WWF Monday Night RAW (September 9, 1996)

Original Airdate: September 9, 1996 (taped August 19)

From Wheeling, West Virginia; Your Hosts are Kevin Kelly, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler

WWF Intercontinental Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Faarooq Asad v Savio Vega: The announcers note that Savio is the 'sensation that's sweeping the nation,' but he was more like the dude who swept the floors for the Nation. Especially once Rock joined the group. Faarooq powers him around to start, but runs into a boot as he charges in the corner, and Vega spinkicks him down for two. Another kick, but Faarooq ducks, and uses a spinebuster for two. If you watch the crowd, really only the women and children are even looking at the ring, with every able bodied male in the house staring at Sunny. Faarooq with a vertical suplex for two, and he works a chinlock, but gets busted using the ropes for leverage. He tries a backdrop, but Savio dodges him, and throws a dropkick for two. Faarooq fires back with a headbutt for two, and it's back to the chinlock, with more illegal leverage. Another charge in the corner goes badly though, allowing Vega an armdrag, but Faarooq drops him before he can follow up. Looked like he was supposed to land in the turnbuckles there, but they were out of position, and poor Savio just face planted instead. Faarooq tries a slam, but Vega uses a small package for two, so Faarooq pounds him a bit before trying the slam again. Up for a 2^nd rope headbutt drop, but Vega dodges, and comes at him with a running big boot. Backdrop, but Faarooq PUNTS him in the face, and then drills him with a clothesline for two. Nasty! Back to the chinlock, and now even the women are discombobulated by Sunny. Vega escapes the hold, so Faarooq tries going for the eyes, but Savio fights through it. Backdrop, but Faarooq is ready with the Dominator to advance at 10:03. Not terrible, but really dull and chinlocky. Afterwards, Sycho Sid (Faarooq's opponent in the next round) comes out to do a stare down, before officials step in to keep them apart. They should just let them go! This tournament's already been going on for three weeks, and we haven't even gotten to the semi's yet! ¾*

Yesterday on Action Zone, various superstars recorded greetings for the injured Ahmed Johnson. My favorite is probably Mark Henry, as he tearfully tells Ahmed that "I can't wait to meet you!"

In Your House: Mind Games ad. You know your TV spots are getting lazy when they're making WCW's look good

Carlos Cabrera brings WWF Champion Shawn Michaels and Jose Lothario out for an in-ring interview. Carlos Cabrera? Did WCW poach their announcers, too? I like how Shawn would always dress like he's going to a business lunch on a yacht when he was champ. So, apparently, he's planning to retain the title against Mankind at In Your House. Interesting strategy. And then Jose loses it, going on a heated rant about Jim Cornette in Spanish before they forcibly take the microphone away from him

LiveWire ad, premiering a week from Saturday. Oh man, I was all about that show in 1996. Wish it was on the Network today

Stalker v TL Hopper: This is Barry Windham's debut with the gimmick, though they don't acknowledge that he is Barry Windham. Hopper tries a sneak attack, but that ends badly, as we almost immediately split screen to Brian Pillman and Owen Hart backstage, and apparently Owen and Bret have reconciled, thanks to Pillman. Oh, and Bret will be at In Your House with a major announcement. Yeah, that never happened. He didn't appear on TV until October, in fact. Back in the ring, Stalker works Hopper over, and uses a gutwrench suplex for one. Clothesline gets two, as Ross notes that his comments from last week about Razor Ramon and Diesel returning to the WWF caused a 'snag in the negotiations,' but that they will be returning! But then he immediately shifts to talking about Stalker like he's never seen the man before in his life, so how seriously are we supposed to take him, really? Stalker with a vertical superplex at 3:26. For a debut, they barely paid attention to this at all. DUD

We get clips of Mr. Perfect's stealing various valets from Hunter Hearst Helmsley recently

This past Friday on RAW Championship Friday, Jerry Lawler challenged Mark Henry to a match, between rounds of insults

Crush v Freddie Joe Floyd: Clarence Mason sits in on commentary for this one. You know how sometimes when you're a kid, you don't appreciate certain angles or characters as much as you do later as an adult? Yeah, Jailbird Crush is not one of those. I hated it as a kid, and maybe hate it even more now. He goes to town on Floyd like he just got called a bitch in the yard to start, and hits a press-slam, as Mason rambles about whatever. Headvice, but Floyd escapes, and throws a bodypress for two. Crush cuts that shit off with a backdrop, and a big boot sets up the heart punch at 2:34. Crush and Mason may be my least favorite pairing from this era, and that's not an easy bar to clear. DUD

And speaking of terrible pairings, let's take a look back at RAW Championship Friday, where Bob Backlund introduced Iron Sheik as the trainer for his still unnamed protégé

They hype up the 'new season' of Superstars with an ad that notes that it's been on the air longer than Seinfeld, and that the cast of Friends were still 'pimple-faced kids' when it debuted. So much wrong with this, but let's start with how conceptually silly it is to have a 'season premiere' for a show that has aired weekly since its start. It's like the evening news having (and hyping) a season premiere. And yeah, I get that they were technically hyping its move from syndication to USA Network, but I’m kind of bundling it together with all the general ads they were doing for the ‘new fall season’ of the WWF around this time, so just deal with it

Undertaker v Salvatore Sincere: The announcers note that this Salvatore is, in fact, not a very sincere guy. Undertaker is all fired up, marching out to the ring in stride, and going right at Sincere without waiting for the bell. Sincere bails, but Undertaker chases him back in, and tosses him around the ring. This was so weird to see in 1996, after years of watching him move like a zombie. Corner whip works, but a charge in doesn't, and Sincere uses an armdrag into an armbar. Undertaker quickly escapes that shit, but an elbowdrop misses, and Salvatore hammers away. Squint and you'd think you're seeing an Undertaker/Rick Martel match from 1993, or something. Well, other than the fact that 'Taker didn't have the purple gear back then. Shut up. Sincere with a chincrusher and a Russian legsweep for two, followed by a chinlock, as Goldust and Marlena pop up on split screen to hype their match with Undertaker for In Your House. Sincere with a sidewalk slam for two between chinlocks, and we get a weird bit where he sticks his fingers up Undertaker's nose, and then licks them clean. So, Rick Martel by way of Bastion Booger? Sincere with a powerslam and a pair of elbowdrops, but he gets cocky, and Undertaker sits up as Sal gloats. Sincere makes a last ditch effort to bury him, but Undertaker is in comeback mode, and the Tombstone finishes at 8:50. Sincere seemed to be trying to get a lot in, but Undertaker wasn't interested in giving him much to work with, and generally treated him like the JTTS he was. ½*

BUExperience: This show honestly felt like it was three hours long, despite being only forty-five minutes without commercials. Bad. Bad, bad.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	9/9/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.4	3.7
Total Wins	17	28
Win Streak		11
Better Show (as of 9/2)	11	32