WWF RAW 3/18/1996

Written By: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation presents RAW
Date: 3/18/1996
From: San Antonio, TX

A video showing Diesel hitting Shawn Michaels with a chair at the previous nights MSG house show is shown. Diesel will be wrestling on the show.

RAW opening video

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are on commentary

Opening Contest: British Bulldog defeated Jake Roberts by count-out: Bulldog backs Roberts into a corner but breaks away cleanly. They trade hammerlocks until Roberts elbows Bulldog and goes for the DDT but Bulldog bails to the floor. Roberts hip tosses Bulldog and goes for the DDT again but Bulldog again bails to the floor. Bulldog is able to ram Roberts back first into a corner and delivers a few right hands. Jim Cornette gets a cheap shot on Roberts as the referee was distracted by Bulldog. Bulldog continues to hammer away on Roberts with right hands and stomps. Roberts avoids a leg drop and jabs Bulldog a few times before dropping Bulldog with a right hand. Roberts manages to get out of the running power slam and plants Bulldog with a DDT! Roberts covers but Cornette yanks Roberts off of Bulldog. Roberts grabs his snake and chases Cornette up the entrance way and is counted out as a result. *¼

A video package highlighting some more training that Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are doing for the Ironman match at Wrestle Mania XII.

Second Contest: WWF Intercontinental Champion Goldust defeated Fatu in a non-title match: Goldust is wearing a kilt and taunts the fans until Fatu attacks Goldust from behind, eventually connecting with a backdrop. Fatu goes for a backdrop but Goldust uppercuts Fatu. Goldust misses a butt splash and Fatu proceeds to spank the champ. As this point, Roddy Piper has called into the match before a commercial. Fatu connects with a running ace crusher but doesn’t cover Goldust. Fatu misses a top rope splash and is clotheslined by Goldust. Goldust connects with a lifting reverse DDT to pick up the win. *
Footage from last weeks main event aftermath is shown. We also see from WWF Superstars Jake Roberts issuing a three vs. three match with Camp Cornette at Wrestle Mania XII.

Vince McMahon is in the ring with Camp Cornette. Cornette quickly accepts Jake Roberts challenge for Wrestle Mania XII. Owen calls Roberts worthless, says he carried Yokozuna to the tag team titles and calls Ahmed Johnson dumb. Bulldog doesn’t believe Ahmed Johnson is the strongest man in the WWF. Cornette calls Yoko a traitor and calls Yoko an idiot. Cornette mentions that Mr. Fuji isn’t around because of a knee injury. Cornette hints that he may be responsible for Fuji falling down some stairs. Vader only chimes in to say “Vader Time!” Yoko, Roberts and Ahmed show up on the big screen where they reveal that if they win Yoko gets five minutes alone in the ring with Cornette. Yoko bonzai drops a fake Cornette to end the video. Cornette flips out in the ring over the announcement.

Footage from the 3/17 MSG show is shown. Diesel attacked Bret Hart, Undertaker and his own partner Shawn Michaels with a chair. Michaels was heard saying he is going to kick Diesel’s ass.

Third Contest: Diesel defeated Barry Horowitz: During the opening moments of the contest, Paul Bearer comes down to the ringside area with a casket. Diesel gets distracted and Horowitz gets a few shots in. Diesel delivers a big boot and a hard right hand to win the match. NR After the match, Diesel goes over to the casket with a wrench and opens the casket. Diesel ends up seeing a wax version of himself in the casket! Diesel is shocked and slowly heads to the backstage area.

Backstage, Ted DiBiase is game planning with Tatanka for the main event match with Bret Hart.

Back at the arena, Diesel walks through some smoke to get the backstage area.

Main Event: WWF World Champion Bret Hart defeated Tatanka in a non-title match: Tatanka rakes Hart’s eyes and hammers away on Hart in the corner. Hart boots a charging Tatanka in the corner and connects with a clothesline off the middle rope. Hart with a arm lock and comes off the ropes with a cross body for a near fall. Tatanka is able to short arm clothesline Hart as the 1-2-3 Kid makes his way down to ringside. Tatanka chokes Hart in the corner and sends Hart across the ring hard back first into the corner. Side slam by Tatanka for a two count. Hart battles out of a sleeper but Tatanka knee lifts Hart. Tatanka scoop slams Hart and connects with a elbow drop for a near fall. Hart blocks a backdrop with a inside cradle and gets a two count. Tatanka recovers quickly with a quick clothesline. Back from a commercial, Tatanka has a sleeper on Hart until he scoop slams the champ. Tatanka heads to the top rope but Hart nails Tatanka in midair with a right hand. Hart with a side Russian leg sweep, atomic drop, clothesline, backbreaker and a middle rope forearm drop. Hart goes for the Sharpshooter but Ted DiBiase gets on the apron to distract Hart. Kid also gets on the apron and grabs Hart. Tatanka charges but knocks Kid off the apron on accident. Hart is able to roll Tatanka up and picks up the win. *½
After the match, Bret Hart celebrates his victory.

To close out the show we get a Billionaire Ted skit where he is having a meeting with the FTC. The meeting basically is about Ted wanting to get rid of the WWF, and he admits it. At the end of the video, they have a brief letter that states how a merger with Time Warner would give Turner a lot of control. They ask the fans for their help to stand up for the issue.

End of show

My Take: Wasn’t really a fan of the Bulldog/Roberts match to begin with, but the lame finish just made it worse. It is a fairly big match and yet once again their isn’t a clear winner. These guys are only midcarders for goodness sake!

If Goldust/Fatu had gone on for a couple more minutes it could have been a surprisingly good match. For what it was though, it was a decent little match.

I’m against the six man tag match for Wrestle Mania. Their was much more build for the Vader/Yoko singles match, which was something I was looking forward to. They could have simply done a Ahmed/Roberts vs. Bulldog/Owen match on the pay per view. Oh well.

I liked the fact that Diesel turned on Michaels. Gets rid of the “cool” factor he may have had with the fans. The build for his match with Taker at Mania has been nicely done.

Decent main event this week. A lot of that has to do with Bret Hart. Just a basic match really so no harm done.

These Billionaire Ted skits need to end as soon as possible. WWF comes across really like crybabies.

Overall, it wasn’t necessarily a bad show but their wasn’t anything that truly entertained me. So, I’ll say a mediocre, lackluster outing but not horrible by any means.

Thanks for reading.