WWF Monday Night Raw Results
June 10, 1996 (Taped May 27)
Fayetteville, North Carolina (Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium)
Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler
Results by: Mike Tedesco of Wrestleview.com
“The World Wrestling Federation: for over fifty years, the revolutionary force in sports entertainment.” The WWF video leads us into the show.
Video: The Raw video plays.
Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcome us to the show. The Ultimate Warrior will be out later tonight for an interview. Lawler painted a portrait of the Warrior and wants to present it to him to show there are no hard feelings. We’ll also see The Undertaker battle The British Bulldog.
Video: Two years ago, Owen Hart won the 1994 King of the Ring. Earlier this year, he won a Slammy Award.
King of the Ring Tournament
First Round Match
Yokozuna vs. Owen Hart w/ Jim Cornette
Referee: Earl Hebner
Owen Hart attacks Yokozuna before the bell rings to start the match. Hart is wearing a cast on his left wrist. Yokozuna quickly reverses a whip and hits a clothesline. Yokozuna chops Hart as he gets to his feet. Hart tries to reverse a whip, but Yokozuna shoulders him. Yokozuna hits a headbutt and chops him down. Yokozuna has Hart in the corner. Hart tries to reverse a whip again, but Yokozuna hits a short-arm clothesline. Yokozuna connects with a scoop slam and goes to drop an elbow, but Hart moves. Hart complains to the referee about his cast as Cornette takes a cheap shot at Yokozuna. Hart avalanches Yokozuna against the ropes and strikes away at the giant man. Hart has Yokozuna loopy on his feet, but he won’t go down. Hart hits the ropes and takes him down with a spinning heel kick. The crowd chants, “We want Bret.” Hart goes to the second rope for a diving elbow drop, but Yokozuna rolls out of the way.
The crowd loudly chants, “We want Bret.” Hart tries to headbutt Yokozuna, but he only hurts himself. Yokozuna connects with a stiff headbutt, taking Hart down. Yokozuna sends Hart into the ropes for a back elbow. Yokozuna whips him hard into the corner and hits a forearm to the head. Yokozuna positions Hart near the corner and climbs to the second rope for a Banzai Drop. Yokozuna suddenly loses his balance and falls to the canvas. Hart then covers Yokozuna and puts his feet on the ropes for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Owen Hart
Owen Hart advances to the Quarterfinals of the King of the Ring tournament.
Later tonight, “Wildman” Marc Mero will battle Skip in a King of the Ring Tournament First Round Match. We’ll also see a special interview with The Ultimate Warrior. Tonight’s main event will be The Undertaker battling The British Bulldog.
Mike’s Thoughts: That was not great. It didn’t go long at all, but it was long enough to be embarrassing for Yokozuna. He’s basically immobile at this point, and they booked him to be a total goof in this. The finish was simply him attempting his finisher, losing his balance and falling, and then getting pinned. The slipping wasn’t caused by Jim Cornette shaking the ropes. He simply fell. That was basically the finish of the WrestleMania X main event, but he was a heel then (and I still thought that was a stupid finish). Here, he’s a face, so that’s not exactly how you’d start up a strong face run. They only gave him a month at a weight loss clinic… he’s not even close to ready. Sad to watch.
King of the Ring Tournament
First Round
The Ultimate Warrior vs. Goldust ended in a Double Countout
Vader def. Ahmed Johnson
Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw def. Henry O. Godwinn
Jake “The Snake” Roberts def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin def. Bob Holly
Savio Vega def. Marty Jannetty
Owen Hart def. Yokozuna
Skip vs. “Wildman” Marc Mero
Quarterfinals
Vader receives a bye to the Semifinals
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega
Owen Hart will face the winner of Skip vs. “Wildman” Marc Mero
Video: Last night at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois, the Attitude Adjustment Tour weekend events culminated with an exciting event. We see footage of The Ultimate Warrior and WWF Champion Shawn Michaels.
Video: The WWF Attitude Adjustment Tour continues. This Thursday, they’ll be at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Friday, they’ll be at The Coliseum in Denver, Colorado. On Saturday, they’ll head to the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Finally, on Sunday, which is Father’s Day, they’ll be at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri. One week from Saturday, they’ll be at the Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg, Ontario. Don’t miss it!
-Commercial Break-
Replay: In an exclusive that aired yesterday on the WWF Action Zone, Jake “The Snake” Roberts told some personal stories about his past addictions. Roberts talked about scaring his wife with his drug use to the point she’d have to check on him at night to make sure he was still breathing. If he quit breathing, she’d shake him. She’d dig vomit out of his mouth to keep him alive from the pills and cocaine. He didn’t even know he was choking in his sleep.
