Exposer

What a shock. Austin has another great segment. This time Vince wants to know his answer about the three options he gave him the previous week. The "jackass" line is hilarious. Austin & Vince go back & forth before agreeing that if Austin signs Vince's waiver he gets an IC Title shot as soon as possible against Owen Hart. Austin is smart & says he won't sign the waiver until Vince signs a piece of paper saying that the Owen match will happen. Faarooq shows up on the tron since Austin attacked him & cost him the IC Title because he wanted Owen. Faarooq cuts an awesome promo on Austin telling him what the word "ass" means where he's from. Austin's response is tremendous. Every week there is a great Austin segment. The guy is so fun to watch.

This is awesome. It's actually kind of theraputic after the way Shawn & Hunter were to open the show. There are a lot of great lines in this, but the Waltman one about him throwing up on himself is my favorite. I agree that in the end, these are dumb because they do promote WCW, but I love most Cornette rants & this one is great.

Shawn has officially jumped the shark for me. I can't stand him. Not only in the since that's he's a heel & is suppose to be hated, but as someone who refuses to even play with the idea of putting someone else over either in a promo, match, or segment. This segment is an endless nightmare of Shawn Michaels & HHH goofing off. It's actually funny at times, but this went on & on. Michael Cole getting a wedgie & not knowing how to sell it is hilarious. The footage of the Curtain Call being shown in a "lol shooty, shoot, shoot" dig at Vince is one of the worst moments in RAW history. So stupid. Shawn berates Vince at the announce booth over the commerical break & The Hart Foundation come out when the show comes back. Bret calls Shawn & Hunter homos & in a funny moment HHH's best comeback is to say he isn't one. Bret says he ran Diesel & Razor out of the company & will do the same to Shawn & Hunter. This is weird foreshadowing. Bret challenges Hunter to a match tonight & leaves. Shawn & Hunter no sell Bret during his promo & it's awful. They suck. Shawn continues to go on a shooty rant after Bret leaves & says Bret is confusing the words expansion & destruction when it comes to the Kliq. Fuck off. This is one of the most ridiculous segments in RAW history & is probably the worst Shawn has ever been.

Nice tribute to Pillman. The shots of multiple dead wrestlers who'd pass within the next few years is really sad.

Really great match. Knowing the story coming in really helps it. The pacing is slow, but I think that's fine. People wanted to see Taker kick Shawn's ass & indeed he did. Shawn took some huge bumps in this. They did a really great job of using the cell in different ways to introduce the gimmick. I also liked that Shawn got a considerable amount of time on offense. It made Taker's comebacks get huge pops therefore making Shawn's continued ass whipping feel earned within the match. The cameraman spot is well done even if it goes on a bit long. It's consistent with Shawn's character & personality to pitch a fit mid-match & find somebody to blame for it. That's clearly why that was done. The stuff outside of the cell is legendary & pretty awesome. Shawn has maybe his best blade job ever. The spots on top of the cell are insane & get massive pops. The table bump is spectacular. I loved the commentary just keeping quiet for a minute as the crowd loses their minds after the spot. The chair spot is tremendous as it serves as Taker getting his payback. It's also perfectly placed right before he signals for the tombstone. The Kane debut is fucking awesome. I've always liked it. Taker losing to one tombstone is a bit odd & Hebner's ridiculously slow count is annoying, but those are my biggest complaints. Fantastic match.

This is barely a match. Bret & Bulldog attack Undertaker during his entrance & are chased off by Vader & The Patriot. I think they did that as a message to him if he wins Hell in a Cell. Shawn & HHH capitalize & go on the attack. They finally get into the ring for the match to start, but it doesn't last long. Taker hits a chokeslam, but Rude interferes & hits Taker with a briefcase leading to a DQ. The beat down is on as Rude removes a body bag from the briefcases & leaves. DX put Taker in the body bag but he sits up in a cool moment & breaks out of it. Taker goes after Michaels & HHH follows. They brawl on the stage. As Michaels tries to leave there's a glaring red light that scares him & keeps him from escaping. I'm assuming that was a sign that Kane is coming. Michaels scales the tron to get away in a crazy moment while Taker tombstones HHH on the stage. There actually isn't a ton of heat for this. It's good heat, but not great. Strong ending leading into Hell in a Cell though.

