[RESULTS/OPINION] WCW Monday Nitro/WWF RAW is WAR (06/16/97) [Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #83] (06/16/97) - Quick WCW Great American Bash 1997 recap (06/15/97): * Ultimo Dragon defeated Psychosis via submission. * Harlem Heat defeated the Steiner Brothers by disqualification when Vincent of the NWO interfered in the match. The Heat are now the number one contenders to the World Tag Team Titles, and will receive a title shot at the Hog Wild pay-per-view in August. Vincent interfered on behalf of the current champions, the Outsiders, in order to prevent the Steiners from being the top contenders * Konan pinned Hugh Morrus. Morrus missed a splash off the top and Konan covered for the pin. * Glacier defeated Wrath with the help of a foreign object. Wrath's partner Mortis, who was handcuffed at ringside, pulled out a chain and threw it into the ring. Glacier got it and used it to knock out Wrath. After the match Glacier was handcuffed and beaten by both men. * Akira Hokuto defeated Madusa to retain the WCW Women's World Title. Sonny Onoo interfered on Hokuto's behalf, injuring Madusa's knee. Per the stipulations of the match, Madusa's wrestling career in WCW is over. * Chris Benoit defeated Meng in the "Return Death Match". Both men had to be stretchered out after the match was over. * Kevin Greene defeated Steve "Mongo" McMichael by pin after Jeff Jarrett accidentally knocked out McMichael with a briefcase. * The Outsiders defeated "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Ric Flair. Flair brawled with Syxx back to the lockerroom and never returned to the ring. Piper was completely dominated by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Hall and Nash retain the WCW World Tag Team Titles. * Randy "Macho Man" Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page in the "Lights Out Match". The match went all over the arena. Savage attacked referee Nick Patrick, as well as a photographer. Page nailed the Diamond Cutter, but the referee was knocked out and unable to make the count. Scott Hall then attacked Page (which was allowable under the rules of the match). Savage hit Page with Hall's tag title belt. The ref then recovered enough to make the pin count. WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Chicago, IL. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko and Mike Tenay. - Big black limo time. It's the NWO, with Dennis Rodman in tow. The camera follows them from the back, through the curtain, and into the arena. The Chicago crowd pops big for Rodman. The NWO's new music, (Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" with "New-New-New World Order" added occasionally), drowns out most everything Rodman and Hogan say on the way to the ring. Once there, Eric Bischoff works up the crowd, then "Hollywood" Hogan rattles on for a few minutes. He hypes the Bash at the Beach match coming up by mentioning the opponents: "Lex Luthor and the Giant!" I guess Rodman really is Superman. Hogan challenges Luger and the Giant to come out "any time". - MORTIS (w/ James Vandenberg & Wrath) vs. GLACIER Gee, Glacier wins ... but gets beat up again! Who'da thunk? This time Glacier is saved by Earnest Miller, who throws the silliest karate kicks this side of Ralph Macchio and Syxx. What's more, he has the stupidest look on his face when he's doing these dopey kicks and chops. The Power Ranger/He-Man angle continues to worsen. The WCW crowd, sheep one and all, cheer like crazy as Miller is doing his ninja thing. In a final pitiful stab at realism, Doug Dellinger and his staff of two try and remove Miller from the ring, but Glacier telepathically tells them he's okay. ("His attack may constitute a felony gentlemen, but he's my buddy ... so it's all right!") The above may be a harsh assessment, but I've developed a zero-tolerance for this angle. - Madusa comes out for a tearful interview saying good-bye. Her career is over. So is women's wrestling in WCW. I've no idea yet whether she'll be gone, or become a manager or something similar. (Don't rule out some kind of swerve in which she puts on a mask, or claims "Madusa is no more-I'm really Debbie!") How humiliating. - Dean Malenko comes out and challenges Eddy Guerrero to be a man and come out. Guerrero comes out. Well, A Guerrero. - DEAN MALENKO vs. CHAVO