Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents RAW
Date: 4/21/1997
From: Binghamton, NY
Matches:
1.)The Sultan defeated Ahmed Johnson by disqualification
2.)Steve Austin fought Bret Hart to a no contest in a street fight
3.)Tiger Ali Singh defeated Salvatore Sincere
4.)Rockabilly defeated Jesse James
5.)WWF World Champion the Undertaker defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by disqualification
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.Footage of the Undertaker throwing a fireball into Paul Bearer’s face last night is aired.
2.Steve Austin kicks off the show to be interviewed by Vince McMahon. McMahon announces that on May 11th Austin will wrestle the Undertaker on pay per view for the WWF World Championship. Austin first talks about beating Bret Hart up last night and how Owen Hart saved his brother’s life. Austin announces that he wants to wrestle Bret later tonight in a street fight. Moments later, Bret Hart appears on the big screen and accepts the challenge. Bret tells Austin that he isn’t going to make the title match on May 11th and tells Austin he is going to hell. Austin finishes off the segment by telling Bret that he will be going to hell with him then!
3.Ahmed starts off with a bicycle kick and a scissors kick. Sultan stops Ahmed with a pile driver. Ahmed recovers and hits a sit out vertical suplex. The Nation shows up when Ahmed signals for the end. That allows Sultan to send Ahmed to the floor where Ahmed grabs a 2×4 and gets disqualified for hitting Sultan with it.
4.Backstage, Austin is trying to get into the Hart Foundation locker room.
5.Ken Shamrock sits with the announcers. They talk about Vader be stuck in Kuwait for attacking a television host. Shamrock tells McMahon that he doesn’t like bullies and even issues a challenge to Mike Tyson.
6.It’s already time for the street fight between Steve Austin and Bret Hart to take place. Owen Hart and Bulldog attack Austin from behind in the ring to help Bret get the early upper hand. Shawn Michaels comes out to chase them to the backstage area. Bret spikes Austin with a pile driver but he misses a top rope stomp where he had looked to smash Austin’s ankle in the chair. Austin grabs the chair and smashes Bret’s knee several times with it. Austin locks in the Sharpshooter until several referees come out to pull him off. Bret is put on a stretcher and carried to the backstage area.
7.During the Tiger Ali Singh/Salvatore Sincere match we see footage of Bret being put into an ambulance. Tiger finishes Sincere off with a spinning heel kick. Nobody cared about this match, not even the announcers.
8.Backstage, Bret Hart is loaded into the ambulance. Austin was in the drivers seat and attacks Bret in the ambulance. Owen and Bulldog say they are going to kill Austin tonight.
9.Jesse James comes out singing for his match. He will be wrestling Rockabilly. Billy misses a Fame-Asser early on and James got control. Billy manages to put James away following a swinging neck breaker. I just didn’t care about this one. After the match, Honky Tonk Man hits James over the head with his guitar.
10.Backstage, Michaels and Austin are yelling at each other while Gorilla Monsoon tries to keep them apart.
11.We go to the boiler room where Mankind talks about smelling Paul Bearer’s burnt flesh. He says that Paul is disfigured just like him.
12.Undertaker attacks HHH before the bell on the rampway. HHH stops Taker with a face buster but soon runs into a big boot in the corner. Taker rams HHH head first into the ring steps moments later. HHH works on Taker with punches looking to open up his wound. Taker counters a backdrop attempt by leg dropping HHH on the back of the head. HHH hits Taker with a double axe handle off the apron onto the floor. We see Goldust and Marlena sitting in the front row. Mankind comes down to the ringside area with a blow torch. Taker choke slams HHH but is hit by Mankind with the blow torch. Taker still gets up and brawls with Mankind in the crowd. Marlena chokes Chyna while Goldust attacks HHH on the floor!
13.Steve Austin comes out to be interviewed by Vince McMahon once again. McMahon suggests that Austin feels pretty good about himself. Austin says he did what he said he was going to do. Austin continues to try and get the fans to boo him but it isn’t exactly working for him. Bret is out of the WWF because of him. Austin tells us that the Undertaker is going to have a cold day in hell. Austin tells us he isn’t going to do be a good role model when he is champion. Owen Hart and Bulldog come out of nowhere to attack Austin. Shawn Michaels comes back out to chase them away with a chair again. Austin gets up but the crazy Brian Pillman shows up and attacks Austin! Pillman gets a chair and whacks Austin over the back. Shawn Michaels returns but Pillman bails to the floor as the show comes to an end.
Final Thoughts:
The show this week was a decent outing. I liked everything they did with Austin and the Hart Foundation. There was a different feel this week as a lot of the top guys play an important role compared to the last couple of weeks where the big players didn’t play a big role. The matches, aside from the street fight, weren’t good but the main angle between Austin and Foundation is beginning to get quite interesting with Brian Pillman getting involved. I’ll give this show a mild thumbs up.
Thanks for reading.