WWF Monday Night Raw – June 24, 1996
Green Bay, WI

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

Non-Title Match:
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Ahmed Johnson [WWF Intercontinental Champion]

Result/Analysis: Johnson via pinfall (10:27 shown) following the Pearl River Plunge. Hunter continues jobbing as his punishment continues. Ahmed goes over clean the night after he became the Intercontinental Champion. Goldust, who’s interviewed during the match, says he will request a rematch with Ahmed but next time, he won’t again make the mistake of saving Ahmed’s life. This is a standard Ahmed match. He starts off hot, the heel takes control, and Ahmed makes his comeback to win. HHH does the heavy lifting and takes bumps to elevate Ahmed’s offensive prowess. Afterward, Dok Hendrix interviews Ahmed (who calls Dok “Michael”) and informs him he’s the first-ever African-American Intercontinental Champion in WWF history. That’s true. Pedro Morales is of Puerto Rican descent and can’t be classified as African-American. Ahmed appreciates the noteworthiness aspect of his accomplishment but says he’ll be a champion for ALL people as he represents people of all races and backgrounds. There were just such high hopes for Ahmed … It’s funny, the wrestler with a Hall of Fame career (HHH) was nothing more than a piss ant here.
Rating: **

A King of the Ring highlights package is shown. It was a very good (surprisingly) PPV! Check it out on PEACOCK, the exclusive home of The WWE Network or track down a bootleg copy for free.

Sunny joins King and Vince for commentary as The Bodydonnas compete in tag-team action. Vince announces The Bodydonnas will wrestle The Smoking Gunns at In Your House in a non-title match. Sunny is asked why is it a non-title match? She says The Bodydonnas can have the match but they have to prove they’re worthy of a title shot. All decisions go thru her after all. That’s not the only thing that does …

The Brooklyn Brawler & Jerry Fox vs. The Bodydonnas [Skip & Zip] (w/ Kloudy)

Result/Analysis: The Bodydonnas via pinfall (3:58) when Zip pins Fox following a cannonball splash from the top rope. There’s nothing to see here. Kloudy, the he-she manager is grotesque. Fans were supposed to be backing The Bodydonnas following Sunny’s betrayal but she was the reason they received any attention before as heels. There are no words to describe the stupidity. Kloudy chases Sunny away following the match so there’s at least some bouncing going on. There’s that.
Rating: 1/2*

Next week, Marty Jannetty will wrestle Shawn Michaels in a non-title match as the former Rockers new their rivalry. Vince recaps their history, most of it ancient history by 1996. Yawn.

Meanwhile, Kloudy creeps out Lawler by her presence so he hops the railing to flee. Commercial.

Six-Man Tag-Team Match:
Savio Vega, “The Portuguese Man o’ War” Aldo Montoya & Barry Horowitz
vs. The British Bulldog, “The King of Harts” Owen Hart & Vader (w/ Diana and Jim Cornette]

Result/Analysis: Camp Cornette via submission (4:19) when Montoya taps out to the sharpshooter applied by Owen Hart. It’s a glorified squash of three stiffs and nothing more. Camp Cornette readies itself for the six-man tag-team Main Event at IYH: International Incident. Michaels, Ahmed Johnson and The Ultimate Warrior will be the babyface trio.
Rating: *1/4

The King of the Ring highlights get a second go-around as this show stalls.

Brian Effin Pillman hobbles out on crutches. The Loose Cannon is on commentary for the Main Event? Meanwhile, “Unleash The Warrior Inside of You” … a stupid Warrior promo airs.

Pillman confronts Vince about getting paid. He wants his effin money already. Hysterical

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer)

Result/Analysis: The Undertaker via DQ (11:17 shown) due to outside interference by Goldust. This would be the first match between Austin and The Undertaker so there’s a footnote to that. Goldust will again face The Undertaker at an IYH PPV so that explains his involvement. The match here is long, boring and generally pointless. The spotlight was on Paul Bearer and what happened at King of the Ring involving Mankind and Bearer costing The Undertaker to lose when the urn hit him. Austin 3:16 is put on ice for the night. He’s just the guy opposite The Undertaker while Lawler attempts to procure an explanation from Bearer with nothing significant happening in the match. Goldust doing the bidding for Mankind at least was an interesting wrinkle, I suppose. Bearer’s heel turn is forthcoming so there’s that development.
Rating: *

The Verdict: So much for the momentum off a solid King of the Ring PPV as RAW follows up with a complete DUD. IYH: International Incident appears like it will be an international disgrace. Summer had just begun but the WWF was in for a cruel one. Hey, I like Bananarama so laugh at me.