WWF Monday Night Raw Results
July 29, 1996 (Taped July 22)
Seattle, Washington (Key Arena)
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: Last week on Raw, a mysterious man in a gladiator helmet destroyed Ahmed Johnson, costing him and Shawn Michaels the WWF Tag Team Championship. Vince McMahon states that the attack caused a ruptured kidney for Johnson.
Video: The Raw video plays.
Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler welcome us to the show. Tonight, we’ll see “Wildman” Marc Mero take on Vader. The British Bulldog will battle Henry O. Godwinn. Finally, our main event will be The Undertaker taking on “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw is in the ring with Uncle Zebekiah. Sycho Sid gets an amazing reaction as he heads to the ring.
Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw w/ Uncle Zebekiah vs. Sycho Sid
Referee: Chad Patton
The bell rings, and they go face-to-face. Bradshaw shoves Sid before they begin brawling. Sid slaps him twice in the face before chopping him. Sid kicks away at Bradshaw before sending him into the ropes. Sid goozles him to a HUGE ovation and hits a chokeslam. Uncle Zebekiah soon gets on the apron to distract Sid. Bradshaw grabs the bull rope with the cowbell and hits Sid in the head with it. The referee calls for the bell.
Winner by Disqualification: Sycho Sid
Bradshaw drops a pair of elbows on Sid. Zebekiah gets in the ring, and they begin double-teaming Sid. Bradshaw hits Sid in the head with the cowbell. Bradshaw and Zebekiah send Sid into the ropes to clothesline him with the bull rope, but Sid ducks and hits a double clothesline. The crowd gets going as Sid signals for a Powerbomb. Sid grabs Bradshaw and hits the big Texan with a massive Powerbomb. The crowd is going absolutely wild as Sid grabs Uncle Zebekiah and hits him with a Powerbomb!
Mike’s Thoughts: Man, Sycho Sid was over big in his return to the company. It’s amazing to think that he left the company at the start of 1996 because of a neck injury and was teaming with The 1-2-3 Kid in a tag team that was going nowhere. In his final match before leaving, Sid actually lost to Bob Holly by roll-up on a WWF House Show. Now, he’s back and is being thrust right into the main event. Sid looks like he’s still dealing with the effects of the neck injury because he isn’t doing too much or taking too many bumps, but a guy his size shouldn’t be bumping much anyway. Sid left this looking super strong and set up for a great run here.
Backstage Segment
Faarooq Asaad is backstage with Sunny. Sunny says this is Faarooq Asaad, the modern-day gladiator. Ahmed Johnson thought he was pretty funny, but she had a bigger surprise for him. Now, they’ll get Johnson where it counts: at SummerSlam for the Intercontinental Championship. Asaad is the champion of the 90s. Asaad says Johnson probably has a newfound respect for women. The next time Johnson addresses Sunny, it’ll have “Miss” or “Misses” in front of it. There are no guidelines on the street when it comes to fighting. At SummerSlam, he’ll give Johnson a crash course in what it is to go back in time in the way they used to fight. Asaad will be fifteen pounds heavier at SummerSlam, and it’ll all be in gold.
Mike’s Thoughts: As has been the case a few times this year, a promised pay-per-view match built on television isn’t going to happen. Ahmed Johnson’s ruptured kidney is actually a really big deal. I’ll get more into that in the Wrap-Up. For now, this was a good segment with the newly christened Faarooq Asaad and Sunny.
Vader heads to the ring alongside Jim Cornette.
Replay: Two weeks ago, at In Your House: International Incident, Jim Cornette stopped Shawn Michaels from hitting Vader with Sweet Chin Music. Vader then avalanched Michaels and hit him with the Vader Bomb to pin the WWF Champion.
-Commercial Break-
Vader w/ Jim Cornette vs. “Wildman” Marc Mero w/ Sable
Referee: Tim White
Jim Cornette joins the commentary team for the next match.
