This is my continued look into the most profitable era in wrestling history for an extensive breakdown of what I am doing click here.
WWE RAW:
The show opens with Yokozuna in the ring and we quickly cut to Vince McMahon and "the King" Jerry Lawler. They discuss the upcoming interview with the Ultimate Warrior that is set for later tonight. Lawler shows us a beautiful portrait that he has personally drawn of the Ultimate Warrior and he will present it as a peace offering during the interview. Also tonight we get the Undertaker vs the British Bulldog in the main event. Owen Hart is making his way to the ring and we get a video package highlighting Owens 1994 King of the Ring victory and his Slammy win, that was supposed to go to Shawn Michaels, but was stolen by the King of Harts. 4 Stars This is how you open a show, great storyline building, great character development and great hype for what's coming up tonight. If Raw can keep up this kind of this kind of focus throughout the night, we are in for a treat.
Owen jumps Yokozuna before the bell and the opening match is underway. Yoko absorbs a ton of shots by Owen before an enzuguri finally knocks him off his feet. A missed elbow by the King of Harts followed by a couple ill advised head buts and Yoko is back in charge. Lawler questions how many kids in a Cantonese sweat shop would be needed to make a robe for Yoko's king coronation. Owen rolls to avoid the Banzai Drop and gets the pin with a little help from the ropes. 3 Stars Great heel work by Owen, impressive mobility and ring work by a a guy that weighs in at over 660 pounds. Add to that some fun commentary by Lawler and an entire match without a commercial break. This match well deserved the rating it got.
Video package highlighting the Attitude Adjustment tour live events takes us to commercial break. A quick video interview with Jake "the Snake" Roberts discussing how important his wife was during his drug use days and how he is on the road to redemption Brings us back. 2.5 Stars Great use of time and video packages to highlight not only the excitement of seeing the stars of the WWE live but also Jake Roberts redemption story. Raw is on a roll tonight.
Jake Roberts joins the broadcast booth as we head to our second match of the night. Skip from the Body Donnas squares off against The Wildman Mark Mero, with Sunny, in the final first round match of the King of the Ring tournament. Before Mero makes his entrance we cut to an interview with JR and Yokozuna. Yoku seems upset that he lost to Owen Hart and that he isn't himself. He tells us he needs to go for a while to find himself. The match starts at a uptempo pace with a lot of back and forth action before Skip takes control. We head to a commercial break with a really fun match taking place. Back from commercial and Skip is still in control as Mero is doing an excellent job of showing spurts of possibly coming back only to be cut down by skip again. The crowd and Sable get behind Mero as he delivers a flurry of offense. Skip ducks a cross body attempt that sends Mero crashing to the floor. Skip goes for a slingshot cross body over the top rope and misses crashing to the floor. This opens the door for Mero who hits a slingshot 360 to skip on the floor. Mero rolls Skip back into the ring and hits a slingshot body press for two. A top rope frankenstiener for the three count and Mero advances. 3 Stars Great in ring product, announcers focused on the action in the ring with very minimal discussion about politics and outside story lines and Jake Roberts doing what he could to keep focus on the ring and not on himself. What an excellent match. It loses a quarter star for the commercial break mid match but the performance by the two involved especially the way Skip interacted with the crowd keeps this a must watch.
Back from commercial we find Vince and Lawler in the ring to introduce the Ultimate Warrior. Jerry lets the Warrior know how hard it is to be a king and he presents the portrait to Warrior as a peace offering so they can cancel the upcoming match at the King of the Ring. A really confusing answer by the Warrior where he talks about kings and warriors and how he is going to kick Jerry's ass at the King of the Ring. Warrior turns his back on the King and gets the portrait smashed over the back of his head. Warrior chases the King to the back. 1 Star Lawler had some good slimy heel work but Warrior made this unwatchable.
British Bulldog vs the Undertaker is up next. A video package recapping the match from Beware of Dog where the double pin is causing the rematch at the King of the Ring against Shawn Michaels. As the Undertaker comes to the ring we see a replay of his interaction with Mankind at Beware of Dog and set up his match against Mankind at King of the Ring. As the two get prepared in the ring we catch up with Shawn Michaels who is hanging out in the back. Jim Cornette grabs a mic and asks Michaels about how he is favored by Gorilla Monson. Cornette lets us know that as compensation for the Clarence Mason lawsuit Cornette and Mason get to pick the special guest referee. Finally the bell rings and we are underway with the main event. Almost 3 minutes into the match before we have our first wrestling move which was a suplex by the Bulldog. A powerslam on the undertaker gets a two count and we head to commercial break. Back from break with Bulldog wearing out the Undertaker with a chin lock. We continue with the hard hits and lack of wrestling moves. Undertaker gets counted out and the Bulldog wins the match because Mankind was under the ring holding on to Undertaker's leg preventing him from getting back in the ring. Bulldog and Mankind team up to beat down the Undertaker as Jim Cornette calls back his guys leaving Mankind and the Undertaker alone in the ring. A pile driver from Mankind and security rushing the ring is how we end tonight's broadcast. 1.5 star match and 3 Stars for the overall production. The match itself was nothing special and at times boring with a commercial break in the middle. The announcers spent more time talking about Shawn Michaels and his special guest referee than what was happening in the ring. But in there defense outside of a lot of punches and kicks....not much happened in the ring. The appearance by Mankind help send this show home on a high note.
All in all this was an excellent production put on by the WWE. The focus was clearly in the ring and progressing as many story lines as possible. We also got some under used talent the spotlight. So far this has been my absolute favorite show from all three promotions starting off what is now our third week of reviews. 4 Stars
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