Category: Wrestling Television Musings

The night after the Austin era is born…

Continue reading “RAW After Mania (March 30th, 1998) – Business Picks Up”

Well, it’s the night after Wrestlemania 13, featuring one of – if not THE – best Wrestlemania match in the history of the event… and also Undertaker beat Sid for the title.

1997 was the year that began the rebuilding process for the WWF, taking the promotion from a money-losing entity relying on cartoonish gimmicks to a multi-million dollar empire producing edgier content appealing the teenaged anti-establishment audience that dominated much of the 1990s. This was the first step in forging this new direction.

Continue reading “RAW After Mania (March 24th, 1997) – The Rebuilding Process”

The night after Wrestlemania 12, where the boyhood dream came true for Shawn Michaels as he defeated Bret “Hitman” Hart to win his first WWF World championship.

We begin the show with the debut of the deranged Mankind; a large, lumbering fellow in a brown leather mask and brown outfit, coming out to ominous spooky music, pulling off his own hair, and making short work of Bob Holly with his signature Mandible Claw nerve hold, upon which a soothing piano piece places in lieu of the earlier music. Yes, they took the former Cactus Jack from ECW and WCW and turned him into a deranged individual in a mask, but that didn’t stop some fans from chanting “He’s HARDCORE!” This was a simple yet striking introduction to a new face and I’d love to have been sitting in the crowd in 1996, gauging reactions to this person, wondering if they had any clue where he’d end up down the line.

Then we have another debut; the “Wildman” Marc Mero, formerly Johnny B. Badd of WCW fame, making short work of Isaac Yankem DDS despite interference from He Of The Three Hs. He Of The Three Hs and Wildman had an altercation because Hunter got squashed by Warrior at Mania and treated his valet like poop… and so the valet joined Wildman, stuck with him for a few years before posing for Playboy, leaving the WWF and eventually wrestling for good… and ended up marrying Brock Lesnar… so that was a thing.

The Bodydonnas beat Barry Horowitz and the guy with the jock strap on his head… and then we got a promo from HBK, where he refers to fans as his KLIQ… or something. That was lame even back in my VHS watching days. And then Undertaker beats some cowboy guy before getting destroyed by Mankind, kicking off that feud that would be on and off for several years.

This show was a thing mostly for the historical significance, but it’s a fun watch regardless, with only Shawn’s limp dick promo being the only sour spot.

Third time’s a charm, right?

Matches aren’t all that great, but it’s getting there. Hakushi (Japanese Guy With Ink On His Face) beat Bob “Sparky Plugg” Holly in a boring match with lots of rest holds, Lex Luger and the British Bulldog (the Allied Powers, if you will) defeated Well Dunn (some job team unrelated to Kevin, because they’re not bucky beavers) in a squash, Alundra Blayze beat Women’s Champion Bull Nakano to win the title in the only really good match on the show… only to be beat up by the debuting Bertha Faye a.k.a. Rhonda Singh, a hefty woman dressed up as a clown, and Mabel and Mo beating some other job team whose name I can’t be bothered to remember.

There’s a promo with WWF champion Diesel, who offers Shawn Michaels another shot at the title due to the ref’s spraining of the ankle and Sid being Sid costing ol’ HBK the match at Mania. This would be followed up on by Shawn Michaels cutting a promo accepting Diesel and telling Sid that his services as bodyguard are no longer required, only for Sid to lose his cool and beat up Shawn for a bit, prompting Nash to come out and make the save.

I’ll give the show this much; they planted the seeds for the next several months worth of storylines and turned HBK into a beloved figure (well, the girls loved him anyway) and also, in a way, supplanting Diesel as the people care about. It’s still not a great show, but it’s getting there. If nothing else, check it out for the promos and the Madusa/Nakano match.

Wrestlemania X has been lauded as one of the better Wrestlemanias ever produced, featuring a highly praised ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, as well as Bret Hart bookending the show with a loss to his brother Owen in a fantastic match and eventually usurping the WWF Champion Yokozuna to reclaim the title that was stolen from him a year ago… everything in between those things is left to the imagination, but clearly, after a show with many milestones, how do you follow this show up?

With a shitty episode of RAW, of course!

Again, we’re still in the hour-long territory, but this also felt like a chore to sit through. The matches weren’t all that great… The Quebecers (the former Mountie and the current PCO) defeated the Bushwhackers in a boring match, Tatanka (BUFFALO!) squashes some job guy, Diesel also squashes some job guy in a match joined in progress, and Jeff Jarrett beat Koko B. Ware… not quite inspiring stuff.

Only thing noteworthy on this show is Bret Hart’s first interview as WWF Champion, where he talks about the night starting off poorly and ended great before addressing his loss to Owen. Other than that… eh, this wasn’t very good.

So this is a thing we’re doing for the foreseeable future… watching every RAW after Wrestlemania. I’d imagine I get a couple months of mileage before I get bored… and no, the fact that we’re doing this on 4/20 is not a coincidence. I probably took something to have thought up this idea… and I’d imagine it is going to be largely painful.

Funny thing about this RAW; whereas nowadays, these are usually treated as a big deal, the first RAW after Wrestlemania IX was a taped show from the previous taping cycle, so you don’t get the ramifications of the previous show until a couple episodes later. As such, other than passing mentions of the encore presentation of Wrestlemania, don’t expect much out of this show other than a couple quick matches here and there. In fact, the only recurring angle is the teasing of Jerry Lawler’s first WWF match, who comes out every so often, but then leaves after being overwhelmed by Burger King chants… because even back in 1993, the storylines (and the chants) weren’t much to be lauded over.

It’s an hour long show, but somehow feels longer because the matches are short, quick, and generally bad. Bam Bam Bigelow beats Virgil, Bob Backlund beats Kamala’s manager, Damien “Don’t Call Him A Jobber” Demento beats Jim Brunzell and nobody cares, the Steiners beat the Beverlies, and yes, Jerry Lawler beats some mulleted fellow in the main event.

So not a great show to follow up Mania… which is fine because Mania IX was not a great show to begin with. We’re still very early in this RAW show (it’s only a couple months old at this point) and they still haven’t worked out the kinks yet. Maybe next year’s follow-up to Mania will be better.