Nadeem Ahmad
Pre-Show Stalwart
I sort of started out reviewing episodes of WWF Monday Night Raw from January of 1997 but the first review is no longer on this website, although I may retype it upon further requests, and I seemed to have accidentally turned on this show for the next review after reviewing WWF THURSDAY RAW THURSDAY, maybe because the night after "WWF In Your House 13: Final Four" was showcasing a cluster. As a side note, I had readied the notes for the episode of "WWF Monday Night Raw" from February 17, 1997 too but ended up typing this batch of detailed comments first.
Here goes an attempt to get down details for when the so-called stars of a promotion known as Extreme Championship Wrestling sort of tried to invade this show with the runner of the promotion known as Paul E. Dangerously. To sum up in a nutshell, Jerry "The King" Lawler got sick of moronic fans chanting "ECW" at events and couldn't take it anymore when somebody was waving a big sign behind him throughout the last episode of WWF Monday Night Raw with that name, meaning during the special program on the Thursday prior. He dared Paul Heyman, also known as Paul E., to bring out the best wrestlers he employed to showcase what they had to offer and he accepted, bringing them to the Manhattan Center for this episode.
"
Program: WWF Monday Night Raw
Date: February twenty-fourth nineteen ninety-seven also known as February 24, 1997
Location: Manhattan Center, Manhattan, New York
Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry "The King" Lawler
Right from the start the Godwinns entered the somewhat smaller arena than what fans had become accustomed to for this year. In fact, the Manhattan Center was the site of the first ever historic episode of WWF Monday Night Raw.
Match One: The Godwinns versus The New Black Jacks
Henry Godwinn lifted Black Jack Windam for a "body slam" and "clotheslined" him after he got up. Phineas was tagged in and stood against the turnbuckle by the commentators and filmers to do the "head scissors", sending him over the top rope and then brought him back in the ring. Black Jack Bradshaw was tagged in and sent to the mat with a "shoulder block". He pulled Phineas into him for a "standing clothesline". Henry tagged in for a "double clothesline" and covered for the referee to count to two slaps. Henry did a "back body drop" on Bradshaw and then "clotheslined" him. Black Jack Windam tagged in for a "suplex". A "two count" was attempted before he was tagged by Bradshaw, who had been covering Henry. Henry reversed a "headlock" into a "suplex". Phineas tagged in for a "sleeper" but released it when Bradshaw ran at him with a "clothesline". Barry Windam pinned while Phineas placed the right foot on the bottom rope by the ramp.
Rating: "F "
This match started out as a "B -" for strength of the wrestlers involved being a drawing factor but quickly became a failure when it was not much more than a silly brawl. There were barely any hopes of it passing, especially considering who was invloved and I was not talking about the Godwinns. They actually wrestled like a tag team sometimes. I just did not understand why Barry Windam and Bradshaw were put together in that way, and Windam especially chose not to wrestle like he was known for wrestling. On top of it, they had hardly any interest in putting the team away and acted as if they were there for posing and yelling to the crowd, which did not care for these supposed "Jacks".
Match Two: Extreme Championship Wrestling Exhibition: Big Stevie Cool versus Little Guido
The blue World order or the bWo, a parody of the nWo, walked in through the middle of the crowd, making the way to the ring, saying hardly anything worth of note, before Little Guido came out and started out against Big Stevie Cool, who was also known later as Stevie Richards, then Big Stevie Cool did a "fallaway slam" and a "sidewalk slam" on Little Guido. Little Guido covered for a "two count", did two "dropkicks", a "body slam", a cover for two counts, a "sit down powerbomb" on Stevie Cool, who was seated on the second turnbuckle away from the "filmmakers" and close to the commentators for a "sleeper hold" and for a manuever resembling a "DDT". Stevie Cool reversed and attempted an "arm drag" into a move close to a "scissors kick", which dropped Guido on the head. Big Stevie Cool did a "powerbomb" and a "Stevie Kick" for the pin.
