WWF Monday Night Raw Results
February 26, 1996 (Taped February 19)
Cincinnati, Ohio (Cincinnati Gardens)
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 mind games between Diesel and the Undertaker are escalating. At In Your House 6, Diesel blinked first. Last Monday on Raw, Diesel destroyed the Undertaker’s sacred resting place. Tonight, Diesel will be in action. Will the Undertaker be far behind? Two of the greatest WWF Superstars of all time will battle at WrestleMania. They’ll be face-to-face tonight.
Video: The Raw video plays, and we’re back in the Cincinnati Gardens.
Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcome us to the show. McMahon scares Lawler at the prospect of Jake “The Snake” Roberts putting his python on him.
Video: Last month at the Royal Rumble, Jake Roberts threw his python onto a terrified Jerry Lawler.
Isaac Yankem, DDS vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Referee: Jack Doan
They lock up, and Roberts applies a side headlock. Yankem backs him into the corner and punches him. Roberts punches back, and Yankem backs up. They lock up again, and Yankem applies a side headlock. Roberts whips him off and hits a hip toss, followed by a knee lift. Roberts wrenches the arm, but Yankem kicks him. Yankem ducks a short-arm clothesline and drops him with a clothesline of his own. Yankem drops some hammers before bouncing him off the top turnbuckle. Yankem chokes him with his boot before ripping at his face. Yankem punches and chokes Roberts again before ripping at his mouth. Yankem clubs away at Roberts and bounces him off the top turnbuckle again. Yankem clubs him down. Yankem stands him up and continues punching at Roberts. Yankem sends him to the opposite corner and charges, but Roberts boots him back. Roberts punches him before sending him into the ropes, but he lowers his head and eats a kick. Yankem taunts the crowd and teases a DDS (his version of the DDT). Yankem goes for the DDS, but Roberts holds the ropes to avoid it. Roberts then drops him with his trademark DDT for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Roberts grabs the canvas bag containing his python, Revelations, and walks off.
Mike’s Thoughts: After returning to the WWF at the Royal Rumble, this is Jake Roberts’ first match on Raw. Roberts got a hell of a reaction at the Rumble, and his legend status hadn’t worn off by this Raw match over a month later. Still, this came at a tough point in his career. He had taken all of 1995 off after wrestling sporadically after leaving the WWF in 1992, battling a bad drug addiction. Roberts retired from wrestling and committed himself to the Lord, wanting to preach, but that doesn’t pay the bills, so he wound up back in the WWF in 1996. When he returned, he was pretty out of shape and was a really hard-looking 40-year-old. It didn’t take long for him to get completely gassed in this match. It really wasn’t good. They didn’t even pay this pretty embarrassing contest off with the snake after the match.
Isaac Yankem is getting closer and closer to making his way out of the roster mix. He’ll have to undergo one more horrific gimmick before becoming a future WWF/E legend.
Video: Footage shows kids asking “Rowdy” Roddy Piper to bring back the Ultimate Warrior. The Ultimate Warrior is coming back.
Bob Holly is in the ring.
Replay: Last week on Raw, Diesel destroyed the Undertaker’s casket with an axe.
Coming up next, Diesel will battle Bob Holly.
-Commercial Break-
At WrestleMania XII, Diesel will battle the Undertaker.
Replay: The Undertaker pulled Diesel through the ring canvas at In Your House 6. Diesel lost his cool at that.
Bob Holly vs. Diesel
Referee: Jack Doan
The bell rings, and Diesel immediately hits a knee lift to stun Holly. Diesel elbows Holly in the head before punching him down. Diesel shoves him to the corner and goes for a back elbow, but Holly moves. Holly punches away at him before Diesel shoves him off. Diesel connects with a clothesline before cautiously looking around the ring mat for the Undertaker coming through it. Diesel is becoming paranoid. Diesel hits a sidewalk slam and looks around again. Holly leans on the middle rope, so Diesel avalanches him. Holly is struggling to get to his feet. Diesel hits a flurry of back elbows and knees to the midsection in the corner. Diesel then whips Holly hard to the opposite corner.
