I just got back from the RAW tapings. Let me tell you--I have
been to events
at Madison Square Garden, the Nassau Coliseum, the Providence
Civic Center,
the Worcester Centrum, and SummerSlam last year at the
Meadowlands, and I have
NEVER heard an arena as loud as the Broome County Arena was
tonight.

DARK MATCHES

Tiger Ali Singh vs. Droz

Droz and Singh both got good heat, but I think the crowd was
just anxious for
some rasslin', since the federation hasn't been to the Arena here
since
November (a week before the Survivor Series). Droz wins a quick
match after a
powerbomb.

Light Heavyweight Title: Papi Chulo vs. Champion Taka Michinoku

The crowd went nuts for Taka who wins by pinfall after the
Michinoku Driver.

"Welcome to the Jungle" then started playing on the speakers
and Michael Cole,
Kevin Kelly, Vince Russo, Jim Ross, and Jim Cornette came out to
the announce
position. Ross got a great ovation and Cornette got good heel
heat.

NWA TAG TITLE MATCH: Devon Storm and Eric Spracia (sp?) vs
Champs Midnight
Express

I thought the Midnight Express brooke up last night? Oh well.
Squash for the
Midnights--awful match.

SHOTGUN TAPINGS

TUG-OF-WAR: Vader vs. Mark Henry

Henry challenges Vader to a tug-of-war, which Henry wins. LOTS
of Vader
chants--the Mastodon was totally over with the crowd. Then, in
the tradition
of public contract signings and arm wrestling, they wind up
fighting. The
Vader Bomb got a big response.

Too Much vs. Bradshaw and Terry Funk

Bradshaw pins Scott Taylor after a lariat.

Dustin Runnels vs. the Godfather

The former Papa Shango pins the former Goldust after a
sideslam.

Headbangers vs. Golga and Kurggan

The whole parade of human oddities came out with Golga and
Kurggan, including
Paulo Silva, the Jackyl, Princess Luna, and some woman with
humongous breasts
wearina shirt that said "Jackyl me off". She then took off that
shirt to
reveal another shirt that said "Smells like ratings". She then took
off THAT
shirt to reveal a green bra and some nice stuffing. It'll be worth
watching
Shotgun just to see her, trust me. Oh, and the Headbangers win
by pinfall when
one of them pins Golga.

RAW IS WAR TAPING

Brawl for it all: Scorpio vs. 8-Ball

Close match which went to the judge's decision, which was for
Scorpio.

Brawl for it all: Quebecer Pierre vs. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams

Lots of chants of "Dr. Death" during this one. Williams wins it
easy.

At this point the announcer encouraged us to stand up, hold up
signs, and
yell. The program started and the arena erupted.

Vince McMahon came out and recapped the events of the past
few weeks
surrounding the supposed allegiance between the Undertaker and
Kane. He brings
out the Undertaker, who refuses to answer if he and Kane are in
cahoots.
McMahon tells Undertaker that he must face both Mankind and
Kane tonight, by
himself. He then tells Undertaker to go to hell. Undertaker
chokeslams
McMahon, and then chokeslams all of McMahon's cronies.

HHH and Chyna come out, and HHH does the Michael Buffer
schtick. Great line:
"For the thousands in the Arena, the millions around the world,
and one fat
ring announcer in a black hat".

European title match: D'Lo Brown vs. Champion HHH

The Rock comes out with D'Lo. With the ref's back turned, the
Rock hits the
Rockbottom on HHH and D'Lo pins HHH to become the new
champ.

Interview with the Nation in their locker room.

Interview with DX--HHH says that the Rock will not leave with
the IC title
tonight.

Loud chant of "Goldberg sucks". Sign: "Goldberg fears talent"

Kaientai, Yamaguchi San, and his wife Kyoto come down to the
ring. Yamaguchi
San tells Kyoto he's going to punish her. They get in the ring and
he makes
her kneel down in front of him. He's about to hit her with a
paddle when Val
Venis comes down for the save. He kicks Kaientai's butt then
carries Kyoto
away from the ring.

