Raw is War - July 7th 1997

• After last night’s awesome Canadian Stampede PPV, the victorious Bret Hart makes his way down to the ring for an interview with Vince McMahon. This show is also still in Canada so he gets a hero's welcome and despite the various Austin 3:16 t-shirts, the Hitman and his Foundation are very much the babyfaces here. Vince kicks us off with some big news; Bret Hart will challenge The Undertaker for the WWF Championship at Summerslam! He sucks up to the Canadian audience and says he’s not anti-American, he’s just pro-Canadian. He then moves on to insulting and running down the United States anyway with some real points made about poor education, poor healthcare and rampant gun crime in the States. That’s all still true but no one would dare say it on TV these days. Bret says that at Summerslam if he fails to win the WWF Championship he will never, ever wrestle in the United States again! He then brings out “the greatest technical wrestler in the WWF” his brother Owen who will defend the Intercontinental Championship against Stone Cold Steve Austin at Summerslam, followed by The British Bulldog who will defend his European Championship against Ken Shamrock! That’s three big title singles matches set for the PPV. Bret says he feels bad for the fans who have to see the WWF on American TV with American voices and commentators so throws to a tribute to Canada with the flag waving and an instrumental version of Oh Canada. It’s a nice tribute, ruined by the Texas Rattlesnake who comes through the crowd with a steel chair and wears out all three Foundation members! It gets loud boos of course but Stone Cold does not give a DAMN! He talks trash to the audience with a big smile on his face, proud of his attack. The commentators issue an apology for Stone Cold’s actions, disrespecting something as sacred as a country’s National anthem. 

• A rematch from last night’s PPV, the great match between Taka Michinoku and The Great Sasuke. Brian Christopher comes down to the ring and joins commentary for this match as the WWF continues to promote “the greatest light heavyweights in the world”. Brian has fully adopted his “too sexy” nickname. Prior to the match, Sasuke cut a promo in Japanese backstage which Lawler and Christopher are incredibly disrespectful about. This is a decent match with a lot of dives out of the ring and off the top rope. Sasuke wins with a nice stiff powerbomb. 
• After a brief video package about the breakdown of the Nation of Domination and Crush and Savio Vega going off to form their own stables, Crush (with his Disciples of Apocalypse) faces Savio Vega (with his Los Boricuas) These two units had an eight man tag on Shotgun Saturday Night which ended in chaos. Vince throws around the phrase “faction warfare” a couple of times. The crowd does actually chant for the DOA because big burly biker dudes was probably a really cool gimmick in 1997 - The Undertaker made it work in the early 2000s. It’s not a very long match because when Crush sends Savio to the outside, the DOA attacks him and it ends via disqualification. The two 4 man groups brawl all around the ring and Jesus is lifted and dropped onto one of the motorbikes. No sign of the Nation of Domination this week but there’s only three of them right now so they’d be outnumbered anyway. 

• Backstage, Vince tries to get an update from Paul Bearer on the comments and claims he’s made about The Undertaker and his family lately. Bearer refuses to apologise and doubles down on his claim that The Undertaker is a murderer, and that his little brother Kane is still alive after all these years. He gives us more information too; Kane is horrifically disfigured, charred and mutilated by the fire. He’s had operations and skin grafts and has suffered because of The Undertaker. One day he will come face to face with The Undertaker and have his revenge. 

• In the finals of the Tag Team tournament, The Nation face the British Bulldog and Owen Hart. The winners of this match will face Stone Cold and “a partner of his choosing” for the Tag Team titles. Backstage Austin gives his thoughts; he doesn’t care who his partner is and he doesn’t care who his opponents are. Vince asks if he’s considering Mankind who is trying hard to be picked but he calls Mankind a freak with no hair who he has no interest in teaming up with! Next week’s Raw is in Shawn Michaels’ hometown, who was Austin’s original partner. Will that factor in? Vince speculates that if Stone Cold refuses to pick a partner, Gorilla Monsoon will likely just pick for him. Stone Cold doesn’t want or need a partner; he’ll win and defend the Tag Team titles single handedly if he can! D’Lo and Faarooq are the legal men for the Nation and have Kama at ringside while the Hart Foundation have backup from Brian Pillman and Jim Neidhart. The Harts are crowd favourites as they were earlier and when Kama tries to help the Nation cheat, Neidhart and Pillman go on the attack. It turns into a big brawl and I thought it was going to end via a double count out but Owen Hart got back in the ring in time and so The Hart Foundation win via count out.

