WWF 1997.06.23 - Monday Night Raw

Location: Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan

Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross

This event was broadcast live.

The show opens with the newly formed Nation of Domination coming to the ring. Vince McMahon asks Ahmed Johnson why he's joined the Nation. He replies, "Ask yourself why, white man!" Ahmed claims he's been held back in the WWF because he's black. He threatens Vince, telling him he'll beat him up if he even looks at him the wrong way.

On two occasions D-Lo Brown grabs the microphone to talk to Vince. This is curious for two reasons. D-Lo has never talked much in the past. Whenever he talks, Faarooq looks at him critically, as if D-Lo isn't supposed to be talking.

Faarooq says that he fired Crush because he couldn't rely on him. At this moment Crush and three other wrestlers ride into the arena on motorbikes. Crush says that he wasn't fired, he quit. He calls his new team the Disciples of Apocalypse. He says that they're a real brotherhood; they live together, ride together and fight together. A free-for-all breaks out with the eight wrestlers hitting one another.

1. Rockabilly vs Ken Shamrock

Rockabilly is accompanied to the ring by the Honky Tonk Man. Dan Severn, a former UFC champion, joins Vince McMahon and Jim Ross at the commentary table. After a short fight Ken applies a leg lock, and Rockabilly taps out. Honky Tonk Man wants to hit Ken over the head with his guitar, but when Ken turns round he pretends to be playing a tune.

2. Legion of Doom vs the Godwinns

This is the third match of the tournament to decide the new tag team champions. The Godwinns say they want revenge for the Legion of Doom breaking Phineas Godwinn's neck two months ago. That sounds bad, but he seems to have recovered.

The Legion of Doom wins the match by pinfall, but after their victory the Godwinns attack them, hitting them over the head with their slop buckets. As the Godwinns leave, the Hart Foundation (Owen Hart, British Bulldog and Brian Pillman) run into the ring to attack the Legion of Doom, while Bret Hart stands at the top of the ramp and looks on.

3. Flash Funk vs Sabu

Paul Heyman joins Vince McMahon and Jim Ross at the commentary table. Sabu is a guest from the ECW, and he's accompanied by the former WWF referee Bill Alfonso. Paul Heyman claims that Sabu is the most brutal wrestler in ECW.

I don't think I've ever seen Flash Funk fighting as well as in today's match. He proves himself to be skilled at martial arts, and he puts up a good fight against Sabu. Flash is thrown out of the ring, and Sabu sets him up on a table. The referee counts both men out, but Sabu continues and jumps onto Flash, knocking him through the table.

4. Mankind vs British Bulldog

Mankind comes to the ring wearing an Austin 3:16 shirt and a sign saying "Pick me, Steve". He wants to be Steve Austin's tag team partner. He continues to wear the sign when the match starts, until British Bulldog tears it off. It's a hard fight in which Mankind has the upper hand. It ends when Bulldog hits him over the head with a chair and is disqualified.

5. Intercontinental Championship, Owen Hart vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Goldust

Owen Hart, the reigning Intercontinental Champion, has to defend his title against Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Goldust in a Triple Threat match. Triple H and Goldust are both former Intercontinental Champions. The special guest referee is Pat Patterson, who became the first Intercontinental Champion in 1979.

In a Triple Threat match anyone can win by pinning someone else. There's no advantage for the reigning champion, because Owen Hart can lose the title without being pinned.

It's a chaotic match. Every attempt at a pin is interrupted by the third wrestler. Eventually Goldust slams Owen Hart and pins him. Pat Patterson counts him out, not seeing that Owen's foot is on the rope. Pat declares Goldust the new champion, but there are arguments in the ring. Gorilla Monsoon enters the ring and shows Pat what happened on the Titantron. Pat reverses his decision, and the match starts again.

Chyna watches on with cold, mean eyes, waiting for a chance to intervene. When Triple H and Owen Hart are brawling outside the ring she goes in and attacks Goldust.

Owen Hart pins Triple H. Goldust wants to break the pin, but Brian Pillman pulls him away. Owen retains his title.

Bret Hart comes to the ring, accompanied by Jim Neidhart, to be interviewed by Vince McMahon. Bret says that his team will easily win the 10-man tag team match at the next Pay-Per-View in Canada. Then he turns his attention to the boxer Tommy Hearns, who's sitting in the audience.

Bret is angry with Tommy, because he also calls himself the Hitman. He says there's only room for one Hitman, so he challenges him to a fight. Tommy enters the ring and knocks Jim Neidhart down with a single punch. At this moment the officials intervene to keep the two men apart. So we'll never know who's the true Hitman.

6. Brian Christopher vs Scott Taylor

So Jerry Lawler is in the building after all? He accompanies Brian Christopher to the ring to take part in a light heavyweight match. Then he takes a seat at the commentary table. That's where he should have been all evening. The McMahon-Lawler-Ross team is the best commentary team ever. Any two of them are great, but all three together are perfect.

While the match is being fought Jim discusses with Jerry whether Brian Christopher is or isn't his son, which was claimed by Paul Heyman last week. Jerry neither agrees nor denies it, he just insists that Brian is an outstanding athlete, better than anything ECW has to offer. And yes, Brian Christopher defeats Scott Taylor by pinfall, but I'd like to see what he can do against Sabu.

7. Faarooq/D-Lo Brown vs Undertaker/Vader

This is the fourth match of the tournament to decide the new tag team champions. For weeks the Undertaker has been arguing with Paul Bearer, saying he wants to leave him, but Paul knows some sort of secret with which he's blackmailing the Undertaker. The Nation of Domination is represented by Faarooq and D-Lo Brown, supported by Kama Mustafa. Ahmed Johnson isn't present because he was injured in the scuffle with the DOA at the beginning of the show.

The two teams are evenly matched, but they're interrupted when the Disciples of Apocalypse come out and attack the Nation of Domination. The Undertaker joins in, attacking everyone in sight, until the officials manage to evict the DOA from the arena.

When Vader wants to tag the Undertaker, the Undertaker hits him, and he's pinned by Farooq. The Nation of Domination leaves victorious. The Undertaker attacks Vader and tombstones him. Then he threatens Paul Bearer, who runs away. As the Undertaker walks up the ramp, Paul yells that next week he'll reveal the Undertaker's secret. The suspense is killing me. Or at least, it would be if I didn't still remember the secret from when I watched Monday Night Raw 25 years ago.