The bell rings, and they lock up. Vader powers him to the corner and slaps him in the face. Vader growls and poses. They lock up, and Vader backs him into the corner again. Vader backs up and spits in Mero’s face. Mero furiously charges, but Vader kicks him and goes for a vertical suplex, but Mero lands on his feet. Mero kicks and uppercuts Vader before hitting the ropes. Mero hits a pair of clotheslines, but Vader doesn’t go down. Mero then connects with a somersault kick, taking Vader down. Mero hits the ropes and manages to get Vader down in a crucifix pin for a two-count.
Mero hits the ropes, but Vader avalanches him down. Vader adjusts his mask and hits a wheelbarrow facebuster. Vader taunts the crowd and gets Mero in the corner. Vader clubs and punches him, so Mero fires back with strikes. Vader quickly thumbs him in the eye and mauls him in the corner. Vader hits Mero with a short-arm clothesline. Vader stands him up in the corner and unloads on Mero with punches. Vader then sends him into the ropes for a clothesline, followed by a big splash. 1… Mero kicks out. Vader is not happy and pulls Mero up before hitting a headbutt. Vader punches him several times, so Mero comes back with some punches. They brawl until Vader headbutts him down. Vader headbutts him a second time and taunts Sable.
Mero furiously gets up, ducks two clotheslines, and hits Vader with a running crossbody block for a two-count. Mero clotheslines Vader over the top rope and hits a somersault senton. Mero gets Vader into the ring and goes to the top rope. Mero hits a flying double ax handle, but Vader doesn’t go down. Vader stumbles around dazed and confused as Mero goes back to the top rope. Mero goes for a diving sunset flip, but he way overshoots him. Mero slides back and grabs Vader, but he doesn’t go down. Vader goes for a cannonball, but Mero sits up and misses Vader coming down on his face by millimeters. Jim Cornette is flipping out on commentary and calls Vader a “dummy.” Mero goes to the top rope and dives, but Vader catches him with a powerslam out of mid-air for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: Vader
Jim Cornette says he’s going to send Vader to the back and call José Lothario out. Vader comes over and growls at Vince McMahon.
Mike’s Thoughts: Good, quick match for both guys. Vader looked like a big monster in this, and “Wildman” Marc Mero got to show a lot of heart. You probably got more out of Mero in this loss than in the last two Raw shows where he had victories (and bad matches) against T.L. Hopper and The Goon. Vader is going for the WWF Championship, so he had to win, but Mero looked good here, as well.
Replay: Last Monday on Raw, Clarence Mason met with WWF President Gorilla Monsoon about a client he is representing. This client had controlled substances and illegal firearms in his possession, as well as spending time behind bars. Mason tried to explain it away.
-Commercial Break-
Stridex Slam of the Week: Earlier tonight, Sycho Sid hit Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw and Uncle Zebekiah with Powerbombs.
Video: The 1996 SummerSlam commercial.
Jim Cornette and José Lothario meet face-to-face
Vince McMahon is in the ring with Jim Cornette and José Lothario, introducing them to the crowd. Eight days ago, during the WWF Free for All, Lothario punched Cornette down. Cornette warns Lothario not to go into his pocket and pull that switchblade out again. Cornette hasn’t forgotten what happened between them at the Free for All, so he’ll tell Lothario how he’ll get even with him. Cornette wanted to figure out how Lothario wound up in the World Wrestling Federation out of nowhere. In the background, he found out that Lothario was a great wrestler in his day, and that one person in particular, named Shawn Michaels, thought he was the greatest. Michaels asked Lothario to train him, but Lothario did more than that. Lothario became more like a father to Michaels.
WWF Champion Shawn Michaels is shown watching this backstage.
