Monday Night Raw 3-3-97 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, March 3rd, 1997
Deutschlandhalle
Berlin, Germany

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We get a Berlin Wall introduction before we get Honky Tonk Man's music kicking off the show. He's out to join the announce team. They interview Bret Hart during Helmsley's entrance and he says he's going to do the same thing to Austin that he's going to do to Helmsley tonight.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Bret Hart

As usual, Bret is very over in Europe. They show Austin heading into the WWF headquarters, as he is not in Germany. We get some mat wrestling from Bret to start. We get a commercial break and a reminder of the Slammy Awards. Hunter is in control after a knee to the midsection and then throws Bret's shoulder into the ring post. It should be noted that Jerry Lawler is not on the announce team tonight, it's just Vince and JR. Hunter gets too greedy and goes to the top rope. Bret greets him with a superplex and takes control. Bret hits a catapult in the corner and Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but Hunter is able to rake the eyes. Bret gets Hunter in the tree of woe and continues to stomp away. The ref tries to stop him and Bret shoves him away for a DQ ending. Out comes that woman to get in Bret's face. They never lay a hand on each other and WWF officials escort her away. That was kind of a weird finish, especially in Germany. The match was pretty good for what it was. 

Match Rating: **

They try to interview Austin, but he's not in his chair. They show Owen Hart dumping British Bulldog out during the Royal Rumble earlier this year. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Vader vs. Rocky Maivia

Vader defeated Rocky earlier in the European Championship tournament, so now we have a title match. Vader quickly is hitting Rocky with big blows in the corner and then hits a short clothesline. JR covers for Vader calling spots saying that he's trying to intimidate Rocky. Rocky makes little comebacks but nothing substantial and Vader hits a splash off the second rope for a 2 count. Vader goes off the second rope again and this time Rocky catches him for a powerslam. Rocky hits a belly-to-belly suplex and that gets a 2. Rocky hits the tornado DDT and goes up to the top rope. He hits the big crossbody but Vader is quickly out of the pin attempt. Rocky dropkicks Vader over the top rope. Rocky goes out there and Mankind is out there to hit Rocky in the head with Paul Bearer's urn. Vader isn't happy about it and Vader throws him back in the ring. Vader attacks him for a while until the officials come out to stop him. This was actually going along pretty well until another bad finish. 

Match Rating: **1/4

They then show the Jerry Lawler storyline with ECW and highlights from last week's Raw. 

Sultan vs. Flash Funk

They interview Jerry Lawler during the entrances. He tells Paul Heyman that if he shows up next week, he'll shove his fist down his throat. Sultan attacks Funk while he's taking off his jacket, but it doesn't last long. Funk hits a diving clothesline to the floor. As good as Honky Tonk Man was in the late 80s, he's equally as bad here in in the mid 90s. Sultan here felt like someone they thought they could give a good push to, but it felt like they gave up on it quickly. We join Paul E. on the phone and Vince thanks him for all the action ECW brought to Raw last week. Funk hits a moonsault but Sultan is able to kick out. Sultan catches Funk during a headscissors and slams him face first. He puts on the Camel Clutch and that is all. I expected this to be a little bit livelier. It was fine. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We now see highlights of the last time Steve Austin was at WWF headquarters in October. Lots of stalling here. 

We go to Sid, who looks like he fell asleep at the beach. Did you know that he's the master and ruler of the world? 

We now see footage of Bulldog and Owen fighting each other at In Your House and then Bulldog making the save after the attack. That sentence probably didn't make sense. 

Ahmed Johnson is brought out for an interview and he says that he's not coming to WrestleMania alone. The audio quality is horrible. He then starts a "You're going down" chant with the crowd. 

They show highlights of Legion of Doom's return and then their interview from Shotgun Saturday Night. 

WWF Championship Match
Mankind vs. Sid

They show a Mankind interview spoken in German during his entrance. Sid attacks Mankind immediately upon walking into the ring. I would have liked to have seen a feud between these two. I think Mankind could have brought out the best in Sid. Mankind misses Sid and hits the ring post as they battled outside the ring. Sid will be teaming up with Undertaker next week on Raw Is War. We go to Austin in Connecticut now. It seems like we could have done this during the Sultan match. Austin is complaining about his seat on the plane and the crappy food he was given. He then goes on to say he's so sick of Bret whining and crying. A Paul Bearer distraction doesn't work out and Sid throws the back of Mankind's head into the ring post. Mankind gets the Mandible Claw on and Sid is down. Sid uses his power to get out of it and then Mankind hits him with the double arm DDT. Sid hits a chokeslam but then Mankind kicks out. Mankind lowers his head and Sid hits the powerbomb for the victory. I didn't expect a clean finish there. The match was pretty good overall. 

