Raw Deal - Raw recap for May 19, 1997

We see what happened after the cameras stopped rolling last week. After the cameras go off, Bret "The Hit Man" Hart keeps talking trash to "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, and says Shawn doesn't have the guts to hit him as he stands from his wheelchair. Bret instantly eats a superkick, and Shawn runs around the ring avoiding the rest of The Hart Foundation (Bret "The Hit Man" Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Brian Pillman). That doesn't happen for long, as they eventually get a hold of Shawn and beat him up on the entrance ramp. They almost toss him off the side of the entrance ramp when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin shows up and attacks The Foundation. Officials have to keep Austin and Michaels from getting close to the Foundation again as the Foundation checks on Bret.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is interviewed in the ring by Jim Ross to start the show. Austin says he doesn't give a rat's ass about "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, and that he only came out because The Hart Foundation (Bret "The Hit Man" Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Brian Pillman) turned their backs. As far as Shawn is concerned, he can thank his lucky stars he was there as Shawn was about to take a hell of an ass whipping. He says the Foundation runs in a pack, and that he can run through the pack with or without Shawn, as they are both going different paths and the Foundation is just a common denominator. Suddenly, Shawn Michaels shows up and tells Austin with diction similar to his that it wasn't too long ago that he did the same for him and that he only did it because he hates the Foundation as much as any other guy in the World Wrestling Federation. He has fallen off ladders tossed off the top of steel cages before Austin showed up, and if he had been tossed off the side of the entrance ramp, he would have picked himself right back up. Austin tells Shawn that he didn't say he wasn't tough, and tells him to go back to the back before he kicks his teeth down his throat, but Shawn tells him he can just as well kick his guts in. This leads to a brawl between Austin and Shawn that leads to officials quickly scrambling to the ring to break apart. Owen Hart, The British Bulldog and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart show up on the TitanTron, making fun of Austin and Shawn for failing to get along. Owen wishes Bret "The Hit Man" Hart to see this, but he will be there in a few minutes. He then issues a challenge to them for the tag team titles next week if they can get on the same page. Shawn and Austin both say that they'll find a partner other than each other for the match, and then they start brawling again.

It is announced that Vader will not be able to appear for his first round King of the Ring match against Crush, due to a ruptured septum in his nose suffered from the No Holds Barred Match against Ken Shamrock. In his place is Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who has a second chance in the tournament after being defeated via disqualification by Ahmed Johnson. According to Gerald Brisco, referee Tim White erred in instructing Hunter Hearst Helmsley that he could only win by pinfall or submission and that loss via disqualification would eliminate him from the tournament, and will therefore take Vader's place in the tournament in order to avoid any legal action.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley beats Crush to continue to the second round of the King of the Ring tournament when Savio Vega tries to interfere, leading Helmsley to get some assistance from Chyna. Savio Vega gets off the apron and Chyna gets caught, and Savio Vega tries to take advantage of that by trying to roundhouse kick Helmsley from the apron while Crush holds Helmsley from behind. Unfortunately for Vega, Triple H escapes Crush's grasp and Vega ends up kicking Crush in the side of the head instead. Chyna grabs Vega by the foot to keep him from breaking the pinfall, and Crush confronts Vega after the match. This leads to a shoving match between the two, and Faarooq has to rush into the ring and tell both of them to knock it off.

We see pre-recorded comments from two WWF fans who wish hometown hero Bob "Spark Plug" Holly luck tonight. We also see footage of Jerry "The King" Lawler interviewing two local fans, and asks the older fan if he and his wife would still be brother and sister if they divorced.

Bob "Spark Plug" Holly gets a surprise win in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama on Owen Hart with an inside cradle. After the match, The British Bulldog and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart go after Holly, who immediately sidesteps into the crowd.

It's time for Episode 2 of "Sunny's Search and Soak Mission," where Jim Cornette gets soaked with the Super Soaker CPS 2000.

"The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels has found a partner for tonight in the form of "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock. Shamrock calls this a privilege and an honor, and asks Shawn to take care of Owen Hart so that he can give The British Bulldog more than he can handle.

Jim Ross apologizes for the satellite transmission problems tonight, as the show is in the middle of a huge thunderstorm.

We see the first part of an interview with Mankind. Mankind says that the biggest misconception fans have of him is that he is a bad person. Even though there are plenty of reasons to hate him, he does not want to be hated to due to "untruths, partial truths and rumors." He says that he always played the Indians in a game of Cowboys and Indians, and if he is the bad guy for standing for what he believes in, then Jim Ross has him dead to rights. He also talks about a time when he was playing dodgeball at eight years old when he was accidentally kicked in the lip and started bleeding, and noticed that he handled pain better than other people to the point that he loved it, and wanted to do something where he could be in pain and make a living out of it, which lead to him becoming a professional wrestler. This lead to him and his brother play wrestling, which ended with Mankind breaking his brother's nose. Even though he was forbidden from watching pro wrestling by his mother from that point on, the dream still lived. Mankind wants to tell his son when he turns 15 "not to be the guy who eats strange things," as he was always bullied by having worms thrown at him and he got back at his tormentors by eating the worms, which backfired as he went through his high school days without a single date.

It is announced by Jerry "The King" Lawler that Paul E. Dangerously has forbidden Rob Van Dam from returning to Raw via legal proceedings.

