EinBebop
12-20-2002, 10:22 PM
I've put disclaimers here before warning that some major angles took place on Superstars... well, not really anymore. Some stuff did happen on Superstars, but WWF was at war by this point, and saved all their big stuff for Raw. Some minor angles did take place on Superstars, most notably the tournament for the tag titles in the early part of this year.
This is probably where some people may get irate at me. :) 'Cause now I'm having to pick and choose what I put on here, lest this would be twice as long as it already is. So the discussion will probably increase from here. And I probably did the worst job with '96, because 95-96 was a tough point in my life, and save for attending Wrestlemania that year (!!!) I really missed a lot of wrestling during this time.
January - February 1996
The January 1st edition of Raw is ‘Raw Bowl’, consisting of The Smoking Gunns vs. Hart and Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon and Savio Vega vs. Sid and the Kid. It’s really just a four-team elimination match, two years before they really started doing that kind of thing. And actually, this had time-outs and penalty flags thrown into the equation (football theme, of course) but none of the wrestlers seemed to know what to do when a time-out was called; and nothing came of the penalty flag called against manager Ted Dibiase, so the extras really served no purpose.
Goldust has a crush on Razor Ramon, sending him gifts on a weekly base. Razor Ramon goes all homophobe. Razor completely snaps when Goldust tries to get physical. The mind games work obviously work, as Ramon drops the Intercontinental title to Goldust at the Royal Rumble.
WWF fires back at WCW: from now until Wrestlemania, we get regular segments featuring Billionaire Ted, The Huckster, Nacho Man, and Scheme Gene. Oh, and Larry Fling, for reasons still unclear to me. The skits continued for weeks, culminating in the ‘geriatric match’ between Huckster and Nacho Man on the Wrestlemania pre-show. Reaction to this was mixed; some thought the skits were funny; some thought they were stupid and reeked of desperation.
Ted Dibiase has spent a year searching for someone to wear his old “Million Dollar Belt”, and finally settles on someone: The Ringmaster. I would’ve gone with ‘Sauron’ myself. The Ringmaster announces that he intends to win the Rumble and then the World title at Wrestlemania, even though he considers it a lesser belt than his own. That Ringmaster looks familiar…
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/ringmaster.jpg
The recapper that I’m reading thinks it might be Al Snow with a buzzcut.
After weeks of hype. Vader makes his RAW debut the night after the Royal Rumble, killing Savio Vega. And there was much rejoicing. Vader continued to pummel Savio’s corpse bringing out a slew of officials and finally, Interim-President Gorilla Monsoon, who suspends Vader indefinitely. Vader decides to give Monsoon some time off as well.. the hard way. Vader administers a severe beating followed by a Vaderbomb. An informal poll of RSPW in April showed that 78% thought that Vader would be World Champion one day.
Terri “Marlena” Runnels makes her Raw debut also, as the ‘director’ of Goldust.
With the Interim-President out, and Interim-interim-President is needed, and Roddy Piper has been given the task.
The masked master of martial arts, Shinobi, makes his Raw debut. Poor Al. And ironically, on the same night, Mankind makes his Raw debut in the form of vignettes talking about his mother.
March 1996
Diesel is furious at Undertaker for costing him the world title, and tries to go on a rampage against the Phenom. Paul Bearer rolls out a casket during Diesel’s match; Diesel, thinking Undertaker is in it, starts to destroy the casket, only to find… HIMSELF?? Does this mean that Undertaker will turn out to be Diesel’s father? Diesel is already on his way out to WCW, and is preparing for his big Wrestlemania loss.
The Goldust-Ramon fued was supposed to continue until Wrestlemania, but when Ramon had to be pulled suddenly, Goldust began taunting Roddy Piper, leading to a non-title street fight between the two at Wrestlemania.
“Justin Hawk” Bradshaw debuts, with uncle Zebekiah.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/bradshaw.jpg
I remember thinking that the time that he looked like a 6½ foot Shawn Michaels.