GUERRERO, JR. Malenko puts him away fairly easily with the Texas Cloverleaf. Eddy comes to the top of the ramp and watches his nephew lose. Just a quick note on the crowd here. It looked huge, but wasn't a sell out. It also wasn't nearly as loud as the crowd last week in Boston, even during all the Rodman stuff. - They show Ric Flair doing the on-line RealAudio "Internet Insiders" thing with Mean Gene and Mark Madden. Madden is a real dick, but he's a funny dick. - SUPER CALO vs. LA PARKA This is apparently a feud now, since La Parka attacked Calo after the lucha six-man match last week. Calo returned the favor this past Saturday night. WCW has a dozen of the best wrestlers from Mexico ... yet they show us this match. In cased you missed it, Super Calo is now pronounced "Soo-per Cal-LOW", not "Soo-per CAL-low". After both men bounce around a bit like, well, Mexican jumping beans, Calo does a tope through the ropes which again puts him in the crowd. Calo then tries a slide kick, but La Parka sidesteps it and reenters the ring. The next big move involves La Parka putting Calo into the corner, hoisting him onto his shoulders, then whipping him up and over, power- bombing him to the mat. After a two count, La Parka then misses a corkscrew moonsault. Calo puts La Parka away with a forward roll ankle flip monkey whackadoodle move off the top. Tenay, almost completely ignoring the match, regales us with loads of trivia he's mentioned during most every other Mexican wrestler's match. Most of the crowd wasn't into this one. After the match, La Parka keeps the feud alive by "breaking" a plastic chair over Calo's head. - Lex Luger and the Giant come out for an interview. I'd swear on a stack of bibles that Luger was drunk! Something just didn't look right here. He ever so slightly slurred some words, and looked a bit shaky. The Giant, for his part, looked like hell, with huge bags and rings under his eyes. Luger and the Giant agree to fight Hogan and Rodman tonight. (Yeah ... that'll happen!) - THE AMAZING FRENCH CANADIANS (w/ Col. Parker) vs. HARLEM HEAT (w/ Sherri) Like last week, WCW again points the camera at any signs that dump on RAW or the WWF. Didn't we see this match ten or twenty times last year? Remember when Sherri and the Colonel were supposed to get married? The Canadians dominate for the bulk of the match until the Heat hit Oulette with the Harlem Hangover. Rougeau then runs in and hits Booker T. with the Colonel's boot. He covers for the pin, but Booker T. kicks out. Booker T. then nails Rougeau with a big kick. and covers for the pin. The ref only counts to two, but apparently that's good enough. Ahhhh! It doesn't get any better than this ! (Unfortunately). Mean Gene then interviews J.J. Dillon. Dillon says that the Heat will have to face the Steiner Brothers next week on Nitro, since Vincent's interference at the PPV invalidated that match. The Heat stand around and yell at Dillon until Vincent comes out. Vincent says his interference was a gift from the NWO and the Outsiders. The Heat take offense to the fact that the Outsiders consider the Heat easier opponents than the Steiner Brothers. They beat Vince up. - The Wolfpack comes out. WCW goes to commercial. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - SYXX vs. REY MYSTERIO JR. They do the fireworks for the start of the second hour AFTER the match starts! Syxx dominates the first half of the match, sticking to a ground game offense, several of those goofy looking legdrops he uses figuring prominently. He then misses a splash off the top and Mysterio takes over, landing a senton from the top to the floor, a bizarre swirling armdrag thingy, and his usual huracanrana finisher. Scott Hall the runs in and Mysterio nails him. He then vaults off a rolled-up Syxx and kicks Nash. Nash tumbles over the top rope. Mysterio then plays to the crowd, only to be caught by a kick from Syxx, and is put in the Buzzkiller. After the submission hold is released (and Syxx declared the winner) Hall picks Mysterio up and Nash jackknifes him halfway across the ring. (Mysterio could now be legally declared dead in at least six states). Nash gets on a mic and says the Wolfpack thinned out the herd last night and killed an Icon (Piper). Hall then introduces Randy Savage. Savage says little of note. The crowd, in it's first real