Match Rating: **1/4

They show a clip of British Bulldog firing Clarence Mason on Shotgun. 

We hear more from Austin cutting a promo on Bret again ahead of his submission match with Bret. He says that no one can make him quit. 

European Championship Match
Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog

I guess one positive of the majority of the Raw episodes being deleted from streaming existence is that I get to watch this match sooner than I would have. I have not seen this one since it aired "live" if I am remembering correctly. We get some mat wrestling to start until Bulldog catches a hurricanrana and turns it into a powerbomb. Bulldog then catapults Owen over the top rope before holding the ropes open for Owen to come back in. It is really bizarre to me that Honky Tonk Man is announcing this match. Bulldog goes for a surfboard but Owen weasels his way out of it by grabbing the referee. We get more hype for Raw Is War which starts at 7:57. Talk about nostalgia. Owen is able to flip Bulldog out of the ring this time and he too opens the ropes for Bulldog to get back in the ring. We get some rope running action and Owen leap frogs over Bulldog and sells a knee injury. He of course is faking it and uses it to his advantage. He hits a big spin kick to the head of Bulldog. That looked like it may have actually connected. Owen hits a nice belly to belly suplex and Bulldog comes back with an electric chair. Owen goes for a superplex but Bulldog shifts his weight and falls on top of Owen for a 2 count. Bulldog hits some clotheslines and a big vertical suplex for 2. Owen comes back with a German suplex with a bridge for another 2 count. Owen hits a reverse crossbody off the second rope and Bulldog rolls over and we get another close call. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter and gets him in it in the middle of the ring. Bulldog crawls his way to the bottom rope and the crowd is happy about that. Bulldog reverses a piledriver into a powerslam and Owen kicks out of that. I thought that was it. Owen rolls Bulldog into a pin from his shoulder and Bulldog gets out at 2 and counters the pin and that's the finish to crown your first ever European Champion. This wasn't quite the classic that a lot of people say it is, but it was really good. They show that Bulldog won with a clean finish and Owen shakes his hand. They tease drama but it stays civil. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Even though most of the matches didn't deliver on their promise, they made this show feel important and that is a major upgrade from previous years. We are starting to see the progression into the Attitude Era but they are still working with a very small amount of actual talent that people care about right now. Good show overall. 

Overall Rating: 70%

Monday Night Raw 2-24-97 Review

Monday, February 24th, 1997
Manhattan Center
New York, New York

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They followed up a huge title change with one of the most famous episodes to date for a big February for the company. How do they start the show, you ask? With the Godwinns and New Blackjacks, of course.

Godwinns vs. New Blackjacks

They start brawling right away and the Godwinns get the better of it. We get a big "Bradshaw sucks" chant once things slow down a little bit. It should be noted that the Manhattan Center is the original location of the early days of Raw for those who weren't aware. It's a fun location to have a show at once in awhile but it also is funny that Jerry Lawler was ripping on ECW for bingo halls and this is only a step up due to the uniqueness of it, not because of its size. I should also note that it is just Vince McMahon and Lawler here for the announcing duties. A distraction from Windham allows Bradshaw to knock Henry out to the floor. There are lots of bWo shirts in the crowd and not many women. They show Ken Shamrock in the audience. I did not expect this match to get this much time. Phineas has Windham in a sleeper hold but with Henry arguing with the referee, JBL comes in and clotheslines Phineas. Windham gets on top and gets the victory. However, Phineas got his foot on the rope. Another referee comes out and tries to argue the call, but the result sticks so the Godwinns slop the referee. This was actually a little better than I expected.

Match Rating: *1/4

Out come the Eliminators after the commercial break. They attack one of the ring crew and hit their finisher. Paul Heyman gets on the mic to say that ECW is in the house. After another commercial, Heyman introduces the next match. Heyman joins the announce team and the bWo grab the mic. 