The Ringmaster is redubbed “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Vince introduces Mark Henry, the WWF-sponsored entry into the ’96 olympics weightlifting competition. Footage of Henry bodyslamming Lawler is shown.
“New Rocker” Leif Cassidy makes his Raw debut against Shawn Michaels. Cassidy had actually been around for a few weeks. Cassidy wrestled his first match just a week after Shinobi debuted. Poor Al.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/newrockers.jpg
What does everybody want? Bad gimmicks!
April - May 1996
Mankind makes his debut, shoving his fingers down Bob Holly throat to get the submission. Then comes back later in the show and attacks Undertaker! Now that’s a debut. But Undertaker has to deal with Goldust, first, who enlists the help of Mankind. Undertaker is understandably angry after being knocked out by Mankind and all but raped by Goldust.
Diesel, performing his swan song for the WWF, attacks his friend and new World Champion Shawn Michaels. Putting over Shawn Michaels at the In Your House PPV would be his last televised act before leaving for WCW.
Steve Austin goes after Savio Vega, who stole a match from Steve Austin when he disguised himself as the “Caribbean Kid”. The two sign for a strap match at the May IYH, and proceed to chase each other with straps for a few weeks. Austin’s manager, Dibiase, ends up putting his career on the line in Austin’s match, and regrets it later. Austin implied a couple of weeks later that he intentionally threw the match to rid himself of Dibiase.
Davey-Boy Smith’s wife, Diana, claims that Shawn Michaels has made advances towards her. We hear for the next few weeks about Shawn’s off-screen antics: Marty Janetty talks about the Rocker days, and an anonymous wrestler’s wife, silhouetted, claims that Shawn did the same to her.
Goldust moves from Undertaker to Ahmed Johnson. Poor Ahmed is out cold at one point, and Goldust tries to administer resuscitative breathing. Ahmed, being a MANLY man, is angry. I’m betting Goldy used his tongue. Goldust does a disturbing interview of him eating a chocolate bar and compares the make-up left on the chocolate bar to what Ahmed’s lips looked like… never mind. I’ve already said too much. For those who don’t know who Ahmed Johnson is, picture a huge, intimidating black man with the intensity just shy of the Ultimate Warrior, the technical precision of Trish Stratus, and the interview skills of Kenny from South park. The fans loved him, though, and if he could’ve kept from injuring himself everytime he stepped into the ring, he probably would’ve been world champion. But finally, the WWF said ‘screw it’ in 97 or 98. He re-emerged briefly in WCW in 2000 with a big Junkyard Dog tummy and discovered that noone cared anymore.
The Bodydonnas are looking for a new manager to replace Sunny, who sold them down the river, and invite the world to send them video submissions. They end up picking a guy dressed in drag named Cloudy. Ugh.
WWF airs the contract signing of Brian Pillman. Pillman was still recovering from an injury, so he just came out on crutches and talked smack to people for a few weeks before getting involved in the Hart/Austin angle.
July 1996
Steve Austin is Steve Austin... I didn't watch much around this time, and nothing jumped out of me in the reports, but Steve Austin was winning a lot of fans during this time.
Camp Cornette versus Your Heroes moves into full swing, with the heroes being represented by Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Ultimate…. What? He’s gone again? Didn't he just came back three months ago? So Shawn makes the dumbest decision of his career and brings back SID.
I feel the need to point out any and all bad gimmicks, but T.L. Hopper, the plumber… well… they should’ve flushed that one out.
Phineas I. Godwinn (PIG! Get it?) has been strung along for weeks my Sunny, even costing the Godwinns the tag titles. (Sunny was jumping between the Bodydonnas, Godwinns, and Smoking Gunns... whoever happened to be holding the titles). PIG finally gets up the courage to tell Sunny that he loves her. Sunny tells PIG to close his eyes and pucker up, and decks her. After an altercation with Sunny’s Smoking Gunns (the tag team, not…. Never mind), the Godwinns corner Sunny, and Phineas gives her the slop.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/sunny.jpg
My favorite lady in the history of wrestling. I don’t care if she is a crack whore today.