Locker Room Interview
Jim Ross is in the locker room with a dejected Yokozuna. What is Yokozuna thinking right now? Yokozuna says he doesn’t know. He can’t believe he lost to Owen Hart. This is not the old Yoko. This thing about wanting to get his hands on Jim Cornette is causing him to lose it. Yokozuna can’t concentrate. Yokozuna says, “I’ve just gotta go and find myself.”
Jake “The Snake” Roberts will be on commentary for the next match. His King of the Ring Quarterfinal Match against Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw will take place on this weekend’s WWF Superstars show.
King of the Ring Tournament
First Round Match
Skip vs. “Wildman” Marc Mero w/ Sable
Referee: Jack Doan
The bell rings, and they circle the ring. They soon lock up, and Mero backs him into the corner. Mero gives a clean break and backs up. They lock up again, and Skip powers Mero into the corner. Skip also gives Mero a clean break. They lock up a third time, and Mero hooks a side headlock. Skip whips him off and leapfrogs him. Mero then leapfrogs Skip and reverses a hip toss into one of his own. Mero hits a second hip toss, followed by an arm drag and a dropkick over the top rope. It doesn’t look like Skip made it cleanly over the top rope, but some clever editing hid it. Mero goes for a dive, but he lands on the apron when Skip moves. Mero flips back into the ring as Skip looks on from the ringside area.
Skip slowly gets back into the ring. Mero quickly wrenches the arm and hits a stepover arm drag. Mero puts Skip back into the corner and lights him up with a chop, followed by a running hip toss. Mero uppercuts him in the corner and sends him to the opposite corner. Mero charges, but Skip boots him in the face. Skip strikes him and hits a front suplex onto the top rope. Skip shouts at Jake Roberts, who is still on commentary. Skip kicks away at Mero before hitting a snap suplex. Skip goes to the second rope and hits a diving forearm to the chest. Mero quickly hits a double-leg takedown and punches him. Skip quickly fights out and knocks Mero into the corner. Skip punches away at Mero. Mero reverses a whip to the opposite corner, but Skip slingshots over him. Skip charges, but Mero hits a flapjack onto the top rope. Mero climbs to the second rope, but Skip knocks him down to the canvas. Skip goes for a missile dropkick, but Mero dropkicks him out of mid-air. That looked rough.
Skip quickly punches Mero as he slowly gets up. Skip kicks him in the ribs and applies a surfboard stretch. Mero won’t give up, so Skip lets go and punches him. Skip puts Mero on the top rope and climbs for a super hurricanrana, but Mero holds on! Skip crashes to the mat. Mero quickly hits a diving sunset flip for a one-count. Mero goes for a head-scissor takeover, but Skip does a cartwheel to stay on his feet. Skip pops up and hits a clothesline. Skip delivers a headbutt to the midsection for a two-count.
-Commercial Break-
Back from the break, Mero fights out of a chin lock, but Skip turns him inside out with a kitchen sink knee to the midsection. Skip hits an inverted gutwrench suplex for a near fall. Mero holds his knee in pain. Skip applies a rear chin lock and keeps him grounded. Skip gets to his feet and stomps on Mero’s chest. Mero tries to fight back, but Skip cuts him off. Skip connects with a scoop slam and drops an elbow for a two-count. Skip goes back to the rear chin lock. Mero fights up and elbows out, but Skip cuts him off. Skip sends him into the ropes, but he lowers his head and eats a kick. Mero lights him up with some stinging left jabs, followed by a right hand to take him down.
Mero sends Skip into the ropes, kicks him in the midsection, and hits a running knee lift. Mero hits the ropes and dives, but Skip ducks, and Mero sails over the top rope! Mero hits the ground hard. Skip goes for a plancha, but Mero moves. Skip takes a flat back bump on the mats. Mero hits a somersault senton and gets Skip back into the rope. Mero hits a slingshot splash. 1… 2… Skip barely kicks out. Mero lifts Skip and puts him on the top rope. Mero climbs and hits a super hurricanrana for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: “Wildman” Marc Mero
“Wildman” Marc Mero advances to the Quarterfinals of the King of the Ring Tournament and will face Owen Hart.
