WWF Monday Night RAW (April 15, 1996)

Original Airdate: April 15, 1996 (taped April 1)

From San Bernardino, California; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Marc Mero v Leif Cassidy: This marks Sable's debut in Mero's corner, complete with leather cat suit. Lucky she just happened to have that packed in her luggage when Mero rescued her from the crowd earlier in the taping. Feeling out process to start, dominated by Mero. He dropkicks Leif to the outside, though doesn't bother with his usual dive out after him tonight. Cassidy tries some mind games on the way back in, but he doesn't quite have the equipment for that, and gets dumped again. Mero chases him around ringside next, but ends up running into a clothesline from Marty Jannetty out there, and Cassidy capitalizes with a vertical suplex in from the apron. Leif with a corner clothesline and a northern lights suplex for two, and a snapmare sets up a seated dropkick for two. Cassidy dumps him for a somersault plancha and a baseball slide, but Mero beats the count, so Leif tries a full-nelson. Marc uses a headscissors to escape, sending Cassidy to the outside for Mero to dive with his own somersault plancha. Back in, Marc hits a backdrop to set up a flying sunset flip for the pin at 9:28. Solid action throughout here. **

Back on March 17 at Madison Square Garden, Diesel turned on Shawn Michaels during a tag match, and last week, he laid the WWF Champion out at the end of RAW. Vince and Jerry get Diesel on the phone (from Germany), and what a waste of a long distance call that was, because the dude says basically nothing. Tony Soprano said more on the phone than this guy did

Over the weekend on Superstars, Steve Austin was squashing some dude in a mask, when the jobber caught him off guard with a flash pin, before revealing himself to be Savio Vega. If Austin couldn't tell that was Savio Vega he deserved to get got

Steve Austin v Bart Gunn: Bart with a quick shoulderblock for two, and he tries a headlock, but Steve counters with a headscissors. Gunn counters back to the headlock, but Austin rolls it into a cradle for two, but Bart hangs on. Steve manages a reversal, so Bart whips him into the ropes to escape, and wins a criss cross with a bodypress for two. He goes back to the headlock, but Austin forces another criss cross, and this time dumps the cowboy over the top. Steve goes after him with a flying axehandle off of the apron, then back in for some abuse in the corner, as the crowd gets distracted by something going on in the stands. Probably a fight. Steve with a clothesline for two, and an elbowdrop for two. Chinlock, but Bart slugs free, so Steve suplexes him over the top, and drops him across the rail. Back in, Austin hits a knee for two, and he grounds Gunn in another chinlock. Bart slugs free again, and this time manages a standing dropkick and a backdrop to turn the tide. Bulldog gets two, and a 2^nd rope flying bodypress is worth two, so Ted DiBiase trips him up as he runs the ropes, allowing Austin a straddling ropechoke. He tries a knee next, but Bart counters with a schoolboy for two, followed by a small package for two. Sleeper, but Austin escapes with the stunner (before it meant anything), and he slaps on the Million Dollar Dream at 11:18. Another solid TV match here. **

Vince brings Vader and Jim Cornette out for an in-ring interview to discuss his path of destruction in the WWF thus far, which leads to his next major opponent for In Your House in Razor Ramon. Cornette has some fun with this one, noting that Razor's career will be on a downward spiral after April 28, and that he's made some "very bad career choices by signing a contact... to face Vader"

Here's a music video of Sunny's new theme song, set to clips of her bouncing around in skimpy outfits. As a teenager at the time (and, hell, as an old man now), let me just express my gratitude to the WWF for that one

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Goldust v Savio Vega: Goldust goes to a waistlock right away, using it as an excuse to feel Savio up, and then bails to the apron before Vega can respond. Vega grabs a wristlock, but Goldust reverses, so Savio gets a waistlock - prompting Goldust to grind his rear into Vega's dick. That, predictably, sets Savio off, and he chases Goldust out of the ring, with the champion hiding in the aisle as the referee cools Vega down. Say what you will about the character and some of the angles, but Dustin Rhodes was absolutely hitting it out of the park in the role, completely committing to it. Back in, Vega dominates, and of course, needs to slap Goldust's ass at some point, since apparently every one of his opponents thinks that's the best way to ward off unwanted sexual advances. Savio with a ten-punch in the corner, which is another questionable strategy, considering it involves shoving your cock right in the dude's face. No matter, Goldust escapes with a hotshot, and hits a hip attack to take control. Reverse chinlock follows, but Goldust gets annoyed at the crowd, and stops to grab the microphone to tell them off by threatening to go out and personally kiss each and every person in the building. That allows Savio to recover with a bodypress for two, and a backdrop follows, but he goes to the well once too often, and Goldust fistdrops him for two. Goldust straddles him for an extended period, allowing Savio to pop off a sunset cradle for two, but the champ drills him with a clothesline to cut off a comeback. He goes up, but Vega manages to crotch him up there, and delivers a superkick on the top turnbuckle. Superplex, but Goldust counters by kissing him on the mouth, and the champion dives with a flying fistdrop - only for Savio to lift his boot to block! Vega mounts a comeback, using a series of clotheslines for two, and a cradle for two, but the referee gets bumped as they criss cross. That gives Marlena a chance to pass Goldust the title belt, but Savio superkicks it back into his face as he sneaks up, then bashes him with it good. Cover, count, and we have a new champion crowned at 12:19! Oh, but a second referee (who was at ringside helping the first referee recover from his bump) saw the belt shot, and wants to call a DQ. I get that he wants justice to be served, but he's really got no business making calls in matches he isn't assigned, let alone trying to overrule the original referee's call. So, we've got two referee's declaring two different winners, leading to President Gorilla Monsoon coming out to announce that he's stripping Goldust of the title, and ordering a rematch for the vacant championship right here next week. Decent match, with Vega proving a good foil for Goldust, and a hot angle to add intrigue for next weeks show. They did the exact same deal with Jeff Jarrett and Bob Holly a year earlier on Action Zone, and I remember getting really into it then too. * ½

We get exclusive footage of Bret Hart storming around backstage following the Iron Man match at WrestleMania, before driving off into the night without even showering or changing out of his gear. That must have resulted in some interesting looks from the bellhop at his hotel. Then, this past weekend in Germany, cameras caught up with the Hitman to let him vent, and he notes that there was "a lot of things wrong with that match." He means with the whole overtime deal, but I can't help but agree in general. He's really, really bitter about the loss, and though he makes some excellent points, he comes across as a total crybaby. Next, he discusses potentially going to WCW (not calling them by name), but notes that he'd never get the respect he desires there, despite the big money offers. Anyway, he's not sure if he wants to come back to wrestling at all, regardless of the organization, as he's so disgusted with what went down at WrestleMania, and his treatment in general. This was a decent segment at the time, but it's a great segment now, because it basically draws out a blueprint for the next couple of years in Bret’s career

BUExperience: Another good episode this week, as the WWF continues to ride the post-WrestleMania wave.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	4/15/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	3.1	2.8
Total Wins	12	14
Win Streak	2
Better Show (as of 4/8)	7	17