Raw Deal - Raw recap for February 3, 1997

Instead of showing the Royal Rumble match in its entirety as advertised, snippets of the Royal Rumble match were shown throughout the show instead.

Bret "The Hit Man" Hart shows up before "Stone Cold" Steve Austin can face Vader and fights Austin. Vader picks up Hart and hits him a few times, and Vader and Hart brawl. As officials escort Hart to the back, Austin gets a few shots in on Hart. The match then begins after Hart is escorted further away from the ring.

Vader beats "Stone Cold" Steve Austin by disqualification after Austin hits the referee with the Stunner and he and Vader fight outside of the ring until officials separate them.

Thursday Raw Thursday happens on Thursday, February 13th!

Before the next match, Savio Vega tells Jim Ross he doesn't care what the fans think about his turning of them, and says that the Nation of Domination will rule the World Wrestling Federation. (It should be noted that one of the men in tuxedos seen when Savio Vega makes his entrance is future WWF Superstar D'Lo Brown. Also, J.C. Ice and Wolfie D are inexplicably absent.)

Savio Vega beats Flash Funk. Faarooq embraces Savio Vega after the match.

Jim Ross interviews Sycho Sid in the ring. Sid agrees that he and "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels have a weird relationship, and that it can be considered a friendship on the edge of madness. He states that Shawn would agree that evil is just that: evil. Sometimes it is mistaken for happiness, and in his case, evil showed up on him at Survivor Series, and that evil showed up at Royal Rumble. Sid says that when the ride comes to an end and the smoke clears, says he will be standing the man and the master and ruler of the world.

This week on The Ross Report on Option 6 of the WWF Superstar Line: where are Yokozuna, Brian Pillman, Sunny and Jim Cornette?

Owen Hart and The British Bulldog are interviewed from backstage. Owen says that he accidentally eliminated Bulldog at the Royal Rumble match when he tried to eliminate "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, but Bulldog isn't convinced when approached about his response after the elimination.

Doug Furnas and Philip LaFon beat Owen Hart and The British Bulldog by count-out after Owen apparently twists his knee, but Owen Hart and The British Bulldog retain the WWF Tag Team Championships. It is soon revealed that Owen Hart feigned an injury, and The British Bulldog confronts him about it.

Ahmed Johnson is interviewed from backstage. He tells Vince McMahon that this is just the beginning between him and the Nation of Domination, and he has something in store for them and everyone else, as he is off his Prozac, and when he doesn't take his Prozac, there is no telling what he'll do to anybody. He tells Savio Vega to go ahead and join the Nation of Domination if he wants to, but he will pay with the rest. He is confronted by The Undertaker, who is about to chokeslam him when Ahmed swats his hand away. Ahmed tells him that he'll be deader than usual if he puts his hands on him again, but The Undertaker tells Ahmed "If you go now, you go alone. If you wait, we'll bury 'em together." 'Taker then pushes the camera away.

Crush beats Goldust after The Nation of Domination distracts the referee and Savio Vega attacks Goldust from behind during the Curtain Call. During the match, Hunter Hearst Helmsley briefly shows up.

The New Blackjacks are coming to the WWF...

Vince McMahon interviews "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels in the ring. He agrees with Sycho Sid's statement that the WWF Championship brings out the evil in everyone, and that he is one of the people whose evil has been brought out from the title. Yet if being bad is what you have to be to be WWF Championship, then he'll be the worst guy anyone has ever seen. As for the crowd being bigger fans of Bret "The Hit Man" Hart than him, he's won more than enough popularity contests and that it's time to be #1 as being the #1 guy is what helps keep the title. Shawn goes on to say that he is used to being disliked, especially when he is both the champion and honest. He tells Hart he can keep calling himself "the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be," but he can't call himself WWF Championship. Suddenly, Bret Hart, who has been watching the interview from a cordoned-off area, shows up and gets in the ring. Hart says he has tried to like Shawn, but tells him it gets harder and harder all the time, and while he tells Shawn he can pride himself on being a self-proclaimed degenerate and a "complete and total jackass," the fans don't have to like it. He calls Shawn a punk, and as Shawn stops him, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin shows up and attacks Hart yet again. Sycho Sid makes his way into the ring and confronts Shawn in the ring.

After the commercial break, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Sycho Sid have been escorted to the back. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels lays the WWF Championship on the mat, then he and Bret "The Hit Man" Hart stare down. Shawn picks the belt back up, but can't as Hart has his foot on it. Bret picks it up, then tosses it back to Shawn and flips him off before leaving.

Earlier tonight, Tiger Ali Singh was singed to a WWF contract. Singh hopes to carry the Canadian flag to even greater heights than ever before.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley retains the WWF Intercontinental Championship against "Wildman" Marc Mero after Helmsley tears out a turnbuckle pad, which Marc Mero tells the referee to fix. When that happens, Helmsley pulls out a foreign object and knocks Mero out with it. As per pre-match stipulation, Sable and Curtis Hughes are barred from the arena.

WWF is heading to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Lowell, Massachusetts; and Cincinnati, Ohio!

The Undertaker and Ahmed Johnson beat Faarooq and Mankind in a No Holds Barred Match after Ahmed sends Faarooq retreating to the back and Vader's attempt to hit 'Taker with a chair as Mankind holds him down backfires when 'Taker moves out of the way.