OOC Note: I didn't want to use Savage by respect towards him because of his recent passing away. As for Warrior, we shall see...
WWF Raw
Jan. 6, 1991
Live from Phoenix, Ariz.
The show opened with a still-shot photo of RAW GM, Paul Orndorff. A video recapped the Kerry von Erich vs. Lex Luger feud. The opening montage aired. Jim Ross and Ken Patera opened the show by hyping a pose-down contest between von Erich and Luger.
Richard Morton and Iceman Parsons hit the ring while their entrance music played. Paul Orndorff and Bob Backlund walked onto the stage with scowls on their faces. Orndorff announced that the first Raw of the new year would bring a change in attitude.
Orndorff said that 1991 will be his year. He said that wrestlers will show him respect or pay the price. The angry Orndorff said that he did not like Morton and Parsons, and therefore announced that they would have to wrestle in a No DQ handicap match. "The only reason there will be a referee is so that he can count 1-2-3 when your opponents are tired of kicking your ass," Orndorff said. Orndorff introduced B Brian Blair, Big Josh, Bad News Brown, and Orndorff's latest Raw signing, Zeus as the opponents for Morton and Parsons. Orndorff also announced that Zeus will be one of the 15 Raw wrestlers in the Royal Rumble. Zeus came out accompanied by Greg Valentine, who seemed to be mentoring him.
B Brian Blair & Big Josh & Bad News Brown & Zeus (w/Greg Valentine) vs. Morton and Parsons
Morton and Parsons start with a bit of an advantage while facing just Blair and Big Josh. They are able to clear the two from the ring and to knock out Bad News Brown with a stunning crossbody from Morton followed by a splash from Parsons. But in comes Zeus, who spears Morton down hard, much to Orndorff's delight. Blair and Josh come back in and stomp away on Parsons, while Morton is tossed from the ring. Outside, Orndorff and Backlund stomp on Morton, while inside, Parsons is laid out. Blair and Josh go out to take on Morton while Zeus DDTs Parsons. Zeus pins, but the ref refuses to count. Orndorff tells the ref to count it or he won't have a happy new year. The ref reluctantly counts, but Zeus pulls Parsons up to continue the match. Morton runs in and starts punching away on Zeus, but Blair comes in and hits Morton with a belly-belly. Greg Valentine comes in and straps the Figure Four on Morton, as Josh goes up top. With Valentine still locked in, Big Josh hits a flying splash on Morton. Parsons crawls up, only to be hit with a German suplex. Zeus pulls Parsons up and hits a pedigree. He pins, but again the ref won't count. He is forced to drop down and count the 1-2-3!
B Brian Blair & Big Josh & Bad News Brown & Zeus (w/Greg Valentine) def. Morton and Parsons in 4:30.
Afterward, the heels continued their attack. Backlund held Parsons up while Orndorff told him again that 1991 will be his year, before smacking him across the face.
[Commercial break]
After the break, Shawn Michaels & Col DeBeers were harassing Ross and Patera at the commentators' perch. The team headed to the ring, where Morton and Parsons were still lying, and picked up the attack where the other heels left off. DeBeers put on brass knuckles and punched Rick Morton, who started bleeding.
Lex Luger was backstage checking himself out in the mirror when Greg Valentine walked into the room. Greg pumped up Luger for his pose-down with Kerry von Erich for later in the show. Luger showed Valentine the fitness magazine he was featured in. When Luger put the magazine down, von Erich was standing in the room. Kerry warned Luger not to try anything during the pose-down, "Or I'll rip your head off".
[Commercial break]
The announcers hyped Jake Roberts & Rick Steiner vs. Sting & Jeff Jarrett for later in the show.
In the back, Monsoon asks Ricky Steamboat and Abdullah the Butcher, the Tag Champs, what the new year will hold. Ricky couldn't believe Orndorff called this the Year of Orndorff. If that's true, then we're in a lot of trouble. Ricky says this will be the year of the Butcher and Ricky Steamboat!
A shot aired of Orndorff and Backlund watching Steamboat's comments on a monitor in their dressing room. Orndorff threw a fit and said he would not tolerate Ricky's show of disrespect. Orndorff booked Steamboat & Abdullah the Butcher vs. Shawn Michaels and Col DeBeers for the straps for later in the show.
[Commercial break]
Recap of the Eric Embry-Sting fight last week.