Owen's shirt is amazing. Owen cuts a promo on his IC Title match with Faarooq at Badd Blood. He's ready to win the title back after losing it to Austin due to his own mistake at Summerslam. Owen then tells Vince he should do the right thing & fire Austin. Owen goes to celebrate & we see Vince leave the ring in a hurry. Austin dressed as one of Owen's riot squad that escorted him to the ring! Austin had taken the helmet off & scared Vince. He stuns Owen to a huge pop & escapes through the crowd. The fans blocking the riot squad from following Austin was crazy. Another great segment.

Great segment. Austin comes out first & calls Vince into the ring in a nice touch. Both are really great here. Vince gives Austin three options for next week. The first is to bring a doctor's signature clearing him to wrestle. The second is signing a waiver that allows him to wrestle but says the WWF has no responsibility if he gets hurt. The third is termination. Austin responds to each option the Austin way. He says if Vince fires him he'll beat him like he's never been beaten before. The antics after the interview are hilarious with Austin basically building up to giving Vince the middle finger at the announce booth which gets a big pop. Vince is very reasonable, but I think Austin is in the right too at least in the way that he wants to be able to make his own decisions including wrestling. Fans sympathized with that part of his character.

The Headbangers seem to be in all of these commercials. Sable defeats them easily. I think I like the Sunny supersoaker commercials more. Pillman's final RAW segment. This is sad. He wants Goldust to be handcuffed to the ringpost during his match with Dude Love at Badd Blood. Marlena's acting is pretty good here. Otherwise, this is sadly the lowest point of Pillman's career.

This isn't on the Network version of this RAW. At least I couldn't find it. They rarely edit anything, but what they do edit doesn't make sense. I know a good bit about Simmons athletic background being a huge football fan so nothing too much to miss here.

Here comes DX. Shawn & HHH are obnoxious as hell here poking at Vince's ear. Rude says Vince should hire him as protection since Austin attacked him last week. HHH is a boring promo & not very good. He & Shawn are night & day here. Sarge comes out. Shawn & Hunter act like they've been showered with spit as he talks in their face. Amusing. Sarge announces Taker-HHH tonight which HHH doesn't like. Then the Hart Foundation show up & say DX will pay for the crime they committed on Davey & the Hart Foundation at One Night Only. Shawn & HHH make fun of Bret's threat & exaggerate being scared. These guys are fucking assholes. Ok segment.

Shawn is such a scumbag. He comes out unannounced with a chair & calls out the Undertaker telling him to bring his "dead ass" to the ring. Taker takes the bait but HHH charges him down the aisle. Taker sees it & clocks him but Michaels hits him with the chair. Rude & Chyna show up & DX pounds away on Taker on the ramp. Several chairshots here. This has really good heat & is a good angle to go into Bad Blood. The Shawn heel push has been effective so far, but I'm going to be really annoyed with it very soon I think. Post-Montreal 1997 may drive me insane.

Famous match. Cactus Jack makes his WWF debut & they way they do it is so brilliant. They played off the interview series so well. The series was basically the template for booking Foley for the remainder of the year. Big pop on the Cactus reveal. Fun brawl with lots of big bumps & a hot crowd. They actually take out an entire guardrail at one point. Chyna gets involved some & gets her comeuppance after HHH pushes Cactus into by accident & they both go crashing into the steps. Great finish with HHH bringing a table onto the stage from the back & going for a pedigree but Cactus reversing & hitting a piledriver through it to a huge pop for the win. This is an all-time great RAW.

