WWF: Raw is War
April 28, 1997
Omaha, NE
Civic Center

The current WWF champs were as follows:
World Champion: The Undertaker (3/23/1997)
Intercontinental Champion: Rocky Maivia (2/13/1997)
European Champion: Davey Boy Smith (3/3/1997)
World Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith (9/22/1996)

Very thorough highlights package of last week involving the Hart Foundation, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and the return of Brian Pillman kicks off the show.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

Out comes Brian Pillman to explain himself. You may think he’s crazy, but he explains that he has a softer side and he is in fact very religious. Since last week’s attack on Steve Austin, he became overwhelmed with a spirit of truth and began to pray for forgiveness for ALL of our misdeeds. Pillman asks the crowd to join him in prayer. Crowd wants Austin instead. Pillman begins to pray for a speedy recovery for Bret Hart and asks forgiveness for everyone who enjoyed the savage brutality he received last week. He also asks forgiveness for the people who exalted Austin’s actions and for those who enjoy other acts of violence that has inundated American society. He then starts to channel his crazy side by asking God for the complete annihilation of Steve Austin so that he may never practice his evil craft. Now he wants the WWF fans to let Bret Hart into their hearts and souls. Finally, Steve Austin interrupts and tells Pillman to pray that he doesn’t beat the heck out of him. According to Austin, not even Bret Hart can save Pillman now. Pillman decides to ‘turn the other butt cheek’ towards Austin. Well, that constitutes a dare on Austin’s part and HERE HE COMES. Of course, it’s all a trap as Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith come out to make it 3-on-1. Austin knew it and leaves quickly through the crowd. Now Pillman demands a moment of silence to finish his prayer. They all begin to TEBOW as they all pray for Bret Hart. Meanwhile backstage, Austin finds himself a literal axe handle and heads back out to chase away the Hart Foundation. Austin gets on the stick and tells the boys that they better give their soul to the Lord, because their butts belong to him.

Our esteemed commentators tell us Bret Hart is on his way to the arena.

After a break, Brian Pillman is praying again for Bret in the locker room.

• Flash Funk vs. Rockabilly (w/the Honky Tonk Man)
  

No Funkettes this week, folks. After about a minute of Flash Funk in total control, Bret Hart arrives at the Omaha Civic Center in an ambulance! Honky Tonk Man does a little distracting on the apron. Funk ducks a clothesline from behind by Rockabilly, but gets nailed with a clothesline to his face! How do you know something is coming from behind you, but not in front of you! Rockabilly gives Funk a suplex back inside the ring. He gets caught up top, but then delivers a Tornado DDT. Heel miscommunication ensues between manager and wrestler leading to Funk delivering a hurracanrana for the win. (4:23) Afterwards, Rockabilly KABONGS Flash Funk. *½

In the back, the Hart Foundation is pushing Bret Hart around in his wheelchair.

After the break, Vince McMahon announces to the crowd that Bret Hart had knee surgery last Wednesday due to the attack by Steve Austin. So now, without further ado, Vince introduces Bret Hart. He stays at the top of the ramp in his wheelchair with Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith by his side. They show video footage of Bret’s knee operation. He’s not here for an interview though, but just here to get some things off his chest. Bret says that every once in a while, a slimy hyena breaks through and makes the kill on a lion. Bret considers the American wrestling fan – Austin’s people – a lousy pack of hyenas because they don’t stand up for real heroes anymore. He calls America a sick depraved society that wants to see bloodshed and violence. Bret asks the crowd if they are tired of hearing him say how he’s the best there is, was, and ever will be. He then ties that in with the rest of the world’s opinion of America. BRILLIANT. Bret wants the ambulance to stand by because people like Steve Austin and maybe even Shawn Michaels might need a ride to the hospital. This week, Bret declares that it’ll be the Hart Foundation that will be dishing out the punishment that those two people deserve. Finally, Bret just has enough of the disrespect and leaves with Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith.

Backstage, Austin is still walking around wielding that axe handle.

• The Legion of Doom vs. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon

It’s New Japan v. All Japan! Furnas and LaFon get asked before the match why they haven’t been accepted by the fans since they are considered international superstars. They figure it’s because they’re professional wrestlers and not ‘clowns’ like the Legion of Doom. Oh yeah, that’ll win you some fans. JR wishes Henry Godwinn a speedy recovery from a broken neck he suffered. Way shorter than I thought it would be. Hawk gets worked over and Animal gets the hot tag. They go for the DOOMSDAY DEVICE on LaFon, but Furnas breaks it up. However, Hawk is still up top and gives him a Flying Clothesline anyway. Animal jumps on top of Furnas for the 1-2-3. (3:49) JR interviews the losers afterward. Furnas blames LOD for having the home team advantage, so they had no chance to get over. LaFon wants a rematch – and SOON! ¾*

Let Us Take You Back: Shotgun Saturday Night, 4/26/97. The Headbangers interrupt Sunny’s segment.

