WWF Monday Night RAW (April 22, 1996)

Original Airdate: April 22, 1996 (taped April 1)

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

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Goldust v Savio Vega: This is for the held up title, following last weeks disputed finish. Savio yells a bunch of stuff in Spanish during his pre-match interview, so you know he's fired up. He wins a slugfest at the bell, and sends Goldust spiraling to the mat with a clothesline, then hits a powerslam for two. Goldust bails up the aisle, but Vega is on him with a superkick out there, and back in we go. Goldust manages to fight Savio off on the way in, and he lands a stinger splash, but misses a second one. That allows Savio to assault him in the corner, but Goldust mulekicks his way out of trouble, and works Vega's leg. Savio tries to buy time with a leg-feed enzuigiri, but ends up grounded in a grapevine anyway, as Goldust continues to work on the leg. He switches gears with a reverse chinlock that drags on, as Ultimate Warrior appears on split screen, promising to make Goldust 'squeal like a piggy' at In Your House. Goldust with a legdrop for two, but he gets reversed into the post in phony looking fashion, as Steve Austin shows up to watch from the aisle. That distraction allows Goldust to swipe at the leg to keep control, which seems like a stupid move on Steve's part, considering he'll likely get a title shot if Savio wins, since they have an issue. Goldust tries a ten-punch, but Savio shoves him off, and hooks a small package for two. Goldust tries cutting him off with a corner whip, but Vega blocks the Curtain Call, and hits a spinkick for two. Schoolboy gets two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Goldust is able to counter with a facebuster. Savio tries a rollup, but Marlena is distracting the referee (conveniently hopping onto the apron before Vega even executed the cradle), and Austin bashes him with the Million Dollar Belt to allow Goldust the fall at 13:59. Again, not really getting Austin's motivations there. Nevertheless, Vince notes that while Austin may have stopped Vega from winning the title tonight, "nobody - nobody - can stop the wrath of the Ultimate Warrior this Sunday night!" Except Razor Ramon in Germany, I guess. This was rather dull, and didn't have any of the fire that last weeks match did. ½*

Vader v Fatu: They clarify that Yokozuna's leg was not broken last week. Vader unloads on him in the early going, but misses a sit-down splash, and Fatu manages a clothesline, then a jumping shoulderblock. A sloppy cutter (called a 'bulldog' by McMahon) sets up a flying splash, but Vader no-sells, and sends him back flipping through the air with a clothesline. Vadersault finishes up at 2:30, though the assault stops there, robbing us of an Anoa'i family reunion in the hospital. ¼*

Over the weekend in Germany, the WWF apparently couldn't afford to ship their television equipment out, so here's a bunch of shaky handheld footage of some house show action!

The Godwinns v Yoshihiro Tajiri and Ken Patterson: Yep, that same Tajiri you're thinking of. The Bodydonnas appear on split screen to hype their title match with the Godwinns for In Your House, as Phineas throws Tajiri around, but misses an elbowdrop, and takes a standing moonsault. Both guys tag, and Henry Godwinn gets Patterson in a bearhug that would more accurately be described as a butthug. Meanwhile, Sunny shows up to try and play mind games with Hillbilly Jim, but he chases her off, as Henry bodyslams Ken. I like how Vince is referring to it as part of Sunny's 'master plan,' as if 'show up and get chased away' is some great, unfathomable strategy. Anyway, Henry puts Patterson away with the Slop Drop at 3:15. Cool to see Tajiri before he was a star, but totally worthless otherwise. Afterwards, the Bodydonnas run in to sneak attack, and beat the Godwinns down to add some heat to their match on Sunday. Hey, at least they're making an effort. I appreciate that. DUD

Mankind v Aldo Montoya: Aldo attacks with a dropkick, but Mankind fights him off in the corner, and clips the leg. One thing that always bugged me about the original Mankind character is how his whole appearance is meant to look like he's wearing rags and things he fashioned out of scraps he found in his basement cell, yet he has brand new kneepads. They could have at least had him put those one underneath his tights, like Goldust. He pounds Montoya down, but Aldo makes a quick comeback before getting slugged out of the air while trying a dive, and eating a piledriver. Mandible Claw, and that's it at 4:30. Weak stuff here, though the character continues to be interesting. DUD

Vince and Jerry narrate clips detailing the history of the Shawn Michaels/Diesel relationship ahead of their showdown at In Your House, which is capped off with Diesel offering thoughts from Germany. He notes that Shawn doesn't have to worry about losing the belt on Sunday, because Diesel doesn't want it anyway after the way they made him into a corporate puppet when he had it. This wasn’t the best as far as hard sells go

BUExperience: This taping cycle actually produced a few good episodes, but they really wore out their welcome by the time week four rolled around. I’m honestly surprised this shitty, sleepwalking episode beat Nitro in the ratings.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	4/22/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	3.3	2.7
Total Wins	13	14
Win Streak	3
Better Show (as of 4/15)	8	17