Raw is back coming off of In Your House 6, and after a week off due to the annual Westminster dog show.
With "the heartbreak kid" Clussexx Country Sunrise taking best in show for 1996.
It's a stacked card tonight as we'll hear from Vader, see the Ringmaster against Marty Jannetty, see Undertaker vs Tatanka, hear about the returning Ultimate Warrior, and... have more Billionaire Ted...
But opening action is an Intercontinental Championship match between Razor Ramon and Goldust. Marlena distracts Razor early on by blowing cigar smoke in his face, but Razor is undettered. He attacks Goldust early before he can disrobe. Big beal and a clothesline from Razor. He clotheslines Goldust roughly over the top rope. Goldust stalls a a bit and rubs himself, only to be spat at by Razor.
Razor works the shoulder and slaps Goldust around. He goes for the Razor's Edge, but gets thrown over the top rope as we go to break. When we return, Razor is back in as Goldust hits a clothesline. He drops his weight on the neck of Razor and then goes in for the sleeper. Razor turns it around into one of his own, but Goldust gets in the jawbreaker. Goldust goes up, but Razor knocks him groin-first into the buckle. Razor lands a big superplex.
Goldust ducks a clothesline but gets caught in a fallaway slam to the outside. He clotheslines Goldust off the apron, then brings him back in, hitting a back superplex. Goldust escapes and starts running up the entrance way, causing a count out. Razor wins the match, but not the title. Razor grabs a mic and says that he doesn't want Goldust's belt, he wants his ass. He's been hearing so much about the return of Roddy Piper, talking about Piper's kids and his own kids. He says that he doesn't want them seeing stuff like Goldust on television. So he wants a match with Goldust anywhere and anytime. Oh boy, I can't wait for that match at Wrestlema- Wait, Razor ends up suspended due to drug abuse? Well, never mind then.
Emerging from his casket is The Undertaker who is ready for his match tonight with Tatanka.
Dok Hendrix and the Raw band (yes, there's a frigging Raw band) are here with the Wrestlemania report. He recaps the In Your House event before shilling Bret vs Shawn at Wrestlemania. He gets interrupted by Vader who enters the ring as Aldo Montoya and Barry Horowitz are in the ring.
He easily disposes of the two, beating down both men. He throws out Horowitz, then hits a hard fist to Montoya.
We get a video package for the returning Ultimate Warrior. A staple of late 80's/early 90's WWF, Warrior was a mega star in his intitial run. A flurry of colors and tassles along with unstoppable energy. Essentially Hulk Hogan if he drank ten Red Bulls and snorted all the coke in the room. Warrior was initially let go from the WWF in 1991 after holding Vince for ransom for his Wrestlemania VII performance, came back in 1992, but was fired again during the steroid issues. But things have calmed down and the company is giving Warrior another go.
After Sunny tries her best Marilyn Monroe and Bob Backlund is still campaigning, we get to Marty Jannetty vs the Ringmaster, accompanied by Ted Dibiase. McMahon starts to use the term "Stone Cold" during Ringmaster's entrance. Austin is also now transitioning to his bald head and goatee look. There's also a tag tournament starting and Marty has a tag partner. More on that in a later edition.
Ringmaster takes Marty down, but Marty gets in a hammerlock until Ringmaster forces the break. Marty ducks some clotheslines and hits a cross body, covering for two. Ringmaster tries to roll up with the tights, but only gets a two. Marty is up on the apron and blocks a punch, slides under, whips the Ringmaster and hits a dropkick. Cover only gets a two. Ringmaster catches Marty with a stun gun as we go to break. When we return, Marty covers Ring master for two. He tries a splash, but Ringmaster gets his knees up.
STF by Ringmaster on Jannetty. Marty manages to crawl to the rope to force the break, but Ringmaster drags him back and continues offense on the leg. He follows with another facelock for a few seconds. He then whips Marty in the corner. Marty gets the boots to the face and follows with a facebuster. Back elbow by Marty followed by a knee lift. Cover only gets a two. Ringmaster jumps behind Marty and locks in the Million Dollar Dream for the win in a decent match.
Another Mankind vignette. He talks about the eighth day and how God created mankind. Why was he having such a bad day? Why did he make all of us normal, but forgot so many parts of him? He cradles a rat as he tell us that deep inside we're all a mirror image of all of his atrocities.
Up next is the main event. Undertaker taking on Tatanka. Tatanka tries a sneak attack, but Taker grabs him by the throat and throws him to the buckle. Whip to the corner and a clothesline follow. Taker then chokes Tatanka in the corner. Tatanka tries a chop, but Taker no-sells it. Tatanka reverses a whip, but Taker hits a hairpull slam, followed by a ram to the buckle. But this is heel Tatanka, so no classic no-sell. Taker runs at Tatanka, but gets hit with a Samoan drop.
Diesel shows up with an ax and grabs a cameraman as we go to break. When we return, we see Diesel smashing the casket with his ax. Back in the ring, Taker hits a back suplex, then sits up. Taker hits Old School while Diesel is still destroying the casket. Taker tries a tombstone, but Tatanka slides out and hits a piledriver. Tatanka goes over to Taker, but Taker grabs him by the throat and hits a chokeslam, followed by a tombstone for the win in a decent enough Taker match. Undertaker finally sees the replay of Diesel destroying the casket and heads to the back.
Up next, we have a special edition of "Larry Fling Live" with Billionaire Ted. So Vince has an issue with Larry King too. Fling kisses the butt of Ted, but gets a phone call from "Randy from Sarasota" who has a problem with his thinning hair (told you about the whole mocking Savage's bald spot stuff earlier). Next is the Huckster who asks for a week off after being hit by a high heel shoe. Billionaire Ted easily obliges. Next is "Hanoi Jane" who says that Sears called and his suits are ready (get it, cheap suits?). We then get to Ted having a vendetta against the WWF, predatory practices, tens of millions of dollars in losses, yadda yadda "Vince is the innocent victim". Turner begins to choke up and suddenly can't talk. And yes, we have more Larry Fling next week with the Huckster and Nacho Man. These continue to be the absolute dirt worst.
Undertaker and Paul Bearer see the destroyed casket as Paul Bearer promises that Diesel will pay for this.
Another good episode of Raw as we get closer to Wrestlemania. Razor and Goldust was fine, despite the weak count out ending and the fact that this will be the last we see of Razor for a while. Vader continues to look like a beast, even if he just killed two jobbers. Undertaker vs Tatanka was fine and the angle wrapped around it with Diesel destroying the casket adds another layer to what has been a really strong angle between Diesel and Undertaker. And I love that we're quickly shedding the Ringmaster character and getting closer to Stone Cold Steve Austin. The only downside to this show really was the Billionaire Ted segment, and we still have over a month left until that finally goes away. Despite that unpleasantness, this was still a quality edition of Raw, earning a fair B rating.
No comments:
Post a Comment