Speaker 1: Welcome back wrestling fans to another edition of The Fall Count.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Steve Fall and today we're hopping into
Speaker 1: the wrestling time machine and setting the dial back to
Speaker 1: January eighth, nineteen ninety six. Now, gather around, close your eyes,
Speaker 1: and picture the wrestling landscape in early nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 1: The Monday Night Wars are raging WCW Monday Nitro is
Speaker 1: breathing down the neck of the World Wrestling Federation. That's right,
Speaker 1: put the f back in, and Vince McMahon is feeling
Speaker 1: the pressure. Tonight we are breaking down an episode of
Speaker 1: Monday Night Raw that actually marked the third anniversary of
Speaker 1: the flagship show. But oddly enough, for a company that
Speaker 1: is completely obsessed with celebrating milestones, anniversaries, and historical numbers,
Speaker 1: they didn't even mention the third year mark on the broadcast,
Speaker 1: not even a peep. Now, let's look at who is
Speaker 1: holding the gold on this historic night. You got your
Speaker 1: reigning defending WWF Heavyweight Champion, the excellence of Execution Bread
Speaker 1: the Hitman Heart who won the strap back at Survivor
Speaker 1: Series in November of ninety five from Diesel. Your Inner
Speaker 1: Continental Champion is the bad Guy Chico Razor Amone and
Speaker 1: the world tag team champions of the Cowboy Duo of
Speaker 1: Billion Bart, the Smoking Guns. But folks, folks, Tonight's episode
Speaker 1: of Raw is a wild, desperate, fascinating piece of television history.
Speaker 1: Vince McMahon pulls out all the stops to combat billionaire
Speaker 1: Ted Ted Turner in WCW. On this very show, Vince
Speaker 1: makes a jaw dropping announcement. He tells the fans that
Speaker 1: the highly acclaimed bloody brutal main event from the In
Speaker 1: Your House pay per view between Brett Hart and the
Speaker 1: British Bulldog is going to air tonight on Monday Night
Speaker 1: Raw for absolutely free. Think about that, Think about this,
Speaker 1: Think about my parents. My parents bought that In Your
Speaker 1: House season's beatings. Guess what Now I get to watch
Speaker 1: it for free on television. A week ago on Raw,
Speaker 1: they aired a free match from the same exact pay
Speaker 1: per view, Hunter Hurst Hemsley versus Henry O Godwin, And
Speaker 1: now we're getting the main event on Raw. Now, if
Speaker 1: you were a loyal fan who shelled out those twenty
Speaker 1: something bucks just a few weeks prior to watching the
Speaker 1: pay per view, Vince McMahon essentially looked at you dead
Speaker 1: in the eye and said screw you paying customers. Thanks
Speaker 1: for the cash, but the ratings war is on. It's
Speaker 1: true direct quote. We are also promised a massive stunning
Speaker 1: relevation from Shawn Michaels. Is the Heartbreak Kid retiring after
Speaker 1: that devastating headcick from Owen Hart? Or does he have
Speaker 1: another trick up his sleeve? Plus the debut of a
Speaker 1: man who would alter the course of professional wrestling history forever.
Speaker 1: Another petty parody aim Street Atlanta in appearance by Scheme Gene.
Speaker 1: Now sitting at the broadcast table tonight are the duo
Speaker 1: of Vincent Kennedy McMahon and Jerry Lawler. So let's not
Speaker 1: waste a single second adjust your headphones, sit back, and
Speaker 1: let's get roh kicking things off in the ring. We
Speaker 1: get Jeff Jarrett taking on Hakushi before the bell rings,
Speaker 1: Vince and Jeredy King Lawler take us back to the
Speaker 1: In Your House pay per view. That was the night
Speaker 1: that Double J made his grand return to the WWF,
Speaker 1: wasting zero time targeting the powerhouse Ahmed Johnson by blasting
Speaker 1: him over the head with his signature gold record. Jerry
Speaker 1: Lawler being the lovely villain that he is actually helped
Speaker 1: jareded out in that segment by introducing a steel chair
Speaker 1: into the mix. The whole thing is fueling the fire
Speaker 1: for their massive match, heading it to the Royal Rumble.
