Grilling JR - Raw 04.28.97 Watchalong [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Welcome back to the latest edition of Grilling JR with the voice of wrestling, Hall of Famer Jim Ross! Jim, how are you man?

Fired up to be here for sure and today we’re going to be looking back at 25 years ago and do a Watch Along of the Raw from Omaha, Nebraska on April 28th, 1997.

Fire up your Peacock machine and have it set at Season 5 - episode 17.

3-2-1!

We are just one week removed from In Your House: Revenge of the Taker and in the middle of a 3-week build to In Your House: Cold Day in Hell. Last week Bret Hart had his knee taken out by Steve Austin and jumped in an ambulance in an all-time classic angle. We’re building to Steve vs. Undertaker in the main event for the World Title. Do you think this was too soon to do this or with the rash of injuries you got going on you didn’t really have a choice?

Raw last week drew a 2.75 with a 4.24 share and it seems the gap is getting tighter as Nitro draws a 3.39 rating with a 5.43 share. These little movements have to be seen as steps forward right?

Our show opens with Brian Pillman out here and it’s just a tremendous promo. This really shows how good Brian was even without being in the ring. This is all a trap to suck in Steve Austin for Bulldog & Owen to gain revenge for what happened to Bret. How perfect was Pillman for the Hart Foundation?

From the Observer: "Bret Hart underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on 4/23 at Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary, but his planned surgery to repair his arthritic wrist initially scheduled for 4/24 didn't take place. Hart was told that should he have the operation to repair a chronic painful wrist injury, which stemmed from a break several years ago that never healed properly and he had bone fragments that needed to be cleaned up, that he would be out of action for a minimum of three months and that the wrist would be more susceptible to a future break. Because of both factors, Hart decided against the surgery until after he retires as a full

time wrestler."

This has to be a best case scenario for the company in terms of his recovery does it not?

Bret - despite being hurt - and Austin are all over this show and what seems like every 5 minutes. How incredibly thin did you find the roster at this time between Bret, Shawn, Sid, among others being hurt?

The show draws 6,617; and it’s a sell out paying $88,124. Business seems to be up at this time Jim between ratings and houses/gates.

Also from the Observer: "Weekend house show business was huge as 4/25 in St. Louis at Kiel Center drew 8,335 and $139,723; 4/26 in Kansas City drew 9,750 and $164,182 (the largest gate ever for pro wrestling in Kansas City and one of the two or three largest crowds ever) and 4/27 in

Sioux City, IA drew 2,687 and $47,777. Due to injuries, lots of card changes. The main event that drew the gates was Undertaker defending against Bret Hart, which confirms what everyone really already knows about the success of the Hart heel turn. It wound up with Undertaker pinning Davey Boy Smith on top all three nights."

Does it make sense why Bret didn’t feel like Vince was being straight with him later on this year when Vince tells him about money issues?

Just to give some context Nitro on the same night drew a sellout of 9,467 with 8,761 paying for $138,305. Is this something the WWF office is monitoring to see what WCW is drawing and gates?

“Flash Funk pinned Rockabilly in 4:23 with a huracanrana, but after the match Rockabilly hit Funk with the guitar and left him laying. Not good.”

We are 8 days into this Rockabilly gimmick and it’s already dead on arrival with this loss is it not Jim? Billy lost the debut against “The Real Double J” at the pay-per-view, beat him the next night on Raw and now this. There’s no heat behind this even with Honky is there?

“ Bret Hart arrived in a wheelchair and did an

anti-American interview which was his weakest TV interview since the turn.”

This is the beginning of Bret turning up the gimmick regarding being anti-american. I’m not with Meltzer here I think this is a great promo personally. The line about Bret saying, “Don’t you hate how I keep telling you how I’m the best? Well that’s how the rest of the world feels about the USA!” is just tremendous stuff. Is this the best heel Bret you think you can see?

Here’s a clip of the Legion of Doom legitimately breaking the neck of Henry Godwinn with the Doomsday Device. This is pretty scary is it not Jim? Is this just a mistimed issue?

Dave has a lot of thoughts about the next match…

“Legion of Doom beat Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon in 3:46 when Animal pinned Furnas after a clothesline off the top by Hawk although Furnas wasn't the legal man. Match was a style clash. Actually Road Warriors against almost anyone nowadays is a style clash. Furnas & LaFon desperately need a manager. They are so not over it's like they're six feet under. For the first time in history, they are actually doing a gimmick about that as Furnas & LaFon's gimmick as explained by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross is basically that they aren't over. McMahon explained that American fans aren't used to Furnas & LaFon's "European" style. So that's what it is. They did an interview challenging LOD after the match. A dead segment.”