Scott Taylor beats Leif Cassidy with an inside cradle. (After six years of working as enhancement talent, Taylor is finally working in the WWF under contract.) After the match, Leif Cassidy jumps on the commentary table and says he can't take it anymore.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin walks in on Sable dressing while looking for a tag team partner.

Bret "The Hit Man" Hart has made it to the arena.

The Hart Foundation (Bret "The Hit Man" Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Brian Pillman) is seen backstage before the beginning of the second hour.

The introduction to the show replays to signify the start of War Zone.

The Hart Foundation (Bret "The Hit Man" Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Brian Pillman) show up. Bret is now on crutches instead of rolling around in a wheelchair. Once again, Bret trashes the American wrestling fans and says that "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels would not allow him his right to free right, which he calls typical behavior of the American wrestling fans as he mocks the southern American accent. He says that Shawn is no better than "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and that Shawn had to take it on himself to attack him last week. He doesn't care who Shawn picks for a partner for next week's tag team title match, as his days are numbered and he cannot think of anyone who would even want to tag team with Shawn. He tells his true fans around the world as well as the American fans that someone else - a real hero and a real man - will come back at King of the Ring with a bad knee, and that man is him. Despite many well wishes despite the bad knee, he challenges Shawn to a match at King of the Ring, and if he cannot beat him in ten minutes, he will never wrestle in the United States again. All of a sudden, Shawn appears on the TitanTron, and tells Bret he couldn't beat him in sixty minutes and says the only reason Bret thinks he can beat him in 10 is because of the rest of the Foundation. Shawn goes on to say he wants the rest of the Foundation at ringside, and adds a stipulation of his own: the rest of the Foundation must be handcuffed to a ring post so they can't jump in and he and Bret can settle once and for all if Bret can be beaten like a man, saying that Bret couldn't last ten minutes in any situation and that he will knock him down and drag him out. Bret accepts the challenge, saying ten minutes is all he needs to smoke Shawn. Shawn tells Bret he can smoke him, but he has to beat him, which he says Bret doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of doing.

Before the next match, Goldust asks the crowd if they want to see Marlena, and says he can do one better: two Marlenas. Not only does Marlena show up, but so does his and Marlena's daughter, Dakota, who has a bit of fun on the microphone.

Rockabilly beats Goldust by disqualification when he gets caught in the ropes and The Honky Tonk Man takes advantage of the ref helping Rockabilly out of the ropes by trying to hit Goldust with his guitar. Goldust takes the guitar away from him and hits him in the head with it, but Rockabilly walks away with the win when the referee sees .

Backstage, Ahmed Johnson calls Faarooq a sell-out, a liar, a racist and a cheat, but says that what Faarooq said last week about there never being a Black WWF Champion is the truth, and wants to know why. Ahmed says he's no racist and is tolerant of everyone, and says he will set out to become the first Black WWF Champion.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin has found a tag team partner for next week: Harvey Wippleman. The Brooklyn Brawler wants to tag up with Stone Cold, but gets thrown into the backstage set for his trouble. Austin then tells Wippleman to stay at the corner and watch him whip ass next week.

Episode 2 of "Sunny's Search and Soak Mission" is replayed.

It is announced before the next match that J.C. Ice and Wolfie D are no longer part of The Nation of Domination after what happened last week against The Legion of Doom (Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior Hawk).

Faarooq beats Rocky Maivia. After the match, Faarooq asks Savio Vega and Crush not to attack Rocky Maivia in a post-match beatdown. We then see The Hart Foundation (Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Brian Pillman) beating up Bob "Spark Plug" Holly backstage, with officials trying to stop the carnage.

Vince McMahon interviews The Undertaker in the ring and asks about Faarooq, Paul Bearer's comments and the secret he swore not to tell. The Undertaker says that last week, Faarooq played the race card, and says that he is not a "white savior" as he doesn't recognize color. He is neither white or black, only the reaper of wayward souls, and when all is said and done and Faarooq is wondering why he isn't WWF Champion, it's because he couldn't beat The Undertaker, not because he's Black. As for Paul Bearer's secret, 'Taker simply says that this is not the time. Paul Bearer then appears on the TitanTron, saying it is. He tells him to remember that dark, drizzling morning where his parents' caskets were lowered and he promised never to let the secret he knows out. He tells 'Taker to come back to him, or he reveal the secret. 'Taker says he needs more time, and Bearer gives him seven days, and if he doesn't rejoin him, he will open Pandora's Box.

Brian Pillman guests on commentary during "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, which quickly ends when Austin gets his hands on Pillman, who responds with a crutch to Austin's back. Owen hart and The British Bulldog also attack Austin, but "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels shows up and nails everyone with a steel chair. As The Hart Foundation (Bret "The Hit Man" Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Brian Pillman) leaves, Austin grabs the chair and is about to hit Shawn in the back with it when Jim Ross gets in the ring and tells Austin and Shawn that as per WWF President Gorilla Monsoon that they have no choice but to tag together against Owen Hart and The British Bulldog for the WWF Tag Team Championships. Shawn says Austin can't be trusted as far as he can be thrown, and Austin doesn't want to tag with Shawn, either. Both Austin and Shawn fight each other, and officials have to break up the brawl.