Speaker 1: Jeff jarretts Ahmed Johnson. But now on paper, we got Hakushi,
Speaker 1: who should absolutely demolish Jeff Jarrett. But when Hakushi arrived
Speaker 1: in the WWF, he was an absolute breath of fresh air, innovative, mysterious,
Speaker 1: and talented. But by January of ninety six, the Office
Speaker 1: decided to americanize him. They stripped away a lot of
Speaker 1: what made him unique, turned his babyface, packed him into
Speaker 1: a role that essentially turned him into a jobber to
Speaker 1: the stars. Now, true to his form, this match isn't
Speaker 1: about giving Hakushi a big win. It's about showcasing Jared's
Speaker 1: technical cheating heel ways ahead of the Royal Rumble. Now
Speaker 1: we're escapping past that back and forth chain wrestling in
Speaker 1: the aerial maneuvers here because what really truly matters is
Speaker 1: the story of Jeff Jarrett desperately trying to avoid Hakkushi's
Speaker 1: offense until he finds an opening. Hakushi scales the turnbuckles
Speaker 1: and launches himself off the top rope the high flying
Speaker 1: springboard splash, but jareded is perfectly positioned. He hoists his
Speaker 1: knees straight up in the air, catching Hakushi right in
Speaker 1: the ribs. Hakushi collapses, Jarrett capitalizes, locking in the figure
Speaker 1: four leg lock. Hakushi has no choice but to scream
Speaker 1: in pain and submit, giving je haha, double F jaha
Speaker 1: E double T Jeff chair haha the victory. Now, look,
Speaker 1: I'm no medical expert, but I never knew taking a
Speaker 1: pair of knees the rib cage could suddenly injure my legs.
Speaker 1: But hey, that's wrestling for you. Moving on, though, It's
Speaker 1: time for the Royal Rumble Report. But there's a shakeup
Speaker 1: at the podium tonight. Jim Ross is standing in for
Speaker 1: a Wayo Doc Hendrix to deliver the latest updates for
Speaker 1: the upcoming January Classic. Jr. Starts riting off the list
Speaker 1: of official participants entering the thirty Man over the Top
Speaker 1: roy Rumblematch itself. The names announced tonight really paint a
Speaker 1: picture of the transitional year that is nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 1: We got Doug Gilbert, the Returning Jake, the Snake, Roberts,
Speaker 1: Jerry the King Lawler making a difference Fatu, who is
Speaker 1: in the middle of that transitional gimmick before becoming Rakishi,
Speaker 1: Isaac Yankom Dds, henry O Godwin, Marty Jannetti, Kama the
Speaker 1: Supreme Fighting Machine, skip of the body Donna's and we
Speaker 1: also get a quick intense video montage of the newly
Speaker 1: signed Monster Vader working out and looking like an absolute mastadon.
Speaker 1: But if you were listening carefully to that list, someone
Speaker 1: massive is completely missing from the conversation. There is absolutely
Speaker 1: no mention of Big Daddy Cool Diesel. Now why would
Speaker 1: one of the biggest stars in the company be left
Speaker 1: off the list? Hum Well, enter Scheme GM. This was
Speaker 1: WWF's incredibly petty, highly sarcastic parody of the Mean Gene
Speaker 1: Oakland character who jumped ship to WCW and was famously
Speaker 1: making a fortune hyping up his one nine hundred hotline
Speaker 1: numbers on Night tro The WWS version of Mean Gene
Speaker 1: is Scheme Gem and he pops up on the screen
Speaker 1: doing the classic hotline grift. He tells the audience he
Speaker 1: knows of a massive unmentioned superstar who has officially entered
Speaker 1: the Royal Rumble Match, but of course, in true hotline fashion,
Speaker 1: he tells the fans he can't reveal the identity right
Speaker 1: now on free TV. You'll have to wait until later
Speaker 1: in the program. I love the Monday Night Wars. Next
Speaker 1: up is Ahmed Johnson versus Jeff Brettler. YEP, now I
Speaker 1: loved Ahmed Johnson. We're the most explosive stars of the
Speaker 1: New Generation era. Before we even talk about the ring
Speaker 1: belling though, we have to talk about Jeff Brettler's gear.