• Their celebration is cut short when Mankind comes out in an Austin 3:16 t-shirt and tells Bulldog and Owen that he and Mankind will kick their asses next week. We’ll see more of Austin later as he faces Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Stone Cold has some more comments and says that he’ll punch Chyna’s lights out too if he has to. That leads into the match after the mid-show reset and its a good match. Chyna does her best to cheat, tripping Austin and handing a steel chair to Helmsley and distracting the referee. Mankind runs down to help out his would-be partner and gets blasted in the head for his troubles. It helps anyway and Austin drops Hunter with a Stunner to win the match! Afterwards, Stone Cold gets a mic and tells “the long haired freak” to get in the ring. Austin tells Mankind that he doesn’t LIKE him but he will go to war with him and tells him that he can be his partner if he shakes his hand. Mankind insists on a hug which Stone Cold gives him…but then drops him with a Stone Cold Stunner! DTA you piece of trash, don’t trust anybody! He tells Mankind he can NEVER be his partner because he sucks! Mankind screams into the mic that all he was looking for was a little bit of respect and a friend. He tells Austin that drastic measures must be taken and next week he’ll do something he never thought he would! Next week, the WWF, Stone Cold and Mankind himself will never, ever be the same again! What does he have in mind? 

• The gorgeous Sunny acts as special guest ring announcer for the next light heavyweight match; Canada’s own Eric Shelley vs. Brian Christopher. Brian’s become the focal point of this new division both commentating on the match earlier but also screwing over Scott Putski last week. Ivan Putski has issued a challenge; himself and his son Scott vs. Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher next week on Raw. Brian wins with a leg drop off the top rope and after spending the whole match running down the Putskis and making a lot of racist jokes about Polish people, he and Christopher beat up Shelly two on one with a spike piledriver. When Sunny announces Too Sexy as the winner she looks pretty out of it, grinning away at the camera. Her life long struggles with substance abuse are pretty well documented and I feel like July 1997 was when she was deeply under the influence. 

• Stone Cold Steve Austin comes back down to the ring and tells Vince McMahon that he doesn’t want or need a partner next week and he will keep the Tag Team titles all by himself. He tells “tub of guts” Gorilla Monsoon to pick whoever he wants and he’ll kick their ass too! He then turns his attention to Summerslam and makes a bold claim, just like Bret Hart did earlier; if he doesn’t win the Intercontinental Championship he will get down on his knees and literally kiss Owen Hart’s ass! 

• In the main event, Bret Hart has his first match on Raw in months taking on Goldust. As Bret and Goldust have a pretty solid match in the ring, the ringside area slowly fills with people; the DOA ride their motorbikes down and no one can figure out why or who they’re there to confront. The Hart Foundation comes out to watch Bret’s back just in case, followed by Shamrock and the LOD. Stone Cold comes out too but they all keep their distance. Bret wins the match with a reversed roll up and celebrates as everyone just…stands around. I guess they were just there to create some tension and make us feel like things could explode at any moment? Good episode of Raw with a kind of nothing ending. I guess it can’t end with a big wild brawl EVERY week. 

Raw is War - July 14th 1997

• Raw opens up with the Hart Foundation who run down their various matches at Summerslam and in a game of one upsmanship they all add stipulations to their own matches. Its official and in the contract that if Bret doesn’t win the WWF title he will be banned from wrestling in America and that if Stone Cold loses to Owen Hart he has to kiss his ass, but Bulldog adds one to his match with Shamrock; if he loses he’ll eat a can of dog food. Brian Pillman vs. Goldust was added to Summerslam over the weekend and on Shotgun Saturday Night Pillman said that if he loses to Goldust he’ll wear a dress! Pillman makes some nasty jokes about Goldust’s neglectful father and calls him a transvestite. Neidhart finishes off - he doesn’t have a match at Summerslam but says that if any member of the Hart Foundation loses their match, he’ll shave off his famous goatee the next night on Raw. Stone Cold interrupts things but doesn’t speak and instead brings out some back up in the form of Ken Shamrock, newcomer The Patriot (who we’ll talk about more later, the returning Sycho Sid (which is a surprise!) and hometown boy Shawn Michaels! Vince and Jim Ross speculate that any of these four men could be Stone Cold’s tag team partner in tonight’s main event for the WWF Tag Team titles. I thought this would lead to a five on five brawl but the segment ends without violence.

