What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 08.05.96

Vince McMahon announces that Mark Henry has signed a 10-year, multimillion dollar contract with the WWF. Henry talks about how Andre the Giant picked him up as a kid and it made his day. Jerry Lawler argues that Henry will rue the day that he agreed to wrestle.

McMahon and Jim Ross commentate the third of four episodes taped from Seattle, Washington.

Opening Contest: Jerry Lawler (3-3) pins Aldo Montoya (2-6) after two piledrivers at 2:33:

Lawler comes to the ring with a bottle in a brown bag. He tells fans when he gets to the ring that Jake Roberts is a “slobbering drunk” and that he is going to continue to expose Roberts as a big hypocrite. When Montoya gets to the ring, Lawler takes the bottle of Jim Beam out of the bag and tells Montoya that after he beats him he wants him to take it back to Roberts. Lawler goads Montoya into picking up the microphone to rebut what he says but that advantage quickly dissipates as Montoya fires off some token enhancement-like offense. Lawler avoids a DDT by scurrying away and when Montoya ducks his head too early on an Irish whip, Lawler delivers two piledrivers, surprising McMahon by earning a win.

When the match is over, Lawler drapes Montoya over the apron, grabs the bottle of Jim Beam, tells Roberts not to get jealous, and pours it down Montoya’s throat. Referees and officials attempt to intervene but Lawler succeeds in pouring most of the bottle on Montoya. After a commercial break, McMahon apologizes for Lawler’s conduct to families who have struggled with alcoholism. On a personal note, as a child of an alcoholic I found this feud and angle uncomfortable and in time it would prove to hit too close to what Roberts was struggling with outside of the ring.

The Bodydonnas (15-4) defeat the New Rockers (3-3-1) via disqualification when the Smoking Gunns interfere at 9:18 shown:

Hillbilly Jim joins the match as a color commentator, confident that Phineas has seen the light and will not be distracted by Sunny at SummerSlam. The Rockers do a smart sneak attack by putting themselves on each side of the big RAW entrance and beating up the Bodydonnas when they come out. Faarooq Asad and Sunny appear in the split screen as McMahon announces that Faarooq will have his debut match against Skip next week. Faarooq has some good words about how he is prey for no man and is a fierce tiger. Sunny is confident that her new man will beat her first man. Distractions continue as the Gunns and the Godwinns are shown watching the match backstage. There is some good work in the ring, largely from Skip, who nearly pins Marty Jannetty with a flying headbutt until Leif Cassidy breaks it up. Later, Cassidy gives Skip a swinging neckbreaker on the floor and Skip has to put his foot on the bottom rope to break. However, the persistent problem of the Bodydonnas not being accepted by the crowd as babyfaces remains and Zip cannot get the crowd to clap. As the action keeps going there is another interruption as WWF President Gorilla Monsoon tells Clarence Mason in the split screen that he is reluctantly reinstating his client. Mason smiles at his man, who McMahon says will appear next week. After a commercial break, all hell has broken loose in the ring. Jannetty inadvertently crotches Cassidy when he whips Skip into the rope and Skip hits his super hurricanrana finish. Zip goes to the top rope to do the flying butt drop follow up but the Gunns run in and knock Zip off the top rope, causing a disqualification. All of the “noise” to set up things on next week’s RAW got annoying but both teams were trying to have a good match. Rating: **

The Gunns and Rockers team up to beat down the Bodydonnas for a bit until the Godwinns rush into the ring and make the save for the team that once beat them for the Tag Team titles.

Kevin Kelly interviews WWF Champion Shawn Michaels “on location,” which is code for outside of Titan Towers. The interview is in the same spot where Lex Luger gave his thoughts on where his career was going after WrestleMania X. Michaels admits that he can lose on any given night, which is what happened at In Your House 9: International Incident. He also admits he has a tough fight against Vader at SummerSlam but he has the fans behind him. The interview pivots to discuss the iron man match and whether Michaels’ win was tainted because it happened in overtime. Michaels tells Bret Hart that he hopes he returns to the WWF because Bret is a valuable asset to the promotion. However, he disagrees with the critics of the iron man match.

Footage of the WWF’s card at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada airs.