Little Guido vs. Big Stevie Cool

Guido attacks them and we are underway. I'm not sure that I would have picked the bWo as the first thing to have a match here, but to each their own. Stevie hits a side suplex and then out comes Raven. The distraction allows a roll up and a 2 count. Guido hits a couple of dropkicks. They interview Goldust during the match to get an update on Marlena. He's here and then makes an "it" reference about Chyna and Lawler calls him out for it. Stevie hits a powerbomb and then hits a superkick for the victory. This was mostly nonsense. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Sunny is interviewed in a robe to talk trash about Marlena. Honky Tonk Man's music hits and we go to commercial. He introduces Sunny and she does her Body Donna schtick before taking off her robe, which reveals basically what she usually wears. Out comes Marlena next and they show highlights of her being attacked by that woman. Sunny offers her the opportunity to forfeit, but Marlena isn't having it. Honky goes over the rules and Sunny does the usual heel gimmick where she stalls. Marlena returns the favor but this time Honky threatens to disqualify her. They pan to Shamrock again, which is probably not a great choice during this. We finally have our arm wrestling match and just as Marlena is about to win, Sunny throws sand in her face. Out comes Savio Vega and he goes up to Marlena so Goldust comes out and attacks him. Goldust slams his head into the table and I guess we have a match?

Savio Vega vs. Goldust

After a commercial break, we are having a match. Savio is finally in his new Nation gear. Miguel Perez joins the announce team and this is something that I completely forgot existed. He says that he doesn't know what happened to Savio. He used to be proud of him. The crowd starts chanting "Candido" at Sunny, who for some reason is still out there. Goldust hits a crossbody for a 2 count but Savio immediately hits him with a spin kick. This one has lost me a bit. Just as I type that, Crush runs in and attacks Goldust for the DQ finish. Miguel Perez comes in and gets thrown right out. He then hits a missile dropkick on Savio and then helps Goldust with Crush. This was really dull. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They hype up that next week's Raw is from Berlin, Germany. 

We then see highlights of Jerry Lawler interviewing Tiny Tim from July of 1993. Lawler is now going to interview Ken Shamrock in the crowd. Lawler does his usual that he trained Shamrock and Ken then says that he doesn't even know Lawler. Lawler is of course flabbergasted and that's the whole segment. 

It's time to hype up the Slammy's on March 21st on USA Network. 

We go back to Paul Heyman and he says this show has sucked without ECW. He then announces Mikey Whipwreck, like that will make it better. 

Mikey Whipwreck vs. Taz

Taz hits some suplexes, Lawler makes some short jokes and Faarooq is interviewed during the match. Taz is on top of the Raw sign and leaps off onto Taz's team. Taz then suplexes Whipwreck over the top onto Sabu in what is a scary looking bump. Tazmission ends this one. This was obviously a Taz feature and it was fine. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Headbangers vs. Legion Of Doom

This was the big surprise that they alluded to during the show. The return of LOD was a huge one for me, as they were a childhood favorite. This run didn't end up being anything great, but in this moment, this was a big one for me. The crowd is into this one and then starts chanting "Nitro sucks". To their credit, this was not a total squash and actually treat the Headbangers like a legit threat. Now it's time for a "Bischoff sucks" chant. They actually give this match a commercial break and then we get a lame double countout finish. I did not remember that. After the match, LOD hits the Doomsday Device for good measure. I am shocked that they agreed to this. This was a little lackluster for a big return. 

Match Rating: *

We get the "Tell Me A Lie" Shawn Michaels music video. 

D-Von Dudley vs. Tommy Dreamer

We get a bunch of weapon shots from Dreamer on the outside. Dreamer then hits a suplex on the outside and then a baseball slide into the steps. Back in the ring, D-Von hits Dreamer with a chair to the head. Most of the match is Lawler and Heyman arguing on commentary. D-Von misses a headbutt off the second rope and lands on the chair. Dreamer hits a piledriver and then D-Von grabs Buelah in the ring. While the finish is happening, Undertaker is being interviewed. Dreamer wins and then Bubba Ray Dudley comes in and attacks Dreamer and Sandman is not far behind. We then get a bunch of unprotected chair shots to the Dudleys. This was probably the best representation of what ECW was at the time, for better or for worse. Heyman and Lawler then get into a physical altercation going into the commercial break. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Jim Ross recaps the chaotic title situation for us. It concludes with them confirming that Sid will take on Undertaker and Steve Austin will face Bret Hart at WrestleMania. 

