Original Airdate: Monday, May 13th, 1996
Sioux City Municipal Auditorium
Sioux City, Iowa
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Zip vs. Ahmed Johnson
Sunny tries to use her looks backstage to distract Ahmed, but he says that his mom told him to always take the trash out, not in. Zip tries to get something going but it doesn't last long. Ahmed starts to dominate and Sunny is now up on the apron. The distraction allows for Skip to come in there and Vince thinks he's so clever because he noticed it. Unfortunately, I am going to miss the Body Donnas defend their titles against the New Rockers on Superstars. Ahmed hits an electric chair but then misses an elbow drop. Ahmed dumps a charging Skip over the top rope and in comes Zip again. The distraction fails and Ahmed hits Skip with a spinebuster and then a Pearl River Plunge for the victory. They tried to make this more interesting than you would expect but at the end of the day, it was a squash.
Match Rating: 3/4*
We get a Warrior University commercial. What a joke. The list of graduates who had successful careers is endless.
Duke Droese vs. Vader
Duke actually gets to knock Vader down with a clothesline and then hits a crossbody that sends both of them over the top rope and into a commercial break. During the break, Vader chucks Duke into the steps and then hits a big splash in the middle of the ring. Cornette is on commentary for this match by the way. For some reason, we get a rest hold spot that lasts way longer than you would expect. I completely thought this would be over in 90 seconds or so. Duke fights out of it and hits a dropkick. It's all for nothing, as Vader hits a slam and a Vader Bomb for the victory. This was way longer than it needed to be.
Match Rating: 1/2*
It's time for an interview with Undertaker in the ring. He's here to hype up the upcoming casket match at In Your House. They have the gold casket out with Goldust's star on it. After some Paul Bearer hamming it up, out comes Goldust. If you needed a reminder of how tall Goldust is, he's almost right up there with Taker. Goldust takes both of Taker's hands and Taker just kind of lets him until he uses it to force him to the ground. Out comes Mankind and he attacks Taker and gives him the Mandible Claw. I remember just thinking all of this booking was just so strange. Goldust just had a meaningless feud with Ultimate Warrior and then gets thrown into a casket match with Taker for some reason when Taker vs. Mankind was what made sense. While Taker is knocked out, Goldust straddles him and then Taker sits up and Goldust is out of there.
Aldo Montoya vs. Justin Bradshaw
Was this a Superstars outtake? Bradshaw no sells most of Montoya's offense and then hits him with a slam. Uncle Zebekiah is now on commentary. I guess no one needs to manage tonight. Now this match gets a rest hold spot? What are we doing? Somehow this episode of Raw destroyed Nitro. Bradshaw hits a big boot and then a big clothesline with Zebekiah screaming for the win. Again, why would they not just have him destroy him in 90 seconds? After the match, they bring out the branding iron and give Aldo the true mark of a loser.
Match Rating: 1/2*
We get a video about Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm. They show a weird interview of Shawn and then show him being attacked by British Bulldog in the ocean. Shawn could have used this version of Davey when he got attacked in Syracuse.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Shawn Michaels
I'm guessing that this is the reason this episode is on Netflix? Shawn clotheslines Helmsley over the top and he's able to hang on so he can skin the cat. Shawn then comes over to Hunter's valet and then nails Hunter with a right hand. This aired 6 days before the infamous Curtain Call incident at MSG, so Trips was not being punished here. Hunter goes for a monkey flip but Shawn just stomps on his face. Helmsley ducks Shawn and he lands on the top rope and Shawn gets sent to the floor. Hunter hits him with the baseball slide while Jose Lothario reminds us that he's out there. Out comes Mr. Perfect to check things out. Hunter drops Shawn on the guardrail and we go to a commercial break. I will say that this is by far the best Hunter has looked to date, which I mean is no surprise. Most guys had their best matches either with Shawn or Bret. Hunter hammers away in the corner and hits a swinging neckbreaker for a 2 count. We get another commercial break and this time when we come back, we are in a rest hold. Shawn fights back and hits a slingshot and an inverted atomic drop. Shawn hits the top rope elbow drop, but Hutner kicks out at 2. Shawn counters a powerbomb into a hurricanrana but Hunter counters that into a pin attempt and almost steals the victory. Shawn starts tuning up the band and he does for the win. This was a good main event with a buddy doing the other one a solid and giving him a match with a lot of time. Mr. Perfect is shown walking to the back after the match.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Jim Ross is shown backstage with British Bulldog, Diana and Jim Cornette. He mentions that Shawn will be ringside during Bulldog's match with Jake Roberts next week. Bulldog says that Shawn better not be anywhere near Diana. He says that he's not afraid of snakes, but Roberts should be afraid of him. Lots of yelling here.
This was the definition of a one match show. On an hour show, that's good enough for a solid watch, even if everything else was pretty much trash.
Overall Rating: 58%
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