What the World Was Watching: Thursday Raw Thursday - February 13, 1997

by Logan Scisco

-This is a Thursday edition of Raw that was dubbed “Thursday Raw Thursday.”  Did I mention that the show was held on Thursday?

-Vince McMahon announces that Shawn Michaels will vacate the WWF title tonight and that the winner of this Sunday’s Final Four match will become the new WWF champion.

-Vince McMahon, Jerry “the King” Lawler, and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are live from Lowell, Massachusetts.  After SkyDome last week, this small arena is definitely a letdown, but it does provide a grittier picture for the show.

-Opening Contest for the Intercontinental Championship:  Rocky Maivia defeats Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Champion) to win the title with a small package at 13:26 shown:

Curtis Hughes is not in Helmsley’s corner, having been fired by the WWF for reasons that are still unclear.  The story coming into this match is that Helmsley has been booked against Ahmed Johnson for In Your House, but was so confident that he could defeat Maivia that he signed for this match four days before the pay-per-view.  A vocal part of the crowd works up a “Rocky sucks” chant in the early going, but it’s gradually drowned out during the match by pro-Maivia chants.  Helmsley, as the more experienced wrestler, leads Maivia through a really good match that sees Maivia frustrate Helmsley by kicking out of some high impact moves before catching him off guard to win his first title in the World Wrestling Federation.  This upset really did come out of left field, but it almost ruined Maivia since he wasn’t over enough at this point to warrant getting the title.  Rating:  ***½

-Dok Hendrix interviews the victorious Maivia, who says that he can’t believe that he beat Helmsley and he’ll make his fans happy while he’s the champion.

-Sunny comes out to be our guest ring announcer for the next match.  They really had no idea what to do with Sunny at this point, so for the next year she’d do guest ring announcing and refereeing midget matches until they tried to make her a manager again in 1998.

-The Headbangers defeat Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly & “The Portuguese Man O’ War” Aldo Montoya after Thrasher pins Montoya after a powerbomb/flying leg drop combination at 5:42:

This is an enhanced squash for the Headbangers, who have settled into this gimmick after being billed as the Sisters of Love for the first month of 1997.  It’s amazing how long Montoya was able to stick around as a jobber to the stars in the promotion, but having friends at the top of the company definitely doesn’t hurt.  The match proceeds along just fine, as the Headbangers showcase some of their double team moves, like an inverted superplex spot, and pick up an easy victory over two WWF veterans.  Rating:  **

-McMahon interviews WWF Champion Shawn Michaels, who cuts his “I Lost My Smile” promo, where he vacates the WWF title and hands it to WWF President Gorilla Monsoon.  It was announced that Michaels would need knee surgery, but that never happened and some argue that Michaels came up with an excuse so that he would not have to job to Bret at WrestleMania.  This speech also earned Michaels some criticism because this was the fourth time he had vacated a title after winning it (one tag title in 1994, the Intercontinental title in 1993 and 1995, and this time).  Despite your feelings, though, Shawn gives a very emotional speech here that is very convincing.

-The Undertaker defeats Savio Vega (w/The Nation of Domination) with a chokeslam at 8:48 shown:

You get the impression that the Undertaker wants to move onto bigger and better things, but he’s gotten sucked into a small feud with the Nation of Domination prior to In Your House so he has to deal with that first.  Savio does a great job selling the Undertaker’s initial onslaught, but after the first couple of minutes the match significantly slows down.  It doesn’t lose the crowd, though, who through sheer force of will want to be heard and continue to chant “rest in peace.”  After the match, the Nation swarms the Undertaker and beats up Ahmed Johnson when he tries to help.  However, the Undertaker eventually recovers and gets the Nation to flee.  This match was very pedestrian, but the crowd reactions really enhanced it and made it seem like something special.  Rating:  **¼

-Hendrix interviews WWF President Gorilla Monsoon, who says that the Final Four match at In Your House will be for the WWF title because it’s the most fair thing to do.  Monsoon says that Sid will get his title shot on Monday against the winner of the Final Four match on Raw.  That hardly seems fair to me since Sid gets the entire pay-per-view off and someone who goes through a beating has to turn around and defend the title less than 24 hours later.

-“Stone Cold” Steve Austin defeats Sid by disqualification at 3:40:

Sid was supposed to wrestle Shawn Michaels for the title on this show, but Michaels injury forced a change of plans.  However, it all works out because these two were supposed to face each other the night after the Royal Rumble, which was scrapped after it was announced that Sid was recovering from a minor concussion.  Austin gets one of the loudest chants of his career in the early going and you can tell that he’s really starting to favor his knees, as they are more wrapped than usual.  Sid and Austin exchange blows for a few short minutes until Bret Hart runs in and causes Sid to get disqualified.  Predictably, Sid isn’t very happy about that and starts fighting with Bret until WWF officials run in and break it up.  Rating:  **

-McMahon interviews Vader, who cuts a choppy promo trying to justify why he’s the favorite for the Final Four pay-per-view.  There is Exhibit A ladies and gentlemen for why Vader never became WWF champion in 1997.

-Highlights of Shawn Michaels speech earlier in the evening are shown.

-WWF Tag Team Championship Match:  Faarooq & Crush (w/The Nation of Domination) defeat Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (Champions) by count out at 9:20 shown:

It’s really sad to think that fifteen years after this match took place that three of the four participants in it are deceased.  On a lighter note, this is another heel challenge to Owen and the Bulldog’s titles.  Faarooq and Crush earned this title shot by winning a four team elimination match on Superstars and Clarence Mason, who normally manages the tag team champions, is in the corner of the Nation.  The announcers don’t bring this point up, though.  Owen and the Bulldog play the role of faces in this match, but that means that Faarooq and Crush control the offense.  Considering their size, you would think Faarooq and Crush could work in a double spinebuster or something, but those moves never come.  It’s really funny seeing the champions placed in peril by the same tactics they like to use.  Owen pulls his knee trick again, which was a problem on last week’s Raw, after Crush tosses him out of the ring and takes the count out, but that leaves the Bulldog alone to be victimized by the Nation.  Maybe Owen secretly joined the Nation in early 1997 and just didn’t let his membership be known until 1998.  The crowd felt cheated by the finish, but it made sense in storyline terms.  Rating:  **¼

-Rocky Maivia’s Intercontinental title victory over Hunter Hearst Helmsley is the Western Union rewind segment.

-Bret “the Hitman” Hart pins Vader after Vader misses a moonsault at 4:13 shown:

The Undertaker comes out before the match starts and tells them that he’ll make them rest in peace at In Your House.  They run through an abbreviated match because of the time constraints, where Bret is able to lock in a Sharpshooter and Vader gets in his usual stiff shots in the corner.  I’m surprised they went with a clean finish here since you would want to keep Vader strong for the pay-per-view, but I guess Bret wanted his win back from last month and they wanted to send the crowd home happy.  Rating:  **

The Final Report Card:  This is one of the hottest wrestling crowds you will ever see and it made the product come off like a million bucks.  While the crowd was a bit smarkish, they reacted “appropriately” to the big moments and foreshadowed the rabid crowds of the Attitude Era.  Another great show by the WWF, as they are starting to pull themselves out of the abyss.

Monday Night War Rating:  N/A

Show Evaluation:  Thumbs Up