The pre-match stuff is fun. Pillman comes out in a sling & says while he was having sex with Marlena the night before he slipped in the bathtub. He's decided to forfeit the match & give it to Owen. Owen is of course in on this & acts all "oh shucks" about it. Sarge comes out & asks Pillman where his x-rays & doctor's note are. Pillman keeps it going until Sarge throws his mic at him & Pillman catches it with his "bad" arm. The match is on. Funny match at the start with Owen & Pillman deliberately half-assing it. During the break, Marlena hit Owen with her purse & Owen got mad & took it out on Pillman. They're having a real go at it now. Not much to it. Pillman is very sad to watch at this point for several reasons. Goldust runs out & hits Owen then attacks Pillman. Pillman grabs Marlena & Goldust chases after them. Owen wins by DQ. Owen is bragging on the mic when Austin shows up & attacks him. The cops surrounding the ring protecting Owen swarm the ring pretty quickly & try to restrain Austin to take him to jail. Tons of heat for this. Vince leaves the announce booth & asks the police to let Austin go for a moment so he can speak with him. Vince is great here trying to reason with Austin telling him to think about his health & that he's gone too far by breaking the law. He tells Austin he'll be back in due time & to just work within the system. Austin says he's the best wrestler in the world & reluctantly "agrees" to work within the system. A few seconds later he hits the stunner heard round the world. Huge pop for it. Austin gets put in handcuffs & flips Vince off in them. He's taken to jail as JR & King speculate he may be fired. Legendary segment. That stunner is the exact moment Austin became the guy for good. One of the most important moments, if not the most important moment, in WWF history.

I liked Taker's promo. I think it's his best one so far in this feud. Shawn is typical Shawn being outrageous. He says what he's been saying for over a month now. The big news here is the winner of Hell in a Cell will face the WWF Champion at Survivor Series. Solid segment.

Great match. The crowd is really behind Davey Boy in this. His sister coming out with him is a cool moment. Shawn's entrance is absurd as always. HBK takes some huge bumps in the early going including a crazy back body drop to the floor where he rolls onto his head hard at the end. Davey has the advantage for awhile but Rude, HHH, & Chyna show up. Tons of heat for Rude & company getting involved. Davey takes a great post bump after Rude sends him into it. Most of the heat is worked around interference spots & Davey using his strength to get out of holds. Really simple but fun wrestling. I wish the Hart Foundation would have helped poor Davey though. The finish is crazy with Davey fighting off DX & attempting a running powerslam to Shawn on the floor but his leg slipping underneath the small drop off at the railing. Clever. HBK superkicks him then DX slams the rail against his knee. HHH pedigrees him on the floor too. He's brought back into the ring & Shawn locks in the figure four as the crowd cheers big time for Davey. Shawn had taken off his knee brace & chugged it at Diana in the front row in an amazing asshole moment. My goodness. Davey's in a lot of pain & tries to fight out but DX keep assisting Shawn at the ropes & such. Davey passes out & can't respond awarding the match & European Title to Shawn. This gets MASSIVE heat. I've never seen heat like this in the WWF. Good lord. Shawn gets on the mic & mocks the Smith family in the front row & locks on the figure four again. Diana runs into the ring & starts choking Shawn! Chyna grabs Diana & starts ragdolling her. This is nuts. Tons of trash being thrown into the ring here. Bret & Owen run down to make the save as DX gets pelted with trash as they taunt on stage. HHH trying to be cool is hilarious. Totally insane post-match with mega heat. This was a great show.

Awesome match. Probably the third best WWF match of the year behind only Bret-Austin & Canadian Stampede. They go long but the heat for this is through the roof. Very mixed reaction which really adds to the match. I liked the exposed turnbuckle backfiring on Bret. Taker using a heart punch had me audibly marking out. Bret's a master of leg work & pacing so this match had some tremendous build. The big moments are outstanding such as the ring post figure four, Taker reversing the figure four in the ring, & later countering the sharpshooter to a thunderous pop. The tombstone tease & finish is actually awesome if one can forgive the finish. Bret sold getting hung up in the ropes like death. The only truly bad part of the match are Taker's punches in the final seconds. I would have gone for body shots & actually made some contact. Minor complaint though. The post-match is fun with Taker attacking ref's & officials including Gerald Brisco taking an insane bump onto his head from a chokeslam. All in all, an excellent match with great heat. I really enjoyed this.