Rating: "C - "
It was not so bad for an amateur in Little Guido. By an amateur I meant somebody who was starting out on national television with a weekly basis. Somebody might correct me if I was wrong about him being that way, but he seemed decent and mostly improved throughout the match. I did not like that Stevie had to kick him in the head at the end though. Anyway, this exhibition was definitely a step up from the opening contest of a stinker.
The Honky Tonk Man came to the ring to introduce Sunny and Marlena for an arm wrestling. After Sunny through powder or some similar substance in the eyes of Marlena to cheat and put her arm down on the small table resembling a mini podium, Savio Vega, for whatever reason, like an idiot started going after Marlena and the Nation of Domination was accompanied by him before he even went in the ring. Goldust quickly ran in to save his then real life wife, leading into the next match.
Match Three: Savio Vega versus Goldust
Savio Vega did a "sidewalk slam" and a basic "nerve hold" on Goldust. Goldust did a "sunset flip" and covered for a count of two slaps on the mat. Savio Vega did a "clothesline" and another "nerve hold". Goldust did a "cross body block" and the referee counted twice. Savio Vega did a "spinning heel kick" for a count of two strikes on the floor of the ring and did a "scoop slam" after Goldust brought him down with a "DDT". Goldust brought the knees up while laying on the back to block the splash of Vega, who was running to do it. Goldust did two consecutive "clotheslines" and a "scoop slam". Crush attacked Goldust right in front of the referee and for the fourth time in this match, though the referee had somehow not seen it until that last point, to give him the victory through disqualification.
Rating: "D "
That grade happenned mainly because of the UGLY piledriver Crush gave Goldust by the steps away from the filmers and further from the commentators. Also, that incident was the first of FOUR times that Crush attacked Goldust at during this match. Notice a pattern here as it started off due to Goldust saving his wife from attacks by Savio Vega and Sunny. It was hardly ever about the competition and just a cheap way to get the Nation of Domination noticed. Keep in mind that Goldust was good in the ring at this time and Savio Vega was a good proficient wrestler as well.
Match Four: Extreme Championship Wrestling Exhibition: Mikey Whipwreck versus Taz
Taz did a "snapmare", a "rear naked choke" and an "armlock", and countered an "arm lock" with a "Norther Lights Suplex". Taz completed a "double underhook belly to belly suplex". Mikey Whipwreck did a "sunset flip" and the referee counted to two slaps. Taz did a "clothesline", a modified "spinebuster" and a "belly to belly suplex" to send Mikey Whipwreck over the top rope farther from the "filmmakers" across them. Taz brought Mikey Whipwreck in the ring for a "chicken wing suplex" and the "Tazmission" ended the match via submission.
Rating: "B "
This match was a little awesome. So to speak, Mikey Whipwreck barely got any offense in and was still usually a good wrestler during this period. It was more about defensive positioning for him. Minus a "facebuster", a punch, an elbow and a few kicks to the head, this match might have been graded with an "A" but Taz was careless in that regard. Also, he botched the heck out of that last "chicken wing suplex" which caused Mikey Whipwreck to land from about five and a half feet above in the air to the mat on the side of the head at somewhere between an angle of one hundred thirty-five degrees and one hundred seventy-five degrees, meaning the rest of the weight from the body below landed majorly on the neck, potentially being able to kill him if he was unfortunate, or maybe even putting him at a risk of permanent paralysis in this life. I honestly have no idea how he survived it the way he did because I think he seemed to be fine a few years later, although I never followed ECW on a regular basis due the lack of interest and care. Oh and Sabu jumped from at least twenty feet high in the air off of the big logo spelling out "R-A-W" just to get at Bill Alfonso, the manager who accompanied Taz to the ring for this match, and he did not even hit him during that dive but instead got someone else.
