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Three crybabies & little boy blue...
People are chanting “We Want Shawn!” in one loud, clear voice. The timing is impeccable, as HBK’s iconic theme music hits right when the audience is cheering at its full capacity.
This is his first appearance on RAW after winning the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at Royal Rumble against Psycho Sid.
He comes out wearing a cowboy hat, being hailed as the “hometown hero”. Back then, not everybody knew what was happening behind the scenes. But as a wrestling fan in 2018, one knows what was “really” going on around at that point in time.
Sure, on TV- Shawn comes off as a rule-bending fan-favorite character, but once you burst out of that bubble, we realize that all is not well…
Nevertheless, let’s stay in that bubble as for now. Vince conducts an in-ring interview with Shawn & it is revealed that HBK will have to defend his title against Psycho Sid during the upcoming Thursday RAW Thursday event.
Gears shift as Vince quickly asks him about the 4-Man No DQ Elimination match consisting of Steve Austin, Undertaker, Bret Hart & Vader.
Shawn does his promo, with some contrasting moments occurring when he slightly hints towards the upcoming revolution by mentioning the fact that people have been talking about the ‘attitude’ of ‘certain’ WWE Superstars. Pretty sneaky.
HBK also speaks about something that almost hints at his personal life. Shawn says that the WWF Championship brings out the ‘BEST & WORST’ in many WWF superstars. Again, very sneaky.
With that being said, Vince formally calls out Bret Hart as his next interview. Hart comes in and grabs the mic from Vince.
Here’s another interesting moment- Bret says that he’s gonna win HIS match, but he also wants Shawn Michaels at his 100 percent. Unexpectedly, Vince interferes with Bret & states— “Aren’t you overlooking Psycho Sid?” in reference to Shawn & Sid’s upcoming rematch.
Bret Hart is legitimately caught off-guard. I chuckle at this unusual situation. The audience knows Shawn is eventually going to defeat Psycho Sid in their upcoming match. I know that Shawn is eventually going to win. Bret Hart knows that HBK is ‘booked’ to win. Heck, even Shawn Michaels knows that he’s going to win his match!
What’s funny here is that Vince is desperately trying to put Psycho Sid over as a legitimate contender. The manner in which he interrupts Bret Hart is almost rude. That is why Bret is caught off-guard.
So Bret makes it up by saying that he’s going to be ‘rooting’ for Shawn Michaels anyways. Poor Vince.
Vince formally calls out The Undertaker next. Again, McMahon is not quite the evil maniac yet. He’s more like Michael Cole in this situation.
Jerry Lawler breathes a sigh of relief when ‘Taker’s theme music hits, hoping to finally see some action!
The Undertaker respects Bret. He cuts his promo- Deadman Style & points out that even ‘Taker has been screwed around for a long time. Undertaker says—
“No longer will I be the hunted…but I will now be the Hunter!”
Basically, every wrestler up to this point thinks that he’s been screwed somehow. Nobody wants to take care of it themselves, even Undertaker.
That is what comes off as so off-putting to me. Everyone except Steve Austin can’t help but cry around as to why they’ve been screwed around so many times.
No wonder why Stone Cold became so famous…
Again, everybody is afraid of The Undertaker. So Vince McMahon sneaks his ‘Psycho Sid’ agenda by mumbling it around sarcastically even though everybody knows it’s going to be HBK holding on to that belt till WrestleMania.
As usual, my favorite part of the show happens when Steve Austin finally comes out.
But, he comes outside with dragging JR from backstage. Why?
Turns out, that even if Austin brands himself as being the ‘toughest S.O.B’ on the roster, he is not stupid enough to walk into an ambush.
So Stone Cold will just say his part standing on the entrance ramp. Austin then goes on to reflect the audience’s exact thoughts by stating—
“From where I stand I see three crybabies & little boy blue (Vince McMahon)”
Vader comes out from behind, standing in the shadow of the huge RAW logo. He appears as a silhouette representing danger. A perfect example for your usual over-analytical minds.
Steve Austin goes backstage, having a war of words with Vader. Whilst the mastodon himself does nothing but just keeps standing there. This perfectly captures as to why Vader was so underwhelming in the WWF.
The important takeaway here is not the situation, but interpretation. What does that mean?
I’ll simplify it by summing up that Stone Cold Steve Austin is like an elite entity operating on a superior dimension surrounded by smaller worker bees.
I know, it’s a lot to take in…(but it’s true, whether you like it or not).