show of life, chants for DDP. As expected, Diamond Dallas Page appears up in the crowd. In a nutshell, he challenges Savage and Scott Hall to a match at Bash at the Beach. Page says he already has a partner in mind, a "key player" that he made a phone call to. Page says all the fans know who he is. (Is this another cheap Shawn Michaels ploy?) Schiavone says he's up in the rafters looking down at the ring!" but I don't know if he meant Sting as Page's partner, or if he was talking about Page himself (who was in the upper deck). - ULTIMATE (Ultimo) DRAGON vs. CHRIS JERICHO As Jericho comes out Sonny Onoo stops him and offers him an envelope full of cash to beat up the Dragon. Jericho shoves Onoo down. This was a good match, but I just didn't care all that much about either guy. I skipped it live and fast forwarded through it while watching it on tape. Dragon wins with a belly-to-back tiger suplex with a bridge. Or something. - Lee Marshall kills a minute. Nitro's in Macon, Georgia next week. - Mean Gene interviews "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Piper says Rodman can't borrow his kilt, which draws a boo from the crowd. Piper says he doesn't believe the rumors that Flair betrayed Piper, and calls him out. Flair comes out and asks Piper if he won the match? Piper asks why Flair disappeared on him? Flair, rather soberly, says he was in the fight of his life with Syxx, and that he'll never leave Piper's side. Piper says that's good enough for him. - STEVE MCMICHAEL/JEFF JARRETT (w/ Debra) vs. BUFF BAGWELL/SCOTT NORTON A long, dull match which just meandered on, only interesting the crowd because of Mongo's presence. After an interminably long time, Jarrett and Mongo are both in the ring. Jarrett signals for a strut, and does one. Mongo just looks at him, turns him around, scoops him up, and piledrives him. McMichael then goes over to the corner and says to the camera that he looked at the tape from the PPV and that Jarrett should never try that stuff with him. Bagwell lays on top of Jarrett for the three count. The crowd popped big time for Mongo and the piledriver. Debra finally shows her man some support by agreeing that Jarrett deserved that. - "HOLLYWOOD" HOGAN/DENNIS RODMAN vs. LEX LUGER/THE GIANT No, no, no, no, no, NO! Don't even try to claim this was a match. Hogan and Rodman come out and wait for Luger and the Giant. They go to a commercial. Hogan and Rodman are still waiting. Rodman says he has things to do, so they should leave. They start to, but Luger and the Giant come out. Hogan and Rodman back off to confer. They then charge, but Luger pops Hogan while the Giant picks up Rodman by the throat. Luger takes Hogan into the corner, but Hogan mule kicks Luger down low in the batch. Hogan then kicks the Giant, forcing him to drop Rodman. The Giant backs Hogan into the corner, but Rodman comes up from behind and hits him with Hogan's World Title belt (drawing a roar from the crowd). Hogan then whacks Luger with the belt. Rodman drops a pitiful looking elbow on the Giant as the rest of the NWO rushes in. Rodman drops two more elbows before calling it quits. The last three minutes of the show are spent with the Giant and Luger getting stomped and spraypainted. The ring fills with thrown debris. - Matches for next week: The Steiner Brothers vs. Harlem Heat. Comments: Let's take things in order: I'm sick of Glacier. This is strictly for the kids. As long as he's around, you can't criticize the WWF in any way for being too childish. The Godwinns? Glacier. The Headbangers? Glacier. Brian Pillman's head in a toilet? Glacier. I don't care if the guy can wrestle a good match, until they stop claiming he was trained by mystic yogi's from the orient, I'm simply not gonna cut the guy any slack. The same, obviously, goes for Mortis and Wrath. If someone out there has an idea how the loss a Madusa doesn't kill women's wrestling in America, please enlighten me. I've no problem with a Malenko/Guerrero feud, but I fear that instead of doing several good matches, they're going to try and build to just one good match, with lots of run-ins and brawls leading up to it. Super Calo? La Parka? This has got to be Terry Taylor's influence at work. I'm not kidding, Lex Luger looked messed up! So did the Giant, for that matter. WCW denies the Giant is unhappy, but