Diesel continues to look around before sending Holly into the ropes. Diesel lowers his head and eats a kick. Holly ducks a clothesline and hits a dropkick. Holly hits a pair of clotheslines, but Diesel doesn’t go down. Holly takes him down with the third clothesline.
-Commercial Break-
Back from the break, Diesel hits Holly with a Jackknife Powerbomb. Diesel anxiously looks around before kneeling down to cover Holly. 1… 2… 3.
Winner by Pinfall: Diesel
Diesel looks around before signaling that he’s not afraid of the Undertaker. Diesel smiles and saunters around, saying Undertaker doesn’t want to face him when he’s fresh. As Diesel goes up the aisleway, the bell tolls and the lights in the Cincinnati Gardens go out. When they come back on, The Undertaker is standing in the middle of the ring. Diesel smiles and starts to remove his gloves as he heads to the ring. The lights go out again. When they come back on, Diesel is alone in the ring. Diesel looks around and is frustrated.
The bell tolls again, and the lights go out. The Undertaker appears on the video wall. The Undertaker says he hopes Diesel doesn’t think it’s going to be that easy. If Diesel wants to play mind games, he’s the master of the mind game. Undertaker says he’ll see him on the Dark Side. Diesel is fired up.
Mike’s Thoughts: I know wrestlers really are made differently in terms of pain tolerance, but I’m having a really hard time believing that Diesel had a separated/fractured shoulder from the night before and was able to perform on this TV taping that saw him swinging around an axe with reckless abandon, as well as a match against Bob Holly. Given that one of his best friends handed in his 90-day notice two days after this taping (see last week’s recap for a full breakdown on Razor Ramon leaving), the timing is definitely interesting. It was well known by this point that WCW was interested in both Ramon and Diesel. Could conversations have been happening during the time Diesel was off the house shows? One wonders.
In any event, the match with Bob Holly was nothing. The mind games back and forth with the Undertaker were fine. Nothing more than that. Simple segment to build to their WrestleMania match. Undertaker definitely had to do a lot of running back and forth.
-Commercial Break-
Next week on Raw, WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart battles Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Shawn Michaels will also take on the 1-2-3 Kid.
Shinobi vs. Ahmed Johnson
Referee: Tim White
The bell rings, and they lock up. Johnson easily throws him over the top rope.
WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust calls in via telephone. Marlena told him to recite a poem. Goldust recites a very sexualized poem dedicated to Acting WWF President “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Goldust says he wants to play his bagpipes.
Back to the action, Johnson crushes Shinobi with a vicious spinebuster. Johnson then hits the Pearl River Plunge for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Ahmed Johnson
Mike’s Thoughts: Well, here’s the immediate fallout of Razor Ramon giving his 90-day notice. It’s hard for the WWF to stay ahead of current situations since they have about a month’s worth of taping in the can at any time. Ramon gave his notice two days after the taping that started last week, so they had to wait a while to film some new angles. One thing they would do was record fresh commentary at the Stamford, Connecticut, offices and do other pre-tapes to stay ahead of some stories. That’s what happened here with the random phone call from Goldust to switch his focus to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper instead of Ramon, who wasn’t mentioned at all. This is the start of the build to the pretty legendary Hollywood Backlot Brawl.
Also, Shinobi was Al Snow under the mask. He started as Avatar and is now Shinobi. Any more gimmicks?
Video: The mysterious Mankind is shown in a dungeon-type location. He is clutching a rat. With a quivering voice, he says, “The most beautiful woman in the world… every night, Mommy used to wake me up late so that all her new friends could hear the beautiful music. She always understood me. But after the music died, she sent me away… to you (referencing the rat). You understand me, don’t you, George? You understand that Mankind is in pain. Mankind is suffering. Mankind is in agony! The time has come to relieve that pain, which will be better for me, but not so enjoyable for all of you! Mommy… leave the light on. I’m coming home!” Mankind wipes away tears.
Mike’s Thoughts: Damn, this is some really good stuff. They keep getting better week after week.
The Raw Band is playing with Dok Hendrix fronting them.
WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart and Shawn Michaels will be face-to-face next.
-Commercial Break-
Video: Todd Pettengill promotes the WrestleMania XII t-shirt.