Speaker 1: I am convinced, folks, this poor guy's wrestling trunk or
Speaker 1: sits together at the absolute last second using the ugliest,
Speaker 1: most hideous living room curtains you have ever seen in
Speaker 1: your entire life life. It was a visual disaster. But
Speaker 1: as for the match, it wasn't a match. It was
Speaker 1: a public execution. Imed Johnson steps into the ring carrying
Speaker 1: an unbelievably amount of intensity and he just completely turns
Speaker 1: his poor man into dust. High impact slam you around,
Speaker 1: incredibly dangerous but entertaining. He hits hard, he moves fast,
Speaker 1: and he does not care about the lung Jody long
Speaker 1: jevity of your career. But the real story after I
Speaker 1: met Johnson wins with a Pearl River plunge is the
Speaker 1: second the referee's hand hits the mat for the three count.
Speaker 1: Jeff Jarrett runs down. Jarrett completely bum rushes the show,
Speaker 1: storming down the aisle with his acoustic guitar raised high,
Speaker 1: looking to hit a total kaboom right over Ahmed Skull,
Speaker 1: but Ahmed, with his spider sense tonight, he ducks out
Speaker 1: of the way just in time. Jared realizes he missed
Speaker 1: his window of opportunity, panics and scurries up the ramp
Speaker 1: like a coward, leaving his acoustic guitar behind in the ring.
Speaker 1: Ahmed Johnson is furious, as a pure form of visual anger,
Speaker 1: he terrifies Jeff Jarrett. Ahead on the Royal Rumble, Amed
Speaker 1: drives that guitar, grabs it so tight, steps out to
Speaker 1: the ring, and smashes it into a million pieces right
Speaker 1: against the steel ring posts. My god, that guitar had
Speaker 1: a family. But again, we're building to Ahmed Johnson and
Speaker 1: Jeff Jarrett at the Royal Rumble. Now we arrive at
Speaker 1: what is undeniably the most historical significant segment of the
Speaker 1: entire episode. We are are basking in history. This is
Speaker 1: the moment where the plates on Earth shifted where we
Speaker 1: saw volcanos shoot the sky stars aligne. It's time for
Speaker 1: the Brother Love Show, hosted by that red faced, microphone
Speaker 1: wielding Brother Love. His guest is none other than the
Speaker 1: million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiasi. Tbiasi cuts a promo explaining
Speaker 1: that he has spent an entire calendar year searching the
Speaker 1: globe to find the perfect individual worthy of being crowned
Speaker 1: the brand new million Dollar Champion, and tonight he has
Speaker 1: finally found his man. He introduces a WWF newcomer known
Speaker 1: as the Ringmaster. Now, let's look back at this through
Speaker 1: historical eyeball, shall we. At the time, if you were
Speaker 1: just a casual fan sitting in the Delaware crowd, you
Speaker 1: didn't care the live audience gave this debut a eh, hey,
Speaker 1: hey whatever. They didn't respond to him at all. The
Speaker 1: only people who are thrilled were those smart kids, those
Speaker 1: WCW fans who knew this man a stunning Steve Austin
Speaker 1: in WCW and his brief legendary run in ECW. But
Speaker 1: if you were just a WWF loyalist, well you had
Speaker 1: no idea who was in the ring looking at you?
