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Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate the final episode of the taping in Fayetteville, North Carolina. This is the last RAW before King of the Ring.

Opening King of the Ring Quarter-Final Contest: Steve Austin (15-2-1) pins Savio Vega (6-3-3) after a three-quarter facelock jawbreaker at 8:05 shown:

A three-month feud comes down to this match. There is a hot start as Austin attacks Savio when he enters the ring and Savio forces Austin from the ring after an enzuigiri. Then each man takes time working the other’s knee. Austin gets the worst of it, or at least sells that way, nearly losing the match when Savio falls on top of him after a failed body slam. If Savio had a good submission move like Tito Santana’s figure-four leglock that would put him into the next round. Without that, he leans on his spinning heel kick finish but Austin puts his foot on the ropes to break the count. A desperate Austin gets to his feet and holds the top rope. Savio does some body shots but as he pulls Austin away from the ropes, Austin grabs him in a three-quarter facelock and comes down with his new finisher, punching a ticket to the semi-finals to face Owen Hart or Marc Mero. This was a fun match with a lot of intensity. Rating: ***

The introductory video package hypes Jake Roberts as the “Cinderella” of this year’s King of the Ring Tournament. This narrative would have more weight if the WWF had built Roberts’ struggles more into stories in the months leading up to the tournament.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are in the booth, once again taped from North Charleston, South Carolina.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are once again commentating, still taped from Fayetteville, North Carolina. Lawler shows off a comic book-like portrait that he drew and colored of the Ultimate Warrior. Lawler plans to give that to the Warrior later in the show.

Opening King of the Ring First Round Contest: Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette) (6-3) pins Yokozuna (3-3) with a Flair pin at 3:59:

This is the first singles match between the two former Tag Team champions. Owen, who has not been in a televised bout in more than 30 days, cannot match Yokozuna’s size so he has to wait to avoid a big elbow drop to land a few moves. However, Owen’s attempt at a flying elbow drop off the second rope misses too. Yokozuna’s conditioning does not allow for a fast or exhilarating offensive flurry. After knocking Owen down, he goes for the Banzai Drop but loses his balance, falls off, and Owen does a Flair pin to advance to the quarter-finals. Sadly, Yokozuna was going through the motions and it is always tough for a smaller heel to get heat on a man who outweighs them by several hundred pounds. The finish also makes Yokozuna look like a goof but he was in the WWF doghouse over his weight and these losses were supposed to get him in line. Rating: *

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross commentate, taped from North Charleston, South Carolina.

Opening Contest: The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) (9-4-1) defeat the Ringlords when Henry pins an unnamed Ringlord at 3:16:

The Ringlords were Speedy Gonzalez and Rick Slagle. They had teamed together for more than six years, working for independent promotions along the East Coast like South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW) and NWA Mid-Atlantic and doing enhancement appearances for WCW in 1990. They also had appearances in Global in 1994. Around this time the WWF gave them a set of tryouts against the Hardys but neither team was said to impress.

The Bodydonnas do guest commentary, reiterating their need for a manager and casting a wide net to get one. Sunny does an insert promo, saying that she carried the Bodydonnas and she was the real draw of the team. Skip fires back that he is done with her and she is ugly. Then Zip piles on, allowing his real hatred of Sunny to shine through by arguing that she is sleeping around, which McMahon is quick to cut off. McMahon is skeptical that the Bodydonnas will find a good manager. Phineas causes the Ringlords to flee when he gets worked up and Henry counters a drop down by one Ringlord with a splash, hitting the Slop Drop moments later. Again, the Sunny drama overrode the in-ring work, which is becoming a staple of the tag team division.

Intercontinental Champion Goldust narrates footage of him giving Ahmed Johnson mouth-to-mouth last week as he sits on a couch with the title belt covering his privates. He claims to have saved Ahmed’s life and he tells Ahmed to come and get the belt.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, taped from Fayetteville, North Carolina. McMahon tells fans that Ahmed will face Goldust for the Intercontinental Championship at The King of the Ring.

Vince McMahon recaps the King of the Ring tournament matches on Monday Night RAW. The WWF is retconning the Ultimate Warrior’s elimination from the tournament as Jerry Lawler preventing him from returning to the ring.

McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross start a new taping from North Charleston, South Carolina.

Jim Ross and Mr. Perfect are in charge of commentating this follow up to Sunday’s In Your House: Beware of Dog, live from North Charleston, South Carolina. The site doubled as a taping for WWF Superstars, drawing, according to thehistoryofwwe.com, a crowd of 4,500 fans. The show drew a 0.45 domestic buyrate, generating a reported 117,000 buys. However, it is unclear in the data from wrestlenomics.com if 116,000 of those buys were a double counting of customers who had their initial access cut off by the Sunday storm.

Due to the show taking place at a WWF Superstars taping, the entrance is what fans would see on that show and there is just In Your House branding in the banners and around the ring.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate a new set of television tapings, live from Fayetteville, North Carolina. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, a sellout crowd of 5,000 fans were in attendance, 4,200 of which paid.

