Grim Reviews RAW and PPVs (October 1996-October 1999)

[Bobby Barrows]

Grim Reviews RAW and Pay-Per-Views
(October 1996-November 1999)

So here we are, delving back into the year of 1996, to have a look at some classic wrestling of the age, and what a time to be alive. The Monday Night Wars were in full swing; WCW was dominating the ratings beginning in July (and would continue to beat the WWF in the ratings until April of 1998), the WWF was beginning a slow financial decline, and they were getting desperate. Here, we have the WWF’s top stars being Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Vader, and Sycho Sid. But there was a star on the rise; his name was none other than “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Austin had recently won the King of the Ring. We’ll see the beginning of his rise, the many twists and turns of his career, and finally Survivor Series 1999, where he is hit with the car.​

 

[Chris]

Let's go Grim

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Monday Night RAW
October 14th, 1996
Hersheypark Arena, Hershey, Pennsylvania

The show starts off with a promo package for Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin in the main event of tonight’s Monday Night RAW. I believe this is either their first or second encounter against one another, and it’s a pretty good main event hype package. Unfortunately it won’t do enough to tune in viewers from World Championship Wrestling’s Monday Nitro. We get Kevin Kelly and Jim Ross on commentary. Immediately we're off with Vader and Jim Cornette. They mention that Vader will face off against Sycho Sid at In Your House: Buried Alive.

Vader w/ Jim Cornette vs. Phineas I. Godwinn w/ Hillbilly Jim​

Yeesh. Big brawly match, but Vader carries the match tremendously well. On commentary, JR is beefing with Vince. This of course was during JR's heel turn. JR even mentions producer Kevin Dunn by name. And if you know me very well, I absolutely hate Kevin Dunn with a passion. The man is killing wrestling today with his terrible brand of “cinematography”. Vader is working… snugly, let's say. Sycho Sid comes out to distract and jaw jack with Vader. It works, for a second. Phineas Godwinn gets ahead a little bit, terribly. He almost hits the Reverse DDT, known as the Slop Drop. Vader holds the rope, causing Phineas to hit the floor hard. Vader hits the Vader Bomb for the victory. It was… a match. Best I can say, really.

(Action in Motion)​

After the break, Jim Ross introduces a Minnesota great, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. Mr. Perfect has been feuding with Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later-to-be Triple H). Perfect says there's only one Mr. Perfect, and that's him. Ross asks him if he's ready to go. Perfect says he's never backed down from a challenge, and he's ready to wrestle anytime, anywhere. He cuts a pretty good promo; dare I say… a perfect promo.

We come back to see Jerry Lawler disparaging Jake “The Snake” Roberts. The story thus far is that Jerry “The King” Lawler continues to call Jake Roberts a drunkard and other insults. Which is based entirely in reality, because Jake Roberts has a history before, and after this, of abusing and being addicted to drugs. Thankfully Roberts became permanently drug-free in 2013 thanks to the help of Diamond Dallas Page.

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler​

Out comes Jake Roberts, who “appears” drunk… much to Lawler’s delight. This uh... this was a much different time in 1996. But it was all a ploy! Roberts bamboozled Lawler and slams him with the DDT for the easy victory! A quick match, but honestly, kinda funny. Lawler gets fooled, Roberts outplays “The King” and gets some much needed revenge. After the match, Jake Roberts pours a bottle of “whisky” all over the face of Jerry Lawler, and the snake follows after.

(Action in Motion)​

Up next is “The Real Double J”, talking about his falling out with Jeff Jarrett (who went to WCW earlier this year). This was a very silly attempt to get Jesse James (in about a year-to-be the Road Dogg) over with the fans and a way to bury Jeff Jarrett. It obviously doesn’t work, and I don’t care for it watching back on it in 2020. Basic story is that “The Real Double J” is the real singer to Jeff Jarrett’s supposed single “With My Baby Tonight”. We get a sneak peak of Jesse James talking about his time in Desert Storm (which is real, Brian Armstrong served in the US military and was a part of Operation Desert Storm).

Freddie Joe Floyd vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/ his valet​

Our next match is between Freddie Joe Floyd (the recently deceased Tracy Smothers, rest in peace), and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Before the match starts, Helmsley handcuffs his lady to the ropes. Nothing says a confident man like handcuffing a woman, eh? In kayfabe, it’s because Mr. Perfect continually steals Hunter’s women and thus Hunter is trying to prevent that from happening. It’s a pretty good match all things considered, although after both Vader vs. Godwinn and Lawler vs. Roberts, my expectations must be lowered. Floyd controls the early match, but a flying knee turns the match around in the mid-point.

It would be apt to say that Triple H is still not great at this time in his career. I would admittedly say that Hunter would get good around mid-1997 or so. So anyways, Mr. Perfect comes down to ring-side to talk to the hand-cuffed lady. It manages to not only distract Hunter, but Perfect also has a key to the cuffs! He is, of course, perfect. Hunter hits the Pedigree, which… Floyd kicks out from? Huh. Hunter is too distracted and goes after Perfect, who turns around and waylays him with a big right hand. Down goes Hunter! Down goes Hunter! Down goes Hunter! Hunter gets counted out and somehow the jobber gets the count-out victory over Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

(Action in Motion)​

We cut backstage to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who has a message for both Bret “Hitman” Hart and the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. He says that since Hitman wasn’t enough of a man to face Stone Cold (Austin had challenged , he’s gonna whoop Shawn Michaels ass (for reference, Shawn Michaels beat Bret Hart for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII). Let me just say, this is still when Austin was a heel, but he’s so clearly a babyface in waiting. His character is consistent as well-- he hates everyone and works alone. This is one of the biggest superstars in wrestling history, folks.

