to be that person to provide that entertainment. Shawn says the most important thing to him was the performance. He wanted to make sure the fans didn’t regret buying tickets if his name was on the card because he wanted to send them home happy. Shawn then says there has been a lot of talk over the last couple of months of people having bad attitudes revolving around the belt. Only thing he knows today is that one thing that won’t be revolving around the belt for a long time is Shawn Michaels. By this point you can clearly tell the guy was on something during this promo. Slurred speech, stumbling over words, losing his train of thought, and just rambling. What a jabroni.
Shawn says he has to have everything checked and that he may be beyond reconstructive knee surgery. Or maybe he doesn’t want to return the favor to Bret and drop the title to him at Wrestlemania like most professionals would. Shawn says if he can’t come back and perform at the level he performed at before then he can’t perform. He says he can’t come out here and go half ass. He says he has to come out and romp and stomp and get tossed around and toss people around. He says he has to have fun or he won’t be able to do it anymore. Shawn says the schedule he took on was because he felt like he couldn’t say no. He wanted to do everything and enjoy his life as the WWF Champion. He wanted to ride in leer jets and limos. He wanted to do TV and sign autographs. Shawn says if nothing else he has that to take with him.
Shawn then says he knows we are at a time in the WWF where toughness is real big and unfortunately all he has right now is a lot of tears, sorrow and emotion. Shawn then hands the belt over to Gorilla Monsoon. Shawn says he is gong to go back home and see whats left for himself. Shawn says “Over the last couple of months I have lost a lot of things, and one of those things has been my smile.” What a bitch. Dude would come up with any garbage excuse to get out of dropping the title to someone who wasn’t his boy. He says his smile doesn’t mean a lot to everyone else but it means a lot to him. He says he needs to go back and fix himself and take care of himself and he has to find his smile. Somewhere along the line he lost it and he needs to find it. I don’t care of it’s unpopular, I don’t care if people want to make fun of me for being an emotional guy. He says this is all he has ever wanted to do and over the last year he has been able to do it. He said whether you like him or not this was the most wonderful year of his life. If he never gets to do it again then it will be okay. He said for one full year he got to be the number one guy in the business. He then thanks Vince and the fans and says he’s going to go home now. He then goes in for the hug on Vince and Gorilla. He walks around the ring and shakes hands with the fans as we head to commercial.
Recap:
Where do we even start with this garbage? This was all phony and a charade and the fact that Vince McMahon let it happen is laughable. Everybody knows the story by now so there isn’t much to discuss on that front but it is still amazing how much bs was spewed in this interview. Everything I’ve read regarding the knee was that it wasn’t that bad and he could wrestle if he wanted to. Shawn just didn’t want to drop the title to anyone so he came up with this shit to get out of doing it. You could also clearly tell he was on something during this interview because he was barely coherent and he was stumbling over his words every 5-10 seconds. It’s kind of sad to see to be honest. Obviously you want to check this out because of the ridiculousness of it but theres nothing here but a bunch of hollow words that are so far from the truth.
Match 3: The Undertaker vs. Savio Vega
We come out of commercial with Savio irish whipping the Undertaker into the turnbuckle but when Savio comes in, Undertaker grabs him by the throat and throws him into the turnbuckle. Taker then lays in the lefts and rights to Savio. Savio is selling like a million bucks for Taker and it looks awesome. Savio was underrated. Taker then hits an uppercut on Savio as he falls down to the mat. Savio gets back to his feet and he gets slammed into the turnbuckle. Taker then chokes Savio out while in the turnbuckle. Undertaker turns around and confronts the ref and the ref gets scared and runs off.
Undertaker irish whips Savio into the turnbuckle but Savio reverses and Taker crashes into the turnbuckle. Savio then whips Taker into the ropes and gets nailed with a big boot then a leg drop by Undertaker. Taker goes for a cover and he gets a 2 count. Undertaker then goes up to the top rope and hits the forearm smash to the back. Taker then whips Savio into the ropes and hits him with a back drop. Savio gets up and tries to get out of the ring but Taker grabs him and prevents him from going outside. Taker then has Savio trapped into the turnbuckle and Savio nails him with a low blow. Savio comes after Taker but Taker nails him with a clothesline. Taker then tries to irish whip Savio but Savio reverses it and hits him with a heel kick. He hits him with two more then he goes for the cover and gets a 2 count.