Match Five: Headbangers versus Legion of Doom
Animal did a "shoulder block" on Mosh. Hawk tagged in and did a "back body drop" and a "gutwrench powerbomb" to cover Mosh who had tagged back in after Animal did an "armlock" on Thrasher, when Animal and Thrasher were legal. The referee counted to one strike of the mat. Animal did a "powerbomb" on Mosh to get the referee counting to two slaps. Hawk did "body scissors" after a "dropkick" and a count of two strikes on the platform in the ring by the referee. Hawk did a "suplex". The competitors both tagged out. Hawk tagged in after a brawl. After the commercials, Thrasher did a "clothesline" from the top turnbuckle by the filmers near the ramp and covered for two counts. Animal tagged in after Mosh tagged in and "dropkicked" Thrasher, then caught Mosh in a "powerslam". Both teams were counted out.
Rating: "F "
Somehow this match went on for about nine forgettable minutes, not counting commercials; and it was a failure from the start, as all the returning Legion of Doom did aside, from a few strong slams and impressive feats of display using power and strength, were the closed fists, shots to the head and elbows. Even the Headbangers put out lame attempts to "double-team" with jumping fists and related cheap attacks. How the now deceased Hawk and the still living Animal at the time of this writing on March thirty-first twenty-eleven could hold the interest for the crowd on something other than pure nostalgia was another story for a further analysis. To think people considered them after loudly chanting "L.O.D." for the Hall of Fame was beyond me. I for one fan could not understand how these two wild maniacs could hold the Tag Team Titles for as long as they did, because, although they were not bad wrestlers for doing manuevers of strongly lifting opponents, they just relied too much on the "Doomsday Device" which they continued to do after being counted out here in the Manhattan Center.
Match Six: Extreme Championship Wrestling Exhibition: D-Von Dudley versus Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer did a "bulldog" on D-Von Dudley. Tommy Dreamer did a "suplex" on the floor near the side of the ring closer to the ramp. In the ring, D-Von did a "sidewalk slam" on a folded steel chair. He also did a "bulldog" onto it too but I could wipe my back less what that gangster pulled off, as that coward deserved what he had coming to him, later diving off the top turnbuckle near the filmers and commentators for a "diving headbutt" and missing, landing headfirst ONTO the steel chair. Tommy Dreamer watched his wife Beulah kick D-Von on the groin when Dudley was holding her from the back, leaving him prone for a shot to the head, with another steel chair that Beaulah had slipped Dreamer in earlier and for a "DDT" on it, letting him get the pinfall.
Rating: "C "
Again I was not accustomed to these "Extreme Rules" for matches in which there were no disqualifications for using weapons nor for letting other people interfere in the match. Tommy threw D-Von out of the ring earlier on, being handed a couple of weapons from members of the crowd, which included what looked like a small "hand-sized" portion of a wooden rectangular platform resembling the piece used for supporting the "ring bell", and a definitely black metal bar possibly made of steel, as both were used by Dreamer to smash D-Von on the head with. I can't stand when a wrestler allows the wife to be used for unfairly either and Beulah was more of a factor than I had preferred. D-Von especially seemed limited without the use of a folding chair. I think Dreamer may have gotten off a "piledriver" on the steel chair but even if it did not hit on the weapon, the move was still something I did not support.
Match Seven: Faarooq versus Undertaker
Taking a long time to walk out with "the boys", Faarooq was accompanied to the ring by the Nation of Domination. Okay, so it was not as he usually walked with a more conservative approach but when looking back at the video I remembered he said a bunch of bullets to somebody named Ken Shamrock that was sitting and then standing near the front row or rather in it, basically issuing a challenge to him, since he did not know how to fight in the WWF, coming from the wrongly named UFC. The televised portion of the match started after the commercials, Faarooq did a "chop block", a "scoop slam" and another "chop block" for a "two count" and Undertaker retaliated with a high "leg drop" on the back of a bending Faarooq who stood waiting for it. Undertaker rolled up Faarooq for two counts. Faarooq did a "sleeper" on the floor of the ring, released it, and Undertaker rolled up Faarooq for two counts. Faarooq did a "sleeper" on the floor of the ring, released it, and Undertaker ran at him to be captured in a "powerslam" and a cover for two slaps of the mat by the referee. Undertaker grabbed Faarooq for a "powerslam" after Faarooq jumped at him from the top turnbuckle by the filmers closer to the crew of filming workers. Before the commercials, Faarooq did a "clothesline" and covered for the referee to count to two strikes on the mat. Undertaker fought and tried to pin Faarooq, getting to hear two counts. Savio Vega ran in being illegal to punch Undertaker blatantly in front of the referee, letting him win through a disqualification.
