What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 08.12.96

Vince McMahon announces that due to life-threatening complications from a ruptured kidney, Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson underwent emergency surgery to stem internal bleeding. Ahmed is shown in the hospital and recuperating at home and McMahon wishes him well.

McMahon and Jerry Lawler call tonight’s action, wrapping up the taping in Seattle, Washington. This is the last RAW before SummerSlam.

Opening Contest: Faarooq Asad (w/Sunny) (1-0) pins Skip (1-1) after an inverted powerslam at 4:33:

Skip gets no entrance. Lawler talks about how Sunny is going to expose “the naked truth” that will put Demi Moore’s film Striptease to shame. That is part of the hype for the bikini contest between Sunny, Sable, and Marlena that will take place on the Free for All. McMahon informs fans that WWF President Gorilla Monsoon has booked Lawler to face Jake Roberts this Sunday at SummerSlam. The match turns out to be a squash as Sunny taunts her former talent and Faarooq kills him with power moves. The WWF lucked out by booking this match as Skip’s neck injury at Madison Square Garden would limit his use going forward. But matches like this also showed Skip that it was time to look for greener pastures.

Roberts calls in before the next match, saying he is tired of listening to Lawler’s taunts and that the power inside of him will crush Lawler at SummerSlam. Lawler laughs it off, saying that Roberts is just full of alcohol.

Crush (w/Clarence Mason) beats Savio Vega (8-5-3) via submission to a full nelson at 7:45 shown:

Crush only made one appearance the previous year, finishing a surprising third in the Royal Rumble even though he had not been seen on television since August 1994. A few months after the Rumble, he was arrested at his home in Hawaii for possession of unregistered firearms and anabolic steroids. He went on to plead no-contest and got five years of probation. Scared of hurting its public image in the aftermath of McMahon’s 1994 steroid trial, the WWF quickly fired him and had Todd Pettengill tell viewers on WWF Mania that Crush was no longer part of the WWF.

Crush has altered his look from his 1993-1995 run. He has his hair in dreadlocks; does not wear face paint; he has a tattoo on his forehead; and he wears a black tank top, a denim jacket akin to what one is assigned in prison, and black pants. Mason does commentary, arguing that Crush was never convicted of the crimes he was accused of. During this show the WWF has run some scrolling alerts on the bottom of the screen to hype future segments, beeping like an emergency alert and it is annoying. The best part of the squash is Lawler telling McMahon not to judge Crush because he is well acquainted with the American judicial system. Crush works methodically and Savio gets no shine to start the match. In fact, every time that Savio tries to get offense going, Crush cuts it off. It is not the type of match that fans want to see in the fourth hour of a television taping. After a commercial break, Savio misses his spinning heel kick, Crush throws him shoulder-first into the ring post and then submits him with a full nelson. Terrible. It made no sense to book Savio like this when he has a B-level feud going on with Justin Bradshaw and is also penciled in for a SummerSlam match with Owen Hart. Best to sacrifice someone like Bob Holly or Alex Porteau here than Savio. Rating: ¼*

A video package hypes the Undertaker-Mankind showdown at SummerSlam to the tune of the main theme of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

Sunny is shown changing behind a screen to hype her “naked truth” segment.

Call 1-900-737-4WWF to find out what WWF superstar has been given an early release from their contract!

Sunny is still behind the screen, trying on different bikini combinations. The manager of the WWF Tag Team champions is mad that she has to compete in the bikini contest with Marlena and Sable. Some “truth”!

Kevin Kelly goes to Ahmed Johnson’s home and interviews him. Ahmed says he is having to deal with a lot of mental pain with his injuries and that doctors have told him there is a chance of losing his kidney. He wonders if he will be able to make any more Intercontinental title defenses or return at all.

Bob Backlund walks to the commentating position to help call the next match. Even though he is a heel he refuses to shake hands with Lawler.

The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) (12-6-1) defeat T.L. Hopper & Who when Henry pins Who after the Slop Drop at 5:17:

For fans who missed Superstars – or no longer get it – Backlund reiterates his aim to bring a championship-level talent into the WWF. Then he goes back into his 1994 character of complaining about morality in America. There is a real gem, intentional or not, of Backlund decrying the lack of religious education in schools while those same schools teach kids “how to apply a condominium.” McMahon struggles to avoid laughing at that bit. Backlund works himself into such a frenzy that his headset falls off and he heads to the locker room. In the split screen, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon vacates the Intercontinental Championship and announces that a tournament will start next week on RAW. This is another terrible match as the participants just want to punch and stomp each other. When all hell breaks loose, the Godwinns stop a whip into each other by do-si-do’ing and Henry kicks Who to set up the Slop Drop. Rating: ½*

Mr. Perfect chats with Bret Hart on the Wrestle Vessel. Bret talks about how he likes being home but misses the fans, who he is shown signing autographs for on the cruise. Bret says he needs a few more months to think about his decision to return and that he wants to address the fans and let them know if he is coming back. If he does come back, he says that he is going to bring a shovel.

Vader encourages Owen Hart backstage before Owen heads to the ring.

Highlights of the WWF’s recent show in Madison Square Garden are shown. Mark Henry appeared and shoved Hunter Hearst Helmsley when they had a confrontation.

Shawn Michaels being filmed for a guest appearance on Baywatch airs. No reference is made to whether he crossed paths with Pamela Anderson, who factored into Michaels’ WrestleMania XI WWF title match.

Sid powerbombing Marty Jannetty on Superstars is the Stridex Slam of the Week.

Non-Title Match: Shawn Michaels (WWF Champion w/Jose Lothario) (14-0-1) defeats Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette) (7-6) after two Sweet Chin Musics at 9:01 shown:

There is a great, athletic start with various reversal and counter sequences. Michaels has learned how to counter the enzuigiri that floored him last year, doing a leg sweep before Owen can do the move. Michaels is also smart enough to target Owen’s cast-covered arm with a few armbars. Several commercial breaks interrupt the action, with Owen leaning a lot on a chinlock between high impact moves. There is a funny bit of Owen mocking Michaels’ Sweet Chin Music setup in the corner to do the enzuigiri but when he goes for it, Michaels ducks and goes into his array of setup moves. Before Michaels can do Sweet Chin Music, Vader runs out and gets on the apron. Michaels knocks him off and does two Sweet Chin Musics to Owen because the first one catches Owen in the collarbone. Fans will never see a bad match between these two but due to the fact it was a match with no stakes it was not going to be as good as their battle at In Your House 6. The result hands Owen his fourth-straight singles loss. Rating: **½

An angry Vader throws the timekeeper out of his chair and grabs a hold of the object. Michaels rips the cast off of Owen’s arm. He upgrades his weapon when Cornette tosses Owen his tennis racquet and Michaels hits his beaten opponent, grabs it, and clocks Owen over the head. The distraction allows Vader to knock Michaels down, though, and he beats up the champion and delivers two Vader Bombs to end the show.

The Last Word: Outside of the main event this was a bad show and it paid for it in the ratings, delivering RAW’s lowest number in the Monday Night Wars since September 25, 1995. The show featured a lot of baiting and switching as Sunny did not deliver any “naked truth” and Bret Hart did not disclose any new information about his plans to return to the WWF. By the time the main event rolled around the WWF’s most diehard fans would be forgiven for pressing the button on their remote control to check out Monday Nitro on TNT, even moreso when the main event had the predictable Vader run-in.

Monday Night War Rating: 2.0 vs. 3.3 for Nitro (Main Event: Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Outsiders)

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 17!

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