Savio then chokes Taker while he lays on the mat. Savio then pulls Taker’s head out over the apron and Savio hits him with two elbows to the throat. Savio gets back in the ring and he starts choking Taker out again in the turnbuckle. Taker hits Savio with a boot then a couple of clubs to the back but Savio regains control by nailing 2-3 chops onto Taker. Savio then drapes Takers throat over the middle rope and he sits on his back and chokes him out. Savio rakes the eyes of Taker and drives him back to the turnbuckle. Taker comes out of the turnbuckle and irish whips Savio into the turnbuckle and when Taker comes in Savio nails him with another spinning heel kick and sends Taker down to the mat for a 2 count.
Savio gets Taker in a rest hold and when Taker tries to get up and get out of it Savio just throws him back to the ground and gets him in the rest hold again. Taker then nails Savio with a kick and a few uppercuts to get control of the match. Taker whips Savio into the ropes and Taker bends over and Savio hits him with a spinning neck breaker. Savio goes for the pin but Taker kicks out and he sits up. Savio then whips Taker into the ropes and he bends over and Undertaker decides to just jump on his back with all of his weight. It looked like Taker was going for a leg drop on the back of the head but he totally botched that and he nearly destroyed Savio’s knee at the same time. Taker and Savio get up and Taker hits the rope and nails Savio with a big clothesline. Savio then gets up and Undertaker nails him with a big time choke slam. Undertaker goes for the pin and he gets a 3 count.
As soon as the bell tolls, all of the members of the Nation of Domination get in the ring and attack the Undertaker. Farooq and Crush come out to assist the Nation. Ahmed Johnson them comes out to save the Undertaker. Undertaker is laid out as all of the members go after Ahmed. Undertaker sits up and he takes PG-13 for a ride with a double choke slam. Undertaker and Ahmed clean house and stand in the ring together as they head to commercial.
Recap:
This match was okay. Nothing special here either. Savio did a lot of sweet looking spinning heel kicks but that was pretty much the beginning and end of his offense. Undertaker looked good like usual but that one spot that he totally missed looked really awkward and dangerous. I would check this out if you are a fan of either guy because you won’t be disappointed. If you are not a fan of either person then I would go ahead and skip this one.
Interview: Gorilla Monsoon
Dok says its a heartbreaking time for the WWF and ex WWF Champion Shawn Michaels. Dok wants Gorilla to explain his reasoning as to why he made the Final Four match for the WWF Title. Gorilla says a WWF Champion forfeiting their title is disheartening for everyone involved. Gorilla says no one wants to see anyone fall into this circumstances. Gorilla says its a golden opportunity for everyone involved in that Final Four and that the winner will become the new WWF Champion.
Dok wants to know where this match leaves Psycho Sid since he was the #1 contender. Gorilla says Sid will get his shot and it will be this Monday on Raw and it will be against the winner of the Final Four match.
Match 4: Sycho Sid vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Sid is going through his entrance and he turns his back to Austin so Austin attacks him from behind. Austin then puts him in the turnbuckle and hits him with shoulder blocks and right hands. Sid returns the favor and nails him with his own right hands. Sid then whips Austin into the ropes and he goes for a choke slam but Austin kicks him right in the nuts to block the hold. Austin then climbs up to the middle rope and starts to show off for the crowd. Austin was just getting in the swing of things with his character and its phenomenal. Definitely worth watching.
Austin then goes over to Sid and picks up his feet then kicks him in the nuts again. Austin then rolls Sid out over the apron and drops an elbow right at the throat of Sid. Sid then falls to the outside and Austin lays in a couple of rights. Sid then nails Austin with a big time chop to regain control of the match. Sid goes for a bulldog into the turnbuckle but Austin pushes him off and sends him right into the ring post. Austin and Sid get back in the ring and Austin hits him with an elbow coming off the ropes and goes for the pin. He gets a 2 count. Austin then tries to get an abdominal stretch on Sid and it’s just not working because of how big Sid is. Austin uses the rope for leverage and the ref finally catches him and makes him break the hold.
Austin whips Sid into the ropes but Sid reverses it and gets Austin in a sleeper hold. Austin drops down out of the sleeper and Sid’s chin goes right into Austin’s head. Austin gets a 2 count then puts Sid into a reverse head lock on the mat. Austin goes for a right but Sid blocks it and hits him with 2-3 right hands. Sid then kicks Austin in the gut and throws him to the mat. Sid goes for a big time leg drop but Austin rolls out of the way. Austin then tries to get Sid in the sharpshooter but Sid kicks him off because Austin starts talking trash to him. Both get up and Sid hits Austin with two clotheslines then he whips Austin into the ropes and hits him with a big boot.