Opening King of the Ring First Round Contest: Goldust (Intercontinental Champion w/Marlena) (8-4-1) wrestles the Ultimate Warrior (3-0) to a double count out at 12:37 shown:

Unlike previous years, the WWF is not doing qualifying matches for the King of the Ring Tournament. Instead, the first matches are billed as first round bouts. McMahon assures fans that the match will be better than what they saw in Omaha at In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies, but it does not start that way as Goldust stalls a lot. Eventually there is some action, with the Warrior dominating. Goldust tries to leave after an electric chair drop but Ahmed Johnson stops him before a commercial break, carrying him back to the ring. When the action resumes there is more “destrucity” from the Warrior until a blind charge hits buckle and Goldust tosses him to the floor, sending the Warrior through Marlena’s director’s chair. Sadly, the camera misses that bump. The Warrior is clearly blown up, sucking wind as he backdrops Goldust and does a belly-to-belly for a near-fall. As a result, Goldust does a long chinlock to help him get his wind back. The Warrior goes into a comeback routine after, hitting a powerslam for a near-fall and shaking the ropes. Goldust flees after a flying shoulder block and instead of the Warrior taking the count out to advance, he stupidly decides to stalk the champion and both men are counted out and eliminated from the tournament. The longer match showed that the Warrior had lost a step or two in the ring as he moved in slow motion for his clotheslines and other moves off the ropes. Rating: *

To add to the stupidity, Lawler leaves the announce booth and grabs Marlena’s director’s chair, presumably to hit the Warrior from behind. The Warrior turns around before Lawler gets close and chases the King away, throwing the remnants of the chair into the ring and destroying it in frustration, even though his own silliness cost him the match.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate, live from Florence, South Carolina. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 6,000 fans, 4,796 of which paid. This left a third of the Florence Civic Center empty. On pay-per-view, wrestlenomics.com reports that it drew a 0.45 domestic buyrate (116,000 buys). That was a steep drop from the 165,000 who bought the prior month’s pay-per-view and it was the lowest for an In Your House since In Your House 5 in December 1995.

Free for All for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Smoking Gunns (5-0) defeat the Godwinns (Champions w/Hillbilly Jim & Sunny) (8-3-1) when Bart pins Phineas after a back suplex to win the titles at 4:56:

Remember that piece of paper Sunny had leaving the Godwinns dressing room at Madison Square Garden before they faced the Bodydonnas? That document makes her co-manager of the Godwinns, so she is in their corner with Jim for the match. Bart and Phineas have a terrible sequence on a blind charge that kids in the front row laugh at. Then the Gunns work Phineas’ arm until Sunny gets on the apron, presumably to distract the Gunns. Billy responds by kissing her. This distracts Phineas, who is back suplexed by Bart and pinned, making the Gunns three-time Tag Team champions. The match never got going as the teams knew it was meant to sell what Sunny was doing so the effort was low. Rating: ¼*

Diesel has been removed from the opening song but not replaced in the graphics, thereby ruining the intro.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are in the booth, wrapping up the taping in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ross interviews Fatu on the way to the ring and asks about who is following him to shows. Fatu tells him that they are family members who are from a rough area and do not like his ways.

There are a few clips from last night’s house show in Madison Square Garden. Emphasis is put on Phineas kissing Sunny.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler call this evening’s matches, concluding the taping in Sioux City, Iowa. McMahon excitedly announces that the Godwinns defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Bodydonnas at Madison Square Garden and are the new champions.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross commentate, continuing the four-episode taping in Des Moines, Iowa.

Opening Contest for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Bodydonnas (Champions w/Sunny) (9-3) defeat the New Rockers (1-1-1) when Zip pins Cassidy after hitting him in the back of the head at 6:52 shown:

Ross reports about how Sunny had a meeting with the Rockers last week and that the Rockers have confirmed it. When Leif Cassidy and Skip trade slaps on the ropes McMahon dubs the contest “a slobberknocker.” Ross does not bother to correct McMahon about what that term really means. As the match develops the Smoking Gunns and the Godwinns appear in the aisle to watch. Ross is sent to talk to them. The Gunns believe the Tag Team titles belong to them. Then Ross talks with the Godwinns, who ramble about Sunny taking advantage of Phineas and they have scores to settle with the Bodydonnas and Rockers. There is limited action after a commercial break, although there is a nice sequence where Cassidy puts Skip on his head with a hurricanrana and then Skip responds with one of his own to send Cassidy to the floor. If the match went somewhere after that it would be okay but it has a bad finish of Cassidy accidentally running Skip into Jannetty when trying to do an O’Connor roll and using the tights for a near-fall. Skip reverses and holds the tights for a near-fall of his own and when Cassidy kicks out Skip collides with Jannetty. Skip flies out of the ring and Cassidy is hit from behind by Zip, who covers and, since it has been established that the referees cannot tell the Bodydonnas apart, that leads to the Rockers losing the match. Rating: *½

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler call tonight’s action, taped from Sioux City, Iowa. McMahon announces that Ahmed Johnson won the Kuwait Cup.

