Monday Night Raw – September 6, 1999: I Remember That One!

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 6, 1999
Location: Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We are less than three weeks away from Unforgiven and HHH is still trying to avoid facing various people at the show. This includes the Rock and Mankind, who managed to beat HHH and Shane McMahon to retain the Tag Team Titles last week on Smackdown. Other than that, Chris Jericho has turned Howard Finkel into a nut, with Ken Shamrock not being happy. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: The Rock/Mankind vs. Kane/X-Pac

Rock and Mankind are defending but before we get going (and before anyone else can get here), Rock needs to mock Kane for being all excited over being able to speak. We even get an impression of Kane using his voice box, plus a suggestion for where Kane can put it (for easy storage). Mankind comes out, sends out some get well wishes to someone named Brian (that would likely be Brian Hildebrand, who was diagnosed with cancer around this time) and says it’s great to be back in Harvard (he’s trying).

Hold on again though as there’s no X-Pac due to Kane interfering in X-Pac’s match on Smackdown, so Kane is going to do it alone. Hold it yet again though as here is HHH…and he’s going to be Kane’s partner. Cue Chyna with a sledgehammer as Kane hammers on Rock to start.

Rock manages to come back with a Russian legsweep for two and it’s off to Mankind. Kane hammers away in the corner (and says “yeah” to Mankind about something) before clotheslining him in the corner. HHH’s tag request is ignored though, allowing Mankind to grab a Texas piledriver. Kane is fine enough to kick Rock in the face before HHH tags himself in. Then Kane tags himself right back in, only to have HHH hit Kane in the back with the sledgehammer. The Rock Bottom into the People’s Elbow retains the titles.

Rating: C-. Well that was….we’ll go with busy, as they packed in a storyline with the X-Pac absence, Chyna coming out, the sledgehammer, HHH wanting to be Kane’s partner for whatever reason, and a match into the first twelve or so minutes of the show. That’s a lot even for a 1999 Raw, and somehow Kane takes a pin out of the whole ordeal. Granted it was out of a sledgehammer shot and the Rock’s double finishers, but it still feels weird to see Kane getting pinned in about three and a half minutes.

JR: “What kind of human being would hit another man from behind with a sledgehammer?” King: “Uh, HHH?”

Post match Kane sits up but HHH sledgehammers him in the chest a few times. Cue Undertaker and Big Show and HHH leaves as allegiances are questioned. Kane even walks off on his own, making sledgehammer shots all the more worthless by the step.

Jacqueline isn’t worried about Jeff Jarrett wanting to use her as an example tonight. She’ll slap all three dumb blondes tonight (Debra and Miss Kitty being the others).

Jeff Jarrett vs. Jacqueline

Non-title and Miss Kitty (but not Debra) is here with Jarrett. Before the match, Jarrett tells Chyna to watch from the back, because he’s going to show what happens when a woman is in his world. Jacqueline jumps on his back to start with the choking but is quickly flipped and stomped down. The fans want Debra but have to settle for Jarrett sending Jacqueline into the corner for more stomping. A clothesline makes it worse and the Figure Four finishes Jacqueline fast.

Post match Jarrett hits Jacqueline with the guitar. Commentary is AGHAST.

Val Venis isn’t happy with Steve Blackman jumping him from behind last week and threatens revenge.

Edge and Christian vs. Acolytes

For the #1 contendership. The Acolytes start the brawl before the bell and we settle down to Faarooq beating on Christian in the corner. Faarooq misses a headbutt though and it’s quickly off to Bradshaw to beat up Christian. Edge manages a takedown and hands it off to Christian to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and Bradshaw powerbombs the heck out of Christian. There’s no referee so Bradshaw loads up another, allowing Edge to come in off the top with a missile dropkick to give Christian the pin.

Rating: C. They didn’t have much time here but Edge and Christian continue their rise up the ladder. You can see the talent there and they’re getting more polished every time they’re around. Throw in the Dudleys debuting last week on Smackdown and the new generation of the tag division is starting to come together.

In the back, Edge and Christian are ready for the Rock and Mankind when the Acolytes come in. Cue the Dudley Boyz to jump the Acolytes from behind though and beat them down.

We get GTV where Val Venis and Big Show are in the restroom and Venis wonders why Show is called “big”. Venis is quickly laid out.

Meat is sick of being called Meat and says his real name is Shawn Stasiak. Tonight he is here to carry on the legacy of his father but here is the Mean Street Posse to say his dad sucked. The Posse beats him down (that’s a weird thing to see).