the guy looked half dead and even more sour than usual. Seeing Mongo and Jarrett split was nice, but there's no guarantee this early that the team is done for just yet. WCW could still drag it out with Jarrett saying he understands he was wrong, then getting back at Mongo, THEN finally splitting the two up. The crowd seemed to be more excited by McMichael than Rodman, which isn't really a surprise. The rest of the show, although it contained some okay wrestling, never really went anywhere. It really seemed like filler, as all the announcers could talk about was the upcoming main event. WCW did an okay job of recapping the previous night's PPV, but I don't believe a single still photo or clip was show, (instead, they hyped the replays that run this week). The last match was a joke. Rodman has no business being anywhere near a wrestling ring, as he seems to posses absolutely no talent for it. He can run, jump, and catch a ball, but none of that translates into the skills necessary for wrestling. The only move he showed, an elbowdrop, looked awkward at best. All through this show, as it aired live, I kept waiting for something- anything-good to happen. By the time it was over, nothing had, as far as I was concerned. A real waste, given the fact that they might draw a record audience for this one. No Sting. No Raven. No Shawn Michaels. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Lake Placid, NY. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. - The WWF is doing some minor tinkering. The show's logo now just says "RAW", which is what McMahon calls it. Hour two will apparently be called the "WAR ZONE", as that is the logo that they show then. All through the show, however, they call the it "RAW is WAR". McMahon and Ross immediately address the Michaels/Hart situation. McMahon says Shawn injured his neck and knee in the fight with Hart, and will be out from four to six weeks. Hart injured his knee too, but will be back in a few days (but will miss tonight's show). No mention is made of Michaels "quitting" the WWF, and the assumption is that he will be back eventually. McMahon says both men acted unprofessionally, and that Bret Hart was the aggressor. However, since they don't know when Shawn will be back, they will be holding a "Tag Team Tournament". The team that wins will face Steve Austin and a partner of his choice, though they hope it will be Shawn. McMahon doesn't say whether or not the titles are officially vacated at this time. They will later mention that the tournament is merely to name top contenders to face Austin and partner. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin comes out. He's upset by all this talk about him and a partner. He says he doesn't care if it is or isn't Shawn, since the WWF stuck the two together anyway. Mankind comes on the big screen and asks if he can be Austin's partner. Austin calls him a freak, and says he doesn't need him, just like he didn't need Shawn with "long hair, out here shaking his ass!" Mankind says he already has "long hair, I can still wear one earring, and I can shake my ass. I've got a nice ass!" Austin says it's a "nice, big fat ass!" Mankind tells him to consider the offer. McMahon then announces that Austin will face Brian Pillman tonight, and that the rest of the Hart Foundation will be handcuffed around ringside. Ken Shamrock comes to the ring. He's upset with Austin for attacking him at the end of RAW last week, and challenges Austin to a fight. Austin says they'll get it on after he takes care of Pillman. - The WWF is running a promotional contest for SummerSlam in which one lucky fan can win a million dollars. Stay tuned to RAW for details. - Pillman delivers comments from the back. They again show him getting a swirly at the King of the Ring. - OWEN HART/THE BRITISH BULLDOG vs. THE NEW BLACKJACKS Little more than a squash, but both teams looked good. The Bulldog pins Barry Windham after Owen hits him with a spinning heel kick. They cut to the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. The World Heavyweight Title belt is hanging on a rack. Paul Bearer tries to touch it, but the Undertaker slides it out of his reach. Jim Ross recaps the Nation of Domination situation. When asked about Ahmed Johnson, Paul Bearer tells the Undertaker to "shut up, rigor mortis!", then