• Why is Sid here? Well why not? He was backstage at the show and made this brief appearance on the ramp to create some intrigue. Sadly this was the final time Sid appeared on WWF TV. He had been on and off screen for a couple of years due to nagging neck and back problems and they finally caught up to him. Sid disappeared from wrestling entirely to rest up his neck and spend time with his son which is as good a reason as any. He returned to wrestling almost two full years later in June 1999 in WCW and had a successful run there in the company’s dying days, racking up a few World title wins and PPV main events. He famously suffered the worst broken leg in wrestling history in January of 2001, live on PPV and that more or less ended his career, wrestling only a handful of matches once that healed. I love ya Sid.
• In the opener Jerry Lawler teams with “hes not my son” Brian Christopher to take on the other father-son duo of Hall of Famer Ivan Putsku and his son Scott. Ivan isn’t as big and muscular as he was in his prime of course but moves well and looks like he’s in great shape. He sings a Polish love song to the crowd and gets them clapping along with him. I have no idea what this is, but I assume it's something he did during his career? Lawler and Christopher actually just have the match won clean after a piledriver on Scott but Brian insists on being tagged in and misses his leg drop off the top rope. Ivan gets the tag and Polish Power hammers on Lawler and finishes him off with a big axe handle to the face to pick up the win for himself and his son. 

• Backstage from the boiler room after a recap of last week’s events involving Stone Cold and Mankind, Vince tries to ask Mick what he meant last week about no one ever being the same but he refuses to speak, which Vince calls very ominous. 
• You can tell these two shows were filmed back to back as Paul Bearer cuts a very similar promo to last week from the exact same location. He promises Undertaker that he will PROVE Kane is alive next week on Raw.

• In more Light heavyweight action, Tajiri makes his debut! Yes that’s right, THAT Tajiri. He takes on Taka Michinoku, so it's a battle between two of my absolute BOYS. I am excited for this and they give Taka a little bit of a shine with a highlight reel of his more spectacular looking moves from his previous two matches. Taka wins a good but short match with the Michinoku driver.

• Ken Shamrock confirms that he is NOT Stone Cold’s partner tonight because he has a match of his own with Jim Neidhart later.
• The Headbangers take on Los Boricuas duo of Miguel and Jose. They have Savio and Jesus with them for backup too and have changed up their look to be a little more interesting than the all white gear, including arriving at the arena in a lowrider. The Americans are a lot less tolerant than the Canadians, booing the Puerto Ricans and chanting “USA” at them. This ended up being a pretty good match - non-stop action - which Los Boricuas won when Miguel countered a powerbomb attempt into a roll up on Thrasher. The four Boricuas rush Thrasher and Mosh to beat them down after the match but that doesn’t last long before the DOA rolls to the ring on “their beautiful Titan bikes” as Jim Ross calls them to make the save. The Headbangers join in too and it's six vs. four which doesn’t really seem fair. I’m sure new head writer Vince Russo assumed the American audience would cheer for the white biker gang over the Puerto Ricans and black Nation of Domination and it makes me angry that he was right. 

• In the back, newcomer The Patriot explains that he is not here to be Stone Cold’s partner, he is here to defend the United States against The Hart Foundation. No one will speak ill of his country or the people in it. Yawn. To my surprise, Vince just tells us his real name; it’s Del Wilkes. He has a pretty thick Southern accent so he certainly sounds like a Patriot. 

• For the first time since King of the Ring, Shawn Michaels appears on TV! He has been missing since his brutal backstage fight with Bret Hart where a chunk was torn out of HBK’s scalp and both men almost quit the company on the spot. You’d think Vince would learn to keep them apart after that but they continue to be involved in each other’s storylines. Vince cuts to the chase and asks if Michaels will be Austin’s partner tonight; he will not because he’s not cleared to compete. He says he won’t be at Summerslam (and throws in a little joke that it’s Vince’s fault which of course it is, he booked it) and gets down on his knees and begs Vince to be included in Summerslam even if he has to set up the ring, sell merchandise or take tickets on the door. He wants to be there to see Bret Hart lose and be banished from America forever! Vince doesn’t answer his requests but did look pretty tickled by the whole performance and laughed his way through it. JR says that he is sure Michaels will be included in the PPV in some form or another. 