Chainz (with 8-Ball and Ellering) vs. Animal

Animal comes out alone and is attacked by the DOA. Ellering is
about to run
Animal over with a motorcycle when Hawk comes out for the
save and chases DOA
back to the locker room.

Double J vs. Steve Blackman

Double J comes out with Tennessee Lee and Southern Justice.
Blackman comes out
by himself, then returnbs to the locker room. Jarrett tells the ref
to count
Blackman out, but the ref refuses. Blackman's music starts up
again, and he
comes out with Shamrock and Severn (yes, Shamrock and
Severn). Blackman wins
by pinfall after a kick to the chest. After the match, Owen Hart
ran Shamrock
into the steps. Blackman ran over to check on Shamrock, but
Severn just walked
back to the dressing room.

Interesting note here: After the Jarrett/Blackman match, Michael
Cole tried
interviewing the Undertaker in the backstage area, but UT
refused to talk to
him and left the Arena. I was watching the event from the press
seating at the
Arena, and I was sitting right next to one of the WWF TV
directors. After they
cut away from the interview on the Titantron, I saw the UT
come back into the
Arena with a big smile on his face on one of the TVs in the
booth. Then they
showed Cole on the Titantron saying "the UT had left the Arena
and says he'ss
see you at Fully Loaded"

Stone Cold comes out to a huge pop. Tells Jim Ross "you've got
some bad
breath." Then says "if anyone deserves to be screwed, it's Vince
McMahon,"
which brings out Vince. Vince says that since UT left, Stone Cold
must face
Kane and Mankind tonight, otherwise he will strip him of the title
and give it
to the UT. Austin says "hell, I quit", throws the title down, and is
about to
leave through the crowd when Vince says "you don't have the
guts". Austin:
"You silly little bastard. I will never, ever give you the
satisfaction of
taking this son of a bitch from me." Says he will face the tag
champs later
that night.

Owen Hart vs. Farooq

Owen got the best heel heat of the night by far. Among the
crowd chants: "OWEN
SUCKS", "YOU'RE A NUGGET", and "ROADSIGN." Owen wins via
the sharpshooter
before Shamrock chases him through the crowd.

Mero and Jackie come out. Jackie insults Sable, which brings out
Sable wearing
an ugly, baggy dress. In the Arena, Sable's mike wasn't working
so they had to
have her come out a second time. Sable gets in the ring and
Jackie rips
Sable's dress off, to reveal some beautiful black underwear which
got a huge
pop from the guys in the crowd. Sable then threw Jackie down
and left the
ring. While Jackie was yelling at Sable, Edge came in the ring,
dropkicked
Mero, and hit him with a front faceslam before leaving through
the crowd.

HBK then came out. He got the best face heat of the night,
better than Austin.
LOUD HBK chant.

I-C TITLE: X-Pac vs Champion Rocky Maivia

Brawl between the Nation and DX prior to the match. Road Dog
was not there.
Watch this match next week; it was one of the greatest
matches I have ever
seen live, and if it comes off half as good on TV, it should be
great. Great
crowd heat for both guys, and the Rock ends up winning by DQ
when a second ref
DQs X-Pac for outside interference from HHH.

After this match, DX went nuts in the ring, and convinced a girl
in the
audience (probaby a plant) to flash the crowd, which she did
several times.
They showed her on the Titantron. She was a beauty. Also
worth noting is that
X-Pac went over to the commentators table and he and Shawn
embraced, which got
a great pop from the crowd.

Kane and Mankind vs. Steve Austin

Austin got a huge pop, but not as big as HBK's. Midway through
the match,
Undertaker comes out with a chair and stands in Austin's corner.
Kane and
Mankind win by DQ when Undertaker hits Kane with the chair.
They'll probably
make a big deal about whether it was accidental, since Austin
was right near
Kane when UT hit him.

After the show ended, UT chokeslammed Kane, which answers
that question.

There were no post-show dark matches.


(Thanks to Seth Mates)