After the commercial break (which also hypes up Mr. Perfect vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley for next week’s RAW), Sunny comes out. She hypes herself up, and I cannot blame her. While Tammy Sytch has fallen on some majorly hard times in the 21st Century, Sunny in 1996 was great. She was beautiful, gorgeous, and knew how to play a bitch. This promo had nothing to do with anything, it was just Sunny hyping Sunny. Enough said.

We got a pre-taped promo from Mankind following Sunny’s thing.He and Paul Bearer (who turned against the Undertaker at SummerSlam) sit next to a giant hole in a rainy cemetery. Mankind declares that it will not be his body that fills this hole, but that of the Undertaker. Mankind also says that he has a vision of Taker clawing through the earth looking for friendship, but finding none. For reference, Taker and Mankind had been feuding all throughout the year of 1996. Paul Bearer declares that Taker will rest in peace. Good lord what a promo.

After that promo we have Sunny actually joining the commentary booth and flirting with Kevin Kelly; when Sunny asks how much Kelly makes, and finds out he only does “okay”, she immediately switches lanes. What an absolute bitch.

Farooq Assad vs. Alex Porteau​

Up next we get a squash match between Farooq, otherwise known as Ron Simmons, and Alex Porteau, a jabroni. Poor Farooq has some of the worst ring-gear I have ever seen in my life. How in God’s name did Vince McMahon think that powder blue was a good color for a three time All-American football player and former WCW World Champion? Good lord. Farooq just manhandles this poor guy, by the way. Alex Porteau just doesn’t even stand a chance. They are hyping up Farooq vs. Marc Mero for the Intercontinental Championship at In Your House: Buried Alive. Farooq wins and Sunny hypes him up.

(Action in Motion)​

After the match, we get a recap of events that happened on WWF Livewire (which for reference, was a sort of call-in show that the WWF hosted where wrestlers could interact with fans via phone calls, or even other wrestlers). We get Ahmed Johnson and Farooq going at it over the phone. These two were feuding at the time as well. They are against each other, and talk about how they have similar backgrounds. Farooq has a parting shot regarding Ahmed’s other kidney; that has to do with Farooq accidentally giving Ahmed a lacerated kidney when Farooq first attacked Johnson. Pretty good stuff, I suppose. It of course leads to the never-ending feud of Farooq and Ahmed Johnson that we’ll see in 1997.

We get another pre-taped promo, this time from The Undertaker. He stands in the same graveyard, this time without the rain. Taker says that the rain has stopped, but that it’s the quiet before the real storm; he mentions that every-time Mankind escaped his “purple fists” (in reference to his gloves), Mankind became more powerful, but more evil. Taker says he has no choice. He must be the judge, jury, and executioner for Mankind. He will do what it takes, even if it means destroying himself.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels w/ Jose Lothario​

What a main event. Steve Austin at this point in his career is one of the most underrated technical wrestlers, and Shawn Michaels is one of the greatest in-ring performers of all-time. These two have themselves a great, short match. It is intercut with a promo by Vader and Jim Cornette, who are looking to get another title match against Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series; they first have to beat Sycho Sid though. Sycho Sid also has a small promo, and he completely talks about Vader; he does mention that he’s the master and ruler of the world. I don’t know about you, but Sid is the master and ruler of my heart. I love this guy even if he can’t wrestle worth shit.

Both Austin and Shawn tease their finishers, the Stunner and Sweet Chin Music respectively, but fail to hit them. The match ends in a DQ when Vader comes out and attacks Shawn. I totally get it; it protects Austin from having to eat the pin, and it keeps Shawn from having to lose. Out comes Savio Vega (who’s been feuding with Austin on and off all year), and Sycho Sid, and we get ourselves a big schmoz. Then out comes fake Razor Ramon and fake Diesel (a massive can of worms; Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left WWF for WCW to form the nWo, and WWF decided to keep their ring-names and put new people behind it). It’s all an entirely confusing mess. Long story short, Austin throws Shawn into Sid, and the two of them get into an argument. We go off the air with more fighting.

(Action in Motion)​

Overall, the show was okay. It had a few neat moments here and there, but nothing to write home about outside of Mr. Perfect clocking Hunter, Roberts bamboozling Lawler, and some awesome moments in the short Austin vs. Michaels main event. For a go home show hyping up a Pay-Per-View, it’s what it is. Tune in next time for In Your House: Buried Alive!

 

[Chris]

Not well-versed in the Raws of this era but these are a really easy read and the gifs help a lot

Why'd you pick this one to start with exactly?

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Not well-versed in the Raws of this era but these are a really easy read and the gifs help a lot

Why'd you pick this one to start with exactly?

I *thought* it was the first time Austin challenged Bret, but I was wrong, but went with it anyways. :

 

[Chris]

It gave you that Mr. Perfect punch so it all worked out in the end.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

WWF
In Your House: Buried Alive
October 20, 1996
Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 9,649​

We arrive at our first Pay-Per-View on our journey through these retro wrestling reviews, and of course it is one of the more infamous WWF shows: In Your House: Buried Alive. The show took place at the old Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana. 9,649 fans were in attendance for this show, and on commentary we had the regular crew of Vince McMahon, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Jim Ross. The show kicks off with a promo package for Mankind vs. The Undertaker in the Main Event: a Buried Alive match! We instantly start getting technical difficulties as Jim Ross's microphone and headset just aren't working... and I for the life of me cannot tell if this is a rib (a wrestling term for a practical joke) or a shoot (another wrestling term for legitimate).