Back to Raw, Sunny heads out to model Stone Cold Steve Austin’s classic Austin 3:16 smoking skull shirt.

In the locker room, Ahmed Johnson explodes just thinking about the Nation of Domination.

Elsewhere, the Hart Foundation are having a meeting of the minds. They didn’t invite Brian Pillman though because he’s still in his own room praying for Owen Hart while holding his Slammy awards.

Castrol Super Clean All Wheel Cleaner Slam of the Week: Dustin and Terri Runnels jumping the rail and attacking Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna.

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia vs. Owen Hart

Davey Boy wheels Bret out onto the ramp so he can witness firsthand his brother’s IC title match. Owen says he’s winning this title for Bret – because he loves him. Owen BUM RUSHES THE SHOW all over Rocky to start, but Maivia fires back and hooks an armbar. There’s an article in the WWF magazine with Bret Hart and Bart Simpson on the cover discussing how Rocky Maivia being a ‘sophomore jinx’. To be fair, it’s kind of hard to be a sophomore when you’ve only been around for six months. Lawler calls Owen Hart the most underrated talent in WWF history and JR agrees. Owen fights away from the armbar and dumps Rocky to the floor. He follows up with a baseball slide that sends Rocky into the guardrail. Owen hits a missile dropkick back inside for two. Now Owen goes after the leg for a while. This leads to a SHARPSHOOTER attempt, but Rocky pulls him off by the hair. They mess up what I believe would be the Hurricane DDT. Try again, fellas. That gets two. Rock Bottom gets another nearfall. Maivia charges the corner and eats a Spinning Heel Kick. Owen heads up top, but he’s crotched and brought down with a back superplex for 1-2-NO! Next, Owen flips out of a suplex and the Rolling Clutch catches Rocky for the 1-2-3. (8:27) Owen wins his FIRST singles title in the WWF. Plus, the Hart Foundation now possess 3/4 of the WWF titles. Awesome moment! Afterwards, Owen hands the belt over to Bret while Davey Boy wheels Bret around on the stage for a victory lap. Owen – “Look at all the gold! We’re RICH!” **

Meanwhile backstage, we see Steve Austin wheeling himself around in a wheelchair. It’s not a toy, Steve!

It’s 9PM! TIME TO ENTER THE WARZONE!

Vince introduces Stone Cold Steve Austin. However, he doesn’t come down the ramp. UNH-UHH! Not by a long shot! He comes in through the crowd carrying a wheelchair and the axe handle. Austin sits in the wheelchair inside the ring. He holds the axe handle in one hand, the mic in the other. See ya later, Vince. Who wants to see a wheelchair match? Once again, he calls out Bret Hart. He promises he’ll stay in the wheelchair the whole time he’s beating him up. Oh wait, he’s lying. He would SO get up, stomp a mudhole in Bret Hart, and walk it dry. Austin stands up and sets the record straight on who Austin’s people are. His people is the one he looks at in the mirror every morning. In other words, he’s the only people he cares about. As for May 11 at Cold Day in Hell, Steve Austin says he will leave the show as the WWF champion. That’s the bottom line cuz Stone Cold said so. Bret Hart appears on the TitanTron suggesting that Steve Austin will be taking a ride in the ambulance this week. Of course, Austin thinks otherwise. Commercials!

When we return, we witness Vader’s international incident over on ‘Good Morning Kuwait’. That brings up Ken Shamrock and his challenge sent out to Mike Tyson. That leads to some UFC footage of Ken Shamrock to help wrestling fans get to know this so-called World’s Most Dangerous Man. Before he can face Mike Tyson, he’s got Vader to deal with at Cold Day in Hell. They end the video package with Shamrock walking his dog and hanging out with his kids. World’s Most Dangerous Man? Seeing that little piece of footage makes me wonder what craziness Mike Tyson was probably getting into when this aired.

• Vader vs. Jesse James

JR calls Vader the stupidest man in Kuwait and continues to call him stupid throughout this match. What’s more interesting, both Vince and JR shill the upcoming UFC PPV airing May 30. It’s UFC 13! Guess who Randy Couture faces on that show? LUDVIG BORGA! No fooling. Couture choked him out in 57 seconds. Anywho, Vader literally squashes James here with a VADER BOMB in 1:36.

