[1997-05-19-WWF-Raw] Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Steve Austin is out to point out that he doesn't give a rat's ass about Shawn Michaels. He makes sure to make as clear as possible that he hates Shawn. Shawn is out and looks to be trying to be edgier, wearing a black cutoff shirt and bandana and swearing. It seems very forced and even more pandering than his usual act, but it is more tolerable. Austin makes fun of the bandana and things get heated between the two of them. A brawl breaks out between the two of them. What made Austin's push work so well is that anyone could feud with anyone and it made sense. The referees are in to break it up, but now we have yet another hot feud involving Bret, Shawn and Austin. Every combination possible of those three feuding still has lots of legs.

 

The Hart Foundation comes on the monitor to mock them for fighting among themselves. Owen issues a challenge for them to team up and face him and Davey Boy next week for the tag titles if they can get their act together. Shawn is happy to find a different partner and come out next week and clean some house.

 

Austin: "You ain't cleanin' nothin' but the toilet!"

 

They exchange more words and get in another brawl. Great, great segment.

[Tim Cooke]

Maybe the best TV segment angle of the year. Right there with Bret reuniting the Hart Foundation. Shawn, who I really don't like to see in almost anything, was actually good and Austin was tremendous.

[Kevin Ridge]

An alliance is forming between Austin and Michaels though Steve doesn’t care much for it. This is about taking out the Hart Foundation. Michaels plays seniority in WWF with Austin. What is the point of wearing a bandana like that? Austin is not making friends with anyone and will fight everyone on roster. Hart Foundation enjoys these issues between the two. Owen issues a challenge for their tag titles. Michaels wants to find his own partner but so does Austin. Great build to the tag match next week.

[soup23]

Shawn's Come as your are attire was hideous. This segment was great and I think an underrated one from this whole series as I hadn't heard much about it. Austin is able to segue in between his feuds flawlessly. Really looking forward to the tag match.

[PeteF3]

We've come full circle, as Shawn Michaels is now impersonating Stevie Richards. Other than that, this is another hot segment with two awesome pull-aparts between Austin and Shawn--all while Owen, Davey Boy, and the Anvil cackle with delight.

[Exposer]

Shawn tries to be cool here or something & it's TERRIBLE. He's so bad here. He's in jeans, a cut-off shirt, & wearing a bandana. Lame. It's like he wants to be Stone Cold Michaels. Austin is great as usual though & the brawl is pretty heated. I liked that these two aren't buddies. Austin doesn't have any friends & Shawn Michaels shouldn't be pals with someone like Austin. That's great booking. Owen, Davey, & Anvil pop up on the tron & challenge them to a Tag Title match the following week if they can co-exist. I love the Hart Foundation because they're smart heels. Getting two birds with one stone in a tag match is brilliant especially when Austin & HBK hate each other. Austin & Shawn vow to find partners of their own instead of teaming with one another & start brawling again. Hot segment that is hurt some by Shawn's awful character tweaking.