Out comes Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the first match of the night, and who is it against? Well it's Steve Austin of course! Wasn't he supposed to be facing off against Savio Vega!? Apparently Savio got injured, so Hunter is inserted into this match instead. That's not the only match that's been messed up on the card. Apparently Ahmed Johnson injured Farooq so now the Intercontinental Championship match is Marc Mero vs. Goldust.

We get a quick backstage promo between Kevin Kelly and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Austin is asked if his game plan has changed, to which he states he has a list, and everyone's on it, so it doesn't change "a damn bit". He then declares that Savio Vega isn't actually hurt, and that he knows it for a fact. He gives Hunter some credit for being a man and stepping up to challenge Stone Cold; Austin then pivots to Bret Hart coming onto RAW tomorrow night. He hopes it's Bret's retirement announcement, because if not, Austin is going to retire him then -- and that's the bottom line. Austin also has an amazing jab at people who, at this time, were getting pretty persnickety with some of the language he was using, and in his own words, "they can just kiss my a**". I love Steve Austin; he is, in fact, the best thing going in wrestling at this time (unless you're into the nWo).

Steve Austin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/ His Valet​

The match starts off pretty slowly for the most part, quite a bit of stalling and slight wrestling holds for no apparent reason. Austin does flip Hunter the double bird to a pretty remarkable reaction following a takeover hold, and God bless this crowd, even with nothing happening, they start chanting "Perfect" in reference to Mr. Perfect's problems with Hunter. I actually think the stalling makes a bit of sense, considering they are two heels that nobody likes (except for Austin, everyone likes Austin, even if the WWF doesn't want you to yet). A great spot is when Hunter slaps Austin, whom immediately slaps the pi** out of Hunter's face in response. Once the match gets going, it gets good. It actually starts to turn into a pretty solid technical match and this crowd is all into it. Obviously, Hunter is the bigger heel of the match as he cheats constantly to gain an advantage. The middle of the match saw a nice sleeper hold battle where each guy would irish whip each other to prevent being knocked out, ending in Austin hitting a modified Stunner. Austin only got a two count, though. A good sequence in my opinion and I'm actually all for this match. Austin is extremely giving to the future Triple H.

Out comes Mr. Perfect and this crowd goes nuts. He distracts Triple H yet again, who gets attacked from behind by Austin. Austin, unsurprisingly, gets in the face of Perfect, who yells, "Don't you ever get in my face!". The cojones of Mr. Perfect is not lost on Austin or anyone else, ladies and gentlemen, because Perfect grabs Austin's tights and starts jaw-jacking with him. Austin backs off, and like a heel, throws a cup of water on him when he has his back turned. Perfect is hot and tries to go after Austin, but Austin gets into the ring and eats some punches by Hunter. Hunter has the match won as he's about to hit the Pedigree, but dag-nabbit, he's still miffed about Perfect stealing his lady and goes after him. Austin attacks Hunter from behind and Perfect still wants a piece of Austin. Look at all of this storytelling (that will inevitably be rendered useless in the very near future)!

Austin has a suplex countered and he takes a bump on the solid concrete, which is ouch, ouch, ouch. The finish sees Austin missing his attack on the ropes, but recovering while Hunter doesn't realize. Austin hits the Stone Cold Stunner and bada bing, bada boom, Austin wins this match in a pretty scant 15 minutes. This was a good match and a pretty solid opener. I think this is much better than what any Austin/Vega match could have been.

(Action in Motion)​

So following the match we got ourselves a video package for the Smoking Gunns vs. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith. It essentially recaps the troubles between the Smoking Gunns, with Bart Gunn focused on the tag-team championships, and Billy Gunn more focused on manager Sunny. It all comes to a head when Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith win the WWF Tag Team Championships from the Gunns, causing Sunny to quit on them. It's now about the Smoking Gunns fighting to not only win back the WWF Tag Team Championships, but Sunny as well. After the video package we get a Michael P.S. Hayes (until further notice to be referred to as Dox Hendrix) interview with the Smoking Gunns. Hendrix throws right to Billy and asks about Sunny and his obsession with her, and whether Billy can refocus on the championships without her. Billy Gunn mentions that she's probably still around somewhere and when *he* beats the Bulldog and Owen, *he'll* get Sunny back. Bart is flustered and tries to spell out that they're a tag team and thus it's "*we*", but Billy just steamrolls over him.

WWF World Tag Team Championships
The Smoking Gunns vs. The British Bulldog and Owen Hart (c) w/ Clarence Mason​

We get the WWF Tag Team Championships between The Smoking Gunns and the champions Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith. Billy Gunn is clearly heeling it up for the crowd, being overly confident and arrogant. Owen and Bulldog are a great tag team in all honesty. This is an okay match in all fairness. Sunny watches backstage, if for no other reason than just to get Sunny involved in the show; she is wearing like a beautiful red evening gown. A major spot is Bart Gunn fighting out of a sleeper hold, and running into the ropes, but look out!

