RAW Recap: 1/13/1997
The show starts with Intercontinental Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Jerry 'The King' Lawler in the ring. 'Wildman' Marc Mero comes out (with Sable!) and then Golddust sprints to the ring, he's incensed with HHH for his attacks on Marlena.
Vince McMahon and The Honky Tonk Man are the announcers.
Fun match, love the physical comedy and work of Lawler here, great heel mentality. The whole point is to build the Helmsley/Golddust match in 6 days at the Royal Rumble. HHH avoiding Golddust at every turn, including refusing to tag in when Lawler was begging for it.
Finally after wearing down Mero, the hot tag is made to Golddust who takes it to HHH. HHH's arms get caught in the ropes Golddust relentlessly is choking him. The ref rings the bell for the DQ since Golddust refuses to stop choking HHH. Mero even tries to pull him off and they exchange punched.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5. Nice build for Royal Rumble, Golddust is a man just obsessed with payback on Hunter for Hunter's actions against Marlena. But is this a no DQ match? Is the belt on the line? If it is it really doesn't even matter to Golddust, he doesn't want the title he just wants to basically murder HHH at this point.
*
Pre-taped promo by a shirtless Pyscho Sid in the empty arena were Royal Rumble will be. Typical Sid heel promo about how he's going to beat Shawn Michaels.
**
Now it's Shawn's turn, he's surrounded by fans to talk to McMahon. They show a recap of last week where Sid catches Jose Lothario's 19 year old son alone in the lockerroom and Sid powerbombs him onto a table. Shawn cuts a promo about how he in fact will beat Sid in Shawn's hometown of San Antonio.
***
Bret Hart limps to the announce table in street clothes. They show a highlight from Superstars where Steve Austin jumps off the 2nd rope onto a chair he's put on Hart's ankle. Hey, storylines used to advance on Superstars!
British Bulldog comes to the ring. Then Rocky Maivia comes out, and even Bret puts him over as a future megastar. A quick video recap of Shotgun Saturday night shows Mero and Rocky getting in a fight after Sable got in the middle of them.
Decent match, Davey Boy stalls and acts like he's going to leave after Rocky has gotten the better of him. And now Owen Hart comes to the ring to confront Bret a bit. Owen ends up crossing his arms and staring Bret down, tension is building.
Match ambles on and finally Stone Cold Steve Austin sneaks out and attacks the Bulldog, giving him a stunner. Bret gets up to chase Austin, Owen hinders him a bit thinking Bret is going after Bulldog before Owen realized. The ref counts out both Rocky and Bulldog, the match is a double countout.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5. Decent match, was more about Austin/Bret story than anything else.
****
Undertaker comes out to the ring. Nation of Domination comes to the ring, Undertaker runs out and attacks him, scattering off the rest of the Nation.
Undertaker is dominating the match, he goes to walk the ropes for Old School and Farooq shakes the ropes, crotching Taker.
Vader comes out and attacks the Undertaker, the whole Nation is in the ring beating him up. Then Ahmed Johnson hits the ring with a 2x4! He gets one shot in but the numbers of the heels quickly jump on him and Farooq hits him with the board as the show abruptly goes off the air.
Overall: 3.5 out of 10. The go-home show for Royal Rumble but it didn't really do a ton to set huge interest. Austin keeps stalking Bret and Shawn/Sid have had a lot of time but overall, ehh, it doesn't feel that big to me at this point.
The show starts with Intercontinental Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Jerry 'The King' Lawler in the ring. 'Wildman' Marc Mero comes out (with Sable!) and then Golddust sprints to the ring, he's incensed with HHH for his attacks on Marlena.
Vince McMahon and The Honky Tonk Man are the announcers.
Fun match, love the physical comedy and work of Lawler here, great heel mentality. The whole point is to build the Helmsley/Golddust match in 6 days at the Royal Rumble. HHH avoiding Golddust at every turn, including refusing to tag in when Lawler was begging for it.
Finally after wearing down Mero, the hot tag is made to Golddust who takes it to HHH. HHH's arms get caught in the ropes Golddust relentlessly is choking him. The ref rings the bell for the DQ since Golddust refuses to stop choking HHH. Mero even tries to pull him off and they exchange punched.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5. Nice build for Royal Rumble, Golddust is a man just obsessed with payback on Hunter for Hunter's actions against Marlena. But is this a no DQ match? Is the belt on the line? If it is it really doesn't even matter to Golddust, he doesn't want the title he just wants to basically murder HHH at this point.
*
Pre-taped promo by a shirtless Pyscho Sid in the empty arena were Royal Rumble will be. Typical Sid heel promo about how he's going to beat Shawn Michaels.
**
Now it's Shawn's turn, he's surrounded by fans to talk to McMahon. They show a recap of last week where Sid catches Jose Lothario's 19 year old son alone in the lockerroom and Sid powerbombs him onto a table. Shawn cuts a promo about how he in fact will beat Sid in Shawn's hometown of San Antonio.
***
Bret Hart limps to the announce table in street clothes. They show a highlight from Superstars where Steve Austin jumps off the 2nd rope onto a chair he's put on Hart's ankle. Hey, storylines used to advance on Superstars!
British Bulldog comes to the ring. Then Rocky Maivia comes out, and even Bret puts him over as a future megastar. A quick video recap of Shotgun Saturday night shows Mero and Rocky getting in a fight after Sable got in the middle of them.
Decent match, Davey Boy stalls and acts like he's going to leave after Rocky has gotten the better of him. And now Owen Hart comes to the ring to confront Bret a bit. Owen ends up crossing his arms and staring Bret down, tension is building.
Match ambles on and finally Stone Cold Steve Austin sneaks out and attacks the Bulldog, giving him a stunner. Bret gets up to chase Austin, Owen hinders him a bit thinking Bret is going after Bulldog before Owen realized. The ref counts out both Rocky and Bulldog, the match is a double countout.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5. Decent match, was more about Austin/Bret story than anything else.
****
Undertaker comes out to the ring. Nation of Domination comes to the ring, Undertaker runs out and attacks him, scattering off the rest of the Nation.
Undertaker is dominating the match, he goes to walk the ropes for Old School and Farooq shakes the ropes, crotching Taker.
Vader comes out and attacks the Undertaker, the whole Nation is in the ring beating him up. Then Ahmed Johnson hits the ring with a 2x4! He gets one shot in but the numbers of the heels quickly jump on him and Farooq hits him with the board as the show abruptly goes off the air.
Overall: 3.5 out of 10. The go-home show for Royal Rumble but it didn't really do a ton to set huge interest. Austin keeps stalking Bret and Shawn/Sid have had a lot of time but overall, ehh, it doesn't feel that big to me at this point.
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