Cornette says Michaels traveled the world and left San Antonio. McMahon demands to know what Cornette’s point is. Lothario never left San Antonio and became a has-been. Lothario was a nobody whom no one cared about whether he lived or died. Then, he got a phone call from Michaels to help train him for the biggest match of his life. The bond was still there, and Michaels won the title. Lothario is somebody again, but Cornette is going to take that away from him. That’s how he’ll get even. When Vader beats Shawn Michaels and makes him an ex-champion, Lothario will be back on his back porch in San Antonio, back to being a has-been who no one cares whether he lives or dies. Cornette thinks Lothario is nothing but trash. If he taught Shawn Michaels everything he knows, then that means he’s trash, too.
Lothario angrily grabs Cornette by his jacket. Lothario says when Cornette involves his family and Shawn Michaels, he’s really going to get a special surprise. Lothario will kick his butt as nobody has done before. Cornette backs away from him. Cornette goes to hit him with his tennis racket when Lothario turns, but Lothario catches him and punches him down. Cornette flops around and falls out of the ring. Lothario takes his jacket off and is ready to go.
Backstage Segment
We quickly go backstage to see Mankind applying the Mandible Claw to WWF Champion Shawn Michaels!
Mike’s Thoughts: This was a super effective segment with Jim Cornette and José Lothario. It’s also one that should have been done months ago. On a random Raw in March, José Lothario really did just show up out of nowhere and started managing Shawn Michaels. They did do some backstory with the WrestleMania XII training videos, but nothing in those videos made Lothario look interesting or anything like that. They didn’t really play into his own career. Cornette did a good job of making him sympathetic and mentioned he had a great past as an active professional wrestler. I also really liked that it went to a commercial break with Mankind applying the Mandible Claw to Shawn Michaels. Total chaos that no one was expecting. Early Mankind is very underrated.
-Commercial Break-
Video: As WWF Champion Shawn Michaels was watching José Lothario punch Jim Cornette down, Mankind attacked him from behind and paralyzed him with the Mandible Claw! WWF officials quickly pulled him away.
Replay: This past weekend on WWF Superstars, Jerry “The King” Lawler was facing Aldo Montoya and messing around with him. Lawler could have defeated him, but he kept the match going. Montoya, who is being said to be a protégé of Jake “The Snake” Roberts, hit Lawler with a DDT to pin him in a big upset.
Jerry “The King” Lawler challenges Aldo Montoya to face him next week on Raw.
Backstage Interview
Aldo Montoya shows up, and Vince McMahon tells him that Jerry “The King” Lawler wants a rematch. Montoya accepts. Lawler says he heard that Montoya was Jake Roberts’ protégé, but he found out he’s actually his designated driver. The only reason he lost is because of the intoxicating fumes coming off Montoya’s body from being around Roberts. Next week, he’ll show him the writing on the floor that Roberts has seen. Montoya has a big problem with Lawler next week. Montoya says Jake Roberts has taught him two things: 1.) believe in yourself, and 2.) the DDT. He beat Lawler with it once and will do it again. Lawler says the DDT is the only thing that Roberts won’t drink.
The British Bulldog w/ Owen Hart vs. Henry O. Godwinn w/ Hillbilly Jim
Referee: Mike Chioda
Owen Hart puts his Slammy Award on the commentary table and joins the team. Hillbilly Jim comes over with the bucket of slop and says it’ll go over Hart’s head if he gets near him. Hart says that bucket stinks, and so does Jim.
A crawl on the bottom of the screen says Sunny will be live on the WWF AOL Auditorium tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Eastern. Sunny will be celebrating her status as the most downloaded celebrity on AOL.
The bell rings, and they lock up before Godwinn shoves him back. They lock up again, and Godwinn hooks a side headlock. Bulldog whips him off, but Godwinn shoulder tackles him before shouting, “Suey!” They lock up once again, and Godwinn puts the side headlock back on. Bulldog whips Godwinn off, drops down, leapfrogs him, and goes for a roll-up, but Godwinn counters. Godwinn hits a wheelbarrow facebuster for a two-count. Bulldog immediately rolls out of the ring to recover.