This is really good! Owen is over as hell here. He was more over than Bret on this show. Owen works baby face & we get a WCW like Vader match where he dominates & Owen has to use his speed & will to get the advantage. The pop for the sharpshooter is great. Awesome finishing run with Owen getting a string of offense in but taking one too many risks & losing. Great match.

Where is this from? It's not on the Network version of One Night Only. I did see the show opening as well as interviews from Davey & Shawn. I liked the childhood photos of Davey. Davey's interview talking about his sister is neat too. Good build to the match within the show.

Yeah, there's editing after Shawn's first few comments. I liked his reasoning for going after Davey Boy. He wants to be the first person to win all four belts in the WWF. Makes sense. He blames the WWF for everything again & starts telling lies about how he & Taker had the match of the night at Ground Zero. I didn't see any other matches from that show, but I didn't like that one. Shawn looks completely ridiculous with the shorts during all of this. What a moron. He sticks to the same deal about if he's going to go down, he's bringing everyone with him. Taker shows up on the tron behind a cage & cuts a promo about how he can still taste his blood, Rest in Peace, etc. Solid build for Hell in a Cell. I think Ground Zero hurt this feud because the match was so overbooked. It hurt the heat. Plus, Austin running around like a maniac was by far the most interesting thing going on. People were always waiting for what Austin would do next & this feud wasn't quite delivering enough interesting parts to match that. I'm still enjoying this feud, but it's a step down from the amazing spring & summer.

Really good segment. Lawler interviews Austin because I'm assuming others are afraid to at this point. Lawler kisses up to Austin & makes fun of JR & Sarge for getting stunners. Austin talks trash to JR & says he'll whip Vince's ass too. As Austin gets to talking about Owen, the HF come out. Owen has ordered a restraining order on Austin & a legal advisor delivers it to Austin in the ring. Austin's roughs up the guy a little bit before reading the TRO. The HF leave & Lawler starts reading the restraining order over Austin's shoulder which annoys him resulting in stunner to a big pop. I love that the Austin-HF matter is never fully settled. They will always hate each other. These segments are great.

Shawn & Hunter attack Davey Boy on the aisle during his entrance to set up One Night Only. Why the hell didn't Owen & Bret make the save? Shawn & HHH get a few things thrown at them, but they are getting cheered here. I'm not a fan of the HF demotion either. DX was a hot act, but I think they're generally a step down from the hot angles & segments during the spring & summer involving the HF. Good beatdown though.

Fun little match actually with Owen working in his jacket the whole way through. Goldust shows good fire & loses his temper on a payback low blow spot & continues to hit Owen beneath the belt to get DQed. The HF run down & attack Goldust, but Austin shows up out of the crowd with a broom. He whacks away at the HF with the broom & does hilarious sweeping gestures at Vince & heaves the broom at him! He continues to give him shit to great heat. The post-match is a blast. Austin is great. Once Austin leaves, we get the live second edition of Pillman's XXX Files. Marlena has written "I love you" to Goldust on the bathroom mirror while taking a shower (I'm assuming that's the explanation for it) as Pillman continues to mock Goldust about fucking his wife. Yep.

Hell in a Cell is announced & we get a condensed version of the great video package from Ground Zero to hype the match. Taker comes out & cuts a strong promo followed by Michaels coming on the tron & saying if Taker is going to put him in the coffin, he's taking him with him. Taker does the Rest in Peace bit to close. Strong build to Hell in a Cell. I liked the simplicity of this segment. Straight & to the point.

Sunny & Dude dancing on the stage is hilarious. Sunny really did just do random shit for over a year. Dude introduces Goldust as his second in this match so he can see Marlena, but Pillman calls into the show on the tron mic & says he's still in his hotel room with Marlena. We get the first XXX Files with Pillman taunting Goldust. It looks like a brawl happened in that room more than sex. Pillman drops his towel & shows off his Calvin Klein underwear. He makes a sex joke & says there's going to be a live second edition of the XXX Files later tonight. This is dumb.