Rating: "C -"
Normally these two athletes were decent in the ring and technical enough to put on a good performance. They halfway did it here but ruined the flow by constant shots to the head, with closed fists and elbows striking out. Also, interferences by the ENTIRE Nation of Domination save Brian Lee, if that was the real name of Crush, destroyed the balance. Even Crush followed in after Savio Vega had already caused the disqualification to try beating up Undertaker. Fans had already started throwing trash and cans into the ring out of both sheer stupidity and ignorance, combined with probably impatience of Ron Simmons, also known as Faarooq here, not being "extreme" enough for them by grabbing blue steel steps that fell around the head as Undertaker kicked him down when they were both out of the ring by the apron.
Rating: "C - "
Being that I could not tolerate Extreme Championship Wrestling much, I felt disdain and growing agony towards this set. Although the match of Taz and Mikey Whipwreck was pretty great on the part of displaying technical wrestling, the rest of the show felt littered. Maybe it was not a good idea for Vincent McMahon to bring this type of behavior to the program at the time unless it was a desperate attempt to bring in viewers away from programming on Turner Broadcasting Station. Out of the chronological episodes of WWF Monday Night Raw enduring two hours of television up to the date, this episode was easily the worst part I had ever seen in history and I watched it after twelve and a half years following the broadcast, ending any specualation to see if it would hold up over time, and the Manhattan Center seemed more suited for fans of that small niche of "wrestling" fit for ECW, rather than for performers of stunts without as heavy of a use of weapons, like Goldust and like Undertaker, so remember that I was being generous with that grading.
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Here goes an attempt to get down details for when the so-called stars of a promotion known as Extreme Championship Wrestling sort of tried to invade this show with the runner of the promotion known as Paul E. Dangerously. To sum up in a nutshell, Jerry "The King" Lawler got sick of moronic fans chanting "ECW" at events and couldn't take it anymore when somebody was waving a big sign behind him throughout the last episode of WWF Monday Night Raw with that name, meaning during the special program on the Thursday prior. He dared Paul Heyman, also known as Paul E., to bring out the best wrestlers he employed to showcase what they had to offer and he accepted, bringing them to the Manhattan Center for this episode.
"
Program: WWF Monday Night Raw
Date: February twenty-fourth nineteen ninety-seven also known as February 24, 1997
Location: Manhattan Center, Manhattan, New York
Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry "The King" Lawler
Right from the start the Godwinns entered the somewhat smaller arena than what fans had become accustomed to for this year. In fact, the Manhattan Center was the site of the first ever historic episode of WWF Monday Night Raw.
Match One: The Godwinns versus The New Black Jacks
Henry Godwinn lifted Black Jack Windam for a "body slam" and "clotheslined" him after he got up. Phineas was tagged in and stood against the turnbuckle by the commentators and filmers to do the "head scissors", sending him over the top rope and then brought him back in the ring. Black Jack Bradshaw was tagged in and sent to the mat with a "shoulder block". He pulled Phineas into him for a "standing clothesline". Henry tagged in for a "double clothesline" and covered for the referee to count to two slaps. Henry did a "back body drop" on Bradshaw and then "clotheslined" him. Black Jack Windam tagged in for a "suplex". A "two count" was attempted before he was tagged by Bradshaw, who had been covering Henry. Henry reversed a "headlock" into a "suplex". Phineas tagged in for a "sleeper" but released it when Bradshaw ran at him with a "clothesline". Barry Windam pinned while Phineas placed the right foot on the bottom rope by the ramp.