reminds him about the secret which he is holding over him. - Ken Shamrock delivers comments from the back. - HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY (w/ Chyna) vs. PHINNEAS GODWINN Apparently Helmsley has a secret over McMahon, because he's still on TV every week. If you wanted proof that Shawn Michaels wasn't leaving the WWF, this is it. Helmsley, Shawn's best friend in the WWF, would be jobbed into oblivion if Michaels left. Chyna roughs up the guy who takes Helmsley's robe back to the lockerroom. A back-and-forth stompfest which saw Chyna interfere once during the match, and once at the end. Godwinn has taken control of the match and sets Helmsley up for the Slop Drop. Chyna jumps up on the apron. Phinneas goes over and ... *!achh* ... *urgh!* ... *bleaugh!* ... k-k-kisses her. (*Spit!*) It's then easy work for Helmsley to slap on the Pedigree for the win. Henry Godwinn comes out after the match and shakes Phinneas up for being distracted by a woman. He yells something to McMahon about it being his fault. - Faarooq promises that the two new members of the Nation that he will be debuting tonight will be "bigger, better, badder, and blacker!" - Sunny comes to the ring to act as announcer for a special "Inter- promotional Match". Paul E. Dangerously sits in as color commentator. - BRIAN CRISTOPHER (USWA) vs. CHRIS CANDIDO (ECW) Paul E. mentions that Candido left the WWF to come to ECW, and Ross reminds us that he used to be Skip of the Bodydonnas. They start off quick. Candido jumps Christopher, pushing him into the corner. They then work the ropes, doing leapfrogs and such. Christopher hits an Atomic Nut Cruncher, then an enzuguiri kick. A back bodydrop follows. Candido turns things around with a swinging neckbreaker. Candido hits a legdrop off the second turnbuckle, even though Christopher is halfway across the ring. Candido then sets Christopher up in a corner and lays in some punches. McMahon and Ross ask Paul E. about Christopher, goading him into telling what's really "on your mind!" Paul E. says if they want a shoot, fine. He says Christopher is Jerry "The King" Lawler's son, something which isn't mentioned in Memphis (though most everyone knows it). Paul E. says neither man has the guts to admit that they're related to the other. Candido hits a huracanrana off the top. He starts to set up another. Lawler comes out and slaps Paul E. He then enters the ring and pulls Candido off Christopher. Lawler, his son and, out of nowhere, Rob Van Dam, all stomp on Candido. Tommy Dreamer then slides into the ring with a chair to make the save. Candido gets the win via DQ. - Ahmed Johnson makes comments about Faarooq. - They show the upcoming tour schedule for the WWF. This Sunday they are in Hershey Park, Pennsylvania. (Uh-oh ... ECW territory). They then show clips from the massive card this past Saturday in the Toronto Skydome (the attendance was somewhere between 18,000 and 25,000). Jim Neidhart then makes a few comments about his upcoming match with Goldust. - GOLDUST (w/ Marlena) vs. JIM "THE ANVIL" NEIDHART They remind us what happened last week between Goldust, the Bulldog, and Ken Shamrock. The match only goes a couple of minutes when the Bulldog comes out and grabs Marlena. Goldust comes out to save her, but is jumped by the Anvil. Whipped back into the ring, Neidhart throws Goldust into the ropes. Goldust catches himself, drops, and delivers a fist to the face. He then rolls up the Anvil for the pin. The British Bulldog's music starts to play, which is pretty funny (I can't recall them offhand blowing a music cue so badly). - Steve Austin outlines his intention to beat the whole Hart Foundation tonight, then Ken Shamrock. - Another look at some of the goings-on from earlier in the show as they begin the second hour. HOUR TWO Hosted By: Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. - As mentioned above, the second hour is now the "WAR ZONE". - BRIAN PILLMAN vs. "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN Delivering on recent promises that had been broken, the WWF gives us the match meant for last week, with the stipulation meant for the aborted Michaels/Hart match at King of the Ring. The Bulldog, Owen and the Anvil are each handcuffed to a ring post. The match has two referees, the second of which is outside the