Todd Pettengil is now with Ken Shamrock to conduct a real interview. He introduces his wife and father. He then picks Undertaker to defeat Sid and he can't make a choice between Austin and Bret. 

Faarooq vs. Undertaker

Faarooq insults Shamrock during his entrance and insults UFC. Shamrock says he'd be willing to step in the ring with Faarooq. Taker attacks D'Lo Brown and that allows for Faarooq to strike first but is quickly eating a flying clothesline from Taker. Taker walks the ropes and hits the mark on pre-Old School. It's kind of wild that they thought this match could headline a pay per view in a few months. Just in case you didn't hear Vince the first 10 times, Raw is from Germany next week. During the commercial break, the Nation attacked Taker and Faarooq is now working on the legs of Taker. Now this one is starting to drag on. D'Lo pulls down the top rope for Taker to fall over and he lands on his feet. Faarooq comes over with the steps and Taker kicks them into him. This naturally turns into a no contest and then the Legion of Doom make the save as we go off the air. This was pretty boring. 

Match Rating: *

This episode sure threw a lot of things at the wall to see what would stick. While on paper, it was memorable, it also wasn't that good. With every year, I become less interested in ECW and then knowing that the LOD run wasn't very good makes the return not mean as much in retrospect. However, this was definitely better than some random episode, I just wish we would have gotten at least one good match to go with the chaos. 

Overall Rating: 62%

Monday Night Raw 2-17-97 Review

Monday, February 17th, 1997
Nashville Arena
Nashville, Tennessee

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WWF Championship Match
Sid vs. Bret Hart

They are hyping up the beating that Bret took last night at In Your House and they aren't wrong. Sid and Bret go face to face and out comes Steve Austin to attack Bret. Sid gets in on the action and during the chaos Austin clips Sid's knee in retaliation and Sid is screaming in pain like he's a cartoon character. The officials finally get Austin out of the ring. Sid is back in the ring and can't put weight on his injured leg. 

They throw us back to highlights now instead. We get another mention of Thursday Raw Thursday and Shawn Michael's forfeiting of the title. They show still photos of the main event from last night's show before going back to Sid. He's furious and the match will still happen tonight. 

Marc Mero vs. Savio Vega

As I mentioned on the In Your House review, the Savio heel turn is so new that he's still wearing his babyface attire. Mero gets the hot start and he hits his somersault dive to the outside that takes out both Vega and Crush. Vega comes back and hits the spin kick in the corner to take control of the match. Mero is dumped to the outside and one of the Nation rappers starts getting some kicks in on Mero. Over comes Sable and she goes after him with some kicks to a pop from the crowd. Savio misses a splash in the corner and then Mero hits a rough looking back body drop. Mero then hits a Samoan Drop and then the Nation all goes after Sable and she backs into a corner in the ring. The ref calls for the bell? Out comes Ahmed Johnson with a 2 x 4 to make the save. That was a pretty bad ending, but Ahmed got a good reaction. 

Match Rating: *

We get a Bret interview during Leif Cassidy's entrance. Bret says that he just has to get used to Austin coming after him wherever he goes. After he gets done with Sid, he'll go on to the next contender. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Leif Cassidy vs. Rocky Maivia

Sunny comes out to be the timekeeper. They do a live interview with Hunter Hearst Helmsley during the match and he calls Rocky the luckiest punk in the world. Meanwhile, the crowd is very silent for this one so far. Leif is controlling most of the match here and hits the mark off the top rope. He goes to the well once too often and Rocky slams him off the top. They keep showing a guy taunting Lawler with an "ECW Rules" sign. Rocky hits a top rope crossbody and doesn't go for the cover. Rocky puts him up on his shoulder and hits the shoulder breaker for the victory. That was mostly dull.

Match Rating: 3/4*

We go back to Lawler roasting ECW. Looking back, he wasn't really long. If you weren't a diehard wrestling fan, you never heard of ECW. 

