WWF 'Royal Rumble RAW' Review: February 3rd,1997

Is Shawn Michaels WWE's Equivalent Of Muhammad Ali?

Vince McMahon conducts an in-ring interview with Shawn Michaels.

Vince McMahon conducts an in-ring interview with Shawn Michaels. We’re in Toronto, & we know Bret Hart doesn’t like HBK. Therefore, if Bret doesn’t like HBK- Canada doesn’t like HBK. Simple.

Shawn Michaels & Psycho Sid will face-off against each other next week on Thursday RAW Thursday. In anticipation of that, McMahon asks Shawn to respond to Sid’s comments (roller coaster stuff) that he made a few segments ago.

Shawn says he hates to agree with Sid, but the WWF Title does bring out the worst in him & others who have held it. Therefore, HBK says he’ll do whatever he can to hang onto the WWF Title.

“Everybody hated Muhammad Ali when he was champion…Now everyone refers to him as the greatest of all time” — Shawn Michaels.

HBK compares himself to Muhammad Ali, as both of them do share similarities during their respective reigns as champions. He takes a dig at Bret Hart in front of Canada, & as expected, the Hitman comes out immediately.

Bret says he tries to like HBK, but he just keeps on finding it harder & harder all the time. I don’t know about you, but this comment might indirectly hint at their real-life relationship backstage. In situations like this, we never know if both of them really mean what they say or not.

Bret even calls HBK a ‘punk’, & while all of this is going on- Steve Austin unexpectedly tackles Bret out of nowhere & drags him out of the ring. Meanwhile, Psycho Sid walks into the ring, yelling at Shawn Michaels.

Ad-break!

After we come back, Sid & Austin are nowhere to be seen. What happened? Looks like the officials escorted Psycho Sid & Stone Cold Steve Austin backstage during the ad-break. The management is waiting for the IC Title match to start, but Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels are staring a hole into each other, refusing to leave while the WWF Title lies in the middle of the two.

This is what fans came to see

The crowd starts buzzing collectively, as the noise starts increasing in anticipation. What we’re seeing right here is basically two competitors who are eventually going to main-event WrestleMania 13. They have the story, they have chemistry & a lot of history together. It seems perfect.

But fate doesn’t work that way. Sure, Bret picks up the title & it looks like The Hitman will be personally handing the title to HBK. HBK extends his hand to grab the title, only for Bret to toss it away & leave the ring, disgusted.

No action happens, but the Canadians are cheering anyway. However, like I said, fate doesn’t work that way. Perfect coincidences have had a huge part in shaping up The Attitude Era, & one of those ‘huge’ coincidences is going to happen next week.

But that’s next week. We have 2 more fan-service matches to go…

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MATCH #5: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (c) vs. Marc Mero {WWF Intercontinental Championship Match}.

Somersault Planchas in 1997?

HHH & Mero’s respective managers- Sable & Mr. Hughes are barred from ringside.

This match is going well!

Marc Mero is doing all of those big fancy moves that the Main-Roster WWE wrestlers in 2018 do on a weekly basis. Hunter Hearst Helmsley does what Triple H would do, & vice-versa (he just wrestles like himself all the time, that’s all I’m saying).

Mero outwrestles HHH for the majority of this match & let’s be true to ourselves- At this point in the show, we don’t need a match that allows the viewers to look here & there all the time. Mero’s stuff keeps the viewers fixated on their TV Screens.

Triple H does methodical Triple H before even being Triple H & the commentators are bashing Robin Hood (WCW’s equivalent of La Femme Nikita) over La Femme Nikita.

There’s a great spot where Triple H is seated at the top rope & Mero flips him over with a Hurricanrana. HHH finally takes control by using a nasty backbreaker.

But HHH is a fraud, he immediately exposes a turnbuckle to finish this off fast. Mero reverses with a Samoan Drop. But Marc Mero isn’t done yet, he goes to the top & performs a sick moonsault to a standing HHH.

This is what house-show matches signify. It’s all fan-service without any major progress in feuds. So HHH takes bumps throughout the whole match, but in the end, he procures a foreign object from his right boot. What is the foreign object? I don’t exactly know, the footage is fuzzy & dark & off-putting (but it looks like a steel knuckle thingy). He punches Mero with it & pins him successfully. HHH retains the Intercontinental Title. Like the Flash Funk match, this one grabbed everybody’s attention but ended in an underwhelming manner.

RESULT: HHH retains via pinfall.