• After the mid-show reset, Savio Vega runs to the ring with a microphone saying there has been a horrible, terrible accident backstage and grabs a camera man so that we can all see what's happened in the back. The accident was that Savio and this Boricuas have smashed and destroyed one of the DOA’s motorbikes. They gloat about it until the DOA themselves arrive and start a fight! The eight men brawl all around the big garage as car alarms blare and finally Los Boricuas escape in their lowrider, dragging the broken bike behind it! Crush scrambles 8 Ball and Skull and tells them to take off after them on their bikes. How dramatic. 
• Ken Shamrock vs. Jim Neidhart. The world’s most dangerous man has his theme song but it's not the final version of it and doesn’t sound as good as it did a year or so later. I’ll keep you posted. The fans chant USA at Neidhart. Shamrock wins by submission pretty much out of nowhere with a standing sleeper hold and is immediately attacked by the British Bulldog. He and Neidhart give him a spike piledriver so The Patriot runs down to save him - he could have done that a couple of minutes ago? He fights them both off with a pair of full nelson slams and then checks on Shamrock who seems groggy but fine.
• The Blackjacks Bradshaw and Windham face the LOD Hawk and Animal. They shed their entrance gear at the top of the ramp expecting to start the match right away but Henry and Phineas Godwin attack them from behind with steel chairs! They lay out Animal and then deliver a Slop Drop reverse DDT to Hawk on the entrance ramp, cutting the back of his head open. JR mentions that these two teams will now meet at Summerslam, a feud started by the LOD accidentally breaking Henry’s neck.

• Vader, with Paul Bearer, takes on Flash Funk. It's a dominant squash for the big man so that the commentators can spend the whole match talking about Bearer’s promise to reveal proof that Kane is alive next week on Raw. Will Kane himself be live in the building? 

• Before the main event, Stone Cold repeats his insistence that he doesn’t want or need a partner and no matter what he is leaving this building with the Tag Team Championships. Bulldog and Owen enter first and then the Rattlesnake rushes the ring and attacks them, starting the match as a two on one affair. As of right now, the Tag Team titles are officially vacant. It’s been unclear for the past month with Shawn being stripped of his title but Austin apparently not being stripped of his but regardless of who wins this match, they will be recognised as the new champions and beginning a new reign. If you follow, that means if Austin wins, regardless of who his partner is or isn’t, he’s effectively winning the title from himself! Vince and co did try to get a second interview with Mankind in the boiler room but he remained silent, just like the first time. Part way through the match we’re told that Austin’s partner has arrived and in the back, as funky music plays, a pair of bright white boots struts their way through the backstage area. Who is it? This is a fun reveal! On the titantron, Mick Foley appears and calls himself the coolest cat in the Warzone - it’s DUDE LOVE!

• It gets a huge cheer from the crowd and the artist formerly known as Mankind struts to the ring in tie dye with awesome music. This is Mick Foley’s alter ego, his childhood creation whom we learned about during the incredible Jim Ross interviews which turned Mankind babyface in the first place. The Dude shucks and jives and dances as Stone Cold stares at him, bewildered. Dude takes his place on Austin’s corner and indeed he is Stone Cold’s partner! Austin actually tags him and seemingly has accepted this, despite the confused look on his face. Awesome stuff. Dude counters Bulldog’s powerslam into a Mandible Claw and as Owen Hart accidentally distracts the referee, Stone Cold drops Bully with a Stunner! Dude gets the cover and he and Stone Cold win the WWF Tag Team Championships! I loved this, and I loved the Dude Love reveal. Dude gives both title belts to Austin, apparently just happy to be there. Stone Cold looks on in confusion as two beautiful women rush the ring and are all over Dude Love! He’s a sex machine folks. Austin actually drops one of the title belts at Dude’s feet and shakes his hand! The Rattlesnake has accepted it and Raw ends with new Tag Team Champion Dude Love dancing with the ladies in the middle of the ring. 