Billy Gunn is in the middle of the apron jaw-jacking with Bulldog and eats the brunt of Bart running into the ropes. Billy goes flying and Bart looks distraught! Billy and Bart are arguing and this is where the story of the match comes in. The Smoking Gunns are just unable to work together as they are just on two different wavelengths. I will say this about Billy Gunn though, he is a great tag-team worker, but a bad singles performer. Once Smoking Gunns start controlling the match though, they find a way to just do enough to stay on the same page. But the finish of the match is actually pretty great. The Smoking Gunns are just about to hit their finishing move on Owen, but in comes Bulldog, who pulls Bart away, causing Billy to miss Owen entirely; Bulldog drags Bart out of the ring, Owen hits the flying side kick on Billy, and gets the 1-2-3 for the victory. An okay match, but it's obvious Owen and Bulldog dragged Bart to a good match.

(Action in Motion)​

After the match in comes Jim Ross who has had enough of these shenanigans and "technical difficulties" which I now believe is a total work. And Jim Ross cuts a damned scathing promo on Vince McMahon and tells everyone that Bret "Hitman" Hart will be in Fort Wayne, Indiana for tomorrow night's RAW. He takes credit for bringing back Hart, as well. Ross tells everyone that Hart may be bringing a shovel because he's going to bury some folks. He finally says that since Vince McMahon talks out of both sides of his mouth, he can have two mics. JR leaves in a huff.

Up next is a WWF Free For All interview from earlier in the night with Farooq and Ahmad. We now understand why Farooq is no longer challenging for the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Marc Mero. Ahmed had attacked him with a 2x4 and injured him. Classy, Ahmed, classy. Out next comes Mr. Perfect who is chatting with Jim Ross. He joins the commentary table and I'm all hype. It's now very clear that the broken mic was just a gimmick; which I'm personally not cool with. Why distract from the matches for this silly cr**? Perfect is so good on commentary.

In the back we get Marc Mero whom Jerry Lawler talks directly to. He asks if Marc Mero is getting cold feet after learning he has to face off against the "Bizarre One" Goldust. Mero mentions he's too focused on the match. Lawler says that every time Mero and Goldust have faced off, Mero has lost, to which Mero responds with "I'm the champ, and you're the chump, buddy!" Mero is not the greatest on the mic, but this was pretty funny.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Goldust w/ Marlena vs. Marc Mero (c) w/ Sable​

We start off this match with Goldust playing his usual mind games, but Mero having none of it. Man, when Marc Mero was younger he could fly around the ring was actually a pretty good wrestler. One annoying thing is Goldust's glitter being all over the damn ring. Goldust sucked in the ring though at this time in his life. He sure could bump like a boss though. There's actually not much to actually say about this match, it isn't bad but it's just so mediocre. It's actually pretty sad that the Intercontinental Championship was held by Goldust for most of the year outside of short runs by Ahmed Johnson and Marc Mero. A few years ago you had guys like Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Razor Ramon holding it. At least the Intercontinental Championship would see better days real soon.

There is one sequence I will concede was good though, and that was when both Goldust and Mero were running the ropes, Mero hits a big crossbody on Goldust, only gets a two, and then eats a clothesline from Goldust. Immediately afterwards, Goldust gets on the mic and tells the crowd to "shut the hell up". He then says if the crowd doesn't be quiet he's gonna go out there and stick his thong... somewhere. That was a bad strategy as Marc Mero recovers immediately and hits an amazing backflip crossbody onto Goldust. It was a legitimately great spot in this otherwise boring match. I will say the second half of this match is great. Mr. Perfect is having none of what referee Mike Chioda is doing, and goes out to help get Marc Mero in the ring when he's dumped outside.

Out comes Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Hunter and Perfect jaw-jack for a bit and while Goldust tries to blindside Perfect; it doesn't work, Perfect knocks his teeth out, and since the ref didn't see, it's not a DQ. Mero hits the Samoan Drop on Goldust and it's time for the finish. Marc Mero hits the Wild Thing and Marc Mero has successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship. Perfect, Sable, and Mero celebrate in the ring.

(Action in Motion)​

Up next we get a video package for the biggest hoss fight ever seen this side of 1996: Sycho Sid vs. Vader. The whole story is Vader claims Sid stole Vader's powerbomb so the two are duking it out for the #1 Contender's spot against Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. Out comes Sycho Sid with his awesome theme, and this man is over like Elvis came back from the dead. Sycho Sid is one of those guys who is so awesome despite being so bad at wrestling. He is indeed the master and ruler of the world.

Sycho Sid vs. Vader w/ Jim Cornette​

Right before the match, Shawn Michaels comes out to a thunderous applause. He shakes hands with Sid, but talks smack with Vader and Jim Cornette, then kicks Corny in the butt. Aaaaand we're off! This hoss match has both big men attacking each other with big power moves and I love it. Shawn Michaels joins us on commentary and he essentially spends all match hyping up Sid. Jim Cornette absolutely whacks Sid over the back with his trademark tennis racket, and right away, it is Vader's match to win. Sid had one of the funniest moves of the entire match: a sunset flip to Vader... a sunset. flip. For reference, that is diving over the top rope and over your opponent while holding their waist to get a pinfall. It was hilarious, to say the least. For reference, Sycho Sid is 6'9", and Vader is over 400 pounds. It looked hideous, which is why I'm laughing at this.

There's an amazing spot where Vader eats a big boot from Sid, and Sid tries to do a diving crossbody off the top rope... That didn't work out the way Sid wanted it to, as he gets caught by Vader, who slams him down like he was nothing. I love this match. It's not a stellar display of technical ability, but it's just two big dudes beating the the sh** out of each other, and I'm all for it. Vader goes for the Vader bomb and eats some knees to the stomach. Now comes Sid's big comeback. Shawn is going absolutely nuts on the mic.

