Looking back at Monday Night RAW February 24th, 1997

Has This Show Sucked Without ECW Or What?

Paul E is about to introduce our next competitors...

Paul E: “Man, has this show sucked without ECW or what, huh?”

Our favorite future advocate introduces Mikey Whipwreck. Interesting note: Whipwreck did Stone Cold Stunners before Austin made it a worldwide sensation.

Next up, the human suplex machine…THIS IS TAZ!

MATCH #5: TAZ (w/ Bill Alfonso) vs. MIKEY WHIPWRECK

Bill Alfonso’s whistle can be heard ‘whistling’ throughout this match. Taz dominates this bout thoroughly. Paul E sells the ECW Pay-Per-View on April 13.

It annoys Jerry Lawler. But Paul E backs his claims & proves that he’s done his homework here. So whenever Lawler is proven wrong, the only thing he can do is go— “ECW Sucks. It’s crappy. I hate it. They suck. ECW Sucks. It’s crappy. I hate it. They suck”.

Suddenly, the audience collectively yanks their heads towards one side. Even Taz does the same.

And you wouldn’t have guessed it— It’s SABU!

Sabu is wobbling on top of the ‘R’ initial of the RAW logo near the entrance ramp. Before he can lose his balance, Sabu dives onto the security team! He tries to go inside the ring but never manages to do so for some reason. The security team drags him backstage.

Sabu is legitimately crazy...

Thanks for the cameo, Sabu.

Meanwhile, Taz delivers a Tazplex in the ring, & wins the match using a Tazmission.

The bout was not even four minutes long, but they managed to squeeze all the plot points under that timeframe.

Result: Taz wins via submission.

Vince McMahon has promised us a surprise reveal here, & wait for it, the tag-team facing off against the Headbangers is— The Bushwhackers! No? Just kidding.

The Legion of Doom is back! Apparently, they decided to go back to WWF after a four-year-long absence. So that’s two defections (Miguel Perez, LOD) from WCW to WWF for one night.

MATCH #6: THE HEADBANGERS (Mosh & Thrasher) vs. LEGION OF DOOM (Hawk & Animal)

The Legion Of Doom returns after a four-year-long absence...

The crowd lost their collective minds here. Remember, it’s a house full of hardcore fans on this week’s episode.

Animal & Hawk throw both of these knuckleheads out of the ring right off the bat (I still don’t like the Headbangers). ‘NITRO SUCKS!’ chants are echoing throughout this arena. That was unexpected.

But that’s not the only thing the audience chant to take over this match. ‘HOGAN SUCKS!’ chants follow soon after. This week’s show easily has the most crowd participation in 1997 WWF so far.

But that’s STILL not it. ‘BISCHOFF SUCKS!’ chants follow next. So much so, that the commentators have to take note of it here.

Lawler: “Time for some censorship!”

Now that the good stuff is over, let’s get right into two things that WWF got wrong with this segment: 1) The match was nearly 8 minutes long. There is no way on earth The Headbangers should have lasted that long. The audience made for it by improvising random chants & digs towards WCW, but still, this should have been a squash match. 2) The reader must have been assuming that LOD would have won this contest in the end anyway, right? Well, no. The match ended in a double count-out.

Looks like the WWF wants the Headbangers to look strong in the end. I get that they’re trying to incorporate some innovative stuff for the tag-team division here, but the Headbangers are definitely not the right team you want to be building the whole tag-division around.

Nevertheless, Legion of Doom hit a flying clothesline to one of the Headbangers right after the match to keep the crowd happy.