Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents RAW
Date: 9/9/1996
From: Wheeling, WV
Opening Contest: Savio Vega vs. Faarooq in a WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament Match: I’m not sure how Faarooq is legally able to wrestle with a helmet, but we will just ignore it. Vega nearly wins after a standing spin kick early into the contest. Faarooq plants Vega with a spine buster moments later. Sunny is helping Faarooq as he has a sleeper hold on Vega. A rather dull match as Faarooq is just controlling Vega with a sleeper after Vega attempts a series of pin falls. Faarooq misses a diving headbutt from the middle rope. Vega has a flurry of offense but is met with a clothesline. Faarooq gets the win after the Dominator and will meet Sid in the next round. (1/2*. A bad match here. Faarooq’s offense was incredibly boring. Vega’s offense wasn’t lasting enough to truly get behind him. A bad start to the show.) After the match, Sid decides to confront Faarooq but referees rundown from the back to make sure they don’t attack each other. Sid is really over at this point.
Several wrestlers share their thoughts on Ahmed Johnson getting injured.
WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels and Jose Lothario make their way down to the ring to be interviewed regarding his upcoming match with Mankind at Mind Games on September 22nd. Michaels talks about Camp Cornette saying he has knocked everyone out first and is leaving Cornette for Lothario. Lothario says he is going to kick Cornette’s butt. Michaels says he always tells the truth and never claims to be the biggest or baddest in the company. Shawn proceeds to say that the Undertaker will bury both Mankind and Paul Bearer. Michaels is going to be Mankind’s daddy at Mind Games. “Do not hunt what you can’t kill.”
Second Contest: The Stalker vs. TL Hopper: This is the debut of the Stalker, who is played by Barry Windham. During the match, Brian Pillman is with Owen Hart backstage with a scoop on Bret Hart. Owen says that Bret has seen the light. Owen says he has reconciled with Bret Hart and Bret will be back at Mind Games. Stalker wins the bout after a superplex. Who the hell cares about this?
Footage from Friday where Jerry Lawler interviewed Mark Henry and said Henry made him mad at SummerSlam for stopping Lawler from dumping booze on Jake Roberts.
Third Contest: Crush vs. Freddie Joe Floyd: Crush dominates the match and wins with the heart punch.
Main Event: The Undertaker vs. Salvatore Sincere: This is Taker’s first RAW appearance since SummerSlam last month. Sincere is undefeated in the WWF thus far. Sincere is getting a decent amount of offense in during the match, but come on, is there any really doubt here? Also, I find it interesting that a supposed dead man has been in the hospital for the past week thanks to Mankind. Taker puts Sincere away with a chokeslam and the tombstone. (1/2*. Like I said, there wasn’t any doubt. The fans love Taker and popped for the finish. Who cares about Sincere, though?)
Final Thoughts:
Yeah, this was probably one of the worst episodes of RAW for the entire year. Nothing on this show grabbed my interest, at all. I’m just glad the show is over, honestly.
Thanks for reading.