Raw is War - July 21st 1997

• Raw is back in Canada this week so once again it’s a strongly pro-Hart Foundation crowd. I wonder if they booked these arenas after the Hart Foundation storyline began specifically to keep the reactions as messy and mixed as possible? It certainly makes for entertaining and chaotic television! The show opens by asking that very question; how can one man be so hated in one country but so beloved in another? This has become a war between America and Canada! Over the weekend, Bret issued a challenge to any three Americans to face the Hart Foundation in a six man Flag match which will likely form tonight’s main event! 
• The episode kicks off with Vader vs. Ken Shamrock. Paul Bearer is at ringside with Vader and he has promised that this week he will provide proof that Kane, The Undertaker’s younger and presumed dead brother, is in fact still alive. I’m sure we’ll get to that later. JR and Vince remind us that these two wrestled back in May at an In Your House PPV which they did. If you’ll recall, I didn’t really like the match but it's mostly famous for how incredibly stiff they were with each other during it. In pre-recorded comments, Shamrock issues a warning to British Bulldog that not only will he take his European title at Summerslam but if he loses, he has to eat a can of dog food. This is a better match than their one in May. Shamrock endures a hell of a beating but he’s undefeated and keeps kicking out. He likely has the match won but with Bearer and Vader distracting the referee, the Bulldog is able to come to ringside and plant him with a running powerslam on the metal entrance ramp! Shamrock is counted out and Vader wins. This was decent actually. 

• There’s a video promoting the debut of German Brakus. Don’t get too excited, I’m not convinced this lad ever actually made it to TV but I’ll talk about him if and when he does! 

• Vince McMahon in the ring welcomes the Hart Foundation and Bret, Bulldog and Owen head down to a massive cheer carrying Canadian flags. They will be the three men in tonight’s flag match so maybe we’ll find out their opponents here. Bret says that most Americans are full of crap and that Canada is God’s country. The crowd loves it of course and chants “US sucks!” Bret mentions his WWF Championship match at Summerslam and challenges The Undertaker to come out here and start the fight early. Bulldog does the same to his own PPV opponent Ken Shamrock, which seems unfair given that he’s already laid him out tonight. Owen Hart says that wants the third man to his HIS Summerslam opponent, Stone Cold “slime” Austin and calls him a pervert for wanting to kiss his ass. Stone Cold has said that if he fails to win the IC title at Summerslam then he will kiss Owen’s ass. That brings out the Rattlesnake who calls this a living hell; he will come to the ring and kick all three of their asses if he wants to and accepts their challenge and will be first of three Americans to step up. 

• Here’s a commercial for Summerslam 1997;

• In another match confirmed for Summerslam, Los Boricuas will face the D.O.A in an eight man tag team match. Other faction news as Ahmed Johnson is all healed up and the Nation of Domination is now back at full strength with all four members, who we’ll likely see this coming weekend. I’ll keep you guys updated but spoilers; Ahmed’s tenure as a Nation member was over as soon as it started. 

• More Light Heavyweight division action; the ridiculous looking Bryan Walsh provides the opposition to “Too Sexy” Brian Christopher who has become the “star” of this burgeoning division. His feud with Scott Putski continues as the previous weekend on Shotgun Saturday Night, Lawler and Christopher beat him down with a steel chair. Brutal. This match isn’t botched but it’s not smooth either, it's like they’re speaking different languages. Brian wins with his top rope leg drop.

• There’s another video promoting more international newcomers; the Truth Commission from South Africa. We heard a little about them earlier this year. The commandant as their mouthpiece didn’t last long because the company wanted someone who could take a bump to be in that role. You might wonder how this video features footage of the members of the group hitting moves in a ring if they haven’t debuted yet; those are all from dark matches as these guys had been wrestling before and after TV tapings for months.

• I’m all about videos this week as there’s an awesome video explaining and introducing us properly to Mick Foley’s new alter ego and one half of the WWF Tag Team Champions Dude Love! I loved this, this one is well worth a watch. In pre-recorded comments Stone Cold gives us his thoughts; he doesn’t know if Foley is crazy or just has a lot of guts. He has proven that he can be trusted and get the job done BUT with that being said, he still doesn’t want anyone to be his tag team partner.

• The Godwins, the Headbangers and the Blackjacks square off in a triple threat tag team match to see who will get a shot at the WWF Tag Team titles. Before the match there’s comments from the Legion of Doom, The Godwins’ opponents at Summerslam. They’ve attacked and bloodied each other for months and the company does love showing that clip of Henry having his neck broken as often as possible. The rules of this one are three men in the ring - one from each team - and you can only tag your own partner. That’s pretty sensible rules. The Godwins pick up the win thanks to a shot from their metal slop bucket. Jerry Lawler spent much of this match being really aggressively anti-Canadian and then post match they show a bunch of newspaper headlines from the time about stories of Canada and America’s falling out. “America is becoming more entrenched and difficult to deal with” which the Americans find offensive but the rest of the world find to be as accurate today as it was then.