Bulldog gets back in the ring after a few moments. They lock up, and Godwinn wrenches the arm. Bulldog twists out and applies a hammerlock. Godwinn elbows him off and clubs his back. Godwinn sends Bulldog into the corner and charges, but Bulldog sidesteps him. Bulldog stomps away at Godwinn and clubs his neck. Bulldog bounces him off the top turnbuckle and whips him hard into the opposite corner. Bulldog sends him back to the original corner and charges, but Godwinn boots him back. Godwinn clubs his back, but Bulldog quickly sends him out of the ring. Vince McMahon asks about when Bret “Hitman” Hart will come back. Owen says his brother is a loser and a quitter. Godwinn gets back in the ring, and Bulldog hits a snapmare before applying a rear chin lock. Godwinn fights up and elbows out. Godwinn hits the ropes, but Bulldog turns him inside out with a kitchen sink knee to the midsection. Bulldog drops a leg for a two-count.
Bulldog hits another snapmare and puts the rear chin lock back on. Godwinn fights up, but Bulldog cuts him off. Jerry Lawler says, “Henry Godwinn is missing so many teeth that it looks like his tongue is in jail.” Amazing. Godwinn blocks a suplex and hits Bulldog with one.
-Commercial Break-
Back from the break, Bulldog punches Godwinn into the corner and whips him to the opposite side. Bulldog charges, but Godwinn sidesteps him. Bulldog hits the turnbuckles hard and collapses. Godwinn sends Bulldog into the ropes for a back elbow for a two-count. Godwinn sets up for a Slop Drop, but Owen Hart gets up from commentary and dumps the bucket of slop. Godwinn isn’t happy and yells at him. Bulldog attacks Godwinn from behind and hits a Running Powerslam for the win.
Winner by Pinfall: The British Bulldog
Mike’s Thoughts: Not much of a match at all, but Jerry “The King” Lawler and Owen Hart were absolutely hilarious throughout. Some of their lines, such as Hart claiming to see flies around Hillbilly Jim, and Lawler’s one-liners, had me absolutely cracking up. Not sure why this match had to go into two segments, but whatever. They got a few more jokes in.
Video: Mark Henry, who is sponsored by the World Wrestling Federation, is shown setting a powerlifting record with a 903-pound deadlift. On the March 11 episode of Raw, before it began, Henry press-slammed Jerry “The King” Lawler, who was harassing him.
Mike’s Thoughts: Mark Henry is preparing to compete in his second Olympics. His first appearance came at the 1992 Olympic Games as a twenty-year-old, placing tenth in the superheavyweight division. Henry would be named team captain of the 1996 US Olympic Weightlifting Team in Atlanta, but he injured his back during the competition and struggled through it to place fourteenth, disappointing many and himself. From there, he’ll soon be inking a big deal with the World Wrestling Federation, but we’ll get more into that later.
Monday Night Raw is brought to you by the US Army. Be all you can be.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is in the ring.
Photos: We see photos from WWF In Your House: International Incident of The Undertaker and Mankind each emerging from under the ring to attack each other, brawling all the way back to the boiler room of the arena.
At SummerSlam, The Undertaker and Mankind will battle inside a Boiler Room Brawl.
Video: After In Your House: International Incident, Mankind was cradling Goldust’s wig. Goldust lay on a road crate, stroking his hair, as Marlena was in the background. Mankind calls the wig “Mommy” (or perhaps Goldust) and says The Dead Man is a very bad man. He can tolerate what Undertaker tried to do to him, but not when it comes to maternal love. Mommy doesn’t want Undertaker to hurt her anymore. What Mommy wants, her little boy provides. She told him his hands were made for beauty and not destruction, but he can’t control his mind anymore. Mankind smashes his head off the crate several times. Mankind will show that destruction can be beautiful. Have a nice day!
