We open Raw looking back at Shawn Michaels collapsing in the ring to end Monday Night Raw. I do find some hilarity that we get this serious video of Shawn motionless on the ground with a somber Vince narrating and then cut the jaunty and energetic Raw intro. What a tonal shift. Vince promises to update us on Shawn's condition. Plus Undertaker will take on Kama to reclaim what's left of the urn. Plus an interview with Bret Hart from Brother Love of all people.
Opening action tonight is Rad Radford taking on Ahmed Johnson. Radford sneak attacks Ahmed and tries an arm wringer, but is met with a shoulder block by big Ahmed. He takes Radford to the corner and hits multiple body blows and a punch that sends Radford over the top rope. We see Bob Backlund in the crowd campaigning while Radford guillotines the throat of Ahmed on the ropes, sending him outside. Radford lays some strikes and brings Ahmed back in. Shoulder blocks by Radford in the corner. Ahmed reverses a whip into a shoulder block and an ax kick. Really sloppy boot to the face from Ahmed followed by a spinebuster. Radford reverses a whip, but gets caught in the Pearl River Plunge, giving Ahmed the win in a sloppy, but decent squash.
Lawler interviews Ahmed about his upcoming match with Dean Douglas. Lawler antagonizes Ahmed yells at him to show him some respect. Douglas shows up and tells Ahmed that he's got what it takes to be a superstar, but the road to superstardom takes place in Dean's classroom. Ahmed says to ring the bell, class has started. Dean goes to the ropes, but referees pull him away.
We get an update on Shawn Michaels' injury. We recap the Syracuse incident and Shawn returning to action way too early. Despite a clear concussion, he continued to work, wrestling Survivor Series, taking more head trauma from a Razor's Edge, a Yokozuna leg drop and a powerbomb from Sid. Owen's enziguri to Shawn's head being the trigger that finally laid him out last week. Vince says that Shawn has post-concussion syndrome and will be out for a while. But Vince promises he will be back.
Up next, it's Tomoko Watanabe and Aja Kong taking on Alundra Blayze and Kyoko Inoue. Lawler makes a rather awful bulimia joke about Princess Di while Barry Didinsky shills a Bret Hart shirt. He even shills as the heels attack Inoue and Blayze. Double dropkick by Inoue and Blayze to Kong. Kong regains control with a series of attacks to Inoue including a clothesline and a splash. Tag to Watanabe who lands a massive hair pull takedown. She takes Inoue to the ropes and grates the eye and then takes a boot to the back of the head. Watanabe tries a springboard cross body, but Inoue avoids. She follows by locking up Watanabe in a surfboard, but her shoulders are down for a two count.
Tag to Blayze who avoids offense from Watanabe then takes Inoue to the corner and rams her head into the buckle and follows with an arm drag off the top rope. Tag to Kong and Inoue. Leg sweep by Kong followed by some stiff kicks to the back and sternum. Stalling suplex by Kong who covers for two as we go to break. We return with Watanabe missing a dive off the top buckle and eating a clothesline from Inoue. Clothesline to Kong. Slam and a springboard elbow off the top buckle. Cover, only gets a two. Springboard body press by Watanabe connects.
She goes up to the buckle, but gets caught in an arm drag by Inoue. In comes Kong and Blayze. Blayze scores an enziguri and a dropkick off the second buckle. She goes for two more, but misses her third dropkick. Slam by Watanabe to Blayze. Kong goes for a second rope splash, but Blayze avoids. Tag to Inoue who hits a clothesline. She tries for a powerbomb, but no luck. Since commentary seem intent on burying Lady Di, Vince talks about how Kong is unlikely to get a condom endorsement (what the hell?) as Kong lands a back suplex on Inoue. Back fist gets the win for the heels in another really hard hitting women's match. Felt sloppy in places and a lot too much dependency on high flying spots, but I like how dominant Kong is looking, even if commentary continues to do nothing but rotten "fat and ugly" jokes.
