What the World Was Watching: Monday Night RAW – 08.19.96

Vince McMahon narrates pictures of the Boiler Room Brawl and Paul Bearer’s turn on the Undertaker from SummerSlam.

Kevin Kelly, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross commentate, live from Wheeling, West Virginia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the post-SummerSlam taping drew a crowd of 4,903.

Brackets are revealed for the Intercontinental Championship Tournament. The eight-man bracket is:

-Owen Hart vs. The British Bulldog
-Steve Austin vs. Marc Mero
-Sid vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
-Savio Vega vs. Faarooq

Call 1-900-737-4WWF to find out big news from the Hart family. Have Bret and Owen reconciled?

Opening Intercontinental Championship Tournament First Round Contest: Owen Hart (8-7) defeats the British Bulldog (9-5-2) via count out at 8:30 shown:

Ross announces that the main event of In Your House on September 22 will be WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defending against Mankind. Also, the Undertaker is scheduled to face Goldust in a “Final Curtain” match to end their feud. Like last night, Jim Cornette is not at ringside for the members of his stable. Each man displays sportsmanship early, opening the ropes for the other after they knock them out of the ring. As the match proceeds there is some static on the screen that the announcers attribute to the spirit of the Undertaker. When Owen tries to float over a Bulldog blind charge he gets caught with the running powerslam but he puts his foot over the bottom rope to break. Sunny then walks to the commentary table, sending the show to a commercial break. Owen removes a pad on the corner turnbuckle and the Bulldog’s knee crashes into it on a blind charge, allowing Owen to start working the leg. As he does, Sunny talks about how Cornette needs to be at ringside and is a poor manager. Cornette, anxious backstage, is angry that Vader lost last night and is not getting a rematch at In Your House. He alleges that WWF President Gorilla Monsoon is trying to undermine him like Clarence Mason by booking Owen and the Bulldog against each other. Then he drops a bombshell that he has reconciled with Yokozuna and will manage him tonight against Michaels in a non-title match. As the banter goes on and on, Owen puts the Bulldog in the Sharpshooter but the Bulldog gets to the ropes. Moments later, he suplexes Owen from the ring to the arena floor and the fight outside, with Owen catching the Bulldog with a spinning heel kick. As they brawl near Sunny, the Bulldog nearly falls into her lap. She does not like that and throws a drink in his face and all the while, Owen is smart enough to get in the ring and earn a count out win. Fun match and with these two one would expect nothing less. Rating: ***

The Bulldog is not happy with Sunny but Lawler begs for mercy as Sunny hides behind him. After the Bulldog walks off, Sunny calls him a pervert for trying to look up her skirt. Cornette marches down to the ring and confronts Sunny, calling her a slut. The crowd takes the Bulldog’s side, chanting for him.

Mark Henry greets fans around ringside and signs autographs. However, not all of the fans want them since Henry is an unknown commodity. When Vader comes out for the next match he confronts Henry but Henry does not pay him any mind.

Vader (w/Jim Cornette) (12-2) pins Freddie Joe Floyd (4-3) after the Vader Bomb at 1:38 shown:

Cornette joins commentary, continuing his narrative that Vader should be getting another title shot. There is more static on the screen as Vader hits the Vader Bomb but pulls Floyd’s shoulders off the canvas. He prefers to do another to do another Vader Bomb to illustrate how angry he is over last night’s SummerSlam outcome.

Ross does an in-ring interview with Mankind and Paul Bearer. Bearer says he turned on the Undertaker because he was tired of not being appreciated. The lights start to flicker as Ross starts talking to Mankind. Bearer looks worried as Mankind speaks about making Shawn Michaels look like “the least sexy boy toy in the world.” Bearer insists that the light flickering is not the power of the Undertaker because the Undertaker has passed away. All of the lights die and druids chant as they carry the Undertaker’s body, laying him in the aisle. As Bearer screams about how the Undertaker is gone, the Deadman sits up and pyro blasts out of the corners. Someone on the production team messed up the pyro because the Undertaker had to gesture twice for it to go off. Bearer and Mankind decide it is not wise to fight the Undertaker after that, retreating to the locker room as the Undertaker stands in the ring and poses for his fans.

The Stalker does a taped promo in the evening by a lakeside fire. The Stalker says he is coming to the WWF to pursue the “evasive game” of WWF superstars.

Steve Austin does a taped promo about how he will win tonight’s battle royal.

Marc Mero’s debut of the Wild Thing last night at SummerSlam is the Stridex Slam of the Week.

Final Four Battle Royal for a WWF Championship Match: Goldust wins after eliminating Savio Vega at 5:58 shown:

Other Participants: Sid and Steve Austin

The winner of this match gets a WWF title match against Shawn Michaels on the September 6 edition of RAW. Sid becomes a quick target of everyone, eliminated when all three work together to throw him out in 17 seconds. Sid is not a good loser, entering the ring and chokeslamming everyone. At first, Goldust and Austin beat down Savio but Austin remembers that Goldust turned on him in the first battle royal so he starts attacking him. After a commercial break Ross tells viewers that Austin wants to get Bret Hart in the ring by whatever means necessary. Goldust and Austin start beating on Savio again but Savio rallies against both and slingshots Austin out of the ring. Austin is a sore loser too and attacks Savio but that does not make it an easy win for Goldust. Goldust goes for the Curtain Call but Savio floats over and hits his spinning heel kick. However, when he charges at Goldust he gets backdropped out, giving the former Intercontinental champion a WWF title shot. The match may have been better served by having it come down to Sid and Goldust because fans at home knew that Savio had no chance of getting a WWF title shot. It had some decent action but seemed like it was killing time to pivot Goldust into a title shot and did not do much for anyone involved. Rating: **

Jim Cornette talks about how Shawn Michaels’ goose is cooked because Yokozuna will be “meaner, badder, and tougher” than ever before for the main event.

A video package puts over Michaels’ athletic qualities and his sex appeal before encouraging fans to call 1-888-WWFSHOP and get a denim jacket with his image on it for $79 (plus $7 shipping & handling). Doing so will help you “share the dream”!

Non-Title Match: Shawn Michaels (WWF Champion w/Jose Lothario) (16-0-1) pins Yokozuna (3-5) after Sweet Chin Music at 4:11 shown:

Even though Cornette says he is with Yokozuna, he does not accompany him to the ring. He does come out later but opts to attack Lothario rather than provide advice to his former charge. The distraction allows Yokozuna do a few moves, including a belly-to-belly suplex that Ross says “would blot out the sun.” The former WWF champion misses a splash, though, and Michaels hits a splash off the top rope for a near-fall. Michaels tries a quick Sweet Chin Music but Yokozuna counters with a Samoan drop. Yokozuna tries to follow with a leg drop but that misses and Michaels hits his finisher to win. The finishing sequence was fun but there was not enough action aired for this to be a complete match. Rating: *¼

Kelly messes up the end of the show by telling viewers to tune in next week even though RAW is being pre-empted on USA Network because the United States Open Tennis Tournament.

The Last Word: This was a strong RAW episode, announcing several matches for the next In Your House pay-per-view, starting the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, and also filling in an opponent for Shawn Michaels for the Friday RAW special in early September. It does seem odd, though, that Goldust is not being positioned as a pay-per-view challenger for Michaels’ title as their gimmicks seem a natural fit for each other.

Monday Night War Rating: 2.9 vs. 3.5 for Nitro (Main Event: The Giant vs. Randy Savage)

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 24!

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