After the match, JR gets in the ring and asks Vader if he has any remorse for what he did in Kuwait. Vader will not apologize to anyone for any reason. JR asks Vader if he thinks he overreacted to what he did to that TV presenter to the question concerning whether or not wrestling is fake. As Vader starts backing JR into the corner, JR refers to him as his real name Leon. Vader then GOOZLES JR, which brings out Ken Shamrock for the save as he explodes on Vader with a belly to belly suplex. That sends Vader running scared.

Over in Goldust’s dressing room, he tells Marlena to stay in the back tonight because it’s going to get dangerous out there.

• Goldust vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna)

It’s a brawl right from the start as we expected. While Goldust is perched on top of HHH in the corner for the ten-count corner punch, he decides to give Hunter a big kiss. On the WWF Hotline, JR says that Sunny and Psycho Sid are making the headlines! WHAT! Helmsley scores an inverted atomic drop to stop this onslaught and follows up with a High Knee. To the floor, Chyna gets in her stomps. That brings out Marlena to watch out for her “man”. Commercials! When we come back, HHH hits a facebuster as Vince mentions “shades of Ellen”. Okay? He explains further by saying that next week Goldust will be ‘coming out of the closet’. Something to look forward to! Apparently, it’s not what you think, which makes the whole Ellen analogy meaningless if that’s true. Goldust makes a comeback with the Bulldog as Chyna starts to go after Marlena. Once again, she’s WAY late on her cue as Chyna doesn’t even start going over towards her until Goldust gets out of the ring. Anyways, Marlena throws salt in her eyes. As HHH comes out to check on her, a blind Chyna choke lifts HHH up and costs him the match via countout. (4:51 shown) Not much to it and nothing was solved. Just another chapter in the feud, I suppose. ¾*

Before Helmsley and Chyna can even make it backstage, the Undertaker appears on the TitanTron for an interview. Does he feel bad for what happened to Paul Bearer last Sunday? He says no one’s face should be lit on fire, but the one who covets the flame will surely burn. As for Steve Austin, he’ll definitely rest in peace at Cold Day in Hell if he becomes distracted by the Hart Foundation.

And then Sunny comes out to model the Undertaker’s twin crosses t-shirt. Dok Hendrix says he bets she wears it at night so he can rest in peace. Okay, I laughed at that one.

Somewhere still praying, Pillman asks that Davey Boy can cripple that sick freak. This dude has officially lost it.

After the break, we look to see Steve Austin still pacing the hallways.

• WWF World Champion The Undertaker vs. Davey Boy Smith (w/Bret & Owen Hart)

Just like before, Owen stands by Bret at the top of the ramp. British Bulldog thanks Bret for introducing him to his lovely wife Diana and says he’s winning the WWF title for him tonight. McMahon kills all the anticipation by reminding us this is a non-title match. Before things really get going, we go to commercial. When we return, DBS is finishing off a Hourglass Suplex for two. Next thing you know, Taker catches Bulldog with a Chokeslam and calls for the TOMBSTONE, but Owen runs down for the DQ at 1:49 shown.

With Owen and Bulldog doing a number on the Undertaker, that leaves a helpless Bret Hart all alone with Steve Austin running loose. Instead of going right after Bret, Austin jumps the rail and helps get rid of Owen and Bulldog. Once that’s over, Austin grabs the WWF title and poses up in the corner. Undertaker heads back in the ring wondering what the heck Austin is thinking. Austin throws the belt down, says a couple things, and drops the Undertaker with the STONE COLD STUNNER! Will the Undertaker sit up? Not until Austin stands over him with double birds and curse words. UT goozles and CHOEKSLAMS Austin to send him bouncing out of the ring. That’s when Austin spies Bret Hart being all alone in a wheelchair. As Bret uses his crutches to get up out of the wheelchair, Austin walks over towards him. Before he can lay a finger on Bret, JIM THE ANVIL NEIDHART RETURNS and blasts Austin from behind! After refs and agents take Jim Neidhart away, Bret breaks one of his crutches over Austin to send him crashing off the stage. Now Neidhart comes back over and helps Bret backstage. Meanwhile, Austin lies motionless on the concrete as EMTs try and take him away on a stretcher.

Looks like Pillman’s prayer was answered. He’s all smiles about it too. Certainly a crazy smile, but a smile is a smile, right?! I don’t know.

WWF In Your House presents: A Cold Day in Hell
LIVE on PPV – May 11 from Richmond, VA
Here is the card as it looks at the end of this show:

MAIN EVENT: WWF World Champion The Undertaker vs. Steve Austin
Ken Shamrock vs. Vader (No Holds Barred)
Ahmed Johnson vs. Nation of Domination (Gauntlet Match)