Replay: This past weekend on WWF Superstars, The British Bulldog and Owen Hart advanced in the Tournament to decide the No. 1 Contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship. This weekend, the New Rockers, Marty Jannetty and Leif Cassidy, will take on the Godwinns.
Mike’s Thoughts: …and here’s ANOTHER new character for Al Snow. Earlier in the broadcast, he was Shinobi. Now, he’s going to debut as Leif Cassidy as part of the New Rockers (I’m sure you can guess that this won’t be a successful venture, either).
WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart and Shawn Michaels go face-to-face
Vince McMahon is in the ring and introduces the challenger for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII, Shawn Michaels. Michaels gets a great reaction as he heads to the ring, giving a few women a kiss. Jerry “The King” Lawler talks about not getting why everyone likes him, then lists HBK’s accomplishments and works himself into understanding. HBK gets in the ring and gives McMahon a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
McMahon then introduces the WWF Champion, Bret “Hitman” Hart. Hart heads to the ring and gives some high fives to the fans. HBK claps for him as Hart enters the ring.
McMahon calls them the two greatest athletes in WWF history and says they’ll go at it at WrestleMania. McMahon asks HBK if Hart is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. HBK says there’s not a person in this building who has more respect for Hart than he does. Lawler is incredulous. HBK believes that Hart is the best there was, but he can’t foresee the future. HBK can see how Hart could be the best there ever will be. The one thing he questions, with all due respect, is that Hart is the best there is in 1996. That spot is owned by “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels.
Confidence is an important part of Bret Hart’s reign as WWF Champion. How does he size up his challenger? Hart says he thinks HBK is one of the greatest wrestlers he’s ever had the privilege of watching. His last five months as the WWF Champion have been the toughest. He’s taken a lot of punishment from some big guys. It’s hard to wrestle guys who are 6’9 and 7 feet tall. Hart looks forward to an opportunity to step into the ring to show why he is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. The crowd is buzzing. Hart says many people misunderstand things. It’s not Hart’s job to beat HBK. It’s HBK’s job to beat him. Hart wants HBK to understand one thing because he has respect for him. When they sound the bell, he’ll hit HBK with everything but the kitchen sink. HBK is in for one of the biggest dogfights of his life.
McMahon mentions conditioning will play a role in this match. HBK recognizes how Hart has had tough opponents, but he hasn’t done so badly himself. He’s been beaten up by nine thugs and 7-foot people. He’s still standing and looking good. They can sit here and blow smoke at each other because they have a lot of respect for each other. HBK shows off his abs and says he’s in the best shape of his career. HBK mentions he’s like the Energizer Bunny because he keeps going and going.
WWF President “Rowdy” Roddy Piper heads to the ring to a big reaction. Piper takes the microphone and kicks McMahon out of the ring. Piper says he was listening. His job as the President of WWF is to give the people a fair shake on every fight that’s coming at WrestleMania XII. The first thing he doesn’t like is when he hears people booing Bret Hart’s name. The crowd starts to boo. Piper says he’s not here to say what’s popular. He’s here to tell the truth. You don’t boo a three-time champion. At one point, Hart beat Roddy Piper. Piper says he wasn’t there. You also don’t boo Shawn Michaels, who has battled and groveled for this one chance.
On March 31 in Anaheim, it’s the night to fight. There’s going to be a winner. No DQs or anything. They’ll be relying on their conditioning. Abs don’t matter, and anyone can get a lucky fall. Their match at WrestleMania for the WWF Championship won’t be a one-fall match. The man who gets the most falls on the other man will become the WWF Champion. Hart and HBK don’t have a problem with that. HBK asks how long the match will be. Piper says, “One hour!” There will be no timeouts. Hart and HBK can perform. Piper will make them. On March 31 in Anaheim, the one with the most falls will be the WWF Champion. They might as well shake hands now because they’ll hate each other at the end. Hart and HBK shake hands.
