Monday Night Raw
June 10, 1996
Fayetteville, NC
Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Shawn Michaels (3/31/96)
Intercontinental Champion: Goldust (4/22/96)
World Tag Team Champions: The Smoking Gunns (5/26/96)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Vince hypes the Ultimate Warrior interview. Lawler has a framed picture he painted of the WOYAH that he wants to give him tonight to show there’s no hard feelings.

• Yokozuna vs. Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette) – KOTR Qualifier
  

Vince informs us that Yokozuna is now 666 pounds! I think you need to lose at least a pound there, buddy. Yoko does fine against Owen until he misses an elbow drop. While he picks himself up near the ropes, Cornette jabs him in the throat with his tennis racket. Crowd wants Bret, but Owen wants a Spinning Heel Kick, as he takes Yoko off his feet. Headbutts fail to bother Yoko. He fires back on Owen and drags him to the corner for the Banzai Drop, but he loses his footing and hits his head on the mat. Owen cradles up Yoko the best he can and gets some extra leverage for the win to advance in the tournament. (3:57) Short and harmless. ½*

We get some footage from the Rosemont Horizon card last night in one of the biggest houses they drew in the US up to this point in 1996. Maybe it was because the Ultimate Warrior was there? Plus, Shawn busted out the Kliq Cam!

From the Action Zone, Jake Roberts gives us a very personal interview about his demons. It’s 2013. We’ve heard it all before.

• Marc Mero (w/Sable) vs. Skip – KOTR Qualifier
  

Roberts joins us for color commentary here. He faces Bradshaw next week on Superstars in the KOTR tournament. Before the match, we go to Jim Ross who is in the locker room with Yokozuna. Due to his overwhelming desire to get his hands on Jim Cornette, Yoko says he can’t concentrate on what he’s doing in the ring and needs to leave to go find himself. Man, I don’t even want to make any fat jokes about this guy. Collar and elbow tie-ups lead to Mero executing a flurry of armdrags. Skip retreats to the floor. Back in, Skip catches Mero charging in the corner and then hangs him out to dry on the top rope. Skip hits a snap suplex and a flying fist drop. He comes off the top, but Mero dropkicks him on the way down. Top-rope hurracanrana from Skip fails as Mero holds onto the ropes. Flying sunset flip by Mero gets two. Let’s go to a commercial. When we come back, Skip grabs a chinlock. Mero comes back with right hands. Where’s the Kiss That Don’t Miss, Johnny? Mr. Wrestling Knee Lift connects, but Mero misses a charge and goes flying over the top rope. Skip tries a plancha and eats the floor as well. With Skip stunned, Mero makes it back inside and then lands a somersault plancha of his own. Back in, the slingshot splash gets two. Top Rope Hurracanrana by Mero gets the win to advance. (10:32 shown) A little rough at times, but not bad. **¼

Sega Saturn Slam of the Week: Savio Vega throwing Steve Austin around by the strap at In Your House. Wasn’t this like two weeks ago?

Vince McMahon introduces the Ultimate Warrior. Big reaction for him. Why is he wearing a ball cap though? That takes away like 75% of his weird mystique. Jerry Lawler joins us in the ring and wants to present Warrior with the framed portrait as a peace offering so that they won’t have to wrestle at the King of the Ring. Warrior says he sees Jerry Lawler as the “biggest con artist there ever was”. Essentially, there’s nothing that Lawler could do that would stop him from kicking his butt at the King of the Ring. When Warrior turns away, Lawler smashes the portrait over his back. While Warrior is busy no-selling and shaking the ropes, Lawler hightails it to the locker room. Warrior chases after him, but he’s long gone. SHOCKING TURN OF EVENTS~!

• The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Davey Boy Smith (w/Jim Cornette, Owen Hart & Diana Hart-Smith)
  

Before the match, Shawn Michaels is interviewed from the WWF Studios. Cornette interrupts from the arena to screw with Shawn. But that’s not all. He says that Clarence Mason’s aggravated assault and battery lawsuit against Gorilla Monsoon has been settled out of court in return for Jim Cornette getting the right to name a special referee for the WWF title match at the King of the Ring. Corny stays with us on commentary for the match. YES! Stick-and-move strategy doesn’t work and Taker chokes Davey Boy until he has to bail. Back in, Taker hits Old School. Bulldog fires back with the Hourglass Suplex, but Taker NO-SELLS. Commercials! When we return, Davey Boy has Taker down in a chinlock. The arm drops once, twice, BUT NOT THRICE! Taker fights up, but telegraphs a backdrop and takes a swinging neckbreaker and a legdrop for two. Back to the chinlock. Taker escapes this time with a back suplex. Neither man can hit their finisher. They trade blows to take us into more commercials. Hey, the WWF Superstar Line begged the question as to whether or not Brian Pillman is coming to the WWF. Somebody call and find out! AND WE’RE BACK! Taker delivers the Jumping Lariat and the Chokeslam, but then clotheslines Davey Boy to the floor. Bulldog pulls him out, but takes a ride into the steps. Taker rolls Bulldog back inside and as he goes to climb back into the ring, Mankind appears from under the ring and grabs hold of Taker’s foot to cause him to get counted out! (13:36 shown) This actually wasn’t a bad TV match and the finish made some sense. Undertaker isn’t going to lose on free TV, but you also couldn’t have him beat Bulldog two weeks before his WWF title match. Davey Boy helps Mankind put the Undertaker in the ring. Not wanting anything to do with this unpredictable monster, Cornette takes his men and Diana back to the locker room. Mankind gives Taker the Pull-Up Piledriver and threatens him with the Mandible Claw. Before we see anything further, refs and agents come out to try and stop Mankind as we go off the air. ***

Tonight, Raw narrowly defeated Nitro 2.7 to 2.6 in the ratings. This would prove to be the last episode of Raw where the WWF would win against Nitro in head-to-head ratings until April 1998.

NEXT WEEK: In KOTR quarterfinals action, Savio Vega meets Steve Austin while Owen Hart takes on Marc Mero!