Furnas & LaFon…I mean even in commentary both you & Vince admit they aren’t over.  Were there ever any plans of putting them with a manager like Meltzer says they need or the Hart Foundation? I mean they need something do they not?

Ahmed Johnson is crazy you see…

This praying Brian Pillman gimmick is real good. He’s praying for Owen to win the IC title…

“Owen Hart pinned Rocky Maivia with a Japanese rolling crotch hold in 8:27 of another dead match (*1/4).”

According to the Observer the initial plan was for Owen to win the IC title at King of the Ring instead of here. Do you know why that was?

Was it time to give Rocky a rest…and give him a fresh coat of paint do you think?

The title change at the time was a major shock as no one saw it coming. Does it make Rock seem like a failure at the time?

You can see the admiration both Bret and Rock have for each other on social media among other forums. Why do you think that is?

Neidhart may have been brought in as an emergency sub since Hart Foundation is booked in several six-man tag matches, many of which are main events on house shows in May."

Austin did an interview and Bret was on the screen. You just gotta keep Austin on TV to keep viewers engaged right?

“-They aired a Ken Shamrock video which was the best thing they've done with him to date.”

How important was it to present Shamrock as different?

“Vader destroyed Jesse Jammes in 1:34. After the match they did the angle where Vader was about to rough up Jim Ross when Shamrock gave him a belly-to-belly. This segment was good.”

We just covered this in your Vader episode. So be sure to check that out in the archives if you haven’t already.

Something we haven’t covered that’s in the Observer at the time:

“-"Spanish language announcer Hugo Savinovich, 38, was fired after being arrested at his apartment in Stamford, CT on charges of possession of narcotics, child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia on 4/24. Stamford police arrested Savinovich and two companions when they investigated in his apartment and found malnourished five and

six-year-old children and an apartment lined with cockroaches and crack cocaine vials. All three adults were held on $20,000 bond. When the WWF was asked to comment, they said that Savinovich no longer worked for the company."

Was this something that would fall under your purview or higher up or a different department since it dealt with the Spanish contracts?

“Goldust beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley via count out in 7:43. Goldust told Marlena not to come to ringside during the match, but she did a few minutes into it and threw powder in Chyna's eyes. Chyna then lifted up Helmsley into a neck hanging three and Hunter was counted out. Goldust worked his ass off in this match but this feud just doesn't get over with Goldust as a face. They announced that just as Ellen is coming out of the closet, that Goldust will with an interview next week so they'll acknowledge him next week as Dustin Rhodes, talk about being in Dusty Rhodes' shadow or whatever explanation they're coming up with. (*1/4).”

How important were these vignettes to Dustin at this point in his career? Was the Ellen DeGeneres thing something that was in the mind of the WWF creative at this point? Or was it just time to move Dustin to the next chapter of the character?

Meltzer would write in the Observer: “-"Yokozuna was contacted about coming back with all the injuries but he's on blood thinning medication so if he were to suffer an accidental cut, the blood wouldn't clot and it could be really disastrous. No word on when he'll get clearance to return."

It feels like this is something that was an issue a lot during this era compared to now. Do you think there’s a better class of athlete in professional wrestling now more than ever?

Taker with a promo regarding his title defense against Austin upcoming. Was this one of those main events that were hard to promote considering the biggest story in the company is Bret vs. Austin and Taker’s ongoing program with Paul Bearer?

“Undertaker beat Bulldog via DQ in 4:07 when Owen interfered. Most of the match took place during the commercial break. Austin made the save and he and Undertaker cleaned house. Austin then turned on Undertaker and hit the stone cold stunner. Undertaker sat up and grabbed Austin by the throat and choke slammed him. Austin finally recovered and went after Bret in the wheelchair but was attacked by Jim Neidhart (the world was waiting with baited breath for his return) and Bret hit Austin with his crutch, breaking the crutch, and knocking Austin off the stage where Austin did a stretcher job as the show went off the air.”

The joke has always been that Stu went to Vince and wanted “the big rhino bastard” back into the fold for the family. Is that how you remember it?

It’s speculated in the Observer that Pillman was unable to go back on the road to be in the ring to replace Bret in 6-mans due to Bret’s knee surgery and so a 6th man was needed hence Neidhart. Anything to that you think?

Did Jim add anything to the Hart Foundation? Would he be considered the heater?

What’d you think of the show Jim?

Nitro was only one hour for the week because of the NBA playoffs on TNT. Raw drew a 3.44 rating with 3.3 for the first hour and 3.58 in the second hour with a 5.2 share. Nitro draws a 2.7 rating with a 5.1 share due to the time difference.

Is this a success even with the change in time for Nitro?