Mike’s Thoughts: Well, there you have it. That’s how the 60-minute Iron Man Match came about for WrestleMania XII. I have to say that this wasn’t a very compelling segment. They want Shawn Michaels to be the super face of the company post-WrestleMania, so they can’t have him do anything heelish. Bret Hart also wasn’t ready to turn heel for any reason, so you have two faces showering respect onto each other while trying to muster up some excitement for this. It’s Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, so it’s guaranteed to be a good match, but if you’re looking for any drama heading into it, you’re not going to find it.
Coming up next, Yokozuna battles Owen Hart and the British Bulldog in a Handicap Match.
Backstage Segment
A camera goes into the Men’s Bathroom, where Owen Hart and the British Bulldog are talking. Hart and Bulldog angrily kick the camera out.
-Commercial Break-
The WWF Superstar Line is open 24 hours a day. It’s $1.49 a minute.
Replay: Two weeks ago on Raw, Yokozuna had enough of Jim Cornette and beat him up. Owen Hart and the British Bulldog attacked Yokozuna, but he fought them off.
Tyco R/C Maximum Heat is sponsoring Raw tonight.
Replay: At In Your House 6, Vader got involved in the match with Yokozuna and the British Bulldog, beating up Yokozuna.
2-on-1 Handicap Match
Owen Hart and the British Bulldog w/ Jim Cornette vs. Yokozuna
Referee: Earl Hebner
The bell rings, and it’ll be Owen Hart starting against the mighty Yokozuna. Hart ducks a lock up and hits the ropes, but Yokozuna takes him down with a back elbow. Yokozuna executes a stiff scoop slam. Hart gets up in the corner and tries to reverse a whip, but Yokozuna counters with a short-arm clothesline. The British Bulldog tags in and shouts at the crowd. Bulldog hits the ropes, but Yokozuna shoulders him back twice before hitting a scoop slam. Hart runs in, but Yokozuna hits him with a back body drop. Yokozuna chops Bulldog in the corner and sends him to the opposite corner. Yokozuna charges, but Bulldog moves. Hart then takes Yokozuna down with a missile dropkick. Jim Cornette distracts the referee as Hart and Bulldog double-team Yokozuna.
-Commercial Break-
Back from the break, Hart takes it to Yokozuna and rakes the eyes. Bulldog tags in, and they club Yokozuna down as Cornette distracts the referee. The referee catches them and kicks Hart out of the ring. Bulldog chokes Yokozuna before tagging Hart in. Hart heads to the top rope and goes for a dive, but Yokozuna rolls out of the way.
Yokozuna struggles to pull himself up as Bulldog tags in. Yokozuna punches away at Bulldog and Hart. Vader heads down to the ring, but Cornette steps in front of him. Bulldog and Hart send Yokozuna into the ropes for a double-team clothesline, but he runs right through it. Yokozuna then takes them down with a double clothesline. Yokozuna stands there and waits for Vader to get into the ring. You can hear Owen Hart say, “Turn around,” when Vader gets in the ring. Yokozuna turns around, and Vader hits him with a stiff clothesline.
Winner by Disqualification: Yokozuna
Vader, Hart, and Bulldog triple-team Yokozuna. All of a sudden, Ahmed Johnson and Jake “The Snake” Roberts head down to the ring. Johnson clotheslines Hart and hits Bulldog with a spinebuster. Roberts gets in the ring and takes the yellow python Revelations out of the bag. Vader is scared off by the snake. Vince McMahon says it’ll still be Yokozuna and Vader going one-on-one at WrestleMania XII. Roberts, Johnson, and Yokozuna stand tall in the ring.
Mike’s Thoughts: It’s odd that this segment ended with Vince McMahon emphatically saying that Vader vs. Yokozuna was still a one-on-one match when the post-match run-in was ready-made to make that into a 6-man tag at WrestleMania. Not much of a match before the disqualification. Yokozuna is looking really bad. So tragic.
Next week on Raw, Shawn Michaels will battle the 1-2-3 Kid. WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart will also battle Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
Larry Fling Live
It’s time for another edition of Larry Fling Live. The guests will be the Huckster and the Nacho Man. They both have male pattern baldness and sold out to Billionaire Ted. Fling asks them about Liz, and they say she’s not so great. The WWF made them into stars. Why did they leave? The Nacho Man says they couldn’t keep up with the New Generation. The WWF said they were too old to wrestle. He may be old and slow and bald, but he’s only as old, slow, and bald as he feels… and he feels it. How long will they keep this charade? The Huckster says he’s still in great shape.