Mike’s Thoughts: This was an ok match, very typical of Marc Mero’s run so far. It seems he’s really struggling to do the high-flying stuff he was doing in WCW. WWF rings use real rope with tape over them for color, whereas WCW used cables. Even though he’s been performing for the company for a little over two months with a killer road schedule, he hasn’t successfully navigated around the differences yet. As such, a lot of his stuff looks sloppy or downright dangerous. It seemed like they had an idea that they would work well together, but this was average at best, with a lot of clunkiness. It also doesn’t help that Skip is apparently a face, but the crowd has no clue. So, you have one face who is struggling to have consistently good matches against another face who no one knows is a face. Hence, the dead crowd.
Meanwhile, the search for a new manager of The Bodydonnas continues. If you want to be The Bodydonnas’ manager or know someone who could be, please write to “Manager Search, P.O. Box 3857 in Stamford, Connecticut 06905.”
Next week on Raw, we’ll have two King of the Ring Quarterfinal Matches. Owen Hart will battle “Wildman” Marc Mero. We’ll also see Savio Vega battle “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
King of the Ring Tournament
First Round
The Ultimate Warrior vs. Goldust ended in a Double Countout
Vader def. Ahmed Johnson
Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw def. Henry O. Godwinn
Jake “The Snake” Roberts def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin def. Bob Holly
Savio Vega def. Marty Jannetty
Owen Hart def. Yokozuna
“Wildman” Marc Mero def. Skip
Quarterfinals
Vader receives a bye to the Semifinals
Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega
Owen Hart vs. “Wildman” Marc Mero
Later tonight, we’ll see The Undertaker battle The British Bulldog. Coming up next, we’ll see The Ultimate Warrior.
-Commercial Break-
Sega Saturn Slam of the Week: Two weeks ago, at In Your House 8 Part Two, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Savio Vega battled it out in a Caribbean Street Fight.
Mike’s Nitpick: If this happened nearly two weeks ago, how is it the Slam of the Week?
Video: A King of the Ring promo, starring Jerry “The King” Lawler, is shown.
The Ultimate Warrior Interview
Vince McMahon is in the ring with Jerry “The King” Lawler. McMahon mentions that Lawler will be stepping into the ring with The Ultimate Warrior at the WWF King of the Ring in less than two weeks.
The Ultimate Warrior runs down to the ring in his wrestling gear and is wearing a baseball cap. Warrior is pacing in the ring. Lawler says he wants to get their differences behind them. Lawler knows that Warrior thinks he cost him his shot at being King of the Ring. It’s a tough job being the King. Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown. It’s not easy being Lawler, so it wouldn’t be easy being a king for a whole year. Lawler says he saved Warrior a lot of trouble because being a king makes you a target.
Lawler was looking through Warrior’s comic book and says it was fantastic. Lawler is an artist, both in and out of the ring. Just to square things between them, Lawler took time out of his busy schedule and did a portrait of Warrior. Lawler holds up a fantastic portrait of The Ultimate Warrior. McMahon accuses Lawler of trying to get out of the match. Lawler wonders why they even need to have a match. A lot of heartfelt feelings went into this portrait. Lawler wants Warrior to take this gift.
The Ultimate Warrior says, “You may be an artist, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, but how I see it, I see you as the biggest con artist there ever was.” Lawler is shocked. Warrior says he can appreciate the art and the time it took to get it done, but there’s only one king in the World Wrestling Federation, be it at King of the Ring, WrestleMania, Survivor Series, or SummerSlam. The battleground doesn’t matter. Warrior points to his hat and says Warrior is built by a destiny. He’s bonded by the belief that at King of the Ring, he’s going to kick Lawler’s ass.
The Ultimate Warrior poses in the ring, so Lawler hits him from behind with the portrait. Warrior shakes the ropes as we see a replay of what just happened. Warrior runs after Lawler.
Mike’s Thoughts: This was a pretty lame segment. You’d have to be really naïve about professional wrestling if you didn’t see where this was going the moment Jerry Lawler displayed the art piece he was going to give the Ultimate Warrior. But you may need to have your cognition tested if you can’t use that, and see The Ultimate Warrior in a cap to know this was ending with that thing being smashed on the Warrior’s head. Warrior, as untrusting as ever, wore a cap out to the ring for the first and last time of his career and helped telegraph this even more. Lawler was not pleased with this and wrote about it in his book years later. Lawler couldn’t have taken better care of the Warrior in this match, even hitting him with the back of the frame, so the glass didn’t break over him. So lame of the Warrior to do this.
-Commercial Break-
Video: Shawn Michaels will put the WWF Championship on the line against The British Bulldog in two weeks at the King of the Ring.
Replay: Moments ago, Jerry “The King” Lawler smashed The Ultimate Warrior from behind with a picture frame.