Speaker 1: Looking back at this television tape. Though it doesn't take
Speaker 1: a brain scientist or a rocket surgeon to realize that
Speaker 1: this moment is monumental. It is the official WWF TV
Speaker 1: debut of the man who would eventually change the wrestling world.
Speaker 1: Shave his head, grow a goatee, drink a ocean of beer,
Speaker 1: and becomes so cold syvass in the biggest box off
Speaker 1: of straw in the history of the business. But tonight
Speaker 1: he's just a ring master. He's presented as a cold, calculating,
Speaker 1: technical wrestling machine. He takes the microphone from Brother Love
Speaker 1: and cuts a promo. He establishes himself as the elite
Speaker 1: competitor to watch out for in the nineteen ninety six year.
Speaker 1: He doesn't need flashy gimmicks, he just needs a ring.
Speaker 1: Knowing what we know now about how his career would
Speaker 1: eventually explode into the stratosphere, destroying our eyeballs with middle fingers,
Speaker 1: watching this early gimmick is strange, but we all got
Speaker 1: to start somewhere. Following this historic debut, we get a
Speaker 1: quick backstage interview with senior referee Earl Hebner. The interview
Speaker 1: er asked Hemner a burning question regarding the recent in
Speaker 1: your house pay per view match between Brett Hart and
Speaker 1: the British Bulldog, specifically Earl. Why on earth didn't you
Speaker 1: stop the match when Brett Hart was split wide open
Speaker 1: and bleeding like a pig. Hemner, looking intense, gives a
Speaker 1: purely old school k fab responds. He says he didn't
Speaker 1: stop the match because every single time he checked on
Speaker 1: the hit man, Brett was still fully conscious fully conscious,
Speaker 1: so apparently he was half conscious. Yeah. It's good storytelling though,
Speaker 1: asking and bringing up this match we're going to see
Speaker 1: later on in the evening. But next we head right
Speaker 1: back down to the ring for another quick matchup. It's
Speaker 1: gold Dust taking on the Portuguese man O war Aldo Montoya,
Speaker 1: who will later be known as just incredible, but let's
Speaker 1: be honest, he's famously remembered for wearing a mask that
Speaker 1: looked exactly like a yellow jock strap on his face.
Speaker 1: This is another classic nineteen ninety six Jobber to the
Speaker 1: Stars match. Goldest is highly controversial and involved with the
Speaker 1: storyline with the Razor ramone heading into Roy Rumble. So
Speaker 1: take a while, guests. Who wins Goldust does with a
Speaker 1: curtain call? So two minutes about two minutes and we're
Speaker 1: continuing his bizarre psychological warfare on Razor ramone. But now, folks,
Speaker 1: we must transition to a strange video package. We are
Speaker 1: taken to what looks like a strange, bizarre location for
Speaker 1: a press conference. It's a Sean Michael's press conference. This
Speaker 1: took place earlier in the day. Now to understand the
Speaker 1: weight this, we have to go back to November of
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five at Survivor Series, Shawn Michael's returned from
Speaker 1: being beaten down by a bunch of thugs and Syracuse.
Speaker 1: He returned only to be power bombed and receiving a
Speaker 1: razor's edge, but still winning the match. But now the
Speaker 1: next None on Raw, when he was wrestling Owen heard
Speaker 1: Owen Heart blasted Shawn Michaels in the back of the
Speaker 1: head where a brutal in the dirty, causing Sean to
Speaker 1: collapse in the middle of the ring. It is a
Speaker 1: highly realistic, terrifying medical moment that scarred me as a child,
Speaker 1: but as an adult, I respect Shawn Michaels for pretending
Speaker 1: that he was hurt. But now Sean takes the podium
Speaker 1: at this press conference, looking very emotional. He tells the
Speaker 1: media and his personal doctors have evaluated his condition and
Speaker 1: have strongly advised that would be the best interest of
Speaker 1: his long term health if he never ever competed inside
Speaker 1: a w WF ring again, Does that make your wrestling
Speaker 1: debsw either way? The tension in the room, it feels
Speaker 1: like a retirement speech. But then, but then the light.