Speaking of ladies, Goldust versus Marc Mero was really just a backdrop for the real fued: Marlena versus Sable, the famous lesbian angle. Bret Hart, who had considerable influence, had this angle shot down out of the gate.
When the Smoking Gunns have to defend the tag titles against Ahmed and Michaels, Sunny brings in her newest client: Ron Simmons, introduced to us the following week as the Modern Day Gladiator, Farooq Asad.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/faarooq.jpg
"Well I'll be damned!"
August -September 1996
WWF announces that they have just signed Olympic competitor Mark Henry to a ten-year contract.
Vince McMahon has replaced himself with Kevin Kelly and Jim Ross. Ross and Lawler, together at last.
Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson injures himself (See what I mean?) A tournament is held. Marc Mero overcomes rather stiff competition to win his first IC title.
The WWF announces that Diesel and Razor Ramon are on their way back to the WWF. (Good idea). However, it turns out not to be Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, but rather, two OTHER wrestlers playing the parts. (Bad idea). This was, at least as the storylines go, all the idea of Jim Ross, who takes every opportunity he gets to speak his mind about Vince McMahon.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/realdiesel.jpghttp://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/realrazor.jpghttp://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/fakediesel.jpghttp://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/fakerazor.jpg
Real deals on the left, fakes on the right. Is this a step up or down for Isaac Yankem?
The Sultan debuts.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/sultan.jpg
Rikishi can't beat Snow with quantity bad gimmicks, so he goes for quality.
October – November 1996
After months of not having made a single significant TV appearance, Bret returns in a pre-taped interview with Jim Ross. Bret said that he’s received offers from other companies, but that he plans to spend the rest of his career (*cough*) in the WWF. Austin has been challenging Bret for weeks, and Bret officially accepts the challenge for Survivor Series.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley wins the Intercontinental title from Marc Mero. Helmsley was scheduled to face Curt Hennig, who sustained an injury, and asked Mero to sub for him. But it turned out to be a set-up, as Hennig was actually Helmsley’s new manager. Incidentally, Hennig left the WWF shortly after this.
Rocky Maivia debuts.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/rocky.jpg
"mumble mumble candy asses mumble mumble"
Steve Austin was unappreciative of Brian Pillman’s support of Bret Hart, and chose to pay him a visit when WWF was doing a live interview from his home. Pillman pulled a gun on Austin just before the video went out, and supposedly shots were fired. "Let's see what happens when Austin 3:16 meets Pillman 9 mm." - The Loose Cannon
December 1996
Undertaker vs Mankind, No Holds Barred. After many, many months, the fued finally comes to an end here on Raw. A hand injury to Mankind keeps him from effectively applying the mandible claw. Undertaker is able to escape the move and apply the Tombstone piledriver. The here-and-quickly-forgotten Executioner gives Undertaker the Asiatic Spike to add fire to their ongoing fued.
WWF does the Shawn Michaels fake-injury angle again (people pretending to drop out of character, commentary goes silent), this time with Bart and Billy Gunn. The two had been fueding since their break-up several weeks back. The match itself is rather short up to the point that Bart applies the stun gun to Billy, who fails to get up. The entire Gunn family, who is in attendance, swarms the ring. Billy’s wife yells at Bart to stay away, while Bart breaks down and asks his wife to console him.
When Hunter Hearst Helmsley starts hitting on Marlena, Goldust comes out of the heterosexual closet and stays out for the better part of 97.
[Edit]Woah... I forgot all about the Nation forming... it started out with Farooq and PG-13. Crush would've have been next, with Savio and D-Lo showing up within short order.
Coming this Monday - Raw in Review '97... no teaser, because I haven't written it yet. Sorry, this will be a day behind is well, but hopefully, I'll be back on track by...
Wednesday - Christmas Special. I'll give a hint of what's in store on Monday.