Jerry “The King” Lawler is back on commentary and laughing about how The Ultimate Warrior is screaming backstage about getting framed.
Video: Two weeks ago, at In Your House 8 Part One, Shawn Michaels vs. The British Bulldog for the WWF Championship ended in a Draw with both men’s shoulders pinned to the mat.
Video: Also, two weeks ago, at In Your House 8 Part Two, Mankind attacked The Undertaker and cost him the Casket Match and Intercontinental Championship against Goldust.
Video: WWF Champion Shawn Michaels is shown at WWF Headquarters. Michaels says he’s got something to prove. Michaels will go out there at King of the Ring and do what he does best. Vince McMahon mentions that Michaels believes he let The Kliq down in his last match against The British Bulldog. Michaels says he has an opportunity to right a very serious wrong. That’s what’s on his mind.
Jim Cornette gets onto the microphone, and Michaels shakes his head in disgust. Cornette asks Michaels how it felt when he thought The British Bulldog was the WWF Champion before Gorilla Monsoon bailed him out. Michaels says the belt means everything to him. His whole world was gone. Cornette says he knows something that Michaels and McMahon don’t know. They settled the lawsuit with Clarence Mason against Gorilla Monsoon. Monsoon had to give them some consideration. They’ll be assigning a Special Guest Referee picked by Cornette and Mason. Michaels looks worried. Cornette has put him through so much in the last few weeks. Cornette says he hasn’t even begun. Michaels looks upset.
The British Bulldog w/ Jim Cornette, Owen Hart, and Diana Hart-Smith vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Referee: Tim White
The bell rings, and Bulldog quickly gets out of the ring to avoid the Undertaker. Bulldog takes his time before getting into the ring. Bulldog avoids a strike from the Undertaker. Bulldog avoids a second strike and yells at the crowd. Bulldog ducks a strike and punches the Phenom, but Undertaker turns him around and punches away at him in the corner. Undertaker grabs him by the throat with both hands, lifts him, and slams him down. Bulldog quickly rolls out of the ring to recover.
Bulldog gets in the ring, and Undertaker attacks him. Undertaker sends him to the opposite corner before wrenching his arm. Undertaker climbs to the top rope, walks on it, and comes down with a club to the back. Bulldog pulls himself up in the corner, and Undertaker chokes him there. Undertaker hits a scoop slam and drops a leg for a near fall. Undertaker bounces him in the corner and sends him to the opposite corner. Bulldog knocks Undertaker back and headbutts him. Bulldog lifts the Undertaker for a delayed vertical suplex! Undertaker quickly sits up! Undertaker punches and kicks Bulldog before having a whip reversed on him. Bulldog hits a snap powerslam for a two-count. Undertaker sits up, so Bulldog clubs away at him.
-Commercial Break-
Back from the break, Bulldog is applying a rear chin lock. Vince McMahon says he spoke with Gorilla Monsoon during the commercial, and it is true: The British Bulldog and Jim Cornette will be allowed to select a Guest Referee for the WWF Championship match at King of the Ring. The crowd chants, “Rest in peace,” as the Bulldog cinches in the rear chin lock on the Undertaker. The referee checks the Undertaker’s arm, but he starts to fight up. Undertaker fights up to his feet and punches out. Undertaker sends him into the ropes and lowers his head, but Bulldog catches him with a spinning neckbreaker, followed by a leg drop for a two-count.
The Undertaker immediately sits up, so Bulldog starts to club him. Undertaker fights back, but Bulldog whips him hard into the opposite corner. Undertaker collapses to the mat. Bulldog goes back to the rear chin lock. Undertaker slowly fights up as the crowd chants for him. Bulldog cinches the hold in tighter, and Undertaker drops to his knees. The referee checks on Undertaker’s arm. One drop… Undertaker then grabs Bulldog by the waist and hits a back suplex.
The crowd continues to chant for the Undertaker. Undertaker sits up and sets up for a Tombstone Piledriver, but Bulldog slides off. Bulldog goes for a Running Powerslam, but Undertaker slides off and punches Bulldog down. They get into a brawl before Undertaker drops him with an uppercut. Undertaker bounces Bulldog off the top turnbuckle.
-Commercial Break-
Video: Jim Ross says they’ve got a big bombshell on the WWF Superstar Line. Call 1-900-737-4WWF to find out if the controversial Brian Pillman has joined the World Wrestling Federation. Only $1.49 a minute!