Speaker 1: But then Shawn Michaels delivers the ultimate swerve. He essentially says,
Speaker 1: screw medical advancements, screw medical science, and screw the doctors.
Speaker 1: Shawn Michaels announces that he is not going to retire,
Speaker 1: but he is officially entering himself into the nineteen ninety
Speaker 1: six Royal Rumble. And he doesn't stop there. He guarantees
Speaker 1: that he's going to win the entire match, go to
Speaker 1: wrestling at twelve and defeat whoever is the WWF World
Speaker 1: Heavyweight Champion. Oh my god, the media has gone bananas.
Speaker 1: He drops the mic, thank you have a great day.
Speaker 1: It walks away whoa whoa? Now to me, that's a
Speaker 1: huge announcement and unfortunately gives away who's winning the Royal
Speaker 1: rom Bob. Let's be honest, and there never was a
Speaker 1: doubt in anyone's mind Who's Gonna Win in nineteen ninety six. Now,
Speaker 1: right after that footage airs, Jim Ross has to do
Speaker 1: some serious serious work here, because now we get in
Speaker 1: Scheme Gene back on the screen to finally deliver on
Speaker 1: his hotline tease from earlier. Scheme Geam steps up and
Speaker 1: officially reveals the mystery superstar answering the Royal Rumble is Vader. Hey? Now,
Speaker 1: now come on, Scheme gem We saw workout footage earlier
Speaker 1: in the night that Vader was being advertised for the
Speaker 1: Royal Rumble. What I pay nine ninety nine to listen
Speaker 1: to this? I call the nine hundred hotline number. Oh. Then,
Speaker 1: to wrap up all this craziness about Jr. And Scheme
Speaker 1: gam and this fake press conference. To wrap up this
Speaker 1: Sean Michael segment, the cameras catch up now with Diesel,
Speaker 1: the Razor, Ramone, and Owen Hart to get their thoughts
Speaker 1: an HBK shocking announcement. Interesting enough, though, each is saying,
Speaker 1: you know, hey, you shouldn't return, Hey, take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: Owen couldn't care less. He couldn't care less. He wants
Speaker 1: Sean to die, it seems like. But now it's time
Speaker 1: for the main event. Oh it's but it's not on
Speaker 1: it's not it's not on raw. It's for free television.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to see. As Vince McMahon promised earlier,
Speaker 1: we're you getting the full unedited replay of the WWF
Speaker 1: World Heavyweight Championship from your House five, featuring the champion, Brettthart,
Speaker 1: defending against his brother in law Davy boy Smith. And
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be honest, Bruce Bulldog. He fought Diesel, he
Speaker 1: fought Brett Hart, he fought Shaw Michaels. He was never
Speaker 1: really thought of as the main Heel antagonist, but he
Speaker 1: wrestles all the champions in the New Generation era. Now,
Speaker 1: they showed Davy boy entering the arena with Jim Cornet
Speaker 1: and his wife Diana Hart Smith, who also happens to
Speaker 1: be Don Dundun, Brett Hart's sister. Now a psychological warfare
Speaker 1: is off the charts. Here Bulldog is actively trying to
Speaker 1: get Inside's head, inside Brett Hart's head by constantly reminding
Speaker 1: him of SummerSlam ninety two, the historic night where Davy
Speaker 1: boy Smith defeated Brett Hart for the intercudinal title in
Speaker 1: front of eighty thousand fans at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Now,
Speaker 1: to make the mental gymnastics even more intense, Davy Boy
Speaker 1: is wearing the same exact pair of Union Jack tights
Speaker 1: he wore on that legendary night in London. Wow, you
Speaker 1: gotta love the little subtleties. Diana Smith decides not to
Speaker 1: stand in the corner with Jim Cornette. Instead, she takes
Speaker 1: a seat directly at ringside, completely torn, offering deeply concerned
Speaker 1: looks throughout the contest. In reality, she couldn't care about
Speaker 1: her brother because she wants her damn husband to become
Speaker 1: WWF champion. Now, during the matchup, Bret Hard is sent
Speaker 1: violently into the steel steps. The impact splits his forehead
Speaker 1: wide open. Now in an error with a WWF with
Speaker 1: strictly banning intentional blaeding, Brett is pouring pouring from his forehead.