• After the mid-show reset where the Raw is War intro is played again and the pyro goes off, Jim Ross brings Shawn Michaels down to the ring to make a major announcement. He gets a lot of boos and does nothing to calm things down by calling the Canadians ungrateful towards America and the American people. Vince has a few laughs at Michaels’ jokes about the Canadian military and how much Canada sucks. He steps up to join Stone Cold in tonight’s flag match but THAT is not his big announcement; he will be at Summerslam to serve as special guest referee for the Bret Hart/Undertaker WWF Championship match. Shawn does say that the WWF officials have made it very clear to him that if he is biased in any way then he will also be barred from wrestling in the United States. He says that if that happens he’ll buy the house next to Bret Hart and live and wrestle in Canada for the rest of his life! 
• The Patriot makes his in-ring debut against Hunter Hearst Helmsley (with Chyna). HHH gets cheers for attacking the US flag waving Patriot as soon as he gets to the ring. Focus is stolen from this match as The Hart Foundation come down to ringside so that Bret can scream in Vince’s face about Shawn Michaels’ announcement. He keeps ranting that this is a swerve and a double cross and actually slaps Vince’s headset off his head! Vince looks pissed and actually swipes at Bret in return! This is heated and the Hitman is furious! Bret refuses to calm down and lunges at Vince - hilariously Bret’s t-shirt is pulled up over his head so Vince probably would have kicked his ass if he’d wanted to. Owen and Bulldog try to calm him down as The Patriot comes out to help too. The match is thrown out as a disqualification while Bret Hart tries to attack and beat up Vince McMahon; they haven’t outright TOLD us that he’s the real life owner of the company but both Bret and Shawn have dropped hints and make it abundantly clear over the past few months. After a commercial break Vince seems shaken up but does his best to compose himself and return to his job but is quiet and distracted. After a few minutes Vince gets some news in his headset and leaves ringside to attend to something backstage. 

• In a change of tone, Paul Bearer presents the “proof” that Kane is still alive. Apparently as children Kane and The Undertaker had a little statue of the grim reaper and both held onto half of it each. Bearer has Kane’s half of the statue and that is apparently his proof. JR rightly points out that it proves nothing and tells him to bring Kane to the WWF. Bearer says that no one wants to see Kane but if he has to do it, he will! 

• Kama Mustafa accompanies Faarooq to the ring for a match against Goldust. Earlier today Goldust and Marlena talked about Brian Pillman. If he loses to Goldust at Summerslam he’ll have to wear a dress the next night on Raw which Marlena will pick out for him. Goldust wins by disqualification when Kama interferes right in front of the referee.

• Backstage we learn what news led Vince to leave ringside; Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation attacked Shawn Michaels and have taken him out of tonight’s main event. Michaels barks at Vince that he is running a zoo and he’s sick of these constant fights and attacks backstage. That leads into the main event - Bret, Owen and Bulldog enter first but now Stone Cold needs not one but two tag team partners. I’m sure the Texas Rattlesnake will happily fight them three vs. one. Before we find out, Bret asks for the Canadian national anthem to be played and the crowd sings along as Jerry Lawler berates Jim Ross for showing respect for another countries national anthem. I bet he’s the type who’d be upset if someone did that to America’s anthem. Austin’s first partner is, fittingly, his Tag Team Championship partner Dude Love and the match begins as three vs. two. Bret goes right to work on Austin as Bulldog and Owen beat up Dude two on one. The match doesn’t go long before WWF Champion The Undertaker runs down to join in and make it a three on three affair. Undertaker and Dude Love have words on the apron - Undertaker threatens Foley given their past but Dude acts like Mankind is a different person! That wasn’t me, daddio! I love this. It’s a big six man tag with all men wrestling as a normal match. When it breaks down, Bret and Undertaker go for their respective flags but Brian Pillman arrives out of no where to stop Undertaker and allow Bret to secure the Maple Leaf and win this match, officially, for the Hart Foundation. The Hitman heads out into the crowd to celebrate with his people and the rest of the Hart Foundation as Stone Cold, Undertaker and Dude Love seeth in the ring to close Raw. This was another fun show and they’ve really ratcheted up the tension and heat on the main feuds, even if WWF Champion Undertaker feels like a bit of an afterthought at the moment.

