RAW vs Nitro #46 (8/19/96)

Welcome back to another edition of RAW vs Nitro. Click here to read the last one if you missed it. So let's get into it, this is RAW vs Nitro #46.

But first! A quick recap of SummerSlam, which happened the night before this episode of RAW. 

• Owen Hart defeated Savio Vega after hitting him with his cast and locking in the Sharpshooter.
• The Smoking Gunns retained the WWF Tag Team Championships in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination match against the Godwinns, the BodyDonnas, and the New Rockers. Phineas Godwinn had Billy Gunn beat with the Slop Drop, but the referee was distracted as Hillbilly Jim tried to slop Sunny. This allows Bart Gunn to hit Phineas with a top rope elbow drop and roll Billy into the cover for the win.
• Sycho Sid defeated the British Bulldog after powerbombing him.
• Goldust defeated Marc Mero after hitting the Curtain Call.
• Jerry Lawler defeated Jake Roberts after hitting him the throat with a bottle.
• The Undertaker and Mankind faced off in a Boiler Room Brawl, where the two started off in the boiler room and the winner was the first man to get to Paul Bearer in the ring and grab the urn. As a way of showing the front row the match, the WWF set up some big TVs on carts.
  
  Undertaker managed to the get to the ring first...BUT IT WAS A SWERVE! Bearer refused to give Taker the urn, allowing Mankind to get into the ring knockout Taker with the Mandible Claw. Bearer then slapped Taker before smashing the urn over his head. Mankind finally took the urn to win the match.
• Shawn Michaels defended the WWF Championship against Vader in the main event. After the match restarted twice due to Michaels getting counted out and then disqualified for hitting Vader with Jim Cornette's tennis racket, Michaels won the match after hitting a moonsault to retain the WWF Championship.

RAW

• Before the show, we get a major improvement on commentary, with Kevin Kelly replacing Vince McMahon and Jim Ross being added.
• The British Bulldog vs Owen Hart-Intercontinental Championship Tournament First Round-Due to Ahmed Johnson having to vacate the Intercontinental Championship, a new champion will be crowned via an eight-man tournament, kicking off with two Camp Cornette members facing off. The two shake hands before the match before going back and forth. Bulldog launches Hart half way across the ring with his legs before dropkicking Hart out of the ring.
  
  Bulldog holds the ropes open for Hart to get back in the ring before the two go back and forth again. Hart hits a hip toss before dropkicking Bulldog out of the ring. Just as Bulldog did, Hart holds the ropes open for Bulldog to get back in the ring. Bulldog beats down Hart in the corner before hitting a powerslam for a near fall. Bulldog slaps on a headlock before hitting a gorilla press slam for a near fall. Bulldog controls the match before Sunny suddenly comes down to ringside before the commercial break. We come back to see Hart dodge a running knee by Bulldog, sending him into the corner. Sunny says she's scouting Hart & Bulldog and criticizes Jim Cornette for not being at ringside for them. We then go backstage,  where Jim Cornette says he didn't want to pick sides before saying the WWF is against Camp Cornette and that he has reconciled with Yokozuna. Meanwhile, Hart is able to lock in the Sharpshooter, but Bulldog gets to the ropes to break the hold. Hart back body drops Bulldog out of the ring, only for Bulldog to suplex him out of the ring from the apron. The two fight outside the ring before Hart shoves Bulldog onto Sunny. Hart is able to beat the count and win the match by countout before Sunny throws a cup of Coke at Bulldog. Sunny hides behind Lawler, saying that Bulldog tried to look under her skirt.  Cornette comes down to ringside and argues with Sunny, calling her a slut.
• We get an interview with Ahmed Johnson at his home. He calls the Intercontinental Championship the people's champion and understands that if he can't defend the title, he can't hold it.
• At ringside, Mark Henry meets some fans in the front row.
• Vader with Jim Cornette vs Freddie Joe Floyd-During his entrance, Vader confronts Mark Henry and poses in front of him. Cornette takes a seat at commentary, saying he deserves to be the WWF Champion after beating Shawn Michaels twice at SummerSlam. Meanwhile, Vader easily defeats Tracy Smothers after hitting two Vader Bombs.
• Jim Ross interviews Mankind & Paul Bearer in the ring. Bearer says that turned on the Undertaker because he was tired of carrying the Undertaker. Mankind says he loves being in pain and causing his opponents pain. He says at In Your House: Mind Games, he'll destroy Shawn Michaels and the Kliq. Throughout the interview and even the show, the lights flicker on and off. It's passed off as technical difficulties before JR says it's the Undertaker. Bearer says it's not the Undertaker before the gong sounds. Druids carry the Undertaker down to the ring as Paul Bearer says the Undertaker is dead. But...he was always dead. He's literally called "the Deadman." Bearer says it's time for the Undertaker's wake as the druids set him down on the ground, only for the Double Deadman to sit up and causes fire to shoot out of the ring posts. Isaac Yankem is backstage, taking notes.
• We get a vignette for the Stalker. No, not DDP. It's actually Barry Windham. It doesn't last long.
• Goldust vs Steve Austin vs Sycho Sid vs Savio Vega in the Final Four Sudden Death Battle Royal-As with having to vacate the Intercontinental Championship, Ahmed Johnson also lost his shot at the WWF Championship due to his ruptured kidney. So now, the final four participants from the RAW Invitational Battle Royal (aside from Johnson) will face off in another battle royal, and the winner gets Johnson's shot at the title. Poor Savio Vega is the only one who doesn't get an entrance. And speaking of entrances, Sid must be on something during his. Just look at him.
  