Mike’s Thoughts: This was a really cool segment with Mankind and Goldust. This is the first inkling that Mankind had any type of allegiance with Goldust. Initially, Mankind just happened to be interfering in Goldust’s match against the Undertaker, but now there’s some type of alliance.
The Undertaker makes his entrance with Paul Bearer leading the way to the ring with the legendary urn.
Boiler Room Segment
Mankind is shown sitting on the floor of the arena’s Boiler Room, rocking back and forth and singing to himself.
-Commercial Break-
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Referee: Mike Chioda
The bell rings, and Austin wants a handshake. The Undertaker coldly stares at him and adjusts his gloves. Austin circles around him and goes for another handshake. The Undertaker slowly approaches him and goes for a punch, but Austin ducks it and applies a side headlock. Undertaker whips him off. Austin ducks a clothesline, but Undertaker goozles him and throws him into the corner. Austin ducks a right hand and wrenches his arm. Undertaker quickly turns it on Austin, bringing him down to his knees. Austin wrenches Undertaker’s arm, so Undertaker punches him down. Austin pulls himself up in the corner and wants Undertaker to back off. Austin quickly thumbs him in the eyes and punches him in the face. Austin bounces him off the top turnbuckle, but Undertaker stands right up and stares at him. Austin starts to beg him off, so Undertaker kicks him in the midsection and punches him down. Undertaker whips him hard into the corner. Austin quickly reverses a whip, but Undertaker ducks a clothesline and hits a flying lariat. Undertaker wrenches Austin’s arm and climbs to the top rope. Undertaker walks across the top rope, but Austin shakes the rope to crotch him up there.
Austin stomps away at Undertaker before going to the ringside area and pulling him over the apron. Austin elbows Undertaker in the chest and gets back into the ring. Austin chokes him on the middle rope before grinding his face on the top rope. Undertaker fights back with some uppercuts, stunning Austin. Austin kicks back and low blows Undertaker. Austin stomps him down in the corner before glaring at the crowd. Lawler asks, “Have you ever heard of stomping a mudhole in somebody and walking it dry? That’s what ‘Stone Cold’ is doing to The Undertaker.”
Austin rakes Undertaker’s eyes and clubs his spine. Austin goes to the second rope and dives nearly halfway across the ring with a bombs away elbow for a near fall. Austin puts Undertaker into the corner and hits some shoulder thrusts to the midsection. Undertaker drops to his knees. Austin punches Undertaker back into the corner. Undertaker quickly knees him in the midsection and uppercuts him. Undertaker ties Austin’s arms with the top and middle ropes before punching away at him. Undertaker then hits a running boot to the midsection. The referee frees Austin’s arm. Undertaker headbutts Austin down. Undertaker connects with a scoop slam before going for an elbow drop, but Austin moves. Undertaker quickly sits up, but Austin grabs him and chokes him on the top rope. Austin goes to the apron and snaps him off the top rope. Austin gets into the ring and clubs Undertaker before punching him.
Video: Mankind is shown walking in the Boiler Room.
-Commercial Break-
Video: The Stridex SummerSlam Sweepstakes.
Back from the break, Austin is applying a chin lock to the Undertaker. Undertaker quickly rakes his face to get out of the hold. Undertaker uppercuts Austin down and punches him. Undertaker knees Austin in the midsection and sends him into the ropes, but he lowers his head, and Austin hits a piledriver! Austin talks trash to the Undertaker and heads to the top rope. The crowd chants, “Rest in Peace,” and the Undertaker sits up. Undertaker hits the ropes to crotch Austin on the top rope. Austin starts climbing again, but Undertaker grabs him by the throat and hits a Chokeslam off the top rope!
Mankind begins heading to the ring and stares at the Undertaker. Undertaker lifts Austin, but he sees Mankind and throws him down. Undertaker goes to the ringside area and starts brawling with Mankind. The referee is counting Undertaker out instead of calling for a disqualification… Undertaker is counted out.
