Looking back at Monday Night RAW February 24th, 1997

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Ken Shamrock finally gets some character-work in...

Ken Shamrock is being interviewed by Todd Pettingill. Shamrock picks Undertaker over Sid for their WrestleMania 13 encounter. However, Shamrock can’t pick a winner when it comes to Bret vs. Steve Austin.

Even the crowd is split between these two competitors. But it’s time for the main-event, Farooq comes out with N.O.D. He stops by Shamrock’s side & trashes the UFC. Ken Shamrock gets up in a fit & says that he’d be willing to step into the ring with Farooq anytime.

That’s not going to happen tonight though, as it’s finally time for the Deadman to make his entrance…

MATCH #8: THE UNDERTAKER vs. FAROOQ (w/ Nation of Domination)

“Sit down you morons.” Looks like Lawler isn’t having it with the fans anymore.

Undertaker starts off with a quick flying clothesline. He executes an old-school right after that.

The Undertaker executes it old-school style...

As always, Farooq rolls out to regroup for a bit. As things are settling down, McMahon takes some time to promote next week’s show from Berlin, Germany. The European Championship is supposed to reel the viewers in next week.

Lawler: “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” (Do you speak German?)

Lawler: “McMahon, C'mon, do you?”

McMahon: “Do I speak German? I-I—“

Lawler: “You’ll be totally lost over there.”

(Later) McMahon: “Most Europeans— bilingual”.

Lawler (totally sucking it up): “Yeah, I’ve heard that about them”.

Oh man, watching The Attitude Era all over again just makes everyone realize how the role of commentary in professional wrestling plays a huge part in making the show great.

As for the match, it’s nothing special. Don’t get me wrong, there are a couple of good spots in there, but the match does not fit in with the ‘trashy’ vibe set by the previous moments on this week’s show.

I notice that somebody is holding a ‘DIE ROCKY’ sign in the audience. Good thing he was not a part of tonight’s show. Farooq throws the Deadman into the corner & ‘Taker responds with a gigantic Fame Asser.

D’ Lo Brown & a couple of other Nation members interfere towards the end. Farooq unexpectedly goes for the piledriver, but ‘Taker gets up in his classic ‘Deadman’ fashion. The Phenom is outnumbered.

Crush & Vega cause the DQ as this match goes over 10 minutes. After the match, Legion of Doom come out to help ‘Taker in clearing out the ring.

That is how the show ends. It kind of pales in comparison to the last two weeks.

Result: The Undertaker wins via DQ.

Isn’t it weird how the WWF couldn’t even steal the spotlight on their own show?

Imagine if ROH or Lucha Underground just showed up on RAW in 2018.

Despite having The Undertaker, WWF couldn't steal the spotlight on their own weekly show...

Tonally, this week’s show was all over the place. It was not structured perfectly. The start & finish of the 24th February 1997 edition RAW was not up to the mark.

However, this episode was also like a bizarre mini-detour in a way that nobody expected it to be. There was no Steve Austin, there was no Bret Hart, there was no Psycho Sid, there was no Owen Hart, there was no Rocky Maivia & there was no Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

What we witnessed were parts of the WWF, UFC & ECW converging all together for ONE NIGHT ONLY. How often does that happen?

Still, this was one of the craziest RAW episodes ever, with WWF superstars being constantly overshadowed by ECW & the man behind it all— Paul E. Dangerously. ECW will be back to continue this saga in a few weeks’ time.

GRADE: B-

Join me next week as I recap the March 3rd, 1997 edition of Monday Night RAW. Until then, you can check out last week's recap by clicking here. You can also follow me here to stay updated. Send me interesting stuff/picture edits/facts/feedback regarding the old-school recaps at E-Mail: [email protected].

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