Here is Val Venis to call out Big Show. We see Undertaker telling Big Show to go deal with this so here is Show for the brawl. Venis unloads in the corner and fires off a bunch of right hands but gets shoved away. We have a referee in the ring but there’s no bell as this is just a fight. Show fights back but Venis kicks the leg out, only to get pulled out of the air. The chokeslam is good for the pin as I guess this was a match, minus the start that is.

Post match Steve Blackman runs in to beat on Venis with a kendo stick.

The Dudley Boyz are not worried about attacking the Acolytes. D-Von lists off the commandments but here are the Acolytes to jump them right back.

Lilian Garcia is ready to introduce the next match but here is the Fink to interrupt. Cue Ken Shamrock to chase after the Fink but Chris Jericho (and the crowd ROARS) pops up on screen to say this is a lot more real than the Ultimate Fighting Championships. They can go face to face on Smackdown, which works for Shamrock.

Here are HHH and Chyna for a chat. HHH talks about how great he is and how many things he has done. He put Mankind out of action for three months and beat him for the WWF Title. Then he took the Rock to school, so Linda McMahon needs to stay out of their business. Cue Billy Gunn to interrupt, saying HHH recruited him into DX to avoid the beating Gunn could give him. Gunn calls him an a****** and his music starts playing but cuts off as they’re not done yet. After the main event is set, the music plays again.

Mean Street Posse vs. Test/Pat Patterson/Gerald Brisco

Terri Runnels is here with the Posse and joins commentary. Patterson and Brisco get beaten down before Test comes out but here he comes to wreck the Posse in short order. Powerbombs abound and here is Shawn Stasiak to cut off Rodney from leaving. Another powerbomb and one heck of a top rope elbow finishes for Test. That elbow was nuts as Rodney was over halfway across the ring.

Hollys vs. New Brood

Gangrel is here with the Hardys and Crash has a scale. Hold on though as the Hardys have to be weighed before the match. Hardcore doesn’t think they weigh enough but Jeff dropkicks him down to start fast. We settle down to Matt slamming Crash and dropping the middle rope legdrop for two.

Jeff comes in with a springboard moonsault for two and a double legdrop gives Matt the same. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Crash manages to headscissors Jeff into the corner. Hardcore comes in and gets taken down by the Hardys, with Crash coming in for the save. Everything breaks down and Hardcore hits the Falcon Arrow on Jeff for the pin.

Rating: C. For some reason this match got almost as much time as anything else on the show so far. The Hollys have a little something with their tough guy/goofy guy combination and it is working so far. At the same time the New Brood has me wondering what the point of Gangrel is, as the Hardys seem like they could be just fine on their own.

Post match the Hollys stay on them but the lights go out, meaning Crash gets a blood bath. Hardcore: “Do you know how funny you look right now?” And they fight again.

Undertaker and Big Show challenge Rock and Mankind to a Buried Alive match for the Tag Team Titles on Smackdown.

Here is Al Snow, albeit in his Avatar gear (a masked martial arts guy). Snow: “SHAZAM!” Snow puts the mask on and says he’s here to protect the WWF from evil. Then he wakes up and says he’s in the genie pants. Snow: “The last time I wore this, you could have stuck a magnet up my a** and dragged me through Fort Knox and I still wouldn’t have drawn money.” He drops to his knees and starts barking before running over to the commentary table to write something on a legal pad. Then he runs off, still barking.

Rock promises to take Big Show’s 59lb head and stick it up Undertaker, who has a bunch of Mickey Mouse tattoos. Mankind gets serious and is ready to fight too. I remember this promo from when it aired live and finding it hilarious. Maybe not so much these days.

Another GTV shows Marianna on the phone, begging someone to talk to Chaz.

D’Lo Brown vs. Steve Blackman

European Champion Mark Henry, with a pair of ladies, joins commentary, much to Lawler’s delight. Blackman starts kicking away but gets dropped for the quick legdrop. Some choking on the ropes has Brown in more trouble and we hit the chinlock. Brock fights up and grabs the Sky High but stops to yell at Henry. Cue Val Venis to deck Blackman, allowing Brown to hit the Low Down for the pin.

Rating: C-. Managing to get in a pair of feuds into a three minute match is rather impressive, albeit a bit excessive to put it mildly. Brown vs. Henry is fine enough for a midcard match, though Venis vs. Blackman isn’t quite as interesting. It just wasn’t much of a match here, but Brown is one of the smoother workers around at this point.

