WWF RAW Is WAR Review: March 10th, 1997

The Great Debate Shall Commence!

Jerry Lawler vs. Paul E Dangerously: A War of Words!

After all the teases embedded throughout this episode, the Great Debate is finally here!

The first great moment is when JR introduces Paul E Dangerously as the one representing Extreme Championship Wrestling, but JR introduces Lawler as the one representing himself, not the WWF!

They begin the debate with a comical question- "Should ECW Even Exist?"

JR quips that they had an obligatory coin toss back in the locker room (of course) (even McMahon laughed at this one), & Mr. Lawler won the toss, so he goes first for 90 seconds.

Lawler comes up with the following points-

1) The question isn't whether ECW Should Exist, the question should be whether ECW DOES Exist in the first place or not.

2) A bunch of misfits decided to migrate to Philadelphia & get hit in the head with frying pans & barbed wire baseball bats to get more idiots in Philly to come to see them.

JR: "Your time is up"

Lawler: "My time is not up!"

3) ECW draws about 1100 people in bingo halls in Philly, whereas WWF draws around 22,000 people whenever they come to Philadelphia. There are 1100 morons that'll rather come watch paint dry.

Paul E finally gets some words in eventually, & gets into the heart & soul of ECW. Other ECW superstars come out to have his back. Paul E even says that WWF drawing around 22,000 people is not a testament to anything Jerry Lawler has achieved in his life.

The most quote-worthy moment of this show

It gets to a point where they literally turn it into a 'shoot' segment. Both of them even use the word 'shoot' on what could possibly be the first time on WWF TV.

Paul E: “You wanna shoot with me? You wanna shoot with me?”

Lawler: “Yeah, I’m shootin’ with you! That’s right.”

Paul E: “Hey – How ya doin’ at the see-saws in Louisville, Jerry? Your OWN SONS don’t even call themselves Lawlers. Why? Why? Because they’re ashamed of your ass! We earned everything we got! We give these people their money’s worth!”

Lawler: “You never earned anything in your life. You’re a 35-year-old man…”

Paul E: “How old are you?”

More ECW guys come up to the ring. Jerry Lawler says that even he could order the entire WWF Roster to come in & annihilate them.

But when Lawler gets backed up into a corner, nobody from the WWF Roster comes out to save him! Tommy Dreamer says they'll start a war if Lawler wants to start one.

Jerry Lawler truly represented himself (and himself ONLY)

The segment ends without any violence but leaves us with a ton of quotes & impressive dialogue.

RAW Is WAR everyone.