  That's the face of a man who has to be coked out of his mind. Austin, Vega, and Goldust instantly triple team Sid and toss him over the top rope. However, Sid re-enters the ring and chokeslams all three men before leaving. When everyone recovers, Goldust & Austin beat down Vega before Austin turns his attention to Goldust, hitting a back body drop before the commercial break. We come back to see Goldust throw Vega over the top rope, but Vega is able to save himself. Goldust beats down on both opponents until Austin floors him with a clothesline. Austin tries to suplex Goldust, but Goldust blocks it and sets up Austin on the top rope for a superplex. Vega tries to pick the scraps and tosses Goldust out, but Goldust survives. Austin & Goldust both work on Vega until they eat two double clotheslines. Vega hits an inverted atomic drop on Goldust before tossing Austin over the top rope. Austin holds on, but his feet end up hitting the floor, eliminating him and leaving only Vega & Goldust.
  
  Austin re-enters the ring, only to get slingshotted over the top rope to be eliminated again. Austin re-enters again and attacks Vega, leaving him prone for Goldust. Goldust controls the match until Vega counters the Curtain Call and hits a spinning heel kick. Vega tries to clothesline Goldust over the top rope, but Goldust back body drops Vega out of the ring, giving him the win and a shot at the WWF Championship.
• Yokozuna vs Shawn Michaels with Jose Lothario-So yeah, Yokozuna is back in Camp Cornette with little explanation. Yokozuna easily overpowers Michaels at the start of the match. Michaels succeeds in punching Yokozuna to the ground before Jim Cornette comes down to ringside. After a commercial break, we come back to see Cornette attack Jose Lothario. Michaels chases Cornette to the back before re-entering the ring to take a belly-to-belly suplex. Yokozuna goes for a splash, but Michaels dodges it and hits a flying forearm followed by a top rope splash. Michaels tunes up the band, but Yokozuna blocks Sweet Chin Music and hits a Samoan Drop. Yokozuna goes for a leg drop, but Michaels dodges it and hits Sweet Chin Music for the win. Pretty good match, actually. Wasn't expecting much but it was pretty solid. This is Yokozuna's last match in the WWF. He makes one more appearance before being released. He was sent home to lose weight and despite losing 100 pounds, it wasn't enough. Yokozuna's weight was so bad that he wasn't medically cleared to wrestle in some states. 

That's it for RAW. Onto Nitro.