Post match Henry wrecks Brown.

Ivory is ready to hurt Tori in the first ever women’s hardcore match. Tori, in a shirt and not much else, jumps her and has to be carried off.

Women’s Title: Ivory vs. Tori

Ivory is defending under hardcore rules and this is joined in the bathroom with Tori throwing soap. They go into the shower, where Jacqueline has to grab a towel and run off. Ivory pours shampoo in Tori’s eyes and washes her mouth out with soap. Then they fight into a men’s locker room with Tori sending her over a table. Ivory smashes a mirror over Tori’s head to retain. Lilian Garcia: “The Women’s Wrestling Federation Champion is Ivory!”

Rating: D. This was an excuse to have Tori brawling in very limited clothing with gratuitous camera shots. I get the appeal, but this kind of thing gets old in a hurry, as it’s just there for the most obvious reasons. Granted it doesn’t help that women’s wrestling means absolutely nothing and having this didn’t help things, but can they at least be less obvious with it?

Post match Ivory rips open the back of Tori’s shirt and burns her with an iron.

Chyna is told she’s barred from ringside for the main event, but she’s just going to forget that Earl Hebner told her that.

WWF Title: HHH vs. Billy Gunn

HHH, with Chyna, is defending….or at least in theory, as Chyna is ejected. Gunn comes to the ring and stares at Chyna on the way out. HHH tries to jump him in the aisle and they start fast, with Gunn stomping away at ringside. Gunn takes him inside for the opening bell but HHH scores with the Fameasser. The jumping knee puts Gunn down again and it’s a posting to keep him in trouble.

Back in and HHH cranks on the arm with a variety of armbars. Gunn fights up with the good arm and slugs away, setting up a Jackhammer for two. Cue Shane McMahon as Gunn clotheslines HHH to the floor. The referees get rid of Shane as HHH brings in the title, only to have Gunn take it away and get in his own shot for two.

HHH bumps the referee and the Fameasser (basically an ax kick in this case) connects for no count. Gunn hits him low and gets two after about thirty seconds of laying around. HHH goes up top but dives into a raised boot. Gunn’s Stinger Splash hits…well the general vicinity of the post, setting up the Pedigree to retain the title.

Rating: B-. Pretty much the match of the night by far here, partially due to it getting some time and possibly due to letting them actually wrestle for a bit. Gunn was a crazy athlete but there is only so much that you can get with that name and theme song. For a one off main event here though, he did rather well as the challenger.

Post match Chyna and Shane come back out but here is Kane to chokeslam all three villains to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. There were some nice parts to this one but I’m still not sure what the main story is supposed to be. HHH doesn’t have a top challenger at the moment and the focus seems to be on whatever Rock and Mankind are doing at the moment. I’m sure things will start to come together more before the pay per view, but these shows can be more than a bit exhausting as there are so many things going on that it is hard to figure out what is going on. Just slow down a bit and let us know what we’re supposed to care about.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.




Monday Night Raw – October 23, 1995: The Different Kind Of Bad

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 23, 1995
Location: Keystone Center, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Attendance: 2,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

We are fresh off of In Your House: Great White North, which featured one of the worst main events in company history as Diesel retained the WWF Title over the British Bulldog. Thankfully we are back to a live show this week after last week’s AWFUL show, meaning things can’t get any worse. Well in theory at least. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a quick pay per view recap and a quicker preview of this week’s show. This includes Diesel retaining the WWF Title and brawling with Bret Hart, plus Shawn Michaels having to forfeit the Intercontinental Title to Dean Douglas due to his injuries. Then about 14 minutes later, Razor Ramon beat Douglas to win the title.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Marty Jannetty, Bob Holly, Fatu, 1-2-3 Kid, Savio Vega, King Kong Bundy, Henry Godwinn, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Owen Hart, Jean Pierre LaFitte, Duke Droese, Bam Bam Bigelow, Skip, Rad Radford, Aldo Montoya, Barry Horowitz, Hakushi, Sid, Isaac Yankem, Kama Mustafa

The winner gets an Intercontinental Title shot against Razor Ramon next week. It’s a….well it’s a battle royal to start and Bundy, who hasn’t been around in months, is out fast. Aldo is tossed as Sid and Fatu keep fighting on and off. We are firmly in the brawling against the ropes with no one being eliminated phase until Holly is out, meaning we get race car jokes from commentary.

