What the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw - May 5, 1997

by Logan Scisco

-A video package recaps last week’s major events between Steve Austin and the Hart Foundation.

-Vince McMahon, Jerry “the King” Lawler, and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are broadcasting from Green Bay, Wisconsin.  This is the go home show for In Your House:  Cold Day in Hell.

-The Hart Foundation comes out for our opening promo.  Bret Hart thanks his fans from different parts of the globe who are wishing him a quick recovery and his comments toward American fans are censored.  Owen looks great in this segment, since he has his two Slammy Award trophies and all four of the belts of the Hart Foundation on his arms.  Bret hypes the greatness of the Hart Foundation and says that since the Hart Foundation has destroyed Steve Austin they are going to target Shawn Michaels next.

-Steve Austin’s interactions with the Undertaker at the end of last week’s show are the Castrol Super Clean Slam of the Week.

-Opening Contest:  Rockabilly (w/The Honky Tonk Man) defeats Ahmed Johnson by disqualification when Ahmed uses a guitar at 3:55:

For the first time that I can recall, Ahmed is not wearing his red trunks and is wearing long black tights to the ring instead.  This look makes Ahmed appear more menacing, but this look would be better for a heel Ahmed character.  Ross calls Rockabilly’s offense in this match “vintage Honky Tonk Man” which means that it’s dry and boring.  Rockabilly dominates 95% of the match, but he releases a sleeper hold and brings a guitar into the ring, but Ahmed gets hold of it and smashes it across Rockabilly’s head to lose the match.  The booking of this contest is puzzling, since Ahmed needs to be built for his gauntlet match at In Your House.  Props to Billy for taking a guitar shot to the head from Ahmed because that’s akin to putting your life on the line.  Rating:  DUD

-The Hart Foundation is shown looking for Shawn Michaels in the locker room.

-A video package hypes Ken Shamrock and focuses on his family life.

-Vader defeats Goldust (w/Marlena) with a Vader Bomb at 4:46:

Ken Shamrock comes out for commentary for this match and he repeats the same talking points of not liking bullies and Vader won’t be able to push him around.  This is a standard back and forth match, with Goldust trying to wear down the bigger Vader with striking moves, but that backfires and Vader gets a clean victory.  After the match, Vader dares Shamrock to get into the ring and Shamrock accepts the challenge, but Mankind runs into the ring to go after Shamrock.  However, Goldust comes to Shamrock’s aid and helps him clear the ring.  Rating:  **

-Jim Ross interviews Dustin and Terri Runnels in a shoot interview, where Dustin is candid about his relationship with his dad.  Dustin talks about the controversial Goldust character and how he didn’t understand why Scott Hall didn’t want to wrestle him.  Dustin says that he still doesn’t have his father’s respect.

-The Hart Foundation attacks a man coming out of the men’s restroom, but it’s not Shawn Michaels.  Despite realizing their mistake, the continue the attack anyway.

-Gauntlet Match:  Ahmed Johnson and Two Jobbers defeat Crush at 2:27:

Faarooq promised that Crush would face three street wise brawlers, but the first two are jobbers that weigh less than a feather.  The first two jobbers are easily dispatched, but a third jobber quickly runs out in a mask and delivers a Pearl River Plunge and defeats Crush.  The masked jobber is obviously Ahmed Johnson, but Ahmed unmasks just so everyone in the audience gets it.  That was a nice twist that made the segment worth watching.

-The Hart Foundation runs through the parking lot looking for Shawn Michaels.

-Sable models the Austin 3:16 t-shirt.  To get it call 815-734-1161 and it will cost you $20 (plus shipping & handling)!

