by Logan Scisco After having covered an alternative to WWF Magazine last week, we continue that idea in this week’s column, reviewing the very first issue of RAW Magazine from May/June 1996 (I wonder if this is worth anything to collectors today).  RAW Magazine was the brainchild of Vince Russo, who wished to have a magazine that would cater to more mature and knowledgeable fans.  This followed Russo’s failed attempt to launch a newsletter under his magazine personality Vic Venom.  RAW Magazine was bi-monthly in its circulation until 1998 and when the WWF launched its brand split, RAW Magazine became exclusive to the RAW brand in 2004.  That was an incredibly stupid decision and was one of the reasons I finally cancelled WWF Magazine .  Why should you have to buy two magazines to keep up with one company?  RAW Magazine continued until the summer of 2006, when it and the newly christened Smackdown! Magazine merged into a new WWE Magazine that ceas...

by Logan Scisco - Jim Ross & Jerry “the King” Lawler are doing commentary tonight and they are live from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  This is the first exclusive pay-per-view pairing of Ross and Lawler, as Vince McMahon has given up regular commentary duties.

by Logan Scisco - Jim Ross, and Jim Cornette are in the booth and they are live from Hershey, Pennsylvania. - McMahon interviews Steve Austin, who reiterates his hatred of Owen Hart and says that he attacked Ahmed Johnson last week because he wants to make sure Owen held onto the Intercontinental title at Survivor Series.  Ahmed comes out and says he respected Austin until last week and proceeds to challenge Austin to a match.  Austin gets a “hell yeah” from the crowd to agree to the match, but in storyline terms that is non-sensical since Austin’s reinstatement was not supposed to take effect until the Survivor Series. - Sunny comes out to do guest ring announcing duties for the next match.  She makes some ten year old’s night by giving him a kiss on the cheek.

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are taped from Tulsa, Oklahoma . - McMahon interviews the Nation of Domination and apologizes for the racist slogans posted in their locker room last week.  That’s not good enough for Faarooq, who says that it does not make up for 400 years of racism in the United States.  Rocky Maivia takes the mic as McMahon is ushered out of the ring and warns the Hart Foundation that they have created a race war with the Nation and Faarooq challenges them to a match next week.  The Hart Foundation comes out and Bret accepts the challenge, says there is no racial prejudice in Canada, and tells Faarooq that D-Generation X is to blame for their problems.  DX comes on the Titantron and makes some Ku Klux Klan references and says that they heard the Harts use the “n-word” and that leads to the Nation beating down the Harts on the ramp.  Bret seems to have suffered an ankle injury in the melee, which bod...

by Logan Scisco - Michael Cole narrates a video package about Steve Austin’s rampage of Stone Cold Stunners. - Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are in Albany, New York. - McMahon interviews D-Generation X.  Rick Rude makes a sales pitch to McMahon based on what Steve Austin did last week.  Shawn Michaels gloats about beating down the Undertaker last week.  Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who Shawn refers to as “Triple H,” which is the first time I recall hearing that in Helmsley’s career, talks about getting impatient to get his big break.  Helmsley’s voice just does not jive with this group or rhetoric and it is tough to take him seriously.  Commissioner Slaughter arrives and orders Helmsley to fight the Undertaker.  The Hart Foundation appear at the top of the ramp and Bret says that D-Generation X have committed crimes that they will pay for tonight.  A somewhat dry segment, but this promo is where ...

by Logan Scisco - Jim Ross narrates a video package that discusses the history of Madison Square Garden.  It even mentions the birth of Hulkamania.  The subtle purpose of this video package is to inform the audience that a big event is going to happen tonight . - Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from New York City.

by Logan Scisco - The show opens with a small clip and tribute to former WWF champion Stan “The Man” Stasiak. - Vince McMahon and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are coming to us from Detroit, Michigan. - The New Nation of Domination are interviewed by McMahon and Ahmed says that McMahon never backed him when he came back from his injury last year for a shot at the WWF title.  Ahmed says he doesn’t respect the Undertaker because he’s just a slave to Paul Bearer and Faarooq says that Ahmed coming into the Nation is like Martin Luther King aligning with Malcolm X.  D-Lo repeats what others have said in this segment and Kama says that Ahmed will bring the WWF title to the Nation.  At the end of the segment, Crush comes out with some other men on motorcycles and they surround the ring.  Crush says his organization is called the Disciplines of Apocalypse and a brawl breaks out.  A combination of WWF officials and police separate the combatants and DOA ...

