[1997-08-04-WWF-Raw] Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Paul Bearer

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

At last, Shawn is a heel! Shawn is pretty pissed off about everyone blaming him for the finish last night. I remember siding with him at the time myself, actually. The purpose of this interview seems to be to turn Shawn but also make clear that he is in no way aligned with Bret. They also announce Shawn/Undertaker for Ground Zero and that feud is hot immediately. Undertaker comes out to confront Shawn, but Shawn bails. He's not going to talk about how mad he is, because he's been talking too much lately. It's time to get back to what he does best and make Shawn pay for his crimes. Paul Bearer interrupts this and says he was with Kane last night. He's ready to come to the WWF. No new revelations here.

[Kevin Ridge]

Shawn/Undertaker is way more interesting than Bret/Patriot. Michaels goes full heel. I think they needed to at least wait a week before this promo. Have him come out on this Raw with the boos from the crowd and just walk out at the reaction. Then the following week he can cut this promo. He was way too quickly agitated here when we were just 24 hours after PPV and not enough time for the fans to be turning fully against Shawn. Anyways, Shawn attacks the WWF fans to solidify his turn.

[soup23]

Michaels clowning on McMahon was great. This did a great job of positioning Shawn as a heel but also against Bret. I liked Shawn bringing up that him and Taker have never crossed paths until now. This is clearly the main event feud at this point. HBK calls out Taker and here he comes! Taker says he has done too much talking lately and he gives some quick, stern warnings to him. Bearer says he talked to Kane last night. Lots of intertwining going on here but done in a cohesive, well done manner.

[Matt D]

How much better would have this been if it ended with Paul Bearer managing Michaels for a night.

[PeteF3]

Huge boos as soon as Vince gets out the words "most flamboyant..." out. Shawn cuts to the chase and tells off Vince, Undertaker, and the WWF fans for passing the buck onto him. Vince *still* can't help but smirk when Shawn tells him off. I did like Vince saying "fuck this" and shoving the mic in his chest and bailing, though. Undertaker appears as Shawn wraps up, and we get our first "Shawn Michaels has left the building" remark in many a year. Undertaker warns Shawn that he'll pay for his crimes...which brings out Paul Bearer, "speaking of paying for crimes!" I liked how these promos all segued into each other.

[Exposer]

Shawn is amazing here. I hate him so much but now I'm supposed to. He's no longer playful here with Vince & constantly runs him down. I loved his response to Vince asking if he & Bret were in cahoots. He even sends Vince out of the ring! He's got insane heat here & cuts a promo on the Undertaker. Taker's music hits to a huge pop & Shawn scatters. Taker says he's tired of talking & wants to take souls & make people rest in peace. He says he'll do so with Shawn Michaels at Ground Zero. I liked this promo. Short & sweet. Bearer comes up on the screen & says he was with Kane the previous night at Summerslam. He makes it clear that Kane is coming to the WWF! Bearer is completely obnoxious at this point. I am looking forward to the Kane feud proper though.