Raw is War - July 28th 1997

• Raw this week is back in the good ol’ US of A which means the babyfaces and heels will get the right reactions this week. The show opens with the Hart Foundation and Vince makes a point of sending JR up into the ring to interview them rather than going himself; Bret tried to beat up Vince last week afterall. JR tells us about a disciplinary hearing earlier today about Bret’s unprofessional conduct. He will not be suspended so that the fans aren’t deprived of Summerslam’s main event but President Monsoon plans on appointing a commissioner of the WWF who will have power and authority to make decisions going forward. Bret calls it a kangaroo court and insults the USA’s lack of justice and moral strength; he said he would never wrestle in America again if he loses and the stupid Americans have taken it literally, but he’s a man of his word and will honour his own stipulation. Bret continues his lifelong streak of adding the word “the” in front of things that didn’t need it, continually referring to The Summerslam. You can check, he did it with everything. Bret promises that when we get to Raw next week he will be a 5 time WWF Champion and has a great line, saying if you gave the US an enema you’d shove the hose right here in Pittsburg! He ends by throwing out a challenge to The Patriot for a match here tonight on Raw.

• In the opening match, Savio and Miguel of Los Boricuas take on Hawk and Animal, the Legion of Doom. This is a short match and the LOD likely have the victory but the illegal men rush the ring and all four Boricuas beat them up, hanging them the win via disqualification. The Godwins pick their spot and run down, attacking Hawk and giving him another Slop Drop on the floor outside the ring, followed by dumping their slop bucket in his face! The LOD are going to kill The Godwins at Summerslam after being provoked this much for weeks.

• Hunter Hearst Helmsley faces Vader up next but before the match, HHH and Chyna have some comments about Summerslam. Vince reminds us of his epic matches with Mankind over the past couple of months including at King of the Ring and Canadian Stampede. They’ve not settled anything so at Summerslam Helmsley will face Mankind inside a steel cage. It's interesting that they’re saying Mankind and NOT Dude Love, treating both of Mick Foley’s aliases as different people. Hunter ends with a joke about Vader’s weight; that will have been fed to him by management who loved shaming people on TV for their weight as motivation to get in better shape. It never really worked. As Chyna is distracted by Vader’s entrance, Mankind comes from behind dressed as a camera man, hitting Helmsley with the camera! Chyna tackles him off his feet but when she goes to the top rope she’s knocked off which gets a big pop. Helmsley and Mankind brawl out of the ring, into the crowd and all around the arena before finally being separated. I enjoyed this very much! 

• The “long awaited” (probably by someone?) debut of the Truth Commission is in a six man tag team match with Jesse Jammes, Flash Funk and Bob Holly. The three men are named Recon, Sniper and The Interrogator. The largest of the three is better known as Kurrgan who has gone on to have a decent acting career whereas Recon is better known as Bull Bucanan. These two popped up with a few different gimmicks over the years. Gorilla Monsoon joins commentary for this match and explains that next week he will appoint a commissioner who will be a tough but fair individual who can stand up to the intimidation of superstars like Bret Hart. The Interrogator wins it for his team with a sidewalk slam on Flash Funk. The crowd was unmoved.

• Ahmed Johnson makes his return to TV, accompanying Faarooq to the ring with the rest of the Nation for his match against Crush, who has the rest of the DOA with him. This is only Ahmed’s second appearance as a member of the Nation after blowing out his knee during his first appearance. The match ends in chaos as the DOA and Nation rush the ring and turn it into an eight man brawl. Los Boricuas pick their spot and come out to deliver a big assisted powerbomb on Crush, right onto the metal entrance ramp taking him out.

• After the mid-show break, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dude Love defend the WWF Tag Team Championships against The Godwins. There’s no mention of us having seen Mick Foley in his other outfit earlier tonight already, but Owen Hart and British Bulldog are at ringside on commentary for a closer look at this match. There’s a Dude Love chant which makes me really happy. The match ends in controversy as Owen hits Austin with his title belt, leading to him being counted out because he can’t get back in the ring. Austin isn’t taking that laying down and goes after Owen, turning this into a brawl with Austin and Dude vs. Owen and Bulldog, joined by The Godwins and then the LOD who come down to even the score themselves! Stone Cold and Dude Love keep the Tag Team titles and its more fuel on the fire for a couple of big Summerslam matches.

• Sable and Sunny’s use on TV lately has been relegated to eye candy for Summerslam’s Million Dollar giveaway. Twice per show the two of them take turns to pose with the money and remind us of the contest. On this week’s show Vince calls two individuals who have won free tickets to Summerslam and a chance to win the Million Dollars too. Good for them, I’m not even jealous. 