A familiar theme hits and out comes the the Stinger, Sting. He takes a microphone and starts telling his story. Ever since seeing WrestleMania last year, he has had a recurring dream. He competes at WrestleMania and wins the World Championship. He doesn't care who it's against. He will get his shot, because it's the most important thing in his life. It's not about having to prove himself. It's not even about the Title. It's about being regarded as the best in the world. He will always be Sting: The Icon. But he wants his Title shot, and the best way to get it is to win the Royal Rumble. He spoke with Paul Orndorff today, and as of right now, Sting has been entered in the Royal Rumble! Moans fill the arena as the Flamboyant Eric Embry comes to the ring. He knows he and Sting have gotten off to a rotten start, but he didn't come out here to upset Sting. He came here to take issue with the idea that Sting could be considered the best. He's not going to argue it. He's just going to inform Sting of something. They have more in common than you can imagine, and in Sting's mind, he probably believes he is the very best. But Sting needs what Embry always needed. Sometimes for guys like them, being the best is an obligation. They need everyone in the arena and watching the show and everyone in the back to acknowledge them as the very best. And for that to happen, you have to volunteer to be the Number One entrant in the Rumble, outlast all others and win your shot, then go to WrestleMania and win the Title. Then, everyone will have no choice but to recognize Sting as the best in the business. Sting says he knows Embry is patronizing him, trying to remind everyone that no one ever won the Rumble from the Number One spot. He's trying to insinuate that the only way to achieve greatness is to do what no one has ever done before. Well let Sting remind Eric of something. When Sting was in the NWA, he beat men that Embry has never beaten, such as Ric Flair or Barry Windham. So don't start telling Sting what it takes to be the best. Embry tells Sting to prove it by going and volunteering to be the Number One entrant. If Sting doesn't, Embry will go and volunteer and he'll show Sting how it's done. Sting asks if that means Embry is in the match, and Eric confirms it. So if Sting wants to prove he's the best, he'll have to go through Embry. Sting says that if he has to go through Embry anyway, why wait til the Rumble? Why not do it tonight? Sting takes off his shirt and Embry puts down the microphone. Suddenly, Robert Gibson interrupts. Robert Gibson says, that from now on, he will interrupt the show anytime he wants, to give everyone news of himself. Gibson walks to the ring. He tells them to hold on. It's news that Eric Embry is in the Rumble, but the real news is that Gibson's shoulder is not injured anymore, and is up to 93% mobility. He asks if Embry is jealous that he is more inspirational than Embry will ever be. Embry may think he's a charsmatic guy, but there's a new boy in town. Gibson says that when his shoulder is back to 100%, Embry won't want to be around. Embry clocks Gibson, allowing Sting to knock Embry down from behind and attack. He tries to put on the Scorpion Death Lock, but Rick Steiner runs down and knocks him away. Gibson and Sting team up on Steiner, and are joined by Jeff Jarrett in the beating. "SNAKE!" Jake Roberts' theme hits and the Snake clears Gibson, Sting and Jarrett from the ring.
[Commercial break]
Ricky Steamboat & Abdullah the Butcher vs. Col DeBeers & Shawn Michaels for the World Tag Team Championships
Ricky and HBK start off, with Ricky getting a hammerlock, but Shawn hitting back elbows. Ricky clotheslines HBK down and scoop slams him. Armdrag by Ricky, as we see Orndorff watching anxiously in the back. Tag to Abdullah, who hits a flying fist. Knee drop by the butcher 1-kickout. Shawn hits a jawbreaker and tags in DeBeers. Abdullah hits a back body drop. DeBeers comes back, but Abdullah flips him and hits a lariat 1-2-kickout. Tag to Steamboat. Chops in the corner by Steamboat, who then goes for the 10 Punches, but HBK guillotines him. DeBeers hits an uppercut and chokes Ricky with his knee. Tag to Shawn, who smashes Steamboat into the turnbuckles then elbows him down 1-2-shoulder up. Sleeper by HBK. Tag to DeBeers who beats Ricky down and makes a choking pin for a two count. Sleeper applied by DeBeers, but Steamboat fights up and out. DeBeers hits a running knee and tags in HBK 1-2-broken by Abdullah. Side headlock by Shawn, but Ricky tries to punch out, only for Shawn to trip him and apply a forearm crossface. Again Ricky fights up and out, then hits a reverse thrust kick. Tag to Abdullah. Uppercuts by Abdullah to both men, then a clothesline to Shanw and an Atomic Drop and a clothesline to Col. Powerslam on Shawn 1-2-broken by DeBeers. Steamboat punches away on Col in one corner while Abdullah beats on Shawn in the other. Thump to DeBeers. Abdullah lifts Shawn in a bearhug and Steamboat calf kicks him out 1-2-DeBeers kicks the referee in the face. Steamboat and Abdullah clear the ring of DeBeers and Shawn but fall from exhaustion as well.