Bret then comes into the ring out of no where and goes after Stone Cold Steve Austin. Bret gets Austin out of the ring and he starts to yell at him from inside the ring. Sid then grabs Bret and starts whaling away on Bret. They trade lefts and rights before the officials come in and do the ol’ pull apart. Sid is laying on Bret in the ropes with 6 officials trying to break them up. Bret then breaks free and he goes after Sid again. They continue to do this for a little while longer before the refs finally get the separated.
Recap:
There was really nothing special about this match. Austin dominated the action for the most part with punches and kicks that he became known for. They were basically building to the outside interference with Bret so they didn’t really do much during this match. Went through the motions. I mean if you want a compilation of the Bret vs. Austin feud then you may check this out for that but other than that go ahead and skip this stink fest.
Backstage Interview w/ Vader & Paul Bearer
Vince asks Vader about his opinion as far as the Final Four is concerned. Vader asks Vince how many wrestlers in the WWF can say in the last 6 weeks they have taken on the Undertaker and beat him. He also whooped Stone Cold’s ass on two separate occasions. He is also going to fight Bret Hart tonight. Vader asks who’s the man and what time is it while Jerry Lawler answers both of those questions.
Match 5: WWF Tag Team Title Match: Owen Hart/British Bulldog vs. Farooq/Crush
The match starts off with Owen Hart and Crush in the ring. They start in a collar and elbow tie up and Crush throws Owen down to the mat but he goes right into a kip up and gets back to his feet. Owen lays in some right hands and backs Crush into the turnbuckle. Owen then irish whips Crush into the other turnbuckle but Crush reverses it and when Crush comes charging in Owen lays him out with a big boot. Owen then hits Crush with a clothesline then he quickly goes up top and hits Crush with a flying body press for a 2 count. Owen hits the ropes but Crush grabs him and just drops him chest first to the mat. Crush then picks up Owen in a delayed gorilla press and he dumps him again. Owen quickly tags in the Bulldog and Crush tags in Farooq.
We come back from commercial break and Crush is in the process of dumping the Bulldog to the mat with a piledriver. Bulldog gets thrown out of the ring and Crush goes after Owen to distract the ref. Farooq throws Bulldog into the steel steps on the outside and rolls Bulldog back into the ring. Crush goes for the pin and gets a 2 count. Crush rams Bulldogs head into Farooq’s boot and tags him back in. Owen comes in to distract the ref as Crush and Farooq lay into the Bulldog. Bulldog reverses a back body drop and throws Farooq into the mat.
At this point they go to Bret Hart in the back and Vince McMahon interviews him during the match. Vince asks Bret what he thinks of Shawn forfeiting the WWF Title. In a sarcastic tone Bret says he’s sad that Shawn has to hang em up. Bret sees right through all of Shawn’s bullshit and is visibly upset with what is going on here. Bret says it’s a loss for everyone including himself. Bret says no one worked harder than Shawn and that is a big shock for the WWF. Bret doesn’t think Shawn’s career is over and he feels like he will be back. Bret says he would love to wrestle him because he has a score to settle with him. He hopes that Shawn gets his knee fixed and come backs. Vince asks him about his chances of becoming the WWF champion again at Final Four. He then asks him about Vader. Bret says its like wrestling a cement truck because of his size. Bret says Vader got the best of him before but he won’t do it again. Bret says it’s not Vader time, it’s his time.
As we get back to the action, Farooq goes for a splash but Bulldog gets his knees up. Farooq grabs a hold of Bulldog’s feet and Farooq gets the tag to Crush. Crush gets the Bulldog in a body scissor in the middle of the ring. Bulldog rolls back in the body scissor and gets a 2 count. Crush breaks the hold and drops a knee onto Bulldog’s back. Crush then picks up the Bulldog and nails him with a back breaker. Crush tags in Farooq and he goes for the cover and gets a 2 count. Farooq then puts the Bulldog in a bear hug. Bulldog reverses the hold and gets Farooq in a belly to belly suplex. Farooq gets the tag to Crush and he comes in and hits Owen so Bulldog can’t get the tag. Farooq comes in to distract the ref as Bulldog gets the tag but the ref didn’t see it. Owen is arguing with the ref as Farooq and Crush are choking Bulldog out in the corner.
Crush gets back in the ring and irish whips Bulldog into the ropes and they end up clotheslining each other. Bulldog tries to get up but Crush grabs onto his leg but Bulldog hits him with an inseguire and he finally gets the tag to Owen. Owen comes in hot and nails Crush with right hands. Owen whips Crush into the ropes and Crush reverses it but Owen ends up hitting him with a spinning wheel kick. Farooq comes in and he gets hit with one as well. Owen then goes up to the top rope and he hits a drop kick on Crush. Farooq comes in to break up the count but Bulldog comes in and knocks Farooq out. Owen gets thrown over the top rope and he buckled his knee on the floor. Owen tries to get back in the ring but he can’t so Farooq and Crush win the match via count-out.