Next Saturday - Raw in Review '98
Raw in Review 95 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59701)
Raw in Review 94 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59422)
Raw in Review 93 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59113)
This is probably where some people may get irate at me. :) 'Cause now I'm having to pick and choose what I put on here, lest this would be twice as long as it already is. So the discussion will probably increase from here. And I probably did the worst job with '96, because 95-96 was a tough point in my life, and save for attending Wrestlemania that year (!!!) I really missed a lot of wrestling during this time.
January - February 1996
The January 1st edition of Raw is ‘Raw Bowl’, consisting of The Smoking Gunns vs. Hart and Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon and Savio Vega vs. Sid and the Kid. It’s really just a four-team elimination match, two years before they really started doing that kind of thing. And actually, this had time-outs and penalty flags thrown into the equation (football theme, of course) but none of the wrestlers seemed to know what to do when a time-out was called; and nothing came of the penalty flag called against manager Ted Dibiase, so the extras really served no purpose.
Goldust has a crush on Razor Ramon, sending him gifts on a weekly base. Razor Ramon goes all homophobe. Razor completely snaps when Goldust tries to get physical. The mind games work obviously work, as Ramon drops the Intercontinental title to Goldust at the Royal Rumble.
WWF fires back at WCW: from now until Wrestlemania, we get regular segments featuring Billionaire Ted, The Huckster, Nacho Man, and Scheme Gene. Oh, and Larry Fling, for reasons still unclear to me. The skits continued for weeks, culminating in the ‘geriatric match’ between Huckster and Nacho Man on the Wrestlemania pre-show. Reaction to this was mixed; some thought the skits were funny; some thought they were stupid and reeked of desperation.
Ted Dibiase has spent a year searching for someone to wear his old “Million Dollar Belt”, and finally settles on someone: The Ringmaster. I would’ve gone with ‘Sauron’ myself. The Ringmaster announces that he intends to win the Rumble and then the World title at Wrestlemania, even though he considers it a lesser belt than his own. That Ringmaster looks familiar…
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/ringmaster.jpg
The recapper that I’m reading thinks it might be Al Snow with a buzzcut.
After weeks of hype. Vader makes his RAW debut the night after the Royal Rumble, killing Savio Vega. And there was much rejoicing. Vader continued to pummel Savio’s corpse bringing out a slew of officials and finally, Interim-President Gorilla Monsoon, who suspends Vader indefinitely. Vader decides to give Monsoon some time off as well.. the hard way. Vader administers a severe beating followed by a Vaderbomb. An informal poll of RSPW in April showed that 78% thought that Vader would be World Champion one day.
Terri “Marlena” Runnels makes her Raw debut also, as the ‘director’ of Goldust.
With the Interim-President out, and Interim-interim-President is needed, and Roddy Piper has been given the task.
The masked master of martial arts, Shinobi, makes his Raw debut. Poor Al. And ironically, on the same night, Mankind makes his Raw debut in the form of vignettes talking about his mother.
March 1996
Diesel is furious at Undertaker for costing him the world title, and tries to go on a rampage against the Phenom. Paul Bearer rolls out a casket during Diesel’s match; Diesel, thinking Undertaker is in it, starts to destroy the casket, only to find… HIMSELF?? Does this mean that Undertaker will turn out to be Diesel’s father? Diesel is already on his way out to WCW, and is preparing for his big Wrestlemania loss.
The Goldust-Ramon fued was supposed to continue until Wrestlemania, but when Ramon had to be pulled suddenly, Goldust began taunting Roddy Piper, leading to a non-title street fight between the two at Wrestlemania.
“Justin Hawk” Bradshaw debuts, with uncle Zebekiah.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/bradshaw.jpg
I remember thinking that the time that he looked like a 6½ foot Shawn Michaels.
The Ringmaster is redubbed “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Vince introduces Mark Henry, the WWF-sponsored entry into the ’96 olympics weightlifting competition. Footage of Henry bodyslamming Lawler is shown.