Sid tries to go for the powerbomb, but notices Jim Cornette sneaking into the ring, he lifts the ropes violently to hurt Jimmy's crown jewels. Turnabout is fair play though as Vader low-blows Sid while the ref is tending to Cornette. Vader goes for a powerbomb of his own, but Sid powers his way out and hits a chokeslam for the win! Sycho Sid just beat Vader! Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid will be facing off against each other at Survivor Series! Shawn and Sid exchange words but shake hands and part as friends... for now.

(Action in Motion)​

Backstage we get Dox Hendrix interviewing Sycho Sid. Out comes Jim Ross to take over the entire interview. Poor Dox, man got cut in by both JR and Vince McMahon. JR asks the tough question: Is Sycho Sid willing to do anything it takes, including injuring Shawn Michaels, to become the WWF Champion. Of course Sid is willing to, he's the master and ruler of the world of course. Sycho Sid stumbles and mumbles his way through this promo but he gets the point across.

We finally come to the main event of the evening. A video package displays the entirety of Undertaker vs. Mankind. We get some pretty violent clips from between the post-WrestleMania XII RAW, and up until In Your House: Mind Games intermixed with The Undertaker and Mankind cutting promos. This was a pretty good video and honestly, WWF is great at doing videos.

Buried Alive Match
Mankind w/ Paul Bearer vs. The Undertaker​

So the premise for the match is pretty simple, the objective is to bury your opponent alive. These kinds of matches could literally only work with someone like The Undertaker. Now this is less like a big hoss match and more a straight up brawl. Mankind and Taker beat the ever-loving pi** out of one another. The first bump of the match is Mankind falling head first into the guard rails, which is ouchies. Mick Foley has probably taken more bumps to the head than anyone in wrestling history. Taker dives off the top rope to the outside and lands on Mankind. This match is okay. They have a giant set placed in the entrance way with the open grave where they start brawling at and trying to throw each other into. Mankind uses a shovel to attack Taker.

They begin fighting their way back to the ring after Taker recovers from the shovel attack quickly, and if you haven't noticed, there's a lot of brawling in this match. Just brawling all day long. For over 18 God-forsaken minutes these two men beat the absolute crud out of one another. I was honestly surprised neither man was busted open by the end of it. So they're back at ringside, and Taker is utterly killing poor Mick. Undertaker is choking Mankind with microphone cords; Jerry Lawler quips "I haven't seen this much choking since the Cardinals played the Braves". Timely joke Lawler! They go into the crowd they go, and Taker has an awesome spot where he dives over the guard-rail to attack Mankind. He just barely makes it over the rail because his foot absolutely caught the bottom of it.

Undertaker prepares for his Old School move (walking on the ropes), but Paul Bearer shakes the ropes and poor Taker falls right on the family jewels. It's here that Mankind takes over the match, trying desperately to disfigure Taker. A reminder that Mankind has a victory over Undertaker at SummerSlam just this year. Taker mounts a comeback but Paul Bearer hands Mankind a foreign object and of course Taker takes the brunt of it. It honestly looks like a taped up pencil or something.

Turnabout is fair play because Taker gives him a taste of his own medicine. Jerry Lawler is such a heel that he says it's okay if Mankind uses the foreign object in a No DQ match but isn't okay if Taker is. Taker starts to go after Paul Bearer, and Mankind sneaks up behind him, but Taker sees it coming! Mankind goes down, so Bearer hits Taker with the urn... Taker turns around and looks madder than a pack of rabid dogs. He starts going after Bearer again but he finally eats a chair to the head from Mankind.

Mankind drags Taker back to the site of the grave and now the two begin yet another brawl at the grave site. Into the grave goes Taker... Mankind starts to dig, but Taker drags him in! The two are now fighting in the grave, with Mankind doing everything in his power to stop Taker from coming back. Another great spot is Undertaker hip-tossing Mankind off the set and down to the floor below. Mick Foley, I love you, but this is why you can barely walk in 2020.

Back to the ring they go. Is this getting repetitive? I'm glad you agree. It's not like it's a bad match though. Mankind hits a sweet looking piledriver and tries to pin Taker... in a match where pinfall doesn't count. Taker mounts a comeback here but Mankind is one step ahead. Paul Bearer gives him a chair and DDT's Taker into the chair. Taker sells it like death... before he of course sits up and begins thwacking the crud out of Mick Foley's back and face. It is not pretty, ladies and gentlemen.

Mankind tries next to pile drive Taker onto concrete, but Taker backdrops him right onto the "steel" steps. Mankind has to be feeling a lot of pain, because Taker heaves those steps as hard as he can at Mick Foley's face. Undertaker lands the Tombstone Piledriver, and it is all over for Mankind. Taker literally carries him to the grave. Mankind lands the Mandible Claw right on Taker to get a last minute grasp of strength. Paul Bearer tosses Mankind the urn, and he's just about to hit Taker with it, when Undertaker grasps Mankind on the throat and hits the chokeslam right into the grave! Mankind is dead, folks. Taker wins the match, thankfully. What a long, long match. At least it was a nice brawl between the two.

(Action in Motion)​

After the match, Undertaker tosses refs off the set and continues burying Mankind. From behind comes the debuting Executioner (really just Terry Gordy in a mask, but don't ask, long story) from behind with a shovel and cracks Taker over the head with it. Ouch. They dig out Mankind and toss Taker in, starting to bury him themselves. This is a painfully long segment and funnily enough several heels from the back hop on out to help bury Taker as "thunder and lightning" strike in the background or whatever. This literally, I kid you not, goes on for over eight minutes. Good God. Crush, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Goldust, Bradshaw... Why are these guys helping out? Who cares, get that grave filled as fast as possible darn it! Honestly, a nice visual is the fans throwing trash because of the preposterous situation before them.