Winner by Countout: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Undertaker angrily comes back to the ring and sidesteps Austin. Undertaker then hits the King of the Ring with the Tombstone Piledriver.
Vince McMahon gets into the ring with the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. McMahon asks about the Boiler Room brawl on August 18 against Mankind. Undertaker pulls the microphone away from Bearer and growls, “Mankind! It’s time the reaper enters the serpent’s lair. At SummerSlam, the Boiler… Room… Brawl. You will finally Rest… in… Peace!”
Mike’s Thoughts: I really liked this main event with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Undertaker, except for the finish. This was way better than their first match a month ago. It’s also amazing how much more comfortable and polished Steve Austin is getting. Austin truly looked like he belonged in there with The Undertaker.
The only thing that bogged this match down was the finish. Undertaker tossed Austin aside and started brawling with Mankind at ringside, in full view of the referee. That should have been a disqualification, but he was instead counted out. I get they wanted Austin to get a win here without hurting The Undertaker, while also having Mankind cause Undertaker to lose another match, but it just didn’t look right. Still, the action was good leading up to it and ended a good show on a strong note with the promo at the end.
Quick Match Results
— Sycho Sid def. Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw via DQ
— Vader def. “Wildman” Marc Mero
— The British Bulldog def. Henry O. Godwinn
— “Stone Cold” Steve Austin def. The Undertaker via CO
Mike’s Wrap-Up: What We Learned from Raw
After having a really good live show last week, the WWF followed up with a stronger taped episode. Sycho Sid looked like a monster and had the Seattle crowd going wild. The strong reaction that he got at In Your House definitely wasn’t a fluke. Vader was presented strongly heading toward SummerSlam. Jim Cornette finally gave José Lothario some much-needed purpose. Mankind and The Undertaker continued moving toward the Boiler Room Brawl. Even “Stone Cold” Steve Austin looked more and more like he belonged in a major spot.
The big story, though, is Ahmed Johnson.
Last week’s attack from the debuting Faarooq Asaad caused Johnson to suffer a ruptured kidney. Ron Simmons later admitted he was intentionally rough with Johnson, and Johnson himself believed Simmons did it on purpose. That first shot to the kidney area caused Johnson to begin experiencing symptoms, including blood in his urine. This was a major blow to the WWF. Johnson was not polished in the ring and could be wild at times, which may have contributed to Simmons wanting to send a message, but Johnson had intensity, charisma, and a connection with the crowd. More importantly, the WWF had clearly been positioning him as one of its major babyfaces. He had won the Intercontinental Championship, was being paired with Shawn Michaels, and was already advertised for a SummerSlam title defense against Faarooq.
Now that match is going to wind up being off the table, and Johnson’s momentum will go with it. This injury is actually going to get worse in the weeks to come.
That is the problem with the WWF in 1996. Every time the company seems to get a new piece moving in the right direction, something goes wrong. Brian Pillman signs but can’t wrestle for a long time. Vader should be a monster but has been inconsistently booked. Ultimate Warrior returns and then has a major backstage blow-up. Even Warrior’s outside WWF projects were being cut loose, with the company pulling sponsorship from his wrestling school and comic book this same week. Ahmed Johnson is getting over and then suffers a serious injury. The roster already feels thin, and losing Johnson makes it feel even thinner. Just look at the “jobbers with gimmicks” they keep trotting out to beef things up.
Meanwhile, WCW wins again. Nitro is on a seven-week streak, and even with Raw producing a better show this week, the gap between the two companies still feels obvious. The WWF has some pieces. Austin is developing. Mankind is compelling. Vader is finally being pushed toward Shawn Michaels. Sid is over. But WCW has momentum and a live show every week where you never know what’s going to happen. That matters more than potential.
WWF Raw (USA Network, taped): 2.1 (Record: 19-22-2)
WCW Nitro (TNT, live): 3.0 (Record: 22-19-2)
Winner: WCW Nitro (7-week streak)
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.