“New Rocker” Leif Cassidy makes his Raw debut against Shawn Michaels. Cassidy had actually been around for a few weeks. Cassidy wrestled his first match just a week after Shinobi debuted. Poor Al.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/newrockers.jpg
What does everybody want? Bad gimmicks!
April - May 1996
Mankind makes his debut, shoving his fingers down Bob Holly throat to get the submission. Then comes back later in the show and attacks Undertaker! Now that’s a debut. But Undertaker has to deal with Goldust, first, who enlists the help of Mankind. Undertaker is understandably angry after being knocked out by Mankind and all but raped by Goldust.
Diesel, performing his swan song for the WWF, attacks his friend and new World Champion Shawn Michaels. Putting over Shawn Michaels at the In Your House PPV would be his last televised act before leaving for WCW.
Steve Austin goes after Savio Vega, who stole a match from Steve Austin when he disguised himself as the “Caribbean Kid”. The two sign for a strap match at the May IYH, and proceed to chase each other with straps for a few weeks. Austin’s manager, Dibiase, ends up putting his career on the line in Austin’s match, and regrets it later. Austin implied a couple of weeks later that he intentionally threw the match to rid himself of Dibiase.
Davey-Boy Smith’s wife, Diana, claims that Shawn Michaels has made advances towards her. We hear for the next few weeks about Shawn’s off-screen antics: Marty Janetty talks about the Rocker days, and an anonymous wrestler’s wife, silhouetted, claims that Shawn did the same to her.
Goldust moves from Undertaker to Ahmed Johnson. Poor Ahmed is out cold at one point, and Goldust tries to administer resuscitative breathing. Ahmed, being a MANLY man, is angry. I’m betting Goldy used his tongue. Goldust does a disturbing interview of him eating a chocolate bar and compares the make-up left on the chocolate bar to what Ahmed’s lips looked like… never mind. I’ve already said too much. For those who don’t know who Ahmed Johnson is, picture a huge, intimidating black man with the intensity just shy of the Ultimate Warrior, the technical precision of Trish Stratus, and the interview skills of Kenny from South park. The fans loved him, though, and if he could’ve kept from injuring himself everytime he stepped into the ring, he probably would’ve been world champion. But finally, the WWF said ‘screw it’ in 97 or 98. He re-emerged briefly in WCW in 2000 with a big Junkyard Dog tummy and discovered that noone cared anymore.
The Bodydonnas are looking for a new manager to replace Sunny, who sold them down the river, and invite the world to send them video submissions. They end up picking a guy dressed in drag named Cloudy. Ugh.
WWF airs the contract signing of Brian Pillman. Pillman was still recovering from an injury, so he just came out on crutches and talked smack to people for a few weeks before getting involved in the Hart/Austin angle.
July 1996
Steve Austin is Steve Austin... I didn't watch much around this time, and nothing jumped out of me in the reports, but Steve Austin was winning a lot of fans during this time.
Camp Cornette versus Your Heroes moves into full swing, with the heroes being represented by Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Ultimate…. What? He’s gone again? Didn't he just came back three months ago? So Shawn makes the dumbest decision of his career and brings back SID.
I feel the need to point out any and all bad gimmicks, but T.L. Hopper, the plumber… well… they should’ve flushed that one out.
Phineas I. Godwinn (PIG! Get it?) has been strung along for weeks my Sunny, even costing the Godwinns the tag titles. (Sunny was jumping between the Bodydonnas, Godwinns, and Smoking Gunns... whoever happened to be holding the titles). PIG finally gets up the courage to tell Sunny that he loves her. Sunny tells PIG to close his eyes and pucker up, and decks her. After an altercation with Sunny’s Smoking Gunns (the tag team, not…. Never mind), the Godwinns corner Sunny, and Phineas gives her the slop.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/sunny.jpg
My favorite lady in the history of wrestling. I don’t care if she is a crack whore today.
