WWF 'Thursday RAW Thursday' Review: February 13th, 1997

The Undertaker Has Real-Life Magic Powers (...Seriously)

The Force is strong with The Deadman.

MATCH #3: THE UNDERTAKER vs. SAVIO VEGA (w/ Nation of Domination).

Savio Vega comes out to the Nation’s iconic theme song whilst being flanked with the stable’s members. Nobody is really feeling it, not even the commentators.

But then The Undertaker comes out, & suddenly everything is fine again. The Undertaker just lights up the crowd somehow. It’s like he has a magic power or something.

Shawn Michaels is already history, as Jerry Lawler is back to delivering one-liners, whilst Vince McMahon awkwardly tries to do his job. For instance, The Undertaker hits a nasty big-boot, & Lawler goes—

“That may be a bigger shot than Michael Jackson becoming a father!”

“Unfortunately, I think you’re probably right…” replies an almost Michael Cole-like Vince McMahon.

One of the Nation’s members cheap shots Undertaker when the referee is not looking. Savio controls most of the match after that, which builds up the audience to cheer for The Undertaker. People collectively chant- “Rest In Peace!” together. The Force is strong with The Deadman.

Anybody who says that The Undertaker was decent at wrestling is a liar. He is frickin’ awesome.

At one point, The Undertaker goes for a Fame Asser & ends up dropping all of his weight on Savio’s entire back. That spot blew my mind. It’s apparent that he’s the one calling all the shots from start-to-finish, & The Deadman is pretty great at that. He calls the entire match in such a way that the audience stays hyped throughout.

People forgot that WWF’s top-star just vacated his title, thanks to The Undertaker. In the end, ‘Taker chokeslams Vega & goes for the pin to win the match.

But N.O.D members immediately jump The Deadman as soon as the bell rings. He fends them off nevertheless, but N.O.D’s Farooq & Crush join in on the stampede later.

The Deadman has risen!

Ahmed Johnson runs in to save the Deadman, & everybody keeps on cheering as the two of them clear the ring together.

If you think that Shawn Michaels losing his smile & The Undertaker uplifting everyone’s moods wasn’t enough, we have a few more ups to go…

RESULT: The Undertaker wins via pinfall.

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Let

's just appreciate this amazing camera-shot for a second...

MATCH #4: STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN vs. PSYCHO SID.

Before the contest, Gorilla Monsoon reveals that the winner of The Final Four Match (Vader/Austin/Bret/’Taker) at this Sunday’s ‘In Your House 13: The Final Four’ PPV will be crowned new champion. Hence, Psycho Sid will directly get a title shot against the winner during the following week’s edition of RAW.

Steve Austin attacks Sid from behind before the match has started. Everybody’s chanting ‘Austin!’ as this happens. Phew. What a crowd. It’s like they’re looking forward to this Sunday after HBK declared the title vacant.

The match is a little less than four minutes long. They keep it standard & breezy. After some fun back & forth- Austin goes for an abdominal stretch, & that is about everything they could do under that given time.

Just before the four-minute mark, Bret Hart comes running & attacks Austin in the ring. Of course, this means that Sid loses by DQ.

Austin does the smart thing & rolls out of the ring. This leaves a pissed Psycho Sid standing behind Bret Hart. Sid starts throwing punches at The Hitman & Bret responds by doing the same. The officials try to separate them apart, but it’s useless.

This era is getting so unpredictable, that the camera immediately pans to Vader backstage in the middle of this Bret-Sid brawl! Vader stumbles through his promo about how he dominated The Undertaker before & how he’s going to win this Sunday.

Let’s be real here, we know Vader stands no chance winning this Sunday. WWF Vader simply isn’t that compelling enough in the first place. I still appreciate the spontaneity though, because there is no structure that comes into play here— Things just happen because wrestlers are too pissed with each other & everybody loves it.

RESULT: Stone Cold Steve Austin wins via DQ.