Commercial Break
As we come back, Ricky gets a two count on HBK from none other than Bob Backlund who came down to referee during the break. Steamboat goes for a jumping calf kick, but HBK ducks and Ricky nails Backlund. He goes to pin, but there is no ref. Finally Earl Hebner runs down and counts 1-2-shoulder up! Tag to Abdullah. Abdullah battles Shawn into the corner and sets him for the jumping headbutt, but DeBeers knocks him away and allows Shawn to run outside where DeBeers nails a clothesline. He rolls Abdullah into the ring where Shawn pins 1-2-shoulder up. Tag to Col. Side gutwrench suplex by Col 1-2-broken by Steamboat. Forearms to the back by DeBeers. Tag to Shawn, who hits a snapmare and applies a chinlock. Abdullah uses the crowd to fight up and out of the hold, hitting a mini-chokeslam on HBK. Abdullah crawls and tags in Ricky. Knockdowns by Steamboat, then a back body to HBK. He chops away on Shawn in the corner, then hits a flapjack. Dropkick by Steamboat, then the diving crossbaody 1-2-Backlund pulls Hebnaer out of the ring! Col hits a pedigree and lays out Ricky Steamboat and Abdullah. He lays HBK on top of Ricky. Backlund comes back in 1-2-3! DeBeers and Michaels are the new Tag Team Champions!
Col DeBeers & Shawn Michaels beat Ricky Steamboat & Abdullah the Butcher to win the Raw Tag Titles at 14:11.
[Commercial break]
In the back, DeBeers and Michaels talk with Orndorff and Backlund about upholding his values as Tag Team Champions.
The announcers hyped that Raw next week will be a show "you don't want to miss", as several awards will be presented, such as "Best Entrance in Raw History", "Most Dangerous Move in Raw History", and *dun dun dun* "Greatest Match in Raw History."
Brian Pillman vs. The Warlord (w/Samu)
Pillman comes down, followed by the odd pairing of Warlord and Samu. Earlier today, Warlord asked Samu to be in his corner tonight. He understands that the refs, and the fans are all prejudiced against different people. He understands because they all hate him for being different as well. Back live, Pillman tosses Warlord away to get in shots on Samu, but Warlord comes back and clubs Pillman in the back. He rams Pillman's shoulder into the ringpost and applies an armbar. Brian slams Warlord and sees Samu outside again. He exits the ring before guillotining Warlord. Back in the ring, Pillman continues to take it to Warlord. He hits a back eblow, then hits another to Samu. Diving crossbody by Pillman 1-2-shoulder up. Samu grabs Pillman's leg and Warlord runs at them, but Pillman sidesteps and Warlord nails Samu. Pillman hits the springboard clothesline 1-2-3!
Brian Pillman beat The Warlord (w/Samu) at 1:58.
After the match, Samu runs in and hits Pillman with the Samoan Stunner.
[Commercial break]
The announcers hyped the rest of the show and said that Eric Embry will be in the corner of Rick Steiner & Jake Roberts, while Robert Gibson will be in the corner of Sting & Jeff Jarrett.
In the back, Sting is talking to himself when Jarrett comes in. He tells Sting that he has entered himself in the Rumble too. Sting says that's great because Jarrett can help him win. Jarrett says he's going to win. Sting says he is an Icon, but Jarrett says he needs a world title victory more. Sting is the fastest rising star around, but Jarrett is a 15 times tag team champion in USWA. Sting says that makes Jarrett a nine-time loser, but Jarrett counters that Sting's haircut is stupid. Sting badmouths Jarrett's mustache, prompting Jarrett to pull out the "At least Eric Embry didn't rip my face off" card. Finally Robert Gibson comes in and breaks it up, saying they have nothing to fear with him in their corner tonight.
The announcers hyped Kerry von Erich appearing on the cover of Iron Man magazine.
Separate shots aired of Lex Luger and Kerry von Erich warming up for their pose-down.
