What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 07.29.96

Vince McMahon announces that Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson suffered a ruptured kidney because of Faarooq Asad’s attack on last week’s program.

McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, taped from Seattle, Washington.

Opening Contest: Sid (1-0) pins Justin Bradshaw (w/Zebekiah) (12-4-1) via disqualification when Bradshaw hits Sid with the bell on his bull rope at 1:03:

Sid gets a loud reception from the Seattle crowd. Bradshaw is not intimidated by Sid, getting in his face and exchanging blows. However, that backfires and Sid gives him a chokeslam. Zebekiah distracts Sid so he cannot follow up and Bradshaw, feeling he is outmatched, grabs his bull rope and bashes Sid over the head with its bell, causing him to get disqualified. The WWF’s unwillingness to sacrifice Bradshaw to Sid showed that they saw potential in him.

Bradshaw and Zebekiah double team Sid after the bell but he goes under a clothesline with the bull rope, mows them down, and powerbombs each of them.

Faarooq Asad and Sunny cut a backstage promo. Sunny hypes Faarooq as the champion of the 1990s and Faarooq notes that Sunny has made Ahmed Johnson respect women. Faarooq then casts himself as a street fighter, which does not jive with why he is dressed as a gladiator.

Vader (w/Jim Cornette) (11-1) defeats Marc Mero (w/Sable) (14-4) after a powerslam at 6:21:

This is the matchup that many fans thought they would see in the King of the Ring finals last month. Cornette opts to commentate rather than manage, hyping his man’s chances of beating WWF Champion Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam. Mero uses some of his agility to daze Vader, knocking him down with a somersault strike and earning a near-fall from a crucifix. However, Vader’s power quickly asserts itself as McMahon hypes an 11-man RAW Invitational battle royal next week with the winner getting a WWF title shot the night after SummerSlam. The field will include Mero, Goldust, Owen Hart, the British Bulldog, Justin Bradhsaw, Steve Austin, Sid, Ahmed Johnson, Mankind, the Undertaker, and Savio Vega. Mero excites the crowd by knocking Vader out of the ring with a clothesline, doing a tope, and coming off the top rope with a double axe handle. When he tries a flying sunset flip, he misses and has to crawl back into position for Vader to miss a sit down splash. Mero tries another dive off the top rope but Vader is prepared and wins the match by countering with a powerslam. Good aerial moves aside, this did not bring much to the table because there was not a good story for these guys to sink their teeth into. Rating: **¼

Before he leaves the announce table, Cornette says he wants to go face-to-face with Jose Lothario.

More footage of WWF President Gorilla Monsoon meeting with Clarence Mason airs. Monsoon gets Mason to admit that his client was caught with firearms and controlled substances and spent a day behind bars.

Sid’s chokeslam and powerbomb to Justin Bradshaw earlier in the show is the Stridex Slam of the Week.

McMahon moderates a confrontation between Jose Lothario and Jim Cornette. Cornette labels Lothario a has been and talks about how he is going to avenge Lothario’s punch on the Free for All weeks ago by taking the WWF title from Shawn Michaels. Lothario gets tired of Cornette running his mouth and grabs his jacket but much of what he says is not picked up by the mic. Cornette tries to hit Lothario with his tennis racquet but Lothario decks him with a punch. The crowd enjoys that but Michaels does not as he is attacked by Mankind and has the Mandible Claw applied to him backstage.

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The British Bulldog (w/Owen Hart) (7-4-2) pins Henry Godwinn (w/Hillbilly Jim) (0-3) after the running powerslam at 7:42 shown:

Lawler issues a challenge to Aldo Montoya for a rematch of their Superstars encounter on next week’s RAW. Montoya quickly accepts in the split screen, talking about how he will beat Lawler with the DDT again. Owen opts to do commentary, worried that Jim is going to get slop on his Slammy Award. That leads into a discussion of Owen being booked against Savio Vega at SummerSlam. Poor Justin Bradshaw is robbed of a pay-per-view payday as it seems like his feud with Savio should logically progress onto that show. After making some digs at McMahon for not having a Slammy, Owen says he is tired of people asking him about Bret Hart because Bret is a quitter who cannot handle losing to Shawn Michaels. When asked about his cast, Owen says it could take six months for his arm to heal. McMahon gives an indignant reply, arguing that Owen’s arm should only take six weeks and floating the idea that Owen will need to get a bone marrow transplant when all is said and done. Once again the commentary carries a lackluster match as the Bulldog does not use many of his power moves despite facing a rough and tumble wrestler. The ending is weak as Godwinn has the Bulldog set up for the Slop Drop and Owen stops it by knocking Godwinn’s slop bucket off the apron. When Godwinn and Jim look at the lost contents of the slop, the Bulldog hits Godwinn in the back of the head with a forearm and finishes him with the running powerslam. Rating: *½

Footage of Mark Henry setting a 903-pound deadlift record airs. McMahon hypes Henry as “The World’s Strongest Man” and Henry’s various media appearances. Fans are reminded that Henry gorilla press slammed Lawler on March 11, 1996 at a RAW taping.

Post-In Your House footage courtesy of Coliseum Video shows Mankind, Goldust, and Marlena in a boiler room. Mankind calls Goldust “mommy” and is mad at the Undertaker trying to hurt him on the pay-per-view. Mankind slams his head into a box and talks about how the Undertaker will find out that destruction can be beautiful.

Before the main event, Mankind is shown rocking himself in the arena’s boiler room.

Steve Austin (19-5-1) beats The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (8-3-1) via count out at 9:10 shown:

The intrigue of this bout is whether it will have a finish after the Undertaker beat Austin by disqualification on RAW last month due to Goldust’s interference. Austin displays a veteran’s intelligence in blocking the rope walk by crotching the Undertaker on the ropes and maintains the advantage with a mule kick. The Undertaker fights out of a chinlock and there is a nice spot where the Undertaker proceeds to crotch Austin on the top rope when Austin goes up there to do a move. After a chokeslam, it seems like the Tombstone will follow but Mankind walks into the aisle. The Undertaker drops Austin to follow and he fights his rival, causing him to get counted out. The action started to build nicely but got cut off to further the Undertaker-Mankind angle. Rating: **½

The Undertaker soon returns to the ring and makes fans in attendance and those at home happy by giving Austin the Tombstone. McMahon interviews the Undertaker and Bearer afterward. When asked about the Boiler Room Brawl against Mankind, the Undertaker says it is time for the Reaper to enter the serpent’s lair and that Mankind will rest in peace at SummerSlam.

Tune in next week for the 11-man RAW Invitational battle royal! Also, Aldo Montoya wrestles Jerry Lawler!

The Last Word: Next week has a big attraction as nearly all of the WWF’s top stars are thrown into a battle royal for a WWF title shot. This show had a better match lineup than last week but the SummerSlam build needs to kick it up a notch. A sports-like build for Shawn Michaels vs. Vader would be more appropriate but right now that feud is being carried by their older managers, which is not going to excite anyone. The WWF also needs to clarify what a Boiler Room Brawl entails other than “The match starts in a boiler room!”

Monday Night War Rating: 2.1 vs. 3.1 for Nitro (Main Event: WCW World Champion the Giant vs. Greg Valentine)

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 3!

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