We return from the break to see Bulldog reverse a whip. Undertaker ducks a clothesline and hits a flipping lariat. Undertaker gets to his feet and goozles Bulldog. Undertaker connects with a Chokeslam. Bulldog pulls himself up, so Undertaker hits a clothesline over the top rope. Undertaker reaches for Bulldog, but Bulldog pulls him out of the ring. Bulldog drives Undertaker into the ring post. Undertaker then reverses a whip into the steel ring steps.
Undertaker rolls the Bulldog into the ring. As Undertaker tries to get into the ring, he’s pulled down. It’s Mankind, who is under the ring, holding the Undertaker’s leg!
Winner by Countout: The British Bulldog
Undertaker pulls Mankind out from under the ring, so Bulldog attacks him from behind. Bulldog holds the Undertaker up as Mankind attacks. Jim Cornette doesn’t want his men around Mankind because he’s too unpredictable. Mankind gets the Undertaker in the ring. Jim Cornette gets off commentary and calls Bulldog and Owen Hart over. They head to the back.
In the ring, Mankind hits Undertaker with a pulling piledriver! Mankind signals for the Mandible Claw, but WWF officials and referees run down to stop him.
Mike’s Thoughts: This was actually a pretty decent match. As with most WWF matches from this time period (even more so than by today’s standards), there is a huge overreliance on rest holds. There are a lot of short, explosive moments before going back to the rest hold. The finish was actually quite good. Undertaker was just never a character that lost a lot, but The British Bulldog is the one challenging for the WWF Championship in two weeks. They were smart in having Bulldog not take too much punishment before Mankind cost the Undertaker the match by holding his foot to cause a countout. Good stuff that protects both guys. Jim Cornette’s commentary also helped put Mankind over as an unpredictable monster by not wanting Bulldog or Owen Hart to associate with him. A strong main event that helped all three wrestlers and put over their respective matches at the pay-per-view in two weeks.
Quick Match Results
— Owen Hart def. Yokozuna in a King of the Ring Tournament First Round Match
— “Wildman” Marc Mero def. Skip in a King of the Ring Tournament First Round Match
— The British Bulldog def. The Undertaker via CO
Mike’s Wrap-Up: What We Learned from Raw
This was a pretty solid episode of Raw. I love tournaments. The King of the Ring tournament was always one of my favorite times of the year. I’m glad they brought it back in the last few years. It gives the company direction. The main event also did a solid job of advancing multiple stories at once, and acts like Steve Austin, Mankind, and Owen Hart continue to stand out in positive ways.
At the same time, there are warning signs everywhere. Yokozuna looks physically broken down. They have him booked all through June, but then they’ll give him more time off to get his weight under control. The Ultimate Warrior already feels like a nostalgia act from another era that’s worn out its welcome. Marc Mero is still trying to find his footing. The WWF has talent, but not all of it feels like it’s moving in the same direction.
As usual in this series, sometimes it’s not the shows themselves that are fascinating, but what is actually happening beyond the ring.
In a follow-up to last week’s piece on The British Bulldog giving his 90-day notice, Davey Boy Smith did meet with Vince McMahon on June 6. Smith mentioned that WCW had made a big money offer to him, but he wanted to stay with the WWF. McMahon assured Smith that the WWF never planned on doing anything to embarrass his family with the Shawn Michaels angle. Smith ultimately agreed to stay with the WWF.
The WWF is also quietly trying to reload. Brian Pillman was teased this week as joining the WWF. I’ll do a deep dive on him next week. Ron Simmons, a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion, is also expected to join the company by the end of the month. New pieces are coming in just as old ones depart.
And they’ll need them.
Tonight, the WWF defeated WCW Nitro in the ratings. On paper, that’s good news. But history tells a different story.
WWF Raw (USA Network, taped): 2.7 (Record: 19-15-2)
WCW Nitro (TNT, live): 2.5 (Record: 15-19-2)
Winner: WWF Raw
This would be the final time the WWF defeated WCW in the ratings for nearly two years.
The company didn’t know it yet, but the landscape had shifted. Scott Hall had arrived in WCW. On the opposite show, Kevin Nash made his first appearance as himself and said something very fitting: “The measuring stick just changed around here, buddy. You’re looking at it.”
It truly had. The Monday Night War had entered a new phase. The WWF had won this battle, but they are woefully behind in this war.
The real fight is only just beginning.
Email – mike@wrestleview.com
X – @MikeTedescoWV
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Part of Wrestleview’s Monday Night War: 30 Years Later series, with weekly Raw and Nitro recaps every Thursday.