[Commercial break]
Gorilla Monsoon stood in the ring to introduce the pose-down. Lex Luger walked to the ring for the while wearing a spiffy personalized sweat-suit, and joined Monsoon and Greg Valentine in the ring. Lex Luger took the mic to explain the rules of the pose-down. He said that he and Kerry would engage in a series of poses. Unlike every other WWF contest, Luger said he wasn't going to allow the entire crowd to determine the winner because they are jealous of him. Luger selected six "fans" from the front row to judge a body-building event. Oddly enough, the six guys he picked all looked like indy wrestlers. Luger instructed Monsoon to call out the poses for him and Kerry. Valentine's role in all of this was to pass the scorecards to the judges.
Monsoon introduced von Erich, who entered the ring and immediately began talking trash to Luger. Monsoon explained that both wrestlers would strike the same three poses, for 15 second each. Luger slowly took off his jacket while soaking up a smattering of squeals from the women in the audience. Kerry took off his shirt and was cheered by what sounded like the same 20 women. Meanwhile, every heterosexual man in the building sat confused as to what the hell they should be doing.
Luger and von Erich went through the three poses. Monsoon polled the judges, who unanimously voted for Lex Luger. Luger fell to his knees while pretending to be overjoyed by the outcome. Kerry took the mic from Monsoon and accused Luger of rigging the contest. Kerry asked the crowd to tell him who really won the contest. Kerry posed and the crowd popped big. Kerry asked Luger to climb onto the ropes and let the fans tell him what they think of his physique. Luger refused, saying that Kerry was just embarrassed about losing the contest.
Luger, who appeared to have had a nasty encounter with a bottle of fake tanning lotion, challenged Kerry to a push-up contest. Luger agreed and both men started doing push-ups, but one of the judges stood up and kicked von Erich. The other judges tried to help, but Kerry quickly tossed the judges aside while Luger and Valentine headed backstage.
[Commercial break]
The announcers hyped next week's Raw show again.
Ring introductions took place for the main event.
[Commercial break]
Sting & Jeff Jarret vs. Jake Roberts & Rick Steiner
A four-man brawl has already begun. Steiner tosses Sting out, then Roberts slams Jarrett out on top of him. Steiner exits the ring and double cloteslines them. In the ring, Stiener and Sting start off, with Steiner taking Sting down, but Jarrett tosses him to the floor while Gibson distracts the ref. Jarrett tags in and clubs away on Steiner. He smashes Steiner's face into the mat. Tag to Sting, who flips Sting and hits three elbow drops 1-2-kickout. Snapmare by Sting, who wrenches back on Steiner's arms. Steiner uses the crowd to fight up and out of the hold, but Sting pulls him back down and keeps him from tagging. Tag to Jarrett. Punches by Rick, then a clothesline. Jarrett applies a front facelock to try to keep Steiner from his corner, but Rick pushes Jarrett back and tags. Sting however was able to distract the ref and keep him from seeing the tag. As the ref tries to keep Roberts from the ring, Gibson pulls Steiner outside and beats him down. Eric Embry runs over and gives Gibson a neckbreaker. Sting tosses Embry into the stairs and goes into the ring. Steiner is able to ram Jarrett's shoulders into the ringpost and take down Sting with boots to the mid section. Tag to Jake the Snake. Clothesline in the corner to Jarrett. Knee lift to Sting. Sidewalk slam to Jarrettn 1-2-broken by Sting. Jarrett and Sting go for the suplex, but instead Jake suplexes them both. He goes up top and hits Jarrette with the flying clothesline. He calls for the end, but Sting interrupts him. While Chioda forces Sting from the ring, Jarrett low blows Roberts and pins 1-2-shoulder up. Sting comes back with chairs and they go for a ConChairTo, but Jake ducks and they smack the chairs against each other. Embry pulls Sting from the ring and they start to fight up into the stands. Steiner hits a diving bulldog on Jarrett, then Jake DDTs him. Steiner hits the Steiner Driver, and Jake pins 1-2-3!
Rick Steiner & Jake Roberts (w/Eric Embry) beat Sting & Jeff Jarrett (w/Robert Gibson) at 7:23.
Backstage, Paul Orndorff told Backlund, DeBeers, and HBK that he got what he wanted out of the first show of the year. Orndorff announced DeBeers vs. Patera for next week. "I finally feel like I'm in charge of Raw," Orndorff said. Orndorff's cell phone rang and he walked away from the wrestlers to take the call. After hanging up the phone, Orndorff told the others that Vince McMahon's secretary had called to inform him that Vince would be at next week's Raw. The show went off the air as Orndorff was looking concerned over Vince's appearance.