Eventually the thunder and lightning scare away the peanut gallery as well as Mankind, The Executioner, and Paul Bearer. Everyone thinks Taker is dead... when suddenly lightning strikes a shovel etched in the grave and a hand pops out from the grave (oh how obvious they were gonna do something like this). Thus ends In Your House: Buried Alive. Unironically this is a good show that is kinda underrated. Hunter vs. Austin is probably my favorite match of the night, Smoking Gunns vs. Bulldog & Owen is okay, standard tag-team affair for the time, Mero vs. Goldust is arguably the worst match of the night, and even it wasn't bad. Sid vs. Vader was a fun hoss-fight that had so many hilarious and awesome spots, and the main event was just one long brawl with big spot after spot. So yeah, for our first Pay-Per-View being covered, pretty darn good. We'll check up on RAW next time we come together.

 

[Chris]

RIP Undertaker

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Monday Night RAW
October 21st, 1996
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
​

It’s the RAW after In Your House: Buried Alive! We’re emanating out of the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We start off with a promo package, voiced by Vince McMahon, for Bret “The Hitman” Hart and his future within the WWF. Another package follows, voiced by Jerry Lawler, regarding the return to the ring of Mr. Perfect to wrestle against Hunter Hearst Helmsley! IT’S MONDAY NIGHT RAW!

Sycho Sid makes his way out. He was victorious at In Your House: Buried Alive against Vader to become the #1 Contender for the WWF Championship. My goodness does Sid look amazing here. He is absolutely jacked to the gills. Owen Hart comes out and oh my goodness, we’ve got a great match coming on!

Sycho Sid vs. Owen Hart w/ Clarence Mason​

Now who is Clarence Mason you might ask? He’s Owen’s lawyer; apparently, at least. Mason is actually a practicing lawyer who still is active today; he works out of Delray Beach, Florida. The match starts off with a lock-up which Sid just power tosses Owen away from him, like a goliath. A cool spot is when Sid goes to toss him again, Owen kips up and walks directly into Sid’s hand, who single handedly throws Owen over the top rope. Owen is livid and even contemplates leaving. He comes back and goes for a top rope attack, but Sid sees it coming. This match is slow going, but this crowd is sure hot for it.

Finally, Owen gets some offense in after slamming Sid to the ground, and from there the pace picks up a little. Owen hits a top-rope dropkick, and a clothesline to the outside! Sid is down on the outside; Vince McMahon sells it as though Sid is still feeling the effects of his match with Vader. What’s this? The British Bulldog coming down to ringside? He tries to attack Sid, but Sid counters and knocks down Bulldog! Chop block by Owen to Sid’s knee, thanks to Bulldog’s distraction. Then WWF decides it’s a great time to go commercial.

During the commercial break, we got an ad for the WWF Superstar Line; which I assume was the equivalent to the WCW Hotline, where you’d call in and get the inside scoop on happenings in the WWF. My biggest question for this is what in Sam Hill is Lex Luger’s WCW Theme playing in the background for!? You can literally hear it under Michael P.S. Hayes’ voice.

We’re finally back from commercial break and Owen Hart is making Sid walk across Texas, figuratively. Owen is smashing Sid’s knee against the ring post. Even Bulldog gets in on the action while Owen distracts the ref! This match so far has been kind of disappointing. I was really hoping for Owen to fly around and just sell like a madman. Alas, the story is Owen and Bulldog attacking Sid’s knee, and Sid just needing to survive.

Owen goes for a flying crossbody, and Sid counters into a slam! Sid goes for the leg drop on a downed Owen, but everyone should know that Sid shouldn’t fly. Owen gets out of the way and goes back to attacking the knee. Finally, Owen goes for the Sharpshooter, but Sid is too strong, man. Sid finally starts mounting a comeback with full fledged slaps to Owen’s face. I should probably mention that Sid’s punches are some of the worst I have ever seen, which is why him slapping works better.

As an aside, that reminds me of a great Hercules Hernandez story. One time in the early-80’s, Hercules was doing a run-in one time. He is accosted by a fan who tackles him by the waist. Now Hercules is madder than hell; he elbows the guy to get him off him and continues on like nothing happened. Two cops grab the gent and take him to the back where they wait for Hercules to deal with him. Hercules comes back, and full-fledged underhand slaps the man under the jaw with such force it causes the gentleman to crack his head on the wall behind him and knock him out for over half an hour. Jim Cornette later asks him why he slapped him instead of punching him if he was so angry, and Hercules Hernandez goes, “Aw Jimmy, if you hit someone with your fist you could hurt ‘em.” … and that was Hercules.

What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, Sid vs. Owen. Sid hits the chokeslam on Owen, and he’s about to hit the Powerbomb on Owen but Bulldog comes in and causes the disqualification! Out comes Shawn Michaels! Michaels goes right to Bulldog (whom Shawn had a rivalry with months earlier). Owen and Bulldog clear the ring and leave before they could be overcome. Shawn and Sid shake hands and have a friendly chat with one another.

(Action in Motion)​

We get a recap of the Buried Alive match between The Undertaker and Mankind. Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler talk about what happened during the match and the massive implications of it. This is all while “O-Fortuna ~ Carmina Burana” plays in the background. For reference, that particular song would have many appearances throughout the next few years for The Undertaker.