• The next match is supposed to be another Light Heavyweight match but before it can begin, Ken Shamrock comes down to the ring carrying a table. Bulldog has challenged him to an arm wrestling contest to prove which of them is the strongest man in the WWF. The two light heavyweights are men I’ve never heard of, nor seen before or since so I won’t cover them in any great detail. Ace Darling vs. Devon Storm ends with Storm winning quickly with a roll up. The crowd didn’t care and neither did I. Get this pair out of the ring so we can do this arm wrestling contest. After another Summerslam giveaway, that’s exactly what happens. The two battle it out very slowly, straining and fighting back and forth - they’re both hugely muscular men so I’m sure this would be a very even fight if it was legit. Shamrock seems like he’s about to win so Bulldog headbutts him and then blasts him in the head with a stiff looking chairshot. The European Champion hammers the World’s Most Dangerous man with shot after shot and then, in the ultimate insult, dumps the can of dog food all over him! That’s disgusting and honestly, not very good booking. Why are they humiliating legitimate bad ass and minor celebrity Ken Shamrock rather than giving him a mega push? I guess we’ll see what Summerslam has in store.

• Goldust with Marlena heads down to the ring and, to promote his Summerslam match and stipulation with Brian Pillman has a frilly dress on a mannequin stand at ringside. Marlena makes some jokes about Pillman not “filling out his tights” and how her “hairdresser friends” might like the way he looks. That’s just deep rooted homophobia isn’t it? Goldust’s opponent is the artist formerly known as Billy Gunn, Rockabilly with the Honky Tonk Man. The match doesn’t go long before Rockabilly gets distracted by a boxer in the front row and confronts him only to be knocked out cold. Brian Pillman rushes the ring and attacks Goldust from behind until Marlena jumps on his back and tries to choke him out. She holds on and rips and tears at his face and hair until officials manage to get her off of the Loose Canon. 

• To promote the Summerslam main event there’s a video package about how awesome The Undertaker is, which is a good thing because he’s been mostly ignored in the past month. It feels quite loose and real with Bret, Michaels, Bulldog and even the man himself speaking about his talent and what drives him almost entirely out of character. I enjoyed this. 

• Vince McMahon brings the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels down to the ring for his now weekly promo segment. He was, as far as I’m aware, all healed up from his various knee issues so this is a purely creative decision to have him not wrestle for a while. Bret told Shawn that he needs to apologise to everyone in Canada for his comments and actions last week so he starts off by saying that no one knows better than Vince and Bret himself that he never apologises for anything! He says that he feels safer in the arena than he does backstage so he’ll be taking a seat on commentary for the next match rather than head backstage and get beaten up again. That’s probably wise. Bret Hart enters first for the main event and demands the Canadian National anthem be played. He stands stoic as the audience boos and jeers. Shawn Michaels stands with his hand on his heart and pretends to cry which was a nice touch. Bret looked genuinely furious at the fans for booing the song which was probably legitimate; Bret took many things far too seriously but the main one was his status as a Canadian hero. The Patriot enters to what most fans will know as Kurt Angle’s theme song! It features more chimes and bells than the version Kurt used so it sounds a lot more cheerful and positive. The Patriot returns fire by asking for the US anthem to be played next. That’s finally too much for Bret who jumps The Patriot and hilariously the US anthem continues to play as he hammers on Wilkes. Michaels jumps on the chance to call Bret a hypocrite again. The Hitman picks apart the Patriot and works on his leg as the fans shower him in USA chants. There’s a messy bump as the two of them fight in the corner, throwing themselves backwards and knocking the referee down. That was obviously the planned spot but they couldn’t quite line it up. Bret spikes Patriot with a gorgeous piledriver but there’s no referee to count the three. Bret keeps the attack going until Shawn Michaels gets up and tugs at Bret’s tights, distracting him. He demands the referee disqualify Patriot for Shawn’s interference but it backfires when The Patriot rolls him up tight for a three count! I think the finish would have worked better if Earl Hebner had just counted the three count quickly and normally but he did one of his classics - counting very slowly to “emphasise the victory” which only makes sense if the finish ISN’T a roll up. God I hate Earl Hebner. He’s a TERRIBLE referee. Bret is furious and wants to go after The Patriot but is held back by referees so Shawn goads him to come over and fight him instead! As Sunday’s referee and challenge shout abuse at each other The Undertaker’s music plays and that is where Raw ends.