Billionaire Ted calls in. How’s Jane? Ted says she’s fine. Fling wonders if he’s older than the two geezers. If Ted pays them more than him, he’ll put on some tights and dance. The Huckster and Nacho Man take exception to that. Ted reminds them they have a match at WrestleMania. Fling asks who will win the match. Nacho Man says he was promised the win. Huckster says he must win for the Huckster-maniacs who buy his stuff. Nacho Man says they give the Huckster’s stuff away for free with promises the fans will be on TV, but they never are. Huckster grabs a chair and starts hitting some really pathetic blows. Fling threatens Huckster with a lady’s shoe, scaring him off.
Mike’s Thoughts: Pathetic. There’s really not much more to say than that. The fact that they keep closing their shows with these horrendous skits during WrestleMania season is absolutely baffling.
Quick Match Results
— Jake “The Snake” Roberts def. Isaac Yankem, DDS
— Diesel def. Bob Holly
— Ahmed Johnson def. Shinobi
— Yokozuna def. Owen Hart and The British Bulldog via DQ in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match
Mike’s Wrap-up: What We Learned from Raw
This episode of Raw had some genuinely important pieces in place for WrestleMania XII, but the overall show still felt super uneven. The Undertaker vs. Diesel mind games were fine enough, the Mankind vignettes continue to be one of the most compelling things on the entire program, and the face-to-face between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels got people thinking about the main event of WrestleMania and put the Iron Man Match on the table. Even if the segment itself was a little flat (reports from the time say there was booing for HBK, Hart, and Roddy Piper), the stakes of WrestleMania were at least clearly defined.
That said, so much of this show felt like spinning wheels. The undercard was mostly forgettable. Yokozuna’s physical decline is truly startling and becoming harder to watch, and the booking itself feels totally stuck. Nothing is terrible, but very little is exciting. It’s too sanitized and feels corporate. When you’ve got another wrestling program running at the same time that feels fresh, has big stars, and has a more chaotic presentation, the WWF isn’t going to win a war with what they’re producing right now.
And then there’s the Billionaire Ted garbage. Ending WrestleMania season episodes of Raw with these skits is just brutal. They aren’t funny (although the Huckster’s lame chair shots did get a smirk from me), they don’t make WCW look bad, and, worst of all, they actively take heat off their own product. Instead of selling Diesel vs. Undertaker or Bret vs. Shawn, the WWF is burning precious closing minutes on parodies that feel pathetic and out of touch. It undercuts the serious momentum they’re trying to build elsewhere on the show.
There’s good stuff happening here. You can feel the company trying to find some footing with characters like Mankind and the early evolution of Steve Austin. They actually have all the pieces they need to win the war on the roster. But then they kneecap themselves with these tone-deaf, garbage comedy segments and stale filler. It’s more self-inflicted nonsense, and they’re going to pay the price for it for a while.
So, was the promise of Yokozuna being in a Handicap Match, Diesel having a squash match, and a face-to-face with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels enough to win the night?
WWF Raw (USA Network, taped): 3.1 (Record: 10-11-2)
WCW Nitro (TNT, live): 3.2 (Record: 11-10-2)
Winner: WCW Nitro
Believe it or not, even though Raw came up short in this match, the show held its own. It may be WrestleMania season driving curiosity, since this was still a good rating. This is the first head-to-head match between WWF and WCW in which both scored ratings over 3.
Programming Note: 1996 was a leap year, so as this series moves forward, our retro recaps will fall one day off from the exact 30-year anniversary. We’re keeping the Thursday release schedule consistent moving forward. We’ve got a leap year in 2028, so the shows will catch up 30 years to the day in two years!
Email – mike@wrestleview.com
X – @MikeTedescoWV
Last week’s Raw | In Your House 6
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Part of Wrestleview’s Monday Night War: 30 Years Later series, with weekly Raw and Nitro recaps every Thursday.