It's the Brother Love show up next. Bruce Pritchard's infamous take on corrupt southern preachers like Jim Bakker complete with cartoony red face and obnoxious voice. His guest is the current WWF champion Bret Hart. Love calls Bret a marked man now that he's the champion. He says that the match with Diesel was Bret's toughest match up ever. Bret tries to talk, but Brother Love is far from ready to let him speak. He talks about the man that Brother Love brought into the company, The Undertaker and that Bret is scared to death of him. He gets into talking about Bret making his mother cry. From fighting Owen and now fighting his brother-in-law Davey Boy at In Your House.
Bret grabs Brother Love and says that to achieve great things, you gotta live like you're never gonna die. He says that Diesel was cheap for what he did at Survivor Series. In terms of Undertaker, he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it. When it comes to the Bulldog, he brings up Summerslam 1992 and his loss to the Bulldog. Redemption is the greatest of all human qualities and at In Your House, Bulldog will find out that what goes around comes around and Bret will redeem himself. He'll walk out as champion and prove he is the best there is, the bes there was, and the best there ever will be.
Bob Backlund sneaks up behind Bret and locks in the crossface chicken wing. Backlund calls Bret a disgrace while locking the hold in harder. Referees force a break of the hold as Backlund makes his escape.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley is in action next against John Chrystal. We get a quick video from Henry Godwinn showing us his family of pigs, which he promises that Helmsley will be up close and personal with in the hog pen match at In Your House. Shot to the midsection and some knees by Helmsley followed by a European uppercut. Irish whip and a knee from Helmsley. He takes Chrystal to the corner and slaps him. Chrystal fights out of the corner, but gets caught in the Pedigree, earning Hunter a quick victory.
Quick interview with Owen and Jim Cornette as the two are proud about injuring Shawn Michaels. They're issuing an open contract to anyone who wants to take on "Dr. Owen Kevorkian". Owen is hospitalizing people and whoever it is at In Your House, they'll end up like Shawn Michaels.
Our main event is up next. Undertaker taking on Kama. However, Kama is on crutches. Dibiase says that he is unable to wrestle tonight due to injuries. But he has paid for another superstar to take his place. And that man is Sir Mo. Which means that Mabel is in the building. So that might mean the fix is in on The Undertaker.
Mo goes for the attack, but Taker is quick to take him down with strikes. He throws Mo to the corner and rams him into the buckle. Slam by Taker who then goes for a running strike, but Dibiase goes for the ankle, allowing Mo to clothesline him over the top rope. Taker chokes Dibiase, but Kama, now fully healed, starts laying strikes to the dead man. Mo picks up the scraps, throwing Taker back first into the apron as we go to break.
When we return, it's Mo in control. He punches at the mask, hurting his own hand in the process. He throws Taker into the buckle, but Taker has Tatanka powers, and no-sells it. Taker chokes Mo and follows with a hard whip to the buckle and a boot to the face. Flying clothesline by Taker who then slides outside and attacks Kama, smashing him into the steps as Dibiase runs off. Body slam by Taker followed by a chokeslam. Taker gets the win, but Mabel arrives.
Mabel goes for the gold chains, but Taker grabs them in time as he finally has the remnants of hte urn. However, Yokozuna enters the ring, ready to do battle with Taker. Taker gives the chains to Bearer, who gets attacked by Mabel, who runs off with the chains. Taker gives chase as we go to break. We end Raw with Vince shilling next week's show, which will feature Sid vs Jannetty and Razor Ramon vs Dean Douglas for the Intercontinental Title.
A pretty average edition of Raw this week. Basic Hunter squash, a sloppy Ahmed squash, and an okay at best match between Mo and Undertaker that was more angle than match. I did like the women's tag for how chaotic it felt, and I actually enjoyed the Brother Love show segment, especially since it involved Bob Backlund, which looks to continue the longtime issues between Backlund and Bret. I do feel that the build to In Your House 5 is going well so far, and while this Raw was basic fare, it is getting me excited to cover the show. So for that, this Raw earns a fair C+.
No comments:
Post a Comment