Nitro

• VK Wallstreet vs Jim Duggan-We kick off with instant fighting outside the ring, only for Duggan to take the fight to the ring quickly. Duggan hits an atomic drop and Wallstreet falls out of the ring. Wallstreet comes back with a knee to the back before slapping on a headlock. Wallstreet controls the match until Duggan hits a clothesline. Wallstreet tries for a suplex, but Duggan blocks it and hits a suplex of his own. Duggan goes for the tape in his trunks, but the referee pulls them away. Wallstreet takes the tape from Patrick and tapes his fist, only for Duggan to pull out another roll of tape from his trunks, tape his fist, and clock Wallstreet for the win. Jesus...what was this? After the match, Mean Gene interviews Duggan. He calls Hulk Hogan by his real name Terry and says Hogan turned his back on his friends & family. Suddenly, Macho Man Randy Savage comes down to the ring and says him & Duggan are on the same page. Savage then says Hogan's attack last week was his wake-up call and he's not going to lay down and let things happen anymore. He says he has "15,000 stitches in his head" before saying he's going solve his problem with the Giant tonight.
• Earl Robert Eaton vs Chris Benoit with Woman & Miss Elizabeth-Benoit beats down on Eaton to start the match. Benoit goes for an abdominal stretch, but Eaton counters it with a hip toss. The two go back and forth before Benoit throws Eaton out of the ring and into the ring post. Benoit hip tosses Eaton on the outside before beating him down around ringside. Back in the ring, Benoit controls the match before Eaton turns the tables and beats down Benoit in the corner before hitting a swinging neckbreaker. Eaton goes to the top rope for a diving leg drop, but Benoit dodges it and clotheslines Eaton down before going to the top rope for a diving headbutt. Benoit gets the three and the win. Pretty good match, Benoit looked really strong throughout.
• GLACIER VIGNETTE!

Blood Has Run Cold For: 17 Episodes

• Mean Gene interviews Sting & Lex Luger. Luger says they have a surprise tonight for the Four Horsemen before Sting says that even with the nWo around, he still can't stand Ric Flair & Arn Anderson.
• Disco Inferno vs Scott Norton-Norton takes the fight right to Disco, with Disco's offense doing nothing. Disco avoids a clothesline and dances, only to walk into another clothesline. Basically, Scott Norton kills Disco Inferno for four minutes straight before submitting Disco with the Fujiwara armbar.
• Mean Gene interviews a bandaged up Ice Train & Teddy Long
  