-McMahon interviews Shawn Michaels, who has seemingly avoided the Hart Foundation thus far in the show.  Michaels says that he isn’t trying to save Steve Austin every week and is really trying to go after the Hart Foundation.  Michaels says that Bret Hart may not like American society, but he likes getting paid in American money and that if Bret doesn’t like it in the United States he can leave.  As Shawn goes to leave after high fiving fans around ringside, Bret and Brian Pillman appear on the Titantron and Bret challenges Shawn to face Jim Neidhart tonight.  Michaels appears to accept and Neidhart comes out, but once Michaels ties up with Neidhart, Owen Hart and the British Bulldog appear and ambush the Heartbreak Kid.  However, the Legion of Doom comes to Shawn’s aid and run off the heels.

-Doug Furnas & Philip LaFon defeat the Legion of Doom when LaFon pins Hawk after an Owen hot shot at 4:51 shown:

This is a rematch from last week and if you recall, Furnas and LaFon blamed their loss on a lack of fan support.  This is also a de facto number one contenders match, since there’s a lack of credible tag teams in the company at this time.  Furnas and LaFon are a team that could have benefitted immensely from a manager, since neither guy was great on the mic.  Furnas and LaFon do a great job selling the LOD’s power offense, but this one is seriously limited on time like last week’s encounter.  When the LOD appear set for victory, the British Bulldog distracts Animal and Hawk botches Owen’s interference, but Furnas and LaFon score their biggest victory in a long time to even this TV feud at one match a piece.  Rating:  **

-Shawn Michaels is shown brawling with members of the Hart Foundation backstage in the midst of WWF officials, but Steve Austin shows up and Pillman quickly wheels Bret away from the scene.

-McMahon interviews WWF Champion The Undertaker, who has lost the WWF belt.  The Undertaker rants about having his belt stolen and says that the person that stole it is playing a “deadly game.”  He promises to make the person that stole his belt pay dearly tonight and he tells Steve Austin that it will be a cold day in hell before he becomes WWF champion.

-Sunny comes out and models the Austin 3:16 t-shirt.

-Austin is shown refusing medical treatment after being knocked off the stage on last week’s show.

-Non-Title Match:  “Stone Cold” Steve Austin defeats The British Bulldog (European Champion) with a Stone Cold Stunner at 7:03 shown:

While it’s terrible to say that a devastating injury was good for business, Austin’s neck injury did wonders for his character because it made him more of a brawler, which was more suited for the Attitude Era.  This match is evidence of this, since Austin comes to the ring ready to explode on the Bulldog, but does so with technical moves and it doesn’t seem to fit.  The Bulldog sucks a lot of momentum out of the match with a long chinlock segment and goes to finish with a running powerslam, but Austin slips out of his grasp and delivers a Stunner out of nowhere for the victory.  Austin still hadn’t gotten that kick-Stunner sequence down yet.  A disappointing matchup, but this was the WWF grinding their wheels until they could get past In Your House.  Rating:  *½

-After the match, Owen and Jim Neidhart hit the ring and the Legion of Doom come to Austin’s aid.  Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon rush the ring and then Shawn Michaels comes down.  Unlike the 1998 Attitude Era brawls, this one illicit very little crowd reaction until the Undertaker shows up and attacks the Hart Foundation, who have his WWF title.  The faces eventually stand tall and clear out, leaving Austin and the Undertaker, with the Undertaker laying the WWF title between them and they brawl to close out the show.

The Final Report Card:  At the time, putting Austin against the Undertaker for the WWF title at In Your House seemed to be an odd choice.  Austin was engaged in a feud with the Hart Foundation, which was the top feud in the company, but the top prize in the promotion was around the waste of another top face.  From the WWF’s perspective, it was best to sell a pay-per-view with Austin in the main event, but I didn’t give him much chance to win since it seemed that if Austin was going to win the title that he would win it at a bigger event.  The WWF tried to make an Austin-Undertaker matchup intriguing, but honestly it didn’t really click since most of the RAW’s leading up to In Your House centered on Bret’s interaction with Austin.  I’ll give a neutral rating this week because while the wrestling was acceptable, the promos didn’t add much to the show and the story throughout the show of the top guys searching for other guys to beat up was like a bad B movie.

Monday Night War Rating:  2.8 (vs. 3.2 for Nitro)

Show Evaluation:  Neutral