Jim Ross interviews Ahmed backstage. Ahmed’s promo is interrupted by Sunny, who rubs oil on his chest. Ahmed refuses her advances, saying that his mother told him to take trash out, not bring it in.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are commentating, taped from Des Moines, Iowa.

Opening Contest: The Smoking Gunns (4-0) defeat Tekno Team 2000 (0-1) when Billy pins Troy after a back suplex-neckbreaker combination at 4:27:

This is the Gunns first match since The Royal Rumble as Billy is back from neck surgery. WWF Tag Team Champions the Bodydonnas sans Sunny are commentating, scouting their competition. The Teknos have some creative double teams, doing a double pump kick to Bart off the ropes and then doing an assisted avalanche spot. Neither team works heel and Travis soon finds himself in peril as well after a Bart stun gun. When Troy gets a hot tag a four-way brawl breaks out. Billy backdrops Travis out of the ring and the Gunns quickly finish Troy with a back suplex-neckbreaker combination. The match was not bad but the crowd had no reason to get into it. Rating: **

The show begins with a quick tribute to Ray Stevens, who passed away from a heart attack in his Fremont, California home on May 3.

“The ex-wife of a former professional wrestler” talks about how WWF Champion Shawn Michaels wrecked her marriage and her life. She promises to say more later tonight.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, taped from Sioux City, Iowa.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are back to calling action in the ring, kicking off a new taping cycle in Des Moines, Iowa. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on April 30 and drew 7,000 fans, of which 5,373 paid for tickets. The Superstars song is going to need to be fixed soon since a reference to Diesel leads it off.

Ross interviews the New Rockers in the aisle. Leif Cassidy talks about feeling the love and Marty Jannetty says it is only a matter of time before the team becomes Tag Team champions. To mock the Godwinns, the Rockers pull stuffed pink pigs to the ring on string. Phineas likes the gimmick until the New Rockers hilariously field goal kick one into the crowd.

Footage of the British Bulldog marching to the ring at the end of last night’s In Your House and being kept away by WWF officials starts the broadcast.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler call tonight’s action, starting a new taping cycle in Sioux City, Iowa. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 4,000 fans attended the taping with 3,200 fans paying for their tickets.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are tonight’s commentary team, live from Omaha, Nebraska. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 9.563 fans attended the show, with 8.273 paying for tickets. The WWF claimed a sellout regardless. The pay-per-view drew a domestic buyrate of 0.65 (165,000 estimated buys), less than In Your House 6’s 186,000 buys. However, it was the third-best drawing In Your House pay-per-view to this point.

Free for All: Marc Mero (w/Sable) (3-0) defeats the 1-2-3 Kid (w/Ted DiBiase) (3-4) via disqualification when Hunter Hearst Helmsley interferes at 7:20:

There is a botch early from a Mero corner headscissors but the Kid covers for it well by flying out of the ring and positioning himself for a suicide dive. The Kid kicks out of Mero’s slingshot leg drop and avoids a flying sunset flip as Helmsley walks to ringside. Helmsley stalks after Sable, distracting from some of the match as the Kid nearly wins with a spinning heel kick. Soon thereafter, the Kid misses a corner dropkick and Mero uses the opportunity to confront Helmsley. The Kid lands a brutal looking baseball slide and another referee finally forces Helmsley to the locker room. As Helmsley retreats, the Kid misses a top rope splash but before Mero can do much of a comeback, Helmsley just runs back out and starts fighting Mero, causing a disqualification. The ring work between Mero and Kid was fun but Helmsley’s interjection was non-sensical. Having him come out, retreat, and come back out again was too much. Rating: **

Mero initially gets the best of Helmsley but the Kid knocks Mero down with a standing spin kick and Helmsley follows up with the Pedigree. Helmsley leaves the ring and bows in front of Sable, which is a weird way to flex, and walks to the back with the Kid and DiBiase, doing the Kliq symbol.

Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross commentate the final episode of the taping in San Diego, California.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette) (4-2) defeats Fatu (0-5) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 6:11 shown:

The Samoan Gangsta Party once again observes the match in the aisle, also proving to be a small distraction for Owen. They eventually walk off when Owen beats Fatu down after missile dropkicking him out of the ring. At least Fatu does better than he did against Vader on RAW, making a comeback when Owen throws his head into the canvas off the ropes. After the Samoan bulldog, Fatu takes too long going to the top rope for the splash. That leads to Owen superplexing him off and applying the Sharpshooter for a submission win. This was a solid, fast-paced match that continues a WWF trend of midcard matches breaking the average ** barrier. At this point Fatu is in a race with Aldo Montoya for worst babyface act. Rating: **¼

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler call the action, wrapping up the taping in San Bernardino, California.

Savio Vega yells at the camera in Spanish before he heads to the ring, confusing McMahon and Lawler.