Rating: "F "
This match started out as a "B -" for strength of the wrestlers involved being a drawing factor but quickly became a failure when it was not much more than a silly brawl. There were barely any hopes of it passing, especially considering who was invloved and I was not talking about the Godwinns. They actually wrestled like a tag team sometimes. I just did not understand why Barry Windam and Bradshaw were put together in that way, and Windam especially chose not to wrestle like he was known for wrestling. On top of it, they had hardly any interest in putting the team away and acted as if they were there for posing and yelling to the crowd, which did not care for these supposed "Jacks".
Match Two: Extreme Championship Wrestling Exhibition: Big Stevie Cool versus Little Guido
The blue World order or the bWo, a parody of the nWo, walked in through the middle of the crowd, making the way to the ring, saying hardly anything worth of note, before Little Guido came out and started out against Big Stevie Cool, who was also known later as Stevie Richards, then Big Stevie Cool did a "fallaway slam" and a "sidewalk slam" on Little Guido. Little Guido covered for a "two count", did two "dropkicks", a "body slam", a cover for two counts, a "sit down powerbomb" on Stevie Cool, who was seated on the second turnbuckle away from the "filmmakers" and close to the commentators for a "sleeper hold" and for a manuever resembling a "DDT". Stevie Cool reversed and attempted an "arm drag" into a move close to a "scissors kick", which dropped Guido on the head. Big Stevie Cool did a "powerbomb" and a "Stevie Kick" for the pin.
Rating: "C - "
It was not so bad for an amateur in Little Guido. By an amateur I meant somebody who was starting out on national television with a weekly basis. Somebody might correct me if I was wrong about him being that way, but he seemed decent and mostly improved throughout the match. I did not like that Stevie had to kick him in the head at the end though. Anyway, this exhibition was definitely a step up from the opening contest of a stinker.
The Honky Tonk Man came to the ring to introduce Sunny and Marlena for an arm wrestling. After Sunny through powder or some similar substance in the eyes of Marlena to cheat and put her arm down on the small table resembling a mini podium, Savio Vega, for whatever reason, like an idiot started going after Marlena and the Nation of Domination was accompanied by him before he even went in the ring. Goldust quickly ran in to save his then real life wife, leading into the next match.
Match Three: Savio Vega versus Goldust
Savio Vega did a "sidewalk slam" and a basic "nerve hold" on Goldust. Goldust did a "sunset flip" and covered for a count of two slaps on the mat. Savio Vega did a "clothesline" and another "nerve hold". Goldust did a "cross body block" and the referee counted twice. Savio Vega did a "spinning heel kick" for a count of two strikes on the floor of the ring and did a "scoop slam" after Goldust brought him down with a "DDT". Goldust brought the knees up while laying on the back to block the splash of Vega, who was running to do it. Goldust did two consecutive "clotheslines" and a "scoop slam". Crush attacked Goldust right in front of the referee and for the fourth time in this match, though the referee had somehow not seen it until that last point, to give him the victory through disqualification.
Rating: "D "
That grade happenned mainly because of the UGLY piledriver Crush gave Goldust by the steps away from the filmers and further from the commentators. Also, that incident was the first of FOUR times that Crush attacked Goldust at during this match. Notice a pattern here as it started off due to Goldust saving his wife from attacks by Savio Vega and Sunny. It was hardly ever about the competition and just a cheap way to get the Nation of Domination noticed. Keep in mind that Goldust was good in the ring at this time and Savio Vega was a good proficient wrestler as well.