The British Bulldog’s running powerslam to Savio Vega on WWF Superstars is the Stridex Slam of the Week.

Call 1-900-737-4WWF to find out why Roddy Piper has his sights set on Mark Henry!

11-Man RAW Invitational Battle Royal for a WWF Championship Match the Night after SummerSlam: Ahmed Johnson wins, last eliminating Goldust at 17:08 shown:

Other Participants: Justin Bradshaw, Mankind, Marc Mero, Owen Hart, Savio Vega, Sid, Steve Austin, the British Bulldog, and the Undertaker

The WWF has not had a televised battle royal since October so this was an attraction, along with the fact that it featured everyone who could make a claim for challenging for the WWF title. McMahon talks about how Ahmed is competing despite a ruptured kidney. There were backstage concerns that Ahmed should avoid participating in the battle royal after filming the Faarooq Asad attack angle but he went forward anyway. That would significantly aggravate his injury. The Undertaker charges the ring and Mankind is there waiting for him. Their fighting causes everyone else to pour into the ring and the two rivals tumble over the top rope and proceed to spend the most of the match fighting all over the arena to hype their SummerSlam match. Speaking of SummerSlam, McMahon hypes a “Bikini Beach Blastoff” featuring the women of the WWF on the Free for All. The Bulldog only lasts a minute, thrown out by Ahmed. A poor run for the heels continues as Bradshaw gets backdropped out by Sid and Mero clotheslines Owen out after Owen skins the cat back into the ring. That causes some awkwardness as too many babyfaces are in the ring so after a commercial break Mero charges Goldust and Goldust backdrops him out. Then Savio does his spinning kick against the turnbuckles on Goldust but ends up eliminating himself when he crashes to the floor. Down to the final four, Ahmed and Goldust renew their King of the Ring feud and Sid battles Austin. That goes on a while and Goldust gets the worst of things, taking an Ahmed spinebuster and Sid powerbomb. Sid also powerbombs Austin while Goldust follows by Curtain Calling Ahmed. The Bulldog and Owen return to ringside, distracting Sid and Austin capitalizes to dump Sid out. The heel alliance between Goldust and Austin does not last long as Goldust turns on him. This must be where Austin learned not to trust anyone, which would later become another dimension of his character. Austin gets a pop for low blowing Goldust but Ahmed, who has recovered, kicks Austin in the ribs and with Goldust’s help tosses him out. There is a spirited battle between Ahmed and Goldust to end things and each man exhausts themselves. The end comes when Ahmed crashes into Goldust from behind – a phrase Sigmund Freud would have a field day with – and both men go over the top rope but Ahmed holds on while Goldust falls to the floor, winning a shot at the WWF title. The crowd is elated at Ahmed’s win, which serves as a high point for his WWF career. At first, this battle royal was a regular punch and kick affair but the idea of having the Undertaker and Mankind brawl throughout was a piece of genius and there were some fun moments once the ring cleared out to a final four. Rating: ***

McMahon does a quick in-ring interview with Ahmed afterward. The winner says that facing Shawn Michaels would make him feel bad because they are friends but a battle against Vader would be a fight that he looks forward to. Faarooq Asad charges the ring and he and Ahmed fight to end the show.

Tune in next week to see WWF Champion Shawn Michaels face Owen Hart! Also, Faarooq Asad squares off with Skip! And Clarence Mason’s wrestler debuts!

The Last Word: The RAW Invitational Battle Royal was a fun concept and it provided a great hook for the show, which came close to defeating Monday Nitro in the ratings. The match was also fun, helped by having few men clog up the ring so more action could take place beyond the usual, basic battle royal fare. Sadly, this would be Ahmed Johnson’s peak for the year as his kidney ailment required emergency surgery a day after the show aired and he would never receive the title shot that he earned. Ahmed’s absence puts the WWF in a bind as well because he was one of their most over babyfaces and holds the promotion’s second most prestigious title. The battle against Faarooq Asad will have to wait as will fan predictions that Ahmed was on track to become the first Black WWF champion.

Monday Night War Rating: 2.8 vs. 3.0 for Nitro (Main Event: Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Nasty Boys)

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 10!

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