Speaker 1: Then the sight of a WWF champion in nineteen ninety six, Well,
Speaker 1: I guess this was filmed in ninety five, covered in
Speaker 1: blood on Standard TV for an episode of Raw in
Speaker 1: January of ninety six. It elevated the match into a
Speaker 1: masterpiece revival of Is this Match better than Summer Slam?
Speaker 1: Ninety two, but Brett Hard uses his master technical positioning
Speaker 1: to counter British Bulldog's momentum. Brett rolls right over on
Speaker 1: top of the Bulldog, trapping him in a beautiful tight cradle.
Speaker 1: The referee one two three. Brett Hard gets the three
Speaker 1: count and retains the WWF Championship in an absolute classic
Speaker 1: that somehow gets forgotten about in Always a Summer Slam
Speaker 1: ninety two match gets brought up more, but before the
Speaker 1: show goes off the air, the atmosphere completely shifts. The
Speaker 1: lights go out, the smoke and we get a chilling
Speaker 1: dark promo from the Undertaker and his manager, Paul Bear. Oh,
Speaker 1: Paul Bear shrieks into the microphone, and the dead Man
Speaker 1: delivers a haunting message to the entire roster. He declares
Speaker 1: that the creatures of the night are demanding that the
Speaker 1: WWF World Heavyweight Championship find its way back into his hands,
Speaker 1: and he fully plans to deliver on that promise very
Speaker 1: very soon, which would be the Roy Rumble. You got
Speaker 1: to close up the broadcast, we get the final weekly
Speaker 1: installment of the infamous Billionaire Ted's Wrastle in warroom Scans. Now,
Speaker 1: this was vincing Mann's heavy handed, highly comedic satire parody
Speaker 1: attacking Ted Turner, wc W, the Hookster and the not Choman,
Speaker 1: mocking them for being old and out of touch wrestling promotion,
Speaker 1: trying to rip off the WWF youthful energy. It is
Speaker 1: incredibly petty, completely hilarious, though, and a perfect time capsule
Speaker 1: of the bitter corporate warfare. In the Monday Night Wars
Speaker 1: of nineteen ninety six, Vince mcmahnon signs off by giving
Speaker 1: us a massive preview for next week's episode of Monday
Speaker 1: Night Raw. It's stacked, folks, you got the Undertaker schedule
Speaker 1: to step in the ring with the evil wrestling dentist
Speaker 1: who would later become his brother. It's Isaac gankamdds plus
Speaker 1: Ohwen Hurt will go one on one with Marty Jeannetti.
Speaker 1: He's rocking and rolling, folks, and that guys, is the
Speaker 1: wild Historic a chaotic January eighth, nineteen ninety six edition
Speaker 1: of Monday Night Raw. What a time to be a
Speaker 1: wrestling fan. So much craziness. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: tuning into this episode of The Fall Count with Me,
Speaker 1: Steve Fall Make sure to hit that subscribe button. Leave
Speaker 1: a five star review. And let me know your favorite
Speaker 1: memories of the nineteen ninety six Royal Rumble season in
Speaker 1: the comments below, because boy, we got more ross to cover,
Speaker 1: and we got more Royal Rumble ninety six to uscus
Speaker 1: as well. I wonder who's gonna win. I got my
Speaker 1: fingers crossed it, Invader's gonna do it. Thanks for being here,
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time. Bye bye,