ring with the key for the handcuffs. Austin starts out slugging and kicking Pillman. He whips him into the ropes and hits an Atomic Gonad Smasher. Pillman slides out, with Austin in pursuit. Steve stops to trade blows with the one-armed Bulldog, as Pillman slips back into the ring. Pillman then takes over with some stiff chops to the chest. Austin reverses a whip, catches Pillman, and drops him throat-first across the top rope. Pillman begs for a handshake as they show Owen up on the apron trying to break out of his cuff. Austin shakes Pillman's hand, the kicks him in the breadbasket. He whips him out of a corner, but Pillman reverses it. Pillman charges in, only to meet a forearm from Stone Cold. Austin continues to work over Pillman. Brian breaks it up with a head butt. He climbs to the top turnbuckle, but Austin grabs him and drops him onto the top rope. Pillman slumps to the floor as Austin goes over and attacks the Bulldog, slamming him into the post he's handcuffed to. Pillman comes around the ring with a chair held face-high. Austin bowls him over, slamming the chair into Pillman's face. He then pounds on the back of Neidhart. Owen jerks on his cuff like a trapped animal as Austin approaches him. He starts to lay in some shots, but Pillman comes up from behind and loops a camera cable over his head, choking him. Pillman, it can be seen, has been busted open, with a cut across the bridge of his nose. Pillman rolls into the ring as they go to break. During the commercial, Austin is whipped into the ring steps. Pillman's face is smeared with blood as he works over Austin. Stone Cold comes back, rear mule kicking Pillman in his nether regions. Pillman is whipped into the ropes, but he catches Austin with a kick to the face. He then slaps Austin into a headlock. Austin gets loose and bounces off the ropes, hitting a shoulderblock. He tries another, but Pillman slaps the headlock on again. Austin drops, Stone Cold Stunning Pillman. Austin misses a follow-up elbowdrop. Things begin to wind down as Austin, looking exhausted, throws Pillman into the corner and punches him, kicks him, flips him off, etc. The ref gets in Austin's ear and warns him he's risking a DQ. Austin backs the ref to the opposite corner, kicks him in the labonza, and drops him with the Stone Cold Stunner. Back over to Pillman, Brian drops down and gives Austin a low shot in the jewels. He then pulls out the classic white taped knuckledusters, using them to knock Austin out stone cold. He then grabs the second ref (who's trying to revive the first). Pillman covers and gets a two count. Owen, meanwhile, has gotten a handcuff key from the pocket of the unconscious ref. He undoes his cuff, then runs the key over to the Anvil. Once Owen enters the ring the ref calls for the bell. The Anvil frees himself and hands the key off to the Bulldog. Soon all three men are free and they, along with Pillman, stomp a nature trail into Austin's backside. Here comes Mankind, Goldust and Ken Shamrock to the rescue. Everyone clears from the ring except Austin and Shamrock. Austin throws a right, but Ken blocks it and takes him down with a belly-to-belly suplex. Austin pulls back, the two stare off for a moment, then Austin takes Shamrock down and they roll around, trading shots to the head. Out comes the Legion of Doom this time to pull these two apart. Goldust follows, and signals for a mic. He yells for Austin and Shamrock to stop, saying that the two are falling into the Hart Foundation's trap. He then points out that the five men in the ring are probably the best team in the WWF to go up against the five Hart Foundation members in the ten-man match at the next In Your House. Austin gets on the mic and says he doesn't need any of them, but he'll cut them some slack and team up with them for that one match. Austin says "after it's over, we ain't going to be hanging out together ... ain't goin' be drinking beer together ... it's going right back to this ... " and flips them off. Shamrock looks less than pleased to be letting Austin off the hook so easily. This sets up the Hart Foundation vs. Austin, Shamrock, Goldust and the Legion of Doom. With nearly three weeks until the PPV, I wouldn't be surprised if this changed somewhat. - Sable comes out to introduce the participants for the next match, one of the first