WWF RAW 10/14/1996

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation presents RAW
Date: 10/14/1996
From: Hershey, PA

Matches:
1.) Vader defeated Phineas Godwin
2.) Jake Roberts defeated Jerry Lawler
3.) Freddie Joe Floyd defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by count-out
4.) Faarooq defeated Alex Porteau
5.) WWF World Champion Shawn Michaels defeated Steve Austin by disqualification in a non-title match

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Vader attacked Phineas prior to the bell and hammered away on Phineas for a few moments in the corner with thunderous strikes. They go to the floor where Vader rams Phineas head first into the Spanish announce table. Vader splashes Phineas a couple of times in the corner as Psycho Sid comes down to ringside to distract Vader. The distraction allows Phineas to clothesline Vader and hits a back suplex. Sid leaves ringside with Phineas sending Vader to the floor. Phineas scoop slams Vader and signals for the Slop Drop. Vader hangs onto the ropes to block the move. Vader puts Phineas away with a middle rope splash. (*1/2. An entertaining squash for Vader to promote the big guy leading into the pay per view match with Sid.)

2.) Jim Ross is in the ring to interview Mr. Perfect regarding his return to in-ring action next week on RAW where he is scheduled to wrestle Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Perfect has been stealing various woman that Hunter has brought to the ring over recent weeks. Perfect tells Ross that he is the only Mr. Perfect. Perfect has never complained about anything or backed down from anyone. Perfect is going to be here next week to get the job done against Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Ross asks if Perfect is afraid of ring rust. Perfect always keeps himself in perfect condition. Perfect calls the New Generation punks and puts himself over as the greatest WWF Intercontinental Champion and he will prove it next week!

3.) Jerry Lawler is in the ring ripping on Jake Roberts, whom he will be wrestling against on the program. Lawler is making various drunk jokes about Jake. Here comes Jake Roberts who is stumbling to the ring with a bottle of booze with him. Gorilla Monsoon comes out and doesn’t want Roberts to compete. Roberts has his back to Lawler and tells Monsoon that he isn’t drunk and is perfectly fine. Monsoon goes with the ruse.

4.) Lawler continues to rip on Roberts andgoes right at Roberts just to be met with a kick to the gut and Roberts hits a DDT to get a quick victory. I guess that ends the feud between the two of them.

5.) Another video promoting Jesse James and his musical history is aired. The series of videos will continue next week with a look at James and his experience at Desert Storm.

6.) Freddie Joe Floyd is Tracy Smothers for those who don’t know. Freddie had some basic offense going in his favor until Hunter cut him off with a high knee lift and pummels Floyd in the corner with strikes. Hunter comes off the ropes with deliver a swinging neck breaker and taunts the fans. Hunter handcuffed his woman to the ring post to make sure Mr. Perfect didn’t steal her. Speaking of Perfect, he makes his way down to ringside with Hunter unaware of such an occurrence. Hunter atomic drops Floyd out of the corner and Hunter taunts Perfect, who happens to have a key for the handcuffs and takes the woman with him. Freddie kicks the back of Hunter’s head but Hunter quickly comes back with a Pedigree. However, Hunter leaves the ring and goes after Perfect but is decked by Perfect! Hunter is counted out to give Freddie the victory. (*. The main focus of this match was to continue the feud between Perfect and Hunter.)

7.) Back to the graveyard where Mankind and Paul Bearer are at the grave that was dug by the Undertaker. Mankind has realized that the Undertaker will be the man to be buried and not him. He describes the Undertaker gasping for air and trying to get his last breath.

8.) Footage from Livewire where Ahmed Johnson talked to Faarooq, who called into the show. Johnson isn’t mad at Faarooq but rather thanks him for waking him up. Faarooq tells Ahmed that if another brother is trying to beat him, it doesn’t matter to him because they have the same goal. Ahmed tells Faarooq that their issue has to be resolved in the ring. Johnson wants a piece of Faarooq right now.

9.) The Undertaker is at the graveyard and talks about how nobody thought the feud with Mankind could have reached a buried alive level. Taker is now going to be Mankind’s judge, jury and executioner. Taker will do whatever he has to do in order to end Mankind.

10.) Austin backs Michaels into the corner but Michaels breaks free and casually jogs away. They trade hammerlocks with Michaels taking Austin down to the canvas. Michaels maintains control with a side headlock as well. Austin knocks Shawn off his feet with a shoulder block and continues his offense with a forearm drop. Austin takes Michaels down with a Thez Press and hammers away on the champ. They begin to trade pin attempts with both men getting near falls. Michaels attempts the super kick but Austin avoids the move and bails to the floor. Michaels goes to the floor and gives chase but they return to the ring where Austin drops Michaels throat first across the top rope. Michaels avoids the Stunner as we go to commercial. Shawn works over Austin with right hands in the corner as Vader enters the ring and Michaels dives off the middle rope to pummel Vader as if he knew Vader was right there. Austin hits Savio Vega with a Stunner as Michaels is worked over by Austin and Vader. Psycho Sid runs down and slides into the ring but Vader just leaves the ring. Razor Ramon and Diesel are standing on the aisle way. Austin sends Michaels into Sid and that leads to a confrontation in the middle of the ring. The show comes to a close with Sid and Michaels clearing house again. (*1/4. Well, that was nothing like we would get some year and a half later between the two. The match was very basic and wasn’t designed to be a classic whatsoever. They’ve wasted Austin since his KOTR victory in June. Yeah, he is starting the feud with Bret Hart, but he isn’t having much momentum it feels like.)

Final Thoughts:
It seems like the last show of the taped series of RAWs is always a chore to sit through and this was no different. You’d think the main event would be an entertaining contest but it failed to deliver in that regard. I didn’t enjoy the show this week.

Thanks for reading.