Monday Night Raw
October 28th, 1996
War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
We are back once again ladies and gentlemen with another exciting, riveting, amusing edition of MONDAY NIGHT RAW! Our show emanates once again from the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana (this show was taped on October 21st, 1996, which is why they’re back in the same stadium). The show opens up with a recap from Superstars where Vince McMahon tells us how Stone Cold Steve brutally attacked his best friend Brian Pillman and broke his ankle (which in reality is because Pillman broke his leg in an auto-accident and still wasn’t clear to wrestle). We also get a highlight of Bret Hart in his home in Calgary, and Austin at WWF Studios in Stanford, Connecticut. Not to mention that Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog is tonight and it’s time to go!
“The Real Double J” Jesse James vs. Salvatore Sincere
Out comes “The Real Double J” Jesse James to his song, “With My Baby Tonight”. He’s got a fluorescent blue sleeveless cowboy jacket. Vince McMahon shows off some photographs with Jesse James during Desert Storm (they are in fact legitimate photographs of Brad Armstrong in the service). Salvatore Sincere, or better known as Tom Brandi, gets the first bit of offense on the match as he pokes JJ in the eyes. Jesse James bounces back and throws Sincere out of the ring. My question is if WWF is trying to push Jesse James as a moderately decent mid-card wrestler, why is he having trouble in the early going against Sincere?
There’s a hilarious spot where Sal Sincere gets in the ropes, signally for the ref to get James away from him. Jesse James looks up at the entrance and points to distract the ref, punching Sincere and continuing his offense. The in-a-year-to-be Road Dogg is pretty good, not gonna lie. His eldest brother Brad Armstrong he is not; but I’d say he’s probably the third or fourth best worker of the Armstrong family. Sal taunts after getting a little offense, and JJ just tosses him off the apron by running the ropes. This match is so weird. Sal Sincere and Jesse James are good workers, but nobody gives two flying flips about this match. The finish of the match sees Sal Sincere get a full-nelson on “The Real Double J”, but James gets out of it and hits a surprise Pump-handle slam for the victory. A short, sweet, and to the point match.
Alright, we got a Survivor Series promotion package with Dox Hendrix. He starts to plug the program, but who is that coming in the rain on everyone’s parade!? It’s Stone Cold Steve Austin, that’s who! He comes in and says that nobody cares about the WWF Hall of Fame; he yells at Dox to hurry up and talk about Stone Cold Steve Austin. Dox hypes up the matches of Survivor Series, such as Shawn Michaels vs. Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship, and classic Survivor Series match between Triple H, Crush, Goldust, and Jerry Lawler vs. Barry Windham, Marc Mero, Rocky Maivia (The Rock), and Mark Henry. He also mentions The Undertaker vs. Mankind with Paul Bearer in a shark cage above the ring! Finally, we get to Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart– Dox mentions that Stone Cold is in the studios while Bret Hart is at home in Calgary…
Now just wait a damn second; Stone Cold is hot and angry. He goes on a tirade about WWF letting Bret Hart stay at home while they drag the greatest wrestler in the world, Steve Austin, all the way to Connecticut from Texas for this stuff. He mentions, “stuff like this is why someone’s gonna get their a** kicked, Dox”. He then shouts that that’s exactly what’s gonna happen to Bret at Survivor Series. Stone Cold Steve Austin is a gold-mine, folks.
Crush w/ Clarence Mason vs. Aldo Montoya
We’re back in action after the commercial break, because Crush is coming to the ring with his lawyer Clarence Mason! On the phone is Wild-Man Marc Mero who is very angry over what happened last week. He mentions that if he sees Mr. Perfect out in public, he’s gonna whoop his a**. He also mentions that Hunter is now the hunted; Marc Mero is surprisingly underrated on the mic.
Now we have to watch the match. Fantastic; Jim Ross joins us on the commentary, and he mentions that this match is as predictable as watching paint dry; something to that effect. The major point is that Ross says that Farooq will have Clarence Mason’s services. Jim Ross just buried this squash match between Crush and Aldo Montoya. Crush dominates Montoya and win’s in just a few minutes. There’s this whole storyline that Crush was apparently in jail and now fans call him “jail-bird” and it makes him angry. After the match he just starts beating down a “fan”.