Here comes The Smoking Gunns. Billy Gunn looks pretty confident in himself, while Bart Gunn is nonplussed. Jim Ross has joined us at ringside! Jim Ross hypes up Bret Hart’s appearance, and jaw-jacks with Vince over the stuff that happened at the pay-per-view. Now, who are the Smoking Gunns facing off against? The Godwinns, of course. Good god is this a terrible gimmick. I cannot understate how bad the World Wrestling Federation was at giving people gimmicks at this time.

The Smoking Gunns vs. The Godwinns w/ Hillbilly Jim​

Yeesh. I’m almost certain this match is going to be bowling shoe ugly. It starts off with Bart and Phineas in the ring, and already I don’t care about this match one bit. Phineas I. Godwin is easily one of the worst wrestlers to get a job in the WWF. Oh, and we get a commercial break just as Billy Gunn gets tagged in; hooray?

We come back from commercial and hey, nothing has changed. Phineas is still in the ring and Bart just got tagged back in. Phineas starts running the ropes and Billy pulls down the ropes and causes Phineas to go flying out of the ring to the floor. Billy attacks Phineas outside, and jaw jacks with Hillbilly Jim. The Gunns attempt a tag team move, but Phineas gets out of the way. Henry O. gets tagged in and now we actually get some excitement! Henry O. is actually a good wrestler; pre-broken neck of course. The finish sees Bart double irish-whipped right into Billy, and he is hit with the Slop Drop by Henry! Godwinns win! They’re now the #1 Contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championships! Billy Gunn is madder than a rabid dog, I tell you what. The Gunns argue with one another while Vince McMahon hilariously plugs the 1996 WWF Hall of Fame ceremony.

(Action in Motion)​

A quick run-through of the 1996 Hall of Fame inductees. Pat Patterson, who passed away a few weeks ago here in 2020, was the first Intercontinental Champion, and was arguably one of the most important figures behind the scenes of all time--

An aside is needed here, as this is some serious stuff. In 1992, Pat Patterson was implicated in a sex scandal that saw him and several other members of the WWF staff accused of molesting younger members of the roster. The accusations on Terry Garvin and others are most likely true; the accusations on Patterson are believed to be more because he was openly homosexual. Is that to say that these accusations are false? Nobody knows for sure, but many people inside the business do not believe it.

-- Our next inductee is “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka; a man who had murdered his girlfriend in 1983 and walked off scot-free for 32 years. In 2015, Snuka was arrested and finally charged with the murder of Nancy Argentino. The charges were dismissed in 2017, however, not because there was not enough proof, nor because he was innocent. Jimmy Snuka walked away from murder because he was no longer mentally competent enough to stand trial. Can we please have more positivity here?

Ah yes, Vincent J. McMahon, father of Vince McMahon. He co-founded the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1953 and later rebranded as the World Wide Wrestling Federation until it was named the World Wrestling Federation and then was sold to Vince. This is a fitting induction, and I have no complaints here.

Alright, now that that depressing stuff is out of the way, we get a clip of Mr. Perfect being attacked by Triple H!? Oh no! Mr. Perfect’s knee is injured! Oh, and don’t forget, Bret Hart is next! Man this show has a serious case of ADD; even worse than me. We got an ad for the… ugh… Big Bang Boom Tour. What an awful name. This is why the World Wrestling Federation was bleeding money in 1996 and 1997. No wonder World Championship Wrestling was kicking their hineys.

Finally, something interesting! We get a video recap of Steve Austin on Livewire, and he is absolutely going off on everything. There’s a bit where he mentions going down to Stu Hart’s Dungeon, and kicking Bret’s a** for thirty minutes,and put him in the Sharpshooter for 10. Then he goes and says that Stu tried to break him up and he whooped Stu’s a**. I love Steve Austin. He was amazing in this early period of his gimmick.

Alright, here comes Bret Hart! I’d just like to say, Bret Hart has one of the best wrestling themes of all time. He comes out in a grey t-shirt and jeans, along with his iconic 1997 circle glasses. For the first appearance of Bret Hart on our review series, it is something to truly behold. Jim Ross interviews him and asks him if he’s going to retire or stay in the ring. Bret tells everyone he missed them, first off. He mentions that WCW wanted them, without saying them by name. Bret tells everyone that he was faced with the dilemma of either staying in the WWF or going somewhere else. Vince has this hilarious serious, grim, face on him. We go backstage to see all the wrestlers watching on TV; hey look, Steve Austin is right up front, and behind him is the late, great Brian Pillman. There’s also… The Rock behind him? The man hasn’t even debuted yet, but you can tell it’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson by those incredible side-burns.

Bret tells everyone he’s going to stay with the WWF forever. Let’s see how that statement works out next year, Bret-boy. Bret then talks about why he left. He mentions losing to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII fair-and-square. He has a few jabs at Shawn and how he rubs him the wrong way. The man quotes Richard Nixon, which is hilarious considering Nixon was a known cheater by then. Foreshadowing?

Bret finally makes the declaration that he is accepting Stone Cold Steve Austin’s challenge at Survivor Series. Brian Pillman celebrates right behind Steve Austin, who turns and gives him the death glare. For reference, Austin and Pillman are best friends and former tag team partners from WCW back in the early-90’s. Finally, something good on this program. Austin vs. Bret Hart at Survivor Series is going to be awesome.

