Monday, April 1st, 1996
Orange Pavilion
San Bernardino, California
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We get a quick montage of WrestleMania XII before going over to Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Vince is so lame when talking about Shawn Michaels. It's finally time for the debut of Mankind.
Mankind vs. Bob Holly
It's apparent about 15 seconds in that WWF just got themselves a steal with the signing of Foley here. Holly does get a dropkick in and a little bit of a pop for it. Mankind ducks him and Holly falls to the floor. We get a tree of woe spot and Mankind starts pulling out more of his hair. He puts on the Mandible Claw and I have to say, I remember seeing this live as a kid and just being appalled by that as a finisher. In one squash match, we just witnessed the debut of a true superstar here. I also love that Mankind has different exit music than he does for his entrance theme.
Match Rating: **
They show still photos of the debut of Marc Mero's debut and the brawl with Hunter Hearst Helmsley. They then show that Sable is in attendance today.
We get a commercial for the WrestleMania encore. We then get a video of a bunch of people saying how fun WrestleMania was.
Isaac Yankem vs. Marc Mero
Back to back debuts to start the show here. Yankem is a poor choice of an opponent here and not just because he sucks. A dropkick by Mero sends Yankem over the top and then Mero hits a somersault dive. Mero hits a double ax handle from the top rope and gets a 2 count. Hunter is out now and sitting next to Sable. Mero hits a crucifix and gets a 2 count. Mero starts with some of those boxing style punches and then hits a top rope sunset flip for the victory. Sable is shown cheering for him while Hunter continues to talk to him. Mero comes over and Sable slaps Hunter. Mero carries Sable over the rail and leaves with Mero. This was another pretty good debut.
Match Rating: *1/2
Ultimate Warrior will be here on Raw next week.
They show clips of the Body Donnas winning the titles during the Free For All. We will get a rematch at In Your House.
Barry Horowitz & Aldo Montoya vs. Body Donnas
It's always a joy to see the well-established team of Montoya and Horowitz in action. Aldo hits a nice double move with a headscissors and headlock and the crowd goes absolutely silent. There's apparently something going on in the crowd too but it also may just be that they are looking for something to watch other than this match. Just for the record, I'm not picking on it. Aldo hits a crossbody from the second rope to the floor on Skip. He tags in Barry and he hits a high knee. He gets him into a pin but Sunny has the ref distracted and Zip breaks it up. Skip hits a German suplex into a bridge and gets a 2 count. Skip hits a top rope hurricanrana and Zip hits a splash off the top rope for the victory. This was a solid little match and by the end the crowd at least sort of cared.
Match Rating: **1/4
After another WrestleMania encore commercial, they show Bob Backlund in the crowd.
Don't forget to call the WWF Superstar Line to find out what happened in Bret Hart's locker room after losing the title.
They show more fan reactions from WrestleMania. We go to Vince in the ring and he brings out the new WWF Champion, Shawn Michaels. He doesn't get as big of a reaction as I expected. Not to skip ahead, but that won't be the case going forward so it must just be a San Bernardino thing. Shawn says last night was the best night of his life. They move onto Diesel and they show that 2 weeks ago at a house show at Madison Square Garden that Diesel hit Shawn in the back with a chair. Shawn goes back to Bret and speaks highly of him. He wants everyone to know that he will wear this belt with the dignity that Bret wore it with. He says that he will send the Burger King back to White Castle next week on Raw and that he'll dance all over Diesel's face at In Your House.
You can buy the WrestleMania XII limited edition ring mat plaque for only $49.95.
Justin Bradshaw vs. Undertaker
Who would have thought that this would be a SummerSlam main event one day? Bradshaw sends Taker into the corner but runs into a boot. He hits Taker with a big power slam and a clothesline. We get a quick commercial break just as the match goes outside the ring. We see the Karate Fighter Slam of the Week and it's Goldust hitting Roddy Piper with his car. When we come back, Taker is fighting back but JBL catches him with a side suplex. Taker comes back with a leaping clothesline and hits the Tombstone. He goes for the cover, but in comes Mankind and he attacks Undertaker to cause the disqualification. He absolutely takes it to him, leaving Taker unconscious. The match was what it was, a setup for the Mankind attack.
Match Rating: *
We come back and they show a replay of the Mankind attack. Next week, Yokozuna will take on Vader and Ultimate Warrior will be here. Don't forget about Jerry Lawler vs. Shawn Michaels.
This was truly one of the best episodes of Raw up until this point. They had one true mission and that was to make Mankind into a star in one night and they 100% succeeded. As a result, the Mero debut kind of felt less important especially since he was feuding with a guy who just got destroyed the night before. The tag match was also a fun few minutes. Thumbs up here.
Overall Rating: 79%
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