Monday Night Raw – September 6, 1996 (Championship Friday): With Some Champions!
Monday Night Raw
Date: September 6, 1996
Location: Wheeling Civic Center, Wheeling, West Virginia
Attendance: 4,903
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross
We’re a few weeks removed from Summerslam 1996 and due to the US Open tennis tournament, this show is airing on a Friday. It’s Raw Championship Friday and we are going to be having a series of title (related) matches, including parts of the Intercontinental Title tournament. Shawn Michaels is defending the WWF Title against Goldust as well so let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at Shawn Michaels vs. Goldust.
Opening sequence.
Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Sycho Sid vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
The title is vacant due to Ahmed Johnson’s latest injury. Sid shoves him outside to start and cuts off an early comeback attempt. A swinging neckbreaker gets Helmsley out of trouble though and a knee drop gets two, with Sid sending him flying on the kickout. Back up and some right hands into a chokeslam set up the powerbomb to finish Helmsley at 3:35.
Rating: C-. Nothing to see here, with Sid almost squashing Helmsley. It’s still so weird to see that being the case but Helmsley didn’t mean nearly as much back then. Sid wrecking people is always fun to see though as he knew exactly how to do that kind of a match. The hand under the arm chokeslam always looked nice too.
Cue Mr. Perfect to escort off Helmsley’s escort.
We get a medical update on Ahmed Johnson. Things are bad, but they’ve gotten a bit better. Johnson promises he’ll be back, with his doctor saying he could be back at 100%.
Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Steve Austin vs. Marc Mero
Brian Pillman, still on a crutch, is on commentary and Sable is here with Mero. Austin doesn’t have wrist tape on here and it’s a rather weird look. They take turns powering each other into the corner until Mero armdrags him down. A dropkick gets two and sends Austin bailing out to the floor for a breather. Pillman promises that Bret Hart will be at Mind Games later this month while JR keeps promising some big story later tonight. Mero grabs some rollups for two each and we take a break.
We come back with Mero charging into a Stun Gun (hot shot), only for Austin to miss a rather Bret Hart style middle rope elbow. Mero hits a backdrop and a top rope ax handle connects for two. Back up and Austin pulls the referee into Mero’s shoulder to the ribs, which is enough for Mero to get the DQ win at 8:40.
Rating: C+. The ending was a nice enough touch as Austin loses without taking a fall, which is the right way to go. At the same time, Mero gets to look like a potential new star, which is often the point of a tournament like this. They only had so much time here and it wound up working fairly well, so we’ll call it a success.
Post match Austin gives Mero a Stunner and they have to be held apart.
Jerry Lawler is in the ring to talk to Mark Henry. Lawler mocks Jake Roberts’ efforts at Summerslam and brings up Henry cutting off the whiskey that Lawler was about to pour down Roberts’ throat. Henry doesn’t like Lawler, who wants to wrestle Henry, because he doesn’t know how to wrestle. Henry says he isn’t trained enough to wrestle yet, but Lawler calls him a coward. It turns out that this is a bad idea with the World’s Strongest Man, who grabs Lawler by the jacket and accepts the challenge. Henry really shouldn’t have been on television yet.
Mankind vs. Alex Porteau
Paul Bearer is freshly with Mankind after turning on Undertaker at Summerslam. Mankind hammers away as JR drops his big news: Diesel and Razor Ramon are returning to the WWF. Oh geez that’s what I was afraid it was going to be. Apparently Mankind is going to be challenging Shawn Michaels at Mind Games and he hits a running knee in the corner. A swinging neckbreaker connects as Ross talks about an amateur wrestler meeting with WWF officials. Some guy named “Kurt Angle”. Mandible Claw finishes at 2:08.
We go to a Special Olympics event in Toronto where Sycho Sid and some Special Olympians won a tug of war with an elephant. Nothing wrong with that. There was a big event that night as well, with Roddy Piper making a surprise appearance.
Bob Backlund plans to bring back the WWWF (yes WWWF) Championship and he has a trainer for his future champion. He has some “abomination” for this man: the Iron Sheik. The Sheik brags about their careers and commentary cuts him off as he keeps rambling.
WWF Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Goldust
Goldust, with Marlena (countering Jose Lothario for Michaels), is challenging. During his entrance, we get an insert interview from Undertaker, who is ready to end Goldust. Michaels isn’t having any of this jump start and knocks Goldust to the floor as we hear about Michaels in Playgirl Magazine. Michaels goes up top but gets knocked out of the air, only to come back with right hands in the corner.
Goldust hits a clothesline and then drops Michaels throat first across the top rope to take over. It works so well that Goldust does it again over the barricade, allowing Marlena to blow some cigar smoke in Michaels’ face. A suplex gives Goldust two and we take a break. Back with Michaels fighting out of a chinlock but getting pulled right back down into the same thing.
We go split screen as Mankind is promising a surprise for Michaels. The comeback lets Michaels get in a double knockdown and the flying forearm connects. Goldust rolls through a high crossbody and we take another break. We come back with Marlena breaking up Sweet Chin Music but Michaels slips out of the Curtain Call. The moonsault press retains the title at 11:55.
Rating: C+. You pretty much know what you’re going to get from a match between these two and it went perfectly well. Goldust was fine for a thrown out there challenger, which is what all he was supposed to be. Michaels was gearing up for Mankind and needed some more reps and it went well for a one off TV match.
Post match Mankind runs in but Michaels splits between them and escapes in a smart move.
Overall Rating: C+. I’m not sure how much this felt like a show dedicated to championships, but at least they had a nice title main event and checked off a few of the tournament matches. It was also a show that needed to help set the stage for Mind Games and it did that at the end, with Mankind vs. Shawn Michaels being the only thing that is likely to matter at that show. Give us one more match in the next few weeks everything should be ok.
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