Sid kicks Droese out and Skip tosses Hakushi as we hear about the United Nations. Kama punches out Fatu as the ring is starting to clear out a bit. There goes Skip at Horowitz’s hands and we take a break. Back with some eliminations having taken place during the break, meaning we’re down to Jannetty, Yankem, Sid, Bigelow, LaFitte, Vega and Hart. There goes Yankem to get us down to six and Owen has to save himself. Bigelow knocks Sid out and we take another break.

Back again with Bigelow gone, meaning we’re down to four. Jannetty hits a clothesline on Owen and hammers away in the corner as Vince tries to tell us how interesting some of these people would be against Razor. Vega manages to save himself and avoids a spinwheel kick from Owen. Marty tosses Vega and LaFitte but Owen manages to hang on. A clothesline puts Owen on the apron but he (barely) holds on to various ropes to survive some right hands.

Back in and an enziguri rocks Marty, who manages to hang on as well. Owen sends him through the ropes, meaning Marty has to grab Jim Cornette’s tennis racket and chase him off, allowing British Bulldog to pop up and jump Jannetty. Back in and Marty makes ANOTHER comeback but Owen finally sends him out for the win and the title shot.

Rating: D. This was WAY too long and probably could have been done in about half the time, especially with how long it took to get rid of a lot of people. Owen vs. Razor will be fine for a title match but I would hope they could come up with a better way to set up the match than dragging King Kong Bundy out of mothballs. Bad match and even worse, it felt long.

Post break, Owen promises to win the Intercontinental Title.

We look back at Bret Hart getting involved with last night’s main event and brawling with Diesel after the match. They’re already set for the Survivor Series title match.

It’s time for the Survivor Series Slam Jam (Control Center) with the announcement of the Wild Card match. This is an idea that I could go for again, as they are having a Survivor Series match with friends and enemies being randomly paired together. That’s a nice twist and it could work again.

Bob Backlund is campaigning for Congress. In the wrong country.

Ahmed Johnson is ready for Survivor Series.

Avatar vs. Brian Walsh

Avatar is a masked ninja who comes to the ring unmasked before putting it on for the bell. Uh yeah. Avatar legdrags him down and cranks on the arm before hitting a superkick to the back of the head. A top rope dive has to be canceled so Avatar hits a slingshot dive instead as the crowd somehow goes even more quiet. Back in and Walsh hits some clotheslines but gets caught with a backbreaker. A standing moonsault and then a weird jumping splash finishes for Avatar. This gimmick was horrible of course, but Avatar would get a bit better when he would lose the mask and wrestle under the better name of Al Snow.

Next week: Goldust’s Raw debut.

Women’s Title: Alundra Blayze vs. Bertha Faye

Faye (a rather odd looking woman whose large size was emphasized) is defending and has her boyfriend Harvey Wippleman with her. Blayze gets run over to start and Faye drops some legs for two. Some chest bumps in the corner crush Blayze, whose sunset flip doesn’t get her very far. Faye sits on her chest as Lawler comments on Faye’s weight, because that’s the entire point of her being here. Blayze is knocked around again to continue the dominance as we take a break.

Back with Blayze being sent to the apron but managing to ram her face first into the buckle. A middle rope dropkick gets two on Faye (Big Bertha Faye according to Vince for the fifth or so time) and some running clotheslines connect for the same. Blayze takes her time loading up the powerbomb so Faye counters with a backdrop. Faye takes her own time going up though and a super hurricanrana pulls her back down. Harvey’s distraction fails and Blayze grabs the bridging German suplex for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. Commentary alone was hard to sit through and I was feeling sorry for Faye more than anything else. Blayze getting the title back was a fine story but come on with the treating Faye like some kind of disgusting slob. It’s one of those things that was bad at the time and then aged even worse, which is the case with too many things in this company’s history. Blayze wouldn’t lose the title, but she would indeed drop it a few months later.

We get a sitdown interview with Shawn Michaels, who has two banged up eyes after being wrecked by an unclear number of Marines (or Marine). Shawn worked hard to earn the Intercontinental Title and then he had to hand it over to someone he finds very overrated. Jim Ross brings up the Survivor Series Wild Card match but Shawn has to have more brain tests next week.

Lawler is near very real tears after the interview.

Overall Rating: D+. It was a two match show and neither of those matches were exactly good. That being said, you can indeed feel the difference between last week’s taped garbage and this week’s live show, which just wasn’t very good. There is a different energy there and it made a lot of difference. Now if they can actually have a good show next week, that might help the Survivor Series build, but we have a few weeks before we get there.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.