WWF Monday Night RAW (January 6, 1997)

Original Airdate: January 6, 1997 (taped December 30, 1996)

From Albany, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Owen Hart v Mankind: Mankind tries a charge at the bell, but Owen is ready with an overhead suplex to block, and he unloads with mounted punches. Sharpshooter looks to finish early, but Mankind is in the ropes before Hart can get it applied, and he pops Owen with a right. Cross corner whip sets up a running kneesmash, so Hart tries wrenching on the arm, but Mankind grabs a bodyscissors, and gets the Mandible Claw on. Owen quickly escapes, and he starts stomping the fingers to prevent another go. Mankind responds with a clothesline that sends them both tumbling over the top, and he grabs a chair out there, but Owen counters by hitting him with his Slammy. He drops Mankind across the guardrail, and then whacks Mankind with his WWF Tag Team Title belt for good measure. Inside, Hart puts the boots to him, and a headbutt to the gut sets up a spinheel kick. Abdominal stretch, but Mankind uses a hiptoss to escape, so Owen knocks him to the outside with the leg-feed enzuigiri. Hart follows, but Mankind sends him into the rail, and whacks him with a drink tray. Mankind with a swinging neckbreaker on the way back inside, but an attempt at another neckbreaker is countered with a DDT. Owen goes up with a dive, but Mankind catches him in the Claw on the way down, so Owen spinheel kicks his way out of it. He tries a charge, but ends up running into the post, and Mankind piledrives him at 7:22. No idea why this made the cut for Owen's DVD. * ½

Jose Lothario is determined to stand in Shawn's corner at the Royal Rumble. It's good to have goals

We get some highlights of the debut episode of Shotgun Saturday Night over the weekend, and holy shit, did that look awesome to me watching as a kid back in 1997. And it still does! Also, D-lo Brown probably deserves a medal for bravery for letting Ahmed Johnson give him a Pearl River Plunge on a parked car. Like, the dude is injury prone enough in a wrestling ring, how crazy would you have to be to let him powerbomb you on the roof of a car?

Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon v 'Razor Ramon' and 'Diesel': Honky Tonk Man sits in on commentary, as his stupid angle continue to drag on. And this is just January - he didn't get around to revealing his protégé until April! LaFon and Diesel start, and the crowd is just DEAD. Like, pin drop quiet. Diesel tries powering him around, but LaFon outwrestles him, so Razor tags in to hit a fallaway slam. He pounds LaFon into the corner, but Philip turns the tables, and unloads chops - complete with the crowd shouting 'whoo' after each one. Huh, I didn't think that became a 'thing' until the early 2000s. Over to Furnas to work a headlock, but Razor powers into the corner to force a break, and he throws right hands. Razor tries a wristlock, followed by an armbar, but Doug powers out of the hold. Furnas with an overhead suplex, so Diesel takes a cheap shot from the apron, and the heels go to work cutting the ring in half. This poor crowd, there are people in the first rows who look so bored they may cry. Diesel misses a charge in the corner to allow Furnas a dropkick, and there's the tag to LaFon. He comes in hot, throwing a few enzuigiris, followed by a spinheel kick for two. Sunset flip gets two, but a dive off the middle hits Diesel's boot, and Razor tags back in. Unfortunately for him, LaFon is ready with a suplex, and Furnas gets the tag. He charges, but Razor is ready with a clothesline, and it's Razor's Edge time, but LaFon saves. That allows Furnas a rana, but Diesel breaks up the cover, and Roseanne Barr the door. The babyfaces knock Diesel to the outside, and Razor takes a bearhug/flying clothesline combo at 9:45. So, so boring. ¾*

Last week, Hunter Hearst Helmsley attempted to kidnap Marlena (presumably for some rape), so next week, we gonna see a tag match. Man, laws were really lax in the 90s

And speaking or Marlena, over the weekend on Shotgun Saturday Night, Marlena flashed Sultan. I'm half surprised they didn't air this segment right before the last one, and that the phrase 'asking for it' wasn't thrown in there somewhere

Bret Hart thinks Vader is stupid. Well, given how his contract situation worked out during his exit from WCW, the Hitman may have a point

Royal Rumble ad

Jim Ross brings out WWF Champion Sycho Sid out for an interview, and at least this motherfucker is getting a crowd reaction. Ross wants to know if Sid is intimidated to face Shawn Michaels in HBK's hometown, but Sid is not. So there you go. And then Shawn comes out to do guest commentary on the next match, and he dances on the table to taunt Sid, so Sid warns him that he's not going to be responsible for what he does at the Royal Rumble. The promo wasn't much, but good closing

On Superstars over the weekend, Undertaker gave Jim Cornette a Tombstone as a message to Vader

Bret Hart v Vader: Bret appears to be missing a layer of his tights here, as Vince notes that it's all about 'attitude' in the WWF. Well, it sure will be. Vader takes the Hitman into the corner for some abuse, as Lawler wonders what it would be like to see a Triple Threat match with Hart/Vader/Michaels. That... actually would probably be pretty awesome. Shawn notes that he could 'squash' Bret on his own, though. They spill to the outside, where Hart reverses a whip into the steps, and he sends Vader into the guardrail out there. Inside, Bret blasts him with a pair of pointed elbowdrops, followed by a headbutt to the groin area, as Shawn continues to tease a more heelish direction on commentary. Bret works the arm, but a criss cross ends badly when he collides with the mass that is Vader. Into the corner for more abuse, and Vader hits a short-clothesline, as Shawn sounds like he's genuinely annoying McMahon a bit now. Vader with a bodyslam, and he dives off the middle with a bodyblock, as we see Steve Austin observing from the back. Vader with another 2^nd rope bodyblock, and a 2^nd rope splash gets him two. Lawler gets a funny dad-joke on commentary, suggesting that Jose should have named his son 'Jos-B.' Vaderbomb time, but Hart lifts his knees to block, and he starts making a comeback - with Shawn mocking him for using the same comeback moves all the time. Considering how bad he was with that in his 2000s run, he shouldn't talk. 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop gets two, and a side suplex is worth two. Bodypress sends both men tumbling over the top, and I smell a cheap finish coming up. They slug it out on the floor as Sycho Sid comes out, but instead of interfering, he kidnaps a cameraman. Meanwhile, Austin shows up as well, but he does interfere - dropping Bret with the Stunner on the floor. That allows Vader to take Hart in, and the Vaderbomb finishes at 8:40. Interesting that he got to pin both Hart and Michaels with it on TV. Other than Sid, very few guys got pinfall victories over both of those guys during this period. Anyway, the match was pretty weak, with both guys pretty much just going through the motions. * ¼

Backstage, Sid powerbombs Pete Lothario on a table, with Shawn sprinting to the back, but unable to get there before the damage is done. I remember thinking Pete looked like a kid when I saw this back in 1997, but that dude looks forty. I like how they at least explained the presence of the camera here. It's a minor thing, but I prefer it so much over the 'invisible camera that happens to anywhere the action is' style that became the norm in the Attitude Era. Any attempts at realism never hurt

BUExperience: Though the two big matches that looked good on paper under delivered, this was a pretty easy watch, mostly due to featuring a good number of main eventers in interesting angles.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	1/6/97
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.1	3.0
Total Wins	17	45
Win Streak		28
Better Show (as of 12/30)	20	39