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon and Jim Ross are manning the announce table and they are from Lake Placid, New York.  McMahon says that there was a fight between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels before last week’s RAW and that both men were injured.  Bret will be back in a few days, while Shawn will be back in 4-6 weeks.  Since Michaels is out there will be a tag team tournament and the winners will get to face Steve Austin and a partner of his choice for the tag team titles . - McMahon reluctantly interviews Steve Austin, who isn’t happy to hear about the tag team tournament.  Austin says he doesn’t need a partner and Mankind appears on the Titantron and says that he feels that they have a bond.  Austin says he doesn’t need a freak walking around him and they proceed to make fun of Shawn Michaels routine.  McMahon’s facial expressions during this routine are priceless. McMahon says that Austin will face Brian Pillman tonight with members of the Hart ...

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are live from Hartford, Connecticut.

by Logan Scisco - McMahon recaps last week’s tag team championship main event and the events that unfolded after the match.  McMahon also recaps the Undertaker’s interaction with Paul Bearer at the end of last week’s show. - Vince McMahon and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are broadcasting from Huntington, West Virginia.  This is the go home show for the King of the Ring pay-per-view .

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon recaps last night’s In Your House pay-per-view . - Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Newark, Delaware. - The Hart Foundation arrives on the ramp and Bret hypes the qualities of each member.  Bret gives a great promo that blasts Austin for his behavior and “barnyard clichés.”  Bret says he has a surprise to announce, but he gets irritated by the crowd berating him and leaves before revealing it. - Call 1-815-734-1161 to get your Austin 3:16 t-shirt for $20 (plus shipping & handling)!

by Logan Scisco - Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Richmond, Virginia .

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 .

by Logan Scisco - Footage of the Undertaker tossing a fire ball into Paul Bearer’s face at In Your House last night is shown . - Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Binghamton, New York . - McMahon interviews Steve Austin, who will face Bret Hart in a street fight tonight.  McMahon announces that Austin will get a title shot at the next In Your House pay-per-view, but Austin just tells him to shut up because Bret Hart is the topic of conversation tonight.  Austin demands that Bret show up within a minute to fight him, but Bret pops up on the Titantron with the Hart Foundation and says that he’ll face Austin in a street fight tonight.  Bret runs down the American fan base lust for violence and complains that Austin has a title match at In Your House.  After those comments, Austin heads to the locker room.

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette are taped in the booth in Muncie, Indiana, while Jim Ross and The Honky Tonk Man call the action in South Africa.  It’s a simulcast of sorts, even though the South Africa action was also taped beforehand. -Call 815-734-1161 to purchase your Undertaker poster for $29.95 (not including shipping & handling)!

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “the King” Lawler are on commentary tonight and they are live from Rockford, Illinois.  Ross announces that Mankind will face the Undertaker for the WWF title at the next In Your House.

by Logan Scisco - We get a new television intro and theme song for Raw, as this is the debut of Raw is War.  We also see the debut of a new entrance set, with the Titantron and entrance ramp . - Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Worcester, Massachusetts. - Ross interviews WWF Champion Sid, who says that he’s very skeptical of teaming with the Undertaker to face Vader and Mankind tonight and says that he thinks the Undertaker will reunite with Paul Bearer.  The Undertaker comes out and says there is no hidden agenda because if Sid was injured he couldn’t face him for the title at WrestleMania and in a twist, the Undertaker says he doesn’t want Sid as his partner because if he got injured in the tag match then Sid would remain WWF champion.  Paul Bearer, Vader, and Mankind then appear and Bearer calls Sid and the Undertaker cowards.  A brawl breaks out between the two sides and although the faces ...

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are taped from the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  This show is also historically significant because it’s the first two hour episode of Raw. - The ending to the Royal Rumble match is shown.  This show was billed as Royal Rumble Raw because they were going to show us the Rumble match in its entirety.  Spoiler:  that doesn't happen.

by Logan Scisco A video package recaps the wild events on last week’s show, where Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Vader, and the Undertaker got into a massive brawl. - Vince McMahon and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are still in Beaumont, Texas . - Footage of Savio Vega turning on Ahmed Johnson in a tag team match at Madison Square Garden is shown . - Footage of Sid whacking Crush with a chair on Shotgun Saturday Night is shown.

by Logan Scisco - Vince McMahon, Jerry “the King” Lawler, and Jim Ross are in the booth and Ross is sporting the black cowboy hat that will become his trademark for the first time.  Lawler tells McMahon that he’s in the Royal Rumble, but McMahon doesn’t believe him.