in the WWF's new Light Heavyweight Division. - BOBBY FULTON vs. TOMMY ROGERS Once known as the Fantastics, they were a great tag team. Now, they both look fairly washed up. Fulton looks like he's fudging on his paperwork to be under 215 pounds. I'm not really sure what possessed the WWF to save this match for so late in the card, and I wouldn't doubt if it came back to haunt them in the ratings. Totally unexceptional match, except for the finishing move. Fulton is playing to the crowd. Rogers comes up from behind and hooks his arms (like in a full nelson). He then rolls it around like two wrestlers going from a lock-up into a backslide position, except that Rogers is looking up and leaning back, while Fulton is facing down, bent at the waist. Rogers then drops down, DDT'ing Fulton. Rogers covers for the pin. After the match, "Wildman" Marc Mero comes out to stop Sable from parading around in the ring. - THE HEADBANGERS vs. JERRY LAWLER/"MR. MONDAY NIGHT" ROB VAN DAM This was a pretty good match, though short due to time constraints. Paul E. and Dreamer watch from the front row of the crowd. Due to time constraints myself, I will jump ahead to the finish: One of the Headbangers vaults from the second rope over the top, clotheslining Van Dam off the apron. Lawler works over the other 'Banger. Suddenly the ECW's Sandman slides into the ring, Singapore cane in hand. He whacks Jerry down in the love box. Way in the background, Van Dam can be seen doing a moonsault off the guardrail-completely oblivious to the fate of his partner. He apparently misses. Sandman joins Dreamer and Dangerously behind the guard rail as one of the Headbangers forward suplexes his partner off the top rope onto Lawler. The Headbangers get the pin. Van Dam then brawls with Dreamer and Sandman as refs pull them apart. Paul E. stops his men from crossing the rail again. - In the back, Ahmed Johnson says he respects the Undertaker, but won't take any orders from Paul Bearer during this upcoming match. - Ahmed and the Undertaker come out first, followed by Faarooq. Faarooq then calls in his newest NOD member: Kama Mustafa! Papa Shango has returned ... sort of. - THE UNDERTAKER/AHMED JOHNSON (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. FAAROOQ/KAMA MUSTAFA The Undertaker wrestles the entire match. Again, for time's sake, let's jump ahead, shall we? Ross and McMahon are speculating who the other new NOD member will be. McMahon brings up Mr. Hughes. Ross suggests Butch Reed. McMahon mentions Abdullah the Butcher. Ross adds the Junkyard Dog to the list. Ahmed drops to the floor and shoves Paul Bearer down. The Undertaker, meanwhile, hasn't been able to tag out, and is completely at the mercy of Faarooq and Kama. Kama tags in and grabs him around the neck, applying a belly-to-belly suplex. He then covers for the upset pin, beating the current World Heavyweight Champion in his Nation of Domination debut. Kama and Faarooq then stomp on the Undertaker, but are chased off by Ahmed. Ahmed picks the Undertaker up ... and drops him back down with the Pearl River Plunge! As the crowd boos, Ahmed climbs the ramp and takes his rightful place alongside his Nation and raises his fist into the air. - Matches for next week: Comments: Now this is what I'm talking about something happening! RAW breaks from it's rut and debuts Brian Christopher from the USWA, features two ECW appearances, kicks off the light heavyweight division, initiates a tag team tournament, brings back Kama, and ends the show with the World Champ getting pinned and Ahmed Johnson making his long awaited heel turn (which, while long rumored on the Internet, would have been a shocker to the average fan). We even got a pretty good match in Austin vs. Pillman. This was one of those shows in which I had little idea what they would do next. Every time I turned over to Nitro, when I came back they would be doing something that surprised me. Oh yeah ... Shawn Michaels is still in the WWF. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: Shawn Michaels is still in the WWF. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Winner: RAW. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1997 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of Internet Access, Inc. Volume One, Number 83 of the "Monday Night Recap", June 16th, 1997.