WWE’s Bizarre “Raw Bowl” Game
In the video above, WWE takes a look back at one of the more ridiculous concepts that appeared once, and has never been seen again. In promotion for Super Bowl XXX, in which Troy Aikman led the ’96 Dallas Cowboys to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Monday Night Raw hosted their first (and only) “Raw Bowl”, featuring cheerleaders, a marching band, and a four-way tag team match… with time-outs?
On January 1, 1996 WWE kicked off a new year with an entire episode themed around the Super Bowl, with everyone in jerseys, and even the announcers (“Vin” McMahon and Jerry “Musburger-king”) poking fun at NFL commentators. The featured match was a four-way elimination tag team match dubbed the Raw Bowl, which had a few special rules; chiefly that each team could call a “time-out”. The four teams in contention were the Smoking Guns, Owen Hart and Yokozuna, Razor Ramon and Savio Vega, and the team of the 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman) and Sycho Sid.
Full Match: 2012 Elimination Chamber
Featured below is the complete 2012 World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match, featuring Daniel Bryan defending his title against Bad News Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Big Show, the Great Khali and the unlikely Santino Marella.
Fans may recall this as the Road to WrestleMania where Santino was massively popular, unexpectedly winning a battle royal on Smackdown to qualify for the Elimination Chamber, and making it to the final two against Daniel Bryan, during the height of his heel run. Bryan would of course go on to WrestleMania XXVIII to lose his title to Sheamus in 18 seconds.
