Tonight's RAW started off with a bang when Steve Austin interrupted yet another
boring Commissioner Slaughter interview. Austin is way over, taking out Jim Ross
at Ground Zero and then the commissioner with the Stone Cold Stunner to thunderous
crowd approval. Steve Austin threw all of Slaughter's tired lines back in his
face. McMahon is next!
Steve-a-mania continued when he joined the fray during the post-match of Bret
Hart vs. Vader, who were wrestling a "No Holds Barred" match. The match itself
was good. There was nothing special in the way of moves but it was very stiff.
Davey Boy Smith interfered, then the Patriot ran in followed by Owen Hart. Owen
and Austin were awesome during the short time they had to tease a confrontation,
especially Owen's missed enziguri.
The scheduled first round intercontinental title tournament match between Dude Love
and Brian Pillman never took place. Instead we saw part one of Brian Pillman's
XXX Files. This was, considering this is the WWF I'm talking about, quite a risque
segment with a lot of strong sexual innuendo. I thought it was great. Did big bird
die on Sunny's chest?
Goldust was disqualified for repeatedly punching Owen Hart in the nads during
another first round tournament match. The match was short and to the point.
Steve Austin did a third great run-in, this time with a broom, and brought the
house down. He continued to threaten Vince McMahon, which I enjoyed. After Austin
left Pillman aired part two of his XXX Files. This one wasn't as good as the
first but it still worked. I hope the fact that Goldust had only half of his face
painted points to the end of the gimmick and the return of Dustin Rhodes.
There were a lot of good things during the Helmsley vs. Vega vs. Patriot triple
threat match. The pre-match attack on Davey Boy Smith was well done except for
the fact that Bret and Owen Hart were nowhere to be seen. The match itself was
decent with a good finish while Shawn Michaels commentary helped the middle where
things dragged a bit. The show concluded with a post-match showdown between all
the principles before fading to black.
The Godwinns challenged the new WWF tag team champions, The Headbangers, to a
match. The 'bangers accepted and the result was a short, nothing match which
was used to introduce the newest Godwinn, Cletus. Cletus interfered to help
Henry and Phinneus to victory. It's unclear what role Cletus will play but
he comes off as a third rate manager.
I love the minis but there wasn't much to Piratita Morgan vs. Max Mini to give
it the nod. The minis match from Ground Zero (El Toretito vs. Max Mini) did a
great job of winning over the crowd by mixing traditional midget comedy with some
super highspots. Tonight's match had a couple of nifty moves but all in all it
came off as filler.
The Undertaker gave an in-ring interview underscored with his typical talk of
death. It didn't do anything for me. Whatever happened to Cain?
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