After the match Farooq and Crush are attacking Bulldog. Owen is trying to get back in the ring but he is having issues getting back in the ring. Farooq nails the Dominator on Bulldog and Owen attempts to get in the ring a few times but he ends up falling back down and not getting in to help the Bulldog. Owen is limping to the back and the Bulldog comes out of the ring to confront Owen. Owen tells him whats going on and Bulldog ends up helping him to the back as we head to commercial.
Recap:
There wasn’t much to this match either. It furthered the dissension between Owen and Bulldog, which is probably what they wanted to accomplish. Farooq and Crush weren’t very good together and boring to be honest. The interview with Bret in the middle of the match was welcome since it was a bunch of rest holds during the match. Owen, of course, had the best offense of the match. He went off the top rope a couple of times and really got the match going. The finish was weak but I like it in the sense that Owen was faking so he didn’t have to help the Bulldog. Pretty good in that aspect. Other than that, not much going on here.
Interview w/ The Undertaker
Before the Vader vs. Bret match can even get underway, Undertaker comes out holding onto Dok Hendrix and he cuts a promo on all four guys in the final four match. Undertaker says he’s sorry for interrupting but there seems to be an issue with a respect and the Undertaker isn’t getting it anymore. He says in Tennessee the two of them plus Stone Cold will have to look into the reaper and each of them know they can’t beat him. Undertaker says that the time is at hand and all three of them will rest in peace.
Match 6: Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart vs. Vader
Vader attacks Bret from behind as he listens to the Undertaker’s promo. Vader goes to work on Bret then throws him outside of the ring. We are heading to commercial as Stone Cold comes out and attacks Bret on the floor before the refs break it up. We come back to commercial and Vader is laying in some head butts to Bret. Vader gets Bret into the corner and lays in some heavy right hands to the head and the body. Vader is just laying them while in the corner.
Vader then whips Bret into the turnbuckle then follows him in with a big time clothesline that sends Bret down to the mat. Vader climbs up to the middle rope and jumps off towards Bret but Bret catches him and gets him in a body slam. Bret grabs the leg and starts laying in the right hands to Vader. Bret whips Vader into the ropes and he follows him in with a right hand to the midsection. Bret follows that up with a side Russian leg sweep. Bret then picks up Vader and gets him in a body slam. Bret goes for the sharpshooter but Vader reverses it.
Bret lays in more right hands then gets Vader in a suplex. Bret goes to the middle rope and hits Vader with the elbow drop. Bret drops another elbow drop. Vader gets up to his feet and gets thrown into the turnbuckle. Bret whips Vader into the turnbuckle but Vader reverses it and charges at Bret but Bret moves. Bret then gets down in a school boy type move and Vader trips over him. Bret gets the sharpshooter on Vader but Vader grabs the ropes to put a stop to the hold. Stone Cold then shows up on the balcony and distracts Bret. Vader then drops Bret by the turnbuckle. Vader goes up to the top rope and goes for his moonsault but Bret moves out of the way.
Stone Cold laughs at Vader and calls him a piece of trash and says that Vader couldn’t do his job. Bret then goes for the pin on Vader and gets the 3 count. Stone Cold is about to climb over the balcony to go after Bret. Both men stare each other down as the show closes.
Recap:
Again, there wasn’t much to this match either. I sound like a broken record but this show’s sole purpose was to sell you on the pay per view Sunday and I feel like they did a pretty good job of doing it. It was pretty sweet to see Vader go to the top rope and do the moonsault. He didn’t do it very often but it was a treat to see. Bret was Bret and he got all his favorite moves in, of course. This was a decent match and worth checking out.
Final Thoughts:
The only reason I picked this show is so I could trash Shawn Michaels for losing his smile. I got my entertainment from that but I was also surprised at the loaded card for this show. Rocky vs. Hunter was a pretty good opener and it was surprising to see the IC title change hands. The two tag matches were kind of trash but they did there job and not to terrible to watch. Sycho Sid vs. Austin as well as Vader vs. Bret pushed the Final Four PPV pretty heavily. Then you throw in Undertaker vs. Savio and you have yourself a decent 2 hour Raw here. I remember watching this show as a kid and I got really pumped when they turned the Final Four match into a match for the title. I was so pumped I was actually able to convince my parents to let me get it on pay per view. I always liked that In Your House and one of the main reasons I got it was because of this show. Therefore, the show did it’s job and I would recommend checking it out if you get the chance.
