As you can see, I've skipped a few months since my last WWF review. I've jumped from October 1996 to February 1997. This is something that I discussed in my post about Monday Night Raw on 14th October 1996. When I started my feature about the Final Days of the WWF I wasn't sure where to start. After much deliberation, I began on 23rd September 1996. That wasn't a bad date, but after writing the first five posts I realised it was a mistake. 3rd February 1997 is the date I should have begun.
As always, new storylines are continually beginning, while others either come to an end or gradually fizzle out. The only new storyline worthy of mention since October 1996 is the Nation of Domination, which was first shown on television in November 1996. Faarooq, under the guidance of his manager Clarence Mason, founded a black supremacist organisation that mimicked the Nation of Islam. Religion was never mentioned explicitly in the group. It was all about skin colour. The original members were Farooq and the rappers PG-13, shown above. Savio Vega and Crush joined soon after this. The Nation of Domination was often padded out by non-wrestlers walking to the ring and making Black Power salutes.
The Nation of Domination was the most controversial group in the WWF in the 1990's. It was a deliberate attempt to create a divide between the white and the black wrestling fans. Vince McMahon was heavily criticised for playing the race card. I'm not saying that Vince made a mistake by encouraging racist storylines, but it's something that would be inconceivable in today's WWE. The Nation of Domination had a run of about two years in the ongoing storylines, but I'll discuss it as I go along.
The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) joined the WWF in November 1996, originally called the Blue Chipper, and then Rocky Maivia.
Location: Skydome, Toronto, Canada
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Michael Hayes
This week's episode of Raw was called the Royal Rumble Raw, but I've decided to call it the normal name, Monday Night Raw, in this post's title. I don't understand why this episode was retitled. If it had been the first episode of Raw after the 1997 Royal Rumble PPV I could have understood it, but it's actually the third episode of Raw since 19th January. Today's Raw shows repeated excerpts from the Royal Rumble, especially the controversial elimination of Bret Hart. Steve Austin was eliminated, but the referees were distracted and didn't see it. Austin re-entered the ring and eliminated Bret Hart, just as Bret was celebrating his victory.
There are 25,628 fans in attendance, making this the biggest episode of Raw so far.
Match 1. Vader vs Steve Austin
Shortly after the beginning of the match Bret Hart runs into the ring to attack Steve Austin. He's escorted out of the arena, and the match is allowed to continue. Steve Austin stuns the referee. He continues to fight Vader until a new referee comes and disqualifies him.
Match 2. Savio Vega vs Flash Funk
Savio Vega wins with a pin after a fair fight.
Jim Ross interviews Sycho Sid about his reign as WWF champion and his relationship with Shawn Michaels. (Sycho Sid won the championship from Shawn Michaels on 17th November 1996 at the Survivor Series PPV, and he lost it again to Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble on 19th January 1997). Sid says that the championship belt is evil, and everyone who wears it becomes evil.
Match 3. Tag team championship, British Bulldog/Owen Hart vs. Doug Furnas/Philip Lafon
There's been tension between the tag team champions Owen Hart and British Bulldog since the Royal Rumble. British Bulldog eliminated Owen Hart, and he claims it was an accident. He mistook Owen for Steve Austin. During today's match the problems grow stronger. Owen wants to tag Bulldog, but Bulldog has his back to the ring and is showing off his muscles to the crowd. Owen is thrown out of the ring. He says he can't stand up because he's twisted his knee, so he's counted out. Furnas and Lafon win the match, but they don't become champions because the championship can only be won by a pinfall or submission. This is a weird rule in the WWF that I've never understood. British Bulldog thinks that Owen Hart only pretended to have twisted his knee because he didn't want to carry on fighting, so they argue after the match.
Match 4. Crush vs Goldust
It's an evenly matched fight. Hunter Hearst Helmsley comes to the ring to approach Marlena. Supposedly he's been trying to woo her over the last few weeks. She's better looking than the women he was dating last year. She's not interested in him, so he leaves.
Savio Vega enters the ring and attacks Goldust, unseen by the referee. Crush pins Goldust and wins.
Vince McMahon interviews the WWF champion Shawn Michaels. They both refer to the fact that the crowd is partisan. In America Shawn Michaels is one of the WWF's most popular wrestlers, but in Canada he's booed. The local hero is Bret Hart.
Shawn says he agrees with Sid's earlier words that the WWF championship belt brings out the worst in people. He says he accepts this, and if he needs to be bad to be the WWF champion he'll be the worst wrestler there ever was. Bret Hart comes to the ring and stands insulting Shawn. Steve Austin runs into the ring and attacks Bret Hart in retaliation for Bret's attack at the beginning of the show. Sycho Sid comes into the ring and argues with Shawn, but there isn't a fight. Steve Austin and Sycho Sid are escorted out of the ring, while Shawn and Bret stand arguing with one another.
Match 5. Intercontintal title match, Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Marc Mero
Marc Mero has an advantage for most of the match. While the referee isn't looking, Triple H pulls a metal object out of his shorts and hits Marc with it. We don't clearly see what he's using, but it seems to be brass knuckles. Triple H pins Marc easily.
Match 6. Tag teams, Undertaker/Ahmed Johnson vs Faarooq/Mankind
These are very strange pairings. It's a no disqualification match, so it's technically incorrect to call them tag teams. There's no tagging. Everyone fights whoever he wants whenever he wants.
Before the match begins, Mankind makes a black power salute, which is mocked by the commentators. Mick Foley (Mankind) was actually a very intelligent person, but in the ring he always played a stupid character.
Crush and Savio Vega come to the ring to attack Ahmed Johnson. He's their enemy as a black man not willing to join the Nation of Domination. Not yet. Vader runs into the ring and attacks the Undertaker. Eventually the Undertaker pins Mankind.
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