Speaking of ladies, Goldust versus Marc Mero was really just a backdrop for the real fued: Marlena versus Sable, the famous lesbian angle. Bret Hart, who had considerable influence, had this angle shot down out of the gate.
When the Smoking Gunns have to defend the tag titles against Ahmed and Michaels, Sunny brings in her newest client: Ron Simmons, introduced to us the following week as the Modern Day Gladiator, Farooq Asad.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/faarooq.jpg
"Well I'll be damned!"
August -September 1996
WWF announces that they have just signed Olympic competitor Mark Henry to a ten-year contract.
Vince McMahon has replaced himself with Kevin Kelly and Jim Ross. Ross and Lawler, together at last.
Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson injures himself (See what I mean?) A tournament is held. Marc Mero overcomes rather stiff competition to win his first IC title.
The WWF announces that Diesel and Razor Ramon are on their way back to the WWF. (Good idea). However, it turns out not to be Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, but rather, two OTHER wrestlers playing the parts. (Bad idea). This was, at least as the storylines go, all the idea of Jim Ross, who takes every opportunity he gets to speak his mind about Vince McMahon.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/realdiesel.jpghttp://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/realrazor.jpghttp://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/fakediesel.jpghttp://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/fakerazor.jpg
Real deals on the left, fakes on the right. Is this a step up or down for Isaac Yankem?
The Sultan debuts.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/sultan.jpg
Rikishi can't beat Snow with quantity bad gimmicks, so he goes for quality.
October – November 1996
After months of not having made a single significant TV appearance, Bret returns in a pre-taped interview with Jim Ross. Bret said that he’s received offers from other companies, but that he plans to spend the rest of his career (*cough*) in the WWF. Austin has been challenging Bret for weeks, and Bret officially accepts the challenge for Survivor Series.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley wins the Intercontinental title from Marc Mero. Helmsley was scheduled to face Curt Hennig, who sustained an injury, and asked Mero to sub for him. But it turned out to be a set-up, as Hennig was actually Helmsley’s new manager. Incidentally, Hennig left the WWF shortly after this.
Rocky Maivia debuts.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ein/rocky.jpg
"mumble mumble candy asses mumble mumble"
Steve Austin was unappreciative of Brian Pillman’s support of Bret Hart, and chose to pay him a visit when WWF was doing a live interview from his home. Pillman pulled a gun on Austin just before the video went out, and supposedly shots were fired. "Let's see what happens when Austin 3:16 meets Pillman 9 mm." - The Loose Cannon
December 1996
Undertaker vs Mankind, No Holds Barred. After many, many months, the fued finally comes to an end here on Raw. A hand injury to Mankind keeps him from effectively applying the mandible claw. Undertaker is able to escape the move and apply the Tombstone piledriver. The here-and-quickly-forgotten Executioner gives Undertaker the Asiatic Spike to add fire to their ongoing fued.
WWF does the Shawn Michaels fake-injury angle again (people pretending to drop out of character, commentary goes silent), this time with Bart and Billy Gunn. The two had been fueding since their break-up several weeks back. The match itself is rather short up to the point that Bart applies the stun gun to Billy, who fails to get up. The entire Gunn family, who is in attendance, swarms the ring. Billy’s wife yells at Bart to stay away, while Bart breaks down and asks his wife to console him.
When Hunter Hearst Helmsley starts hitting on Marlena, Goldust comes out of the heterosexual closet and stays out for the better part of 97.
[Edit]Woah... I forgot all about the Nation forming... it started out with Farooq and PG-13. Crush would've have been next, with Savio and D-Lo showing up within short order.
Coming this Monday - Raw in Review '97... no teaser, because I haven't written it yet. Sorry, this will be a day behind is well, but hopefully, I'll be back on track by...
Wednesday - Christmas Special. I'll give a hint of what's in store on Monday.
Next Saturday - Raw in Review '98
Raw in Review 95 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59701)
Raw in Review 94 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59422)
Raw in Review 93 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59113)