Goldust and Marlena are out with Kevin Kelly in the ring. He tells Helmsley that this is personal now. All the money in the world couldn't buy Marlena and he says that the only way he can get to her is over his dead body. Marlena talking really takes away from the mystique of her character. Marlena says that Goldust is all man. Out comes Helmsley and it eventually becomes a fight. Helmsley dominates it and hits a Pedigree. Marlena follows that up with a slap to the face. Out comes Chyna and shakes Marlena in a bear hug. Security is out and breaks it up, leaving Goldust to carry her to the back. 

Headbangers vs. Hardy Boys

Jeff Hardy hits a leaping clothesline to start and tags in Matt for a double team. We get an interview with Faarooq and the Nation. Faarooq wants to have a Chicago Street Fight at WrestleMania. Meanwhile, the Headbangers hit a suplex/top rope splash combo on Matt. Jeff gets a tag back in and hits a couple of dropkicks before getting his head clotheslined off. They hit the Stage Dive and that's all. The Headbangers were fun for a little bit here and it helps that the Hardy's were here to sell for them. 

Match Rating: *

WWF Championship Match
Sid vs. Bret Hart

We're going to try this again. Bret can't even make it to Gorilla position, as he is attacked by Austin. Sid once again comes to join in on the fun. Maybe the third time will be the charm? 

Kevin Kelly is with Gorilla Monsoon. Gorilla says that we aren't like other people and tease you. He guarantees that we will have a title match tonight.

Flash Funk vs. Owen Hart

Here's a pairing I would like to see a few matches between. We get Paul Heyman on the phone so that we can ignore the match. Heyman says that they will be on Raw next week. I was very excited about this since I could only read about ECW. We didn't get it where I was on any of our TV networks. Meanwhile, Clarence Mason and Owen start disagreeing and Funk hits Owen with a dive. Then British Bulldog comes out and tells Mason to go to the back. Owen hits a German suplex into a bridge for a nearfall. Austin is now being interviewed by JR and is upset about the Final Four ruling. He says that the whole organization is holding him back. Owen hits a nice gutwrench suplex. Funk comes back and hits a top rope crossbody for a 2 count. Funk sets Owen up and hits a moonsault and again Owen kicks out. Flash goes off the ropes and Bulldog hits Funk with the Slammy behind the referee's back. Owen hits a kick and Bulldog holds down Funk's leg for the victory. This was pretty good despite all the distractions from the actual ring work. 

Match Rating: **

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Bart Gunn

Honky Tonk Man is joining at the announce booth. JR then asks Helmsley if he knows who this woman is who keeps attacking Marlena. He denies any knowledge of who she is. Honky basically says he has been denied by his top choices and now he's starting all over again. I guess I'll start recapping this match. Helmsley hits the high knee and then out comes Goldust and he chases him through the crowd, which is always a fun spot. That's enough for a countout and gives Bart the big win. This was nothing.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go to Dr. Andrews talking about Shawn Michaels' injury. He says that surgery is not completely ruled out. 

WWF Championship Match
Sid vs. Bret Hart

Here we go now. I was in Hawaii when this Raw happened and I was able to catch this match before we had to go to a dinner. This was the peak of my fandom, so this was a huge deal. We have a physical start to the match. Bret looks to be on a mission to have a good match here. Bret does the Figure Four spot here with Sid on the ring post. Before the match, they said they were taking a commercial so we would get the match in its entirety. We then get a commercial right during that spot. When we come back, Bret is still working on Sid's leg. Sid comes back and hits a huge leg drop for a 2. Sid then hits a second rope leg drop and again gets a 2 count. Bret puts Sid on the ropes and charges at him. Sid gets out of the way and Bret falls to the floor. Bret recovers and puts on the Sharpshooter in the center of the ring. Out comes Austin and hits Bret with a chair to the back of the head. Neither Sid nor the referee see it. Sid hits the powerbomb and we have a new WWF Champion. This of course gets a huge pop, as this was not something that happened very often at the time. The match was good, but more in a TV match type of way than a pay per view. The moment was huge though and really was a surprise to me. 

Match Rating: ***

As Sid is celebrating, the Undertaker's music hits and the lights go off. They go face to face and Sid shows no fear. 

This was one of the most memorable episodes of Raw up to this point in time with the huge title change. The rest of the show was mostly forgettable, but one match and moment is really all it takes to make this a thumbs up. 

Overall Rating: 68%