There’s one last thing that Bret talks about. He tells the story of a little boy that became sick, soon the sickest boy in all of Canada. At his bed-side, when it looked like he was going to go, Bret told the lad that if he came out of this alive, he would un-retire just for him. Unfortunately, on July 16th, 1996, Bret’s 13-year old nephew Matthew Annis passed away after a battle of Necrotizing Fasciitis. He’s un-retiring because people need someone to look up to, and Bret is that man.

After the commercial break, we get Hunter Hearst Helmsley coming out, and an ad for the Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament! It’s here! The single dumbest few segments in WWF history right here folks. They hype up several of the matches, and Jerry Lawler has one of the funniest lines ever uttered when paired with the follow-up. “Sunny’s got a great pair of wrists” is what Lawler utters with a shit-eating grin. We all know he’s not actually talking about Sunny’s wrists here. The match-ups for the first round are Mr. Bob Backlund vs. Sunny, Dox Hendrix vs. Sable, Sycho Sid vs. Marlena, and Mr. Perfect vs. Henry O. Godwinn. My god.

Can we please focus on something else now? Like Mr. Perfect and his match! Bur wait, Mr. Perfect looks hurt and he’s walking out with the Intercontinental Championship Marc Mero and Sable! Gorilla Monsoon is here too. What’s all this about? Well what do you know! Mr. Perfect isn’t clear to wrestle now thanks to the injury from Hunter’s attack earlier! Perfect tells Hunter that Marc Mero is willing to wrestle Triple H in his stead. Hunter, being the smart heel that he is, mentions that he has no contract to wrestle Mero… however, he’ll do it *if* Mero puts his title on the line! Mr. Perfect talks for Mero and is like, “Yeah, he’ll put his title on the line! He’ll do just that, right champ? You’re better than him after all!”. Mero is pressured into it! Let’s get it on!

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Marc Mero (c) w/ Sable & Mr. Perfect​

We get ourselves the best match on this entire show, and it’s the main event! Marc Mero is putting his WWF Intercontinental Championship on the line against Hunter Hearst Helmsley! Immediately they cut to commercial break for the beginning of the match. Vince, you’re making me very angry here. Hunter is beating down Mero when we return, but not for long as Mero begins some awesome moves on Hunter. I’m surprised that this crowd is still into the show, but for a match this good, why not. Mero dropkicks Hunter to the outside, and he’s about to dive to the outside, but Hutner pulls Sable into the way. Sable slaps Hunter! Marc Mero is going to town on Hunter. We have a nice power pin spot starting with a sunset flip where the two trade pinning predicaments.

Hunter gets back in control with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. This match is pretty good, not gonna lie. Mr. Perfect and Jerry Lawler trade barbs between each other on commentary, and it’s pretty funny considering the ending of this match. Time for another commercial break, and we come back with an over the top rope leg-drop that was nearly botched by Mero. Mero is ready for the Wild Thing! He gets up to the top rope, and Hunter pushes the ref into the ropes, causing Mero to land crotch-first on the ropes. Hunter tries to superplex Mero, but Mero tosses him down and hits the Merosault! What a near-fall, and this crowd jumped out of their seats for that one.

The ref is down after Mero is irish-whipped into him! Hunter went and grabbed a steel chair! Sable, Hunter, and Perfect are all fighting for the chair; Perfect gets it for himself and is ready to hit Hunter… but he hits Mero instead! The ref didn’t see it! Hunter hits the Pedigree and now he’s the WWF Intercontinental Champion! Oh my god, Perfect and Hunter have been working together the entire time! What a shocking turn of events and a big swerve to end the show on.

(Action in Motion)​

That’s how the show goes off the air, leaving many questions for the next time on RAW. Overall this show was crud. Sid vs. Owen was disappointing, in the way only Sid can manage to make that happen. The Godwinns vs. Gunns match was not good, nor was it absolutely terrible. The saving grace of this show was Bret Hart and Mero vs. Hunter. With that said: it is absolutely going to get worse from here on out. RAW from this period of time (1996-1999) was absolutely dreadful outside of the major players. Tune in for the next RAW as we get to watch Shawn Michaels duke it out with The British Bulldog!

 

[Chris]

Man there was a time where Johnny B. Badd/Marc Mero was really a good worker huh it still blows my mind I'd say it was probably his last year or two at WCW and his first year in the WWF dude was on fire.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Man there was a time where Johnny B. Badd/Marc Mero was really a good worker huh it still blows my mind I'd say it was probably his last year or two at WCW and his first year in the WWF dude was on fire.

Of the top WWF workers in 1996, it was:

Bret > Shawn > Austin > Mero > Owen > Bulldog

Mero was easily the 4th best worker in the entire company around that time. He was absolutely amazing.

 

[Chris]

It's like in '98 when I say X-Pac was easily one of the WWF's best workers lol anyone that watches the year will agree but if you haven't seen it in awhile that sounds like a super hot take

 

[Bobby Barrows]

It's like in '98 when I say X-Pac was easily one of the WWF's best workers lol anyone that watches the year will agree but if you haven't seen it in awhile that sounds like a super hot take

Man, '98 was the pits though, of the top workers that year, it was:

Austin > Rock > Foley > Pac > Kane > Hunter

 

[Chris]

Kane?

I'd probably go Austin, Foley, Pac, Rock, and then maybe Jarrett or fucking D'Lo but a lot of that is that they were the ones that got more chances for extended undercard matches.

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Kane?

I'd probably go Austin, Foley, Pac, Rock, and then maybe Jarrett or fucking D'Lo but a lot of that is that they were the ones that got more chances for extended undercard matches.

Kane put on a lot of underrated matches tbheston.