WWF Monday Night RAW (March 11, 1996)

Original Airdate: March 11, 1996

From San Antonio, Texas; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Savio Vega v Steve Austin: Austin's still got Ted DiBiase as a manager, but he's no longer billed as 'Ringmaster,' so baby steps. Austin dominates him with a quick shoulderblock for two early on, and he works a headlock. Vega starts to escapes, so Austin shifts to a hammerlock, but Savio escapes with a bodypress for two. Vega with a quick pair of armdrags, but Steve dodges a third, causing Savio to face plant. Austin capitalizes with a couple of pointed elbowdrops, and a snapmare sets up a reverse chinlock, but Vega quickly flips him over to escape, and hits a clothesline. Big boot, but Austin ducks, and drills him with a forearm before choking Savio on the ropes. Steve with a vertical suplex for two, as we spot Mark Henry out in the crowd, in his first WWF appearance. Savio tries a splash, but Steve lifts his knees to block, and uses a leveraged pin for two. Steve with a corner whip to set up a lariat to the back of the head, as some fan in the front row holds up what appears to be a custom made Austin Hasbro-style figure. Like, on card and everything. I know that's become a thing people do nowadays, but I didn't think it stretched back to 1996. Austin unloads in the corner, and uses a drop-toehold to set up a kneedrop for two. Another corner whip, but Vega blocks the charge with a spinkick, and he starts making a comeback. Spinheel kick in the corner sends both men over the top, and a slugfest out there results in a double countout at 8:59 - but the bell doesn't stop the brawl. Very much the style of match you'd have seen Stunning Steve Austin work on Worldwide a few years before. ** ½

Before RAW went on the air, Jerry Lawler was interviewing this Mark Henry guy, and ended up getting press-slammed (in sloppy fashion)

Over the weekend on Superstars, Razor Ramon and Savio Vega advanced in the tag title tournament over 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka. It's interesting that those belts were only vacated and decided in a tournament a handful of times over the forty year lineage, and three of those times were between 1995-1997

WWF Store is currently selling 'limited edition' WrestleMania XII commemorative denim jackets for a cool $70. Considering the 'limited edition' is 3,000 jackets, I'm going to guess you can safely take your time to order. Shit, I'll bet they still have a few somewhere in the back today

Vince brings Goldust and President Roddy Piper out for an interview, with Piper immediately unloading on him, calling him a 'fruitcake' and 'transvestite' all within the first thirty seconds. Roddy gets in a great line asking Goldust 'how many quarters' he made working the dark alleys of Hollywood. He tells Goldust that he's an embarrassment, and threatens to beat him 'half to death' with a baseball bat like he did to Adrian Adonis. We're edging dangerously close to a hate crime here. Piper then wants to know what Goldust's sexual preference is, and Vince is REALLY quick to chime in that Goldust's 'sexual proclivity doesn't have anything at all to do with this!' You sure fooled me. But what REALLY bothers Roddy is that Goldust was blowing his bagpipes, and he's not even a talented bagpipe player! Hey, finally an issue we can all get behind. Goldust just kind of stands there and takes all the verbal abuse, before finally dropping to his knees, and basically offering/threatening to blow Roddy in the middle on the ring. Piper tries to put a stop to it in surprisingly civilized fashion, but Goldust makes the mistake of trying to reach up Roddy's kilt, and you can guess where that goes. Though I'm not wild about the tone of the angle, you can't deny the intensity here. In many ways Piper was really a better match for Goldust than Razor Ramon

The Godwinns v Jerry Meade and Alex Porteau: The Godwinns have Hillbilly Jim and a dog in their corner, so you know they're going straight to the top. Meade looks like he came straight from a leather bar here, so hopefully Piper doesn't come back out with a bat or anything. But, before we can find out, Henry Godwinn creams Porteau with the Slop Drop at 1:46. DUD

Elsewhere in San Antonio, Shawn Michaels is hanging out in front of the Alamo with his mentor Jose Lothario, introducing a clip of Lothario training Michaels. Lothario was a horrible pairing for Michaels at this stage in his career (especially as a babyface), but the training clips worked to get over that the match he's training for is going to be something special. Next up, we check in with WWF Champion Bret Hart, who is also training back home in Calgary with mentor/dad Stu Hart. I know Bret thought his training clips made him look weak compared to Shawn's, but it came off fine, and both packages felt like something you'd see during Olympic coverage. This was good build

Hunter Hearst Helmsley v Vin Grier: It's been a while since they've run enhancement talent squash matches on RAW, and then we get two on the same show? HHH has some quality arm candy tonight, though. Also, we learn that Helmsley will be facing Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania. That probably explains why Hunter's looking so pissed off tonight. Between doing his first job last week, and knowing full well he'll be doing another one on the biggest show of the year, I'm sure he wasn't exactly feeling very happy-go-lucky. Anyway, the Pedigree wraps up at 1:53, as Lawler shamelessly hits on the valet. DUD

Over at the Geriatric Control Center, Scheme Gene hypes up Huckster versus Nacho Man for WrestleMania, with Billionaire Ted as the special guest referee. Much like Hart/Michaels, we get a look at their training, which features Huckster needing oxygen to get through even a few sit-ups. Meanwhile, Nacho goes for the psychological edge by going to a doctor to try and cover up his bald spot. Also, Scheme Gene has got the scoop on whether or not there will be darkness tonight, but you have to call 1-800-LYING-BALDY to find out. That's way too many numbers! This was much better than the last few of these skits have been, mostly because it focused on wrestling stuff, and not Ted Turner's personal life of business tactics. It still came off like sour grapes though, and was totally unnecessary

Next week, Bret Hart faces Tatanka. No ta-tank-ya

Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith v Yokozuna and Undertaker: This is the same building Yoko and Undertaker had their Survivor Series Casket match in, which is a nice connection. And poor Yoko still seems freaked out by him, despite their being partners. Diesel is also observing from a monitor backstage, while making cryptic remarks about some 'rumor' involving Shawn Michaels. Oooh! Oooh! I bet I know what it is! Camp Cornette try a sneak attack, but that goes badly for them, and they end up getting whipped into one another. Yoko legdrops Bulldog while Undertaker hammers Hart in the corner, before they spill to the outside. That allows Diesel to march down, where he decks Paul Bearer, and beats his fat ass down before leaving. That distracts Undertaker enough for 'Taker to march up the aisle in search of Diesel, leaving Yokozuna by himself for the heels to gang up on. Owen with a pair of legdrops and an elbowdrop, but Yoko keeps fighting back, so Vader joins us - attacking Yoko for the DQ at 5:19. So, basically the exact same finish as the Handicap match from two weeks ago. And, just like then, Ahmed Johnson and Jake Roberts run in to make the save. This would have all went over a lot better if they didn't do literally the exact same thing two weeks prior. I guess they figured that so few people were actually watching RAW during this period that they could get away with it. This was barely a match, just all sorts of angles. And that's fine for TV. DUD

BUExperience: Far from a ‘can’t miss’ episode, but it featured a lot of focused build for WrestleMania, and a pretty good Austin/Vega match. Not bad.  

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	3/11/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.9	3.2
Total Wins	10	12
Win Streak		2
Better Show (as of 3/4)	5	15