Match Four: Extreme Championship Wrestling Exhibition: Mikey Whipwreck versus Taz
Taz did a "snapmare", a "rear naked choke" and an "armlock", and countered an "arm lock" with a "Norther Lights Suplex". Taz completed a "double underhook belly to belly suplex". Mikey Whipwreck did a "sunset flip" and the referee counted to two slaps. Taz did a "clothesline", a modified "spinebuster" and a "belly to belly suplex" to send Mikey Whipwreck over the top rope farther from the "filmmakers" across them. Taz brought Mikey Whipwreck in the ring for a "chicken wing suplex" and the "Tazmission" ended the match via submission.
Rating: "B "
This match was a little awesome. So to speak, Mikey Whipwreck barely got any offense in and was still usually a good wrestler during this period. It was more about defensive positioning for him. Minus a "facebuster", a punch, an elbow and a few kicks to the head, this match might have been graded with an "A" but Taz was careless in that regard. Also, he botched the heck out of that last "chicken wing suplex" which caused Mikey Whipwreck to land from about five and a half feet above in the air to the mat on the side of the head at somewhere between an angle of one hundred thirty-five degrees and one hundred seventy-five degrees, meaning the rest of the weight from the body below landed majorly on the neck, potentially being able to kill him if he was unfortunate, or maybe even putting him at a risk of permanent paralysis in this life. I honestly have no idea how he survived it the way he did because I think he seemed to be fine a few years later, although I never followed ECW on a regular basis due the lack of interest and care. Oh and Sabu jumped from at least twenty feet high in the air off of the big logo spelling out "R-A-W" just to get at Bill Alfonso, the manager who accompanied Taz to the ring for this match, and he did not even hit him during that dive but instead got someone else.
Match Five: Headbangers versus Legion of Doom
Animal did a "shoulder block" on Mosh. Hawk tagged in and did a "back body drop" and a "gutwrench powerbomb" to cover Mosh who had tagged back in after Animal did an "armlock" on Thrasher, when Animal and Thrasher were legal. The referee counted to one strike of the mat. Animal did a "powerbomb" on Mosh to get the referee counting to two slaps. Hawk did "body scissors" after a "dropkick" and a count of two strikes on the platform in the ring by the referee. Hawk did a "suplex". The competitors both tagged out. Hawk tagged in after a brawl. After the commercials, Thrasher did a "clothesline" from the top turnbuckle by the filmers near the ramp and covered for two counts. Animal tagged in after Mosh tagged in and "dropkicked" Thrasher, then caught Mosh in a "powerslam". Both teams were counted out.
Rating: "F "
Somehow this match went on for about nine forgettable minutes, not counting commercials; and it was a failure from the start, as all the returning Legion of Doom did aside, from a few strong slams and impressive feats of display using power and strength, were the closed fists, shots to the head and elbows. Even the Headbangers put out lame attempts to "double-team" with jumping fists and related cheap attacks. How the now deceased Hawk and the still living Animal at the time of this writing on March thirty-first twenty-eleven could hold the interest for the crowd on something other than pure nostalgia was another story for a further analysis. To think people considered them after loudly chanting "L.O.D." for the Hall of Fame was beyond me. I for one fan could not understand how these two wild maniacs could hold the Tag Team Titles for as long as they did, because, although they were not bad wrestlers for doing manuevers of strongly lifting opponents, they just relied too much on the "Doomsday Device" which they continued to do after being counted out here in the Manhattan Center.
Match Six: Extreme Championship Wrestling Exhibition: D-Von Dudley versus Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer did a "bulldog" on D-Von Dudley. Tommy Dreamer did a "suplex" on the floor near the side of the ring closer to the ramp. In the ring, D-Von did a "sidewalk slam" on a folded steel chair. He also did a "bulldog" onto it too but I could wipe my back less what that gangster pulled off, as that coward deserved what he had coming to him, later diving off the top turnbuckle near the filmers and commentators for a "diving headbutt" and missing, landing headfirst ONTO the steel chair. Tommy Dreamer watched his wife Beulah kick D-Von on the groin when Dudley was holding her from the back, leaving him prone for a shot to the head, with another steel chair that Beaulah had slipped Dreamer in earlier and for a "DDT" on it, letting him get the pinfall.