  . Teddy says Scott Norton didn't beat Ice Train, the referee Nick Patrick called off the match. Ice Train tells Norton to face him like a man and that he won't always be around looking like a mummy. Um, I believe they're called yetays.
• Lord Steven Regal vs Dean Malenko-The two wrestle down to the mat and trade holds before the commercial break. We come back to see more back and forth action before Regal hits a step-up enziguri for a near fall. Regal slaps on a side headlock, but Malenko fights out and hits a hip toss for a near fall. Regal comes back and floors Malenko with a European uppercut for a near fall. Regal controls the match headscissors before kneeing Malenko in the face. Regal controls the match until Malenko a corner jump dropkick followed by two German suplexes for a near fall. Regal comes back with a butterfly suplex for a near fall before getting another near fall off a roll up. Malenko is able to roll up Regal and get the win. Another good match between two great workers.
• Mean Gene interviews the Four Horsemen. Arn Anderson says it doesn't matter if Sting doesn't like him because he has the Horsemen behind him before saying that him & Luger are in for a hell of a fight. Flair starts to talk, only for the pyro to go off for the second hour as he keeps talking.
• The Nasty Boys vs Public Enemy OH FOR F*CK SAKE, THEY'RE WRESTLING AGAIN!? F*CK OFF! So yeah, it's the exact same match these two teams have every time they wrestle eachother. Lots of brawling, minimum wrestling.  The finish came when Public Enemy's "I'll somersault into you so we both land on a guy on a table " backfires when Jerry Saggs moves out of the way. Saggs throws Rocco Rock back into the ring so Brian Knobbs can hit an elbow drop for the win. I have no patience for these matches anymore. After the match, Mean Gene interviews the Nasty Boys. Saggs says when you enter Nastyville, you leave face down. Mean Gene brings up the fact that Knobbs has been, and I quote, "hangin' & bangin'" with Hulk Hogan and asks if he still hangs & bangs with Hogan. Knobbs says Hogan does what he does and the Nastys do what they do.
• Diamond Dallas Page vs Chavo Guerrero Jr.-Chavo starts off by dropkicking DDP out of the ring and taking him out with a plancha. Back in the ring, Chavo beats down DDP in the corner until Page sends him through the turnbuckle into the ring post. DDP stomps away at Chavo before he almost gets rolled up. DDP controls the match, intentionally pulling Chavo's shoulders up when he pins him. However, it ends up costing him as Chavo counters a Diamond Cutter attempt and backslides DDP for the win. DDP quickly retaliates by hitting a Diamond Cutter on Chavo. He then steals referee Nick Patrick's belt and whips Chavo with it. Rather than stop him, the king of subtlety Nick Patrick runs around DDP with his arms in the air while yelling "STOP!" Fellow referee Randy Anderson runs down and takes the belt from DDP before questioning why Patrick didn't stop DDP. Mean Gene comes down and asks Nick Patrick why he did nothing. He says it wouldn't have been a good idea to try to stop DDP by himself and instead waited for Randy Anderson to come down. He claims that the only reason people are getting on his case is that the MEDIA is blowing things out of proportions. That damn media. Mean Gene points out Patrick bought a nice big house recently, prompting Patrick to walk off
• Harlem Heat (c) with Sister Sherri & Col. Rob Parker vs The American Males-WCW World Tag Team Championships-Harlem Heat rushes the American Males before the bell sounds, allowing them to take control early on. Harlem Heat gets the heat on Scotty Riggs until Riggs catches Booker T off a flying nothing with a dropkick. Marcus Bagwell gets the hot tag and runs wild on Harlem Heat, dropkicking both men before bodyslamming both of them. Booker goes for a pumphandle slam, but Bagwell turns over on it and pins Booker (who is not the legal man) for a near fall. Bagwell gets another near fall off a roll up on Stevie Ray but gets kicked out of the ring when he kicks out, where he throws Booker into the guard rail. Meanwhile, Scotty Riggs hits a missile dropkick on Stevie Ray before Bagwell goes to the top rope. However, Booker shoves Bagwell off the top rope into a powerslam by Stevie Ray, who gets the three and the win. Pretty solid tag match, nothing special.
• Ric Flair & Arn Anderson with Woman & Miss Elizabeth vs Sting & Lex Luger-Before the match, Sting tells Chris Benoit & Mongo to come down to the ring. Anderson calls for them to come out along with Debra. After a commercial break Mean Gene comes down to the ring. Sting says that the nWo is a problem that they need to join forces and face the nWo in WarGames at Fall Brawl. And ladies & gentlemen, we get the return of Idiot Sting! Why? Because look who he's asking to be his teammates. Ric Flair, a man who has turned on him THREE TIMES now, and Arn Anderson, Ric Flair's best friend and the man who worked with Flair to trick him at Halloween Havoc. Not only that, but he also wants Lex Luger, a man who for months was of questionable morality and turned on his buddies at Halloween Havoc. LUGER WAS IN THE FOUR HORSEMEN AT ONE POINT! He's just asking to get turned on at this point. Anderson asks Luger & Sting if they can do bring the intensity needed for WarGames. They say they can. Flair says he's in as long as Benoit & Mongo will step aside. Benoit says Flair & Anderson have never betrayed him, so he'll step aside. Mongo says he's willing to sacrifice his spot, but if Sting & Luger fail, something worse than anything the nWo does to them will happen. Anderson agrees to tag with Sting & Luger.
• We get an announcement paid for by the nWo, showing Scott Hall & Kevin Nash on some stairs in Denver. They say they're in Rome before jokingly questioning why the Denver Post is in Rome. They say they did what they set out to do at Hog Wild, and that was to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and turn it into the nWo Heavyweight Championship. They mock the Giant, Lex Luger, and Sting before telling WCW to not call them cause they'll call them.
• The Giant with Jimmy Hart vs Randy Savage-Savage sprints out during the Giant's entrance and hits him with a chair six times. Randy Anderson ends up taking the chair away before the Giant beats down Savage at ringside. The Giant gets Savage in the ring and tries to chokeslam Savage, but Savage avoids it. Jimmy Hart tries to hit Savage with a chair, but Savage kicks him away. Savage tries to the Giant with the chair, only for Hugh Morrus & Big Bubba to run down. They both get chair shots along with the Faces of Fear before Savage runs off. The Giant runs after him.
• We close the show with Eric Bischoff confirming that at Fall Brawl, the team of Sting, Lex Luger, Ric Flair, and Arn Anderson will face the nWo and their fourth man.

And that's about it. Overall, Nitro had a much better show. The matches were solid throughout the show and the promos were good for the most part (I'm looking at you, Ice Train). RAW was fairly good too, but it didn't have anything really stand out as worth watching. Point to Nitro.

RAW: 18

Nitro: 28

That's it for this edition of RAW vs Nitro. RAW & Nitro don't go head-to-head for two weeks straight, as RAW takes a week off then airs on a Friday for some reason, so in the next edition we'll pick up on the September 9th, 1996 episodes. If you liked what you read, feel free to share this around and as always, stay tuned for the next one!