Rating: "C "
Again I was not accustomed to these "Extreme Rules" for matches in which there were no disqualifications for using weapons nor for letting other people interfere in the match. Tommy threw D-Von out of the ring earlier on, being handed a couple of weapons from members of the crowd, which included what looked like a small "hand-sized" portion of a wooden rectangular platform resembling the piece used for supporting the "ring bell", and a definitely black metal bar possibly made of steel, as both were used by Dreamer to smash D-Von on the head with. I can't stand when a wrestler allows the wife to be used for unfairly either and Beulah was more of a factor than I had preferred. D-Von especially seemed limited without the use of a folding chair. I think Dreamer may have gotten off a "piledriver" on the steel chair but even if it did not hit on the weapon, the move was still something I did not support.
Match Seven: Faarooq versus Undertaker
Taking a long time to walk out with "the boys", Faarooq was accompanied to the ring by the Nation of Domination. Okay, so it was not as he usually walked with a more conservative approach but when looking back at the video I remembered he said a bunch of bullets to somebody named Ken Shamrock that was sitting and then standing near the front row or rather in it, basically issuing a challenge to him, since he did not know how to fight in the WWF, coming from the wrongly named UFC. The televised portion of the match started after the commercials, Faarooq did a "chop block", a "scoop slam" and another "chop block" for a "two count" and Undertaker retaliated with a high "leg drop" on the back of a bending Faarooq who stood waiting for it. Undertaker rolled up Faarooq for two counts. Faarooq did a "sleeper" on the floor of the ring, released it, and Undertaker rolled up Faarooq for two counts. Faarooq did a "sleeper" on the floor of the ring, released it, and Undertaker ran at him to be captured in a "powerslam" and a cover for two slaps of the mat by the referee. Undertaker grabbed Faarooq for a "powerslam" after Faarooq jumped at him from the top turnbuckle by the filmers closer to the crew of filming workers. Before the commercials, Faarooq did a "clothesline" and covered for the referee to count to two strikes on the mat. Undertaker fought and tried to pin Faarooq, getting to hear two counts. Savio Vega ran in being illegal to punch Undertaker blatantly in front of the referee, letting him win through a disqualification.
Rating: "C -"
Normally these two athletes were decent in the ring and technical enough to put on a good performance. They halfway did it here but ruined the flow by constant shots to the head, with closed fists and elbows striking out. Also, interferences by the ENTIRE Nation of Domination save Brian Lee, if that was the real name of Crush, destroyed the balance. Even Crush followed in after Savio Vega had already caused the disqualification to try beating up Undertaker. Fans had already started throwing trash and cans into the ring out of both sheer stupidity and ignorance, combined with probably impatience of Ron Simmons, also known as Faarooq here, not being "extreme" enough for them by grabbing blue steel steps that fell around the head as Undertaker kicked him down when they were both out of the ring by the apron.
Rating: "C - "
Being that I could not tolerate Extreme Championship Wrestling much, I felt disdain and growing agony towards this set. Although the match of Taz and Mikey Whipwreck was pretty great on the part of displaying technical wrestling, the rest of the show felt littered. Maybe it was not a good idea for Vincent McMahon to bring this type of behavior to the program at the time unless it was a desperate attempt to bring in viewers away from programming on Turner Broadcasting Station. Out of the chronological episodes of WWF Monday Night Raw enduring two hours of television up to the date, this episode was easily the worst part I had ever seen in history and I watched it after twelve and a half years following the broadcast, ending any specualation to see if it would hold up over time, and the Manhattan Center seemed more suited for fans of that small niche of "wrestling" fit for ECW, rather than for performers of stunts without as heavy of a use of weapons, like Goldust and like Undertaker, so remember that I was being generous with that grading.
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